SHE: Recaps her holiday

Hey Y'all,

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter holiday weekend.  Ours was great.  As holidays and celebrations go, we tend to celebrate in much the same way each year.  Easter has always included church, big lunch with our family, Easter baskets / treats and of course fun Easter egg dying and lots and lots of hiding eggs.  Brittney's Easter basket generally had less candy treats and more "summer" treats like sidewalk chalk, swimsuit, pool toys.. fun things she could use.  This year we didn't hide or find any eggs but Brittney may have gotten an Easter basket.

Our Easter dinner (of which no photographs were taken) was delish! We had ham with pineapple and brown sugar glaze, corn, potato salad, green beans- slow cooked with bits of ham, mac & cheese, Sister Schubert's rolls, deviled eggs and carrots. As long as my baby girl has been in the world, we have had a "bunny" cake each Easter.  This year I decided to mix it up a little with our desserts, we had a yummy Millionaire pie and a "sheep" cake.  While my sheep was cute and tasted identical to the "bunny" cake, I could tell she was disappointed.  I love how "little details" make the best memories. 

I love cooking for my family, but it's a little time consuming. While making our potato salad yesterday I had a lot of eggs to chop. I peeled them and cut in half and put them in a mixing

bowl.  Trying to hurry the process along, I used my pastry blender to chop them. Have you ever done that? It was awesome! So quick and they were all uniform sized. Will definitely do that again.  (Side note~ It did not work for pickles).   Love it when I learn something new.  So how did you celebrate? What was on your menu?  I linked up some recipes for you to try.  And yes, next year... Mr. Bunny will reappear.

Have a great week friends!! Make memories with your babies ~ you never know which one will be their favorite. 

xoxo,

Amy

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SHE Thinks Easter (Last Minute)

Hey y'all! So as I'm sure you know, Easter is Sunday. AKA three days away! 

In true slacker form, I've not done a thing as far as decoration, crafts, or baking! Oops! 

I quickly scanned Pinterest for "quick easy Easter" - below are some cute ideas I found that I thought I'd share with you!

So how cute is this bunny garland? I love the little cotton ball tails. 

Image via Pinterest

These eggs are a great way to add a little extra decoration without having plastic eggs laying around. This would also be fun for the kids to help with if they were a little older!

Image via Pinterest

I think this button egg is my favorite! So cute, so easy, and so many possibilities!! 

Image via Pinterest

I love this snack because it's festive, sweet (peeps), and healthy (fruit). A win-win for everyone!

Image via Pinterest

Finally - you can't go wrong with Rice Krispy's! Add some food coloring to the melted marshmallows before you add the cereal and shape like eggs for these cute and yummy treats!

Image via Pinterest

Hope this helped get the creative juices flowing if you're like me and haven't done a thing. 

Happy Easter!

xo Courtney

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SHE Throws a Baby Shower!

When a new baby is on the way it is so fun to shower the Mother to be with gifts!!  A friends daughter is expecting a sweet baby boy next month and I had the privilege to give the shower.  What little boy could resist cute woodland creatures??  I went to Pinterest and found so many great ideas.

A hedgehog cheeseball.

 We needed the twigs, moose droppings, birch trees (pretzels dipped in white chocolate) and of course the s'mores.

 We needed a wise old owl made out of veggies!

 Fruit kabobs on an arrow! Yes, please!!

 A chocolate cake with chocolate icing that resembles a stump.

My famous carrot cake complete with a buttermilk glaze and cream cheese icing and the cute little animals made it perfect

We put the Mama Bear in a comfy chair and placed the presents in and around the tepee.

I probably spent too much time on Pinterest.  But, y'all it's a new baby!  I loved every minute!  Oh, I almost forgot...instead of cards everyone brought a book with their gift!  She has the most awesome library.  

 I hope you have the opportunity to celebrate with a new mom!  They are so excited and have such a wonderful glow.  

Have a fabulous week!!!

Lisa B

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SHE: Isn't Pet Friendly

Hey Y’all, 

For those of you who know me, you probably know I am not crazy about dogs (pets in general).  Not really any particular reason, I just am not a big fan.  Don’t get me wrong, they are cute and cuddly… at a distance. (I really think it is the work they require and attention they demand). That being said, I know lots of you are very much dog lovers! 

Spring time seems to be a popular time for adding a puppy, to the home.  Is this you?  If so, you might want to visit Puppy Spot.  They help find you just the right fur baby to add to your family.

Once you make the decision to bring a dog home, how do you know which type of dog should you get? Puppy Spot has a fun little quiz for you to see just what breed would work best in your family.

Let's have some fun with this.  Before you begin, comment what type you think you want.  Now take the quick quiz. 

Was it accurate?  Happy Spring time friends! Enjoy your day with your family (the 2 and 4 legged type).

Xoxo,

Amy

Surprise! Mine said I need to wait… very accurate! 

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SHE: Packs a Lunch

Hey Y’all,

Hope you have found lots to be Thankful and Happy about this week! Courtney has shared some really cute quotes ~ I have enjoyed seeing them each day. It’s been a nice reminder to look for the good.

So a few weeks ago I mentioned trying to eat better, walk a little farther and drink more water. I would love to tell you that I have done it all perfectly, but I have not. J   I will say one thing I have done well (for me!) is trying to take my lunch to work. So often for me, lunch is a quick trip out of the office, grabbing something and eating while I peruse social media and hopefully get a chance to chat with my girl.  It is just a mental break away.  But it is often not a healthy break. So I have actually planned lunches a few times lately and I was pleasantly surprised in that I did enjoy my break more. I wasn’t rushed trying to get my food and get back to the office. 

Trying to come up with something that would sound good to me the next day is the hard part. But I found a few guides that really make it pretty simple.

A basic lunch needs to consist of a protein/ starch, fruit, vegetable and a snack. I prepared my lunches on Sunday which made me more apt to pack it in the morning.   Mine was pretty simple, I made a tray in a plastic reusable container with cubes of mild cheddar cheese, grapes, cucumber slices, Triscuit crackers and sliced turkey.  I was full and relaxed & I found I didn’t have that late afternoon drop either. (Just a tip...buying cheese blocks is less expensive that pre-cut cracker slices, use a warmed knife to make it easier to cut). 

Here are some suggestions I found that might work to mix things up, following the same pattern. Misty Nelson over at Frosted Moms has an example (printable) that has a good variety of options.  

Do you pack a lunch? What is your go to lunch style? We would love you to share your ideas and to tell us how cute your lunch box is :)  These are super cute! 

Take care ~ 

Amy

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SHE Shares Happiness

Happy Monday, Friend!

So I'm going to be open here - my happiness levels have been real low here lately. I started the year off with my regular "this is going to be my year!!" I had a great and attainable goal list, was excited about it, and was off to a great start.  Then I hit a roadblock, and another one, and just got down. The back and forth weather hasn't helped much either.  Has this been you too? We've decided to work together to change that for all of us. 

Today is the first day of spring! To kick off a great season and pull us all out of the winter funk, we're starting a 30 Day Happiness Challenge!

The challenge is to find at least one thing every day that makes you happy. We'll be sharing photos on our social media accounts every day during the challenge. Where you come in is to comment what your happy moment of the day was.  Maybe you had a great day and have so many happy moments to share - awesome! Give us all of them. Maybe you had a terrible day and your happy moment is that the day is finally over and you get to start over tomorrow - that's okay to post too.

The point of this challenge is to force your brain to find the happiness in your life. Too often we get focused on what's wrong in the world and our life that we fail to stop and "smell the roses." If I'm being honest, I'm tired of living that way.  

So here's to the next thirty days and to being happier people!

xo Courtney

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SHE: Getting Ready for Spring

Hey *|FNAME|*,

Have you caught Spring Fever yet? We've had a crazy weather week here, but I am definitely feeling a case of spring fever coming on. Pretty crisp sunny days make me long to be outdoors. In fact, I enjoyed a little back porch sitting yesterday and it was fabulous!! These are some of my favorite days. They are cool ( I might have been wrapped up in a blanket, eyes closed and sun shining). Great time to reflect and the sun just warms my soul. Y'all, we had SNOW yesterday! Did you? It was pretty and gone before we got out of church ~ Like I said, crazy weather week!

Well, as I was enjoying my spring I couldn't help but notice all the things that have gone on over winter. Chairs were dirty, weeds are popping up in my flower beds, dead stalks from last year's flowers... things need a little TLC.  Here are some suggestions to get your outdoor space spruced up for the spring.

1) Clean up your flower beds, remove weeds, old plants, twigs.  To kill weeds, you can spray them with white vinegar or pouring salt on them. The salt method takes a few days to work, the vinegar works in 48 hours.  Vinegar will kill any type greenery, so be careful.  Both will work and are good for your environment.

2) I love an assortment of flowers in the summertime, so I tend to plant wild flower mixes. (Once my hubby found out they were "wildflowers" and not weeds, they have faired much better. The first summer, he kept trimming them with the weed eater.... I blamed it on the cute rabbits that live in the yard. Nope, it was him.) I love lots of color and variety. Now is the time to get started. Purchase seeds for your favorite plants and flowers. You can start them indoors and transfer them outside once they are mature enough. Burpee is a very trusted brand and this now shows you just how easy it is to get started. 

3) If you don’t have an exterminator, spring (and fall) is a great time to spray the perimeter of your home and yard to prevent bugs. Less bugs in the yard the better. We use Home Defense, it works very well and lasts 3 months. With the very mild winter we have had, I think the bugs are going to be abundant.

4) We use our grill year round. Clean up the grill racks and check for any repairs that might be needed. Refill propane tanks or stock up on charcoal supplies.

5) And finally, the patio furniture. Ours is quite dirty and will take some elbow grease.  I will be using this bleach mixture to spruce it up.  Be sure to wear gloves and rinse the furniture and the area around you thoroughly when you finish. 

So there you are ~ bring on springtime! You are ready.

image via google

image via google

my garden

   xoxo,  Amy

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