A sad day for the Penn State Family

Today was a sad day for all Penn Staters as we lost our beloved coach, Joe Paterno. He was a leader on the football field and off. He taught his players, including my husband and father-in-law, how to be men with integrity. Not only did he have an impact on his players, but he had an impact on the whole Penn State community. He donated five million dollars to build the library on campus (which was only one of many, MANY donations), made appearances at Penn State's Dance MaraTHON (which is the largest student run philanthropy in the world), was involved in the Special Olympics, and much more.


He believed in winning with integrity and insisted that his players put school work before football. His team wore plain jerseys with no names on them, black shoes, and white helmets. To me, that tradition symbolized that nothing beats good, old fashioned, hard work. You don't need all the extra bells and whistles to be the best or win football games. Success comes with hard work and dedication.


He was a father, husband, grandfather, coach, friend, and teacher. His human body may no longer be living, but his spirit will forever live on; because after all, Legends NEVER die.


Joe, may you rest in peace. We love you.

(a picture my sister sent me from the candlelight vigil at Old Main this evening)

Fun weekend with my little brother...

Hello, all! Hope the New Year has started off great for everyone :) Mick and I have been awesome....we are home for a few months and have gotten to see our families and catch up with friends. Life is good! One of my favorite things to do while I am home is hang out with my little bro-ski who is 7. He is hilarious and never ceases to keep me entertained. My dad and step mom were out of town last weekend so Mick and I kept Mike. He shot Mickey's pellet gun outside, wrestled with Jagger, watched movies, helped cook, and asked about 10 million questions (which is normal, he is possibly the most inquisitive person I have ever met...). Mikey also had a birthday party to attend this weekend. That was quite the experience. I guess I forgot that Mikey and his friends are not three years old anymore, so when they shook each others hands and chest-bumped as a hello I was a bit taken back. How hilarious! 


I left him at the party and told him I would be back to get him at 9, but being the good big sister that I am (ha!), I showed up a few minutes early and was able to get some of his "skating" on video... I couldn't help but laugh at him, but don't worry, he didn't take offense to it. He was a good sport and thought it was funny, too! Watch and enjoy... (Hes the one at the end of the rink with a black shirt on)

Skinny Chicken Nuggets

As I mentioned in my last post, my sister-in-law was here visiting last week. We had a great time cooking/baking/eating. We ate dessert almost every night, therefore we tried to make "healthier" dinners. We made these SCRUMPTIOUS CHICKEN NUGGETS that were super easy and yummy! I found the recipe off PiNteReSt. What they DO NOT tell you, is that these little guys are SPICY! Therefore, maybe try cutting back on the cayenne pepper if you are serving them to little kids. Otherwise, they are amazing and guilt free :)

Delish Apple Pie :)

Yummm!!! Karah (my awesome sister-in-law whom I love dearly) was here visiting us last week. We cooked up a storm! More posts to come about some of our yummy dinners, but life's too short, so I'll post about dessert first ;)

I found this idea on Pinterst <3 and we decided to test in out. It was super super easy and fun, not to mention, DELISH!

Pie crust with softened butter and cinnamon on top

Crust rolled up and cut into approx. 1/2 inch pieces

Cinnamon rolls pressed into the bottom of my pie pan. Didn't turn out quite as pretty as the one on Pinterest, but it sure tasted good :) I put the rest of the cinnamon rolls on the sides to finish the crust.

Pie all ready to go in the oven. Cut up apples and topped with approx. 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup brown sugar, and 1/4 cup sugar, mixed with 1 stick of butter and crumbled on top. Apple Crisp was the same recipe but with 1 cup of oatmeal mixed in. They both were YUMMY with nonfat vanilla yogurt (had to be skinny somewhere ;)