Beef and Beans

I can't believe I've never posted this recipe! It's probably the easiest thing to make! All you need is a pound of beef and a can of these...

Brown your meat with whatever seasoning you like...I usually use the Salt Grass Steakhouse steak seasoning, drain the grease, place pan back on stove, add your beans and stir everything together until the beans are hot. Serve on top of chips or in a tortilla and top it off with some salsa! There you have it...one of the easiest and quickest weeknight dinners.

What I've Been Watching

I've seen 4 movies recently...2 in theaters and 2 rentals. Normally I would do a post for each of these, but I thought I would change it up a bit.

1. Hit and Run

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Run far away from this movie...or at least wait for it to come out on netflix. Luckily, I went to the very first showing so it didn't cost me an arm and a leg to watch this disaster. While I like the actors in this movie, this movie just did nothing for me. It felt more like they all just got together and were like "hey let's make a movie and not try that hard." However, I did chuckle a few times so I guess it wasn't a total loss.

2. Premium Rush

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Not bad. We saw this over labor day weekend up in OKC. We all agreed this was a decent movie and rated it about a 6 out of 10. You have to pay attention to when the movie flashes the times because it jumps around a lot. The thing that bugged me the most was the guy that played the cop...Michael Shannon...the way he talked bugged the heck out of me. Again, I would suggest waiting for this to come out for rent.

3. Julie and Julia

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I've been waiting a long time to watch this movie. I would always forget to add it to netflix and then last month, August 15, was Julia Child's 100th birthday and one of my favorite sweet shops, Ooh La La, had a special going for her brownies so I grabbed one of those and added the movie to netflix and had a plan to celebrate her birthday for her. However, netflix didn't have the movie as watch instantly so I was going to have to wait a while until I found that it was coming on TV so I could record it then...yay!

I thought it was cute, but I don't think I could handle much more of Julia Child, she/her voice was annoying. And the haircut for Julie bugged me. However, I thought the movie was made well and loved all the lines about her blog...funny how a little ol' blog can take over your life.

4. Warrior

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I've saved the best for last! Why, oh why didn't I feel the need to see this in theaters. I like fighting movies and I like Tom Hardy (ok I really just started to notice him in This Means War but whatever) so why did I wait so long to see this. I absolutely loved this movie (and I loved that it was on watch instantly). I loved that I didn't know what was going to happen or who was going to win. I even got goose bumps at one point!  I thought all sides of this movie had great story lines. Also, I would like to give a shout out to Elizabeth for telling me about Tom Hardy being in this movie.

There you have it...all of my most recent movie adventures all wrapped into one! Have you seen any of these? Or are the any movies you think I need to see? Let me know!!

Happy Labor Day

I did it! I finally made a yarn wreath!!! Using yarn didn't really bug me, but what did was the straw wreath. The straw wreaths aren't all nice and smooth all the way around. They are bumpy, lumpy and messy. But in the end I'm pleased with how the wreath turned out.

I used navy, bright red and white yarn and a navy ribbon to hang it. The stars are from white textured cardstock and I used my Cricut to cut them out. I just have sticky tape on the back of them right now...I need to think of a more permanent solution eventually.

Hope everyone is having a fabulous Labor Day!

Zoo!!

To celebrate 3 years of dating we decided to act like little kids again and visit the zoo! We've actually visited a lot of zoos/wildlife areas together over the years. I guess it's safe to say we like animals!! Here are some pics from our latest adventure...



Does this remind anyone else of Maurice from Madagascar?!?!



He looks so sad :(



Sittin' pretty...



So this guy took the stick in his mouth and stuck it in his nose! He was definitely putting on a show for us



It was so hot I don't blame the tiger for sleeping, however ever I wish he wasn't so far away



Another sleeping 'cat'...there were 2 cheetahs and both were asleep



King of the Jungle...this cutie's name is Johnathan



This is one smart and flexible grizzly bear!



I LOVE elephants! Seriously I can't get enough of them!



Is this not the ugliest stork you've seen?? It looks nothing like the storks that bring the babies...ha ha...btw its a shoebill stork



How many giraffes do you count?? Do you see the baby??



Heard the dinner bell...time to eat!!



Total Recall

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This was just an okay movie for me. It didn't suck, but for some reason I just wasn't that into it. I also never saw the original so I can't compare it to that either. What I can tell you was that the kid sitting in front of me fell asleep and the lady a few seats down from me was snoring at one point.

While all the characters can definitely kick some butt, I just feel that everthing was just so expected in all the fight scenes. I also feel like some things just weren't explained very well. I mean at the end it all made sense, but still sometimes you just want a little more.

The boyfriend thought this movie was good so maybe it's just me. Or maybe I should have seen it before I saw the Bourne Legacy, because it really doesn't measure up to that one.

Painted Beach Canvas

I saw this idea over at Young House Love and it seemed easy enough that I decided to make one for myself! I used a 20 x 24 canvas, a yard stick and 7 different paint colors that all tied into my beach colored bathroom.

All but one column is the width of the yard stick (probably should have started from the middle...oh well). I took the advice from YHL and just used a mail flier to create the points. I traced everything out in pencil and then went one color at a time and filled the columns. That was very tedious and took me a lot longer than I expected. Did you know painting straight lines without painters tape isn't as easy as it sounds...ha ha.

I found a package of 3 starfish in the cheap section of Michaels during one of many trips and really wanted to add it to the canvas. It looked a little lonely by itself so I busted out my Cricut and used coral-ish card stock and cut out the "beach." I love the pop of color it gives the canvas.

So where exactly is this canvas hanging?!?! Well it's right next to my very first full length mirror that makes me look squatty (but that's what you get for $5 at target) and right above my toilet (but I didn't think y'all wanted a pic of my toilet ha ha). Oh, lookey there you can see my necklaces on the shower hooks and how it's grown since this post!

Overall, I'm really pleased how this turned out. Even if I am the only one who gets to look at it :)

Where We Belong



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Another good one from Ms. Emily Giffin. While it's not as juicy as say Something Borrowed it is my fourth favorite from her (1. Something Borrowed 2. Something Blue 3. Heart of the Matter). This one is told from two peoples perspectives, Marian and Kirby (both are female characters).

The book is about how your past may not always stay in the past, but it's not always a bad thing if it comes back into your life. Also, it's about searching for who you are and finding where you really belong...oh yeah I just referenced the title...haha.

Honestly, I think this book would make a good movie...ha ha. I know Something Borrowed didn't do that well, but still I like how it played out in my head...ha ha.


****Don't read any further if you don't want to see who I think should be cast****


Here's who I would cast...



Kate Hudson as Marion even though she was cast in Something Borrowed




Shailene Woodley as Kirby but she would have to go blonde or wear a wig



Jon Hamm as Peter



Chris Evans as Conrad

Have you read the book yet? What do you think of my casting skills...yay or nay or who would you cast?