The Egg and a 3-Peat!

Despite the nasty, rainy weather last Saturday, Candy, Chad and I threw on our ponchos and sat in the stadium for the entire Egg Bowl.

Was it worth it?....

ABSOLUTELY.

The Egg stays in Starkville for another year, and in my opinion, the world is as it should be once again.  This win also made us bowl eligible.  YIPPEE!

We're SOAKING.WET. but having a blast!

Now...who's ready to start the countdown for Egg Bowl 2012?

And a happy happy Thanksgiving to you!

Here's to hoping your family's Thanksgiving was as happy as ours!

Sweet siblings...


Blurry picture of me and my buddy. I love it that he now knows what "cheese" means!



The girls...



guys...



Sweet cousins... 

Love this sweet wink!!!!

 







The Egg.

So.  It's that time.

The Egg Bowl.

To say that I'm nervous would be a complete understatement.  

My bulldogs have held on to that egg for 2 years straight, and I'm looking forward to (hopefully) keeping it for a 3rd year!

Tune into the game Saturday night...

...and GO DAWGS!!!!!

all things pumpkiny.

Yep.  3rd post for today.  I guess having more time to blog is an advantage to being sick!

Now.  Let's talk pumpkins!

I'm not a fan of the traditional pumpkin pie.  However, I absolutely love almost everything else pumpkin-flavored! 

I've found some oh-so-fabulous pumpkin recipes on Pinterest and thought I'd share.  I haven't made any of them yet, but I'm planning to try a few this week!

Pumpkin Dip

Kristen made this once and it was SO good with Ginger Snaps!

Ingredients:

1 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese

2 c powder sugar

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin pie filling

1 t ground cinnamon

1/2 t ground ginger

 Beat cream cheese and sugar at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Add pie filling, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, and ginger, beating well. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Up next...

Pumpkin Puppy Chow

 Yes.  You read that correctly. PUMPKIN.PUPPY.CHOW.

It's no secret that "regular" puppy chow is a holiday favorite of mine, so I know I'm going to LOVE this.

For this you'll only need 3 ingredients!:

9 cups rice chex cereal

 1 bag of pumpkin Hershey Kisses (I'm going to be so mad if I'm unable to find these!)

1 1/2 cups of powdered sugar.

Here's the super simple recipe:

First, prep your powdered sugar and cereal. Second, using a double broiler method, melt your Hershey Kisses, stirring constantly. The kisses will reach a nice creamy consistency. Third, pour your melted kisses over your cereal in a bowl and mix and stir. Once you feel your chex are covered, dump into a bag with your powdered sugar and shake

Hungry yet? 

Moving on...

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I'm worried about how many of these I may accidentally consume at one time.  Yikes.

Ingredients:

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup white sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon milk

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

How to:

1.Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.

2.Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.

3.Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

The next one is an "adults only" holiday drink!:)

This just looks so yummy and festive!  Wouldn't this be perfect for a holiday party (or family Thanksgiving?!)

Pumpkin Martini

Ingredients:

1/2 oz Sylk Cream Liqueur

2 oz vanilla vodka

1/2 oz pumpkin liqueur or pumpkin spice syrup

1 tsp whipped cream

cinnamon stick for garnish

Preparation:

Pour the Sylk Liqueur and vodka into a shaker filled with ice.

Shake well.

Add the pumpkin liqueur or syrup.

Shake again.

Strain into a chilled cocktail glass.

Top with a teaspoon of whipped cream.

Garnish with a cinnamon stick.

...and finally....

The final pumpkin yummy requires no prep at all!  So, if you're not in the mood to do any baking, mixing, or stirring, this one is for you!

Blue Bell's Spiced Pumpkin Pecan

 Now, this I have tried, and oh.my.goodness. 

You won't believe how good it is.

Do you have any good pumpkin recipes to share?

ABCs...

A couple of years ago, I compiled a list A-Z of things for which I'm thankful.  I created a list for this year and compared it to my first one.  Though some of the things are the same, there are many new things added this year!

Here's my 2011 list:

A: Another day!  Though life is hard and exhausting, I'm grateful for each new day I'm here on this Earth.

B: Brothers (in-law)!  They're just fantastic.

C: Computers!  What was life like before Internet, email, Facebook, Twitter, Blogger, and Pinterest?

D: Deep South Pout!  My new favorite boutique in Starkville.  Love the clothes and atmosphere but love the people even more!:)
E: Eight-year-olds!  Though my students drive me nuts sometimes, I still love them dearly (all 25 of them!)!
F: Friends!  I have THE.BEST.
G: Grandparents!  They all hold a special place in my heart. 
H: Henry! My almost 5 year old nephew.  My buddy!

I: Independence. I'm 30 years old and single.  Being on my own and knowing I can make it on my own, is a wonderful feeling.  I'm thankful that I am don't depend on a spouse (or anybody else!) to survive!  God really is all I need. 

J: Jones!  My 1 1/2 year old nephew.  My favorite little man.

K: K-Love!  Besides country music radio stations, this is the only other station I listen to!

L: Laughter.  As Charlie Chaplin says "A day without laughter is a day wasted."  Couldn't agree more.

M: Max!  My pup (duh).

N: Noelle!  My sweet new niece...

O:  Old people.  Seriously. You can learn so much from them!

P: Parents!  I'm blessed.

Q: QUIET'NESS'.  Those who know me well, know that as social as I can be, I also very very much love "me" time.

R: Relationship with God!  It's the most important of them all!

S: Sisters!  They're my favorite!  I would be a sad person without them.

T:  Teacher friends!  What would I do without them?

U: MY University--Mississippi State of course!

V: Veterans!  Never will we ever be able to repay all of those who have served or are continuing to serve in the military and fight for our great country.  As I've gotten older, I've begun to appreciate the selflessness of these men and women more and more.  If you are one of them, then THANK YOU!

W: Wireless capabilities!  Confession: I love my cell phone!

X: X-mas.  Not a fan of the "x" replacing the "Christ", it was the best I could do with this letter.  Christmas is, after all, the most wonderful time of the year!

Y: Yesterday.  Not literally, but you know what I mean here.  I'm thankful for my past.  I've felt lots of happiness and lots of sadness.  My heart has been broken, abused, stomped on, cheated, and hurt, but I'm THANKFUL for that.  I wouldn't be who I am without the good times (and bad times!) of my past.

Z: zzzzzzzzz.... Never will you meet someone who values a good night's sleep as much as I do!

I'd love to read your ABC list!  If you create one and post it to your blog, leave me a comment and
let me know so I can check it out!

Happy Thanksgiving week!

Let's go camping!

Henry and Camp celebrated their birthdays last night (Henry's 5th and Camps 6th) with a "camping" themed party. 

Precious and oh so fun!

You should be able to click to enlarge...

 Happy birthday, boys!

maybe it's a little too early...

...but...I just had to share this...

Stinking cute.

And speaking of early, has anybody decorated for Christmas yet? 

I'm itching to get it going...

a little bulldog talk...

 Greetings friends!

It was MSU homecoming last weekend (yay for a "W"!!!).  The weather was beautiful and I got to hang out with some really fun people!  I love tailgating.  LOVE it.

Noelle and me.  This is my new favorite picture.  Look at her little face! 

Fun college friends!!! Amy (yes...that's a harmonica necklace.  Totally jealous!), Jennie, and Lauren.  Love these girls.

My dear Bambi!  She's the reason I'm able to stay somewhat sane at school! :)

We play 'Bama on Saturday. Though the odds are against us, I sure would love to see this happen again:

Don't you??!! 

Rice...

This is so cool. 

If you're like me, you like "brain games" or anything that gets you thinking and is a little challenging. 

Well...how about a brain-stimulating site that also helps others?!

Play around on this site, and know that each question you answer correctly (whether it be about math, language, geography, etc) will help feed the hungry!

Awesome.

Click here. 

You'll love it.

Love.

Big brother Henry and little sister Noelle. 
2 of the loves of my life.
Such sweetness.

a pin or two (or twenty)....

Dear Pinterest,

Where have you been all my life?

I knew that if I broke down and joined Pinterest, I'd become quickly obsessed, as I tend to have an obsessive nature (right MSKS and Claire?). 

I was right.

If you're "on" Pinterest, let me know so I can follow you, and I invite you to do the same. 

Afterall, I do have some pretty fantastic pins.

Allow me to share some of my favorites with you.  I've broken them down into mini-categories for your viewing convenience.

Yummies:

Oreo truffles.  I think I just gained 5 lbs by just looking at these...

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies?  Really??? Y.U.M.

...and speaking of pumpkin, how about a pumpkin martini?  Yes, please!  Perfect for Thanksgiving.

Cranberry margarita--perfect for a Christmas party!  I love the green rims.

Quotes, verses, and such

Loved this.  I copied it and it's now hanging in my classroom!

Favorite verse.

Story of my life! ;)

Hilarious and absolutely ME.

So very wrong, but also so very funny.

I love this. Such truth to it!

Guilty.

 

It took me nearly 30 years, but I've finally learned to embrace my freckles!  Love 'em!

Right on.

 

Ha!  Sadly, that's one of my favorite things to do!

Period.  Why wouldn't you want to be southern?

hehehehehe!!!

Some fabulous Christmas ideas...

A wedding invitation cut into strips!  What a great wedding gift!

Genius!  Going to start doing this THIS year!  I never want to get rid of old Christmas cards, but have never really known what to do with them!

love LOVE.

 For the love of my great state:

A little style:

I LOVE FEATHERS.

Am I the only one who wants this fur vest?!?!  Totally in love with this outfit, but sadly, I just don't think I could pull it off.

 This and that...

Beautiful.

I'll have one of these whenever teachers start getting paid what we should get paid.

Now....I'll never get a tattoo.  It's just not my style.  But, if I were to get a tattoo, I think I'd get this one. It's simple and sweet.

Seriously, y'all... 

 I love Pinterest.