Meredith and Zach’s Wedding!

I love this girl, Meredith, a whole lot. Like she is one of my favorite people in the whole world. Don’t tell her I said that, though. It will totally go to her head. :) And to top it off, she was dating/is married to Zach, who is awesome himself. So it’s a win-win in the friendship book. Zach and Jonny get a long great and knew each other in high school. Meredith and I fell into friend-love at first sight. And, the rest is history! Meredith was a bridesmaid in my wedding in June of 2009 (That seems like so long ago!) and now I had the blessing and honor of being a bridesmaid in hers!

This girl. I really could talk about her forever. She’s awesome. Funny, smart, witty, and has such a kind heart. When we are together, I am always smiling. So, of course I had to take a picture of us everywhere we went. Seriously. So… to document the wedding weekend, here are a bunch of pictures of us. Perfect!

At her bachelorette party – getting our paint on!

Day before her wedding – getting our nails done…

At a delicious brunch – day before her wedding!

Target run!

Oh, I decided to get my ears pierced the day before her wedding!

And here we are at the hotel! All of the bridesmaids stayed at the hotel together with her. It was so fun!

Kroger run!

Surprise Lingerie Shower!

Day of the wedding – about to get our hair done.

All made up and ready to go! Isn’t she BEAUTIFUL!??!!?

I had a blast with her and her wedding party. She picks good friends. And, I am so excited for her and Zach. They are just supposed to be together, ya know! By the way, Jonny was the photographer for the wedding – which was so fun for him to be around all day. We had so much fun together, too… but I don’t have any photos of him on my phone!

Cupcake/Muffin Holder and Recipe

This cupcake holder was a birthday present from my parents. I have to show it off. Look how cool this thing is! It makes transporting cupcakes/muffins SO much easier. And those little guys inside the holder? Well, there’s a recipe down below!

Recipe: Pumpkin Muffins with Cinnamon Sugar Topping

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin purée (not pie filling)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  
• 8 oz all-purpose flour

For the cinnamon-sugar topping:

• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.  The recipe called for mini-muffin pans, but I used regular. So, just grease the wells or use liners like I did.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the oil, eggs, sugar, pumpkin, salt, and baking powder on medium speed until the mixture is smooth, about 1 1/2 minutes.  On low speed, stir in the pumpkin pie spice or the cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger, as well as the flour until they are completely incorporated – do not overmix.
3. Fill the wells of the muffin tin 3/4 full.  Bake for 14 – 16 minutes or until the tops of the muffins are springy when lightly touched.  Cool the pans on wire racks for 10 minutes then remove the muffins from the pans.
4. While the muffins bake, stir together the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl until well mixed; set aside.
5. Dip the tops of the warm muffins in the cinnamon-sugar topping.

Recipe Source

Superbowl Watching Party!

Allison, a sweet sweet girl from our home group, hosted a Superbowl party! It was tons of fun and there was delicious food, especially her specialty g

What girls do at a Superbowl party….

My love and I :) GIRLS! (me, Shawna, Jacki, and Allison)

cute!

Seriously, I’m obsessed with these two cuties!

(Don’t tell her I told you but Abby was stuck in the blanket and was walking around like that. It was hilarious!)

 

Valentine’s Day 2013

Sadly, Jonny was out of town for a video job on Valentine’s Day this year. But luckily, I have awesome friends who I got to spend the evening with! Jeremy and Amber are friends in our home group and they graciously opened their home for the group to come over! We played games, ate yummy food, and got to know each other better! :)

The lovely ladies: Rachel, Monica, Janice, Amber, me, and Shawna!

The newlywed game was played… and since I was without my other half, I asked the questions. Oh, and this bear became my date for the night…

Jonny might of been out of town, but he didn’t disappoint! He had hid my present in the house and told me where to find it over the phone! He got me chocolate covered strawberries (my favorite!) and giftcards to Old Navy and Chili’s!

Yep, he’s AWESOME. And since we weren’t together on the day, here’s a picture that he took of himself last night on our date to Chili’s to use our giftcard. :) I love him a lot.

ST Ranch

Jonny’s best friend, Chopper, and his family are like family to us. ST is Chopper’s dad and he has an awesome ranch with a moto track and lots of fun things to do! The family went out to celebrate some birthdays and we got to join in on the fun. And, we were out on a ranch – the perfect day for me to wear my cowboy boots for the first time! (Thank you, mom and dad!)

We sent this picture to my parents and it made my dad worry for the rest of the day, I think. Why? Well, I was on a 4-wheeler. Without a helmet. And was wearing my cowboy boots. And they could be getting messed up. And I don’t have knee or elbow pads on. Really, being within 100 feet of a 4-wheeler would set off the worry.

It was my first day to shoot a semi-automatic weapon! That was pretty crazy. Let’s forget about the part where I had a freakout because I couldn’t see through the whole. Oh, I was closing the wrong eye. Rookie mistake!

Jonny and ST also went out on the moto track for a little bit. It was fun to see them ride!

It was definitely a fun day out with the Tomlinson family. I am really thankful for them and the fact that we get to be a part of their family!

Lately

I know, I should blog more. I sometimes feel like I don’t have much to say. Also, I haven’t been cooking too much… so no new recipes. But, I am loving living near a bunch of places to eat. Ha, we have been eating out more now that we live in Arlington. I’m okay with that. So, speaking of living in Arlington – Life has been so good. We are getting adjusted and are loving living here. It’s so neat to be near my family. I’ve been able to go to dances and t-ball games for my niece and nephew. It just makes seeing my family so much easier. And I love that!

Oh – and I am going to start running! Really. I am motivated and got an app on my phone and everything. Ha. I also ordered a case to carry my phone in and wireless headphones. I’m all set. If I have all the gadgets, I will run right? That’s how it works. Anyway – we will see how it goes. But, I just want to push my body. Make it do something outside of my comfort zone. And, I really want to get in a habit of working out again. We’ll see.

And, just because, here’s a picture of Jonny and I when he took me out on a date to the Stockyards a few weeks ago. He is the best. for real.