High Five for Friday!

It's Friday again! This week has gone by really quickly. I had so many good things to choose from this week that I had to narrow it down.

1. Last weekend Mike and I had our first fire pit fire in our backyard. Mike made a delicious dinner cooked in a foil packet in the fire. It was relaxing and really fun!

2. We also had to "go into town" last weekend for a few things. So we made the hour and half drive into Pueblo, Colorado. I took some nice mountain pictures along the way. Mike got what he needed from Lowe's and I got to do some shopping at Joann's!!!

3. Monday we recieved our first care packages! We actually got two in one day! It's so nice to be reminded of home. Thank you Mom/Dad and April!!!!!

4. I made Strawberry Shortcake...yummy!!

5. I crocheted this super cute bow early this week and have been obsessed with making it in every color of yarn that I own (which is kind of a lot). I just think it's so adorable!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

P.S. Happy birthday weekend to the best mother-in-law a girl could ask for!! Love you lots!

Linking up with Lauren Elizabeth for High Five for Friday.

Currently Craving: Naked 3 Eye Shadow Palette

Source

Let's take a minute to talk about the Urban Decay Naked eye shadow palettes. I think they are awesome. I own the Naked 1 palette and use it almost daily. The pigment is great and the shadows are long lasting (I do use eye shadow primer though). The Naked 1 & Naked 2 palettes have lots of neutrals that will work well with various skin tones. However, I feel like the first two Naked palettes are similar enough that I don't need to buy both. On the other hand, I am very interested in the new Naked 3 palette. This collection has rosy and purplish colors which I love! They also happen to complement brown eyes very nicely. Urban Decay has also done a nice job at packaging these bad boys. All the palettes come in containers that make storing and traveling super easy to do and gives you so many options. They do come at a steep price though, so I think I might be craving this eye shadow palette for awhile!

                                                         

Homemade Banana Pudding

A couple weekends ago I was watching Trisha's Southern Kitchen on the Food Network and she made a banana pudding. I haven't had banana pudding in a long time and it looked so good I decided I needed to make this!

Trisha's recipe can be found here.

I did make a couple little changes in my version of the recipe. For starters, she put meringue on the top of her banana pudding. I'm not the biggest fan of meringue, so I left that out and just finished the top by crumbing vanilla wafers over the last layer of pudding. Also, when I followed Trisha's recipe, I didn't quite have enough pudding, so I ended up making another half batch. I have made the needed adjustments in the recipe below.

Ingredients:
6 Large Eggs
3/4 Cup Sugar
4 1/2 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour
3/4 Teaspoon Salt
3 Cups Milk
3/4 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
30 to 40 Vanilla Wafers
3 to 4 Ripe Bananas

1. Separate four of the egg yolks from the egg whites. Add the additional two whole eggs to the egg yolks. Discard egg whites. You only need to save them if you plan on making the meringue following Trisha's recipe.

2. In a saucepan whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Over medium heat, stir in your 2 whole eggs and 4 egg yolks. Next, gradually stir in the milk. Continue cooking, stirring often, for about 10 minutes or until your mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

3. Thinly slice your bananas.

4. Spread a thin layer of the pudding on the bottom of your dish (I believe my dish is an 8x8).

5. Put a layer of vanilla wafers on top of the pudding.

6. Put a layer of bananas over the vanilla wafers.

7. Continue layering this same way ending with pudding on top. Crush up remaining wafers and sprinkle over pudding.

Enjoy!!!

High Five for Friday

Happy Friday guys! I'm linking up with the Lauren Elizabeth today. We made it another week. Below is my list of goodness that helped me make it through...

1. I had time to work on a little crocheting last Sunday. I thought this square made quite a cute little hat for Halo (she didn't agree, but was a good sport).

2. I've been trying a lot of new recipes since we moved! This one was super yummy! It's a blueberry breakfast cake.

3. Halo and I had a little photo shoot. This is by far the best picture.

4. We had snow on Thursday! It's the second time it's snowed since we've moved here. I think it will still be an exciting event for Mike and I for a while. Also, can we just talk about how cool the house across the street is? I really love it!

5. I don't have a picture for this one because it hasn't happened yet. I'm looking forward to a relaxing and productive weekend! Hopefully Mike and I can watch a movie or two and just unwind, but I also have some homework (yuk!) and a couple craft project having been brewing in my mind.

Catch up with you all on Monday. I truly hope you all have an awesome weekend!!

P.S. I have a few shout outs!!

-This weekend is my father-in-law, Dave's, birthday. Happy birthday!!!! I hope you and Sherry have a blast celebrating!

-Also, to my JMI family, I hope this weekend's retreat is as much fun as last years. I really wish I could be there! Have some fun for me and  make sure to send some pictures!

-To all my friends going to Gasparilla this weekend, have so much fun but be safe too! I want to hear all about the festivities.

Much love!!!!

What I Wore Wednesday - First Day of School

As many of you know, Mike and I are both back in school full time right now. I started classes last Monday and Mike started his classes this past Monday. I think it will be fun to be back on campus together! I thought it very appropriate that this week's What I Wore Wednesday be a first day of school edition.

My Aunt Sharon got me this sweater and scarf for Christmas this year and I couldn't be more in love! They are both extra soft and comfortable to wear. I know I will be sporting this look a lot the rest of this winter. Thanks Aunt Sharon!!!

Chicken n Dumplings

Chicken and Dumplings has been one of my favorite meals since I can remember. It truly is a comfort food to me. It's something only my mom or grandma have made for me, so before Mike and I left for Colorado I made sure to have Mom show me the ways of the dumpling!

Ingredients:
3 Celery Ribs, Chopped
1 Cup Sliced Fresh Carrots
3 Cans (14.5 oz) Chicken Broth
3 Cups Cubed Chicken Breast
1/2 Teaspoon Poultry Seasoning
1/8 Teaspoon Pepper
1 2/3 Cups Biscuit Mix
2/3 Cup Milk

 1. Begin with washing your chicken.

 2. Cube chicken into small bite size pieces.

 3. Boil chicken until cooked through.

4. In a large pot coated with cooking spray, saute the celery and carrots for about five minutes.
5. Stir in the chicken broth, cooked chicken, poultry seasoning, and pepper. Bring to a boil and then  reduce the heat to simmer.
6. Now it's time to prepare the dumplings! Combine the biscuit mix and milk. Drop by the tablespoonful into your simmering broth.

 7. Cover and continue to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Now just eat and enjoy!! Hopefully you love this meal as much as I do!

Home Tour - Upstairs

I'll be honest...this post may be a little photo overwhelming! The upstairs portion of our new home has our bedroom, office, and the only full bathroom. When putting our furniture in the rooms, Mike and decided to make what was supposed to be the master bedroom our office and the guest room our bedroom. We have a lot of office furniture and will spend more time in the office than the bedroom anyway. As you look through the pictures you'll see lots more character features. Mike and I found out this week that our home was built in 1896!!! Whoa that's old! However, everything such as the electrical and whatnot has been completed updated (no worries).

That completes the home tour! Hopefully you like it, I know Mike and I are both enjoying it. Have a happy Friday and a great weekend!!!!!