Thursday, October 29, 2009

What!? An Award?!?!

Well I'll be!!!! The lovely Miss Valerie at Next To Heaven has chosen me for the BEST BLOG AWARD!!! How sweet is that?! She has a super cute blog! Go check her out and say hello! Plus...she needs more followers so she can do a GIVEAWAY!!! :)


So now for the rules...

The The Best Blog Award rules are:

To accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his/her blog link.

Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you have recently discovered and think are great! Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

Well....I think that 15 is A LOT!! So maybe I will do like she did and just name a few of my faves!!!

Here goes :








Pass on the blog love ladies!! Enjoy your award! I hope that you all post it proudly on your wall! Love you all and love keeping up with you and your life through blogging!

And thank you to everyone who keeps up with me and reads my random ramblings about life and everything else under the sun! I am blessed!

Have a wonderful night!!!

XOXO,

HHL

TEXAS WEATHER....


I mean I LOVE Texas and all...but this weather is getting ridiculous!!!



Normally...it's warm with humidity and no rain!! Well....it has been raining CATS and DOGS lately!! I just don't get it! IT's like it rains...we get a one day break...and then it starts up again! It's NEVER like this here! I am ALL for the rain if I am going to be home all day...but I HATE it if I have to be out and about!



Plus....this morning, it was 75 degrees at 6am when I walked out in the backyard (i do this every morning to check the temperature...and say hello to the pups!). So...I threw on a long sleeved black t-shirt and a cute little skirt from Ann Taylor with heels. As soon as I got to school...it started POURING! Now...I just looked at the weather online...it's 62 outside!!!!! HOLY COW! Now I will have to shiver my little body all the way across the parking lot to my car at the end of the day!



Good thing I just found a little packet of apple cider in my desk drawer..it calmed my weather nerves....FOR NOW....



It will probably be sunny and 101 degrees tomorrow..... HA!!!



XOXO,



HHL

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Missing College...

Who doesn't miss college?? I had the time of my life and met a lot of great people! The only cares that I had were making the right grades!

I really started thinking about that last night and began missing college so much! Sometimes you just get stuck in the rut of everyday life that you don't take a minute to stop and enjoy the things going on around you! I know I do...I wake up at 6:15 every morning...leave the house by 6:50...get to work, get my coffee, and begin my day teaching....come home about 4:30...cook dinner...watch tv and hang out...get in bed about 11pm. EVERY DAY! Geez! When did I get so B-O-R-I-N-G?!

Last night around 9pm I realized that I was bored! BORED...on a TUESDAY night... what do you do?! So...we piddled around the house until about 10 and decided that we should go somewhere. Where do you go at 10pm on a Tuesday night aside from Wal-Mart?! Well...we finally just got in Casey's truck and just drove around! We stopped and got snacks and continued to drive around and look at houses for about an hour last night! It was great! Nobody was around but us. We (meaning my friends and I...Casey and I were seven hours apat in college!) used to always just get in the car and drive around at all hours of the night in college...just to go out and talk about the pressures of college life, relationships, whatever needed to be said...or you know...even just to sing the occasional popular song at that time! We would even go spotlight the people who were making out down by the lake...just to see if we knew anyone! HAHA!

But really...I just miss that carefree feeling that I had in college! I want out of the rut! I am going to try to get out and drive around like that one night a week! Who cares if I go to bed late because of it!? I am just making memories with my sweet husband!

WHAT DO YOU DO TO GET YOURSELF
OUT OF A RUT???
XOXO,
HHL

Monday, October 26, 2009

My New Obsession....






Gosh...I am going to get fat!!!!



I finally broke down and bought a jar of Nutella this weekend. I have heard SO many people talking about it and just have never tried it! I think the packaging really always threw me off....it looks like something you would find in an old grandma's house. That bothered me for some reason! I finally broke down and bought it and was very intrigued... I could not pinpoint if I liked it or not right away. The hazelnut and chocolate taste is very different. But, somehow, it's really not TOO terribly rich. My next dilemma was to figure out what in the world to eat the Nutella with!!! It seemed odd to me to spread it on bread...don't know why. I FINALLY thought to dip my strawberry slices in it. HOLY GUACAMOLE!!! Ya'll....amazing. I was LITERALLY licking my plate like an idiot! It was so good and completely opened my mind to this hazelnut/chocolate phenomenon! I don't knwo why...but it just completely clicked with the strawberries!

If you have not tried it yet...go get you some!!!

For all of those who have...what do you eat your Nutella with???
I need ideas! I am so lost!!!!!

XOXO,

Hils

WE HAVE A WINNER!!!

Well....I have drawn out of a hat to find the winner of the gorgeous Monogramed Wax Pendant and necklace!

And the winner is...............

Amber from The Lambert Family!

Go check out her CUTE little blog, become a follower, and tell her congrats! She is expecting a little one and this will be the perfect little gift for her I'm sure!! :)

YAY!!!!

-Hils

Monday, October 19, 2009

Monday Giveaway!!

I hope that this giveaway gets your week started off right!
A new Etsy friend of mine, Kimbra at CallaghanArtGallery has offered to do a great little giveaway on my blog!
She has some precious stuff in her Etsy shop! My most favorite piece of hers is the Monogram Wax Seal Pendant!! Kimbra was gracious enough to send one over to me to try for myself! It is SO cute in person! I love the size of it...it makes the letter more visual and it's a good thick material that she uses on them! It's not even near as heavy as I thought it might be! Plus...I love the monogram font that she uses! It's so girly looking!
She has them in FOUR different colors! I LOVE the Ocean Blue...but I went with the silver because I thought it would be more practical for me! I love anything monogrammed or personalized...so this was right up my alley! I have my eye on the Fleur De Lis one also.....
They are just so unique!!
HOT NEW JEWELRY TREND - Monogram Wax Seal Pendant - Any Letter
HOT NEW JEWELRY TREND - Monogram Wax Seal Pendant - Any Letter
HOT NEW JEWELRY TREND - Monogram Wax Seal Pendant - Any Letter
Here is what Kimbra had to say about these fabulous pendants :
Add Elegance and Style to your wardrobe with a sophisticated Old World wax seal pendant!
Each seal pendant is custom made by hand so your pendant will not be identical to the one in the picture but it will have all the same shabby chic/rustic/vintage characteristics and the color will be the same.
Pendant is made using a secret recipe! Sound interesting? You bet it is! There is something magical about making these and I hope they bring with them good fortune and good luck!!
History Lesson: Seals can be traced back to the Old Testament. Royalty and Governments used them to give proclamations their seal of approval. Monograms were also used as royal signatures. The ancient Romans and Greeks used them on coins to identify their rulers. In the Middle Ages artisans began using them to sign their work. During the Victorian Era high society adopted the monogram for personal use to symbolize their place in society.
As if this wasn't enough...she even has some super CUTE scarves in her Etsy shop too!!!
Check them out :
LOVE JERSEY SCARF :
LOVE Jersey Scarf - Silk Screen Printed
VINTAGE PAISLEY SCARF :
Vintage Paisley Jersey Scarf - Screen Printed
TIGER LILY JERSEY SCARF :
Tiger Lily Jersey Scarf - Screen Printed
She has SO many other cute things in her shop too!! Check it out!
So...after seeing all of this...are you wondering what she is giving away?! I bet you are....
Kimbra is so sweet...she is offering to give away a Wax Seal Pendant and necklace to one lucky winner!!! (wooo hoooo!!!!!!)
This is what you have to do to win it :
1. Become a follower or let me know that you are a follower of my blog! (leave a comment)
2. Leave your name and email address in a comment
3. Jump over to her Etsy shop and tell me what YOUR favorite item is!
4. Post this giveaway on your own blog!! (leave a comment to let me know!)
THAT IS FOUR POTENTIAL ENTRIES!!
Get going....this giveaway will end at noon on Saturday, October 24!
Good luck and happy entering!
XOXO,
Hilary

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Reviews Please....

Okay...this is what I am wanting :


Yes....that my friends....is a Keurig Coffee maker!

Do you have one?? If so...what do you think about it??? If you aren't familiar with it...it's a personal coffee maker. You buy these little pre-measured coffee/tea/hot chocolate cups that you load into it and TA-DA! You have a nice personal cup o' drink! I know...why not just get a normal coffee maker??? Well...I have one...but this one is so much COOLER!!!!! :) FANCY SCHMANCY!

You can find these on the Keurig website, Kohl's, Bed Bath & Beyond, etc. The best price I have found on the one I want is at BB&B...plus I have a 20% off coupon! Hmmmm......

Okay...I am trying to get Casey to run to the store with me to look at them! Wish me luck! Let me know what you think about them! I really don't know much about them!!! :)


My Day Has Been Made....


I just jumped onto People.com and saw this:

TORI AND DEAN ARE BACK FOR SEASON FIVE!!!!!

People.com Says:

Quick! Name what you would most want for Christmas from Reality TV Land.

No, the Kardashian girls aren’t entering a convent. Try again.
Um, no, Spencer and Heidi haven’t been sent on a do-or-die mission to Antarctica

.
OK, we’ll spill: Tori Spelling and Dean McDermott will be coming back in spring 2010 to your TV set with a new season of their reality show, Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood, on Oxygen.

This time they’ll taking the clan on the road –- minus Tori’s estranged mom, of course. “This has given us the amazing opportunity to reach our fans who have become our friends in such an intimate and unique way. It’s an honor to bring our living room into theirs,” Tori said.

AAHHHH!! I am so excited!! I love their show! I think Tori and I could be fast friends! I would love to met her one day and get her book signed! I read Stori Telling but have yet to read Mommywood!! Tell me what your thoughts are on Mommywood! I would love to hear about it! Maybe I will pick it up next! And...if you hear of any Tori book signings coming up in the great state of Texas...holler at me and let me know!!! :)

I hope you are as excited as I am! :) YAY!

Happy Wednesday!

-H


Tuesday, October 13, 2009

PANTRY RAID!!!!

I need a huge favor!! Please?! Pretty Please?! I'll be your best friend.... (haha...remember that line from elementary school?!)


My school and my fourth grade class are collecting Box Tops For Education! They have made it into a big competition for the classes at our school to see who can collect the most! My class won for August and we are REALLY wanting to win for October as well! We were just a TINY bit short for September and lost for that month! (dang!) Plus...these Box Tops earn money for my little 'ol school!

So this is where YOU come in!

Go look in your pantry RIGHT now!! I'll wait a second......

Find all of the stuff that you have that has the Box Tops For Education (www.btfe.com) label on it....then cut the label out! Now...your next step will be to send them to me!!!! I need as many as I can possibly get!

We are also collecting the Campbell's labels too! Who doesn't have tons of Campbell's soup in their pantry?! I know I do!

I would really love your help with this! To top it all off...you will get a nice shiny thank you note from my kiddos!!! Won't that be so nice!? :)

If you want to help me out with this...please email me! We can trade addresses so that you can send them on!!

Thank you SO much! I hope that you will be a part of helping out my class and school!

XOXO,

Hilary

Monday, October 12, 2009

WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER!!!!

YAY!!!!!

I am so sorry that it has taken me a little while to get the winning post up! I have been shopping and running around all day!! So tired!!!! :)

I just want to say thank you for all of your sweet comments and entries for my giveaway!!! I love being able to do these giveaways for you and finding out more and more of what you like! Keep on following the blog....I have some fun ones coming up!!!! :) Hopefully later this week!!

Are you ready for the winner????????? I am!!!

Drum Roll Please......

I am SO super excited to announce that Amanda Fouts is the winner!!! Oh my word! If you have not been to her blog before...go check it out!! She is the cutest little thing ever! I love reading about her life and her fun puppies...extra bonus : we are probably about 30 minutes away from eachother! I should probably meet her sometime! :) Go over and tell her hi and congrats!!!

Thank you all again for making this an AWESOME giveaway!!! :)

***LEAVE A COMMENT HERE AND TELL ME SOMETHING THAT YOU WOULD LOVE TO SEE IN A GIVEAWAY!!!*** (I always need ideas!)

Much love to my WONDERFUL followers!!

-Hils

Agenda......

I as sitting here taking a break from getting ready and was thinking about my agenda for the day..... I needed to type it out so that I remember EVERYTHING....so why not type it out on my blog?! :)

By the way...I don't have work today because of Columbus Day....ummmmm thank you for being a teacher!!!!! :) I love the random holidays!

Here goes :

1. Finish getting ready and figure out what to wear! Texas is cold today!!!
2. Run dry cleaning to the cleaners...
3. Drop of THREE rolls of film from Blair's FIRST birthday party this weekend!!! (yes....i use a 35mm film camera....i love the way the pictures turn out! Don't hate!!!!)
4. Meet up in Southlake with my two most favorite people ever - Riley and Becky (Becky should be going into labor ANY day now....so this is kind of our last outing for a while! We are really excited!!)
5. Take Becky baby shopping and let her pick out something fun!
6. Hug Riley a lot! She is my fave kiddo!
7. Pick up said pictures....
8. PICK OUT A WINNER FOR THE GIVEAWAY!!!
9. Clean the house
10. Cook dinner!!!

It will be a busy and fun day! I will probably have lots of pictures for you when I come back! :) Get ready!!

Also...I have more fun giveaways coming to you this week!!! Be on the lookout!!!

XOXO,

Hilary

Sunday, October 11, 2009

PUPPY PUMPKINS!

This is no joke! Better Homes and Gardens' has dog breed pumpkin stencils for your fall/Halloween creativity!!! I am a little obsessed with these and want to get some pumpkins ASAP so that I can try these out!!! They have all three (kind of) that I need!!!

They have a Dachshund for Skeeter Boo :

Dachshund dachshund

A Labrador for Cache Money :


Labrador Retriever labrador retriever


And they actually DON'T have a Great Dane (GRRR!!!) but I figured out that I might be able to use the Lab for Miley Mae's pumpkin....but just shorten the ears a little bit!

I hope you all are inspired by these and make your own too! I have GOT to find the dogs some costumes....what are YOU dressing your dogs up as this year????? Last year we just had Miley and Skeeter....Miley was a skunk and Skeeter was a bumble bee!!! It was hilarious!!! :)

Don't forget to enter my GIVEAWAY! It ends at noon TOMORROW!!!! Check it out!!

XOXO,

Hilary

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

SUPER CUTE GIVEAWAY!

YAY for a brand new giveaway!!!
(i know...i know...I was going to wait until tomorrow to post this...but I am REALLY bad with surprises! this giveaway was burning a hole in my blog! haha!)


I am super excited to talk all about a new Etsy vendor that I found while browsing around for a birthday present! Her name is Amy C. and she has some SUPER cute personalized jewelry! Go browse her shop: AMY CORNWELL DESIGNS to see everything she has!


Here is a little bio on Amy :


Amy is married to a wonderful man named Dave and has a beautiful daughter who was born in October 2005 and a son born in August 2008. Amy loves to spend time with her family and friends watching movies and playing games. Amy loves all things creative. Amy works and worships at a Christian Church in Noblesville Indiana.Amy made her start in beading in ninth grade selling to her friends to make money for vacation. She took a brief sabbatical and came back to designing jewelry in 2003. She has taken one metalsmithing and one lampworking class. She continually tries to update and improve her designs through further education and training.


I love all of the handstamped silver/gold on her website! Here are some of my favorites:


MEDIUM CUSTOM NECKLACE (with the bigger letter)


Medium Custom Necklace with two holes on rollo chain


THE HEIRLOOM COLLECTION (I haven't seen one like this before! What a great way to preserve memories of special occasions!) Hmmm....I might just need one of these for myself! :)


She even wrote on her website the definition of HEIRLOOM : Something of great intrinsic value that has been in the possession of a family or culture for many generations.


Heirloom Collection - Stamped Metals Family Memories Necklace




Fancy Raised Edge Square Pendant


Amy has been SO super sweet to offer one of her pieces to ONE lucky reader of my blog!


The winner will get an Itty Bitty Sterling Necklace!! How CUTE is that?! You will be able to personalize it with whatever letter you want!


Itty Bitty 3/8in Sterling Necklace


Here is how you can enter:


1. Leave your name and email address as a comment!
2. Become a follower of my blog! (let me know!)
3. Go to Amy's Etsy shop. Come back and tell me what your favorite item is!
4. Post on your blog about my giveaway! (post the link in the comments section)


For each one of these that you do, you will get ONE entry!

So, you can get up to four entries!


THIS CONTEST WILL END AT NOON ON MONDAY, OCTOBER 12!


Good luck!!!!


XOXO,


Hilary

P.S. MORE giveaways are coming your way!!! Keep checking in!!! :)

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Family Photo Op...

I don't know if you can even see this very well....but this is my new favorite family picture of us!!! Sadly...we couldn't get Miley (our great dane) in the picture...we are re-leash training her...she likes to pull out of her leash and run off! It was way to risky! We took this picture out at a pond close to our house....it looks like we are at a beach or something! LOVE....

XOXO,


Hils

"Holy Scarves Batman!!!"


(yes I know....TWO posts in ONE day....i have not gone crazy...i think!!)

Head on over to my new friend
Kate's blog....she had the best idea ever! She is doing a SCARF SWAP!!! Who doesn't love a fun new scarf when it starts to get nippy outside?! I know I do! Plus.... it will be so much fun to shop for someone else! :)

Jump on over there and sign up right now!!! It will be too much fun!

XOXO,

Hilary

RECIPES!

Hello hello!! Well...happy Tuesday to you! I hope your week is amazing so far! I chugged LOTS of coffee this morning...so I am pretty uppity right now! :)

I wanted to share some of the AWESOME recipes that I have gathered so far from other readers....because...don't we all love to share?? :)

Here goes....

Broccoli Quiche
(from Lindsey at Learning To Be A Wife)

INGREDIENTS
2 tablespoons butter
1 onion, minced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups chopped fresh broccoli
1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
4 eggs, well beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon butter, melted

DIRECTIONS
1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.Over medium-low heat melt butter in a large saucepan. Add onions, garlic and broccoli. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are soft. Spoon vegetables into crust and sprinkle with cheese.
3.Combine eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in melted butter. Pour egg mixture over vegetables and cheese. 4.Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until center has set.


Chicken Pot Pie
(From Katie at The Perks)

INGREDIENTS
2 cans of Veg All Mixed Vegetables, drained10 oz of Chicken (canned, cooked, or leftover rotisserie*)1 can cream of chicken soupHerbs of your choice (I used Oregano)Salt & Pepper2 9in. pie crusts from the refrigerator section ( I used a pie shell and one of the crusts as the top)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 375 F.In medium mixing bowl combine the first five ingredients.Place mixture in one the pie shells (If you use frozen crust you should prebake it for about 10min) Top with remaining pie shell. Pinch to seal and prick top with fork.

Bake for 50-60 minutes until crust is golden brown.

Serve and Enjoy!

The next THREE are from Kristen at While We're Waiting

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

INGREDIENTS
3 1/2 cups Swanson chicken broth
Pepper
1 large carrot, sliced
1 stalk celery, sliced
1/2 cup uncooked medium egg noodles
1 cup cubed chicken

DIRECTIONS
Mix broth, pepper, carrot and celery in saucepan. Heat to a boil. Stir in noodles and chicken (cooked). Cook over medium heat 10 minutes until noodles are done. For extra flavor, I usually add a little cube of chicken bullion too!!

Drunken Beef

The How-To:

  • 4 lb rolled rump roast
  • Rub with black pepper and oregano (no salt)
  • Put in an open pan at 500 degrees for 1 hour
  • Refrigerate overnight
  • Next day, slice thin and add 2 cans of onion soup, 1 can beer and 2 jiggers of bourbon.
  • Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 4 hours, or in a slow cooker for 6 hours.
  • Shred and serve on crusty kaiser sandwich rolls!!

Pizza Macaroni Style

INGREDIENTS
1 lb hamburger
1 pkg pepperoni
1 small onion
1 jar pizza sauce
1 small box of pasta
mozzarella cheese

DIRECTIONS
Brown hamburger with onion. Mix all ingredients together and bake at 350 until heated through. Sprinkle extra cheese on the top once cooked and let brown. Enjoy!!


THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU for all of the fun recipes so far! I will keep updating with other ones that I hae recieved! Send on more to me! I am always open to new recipe ideas!! I love recieving them all from you and passing them on!

XOXO,

Hilary

Thursday, October 1, 2009

RECIPE SHARE/EXCHANGE!


Happy Thursday! The weekend is SO close...I can smell it! :)


Well....here is my dilemma...I am in a recipe funk! I have tons of recipes and love making them all....but I need some new fun, deliscious ones! I feel like I am making the same 'ol thing over and over and OVER again!


This is where YOU come in! I want YOU to send me your favorite recipe! You can either comment on my blog with it or email it to me at hilary.hymer@gmail.com ! In return for your gracious emails full of recipes.... I am going to pass on one of my newest favorites to you!


I came across this show on the Discovery Health channel about two months ago. It's called Cook This, Not That with Sam Zien. He's a fun little guy that shows great ways to make favorites! He made this pasta and I immediately went out to the store and bought all of the ingredients! It is SUPER easy and only takes about 10-15 minutes to make....gotta love that! With that being said, write down this recipe and make it TONIGHT! Let me know what you think!!!


Spicy Fatboy Sausage Pasta


Ingredients:


1 tablespoon olive oil

1 lb spicy Italian sausage (casings removed and crumbled) (it's also good with chicken or shrimp!)

4 cloves garlic

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 lb penne pasta

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup whipping cream (i put in an extra 1/2 cup to make it more saucey!)

1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley


-Heat oil in hot pan, and add sausage, garlic and red pepper flakes.


-Break apart and cook until no longer pink and add cream — simmer on low.

-Add pasta to boiling water — when the pasta's ready, so is the sausage.


-Drain pasta and add to sausage.

-Add butter, parmesan cheese & parsley — mix well.

-Sprinkle with a little more cheese of course and serve.


-Serves 6.