Happy Birthday To My Man!

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MAIN SQUEEZE!

"Charleston", you are the man of my dreams and today is YOUR day and you DESERVE every minute of it!

Can't wait to celebrate YOU all weekend!

(a little sneak peek from our engagement pics last Sunday night)

I love you from deep down in the bottom pit of my heart.

 XOXO

House Update...Not Much Of An Update

I have yet to post any interior pictures of our new house for one reason....

There is still nothing in it!

Unless you love the look of random furniture and blank walls I have nothing to share.

I am ready to get knee deep in decorating and buying "big girl" furniture but want to get through the first couple months to see what our monthly expenses are going to be with utilities etc.  That way I know what I have left over each month to play with and save with.

Our house has four bedrooms, one of which we will be using as an office.  It also has two "living room" spaces, both of which we are going to use as comfy casual "family space." (Comfy casual family space in my dictionary means it has to have a TV!) 

The furniture that was in our old living room at the apartment is now in the smaller of the two living rooms at the new house.  That particular space just needs a little decoration and we will be good to go!

With that I am left with three main spaces to decorate:

1.  larger living room

2.  office

3.  master bedroom

All of which need furniture!

(Now you see where the dollar signs are popping up!)

Scary.

So...we will take it nice and slow and improve as we feel ready to spend the money.

Therefore, I will leave you with several pictures of a masterpiece of a living room that I would LOVE to recreate in my house one day!

via Laura Casey Interiors here in Charlotte

Hair

When I book a hair appointment I always go in with a plan.

I have tried every hair color out there including an accidental purple so needless to say I am never scared to try something new.  The length has seen 4 inches and 14 inches (although not in a looonnnggg time) so the cut never scares me either.  Therefore I don't know why I try and come up with a plan of action before my appointments because the same thing happens every time......

Yesterday, my plan was a more natural color brown highlight and a shorter bob cut.

And....

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this is what I walked away with:

I am a light blonde.!

My "hair girl" did good; she talked me into it and I went with her.

(Now I need to get a little sun this weekend so I don't look so washed out!)

Happy Friday Friends!

(And of course I couldn't leave you all for an entire weekend without a picture of the cutest niece and nephew on the planet!)

Sister sent me these pics this morning as the kiddo's were watching cartoons on her bed!

Olivia Claire

Baby Jackson

Melt my heart

Where I Have Been

Just in case you have been missing me and wondering where I have been.....

I have been hanging out in Kernersville with my family playing with these two little nuts:

Yeap, that's a BABY!!!!

My nephew, Jackson Scott Howard was born last Wednesday, June 13th.

His formal introduction to come!

3-2-1 Cake

There is a new trend in my house every night....  Cook Dinner. Eat Dinner. Eat 3-2-1 Cake.
Yes, cake is being produced from my kitchen!
The baker in me is still trying to develop herself but this kind of cake requires no baking; just a microwave!

I learned of this recipe from my Weight Watchers leader here at work and then found it on the Ducan Hines Website here:  3-2-1 Cake  ( I make several adjustments to the recipe.  see below.)

It makes single servings which is perfect for portion control and it takes only minutes to whip up.

"Charleston" is in LOVE with the milk chocolate cake.  I used the Betty Crocker Milk Chocolate mix as well as Betty Crocker Angel Food Cake Mix.  I top his with Light Cool Whip and Chocolate Syrup. 

Although I too have truly enjoyed this particular combination, I am looking forward to the next batch because I plan on mixing a Chocolate Fudge Cake mix with the angel food cake; I want more of a rich chocolate taste!

3-2-1 Microwave Cake

Recipe Description
This is a very easy cake for 1 or 2 servings.  It's light and you can do different things to it.  Try fruit on top, whipped cream or topping.  Have a can of cream or frosting handy to use too.

Ingredients
- 1 box Angel Food Cake Mix
- 1 box any flavor regular Cake Mix
- 2 tablespoons water
- cooking spray

"Baking" Instructions
1.  Mix the 2 cake mixes together in a gallon zip-lock bag.
2. Spray microwave safe bowl with cooking spray
3.  To make the cake:  take 1/3 cup of the cake mix; mix this with 2 tablespoons water; mix together and micro-wave for 1 minute.  Let rest for 5 - 10 minutes and serve with toppings.
4. Fruit, whipped cream or topping. 
5.  Red Velvet, Chocolate, Spice, Banana, Strawberry, Lemon etc use your imagination on the mixes.

You can slide it out of the bowl and serve pretty on a plate like this:

but at my house, we don't have time for that step...we eat right out of the bowl!

image via

Samantha and Kevin's Wedding

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This past Friday, I took a half day at work (which gets me out of the office at 10ish!  There are some perks to going in at 5:30!) and headed to Kingsport, TN with "Charleston" for his cousin Samantha's wedding.  One word to describe the weekend:  BEAUTIFUL

The weather was BEAUTIFUL, The Oaks Castle where they got married was BEAUTIFUL and Samantha was a BEAUTIFUL bride!

Evidence:

Samantha and Kevin are two of the sweetest people placed on this planet and I envy them more then anything on how laid back both of their personalities are.  When the bride and groom are calm and always collected, it makes for the most relaxing weekend and atmosphere.

They did the best job of keeping a guest list of 200 feeling like a small intimate wedding.  I would also take a stab at saying that 150 of those guests were family which made this day even more special.

Samantha is "Charleston's" cousin on his mom's side of the family so I think the highlight for me was meeting EVERY single family member related to Barbara.  They live all over the U.S. so in the three years "Charleston" and I have been dating we have not had the opportunity to see them all. Now I do not have to meet them for the first time on our wedding day which was icing on the cake. 

I know I have said it a million times but I do not think I could be more blessed to be marrying into one of the most amazing families I could have ever asked for.

"Sorry bud, you picked me!"

Congratulations to MR. and MRS.  KEVIN PITTMAN!

Samantha and Kevin, we love you both and hope you have the most amazing honeymoon in Mexico! (and thanks for making "Charleston" an usher so that he could wear a bow-tie for the first time....I think he looks like a stud!)