Happenings

Hello all ...

So, I'm falling down on the blogging job. I think a couple posts ago, I made some comment regarding trying to do this more often. Apparently, I lied :) I seem to be finding myself lost in a book, cleaning the house, cooking, helping my husband ... anything but being on my blogs and even checking other blogs!

I'm back, though with a bit of an update. Brian and I were very excited to close on 10 acres of land just outside of Lubbock city limits. It is a perfect space of land at the perfect location, and we are so excited about the opportunities to come with it. We have been major busy on land development projects ... mostly building fences. We have spent quite a bit of time surveying and setting t-posts. Most recently, we spent the weeking (in the crazy West Texas wind) cutting pipe and getting the pipe sections ready to be placed on the fence line. That was quite project and definitely took the place of me lifting weights for .. oh about the entire month! :)

This is our land ... welcome to West Texas ... wide open flatness :)

I didn't know Brian had the camera out, but this was the pipe cutting adventure.

Brian got caught with the camera!

I'm enjoying working on these projects with my hubby. They are definitely great relationship building times, and I know it helps him a lot. The land is coming along, and I'm SO looking forward to the day we can build a house and live our there in the peacefulness. It's going to be awesome!!

Now that I've displayed my efforts to do not-so-girlie manual labor, I'm going to confirm that I still have girly-ness in me! So ... baking and projects ...

I have two things that I've baked recently that were awesome ... one low-fat and one not-so-much!

Meringue cookies

These little cookies are amazing little bits of sweetness that are so light and low calories. They do take a long time to bake, so they are an exercise in patience!

These are vanilla meringue cookies. I didn't get a picture after they were done baking ... oops!

Here's the recipe for chocolate and vanilla meringue cookies. They are about 20 cal/cookie:

4 large egg whites (or the equivalent of meringue powder)

1/2 tsp distilled white vinegar or cider vinegar

1 cup sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 200 F. Line 2 baking sheets with foil.

In a large bowl, beat egg whites with an electric mixer until frothy. Add vinegar; beat until soft peaks form. Increase speed to high and gradually add sugar; beat until glossy stiff peaks form. Beat in vanilla.

Remove half of meringue to another bowl; stir in cocoa until blended.

Spoon tablespoons of both meringues onto prepared baking sheets about 1 inch apart each, making about 44 cookies - half vanilla-flavored and half cocoa-flavored. Or you can make marbleized cookies by spooning 1/2 tablespoon of each type of meringue into a mound and then swirling to two together with your fingers.

Bake until meringues feel dry and crisp all the way through, about 3 hrs. Turn off oven; leave meringues in oven for 1 hr. Transfer baking sheets to wire racks to cool completely. Peel off foil and store in air tight container at room temp. (Taken from the Weight Watchers weekly)

Now to the unhealthy delicious stuff!! I made these fabulous cinnamon rolls from our Lubbock Junior League cookbook .... best homemade cinnamon rolls I've EVER made!!

So sinfully delicious!!! I could blow a diet any day for this gooey goodness!

If anyone's interested in the recipe, just let me know! They were surprisingly easy to make for homemade :)

Lastly .. my new project:

This is an OLD tray (obviously) that my husband's grandfather gave me. I wasn't such a fan of the "beautiful" stenciled flower-work on the tray ;) But I had an idea! I am planning to paint a solid creamy white and then paint our name "Wise" on the tray in a pretty script with mayble some scrolling to accent. I am really needing to do something above my kitches cabinets. They really are very plain and in need of some help. This will be my start and inspiration ... now I need to actually get started!

Have a great and blessed day!

Decrapifying ... Quick note

I know I've told many of my friends, but one of my most favorite blogs in all of the world of blogs is thriftydecorchick.com. This woman is brilliant! She has opened my eyes to the wonder of very "thriftilly" decorating and designing. Such wonderful ideas and beautiful things.

Her latest postings have been about "decrapifying" her home. I have officially be inspired. Since I now have so much time on my hands with my lack of school and projects to work on ... my house will now become clutter-free and ultra organized. I'm getting excited about this. I feel like if I decrapify, then I can decorate the little things I haven't done. That's the really super fun part! Anyway ... you should check out her blog!

Another good one to check out is the Chicken Pot Pie Soup on skinnytaste.com. I made this for Brian and I, and he loved it. It was perfect for these super chilly days we've been having. Check it out! Only about 170 calories a cup, too, and full of yummy veggies and protein. Delicious!

Brian and I are very excited that we have a contract pending on some land! ... 10 whole acres! I'm very excited about this and nervous all at the same time. This will be our first big adventure ourselves. We don't plan to build for a while, but I know it will be fun to start working the land. More updates to come on this.

Have a blessed and wonderful day!! :)

I'm Back!!! :)

Hello world! I've resurfaced from the pile of books, tests, work, Christmas decorations, and holiday events! Life's settled down a bit, and I'm back in business! Boy, it feels good to sit down and take a deep breath knowing that I'm not putting off any responsibilities to waste my time away on this blog and facebook, etc. :)

I figure I might update a bit on life. SO much has gone on since my last past ... ages ago! I'll do a quick update and spare you from all the minor details that would make this pages and pages long.

Some of the highlights in the past few months:

NOVEMBER
November was a great month with two exciting events. Of course, I can't pass over the food-filled fun of Thanskgiving! I made a feast for an army with only 4 people to eat it, but we indulged ourselves in a rare fattening meal and loved every bit of it. Brian smoked the turkey ... yumminess!!

Then, we had an early celebration of my Mom's 50th birthday! It was a surprise party that turned out great, and we had a BLAST! It was so fun getting to do something special for such a wonderful woman who's always doing things for others. I think we surprised her pretty good! It was hard planning a party in Frisco, while being in Lubbock, but with the help of friends, my dad, and my sis (plus amazing service at Market Street) ... we pulled it off! :)

DECEMBER
Oh the month of Christmas! I absolutely love the Christmas season; however, this year it was dampened by studying for a certification test and a few other things. Fortunately, I am proud to say that I have officially graduated with my Masters of Science in Nursing!! Yay!! The last 2 years of studying and classes are now done! Unfortunately the Texas Tech HSC only has a graduation once a year, so commencement ceremony pictures and festivities to come in May :)

Then, I had decided earlier in the year that I wanted to take my Critical Care RN test, and also decided it would be a brilliant idea to schedule this test for December 21. What was I thinking?! Goodbye Christmas season for me! Once Thanksgiving was over and done, I had my head in a review book for 4 weeks straight. if I wasn't working, I was studying. But, in the end, it has paid off! I took my test and passed it! YAY!! I'm SO glad that's done, and I never want to do it ever again. It was hard! It was a great experience, though, and really has helped me to become more confident at work.

With that done, I did all my Christmas shopping in one day, wrapped gifts, worked, and prepared to head to Plano for a fun Christmas with the family. We had a great time, and it was so wonderful to spend some time together enjoying the true blessings and meaning of Christmas!

I love being home for Christmas ... so cozy and homey!

My handsome hubby!

Papa and Noni

Erin was SUPER thrilled to see she got a hat signed by Brookings from the Cowboys ... her long lost (married) love ;)

Brian and I went to Carol's Christmas pary ... it was a blast and as always, super fun to get dolled up!

We brought in the New Year with a deer hunting trip that brought home two doe! We discovered the ease of making deer jerky in the oven ... absolute deliciousness! I believe we'll be making jerky more often now!

If you made it this far through the post, congrats! That was quite long and picture-filled! I believe I will try to keep the updating more regular from now on :)

Have a blessed day!

"Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world"  Psalm 46:10

Go Tech!

This week has been a good one. Busy busy with all the wonderful things of the season. Brian and I have a few events that we've been participating in, and oh ... of course there's football!!

Last weekend we went to a 90th birthday party. It was a blast. We had a great time, and Brian and his family were able to see many old friends. I just enjoyed the company and getting dressed up! :)

Brian and I all spiffed up! :)

Then, we got the week in full swing. I was very excited because I got to see Emily and Marcus's precious little gift, Lawrence Gray Wooley. I was in such a hurry to get dinner to them before going to our church group that I completely forgot to grab the camera. But, he's a precious little boy, and I sure could just sit and hold him for hours! I patted that little bottom right to sleep while I was holding him. So precious! I really am so excited for them ... God's given them a sweet gift! In the midst of cooking a delicious low-fat King Ranch Chicken in the crockpot (an altered Southern Living recipe) and baking pies and chopping salads ... I decided to bake some homemade soft pretzels for Brian. He's been very persistent in reminding me that it's been forever since I made the last batch. They were smaller this time, and looked a little funny, but they were SOO good! Maybe next time I won't wait so long before I make them again!

Yummy soft pretzels ... so warm ... right out of the oven ... smells delicious!!



The recipe came from the cookbook "Baking Illustrated." Great for any level of baker. If you're new, it'll give you step-by-step detail of how to bake some of the seemingly hardest recipes. It'll also show you many pictures of the process! I strongly suggest it! :)

 The rest of the week went along relatively smoothly, except for the fact that all my Nurse Practitioner school plans got jumbled into a mess by TTU's school of nursing. I'm so thankful for God opening new doors, though. Subtracting all the details of the process, I'm excited to say that I have applied to Angelo State University, and I may be completing the last bit of schooling through their FNP program. Anxious to see what happens!

We took a load off over the weekend, and enjoyed a change of pace with Tech football. Go Red Raiders ... way to beat Mizzou on prime time television. It's awesome to see what happens when you show up to play football! :)

Well ... off to study and prepare for a busy week. I'm getting real excited about Fall and Christmas ... I had a momentary thought of wanting to decorate for Christmas next weekend. Then, I realized I was stealing some of the thunder from Fall and Thanksgiving! That is just unacceptable ... so ... I've been checking out Thrifty Decor Chick for some fabulous fall ideas. This is one of my new favorite design idea blogs. Check it out!

Have a wonderfully, blessed week!

A great week

This week turned out to be an awesome one with a few great things happening. I began the week by giving my presentation, and thankfully I did great and passed with flying colors. Now ... just have to finish the semester! It's exciting getting closer to being done with my Masters, but that just means I'm closer to starting NP school which definitely makes me nervous! I am also studying for my critical care certification exam. So ... many prayers for focused studying and a successful exam!

Brian surprised me at work this week with flowers. It was awesome and made me feel so special and loved. I just could never have asked for or imagined a better husband!

Brian and I had a blast last night ... we got to go see the Eagles in concert! It was so awesome. Definitely the best concert I've been to, yet. They sounded amazing ... the music was awesome, and their voices were just as great as ever. We laughed because at the beginning Don Henley said, "Welcome to the Assisted Living Tour!" Fun times!  Brian and I were talking about the fact that it's amazing that a band that made it's big debut when our parents were around our age is still going so strong. What's sad is that when our kids are our age, the likelihood of another great band still being around is slim. Music just isn't the same anymore! Anyway ... here's a couple shots from last night. It was awesome!

Me and my sweet hubby :)

Hotel California

Don Henley

Tonight we have a fun 90th birthday to go to with cocktail attire. Excited to get all dressed up! Pictures to come :)

God bless!

The Weekend

This past weekend, Brian was away doing a "Bug-out" Competition. I missed him but managed to keep myself busy!

Saturday we celebrated that the Heart Walk is over!! Yay!! Our team did a great job at fundraising, earning nearly $10,000. We had a small group from our team of 50 show up to the walk. It was a good time and a great celebration of a job well done. It's good to know that the money raised will go directly toward fighting heart disease locally. Most of the funds will stay at Texas Tech to do research. It's fantastic!



My heart walk team!



Katrina and Me ... she's my Lubbock blogging buddy. We've become minorly obsessed with this together!

I also got to enjoy getting a pedicure with my sweet girlfriends from church. We have so much fun together and they've definitely blessed my life! We went to for our last girl's outting before sweet Emily has her little baby. She's due to deliver on Thursday. So ... lots of prayers! We're very excited to welcome baby Grey into this world. He will be blessed with very sweet and loving parents!!

Taryn, Emily, Laura, and I from her baby shower

     Today, I'm off to give my final practicum lecture for my masters program. I'm in my final practicum of education this semester, and I'm getting excited that I will be officially done with my masters program in December. I'm nervous, though about teaching today over a topic that I'm not very comfortable with. So ... hopefully it'll go well, and I'll get a good grade (since it is 50% of the semester grade!)

God bless everyone!

You've gotta get it!

I'm really not planning to do this blogging business more than once a day (or daily at that!). But, I've gotta tell someone about the my new, most favorite, fragrance!

One thing you'll have to know about me, when I find something I love, I just can't resist the urge to tell everybody and their dog about how much I love it and how much they need to love it, too! Good thing I have this blog to help me with that! :)

Katrina (a friend from work) told me that I needed to smell the Bombshell fragrance from Victoria's Secret. I was out of my perfume, so I did. It is awesome! I wasted no time in buying some. So ... you should check it out!

I bought the body mist, but they also have perfume and lotion, etc. I think the body mist is just as good as the perfume, and it's cheaper!

Also, I know not everyone is a split pea soup lover, but I tried a recipe from Gina's WW Blog. It's delicious! It has made my house smell very fall-like. This blog is great for getting healthy recipes. I definitely recommend the recipes ... I haven't found a bad one yet!

Gina's: Split Pea Soup with Ham Hocks

Have a great night!