Preparing for our Housewarming Party :)

This past weekend we started getting stuff ready for our Housewarming Party, which is this Saturday October 2nd.  We know it's a little past due, but we finally decided 3 months after moving in it was finally time to have one.  We have been so busy this summer on the weekends, we just haven't had time. 

Before I get to all of the party details, a quick weekend update...
Friday night we went out to one of the local holes and had supper with D's mom & dad, and her friends.  We had so much fun and did a lot of laughing!  Saturday morning we got up that morning to go out of town to get my hair done, and to get a ton of groceries for the party.  Oh and I LOVE my hair!  I just got it trimmed, and had red and blonde highlights put in it.  D said he liked it better light, than dark, and not to cut so much off...so that's what I did. :)  Saturday night we went over to the "every Saturday" pool party (probably one of the last weekends to do it...bummer!), and had so much fun!  Sunday it was gorg outside!  We had lunch with D's parents, and I worked outside all day.  I watered/cleaned up the flowers in front of our house, moved a couple of other plants into new planters, spruced up the front porch for fall (and housewarming party), and I spray painted those canisters I got that one weekend I went back to my {small} hometown!! (I will have a separate post later on that!)  All-in-all it was a fabulous weekend!  I just love the fall weather we are having right now!!

Ok, back to the good stuff!!  Anyone that knows me, knows that I LOVE, LOVE to plan and throw parties!!  I just makes me so excited, but by the time it's done I'm usually so over it!!  But no, really, I love to do stuff like this!  I helped plan and throw my dad his 50th surprise bday party, my grandparents 60th wedding anniversary (did all of the decor, alot of it was handmade and only had a month and half to do it all!), my mom's 50th birthday party (did all of the decor, cake, etc myself), and have thrown several of our own Halloween Parties, New Years Eve Parties, and etc.  Now it's time for OUR very own Housewarming Party!!

Since Sunday I've been busy getting our house ready for our party, and will continue to do so the rest of the week.  We are going to do some major cleaning, some paint touch-ups, finish decorating, wash the house, cook and bake some food beforehand, and just make everything look wonderful and inviting!  We are going to keep it simple and have yummy appetizers and finger foods, and it's supposed to be a come & go (or stay for awhile) type party!  Our house isn't very big, and we invited quite a few of our friends and family, so I'm praying for nice weather that evening so people can go outside and hang out if they want. 

Ok...on to the menu we plan on having (hopefully I can get to everything!!):
Steak Fingers (my grandma's recipe, which happen to be the BEST steak fingers ever!)
Bone-In Buffalo Wings (not homemade, but still good!)
BBQ Meatballs (in the crockpot, but not homemade!)
Cheese Dip (yummy)
Chips and homemade Salsa (my weakness!)
Fried Green Beans (from Schwan's and they are the BEST!)
Jalapeno Boats (my bestie introduced me to these, and they are one of my fav's!)
Spinach & Artichoke Dip (D's mom makes this!)
Jalapeno Jelly over Cream Cheese (jelly is made in KS and it's so good! and with Cream Cheese it's spicy, but sweet!!)
Black Cherry/Berry over Cream Cheese
Fruit Tray
Fresh Veggie Tray (courtesy of my dad's garden!)
Oreo Truffles (haven't tried them yet, but don't they sound delish!!)
S'more Pops (brilliant, especially for a party like this!)
Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip (my friend made this for our church group, and let me tell ya this stuff is just as addicting as real cookie dough!)

I know that sounds like a lot of food, but there is going to be a lot of people, and plus I love "a little bit of this and a little bit of that"!!!

Here are the invitations we sent out a few weeks ago...very cute and simple!  I didn't want to splurge on the fancy ones, so the hand-written ones will do!  I love me some Hobby Lobby!!

I hope to post about my progress throughout the rest of the week, and of course the party on Saturday!!  I can't wait!!

Homestyle Meatloaf

A little over a year and half ago we were craving Meatloaf, but I hadn't ever made it before.  I went looking through my one of my cookbooks from Taste of Home and found one that I wanted to give a shot.  It was fairly easy to make, as long as you don't mind getting your hands a little dirty!!  Last night I wanted to make something I hadn't made in awhile and decided to make this again.  I was really excited, because it had been so long I sort of forgot what it tasted like!!  It tastes like a traditional meatloaf, but with an extra crunch (french fried onions) and zing on top!  We had baked potatoes and corn on the cob with it; it was the perfect meal! 

I figured I better share the love, so here ya go!! 
Did I mention it was easy to make?!


Ground Beef, Onion, Bread Crumbs, Salt, Pepper, Ketchup,
Worcestershire Sauce, Egg, & French Fried Onions.

Get your hands dirty and mix it up!
***wash your hands first!***

Mix it up until everything is blended together!

Grease up your dish, shape into a loaf, and Bake!!

Ingredients for Meatloaf:
1 1/2 lbs Ground Beef
1 small Onion, finely chopped
1 Cup Soft Bread Crumbs
1/4 Cup Ketchup
1/4 Cup Worcestershire Sauce
1 Egg, beaten
1/4 tsp Salt
Dash of Pepper

Additional Ingredients for Topping:
1/4 Cup Ketchup
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 Can of French Fried Onions

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350*
2. Put all of the Meatloaf ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Wash your hands (so you can get them dirty again!).
4. Mix all of the Meatloaf ingredients together with your hands, until everything is blended together.
5. Grease baking dish (I used a square glass baking dish).
6. Shape Meatloaf mixture into loaf.
7. Bake for 1 hour at 350*
8. In the meantime mix together the Ketchup and Worcestershire Sauce for topping and set aside.
9. After 1 hour, take the Meatloaf out and top with Ketchup/Worcestershire Sauce topping mixture, and then finish off with the French Fried Onions on top.
10. Bake for an additional 5 minutes, and take out.  Let stand for 5 minutes before slicing into it.

Slice it up, and Devour!

Enjoy!

It was just D and I, and there was plenty left for leftovers!

If you decide to give this yummy/crunchy/zingy meatloaf a try, please let me know how it turns out!!



I'm linking up to:
It's A Blog Party on Delicious Dishes
The Creative Girl on Just Something I Whipped Up
Todays Creative Blog on Get Your Craft On
The Shabby Chic Cottage on Transformation Thursdays
Somewhat Simple on Strut Your Stuff
Just a Girl on Show and Share Day

A Fun Weekend and An Amazing Fall Wedding!

This past weekend we had so much fun!  It was time for us to head to the "Big City" for a fun-filled/wedding weekend.  Friday we worked a 1/2 day, and then headed down the road.  The drive was going by really fast, and then we were about 30 minutes from where we were going, and wham...the traffic stopped.  We sat in stop and go traffic for about 30 minutes, it wasn't very fun!  By the time we got going again, we were really anxious to get there!  We went and had supper with my mom, and then we met up with all of our friends.  A couple that D used to work with, have turned out to be pretty good friends of ours, are getting married in MN in October.  Their friends thru Amber a surprise Bridal Shower/Bachelorette Party earlier in the night, but we weren't able to make it.  However, they were so awesome they decided to meet up with us later to continue their celebration!  Here are some pictures from Friday evening...

soon to be Mr & Mrs in October!

Love these 2 girls!!

D and Cory

they are so cute!

Saturday we had some shopping we had to do before we got ready for our friends Wedding.  We went to Cargo World and purchased this awesome Bakers Rack to put in our kitchen.  It is really cute and love that it has slots for wine bottles and wine/martini glasses. 

After that we did a little more shopping :) , and it was time to head off to the wedding.  We met this couple through another couple that went to our small church group.  D and Trevor really hit it off, and I just love Nicole!  Their wedding took place out in the country at this really cool barn/building (it's meant to be for weddings and special events!).  The weather was really hot and humid, but the wedding itself was so beautiful and simple.  They had fall decorations and flowers, it was so cute!  It was a small wedding, so we were so glad that we got to be apart of it!!  Here are some pictures...

Nicole and her mother walking down the aisle

"You may kiss the bride!!"

1st dance

We even got to hang out with our friends Steve & Erin (and their little girl) from old our small group.  Steve officiated their ceremony.  He is the pastor at our old church.  We just love these guys!!

D and the bride during the $$ dance!

me & groom during the $$ dance!

I heart this guy!!

random dancing!



D and Trevor at the end of the night!


Oh and one last thing..................we kept it VERY classy and...

...that's right did a few keg stands!  Ok, I didn't actually do any, but there were a couple *cough cough* guys that did!!!  After the dance was over, we didn't want to risk driving, so we called my mom and had her meet us in town where the bridal party was staying.  Thank goodness she doesn't mind us sending her on a wild goose chase at 12:30am!!!

Fall Decor

After seeing some greats posts about Fall Decor, I decided it was time to get the couple of things I had out for Fall.  Last year when we lived in the Big City I mainly decorated the Fire Place Mantle with real pumpkins, some gourds, and candles.  I kept it real simple.  This year now that we are in our very own house I wanted to get a few more things.  Not to mention our Housewarming Party is coming up in a couple of weeks (eeks!).  We are limited on space, and we don't have a fire place...so it's a work in progress! :)

Last weekend on my Girls Day Out I purchased a few things from Hobby Lobby to start off with.  Our house is already decorated with warm colors, so the stuff I got blend in very nicely.  It still isn't very much, but I think it's a good start!  I spent about $30 total, all of their fall stuff was 40% off, and the wooden sign was 50% off!!

fall floral arrangement i created for about $10!

already had the container and some of the greenery!

up close of the pumpkins

can't really tell, but it has little design all over it and it's actually more of a brown color
love this little guy!



top view of our bookshelf!



loved these 3 wooden pumpkins! total cost about $7.00.

they are a little rustic, with little bells on the stems and glitter on the "swirls"

a fall hanging for outside of our house...really love this!!!
this was about $7.50.

I'm hoping to get a few more things this weekend!!


Linking up to Shabby Chic Cottage on Transformation Thursdays
It's a Blog Party on Decorating Your Home and on Fall Get-together Party
Just a Girl on Show and Share Day

Girls Day Out!

My weekend was so much fun, and I was so sad to see it go!  My brothers girlfriend, who happens to be one of my really good friends, came to visit me!  My brother had other stuff going on so he wasn't able to come, so we had somewhat of a girls weekend!

Friday night we went to the bowling alley with D, his parents, and his younger brother.  We had so much fun, and we laughed so hard!!  I actually didn't do too shabby.  My first game was my best game (so far!), I bowled a 117.  That is awesome for me!  My second game wasn't very good, and my third was good.  I had a flashback at one point in the night when I slid past the line and fell on my butt!!  It was a little embarrassing, but totally fun at the same time!  I've been known to do that a few times!  After we were done at the bowling alley us 2 girls went to one of the local holes and had a couple of beers.  We just sat and had girl talk for an hour, which is the best, and decided we better go home.  On our way out, this one girl decided she was going to be a snot to me, but I didn't realize until after the fact what she was doing.  I still haven't a clue what her dealio was, but oh well!

Saturday morning we headed to Dodge for a GIRLS DAY OUT!!!  We first met up with a classmate and good friend of ours and headed out for the day. 

Girls Day Out!!

We first went to a nail salon to get our toes done, and our friend got her nails done.  I will say it was clean and cheap, but we weren't really impressed with the service.  There were only 2 people working, and they were rather busy, so it took a little bit longer than expected.  That's ok though, we were still having fun!  Then we headed to the Casino for lunch.  We had a "Big Onion" (like the bloomin' onion at Outback Steak House) for an appetizer, and the most delish drink EVER!  It was a Cherry Limeade, that had Cherry Rum and some other stuff in it.  It tasted just like a Cherry Limeade you get at Sonic only with a little "punch" added!  We all had huge sandwiches for our main course.



Pure Deliciousness!

After lunch we stuck around for a little bit and lost some money at the Casino!  It took me a mere 20 minutes to lose $40 at video poker...I wasn't a happy camper!  The other 2 girls didn't lose that much, but didn't win either.  So after we lost some money we decided to go to Hobby Lobby and spend even more money!  This was one of the main reasons for the trip, after all you can't go to a place that has a HL and not go...right?!  Well not this girl anyways!  We had so much fun looking at the Fall stuff to decorate our houses with.  We even saw the Christmas stuff, but darted in the other direction.  I can't even look at Christmas stuff right now!  We all got some really cute fall stuff for our houses.  I got some floral picks to put in this cute basket I have on our bookshelf, some cute little wooden pumpkins, and a cute sign to put outside. 

Fall Floral Arrangement I made...post to come later on the rest of the fall decor!

I was so tired after Hobby Lobby, and decided it was time to head back to the small town.  We grabbed my friend and made her come with us!!  When we got back we went over to the pool party to hang out for the evening.  We laughed so hard and had so much fun just hanging out.  D and his mom, and all of her friends had been there all day, so we had to take D home; it was time!!  Later on us 3 girls went to the same local hole and had a beer and went home.  We stayed up really late girl talking...it was like old times!!


What Bernie looked like when we got to the pool...poor guy is going to have a complex!!! LOL!

Sunday I made Scalloped Potatoes and Ham, and fresh green beans for all of us.  It was so good (no pictures of that this time)!  I was so sad to see the weekend come to an end.  I had so much fun though, and we plan on doing that again sometime!!!

Remember When...

September 11, 2001 is a day we'll NEVER forget. 

I remember that very specific day, September 11th 2001...I was a Sophomore in highschool.  I woke up that morning and got ready for school like I did everyother day.  Little did I know something so terrible was about to take place in the United States.  I was in weight training that morning, in the locker room getting ready, when one of the other girls told us the gut-wrenching news.  One of the Twin Towers had been hit by a hi-jacked plane...

In the hallways on our way to 2nd period that morning, all of the students and teachers were talking about it.  I got to my next class and had found out the 2nd Tower had been hit by another hi-jacked plane. 

Next the Pentagon was hit...and shortly after Flight 93 was hi-jacked and crashed in Pennsylvania.

I just remember thinking "how could something like this happen to us?"  I was really confused and wasn't sure what to think.  Everything was a blur.  My mind was racing, and my heart ached for all of the families involved.  That whole day, and days to follow that's all we did in all of our classes was watch CNN and other news channels to see what was going on.

To this day, my heart aches for those involved in such a tragedy. 

I just want to shout out to all of our Policemen, Firemen, EMT's, all branches of the Military, and all of the volunteers.  I appreciate all you have done for us and continue to do for us.

Where were you on that September Day???

September 11, 2001 is a day we'll NEVER forget.

Check out Thrifty Decor Chick's blog about 9/11...she has some really awesome pictures from the memorial!

"Loaded" Baked Potato Soup!

Last night I made the BEST Baked Potato Soup, ever!!  One of my friends that lives in the Big City gave me this recipe last year after she brought this soup for our church group, and I've made it a couple of times since.  It truly is one of the best "loaded" potato soups I've ever made and tried!  It's also pretty easy to make I think.  Enjoy!

Ingredients!

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Ingredients:
4 baked potatoes
2 cups cheddar cheese (1 bag)
12 pieces of bacon (1 pkg)
6 cups of Milk
(1) 8oz tub Sour Cream
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions:
1.) Bake the potatoes in the oven at 400* until done (I cheated a little...I had some leftover baked potatoes and used them. They worked perfect!)
2.) Once potatoes are cool enough to touch, remove the peelings, and cut up. Set aside.
3.) Cook Bacon as directed on package, chop, and set aside (I cooked my bacon in the microwave, 6 pieces at a time for 6 minutes, and it turned out perfect crispy!)
4.) Melt Butter in large soup pot
5.) Stir in flour until thick
6.) Slowly add milk, and stir until heated
7.) Add the remaining ingredients (bacon, cheese, sour cream, potatoes, salt, and pepper), and stir until heated!

Side Note: I kept a little bacon and cheese off to the side and added it once I poured the soup into a bowl.  I also added a little more salt and pepper to taste.  This makes enough for a large pot/crockpot.

I hope you decide to give this a try, and please let me know how it turns out!!!



i'm linking up to these parties...
It's a Blog Party - Delicious Dishes
The Girl Creative - Just Something I Whipped Up
Today's Creative Blog
Somewhat Simple - Strut Your Stuff

UPDATED - Labor Day Weekend!

We had a busy but fun Labor Day Weekend!!!  Here is a little briefing on what we all did (i only got a couple of pics)...........

Thursday night I started subbing for the Ladies Bowling League, and let me tell you that was a good way to start the weekend.  Although I didn't want to get up Friday for work I still had too!  Anyways, there is 2 other girls on my team, one of which is my age and really good friends with.  I surprisingly did really good, and anyone that has bowled or watched me bowl knows I'm not very good!  The only time I'm good is if I've a few (or more!) beers to drink!  I can't remember what my scores were, I just know I did awesome (for me!).  I don't have any funny stories about me falling into the gutter or halfway down the lane (I'm known to do stuff like that), but the season just started and goes until April!!  We also watched D's parents dog while they went to Vegas....Bernie and Misty are BFF's!!!

Bernie & Misty checking out something going on outside!

Friday night after work, D and I headed to Hays for a much needed date night!  We went to Professors Steak House & Saloon for supper.  We drank a couple of beers and had some yummy food!  I had Chicken Fried Steak, and D had some kind of Grilled Chicken. 

Coors Light (for me!) and some kind of brew from Manhattan KS that tasted like coffee!

After supper we went to the movies; we saw "The Other Guys".  It was actually pretty funny...kind of long, but had some really funny parts in it.  It has Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as the main characters, always acting like they are Bad A police detectives.  One of the funny quotes of the movie was when Mark Wahlberg kept saying "I'm like a peacock, you gotta let me fly!"  I would totally watch it again!  After the movie we went grocery shopping and home we went.

Saturday we did stuff around the house and decided we had enough of that, and went to the lake with some friends.  They have a pontoon boat, so that was fun!  Although it took us 2 hours to get on the lake, it was worth it.  When we went to load up the boat, we came up on a half sunken little speed boat by the boat ramp.  Low and behold it was a bunch of dumb college boys that had no clue what they were doing.  When we pulled up they were just standing around drinking beer and starring at the boat.  We heard a ton of different stories about how it happend, clearly they were trying to cover their ass just in case the Park Rangers showed up.  The best quote was "this is my boat....MY DAD IS GOING TO KILL ME!!!!!!!"  I wish I had taken pictures...maybe the girl we went with got some....if so I'll be sure to share.  Boys.are.dumb. :)

Sunday my Mom, Grandparents, Brother, and his girl came to check out the house and we cooked them some delicious lunch.  Grilled Chicken w/ BBQ sauce, Bacon crumbles, and mozzarella cheese (yummy), fresh green beans, baked potatoes, corn dip (thanks to Ashley), and cherry pie (thanks to Grandma)!  It was really nice to see them, and they really liked our house.  I love my family!!  After they left we decided to go over to the pool party, which is always a BLAST!!  We had beer bongs, wine, beer, watermelon, bbq, tons of other food, and so much fun!!  Sun + Water + Beer (not always in that order) = always a fun time!

Monday was our day off from work since it was Labor Day, and we did a whole bunch of nothing!  We watched Rehab Resort Las Vegas all day (marathon), sat on the couch, and snacked!  We also watched a movie "The Edge of Darkness".  It has Mel Gibson and a bunch of other actors i'm not sure who they were.  It was a really good movie, kept me on my toes that's for sure!  All-in- all it was an awesome day to do absolutely nothing!

I hope you all had a fun weekend!!! :)

The Last Song : Review

{Most} Wednesday nights, D goes downtown and plays poker with a bunch of the locals, which is something he and I both look forward too!  He gets to play poker and I get to catch up on my DVR'd shows and/or watch chick flicks!!  (I usually get some cleaning done too, but that's not the "fun" part!)  So lastnight Bernie and I kicked up our feet and relaxed a little!

and yes I <3 my dog, you'll be hearing a lot about him!

<<<if you haven't seen this movie yet, this might spoil it for you>>>

Lastnight I watched "The Last Song" starring Miley Cirus.  I first saw the trailer for this movie when I went to see "Dear John" in  theater, and I cringed at the thought of Miley being in the movie!  It looked like a really good chick flick, but I wasn't excited about her being in it!

 By the way, Dear John was a really great movie!  If you haven't seen it, definetely check it out!  Channing Tatum is so hott!!! :)

Anyways, getting back to "The Last Song", overall it was a good movie.  It wasn't great, but it was umm...good.  On a scale from 1-10 (10 being the best), I would probably give it a 6.5.  I think my favorite character in the movie was the little brother; he was so cute and funny!  I also liked the little love story that went on throughout the whole movie with "Ronie" and "Will".  I also loved the little baby turtles, and how "Ronie" looked after them each night!  It was really cute!  I did tear up a few times, it was really sad towards the end of the movie.  It just really makes you think.

My dislikes of the movie were: Miley's laugh really annoyed me and I hated how "Ronie" treated her dad in the beginning.  I knew something was wrong with the dad when they were talking about the church burning down and how confused he was from the medicine, so why didn't she take further action then?!?!  She was so wrapped up in her own life of being unhappy due to the fact her parents got a divorce.....that really made me want to smack her!  How can someone be so cruel and cold to another person, especially if they are family?  (i know, i know, it's just a movie!!!)   Sorry about my little rant, but that's all I really have to say about the movie.  I'm not sure I'd buy it on DVD, or watch it again...it was an ok movie though.

What did you think about the movie?  Has anyone read the book, is it better than the movie?

On a side note: It really makes me realize that life is too short, and that you need to tell your family and friends that you love them as much as possible!