Small Business Saturday~~Scentsy

 

This Saturday is small business Saturday ya'll. I have a small wickless candles biz. Scentsy is an amazing company. They offer safe and beautiful wickless candles. If you don't own one you must click on this link for these amazing candles. I have over 80 scents for everyone and beautiful warmers for anyone on your Christmas list.

Thank you to Kelly's Korner for the opportunity to promote my little biz!!!

website again is mecastro.scentsy.us

Thank you friends!!!

 

Thank You!!

As the Thanksgiving holiday nears I can't help but to get emotional. I am soooo thankful to our sweet Lord for all his blessings. Don't get me wrong I don't want to appear as if things are perfect around here because they are not. We will be celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary tomorrow. I was blessed to marry my sweet best friend. He knows me better than anyone. Although I am an open book he is the only one in this world who knows the "real" me. We have been through so much together. The ups and downs of Crohn's disease that include severe flare ups, dehydration, headaches, and many hospital and office visits. When you are going through it you just go with the flow and pull yourself together for each other. We have been through a hurricane that changed our lives for ever. It was life changing for the better although again when in the midst of it you  break down, feel defeated and just wonder WHY??? We learned to lean on God for our big and small decisions. We learned to lean on each other and to dream BIG!!! We have been blessed by three amazing kiddos. They are incredibly beautiful in every way. Our parents have blessed us sooo much too. They have always believed in us and somehow when things seem like they are falling they know exactly what to say. Our siblings are our mentors and confidants. Our rocks!! When we fall they pick us up when we are flying they fly with us!!!
My goodness what can I say about my friends at work who are like family, my sweet friends at church and our dear good old friends.......you encourage us, you laugh with us, you cry with us and more importantly you believe in our sweet family. Thank you for everything!!!
I have learned that life is a roller coaster but when you have God on your side there is always hope, grace, and love at the end of the ride.
I know this is long but I just wanted to say Thank YOU!!! Thank you for reading our little blog and to getting to know us.

Have a great week friends!!!
XOXO

RODAN + FIELDS

I hate to admit but I am almostt 40 years old. Yes 40 in three years yikes.

I have been searching for some type of Anti-aging kit for a while now. In comes the one and only Tara Rocha. She is one of the sweetest persons I know she is Mya's tutor. She is a consultant for Rodan + Fields and she gave me a kit to try. I was sooo excited. I tried it last night and I must say I love the way it feels and the smell is amazing. As I go on I will be taking pictures and writing more reviews on this amazing product. Feel free to contact Tara for some of this goodness.

CLICK HERE!!! TO CHECK OUT HER WEBSITE.

 

Grandma Lyda's Meatballs

Grandma Lyda's Meatloaf Meatballs


Here is the recipe for the meatballs I made today. It has become my family's favorite meal. It is super easy and yummy!
All credit to Nina on According to Nina blog. She is the sweetest mama and sooo creative with all she does. Here it is~~~~

1 large can evaporated milk
2 cups old-fashioned oats
1/2 cups chopped onions
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 cup chopped green pepper
2 tsp salt
3 lb ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 tsp garlic salt
2 tsp chili powder

Sauce
2 cups of ketchup
2 cups unpacked brown sugar
1/2 cup of onion
1/2 tsp garlic salt
*I add a little chili powder too

Combine first 10 ingredients in a large mixing bowl; mix well. Shape into 1 1/4 inch balls. Place in roasting pan or baking dish. Combine ketchup and remaining ingredients in a saucepan. Bring to boil, and pour or spoon over meatballs. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Yield 2 dozen.

It's sure to be a family favorite! We serve ours with mashed Yukon gold potatoes and a mix of peas and carrots but as you can see in the picture of above we had corn on the cob as well.

pray for your husbands....

i found this today and thought I would share.....

just for kicks......

Blue cheese stuffed dates wrapped in BACON!! I said BACON!!

Ya'll I had this appetizer at my friend's shower on Friday night. It was soooo yummy. Sweet Hope shared her recipe with me and I thought I would share with you all.

ENJOY!!!!!

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C
2. Slice dates in half, and open them up. Pinch off pieces of blue cheese, and place them into the center of the dates. Close the halves of the dates, and wrap a half-slice of bacon around the outside. Secure each one with a toothpick. Arrange in a baking dish or on a baking sheet with sides to catch any grease.
3. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the bacon is crisp. Turn dates over after the first 20 minutes for even cooking

Fall~iday Fav party

So my sweet friend Meredith invited me to their second annual Fall Fav Party. It was sooo much fun!!!These were the amazing hosts so darn sweet. Everything was perfect.

We all brought five of our fav fall items and basically how it works you end going home with five different cute fall fav items... there was wine, candles, cookie butter, jewelry and the list goes on and on!!!

These are my sweet friends Jess and Chasity we had a great time chatting and catching up on our crazy lives.

These sweet girls were so sweet too!! It was a great night full of laughs and a great GNO!!!

Pictures courtesy of thetichenorfamily.com thanks Mer!!!

Celebrating Sebastian

 

I know I have not posted lately but I had to post about the amazing Sip & See we had for my sweet friend Stephanie. She had baby Sebastian about 6 weeks ago.

The shower was at Ashley's house. Everything was perfect we met sweet Sebastian and chatted and ate some yummy food.

Here he is soooo sweet. Yes his shirt had a tie on it so perfect.

We were the hosts~~Ash, Mel, Dawn, Hope and myself.

These cute cookies are the ones I cannot stop talking about. My sweet friend Ambre makes them, they are not only great looking cookies but taste amazing. Her email is joliedelights@gmail.com or find her on facebook Jolie Delights

Here is sweet Steph looking so cute opening her gifts.

Hope & Ashley so sweet!!!

Thanks to all the hosts and for everyone who came out to celebrate Steph and her sweet baby!!!

A very special thanks to the nurses who got off at 7pm and made it to the shower. So sweet of you all!!!

Easy chicken tortilla soup slow cooker recipe!!!

Ok you guys have been asking for the Easy Tortilla Soup Slow Cooker Recipe~~ENJOY!!

• 1 pound shredded, cooked chicken
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, mashed
• 1 (10 ounce) can enchilada sauce
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups water
• 1 (14.5 ounce) can chicken broth
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen corn
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
• 7 corn tortillas
• vegetable oil

Directions

1. Place chicken, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, green chiles, and garlic into a slow cooker. Pour in water and chicken broth, and season with cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and bay leaf. Stir in corn and cilantro. Cover, and cook on Low setting for 6 to 8 hours or on High setting for 3 to 4 hours.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3. Lightly brush both sides of tortillas with oil. Cut tortillas into strips, then spread on a baking sheet.
4. Bake in preheated oven until crisp, about 10 to 15 minutes. To serve, sprinkle tortilla strips over soup. 

courtesy of easyrecipes.com              

Scarf Swap 2012

My sweet real life friend Meredith had a scarf swap again this year. I have participated in several of her swaps and have never been disappointed. My partner was Arrie from The Lugar News. I love the scarfs she sent. They are perfect for this Texas heat HA!!

Sooooo Arrie thanks so much and Mer I LOVE You!! Thanks for hosting again!!!

Favorite beauty products.....

I wanted to share my favorite beauty products on Kelly's Korner fav products post this morning. Sooo instead of all makeup I decided to talk about  curls. Yes folks curls, I have curly hair and this product is a must at our house. I have two girls with very curly hair too!! WE love it!!! A bit pricey but worth it.

I am obsessed with lip gloss. I try cheap I try pricey but believe me I have tried them ALL!! I recently found NYC's lip gloss I love it.

Since I'm getting older I have found myself in search of anything that will rewind the process. I just happened to run into Maybelline's Age Rewind concealer on a friend's blog and I am in love!!

I am a shellac addict I get my nails done every two weeks on a regular basis. As I sat next to a girl today I noticed her shellac choice and asked if it was hers or if the salon had this color. She said oh no it's not mine you can try it too. So I am in love with this ORLY Kiss the Bride shellac it is the bomb.com LOL!!!

Have a fab weekend friends~~ we our getting ready for an Astros game tonight should be fun!!

Ladies Bible Study

So I started my LBS yesterday. I had my doubts like I do every year on if this is the class for me. In less than 5 minutes I knew God placed me there for a reason. I love the curriculum, love the teachers and love my sweet friends that are in the class. I'm planning to do a review of the class after or during the class because I believe in sharing God's goodness.

We will be covering both boys and girls alternating weeks. I love that the authors says its from newborn through college. I'll keep you posted sweet friends and I will share what I learn!!!

Have a fab Wednesday!!

It's Here... It's Here....It's Here!!!

 

Once school starts for my kids I officially get in Fall mode. My new Fall/Winter Scentsy catalog is available now. This beautiful Pumpkin warmer is also 10% off this month.

 

Scent of the Month is Caramel Pear Crisp it is AMAZING!!!

It is also 10%off!!

Apple Press + Dulce de Leche = Caramel Apple yum!!

thanks Pat Lupher for the idea!!

Last but not least this Castille Full Size Warmer is so beautiful!!!

Check out my website mecastro.scentsy.us

Ask me for a catalog when you see me or leave me a comment on here I will mail one to you ASAP my friends.

XOXO

 

Canada 2012!!!

If you follow me on Intagram or Facebook you have seen all of these great pictures.

We were blessed to be able to visit our sweet friends in Nova Scotia, Canada. My sweet friend Angie's family live in a small village called St Peter's. That Saturday they had a local parade. The girls were part of a float and David rode on the fire truck. They had a blast.

Here is where they were setting everything up. My friend Angie's cousin Fonda and her family were soooo sweet to have us stay with them. Their house was amazing, it looked like a bed and breakfast with the Atlantic Ocean in the back.

Angje's family was soooo awesome they invited us on a boat adventure where Albert and the kids swam. The water was so cold but somehow Mya and Albert were able to handle it. YIKES!

Angie's sister in law was such a great host and we had a great meal on the boat.

Yes the Texans in the freezing cold lake with the Canadians. Please note I was NOT going in. They were lucky they got me on the boat HA!

Sweet Mya having a blast. That's Angie's dad such a sweet and kind man.

 

Apparently they don't have many Starbucks in Canada but my word these people have tons of Tim Hortons. It was truly good~~ loved the Fraps.

The Stone's home

Their back yard.

The Sampsons sure know how to cook them lobsters.

Best fish and chips for such are found in Canada. This one was in St. Peter's but we also had some in Halifax and oh my word they were awesome.

Paula my dear friend was our host in Halifax. This girl sure knows where to take us shopping. We had a great time with her and her sweet family. We toured Halifax and attended the local  Buskers festival sooo fun!!

Having lunch with Angie, Paula and sweet Matthew.

This sweet girl is Madison she's Paula's niece. We had a great time with them. Smith and Blake were her nephews and they were sooo fun to hang out with.

Peggy's Cove was so beautiful too. Here is our Christmas picture just a preview ya'll.

Our last day Paula took us over to visit our mutual friend Debbie's family. They were so incredibly sweet to us. We ate soooo much and had a blast in the water.

This flag pole greeted us when we arrived at the camp in Bridgewater on Thursday. Notice the Texas flag too. So amazing.

Yup this was the best vacation ever and Canadians sure know how to make people feel at home eh!!!