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Monday, October 29, 2012

Breakfast Casserole!

My friend Mandy has made this twice & brought it to church for the worship team to have breakfast before service. Since we have to be there early for practice. So sweet! 

Anyway, it is DELISH & i got her recipe & made it myself for a shower we were doing for a coworker at work last week. Everyone really liked it! It's easy to make & really good! 

BREAKFAST CASSEROLE
from my dearest friend Mandy
Serves: plenty

12 eggs
1 pound sausage 
2 cups milk
8 slices of bread (I used 6)
2 tablespoons mustard
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (I used 2 cups)
 salt & pepper (to taste)
Tony's or other cajun seasoning (optional - i didn't use any.)

1. Cook your sausage. I actually got smoked sausage, when she meant breakfast sausage (duh!). But it was good, either way. I am thinking you can use whatever kind of sausage you want! 
A bigger pan would've been a good idea, though. Oops!

2. While that is cooking, put all eggs in a large bowl & whisk well. 

3. Add other ingredients & mix well. You will just break up the bread into small pieces to add those. I used rye because that is what we had & it was fine. Any kind of bread will do!


4. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Pour what is in the bowl into the casserole dish. 

 5. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.  Put a knife in it & it will come out clean if it is ready. If it is, put a knife through several spots to let the steam out. 

6.  SERVE! :) 

P.S. You can make this the night before & just bake it in the morning! That is what i did & it turned out great!! 

{ENJOY!}

Our {way past due} Zoo Date!

We live across the street from the zoo. You turn left out of our neighborhood, then take a right after about 10 seconds, and you're there. That close. Brad always says how crazy it is that there are wild animals living RIGHT THERE. He says we may wake up one morning and find an escapee tiger outside. Wouldn't that be cool!?! 
 Or maybe not. :)
 (Not my best shot, but look at that tooth! Yikes!)

Anyway, while we were engaged, I said, "Oooh! We're gonna live right by the zoo! I haven't been there since I was a kid! We have to go!" And he agreed. And four years later... we finally went! Ridiculous, I know! It's about time! My sister laughed at me. Haha. She thinks adults only go to the zoo if they're bringing their kids, or someone else's kids! And i admit, the only times I've been is when i was a child myself or when i was a nanny or daycamp counselor. But i happen to think the zoo is a great date! And i was right! We had a GREAT TIME together! I also brought my camera & got to practice! :) 


Did I mention the weather was AWESOME!?! It was GORGEOUS! And cool enough for me to wear long sleeves!!! Hello, fall, finally! I wore a new shirt & it was so cozy! (Thanks, mom!) 
 That is my "i get to wear long sleeves today!" face. Ha!

Our friends from church were working a booth for "Boo at the Zoo" (the zoo's annual halloween event for kids), selling funnel cakes & smoothies. Yes, we went during this event...a LOT of people there, but we still had a great time! And saw lots of cute kids in costumes. ;)
 These two tigers were SO CUTE!

 I admit, our favorite part was hanging out with Billy & Mandy. They are friends from church & we just LOVE them! They're so funny & sweet & fun & kind & yeah. We are kind of a little obsessed with them. I mean that in a non-creepy way, I promise!
Notice Mandy working even while taking a picture! Making funnel cakes for the masses!
Aren't they cute? 

So, here are some of my pictures of the zoo animals! I will try to refrain from posting every single pic! Ha! :) 

*  *  *  *  *  *  *  *  

We saw the tigers first. There is glass between me & the tiger, but you can't really tell, can you? I love the tigers! My favorite! They're just so beautiful! 

Next were the elephants. This one was kind of showing off for me some! 
 Doesn't that look like a smile to you? 

What big feet you have!

The zebras were my favorite. They're so unique. Beautiful. 
Well, hello, little zebra.

I would like to know what these birds & these monkeys are saying to each other. Captions, anyone? :)


The ostrich is a HILARIOUS bird. No kidding.

There were some very snuggly creatures as well. 
 the otters

a bobcat? please forgive me, i can't remember. But look how sweet! 

I love love LOVED the giraffes!! So cute!

There was a petting zoo, too.
 
It was a fantastic day date with my man! Loved it! We can't wait to go back!! 




This weekend, I... (v. 5)




This weekend, I felt overwhelmed, stressed, worried, sad, fearful...& joyful. It was a rough weekend, overall. But good in a lot of ways, too. I'm not able to tell all our business here, but would you please pray for my family if you think about it? My parents & sister & me. We would really appreciate it!

This weekend, I felt like it was a constant date with Brad. We don't get out much. We like being at home. But this weekend we made plans & I am glad we did. Despite what is going on with my family, we still had some time together that definitely lifted my spirits. I love that man.

This weekend, I missed my mom. (Mom: LOVE YOU!)

This weekend, I went to the ZOO! Now you have to understand... we live ACROSS THE STREET from the zoo. I mean, basically. When i moved here when we got married, I said, "ooh! we live across from the zoo! we have to go!" Nearly four years later, WE ACTUALLY WENT! We had a GREAT time. And i got to practice some photography! :) It was FUN. (Full post coming soon!)

This weekend, I led worship at church! We had a Night of Worship & I led two songs: Healer & Beautiful (by Kari Jobe). I was SO nervous, y'all. It's been a few years since I have sung a solo in church & even longer since I've led worship! But it went very well & I was relieved! Thankful. 

This weekend, I took a shot of olive oil to make my voice work for my solo. It's a trick singers use that i just heard about - if you're having sore throat issues it will get you through. Um, it worked. But it did make me gag a little. Haha! (Can't believe I did that!)

This weekend, I felt OVERWHELMED with love for my church family. They really care when you are going through something. They really, really do. The concern & care they show... well, I am so thankful for it. For them. I am so glad God brought us to Covenant Community Church. 

This weekend, I ate at Boutin's with most of the fam. Good cajun food. The boudin balls were AMAZING!

This weekend, I (we) went to Barnes & Noble - TWICE! I got a book called "the south beach diet WAKE UP CALL". I am not doing South Beach but it is very similar to what i AM doing - or what i SHOULD be doing - obviously i got the book because i felt I needed a wake up call. :)

So what did YOU do this weekend? Link up with Syndal & Sar and tell us!


Sunday, October 28, 2012

My sweet MIL's retirement party

My mother-in-law is one of the kindest, funniest women you will ever meet. I just love her. She's genuine & hard-working, silly & easygoing. She is the BEST cook, and we love reading the same kinds of books. 

I love her! And i am SO happy she is finally able to RETIRE! Woohoo! I know she has been looking forward to this for so long! I have watched her siblings & friends retire before her & I know she SO wanted to join them! Finally the time has come! 

We had a party to celebrate her retirement. 




 It was not hot outside for once, so we spent a lot of the party outdoors. LOVE Aunt KK & Uncle David's back porch!!

 Aunt KK, Mrs Phoebe & my mom 

 Aunt Bridget & Aunt Paula - haha!

 My daddy 

 My mom put together a pretty awesome basket for Mrs Cheryl. It's full of lotion, peppermint foot scrub, a word search, a movie, coffee, hazelnut creamer, M&M's, hershey kisses, magazines & more! Just a few of Mrs Cheryl's favorite things! 

 Brad & Jaimie (my sis-in-law). In that box is the kindle fire we got her (along with my FIL). She was ECSTATIC! :)

 Love this pic - me with my mom & mother-in-law! LOVE THEM BOTH! (They met when i was just a little baby!)

 Mrs Cheryl with her friends Gwen & Lucy

 I love this one of Brad & his mom! 

 This one CRACKS ME UP! Was going to be just Jaimie & Mrs Cheryl! HAHA!

Sisters :) 

{HAPPY RETIREMENT!!!!}

Saturday, October 27, 2012

2012 Sandifer Family Reunion

Every year, Brad's mom's side of the family has a family reunion. Seriously, they've been doing it for decades. In fact, the guest book we used for this reunion went all the way back to 1978 - the year i was born. Crazy, right?! 

This was my 6th reunion which is hard to believe! 1997 when we dated the first time, 2008 when we were engaged & 2009-2012 as a married couple. :) 

I LOVE IT. It's the most fun anyone could have at a reunion! That's because Brad's family - both sides of them - are full of hilarious, sweet, generous people. 

This was back on October 13th - I realized I showed a few pics here and there, but didn't do an entire post with more pics from that day. We had a great time & I really enjoyed shooting in manual the whole time! Outside is easier for me, but going from sun to shade, sun to shade, was a little tricky! I got some good ones anyway, I think.

So here we go - sorry if i overload this post with photos!

 
 Sad this one's a little blurry - everybody loves Uncle Lonnie! 

 My sweet in-laws! 

 Jaimie & Brittany

I love this shot of Lynde & Matt. Lots of LSU fans there that day! ;)

 Such cute girls - Lainey & Breelyn. 

Matt's sons - Hayden & Zachary

  Audaleigh. What a DOLL.

I mean, look at those curls & eyelashes! 

* * * * * * * * * 

Brad's great grandparents started this whole Sandifer reunion thing. So every year they take a whole bunch of pictures that go like this... 

#1-THE GRANDCHILDREN

#2-THE GREAT GRANDCHILDREN

#3-THE GREAT GREAT GRANDCHILDREN

#4 - THE GREAT GREAT GREAT GRANDCHILDREN!
Audaleigh & Tucker - such cuties! 

CRAZY, RIGHT?! 
They take pics of the individual families, too. Starting with these two. 
Uncle Lon & Aunt Margie. Aren't they sweet!? :) 

And there's also always a pic of the "in-laws" - aka... "out-laws" - ha!
Aka "the crazies that married into this family!" :) 

Mr Stan, Brad & Jaimie with Zulimmy. She is SO CUTE!!

The reunion is held at Brad's Uncle Kenny & Aunt Annette's house. So Lacy is always there, too. She is HUGE! Haha. 

 Jaimie with Matt & Lynde! 

 Amanda & Brittany

Kim, Rachel & Landon

 Tom & Hermelinda


Of course, there have to be silly pictures:) 
Zulimmy, Brittany, Jaimie, moi & Amanda

And my favorite of us... 

THE END 
{Can't wait till next year!}