Weekend Wrap Up...

I had a great weekend...although it was long and tiring, it was a good weekend.

I went to bed early on Friday and did my best to sleep in...mainly because I went to Grad Bash at Universal Studios on Saturday!!

We met the kids at school at 2:30 p.m. and loaded the buses to head to Orlando.

This was the first thing I saw when we entered the park...

I really think it's funny now, but I HATED rollercoasters as a kid. I never wanted to ride one and was that person that would wait in the long line to just chicken out and escape from riding once I finally reached the front of the line. But now, I just can't get enough of them!

Luckily, we had express passes, so we were able to skip the lines and go straight to the front. We probably rode at least 15 rollercoasters that night...fun, fun, fun!

Here is a pic of two of my co-workers...

Michael and Tammy are the deans at our school and on this trip, they were my rollercoaster buddies!

Janet is the ESE teacher at my school and she tagged along with us too...

The very FIRST thing we did when we arrived at the park was head straight to Hogwarts...

This picture does NOT do it justice...it was so beautiful and honestly looked just like the real deal. They even served Butterbeer!!

We had a blast at Grad Bash this year and the kids were phenomenal. I think this was my fourth time to go on either Grad Night or Grad Bash and this was the FIRST time that the kids came back to the bus on time. I had given them a 2:15 a.m. meeting time and the last two kids literally walked onto the bus at 2:15. We were on the rode and headed back to Jax by 2:16 and I was happily in my bed by 5:30 a.m.

I didn't get to sleep late though because we had plans to celebrate my brother-in-love's birthday at noon. So I woke up at 10:00 and made this AWESOME dip for the party! I found the recipe on Pinterest, it's called Taco Dip, but my family loved it so much that they were calling it Crack Dip...haha!! 

I didn't get a good picture of the before, but this is the during. And after about thirty minutes it was G.O.N.E!! Here is the recipe if you'd like to try it...

2 lbs ground beef

1/2 red onion

8 oz cream cheese

1/2 cup of Ranch Dressing

1 Tbs Chili Powder

1 Tsp Cumin

1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese and monterrey jack cheese

Refried Beans (the recipe didn't call for this, but I added a layer on the bottom of my dish)

Brown the beef and add in the chopped red onion. In a bowl mix the cream cheese, dressing, chili powder, cumin and the monterrey jack cheese. Once the meat is ready, add to the mixture and stir. I sprayed my glass dish with cooking spray and added a can of refried beans to the bottom. I then poured the meat mixture on the top. I covered the dip with the cheddar cheese and then baked it for 25 minutes. I served the dip with Fritos. Just an idea...we bought the small Fritos and they were WAY too small to scoop the dip out. I would recommend buying the large scoops instead. We also had some tortilla chips, but in my opinion, the Fritos tasted best.

Here are a few pics that I took from the party...

The boys enjoyed playing corn hole, and Mikey blew bubbles! Doesn't my mother-in-love's yard look GREAT! She had probably 30 trees in her yard and my hubby and his brother worked on clearing it out, getting it prepared, adding sprinklers, then laying sod and creating new flower beds. LOVE her new yard!

Mikey and Kodi blowing bubbles!! He LOVES that dog!! I'm not sure who was more tired that evening...Mikey from chasing and playing with Kodi, or Kodi from being CHASED!!

We ended up going to bed at about 8:00 last night and I had a GREAT night's sleep.

 I hope you had a great weekend too!

Distressed Wooden Flag...

I posted HERE about all the fabulous distressed wooden flags I have been swooning over. I couldn't wait to get started on my very own flag!

I saved one of the pallets I had after making our pallet table. I had big plans of using the pallet to create our very own distressed wooden flag. BUT, we had this old wooden Christmas tree in our shed. The bottom stand broke on it and we haven't been using it. David put it in the garage to be thrown away, but I had other plans...

I talked David into cutting the center piece out for me. And I saved the star that was nailed to the top of the tree...

I only had white paint..so I painted a few stripes and the star...

I liked the flag with just the white...simple and pretty. But I really wanted to add some red and blue. So I picked up two little bottles of paint and got busy.

I just LOVE how it turned out! I tried not to apply the paint too thick so you could see the distressed wood.

The exposed knots and holes in the wood are probably my favorite parts of the flag.

I'm not sure exactly where I will hang (or sit) my flag yet. It looks good on our mantel, but I might try to hang it on our front door or in our backyard...

LOVE this project and it was so easy to make...mainly because I already had the wood. Now...what to do with my leftover pallet?!?!?!

FREE Canvas...

I mentioned in my PREVIOUS POST  how I've been in a patriotic mood lately. Well I follow this awesome blog called Shanty2Chic and I get a TON of ideas from her. She creates the coolest furniture, arranges the prettiest displays, and can distress wood like no one I've ever seen!

Right now she is advertising a great offer for a FREE 8X10 canvas from the Canvas People. All you pay is shipping!!!

Instead of using a photo of the hubby and I, AND since I'm still in a patriotic mood, I decided to use this printable...

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 I thought it would be a neat idea to use it with our patriotic decor this summer. I can't wait to see it in person!!!

So make sure you stop by Shanty2Chic and get your FREE 8X10 canvas...the offer ends May 13th!

Patriotic...

I have been in a patriotic mood these past few days. I love all things red, white and blue! What's great about patriotic decorations is that you can use them for the months of May, July, AND September :)

I have been planning to create a large flag out of the remnants from some pallets we have in the garage. I've been eyeing these wooden flags on Pinterest for inspiration...

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Aren't these flags just gorgeous?!?! I can't decide how I'm going to creat mine. But expect a big reveal soon!

 

The Grotto...

After work last night, some co-workers and I went to this little wine bar called The Grotto. It's a quaint little place that offers a $5 wine tasting every Thursday. After the week we've had of administering our state mandated test ON THE COMPUTERS (with technology problems almost every day), we were looking forward to the wine tasting!!

I think one of the best things about The Grotto is the people watching. You honestly never know what or who you are going to see while you are there!

This place is pet friendly and I can't even begin to tell you the amount of pets that came strolling through as we sat and enjoyed the wine tasting.

This guy walked by several times with his parrots...

The parrot's name is Clifford and you can't really see it in this picture, but he had the name "Clifford" on his shirt with an arrow pointing up at Clifford. On the other side of his shirt it said "Yes, I know I have poop on my shoulder." Where do people find items like this?!?!?

Then my heart just melted when this couple walked in with this sweet angel...

Is that baby not THE cutest thing you've ever seen??? He is a lab mix and just stole my heart :) I can't even remember Kodi being that small it's been so long!

In any event, The Grotto was JUST what we needed to wrap up our crazy week at work. I hope you've had a good week...here's to the relaxing weekend!!!

PINspirational...

It's no secret that I'm addicted to Pinterest. And I've been known to attempt a few Pinterest projects here and there :)

There are just so many PINspirational ideas on that site!!!

But this one project has been on my wish list for quite some time now...

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I have had a few pallets in our garage that I swiped from my technical theatre department at school. They were sitting by the dumpster waiting for the garbage truck so I stuffed those little puppies in my car and drove happily home :)

I had also picked up four caster wheels and some wood screws a few weekends ago. And while on a trip to Home Depot for some plants, decided to go ahead and have them cut four legs for our table while I was there.

David and I decided to pull the pallets out this past week and give them a good stain. We planned to stain our table the same color as our swing...

I was lucky enough to find two pallets that looked pretty close to brand new. So the stain soaked in pretty well. Here is one of the stained pallets...

The hubby put the caster wheels on and then we added the four legs and put the second pallet on top. We wanted to get an idea of how tall our new table was going to be...

I actually had Home Depot cut 8 legs because I wasn't sure we wanted to put one set of them on the bottom. But after looking at the table in the above picture, we decided that the height was just perfect, so we only used one set of legs...

I ran to the movies with a friend and when I got home, check out what was waiting on me...

I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!! We even ate dinner on it last Sunday night :)

Now, I'm trying to figure out if I should just get rid of the smaller table between the chairs...what do you think?!?!

Hands down, I think our new pallet table is just as beautiful as my PINspiration!!!

Shaved...

David and I have been saying for years that we wanted to shave Kodi for the summer months. It is so hot here in Florida and because he is so dark, we know it's easy for him to get overheated. Luckily we have a pool...but let me explain how that works. Kodi gets hot, he gets in the pool, then we try for HOURS to dry him off. Unfortunately we can never get him completely dry because his fur is so thick. So eventually, he starts smelling like a dirty, old, wet, mildewing dog :(

So the other day when I was in PetSmart picking up some food, I saw this pretty puppy in the grooming area...

I never really could imagine what Kodi would look like shaved and when I saw this puppy I realized that it wouldn't look all that bad.

So the very next weekend, we dropped Kodi off for his new summer haircut!!!

It's hard to really tell just how he looks in person by these pics...and although he looks different, he's still beautiful to me.

The hubby on the other hand, is not real thrilled with our baby's new haircut. He keeps telling me that Kodi looks like Doctor Evil's cat on Austin Powers (while putting his pinky finger to the corner of his mouth)!!! So let's just be thankful that his hair will eventually grow out :)

The Knight Resort 2012...

I am so proud of our backyard. It is THE place where David and I hang out every.single.afternoon when we get home from work. We jokingly call it the Knight Resort...but I guess in a way, it is a resort for us. It has definitely come a long way from when we first moved in to our home in 2007. I laughed when I looked back at my Knight Resort posts in 2009 and 2010, (and I guess I didn't have a 2011 Knight Resort post) because I think our yard looks 100 times better this year!!

The winter this past year was NOTHING compared to the harsh winters we've had in the past, and luckily, our grass looks GREAT!

We didn't have to replace any grass this year...and thank goodness!! The hubby just shared with me today that sod is a fortune right now...$175 a pallet. YOUZA!!!!!

Like I say every year, this swing is my FAVORITE part of our yard. Not only is it sentimental (the bench was made by my great-grandfather) and my hubby and dad converted it to a swing three years ago.

Check out how fast the jasmine bloomed!!! This was our swing last year...

And this year it has gone C.R.A.Z.Y!!!

And I can't even begin to tell you just how lovely jasmine smells when it blooms...YUM!

I found these adorable little glass containers in the $1 aisle at Target and couldn't wait to use them...

I filled them with dirt and put some succulents in them...aren't they cute?

I am going to try my best to grow these mandevillas on our trellis...

Look at how gorgeous this potato vine looked on our trellis two years ago...

I don't know why I couldn't get the potato vines to grow last year, but I'm hoping these pretty pink mandevillas will grow grow grow!

I usually focus all my attention to the left side of our yard, so I made a promise to try and work on the right side...

I had this old pedestal from when I was in college and my mom gave me the idea for the bucket...

I'm hoping the petunias and the hydrangeas I planted will bloom and multiply...I think the purple looks gorgeous already against the red mulch.

I have had this wood piece and the angel on our fence for a few years now, but decided to add the old table and water bucket this year...

We also planted two sego palms that a friend gave us in front of this table. I can't wait to see this side of the yard finally blossom like the other side.

We usually sit at this table when we have guests over...mainly so we can watch the TV on our patio. I'm on the hunt for the perfect seat cushions. I have some pillows from Restoration Hardware that have lasted for years. But there is NO WAY I'm paying $60 (a piece) for our seat cushions to match. So I'll be visiting Home Goods on a regular basis until I can find the perfect cushions for our table.

And last but not least....

This is where David and I sit every afternoon. It's the perfect view of our entire yard...

So there you have the Knight Resort 2012.

New Chicken Crock Pot Recipe...

I was SO in love with the Sante Fe Chicken crock pot recipe, so I searched and searched for other crock pot recipes I could try.

I took some of the ingredients from several and added my own ideas to come up with this recipe, which I like to call Creamy Chicken Crock Pot Recipe.

3 thawed chicken breasts

1 can cream of chicken

1 can cream of mushroom

1 block of cream cheese

1 bunch of scallions

3 celery stalks

Italian Seasoning

Put the cream soups, cream cheese, scallions, and thinly sliced celery into the crock pot. I added about a Tbs of Italian Seasoning. Then I put the three chicken breasts on top of the mixture and sprinkled more of the Italian Seasoning on the chicken. I left our crock pot on the low setting for 8 hours. When I got home from work I shredded the chicken and mixed it back into the crock pot. I cooked some white rice and then served the Creamy Chicken on top of the rice.

YUMMO!!!!

I hope you like it as much as we did :)