Lets Party Y'all!

Oh my.

It has been an EXTREMELY busy month. And we aren't even half way through.

However, no complaints here. 

I'm extremely blessed with a busy & interesting life.

A little bit of a recap--

May 25th weekend was Albany's graduation, my 5 year class party, and engagement parties for my dear friends Cache & Kathryn, and Lauren Jo & Collin.

For the most part, everyone in my graduating class were very close. 

Most of us have grown up together, and known each other since Pre-school. 

So we just couldn't see waiting until our 10 year class reunion to get everybody together. 

So we decided to have a BBQ at the Shack's house. 

I cooked some Macaroni & Cheese, made some delicious Jalapeno poppers, 

and some home-made hot sauce! 

We spent the night catching up, eating, swimming and
might have been guilty of doing a little bit of dancing. 

It was so nice to see all of my old friends that I don't get to see very often.

Cache & Kathryn

I have spent my ENTIRE life fighting, yelling, laughing and loving (as a friend) Cache Tankersley. 

He is one of those guys that I would consider my brother. 

From year to year, we went to stock shows,
danced, laughed and cried together. 

This weekend, he married a wonderful, fun-loving woman. 

From the moment I met Kathryn I didn't understand what she saw in him. 

He is a crazy, loud, sometimes obnoxious boy
that doesn't give 2 craps what he says or does...

And here he is introducing us to Kathryn;
 a classy, well-mannered girl. 

But as I spent more time with the two, I could tell they were perfect for each other.

Their engagement party was in Albany at Cache's parents house. 

It was a night full of food, beer, great friends, great music, and dancing! 

Those are definitely my kind of nights. 

I danced my little feet off, and by the time I got home (at 4 a.m.) I figured I could sleep for days. 

On Saturday, June 9th, they were married in San Angelo. 

I don't usually cry at weddings... 

Oh wait, yes I do... 

And at this one, I cried like a little baby. 

We arrived at the church an hour early, and Cache was outside taking pictures. 

From that moment, I knew it was going to be hard. I started crying in the car. 

I cried when Cache Ushered his mom down the isle, 

I cried when he got to the front with the preacher, 

I cried when Kathryn started walking down the isle,

I cried when they read their personal vows to each other while music played so no one could hear them, 

and I cried when he wiped the tears off of Kathryns face...

Yes I am a cry-er... 

BUT--- Happy tears they were!

We made our way to the San Angelo Country Club and had a great time at the reception.

Kathryn & Trent, Cache's Dad

Cache & His sweet mom Piper

These are my absolutely ADORABLE parents!! I just love them so much!

Some of my closest friends... Well they are more like family!

Cache & Kathryn-
 I am so truly happy for you both. 

I wish you both a life full of happiness & blessings!

Lauren Jo & Collin's engagement party-

I met Lauren Jo about
5 years ago.






Talk about amazing girl.
She is such a blast to be around!

Along with about 15 other of her closest friends & family members, 

we BBQ-ed, drank, and played games until the wee hours of the morning.

Collin is finishing up his residency in the glamorous New York City,
so Lauren moved to NYC.

I don't get to see her often, but when I do it is just fabulous! I can't wait until their wedding... It will be so great!

When 1:00 a.m. rolled around, we decided we needed to spice up the party a bit.

So we all did a little bit of dressing up...

We started dancing and things got crazy.

ALSO---

I FINALLYYY bought my new camera!!

 I am still working on learning all of the little functions, but I can finally start pursuing photography! 

So y'all help me out and spread the word :) 

I've posted pictures from the events, so y'all will hopefully be somewhat entertained!

I'm sorry I don't have any recipes in this post,
but I promise the next one will have something special! 

This weekend I will be traveling to Gruene, Texas
to celebrate with my dear friend Liz.

 She will be marrying her best friend on July 7th
and this weekend is the bachelorette party. 

There will be plenty of fun to be had,
but Pray forthe poor people of Gruene...

 They don't know what is about to hit them. 

I hope you have found something that you will come back for.

Until next time my friends,

What a Sweet Weekend!

Hey y'all!

First of all, I hope you all had a Blessed weekend and spent it loving on your mothers and making it known how much you appreciate them.

I am blessed with the most AMAZING mother anyone could ever dream of.
Everything I am is because of her.
She is always concerned about what she can do to help other people out,
and always puts her needs last.
I hope that I can be half the mother to my kids as she has been to me. 

I am blessed with an amazing grandmother as well.
For those of you who don't know, my "Oma" was born and raised in Germany.
She had a difficult childhood, losing her father, then mother, with 6 brothers and sisters.
She moved to the United States to marry my grandfather and start a new life.
She has taught me so much I will forever be grateful to what I have learned from her. 

I have a pretty amazing sister as well... She sometimes acts like my mother, 

so I need to tell her Happy Mothers day too. I love you sis (:

My Sister Joanie, My Amazing Mother, Myself, and My Sweet Oma

My Mom, and Awesome God-Mother

 Last, is my Godmother, Sabrina. She is a lifelong friend of my mom and dad, and the most fun person I know. Sometimes I think I'm her daughter because we have so much in common! 

On Sunday afternoon, we had a weenie-roast as our Mother's day dinner.
My Parents, Grandparents, Sister & Brother-in-law, Aunt, Uncle,
and Cousin all came over to eat dinner.
I was in charge of most of the meal because I didn't want my mom to
do much since, after all, it was her day. 

2 of the things I made were:
 homemade salsa and the B-E-S-T made from scratch Brownies in the world!
Anytime I go to someone's house for a cookout or party, and I ask what I can bring,
these are the top 2 most requested!
 One friend calls me every month or so and asks me to make these brownies
because she just can't seem to get them right.

I don't want my blog to bore you with what is going on in my life,
so I'm going to share my favorite recipes, crafts, music, movies etc. with you,
and make reading this blog worthwhile! 

Laci's Brownies

You will need:

2 cups of granulated sugar

2 sticks of butter (works best if room temperature)

4 eggs

1 cup of flour

8 heaping TEAspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon of vanilla (I like to use Mexican Vanilla)

pinch of salt

dash of cinnamon or nutmeg (Optional)

3/4 cup of pecans (Optional)

To start off, you need to pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 inch baking pan.

Cream your 2 sticks of butter and 2 cups of sugar together until well mixed.

Next, add your eggs one at a time. Make sure you don't overbeat... It will dry out your brownies.

Before you add your flour and cocoa, you need to sift it together.
If you decide you want to add the cinnamon or nutmeg, you will put it in with the cocoa and flour.
I like to have that extra little spice in there.

My mom has a fancy battery-powered sifter, but I prefer to do it the old fashioned way!

After you've sifted your dry ingredients, you can add them to the butter, sugar and egg mixture.

I always like to add it a little at a time,
that way it will get mixed well and you won't have to mix it as long.

Once again don't over-mix... Unless you like your brownies dry and cakey!!

Next you can add your vanilla and pinch of salt! 

(I always like to add an extra splash of vanilla... It just makes them taste SO good!)

Its time for the nuts.

 Now in my family, we always have to have 2 pans of brownies. 

My mom, and Dad like their brownies with pecans, 

but my Papa will not even look at them if there are pecans in them.

 He claims they are ruined. So they are totally optional!

Also, I like to stir in the pecans by hand. That way, you don't risk over-mixing the batter!

Now you can pour your batter into your greased baking dish.

I dare you not to lick the bowl :)

And You are going to bake them on 350 for ~25 minutes...

This is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT!!! 

I'm going to sound like a broken record, but in order for these brownies to be the best you've ever had, you need to make sure you DO NOT over bake them. 

I always like to set my timer for 20 minutes, check them, and add more time if needed. 

You want them to still be a tad bit jiggly when you pull them out of the oven. 

They are so moist it is ridiculously delicious!! 

Taaa Daaa!!!

Now for the Salsa.

It is so fresh and tasty (:

You will need:

2 cans of Whole Peeled Tomatoes

2 cans of Rotel

4-6 Jalapenos (depending on what kind of heat you like)

(Stems & Seeds removed and Sliced)

2-4 cloves of Garlic (I LOVE Garlic!)

A bunch of Cilantro 

A dash of Tabasco

2 Tablespoons of Dried Onion Flakes

1 Tablespoon of Garlic Salt

Drain the Juice out of both cans of the Whole Tomatoes.

Put them in the blender and pulse for a few seconds.

Add the Jalapenos and garlic cloves.

Pulse a few more seconds.

Add the leaves of the Cilantro and 1 can of drained rotel.

(I usually just chop the cilantro right above the twisty-tie and throw it all in!)

(after you add the cilantro you might want to stir it into the pulsed tomatoes before you pulse it)

Pulse until the cilantro has been blended into the tomato mixture.

Pour your hot sauce into a bowl, and add:

Tabasco

Onion Flakes

Garlic Salt

Remaining can of Rotel (Make sure you drain the Juices real well)

As hard as it is to resist, I like to refrigerate my hot sauce for at least 3 hours before I dig in.

This gives it a chance for all of the flavors to mix together and gives the salsa a intense flavor!

If you try these recipes I ask that you PRETTY PLEASE let me know what you think! 

And if you have any questions I'd be more than happy to answer them!

I hope you enjoyed this post, as much as I enjoyed writing it,

and I hope that you've found something that you will come back for.

Until then,

Here we go!

Hey Y'all. 

I've been debating on starting a blog for a while and I have finally decided to go for it, 

because I think the Lord has blessed me with too much not to share!

My passions are: 

Family, Friends, being outside, good music, road-trips, big jewelry, cute clothes, things that sparkle, Gypsy Soule, baking & cooking, BBQ-ing, Crafting, Photography, finding that true-passionate love, Faith in my Wonderful Creator, and of course the TEXAS RANGERS.

I am Blessed with an INCREDIBLE FAMILY and amazing friends.

I am a very random person, but I consider that a blessing. I never have a dull moment, and it keeps people around me on their toes.  So with that being said, I hope this blog keeps you entertained, on YOUR toes, and always wanting to know more!

I try my hardest to make people around me happy, and strive to make them laugh. 

Laughter is the BEST medicine.

I am a creator, and I absolutely LOVE to paint, sew, design and craft. 

I love to sing, even though I'm not really good at it; and I'm a complete music junkie. 

(My current obsessions are: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, Johnny Cash and Ray LaMontagne... Random I know.)

 I honestly, truly, passionately, L-O-V-E-E-E the Texas Rangers.

I hope I haven't run you off. I know this was a lengthy first post, but I figured it was fair to go ahead and lay it all out on the line. 

The last thing I want to say is I have the heart of a gypsy (not the crazy ones).

I would be perfectly happy traveling around in a turquoise airstream trailer, selling my creations, watching my Rangers and spreading the Word of God. 

I hope you have found something you will come back for...

Until then,

Stay Classy & Live Free.

Laci Jade