Playing Chef

As Daniel works all day and I run around going to class, the barn, the gym, errands, cleaning, etc. 

Dinner can become quite a hassle. I feel as if I have no time to make anything and we generally do not eat until 8 or so because Daniel is off so late.

My saving grace? The crock pot! 

Granted I do not make food everyday (I'm not that good!), but when I have the time I love preparing crock pot meals and not having to worry about them for 6-8 hours.

So without further ado, here are some crock pot meals that have been a hit with Daniel.

I should also warn you that the majority of these crock pot meals are pork related. I do not eat pork and Daniel rarely gets it so he really enjoys the pork and I can give him the leftovers for lunch.

Crock Pot French Dip 

Picture and recipe credit here

This may have been one of his favorite recipes!

Crock Pot Chicken Noodle Soup

Picture and recipe credit here

Here's another simple recipe that I made up - I'm sure it exists elsewhere but I just did it one day.

1) Get a rump roast (or anything else on sale/cheap)

2) Your favorite meat rub

3) Favorite BBQ sauce

Trim your meat, rub the meat rub all over the meat, place some tinfoil (rolled into balls) at the bottom of the crock pot, place the meat on top of the tinfoil, and poor as much BBQ sauce over top. 

Simple as pie! And it tastes quite good!

What I am making tonight:

Crock Pot Brown Sugar and Balsamic Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Photo and recipe credit here

We will see if this is a hit or not tonight! 

And what I am hoping to make Thursday or Friday!

Crock Pot Mexican Lasagna

Photo and recipe credit here

In the fall I will be experimenting with a lot of soups and stews! I'll have to have an updated post on all of that come the fall. Speaking of fall, I cannot wait until the weather cools down. Fall is my favorite season and I have already been stockpiling clothes for the fall (oops!)

I hope one of these recipes looks appealing to you. If anyone decides to try one, let me know what you thought!

And also, let me know if there are any recipes that you love!

Until next time :)

RIP My Football Career as a Student

A moment of silence, please.

Why? I am no longer a student and get free tickets to the football games.

I am so sad!

I know a lot of people I follow have been posting about their nostalgia on how classes started today and how us old farts miss it. I agree 100%! I miss State - which is funny considering I was ready to leave.

While I am still in school, my heart lies with Wolfpack Nation and any other school I am attending, or will attend, will not compare to my school.

I do have the honor of being an alumni, but I no longer get free sports tickets (why?!?!), and not only do I have to pay for tickets but making the drive for the games (while in another school) is more difficult!

Yes, I plan on making the drive, but I am bummed that I can only go to earlier games (have to make the drive back!) and if I am really busy with homework and tests I no longer have the luxury of a short drive back to my apartment. 

Sad days. I feel so old posting this :p

I know NC State does not have the best football or basketball team, but the one thing I loved about State was the school pride. We knew that we weren't the best (but we definitely pulled off multiple miracles!), but the student body was always supportive.

We had multiple shortages of football tickets (even to the crappier games) if that helps you better understand. 

Roommate! (We quite possibly had a little to drink) 

Great times, great friends, great memories

There are plenty of pictures from my college years (of course I know wish I took more - go figure) but a good chunk of them involve parties and we just won't get into that ;) 

Serious.

I am going to warn you now that this is not the most uplifting post, but it is something I had not thought about and I doubt many people think about on a regular basis.

To preface this, Daniel gets out of bed around 6:30 every morning for work. This would be okay if we ever went to bed at a decent hour. During this time, he usually wakes up (6:30 late? I know, right?!) and says "Oh, shit I'm late!" while proceeding to gently push me off of him as he flies out of bed.

As you can imagine, I am beyond groggy and do not appreciate being rolled off of him so suddenly when I am trying to snuggle.

Between the early morning, the rolling me off of him, and his dad tending to call to make sure he is awake, I am not always in the best of moods when Daniel is leaving.

One particular morning - after this happened repeatedly, I was just not having it. It probably didn't help that I slept like crap the last three nights in a row because of thunderstorms and a scared little fluff ball flying at my head when there was thunder.

Every morning that Daniel leaves (even if it is frantic) he gives me a kiss and says "I love you."

I mumbled something not so coherent along the lines of "see you later" not meaning to not say "I love you too."

All of the sudden Daniel said something that hurt just a little (I hadn't thought about it this way!) and really made me think. He said, "Hanna, I don't like leaving without hearing you say 'I love you' in case something happens to either of us."

Dumbfounded...literally, I wasn't really awake nor was I expecting to hear that.

The scary part is, it's true. I don't wake up in the morning and think, "Oh, maybe Daniel wont come home tonight because something happened." I know we should be thankful for everyday and that anything could happen but I don't wake up and think that!

So what do you do now that the scary realization that you repress has hit you smack in the face?

You say "I love you" any chance you get, you don't take things for granted, and you appreciate the people and things in your life. 

Yes, life is/can become very stressful and at times we do not think about anything deeper than what we need to get done, dinner, has the dog gone outside, I haven't done laundry, or the dishes, or cleaned anything, etc. We need to take a breath (me included - most definitely!) and appreciate and be thankful for the "I love you's" and that our house hasn't burnt down and the car still runs (okay those were a little extreme, but they do happen!) and just be thankful. 

Appropriate, no?

Enjoy yourself because we truly don't know what might happen. 

It's That Time of the Week...

When we get to kick back and relax just a little bit!

Welcome back, Friday!

As always, my week ended up being more stressful than I anticipated. 

I started classes yesterday and I was not ready to get back into the swing of things.

I know it will all be worth it in the end, but I felt a little uncomfortable going to a Community College after being at State for four years.

State was my school and I thoroughly enjoyed my time there! Needless to say, it felt as if I was cheating on State when I went onto campus today.

 The good news, my Anatomy and Physiology teacher seems pretty cool - which, as we know, makes a class so much better!

I have no "definite" plans for this weekend; besides the gym and my horse, obviously.

Daniel and I plan on going to dinner tomorrow night, but I am hoping we do some fun things!

Daniel and I do not get to spend a lot of time together because of his job and my schedule. We will definitely broach this topic in a later post.

I look forward to the weekend and being able to relax (just a little!) and spending time with Daniel.

It is definitely going to be a rainy weekend here! Which means I get to wear my Hunter rain boots, which I am in love with! Yep, I know...I have a shoe problem :)

Plus, I cannot wait to wear them (along with my frye boots and ankle boots) come the fall! 

The weather has been so wonderful here that it makes me want fall to come even faster.

But fall means football, which I know longer have :'(

It's so sad!

I hope everyone has a great weekend! Let me know if you do anything fun.

Balance

As I have gotten older, I have managed to get busier and busier.

I start off every semester thinking that I will have more time than I actually do.

Actually, I tend to take on too much just to prove that I can do it - This may or may not involve a partial meltdown at the middle/end of the semester.

I am a control freak and a perfectionist. This might be part of the reason I think I can balance a ton of things - and I do actually get it all done!

The point of this post is to not be like me. You can take on a lot, just make sure you balance it well.

I need to follow this advice as I start my new semester tomorrow (I'm NOT ready yet!!).

For me, I balance classes, the gym (guilty pleasure/stress reliever), and my horse (need I say more on this subject?). This semester I am also looking into getting a job.

Yep...I may be crazy but I think we established that pretty early on.

I know I can handle all of this - that is not the problem.

What I need to do is make sure I make time for the things that matter like surprising Daniel with dinner, walking the dog, and spending more time at the barn.

In the past semesters I noticed myself neglecting the little things that made others and myself happy in order to get everything else done and get good grades.

This past semester (my last semester at NC State - so sad! No more football! Ugh, I'm sure there will be a rant about that), I began to realize that I was giving up my horse (bad idea - stress reliever and makes me so happy!), I never had time for Daniel, and little Bailey had to cut back on his walks. I also noticed that I was becoming a cranky female dog because I was spending all my time reading for school.

This semester, I am not taking as many courses and I am making the promise to myself that I will manage to get everything done and I will make time for the things I enjoy. 

Follow me as I prep to do this and prepare for nursing school!

P.S. I start classes tomorrow and have not gotten one e-mail/syllabus from any of my teachers yet...boo!

See the control freak coming out? 

Love you all!

Mountains - "No One Said We Had To Climb A Mountain To Get To The House!"

Last week I spent time with my family in the mountains of NC.

As our family vacations tend to go - there are usually a few unexpected/disastrous moments along the way.

Where shall I start?

I was bummed before even leaving for the mountains because Daniel could not come with.

So on Sunday I headed out by my self (well I did have my little poof ball with me :D). Thankfully, my mom did not drive up with my dad, sister, and her boyfriend the day before so that I could meet up with her at my parents house and drive together. 

After we did some shopping in Greensboro (oops!), we made our drive to the house!

First off, it was not very easy to find and the iphone maps did not give legit directions.

Second, we did not realize you literally had to climb a mountain to get up to the house - not to say I was totally shocked, but in all my years of going to the Blowing Rock Horse Show and all the houses I have stayed in, I have never had to make a climb like this one!

Last, only one bathroom out of five had hot water...

After promises from the rental company about fixing the hot water, they proceed to tell us on Wednesday that we need to be out of the house and into another one. This was frustrating for everyone.

Not only did they not have a comparable house close to where we were staying, we had to go to another house that was thirty minutes away and literally at the top of Sugar Mountain. 

Biggest pain in the butt - vacation is suppose to be relaxing!

While there were moments of annoyance, frustration, and a trip or two to the ABC store, there were also many good moments spent with family.

I do believe I spent most of my time stressing about the crap going on in the mountains, how my house is still not fully together, and classes starting so soon. 

Besides that, there were many good moments and I truly enjoyed being there with my family and am very glad that we got to spend the time together.

I also enjoyed the weather and shopping...not that either of those are a shocker!

Gorgeous view from the parkway 

One of my favorite little shops in downtown Blowing Rock

View from the second house!

Birthday Festivities

I know I am neglecting to update regularly - but I have a good excuse!

Last Saturday night we celebrated Daniel's Birthday and then I left early Sunday morning for the Mountains (which deserves a whole post of its own).

Without further ado, let me tell you what we did for Daniel's Birthday!

Daniel had to work half the day, so I ran around like a mad woman doing errands, cleaning, and packing.

When Daniel got off work we headed to Washington to enjoy the shops and the waterfront - until it decided to monsoon, that is

Enjoy the beautiful weather and my Lilly P. dress

After some fun shopping, we waited until the monsoon seized before heading to Kinston to enjoy a brewery tour and dinner at a great restaurant, The Chef and The Farmer!

Mother Earth Brewing Company - So cool and I discovered a new delicious beer!

Mother Earth has their own Taproom and an outdoor patio where you can enjoy music, play corn hole, and relax

After getting caught in another monsoon - story of our life that day - we had a wonderful dinner at The Chef and The Farmer. It was one of the best meals I have had in a long time - we will definitely be going back!

Overall, I think Daniel enjoyed his Birthday :) 

Favorites - July Edition

These are just a few things that I have been loving throughout the month of July!

Tell me what some of your favorite things have been for July/throughout the summer :)

Pocket Tanks - Gap (similar) | Shorts Sand Bar Splish Splash - Lilly P (Here) | Shoes - Jack Rodgers (Old) | Callista Dress - Lilly P (Here) 

The Pictures of the dress do not do it justice - It is a neon orange and much cuter on!

I just love the shorts with a plain white t-shirt and some gold or colorful jewelry

Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue Dreaming in Portofino (Here) | Too Faced Pretty Rebel Palette (Here) | Tarte Lipstick in Timeless (Here) | Target Necklace (Here) | Tommy Bahama Beaded Bracelet (Here) | Baby Lips Electro Edition (Here) | Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencil in Abyss (Here)

 Look How cute it is! It has a long chain and is great to pair with tanks, t-shirts, etc! 

They have other designs available and I do believe I will be picking up a few more 

And there you have it! I will always show you what I am loving when it comes to clothes and beauty/home items - You will soon learn how obsessed I am with make-up.

I chose these items because they are versatile, even though they are bright! Isn't that the fun of summer?

Also, I have been obsessed with this song - lets call it a guilty pleasure, shall we?

The Lonely Island - Go Kindergarten (Ft. Robin, Sean Combs & Paul Rudd)

P.S. Happy Friday!!