labor day weekend

little things, here and there, off my phone from the wonderfully long weekend..

3 starbucks trips, 2 of which were Pumpkin Spice Lattes

Fall is on it's way...

homemade garden sign, that looks weird with the filter

but, I promise, it's sort of cute :) 

ALSO, first Aggie game of the year!

prayful naps... 

judgmental Dakota stares.. 

breakfast in bed.

movie watching.

baby boy's new changing table -- craigslist find!

gettin' work done. I realize now, I totally shouldn't have done that

but the garage door was open, and the huge fan was on.. does that help?!

preg selfie..

and the grand finale

late night SPRINKLES ICECREAM run.

valentine's day

This may not be interesting to anyone, but since this is my blog and I want it to serve as a sort of online diary of sorts, here's my valentine's post. 2013.

Bear with me...

I've been wanting to try my hand at creme brulee for a while now, and after a few dropped hints, I finally got my culinary torch!! what a perfect valentine's gift, fire-maker + butane. :)

Blake picked us up my FAVORITE pizza, white pizza from Coal Vines, and after we devoured it, I started on my Pioneer Woman recipe.

It was really quite simple. (I think the name just intimated me)

PS. Those precious sky blue ramekins were a V-day gift to myself! How did I not register for those when we got married?

I also tried my luck with these dinosaur planters that I've seen all over the blogs. I not sure if anything could be more perfect for Blake.

I bought the two dinos at Dollar General, spray painted them Key-lime from Home Depot, then cut a whole in their back with a box cutter, and finally, planted a cute little succulent.

It sits on his desk as we speak, now, just to keep it alive. Fingers crossed!

Pinterest - making the world better, one pin at a time

Lemon Oat Bars

You betcha. This happened last night. Old fashioned oats + Lemon cream filing = one very satisfied Johnson household.

Did you need a close up of the lemon gooey goodness?

because, here it is again...

Recipe:

(1) 14 oz can of sweetend condensed milk

3 teaspoons of grated lemon zest

1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice

mix together in small bowl, set aside.

1 cup oats

1 1/4 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup softened butter

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

mix until crumbled. pack 1/2 of dough into an 8x8 pan, bake @ 375 for 10 minutes.

Take out and pour lemon filling. Bake another 20 minutes.

Don't even bother with letting it cool, just dig in. And, for some reason I feel healthy eating it - I mean, it's lemon and oats, right?? Don't correct me if I'm wrong, please.

Sugar Coma

After a 2 or 3 hour eye evalutation on Monday and then learning that I was NOT an "ideal candidate" for LASIK, I headed home to sulk the disappointment in cake batter. Red Velvet is a personal favorite and I've never attempted a "from scratch" recipe... enter Paula. Paula Deen.

An early Valentine's treat, followed up with a pretty kick-butt night of celebrating the AMAZING and GRACIOUS love we receive daily from our Father. Coal Vines white pizza. If I could eat one thing for the rest of my life I think this would be it. We finished the night off by watching New Girl. :)
The best part - Blake took a night off from studying! This doesn't happen during the week, like ever. I tried to take in every moment from laying on the couch, to eating dinner, to getting ready for bed together. I really love that guy.

reason #502 why being married rocks...

one year old wedding cake!

Monday night surprises

what a lovely treat, to come home from Homegroup to see my sweet, diligent, studious husband and a kitchen island decked out with a vase-o-flowers and heavenly cupcakes. These are my favorite. They may be every girl's favorite, but truly, flowers are perfection. How do they bring such joy? Flowers and cupcakes could be the best combo ever. Better than Tim Riggins and Lyla Garrity. Better than potato chips and mayo, dakota and humping legs, chocolate and peanut butter, I hope you get the picture.

I just finished my red velvet, thrilled to take the pumpkin one with me in my lunch tomorrow.

I am loved, and it's completely undeserved.

mullin, dublin, and dakota

Reunited. With the thought of spending 2 and a half weeks Dakota-less really weighing us down with sadness, Blake and I embarked on a 3 hour arduous journey to Mullin to pick her up from my parents and spend a weekend with some Bakers and a Cooper.

The country air welcomed us in along with the perfectly placed stars.

Blake and Kota cuddled all night until the morning. She was happy to see her daddy.

Then we dabbled in a little homemade ice-cream making adventure. Apricot and Vanilla. I sat on the maker while Brandon and Blake took turns cranking it.

me supervising.

Dakota supervising.

20 minutes later. homemade icecream. what a delightful afternoon on the front porch in Mullin.

Sunday rolls around and we pack up the car and head back to Dallas. We made a stop in Dublin, Texas. Being a true Texan at heart, I was feeling a tad convicted that I hadn't been here before.

The Dr. Pepper bottling plant and Old Doc's Soda Shop. A Texas staple.

very cool ceiling tiles. getting inspiration for what to do with mine.

Blake likes his Dr. Pepper frosty.

Back home to Dallas. home sweet home, or shall I say apartment sweet apartment. I can only say that for 2 more weeks! yippee!

baking adventures.

I love sweets. More specifically, I love chocolate. It's no surprise that brownies will always take the cake. :) I. Love. Sweets.

With one great idea and a little encouragement from friends in our "home-group," last night I embarked on some new baking territory. I'll tell you - I was a tad nervous, the idea sounded crazy and the thought of ruining a good batch of dessert made my heart hurt, but I decided to run with it. If it worked out - hey! I'd have a new technique and new recipe to add to my files!

pictured below: your typical brownie mix and the special ingredient, a coke.

here we go - no turning back now! Instead of the eggs, oil and water (did I mention everything?) you just pour in a coke - or diet coke in my house! Not the entire can - just enough that it looks like normal brownie dough.

When I first heard of this I was speechless. How was this even going to work?

Well, here is what we got. Blake thinks they look like dinosaur poop. I will tell you, they taste just delicious. Tastes like a brownie, smells like a brownie, kinda looks like a brownie... IT'S CRAZY how a coke can take the place of the egg and oil! Given, I had to bake them way longer than normal and they still came out all gooey, but it'd be a lyin' if I said I don't like it when my brownie falls apart from gooey-ness as I eat it.

In conclusion, I'd try it again, definitely. Has anyone else heard of this?? Apparently it's in line with Jenny Craig or another one of those dieting programs, which is again, crazy!

Also I was told - Mountain Dew and Fanta are used for yellow cakes. Blake's inquiry.