Merry Christmas!

With each year's end you begin to reflect on the year you are leaving behind and with each year's new beginning you begin to make goals and resolutions for the new year to come.  In 2015, I resolve to be the best mother I can be!!!  Trevor and I are expecting our first child!!  We look forward to our new bundle of joy to come July 13th, 2015!!

I am excited for this new journey in life and look forward to all the trails and joys that it will bring. 

Thirty One Flavors

I have somehow found that I enjoy surprising people more than I like to be surprised.  Then again I have my ways of figuring things out, so I'm not sure of the last time I was truly surprised.  My favorite person to surprise is my husband.  I think it's becuase I know that man better then he knows himself so I tend to know what to get him that will give him a surprise. So with this birthday approaching this year here I am again with another surprise present.

His birthday this year falls on Thanksgiving so instead of giving him his gift on Thanksgiving I gave it to him a few days earlier to help him feel the seperation between the two holidays.  After last years "Thirty Favorite Things" birthday I had to top myself.  How does one top thirty presents? Give him thirty one!!!

 

Excuse the mess that is a kitchen remodel, and the
Halloween decorations that are still up in the middle of November!

Well I kind of gave him thirty one presents! He got a new Yeti cooler filled with Baskin Robbins 31 Flavors.  He has been enjoying eating a new ice cream flavor every night, and he was even sweet enough to give me my favorite Baskin Robbins flavor, Rainbow Sherbert.  I'm going to have to call this surprise a SUCCESS!

 

 

10 Best Halloween Movies

In honor of Halloween...

For those who love horror, suspense and creepiness you are bound to love my list of my favorite, and in my opinion the best Halloween movies.  They range from old favorite classics, to comedy, and even chick flicks.  In no particular order the 10 Best Halloween movies are...

PRACTICAL MAGIC

Not a big box office hit, but that's not what the movie is about.  It's about a shabby chic house, midnight margaritas, and sisterly love...Ahhh!

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASACRE

Terrifying! At least it was for me believeing that this movie happened only 15 minutes from my house! Fast forward ten years to find out that it was filmed 15 minutes from my house.  Now the movie is a little less terriying, but it still has the low budget documentary style which still creeps me out.

THE ADDAMS FAMILY

There is something gorgeous about a decaying manor, velvet smoking jackets, and floor sweeping gowns.  Plus this movie has some great one-liners in it.

THE EXORCIST

From my sheet covered eyes this was the scariest movie ever...when I was six!  The remarkable special effects and the eerie atmosphere of this film still make it one the scariest movies ever.

THE SHINING

There's nothing creepier than twins that dress alike and talk at the same time.  There's nothing creepier than a haunted hotel. There's nothing creepier than Jack Nicholson's "Here's Johnny" smile. There's nothing creepier than this movie. Period.

YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN

Oh, Mel Brooks how I love you! Gene Wilder's hysteria is perfectly natural in this spoof, which is somehow perfectly disturbing. 

THE BIRDS

No one does suspense better than Alfred Hitchcock.  Even with modern techonology and CGI, this black and white film is still scary.

ROSEMARY'S BABY

How can pregnancy be disturbing?  Easily answered when you are carrying Satan's offspring! Side note: Mia Farrow's hair is awesome!

ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW

Love it or Hate it: Halloween wouldn't be the same without it. Sing to me Lips!

NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET

Wes Cravens intellegent premise, combined with horrifying Freedy Krueger still causes nightmare to this day.  Plus who doesn't love a good stripped sweater and hat, stylish!

Reese Witherspoon

Let me preface by saying that I am no fashion blogger or by no means a style expert.  With that said, lately Reese Witherspoon has been making me fall in love with her all over again!  Not only is she a great actress and a true southern girl, but her style is a breath of fresh air that has stolen my heart.

1. Modesty is always beautiful. Modesty isn't about hiding your body, it's about revealing your dignity. Her clothes express that she has a sense of pride and respects herself.

 

2. Fun, Flirty & Feminie. Her style is able to speak for her and tell the world who see is; fun, flirty and feminie

 

3. SEXY. Life is too short to wear boring clothes; she make heads turn and she stops them in their tracks!

 

 

4. Everyone has a bombshell whithin them.  Sometimes she just needs a little enticing to come out and when she does, she blows everyone away.  As Reese does in this bombshell dress!

 

 

5. Sophistication in dress form. By all other names Reese is very chic in all attire she wears.

 

 

6. Wear what works.  When you are able to find what works for you and your body rock it.  And Reese rocks it in every A-line dress and skirt she wears.

 

 

7. Emrabce Prints. And she does, she knows which prints work best for her body type and works it everytime she wears them. She is not scared of a good print.

 

 

 

Reese Witherspoon is one of a few of my style inspirations. Stay beautiful Reese!

 









Kitchen Chronicles: Inspiration

What is that saying that's on a Someecard somewhere..."Pinterest, it's what I do when my husband is watching Hockey!"  With there being an average of 5 hockey games a week watched in my household, I have a lot of Pinterest time.  With all the beautiful kitchen inspirations on Pinterest and blogs, I have come up with my own Kitchen inspiration that will suit our house perfectly.

 

 

Here are some of the images I took a lot of inspiration from.

 

Source

 

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Kitchen Chronicles: The Begining

With six weeks until we host Thanksgiving at our house I should be creating a menu, shopping for centerpieces, and starting to invite friends and family. That is the rational Amanda talking; instead we have decided to tear apart our kitchen for a kitchen "facelift."

Since moving into our 1991 house a year and a half ago, we always knew that we were going to remodel our kitchen.  It will probably be another 10 years or so before we take on the full remodel, so we planned to give the kitchen a facelift until then.  I have been putting this job off for a while now due to the size of our kitchen and what I want to do.  The problem lies within painting all 28 oak cabinets, inside and out!  Doesn't that sound like fun?!?!? So this weekend we made the first move...sanding!

 

Which then turned into priming last night. Well one side at least.

 

 

Since this is the beginning of my Kitchen Chronicles a picture to reminisce over. Oh terra cotta floors, how I DON"T miss you!

 

 

On to more priming tonight...

 

 

 

 

 

Tuscan Pasta

If you are a lovers of all things Italian and all things meat, you are bound to love my Tuscan Pasta.  This is by far my most asked for recipe and that's because it is the most delicious Italian dish ever...yes, I did just go there!

 

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. Bowtie Pasta

1 lb. Italian Roll Breakfast Sausage

1/4 lb. Canadian Bacon

1/4 lb. Pepperoni

6 Strips Breakfast Bacon

1 jar Tomato/Alfredo Sauce

Parmesan Cheese to top

 

INSTRUCTIONS

 

Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Once the water is boiling cook the Bowtie Pasta until pasta is cooked.

 

While the pasta is cooking begin to brown Italian Sausage on the stove top in a medium sized skillet.  Chop the Canadian Bacon and Pepperoni into small squares.  Add the Canadian Bacon and the Pepperoni to the sausage to cook for 3-4 minutes.  Once the sausage, pepperoni, and Canadian bacon are all cooked, drain excess grease.

 

Cook the Breakfast bacon your personal desired way to an extra crispy consistency.  Chop the bacon once cooked and add to the meat mixture.

 

Drain the cooked pasta and return to the pot in which it was cooked.  Add the four meat mixture and the Tomato/Alfredo sauce to the pasta and stir to mix ingredients.

 

Top with desired amount of parmesan cheese. Serves 5-6.

 

Enjoy!