Five on Friday {July 11, 2014}

Happy Friday, friends! I hope y'all have had a great week! We've had a pretty low key week here which is really nice from time to time. Other than running a few errands, we've been home most of the time. We have big plans for this afternoon, though. It's Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-A and I have every intention of dressing Emery up like a cute little cow. Honestly, I've been waiting a few years to do this because I felt like just Daniel and I dressing up like cows would be ridiculous. It makes so much more sense to do it now that we have a baby...especially since she can't eat Chick-fil-A. Makes perfect sense, right? ;) I will definitely be sharing pictures of Emery, but that's probably where the pictures will stop!

Anyway, here's what's been going on in our little corner of the world for the past week... :)

One.
Emery had a great first Fourth of July. We had plans to go to a barbecue and fireworks show in my parents' neighborhood, and I have to admit that I was a little nervous about how she would do. She's gotten overstimulated pretty easily in the past, so I really was thinking that we probably wouldn't even last long enough to see any fireworks. She certainly proved me wrong! Shortly after we got there, she fell asleep in her stroller and slept the entire time we were eating. Then, she woke up to take her bottle and was perfectly happy for the rest of the time. The best part? She fell asleep *during* the fireworks. For real. She's just getting more and more laid back.

3-1/2 months old

I know she looks less than thrilled in a lot of these pictures. She smiles all the time during the day, but hardly ever when a camera is out. I'm really hoping that changes!

Two.
Daniel has been dying to do some work in our back yard ever since we moved into our house. I've been a little hesitant because, well...I don't do well with plants. I kill everything. Part of the problem could be that I hate watering them. Actually, I guess that's probably the entire problem. I just hate dealing with that darn hose and sweating within five seconds of stepping outside. Anyway. My mom is an expert in all things plants. {Why did I not inherit this?} They got to talking about the yard and got a plan. My parents came over on Saturday and Daniel, my mom, and my dad literally transformed part of our yard. I did very important things like getting everyone food and water and taking care of the baby. {In my defense, I did help unload all those stones from the truck.} I'm loving how everything looks and am so excited to work on the rest of the yard!

Here's the before...

And after...

Emery enjoyed a little sun that day, too. This is a rare occurrence for her due to her mother hating being in the Alabama summer heat.

Three.
Although we were incredibly productive this past Saturday, our typical Saturday includes a lot of HGTV. See, usually we just *talk* about all the things we want to do with our house, yard, etc... Last weekend, we actually *did* some of them! One of our favorite HGTV shows to watch is Fixer Upper. These people do *amazing* things with the scariest houses and they are so totally fun and cute to watch. I would be totally fine with buying the worst house imaginable in a heartbeat as long as Chip and Jo Jo were going to renovate it! And I actually want to be friends with them in real life.

I mean, just look at this before and after!!

{via}

Four.
Emery's nursery is coming along! I know, she's nearly four months old and it's not done. {Knowing me, I'll *never* be able to feel like it's completely done.} My mom and dad bought us a precious lamp to go next to the glider. It makes that corner of her room feel so cozy. I love it as much as you can possibly love a lamp. And that base...so pretty. I feel like it's so classic and that Emery will be able to keep it forever and use it in her own house one day with a different lamp shade. And now that I said that, I want to forget it because I don't want to think about my baby growing up and having her own house. As fast as time has been going, that day will be here in what will feel like approximately two weeks.

Five.
We're going on a date night tonight! Yippee!! We haven't gone on a date just the two of us since our anniversary, so I'm super excited. We're going to see a movie and I considered The Fault In Our Stars. But after everything I've heard, that one will be a Redbox. I prefer to ugly cry in the comfort of my own home, thank you very much. I think we're going to go see Tammy. Yep. I wasn't so sure about it, but we watched the trailer the other night and I died laughing 30 seconds in and told Daniel to stop it because I didn't want to ruin any of the movie. Seriously, Melissa McCarthy is just ridiculously funny. This SNL pizza skit owns me every time!!!

Whatever you end up doing this weekend, I hope y'all have a wonderful one! :)

  

Midweek Randoms {August 14, 2013}

Wow. Am I ever glad it's Wednesday!! I'm completely back in the mode of thinking, "Only ___ days until Friday" the very second that I open my eyes in the morning. I'm thankful for my job, I love getting to work with kids, but it's exhausting... especially at the beginning of the year! I hate wishing my life away, though, so I'm going to try to make a more conscious effort to not do that this year.

I'm hoping to have a few recipes to post soon, but...well, I haven't been doing a whole lot of cooking lately! {I always go through this phase when I start a new school year!} Hopefully, I'll get back into my routine soon. :) Anyway, I'm linking up with Megan again for Midweek Randoms.

• I mentioned several weeks ago that we renovated our home office and that I would post a before and after. I totally intend to do that, but I keep waiting because I feel like I'm not completely done. Knowing me, though, I'll probably never feel like it's done, so I need to just go ahead and post it! I'm just going to go ahead and make that one of my weekend goals! :) Here's the sneak peek I posted last time I talked about it.

• We had Meet the Teacher at our school last night and I got to meet most of my new students. It seems like I'll have a sweet class, but that first day of school will really tell me what I need to know. ;) It's always hard to start a school year with a new group of kids. I get so attached to my class from the year before that it feels like no other class will ever compare! {Dramatic, I know...} Don't worry, though, I'll give these new guys a chance. :)

• Speaking of school, teachers {me included} are serious snackers...and I love it! There are snacks and treats *everywhere* this week! Donuts, juice, Cheez-its, granola bars, fruit, trail mix, candy...the selection is quite impressive. I love how the stress eating is encouraged and embraced. No teacher will ever judge another teacher on the pile of mini candy bar wrappers beside their professional development handouts. Oh, and if there are ever treats in the work room, you better get there early! :)

• Okay, so I'm going to get a little mushy on you, but last weekend made me love my husband even more. He got home from work on Friday night and asked me what I wanted to do. You'll never guess what I said. Seriously. I told him that I wanted to go to school for a couple of hours to work. What?! On my last Friday of summer? I'm ridiculous, I know, but he didn't even hesitate. He just said, "Let's go." I love that man. I was feeling stressed because I'd gotten *several* e-mails telling me that stuff had been delivered to my room, so I knew I'd feel better if I got it all organized before Monday morning. Daniel helped me unpack and organize school supply boxes, label desks, and organize textbooks. Oh, and when I came home late from work last night, he was color coding 100 markers and 120 colored pencils with colored duct tape. Really, he deserves an award. {And I know I've posted a couple of these e-cards, but I seriously love them. They are hilarious!}

Probably from cutting all that laminated stuff...

• We are pretty much hooked on Netflix. We love finding a series and having Netflix marathons on the weekends. I'd been hearing about the show "The Killing" on several other blogs so we decided to give it a try. We loved it! It had us guessing the entire time. It was a little grim because it was about a murder {obviously} and the fact that it was set in Seattle {seriously, always raining} made it extra gloomy, but we still really liked it. Anybody have any other Netflix suggestions?

{via}

• We went on our "back to school" date last Saturday night at The Cheesecake Factory and I ordered their strawberry lemonade. Oh my goodness, this lemonade. I almost always get water at restaurants, but every time we go to The Cheesecake Factory, it's a *must* for me to order this lemonade. I love it so much that if they give me a refill when we're almost done with dinner, I ask for a to go cup! I just can't leave a whole glass of it on the table!! {I always feel stupid when I do this, but when we were waiting for our table I saw *several* people walking out with to go cups of strawberry lemonade. Apparently, I'm not the only superfan.} Anyway, I googled a copycat recipe and found this one that says it tastes similar. I'm *definitely* going to try it!!

{via}

• Only 17 more days until football season starts! I'm *so* excited!! I do have a couple of "football food" recipes ready to share. I love making snacky {is that a word?}, appetizerish {definitely not a word} foods on Saturdays for us to eat while we watch the game. There's something so cozy about getting everything done around the house on Saturday morning and then getting all comfy on the couch with a yummy snack to watch the game. I can't wait!

Well, I hope y'all have a great rest of the week! Only 2 more days until Friday! ;)

  

Midweek Randoms {August 7, 2013}

Hi there! I hope y'all are having a great week so far. It's my last week of summer break so I'm trying to soak it all in before I go back to teacher mode on Monday. I'm linking up with Megan again this week for Midweek Randoms!

• One of the apps I talked about in my Money Making Apps post has been updated and I like it so much better! The app is Receipt Hog and you earn coins just by taking pictures of your grocery and drug store receipts. Once you reach 1,000 coins, you can redeem them for $5 in cash {via a PayPal deposit} or an Amazon gift card. My favorite thing about the update is that you now earn a spin at the "Hog Slots" {I know!} for every qualifying receipt. I've earned about 100 extra coins so far at the slots. :)  {My referral link is above. I'd love it if you'd click on it so I can take another trip to the Hog Slots! Ha!}

• If you have an Earth Fare in your area, you're going to want to check this out. Right now, they have a coupon that will get you 2.5 pounds of grass fed ground beef for $10.00. That's only $4.00 a pound! You just have to sign up with your e-mail address to get the coupon. I had Daniel pick some up yesterday on his way home from work and we had hamburgers for dinner last night. They were SO good! The beef was really lean, too. The coupon expires on August 11, 2013.

• Two words: Shark Week. I know I am probably going to be in the minority here, but I've never been into it. I've tuned in a couple of times this week, though, because another one of my favorite money making apps, Viggle, is doing 600 point bonuses for some of the shows. Just the few minutes that I've watched have confirmed that I am still NOT a fan. I think this is because I cannot handle gory footage {I can't even watch someone get a shot on TV}. Oh my goodness, the actual aftermath of shark bites that I saw was way too much for me. Just one more reason that I will never ride a jet ski in the ocean again.

• My mom is hilarious. My parents were recently in Ohio for business and while they were there, they bought a bunch of produce from a farm in my hometown. She made this yummy corn {cut off the cob} for our family cookout a couple of weeks ago and I just raved and raved about it. They went back to Ohio to take care of some business stuff last week and on their way home, she texted me saying she was coming home with lots more corn. We went over to their house the night they got back and my dad told me to check out the fridge. Um, wow, Mom! You weren't kidding! :) I love it!

• I cooked some rice in my beloved rice cooker yesterday because I'm making my 15 minute fried rice for dinner tonight. This is a meal I always look forward to because it's so quick, easy, and delicious! I usually serve it with these egg rolls, too. SO good!!

I hope y'all have a great rest of the week!! :)