A Piece of Texas to Love

Four years ago, two Northern gals went to visit some lovely Southern belles. It was Jessica's and my first time flying without family with us, and our first trip to Texas, and the farthest we'd ever been from home.

Now Texas has become another home to us filled with love and our "adopted" Texas family and fond memories. We've been blessed with being able to visit twice now, but that first trip will always be my favorite...

One day we had a fun shopping day and we stopped in a darling quilt shop where we found these fabulous Texas state fabric panels our friends bought for us.

It's taken quite awhile, first to plan then to buy the extra fabric and sew it all together. But Jessica and I finally finished them! Our first quilts of our own! :D We both came up with original designs...mostly because we had to get creative because of the use of the panels.

Jessica's is a masterpiece!! She actually hand-embroidered all the places we visited from that first trip. Yes, by hand!  

She used a few different styles of embroidery to make it more creative. Now whenever she looks at her quilt, she can remember all those fond memories from each town we went to and all that we did.

Thrall, Taylor, Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Round Rock, Georgetown, San Antonio

She made her quilt larger than I did...she wanted to be sure she had plenty of quilt to snuggle under. ;) I just wanted a nice reading lap quilt.

~ * ~

For my own, I chose prairie-style fabrics. It matched with the red, white, and blue without having to be "patriotic" themed! ;) But I love it! It suits me perfectly. I think it also looks a bit "circus-y".

I went with Ohio star blocks, which are my favorite, to frame the center panel. Then I added some scrappy color borders all around. *bliss*

And to add to the star-charm, I quilted loops and stars all over the quilt! It turned out just as I imagined (maybe better). ;)

 

Each star block and each corner-border block got a star too!

Jessica discovered an accidental "heart" I'd quilted on mine.

Such a lovely bonus!












Since I have a little bit of a pillow addiction, I made a scrappy star block pillow to match my quilt. I reversed the colors so the Ohio star is white this time and the color surrounds it. :D And I added a bit of stitching for cuteness. {admittedly, I'm more than a little happy with this lovely pillow.}

* * *

Our friendship isn't always easy. It's filled with real girls with real emotions and each of us has our faults, but God helps us get through it all with love and grace. We miss each other a lot, and phone chats and the occasional time we get online now, keeps us close. Now we have a little piece of TX to keep close to our hearts even when we're far apart. :)

Party Time ~ Rio 2016

I had so much fun planning for the last few weeks (months) for the opening ceremonies, but of course it's always MORE fun for that awaited day to finally get here! We just had a fun family party to celebrate this colorful country of Brazil and the opening ceremonies in Rio.


The food is ready...

* Pastel de Carne beef empanadas) with Pico de gallo and sour cream

* Strawberry-Kiwi Kool-aid and Dr. Pepper

* Iced Almond Cookies in "Rio" style

*Brigadeiros (chocolate truffles) with cocoa and toasted coconut coatings (I can't believe I forgot to take a picture...but they didn't look much different from this blogger's photos). ;)

I absolutely love making these cut-out iced cookies for special events. 





 Everything was delicious! The family ate up the Pastel de Carne Rapidos. And the brigadeiros were the perfect chocolate touch to round out the meal. :D

The decorations are up...
....floating tissue paper puffs, streamers, posters, and my favorite - the 100 country flags banners (I had enough for 4 of these banners around the house!).










The day has arrived...


the countdown begins (excited screaming!)...


It's time!!! :D

*WOOOHOOOOO*







God was so good, as I knew spending money on a "party", even a small family one, is a bit of a frivolous use of our money. But I prayed, and waited, and waited some more, and in the end I had everything I'd planned for and all I had wanted...just some good food, a few decorations for fun, and my family around me. :) God provided and it was a really great night and a wonderful weekend together.

 $1 store glowstick bracelets and bead necklaces in fun colors added a nice Rio flair to our party. :)

  

 

As did these cute pineapple straws for our drinks!

We girls painted our nails, just for fun. Jessica is very artsy, and managed to spell out "Rio" and "USA" on her nails, with some Olympic gold sparkle on the side. ;)

 

My nails ended up a little crazy. lol

 

 

* * *

 I used the leftover Pico de Gallo the next day to make a Pico de Gallo Quesadilla with a little cheese and sour cream. Really tasty! :)

{Mm, I could go for another one!}

My favorite highlights of Rio so far were the magical mirrored torch lighting, the seed planting for the athlete's forest, and the men's relay last night (Go USA!)... plus the volleyball, the gymnastics so far, and wow were the cycling road races so scary!

I'm getting lot's of cross stitching and reading done during all the commercials. I hate wasting time. ;)

Are you all watching the Olympics games this year? What has been your favorite part so far?

Love and blessings all! Thanks for stopping by today.

Off to Rio!

Ola (that's hello in Brazillian!)! 

Anyone who knows me well knows I'm a HUGE Olympics fanatic. How other people are around football season is how I am during the Olympics, especially the summer games. I LOVE it!

The opening ceremonies are on friday! EEk! I am SO excited! I love the color, the lights, the patriotism, and it's always a great family time for us. I always enjoy finding some recipes to show some host-country spirit, too, which is a lot of fun.

I thought it'd be fun to share some of the crafts and recipe ideas for Rio that I've found with all of you. There's still time to bring a little bit of Brazil to your homes before the opening ceremonies! ;)


Menu:

Pastel de Carne (Fried Beef Empanadas)  - Jessica and I are making these, but we're adding a slight mexican twist with some Pico de Gallo on the side for dipping instead of the ketchup. This woman's blog is fantastic if you're looking for Brazillian recipes. I learned so much about Brazil from her articles! :D

Brigadeiros (Brazillian Chocolate Truffles) - You HAVE to have some chocolate, right? ;) These look so easy, and I've made something like them before. We'll coat some in cocoa, some in sprinkles, and some in coconut...this last which is a Brazillian tradition.


And I will probably try this recipe one day for lunch, just for fun. Canja is a national food, kind of like our American version of chicken noodle soup. ;) The blogger said they have resturants where they serve soup in the evenings - only soup and bread...nothing else! :D I love soup, so this Brazillian favorite is a must try.


If you're interested, I also found these recipes I might try another time:

Limeade

Galinhada Mineira (Saffron Rice with Chicken and Vegetables)

Decorations:

For decorations mom and I printed out some posters to tape up around the house. And I found some wonderful tutorials (thanks Pinterest!) for garland.

And I found this fun banner with mini flags from 100 countries you can print/cut and make into a banner. This is going in our living room above the tv area where we can see it while we cheer on our favorite Olympians! :D

Jessica and I did some shopping at the dollar store, and found some party items like pineapple straws, more streamers, and some fun tissue paper hanging flower-balls to hang from the ceiling. Oh, and glow stick bracelets and colorful bead neckalces, so we'll fit in with the Brazillian's.

I have a Pin-Board set up on Pinterest if you'd like to see some of my favorite Olympic moments, recipes, and decoration idea's I've found so far! :D {There are some wonderful younger children's crafts if you have little ones at your house. My mom always incorporated the Olympics into our homeschool - it's a great way to learn about other countries!}

Thank you for visiting!
Ate logo! (that's goodbye) ;)

Lazy Day Sugar Cookie Bars

You know that craving for something sweet you get, but there are never the right ingredients around? 

These sugar cookie bars are so super easy – just mix and pour into a pan! You could even add your own extra ingredients before or after baking (sprinkles, M&M's, nuts, or sprinkle some cinnamon-sugar over the top before baking, etc.). 

I made a cake for my mom's library book club… 

they were reading the Cherry Cola Book Club.

See? So cute, right? I love cherries. ;)

But I had all this leftover frosting and no more cake to use it on (such a tragedy). Jessica and I had this brilliant idea to bake up some sugar cookie bars and have some fun frosting them. SO tasty, and fun to create your own little designs (great for practice of your cake decorating techniques, too). :D

Sugar Cookie Bars

adapted fromMy Baking Addiction

• ½ cup butter or margarine, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla (you could use almond extract here, or half almond/half vanilla if desired)
• 2-1/2 cups all purpose flour
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp baking soda

Cream together the butter and sugar; add eggs and mix till combined. Add vanilla extract, mix well. In a separate bowl, whisk together the all purpose flour, salt, baking soda. Add to butter mixture and stir just until combined. Spread cookie dough into a lightly greased 7-1/2 x 11-inch baking pan. Bake at 375 degrees F. for 14-16 minutes, or until light golden brown and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely before frosting.

Almond Buttercream

• 1 pound (2 cups unsifted) powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup shortening
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/8 tsp pure almond extract (or vanilla, if desired)
• food coloring (I use wilton's)

Sift powdered sugar into a large mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mix together with the paddle attachment {pulse a few times first, so as not to get too much powdered sugar on yourself!}. Mix for a few minutes until the shortening and all ingredients are well incorporated together and frosting is fluffy. Divide frosting into bowls and add food coloring; frost or fill icing bags and begin decorating!

Since we were using leftover frosting, we cut the bars and frosted individual bars when ready to eat.

These would be great for the holiday's, school lunch boxes, next-door neighbor gifts, any time really! ;D I hope you'll make some of these soon. You really should!

To Texas We Go {Again}!

 

Our sweet friends Sarah and Rose gifted us a trip to visit them in central Texas recently in September and we had so much fun just being together after three years apart. :)


Jessica and I enjoyed our flight and Jess had fun taking pictures of all the clouds from the plane (last time it was too thick of clouds to get good pictures).

Texas is a second home to us, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of seeing the land again. It's so welcoming, and big, and wide-open compared to the busy city area's up north.





 We enjoyed catching up with Sarah and Rose {and our Texas Mom} at Chili's. Jessica and I shared the baked potato soup I'd been dreaming of since the last visit, and a plate of assorted taco fixings. Yummy!

Running errands and on the hour drive to their house we were covered by not just one, but TWO beautiful rainbows of promise. It was as if all of creation wanted us to feel at home and welcomed to Texas! :D

 This trip was mainly about spending time doing normal things together: living so far away from one another, we can't hang out or go on a sporadic shopping trip, or help each other with little projects, or even meet the other people in our lives (you know, besides our family). ;) Last visit we traveled all over Texas from Fort Worth down to San Antonio and it was a blast, but this one felt more personal and special to see what Sarah and Rose do every day and see the things they talk about on the phone.

Taking walks on the dirt road, sewing and beading, playing games and watching the new Cinderella and Beyond the Mask, laughing, talking, spa nights...treasured moments.

This visit we volunteered at a few of the Holman's regular ministries. The first was Shephard's Heart, a ministry offering free food to families in need that the Holman's have been involved in for a number of years now.

The bags are made up the day before and placed on large carts to hand out. We arrived early on Saturday and sorted out all the boxes of fresh fruits, vegetables, and bread items, then they are set out on tables. Jessica was able to help sort and lift and carry - she was a big help! I have carpal tunnel, so they made sure I didn't lift anything heavy (but I snuck in and helped when they weren't looking where I could). ;) The second time I was able to help check people in at the computers with Rose and Sarah!

The second ministry we volunteered at was the Austin Disaster Relief Center and Thrift Store [top and bottom right photos]. I could finally put my OCD skills to good work - AhHa! Jessica and I worked about 3 hours each week organizing, sorting, labeling and relabeling. Then we'd sit in the back (reading and using the Wifi) where there is a big warehouse for storing the clothes, and offices for the call center and employees. I think I found my calling in that thrift store. ;) lol.

~ * ~

We met lot's of people this trip! Texas is such a friendly state that you feel at home and welcomed by everyone you meet with. Of course this gave us plenty of opportunities to let go of our "northern "coldness" and be friendly ourselves!

One of the day's Sarah's writing group from Waco, Tx drove down to spend the  afternoon with us. We ate lunch and delicious chocolate cupcakes and pink lemonade. Then we chatted and filled up water balloons and had a water balloon fight!!

All the girls are writer's in some form. Not all are published, but they enjoy books and the passion of writing down their stories. Kelsey's stories are the only books of whose I'd read before (and it's absolutely lovely!).

 

The Waco Contingent, The Holman's, and Us!

It was such fun to meet such godly young women with various likes and things that make them each unique. 

The Holman's introduced us to their new friends and adopted brothers, the Larkin's{Left to right: Michael, Scott, Ian, and Drew}. Ian, the oldest, had volunteered and visited at the house a couple times, but we hadn't met the others so we met up first at Walmart and talked in front of the ice... ;) And then we moved to Dunkin Donuts and stayed out late talking (and eating donuts of course). They are such fun and made Jessica and I miss our two brothers just a little more. :) Scott (the one photo bombing in the back) works at Chick-fil-A just like our brother Nathan, so it was fun to swap a few stories.

The best part was meeting up with longtime friend Emily and her mother. We were able to spend a week with the last visit and I was so happy they could come spend time with us again. We met up at Schlotzky's (they

 have the BEST sandwiches!). It was wonderful to catch up and visit together again.

* * * * *

A day at the Texas Capitol!! We really looked forward to visiting at the Texas capitol again. It's such a beautiful building, and it's a perfect spot for picture taking! ;)

Sarah photo-bombing our sister shot. ;)

It's amazing all the detailing that was put into the Capitol building. Stars are everywhere you look, and there are even details on the elevator doors, windows, floors, and the door HINGES!! :O When asked, our friends said, "Why not? It's Texas." ;) If you've not heard, they have a lot of state pride. *cough* ;)

Senator Larry Gonzales gave us a private tour! 

AND, we were able to go out on the house floor...so neat!

Meet Pablo and Antonio...our pet longhorns. ;) 

I had one last visit and Jessica bought one this visit.

~ * ~

It's always nice to have some great friendship pictures, so Mikayla sweetly took these pictures for us (though I think she had fun using our Nikon camera, so that helped). ;) She's a great little photographer - thanks KK, you're the best!

{Laughter}

As much fun as it was to visit our dear friends/sisters, it has been great to be home again. :) It was a wonderful trip full of wonderful memories of being together.

Thank you Sarah & Rose!

*All pictures were taken by Jessica P. and Mikayla H. 

Please do not copy.