Pico de Gallo Recipe

I had been craving Pico de Gallo for like two weeks now and tonight we finally made some. I figured I'd share with you all how to make your own since it's easy, quick, and incredibly YUMMY.

All you need is: 
(1) Onion
(4) Tomatoes
Cilantro
(2) Limes
Garlic or Garlic Salt
Salt
Pepper
Chips (for serving/eating)

Chop the tomatoes, onion, and cilantro.

Mix together.

Add salt, pepper, garlic salt ➜ season to taste.

Squeeze limes ➜ season to taste.

Serve with chips.

Aaaaand, I'm in love.

DIY Fall Decor!

Okay, so if you know me, you know I'm not the craftiest person out there. That said, I made it my mission to decorate our home for Fall. Jeff was on board with the idea and the boys were excited about it, so why not? I had seen a few ideas on Pinterest and at several stores in town, and so, I went for it.

The fact that we live close to Wal-Mart was a blessing for this project. If you're looking to decorate your house and want to stick to a budget, Wal-Mart is definitely the store for you.

I purchased a wreath, fall leaves and flowers, pumpkins, and potpourri -- all for under $30.

After a few hours of work, cuts and bruises (like I said, I'm NOT crafty!), and of course, some help from the boys, everything was finished.

The wreath will go on our front door. :)

My bookshelf :)

Right next to our door, in our front room, you'll find this table. The boxes that say Give Thanks were a gift that Jeff got a few years back. If you turn them around, they say Merry Christmas, so yes, you'll be seeing them again soon. ;)

Book Review: "Every Soul" by LK Collins {Erotic Romance}

EVERY SOUL

Author: LK Collins

Genre: Erotic Romance

~ SYNOPSIS ~

When you lose the one person who grounds your existence, your whole world changes.

In life, it is said that everything happens for a reason. If that’s true, how can you explain death? Especially when it happens to someone so young, so beautiful, and so innocent? My name is Bain Adams, and I struggle with these thoughts every day. I’ve been through hell and back, somehow surviving the unimaginable. My sister took her life six months ago, and now, what’s left is a shell of the man I once was, a shadow of the person I used to be. Do I miss that life? Absolutely. But I miss her more, every day. I pray time will ease the pain and help my suffering while I search for the answers…but so far, nothing.

Happiness is something I knew so long ago, and now it’s nothing but a faint, distant recollection of the life I once had. My name is Arion LaSalle, and seven months ago my life was shredded to pieces when my fiancé disappeared while deployed. He never came home, burning a hindrance of pain and agony within my soul. For so long, I lived my life believing everything happens for a reason, until now. ‘Cause none of it makes any sense. Why Nate? Why only him? Since getting through each breath is a struggle, I put on a fake persona, pretending I’m someone I’m not, living my life recklessly. Because for me, it was all taken far too soon.

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~ 5 Stars ~

Where to even begin!!!?? OMG! What. A. Book!!!! Phenomenal! Fantastic! Amazing! A MUST read, for sure! Holy cow! I absolutely loved Every Soul! It’s compelling, addicting, suspenseful, emotional, angst-driven, and one heck of a ride! Oh, and did I mention hhhhhhhhhhot?? Because yes, be prepared for one STEAMY book. LK Collins knocked it out of the park with this one! I seriously could not put the book down. Really. I couldn’t. I should have since I had a TON of work to do, but I didn’t. I was hooked.

“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”

Bain lost his sister to what he and his family were told to be a suicide…and it practically destroyed them all. To say Bain wasn’t letting it go would be an understatement. He knew his sister, like really knew her, and things just didn’t sit well with him. He wanted answers, an explanation.

Arion’s fiancé was a Marine who was killed in action. That destroyed her, it broke her. So she vowed to not let anyone else get close in hopes of not going through that hell ever again.  She kept everyone at arm’s length and had a few rules where men were concerned. Until Bain.

“I love how the simple things with him distract me from the reality and the pain of what I’ve gone through.”

Upon their…ahem…meeting, you could tell things were different for them. Arion tried her hardest to keep her rules intact, and Bain tried respecting them, but fate just had other plans.  They fought (more Arion than Bain) their feelings for each other, trying to stick to the whole “friends with benefits” crap, but yeah….that was a no-go. You see, the main reason why Bain and Arion connected on such a deeper level was the fact that they both understood what the other one had gone through. They had felt the same amount of pain and heartbreak. So, without knowing it, they helped each other heal…slowly, but surely. Just as they both began to heal, their walls began to crumble. They loved and supported each other without question or hesitation and as a reader, I felt it. And I absolutely LOVED IT.

“I love you, Arion. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

This was the type of book that had me on the edge of my seat with the turn of every page. I knew there was more to the story line and I was DYING to figure everything out. I kept coming up with theories and scenarios and yet, LK Collins kept impressing me each and every time. I loved the build-up and the suspense! Gosh!!! It was truly incredible! My kind of book.

Now….the ending. Say whaaaaaaaaaaat?! Oh yeah… CLIFFHANGER ALERT. My exact words while reading were “Oh shiiiit! No fucking way!” Yep. To say I had a HARD time falling asleep doesn’t even begin to explain it. I was – still am – on a high from that book. It was such a roller coaster of emotions from the very beginning and then THAT ENDING??? Yeah. I was WIDE AWAKE going through all the details in my mind….thinking of how things could possibly unfold in book two! Now, I’m not mad at LK Collins because of that ending. I am, HOWEVER, in DESPERATE need of book two. I need more Bain and Arion. Need it. Seriously. Now.

Well anyway, I HIGHLY recommend you read this book. It’s truly PHENOMENAL and I simply cannot stress that enough. 

FIVE STARS!

Amazon | Paperback

~ Watch the BOOK TRAILER here ~

~ Author: LK Collins ~

LK Collins is first and foremost a devoted wife and mother. She loves music and has openly admitted that she's addicted to it. Without the strength of the words from some of her favorite artists, what she does...would not be possible. She works the normal 9 to 5 like the rest of the world, but is fortunate that she's allowed to listen to music for eight hours a day. When she gets home, she turns into Superwoman; juggling the crazy world of being an indie author, a mom, and a wife. Both her daughter and her husband share names with famous presidents. Her husband is referred to by her readers as "the Prez", a name well deserved.

LK has had a passion for the worlds created by authors for as long as she can remember and with the support of the Prez, she has successfully self-published three titles in the Life. Destiny. Fate Series. While her books are erotica, they are also known for dramatic storylines that will keep the reader enthralled from page one.

Social Media Links:
Facebook | Amazon | Website | Goodreads

Book Review: "Meeting Miss Mystic" by Katy Regnery

MEETING MISS MYSTIC

Series: A Heart of Montana #5

~ SYNOPSIS ~

High school principal Paul Johansson has never been lucky in love, which is too bad, because few men in Montana are more naturally romantic. Then his friend Maggie signs him up for Internet dating, and while Paul is initially furious, he’s soon blown away by Holly Morgan, a blonde, blue-eyed art teacher from Connecticut. She might just be the girl of his dreams.

Zoe Flannigan—aka Holly Morgan—totally forgot about the account she set up two years ago on Meet-the-One.com. In fact, after an accident that left her physically and emotionally scarred, she hasn’t been up for meeting or dating anyone. Until she meets Paul who is handsome, sweet, and too-good-to-be-true. But while the built-in anonymity of the Internet offers a buffer, she can’t hide in cyberspace forever, either from Paul’s expectations or herself. There’s a journey she must take, and at the end of it will be a love as beautiful and boundless as the wide Montana sky.

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A Heart of Montana is one of my favorite series and Katy Regnery quickly became one of my favorite authors. She has such a beautiful writing style that always captivates me and hooks me from beginning to end. I always connect with the characters and their stories. I’ve loved all of the installments in this series and if you’re a fan of sweet, pure, and heartwarming romances, I highly recommend you buy all of them. Meeting Miss Mystic, book five in the series, was Paul and Zoe’s story. We had previously met Paul in the other books and I am extremely happy to see him FINALLY get his happy ending.

“…and just as he’d always known: nothing – not a little distance or a very unconventional meeting – could stop the course of true love.”

Unconventional is definitely the perfect word to describe how Paul and Zoe’s relationship started, but Fate doesn’t always do things the “normal” way either, does she? Paul had horrible luck where love was concerned, so Maggie, his best friend, intervened and created a profile for him at an online dating site. To say Paul was less than excited or thrilled when he found out, would be an understatement.

Zoe had completely forgotten about her old account on Meet-the-one.com where she had created a profile under the name Holly Morgan (her middle name and her mother’s maiden name). Two years ago, Zoe was blonde with blue eyes, happy, and scar-less. Now, after a horrible accident for which she blamed herself, Zoe had dyed her hair black and was wearing brown colored contacts. Zoe thought she didn’t deserve happiness, so she surely didn’t deserve to look “shiny” and pretty, which is why she changed her appearance.

The last thing Zoe ever imagined was meeting a wonderful and hot man like “Principal Paul”. Once they began chatting, they automatically liked each other. They made each other laugh and finally, feel happy again. They gave each otherhope. But one thing remained…. Paul didn’t know about Zoe, or rather, Holly’ssecret. He didn’t know Holly looked differently than she did on her picture and he certainly didn’t know that Holly’s real name was Zoe. And so, Zoe took matters into her own hands and booked a flight to Montana with plans of coming clean to Paul face-to-face.

Of course, things didn’t go as planned. A LOT happened once Paul met Zoe. He felt like he’d seen her before….like somehow he knew her, but he couldn’t place it. The only thing he did know was that he felt something for Zoe.

“Meeting you…knowing you is like finding something that I thought was lost.”

The more time they spent together, the more difficult it was for Zoe to be honest about EVERYTHING. While it wasn’t her intention to lie to Paul, she was too afraid of losing him. It was that fear that held her back each and every time she meant to tell him.

I was SO nervous anticipating Paul’s reaction. My heart wanted them to be happy, to finally get their fairytale. They both had suffered so much heartache that they needed – they deserved – true, genuine happiness. And be still my heart!!! They sure got their #HEA in true Katy Regnery fashion!!!

I’ve said this before and I will say it again. I absolutely LOVE Katy’s writing style. She always manages to make me feel all fuzzy inside. Heck, she makes me want to move to Montana!! Her books, to me, create an environment where I want to sit in front of a fireplace and read all day long while drinking hot cocoa. They’re true beautiful romance novels that I will always HIGHLY recommend.

Five wonderful stars!

“I love you Zoe Holly. I love all of you.”

AMAZON

⋆A Heart of Montana Series ⋆

Buy on Amazon US:

#1: By Proxy: http://amzn.to/1uCsPB7

#2: The Christmas Wish: http://amzn.to/1m6ieOC

#3: Midsummer Sweetheart: http://amzn.to/1BE5q5L

#4: See Jane Fall: http://amzn.to/1qVP9G6

#5: Meeting Miss Mystic: http://amzn.to/1uNKllc

#6: What Were You Expecting: http://amzn.to/1tU3WDj

An easy, quick, and YUMMY Dessert

Looking for an easy and quick dessert for your family? Here's one option!

Cheesecake Pudding with Oreo Crust

What you need is:

Steps:

1. Beat Pudding Mix with 1 and 3/4 cups of Milk (for fuller pie, use 2 pkgs of pudding mix)

2.  Pour mix on the Oreo pie crust

3. Refrigerate for 1 hour (3 hours for fuller pie).

4. Done.

Extra: Before serving, add Chocolate Fudge on top of the individual pieces.

Trust me when I say, it's truly YUMMY!

Jeff and I made it together for the boys, but it's something the whole family can do together. It's easy, quick, and DELICIOUS.

Enjoy!

Shh....don't wake up dad!

Every night that we have the boys with us, Jeff tucks them in and we both kiss and hug them goodnight. Well tonight, while I was doing the dishes, Jeff went ahead to tuck them in. As I was cleaning, all I kept hearing was "Shh...don't wake up dad!" followed by both boys giggling. So there I was wondering just what in the heavens was going on.

As I finished up in the kitchen, I went over to the boys' bedroom to kiss them goodnight and walked into something that was beyond me. Jeff was fast asleep on Blaize's bed and both boys were on Kiefer's bed giggling as they watched one of their Disney Channel shows on Netflix!!! What!? How did that happen?? Weren't the boys the ones who were supposed to be in bed?? Ha.

Both boys looked at me with these "Oh, crap! We got caught!" looks and I couldn't help but laugh. And again....

"Shh!! Don't wake up dad!"

As I reminded them that it was bedtime, they both begged (with puppy eyes) for me to let them finish up the show while I showered. After laughing at their pleading looks, I told them they had five minutes and then I was waking up dad and they both had to go to sleep.

Gosh. I love these silly boys!! This, as simple as it was, made my night.

Goodnight!

From crates to bookshelf

Sometimes we have stored away in our own homes -- in our garages -- things we don't realize we can use for other purposes. For example, crates. A friend of mine had four wooden crates in her garage being used as storage boxes. Meanwhile, I was looking to buy a bookshelf. What ended up happening? Magic. She gifted these crates to me and BAM:

You can even paint the crates and give them a whole different look. Jeff and I, however, chose to leave them like that (for now) since they go perfectly with the colors in our home. But really, you can "dress them up" any way you wish.

At first we had them all vertically, angled differently, but we figured the books fit better this way. But again, with time, we can play around with the "design". I've also been thinking about getting a small table and putting it where the bottom crate is and then, I'd have another crate to put more books in....because yes, I plan on buying more paperbacks, LOL.

So my advice? Before spending money on things look around your house. Look in your shed, you garage...anywhere. And then, try a yard sale. You never know -- one person's trash is another person's treasure.

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