Its been almost a month...Seriously?!

Ok, I think it is fair to say that we have established the fact that I am a terrible blogger. I have good intentions, but that is about as far as it goes. On top of that, my camera has had an attitude lately, so I can't even post some of the pictures I would like to post. First of all, I would like to tell you all about a blog swap that I participated in recently. I found about the blogswap from the blog The Pink Potpourri. She matched me with Brandi, and it was AWESOME!! She was a great "swap buddy"!! I have a picture, but since my camera is holding it hostage, I'll just have to tell you what she sent. I got the cutest little fall cookie cutters, which I already have several ideas for, Sour Patch Kids (yum!), an apple coaster from the Apple Barn, some cute post-its, some of my favorite lotion from Victoria's Secret, a turtle trinket box, a mix for Key Lime Cheeseball, which I can't wait to try, and 2 of her own recipes. I feel like I'm forgetting something, but my stuff is at home, and well, I am not. :) It was SO much fun to get a package in the mail. (Brandi, if I left anything out, I apologize!!)

Now, on to my latest "crisis". Ok, so it really isn't a crisis, but that is the best I can come up with! I have been in a cooking "funk" lately. I definitely haven't been cooking as much lately for some reason, and when I do, it never turns out very well. I don't really know what the problem is, but I would love to hear from other people about what they do to get out of their cooking funk. Since fall is here, and it is my favorite time of year, I love to cook foods that make my whole house smell wonderful. I need to "revive" my cooking skills!!

We are also quickly approaching our 1 year anniversary. I cannot believe that it has been a year! I am taking a week of vacation the last week in October, and we are going to Pennyrile State Park for a few days of R&R. That is possibly my husbands favorite place on earth, so I'm excited to go there for our anniversary. Well, I think I am basically caught up for now. Hopefully I will get better at this soon!!

Bunco Night!

Tonight is the night that I really look forward to every month. A group of my friends get together for bunco. It is the most fun, relaxing and enjoyable time!! We happen to be meeting at my house this month, which is always a plus...I can have fun and never leave home! For my "bunco treat" tonight, I made a grape salad. I haven't tasted it yet, but it looks wonderful!! Here is the recipe...

Grape Salad

2 lbs green grapes
2 lbs red grapes
8 oz cream cheese
8 oz sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup brown sugar
chopped pecans

Remove stems from grapes, rinse and set aside. Mix cream cheese, sour cream, sugar and vanilla by hand until well blended. Mix in grapes. Mix brown sugar and nuts together. Put half of grape mixture into serving dish, covered by brown sugar mixture. Repeat another layer. Refridgerate overnight. YUM!!

I'm a sucky blogger.

I've just come to accept this fact. But I've also come to realize that it doesn't really matter, because nobody actually reads my blog!! Hopefully that will change soon. I haven't been doing a whole lot of cooking lately for some reason. I guess we have just been pretty busy. On Monday, we grilled bbq chicken, and I made hashbrown casserole, squash, and s'mores bars, and that has fed us for 3 days! I haven't cooked since. But tonight, I am going to attempt Pioneer Woman's chicken spaghetti. It looks sooo good, and I just hope it turns out well. I also hope that my hubby likes it, because he is weird about chicken recipes. If it were up to him, we would eat steak every night of the week!

On a different note, I am participating in my first "swap" this month. I just got the name of my swap buddy, and I am SO excited!! This is right up my alley! Well, I guess thats it for now. I'll try to be more faithful to this blog from now on!

Ok, so I haven't gotten better at this yet!

I really, really do have good intentions with this blog, I PROMISE!! Today I thought I would just post an easy "recipe". Its not even that. Its just one of my most favorite things. I love love love potatoes. Pretty much any kind. But I especially love a baked potato. I make mine the same way my mom always made them, and they are delicious!! Here's what you need...

1 large baking potato
butter
Lawry's season salt
aluminum foil

Start by washing your potato, and poking holes in the top. Then tear off enough foil to wrap the potato loosely. Set the potato on the foil, put a couple globs of butter on top, and sprinkle with season salt. Wrap the foil at the top, and put in a 400 degree oven for an hour to an hour and 1/2. It is WONDERFUL!!


On a different note, I'd like to find out who, if anybody EVER reads this blog. If you do, would you please leave me a comment to this post so I can check out your blogs? I look forward to "meeting" you!!

Turning 30 and other random thoughts

Almost 2 months ago, I turned 30. Now to some people, that may not seem like a big deal, but to me, it was HUGE. I got a little depressed in the weeks leading up to my birthday, because frankly, I am just not to where I thought I would be in my life by 30. Then, out of nowhere, I realized how ridiculous that sounded. I mean sure, maybe I don't have kids of my own yet, and maybe I am as successful in my career as I thought I would be by now, but when I sit back and look at what I do have, I have to say that I am pretty blessed. I have a job that I enjoy, an awesome husband who makes my life interesting every day, a stepson that I am starting to really build a relationship with, and a family and friends that I wouldn't trade for anything. When I started to realized how incredibly lucky I really am, the rest of my worry seemed to fade away. By the time that my actual birthday got here, I had embraced the idea of turning 30, and I actually had the best day ever!!
Now, I wish that I was better at keeping up with this blog. I really want to have a cooking blog like some of the ones I've found on here. But the fact is, I'm just not that disciplined. I don't want to post recipes without pictures, but I keep forgetting to take pictures when my meals are ready. I'm working on it, though. I'm going to get there eventually!!

Oh my!

I have been TERRIBLE at keeping up with this blog!! Wow! I re-read my first post, where I stated that I was not going to let this blog die down...Hahaha! But I have been spending a lot of time reading other blogs lately, so I think I am motivated. Plus, I finally found the cord for my camera to download pictures, so recipes will be coming soon! I hate finding blogs that have recipes but no pictures. I NEED PICTURES!! So anyway, this might be a slow week recipe wise because it is the end of a pay period, but I am bound and determined to make this blog worth reading. So stay tuned...!

Hmmm...

Well, it turns out that I am not a very faithful blogger! I just haven't had much to say this week. It has been a fairly boring week, which honestly, I should be grateful for. I'm glad that it is Friday, and I have a whole list of things I want to do this weekend. I am going to FINALLY do my spring cleaning, and work on the closets. No more excuses! I have got to get rid of stuff before our apartment starts busting at the seams!! So, I will hopefully have a good report on Monday!!