Serious crash

When it rains, it pours.
I feel completely overwhelmed right now. On the bright side, my sinus infection is gone. :)
But now, my bottom left (#17) wisdom tooth is infection from the sinus infection. It is barely through the gums, but it is pushing to get out without room so it is rubbing against my jaw. Really painful. Orajel, the syringe injections the dentist gave me, and Advil are my new BFFs.
I am waiting on the local School of Dentistry's Oral Surgery department to call me back about scheduling my appointment for my consultation and surgery.
I almost broke into tears last night. It appears that my laptops harddrive crashed. My laptop has 2 large harddrive, the C: drive was rather full but the D: drive was not even half full. I don't know what happened. I went to turn it on and it went through about 3 cycles of trying to restart and do the safe mode startup. I have no clue what to do with it. I was scared of making it worse so I just closed it and left it alone. I should have known better but I don't have my pictures backed up. I don't have much of anything backed up, actually. Any suggestions on what to do before I have a complete emotional breakdown? :)
I can still read the blogs from my phone or at school but my posting will be limited until we get this fixed.

Christmas Movie Mode

In no particular order, here are a few of my favorite Christmas movies. Now, I completely understand that several of these or not technically Christmas movies, but I always watch them around Christmas time. I will probably also clarify that Christmas time for me is at least 1/4 of the year. And if I feel in the Christmas mood mid April, then so be it. =)

Miracle on 34th Street - Because of this movie, I am obsessed with the Macy's parade. And one day, I will see it in person... one day.

Barrowed Hearts - One of ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas movies. I couldn't find a good picture of it. But this will have to do. This is one of my favorites, though it is not very well known.

The Christmas List - I can honestly say that my sister and I are obsessed with this movie. It is so hard to find and doesn't always come on TV every year, but we are still faithful fans. :) Another 25 Days of Christmas, ABC Family movie. :o)

A Charlie Brown Christmas - we watched this so many times as a child that I think all 7 of us kids can quote the entire thing. But, despite how many times I have watched it, I still love it!

White Christmas, obviously. I love it, watch it all year long and can quote it and sing every word verbatim. One of my all-time favorites.

Sons of Mistletoe - a TV movie, perhaps a Hallmark movie? =)

Little Women - definitely one that I watch all year long. I like many of the versions, but this one is probably my favorite. Perhaps because of Christian Bale. :o)

Babes in Toyland - 1) It is a classic Disney Movie. 2) Enough said. 3) ok, maybe not enough said. The weird technicolor scene always freaked me out when I was younger. I still fast forward through it.

I skipped school today. Yes, I know. Shame, shame. But I am still sick and I'd rather go ahead and stay medicated another day rather than trudge through the whole week at school. I have a test tomorrow and 2 on Wednesday, so I really need to get better. Off to watch some Christmas movies! =)

Show Us Your Life - Dinner Recipes

These three recipes are so simple to make but absolutely delicious. They are my mom's recipes so I grew up eating them and, thankfully, Trevor loves them! :)


Crockpot Beef Stroganoff
1 pkg Beef Stew Meat
1 Onion - cut in rings
1 pkg mushrooms - slices
1 Onion Soup Mix
2 cans Cream of Mushroom soup
16 ox Sour Cream
1 pkg Egg Noodles

Put stew meat in the crockpot, covered with onion, mushrooms, onion soup mix, and cream of mushroom soup.
Cook on LOW all day.
When ready to serve, stir in sour cream and cooked egg noodles.

Campfire Stew
1 lb ground meat
2 cans vegetable soup
1 can corn
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Brown the ground meat and drain off excess fat. Add other ingredients plus 1/3 can of water. Cover and simmer 5-10 minutes.

Chicken Rice Casserole
1 can Cream of Chicken soup
1 can Chicken Noodle soup
3/4 cup rice, long grain - raw
4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 tbsp Italian Dressing
Dash of salt
Dash of black pepper

Combine the two soups in a medium casserole dish. Add 1/4 cup water and the rice. Blend well. Place chicken on top of rice mixture. Pour Italian dressing over chicken. Salt and pepper lightly. Cover and back in a 350 degree over for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until chicken is done. Uncover and brown 15 minutes more.

Happy Birthday, love!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

to
my best friend,
my sweetheart,
the love of my life,
my Gilbert Blythe/Prince Charming,
my husband,
Trevor R.A. Spence.
I love you, Angel!

I went for the kill and tried 3 new recipes tonight. I follow The Pioneer Woman like a lost puppy dog. I love her writing style. And her photos, especially of food, are just divine!
So, in honor of T's 21's birthday, I made Ribs, Baked Beans, and Potato Bundles. Trevor loved it! I was so excited. It was a great day finished with a wonderful candlelit dinner. :o)

Disclaimer: If you want stunning photos, go to The Pioneer Woman herself. MY pictures do not do these recipes justice!

The ribs were outstanding! Of course, there are a whole lot left over but we got the larger pack at Sam's for the same prize as a small rack of ribs from anywhere else. :) We'll eat a couple of meals off of this. haha

The baked beans were great. I changed up the recipe to make it work better for me. This housewife only has one oven, likes to have a meal done at one time, and can't cook at 3 temps at once. ;)


The potato bundles were by far my favorite part of the meal... which is saying a lot. It was all amazing!
And the plate.

Fall? Yes, please!

I am beyond exciting about fall. So in honor of fall, my good mood, and the lovely fall colors cast across my living room as I watch TV by candlelight - here are some cute, but inexpensive fall decorating ideas. I am quite in love with the changing of the seasons. =)

Fall/Harvest decorative storage boxes

Adorable pumpkin candle holder. If it was a little more round, then it would look like a pumpkin coach. =)

Two tiered serving tray.

I think I might try to make something similar to this. We'll see later on if I actually follow through with this.

Seriously the most ridiculously cute pumpkin salt and pepper shakers. I love them!

I think this wagon and the wheel barrow would be super fun coffee/side table decorations!

I like crosses, so here are two fall crosses that I thought were pretty. =)

We'll see how much decorating actually get done this year since we are on a tight budget, but either way - I had fun looking through pictures... and it never hurts to have ideas for the future, right? :o)
The best part? I think the most expensive piece was $17.99. My kind of shopping. ;)

Labor Day Weekend Pictures - a wee bit late ;)

Friday night, Trevor had a home game to coach at CCA so we didn't head out of town until rather late. We got to my grandmother's house around midnight. This is the sight in the den that greeted us. Caleb was sleeping on an air mattress... but he was burrowed down and it just looked like a pile of sheets. You can barely see his head in this picture. Guess the poor little dude was tired. :)We spent Saturday working on Grandmommy's house. Some of the family had made a trip several weeks back and scraped paint from the windows and put fresh paint on them. There were a few windows that didn't get done so we finished those. We (meaning the men with Grandmommy, D'Lynn and I supervising) tore down a covering that my grandfather had built about 25 years ago. The wood was starting to rot, so Grandmommy asked us to just tear it down.
My dad and I couldn't think of what to call this thing. It isn't quite a gazebo. I think it could be categorized under awning, covering, etc.
I remember many, many summer mornings spent eating breakfast on a table under this covering. And hours curled up with books. Next time we go back we are putting bars on her dining room windows - the ones you can see on the right hand side of most of those pictures. Because of how the house is built, the garage is on the left hand side of this courtyard, making those windows the only windows that her neighbors can't see. She said she would just feel more safe if there was no temptation for anyone looking to break into her house.

We went to church with Grandmommy Sunday morning and then ate a delicious lunch before heading home. I took the opportunity to snap a few photos. Our family isn't very good about taking pictures together on a regular basis. For some reason the pictures didn't turn out the best quality, not really sure why. :(

My Poppa and Grandmommy.

Me and Grandmommy

Me and my youngest sister D'Lynn GraceMe and my sweetheart. :o)

Sunday night Winnie came over to spend the night. We stayed up watching Harvey Girls, Calamity Jane and the original version of Rodgers and Hammerstein's State Fair.

All 3 of us took advantage of the holiday and slept in Monday morning. I cooked breakfast and then Winnie and I settled in to watch a ridiculous amount of Dr. Quinn episodes that had accumulated on our DVR. All in all, it was a great relaxing, lazy day.

Tuesday was my birthday. I got my free Seattle Drip coffee in the morning on the way to school. That night Trevor and I went on a free birthday date. Because of the way things are for us financially, I knew that this birthday wasn't going to be anything extravagant. But it was perfect. :) Trevor bought me "The Last Song" by Nicholas Sparks which came out on my birthday. I love Nicholas Sparks' books! We used some of my free movie passes to go see Julie and Julia and used a coupon for a free pizza, brought it home and had a picnic on the living room floor. It was so nice to be able to relax and not worry about cooking or cleaning. Trevor set candles up all over my bath room and drew me a bubble bath. It was so nice and relaxing! He cleaned the kitchen and vacuumed the entire apartment while I was enjoying my bubble bath. :)

The rest of the week was rather "normal" with school, working here and there and getting a lot of things done around the house. Trevor's team played in Meridian last night. I had to miss the game because of Pinelake's choir retreat. We went to a camp about an hour away and had a practice session last night and two today to get a jump start on learning the music for our Christmas program. I am so excited! I can't wait to see what God is going to do with this program. :) Unfortunately, I got another headache and had to skip out on most of the rehearsal last night. It is so frustrating. Anytime I get a headache - migraine, sinus or otherwise, I throw up. Which means I have been throwing up an average of 2 days a week for the past 3 months. I hate missing out on this and I despise being unproductive. I am just praying for a solution and some relief.

Tonight we are going to my parent's house for a big birthday dinner to celebrate several birthdays in our family. BJ's birthday is Sept. 3, my birthday is Sept. 8th, Trevor's and Heather's birthday is Sept. 15, and Caleb's birthday is Sept. 19th. I can't wait for my Poppa's homemade pizza and for homemade Milky Way ice cream! =)

What is in your spice cabinet?

Or spice rack, spice shelf, etc...

My Grandmommy gave me a gem! I had asked my mom for a spice rack for my birthay on Tuesday and we had talked about types and styles. I wanted something vintage, of course. =) Well, Grandmommy gave me her spice cabinet. I will try to post pictures when we get home. It is from 1970 with all of the original bottles and labels. I love it! Of course, I have to empty out the bottles, clean them and refill them.

So here is my question, what spices do you keep stocked? I love trying new recipes and I HATE hesitating because I don't have a particular spice or seasoning in my stock.

I want to use the original labels and if I have to, I will leave the original label on and put something else in it with a label on the bottom of the glass jar. ;) The spice rack includes Anise, Allspice, Basil, Bayleaf, Black Pepper, Carraway Seed, Celery Seed, Cinnamon, Cloves, Curry, Dill, Garlic Powder, Ginger, Nutmeg, Organo, Paprika, Parsley, Poultry Seasoning, Sage, Tarragon, and Thyme.

So, let me know what you think should be in every persons spice cabinet! I am open in any and all suggested.

*Post Note: For the record, Trevor's life would not be complete without Lemon Pepper Seasoning or Tony Chachere's Cajun/Creole Seasoning... so never fear - we already have those covered. ;)

Time Flies...

But I wouldn't exactly describe the past week as fun.
The final homestand at work (last Friday through Tuesday) was absolutely exhausting. Tuesday we were packed for the final game of the season. Because we were understaffed because of most of our college students leaving, I had 2 suites upstairs (one catered, one concessions) AND I got sent to make a "quick run" to VIP(downstairs behind home plate). There was nothing quick about it. I had well over 20 orders and stayed swamped for over an hour and a half. The concession stands were running out of things and my guests were running out of patience. For the most part everyone was nice and understanding that I was down there by myself... but there was a group of three guys who didn't even place an order who kept getting on to me for everything. I brought back an order for a man that was sitting down the row from these three guys but by the time I made it back with this man's order, he wasn't in his seat anymore. The three guys started calling me every name in the book, cussing, saying I was too slow so he had to go get his own order, etc... and then one of them threw his beer on my lower legs and feet. That was it. I broke down into tears, left the man's order and change with my season ticket friends, Mrs. Rita and Mr. Doug, and walked up the stairs as quickly as possibly. At the top of the stairs was the man who had left his seat. I told him that I left his order and change with the people who were seated behind him. Apparently the man hadn't gone to get his own food, he had gone to the bathroom. I went back upstairs, told my boss what had happened and washed my face before going back to tend to my suites.
I hate when people treat those serving them horribly. I love my job but that was just ridiculous. We don't HAVE to keep anyone down in VIP to take food and drink orders but we try to have someone down there when we can because they pay alot more for their tickets. So if you know someone is not assigned to your area but is choosing to serve you and help you anyway, why would you mistreat them? What in the world would you do that to anyone???
I am just glad that it was the last night of work. The season is over and even though that means I am currently without a job, after Tuesday night I need a break! Oh, and I had my first test of the semester at 8am the next morning. Exciting, right?

Wednesday, my sinuses were bothering me again so I came home from school around 3:30pm to take a nap with every intention of getting up to cook dinner and then leave for church and choir. But... I never made it to church. I cooked dinner around 5:00pm for Trevor and ate a little bit but then I got sick, again. I have no idea why but it seems like every single time I get a headache(sinus, migraine or otherwise), I throw up. To say the least, it isn't fun and it is very annoying. I went back to sleep and didn't wake up until our alarm went off at 5:30am.

Yesterday I had another test. I did not feel good about it at all... I took my time on it and answered every single one of the 6 bonus questions because I knew I needed all the help I could get. Mr. Cockrell graded the tests as we handed them in so I didn't have to wait over the weekend to know how I did. Amazingly, despite having an awful sense of dread as I turned it in, I had 4 points counted off BUT I got 4 of the six bonus questions. To say the least, that made my day! Yesterday afternoon I spent my time alternating between studying, cleaning, cooking dinner and baking cookies.
Side note: I have to have background noise of some sort in order to study. This is probably a result of having 6 siblings and very rarely experiencing silence when studying. ;)
So, for my "background noise" I enjoyed watching Sammy Davis Jr Live in Germany and the Welk Stars through the years special. We started watching White Christmas, one of my all-time favorite Christmas movies, but we didn't finish it. I am not sure how we managed it but we both went to by at 10. Try as we might, we are both night owls and we are usually doing good if we are in bed by midnight. :)
__________________
I just finished my last test for the week. Right now we are on break before we have to start another lecture. Oh the joys of a class that only meets once a week. =)
Tonight I get to watch Trevor assist in coaching CCA's football game. I didn't get to watch their first game because of work but I am excited to go tonight. I love fall because of football, the weather, and knowing that Christmas is just around the corner.
Tomorrow morning we will be heading to Ponchatoula to spend the day doing repair work and odd jobs at Grandmommy's house. My parents and younger siblings are all leaving this afternoon to go to Ponchatoula, so we should have a good sized group and get a lot done. We will head back to Mississippi Sunday after church and lunch so that we can get back in time for the annual Reservoir Baptism.
Maybe on Monday I will get to enjoy my holiday, extra long weekend. :) Tuesday is my 22nd birthday and Trevor and I will have been married for exactly a year and a half.

Have an amazing weekend!