Fall Photoshoot

My former co-worker came to town the other weekend for a visit.  She took some wonderful pictures of Brian, Bear and I last year so I asked if she would have time for a little photo-shoot.  I wanted some pictures for Christmas Cards and also, just in front of our new house since we moved in January and it was not very picturesque at the time.  Karis did such a great job working with Bear as she is a "doodle mom" herself.   Prepare yourself for the onslaught of pictures :)

love this one!

Yes, I made him do this

"just look happy"

Bear is such a proper doodle in this picture.

getting fidgety

and we lost him..

and he's back

Favorite family pic!

kisses

quick take the picture before he escapes my arms!

love this one of my boys!

Brian wasn't feeling the heart with your hands here..



Home Sweet Home with my hunny

We realize this is a tiny bench, and we are tall people..

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Weekend Recap

I'm gonna start this weekend off on Thursday when Brian and I were able to attend the World Compassion Banquet through my work.  The guest speaker was Mike Huckabee.  He is an excellent speaker and really encouraged us to give to the less fortunate in other countries.

This was a much needed weekend at home for Brian and I.  We have been out of town the past two weekends visiting our families which was great, but a lot of traveling.  Friday night we hit the gym and then the grocery store.  Thrilling Friday night, I know :)  My brother and his girl came over so we hung out with them for a while. 

Meanwhile around 3:30 am, my sister had her baby!  All are doing well! and how cute is my new niece??  My sis also looks amazing for just having a baby a couple hours before this picture was taken!

Saturday I started cleaning.  My poor house needed some attention badly! Brian carried on the cleaning while I hit up the gun range in the afternoon with my brother in law.

I wasn't as rusty as I thought I would be

I rushed home after the gun range to make manicotti for a couple of friends of ours that just had a baby.  Brian had invited some friends over for the Arkansas game so I was cooking like a madwoman to get the food prepared and taken to our friends before our guests arrived.

I shared my Hog gear with those who are not fortunate enough to own any haha :)

yes, we are a bit obsessed with the Hogs

 

Sunday morning we had setup/teardown at our church, but it was a special Sunday.  Our church does a semi-annual outreach called Love Tulsa.  We split into our small groups and served at various locations around the city.  My group was working at a home for pregnant women who have chosen to allow their babies to be adopted rather than aborted.  We moved some furniture, did yard work, and cleaned out an old storage shed.

 

don't worry, we only threw away moldy things that could not be sold or re-used

We had a great weekend and are loving these Fall temperatures!

 

 

Fresh & Healthy Dinner Recipes

I've been trying out a couple healthy recipes lately from Damn Delicious.  They have not disappointed!  I even got my husband to try and like the zucchini pizza even though he doesn't like zucchini.  Both recipes were quick & easy to make which works out for us since I'm usually making them after work and working out aka 8 pm.  Of course, I adapted each recipe to our likes and what I had on hand in my kitchen.

Zucchini Pizza Bites (adapted version)

Ingredients

• 3 fat zucchini
• olive oil
• garlic salt
• Italian seasoning
• marinara sauce
• mozzarella cheese
• turkey pepperoni

Instructions

1. Cut the zucchini into 1/4 inch rounds. 
2. Heat olive oil in pan and cook zucchini for about 3 minutes on each side until golden brown and transfer to foil covered baking sheet.
3. Assemble your pizza to your liking: marinara sauce, garlic salt, Italian seasoning, mozzarella, diced turkey pepperoni
4. Broil for 3 minutes or until cheese is melted.
5. Try not to eat the entire pan alone.. not kidding here!

Quinoa Enchilada Casserole (adapted version)

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• 10 oz can enchilada sauce
• 1/2 can green chiles, drained
• 1 can black beans
• 2 tablespoons fresh, chopped cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• salt & pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup Colby jack cheese
• 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
• 1 large avocado, diced
• 1 roma tomato, diced

Instructions

1. Cook 1 cup quinoa in 2 cups water according to package directions.
2. After cooking, mix the quinoa, enchilada sauce, black beans, chiles, cilantro, cumin, chili powder, salt & pepper, and 1/2 cup Colby jack cheese in a big bowl. 
3. Grease 9x13 pan and spread mixture into pan.  Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
4. Bake for 15 minutes until cheese is melted
5. Remove from oven and spread avocado and tomatoes all over the top.  Serve immediately

please excuse my poor iphone 4 pictures.. they do not do these recipes justice for how delicious they were!

Life Lately

Yes, I realize it is almost a new weekend and these pictures are from last week!  I have been so bad at this blogging thing lately!  I just decided pictures are better than nothing so here goes :)

Brian and I just discovered My Fit Foods.  It's the perfect solution for when I don't have dinner ideas.

Clearly this dog needs a new duck, because there is no way I can sew that head back on

My co-worker and I got to tour the Governor's office thanks to my friend Cody!

The press conference room: I loved the ornateness of it.

We had the best weather last Saturday.  Cool enough to need a blanket and hot coffee while doing my devos outside.

I'm all about banana bread these days rather than letting my bananas rot

My cute new chalkboard that I got on sale at Target! woohoo!

The girls at Amber & Aaron's 30th birthday

Kitchen Remodel

Caroline just reminded me that I didn't do a post showing my updated kitchen countertops!  I'm loving them so far!  I took a lot of pictures to document the process so bear with me :)

Everything completely torn out

We cut down the pony wall and had to deal with the electrical outlets that were in the pony wall.  The installers were going to cover them up, but my mom said no way.  Thank goodness she was there!

She decided to do the re-wire herself.  No worries folks, she's got skills even with a gimpy wrist.

Both of my parents have skills actually.. Brian and I were so thankful to have them there
or else that electrical would have been covered up.

Installing new outlet boxes and re-wiring the outlets.

love my new sink!  It's so much bigger than my old one

Mostly completed except that we still need to paint the brackets to match the wall..

I love having a flat serving/prep space.

Coffee station

Close up on the new backsplash and range