I am becoming de-caffined

So I am trying not to have coffee for 2 weeks............... ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh lately I have been up to 3 cups before I leave the house... 2 or three before lunch at work and 2 late at night after dinner...

Its become out of control..... so today is the first day... and I am doing pretty good other than the fact that I feel back asleep after matt left for work this morning ... but hey I always have my ENERGY vitamin waters :)

Rutas dont lose!!

Last night at Matt's school there was a homecoming pep rally festival thing and we went... Upon arrival we were coaxed into a three legged race... we acted very unamuzed and thought it was a bit childish but as the moment approach I looked over at the worlds best bedmate and said "Baby I don't lose and I especially dont lose in front of all these people...WHATS OUR PLAN?" ( it was only four couples in front of about four hundred people in the stands) I dont know what scheme or plan we used but we WON!!!

Picture soon to come my battery on my camera died and someone else took our picture

WALMART CRISIS AND LATE NIGHT SAMS TRIP

Yesterday at Walmart I thought someone had stolen my credit cards out of my planner... I ran home crying ... Matt helped me dumpe out my three purses in the car I have been using recently... and after a short time of panic we FOUND THEM!!... but we didnt have the necessities I had run to the store for... Matt is not a fan of WALMART so instead of going back there I coaxed him into making a trip to SAMS ... late night trips are not his favorite so I tried to spruce up the excitement with some pictures and these were the best I got :)))

Can you not waatch the road while you are driving and look at the camera?!?!

Well.. I guess it was a late night trip so that explains his eyes...

F-L-O-R-I-D-A S-T-A-T-E Florida State Florida State Florida State WHOOOOO

Saturday Matt was going to make a trip to Tallahassee to meet Mikey for the Florida State Wake Forest Game... Matt is a long time Seminole and Mikey went to Wake so it was a perfect game for them to be able to go to seeing as we are only an hour and a half from tallahassee.

Saturday morning after No Luck Garage Saling and a yummy IHOP breakfast Matt wanted me to come along with the boys so I did we had sooo much fun...

We first all meet at the Ale House for some dinner and the Florida Tennessee Game and then headed off to the Stadium with no tickets in hand... we had to SCALP EM!!! It was sooo fun I wish I would have had pictures of all of us trying to run around to all the wheelers and dealers trying to find the best seat at the best price finally we found an old man with the three golden tickets... we sat on the 40 yard line with a perfect view of the field and we got the tickets ten bucks below face value whoo whoo that was one of the better parts of the night since Florida State had 7 turnovers and not one team scored a touchdown the whole night... but after a couple cokes... a pizza and a pretzel eaten by the boys... they had to have stadium food even though we had already eaten dinner .... we headed home and were glad our good friend Mikey came away with the win!!

THE BOYS

Such STUD MUFFINS

What is he doing? CRAZZYYYY

They were PUMPED about the seats!!

Ladies and Gentlemen..... OUR WINNER "Alright DEACS!!!"

B-Ball Bar-B-Que

Last Friday night we had eight of Matts players over for TEAM-BONDING and TEAMTOGETHERNESS....
I had gone to Sams club got 5lbs of meat...5 lbs of potatoes the biggest can of baked beans I have EVER seen and the ingredients for the CROCK POT CAKE :)))
We ate until we were stuffed loaded up in the cars and took the boys to the football game in CAMILLA (30 min away).... after WINNING the football game we came back to the house for leftovers and playstation ,....

At 11:45 Matt had to kick the boys out of the house... guess he was ready for some alone time :)

Here are the pics from the night...

I agree with LaRae... only cook the CPC on High for 2 1/2 hours or the edges reek of the taste of sour cream :/

MATT IS A STARRR!!!

Matt is the FEATURED TEACHER this month at his school... and a proud wife has got to post about it....

http://www.scaeagles.com/clientimages/33892/scaeagleeye/sept2008.pdf

give away

http://cinnamonsticksboutique.blogspot.com/

go here to win....

Missing the Blog World...

So I havent died...

I have been blogging like a madwoman and loving it so I am sorry I have been absent from the blog... but we are having a conference at the church and I have been away from my computer... and I would never blog at home because I'd be away from my hot studly roommate and bedmate :)....

I did want to tell everyone that I have lots of pictures to uplaod so watch out blogging world in a matter of days Ill be back and better than ever....

In love with the CROCK POT:)

THis is soo weird I registered for the crockpots for my "mom" days... and yet I am in love with them
I have two.... a big one and a small one
Yesterday during LUnch I threw in the small one the chicken and some fat free balsalmic vinergarette... I got home from sams club around 7:!5 and whoooo-llaaa gourmet chicken and very very delicious!!
I used the large one to cook my spagetti squash which is one of my favorite veggies and I am having the leftovers of this for lunch yumm-o

but when I found this recipe my heart stopped I am making it for tonights cookout!!

Crockpot Chocolate Cake - Or as I am now calling it ----TRIPLE C GOODNESS

1 package chocolate cake mix
1 container of sour cream (8 oz)
1 cup chocolate morsels
1 cup water
4 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 package instant chocolate pudding mix

Spray crock pot with nonstick cooking spray. Mix cake mix, sour cream, chocolate morsels, water, egss, oil and pudding mix in a bowl by hand. Pour into crock pot. Cover and cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours. Makes about 12 servings.
Ill tell you how it turns out!

watch this and share this

http://www.brightcove.tv/title.jsp?title=1509297822

Waiting ..wishing...Hoping

I am Re-Decorating the townhouse already and I realllllllyy want this:::::

It is at Bed Bath and Beyond.. We have gift cards fromt the wedding to there.... all three peieces are 139.00... which I have checked around is a GREAT price.... they have the same exact set at World market for 299.00

I just want one of the 20 percent off coupons Bed Bath and BEyond so freely hands out in the mail or in the newspaper... so I am waiting and wishing because it is 40 bucks over our gift cards... I cant wait til I get that piece of Blue paper in my mailbox that says 20 percent off at Bed Bath and Beyond then Matt and I will have a trip to columbus to make :))

The newest Paper Girl

One of my best friends just got HIRED!!! WHOO WHOOO

at the Orlando Sentinel!! So proud Rach! Love ya Wish I could be there to take you out and celebrate....

SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!

The Sounds of Basketball season beginning....

This week Matt began conditioning the boys three days a week at the church's gym ... I work out there those same days ( only days they are open after work) for free yesterday when I was leaving they were just getting started so I snapped a few pics... I felt so proud and so mom like...

Big Cam and Reg Cam...

Getting some shots up..

Winner of the World's Sexiest Coach Award:::::

Request of Angela Shaw

Angela asked for the chicken recipes... the thing is I dont use any recipes...I am not much help... but here is the basic idea

"fried" chicken

I use about two hand-full of a "flake" cereal I have on hand... last night it was honey bunches of oats... but it could be special K.. total cereal... Fiber one flakes... anything you might have...

crunch it up - you can put it in food processor , crunch it up with your hand or put in it a plastic baggy and use a rolling pin to crunch it. in another bowl I mix equal parts honey with water... this thins out the honey... and then I put black pepper in the honey water mixture...

Cut chicken breasts in strips ( I used to buy chicken tenderloins... but they are more expensive so now I stick with the breasts)

Dip the strip in the honey mixture and then in the cereal and place on a baking sheet.... ( OPPS...forgot to say you need to preheat oven on 350)...

after all your strips are coated in both mixtures... put those babies in the oven... and I cook them until golden brown :)) Matt loves them and they are healthy..

I have yet to make the Balsalmic Chicken...

I think what I am going to do will be pretty simple... I am beginning to understand the love of a crock pot.... I think I will place two chicken breast in my crockpot and put my balsalmic vinagerette dressing in there and cook on low for 5hours... I did this with chicken and bar-b-que sauce and it was a home run :))
HOPE THIS HELPS

SUCCESS!!!

Ok so last night I went to Publix for dinners for this week...

We only needed three Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday , (Friday we are having Matt's team over for a cookout and then going to the SCA football game together :) )

Soooo I tried to Buy 3 seven dollar meals....

Meal one ... We had this last night "fried" chicken , green beans, and sweet potatoe fries

Chicken ( I bought a package of 4 breasts and only used two) - 4.29 for the package so for this meal I used $2.15 of chicken. to make it "fried" I create a honey mixture dip it in that and dip it in crunched honey bunches of oats and bake it ...super delicious super low calorie
Sweet Potato- We one used one 99cents
Green Beans-I went with caned organic ... usually I opt for fresh but canned are less expensive and were pretty delicious... $1.23

Meal one- $4.37

Meal Two - TONIGHT!!! EGGPLANT PIZZA .... and yes eggplant is my very favorite food :) weird but true...

Eggplant.. I weighed three eggplants to find a one pounder :) I was so proud of myself this was a first-$1.83
Pesto- $1.69 ... its a package that you mix with olive oil ... delicious!!
Pinenuts- 2.89... this was a splurge but they are my favorite cooking item..I will only use half so I can count just half the price$1.45
FLATBREADS- $2.69
cheese- already have this but I will count $1.00 worth of it

Meal Two-$8.66.....1.66 over ... bummer
Meal Three ... Spagetti Squash and Balsalmic Chicken
Squash-$4.83
Diced Tomoatoes-$0.85
Chicken $2.15
Meal Three $7.83...83 cents over....

Since Meal one was $2.63 under...and meals two and three were over... I combined it all and I was still under 14 cents...
WHOO WHOO!! SUCCESS

What can I buy for seven dollars???

The goal for this week for me is to get 7 dollar meals at the grocery store... last night we had all veggies potatoes ( I already had those)... Black-eyed-peas ( 63 cents) ......Corn and Carrot mixture ( already had) and Broccoli ( $2.00)...SO last night was a grand total of 2.63 for dinner!!!

I am going shopping after I work out for the rest of the week hopefully I can make it happen:)) I was inspired by my friend Stephanie Strout who spent $60.00 at the grocery store.... I love trying to "beat my budget" each week... but it rarely happens when I get carried away in PUBLIX.... Matt claims it is my new favorite store

Is anyone else trying to beat their budget?? Got any good cheap dinner idea to share??

Girls Girls Girls

One of the hardest things for me about living in Albany GA is not the gnats... its not the stinking gross humidity.... its not that I am now 2 hours away from the beach.... its not the bad shopping or the absence of starbucks drive thrus.....

I miss my GIRLFRIENDS!!!!

While in Orlando this weekend I got to go out with my girlfriends from high school.... but they are truly ones for life... we all met at my house before leaving and we were sitting there on the couch in my parents house like high school days.... I mean I now realize these are girls I can get back with and its like we never spent any time apart... it was like chocolate cake on a diet... I WAS CRAVING GIRL TIME!!!!

Here is a pic of the four of us from my wedding miss ya'll!!!

word

Real religion the kind that passes muster before God, the father, is this: reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight and guard against corruption from the godless world.
James 1:27

WEAR LOVE. It's your basic all purpose garment never be without it
Col 3:14

Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders Dont miss a trick Make the most of every opportunity be gracious in your speech The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out
col 4:5-6

Don't let public opinion influence how you live out our glorious, Christ Orginated Faith.
James 2:1

If you decide for God living a life of God worship it follows that you dont fuss about whats on the table at meal times or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion
Matt 6:25

trusting God

“And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 5 10-11

so I have seen God come through in my life so many times.... he has answered millions of prayers.... and yet there are still days I think he is not listening or he is too busy to care about a little petty thing... I was just reading something were a girl prayed a certain flower would be in her landscaping package at her new house and it was.... he even cares about the flowers in front of our house... it makes me think of all the days I prayed for my marriage and my husband and God has blessed me and given me the greatest man on the earth... and all the times I prayed for God to heal my Daddy and he celebrated his 54th birthday today... there have been some dark days with dads health and God has come through time and time again....

I need to trust him more.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

TODAY is the Birthday of my dad and Matt's mom Susan!!

We love you both so much and you have both equally enriched both mine and Matts lives.... We are forever grateful for you both!! Love and miss you!

Football season is never complete wihtout CHEERLEADERS

Even if they are minature size.... Here are some pics of my newest cheerleaders:)

THE BLUEEE TEAM!!!

THE RED TEAM!!!

I <3 COLLEGE FOOTBALL

SO this past weekend we went on another road trip to TALLAHASSEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Matt is a HUGGEE Seminole fan and last time we were hanging out with Rick and Carrie they talked about going to a Florida State game and bring the kids to show (...or manipulate them..... )
them what it means to be a seminole!!!

Charlie learned about the spear and the band and evie loved the beads and cheerleaders...

Matts parents came up too becuase Matt's dad played football at Western... That is why I was in purple and not Carries favorite colors garnet and gold sorry carrie :).....

With my two favorite lil NOLES :)

Can we all looka t Charlies face... its his MUSCLE face he has been doing it since he was a baby

In fron of the Stadium with Susan and John.. BEFORE THE RAIN

DURING THE GAME and tired of getting RAINED ON!!!

EVEN though we got rained out of the stadium twice and had MILLIONS of lightning delays it was still fun.... THANKS FOR A FUN WEEKEND !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PICTURES TO COME

VS

I left my camera cord at home.... pictures soon to come from the weekend

SUMMER

SO I thought I would put some pictures that have never made it to the blog ....

Here is what the RUTAs were up to all summer

MATT PROPOSEDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD this had to be the biggest surprise of my life... I never had any surprise birthday party growing up and found out about most of my Christmas gifts so It was a great first BIG surprise and I think it will always be the best :)))

After only three months of planning and stressing out my porr mother we got married!! YIPEEE

This is at our Rehearsal at Cypress Grove..


We had our Rehersal dinner at LIttle Magianos...

Melanie was the greatest MAID OF HONOR:)))




Then we were on our way to JAMAICAAAAAAAAA for our honeymoon we stayed at Sandals Montego Bay and had our own personal butler.... it was the greatest vacation ever:))

look at my super HOTT husband wheww...

Then in July B-ray (Matts best friend) got married to Sally Saulters.... actually it was because of one of their visits to Florida that Matt and I got back together... thanks Bray and Sally :)))

Of course since we were so close to Mississippi College Matt showed me where he swoooned all those college girls and where he owned the court as a CHOCTAW:))

Late in the summer the Talleys came to visit on their way to Alabama:))

I put this picture up to show you our beautiful townhome .... or club12 as we lovingly refer to it....

Needless to say it was a great summer and now we are on the road to happiness :))) and enjoying our marriage immensely... I mean how could you not when your husband is so stinkin cute.... The Albanian Rutas are truly enjoying life here in SOUTH GEORGIA home of heat and bugs.... Cant wait to see what this first year brings us!