Firecracker Firecracker

Boom Boom Boom

Firecracker Firecracker

Boom Boom Boom

Boys got the muscles

Teachers got the brains

Girls got the sexy legs

And we win the game!

*crickets* And that my friends is how I earned my nickname Firecracker in elementary school. My friend Natasha’s mom called me Firecracker or Popcorn anytime she could! Oh, am I the only one that remembers old lame cheers? Moving along.

Firecrackers are a deliciously wonderful snack that I picked up while managing a very large building in downtown Birmingham when I first moved here. A very sweet lady that worked on the 7th floor was kind enough to share her recipe with me after she had given some to our office for Christmas. These are soooooo easy to make and last all week to snack on. They would probably last even longer than a week if we had any control around these things!

What you need:

1 box of Saltine crackers (you will need all 4 sleeves)

1 and 1/2 cups of olive oil (or any oil, I prefer EVOO)

3 Tablespoons of crushed red pepper flakes

1 packet of Hidden Valley ranch seasoning (yes Hidden Valley, it is the only kind of ranch, the rest are imposters ok! I made this up, any would work…but why settle?)

A gallon size zip lock bag and a large Tupperware with a lid

What you do:

Place the oil, red pepper flakes and ranch seasoning in the zip lock bag, zip and shake it like a polaroid picture!

Now open and start putting your crackers in. I know….you are looking at the bag and thinking this whole box isn’t going to fit in here. But I promise it does, every. single. time.

One more sleeve to go, I promise there is room!

See!

Now you are going to leave the bag lay on the counter, and you flip it every 15 minutes for an hour. I use my microwave timer to remind me. I literally turn this thing upside down, right side up and on both sides. You want that seasoned oil to soak into every last cracker and share the love!

Once your hour is up, place those babies it a container with a lid! Beautiful!

Enjoy these babies all week and you can thank me later. Just don’t blame me when you become addicted and need counseling to stop!

I would like to note that you want them to sit a little while after you place them in the container and let the oil soak in and dry some. Of course, I am impatient and start eating them immediately, but they always taste best after they have sat for awhile. If you are making these for game day, I would make them the night before or first thing that morning. You don’t have to worry about having them out all day, so they would even be great for tailgating!

These are sure to be a BANG with the crowd! (See what I did there? lame)

Linking up with Jessica and Ashley.

Good Morning. I cant believe it is Monday already! This weekend was pretty eventful.

Friday evening we went to Guitar Center to pick up 2 new vinyl scratch live records for the turn tables and then off to search for Halloween costumes. I HATE the way all Halloween costumes fit. I mean, they are charging anywhere for $29.99 – $89.99 per outfit…cant they make them a little flattering? They only person they look good on is someone who is a size 2. I got frustrated and just got cat ears, a collar and tail to wear with a leopard print dress that I had at home. Chris chose a “Pete the Plumber” costume that we were going to make an “m” sticker for the hat so he could be Mario.

Saturday morning we got up and ordered breakfast from crazy horse. We watched some TV and then decided to try on our costumes. Chris didn’t like the Mario suspenders, said they were uncomfortable. I wasn’t a huge fan of my outfit either. We went to Walmart and Chris got a Batman tshirt and I decided I was going to wear his Mario costume since he wasn’t. It was better than my “cat” outfit. Our friend Amanda came down from Huntsville this weekend for the party, so she was at our house when we got back. We made lunch and hung around for a little bit then it was time to get ready! We needed to go the party early so we could set up the lights and all of Chris’s equipment. The party was a blast! I didn’t have a single adult beverage all night, I kept it real with some DDP (Diet Dr Pepper) and a Starbucks light vanilla double espresso energy drink. Because you need one when you are up until almost 5:00am when you are 30. I honestly do not know how there were still people dancing at 3:00 am, but there were and so Chris continued to play until no one had any more dancing to give. Here is  a photo dump of the night.

The party was crazy insane. There were SOOOO many people there. The house looked amazing, as always. Those girls really know how to throw a party! At the end of the night the place was completely trashed, and I hate to think how much clean up it will take! I think an amazing time was had by all. Epic Halloween!

Sunday – We slept in (past 7:00am) for the first time in FOREVER. We got up and got going, and went to lunch with Amanda. She had to leave to go back to Huntsville after lunch and Chris and I did some grocery shopping and caught up on some TV shows in the afternoon. Since we had such a big lunch, we skipped out on dinner and just had a little snack.

It was a great weekend and went by way to fast! Don’t they always?

Well hellllooooooo Friday! It is about damn time you showed up. I was about ready to throw in the towel. This week has been crazy busy at work! I haven’t left the office all week and have been lucky to get 20-30 minutes in for lunch. To say I am ready for the weekend is an understatement. Enough of that, let’s talk about five things that make me happy!

1. Diggity Dogs – I mean seriously, look at this guy! He chilled on my lap and insisted that I constantly pet him for an hour. Don’t let his fur full you, he is in fact not homeless.

2. The Halloween Party is this weekend! I may not have a costume yet. Oops. Oh well, it would still be fun even if I didn’t. I am sure I will pull something out of my ass find something.

3. TV – I plan to catch up on some TV Sunday afternoon! We have so many great shows we haven’t watched yet this week! Am I the only one who was totally disappointed with the PLL Halloween Special? It was so stupid. We already knew that Ali was alive and that Ezra might be A. They answered NOTHING and the girls just chased Ali around all night like every other episode. I love the show, but I am getting tired of the same shit every episode! I guess that’s what happens when you watch shows that are meant for teenagers!

4. I know that it isn’t quite Halloween yet, but I am ready for Christmas decor!!! I just love the Christmas season so much!!

5. This

Happy Friday everyone!!!!

A year ago today I started this little blog. I had been reading some blogs I found on Pinterest for awhile and really enjoyed it. I thought, what a great idea! You can blog about your life then you have somewhat of a journal to look back on. Plus, I would see people commenting on those blogs. Leaving inspirational messages, encouragement, funny little lines. I wanted to connect with people too! I might not have 100’s of followers or be famous in blog land or make money from this blog, but I have connected with some amazing people and I am truly grateful for that.

I started this blog on a whim hoping it might be a little fun to document my life happenings, and it has turned into my favorite hobby. What better of a time to really invest in my blog and have my own domain and host my own site. The changeover is a present to myself for sticking with a hobby, faithfully, for a year! I even have my own email address associated with my domain all thanks to my wonderful husband!

Looking back over the last year, while learning some of the ins and outs of blogging, I have decided that blog land is an incredible place! People that you don’t even know are pouring their hearts out on the interweb for the whole world to see. Sharing their daily lives, admitting their struggles, their weaknesses, their fears. Sharing their weight loss journeys, their fitness woes, their marriage, their kids. It is quite amazing. Those that are not inside our world could never understand some of the goings on that we encounter on the daily. We get to interact with people every day that we probably would have never met had we not been blogging. And when you think about it, we are all a little weird, aren’t we? Maybe that is what draws us all to each other.

I have gained great connections with people, new recipes to try, make up tips, outfit envy, and an appreciation for things I might not have given a try had I not read it somewhere on someones blog. So thank you blog land for giving me a hobby. Somewhere to show up and talk and listen. Thanks for sticking around for the last year, and cheers to another!

Leave me a comment with your favorite thing about blogging and the best thing you have learned or gained since you started!

Halloween has never really been my favorite holiday. I enjoyed it as a child when we got to dress up and do parades at school, but going around to strangers houses scared the shit out of me! There were always a few people’s houses that we would visit where scary things happened. People would hide and scare you when you walked to the door. Creepy music would play. A hand would grab you when you went inside the bowl to get candy.  I didn’t like it! As I got older, Halloween got lamer and lamer.

The last two years have been different. Chris has been asked to DJ at our friends HUGE annual Halloween Party. Each year there is usually some type of theme, and all the food and drinks are of course spook related. Last year there were glowing eye balls in mason jars with some type of alcohol concoction. Both years there have been glow in the dark jello shots and other fun drinks. There are mummy dogs and other spooky treats. It is amazing to see how much work the girls put in to this party leading up to the big day…even more amazing the clean up that has to take place after! There has to be about 10 pounds of glitter and confetti thrown throughout the house. I know I find it in my shoes and car for weeks just having been there!

Chris is usually set up in the old gym/ballet studio on the upper floor of this house. It has wooden floors and floor to ceiling mirrors. The windows are blacked out, and black lights replace the regular lights in there. There are usually huge glow in the dark spider webs and other décor in the room. The first year we went it was disco themed and there were disco balls. This years theme is The Nightmare Before Christmas. I cant wait to see how it all looks!

There is usually a karaoke lounge room on the first floor of the party, and a pool area outside. They mentioned that there would be fire dancers out by the pool this year…um…awesome!

Anyways, the first year I went as an angle and Chris was a doctor. He was prescribing the right kind of dance music all night! (See what I did there?!) I am lame.

Last year I was a witch and Chris was a Star Trek character with Kanye West glasses. You can see the awesomeness in this picture!

And that my friends is how you throw a Halloween party! I cant wait to recap this years!

Linking up with Helene and Sarah for all things Halloween today!