1st Game of the Season Baby (Sneak Peak)

Ladies and gentlemen the time has come for Collegeeeeeeeeeee Footballlllllll!!! Let the tailgating commence and the good times begin. I can't wait to get to good ole Statesboro, GA. The home of the Georgia Southern Eagles and "Whose House??"...""Our House"!! To give you just a little sneak peak into the weekend ahead I've decided to share an awesome tailgating recipe with you for HASH BROWN CASSEROLE. No it's not a skinny recipe but, oh dear Lord almighty from whom all blessings flow, it is better than Luke Bryan in sparkly skinny jeans!! But first lookie, lookie at my outfit...

Shoes-Payless, Dress-Target
Jacket-Old Navy, Neckace-Etsy
Fossil Watch-Belk, John Wind Bracelet-Online
Thought about taking the cowgirl boots
out to make it a TRUE BLUE Southern  girl
outfit but y'all it's just dang too hot!! 

Hash Brown Casserole

Ingredients:
-2 pounds frozen hash browns
-1/2 cup butter
-1 can cream of chicken
-1 pint sour cream
-1/2 cup chopped onion
-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
-1 teaspoon salt
-1/4 teaspoon pepper

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350. Mix all above ingredients in a bowl. Spray 11x14 casserole dish and pour in mixture. Bake for 45-50 minutes. These are my kind of instructions! 

I'm so proud of my Eagle cookies. My little sister Taddies found the recipe and helped me make them. They turned out too cute!! 

I am so excited about seeing all of my besties and making memories. We always have a blast together but as always I'm going to be honest with you guys. This time last year I was 11 pounds lighter and have felt a little bummed about it this week. BUT I could have been 36 pounds heavier and I am so proud of myself for getting my act together. I hope that by the end of football season I can be down another 25 pounds. I am making the CHOICE to have fun and know that I WILL get there!! Better go get dressed. We are leaving for the 1st Game of the season in less than 1 hour...yeeeeek!!!

See all you pretty girls soon!! 

We will all be thinking about you today
JP. Miss you and love you so very much!!
John David Purvis
Feb.5,1983~Mar.19,2012

Click HERE to read about our precious friend John!

Flawless Face Routine

Don't you just hate people who have perfect skin and can just wear tinted moisturizer? It's so not fair! Even when my skin is perfectly clear I still have red patches, freckles and it looks like somebody punched me in both eyes. But thank the dear Lord for makeup!! I know I'm by no means an expert but I've been getting compliments about my "flawless skin" here lately. Ha! This makes me laugh but I'm going to show you guys my daily routine. So here goes... 

Don't be afraid it's just me in my PJ's

I've used more expensive products but
these are my favorites...
AND they are all under $15!!   

I LOVE this foundation. I used Mary Kay for
YEARS but this is even better.
I can't do without it!! I literally just dot it all
over my face (eye lids/neck included) and
rub it in with my fingers.
Revlon PHOTOREADY 006 Medium Beige 

My skin tone instantly looks
even and smooth.
Good bye freckles and redness!!

Cover Girl Loose Powder-115 Translucent
Medium sets my foundation. I use the
puff to apply it. My makeup stays on all day.  

These are my two FAVORITE brushes.
The big one is from Arbonne. I got it as
a gift from my roomate my freshman year
of college (yes 10 years ago!!).
I just clean it every once in a while
but it's still holding on. The
other brush came from CVS. 

To give my skin a glow I use
Physicians Formula-Sunny Buddy Bronzer.
I lightly dust it all over my face.  

To contour I use Wet n' Wild Color
Icon Bronzer in Ticket to Brazil. It's
so cheap but works really well
and it  doesn't look orange. 

These are the areas I contour: cheek bones,
both sides of my nose, about an inch from
my hairline and straight down in the middle
of my chin. It instantly slims my face so I no
longer look like a cabbage patch doll. Be
CAREFUL it only takes a SMALL amount!!

I lightly dust the apples of my cheeks with
Cover Girl 590 Soft Mink Blush.
It's such a soft and pretty color. 

Flawless Foundation routine
complete. Sometimes I'll just wear
mascara and lip gloss for a
"natural" look. Chris likes my
makeup best that way. He thinks
I don't have makeup on.
Hahaha....Men!!!! 

Flawless face with eyes and lips 

So there you have it. My version of the flawless face. Guess I have to change out of my pj's now!! Catch ya on the flip side!! 

Weigh In Wednesday

This morning I lost .8 pounds and hit my 25 pound weight loss mark! I don't care what anyone says losing weight it hard! There is no magic pill or miracle diet. It's something you have to work for every. dang. day. I wish the days of losing 3 and 4 pounds a week would come back but even .8 is a success!

While at the gym this morning something hit me. I thought, "Wow being here at 5:30 AM is just the norm now." I'm completely different than I was 3 months ago. My attitude is different, my energy level is different and the way I feel about myself is different. I had gotten to a point where I didn't want to be around anyone. I didn't want to go anywhere. And honestly I was depressed. Somedays I would get home and go straight to bed. So I'll take losing .8 pounds over gaining it any day! 

After doing arms, abs and the treadmill
with my free trainer Hitler, I mean Sarah,
I got on this beast for the first time this
morning. I don't even know what it's
called but holy moly!! 10 minutes
and I was DONE!!

Let me be superficial for just a minute...
This past week I was watching Keeping up with the Kardashians. I know what you're thinking but hold on. There was actually a meaningful part to the episode I was watching. Rob, the brother of all the Kardashian sisters, was discussing his weight with Khloe's husband Lamar. If you've never watched the show Rob has put on quite a bit of weight and has been persecuted in the tabloids for it. Looking at him my first thought was, "Rich little hefer I bet you don't worry about anything." But guys even as rich and famous as he is, he still struggles. He was saying that he didn't want to go on a family vacation to Greece (Greece!!!!) because of being embarrassed about his weight! He didn't want to hang around anyone because of his weight! He hated the person he had become because of his weight! Is it starting to sink in?!?! The way we feel about ourselves matters whether we are poor, rich, young or old. 
At the end of the conversation Lamar said something to him that stuck with me. He said, "If you don't take care of yourself you hurt your relationships." Y'all that's 100% true whether someone on a reality tv show said it or not! Weight may or may not be the area you struggle with. There may be another aspect of your life where you're not taking care of yourself. But long story short, it's okay to love and take care of yourself because WHEN YOU LOVE YOURSELF YOU CAN LOVE OTHERS. 

That ain't hittin on much partner

Last week I was so excited to use my new recipe to make shrimp and aspargus chowder. I went to Kroger and got everything I needed and even took pictures for you guys as I did each step. But then the moment of truth came...I tasted it! It wasn't bad but it wasn't the WOW I was expecting. How can something with $10 worth of shrimp be ehh!?!?! That dang soup cost more to make than just going out to eat and filled up my dishwasher. If this tells you anything the hubs ate a bowl of cereal after a couple of bites. Then I did what no wife should. I asked him, "What do you think be honest." His comment and I quote went just like this, "That ain't hittin on much partner!" It was an epic fail and there was nothing I could do to rescue it...sigh.  

That's alotta flipping ingredients!!! 
Where art thou heavy cream and butter?

Just sit there lookin all pretty
and colorful...you know what you are!! 

BUT the rest of the week we were in the "cat bird seat" as Chris would say. I made some of my trusted favorites and one of them actually doubles as two meals. No they don't look pretty in pictures but they are easy and delicious...isn't that how it always goes?!?!

Myra's Tacos (My Grandma's recipe made skinny)
-1 pound ground turkey
-1 taco seasoning packet 
-1 can rotel 
-Fat free cheese singles 
-Zero calorie spray butter 
-Baked nacho Doritos 
-Fat free sour cream 
-Salsa 
-Shredded lettece 
-Low carb wraps 

Instructions:
Brown ground turkey (or would it be called white ground turkey??) and drain. Add taco seasoning and UNdrained rotel. Mix well. Use spray butter for each side of your tortillas and crisp on griddle or in pan. Add cheese, meat mixture, lettuce, sour cream, salsa and crumbled nacho Doritos. I promise you will never eat regular tacos again!!!

Crisping your tortillas and letting the
cheese melt makes ALL the difference   

I was surprised at just how good
these were and ONLY 60 calories vs. 120
for  other low carb versions

I used leftover taco meat to make
Doritos taco salads the next night...yum!!!

And last but not least one of my FAVORITES that is super quick. I call this kinda recipe MAN FOOD!! 

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

And the winner of the burlap door hanger with team of choice  is...

EMILY FAZ

This chick did some serious pinning this weekend with a total of 91 pins! Coming in at a close second was Lacy Rookes with 59 pins and third Sarah Thrift with 47 pins. Thanks so much to everyone who participated. Emily congrats girl and contact me at kellygoldenjacobs@gmail.com to claim your prize.

And now for a little weekend updateage...
Friday night the hubs and I went on a date to Applebee's. Now don't stick your nose in the air and act like you don't like it, cause you know it's the jam! Plus they have an under 550 calories menu. Holla! I got the Nappa Chicken and Portobellos and it was sooooo good! I was shocked at how full I felt after eating. I've heard people say that your stomach shrinks and I'm starting to believe it's true. Don't get me wrong, I can still eat like a 300 pound grown man but it's becoming easier to push my plate away. I fill up so much quicker! ALSO...on another little side note I've told you guys before about how much I had grown to hate date nights. I absolutely hated the way I looked BUT I am happy to report that I didn't dread getting dressed at all this time. I think I even looked quite cute! 

As for Saturday, long story short, I worked my freakin butt off catering a wedding reception for 400 people with Mrs. Jeanette and her team. Can you imagine how many dishes 400 people can make when they get two glasses, a dinner plate, two dessert plates and two forks?!?! I NEVER want to wash dishes again! And to top it off right as it was time for the reception to begin a torrential downpour came through. Everyone coming in from the wedding was soaked! Even though I worked my bootie off I learned so much and it turned out to be a beautiful reception. The family was very sweet and appreciative so that made it even better. It seemed like everyone truly had a blast!

I tried to get some pics for you guys without seeming too creepy. They don't really do justice for just how pretty everything looked but at least you get a glimpse. Oh, and by the way, I didn't eat a single bite of any of the amazing food you're about to see!! 

My beautiful attire for the night 

Some of my catering buddies 

Taco bar-special request

That's a spine on the cake.
The groom was a chiropractor. 

Loaded mashed potato bar...Yum!! 

Allrightee my dears, we have T minus 5 days until the first Georgia Southern game of the season. Gonna go full out Rocky this week!! Are ya with me?!?! 

Sunday morning. First time I've
worn that dress in almost a year!!
That's a GREAT feeling tater!!

Throwback Thursday

Going through old pictures last night for today's post made me smile even with tears falling. You know we may not have been rich or lived in the biggest house but I was blessed with such Godly parents who loved us with all their hearts. I never remember my Daddy having lots of big boys toys because everything he had he gave to us. And I never remember a time my Mama begrudged taking extra call so we could go on just one more extra field trip at school. Growing up my parents always told my brother, sister and I that if we didn't have anything else we had each other. They taught us to love one another, be kind and tender hearted to others, but above all to put God first.

One of my funniest memories involves my little brother Bobby. Mama and Daddy went to a function at church and left us home alone. I was 12 and Bobby was 9. They told us to stay inside, eat dinner and finish our homework. Instead we decided to do the exact opposite.  As soon as they pulled out of the driveway we hopped on our little 90 four wheeler and off we went. We were several miles from home when the stupid four wheeler ran out of gas!! We were freaking out but had no money to get gas anywhere. So we walked for what seemed like forever to get back home. During the long walk we had time to form our plan to not get killed when our parents got home. Mama left the keys to her mini van so we decided to take the seats out of the back so we could haul the four wheeler home. My twelve year old self got in the drivers seat and we were off. Looking back I have no clue how we picked the four wheeler up and pushed it into the mini van or how in the heck it fit. I also have no clue how Bobby didn't die as I drove, he pushed the four wheeler in the van with one hand, and held the back hatch down with the other hand. All I know is we didn't tell my parents that story until we were much older!!

The best memory of all happened when I was 15 and Bobby was 13. Mama went to her doctor's appointment to discuss having a hysterectomy  and came home with shocking news. She was pregnant with our little sister. Ever since November 21, 2000 Taylor has been the blessing our family couldn't do without. We love that little girl more than life itself. She is now in the 7th grade and is the best mixture of my craftiness and Bobby's brains that you could ask for. She keeps us all laughing and my parents young.

My family isn't perfect by any means. Sometimes we have white trash fights or just want to kill one another. BUT...I wouldn't trade them for all the money in the world! 

1986-Me, Mama and Daddy 

1988-Me and Daddy

1989ish-Me and Mama
the day she
graduated from
RN school

Life was good. It was just me,
Mama and Daddy. Then...
this little booger came along!

1991-Me and Bobby

2000-Our sweet little Taddies

Pretty cool having a
big sister that can drive

2010-Daddy, Mama, Me,
Chris, Taylor and Bobby

 I love you Mama, Daddy, Bobby, Taddies and Chris. You are all my heart.