Chick Fil A on Sunday

If you know me or anyone in my household, you know we LOVE Chick Fil A.  I think we could eat it for every meal, every day! With saying that, it gets expensive, especially with 4 mouths to feed, 2 of which are growing teen/pre-teens.   I came across this recipe on my favorite website- where else but Pinterest and I couldn't wait to try it. 
    With Football season fast approaching I would say these are a MUST make!  There is bound to be a rainy gross Saturday where all you want to do is watch Football all day long and have plenty of finger foods to snack on!  This will definitely be our go to snack!

Chick Fil A on Sunday

2 skinless and boneless chicken breasts
1 cup milk
1 egg
1 1/4 cups flour
2 TBSP powdered sugar
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
peanut oil (is best) or canola oil

In a medium bowl whisk the egg and stir in the milk. Trim any fat away from chicken(this is important). Cube chicken into bite size pieces. Place chicken in milk mixture,and cover. Let it 'marinate' for 2-4 hours in the fridge. This will make the chicken very nice and tender. In a gallon size resealable baggie combine flour, powdered sugar, salt and pepper. Seal and shake to combine. Place about 2 inches of oil in a medium deep pot. Over medium high heat (more towards the high side) heat oil until hot. If using a thermometer let the temperature reach 375°. If you don't have a fancy gadget like most people, I always test my oil by dropping a few drops of water into it. You want it to sizzle and not pop too much. Adjust your heat if necessary. Using a fork or tongs remove cut chicken from milk mixture and place in the flour mixture. Seal and shake until nuggets are completely coated. Place about a 6-8 nuggets into hot oil and let them cook until golden brown, turning half way through once the edge of your chicken starts to turn white. About 1 minute each side. Always double check to see if any chicken you make is cooked through. I always just make a tiny cut to see if it's pink. Remove and drain on a paper towel. Repeat until all nuggets are cooked. Serve with your favorite sauce!

The only thing missing are the Waffle Fries and Sweet Tea-  but I plan on finding a way to re-create those at home as well!!!  If you try them let me know what you think!!!  Enjoy!

Enough about YOU!!

So as you can see the focus since the beginning of the year has been about Kyle’s recovery.  He is just incredible; I’m so inspired daily by him and his Drive to get back to 100%.   He truly is my better half and my best friend!

BUT what about our WEDDING you ask? Why thank you for asking J

It is quickly approaching and we are both so excited!  I have still managed to find time for all the fun planning!  Even squeezed in a couple showers and my super FUN Bachelorette weekend in Austin! 

DALLAS Shower

Some of my mom’s friends hosted a Beautiful Bridal shower for me at the beginning of June.  It was perfect, so nice to see so many friends and family!  We got some very nice things as well!  Thank you ladies for being such wonderful hostesses!! 

One Last Fling before the RING!!

I knew I wanted to have a fun girl’s weekend for my Bachelorette party!  So we headed to Austin for a weekend at the Lake!  My AMAZING sister and Matron of Honor did such a great job organizing everything for the weekend, from reserving the condo to providing food and drinks for everyone, and was a real trooper the whole time being almost 5 months Pregnant.

                       This was at the pool-  Look how low the lake was, we need RAIN so bad.

                                                         on our balcony of our condo

Before Dinner @ Oasis- this atmostphere was fantastic!!!

BIG thank you to all my girls who were able to join me!



MOVING on… and Learning

Shortly after Kyle got back we moved into our new home.  This was an ordeal- With Kyle only able to be on crutches for short amounts of time we had to rely on multiple trips and many willing friends!  It’s amazing how much stuff you have in such a small space.  We quickly learned how little we needed to be happy and how much stuff was only that STUFF.  We learned how important it is to give it all to GOD and thank him every day for his sacrifice for us!  We also learned how important family and Friends are, without the support we would not be where we are today.  We appreciate everything everyone has done for us; there are no words to express how much you all mean to us!  All of the support has truly lifted all of our Spirits over the past months, especially Kyle’s.  He has improved tremendously and in a very short period of time.  They were able to schedule him to go back to BAMC in June to be fitted for the IDEO Brace.   You can watch and read the article about it here…..

Online Article

Kyle is now spending the month of August at BAMC the center for the Intrepid- this place is incredible to train with his NEW IDEO Brace!  The things they allow people do to after accidents such as Kyle’s or the loss of a limb, it truly brings Tears to my eyes seeing all of the men and women who can now live their lives just like everyone else!

Hope you have a Blessed day!!

Welcome HOME!!!

We were so lucky that Kyle was released from the Hospital (BAMC) the Day before Christmas!!  We were able to make the Rough (for Kyle) drive to Dallas to be with my Family and Both Trent and Kiley were able to meet us there as well! 

 It turned out to be a wonderful time and Much needed outing for Kyle, even though he was in a lot of pain, he was a trooper!   All 4 of us loaded up my 4runner after Christmas and headed back to San Antonio for another 2 weeks, we seriously looked like a clown car with all of our luggage and gifts from Christmas.  The Army has an onsite hotel where we were able to stay, and Kyle continued to stay Through April while he was continuing Dr’s appointments and Physical Therapy.  We were fortunate to have one of Kyle’s friend, Richard come stay with him for the month of January to help him get to all of his appointments, since I had to come back to work and handle everything else back home.    The month of February was probably the hardest for both of us,  The fact that we couldn’t be together and when we were there was just so much going on and it was such an adjustment not being able to be at home, and Kyle in a wheelchair.   I definitely think this was a huge test to our relationship and it made us appreciate each other so much more and made us stronger individually as well as a couple.   We were able to do a few fun things, like touring the Alamo and checking out the Riverwalk in San Antonio!

Luckily I was able to visit him almost every other weekend until he finally was released to come home in the Middle of March!!  This was the day we had been anticipating for weeks and it was AH-Mazing!!  He actually ended up coming home on the exact same day the rest of his platoon came home from their Deployment in Afghanistan, he just arrived later in the evening than they did.   It was one of the most memorable welcome Home celebrations I think we could have imagined!  Thanks to the work of some incredible friends, the Edmond Police Department went out of their way to give Kyle the welcome home he deserved!  They organized a caravan of cars to the airport to greet him and pick him up!  The men in uniform lined the hallway as Kyle came around the corner to head to Baggage Claim; he was greeted by his Brothers in Blue, about 30 other friends and family members, and multiple news reporters and camera crews.  It was incredibly overwhelming for him but he handled it all like a Pro!  We even made all the local news channels that night- unfortunately the clips are no longer online for me to share.   I know it is something neither of us will ever forget! We had a huge entourage heading back home from the Airport, when we got to the Edmond City limits all the lights and sirens went off, the main roads were blocked so we could be taken through town and right to our house with no stops!  It was truly a special homecoming!   It was also quite funny since it was the same day President Obama was visiting Oklahoma, we had some onlookers taking pictures and we are positive they thought we were the president!   

I’m BAAACK!!!

I’m sorry I’ve been gone for so long, Like I said a lot of things have happened that took over the majority of my time. 

Let me see how much I can fill you in on be prepared for Information overload….

For those of you who have followed my blog you know that Kyle was deployed in Afghanistan in June of 2011.  On November 30^th I got news that would forever change our Lives.  Kyle was on a mission with his men and they hit an IED (improvised Explosive Device) while Driving in their Mrap vehicle.  I woke up the morning of November 30^th took my shower and at 5 AM my doorbell rang multiple times, my dogs were going crazy and I was a little freaked out.  Then my phone rang, it was Officer Derrick Pickard and he said he was at my door if I would come let him in, I knew at that moment something was horribly wrong.  Kyle and I had talked before he left if anything were to happen to him and he couldn’t get a hold of me himself he would send one of the Edmond PD guys over.     Officer Pickard and Officer Barbour came in and told me they got a Call from Kyle, there had been an accident but he was going to be okay.   They told me his Truck had hit and IED and he had injured his foot but that was basically all the information they knew.  They gave me a phone number that I could call later and hopefully get to talk to Kyle and get more information.   After they left I called that number, Kyle answered and sounded totally out of it.  He said he was fine, but broke his foot/heel and would be back home in just a couple days.  Well back home meant Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.   I found out that he would be there by that Friday, I booked my flight and got there as soon as I could, actually beating him there by an entire day!   All I cared about was seeing him and knowing that he really was going to be okay.  He actually did not get to the hospital until around 2 am that Saturday morning, but I was there waiting for him.   It was amazing how much better I felt just being able to see him and really know that he was okay, Even with his elephant foot and all!   I was finally able to get some sleep that night, but was back at the hospital within a couple hours. 

The IED explosion was the largest they had seen so far since the beginning of the Deployment, thankfully the injuries were minimal considering.  Kyle and his Driver John both had Calcaneous Fractures to their heels, Kyle’s right foot and John’s left.  Kyle also had a jaw fracture and had to have his mouth wired shut for 3 weeks- that was HORRIBLE for everyone around!   John had a slight fracture to his right leg but healed quickly. 

I was truly blessed by all of our friends, family and co-workers that I was able to spend the entire month of December in San Antonio with Kyle while he was in the hospital and into January.

Well that was just the start of everything; I will have another post of how we spent the holidays and Kyle’s progress.

Thanks for all the continued Thoughts and Prayers!!

Gone too long....

Sorry There haven't been any posts in a while- There have been so many things happening Blogging just didn't seem so important.  I promise I'll catch everyone up on the past few months. 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a Very Happy New year!