Hooah Hairties and Accessories

Hey everyone, 

I started my own business a few days ago. I am only on facebook for now but check it out at http://www.facebook.com/HooahHairties. I will be adding more products as the New Year rolls around! Thanks y'all!

Thankful for Thanksgiving

Well it's that time of year again, thanksgiving is right around the corner! What are you thankful for? Last year I did a post on what I was thankful for each day, I kinda slacked on it and stopped before the month was over, this year I will finish everyday. This time last year I was just starting my blog. Be on the look out for many more blog post.

Day 1: I am thankful for my hubby, bless him for serving our country! I am proud to stand behind him, or in better words right beside him through whatever life brings our way. I love you Kaleb!

Day 2: I am thankful for having faith in the Lord and that Jesus died to save us!

Day 3: I am thankful for mine and Kaleb's familes! they are there for the both of us

Day 4: I am thankful for our "other" family or army family. yall make washington feel like home. Don'y know what i would do without my fellow tommie girls either!

Day 5: I am thankful for my little brother, we have become closer now that we are older

Day 6: I am thankful for my parents, they raised me to be the person i am today

Day 7: I am thankful for southern food!

Day 8: I am thankful for being able to spend all my with my family for the next year

Day 9: I am thankful for my best friend Marleighna, don't know what I would do without her

Day 10: I am thankful for Fort Lewis, because it is our first duty station

Day 11: I am thankful for all the Veterans that have served and are serving our country. Especially my wonderful husband Kaleb.

Day 12: I am thankful for technology and being able to comminicate with my hubby when he is gone


Again this year i slacked! But i did write everyday on my facebook so I feel accomplished.

What I have been up to

Let's see where do I begin.. This path month we geared up for deployment, I can't really say much else. But let me just say that it was the hardest thing ever to say see you later to my lovey bug!! One thing that I have to adjust to is being away from my fellow army wives. Going from being with the wives to with family will be way different. In the army world you get closer to your "2nd" family than your actual family.

My journey has begun first stop missouri for the month, I get to spend time with Kaleb's family and also my fellow army wife Jen! Check out her blog over at lyonpartyof4.com. I love that our brigade back home has set up a Run to Afghanistan. Our goal is to run 6,981 miles before our guys come home. This will be an awesome way to get in shape and to "run" to afghanistan. My team is Team Outlaw Sid!!

We have logged about 13 or 14 miles so far(: and the whole group has logged 600 hundred something.
I am also excited to start working on my photography skills and learn how to use my camera so I can start doing pictures as a hobby. So my new hobbies will be working out and photography. After thanksgiving, watch out South Carolina! My home away from home.

Hoping this deployment passes fast. I will try to keep my blog more updated!

loving this picture from my friend Jen over at JenLyonPhotography 

Hair Ties

So I am super excited to start adding to the D.I.Y part of my blog. I'm going to focus on things I find on pinterest! One sucess that I have had was making elastic hair ties! They are very similiar to emi-jays but a fraction of the price!
If you would like to purchase some from me let me know! I am charging $1.50 for head bands and .75 to $1 for hairties! Just message me on my facebook if you like to order(:

Here is a picture of some of the colors I will have to offer:

How to make these you need:

Fold over elastic in 5/8 inches

a lighter 

scissors

You first cut the yard of elastic in to 4 even pieces (I found this length to work best)

Next you fold them and tie a knot, make sure the knot is towards the end. 

Then you take your scissors and cut the tail diagonally and burn the edges with a lighter to prevent it from fraying!

Super easy(: and the plus side they do not leave a crease in your hair! 

Lately

Here is an update on what's been going on in our lives. The past month was a little bit crazy, we packed up our belonging and put them in storage. We had a lot more stuff than I thought. Then came the task of finding a place to stay for October, luckily our friends Kara and Derek let us live with them!

This month is a tough one for me, as the month passes it puts us closer to our first deployment (I can't go in to much more detail than that) but I know it's gonna hit me hard. This will be the longest we have been apart. But thanks to modern technology we will be able to email, skype, tango, and talk on the phone. Maybe not as much as I would like to but I will adapt and overcome as Kaleb would say!

Plans for this month include, spending time together and making as many memories as we can. 

Back in September our good friend Jen did a few photo shoots for us(: I was elated to have pictures done and be one of Jen's giunea pigs for her new photography business. 

This is one of my favorites!

So if I go MIA for the next couple of weeks yall will know why! During the next 10 months I will be blogging a lot more, it will keep myself busy. Be on the look out for more recipes and hopefully crafts.

Chicken and Broccoli Braid

Let me start out by saying.. This recipe is really simple to make. The only down fall is if you don't have a chopper thing or even a food processer, you have to use a knife to cut up everything. I, myself did not follow the recipe exactly, neiter does my mother-in-law it's completely up to you. Also, I stink at remembering to take pictures of things. Just type in pampered chef chicken and broccoli braid to see a picture.

Ingredients and Directions:

1	cup (250 mL) chopped broccoli florets
2	cups (500 mL) chopped cooked chicken breasts (boil the chicken)
1/2	cup (125 mL) diced red bell pepper
1	cup (250 mL) shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1/2	cup (125 mL) mayonnaise
1	garlic clove, pressed
2	tsp (10 mL) all purpose dill-mix
1	garlic clove, pressed
1/4	tsp (1 mL) salt
2	pkg (8 oz or 235 g) refrigerated crescent dough
1	egg white, lightly beaten
2	tbsp (30 mL) slivered almonds From Pampered Chef * I didn't use the bell pepper, garlic, or almonds.  Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Combine broccoli, chicken, bell pepper, cheese, mayonnaise, dill mix, pressed garlic and salt in Classic Batter Bowl; mix well. Unroll one package of the crescent dough; do not separate. Arrange longest sides of dough across width of Rectangle Stone. Repeat with remaining package of dough. Using Baker's Roller®, roll dough to seal perforations. On longest sides of baking stone, cut dough into strips 1 1/2 in. (4 cm) apart, 3 in. (7.5 cm) deep. (There will be 6 in./15 cm in the center for the filling.) Spread filling evenly over center of dough. To braid, lift dough strips across filling to meet in center, twisting each strip one turn. Continue alternating strips to form a braid. Tuck ends up to seal at end of braid. Brush egg white over dough. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake 25-28 minutes or until deep golden brown We bake at 325 for about 35-40 minutes! Yield: 10 servings  Feel free to check out the oringal post on the pampered chef page, my mother in law uses the recipe book or we both go by memory. Email me in you have any questions!

Block Leave

It's been over a month since my last post. So much has happened, Kaleb graduated EMT school! This was a great accomplishment for him. Shortly after we left for block leave, in preparing for his upcoming deployment. Leave included going home to South Carolina and then to Missouri to see Kaleb's mom and brother Justin.

First I will start with our visit to SC, it was a blast everyday we did something. We visited with my family on James Island for the weekend. It was great seeing all of my cousins and having everyone there! Plus Kaleb finally got to meet all of them.

These pictures don't even include all my cousins, 6 are missing from the top one and 5 from the bottom one. Yes, I have a big family. 

The following monday we visited some friends, we stopped by my bestie's house to see her momma. Then saw our friend Skinny B (Brandon). For the first time I went midnight bowling, with our friends Marleighna, Kyle and Brandon. It was so much fun. Tuesday we had a fish fry at my grandparents house, which included yummy catfish stew! Wednesday, we went our separate ways. Kaleb went fishing and I went to see my cousin DJ and Granny one last time. That night the preacher and his family took us out to dinner. It was wonderful seeing them and their sweet girls(: We also went to church that night and got to see alot of people. 

Thursday we went and surpirsed Kaleb's grandma. We went to dinner with his grandma, her boyfriend Dan, Aunt Melena and cousin Autumn at Applebee's. It was great seeing them! 

That night we visited the lovely Mrs. Ellen, it was wonderful seeing her! We also got to see Mr. Tim and Luke. I love getting to see them! Later we went to the movies with Kaleb's buddy Kyle that is also deploying at some point this year, he is in the Air Force though.  Friday we out for our 1 year anniversary of being married(: It was special, we went to Duke's BBQ in rigdeville which is the one and only Dukes we eat at! Then we spent time with our friend's Taylor and Tillman, and got to see Grammy and Pops. 

That night we went to my little "big" brothers football game.  

Then we went downtown and got some sweet pictures for our anniversary(:

 

 Some more pictures from downtown with Taylor and Tillman. We ended the wonderful night with stopping at Marleighna's, I'm blessed to have a best friend like her. She pretty much spent the whole week at my house! It was great catching up with her and Kaleb got to here us talk and talk and talk. The first week of block leave was fun but I was sad to leave my family.

The next week we spent in Missouri, the day we got there we went to Steak n Shake then went back to Plato. My mother-in-laws house in really really nice. Sunday we spent time with his family and just relaxed. Monday we met up with Mrs. Donna at Starbucks, she is a hoot. We also went out to lunch at ChopStix, a good japanese place. Tuesday we went to Springfield to take his mom to the doctor's, we also went to The biggest Bass Pro Shop around! That place was amazing, we even ate breakfast at the resturarant there with his brother. Then after her appointment we went back to Bass Pro, then we went to the mall. Kaleb lost his phone, thank goodness for the find my iPhone app! Wednesday, we went to the Outlet Mall by Lake of the Ozarks. I got new Crocs and Kaleb got Sprocs, we ate a BBQ place called Bandana's. That night we went to Peppers to see our friend Larry Jackson but he never showed but I got to see my girl Tina! Thursday we dropped the puppies off at the spa and had breakfast at Panera's. Me and Kaleb's mom Marta went and got out nails done, and she got her hair done later for their trip to Korea. That night Tammy and her boys Andrew and Ryan came over, it was great to see her! Friday we packed everything up, dropped the puppies off at Mrs. Tracey's. Then off to St. Louis we went. We spent the night, the next morning Kaleb's mom and brother went left for their trip. Kaleb and I left hours later to head back to Washington, we were both sad that we have to go back. The second week flew by fast! I didn't take any pictures, I'm bad about that.  I forgot to mention that I have new recipes to share when I get around to making them, so be on the lookout!

Overall leave was a blast and I can't complain. I love spending time with my man in camo when we get the chance to just relax and spend time together and of course with our family's. Until next time!

Crock Pot Spaghetti

So a few weeks ago I made Crock Pot Spaghetti, I was in the mood for spaghetti and i wanted to try something new that was easy. All this required was browning the ground beef and putting the ingredients in the crock pot and letting it cook for 3 to 4 hours.

Ingredients:

1 pound of ground beef
2 cans of spaghetti sauce (i used 1 and a half)
1 cup parmesan cheese
noodles (i used half a box)
sour cream or cream cheese
italian seasoning
salt and pepper

Step 1: Brown the meat and season to taste, you can use any seasoning that you like!

Step 2: Layer the following ingredients in the crock pot,  

sauce

noodles, you will more than likely have to break them in half

meat

sour cream or cream cheese

sauce

parm cheese

Step 3: Cook on low for 3 hours, add shredded cheese before serving

This makes enough to serve 5 or 6 people depending on how much you like to eat and it was super easy. You can serve with garlic bread, i do have to say next time I will add sugar. Kaleb loves to add a little bit of sugar to the spaghetti sauce. We will definitely make it again

NTC is over

Well my husband finally returned from NTC 8 days ago. Boy was I super excited to see him!! He had the whole week off minus friday but even that was an early day. We spent our week relaxing and watching movies. Thursday we spent the afternoon with our good friends Shelby and Kyle, swimming and cooking out on the grill. Then friday we had the guys over along with Shelby and Kyle to hangout for the first time in month. Some things I get to look forward to this month include: The marriage retreat in Portland, OR with four other couples from our company, watching our friends sweet little dog Bear and last working out to get into shape with the other sapper wives. Can't wait for August, here comes block leave and our 1 year anniversary (:

the love of my life, he had to make a face

Tie-dye Cake

So about a month ago I did a post that included a cake I made for a friend, I thought I would share how to make it.

The ingredients you need are:

• a box of vanilla cake mix (make as directed with eggs, oil, and water)
• food coloring
• any flavor icing
• wax paper
• spoons
• 7 bowls
• 2 circle pans

First prepare the cake mix according to the box, then divide it into 6 bowls (i used paper disposable bowls). Tint each bowl a different color using the food coloring and mix. 

Next line both cake pans with wax paper in the bottom, and spray with cooking spray around the edges this will prevent the cake from sticking to the pan. To start layering the colors in the pan put the first color in the center and as you layer the colors add less of the next color and so on, the colors should spread out on their own but if not use a spoon to spread them.   

                                              

                                                 

In the second cake pan, layer the colors the opposite way. Making sure all the batter gets used.

After the cakes baked, let the cakes cool and move them to a cooling rack, once cooled place the first cake on a serving dish ice the top of it and add the second cake and ice completely. To make the icing harden faster stick it in the fridge.

Next if it for a birthday add the candles, make a wish and enjoy!

Look how cool it looks! 

Another thing you can do is take vanilla icing and make it crazy colors to match the cake!

Easy Enchiladas

So this is my first post about making a recipe

                                                 this is the finished product.. it was so yummy!

Ingredients:
1 pound of ground turkey
1 bottle of Ortega Taco Sauce (not enchilada sauce)
1/2 pound of grated or shredded cheddar cheese
flour tortillas
sour cream

Brown your turkey.  Add as much of the taco sauce and cheese as you want to get the consistency you prefer for your filling.  I don't like mine to be super runny so depending on how much meat we are using (if I am making more than a pound) I modify how much I put in.  I want the meat-cheese-sauce mixture to be gooey.

Fill your tortillas.  We usually use the large 10-inch tortillas.  A pound will only make 4 of these but they will be large.  Roll the tortillas (I suggest a couple of trips to Chipotle or Qdoba to learn how to do it well...ha ha).  Cover the enchiladas with as much or as little of the leftover Taco sauce and then sprinkle with cheese.  Bake at 350 until the cheese is melted.  Serve warm with sour cream.

I got this recipe from a friend, go check it out at Storybook Reality http://storybookreality.blogspot.com/2012/04/easy-enchiladas.html 

Almost "Summer"

"Summer" just means sunshine and hopefully less rain, being an army wife my husband works 24/7 365 days a year. April and May flew by, minus the 2 weeks that the hubs was at school in Missouri. And let me tell you those 2 weeks felt longer. Now he is gone again to NTC training, yippee. This month is all about school work and work outs.

Let's look back at the events from April. Our friend Kyle had a birthday and his brother flew up to visit. We threw a surprise party for Kyle, we helped out Shelby. It included 250 balloons to fill the apartment and not to forget an awesome tie-dye cake (not to brag about it since i made it lol).

balloons!

my adorable husband after blowing up balloons

the outside

the inside!

One weekend we went to a MARINERS game, that was so much fun! It was my MLB game, it was the 2nd game of the season and they won! The cool part I saw one of the players, Justin Smoak, who used to play for USC Gamecocks. Go COCKS! (: I didn't realize it until talking to my cousin. Here is a picture of the stadium. 

During the month of May nothing too adventurous happened. Shelby and I worked out and had a few girls nights. Once the guys got back we spent as much time with them as possible. About 2 weeks ago we went house hunting, it was fun. We fell in love with the second house but no word on it yet. Over the month of May I read the Hunger Games trilogy, those books are super amazing and would recommend them to anyone to read!

This past weekend yet again we had to say see you later, which is so hard to do. Of course after he walked to the barracks I cried. Let the count down to his return begin.

the man of my dreams, my hero, my soldier!

Lately..

The end of February was a happy moment for us, Kaleb returned home from training(:

The month of March included many fun weekends, i like to call them date nights and just by surprising me and going to breakfast.

A few of our date nights included a double date at Red Robin with our friends the Crabtree's.  

mine and Shelby's lovely husbands

We went to an early St. Patrick's Day party at the Crabtree's, most of Kaleb and Kyle's friends were there.  It was a fun night, we had corn beef, cheesy potatoes, cupcakes, and green cookies. The next night we went up to Seattle with Shelby and Kyle for a double date went to the mall and later ended up at a Mediterranean restaurant.

                   

       

Another date night Kaleb and I went to dinner and a movie, one of my favorite kind of date nights.

We ate at Burs which is a diner type restaurant and saw 21Jump Street. The following weekend was a double date at 5 guys and go-carts with Shelby and Kyle. 

It was an eventful month and i was glad to have Kaleb back<3

The New Year

Well the holidays have come to an end, Christmas that is. This year was my first Christmas with my wonderful hubby(: It was a good one, i was excited to see the presents arriving from South Carolina from our parents. None the less I would have been just as happy only getting the gifts from Kaleb. He is really great at getting presents! Nearing the end of January my hubby is getting ready to go back to Yakima to train for the month of February. (I'm not ready for it). Im excited from him though because its a time for him to learn more training tactics. While he is gone I will be visiting my home town (Kaleb's idea).Unfortuntely we won't be able to spend Valentines Day together, so as soon as the guys get back I'm planning something for us! I can't wait to see what this year brings us.