Wreaths!!

Happy Memorial Day!!

I saw this cute idea for a Memorial Day/4th of July wreath on Pinterest (go figure). And when I saw how easy it was to make I knew I had to try it out! Plus it calls for felt my favorite thing to make things with! Lol

Materials you will need: 

 
• 5 red pieces of felt
• 5 white pieces of felt
• 4 blue pieces of felt
• Safety pins 
• Styrofoam wreath
• Scissors or something to cut felt with
• White paper
• Ribbon for hanger

Cut pieces into 2 inch squares
I didn't take a pic of the next step so I borrowed this pic from http://ssbuffat.blogspot.com/2012/02/out-of-season-in-demand.html here you will also find more detailed instructions. So for this step you will basically take one square fold it in half corner to corner and then in half again (it's really easy).  The piece will end up looking like a triangle. You will then pin it to your wreath at the point of  the triangle. Then fold 3 more squares and pin at the point so that they all the point touch like in the pic. And then you fluff each square and continue to do that around the whole wreath. I didn't do the back cause no one really sees it anyways. Plus it would have been to puffy.

Once you pin a few you will get the hang of  it and breeze right through the pinning. I think it took me longer to actually cut the squares then to fold and pin.

The last thing I did was cut out some stars out and pin them to the wreath and pin a piece of ribbon to the back for a hanger!! Pretty easy if you ask me. And it looks great on my front door!

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day and remember what this holiday is really about and remember those who lost their lives for all of us!!

Photography!!!

Pictures!! I love taking pics!! I saw this idea of course on Pinterest and decided I had to try it out. So while my 2 yr old was still sleeping I did a little photo shoot with my little guy! Of course he didn't cooperate like I anticipated but I have an idea of what I want. I am also getting excited about taking photos of a close friend who is preggers. We have so many ideas we want to try. I am also headed back to Ks in about a week and plan on taking lots of pics of the family. I can't wait!! 

My husband recently got me a nice camera and I am excited to see what I can do with it. As of now I am using Picasa and Picmonkey to edit my photos but I am thinking about buying one of the photoshops. If anyone has any suggestions I would love it. I need to know how easy photoshop is to navigate and all that good stuff.  Well hopefully I get some good photos in the next few months and I will definitely be sharing them with all of you!!

Westboro Baptist Church Comes to Texas

Like I had mentioned in my post yesterday Westboro Baptist Church came to Killeen, Tx to protest the military. I decided I would go and see how the people of the military and the the town of Killeen were going to react to these people. Back home in Topeka where they are from, people have just kinda learned how to ignore them. Maybe that's why they feel the need to take their show on the road to get attention somewhere somehow(So sad). I really didn't know what to expect but when I got there it was complete craziness, there were people protesting against them everywhere!! I really didn't expect that many people. As soon as I got out of my car I could here chants of, "USA!! USA!! This immediately brought tears to my eyes (I am such a baby). But something about seeing all these people supporting our soldiers gave me a sense of pride! I started to make my way through the crowd and noticed that there were only a handful of WBC members picketing and by the time I got there they weren't holding their signs up and the police were just about to escort them out. As they headed to their cars with police surrounding them the crowd all of a sudden turned and started to follow them (crazy). They were yelling things like, "God loves everyone!", "Don't mess with Texas!!", and "Go back home!!" along with many other things. I was just so amazed by all of this. Once they  got in their cars a whole bunch of motorcycles followed them out!! After they left the chants of  USA did not stop. I talked to one lady and she said that they planned to keep picketing. After I talked to a few more people and took some more pics I headed to my gym which is across the street. I had so much energy from all these people I knew I was gonna have a good workout (I did). On my way out of the gym I wondered if anyone would still be out there. And sure enough the one lady I talked to who said they would be out there for awhile was the only one left with her one sign!! How awesome is that?! 

This guy was going crazy yelling all sorts of
stuff!

Drop dead Fred!

Ok, I know the title is a little inappropriate but it is a saying that I would see in Topeka growing up in regard to Fred Phelps who is the leader of the Westboro Baptist Church. Needless to say if you know what him and his church stand for you might understand. Although I really despise the guy I wouldn't actually wish death upon anyone. With that being said tomorrow in Fort Hood Tx him and his follower will be protesting against the military and gays. When I was younger I grew up within blocks of these people and it was just part of life back then. You would see them picketing at the park, schools, churches or just about anywhere I guess they felt necessary. Not sure where this mans hatred for gays or the government came from but somehow he has convinced his family and members of his church to do the same:(
As a military wife I am part of groups on fb such as the Fort Hood Area Events. They just basically keep me in the know of things around the area. Since Phelps and his followers will be here this weekend they posted this article http://gawker.com/5911068/nine+year+old-stands-up-to-westboro-baptist-church-with-one+boy-counter+protest.

I just loved this article especially the pic!! What a brave little boy!! (he's got it right).

Baked Mushrooms!

I have been trying to cook at least one side of veggies with every meal but steamed broccoli and carrots (which I love) are starting to get a little boring. So while at the store I picked up some mushrooms. Usually I saute them in butter, soy sauce, and sugar and they are delicious!!! But I figured I would try something a little healthier. So I googled baked mushrooms and could only find fried recipes (go figure). So I went to Pinterest and low and behold I found one!!  http://lowfatchick.com/2012/03/10/chives-and-asiago-mushrooms/ I just used parmesan instead of asiago cheese and left out the chives.

If you have every cooked you can basically see what I did. The pics don't show it but I also cut the mushrooms in half. I then battered them up, put them on a cookie sheet (sprayed with cooking spray), topped them off with parmesan and garlic salt and threw them in the oven at 350 for 25 mins. The link above will give you  more detailed directions if mine don't help. 

I loved these and will make them again. My husband said they were good which means that they were just ok. I think they would be even better dipped in ranch but again don't need the extra calories (I did see a recipe on Dr. Oz for ranch dressing though that has like no calories and fat. Maybe I should try that out soon).

My favorite day of the week!!

Not sure what it is about Thursdays but ever since I was a kid I have always loved Thursdays! Maybe cause it's only one day till the weekend? And plus I feel like the best tv is always on Thursdays. By the way is anyone else as excited as I am about the season finale of Grey's? (I really hope Derrick doesn't die) I did see Dr. Bailey on a talk show and she said that they were gonna loose one of the main characters:( Maybe this just means someone is leaving and not dying. That was the case on Criminal Minds last night. On the previews it said they were loosing one of the team members. So I just assumed someone died. But instead someone is just leaving the team (go figure). I guess I will just have to wait and see about Grey's....

So today after my great workout I rushed home bc my friend Heather and her daughter were coming over for a play date!! When Heather arrived she came bearing a gift!! So like any housewives would do on a Thursday afternoon we finished the bottle of red wine I had and started on the tasty bottle Heather brought over. It was just nice enough in the shade to tolerate being outside. But with the Tx summer fast approaching this may not be the case for long.

Relaxing outside was short lived bc our crazy girls weren't having it! They wanted to come inside!? What kind of kids don't want to play outside? Silly girls. So inside we went. Heather had to leave earlier then expected cause her husband was locked out of the house(opps). But all is good, both babies are sleeping, i'm finishing my glass of wine, and now I wait for the hubby to get off work and the finale of Grey's.

Oh, how I love Thursdays!!!

Dinner Time #2

Cauliflower "Mashed Potatoes"

I decided I was going to try this after talking to a random lady at Chick-Fil-A. (I like to talk to random people and spend lots of time at Chick-Fil-A) She told me that she makes it like she would mashed potatoes and her husband can't even tell the difference. When my husband asked me what we were having tonight I told him chicken, asparagus and mashed potatoes!! 

I started with just one head of cauliflower which was just enough for me my husband and my 2yr old. But I would say if you have a bigger family I would do 2.

I basically just cut the up the cauliflower into smaller pieces.

I then threw all the pieces into boiling water and boiled for about  10-12 mins or until the cauliflower got soft.

Not sure you can see it but after I drained the water I added some butter and garlic salt, oh and a little bit of milk. And then I start smashing. I served myself some and then added all the extra calories. I mean stuff my hubby likes, lots of sour cream and cheese. 

And dinner is served! First thing my husband asked is "what kind of potatoes are these?" I said, "oh, I bought white ones". He believed me! Lol. He probably thought I was crazy cause I stared at him until he took the first bite. As soon as he did I asked him if he liked them and he was like, "yea, why?" And then I let him in on the secret. I told him they were made from cauliflower. He said I probably shouldn't have told him but ate them and said he would definitely eat them again!! And so would I.
 *I thought they were very tasty. I think the more you add to them the less they taste like cauliflower. 

Dinner Time!

Baked Asparagus!!

                                        You only need three ingredients:
                                         1. Asparagus
                                         2. Olive oil
                                         3. Parmesan Cheese

 

Lightly coat asparagus with the olive oil and then sprinkle on the parmesan  cheese!!

Stick it in the oven at 400 and bake for 20 mins

This looks like the pic before but I promise its's not.

And now they are ready to eat!!

If you like asparagus than you will love this. 

*I got this off of Pinterest and would give the original of this credit but there was no link. It was just a pic with directions.

Not so guilty pleasure??

Special K Cracker Chips!! Yummy!!      
Since I have been desperately trying to loose this baby weight after my second child (by the way I only have 14lbs to go!! WOOT WOO!! I gained 56! Eeek!) I am trying to eat a little healthier and at the same time trying to still enjoy some  of the things I love, like potato chips! So on one of my weekly trips to Wally World I found these in the cracker isle and decided to give them a try. And the verdict is... they are delicious!!!  I could probably eat the whole box!!
So here are the facts:
Calories 110 (Calories from fat 20)
Total Fat 2.5
Serving Size 30 chips!!!
Servings per container 3.5

Now I really don't know anything else about the carbs and sodium and all that stuff, so if these are actually bad for me please do not spoil it for me quiet yet!! Every time I need a little snack I just grab a hand full which I know is not the 30 chip serving size. I also like these with salsa which I think isn't bad for you either.  So if you are looking for a little healthier snack I would definitely recommend picking up a box or two!! (I got sea salt but they also have many other flavors).                                                                                      

Fairy Princess Breakfast

Just posting this pic to see how it looks on my profile. This is my daughter June and I at a Fairy Princess Breakfast that we attended this past Saturday. It was a fundraising event that was put on by the USO, an organization that helps the military. One thing about my husband being in the military and living where we live is they have things like this all the time. I love helping out and enjoy doing things like this with the kids almost weekly.

Getting Started.

Ok, So I am playing around with the design and it's already a little more time consuming than I thought. So for now what you see is what you get. It was hard coming up with a name but Forever Young seems fitting for a couple of reasons; First, I am going to be 30 in 23 days!!! and I still can't believe it!! I sure don't feel 30 and plus after 2 kids I still feel and half the time act like a kid (nothing wrong with that). Second, I just had a conversation via text about where the time has gone and being a little confused about the whole number thing? lol (Love ya Erin:) So that is also what you get for now.
 So I guess I will basically be posting on my everyday adventures; food, crafts, photos, kiddos, annoyances;) and anything else that comes to my mind!
So I am hoping that not only do I get my closest friends to follow but also anyone with similar interest!! Hopefully I don't annoy people to much. Lol
Wish me luck!

???BLOGGING???

As if I don't post enough of my adventures, pics of my kiddos and arts and crafts on fb. I think I am going to try the whole blogging thing out. Why not right?  And that is if anyone really cares to even follow me and my oh so exciting life as an Army wife and stay at home mom!!