Archives for May 2010

American Idol Top 3

May 18, 2010 by Amy 2 Comments

Casey – His first song was average. Quality singing but just not memorable. His second one I thought he seemed so vulnerable it came across nervous. But, I think that’s a great type of song for him to do. I love Casey and all his Texas-ness but I’ll be disappointed if he makes it in the top 2.

Crystal – I think she did Come to My Window justice. I prefer the original for sure but Crystal didn’t sacrifice it. She blew the second one out of the water. Wow, I didn’t think her voice could get any better but that was amazing.

Lee – Both his songs were outstanding. I was a little disappointed when they announced Hallelujah. It’s so overdone on Idol but really, it was gorgeous. They definitely gave him the star treatment with the choir. But what I love is that Lee is finally taking it all in and really gets it that he could win this thing.

Should go: Casey

Should win: Lee

Trading Spaces: Bloggy Style: Love

May 17, 2010 by Amy 4 Comments

I’m back from Austin and have tons to talk about but first thing, I’m participating in Trading Spaces: Bloggy Style through Heather at Desperately Seeking Sanity. We “trade blogs” with a group of people. Suni is my chosen partner so here we go!

Suni Heflin is a God chaser, loving wife, compassionate sister, daughter, and sometimes hard-to-reach-on-the-phone friend. She works by day executing, planning and organization in her corporate non-profit Marketing position. Suni has been married to Cameron, a Firefighter/EMT, for almost 6 years. They have a lovely black lab/mix, Tigger, who is one of the loves of their lives! What is Love? What do I love? How is love expressed and evident in my life? We’ll start with the everyday things of life and work our way up, shall we? Please visit her blog at http://lifeloveandahappyhome.blogspot.com/

I love, love, love coffee. Every morning I wake up to this insatiable desire for a cup of the most amazing beverage on the planet: Coffee. It wakes me up, makes me smile, keeps me from getting a migraine (yes, I’m an addict), and just plain makes me happy.

Shopping! This is the most precious picture to me some days . . . .the entrance to an Ann Taylor or LOFT. I get crazy satisfaction from shopping . . . Hubby doesn’t get that same warm fuzzy feeling from the bill. Which leads me to my next love . . . .

My Husband I never dreamed or imagined I would find someone so wonderful. Girls, it came after kissing A LOT of frogs, believe me. Cameron is the most grounded, rock solid in his faith, loving, compassionate and considerate person I have ever met. I am so lucky to be called "Mrs. Cameron Heflin".

My Saviour I believe the highest, and purest, form of love comes from our Heavenly Father and my Saviour, Jesus Christ. Because He loves us so much, we can live. Because He sacrificed everything out of love for you and I, we can live. Because has prepared a place for us called Heaven, we can live. Eternally. Eternally . . . . Love is wonderful thing.

Here We Come, Austin!

May 12, 2010 by Amy 5 Comments

Can we chat for a minute? Like girl-talk chat? Cause guess what? I’m going to Austin tomorrow?! Remember that little stint I had with Suze Orman? Well, the trip she approved me for is happening tomorrow! I’ll save you the link over and get you caught up. Kaitlin and I run FridayNightLightsFan.com, a fan site for the NBC show Friday Night Lights. Two of the stars, Kyle Chandler and Brad Leland put on a charity golf event every spring and Kaitlin and I decided to take the leap and go this year. They are in the midst of filming the final season in Austin. We’re hoping not only to fit in the events they have planned at the hotel but also get around and see Austin and hopefully some filming included!

I’m beyond ready to take a vacation right now. Part of me is feeling HUGE mommy guilt for taking a weekend away from my girls for something so silly in the grand scheme of things. I assuage my guilt by assuring myself that they will have some great Daddy time and family time with my in-laws Saturday night. Not only that, I will have some much-needed rest and relaxation and lifetime memories. And not to mention my donation for the event could have lifelong positive impacts to the recipients. So, see? I’m talked back into it! Never you mind there are storms expected all week and there have been bomb scares and floods and tornadoes and earthquakes and all sorts of stuff to make you worry. But it will be a great weekend. Right? Right???

Right.

So I just spent a few minutes lying out all my clothes for my suitcase. Scott, the girls and I picked out a few new things for me at Target the other night. Like this dress, this skirt and this shirt. If nothing else, of course I am excited to wear my new clothes. I loved that Scott was into helping me pick everything out. He even insisted I needed a new purse and picked out a silver one for me. Lexi wanted so badly to pick something out for me, but her and I? Well, we just do not have the same taste. One was this bright pink, really big floral print summer dress and the other was a navy and teal floral print. She could pull it off but not I.

This weekend is one of those moments I feel like a grown-up because I’m flying solo and we’re renting a car and we’ll have to find the way around ourselves. Yikes! I’m not old enough for all that am I?

So yeah, if you can’t tell, there is a bit of apprehension but lots of excitement. I really hope to get some great pictures and my goal is to have a smile on my face as much as possible!

American Idol Top 4

May 11, 2010 by Amy 1 Comment

Lee: Man, I wanted to like that and parts of that were beautiful but overall that was not a winning performance.

Mike: For once I felt like Mike may have been emotionally connected to a song but I wasn’t impressed with the singing.

Casey: I enjoyed his rendition of Mrs. Robinson but it was just aight.

Crystal: Classic Crystal. Well done.

Crystal and Lee: Fantastico!! Excellente!! I love that song! They were a little shaky at first but once they got into it, it was really good.

Casey and Mike: That song is one of my absolute favorite songs. Like seriously. Bryan Adams puts me in a puddle every single time. Casey and Mike really, really slaughtered the song if you ask me. I actually think Mike could have done a good job with it but Casey’s warbly voice and Mike’s smooth R&B voice didn’t mix for me.

Favorites: I think Crystal’s solo was probably cleanest/best overall but I really enjoyed Crystal and Lee together.

In trouble: Mike. Casey. Mike. Casey. Either Mike or Casey. Maybe Mike and Casey. It’d save us all a few hours.

Model Homing

May 11, 2010 by Amy 3 Comments

Saturday for no good reason whatsoever we went to a new nearby neighborhood and walked through several houses that were being built. The kids were fascinated by the two story houses. In one of them, the kids realized there was another flight of stairs on the second story which led to a 3rd story (obvs) that had 2 more bedrooms on it. The house had SEVEN bedrooms in all! It was like a small hotel! I have been in one of the largest homes in Charlotte and even it did not have so many bedrooms (although it DID have 2 full kitchens, a full movie theater, bar, dance floor, wine cellar, etc, etc).

Anyway, so we ended up going in the model home and it was so cute! The kids LOVED this bonus/theater room on the second floor.

You know I love orange so I thought this boy’s room was so cute.

And the girls were IN LOVE with this room across the hall

From above, you can see the super cute living room and sunroom. I just love those round mirrors above the fireplace. I love all the green!!

And this downstairs master bedroom is speaking my language with all the green and black!

After that model home, we ended up going in another development across the street with a new builder. We walked in a house that was nearly done. The hardwoods are hiding under all the cardboard. Scott absolutely fell in love with the floor plan. We have batted around the idea of building one day and this open floor plan is exactly what he had in mind. There is an office directly to your left when you walk in and then there is this open dining room.

The adjacent living room

And then that living room is open to this kitchen. The back wall is lined with windows and it’s just our style!

Scott had me take pictures just so we could remember. Well. We ended up going in the model home in that neighborhood and what do you know it is the same floor plan! Here is the dining room:

Living room

And the kitchen

If you know us, you’ll know this is right up our alley! This house actually had a second story that had 4 bedrooms and a large seating area and then a third story with a movie theater and bedroom/exercise room. This house was way more house than we need but it sure was fun to walk through!

Cooking with The Pioneer Woman: Weekly Update

May 10, 2010 by Amy 14 Comments

Y’all, I’m still a little giddy from meeting PW Friday.

Tres Leches Cake

PW posted a link to Tres Leches Cake on Cinco de Mayo and since we had had a Mexican meal just a few days earlier and I didn’t want it again and our lunch at Taco Bell didn’t really count as a celebratory meal but I still wanted to make something for the occasion, I decided to make the cake. Whew. Talk about a bad sentence. For some reason the instructions scared me a tad but it turns out this is a pretty easy cake to make. I’d never had one but this one came out very moist. Heather who was on hand at the finish line loved it. Even Scott who is not a big cake fan scarfed (why doesn’t my spell-check like that word? scarffed? scarved?) it down. I have to say it wasn’t directly up my alley. Emma really liked it and Lexi didn’t like it at all. That makes it 3.5 against 1.5 so I’d say this cake is a winner.

Roasted Beef Tenderloin

When I think of this, there are just a few words that come to mind. Expensive. Rare. Tender. Yummy. If you can get past the expensive and rare, you’ll find tender and yummy waiting on the other side. I just realized the recipe I linked to is not the same as in her cookbook. The process is the same but the coating (what IS that called?) you put on the top is different. It includes bacon grease and I will be slathering that on all future pieces of red meat. Amen.

Oven-Roasted Asparagus

I have a hard time with veggies. I like the usuals…corn, peas, green beans, carrots. Beyond that, I get a little nervous. Asparagus is one of those that I’ll eat it if it’s in front of me, but it’s usually something I substitute for french fries at a restaurant. I say all that to say that the asparagus prepared this way so far has been my favorite. I actually sprinkled on a lot of fresh parmesan thanks to a hint from Jo-Lynne’s recipe and I think that made it. Lexi hated it and Emma ate hers but didn’t want more. The adults all seemed to like it. I do have to say this was SUPER easy.

Crème Brulee

PW claims this is her favorite dessert in her cookbook and I see why. This was liked by all. It was creamy and sugary and crunchy and sweet and all things good to taste and bad for your arteries. And I got to use a flaming kitchen tool, y’all!!

Just a few things I learned on this one. The torch only cost $12.99 at a kitchen supply place. I expected it to be much more expensive. It did not come with the Butane gas. For some odd reason, Scott had a bottle in one of our kitchen drawers. I suppose it came with some other lighting thingie he keeps for the grill. So I guess you can buy Butane at your local Wal-Mart?

Also it took me two grocery stores to find super-fine sugar. I had not a clue what to look for as far as packaging. Well, do you see that yellow and red container behind my arm? That’s the Dixie Crystals version. It was the only one Harris Teeter had and it says it’s made especially for Iced Tea. Who knew?

Only 6 more recipes to go! I feel like I need a disclaimer here to say I’m not planning on making the Sangria, Ribeye with Whiskey Sauce or Linguine with Clam Sauce because of the irreplaceable alcohol content. I do have to say I’d probably eat the ribeye with whiskey sauce or linguine but I don’t know, I can’t seem to make myself cook it. It’s ok if you think I’m weird. So barring those, I have the 6 left.

Happy Mother’s Day

May 9, 2010 by Amy 8 Comments

I love color.

I love that my husband knows I love color.

This is one of my Mother’s Day presents.

And I think

she’s going to fit in

just right

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers. I hope something put a smile on your face today.

Sunday Highlights: Grow: Practical Teaching

May 9, 2010 by Amy Leave a Comment

Chris started out talking about practice for a game vs. the actual game. It was funny and about NFL player interviews and I can’t really do it justice but he used it as a segway to say practice IS the game. When God speaks, we listen and put it into practice.

Matthew 7:15 This is very practical teaching in Sermon on the Mount. v24 says we hear AND act.

Big thing: Trust works

1 – Trust works in you

Trust that He will work in you and He will show you what needs changed or what needs done

2 – Put Trust in Practice

What He’s showing you, do it regardless if it makes sense.

3 – Trust works

The outcome may be different that what we thought but it works.

Read Scripture, listen and put what He is saying into practice. Be sure to write response steps down during your quiet time.

In corporate worship, go with eager expectation that God will show up.