Home Is Where Your Husband Is

I grew up in a coaching family. We moved numerous times during my grade school years. It was always extremely hard. I never wanted to leave friends and homes. I was fortunate to have a great family that was supportive during these moves. Well who am I kidding? We probably drove each other nuts for the first couple of weeks until everyone started making friends and adjusting to a new life. 24/7 together. I can't tell you how many hours I spent with my sisters sponging old wallpaper to the point of no return, just to peel it away and get it ready for my parents to paint. And this was always in sweltering 90 degree weather.

Now I decided to marry a football coach where we have been married for a year and half and have moved 3 times! Great way to kick off this journey! Luckily I haven't had to peel any wallpaper. Just living with bears and all...

The point of this is we moved so much where was the one place we could call home? Yes, visiting our grandparents in Nebraska and Minnesota became our most familiar places. But when we discussed "home" our "home" was where the 5 of us were.

This got me thinking the past few days because I find myself a little homesick. I wish I lived a lot closer to my sisters and we could just pop in on each other now and then. I blame those darn TV shows, like Brothers and Sisters, where it seems like no one works, or they at least have the most flexible work schedules in the world, and they can see their brothers and sisters at any given time of the day! And it makes me want that!

But my new "home" now is wherever K and I are. That is why when I came across this print on Pinterest, it only took me 2 seconds to locate it on Etsy and buy it from Mod Momento.

Since that photo turned out incredibly light here is the print from Mod Momento

Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! We will be hanging out at "home." 

Hatch Green Chile Stew

This post is going to include the Hatch Green Chile Stew I made this weekend. I was introduced to Hatch Green Chiles when I was living in New Mexico. So it had me thinking of New Mexico and how much I loved my time there. I hate to think I've lost touch with a lot of the people I knew there, but darn geography got in the way and life kept rolling. I moved to Nebraska to attend school and then off to North Carolina I went. But since I've started this blog, I have had several great friends of mine reach out to let me know they were reading it and enjoyed it and you have no idea how much that means. No matter how often we talk, these people mean the world to me and I consider them true friends. So I think we need to get back in touch and maybe a NM trip is in my near future? Or you are all welcome to my little spot in North Carolina. Either way, my NM friends mean so much to me and I just wanted to let you know I was thinking about you and appreciate your support with this blog.

Now on to the delicious-ness...

We haven't had much of a winter here in North Carolina, but the past few days have been the closest we have gotten! So what did I do? I broke out the Hatch Green Chile Stew. Last fall as I was browsing our local grocery store I stopped in complete and utter shock when they stocked Hatch Green Chile. I have not seen this chile since I have left New Mexico (almost 7 years ago!) Now unlike New Mexico, there was not a nice man roasting the green chile outside in one of those huge tumbler things and the aroma made your mouth water, but I thought "hey, I can roast these myself." ha!

I bought a bunch of bags of chiles figuring I could roast them all and freeze them. I walked in the door and K said "what the heck are you bringing into this house?" Mr. picky eater will get over it.

It took me a few hours to take out the seeds, but it was worth it. I roasted half the batch in my oven, my apartment smelled like heaven. I remember playing soccer and being able to smell the exact same thing because of the fields not very far away. My oven was small and I was a little nervous I was going to burn down the place, so I made K help me roast the rest on the grill outside. This worked MUCH better for me. I chose to freeze the chiles with the skins on.

Fast forward to February, we had not touched the chiles yet. So freezing cold Sunday, with a little snow, was a perfect excuse! Because we have to have meat with every meal in this house (K's fault) I chose a beef stew recipe off my Epicurious App or aka My New Best Friend.

Brown the Stew Meat

Cook the Onions and Garlic

Peel and Chop the Chiles - very proud to say these skins slipped right off!

Add chiles and tomatoes and cook for a few minutes then add stew meat, add about 2.5 cups of water

After about three hours...this stew is getting nice and thick

I chose to serve this over some instant white rice

And eat up!

Now I had enough to feed a small army. Green Chile Stew for the next three days!

The Football Wife

My sweet friend Alison shared this with me last week and I wanted to pass it along to all my other football girlfriends and any other girlfriend living with a husband with a nutty profession. :-) Because I believe it can apply to many areas:

THE FOOTBALL WIFE

The good Lord was creating a model for football wives, and was into his sixth day of overtime when an angel appeared. She said, “Lord you seem to be having a lot of trouble with this one. What’s wrong with the standard model?”

The Lord replied, “ Have you seen the specs on this order? She has to be completely independent, possess the qualities of both father and mother, be a perfect hostess to 4 or 40 with an hour’s notice, run on black coffee, handle every emergency imaginable without a manual, be able to carry on cheerfully, even if she is pregnant and has the flu, and she must be willing to move to a new location 10 times in 17 years. And oh, yes. She must have six pairs of hands.”

The angel shook her head. “Six pairs of hands? No way.”

The Lord continued, “Don’t worry; we will make other wives to help her. And we will give her an unusually strong heart so it can swell with pride in her husband’s achievements, sustain the pain of separations, beat soundly when it is overworked and tired, and be large enough to say, ‘I understand,’ when she doesn’t, and say ‘I love you,’ regardless.”

“Lord,” said the angel, touching his arm gently. “Go to bed and get some rest. You can finish this tomorrow.”

“I can’t stop now,” said the Lord. “I am so close to creating something unique. Already this model heals herself when she is sick, can put up six unexpected guests for the weekend, wave goodbye to her husband and understand why it’s important he leave.”

The angel circled the model of the football wife, looked at it closely and sighed, “it looks fine, but it’s too soft.”

“She might look soft,” replied the Lord, “but she has the strength of a lion. You would not believe what she can endure.”

Finally, the angel bent over and ran her fingers across the cheek of the Lord’s creation. “There’s a leak,” she announced. “Something is wrong with the construction. I am not surprised that it has cracked. You are trying to put too much into this model.”

The Lord appeared offended at the angel’s lack of confidence. “What you see is not a leak,” he said. “It’s a tear.”

“A tear? What is it there for?” asked the angel.

The Lord replied, “it’s for joy, sadness, pain, disappointment, loneliness, pride, and dedication to all the values that she and her husband hold dear.”

“You are a genius!” exclaimed the angel.

The Lord looked puzzled, and replied, “I didn’t put it there.”

Colorblock Challenge

This past week I participated in the Colorblock Challenge over at Marionberry Style. Today she has posted several colorblocking examples, go check them out!

Here is a colorblock outfit I wear to work. I work in a conservative office, so I couldn't pull off the bright pinks and oranges. I needed to stay within the muted tone; however, I try to use rich colors when I can! I usually always wear nude heels when wearing color because they do not overwhelm the outfit.

 

I wanted to go shopping for a new outfit, but the husband put a kabosh on that quickly! When does spring ball start again?

 

Skirt: Part of Calvin Klein skirt suit; Blazer: F21; Tank: Nordstrom; Watch: Michael Kors; Necklace: Dillards; Shoes: Steve Madden

The nude heels: my favorite pair of shoes I own.

I really hope my ghostly skin has not scared you off. Come on summer!

Bring on the Fur one last time

We have had quite the cold streak this week in NC. I shouldn't complain, we haven't had much of a winter anyway, so I guess I can deal with one week. Plus, it gave me one more chance to bring out the Fur. I love fur, in all shapes and forms. My budget only allows me the faux stuff, but I think it is still wonderful and fun! Last week I paired my fur vest with a cream blouse and black pants to work. To make my larger vest a bit more fitted I added a thin bronze braided belt.


Vest: Gap  Belt: F21  Blouse: Local Boutique

 Here was my inspiration:

Source: weardrobe.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Source: google.com via Erin on Pinterest

Source: vmacandcheese.com via Kelly on Pinterest

Love My Family

Today I am linking up with Neely, Amber, and Casey for














Day 9: Love My Family

I love love love my family. They are the best and I can't imagine life without them. I could go on for many posts about all the people in my family, but for the sake of this post, I am going to stick to the immediates.

My Sisters


Marlo and I are both Delta Gammas


My Mom


My Dad


My Brother in Laws

My Mother and Father in Law

 

My Grandparents

 


We always support each other in everything we do. Especially sporting events!

I feel so fortunate to have a great family! I am one lucky girl.

Why I Love Blogging

Today I am linking up with Neely, Amber, and Casey for Day 7 of the FVC!

I have recently fallen head over heels for blogging.

Sometimes I start projects just so I know I can accomplish that task or skill and then move on. I was afraid blogging might be another project like that, but surprisingly I've wanted to continue blogging and wish I could do it all day long!

I am a late bloomer in the blogging world. I didn't even read blogs that often before now. Now I am astounded that there is this amazing group of people that I have been missing out on! Whether it is a fashion blog, cooking blog, decorating blog or lifestyle blog I have become addicted. I really appreciate all the blog authors that have taken the time to contribute to their passion, because now I do know it takes time and effort!

My husband and I live a somewhat nutty life and I thought well maybe I could entertain a person or two. At least my family laughs. But this blog has now given me a creative outlet to share projects I'm working on or my style that I am developing. I've considered blog in a certain niche, but that isn't me, I'm all over the place! I enjoy lots and lots of things, so I can assure you topics on this blog will turn corners frequently.

Who knows maybe it will even give me that last giant push I need to write a book I've always dreamed of writing!

Since I am a newbie, I have not piled up a bunch of posts, so I am not going to pick a favorite (even though my decorating for Christmas posts had me super excited!) I will direct you back to a post I wrote about a conversation my husband and I had. This is just an inside look into my every day life with that man.

My Husband's Language

Rain Rain Go Away...Or Not.

So we just came off of an incredibly chilly, gloomy, and rainy weekend here in North Carolina. On a positive note, all this weather feels like spring is about to hit.

Naturally, to deal with these elements, I need a raincoat. So I took to my computer to "stake out the competition" (I'm watching the Super Bowl right now if you were wondering. M&M's take the best commercial)

Here are a few choices I found that I need to go check out in person:

via Anthropologie

I love the natural two-toned color of this coat. The details are dainty and fun. Plus isn't the Tulip-Hem gorgeous?!

via Nordstrom

I like that I could dress this coat up or down. Great quality and a very sliming fit!

 

via H&M

Red is my happy color. You can never be in a bad mood if you are wearing red. So if it is gloomy, I put on this coat and all is well! And look at that price point!

via Lululemon

This is more on the casual side but I love the fit! The coal color is my favorite and I can't definitely see me running around town in this!

via Calvin Klein

And lastly, I always turn to my trustworthy, favorite designer Calvin Klein. Ol' Calvin and I see eye-to-eye on just about everything. I love his fabric choices, colors, and fit. This trench has a faux leather trim that makes it oh so chic. Plus...tada it is on sale. My hubby's favorite word. That coat has Mia written all over it!

Well I think that was a good start to my search for a raincoat. So as much as I wished this rain would go away, if I'm going to get a fabulous coat, I guess it can stick around for a bit! Hope that gave you some inspiration too! Any other ideas, feel free to send them my way!

Love My Girlfriends

Day #5 of the Valentine Challenge with Neely, Amber and Casey!

 

Day #5: Love My Girlfriends

I have such wonderful girls in my life. My two sisters being my BEST friends. But I have a Love My Family post coming up next week, so we'll save that for them :-)

I have a ton of wonderful people in my life, these are a few pictures of girls that I could get ahold of :-)

My Mom and Sisters

 

Jenn at Graduation

 

Kiara, Elizabeth, and Megan

 

Kim at Sarah's Wedding

 

Husker Girls freezing

 

Kim and Sara

 

DG's

 

Me and Kara with our Hubbies

 

Juanita

 

Kristen on Halloween

 

Hilary on her wedding day

 

Natalie with The Script

   

Jess and I at my Bachelorette

Jenna and Kristen

Me and Jennifer

DGs

 

Liz with Aaron Watson

 

And off topic....speaking of Aaron Watson, I'm so jealous of any of you TX gals that get to see this man on a regular basis. So lucky.