Five for Friday

One of my favorite blogs to read is Natasha's over at Hello! Happiness and she along with the three other bloggers created a Five for Friday link up that I just love! It's where you dish about five things your lovin' this week or five things you would like to share. Did I mentioned I have discovered that I love the three other ladies blogs (a. liz adventures, carolina charm and the good life blog) that I had never read? I just love the blog world!

Here are five things I'm lovin' this week...

One. Friends that are family.

I had some very close family friends come to Dallas just to meet us for lunch and spend time with us. Annette was actually there for Kallie's birth and it was so nice to spend the day with them. They have always been good to us and we are very lucky to have them in our lives.

Two. New pictures for my office.

I finally printed some pictures from my best friends wedding and framed them in my office. It always amazes me when I put new pictures in frames, replacing old ones and seeing how much our lives have changed, but still being in each others lives. Makes my heart happy.

Three. My sweet girl.

Today, I dropped Kallie off at school and won't see her for three whole weeks. It breaks my heart to spend so much time away from my girl but she does love spending that time with her Daddy and it is nice recoup time. I have a super special weekend planned for us when I get her for a weekend and then she has two more weeks at her Daddy's after that.

Last night we went and got frozen yogurt and watched a movie on Disney Channel together. I already miss my sweet girl.

Four. July list.
While Kallie is gone I always make a list of things I would like to do. It helps pass the time and everything on the list is stuff I really enjoy doing. I'm keeping it shorter this year so I can hopefully actually mark stuff off of it. Half of the stuff is actually centered around Kallie.

Five. DIY Projects.
I went to Hobby Lobby and stocked up on some stuff for some projects I have planned. I do believe I will spend the majority of my time in that store in July. I always get so excited when I see stuff there and all these projects start running around in my mind.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Shrimp Feta Linguine

This is my favorite meal EVER hands down and one would think it is difficult to make, but it's not! Sometimes on weekends Kallie is at her daddy's I will make it and eat it for lunch and dinner...all weekend! It's that delicious! So, what are we waiting for? Let's get to cooking!

What you will need:

Bell pepper chopped fine - about 1/2 - 3/4 the pepper
3 stalks green onion, chopped fine
1 Tbsp. Garlic, chopped fine
2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel
1.5 to 2 Lbs. raw shrimp - peeled and deveined
1 cup white wine
1 to 2 tsp oregano
1 container feta cheese
Linguine pasta noodles

The first thing you will want to do is chop/dice up your bell pepper, green onions and garlic. Coat a large stock pot with your 2 Tbsp. of olive oil. Pour in your chopped up bell pepper, green onions and garlic. Saute them until they are cooked, which is about 5 - 7 minutes, constantly stirring so they do not burn. Next, add the can of diced tomatoes and can of Rotel and let that simmer on medium-low to medium heat for 15 minutes. Now, add your 1.5 to 2 pounds of raw shrimp, 1 cup of white wine, sprinkle in the 1 to 2 tsp of oregano and last, but not least, your feta cheese. I also add in a little salt at this point. Cook this until the shrimp are done, which is around 5 to 7 minutes. Serve over linguine, sprinkle feta on top. To complete your meal, serve it with some bread and a salad!

I am on Weight Watchers so I did not want to add up points with the linguine. I ate it as a soup and it was divine! The feta cheese gives it a creamy base. 1/5 of this recipe is 11 points without pasta if you are counting points!

Bon appetite! 

Kallie in Wonderland

A couple weeks ago my step-mom and I took Kallie to the Alice in Wonderland exhibit at the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. I had never been to the Arboretum and had always wanted to go. I am a Groupon junky and found a great deal for this exhibit and thought it was a perfect opportunity!

I was very impressed with the Arboretum but not so much the exhibit. It was only like five little houses covered in flowers and the story printed on big banners plastered on the insides of them. My step-mom and I just looked at each other and thought, "this is it?" This is probably why they had a Groupon for it. While it wasn't as great as I expected it to be, Kallie had fun and got some great pictures of her!

 Kallie and TaTa checking out the lily pads and bullfrogs!

 Can you spot the bullfrog?

 Beautiful flowers!

 Kallie loved the tee-pee!

 Flirting per usual!

 Kallie loved these houses!

 Classic bathroom mirror shot!

 Finally made it to the Alice in Wonderland exhibit!

 Kallie and the tea party!

 OFF WITH HER HEAD!

 Kallie couldn't get over Alices neck!