I'm Farming & I Grow It

Today was my first "official" day back to school. I say official because I've spent the last few weeks at school trying to get a head start on the school year and I am pretty excited to say I've gotten a HUGE start! My classroom is done, curriculum maps are completed for the WHOLE school year, and I've already got my first week of plans complete. Go me! But of course, there was a reason why I was so anxious to get a head start on my year. The reason being that today and tomorrow, I have to spend my first two workdays sitting in conference after conference for my school district. At first I wasn't excited but I've learned so many new things that I can not wait to implement in my classroom. I'll share some of them later when I can wrap my head around all of them and how specifically I am going to use them.

Well I'm off to another class. But before I go I just had to share this video that was shown in a class that I took today. It had me laughing (:

Tax Free Weekend!

As many of you ladies have noticed, when I got out of school in May, my blogging became pretty sporadic. My weekend recaps, weekend bargains, and OOTD posts came to an abrupt halt. The reason for that is pretty simple. The fact of the matter is that I have done nothing but rest and relax all summer and frankly, I've loved every minute of it! My weekends were spent laying around on the couch with the hubby and my outfits consisted of nothing but t-shirts and athletic shorts. So I really didn't have anything exciting for you guys to read or look at. However, that's about to all end because tomorrow marks my first official day back to school. So I figure I might as well start back with my series of posts. So tonight I'm going to start back with my weekend bargain series. After all this past weekend was "Tax-Free Weekend" so it really couldn't be any better of a time! (:

Over the weekend, I found lots of cute goodies for work!

Cognac colored flats! (Target for $14.99)
Navy & Gold Bracelets (Target for $6.00)

                                          

3/4 sleeve silk blouses! (Marshalls for $12.99 each)

Denim trouser pants (Target for $16.08)
Red cropped pants (Marshalls for $19.99)

Guess dress (Marshalls for $15.00)

What did you ladies end up finding this weekend?!

Congrats Mr. & Mrs. Justin Peoples

Last night, I headed to Autumn Creek Vineyards in Mayodan, NC to watch my cousin Ashley marry her husband Justin for the second time this year! Sound funny? Let me explain because it's quite simple. Ashley and Justin were engaged earlier this year and set their wedding date for August 2nd. However, with Justin being in the Marines, they chose to get married sooner in order for all of their paperwork to be processed (apparently the military takes a while to do that kind of thing..lol). Their first wedding only included their immediate family and they wore regular clothes. The wedding that took place yesterday included all of their closest friends and family and it had all the works of a traditional wedding. It turned out absolutely beautiful and I couldn't be happier for the two of them (:

Justin waiting for his bride.

Gary giving Ashley away.

Exchanging their vows.

First dance.

I loved all of the little details!

The program.

Loved this sign! It was perfect for our families.

Where they were married.

Cuuuute!

Justin's son carried this sign down the aisle before Ashley came in! How cute is that?!

Oh and did I mention the hubby had to work and missed the wedding? Because he did so I took Brittni and she served as my better half for the evening!

{Recipes}: Bacon Ranch Slowcooker Chicken

Several months ago, I found this recipe for bacon ranch slowcooker chicken on Pinterest. I've been debating making it for a while and a few nights ago I decided to give in. As always I adapted the recipe somewhat for our family's needs and in the end, it was worth it!  It tasted just as good as it looks in the following picture (:

Bacon Ranch Slowcooker Chicken

(serves 4)

What You Need:

- 24 oz. Chicken Tenderloins

- 3 or 4 pieces of cooked bacon broken into small pieces

- 1 tsp of Garlic Powder

- 1 package of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing Mix

- 1 can of Cream of Chicken Soup (10.75 oz)

- 8 oz.. of Sour Cream

- Rice or Pasta 

- Ground Black Pepper

Directions:

1. Grease the bottom of your slowcooker

2. Place raw chicken tenderloins in the slowcooker..spreading them out

3. Combine the sour cream, cream of chicken soup, garlic powder, ranch dressing mix, and bacon.

4. Pour mixture on top of chicken

5. Cook for 3 1/2 hours on high

When finished...

Add ground pepper per your taste then serve on top of pasta or rice. 

*I served the chicken on top of ziti pasta.But as the hubs and I were eating this delicious meal, I had the bright idea to try this next time on a bed of rice instead of pasta noodles. The sauce is absolutely delicious and I can't imagine how yummy it would be on top of some white rice! Ahh my mouth waters while thinking about it!!!(:

Let me know how you like it!

A Little Beach Photography

I've always loved pictures of families standing on the beach wearing khakis and white. So while we were at the beach last week, I decided to snap a few for the family. Overall, I was pretty excited about how they turned out! Here's some of my favorites!

Emily, Daniel, & Baby Sam

Brooke & Bryan

The Boys

The Girls

The Hubs & I

(thanks to Brookie!)