Craziness that is my life lately...

This week I have been out of town for work and then just plain busy otherwise. I spent part of Monday and then Tuesday and part of Wednesday in Columbus, OH for my company's annual PD Meeting. I got to spend time with mom and Julie while there (which was a major plus to my trip!!). Mom and I took some of the PDs to Easton Town Center Mall. They have great shops at this location! I was able to find a few shirts at the Gap store there and the others who were with us were able to find some good stuff too. We stayed at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown (not exactly my favorite for hotel choices in Columbus--but it was alright). Mom and I also got to do some shopping at Tuttle Crossing Mall with Julie before I headed back to Lexington. It was fun to see them and the business part of the trip wasn't too bad either.

Today I had a Dr. appt at the UK Clinic so after I was finished I surprised Jason at his lab building and got to have lunch with him. It was nice to have lunch with him and just chat (not to mention I was not having to work this morning--smile).

I am looking forward to this weekend though. A good friend in Lexington (Noelle Rizzo) is getting married on Saturday!! Then on Sunday myself and friend Erin are hosting a baby shower for our friend Julie Hall and her little baby Nora (who is expected to arrive some time in October). We are oober excited for baby Nora to arrive and so excited for the shower on Sunday.

Then next week starts my month of craziness (but in a good way most of the time). I will get to visit family a good bit this month (one of my absolute favorite things in the world to do). Many posts and pics to come from the many events I will be attending.

So ready set....HERE WE GOOOO!!!!!

Busy Busy Busy...and so it begins

October is by far the busiest month so far...every weekend I have something going on whether I am in Lexington or not. Weddings, baby showers, family visiting, traveling for work (its going to be craziness). I am looking forward to all of the things I have going on this month though. They should all be a lot of fun!!

Hope everyone is enjoying the fall weather and sunshine!!

Finding boots is so hard to do sometimes...

So being short doesn't help much with certain styles of clothing or shoes. I have been trying to find boots to wear with skinny jeans that fit my calves for oh about a year now. Well I finally found a pair that fit my calves and look like what I want them to...YAY!!! I am excited to wear them! Now if I could just win some kind of shopping spree to Kohl's I would be in business. I saw so many items I would love to have in my wardrobe...Christmas presents maybe...will have to give the hubby some helpful hints for Christmas ; )

Here are the boots...

Hope everyone is enjoying their day so far...the weather outside in Lexington is dreary and wet...makes me want to curl up with a blanket and watch a movie. But I am glad the fall weather is coming now! I love the cool enough to wear jeans and a hoodie weather of fall...it is perfect!!

Have a great one everyone!!



Why I am almost certain I will not go back to school...

I am fairly certain that unless absolutely necessary I will not go back to school for a Master's degree or any other degree for that matter. I have been out of college for a little over 3 years now and going back to "school" for a certification prep course is not really my idea of a fun Tuesday evening for 13 weeks. Granted this course plus studying (blah...never did like studying and I still don't) will help me to pass the SHRM (Society for Human Resource Management) Professional of Human Resources Exam in Dec/Jan. This is a globally recognized certification for HR professionals. I am hoping it will look good on my resume for possible future positions and maybe get me a decent raise at my current position. We will see what happens...but in the mean time I will be unavailable for Tuesday evenings till November 15th.

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!! Here are some photos of our potato soup from last night...it was absolutely YUMMY!!!

In the crock pot waiting to be eaten!!

The deliciousness that is potato soup...yummy in my tummy!!



It's Potato Soup Night at the Tucker's...YUMMY!!!

Since it is beginning to feel like fall more outside I felt it was time to add our favorite soups (chili and potato soup) back to our dinner rotation. So tonight is Potato Soup Night!

A while back I fell in love with the potato soup at Cheddar's and wanted to make potato soup as close to what I get at Cheddar's. I found a recipe online (can't remember what website though-- or I would link it here) and then modified it according to what one of the Cheddar's cooks (who I ran into at Kroger one day) told me they do to make it thicker. Add flour, butter and water. So I did and we got as close as I think I will ever get to Cheddar's potato soup.

Here is the recipe in case you want to try it:

Ingredients need:

8 Large Potatoes pealed and cubed (make sure they are smaller cubes - like 3/4in x 3/4in)
1 cup chopped onion
4 tablespoons butter/margarine
2 chicken bouillon cubes
2 tablespoons dry parsley flakes
6 cups water
2 cups milk
roughly 1 cup flour (mixed with between 1/4 and 1/2 cup water)
approx. 1/2 of brick of Velveeta cheese (I used Kroger brand) cubed

Directions:

Place potatoes, onion, 2tbsp butter, bouillon, parsley flakes and water(6 cups) in crock pot and cook all day on low to medium.

Approx. 1 hour before serving mix the milk and flour mixture together in bowl and then add that mixture along with 2 tbsp of butter to the crock pot. Soup will thicken and after about 30 minutes add the cubes of cheese and make sure it melts, then serve.

We topped it with shredded cheddar and bacon bits and added our own portions of salt and pepper and it was delicious!!

(This picture was taken the last time I made potato soup)

I am so looking forward to dinner tonight!!! Pictures from tonight to come!

Today is Leia's 2nd Birthday... Sleepover Party!

Today a friend of ours called and asked if we could keep his parents dog for the night. We of course said yes... Leia loves to have another doggie to play with. Coincidentally today is Leia's birthday too! So hence Leia is having a sleepover birthday party! Here are some pics from this evening while Leia's pal Raz has been here.

Happy Birthday Leia!!!

Girl's Night Out...So much fun with great friends!!

Tonight me and the girls from church went out to eat at Olive Garden...Yummy!! Then we went to Mad Potter to show off our mad skills at painting pottery. We had lots of fun picking out items to paint and then working on our projects. I made a trivet. Here are pics to show the progress and final product of my item.

First picture of my progress

More progress...just before the final product

 

 

This is my final product!!! (I am excited to see it after being kilned)

Me and my finished product!

 

Here are pics of the items the other girls made. Two chose seasonal items, one chose an item for her baby nursery and like myself one chose a decorative item for her home.

 

Erin made this adorable snowman ornament along with the larger

of the two pumpkins pictured below

The smaller pumpkin and the snowflake ornament off to the right

are items Amanda made.

This is Caitlin's decorative plate...super cute!

Gina's adorable owl for Baby Parsley's nursery...precious!!

All of our lovely creations together...so much fun!

Excited to see the final products!

 

Tonight was a lot of fun. We will miss Caitlin when she moves to Bowling Green but hope she will visit us often and hopefully we can all visit her often too!

 

Gina, Caitlin, Amanda, Me and Erin

 

So much fun!!!



The weekend is finally here...YAY!!!

Tonight me and the girls from church are going to dinner at Olive Garden and then to Mad Potter for our last girls night out while Caitlin is still living in Lexington. We are sad to see Michael and Caitlin go, but happy for their new and exciting adventure in Bowling Green. We will miss them!

Tomorrow will be a busy day too...I have a Scentsy party in the afternoon which I am looking forward to! The host is expecting around 15 people which is great business for me.

I also hope to get some scrapbooking done this weekend...since I have a year and a half of it to catch up on. We will see what happens...pics to come from our girls night out!!!

5 years ago today started a LOVE that will last for my lifetime

Five years ago today was our first kiss and what began the loving and most amazing relationship of my life. Though we have only been married a little over 2 years he has been my best friend and a part of my life for 5. I thank God everyday for blessing me with such an amazing God fearing and loving husband and friend. Jason is truly my answered prayer.

This picture was taken about a month after we became an official couple...it was Jason's 1st visit to Ohio :-)

Tonight we will be celebrating by having one of our favorite styles of food MEXICAN... most of our meal dates while we were dating and since we have been married have been to places like Taco Bell (our fav because its cheap and relatively good), Baha Burrito (spelling) in Nashville, Blue Coast Burrito (on LUs campus), San Antonio Taco Co. (in Nashville), Qudoba, and Moe's. Do you think we like Mexican :-)

We will also be spending the evening doing what we did a lot together while we were dating...STUDYING together. I am currently taking a certification study course for the SHRM PHR at UK right now and Jason is in the process of preparing for his qualifying exam for grad school.

Hopefully we will finish our studying early enough to do another thing we did and still do often to spend time with each other... watch a movie :-) I believe tonight's choice will be the movie I just got Jason for this special occasion...Tron:Legacy.

Our movie collection...ever growing...we need to get another dvd rack for the other side of our tv :-)

All in all today will be a great day because I get to spend it (at least in the evening) with my best friend and hubby!!!

Joining the fun of blogging!!

So now that I know more than one person who blogs...and their blog is totally just for the fun of sharing things going on in their life and fun things they find...I felt like joining the fun and starting my own blog. I hope you will enjoy being all Tucker'd out!!!