Our Nephew Landon & His Family

Landon & Daddy

Family <3

Pap & Nana

Aunt Hannah & Her husband

11 Weeks & Counting

 

These are some pictures my husband and I had taken by a friend of ours for our pregnancy announcements we sent out to family. I'm 11 weeks along and this week we heard the baby's heartbeat for the very first time! It was truly a magical feeling. Pregnancy is such an extraordinary miracle. <3

Onsie funsie.

My first onsie decoration!

 I have a bad habit of coming up with exciting projects, but never completing them. I was determined this time. I wanted to make this onsie as a gift for a baby shower I'm going to this weekend.

I had made a pink one previous to this, however, I made some execution mistakes and it didn't turn out how I had hoped. I was ready to scrap the whole project when I came across some new ideas through my Pinterest. 

And since I don't really have any sewing skills to speak of; I used Fabric Fusion.

I had to learn how to make a bow from scratch, and then I had to delicately place the lace on the back.

For the bow:

Fabric

2: 4X6"

1: 2X4"

For the back:

Lace

Measure about 2-3 times the width of your onsie.

The project took me about 45min to finish. Normally it wouldn't take so long, but it was my first.

Christmas 2011

 The country is my home!

Christmas with my family!

 

Christmas with his family!

 

 Sweet baby Landon. <3

Whatchya got cookin'

I'm no chef by any means. However, I'm the only one my husband's got. I like to do test runs with my leftovers. Sometimes I make up my own recipes and sometimes I look online for ideas. This particular week I've had great success with both methods of coming up with dinner. We are big chicken lovers in this household so both happen to include that love. 

Enjoy!

First up is my own creation!

Basil Chicken with Olive Feta Filling

 Ingredients:

1. 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
2. 3/4 cup feta cheese
3. 3 tbls onion powder
4. 4 tbls dried basil
5. 1 cup green olives
6. 1/4 cup bread crumbs
7. cooking spray

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Lightly grease the bottom of a 9.5in baking dish.
3. Sprinkle it with a thin layer of bread crumbs.
4. Hit the breasts with a meat tenderizer a few times on each side. (i used a handheld cheese grater)
5. Sprinkle the onion powder evenly on one side of each breast.
6. Repeat with the basil and feta cheese.
7. Cut each olive into slices.
8. Then on half of each breast apply one even layer of the slices.
9. Fold each breast in half.
10. Place each folded breast in the baking dish.
11. Sprinkle remaining bread crumbs on top.
12. Place on middle rack in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Next is a recipe I found on (myrecipes.com). 
Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil 
4 (6-ounce) skinless boneless chicken breast
1/4 teaspoon salt 
Cooking spray  

Salsa:
1 cup chopped plum tomato (about 2) 
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion( I had onion powder so I used 1 tbsp of that instead)
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice 
1/4 teaspoon salt 
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 avocado, peeled and finely chopped  

Instructions:

1. To prepare chicken, combine first 4 ingredients in a large bowl; toss and let stand 3 minutes.
Remove chicken from marinade; discard marinade.
Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray.
Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.

2. To prepare salsa, combine tomato and next 4 ingredients in a medium bowl.
Add avocado; stir gently to combine.
Serve salsa over chicken.

Sgt Griffith

My husband, Chris, was promoted to Sergeant in the Army this summer. It was an honor to be able to be at his ceremony. I couldn't be more proud of this man. He works hard every single day to be the best that he can be at his job, so it was nice to see him get the recognition for it.

He postponed his 'pinning' ceremony for a month in order to have his mentor and friend, Cory Yates, do the honors. They were deployed together to Iraq last year and became good friends.

Beginning the promotion ceremony at the 3rd ID Rocky statue.

Chris's sergeant 'pinning' him.

Standing at attention.

Posing with his certificate.....and Rocky!

The congratulations!

Initiating begins by others taking turns punching you in the chest for good luck.

Sgt Yates couldn't wait for his turn to come around.

Wifey's turn to initiate. This should be good!

He pretended that mine hurt the most =)

"And we're the three best friends that anyone could have."

Reciting the NCO creed.