#H54Friday

It's the weekend again!  I'm now officially on Thanksgiving break!

And I couldn't be happier.  Seriously, it is much needed.

Last week my students put on a mock trial.  I was the judge and it was so much fun.  It was the hardest I have seen them work all year, and I was very impressed.

Other than spending time with David, the best part of my day is coming home to see Hazel.  I just can't help how much I love this dog.  With David studying all of the time, it's just me and her.  We've become attached.  When I come home, it's just me and her.  If I take a shower, she waits outside the door.  If I cook dinner, she lays by my feet.  We're two peas in a pod.

David and I spent our last date night at the Radio City Rockettes!  They were amazing!  Their outfits were beautiful, and they danced perfectly!  We also had awesome seats, which was a major plus!  It was fun to do something different than our normal dinner and a Redbox!

I had LOTS of grading to get done before Thanksgiving break starts.  The boys in my class think they are hilarious... and well, this did make me laugh.

Can't wait to see the DAWGS destroy Kentucky tonight!

Last night, me and Hazel went for a walk on North Campus and by the stadium.  It was really fun!

I hope your weekend is off to a great start!

oooo christmas tree

Two weeks ago, David and I decided to go pick out our Christmas tree after his second final.  Only, we couldn't wait that long!  Full of excitement for the SEC Championship yesterday, it made studying Friday night very difficult.  SO we went on a much needed study break for David, and picked out the perfect tree!

First, I got a fresh wreath at Trader Joes!  It was a great deal and is so pretty on our porch!

Then we went over Home Depot to start our little adventure.  We searched and searched before heading across the street to Lowe's.  We untied trees and spun several of them around before we found our little angel.  And she's perfect.

I asked the man who was going to trim her up for us if he could saw just a half inch of the trunk off for me.  He looked at me like I was crazy!  Little did he know I was going to make an ornament out of it!  I had seen the idea on Pinterest and was determined.  And now, David and I have a little reminder of our first Christmas tree!

David tied her to our roof and off we went!

That's when the decorating fun began for me :)

I watched Christmas in Rockefeller Center, strung the lights, hung ornaments, and drank hot chocolate.

And lastly, put a bow on top!

What was really fun about the process was looking through all of the ornaments David and I have, which is not many!  From visiting the Alamo with my Dad a couple summers ago, to an ornament made entirely with buttons from my Gramma's collection, and our honeymoon, the memories were good.

 Lastly, my Grandmother had given me her tree skirt.  She quilted it herself and I love it.  It added the perfect touch to our little tree.

I hope you are having a Merry little Christmas so far :)

thankfulness

So it's been awhile...
life has gotten in the way again!

Just before we went on Thanksgiving Break, I got the flu.  And I had it for roughly two weeks.  It was so awesome, but not really.  Let's just say if my kiddos have something, I always get it!  Thanksgiving break was just what I needed to get over it for good!

We kicked it off with a GEORGIA game!  David and I had such a good time!  We even got to help Uga crowd surf!  To be honest, I'm probably a little too proud of the picture below.  I whipped out my phone so fast and jumped off the bleacher to get this beauty!

David has officially kicked off finals and all the fun studying that comes with it.   So I went to visit my parents for a whole week!! It was so much fun!  But just before I left, David and I celebrated 5 months of marriage.  And how much fun we've been having!

We treated ourselves to a Last Resort supper, Jittery Joe's coffee, and a walk around North Campus.  And of course, I had to have the chicken praline.  I get it every time and it never disappoints.

Then we ate an incredible lunch at Five Star Day, just before I hit the road to spend some quality time with the fam! Soup and salad!

Over the last week, we made our first step towards celebrating our first Christmas together by participating in Operation Christmas Child!  We love knowing that we have made some litter girl's day.  We highly recommend you get involved if you are interested!

And speaking of celebrating...my sister was almost a turkey baby!  We got to celebrate her birthday on Thanksgiving this year.  My grandma made a HUGE peppermint ice cream cake for Claire!  It was three times as big as her head!  She is 24 now... wow she's getting old!

And her precious dog, Margo LOVED helping her open gifts!  She can seriously rip up some paper!

It was so great to see so much family over Thanksgiving break!  I am so thankful for David, my family, job, and church.

Now I just can't wait for the weekend!

Roasted Green Beans and Mushrooms

This weekend has been so much fun! Friday night, David and I went on date night as usual.

We watched the end of the Braves game at dinner and saw the in-fly ball call.

Let's just say, so far, not a good weekend for Georgia sports.

However, I still love my Dawgs!

David and I threw a little get together for the game last night.

But more on that another time!

Onto the food!

The challenge I have found with a low-carb diet is coming up with good side dishes.

I am a creature of habit.

Once I find something I love (for example, mashed cauli) I wear it out.

So I've been searching for something different, something yummy that is not just frozen veggies.

And something easy.

Let me preface this recipe by saying, you will not be able to control yourself.

In fact, David and I tried it before plating it for dinner and had to stop ourselves so we would have some left!  This recipe is SO good and SO easy and SO addicting!

And being the creature of habit that I am, we ate it as a side TWICE last week!

I hope you love them as much as we do!

Roasted Green Beans and Mushrooms

Fresh cut green beans

Mushrooms

1 1/2 tbsp Olive Oil

2 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

Salt and Pepper to your liking

Parmesan to your liking

Then follow these EASY directions...

Toss everything into a baggie.

Shake it up! Cover everything.

I've been shake it up, coating it and letting it sit until the oven preheats!

Spread everything out on a baking sheet.

Make sure you spray it so nothing sticks!

And YUM!

I hope you enjoy!!

We definitely have!

banana pancakes? no flour? yes ma'am.

I hope you are having a great weekend!  My Dawgs beat Tennessee and my Volleydoggs came in 3rd at their region tournament!  Hard work pays off!  Now all I feel like doing is going to bed for days!

Fall break is soon enough!

I have a new AMAZING recipe to share with you!

No Flour Banana Pancakes

Do the words pancakes and gluten free go together? Nope.  And they don't taste good either.

But you know what does taste good? Banana pancakes.

What's even better?  Flour free banana pancakes.

Take 1 banana, 1 egg, and 1 egg white. (I also added a little cinnamon!)

Blend. Not too much, but enough!

Spray your skillet.

Make pancakes!

No flour! Lots of protein and potassium!

And they taste, AMAZING!!!!!

I hope you enjoy them!

It's been awhile since I've updated.  Life has really gotten in the way!

Or really, riding on hot buses to volleyball games far away.

It will really wear a person out!

This past Wednesday I joined a new Bible study group!  I'm really excited about the other women I met and what God is doing in their lives.  We are doing a Kelly Minter study on Nehemiah.  And it's been really great so far!

This weekend, my sister and bro-in-law came up to Athens for the UGA game!  They brought their precious dog with them.  Margo had full reign of our place while we were all at the game.  I loved getting to love on this snuggle muffin for a little bit this weekend!  She is seriously the best dog!

Recently, I've gotten really into couponing.  I'm not one of those people that just buys stuff to buy it because it's cheap/free.  But I do love getting some savings.  While I was at the Dollar Tree, I picked up this beauty to help keep me organized!

Tomorrow is Oh How Pinteresting! Wednesday and I have some GREAT pins this week!  I can't wait to share!

Have a GREAT Tuesday!

Insta-Tuesday

For Insta-Tuesday, I will catch up on my life through Instagram pictures!
Since last week, I have been busy, busy, busy!  I am SO happy we had a three day weekend!  I think it's finally helped me get over the hill with this cold I've had!  I always catch something from one of my kiddos in the first couple weeks!  So happy that's over with!

First, I watched a lot of the Republican National Convention.  If I haven't mentioned it, I teach Government.  And I love politics.  I started keeping a journal of government quotes.  I write one down every day.  Liberal, conservative, general observations... all of it.  My goal is that next semester, I would have enough to have a Quote of the Day, everyday.

My volleyball team was undefeated (and even won a tournament) until last week.  We lost one game Thursday night.  Losing makes you stronger though, right? 

And where else would I spend a Saturday in Athens when there is a home game?  That's right, I was there to see Gurly run those amazing touchdowns!  And I have the sunburn to prove it! GO DAWGS!

After the game, the hubs and I went to dinner with my parents.  Then spent our "date night" at this movie.  I highly HIGHLY recommend it, whatever your beliefs are.  I would also highly recommend reading President Obama's book, Dreams From My Father.  I cannot stress enough that Americans need to understand foreign and economic policy much better.

And now that I'm off my soap box, I made the carrot chips!  They were really yummy and SO easy!  David and I chowed down on them.  Perfect snack!

We also spent part of this weekend celebrating the marriage of David's cousins!  We had so much fun!  I haven't uploaded my pictures yet, but I did capture her precious favors on Instagram!  Missy made the cutest monogrammed mason jars for us to drink out of at the wedding and take home!  What a GREAT idea!

I hope your Labor Day weekend was as relaxing and fun as mine!  I can smell the amazing supper my husband has been working on in the kitchen now!  It pays to marry a chef :)