Johnson City Lights

Every year my immediate family and a few cousins and aunt and uncle take a little road trip to Johnson City to see their annual Christmas lights. Johnson City is about an hour away from where we live and a beautiful drive in the hill country.

Saturday evening we all met up at my parents house (aka grand central station) and loaded up and took off south. We made our usual stop off in Dripping Springs to eat some tex-mex and break up the hour trip for the kids. 

After eating we loaded back up and headed west. We made it to Johnson City in record timing. Last year when we went it wasn't too crowded, but boy this year was a different story. There were people EVERYWHERE!! It was kind of daunting actually. Large crowds and myself don't normally mix well haha. It's such a small town, it has a city courthouse that they string with lights and then a few blocks away they have an electric company that seriously wraps every single tree from top to bottom. They have a ton of trees on their property so they start wrapping in August!! It's an unbelievable sight to see. It's so gorgeous and breath taking. I could sit under those trees all night. It has a great way of making you feel like you are the only person there, sitting in silence surrounded in that heavenly glow.

Wordless Wednesday

Gobble Till You Wobble

Oh Thanksgiving, my most favorite holiday of the year!

We had Thanksgiving lunch at my cousin's house this year. Thomas helped fry a turkey and I baked rolls and brought cranberry sauce :-) We had SO much food and trust me, we tried to tackle it all. There were lots of naps happening that afternoon and then we all woke back up for round two!

Seriously though, the fried turkey was unbelievable. The skin was crispy and the inside was soooo juicy and flavorful. I typically don't eat turkey on Thanksgiving because it tends to be on the dry side. Not this year! I ate turkey like it was going out of style. It's really sick to think about how much turkey I really ate. Hey, it's good protein right??

Friday night a few of us went to a "movie's in the park" type event and watched Christmas Vacation. We had blankets, hot apple cider and kettle corn to keep us warm and content. I just absolutely love that movie! After the movie they let everyone do a flash light corn maze. This place uses their corn maze during the fall and in the winter they have just started up a Christmas movie marathon where you can go through the corn maze afterwards with your flashlights. It was SO much fun. Of course the guys had to disappear and scare us!

Saturday was spent lounging around and finishing up the hardwood floors....yes that little project was still going on :-) barf!

Sunday we went down to visit Thomas' parents. They both had to work on Thanksgiving Day and his sister lives in CC, so this year they opted out of a Thanksgiving meal. We were glad to be able to visit with them on Sunday though and go out to lunch.

Today is back to the daily grind. It's times like this that remind me how thankful I am for my job. It really is a wonderful place to work with low stress. It is SO great, that it was just named one of the top 10 large companies to work for in 2012.

Brookie Bum Bum

I am so excited!! Tomorrow I only work half a day (off at 11:30) and then I get to hang out with my amazingly hilarious niece! My brother is working all day and my mom has a funeral to go to, so I get to pick her up and have great Aunt/Niece time.

My niece is 6 and acts 26. She has so much personality and is so smart, plus I think she is quite possibly the cutest girl I know :-) She affectionately calls me Brookie Bum Bum. Not sure where that came from, it couldn't possibly have to do with this big ol thing I carry behind me.

I plan on taking her to an awesome little yogurt shop here in town, Pink Penguin. The walls inside are all pink and it has a wall full of different topping choices. She will be in heaven! We might also hit up the park in our neighborhood and see what other other shenanigans we can get in to.

I can't wait to see her!!!

Apple Pie Bites

We had a food day at work today (seriously we have them ALL of the time) and I decided I would try out a new recipe I found on Pinterest.

It was really simple and sounded delicious so I got the things I needed at the grocery store and got to putting them together. I ended up making 48 little apple pie bites and mmmm were they good!! I brought them to work and they were one of the first things to get eaten up. Side note: My department is huge so 48 being eaten isn't that many :-).

All this recipe requires is canned crescent rolls, apple pie filling, butter and cinnamon and sugar. See the terrible picture of the finished product. I promise they were a lot prettier and way more appetizing in person.

Apple Pie Bites

1 can of crescent rolls
1 can of apple pie filling
2 tbsp of butter melted
1/4 c of sugar
3/4 tbsp cinnamon (mix with sugar)

Pull your crescent rolls apart using the dotted edges in the dough. Cut each triangle in half. Place an apple wedge (I ended up cutting my wedges up to fit better) in the center of the dough and then roll up. There really is nothing pretty about this step, at least not in my kitchen. I had apple pie filling everywhere. Then pop them in your oven for about 12 minutes, long enough to cook the dough. Pull them out and brush your melted butter on top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Next time I make these will probably be at Thanksgiving time and I will make them the regular crescent roll size.

November

I can't believe it's November already!!! I know everyone says it, but this year really has flown by.

November holds my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving. The older I get the more I love this holiday. I get to see my family, eat delish food, watch football, all without the stress of having to buy people presents. Don't get me wrong, I love Christmas too, but it seems to have gotten way too commercialized and I love the simplicity of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Happy November!

Wordless Wednesday

Bye Bye Carpet!

Thomas and I purchased our first home together in 2010. Of course there were many things we loved about it, but a few we (more me) hated. We had all of these wonderful plans to redo things before we ever moved in. As every one knows, we got some done and decided to move in anyways!

We repainted every single square inch of the house. I'm glad we did, I absolutely love our main wall color, just don't ever ask me to paint ever again. We also had big dreams of replacing all of the counter tops. They are this weird brown color. It wouldn't be a terrible color with a different cabinet, but it just looks so weird with our cabinets. Not sure what the previous owner was thinking when they were building the house. The tile in the kitchen is also a really weird brown color. Don't get me wrong, I love brown. Brown threw up in almost every room in my house, but this tile in the kitchen is so......wrong! Plus it was cheaply done and now the grout is starting to come out. Those are a few things I can't wait to change, but I will have to keep waiting.

For now, we are FINALLY ripping out our gawd awful, cheap, stained up, worn out carpet!! Keep in mind this house is only 6 years old, but the carpet that was installed had to have been the cheapest they could find. It's just gross. It doesn't help that we have two fur babies who come in and out as they please, tracking in all kinds of things. Makes it even harder to keep the gross carpet from becoming unlivable.

Saturday night Thomas ripped out the carpet and pulled up most of the tack strips. Sunday we went and purchased all of the wood (holla!) and got it stacked up in the house. We had a day full of plans so he hasn't had a chance to keep working, but his plan is to work every night this week and have it all done by the weekend. I'm skeptical on his time frame, but let's be honest, I am over the moon excited about the carpet being gone and the beautiful wood floors going in. The color we chose is Highland Hickory. It's warm, textured and will really hold up well to the doggies claws.

                                                   Nothing beats walking around on gritty cement. Blech

Now if ya'll can just pray that I don't kill him between now and the floors being completed that would be fantastic :-)

Key West

We made it back! Key West was fantastic!

We left Austin early Monday morning and we came back Friday evening. Thomas and I didn't get to sit together on the first flight into Atlanta, so that made for a long flight of boredom. Don't get me wrong, I had plenty of trash magazines to read, but I was way too antsy and ended up staring out of the window (holla window seat!) the whole flight. I haven't flown in about 8 years so I was a tad bit nervous this time around. Last time I flew I was young and dumb and not scared of a thing, this time I'm old and terrified of everything! All of the flights turned out to be good thankfully :-)

I knew the runway in Key West would be short, but I never imagined we would be exiting the plane straight onto the runway! I admit, I totally geeked out coming down the stairs. You can tell I don't get out much.

Our hotel room was at the end of Duval St, which is like a mini Bourban St. Perfect location and our room over looked the ocean, pool and Mallory Square. Every morning we woke up a new cruise ship was docking so I would just relax, kick my feet up and watch them come in.

The sunsets were unbelievable!! Every night in Mallory Square there were quite a few street performers who were really funny and talented. A little dirty, but whatever! We would either sit on our balcony and watch them or go down and see them up close and put money in their hats. The sunset always made such an amazing back drop.

Reality has sunken in and I am super sad I have to go back to work tomorrow. As much as I love my job, I'd love to be a stay-at-home wifey more!!

We got hitched!!

Yesterday was everything we wanted it to be! The weather couldn't have been better, everything ran on time, the vows were beautiful and we all enjoyed a nice meal out afterwards. Next up is Key West! We leave at 8am in the morning and we can't wait to enjoy some sun and relaxation!! 

Leaving you all with a photo from the day

Tailgate Food!

Today I am linking up with Kelly's Korner and the topic is all about tailgate foods.

When I first met my fiance he convinced me to try his "famous" sausage dip. Now let me start off by saying that I am a very picky eater. Yes I know, you can't tell by looking at me, whatever! I was hesitant to try it, but boy once I did I couldn't get enough of it!!!

It's just one package of spicy sausage (you could use regular if you choose), one can of Rotel and one package of cream cheese. Brown the sausage in a pan and drain the excess fat off, then simply add in the drained Rotel and cream cheese and stir it all around until the cream cheese is melted and mixed in. 

The best thing about this dip (besides how easy and tasty it is) is that you can serve it warm OR cold. I prefer it warm, but it's still really good cold. We get asked to bring this dip to every function, football or not :-)

Work Shower

Today I had a bridal shower given to me at work by a few ladies on my team. I was a bit apprehensive since I still feel like one of the new kids on the block here. This sounds silly, but I just didn't want to put anyone out by having to give me a shower or bring gifts.

The ladies threw it during the lunch hour and decorated in beautiful fall decorations to match the wedding. They kept it small, just what I needed :-) They served sandwiches, veggies and dip and chips. It was quite tasty and I am very appreciative of all that they put into it.

Please forgive the poor picture quality. I took them fast with my cell phone so they aren't the best.

Here is a picture of the main table that held the food and decorations. Lots of beautiful pumpkins and leaves!

Here is a picture of the cake that was made by another lady at work. It's a pumpkin!!

The party turned out to be a success and Thomas and I got some great things and lots of gift cards to use! I am very thankful to work at an agency that really is a great place to work.

Saturday!

Saturday was our wedding shower/reception party. It turned out SO nice.

It had rained all day Friday while we were getting the tent delivered and finishing up most of the decorations. We originally planned to have the tent out in the grass under a large oak tree on my cousin's property, but due to the rain soaked ground, we had to improvise and put the tent up in their driveway. Thankfully their driveway is nice and big :-) I think it actually turned out better to have the tent on the driveway instead of the grass. We were able to make an even bigger area with the tent (where all of the tables were set up for dinner) and that was connected to their large carport area that we set up as a dance floor. Next to the dance floor and tent was another smaller tent that was set up for the bar and food tables. It turned out wonderful and because of the rain, that hot Texas weather turned out to be pretty cool. I know they say rain on your wedding day is good luck, but surely it can apply to your bridal shower/family party as well :-)

My cousins and best friend put together a wonderful bridal shower for me!! Lots of yummy food and fun party games. I know there are some black mail pictures floating around out there somewhere!!! We received alot of nice things for our house and money on our honeyfund account for our honeymoon in Key West.

Next us ladies moved outside to the tent to have dinner and join the rest of the guests that were starting to arrive. My Dad served up a great BBQ meal stocked full of brisket, sausage, beans and potato salad. Not to mention the mouth puckering sour pickles!

All in all it was a fantastic night with our wonderful family and friends. Thomas and I couldn't be more lucky to not only have each other, but also such wonderful people in our lives.

Below is a sneak peak of one of the photos taken that day. We hung mason jars with little tea lite candles in them from one of the trees out front.

Party Time!

My fiance Thomas and I are getting married on October 06, 2012! We are going to have a very small and intimate ceremony with just our close family and a very few close friends. We both felt like this time in our lives should be something special and about celebrating our love for each other. We were planning on just having the small ceremony, but were quickly talked into having a fun reception/party before the actual wedding to celebrate with every one we love and care about.

The party will be a very laid back party, Texas style! Back yard tent, lots of burlap, a few hay bales, dancing, mason jars, and of course BBQ :-) My cousins, my best friend and my mom have been absolutely amazing helping plan and organize the party. I am pretty much stress free because of them and I can't thank them enough for everything they have done!

The party is this Saturday!!! I know everyone says that the time will fly, the party and wedding will be here before you know it, but it really did fly by!! Saturday is the big party and the wedding is in 25 days. I can not wait to become Thomas' wife :-)