You know what today means right?

FOOTBALL TIME!!

Can I get a "Go Big Orange!"?

Yes. Yes I can.

SAY IT!

Just kidding. You don't have to if you don't want to.

But you should want to.

We may not be winners all the time, but we have more spirit than any other SEC team!

Let's Go Tennessee Vols!

 

Football time at our house means:

Friends and family over every Saturday.

Grilling out and football food.

Ice cold beer.

Yelling at the tv screen.

Gearing up in ORANGE!

                                                                                                 Source: skreened.com via Lauren on Pinterest

                                                                                              Source: polyvore.com via Lauren on Pinterest

You better believe I've got my orange nail polish ready!

Who are you cheering for?

Oh, hi again!

Ya'll. I don't know what has been wrong with me.

I don't want to blog.

I barely want to read other blogs.

I mostly just want to sleep.

And I'm craving cherries. I don't even like cherries. But I saw Jenna on Pretty Little Liars eating cherries and decided I wanted some.

{source}

 

If I didn't have my tubes tied, I would swear up and down I was pregnant.

But that's crazy talk.

I'm just a worn out mom/student/house cleaner/cook/chauffeur.

Life as of lately?

Well, Kenzie has been loving school. I love hearing about her day when I pick her up! Today she had her first cheer practice! Awww! She has shown me her two cheers and her jump she learned. Her little cheer group is going to be performing at our local High School Homecoming game during half time! How exciting!! 

I started my classes for Fall semester. I have two classes on campus and two online. So far I'm loving it. For my English class, we are going to be discussing The Hunger Games! EEEEP! Pretty sure I'm gonna pass that one. ;)

We've been spending more time doing family stuff. It's hard to do things together when Doug works all the time, but I'm thankful for his job so I don't want to complain.

Last weekend we took the kids to the park. We had never been to this one before, and it was actually really nice! 

Oh, Doug and I started back on eating healthy again. Counting calories; walking. All that fun stuff. We walked a little bit tonight before the sun went down. It was actually nice. So wish us luck on our journey to getting healthy and losing weight....again. LOL!

You feelin' lucky? {Giveaway!}

So, since I will be starting classes again this week, I decided to do a little giveaway! 

This will be for ad spaces only (sorry non-bloggers)! Eventually, I will do a bigger giveaway with other prizes so the non-bloggers will have a chance to win!

 Melissa from A Day In The Life of a Mom and Wife is offering free Medium ad space for one month! Includes social networking shout outs, tweets, links promoting your blog, & the opportunity to participate in giveaways and/or linky parties.

Hello ladies! My name is Jade (other wise known as 'Plain Jade') & I blog over at An Organized Mess. What do I blog about? Oh, ya know...just a little bit of everything. If you enjoy sarcasm & laughter, my blog is the place for you! If not, well shut the front door! I'd love for you to stop by, take a glimpse into my little world, & say hello! 

                                    {Jade is offering free Medium Ad space for one month!}

  Sarah, from Fortune Favors the Brave is offering a medium ad spot for 2 months - includes weekly shout-outs on Twitter and a place in the monthly meet the sponsors post

Plus all Tennessee Honey followers get a 25% discount on large/medium spots with TNRocks {promo code} until 30 Sept

 Sarah also has a food blog! (YUM!) Fantastical Sharing of Recipes is offering a medium ad spot for 1 month - includes weekly shout-outs on Twitter and a place in the monthly meet the sponsors post.

All Tennessee Honey followers get a 40% discount on all spots with SweetTea {promo code} until 30 Sept.

 Sarah from Scissors and a Whisk is giving away a medium (150x200). You will receive two social media shout outs per month. You will also have the opportunity to guest post as well as sponsor a giveaway.

 Allison from Feeding My Temple is offering a free Medium ad space for 30 days!

Amber from My Three Bittles is offering free Large ad space PLUS a guest post!! 

And last, but not least, you can win free medium ad space on my blog!! Which includes Facebook and Twitter shoutouts, and an optional guest post!

Ok, ready, GO! 

And good luck!

ONE WINNER TAKES ALL!!!!!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cheesy Chicken Lasagna!

My first official recipe post! :)

I'm all about finding easy, delicious, husband approved meals. And thanks to Pinterest, I'm able to find all sorts of goodies! This meal is a huge hit with my family. 

The original recipe is found at Real Mom Kitchen.

Cheesy Chicken Lasagna

Ingredients:

2 (12 oz) cans evaporated milk (not fat-free)
1 (1 oz) pkg. dry Ranch dressing mix
3 C. cubed, cooked, chicken
1/8 tsp pepper
8-10 oz lasagna noodles, cooked
1 1/2 to  2 C cheddar cheese, grated
1 1/2 to  2 C mozzarella cheese, grated

As you can tell, I'm an "off brand" kinda girl. I also have ADD a horrible memory and forgot to take a picture of other ingredients. But I think you get the idea lol.

Directions:

First, cook the chicken (I boil mine) and the lasagna noodles at the same time.

When the noodles are done, place them in cool water so they won't stick together.

In a heavy saucepan, combine the evap milk and Ranch mix, heating on low until dry ingredients are dissolved. Stir frequently.

Stir in chicken and pepper.

Simmer, uncovered, for 25 minutes, stirring frequently.

Layer noodles, poultry sauce, and cheese in a well-buttered 9x13 pan.

Before cheese layer.

CHEESE!!!

Repeat layers. (Mine usually makes enough for 3 layers)

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes.

  YUUUUMMMMMM. Look at that cheesy goodness.

I recommend this recipe with garlic breadsticks.

And it's also great with Dr.Pepper. But that's just me. 

Mason jar and classy pink straw, optional.

I hope you enjoy this as much as we do!!

Happy eating!

Monday, Schmonday.

This is the view from taking K to school this morning:

Pretty cool, huh?

I thought so, too. I love this town. It's so cozy and it just feels like home. I might not like everybody IN this town, but I will just have to look past those people. :)

As for this weekend, I did a whole lot of nothing. 

Friday night, I did get to hang out with my best friend. She cooked for me:) She loves me. It was nice just being able to talk to someone who is above the age of 4, and is not of the male species. 

Saturday, I was like this all day:

 

CURSE YOU ALLERGIES!!!

I sneezed 83290423894 times. My eyes and nose were swollen. It was horrible. I went to bed at 9:30 on a Saturday night. #thuglife

I'm actually glad this weekend was over. I was going cray cray in this house being lazy and sick.

Oh, and I colored my hair. It's supposed to be "Burgundy" but of course, my hair just loves to repel red, so it's barley noticeable :(

boo.

I hope everyone else's weeekend was more enjoyable than mine!

PS- Eventually I will open the Weekend Recap linkup again. Maybe when something exciting happens. 

Don't hold your breath. 

:P

WARNING: Hideous childhood pictures!

Last night, my in-laws started a friendly family feud on Facebook. 

Actually, there was nothing friendly about it. The pictures that surfaced were brutal. 

So of course, I had to get in on the action ;)

Here's my precious husband:

I have a couple of concerns here.

#1- Could they not have waited until he went to the potty before taking this picture?

and #2- Why on Earth was this pose purchased? Surely the camera man did not just take this one picture and give up. 

Or maybe he did....Doug DID look like he REALLY had to go pee...

So, being the sweet, playful husband that he is, Doug comes back with pictures of me that are FAR worse than holding a wee-wee.

I was so hood.

I don't even know how to explain this one....

 And then the mother of all horrible childhood photos submerses from the depths of all that is wrong in this world....

Harry Potter glasses FTW!!!

I was wearing Harry Potter glasses BEFORE Harry Potter. 

Such a hipster.

And those bangs! Such awesomeness.

:)

I hope these have brightened your day.

Now I must burn them.

An Emotional Day

Today, my baby girl started PreK.

I couldn't sleep at all last night. I tossed and turned because I was anxious/worried/excited/happy/sad all rolled in one.

I woke up at the crack of dawn (which in my book, starts at 6:30am), drank some coffee, enjoyed the little bit of silence before alarms start to go off or kids start to wake up. 

And while I had my coffee, I just thought about how fast Kenzie has grown up. 

Barely four years ago, she was an infant. 

And she was the most beautiful baby I've ever seen. She was perfect. 

Ya'll, she slept ALL NIGHT from the time she was a week old! 

Then she was one. 

And waddling around the house in her pajamas screaming ELMO and WOW WOW! And singing Knocking on Heaven's Door.

Then she was two. 

 And had just become a big sister. And was such a wonderful big sister and helper to mommy. And potty trained herself practically in a week. And finally started to get some hair lol.

Then she was three. 

 And she was so smart, she amazed me every day with something new. (She still does)! And she learned to write her letters of the alphabet. And she could dress herself....not that she would always match lol, but she tried!

And now she's four. 

 And she's in school. With other children and teachers and not ME. My baby girl is spreading her wings in life and this Mama bird is going to have to let it happen. 

I want her to enjoy her time at school with her friends, but I still want to hold her hand and kiss her head and tell her I love her. But for seven hours out of the day, I won't be able to do that.

I held it together this morning as her father and I dropped her off for her first half day. I got a little sad while she was gone but I tried to keep myself busy to keep from thinking about it. And I was so excited to hear all about her day when I picked her up at 11am.

But tonight, as I went into her room and saw her sleeping, she looked like that tiny baby again and I got this knot in my throat. To me, she will always be my baby. My sweet little princess who has dreams bigger than the moon. But now, I have to stand in the shadows to let her shine. To let her live her life. To figure out where she belongs in this world. Because from here on out, school is going to be a huge part of her little life.

I hope she stands up for what is right.

I hope she lifts other people's spirits when they are sad and in need of a friend.

I hope she is an example to her friends and classmates.

I hope she continues to love learning.

I hope she remains true to herself.

I hope she follows her heart and dreams.

Kenzie Lane Loeffel may just be another child to those who haven't been blessed to meet her yet, but to me, she's the brightest star in the galaxy who was sent to this Earth for something special. She was sent from God as a gift to me. 

And I am able to have hopes for her, because SHE gave me hope.