Show us where you live Friday! Living rooms!

It's Friday again! Head on over to Kelly's (click the button) to see who else is showing their house. This week everyone is showing off their living rooms! Once again we don't really pick our houses so it's not the most amazing thing you have ever seen!

This is Moxee. She doesn't like the camera when the dog is anywhere near her. Sorry I tried.

Part of my living room. Like the AC unit? I guess New England doesn't believe in Central air.

Living room. I love our couches. We bought them when we lived in South Carolina and I think they will be with us for a very long time. If anything gets on them Huggie's wipes takes it off (even black shoe-shine!). I think the coffee table is my absolute favorite...it's padded! So it was great having a toddler. He would fall and hit and I never had to worry about a cracked head.

These are the pictures Justin brought home from Deployment. I took two from each place and framed them. I love it!

And these are our homecoming pictures. I like to change the pictures in these frames every three months or so...But I can't seem to bring myself to take those out.

I like our lamps. I could do without the tables but for some reason my husband loves them. We keep our dogs toys under there and I swear he makes more of a mess with his toys then Landon does. I'm framing all of Justin's awards he's gotten this past year and I need to hang them but I never have the time!

Looking into the living room from the main hallway.


Kitchen to the left hallway and stairways to the right.

My husband's baby. Also his chair. When he's home I have to push it back into it's spot every morning.

We love watching movies. Can you tell?

Our basket-O-shoes. We always go outside so we have most of our shoes in the second floor. The green bowl has random outside things for Landon (hats, gloves, scarf and socks).

My chair. Justin and I fight over this spot when we are watching movies. It was in our bedroom for a while but after the x-mas tree moved we needed something to fill the spot.

This is the doors out to the backyard. I like that they bring in so much light during the day.

Living rooms from the past!

South Carolina
Long but not very wide. I could move the furniture anyway I wanted and it would fit, which was nice. This was taken just a few weeks after we bought the couches.
Tiny TV. I'm so glad we got rid of that entertainment center we had way too much crap on it.

New York

This living room was so small we could only put the furniture one way. Back behind is my chair, our old computer desk and the door to the backyard.

There is that entertainment center again!
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Random side note. I've been looking at all the great things lately on Rue la la (it's a members only kinda site thing...lol. They have certain boutiques that are only open for 2 days with REALLY great sales!) . Go here if you want to check it out! http://www.ruelala.com/invite/krowan01 They have the best stuff!

Happy Military Spouse Appreciation Day!

Thursday Review

Since the weather still isn't the best we haven't been doing much. So I don't have much else to post about. But I did get my neflix in the mail this week! So here is a review of a few of the movies I have been watching! and a few books also.

Movies

Bride Wars

I loved bride wars. I laughed, I cried and it ended with me a happy little lady. I have to admit that It was a bit predictable but hey that's all good!

If you haven't seen it yet. It's about two best friends who's dream weddings get booked at the same place on the same day. A war between the two starts so that one will change her date. Once again great movie!


Hotel For Dogs

Cute movie! Another one where I laughed and cried (don't judge!). It was all around a feel good movie. They were a little vague on a few details that left me wondering, but hey you can't have everything. The end is...well...different. Cute, but different.

If you haven't seen it. The movie is about a brother and sister who are in foster care. They find an abandoned old hotel and round up all the stray dogs in the city to stay there so they don't go to the pound. Once again really cute movie!

Nights in Rodanthe

Hated it! It sucks and was overly predictable! No wonder it was only $13 at wal-mart after only being out a month. I was so excited since I love Nicholas Sparks but, this one my friends wasn't a keeper.

If you haven't seen it (which you shouldn't). It's about a woman and a man who meet at a hotel that they are staying at on the beach IN...dun dundun Rodanthe! They fall in love and the rest is history. Or is it?

Better Off Dead

An oldie! A must see amazing movie! This is one of the classic movies that my family always watches together and we quote it on a regular basis.

If you haven't seen it. It's about a guy who's girlfriend breaks up with him and I guess is trying to get her back. He does a few stupid things and has the weirdest family EVER! Great movie to watch!

Books

Something Borrowed

Great book. I read this series a few months back but I wanted to share. It's really one of those books where you pick a side, then half way into the book you switch sides. It's really a great book.

If you haven't read it. It's about two best friends. One has always been the pretty, loud & Lovable one where the other has always been quiet and let the other one do the talking. Until the quiet one falls in love with the Fiancee of her best friend.

Something Blue

I can't really tell you much about this one since it's the sequel to the first. But it is a GREAT book. It follows the other side of the story. You get a different view on how the things happened.

Baby Proof

Honestly I didn't care for this one much. I guess I just figured it would be a continuation of the first two but I was wrong. It was predictable and didn't have the best story line. You just wanted to yell at her to get over it!

Come on May flowers!!!

Sooo much rain! So you have to bring the outside in!

Landon and I planted flowers inside the other day. He had so much fun and now every morning when he wakes up he runs to see if they have grown. It's really cute. I'm interested to see if they will really grow inside of those tiny little pots.

We are having fun passing the days until Justin gets home. I've been doing a lot of deep cleaning the past few days and I love it! It's almost like therapy with out the talking! I've been getting really sweet e-mails from Justin and I'm glad that he misses me as much as I miss him.

I hope everyone is having a great week and just maybe your weather is better then the weather we are having here in New England!

It's a.....

Girl!

My sister found today that shes going to be having a little girl! I'm so excited for her!

Keilee Jean should be making an appearance sometime this September!

(This still means I'm the only one in our extended family to have a boy first)

TATT. Chicken Roll-ups!

Happy Tuesday everyone! Is another great day! Don't forget to go to Andrea's blog (click the button below) and check out who else is posting great things today!

I posted this on my recipe blog a few weeks ago but we just love it so I had to share over here! It's kinda like Chicken Cordon Blu. It's really easy and tastes so good!

I wanted to share my favorite places to get recipes real quick then we will get to the recipe!

Favorite Cookbooks (the ones I LIVE by)

The Joy of Cooking

Campbell's (casseroles, one-dish meals and more)

Betty Crocker

Any of my Kraft Foods & Family magazines

Favorite Cooking Websites

Kraftfoods.com

Campbells.com

Tasteofhome.com

Allrecipes.com

Now the recipe!


Italian Chicken Roll-ups

Ingredients:
8 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
8 thin slices (4 ounces) deli ham
4 slices provolone cheese, halved
2/3 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
1/2 cup milk
Cooking spray

Directions:

Flatten chicken to 1/4-in. thickness. Place a slice of ham and half slice of provolone cheese on each piece of chicken. Roll up from a short side and tuck in ends; secure with a toothpick.


In a shallow bowl, combine the crumbs, Romano cheese and parsley. Pour milk into another bowl. Dip chicken rolls in milk, then roll in crumb mixture.

Place the roll-ups, seam side down, on a greased baking sheet. Spritz chicken with cooking spray.

Bake, uncovered, at 425° for 25 minutes or until meat is no longer pink. Remove toothpicks.

We also had Cesar salad and Texas toast with it.

Friend Makin' Monday! TOYS!

Hello! Today Friend Makin' Monday is hosted by aefilkins so head on over there to see who else has joined in on the fun! Today's challenge is....

Name 5 toys that remind you of your childhood:

Cabbage Patch Dolls.

I remember my Grandmother giving me one for my birthday when I was around 5 or so. She had red hair and was a traveling one (so she was dressed like she was from Japan). I loved her! I think my parents still have her back home.

Puppy Surprise

I think this was my favorite toy. You get the mommy dog....open her tummy and you can have anywhere from 2-6 puppies! I think I got 4 or 5. I didn't have the dog, my sister did, but I did have the cat (I just couldn't find any good pictures). They also had a bear and a pony.

Quints
I had a lot of the quint stuff. I had the bedroom, the bathroom and I think a rocking horse. My cousin and I used to play quints for hours. I was always the purple and the green and she was always the pink and the blue. No one ever wanted to be yellow for some reason.


Easy Bake Oven!

Maybe this is what started my love of baking? I loved baking cookies and cakes for everyone and surprisingly it made really good food!

Breyer Horses

My mom had this really great toy store downtown from where she worked that sold special toys that they didn't have in toys-r-us. She used to always take me down there when I would go to work with her and I would get to pick a horse or something to go in my barn. I still have a bunch of them at my parents house.

When pigs fly.

I have been sick for a few weeks now..I think I have the Swine Flu AKA the bacon disease. Hahaha just joking. Justin said it wouldn't surprise him since I seem to get every sickness that floats around. all I have is a cough, nothing too terrible and I'm lucky that my throat doesn't hurt at all. But still I hate it.

Landon and I went out yesterday and got him a sand box. He loves it but I really should have waited until it wasn't raining to set it up. He wants to be out there all day and doesn't want to come in when it starts pouring. But as long as he's happy and not down in the dumps because his dad is gone then I'm fine. Play away little boy!

So now my back yard is officially finished! I raked and weeded the garden and got all my plants ready to go for this year, we have the swing set and my patio furniture out and now the sand box. I'm sooo excited to have a BBQ now and have all the kids over to play. I'm hoping to be able to plan one for July but we will see how that goes. Gotta love the Navy!

Random side note. I had almost 800 people come to my blog yesterday. CRAZY! They came to look at my kitchen and no doubt were shocked at how tiny and pink it is. Sorry! Gotta love base housing!

Show us where you live Friday! Kitchen Edition.

I love reading Kelly's Corner. I have been reading since her sweet little baby was born and it has been so great to see her grow and be well.

Kelly is starting something called "Show us where you live Friday" but I'm guessing you saw that at the beginning of the post.

Every week she's going to pick a room and you have to show pictures and share what is in there. Just as a warning to everyone...I don't pick my houses. My husband is in the military so we are given a house and until we are someplace we will be for a long time we are not going to buy.

I try to keep my counters simple but I have so many appliances and so little space. I hate my pink counter tops but I'm a pink kinda gal so I make due with them. The pink picture is of my sister who passed away from cancer two years ago. Her and I loved to cook and bake together. She was the one who taught me how to bake the perfect cookie and she even gave me my first cook book when I got engaged. I miss her so much so I keep her picture in my kitchen so she can still bake with me.

TINY kitchen! I miss my kitchen at my last house. I guess I don't mind this one too much since it is open and has the bar. I don't let my husband be in there while I cook but he is a good sport and will sit at the bar and talk/read to me while I cook him dinner.

Our cereal sits onto of our fridge since my husband can't seem to walk to the pantry to put it away! I love those containers! They keep the cereal fresh forever!

Spice rack, recipe boxes and my AMAZING hot tea maker!
I love Vera Bradley so naturaly I have the place mats!!

This is the view into the dining room right off the kitchen. Once again not a lot of space but it does the trick. I love, love, love that bay window. Since the kitchen/dining room/living room are all on the second floor of this house this bay window gets a ton of natural light.

Close up of bay window.

Side view of bar/dining room. Not much else to say about that. Old Deployment chain (that I took down today)

My china hutch in my dining room. I love this piece. I have a things for dark wood & black together.

Computer desk in dining room. Classy huh. I love my Bahrain Camel! I think that was one of the best things we bought over there. Lol.

And now....pictures of our kitchens past.

South Carolina. Liked it. Hated that the washer/dryer were in there as well. Nothing like baking brownies and switching the laundry at the same time

New York. Loved it. It was so big and had tons of space. That is our (old) table in there. I miss that kitchen. It makes the one I have now seem like a closet.

There he goes. There he goes again.....

Justin left again today. I don't know for sure how long he's going to be gone this time, which makes it even harder (but I should add that he won't be gone for months this time...just weeks....I just don't know how many). So today Briana, the kids and I all got ready to head out and watch them float into the ocean. We went to base and watched them get tugged up, got S*bucks then headed down to Avery Point to watch them go by. It always makes it easier for me to see them leave because then I'm not stuck wondering if they are still down at the pier. Here are a few of the pictures I took of our adventure today.

Briana. She got poo'd on.

Kids playing in the sand.

Me & all of them! We love random self pictures.

Watching the sub go by. If you look close you can see the sub in the background.

The kids having meltdowns. No idea if it had to do with their dads leaving or not.

erererrrrrrrrrr

I'm so tried! Justin got home really late last night so we ended up staying up even later. He hasn't been home since 4am Monday so it was great seeing him even if it was only for a few hours. He has been working his tail off, and while I love that he loves his job, I miss him at home. We have had a long few weeks with him getting home so late. But he's doing his job and it is what he signed up for....blah blah blah I can say that but you can't.

On that note. Military wives don't you hate it when you're sad that your husband is gone and all people can say to you is that you chose this life? We chose for him to protect the country not to work everyday until midnight then leave for 7 months, but thanks, I can still be sad. Next time someone complains about their job/life/husband how would it be if I told them to stop complaining because they chose that life? Not fair? You're right it's not so please don't say it to me.

End rant.