Soup for a winters night

Is it just me or has winter lasted longer here in Texas then ever before? I know that Mr. Groundhog said that winter would last 6 more weeks but this is brutal. I mean can I just say poor Boston! I don't know anyone who lives there but I know people up there are going through a hard time. My prayers are definitely with them.


Back here in Texas it has not snowed/ iced yet, but we are supposed to get ice this week. I don't know about you but when it's cold all I want is a nice bowl( or 2) of soup. I also don't like having to cook it all day long. So I am going to give you the  receipt for my favorite slow cooker  Potato soup. My Husband loves this soup anytime I make it( I think its because he can put lots of bacon in his bowl)

Paula Deen's Slow cooker Potato Soup

30 oz. bag frozen hash browns ( I like to shred my own potato's but if I don't have time I buy the shredded kind)
2 cans 14 oz cans Chicken broth
1 can cream of Chicken soup
1/3 tsp pepper
1 8oz pkge cream cheese softened
Garnish, minced green onions, Bacon, and cheese

In a slow cooker combine hash browns, Broth, Soup, and pepper.
Cover, cook on low for 5 hrs.
Stir in cream cheese, cook 30 min, stirring occasionally until combined.
Serve and add garnishing.

Enjoy! What's your Favorite soup for a cold day?





 

Let the wedding Bells Ring....

Last year was by far the most stressful year of my life( until Kids come along). I was popped the question in November of 2013 by my best friend. He had planned a surprise proposal at the Bellagio in Las Vegas!!! How cool is that? I of course said yes, and as soon as we landed back in Austin I took off running with wedding plans. By April we had everything pretty much done we just had to pay them. Ha. Most of the summer went well, with the thought of payments always in my mind. Fast forward to September....

My Friend Scott has this amazing house out in Bastrop, TX that I fell in love with the moment he built it. He had mentioned  a couple of times us renting it from him while he stayed with his kids in Comfort. I immediately said "YES!!", but thought it wise to ask my fiancé first. After much begging discussion. Ronnie finally said we could move. Folks it is January and I am still unpacking. Between moving, unpacking, and commuting 3 hours a day I still had a wedding to plan! I will spare you the details of me crying days upon days due to all the stress. I wasn't a bridezilla, I was more of a cry in the corner and maybe my tears will wash the problem away. ha ha

Our Wedding day was everything I hoped it would be. Our guests had fun, I felt beautiful, and Ronnie looked handsome. We got married in Georgetown at Gabriel Springs. The venue was just so amazing, anyone looking for a place I highly recommend them. I said "I do" to a lifetime of love and to years of happiness. We honeymooned in Orlando and did all the fun Disney and Universal Stuff.

Well there you have it folks, after being away from blogging for awhile I am back and ready to share with you my exciting adventures. I am hoping to post pictures soon, but this is a new computer so I have to figure out the kinks.

How  did your Husband propose? Where did you honeymoon?

Thanksgiving.....

I know this post is about a month late, but we have been so very very busy. I will use this post to catch you up to date.....

 Thanksgiving was great!! We spent the morning with my patents watching the parade and dropping off food that I had premade. My job was to make the Cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, and a new dish this year was hot apple cider. I will post the recipe for the cider in a later post because it was so good I'm making for Ronnie's family for Christmas. So after we watched the parade we went to Ronnie's family to do Thanksgiving lunch. We had a lot of great food that his mom and sister put together. I made a veggie tray that we snacked on while waiting for the better food. :) We then left and went to my families house to have Thanksgiving dinner. The moral of the story is by the end of the night we were stuffed!!

The next morning we got up and went to Elgin tree farm with my family to cut down our Christmas tree. Ronnie helped me pick out the perfect one. It was a little under 6 feet and we loved it. We took it home, made a fresh cut, gave it water, and decorated it with lights and ornaments. The next day I got a tree skirt for our little tree that should have been $10 and the guy gave it to me for $2. Talk about a deal!!
 Well the rest of this month has been all about Ronnie and I running around trying to get everything done for Christmas. I think we have both reached the point of exhaustion and have agreed that with the 2 weeks we have off from work we are taking time out for each other and work. In fact Ronnie told me that he had a surprise date for me. Such a sweet man I have, they don't make a whole lot of them like that.  :)

SpiritFest

This year was the 2nd annual SpiritFest and I wanted to go so I bought 3 tickets. Ronnie and I took Betty as a surprise to her for her birthday. Let me just say this concert was great. One of my favorite bands Mercy Me closed out the night and did an awesome Job!! Jermey camp is always good, and even without his band David Crowder still rocked it. I am beginning to think this will be a new tradition, because I have been able to make it to this concert every year so far. I got to spend the day with the 2 kiddos I love the most and with my amazing boyfriend. Betty had a lot of fun and so I hope she wants to go back next year!!

On the day that I was born.....

Well this month has been crazy for birthday celebrations!! First comes my brothers birthday. I was so excited to see that he was going to be able to come home and celebrate it with us. He couldn't stay long but at least we got to see him. Ben loves the movie Avengers, so much so that he was Caption America for Halloween and then wanted a Thor cake for his birthday. It was a simple party that was a nice family get together. My mom has made our cakes since we were in high school and this year she did an awesome job.

My birthday was next, and let me just say I am excellent at making my birthday last a week. This year I celebrated with my family the weekend before. I had my favorite pie ( lets face it I am getting to old to have themed cakes) Key Lime. The next day we went to SpiritFest( more on that in another blog). On my actual birthday Ronnie took me to Saltgrass and showered me in jewelry. Such a good man. I was sure to let him know that spending time with him was a gift enough( our schedules our insane) he said he knew, but he liked showing me how much I ment to him ( so sweet). The following weekend we celebrated with my friends at Baby A's and Dave and Busters. Such a fun time catching up with everyone.

Finally this month so many babies are being born. I think it is an awesome month to be born. :) we welcomed baby Conner and baby Issac. They our very cute little boys who I know will be showered in love.

Texas State Fair..

 I have never been to the State fair and have always wanted to go. My brother lives in Dallas and so I thought this would make for an awesome weekend to go see him.I knew I didn"t want to go the weekend of the Cottonbowl so we decided the last weekend of the fair was perfect.
 A couple days before we were to leave I loaded my camera with batteries and cleared my memory card, the whole time thinking "Wow I can't wait to take a picture in front of big Tex." Fast forward to the day before we leave. The car is packed, my brother knows what time to expect us, and we just have one afternoon of work left. I turn on the news and Big Tex is going down in a blaze of glory. My eyes are tearing up and I am actually crying over a statue.( I have issues I know ) LOL
 We gotto my brothers un loaded our bags and headed to the fair grounds. My brother lives right near the dart so we bought a day pass and didn't have to worry about parking. We rode a few rides that made me so sick. Of course when you choose a ride that spins you around violently you can expect to be dizzy for awhile. I think Ronnie's favorite part was the  auto show. We got into a couple of cars and had our pictures taken. Ronnie's favorite car was the corvette, I told him maybe that could be his retirement car, he didn't like  that answer to much. LOL
 We tried fried foods, but kept it to the basics. We decided to try 3 things, they are listed in the order we liked them.
 1) Fried Banana Pudding ( this was so good)
 2) Fried Red Velvet Cupcake ( this melted in your mouth )
 3) Fried Tres Leches cake ( was like a puffy funnel cake)

  Over all our trip was great and I finally got to live out a childhood dream.
  Did you go to the fair this year? what was your favorite part?

Ronnie chose dinner......

So following the whole Pinterest thing, Ronnie now has his own board. When I am on if he sees something that he might like he asks me to Pin it. Well one day I had seen a pin for beer chicken, so I added it to his board. Ronnie decided one night that he wanted me to make it for him. So off to the grocery store I went with a man skipping happily behind me. Lol. Let me just say it was very easy and Ronnie LOVED it. Seriously he won't stop talking about it. :)

So for all of you ladies who think you might want to make this for your men here is the recipe....

1/2 tsp of Paprika
1/2 tsp of pepper
1/2 tsp of salt
 1/2 tsp basil leaves
 1/2 tsp garlic powder
4-6 thawed or frozen chicken breasts or a whole chicken
 One can of your fav. Beer ( I used Ronnie's fav which is Bud Light)

Put all ingredients in the crock pot...
 If chicken is frozen cook on high for 5-6 hrs or on low 7-8
If thawed cook on low 5-6 hrs or on high 3-4 hrs.

  Hope your men enjoy it as much as mine did. :)