March Madness.....

It doesn't just have to be in basketball, does it!!!!???

The month of March has flown by for us!!

Earlier in the week, my boss and I filled out our NCAA Tournament brackets.
We are playing for a chicken fried steak dinner from a local cafe in OKC!!! As of Friday AM, he was ahead by 1!!!! Sadly, I didn't pick my own state team to make it very far, only going to the Sweet 16!!! I did pick NC to win the whole tournament! My former boss was an NC grad so I usually choose them, especially when they are a No 1 Seed!!!! I don't really watch too much basketball but filling out a bracket makes it a little more fun.

Bryan presents his thesis on Monday March 23rd...again, more March madness!!! He asked me to proofread his paper Friday, which I did. Next Tuesday will be a GLORIOUS day, no more project work!!! I had marked engineering technical words in his paper just because I couldn't even read them, how was I to know if they were spelled right!!! My man is S-M-A-R-T!!!!!

He has spent every evening of his Spring Break finalizing his power point presentation.

Last weekend, I dropped by Boston's 1st birthday party. He is so adorable! Brooklyn asked me to take pictures with her camera. Looking back I didn't get one picture of Boston opening his gifts or eating his cake on my camera. But I think I did okay for Brooklyn!!

In just a little over a week and a half Brooklyn's girls will be having their party together! I'm excited for their gifts! I've been carrying them in my trunk for a week! Bryan and I had fun shopping! We wish we were kids again...kind of...maybe...not really!!! :-) But they do have all kinds of cool stuff now!

March 30th - April 5th is National Spring Cleaning Week!!! I hope to start mine this weekend!!

We have had a busy week and I'm behind on some down and dirty cleaning!! I also have a few organizational projects to start. Now that Bryan is finishing his school project, maybe I can get some order back into our office!! :-) Isn't it good we have an entire week to get the Spring Cleaning done!!!!

Happy Spring Cleaning !!!!

Hey Good Lookin' What's Ya Got Cookin'

Disclaimer: I'm not calling myself good looking. Honestly. I was just trying to think of a catchy title.

We have several expenses coming up with Bryan's graduation, and Bryan has been extremely busy, and it has been nasty weather so I am really trying to cook more and stay at home. Why don't we do this more often??!! I love the comforts of home and eating supper in my lounge wear (mostly pjs if the truth were told) !!

I cooked on Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday so far. I was at a Bible study on Monday and Bryan picked himself something up after his class on Wednesday.

Tuesday's Meal

Chicken in "Red Sauce"

My friend, Krista, gave me this Weight Watchers recipe.

I doubled the recipe because we had company. But the normal recipe is 1 cup ketchup, 12 oz diet coke, and 3-4 chicken breasts. Simmer all 3 together for 40-45 minutes. Remove pan from heat and the sauce will thicken. I love the sauce over rice.

I forgot to take an after picture so you'll have to settle for my left overs picture. Bryan loved this recipe and ate it up until he accidentally discovered the ingredients. But he will still eat it now. At first, I thought it would taste really ketchupy, but it doesn't. It is easy. While it simmers for 45 minutes, you can be busy working on something else.

Thursday's Meal

Chicken/Potato Soup

My friend Brooklyn made this soup for me over a year ago and I loved it. You buy this mix from Wal-Mart and add the other ingredients (I used homegrown frozen corn and 2 cans chicken). Just follow the directions on the package.

Upon Brooklyn's suggestion I waited until the last 10 minutes to add the corn and chicken.
Bryan typically likes to have something extra with his soup so I made him a grilled cheese sandwich. I loved having this soup on Thursday because it was so could outside!! Major comfort food!!

Friday's Meal

Steak N' Corn

I got this recipe from a friend in Ada over 8 years ago!!

I really think you can make this with any cut of steak. On Friday I used chuck steak we just recently got from the beef we bought.

Marinate/Season the steak to your liking and then cook it in an iron skillet (I used wortshire sauce, liquid smoke, salt & pepper). While the steak is cooking, cut up a tomato. Once the steak is done, throw the tomato and corn in the skillet and cook until done. I forgot to take a picture when we sat down to eat, but I did get this picture of the corn/tomato cooking.

I was inspired by Kelly's pantry organization. I woke up at 4:00 am on Saturday morning and couldn't go back to sleep. So, I thought with all this cooking, it might be helpful for me to organize my spices and "pantry" cabinet.

Before

After

Then on Saturday I cooked supper to take to my sisters for a family meeting. We had enchiladas.

What's so ironic, I've done all this cooking and due to schedules and commitments this week, I will only be home to cook this coming Friday!!! Thank goodness for left overs!!

Guilty As Charged

For about 2-3 months now we have had major disciplinary issues with our beagle, Lilly Belle. Due to her over hyperness and destructive tendencies she quickly became an outside dog when she was a puppy. We started having almost daily episodes of her trying to get out and visit the neighbors. Remember, she cut herself when she tried to get out about a month ago and we had to take her to the vet. Bryan would patch the fence and we decided to leave them in the dog run when we are not at home and let them out when we are at home and put them back in at night. Bryan just needed to buy some time until he could set something up to stop her from digging under the fence (enter the electric fence wire. Please don't turn us into the animal society. We love our precious dogs and the voltage is not high!!).

I let them out last Saturday when I got back from visiting my grandmother. They (we have 2 dogs) had been out in the big yard for about 10 minutes and then I said to myself...."Self, you should go check on Lilly." I did and she was gone!!!! This is what I found.......

Luckily and thankfully, she was just in the neighbors backyard and I was able to get her out. She spent some time in doggy jail......

We also loved majorly on our other dog, Layla, in front of Lilly. Lilly Belle was about to go bazurk because she wasn't getting any attention.

Bryan has "wired" the fence now and we have not had any problems!!

Most people give a carpet allowance when they sell a house. We will have to have a fence allowance!! Our fence looks like patchwork now!!!

12 Years

On Sunday, March 8th, Bryan and I celebrated our 12 Year Wedding Anniversary!

We were married at 20 and we were sophomores in college!

It was a busy weekend for both of us but we did get to go eat out on Sunday after church. We ate at Cheddars, a new restaurant in Norman. It was a sweet time together. Right now, I'm so thankful for the brief moments we have together; just the two of us. We have learned to make the most out of them.

Bryan had been saving his "Mad" money and used it to buy me some Nike Shox!!! They were something I had just wanted and were absolutely not a need as I have other tennis shoes that work just fine. They meant so much to me because I knew he had saved for them!! I bought him new sunglasses to replace the ones he had lost.

You have no idea how much I am blessed to have Bryan as my husband. I am blessed beyond measure!! I wish so much I was a great writer and could put into words what Bryan is to me and how he makes my heart go crazy at times!!

Since we have been married 12 years, I thought it appropriate to list 12 things I like about Bryan or being married to him.

1. He loves me despite who I am. He chose me to be his wife when he deserves so much more than me.

2. He is so patient with me and others.

3. He is friendly.

4. He always looks at the big picture and encourages me to do the same just by his example.

5. He is crazy intelligent.

6. He is a manly man who loves guns & hunting.

7. He loves God and His word.

8. He has served his country.

9. I love his laugh. I love to see him get so tickled he cries! My life is so full of joy living with him.

10. He looks good in camo!

11. He shares in my dreams and hopes. He encourages me about our future. He remains positive when I am negative.

12. He's a handsome dude!!

I love you Bryan Edward Haskins a.ka. "Buddy" !!!!

A little bit of this and A little bit of that...

Bryan's parents sent this plant to us last Wednesday. It was the 1 year anniversary of my last and final ectopic pregnancy (February 25, 2008). It was nice to be thought of. And since I had two ectopic pregnancies within 2 years, I thought it quite appropriate there were 2 different plants. I have a new journal and I've decided to save my private thoughts on the 25th to start my new journal for the year.

I love the verse on the journal.

"Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Hebrews 11:1.

I picked this journal because I thought that verse very appropriate for the journey Bryan and I possibly have before us.

I Got Mail

I love getting snail mail. And I especially love getting packages! And I love when all of them come in one day!!!

I'm preparing for summer and since I fell in love with my black reefs last year, I concluded it was a must I have a brown pair this year! Black flip flops and Brown flip flops should be a staple in any wardrobe, in my humble opinion.

My flip flops came last week!!

I had also ordered some books from Amazon and they came on the exact same day.

In case you are wondering I've been doing an ongoing study on the translations of the Bible and both these books had come recommended. Then I ordered this book from Biblio.com and it came on the exact same day as all the above but at a different time!!
It was as if I was having Christmas in February!!!! Side note: It was cold enough in OK last week that it could have been Christmas!!

Rockin' with The Robertsons and The Whitmores

Our friend, Joe Don celebrated his birthday last week. They invited us over to their house for a yummy chicken enchilada dinner and birthday cookie. His son Jackson and Jackson's friend, Steven (who was my new guy :-) ) "played" the drums and trumpet while we sang Happy Birthday! They were so adorable!! They are full of energy, creativeness, and love!!! It was precious!!

This is Joe Don's wife and my friend, Jennifer, with their boys, Jackson and Jake! This is such a sweet family. We love them!! Actually we tag along with them just because their boys are so adorable!! We use them for their children!! :-) Just kidding!!

They pulled out Rock Band (I think that was what is called) and Bryan had his try on the guitar! It was so much fun to watch and hear. Joe Don even played the drums. The guys were quite the band!!!!For your listening pleasure and his embarrassment, here is a video of our friend Luke singing on Rock Band!! I think he should go to American Idol!!!

I have been trying to bring donuts/milk to Sunday School for anyone in our class who had a birthday that week. We had donuts not too long ago so for Joe Don I made little smokies in a blanket. They were yummy!

Smellin' Bleach

I wear a lot of white t-shirts; long sleeve and short sleeve. In the winter I wear a lot of long sleeve under t-shirts and then I use the short sleeve under jackets, sweaters, etc. I need to keep them as long as possible so I bleach them to help them stay as white as possible for as long as possible. I just had to take the above picture. I found it hilarious!! I didn't realize I had so many. When I washed this weekend, I think I used too much bleach this time because as they were washing, my nose started burning and I realized it was the bleach smell!!

Who needs perfume when you can smell like bleach!!! So fresh and clean!! :-) Yeah Right!!!! I will probably scare someone off!!