1 box yellow cake mix
1 small can pumpkin
1 small bag cinnamon chips
Mix it all together. Spoon into cupcake pan. Bake @ 350 for about 30 minutes. Enjoy!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
The Easiest & Best Pumpkin Muffins!
My friend gave me this recipe and I am hooked. They are so good, make the house smell great & couldn't be any easier! Three ingredients people! {Ok, I know I don't usually do the processed cake mix thing anymore, but a little won't hurt, right?}
1 box yellow cake mix
1 small can pumpkin
1 small bag cinnamon chips
Mix it all together. Spoon into cupcake pan. Bake @ 350 for about 30 minutes. Enjoy!
1 box yellow cake mix
1 small can pumpkin
1 small bag cinnamon chips
Mix it all together. Spoon into cupcake pan. Bake @ 350 for about 30 minutes. Enjoy!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Kings of Leon ~ Come Around Sundown
I'm really digging Kings of Leon's new album. I was hoping for the raw rock sound they started out with, but I really like the laid back vibe of "Come Around Sundown". It's one of those great albums that you can listen to repeatedly without skipping over any songs. Here are my favorites.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Best Live Performances
These are my three favorite live performances. Of course, I wasn't actually at any of these festivals...but thank goodness for YouTube! I don't think I could get my daily music fix without it. I watch these repeatedly. In fact, I think I've watched The Avett Brothers' performance every day since I first saw it a few weeks ago. That would probably explain why I always hear Garrett singing it now. His favorite lines are "...I am a breathing time machine...I'll take you all for a ride" So cute!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Happy October
October is a month of celebrations for us. October 17th was Allen's birthday and October 20th is our anniversary. I wanted an October wedding because Fall is my absolute favorite time of year. So first off, happy birthday to Allen! He is 33 this year and, I must say, getting better with age.
Second, happy anniversary to us! We've been married 9 years on the 20th. Wow, 9 years! And we dated for 4 years, so 13 years together. We've also been friends since we were kids. We met at the lockers in junior high and stayed close friends all through our school years. He was my best guy friend and my Dad used to say "you know that boy wants to be more than just your friend". And I'd giggle and tell my Dad he was crazy. We had lots of fun times as friends for over 6 years. And then one day in college, I saw him in a new light and everything changed forever. Guess my Dad was right....again.
We've done a lot in 13 years. We started off in a tiny little "fixer upper". It was 700 sq feet and I remember our mortgage was $300. I also remember stressing out about making that payment. Money was tight, or maybe we just didn't manage it well. Those were the days of buying what we wanted for ourselves. Those were also the days of napping on Sundays, regular Thursday night hangouts at our local bar with our best friends, and pretty much doing whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Simple, but awesome days. Then we moved to a dump. But it was a dump on 5 acres and our plan was to one day, split the land and build a beautiful house and sell the dump. And the planned worked perfectly. We now live in our beautiful house, next to the dump. ;)
In these 13 years, we also had two beautiful kids. Sydney, who looks and acts just like me. And Garrett, who looks and acts just like Allen. It's so funny to see these little people, that are perfect blends of the two of us. And those two little people are our world.
We are also business partners. We started a landscaping/lawn care business 11 years ago. Allen does the fun, creative stuff (and the hard manual labor). I do the boring, business stuff. We are a good team. And that "little" business that could barely bring in enough money to pay the $300 mortgage 9 years ago, now supports our family and allows me to be home with the kids.
But we have also been through two extremely hard things together in these 13 years. First, Allen's best friend since childhood died suddenly in his sleep from heart problems. Not even 30 yet and no warning signs at all. It was a shock to all of us. He left behind a little girl and a pregnant wife. Everyone has that one friend in life. The friend that knows the stories that no one else knows. The friend that you grew up with. The friend that you chose to stand beside you as you got married. The friend that knew you as a child and as a man and everything in between. Everyone needs that person and my heart aches for Allen that he lost that.
And then, 8 months later, my Dad died. Again, it was sudden and unexpected. His health was weak, but we never expected that so soon. He was only 62. But when you're born with a weak heart, you only get so much time on this earth. They were both born with weak hearts and taken too soon. They both loved cars and I imagine them talking about cars together in heaven.
These two experiences catapulted Allen and I into adulthood. We were no longer innocent. We were forever changed. And then I truly understood the vows of marriage. For better or worse... in good times and in bad.
We've built a great life together. We started out as polar opposites. I was extreme type A personality and he was extreme type B. But we've somehow met in the middle now. Sometimes I have to remind him to slow down and have some fun and he has to remind me to be disciplined. Crazy!
We've always had two things in common: 1. Our sense of humor and 2. our love for awesome music. Even as teenagers, we'd drive around and listen to music together. Back then, his favorite was Beastie Boys, my favorite was Led Zeppelin. So for our anniversary we went to see Band of Horses at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa. I love Cain's Ballroom! Lately, I'm loving "Older" by Band of Horses. It makes me think of our relationship and how as time goes by, some things in life may change, but we are always each other's constants. So here's to celebrating a great 9 years and looking forward to what the future brings for us. I know one day, when the kids are grown, the house is quiet and world seems to have slowed down for us...we will still be here together, listening to music and daydreaming about all our big plans for the future.
Second, happy anniversary to us! We've been married 9 years on the 20th. Wow, 9 years! And we dated for 4 years, so 13 years together. We've also been friends since we were kids. We met at the lockers in junior high and stayed close friends all through our school years. He was my best guy friend and my Dad used to say "you know that boy wants to be more than just your friend". And I'd giggle and tell my Dad he was crazy. We had lots of fun times as friends for over 6 years. And then one day in college, I saw him in a new light and everything changed forever. Guess my Dad was right....again.
1996 ~ Seniors in high school & "just friends"
(check out my parent's video recorder!)
October 20, 2001
(Well don't we look young!)
We've done a lot in 13 years. We started off in a tiny little "fixer upper". It was 700 sq feet and I remember our mortgage was $300. I also remember stressing out about making that payment. Money was tight, or maybe we just didn't manage it well. Those were the days of buying what we wanted for ourselves. Those were also the days of napping on Sundays, regular Thursday night hangouts at our local bar with our best friends, and pretty much doing whatever we wanted, whenever we wanted. Simple, but awesome days. Then we moved to a dump. But it was a dump on 5 acres and our plan was to one day, split the land and build a beautiful house and sell the dump. And the planned worked perfectly. We now live in our beautiful house, next to the dump. ;)
In these 13 years, we also had two beautiful kids. Sydney, who looks and acts just like me. And Garrett, who looks and acts just like Allen. It's so funny to see these little people, that are perfect blends of the two of us. And those two little people are our world.
We are also business partners. We started a landscaping/lawn care business 11 years ago. Allen does the fun, creative stuff (and the hard manual labor). I do the boring, business stuff. We are a good team. And that "little" business that could barely bring in enough money to pay the $300 mortgage 9 years ago, now supports our family and allows me to be home with the kids.
But we have also been through two extremely hard things together in these 13 years. First, Allen's best friend since childhood died suddenly in his sleep from heart problems. Not even 30 yet and no warning signs at all. It was a shock to all of us. He left behind a little girl and a pregnant wife. Everyone has that one friend in life. The friend that knows the stories that no one else knows. The friend that you grew up with. The friend that you chose to stand beside you as you got married. The friend that knew you as a child and as a man and everything in between. Everyone needs that person and my heart aches for Allen that he lost that.
And then, 8 months later, my Dad died. Again, it was sudden and unexpected. His health was weak, but we never expected that so soon. He was only 62. But when you're born with a weak heart, you only get so much time on this earth. They were both born with weak hearts and taken too soon. They both loved cars and I imagine them talking about cars together in heaven.
These two experiences catapulted Allen and I into adulthood. We were no longer innocent. We were forever changed. And then I truly understood the vows of marriage. For better or worse... in good times and in bad.
We've built a great life together. We started out as polar opposites. I was extreme type A personality and he was extreme type B. But we've somehow met in the middle now. Sometimes I have to remind him to slow down and have some fun and he has to remind me to be disciplined. Crazy!
We've always had two things in common: 1. Our sense of humor and 2. our love for awesome music. Even as teenagers, we'd drive around and listen to music together. Back then, his favorite was Beastie Boys, my favorite was Led Zeppelin. So for our anniversary we went to see Band of Horses at Cain's Ballroom in Tulsa. I love Cain's Ballroom! Lately, I'm loving "Older" by Band of Horses. It makes me think of our relationship and how as time goes by, some things in life may change, but we are always each other's constants. So here's to celebrating a great 9 years and looking forward to what the future brings for us. I know one day, when the kids are grown, the house is quiet and world seems to have slowed down for us...we will still be here together, listening to music and daydreaming about all our big plans for the future.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Iron and Wine
I love the song paired with the video this person made. I think it's showing how, sometimes, "rock bottom" can be a blessing in disguise.
Three Kinds of Faith
This was in my church bulletin this week and I thought I'd share.
There are three kinds of faith in Christ:
1. Struggling faith, like a man in deep water desperately swimming.
2. Clinging faith, like a man hanging to the side of a boat.
3. Resting faith, like a man safely within the boat (and able to reach out with a hand to help someone else get in).
~ D.L. Moody
Where are you on your journey? I would say I am clinging faith. Hanging onto the side of the boat, gathering all my thoughts, and will soon be climbing in.
There are three kinds of faith in Christ:
1. Struggling faith, like a man in deep water desperately swimming.
2. Clinging faith, like a man hanging to the side of a boat.
3. Resting faith, like a man safely within the boat (and able to reach out with a hand to help someone else get in).
~ D.L. Moody
Where are you on your journey? I would say I am clinging faith. Hanging onto the side of the boat, gathering all my thoughts, and will soon be climbing in.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
I Heart Heartless Bastards
I watched Heartless Bastards on Austin City Limits last night and loved them! Such a cool sound! Reminds me a little of the 90's grunge vibe.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
The End of the Long, Hard Summer...And the Beginning of The Avett Brothers.
I'm so glad to say goodbye to Summer and hello to Fall. I'm not a Summer girl to begin with...I hate the heat, hate lakes, hate hot cars, hate crowds...you get the idea. I like cool, crisp air, camping in the woods, bubble baths and sitting by the fireplace and snuggling up next to Allen & the kids. But this Summer made me extra grumpy.
We decided to pay off our debt. This means saying no to all the fun extras. We are putting all our money towards paying our bills, necessities and whatever is left is going towards paying down debt. Yeah, so that makes for a fun summer! It's easy to start feeling sorry for myself, especially in the age of social networking where everyone proudly announces all their fun vacations and new toys. (I swear one day I am closing my facebook account, and I'll be a better person for it) But I try to stay focused on the goal. Financial freedom. Paying cash for everything. And ultimately, not even having a house payment. I am not driven by money or material things. I am driven by freedom. Freedom to do what I want with my time and my money. And once we have no debt, it will feel great to buy something, guilt free. I am already changed. I was never a reckless spender, but I now realize how much crap we thought we needed, we never needed at all.
About the same time we came running out of the gate, ready to pay off debt, our business slowed down. One income household + self employed + Oklahoma's delayed reaction to the recession = uh oh. We'll be fine. It's just going to take a little longer to pay off the debt. So the slow business added to our summer fun.
We were pretty intense this summer. We contemplated two very big decisions. 1. do we want more kids? We decided no. Our family feels very complete. So we had the snippity snip procedure and sealed that deal. 2. We also considered picking up and moving our little family and making a new start. After many late nights & deep conversations, lots of driving around exploring new territories (to us) and weighing all the pros and cons, we decided to stay. So our roots are firmly planted and this is our home. This is the home we will raise our kids in. So I have tucked away my restlessness.
Add to the mix, some car problems, dryers that stopped working in the middle of drying lots of wet towels, and Sydney starting all day Kindergarten (huge life change since she's been home with me from day one)...and you get a pretty stressful summer. However, we did make two big changes that will save us over $450 a month! Yay!
But you know what also happened this Summer? We re-discovered our religion. Together, as a couple. As a family. After a decade of questioning everything we were raised with. We both started feeling pulled back in that direction. So we gave it a try. We went back to the church we were raised with and it felt like coming back home. It's been an amazing experience. And it's been amazing to be on the same page as a couple and experience it together. Everything is very clear to me now. I can't really articulate it just yet. But all my dots are connecting. And I feel closer to my Dad when I'm in church. Maybe he was pulling me back in the right direction.
Despite all our hardships this Summer, we were positive, we became closer and we had faith. I truly believe that God will give us what we need. The key is to learn to differentiate between needs and wants. Many wants just clutter our lives with junk and distractions. And I certainly have learned the lesson that all that really matters in life is our loved ones and our health. I would trade the most devastating financial problems for just one more day with my Dad.
I felt very stagnant this Summer. Just stuck on pause. I didn't even spend much time checking out new music. That is not like me at all. I've been needing something new to listen to and just checked out The Avett Brothers. This is just what I needed! I am loving their music and it so fits my vibe right now! Allen & I did make one "splurge" purchase recently. We bought tickets to see Band of Horses! They are one of our favorite bands and they're coming around our anniversary. I cannot go an entire year without hearing some great live music!
So I welcome Fall with open arms. I'm ready for the cool air and the falling leaves and to get my life back in motion again. Here's some Avett Brothers for you to enjoy!
We decided to pay off our debt. This means saying no to all the fun extras. We are putting all our money towards paying our bills, necessities and whatever is left is going towards paying down debt. Yeah, so that makes for a fun summer! It's easy to start feeling sorry for myself, especially in the age of social networking where everyone proudly announces all their fun vacations and new toys. (I swear one day I am closing my facebook account, and I'll be a better person for it) But I try to stay focused on the goal. Financial freedom. Paying cash for everything. And ultimately, not even having a house payment. I am not driven by money or material things. I am driven by freedom. Freedom to do what I want with my time and my money. And once we have no debt, it will feel great to buy something, guilt free. I am already changed. I was never a reckless spender, but I now realize how much crap we thought we needed, we never needed at all.
About the same time we came running out of the gate, ready to pay off debt, our business slowed down. One income household + self employed + Oklahoma's delayed reaction to the recession = uh oh. We'll be fine. It's just going to take a little longer to pay off the debt. So the slow business added to our summer fun.
We were pretty intense this summer. We contemplated two very big decisions. 1. do we want more kids? We decided no. Our family feels very complete. So we had the snippity snip procedure and sealed that deal. 2. We also considered picking up and moving our little family and making a new start. After many late nights & deep conversations, lots of driving around exploring new territories (to us) and weighing all the pros and cons, we decided to stay. So our roots are firmly planted and this is our home. This is the home we will raise our kids in. So I have tucked away my restlessness.
Add to the mix, some car problems, dryers that stopped working in the middle of drying lots of wet towels, and Sydney starting all day Kindergarten (huge life change since she's been home with me from day one)...and you get a pretty stressful summer. However, we did make two big changes that will save us over $450 a month! Yay!
But you know what also happened this Summer? We re-discovered our religion. Together, as a couple. As a family. After a decade of questioning everything we were raised with. We both started feeling pulled back in that direction. So we gave it a try. We went back to the church we were raised with and it felt like coming back home. It's been an amazing experience. And it's been amazing to be on the same page as a couple and experience it together. Everything is very clear to me now. I can't really articulate it just yet. But all my dots are connecting. And I feel closer to my Dad when I'm in church. Maybe he was pulling me back in the right direction.
Despite all our hardships this Summer, we were positive, we became closer and we had faith. I truly believe that God will give us what we need. The key is to learn to differentiate between needs and wants. Many wants just clutter our lives with junk and distractions. And I certainly have learned the lesson that all that really matters in life is our loved ones and our health. I would trade the most devastating financial problems for just one more day with my Dad.
I felt very stagnant this Summer. Just stuck on pause. I didn't even spend much time checking out new music. That is not like me at all. I've been needing something new to listen to and just checked out The Avett Brothers. This is just what I needed! I am loving their music and it so fits my vibe right now! Allen & I did make one "splurge" purchase recently. We bought tickets to see Band of Horses! They are one of our favorite bands and they're coming around our anniversary. I cannot go an entire year without hearing some great live music!
So I welcome Fall with open arms. I'm ready for the cool air and the falling leaves and to get my life back in motion again. Here's some Avett Brothers for you to enjoy!
Friday, August 27, 2010
Cat Power
Here are some of my favorite Cat Power songs. I love Chan Marshall's voice and style so much!
I think if I were planning mine & Allen's wedding today, we would dance to this song for our first dance. (for the record, our first dance was to "At Last" by Etta James)
Here are some of my favorites:
I think if I were planning mine & Allen's wedding today, we would dance to this song for our first dance. (for the record, our first dance was to "At Last" by Etta James)
Here are some of my favorites:
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