Gobble Till You Wobble!

I hope everyone had a terrific and filling Thanksgiving!!

I had such an incredible Thanksgiving week with the hubby and his rents! The only problem was that time went by way too fast.

Saturday, before Thanksgiving, I spent the day prepping the house for Nathan's rents! Riley certainly was keeping himself entertained.

Nathan's parents came into town late Sunday evening!
Monday, I had to work for a little bit, but for dinner, we tried a place we haven't been to yet, a German restaurant - Restaurant Linderhof! It was beautiful inside! Our waiter was extremely knowledgable about the German food, and helped us make our delicious meal choices!

Restaurant Linderhof

I went with something I normally wouldn't try! I had the eggplant ratatouille with spatzle on the side. Spatzle is a type of egg noodle, and it sure is yummy!

I really look forward to going back and trying their other dishes!

Eggplant Ratatouille

Tuesday morning, we went to Nick & J's cafe for breakfast! Nick & J's was an adorable diner, just like the diners' you see in the movies. The atmosphere was relaxing, yet fun. The service and food was even better!

Nick & J's Cafe

Western Omelette

After a delicious breakfast, we all headed home. Kay and I worked on projects with the Silhouette Cameo 3 machine. The boys worked on their projects and began smoking the meats to have for Thanksgiving.

Silhouette Cameo 3 cutting machine!

Resting Grinch Face

Ta Da!

Figuring out how to work the Silhouette Cameo machine was awesome! The possibilities are endless when it comes to crafting! I look forward to making some new projects! 😄

Thanksgiving Eve, we all went to Painting with a Twist!

It's always such a fun time going to Painting with a Twist. It never gets old!

Ready to start painting!

Our finished paintings!

THANKSGIVING DAY:

We all knew we would be eating a plethora of food later that day, which made us decide to head over to Lilly Bluff first and get some fresh air and "hiking" in. We all wore our new shirts! Nathan and I wore shirts with a turkey that said "Pour Some Gravy on Me," and Kay & Steve wore shirts with cooked turkeys that said "Let's Get Basted." 😂

Pour Some Gravy On Me T-shirt

Lilly Bluff 

The Lilly Bluff overlook is a beautiful spot! 

Obed River

Showing off our t-shirts

Holly

For our Thanksgiving feast we had our traditional Raclette dinner! We brought out the raclette Swiss grill that cooks the meat on the top, and melts the cheese on the bottom. Gruyere cheese is our preferred choice, over the raclette cheese. The turkey had already been smoked, but the grill heated up the turkey on top.

For our side dishes, we had green bean casserole, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and baby red potatoes.

Nathan made an excellent pumpkin pie cheesecake for dessert. Talk about being stuffed! 

SO. MUCH. FOOD.

Thanksgiving Feast

Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake

BLACK FRIDAY:

Nathan and I both had to work on Black Friday. Kay and Steve volunteered to come to work with me! Thank goodness they were there to help at the store, because we were BUSY! 

Kay and I made snowflake earrings with the Silhouette Cameo 3 machine and faux leather material to wear on Black Friday - along with the Christmas t-shirts we made!

Snowflake Earrings

Cookies!!!!

Meet Molly - Santa's little helper!

Selfies with Santa

After work, we had a chill afternoon relaxing back at the house. 

Nathan's parents had to head back home on Saturday. 😞
It was a pretty chill day, I began putting up Christmas decorations! I can't wait to have them all up!

Beginning to put up Christmas decorations!

'Tis the season for Peppermint Mocha creamer!!

After such an exciting week, it's officially back to reality. It is time to finish putting up the Christmas decorations and clean/organize the house!

🎄

QUESTIONS FOR YOU:

* How was your Thanksgiving?

* What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

* Have you started putting up Christmas decorations?

A Little Hiking and Enlightened!

Hey y'all!

Did you have a good Labor Day weekend? My parents were in town, and we had a really fun time. It's always sad to see them leave, and the weekends always fly by too quickly.

Before I talk about Labor Day weekend, I'll tell you a little about the previous weekend! 

Hiking has been my first victory of multiple goals I have in mind to accomplish since I've been really sick. I love being outdoors, and it was finally time to try out hiking again!

The weekend before last, Nathan and I ventured over to Lilly Bluff to go on a small hike.

Curious Cows

There was a little watering hole area, so we climbed down to check it out. It was extremely peaceful, so we relaxed at the watering hole for about 15 minutes before heading back up.

Pretty blue dragonfly

Red Mushroom

It was fantastic being back outside and taking pictures along the way. I had to go extremely slow, so we didn't take any long, difficult trails - we didn't even hike more than an hour around Lilly Bluff. The hike was a small step (of many) to get me back on track with my health since the rocky mountain spotted fever! Trust me, I was literally covered head to toe in my DIY essential oil bug spray! ;p

As you know, I love trying out new products!

I recently had the opportunity to try out Enlightened roasted broad beans!!! When it comes to food - I prefer salty over sweet, so I was especially excited to try out the crispy, flavored, roasted broad beans!

The flavors of crisps include: Mesquite Barbecue, Garlic & Onion, Sea Salt, Sriracha, and Wasabi!

I made sure to take a pack with me to work as a late afternoon snack!

The pre-portioned 1 oz snack bags are perfect for on-the-go! These tasty crisps are low fat, have 3 grams of fiber, 7 grams of protein, and ONLY 100 calories!

I don't care for snacks that leave you with a heavy feeling or just feeling gross. These crisps are perfect for leaving you satisfied without that sickening "full" feeling.

These crisps would be terrific as a topper on a salad! I would replace these crisps (especially the sea salt flavored crips) with croutons in a heartbeat! The crisps would give that same crunch as croutons, but with less calories! Or, think about having the crisps on top of hot, creamy soup (with Fall season upon us)! 

Enlightened also has ice cream bars, and pints of ice cream! As an ice cream fanatic, I cannot wait to try out those next!!

For more information about the Enlightened broad bean crisps, and their other products, check out their website: 

Eat Enlightened

I received this product for free/discounted however this in no way influenced my review. I only write honest reviews regardless of whether I purchased a product at full price, at a discount, or received it free.

QUESTIONS:

* What did you do for Labor Day weekend?

* Do you put toppings on your soup?

* Are you ready for everything pumpkin spice?

Memorial Day

I hope everyone had a good and safe Memorial Day weekend!

Memorial Day is a time to pay your respects to our fallen soldiers, veterans, and those still in service. The men and women that sacrifice themselves to bring us safety should not go unnoticed.

I decided to make strawberry, blueberry shortcakes! Red, white and blue :) The shortcakes were extremely simple to put together, and they were delicious! I bought the shortcake dessert shells, cut up fresh strawberries, topped with whipped cream and fresh blueberries!

The weather was absolutely terrific, so Nathan and I stopped at the UT Arboretum to walk around the trails.

As you know, I love chalk paint!

I went to a thrift store and found a couple items that I thought would be great for home decor after they were painted!

At JoAnn Fabrics, I found the Americana Decor paint in the color "refreshing." There were other brands that have the chalky finish, but I've had good experiences with Americana Decor, so I stuck with that brand!

I found this nautical painted tea pot and decided that I love the size and shape of it. The only thing I didn't care for, was the design on it. So, a couple coats of chalk paint solved that problem! :)

The teapot isn't completed yet, I'm still thinking of different designs to paint on!

These two frames are outdated, but instead of donating them, I just gave them each a couple coats of the chalk paint.

At JoAnn Fabrics, I also found these cool burlap sheets! I figured they would be perfect to cover up a cardboard box and use it for storage!

With the burlap sheets, chalk paint, and a cute fleur-de-lis stencil, I made an adorable storage box!

* How did you celebrate the Memorial Day weekend?