Fried Pickles anyone?

The first time I ever tried fried pickles was at Buffalo Wild Wings. My sister, Lauren suggested we get some. I had never even heard of them or even knew they existed. So, we got some and I must say, I fell in love. They were delicious! Dip them in ranch and they are even better! Of course, cause ranch makes EVERYTHING better(especially Dion's ranch!). A few weeks after trying the Buffalo Wild Wings fried pickles we went and ate at this restaurant on base called Smashburger. They also had fried pickles so of course we ordered some...Delish. So my mom and I decided that we should try to make our own. She googled a recipe for them and we gave them a shot! Here is the recipe! I hope you try making them! It's easy and they are soooo good! Enjoy! :)


                                                      Fried Pickles
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon vinegar-based hot pepper sauce(We used Valentino sauce)
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon seasoning salt(Lawry's)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 cup cornmeal
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1(32 ounce) jar dill pickle sandwich slices
1 cup vegetable oil for deep frying
Salt and Pepper to taste


Directions: 
1. In a large bowl, combine eggs, 1/4 cup of the flour, buttermilk, Worcestershire sauce, hot sauce, cayenne pepper, seasoning salt and garlic powder
2. In a separate mixing bowl, combine cornmeal, 2 cups flour, salt and 3/4 teaspoon black pepper.
3. Preheat oil in a deep fryer or pot to 365 degrees.
4. Dip drained pickles into milk mixture and then dredge them in the flour mixture. Deep fry until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. Salt and pepper to taste.

                                                           End result! 

Thankful

This post is going to be about little Sawyer! I know he is only three months old, BUT he is growing up so fast and I feel like he is so big already! Today he sucked his thumb for the first time! He has been trying for weeks to get that sucker in and he FINALLY did it! He looked so cute! Last night he sat in the Bumbo for the first time too and he loved it! He also laughed for the first time the other day and I must say that when he laughed, I almost started crying! I couldn't think of a better sound than his little laugh. It was the best! He is so sweet and I love him to death! The mornings are my favorite with him because he is always so happy. A lot of times when I am feeding him, he can't keep the bottle in his mouth cause he is staring and me and smiling so big! It makes me so happy to know that he loves me so much. He is my little buddy. I am so very thankful that I have him especially at this time in life. It's when I really need him the most. It may sound silly to lean on a little 3 month old so much, but he really is what makes it possible for me to get through the day since Garrett is gone. He keeps me busy and he keeps me happy and he keeps my mind off of the fact that Garrett is in Afghanistan and is always in harms way. I am so thankful for my little family. :) They mean the world and more to me. I love them so much! 

                                     Sawyer sucking away at his little thumb! 

                                      Testing out the Bumbo! He loved it! :)

A Few of My Favorite Things...

I have seen a lot of people post a list of their favorite things so I thought, why not? I know...I'm such a copy cat. But, it sounded fun to me so here goes! 

A Few of My Favorite Things:

1. My hubsand, Garrett. Sexiest, most handsome, fun guy in the world! I love him to death!

2. Sawyer Scott. Our son. In my opinion, cutest baby there is! (And probably chubbiest, too!) His smile always makes my day. :)

3. Bentley Scott. Our boxer. Cutest stinkin' dog in the world. And he has the BEST personality!

4. My family. Leon, Jennifer, Jordan, Colin, Lauren, Derek and Titan. Best family I could ever ask for. They rock!

5. My car. Lola is her name. She runs like a champ. 

6. Mexican food. 

7. Movies. Garrett and I would watch a movie EVERY weekend. It was our favorite thing to do together!

8. Popcorn. Whirly Pop popcorn is the bomb...especially with Parmesan and Garlic seasoning. Yes sir.

9. My bed. It's super comfy and it's always calling my name, even though I rarely get to actually SLEEP in it. 

10. Dion's. Best restaurant EVER.

11. Decorations. I have a thing for decorating...even though I'm not very good. Ha!

12. Rainstorms. Although they are rare where I live, I still love them and wish they'd come more often. 

13. Flip flops. I wear them 24/7. No matter what the weather is, they will be worn.

14. Jeans. I would buy all the jeans in the world if I could. 

15. Night lights. Yes, I'm 22 and I'm afraid of the dark. So what.

16. Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. Delish.

17. Target. I could go there everyday of the week and not get sick of it.

18. Baby clothes. Everywhere I go, I HAVE to look at them. Whether Sawyer needs them or not. They are just too cute!

19. Miniature things. 

20. Zebra and Giraffe prints. LOVE them. 

I could go on and on but, I will stop there just in case I've bored you to death! HaHa! I hope you enjoyed it, though! Thanks for stopping by! :)

Tankin'

So, as all of you probably already know, Garrett is currently deployed in Afghanistan for the next seven months. He was trained to work on the M1 A1 Abrams Tanks but for some reason the ARMY doesn't have any of those tanks in Afghanistan...they all belong to the Marines yet they still made Garrett go over there...I don't know why. But anyway, for the past couple weeks he hasn't been completely honest with me in letting me know exactly what it is that he's doing over there until I finally got it out of him a few days ago. He has been going out on route clearance to find IED's that are set in their way to explode. Awesome...NOT! When I found this out I was extremely mad that the ARMY would train him to work on a certain tank and deploy him when those tanks aren't even over there and then make HIM drive the tanks to look for IED's! This isn't his job and I'm pretty sure it isn't in his job description. Anyway, the whole reason why he hasn't told me what he has had to do is so that I wouldn't worry about him. Of course being his wife I am always going to be worrying about him. Especially because he is in Afghanistan and at any moment something could go very wrong. At times, I am thankful that he doesn't tell me everything that is going on, but at the same time, a part of me wants to know. He tells me over and over everyday not to worry about him cause he reassures me that he will be just fine. These words always bring comfort to me. I feel like it is just human nature to worry so sometimes even when he tells me not to, I do. But, I know that if I keep my trust in the Lord and have faith, everything will be just fine and I know that Garrett and I will be reunited when his deployment is over. I miss him a ton but I'm so thankful for the sacrifices he is making for not only his family, but also for the world. I love him so much! 

This is the tank my studly hubby has been driving around! The m984 Wrecker! 

Pima Chile

This is one of my all time favorite things to snack on. Its delicious and it's super easy to make! Here is the recipe in case anyone wants to try it! :)

Pima Chile

10 yellow hots

5 jalapeños

1 yellow onion

2-3 tomatoes(you can add more if the pima is too hot!)

*Dice up the yellow hots, jalapeños and onion. 

*Place them all in a skillet with a good amount of olive oil. 

*Turn the burner on a medium-high flame and let them sit in there until the onions turn clear. Stir occasionally. 

*Salt to taste with garlic salt, onion salt and regular salt.

*Place in medium bowl and add tomatoes.

*Serve on a warm tortilla or dip with tortilla chips. 

*ENJOY! :)

Oh, what a night!

I had been craving a mint chocolate blizzard from DQ for about three days before my mom and I finally went last night. We were going to go the night before last but Sawyer decided to take a wicked long nap around 530 and didn't wake up til almost 9, so when he decided to take ANOTHER long nap last night I decided to wake him up cause I wanted my DQ blizzard, darn it(I'm so mean, I know)! So, we get to DQ and go through the drive thru and order two small blizzards and an order of Steak Fingers. The girl at the window hands us our blizzards and asks us to pull forward since our food wasn't ready. Ok, fine. We pull up next to this other car waiting for their food and after about 5 minutes of waiting, she gets her food and leaves. Great, we're next right? Wrong. My mom and I got to talking in the car while eating our blizzards and finally after about 15 or 20 minutes she finally says "I think they forgot about us!" So I walked inside(which is so annoying considering I went through the drive thru on purpose so I wouldn't have to get out...Isn't that the point of them? Yes.) and told one of the workers our situation and handed him my receipt to show him what we had ordered so he could get it for us. He comes back a minute later, hands me the box of food and says "My apologies, have a good night." Really? That's it? Shouldn't we get something free for waiting for 20 minutes?! Oh, that's right...we live in EL PASO! People here have never heard of customer service. Well, then to top it off, we get home only to realize that they hadn't given us the gravy that comes with our meal! So here we are making our own gravy! We finally get all situated and sit down to watch our show of the week, American Idol. Thank goodness that was on to off-set the crummy service from dinner! I'm sure Sawyer was laughing inside and saying "Ha! That's what you get for waking me up, Mom!" I must say it was kind of funny thinking back on it but I was happy to go to bed last night. My mom says "At least we always have tomorrows to start over." Well, you hope you do anyway!

Twisted

"Everyone my age is getting pregnant and getting married. It's giving our generation a bad name."-This was posted by a friend of mine on her Facebook the other day and I just had to laugh. I guess she thinks that if you just live together and are sleeping together and not getting pregnant or married, it's legit...What a joke! I don't know what this world has come to but it's quite sad if you ask me. I'm so glad that I have the understanding as to why marriage is great and why we should "multiply and replenish". I wish I could just share it with everyone! It makes me laugh when people don't want to get married cause it's "too big of a commitment" yet, they are ok with moving in together? HaHa! I don't get it. This world is so mixed up and twisted. At times it makes me laugh but mostly it just makes me sad to see so much dysfunctionality(I'm not sure that's a word but it sounded good haha). People who are so against marriage and families don't know what they're missin' out on! I wouldn't change the way my life is now for anything! I'm so happy that I am married to my best friend and I'm so thankful for our beautiful son who reminds me constantly of how great life is! :) I hope someday others can realize how great it truly is! 

Ten Percent

Tithing. I must admit that it's not always my favorite word to hear or to think of because sometimes I feel that the money I spend on tithing could be put to good use for something else. But then I am quickly reminded of all the great things mine and everyone else's tithing goes to. Beautiful temples and church buildings, 19 year old boys who would like to serve a mission but don't have the funds to do so, etc. When I stop and think about all these things, I am so happy that I choose to pay my tithing and help the church. It's a great feeling to know that my contribution is helping expand the church in many many ways. So, when I went to write my tithing check this afternoon, I felt an over abundance of happiness and joy come over me. Everytime I feel this, I am reminded of why I love to pay my tithing. :)

Who is that in the mirror?!

This morning while my mom was holding Sawyer while I was in the other room, she yelled "Sher, come look!" I went to where she was and she was holding Sawyer in front of the mirror. He was cooing and smiling at his reflection! It was so cute to watch him watch himself! I know he is only a little over 2 months old but I feel like he is growing so fast! It's so much fun to see him do new things! I love being a mom. He is so sweet and so much fun. I love him to death! :)

Mother Teresa

A while back I came across these two quotes from Mother Teresa that I just fell in love with. I think that they are great quotes to think about and try to live your life by...


Do It Anyway

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.  Forgive them anyway.

 If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.  Be kind anyway.

           

 If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.  Succeed anyway.

           

If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.  Be honest and sincere anyway.

            

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.  Create anyway.

            

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.  Be happy anyway.

            

The good you do today, will often be forgotten.  Do good anyway.

         

Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.  Give your best anyway.

         

In the final analysis, it is between you and God.  It was never between you and them anyway.

Life Is

Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfill it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.

Addicted to Food

Last week I decided to start Weight Watchers...Well, I'm embarrassed to say that it didn't last but one day! Sad, huh? I blame it on El Paso and all the yummy food there is to eat around here! So, I am going to share with you all my favorite places to eat here. The first one of course is The Corner Bakery. My suggestion on what to get: The Chicken Pomadori Pannini and sub the chips for a Caeser Salad and for dessert, a Lemon Bar. Here are some other great places to check out if you haven't already!

The L&J Cafe. Central El Paso. What to get: Three meat tacos and a cold Dr. Pepper.

Westside, Sunland Park Drive. What to get: Little cheeseburger with mayo, grilled onions and tomatoes with a side of cajun fries! 

Westside, Mesa Street. What to get: Chicken or Barbacoa Quesadilla. p.s. Their green salsa is to die for!

Track One, Central El Paso. It's been a while since I have been there but their food is delish!

Westside, Redd Road. What to get: Pannini with a side of Cous Cous. 

Westside, Resler. What to get: Lemon Pepper Wings. Yummmmy!

Westside, Resler. What to get: Margherita Pizza with a side of Ranch and a small Antipasto salad.

Eastside, Yarbourgh. What to get: Fried Pickles(appetizer) and an order of Mild wings and an order of Parmesean Garlic wings. 

Last but definitely not least, Dion's Pizza! Las Cruces, NM Exit Loman. It's totally worth the 40 minute drive, people! What to get: 6 inch turkey and cheddar sub with artichoke hearts and pepporoni's with a small order of green chile cheese toast with ranch. Best. Thing. EVER. I hope you all will try some of these delicious restaurants before you leave El Paso(IF you ever leave). And I hope you will enjoy them! Bon Apetite! 

Hello, Baby Sawyer!

Sawyer Scott Hargrove was born on January 24th, 2011 weighing 7lbs. 12oz and was 19 1/2 inches long! This was definitely love at first sight! I had a really easy and enjoyable labor and delivery with him. My mom and my sister, Lauren were present at the birth which was really nice for me since Garrett was not able to be there. They were great coaches and gave me lots of support! During the labor and delivery I got a fever of about 102 so I had to be put on oxygen which was no fun! Those oxygen masks are gross and I felt a little claustrophobic! But, it was necessary to keep it on to also make sure Sawyer had enough oxygen. Since I had a fever, it caused Sawyer to also get a fever so both him and I were on antibiotics for 48 hours. It stunk! And I felt so bad for Sawyer because he had an IV in his tiny little hand and it broke my heart to see his hand taped to a board to make sure the IV stayed put. But, it helped him to not get sick so I was thankful for that! After a long two days, we were FINALLY able to go home. I was so excited to take him home where we could both be comfortable. The first night home was a little rough though and he cried most of the night. I was so blessed to have my mom here with me to help take care of him during the night. Mom's are the best! I don't think I could've done it without her, especially since Garrett wasn't here. I'm so thankful for Sawyer and what a great blessing and miracle he is! I love him so much! I feel so bad that Garrett hasn't been able to spend very much time with him but I know he loves him just as much as I do and he would kill to be here with us right now. We love you Sawyer! 

Welcome to the Army

We have had quite the adventure since Garrett decided to join the ARMY last year. In June of 2010 he left for basic training to Fort Jackson, SC. Saying goodbye to him on June 28th was the hardest thing I had ever done up til then. During the time he was at basic we were only able to talk to each other once a week(if that) for five minutes. I was pregnant at this time which made us not being able to talk, even harder. Finally after in September after 11 looooong weeks of him being gone, my parents and I headed to South Carolina to Garrett's graduation.  I got to see him for probably a total of about 11 hours in the two days that we were there and he wasn't allowed to sleep with me either. It was hard. But, it was nice to be able to see him :) He looked great and had lost about 30 pounds since the last time I had seen him and I was pregnant so I had gained some! HaHa! After Garrett graduated from BC and I had left, he moved to Fort Knox, KY to do his AIT(Advanced Individual Training) to become an A1 M1 Abrams Tank Mechanic. He was there from September-January and unfortunately he missed the birth of Sawyer but he was able to come two weeks after. Then he had to head back to Fort Hood, TX where we are stationed. We were supposed to move there in February once Sawyer was over a month old but plans soon changed when we found out in February that Garrett would have to deploy to Afghanistan on March 15th. It broke my heart to hear that news since we now have a new baby and have already spent 9 months apart. I have to constantly remind myself that everything will be ok and that he had to go early for a reason. I have faith that he will be ok and that he will make it home safe. We miss him tremendously and can't wait to see him in September when he comes home for his two week R&R. Although I complain about the ARMY a lot, they have been great for us and have allowed us to have our beautiful baby, Sawyer and have helped us to save money for our future :) We miss you Garrett. Come home safe. 

Ready to deploy. Hooah! See you soon, my love.

The Beginning

It all started in Provo, UT in June of 2008. I had just graduated from high school a year before and wasn't doing much in El Paso, TX so when my sister Lauren said she was heading to BYU the next summer, I decided to tag along and see what UT is all cracked up to be. Lauren and Derek had already been dating so when I got there Lauren and Derek had already asked Garrett(Derek's brother) if he would want to meet me. He said yes and shortly after asked me out on our first date. We went to Nickel Arcade to play games(Garrett's favorite thing to do) and then went to his condo to eat a Freshetta pizza. It was the best date I have ever been on! We had a great time together! After that first date, we continued to hang out until about July or August. After that, Garrett wanted us to be boyfriend and girlfriend and I quickly disagreed. I had only been in UT for a couple months and didn't want to have a steady boyfriend. According to Garrett it "broke his heart" and he chose not to be friends with me anymore. During the next couple of months I dated some other guys but never had as much fun with them as I did with Garrett. I didn't feel the same connection to them...So, one day I decided to text Garrett and ask him if he wanted to hang out. He kind of hesitated but then agreed. After that day we were inseparable! We became official in October of 2008 and spent every second that we could together! I can still remember the first time he told me that he loves me and I can remember what I was wearing and where I was about to go! I had never felt the way I felt around him with any other guy and that's how I knew he was the one for me! We moved to El Paso in December where I moved in with my parents and Garrett rented a room from a house just a few blocks from my parents. We got engaged shortly after that and got married in the Albuquerque, NM Temple on May 23rd, 2009. It was the best day of my life! I couldn't be any happier! I love you Garrett Scott!