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How I Popped the Question...to my Bridesmaids

3/29/2015

Some tips and tricks on how to put together unique bridesmaid gifts and save money while doing it. This is how I did it.

How I Popped the Question...To My Bridesmaids--Enticing Healthy Eating

First and foremost, thank you to everyone who sent love and prayers to my family after I lost my father earlier in March to cancer and other medical complications. We are slowly picking up the pieces to seemingly try to put our lives back together and learn how to go on without him.

Every day seems a tiny bit easier but there is not a day that goes by that I do not miss him. He'll always be with me in spirit. I know he'll be looking down on me when I walk down the aisle to meet Wade on our wedding day.

Now, the bridesmaid gifts!

There were 4 very special ladies in my life I knew I would be asking to stand by my side when I marry Wade on May 13, 2017. Not to mention the help with the planning, the DIY crafts and decor, and the bachelorette festivities coming up!

I started perusing through Pinterest (which can be a black hole...it's so hard to stop once you start!) to get ideas for how to propose to my bridesmaids and maid of honor. In the end, these eclectic little gift baskets came together through random occurrences of stumbling across something that caught my eye and I found to be just perfect for the situation.

I wanted to keep the gifts and proposals personal and give gifts that the girls would find useful. BUT! I had a budget in mind as well. With a little bit of planning and a little bit of lucky happenstance I managed to keep the total of my 4 bridesmaid's gifts under $80.

Here's how I did it:

I started with the cards--thank goodness for Microsoft Publisher templates because they do make creating cards a breeze. I picked out a free template on Publisher and customized it to suite my needs.

These cards had each girl's name on the front. The inside read "I can't say 'I Do' without you" on one side with "Will you be my Bridesmaid?" on the other. I found some thicker card paper to use in order to create more professional looking cards.

Cost: $0

Like I said, I collected random goodies for the completed bridesmaid and maid of honor baskets over a couple of months.

These baskets were at Hobby Lobby for 1/2 off during a wicker baskets sale. Each basket only cost $3.49 each

Cost: $15.28

Sprinkles make everything better, yes? Because Wade and I were going to hold our first engagement party the same weekend as Valentine's Day, it was easy to find love-themed variation in any supermarket. Each container of sprinkles cost $1.80

Cost: $7.20

I managed to score a $50 gift card for Bath and Body Works from a holiday giveaway on a blog. Bath and Body Works just so happened to be having one of their giant sales. I scored each of these small containers of body wash (also love-themed) for $

Cost: $0 (using gift card prize)

Another sweet-smelling find from Bath and Body Works using my gift card--assorted mini candles in mini mason jars. Just like sprinkles make everything better I believe mason jars make everything cuter. Each jar cost

Cost: $0 (using gift card prize)

The last, and my personal favorite, addition to each of the ladies' boxes was this small golden arrow bracelet. I had a hell of a time finding four in total because I was shopping off of Etsy. Luckily I was able to find four that were near perfect matches from two different Etsy stores!

A big thank-you to DaintyDaisyJewellery and nijionline for their help in shipping these bracelets to me overseas to be here on time for me to get them to my bridesmaids when Wade and I held our engagement party. These ladies both have beautiful (and very affordable!) pieces in their shop so do please check them out.

Average cost each bracelet: $13.39
Cost: $53.56

Fun confetti paper always makes a gift box a little more special.

The finished product! The girls LOVED their gifts and all four of them were just as excited to become a part of our wedding party for Wade and I's big day.

Cost of each bridesmaid box: $19.01
Total cost of bridesmaid gifts: $76.04

Not bad, eh? I was very proud of my purchases and the best part of the entire ordeal was seeing the girls' faces light up when they received the gift boxes.

Now, I am no expert. I mean, this is my first (and should be my last) time to think about the actual process of figuring out what to give to my bridesmaids to ask them to be a part of my wedding day. But here's my best advice for any looking to be in the bridesmaid gift buying situation in the future:

--Stick to a budget
--Buy practical things the girls will actually use
--Shop the sales
--Shop around for great prices
--Buy unique, one-of-a-kind gifts from specialty stores that your bridesmaids will appreciate (like those on Etsy)
--have fun! You may be only doing this once.

Oh, and in case you are wondering, each of them said yes!

Gone, but not Forgotten

3/16/2015

My heart is heavy and still learning how to pick itself back up, how to put back together all of the pieces, after this past week. But one piece will always be damaged. I suppose that is what happens when you lose a father.

My father passed away Tuesday afternoon after his battle with cancer and other medical complications.

Gone but not Forgotten; 5 ways to deal with grief--Enticing Healthy Eating

I had been keeping you all updated on his battle and appreciated every bit of your words of hope for his fight. He really did fight until the very end. Never a man to give up or let anyone or anything stand in his way if he really wanted it, this did not surprise me.

When he and my mother went in to the first appointment with his cancer doctor after he successfully made it through his first round of intensive chemo-radiation treatments and the doctor told him the cancer was not going away...but spreading...my mother told me the first words out of my father's mouth were "Well, what do you we do next? My daughter just got engaged and I have to be here for her wedding."

I cannot put into words what it felt like to see him go through the hell that he did while still fighting to hang on and make it through to be here to walk me down the aisle. I have cried and cried and then just when I think it's over, cried even more. My mother and I both have been absolute basket cases over the past couple of weeks. I don't know what I would do without my mother here for support, but to also give support to. When I am weak, she is my strength. And when she is weak, I am her strength.

I know there are others out there who may have lost a loved one they were very close to, so I thought I might put together some advice on how to begin to conquer what may seem to be an insurmountable mountain of pain and grief.

5 Tips on How to Cope with Grief

1. Lean on other loved ones--friends and family--for support. If they offer it, consider taking it. As much as I'd love to claim my so-called status of being a strong-willed, determined, stubborn Taurus woman there is no way I could have stood on my own with the loss of my father without them.

My mother, Wade, and all of the dear friends who have offered a listening ear, words of support and encouragement, or even some homemade baked goodies--all of them are appreciated.

2. Take time to cry. And then cry some more. Even if it happens to be in the waiting room of a dentist office or walking down the grocery store aisle and you happen to stumble upon a favorite snack of your father that you used to get onto him about eating too much of because you cared about his health.

Just make sure you take the time to cry. The crying has to get out of the way to make room for the smiles you will be hoping for while recalling fond memories of yourself with your loved one.

3. Continue to take care of yourself. Even when it seems like the idea of eating is pointless when all you want to do is crawl up into a ball and sleep for 2 days straight.

These past few days, my mother and I both have made a point to continue to eat regularly, get as much rest as we can, and I've even been continuing my regular routine of exercises each day. The exercise videos and strength training workouts as well as the walks outdoors have aided in stress relief.

4. Give to others. Especially those who have helped you in your greatest time of need. Research has shown that giving, in some form or another, can lift one's spirits.

I suggested that my mother and I spend a good day baking up some homemade breads and cookies to give to those who have offered their helping hands in assorted ways with the passing of my father.

5. Keep your loved one alive. You could do this by telling their stories to others, taking on one of their hobbies, having a donation made to a charity in their name, etc.

One example of how my mother and I are doing this is by having family and friends send donations to a local animal shelter in my dad's honor in lieu of flowers. Flowers die, but that money that is donated may help save an animal's life.

Another example is my mother and I are going to make a point to fish together more often. My dad would have been so proud we continue to fish because of what he taught us.

Though my life will never be the same without seeing my dad whenever I need to, without gazing fondly at the mess of freshly caught fish he would bring home, without hearing his laugh (even if it was at those stupid TV shows that drove my mother and I nuts), without having him here with me in this world as my constant rock...I know he will never be forgotten.

And I plan on living my life to the fullest with him fondly in my memories and forever in my heart.

I love, Dad. Always.
--Your Daughter
--Your Kaylin Ray

Linking up with Amanda for her Inspire me Monday

Apple Potato Hash with Granola Topping

3/9/2015

A versatile side dish that could be made for fast and easy breakfast, lunch, or dinner option. The granola topping provides the perfect crunch to this sweet and savory apple and potato hash.

Apple potato hash with Lovegrown Foods granola topping; Enticing Healthy Eating

It is good to be back! Though I have not been showing up on the blog recently, I did miss it. I finally felt inspired to get back in the kitchen and create a new recipe to share with you all.

The explanation behind my absence is for both family medical reasons and a trip to Texas with Wade to hopefully help the both of us figure out where exactly we will be moving in together this Summer.

As for the bad news, my father's health has been getting worse. His body is under so much stress from the cancer, the treatments, and problems with a surgery that his and my mother's comfort have been of utmost importance to me. He could use all of the prayers, good vibes, and good thoughts sent his way. In the meantime, I hope you will understand and be patient if my blog posts become more irregular for the time being.

As for the good news, Wade and I ventured over to the land of Dallas, TX recently to allow him the chance to check out his company's office in the nearby location of Plano as well as for us to feel out the area and see if we could picture ourselves moving there. To give you all an update, if you've forgotten, we are currently in a long distance relationship and are planning to move in together FINALLY this Summer once we both move from the state of Arkansas to Texas. Our options are Dallas (Plano) or Austin.

After visiting both Austin and Dallas, I definitely prefer Austin. It feels more like a home away from home to me and I could picture myself living there with Wade. It's an exciting time! I will definitely let you all know when we make our decision. It will be my first major move and the first time I will be living in a state other than Arkansas.

Switching over to the recipe...The main reason this particular recipe came to be is because I wanted to make a quick, easy, cheap dish that could easily be used for a breakfast, lunch, or dinner option.

Fun fact: Whenever I peel apple skins off of the apples, I save them in a plastic baggy in the fridge and either myself or my parents scatter them out back for our local backyard deer. My father has a deer feeder usually stocked full or corn just feet from the back of our house and, as it turns out, the deer like apples too! I'm happy to be supplying the deer a nutritious snack. Just living the "reduce, reuse, recycle" lifestyle.

Now as for this hash. It's hash-tastic! The flavors of potatoes, sweet potatoes, and apples just go naturally together. The spices used with the maple syrup just bring out the natural flavors of the hash even more.

One thing I have to recommend: DO NOT over boil your potatoes to make them too soft. You almost want them to be not quite fork tender. Why? Because if you boil the potatoes until they are super soft, your hash will result in more of an applesauce once the dish is sauteed together in the pan.

Unless of course, you want more of a potatosauce/applesauce dish. I won't judge you! I just prefer my potatoes to have more of a firm texture to hold up to the sauteeing part of the process of this dish.

The hash-tasic dish needed a little extra something to make it more hash-tastic. Hence, the granola topping. The extra crunch counterbalanced with the softer texture of the apples and potatoes. I used LoveGrown Foods granola because LoveGrown Foods is one of the greatest food companies EVER. In my personal opinion anyways...

I am a blog ambassador for LoveGrown Foods but they do not pay me to post recipes for them or give them praise. I did that long before they even offered me the opportunity to become an ambassador. You may use any granola you may have handy, though! A couple of other options for this recipe would be adding some crumbled bacon or shredded cheddar cheese on top.

I enjoyed this recipe as a side dish to some turkey sandwiches recently with my mother, but it would be great even topped off with an egg for breakfast or a quick afternoon snack to hold you over until dinnertime.

Apple Potato Hash with Granola Topping

Serves: 5-6 cups

Ingredients:
1 large sweet potato, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
2 medium potatoes, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
3 small-medium apples, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes (I used golden delicious variety)
1 1/2 tsp. coconut oil
1-2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1/2. tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. paprika
1 1/2-2 tsp. cinnamon
3 Tbsp. maple syrup
1/3 cup LoveGrown Foods Raisin Almond Crunch Granola (or other granola)

Directions:
Wash off the potatoes and apples. Chop potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. Peel the apples (*optional) and chop into 1/2 inch cubes. Put sweet potato cubes into a large pot filled with water until the water is just covering the potato and set to boil.

Once water comes up to a boil, boil the sweet potato cubes for 3 minutes before adding the rest of the remaining potato cubes and more water if needed. Bring to boil again and boil potatoes until just fork tender but not falling apart, roughly 3-4 minutes.

Drain potato pieces and set aside. Bring a large skillet up to medium heat and add coconut oil. Add drained potatoes and apple pieces to the skillet. Add in the salt, black pepper, paprika, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Stir gently to combine. Continue to stir occasionally over medium heat just until apples start to become soft and golden, roughly 3 minutes.

Top with LoveGrown Foods granola or other granola of your choice and serve warm.

Linking up withKatie for Marvelous Monday!
Linking up with Mary for Delicious Dish Tuesday!

How many times have you moved in your life and where was/is your favorite place to live?

Do you have a favorite brand of granola? Or do you make your own?

How I Popped the Question...to my Bridesmaids

Gone, but not Forgotten

5 Tips on How to Cope with Grief

Apple Potato Hash with Granola Topping

Apple Potato Hash with Granola Topping

Happiness is Homemade

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