{chop chop}

{Long Hair}

{Hair Be Gone}

So I've been thinking about chopping off my hair for a while now. About a month ago Dale and I went to a marriage conference and they told the wives to make sure you talk to your husband first before making a drastic change to your hair style. haha. So, this is what I did. I asked Dale if he would like my hair short. He responded, "yes, I think you'd look beautiful with long or short hair." That confirmed my choice right there. I'm chopping it off. However, I wasn't going to be the one to post it all over facebook and ask for others opinions because frankly, I didn't care. If my husband would like it and I thought I'd like it, that's all that mattered to me. So I didn't tell anyone except Dale and my sister.

This past weekend we went to Louisville and I was only going to my one and only trusted hair dresser. Gushed about all of my hair drama the past 8 months and told her I wanted to chop it off. She made sure I was really ok with it and mentally prepared. Yes. I was. So, before I knew it, 7 inches gone!! It was exhilarating and feels so good!

What do ya think? Have you made any drastic hair changes recently?

I can't wait to play around with it and figure out cute, fun styles!

HELP!!

HELP! Alright blogger friends I need your help. Obviously you can tell that my blog is in need of some serious revamping. When I started this blog I didn't really know what to do...and I still don't. Please help me get cute little icons on the side, matching fonts (haha), pictures to be side by side, and just do plain cute stuff. Please share any of your helpful hints!

Vegan Red Velvet Cupcakes

Ok, I'll admit, I have a HUGE sweet tooth. Ever since I discovered my diary allergy I haven't been able to eat sweets at all. I had a hankerin' for some yummy cupcakes for the one and only Valentines Day. I don't even like Valentines day but this is the one special thing I did so I figured I'd share.

I LOVE red velvet. Most favorite cake ever. The bottom layer of our wedding cake was red velvet and oh.my.gosh it was DELICIOUS. I don't think I've had red velvet cake since the beautiful day of June 17th and nothing will ever compare to the famous Kipp Holmes cakes. However, these were pretty good if I do say so myself.

This recipe was taken from food.com

For the Cupcakes:

• 1 cup vegan milk (i used rice milk)
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup vegan granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons vegan red food coloring* or two small bottles of red food coloring
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract (I omitted and still tasted the same)
• 1 teaspoon chocolate extract, optional (this can be hard to find, so omit it if you cannot locate it in your local store

For the Frosting:

• 1/4 cup vegan butter, softened
• 1/4 cup vegan cream cheese, softened
• 2 cups vegan powdered sugar, sifted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line muffin pan with liners (I used heart shaped silicone thingys and placed them on a cookie sheet)

gather all of your ingredients:

Whisk together the vegan milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle. Mine didn't "curdle" but apparently if you use soymilk, it does.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl and mix.

Add in oil, vanilla extract, and red food coloring and mix

pour in to muffin liners

while it's baking, mix together your frosting. Softened cream cheese and softened vegan butter

whip in the powdered sugar 1/2 cup at a time (mix by hand)

let muffins cool , frost, and enjoy!

I forgot the picture of the finished product but you can visualize. SO GOOD!!

florida

NYE 2012

we had the wonderful opportunity to go to florida with my parents and my sister. my parents practically live in florida during the cold months. snow birds. so we DROVE 14 hours down there but it was all worth it. we had perfect weather the whole time. we spent many days on the beach until the sun went down and many nights dining at amazing restaurants! we made so many memories. thankful for these times spent with my family!

our first christmas!

christmas morning!

this christmas was definitely one for the books! we got to enjoy our very first christmas together! so blessed by this man and thankful to have made many memories together!!

one cool thing i got D was to go white water rafting in the spring! we are so excited to go! stay tuned for a post after our trip!

6 month anniversary (late)

our 6 month anniversary was Dec. 17. we decided to go down to market square for a fun dinner date and outdoor ice skating. we enjoyed a nice dinner at a place called oodles uncorked with a tasty glass of wine for me and a novelty beer for D. when we walked outside to the outdoor ice skating rink it was packed. they were doing some weird dance off and weren't going to open the rink for another 30 min. we decided to skip the ice skating thing and just go home and watch a movie, which was fine with me! so happy to have spent 6 months 9 months with this amazing man!

bonnie and clyde

so for those of you that do not know...i teach special ed. one of the things i've been looking in to was getting a class pet because i want my kids to have some responsibility. although i really want a guinea pig or a bunny, my husband says no because they come home with you :(. so after receiving some classroom moola that i'm required to spend before march, i asked my assistants if they had any ideas. one of my assistants suggested frogs. perfect! these frogs have their own little ecosystem and you only have to feed them twice a week and clean them three times a month! sounds kind of gross but they are so easy! so, i went out after school and purchased my little froggies! i'm quickly falling in love with bonnie and clyde (their unofficial names until i take them to school tomorrow and let my students name them!)

sisters

i am blessed to have to amazing women in my life. my sister and my sister-in-law. sisters have such a strong bond that no one can break! it's fun to have a sister to share stories with, cry with, and lean on at all times. sisters just get you. i love spending time with both of my sisters! i am thankful that God blessed me with these wonderful women!

favorite things....

as i was driving today i was thinking about (some) products i couldn't (or wouldn't want to) live without. i thought i'd share a few of my favorite things with you! some are my favorite nutritional items, products, and things to do.

1. Chia Seeds: these are SO good for you! dale and i add just 1 T to our salad every single night. they are full of omega-3s (way more than fish), antioxidants, calcium, potassium, and keep you feeling energized all day. basically these are the best things in the world and you should RUN to the store ad get some asap!

2. Aloe Vera Juice: nightly ritual: take a shot of aloe vera juice. now this is definitely not the best tasting thing in the whole world, but you just have to take a shot a day. no big deal. it increased the absorption of all of the nutrients you eat. if you are going to eat healthy, why not increase your capability to get all those nutrients out of the yummies you eat? it also increases your immune system and reduces nitrate levels in your body. with all of these great benefits, i can put up with the (not so great) taste every night. i must admit, we've gotten used to the taste kind of. annndddd dale actually likes drinking this. HE reminds ME to take it every night!

3. neighborhood barre: literally the best workout ever! i have the pleasure of working here too! neighborhood barre is a combo of yoga and pilates while using a ballet barre. it's a lot of isometric holds while using weights and body weight. you can tell a huge difference after a few classes! if you live in knoxville come check us out!!

4. lululemon tank: i am obsessed with my new lulu tank. the only bad thing about it is it's the only one i own! its so comfy and really helps a lot when we are up in poses where your shirt would normally rise up! obsessed.

5. chobani yogurt: yum! eat this every single day. since i have a dairy allergy this is the only "dairy" i can eat without getting a wretched tummy ache. for some reason, the way it is strained, most people with a dairy allergy are ok eating it. plus it has a ton of protein! some people may complain about the "carbs" but i don't count carbs AT ALL. i eat the stuff that i like and that i know is good for me. that's all.

6. organic peanut butter: anyone who knows me AT ALL knows that i literally LOVE peanut butter. most would say it's my most favorite food in the world (caitlin had this one memorized for any potential "how well do you know the bride" questions at any of my bridal showers haha). i have gone from eating "reduced fat" jiff to now eating organic peanut butter made straight from earth fare. it's so cool because the ingredients are plain and simple "organic roasted peanuts". done. i try to eat things with the fewest ingredient list. it kind of grosses me out to find things with 10 ingredients and most you cannot pronounce. so i definitely cannot live without my yummy organic peanut butter!!

7.capri blue candles (volcano) : the smell. so so so good. nothing else to say!

8. my husband: this one is obvious. absolutely could not live without this man! he is my supporter and my encourager every single day. so blessed.