Love is..

Well, maybe not camping per say, but we are on our Broken Bow Bonanza trip with our Supper Club peeps! Woo hooo!

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday:

Layla Edition

Little Miss Layla has been in my life for almost 4 years now... and in J's for over 2... She wasnt always the sweet angel she is now. There were days in the first year or two that I wasnt sure I she was going to make it. I thought that I was a terrible puppy parent and that I was doing it all wrong. But it was like one day I woke up and she was all of a sudden listening, behaving and a perfect little child. Now I use the word perfect loosely here... we still have our moments. I just realized I had an energetic, stubborn little one on my hands... Sound familiar? Bless my little heart when J & I have children. ::FRIDGE FACE! if you dont know what this is.. I may share the photo with you someday... lets just say I was/am full of all kinds of attitude:: 

When J and I first started dating I was living at home and when we would have crazy weekends, and I wasnt coming home, I felt bad about leaving her for my parents to watch.. and thought my dad's threats of "leaving the gate open" might come true. So I started bringing Layla out to stay at Jarrett's. Its like introducing your child to your new boy. Little did I know J didnt let dogs sleep in his bed, Layla did. J didnt allow dogs on furniture, Layla did. J didnt like cuddling/touching/being licked... Layla did all of the above! For our first Christmas one of my gifts was really a gift for Layla... So I knew we were in.

To make this looooong back story a bit shorter... we are thankful for Miss Layla..

How could you not love this face?!



She is quite the cuddler.. always has been & I certainly dont see that changing anytime soon...


She's 4! How Time flies! Shes always a good sport on her birthday..


She loves playing in the hose water "helping" Dad water during the summer... apparently she's a super hero... Shes always getting into trouble... and she has a touch of crazy in her...


She's a sleeper... and a bed/couch hog as you can see!


But most importantly, she is our daughter... good and bad we love love love her.


Layla: Layla Love, Lalya Bean, LaLa, Booger, Boogs, mama, or Jarrett's favorite - Shit Brick. Reeeaaallll nice!

We are so Thankful for our little puppy daughter, and cannot imagine life without her... What are you Thankful for?

Olive Oil

Olive Oil is used daily in this house... or almost daily, yet when I told J I was writing this post, he said like the cartoon??? Yes, my husband is that special.

When I go to the grocery store and see the olive oil selection, it puts me on OVERLOAD..

But while I was in Atlanta, we recieved a package... and the olive oil came to US! And I liiiiiike it!

Months back The Masseys gave us such a unique and totally fitting WEdding Gift - Its called Nudo. The Dunaways have an adopted tree in Italy, thats producing olive oil juuust for us.

Three types joined my collection - Chili, Stone Ground with Garlic and Lemon! Oh the possibilities! Everyone who knows me well, knows that lemons and garlic are some of my favorite ingredients. Add that into the oil I cook with constantly... ugh-mazingness.

Lemon Oil? How about using it in this favorite Chocolate Broccoli recipe.

Chili Oil? All Asian recipes... yummmmmm and maybe some spicy pastas?

Garlic Oil? EVERYTHINGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

Moral of the story - one of the best wedding gifts ever! Thank you Masseys!!!!

Gyro!

Growing up in Chicago, I have the love for some serious beef sammies, Chicago Style Pizza... hot dogs (if you get me on the right day)... and some gyros.... YUM!

Gyros: A gyro ( /ˈjɪəroʊ/ yeer-oh, /ˈdʒaɪroʊ/ jy-roh,[1] /ˈʒɪəroʊ/ zheer-oh;[2] Greek: γύρος, [ˈʝiros], lit. 'turn') is a dish of meat roasted on a vertical spit (usually lamb), generally served as a sandwich, also called gyros, with tomato, onion, and tzatziki sauce, wrapped in pita bread.

Now you and I both know my husband is not eating lamb... and I happened to stumbled upon a recipe for a chicken gyro. And it was delish! Even husband said he would have it again.... aaaaaaaand he wants to try a real gyro! woot woot!

Taziki Sauce:

8 oz container of plain greek yogurt

1 cucumber; peeled, seeded and diced

1 tbs olive oil

1/2 lemon, juiced

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbs dill

3 cloves garlic, peeled

In a food processor, combine all ingredients and process until well combined. Transfer to a separate dish, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour for the best flavor

Chicken Gyro:

1 lb ground chicken

1/4 diced red onion

1 tbsp oregano

1 tbsp garlic powder

salt and ground pepper

2 tbs vegetable oil

1 small tomato

1/4 sliced red onion

1/2 tsp cumin

4 pitas

In a large bowl, combine chicken, diced onion, oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste. With hands, mix until well combined. Form the mixture into 8 oval patties. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Cook patties until browned on all sides and cooked thorugh (roughly 12 minutes). Divide patties, sliced onion and tomatoes among pitas. Top with sauce. Fold and Serve.

Enjoy!

Love is...

In Atlanta this weekend... but wishing I was eating pizza with Goober and just relaxing!

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday:

Our Home Edition

First things first... we are so, so blessed to own our own home. There are so many people in our country that are not blessed to have somewhere to live, let alone be able to own their own home.



J bought our home in the summer of 2007. It was his bachelor pad with his brother, and some revolving roommates (Hunter, Kealy & Ricky).. But as you all know since I have moved in there have been some landscaping changes:

Which we have many more to come... as time permits of course...

There have been many other changes, and changes, and changes... but with all of these changes, are times for J&I to spend together, bonding and making our house our home.

There are MANY, MANY other changes we want to make, more paint, fireplace, backsplash, change the cabinets??? get rid of the BURGANDY CHAIR... I mean... the possibilities are endless... but we are getting there.. its a fun project!

Our home also brings our families together. I am hopeful to host a holiday in our near future now that we have a lot of the the kitchen necessities and the entertainment amazingness.. (thanks again, everyone, for the BEAUTIFUL wedding gifts!)

Our home brings our friends together... for all occasions.. dinners, birthdays, football games, holidays... you name it, I'll host it.

For those that dont know me well, if I spend the night somewhere other than our house (albeit hotels for work dont count, considering they are my home away from home) I wake up early as can be and go "home"... This used to be my parents or my apartment. This past weekend, I stayed at my parents on Friday since Jarrett was gone, I woke up Saturday morning at 6:30am.... SIX-THIRTY?! People - I do not wake up ealier than 7:45am on a normal work day... and to be honest.. thats early. I wanted to be in bed at "home". My mom was shocked. Then Sunday, I had to come back to pick up Boogs, and I wasnt feeling so great after JoJo's bachelorette party... and again I wanted to go home... I used to do anything to nap in my room at my parents.. clearly our home has really encompassed my heart and I love it..

Do we want to live here forever? Probably not, but we are making some great first memories in this house that will be unforgetable... therefore I am extremely thankful for our home...

What are you thankful for today?

Way Back Wednesday

So.... this weekend was JoJo's bachelorette party... there was a lot of fun.. a lot of craziness.. and a lot of memories made..


We were out at Glass, dancing our "pants" off.. and this little throw back came on... and Heather and I got a gooooood laugh. "If you're sexy and you know it, clap yo hands...."


ENJOY!

Still Wishing...

For Fall...

So I started making it Fall inside, in hopes that the outside will follow suit.. let's see how this works out!



Please forgive the poor quality photo... it's an awkward spot to take a pic!



Happy Anniversary

To one of our FAV-orite couples: Kayla & Joe Siwinski!!



GORGEOUS Bride




Such a sweet ceremony




Cutie Family of 3




CONGRATS!




So glam!




I adore this pic!




Such a perfect duo!


I still cannot believe that this was already 1 year ago - congratulations. I know that there are many many MANY more celebrations for the 2 of you to come! (& we will defi doing all this all over again at that 5 year mark - haha!)

We LOVE yall!!

Love is..

5 months today! How time flies... celebrating J&J this weekend at their bachelor/bachelorette parties - fun times ahead!

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday:

9/11 Edition

As we all know this past Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of September 11th. I have been so intrigued by all of the shows, documentaries, etc. I DVR'd George Bush's interview and cannot wait to watch it this week ((clearly I am pre-blogging this week!)) Even Sunday football commentators had stories that gave me chills. 

Everyone was reminiscing about where they were when they found out about the twin towers. It was amazing to see everyone remember, like it was yesterday. Me? I was in first period, dance class. I'll never forget looking in the sky and no planes were in sight. I used to live a rocks throw away from the airport, so this was extremely strange.

But this got me to thinking more, about our friends and families, and how devastating it would be if anything were to happen to any of them. Thankfully, we dont have relatives in NY and no one was traveling. It sure makes you think about how every day is precious and to not take anything for granted.

In the spirit of togetherness, we were able to get a good size group over to our house to watch the Cowboys season opener.. although the game was a fail, our get-together was a success. Surrounding ourselves with some amazing people was a great way to spend the day.

I've already bragged about our FAMILY in a Thankful Thursday post, so I wont re-iterate how blessed we are to have them all in our lives.. the only one missing on Sunday was Zaky.. but hopefully we'll catch up with him soon..

We were also blessed with the presence of sweet baby Landon - it's so amazing to have a baby around.. so sweet and chunky.. he's growing so quickly! You could really tell his personality is starting to come out.. so cute!

I have an amazing group of friends... this isnt all of them, but these are definitely some of my favorites ::Jordan, Whitney, Allison, Jenna, Jacqueline and myself:: I love getting together with the girls. They fill my life with lots of laughter and many good times. (more on these girls to come on another TT post)

There were boys as well... but they arent too quick to react to "let's take a picture!" while football is on.

And this guy... I would be quite lost without him. ((some nights may be more peaceful without him, but I CERTAINLY wouldnt be trading him for anything))

We live an extremely blessed life, and I am so thankful for all of the men and women who serve our country, protecting us daily and ensuring our freedom.

Proud to be an American! God bless.

This weekend...

We're celebrating this SEXY Lady!

JoJo's Bachelorette Party!!!

A little over a month until J&J are married and just one step closer to being Dunaway sisters!

Love is...

XoXo

Thankful Thursday

Thankful Thursday:
Football Season Edition

I am so so thankful for football season to begin. Last weekend kicked off College Football and this week the NFL season officially begins.

Sunday wake up calls to ESPN.. such a lovely sound.

J has his fantasy leagues, which makes all of Sunday exciting, rather than just watching our Cowboys play. We generally have someone in each game to root for.

Football starting is also the first sign of fall, and hopefully the start of a break from the 100*+ heat Texas has been battling this summer.



Looking forward to days at the stadium...

Especially being at the stadium this Christmas Eve/My Birthday watching the Cowboys demolish the Eagles... any takers on buying me an early birthday present?! ;)

Looking forward to Cowboys watching parties at our house - the first one is this Sunday - the more the merrier!

Although I much prefer NFL over college football - I'm looking forward to seeing our #8 ranked Aggies play throughout this season...

And even looking forward to supporting my hubs in his colors.

BUT most importantly about college football, I look forward to a 3rd year of things like this:

You cant see this very well on here, but its the score of the A&M v Tech game 2 years back 52 - 30.. Aggies.. and last year the Aggies won again... L.O.V.I.N.G it!

GIG 'EM AGGIES! WHOOOP!

But all rivalries aside, I am thankful for football's return. It brings our familes and friends together for fun BBQs, games, and banter. Doesnt get much better than that!

What are you thankful for today?