Two Easy Summer Recipes

BBQ Pork Nachos

Place raw pork in crockpot with lots of BBQ sauce poured over top,
Cook pork in the crockpot for a couple hours on high until it's cooked through,
Shred or chop cooked pork into small pieces, add more BBQ sauce if needed so the meat mixture is nice and juicy,
Spread nacho chips on a baking pan, layer with pork and shredded cheese, add jalapenos, olives and anything else you wish,
Bake for about 10 min or until cheese has melted - keep an eye out so it doesn't burn.
Serve with yummy salsa, guacamole, sour cream, etc ...


Vanilla Caramel Protein Coffee Shake {The perfect mid-afternoon pick-me-up}

Brew extra coffee in the morning so you can refrigerate the leftover coffee.
In a blender mix together:
Coffee
1 TBSP Vanilla protein powder
Sugar
Vanilla Caramel Coffee Creamer
Ice
Blend until ice is totally smooth,
serve with a straw for sipping and top with Reddi Whip if you wish.
Enjoy on the deck with some new magazines while your children swim happily and you enjoy your coffee drink and the beautiful, summer sunshine ...

{Sorry if I don't give measurements, I like to make things up as I go and rarely measure!}

Card Making

A funny thing happens when you re-discover a hobby you once loved, but haven't made time for as of late ...


You get on a roll, have so much fun, realize why you love doing it, and want to keep making more and more and more ... {oh, and you make a really big mess of your craft room!}
{Inside}



{Inside}

{Inside}

{Inside}

{Inside}
{Back of cards}
My messy space!!

Thankful Thursday

OK, so I'm not too good at keeping things updated around here - but it IS summer, you know ... and we've been busy! So just thought I'd jot down some random thoughts today and as I thought over what I wanted to say, I realized that there were a whole lotta little things that I am so thankful for right now - so why not make a Thankful Thursday list?



*I'm thankful for: A wonderful, long, relaxing weekend in Maine - with friends and their parents at a cabin on the lake. I'm thankful that we had such a wonderful and relaxing time, that we had loads and loads of fun tubing, waterskiing, playing Wii, talking, laughing, eating, etc ... {more to come on this trip later}. And I'm thankful that it was a very inexpensive trip and for the gracious hospitality of our friends who invited us to come.

*I'm thankful that even though I felt crummy with back/neck/head and stomach pain while we were away ... I was still able to enjoy myself and have a good time.

*I'm super thankful for my chiropracter, heating pads, excedrin, massages from hubby and children who will rub my feet ... all good things to help me feel better soon!

*I'm thankful for the Sears repair man, who fixed the fan in our {1 year old!} fridge, so our food can stay cold again ... and thankful for a 2nd fridge that kept things cold in the interim.

*I'm thankful for friends, awesome, wonderful friends. Friends who live near, friends who live far. Friends who I've only 'met' through the internet, friends that I spend a lot of time with. Friends are a wonderful thing.

*I'm thankful for an amazing husband who knows the value of time spent with family and friends. Who takes extra days off just to do something special with us and makes sure his family is just as important {if not more} than his work. A hubby who provides and takes care of us and our needs, but doesn't let work get in the way of a good time.

*I'm thankful for my two sweet little girls. I'm thankful that I get to see the joy in their faces evreyday as they grow and learn and explore. I'm thankful that they are bright and cheerful and kind and sweet.

*I'm thankful for my loving Heavenly Father. I'm thankful for His forgiveness and grace, especially when I crowd my life with so much busy fun that I don't make enough time for my relationship with my Lord. I'm thankful that He loves me still and will never stop.

*I'm thankful for chips & salsa and iced cold peach tea - my two current faves ...

*I'm thankful that I never have to work on a crab fishing boat like the guys on Deadliest Catch - for I would surely die of cold or seasickness!

What are you thankful for today??

Curb Appeal

I really need some advice. My house is in desperate need of curb appeal.

We have these ugly cement porches by our front door and our kitchen door. And we hardly ever use the front door - mostly just to walk out and get the mail each day.

We had a new door put in a couple years ago and still haven't painted it. So it's just primer white right now. We also painted the cement porches because they were nasty grey cement and we thought it would look better ... only problem is that the paint chips alot and needs to be re-painted about once a year.

So here are my pics, forgive the silly smashed flower pot - read the snake story below if you don't know what that is all about. Before the snake came along the only things on the porch to give it any appeal or color were those two green pots with the geraniums in them.

I want the porch to look pretty and inviting since it's the front of my house where everyone can see it. BUT, I don't want to spend a fortune on making it look nice. I need some inexpensive ideas ... so please help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

{PS. The house color and shutter color need to stay. The siding is new and we don't want to pay to replace the shutters right now ... so I need to find colors and stuff to complement those.}

Girls Night Out

My three friends and I get together once a month to scrapbook. Scrapbook night is always such a wonderful outlet to just hang out, eat, drink, laugh and be around my girlfriends. {Oh and sometimes we actually do get some scrapbooking done!}

Since our birthdays are all exactly 3 months apart we decided that on the months when one of us is having a birthday, we will all go out for dinner instead of staying in to scrapbook. It's become something really fun to look forward to!

June was my birthday so we went out to this fabulous Mexican restaurant, then back to my house for cake and presents. We always have such a blast together ... I am so grateful for my friends!!

Sandy and Caroline ...Lynn and I ...


We're so silly when we're together ....

Surfin' USA

We had some friends come visit for a couple days and since our weather had finally heated up and become absolutely gorgeous, we decided to take a day to enjoy the beach together!

The 4 older girls had a blast trying out the Boogie Boards for the first time - the waves were just the right size for them to have fun but not get taken under ... {our friend's baby girl slept in her stroller for about 2 hours while the older girls played}

The Snake

There is a reason why the Bible says; "Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made" in Genesis chapter 3. And there is a reason why I don't like snakes, I don't trust snakes and I cannot function when there is a snake ANYwhere nearby. Now, the rest of the story ...

On the morning of July 4th while getting everything ready for our big family BBQ ... Bob parked his truck in the front lawn, then came rushing to the backyard yelling "come see this, you're not going to believe it!" He grabs his big metal shovel and we go out front. There wrapped up inside my flower pot {ON MY FRONT PORCH, MERE STEPS FROM MY FRONT DOOR!} full of geraniums is a HUGE black snake. The very same flower pot that I go to when I prune the dead flowers and leaves about 2-3 times per week. The very same pot that I would have completely, totally had a freak out mental breakdown had I been pruning those same flowers and come face to face with a huge snake!

Ahem, anyway, back to the story ... so Bob says, I'm really sorry about what I'm about to do to your flower pot and BAM smashes it while he's trying to chop up the snake. The snake then jumps into the bushes and after much smashing and pulling we finally get the snake out into the open grass and killed. {Sorry, please don't report me to PETA!}

That darn snake put up a great fight, even when he was half chopped he still stuck his tongue out and hissed at us. Let me just take a quick sec to remind you what the Bible says, "the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made" -- uh huh, see why we had to destroy it? Can you imagine if I stepped out on my front porch one morning and nearly stepped on a SNAKE? ew! Gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it!

Anyway, here is the pic of the snake, we figured he was about 5 feet long ... and my wrecked flower pot, after the fact - I think I won't mind re-planting those flowers somewhere else ...

Happy Birthday America!

Around here we are getting ready for a big weekend filled with family, friends, food and fun!

Tomorrow is our annual Fun Family Fourth and this year we've decided to add the element of a talent show ... should be a wonderful time filled with laughter and fun!

So, that being said, I have much to do ... but I wanted to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July, and I hope you all have a wonderful weekend doing whatever you enjoy most!

It may not be Bermuda ...

but we sure are blessed to live where we do!

I know I might complain about our loooooong winters ... and the fact that our summers are just way too short ... but despite all that, when summer does arrive, we LOVE it! We are only 20 minutes from the beach and we are so blessed to live here. It's not Bermuda ... but it sure is BEAUTIFUL!

{The girls were collecting as much seaweed as they could find, I love the laughing looks on their faces!}


And after the beach, we come home to 'rinse off' the sand in the pool!

This week ...

Has been busy around here ... I've been filling in at work for our main florist who is on vacation. Boy, it's tiring working a lot of hours when you're not used to it!

I brought my camera in today to take some pics of what I've been working on ...



I love the shape of this vase ... it was delivered to a man - reminds me of a big ol' beer mug!