Wednesday, October 14, 2009

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.