happy halloween from the pug

or should i say our shark pug!

this costume was too big so i thought i better do something else for him.  i went to work and my sweet sister in law, who i'm pretty sure thought she was just stopping by for the ranger's game and dinner last night, got roped into my craziness and spent the evening helping me put together an oreo costume for him.  it was so adorable...only problem i couldn't get it to stay on him.  so when my parent's came by today mama did some of her magic and made the original fit a little better.  

he was a huge hit with everyone even though the dog is probably not going to have anything to do with me for the next week.  see the look of embarrassment on his sweet face :-)

hope everyone had a safe and fun halloween!

a winner

a costume emergency & a reminder

Just a quick reminder that if you haven't entered the "Plan B" book giveaway, please do, I'll pick a winner at midnight tonight. :-)

In other important news, pug's Halloween costume does not fit.  It's way too big.  Those dog sizing charts totally make no sense by the way Old Navy.  And although he didn't seem to care at the whole ordeal, I told him not to worry that it always makes me feel a million times better when things don't fit because they are too big. 

Now when somethings too tight, then you can crawl back in bed and sulk.  Not that I've ever done that.

So, I'm going to go channel some Martha and see if I can't throw something together because the neighbor kids always love to see him when they stop by.

See, I do it for the kids and not for my own selfish entertainment.

::plan b:: book giveaway

A few weeks ago I picked up a copy of Pete Wilson's "Plan B: What Do You Do When God Doesn't Show Up The Way You Thought He Would" and immediately the book had me.   I just love how God sometimes seems to put these books in your hand at just the right moment because let me tell you I needed this book.  Once I started I could not put it down and once I finished I could not stop thinking about it.  Here's the book's website if you want to learn more.  

I know y'all would love it too, so I decided I am going to give away a brand new copy on my blog with the hopes that this book will minister to y'all as much as it has to my family.   One winner will be selected on Friday, October 29th at midnight.

No rules...just leave a comment for an entry and if you feel like it tweet this for an additional entry.  Please be sure to leave two separate comments if you do both and also make sure I have a way to get back to you if you don't have a blog :-)

Disclaimer-I am not being compensated for this.  This book was purchased with my own mollah.

"sittin' on the dock of the bay"

miscellaneous bin:: christmas

Let's talk Christmas because it's only 64 days away!!  Can you believe that?  Seriously, where does the time go?  I know we haven't even handed out the candy for Halloween, but I've got some Christmas related things that need some discussing.

1. I heard a Christmas commercial this week and it made me very happy!

2. This year I decided we needed new stockings, so when I saw them on sale at Ballard's I thought "well it's just meant to be" so I ordered them.   They came this week and I'm ready to hang them up their so adorable, especially the one for pug.

3. Thanks to Boomama who reminded everyone that the Compassion Christmas gift deadline is the 31st of this month.  I don't want forget that!

4. I love, love, love Christmas cards.  I'm always on the look out for cute Christmas cards and have been looking around different sites thinking I need to finally pick one.  The ones I keep coming back to that I love are the die cut ones.  They are so cute, but so not the amount I envisioned spending on cards.  Today I discovered on Eversave, it's similar to groupon, that they are featuring an adorable photo card company Photo Card Creations that has the die cut cards.

   
 images via

They were $20 for a $50 gift certificate.  What a deal!  I'm so excited and just had to share if you've been eyeing them too.  I think the deal is only for 2 more days.

5. I'm also very excited to be reacquainted with our favorite Christmas movie family, the Griswold's!

Can you tell I'm just a little ready for Christmas?

chicken pesto pizza recipe

I'm going through a pesto phase at the moment. I'm beginning to adore anything drenched in pesto. For now I'm not worried, but I did tell boy if he catches me eating it straight out of the container that an intervention might be in order.

I thought I'd share the pesto love with this recipe I threw together after being inspired by a chicken pesto sandwich I had that was out of this world.  I thought it would be fantastic as a grilled pizza.  It's easy thanks to the greatest grocery store invention ever; the rotisserie chicken, and my absolute favorite pizza dough recipe.

Hope you enjoy it too!

Ingredients:
Honey Pizza Dough Recipe- for the recipe click here.
**Note on the dough I like mine sweet so I add just a drop or 2 extra of honey**
whole rotisserie chicken shredded (I don't use the skin)
1 cup of homemade or store bought basil pesto
bag of fresh spinach
fresh mozzarella
1/2 cup sliced jarred sun-dried tomatoes (optional)

This recipe will serve 4.  Preheat oven to 450.  Once I make up the dough, I divide it into even quarters and with my hands stretch each out onto a baking pan.  Bake for 7 minutes.  Pull from oven and spread 3-4 tablespoons of pesto on each pizza.  Top with a handful of spinach (be generous it will wilt), add on some chicken, mozzarella and tomatoes.  You can either turn down your oven to about 350 or use your grill at medium heat to finish off the pizzas.  We love using the grill it gives it such a great rustic flavor.  Oven about 3-4 minutes or the grill about 3-5; once cheese is melted and spinach has wilted.  A super easy and fast dinner!

the one with the flu shot

Each year I insist on getting a flu shot.

Whether or not they work I don't know, but I do know that it makes my germ/sickness obsession feel better.

Last year every place was out so I didn't get one.

And guess who got the flu.

Last week boy came home and announced he got his flu shot from work, and this reminded me that I needed to try and get mine too before it's too late.  So, a few days later we were out running errands and decided to run into the grocery store to grab something to fix for dinner and replenish our frightfully low carb supply.  As we walked in I saw a big sign for flu shots and the best part was that their was no line.  I was like score I'm going to run over there real quick and get my shot out of the way.

I should have known the easiness of the situation was too good to be true.

After spending 30 minutes filling out the paperwork, paying, then watching the pharmacist repeatedly mess up as he filled up the needle with the vaccine I was getting a bit nervous.  I was about to have boy run to the bakery and grab me one of those piping hot delicious loafs of french bread to munch on to calm my nerves when the pharmacist finally came out and asked me to take a seat, in his thick french accent, while his Doogie Housier looking assistant watched on.  I told the pharmacist I'm not going to watch, needles make me squeamish and he replied just please don't scream.

I'm thinking okay...how many screamers are you getting in the middle of the grocery store?  But whatever, I'll just occupy my nerves and watch boy model glasses from the standing rack.  That man...  he's good entertainment.

The shot went in and I really did want to scream because in all my flu shot/shot years I've never had one hurt that bad.  Then I hear the pharmacist say "Uh Oh" and that's never a good phrase no matter what situation.  I decide not to look as I can see the eyes of everyone around me getting bigger.  The pharmacist says "You're bleeding" and as he says this I can feel it dripping done my arm.  I tell Doogie, as the pharmacist heads off to get wipes, to let me know if I'm going to drip on anything because I'm 100% positive if I look I'm going to pass out.

He says "yeah it's going to hit the floor at any moment"

Thanks Doogie for the heads up.  The pharmacist comes back cleans and bandages me up.  I'm looking at boy with the "lets get out of here face" when the pharmacist in his thick accent explains "this is not good...it's your Lever"

Boy and I both reply, "say what?".  We totally didn't catch that last part.

He says "Your LEVER!!"  As if shouting it makes us translate it any better.

Finally, Doogie replies "Your LIVER!!"

We're both like "oh liver" and then the pharmacist proceeds to scare the living daylights out of me by telling me you should never bleed after getting a shot and I need to get to the doctor immediately because there is something very wrong and continued to give a 20 minute hogwash spiel that would make Dr. Spaceman nervous (like my "30 Rock" reference).  We take the free medical advice and quickly walk away.  

I'm thinking at this point I deserve that whole loaf of french bread.

And I'm probably going to avoid this grocery store for my flu shot next year.

Also to clarify, nothing is wrong with my "lever".  He most likely hit something pulling the needle out that made me bleed according to a relative in the shot giving field.

So, there you have it, my 2010 flu shot story.

reason #57920 why i heart the pioneer woman

We're typically not soup people; not sure why but we tend to never eat it.

Unless, you count my supply in the pantry of ramen noodles, but it doesn't really count as soup because I make as directed then stir it up and drain the water.  It turns into really just delicious carby noodles that provide no nutritional value what so ever.

I know I'm weird like that.

But I saw on The Pioneer Woman's website a recipe for Chicken Noodle soup and her pictures just made that soup look so irresistible I had to give it a go.  I was a bit nervous because I had never cooked with a whole cut up chicken before and I have this fear of raw chicken, but I put on my big girl panties and came out of my comfort zone and we're still alive today so I think we're good.

Y'all it was like eating bliss from a bowl.  It puts my ramen's to shame for sure.  I did change it out and made it with peas and carrots rather than onions and celery cause I'm not an onion fan and forgot the celery, but who cares I may add some frozen corn next time if I'm feeling sassy.

If there is a next time I whip this up because it makes a truckload of soup and I'm pretty sure we'll be eating from this supply for the rest of our lives even after I feed our whole block.  Which by the way, any tips on freezing soup?

my last garage sale

Yeah, so the thing about garage/yard sales is they always sound better in theory.  Because the day comes and you're like what was I thinking?

They are so much work!!!

And who in the world declared they should start so early???

I prefer that my Saturdays not start until the double digit hours please.

A few weeks ago my mama and I got to talking and she had a huge patio set she needed to get rid of and I had our old sofa still awkwardly sitting in our foyer because apparently scammers flock to my cr@igslist ads.  Seriously, I got more e-mails trying to scam me so I gave up on that.  Luckily, I watch the Dateline & the 20/20.

So we decided to do a garage sale this past weekend.  I had already had a few boxes up in the attic full of junk and knick knacks that I thankfully had already priced, so I just did a clean sweep of the closets and pulled items that we no longer needed.  I come from a place of no clutter and if you don't wear it in a year out it goes. 

We had it Friday afternoon and way too early Saturday afternoon.  Garage sales can be quite fascinating like why is it that the stuff you think will sell right away doesn't and the stuff that is terrible flies out the door? Or why do I have to tell people over and over again I'm sorry I don't have a shopping bag for the 1 item you purchased for $1.  Yes, many times this was asked.

By about noon I started getting nervous because the sofa was still there and it was not coming back in my house.  I was desperately praying that someone would take it home.  It was super large so that was not helping sell it either.  Mama sold her patio set and most of the clothes were gone too when a lady came to the sale and made the comment on what a nice sofa it was.  I made the joke if you buy it, I'll throw everything else in for free and she said don't tempt me and then proceeded to tell me about her business.  She handed me her business card and told me she buys junk that doesn't sell at garage sales and from people who have items to get rid of but don't want to have a garage sale.  She sells what she can online and donates the rest.  She told me if I wanted give her a call when were done she'd take it off my hands and we discussed a price for everything.

My response, "FOR REALZ!!"

I was super stoked and we chatted for a bit and then she got back in her car with her children.  After about another hour I was spent.  The sofa was still there, mom needed to get back home and I had a sunburn.  I called this lady up and we agreed on the price again.  She told me to box everything up and she'd be there with a truck in about 20 minutes.

Two hours later and many phone calls with no answer to her and y'all I got duped.  I was near tears because all this stuff was ready to go and I had closed the garage sale early.  My messages to her were all polite just inquiring if she maybe needed directions or got delayed.  I'm not going to lie and say that I did not want to call her up and chew her out.  I did not though.  I thought about posting her cell number in this post and letting y'all call.  I will not though.

This story has a happy ending though.  While I was waiting for her to come in the 2nd hour a sweet neighbor on her bike came by and asked if the sofa was still for sale.  She took a picture of it sent it to her mom, her mom loved it and her husband and her came and picked it up.  The sofa was gone, we made some sweet new neighbor friends and dropped the rest at Goodwill.  Couldn't have turned out any better!

Except for maybe the sunburn.

And bless your heart if you read this ridiculously long post. :-)

10.10.10

Happy 10.10.10 day everyone!  Anyone know any babies born today because I'm thinking this would be the coolest birth date ever.  Especially to say when someone asks for your date of birth.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend.  Ours flew by...mama and I had a 2 day garage sale which I'll post about later, but thankfully the junk has found new homes and I walked away with a little cash and a killer sunburn.  Go figure, sunburns in October right?!   So now we're taking it easy today just watching the Rangers get beat (bummer) and are now watching the Cowboys play.  I'm afraid if the Cowboys don't win my husband will explode.  So Cowboys, please win!!

Enjoy your Sunday!

miscellaneous bin

1. I cleaned out our master bedroom closet this week.  I feel like a new woman.  A woman that no longer has to fear of tripping over the piles of junk that were hiding out in there and breaking her leg.

2. This is what pug thinks of Gap's new logo. 

I agree.  Gap, please don't change it.  I heart the one you have so much!!

3. I'm about halfway done with my Christmas shopping.  I ordered Bakerella's new book as a gift.  Is it wrong that I'm secretly hoping this will inspire this gift recipient to make something delicious for me from the book.  It's like the gift that keeps on giving if it does!

4. Did anyone else watch the DC Housewives finale with their jaw on the floor the whole time?

5. And hope everyone has a great weekend enjoying the beautiful fall weather!

on the fence about the fence

My dad had a fence put up in his backyard for a certain pug.  Not that it was necessary because it's not like we have a pug who likes to escape and crash neighbor's backyard BBQs.  Nor are we pug owners who have played rock, paper, scissors to see who had to put pug on a lease and take him outside to potty. 

Oh we do and we have. 

So we are extremely grateful that he put one up and pug can have some exploring room and enjoy the outdoors for a little bit when we visit.

But Big Daddy's sort of regretting this fence investment because this is where pug spent his quality outdoor time.

Pug is still not convinced he's not people y'all.  I don't blame him that's the best lounging chair in the world right there.

And Miss Gracie makes sure she has an eye on pug at all times from her spot on the sofa.

Our poor pets, they just look so uncomfortable don't they?

pumpkins

this weekend i did some fall decorating both at my house and my parent's while we were there.  they have the most amazing farmer's market near them that had some great pumpkins.  We're officially ready for fall now! 

grey pumpkins {i am loving these} **update- yes they are naturally grey**

 striped pumpkins

and monogrammed pumpkins.  

{this sweet blogger posted a picture of these pumpkins a few weeks ago from this etsy seller and i knew i had to have one!  love that i can use it each year and how fun are the polka dots!}
photos by me

girl's guide to hunting season

Y'all we are in the midst of hunting season and in honor of such a season I felt called to compile a list of things I learned while being married to a husband who lives for this time of year.  My dad did not hunt, so this was a whole new crazy world to me.  But hubs is so proud because I am catching on and we can now sit around discussing how wonderful hunting season is and all our favorite things about hunting.

Oh I kid because he knows if he starts trying to talk hunting too me, then I talk Lifetime to him.

If you have no idea of what I am talking about, then I am a tiny bit envious of you.  So, here we go...you know you're married to a hunter when...

1. You can rattle off that dove season begins September 1st, bow season begins October 1st and rifle season is the 1st Saturday in November. 

2. You know you'll get laughed at each time you ask "did you catch something" and immediately told "you don't catch things you shoot them".

3. The sight of deer and dove meat no longer make you gag when you open up your freezer.

4. You get opinionated on the style of camo your husband chooses from Cabela's and find yourself saying "this one looks trendier".

5.  You ask on a recent trip to Academy why this aisle smells like death and get a response of "oh that's the bottled deer urine" and you don't pass out.

6.  You can't walk around your car in the garage because new deer feeders that need to be taken to the ranch and haven't are blocking your way.

7.  You look out your backyard and hubs is practicing bow hunting with a target.  Our poor neighbors.

8. After 5 years you still refuse to eat the meat because you have a solid rule that you refuse to eat items that have ridden in the back of his truck.

Are you jealous yet?