Spicy Chicken Soup

One of the many qualities of a true domestic diva is resourcefulness - a quality that I am currently attempting to learn and appreciate.

As of today I have been a wife for a whopping 107 days and let me tell you that my biggest frustrations all stem from budgeting. Plain and simple it has been hard to go from just looking out for myself with the money I received from my parents to using the money my husband gives me and make the most of it at the grocery store. I have found that one of the easiest ways to combine left over ingredients of any variety is to make a soup out of them. The following is a recipe for one of the many versions I make - thankfully with the cold weather months approaching I'll be able to use this trick a lot!

Here's what you're going to need:

Birthday Gift--Kittens In A Box!

My baby sister, Cathlyn just turned 15, and for her big "Driver's Permit" birthday, I decided to make her some yummy birthday treats! Cathlyn and I are BOTH Gluten Free, so I had a really fun time baking for her (because I could nibble as I worked!) Cathlyn loves our cats Button and Sundae at home, so I decided to give her a box of kittens for her birthday!

Aren't they so cute?! I was checking out facebook when I came across this picture! I LOVE baking, especially cupcakes! And thanks to the books "Hello, Cupcake" and "What's New, Cupcake?" I am able to take my baking skills to the next level!!

Preparation time: 2.5 hours

Turn your "Sick Day" into a "Me Day"

Hello everyone, well, it's almost my bedtime--yes, it's 8:30--but I don't feel well... I have a BIG TIME sinus infection... antibiotics and all... I've been to the doctor, two different pharmacies and I've called everywhere in town asking if they serve a Gluten Free tomato-basil soup. (turns out, Jason's Deli's is GF!)

When I finally got home from my mix of appointments, one class and sick day errands, I was exhausted and in need of some serious me time, but I couldn't just jump in bed because I felt gross and "germy" from being at the doctor's office... PLUS, with the winter weather setting in, I decided that my body needed some extra moisture to help fight the dry-skin battle before it gets bad. So, I decided to make my stressful and sick afternoon into an in-home spa afternoon... It was SO wonderful, I decided I would share it with all of you! After all, what kind of a Domestic Diva doesn't know how to treat herself (she's domestic, DUH!) to a little me-time?!

Here's what I did:


In-Home Keratin Treatment:

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

Here in the good ole' state of Texas we rarely get to experience all four seasons - which is something that I really miss about the Northeast. So I find it best to celebrate those seasons by using fresh, seasonal and if possible local produce. Autumn is chock-full of vibrant and nutrient-rich varieties. 

We have squash - yellow squash, zucchini, spaghetti squash, butternut squash - Yummy and unique root vegetables - celery root, parsnips, rutabagas - All of which are wonderful roasted (just toss in olive oil, salt and fresh pepper and roast at 425 for about 30-40 minutes)

But this blog post is dedicated to the versatile Fall favorite - pumpkin. 

I'm borrowing this recipe from my sweet, older sister Ko (Kristin). She is the queen of baking and is always whipping up the yummiest things even with a 3 year old and 9 month old on her hands.

Pumpkin Doughnut Muffins

Makes 12 regular or 36 mini muffins

Roommate Drama?

Thought this was cute! Figured I'd share it with you!! Enjoy!

That's Chandler's roommate, Shelly and Chandler's best friend, Pudge! How cute is he?!
Hope y'all are having a great day!
xoxo

How to Enjoy a Happier (and Healthier) Holiday Starbucks Drink...

Let's be real.

I. Love. Starbucks.

Cassie Jo and I both do. In fact, we are in there so much that we have grown to become friends with our local baristas at the Starbucks on Baylor campus. I laughingly joke (but I'm kind of serious) that I am closer friends with the Starbucks baristas than I am with many girls in my own sorority pledge class... My usual drink is a plain-jane iced coffee with some almond milk so that I can make my daily trips a little more "weight-friendly," but as the holiday season approaches, that's a little bit harder to do...

So, I took it upon myself to come up with and test out some alternative holiday drinking options! And now, I'm sharing them with you!! Please feel free to try them out and let me know if they spread the holiday cheer for you as well!!

THERE IS NO ONE LIKE MISS CHANDLER JONES...

Chandler burst into my life like a breath of fresh air—no! actually a GUST! Ever since we became friends not a day goes by when I am not thankful to God for sending her to me!!

Channy as I lovingly like to call her is one spit-fire of a girl and an expert at just about everything in her short 22 years on this Earth -- and she is certainly not afraid to let anyone she comes in contact with know it. She boldly confronts litterers, bullies, rude UT fans and in general anyone who has the nerve to be rude to someone she loves. I LOVE this about Chandler - I know this girl always has my back - SHE'S SUCH A BLESSING TO ME.

Chandler grew up in Austin, Texas and comes from an incredible and unique family - think Jones-Trapp (Von Trapp - yes I'm obsessed with The Sound of Music) they don't have seven children, but they do have five and are all talented and adorable individuals and Chandler is the eldest - making her Liesle who is by far my favorite - NO WONDER I ADORE CHAN.

All About Cassie Jo

Meet Cassie. She used to be Cassie Jo Anderson, now she's Cassie Jo Murphy, but you can call her Cass, Cass-a-frass, Cascicle, Cassparilla or C-JAM.

But enough with her nicnames.

Cassie Jo is from Pennsylvania. She comes from a WONDERFUL family in which she is the baby of three! Cassie Jo and I met during our sophomore year at Baylor, well actually, I knew who she was... You see, we lived about 10 doors down from one another... and even though we lived on the same hall in Collins dormitory freshman year... she didn't know who I was until a year later... way to pay attention, Cass! hahaha Our friendship grew as the years went on and I'm proud to say that she's one of my best friends, and I was honored to be a bridesmaid in her beautiful wedding this summer in Estes Park, Colorado.

What Are We Doing?

As we sit here listening to Frank Sinatra on vinyl and baking pumpkin doughnut muffins for Cassie Jo's life group tonight, we have now decided to actually go forward with this blog. Many people have told us that we should blog about all of our little adventures and mishaps as we are trying to figure out the secrets of life here in the wonderful Waco, Texas. So, here it is... our very own BLOG! I guess this first blog post is to show that it's actually beginning... So, to clear the air, here is an overview of what exactly our blog is about...

We are two best friends who are in this "limbo" in life. We're not students in college anymore, but we're not exactly adults either... With our semester-late graduation around the corner, we are trying to figure out how to enter into the "real world," and not only is it scary, it's hard... but it's so SO much fun. I guess the biggest reason we wanted to make this blog is because Cassie Jo and I (Chandler) are in interesting positions... Cassie is recently married to Brock, and I am seriously dating Franklin, two men who are nine years older than us! So, we have been placed on the fast-track to adulthood, yet, we are still VERY young!

Therefore, this blog exists... We want to help other young ladies who are in this same time in their lives as we are... trying to grow up, but not QUITE ready for it! Here on this blog, we will be dishing out our thoughts on everything from throwing showers to cooking dinner, to doing dishes, to surviving your first year of marriage, to dressing up for the holidays to applying to jobs to planning fun little events! Surely this will be fun to read, as we are just trying to figure out this little thing called life... oh yeah... and this other thing called being a woman... HAH!

So, hold on tight, because this is going to be a fun (and funny) ride!! Hopefully you'll enjoy reading about it as much as we enjoy living it!

-Love, Cassie Jo and Chandler

Chandler on the left and the beautiful bride, Cassie Jo on the right!