What we've been up to...

Where did the time go????....

Twenty thirteen is one-third over. Twenty Twelve was cram packed, and much to my chagrin, none of it was blogged about. Without further ado let me present, in chronological order, a photo montage of the various happenings of the past 62 weeks. 

I walked from Houston to Dallas in the span of three weeks.

Sorry, this is the worst photo my myself I've ever seen, but imagine walking that far during March...in Texas.

I became an AUNT!! What a blessing Laila has been to our family.

I just love her!

We gave the house a facelift:

We both turned another year older {same month!}

Stephen recorded an album!!...

A concert in a local park...

I hosted and decorated a wedding shower for my brother-in-law Tim and his fiance Janese...

They got married a few weeks later. I had a lot of fun helping decorate and styling the bridesmaid's hair the morning of. So honored to have been a part of their big day!

(photo credit: Jenny Martell Photography)

Completed multiple custom bedding and drapery projects, such as the next two... This is such a fun job!

Then we traveled across the world....

To an island in the Indian Ocean...Sri Lanka! 

I was able to meet my husband's extended family for the first time. He hadn't been there to visit in about 10 years. {Oh, and I got to wear a Sari!!)

And other adventures took place as well!!...

We also made a stop in Dubai, UAE. Here we are at the top of Burj Khalifa, world's tallest building. Second worst photo of me (this was right after a 15 hour flight, having been awake for a day & a half!)

A few weeks later we took an impromptu ski trip to Keystone, CO. Spontaneity at it's best!

Followed by a trip to California a few weeks later to visit some friends!

We also toured Napa Valley in a Mini!!...

 Back to working on the album release....a photoshoot ensued! 

We squeezed in some date nights, as well! 

Had a MUCH needed photoshoot for our 4th Anniversary!

(photo credit: Hassas Photography)

At last, we released Stephen's first album, Cover Me!! Click HERE to buy!

Release Party!

About a week ago, we said farewell to my Brother-in-law Tim and his wife Janese, as they flew to Sri Lanka to work as missionaries there. Click the link below to read more about the mission!

www.reachsrilanka.org

I was also able to squeeze in "girlfriend" time...

So thankful for a FULL, productive year. Amazed at God's blessing on our family, business, and church. There is so much to look forward to!!

Blessings,

Brittany

Number Three.

Embarking on Year #4 as of yesterday. Happy Anniversary to us <3

Three Days of Pinterest...

Yes, I'm late, I know!!


[had to get that out of the way]


I decided to get a Pinterest account a few days ago after hearing so much amazingness about it. Needless to say, I've only been on 3 days and I have about 13 boards and over 100 pins. Yeah, it's that bad good.


I have found many great ideas for Christmas decor and gift-giving, some fantastic new hairstyles to try [if Pinterest has only been useful for one thing, that would be it!] and also great new ideas for mixing and matching up some new outfits with pieces I already own. Not to mention my "If I Owned a Coffee Shop" board and "Someday" board [baby & kid stuff]!!


Here's a brief conglomeration of what I've found inspiring on Pinterest so far. I even uploaded a few inspiring images of my own. Check out my pin boards: Loveandcoffee.

 So there ya have it....my latest obsession! I'm definitely having fun with this. I feel a fresh wind of inspiration every time I stop by! Even if I only end up pinning 1 or 2 things.


Happy Monday! Have a productive, creative week!

Oven-Poached Eggs in Spinach Nests

Time for a recipe! All of you Saturday morning breakfast junkies [my name is Brittany....and I'm a breakfast junkie] this would be a nice one to try for the weekend! I have made it on Sunday morning even, just make sure you assemble to Spinach mixture the night before, and refrigerate it! 

-Oven-Poached Eggs in Spinach Nests-

Ingredients

• —  Spinach Nests:

• Cooking spray

• 3  eggs

• 1/2  cup all-purpose flour

• 1  pound small-curd cottage cheese

• 4  (10-ounce) boxes frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well-drained

• 1/2  teaspoon salt

• Freshly ground black pepper

• —  Eggs:

• 8  large eggs

• 1  cup shredded Swiss or Parmesan cheese

• 4  English muffins, split and toasted

• 1/2  cup slivered red bell pepper, optional

• 1/2  cup slivered onion, optional

• Prep Time - 15
 
• Cook Time - 40

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Coat a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with cooking spray.
2. To prepare the spinach nests, combine eggs, flour and cottage cheese; whisk well. Add spinach, salt and pepper; stir well. (This can be done up to 2 days ahead). Press mixture into prepared dish. Make 8 indentations with the back of a spoon (this is where the eggs will later be placed). Bake 25 minutes.
3. Remove from oven and using a spoon, hollow the nests out even more deeply. Break an egg into each indentation. Bake 15 minutes or until whites are set. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake 1 minute.
4. Place 1 egg and spinach nest on English muffin half. Garnish with slivered red pepper and onion, if desired.

I did kind of "half" the recipe- I just used only one egg in the spinach mixture. I really love the addition of Red Bell Pepper, however I did not have it in the photo above. Try it! I also preferred the Parmesan over the Swiss, just my preference though!

Recipe adapted from Relish. I used to get the newspaper daily, and cut this recipe out like, 6 years ago. Glad I kept it!

I would definitely do this for a holiday brunch! If you have lots of family, or for Mother's day or Easter Brunch! 

Happy Cooking!!

Life Updates!

Wow....yesterday I walked & jogged for 4 miles straight and today I don't feel like I've been run over by a Mack truck... [I believe this means progress!!]


I did, however, have a [small] injury yesterday before I even completed my first half-mile. I've learned the hard way to NOT forget to s-t-r-e-t-c-h after I train.....thankfully the pain didn't last but 10 minutes. I think I pinched a nerve or something. Obviously, I walked 3 1/2 miles afterward without any pain, so it was nothing traumatizing. 


*IMPORTANT UPDATE*


Just some brief housekeeping! I've made some changes to the Paypal donation button to the right. It is now directed straight to Back to Life. *Don't worry* those of you who have previously donated, it still made it into my Back to Life account, but now the process will be a whole lot quicker. Instead of putting my name in the "Donation Notes", type in "BTL-020" [for tax purposes]. The code is also VERY important to ensure that it credits my BTL account. I want to thank everyone so far for partnering with me in my efforts to raise awareness to the injustice of abortion. I received a donation from the doctor that delivered me when I was born. Now that is encouraging!! 



We celebrated my husband's 26th birthday last week! We started off with a nice breakfast early in the morning, oven-poached eggs in spinach nests on English Muffins....it was divine! I *promise* to post the recipe! I would have to say this is my favorite breakfast I have ever made. I was able to assemble the spinach the night before, but it takes quite a long time to bake, so I made sure to be up and in the kitchen by 6:45am :) I also served some red grapes, and a breakfast cupcake from the Cupcakery in Downtown Fort Worth! It was my lucky day- I remembered while I was out the night before that it was their grand opening! I may or may not have picked up a few more while I was there...you know, just in case one wasn't enough :)

 The wonderful spread!!!

I also created my famous Red Velvet cake!

Later on that evening, we met up with our families and a few friends for dinner...

Proof that I'm not so talented when it comes to operating a lighter......the entire table found this humorous for some reason....not quite sure why..

Singing Happy Birthday!

 Stephen & his parents!

My brother James and his wifey Sharel :)

Me and my amazing husband- I love him so much! God gave me the best. We've been married now for almost 3 years, and I can say I've never felt like I couldn't express my dreams to him, vent my fears, or just be myself. I'm anticipating a lifetime of bliss with this man right here :) I cannot wait to see our dreams unfold even more with every life event that happens day by day. Happy Birthday Love!

Thanks for stopping in!

-B

"Some people dream of success... while others wake up and work hard at it." 

~ author unknown