crazy*little*words

oh happy day ...

Oh, be still my heart ... I absolutely fell head-over-heals in love with these shabby chic tea party cookies a while back when I was reading a post by Allyson Jane, {a wonderfully talented baker of sweet confections!} I just HAD to know where to find the deco she used on the cookies, and she ever so politely sent me the info for Dez at Papercandee . Long story short, I have been waiting for her to release her Oh, so Shabby Chic Tea Party line of party goodies. Today, I went lurking over to her blog and there they were, in their full glory!!!

... click each image for a larger view ...

What a lovely First Birthday Party!!

FYI - Allyson Jane and Papercandee Designs are also on Facebook!! Be sure to LIKE their pages!!

I am really thinking Emma will be having a Tea Party-themed birthday party this year!

*All photos posted are copyrighted to the artist whose name appears watermarked on the photo. Please visit the blog links above to find out more information about each of the artists. Thanks! SMJ*

recipe Wednesday ...

My dear friend Teresa, who I've known since Scott and I were married, has been emailing me and messaging me on FB, asking for a recipe that my mom had given her years ago on a trip to New Orleans.  It was this totally yummy chicken, pasta, and cheese "casserole."  Today, I finally checked that task off of my "to do" list and thought I would share it with you, too!  It's actually quite simple and it makes A LOT of food ... you could definitely divide it into separate casserole dishes, have one for tonight, and freeze the other to have on one of those crazy, busy nights when you have no idea of what to cook!  So, without further adieu, here's the recipe {sorry I don't have pictures to share!!}

Chicken Rotel Pasta

5 to 7 lbs chicken leg quarters
20 oz Velveeta Cheese
1 lb spaghetti noodles
1 10 oz can of diced Rotel {original}
1 10 3/4 oz can Cream of Chicken
1 large onion, chopped
5 stalks celery, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Saute onion and celery.  Boil chicken and noodles {separately}.  Cut cheese into cubes, and combine with Rotel tomatoes in a microwave bowl.  Microwave mixture, stirring frequently, until cheese has melted

In a large casserole dish, combine de-boned chicken, noodles, sauteed onions and celery, Cream of Chicken soup, and Rotel cheese mixture.  Mix and cover; bake about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

 

Credit for this recipe goes to my cousin's wife.  I hope you all love it as much as our family does!!

momma I'm headin' home . . .

It seems like the past few times that I have visited NOLA, I haven't had the opportunity to do and see the things that I feel are important for my kids to experience in my hometown.  So, when we are there in June, I am making a list of everything that I plan to see/do/visit/experience - even if I have to pack them all into a few days!  And obviously, there will be lots of pictures - photos that I can edit, develop, and hang in our home so that my children will understand just how important the city of New Orleans is to me - to my past and to our future.

-  Hansen's Sno Bliz
-  The Zoo
-  The Aquarium
-  French Quarter and all that that entails:  St. Louis Cathedral, Cafe duMonde, Jackson Square, and on & on.
-  Uptown, the Garden District, and the Univeristy area
-  riding the street cars and seeing the River
-  of course 'llI have to visit Sucre, PJ's on Magazine, Scriptura, earthsavers, The Flying Burrito, and Central Grocery

And of course, our trip south wouldn't be complete without a much needed visit to the white, sandy beaches of the Emerald Coast!  I am so excited to be able to go back to our *home* for the last 9 of 10 years of our lives.  We'll get to visit friends, soak up some sun, enjoy some crazy good seafood, and just relax while enjoying Destin and FWB. 

So, get ready Southerners - the Johnson clan from Texas is heading home to recoup, and enjoy some of the much needed southern hospitality that's totally in our blood!!

i am losing my mind . . .

What a day it has been! I was so looking forward to Thursday, because my daughter had her class Easter Egg Hunt and was getting released early since tomorrow is Good Friday, and they are out of school. What started out as a day that I was looking forward to, quickly turned into a disaster on so many levels. Here's the synopsis from my Facebook Page and a post I made on a friend's status that was having pump issues today {who also happens to have Type 1 Diabetes - she was my little sister in high school!}:

" . . Oh yeah, the pump. Don't even get me started on that issue. Or the issue of late night/early AM low BG's. Or the issue of lows during the day that just knock the wind out of you. Or the rebounding high's that just add to the crappy, icky feeling that you already have after two low's in an 8-hour period! And add to that the emotional stress of dealing with a teenage step-daughter who has serious *Mommy* issues and takes everything out on me, because I'm the bad guy now, since I've been the one here for her for 10 years and raised her, and treated her as my own. And went to every field day, field trip, class party, school play and read books at night to her, and did homework and projects with her and carted her around to activities and friends' houses, and parties, etc., etc., etc. But now I'm the issue. The bad guy. The one who is hated. I'm the one that caused all of this emotional BS in her life. Why? Oh, yeah, because I loved her. Yeah, all of these issues are driving me to want to drink. Want to join me?"

Now, I am NOT a big drinker. Seriously. I might have one drink a month, if that. But today, I was an emotional basket case. Seriously, if owned one of those cool little Frozen Drink Maker Blender things, I would have made an entire pitcher and downed them all by myself. Not so good for the glucose levels, I know. Not so good for the emotional well-being, either. I know. But somedays - especially on days like today, and after weeks, and months like I have been having with all of this chaos and stress - a hot bubble bath and a glass of wine just don't seem to cut it {or the couple of Xanax added in for good measure.}

Oh, yes, I know, everyone has their issues. Their family problems. Their own chaos. And that, that I can deal with. It's what it does to my body that I can't deal with. The constant stress and turmoil just wreak havoc on my blood sugars. And I know it makes my blood pressure totally out-of-control. It's like no matter what I do, no matter how hard I try to keep everything "normal" and under control, these little {and I say that VERY sarcastically} outbursts totally mess up my system and it literally takes days to get things back into a good range. Normal. Again. Just in time for another {facetiously speaking here} little outburst. It's just a vicious circle that never seems to end. A roller coaster ride that just keeps on going. And honestly, I not a big fan of roller coasters - or this emotional trip I've been on lately.

Oh, yeah, and did I mention that my parents are coming into town for a few days, since it's Easter weekend? Yeah, didn't think I had. Needless to say, I accomplished nothing on my To-Do list this afternoon because of the BS drama. Seriously, I should have just been in a catatonic state. Maybe then someone would realize the toll that all of this crap takes on me. It not only emotionally drains me, and keeps me from doing the things that I want to do with my children and my husband, but it literally takes every ounce of energy away that I have. Physically drained. And it takes, sometimes, days to get it back. And please don't say "Oh exercise will help." or "Eat this or that, it'll boost your energy/metabolism/whatever" - because I've been there, done that, and no - it doesn't.

Yep, so that's my rant for today. Hopefully the week. We'll see. I really need to start a support group for 20, 30, 40-something Type 1 diabetics - women, mothers, wives - who deal with the same daily day-to-day crap. Everything out there is for older people, or parents of children who have diabetes, or Type 2 - and don't EVEN get me started on that situation. That's a whole bucket of ranting that I will save for another day.

Sorry if you read this far, and this brought you done, but it's something that I had to get off of my chest and I do feel a smidgen better now. So if you read all the way to here - thank you! I mean that sincerely. For over 30 years I have wanted to rant and complain and quite frankly, bitch about this stupid disease and I just have never done it. Until today.

I hope you all have a great Easter weekend with your friends, family, loved ones!

spring is finally here!

I cannot even begin to tell you how happy I am that spring is finally here! It's officially two days into the new season, and the weather here is gorgeous. Not at all like the very first day of spring - on Saturday - when we had 3 inches of snow on the ground! It was crazy! We went to Dallas on Friday to visit some friends and the weather was beautiful - 78 degrees, sunny, awesome! We went to dinner at Red Robin - one of our FAVORITE places - and enjoyed some Wii time. When we got up the next morning, it was pouring down rain and FREEZING!! Lovely weather for a road trip. Our next stop was Waco, where we picked up the girls' half-brother so he could visit for a couple of weeks. The little ones love having him around, and of course J and K adore him! Scott was always talking about this fabulous tortilla place in Killeen that he would go to when they were TDY there for ONE. A place called Mama Rosa's Tortilla Factory. We passed a sign on the way, advertising one in Waco, so we knew we had to stop. Can I just say it was THE best Mexican place EVER?? Oh my! I love Tacos al Carbon, and they had THE best one I have ever had. For fast-food, this place was excellent, AND cheap, too! So, if you're ever near a Rosa's Tortilla Factory - go there and eat. You won't regret it! Okay, on to something other than food . . . vampires. Yes, I know, everyone is into vamps these days. I love the HBO series *True Blood* and the encore of the second season just started running this week, so we signed up to get it. What I didn't know was that they had a new series coming out by the producers of *Band of Brothers* - aka Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks - that tells the story of the Pacific theater during WWII. The show is called *The Pacific* and it's awesome! If don't subscribe to HBO, I totally recommend it just for this mini-series. It's an awesome lesson in American history and a wonderfully cast series! It airs on HBO at 8:00PM on Sunday nights {I'm in the Central Time Zone, so check your local listings!} That's it for today. Off to my amazing Girl Scout Daisies and the world of Cookies!! Have a great Monday!

fresh new look for spring . . .

Yep, it's been a while! What can I say, I am a total slacker when it comes to my blog. When I am driving Emma back and forth to school everyday, I always think of something totally creative and inspiring to write about and I get SO excited! Then, after I am home, and the house is nice and quiet and I actually HAVE time to sit down and play onlin, I can NEVER remember what it was that I wanted to say! Terrible, I know! I do keep a notebook by my bed, so if I think of something while watching TV, or reading, then I have easy access to pen and paper to jot down my thoughts. Somehow those words never make it to print, either! What I need is a little voice recorder that I can just talk into when something *pops* into my crazy, little brain - then I KNOW I would remember what to write about. Maybe. So, there are many things that I need to post about - want to see my list? Here it is:

Disney Photos - MUST post those!

Valentine's Cookies and the pictures that I took - SO CUTE!

Digital layouts that I have made, and not posted - anywhere!

Cards that I have stamped, colored, etc . . . more creative stuff!

I know there's more on the list, but those are just the ones that come to mind right now. Hopefully this weekend {Sunday, I'm sure} I will get the chance to sit down and upload pictures to sucre - and get my favorite gelato, Nectar! It's sooooo good! My favorite snowball flavor now in a gelato - how awesome is that? They also have the most amazing chocolates and candies - and wedding cakes! Oh my, serious indulgence, but oh so worth it!

On to scrapping news - Jen Wilson has an AWESOME sale going on this weekend - everything in the store is 50% OFF! Can you believe? Here's a little sneak peek ad:

If there are things that you have been eyeing over in the shoppe, this is the weekend to *stock up* and get everything you've been wishing for!! These sales only happen a few times each year - so prepare your PayPal accounts {and your husbands!} and head on over for some fabulous shopping!

And finally . . . something sweet that I found when looking for an avi for my Twitter page. I love supcakes, Ask anyone who knows me and they know that my most favorite dessert is a cupcake. They are simply adoreable, and so totally edible in their cute, little, compact design! So, with that I leave you with a photo of the cutest springy cupcakes, ever!

Have a wonderful Friday everyone and a fabulous weekend!!

something sweet . . .

Today was such a yuck day.  Another day of rain and "under" - that's what Emma calls thunder!  So we spent the day inside, mostly snuggled on the bed watching Noggin, playing games and coloring.  Patrick loves to color (really, he loves to eat the crayons!) and Emma is now perfecting the art of coloring inside the lines.  She does a really good job too.  She also loves to draw, mainly "happys" (hearts) and stick people and she is very talented with those stick people!

After they laid down for a nap, I spent some time reading blogs and finding some new sites related to cooking and recipes.  You can check them out under "yummy stuff" over on the side.  This inspired me to post a yummy recipe of my own that I made for our annual family reunion in December -

Lemon Pound Cake

with Lemon Glaze and Fresh Berries and Mint Leaves

3 cups sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup butter, softened

1 (8-ounce) container sour cream

6 large eggs

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Lemon Glaze

Place first 9 ingredients in a 4-quart mixing bowl (in that order). Beat at low speed with a heavy-duty mixer 1 minute, stopping to scrape down sides. Beat at medium speed 2 minutes. Spoon batter into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. Bake at 325° for 1 hour and 30 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 10 minutes; remove from pan, and cool on wire rack. Drizzle evenly with Lemon Glaze.

Yield: 1 (10-inch) cake

Lemon Glaze 

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon grated lemon rind (optional)

Stir together first 3 ingredients and, if desired, lemon rind until glaze is smooth.

Yield: about 1/3 cup

When I made the glaze, I only used the minimum amount of liquid so that the glaze would not be runny and drip off of the cake. The pictures I took came out really great, except I washed the berries and shouldn't have since it made them watery and the liquid dripped!! Oh well, next time I'll know NOT to do that! Both recipes are from Southern Living Magazine and the inpiration for the decorations came from the December 2006 issue, which was a recipe for pound cake, just not the same one I used!

Here's a page I scrapped with pictures that I took of the cake - doesn't it look yummy?? I could eat it up!

Credits can be found here.

A new L*O*V*E!!

As I write this, I am drinking my new favorite drink - HPNOTIQ! Yum! It is completely addicting and I cannot say enough about how good it tastes! It is this fabulous blue color, like the ocean - and it is truly HYPNOTIZING! I L*O*V*E it!!

My favorite little concoction is the HPNOTIQ Breeze, which is a mix of HPNOTIQ, Coconut Rum (I love Captain Morgan!) and a splash of pineapple juice!

Yummy!!