Happy Friday!

SO happy to see Friday y'all! I read numerous girls blog who do a five on Friday, so I decided to join in this week! What better way to start a weekend then to talk about all the fun stuff you have going on!

1- We are headed to NC this weekend, and I cannot wait to see all my people!  Brian's sister is having a bridal shower and I get to see some of my besties!  Doesn't get much happier than that!

I get to see these 2 sweet faces and nothing is better than that!!

 

2- I think I decided what colors I want to use in our wedding and I am super excited about it!

I have been scouring Pinterest for all these wonderful ideas!!

 

3- I cannot wait to get new things with my new monogram on them! Like this beautiful IPhone case with a palm tree! A new monogramed lunch box is also in my near future!

4- I have been looking for a certain palmetto tree sticker for my car for quite some time and we finally found one in Charleston last weekend! Now I just have to hope my windows don't get smashed or my tires cut for having it on my car while working at USC :)



5- Did I mention that I am getting married?! Oh I did, well guess what I AM GETTING MARRIED!!!!! And I am only a little tiny bit excited!

 

Happy weekend y'all!!

 

OMG I am ENGAGED!!!!!!!!!!

Yes you heard me correctly, Brian and I are engaged!!! Excited doesn't even begin to describe how I have felt for the last 4 days! The reality of it hasn't completely sank in and I want to recap every single moment of our fairy tale weekend before I forget (although it probably won't happen for a long time!!)


So we drove up to Charleston on Thursday, had some Mexican for dinner and then Brian suggested we walk to the top of the Cooper River bridge at sunset. I LOVE that bridge and I was all for it (even after a JUMBO margarita) So we get to the top of the bridge and we are just taking in the sunset and trying not die after the workout we just endured after Mexican food. I look over at Brian and realize he looks kind of like he might throw up, so I just asked him if he was okay. He said he was but just felt a little sloshy so I asked if I could do anything for him. When I asked that, he pulled out the ring and said "you can say yes!" And then said "Dana Barker will you marry me?" I then asked if it was real before saying YES! We literally stood at the top of the bridge for like 10-15 minutes with me just saying how much I was freaking out and just holding onto him SO much.

The view from the top of the bridge!

 



A lady took this picture for us when she overheard we had just gotten engaged! A little blurry, but PERFECT.

 

 

So then I began questioning Brian and how long he had been preparing this, and how many people knew (lots!!) He snuck home the Wednesday before and had dinner with my dad and bought the ring! So my family and friends have been keeping it a secret from me for quite some time!! But it was all so worth it in the end to be so so surprised and so excited and happy! After about 30 minutes we walked back down the bridge where I proceeded to call EVERYONE and tell them "I'm freaking out!!"  I kept putting my hands to my face and saying that along with asking if it was real!! Brian is going to make fun of me for that for a while. It was such a great night and special moment and it excites me SO much to say that I have a fiancé!! At one point that night, I told Brian that my face hurt from smiling. I was awake until 1 am, doing dances in the bed and just genuinely being so excited. Brian told me if I didn't calm down I was going to sleep on the couch :)

 

THE RING!!!!!!

 

It is the most beautiful ring in the world and EXACTLY what I wanted. Brian had Meg hack my Pinterest account and send him all the ones that I had put up. Luckily Meg also knew what I wanted. The diamond in the middle of my ring, was Brian's grandmothers, so it has even more significant meaning. Michelle even knew what size ring I wore, although it does need to be taken down just a bit. As I sit here now in my office, very cold, it will not quit spinning around so that needs to be fixed!

 

 

On Friday morning, we woke up and went to Panera for breakfast! After that we headed to the Tanger Outlets because everyone needs some of that! Then we headed to the beach for the rest of the day. It was quite windy, but so nice to just relax and soak up some sun!!





PERFECTION!!

 

After the beach, we headed down to the battery, always beautiful! And then stopped for a few drinks at a local bar. Then  we went to dinner at Fleet Landing with my friend from elementary school and her fiancé. It was so fun to get to see them and the food was excellent!!

On Saturday we slept in, which was much appreciated! Then we headed downtown to the market for a few hours, which is always fun! We got 2 new prints (one of the bridge of course!!), some hand carved Christmas ornaments (one of the bridge of course!!) and Wilson a new dog collar. We grabbed some lunch at Subway (my soon to be father in law would approve!!) and then decided to drive out to see the Folly Beach lighthouse.

 

Then on Saturday night, Matt and Brittany were in Charleston going out on a cruise, so we headed to dinner with them at Harbor Fish House, which was AMAZING. Food was excellent as was the champagne! :) We went back to our hotel afterwards and stayed up wayyyy too late and drank wayyyy too much beer!

 

SO much love!!

A little fun with the captain! ;)

 

We had to head back to reality on Sunday...boo! And I was very sad to see our fairytale weekend come to an end. But I did get to come home with a fiancé and that is AMAZING! We have a lot going on now, because we are considering getting married in March of 2014 and if that is the case we have a lot of planning to do! But so far I am just living on the high of being engaged and not worrying about too much at this moment! I am SO SO SO excited and I cannot wait to become Mrs. Klinepeter!!!!



I love 4 day work weeks!

Not much has been happenin' around here, but I am surprisingly okay with that! I got an unexpected 3 day weekend when we had a campus wide power outage on Friday. It was great! I got to spend time with my pups and I also spent some time at my previous place of employment. It was nice to catch up with some of them, but it genuinely made me glad I do not work there anymore! This weekend was pretty low key, we shopped, I crafted (pictures to come of my other artwork!), saw Grownups 2 (SO funny), went out to dinner, and laid pretty low yesterday. I also have a 3 day weekend this weekend (that makes 3 in a row!) because we are heading to Charleston on Thursday and I am SO excited!

 

 

Cannot wait to spend 3 days with my love in my favorite place!

I would be even more excited if I could get rid of all these stomach issues I have going on. I am really fearful that I may be becoming lactose intolerant and I do not want that! I am obsessed with all things dairy, especially milk and I hate to think I would have to cut that all out of my diet. But I guess only time will tell as I try to figure out what is going on.

So in sum, a few things that make this Monday happy:
- Charleston in 3 days & seeing Greensboro friends while there!
- 3, 3 day weekends in a row
- A gift certificate in my purse to get a mani/pedi from my sweet, sweet boyfriend
 - I am so blessed and trying to remember to thank God for all that I have (scroll down for more on this)
- My sweet pup celebrated his 3rd birthday yesterday, how can you not love that face?

So an issue I have been facing lately is really and truly related to social media. I read so many people's blogs about their lives as married couples and their sweet babies, and I am slightly addicted to Facebook so I see when 6 people get engaged in a span of 2 weekends and instead of feeling happy I feel insanely jealous. I hate this. I hate it because it makes me look like a brat towards Brian and anyone else I voice my opinions to. I  hate it because my relationship is not theirs and comparing is unfair. And mostly I hate it because I know that God has a plan for my life. Why do I try to alter or fast forward the life He already has planned for me. I started a devotional called Heart like Jesus and it has been so eye opening even though I have done it in the past. It is amazing  how your thoughts and other things change during different periods of your life. My prayer is that my heart will be more peaceful like Jesus' so that I can not worry or fret and live the amazing life that I am so blessed to have and that I do have because of Him.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself. Does anyone else struggle with this?

Enjoy your week, I know I will!

2 new recipes--Success!

This past week I tried two new recipes that were quite successful! One was buffalo chicken enchiladas and the other was baked pesto chicken. I of course didn't take any pictures of mine, but needless to say the food was awesome.

 

Baked Pesto Chicken

 

Ingredients: 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

salt and fresh ground black pepper for seasoning chicken

1/2 cup basil pesto (Homemade or store bought)

2 oz. (1/2 cup) grated low-fat mozzarella cheese

 Instructions:

 Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Trim all visible fat and tendons from chicken pieces, then cut each chicken breast lengthwise into 2 or 3 pieces.

 

 

 Spray a 9" x 12" (or 8.5" X 12.5") baking dish with non-stick spray, then spread 1/4 cup basil pesto over the bottom of the dish. Lay chicken strips over the pesto, then spread 1/4 cup more basil pesto over the chicken.

 

 

 Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil (or use a baking dish with a tight-fitting lid) and bake the chicken for 25-30 minutes, just until chicken is barely firm and cooked through. (Don't cook too much at this point, or the chicken will be overcooked by the time the cheese is melted and browned.)

 

 

 When chicken is barely cooked through, remove foil and sprinkle chicken with 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese. Put dish back into the oven without foil and cook 5 minutes more, just until cheese is melted. (If your broiler is separate from the oven, start preheating it when you take the chicken out.) After I melted the cheese for 5 minutes I switched my oven to broil and broiled for 5 minutes more, just long enough to get the cheese lightly browned.
 

 Serve hot. There will be some flavorful juice in the bottom of the dish when this is done, so you may want to serve with rice, couscous, or quinoa to soak up the juice, but if you're eating this for phase one, just spoon the juice over the chicken.

 Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas

 

Ingredients

makes 8 enchiladas

8 large whole wheat tortillas

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

28 ounce can red enchilada sauce

1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce (+ more depending on your taste buds)

1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

4 ounces gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

5 green onions, chopped

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

 Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

 Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick spray. Pour enchilada sauce in a bowl and begin by whisking in 1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce. Taste and adjust according to your desired level of heat – I added in 1/2 cup total. Set aside.
 

 Add shredded chicken to a bowl with 2 green onions and 1/2 cup Monterrey jack cheese. Pour in about a 1/2 cup of enchilada/buffalo sauce mixture and mix thoroughly. Stir until mixture comes together.

 

 

 Pour a drizzle of enchilada/buffalo sauce in the bottom of the baking dish. Take each tortilla and fill it with a few heaping tablespoons of the chicken mixture. Roll each up and set it in the baking dish, seam side down. Pour another 1/2 cup or more of enchilada/buffalo sauce on top of tortillas and add remaining Monterrey jack cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Immediately after taking enchiladas out of the oven, add crumbled Gorgonzola on top. Garnish with the remaining onions and cilantro and serve. Store the remaining sauce in the fridge for 1-2 weeks, and use if reheating enchiladas.

 

 

 I left off the onions because I am not a fan, but Brian would have probably liked if I had included them.

___________________________________________________

 

Next week we are heading to Charleston and I am SO excited. I got a little bummed this morning because a tennis friend of ours asked us to play in a tourney with her and of course it's the same weekend, but I am still so pumped for the beach! Speaking of tennis, mixed doubles season is almost over (sad!) but our team may get to go to states! Fingers crossed! Combos season starts next week, I am the captain of my team, I think I am already regretting it :) But hopefully we will have a good season!

 

And just because he is so cute, here is a picture of Jackson in a beach cart!

DIY Project--Success!

Happy Monday! Wait, do those 2 words go together in the same sentence!? We had a genuinely low key but good weekend which is always nice. Quality time spent sleeping, shopping, eating & cooking and spending time with Brian & the pups.

I found this canvas painting project on Pinterest (go figure right?) and really wanted to try it out. I thought it would be really cool and I also wanted to make something for my aunt so I thought why the heck not. This was quite the trial and error project, but luckily didn't break the bank and the errors were easy to fix. I got the supplies for about $30 total, but now that I have paint, I can keep using that and I finally found reusable stickers. Basically how it works, is you paint a canvas in stripes with any colors you like. Then you write out a saying with stickers, paint over the entire canvas in black and then peel off the stickers. This was my first attempt:

Mistake # 1: Only painting three large stripes.

 



 I forgot to take a picture with the letters on before painting it black. Mistake #2: Using black acrylic paint to paint the entire canvas.

The final outcome. I was not overly impressed with how it turned out and figured there could be a better way to do this.

 

 

So back to Michael's we went. As a side note, Walmart actually sells canvases that are cheaper and just as good quality. We got 2 for $10 instead of 1 for $10. We decided (yes Brian was helping with this) that we needed a different type of stickers and that using spray paint for the black part might work better.

 

 

We painted more stripes on these to make it look more colorful (Brian painted the top one :))

 

I used stickers that were raised and not made out of paper. They worked SO much better and the best thing: they can be used more than once!!

 

We painted black with spray paint. I think this was the best decision. It was much quicker and turned out 100 x's better!

 

 

The results:

 

I was so, so, so happy with how these turned out and cannot wait to make more of them!









I love working the day after the 4th, said no one ever!

So I am going to say two very negative things before I turn it around:
1. Me and my pups are SO sick of the rain. Luckily the sun is finally out today, but only after a torrential downpour this morning!
2. Working the day after the 4th of July should be illegal. The entire campus is DEAD today so you can only imagine how my actual department is. I've seen one other person all morning.

Okay on to happier things! It is Friday, thank goodness! We have no big plans this weekend or next weekend which is totally okay because after that our weekends spin out of control with a trip to Charleston, bridal showers, my birthday, weddings, engagement parties and then FOOTBALL SEASON!

We had a pretty solid 4th of July. It started off with a chocolate cake and Identity Theft. The movie was pretty funny, but the cake was even better after I finally got it made.

Let me just make it known about my little baking fail that happened here. We had no baking soda because a few weeks ago I got super sunburned and took a bath with a whole box of it. As a side note, it actually helps, but anyways....so I asked Brian to stop and pick some up which he did. I had already started baking the cake and had to wait for the baking soda. So I finish and put the cake in the oven and set the timer. A bit later I came back to start making dinner, opened the oven, and found my cakes overflowing and burning BADLY. Something is obviously wrong, really wrong. Yep I forgot to put the almost 2 cups of flour into my cake, no freakin' wonder. I was already set on chocolate cake though, so I started all over again. It was totally worth it. This cake is awesome and super easy to make. Thanks Hershey's!

As another side note, I've had a few really bad moments in the kitchen recently. Before the cake incident, I was making chicken tetrazzini and had it on our plates and half way consumed before I realized that I had forgotten the noodles. So it was more like a soup rather than a casserole. Brian asked if this is how it would be when I am a stay at home mom. I told him it would be worse...

So then yesterday, we slept in, which was amazing and then we took the dogs to the lake to go swimming. Although Wilson did really hate the water, he has become quite the swimmer! He loves to fetch the tennis ball just as much as Jackson. He is still getting the hang of it, but getting better all the time!

We then spent part of the afternoon shopping for a new comforter...how exciting!! Brian hates our lovely palm tree one that we have right now, so we ended up with this beauty from Bed Bath and Beyond.

Now we just have to find some sheets to match.

We did grill out, burgers and chicken. Along with some sweet potato fries and pineapple, it was pretty good! Then last night we went to the Columbia Blowfish baseball game. They are a college league summer baseball team, so it is nothing extremely exciting, but it was fun and they had some pretty decent fireworks at the end of the game!

Hope you all had a great 4th of July and an even better weekend!

50 things you always wanted to know about me!

1. People tell me all the time that I resemble Helen Hunt.

2. I love quotes. I could find a quote at any given time that describes how I feel/a certain period in my life.

3. I am obsessed with my dogs, Wilson & Jackson. Some days I like them more than I like people.

4. I really, really, really want to travel to Alaska, even though I HATE cold weather.

5. I lived in North Carolina my entire life, until last year when I moved to South Carolina.

6. I love my mom more than anything. I talk to her at least thirty minutes every day, sometimes more.

7. In high school and part of college, I worked at Coldstone Creamery. And yes I had to sing all the awful songs.

8. Reading is something that I really enjoy, although I do not venture out much from the love stories (Nicholas Sparks anyone??)

9. I HATE sweet tea. And yes I am aware it is not normal.

10. I don’t eat beef (especially hamburgers & steak). A cow looked at me once and I’ve never been the same. Yes I am aware that is not normal either.

11. I am ashamed to admit it, but I watch Teen Mom and Pretty Little Liars.

12. Almost all of my close friends are friends from elementary, middle or high school.

13. I love to sing, but cannot carry a tune in a bucket (thanks granddad!)

14. Really the only music I listen to is country. One of my bucket list items is to attend the CMA awards!

15. My alcoholic drink of choice is Sailor Jerry’s (spiced rum).

16. I bite and pick at my fingernails and therefore they will never, ever be pretty.

17. I cannot wait to get married (although I’d likely be okay with a small shindig) and my ultimate goal in life is to be a stay at home mom.

18. When I’ve had a bad day, chocolate cake can always make it better.

19. Christmas is my favorite holiday and I have an artificial tree that I like to leave up year round. It is a Valentine’s Day tree, an Easter tree, etc. Brian made me take it down this year after Easter.

20. I love Brian more than I ever thought I could possibly love someone and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for us.

 

21. We have attended more weddings than I can count. We are invited to eight this year. I like weddings, but dang.

22. I’m pretty certain I have an addiction to my IPhone and Facebook. It is unhealthy.

23. I love palm trees and the beach A LOT.

24. Charleston is my favorite place, ever.

Brian took this awesome picture of the bridge (which I am also obsessed with) last year when we were there!

25. I miss college and would go back in a heart beat.

26. I work at The University of South Carolina, but am a huge Clemson fan. GO TIGERS!

27. I am really bad about shopping online. It is unhealthy for my bank account.

28. I have an unhealthy obsession with Kenny Chesney. And no I don’t care if he is bald and short. I have seen him in concert more times than I can count.

29. I have never gotten a speeding ticket or been in a wreck that I caused (knock on wood….)

30. Finding new recipes on Pinterest is a fav of mine. Brian always asks, “is this from Pinterest?”

31. I love laying outside in the sun even though I know how bad it is for me, and I hate sunscreen.

32. I lived with my best friend for six years in college and after and it was some of the best times/memories of my life.

 

33. I played roller hockey when I was in the third grade. I really wanted to be like my big brothers.

34.  I am in denial that I am turning 25 in a month.

35. Pizza is my favorite food, hands down. Ham and pineapple all the way!

36. I bought a Michael Kors watch with my tax return this year and I freakin’ love it.

37. My uncle who died of cancer last year is someone I miss everyday.

 

38. I love pink. Everything I own would be pink if it could.

39. I have way too many purses and only use about 4 of them ever. It’s dumb.

40. I have a tattoo on my foot of the Christian fish, and would get another one in a heart beat.

41. I grew up Methodist, but have considered converting to Catholicism because of Brian.

42. I love kids, especially one of my best friend’s daughters, Abby & Brooke. I can play with them for hours and then give them back!

I mean seriously are they not the cutest?!

43. I drink diet Pepsi everyday.

44. I hate roller coasters.

45. I have never left the United States, but am dying too!

46. I love hydrangeas; they will be at my wedding.

47. I have a real soft spot when it comes to any kind of animals, especially dogs and cats. Even if I am low on cash, I will donate to Noah’s Ark Rescue (check them out, they rock!!)

48. I love Saint Jude’s Hospital and what they do. I would love to work there, or at least visit and volunteer.

49. I love to play tennis although I am not that competitive. Brian and I actually met playing tennis.

50. I am so excited and cannot wait to buy a house in 8 months and not worry about moving for at least 5 years.