Bethany’s Shower

Finally I am able to show and tell what I’ve been working on for the past couple of weeks!  March has been a busy month in itself, but today we had a shower for my sister-in-law, Bethany!

I am so extremely happy and excited for her!  At the same time, it’s a bitter sweet thing because the guy she is marrying, Garth, is in the military and stationed in New York!  That’s like a gazillion miles away from all of us!  Bethany and I are pretty close and it just feels weird to think she will be so far away.  But I’m glad she will be with her true love.  Anyway, moving on before I tear up! 

The shower was a ‘mood’ shower.  It’s a neat idea for a shower that my sister had done for me before I got married.  Everyone is sent an invitation that has a ‘mood’ the bride is in.  The mood could be cleaning, romance, decorating, gardening, and so on. You are then to bring a gift that will help the bride with her mood.   It’s quite fun to see what everyone will bring to match the mood.  Her 2 cousins (and mine too now) Michelle and Melody hosted along with myself.  I was in charge of decorating, so I choose the theme to be lady bugs.  Bethany likes lady bugs and that what her mama called her growing up, so I went with that.  It was fun!

We had a good amount of food, and I added a few personal touches to kind of tie the theme in.  I made lady bug pretzels,

and red and black chocolate covered Rice Krispy's,

some lady bug crackers,

and you can’t go wrong with red strawberries and strawberry lemonade!!

All the food looked great!  Michelle made everything else and made it all look fantastic!

It was so much fun and Bethany got some great gifts to start her marriage off with!

I just hope we have a good while longer before we are doing this again for Autumn!!

I hope Bethany had as much fun as we did!  She got to wear her ‘wedding’ shoes.  She had picked them out to wear with her wedding dress, but is going to end up having to wear flats because the heels make her to much taller than Garth (and he’s tall)!!

Best Wishes you two!!

Fried Green Tomatoes!

Umm, Umm!  Boy am I happy!  Green tomatoes have made it in at our local Farmer’s Market, and are being sold at Calhoun Produce.  And when green tomatoes are in, that can only mean one thing…

FRIED GREEN TOMATOES!

Oh how I love ya!  Fried green tomatoes are a southern tradition (well actually anything fried is!) and I’m gonna share my recipe for these delicious treats! 

First, pick out some good green tomatoes.  I like the really green ones, my hubby prefers the ones that are just on the verge of turning that orangy color.

After you decide which you would like to use, you need to slice them.  My hubby and I were the only ones eating these so I used 2 tomatoes, ended up being to much but we ate what we could!  So that just gives you an idea of how far these go.  I like my slices a little thick, but of course Brando likes them thin.  He is the fryer so I value his opinion.  He said that the thinner the slice the crunchier they are.  Well I don’t like mine crunchy, so.  But depending on your preference just remember; thin makes crunchy and thick makes softer.

They make a mess, but they are so worth it!  After you’ve sliced the tomatoes, dip them in buttermilk and then your batter.  My batter is a little secret shared to me by my husband from when his family owned a fish shop, but all you need is to mix flour with your favorite seasonings and a little salt and pepper.  Make sure you coat them well.

Once they are battered, throw them into the fryer for about 8 – 10 minutes.

Once finished frying, place them on a paper towel to dry the excess grease off of them and then…

Ta da!  Fried Green Tomatoes!!

Janna Banana!

Happy Birthday Sissy!

 

Today is a very special person’s birthday!   Not only is she my best friend, but she is my sister!  She is 12 years older than me, but I am so thankful that she is. 

Not only for the reasons that I love to tease her about, but because she has so much knowledge to share with me.  The do’s and don’ts of life, financial advice, marriage advice, and so many other things!  Sure we sometimes argue and don’t agree on the same things, and she will definitely tell me what she thinks, but I’m so glad she does. 

Sometimes we need to hear those opinions so that we can take a step back and try to do things better.  If it weren’t for her all these years I don’t know that I would have made it through!  I can never put into words what she really means to me, but I hope she knows that she is a very special person in my life!

I can remember when I was little and she would get ready to leave me, I would cry and cry for her to stay.  Even though I know longer cry, I still miss her like crazy when we spend time together and we have to part ways. 

Well I hope today is a wonderful day for her. She begins the birthdays in March. Today is her birthday, in exactly one week is her Husband Stacy’s birthday, and mine is exactly one week later!

I love you Sissy Lynn!

Janna Ranae!

March :)

 

Wow, it’s already March!  Can you believe it?!?  And how about this weather?  I guess it is that time of year, where the season can’t decide if it’s winter or summer!  That’s usually how it is here in south Georgia.  One day we’re all running around in shorts and flip flops working in the yard, the next day we’re bundled up from head to toe running from the car to our next location trying to stay out of the cold!  Well that’s exactly how it’s been this past weekend!  Thursday and Friday felt like mid June with a a high around the 80’s, a nice breeze, birds chirping, and crickets singing at night.

I really enjoyed the warmth and jumped into full spring swing.  I planted some new planters, weeded the front flower bed, picked up a good bit of pine cones (which have covered the same area again), and cut some grass!  Whew, I definitely felt accomplished when I laid my head down Friday night!

Saturday was a mess of a day, but a blessing none the less!  We received 3” of rain!  That’s great for a drought infested area.  All our ponds are almost filled back to the brim and there are actually water puddles everywhere!  When we woke up Sunday, the sun was shining so beautifully, but when you walked outside it was a whole different ball game!  The wind was blowing so hard with such a chill in it!  It was 57 degrees for the most part of the day. Brrr!  I was not made for cold weather!  But today is starting to shape up to be a nice day, still a little chilly but I can feel it warming up!

The sun is out and it is just beautiful!  My mom and I are going for a walk and to pick strawberries shortly!  And even though the weather never can make up it’s mind, this is still my favorite month of the year.  It’s also a very busy month!  We have 3 birthdays this month (mine included) along with the Fire Ant Festival in town!  It’s just a great month!  And being that today is a very special day for a very special person you are going to get a very special second post today!! Stay tuned…

Janna Banana!