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! 

Check It!

Homemade French Dip!

Ingredients
1/4 cup of butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 Ciabatta Rolls, split
Provolone Cheese
1 pound thinly sliced roast beef
1 can beef broth

Directions
1. In a small skillet, melt butter. Add garlic; saute for 1 minute. Place rolls on a baking sheet; brush cut sides with garlic butter. Place a slice of cheese on side. Broil for 3-4 minutes or until cheese is melted.
2. In a large saucepan, combine roast beef and broth; heat throughly. Using tongs or a slotted spoon, place beef on rolls. Serve sandwiches with remaining broth for dipping.
3. ENJOY!!!   ( this has got to be one of the easiest and delicious meals)

 

We enjoyed celebrating another friends wedding this weekend. Congrats to Drew & Ally Roney! 

Of course Mom had to snap a photo before we left! 

Only a few more days until the WEEKEND! Have a great rest of the week. 

"My-My Key Lime Pie"

This past weekend the Hubby and I went to Brewton for the weekend. We enjoyed a wonderful Auburn Themed "Tailgate & Celebrate" engagement party for our friends Jeff & Kim. I was so disappointed that I didn't take any pictures, but we were just having too much fun catching up with our friends and the details of the wedding!


This weekend was very relaxing for us. . . .  We enjoyed spending the weekend at THE CABIN!! J.Jay's parents have built this quant little cabin on their land and I absolutely love spending the weekend there. Who can complain when you walk in and all your dreams come true and you have some how morphed into the Restoration Hardware/Pottery Barn magazine. . . . It is a vacation home at home. . . . I guess the new saying for that is "STAY-CATION." Next time we visit I will be sure to take pictures!!!


Sunday, after Church we enjoyed a delicious home cooked southern meal and to top it off with a
KEY LIME CAKE!!!  I have never really cared for Key Lime flavored deserts, but this is one that is a must. 


Key Lime Cake
Ingredients for Cake:
1 (18.25 ounce) package lemon cake mix
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
4 eggs
1 (3 ounce) package lime flavored gelatin mix
3/4 cup orange juice

Ingredients for Icing:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
3 tablespoons  fresh lime juice
4 cups confectioners' sugar
                 or
you can use Cool-Whip

Directions:
1. Combine  cake mix, gelatin mix, oil eggs and orange juice. Pour into three 8 inch cake pans (or any other cake pan that you prefer). Bake according to instructions on box. Allow to cool, then frost
2. To make the frosting: In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese until light and fluffy. Add lime juice and confectioners sugar. Mix well.

****my mother-in-law served this cake cold***** must I say it made it even more delicious because it was so hot out side :)

YOU MUST TRY THIS!!!!

New Vision. . . . . Let me know what you think!

So as I was reading and reading and did I mention reading ALL afternoon ONE BLOG. . . . . I stumbled across this picture and it is exactly what I have been imagining. This is most certainly going to the top of my TO HAVE LIST!

I have the perfect spot for this. . . . on the wall near our breakfast bistro table accented with black and white damask seat cushions. . . . . .  can't you just imagine it!

ERASE: the red wall, the mirror and other decor & you have "THE" piece of furniture  

IT'S EVEN SHABBY CHIC  

HINT HINT Hubby if you are reading this!!!! haha

Accompanied by this hardware!! 

(compliments of Anthropologie.com) 

I need your HELP!!! I have entered a contest to win a page in the magazine Alabama Weddings Magazine to show everyone all about our special day!

*On FACEBOOK please add Alabama Weddings Magazine as a friend!! 

*Then go to the photo album titled : AWM On-Line Real Wedding Feature Contest Photo Gallery

*Look for our picture.  Samantha & Jonathan Pitts

*Click the like button on the photo (by doing this you are voting for our photo to win) 

* ALSO,  please click on the link listed below the photo (it's a blog) and submit your vote there as well 

As many of you know our wedding was such a special time for J.Jay and I and a true reflections of God's powerful work and love. It was one last time that all of us friends could spend with our dear friend BRITTANY.... It would be a wonderful memory for all of us to have our time spent together documented and let everyone know how Brittany touched the world! Also, having the memories of our wedding and love documented in this magazine would be a dream come true for us. 

I would greatly appreciate your vote and PLEASE spread the word to ALL YOUR FRIENDS!!!! 

I hope that everyone has a wonderful week!!!