Pumpkin Spice Candles Are Burning!

I've been a little absent from the blog lately. Fall is in full swing and we have been busy. A few weekends ago we went to Walnut Ridge to watch our nephew's homecoming football game then we spent the rest of the weekend at the lake with his family. I didn't take my camera to either, by mistake. I'm really going to try hard to take it to important places with me more often.
Last weekend I took some picture of my friend, Dee, and her family. I thought they turned out ok and it was good practice. Here are some of my favorites.




This weekend has been low key. Friday took the dogs to the park then went for pizza. We had plans to see The Town but were too tired to make the 6:50 show. That would mean we wouldn't get home until after 9!! Ridiculous, I know. We ended up coming home. I watched Legally Blond while Coby slept in the recliner. Poor guy has been working hard lately. Today Coby went to work for a little in the morning and ran some errands while I went to the grocery store. I finally bought a pumpkin. I usually have all of my Halloween decorations up at the beginning of October but I just couldn't find the motivation this year so I felt I at least needed a pumpkin.
I spent the afternoon in the kitchen preparing for dinners this week and making some chocolate coverage apples. I'll post our meals and recipe links for the week at the bottom. The Razorbacks play at 6:00 and I am making red beans and rice and curling up on the couch to watch! I am so glad fall is finally here!

MEALS FOR THIS WEEK
Red Beans and Rice
Shrimp PoBoys
Leftover White Beans and Cornbread
Greek salad, Hummus, and Homemade Flat Break
Butternut Squash Soup and Cheese Bread
Baked Ravioli and Salad

The Pumkin Patch Adventure (that never was)

Today has gone by so quickly. We got up this morning and headed out with the dogs for Coby's surprise. I figured out in the car that we were going to a pumpkin patch. I hadn't been to one since I worked respite weekends at camp in college. We always took the kids in the fall. Coby had seen a sign near his work and thought it would be something fun to do. A wrong turn, a spin out of the truck on gravel, almost hitting two dogs in the road, and a snake sighting later we made it. But no dogs were allowed and they were charging $5 per adult to get in. Has anyone else ever been to a pumpkin patch where they charge to get in? I wasn't planning on buying a pumpkin and just wanted to walk around a little. We decided it wasn't worth it and ended up taking the dogs to the park to chase the ball. When we got home I was able to get some laundry started, make a shopping list, go to the grocery store, make tuna sandwiches for lunch, and make homemade banana pudding.


It turned out really well and was pretty easy.
Side Note. This weeks meal list:
pulled pork (from the crock-pot) sandwiches with okra
confetti spaghetti and salad
flat iron steak, mac and cheese, veggie
meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans
(left over) pork tacos, black beans, avocados
spaghetti with left over (frozen) sauce
I also watched the Hogs pull out a win against Texas A&M. I repainted my nails and now am waiting on Coby to finish dinner. He said he would be in charge tonight and he's grilled steaks and green beans, with baked potatoes. I am also making the Pioneer Woman's rosemary dinner roll. Yum!

I had plans to take some pictures of my friend, Dee, and her family this evening but she had to cancel. Oh well, we'll have to reschedule. Coby has to work all day tomorrow so I plan on organizing the craft room and finishing up laundry for the week.

Whew...

I just spent the last 2.5 hours cleaning the house. Aside from doing the normal cleaning of the bathrooms and floors I wandered the house with my bucket of warm water, vinegar, and baking soda. I cleaned baseboards, doors, and walls. This is something that only gets done about once a year but probably needs it about 5-6 times a year. Does anyone else's walls get dusty? Strangest thing, but I am blaming all the dust on my 1942 house, not my lack of dusting.
Coby went to his nephew's football game tonight about 3 hours away and won't be back until late tonight. After cleaning I made a makeshift dinner of carrots and a quesadilla and turned on "Say Yes To The Dress". Nights like this remind me of when I was single. Not single in college, but single and an adult, with an adult job, and an adult house. I would find myself spending evenings alone wondering if I would ever have anyone to spend them with. Now I am just so thankful for nights alone but to know that the love of my life will be back in a few hours. Just one of those things that you look back on and realize how truly fortunate you are now. Speaking of my love. Coby says he has a surprise for me tomorrow morning. I am the worst with surprises. I ask, and ask, and ask, but this time I have tried really hard to leave it as a surprise. Wonder what it will be??!!
I plan on doing some organization of the "craft" room tomorrow afternoon before the Razorback game. Then I am going to take some pictures of my friend, Dee, and her family.
Hope everyone has a good weekend!

Fall is in the Air!

Why do I feel like I live for the weekend and then they just fly by? I had a super busy day at work on Friday. I had planned on cooking dinner but we decided to go get Mexican instead. After dinner we went to the North Little Rock football game. It was such good football weather. Saturday I woke up a got to work cleaning out the closet. I feel like I just did this but it's such an easy place to dump stuff and not put things up like we should. I organized, dusted, and vacuumed. I even ended up cleaning off the ceiling fan. We've been talking about putting our house on the market. Just talking so far, but we have lots of things around the house that need to be fixed or spruced up. I guess the cleaning of the closet was a start. Saturday afternoon I went to Hobby Lobby with my friend Dee and her baby son Weston. Then we went to scope out some places for picture taking. She had asked me to take some fall picture of Weston next weekend and we wanted to find a good scenic spot. Today we got up a went to church then to lunch with my parents. Once back at home I started work on a fall wreath I had seen here.
This is what I came up with. I wish I had used a different color to wrap the wreath but it's ok.


I am usually all about decorating for Halloween and then in November I switch out all my stuff to fall decorations, but I just can't get inspired this year. I think I might skip Halloween decorations and just go with a fall theme.
I also entered the dogs in a photo contest through our local newspaper. The top prize is a new camera! Click here if you want to vote. Here's hoping.



Something else random but exciting (to me at least). My new nail polish color. I never paint my finger nails. My toes are usually some shade of red but I have never liked any color on my finger. Until I saw this. I decided to give it a try and LOVE the color. It's great for fall. Not too bright or distracting. Coby thinks it's "goth" but he's a boy. What does he know?

Tonight for dinner I made potato soup which we will probably be eating off of for the up coming week. I haven't gotten around to making a menu and this week is looking like a busy one. I hope everyone has a good Monday!

Meal Plan Monday after a Loosing Saturday

Welp. We lost. It was a hard loss. And in true Razorback fashion we pulled ahead in the first half and let is slip away in the second. But it was against a very good #1 Alabama team. I think we played better that anyone expected us to and proved that we are a team to be contended with.
I was disappointed but not as disappointed as my dear, poor hubby. I decided to get out of the house right after the game to head to the grocery store (Monday Meal Plan at the end of post) and to my surprise he decided to join me vowing to not let the loss ruin his night. The grocery store was pleasantly calm compared to it's usually craziness. We had a good trip, came home and unloaded the car and then watched Boardwalk Empire on HBO. It's set in the 20's and is about the mob. Entertaining but a little gruesome. Tonight is the second episode.
I woke up this morning with a terrible sinus headache and a painin' in my ear. I'm feeling better and am thinking that it's just allergies. I have spent today doing a whole lot of nothing except catching up on laundry. Tomorrow it's back to work. It was crazy before I left and I'm pretty sure things have not got much better. Oh well, 60 more days until Thanksgiving!!

This week's meal plan...
Spaghetti
Shrimp and Grits
Tacos
Potato Soup and Sandwich
Chicken breast with Veggie and Mac and Cheese

WHOOOOOOO!

Today is the BIG day!! Hogs vs. Alabama (crimson tide/elephant-weird mascot combo?). Oh I'm nervous and excited all at the same time. Here are some pictures of the game from last weekend here in LR.



The game will be aired on CBS. My parents are going up to Fayettville but we are staying here and watching it on tv. I would have been fun to go but they are sold out and I like watching from home. I can keep up with what is going on much better.
Here is a story about how crazy hog fans can get.
WHOOOOO PIG SOOIE!!!!

New York Day #1

Here a recap of our trip. I really wish we could have stayed longer but I'm counting it as an orientation visit to our future trips.
Sunday, after we got in a settled we headed to the subway so we could make our way to Brooklyn where we had dinner reservations. We had some trouble figuring out what kind of card we needed and how to get it. The attendant was less than helpful. After deciding that we had maybe made the right choice we hopped on and made it there with only a few mistakes. It got much easier by the end of the trip. Once in Brooklyn we stopped at a little bar and had a drink then walked around the neighborhood. I really liked this area. It was quite and had a very neighborly feel to it. Then we went to dinner at wd50.

This is a picture I took of the chef, paparazzi style, from the bar across the street. His name is Wylie Dufresne. He has been a judge on Top Chef and competed on Top Chef Masters.


The food was really good. He does all these techniques to "trick" the mind. At one point I was munching on these tiny (smaller than bacon bits), cruchy, brown things thinking these are really good and I know the flavor but just can't place it. They were potatos! At another point I thought there was a scallop on my plate and it turned out to be a pineapple. The meal was really differnt and fun.