My Favorite (Spring) Things

While I’m a summer girl through and through, I have to admit spring has its merits.  There’s nothing like that first whiff of fresh cut grass and the feeling of FINALLY being warmer when you step outside than you are inside.  As a child, I was terrified of thunderstorms but I’m even learning to like those.  Plus, my birthday is in March AND March means spring break.  All in all, I’d say spring is a close second to summer.

As the days get longer and school winds down, I find myself occasionally thinking of something other than lesson plans and classroom décor.  In honor of the new spring in my step, I’d like to share a list of my current favorite (spring) things:

Prince Design

My college BFF, Heather Prince, has truly found her niche with her quickly growing business Prince Design.  She does an awesome job with personalized, unique gifts (for yourself or for someone else).  One day last week one of my students complimented me on my monogrammed necklace and said, “I like your necklace but something always has your initials on it.  It’s funny.”  Then, she giggled.  Maybe I have a problem? 

Jillian Michael’s Beginner Shred

Anyone who knows me knows I’m no fitness guru and I never will be.  However, as we’ve established, summer IS coming and even I consider the implications at times. I’ve been using this DVD to work out for several weeks and it’s great: just the right length, just the right level of difficulty, and just enough soreness the next day to make you think it helped. 

The Longest Ride

I’m not much of a moviegoer, but a friend invited me to go see this one last weekend and it was fabulous.  I’ve slowed down on my Nicholas Sparks reading the last few years, but I ordered this book an hour after returning home from the theater.  A tagline of the movie is: “Love requires sacrifice.  But it’s worth it.” And this movie is worth your two hours too!  (It didn't hurt that it was filmed locally...how cool!) 

Netflix (enough said?)

This is a leftover addiction from all those February snow days, but I’ve gotten hooked on a couple of shows worth mentioning: one old and one new.  My sister has always been a huge Gilmore Girls fan and I’ve always enjoyed the few episodes I’ve caught on syndication.  So a couple of months ago I committed to watching the entire show beginning to end and I haven’t regretted one second.  The surprise fun has been that Brent seems to enjoy it just as much as me—apparently he finds me just as endearing (and infuriating) as Luke finds Lorelai.  The other show that we’ve BOTH gotten hooked on is Revenge.  We can’t seem to watch it in increments of less than three episodes so we’ve had to relegate our watching to the weekends, but it’s definitely worth a watch if you haven’t tried it!

    

My Mophie phone case

Spring means longer days which also had come to mean my well-loved Iphone dying well before sundown.  That is, until I broke down an orderd a Mophie phone case.  Mine is the purple (of course) juice pack helium and it has more than doubled my battery life!  I was a little hesitant to part with my Otterbox but I’ve dropped my phone multiple times with this new case with no problems. 

R&B-influenced Country Music

As a lifelong country music fan, I’ve been resistant to country music artists who tried to rap in the past.  But lately I’ve been drawn to a couple of new artists who have put a little twist on country music.  My most played CDs recently are Sam Hunt’s Montevallo and Chase Rice’s Ignite the Night.  If you aren’t familiar, check out a couple of my favorite tracks here:

Wining and Dining on the Patio

At our house, spring means dinner responsibilities shift from me and the crock pot to Brent and the grill.  I’ve made things a little easier on us both recently by ordering from Omaha Steaks.  They’re pricier than grocery store meats but cheaper than ordering steak in a restaurant and just as good.  Some of our favorites so far include the filet mignon, potatoes au gratin and caramel apple tartlets.  We’ve also got a new favorite wine with steak: anything Malbec from Argentina.

There’s plenty to love about spring in and of itself, but these things are making mine even brighter!  And don’t forget the best part of all: next comes summer!

Crock Pot of Gold

When I was 22 and newly married, I jumped right in at church and volunteered to teach the Wednesday night teen girls’ class.  Part of that meant inheriting a longstanding “soup and sandwich” supper that raised money for missions.  The idea was that the old leaders had spent all day making soup and sandwiches and the teen girls had shown up to serve the food and collect donations. 

The problem was I didn’t know how to make soup and I wasn’t even that good at making a sandwich.  Lucky for me being a teacher means creative ideas come naturally, so I reworked the concept and ten years ago the “soup and sandwich” supper became the Crock Pot of Gold Dinner.  It’s a lot less work for me and a lot more fun for everyone else, and this year we raised over $800- not too shabby for a small church like ours. 

The idea is that everyone brings a crock pot meal to share, and we place a labeled cup beside one.  Everyone samples as many as they can and places their donation in the cup belonging to their favorite crock pot.  We always hold the event close to St. Patrick’s Day, thus the theme.  It’s easy and it pretty much runs itself since everyone pitches in.

If you need any easy spring fundraising idea, I’d suggest you give it a try.  Email me for sign-up sheets and signs and look for some clearance decorations to save for next year. 

Abby tried them all!

Of course, I did my nails for the occasion. J

My Favorite (Summer) Things

What’s not to love about summer?  Warm weather, weekend getaways, sunsets and fireflies, sleeping late, the lake, the river, and the pool, sandals and tank tops, cold drinks and dinner on the patio… I will admit even though I love my job, summer’s end leans more toward bitter than sweet.  Today marks the last official day of my summer; I'm marking it by sharing a list of my favorite things I’ve discovered this summer.

Ben and Jerry’s Salted Caramel Core ice cream

I’m not even going to try to explain how good it is!  You have to taste it.  I started the summer by stretching one of those little pints over three or four nights. Last week, I realized I accidentally finished the whole thing in two nights.  We won’t even discuss the serving size and calorie count…  But it’s worth it!

Novels by Sarah Addison Allen

My friend, Jackie, gets the credit for this find.  I started the summer with The Girl Who Chased the Moon and ended it with Garden Spells.  I’ve found myself suggesting both to friend after friend, trying to explain this unique style of mostly realistic fiction with just a touch of magic.  The author offers a whimsical, refreshing take on easy to read, romantic yet a little mysterious novels.  I highly recommend!

Amazon Prime Music

If you have Amazon Prime and haven’t checked this out, you need to.  It’s a new feature they added a few months ago where you go online and add playlists, and even some albums, to your library for free and then you can play them from your computer or phone just like Pandora, but without the commercials.  Just a few of my playlists are, “50 Great 2000s Country Songs,” “50 Great 90’s Songs,” “Jason Mraz and More,” and “Kelly Clarkson’s Top Songs.” It’s definitely worth checking out!

Wet ‘N Wild Emerald Pointe Season Passes

This one is thanks to my friend, Lisa.  She texted me the day after Thanksgiving and said the waterpark had season passes for half price on a Black Friday Deal.  Sixty-four dollars and ninety-nine cents later I was signed up for a half a dozen days of water slides and the wave pool with her and her sweet kids.  It really was a great deal, complete with free parking and 20% off food in the park.  We’ll be watching out for another great deal this fall!

Quizzative

This one is for my fellow nerds.  This is a game by Merriam-Webster that you can buy in the app store that quizzes you on vocabulary words through ten increasingly difficult levels with four different games on each level.  The first two levels are free, but I was hooked and bought the remaining levels in the car on our way back from the beach.  I was always able to resist a single Candy Crush purchase, but the word game did me in.

Capriz Italian Feast

Speaking of our trip to the beach, Brent and I went to the beach by ourselves for the first time ever this summer. We had a great time hanging by the ocean and of course, eating out.  Our favorite meal was at a place at Broadway at the Beach called Capriz Italian Feast. It wasn’t very fancy but it was DELICIOUS!  It’s all-you-can-eat for $20 per person.  There’s an amazing salad bar with a lot more than salad, and then the servers bring around every Italian dish you can think of, including steak and chicken dishes.  As an added bonus, the sangria is delicious.  It’s going at the top of our must-do list for Myrtle Beach now!

Hart of Dixie

I saved this one for last because I just discovered it, but last week I decided to pick a new series on Netflix and came across Hart of Dixie.  It only took one episode to hook me!  Well-cast, funny yet touching, with an endearing, sassy flair that makes me feel like I’m watching the movie Sweet Home Alabama transformed into several dozen glorious episodes.  Next time you’re looking for a new show, it’s definitely worth a try.   I’m hooked!

I’m trying to figure out which of my new favorite things I can stretch well into fall.  If you’re looking for me this week at night, I’ll probably be laid out on the couch eating Salted Caramel Core ice cream, watching Hart of Dixie.  We all have our vices, right?

Partying with Plastic Cups

(not the red Solo kind)

My little sister and her husband just bought their first house.  They’ve been homeowners since they got married six years ago, but they just made the jump from a condo to a house.  Right away, I told Donnay I wanted to throw them a housewarming party and right away she started balking it.  She said, “We’ve been married for years, we both have good jobs, we have what we need…” and so on but I finally convinced her that it wasn’t about the gifts.  It was about celebrating the new house and kicking off all the fun times they’d have in it. 

And it was about the food.  Because every good party is about the food.

So she finally produced a short guest list for me and gave me the green light for an intimate gathering with no emphasis on gifts.  I told her that was fine with me, because of course I was planning to emphasize the food.   Anyone who knows me knows that I tend to overdo it when it comes to entertaining and food.  And when it’s summer and I have extra time on my hands, it can get a little crazy.  Which it did. 

I saw a lot of ideas on Pinterest about serving housewarming party food in individual serving cups in order to cut down on spills and encourage mingling and milling about the new house.  So, I ordered these plastic 9 oz. tumblers online and started pinning foods that could be prepared in little plastic cups.  

Appetizers

Individual Seven-Layer Dip

(makes 8 servings for 9 oz. plastic tumblers- multiply as needed)

All ingredients should be split eight ways and spread into the cups.

Layer 1: 16 oz. can refried beans mixed with 1 package taco seasoning

Layer 2: 1 cup guacamole

Layer 3: 1 (8 ounce) container sour cream

Layer 4: 1 cup chunky salsa

Layer 5: 1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese

Layer 6: 2 Roma tomatoes, diced

Layer 7: 1 (2.25 ounce) can of sliced olives, drained

*Serve with tortilla chips.

Mixed Fruit with Honey Lime Dressing

(makes 30 individual servings)

2 quarts strawberries

2 pints blueberries

2 pounds white seedless grapes

Wash, cut, cap, etc. all fruit and mix with ¼ cup honey and juice from 2 limes. 

Mini-Desserts

Key Lime

(makes 15 individual servings)

1.  Mix together:

8 oz. package cream cheese

1 can sweetened condensed milk

½ cup fresh lime juice

2.  Then, fold in 8 oz. Cool Whip

3.  Crush a box of Nilla wafer cookies.  Mix with one stick melted butter.

4.  Layer crust mixture with lime mixture.

5.  Dollop with Cool Whip and garnish with lime slice, if desired.

Strawberry Brownie

(makes 15 individual servings)

1.  Prepare a brownie mix as directed.  Let cool.  Cut into 1 in. squares.

2.  Cap and thinly slice one quart of strawberries.

3.  Mix 2 (3.4 oz) boxes of French vanilla instant pudding with 2 cups milk.  Whisk until thickened.  Fold in 8 oz. Cool Whip.

4.  Layer 2-3 brownie squares, strawberries, drizzle of chocolate shell syrup, and pudding mixture.  Repeat. 

Peanut Butter Chocolate

(makes 25 individual servings)

1.  Prepare a brownie mix as directed.  Let cool.  Cut into 1 in. squares.

2.  Mix 2 (5.1 oz.) boxes of vanilla instant pudding with 4 cups milk.  Whisk until thickened.  Add 1 cup creamy peanut butter and 4 teaspoons vanilla flavoring.  Fold in 12 oz. Cool Whip.

3.  Cut miniature peanut butter cups in half.  I used an entire family size bag of Reese’s peanut butter cups.

4.  Layer 2-3 brownie squares, 2-3 peanut butter cup halves, and pudding mixture.  Repeat.

We also had our family favorite, Sir Pizza, as a main course. 

I got lucky and found these cute paper products that match the colors in Donnay’s house at Dollar Tree. 

The individual servings and different choices were a big hit, and as an added bonus, Skittles enjoyed being able to help with the leftovers.