The Happy Planner 2018
I know, I know, it is 2019! But I wanted to share with you the planner I used in 2018. I am using the same brand of planners for 2019, but I am trying out a different style. I want to use it a few weeks before I tell you all about it so I know how it works for me! So let me share with you my 2018 planner and how it evolved over the year!
Turkey Sausage Balls
Since I am allergic to pork, I had to find an alternative to the classic sausage balls I made. I decided to try turkey sausage. I wasn’t a fan of ground turkey as a substitute in things. I always preferred ground chicken. But I like turkey bacon, so I thought it was worth a shot. And to be honest, I actually prefer it to pork sausage. It isn’t as greasy and has a much better overall taste. If you google turkey sausage ball recipes you find a lot of different ones. I kept mine simple. I simply used the classic recipe and just switched out the sausage. And to make it a bit less in calories, I also use fat free cheese. However, I do NOT add tabasco sauce to it anymore! I honestly forgot I did before, ha! So if you are looking for something a bit healthier, or just want to try something new, try this!
Disney Mobile Ordering
When we went to Disney back in September, I used Disney Mobile Ordering for the first time. I haven’t had a need for it honestly. On our trips prior to this one, we always had the dining plan, and they were not accepting the dining plan as a form of payment on those trips. Dining plans are accepted now, and we happened to be using a credit card on this trip anyhow.
Dance 2018 Part Two
It is crazy how much Melody has learned in dance over the last few months, even since my last post about her starting to dance. They have not started to learn their spring routine yet, but they are learning some of the basics and how to follow instructions. Melody seems to be doing better and better. She is becoming a little less timid about “performing” alone. And at home she knows all about ballerina arms and dance, ha! Here are some more pictures of the rest of our 2018 during dance.
Healthy Jalapeño Poppers
In an effort to eat healthier, I have given up a lot of yummy goodness. But I am attempting to find a way to make things a bit healthier for me. One thing I made a take on was jalapeño poppers. This recipe makes quite a bit. I made half of the recipe and it was enough for Brad and I to have at lunch and dinner on a Saturday during football season (obviously with other appetizers). They can get a bit spicy, and they aren’t perfect. But they scratch that itch for me!
Huntsville Botanical Garden Fall 2018
This fall we really didn’t get to spend enough time at the Gardens. It was just too wet or cold. We did make it to see the Galaxy of Lights then we spent one morning there too. We walked around the children’s gardens, but we also went out discovering other areas on that day too. Check it out below!
Christmas 2018
Christmas is so special now that we have Melody in our lives. And now that is she getting older, she is able to understand more about everything that revolves around Christmas. And we are still as busy as every during the holidays.
Poppyseed Chicken
The first time I had poppyseed chicken was when we ordered from Alabama Bliss. I wanted to remake it, but we had quite a bit of leftovers to work through in our freezer first. I finally made it a few weeks ago, and I really liked how it turned out. I think what we had from Alabama Bliss was much better, but I feel like foods are almost always better when someone else makes it, ha!
Taco Mama
So I have been meaning to write this post for quite a while. I honestly kept forgetting about it. “Reviewing” restaurants hasn’t been as much of a priority to me the last year because it is hard with a two year old to have time to take pictures of food. I am lucky to eat my food before it is half cold, ha! So back when we were living at a hotel during our kitchen renovation, we were staying right across the street from Taco Mama. It is fairly new on our side of town, and I had yet to try it. I know many people who rave about it, so I really wanted to eat there. One night we finally had dinner there.
Opryland 2018
For this year’s trip to Opryland, we wanted to go back at Christmastime. Last year we visited in the summer, and while it was far less crowded, it wasn’t as festive. They did have events going on, but nothing can compare to Opryland at Christmas. We loved our visit in 2016 at Christmas, so we decided to do it again!
Cracker Barrel Biscuits
One afternoon Brad was craving Cracker Barrel biscuits. I offered to make regular biscuits, but those were not what he wanted. So a few days later I went to the grocery store and decided to get some buttermilk and try making them. I personally don’t have a biscuit preference and can’t tell a huge difference, but Brad can. I found a recipe online to try. They turned out great, especially according to Brad. See below!
Teacher Gifts
Since this is Melody’s first year of preschool, it is also the first year I have to do teacher gifts. I went back and forth with a lot of options I found on Pinterest, but I ultimately decided to do something similar to the dance teacher gifts. Instead of mason jars, I opted for mason jar cups. Since it was a cup, I decided to do their first initial instead of something Christmas related. Lastly, I include a gift card to a local bakery.
Melody's First Movie
We have contemplated when the right time to take Melody to see her first movie would be. Well Brad is off for most of December, so we thought that would be the perfect time. We wanted to go in the morning time so that she was happier, and it would be less crowded. We opted to go see Wreck-It Ralph 2. It has enough Disney cameos throughout the movie that it would keep her entertained through that.
Chicken Lettuce Wraps
So back when we used to go to PF Changs (aka before Melody), I loved ordering the chicken lettuce wraps. They are fairly healthy (in comparison to the other menu items), and they taste amazing. Brad hates them though. Well one week when he was out of town for work, I finally decided to try and make them at home for dinner. They were great! They were also much easier to make than I expected. I may try making them again and freezing them for lunches. I have made some before, but they weren’t near as good as these.
Dance Teacher Gifts
This is Melody’s first year in dance. And since Christmas is during the dance year, I wanted to do a small gift for her teachers. She has one teacher and two assistants. For Christmas, I decided to get them all the same gift. One of the assistants is a boy, so I had to keep that in mind when deciding on a gift to give. I also wanted something that representing dance in some way. This made things really difficult. But I fell back to a super easy gift of chocolate. Chocolate works for all genders and most people like it. So I knew I wanted to do something like that. I had found some cute ideas with mason jars that made the jar look like a reindeer. Well that was a bit too much work for me. So instead, I played off the idea of mason jars, and I decided to decorate them with vinyl using my Silhouette Cameo. See how I did it below (oh, and this could easily be done without a Silhouette!).
Melody's Two Year Pictures
I finally had Melody’s two year pictures taken about a month ago. Luckily it was a warm day since I bought her a yellow smocked dress to wear a year ago, ha! She did fairly well, and all of that is thanks to Brad and his crazy antics!
Felt Christmas Tree
I have been trying to do more crafts with Melody on the days we are at home and not involved in preschool or dance. One of the Christmas crafts I wanted to do was a felt tree. I liked this idea because she could move the ornaments around all season if she wanted since no glue is involved. She had a lot of fun making it and was super proud of the results!
Cheeseburger Stuffed Bellpepper
Stuffed bellpeppers always look amazing to me. I would see them at Costco, and I would always want to get them. But it never made sense to buy them from Costco because there were way too many in a package for us to eat. I have made something similar called bell pepper boats. They were decent, but I am not a huge fan of cooked bell peppers. I am not sure why I made the stuffed bellpeppers for this reason. But the filling was actually pretty good. And it is fairly healthy. Brad loved the entire thing. So if you like cooked bell pepper then this will be for you. The only thing I left out of the original recipe was the pickle relish. Brad hates pickles so I knew this was not an option. Next time I would also leave out the mustard. It was overpowering throughout the meal. But we also aren’t huge mustard eaters.
Fall Family Pictures
A month or so ago, we finally found time to get with my aunt who is a photographer and get some family pictures made. The setting was great for fall pictures; the weather was warm however! We survived our warm sweaters and were able to get some fairly decent pictures! Hopefully we won’t wait so long to take family pictures again.