End of Summer

I just can't seem to steer clear of great recipes but I really need to try since it only makes me miss home that much more. Anyways, as summer comes to a close and it starts to cool off a bit you can try some of these grilled vegetables recipes. They are a perfect pair with a steak or other hearty dishes to kick off fall. They also give me a few new ideas that I could use to spice up other meals later on. My mom, Lara, and I were talking, while I was home, how you run out of things to cook. I know that sometimes everyone gets in a rut where you have the same menu so hopefully this will help you change it up a bit. I have to get to work and homework now so enjoy and eat a serving for me.

Slumber Party

While I was home, my girlfriends came over to my mom's and we had a slumber party. It was an adult slumber party with myself, Heather, Piper, Rachael, Lara and my mom but we did some of our little girl things. I cooked chicken scampi, which if I don't say so myself turned out better than Olive Garden's. I got the recipe a while back but had never made it and decided there was no better time than then. I cooked and we all drank wine and talked about anything and everything.

This picture is one that was taken as we were trying to uncork a bottle of wine. All my mom had was one of the cork screw things and it was so hard to pull out. Heather had to hold the bottle as I struggled with the cork. We finally were able to get it out.

After dinner we had to make the Piper & Megan chocolate cake. This is a cake that Piper and I have been making since like the 3rd grade. We got the recipe off the back of the Hershey's coca and have made it for the past 13 years. I am sure this will be a lasting tradition with Piper until we die. Piper isn't a very good cook so we made a deal with her.... she had to mix and make the entire cake by herself but WE had to read her the instructions as she went along. Heather read and I supervised Piper's progress.

She surprised me on her increasing kitchen knowledge and of course the cake turned out perfect and delicious. After eating our cake we moved on to pedicures and watching "our" movie...The Sweetest Thing. Heather headed home to Matt and Athen around one a.m. and the rest of us went to bed. Piper, Rachael, and I slept in my brother's bed and I bet we didn't fall asleep until 3:30. We were talking, reminiscing and giggling forever. It was so much fun to get together with my girlfriends and I know that we are so close that things like this won't be a rare thing even after we are all settled in our adult lives.

Fall

I changed my blog background today to something a bit more fall-ish and it got me thinking about seasons. My favorite season used to be summer and I hated winter but now as I grow older so does my appreciation for other seasons. I still hate winter for the most part. I mean it is a nice change from the hot but if it stays cold too long I don't like it. Texas winters are perfect not too long not too short just right. You can build a fire, cuddle with your hubby, and make those hearty recipes. Now, my favorite would have to be a tie between summer and fall. If I absolutely had to pick one it would be summer. Summer is just great; it is hot, you get to have all sorts of outdoor fun that includes water and it is a relaxing, happy time. Fall is well appreciated because you finally start to get a break from the blistering heat that Iraq and Texas bring. The trees start to lose their leaves and it becomes cool enough to cuddle with your honey with a light blanket. Fall is also the perfect camping weather. Last is spring and it is OK. The only really great thing about spring is that it means winter is over and summer is well on its way. I guess this post really has no real purpose just my thoughts. Have a good Wednesday.

Missing my Kitchen

Ok, finding all these food blogs was great because when I get back home Tee and I will benefit greatly from them.....but until then they are just torture and yahoo has joined in the tortorous ranks. I found these recipes this morning while checking the news and hot topics. I would love to try all of them except the mushroom burger but that is only because I'm not a big mushroom fan but it still sounds great. Hopefully some of you can spice up your regular menu with some of these recipes.

Bed & Bath Makeover

While I was home I went to Colby and Lara's house and their bedroom needed a makeover BIG time! It wasn't bad but they have a rent house and it was just white everywhere. I started out just saying we were going to remake the bathroom. They have the cutest shower curtain and wanted to paint the walls the same color blue as in the curtain but since it is a rent house we had to stay neutral. On the day I went to get fitted for my new retainer in Longview Lara came with us to "ride" along. I got my retainer and told my Mom and Lara I needed to go by Hobby Lobby to get some things. When we got out of the car we broke the news to Lara that I was going to redo the bathroom and paint the bedroom. She hates taking any gift or anything like that but it was my treat and they deserve it. So we entered Hobby Lobby and I got the buggy. As soon as I turned around I found the best vase for the bathroom and we headed off to put together the perfect flower arrangement. After we got the flowers we started skimming the isles for the perfect wall pieces. Everybody knows that everything Hobby Lobby has you wish you could find a place to put it. I mean it is the best store in the world, how could I stop with just the bathroom? Wwwweeelllll... I didn't! We started skimming more and soon we had enough wall pieces and materials for the bathroom and bedroom. We found the cutest lamp but I had to switch the shades. By the time we were done with the walls I found myself by the fabric and had talked Lara into a headboard. Their bed doesn't have a head or foot board but hey that is an easy fix. We decided to do the bedroom in a brown with deep red accents. We found the perfect fabric: classy, country and just divine. We had the lady cut what we needed along with padding to go along. We drifted up to the check out and it was a fight to get it paid for without Lara cramming her credit card at the cashier but I got it done. We loaded up our findings and headed for Target to get bedding. I mean if we were going to go we were going all out. Target was a HUGE let down so we resorted to JC Penny's. Lara has got to be the most indecisive person when it comes to little things. We looked at so many bedding options and we all finally decided on a rich, chocolaty brown comforter with lighter brown sheets that matched. We found the cutest decorative pillows that would accent our headboard fabric perfect. We checked out and then headed home. Over the next few days Mom and I made our Lowe's trip to get the materials we needed for painting. On Saturday---Makeover day---- we got started around 10 a.m. We painted everything and Mom textured the bathroom to cover up the hideous border that was up. After we finished doing that we headed to Lowe's to pick up our plywood and a ceiling fan. We got back and finished up. As Mom and Lara put the finishing touches on the paint job I made the headboard. We finished totally....ceiling fan up, furniture in place, paint done and picture frames up (with no pictures) at 1 a.m. We were exhausted but sssssssoooooooo proud of our job well done. See the before, during and after pictures below.

Bathroom Before

Bathroom During

Bathroom After

Bedroom Before

Bedroom During

Bedroom After

Back in the sandbox

I arrived back in the sandbox on Sunday from a nice time in Texas. I was home for 21 days and it was not long enough at all. It was really hard to come back to Iraq this time. I am ready to go back home for good and settle back down and start my regular life again. It will still be a while before we can do that but as long as we can visit it helps. I really enjoyed visiting my family and friends and just relaxing. I didn't do much of anything at all. I don't even think I left MV more than like 3 times. LOL!!! My life is exciting right???? I did pull a Martha Stewart on Colby and Lara's bed and bath and I will post the pictures as soon as I get my package in the mail. I had to mail a tub over with supplies and it has my camera cords in it. I can't wait for everyone to see the transformation. They really liked it and I loved doing it for them. It looked so cozy we were finished I wanted to stay in there bed! Well fixing to go to bed but I hope everyone has a great Saturday afternoon.

Blessings

Blessings are something that some people only think about during the holidays but they are always happening and they are always around us. I just wanted to bring that up because a lot of the time we get so wrapped up in our own lives we take little or big things that are sort of out of the big picture for granted.... like all the blessings in our lives. I just wanted to take a minute to name a few of the blessings in my life and remind us all that no matter what is going on we are blessed in so many ways.

I am blessed with an awesome family and group of friends. I have the man of my dreams and know the power of love. I have a job that allows me so many opportunities and I am healthy. I have many more blessings in my life but I am most blessed to have blessings in general. What are your blessings?

Megan