I love to eat.

I love to eat.

I also love Pinterest. And Pinterest took me to this wonderful blog, Worthy of the Prize, that gave me this EASY & yummy Crock Pot Potato Soup Recipe.

I've made it a few times and I have had a lot of people ask me for the recipe. Michael and I love it.  I pretty much love anything that I can pour in the crock pot, leave for hours, and come back to a wonderful home cooked meal.

The only change I made to the original recipe was add a little bit more chicken broth and cut the cream cheese in half to make the consistency the way we liked it.

So here is my slightly different version...

Crock Pot Potato Soup

 
Ingredients:
1 bag frozen squared, southern style hash-brown potatoes
2 1/2 cans chicken broth
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup chopped onion or 1 tbsp onion powder
1/3 tsp. ground black pepper
1/2 (4 oz) package cream cheese softened (I cut it into cubes for it to melt easier)

Directions:
1. In a crock pot, combine all ingredients (pour in frozen hash-browns)

2. Cover, and cook on low for 6 hours

3. You could add any toppings you want... Bacon bits, cheese, green onions... 


You can also cook it on the stove... Bring everything to a boil and then let it simmer 30-45 minutes. (Basically until your cream cheese is melted & your potatoes are soft)


Now I will leave you with this... because Downton Abbey made me mad.

Lions, Tigers, and Bears... Oh My!

Today is my beautiful Momma's Birthday!!  Happy Birthday to you!

We are going to Memphis this weekend to celebrate and of course watch the Tigers play the Eagles!!

I also can't wait to see these sweet babies and get some auntie time!

Let me recap the past couple of weekends...

Last weekend, Mom & her friend Mrs. Beth came to stay with us and we went to the Tigers game in Hattiesburg and watched them beat the Eagles!! It was a GREAT game!

We love us some Memphis Tigers! GO TIGERS GO!

Now this past weekend, on the other hand, we went from talking about going to the movies with our friends Dwayne and Audrey to... going CAMPING! And we did.

 

It was so beautiful out there!

The boys found the PERFECT camping spot!

 

 Audrey and I went to go climb on the limestone rocks (because we are hardcore campers)

and we found a cow skeleton. Holy Moly- how cool is that?!

 

 So the first incident may have been finding a skeleton, but then we move on to 

an ember landing on my shoe and burning a hole in the top. Oops...

 Look how beautiful our fire was! 

(Audrey and I were again hardcore campers and gathered the rocks to build our fire pit)

All in all the summary of this camping trip was: 

COLD. Coyotes. Cow Skeleton.

And in the wise words of Dwayne Johnson: 

"It's all fun and games until the fire goes out, then it gets real."

Next camping trip will not have a low of 27, but hopefully no lower than 50. :-)

Celebrate Life

“I will never, no not ever, no never leave you nor forsake you.”
This is the amplified version of Hebrews 13:5... Isn't it so true?

A week ago, we had a week full of celebrations, but they weren't all what most people would call celebrations.

Monday, January 14, Michael's Mamaw Brewer went home to be with the Lord.  

Sunday, January 20, Michael's Papaw Houston went home to be with the Lord.

The thing about losing someone that knows Jesus, is that we have so much hope in the fact, that as Christians, we WILL see them again!  Of course there is sorrow with loss, but like Hebrews 13:5 says, God will never, no not ever, no never leave us.  The comfort He gave us in that week was beyond words.  It's hard enough losing one grandparent, but then 2 in a week of each other...

The services were sweet and can only be described as a celebration of their homegoing!

I love me some Carrie Underwood and her song Temporary Home speaks volumes to me...

Old man, hospital bed
The room is filled with people he loves
And he whispers
"Don't cry for me, I'll see you all someday"
He looks up and says
"I can see God's face"

This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong
Windows and rooms that I'm passing through
This was just a stop on the way to where I'm going
I'm not afraid because I know
This was my temporary home

Does that not bring a smile to your face?  It does mine!  This is not our home.

Over that week, not only did we celebrate eternal life, but we also celebrated life here.  My Mawmaw had her 80th birthday party.  It was quite the event.

After celebrating so many wonderful people, it sure does make us realize how blessed we are.
I, personally, am BEYOND blessed. 

The last 2 1/2 years...

Today is January 25, 2013.  The last time I blogged was April 6, 2010... A lot has happened since then.

Resolution of 2013: Blog.  I have inspiration from my good friend, Lauren. We'll see how this goes.

So let's have a recap. No big deal.

We got married June 12, 2010...

 Grant & Angela had my sweet nephew Maksim Samuel Nixon! September 1, 2010

Everything else pretty much blends together until....

Grant & Angela had TWINS! My precious niece & nephew!
Piper Grace Nixon & Jude Hampton Nixon  March 28, 2012

I pretty much LOVE these kiddos so much!

 

I started sewing & embroidering, so here are the kids

in their 4th of July/Olympics outfits I made them! :-)

Other than that, Michael is now teaching at the high school & at Hinds CC on Monday nights.


Now, enjoy my picture montage of our last 2 1/2 years. :-)

Bridal Shower, Bachelorette Beach Trip, & Rehearsal Dinner

Chicago Trip with mom to visit Drew!

    

Our First Wedding Anniversary!

                                                 

  

Maksim celebrated his 1st Birthday & that's when we found out he was going to be a big brother!!

Michael graduated from MC with his MASTERS!!!

Maks even came to Congratulate him! :-)

We camped out to get FREE Chick-fil-a for a year when the Brandon store opened!

Then we camped out AGAIN when the Madison store opened a second drive-thru line!

 

Lauren & I went to visit Katy in DC- we had such a great time!

 Now if only we had seen the other side of the White House... :-)

We went to Branson, MO with Michael's parents after Christmas.

(which of course included a fun visit to the wax museum)

GO TIGERS!!!

Here are a few of our Nixon Family photos.

 

 

That pretty much sums up our lives over the last 2 1/2 years.

Here's to keeping my resolution... And not making a post this long anymore.