The Simple Life of Delta Daisies : January 2012

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Memphis Builders Exchange Dinner..

My Dad has been the President of the Memphis Builders Exchange Corporation for the last four years. He has done SO much for the city of Memphis and I'm very proud to call him my father! He recently had to step down because you can only be in office for a total of four years. Everyone is so sad to see him go, but he was honored at a dinner a few weeks ago and became a lifetime member. It was so amazing to see all the people that showed up...My Dad has represented their company very well and I am so proud of him! Here are a few photos I got from the night:

We DEFINITELY had a good time!!! :)

Monday, January 30, 2012

Dinner with Friends...

I have missed seeing my friends lately. Our lives get so hectic and crazy...It's hard to keep in touch sometimes...Life is BUSY! People have things to do...It's just the way it is...The older I get, the more I realize that...This weekend, S and I had a chance to go to dinner with Christin and JR. I was SO excited because we have not seen them in several weeks. They have been out of town, we've had stuff going on, etc. We all four went to dinner at a new place in Memphis called Alchemy. It was WONDERFUL. If you live in Memphis or are just in the area for a short visit, definitely stop by and give them a try! It won't disappoint. After we had dinner, we stopped by Bayou bar for a few drinks and to watch the Memphis games. Bayou is a really fun atmosphere. S and I love to go in there and watch the football or basketball games. Here are a few pictures from last night:

Me and S.

Me and Christin. We didn't even plan the leopard theme.

JR and Christin.

Sam and I are so lucky to have friends like them! We adore going out with them or just hanging out and grilling at the house. I am looking forward to many years of fun with these two!! :)

Sunday, January 29, 2012

My Life Lately...

Life has been fantastic in my neck of the woods lately...School has started back for me and BOY DID IT START!!! It has been crazy busy since the 17th of January....I was somewhat nervous about starting my student teaching, but I got up that morning to get in my car and look what my wonderful boyfriend had left me....

He really is the sweetest person in the whole wide world. It really made my day! I was able to put them on my desk and enjoy them for the first day of school! :) I absoutely adore teaching, but it will definitely wear you out...We recently had our 100th day party at school the other day, so I wanted to share with you a few photos that I was able to snap during the course of the day.....

You are probably wondering why I had a phython wrapped around my neck...???? We had an animal show at school that morning, so of course, the speaker knew I was the student teacher, so he pretty much FORCED me to hold the thing...I was terrified! My students loved it because they knew I was scared to deathhhhhh! Over-all, it is something I can say I have done, but I am pretty sure I will NEVER do it again...The bottom picture is a photo of me with some of my sweet students. We made a huge sugar cookie and used M&M's to make the number 100. We had a wonderful day! It was crazyyyyyyy, but very much fun! :) Teaching is going well, the students are angels, and I love my school....I could not have picked a better profession!! :)

Apologies...

My life has been so hectic and busy lately...I apologize for the lack of posts. I've had many people email me, text me, message me, etc. It makes me feel so good that my readers miss my blog posts. I recently started my student teaching in a Kindergarten class. I have been WORN out every day when I come home from school! I love teaching, but it has taken me about two weeks to get used to it. I have also been training for the half marathon, so that is about the only other activity I can make myself do right now....ha! I am finally on a scheldule and I feel better. I recently just got over the crud and several infections, so my body is finally back to normal!!! I promise to keep my blog posts up on Sunday, so I can post everyday, but not actually have to write everyday...I congratulate the women who work, have children, blog, and keep up their wife duties....I don't see how you do it! As for now, I am off to catch you all up on my life in several posts, write some lesson plans, run a few miles, and get ready for my evaluator to watch me teach tomorrow....Wish me luck!!! :) I hope you all are doing fantastic...I have missed you all so much over the last two weeks...

Brittney

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

I've Been Tagged...

I was tagged by Valerie at Along the Way With V & J. It looked like a fun game, so I thought I would take part in it! :)

The Rules:

1. You must post the rules.

2. Post 11 fun facts about yourself on the blog post.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post,

and then create 11 new questions for the people you tagged.

4. Tag 12 people and link them on your post.

5. Let them know you've tagged them!

Facts About Me

1. Sam has been my boyfriend for a little over two years.

2. I have a twin brother who is only a mintue older than me.
3. I am obsessed with any type of peppers.
4. My favorite thing to do at the gym: ellipitical and run on tread mill.
5. I have seen Michael Buble in concert four times...;)
6. I'm obsessed with cooking. I cook with cheese almost every night. Healthy, though!

7. I wish it would stay Fall/Winter all the time.I hate Summer.
8. I prefer gold jewelry over silver jewelry.
9. I am NOT creative at all..I rely on Pinterest to help me.
10. If I ever have a little girl, I will name her, Josephine Iris.
11. I have no tattoos, and only my ears are pierced!

TAG!

1. Sarah @ First Comes Love

2. Leslie @ Blonde Ambition

3. Emily @ The Life of Emily

4. Megan @ Pretty in Pink Megan

5. Christin @ http://www.classysouthernwife.com/
6. Alicia @ The Diary of a Crazy Wife
7. April @ A Liz. Adventures
8. Heather @ Forever in Blue Jeans

9. Tess @ Tea Time with Tess

10. Leigh Anne @ There's No Place like Memphia Mama

11. Whitney @ That's the Influence

12. Natalie @ Designer Bags and Dirty Diapers

No pressure ladies, only play if you'd like to! :)

Answered Questions from Valerie:

1. What is your favorite thing to cook? {And please share the recipe if you can!}

Chicken Corn Chowder soup from Pioneer Woman. I did a blog

post about it awhile back.

2. Everyone has a guilty pleasure :) What's yours?

Red wine & Chips and salsa...Love!

3. Are you a sports fan? If so, who are your favorite teams?

Ole Miss, Memphis Tigers, Denver Broncos

4. What are you going to watch tonight: The LSU/Bama game, The Bachelor, or Pretty Little Liars?

I watched all three. Thank goodness for DVR!

5. What is the one beauty product you couldn't live without?

Aveeno Excezma Therapy lotion. If I do not wear it everyday,

I immediately start having a reaction.

6. Where is your favorite place to eat in the city where you live?

Flight in Downtown Memphis

7. If you won a free vacation, where would you choose to go?

Fiji or Tahiti

8. Who is your favorite Disney princess?

Ariel, duh! :)

9. What do you like on your pizza?

veggies! LOVE Veggie pizza.

10. Post a picture of the most recent thing you pinned on Pinterest.

Shrimp Butter Lemon Dried Italian seasoning Bake in the oven Enjoy!:)

11. If you could give one piece of advice to your sixteen year old self, what would it be?

SAVE THE DRAMA FOR YO' MAMA!!! :)

Questions for the girls I tagged:

1. What was your favorite book you have ever read?

2. What is your favorite low calorie snack?

3. What does your tv usually stay on?

4. What is your dream vacation?

5. What is your favorite hobby?

6. What kind of car do you drive?

7. If you could change your career, what would you change it to?

8. What is your favorite holiday?

9. Who is your favorite actor/actress?

10. What is your favorite season?

11. What is one thing you love about blogging?

Thanks, Valerie!!!

This and That..

I want to start off by saying THANK YOU for all the wonderful advice you gave me on cars. I will definitely keep all of your comments in mind when I get ready to buy! Thank you so,so much! I hope you are all having a great day so far! Last night was very relaxing and nice to stay home and catch up on tv. We have been so busy lately, so I love staying home on Monday nights and watching: The Bachelor, Pretty Little Liars, and RHOBH...Of course, Alabama played LSU last night, so we watched that, too! I could careless who was the winner, but I was somewhat cheering for Alabama because I am NOT an LSU fan! I'm glad they won! Anyway, wanted to share with you a few "randoms."

I have decided on this hair style. This is the

picture I took to my hair stylist last time I had

my hair cut, but I go to a new stylist now, so

I hope she will be able to do it just as well! :)

I might be way behind the game, but I stumbled

across these babies while I was doing some grocery

shopping last week. I LOVE jalepenos, so individually

wrapped slices?? YES! This had my name all over it!

I 'm loving them for a snack considering it has only

FIVE calories!

I've been trying to watch more what I eat.

I had a salad for lunch yesterday with a little

bit of parmesan cheese and jalapeno slices.

I am trying to be better about not using

Ranch dressing, so I took the juice from the

jalapenos and poured it over the top of my

salad with a little olive oil and salt. It was divine!

Uneccessary calories on a dressing is just absurd, so

if you like jalapenos and a little

bit of spice, I definitely suggest you try this!

I was not sure what I would think about it at

first, but I will definitely be using this recipe

for lunch more often!

Last night, I made pesto chicken, roasted

butternut squash, and a sweet potato bisque.

I was planning on just roasting the sweet potatoes, but

decided I wanted a soup to go with dinner. I am

ALL about butternut squash and sweet potatoes right

now. I also love bisques, so I did my best to come up

with a yummy bisque that involved sweet potatoes.

I love a good sweet and spicy soup, so I was trying

to incorporate it all together in one pot. I did not follow

a recipe, but here is what I came up with:

Ingredients:

two large sweet potatoes

adobe peppers

4 oz can of green chilies diced

Whipping Cream

kosher salt

black pepper

nutmeg

1 can of Chicken broth

Directions:

1. I sliced the sweet potatoes and stuck them in the microwave for a few mintues to soften up.

2. In a pot on the stove, I threw in some olive oil and butter. I stirred that around for a few mintues

before throwing in the sweet potatoes.

3. I threw in the sweet potatoes, nutmeg, green chilies, 3 or 4 adobe peppers, salt, pepper, and chicken broth. I let it warm up some and mix around before I added the cream. Also, if you do not like real spicy, you can adjust the amount of adobe peppers you want to use. I like spicy foods, so I also go with more! :)

4. I added the cream and stirred it around for a few more mintues.

5. After all the ingredients had been added, I poured the ingredients into my food processor and blended together.

6. I added the bisque back to the pot and stirred it around to warm up..

7. Feel free to add some cream to the top, some black pepper, kosher salt, and you're done! :)

As for the roasted butternut squash and pesto chicken, here are the recipes I used:
1. Roasted Butternut Squash
2. Pesto Chicken

Monday, January 9, 2012

Car Shopping..

I graduate from college in May and could not be MORE excited! I plan to keep my car for awhile, but will be ready to start really looking this fall/winter. I somewhat have an idea of what I want. Here is a list of items I am looking for when I get ready to buy:
1.SUV. Nothing against cars, but I love having an SUV. I drove a car in high school and was SICK of it by the time I got rid of it. I have a SUV now and love it! Granted, it is more expensive when it comes to gas, but I'll get to that later...

2. Gas..There are so many options when buying a car now. I want to find a SUV that is great on gas mileage. Hybrid? What is the best kind to buy?? I hear that Tahoe's are a gas guzzler?? Should I stay away from the Tahoe's??

3. Quality..I plan to buy a brand that has a good reputation...I don't want to take my car in to get the oil changed, and $450.00 later, I'm broke....Just from talking around, Toyota, Lexus, Volvo, Honda, etc. are great brands to buy. They last! They have great service and are not too expensive to work on. I have not heard much about BMW or Mercedes, but if you have any great advice on either, I'd love to hear!

4. Smooth Drive...I want a SMOOTH driving car. I want to get in and feel like I'm floating on air. Is that possible?? ha! My SUV is NOT smooth...What are some SUV'S I need to stay away from when it comes to smoothness?? What SUV'S DO drive smooth?!

Those four things are ALL things I will take into consideration when I get ready to buy...If you reccomend anything else, feel free to email me or send me a comment! Here are several cars that are on the top of my list:

1. Toyota Highlander

2. Lexus RX 350. This is my favorite.

I have heard wonderful things about this SUV.

3. Acura MDX. I don't know much about

Acura, but if you do, send me some advice!

I love the way this car looks!

4. Volvo XC90...I love these! I have heard

GREAT things about them, and I have several

friends that drive them. I think they get pretty good

gas mileage, too.

If you rec. me to look at any other cars, let me know! :) I can't wait to start looking!!!!

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Washington D.C.....

I am not sure if I told my readers, but S bought us tickets to see Coldplay in Washington D.C. in July. I am BEYOND excited. I have never been to D.C. or seen Coldplay in concert. They are my ALL TIME FAVORITE BAND. S has been before, but I wanted to get some recommendations and things to do while we are there. Of course we are going to visit a lot of museums, do some sight seeing, etc., but I wanted to get some restaurant recs, hotel recs, etc. We were thinking about staying in the Georgetown area...Yes?? No?? All the advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Friday, January 6, 2012

TGIF

First of all, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the kind,kind words on my hair! I adored all of your comments and have officially decided to cut it off in May when I graduate! Thanks again for helping with the decision! I am so glad it is Friday! We have had beautiful weather here this week! I did some running this morning and actually got HOT! I had to take my compression jacket off because I was burning up. We are hanging out at my parents tonight! They are having quite a few people over for the game, so we're going to hang out there and enjoy the relaxtion! Arkansas is playing in the Cotton Bowl, so of course we will be watching the game. I plan to do another run Saturday morning with my cousin and then maybe do some biking. ( I've lost four pounds! Woohoo!) It is supposed to be super nice tomorrow, too! Christin and I are hanging out tomorrow night...GIRLS NIGHT :) I swear we were seperated at birth...Anyway, I hope you all have a fantastic weekend! If you're having good weather like us, ENJOY it! This is so odd for this time of the year, but it is kind of nice to go outside and not freeze! These came in the mail yesterday:

I'm in love. I love them! I'm so glad I went

up in size because they fit perfect!

OOTN:

J.Crew Black Cardigan

TJ Maxx Grey tee

Gap jeggings

Frye Jane Tall boots

I also got a new cook book! My Mom knows

I cook with chicken a lot, so she picked this

book up for me! I love it! I plan to try

some of the recipes very soon!

I made this recipe the other night:

Chicken breasts stuffed with mushrooms,

tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese. I also

wrapped the chicken breasts in bacon.

It was divine! I'll do a blog post this weekend

on it ;) Yum Yum!

Have a great weekend, friends!!!!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Short Hair...

My hair is REALLY long...I have always had long hair except for a short period in my life...I felt like cutting it off, so I REALLY cut it off! I gave my locks to Locks of Love. It was such a good feeling to know that someone is getting my hair! Here is what my hair looked like short:

I somewhat miss it...It was much more work when it was short, but I loved it! I am thinking about cutting it off when I graduate from college in May. It will be a fresh look, more grown up look, etc. At the same time, I looooove being able to throw my hair in a pony tail. I love getting to curl it, tease it, etc. My boyfriend AND my Dad want me to keep my long hair! Decisions, Decisions.....What do you think I should do??? Here it is now...

I am asking for advice. What do you think I should do?! :)

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Fashion, Running, Sports...

I hope you are all having a great week so far! I was not happy to see the holidays end! :( I always enjoy all the parties, Christmas dinners, family time, etc. Anyway, I just wanted to update you on a few things in mt life...

I went shopping with Mom yesterday!

Victoria Secret Sweater

Gap Legging Jeans

Piperlime Black over the knee boots

Marc by Marc Jacobs Ukita handbag

TJ Maxx black tee

Forever 21 necklace

Ralph Lauren gold hoops

I have also decided to sign up for a 5k in Febuary! It is called, " Move it Memphis!" I am super pumped. Some of my family members are running it with me. I am looking forward to entering a few races before I run the half marathon in April! I also am thinking about entering the St. Patricks Day race as well! My running has been going well! My plan started on Monday. It was EXTREMELY cold outside to run, but I did it! I am looking forward to running this morning :) I am thoroughly enjoying my new running shoes....

Memphis plays Tennessee tonight....I am hoping Memphis can pull out a win! I am NOT a Vols fan! I am a Tiger through and through! I definitely BLEED BLUE!

That's all I have for you today!!! :)

Monday, January 2, 2012

New Years Recap..

We had a wonderful weekend! New Years Eve was SO much fun with all of our friends! Thursday night, S and I had dinner at our favorite spot, Flight. We met up with some of his business people and just had a great time! I drank a little too much champagne...oops ;) Friday was a very relaxed day...We got stuff down around the condo that needed to be done, etc. Saturday was busy! I had a lot to get done before our NYE party that night. Eventually, after a dilemma with my hair and outfit, we made it out to the 'burbs to celebrate with Christin and various friends! We ended up staying the night, so we would not have to drive home. Sunday, we dined at Automatic Slims for brunch, walked around Beale street and enjoyed a diver from Silky's, and then came back to the condo for a quick nap! After we woke up and got dressed, we headed back out to the 'burbs for a little pizza and football. Unfortunately, the Denver Broncos lost, but we had a great time! The boys stayed upstairs most of the time, and us girls hung out downstairs. S and I stopped by a Red Box on the way home and rented a few movies: The Caller, Sarah's Key, and The River Murders...We watched the first two and really enjoyed Sarah's Key! The Caller was weird and freaky to me! It was nice to get in bed before 8:00 and just enjoy relaxing..It was the first time we had a chance to relax all weekend :) Luckily, we BOTH got to sleep in late today! I wanted a good night's rest because I have a lot to do today; Run, grocery shop, take down Christmas, etc. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! It is so hard to believe it is already 2012!!!! :)