Concerts & Crawfish

We have had so much fun the last couple of weekends. We saw Hank in concert and loved it, of course. We enjoyed Easter with both of our families. I saw Luke Bryan with the girls, and he put on one heck of a show. It was a blast. 

This past Saturday we had a crawfish boil. The weather was perfect, the food was yummy, and we had such a good time hanging out with our friends. We bought the crawfish from Steamer's Seafood Market - definitely check it out if you haven't. They have lots of fresh fish that is reasonably priced. Sunday night, Pat peeled the left over crawfish, fried it and made crawfish po' boys. We tried to make them just like Shrimp Basket (they were good, but not Shrimp Basket good). We're pretty pumped about getting a Shrimp Basket though. I still haven't heard where exactly it's going to be or the exact date it's opening.

Here are some pictures from the crawfish boil...

thanks for bringing over your pots & burners, Joey

such cute couples

newlyweds

soon to be newlyweds - getting married July 21st

Brannon & Adam

me & Rach

more soon to be newlywed friends - getting married June 30th

Ashley & Ben with their new puppy, Walker

future dog trainer maybe?

Dr. Browne & Mrs. Pam

pretty friends

Lacey, Cash & coming soon, Stella

more pretty friends

Michael & Court

the boys

the girls - I've got such pretty friends



such a cutie pie



Now I've got to get serious and study hard for 3 more weeks and then it's summer! This summer I'm going to be working for Turner & Webb and taking 2 classes. Pat's going to be training dogs, coaching club wrestling and putting together a youth wrestling program, which will start this fall. We've got lots of friends getting married and having babies this summer. I just registered for my last semester of law school. God is good and we are so very blessed!



Yummy Shrimp

TCHS had their wrestling banquet last night, which meant no cooking for me, yay! But I do want to share a really good shrimp marinade that I made up and cooked the other night.  It's so so yummy and has become a regular around here.

What you'll need:

shrimp

italian dressing

butter

honey

cajun seasoning

Directions:

1. Thaw shrimp (if frozen) and place on a cookie sheet (I lay foil on the cookie sheet first - easier clean up).

2. Melt about a spoonful of butter and pour over shrimp.

3. Pour italian dressing and honey over them.

4. Sprinkle with cajun seasoning (I use Tony's).

5. Flip the shrimp over and season with cajun seasoning.

6. Bake on 350 for 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Crispy Chicken

I want to share this delicious chicken recipe that I found on Pinterest and tweeked alittle bit. It is breaded with corn flake crumbs and has such a good taste to it and it's a lot healthier than chicken fried in grease. It has become a regular at our house.

What you will need:

3 chicken breasts

5 cups of corn flakes

3 cups of flour

1/2 cup milk

salt

pepper

olive oil

Directions:

1. Put chicken into a gallon ziploc bag and beat it with a meat tenderizer to make it thinner. 

2. Dredge chicken in flour and place in the freezer for 5 minutes.

3. Pour some olive oil into a pan and turn the heat to medium.

4. Crush the corn flakes into crumbs.

5. Pour the milk into a bowl.

6. Dredge each piece of chicken in the flour again, then the milk and immediately in the corn flake crumbs. Make sure both sides are covered well.

7. Place the chicken in the pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and let it cook for about 4 minutes or until the bottoms are golden brown (be careful not to burn them).

8. Flip the chicken (if the pan is dry, add some more olive oil and swirl the pan around to let the oil flow to all sides), sprinkle with salt and pepper, cover and let cook until the chicken is white on the inside.

9. When the chicken is done, take it out, slice it and enjoy!

Kaitlin's First Tournament

Kaitlin plays softball for Fresno State and they had their first tournament this past weekend. Mrs. Griffin was able to go out there and I know that she had so much fun watching Kaitlin play. Kaitlin played awesome this weekend and really got her senior season off to a great start!

Their first game was on Thursday against Toledo and they won 9-1. Courtney Moore hit a grand slam in the 4th inning to put Fresno up 4-1, Michelle Moses hit a homerun, and then in the 5th inning Kaitlin hit a 3 run homerun to win the game, 9-1. Mackenzie Oakes, Kaitlin's roommate, pitched. All four of these girls are seniors and they just had an awesome first game.

On Friday, they beat North Dakota State 1-0. Saturday they played UC Riverside and were losing 2-0 in the 4th inning until Kaitlin hit a 2 run homerun to tie the game up. They ended up winning 6-2. Mackenzie also pitched that game. They also played Sacramento State on Saturday and were losing 1-0 in the 6th inning until Kaitlin hit a RBI single to score their only run. They went into international tie breaker and ended up losing in the 8th inning, 2-1. Kaitlin threw out two runners in that game.

On Sunday, they played Long Beach State and went into international tie breaker again. They had a chance to score in the 7th because Kaitlin hit a single with runners on, but they ended up losing 4-1.

Here are some pictures from the weekend that Mrs. Griffin took...

after one of Kait's homeruns (she's #35)

Here are some highlight videos that Kait sent me...

Kait's first game of the season
Kait's 2nd homerun
Kait catching

Good luck with the rest of your season, Kait, we're so very proud of you! Go Bulldogs!

Shrimp & Grits

I threw together some yummy shrimp and grits tonight and it only took me about 30 minutes, so I wanted to share this easy recipe! 

Ingredients:
3/4 cup of dry grits
3 cups of water
salt
10 ounces of shrimp (I buy the cooked, frozen shrimp at Winn Dixie - they are usually buy 1, get 1 free) 
4 slices of bacon
Tony's Creole Seasoning

Directions:
1. Thaw shrimp.
2. Cook bacon in fry pan.
3. Bring water to boil in a sauce pan, add salt, slowly stir in grits, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and let stand for 5 minutes.
4. Once bacon is crisp, remove, crush up into small pieces.
5. Cook shrimp in bacon grease and sprinkle with Tony's Creole Seasoning.
6. Once shrimp is cooked, pour them into the grits, add chopped up bacon, stir and it's ready for serving!

Enjoy!

New Products I'm Loving

I wanted to share some really good products that I've tried recently. I have been using Redken shampoo and conditioner for years and I feel like it is just drying my hair out, so I have been wanting to try something new. The lady working at Sally's recommended this line of products...

I bought the shampoo and conditioner and I absolutely love them! This stuff smells so good and it makes my hair really soft. 

A couple of months ago I was looking at the different whiteners at Walmart and a lady recommended that I try Colgate Optic White toothpaste. She said that her sons dip and she buys it for them and it works well on their teeth (a little too much information...but I bought it and it seems to be working). 

It's definitely the best whitening toothpaste that I've ever used.

I also tried a new liquid eyeliner. The kind that I have is not waterproof and it runs down my face anytime my eyes get the least bit watery. I bought this kind at Ulta...

It's waterproof, easy to apply and lasts all day. I bought the dark brown and I'm loving it so far.

I hope everyone is having a good week and if you're looking to try some new products, try these and let me know how they work for you! 

End of Hunting Season Party

Hunting season is finally over so I thought it would be fun to have an "end of hunting season" celebration dinner at our house. We ate some yummy food, played with Adam and Carrie's precious baby Marleigh and had a good ol' time!

the girls (minus Magen)

Jami & Anthony, such a cute couple

another cute couple + Jami

twins

they would not cooperate

Court made these delicious brownie/cupcakes in camo baking cups, so fitting for the occasion