Sunday Social

This week I decided to link up with Neely over at A Complete Waste of Makeup for Sunday Social! She is doing a throw back of getting to know you, so hopefully after this you will know me a little bit beter! :) 

1. What is the name of your blog and how did you come up with it??

The name of my blog is Country Roots City Living 

 My husband told me for about a year that I needed to start a blog. I really enjoyed reading them but never thought about writing one. So I had thought of a few names from time to time but never did anything with it. So one afternoon while my youngest was taking his afternoon nap I decided to check out the blogger website. I started just filling out the blanks and it just came out Country Roots City Living. I guess I thought that since I was from a small town in Indiana of about 2500 people and then I had moved to Indianapolis area that was "city". Little did I know five months later I would really find out what city livng really was! So it actually worked out in my favor! 

2. What do you love the most about blogging??

I love that I am 110% myself and very authentic. If you met me on the street you would know that I am toally who I seem to be when I write. I am a fun person that loves to laugh and have a great time! 

3. What are your 2 favorite posts you've written?

This is one I wrote when my mom was getting ready to go in for one of her four surgeries she was/is going to have in less than a year. My other favorite one is this. I wrote about Brayden's last day of school in Indiana. I honestly love that school so much. The staff is such a family and they make you feel welcome. I can also say even though we are not attending that school I still talk to the staff members we worked closely with while Brayden attended. So staff from the old school (you all know who you are) if you are reading this WE MISS YOU!! Thank you for everything you did for us while we were there! 

4. What is something you'd want to tell someone just starting out in blog world?

It takes a lot of time to build readers. Stick with it and do not give up. Make sure that you comment on your favorite blogs and build friendships. Make sure that you are yourself when you write, do not be afraid to show emotion because we are all human and we have our up days and down days. 

5. Biggest blogging learning experience you've had?

I sat down with a friend a week ago and she went over teaching me more things about the blog world. She taught me how to design, make banners, buttons and what not. Those four hours we spent were so fun to spend a Saturday night forming a bond and learning something new. It is something I think is tough and I have still had to go back and ask her a few questions but I love that she took time out of her evening and taught me the behind the scenes of blogging. 

6. Give us 3 blogs we NEED to be following that you love. 

This is tough but I would definatley have to say Lacey, Erica, and Cait. All three are awesome and so funny!






** Also don't forget to enter the giveaway! It ends Saturday, there are some fantastic prizes that are going to be given away!! 

Giveaway Time

 Some exciting things have been going on around the blog area tonight! My bloggy BFF Lacey is doing a pretty awesome giveaway! She is celebrating reaching 50 followers AND her new blog design!

Please hurry and go enter the giveaway! It will close in six days!!

GOOD LUCK!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pet Flea Medicine

*Just a heads up there are some graphic pictures I will be posting. So if you do not want to see them then go ahead and click off.*

Our dogs have had issues since we have moved to Houston. They have always been healthy and perfect when we were in Indiana. It has affected our 10 year old lab the most. In June we took him to the vet and he got a cortizone shot for all of his itching he was doing. He was having an allergic reaction to the grass down here. He had itched so much the hair on his hind area had fallen off. The shot started to fade away and the itching started again. 

This time all three of our dogs had been itching. We gave them a flea bath using some kind of oatmeal soothing astract. That seemed to help a little but not a lot. I had ran to the store to grab a few things and while I was there I decided to grab some flea medicine. While I was reading it I made sure that it was for more than just fleas. This medicine covered fleas, ticks, mosquitios, and a few other bugs. There were two different ones to choose from, I went with Adams because I figured since it cost more it was a little better quality for our animals. I brought it home and husband put it on the dogs the next day. Two of the three had a reaction to it, one worse than the other. Our lab just started acting lathargic and just wanting to lay not wanting to eat or move. He would come and lay on the tile under the table. You could see in his eyes he wasn't right. So we looked and his skin was burning. Husband got some wipes and wiped the medicine off of the dogs. The two Golden's were fine after that but our lab was still acting the same. So husband went and got the hose and washed him off really well. Needless to say his skin was burnt where he put the medicine. We called the vet and they got us in ASAP. They gave us some cortisone pills. They said where Adam's burnt him it would scab up and his hair would fall out. This took about a week. When his hair was ready to fall out his hair was sticking up. We helped him with it falling out since it was right there loose on the skin. We washing him to make it soft for the scab to come off. Now we are waiting for the hair to grow back. 

I would also like to add our 10 year old lab is now acting like a pup!  

*Pictures are below if you do not want to see the results*

This is right after his scab had fallen off. Yes we give our dogs plenty of water all the time. Their bowl is always filled. Although since he was a pup he has always loved to get a drink out of the sink. I think it is kinda cute. 

Close up shot of when the scab just fell off. 

This is what his scab area looks like one week later. His hair is starting to grow back and the redness is gone. We are watching how much he is outside because we don't want him to burn...not to mention the grass and him do not get along. 

I hope this helps when you are going to purchase some flea medicine for your pet. We treat our pets as our kids so we have been so heart broken and worried about poor Carson. Needless to say he has gotten a lot of extra special treats! :) 

Big News

As you know the husband moved us from Indiana to Texas for a job opportunity. We knew one day we would move out of Indiana. There were just not that many opportunties for him in his line of work. We just didn't realize our path would take us 1,000 miles from everyone and everything we knew. So at the end of March hubs got in his car and made the long 17 hour drive to Houston. The time that the boys and I were left back in Indiana that time was spent being mommy, daddy, helping Brayden with his homework, planning a birthday party, being a handyman handywoman, packing, selling our house, and planning our move. On June 10th was the big day that the kids and I would take our one way ticket and fly down and finally become a family again. 

I was completley overwhelmed once I got off the plane and we started driving to the house. I could not believe I was going to be living in the 4th largest city in the U.S. So from being here for almost three months I do not venture out. I have only ventured out of my five mile radius three times since living here; twice with my parents and once this past Saturday. 

This brings us to the BIG NEWS!! Tuesday morning hubs had to catch a flight to take a meeting with a guy in the company he works for. After meeting and touring this location it was clear to hubs that our family belong at this new location. So in the afternoon after he was back in Houston he got a call asking him to take the new position with the company. So by the end of September we will be residents  in OKLAHOMA!!!! Now the chaos is going to begin again. I contacted the company that moved us down here, Morse Moving (If you do have a move coming up I highly recommend them.) We have no house yet, although I did send an email to an agent hopefully they will contact me sooner than later. Brayden will be switching schools again but I honestly think the school part is for the best. I have not been impressed with his school here. Don't get me wrong everyone has been very nice I am just not impressed as far as the education aspect. 

I feel that we will be more at home here. We are not HUGE city people. We can live in a BIG city but not as HUGE as Houston. I love the fields that we will be surrounded by again. 

I am also excited to see sites like this too! 

So if you live in Oklahoma or know of someone that does please let me know! I would love to know more about the state! 

Long Weekend Recap

I hope everyone had an amazing weekend! Let's get started shall we? Friday once I got Brayden home from school and hubs was home I decided to go ahead and go to the gym. I had a really amazing workout! The rest of the evening we just hung out and played video games and watched movies together.

Saturday we were going to go to Surf Side. Looking at the radar we saw that there were spotty storms all day. We decided we would rather spend the entire day at the beach and not dodge the storms. So we hung for a bit. Later that even I met up with Lacey who blogs over at And They Call Me Mommy. (If you have not went to check out her blog you should, she is awesome!) We met half way at a Starbucks for a few hours. Speaking of which have you noticed anything different on the ole blog? We spruced up the blog a bit! I love all my icons on the top! I think my favorite one is the recipe one. As the holidays start to approach I am going to start posting some family recipes. Now I want to warn you some of them are not measured by measuring spoons or cups. :) We also added a Country Roots City Living Facebook page! Please go Like it!! On the way home it was a hot mess, I got off on an exit and the GPS kept taking me in circles. I freaked out, 1. I had to pee bad 2. I was going in circles in a dark scary area 3. There was hardly any traffic 4. Once I got home and looked in the mirror I guess I was crying harder than I thought because I had mascara running down my face. It was a nice look. This is why I stay in my five mile radius.

Sunday we did NOTHING. We stayed in our pj's all day. The only time we got out of them was to go swimming that evening. I made a Taco Casserole for supper and it was yummy.

Monday after Gannon had a nap we went to Fudruckers and ate lunch and then we surprised the kids by taking them to Chuck E Cheese. I had Brayden and hubs had Gannon. They had a total blast!

Did you do anything fun this weekend?

Taco Casserole

Hi all! I hope you are having a great extended weekend. I am going to make this one a short one but I will be back tomorrow to recap our weekend. Last night I made Taco Casserole for supper. I had made it before a while back but found it again in my recipe box. It is something so easy to make during the week for a quick meal and most everyone will have these ingredients on hand.

Ingredients
1lb ground beef
1 small onion chopped
1 cup Thick and Smooth Taco Sauce
3/4 cup water
1 can green chiles
1 pkg. Taco Seasoning Mix
1 pkg. hard taco shells (12 shells)
2 cups of shredded cheese (I use cheddar)

Preheat oven to 375, grease 11x7 baking dish

Cook beef and onion until beef is brown; drain grease. Stir in taco sauce, water, chiles, and seasoning mix. Cook over low for about 3-4 mins. (I cooked it for about 7 mins so I could make sure everything was mixed together well). Layer half of the shells in the baking dish, cover with half of the meat mixture, sprinkle with 1 cup cheese. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until the cheese is melted.

You can top and garnish with green onions, tomatoes, sour cream, jalapenos or what ever you like. I also think maybe some black beans would be good mix in the meat mixture.

Enjoy!


Make sure you click the recipe icon at the top for more ideas! As the holidays near I'll be sharing some family recipes!

*Recipe from Ortega*

Cheeseburger Macaroni

Cheeseburger Macaroni
  Serves: 4-6 Ingredients
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1Tbsp taco seasoning
• 1 (10 oz) can mild Rotel
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 4 oz.  cheddar cheese, shredded

 Instructions
1. In a skillet over medium heat, brown ground beef and onion; drain off any grease.
2. Add taco seasoning, Rotel, beef broth, and macaroni; stir until well blended. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to simmer and cover pan.
3. Simmer  until macaroni is tender.
4. While the hamburger mixture simmers, melt the 2 Tbsp butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour and cook until and light brown in color. When on this step do not have the burner set really high.
5. Slowly whisk in the milk and bring to a boil. Whisk until smooth and thick. Do not stop whisking, this will stick easily and fast.
6. Remove from heat and blend in the shredded cheddar cheese until melted. Add the salt and pepper to the cheese sauce. Pour the cheese sauce over the cooked hamburger mixture. Stir gently to combine.