Friday, July 31, 2009

flowers and my girls!

Today is "show us your life" Friday over at Kelly's Korner. The theme is bridesmaids and flowers from your wedding!! How fun!

I will begin with some of my favorite girls- my bridesmaids!!

From left to right- my cousin, Kelly.... my sister in law, Tiffani.... my longtime friend & "sister", Missy.... my cousin, Shauna... me!... my bfff & matron of honor, Annie... my good friend since high school, Emily.... and my other sister in law, Sarah.


These girls were my lifesavers the day of the wedding! Here were my flower girls. Hallie (my little cousin) and Mattie (Josh's little cousin). They were SO cute & funny!

Here is my good friend, April. She passed out our programs, which were cute fans that I made. Actually, I KILLED MYSELF over these fans. Definitely one of those things that if I could go back and do again.. I would SO order them or something. Anything but not make them myself. But they did turn out cute :)

Caprice over at Enchanted Florist did our flowers and did a GREAT job!! I loved them all. The bridesmaids carried a bouquet of white hydrangeas and pale pink roses. Here is one up close.

I really wish I had an UP CLOSE picture of my bouquet so you can see all the details but I really don't :( I do have the picture I got my inspiration from and here it is.

And here is mine! I LOOOVVVVED it! It consists of cream and pale pink roses, stephanotis flowers with pearls in the center, and gardenias.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

future home owners!

After weeks of making offers back and forth, they finally accepted our offer!! WOWWW! Josh and I are sooo excited that we cannot even describe it. BIG changes are coming our way!!! I cannot stop thanking the Lord because I know he has given this house to us. He is so good!!! AHHHHH :-) More details coming soon!

Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart! Psalm 37:4

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Destin, Florida

Our trip to Florida was SO much fun! It started off a little rocky because Josh and I had a blowout on the way there....well, not US but our TIRE. Luckily, we had just gotten off the interstate. Also, luckily for me, my hubby can change a tire really fast so after about 10 minues we were on our way again. Anyway, our vacation was just perfect. The weather...the food..the company..the ice cream!..everything was just perfect!

Here is one more that for some reason would post right on the slideshow!

Sunday, July 26, 2009

I said YES!

July 26, 2007.. Two years ago today.. My family and Josh and I were in Destin, Florida for our family vacation. That night Josh and I went out on a date :) We ate at Fudpucker's and then headed to the beach to watch the sun set. We ended up staying there for HOURS!! It was the most perfect night. We just laid on our beach towels..listening to some music..watching the stars..talking about anything & everything. Then Josh asked if I wanted to take a walk down the beach so we did. That is when he asked me to be his wife!!! And guess what? I said YES! It was perfect!

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

take me away....


...to a place where the sand is soft & the sun always shines! Take me away to Destin, Florida! One of my favorite places to go. It is like my 2nd home. We know all the little back roads & have been there every summer as far back as I can remember. I can't wait to be at the beach & can't wait to eat some fresh seafood! We are leaving today and will return on Sunday. Hope u all have a fabulous week!

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Cheeseburger Potato Soup!

Today's blog hop is all about our favorite recipe! At first I thought this was going to be really hard to choose just ONE favorite but then I remembered the famous cheeseburger potato soup. I found out about this soup when our old youth pastor's wife, Sarah, made it for me. It was her dad's recipe. I wish I had pictures but you will just have to trust me when I say it is pretty much the best thing ever. Josh has been known to ask for it even during the summer but it is perfect in the fall or winter paired with a grilled cheese or saltine crackers...MMMMMMMMM! I promise you will not be disappointed!

ingredients:

(I used to know this recipe by exact measurements but I have made it so much that some of these things I just throw in....so use your best judgement!)

*3 cans of chicken broth
*1 tablespoon oregno
*1 tablespoon parsley
*salt
*pepper
*1 onion- chopped
*about 2-3 cups of chopped carrots
*about 2-3 cups of chopped celery
*1 lb. browned hamburger meat (I have used ground turkey before & it was really good- unfortunately the hubby does not like ground turkey or else I would use it all the time!)
*potatoes- use your judgement on how many. I normally use 6-8 good sized ones. (peeled and cubed)
*velveeta cheese- depending on how cheesy you want it!!! I like mine cheesy so I put close to half a box in there :) I cube mine so it melts faster.
*about 4 cups of milk
*1/2 cup of sour cream
*1/4 cup of flour

Boil chicken broth, oregano, parsley, salt, pepper, onions, carrots, and celery until onions are kinda see through.

Add browned hamburger meat and potatoes. At this point I may either more chicken broth or a little water. Just enough to cover the potatoes a little so they can cook. Let boil until potatoes are soft.

TURN HEAT ON LOW!!! And let sit for a few minutes so it cools down a little. Add milk, velveeta cheese, and sour cream. Stir and let sit so the cheese melts.

Mix the flour with some water & get all the clumps out. Pour it in the soup so it will thicken. If you want it thicker- add some more!! Let sit for a few more minutes & keep stirring. The longer it sits, the thicker it gets.

And that's it!! It is really good the next day also for leftovers. I hope you enjoy!!!


MckLinky Blog Hop

Monday, July 20, 2009

not me!!

This past weekend was a good one! Friday was pretty uneventful. I made country fried chicken, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, and home grown green beans :) It was all really good but after eating all of that PLUS cheesecake for dessert, we were pretty much useless. We went to bed early since Josh was waking up at 4 AM (!!!!) to go to Kentucky with all the guys in the family. They were busy all day getting the farm ready for the Fall so they can go hunting out there. I was waking up early also on Saturday so that Shelby and I could go yardsaleing and it was so much fun! My favorite purchase was this- some old hard back books that I stacked inside this antique piece my mom gave me, which is my most favorite piece of furniture in my whole house!!


We also made an offer on the house that we really want to buy on Saturday. They came back yesterday with an offer that was not much lower than their asking price .... SO we are going to make another offer today. I really hope that it works out but I do know that if it doesn't then it just wasn't what He has for us. But I would really like it if it was! Would it be bad to beg God?! Ha.

My parents & Michael left yesterday for Destin, Florida & I am jealous that I am not there with them. BUT Josh and I are leaving Wednesday and staying til Sunday. I need the beach so bad right now. Two more days.

Josh stayed overnight in Kentucky on Saturday night so they could work on the farm on Sunday also. This was my 3rd time ever staying home alone. The 1st time I did pretty good. The 2nd time was horrible. I kept on waking up throughout the night hearing things. I know I was not imagining it because Kobe was hearing them also.

But since I am not a chicken at all, I was not scared to stay home alone this past weekend. I did not sleep with all the lights on in our whole house. I did not put a chair in front of every locked door, just in case. You know- like this.

I did not take half of an ambien to help me sleep and I did not sleep right beside my cell phone & a big, sharp knife. Because that would all just be silly.
But I did sleep right beside this sweet thing that kept me company all night :)


ps. please excuse the wonderful cell phone pics. My camera was in the kitchen and since I was not trapped inside the bedroom because of the chair, I couldn't get it :)

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

blog hop!

Today is the day for another blog hop! The theme is-

3 things you did not know about us!

(well, some of you reading may know these things....but here we go!)

1- We went to Disney World on our honeymoon & had sooo much fun!! We turned into little kids again :) We also went to the beach for 5 days but spent 3 days at Disney. September was the PERFECT time to go because it was not too crowded. There were still tons of people there but we didn't have to wait long to ride the rides at all! We were so exhausted because we went to all 4 parks in 3 days. The first day we only had half a day & we were at Epcott. It was probably my favorite & I wish we could have spent more time there! It was soo cool to see all the different countries. We ate at an itailan restaurant in Italy and it was so good! They also had fireworks at night over the water and it was just perfect :)






The 2nd day we went to Animal Kingdom & Hollywood Studios (aka MGM). We loved Animal Kingdom but wasn't too crazy about Hollywood Studios. We went on a safari in Animal Kingdom and that was so much fun! Also, they have the ride Mount Everest...scared me half to death but absoltely loved it!!









The last day we spent at Magic Kingdom & it was also my favorite!!!!! Ahhhhh, the castle was so beautiful and the fireworks at night were amazing :) We want to go back to Disney one day when we can have like a whole week!







2- Josh and I LOVE to watch anything funny that will make us laugh. We love funny movies & America's Funniest Home Videos. We also love to get on You Tube and search for funny videos! This is very addicting and we have been known to do this for hours! Here are some of our favorites :)







3- Lasty, and the most important & most exciting........ we are going to make an offer on a house!! Like this week!! I have been praying & praying about it and I have just put it all in His hands. If this is the house that we are supposed to be in..then it will all work out! If it all goes through then I will give more details. But I will tell you that it is in Ashland City & I am soooo excited about it. I am trying not to get my hopes up but they kinda already are :) My mind has been spinning around thinking of new decorating ideas. I love to decorate and I am thinking of doing things completely different in our next house. So I have been looking at other blogs getting ideas. Here are some that have inspired me already!

There's No Place Like Home
Gracious Southern Living
Southern Hospitality

MckLinky Blog Hop

Monday, July 13, 2009

nope! not me!


Last week was probably one of the busiest work weeks ever.... besides the week before my wedding. My clients knew that I would not be available for most of September because of our wedding/honeymoon/moving to Pulaski so I was crazy busy the last week in August.

Last week, however, there were no special occasions. I just think everyone looked in the mirror & noticed their bad roots on the same week!! Which was very good for me money wise but I am really feeling it now. My body feels like it could fall apart for standing with my arms up in the air for most of last week. And I could barely talk yesterday after talking NON STOP for 34 hours...and that was just the talking done at work.

I am definitely not complaining :) I am soo thankful that God has provided me with an awesome career that I love. Anyhow!! With all that said, even though I was so busy at work last week.. I would never let everything in my house pile up & look like a cyclone has just went through it. And I would never let dishes from from 3 nights worth of dinner pile up. Nope, not me!! I am such a clean freak so I would never let Kobe go through the trash can in our bathroom and not pick that up for 2 days. And I would never in a million years let Josh's stinky work clothes sit on our living room floor for most of the weekend. To top it all off, even if I did do all of those things- I would NEVER let company come over to see our beautiful mess.

But would you call police officers company anyway???? We had to file a police report yesterday because someone stole my tags off my car. MY TAGS. Why in the world would someone do that??? Don't ask me- it just makes me so mad to think about it. I know someone took them because 2 screws do not come unscrewed themselves. The police officers said that this actually happens often. The took fingerprints but I doubt they will ever find them. Since we filed a report, we do not have to pay the full price to get new tags (thankfully) but we do have to pay some. I am not sure how much. I am about to go see. Grrr.

Btw.. his blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

my new bff & real-ly good bbq chicken

I love living back in Ashland City but there are a few things I miss about living in Pulaski. I miss sleeping in with my hubby every single day. I miss not having to do anything at all during the week but watch movies together. And I really miss not having to WORK ALL THE TIME! I told Josh last night to please win the lottery or something so I can be a stay at home wifey! I told him that if that would happen, than I would have everything clean & all the laundry done & a homemade meal would be ready when he walked in the door...just like it was while we lived in Pulaski. Now that we live back here, things are a lot different. The last two nights I have worked late and tonight I am working til almost 9!! Who wants to come home and cook that late when you have been working all day? Not me. So that is why my crock pot has become one of my new best friends.

This is the one that I have. It is big & I love it because we all know how much Josh can eat!

Yesterday I tried out a new recipe & it turned out really good so I thought I'd share :) It is called zesty slow cooker bbq chicken. I found it on allrecipes.com which is my favorite for finding new recipes.

6 frozen skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (12 ounce) bottle barbeque sauce (I used K.C. Masterpiece)
1/2 cup Italian salad dressing (I used zesty italian dressing)
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

I only made 3 chicken breasts so I cut the ingredients in half. I also added in some chopped onions and a little garlic salt.

Place chicken in a slow cooker. In a bowl, mix the barbeque sauce, Italian salad dressing, brown sugar, and Worcestershire sauce. Pour over the chicken.
Cover, and cook 3 to 4 hours on High or 6 to 8 hours on Low.

I'm telling you- it was good! Josh got home before me so he made the sides. So we also had tator tots and mac & cheese.......not what I would have made for the sides but you gotta love him!

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

blogger hopper

MckMama & MckLinky is hosting a blog hop every Tuesday that I think will be lots of fun :) This week's theme is favorite photo!



I have a billion favorite pictures & this is one of them! This is Josh when he was 4 years old! He is all cuddled up & taking a nap with his dog. How cute is he??!! He was a sweetheart then, he is still a sweetheart now :)

MckLinky Blog Hop

Monday, July 6, 2009

today =

a day where not a single thing will get done here at the Conatser house.

Not only because America's Next Top Model Marathon is on but also because our computer is finally working again. We went a WHOLE week without our internet and it was so so sad. I am not a big TV kind of girl.. I mean, I have a couple of shows that I love but I am definitely a internet junkie. So now I have some serious catching up to do.

Our Atlanta trip seems like it was forever ago even though it was just last weekend... but it was so much fun! Kobe really wanted to go with us but he couldn't :( Joe & Paige kept him while we were gone!


We drove down on Thursday afternoon after Josh got off work. That was a big mistake since we got stuck in Chattanooga's 5:00 traffic PLUS Atlanta's wonderful traffic that they are known for. We finally made it to Turner Field so that I could drop Josh off to meet up with my dad & my brother to watch the Braves play the Yankees. They said it was a fun game and the Yankees won! While the guys were watching the game, me & my mom did a little shopping. Not much shopping since we got LOST trying to find the mall (the mall that I had directions to and we STILL got lost) but we got about 30 minutes in! ha. It was still fun.

The next day was my dad's birthday so we got up and had lunch with them before they left. We ate at Olive Garden & it was really good. I got my dad his favorite hairspray for his birthday!!! Doesn't it give him such BIG SEXY hair?!!!! HAHAHA!


I wonder how we can all sit at the same table...Yankee fans AND Red Sox fans?? Hmmmm. We all still love each other though!



After they left to come back to Nashville, Josh and I had a few hours before the game so we decided to go to the Aquarium and it was fun! They also had an exhibit with artifacts from the Titanic that they found it the bottom of the ocean. It was so cool!! They did not allow pictures so that is why I do not have any to show you..so you will just have to believe me when I say how cool it was!





We got to the game early so we could watch batting practice and it was awesome! Our seats were great!! And the Red Sox won which made it even better!





I am going to be honest with you. I was a little skeptical about going to these baseball games even though I was so excited about our trip. I know how baseball can be SO boring when you watch it TV but it was not like that at all in person!! It was so much fun and there was so much going on that it was impossible to get bored. Saturday was fun also. We met up with some of Josh's friends that were in Atlanta for the game also. We met them at the Lenox Mall, which was AWESOME! It had 4 stories! Too bad I was with 4 boys. I would love to save up a bunch of money and go back to that mall for a girls trip. How fun would that be! Anyway, the game was good on Saturday also and we won again :-) Sunday morning we got up and headed back for good ol' Cheatham County. We were both ready to come home so we could see our Kobe!