A bunch of random pictures from last year...

I had a few random pictures for you!

In no particular order...

Fancy deviled eggs with bacon on top...

Brownies with cookie dough frosting...

The very best ingredients for a delicious cake...

We got rid of Vicky...

It was a sad and happy day!

We used the money and got a new car!  Our very first BIG purchase together!

We got to ring the gong for our purchase!

And I made a new wreath!

I also found this precious picture of Jon showing his Dad how much he loves him! Haha!

And a picture of my honey doing one of his favorite things!

Like I said, this one was random.  Just want to remember the fun!

Hope you enjoyed the randomness!

Love,

Katie

Strawberry Picking

I went strawberry picking for the first time ever this morning!

It was so much fun and I loved every minute of it.  My friend Kelley asked me to go with her and I'm so glad I did.

Here is the strawberry patch....

And my bucket....

They were only $1.49 a pound!  That is so cheap!

I was amazed to see how strawberries grow.  They grow from the center of flowers.  I never knew that!

Kelley took her strawberries home to make jam and I took mine home to just eat 'em.  I might have to make some jam though.  They were delicious and sweet!

Here's me and Kelley...

It was a fun first time picking and it won't be my last!

Happy Saturday!

Love, 

Katie

Surprises & Friendship

This past weekend was one of the best weekends!

It was my Mom's 60th birthday party!  All of her friends are turning 60 this year and they've been celebrating and having fun enjoying each other's birthdays.  This past weekend, it was time for my Mom and her friend, Emily to have their party.

Jon and I didn't get to come home for her actual birthday and I was really sad about not being there.  Earlier this month I decided that we would come in later in the month so I could go to her birthday party with all of the girls.

So that's what we did.

We surprised my Mom on Friday night and it was awesome!  I got my Dad and sister to help me surprise her.  They both told my Mom that they wanted to go out to eat on Friday night.  She didn't think anything of it.  My sister went down to my parent's house after work and Jon and I walked in the door a few minutes behind her.  I walked in the living room with a balloon yelling surprise and she couldn't believe that we were there.  It was the best!

Once she got over the shock, we went out to eat at Longhorn Steakhouse.  It was delish!

Here's Mom and Dad!

P.S. They give you free ice cream at Longhorn if it's your birthday!  Their food is also glorious!

Here's me and Jon....

It was such a fun night!

The next day we got up and headed down to Georgia for the party while Jon and my Dad got to spend some good quality time together.  The party was at Pam's house, one of my Mom's sweet friends.  Her house was so pretty.  She had everything set up beautifully for the party and the entire time I was there, I was dreaming of having a kitchen just like her's one day.  It was so pretty!

Here are some pictures from the party....

Yummy sandwiches, chips, pasta salad, fruit, cupcakes and all of the fixings.  Pam knows how to throw a party! 

Hi, Cindy!  :)

Doesn't everything just look so pretty?

Cindy was so sweet and brought everyone these little Seeds of Happiness.  They were cute little clay balls with smiley faces to brighten your day.  So sweet and cute!

Now....let's take a look at the cupcakes.

I would love to have another one of those!  Yum!

Here's some of the gang....the two birthday girls and sweet cousin, Carol!  

The other side of the table...

Another view....

The birthday girls got to open lots of sweet gifts, too!

Some were hilarious...

This group of ladies are a hoot to be around.  I really didn't know what to expect going to the party, but I'm so glad I got to go.  I'd never gotten the chance to hang out with all of them that I can remember (probably when I was a baby, but I surely don't remember that).  I think we spent a good four or five hours just fellowshipping with one another.....there were a lot of laughs!

It was also fun to hang out with my sister, Hailey, and my cousin Jennifer.  We were part of the " kids" there.  Haha!

It was so sweet to see the love that these ladies have for one another.  The memories and fun times that they have shared throughout their years are so special to them and so fun to hear about.  I got to hear stories about my Mom and I also got to tell stories on her to her friends.  It was so much fun to share in the love with these precious women.  It's amazing to see that after all of these years from growing up in high school and church together that they still remain close.  Friendship is such a beautiful thing.

I even got to take some goodies home from the party....

Socks, a smiley, and some earrings that my cousin brought back to me from Tanzania.  How fun!

Here are some of the daughters from the party....

Lauren, Hailey, Jamie, and me.

And the crazy ones....

They are so fun!

It was such a great, great weekend!  I'm so happy that we got to surprise my Mom for her birthday!

Hope you had a Happy 60th, Mom!  We love you!

Love,

Katie

A Wild Saturday

It's been wild around here today!  I hope you can sense some sarcasm!

Here's what we did today...

I tried out a new way to take off my fingernail polish...

It was amazing!  You take a small piece of tissue paper with fingernail polish remover on it and then place that on top of your fingernail.  Then you wrap a piece of aluminum around your fingernail.  A few minutes later and your polish comes off easier than you could ever imagine!  I know it seems complicated and looks like you have alien hands, but it is awesome!  Trust me.

We also had some sausage biscuits for breakfast.  Jon started frying the sausage while I was watching one of my shows on the Food Network and when I got into the kitchen the sausage patties looked like hamburgers.  They were huge!

I stared cracking up and he cut them in half.  Love him!!

The sausage was delicious! 

We enjoyed a fun, lazy day around the house today.  We watched some basketball games, a movie, and we hooked up the old school Nintendo!

That's right...

We played the very first Mario Brothers Game today!  It was so much fun!

We did have to dust it off though to get it to work properly.

We even played a little Tetris!

I was amazed at how many of the little secrets I remembered to this game...

And for once, I got to be Mario!  I was always Louigi when I was younger because I had an older sister that got to be Mario!  Love you, sis!

We've had a lot of fun today!  

I'm determined to beat this game.  I'm going to have to put it up soon or else I'm going to become addicted to the most fun game of the 80's!  Oh, the memories!

Hope you've had a great Saturday!

Love,

Katie

Snow Cream

We got some snow in Wake Forest!

Here's our front yard...

and here's the backyard...

Jon had to go into work this morning at 4 AM!  Eww!  He's pretty nice to go to work today because he made it safe for people around campus today.  I was lucky enough to get to stay home due to the "treacherous road conditions".

Once he got home he decided that we HAD to make snow cream!  So that's what we did!

We gathered the snow...

Luckily Jon caught a dead spider that almost made its way into the bowl.  Phew!

I was playing in the snow while he was gathering it and when I turned around he had gotten quite a bit!

 

So we got to work...

We mixed together 1 cup milk, 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1 tsp. of vanilla.

 Then we added our snow and ta-da!  Snow cream!

And a very happy husband!

Here's another fun picture....

I still have my pumpkin from October!!!  How crazy is that?  Maybe it will keep until this October.  Ha!

I hope you're cozy and warm wherever you are today!  I feel like a kid in school again!  Too bad I'm not at my parents house sledding down the big hill in the front yard....oh, the memories!

Happy Snow Day!

Love,

Katie

One of the Best!

I forgot to include one of the best pictures from the Carolina basketball game the other day!  Isn't it marvelous?!

Love,

Katie

Homemade Applesauce

Jon loves applesauce!

I had the day off, so I tried out Pioneer Woman's homemade applesauce recipe.

It turned out beautifully!

Jon said it was the best applesauce he'd ever had!  Yay! And it was very easy to make!  Hopefully me doesn't eat it all in one day because I know he's going to ask mento make more.  Ha!

Happy Thursday to you!

Love,

Katie

A Super Happy Husband

We had such a fun time at the North Carolina vs. Clemson basketball game tonight! Jon has been a huge fan for a really long time.  As a present for his graduation this past December, my parents got him tickets to go to a game.  We ended up having a great time...and I'm not even a Tarheel fan!

We started our night out by eating at a local burger joint in Chapel Hill called Buns...

I have eaten here once before and I was sure that Jon would love this place.

We split a large order of fries (half sweet potato and half regular)...

There was a TON of fries!

Here's Jon's burger....

And mine....

It was soooooo good!

After we ate, we walked around downtown.  We went into a few stores....

This cracked me up!

We also walked by a cookie shop that I'd never heard of before...

What?!?!?!  Insomnia Cookies? Turns out that this place delivers cookies until 3 AM in the morning! Warm, gooey cookies!  Genius idea!

You'd better believe that I marched right in there and got me a cookie!  

Here were their options...

And if you know me pretty we'll, you know that I got the triple chocolate chunk cookie.

When I ordered this cookie, the guy working there got it fresh from the oven.  It was gooey, filled with delicious chocolate, and the angels started singing when I took my first bite.  Glorious!

Jon got a white chocolate macadamia nut cookie.  It did not disappoint!

After we were stuffed, we walked over to the arena for the game.  We had great seats!

As soon as we found our seats I made Jon get up and take a picture.  I'm that wife. :)

And again....

Here's everyone warming up...

And here they are running out...

The National Anthem...

And the introduction of the starters...

I also videoed this part, but my video won't upload.

Then it was time for the game to start...

I have to be honest...I didn't clap the entire game.  I'm not a fan of either team.  I'm a Duke basketball fan and a Tennessee girl through and through.  I really just enjoyed seeing Jon so excited and happy.  I almost cried at one point because I was so happy for him.  Ha!

While I wasn't taking pictures or trying to text people pictures (the reception in the arena was terrible), I was Jon's cup holder.  Haha...I figured I had better make myself useful.  

I really did enjoy watching the game. I love basketball, but like I said, seeing Jon so happy was priceless!

Once the game was over, we hung around for a bit to see what happened.  The Carolina fans sing some kind of song and that's it.

Carolina ended up winning and I was thankful they did because I had a very happy husband.

We had a great time at the game.  The next thing on our bucket list is a Duke basketball game.  We've been to a NC basketball and football game and a Duke football game, so that is all that's left.  Hopefully we will get there within the next few years.

Thanks again, Mom and Dad!  We love y'all!

Love,

Katie...and Jon, too!