Hazel Liberty Dove

We have BIG news!

David and I got a precious puppy!! We've named her Hazel because of her beautiful eyes and coloring. She is a Mini Goldendoodle!

Hazel has an awesome personality. She is snuggly and sweet, but also likes to play! And she already loves us a lot! Sometimes I feel like my heart is going to explode when I have to leave her or hear her cry!  She loves being by our side all the time.  She follows us around and it's so precious!

We took these pictures as soon as we got here home for the first time!

On her bed by the fireplace with her blanket and toy!

Hazel has definitely made herself at home. She loves laying under the Christmas tree and running from her shadow. However, her favorite place is our laps. I have some pictures of my little angel to share with you! I'm sure these won't be the last!

Have I mentioned, she loves to snuggle!

We had to take our first trip to the vet.  Hazel was really nervous, but did great in the car.  She was so nervous the whole time we were there she hardly left my arms.  However, I was able to get her to calm down and lay on the table.  I mean, she is just such a cutie!

Hazel is such a sweetie!  We are so in love with her.  She has definitely made studying for finals more enjoyable for David and coming home from work while David is in finals more fun for me!

We are so blessed and love Hazel so much!

I am pleased to introduce my best friend for life!

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!

my mama is awesome :)

My mama is super awesome.  For a lot of reasons. I don't talk about her enough on my blog.

I was feeling a little homesick today after seeing my parents for just a short time yesterday.

David and I took care of Charley while they went to the UGA game.  She was so precious and sweet. It was really fun!

Today, I forgot to get cauliflower at the grocery store and I had this weird feeling I was supposed to go to Walmart to get it.  I was just walking around (with no particular plan in mind and FOUR bags of frozen cauli).  I had thought about getting a pumpkin to sit out for the fall season.  I was thinking about this pretty glass pumpkin my mama always puts out.  She keeps candy corn in it all season.

Just as I had this thought, I turned around and saw one that looked just like hers!  It was only $5, so needless-to-say it now sits on my dining room table with candy corn in it.  While I can't eat it, I know David will enjoy it.  And my homesickness has subsided, because now I have a piece of home here :)

I've been using my crockpot a lot lately.  My amazing mama suggested a recipe she found for Balsamic Chicken.  Yesterday I prepared it, and today we ate it.  AMAZING.  I'm seriously in love!

Let me tell you, my mama knows everything.

I put this yummy meal on before Church and it was ready when we got home!

Inside this pot you will find:

6 pieces of chicken breast (uncooked)

1 tsp Rosemary, Oregano, Basil

1/2 tsp Thyme

4 garlic cloves

1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1 tsp Oil

1 can of diced tomatoes (I used fire-roasted)

1 onion (sliced, not diced)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Only 4 hours on high!

This is what the chicken looked like plated.  We had mashed cauli and black eyed peas with it!  This recipe was super easy and so good!  We absolutely loved it.

Way to go mama!  Thank you for an amazing recommendation!

I hope you had a great weekend!

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!