Found another Flea!!

So, I heart a flea market...

Last weekend, yes, on Valentine's Day, I wanted to go to a flea market.. and the best one we'd seen yet was over the bridge in to Indiana. Yes, I said Indiana.

Anywho... this is how awesome that place is...


Looks great, huh?

Flea markets are wonderful places! I mean my mind just goes crazy thinking of what you could do with stuff or what miracle you could work to turn that junk into some awesome piece of work! Unfortunately, all we came away with that day was an awesome pack of multicolored Sharpies. I can't wait to use them for something scrapbooky!

So back to today...

We were driving around, looking for the church we had visited a while back... and out of the corner of my eye... what?

So I said to Matt, "What did that say? Is that another Peddler's something?? Isn't that what they call the flea markets up here?"

He stares straight ahead....
"What do you want me to do?"

"Don't worry about it, I'll just come back some other time by myself...."

So we turn into the parking lot.

It was huge. I love these places!!

Just look at this!



Mama - I was thinking of using this above our tv but Matt said no. But THEN I got to thinking that you need it in "my" room back home. Imagine this with some sepia color photos in each window in the room with the antique dresser! Perfect! And it' only $8... EIGHT DOLLARS! So, let me know if you want it... I think you do.

Then, I saw this...


And it took my back to my days of youth back at good ol Pinedale Baptist Church. These are the exact chairs we used to talk about being old and out of date when I was there. I GUARANTEE they're still there too! And just think - they're at a flea market for $25 each or 4 for $85!

But, what brought a smile to my face was this... oh memories of sweet home Alabama...



In case you can't read the description on the thing, it says "1975 'Bear' Bryant book ad & 1989 Rare Coke Card $3.50"

Ha! I think if this was in any flea market in the state of Alabama that price tag may be just a little bit higher....

So, there it is ladies and gents... our fun times at the flea market... today. Well, let me correct that.. MY fun time at the flea market and Matt putting up with yet another quirk of his wife's.

Oh yeah... no, I didn't buy anything.

Happy Birthday, Hayden!

So my friend Hope always swore she would never do two things in life
1) get married
2) have a baby

And much to our surprise she has done both!! Kinda funny how sometimes, God has plans for you no matter what you think, huh?

And today and little Hayden's First Birthday. I can't believe how fast time flies!

Anyway, here are a couple cute pics I took when Lance, Hope and Hayden came to visit us at Mama's house in Prattville one day. He had fun playing with Dixie and Coco. Ain't he cute?

Valentine's Dinner

Ok, so I wasn't going to post about another meal I made... cause let's face it, I'm no Paula Deen... Sandra Lee, maybe a little... BUT KraftFoods.com has provided me with some super simple meals that have been so YUMMY lately, I just had to share!

Last night I made a meal that I'd been planning on making for a while, but was always just too tired to go through all the steps after my brain was dead from work. So I said I would do it on a Saturday for the first time to make sure I had plenty of time to do it all - so why not Valentine's Day?!

It was SO worth it! It did take a little longer than I normally would like to spend on a weeknight, but Matt and I both agree that it's definitely worth the wait! Just look at this Chicken Parmesan Bundle!



No, I didn't take this pic, it's from the website, but I COULD HAVE! Because believe it or not, it actually did come out looking this good!

Side Note - I did use a little less than the whole box of spinach, and would suggest that for you too. AND I did a little more than what it says for the "crust" of the chicken. I wanted to make sure I had plenty to cover the outsides!

Anyway, try if you like... I would recommend it!

Now we're going to get ready for our "real" Valentine's dinner tonight at the Melting Pot! Oh, I love that place!!

A Dozen Baseball Roses...

Our version of Valentine's Day!

So my wonderful husband let me sleep in yesterday (Valentine's Day) since I've been a little under the weather lately. And then Dixie just couldn't take it anymore and had to come wake me up!

When I walked into the living room, I saw this:


SHUT UP!

I LOVE my creative husband!

That's right... it's a dozen roses made out of baseballs. Here's a closer to look show you how he just cut the baseball, took out the insides and then folded it in to make it look like flower petals!


I mean really... I love this about my husband! I pray his creativeness never ends, but seriously, he does it so often, I'm worried he's going to run out of ideas!!

You know you have sinus issues when...

... your husband calls your niece to wish her a Happy Valentine's Day and the following coversation occurs:

Elisa: Is Auntie Hope there?

Matt: Yeah, but she's still sleeping. She doesn't feel very good.

Elisa: What? Is it her nose again??

Matt: Yes, it is...

Or maybe it's a lesson to not show a 5 year old what a Neti Pot can do... cause she'll never forget it!

Ha! Hope you enjoyed our Valentine's humor!

Valentine's Make-Over

Dixie got groomed on Friday... and they put Valentine's bows in her hair... hmm...

Zest!

Made a delish meal tonight that I got from one of my favorite websites, Kraft Foods.

What You Need
4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained
1/2 cup black olives, chopped
1 Tbsp. lemon zest
1 cup KRAFT Finely Shredded Italian* Five Cheese Blend
3 cups hot cooked rotini pasta

Make It
HEAT large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken; cover. Cook 5 to 7 min. on each side or until done (165ºF). Remove chicken from skillet.

ADD tomatoes, olives and lemon zest to skillet. Cook 4 min. or until hot, stirring frequently.

RETURN chicken to skillet; cook 1 min. or until hot. Top with cheese. Serve over pasta.

**I hate just having cooked chicken without any flavoring, so I did throw some salt, pepper and a little garlic powder to top of the chicken while it was cooking. I also chopped up a garlic clove and threw it in with the tomato sauce mixture... YUM!


But really, here's why I'm so excited about it...


I made lemon zest for the first time! At first, I'm just gonna go ahead and admit it, I found myself standing in the spice isle at the local Kroger. I couldn't find the lemon zest anywhere! And then, I thought, "you... idiot..." It dawned on me I've watched enough Food Network to know what to do. So I got that lemon and my little grater (although not an official "zester") and zested!

I was pretty proud of myself! Ha!

Happiness

"Happiness, not in another place but this place...not for another hour, but this hour."

Walt Whitman

Army Strong

So why did we go to Missouri?

Matt's cousin, Ben, has been at Army Basic Training in Fort Leonard Wood since October. And yesterday was graduation day!


It was a pretty eye opening experience to me. You should have seen all these young men. One was even 17 years old! His mom gave permission for him to join the Army. Just looking at these guys, knowing they could be one of the ones about to go overseas and put their lives on the line for us... and they're so young!

Thankfully, Ben is not going overseas right away. He is heading back to school and will be in the reserves. But we were all so proud of him. Just look at Nan's face!

Personally, I thought it was pretty cool that he was one of the top marksmen in his "class" (forgive me, I'm not up to speed on my military terms) hitting 38 out of 40 targets!

I asked him if he would teach me how to shoot. I guess he doesn't know me very well yet, so he looked at Matt like... uhhh?

Matt just smiled, shook his head, and said, "It's ok."

Yeah it is... I want to learn!



Congratulations, Ben! Matt and I are very proud of you and thank you for serving our country!

No, it's not a really big McDonald's

Yesterday and today Matt and I took at quick get away to Missouri.

(Random? Sorta...)

Now, let me tell you, there's not much besides trees and snow between Louisville, Kentucky and Missouri... which made for a very tiring 6 hour drive. Ok, ride for me...

Oh, wait... except for this!




So that was pretty cool to see the arch in St. Louis... and what's even cooler is that we were able to get so close becuase we accidentally took a wrong turn! Of course, as with many things, all my knowledge about the arch is from watching baseball. I knew it had to be somewhere close because I had always seen it on tv when the Cardinals were playing... so I'm looking all around while Matt's stressing trying to make sure we get to the right place... and then... I saw it... or the lights anyway... Busch Stadium.

So that was it... Cardinals, you're next on our list!

Stimulate?

I mean... I don't know...
I'm just gonna post this...
You can read for yourself.

I love Jesus but I drink a little

This video made me laugh out loud by myself. You HAVE to watch it. It's about 7 minutes, but believe me it is well worth your time!

Enjoy!

Football's OVER!

10 days, 10 hours, 56 minutes until pitchers report to Spring Training!!!

Thanks for the info, MLB.com

NY? AZ? MEXICO!?

So, many of you may already know this, but I am so proud of my husband, I just have to share!!

About a month ago, probably around 8pm, Matt and I were getting home from the grocery store and Matt checked his cell phone messages. He came back into the kitchen and his eyes were wide and he said, "Major League Baseball just called... they want to talk with me about the World Baseball Classic."

And you know me.... "What? The World Baseball Classic? That's awesome! Where is it? When is it? What all would you have to do?" etc. etc...

To which, Matt says, "I don't know..."

"Call him back... now!"

"It's too late."

"He called you at night!!"

Needless to say, I lost that battle...

So Matt called him back the next morning. And this is what he said...

"Well, it looks like I'm going to New York in a few days. They're going to fly me up there for a meeting about being a clubby for the Classic. He said nothing is definite, I would find out at the meeting... ... ... he asked if I had a passport."

"A passport?! So does that mean you're gonna be a going to one of the other countries? Oh my gosh, what if you go to China or something... I want to go too! Or what about Puerto Rico? I definitely want to go! I won't want to go to Canada though..."

"Hun, nothing's definite. He said I'll find out at the meeting."

"So this means I can't blog about it?"

"No, you can't."

"Ugh!!"

So to get to the point, Matt went to New York while I fought the temptation to call everyone I know and blog about how excited I was! (Ok, so maybe I did call a few people...) I of course was traveling the same day that Matt made his trip to MLB headquarters in NY. I hated that so much! I wanted to be home to see him off and support him, but I couldn't... it was no fun. So he made the trip - Louisville, KY to NYC and back - in one day and I was dying to hear ALL the details.

My amazing husband will be a Clubhouse Manager (Clubby) for the World Baseball Classic! He will be going to Arizona about a week before it all starts for team workouts and then he will go with the team to Mexico City, Mexico!

How cool is that?!

I'm so proud! And happy! And excited!

Super Bowl Sunday!!

And I'm about to get on a plane to travel for work... I'm really not happy about this.

Gotta do what's best for the client, right? Anywho...

Since I would not be able to go to the Super Bowl party with Matt, I wanted to still make something for him to send... you CAN'T go empty handed.

Look what I came up with... They're not perfect, but they're fun!!