Thursday=the simple things

the simple things with Jesslyn Amber

this week I am thankful for:

• the cooler weather in the mornings that are reminding that Fall is around the corner
• MSU football starts in exactly 2 weeks!! Go bulldawgs!
• This time next week I will have the Orange Beach sand between my toes
• veggie plates
• celebrating life with friends
• my daily jog with my best friend Daniel
• and coffee

reasons to celebrate

this past Friday was Daniel's bday

we got his new favorite for dinner,

the Fresh Market Cafe veggie plate,

then we went with his mom to see the Help...

I know, I know the Help for "Daniel's" birthday?

well we had made an agreement back on my birthday that we would see Transformers for him on my day and the Help on his day for me :) 

 that is part of what keeps us strong are the compromises

Saturday we went to Oxford to spend the day with his sister and the following morning I made

cake batter pancakes

for his birthday treat..yum yum

He got a kindle for his gift and a problem we have is we cannot wait to give each other our presents, so once we buy them it usually happens that we open them the same day...which means he opened his kindle 2 weeks ago when I got it in the mail :)

so...I wanted to do a little something special and make him a happy. As I have said previously my new obsession is

pinterest

and I found a really cool idea on there

materials

 halfway there

he loved it :)

the picture does not do it justice because of the flash, but you get the general idea.

My great friend Jen Jen got married Saturday!

it was a beautiful ceremony and she looked absolutely stunning!

me and my hot date :)

mom you should be so proud! I did the side bun all on my own,

you taught me well

For the special occasion I wore my dress I made

we had a great time!

but by the next morning I was ready to get back to see my B-bear! I have no idea what I will do next week when Daniel and I have to leave him for 5 whole days when we go to the BEACH!!

so excited about a relaxing trip with my honey

changes, accomplishments and great friends

I did several things to occupy my time this weekend.

First thing I did was rearrange our bedroom

from. . .

to

Bentley must have really loved the change because he would jump on and off the bed and run around in circles, it was very cute and entertaining.

after doing this and cleaning the house, I then headed to my mother-in-laws and made another dress :)

this one was ALL ON MY OWN!!!

a post about it and pics with it on will follow shortly!

We had planned a cookout at Anna's so I made

Oriental slaw, which I got from my great friend Kaitlin

and yummy cupcakes to go with our homemade ice cream

SOOO YUMMM!!

I got the best recipe for chocolate chip cupcakes from

Cupcakes by Elinor Klivans

Recipe:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sour cream

1/4 cup whole milk

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

preheat over to 325*F

in a large bowl, using electric mixer on low speed, mix the flour, brown sugar, and baking soda to blend them. add the butter and mix until the butter pieces are the size of peas, about 2 minutes. you will still see some loose flour. stop the mixer and scrape the sides of the bowl as need during mixing. mix in the egg and vanila. the batter will still look dry. mix in the sour cream and milk until batter looks very moistened, mix in the chocolate chips.

fill each cupcake liner with about a generous 1/3 inch from the top of the liner. bake just until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes. cool the cupcakes on wire rack

I then did the frosting on my own by mixing evaporated milk with powered sugar...so good...and drizzled it on top of the cooled cupcakes.

We had major delish food at the cookout

Captain Rodney's dip

broccoli salad

hashbrown casserole

slaw

cheeseburgers

girlfriends

i love my friends

the simple things

I almost forgot it's Thursday!

which means...

My simple things must be shared

Today I am only focused on one simple thing in life that no one should ever take for granted and that is

FAMILY

 

May you rest in peace Paul. We will miss you

Kel

mason jars

I have joined

Pinterest

(its my new favorite)

and got the idea to paint some mason jars from

CSI project

so that meant

another fun adventure while in Sturgis

here is an old shed behind my mamaw's house

don't you just love the country :)

 it is where we found TONS of old mason jars

 then washed them of course

 then I spray painted and decorated

and now they sit on the breakfast table in our kitchen