Pinterest Project- Halloween Bark

I wanted to make a Halloween treat to bring to work today so last night I went thru all the recipes I have pinned on Pinterest and came across a recipe for Halloween bark. It was so easy and so far it has been a big hit at work this morning.

What you will need:
-oreos
-pretzels
-candy corn
-orange & black sprinkles
-a few bags of white chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli b/c that is all the store had)
-parchment/wax paper


What to do:
-lay out a large piece of parchment paper on the counter

-break oreos and pretzels in small pieces and spread on parchment paper. Spread candy corns out too.


-Melt white chocolate chips in microwave or on the stove and pour over broken mixture. Sprinkle chocolate mixture with the orange & black sprinkles. Depending on how much you are making, it takes A LOT of chocolate to cover the mixture so keep that in mind when buying your ingredients.


-Leave out on counter or put in fridge if you have room so that the chocolate can harden. Once hard, break apart into pieces and enjoy!


HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

The Pro's and Con's of Traveling for Work

I love my job and I love to travel so combining the 2 is sometimes a lot of fun. I get asked every single day if I like having to travel for my job and the answer is always "yes and no." So, I thought I would do a post on the good & bad of traveling for work.

First of all, I only travel once a month or once every 3-4 weeks. I always leave on a Monday morning and come back on Friday afternoon so my trips are always 4 nights and 5 days. So, I will start by saying I don't mind traveling once a month. If I had to do it more than that I don't think I would like it much. Here are the lists I have come up with of the pro's and con's:

Pro's:

-I have majorly racked up on airline miles and hotel points. I always fly Continental and always stay in any of the Hilton hotels. I have a TON of miles and points now. My hubby and I have actually taken almost completely free trips because of how many miles & points we had.

-I save money when I travel! Traveling for work means all your meals are paid for. So, I hardly have to spend any of my own money when I travel for work, unless I go shopping :) But all meals, drinks and gas are paid for by the company.

-I get some "me" time and a break from the day to day routine. Not that I need a lot of "me" time but sometimes it's nice to have a day or 2 to yourself and have a break from the stress of every day life at home. I miss my husband like crazy when I travel and sometimes I get a little home-sick but it is still nice to have a little time alone.

-Sometimes it has worked out for my husband to fly in to where I am to meet me and we can spend a weekend in the city or somewhere close by. I will work Monday-Friday and he will fly in on Thursday night then we have a mini vacation and come home on Sunday. This has been one of the biggest "perks"!

-I have gotten to see some really awesome cities and places that I would probably never see if it was not for this job. I love to travel but we tend to stick to tropical places or places in the South where our family is but because of my job I have gotten to see places ALL over the US! I would never plan a trip to places like Detroit, MI or Providence, RI but I have gotten to go to both because of my job. Nothing against those cities, but I would probably just not ever plan a vacation there. Plus, we don't have kids right now so it is fun to get to see and do so much right now because I know once we have kids that will alllll change :)

Now for the con's:

-Sometimes it is kind of lonely. Eating every meal alone, sleeping alone every night or going sight-seeing in the evenings alone gets a little old. There are so many times I have been places and wished my husband was with me to share it with.

-It is hard to get into a routine at home or commit to certain things. There are several things I want to do at home but the traveling gets in the way. The cake class I took was 4 weeks but I had to miss the 4th week because I was traveling. There is a boot camp I want to do but the sessions are 4 week sessions. I would have to miss 1 or 2 weeks. There are some photography classes I want to take but it is really hard to makeup a missed class and I would miss 1 or 2 weeks of the course.

-My diet suffers BIG TIME and the time changes always throw me off. Not for everyone, but for me, eating healthy while traveling is SO SO hard. I swear I always gain a few pounds when I travel. Just about everywhere I go there is a time difference. It is always just one or two hours different but it seriously throws me off and takes me the full week to get used to it. By the time I am adjusted, it is time to come back home then I am all messed up for a couple more days.

Here are all the places I have gotten to go, thanks to my job:
Lake Charles, LA
Birmingham, AL
Dallas, TX
Avalon, TX
Detroit, MI
Windsor, Canada
Tacoma, WA
Woods Cross, UT (SLC)- Hubby and I spent a few days in Park City after this trip.
Providence, RI- We spent a weekend in Boston and driving the Maine Coast after this trip.
Phoenix, AZ
Deerfield Beach, FL
Kansas City, MO
Hatfield, PA (Philladelphia) - We spent the weekend in NYC before this trip.
Benicia, CA (San Fran area)
Pomona, CA (LA area)- going here in 2 weeks!
Englewood, CO (Denver)
Theodore, AL
And more to come over the coming months....

So, there you have it...the good and bad of having a job where you have to travel some. I definitely recommend it, especially if you are single or don't have kids. But, it is definitely not for everyone but I am lucky to have my job and for the opportunities it has given me :)

Pinterest Wednesday- Fall Fashions

Helllllooo, Wednesday! It's time for Oh, How Pinteresting Wednesday again with the newly married Michelle over at The Vintage Apple! Go link up too and share your favorite pins of the week!

We are getting a "cold" front here in Houston over the next few days and it is going to finally feel like Fall! Time to break out all the cute Fall clothes :)

In love.

I love Pippa Middleton and I am IN LOVE with her Modalu bag. In almost every picture of her, she is carrying this bag. I have been eyeing it for months and I finally figured out the designer after doing a little research. It is not too big or too small and can be worn with any outfit- dressy or casual. I.am.in.love.

Columbine High School Memorial

Last week when I was in Denver for work my office happened to be less than 4 miles from Columbine High School. When I travel for work I like to see parts of that city or town that are well known or famous for something, so I HAD to go see Columbine and the memorial that was created for the 13 students & teachers that were killed April 20, 1999. I am so glad I went. It was crazy being there and being in the exact spot where such a tragic event took place. Seeing the parking spots that the Eric Harris & Dylan Klebold parked in before they went into the school, seeing the library and cafeteria where most of the students were shot and seeing the memorials that were created gave me goose bumps. Here are some pictures I took while I was there...














Remember seeing this in the news?


This is that spot now and the guy-

Denver & A Life Update

Wow, I did not think it was possible to be busier than we were during our engagement, but IT IS! Every single weekend and every single night of the week either I have something, hubby does or we do together. I just saw Chris for the first time in 8 days, yesterday. Ugh. Not fun...

So, some updates.... I got home from Denver on Friday night. I had a great trip there...got a lot done at work, got to spend a couple nights with a friend from High School and visited Columbine High School and the Memorial (pictures to come). Chris left Friday morning to go to Baton Rouge for the weekend to visit his little brother and go to the LSU vs. Auburn game so he did not get home until Sunday afternoon.

I spent the Saturday with our realtor looking at houses in The Woodlands. Not sure if I mentioned this before but, we are moving!! We currently live in the city but are ready to move back to the suburbs, so for the past several weeks we have spent hours on HAR (for those of you that live in Houston), had several meetings with our realtor and spent a lot of time getting our house ready to go up for sale. Well, it will officially be up for sale tomorrow! It will be in the newspaper on Sunday and be on the internet within the next week and Sunday is our first open house. We have found a few houses that we love but we don't want to buy anything until there is a contract on our current house. So, we will see how it goes. I am praying it does not take too long to sell our house! For all you Houston bloggers- if you or anyone you know wants to move inside the loop, let me know :)

Sunday morning I got up super early and met a couple friends by Memorial Park to cheer on our friends that were running in the Houston Half-Marathon. It was so good to see so many friends out there running! It kind of made me miss it, but not really enough to start training again...unfortunately.



I spent the rest of the day running errands and doing some things around the house and making sure it was ready for it's first showing this week. Chris got home and cooked me dinner and we spent more time looking at houses :) This is what our lives revolve around right now. Well, also football...

This week is more of the same... we are going to look at a couple houses tonight, then celebrating my MIL's birthday in The Woodlands tomorrow, Wednesday we have nothing (PRAISE THE LORD!!), Thursday Chris flys to OKC for a meeting and comes back Friday, then Saturday he leaves for College Station and comes back Sunday. CRAAAZY!

Sorry for the boring update but I haven't been able to post in over a week so I felt the need to update you :)

Hope you all had a great weekend!! Happy Manic Monday!!!!!!!!!!!

Hellloooooo from Denver!

I am in the beautiful and cold state of Colorado this week for work....South Denver to be exact. I looked at the weather several times before I flew here on Monday and I knew it would be cold but I had no idea I would wake up to ice on my rental car and wind chills in the teens! Burrrr!! I almost did not bring a coat but thank goodness I did.

This is probably my 10th trip to Colorado but my first time actually spending a week in Denver and not up in the mountains skiing. I am here for the week for work so no time for skiing this time. Right now all the trees are bright yellows, oranges and reds and the sky's are blue. There are so many pretty parks, cute shops and restaurants in the area I am staying, Cherry Creek. There is a really good chance that one day my husband and I will live here because of his company so it is fun getting to see different parts of the city. I even have a friend from high school who lives here with her fiance and I got to go to dinner with them last night.

After I finish working today I am going to do a little sight-seeing. I know this is a little morbid but I really want to go see Columbine High School and the Memorial that was created at the park close by. The high school is less than 4 miles from where I am right now so how can I come here and NOT go see it??

Hope you all are having a great week! :)

What it feels like to have 2 ribs popped out of place...

I woke up Tuesday morning with a pain in my upper back. I figured I just slept on it wrong and it would go away. I woke up Wednesday morning and it was a little worse but still bearable. Well, in the middle of Wednesday night I woke up and when I rolled out of bed to go to the bathroom a shooting pain went through my upper back and it made me loose my breath for a second and brought tears to my eyes. I knew something was definitely wrong. Thursday morning when I woke up to get ready it was killing me. I could not raise my right arm, could not grasp anything with my right hand, reach backwards or anything or it would hurt so bad I would almost cry. I noticed it hurt when I would take a deep breath and cough or sneeze. I had a really hard time getting ready for work...Chris had to dry my hair for me! I told him he wins the "Husband of the Year" award for that :) So, I get to work and it is just killing me. It hurt to breath, to type, to walk...pretty much anything that involved moving. I decide I need to go to a doctor and Chris tells me to go see his chiropractor. Luckily they were able to get me in at lunch! Praise the Lord! The first thing the doctor did was touch the painful area to feel for heat and inflammation. He said he could feel heat before even touching my skin and the area between my spine and shoulder blade was visibly inflamed. Awesome. I told him it hurt to take a deep breath and he said he thought I probably had a rib popped out of place. Greeeat. He made me do a couple very painful movements and deep breaths while he felt around and he confirmed not only was there one rib out of place, but there were TWO!

So, he wants to do an adjustment to try to pop them back in place (which terrified me when he said that) but he told me that my muscles were so inflamed that it would not be fun for me or him. He hooked me up to some machine that sent electric waves or shocks into those muscles and placed cold packs on my back for 15 minutes, hoping that would get rid of some of the inflammation so he could do an adjustment. 15 minutes later they take off the electric pads and ice packs. The doctor tells me to lie on my back and try to relax (HA! Yeah right!) then he tells me not to cuss or scream loud because there are kids in the room next to me. By now I am thinking I am about to be in the worst pain in my life. He twists my upper bottom and arms in some contorted way, tells me to take a deep breath and when I let it out he puts ALL of his body weight down onto my upper body and my ENTIRE body cracked. Oh.My.Gosh. I had goose bumps on my arms and tears in my eyes but managed to laugh! I could not believe my body just cracked as loud and as much as it did. He does 2 more adjustments to my upper back & neck then has me sit up so he can try to find out if my ribs have popped back in place. He said they shifted but they still were not where they needed to be.

I am going back to see him at 11:30 today and again tomorrow morning. He hopes that after these 2 treatments the ribs will be back in their normal spot and I will be able to breath normal again. Crazy, huh?!?!

I asked him how something like this could have happened... I mean, I did not lift weights or do any super strenuous workouts this week, I was not in an accident or anything. He said I probably just did it in my sleep! So, not only do I have 2 ribs that are popped out of place but I my muscles in my upper back and around my shoulder blade are in a constant spasm. Lovely. I actually felt a little better this morning when I woke up. I was able to get ready without cringing and was able to dry my hair on my own. It still hurts but not like it did yesterday. Hopefully after these next 2 appointments all will be back to normal :)

Nothing BUNDT Cakes- Houston, TX

If you live in Houston and have a special occasion where you need a cake, you MUST get a bundt cake from "Nothing Bundt Cakes" by the Galleria! AAAAMAZING! I have been hearing about this place for the past couple of months and decided to stop in on Monday. First of all, it smells heavenly...a mixture of warm cakes baking and icing! You can buy bundt cakes already made and iced or you can custom order one and have it decorated. There are many flavors the cakes come in- Pumpkin Spice, Chocolate Chocolate Chip, Pecan Praline, White Chocolate, Chocolate Raspberry and more! There are miniature, single serving cakes and larger cakes to be used for parties, gifts or special occasions (or just because you want a 12 inch cake to yourself) :) They are moist and so delicious!! I tried a sample of the chocolate chocolate chip and the pumpkin spice...oh my goodness- SO yummy! I bought an 8 inch Pumpkin Spice bundt cake to take to one of my best friends and had them top it with a big pink flower since she had just had a baby girl. Next time you are hungry for cake or have an occasion make sure you try this place! You won't be disappointed :)

Pinterest Wednesday- Future Home Inspriations

Can't believe it is already Wednesday...this week is flying by! First of all, CONGRATULATIONS to Michelle @ The Vintage Apple. She is the host of this weekly link party and she got married this past weekend! :)
This week I am loving all things involving houses and decorating. My husband and I are probably putting our house up for sale soon and moving to a new home in the suburbs and I am finding all kinds of decorating ideas and inspirations for our future home! Happy Pinning!