Saying Goodbye

During my two weeks in Ohio with Brad in May, we were able to spend Memorial Day weekend with my maternal grandparents in my hometown of Findlay, OH. Grandpa Reamsnyder wasn't at his best when we visited... he had recently taken a small fall and couldn't walk or do too much on his own.

He is a man I've always loved and looked up to. He fought for our country with the USCG as well as the Army in WWII. He was one of the first to land in Okinawa. He had a great time telling Brad stories from his time there, show him 'souvenirs' he took from Japanese soldiers, and weapons he used to defend himself. Needless to say, my husband was in awe and fascinated the first time meeting my Grandpa shortly after we were married in August 2011.

It's hard saying goodbye to family, but I know he's in a better place now.

Love you, Grandpa.

Stuffed Shells

I picked this one up during my years at App,  and it's always been one of my favorites. I had yet to make it for Brad since we've been married (which shocked me a little!) so I decided to whip it up the other night. PLEASE try this, you won't regret it!

Ingredients:

• 1 box jumbo shells
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 block of cream cheese
• 1 jar taco sauce
• 1 jar salsa
• Shredded Cheese

Directions: 

• Brown beef, drain and mix in cream cheese until melted together.

I added diced peppers to it too since I had some on hand!
Also, this time I used ground turkey instead of beef.. yum!

• Boil shells until soft; drain. (cool slightly.. they're hot!)

• Fill shells with beef and cream cheese mix using a spoon.

• Cover bottom of a 9X13 dish with salsa, place filled shells on top of salsa.

• Spoon taco sauce into shells.

• Cover with cheese and heat at 125 degrees for 20 minutes or until cheese melts.

• EAT THEM UP!

Hope you enjoy this dish! :)

Phonics Phones

I owe this all to Pinterest. (Which I feel is the basis for most people's 'craftyness' these days lol) I went to the actual blog it was from though, which is classroomdiy.com. On her post she has a video guide, but I'll put everthing here too :)

What you need:

• 3/4" PVC pipe (it comes in 10' sections)
• 3/4" PVC elbow joints (they do come in packs of 10... very handy and a smidge cheaper!)
• AWESOME duct tape

Before I left Lowe's, I had a nice man cut my PVC pipe into 4" pieces (gave me 30 total pieces) instead of 3.5" like on classroomdiy.com. Only reason I did 4" was so I would have 30 whole pieces with no awkward leftover parts. :) If you tell them you're a teacher the guys in there are always happy to help! The man who cut the PVC for me was from Statesville, NC.. of all places! AND he and his wife live in the same neighborhood we are in out in Surprise. SMALL world.

Also, Make sure you get enough elbow joints. I got 3 packs of 10... annd realized when I got home that I would need 3 more packs of 10. I'll be going back tomorrow.

What to do:

• Put an elbow joint on each end of the 4" piece.
• Hubby suggested some glue to secure it, but we figured out quickly that they fit on nice and snug!
• Thennn wrap with duct tape!
  

the duct tape colors i picked out :)

It's really that simple. Please please make these for your room if you have a young little class!

Bistro Chicken

I get emails from Kraft every now and again with recipes and whatnot. A couple days ago I got this one for Easy Bistro Chicken. I think it'll be something we revisit for sure. It's super easy and delicious! I'll give you the recipe like it was on Kraft.. but I didn't use mushrooms (because I'm not a fan) and we left out the bacon because we were out and someone (me) forgot to get it at the store.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. oil
• 3 c sliced fresh mushrooms (its hard for me to even type that.. ick)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 can stewed tomatoes, undrained
• 1/4 c Italian Dressing
• 3 tbsp. tomato paste
• 4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb)
• 1 c shredded mozzarella
• 2 slices cooked bacon, chopped

Directions

• Heat oil in large skillet on med-high heat. Add (mushrooms) and onion; Cook 5 min. stirring occasionally. Stir in tomatoes, dressing and tomato paste.
• Add chicken; cover. Simmer on med-low heat 12 min or until chicken is done
• Top with cheese and bacon; simmer uncovered 5 min or until cheese is melted.

I served our Bistro Chicken with couscous (mainly because it's super fast) and a salad! Yum!

Father's Day 2012

Happy Father's Day to the Dads in our lives! Thank you for your strength and guidance throughout the years and for your support as we got married and moved out to AZ. We can't begin to tell you how much it all has meant to us.

Happy Father's Day to Grandpa Reamsnyder, Pepaw, and Grandaddy Warren also. We're thinking of Grandad Bob today and remembering what a great man of God he was.

We love you all so very much :) Have a wonderful day!!

Pikes Peak

On our cross-country drive to our new home in Arizona, we made a couple of stops to stay and visit with family and friends. One of those stops was right outside of Denver, Colorado to stay with a sweet couple who we met on our Honeymoon last year in the Bahamas.

Brad, Me, Barbara & Dave on our Sunset Cruise!

So during our day off of travel, Dave & Barbara took us around to sight see and we ended up at Pikes Peak. It's an awesome drive up to the summit at 14,110 feet... and boy could you feel the altitude. The temperature change from the base to summit was incredible... it was SO cold, and the altitude made us so dizzy (well, it did me at least!). The views were breathtaking and it was so refreshing to see snow again.. especially since it's non-existent in our town now.

I'll quit rambling... here are some pictures :) I highly recommend it!

Just after entering the gates... 

us <3

all of us, minus Dave & Barb

Glacial lake, I think?

SNOW SNOW SNOW! <3

the boys. 

again.

love this one!

ram in the gift shop!

Yosef in the gift shop!
GO APPS!

candied pecans. yummo!

panorama shot at the summit

welcome!

At the SUMMIT! BRRRRRR!
(Dave's pictures that he burnt to CD for us before we left has disappeared in the move..
if I find it I'll update with the pic of all of us. They really were there!!)

Brad & Josh being rams... they really butted heads. Ouch.

another panorama! 

America the Beautiful

mountains <3

We also went to the Garden of the Gods after Pikes Peak... however that includes more pictures, so we'll post on that later!

Storage Drawers Makeover

I've had a set of plastic storage drawers ever since I rescued it from my dorm at App when someone else had decided to throw it out. It's been super handy for storing my office supplies and what not at home. Now that we're in AZ and I've got mom's old roll-top, all of the office items are stored there.

After spotting this pin on pinterest, I decided to spruce my drawers up and turn in into my craft storage (Here is a link to the blog it is from). I went to the craft store and picked out some coordinating paper that would work well with the teal frame of the drawers. Then I got out my X-acto, ruler, pencil, foam brush and Mod Podge and went to town! My drawers were a little wider than 12" so I just centered the paper on the drawer and cut the excess off the top. Make sure if you do this to put Mod Podge on the inside of the drawer before you put the paper on and then a good coat on the back side of the paper as well.

I don't have the fancy step-by-step photos, and I blame that directly on the fact that I was too excited to do this project that I just kept going without thinking. haha

Side view of the drawer with my favorite paper.

Tada! Finished Product... I'm SO happy with how it turned out!

another front view :)

You don't have to be crafty to be able to do this.. and it looks super cute afterward! :)

The Heart of it All

Since Brad has been at training at Wright-Patt since mid-April, we were able to fly me up to stay for a couple weeks to break up our time apart and be able to spend our anniversary together (thank goodness!).

Brad's rental car :) 

back together!

Wright-Patt

We were able to go to visit Young's Dairy for ice cream and putt-putt, watch all of Harper's with everyone, go to Cheesecake Factory for our anniversary dinner (!!), and go to a couple Braves vs. Reds games at The Great American Ball Park! If you guys/ladies from 101 are reading this, I had such a fun time getting to know you and spending time with you while I was up there! I know Brad values the friendships he's made, and I do as well!

Young's Dairy

WORST hole on the putt-putt course! haha

Fountain on the course 

Wine and flowers Brad brought me on our Anniversary!

Reds vs. Braves at The Great American Ballpark!

I was fortunate to have another AF Wife to spend time with during the days when the boys were in class. It was good company and gave us something to do after sleeping in most mornings. :) Thank goodness Christi that you and Chris aren't too far away from us and hopefully we'll both be able to make trips to visit!

For Memorial Day weekend, Brad and I drove up to Findlay so we could spend some time with my mom, grandparents and see my other family in the area as well. Brad was able to help my grandparents out with some work outside and I was able to get my grandma out of the house some for errands. It was refreshing to be around some more familiar faces!

George House Coffee... a local coffee shop in Findlay that is fantastic!

My Uncle Bob's restaurant, Oler's Bar & Grill

Fuzzy from the camera phone, but this is my cousin Andy, Me, Brad, Aunt Jane, Uncle Tom and my cousin Layne at Oler's Bar and Grill (Uncle Bob's restaurant.. who is taking the picture!)

The past two weeks were so great and I can't wait to have hubby back home! :)