The Hunt for Red October

No, I'm not searching for rogue Russian submarines. I have been searching for a cute camera bag for when we travel to California next month. Yes, I could go with a standard black, blah bag, but I'm a little bit more stylish than that! The hunt lead me to the epiphanie website (http://www.epiphaniebags.com/). They have the cutest bags, that actually look like real purses. Love it! They are slightly pricey, but I figure that I pay more than that for a regular purse and this one I will always be able to use. They are so cute! Take a look. They only have three styles at the moment, but are in plans of coming out with new styles. I chose the Lola bag. I think it is a nice pop of bright color.

The nice thing about these bags, other than being so freakin cute, is that they have compartments for all of your camera gear.

And there are places to put your phone, makeup, etc in there as well. I think it will make the perfect travel bag and keep my camera nice and safe! So, if you have a really big camera and want a stylish way to carry it to and fro, check these girls out. They are fabulous!

A Little Bathroom Redesign

I want to redo one of the bathrooms. I just have to convince Joseph first. Right now the shower in our bathroom looks like this.

Yes, we are using it as a closet. As you can see, the shower is itty bitty. We don't ever use it. My poor 6'5" husband and this shower just don't jive. So, I am thinking of a slight bathroom redesign to make this bathroom more functional. Here is the basic layout, off course, not to scale.

This is kinda what I have in mind to do.

I want to seal off the door to the hallway and have the closet open up into the hallway. Then expand the shower to make it bigger. I drew this picture before I went in the bathroom to see what kinda space I would have. I can nix the bigger vanity, so that area will need a little bit of work. But, that is what I have in mind. I'm thinking I can probably get it done (doing it ourselves) for well under 1000 bucks. I'm sure the hubs will veto this, but maybe he can be seduced with the thought of rainfall showers and maybe a few shower jets. Stay tuned for the verdict! Ha ha!

Perfect Saturday Morning

Nothing is better than sleeping late, getting up, having a cup of coffee while reading the new InStyle magazine and then doing a little online shopping. I finally got around to using my gift card from Christmas. I knew there was a reason why I Heart J Crew.

They love them some Dachshund as well! Happy Saturday, ya'll!

100th Post and One Year Blogiversary (that's late!)

This is my 100th post (and 4th today). Wow! Time flies. I can't believe that I missed my one year blogiversary. My first post was published on March 5, 2009. So, I am a few days late. Oh well! This past year has been filled with lots of new, exciting stuff. First, we added to our family by bringing home JR and Brutus. They are now a big part of our home and have made it their home as well. We also had the addition of a new nephew, Alex. We went to the beach, Savannah, and celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary. We will soon be leaving at the end of April for California for a little getaway to Napa Valley. We are both looking forward to that one! I have lost my job and Joseph's job has taken him to places such as Tennessee, Kentucky, Washington DC, and Virgina. We redecorated the guest bedroom and then turned it into Joseph's man cave. My sister-in-law was in a horrible accident and is finally able to see a little light at the end of the tunnel, as far as her injuries go. My cousin, Stacey moved to Thomasville and I have enjoyed having her so close. There have been ups and downs, joys and sorrows, and somehow we have made it through another year. We are truly blessed by God and are so thankful to be called His children. So thank you for reading this little blog of mine. I truly enjoy having you fly through our window to get a little peek at our lives! Thanks for letting us share it with you.

Spring is Right Around the Corner!

Moday and Tuesday were gorgeous days here in Thomasville and that brought on Spring Fever for me. I was tired of looking at my sad little flower bed that took a brutal beating over this cold winter.

Even my Evergreen Wisteria vine lost all of its leaves this winter and it isn't supposed to do that. Hence the name evergreen. Maybe it is because it was in super vine mode and was taking over the whole house and had made its way all over to the fence. That is when I took to whacking branches off left and right. My hydrangea bush didn't fare any better. The only thing that really survived was my daylillies and the easter lily bulbs that are just sprouting up. With a little trip to Lowes, I grabbed a few flowers to spruce up the garden a little bit.

This is what I got:

• 
  
  Tulips
• 
  
  Hyacinth bulbs
• 
  
  Snow Cone Candytuft (the white flowers)
• 
  
  Snapdragons
• 
  
  Creeping Phlox (purple butterfly/hummingbird bush)
• 
  
  Merritt's Supreme Hydrangea

Then came the work part. Planting. Yay.

Got the tulips planted. I thought they were so pretty, even if they have a short bloom time. Plus with them being a bulb plant, they should come back next spring.

The hyacinth. These are still little babies. They should shoot up a good bit and just be gorgeous.

Here is the after. Still have to grab a few more plants to fill it up a bit more, and get some fresh mulch. But it looks a bit better. I guess if the wisteria doesn't come back, I will have to find another vine to cover up  the phone/internet box. My poor hydrangea plant. I keep murdering the poor thing. I guess I should do research before whacking on it. Figured out why it didn't bloom last year. Yeah, I cut all the buds off. You shouldn't prune hydrangeas after August because you cut away all the buds for the next season. I didn't cut it back to the roots like I did last year, so hopefully I will have a few blooms this year. Just in case, I got this.

I planted it in a planter to get it established then I will plant it somewhere later on. Especially if I have totally ruined the other hydrangea. But it is just so pretty!

I also need to get some more flowers for my flower boxes. I haven't had to do so because every year the flowers always come back. I doubt that they will this year. Everything seems to be dead. Maybe the gerber daisies made it, but that might be about it. Whenever it stops raining and we have some more sunny days, I will get out there and work on these flower beds some more!

Just for fun here is picture from last year to show off how huge my lillies were.

Notice the big gap in front. Yeah, me and my clippers are dangerous things. If I don't like you, I get rid of you.

I'm Baaaack!! With a Little Bit of Sweets for My Peeps

Oooh, peeps, yum. Okay, on a fluke I thought that I would try to see what mood the computer was in today. And today it seems to be working fine. Considering I didn't get this screen when I turned it on.

Now on to my girl scout cookies. I love cookie season. I am also very sad when it ends. So, I took to the internet to see if there were any copy cat recipes that I could use to make GS cookies year round. And I found it!! Samoas are my favorite and of course they would be, because they are probably the most labor intensive ones to make! I took a few shortcuts, but they still turned out great. And very yummy!

Here was my shortcut.

Keebler Fudge Striped Shortbread Cookies. Way easier and quicker than making my own shortbread and then having to dip the bottoms in chocolate.

For this recipe, you need some caramels (14 oz) and toasted coconut.

Melt the caramels with 1/4 tsp salt and 3 tbsp of milk for about 3-4 minutes, stirring every minute. I did this in the microwave.

When the caramel is melted and smooth, fold in 3 cups of toasted, shredded coconut. (bake the coconut for 20 minutes at 300 degrees. Stirring the coconut every five minutes)  Then get to putting the mixture on your cookies. I used a small offset spatula to do this.

I also had a few rejects because the cookies were so thin and the caramel has a mind of its own when it starts to cool and harden a bit. But when it does, just pop it back in the microwave for a few seconds.

But here they are in all their yummy goodness!

Just finish them off by drizzling some semi-sweet melted chocolate over them . I got this recipe from http://www.bakingbites.com/ . It also has the recipe for the shortbread cookie, but who has time for that? There is also a recipe for Samoa bars, if you don't have time to individually ice each cookie. I have had requests to make thin mints and tagalongs, so I might be trying my hand at making those as well!

Once a Girl Scout, always a Girl Scout at heart. Courage~Confidence~Character

Rain Rain Go Away

The computer is still broke and it is storming outside. That equals a boring day. So I am stuck in the house with the pooches with nothing to do but housework. Blah. Joseph will be happy since he will have some clean work clothes I guess. Hopefully when the computer is up and running I can share some pictures of what I've been up to. I have done a little spring gardening and some baking. Made some samoa girl scout cookies. I will be sharing that recipe with you. They are super good a you can now enjoy them all year long and not just during cookie season!

On another note I have decided to take a part time job as a favor to a friend. Yes. You are now looking at the beautiful waitress at the Corner Cafe in Pavo. Ha ha. This should be interesting considering I have never worked in a restaurant in my life. But it will help the owners out and get me out of the house a few days a week for a few hours. I am still looking for a real job, if I have to. I have really gotten used to being a stay at home mom/wife. But a job is a necessary evil. Hopefully I will have some good stories to share if anything. My cousin Stacey is also going to be working a few nights a week after work. She is a trooper! But it gives us a little extra mad money so we can spend the money on something fun for ourselves. Perhaps our adventures to local parks and attractions? So that's what's going on. Maybe my computer can get back online and I can post a little bit more interesting than random facts about my life.