Dinner Tonight

I thought that I would share a quick post with you while dinner is in the oven! :)

Cracker Barrel's Hash-brown Casserole 

& 

Baked Chicken Cream of Mushroom

Hashbrown Casserole is one of my most favorite things..... and what better place than to have a recipe than Cracker Barrel :)  I hope that if you try it you will enjoy it as much as we do!!! 

Cracker Barrel's Hashbrown Casserole: Ingredients: 1 2 lb. pkg. frozen Hash Browns 8 oz. Sour cream 1 can cream of chicken soup 1 stick butter 1/2 C. Chopped onion 2 C. grated Cheddar Cheese Directions: Place potatoes in a greased 9×13 inch pan. Season with salt and pepper. Melt butter in the microwave. In a bowl add minced onions, sour cream, and cream of chicken soup, and melted butter. Mix these items together. Pour soup mixture over potatoes; sprinkle with Cheddar Cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes, or until all is completely warm, and the cheese begins to melt.

As for the Baked Chicken Cream of Mushroom 

lay as many chicken breast as you need in a dish and cover with the cream of mushroom soup and cover the dish with tin foil. Cook the same amount of time as the casserole or until the chicken is done. 

ENJOY!!! 

Ladies Only!!! Eye Make Up Guide

I have had several people ask me lately how I do my eye make-up and what products  I use?
I figured this would be a good post for all you ladies that would like an idea of  how to get that "smoky eyes" look!

First I will show you all the products and then I will try to explain how I achieve this look. I will be honest in saying that it does take practice, because still to this day I cannot make my eyes look the same on everyday! Also, I am sure that I may do things a little backwards than those who are professional make-up artists, but this is what I have found that works best for me and maybe it will work for all of you as well!

1. Urban Decay: Primer  (sin)

You can buy this product from ULTA

This is used for a little extra color, helping your shadow last longer as well as preventing creasing

2. Mac Cosmetics: Eye Shadow (white frost)

3. Mac Cosmetics: Eye Shadow (espresso)

4. Mac Cosmetics: (213 Fluff Brush)

5. Mac Cosmetics: (222 tapered blending brush)

6. CoverGirl: Mascara

7. Maybelline: Mascara 

8. Mac Cosmetics: Eye Pencil (ebony)

I am a huge fan of MAC makeup! For years I struggled with acne (even after taking Acutane) and MAC makeup was recommended my dermatologist and I absolutely love it! Even though it is not sold everywhere keep in mind that you can order it online and there is no sales tax! 

(warning I am not a professional make up artist so for those of you that are I apologize but this is my way of doing things :)

1. Apply product # 1 from the lid to the brow bone basically cover your entire eye region

* the primer does have a wand that you use to apply this product, so I just use the wand to smooth it out

* use a sponge to clean up / blend the excess 

2. Using product # 5 to apply product # 2 from the lid to the brow bone

* I use as little as possible because MAC products = a little bit goes a long way

* you may choose to add more of the light color because it is used as a highlighter

* as I mentioned before I may do things a little backwards, but I like to use my blending brush to apply what I call the highlight color.

*you may always want to use that sponge to clean up the excess

3. Using product # 4 to apply product # 3 just in the contour section 

*this is where practice is key

*I like to use the fluff brush for contour because if I use a stiff brush I just make a mess

*you may chose to fill in the whole contour or just from the outside edge to the middle (which ever you prefer) I change it up sometimes

*I try to focus on not making a straight line and focus on letting the brush flow with the contour of my eye

*also near the outside contour of my eye I try to flare the dark espresso color

*use your sponge to clean up excess

4. Using product # 5 to apply product # 2 to touch up what you did in step 2. because a lot of times step 3 will make a mess :)

5. Using product # 8 

*apply a line from the outside edge of your waterline and your lower lash line to the inside edge

*apply a line from the outside edge of the top of your lid closest to your lash line only to the middle of your eye

*don't focus on keeping a perfect straight line because you need to take the smudging end of the pencil and blend and straighten the line 

6. Using product # 6 to apply the first coat of mascara

* I like to use this mascara first to separate my eye lashes 

* I hold to mascara wand still and blink my eyes to make sure that I coat my entire lashes and it helps separate your lashes and keep them from clumping 

7. Using product # 7 to apply the second coat of mascara 

*follow the same directions and tips from step 6

* I use this mascara second to thicken the coverage

That completes the process!

I thought that I would add some pictures for those of you who read the blog that have not seen how I wear my eye make up ( PS. these photos are from my wedding day: the only time that I have had photos taken of doing my make up) 

This is what your eyes should look like with your lids closed

And the look with your eyes open 

So I wish all of you luck that attempt Smokey Eyes. If you are currently not wearing a lot of eye make-up I encourage you to try it, because I use to not even wear eye make up because I didn't know how to do it and now after a lot of practice it's really easy and it makes a huge difference! 

Practice = the best look 

( the first of couple of times I tried this it looked awful, but it gets easier)

Let me know if you have any questions and if you try this!!! 

Have a great rest of the weekend and WAR EAGLE 

Continued Vacation ...

.........One of my most favorite things about Seaside is that all the homes have names!!! We always enjoy ridding around the community on our bikes and looking at the names of the homes and where the owners are from.

This is the house that we always rent for a week!!! 

"Just In Thyme"

located on Thyme street in Seaside, FL

( I know this may sound corny but I like to think of it as vacation is Just In Thyme...) 

PS. you can find this in VRBO.COM if you are ever interested 

On Sunday we attended church at the Seaside Chapel! It is so beautiful and pleasant inside..... 

(for all you ladies that dream of a beach wedding and still want the traditional chapel experience.... keep this in  mind for your ceremony and then have your reception on the beach)

Going to eat at Louis Louis :)

You have to check out the SPREAD that the girls prepared our last night!!! We decided to stay in and have a relaxing night! 

*Shrimp *Corn on the cob *Potatoes *Italian Bread

(I must admit that this was my first attempt with the FISH EYE LENS on my new camera. I have to continue to study this function, but I know that it is beneficial in capturing larger spaces)

To top off our fun night at our home away from home, we enjoyed a fun game of 

 APPLES TO APPLES

Everyone needs this game at their house!!! 

We all had a "family portrait" made the night we took our big group family photo!! 

J.Jay and Myself 

Scott & Stacy

Brent, Lindsay & Lucas 

Brad, Sarah & Parker

Joey & Miriam 

The rest of our enjoyable week was spent relaxing on the beach or by the pool, shopping & just spending time with each other. Although, I did begin reading a wonderful book the first day of vacation and just finished it a couple of nights ago. . . .  ladies this book is a MUST!!! 

Onto the REAL LIFE... after vacation.....

This weekend we enjoyed a relaxing weekend at home watching the Auburn game and I made some delicious Santa Fe Soup and I thought that I would share the recipe with you all!!! This is a must and very easy especially with fall coming up!

Santa Fe Soup

1-1.5 lb ground beef (cooked)

1 pkg ranch dressing mix

1 pkg taco seasoning

1 can black beans  (undrained)

1 can pinto beans  (undrained)

1 can kidney beans (undrained)

1 can rotel tomatoes

1 can chili-ready tomoatoes (used diced tomatoes if you can't find the chili-ready)

1 can niblets corn 

Mix all ingredients, add about 1 - 1 1/2 cans of water

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and cook for 30 min.

Top with cheese, sour cream, and serve with tortilla chips (optional).

ENJOY!!! 

I might have forgotten how to do this :)

Wow!!!  I believe that I might have forgotten how to do this.... must I say that it has been 2 months since my last post.

We have been so busy!!! I do believe that things are starting to slow down and we are getting use to our schedule :)


I thought that I would re-join the blog world by sharing with you our week long vacation to Seaside, FL!!! This is a tradition that the Pitts Family has been doing for years, and I am so blessed to be able to be a part of this wonderful family time at the beach.

Seaside, FL is such a beautifully unique community located along 30A that we all just love. Most of you may know Seaside from the movie that was filmed their; The Truman Show.  My memories of Seaside go way back... growing up I had a great friend Sarah, that would invite me along to spend time with her family at their cute home in Seaside during summer vacations. ( we always participated in the 4th of July parade decorating their golf cart... so much fun!!!! )

(thanks to my mom for edited this photo... I had so much salt water on my lens)

ALL OF US!!! Yes I love my BIG family... esp. after growing up the only child, I couldn't be more happy or blessed to have so many brothers and sisters. Although, this year we were blessed with two NEW ADDITIONS: Parker & Lucas  

Gladly I can no longer say that when we are all together there are 10 of us... there are now 12 of us!!! 

(our family is growing)

We enjoyed laying out on the beach... the water was so beautiful and calm Saturday-Thursday, and then we had a visitor; Tropical Storm Lee!!

How beautiful is the Emerald Coast?? 

I have never been one to get out in the Gulf, I just enjoy relaxing with a good book listening to the waves... but, I could not pass up this amazingly calm water!!! My sister-in-law Stacy and myself laid out on a float just like we were in a pool.... it was amazing!!! 

Tropical Storm Lee is on his way!!! 

We always treat ourselves to wonderful meals while we are vacation. So I thought that I would tell you all of our favorite places to eat while we at the beach!!!  You must try these!!!!

George's:  located in Aly's beach (new... and you must try the lobster pizza)


The Great Southern Cafe : located in Seaside (yummy beignets & gouda grits for breakfast & oysters for dinner)

The Red Bar: Located in Grayton Beach (everything on the menu you cannot go wrong)

Louis Louis: Located in Santa Rosa Beach (the brother/sister restaurant to The Red Bar... CRAB CAKES!!!!)

The Broken Egg: Located in Grayton Beach ( you must try their famous french toast)

The Taco Bar: Located in Seaside ( the shrimp taco is a MUST)

The Melt Down on 30A: Located in Seaside ( OOOO.... the brown bag ham and smoked gouda is to die for)

Goatfeathers: market in Seagrove ( the have the best steamed shrimp and butter garlic sauce for night at home with the family!)

The Seagrove Market: located in Seagrove ( everything is good)

Bayou Bills: located in Santa Rosa Beach ( oysters & crab legs) 

So as you can tell we all love to eat and have a good time! I hope that if any of you find the time to visit Seaside then you can enjoy dinner at one our favorite locations. 

Another thing that we all enjoy... is what Seaside is known for, the "bike community." We always rent bikes for the week and enjoy ridding all through Seaside, Seagrove & Watercolor.... it's so relaxing and a different experience to travel by bike for your vacation get away!!!  J. Jay and I always enjoy getting up early in the morning for a bike ride... it is so relaxing and cool in the mornings!!! 

The beautiful view from our room at the house early one morning before going to ride bikes :)

I will leave you with this now....  more to come on a wonderful vacation to Seaside, FL!!! There are to many good shows on TV tonight :) Hopefully you will want to take a Seaside vacation soon!!! 

Until tomorrow..... 

Just What Does The Hubby Do?

Ever since moving to Baldwin County and meeting so many wonderful new people there are always the same few questions that everyone will ask me. . . . .

Where does your husband work?  I reply, "Monsanto"

I would say 1 out of 10 people MAY know what that is. So you can only imagine what the next question is. . . .  What is that?    Which leads to a ton of other questions!


Sometimes I should probably say, well your guess is as good as mine :)  . . . because I am so blessed to have a husband that enjoys spending time with me I am slowly learning some answers to these questions.


I know that you are all just dying to know what J. Jay's career is (esp. you ladies, hahaha) so I thought what better way to show you!! A couple of weeks ago I went to work with Jay on Saturday (no he usually does not work on Saturday's but this was an exception) and learned all about COTTON.  I find this all very interesting coming from an agriculture community and being involved with agriculture throughout the US working with the Watermelon Association, so hopefully I will not bore you with this post :)


Basically the low down:

*J. Jay works for a company called Monsanto  (they invented ROUND UP)
*He does research on Cotton, Corn, Soybeans, weeds and others
*Also plays a role within the community to teach children the importance of safety and all about the farm
 . . . .  . . . . . .  and I am sure many other things that I don't know how to explain :)


What we all don't realize is how much we actually depend on farmers for EVERYTHING in life. Monsanto is all about sustainability in agriculture to improve our lives. They work along side the farmers to develop and provide new technology, research, seed and protection chemicals to those who SO OFTEN GET OVER LOOKED FOR ALL THEY DO AND PROVIDE FOR THE WORLD: A FARMER!!! Not only do I say this because my husband is so passionate about agriculture, but I know first hand what agriculture means to our great nation and it is something that everyone should pay more attention to and respect in such a great way for what it provides to us!!

SMOKEY

So everyone knows that if you work on a farm it's a must that you have a barn cat to keep out the rats!! I just love Smokey:) J. Jay found him 3 years go in his Soybean trail when he was just a baby. 

As I told you we went to work to plant COTTON!!  

DeltaPine is the kind of Cotton seed that J.Jay planted. He plants the cotton and then spends all his time   doing extensive research about the growth and the soil conditions of this cotton. (I am not the best at explaining this but that's the best I can do) 

The thing that I find most interesting is that J.Jay works for a company but yet and still gets to "be a farmer" what he loves:)

Pouring the seed into the planter!! (working hard) hahahaha :)

So at this point he has already planted a row... but he is checking to make sure that it is just how he wants it. ( i know the guys that are reading this that actually know exactly what I am talking about are LAUGHING ) 

GUESS WHO is learning how to drive a tractor :) haha 

I love this tractor because it's big enough that I can ride with Jay while he is planting!! 

Working hard or hardly working?  

Not sure what he is doing... but I do know those are soybeans. ( I believe there are insects in here and he is feeding them sugar water. . .  they are doing research on how insects effect the crops) 

J.Jay's corn trial :)

I hope that I did not bore you with this post. I find J.Jay's job to be very interesting and I know that I did not do it any justice because it entails so much more intense work. Maybe now you can have a glance at what he does for a living:)

If anything I hope that everyone realizes how important agriculture is to our lives!!! THANK A FARMER :)

What have we been up to?

Unfortunately I have abandoned my blog once again. . . .  We have been so busy!!! I hope that I don't bore you all but I figured that I would let you all know what we have been up to.


Weekend with Parker!!
I finally got a picture with my nephew!!!

PARKER!  He is getting so big :) 

Aunt Samantha and Uncle J.Jay . . .  we are so proud!!! 

The cat at J.Jay's parents had babies and I could not get over how beautiful his eyes are :) 

July 4th!!

We enjoyed a fun night with friends at the Mobile Bay Bears vs. Montgomery Biscuits game!! I had never been to a Bay Bears game so I wasn't sure what to expect. I was very impressed and we all had a great time :)

Justin, Brooke, their baby Parker, Robert, Lena, Ryan, Cindy, J.Jay and Myself enjoying the game! 

This was Parker's first baseball game and Brooke had the cutest baseball outfit for him:) 

We had great seats!! If you have never been to a Bay Bears game you should go. We will definitely take more advantage of such a good baseball team being so close to us!!!

       

Fireworks!!

We got to spend some time with our friends Wes & Ashley. (Wes was J.Jay's college roommate) I know that he was glad to have a break from studying for his Pharmacy Boards!!

We enjoyed a delicious dinner at STIX (my favorite Japanese restaurant)  on Saturday night !!

Then on Monday night the 4 of us headed over the bay to the Battleship to watch fireworks:) I had never been to the battleship for fireworks and had no idea that so many people would be there to watch..... while driving on the causeway we saw tons of people parking on the side of the road to watch . . . . and we thought hey that would be great idea, because we wouldn't get stuck in the traffic. . . .  boy were we wrong!!! We were stuck in traffic heading the wrong way for at least an hour.  The fireworks were great, but I believe next year we well go to Fairhope and watch them from the pier :)

FINALLY!!!

We finally found the perfect chairs for our back porch!!! I have been looking and looking for these chairs . . . . . come to find out my husband stumbles upon them instead:)  

Chairs:  JCPenny's  $29.99  ( of all places)

Pillows: World Market $17.00  

I am in love with these pillows and they also have tons of other outdoor decor with this print!! 

CHECK IT OUT

I NEED YOUR ADVICE!!!

I need to plant something. . .  what do you suggest? I am not good with flowers!! Something that can take lots of sunshine and heat!!

Only to make our weekend complete!!

Some of you make think this is silly. . . . but watermelon plays such a big part of my life. I wont go into a long story, but for those of you who don't know. . .  I worked for the Watermelon Association traveling all over promoting locally grown watermelon and the nutritious benefits and experienced a life changing year!!! I will  forever be thankful and I know it was what shaped me into the person I am today. I am so thankful for the opportunity to meet so many amazing people, see the world and grow and learn so much. 

So of course our weekend would not be complete without a delicious locally grown watermelon from Cassebaum Farms!!! 

Such a great picture with my new camera!!!

beautiful & even more delicious

More to come!!!! Have a great rest of the weekend!

Decor Decisions.... I need your help!

Hello!

Since I have made the transition to the working world I just can't seem to find the time to BLOG like I want to. Right now I am multitasking. . . . bloging while dinner is baking & my sweet husband is serenading me with the guitar :) Since I am enjoying the music I thought that you might like to enjoy as well. . . .  This is one of my favorite songs and I love to hear J.Jay play it on the guitar and sing!!!
(he is probably going to get upset that I shared his secret..... he claims that he can't sing but I disagree and not just because he is my hubby :)

HELP

As you know we have been very busy celebrating engagements and marriages with our friends, and with that said I haven't had much time to spend decorating!! This is something that I have always wanted to do. . . . somehow I just never have the time. *** I am going to make time****

I can always count on my Mom to find the best deals! Those of you who know my Mom, know that her favorite store is TJ MAXX and the antique stores in Dothan. ( she always finds the best stuff and suitable to my taste) My Mom found this PERFECT piece at Highlands Antique Mall in Dothan when I was moving off to Auburn. Like I mentioned before I have always wanted to add something to this and now is the perfect time to give it some more personality!!!

This shabby chic chest sits at the foot of our bed

I want to turn this into something more than just a chest. . . .  a bench and a chest :) I want to cover the lid of the chest with fabric to really lighten up our room with some color. Our colors are WHITE and KHAKI .... all white furniture, white lamp with khaki linen lamp shade lined with pearls & our comforter the ever so popular duvet cover from pottery barn with khaki polka-dots that form a square around our initials.  (Not posting pictures because I want you all to see it when it is complete)

So if you could just imagine this chest covered with fabric in our room. . . . . 

What fabric would you choose ??? 

Also if you know of any other fabric that you think would look better please send me a link. . . . I am open to your opinions!!! 

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

PLEASE help me make my decision, because otherwise I am going to sit here for weeks and ponder over the one I like most!