Georgia/Florida 2013

Yesterday afternoon we made our way on over to the Jackson's house for a cook out and to watch the Dawg's take on the Gators. It was such a GORGEOUS day if I may add that in here! Amber is always the Hostess with the Mostess having everything cooked and prepared just so I have NEVER had one thing bad out of her kitchen and not allowing you to do anything, but I actually was able to prepare our hamburgers. I cannot tell you how much I despise touching raw meat. It has taken me forever to be somewhat OK with me touching chicken but all else is a different story. 

Coach, I hope that little bit showed just how much I do love you!

Amber's appetizer dip was out of this world I had to seriously try and control myself it was so good. Ben got the grill fired up, on went the ribs and hamburgers, and after a nail biting 2nd half we enjoyed some awesome food! 

Sass finally got home from a skate party and after the game we got carried away with crayons and coloring. Random but when was the last time you picked up a crayon? I hadn't in FOREVER and I think I had even forgotten how they smelled. Amber and Ben's girls are so much fun and it's always great seeing them. Such sweetie pies!!

Before we left the house, I couldn't resist dressing Kyli in her Georgia Tutu! It is tradition after all. She should be used to it by now but she gets so P.O.'d she won't even move after it's on. Bless her. 

Right after I took this picture she turned and I guess showed me how she felt about having that tutu on! 

You can tell how much Coach LOVES having his picture made!

I am loving all the bright colors of the changing leaves. 

I spy a pony.

 Getting ready to touch some nasty raw meat! GAG! 

Amber mixes a beef onion seasoning pack when she makes hamburgers, and then at the request of my husband we put dale's seasoning on top to marinate for extra flavor.

Delicious! 

Face. Is. Priceless. Just showing him I did it on my own! Ha!

Remember in school when you would color a page with bright colors, cover it in all black, and then etch a design into it? That's just what we did! Ah the childhood memories!

It's great to be Fatty Boo Boos!

 SO.. after dinner the men took a drive to another friends house in the neighborhood to check out a smoker. I guess from Point A to Point B, the discussion turned to hunting and possible hunting areas around them, which then turned into staying on Google Earth for a couple of hours. 

They. Were. Serious. and on a mission. 

Poor Sass was caught in the middle.

Amber eventually called them out on it.

We love our pups too!

Fatty Boos Boos using Walker as a pillow.

Georgia was my BFF for the night.

And I leave you with the sweetest lap dog ever. The pony boxer named Walker. 

What college team were you rooting for yesterday?

Hope your Saturday was fabulous!!

GO DAWGS!

Happy July 4th!

Last night, Coach and I went over to Amber's parents house, they are just a hop, skip, and jump from us, for the fireworks show they have in their subdivision every year. 

Last year was loads of fun and pretty funny too because I got there just as the fireworks were starting. The gate code would NOT work for me so Amber's husband finally came to the gate to let me in.. pull up to exit gate, he goes in reverse, and I fly in the exit gate before gate closes on my tail end.. We both flew in the house for the remainder of the show. 

This year was TONS more better because Coach ended up being in town so I had my hubby by my side, the guard was there to let us in the gate, AND we got there before dark. Whoop whoop!!

The food was delish, company was great, we got to hang out with the besties, and the fireworks were awesome!

First July 4th together as Mr. and Mrs.!

This morning me, Mama Jane, and Gigi left early on a little road trip to see Aunt Kay and Uncle Jack in Louisville. 

The ride up was mostly a wet one but that didn't stop us from having a fun ride up. The scenery was still beautiful even tho it was quite foggy. There are acres and acres of open fields all over.  

Just beautiful. 

Aunt Kay had dinner ready for us and a fabulous pineapple cake for dessert. After dinner we watched home videos of when Mama Jane, Pop, my brother, and myself came in '94 to spend a few days on their houseboat they had then. There is one part where I am on an inner tube being pulled by the boat, and as we got started I guess I wasn't holding on good enough, and all you see is legs flying and bouncing over my head. I think we laughed just as hard tonight about it as we did when we first watched it on the boat years ago. I am going to try and get Mama Jane's copy when we get back home and update this post with a clip of that. Soo funny!!

We are supposed to go to the Horse Park tomorrow but there is still a good chance of rain here with some flash flood warnings. The weather should clear up Sunday so we are hoping to go then... Shopping is probably in our forecast for tomorrow!

I hope everyone had a happy, safe, July 4th!

And I leave you with a pic of this sweet little girl from last night. All bundled up in my clothes I was trying to pack.. I swear she always knows when I am going somewhere and does NOT wanna be left behind!

Lots of Love!

Cookout and A Baked Bean Disaster

Let me just start out by saying that I am NOT the World's Best Cook.

I seriously have probably 3 dishes and a pasta salad that I can cook pretty well. Coach is probably getting tired of those few staple dishes. As a matter of fact, I know he would love for me to learn how to be a "Southern" cook. 

Embarrassing for me to say I have even caught the stove on fire before just trying to BOIL WATER.. 

Sshhhh... Don't tell anyone I let you in on that. 

SO, having friends over for dinner makes me a wee bit nervous because I don't feel like I have the "timing" down just so or does the menu "compliment" everything well too. 

I HAVE to have a recipe to follow too.. there is no dash of this here and a dash of that there... My grandmother even got me a cookbook for Christmas a few years back called::

 It has honestly been a huge help.


But despite ALL of the above.. The Jackson's joined us for a little cookout last night!

Amber, Savanna, Ben, and Claire

LOVE this family.. 

Ben actually grew up with Coach and I met Amber several years ago! Coach was actually at Amber and Ben's house one night when she was telling him she was going to get her hair done that week. Coach asked her who she was going to see and she replied, "Ashley".. "I knew you were going to say that!", he said.

Now, where was I.. earlier that week I had found some great recipes to go along with our BBQ Chicken.

 I found 

Mediterranean Stuffed Tomatoes..

Zucchini Boats..

And I had a baked bean recipe.. 

This baked bean recipe has me scarred for life. Keep in mind here that I am branching out here for our cookout and trying something new. 

But SERIOUSLY who could mess up BAKED BEANS??!!

Uuumm, that would be Yours Truly.

I started these in the oven before the arrival of my company because it called for them to bake for 3 hours. After this came out of the oven..

..Amber informs me that is a pretty long time. I had no clue. Remember when I said I follow recipes to a T? I mean this stuff was BURNT onto the sides of my dish. I really thought there was NO hope to get this dish back to its original condition. (and fyi I took them out of the oven before its 3 hours was up.. they were SMELLING crispy)

dried. crispy. burnt. beans.

LUCKILY, we didn't have to make a 911 grocery store run because THANK THE LORD I had an extra can in the pantry, AND being the AWESOME friend Amber is she got the new batch up and going in no time! WHOOP WHOOP! 

I am going to start taking lessons from her, and in the process we are going to YouTube those kitchen shenanigans and then you will see her on the Food Network Channel! I, however, will not be in charge of any type of bean making. 

(We didn't let the guys in on that little mishap til the very end.. But Coach was wondering why I got backed up in the kitchen with getting the rest out of the oven on time.. HA!!)

MY ZUCCHINI BOATS...

..AND MED STUFFED TOMATOES

These veggies were super yummy and they are organic from my friends garden! 

Don't forget dessert!!!

 I made us the Ultimate Margarita Pie! (from the 5 Ing Recipe Cookbook!)

Check out my 'shoe' pie cutter too! A girl can never have too many!! 

Savanna and Kylee

(she loved all the attention)

Here is The Ultimate Margarita Pie recipe::

You need:

1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened

2 packages dry margarita mix

2/3 C sugar

1 (8oz) carton frozen whipped topping, thawed

1 (9 in) gragam cracker crust

Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Combine cream cheese, marg mix, and sugar; mix until smooth.

Gently fold in whipped topping. Spread into crust, and freeze until ready to serve.

You can garnish with lime slices or sprinkle a few crushed pretzels on top. 

SO YUMMY AND SUPER EASY!!!! 

Remember when you are in the kitchen and you don't feel like you have done your best, think of my poor baked beans AND my mortifying moment when I caught the stove on fire trying to.. yes.. I will say it again.. boil water!!!