Every girl loves a good pair of jeans!!!

I don't know about the rest of you girls out there, but jeans are the one thing I dread shopping for--they just never fit right. They may look fantastic, and absolutely amazing on the models, or on the rack, but when you try them on, they just don't quite look the same. The thighs are too tight, waist too big, butt too small, way too long--just a few problems off the long list of issues women face while trying on jeans.



Normally, I am one of those girls....I KNOW where I can buy jeans that fit me, beautifully, and rarely even take a second look at any jeans not at that store. If you are curious, the one store where I can find jeans that fit me, and normally multiple pairs each time, is a store called Pamida. It is, what I call, a white trash K-Mart! Pamidas are in small towns in the Midwest...smaller than a K-Mart, off brand products, but those damn jeans fit me EVERY time! Each time I visit my parents in Southern Indiana, I load up on jeans because I know that, otherwise, I won't find any jeans in the Indianapolis Metro area that fit me the same as those cheap Pamida jeans!!!

Well....I am not one of those girls anymore. I am OBSESSED with a pair of jeans! I don't know how they will fit me, and honestly, I doubt they would fit me perfectly (expensive jeans never do). However, they are PERFECT for me and our honeymoon to Nashville, TN in March! I saw a pair of these jeans in a designer consignment shop here in Indianapolis last weekend, and have been on the lookout for them ever since...well, I have found them....and I want them.....BAD!!!!! They are Frankie B Jeans, which I had honestly never heard of before (but I now understand that they are expensive jeans), and they are so adorable. Check out the back pockets of the jeans:





Believe me, I understand that I will never be as skinny as that model, but how awesome are those jeans?! Perfect for a honeymoon in honky tonk :-)

What You've All Been Waiting For......

Key Lime Cooler

3 oz Coconut Rum (We use Cruzan)
1.5 oz Monin Key Lime Pie Concentrate (we found this online for a reasonable price through a google search)
1 oz Licor 43
8 oz Sweet and Sour Mix

This is actually the recipe for 2 Key Lime Coolers, but we found that it makes a very SMALL serving. So....we doubled it in a shaker and served it over ice! It is a fabulous drink!!! Let me know what you think!

My new drink obsession!!!

A couple of weeks ago, Chad and I went out to eat at Longhorn Steakhouse. Generally, my adult drink of choice when out to eat is a Margarita. However, I was intrigued by a drink choice on Longhorn's menu.....Key Lime Cooler. Since Chad and I are planning a destination wedding in Key Largo, where Key Lime Pie is THE dessert of desserts, I thought it was only appropriate I give it a try. Honestly, I really wasn't expecting much, BUT....IT WAS AMAZING!!!! It has just enough sweet and sour, and has a graham cracker crusted rim on the glass. I really could have continued drinking them all night (although it would have been quite expensive and probably would have knocked me on my butt).



Within a day or so, Chad and I decided to give it a whirl ourselves.....after calling Longhorn and getting the recipe, we were ready. We were told a long list of ingredients we had never heard of including a Vanilla Licor and Key Lime Concentrate....but never the less, we were on our way!!! So, at 10:00 one evening, we decided to find our ingredients to make this awesome new drink. We searched high and low for this "Key Lime Concentrate", and after a long search, we purchased what we felt would be the "next best thing"--fresh key limes that we could juice to get the "fresh" effect!
After finding all of the ingredients needed (according to the bartender we had spoken to), we were quite excited. However, our inexperience with key limes was seen quickly since we realized just how many key limes we had to juice in order to get enough juice for just 1 drink---it was something like 8-10 key limes per 1 drink! CRAZY!!!! My poor hands----I was rolling the key lime, cutting it in half, juicing it into a cup.....1..2....3....4...5...6.....7....8...and the craziness continued!!! Unfortunately, this "fresh" key lime taste wasn't what we were looking for! It wasn't as sweet and "key-lime pie-ish" as the Key Lime Cooler at Longhorn.

So..................................................What did we do???


We called yet ANOTHER Longhorn location. The bartender we spoke to at that location gave us a COMPLETELY different recipe and informed us that it was actually something called Monin Key Lime Pie Concentrate, not Key Lime Concentrate. This time we were told to get Sweet and Sour Mix, Cruzan Coconut Rum, Licor 43, and this Monin Key Lime Pie Concentrate. We made another shopping trip for these ingredients---we were able to find the Monin Key Lime Pie Concentrate online for around $7 through a google search!

Three days later....Monin Key Lime Pie Concentrate arrived...and we were ready for action!!! It definitely was the "key" ingredient---pardon my pun :-) We had replicated the AWESOME drink!! We are so amazed by this wonderful drink, but yet are curious what the first Longhorn Bartender was talking about with the other recipe....maybe they didn't want to share such a wonderful drink recipe with the rest of the world??? Oh-well.....we know it now, and we're going to share it with all! Check the blog in a day or two for the Longhorn Recipe for Key Lime Coolers!!!!

As Rachel Ray would say....... YUM-O!!!!

My first blog---Friendship

What goes into a first blog post? Should I tell you who I am and what I'm about? That almost seems a little boring. I'm not the type to write a life story about myself. Instead, I will merely begin my blog as any other blog, and hopefully you will learn who I am through my many blog posts.

Well….the past year and a half has brought many changes. Chad and I have established a life together. We each have started new jobs, purchased new cars, and established new friendships.

The past year and a half has also brought hardships, including the loss of friendships. What really is friendship, though? I was always taught that friendship was honesty, understanding, and commitment. When we were little, it meant sticking up for our friend when the boy in class called her a name. But what happens when we get older, and instead of the boy being in your 2nd grade class, he is the boy who is now a man and your friend’s husband? What defines friendship as we all grow up? I still think it’s honesty, understanding, and commitment; however, how do our personal feelings, beliefs, and morals fall into friendship? Where do we draw the line between being a friend and having a solid belief system?

I was once told that I was not an unconditional friend. But what is an unconditional friend? We've heard of unconditional love, which I experience every day with my soon-to-be husband, my parents, and other people in my family. However, do we have unconditional friendship?? How do we stay friends as adults, but continue to still have a solid belief system?? It seems to me that in order to have unconditional friendship you would have to give up part of yourself, which isn't what I thought friendship was about. Am I wrong? Can you have a friendship where you are friends with people who have beliefs and values that you disagree with? Can you love a friend through all of their faults? I completely agree that a friend can be loved although they have faults, but I do not agree that your beliefs and values have to be sacrified. So, how do we find the balance?

When I was growing up, my parents always told me to be honest and voice my opinion, just as many other parents did throughout this country. It wasn't until now that this honesty has really cost me something---a friendship. Real friends should accept your honesty, correct? That's what I always thought. I gave my honest opinion on a subject that was difficult, yes, but also important. I was trying to salvage a friendship that I feel was probably past the saving point. I was trying to work hard to get something back that I'm not sure I really wanted back. However, I was going to work hard to try to bring back something lost. I did not succeed. Instead, it brought anger and claims that I was not a friend because I didn't agree with situations in her life that I am morally opposed to. So, where's the balance? Can you be a friend and still have a solid belief system? I'm still searching for the answer.