Foodie Fridays {Juicy Fall Off The Bone Turkey}

Since the holidays are just around the corner I thought I'd post my turkey recipe. I've been cooking my turkey this way for years. It's something that I've been perfecting since I was 23 years old and I cooked my first family Thanksgiving :) Ever since then my family has always wanted our turkey cooked this way. I don't stuff it with dressing. And you can substitute the white cooking wine with more olive oil if you'd like. Make sure you use the Reynolds Oven bags and follow the directions on the box for your size turkey. Your turkey will be moist and aromatic plus very tasty. Enjoy: First, here's what you'll need:   Reynolds Turkey/Oven Bag 1 tbsp flour 2 Bunches of Cilantro 1 Medium White Onion 3-4 cloves of garlic 1/2 cup White Cooking Wine  OR you can sub. with the Non-Alcoholic Version or more olive oil 1/2 cup Pure Virgin Olive Oil 1/4  cup Kikkoman's Teriyaki with Garlic Sauce Basting Brush Preheat Oven to 350 d

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Thankful Thursdays {It's Not That Bad}

 I read the news everyday. Online. I don't get the real newspaper anymore. Don't have to. I get it delivered to me - straight to my inbox via email and since I work for a government entity I get to read all about the local and state governments goings-ons. Sometimes the news aren't all that great. Sometimes I don't want to read them at all. Do you feel that way too? I just want to shield myself from the world and just craft :) "But it's important to be involved", I tell myself. Otherwise, this place, this great country of ours, would go down in flames, so to speak. "Well, it's technically not YOUR country", the little voice in my head tells me. Well you see, I'm an immigrant. Yep. The dreaded "I" word. Green card and all. No, not an illegal ((shudder)). But you see, I tell the little voice, this IS my country. I'll let you in on a little secret. Anytime we're at a public event, especially when I'm with my children,

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Easy Do It Yourself Halloween Costumes

Halloween is just around the corner and you don't have a costume for your child yet, worst of all the budget won't allow for a store bought one-well have I got good news for you, here's a collection of some super cute and easy costumes you can make yourself from things you may already have around the house. How about this adorable paper doll costume!  Family Fun  Click the link above to go to the site for directions on how to make it :) Family Fun-Monkey Business I thought this was really cute. If you don't have the fake fur, you can even use some old carpeting, a sample of carpeting from your local home improvement store or some felt!   Parents I think this scuba diver is so unique. I love it even for after  Halloween.                                                          Parents This mad scientist costume is easy and can even be done by a teen. Parents This zookeeper costume would be way easy to make especially by tapping into all the stuffed animals

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A Family Affair And A Love For All Things Vintage

I have always, always loved decorating, crafting, photography and  collecting. Especially collecting . I remember as a little girl taking things out of the trash and setting them up in the corner of our tiny two room house in Laredo, Texas. It was quite a humble home with a tin roof and a concrete floor. We had a hand me down bunk bed, my brother and I. And no room of our own. I always wanted a space to myself. So one day, my grandpa gave me a cute little, white, metal, mesh table. I took it home and set it up as a night stand. I scrounged around our tiny house and found a piece of lace in my mother's sewing basket. I remember this like it was yesterday. I laid it carefully across the table. I then remembered an old yellow lamp we had in the other room. I brought over, plugged it up and placed a couple of books next to it. I then went outside and picked a few flowers from our front garden. I walked to our kitchen pulled out a small glass from our cupboard and filled it half full of

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Thankful Thursdays {It's the Little Things}

I know this is a few days late. But it has been one of those weeks. In fact it has been one of those months. With so much to do and so little time. You know what I'm talking about. With the kids back to school and the whole routine down pat, homework and activities and work, well there's just barely enough time for us to get home, eat, shower and sleep. Whew! Which is why I am thankful for the little things . Things like taking a day off from school and work and just going down to the State Fair ('cause I'm a cool mom like that) little things like swimming lessons that my boys are finally comfortable with little things - like my little guy finally being able to take the training wheels off his bike and taking to the open sidewalk and just riding!! yeehaw! and cool fall nights and cool crisp mornings and wearing a sweater :) These are the things that make me stop and smile I actually sit down and watch my little guy and my big guy at the pool take to the water (ev

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Liebster Blog Award-Support New Bloggers

The Liebster Blog Award is given to up and coming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. Liebster is a German word meaning-"dear, sweet, kind, nice, good, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome". I was awarded this cute award by a very sweet blogger who blogs at Lovin Life Barbie  . She is a fairly new blogger who just got married! Go by her blog and show her some love :) I love supporting new bloggers. And I really appreciate that she thought of me to award this to and come by and comment often. I will now pass on the love and encourage you to check out these new bloggers that I read and I now award the Lieber Blog award to: 1. Momma's Ramblings 2. A randomlicious blog for the soul 3. Fleur de Aleta 4. Reflections of a Soujourner 5. The Brittain House To keep this award going and pass it along to other new deserving blogs, the recipient must now recognize five other bloggers with less than 200 followers that have really stood o

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Cleaning Out My Closet

At the begining of the year I blogged about certain little projects that I needed to complete and therefore was holding myself accountable. Remember those? If not, you can revisit them here>>> Projects to be done I was supposed to have them all complete by the summer, but with me being hospitalized and all.... well I'm thinking I've got a preeety good excuse. So without further ado I present to you my brand, spankin' new CLOSET { Corner Dressing Area} Complete with Outfit Planning Station  Boots off the floor!  The key, ladies and germs, is to throw, keep or give away anything that you haven't held in your hands in over a year. Now, it's easier said than done, because once I started going thru all those mementos well....let's just say I didn't wanna let go (sniff sniff) but I made three piles,  *{throw} -for all the crap nobody in their right mind would want *{keep} stuff I had to have with me until they pry it out of my cold, dead, hands

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Junk Market {Old Red Lumberyard}

This past Saturday I had me a great time! I love junk! It just makes me giddy :) I just discovered that every month our nifty little town has a junk weekend at the Old Red Lumberyard. It's a place right on the "other side of town" where folks gather to sell their wares. My daughter and I decided to check it out on Saturday and we just loved looking at all the cool treasures. Feast your eyes on all these wonderful finds! From old chairs and frames, to old typewriters, doors and wine corks (had to get me a couple dozen of those) Look at this vendor's treasures: Her booth is called "Rusty Pearl"   Love the chest decoupaged in sheet music!!! I almost brought this framed bird home! This vendor is called Dumpster Diva {how cute is that!} I really want that window mirror and I just may go back and get it next time! Look at this old piece of framed tin - isn't it to die for? And as I walked further down the aisles I stumbled upon more trea

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