Sunday Morning

Happy Sunday Morning!

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend,

after Jesse got off work friday we went and upgraded our phones

(anyone have any super cool iPhone apps I should download, let me know!)

then BBQ'd Down at the pool.

Here's a couple pictures I took:

I'm not going to lie, I like this grilling weather:)

We went to the Farmer's Market in Downtown Columbus yesterday

(or I think they like it being called "Uptown")

Then checked out a car show, smelled lots of BBQ, then went to lunch.

We came home, spent some time with the dog,

then went to a friend's house where we talked

(the guys played Call of Duty)

then had dinner.

Here's a picture I took in downtown Columbus:

Waterfall, Downtown Columbus, GA

We came home, Jesse went out to make beer at another friends house,

while I stayed home

(I need to prepare myself for commissary shopping tomorrow)

and then I was ridiculously tired...

So I was asleep by 11.

HUGE saturday night;)

I wanted to also share some things with everyone:

The group 

Wear Blue: Run to Remember

is doing something to remember the fallen on Memorial Day.

Visit THIS LINK to read more and pledge your miles.

It doesn't have to be running, it doesn't have to be far,

but it's a great way to remember our fallen soldiers this year.

From their website:

This Memorial Day, we are asking members of our worldwide community to hit the streets and run in honor of the fallen.  A long run, or short walk, the distance doesn't matter.  But we are asking members to go online and pledge miles in honor of the Fallen so that together we can create a community dedicated to honoring the ultimate sacrifice.

While Americans may pause to reflect, for many, Memorial Day represents a long 
weekend typically filled with backyard celebrations and sunshine.  For members of wear blue: run to remember, it is a day to remember each life sacrificed in a positive, 
life-affirming way.  

It is not about pledging money, it's about pledging miles so that together we can create a living memorial.  How many miles should you run?  What number is meaningful to you?

Pledge some miles!  It's a great cause!

I also wanted to share with you all I am going to do a photo-a-day May,

shown to me by Chantal @ B+C&Baby

that I'm thinking of doing for May.

I love taking pictures, so I think I'll give it a whirl...

But then again you all probably know I'm a flake when it comes to this, so we'll see.

But here is what you take photos of if you feel like doing this yourself:

So keep checking back, and feel free to keep me in line!! Haha:)

I hope everyone enjoys their sunday!

♥

Funday Monday

I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!

I was looking forward to this weekend, and I think I had too high of expectations.

Don't get me wrong, we had fun with friends, but we were supposed to have even more fun.

That is, until Jesse decided he had a project he had to work on every waking moment this weekend.

Now, I do want him to do well, so it's not like that,

I'm not being the disgruntled wife about it all, at least I get to see the guy.

I had big plans for some farmer's market action...

Fresh flowers, maybe some produce, some coffee...

Then BOOM.

The Army in all it's glory decided that it had other plans for me;)

We did have a sort of 'date night' on Friday,

I made steak and veggies for dinner, we watching some Mission Impossible

(The first movie.  Can you believe that movie was released in the late 90's? I feel old)

We did watch the 2nd movie,

{Saturday}

If you get the chance to watch that movie {or watch it again}

Don't.

It's not that good.

We didn't have the 3rd movie, so we watched the 4th.

I thought it was pretty good, I would buy it.

And I would like to see a 5th, too.

But other than the Mission Impossible movies and Jesse's projects, we really didn't do a lot.

We went to a friends for dinner last night which was nice.

I also made some cupcakes, I'll have to share recipes.

I have a fabulous strawberry cupcake recipe that is great for spring!

Reminds me of a little angel food cake with strawberry frosting...

Good stuff.

I hope everyone has a great week, hopefully after this upcoming weekend I will have some more exciting things to talk about!

And hopefully you'll hear from me before next monday.

♥

Cupcakes & Weekend Fun

So, here is the big 'unveil' of the cupcakes that I made on Friday:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes

Now, if you're interested in making these cupcakes, this is where I found the recipe.

You could also do whatever you want to do -

make your favorite cookie dough and pair with your favorite chocolate cupcake recipe, you probably could do that.

The recipe given is slightly less time consuming, and is probably considered by Martha Stewart as

cheating.

I don't have anything against cheating (at least when it comes to these cupcakes), because, well...

I cheated.

I am going to say that these are one of the best cupcake recipes that I've made.

Other favorites are some by Martha Stewart, which tends to be my go-to cupcake book.

So other than cupcakes our weekend was full of BBQ's, banjos, friends, food & drinks.

We also had some time to do some organizing in our office

(which tends to be our go-to clutter room)

some chores, and Stryker time.

Yes, Stryker time does matter...Spuz I love but he doesn't really care for me much so I'm good.

Stryker & I

Overall it was a fun weekend since we got to spend some time with some friends of ours we really haven't gotten to spend a lot of time with...

And got to meet some new people, which is always fun when you're in a location

with lots of people who have the same job as your husband.

It's nice to be able to relate.

Today I'm going to try and get some stuff done around the house, and call my mom...

Three hour time differences can be killer.

I hope everyone has a great monday! ♥

TGIF

Thank goodness it's friday.

I was thinking today, how much changes in a week.

Sunday of last week, our good friends who are a family of four

moved to Fort Bragg.

Tuesday of last week our friend Ashley, who was staying with us for almost 2 months,

finally got orders to join her husband in Germany.

Thursday she left for her home state.

Thursday we drive up to North Carolina to visit our friends.

Sunday we came home.

Tuesday, Ashley flew out to Germany, where she will be visiting with her husband until the big "D" comes.

Today, I'm grateful that I have these friends, I am also grateful that I've had some down time.

I wasn't supposed to have a ton of down time, I was supposed to do some FRG (Family Readiness Group, for the non-military readers)-realated training this week, but Stryker got sick again so I had to ditch those plans and take him into the doctor.  Again.

So today, Friday, I am thankful it's the weekend.

I am thankful I'm able to spend 2 whole days alone with my husband, it sure has been awhile!

I'm thankful that Stryker is feeling better,

and that Spuz is feeling normal (even though I just watched him cover his wet food with my sweatshirt...weirdo).

Today I have to take the dog out to play, go to the store, make some awesome looking amazing cupcakes (photo to follow)

attempt to go to the gym (preparation for awesome looking amazing cupcakes)

and make a class 6 stop (a convenience like store that sells liquor, wine, and beer...Again for the non-military readers).

All before we attend a BBQ with some friends of ours.

I'm not sure what the weekend will bring, but I'm looking forward to it.

I hope everyone has a fun-filled weekend.

If you're anywhere down south, you're probably having some beautiful weather...

We've been battling this 80 degree weather, it's been tough;)

Happy Friday!

♥

Well Hello There!

I know that I have neglected this blog, so again I will try and be better.

I haven't updated this bad boy since January, so let me play a little bit of catch-up for you all...

January

Jesse got rims for Big Black. 

Jesse & I celebrated my birthday at home.

We celebrated this little girl, Sophia's birthday.

We ate these super cute cupcakes.

We celebrated my birthday with friends.

We ate this chocolate & caramel cake. YUM.

We spent time with some of the best people ever.

February

We said goodbye to some friends... 

Well, sorta.

The guys watched the Superbowl...

And we socialized of course;)

We had French toast on the weekend for Valentine's Day.

We had a good Valentine's Day dinner.

We had a good ol' time for Stryker's birthday.

Jesse & I were farewelled from his unit.

March

We celebrated Ashley's birthday at home...

And out;)

We celebrated Renee's birthday...

Ashley & I traveled to Indiana...

And to Ohio.

We BBQ'd a LOT. 

We swam....a LOT.

We celebrated St. Patrick's day...

We celebrated Levi's birthday

We put bunny ears on pugs.

And they loved us for it.

We jumped around a lot.

We let little girls take pictures of us.

We ate blackberry cobbler & ice cream.

April

We went to North Carolina for Easter : )

We also said goodbye to some wonderful friends this month, our friend the Pippy's have moved on to the next chapter, and our friend Ashley finally made her way to Germany.

Hopefully in the upcoming months we will have a trip to Savannah, get a new car {more to come on that one}, see more friends, BBQ some more, my parents will come visit, we're going to Florida, and we {or myself} will be making a trip back up to the midwest again.

So basically, lots more stories and pictures to come!

Also, if you have a Droid or iPhone, download Instagram!  I am on there now, so you can follow me @marissamcadam : )

Have a great week all & happy hump day!

♥

Happy {Belated} New Year!

I hope everyone has gotten back into a good groove,

with school and/or work.

It's hard to get back to the day-to-day grind, especially after a long break like Christmas.

Even I have a difficult time getting back to the normal...Even though I'm not returning to school or work.

Of course when my husband returned to work,

and of course I got sick right after.

It knocked me out for just about a week...Even though I wasn't sick with the flu really.

Just a headache along with some stiffness in my neck and back.

Maybe a little nasal stuff.

And a fever {but not for the full week}.

Anyway, I wanted to give a little recap of New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

New Year's Eve Dinner!  Jesse had steak and I had lobster.
He made it and we had mashed potatoes, broccoli, caesar salad, and rolls.
Mmmm....Making myself hungry.

Dessert was a chocolate souffle {yes, I made that}.

Jesse & I on New Year's Day.  We didn't go to bed until 5 AM....I definitely didn't think we'd stay out that late!

We wish you all a blessed New Year!

♥

Christmas Recap

I hope everyone had a great Christmas leave and/or vacation,

and safe travels back home if you did any traveling.

Here are some of the highlights from Christmas Eve & Christmas Day.

We had a little shindig at our house, with our Christmas sweaters.

I had to get a photo with Stryker : )

Us on Christmas Eve.

Only a portion of our food from Christmas Eve.

Santa's treats.

Red velvet+cheesecake=amazingness.
If you follow me on Pinterest I pinned this...
Check it out.  It was good, and the red velvet wasn't dry!

Whiskey Sours....Complete with maraschino cherries!

Stryker & me on Christmas eve.  He's obviously trying to steal my thunder!

A family photo of the boys...Obviously there was a lot of cooperation.

"Look, I'm panting just like Stryker!"

Christmas day with Stryker & {one of} his new toys.

I believe that I had a mimosa and Jesse had orange juice.

Breakfast quiche, yummy!

He was happy to have his spot back under the tree.

Do I need to explain?

Spuz and his new gift from grandma & grandpa.

Jesse's reaction when he opened Stryker's gift.  His reaction was priceless, I'm glad I was able to capture it!

He thought it was pretty funny.
Stryker seemed to like his pillow pet, which I'm told is a tyrannosaurus rex. 

Play time!

Life is hard for our pooch.

And our cat : )

I will post more about our leave at a later time, I hope that starting this blog post is starting the new year   in a good way.

I can't believe that it's all over!

Have a great week,

♥