Family favorite Dinner

Last night we had one of my families all time fave dinner, my kids are always requesting it so I thought I would share.

Lemon Rosemary Chicken

1 grill pack of chicken

juice of 2 whole lemons

salt

pepper

garlic powder

rosemary

Put the chicken in a bowl, squeeze the juice of lemons over chicken and salt,pepper,garlic and rosemary to your liking :)

Marinade for at least a few hours

I BBQ bone side down on low heat for about a hr and it turns out scrumptious every time. Last night I paired it with a refreshing salad and homemade ranch dressing.

Easy, Yummy and affordable :)

I'm in love...... with flowers!

I love flowers! All kinds of flowers even metal flowers :), Yesterday my camera and I took a walk through my yard capturing all the beauty.

x

Oh, Deer!!

This year I'm having the best luck I ever have had on my garden! That is until just the other day when I stepped out side and saw a big buck standing in the middle of my garden nibbling away!! I ran at it trying to scare it off and it just stood there for the longest time just looking at me!!UGH!! So, that is when I had to put up a temporary ugly fence to keep them out.The fence is just metal fence post and neon orange marking ribbon. I woke up this morning to three little bucks checking it out but so far my fence is keeping them out of my garden! Keeping my fingers crossed!

I love living out in the country, I wouldn't trade it for nothing! Its so quiet and peaceful and I love watching all the wild life! 

This year I magically have beautiful wild flowers growing in my yard and they are in the perfect spot just where I would of wanted them!! I'm pretty sure God had a part in this because there is no other explanation then just amazing!!

To all you football moms out there!!

Football season is right around the corner, it can be exciting but at the same time frightening! Im always sitting at the edge of my seat and it is always in the back of my mind what if he gets hurt? Its not football season yet but it has been on my mind and I thought I would share this prayer that I found!

moms prayer

Dear Lord Jesus

This is from the heart.

My son plays football

He has an important part.

He's the one

With the jersey on,

The one who stands

So proud and strong.

Please protect him

When he's on the field,

Put your arms around him

Be his shield.

I know that football

Plays an important part

Guide him always

Be in his heart.

I say this prayer

To you above,

And to you my son

With all my love.

     Mom

Rain Rain go away come back some other day!!

Ugh I need some sunshine in my life! I feel so blah and drained this week, I literally feel like I could sleep for days!! I need the sunshine to spark some energy back into me. My soul is longing to be out in nature and warm summer days!

A little sand between your toes takes away your woes!!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter weekend! I had a wonderful time with my family and feel so blessed because I do have a wonderful family :)

p.s. I'm getting my hair cut and colored Saturday, sooo looking forward to some me time and my hair needs some attention!!

Meet my Owl friend

At home, I love reaching out into that absolute silence, when you can hear the owl or the wind.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/amandaharl614456.html#KSWSV9mYLOFzwx8H.99

For several years now we have a owl living amongst us, We here it and always can get a glimpse of it. Lately I have really been hoping to get a picture of it and finally the other day it happened!! It just sat there for a long time looking around and I just sat there back in awe of this beautiful creature!!

To top it all of it was such a beautiful weekend here in the Pacific Northwest!!

I love to think of nature as an unlimited broadcasting station, through which God speaks to us every hour, if we will only tune in.  ~George Washington Carver

Beauty in Nature

There are times when I want to move away from this rainy state but there are even more times when I'm in love with all its beauty! The Pacific Northwest is one of the most gorgeous places on the earth and I should feel very fortunate to live here! I'm even more fortunate that I live among these beautiful ceder trees, it's like my very own state park. Spring and summer have become my most favorite time around here, I cant get enough sunshine I just want to soak it all up!

Spring time sparks energy in me, just like all the trees and flowers bursting to life!

Justin and I love taking nature walks and we found out this hollowed out log with a stream going through it, I thought you only saw that kind of stuff in the movies...

And then I'm amazed again when I wake up before dawn and see this....

I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.  ~e.e. cummings

Sunday afternoon

I have had so much energy lately and loving it!! So much creative juices going through me! I have so many projects I want to do! I cant wait to share everything! I have also been Spring cleaning the house, my husband said my OCD has kicked in full force haha. One thing I did this weekend was turn a old window into a picture frame, so easy and I LOVE it!! It was so easy just a old window and some double sided tape.                                    

I also did some other things that aren't done yet so pictures will come later. Saturday I made one of our fave deserts. Its a great spring/summer desert. A few years back my sis gave me the recipe and it has been a fave ever since. Strawberries and cream dessert squares! You can find the recipe at http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/strawberries-and-cream-dessert-squares/ade24a8d-0691-4efd-b846-358d2757780b?p=1

I have been having such a fun weekend not ready for Monday tomorrow:(

Hope you all had a great night. It's movie night in our home tonight :)

My cooking adventures

I love anything lemon and blueberry so when I saw this recipe on Pinterest I knew I had to try it! I had all the ingredients on Monday so I went for it and OMG is it delicious!! The whole family loves it!! So FYI if your

in the mood to try a new recipe and love lemon and blueberries this is a must try recipe!!

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/169377635959667395/

Tips for a affortable Disneyland trip

For the last 4 years my family has been addicted to going to Disneyland for our yearly trip, and I'm always doing research on how to make it more affordable for our family and I have been asked a lot how do we afford it? So I thought I would give some advice and fill you in on how much we spend.

There are four of us in my family that go and we have a set budget of $3000 for our trip but we always end up only spending $2800. We live in Oregon so we make the long 16 hour drive to save money $300 round trip in gas. I book are hotel and ticket package thru costcotravel.com, I always end up finding a great price on packages and there is always great bonuses you get. This year our package was $1800 and that included, 5 night stay at the Hilton, 4 day park hoppers, free character breakfast for the family, $20 Disney gift card, Disney luggage tags, Disney lanyards and pins and a free ride of your choice picture! The rest of our $900 goes towards food and souvenirs. We always take a case of water and snacks with us. At Disneyland if you ask for ice water it is free! Part of the whole Disneyland experience is eating the food so we do always eat lunch and dinner in the park or at Downtown Disney. I allow my kids to get a churro and a cheap souvenir once a day. We save up our $3000 over the course of a year, putting a little away each month. Some other things we have done to help with the cost is selling on ebay and craigslist, I'm amazed at what people actually buy on ebay! We save all our change, I also do swagbucks, mypoints and inboxdollars. This past trip I got enough points for $150 gift card to the Rain Forest cafe, $25 for Cheesecake Factory and $60 cash. I also did disneymovierewards.com and got $20 in Disney gift cards. I have so many tips and advice so if you have any question please ask! I would love to help!

Happy friday :)

I love Fridays!! Especially this Friday cause tomorrow I'm having a fun girls day with my sisters and mama! We always have a wonderful time full of laughter to where we almost pee our pants! We are going shopping and out to lunch and who knows what other shenanigans we will get into. This past Tuesday was my sons birthday and instead of cake he always wants apple pie, I always follow the same recipe but for some reason it turned out extra yummy this time, my son even said it was melt in your mouth good!

APPLE PIE 

Filling:

2 lbs of apples peeled and sliced

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup sugar

3 tbsp flour

mix the ingredients all together and set a side.

Crust:

2 cups of flour

1 tbsp sugar

3/4 cup crisco shortening

5 tbsp cold water

Combine flour and sugar, cut in crisco until all flour is blended into pea size chunks. Sprinkle with water 1 tbsp at a time. Toss lightly with fork until dough forms a ball.  Divide dough in half and roll out bottom half, place in pie plate, add the filling and then roll out top half. Trim the edge, fold top crust under bottom crust. I use a fork for the crust edge and to put a few holes to vent. Bake at 375 until crust is golden or done to your liking.

Hope you all have a wonderful friday!!!

Cuteness

SOOO Cute I had to share!! For every one who knows me knows I love Disney!!!

First day of spring!!!

Happy dance!! There are so many things to love about spring it's when everything starts to come a live again, sunny warm days which I have been longing for.

Since its the first day of spring I decided it will be my first day blogging. :) I'm new to this but I'm gonna give it a try! Here is a great quote you all you ladies!! 

“This life is what you make it. No matter what, you're going to mess up sometimes, it's a universal truth. But the good part is you get to decide how you're going to mess it up. Girls will be your friends - they'll act like it anyway. But just remember, some come, some go. The ones that stay with you through everything - they're your true best friends. Don't let go of them. Also remember, sisters make the best friends in the world. As for lovers, well, they'll come and go too. And baby, I hate to say it, most of them - actually pretty much all of them are going to break your heart, but you can't give up because if you give up, you'll never find your soulmate. You'll never find that half who makes you whole and that goes for everything. Just because you fail once, doesn't mean you're gonna fail at everything. Keep trying, hold on, and always, always, always believe in yourself, because if you don't, then who will, sweetie? So keep your head high, keep your chin up, and most importantly, keep smiling, because life's a beautiful thing and there's so much to smile about.” 
― Marilyn Monroe