God is Great! He gave us blossoms.

SPRING IS HERE!!! I don't care what the calender, the groundhog, or the weatherman has to say about it.  The trees are blossoming and the sun is shinning.  I went on a photo excursion to try and capture the things that are beautiful to me and make my heart sing.  Enjoy!

Just in case this isn't already stuck in your head. Popcorn Popping.

Girls Day Out

On Miranda's birthday, February 16th, I had the day off work and so I drove up to Manteca to spend time with my sister and Mom (and of course all the Larson girls).  We went to the AMC by Bass Pro Shop because they show movies for $5 before a certain time (I want to say 6pm).  We saw The Vow.  I thought it was really cute.  A little predictable... but who cares. As long as there is a happily ever ever at the end of a chick flick I am happy.  And besides, what's not to love about Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams?! Better yet this movie was based on a true love story. <3 After the movie it was nice to spend a few minutes and enjoy some girl talk. 

Family Photo Shoot

If I do everything in this life completely wrong... I want to be able to at least have a yearly photo of my beautiful family.  Since we got married in December and had lots of photos taken of that, we figured we would take new family photos in January.  That way... you can see us without our wedding getup on and also see how we've changed this past year.  We are lucky enough to have parents with a very nice camera and a family friend, April Larson (who is more like a family member), who knows all the good spots around here to take photos.  She did a fantastic job.  Here are just a few:

To see the complete album...just check it out on facebook. :)

Garage Sale Finds

I love being thrifty.  I wish I had enough time to go to goodwill on a weekly basis to see what goodies they have.  But, last weekend I scored at a garage sale.  Garage sales are my favorite place to thrift because you can find tons of great stuff for dirt cheap.  And you can bargain with people.  I went when people were thinking about calling it a day so they just wanted to get rid of everything.  Lucky for me that meant really easy bargaining.

Here's what I ended up getting for $4:

 This glass pitcher.  So cute for my new kitchen table!

 3 metal scoops.  The third one is on my stove to hold whatever spoon I am cooking with.

This old fashioned milk container.  Great for holding for utenciles.

Paper towel holder.  I washed it down and painted it red.

Bath and Body Works Products -Key to Inviting Smells in the Home

What better way is there to invite people into your home than with yummy smells.  It doesn't matter how clean or put together your home is... if it smells bad.  I live in an apartment that has been lived in by lots of other people and if we are gone for the day when we come home it smells musky and smokey.  I am en employee at Bath and Body Works which gives me a 30% off discount at any of their stores not to mention Victoria Secret.  So I have no excuse to not have a fresh smelling home. (I guess I was waiting for my last scented candle to run out.)  Anyways...I went and got my self a wall flower, 3 bulbs, a scentportable, and a package of 2 refills.  They typically have a 6 for $24 deal which I think is quite reasonable.  Especially because you are paying for the good, log-lasting stuff.  The scentportable comes with a scent already.  Now every time I get in my car or open the door to my home I am refreshed instead of disgusted. 

BBW has their spring scents out right now which are so fresh.  I got flower shop and first bloom.  I also got some of their classic scents fresh cotton, warm vanilla sugar, and carribean escape.

I was also running out of my Warm Vanilla Sugar body spray, hubby's favorite, so I used my 30% off to get a new bottle.  They recently changed the design of their bottles and I love the new look.

Seriously Yummy Chicken Strips

Last night for dinner Hubby requested homemade chicken strips and french fries.  I had never made chicken strips from scratch but I found this super yummy and easy recipe on http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Fried-Chicken-Strips.  When I made them I found the best way to crush the saltines was to combine all the dry ingredients in a gallon Ziploc and roll over the bag with a rolling pin.  Also, be sure to cut your chicken into then strips so they cook all the way though.

Homemade french fries I learned form my mom.  Simply peel and slice up one potato per person. Use 1/4 inch slices.  Deep fry until golden brown.  Let sit on paper towel covered plate to drain excess oil.  Add salt.  She also makes a fries sauce which is just 1 part ketchup to 1 part mayo. Meals like this make me crave Koolaid because it reminds me of my childhood.  So last night we had grape Koolaid to go along with our delicious meal.  These chicken strips are seriously the best I have ever had and are so easy to make.