Monday, August 22, 2011

I needed this today...

And maybe you do too.


It's hard... but it has to be true right?


PS- This is how I want to be! :


Do the things you talked about doing but never did. Know when to let go and when to hold on tight. Stop rushing. Don't be intimidated to say it like it is. Stop apologizing all the time. Learn to say no so your yes has some OOMPH! Spend time with friends that lift you up and cut loose the ones that bring you down. Stop giving your power away. Be more concerned with being interested than being interesting. Be old enough to appreciate your freedom, and young enough to enjoy it. Finally, know who you are. ~Kristin Armstrong


Man.. this is really who I want to be!!!! And now is the time to do it.





Sunday, August 21, 2011

Ballet? My kids?

Not sure if I had mentioned this before but last school yr, the School of Nashville Ballet gave an incredible opportunity to a few schools in the metro school district to have kids try out for a full yrs scholarship to study ballet.
SO I figured why not?? So I took the kids down to west end and after waiting forever, they took them back to do who knows what ballet folks do and that was that. I never thought they'd get it but A few months later, we get letters saying both kids were accepted. Being the boy that he is, Reese said no but Rielly was and is thrilled!

So next Saturday, Rielly starts ballet "study" here:

http://www.nashvilleballet.com/school/

Because of the school that it is, they are pretty serious and strict. They produce professionals and expect excellence. No tardys. Complete uniforms. No talking. Etc Etc Etc.
And those things are the least of my concerns!

My fear is how I'm going to turn this:


















Into this:


















They even gave me a bun kit...
heaven help us all!



Saturday, August 20, 2011

One of my favorite foods...











Deep Fried Pickles!!!!

You can't come to the south without trying these babies!!
Just trust me k?
And since I know you all are still saving your pennies to come visit me, here's the recipe to try to get you excited.

From Paula Dean:
Ingredients
1 24-ounce Jar Kosher dill pickle spears or slices
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup Louisiana hot sauce (I like Texas Pete)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 gal peanut oil
2 cups Uncle Bubba’s Fry Mix

Directions

Drain the juice from the pickle jar and refill the jar with the garlic powder, hot sauce, and buttermilk. Marinate the pickles for at least 30 minutes.

In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat the oil to 350 degrees F. Drain the pickles. Put the fry mix in a large mixing bowl, and toss the pickles to coat thoroughly. Shake off the excess mix by tossing lightly in a strainer and deep fry the pickles in batches for 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the size of the spears.

When golden brown, remove the pickles from the oil with a clean strainer or slotted metal spoon and place on paper towels to drain off any excess oil. Serve immediately.

My mouth is watering!!! Too bad I can't cook darn it! Fat Mo's here I come!







Wednesday, August 17, 2011

I tried something new...

I've seen these things lately on other blogs as well as of course...pinterest. So I just had to learn how to make them!

Stamped Washer Necklaces!

I bought the metal stamps online at Harbor Freight and it cost like less than $6! Then bought several different sizes of washers as Home Depot and started playing.
Thank goodness I bought many washers cuz man I suck at stamping!
After about 15 tries, I finally got CTR on a tiny washer.
Then started playing with different sizes.










I did these...
But when together, it looked like this:










And I didn't want the words to all be hidden.
So then I tried this:










And that was good enough for me.
The end result:










Whacha think??
More recycling! (well kinda... if I already had the washers)



Monday, August 15, 2011

Todays Walmart find

Darn that Pinterest! I've been drooling over Subway art for quite awhile and that site just got me more desperate for one. I mean how cute are these???









Source: etsy.com via Courtney on Pinterest




I mean really.. how can you live without these???

SO I was wandering through Walmart this morning and came across this:

Just under $12!
Can't beat that! SO until I make one of my own, I finally have some subway art... even if it was made in China!




Back to school...

Ready or not, it sure came!!
Not sure about ya'll but this summer FLEW by for me!! And all the sudden, it was school shopping again. And before I knew it, school started.
This year has been amazingly easier to adjust to than last yr.
For one- the idea of another baby has gone out of my mind for now so I don't have the "infertility" stress to deal with. Acceptance is a freeing thing.
For another- I'm involved in the PTO this year so I'll be as the school as often as possible helping out so I'll definately stay busy.
And well... I kinda like my ME time.

What is funny to me though is how attached me, as a parent, can get to teachers. I absolutely love both my kids teachers from last yr. So I am going through a bit of withdrawls. Thank goodness for facebook!!
However if I was able to choose Reese's teacher this yr, he got exactly who I would have and I couldn't be happier! I'm not familiar with Rielly's teacher yet but I know she is in good hands.

SO I have a feeling this will be a good year. Rielly's in 1st and Reese is in 3rd and they need to just stop growing for awhile!




I sure love these kids!!!

Rielly w/Ms Trice
She was SO excited... she went right to work!
He's no baby anymore!!
Reese and Mrs Davis!



Happy 2011/2012 school year everyone!!



Anniversary weekend

Jon and I celebrated our 10yr anniversary on August 4th. 10 years!! Crazy huh?? We went to a dinner and a movie for our actual date- creative huh? That's because the real date came that weekend.


Gotta love the guy!

A while back Groupon (love it!) had a deal on white water rafing down the Ocoee River and since Jon had never gone before, he went ahead and bought them. So we decided to use them for our anniversary. We booked a hotel in crack of the south Cleveland, TN for Saturday night and rafting on Sunday.
It was a blast!!!
On our way to Cleveland, we stopped in Chatanooga for dinner. I wanted to try some hole in the wall southern dive to eat and that's exactly what we found!
We ate at Bea's Resturaunt. It's like a 60's place in the middle of the ghetto that has never been updated. You eat family style so we sat at a table with another couple and in the middle was a lazy susan... southern buffet that kept being refilled! SOOOO yummy!!!
Then we drove to our hotel- nothing special there and killed time people watching.
Sunday we went rafting. SO MUCH FUN!!!!!
We even were thrown out of the raft in one of the rapids... and I mean literally THROWN out! But we survived and would definately do that again!

Perfect way to celebrate 10yrs together!


Pretty wicked spider huh? They used to freak me out... now they just facinate me!




The lodge... it really was a beautiful place





Awwwww.......




If you ever go down the Ocoee, stop in at Dam Diner... SO AWESOME!!!!!


Thank you honey for an awesome weekend!!!



Toilet paper... save your rolls!!!

Why you ask?
Because you can change this:


Into this:





Thanks to Pinterest, I'm now working on this:




Creative Recycling!


Friday, August 5, 2011

In case you were wondering....

I started a FB page for my hair accessories.. come like me! PLEASE?!?!? And tell your friends to like me. And your frenemies too.. I'll take what I can get!

Creatively Recycled by Shannon

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

My kids

My kids won't stop growing!
We've realized our family is most likely complete and now I'm really focusing on the blessings I have been given- my Reese and Rielly.
I just wanted to publicly say I love my kids.




Everytime I hear this song by Taylor Swift, I think of my babies:

"Never Grow Up"Your little hand's wrapped around my finger
And it's so quiet in the world tonight
Your little eyelids flutter cause you're dreaming
So I tuck you in, turn on your favorite night light
To you everything's funny, you got nothing to regret
I'd give all I have, honey
If you could stay like that

Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up, just stay this little
Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple
I won't let nobody hurt you, won't let no one break your heart
And no one will desert you
Just try to never grow up, never grow up

You're in the car on the way to the movies
And you're mortified your mom's dropping you off
At 14 there's just so much you can't do
And you can't wait to move out someday and call your own shots
But don't make her drop you off around the block
Remember that she's getting older too
And don't lose the way that you dance around in your pj's getting ready for school

Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up, just stay this little
Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple
No one's ever burned you, nothing's ever left you scarred
And even though you want to, just try to never grow up

Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room
Memorize what it sounded like when your dad gets home
Remember the footsteps, remember the words said
And all your little brother's favorite songs
I just realized everything I have is someday gonna be gone

So here I am in my new apartment
In a big city, they just dropped me off
It's so much colder that I thought it would be
So I tuck myself in and turn my night light on

Wish I'd never grown up
I wish I'd never grown up

Oh I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up
I could still be little
Oh I don't wanna grow up, wish I'd never grown up
It could still be simple
Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up, just stay this little
Oh darling, don't you ever grow up
Don't you ever grow up, it could stay this simple
Won't let nobody hurt you
Won't let no one break your heart
And even though you want to, please try to never grow up
Oh, don't you ever grow up
Oh, never grow up, just never grow up