Wine & Dine Wednesday

Today, we will talk Mojitos.

Full of flavor and refreshing with all the mint that goes into these. And that makes it the perfect summer drink!

Here is my version:

Mint leaves (I used about 10-14 leaves)
Juice of 1 Lime
1 oz. Mint infused Simple Syrup
2 oz. Light Rum
1oz. Club Soda

The day before I made the drink I made the Mint infused simple syrup:
Add 2 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar to a pot and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add approx. 20-30 leaves of mint. Let sit till cool. Remove the mint leaves with a spoon. Pour syrup into a glass container and put in the refrigerator till cold or ready to use.  Just a little side note: most simple syrup recipes are equal parts sugar and water, but to me, my version was plenty sweet for this drink.

To make the drink:
Add mint, juice of lime and syrup to a bowl and mash with the back side of a spoon. You could muddle this but I do not have one. I also cut some of the mint leaves to release some of the juices from the leaves. Remove mint leaves with spoon or strain mixture.
Put ice in a glass, add rum, pour syrup mixture over rum and top with club soda and a mint leaf.

Enjoy!

Feeling Good Friday! *Link Up*

Hello Everyone!

If you are new, Beth and I are discussing all that is good in our lives! Join in!  Here are the details!!

We are trying something new and we would LOVE for all of you to join in on the fun!!!

Since we started our blogs, we have always blogged on Fridays about our weeks. Then we realized that we are pretty boring people during the weekdays so we don't have that much exciting news to share with you all. So, we wanted to start something we call "Feeling Good Friday".

 

With Feeling Good Friday, we want to talk about our workouts, pets, kids, mani pedi sessions, meals, shopping sprees or really anything we do that makes us feel good about ourselves.

Everyone needs more positive in their lives so let's all talk about the things we do during the week that make us feel good, accomplished, high on life...whatever!

Grab a button (on my sidebar) and share your experience with your readers as well.

 

 

Here I go!!

 

This week has been.....quiet. very. very. quiet.

 

For the last week our boys have been with their grandparents at the beach.  At first, I really did not know what to do. I mean I can always think of a million things to do when they are around but now that I had this time to myself and time to spend with my husband alone every evening....well, lets just say it has been so nice.

 

What have I been doing?

Reading, shopping, eating out with my husband, motorcycle riding with my husband, scrapbooking, tried 2 new recipes, had a long visit one afternoon with my Dad who stopped by and we were able to have full conversations just between the two of us, sitting on the deck enjoying this awesome weather, uninterupted conversations with my husband and sleeping in and also catching up on some of my shows on the DVR and so much more!

 

 

 

 Please tell me I am not the only one who has so many photos to get organized!

 

 Oh but don't think it has been all fun, I had to do laundry and dishes a couple of nights this week.

 

And of course with all the mint that has taken over grown in our backyard I made this

 

I will share how I made it next Wednesday.

 

Hope you had a great week. Tell us about it! Link up!

 

Rules to the link up:

1. Follow us (Beth and myself) on GFC or Bloglovin so you can stay on top of the link up every week.

2. Be sure to share the button (on my sidebar) or link your post back to me.

3. Please visit and comment on others to motivate one another.

4. Have fun :)

 

 

 



2013 Summer List

What are your plans for the summer?

Any big trips or adventures coming your way?

Doesn't it feel great that summer is here! As I am writing this post I am sitting on our covered deck, ceiling fan on and a nice breeze blowing and it is 91 degrees (in the shade).

Here is our 2013 Summer List:

Beach (of course!, as our oldest said 50 times or to just go and stay all summer!)
Camp Out
Drive-In Movie
Roast Marshmallows
Water Balloons
Lego play
Putt-Putt
Zoo
Watch Fireworks
Swimming
Catch Lightening Bugs
Water Gun Fight Play
Lemonade Stand
Slip-N-Slide
Picnic
Crafts
Read

I'm sure there will be more we can add to the list but for now that seems pretty good. I also had on my list to work on a few worksheets just to keep the boys up and current on what they know so they don't forget everything they learned during the school year.

Here is to a fun and full summer!!

Thought Provoking

As I posted this photo on my Feeling Good Friday post, I felt that at some point I should share my thoughts on these books.

Well I have only read one of them and about 3/4 the way through the second. The one that I read first was Heaven is for Real.

This book is one quick read, I read it in two days. Honestly I could have read it in one night but my family would have hated me the next day, this girl needs her sleep!

It was very thought provoking. I have read another book similar to this before. For those of you not familiar with this book, it is about a boy who goes to visit heaven then later recalls the events for his parents (very short version..).

The little boy recalls seeing people he knew in heaven and some that he did not know and was introduced to while in heaven.

One chapter totally hit home for me. It was the chapter where he describes meeting a little girl, his sister. Unknowing, his mother had a miscarriage and lost the baby, she never learned whether is was a boy or girl.

I cried though the whole chapter.

The reason it hit so hard was that I too I had a miscarriage. It occurred between the two pregnancies of our boys. I was only 7 weeks pregnant.  I have always wondered was it a boy or girl, what would the child have looked like, what would his or her personality be like?

I guess maybe one day I will find out the answers to those questions above.

 While reading this chapter it reminded me of the heartache I felt during that time, the pain that I had done something wrong, or not done enough to prevent this from happening, calling my best friend that is a nurse to help talk me through this and  calling my doctor. In my head I knew differently, growing up in a family and being surrounded by people in the medical field I knew that a miscarriage is just something that the body naturally does when something is not right. It is not something that anyone can control, nothing you can prevent, it just happens.
So I had to let my heart catch up with my brain.

Looking back, it was hard at the time, but I got passed it.

We never know why things happen here on earth and we have so many questions but maybe one day we will have all the answers, in Heaven.

Feeling Good Friday!!! *Link up*

 

 

Hello! If you are new to my blog, Welcome!

 

This is the first Friday that my Sister and I are hosting this link up. So in her words.......

 

We are trying something new and we would LOVE for all of you to join in on the fun!!!

Since we started our blogs, we have always blogged on Fridays about our weeks. Then we realized that we are pretty boring people during the weekdays so we don't have that much exciting news to share with you all. So, we wanted to start something we call "Feeling Good Friday".

With Feeling Good Friday, we want to talk about our workouts, pets, kids, mani pedi sessions, meals, shopping sprees or really anything we do that makes us feel good about ourselves.

Everyone needs more positive in their lives so let's all talk about the things we do during the week that make us feel good, accomplished, high on life...whatever!

Grab a button and share your experience with your readers as well.

 

Let me begin, this is what I have been enjoying this week:

 



Reading-I really enjoy reading, it is something that I do most nights before turning out the lights. The house is quiet and this is something that I can do to clear my mind of all the "stuff" of the day and the "stuff" that is happening the next day. In other words, it is a great way to clear my mind.

 

 

Sweet Iced Tea. Sometimes with mint, sometimes with lemon and most of the time just by itself.

These are two favorites that I have enjoyed this week and they make me happy!

Link up and share with us!

Rules to the link up:

1. Follow us (Beth and myself) on GFC or Bloglovin so you can stay on top of the link up every week.

2. Be sure to share the button (on my sidebar) or link your post back to me.

3. Please visit and comment on others to motivate one another.

4. Have fun :)

 

 

 

Wine & Dine Wednesday

The heat is here!

 Warmer days are here to stay and while I love a good wine this southern girl also loves a glass of sweet iced tea! And what better way to enjoy the summer than sitting on the deck sipping on a cold glass of tea with mint.

Many many many years ago while in Las Vegas I realized that not everywhere makes tea the way we do here in the south.

So for those of you who have never been to the south or don't know how to make sweet iced tea....here is how I do it! (I know this isn't life changing but I'm sharing anyway!)

First, I begin by filling a pot with water and add 2 tea bags, bring to a boil. In the meantime, add one cup of sugar to a gallon pitcher.

Let cool slightly. Then remove tea bags and pour tea into pitcher (make sure it is still warm enough to dissolve the sugar). Stir to dissolve sugar and then add enough water to fill the pitcher then stir again. Or you can make a double batch on the stove and not add any water but this will make your tea really strong, which is still really good by the way. But, I usually go the first route and add water to my pitcher. You can also add more or less sugar depending on your taste.

Pour your tea over ice and add in washed mint leaves for a mint flavor. Of course you can leave the mint out if you like. Or you may add a lemon wedge if you prefer.

So glad summer is here!!

Lamp Re-do & Big Boy Room

 

When trying to get our oldest son's room a new grown up  fresh look I changed up most items in his room except this lamp. It sat there so plain and well blue. It needed something and so without really thinking alot into it, I gathered some fabric glue, burlap and twine.

 



 

I brushed fabric glue over then shade then covered it in burlap. I cut off the excess and then added a twine trim around the top  and bottom of the shade.

Viola! A new look in no time!

After looking at this for over a month now I think I may paint the base red........

Here is what the big boy bedroom looks like

 

 

There is a large dresser with mirror on the wall on the far left of the photo(that you cannot see).

 

The DIY Wall Art  can be found here.

The DIYCurtain Panels can be found here.

The bedding is from Pottery Barn Kids.

The red desk is a DIY that my husband completed a while ago.

The DIY Pencil Holders on the desk.

 

What do you think?

 

Linking up to Liz Marie Blog.