A Fun FREE Add On to Your Valentine's Gift Giving

Yesterday Madison and I went to the Dollar Tree and found these Valentine's Day "gift"cards. 

Now I could have easily spent a few dollars and bought these... but they didn't all apply to us. We are not dancers... so a night on the town dancing would not reply to our relationship.  So I came home, got on Picnik, and whipped up three sets of my own "gift" cards that I knew would appeal to my husband. 

{Here they are, printed, cut, and ready to go}

I uploaded them to Walgreens and this morning I picked them up.  I ordered two of each one.  I cut them in half and stuck them in his card.  Easy peasy...creative...and personalized.   I think he will love these FREE gifts. If you are just exchanging cards... a few of these would be great to throw in as well.

You can download these for FREE.

{1} Red Chevron

{2} Dark Pink

{3} Polka Dots 

I just ask you use them for personal use only and do not alter or resell them... although really feel free to use the idea of them to create your own more personalized versions in Picnik.

A Super Fabulous Time Together

I am so glad I decided to make the drive to Rhode Island last to spend some time with my husband.  We had a super fabulous time together.    We spent 5 great nights in a beautiful hotel, spent time with my husband's family, shopping, eating great meals, and just spending quality time together with one another.  We explored our new town to be (as of August 1st we will be residents of Rhode Island).  I really learned to love our new town when we were there and I am so excited for our future.

As we approach the end of our first year of marriage (our anniversary is July 17, 2011) we looked at this trip almost like a second honeymoon...and to be honest it was way better than our honeymoon.  As I got into my car on Wednesday morning to drive the 9 hours back to Virginia to pick up Madison... I was filled with so much hope and excitement for our future.

Our first year of marriage has not been awful, but it certainly hasn't been all unicorns and rainbows either.  We have had our shares of ups and downs... We were both in jobs we were not happy with, we were dealing with the orchestrating of an upcoming move which at times did not go as smoothly has it should have, house-hunting, raising a pre-teen, and some other minor things that added a bit of stress to our relationship.

I am definitely excited to see what year 2 has in store for us.  We only have three + weeks until we are reunited again for good...and in the middle of that we get to meet up again for a fabulous wedding (which I am doing the baking for...more to come about that soon).

The countdown is on to our big move.

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to my husband Chris...the only father Madison has ever known...the father she deserved to have all along.

{Here is Chris on our wedding day presenting Madison with a necklace to symbolize our new family}

I was a single mom from before she was born until Chris became a permanent fixture in our lives.  Chris and I never pushed for a relationship between him and Madison...instead we let it develop naturally on its on...and it has blossomed.

Having never had a dad... I am not sure she knew what to expect...

I think he has surpassed any expectations her or I could possibly have for him.

They have nicknames for one another.  He calls her "Mad Dog" and she calls him "Topher".

They both like the same music...or should I say she has learned to enjoy the music he loves.

They both like the same movies...or should I say she is interested in any movie he is interested in.

They laugh together and joke around all of the time.

He will sit and patiently listen to her stories of middle school drama and about her Sims computer games.

She will sit and watch him play video games.

She always loves to tag along to the store when he goes.

She trusts him and confides in him.

They love one another.

I love my husband.  I love what an amazing father he has become to Madison.  I do not think they would be any closer or he would love her any more even if he was her biological father.  That is a real man.



I LOVE You to the Moon and Back

I created these I LOVE you to the Moon and Back printables today just for fun.  I am toying with the idea of an etsy shop...but I am still undecided {I ended up opening a shop}.  If you would like one please leave a comment with your name and the number of the printable you would like. The numbers are on top of the printable. These print BEST if you print them as 8x10's. I am working on some other ones so be on the lookout for those.

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I linked up this post @ -

My Thursday via Blackberry Photos

After a very rough 90 minute class with my 5th bell I treated myself to to this yummy snack on my break.  A slice of the yummy homemade peanut butter banana bread I made last night.  I let Madison be in charge of the bananas.  Once I put the loaf in the oven and looked over where we keep the bananas, I realized she used 3 new organic (the store was out of the regular ones) bananas.  The 3 brown bananas I had intended for the bread were still on the counter.  By the way... I love Cherry Coke Zero.

I came home to find my new magazine subscription had arrived of Food Network Magazine.  I love cooking and baking and I love magazines...so I added this to my cart the last time I was ordering from Amazon.  I cannot wait to read it.

This morning I put this carnitas recipe into the crock pot.  I love this recipe because it requires just a few ingredients, cooks all day while I am at work, and my entire family enjoys it.  We use the filling to make soft tacos with all of the fixings with a side of Spanish rice.  My husband may or may not have had 5 soft tacos for dinner tonight...it was that good.  You should also make it because it is a recipe from Kelle Hampton - who is an amazing woman with a pretty fabulous blog.  If you have never read her blog, you must grab some tissues for some happy tears and start with this post .

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

I was very close to my paternal grandmother.  She was a very influential person in my life.  She died while I was pregnant with Madison.  I was heartbroken.  My grandma loved to cook and I have fond memories of her making us the most fabulous little pancakes which she served with this thick maple syrup in a tiny little ceramic pitcher with a kitty on the handle. 

Chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting

 I woke up the other morning from a very vivid dream...the parts of it that I do remember are that my grandmother was vividly there and I was at her house for a visit.  I walked into this bedroom and there were all sorts of fabulous cookies all over the entire room.  It sounds crazy...but ever since my dreams of opening a small bakery of some sort one day have been in the forefront of my mind.

I have been baking like crazy... 

I am in the process of opening an etsy bakery as a starting point... 

I have been thinking of a plan and a menu...

I have been teaching since 2002.  I feel as if it is no longer my calling.  I need a job change.  I want to do something I love.  I want to open a bakery.

I am going to open Betty Ray's Bakery (after my grandmother).