My A to Z Challenge Theme

   Hey y'all! I know I'm a little late on this but here is my theme for this April's A to Z Challenge. Someone of you probably won't be surprised by this theme, given the title of my blog.

   Drumroll please. My theme is.......the ABCs of marriage and relationships! I'll be blogging about things that are important to a marriage, my personal opinions on different areas of our relationships, and a little about me and my husband's relationship, among other things. This is not a foray into being a relationship therapist or expert. Merely a point of view from someone looking at marriage and relationships at the point I am right now. So if this interests you can come back tomorrow and read my first post for this challenge. See y'all tomorrow!

Spring Has Sprung

  The first day of spring was last Friday and I couldn't be more thrilled! I've always been more of a warm weather girl myself, so I wasn't too happy with all the snow we had. Here's just a few things I'm looking forward to now that spring has arrived!

1. Spring clothes
   When the first warm day hits us the first thing I do is break out my warm weather clothes! With every season there is changing out of the clothes, but when spring arrives the clothes are just happier. If clothes could be happy.... I'm looking forward to checking out the Lilly Pulitzer collection coming to Target in April. It's not just clothes, but home décor as well.

2. Grilling
  There's just something fun about knowing you could eat outside, even if you just plan to cook outside and eat inside, those mosquitos are vicious! My husband has been itching to get grilling since a few weeks back. Maybe after Easter we'll fire up the grill.

3. Iced coffee
 There's nothing better than riding around on a warm afternoon, windows down, ice coffee in hand. Iced coffee, at least for me, is like the cherry on top of a warm spring or summer day. Let's be honest though I drink it even in the winter and fall, especially when Chickfila was giving away coffee for the whole month of February.

4. More time outside
   Now you could spend as much time if you wanted outside in the winter, that is if you wanna freeze to death. It's just amazing to walk outside in the morning and realize it's even 10 degrees warmer than yesterday morning. I don't know about y'all but it makes me super excited to visit Maymont for a good old-fashioned picnic.

5. The A to Z Challenge
  For those of you that don't know what that is it's a blogging challenge to write one post every day(except Sundays) starting with A all the way to Z during the month of April. This will be my first year doing it and I'm very excited to see how it turns out, and to read what other bloggers will be blogging about. Stay tuned to hear about my theme for the A to Z Challenge!

What are y'all looking forward to this spring?

Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

  Hey y'all! Wednesday night at our house we had chicken pot pie casserole. Something my mom and I have been making for years now. It's super easy, and is a real crowd pleaser! Every time we make it we make it a little different, but this last time everyone said it was the best it's been in a while. So here's the recipe for Wednesday night's chicken pot pie casserole.

Ingredients:

• 3 cans of Campbell's Chunky pub-style chicken pot pie soup
• Green Giant Steamers broccoli spears & butter sauce
• Green Giant Steamers Family Size cauliflower, green beans, & carrots in a sweet garlic sauce
• 8oz. bag of sharp cheddar cheese
• 3oz. bag of French fried onions
• Refrigerated biscuits for top
• Enough butter to melt to put on top of the biscuits

First cook all of the veggies.

Then mix all ingredients minus biscuits and butter in a 9x13 casserole dish.

Bake @ 350 degrees for 50 minutes, covered.

Take out, add biscuits and the melted butter on biscuits.

Bake at the temperature on the biscuits package(mine was 375) for 20 minutes uncovered, then 10 minutes covered.

Voila'! That's all you have to do. It's the kind of dinner you can set the timer and continue cleaning out your fridge! Here's the finished product:

 Have a great weekend y'all and enjoy the 1st day of spring!

P.S. Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Once A Day Hoped For

  Today would have been our son James' due date. It's a little shocking to me how fast it has arrived. Like that doctor appointment you weren't ready for but here it is.
   I can't help but think about what I would be doing today if this was still his should be birth day. Although I know most babies don't arrive exactly on their due date, in fact most don't. He didn't.
  I go through my day today and I think to myself, would I go into labor right now? Would I have been induced? Then I remember that things are the way they are. There's no turning back the clock on this. He came as swiftly as he went.
  On this St. Patrick's Day I choose to remember him as the joy I had expected today. The joy of  promises of more birthdays to come, cries to answer in the night, books to be read about puppies and little boys like him. I shall be comforted by the promise I still have left, of seeing him in Heaven one day somewhere over the rainbow, our little pot of gold. We love you Carter James.

Mondays With Mother: Interview With My Mother

  Happy Monday y'all! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Instead of doing a post about the funny things my mother says, I thought I might give y'all an exclusive interview from her. Let's get started!

Me: "What show would you wanna be on if you could be on any television show?"
Mother: "I would not wanna be on any t.v. show, but if I had to be I would just wanna be on a reality show."

Me: "Why a reality show?"
Mother: "When we watch fictional shows we're asked to believe it is real. So what could be better than reality t.v. show. And don't tell me they're not real!"

Me: "Good point. How do you take your coffee?"
Mother: "This is a boring question. In the morning I take one equal and powdered creamer, and it has to be instant in the morning, and a dash of salt. I got that from my maternal grandfather. Who also used to drink it out of a saucer. I don't do that. Second cup of coffee, no sweetener and liquid flavored creamer. My favorites are hazelnut, Irish cream, York peppermint patti, and pumpkin spice in the fall."

Me: "If you could live anywhere else, where would you live?"
Mother: "For many reasons I would not leave this area. but I would leave my house. And if I could have any house I wanted it would be a toss up between a modern house, a Mediterranean house, or a Georgian revival. But if I was not me I could see myself living in Paris."

Me: "If you had to give up television or you phone, which would you give up?"
Mother: "Well if everyone that I needed to check on or keep up with could contact Frank or you then I may give up the phone on certain days. Especially since I don't have a DVR. In fact my t.v.'s so old I've seen people making coffee tables out of them. And when the emergency information comes on we can't even see it."

Me: "What age did you get your ears pierced?'
Mother: "I don't really remember. I think I was 14 or 15. Back then you went to your doctor to get it done. But I had a terrible experience the first few months. One of my ears swelled up so much that the back of the earring got embedded in my skin and had to be removed by the doctor."

Me: "What's a pet peeve of your's?"
Mother: "Tardiness and indecision."

Me: "What's your favorite, not grocery store?"
Mother: "Well it used to be Dollar General, but they don't have as much stuff anymore. And the one closest to me plays the most horrible country music.(I don't hate all country music but I don't know where she finds this). I love Family Dollar, but none convenient to me anymore. I used to love Big Lots but they're too expensive. Now who would pay full price and wanna go in Big Lots?! Okay Target, now I never find anything in Target unless it's on a sale end cap. Kohl's has some unbelievable buys. Macy's has great sales that end up not being much more than Walmart sometimes. I like Ross, and I like Home Goods for colognes."

Me: "If you hadn't been a wife and mother, what would you have done?"
Mother: "Well I would have been an actress in New York on the stage, or a doctor of research, or an archaeologist, or maybe a singer-songwriter. But these are what I thought when I was younger, but now if I didn't have the life I have, the only other thing I'm really interested in is having my own small theater and directing plays and running it- kinda like the firehouse theater here in Richmond."

Me: "What is your life philosophy?"
Mother: "Well I am a follower of Jesus Christ, I guess I would say basically the golden rule, do unto others and you would have them do unto you. Be a good listener. Be the kinda person that makes other people feel good about themselves when they are around you, and always remember life is always changing and everyday believe something good is going to happen to you.

  I thought y'all should know that mother shot down about the 30 of my questions, here's what was left. Well this has been Mondays With Mother. Have a lovely day!

Mac 'n' Cheese? Yes Please!

   Hey y'all! It's raining this Wednesday(late) morning. I'm not crazy about rain, but I'll take it over 6 inches of snow any day! The other night I was thinking about making my mac 'n' cheese again and then I remembered, I never shared the recipe with y'all! Well here it is....finally!

   The above picture is from the very first time I made it, so sorry it's not very pretty. But it was tasty!

All you need is:
1 16oz. box of macaroni
1 8oz. package of cream cheese
3 cups of sharp cheddar cheese(the first time I only used 2, the second time I switched to 3. Most standards bags of shredded cheese hold 2 cups of cheese)
4 cups of milk(I used 2%)
Salt & pepper to taste

   You put all of the ingredients in your crockpot, and set it on high. My mac 'n' cheese was done in about 3 1/2 hours. Not too bad! All you really have to is stir it about every 30 minutes, making sure to get down to the bottom to prevent any from burning on the bottom. That's it! Next time I might add a little paprika to give it something different.
  If you try this recipe I'd love to hear how it worked out for you! What are some of your easiest
recipes? 

*NOTE: This used to say 2 cups of milk, it's really 4!!! Sorry to anyone who tried to make it with only 2.

Mondays With Mother: 2

 Hey y'all! I hope everyone's week is off to a good start. But if it's not hopefully this should make you laugh!

  The other day I came home from lunch to change and Mother is standing in the living room about to leave herself.
Me: "You look nice!"
Mother: "Thanks! Imagine how I'd look if I did my eyes!" (She was kidding).

Me: "Ankle strap heels are so cute, but they can be hard to pull off."(I meant they're not flattering to everyone).
Mother: "No they're not, you just unbuckle them."
 
  This is actually something she said years ago. I was probably 10 or 11, and I'm watching television. It was close to Christmas I believe.
Mother:(Turns to my Father) "Look at her, looking at the t.v. with childlike wonder!"

   I'm in the kitchen doing Mother's hair. We had the oven opened and on since it was so cold. Mother is peering into the oven.
Mother: "This oven is really not keeping clean. It's suppose to be self-cleaning!"
Me: "Um you do realize that's a mode you have to put it on, right?"
Mother: "I thought it did it continually. What's the point of having self-cleaning if it's not automatic!"

  One time probably 20 years ago my Mother is in a thrift store with one of her friends. Mother sees a hat and quickly goes into the dressing room to try it on. I guess going into dressing rooms to try on hats was polite back then haha! So she's in the dressing room, trying on the hat, and she hears laughter coming from outside. She inspects the hat further and sees there's a tag on it. It reads "home décor". At this point she's so embarrassed that she comes out and tells people that she was just hanging it on the door to see how it looked. But there was no getting around it, everyone knew she had tried it on.  Her hair was sticking out and everything.

  A few years ago we went through a phase where we would video ourselves dancing in various stores. Here's one of our many gems!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Have a great Monday!

The Afterlife In This Life

   When you hear the afterlife you're probably imagining angels and streets of gold, but that's not the afterlife I'm talking about. I'm talking about the afterlife after tragedy. A.T.
  You see I believe we all have two lives and two selves. Our lives and selves before tragedy(B.T.) and after tragedy(A.T.). I guess that kinda throws a monkey wrench in the whole YOLO thing(YOLO= you only live once).
    When I think of who I was and how I looked at life before James died it's as if I'm watching a movie about someone else. Just a few days before it happened the future with my child felt just around the corner. Now the future with a baby is more murky and distance than before.
    In some ways I'm still the same girl. I like the same foods, I watch the same shows, I take my coffee the usual way(two creamers and a half of a splenda). But things are different now. I don't assume things will be okay, in fact I KNOW things won't always be okay. That's not to say I can't have a mostly happy life, but it does mean I can't go back to my old life.
    Tragedy and mourning changes us. Sometimes in good ways. It makes us remember that things are precious and to not take for granted that things will stay the same. Because they won't.
    Tragedy is like a fork in the road. You can't go back, you can only go left or right. Sometimes it's hard to know which road is worth taking. But take one you must, you can only stand there but so long before a car comes.
    I believe everyone will have their own tragedy on this earth. That doesn't mean that we'll all have a child die or that most people would even recognize it as tragedy. We might even have had an event in our life that we thought was our tragedy and it turns out our tragedy hadn't hit us yet.
   I tend to think the person we become A.T. is our true self. That's doesn't mean that self is better or worse, in fact it might be hard to compare. Comparing is futile anyways, it can never change the life and self you have now.
    My old life is locked up behind a gate along with the girl I used to be. For a while I banged on the gates and pulled on the locks and chains. Some days I still do. But I'm slowly beginning to see that that's where the old me belongs. The me I am today is more of a melting pot of something new and something old. Not totally the new girl, not totally the old girl. Like I'm the old girl's slightly wiser older sister.
   Whatever life you're in right now, B.T. or A.T., just remember things won't always be the same and neither will you. But that's the beauty in life, it doesn't stop moving.

  

Mondays With Mother

   If you're wondering who "mother" is, well she's my mother. Didn't see that coming did ya? (Note: that's sarcasm).
   The other day I was laughing about something my mother had said and I thought to myself, maybe y'all would find her as funny as I do. Please note that my mother is totally okay with this and is one of the rare people that can laugh at themselves. With that said here's just a few examples of my mother's humor, both intended and accidental, mostly accidental.

Me: "We should paint the house in different shades of grey."
Mom: "Like 40 shades of grey?"(It's 50 shades of grey. I guess the last 10 aren't important).

Mom: "Wanna watch The Smack?"(She's talking about the miniseries The Slap, which we love).

Mom: "Don't go in the pond!"

Mom: "I'm hungry but y'all like the gross place for breakfast!"(She's talking about Taco Bell).

Mom: "You made me hit my knee into that pole because I was trying to get away from you."

Me: "Is that James there?" (From Dillon's place of work).
Mom: "Oh I thought you meant James from Vanderpump Rules."

Mom: "I'm going to need you to smell my sweater and be honest with me."

Here's a video of my mother, enjoy the rest of your Monday!