Mr. & Mrs.Hooah's 1 Year!

Can it really be?! WHERE has the time gone?! Today marks ONE YEAR for Mr.Hooah & I! And honestly, I must admit, you learn so much about one another in your first year. I don't think I have ever spilled about how Mr.Hooah & I met...it was 2007 on a random myspace friend request via some mutual friends we shared! He was deploying right when we became friends & we exchanged a few messages & then he was gone, overseas, for months & we didn't talk again for a while, duh, which is natural. Did I think he was cute? Well, yeah! We messaged each other here & there while he was gone, I honestly didn't think anything would come of it. He returned back to the states & then the calling & texting happened. Again, here & there...there & here...& then pretty much every day. We became BESTfriends. Always looking out for each other though we were miles apart. Late night convos of what our day consisted of & such. Calling each other to make sure we had made it home safely in one piece from our weekend bar nights, sometimes in the midst of our own drunken stupor haha. I can recall, as he reminds me as well, "MOST" of my party club nights out, calling him, me completely TIPSY saying off the wall mumbo jumbo... And he STILL married me baaaahaha. We did this up until last  February 19 & both having a crazy breakup, we both had the epiphany, WHY NOT BE TOGETHER!?! We've always kept open with one another & I think thats what makes our marriage so special, because we were bestfriends to begin with & we spent so much time getting to know one another. Of course we dated here & there but it was crazy because if I ever had a heartbreak or a bad day, Mr.Hooah came to my rescue in his shining ACU's(army combat uniform)! Then in august after driving 800miles every other weekend to see him for just a weekend, he came down on his leave & dropped to one knee in my bedroom doorway...& november 26th, we had a little romantic backyard wedding at my uncle's house while Mr.Hooah was on his Thanksgiving leave! Oh & I have to mention, his leave was only the weekend of...so that saturday we were married & the day after he had to return to sign back in from leave. It was too sad when he left I cried, it was heartbreaking that we didnt even have the time for a honeymoon or to enjoy being Mr & Mrs for more than 15hrs lol.... I must admit, though I am from a hooah family & have known many military friends, you are NEVER ready for the changes & sacrifice you make when you marry into it. You may think you know everything but you'll find what you knew/know is just the tip of the iceberg. There is so much you think you are prepared for, yet you aren't... the adjustment of leaving family behind has been tough & the being alone part while he is in the field for weeks training or knowing I will be without him for months on end, is extremely hard. I have been amazingly blessed this year of  marriage, to have had my soldier home, safe from harms way, to enjoy our first year as newly weds together & the holidays. I know others are not as fortunate. We have had some bumps along the way, but at the end of the day, I know that love, stability, & hope will always see us through & I will be standing behind my soldier 110% no matter what! I am blessed to have found a love like this, one where you see past the once upon a time & happily ever after! He is my rock & though he drives me insane sometimes, he helps to balance it all by keeping me sane. So, to my amazing husband, I love you so very much & I am SO very proud to call you mine, my husband, love, & soldier. And so, to celebrate I made home made chicken parm...not that simple stuff ither! I'm talking hand-crushed tomatoes! The real Italian good stuff! Mr.Hooah brought home a dozen roses for me & a bottle of awesome moscato for us! We also popped a bottle of Pink champagne we had been saving for our anniversary. Mr.Hooah got some awesome ThunderCats  stuff! It was a great day & I'm glad that I got to have him home for the night, he is currently fielding...so he'll be gone the rest of this week...WAHHHHH! lol. Happy 1 year anniversary my hooah darling.... & I hope there's 60+ more to come! Love you puffin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!     

Our funny faces baaahaha!

Italian Beef Stew

I am posting via mobile again, I'm feeling under the weather so I'm cuddled up in bed! It's cold out & these are days that I'm so inlove with whom ever invented the heavenly crockpot! I wanted a comfort food in my time of blah-ness & my Italian bone was itching for some good soup, so I decided to let my crockpot do all the work for me! Mr.Hooah brought home 4 bottles of GingerAle so he gets 59,000 gold stars & a husband of the year award! Haha! This is a delicious recipe & I absofruitly LOOOOVE it on days like this & it is SIMPLE, my favorite! Sorry if this isn't the prettiest post, Lol!

1 lb. stew beef

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

2 1/2 c. beef stock

1 can tomato soup

1 c. Red cooking wine

3 carrots, sliced

3-4 potatoes diced

3 stalks celery, sliced

1 cup mushrooms, sliced

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tbs. sea salt

2 tbs. Italian seasoning

1 tbs. mined garlic

(Most of the time I just eyeball the seasonings until it suits my tastes)

In crock pot, (I usually pour in a little evoo here) add garlic & beef. Then Add All remaining ingredients & mix well. Cook on low all day or high for 3-4hrs or until beef is cooked through or potatoes & carrots are tender.

Sometimes(like today) I'll throw in a handful of barley as well! Yum! Yum!

Happy Vet's Day!!!!

HAPPY VET'S DAY TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED & ARE STILL SERVING! HOOAH!!!!!!!!!!

Dinner in a PUMPKIN...wait, WHAT?!

For those of you who read here, already know that I'm always, always, always, looking for & trying out new recipes! And this is one that I wanted to share, since pumpkins are still lingering about & nommie comfort foods are still in full demand! I adapted this from The Six Sisters'! And I assure you that their recipes do not , & I repeat, DO NOT  disappoint! On a recent trip to the pumpkin patch with our pup Kizzie, we picked up our porch pumpkins, a 'baking' pumpkin, & even let our wittle wookie(the pup) pick out a mini-pumpkin suited to her mini-self! Haha. I'll admit, though I love me some pumpkin..usually in pie form of course..I honestly didn't know what to expect of the taste! I just thought it was such an awesome idea & most definitely something outta the 'NORM'...so I whipped up this mysteriously fun 'Dinner in a Pumpkin' & it was a smashingly good hit with Mr.Hooah & myself! It's something different & fun. And it isn't a heavy dish like most comfort foods would be, but  there is something VERY warm & homely about this delish dish..oh & did I mention it is pretty darn HEALTHY too?!?!

1 Medium pumpkin*
1 lb lean ground turkey
2 cups brown rice
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
2 cups chopped veggies (celery, onions, green pepper, sweet potatoes, mushrooms, etc)
1 T soy sauce

(**I myself, added minced garlic to the veggie sauté!)

Cut off the top of the pumpkin and thoroughly clean out pulp and seeds
Preheat oven to 350 degrees - Saute veggies in large skillet. Add meat then brown.
Add Soy Sauce, soup, and cooked brown rice - Mix Well
Spoon Mixture into cleaned pumpkin shell. Replace pumpkin top and place entire pumpkin on a baking sheet.
Bake 1 hour or until inside meat of the pumpkin is tender
After you scoop out the yummy stuff inside.. don't forget to scrape out the insides of the pumpkin! It tastes just like Spaghetti Squash!

 *Check the size of your oven to make sure the pumpkin will fit* 

Please don't judge me for my unclean oven & my pumpkin seemed to be a little 'special'...seems that it was a little ghetto with its 'gangsta lean' bahaha!

MMM! This was AHHHH-mazing! And yes, dont forget to scrap some of the pumpkin out when you scoop because it is most tasty! Nom Nom!(:

The Studdard Wedding

Ok, I know, I have NOT (obviously) been the best blogger lately, however, I have ALOT to share, so excuse me & my apologies in advance if I blow up everyone's blog feed today lol. But as for right now, I am going to start with covering the Studdard Wedding! I was lucky enough to have been asked to decorate this adorable little rustic fall wedding for Daniel & Kayla. My sister & I left Mr.Hooah at home to fend for himself while we headed back down to Sweet Home Alabama! We enjoyed the beautiful southern weather & scenery that we honestly didn't think we would miss until we came back & realized just how charming the south can be. The wedding was held in a small field outside of one of our town's churches...the backdrop being an old oak that towers over the area, seeing all. The small creek running along side the open field gave the scene more  character & the colors chosen were orange, yellow, & brown. The whole shebang was rustic fabulous-ness! From the cornbread baskets all the way down to the beautiful bride's cowgirl boots! I was thrilled to hear the news that the same preacher that hitched me & mine, would be officiating! Rev. Ballew married my Momma & my Aunt Sherry(who is my MaTu-'2nd mom') & it was most definitely VERY special when he married Mr.Hooah & I, because he has been in our family even way back to my Granma & Granpa's days, he is like family because in my families most trying time & great times, he has been there with loving prayer! He is very southern traditional & you will not find very many preachers who actually HAS to have "The Talk" with you & your love, about marriage & unity & how special it is, BEFORE he will marry you, & that says a lot! Thank you guys so much for including me in such a wonderful opportunity to show my crafty side! 
Here is a look at their Happily Ever After, congratulations Daniel & Kayla Studdard! 

Grooms Cake! Lego's! The boys even had lego cuff-links, awesome right?

One of my rustic signs I make!

A moment I caught!

And another moment...she's just so stinkin' presh right?!?

Blogging!

Trying out this new mobile app...this should be interesting, however I have something more interesting to yack about!(: So as I keep saying in pretty much all of my last few posts, is that I'm sooo busy & junk. Well, it's VERY true! I have started making personalized signs & my craft obsession has been kicked into overdrive since the end of summer! It's been so crazy around here! I have been decorating & creating & now I am dabbling in embroidery & I must say I'm getting pretty good at it! This month holds SEVERAL amazing upcoming events, the 1st one being the American Cancer Society relay for life, where I will be a craft vendor there promoting my hand-made goodie-goods, the 2nd being that it's almost time to stuff myself with all the good food I'll be cooking with my sister(since we can't make it home to our family) for thankkkkksgivinggggg! What! What!!!!!!!!! Haha! & 3rd being that the 26th Mr.Hooah & I will celebrate our first year of marriage!!! Oh yeahhh, who's your wifey?!? Lol I cannot wait & I am thankful that neither of us burned the house down while remodeling it or Mr.Hooah attempting eggs in a basket! Haha! I will definitely be catching up with everything in tr posts to come, I haven't given up blogging, just haven't had time to!(: