Holy Buckets of Energy...

is raining down on me!  I'm entering the second trimester. The good trimester. The little less stress filled trimester.  Bucket loads of glorious sun filled energy has been poured on me and I couldn't be happier! My butt is no longer glued to the couch, I get dressed most days of the week and my appetite has slowly began to resurface.  Hallelujah, Praise the Lord.  No really, praise Him.  With this new found energy has also come my absolute favorite time of the year. FALL!  Fall has puked all over my house in the form of fake leaves, pumpkins, tiny gourds and wreaths (I copied my friend Crissy's wreath, find the how to on her site here.)  Football is once again gracing my television (that's right, I watch and LOVE football. Born a Chiefs fan, Vikings fan by marriage, and it is once again a Cyclone state!)  Life is good.  Who doesn't love this time of year?  The 100+ degree days give way to 60 degree temps, cool Autumn breezes, pumpkin spice fill the air and our coffee cups, Columbus Day and Halloween are upon us.  Yes, it's a wonderful time of year!  I snapped a few shots of the house showcasing my love for all things Fall.  And you must know, I am not against decorating with fake sparkly leaves.

Old ladder back chair found at a garage sale for $5!

This year The Duke and I kicked off our season with a little vacation to North Carolina.  If there is one place in the country that I can totally picture myself living in it's the Great Smokey Mountains. God's work at it's best.  Such breathtaking beauty, even through overcast skies.  North Carolina is wonderful. The tea is sweet, the eggs are fried, and breakfast is served with grits and corn beef hash. Yes I think I've found paradise.  Not to mention we have some amazing friends who choose to dwell there.  Here are a few pics from our fantastic getaway.

Driving into the beauty...even with clouds

My future home. White house in a clearing complete with horses. SOLD!

The sun peeked out long enough to break out the shades

The only thing that could make this prettier was if the leaves were turning

This is how I hike, in ballet flats

Beautiful Crissy!  Such an amazing person and great friend. Only wish they lived closer!

I'm also back to whipping up culinary delights in the kitchen!  I found a list in one of my Rachael Ray cookbooks of things you should always have on hand in your pantry or freezer.  So this week at the store I stocked up on these items and along with a few meat purchases have found it incredibly fun and easy to create meals!  Here is a link to the list so you too can create!  Most of this stuff I already had on hand, such as spices, can goods, etc.  The rest is stuff you can get lots of use out of and is not too expensive to buy.  Great tool to make meal time easier. CLICK HERE

Tonight we are entertaining friends and on the menu is this Pioneer Woman recipe.  I had everything on hand to make it thanks to the above list.  Can't wait to give it a try!  YUMMY IN MY TUMMY
My great friend Monica is a vegetarian so she and I will be enjoying this dish as is. I will of course have to cook up some Italian sausage for our carnivore husbands to add to it.

Speaking of the fabulous Pioneer Woman, while in North Carolina, my wonderful friend Crissy taped her new show on the Food Network (since we do not have cable, it's a life choice.)  She is every bit as cute on TV as she is in her blogs. Solidifying the fact that we would indeed be friends if this where another world.

AND my beautiful sister in law Jacquelyn bought me a copy of Pioneer Woman's book...Black Heels to Tractor Wheels.  Can't wait to dive in and tell you all about it!

Well, I'm off to eat a pickle and start reading. Until next time party people!

I'm throwing this in cause she is so darn cute!

Hair a little wild and shirtless. Just perfect to me