{Ezra Bay}

So this last weekend I went down to Wellington and I finally got to meet my high school best friend, Shalayne's baby boy, Ezra Bay. He was born on Friday, Jan. 13, 2012 and I haven't got to see him yet. She was living in Coffeyville so it never worked out we were at home at the same time until her recent move back to Wellington. For our first meeting, he is one of the happiest babies I've ever met in my life. I'm so excited to watch him grow and turn into a wonderful young man but right now - he's such a good, cute baby! He had his first official photo shoot with his crazy Aunt Amy and he did WONDERFUL! I can't get over all of the smiles and giggles I captured. Here are a few of my favorites....

IMPACT Wrestling {3.2.2012}

Okay, so my husband has reawakened an old passion of mine. I used to watching professional wrestling. Yes, I know it's fake, but it's still entertainment. It was something I could watch to feel like my brother, Josh & I had something in common. I watched it religiously when I was in Jr. High and then I just stopped. I don't remember why just did. And then Josh came along. I'd watch WWE with him on Mondays on occasion when one of my other shows wasn't on and it brought back memories. Well, when we went to Orlando in November we went to IMPACT Wrestling. And well, my all time favorite, Jeff Hardy, now works for them. Well this last week IMPACT was traveling through Kansas. Yes, Kansas. The state I live in and can't stand. For Valentines day/anniversary, I bought Josh floor seats, we were on the 4th row :) and meet & greets. Thinking we'd only get to meet probably one wrestler & one knockout I was okay with that.

I took off work early last Friday to go home and get ready for our date night. We left Manhattan about 4:15-got to Salina an hour later and got our tickets. From there we went in and got Don West's Brown Bag Special - yes, Josh had already bought 2 in November but we couldn't pass it up. We got 4 DVD's, a tshirt, a set of toys, the program, and a bag. I really wanted the program, it was $20 whereas the brown bag special was $20. And then the best part was we had to buy a Jeff Hardy/AJ Styles toy to go back and meet them. Of course I was buying it. I'd wanted to meet Jeff Hardy since I was in the 6th grade. Never in a million years would I have ever imagined actually getting to meet this guy. I'd seen him wrestle in Houston for my 10th birthday, and again in Orlando with my husband 14 years later. I had every magazine from back in the day that WWE put out. We have his movies but never would I have thought within an hour I was going to meet him. (My 12 year old girl came out and I was so excited!, my husband just laughed at me).

Our first meet & greet of the night....
With our program in hand, we got to go meet MATT "THE BLUEPRINT" MORGAN, CRIMSON, Anarquia, Hernandez, and Zema Ion. We saw Matt Morgan & Crimson in Orlando and my first thought was jeezus these guys are HUGE! Well, they are close up and in person to. Matt Morgan used to be a gladiator.

From our first meet & greet we went to find our seats. We sat there for a short time while people went to meet Velvet Sky & Christoper Daniels. Josh ran over and got Christopher Daniels autograph while I sat with all of our stuff. We then hung out until it was 6:50 and we got to go meet JEFF HARDY & AJ STYLE! Oh my goodness!!!!! We're huge fans and I was in aww!
The event started at 7:30 after all of the meet and greets. Impact was so accommodating for every fan it was truly a wonderful experience. Josh & I had just gone to RAW in KC in January and it wasn't near this exciting. Yes we went, had seats and got to see quite a few superstars but no way were we ever going to get to meet them. Props to IMPACT for an AMAZING EXPERIENCE!

The first match of the night was Crimson vs. Hernandez. Of course CRIMSON won! I will give it to Hernandez for having amazing Superman socks that even had capes on them. Matt Morgan then came out and challenged Mexican America to a tag match that would be later on after he called up Sting and demand a match.
Next up one of the great refs of all time came out - Earl Hebner. 3 weeks ago he had just reffed his 100,000th match - that's more than anyone could even imagine in this company. It was so great to see such a legend! And we got to meet him later on, such a sweet guy. His son, Brian, is even reffing now - it's so great to see both of them working together.The next match was for the X Division Championship - Zema Ion vs. Austin Aries.
We'd met Zema backstage before and then Austin later on when he was signing autographs but only if you bought a picture, well I wasn't going to buy a picture of him so he stamped our book. He plays a prick and does a very good job at it. Austin won the match but not after Zema sprayed himself with a ton of hairspray. I thought I used a lot, well he uses so much more than I could ever imagine.
The next match was for the Knockouts Championship - Velvet Sky vs. Gail Kim
These girls definitely put on a good show and do bust their asses to keep with each other. I'm not big into girl matches - but I'm proud of them for doing what they love and kicking ass at it.
Gail Kim retained her title.
The next match was the tag match of Mexican America vs. Matt Morgan & Crimson
Of course I was rooting for Matt Morgan & Crimson the whole match - they're beasts. And well, they won!
After Matt Morgan & Crimson defeated Mexican America it was time for intermission! Before the matches began, they're amazing merch guy, Don West, had 12 VIP Experience passes for 2 people per pass. The deal -"You'll get to go back and meet superstars during intermission, and wait for it....a PICTURE WITH JEFF HARDY IN THE RING AFTER THE MATCHES!!! I was SOLD! I told Josh to run back to the merch table to buy one. He was 3rd in line and I was BEYOND EXCITED! A picture with Jeff Hardy are you kidding me?!?! But before that could happen we got to back and meet Velvet Sky, the Champ Bobby Roode, AJ Styles, DLo Brown, Gail Kim, and Bully Ray.

Velvet Sky & I
Velvet Sky & JoshJosh getting the Champ Bobby Roode's autograph
Josh & AJ StylesMe with AJ Styles - he wasn't going to smile because I had on a Jeff Hardy shirt :) He was one of the sweetest guys we've ever met - so humble.
getting Gail Kim's autograph
Josh & DLo Brown
Me with DLo Brown - he said the best part of his jobs was getting free hugs

Another fan had a print he drew for Bully Ray so we were lucky enough to get his autograph. The security guy - front & center has been on the TV Show "All Worked Up"

After intermission it was on to the match of AJ Styles vs. Christopher Daniels
Being a huge fan of AJ Styles - we were rooting for him to win and well, of course he did.

Next up was the final match of the night - a 3 way match (because James Storm was filming a music video with Montgomery Gentry :( ) Bully Ray vs. Jeff Hardy vs. Bobby Roode
It was a great match - I was very sad that Jeff Hardy lost but still super excited I was going to get a picture with him in 30 minutes!

My favorite image I shot during the event!

This is my picture of a picture with my phone - I ordered the digital copy but it won't arrive until next week or so. Me, Jeff Hardy, and Josh

It was a fantastic night - it was so great to get outta town and spend quality time with my amazing husband!

Anniversary Flowers

So have I mentioned lately how amazing my husband is? Well....in case I haven't...He's the BEST!

He had to go to KC for our 4 year dating anniversary so before he left town he stopped at our favorite flower shop in town, Kisner's flowers and had them deliver the most beautiful bouquet of gerber daisies. My absolute favorite flower and a variety of PINK ONES :)

Cheesey Chicken Crescents

I tried out a new recipe that turned out amazing! I had found a recipe on pinterest and I had one from "My Texas Today's" Amy K. and I adapted the 2 and made one delicious dish!

Ingredients:
2 to 3 chicken breasts, depending on the size
2 chicken bullion cubes
2 tubes of crescent rolls (I tried only using one but I had WAY to much stuffing so I had to break open another can)
1 package 8 oz. fat free cream cheese
1 green onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 generous handfuls of mild cheddar cheese

Directions
1. Cook your chicken with the bullion cubes thoroughly. Takes about 30 minutes or so.
2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
3. Chop your green onion and garlic
4. Soften your cream cheese
5. In a big mixing bowling, add your cream cheese, green onion, garlic and cheese
6. Chop/Shred your chicken and add to your mixture (step 5 contents).
7. On a large baking sheet, lay out your crescent rolls
8. Put one scoop of the chicken mixture on each crescent.
9. Fold over the sides of the crescents
10. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown. (I like mine a little more done so I have a crunch with it).

New Recipes

So I've been keeping up with my new years resolution rather well and I'm very happy about that. In case you don't remember, it's to cook/eat at home at least 4 times a week if we're in town. And last week I found another new recipe I had to try. Well, actually 2.

Mexican Casserole
Ingredients:
1 pound beef (I like 80/20)
1 tablespoon of taco seasoning
3 tablespoons of water
1 cup of pace picante sauce (I used mild)
1 can 10 oz. enchilada sauce
1 box yellow corn taco sells (I used Ortega)
1/2 block (or you can add more) of Monterrey Jack cheese
1 bag of "Mexican" style cheese
Sour cream to top with

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Brown 1 pound of hamburger, drain the grease.
Add about 3 tablespoons of water. The recipe calls for a tablespoon of taco seasoning - I just sprinkle it all over the first layer of beef and then mix that all together. I added a cup of pace picante sauce and 1-10oz. can of enchilada sauce. Stir and let it simmer together. In a 9x13 pan I put a layer of hard taco shells (I broke them up to make a flat layer, you could use chips, but these are less salty). I added the meat mixture on one layer, then Monterrey jack cheese, and then 'Mexican cheese', and then repeated the layers. I didn't use the whole box of shells. I had about 3 leftover. It made about 3 layers of shells, meat, cheese. I then topped with the rest of the cheese. (I used half a block of Monterrey jack, and a whole bag of the Mexican style cheese). And then I baked it in the oven for about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
Stuffed Sausage Crescents
This time I actually took pictures of my step by step process.
Ingredients:
1 pound of Jimmy Dean sausage (I used regular)
1 tube of crescent rolls
1 8 oz. package of fat free cream cheese

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Brown your sausage, drain grease.
In a medium size bowl soften your cream cheese. Add in sausage to the cream cheese.
On a baking sheet, separate out your crescents into their triangles.

Add a generous scoop of the cream cheese/sausage mixture to each triangle.
Once you have the mixture on each triangle, fold over the top part of the crescent. I don't roll them because sometimes the middle part of the crescent doesn't bake right. Bake for about 15-17 minutes, or until golden brown.