Friday, August 24, 2012

Gooey butter cake!


So her is another recipe for you guys.  Just like I confessed my love for Pioneer Woman, I equally love Paula  Dean.  She is a southern belle and so am I!  I also adore southern food and sweets and she delivers in both categories.  Now I know she has received some flak since she admitted she has type II diabetes and all her recipes are less than good for you.  All I have to say is that if you didn't know that foods full of saturated fat and sugar could cause you to be at risk for obesity, heart disease and diabetes well then I am sorry.  Moderation is key!! :)  So anyways, I have a huge sweet tooth and so does my husband, we try to only eat sweets on the weekend (key word is try).  Last weekend I made Paula Dean's Gooey Butter Cake, and it was awesome.  Once again I will show you the recipe in pics, here is the actual recipe with all the exact instructions and measurements.




Ingredients for the bottom layer.


Combine the cake mix, butter and egg.





Press into a greased baking dish.


Ingredients for the filling



Beat cream cheese until smooth, then add eggs, vanilla and melted butter. Finally mix in the powdered sugar.



Pour on top of cake layer.


spread evenly.


ready to bake!


Bake in a 350 degree oven for 40-50 minutes.


Dust with powdered sugar


ENJOY!!!!!


Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Confessing my love for Pioneer Woman!

So I don't know if any of you have heard of Pioneer Woman, she is basically god's gift to mankind.  Her recipes make me drool and wish that I could go live with her for a week and get fat and happy!!! Take some time and check out her blog, and make one of her recipes, I promise you will not be disappointed.


So the reason I am telling you this is to share with you one of her recipes I tried out this weekend. Its called spicy Dr. Pepper shredded pork, and let me tell you it is spicy!  It definitely packs some heat but it is also de-licious!!!!  I am a big baby when it comes to spicy foods and I can totally handle this so don't let the title scare you away.  I'm going to show you the recipe in pictures, here is the actual recipe.


Side note: you are supposed to make this in a dutch oven, but I don't have one and I am to cheap to go out and spend the $50+ on one so I just used my crock pot.  It turned out perfect!


This is what you will need!




Chop your onion into wedges.


Make sure you have an excellent/adorable sous chef


Place your onion on the bottom of the pot.


Then the pork butt.



Then pour the Dr. Pepper, peppers and sauce and brown sugar on top



After six hours you have yummy, moist, tender BBQ!


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Consider it pure joy

One day recently during my quiet time, I came across a piece of scripture that really struck a cord with me.

James 1:2-4 says: Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.

As I read this scripture I had an aha moment and I knew the Lord was speaking directly to me!  As I had mentioned before we where scheduled to be moving to Virginia this week, we had made all the arrangements turned in our 60 day notice at our apartment complex etc.  Then a month ago we found out we would have to stay another semester, which created all kinds of challenges. We were going to be facing a huge decrease in our income, we had to find a new place to live and on top of it all it was just overwhelmingly disappointing.  I mean one day we where excited about moving to a new town starting new jobs, buying a house and then the next day we have 5 more months and have to put everything on hold.  To say that I handled this with grace would be an understatement ha ha! I had a few days of panic and then came the anger. I was so mad, I did not understand why this was happening to us. Then I came across this scripture and I realized I have a choice.  I can be angry about it, I can feel sorry for myself and ask why me? why us? why now?  I can let it negatively affect my marriage and my faith.  Or I can use this as an opportunity to grow.  Grow my marriage, grow my spiritual life, grow my faith in the Lord.  I can look at this as a blessing. We are down sizing, so that gives an opportunity to learn to live minimally, we will have more time to spend together as a couple and focus on what really matters. We can lean hard on each other and even harder on the Lord.  We can learn that he is the ultimate provider, and that he is loving, kind and faithful and that he is the supplier of my happiness not my circumstances.  I can look at this trial as an opportunity to strengthen Michael and I as a couple and as individuals and think about what it is preparing us for.  So when the day finally does come, when we move to Virginia, start new jobs, buy a house and one day become parents we will be stronger and more reliant on the Lord!

So I am going to consider it pure joy! I am going to be grateful to the Lord and focus on the perseverance and strength that this trial will give Michael and I and our marriage.  Don't get me wrong I still have days where I throw myself a little pity party and get all bent out of shape, but on those days I will remember that at the end of this I will be "mature and complete, not lacking anything"  and for that I am grateful!



Sunday, August 5, 2012

Five years ago...

I went on an evening walk on the beach with my boyfriend, I had no idea I would come back with a fiancé! I remember that night like it was yesterday and I cannot believe it has been five years! That night I agreed to marry my best friend and the love of my life, it was the best decision I ever made. At that moment I had no idea how amazing being Michael's wife would be!

Happy engage-iversary babe, I love you! ( yes engage-iversary is a word)



Friday, August 3, 2012

Our love story!

Today I am going to share how Michael and I met and fell in love, its kind of a long story so I will try my best to keep it short, but I'm not promising anything! 

When I was a tiny awkward little 8th grader I met a beautiful brown haired girl name Shannon we instantly became best friends and spent most of our days swooning over Justin Timberlake and walking around the track at school singing the entire *Nsync album from memory! Yes we are that awesome!  Anyways I stated going to Shannon's house on Sundays for bible study that her parents hosted.  It was at this bible study where   I first laid my eyes on Michael, he was the oldest child of a family that lived down the street from Shannon.  I remember leaning over to Shannon and asking who the hot guy was ha ha!  He was two years older than us and seemed sooooo cool and he pretty much ignored us because we were lame middle school girls. However about a year later things started to change.  All the teens from our bible study took a trip down to Panama City beach, FL for a christian camp called Big Stuff (woot woot).  It was during this trip that Michael started to notice me, we flirted during the trip but me being the shy 14 year old girl scared of rejection, insisted I did not like him *sigh*.  So I left the trip with a giant crush on Michael but nothing to show for it, I didn't see Michael for the rest of the summer due to family vacations and such.
So at the beginning of my sophomore year, Shannon and a few of my other friends were all going to the mall and asked if I wanted to go, of course I did!!! The only hold up was that Michael was going to drive us all and I would have to get my dad's permission to ride with a teenage driver who also happened to be a boy.  I begged and begged and much to my surprise he said YES!! So off we all went to the mall, we all walked around and once a again Michael and I flirted, I remember leaving that night so giddy I couldn't sleep!  So the next day when one of my friends called I was so excited to talk about the night and of course Michael.  Being the typical teenagers that we were, and never being able to say exactly what we mean and playing all kinds of games, she asked me if I knew who Michael liked (just couldn't come out and say it cause that would be to easy).  Of course me being terrified of rejection I guessed every girl I knew except me, my friend said NO he likes YOU!!!! I kid you not from the moment she told me this I thought about Michael for every single second of every single day, it still gives me butterflies thinking about it.  So over the next two months we did a lot of talking on the phone, my first date with a boy that could drive, our first kiss and tons of watching Michael play soccer.
November rolls around and Michael being the typical senior boy wasn't sure if he wanted the commitment of a girl friend especially his senior year, geeez!  So what is a girl supposed to do? Play hard to get of course!  So that's what I did, I had Michael's best friend tell him that I was thinking about dating another guy and sure enough that did the trick ( I know, so mature). So on November 16th, 2001 in the back of a suburban on the way to an indoor soccer game, Michael asked me to be his girlfriend and of course I said yes!!!

Over the next 9 months we had tons more dates, our first Christmas, first I love yous and our first prom.  Then came August and Michael was leaving for college.  I remember that night just like it was yesterday, the night before he left for school.   I remember kissing him goodbye knowing I wouldn't see him for a month but more I was worried about what would happen to us.  I mean what was the chance of us making it, I was terrified he was going to find someone better, I mean I was going to be up against college girls for crying out loud!!  That night was so hard, I remember crying all night long and the next day and the next day.  Back then our cell phones didn't have long distance so we really only talked on aol instant messenger(oh yeah), and ran up some pretty huge long distance phone bills.
Much to my surprise Michael going off to school only strengthened our relationship, I am not saying we didn't have our struggles because oh my goodness we did, and I am so grateful that the Lord grew us together and not apart, because we both changed a ton over the years.

Our first prom 2002

Prom 2003

Prom 2004
Spring break 2006

January 2007

May 2007

So 2007 rolls around and Michael is about to graduate from college, we both knew we wanted to wait until I graduated college in December 2008 before we got married but we wanted to get engaged sometime between then, I just didn't know when.  August 5th, 2007 we took a walk on the beach and Michael asked to me marry him!!! It was the best day of my life up to that point!!! So the wedding planning began, my dad always told me he would not pay for a wedding unless I had a college degree. I was set to graduate on December 20th, 2008, so we set our wedding date for two weeks later: January 3, 2009 (no wasting time here).  After a year and five months of planning the day finally came.  It was a dream come true, everything that I could have ever imagined. I can honestly say that from the moment I found out Michael liked me I kept telling myself "I am going to marry him"!
So now here we are 3 and a half years later and 11 years since we started dating and I love that man more than I could have ever imagined.  He is my best friend there is no one I would rather spend every single day of my life with.  I am so grateful for what the Lord has done in our lives and in our relationship.  I am so blessed to call Michael by husband, he has made all my dreams come true and I know he will continue to throughout our life!
So if you are still with me, thanks for hanging in there and here are a few more pics:

Tailgating before a Wake Forest football game!

Engagement pics fall 2007

Our wedding day January 2009

Our Honeymoon


Christmas 2010













Follow this blog with bloglovin

Follow on Bloglovin