Friday Five | Lots of Goodies

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I saw this dining room and immediately fell in love with every single aspect about it.

I love the beam exposed ceiling, the farmhouse table, the champagne colored rug, the simple yet rustic chandelier and the white jugs adorned with palm leaves. 

The white walls with lots of windows provides such a beautiful natural lighting...just swoon!

If I had to change one thing, I would probably turn the sliding door into a french. I'm a sucker for french doors, but that's just me. 

This goes to the top of my list under dream home "dining rooms".

As always, here are my favorites from the week...

The above speaks to me so much. It's like the old story of the man trapped on his roof after a huge flood. He prays to God and says Lord please save me. Not long after a boat passes and says "hey, jump in for safety". The man yells back, no thanks, the Lord's going to save me. A few more hours pass as the water is steady rising and a helicopter above drops a rope and yells down, "climb, climb!" The man yells back up, "no thanks, the Lord's going to save me". A few more hours pass and the man arrives in Heaven, he asks the Lord, "why didn't you save me?" 

The Lord said, I sent you a boat and a helicopter!

To this day I love that story! 

So remember, if you're praying for something, be willing to move your feet!

So happy that the weekend has arrived. I've been looking forward to this Friday ever since last Sunday evening came. 

 You know those painting classes that have become popular?

Well believe it or not I won two seats to a painting class for myself and one other person. It's $35 a seat, and I won two! So basically $70 :)

I was so happy and couldn't think of a better person to take than my sister-in-law, Yvonne. We are heading to Savannah tonight and I'm so ready.

She enjoys painting like I do and I can't wait to share pics with y'all come Monday.

I'm not sure what the weekend has in store for us, but I sure hope it's some more Christmas decorating and time with family :)

Thanksgiving!

Can we take a minute and talk about Thanksgiving?!

I love Thanksgiving! Such a great day to eat lots of food and not feel guilty about it, spend time with family, playing board games or card games, relaxing and just being extremely grateful and thankful for every blessing that we have in our lives. 

That's what Thanksgiving means to me anyways. 

Plus I get lots of time off work...win/win!

My aunt left to go back home on Wednesday morning. Y'all, it sucks! My aunt and I have become extremely close within the past 4 years. We talk at least once a week via text, FaceBook or phone calls so when she comes in town it's just a beam of light having here here, but like most times, there's always a goodbye. We spent the last week hanging out each night when I got home from work, playing cards, talking on the back porch, just spending quality time together. It was great and Cadence just adores her.

It's not 100% certain yet, but she may be back in town for Thanksgiving...I sure hope so!

If so, this will make Turkey Day 2015 extra special.

Here are pics from a couple Thanksgiving's...

We ended the night at my sisters home sitting around a fire and some inside karaoke :)

Cadence got to touch our Elf on the Shelf just once to show him that hew as on TV in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Look at her smile! :)

We also hand picked our greens for Thanksgiving dinner. It just doesn't get any fresher than that!

Y'all, Cadence has been so stuffy the past week and this morning the cough started. I hate this time of year as far as cold season is concerned. I love the cool weather but I hate the head colds that it brings with it. Poor girl can't breathe out of her nose and then when she has a coughing spell she loses her breath on top of the sneezing and hoarse voice. Please keep her in your prayers for a quick recovery!

My mom has also felt bad the past few days and Tarl was sick two days this week and stayed home from work and worst of all my sweet nephew Devin has been in and out of the hospital with his illness. 

Lord please put your healing hands upon us. 

With all the head colds going on we may just take it easy this weekend. Curl up with some snuggly blankets, sip on some hot chocolate and put up some more Christmas decorations.

xo

Easy Thanksgiving Recipes

If you're anything like me then you love to cook because truth is I adore cooking, but that doesn't mean it has to be a difficult task. 

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching (16 days to be exact!) I wanted to share some great ideas to bring to the table this year that are simple to make but absolutely delicious!

Everyone loves to snack while waiting to eat. Some times that's the best part...the appetizers before the meal. What a cute and easy way to display meats and cheeses!

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Another great appetizer that everyone seems to love on a cold holiday is Buffalo Chicken Crockpot dip. I remember the first time I tried it, I was hooked and hoarded the crock pot. You don't immediately think of buffalo chicken dip when you think Thanksgiving, but let's face it, who wouldn't love it?!

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Pie. Ahh, pie. When I think Thanksgiving I immediately think of pie. Store bought pies are quick, easy, affordable and to be honest they are quite delicious. If you want to make a store bought pie seem more made from scratch, purchase a pie and some pie dough. Cut the pie dough with leaf shaped cookie cutters and add to your store bought pie. Voila...looks like it's made from scratch!

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If you want to bring pumpkin to the table, but you're sick of the same ole pumpkin pie, try a pumpkin roll filled with cream. It's a tasty way to incorporate pumpkin into the Thanksgiving meal.

I made this one last year. It was my first time ever making a pumpkin roll, but I was stunned by how easy it was to make and Tarl loved it. I followed this recipe. I know it's a lot of ingredients but it is very easy to make!

If you really want to be festive make a cornucopia. Everybody loved my cornucopia filled with fruit and every single bit of it got ate. The buttery bread and all the crisp fresh fruit inside!

It looks hard but again, another easy thing to make. All you need to do is get a lot of tinfoil and shape it into the shape of a cone with a small curly tail. Spray it really well with cooking spray and add small strips of store bought bread. I always braid the top part of the cornucopia bread piece to give it some decor and then I coat the top with a melted butter/garlic mixture. 

I bake according to the dough directions. Normally around 15-20 minutes on 400 degrees, and voila.

Always coat the tinfoil well with cooking spray and it'll pull right off.

Another family favorite of mine is my triple berry trifle. I normally make this for both Thanksgiving and Christmas because it's simply beautiful and who doesn't like berries, whip cream and cake?!

Store bought angel food cake, whip cream, raspberries, blackberries and strawberries and you just layer the cake (cubed) and berries until it's filled to the top of your trifle dish. 

Then top with more berries and whip cream.

If your kids (or some adult family members) aren't into the traditional Thanksgiving desserts like pies or pumpkin rolls, make them cheesecake cookies.

...and yes you read that right, cheesecake cookies!

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So what are some easy delicious things that you make for Thanksgiving? Do tell...

xo

It comes in 3s...

I always hated that saying, "it comes in 3s".

It sounds so cryptic. Like if you've only been hit once or twice, expect more to come, but in this case tis true. 

If you haven't heard what happened to us last Thursday afternoon, read about it here.

Lo and behold Cadence woke up with a stuffy nose and congestion on Friday. Well there's #2. I dreaded her getting a fever but praise the Lord it seems that it's just allergies or a head cold and I pray that's all there is to it. She was still mildly congested this morning but not like she was on Friday.

The third came this morning. I felt Tarl tossing and turning all through the night but being sleepy and weary myself didn't think anything else about it until my alarm went off at 7 and I heard him groan "I don't feel good at all". Tarl is never one to get sick so when he gets sick you know he's sick. 

He just called and said the doctor checked him over and it's a mixture of a bad cold and sinus issues. Unfortunately something that has to run it's coarse. He's also been getting really bad headaches but more so on the lower portion of his neck where his neck and spine meet rather than an actual headache like you or I get. While at the doctor this morning he mentioned it to them and they sent him over for x-rays. She did mention to him that it's common in men his age to have some pain there if they played sports in their past. Tarl played a ton of sports, so she did say it could be early signs of arthritis. Eeek-but it could be worse so I'm just praying for a positive outcome. 

Please keep my family in your prayers.

Other than all that going on it was actually a pretty good weekend with my aunt in town. 

We played cards all day yesterday and by all day I'm not exaggerating. Starting at 11 and not leaving until 6:30 last night we played cards. My back is sore but it was well worth it. 

She leaves to go back home on Wednesday. I'm already dreading it. She and I have become so close in the past 5 years and it's always an emotional rollercoaster of tears when she goes to leave but with her now being retired she can come visit a lot more often, possibly even Thanksgiving (which is now less than 3 weeks away BTW!).

I'll have my list of Thanksgiving favorites coming soon, but for now I'm ready to rid my family of colds and neck pains...xo

Friday Fun

So yesterday I got the dreaded phone call from school.

Naturally when you see the number pop up on your phone you immediately think something is wrong with your child, their sick, they have a broken arm as a result of playground play, something along those lines, but nope...

"Miranda, Cadence has lice."

Ugh...Y'all, I immediately left work, picked her up, headed straight to the drug store and spent $40 in lice products, lice spray and cleaning products. We spent the next fours hours combing her hair, washing it, along with cleaning and bleaching our house from top to bottom.

I then took her to my sister who is a beautician that owns her salon and had her check to ensure that I got everything out of Cadence's hair. I also had her check Tarl and myself to make sure we didn't have any. Praise the Lord there were no signs left.

Thing is, we received a letter from school last week stating that lice was present in school. We have received this letter each year because it's a pretty normal thing, but we've never received "that" phone call until yesterday. We didn't dodge the lice bullet this year.

Luckily we got them all and even her teacher said that she only saw a couple nits which pretty much means she most likely got them that day. Either way, my house is now completely spotless and Cadence is lice free.

I've said it once and I'll say it again, school is no joke folks!

Germs, lice, scrapes, cuts, broken arms, scuffs...it's not for the faint of heart, but maybe that's just kids in general :)

So that was my day yesterday.

As always, on Friday's, I share my favorite memes, quotes, inspirational messages or just random, silly stuff from the week. Here you go...

My aunt is in town this week. So exciting!

If all goes well we plan on riding the golf cart though town and all around the neighborhood. She saw our golf cart and asked when we go golfing. I said "Aunt Nancy, around these parts we use a golf cart to ride around." She beamed from ear to ear and said I can't wait to do this, so I told her we'd do lots of it this weekend. We'll also have a little cook out and play cards. It's a tradition that the three of us do together (Aunt, me and mom). Love when that crazy lady comes and visits!

I saw this table centerpiece and immediately wanted to go out and buy all of the items needed for it. 

Simple and southern. I love the white painted deer horns.

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Happy Friday friends! Lord knows I am so very happy the weekend has arrived, especially after yesterday's debacle. Bright side is, our home is spotless and so is Cadence's head :)

xo

                 

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A Christmas Disclaimer

*Disclaimer - I am one of those people who adore Christmas and am all about decorating, celebrating and listening to Christmas songs long before Thanksgiving arrives. If you cannot stand people like this, then I suggest you quit reading my blog because it's about to get a whole lot Christmas-sy around here now that Halloween has come and passed.

In all seriousness, there's nothing wrong with waiting until after Thanksgiving is over to start enjoying the Christmas festivities, however, that's not me! To each his own is such a great saying and one that a lot of people need to consider before they voice their opinions onto others. 

Just because someone decorates with reds and greens, sings Jingle Bell Rock, or celebrates all things Christmas prior to Thanksgiving Day DOES NOT mean they have forgotten about Thanksgiving and that's what some people don't realize. They think that all us Christmas lovers skip over Thanksgiving. That's just not the case! Food for thought y'all!

Anyways, onto today's post...

My house is completely decorated for Christmas with a few exceptions:

A banner for my hutch.

 I always find the cutest banners in the Target dollar spot but they still haven't put out their Christmas dollar stuff yet, at least my Target hasn't anyways.

Here are some super cute ones found on Etsy

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And another cute one posted on GroopDealz this morning

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Also on GroopDealz this morning...chalkboard gift tags!

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I love how these look up next to brown paper with some red twine.


I'm also on the hunt for a Christmas table runner and garland for our fireplace mantle.
This garland is stunning! Very earthy and simple. Love!

Tarl said he wants to decorate outside this year, but we'll see how that turns out :)
I'd love to decorate around our entry door this year, but with our tiny little home we're not working with much. I told Tarl that when we finally do move into a bigger home it'll be decked to the nines come Christmas time. I love all of these entry decorations.

Through the years I've really started to love simple, earthy decorations. Lots of whites, silvers and burlap. These decorations scream perfection!

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As soon as everything is set into place I'll post pics, hopefully the first of next week!

At the beginning of each holiday I go to my Pinterest board and look at what I've pinned in the past. You can check out my Christmas board below. I have over 500 pins, yikes that's a whole lot of Christmas.

Follow Miranda | Life in the Lowcountry's board Christmas <3 data-blogger-escaped-a="" data-blogger-escaped-on="" data-blogger-escaped-pinterest.="">

I have tons of crafts, recipes, decor, and even ideas for elf hiding all on there.

About to start decorating but don't have a mantle to hang those stockings from? No worries, look at how cute this is! source

perfect for Cadence's class - source

great for co-workers and teachers - source

A few other things to mention in preparation for Christmas...

Starting now all the way until Christmas Eve check your Target cartwheel app. Each day they are posting one toy that will be 50% off. Also, tons of stores are starting to post promotional codes and/or free shipping with the upcoming Christmas season. Always check retail me not to see if there is a promo code. I purchased a gift for Tarl this morning, thanks to retail me not I found a 20% off code and it saved me $16! Holla!