just shackin up

Matt and I are not married...we are just shackin up. We have now been shacked up for the past 3-4 years. We have been together for the past 7-8 years. It really doesn't bother me that we are not married. I never give much thought to it actually. I do plan to be with him for the rest of my life, and I feel that in my heart we are already married. That being said, I think it bothers others a lot.

There was the one time that my friend and I were discussing relationships and I offered advice about her husband. She replied, "You are Matt are not married though, so you just wouldn't understand." Excuse me...WHAT!? Also, I get a lot of questions from family members..Do y'all EVER plan on getting married?? Sometimes I think people talk about me behind my back.."Poor thing, HE just won't marry HER."

Sometimes I do feel silly when having to refer to him as my boyfriend. It almost sounds as if my relationship is not as important as some of my friend's relationships who have been with their husband/wife a lot less time than we have been together.

So here it goes..

1. We are trying to live a debt free life. We do have debt but we are working on it and trying not to create anymore.
2. Matt would like to be able to buy me a nice ring. I don't care but it is important to him. (it's a guy thing)
3. We live in PA, a million miles away from all of our friends and family, so it would be very hard to plan a wedding with anyone in attendance.
4. I am not sure a courthouse wedding feels right for us.
5. We would like to be able to afford a nice honeymoon.
6. In our hearts we are married already, and I don't think we are wrong in God's eyes.
7. I never even think about it until someone comments on it, like accidently calling him my husband, giggling and correcting it to boyfriend.
8. Our relationship will probably oulast lots of people's marriages that are properly married.
9. I am fine with it..honestly.
10. If I wasn't everyone would know it.

Thnak you everyone for all of your concerns...now back to our regularly scheduled program!

going home?

I have been thinking about going home to Alabama to visit. I am catching a ride with my best friend Jessica who is now living in Maryland. I have been really struggling with my decision, she wants to stay for a month which is a really long time to be away from home. My Grandmother is getting up in years and it would be nice to have some time with her and my Dad, and I would get to attend my family reunion...but what then? I think a week is a perfect amount of time for a vacation, and now i am faced with a month.

My mind starts to race with everything that could happen in a month. What if my Dad starts getting on to me like I was a teenager again? What if all he has to eat is that rectangular shaped ham with grissle in every bite? What if I miss my boyfriend and my cats so bad that I cry? What if my DVR breaks and doesn't record Housewives of New Jersey and all my other shows? What if I realize just how much I miss home and hate Pennsylvania? What if I smile and laugh the entire trip and really mean it? What if I come back refreshed, relaxed, and so happy to see my boyfriend that it feels like we just started dating again?

It is so strange going home. I am from such a small town, that I literally know everyone. All these people make all these plans for your visit and when you get home, you maybe see 2 or 3 friends..but they always end up being the only people I really want to see anyway. Maybe life is all about leaving your comfort zone every now and then. I have to make a decision soon...but I'll think about that tomorrow.

Party Snacks

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I love snack food at parties. About a year ago I went to a superbowl party at a neighbors house and one of her friends brought the most amazing dip. I wanted to ask the recipe, but I may have indicated that: 1. I am a republican. 2. I don't recycle. Two things that don't make me very popular at parties! Anyway the dip was amazing, and I found this recipe on Rachel Ray's website.

1 8-ounce package cream cheese
2 cups cooked chicken (a store-bought rotisserie chicken works best), shredded
1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce, recommended brand Texas Pete
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 cup blue cheese dressing (eyeball it)
1/4 to 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (eyeball it)

Preheat oven to 300°F.
Cover the bottom of an 8x8" dish or pie plate with cream cheese.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the shredded chicken, wing sauce and butter, and pour over the cream cheese-filled dish or pie plate.
Top with just enough blue cheese dressing and mozzarella cheese to cover (adding too much cheese will cause a thick skin to form that will make eating the dip difficult once the cheese cools).
Heat the dip in the oven for 20 minutes. Serve with Scoops (Tortillas or Fritos) alongside for dipping

Also, my neighbor made these snacks that taste a lot better than they sound. I also found these on Rachel's website.

1/2 bag frozen tater tots, about 40 pieces
1 pound sliced, lean bacon, about 20 slices

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Cut bacon strips in half making 2 equal size pieces, about 4 inches each. Place a tater tot on the end of the half-strip of bacon and roll it around the tot, slightly overlapping by 1/2 inch. Cut off any excess bacon. Pierce with a toothpick and place bacon wrapped tot on a baking sheet. Bake until the bacon is crispy, about 15-20 minutes.

What's for dinner y'all?

I love recipes! The fewer ingredients,the better. First of all I am a big cheapwad..so I try to spend about 80-85 dollars a week on groceries. Some recipes I have found call for $20-$25 in ingredients alone. Those are recipes that I will never try. I am not a gourmet kind of cook. The recipes that I treasure are more..old grandma recipes from a church cookbook kind of cooking. I remember going to family reunions and being so excited for the good looking casseroles, to me that was more tempting than the desserts. Here are some tips I have picked up along the way. 1. If it doesn't taste just right, add a little oil. If you want it to taste better add butter, if you want it taste even better than that add bacon grease. 2. Don't be afraid of the salt shaker. Some of the best food I have ever had only had salt/pepper. 3. Always use real potatoes. Potato flakes will do in a pinch, especially with a little mayonaise or sour cream but potatoes make everything better. 4. If you need help, ask your mama! My mama makes the best fried chicken I have ever had. I really don't think there is anything she can't cook. I never realized the privilege of sitting at her table until I moved away. 5. If you have tried everything and it just didn't turn out right, put some gravy on it and feed it to my Daddy. I could make a pan of gravy with biscuits or toast and he would eat it like a last meal of a man condemned. I am working on posting recipes. It is hard for me because I never measure anything..just a little bit of this and that. If you have any simple recipes you would like to share feel free to send them!

Off to Maryland!

I am off to Maryland tomorrow to visit my best friend. I haven't seen her in about 2 years so I am really excited.

This is a pic of us in our crazier days...ok you got me it was just a few years ago! I'm in the purple, she's in the black. That's my other bff Jennifer in the camo.

She has always been so much fun..I miss hanging out with someone that knows everything about you. I miss being able to be myself.

She has always been able to make uglier faces than me!

Ok maybe not! In any case I know I will have a blast! It will be so good to be around a southern girl again and when I say southern I MEAN southern. She once threw grits on a yankee and proclaimed it to be the second best day of her life!

It is hard leaving Matt and Trey for the weekend but I know I am in for a good time. Please pray that we have a safe trip. Will post new pics soon!

True Story Tuesday

I am trying something new this week, it's called True Story Tuesday hosted by Rachel and Mr Daddy

Heres what you do...Just post your most wacky, funny or outrageous story, link up here and make sure to read all the other True Story Tuesday posts!

Bless her heart, she's so confused!
I know that's what people will say about me when I get older, because I already have my moments!

Did you ever do something so dumb, that on top of it being really funny, you were also really embarrassed? The kind of thing you can't quit laughing about, but you secretly wonder if everyone thinks you are really stupid now? My life is full of those moments. I have a bad habit of not thinking about what I am doing. I am always thinking of the next thing I need to do, or what happened yesterday, etc.

I have always been sort of a silly person, so I don't mind making people laugh, even sometimes laughing at myself. Sometimes people think I'm sort of an air head. A co-worker of mine once asked my mother if I was born laughing. She replied "Y'know i think she was." I do love to laugh, and at times I seem to give myself plenty of things to laugh about.

Everyone that knows me, knows I love shopping at the dollar tree. There is just something about walking in there knowing that you can afford anything in the whole store that you want. I remember the delight I took in taking my son there when he was around three and the way his eyes lit up when i said, "Ok, pick out anything you want!"

One day at the dollar tree I perhaps did-or thought the dumbest thing ever!

I was walking past the cosmetics aisle, when i noticed the large nail files. I used to really enjoy getting my nails done, but now am too cheap to do it anymore. I saw some really cute glue on nails with some decorative pattern. I was going for cocktails with my neighbor that night so I thought it might be fun to do my nails and look extra cute.

I got the nails and got in line, when i noticed that the package only had 12 nails in it. I thought ok, even for the dollar tree that's a rip off! How the heck am I supposed to do my nails with 12 nails?? I became angry, I didn't want to spend another dollar and buy another package. I was so angry that I almost complained to a salesperson ( and I never complain to salespersons).

When i got home, still angry about the nail incident I called my friend to vent. How are you supposed to do your nails with only 12 nails?? She was silent for a few seconds and said "Were you going to do your toes too?" I said "No."  She said "Well, how many fingers do you have, because 12 should be more than enough." At once I figured out my mistake..I must have turned twenty shades of red as i erupted with laughter and so did she. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt, and when i caught my breath, managed to say, "Wow, I guess i thought I had 20 fingers today!" I am soo glad I didn't complain in the store!

makes me laugh

Sometimes my boyfriend looks like Orco from He-man. I can't explain it. When he wears this one particular hoodie I always tell him that.




Sometimes I call him Dookie, like that guy from gummi bears the cartoon.



He hates when I shop in antique stores because he is so afraid I will decorate our home with a picture of "dogs looking off" (in the distance, I guess) I really want to decorate it with a dogs playing poker picture. I have a secret longing for dreamcatchers and wolves also, but I was shut down instantly when I made mention of that to my boyfriend and best friend :(




Last but not least, this is Matt's self portrait. He hates the roads in Louisiana so bad, that he becomes angry when traveling there. He drew this about 5 years ago and i still laugh about every chance i get.