Newlyweds

Beth and Travis' photographer posted some pictures from their wedding! This is one of my absolute favs! Check out the rest on their photographers blog.

Happy married bliss you two!

{photo cred: ee photography}

YUM

On what has turned into a cold and rainy afternoon, I am SO glad that Chili is cooking up at home in my Crock Pot! There is nothing better than a warm bowl of chili on a dreary day. I got the recipe from Mrs. Paige and I can't wait to try it! One hour stands between me and a snuggle night with my boys...

Chili Recipe from Paige
1 lb. lean ground beef*
1 16-oz. can chili beans (Bush's makes a good kind)
2 16-oz. cans diced tomatoes (I look for ones that are garlic/onion flavored or spicy)
2 tbsp. chili powder
1 tbsp. cumin
2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. onion powder
Salt and pepper liberally to taste

Simmer in crock pot for 8 hours. Add 1/2 cup water if you like it a little liquidy. (It will look very chunky when you first make it, but will cook up a lot of juice.) Add seasonings or subtract to taste. Serve with crushed crackers, cheddar cheese, onions or whatever you like!

*I used turkey instead of beef, I'll let you know how it turns out!

Facelift!

New blog design coming soon from Penny Lane Designs! Marina is so talented, wonderful to work with, and is such a sweetheart! Head on over to her site...you are sure to find a design that you can't live without!

Meal Planning Monday and Good Morning Jillian!

Monday: King Ranch Chicken, Corn, Salad, Hawaiian Rolls

Tuesday: Garlic/Butter/Lemon Shrimp Pasta

Wednesday: Chili

Thursday: Tilapia with veggies

Friday: Lasagna Roll-Ups (didn't get to these last week) and Salad

Saturday: Dinner out!

Sunday: Left Over's

I have to say, meal planning has really helped me enjoy cooking more! Each day I am prepared with what I am going to cook each evening, rather than getting home after a long day of work and then trying to decide what to cook. I go to the store on the weekends, so all "quick trips" during the week are eliminated, which is fabulous! We are eating healthier, and I enjoy searching for new recipes! Yeah for meal planning!

Project for tonight - Organizing my recipe book!

...I woke up to her this morning, and she kicked my butt. Getting back on track with doing this DVD on the mornings that I am not at the gym.

Walk Down Memory Lane....

With all the wedding festivities and wedding planning going on around me, I decided to take a stroll through our wedding album! Our wedding day was more than I could have imagined, and best of all, the Lord blessed me with an amazing husband! :) Click here to see a few of my favorites from our wedding day! My roomies and I all got married in the same year...take a look at our wedding day pictures together! It was so special to get to live together, plan together, and celebrate our special day together! I love you girls and you are so very special to me!

Sean and Mellie's Engagement Pictures

Over Christmas break Sean and Mellie has their engagement pictures taken and they could NOT have turned out MORE ADORABLE! Below are a few of my favs! Click here to see them all!

{photo cred: Caleb F Photography}

Mr. and Mrs. Fitzgerald!

Well, it's official....Beth and Travis are MARRIED! The weekend went off without a hitch and everything was just beautiful! I didn't get as many pictures as I would have liked (off being a bridesmaid and dancing my little heart out), but below are the ones that I did get! Enjoy! As soon as the rest of their pictures are posted on their photographers website I will add the link.

Meal Planning Monday

After a weekend FULL of wedding festivities and house guests, I sat down yesterday to do my meal planning and then hit up the grocery store.

Monday: Chicken Tortilla Soup with chips and salsa

Tuesday: Dinner at The Fitzgerald's

Wednesday: Cornbread Taco Casserole

Thursday: Lime Garlic Chicken, broccoli, and corn

Friday: Taco Salad

Saturday: Date night out!

Sunday: Lasagna Roll-Ups and salad

Fitzgerald Wedding Weekend!

My sister-in-law and very soon to be brother-in-law get married THIS WEEKEND! And I absolutely positively can not wait!

Stay tuned for details and pictures to come next week!

Birthday Girl

This little one has her first birthday coming up very soon! Since our sweet friends live in Houston, I keep up with Cadence on her momma's blog and love seeing all of the cute pictures of her growing up!

I sent her these for her birthday! I think they are the most precious little things ever! Order yours here.

Productive...I Think So!

In an effort to make good on some of my resolutions for 2010, I purchased this fabulous planner and it came in the mail at the end of last week. I am in l-o-v-e with it and how organized I already feel with it in my bag! Of course ours says "the lipmans" on the cover! Get yours here.
At lunch today, I went and bought these....

(Mimosas For Mr. & Mrs., Sweet Heart, Alone At Last...even though they look pretty similar in the pictures above, they are very different shades on the nail)

So I have not mastered the skill of painting my nails to where they look fabulous (too many years of being spoiled with mani's where I didn't have to??!), so I tend to stick to lighter colors for my finger nails so they look more professionally done :)

Also, went down to College Station this weekend to help sister register. We got up bright an early Saturday morning, drove to The Woodlands, and knocked out Bed Bath & Beyond and Pottery Barn. We had SO much fun and were SO very productive, but it was a LONG day! Even though I tried to warn sister, she could not believe how long it took to pick out little kitchen gadgets and everything you "think" you "might" need for the future house that you have never lived in. Oh registry, how fun you are! Looking forward to her showers now where she will get all of her great stuff!

I have not had a chance to do my "Meal Planning Monday" yet since I was out of town this weekend, but hope to get to it tonight!

Happy New Year!

I absolutely can not believe that it is 2010! I remember Y2K (as it was refereed) like it was yesterday...so hard to believe that here we sit TEN years later, and hard to believe that I was a mere sixteen years old then! My how time flies when you are having fun!! As I warmly embrace 2010, here are a few things that I hope to accomplish and strive to be better at (in no particular order):

-I want to be a better cook and I want to enjoy cooking! I started off the week right by sitting down last Saturday morning and planning out my meals for the week, then hit the grocery store mid-morning to pick everything up that I would need. So far this week I have made Salsa Chicken on Monday night, BBQ Ribs in the crock pot on Tuesday night, and Talapia last night. I think I may start "meal planning Monday's" on my blog to keep me accountable!

-Read more books...on the deck right now I have "The Boy In The Stripped Pajamas", "Sheet Music", and "The Abs Diet". After those I would like to read "Dear John" and "For Women Only". I got sucked into the Twilight series last year and I would LOVE to find a series that I would love just as much. Any suggestions?

-Work out on a consistent basis. I always have the best of intentions and do well for a while, then just totally suck for a while. I need and want to be consistent so that I can lose the 10 lbs that I would like to! My goal - work out before work on Tuesday and Thursday mornings before work and then on the weekend. The idea of getting ready at the gym is not totally appealing, but it's nice in the locker room and a girls got to do what a girls got to do, right?! Time to get serious!!!

-Keep my nails painted. I do good with my toes, need to work on keeping my fingers painted.

-Spend more time with friends and keep up with what's going on in their lives. With the hustle and bustle of everyday life, all too often I find that it's been more time than I would have liked since I last talked to my sweet girlfriends!

-Be craftier. (Is that a word?!)

-Drew and I bought a couples devotional book that we will start on Monday. Our goal is to have our couples devotional every day with each other....looking very forward to that special time together!

-Drink more water. I have gotten a ton better, but could defiantly still drink more.

-Make my sisters months of engagement and wedding as special as I can! My goal is to fill it with many special memories and fabulous girlie showers. There is nothing like this special time in her life and I am so excited to share in it with her as her MOH!

-Become more involved in Preston Trail...we love this special church and are so glad that the Lord has placed it in our lives.

-Love on my sweet husband more and make him feel special every single day...can a wife really ever do this enough? I have been blessed with the most wonderful husband and I am so very thankful to call him my love!

-I would love to travel more and I need/want to get better about traveling in the car. If driving in the car helps me get to visit a place that I have never visited before, I want to be ok with it and excited about it! (silly I know, but I really really dislike traveling in the car for long distances).

-Stay organized. I know it sounds crazy because I use to be an organize freak, but since I have gotten married, I have become less organized/my husband has helped me chill out a bit :). I bought myself a planner that I am carrying around with me in my purse...tried using the iPod, but I guess I'm just an old fashion girl, I love my pen and paper calendar. Here's to keeping up with what's going down in 2010!

-Learn to love red wine. I love white, but can't do red....yet.

Cheer's to a new year!