Coconut Sriracha Popcorn

Have you ever been the only non-senior in a Senior Center? It wasn't on my bucket list, but I went over to Grandma's yesterday, and it happened to be her brown-bag lunch day at church. We made chicken salad together, and then went to hang out with the 80-somethings. They seemed surprised to see me, but I've been going to Sunday school with my grandma and grandpa {may he rest in peace} since I was born. I think they were most surprised when I mentioned I was married. They thought I was fourteen, let alone old enough to get married. When I told them that I was twenty-eight, they 'bout fell out'a their chairs. I get that a LOT, but it still cracks me up.

The conversations ranged from sex on their wedding nights {whoah} all the way to recipes, and one that they thought most intriguing was our new popcorn recipe. The ones that didn't have crowns said they would totally try it, so I decided to share it for all of you. I got the original idea through Pinterest {shocker} and Reclaiming Provincial, and then we edited for our needs. Basically, we took out the salt and used the microwave, but hey, it worked.

4 cups popcorn (26 grams unpopped)
3 Tbsp butter
1-2 Tbsp coconut oil (depending on how much you love Coconut)
2 Tbsp Sriracha

We prefer using our air popper for the healthiest version, but you could use bagged or pop on the stove. While it's popping, mix up the ingredients in a microwave safe bowl and pop it in the microwave for two minutes. Now here's the secret, you want to slowly spoon the mixture on while stirring so that it will evenly distribute and not over-saturate the kernels, and then enjoy this slightly spicy, coconutty, yumminess while it's warm!

Just make sure you don't eat the popcorn as your dinner followed by margaritas. You will be drunk in point-five seconds. Or do, if you are into that kind of thing ;)

Now I'm off to pick up grandma to go see my aunt and uncle. I can't even put into words how thankful I am that I have this family time right now. The fact that I have one grandma within walking distance and one a few miles away makes me giddy like a school girl. Literally...it brings me back to childhood. How did I get so lucky?

Stuff You Didn't Know You Didn't Know.

Yesterday, as I was laying around blogging away I got THE best phone call.

It was Grandma telling me that she went in for her check up and is now Cancer free!!

After Cancer, surgery, and a bad fall last year, we can all breathe easier.

The rest of this post was actually inspired by an email from my Daddy, titled "Stuff You Didn't Know You Didn't Know". Gotta love those chain emails that are still getting around. Usually I don't even open them, but for once, I'm glad I did. You don't know it, but you will be too. Hehe

Source: edidyouknow.com via Janna on Pinterest

The cost to raise a medium size dog to eleven: $16,400
Intelligent people have more Zinc and Copper in their hair.
{My hair is a copper-ish color...Does that count?}
The first novel ever written on a typewriter, Tom Sawyer.
If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died because of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
A group of frogs is called an army.
Q. What do bullet proof vests, fire escapes, and windshield wipers all have in common?
A. All were invented by women.

Source: edidyouknow.com via Janna on Pinterest

Doesn't that make you feel dumb?

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Now I'm going to share a few random facts about myself that you didn't know you needed to know.

I'm too cheap to use the heater in the winter.

I'm a budget nazi, but I always budget money to travel. That is the only thing I don't feel guilty about spending money on. Well, that and groceries.
Speaking of which, I'd rather shop for groceries than clothes.

I have a college degree, but still choose to work in the hospitality industry {at least for now}.
I drive a truck, and it's a manual.

I have a religious skin care regimen because my face looks like a pizza otherwise.

I fluctuate in weight daily. It's about a five pound range, but it is really annoying.

My house is {mostly} clean. We maintain, but I am not OCD about it.

I don't consider myself materialistic, since I have done a no-spend challenge for a year, but somehow we have a two tv's, three laptops, a Kindle, and a Tablet. Excessive.
I am not tech savvy in spite of all the electronics in our house.
I find that "fake it till you make it" is the best way to solve a problem.
Sometimes I'm funny, and sometimes...well...I'm just not.
{It's okay to have a funny side and a serious side, right?}
This is probably why I'm good at sarcasm, but can't tell a joke to save my life.

There you have it.
A lot of useless information that you didn't know that you didn't know!
Enjoy the rest of your day ;)

Christmas In January

Can we pretend that it is not then end of January, and I am not extremely behind recapping our trip home and the holidays? Don't worry, I could give you all the excuses...busy, the FLU, work, taking care of the hubs, etc., but I won't. All that you need to know is that the time has come for me to share some of the amazing memories.

Okay, so as most of you know, we went to Pensacola, Florida for the holidays.

We kicked off the trip at my Aunt's for our traditional Christmas Eve shindig, and it was every bit as wonderful as I remember and more. Plus I was happy to share it with Will for the first time.

Three of the most important men in my life:

{Oh, and that sucker in orange is my BABY brother}

Our Parental Units!

          

This might be my most favorite photo EVER:

Obviously, Christmas comes next...

Granny B, SIL, and Big Brother

I can't even describe how amazing it was to wake up in my childhood home on Christmas morning, to have Momma's Cinnamon Buns, to watch my brother enjoy one of his last few Christmas's as a 'child', and to be completely enveloped in love. Add the fact that Will was there and you have one blissfully happy girl.

Momma reading the Advent Prayer

And a never before seen picture of me:



I think I look pretty much the same...Although, I might have had better style back then.
I rocked the heck out of those bib dresses.

I could go on about Christmas, but I will have to save it for another day. Surprisingly, things got crazy and we ended up at a dive bar with our parents. I promise it is as exciting as it sounds, and I will be happy to tell you more about it soon!

Grandma Update!

It happened. I created a post only to have it disappear. Boo.

I always wondered how/why that happened to people and now I know!

Last week I also forgot to actually link up for this link up, and on top of all this, I realized that I use "totally", "definitely", "LOVE", and "Aww..." a lot when I comment. Whatevs. At least I comment! ;) #bloggerprobs #uselesshashtags #sueme

Money was my motive this weekend, but I also managed to get ahead in blogging, do some packing (heeelloo Baltimore/DC peeps), and I even got some early birthday presents! Woohoo!

Thank you Kelly and Amanda! You are both AMAZING.

I loved Amanda's gorgeous card and I can't WAIT to rock my new poncho.

Kelly had no idea that I was looking for one of those, and low and behold...that's what showed up! She knows me so well ;)

But what made my weekend, was this picture that my Aunt sent:

I was happy to hear that she is only feeling mild pain, has started physical therapy, and she is being spoiled rotten by family and church members! Just what I needed to hear.

Lookin' good, grandma!!

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Make sure you have all entered our Breast Cancer Awareness giveaway on Erin's blog. It's for a cause near and dear to us all, aaaand you get to win stuff. SaWeet.

Last, but most certainly not least, I have to mention how incredibly blessed y'all made me feel this weekend. I can't even explain how happy I am that so many have participated and that everyone is loving the costume contest. If you haven't done it yet, click the pic below ;)

Okay, now that I have written this post twice, I'm spent. Hope you all had a great weekend!

In Grandma's Honor

Sunday night my phone went off and my heart fell.

It was my dad and I knew that if he was calling me that late, something bad had happened.
I was actually relieved to here that Grandma had fallen, but wasn't in eminent danger.

This woman is where I get my entire being from, so the thought of losing her is impossible to fathom. I've decided she has to outlive me.

Come to find out, she had a little spill in Target and ended up with a broken Humerus in her shoulder. Besides the fact that she's in her eighty's, she just recently got off preventative chemo and that is probably what weakened her bones.

I'm just thankful that it hasn't weakened her spirit.

Grandma on the left and Aunt Boots on the right.

I already lost one grandmother to breast cancer (before I was even born), and that's another reason that I hold on to this one so tight. In both of my grandmothers honor, I am proud to say that I am part of a giveaway on Erin's blog for Pinktober! It is all about spreading awareness and supporting Komen For The Cure, so go enter and spread the word!

Feel better soon, Grandma, and I'll talk to you when you are off the Lortab.

Love you!

Grandmas Are Super Moms!

And I have the most Super Mom EVER.

She's my 82 y/o Best Friend!

Everyone says that I am JUST like her, which makes me very proud.

As a matter of fact- Grandma and Grandpa eloped too ;)

 Hmm...I wonder who I got that from?

They parented these two, and the one on the left ended up parenting me:

A couple o'foxes!

They look like twins to me, which is funny because they were both separately adopted as babies....Yep, my grandparents gave the best gift you can give: love for two children that weren't even theirs. Let me tell you...I wouldn't be here or near as awesome if it wasn't for my grandparents.  

They raised Daddy and Aunt Edie right, and in turn they helped me become who I am. 

By the way, by awesome, I mean tender-hearted, giving, understanding, patient, loving, honest and loyal.  

Those are the kind of traits that I find AWESOME.

In honor of Mother's Day- I dedicate today's post to her, but I must also thank my MOMMA for being the other guiding light in my life!! Where would I be without you?!?!

If I told you how old she is...You wouldn't believe me!

Let's just say- that's a picture of her with my BIG brother and we also have a BIG sister! I'm 26, so you do the math.

To all the mom's out there...Thank you for ALL that you do.  As a mother to Weiser- I go crazy, so  I can't even imagine taking the life of a child or their mental and spiritual growth into my hands.

I SERIOUSLY applaud you...You deserve this day <3

So as for yesterday's post, Mallory is the only one that had the official right guess!
#1 Is true because I met Randy Jackson when he was the Grand Marshall in the Ft. Lauderdale boat parade! When  Miss Miami and myself were taken up to meet him, he heard me sing and decided to put me on the mic! Such a thrill.
#3 Is true because when I was on a flight from Ft. Lauderdale to Tampa, we had an engine die, the cabin caught on fire and when we tried to land the landing gear wouldn't go down!  It was more like a belly flop, but there is no such thing as a plane fender bender. It's all or nothin'.
That leaves #2 as my lie! I have a BA in English, thank you very much ;)

To all my silent ranks...I hope you enjoy your day too! We deserve it.

Source: google.com via Janna on Pinterest

On Sunday, visit Desiree because I will be a part of a little video tribute!
Have a great weekend y'all!