New Day..

Today is a new day. I am always so glad to wake up in the morning and know that it is a new day.. a fresh start. I didn't really have a bad day yesterday, but I'm just glad it is a new day today. Today is an especially exciting day, because Janice will be here this afternoon!! She is my bestest best friend, and she moved to Idaho 3 years ago. I'm so excited to finally get to see her. We have a fun week planned, but I am sure it will go by so fast. Tomorrow night we're all getting together for dinner at PF Chang's.. yummy!! On Thursday I am off work so I can spend the day with her. I'm not sure yet what we'll do. It will include a visit to Starbucks, for sure. Maybe even Target, for old time's sake! LOL! I'm just so excited to see her. On Friday I have to work as normal, but Saturday is our dear friend's wedding, and then that night Janie is spending the night with me, and we're going to church in the morning, and lunch with her brother-in-law, who also happens to be a good friend of mine. So, it should be a fun week.

We are in total countdown to summer mode. My kids are sooo ready to be done with school! I can't believe they have just a few weeks left! This school year went by so fast! It seems like they always do. I can't believe Terrell will be starting his last year of middle school in August! That doesn't seem possible, or fair! And, to make matters worse.. my BABY will be starting middle school. Just shoot me now.

Well, back to work. It is only 10:36 AM! The day is crawling by.

Mmmm....Cheesecake

Here is the recipe for the cheesecake bars that I made yesterday. It is a Paula Deen (my cooking BFF) recipe. She calls them cookies, but they are definitely more like bars. Whatever you call them, they are good! And very easy! Enjoy! :)

Savannah Cheesecake Cookies

Crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar

1 cup chopped pecans

1 stick butter, melted

Filling:
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

1 cup granulated sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla or almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, brown sugar, pecans, and butter in bowl. Press dough into an ungreased 13 by 9 by 2-inch pan. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

For filling, beat cream cheese and granulated sugar together in a bowl until smooth, using a handheld electric mixer; add eggs and extract; beat well. Pour over crust. Bake for 20 minutes. Cool completely. Cut into squares before serving.

Great Weekend!!

We had a really nice weekend. It wasn't anything overly exciting, but it was nice. On Friday we were supposed to have dinner at my mom's for her husband's birthday, but those plans fell through. So, we just hung around at home. My little nephew came over and spent the night with us. It's always fun to have him around! He's my little buddy. Saturday was spent at Taylor's soccer game, getting haircuts, and then dropping the kids off with their dad. That night my mom and I went with friends to see Rent at the Fox! I wish I would have gotten some pictures. It was fun to get out and do something. I also love going to the city! I will live there someday... mark my words! I felt really cute on Saturday night.. I was wearing a really fun black top, my favorite super dark denim jeans and my pointy-toed black shoes. I had also flat ironed my hair, and was having a really good make-up night. It was really nice to feel good about myself for a change! The show itself was a little dissapointing because the sound wasn't that great. So, it was really hard for my mom to follow the story. The DVD is much better, so I am going to let her borrow it so she can watch it and understand the story.
On Sunday morning I got all of our laundry done, and then my Grandma and I had a baking fest! We made 2 lemon pies, one with meringue (sp?) topping, and one with whipped cream topping. I also made Savannah Cheesecake Cookies (a Paula Deen recipe) and they were soo good! I'll have to post the recipe. That evening we went to my mom's for dinner. We grilled hamburgers & hotdogs, and had potato salad, mac & cheese, baked beans, and birthday cake. My sister, BIL, and their kids came over, too. It was fun! Corey brought the kids to me at my mom's house so they could be a part of the birthday dinner. It was good to see him, and I am so glad that we are getting along better. I know it makes it a lot easier for the kids, too.
The kids had a really nice time spending the night with their dad. They ordered pizza on Saturday night, and then yesterday they went to visit Corey's parents, and then to the movies in the afternoon. They saw Forbidden Kingdom with Jackie Chan and Jet Li. They all enjoyed it!
Well, that's it for our weekend! I really need to get to work!

Feeling Better...

I am slowly starting to feel better about what is going on in our lives right now. It has been hard to adjust moving back in with family after being a homeowner for almost 10 years, but I know it is temporary. My prayer for this time in our lives is that it will be a time of growing together as a unit (my kids & I), change for me, learning from mistakes, and most importantly, healing. I also want to focus on praying for my husband, and praying that God will really work in his heart and cause him to want our family back together.

In other exciting news, I am really excited to have a night out tomorrow!! I am getting together with a group of friends to see Rent at the Fox Theatre! I can't wait! Rent is one of my all-time favorite musicals. We are going out to eat before the show and a neat little mediterranean cafe. Can't wait! Hopefully I will have some pictures to post.

Well, I guess I better wrap it up for now. Happy Friday!

Just starting out...

Well, here I am attempting to start a blog again. I've tried this before, and for some reason I never kept up with it. However, I am embarking on some major life changes, and would really like to document everything that is going on, as well as have a place to share my frustrations, prayers, happiness, etc. It will hopefully be a way to also look back and see how God has worked in our lives and answered prayers along the way.

So. Here I am. Hopefully this blog will be an outlet for me, as well as a way to keep in touch with and make new friends in the blogging world.