Sunday, September 23, 2012

Happy Fall Ya'll

Happy Fall Ya'll :)
Love, The Etheridges



Thursday, September 20, 2012

Halloween Decor

For those of you that know me well you know that Halloween is by far my favorite holiday of the year. Yup, it even beats out Christmas. Although the hubs doesn't get nearly as excited about it as I do, he's always very kind and let's me decorate to my hearts content. Ever since I was little I've had this odd fascination with Halloween decorations and it's still very hard for me to resist the urge to swoop up any and all decorations I find for this particular holiday.

So, it really shouldn't surprise most of you that I decided to break out the decorations a little early this year. In years past I've attempted to be courteous to my roommates and refrained from putting anything up until the 1st of October, however this year I gave it a little earlier than usual as you can see.

I had been wanting to make a holiday wreath for a while, but wreath forms are far and few between, aka non-existant, here in Del Rio. So, as soon as I saw they had a handful for sale at Wal-Mart for fall decorations I jumped on the opportunity and went to work. I researched a little bit online and found a few great blogs that gave detailed instructions on how to make a tulle wreath! I was also shocked to find that Wal-Mart had Halloween themed tulle. As we don't have a Michaels, Hobby Lobby, or any crafts stores here this was very exciting ;)

Here is the main link I used with the tutorial if any of you want to make your own. I obviously did mine a little different since I used a straw wreath and added letters:
http://www.ourbestbites.com/2011/10/how-to-make-a-tulle-wreath-halloween-edition/

Somewhat finished product!
I couldn't find tulle on a roll here in Del Rio, so I just bought 3 yards of each color and that was exactly the right amount for my wreath (I think it was somewhere around 14" round). I also purchased the letters at Wal-Mart, painted them, and then hot glued them to the finished wreath. I'm sure those of you that live near a craft store would be able to find much cuter decor to add though ;) It's slim pickins around here! I'm hoping to hit up Hobby Lobby when I head up in October to visit one of my sweet friends in "the big city" and add some more themed decorations to it!

On another not, the hubs and I bought a tub of Ben and Jerry's the other night, something we rarely do as we will devour the entire thing in less than 2 days. Anyways, were were very adventurous (note the sarcasm) and tried a new flavor as opposed the always amazing half baked cookie dough and brownie batter! Let me tell you THIS STUFF IS AMAZING. Not only is it endorsed by the always hilarious Stephen Colbert but it's downright addictive...seriously go to the store right now and get it...I'm not kidding.

GET IT, NOW

Love,
The Etheridges

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Pumpkin Lovin

Hi again, can you believe that I am actually blogging twice in one week?! Much less twice in two days?! It's a miracle really! Anyways, I just wanted to share this yummy, and surprisingly rather healthy, version of pumpkin muffins I found. A friend of mine introduced me to this awesome website called SkinnyTaste, which is where I found this recipe. This woman makes healthier recipes for the food that we all love! I was attempting to get in the mood for fall and stumbled upon this yummy recipe and thought I would give it a try although it seemed WAY out of my comfort zone since it uses raw sugar, no egg yolks, or any milk! It doesn't call for water or milk (weird) and can be made gluten free (for my two sweet friends that are allergic) according to the comments on her website from other bakers.



Ingredients:
1/2 cup white whole wheat flour (King Arthur)
3/4 cups unbleached all purpose flour (King Arthur)
3/4 cup raw sugar
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
baking spray
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Line a muffin tin with paper liners and lightly spray liners with oil for easy removal.In a medium bowl, combine flours, sugar, baking soda, pumpkin spice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt with a wire whisk. Set aside.In a large bowl mix pumpkin puree, oil, egg whites and vanilla; beat at medium speed until thick. Scrape down sides of the bowl.


Add flour mixture to the wet mixture, then blend at low speed until combined; do not over mix. Fold in chopped nuts.

Pour batter into prepared muffin tin and bake on the center rack for 24 - 26 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.Let them cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Makes 12 muffins.

* These are great with a little butter for breakfast or a small snack! I would recommend taking her suggestion and using the baking spray inside the liners. I know it sounds odd, but if you don't use it they stick horribly to the liners! Enjoy :)

Love,

The Etheridges 

Saturday, September 15, 2012

Life In The Slow Lane

The past few weeks have been pretty quite around the Etheridge household. The most exciting thing that's happened is the beginning of football season, and let's just say we are very much happy about that! It even actually has started to feel like fall around here this past week with the cooler weather we've been having , meaning below 100+ degrees,  and even two days in a row of light rain! Needless to say, we are both very excited to head home in November for Thanksgiving and to get our fix of Georgia football, real fall weather, and friends and family ;)

Training for the hubs is going well and he is still loving flying the T-38! I just can't believe that we only have about 4 months left of UPT before he graduates and we find out what's next for us in our Air Force career! As exciting as it is though I'm also learning to enjoy the time we have together now before things get crazy again after graduation, no matter where we end up.

I'm still in full swing as far as school is concerned. Thank goodness I only have until December until I graduate (woo hoo)! A few weeks ago I was also able to participate in the ladies crud tournament on base here! I played last year as well and had such a blast, I certainly wasn't going to miss it this time around. If you're wondering what crud is, I encourage you to look it up. It's a traditional Air Force game that has been around for a long time. It's generally played by the men, but the base holds a tournament here for the women every year so we have a chance to get in on the action and join in on the fun too! It's always fun getting to hang out with the other spouses here and have some fun playing a competitive game!


I felt bad for not blogging in such a long time, so even though there isn't much to update ya'll on around here I thought I'd just stop in to say hello! I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend and enjoying some college football like we are!

Excited about the first game of the season!

Before the Crud Tournament! I love each and every
one of these sweet ladies. They are such a blessing to me.

Poor little Winston has been sick lately :( Luckily he's
well on the road to recovery though!

Love, 

The Etheridges