Thursday, December 31, 2009

A Quick and Easy Snack



I went to a lingerie shower for my friend Kate, and my best friend, Erin, had made several of the refreshments for us to nibble on.

I L-O-V-E-D the chicken ball that she made and quickly inquired about how to make it.

Let me just say that it is delicious and VERY easy!

This is what you need...


One package of cream cheese
One package of ranch dressing mix
Shredded chicken in a can

Note:
I actually made a boo-boo and bought canned chicken breast, but a quick pulse in the food processor took all my troubles away.

Directions:

Drain the water from the shredded chicken.
Mix all of the ingredients together in a small mixing bowl.
After it is well mixed, form the mixture into a ball.
Refrigerate overnight.

This should be your finished product...



Voila!



Doesn't that make you hungry? Yummy!

Wednesday, December 30, 2009

What the New Year Will Bring...



I was thinking this morning about all of the changes that will be taking place in the next year for me.

I'm excited about all of them, but it will also be very different for me.

Since I'm queen of list making, I'm putting these changes into a list.
  1. I'm getting married.
  2. I'm moving out of my parents' house.
  3. I will be leaving my current job and beginning student teaching.
  4. I will be graduating from college.
  5. I will be starting a new job in the fall.
I'm a bit groggy this morning, so these are all I could come up with in two minutes. All of these are pretty major changes though. Like I said, I'm very excited about all of them. After all, these are things I've worked towards my entire life. It is a bit scary to have all of these changes take place all within a matter of months though.

Well...that's all for this post. Hopefully I will be back soon with more blog-worthy material. I just hated to see my blog to not have been updated in over a week.

The picture above is completely random. It's from a photographer that I think does an amazing job, and I've been getting ideas from her for our photographer for our wedding, Julie Cottrell.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Notes from the Bride to Be

Planning for a wedding and becoming prepared for everything to come has been quite the experience. I have made myself a wedding binder. This is typically where I would insert a picture of it, but it's outside in my car, and I would have to go through the cold rain to get it. Not happening.

Just take my word for it. It's a 2 or 3 inch binder, and it is completely full. What I've found to be somewhat stressful, but really fun in the end was getting the opportunity to register for items that I would like to fill our new home.

I've nearly picked out everything. I'm down to the smaller items that need to be picked soon, but weren't decisions that needed to be made immediately. I'll share some choices with you that I've made just to entertain you I suppose, not that you really care. I'm sitting here at work. I'm bored. So, here it goes...

Fine China Choice: Opal Innocence




I also found this really wonderful Christmas accent plate that coordinates with it. It must be new because the only place I've been able to find it was at Belk, and they're not even selling it right now.



Everyday China: Butler's Pantry Gourmet



I've also chosen the coordinating stemware that goes with this pattern. I've had such a hard time finding a picture of it that I'm not about to search for a picture of it to post on here.

Most everything that I have chosen has been from the Lenox company. When I was browsing their website, I discovered that if you registered your patterns with them, they will replace your china if it scratches or chips (don't hold me to those exact terms, but it is along those lines). Can't beat that though!

On another note...I've been really interested in getting some bedding, but I'm only drawn to one company's bedding choices. I'm thinking that I might just have to buy this on my own, but I would LOVE to have this on our bed.

P.S. It's from Pottery Barn (thus my love for it)

 

When I say that I would like to have this bedding, I mean I would like every piece of it. Colby and I are planning to purchase a headboard that is covered with fabric like this, but it's not in that particular shape.

Don't you just love it? I do. I think it would brighten up the room. Which reminds me, we DESPERATELY need blinds. I need to get going on that.

Tuesday, December 15, 2009

What's In a Name?

For all of you blog readers out there, you know that the really good blogs have really good names.

They're catchy.

They're creative.

For example, here are a few blogs that I read that have really creative names...







And then there's lifeingrace too, but I couldn't find a picture for it that would fit on here.

So, what is it that I'm getting at?

I need ideas.

Send me as many as possible.

Thanks!

Downtown Brewton Flooded



Yes...that's right. It has been confirmed. The office I work at has been flooded. If you look at the picture above from the Brewton Standard website, you will see a orange colored building. That would be where I work.

Why does this always happen to us? I guess my last few days working there will be in the midst of fans and other equipment to dry the place out. Gosh, this is not how I wanted to spend my last few days.

DARN RAIN!

Monday, December 14, 2009

Stranded!



Yes, that's right. I'm stranded. And the above picture is why.

THE FLOOD GATES HAVE BEEN OPENED!

The weather here in Brewtonia is quite nasty. We are under flood warnings, and quite frankly it's no longer a warning. It is actually doing some flooding in the area.




Since the weather is so terribly awful, it was recommended by my dear, sweet Colby to stay at his house tonight. Did I mention that I'm having to stay here in this awful mess alone?

Colby went into work tonight because he probably would not be able to get there tomorrow. For those who don't know, Colby works at the Poarch Fire Department in Atmore, Alabama, which is about 30-ish minutes away.

He recently called and informed me of how many horrible wrecks they have already had. Please keep all of these men in your prayers. They will probably be up all night saving people's lives in these dangerous conditions.

This is one of the wrecks that Colby and his crew had to respond to last night. I guess that rapid water training they did a few months ago is paying off now.

This is a picture of how close the water was to the bridge in town as of 2 p.m. today.




Note:
I did not take any of these photographs myself. I acquired them from the WKRG 5 website. All of these pictures are from earlier this afternoon.

If I get stranded even more and cannot go to work myself tomorrow, maybe I can venture out and take some photographs to post.

Update:
Downtown Brewton is flooded. That makes the second time this year that the office where I work will have been flooded. I'm stranded at Colby's until further notice. I guess I will be getting things done around here that have been on my list...

Thursday, December 3, 2009

Fresh Mixed Garland




Just like my fall decorations, my Christmas decorations are also on a tight budget.
Christmas is my favorite time of the year though!
Should I have to sacrifice my love for Christmas decorations just because I'm broke out my mind?
I think not!

I've ALWAYS loved the look that fresh mixed garland can give a home.
All of the beautiful fancy-schmancy homes in our town have them.
Why shouldn't I?

So, after some searching, I discovered there is something I can do about it.
Yippee!

In the first picture, you can see an idea of what I want to go around my front door. The picture is from Ballard Designs, and you can purchase the fresh garland from them here. This particular garland is formed of balsam, cedar, and pine bows.

We definitely have two of the three in my yard, so I'm pretty sure this can be done.

I'm going to use the this tutorial that I found from YouTube. Since I already have all of the materials, this should be easy for me to do.

Future Post...
Christmas decorations throughout the house
(This will be posted once I actually have time to clean the house)