Five on Friday {March 7, 2014}

Happy Friday from the longest week ever! I pretty much want to throw confetti in the air and celebrate that it's finally here! I'm linking up with Darci again today for Five on Friday!

One.
*Today* is my last day of work before my maternity leave starts. It feels like the day before summer break!! Best feeling ever. I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Working a full time job while pregnant is no joke, as I know lots of you know. It's been tough and I'm so glad I've reached the end...for now at least. :)

This was my classroom before school started. It definitely is not this neat and tidy anymore!

Two.
Being that it's been my last week of work, I've been getting myself a little something special these last couple of mornings before work. You know, just to help me make it through the day. It's necessary. After all, the days of guilt-free eating are quickly coming to an end. There is this new donut place that's on my way to work and I have found my perfect donut. I used to love the devil's food glazed donut at Krispy Kreme, but they just haven't been very good the last several years. They're just not chocolatey enough anymore...not to mention you never know if they'll have any. Big problems, I know. Anyway, this double chocolate donut is amazing. I want another one right this very minute.

Three.
A friend of my husband sent him this recently and we both laughed and laughed. Soon enough, this will be us. Gone are the days when we can decide we want to go somewhere and leave the house within minutes.

Four.
I really thought I was doing great to have already bought a few headbands and hair clips for Emery...until I saw this picture yesterday on one of the blogs I follow. The baby who these headbands are for hasn't even arrived yet! I'm actually just totally jealous of the organization...it's heavenly.

{via}

Five.
I cooked the other night for what will probably be the last time for a little while. I made this tortelllini soup recipe a few years ago and I remember loving it, but for some reason I never made it again. It's so easy...the hardest part is dicing the onions and mincing the garlic. It's also pretty healthy and is super yummy. It's perfect with a few slices of crusty bread on the side. Or nearly an entire loaf in my case. {See #2 above. Guilt-free eating days = almost over}

Whatever you end up doing this weekend, I hope it's wonderful!! :)

  

Weekend Rewind {November 4, 2013}

Happy Monday! I hope you had a good weekend and a good start to the week! I'm always glad to get Monday over with, but I have to say, today was a pretty good one! My students were pretty mellow, everything went smoothly, and it wasn't dark outside when I left for work...thanks to daylight savings time. That part of daylight savings time, I love. The getting dark at 4:30 part, not so much. Anyway, we had a somewhat eventful weekend around here, so I thought I'd do a quick weekend post to recap. :)

We got to go to a concert at Samford University here in town on Friday night. Some friends of ours couldn't go and gave us tickets to go see David Phelps. He used to be part of the Gaither Vocal Band, but now does mostly solo stuff. My dad *loves* the Gaither Vocal Band, so I grew up listening to this kind of music.

Here we are in front of the concert hall.

We had fantastic seats! We were in the eighth row, right in the center. It's the closest I've ever been at a concert.

Can you spot our photo bomber? Peace, lady.

If you've never heard David Phelps, do yourself a favor and watch this video {all the way through!}. This is the song he sang to close the concert, and we were so excited he did it. It's our absolute favorite!! You will get goosebumps right around 3:18!! God has given him such an incredible gift!!


After the concert, we went to do some late night shopping at Toys-R-Us for our niece, Vanna. She's turning FIVE on Friday!!! How can this be? It goes by way too fast. She is very much into Disney princesses right now, so we had fun looking at all the princess stuff. Daniel got just a *little* overwhelmed with everything he has to learn in the next few years! ;)

We also looked at some baby stuff in Babies-R-Us. I'm having such a hard time deciding on a color scheme for the nursery! At first I wanted light pink and light aqua, but I really haven't found much of anything. I found this pattern on Friday night, but I think it's a little too "big girl". I think it's super cute, just not babyish enough. Opinions?

I'm starting to lean toward gray and pink. I love the combination, but I'm a little nervous about gray walls. I thought this set was really pretty.

I'm definitely being my usual, incredibly indecisive self! I'm so ready to get started on the room...I just don't want to rush and end up not liking it later!

Saturday was the perfect, laid-back, fall day. I made these baby cinnamon buns for breakfast and they were so easy and so, so yummy. And the best part...they're made with crescent roll dough!

Daniel cleaned out the garage, and I cleaned and did laundry inside. We pretty much hung out and relaxed the rest of the afternoon. Relaxing is so much more, well...relaxing...when your house is clean and you've gotten things done that have been on your to do list for a while!

That night, we made Pioneer Woman's potato soup for dinner and...umm. Wow. Totally simple ingredients, but an incredibly delicious result. It's not your typical thick and creamy potato soup, but we absolutely loved it! There's a little chopping at the beginning, but that's the hardest part...and it's totally worth it! It was perfect for a chilly fall night.

We ended the night with s'mores and roasted marshmallows over the fire pit. I finally tried a s'more with a Reese's peanut butter cup and I was totally unimpressed. I *love* Reese's peanut butter cups, but when it comes to s'mores, give me the Hershey bars!

After church on Sunday morning, we had a picnic at a baseball park with the men's Bible study group that Daniel is a part of. The picnic was at Rickwood Field which is the oldest active baseball park in the country.

We got a tour with a whole bunch of baseball history, but I'll be honest. I'm not a baseball fan, and the highlight {other than the other people there} was when I got to eat my veggie sub from Subway. If you've been reading my pregnancy updates, you know I have *really* been wanting Subway!!! I may never order anything else from Subway--it was *so* good!

I hope you have a fabulous rest of the week!! We'll make it...and a three day weekend is on its way! :)

  

Jalapeno Popper Chicken Chili

One of my favorite things about fall is the food. I'm a fan of any kind of comfort food and fall seems to lend itself to so many of my favorites...two of which being soup and anything with pumpkin! I can hardly wait to make my first batch of pumpkin bread! But this post is about one of our new favorite soups.

I found this recipe last year {Pinterest, of course!} and made it several times throughout fall and winter. I've actually never even had a real jalapeno popper, but something about the recipe just made me want to make it! The flavors in this soup are just so warm and cozy. {Can flavors be cozy? I'm thinking yes.} The spiciness of the jalapeno peppers, the slight crunch of the corn, and the richness of the cream cheese are a delicious combination.

Jalapeno Popper Chicken Chili
Makes 6 servings
Printer Friendly Version

Olive oil
1 small onion, diced
4 jalapeno peppers, diced, seeds removed (leave the seeds if you want more heat)
3 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
1-1/4 lb. boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 (14 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes with juices
1-1/2 cups chicken broth (reduce or omit if you want a thicker soup)
1 (19 oz.) can cannellini beans
1 (14 oz.) can corn
8 ounces cream cheese
Toppings: shredded cheese, sour cream, green onions, tortilla chips (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium heat and saute onion, jalapeno peppers, and garlic until soft and tender.
2. Season the chicken well with salt and pepper. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan (if needed) with the chicken and lightly brown chicken on all sides. Season with chili powder, cumin, and oregano.
3. Add tomatoes, chicken broth, beans and corn. Bring to a simmer and cook 30 minutes. Taste and season as needed.
4. Add cream cheese and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.
5. Add toppings to soup as desired. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Cinnamon, Spice, and Everything Nice