Monday, March 26, 2012

Sound like Life to me: Baby Dedication


I remember getting the phone call from my sister one hot June day, (haha I was laying out in my plastic swimming pool in our backyard) that they were headed to Baltimore, MD to adopt a precious newborn baby girl.
One of the first pictures my sister texted to me of her new bundle of joy!

Prayers immediately followed that call and haven't stopped since.  My sister is a beautiful woman and she has been so blessed with an amazing husband and now, baby girl! Tinsley Ellison is a joy and a delight and I am so thankful she is a part of our family!  Yesterday, we all joined them in a celebration of God's goodness in dedicating Tinsley to the Lord.  No, this was not a baptism, it was a beautiful way for my sister and her husband to share, before family and friends that they were committing to raising her in the ways of the Lord. 

Beautiful balloons at their church.
Momma and baby girl at Longhorn Steakhouse.

Can we say "ADORABLE"

Kisses from the easter bunny!

What a joyful gift she is! 
The precious Osborne Family!

Grandma and Grandpa Hartofelis
Aunt Kim and Uncle Charles


Tinsley Ellison, WE LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH!  Praise God for your beautiful life and the amazing family you were hand picked to be a part of.  We pray daily that you will grow confident and strong in the ways of the Lord and follow Him all of the days of your life.  I can't wait to see you grow and mature, and we look forward to sharing and making many precious memories together.  

love, Aunt Doodle

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

From our kitchen to yours

I love sweets! Charles, well, he likes some sweets and he's mighty particular about how and when he eats them.  I saw this recipe for Caramel Toffee Latte Cupcakes over at a blog I read Kevin & Amanda and I had to make them!

Okay, Charles HATES coffee... scratch that.  Ehhh lets use the IDEA of this recipe and make something semi-homemade and "Charles friendly".

You can go to their website above and follow her directions... I didn't, but basically, you need chocolate cupcakes, toffee bits (heath bar), homemade Caramel buttercream, and chocolate to drizzle (I just used left over "can" chocolate frosting).



So here's my home-made Caramel buttercream recipe I made up that is TO DIE FOR!

1/2 a bag of square caramels
1/4 cup of Great Value Brand Creme Brulee Coffee Creamer
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened
3 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract


Melt caramels over a double boiler (or a heavy bowl over a saucepan of almost boiling water) until smooth.  Remove from heat.  Add in 1/4 cup creamer and stir until well incorporated, let cool.  Take butter, that has softened to room temp, place in stand mixer bowl and beat with the wisk blade.  Add in caramel solution, 3 cups of powdered sugar, milk and vanilla. Whip until it forms medium peaks (about 5 minutes).

Seriously, this is some of the best buttercream I HAVE EVER TASTED! No need to refridgerate. Just DEVOUR!

Oh, and in case you were wondering... CHARLES LOVED THEM! I have never seen the man eat a cupcake that fast in my entire life!  Success.




Tuesday, March 6, 2012

From our kitchen to yours


As you could tell from our last post, we have a plain jane fridge/freezer... no ice maker, no ice/water dispenser in the door.  Well, we do have an ice bucket. But, it doesn't hold ice... it holds fun size Twix.   Don't be jealous, you can do this too :) haha we're terrible



Monday, March 5, 2012

Home Sweet Home

So sorry it's been so long since I posted :( I started a new job and I've been pretty consumed! Here's a little bit of my life lately! haha Charles and I decided to do some early spring cleaning!  Our house is super small and our kitchen is super, super small. Having been married for a little over 3 years, we noticed we were accumulating way too much stuff in our little house, see pictures below.

Yep, emptied out all the drawers and cabinets...


Yikes! That's a lot of stuff!
We had items on the counter, that needed to be hidden ...
Here she is, all neat a tidy!
Organized!
Cleaned up corner
This looks so much better and it's so much easier to find things!
These were full, now there's room to spare!

Monday, February 13, 2012

From our kitchen to yours: Valentine's Biscuits

haha okay, I lied ... this isn't a "from our kitchen"post, but it's a food related post so I think the label works!  I think I've told you guys before, I LOVE BREAKFAST and my favorite breakfast food is a warm, flaky, southern BISCUIT! No, no, no, dear one... NOT that refridgerated dough they call "buttermilk biscuits," but a real fluffy, buttery BISCUIT! haha, sorry, I'm not yelling at you, I'm simply emphasizing the word "biscuit." :)

Anyways, tomorrow is Valentine's day... and you know what this girl wants in her belly (okay yeah, a baby) but do you know what else she craves... a HEART SHAPED BISCUIT! Call me simple, but seeing a heart shaped morsel brings me joy! 

Chik-fil-a and Bojangles both have heart shaped biscuits tomorrow, well they've had them for a little while now... you know how I know, yep, I got one already.  Anyways, happy early Valentine's day for the few of my friends/family members that actually read this, and why not give your love a biscuit tomorrow instead of candy?  Just a thought ... I know I'd enjoy it more ;)


Wow, what a delicious lookin' bacon egg and cheese biscuit!

mMm look at that precious Bo-Berry :)

Friday, February 10, 2012

Good Finds: Marriage on the Rock

Yes, notice I said ROCK not ROCKS... haha when I told my mom a few years ago that Charles and I were going to a new Bible Study "Marriage on the Rock," she said something like "oh no! You've only been married a few months and you're going to MARRIAGE ON THE ROCKS!?"

haha yes, we get that reaction a lot when we tell people the name of the class.  Marriage on the ROCK is an amazing way to grow in your marriage and build a firm foundation on the Lord... something I think is ESSENTIAL to marriage! Seriously, I've said this time and time again... I think most marriages don't survive because they aren't set on the principles of love and grace that we've been taught by our faith.  Okay, okay... Insert negative comments from people of other religion (or lack there of), I hear ya, but once again... this is my blog and my perspective.  I can tell you this, in my short 3 years of marriage, I am probably MORE in love with this man than the day I married him, I don't know about you but I don't know how many couples could say that. 

From the overflow of my love for the Lord, I love my spouse. 

Yes, ladies and gents... here's how it goes in order of importance/rank
1. God
2. Spouse
3. Kids
4. Parents
5. Others (friends/coworkers)

Yes, God is first and is always first. You should NEVER love anyone or put anyone or anything above him.  I agree, it's hard. Then, your spouse. 

NEXT is your kids, if you have them, your kids are your offspring but, your relationship with your spouse is first and foremost, DO NOT NEGLECT YOUR SPOUSE ONCE YOU HAVE KIDS, and DO NOT LET THE KIDS HAVE CONTROL OVER YOUR LIFE, you are the adult, you need to show them, in love, the order to which they should live their life also. 

After God, your spouse, your kids, comes your parents... once you get married, you "leave and cleave", meaning,  you're a big boy or a big girl and you need to venture away from the shelter and safety of mom and dad's money and develop your own life and traditions with your spouse.  I'm not saying, don't ever spend time with your families, what I'm saying is, make your parents proud and show them that they taught you well.  Honor your "new family", you and your spouse, by taking their advice and working through difficulties with them, and don't go running home to mom and dad to fix things.

wow, sorry I didn't write this post intending to write all of that... but I'm glad I did :)

So, tonight, Charles and I, are going to an event at our church called, Marriage on the  Rock Simulcast.  A 2 day event lead by Jimmy and Karen Evans from California (they are great speakers) on many important marriage topics.  We're excited, VERY EXCITED to do whatever we can to combat societies weak support of the union of a man and a wife in holy matrimony.  Hopefully I'll remember to blog about it next week. 

If you are married, seek the Lord and love your spouse by inventesting in strengthening your bond.  If you aren't married yet, be encouraged... Marriage is amazing and when you find "the one", you'll experience love as you never have before.



Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Sounds like Life to me: Life Lately

Sorry I haven't posted in a week... I've been feeling like this lately...

Image Found here


Please pray with us for the Lord strengthen my spirit and continuously seek the Lord during this challenging time.

   "Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. "
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Thanks ya'll ...