A Friday reminder!

Happy Friday lovelies!!! This week has been a relaxing one and one filled with beautiful conviction, sweet vulnerability, and wonderful quality time with my husband.

He had some great conversation and even better prayer time! It makes me smile thinking about it all over again!

God is good!

I found this on Pinterest and it seems to fit my week!

Sweet sweet life and love. -Mrs V

What I'm Loving Wednesday

I have never done this link up with Jamie at This Kind of Love but I thought I would give it a try this week. (:

I am loving my sweet new little puppy - Sophia. I know that I have mentioned her a lot lately (and I probably will keep doing it). She can be soo sweet... especially when she is sleeping. hehe

I am loving baking!!! I have been getting up early with little Sophia -- but since I am up... I have been baking blueberry muffins for Martin for work. I have been LOVING it! Martin said that everyone  loves them too... since he shares them with his work guys. hehe.
Today I made baked oatmeal and it was pretty good! Martin said he doesn't normally like oatmeal but he liked the baked oatmeal. They kinda taste a little like a muffin. (:

I am loving that my husband's birthday is in a week and a half!  I love love love celebrating the people in my life. I know that I am going to bake him a (hopefully) awesome cake and probably have dinner somewhere... but I want to do something a little special.

I am loving some things I found of Pinterest --

via pinterest

via pinterest

via pinterest

Via pinterest

via pinterest

via pinterest

But most of all --

I am loving my wonderful husband! (:

baked oatmeal, sleeping puppies, and love. - Monica
♥ . ♥ . ♥

Happy Valentines Day!

Well.. life has been soo crazy lately!

car problems. work. bills. life! hehe.

Everything is finally settling down and i feel like i can breathe (and live) again.

We did have a fun-filled weekend though! Martin, my sister-in-law, and i had a movie day on Saturday. We went to Red Robin and got lunch, hung out at the house for awhile, and then headed out to see 'Machine Gun Preacher' at the "dollar theater". It was really sad.. and based on a true story (which makes it even more sad)!
After that we rushed over to the other theater and watched 'Safe House'. The movie started at 10pm and i will be lying if i said i didn't doze off a few times.
The next morning Martin and i got up and headed out for church. After church we went to see 'The Vow'.

That was also a sad movie based on true events! But... oh... it just made me want to be true to the vows i made almost 6 months ago! 

That night i made a delicious dinner of steak and garlic shrimp sauce while i rocked a scrunchie while cooking.

 Dinner was sooo good!!! Mmmmm... and then i made pink strawberry cupcakes for dessert. 

I truly love going all out for holidays. I love making themed foods (the first time i met Martin's family.. it was St. Patricks day.. and so i brought over green mint chocolate chip cookies). I love making it special and memorable! I know i will do this forever! hehe. Hopefully i will still have the energy and time. 

I made Martin a gift... i found it on pinterest. (follow me on there pinterest.com/monicamv ) 

I made him a '52 reasons why i love you' card deck book. 

It was really easy to make!!! 

Write down (or type) 52 different reasons why you love your spouse (or mom, or sibling, or child), hole punch a deck of cards, glue the reasons on the card, and put it together with a binder clip (or ribbon). 

I added little pictures of us, sayings, and bible verses to the backs so that each page had something. And here is how it came out. 

And that was it! hehe. :) 

He sent me my favorite flower to work today! 

No matter if you are single, married, complicated, divorced, or not even interested... i pray that love will surround you not only on February 14th.. but all year through!!! 

love, love, and more love. - Monica

♥ . ♥. ♥ 

Wedding invite ornament

Happy Saturday!

So... i have been working the past few days. I have been participating in the Lovely Perk-up.. but i have to wear my uniform... not the cutest thing. hehe. (:

A few weeks ago i made a super cute ornament that i found on pinterest. It is made with my wedding invitation... but it can be made with ANYTHING! baby announcement. birthday cards. love letters. :)

So.. the first step was to buy a simple clear bulb. This one i got was plastic and i got it at Michael's for like $1.75. 

Then i took my wedding invitation and cut it in little strips. I made different sizes... and i cut it so that every detail was in a strip. 

After it is all cut into little strips... take one strip and wrap it around a pencil for a few seconds. 

When you're done it will be all twisty and curly... put it in the clear Christmas bulb. Keep doing that with all the strips. 

They will all wrap around each other, just keep stuffing them. (: It is sooo stinking cute, fast, and easy!

I wrote our names on the bottom with the year with a sharpie. I made one for my mother-in-law, one for my sister, and one for us. (: I am sooo pleased with this little project. 

cuteness, simple crafts that make you feel crafty, and love. - M

♥ . ♥ . ♥

what the chicken tacos?

Wow! This week went by really fast.
I adore having my hubby home now. (: I have been practicing my wifey skills with cooking and cleaning (everyday.... when he was out of town working it was always "clean-up friday" since he would come home on Saturdays.).

Last weekend was our first Halloween together (last year we were apart while he was in So Cal for school). We stayed at the house and watched movies. hehe... we are sooo adventurous, huh? We didn't even have trick-or-treaters (which was a disappointment to me..  i love cute little costumes.)
This year was my nephew's FIRST year dressing up EVER (& he is almost 5), so it was a big deal! He was
"robot bumblebee".

my sister said that he wore it all night and the next morning.

I can't wait to dress up my future little kids in super cute costumes. (: I have found some cute ones on Pinterest that i like. (has anyone else noticed that the start of a lot of conversation are now starting or ending with "i found it on pinterest").

this is soo clever and adorable. 

i ADORE this! hehe.

ahh... (: Someday. (:

Also this week i discovered an amazing dinner that i have made twice this weekend (per my hubby's request)  The Pioneer Woman's Chicken Tacos . Okay, seriously these were soooo good! I made them last night for my sister-in-law and my husband. I started with boneless, skinless chicken breast and cut it into little pieces.  And cooked it in the pan with olive oil.

We seasoned our chicken with Chicken Taco seasoning and peppercini juice. (my husband pronounces it "pepper-see-knee" i say "pepper-chee-knee". lol. We are in a debate.)

After the chicken is done and cooked... you set it aside and grab a corn tortilla. And this is where it is deliciously unique. You put the chicken IN the corn tortilla and put the whole taco in a pan with about an inch of oil and fry it!

Hold the taco with the tongs until it fries in the taco shape and then flip it over to the other side while you do another.

Once both sides are nice and crispy... take it out and wrap a paper towel over it to get the excess oil out. Put yummy cheese in them immediately so that it gets all melty! yum!

Then.. just put your toppings.. lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes, hot sauce. (: and enjoy!

I was soo proud of them and they were soo yummy! (:

Today (of course) is football Sunday and my Sis-in-law came over for the game too. (:

delicious food, cute costumes, fun time with friends, and love. - M

♥ . ♥ . ♥

Football Sunday

My wonderful husband is home this weekend again. (: I love it when he is home.

Sundays are football days at our house. My husband is a lifelong 49er fan... and with me being his Mrs. i am a 49er fan as well.

I have always loved cute food! hehe. The first day that i met my husband's family  was on St. Patrick's Day. So.. OF COURSE i brought over green mint chocolate chip cookies. My sister has always been a pro with making beautiful, interesting, and totally scrumptious food. (just look at my bridal shower .)

Well, i have been finding some recipes on pinterest that fit the beautiful, interesting, and scrumptious checklist. I figured that Football Sunday would be the perfect day to try. (:

We got up Sunday morning and watched ibethel.tv and listened to a sermon from Kris V.  He talked about how everything that we do.. there is something that we are NOT doing.. and to pay attention  to what we are NOT doing. It was really good!

 Then it was time for the game.. and for me to cook. (:
The first thing i decided to make was pizza rolls. It was sooo easy! (which is also on this new bride's checklist)


Pizza Rolls:
2 can refrigerated pizza crust (i got pillsbury)
Garlic salt
Italian Seasoning
1 cup sliced pepporoni
1 cup shredded cheese (we used a pack of mozzarella and parmesan)
1/2 cup parmesan (which i just noticed i didnt use lol)
Ragu Sweet Basil Sauce for dipping

- Preheat oven to 425
- Dust a large cutting board or wax paper with flour and roll out pizza crust.
- Season each crust with garlic salt and italian seasoning
- Top with cheese and meat
- Starting with a short end, roll crust into a tight log.
- Place on a lightly greased pan and bake for 10-12 minutes
- Serve with Ragu Sweet Basil Sauce

See.. it is sooo easy!

Pizza dough with the seasonings.

Pizza log. 

Finished the pizza rolls.. and my husband loved them!

For dessert i made Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries! Also found on Pinterest. (: i got this recipe from The Sweets Life Blog.)

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries:
 1 lb large strawberries
 8 oz (1 cup) softened cream cheese (i used the whipped kind .. it was easier to work with)
 3 tbsp powdered sugar (4 tbsp for a sweeter filling)
 1 tsp vanilla extract
 graham cracker crumbs

- Rinse strawberries and cut the top of the strawberries off. Pit the middle with a paring knife. Prep all strawberries and set aside. 
- In a mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and vanilla extract until creamy. Put the mixture in a piping bag or ziplock with the corner cut off. 
- Fill strawberries with the mixture and dip the tops in the graham cracker crumbs. If not serving immediately, put in refrigerator until ready to enjoy. 


Also incredibly easy and absolutely delicious!

pitted strawberries.

The mixture was soo good! We only did 3 tbsp powdered sugar.

They were so so good!

  i was very very pleased with all that i made and with our day. (:

football games, delicious food, and love. - M