Things I Love: Volume 2

Things I Love: Recipe Edition (in no particular order)

1. Chocolate Chip Pound Cake--The standard go-to birthday cake for me as a teenager, and now it's one of my faves to make for friends when they visit (and maybe for myself on occasion).

2. Asian Sloppy Joes--I was introduced to this entree during a "Walabeach" trip to North Carolina many years ago, and it's definitely a staple in our house.

3. Crescent Roll Chicken--Got this recipe while interning at Kirksey back in the day, and with a few of my own healthy tweaks, it's another staple and comfort food around here.

4. Salmon Patties--My incredible cook of a mother made these when I was growing up, and even though mine are delicious, I still can't make them as good as her even after trying many times.

5. Strawberry Pie--Oh my. I made this the night I got engaged (Wes' birthday 2005), and it's one of those you really have to try with all your might to just eat one piece.

6. Black Bean Burrito Bake--Found this recipe on MyRecipes.com as a Cooking Light favorite. I added a little chicken and think tilapia would be a good addition, too. YUMMY and pretty good for you, too.

7. Spicy Chicken Quesadillas S--Another MyRecipes Cooking Light favorite. Easy, low fat, and crowd pleasing.

8. Chewy Chocolate Cookies--On the quest to find a light dessert because I crave something sweet at least once or twice daily, I ran across this on MyRecipes as again, another Cooking Light recipe. I actually just made a batch and ate two with a big glass of milk. Delish.

9. Pecan-Chocolate Chip Snack Cake--Cooking Light recipe that I'm pretty sure pleased several girls at our last Comfy Pants night here at my house.

10. Soda Cracker Pie--Yeah, this one has a funny name, but once I tried it, I have made it time and time again. Saltine crackers, egg whites, cream of tartar, a little sugar, pecans, and vanilla. Add some Cool Whip and fresh strawberries, and you, my friend, have an incredible treat.

11. Ginny's Julia Child Quiche--While reading my friend Ginny's blog a month or two ago, I saw this easy quiche recipe, and I've already made it twice. Enough said.

12. Southwest Salad--Need something easy, light, and great for the summer months? This salad is for you. It's one of those recipes I know by heart.

13. Symphony Brownies--I can't believe I didn't know about this trick until one of my bridal showers. Kicks the typical fudge brownie up about ten notches.

14. Sausage and Scrambled Egg Pizza--Found this recipe in my Southern Living Busy Mom's Weeknight Favorites cookbook and have loved it ever since.

15. Sweet Potato Casserole--It's basically a dessert, but it gets the honor of being served as a side dish at my mom's Thanksgiving Dinner. My goodness, this is good.

16. Shrimp and Grits--Time consuming and labor intensive, but oh so worth it. I may just have to add this to my menu in the next couple of weeks.

17. Kappa House Banana Bread--Oh, Mary Ann, how I miss you baking this bread. Sometimes I thought you made it just for me. Thanks for sharing the recipe with my mom--it's appeared at a few Reunion Weekends, and I just throw it together sometimes when I want to feel comforted (and I have a few old bananas).

18. Granola--The original version that my mother-in-law made several years ago has stood the test of time. Yeah, I know it could be a lot healthier with some crazy ingredients, but this one is GOOD.

19. "Men Love This" Dip--Ground beef (turkey for me), corn, Rotel, Velveeta, and a few other very nice ingredients help make this dip one of the first dishes gone at a Superbowl Party.

20. Wes' Smoothies--He doesn't cook a lot, but when he gets that blender out, I know something good is about to be made.

21. Kate's Fancy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches--I've probably made 100 sandwiches in the past six or seven months with sourdough, sun dried tomato turkey breast, fresh mozzarella, and pesto.

**If you want any of these recipes, I'd be more than happy to give any of them to you. Just let me know.

Narrowing my favorites to 21 was quite the task, so I just went with the first 21 dishes I could think of that I've made and enjoyed. Lots of chocolate and lots of semi-healthy dinners. I pretty much tweak every recipe I come across to see if I can make it a bit better for me, so the recipes I'll send will include both the published version and my special twists.

Things I Love: Volume I

This is the first in a series of things I love about everything. Today? What I love about my town.

1. Small-town feel with semi-big city features.

2. Farmers Market

3. Crepes Paulette

4. Table Mesa

5. Restaurants coming to the downtown square in the next few months (Tavola, Tusk and Trotter, The Flying Fish, and The Pressroom--a coffee shop)

6. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (opening 11.11.11)

7. Incredible trails

8. The Station Cafe

9. Fabulous neighborhoods

10. Walton Arts Center (coming soon)

11. Orchards Park (concerts in the park during the summer months)

12. Orchards Park, the museum, trails, and the downtown square are all within walking distance from our house.

13. Wes' office is so close that he comes home for lunch almost daily.

14. Ernest G. Lawrence Park (splash park in the summer/ice skating rink in the winter)

15. School Squared

16. Bentonville Public Schools Foundation

17. Trinity Grace Church

18. First Fridays

19. It's basically one with Rogers which means great shopping is right down the road.

20. It's one of four cities in what people are now calling "Greater Northwest Arkansas"--I like that we are desiring a region approach instead of four separate cities.

21. Oh, and of course it's home to Walmart which is pretty much why all of these things are as great as they are.

This was fun. Stay tuned to what I love about fashion, decorating, cooking, my family, friends, etc. You may not care one bit, but I think it will also be fun to look back at these lists one day. Happy Sunday! As you can see, we are enjoying our day. I'm thinking crawling isn't too far away...she goes everywhere, just backwards.

A Ba Ba

Those are Reese's favorite words. In fact, she's on the floor saying them right now. On her belly, rotating in circles, going backwards, and doing everything but actually crawling. I love this phase. Tons of smiles, lots of laughs, and she is incredibly content.

My mom came up for a two day visit this weekend, and we had no plans. It was fabulous. We loved on Reese A LOT, did some shopping, ate out a few times, and Wes and I even had a date night while Mom stayed home with Reese. I can't say enough about the way my mom loves. It's overwhelming and contagious. Her granddaughter absolutely loves her and is completely spoiled by her. It was a great Mother's Day weekend, and it was such a blessing to get to spend the day with both my mother and my daughter.

A little blurry here, but you get the idea. Little girl is happy. And so is Mopsy.

Our "Mother's Day" photos. {Actually taken on Monday, but my mom insisted that I needed a few pictures of my first Mother's Day.}

And to top off the wonderful few days, I got to spend a few hours catching up with my best friends from school last night. Reese had her first "real" babysitter {one of my incredibly high school girls} stay with her while I hopped down to Marketplace to dish on everything family, babies, school, etc. It was wonderful.

Happy Wednesday! I will be spending the day getting ready for one heck of a garage sale. Come on over Friday or Saturday if you want to take a look at TONS of my clothes, old formals (ha!), furniture, home decor, etc.

And a fabulous day turns into an even better weekend.

Remember that sunroof kind of day on Friday? This whole weekend turned into a sunroof, farmers market, playing in the yard, spending fabulous time with good friends and family kind of weekend.

My day yesterday may have been just about the best day I've had in a LONG time. It started with a little light breakfast at home, and then once Reese napped a bit, we headed up to the Bentonville Farmers Market. I got my mom's Mother's Day gift, and then we went to buy some hanging baskets for our front porch. Our little family had a wonderful lunch at The Crumpet where the sign on the door says "well-behaved children are welcome..." I got a bit nervous because I've only gone with adults or gotten food to-go if Reese is with me, but she totally knew how to act. She just smiled, ate her lunch with great joy, and allowed Wes and me to enjoy our meals as well. A great nap was had that afternoon, and then we loaded up in the car again to go celebrate Uncle Bret's birthday. The weather couldn't have been more perfect. We grilled burgers and corn, and Jayme made chocolate creme brulee. YUMMY. Wes and I left talking about how we wished we spent more time with his brothers and families. Man, they are a lot of fun and so incredibly supportive of one another. {Jayme, if you are reading this, I'm totally up for the Walker Compound idea.} After Reese went down to sleep back at home, we started a new TV series on Netflix, and I'm hooked. Just the theme song to Justified got me hooked, and the show is even better.

Yesterday was the best day in a LONG time until today. I would say they are equals. Panera cinnamon crunch bagel and mango smoothie for breakfast. A good 2 hour nap for Reese. Church and an incredible sermon based on Romans 3. Flying Burrito to-go for lunch. Another 2 hour nap for Reese. More Justified for the adults. Yard work and more sun after that. And now--my mom is going to pick up our Fish City dinner while Reese is down for the night. She came up to spend a couple of days with us, and I couldn't be happier. We don't have much of a plan, and I like that.

So, Happy Mother's Day to my incredible mother who is so beautifully selfless with her time, energy, love, and heart. And Happy Mother's Day to my fabulous mother-in-law who raised the best man I know who happens to be my best friend and husband. I totally forgot to take pictures today, so I'm going to get some tomorrow and pretend they are from today. Just go along with it. For now, enjoy the past two days in pictures.

My idea of the perfect way to start a Saturday.

The Crumpet in the middle of Reese's green lunch.

Molly and Ben. The big kids.

Morgan, Whit, and Ty with Jayme. I LOVE my family more than I can express.

Lucky Reese got to play in an exersaucer outside. She was loving life.

Sunroof Kind of Day

Today was definitely that. A sunroof kind of day. 75ish degrees. Sunny. A best friend (and her two boys) in town. A three year-old birthday party. First Friday celebration and a 5k in my way of getting home.

The day started with two good naps, a great two mile walk, a shower, and then we packed up and headed south. Just 25 miles or so south to Fayetteville. Lauren is one of my BEST friends, and she has twin boys just 8 days older than Reese. They live in Birmingham now, but family is here in NWA. I got the chance to spend a couple of hours with the fun trio this afternoon as they are in town for a very quick trip. We just hung out on the floor, spoke in baby language, and stared at the three little ones the entire time.

Then it was onto AG's THIRD birthday party! It's her big day today, and what a beautiful day it has been. She got her cast off yesterday (probably her favorite birthday present!), so she's almost back to her running around everywhere self. The party had a lot of cute kiddos playing in the yard and on the driveway, Hello Kitty everywhere, and pretty balloons swaying in the breeze.

My plan was to hit up First Friday back in Bentonville, but seeing that it was 6:00 pm, and Reese hadn't napped since 1:45, I figured it was time to head home. My tummy growled on our way into town, so I figured I would drive through the square to see the festivities and go straight to Chick-fil-a for a quick drive-thru dinner. Reese was not in shape to actually attend the festival, but I was so hoping we could have gotten out of the car. The square was packed, and it was the perfect picture of what I love about my town. After picking up my dinner, I went another route home only to be held up by the Gold Rush 5k that was put on by the Bentonville Public School Foundation . I didn't mind one bit. My doula was standing on the side of the road taking pictures, and so many families were running the race that I just got so excited for one of these days when hopefully this little family will be running.

Okay, so now that Reese is asleep and my chicken is gobbled up, I'm going to watch a little CSI or something until Wes gets home from hanging out with some really cool kids in Fayetteville as a part of rEcess. What a great day. Thank you, Lord, for the sunshine and for the love of family and friends.

Crayons for Christ

As I sit here eating my non-vegan vegan brownie (thanks, Cary, for the recipe the other day...I followed the recipe almost exactly except for the milk.), I can't wipe the smile off my face from last night's Cell-ebration (and the brownie is helping, too).

If you have been following this blog for a while, you know that I co-lead a high school girls' Bible study (aka cell group). These girls are AMAZING. We "cell-ebrated" the end of the year last night, and to hear these girls shout and sing the name of the Lord like He's their best friend is quite overwhelming. I've been able to witness so many of them really put their trust and faith in Christ and begin to understand what God has done for them and how much He loves them these past two years. The love they have for one another is pretty cool, too. They lift each other up, and I just pray that these relationships continue to grow stronger and deeper, rooted in their love for Jesus.

Not only are they passionate about finding out who God has made them to be, but they are so much stinkin' fun. I decided to help lead a Bible study a few summers ago, and I accepted Rogers 8th grade girls. I wasn't even thinking that I would possibly know some of these girls, as I taught 8th grade and coached 8th grade cheerleading in Rogers. When cell group meetings started up in the fall, I just fell more and more in love with what God had called me to do. To be able to teach these girls English at school, coach them in cheer in the afternoons, and then talk with them about Christ in the evenings was just about the greatest thing ever. Last year was the busiest year I've ever had, but I will always be able to say it was one of the best EVER. Of course the teaching and coaching jobs are over (for now), but God allowed me to keep leading this cell group, and I get giddy with excitement when I think about being with them until they graduate high school. These girls are beautiful women of God, both inside and out. If you can remember, while we were in the hospital back when Reese was born in the fall, I obviously missed a cell group meeting. They called, and they prayed over the phone for Reese. I have tears in my eyes just remembering that beautiful moment. They each wrote notes to me that same night, and I have them in Reese's baby book. Three other "adults" plus me lead this group of young women, and I am so blessed to know them and get to lead alongside them. They are lifelong friends who are so wise and full of similar desires.

Here are some pictures of some of my favorite people in the world.

A friendly student-teacher dodgeball tournament at school last year.

A few guys from our "brother group" waiting to play some basketball.

Oh, you know, just painting Hannah's face with make-up.

So cute. They look so young here.

The lucky 3. They got me for English, cheer, and cell group.

Maris and Chelsi at my baby shower last summer.

Last night's Cell-ebration! {We were different colored crayons--sort of.}

Most of the crew.

The girls and boys. LOVE THEM ALL.

What I Learned...

...from the latest issue of The Key that came in my mailbox today. {for those of you not savvy with Kappa Kappa Gamma, The Key is the quarterly magazine of the greatest sorority on the planet.}

1. Recruitment terminology has changed. For example, instead of preference card, it is now membership recruitment acceptance binding agreement. Instead of party, it is now event.

2. The largest new member class for 2010-11 was 105--pretty sure that's my Gamma Nu chapter at the University of Arkansas.

3. An LSU alum is now a couture wedding gown designer in New Orleans.

4. An Iowa State alum is a member of AscenDance, a rock-climbing dancing group that made it to the semi-finals of America's Got Talent.

5. This one made me tear up just a little. An Arkansas alum was hosting a KKG reunion get together at her home in Hot Springs in 2007 when her husband and two daughters were killed in a small plane crash as they headed to Fayetteville for a Razorback basketball game. This past spring, Gamma Nu hosted a luncheon in honor of this alum and in memory of her daughters, unveiling a painting that is now display in my beautiful Kappa house.

6. Lo Bosworth is a UCLA Kappa, and on page 90 of her new book about dating and relationships, she lists all the things she loves about herself. "#17. I am a Kappa Kappa Gamma!"

7. One of the semi-finals in season 14 of America's Next Top Model is a Texas Tech alum.

8. I seriously want to take a Kappa Travels trip one day. Greek Isles, anyone?

If you are a Gamma Nu, I HIGHLY recommend you check out all that's going on right now. The Kappa house is about to get a HUGE makeover/renovation, and it will be absolutely stunning.

My two sisters. By Kappa and by marriage.

My besties. {Seven Kappas and two honorary.}