Tiny Grandma

This past Tuesday morning, my "Tiny Grandma" passed away. I am one of the very lucky ones who has had the honor of knowing my great-grandma's on my Mom's side my whole life. My family is not large, but very close knit. We love each other deeply and I couldn't imagine my childhood without each and every one of them.

Growing up, each summer I would spend a week in Hollis, Oklahoma visiting my grands and great-grands. It was always the BEST time, switching off which great I would stay with each day while my grandparents went to work. In honor of my Tiny Grandma, I thought I'd share a few memories from the days I spent with her.

• We always always always watched the Price is Right in the mornings. She passed her love of that show on to me and although I can't watch it every day now because of work, I was proposed to with a Punch-A-Bunch board from the show because I love the Price is Right too!
• She had an old ten key calculator that spit out the receipt paper. I LOVED it, and would play "cashier" with it for hours. Maybe that's where the accountant in me originally began...
• Two Words: Chocolate Crackers. Every single Christmas she would make the most fantastic chocolate crackers. My mom LOVES them, probably more than anyone else in the family, but each year we try to recreate them without Tiny Grandma's help it is a failure. She had just the right touch to make the chocolate fudge spreadable. I'm sure her legacy will live on this Christmas and result in another fail.
• She would braid my hair in the best braids. 
• Tiny Grandma was also the only one in our family who ever had a knack for sewing. She made me many dolls, blankets and other treasures throughout the years. (I wish I got that talent from her)
• She never ever missed a football or baseball game of one of her "teams". I don't know many women who can stand to watch every single Atlanta Braves baseball game in a season, but she did it and she loved it.

Today, we will head to Hollis to lay my great-grandma to rest tomorrow. I know she is in a happier place with her husband, but it doesn't make it any easier for those of us still here. I will cherish the memories we made together forever and remember how lucky I am to have known her for the first 25 years of my life. 

We love you so much Tiny Grandma!

Brianna

The Lip Slip

I am a chapstick, lip balm, lip gloss addict and have tried my fair share of every lip product out there. However, there is one balm that beats them all...

The Lip Slip by Sara Happ

This glossy lip balm is so moisturizing, smells great and isn't sticky like some glosses can be. It glides on easily and stays on for a long time. I LOVE it! It was originally formulated as a potted balm, but she recently came out with this glossy tube which is right up my alley because I hate getting sticky fingers from those pots. Y'all should get some! It's available at On a Whim in Tulsa and OKC or Amazon (where I got mine).

And because it's Friday, I had to give you a little Murphy love.

 

Happy Friday!

Brianna

 

Veg Out

By no means am I a vegetarian (I had roast last night for dinner), but I am extremely picky about the meat I eat. I rarely eat meat at restaurants and often find that I've gone days without meat at all. I know many of you turn your nose up at vegetarian options, but I'm here to tell you most of them are SO delicious you really cannot taste the difference. This is coming from a girl who didn't like salad until I was a junior in college :)

I first learned of meatless options through a roommate (and one of my bests) in college. She was a vegetarian and always had meatless burgers in our freezer. {shout out to Nikki} I was drawn to how easy they were, especially when you are only cooking for 1 or 2 people. Meatless burger patties are sold frozen, usually in packs of 4, and can be cooked by the single patty to make a quick burger. I also love meatless because I don't know about y'all, but I think frozen meals with meat in them are disgusting. I have found that frozen meatless options are definitely the way to go for a quick and easy lunch to take to the office. All of these items can be found at Target and WholeFoods. Walmart has a more limited selection, but they always have the Morningstar burgers and dogs and a good selection of Amy's meals too.

Here are some of my favorites:

{Morningstar Farms Spicy Black Bean Burger}

The original meatless burger that drew me into the vegetarian world. I won't go trying to convince you it tastes like a beef patty, because it doesn't, but boy is it tasty!

 

{Amy's Light and Lean Enchilada}

This enchilada meal is SO tasty and definitely gets rid of that Mexican craving that I have ALL THE TIME. It is not only low calorie, but really filling too! Two thumbs up in my mind. Also, try their bean and cheese burritos!

{Gardein Crispy Mandarin Chick'n}

This might be my FAVORITE veg meal. The orange chicken tastes just like the takeout you get from down the street. The only difference is you know what's in this meat-free dish because it's mystery meat free!! Add a little brown rice and you have the perfect dinner.

{MorningsStar Farms Corndogs}

The ONLY corndogs I have eaten in probably five years. I really do think these are BETTER than the mystery meat dogs they serve up at the fair and football games.

 

If you are still a little leery of the vegetarian world, please reach out to me and I will be happy to help pick some good options for you! I think every household should participate in Meatless Monday, even if only once a month.

 

Veg out,

Brianna

 

Weekend Wrap-up

Happy Monday!

We had a fabulous weekend visiting my in-laws in Fort Worth this past weekend! We don't get to go down to visit as often as we would like to, but when we do we always have a jam-packed weekend of fun.

Friday, we left town after lunch and headed south for the long road trip with Murphy. It was his first car ride for that long and he did so great! He is finally getting more comfortable around us and it has been so fun to see his puppy play side come out. We were greeted by my Mother-in-Law with a yummy grilled dinner once we finally arrived.

{Back Seat Buddies} 

{Murphy Miller}

Saturday, Michael and the gang headed to the OSU/TCU game while I stayed at home with Murphy. The game may not have turned out how the hubs would have liked, but at least we got to indulge in some Joe T. Garcia's Mexican food before hand (you see where my priorities are, right?) Holy guacamole, do they give you lots of food!! This place has been around forever and has grown into a huge establishment in Ft. Worth. They have a wonderful outdoor patio area to enjoy their strong margaritas on too. Who doesn't love that!

 

After the football game, we got to visit with some of Michael's buddies and see their new house. Murphy got to have play time with another doodle pup, Theo, and we got to enjoy great company that we miss dearly when we are in Tulsa.

 

Of course, our fun times had to end, and we hurried back to Tulsa to clear out our house so the wood floors can be refinished this week. Refer to this post if you are wondering why our floors are being redone... We are currently living with my parents for the week, which Murphy is l.o.v.i.n.g. Just look at the fun he is having with his doodle buddies. Hopefully, by the end of the week we will be able to move back home and get reorganized and settled in.

{Doodle Romp's are my favorite}

If this doesn't make your Monday better, then I don't know what will!!

 

Here's to making it thru the work week,

Brianna

 

 



Puppy Love

Hello Hello Hello!

I apologize for my absence on the blog this week. As many of you probably know, we picked up our new puppy last Friday and since then life has been a whirlwind! Puppies sure are hard work!

His name is Murphy and he is just the best! The hubs and I met at Murphy's bar in Stillwater and decided it would be the perfect name for our little guy.

Mr. Murphy was born April 27th, so he is quickly approaching his 6 month birthday. He is a parti labradoodle and should be around 50-55 pounds full grown. We picked him up in Arcadia, OK just 4 miles from where my Aunt and Uncle live! {such a small world}

How could you not want to snatch this little man up!! I had sent Michael pictures of Murphy as a baby a few months ago, but of course we weren't in the position to get a new puppy. And while I wish we had him from the time he was a baby, it seemed like fate that he was still available when we were ready to get a puppy.

Things Murphy Likes:

• Cheese!
• Really any kind of food/treats, he is a chow hound!
• Brody and Bentley (my parents doodles)
• Following Mommy and Daddy around the house
• Being on any kind of furniture :)
• Snuggles
• His Kong filled with treats

Things Murphy Dislikes:

• His kennel (he actually managed to escape after an hour the first day he was in it!)
• Being alone
• His leash

We are really struggling with leaving Murphy alone at our house. The first few days we tried leaving him in the laundry room because he HATED his kennel, but he scratched at the door and panicked after we left. We then tried the kennel because he started to seem okay with it, but he escaped in an hour. Our poor puppy was never alone at his breeders house and is suffering from some major separation anxiety, which in turn makes me have some major separation anxiety as well. Murphy is currently roaming our house, fingers crossed it's still intact when I get home today!!! Have any of you had experience with this problem? What solutions worked for you? We are willing to try anything!

**Shout out to my awesome hubs for sleeping on the floor with Murphy his first night home. Poor puppy was so nervous, he either wanted to sleep on the bed or the floor, but not alone in either case :)

Brianna

Football Cupcakes

In honor of the best college rivalry game OU/TX, I made a quick little football treat. These one-bowl chocolate cupcakes are SO easy to make and are the perfect dessert during football season or really ANYTIME! You literally use one bowl and just like that they are done. They really are almost as easy as those store bought boxed mixes, the only difference is you know exactly what is in these delicious cupcakes.

Here's the recipe. You can thank me later.

Easy as 1...

 2...

 3...

 {Voila!}

Now for the frosting. I chose a chocolate cream cheese frosting because anything with cream cheese is just better. I began searching for a recipe that wouldn't require me to melt chocolate or buy a bunch of ingredients I didn't have at home and finally came across this one. Only four ingredients!!!

Start with the plain cream cheese frosting and scoop out a couple tablespoons to save for the football laces on your cupcake footballs. I just used a Ziploc sandwich baggy for this.

 Now add the yummy cocoa powder

 I used a star piping tip for the chocolate frosting and didn't use one for the plain frosting.

 Pipe the chocolate frosting onto the cooled cupcake in a diamond shape, then add the laces to make the yummiest little footballs.

 BOOMER SOONER!

And finally, because I had to!

Beat Texas,

Brianna

Cake Pop 101

Cake pops are SO yummy! Last night I made a batch for my fabulous Grandma's birthday that is today! {Happy Birthday Grandma!} They can be a bit of a mess to make so I have put together a step by step guide to make the cutest pops in town.

First, bake a cake. I usually do this the day before so that the process isn't any longer than it has to be. The cake needs to be cooled, so it's really just easier to do the night before. I decided on Pumpkin Spice. 

Once the cake is cooled, crumble it into a large mixing bowl and add your favorite frosting. I chose cream cheese (my favorite) and was lazy so I used a hand mixer to mix the crumbled cake and frosting together.

 It should look something like this once it's all mixed up.

I have found that the easiest way to make cake pops is by using lollipop sticks (found at Hobby Lobby or Michael's) and Candy Melts (also found at these stores). The Candy Melts come in all different fun colors and are super easy to melt up in the microwave.

 I melt a few chips to use as the glue for the lollipop sticks.

If you don't have one of these, you need one in your life. They are perfect for cake balls, but I use mine for just about everything: cookies, muffins, cupcakes, etc.

 Scoop out some of that sticky mixture, roll into a ball and "glue" your lollipop stick into the cake.

TA-DA! Now I usually like to freeze or refrigerate the pops to solidify the "glue" and harden the cake before dipping.

 Gather your cake pop dippin' materials. {Sprinkles, melted Candy Melts, and the pops}

I found these at Target in the dollar spot! Perfect for my pumpkin spice cake pops.

 Now dip and roll the pops into the chocolate. I use a spoon to wipe off excess chocolate, as it can get a little thick and I think it's better with a thin later. Just my personal preference.

 Roll the pop in the sprinkles before the chocolate has a chance to harden.

Then place the pops back into the fridge to cool before bagging. I get these bags at Michael's and think they are the easiest way to package the pops. Plus, they make them look extra pretty!

Lots and lots of cake pops! I think my Grandma's bridge club will have lots of fun eating these. They are super easy to transport and make such a cute party favor too!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!

I love you and cannot wait to celebrate your special day with you!

Brianna

Weekend Wrap-Up

Happy Monday Everyone!

Here's what the hubs and I were up to this past weekend...

Friday we spent preparing for a neighborhood garage sale we hosted Saturday morning with my Mom. After getting married, we had accumulated quite a large pile of things we had replaced with new and shiny wedding gifts. My parents also recently moved, so they had lots of things to sell. So Saturday morning we got up bright and early (isn't that what we all want to do on a Saturday?) and got to selling! We actually made quite a loot and were presently surprised at the random junk that people bought of ours. Win for us!

The big kicker of our weekend began earlier in the week and has really thrown our lives in a tizzy. Here's a little back story for you... We moved into our new home in March of this year. After living there for several months, our wood floors began to cup and seemed to be warping. This was especially bad in the entry hall to our bedroom (which backs up to our master shower). After the wood floor guys came out to look at it, they told us we had a leak somewhere. It was finally identified Thursday (after ripping up a large portion of our floors) that we had a leak in our shower that had been slowly creeping under our hardwoods for months. GREAT, right? Well, when we got home Saturday, the carpenters decided they needed to come out and look at the damage. To our surprise, they determined, right then and there, that our master bedroom carpet needed to be ripped out because it had gotten wet. You can bet I wasn't the happiest girl that afternoon.

 Here's a look at the damage. They brought in a fan and dehumidifier to dry some of it out. Yes, our dresser is in our dining room... 

 YIKES!

 Our poor bedroom... At least we get new carpet :\

 The culprit of the incident...

And the hubs and I's home for the next few weeks. A little cozier than our bedroom.

We ended Saturday night needing to get out of our house, so we went and ate at Senor Tequila to cheer me up. After that we went by my parents house to enjoy their first fire in their new backyard. It was the perfect fall fire weather!

Brother Brody is in the picture with me somewhere. Poor black doggies don't photograph well :) 

Sunday we went Pumpkin Patchin'. It was a great day to do so and we picked out a few good lookin' pumpkins for our porch! Carmichael's Pumpkin Patch in Bixby is such a fun place to go and has so many things to do and see! When we got home the hubs was hard at work cleaning off our porches because they had become a bit spider webby... EEK!

We had a great weekend despite a few hiccups we have going on at our home. Let's hope I get through these next few weeks alive.

Brianna