Cupcakes & My New Favorite Salad! :)

Look what came in the mail today!  :)

My sister started a new tradition last year when she bought me a cupcake calendar and now I'm going to have to have one every year now!  Thanks sis!  :)

I didn't get a calendar for Christmas, so I made this a present to me from me.  :)

I just love cupcakes.  If you stepped into my kitchen you might figure that out.  :)

I can't bear to throw away my calendar from last year, so I'm going to have to find something fun to do with it....if you have any ideas, let me know!

I also have a new favorite salad with all of these ingredients...

A restaurant called Sullivan's from back home has the most amazing Signature Salad ever!  It is leafy greens, craisins, feta cheese, candied pecans, and balsamic vinaigrette.  It is delish and I decided to recreate it myself.  I like how it turned out!

The only thing that would make it better is a big 'ol piece of grilled chicken on top!  YUM!  You should get these ingredients and try your signautre salad today!  It's good for you and It's so tasty, too!  :)

Hope you're having a Terrific Thursday,

The Preacher's Wife

Holiday Festivities

The holidays have come and gone, but I still wanted to post a few pictures of some fun times with our families from when we went back home.  A lot of these are random pictures.  We did a lot of running around during the time we were there and I wasn't always good at pulling out my camera and snapping up some good pictures, but I did get some good ones with my fun, new phone...and with a little app from Instagram.  :)

We had a wonderful time back home!  Here's the recap...

We had fun...

 going to the Waffle House and Wal-Mart the morning of Christmas Eve,

eating a yummy dinner on Christmas Eve night and hanging out with my Nana,

spending Christmas morning with my family exchanging gifts and eating a yummy breakfast,

getting to go to church to celebrate the real and true meaning of Christmas,

going to Ma's house to celebrate by eating delicious food and opening gifts where you just never know what's inside (this year we got fun things like a stuffed parrot, a deviled egg carrier, rose candle holders (a matching set I might add!), memo pads, pens, earrings, and a drill!),

going to Preacher Man's house and exchanging gifts with his family,

celebrating with his Dad's side of the family where we showed everyone how we make our famous biscuits (thanks, Mom for teaching me how!) for breakfast dinner, then a fun game of Catchphrase with the family,

and then the next morning we got up and went to Apple Barn (my word was it good!),

then we took a trip to Bass Pro since there are none in NC,

then we traveled South to my Nana's house to have a Feliz Navidad with my Dad's side of the family (we had a Mexican feast cooked by me, Preacher Man, and my sister...we gave everyone else the night off from cooking since they always did it in the past!),

and then I proceeded to sing and get the rest of the family to sing Feliz Navidad with me before we ate dinner, but I didn't have much luck, but I do think that everyone enjoyed my singing.  :)

Then we traveled back to Preacher Man's parent's house and the next day we had a surprise party where all of our friends stopped in to see us!  We again ate yummy food, played games, and caught up with all of our friends that we haven't got to see in a while.

The next day we had to get up and head back home.  No bueno.

Christmas was a ton of fun.  And that was a really long sentence or paragraph or whatever you want to call it.  :)  We were on the go the majority of time that we were here, but every minute was worth it.  Making memories and enjoying all of our family at the same time.

So now that you've gotten the full recap of Christmas with me and Preacher Man, here are some random pictures:

Hands down, my hubby always has the best reaction when giving gifts. 

His reaction to things are just wonderful and I love seeing the sheer surprise and excitement when he opens something that he's not expecting.

Just take a look at him below...

I just love it!  :)

One of my Christmas presents from the hubs was this awesome new pair of pink shoes...

I think they're pretty dandy!  :)

Here's a picture of my family from Nana's house...

Love my family!  :)

My sister and I got some fun Christmas rings from our aunt and uncle.

They were quite hilarious.  They even light up too!

I got Santa and she got a snowman.  If you look closely in the picture you can see it.

For the rest of the night I acted like the ring had super magical powers like the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.  :)

Here's a picture of Nana...

and no, that's not a hat I got her!  :)  I made her a wreath and then the lady puts it on her head and acts like she's the Statue of Liberty.

She's a hoot.  I just love her!

Oh Nana!  :)

Here's Preacher Man and his little mini-me, Ethan....

He loves UNC just like his uncle, unfortunately.  (Go Duke!)

I do have to admit that they're as cute as can be when they're matching though!  :)

And this precious thing....

'

crooked smile and all.  She is a ball of fun to be around!  :)  I just love her so much!

And here's a big family picture with Preacher Man's Mom's side of the family below...

...and to think there are still people missing from this picture!  Holy smokes!  Gotta love Christmas with Ma!  There's never a dull moment and it's always so much fun!  :)

And before I forget, here's a picture of my table, Mom...

I just love snowmen!  :)  This one was really random.

Hope you enjoyed a few random pictures from the holidays!  We surely enjoyed spending time with our family and friends!

Now I'm going to go back to my couch and curl back up with my book.  :)

Love,
The Preacher's Wife

Happy New Year!

I know that I'm five days late, but......

HAPPY NEW YEAR!  :)

We rang in 2012 the right way...

With Welch's Sparkling Grape Juice!

Oh yeah!  :)

  We had a fun, quiet night at our house eating yummy food!

I like to consider myself sort of Grandma-ish when it comes to this.  I like it.

I can't wait to see what this year has in store!

Goodness knows 2011 was the ever changing year for Preacher Man and I, so bring it on 2012! 

So here's to you....Happy New Year!  May you have much happiness and success in your venture in 2012!

Much love,

The Preacher's Wife :)

Christmas Time is Here...and then it came and went! :)

My Mom keeps on asking me when I'm going to put pictures up of our place decorated for Christmas.

And now Christmas has come and gone.  :(

And here I am writing about it after the fact.


I started this post a while back before Christmas but never got around to putting up pictures of our place for the family to see.

I really think my Mom (who asked for this the most) should just come visit with the rest of the family, but seeing as how that's not on the schedule this season this will have to do.

So without rambling on,

Dear Mom,


Here are the pictures!  :)

Here are some pretty red and white tulips I had in my kitchen...

and a different angle of them...

Here is our tree mid way December....

The tree topper on our tree is what Preacher Man used to propose to me.  It will be the tree topper for FOREVER!  :)  It's kinda special.  :)

Here's my festive window treatment...

You can still see the snowman pillow in the picture even though I turned off the lights.  :)

And here's our tree before we left to go home...

They all got wrapped and loaded!  FINALLY!  :)

Here is a fun new ornament that we got from our precious friends Chad and Jodi. 

They are our family away from family.  :)

If you can't tell in the picture it says Jodi, Chad, Jon, and Katie on the ornaments.

Sooo cute and sooo thoughtful! 

Thanks again, friends!  We love you!

Moving on to the tour...

Here is our side table with Santa's shoe...

And here's the tree that I put on the coffee table...

And Mom.....look at that snowman with the fish!  :)

I put Jon's picture beside it just for you!  :)

(Mom gave us the snowman holding a fish at Thanksgiving!)  :)

Here's our shelf...

I really just took this picture for my cool platter that says "Christmas Calories Don't Count"!

Hahaha!  If only that were true!

And here's our staircase complete with garland and stockings...

And I just remembered that I forgot to take a picture of my Kitchen table and Kitchen tree.  Sorry, Mom!  I had a cute cupcake tree in the kitchen and on my table I had a cute cake plate with a candle on it and precious snowman place mats.

Are you seeing all of this in your head?!

I know you are!  :)

So there you have it!

A Christmas Tour of Chateu J & K!

Hope you enjoyed!

Still Wishing I Was On Christmas Vacation,

The Preacher's Wife

A Minor Mishap

First off, Happy Birthday to my wonderful Nana!!  I love you so much and hope that you have a wonderful day!

We had a minor mishap in the house today.

Just a small one you'd say.

Take a look below:

You know that glorious stuff they call "puppy chow"?

That stuff with chocolate, peanut butter, and chex mix all coated with powdered sugar?

Yes, that glorious stuff!  :)

Well we had a minor mishap in making it today.

You see we are going to Preacher Man's Work Christmas Party tonight and I thought it would be nice to make everyone a small treat.  So we went to Wal-Mart this afternoon to grab the supplies, along with some other stuff, and rushed home to get it made in time for the party.

We got the chocolate and peanut butter melted and we were ready to coat the chex mix.

Every time I have ever made the yummy puppy chow I have always used a trash bag to make it.

Well this time we used a trash bag.  I insisted that everything would be find when my honey asked me if it would be okay.  I had him talked into thinking that everything would be fine.

Just fine.

Fine, I said.

I've done this a bunch of times!

So he volunteered to shake the bag and I poured the chocolate.

And this happened on the first shake:

See all that chocolate goodness?

Nnnooooooooooooooooooooooo!

I wanted to cry.

I got a little mad at myself.

I tried to save it.

So I told the hubby to grab the Hefty bags because they were hefty and we were going to get this job done.  (I don't know what i was thinking since more than half of my chocolate was on the kitchen floor...I was just determined.)

Welllllllllllll this is what happened with Hefty:

Not so hefty.  Or maybe my chocolate was too hot?!  Ya think?

(You can see how much of a hurry we were in if you look at the counter...we didn't even unload our groceries....we had to get this made and get it made fast!)

We did manage to save some of the chex mix with some of the chocolate. 

But as for now we have this on our floor:

And we're going to the party empty handed, with no puppy chow to give.

And my husband decides to eat puppy chow off the floor.

Luckily he mopped the kitchen last night.  And I reckon we'll be mopping again late tonight after the party.

And don't say anything about his style and outfit of choice.  That's why I married him.  :)

I'm happy we have a sense of humor.  Maybe I'll get my puppy chow made sometime.

As for now we're off to eat with our friends and then to the party....

Until next time,

The Preacher's Wife

Wreaths--Glorious Wreaths!

So I've been into wreaths lately.

Like a lot.

I think I've found a fun, creative outlet for myself that I really enjoy. 

As promised, here are some close-ups of the wreaths that I had in the Craft & Bake Sale...I'll post if they are sold underneath them in case you're interested in buying.  And if you are interested in buying one or would like one that is similar to one you see, please let me know!  :)

Here we go...

Large Black, Red, & White Rag Wreath

Still for Sale!

I think a big, red Welcome sign would be so pretty on this wreath!

Pink, Green, and White

SOLD!

Multi-Colored Checked Rag Wreath

SOLD!

Purple & Pink Rag Wreath

SOLD!

Duke Rag Wreath

SOLD!

Small Red, Black & White Rag Wreath

Perfect for the Office

Still for Sale!

Christmas Rag Wreath

SOLD!

Blue & Yellow Rag Wreath

SOLD!

Orange & Red Rag Wreath

SOLD!

North Carolina Rag Wreath

SOLD!

Small Pastel Wreath

Still for Sale!

Yellow & Purple Yarn Wreath

Still for Sale!

Christmas Yarn Wreath (that is green if you can't tell by the picture)

Still for Sale!

Christmas Yarn Wreath

Still for Sale!

Small Christmas Wreath

SOLD!

Some people like the ribbon on the wreaths where you can tie them from your wreath hanger, and some people don't.  I like it tied in a pretty bow, but others might like to hang the wreath just on the wreath hanger.  :) 

I'm working on some other cute wreaths that I'll have to post pictures of soon...

AND some other fun Christmas crafts for the Grandmothers...Louise and Rowena!  :)

Hope you enjoyed!

The Crazy Wreath Making Lady,

The Preacher's Wife