Friendly Shopper

So, I'm making an effort to be a little more environmentally savy. I have been brainstorming on recycling and how to be more efficient once we move down east, and how I can make this something cute, and not just an eye-sore. Yes, I'm sorry, I went there.... my recycling must be cute. Don't give me any crap about it. It makes more likely to do it, so there!
Next thing- shopping bags. No one asks anymore if you want paper or plastic when you go shopping. They just plop your goodies into a plastic bag and send you on your happy little way. So, for this reason, I have a boat-load of plastic bags at home that I use for my lunches and baggies for poop-covered clothes that may happen during outings with Carter. I'm really looking into getting re-usable shopping bags and I can't make my mind up. I've really done a lot of research on this (yes, there is research that comes with buying shopping bags!!!) and Envirosax seem to be the best. They have wide straps and a very wide mouth so I can stuff it with as much crap as I can to inevitably squish my bread as much as I can (seriously, I can't buy bread without 1/2 of it being a smooshed casualty!) I need your help choosing the pattern, flora or botannica.

Flora

Botannica

I'm realllllly leaning towards the botannica, but the Flora is sold on Amazon with free shipping. I'm thinking I'm going green on this one.... as in saving some green and getting the free shipping. What do you think? (extra addition side note!! Price differences are no longer an issue!! I found a great price on all the patterns so help me choose if you can!)

Extra Addition!!!!!
Ok, after researching a little more (don't laugh!) I found this pattern!!!!! I think I might be suckered in with the polka-dots!!!

Eco

Weekend rewind

This past weekend was so lovely. So nice. So short. My parents came up with Phillip and helped watch the baby while we packed up the house and did all the other necessary evils that come with getting a house ready to move-out. We had beautiful weather and such a great time. I will truly miss my little home. I feel like it's a vacation get-away for my family. I physically see the stress melt off my parents and my other relatives when they come to stay with us. I'm thinking it's our great porch outside or maybe even the beautiful orange paint. Yup, it's the paint. No, even better, it's the hostess. Heh heh! We didn't get much packed but it's ok because we enjoyed laughing and being a family. My parents are great and always do so much for my sister and I. I couldn't ask for a better set of parents.
I'm starting to tear up so I'm moving on......

Phillip and I got a place to live down east in Whitsett. The official move in date is May 1st. So, we'll be packing our stuff here and sending it down as soon as we can. I'm not really sure when we'll actually be living there. Definitely by our closing date, which has been moved to May 22nd. Our place has a lease of 4 months because we're hoping to find another house by then. I'm looking forward to apartment living again, but only for the pool! I can't wait to get Carter baby in that pool! I still haven't gotten word from the state that they've accepted the paperwork on my job, so just keep praying for us please!
We're headed home this weekend for my best friend's little boy's 1st birthday. I can't wait to see them! Little Parker has grown so much and I can't wait to celebrate Monica's special anniversary with her.
Carter was in his hi-chair for the first time last night. Holy cow that thing swallowed him!! He's been eating in his Bumbo with the tray until he mastered sitting up well. My little guy is growing too fast. He's holding a bottle by himself and I swear he's saying "momma" when he gets upset. It's soooo clear! I love it! Here are the pics from last night. Lil blue-eyed man was enjoying some peas for dinner and loves to wear it!

Teeth!!

(click picture for close up)

You like my 2 teeth?? My gummy grin is alllllll gone!!

Easter Baby

We had such a great Easter Break. It was too short, of course, and we didn't get to see family enough. Carter was toooooo freakin' cute in his Easter outfit and was so well behaved in church. I really didn't expect him to do so well but he stayed quite or slept. We went to my mother-in-law's church and it really made me miss my old church, Homestead Heights (currently "The Summit") and all of it's people. It is such a great place and I always felt at home. Not to say that these people didn't make us feel welcome, but it's just not the same. AAAAANYWAYS! Paisley did an awesome job dyeing her Easter Eggs and went crazy when she was hunting them. She's growing up too fast! Jacob loved hunting his Eggs also and was naming every one of them as he went. He is so smart and catches on so quick. It's hard to believe both of them will be 2 this summer. Lordy time flies! Here are our pics. I wish I had pics from Paisley's egg hunt, but those are on my dad's camera. Enjoy!

It's insane how much he looks like his daddy!!!

Family shot at Easter Lunch

HELLLLOOOOO!!

Jacob hunting eggs

Phillip's brother (Brian), his son (Jacob), my mother-in-law, Carter, and Phillip

My sweet boy!

I hope you all had a great Easter. Time to get back to work! So glad the weekend is almost here!
Much love,
Sara

Dipping Deliciousness

Hi guys! I hope you are all doing well. We've had quite the turn in weather here. Phillip came up this weekend and it was soooo beautiful and we walked around Lake Junaluska and spent pretty much all weekend doing family stuff and enjoying the beautiful weather. Then, the next day I'll be darned if it weren't snowing! Gotta love living in the mountains! You never know what to expect! But it did give me a chance to have Carter wear his "Elmer Fudd" hat one last time before the winter is over and snap a shot like this on our way to the babysitters:

It was such a fantastic weekend though, and I'm glad we took advantage of being outside. We went and fed ducks and fish at Junaluska and I got such great pictures of lil man and his daddy. I'll share them with you as soon as my camera gets charged.
I finally got a chance to cook something really great a week or two ago. It turned out SO INCREDIBLY fantastic. I got the recipe off another blog where a woman has been using her crockpot EVERY SINGLE DAY to fix her family's meals. My pictures of the meal are at the bottom, but here is the recipe from her site:

French Dips

4 lbs beef roast, I actually buy Beef Round Sandwich Steak, (meaning it is already sliced)
1 (10.5 oz) can of beef broth
2 (10.5 oz) cans of Condensed French Onion Soup
1 (12 oz) bottle of dark beer (I only use 1/2 the bottle)
1Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp garlic powder
6 French Rolls (I like Sara Lee)
Butter

Put the butter into the bottom of the crockpot and turn on. Add the meat, garlic, and onions, and swirl around in the butter.

Pour in the broth, beer, and cooking sherry. Add pepper and Worcestershire sauce.

Cover and cook on low for 7-9 hours.

If your meat is still in large chunks, remove it carefully, and slice. Return the meat back to the broth.

Serve on rolls. I made rolls from the Whole Foods 365 bread mix, and added some cheddar cheese to the sandwiches. Traditionally, gruyere is used.

Dip the sandwich into the broth before each bite for a nice juicy flavor and consistency


Verdict- LIP SMACKING GOOD!!! Holy Hannah! I made this sandwich twice since then because it's sooooo good. I got a little confused with the recipe though and had to vear off on my own a few times. She has two different recipes (one for gluten free and one not) and these instructions mention things that are not listed in the ingredients list abopve (the sherry and extra onions) and I'm glad I had some in my house because it really added to it. I got a little confused with the meat selection and ended up buying a beef bottom round. I sliced it very very thin (and let me tell you this was incredibly difficult and also got my gag reflex going) by hand. The second time I made it I had the butcher slice it as thin as he could get it and it was still thicker than what I did. I ended up preferring my hand sliced better. I also used a different type of cheese. I used provolone and it rocked! I also added more Wocestershire sauce than what it called for and it gave it so much more flavor. It definitely only took about 4 hours for my meat to cook, but I also sliced it very thin. I really encourage everyone to make this recipe because it was more than easy, so delicious, and soooooo good. And besides, who could ask for anything more fabulous than coming home from a hard day at work and already having dinner ready? Awesome right!!?? Here are my pics from that dinner:

Down right delicious!!!!

Yipppppeeee Skipppeeee!!!

Great news!!!! We got a great offer on the house and we will be closing May 18th!!!!! I can't believe it's actually happening!! I'm so excited, but I'm so sad! I am just so happy someone loves our house as much as we do. Lord knows we would probably live there forever if we could because it's so perfect and beautiful, but there are other plans for us and hopefully things will move quickly and with no hick-ups. I have no idea where I'm going to live if my job offer doesn't come through by the time we sign papers. I guess I'll have to rent a place here for a month or two.
To clue you in on the job stuff...... I am transferring to another branch within my agency down east. It takes FOREVER for the state to approve jobs, so I'm just waiting on the budget department to say that they have the funds for me to transfer. But, I was offered the job back in March and accepted immediately. Our agency has been known to take 2-6 months to get someone in a position and I'm really hoping it doesn't take long.
But, anyway..... YAY FOR GREAT NEWS ON THE HOUSE!!! Have a great weekend everyone!

"Gonna eat me a lot of peaches..."

I forgot to tell you!! Carter had his first real food!! We have been giving him peaches this week and he loves them!! That lil' man can do work on some peaches!

Our vacation in Florida

So, we went to Disney World for 2 days and had a blast. You definitely dont realize how much you get pampered in that park until you leave and go somewhere else. On our last day in Florida we went down to the Kennedy Space Center to watch the shuttle land and it was very apparent to us that we had it made in Disney. We were sitting at lunch and were constantly bombarded by birds and bugs. There is none of that in Disney. How is that? The grounds were incredibly cleaned and the trash was always being wheeled out. The bathrooms were always spic-and-span too. Very weird, but VERY lovely. Carter stayed with mine and Phillip's folks while we were away and it was sooooo nice to get away, but I missed my little fella so much. I tell ya, the perfect time to go to Florida is definitely March. The weather was FANTASTIC!! It was warm, but not excessively hot. The wind was blowing so nicely that everytime you did start to sweat you didn't realize it. I got quite the farmers tan while I was there b/c I couldn't feel the heat at all. Disney has got it together in ways of keeping customers happy, lines moving, and service quick. They have these things called a "Fast Pass" now where you can grab a pass that puts you at the front of the line of a ride with very little or no waiting. You have to come back to that ride within a specified time slot, so that really helped us plan our day accordingly and not spend hours waiting for a 3 minute ride. I will have to remember next time not to ride a water ride first thing in the morning. I looked like a frizzy poodle for the rest of the day.... yikes! Also, Epcot had an event called the International Flower and Garden Festival that was just AMAZING. They had 7 foot characters all over the park and it was just insanely gorgeous. Epcot is divided into "countries" to visit and all the characters that went with that country were outside meeting and greeting guests and they also had the flower characters outside that country. So, Belle (from Beauty and the Beast) was in France, Aladdin was in Morraco, and so on. It was just awesome. Here are some of the pics. Enjoy!

My FAVORITE Disney story- Cinderella

These sequined Minnie-Mouse ears were awesome!!

I about let me tongue fall out of my mouth when I saw these GINORMOUS rice-crispy treats. They were HUGE!

Cinderella's castle illuminated before the fireworks show

As I stated before, awful farmers tan, and wet rat....

Tinkerbell inside the "Fairies Garden" (If you click on this pic it's a little creepy. A giant bee flew onto her face and made her look like she had one eye. It's much prettier w/o the bee)

Looking at the Epcot Ball as we went across the lake

Mickey's main squeeze

Mrs. Potts, Chip, and Cogsworth

What can I say? Disney pimped my ride.

The entrance to Epcot. You have to click on this one to see how pretty these truly were.
From left to right: Belle, Beast, Prince Charming, Cinderella, Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs behind her

Inside the Animal Kingdom- The most insanely gorgeous tree that had orchids growing in it!!

Kennedy Space Center