High Five for Friday

Did this week fly by for you too?  I think since my week was perfectly fantastical that I must have missed the middle of it because here we are and it's already Friday!!

I lost my wedding rings..actually, both my wedding ring and my engagement ring...

 On February 25.  I remember the date because I had my parents over for dinner that evening.  I had my rings the day before, so I knew it must have been the 25th...the day I lost them.  I went to put them on after dressing for dinner, and they weren't there.  Wait???  I know I put them there!!  Where did they go?  Oh well, I thought..I don't have time to look right now..my guests are arriving.  I kept it in the back of my mind throughout most of the evening. As soon as everyone left, and we cleaned up I looked...and looked...and looked...no rings.  Every day I was consumed with finding my rings.  I couldn't believe they weren't where I put them.  Long story short...I called the grocery, I looked at work, we looked in my car..I scaled the backyard and went through the dogs...you know.... I had my Mother-in-Law come over for a "search party"...we had a plumber come check all the drains..No rings!!

My things were now organized, but still ...no rings!  I spent most of the days in tears.  I couldn't believe that I had lost something so special to me.  I was angry at myself.  So, after weeks.. I finally decided it was time to call the Insurance Company.  We had them written into our Home Owners policy.  Finally deciding to give up, and relieved that the end was near I phoned the agency.  Well, apparently the paperwork was never completed on it..I don't really know what else the lady said because it was like I had tunnel vision, and then I lost my hearing.  I remember saying.."are you serious!!" and she said "well, I don't know what to say, this has happened a few times before, and if I could call so and so I would, but I can't."  I was at a loss for words...I wanted to scream, but no noise...no words came out of my mouth.  Finally all I said was "ok" questionably...and we ended the call.  How could this happen??  How did I not know all these years that my rings were not insured?  Why didn't I call to verify that you did your job correctly?  I wanted to crawl in a hole and sleep for days.  I called my husband in tears and basically told him I was going to mentally check out for the day.  I went home and cried in my pillow, and had wine for dinner. After a week of beating myself up my husband and I made a plan.  Another wedding band first, and save for a new solitaire that we would buy in the next few years.  I was lonely, and sad..I was overwhelmed with a feeling of emptiness and guilt.

We went to the lake this past Sunday so my two guys could fish. 

This is a picture of the "beach" in my parents back yard.

We didn't get home until after 8:00 p.m., so we stopped and got the little guy something to eat.  Of course he needed ketchup..he eats ketchup on everything..I had forgotten to get some at the store...so, I have a Ziploc where I keep spare packets..

I was digging all through the bag because there weren't many ketchup's left...I began hollering for my husband...I was screaming actually...very loudly saying OH MY GOSH..over and over...I found my engagement ring....then we took the rest of the stuff slowly out of the bag, and found my wedding band.  We literally jumped up and down hugging...my husband was saying "heeheeeheee" my son was saying "yaaaayyy!!"  I was crying, and laughing and smiling as we hugged!!  It was as if a hundred tons had been lifted from me!!

Now, things are back..as they should be! In the future I will be much more careful with my rings, and we will all live happily ever after...with beautiful rings!! 

Oh, and I will forever follow up to make sure my paperwork was properly completed...

I finally jumped on the band wagon and read The Hunger Games.  I started it in the car line on Tuesday, and finished it before dinner on Wednesday.  I really enjoyed it!  Have you read it?

The movie came out at midnight. 

We are going to see it tomorrow night at the drive-in theater near us.  I am so excited!!!  Do you have a drive-in near you?  It is seriously the best place for a family night.  I discovered ours by doing a google search.  We actually have two near us.  We equally enjoy them both the same...one is open year round, while the other is seasonal.  We usually pick based on that and by what movie we want to watch.  Both always have a double feature, and they cost much less than the theater.  They also have a grill...so we have dinner there as well.  One stop date night!  You can look for one in your area by clicking here.

I picked up this nail polish at Publix this week...funny how I forget ketchup, but come home with nail polish...oops..don't tell Trey!!  This OPI color is Do you Think I'm Tex-y?  Sometimes I  imagine what it would be like to be in the board room (as I envision it) as they are making up the names of their polishes.  I think it would be quite entertaining. I haven't worn this polish yet because I still have on the Essie from last week.  I am thinking about putting it on tomorrow for my family date night.

I got my March BirchBox.  I love everything in it!!  I am waiting to blog about it because I still have something I want to use before I write about it.  My box is different from what most of you told me you got in your boxes.  I have been using my products this week.  Stay tuned for that blog this weekend.

My sons spring break starts today..woohoo!!  I love vacations off from school...no stressing about assignments being turned in on time...or late..no homework.....no car lines,...nothing but F.U.N!!

I leave you with my favorite fur balls...

Winston was watching a bee..

Here...he is watching Trey..

Here, I assume he is wondering why I keep taking pictures of him...

My husbands Great Dane...Scuba...I think he looks like a baby cow..especially here..

Have a good weekend my friends!!

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment.  I just love hearing what you have to say about HF4F!!

Carrie

Banana Bread

Banana Bread

A Cook Family Tradition

This is one of my favorite recipes in my growing collection. My Mother passed it down to me several years ago, and I have enjoyed making it since. In fact, I often buy extra bananas just so we won't eat them, but so that I can bake bread instead. I make it quite often; especially for family get-togethers, to give as gifts, to say thank you, to send with my husband to share with his co-workers, or just to have in the kitchen for my own family to enjoy. I especially make them each Christmas. Either a mini loaf, or a regular loaf..they present themselves as quite a nice little package all dressed up with a bow. It is easy enough to make that my son baked a loaf for the 4H bread baking contest in his 5th grade class...bringing home the blue ribbon. I contemplated sharing it with all of you. After all, it is one of my signature recipes...it's something my family, and my friends look forward to me sharing. I promised when I started my blog that I would share things that are just too good to keep all to myself. We all need something to do with our ripe bananas anyway, right?

Ingredients

2/3 cup shortening

2-2/3 cup sugar

4 eggs

3/4 cup water

3-1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon baking soda

1-1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

4 or more ripe bananas

Directions

Cream shortening and sugar

Blend in eggs, bananas, and water

In another mixing bowl stir flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and cloves together

Gradually mix into banana mixture

If you want to add nuts, this would be the time to fold them into the mixture. I never add nuts.

Pour into well greased loaf pans, filling each pan a little less than 3/4 full

This recipe will make 3-4 regular loaves, or 6-8 mini loaves

Set on a baking sheet and bake at 325 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until a cake tester is inserted and comes out clean.

The bread should be brown in color, and split in the middle as it rises. The more you bake the more you will be able to gauge how it should look when it is ready to be pulled from the oven. You will also learn that adding a heaping scoop of your cinnamon or cloves isn't a bad thing. The recipe is perfect the way it is, but don't ever be afraid to add a little more flavor to any recipe. Make it yours!

I think the bread is most flavorful the 2nd day. You can warm in the microwave, toaster, or eat at room temperature. I enjoy it at room temperature...with or without butter.

Enjoy!

Carrie

Thank you for taking the time to leave a question or comment.

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High Five for Friday

Hello, Friday!  It took you long enough!  I guess with the time change, and the longer days... this week slow poked its way to Friday. No complaints here...I'm just glad I made it without any catastrophes.  I haven't exactly had the best luck lately, so I welcome each uneventful day with open arms.  I hope each of you also had a positive week.  HF4F!!!

I want to give a Happy Birthday shout out to my niece, Sarah.  She turned 11 years old today.  I was in the delivery room when she made her grand entrance into this world.  A day I will never forget!!

Happy Birthday, Sarah!!!

She has grown up to be a very beautiful, and special young lady!

What about this weather?  I think I am the only person I know that could really do without warmer weather.  I would be satisfied if it stayed between 50-70 year round.  When I was out and about earlier this week I noticed several ladies had already switched out their winter wardrobe for their summer attire. I saw more tank tops, and more legs than I care to mention.  While, there I was in my long pants and a thin sweater cardigan. I mean, I'm comfortable most of the time..I'm not burning up, but sometimes I feel a little silly always covering up.  Something that I don't know that I will ever get used to.  I have Lupus and on bright sunny days I have to keep covered up, or my skin will burn very badly...So, that's why I always have a cardigan in tow..Every now and then I choose not to cover up, and I always wind up regretting it later.  I could deal with constant cooler weather...I don't particularly enjoy wearing longer sleeves year round. 

Here are a few pretty pictures I snapped outside our house this week...The evening sky has been beautiful!

Did you see the planets this week? 

Venus and Jupiter are the two bright planets dancing in the moonlight; in the western sky after sunset. Venus is the bright one. We dusted off the telescope earlier in the week to take a closer look.  Magnificent!!  We were able to see three of Jupiter’s moons. I looked outside last night, and they were still visible in the night sky.  Take a look towards the West tonight, and see if you can spot them.  This picture was taken from National Geographic, and is exactly how it looks from my backyard.  Let me know if you spot it!!

I ordered the Navy Toms this week.  Now I only have 3 more colors that I want...I want the olive, the red striped, and the brown..I feel like I should want the ballet flats, but not yet.  I still don't want to spend $80 on them...I realize that I could have already purchased a pair with the money I have spent on all my other Toms..and I'm sure at some vulnerable moment in time I will give in and get them.  For now I am completely satisfied with the classics.

I found this very Pinteresting recipe a while ago, and have made it a couple times.  We had it for supper last night, so I thought I would share.  It is very simple, very tasty, and a repeat fave!

Pin it here

I don't make the ranch in the recipe..I use my own recipe. 

I use 1/2 cap mayo, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 packet of ranch powder, and a splash of milk to get a creamy consistency.

I found this Essie nail polish set at Walgreen's.  It was a little pricier than I would normally spend on tiny sample sized polish.  It was $8.00 for two.  Not too bad, but it was an impulse buy to say the least.  BirchBox raves about Essie polish, and these two colors were very pretty. 

Now I leave you with a few pics of my favorite little furry people....

Brodie

Winston

Hope you all enjoyed HF4F!!  If you missed last weeks you can find it by clicking here.  Happy weekend to you all.  May it be filled with sunshine and happiness!!

Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment!

Carrie

Pep Rally for your March BirchBox

Hey guys!  So, I have a confession to make.  During my ritualistic, insomniatic Sunday night I was reading up on the latest Birchbox news.  I don't know if you newbies received an email or not regarding the option for the Teen Vogue BBox for March, or the regular March Box. 

At first I was back and forth..I was super curious about the Vogue box, but then I was terribly afraid that I would miss something terrific in the March box.  So, I never chose.  However, the email stated that if you did not choose that you could possibly receive the Vogue box anyway. 

I struggled with it for a few weeks.  I even discussed it with a few close friends.  One of which is also a newbie BBoxer..she was baffled with having to make the decision as well.  Once I found out that the Vogue box was coming out because Prom is in the air..I was like...Whoa!!! Blog awesomeness...I want the Vogue box so I can post a prom flashback blog.  My prom was back in 1995.  Best blog idea yet, right!!??

So, by the time I figured this out I went to choose the Vogue box, and sadly.. I was in fact.. too late.  The early bird catches the worm, folks.  Let that always be a lesson!  Apparently, I have yet to learn the lesson because I am always late for everything! 

 Okay back to the point of this post...While I was reading BBox last night...other BBoxers were talking about how awesome the March boxes are..both Vogue and the regular boxes.  I also learned that if my box had shipped, which it has (ohhhh goodie!!!!) that I could see which box I am getting by logging into my account.  Well, shoot!!!  I just couldn't leave it be..I had to find out!!  I needed to prepare for this amazing prom blog of mine.  I did it...I looked..I totally cheated.  I'm a BBox cheater.  Tisk Tisk!! 

My husband gets on to me when I do things like that.  He tells me that I always have to find out before everyone else...I will admit I have a problem with reading reality tv spoilers...yes, I have known for weeks who bachelor Ben will pick...according to Reality Steve anyway...

I'm getting way off course here...

Okay, so no Vogue box for me...boooo, but I am pleased to report that in my opinion (and several others) the March boxes are one of the best yet!!  I got to see what was sent out in the March boxes.  I was so excited about this news that I had to tell all of you....because I know that at least 6 of you will get a March box!!!  I don't want to be that person that hype's everyone up just to set them up for disappointment...that happens to me with movie reviews all the time...I want you to open your box with an open mind that these are samples, small enough to fit in your box, but large enough to use enough times to decide whether or not you want to buy the full sized product, or not like them at all, or not even trying them out but passing them on to a friend..neighbor..relative..or your favorite blogger.  (I kid, I kid) 

Now....are you pumped or what to get your March box??  Get excited, people!!  They will be arriving in your mailboxes soon....mine is on the way!  Whoop whoop!! 

I also want to say that looking to see what is in your BBox prior to its arrival is no where near as exciting as not knowing, and being completely surprised once it arrives in the mail.  I do not recommend it!!  I don't plan to ever do it again!

Heck, maybe when prom time rolls around I will do a prom blog just for the fun of it...maybe..

I want to hear what you got in your March boxes!!!  I especially want to know if any of you got the Vogue box..so keep me posted, folks.  Leave a comment about it here, or on my fb, and as always stay tuned for my BBox blog later this week.

If you haven't signed up yet, and would like to...follow this link: BirchBox subscription

P.S.  If any men out there read this blog..you can buy a gift subscription for your honey..your Sister..or your Mother..Aunt..In-laws..you get the point.!!

Happy Monday!

Carrie

*Birchbox picture used from Birchbox site
http://www.birchbox.com/

High Five for Friday

Give yourselves a big high five!! Can you believe it is Friday already!!??  This week flew by for me.  Partly because I had a day off, which was an awesome surprise.  I told my husband that I have never been so excited to do the laundry.  Don't get me wrong..I don't work long hours or anything, but I NEVER have a day when it's just me!!  That is what I was most excited about...a whole..entire day to myself...

Winston wanted to give my readers a high five as well!!  He's a thoughtful little fella!

I saw this box of cookies at the grocery store, and had to have them because they were just too cool not to take home...They are actually as dee-lish, as they are cute..so...High five to Frosty the Oatman..

I think I have finally mastered how to fix my hair with a curling iron without it taking up my entire morning, and without it feeling awkward to curl the right side of my head.  I know what you are thinking..I'm almost 35..and I am just now learning to fix my hair.  Well, yes, as a matter of fact, I am.  I have always been a low maintenance kind of gal...I never took time to fool with fixing my hair other than smoothing out my frizz with a straightening iron, or letting my natural curls air dry.  Since finding The Small Things Blog I have learned fast and easy ways to fix my hair.  I just so happened to be using most of the same daily hair products as Kate..and our haircuts were similar, so I thought I'd give it a try.  I've been playing with new hairstyles for a few months now..  If you are on Pinterest then I am sure you've seen Kate.  Her blogs are great fun!

I even did this double bun one day... it took less than 10 minutes...and stayed all day...Easy peasy!!  Mine certainly isn't as cute as hers, but that's okay with me.

You can learn how here: double bun

Spring is fast approaching, and since we have had such beautiful weather lately I have been craving grilled food.  I rolled out the grill this week and made some fabulous pork chops.  Nothing fancy...I sprinkled some fajita seasoning on them, and marinated them in Dale's seasoning for a few hours..Yet another reason I loved my day off!!  These chops were amazing!!

One weekend..not too long ago..we were at my parents house.  My son pulled my old, dirty, dusty, rusty bike from the 1980's out of the garage.  Honestly, I had forgotten all about it.  He washed it, and has enjoyed riding it when we go for a visit.  He couldn't believe that I used to ride something so cool!!  :)

Last, but certainly not least..I enjoyed a day home with my favorite pups.  Winston is so sweet when he sleeps..I could just eat him up...

Scuba...is cute too..he has such long, and lanky legs that I guess the only thing he could find to do with his foot was to wrap is around his nose...I sure do love all of my babies! 

Please feel free to leave a comment...I really enjoy reading them!!  Last week I had 106 views to my HF4F post!! I was amazed!!  Thank you all so much for reading!   I hope you have a fabulous weekend, and that you take the time to smile..by remembering the things from the week that you are most grateful for. 

New to High Five for Friday? Check out some of my other H54F posts here, here, here, and here, and here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Carrie



High Five for Friday

It's finally Friday...high fives all around!!  I have had a rough week, folks.  Some things have been amazing, but for the most part n.o.t.h.i.n.g has gone my way.  Even down to being caught a mile away from my house...on foot..in a thunderstorm this morning  I mean really...can it get any worse? I beg of you..please..no!! As I was getting my laptop this morning I thought to myself..what in the world am I going to say to my readers that was positive about my week?  I had to sit down for a minute and really take the time to reflect...then it came to me...  No matter how bad your week is take that moment, think back, and relax..It'll come to you..In my case..I am heading straight for a bottle of Moscato when I get home from work today..Cheers for Friday! 

Let me introduce you to "Mr. March.."  Yep, that's my Winston.  Back in October our local Humane Society held a photo contest to raise money for their spay and neuter clinic.  Winston placed second, and earned a spot in the 2012 calendar.  I couldn't wait for the first Friday in March to show him off to all of you!!

This is the photo that was entered into the contest.  How cute is he!!

My adorable child picked these beautiful flowers for me this week.  He loves to surprise me with a fresh picked bouquet of flowers.  This sweet child has been giving me flowers since he was a tiny little thing.  He sure loves his Mom, and certainly knows how to brighten my day!!  Little boys are very special!

I found these two sweeties spooning (upside down) one day this week.  Winston had a tummy ache earlier this week, and Brodie knew he didn't feel well.  He stayed by his side most of that day, and never let him out of his sight.  Brotherly love at its best!!

These are Stella and Dot Soiree ball earrings in gold.  I have had my eye on them, but they were 39.00...by now you all know that I am a bargain shopper, right!  So...wait for it...I got these babies for 9.99 with FREE SHIPPING on eBay.  High five to me!!

So, remember that rain storm I mentioned this morning?  Remember that sweet boy of mine that I have mentioned many times before??  Apparently the thunder woke him up, and he realized I was not home.  With me not being there he knew I had gone for my walk.. Knowing him I am sure he was extremely worried about me because he is scared of storms.  He watched for me from the window, and when I was almost to our house he ran out to the end of the driveway and met me with an umbrella..then walked me to the door.  I felt like royalty...wait... I am royalty...I am his Mom.  :)  Normally, I would have fussed at him for being out in the rain at 5:30 in the morning, but I let him have his moment of taking care of his Mom, and making sure she was safe...I am blessed to have a kind, and thoughtful son.  Moments like this I am thankful for!

Well, now that I have written this...my week doesn't seem so bad.  Thanks for stopping by to read H54F! 

New to High Five for Friday? Check out some of my other H54F posts here, here, here, and here.