King George – The Bucket List

King George. That’s all I need to say. If you don’t know who he is… we might not be friends. Haha. 

Okay, so King George is also known as George Strait. One of the best singers of all time. He could sing the phone book and make it a #1 hit.

When I was younger, I always said that there were 3 men… a cutting horse trainer, a family friend who also showed cutting horses, and George Strait. My dad used to laugh at this. They don’t let me forget that either.

I have always wanted to see him in concert too, but then in 2012, he announced that his Cowboy Rides Away Tour would be his last tour. He was retiring. And… I didn’t get to see him. I was a little frustrated. The tour ended on June 7, 2014. That was it. I was so sad and frustrated. 

BUT then… he announced that he was going to do a very short tour, including Las Vegas. My parent’s trip last summer got rerouted to Las Vegas and they got to see him in concert. My dad bragged and bragged. Last fall I had some friends who were headed to Las Vegas and I asked if they were going to see George Strait? They said, No, Reba. And somehow that got us started looking up George Strait. 

My friend Shaye, who was looking this up with me, found tickets to see him in Kansas City in January for dirt cheap. I didn’t believe her so I mentioned something to hubby. Next thing I know…

We. Had. Tickets.

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Friendsgiving 2019

Friends giving tends to be a newer concept. One that I really only remember hearing about maybe 10 years ago or so now. It’s quite interesting though that it has caught on. I mean truthfully a lot of people celebrated this long before it had a name/concept.

This year we decided to start our first ever Friendsgiving. After the interesting year we’ve had, why not. While the outcome of the year might not be what we all expected, we still have a lot of things to be thankful for.

We started a Facebook group to see who was bringing what. I kind of waited until everyone else picked an item before I spoke up with what I was going to make. At first, I thought I’d make bacon-wrapped green beans, but then I decided to go with the Green Bean Casserole. I found a recipe online to make it all completely from scratch. I didn’t get my green beans thoroughly cooked though, so they were just okay.

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Thanksgiving 2019

Thanksgiving 2019 has come and gone. Ah, I love Thanksgiving. That might not appear that way as it seems like I slide past it to Christmas, but Thanksgiving is totally about the food. Heck yeah! Anyone who knows me knows I like food.

The day before I decided to make the desserts. I knew the day of I’d be super busy. I got it in my head I wanted a Coconut Cream Pie Cheesecake. Now before anyone asks, no, I’m not pregnant. Yes, I’ve already been asked. I was told this was a weird combination. I didn’t think so though. I really like Coconut Cream Pie and Cheesecake is okay. Why not put them together.

My mom had some medical issues earlier in the summer, which has caused her to eat differently. Then she decided to follow a Keto diet so she gave me a recipe my dad came up with for a Keto Pumpkin Pie. Yey, everyone had dessert. When I invited my mother-in-law, she asked what she could bring. I told her to bring a Chocolate pie that she makes, you know, just in case my cheesecake didn’t turn out. btw, it was amazing! (more…)

Moms and Muffins

I’m a little leery to google that title phrase. Yikes! Anyway… that’s what we did the Monday before Thanksgiving with our kiddos at school. It was called Moms and Muffins. Mom went into the school, where we spent time with our kiddos and ate muffins.

We also helped/watched them make turkeys out of apples. Earlier in the month the teachers sent home a feather that the students were to decorate and design to get them into the Thanksgiving spirit. Then during Moms and Muffins, we took an apple and made it into a turkey.

There were marshmallows (large and small), m and m’s, fruit loops, gumdrops, icing, and toothpicks to help decorate the apple into a turkey. After the first round of decorating our turkey, Abug ate some of it. Then she redecorated it and ate it again. I took home half a decorated turkey…? (more…)

We got a Puppy

We got a puppy. I have been wanting a Basset Hound for as long as I can remember. Maybe even longer than that. Well… We finally got one.

She’s 9 weeks old. I’m starting to wonder why… maybe we fell off our meds. I’m now having to potty train another dog when it’s cold outside. Oh, it snowed yesterday. And I’m having to potty train a dog. The last couple of dogs I’ve had to do this to, just so happens it was this time of year. What were we thinking? UGH! (more…)

Christmas 2018

This Christmas was quite a blur. Between buying and remodeling a house and Abug being at preschool, this Christmas season was quite the blur. They say that time doesn’t slow down, it only gets faster as you get older. I believe that is true. But I sure wish it would slow down!

This year for name tags, I printed off Christmas pictures from years past. I tried to include the person who the present was to in the tag, but that’s not always an option (ahem, my mother). I also tried to put bows on the packages. They were just so darn pretty. Especially under the tree.

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Oh Socks…

Here we are, the last day of 2018. I’ve tried typing 2019 a few times and my fingers always slip up and I wind up typing 2018. Oy! I’ll wish you luck with that new task just as you should wish me luck!!

So being the last day of the year, I’ll leave you with a weird/funny story. I really should recap Christmas but I haven’t edited all the photos yet. I guess that’s what happens when you get busy remodeling a house

Once upon a time, I think I told you the socks story but… My grandma used to always give me socks for Christmas. Then she passed away in 2007. Hubby and I didn’t start dating until 2009, but I swear I didn’t make this comment until I was dating him, but I questioned who would get me socks for Christmas now. So silly and stupid I know… But I did say that.  (more…)

3-Layer Microwave Cake (Happy Birthday Momma!)

Yes, you read this correctly! This 3-layer cake was made in the microwave. Mind blown! haha.

So a blog I like to follow called Bigger Bolder Baking (mentioned a time or two) said you could make a 3-layer cake in the microwave. Now if you know anything about me… of course I’m going to have to try that out.

Once upon a time for Christmas, my mom bought me a silicon baking set… but at the time I didn’t really care for it and never figured I’d use it ever again, so of course I got rid of it eventually. To me, it was just taking up space in the cabinet. And this time frame was like when I was still in high school or just first into college. Like a long time ago. By the way, I think I’m hanging out with my 15-year-old too much… like has been said like way too many like times. haha! Yes, sometimes we count how many times she uses that word in a sentence. 1 sentence. I think the record was 6 so far. One. Sentence. Let that sink in a minute.

Anyway… I had to go online and get new silicon baking pans because obviously metal ones and a microwave aren’t friends. Also, just for future reference… a metal bread tie and a microwave aren’t friends either.

3-Layer Microwave Cake

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Christmas Tree 2018 (And a Surprise)

Finally, the tree went up at our house over the weekend. I’ve been pretty much chomping at the bit (horse term) to get that tree up. I would like to say it went up without any hitches, but it didn’t… NOT. AT. ALL. In fact, I think the term hitches is a nice way of saying how things went on Saturday when we put the tree up. Sad day! Part of me wants to jot those memories down and part of me wants to forget it ever happened. No use in dwelling on the past, right? Let’s just say, Christmas is my favorite holiday (followed so close by Thanksgiving and all of the rest of the holidays) and I used the phrase, I Hate Christmas. Sadly, I try to teach Abug not to say hate. It’s something I try to instill in Abug, don’t hate. Yet I was so frustrated I kept saying HATE. Hypocrite! (that was directed at me, not you :))

The Tree

A few years ago we bought this tree at Lowe’s on sale after Christmas. Best purchase we’ve ever made when it comes to Christmas trees. It goes together so nicely and yeah, I love this tree. Plus, I’m a white light girl and hubby is a colored light guy… This tree flashes back and forth between white lights and colored lights. Best of both worlds!

My friend Harriett told me I needed to make a tree skirt for my tree, but it was too late to start it when she suggested that… so next year. I’m holding you to that Harriett! So Abug decided she was going to put the tree skirt on the tree… (more…)

Thanksgiving 2018

And just like that, Thanksgiving is over.  I saw a meme the other day that I actually saw a year ago… something about spending 10 hours cooking for it to be gone in 30 minutes and then spending 5 hours cleaning up or something. haha. But that’s kind of the fun in Thanksgiving!

It’s also funny how short weeks feel the longest sometimes. Thanksgiving is always the 3rd Thursday of November. And that week, every year feels so long! Probably because of the anticipation of what is to come that week. That’s what I’m going with anyway!

This year, we had plans to leave Tuesday after Abug got out of school to head to my aunt and uncle’s house in Oklahoma. I love when we get to go see them. I have a pretty small family as is, so when we don’t get to see each other on holidays it makes it feel so weird. Weird is the only word I can see to describe it. My family did get bigger when I married my husband, but still… unfortunately they don’t care for me very much so I’ve heard. I get blamed for things that are out of my control and that sucks. But my husband, he’s my rock. He loves me and that’s what matters!

Anyway, Tbug couldn’t come down with us because she had a dentist appointment on Wednesday. My parents weren’t able to come down until Wednesday night so they brought her with them. It was a big happy family!! (more…)