Friday Five - 2.24.12

1. Have you heard of Ben Rector?  I do not know him, but my mom knows his mom because my older brother, Adam, and his older sister, Lauren, were in grade school together.  A couple of years ago, I watched his rendition of "Free Falling" and I was beyond impressed by his talent.  Recently, a friend shared another one of his YouTube videos on Facebook, and I thought it was so good that I have to share it with you.  From browsing his website, it's looks like he's becoming very successful and I think I might have to buy his album on iTunes.

2. Two of our friends, Clint & Kendra, visited us from North Carolina this past weekend, and we had such a great time with them.  They're reporting to a new duty station sometime this summer, and they don't know where that is yet, but we really hope they end up moving to our town! 

Kevin and I love having overnight houseguests, and one thing I like to make when we have company is coffee cake.  I make my late Grandma Dottie's recipe, and it never disappoints.  Here is the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
1 plain yellow cake mix
1 small pkg. instant vanilla pudding
¾ c vegetable oil
¾ c cold water
4 eggs
1 t vanilla
½ c chopped pecans (divided in ¼ c parts)
¼ c sugar
2 T cinnamon

GLAZE INGREDIENTS:
1 c powdered sugar
1 T milk
½ t vanilla
½ T softened butter

DIRECTIONS:
1. Using electric mixer, combine cake mix, pudding, oil and water. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Add vanilla. Beat 8 minutes (important).
2. Meanwhile, combine ¼ c pecans, sugar and cinnamon.
3. Grease bundt pan. Sprinkle ¼ c pecans in bottom of pan. Pour in part of batter, then alternate the pecan mixture and cake batter, ending with batter, until all is used.
4. Bake at 350°, 40-50 min. Cool in pan 15-20 minutes then turn onto serving plate.
5. Combine glaze ingredients in small mixing bowl. Add more sugar or milk if needed.
6. After cake cools, drizzle glaze over cake.


3. Pandora app - I think I'm a couple of years late to the Pandora party, but I just started using the app and I really like it.  It's nice to listen to while showering, getting ready or cooking...so you might give it a try if you're not already using it.

4. So, Kristen Bell, the actress, is obsessed with sloths.  I don't know why, but this clip about her obsession is really funny.  You should watch.  Oh, and when I showed Kevin this video, he said I look a little bit like her when I cry!  Gee thanks, babe.

5. Because our friends were coming to visit last weekend, I bought some fresh flowers to put around the house.  Here's a pic of the hyacinth I bought; I just couldn't resist the sweet smell.  For just $5.99, it's a beautiful, fragrant and affordable addition to our home!

Friday Five - 2.3.12

A year ago this week, Kevin and I moved across the country.  We literally drove from the West Coast to the East Coast (over 2,400 miles!), but we spread it out over 2+ weeks and we stopped in Oklahoma for a bit to see family and friends.  During the drive, we spent a night in Albuquerque, New Mexico.  The following morning Kevin woke me up and said to look out the window. 

This is what I saw...

So, of course I grabbed my camera and tried to capture this incredible sunrise through our hotel room window, crossing my fingers that the colors would look just as magnificent in photos.  Thankfully, I think they do.

Happy weekend, everyone!

Friday Five - 1.27.12

1.  In my last post, I shared a photo of one of our gorgeous Camellia blooms.  Here is a pic of the entire Camellia shrub.  Isn't it lovely?  I think I need to research how to prune and maintain these beautiful shrubs so that they continue to thrive.

2.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, my mom is teaching me how to sew.  When I'm in Tulsa for any length of time, we often tackle a sewing project since my mom has a sewing machine and I do not.  (Actually, I "have" my late Grandma Johnson's sewing machine and cabinet, but we have not yet transported it to SC.)  Over the holidays, my mom and I made several burp cloths to give to my friend, Laura, and we made them differently than the ones we've made in the past.  I think they turned out really well!

3. For my 30th birthday, my mom gathered a ton of old photos of me, and we really enjoyed looking through them.  Here's one from Christmas morning many, many years ago...26 to be exact.  :)

4.  This is random, but it was so helpful that I have to share.  I don't know if any of you have smooth top stoves, but we do and I have had a hard time getting ours completely clean.  I've purchased the specialty cleaning products and followed the instructions exactly, but they haven't removed the faint cooking stains that come from liquids sizzling on the surface.  While looking for something at Walmart recently, I stumbled upon this cleaning tool and I was happy to see that it was safe for glass and ceramic stove tops.  I gave it a try when I got home, and it worked (without scratching the stove top)! 

5.  I attended a baby shower recently, and I saw something I've never seen before...a diaper tricycle!  Isn't it clever and adorable?!  I had to take a quick pic with my phone so that I could save the idea for future reference.



Friday Five - 1.20.12

1.  I received a very special birthday wish from South Carolina while we were in Oklahoma, and it came from this precious cutie-pie. :)  Thanks to his momma at The Newman Network for sending this sweet photo!

2. My heart melted again that day when I received this video from one of my favorite toddlers.  It's the sweetest version of "Happy Birthday" I've ever heard! :)  Thanks for sending it to me, Kee!

3.  While we were in Tulsa, Kevin and his mom found his high school letter jacket!  Check him out. :)

4.  Last weekend we went bowling for a friend's birthday, and Kevin scored a 246!  He knocked down all but like 3 pins during the game...which is CRAZY to me since he doesn't play that often.  I guess he and his buddies played quite a few times during the deployment but apparently he never did this well.

1. I had nothing to do with the nicknames.  2.  No, I will not identify my score.

5.  This is our first "winter" (if you can even call it that when it's 66 degrees outside) in our new home, so I am just now discovering that our two shrubs produce beautiful blooms this time of year!  Thanks to Al, who knows way more than I do about gardening, I've learned that they are most likely Camellia shrubs.  (Our builder planted them.)  Here's a completely unedited photo to show you how gorgeous and vibrant the color is.  This shrub is covered with blooms right now, and I am loving it! 

The big 3-0

I didn't blog last weekend because I was busy turning THIRTY years old!!!  Instead of a Friday Five this week, I thought I'd share some party pics.

My sweet husband and wonderful parents threw a fabulous birthday bash for me last Friday night, and I so appreciate all of our friends and family who came over to celebrate (especially the ones who came from out of town!!).  I am an extremely blessed 30 year old.  Unfortunately, I don't have photos of everyone who came, but here are some photos from the party. 

Susan & Laura

Gorgeous flowers from Susan!

Vern & Belinda

Rick & Toy

Laura's baby Ava, Kimmy & Caleb

Mom

Gina, Laura's baby Ava & Laura

Thank you family and friends for making me feel so loved!

Friday Five - 12.30.11

1. Our Christmas Tree

We still need to find a topper that we like.

2.  Our mantel in South Carolina

I found the garland at Michaels BEFORE Christmas and it was 60% off!

3. Lights covering a F-86 Sabre at MCAS Beaufort

I wish we had a better photo, but this was the best we could get using an iPhone from our car.

4. Christmas #1

Tara, Toy, Rick, Erin, Kevin, Kelly

5. Christmas #2

Vern, Belinda, Erin, Kevin, Kelly

Christmas #3 (with my parents and brother) was great as well but we didn't take a single family photo!  Pretty shocking since photos are a BIG deal in the Johnson household. :)  Oh well, we had fun and made memories. 

We had a fabulous Christmas with all of our loving families, and we hope you had a wonderful Christmas, too!