Cinnamon Apple Chips

I saw this recipe for Cinnamon Apple Chips on Katie's blog a few weeks ago and decided I needed to try them.  So last night, I did!

I finally opened the food processor that we got as a wedding gift and used it to slice my apples.  

First of all, I was AMAZED at how fast this thing sliced an apple.  Like literally two seconds.  It doesn't take much to amaze me, obviously.  

These cinnamon apple chips are super easy to make:

• Thinly slice your apples (and remove the core).
• Put a sheet of wax paper on a cookie tray.
• Lay your sliced apples on the wax paper and lightly sprinkle with cinnamon (less is more with the cinnamon).
• Bake for 50-60 minutes around 200 degrees, then flip them over and bake for another 50-60 minutes.
• Then let them cool a little and enjoy!  

I put them in a bowl when they were done, and I had to eat one every time I walked by! An easy, tasty little treat to enjoy during this holiday weekend.

Ready to stick in the oven.

Backed and ready to eat!

I hope you have a GREAT Thanksgiving and get to spend time with those you love...and maybe score some good Black Friday deals :)

Weekend Recap

Only three days of work and then it's Thanksgiving!  I can't wait to celebrate with lots of food (we have three family parties to attend on Thanksgiving), family, fun, and some Black Friday shopping.

Friday night was spent picking up leaves, again.  We got the back yard done Friday night and Kevin did the front yard Saturday morning, while I headed to my parents.  I dropped Admiral off at the groomer's to get a bath and a hair cut, then I headed to my parents to hang out at my mom's Thirty-One/craft open house.  My sister sells Thirty-One and my mom and her friends had some crafts projects they were selling.  I ordered some Christmas presents and picked up some things for myself too.  My mom gave me this super cute wreath that she made.  I love it!  She had a bunch of other ones too.  I'm thinking about starting an Etsy shop for her stuff (and occasionally mine)...

Saturday night we went out to dinner for a friend's birthday and then headed home for the night.

I got up early Sunday morning and went grocery shopping for everything I need for Thanksgiving, then I met my friends at the movie theater to see Catching Fire!  It was AMAZING.  I loved it.  It made me want to go re-read the books immediately.  If you haven't seen it, you need to.

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We spent the rest of Sunday watching football and doing some laundry.  I hope you had a great weekend!

Holiday Polish Swap

In late October I saw a blog post about a holiday nail polish swap.  I decided it sounded fun, so I signed up!  The purpose of the swap was to spend no more than $10 and mail a nail polish and a card to the name you were given, and then that person would send the same to you.  It sounded like a fun way to get another person/blogger, so I joined!

The swap is hosted by:
Mrs AOK, a Work in Progress
Penny @ The Real Housewife of Caroline County
Courtney @ What's Up With the Wilhelms
Amanda @ Buckiddo

First, I went shopping for Emma, the person I was buying for.  I ended up picking the color "it's genius" by Essie.  It has a hint of sparkle and it's a shade of my favorite color, purple!  I also threw in a cute little nail file.  I hope Emma liked it!

Let me tell you, I was super excited when my envelope showed up in my mail box!  This is what I found when I opened it:

Emma obviously went above and beyond and got me TWO pretty nail polishes, nail decals, and a nail file!  I LOVE the polishes!  I painted the purple on my toes (purple is my favorite color so this was perfect) and the pinkish color on my nails and I love them both!

This was such a fun idea and I'm so glad I decided to participate.  I look forward to following Emma's blog, Miss Print, and getting to know more about her.  If you ever get a chance to participate in something like this, you should definitely do it!

5 on Friday

Another Friday has arrived!  Are you ready for a short work week next week?  Followed by food, family, and fun?  I know I am!

Once again I'm linking up with Christina, Darci, April, and Natasha for 5 on Friday and you should too!

ONE.  There is still time to enter my Treat giveaway!  Just click here to enter.  You can enter to win a cute mug and personalized stationary for yourself or use it as a Christmas gift for someone special.  Make sure you enter today!

You could win a cute mug like this one AND personalized stationary!

TWO.  Admiral is getting a bath and a hair cut tomorrow, just in time for the holidays!  He's starting to get a little shaggy, so it's time for him to get cleaned up.

Look at that sweet face.  I could just cuddle him all day!

THREE.  Check back here tomorrow to read about a fun holiday nail polish swap I participated in!  I can't wait to show off what I got!

FOUR.  I know everyone is excited about decorating for Christmas, and many people have already started, but I just can't bring myself to do it until AFTER Thanksgiving.  But you better believe that after I get done shopping on Black Friday, I'll be bringing up the boxes of Christmas decorations!  Have you started decorating for Christmas yet?

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FIVE.  Speaking of Black Friday, how many of you go shopping that day?  My mom, sister, aunt and I always go.  We never go for the big items that you have to wait in line for, but we always have fun and seem to find good deals.  It's a tradition in our family and I can't wait for it this year!

Holiday Cards (and a giveaway)

I was compensated for this post, but all opinions are my own.

I've been thinking a lot about our Christmas cards this year.  It's our first Christmas since we've been married so I wanted to do something a little special.  We even had some fall pictures taken to use for our Christmas card this year...here's a little sneak peak:

photo by Mckensie Anne Photography

A great way to make your holiday cards a little more special is to personalize them, and Treat's one-to-one holiday cards are the perfect way to do just that!  

You can create photo or non-photo cards that are personalized for the person receiving the card.  Don't you think it would mean so much more if your mom, grandma, sister, or whoever you send cards to, received a personalized card?  Rather than the same card that the other 30 people on your list are receiving?  One of my favorite styles of Treat's one-to-one cards is the Festive Friendship Design.  I mean, how cute is that?

If mailing cards isn't your thing, and you're totally in to this digital world we live in, Treat also offers digital cards.  A great way to send a personalized card to someone and make their day.  Most cards on their site now have the digital option.

Not only does Treat offer great holiday cards, they also have a great selection gift ideas.  They have mugs, iphone cases, stationary, and more.  The best part is, you can personalize these gifts to make them perfect for every person on your shopping list.  Just look at this super cute mug...I think I need one of these with some of our wedding pictures on it!

Make sure you check out Treat's holiday card collection and their unique gifts and get some holiday shopping done early...and without dealing with all of the crazy shoppers that are out already (I know, I saw them at the mall this past weekend).

Treat is generously giving one of my readers one mug and one set of personal stationary!  The giveaway ends on November 23, so make sure you enter today!

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Happy Birthday to my Sister!

My little sister turns 24 today.  I can't believe she is 24 already.  Seems like just yesterday you were a baby (ok I don't ACTUALLY remember this because I was like 2 years old, but I had to include this picture).

But I do remember your 21st birthday that I spent with you in Alma.  Ok maybe I don't remember all of that either...

What I do remember is how great of a sister you have been over these past 24 years, even through all of the stupid sister fights we've had.  Happy 24th Birthday Ashley.  I wouldn't trade you for the world :)

Leaves, Thor, and a Tornado?

This weekend was filled with leaves.  We picked up a lot of them over Friday/Saturday.  I had a half-day Friday because I had to work on Saturday, so I raked/picked up the leaves in the back yard.  Kevin raked/picked up the front yard while I was at work on Saturday.  Team work is what it's all about!

After I got done working, we went and saw Thor: The Dark World (it was great-I really liked it) and then went to out to dinner at a local bar/restaurant.  Kevin got pizza and bread sticks and I got a grilled shrimp salad.  I told you I'm serious about this eating healthy thing, and I didn't even have a bite of his food.  I've been doing good and feeling great with healthy eating, so I don't want to ruin it with one meal.  I'll save that for Thanksgiving :)

Sunday I went grocery shopping and got some Christmas shopping done.  I decided that my goal is to be done Christmas shopping by December 1.  I've never been done that early, so we'll see what happens.  After grocery shopping, we had a lazy Sunday and watched football all day.  It was wonderful.  Except for the bad weather.  We had severe thunderstorm, wind, and tornado warnings all day.  Luckily, we didn't get hit too hard where we live, and we never even lost power.

Oh, I also put this cute printable up in my living room last week and I LOVE it.  It's free, so you should follow the pin to the link and print one for you house too.

Hope you had a great weekend and happy Monday!

5 on Friday

Is it just me or did this week fly by?  Maybe it's because I took a day off when our new bed got delivered.  I could definitely deal with four day work weeks every week!  Linking up with Christina, Darci, April, and Natasha today!

ONE.  Speaking of our new bed, I LOVE it!  No squeaking at all.  Kevin and I are both sleeping better at night, so I'm super happy with our purchase.

TWO.  I'm excited for this weekend because Kevin and I are going on a "date night" tomorrow night!  We are going to see Thor:The Dark World and go to dinner.  It's been a while since we've had a date night, so I'm really looking forward to it.

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THREE.  Leaves.  Need I say more?  They have really come down this past week at our house.  We're hoping to get them all cleaned up this weekend, and then hopefully we'll only have to do one more pick up this year.

FOUR.  Has anyone else been watching The Blacklist on NBC?  It's my new favorite show.  Seriously, it's so good.  It's kind of like Scandal meets Criminal Minds.  Probably why I like it so much, since those are two of my favorite shows.  I'm sure it's on demand, so if you haven't been watching, you should start.  For those of you who do watch it, what do you think?  Do you love it as much as I do?

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FIVE.  Have I mentioned how much I love my little family?  Things are finally slowing down a little at home and I'm able to fully enjoy my time with my husband and our dog.  My husband is amazing.  I am the luckiest girl in the world!

New Bed!

Our new bed was delivered yesterday and I am soooo happy to have it!  

If you missed the story of why we got a new bed here it is:  We've had our old bed for a little over three years and a few months ago the box spring started getting squeaky and continually got worse.  It was to the point where we couldn't sleep well because any time either of us would move (I'm talking barely move), the bed would squeak.  Also, when we had all of our stuff stored at Kevin's mom's, our mattress was leaned against the wall the whole time, so the mattress is shaped a little weird now.  It's not uncomfortable by any means, just not quite the right shape.  So we decided it was time for a new bed.

We put the old bed upstairs in our guest bedroom.  Hopefully we can figure out a way to fix the squeaking eventually, but for now, we are loving our new bed!  Putting a bed in our guest room means it's actually a "real" guest room now.  I mean at least it has a bed.  There are still a million things I want to do in there.  That will be a slow moving project, I'm sure.

We went with a King Koil because the guy at Mattress World (which is now becoming Art Van) said King Koil frames are built by the Amish, and aren't just nailed/screwed together, they are glued, which doesn't allow for squeaking...I sure hope he's right!

It looks exactly the same because it is the same size (Queen) as our old bed, but we both slept soooo much better last night, it was amazing!

Guest Room

Master Bedroom

I know, it might sound crazy that I'm so excited about a new bed, but it's hard not be excited about getting a good night's sleep.

Weekend Recap

Before I start my weekend recap, I have to stop and take a minute to thank all of our service men and women who have served and are serving our country.  I thank you all for everything you do to keep our country safe and free.

Friday night I went to a jewelry party my mom was hosting.  It was good to catch up with my mom and some family friends, and I ordered some pretty new jewels that I can't wait to get!

Saturday morning I helped Kevin pick up some leaves and then we got ready for the birthday party we were going to that afternoon.  We left early for the party and went to look for a new bed.  We only got ours a few years ago, but it was on the cheap end, and the box spring has become VERY squeaky over the past few months.  It's to the point where if you move your arm, it squeaks.  We decided enough was enough, so we went out looking and found a great bed at a super price and I can't wait for it arrive this week!  We are going to put the old bed in the guest bedroom and see what we can do about fixing the squeaking (I've seen some ideas online) eventually.

I went grocery shopping on Sunday morning to load up on healthy foods for my new healthy eating I'm starting today.  I did some cleaning up around the house, got a few loads of laundry done, and watched football.  The Lions won and are now in first place in their division!  However, my fantasy team is not doing so good this week...bummer.

Thank goodness my grocery store has a Starbucks in it!

Full grocery cart...don't worry, the Doritos are for Kevin :)

Hope you had a great weekend...here's to hoping this week goes by quickly!

5 on Friday

I missed this fun link up last week, so I'm happy to be back sharing 5 randoms this Friday!

ONE.  I got these pants (in black) from Old Navy the other day and I LOVE them.  They are super comfy and flattering.  I wore them to work yesterday and got lots of compliments.  I'm thinking about going back and getting a couple more in different colors!

TWO.  Tonight I'm going to a jewelry party my mom is having and I'm looking forward to purchasing some cute new jewelry pieces!  Tomorrow we are going to a birthday party for my friend's little boy and Sunday we have no set plans except for watching football. All day.  I'm pretty excited about this weekend!

THREE.  I'm going grocery shopping this weekend and stocking up on some healthier foods.  Starting Monday I'm trying Steph's plan for healthy living.  I haven't blogged much about this, but I haven't been happy with my body for a while now, and I'm making a change!  I debating a full post dedicated to this topic, but haven't decided yet.

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FOUR.  Along with eating healthier, I also bought a Groupon for 30 exercise classes at a local gym for only $29!  I plan to start going a couple times a week starting next week.  Hopefully after a few months, I'll be where I want to be and can continue to maintain a healthier lifestyle!

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FIVE.  I won my first giveaway this week from Kait's blog CommuniKait!  I won a pillow from Dog City & Co and I decided on this one.  I can't wait to get it!

find it here

Happy Friday!  What are you up to this weekend?

Currently...

Currently I am...

Wearing:  Still in my sweatpants and t-shirt I slept in...I need to get ready for work!

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Listening to:  Good Morning America and the rain falling.

Thinking:  It's the perfect day to stay in my sweats all day and cuddle up on the couch...dark, cold, rainy days will make you want to do that.

Wanting:  My hair to be long again so I could just put it up and not spend 15 minutes actually doing something with it.

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Excited About:  This weekend.  We have lots of things planned, but it won't be as crazy as last weekend, and I'm really looking forward to that.

I know that these e-cards have nothing to do with what I posted, but I thought they were funny and I'm really slacking today...so that's what you get.  Sorry.  Happy Hump Day!