Pink Glitter Pumpkins

Santa Pictures 2018

Dec 4

Dec 4 Santa Pictures 2018

Household, Randomness, Kids

I was really hoping Santa pictures this year would go off without a tear. Melody’s first year doing Santa pictures with my aunt went about as perfectly as it could. They were gorgeous! Last year we were unable to do pictures with my aunt, so we went to see a mall Santa. She was terrified! She was going through a phase were she was scared of most men and elderly people. Her fear as minimized a lot, but she still has general stranger danger. But we have really talked up Santa and shown her pictures to help with this year’s pictures with my aunt.

Melody's First School Pictures

Dec 2

Dec 2 Melody's First School Pictures

Randomness, Kids

Melody had her first school pictures a month or so ago. When visiting Brad’s parents one weekend, she bought Melody the most adorable dress. She planned to have it monogramed, but I really wanted it for school pictures. So she let me take it back for pictures, then I brought it back to her for the monogramming. It is such a cute dress! Well Melody and pictures don’t always jive. She loves to take selfies on my phone, and she will usually crack a smile for Brad if he is behind the camera. And she will even sometimes smile for my nicer camera. But I knew with neither of us there it was a long shot. And I was right! See both her individual picture and class picture below. She was over pictures from the start, ha!

Balsamic Chicken

Nov 30

Nov 30 Balsamic Chicken

I love one pot meals, but they are hard to do now with Brad having diabetes. Most one dish meals are full of carbs, or just aren’t good at all. So when I ran across a meal with chicken and asparagus, I thought I had to try it! I wasn’t too fond of the tomatoes (although Brad liked them), so next time I might try some squash or another non-green veggie.

Thanksgiving 2018

Nov 27

Nov 27 Thanksgiving 2018

Randomness, Kids

Thanksgiving 2018 is in the books! We had a lot of fun, ate a lot of food, and spent a lot of time with our families!

Galaxy of Lights Walking Nights 2018

Nov 25

Nov 25 Galaxy of Lights Walking Nights 2018

Randomness, Household, Kids

Since Melody was born, Brad and I have been attempting to go to the Galaxy of Lights Walking Nights at the Huntsville Botanical Gardens. The first year the crowd was insane and we couldn’t get in. The second year, we had things going on and couldn’t make it. This year, they allowed us to buy tickets before we went. So we picked a day a few weeks in advance and bought the tickets in advance to save time. It was originally required, but a few days before the event, they did state they would allow people to buy at the gate.

Mini Cheesecakes

Nov 23

Nov 23 Mini Cheesecakes

I needed to make a dessert to take to Emily and Justin’s one evening for board games. I wanted to do angel food cake, but I couldn’t find any. So I decided to whip up a semi healthy dessert using things I already had at home.

Disney Bus Times

Nov 20

Nov 20 Disney Bus Times

My mom and I were able to experience the newish feature in the My Disney Experience where you can see the bus times at your resort hotel. I wanted to share about it for those who may have not experienced it yet.

Melody's First Football Game

Nov 18

Nov 18 Melody's First Football Game

Randomness, Kids

Back in September, I took Melody to her first football game. My high school football team happened to have a game in Huntsville. Emily invited us to go along with her Lydia, so we did.

Nov 16

Nov 16 Zucchini Fries

In an effort to find new way and healthier ways to fix zucchini, I opted to make zucchini fries. These are baked and not covered with bread. Check them out below.

Nov 13

Nov 13 Wayback Burger

A while back we went and tried Wayback Burger. It is semi-new in Huntsville. It wasn’t busy at all, which made me question how great the food was going to be. I will say, the big plus is that your food is made to order. However, this does require you to wait.

September 2018 Disney World Planning and Packing

Nov 11

Nov 11 September 2018 Disney World Planning and Packing

So I am not going to make this post quite like my Disney World planning post from the past. This trip was completely different than all of my previous trips. We traveled with my mom on a business trip, so we didn’t do as much planning ahead of time. So instead of going through our dining reservations (we only made one or two prior) or our Fastpasses (we made very few of these too), I am going to go through some of the other things we had to plan and pack.

Salisbury Steak

Nov 9

Nov 9 Salisbury Steak

I found this yummy Salisbury steak recipe on Pinterest a while back. I have made Salisbury steak before, but this is probably the best I have ever made. And the gravy portion is to die for. Pair it with mashed potatoes, and yummy!!!

Updated Front Porch Light

Nov 6

Nov 6 Updated Front Porch Light

While my dad was visiting to help us install our laundry room cabinets, he also helped us install a new front porch light. Unfortunately I don’t have a great before picture of our previous light. It wasn’t very visible anyhow. It was a flush light fixture that wasn’t very appealing at all. We have talked about getting a new light fixture for outside for quite a while. Then when buying some paint at Lowe’s we found this one on clearance. It matches our current fixtures perfectly (although we hope to eventually replace those too).

Laundry Room Makeover

Nov 4

Nov 4 Laundry Room Makeover

So about 6 months ago, we started a kitchen renovation/restoration project. We sold most of our cabinets that we removed from our kitchen at a yard sale, but we did keep two sets of cabinets to repaint and put in our laundry room. We finally finished this project a few weeks ago, and below are the final results.

Nov 2

Nov 2 Ranch Dressing

Not too long ago, I wanted to make some dipping sauces for my leftover Red Robin. You may have seen the campfire sauce I made that same day. I then decided to make some ranch dressing to go along with it. I used the recipe I found online as a basis, but I did make it my own because I didn’t have all the ingredients. I also would make a few changes in the future. Check them out below.

Nov 1

Nov 1 Halloween 2018

Randomness, Kids

This Halloween was filled with lots of new fun.

Oct 30

Oct 30 Chicken Guy!

My must try restaurant on our September 2018 trip was Chicken Guy! It opened back in August, and my parents were actually able to eat there on Grand Opening day. Mom liked it, and it looked great. So I really wanted to give it a shot.

Toy Story Land AP Event

Oct 28

Oct 28 Toy Story Land AP Event

Back in July, Disney announced a special event for WDW Annual Passholders called Passholder Play Time. It was offered in September for various days throughout the week at 7 am and 8 am. It provided pass holders access to Toy Story Land for an hour with little to no wait times on the three rides along with the character meet and greets. And Woody’s Lunchbox was open for breakfast. Mom and I were able to snag a reservation for 7 am on one of the days during our September trip.

Oct 26

Oct 26 Shrimp Scampi

I never think about cooking shrimp at home for some reason. I have made shrimp scampi a few times though. Publix had shrimp on sale a few weeks ago, so I decided to make it again. Here is the recipe I use.

Pumpkin Patch 2018

Oct 25

Oct 25 Pumpkin Patch 2018

We went and had our annual pumpkin patch visit a few weekends ago at Lyons Family Farm. You can read about our visits in 2016 and 2017 too. Check our most recent visit below!