Lucas Corner Farmhouse

Here is a link to a BNR treasury on Etsy that I'm featured in! :) If you buy something from one of the featured stores, something from your etsy store will replace the item from their store. Easy enough right? :) Bunnies, Wild Thing, Road Trip, & RTR

I'm posting this early because I know I won't be blogging Tuesday morning! :) Pray for me today that I'll be able to recall everything I've studied over the last few weeks...month....(years really!) as I take my Comprehensive Exam for my Master's degree! I'm excited and nervous at the same time! Excited because I love this stuff...nervous because it's a big test! source Good books on the topic...you know, if you're like me and enjoy reading textbooks...don't judge. :)            PS My professor writing this test co-authored the second book...and the Anatomy Coloring Book is one of my favorite go-to books when I'm looking something up. :)

I got this recipe from Beat Until Fluffy (now Bake, Sew, Sing).   She doesn’t have the recipe on her blog anymore, but she does have a Lavender Cupcake recipe I want to try! Here is a link to her recipe for Lavender Cookies and here it is typed out in case you can’t get the link to work for whatever reason! :)  I didn’t make the drizzle icing, but I probably will next time! :) *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Lavender Cookies ½ Cup Butter (room temperature) ¼ Cup Vegetable Oil (Canola, whatever, just not Olive Oil) ½ Cup Superfine Sugar ¼ Cup Water 1 Large Egg 1-2 Tsp Dried Lavender Buds 2 3-4oz Boxes Vanilla Pudding Mix 1 Tsp Baking Powder ½ Tsp Salt 2 Cups All-Purpose Flour (unbleached will work as well) A small bowl with some Superfine Sugar for rolling Heat your oven to 350 degrees and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Combine Superfine Sugar and Lavender in blender or food processor and process until Lavende...

I talked about how excited I was to make sandwich bread over here …but I never actually posted the recipe I used!  I found a recipe at allrecipes.com (Traditional White Bread by Danialle) and changed it up a little to make one loaf instead of two, and swapped oil for the lard.  I still haven’t quite perfected the bread.  I have a tendency to add more and more flour as I knead it on a floured surface…  It is delicious, that’s for sure! A grilled sandwich on this bread is SO GOOD.  The only thing is, it’s pretty dense, which makes a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich incredibly filling!  I’ve read a few different places that if you decrease the amount of flour you use in a bread recipe, it will be lighter, so I’m working on that.  Do any of you make bread? If you do, is it dense or light? If it’s light….what do you do? :) Here is a screen shot of the recipe in case you can’t get the link to work! :)

While we were on our Honeymoon in the Smokey Mountains, we stopped to play some putt-putt at Walden’s Landing Firehouse Golf .  We had to. :) It was a windy day, hence, the hair in my face! In the shopping center around the putt-putt course, there was a Jerky Outlet that sold all sorts of Jerky.  We bought some Buffalo Jerky and some Elk Jerky while we were there.  I ordered some more Buffalo Jerky for Adam for Christmas and he really really liked it, and wanted to see if he could concoct something to taste similar to it that he could use as a marinade for meat.  He did a good job, and here is his recipe! :) Adam’s Meat Marinade Mix the following together and pour over meat to marinade before cooking…. 2 Tbs soy sauce, 2 Tbs Worcestershire Sauce, 1 tsp water, 1 tsp Grill Mates Peppercorn & Garlic Marinade seasoning , and a touch of olive oil You can put the extra seasoning from the packet into an old spice jar to use later.

This was a wonderful book that explored the relationships of a group of friends living in an Amish community in modern times.   The Bridge of Peace  is the second book in the "Ada's House" series.  I read this book without having read the first book in the series.  At first, I was concerned that I would be "lost" and not know what was going on, or who the characters were.  This was not the case.  Soon after starting the book, I was hooked and felt as if I knew the residents of Dry Lake and Hope Crossing.  Cindy Woodsmall does a fantastic job of exploring each relationship in the community.  The reader is able to learn how each member of the community interacts with every other member.  At one point, I was half-way through the book and thought I would read one chapter before going to sleep.  I absolutely could not put the book down and read for hours!  There are twists and turns in this novel that keep you interested in how Lena, Gre...

My mom used to make these cookies (or something extremely similar) when I was growing up.  It always made my day when she made these!  I don’t think I realized how incredibly simple they were (that and Jell-O…I always thought Jell-O was some expensive dessert to make, so I felt extra special when we had it at the house hahaha!  Mom laughed at me when she found that out!  I’ll keep it in mind when I have kids…”If you make good grades this semester, we’ll have Jell-O for dessert!” :) hehehehhe) Anywho, here is the recipe that my Dad emailed me from a healthy living newsletter he got at work.  I made them about 5 minutes after he sent it to me, because that’s how long it took me to copy the recipe and gather the ingredients haha! :) 2 tbs peanut butter 2 tbs milk 1/4 cup chocolate chips 3/4 cup rolled oats Place peanut butter, milk, & chocolate chips in a saucepan.  Cook over low heat until chips melt. Stir in oats & remove...

Kuzak’s Closet posted a delicious recipe for Meatless Manicotti back in August and I’ve been wanting to make it ever since.  Well, I finally did, and as soon as it was gone, the hubby wanted me to make more.  He’s requested it every day for dinner since then!  I guess I’ll have to put it on the April meal plan more than once huh? :) The only changes I made to her recipe were that I use ricotta cheese instead of cottage cheese.  Also, I just happened to be watching one of those cake decorating shows (I believe it was Cake Boss this time!) and thought, “Piping would work great for getting this cheese mixture into these shells!” So…I put the cheese/spinach mixture into a ziploc bag and cut off one corner (so that the hold is smaller than one end of the shell) and piped the mixture into each shell.  It worked perfectly!  In fact, after stuffing each shell so that there was no more room, I still had extra cheese mixture.  Adam wants to try some manic...

I got my paper this morning and there are $9.50 worth of coupons for dogs and cats….I have neither so….I want to pass them on to someone who can use them or knows someone who can use them. First to comment saying they want them gets them!  Make sure you include an email address so I can get in touch with you if you don’t have it set up on your Google account. (If you’re not sure if you do, or if you do and you want to change it…go here for how-to instructions from Mandy at Mandipidy :) ) Included in this little pack of coupons is… $2 off any 2 bags of Purnia Cat Chow or Kitten Chow (expires 5/15) $1 off any 2 Temptations Treats for Cats (expires 5/1) $1 off 2 10oz packages of Purina Beggin Strips (expires 6/20) $1 off 2 6oz or smaller packages of Purina Beggin’ strips (expires 6/20) $1.50 off 1 4lb or larger bag of Purina Little Bites Dog Food (expires 4/9) $1 off 1 Cesar treats for dogs (expires 4/30) $1 off 1 any size Pedigree Breathbuster treat...

I found this recipe a while back at $5 Dinners and of course had to put my own spin on it based on our favorite ingredients! :)  Also, in the original recipe, she uses a bread machine to make bread, but I don’t have one so I had to alter the bread recipe for that. Here is a link to the original recipe ! And here is our version! :) Breadbowl – Chili style 1 cup lukewarm water 1 Tbsp Olive oil 1 tsp salt 3 cups flour (I always use self-rising) 2 1/4 tsp yeast (I use the yeast from the jar.  If you use packets, use 1 packet) 1 tsp sugar 1 Tbsp chili powder (you can leave out if you’re making this for another soup) 1/3 cup corn meal Dissolve the yeast in water.  Let set until creamy (10 minutes). Add the olive oil, salt, 1/2 cup flour, sugar, and chili powder and mix.  You can use a mixer set to medium to help you mix if you like.  Add the rest of the flour 1/2 cup at a time.  After the dough starts to pull together...

I'm cleaning off the chip clip on my refrigerator that has lots and lots of recipes I've made and been too lazy to put into my recipe binder....so....expect to see lots of recipes being posted the next few days! :)  Also, as I'm going through these recipes, I'll be working on my April Meal Plan, so keep your eyes peeled for that as well! :)  I'm going to try to post what sales & coupons I'll be using for certain ingredients as well, so maybe that will help with some of your shopping! :) Clip art licensed from the Clip Art Gallery on DiscoverySchool.com

$0.58 woohoo!!! :) My advisor is an awesome couponer. In fact, she blogs about it, and she gets great deals! :) And...she knows I love to save money and cook. She told me about the deal Kroger was having on pasta and I had to go get some! :) Basically, Kroger has a special if you buy 10 items from their list of items in their circular, you get $5 off when you use your Kroger Plus card.  Add that deal with an awesome coupon, and the pasta comes out free.  My total tax was $0.78, but after coupons, my total was $0.58 Pasta before any sales: $1.99/box Pasta with Kroger card along: $0.99/box Pasta if you buy 10 items and get $5 off: $0.49/box Awesome coupon found here : $1 off of 2 boxes Pasta after Kroger Card, 10 item deal, and coupon: less than $0.03/box including tax My receipt looks like this at the bottom.... And it's all healthy healthy healthy pasta too!! :) :)  Yay for paying for groceries with dimes! :) THANK YOU MAUREEN!!! :)

Thursday Shirt: Made by An Iowa expat wanders about the South The picture on the bottom is from her blog; it shows more detail! :) Cardigan: Made by me.  Take a long-sleeve shirt, cut it down the middle, and stitch bias tape on the freshly cut seams…now you have a cardigan! :) Jeans: American Eagle Sandals: my favorites from my last WIWW post. :) Friday Shirt: Old Navy clearance rack with solid pink shirt underneath from Wal-Mart Cardigan: Target (clearance in the kids department! :) An XL fits the same as a Women’s Small for half the price! Jeans: My $10 Seven brand jeans Shoes: Ballet flats from Wal-Mart Necklace: Eiffel Tower necklace from my in-laws Saturday/Sunday = laziness. Too cold to go outside for this girl who was loving the 70* weather earlier… :/ haha Monday Jacket: Old Navy (2002…I think I got my $10 worth haha) Blue long-sleeved round neck from Old Navy (I promise they didn’t pay me haha, but I did get it on sale for cheaper th...

If we were having coffee together right now.... You'd see me drinking hot Mango Tea in my France Coffee Mug  (I'll have iced coffee with caramel later, don't worry! :) ) You'd hear my favorite Pandora station for studying...   la musique français  (I hope that link works! It sneaks in a few non-French songs from time to time...sometimes I keep them, and sometimes I give them the boot! ) You'd see me studying for my Comprehensive Exams for my Master's...so my books and notes look something like this and this ... :) I'm looking over notes for Biomechanics, Sport Injury, and some basic anatomy at the moment.  I'll look over some Motor Development stuff later ! :) And....you'd be eye-ing the last Mini Moon Pie sitting on my coffee table that one of my residents brought me last night! :) She brought me two Peanut Butter ones and one Banana one. :) Yum! :) If you're having virtual coffee today too, link up with Lucky Number 13  with me! :) ...

Thank you so much! Last week I was given an award over here at TRU TALES FEATS . I’m a little late posting, but better late than never! :) Here are the rules… 1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award. 2. Share 7 things about yourself. 3. Award 15 recently discovered great bloggers. 4. Contact these bloggers and tell them about the award! Seven things about me… I married my high school sweetheart. <3 I like coffee…in fact I’m drinking iced coffee with caramel right now… I love to sew & wish I had more time to do that! I love to paint, but haven’t in a while…maybe during Spring Break? I love school & going to class…I suppose that makes me a nerd! :) The girls in my building call me “Mom” and it makes me smile. :) I like to think I help them feel at home away from home. :) One day I want to be a real mom. :) My mom is a good example and I pretty much want to follow her footsteps! :) 15 great bloggers! (...

  Here’s a new treasury for everyone to check out! It’s a BNR Treasury, so if you buy anything from any of the shops on here, something from your shop will take its place!! :) BNR Alabama Accents Team Who likes those blue earrings? ;)

If you're not following me on Twitter, you should!! There's currently a coupon to my etsy shop in my Tweets....so go follow @wendyamarie (chances are, I'll follow you back! :) ) ps if you were following me before about two minutes ago, I was @wendaybird but there was a wendybird out there that wasn't me...so I changed! :)

I’m joining The Pleated Poppy for “What I Wore Wednesday" :)  I figured this was a good week for me to start since I already couldn’t wear jeans because I burnt my leg cooking spaghetti (good story, huh? No really though, the water jumped out of the strainer and landed on my leg!!) So…in order to keep as much clothing as possible off my leg, I’ve been wearing more skirts and dresses (especially at the beginning of this week). So here goes! :) Thursday I took picture number one, then said to myself, “Hmm…can’t see the entire outfit in this picture!!” Shirt: Gap Outlet about four years ago Dress: A local boutique that closed last year because the owner wanted to pursue her dream of owning a bakery! Paid $10 because the strap needed re-sewn.  Took me less than 5 minutes to fix! :) Sandals: Rack Room Shoes, I wear them LOTS. Here’s a link …do you know how tempting it is to buy the brown ones too? Or black?? Purple Flower Ring: Market in Nice, France. I ...

Today, {Love Stitched} is having a kitchen feature (and a giveaway!) I know I may have one of the smallest kitchens in the Linky party, but will say…I’ve had smaller! :) Well, here goes! This is my entire kitchen! The lovely laminate flooring was laid by my hubby.  It’s the kind that sticks to itself and not the floor, so essentially, it’s a custom made wooden rug to cover the tiles underneath. That’s not a dishwasher behind the black curtain (that just made me think of the Wizard of Oz, by the way), it’s just a curtain I made to hide our cleaning supplies.  I have a table too, but it really sits in the “den” or “dining area” whichever you want to call it! :) Here are some close-ups… The left side of the kitchen…What do you think about that loooooong cabinet on the left? When we first moved in, we thought it was a little odd, but now we have come to realize that it’s the perfect coffee cup cabinet! :) And the right side of the kitchen…where we have our fridg...