1st Cricut Party...preparing!!

So I got a Cricut Expression from my amazing fiance for Christmas (you should've seen me when I opened that bad boy, I was so ecstatic!), but I haven't used it yet.  I know right??? :(

Yep, pretty dang excited for this bad boy!!
Image Source


Why???  The problem is I don't know how to use it yet.  I know, CRAZY since I've wanted it for so long and I still haven't figured it out. That will all change after tomorrow!  I will finally learn how to use it.  My cousin's wife Jessica (who is awesome and made us this caaaauute ceramic tile for our housewarming gift) is going to teach me and Ashley how to use them (yep, she got one too :) !!!!!).

Love it!! I can't wait to make stuff like this!!

So it will be our very first Cricut Party and I couldn't be more excited about it!!!  I have so many projects in mind, and I can't wait to get started.  I'm hoping to take pictures of our crafting tomorrow, and next week I'll blog more about it.

Have a great weekend!!


PS - Any of you have experience with a Cricut, if so, do you have any tips?  Where do you get your vinyl and cartridges?  What about that "Sure Cuts A Lot" program; is that a must-have?  Clue me in, please!!!! :)

Groupon: Bath & Body Works online deal...hurry groupon deal ends today!!!

Have ya'll heard of Groupon?  If you haven't, let me tell you it's pretty much awesome!  I've been a member of this site for awhile now, but today was my first day to purchase one of their deals!  There are always awesome deals, based on what city you subscribe to get deals on.  The deals consist of Restaurants, Clothing/Retail Stores, Hotels, and even Bakeries.  The deals are usually only for that day, so you got to hurry!  Sometimes there are limited amounts, and sometimes if there aren't enough people interested in the deal you won't get it (however, your not charged if you don't get it).

Today they are having a deal on Bath & Body Works!!  This one really caught my attention...$30 worth of product for only $15, or $20 worth of product for $10!  I can't wait to stock up on my favorite soaps and body washes, maybe even a candle!  The deal ends today to purchase the Groupon, but you have until April 27th, 2011 to redeem your Groupon at Bath & Body Works online.  Anyways, I just had to share this frugal find with everyone!!  So if you're not a member and you want to join (totally free to join), click here.  This will take you to Groupon, and if you wouldn't mind, once you get there, in the upper right hand corner click "Refer Friends get $10" (yeah you can earn more bucks to refer your friends once you join too!) and enter in my referral link http://www.groupon.com/r/uu5768548.  Anywho, I hope you go check it out...BUT HURRY THE BATH & BODY WORKS GROUPON DEAL ENDS TODAY!!!

What is your favorite scent from Bath & Body Works?!  I am totally craving their TWILIGHT WOODS collection right now, it smells amazing (the guys version smells awesome too ;) ). 

Organizing: Pantry

Ok, first off my family and friends know (or should know) that I'm very organized (for the most part), and I love it when I am.  However, sometimes life happens and messes get created and don't always get taken care of right away!  Things become unorganized from time to time, which eventually drives me bonkers!  I don't consider myself OCD when it comes to cleaning & organization, I'm just very particular about things.  I love it when I open cabinets and things don't fly out at me, I love it when my house is clean when family & friends come over, I love it when I can find that certain thing I'm looking for without tearing apart the whole house...ok I think you get it! 

After reading how other bloggers have been doing some organizing in their house, that made me think about our house.  There are some area's in our home that really need some TLC!  I've been wanting to organize a few area's of our house for awhile, and last night I finally got to organize our small pantry in our back room.  This was one of those area's when I would open the doors, cans and chip bags would fly out at me!  You all might not think it's that bad, but yes it was pretty bad!!  By the time I was done going through our food, I realized that we have enough Tortilla Chips and PB to last us for awhile!!

BEFORE...

The Disaster waiting to happen!



 

This is where the cans fall out on my toes!



 AFTER...

Mucho better! Got rid of empty boxes, combined boxes,
and tried to organize by food type.



Yep still packed full of canned goods, but now I have an
idea of where things are.



Notice a pattern?!  Which is the oddball?
We LOVE LOVE LOVE Ragu Organic Traditional Spaghetti Sauce!

Our tiny pantry!

Here are some other blogs that have done some organizing, which inspired me even more!
Thirfty Decor Chick: read about ALL of her organizing posts here!! (I love her blog, seriously!)
DIY Design Fanatic: I love how she organized her daughters Armoire and her pantry!!
One Thrifty Chick: I love her craft room, and check out her recent organization of her tupperware and baking supplies, and OMG look at her "Stockpile" aka Pantry (I think I'm in love!)!
Ready.Set.Plan: Speaking of Pantry, check out their 3 months supply pantry!!

After seeing some of their pantry's, I think I want to add some plastic shelving in the basement.  We are planting a garden this spring, so we're hoping to can most of everything which we'll need more storage area for everthing!

I have other areas of our house that needs some organization done to it...All of my cabinets in the kitchen, bathroom cabinets, guest room, BASEMENT (this is a huge one), and our small shed in the backyard. 

To finish off the night, I enjoyed a glass of Strawberry-Apple wine while I cooked supper.  This is from my {small} hometown winery, it was delish!!


Mmm...perfect way to end the night!



Do you like to keep things organized?  What are you organizing right now? 

Zesty Italian Chicken w/ sauteed Veggies

Last night I made a really yummy supper, and not to mention it was super easy!  I've been wanting to marinate some chicken breasts in Italian Dressing, because it makes the chicken tender and gives it awesome flavor.  I also have been wanting to grill, but with our nasty and cold weather we've been having we can't really grill outside.  So I had to improvise and do a little thinking on whether to cook it in the cast iron skillet, or in the oven.  I thought I should make a healthy choice for this meal and cook it in the oven.  I found this easy recipe here (mainly just needed to know how long to cook it at and what temp, because the chicken was already marinating in the dressing), and the rest is history!  We had some zucchini in the fridge, along with some onion, red pepper, and asparagus...that was our yummy side dish!!!  Mmmm...I love zucchini and red peppers sauteed, but not a huge fan of asparagus which was mainly for D.  Enjoy!

Adapted original recipe from allrecipes.com (with some added seasoning and personal notes)



Ingredients: minus Asparagus and butter...Chicken was already marinated

Ingredients:
Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Kraft Zesty Italian Dressing (any Zesty Italian dressing will work, but I used Kraft)
Salt
Fresh ground Pepper
Minced Onion
Garlic Salt
1-2 Zucchini (depending on size, I used 2 small), peeled and chopped to saute
1 Red Bell Pepper, seeds removed and chopped (length wise)
1 small Onion, diced (however you like to cut up your onions for sauteing)
3 Tbsp Butter, separated in half (for each skillet)
1 bundle of Asparagus (cut off ends, 1"-1-1/2")

Directions:
1. Pound out your chicken breasts and trim off the fat if there is any to trim off (I used my Pampered Chef Meat Tenderizer, flat side).
2. Put chicken into a ziploc bag and pour in Zesty Italian Dressing, and marinate for at least an hour (I like to marinate mine for at least 6 hours, the longer the better!).
3. Once chicken is marinated, place chicken in a light greased 9x13 glass baking dish.  Discard the remaining marinade left in baggy (I drizzled a little extra over the top first).
4. Season chicken with Salt, Fresh Ground Pepper (or regular pepper), Minced Onion, and Garlic Salt (this is optional, but I like to add a little additional flavor).
5.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45minutes to 1 hour (mine took about 45-50 minutes, and it was perfect!).
6. Prep all veggies as stated above, and melt butter in 2 skillets over medium heat (unless you want to cook the asparagus with your Zucchini and Red Pepper, then 1 skillet is fine).  Add in veggies and saute until desired doneness (I also seasoned the veggies with some salt and pepper while sauteing them).
7. Enjoy the awesomeness!



Saute Zucchini, Red Bell Peppers, and Onion in butter



Saute Asparagus in butter until preferred doneness
(I put a lid on it to speed up the cooking time)



Yumm-O!

This is one meal I could seriously eat just about everyday!  I love Chicken, love love Zucchini, and love Red Bell Peppers!!  Here are a few other recipes that have Zucchini, and Red Pepper, that you should check out (if you already haven't) and try!!

Heavenly Zucchini Bread

Hearty Round Steak Casserole

Steak & Red Pepper Omelette's



PS - The flu bug did attack me, but like I said Tuesday it was gone.  However, Tuesday night I started to get a sore throat.  So for now I'm battling that, and I will win! 

PPS - It snowed here last week, but most of it melted away by the end of the week due to the nice weather that decided to join us for a couple days (more like a teaser!), and then Tuesday night it iced really bad and snowed a little bit last night.  So we've been slipping and sliding around for the last couple days...not fun!  Stay warm, everyone!



Linking up with...
At Home With Haley
It's A Blog Party
Today's Creative Blog
The Shabby Chic Cottage
What Allie's Making Now
Somewhat Simple
Paisley's Passions
Not So Homemade

Flu was here...

This is so not very interesting, but it's all I got...

I hope you all had a great weekend!  Mine was ok.  Why just ok, you ask?  Well it started off pretty good, but ended miserably.  Friday D and I went out to eat and had a couple of beers, it was fun, but we didn't stay out very late.  Saturday morning I met up with my sister in-law and my brothers gf for lunch and a little shopping (good times), and then cooked D and I supper, played some PS3 Move sports against each other (that was a lot of fun actually), and then BOOM.I felt like I hit a brick wall right before bed.  I didn't feel good at all, so I took some Tums and off to bed I went.  Sunday when I woke up I just didn't feel right.  I pretty much stayed in sweats and t-shirt all day long (yes I did shower).  After lunch I felt terrible again.  So I loaded up on the Tums and drank Sprite for pretty much the whole day.  By supper time, I couldn't even eat; my stomach hurt and I was really achy.  So I fell asleep on the couch, and  woke up and well I had to make a run for the bathroom.  I will spare you all the details, but I did have a fever of 99.8 (which isn't too high, but I never get fevers not even with the random colds I get), so back to the couch I went and passed out!  Monday I woke up so achy with a temp of 100.9, which was the sole reason I decided to stay home from work.  I was miserable.  I hate missing work when I'm sick.  I don't like to use vacation for sick days, just irritates me!  Anyways, I slept most of the day yesterday and ate crackers.  My fever finally broke mid afternoon and by bed time, I was just achy.  I woke up this morning and felt like a new woman!!  No aches, no fever, and I wasn't that tired.  So I'm pretty sure it was the flu bug that hit me, which I haven't had the flu for.ev.er.  But I'm glad I'm over it and hope to not see it again for a really long time! 

So that's all I really have for you!  I'm praying for a much better week!!!  Oh and my house missed me the last couple days...YIKES is it a mess!  Have a great week!

First true snow of Winter...

Before Sunday night/Monday morning we've had snow one other time, but it literally just dusted the streets and was gone the next day.  All last week, the weatherman kept predicting a huge snow storm that was going to effect our {small} town and mostly the whole state of KS.  I wasn't really sure what to think, especially since the weather went from hot (summer), warm (fall), a little brisk (winter), nice (yep, still winter), brutally cold (normal winter), nice again (like we're talking 60 degree weather in the middle of December here...crazy!), and back to being brutally cold (hello winter...I think you've finally arrived!).  This morning when D and I came to work his truck said it was -2 degrees out...burr...that's not even including the wind chill factor.  I don't even want to know what that was. 

Anyways, back to our snow storm we got...we got maybe 3-4 inches.  We were supposed to get like 6-8 inches total, but I think it went around us.  Oh well, I'm not complaining, at least we finally got some moisture.  Here are a couple pictures I took (the backyard was covered a lot more than the front)...


Bernie on the back porch...his little paws were freezing!



Front of the house, not as much as the backyard
(our house doesn't lean, I think it's the photographer!!)



Looking down the street...brrr...


The only bad part about all of this is, my car wouldn't start yesterday or today...it's that cold out!  We are going to charge the battery up today, so hopefully that will fix it and it'll be back to the norm instead of hitching a ride with D!

Stay warm, everyone!

Steak & Red Pepper Omelette's

Sunday morning  I made the best Steak & Red Pepper Omelette's for D and I (they looked more like scrambles, but lets call them Omelette's!!).  I haven't ever had a steak omelet before, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out.  I know I'm not the first to come up with this idea, but it was toooo good not to share!! :)


Steak and Red Pepper Omelet
(see its more like a scramble, but I like the word Omelet better!)

Let me back up...Friday night we had D's dad (mom was out of town), and his grandparents over for a delish supper.  We realized earlier in the week since we've lived there (moved in at the beginning of July mind you, and we live in the same {small}town), we haven't had either of them over for supper (yes I know, we're slackers).  D and I dry aged some Ribeyes and T-Bone steaks (yep from the 1/4 of beef we got a few months back), had some baked taters, and some awesome sauteed veggies (steaks were so big they took up the majority of the grill so we had to cook them on the stove).  Oh and I forgot some salad and his grandma brought some yummy butterscotch dessert stuff that she makes!!!  Mmmmm... :)

Fast forward to Sunday morning...those steaks were so huge we had some leftover, along with 2 baked taters.  So I thinly sliced up some steak, and red peppers and made us some omelette's, and then fried up the left over tators.  This will be on our list of things to make in the future when we make steak again...just FYI!!

You'll need the following...
Leftover Steak (I probably used 6-8 oz), thinly sliced
1/2 Red Pepper, take seeds out and dice
5-6 eggs, beat
1/4 Milk (approx only...more or less for your liking)
Salt to taste
Pepper to Taste,
Minced Onion to taste
Cheese (lots of cheese if you LOVE cheese like me!!)

Beat the milk and eggs together like you normally would for an omelet, and pour into lightly greased/heated skillet.  Add the Steak and Red Pepper, season to taste, and cover with cheese.  And then cook it like you normally would cook the omelet.  Next fry up some tators if you want, and then top the omelet off with some yummy salsa (it's good with out, but way better with)!!  Enjoy!

Sooooooo good!!! :)

Linking up with...
At Home With Haley
It's A Blog Party
Today's Creative Blog
The Shabby Chic Cottage
What Allie's Making Now
Somewhat Simple
Paisley's Passions
Not So Homemade

NYE Snapshots

Wednesday I shared the WONDERFUL EXCITING news with all of you...(eeks after 3.5+ years, we're finally engaged!!)!!!  Today I thought I would share some more pics of the fun evening we had with our friends in the big city...I'm not gonna go into a huge story, just pics!  Enjoy! :)



Mmm...Champagne!



Yummy dessert!



NYE Dinner Date!



Shots, Shots, Shots, Shots....errbody!



Trevor and Nicole! (newlyweds!)



D and T-Rev!



Mel & Dustin (also newlyweds!!!)



Wake Up!



Me and Kelly



Me and Ali



Mel, D, and Sam (I'm thinking this is when he told Mel his BIG surprise!)





Me and Mom




Mom, Nicole, and Me

And in case you forgot... :) 

New Years Day (eve) we decided to go out and celebrate some more!!





Aimee, D, Me, and Jerrad
Celebratory Shots!



D, Me, Jerrad, and Dani!



Aimee & Ryan!



Amber, Mike, Kelly, Me, D, and Joe (Amber & Joe are newlyweds too!)

A Wonderful Start to the New Year...WE'RE ENGAGED!!!

Yep...you read the title right...

WE'RE ENGAGED!!!!

January 1, 2011 at 12:01 a.m. - D proposed to me!!!





The Timeline....

11:45pm - D and our friend Trevor sneak outside, I wanted them to hurry up so I could kiss my love at the stroke of midnight!

11:55pm - They make it back inside and D asks if I want to sit down, and I said that I wanted to stand and watch the ball drop on TV!

11:59pm (5 seconds to go) - <counting down> 5, 4, 3, 2, 1...

12:00am - EVERYONE YELLS HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!  I started giving everyone a hug in sight!!

12:00am (30 seconds into) - Trevor began to yell after everyone quieted down, I started to yell, and then my friend Kelly started to yell.  I turned around and gave my Mom and hug.

12:01am - I turned around from hugging Mom and there Dustin was on his knee asking ME to be HIS WIFE!!  I of course said YES!!  I didn't think there was any time in between him asking and me answering, but he said it felt like a good 5 min (it wasn't that long, trust me!)!! 

I was in total shock (in a really good way)!  I couldn't believe that he asked ME to be HIS WIFE!  All night long I just thought it was another New Years spent with the people we love (my Mom and our friends)...and he just made our night so much better!!!!  I just couldn't believe it! 

The next morning I was wide awake at 8am, and I just had to make sure it wasn't a dream...NOPE it wasn't, the RING was still there!!! :) :) :)

Apparently just about all of our friends knew (including Mom), except me!  (Way to go friends for being able to keep it a secret all night!!)  So then he told me when he asked my Dad, and how that went...he asked him the Sunday of the 2nd Deer Hunting trip we took to my {small} hometown.  (He was pretty brave to do it while they were hunting...with guns!)  Of course my Dad and D get along so well, so Dad told him it was ok to ask me to marry him.  When I called my Dad the next morning, he was ecstatic (as everyone else was too)!  Mom got to see the whole thing, and she cried!  He asked her at 11:30pm, and she about lost it then, but she did really good keeping it in until he popped the question!! 

Shortly after D proposed to me,
 the KC Nightlife people took a picture of us!

I hope you all had a wonderful New Year! 

Cheers to 2011 to be the best year yet!!!

Say Cheese!