Apple Dumplins

My friend Angie and I hosted Bunko last night, and I made "Apple Dumplins," a yummy dessert that my mom makes often during this time of the year. Allow me to share this tasty little recipe with you!

1. Take 2 Granny Smith apples and cut them into fourths (thus, giving you 8 slices:)).

2. Get a can of crescent rolls and wrap a roll around an apple slice. 3. Mix 1 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1 teaspoon of nutmeg and sprinkle over dish.4. Mix a cup of sugar, a stick of butter, and a cup of orange juice together in a separate bowl and pour over dish.5. Finally, bake at 350 for 30 minutes- and -voila!

Serve it with a scoop of ice cream and you've got yourself the perfect dessert for fall!

(Forgive me for not taking a picture of the finished product!).

Enjoy!

yay..YAY...YAAAY!

So...have I mentioned how long this week has been, how glad I am that it's Friday, AND the fact that I'm off ALL WEEK next week?

I'm pretty much excited right now. Really, really excited.

I also get to see one of my dearest friends who I haven't seen in over 6 months this weekend AND my sisters will be here next week for Thanksgiving!

As Jesse Spanno would say, "I'm so excited, I'm so excited, I'm so...SCARED!" ;)

In the meantime, I'm heading to Bunko shortly. As far as my agenda tomorrow? Well....I plan on sleeping really late. Other than that, I have no idea. I'm kinda thinking of maybe starting to decorate for Christmas. I know I should wait until after Thanksgiving, but with the busyness of the week next week, I'm wondering if I might be able to enjoy it a little more if I go ahead and decorate a little! Thoughts?

I hope you have a great weekend! Oh, and don't forget to leave a comment on a previous post if you're wanting to be in the drawing for a fun give-a-way!

LT

I heart summer.

Other than the pics I took at the beach earlier this summer, I haven't taken too many pictures. Why? Read my last post.

Yesterday, I had 2 different people tell me that I haven't been blogging like I should lately. Yikes. Besides the fact that I DO have a life besides blogging (hard to believe, I know), I haven't had pictures to share, which makes my blogging more difficult (Was that a run on sentence?). Anyway, sorry if I've disappointed lately. :)

Thankfully, I do have some pics to share. Most of them have been stolen from some of my dear friends. I did just post these on facebook, but here they are again in case you didn't see them before.

In Jackson with HEGS...

June Bunko...

Mandy and me at UMI...
Oh, how I hope to get that camera up and going again SOON!

Just call me Little Red Riding Hood...

The costume party was so very fun. I actually enjoyed being Little Red Riding Hood. I'm glad Mandy was able to pull through with a costume for me! :)

The group picture is a little dark, but hopefully you can tell what some of the other costumes were. I have very creative teacher friends!
(click on picture to enlarge)

More blogging to come later.
Happy Monday to you all!

one more thing...

My Bunko group is having a Halloween party Oct. 17. What should I be? Claire suggested Catwoman, which would be fun and easy to make. Mandy has a really good Little Red Riding Hood costume that she wore last year. It, too,would be very fun (and original!) and really cute. What do you think? I want something that I can either make or borrow from somebody, so I'm slightly limited on possibilities! Any suggestions? Vote for your choice and leave a comment if you wish!

I can't think of a good title here.

This post will be one of several topics, so forgive my randomness.

First things first--here are some more painting samples from my friend Heather and me ("Polka Dots and Curly Q's!"). These huggies were painted for my mom's Bunko group and I think they turned out really cute! I think painted huggies make great, inexpensive "happies!" If you're interested in ordering some of these or any other painted items, contact Heather at 601.573.1678 or hsimmonds@starkville.k12.ms.us. We'd be happy to paint something for you!

Secondly--advice is needed. I've been wanting to change my "look" lately. I don't know why--maybe it's because I'm in the process of starting over after a not-so-fun experience and I think it might help my confidence. I think one of the easiest ways to change your look is by changing your hair. Now...here's the problem...my hair is DARK. VERY DARK. Would I be stupid to try to put color on it? Don't get me wrong, I like my hair color, but I'm just kinda tired of the same old look, you know? I know I can sometimes wear it straight as opposed to my everyday curly look, but still. Color just sounds super fun to me. Of course I would never do anything as drastic as blonde, nor do I want to do serious dye of any kind. I was thinking maybe putting a little red highlights in it. Thoughts? Comments? Both of my sisters are opposed to this, and I usually do whatever they tell me (I am a middle child. I have always done what I'm told to do). Fortunately, my aunt is a hair stylist, so if I decide to bite the bullet and do it, I have faith that she won't allow me to look like a clown in the end. I'm just a scaredy cat and I want to know that if I end up not liking it I can change it back to my normal color.

I mentioned recently that I've been playing around with my make up too (particularly eye make up). I think that, too, is a great way to change your look and spice up an outfit. I've been enjoying wearing purple eyeshadow and eyeliner as opposed to my everyday browns. Perhaps I will try blue soon. I've become so spontaneous as you can see. (Can you also tell that one of my summer hobbies has been readying "In Style" and "Lucky" magazines?!).

I'm heading to the 'Burg tomorrow to visit my sisters. Yes. I said "sisterS" as in plural. I mentioned earlier about Kristen's living situation and you can read more about it on Heather's most recent blog post. My original plan was to go Thursday afternoon, but Kristen goes back to Clinton on Thursday morning, so I would miss seeing her. She insisted that I leave tomorrow after I get off work. See? Another perfect example of always doing what I'm told. My mom even says that when we were little, Kristen would boss me and Heather around (this comes as no surprise to anyone who knows Kristen). Whenever she would tell us to do something, I would always say "OK" and Heather would of course reply with a bratty "NO!". Typical.

I'm looking forward to hanging out with the 2 most fun people I know.

My goal for the trip: buy a new purse. I really want a big, fun, trendy yellow or burnt orange one. Why? I have no clue. But I know I would feel super cute if I had one.

This will be my last trip of the summer! It has flown by and it's crazy to think that we're only down to a few weeks before I'm "Miss T." again! I'm also about to begin my 5th year of teaching which doesn't even sound right. I'll be retiring before I know it! :)

As my adorable nephew would say "HAPPY DAY!"

You're just jealous because you're not a teacher.

I've become really close to several of the teachers at my school this past year. I play Bunko with a lot of them, and we've had "nights out" during the summer (since, of course, WE DON'T HAVE TO WORK). Last night we went to the State Theater. Super fun. Heather and I met Bambi, Angie, Catherine (former teacher who will soon be leaving us :( ), Jessica (new Sudduth teacher! :) ), and Tassie (teacher from another school...but we still like her :) ). It was great to spend time with my friends...new and old!

And guess what guys...

I NOW HAVE INTERNET CONNECTION AT MI CASA! Woo hoo! So, as we speak, I am lounging on my couch in my pj pants. Yes, I know it's Friday night, but I am a working girl and I am tired. Don't judge.

3 more weeks until I have to go back to school...yikes.

BUNKO, BABY!

My friend Heather and I hosted Bunko Thursday night (yes, I was well enough to go!) and we had it at Heather's beautiful house. As I'm sure you can tell from the pictures below, we decided to have a Valentine's theme. Claire, you would have LOVED it! :) I didn't win anything, which wasn't a big surprise, but we still had tons of fun! I mentioned previously that my SAINT of a mother prepared the meal that I was in charge of (remember, I was SICK...I'm not lazy or anything) and it was D E L I C I O U S! We were short-handed one person for Bunko, so my mom actually came last minute and subbed! It was so fun for her to meet some of my "teacher friends" and she had a great time.

Allow me to share the fantastic recipe for "Light King Ranch Chicken" that we devoured that night. You will definitely want to jot this down because it is: a) EASY b) LOW FAT and c) YUMMY!

Here you go!

Ingredients:

1 large onion, chopped

1 large green bell pepper, chopped

cooking spray

2 c. chopped cooked chicken

1 can fat free Cream of Chicken soup

1 can fat free Cream of Mushroom soup

1 can rotel tomatoes

1 t. chili powder

1/2 t. pepper

1/4 t. garlic powder

12 (6 in.) corn tortillas

1 8 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Saute' onion and bell pepper w/ cooking spray in large skillet for 5 min. Stir in chicken and next 6 ingredients. Remove from heat. Tear tortillas into 1" pieces; layer 1/3 tortilla pieces in bottom of 13"x9" pan coated w/ cooking spray. Top w/ 1/3 chicken mixture and 1/3 cheese. Repeat layers twice. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 min.

Note: Casserole may be frozen before baking.

ENJOY!

randomness on a Wednesday...

Does anybody else feel like today should be AT LEAST Thursday? I've been a little 'under the weather' this week, so I guess it's made the week seem longer. Everytime the weather goes back and forth from hot to cold to rainy to warm, etc. etc., I get like this--sore throat, drainage. You know how it goes. No worries, though, as I am feeling much better today. Thanks for any concerns. :)

A few items that need some attention today:
*I play Bunko one Thursday a month with some teacher friends of mine. This is very fun for me. It's a great way to hang out with some teachers SOCIALLY instead of being at school and talking about school things. PROBLEM: There's a particular reason why I must be in front of my television every Thursday at 8:00 (and don't say "that's what TIVO is for!"...you're forgetting that I'm just a po' teacher! MAYBE ONE DAY!). Two words: THE OFFICE. The season premiere is tomorrow night and I'm PUMPED about it. But if we play Bunko from 6 until at least 8, there's no way I can make it in time. SOLUTION: I emailed all of my Bunko friends and asked if we could bump up our starting time by half an hour. My proposition: we play from 5:30-7:30 rather than 6-8. I'm a genius. Even though some my friends accused me of being bossy :), they all agreed that it would be better for them too. Problem solved. Done and done. Speaking of season premieres, Desperate Housewives premieres Sunday night. I'm attempting NOT to watch it this season. In the past it's been one of my 3 shows, but by the end of last season, as intriguing as it was, it had almost become too much to handle. The question is: am I doing the right thing by NOT watching it or will I regret it? What do you think?
Sidenote: JR doesn't think The Office is funny AT ALL. Any suggestions on how to help such a lost soul? I feel sorry for him really. :)

*PROBLEM: Several students in my class like to tattle. I can't stand tattle-telling. It had gotten so bad that some of my students would actually come up to me and say things like "Miss T., yesterday she touched my arm while we were walking to get in line." I mean, come on. Seriously? SOLUTION: A tattle tell journal! Yep...I now have a tattle tell journal which stays open on the counter all day/everyday. Now, whenever one of those angels comes to me with "that" look, I point to the journal. I told them that when they write in it,they must write neatly and in complete sentences. Do you think they actually want to take the time to WRITE when they don't have to? Nope. The journal has remained empty all day and the tattling has decreased. I'm anxious to see if this will stop such nonsense.

*Last but not least, I'm meeting Katey and Camp for TCBY this afternoon. It's been too long since I saw those 2 and I'm pumped about it. :) As soon as we teach Camp how to take pictures, I'll finally be able to post one of me and Katey together!