Can you hear me now?

Can you imagine being phoneless in 2014!?

The charging port on my Samsung Galaxy S3 has been acting up for about 

2 weeks now & this past Monday it finally stopped charging completely.

I went to T-mobile & they said they'd overnight me a phone & that 

I'd have it Tuesday.

Tuesday came & went- no phone.

I figured it would come Wednesday since I went to the T-mobile

office Monday night.

Wednesday- no phone.

So I called corporate and they said the phone is on back order and 

I should get it Friday.

This has been the longest week ever with no phone!

I've been using my desktop & kindle do check my 

emails & social media.

But it sucks not having a phone to send texts or make calls.

On the other hand, when I'm out and about doing my thing,

it feels great not looking at my phone every few minutes.

It instantly took me back a decade when I actually had a life outside of 

social media.

Of course I could never give up my phone because I need it 

in case of an emergency...

but it has been peaceful without hearing all the rings & dings.

(Random pic of me since I'm scared to upload an image from the internet now!)

And in other news- tomorrow I am heading to Atlanta to do a voice recording

for the Library of Congress about my Asian Heritage!

I'll post an update on that went next week.

Blogger Sued for Using Images from Google

Hey all, I wnated to share some very important news!

 I came across this post that EVERY blogger must read.

This poor lady, like must of us, was just a casual blogger.

Sometimes she would upload images from Google like many of us do.

Well apparently one image caught the eye of the photographer, and

not only did he send a cease & desist letter to remove the image, 

he also sued her!

I'm a photographer as you may or may not know.

So I get why the photographer may have been upset.

But (me personally) I would NEVER sue anyone unless they

were getting some type of profit off my image.

Please be careful when uploading images to your blog!

Read her POST for more info & tips!

After reading this, I spent the last hour deleting old posts 

and removing certain images from posts. I went through my entire blog history!

I know this may seem tedious- but it beats being sued right?

So since I can't add a random google image to make this post prettier...

here's a few images from this past weekend.

My hubby turned 34 & we celebrated by going to dinner with friends!

Salsa Chicken Casserole

This recipe is so easy to make & extremely flavorful!

It is definitely on the repeat list.

Of course I found it via Pinterest but here is a direct link:

Salsa Chicken Casserole. 

I copied the following directly from her site:

Ingredients

• 1 cup uncooked rice 
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels (thawed) 
• 1 (15 oz.) can black beans 
• 1 (16 oz.) jar salsa 
• 1 cup chicken broth 
• ½ Tbsp chili powder 
• ½ tsp oregano 
• 2 large (1.5 lbs.) chicken breasts 
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 
• 2 whole green onions, sliced  

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Drain and briefly rinse the black beans. Add the dry rice, black beans, corn, salsa, chicken broth, chili powder, and oregano to an 8×8 inch casserole dish. Stir until everything is evenly combined.
2. Cut the chicken breasts into three pieces each. Push the chicken pieces down into the rice salsa mixture in the casserole dish. Try to push them down as far into the liquid as they’ll go. Cover the casserole dish tightly with foil. Bake for one hour.
3. Take the casserole dish out of the oven, test the rice with a fork to make sure it is tender. If it is not, recover the dish, return it to the oven, and bake for 10-15 minutes more. When the rice is tender, sprinkle the cheese over top and return the casserole to the oven for a few minutes, or until the cheese has melted. Add the sliced green onions on top after baking and serve hot.

Notes

If your chicken and frozen corn are still partially frozen, the casserole will take longer to cook. So, make sure they’re both thawed before hand.

 

 

 

 Nom Nom Nom!

Happy New Year!

2013 has come & gone and in reviewing all my pictures from last year

I have to say I am truly blessed!

I am thankful for everything in my life and I am so excited about 

what 2014 has in store for me & the hubby!

A few pics from Christmas!

Me & 2 of my 4 godkids.

 

Me & friends for a Christmas Eve party!

My Khloe's 1st Christmas!

We bought her that outfit. 

I love it!

 

The hubby's family!

And this was me last night for New Year's!

I wish everyone a Happy New Year full of love, happiness, & prosperity!

Thanks!

Thank you for the private emails from the last blog post! 

My friend has decided to spend the holidays with us

so hopefully I will be able to pass along the encouraging words.

I hope everyone has a blessed Christmas & New Year!

We have 2 parties to attend tonight & 

a full day ahead of us tomorrow.

I'm so excited!

Here was our 2013 card!

We ordered it from Invitation Box because they 

had a special on Groupon to get 40 cards for $15!

I wanted to go with Minted but I am SO glad

we didn't! Apparently they had an influx of orders this year

and after reading alllll the horrors stories on Facebook, I don't 

think I would use them.

(The quality looks bad because I scanned it!)

Here's a few pics of my beautiful niece Khloe in this super cute

Chrtistmas outfit I bought her. I wish I would have taken my backdrop

with me now though!

 

Deco Mesh

This year I decided to try this deco mesh trend on the tree.

I can't seem get my tree to look

like the trees on Pinterest.

Everyone that comes over says our tree looks great but

I hate it!

I think I need to buy those huge ornaments to fill in all

the empty space but I can't justify spending $8 on only 2 ornaments!

I plan to take it all off & start over.

With that said, here is the 2013 Lawton Christmas Tree!

It looks crazy huh?

I'm not feeling that small winding ribbon!

 

Bebe's ornament

Our First Home Ornament from 2005

Help!!
Any suggestions on how to fix this mesh!?

My brother is married!

On November 23rd my brother & his fiance tied the knot!

It was a super simple ceremony with only her family, our family, and some close friends.

We all hummed the tune to "Here Comes the Bride" as her father walked her

down the "aisle."

 

 

I tried to add more photos but Blogger has been SO terrible for the last few months.
It took me over an hour just to load these!