Weekend fun!

We had a great weekend! Jessica, Jay's sister, came in town and it was so great to see her and hear about her and Spencer's plans for the future. We started the weekend with a great evening of NCAA basketball at 3 B's... if you like good bar burgers and fried anything this is the place!

Then Saturday morning Jessica and I went to see the dress maker to have her measured for her bridesmaids dress for our wedding. Which, side note, I am super excited about... Then we headed out to Town Green Park for The Woodlands Crawfish Boil benefiting Cure PH. It was a beautiful day with perfect weather and great, yummy crawfish! Then we finished the evening at Dan's house to watch more NCAA Basketball games! I was so excited to see my one and only team left, West Virginia, move on to the Final Four... and Jay was just as excited if not more to see Duke pull out the win over Baylor on Sunday.

We spent Sunday morning finishing the yard and putting down 41 bags of mulch and planting the bright, pretty, colorful flowers. It was such a great feeling of accomplishment when we finished. Here are some photos showing the transformation from jungle to pretty flower bed!

Pretty flower bed in the front yard!

Backyard before...

Backyard after!

another backyard before...

and after...

Now the next step for the yard is to get the grass green and growing! That job has been given to Jay... I will keep everyone posted on the process!

Happy Gardening!

Calling all Shoppers!

News Flash... if you haven't heard Swoozies, the wonderful paper and specialty store, is going out of business... this was a complete new flash to me being we ordered our wedding invitations there last month. So when I heard the news I quickly called the store to find out what the status was on my order and if it was still going to be fulfilled... and the answer was, "Come in today, with your receipt, and we will give you a full refund, but it has to be today because the liquidators are coming tomorrow." So I ran home and went strait to the store for my full refund.

We are totally bummed out that we now have to go back through the process of searching and finding the "right/perfect" invitation. Well it is now back to the drawing board! If you have any suggestions on where to look please let me know. We are listening to all options.

Happy Monday.

Spring is here!

Spring is here and life is busy! Last weekend we celebrated a good friend birthday!!! Happy Birthday Lindsay!!! We had a great time and had a blast with the dance competition!!!

Now that Spring is here we decided to get the yard in shape... and when I say we I really mean Jay. He loves taking care of my yard and is excited to get new flowers planted and the yard in great shape for the year. If you aren't familiar with yard work let me be the first to tell you weeds are the worst thing EVER... I didn't weed my backyard flower bed last year so this year it was a jungle... there were probably creatures making a home back there, but Jay could not let it keep getting out of control... so we spent all last Sunday afternoon in the yard pulling weeds, trimming bushes, and cutting back the overgrowth of the shrubs. Here are some before, during and after picture of our hard work.

The jungle before....

and after!

This weekend we are planning on putting mulch down and planting flowers!

In addition to getting the yard in shape I decided to try baking again and made a Red Velvet Cake. It was really easy and very yummy! Here are some photos of the masterpiece. It is very exciting making a cake from scratch and it actually tasting really good! I got the recipe on Bakerella's website... check it out! http://www.bakerella.com/red-velvet-cake/

Other spring activities included reorganizing my laundry room. Last Saturday I went to Bed, Bath and Beyond and bought a storage unit to replace my old one. It made a big difference and looks so much more organized and clean. Here are some photos...

before...

after!!!

In other news some of our very best friends are finding out if they are going to have a boy or girl today at 3:30!!! I can't wait to hear from them... I'm thinking girl, but we will see!!!

Our weekend is going to be busy... tonight Duke is playing at 9 and we are going out with some friends to watch the big games! Also, Jay sister Jessica is coming in town for the weekend! We are super excited to see her and hear about her wedding plans! We haven't seen her since her and Spencer got engaged; then Saturday we are all headed out to Town Green Park for the Cure PH Crawfish Boil - also known as The Woodlands Crawfish Boil. If you don't have any plans and would like to enjoy great fun and crawfish, come out to TGP between 11 and 6pm. Then Sunday Jay and I hope to get on the golf course... he got new golf clubs last week and is eager to hit the links.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend and is enjoying the beautiful weather!

With Love!!!

Cooking 101

The last few days I have tried a few new recipes and thankfully they turned out fairly well. On Thursday night I decided to make at 14-layer cake. It turned out to be only 13 layers, and had a hit of flower to the taste but overall it turned out pretty well. It was fairly easy, but very messy. It looked really pretty when I made the first few slices… with all the layers showing and all. And was delicious with my new found favorite “Blue Bell Ice Cream Vanilla – Light”. I can’t even tell the difference.



Then Friday night my parents came over and I made an eye of roast rib with root veggies, couscous, and a side salad. It turned out really good, very juicy and tender. We finished off the evening with a great dessert… the 13-layer cake.


Then on Sunday morning I got the craving for my favorite… blue berry pancakes. I got the recipe from Bakerella’s blog… it was delicious! They were so tasty and very filling. Jay even enjoyed them and he would not consider himself a blueberry fan.



Then to finish up the weekend of cooking I slaved all day in the kitchen making a pot roast in the Crockpot. Just kidding… I put the roast in with the veggies in the morning then Jay and I went over to the Anthony’s house and helped them build their beautiful porch and came back to a wonderfully smelling house and tasty dinner.


It was a perfect weekend with just enough time in the kitchen. Great weather, great food, and great leftovers!!! I’m not sure what my meal is this week but I will let you know when I figure that out.

Happy Monday!!!

Excuse my absence

I am sorry for my absence... life has been busy lately, but great. Let me catch everyone up...

I got sick with an ear infection, went bridesmaids' dress shopping with my wonderful bridesmaids, enjoyed the visit of one of my best friends, celebrated the 15th Annual Public Safety Awards Banquet (work stuff), bought Jay his first pair of cowboy boots, and a new set of golf clubs and been pretty busy with work, both Jay and I.

I have continued my cooking challenge and unfortunately dinner failed miserably last night. I tried to make chicken tacos with a fool proof recipe, slow cooker with veggies and all, but the chicken I used must have been in the freezer too long because it tasted like old, gross water. Jay tried to make the best of it, the good supporting fiancée he is, but I refused to serve it... It was a sad night... but everyone has a story like that... right? If you have one please share it with me.

Anyways, my next dinner special is going to be Thursday night... I am going to attempt to make a roast with potatoes, veggies, and possibly couscous. Wish me luck.

Also, I wanted to catch everyone up on wedding plans. Church, The Woodlands United Methodist Church - Robb Chapel - booked; reception, The Woodlands Resort and Country Club - Emerald Ballroom - booked; band, Toast and Jam - booked; photographer - booked; flowers - picked; invitations - ordered; dress - ordered; hair and make-up - booked; mother of the bride dress - ordered; we are on a roll! I made our timeline for the rest of the wedding plans and was really excited about how much we have done. Also, we now know what we need to do and when we need to have it finished. Very exciting for an organized bride-to-be.

Now it is time to watch my new favorite show... The Biggest Looser. If you haven't watched you are missing out! It is truly amazing to see how the contestants change their lives. I know it sounds cheesy, but it's true! Check it out - Tuesdays on NBC at 7pm Central time.

Here are some photos from the afternoon of bridesmaids' dress shopping! Thank you girls for your love and support! You all made it so fun and enjoyable!