Ladies Night

My friends and I don't see each other enough and it's a little sad. We are all doing lots of things, a few are married, one has a baby and the rest of us are just working and have stuff going on. It's getting harder and harder to have time to see each other, but no matter how many days pass by without seeing each other, it's like we were hanging out yesterday. 

We started attempting to have "Ladies Night" on Thursdays. We've only had 3 weeks of this, but I am loving it. We don't all always make it, but it's a night that we at least attempt to get together. 

Last night we saw.....

via

It did not disappoint! We all loved it. I would go see it again right now. I will definitely be purchasing it when it comes to DVD. I was not sure if I would like Kristen Stewart as Snow White, but she was fantastic. The casting department did a great job picking the entire cast. I definitely think that this movie will move Kristen out of the "Twilight girl" group. That movie launched her career, but I think it would be something hard to break free from, to just be known for the Twilight movies. I feel like Daniel Radcliffe will be know as Happy Potter forever, or until he is in a super popular movie. He's not in the movie, just being used as an example. :)

Anyway, if you have been thinking about seeing the movie, it's worth the arm that you have to pay to see it. To save money, you could just bring snacks from home and sneak in cheaper Icees in your large purse not buy concession stand snacks and drinks. :)

Babies

They may not be "real" babies, but they are "real" babies in my eyes. I haven't talked about them much, and they each deserve their own post, but I think a little introduction is in order. :)

My Oldest Baby

Duke

 

He will be 15 years old at the beginning of July.

With his old age, is coming some changes, obviously. He is going blind, almost deaf, would stay in bed all day, if allowed and is starting to have a temper like we have never seen him have before. While cutting his nails this past weekend, he got very aggressive and tried snapping at my mom. He has never snapped at her like that! He is also FINALLY getting over a skin allergy. Although he is getting old and more of his hair is beginning to turn gray, he is still a sweet "puppy" and a great snuggler. :-)

Most Talkative Baby

Elliot

Elliot just turned 4 in May. Shame on me for not doing a birthday post for him. He is an Eclectus parrot. The males are mainly green and the females are mainly red. Gorgeous!  I got him at a bird fair in town. A local woman breeds them. I have had too many birds for one person, I just had bad luck with them. My first bird was a parakeet and once I saw Elliot, I convinced myself, and my mom, that a bigger bird would be easier for me to handle. When talking to the breeder and asking her questions, she told us that these birds are like 2 year olds. She is right on point! He has an attitude and wants what he wants, when he wants it. He cracks us up when he talks and brings so much joy to our lives everyday.

Newest Baby

After my car was totaled, I finally decided on a Nissan Altima. I've had it for about 7 weeks. I love it, even though someone already backed up into it!!! I really don't understand stupidity, but that man is full of it. On the bright side, I can still drive it and his insurance is going to pay to have it fixed. I bring it to be looked at on June 20th. 

Sprinkles

I hope y'all have a great weekend! 

If you are looking for a fun, easy dessert, I have just the thing! 

I got this recipe from this young and fabulous girl. Check out her blog! 

So, lets get started. 

Joshua's favorite cake is the boxed confetti kind, and I though that this would be up his ally. I made these for Josh and his coworkers while they slave away all weekend.

Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats

Not a great picture, but you get the idea. :)

Ingredients

3 Tbsp butter

1 (10 oz) bag of mini-marshmallows

1/4 C of yellow cake mix {just the dry mix}

6 C Rice Krispie Cereal

1 container of sprinkles {my favorite part :)}

Directions

Melt the butter in a large saucepan on low heat and add marshmallows. Stir them in until they start to melt, then add  the dry cake mix a little at a time so it can be combined easily. Stir in the rice krispies until it is completely covered in the butter and marshmallow mixture. Pour half of the sprinkles in and mix. Press the mix into a baking dish and put the rest of the sprinkles on top. You can use any size dish. Let it sit for 30 minutes before cutting.

YUM!!

I'm a little upset that I didn't do Friday Letters today, but I'll get back to that next week.

Friday's Letters

Today, I am linking up with the beautiful Ashley from Adventures of Newlyweds for Friday's Letters!

Lets get started.

Dear hair, I understand that my haircut is a little shorter than usual, but is that a good enough reason to be so out of control? Dear Baker Hughes (boyfriend's employer), Please stop working your men so hard. Joshua felt the need to take a nap during his lunch break, in the mall parking lot, where mall goers called mall security to check on him because he was asleep. Not cool! Funny, but not okay. Dear Elliot, I had a great late afternoon with you outside just lying down on the hammock. I love watching your reaction to other birds outside, bugs and the neighborhood noise. Dear Austin (brother), I am so excited for your school trip to Israel, but very nervous about you being in another country for 6 weeks. Please be safe and come home in one piece. Dear Chambray shirts, After seeing so many of you in different blog posts today, I am on the search for one of you.  Please come easily to me and don't hide. Also, be in my price range. That would be great. Dear Blog Friends, Have a great weekend!!

National Chocolate Chip Day

In honor of National Chocolate Chip day, and because I had bananas that were going bad, I have a yummy recipe to share!

I got this recipe from this cute new momma! She is super sweet and so is her handsome baby boy!

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Ingredients

3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed (I use 3)

1/3 cup melted butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg, beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon baking soda

pinch of salt

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

4 tablespoons chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the butter and mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Next, mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla extract. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and stir in. Add the flour and mix. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of the chocolate chips into the batter. Pour mixture into a buttered 4"x8" loaf pan. Top with the remaining tablespoon of chocolate chips. Bake 45 minutes-1hour (mine takes 45 minutes). 

This bread is so easy to make and so delish!! 

What are you making for National Chocolate Chip Day?

Swamp People

Swamp People.

 Have you heard of it? 

It's a television show that is, in my opinion, very loosely based on alligator hunters. It follows and films several alligator hunters. My parents are not from here and I have never gone hunting for any kind of animal. I was very intrigued by this show, until I learned that it is so fake.

 I assumed that it was slightly exaggerated, but still watched it. I talked to people that have been alligator hunting and was told that the alligators don't fight the hunter as depicted on the show unless you do something to them. So, I stopped watching it. 

Just so you know, not all people from Louisiana are like those in the TV shows. I don't know anyone like the stars of Swamp People.

Moving on.

When I was watching Swamp People, my favorites were Glenn and Mitchell Guist. 

They are brothers and live off the land, just as their parents taught them. They live in, what I would consider a shack. No AC, electricity, or plumbing...from what I can tell anyway. They hunt alligators, squirrels, rabbits, and other animals to eat. I'm pretty sure they don't venture out of their little hide away. They are funny to watch, which was the only reason for watching them. I like all of the hunters, but those entertained me the most. Unfortunately though, Mitchell Guist died today. He apparently was on a boat, started having a seizure and fell out of the boat. Such a sad day for his family, but at least he died doing what he loved.

If I Was a Policewoman

Yesterday was not a great day. It was an off day at work, filled with children crying for no good reason. I know that sometimes, kids don't know how to communicate things properly and just throw a fit instead, but that doesn't take away at how annoying it is for them to be throwing a fit for no good reason. 

On my way home, there was a really bad wreck on the main road in Houma, which created loads of traffic. Two lanes of traffic needed to merge into one lane. That shouldn't be complicated right? Everyone acted like it was there first time driving. Not one person used a blinker, and that just aggravates me more than anything. Blinkers are not a luxury. They come in every car and are so easy to use, so why do so many people avoid using them, especially when in traffic?!?! If I was a policewoman, I would be the annoying one that tickets people for not using blinkers and going under the speed limit. Obviously a policeman is not going to ticket the 804 people that didn't use a blinker yesterday, but it just made me think, more than ever, that would be my number one reason for pulling people over.

Enough complaining. The traffic was due to a wreck, and one of the drivers or passengers was on the road, getting helped out by EMTs and when I saw that I just felt so lucky and blessed that I wasn't hurt in my wreck last month. Every wreck is different, but the damage to the car of the hurt person looked very similar to my car, just in a slightly different place. If the truck would have hit me more on my side, I could have been in a similar position as that man was yesterday.

In other grateful news, the coconut flavoring is back at Starbucks!! It is so delicious and is the great way I started off my Friday morning! Have a great weekend! Mine will probably be filled with Jazzfest, Cinco celebrations and more coconut flavored coffee drinks.