Back to the 50's

     I have been naughty and went on a little unintentional blogging hiatus. This last week has just been kinda crazy and busy! Also Tanner got a new computer so transferring all my stuff to his has been hectic as well. Anyways, time for some vintage cars and fashion! This last Saturday I went to the Back to the 50's car show with my parents. It's held at the state fair grounds (of MN- so HUGE) and tons of people come from all over with their old cars. My grandparents and my aunt and uncle have old cars that they bring every year. So it's fun to see a bunch of family and friends there!

Feeling more of the 1950's housewife on this day! Unfortunately it was really hot and humid and my curls did not last!

My Uncle's truck and in front is my Grandma's car.

Probably my favorite shot (above) my Aunt and Uncle's car.

My sweetie who carried my camera case and took pictures of me all day with out complaining once!

My lovely Grandma who is a hot-rod lovin' mamma! 

Being a little sassy yes

Right before this a lady actually asked me if she could take my picture! So pretty much I'm famous now.. ;)

Resting

'murrica

My sister and a teensy car!

 A sweet little girl riding with her pops

Wasn't this car made for me?

Yup

Riding home

Me and my momma!

So I hope to not be so long before my next post. I am starting my new job tomorrow which is really crazy to think about. But I definitely have some new post ideas up my sleeve so stay tuned! 

Becoming an Auntie and a Nurse!

     It's been a busy week so far... Monday I became both an auntie and an RN! My sister had her sweet little baby Monday morning after a night of laboring. She is a little doll, so tiny and soft! We were able to go visit Monday evening. I took my boards that afternoon, and found out yesterday that I did indeed pass! I start my new job next Wednesday! It's really crazy that this is real life. Do you ever have times that feel like that? Like you need some one to pinch you? Yea. That's me lately. Feeling very blessed.

Loving my new niece!

So sweet. My husband and our niece. 

Mommy and Daughter

 Sweet little family

Super Easy French Bread Pizza

     This stuff is ridiculously easy and ridiculously good (but not necessarily ridiculously healthy but that's alright!). I honestly think I might like this better than real pizza. And yes, that is a remote in the background, it's a perfect Friday night in movie watching kinda meal. 

Super Easy French Bread Pizza

You will need:

A loaf of French Bread

Pizza sauce or marinara sauce (certainly feel free to make your own as well!)

Mozzarella and Cheddar shredded cheese

Garlic Powder

What ever toppings you would like to put on. We were boring this time and just used turkey pepperoni. But you could put on sausage, Canadian bacon, chicken, mushrooms, onions, peppers, olives... etc. 

Preheat oven to 350. After that just cut your loaf in half (like shown above), add sauce, sprinkle a little garlic powder over the sauce, then add the cheese and toppings. Bake for about 15 minutes until the cheese is melty and the bread is just crispy enough. 15 minutes was perfect for ours. I like to have a little extra sauce nearby for dipping. Enjoy!

Vintage Mirror Makeover

     It's been an awfully gloomy couple of weeks here in Minnesota. I'm getting really tired of the rain and of studying for my impending state nursing boards coming up next week. It will be such a relief to get them done with. Then I can really clean out all my school stuff. When I graduated I recycled 2 large boxes just of papers from school. I still have lots of other nursing school related things that I can't wait to get out of our cluttered apartment as soon as possible.

     Anywhoo, between studying and editing wedding photos I've been trying to do some fun activities that I've been wanting to do for a while. One of them is learning how to sew, and all the further I've gotten is getting my machine tuned up.. so I've got some progress yet to go with that one.

     I have had this mirror for a couple of months now. It was an awesome find in my great aunt's basement who recently passed away. Her husband used to do wedding decorations including bridal veils and what not, he was talented! So this mirror he used for the brides to look in on their wedding day. I can't quite place the year but it's definitely an old mirror. I would guess from the 60's at some point in time? It has held up great- although the paper backing has taken some hits. It's a big mirror (and heavy too might I add that... my arms are sore today from carrying it by myself up and down from our apartment yesterday), and nowadays to find a mirror of this quality and size would probably be a couple hundred dollars. Much of my furniture has a black finish to it and I wanted to have this mirror match! The black looks so good on it, I'm really happy with the results. While we were spray painting we realized that it looked cool to have just hints of gold peeking through the black, so we left it like that. I'm digging it.

Details! 

Feeling Sentimental

            Sometimes, often times actually, I take my relationship with my husband for granted. And then I start reading all these marriage advice articles and "100 questions to ask your boyfriend before you get married" and things like that with questions like "Do you ever want children?" Or "Will it bother you if I burp or pass gas in front of you?". To me these seem like ridiculous questions and I could easily answer almost all of them probably correctly from his point of view and vice versa.

            At our wedding we played "The Shoe Game" where you sit back to back in chairs and we each had our own shoe in one hand, and the other's shoe in the other hand. Then some one asked us questions like "Who is the most crabby in the morning?" and things like that, and we literally answered all of them questions the exact same way except one. "Who gets control of the TV remote?" (we both said each other). But there even was one question, "Who gets sunburned more easily?", and we both first put up Tanner's (my husband) shoe and then shortly after put that down and put up my shoe. I guess what my point is, is that we literally share everything with each other. I mean every thing, including using the toilet while the other person is in the bathroom or with the door open. And while I understand that not everyone wants this kind of relationship, I am really thankful for it. No one has ever known me better than him and vice versa.

            I think a huge part of this is the time that we started dating and the amount of time that we have already been together in our young lives. We started officially dating when we were 15 years old. Right after 9th grade during the summer (We had a strange "relationship" about 6 months before that but it mostly consisted of talking over AIM-aol instant messenger- and him randomly kissing me without ever talking to me or making eye contact first, so I don't count that one). We never went on breaks or really even have had a fight that lasts longer than 24 hours. We literally grew up together and shared so many of the same experiences that shaped us into the couple that we are now. We had the same first job together, working at subway with a bunch of our best friends. We quickly became a part of each other's families- to the point where my dad would pick Tanner up after school and go grocery shopping with him before bringing him back to our house so that I could actually hang out with him.

            We got married 2 days after our 6 year anniversary. That may not seem like a lot to people who have been married for a long time, but we were 21, so 6 years together was about a quarter of our lives spent together. I just have to say that I am so happy that when we got married, there really wasn't much as far as finding stuff out about each other or digging up each other's dirt or seeing "the real person" because we were already completely open with each other. We seem to agree on so many issues with out even saying. We can look at each other and know exactly what the other is thinking and then proceed to laugh about it.

          

        Now get me straight here, I'm not at all saying that we are special and that other couples don't have relationships like this, I know a ton of them out there that do and it's awesome. I'm also not saying that we have a perfect relationship, because if you have ever hung out with us, there's a huge chance you have seen us bicker or have heard Tanner make a joke and me overreact to it. What I'm just trying to say, is that I so often take this relationship for granted and that there are a lot of people out there who do not have such a special thing. I really am just extremely thankful that our souls have been united during our time here on earth.

Mexican Stuffed Peppers!

      Stuffed peppers is one of my favorite meals to make. You can make them as simple as you'd like or as fancy as you'd like. These mexican flavored stuffed peppers turned out fantastic! As always, use the ingredients you already have in your house and feel free to try substitutes! That's how I always cook!

Mexican Stuffed Peppers

1 pound ground chicken (you can use turkey or beef here as well)
1/2 an onion, chopped
3 or 4 bell peppers (I happened to buy red because they were on sale)
1 can pinto, red, kidney, white or black beans would all work for this recipe. I used pinto this time. Also you can use dry beans, which is what I used, you just have to cook them first.
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 cup uncooked Quinoa
Cheddar cheese for topping

Spices needed:
Dried or fresh cilantro
Garlic powder
Chili powder
Black Pepper
Cumin
Paprika

-Preheat the oven to 350
-Start browning your chicken in a large skillet. Be sure to add a little bit of oil to the pan, as ground chicken does not have much fat to brown in. Chop up half an onion and add that to the browning chicken. I'm really bad about measuring spices, so I just start with a little and add more as needed. So add some cilantro, a little bit of garlic powder (careful to not add too much), salt, pepper, and a good amount of cumin to the chicken- that's what gives it that nice southern flavor.

-If you are cooking beans, be sure to start those early (they usually take about 1 1/2 hours cook time after a soak.
-Start cooking your Quinoa according to the package directions. Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is a really awesome grain that you should try using in place of rice! It's very good for you.

-Meanwhile, make your sauce in a separate bowl. Combine the can of diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Add cilantro, a small amount of garlic powder, black pepper, cumin and chili powder. Mix!

-Once the chicken is cooked through (no longer pink), drain the liquid from it and put it back on the stove on low heat. Add in the sauce and beans. Mix it all together and keep it warm.
- Wash the peppers and cut them in half. Line them face up in a tinfoil covered baking dish.
- Once the quinoa is done, put a little bit in the bottom of the peppers. If you wanted to you could just mix the quinoa in right along with the meat/beans mix.

- Then fill the peppers with the meat and beans mixture.

-And lastly because we're American, top with some cheddar cheese!

-Pop them in the oven until cheese is melty and bubbly! (Mine took about 15 minutes) Enjoy! 

You could easily make these peppers vegetarian by cutting out the meat (which I have made stuffed peppers with just quinoa and beans, and they were still delicious!). Happy cooking!