Knotty and Nice Hand Bags

Just call me Martha Stewart! I just learned how to make a hand bag out of a scarf and two bangle bracelets! Here are pictures of my creations.
Check out Martha's website if you'd like to make your own. It was pretty easy and required no sewing! All you do is tie a few knots!




Eat your heart out Louis Vuitton!

Gordon B. Hinckley- 1910- 2008

Last night, there must have been a grand celebration in Heaven when President Hinckley passed from this life and reunited with his beloved wife Marjorie.
Oh how I will miss seeing his warm smile, his keen sense of humor, and his signature wave of the cane to say hello to everyone. I've grown up with President Hinckley as my prophet and he has always been such an inspiration and a beacon of light and truth in my life. He inspired the world to stand a little taller and be a little better through his amazing example. He was charity personified. He will be greatly missed!

Despite my sadness of his passing, I am comforted by the thought of his glorious reunion with his precious wife Marjorie and with his Savior, welcoming him in saying well done my good and faithful servant, enter in to my rest.

Taco Pie

I am a huge fan of fast and easy dinner recipes. I have very little patience for cooking for hours when I get home from work when I'm HUNGRY! I came across this very easy dinner recipe that is too good not to share! It's like tacos with a twist! Try it!

Ingredients
1 package refrigerated crescent rolls
1 package taco mix
2 cups grated mild cheddar
1 1/4 pounds ground beef
1/3 cup water
1 8-ounce package corn chips
2-3 cups chopped tomatoes
lettuce
16 oz. sour cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Place rolls, unrolled, in greased 9x13 pan
Brown ground beef, add taco mix and water
Spread on top of rolls; spread sour cream on top of beef mixture
Top with shredded cheddar
Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown
Remove from oven and top with corn chips, chopped tomatoes, and lettuce



It doesn't get much easier than this folks. This recipe is fast, very easy, and delicious! I served mine with chips and salsa. It was a fine Mexican meal! Thanks AJ and Lindsay B. for sharing this with me!

YOU'RE IT! Emily W, Mandy, and Jill (and anyone else who'd like to do it) you've been tagged!

A - Attached or Single: Attached

B - Best Friends: Everyone reading this blog!

C - Cake or Pie: Cake

D - Day of choice: Saturday and Sunday

E - Essential Item: my cell phone

F - Favorite Color: pink and blue

G - Gummy Bears or Worms: bears

H - Hometown: Jacksonville, FL

I - Indulgence(s): Blogging, Housewives of Orange County, veggie calzones from work, brownies and ice cream

J - January or July: July.

K - Kids: Zero but hopefully one soon!

L - Life is incomplete without: My husband, family, friends, the Gospel, and laughter!

M - Marriage Date: Sept. 17, 2005

N - Number of Siblings: Two, one stepbrother and one stepsister

O - Oranges or Apples: Oranges.

P - Phobias or Fears: Any kind of bug or rodent, clowns, I’m a little claustrophobic too (not extremely though)

Q - Quotes: See my quote of the week section to the right.

R - Reason to smile: My funny husband, family, friends, babies, puppies, accomplishing a goal, life in general

S - Season: Spring and summer are my favs

T - Tag Three Friends: Jill, Mandy, and Emily W.

U - Unknown fact about me: I used to have a secret crush on John Travolta

V - Very favorite store: Anthropologie, Ann Taylor Loft, and Target

W - Worst habit: I am always late…

X - X-ray or Ultrasound: Ultrasound to see my baby!

Y - Your favorite food: Café Rio Salads, Happy Sumo Sushi, In & Out Burger, and brownies (Sad thing is none of those restaurants are in Jacksonville. I’ve always got my brownies though)

Z - Zodiac: Gemini

Fun days

One of my best friends, Emily, was in town this week from Utah with her little girl and her mom visiting her new little nephew Grayson that was just born. It's her brother Carson's first baby and he is ADORABLE! It was so much fun to see them and to see what a GREAT mom Em has become! Here are a few pictures from our fun days...

Em and little Bailey. I love that little girl!




Grandma Jan and Bailey


Baby Grayson in the little outfit that I bought him. What a doll!


Proud dad


Happy Bay


Bay and a couple of silly ladies!

Granite

As our Christmas present to ourselves this year, we decided to get rid of our green kitchen counter tops and put in granite. Our new counter tops were installed today and we're thrilled with the result! Here are some before and after pictures. (The before picture is missing the microwave because we also got a new microwave.) Major difference huh! Now I can't wait to throw our next party! You all are invited!

Before



After

27 Dresses- Two Enthusiastic Thumbs Up!

Loved it, loved it, loved it! John and I just saw 27 Dresses and we both LOVED it! It was so cute and so funny! Go see it!

Makeovers Part 2

Here's one more picture from my virtual makeover...

This is Halle Berry's hair on me. I think it looks pretty good! John just told me he thinks it's "hideous". What do you think?

Makeover!

There's a really cool website that my sister in law Emily introduced me to called MakeoverSolutions.com. It lets you virtually try all these new hairstyles and make up, even color contacts! All you do is upload a picture of yourself and choose what styles and colors you want. It's free to try. Here are some different looks that I created on my computer. (This reminds me so much of that scene from Clueless where she picks out her outfit from her computer!) Which one do you like best? Call me crazy but I think I prefer the "before" picture! What can I say... I'm a simple girl!

Blonde Bomb Shell (with blue eyes- kinda scary!)


Smoldering Red (with green eyes- even scarier!)


Sophisticated Brunette (with glasses- I think I look smarter with glasses, too bad I don't need them!)


Sultry Dark (with blue eyes)

Now go try it! I want to see all your new looks on your blog!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone! Here are a few pictures from our New Years Eve party at my cousin's house. It was tons of fun! I hope everyone is having a wonderful time with family and friends!