Thursday, April 29, 2010

Down Home Southern Goodness

There is nothing better than good home cooking from a Southern kitchen. I grew up thinking my mom was the best cook ever and she still holds that honor in my mind. Even if you don't reside south of the Mason Dixon line you can still enjoy these delicious southern treats. Here are just a few of our local specialties:

Banana pudding is the perfect summer dessert. You can't be a true Southern woman until you can make homemade banana pudding. I'm weird though. I love it but I hate bananas so I always spit my out, lol. Real classy, I know.

OMG! This is my favorite breakfast meat. Some people may call it liver pudding but here we call it livermush. I eat mine with ketchup but others may choose mayo or mustard. It makes a yummy sandwich too.



The sign says it all; Yummy chicken and biscuits. And boy are they! Bojangles also has the best sweet tea around. Besides momma's of course. My personal favs from these guys are the Cajun fillet biscuit (spicy and delicious) or the mac and cheese and dirty rice with a biscuit.




Nothing makes food taste better than Dukes Mayonnaise. When my cousin moved to California he made us mail him this because you can't find it out there. This is the only REAL mayo.

Mallo Cups are my favorite candy. They look like Reese's Cups but are filled with creamy marshmallow and coconut goodness. If you have never had one then let me know and I can mail you a pack. They are the best!
Of course I had to mention my personal favorite: Sundrop. I choose to drink the diet version of this soft drink but it is just as good. It also comes in a Cherry Lemon version that is really good too. This drink was actually created and still produced in the county I was born and live in. I'm pretty sure you can get it in both Carolina's now but outside of that its pretty hard to find.
What are some of your favorite southern goodies? Or if your not from the south I would love to hear what your favorite local foods are.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Weekend Review and Weekly Weigh In

I guess this weekend review is a little late since its Tuesday night and I am just getting around to posting it.

Weekend Review:
This weekend we went out of town to stay with Hub's parents. His brother and our niece and nephew came for the weekend too. It is always great to spend time with them. They are so adorable.

This picture is so sweet. Eli loves to play the racing game on Hub's ITouch.

Weigh In:
This past week I lost 2.2 lbs. While it isn't a huge number I am still thrilled with it. Any loss is better than nothing.

Monday, April 26, 2010

100 Followers and Giveaway Announcement

I have finally reached 100 followers! Isn't that exciting? So in honor of this momentous occasion I will be hosting a giveaway very soon. Check back soon for details.

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Getting to Know You: April 25th

1. If you could star in any movie genre..what would it be..romance..horror..comedy..suspense or action?
I think I would choose romance. With Bradley Cooper as my leading man.

2. Do you recycle?
yes, we recycle for my class. It helps them raise money.

3. Have you ever been to a strip club?
yes, a few times. Every time has been with friends and/or my husband.

4. Do you have a nickname?
yes, Butt Butt. I got it when I was little because I have always had a large backside.

5. What's a name you can't stand to be called?
ummm, not really sure about this one.

6. What are your Summer staples?
Rainbow flip flops, tanks tops, bathing suit, workout clothes, cute summer dresses, and khaki shorts

7. What was the last thing you bought for yourself?
a dress

8. Are you happy with your boob size?
no, I wish they were larger than they are. Not too big but I really don't have a whole lot at all.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Show Us Your Life: How You Met Your Husband

I missed Kelly's Show Us Your Life yesterday but I still wanted to participate so I figured a day late wasn't too bad. This week was Show Us How You Met Your Husband.

Hubs and I met through mutual friends in college.

One of my sorority sisters asked me to go to a party at her boyfriends fraternity brothers apartment. My parents were up visiting so I told her that I didn't think I would go. I had planned to just hang out with them until they went home later that night. When my parents left though my best friend and I decided that we would go to the party. So we met up with some of our sorority sisters and headed over.

I have been known to have a flirtatious personality so they told me before we got there not to flirt with the guy whose apartment it was because one of our friends liked him. I promise that I didn't flirt with him but we ended up getting put together for a drinking game.

I guess we sort of liked each other because we have been together ever since. That party was 8 years ago. Hubs graduated from college a year and 1/2 before I did so we did the long distance relationship thing for a little while. We were engaged after 2 years of dating and married 18 months later.
We will be celebrating 4 years of marriage this summer.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Infertility Stinks Even More Today Than Yesterday

I'm sure that you can tell from the blog title that today's post does not contain promising words. Wednesday was a loooonnng day. It is a 3 hour drive each way and my appt took 2 hours and 15 minutes. The dr. was nice and very young. He is an expert on endometrosis. They did an ultrasound and it showed that I had large cysts in both ovaries that are more than likely balls of endometrosis (I had these removed during my last laproscopy). The dr. wants to do another laproscopy to remove any enometrosis that is there. I just had the same surgery done a year and half ago. My issues with having it done again is that it seems to be coming back so quickly. Most women with endometrosis complain of horrible and constant pain and very heavy cycles. I have neither. My cycles come ever 28 days and lasts less than 3 days. They aren't heavy and besides popping a few Advil's I don't have any pain. The only reason for doing the surgery again in my case is for fertility reasons. Hubs and I are planning on discussing it and deciding what we want to do. I really don't care to have the surgery again especially if the endometrosis is coming back so quickly. Just wanted to give you all an update though. Any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated.

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Infertility Stinks!

I haven't talked about infertility on here lately because it's depressing and well, who wants to read a depressing blog. In fact some of my newest followers may not even know that we are dealing with infertility.

So here's a little background info (very condensed version):
~Hubs and I started trying to have a baby in April 2008.
~changed dr.'s in July and she said I had endometrosis, HSG confirmed it
~ laproscopy in August to remove it, was not completely successful. Stage 4 endo
~ started Femera and bi-monthly ultrasounds in September
~ in April of 2009 we were referred to a fertility specialist
~ was quickly told that IVF was our only option
~ decided to not see the RE because we were not comfortable there

This is pretty much were we stopped in September of 2009. We haven't been doing any monitoring or anything extra. Last week I had my yearly woman's exam (lovely) and she said that she wanted to refer me to one of 2 dr's in the world that specialize in removing endometrosis. One of the dr.'s is in Omaha and the other is at Duke. Um, okay Duke is waaaaaaayyyyy closer. So at 2pm today I have my first appt. with this new dr. I took the day off work and momma and I are just going to make a day of it. The dr. is only 2 1/2 hours from where I live but we plan on getting some lunch and doing a little browsing. (We have to pick up some Duke National Championship t-shirts since my family is big Duke fans). Today's appt. is just a consultation and I have a 100 questions that I am hoping he will answer. I promise to update soon.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

WW Recipes: Frozen Smores

Here is another Weight Watchers recipe that is definitely worth trying. It could possibly be the simplest dessert ever.
Ingredients:

Low Fat graham crackers, Fat Free cool-whip, and Lite chocolate syrup.
Directions:
take a graham cracker and break it in half
put a dollop of FF cool-whip on one side of the graham cracker
add the chocolate syrup to the top
put in the freezer for a little while
ENJOY!

These smores are delicous! And the best part is that they are only 1pt.

Monday, April 19, 2010

Weekend Review and Weekly Weigh In

Weekend Review:

Friday night I had to work the gate for the high school baseball game. Before the game my friend and I went and got take-out at a local restaurant.

Saturday morning I went with momma to get her some shoes for a wedding. Of course I ended up with some too. (I will share them with you later). Hubs and his brother worked on the deck all day. I can't wait to see it finished. It is going to look so good. I have already started planning our big "Deck Reveal" party. The in-laws decided to come down and visit us and take us all to dinner Saturday night. We went to this great steakhouse on the lake called Linbergers. They have the best salad bar. Unfortunately it was very hard to stay on points and since I hadn't used any of my extra weekly points I decided to use them then.


Sunday morning I slept in late (YAY!!!) while Hubs and brother-in-law worked on the deck some more. He had to leave midday so they only had a few hours to work. Later Hubs took me to the $2 theater to finally see:
I had read the book when it first came out so there were things that I didn't remember but all in all it was a good movie. Plus who doesn't mind staring at Channing Tatum for 2 hours. He is YUMMY! After a Wal-Mart and Sams Club run we finally made it home.

Weekly Weigh-In:
After my first week back on Weight Watchers I am thrilled to say that I lost 6 lbs!!! I am now back down to the weight that I was last October. I still have 2 lbs to lose before I am back to my lowest. My former lowest is not my goal though. My long term goal is to lose another 25 to 29 lbs. It was just so nice to see that the hard work this week paid off. I am not expecting to see that big a number each week but I do expect to see a loss. I have already had to take away a point from my daily allowance so we will see how it goes this week.

Sunday, April 18, 2010

Getting to Know You: April 18th


1. Mens chests..hairy or hairless?
hairless! I don't really like hair on a guy.
2. How often do you run red lights?
I try to never run them. Speeding up on a yellow light is another story though.
3. If you could raid any celebrity's closet..whose would you raid?
Reese Witherspoon. I love her style. She is very simple.
4. Would you rather have more followers/friends on Facebook, Twitter, or your Blog?
I think that I would rather have more blog followers.
5. What makes you feel sexy?
having my toes or nails painted a cute color
6. I get excited when...........?
it gets close to the end of school, lol. Such a typical teacher answer. Don't get me wrong; I LOVE my job but I also love summer vacation.
7. Are you the "outdoorsy" type or more "indoorsy"?
Both. I love to be outdoors playing sports or tanning but Hubs says that since I hate to garden or work in the yard that I can't be outdoorsy.
8. Would you rather have your dream home or a million dollars?
a million dollars. I don't want a huge house so I would make more if I took the money.

Friday, April 16, 2010

Show Us Your Life: Teacher Gifts

I don't have any children of my own but I thought since I am a teacher I could see participate in today's Show Us Your Life. Teaching can be a difficult but extremely rewarding profession and it is nice to know we are appreciated. So here is just a few gifts that I wouldn't mind getting:


A boat would be acceptable. Just a little something to fill those lonely summer months when I am missing my students so badly.


Or I could make do with a nice sports car. Convertibles preferred.

I wouldn't mind a nice trip here or anywhere exotic. I have a little time off.

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

WW Recipe: Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

Last night I decided to try a WW recipe that one of my co-workers had. It is called Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken and was delicious!

Above are all the ingredients.


1.5 lbs of boneless chicken breasts

15 oz can of yellow corn

15 oz can of black beans or refried beans (I used black beans)

16 oz of salsa

1 packet of taco seasoning


put all this in the slow cooker and cook on high heat for 7 hours

(I cooked mine while we were sleeping Sunday on low since it was a little more than 7 hours)


On Monday afternoon when I got home I put an 80z block of FF cream cheese and mixed everything up once it heated.

I served ours on Low Carb Wheat tortillas and they are so yummy! Hubs ate 3 of them last night. It makes a ton though. I have two Tupperware containers full of leftovers.
I am super excited that I am sooooooo close to 100 followers! I am doing a giveaway very soon in honor of this so please keep checking back.

Back on the WW Wagon

If you couldn't tell from the title of this post... I am back on Weight Watchers. For those of you that are newbies to my little blog here; I did WW from January 2009 to July 2009 and lost 39 lbs. All of this was in preparation for my little brother's wedding last June. Well since last summer I haven't really been following any kind of diet plan (um, I mean lifestyle change) which is one of the reasons that I have put back on 8 lbs of what I had lost. So I have decided that it is time to get back on it. Also, there are about 6 other women at my work that are doing WW too so we are swapping recipes and ideas. While I have no plans of turning this into a WW blog; I will be sharing recipes and goals on here. If any of you have ever followed WW please leave me comments with any advice or ideas that you have.

Here are a few of my short and long term goals:

1) Lose 10 lbs by May 15th.
2) Be in the 160's (15 lbs) by the end of school (June 12th).
3) Hit my goal weight of 150-155 before school starts back in August.

Sunday, April 11, 2010

Getting to Know You: April 11th

Here is another Getting To Know You Sunday from MannLand5. If you haven't participated in these weekly posts you should. They are a great way to get to know other bloggers.

1. What color do you wear the most? lately I feel like I have been wearing a lot of purple.

2. Would you rather have $10,000 dollars or a dream vacation? $10,000 of course. I can't think of any dream vacation that would cost that much.

3. Do you have a weird, quirky or unusual habit? I have the smallest bladder in the world. And I'm very OCD about it. I pee at least 3 times before I can finally go to sleep; and that is after i am already in the bed. If my husband needs something done like a light being turned off or something to drink he will ask me to get it and if I say I'm not getting out of bed all he has to do is tell me that I have to pee and I feel like I have to. Even if I have just used the bathroom. Then of course he says, "well since your up could you...". It drives me crazy!

4. I really need to start..........? drinking less diet soda.

5. What was the first blog you ever read? I think it was Kelly's Korner. Not positive though.

6. Do you collect anything? clothes, shoes, books. Do those count?

7. How old were you when you had your first kiss? I think I was in kindergarten. I started early, lol. Nah, my first kiss was in the sixth grade on a field trip. The "relationship" lasted till we got back to school. I was heartbroken, :(

8. Do you text/twitter while driving? I try not too.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

Things That Make Me Happy- April 9th

I think I am going to try to do a post on what has made me happy every week.
This past week included:
Spring Break and a beach vacation
Having a husband that supports me in everything I do. Even if that means coming to a million ballgames.
Winning 3 softball games in a row
Cute new nail polishes. From right to left: Plum Perfect, Vintage Violet, and Sun-sanstional.

What has made you happy this week?

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Warm Weather Treat

This is my favorite thing to eat when the weather is hot:
I bought some at the grocery store yesterday and have had one each night. YUMMY!
They make me feel like a kid again.
Which foods remind you of your childhood?

Monday, April 5, 2010

Great Start to Spring Break

We are back from the beach! We didn't have constant Internet access and plus who wants to blog when the weather was so beautiful. I stayed out in the sun as much as I could. We had a wonderful time but it is also nice to be home and know that I have a few days off just to rest.
Friday night Hubs had a small part in our churches Easter drama so we weren't able to leave until he had finished that. We finally got to the beach right after midnight. Saturday morning we got up and went to eat breakfast with his mom and dad and then did a little shopping. Once we got back to the condo I put my bathing suit on and went to the pool to sunbathe for a couple of hours. We had dinner reservations at our favorite Italian place.

Sunday we went to church and then had brunch at the club house. Hubs joined me at the pool and then we rode around on the golf cart and walked on the beach. Later Hubs took me to dinner at a Japanese restaurant that we love.

This morning we did a little shopping before eating lunch and heading home.

The weather was beautiful all weekend and we had an amazing time. I am already counting down the days till we go back.



How was everyone's Easter weekend?

Friday, April 2, 2010

Spring Break


I will be MIA for the next few days because I will be here:
reading a few books (okay, not quite this many)




lathered in suntan oil


I promise to post as soon as I get home with lots of pictures from my hopefully very relaxing beach vacation.

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Spring Showers

On Sunday we had a shower for my best friend. She had her little boy, Daxter, back in February. He was born 7 weeks early so we had to move her shower back a few weeks. Daxter has finally gotten to come home from the NICU and is doing wonderful so far. Please keep him in your prayers.



Here are a few pics from the shower:



Lindsey and I. Lindsey is my friend that I teach and coach with. We didn't become friends until we met 4 years ago but we quickly became very close. She got to know Erin through me.


Erin opening some of her gifts. She got so many cute outfits.


I love this picture. We were all really good friends in high school but through college and marriage and children we have grown apart. From the left to the right is Brandi (she is married with a son) myself, Kelly (she is engaged), Sarah (she has 3 children and a boyfriend) and Erin the guest of honor.


Doesn't she look beautiful.