HaLlOwEeN WeEkEnD ReCaP

Hope all of you ghouls and goons had a Happy Halloween!!! It's one of my favorite holidays where you buy a little too much candy in hopes that you won't have that many trick-or-treaters :) Too bad the weather here in central Illinois was rainy, rainy, RAINY. Didn't get that many kids to come out this year but I made sure to give those children who did venture out in the pouring rain got some extra candy! Jeff and I had soo much candy left over, so I plan to take most of it to school for my treat box or else I would eat it all!

Trick or Treat!

Ember's Costume :) 

*Weekend Wrap Up*

Parent's surprised me with their new ride (my dad LOVES Corvettes) 

WIWW (What I Wore Weekend)
Sweater: The Limited
 Ombre Pearl Necklace: The Limited
White Long Sleeve: Old Navy
Black Leggings: Von Maur
Boots: Kohl's

Cropped my hair!!! Back to the short look & lovin' it :)

Date Night @ Longhorn Steak House

Dining with The Coleman's

At the movies, seeing Last Vegas! 

Sunday Funday @ the park!

Love my Ember girl <3

awww! Jeff & his pup!

Precious moment captured!

Started off the month of November with a lot of fun and  many things to be thankful for :) Hope you all enjoy your Sunday and remember to count your blessings, not your problems! 

XOXO,

Sara 

Tasteful Tuesdays

How is everyone doing this fine Tuesday?! I'm feeling pretty great and excited to share a new post that I want to start on Tuesdays. I don't know about you but I'm all about finding yummy recipes via Pinterest and trying them out! I mean, what did we do before Pinterest?! That site is A-MAZ-ING to say the least. So with that being said, I want to share a new recipe every Tuesday and hope you will want to try it too and even share with me in return by leaving a comment :) Once I get a little more tech savvy here on Blogger I will have to create some kind of link up party for "Tasteful Tuesdays".

Taco Chicken Chili 

Just look at that picture and your mouth should start to water (I know mine does). This recipe is so simple and easy to prepare. My husband could eat the whole crock-pot full of this chili if I let me him because it tastes that delicious. Also it is only about 200 calories per serving! Perfect for a fall/winter night :) 

Ingredients 

1 can black beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can corn kernels

16 oz tomato sauce

28 oz diced tomatoes

Packet of taco seasoning

1 tbsp. chili powder

3 or 4 chicken breasts  

Add all ingredients into crock pot and cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 and ENJOY :) 

Let me know what you think! I would LOVE to have feed back from all my blog friends if they tried the recipe. Also comment and share one of your favorite chili recipes. Follow me on Pinterest to see all my wonderful food pins as well.

XOXO, 

Sara

Throwback Thursday

#TBT a.k.a. Throwback Thursday! Time to post an old picture or pictures to reminisce over a certain person, place, or event in your life. Big craze on Facebook & Instagram, so I decided that I will start to post on Thursdays a TBT memory :)

VEGAS 2010!!!!

Kelsey, Me, LaDonna, & Heather

Laying out @ Wet Republic

1st night out (best night out)

Love you girls!

Two things came to mind after looking back at all the spring break pictures from that trip to Vegas...
1. I was probably in the best shape of my life and hope this can be motivation to get back at it!
2. I have some of the best girlfriends in the whole world, so blessed they are in my life today!


XOXO,
Sara

Hello October! I'm backkk :)

Hello blog friends!! I am finally back on the blog scene after a little break in September. With putting our house on the market, Jeff moving into a hotel in Indiana, looking for new homes & jobs, I have been a little VERY busy lately! Glad to be back and continue to share with the world all things Neisslie :)

Home for Sale- Forsyth, IL

What else is new with the Neisslies?!

I can now say I am a proud new owner of the iPhone 5C!! I never have had an iPhone before (previous blackberry & driod user) and I am loving it. So many apps already downloaded and keeping me entertained during the week while Jeff is away in Indiana. Favorite apps so far: 1. Snapchat 2. Candy Crush 3. Bloglovin (of course) 

Had to get the pink one :)

In recent events, Jeff and I attended our 7th wedding of the year (only one more to go). It was a lovely fall wedding with lots of pumpkins and mum decor! Thankfully the rain stopped right at the beginning of the ceremony for this outdoor wedding. I teach with the new bride at my school and she looked very beautiful in her lace gown! It was so much fun socializing with a lot of my teacher friends at the reception and Jeff finally got to meet them all and could see why it will be so hard for me to leave such great people and school in December :( Congratulations once again to the newly married couple, Ashley & Nathan Hieronymus!

Hubs and I at the reception

Bride & Groom First Dance

Me being silly, Jeff loves it lol 

Not sure Jeff was ready for this pic

Well, that's all for now! Check in this Friday as I link up with my other blog friends for Five on Friday! Remember only 2 more days till the weekend and it is a long weekend for me with no school Monday :)

XOXO,
Sara

Big Changes, Coming Soon...

I have never been one to like change. If I had it my way, I would love to have everything stay the same but without change progress isn't possible. Jeff and I are about to experience some major changes in our life and with the support of one another we will start a new adventure together!

Jeff has been offered a promotion with the company he works for, ADM. This promotions also requires a transfer and together we will be moving to...(drum roll please) Indiana! When I received this news from Jeff, I felt all these emotions in one- excited, nervous, and scared! How can I leave my job? Where will we live? Can I find a new teaching job? All these questions came flooding to my mind as I realized change is coming ready or not. I am so very proud of my husband for getting offered this new position in Frankfort, IN but it is going to be hard leaving my family, friends, and job here in Illinois. Thankfully, it is only about 2 hours and 15 minutes away from home so we can still be able to visit often on the weekends/holidays. Even though Jeff will be starting his new job at the plant in a couple of weeks, I will stay teaching at my school until December (because I just couldn't leave the staff and students that quick). Then at the start of the new year, I will begin to look for a new job hopefully in the education field. Living apart during the week won't be ideal but Jeff and I did long distance all through college and it only made us stronger as a couple, so no worries about that. As the news has settled in, I am starting to get more excited as I think about all the fun new things we will experience together, all the firsts in a new city, meeting new friends, and creating a new home for our family! With change there is growth and I hope to grow in this next chapter of our life, not only as an individual but as a married couple.

If I have any blog friends out there that live in Indiana, please comment and share any helpful information about good cities to live in or places to go! We are currently looking into Lafayette, Lebanon, & suburbs of Indy. Thanks in advance :)

XOXO, SARA

Labor Day Weekend Fun

Hope everyone had a fabulous Labor Day weekend with family and friends! Jeff and I sure had a busy yet fun holiday weekend with boating on the lake for Jeff's dad's birthday and my friend Luke's wedding! Let's recap the weekend's festivities with some memories captured on camera by yours truly :)

Happy 53rd Birthday Steve!

Saturday, August 31st was Jeff's dad's birthday and what other way to celebrate than a boating day out on good ole' Lake Decatur! It was definitely a hot scorcher of a day but we all had a blast singing songs, getting a tan (or burn in my case), and enjoying one another's company. Even Jeff's brother Ryan's dog joined us for the day, Wrigley (as seen in the pic above). I am so lucky to have married into such a kind, down to earth, fun loving family like the Neisslies. I look forward to our next family gathering :)

Lovin' the lake!

Me, Chris (Jeff's mom), & Allie 

Neisslie Family

Jeff & I enjoying our boating day!

Sunday, September 1st- Jeff and I attended my long time friend from school Luke Hockaday's wedding. It was a beautiful, hot day for an outdoor wedding but even the heat couldn't get in the way of this wonderful couples big day :) The bride, Tessa, was absolutely stunning as she came in on a horse and carriage. The ceremony was lovely and the reception was so much fun with a live band providing entertainment for the guests to get down on the dance floor. Fellow blogger and friend, Bekah Bruce @ The Bruce Brood was my wonderful dance partner for the evening while our husbands chatted (away from the dance floor). It's safe to say we burned a lot of calories that night with non stop dancing! Congratulations again to a great couple, Luke & Tessa Hockaday, wishing you both many years of happiness together :)

Here comes the bride

Beautiful Couple

You may kiss the bride

Cut the cake!

Me & my date :) 

There you have it, my last weekend of the summer, I'm so ready for fall!! Now let's hope this short work week goes by quickly, so I can start my girls weekend in Chicago with all my favs :)

Quote I'm loving...
"I'm gonna make the rest of my life, the best of my life"

XOXO, Sara

Back 2 School

Greetings blog world! Sorry I have been MIA for a little while.. decided to take a short break from blogging to relax and enjoy my last week before school started. Where did the summer go?? For those of you that didn't know, I am an elementary media teacher at DeLand Weldon Schools in Weldon, Illinois. What does a media teacher do you might ask?! Well, I teach library & computer classes to Pre-K through 6th grade. This will be my 3rd year teaching and man, it has gone by fast! I absolutely LOVE my job. I work with such an amazing staff along with a new principal this year that is already proactive & passionate about the school. I honestly enjoy coming to school everyday, ready to teach & inspire my students. I am currently in the works of getting my classrooms ready {pictures to come}. Tomorrow starts the first full day of school and I am super excited to see all the kids :) :) :)

Quick Weekend Recap
Switching gears a little bit, but I wanted to share some pictures from our trip to Chicago! Jeff and I went to the Cubs/Cards game at Wrigley Field in Chicago on Friday afternoon. We had such a great time at the game and made sure to enjoy lots of ballpark beers and hot dogs, oh and you can't forget peanuts! Once the game was over, a huge win by the Cubbies- 7 to 0, we went to The Cubby Bear for a victory drink before dinner. After a short lived dance party (Jeff wasn't having it haha) we went to Rockit Burger Bar restaurant where they have the BEST burgers ever! My favorite burger is with a pretzel bun, yummy!  Jeff and I were both stuffed after our meal, so we headed back to the hotel and watched some TV then went to sleep, yep right around 10:00PM (wow, we are old!). Always a blast in the windy city!

Go Cubs Go!

Candid taken by the hubby of my sweet dance moves

Hope everyone has a pleasant week and enjoys these last few weeks of summer before FALL arrives :) 

XOXO, Sara

5 on Friday (Sunday) *Week Wrap Up*

Hello blog friends!! It's that time again to wrap up the week with 5 things I'm loving, obsessed with, or just want to talk about in the linky party *5 on Friday*, in my case Sunday :)

*ONE* LET ME EXPLAIN

On Tuesday night, Jeff and I decided to go see the movie Kevin Hart- Let Me Explain. We both love his stand up when we catch it on TV or even his interviews on different talk shows; Kevin Hart always has us cracking up. The movie wasn't that long (only 75 minutes) but it was hilarious!! There was one part in his stand up routine that had Jeff and I crying with laughter, two words- bum bump. You will have to check it out for yourself to understand. Fun movie overall, we just wished it was longer!

*TWO* HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRO

Happy 22nd Birthday Ryan!

August 1st was my little brother's 22nd birthday (not so little anymore). To celebrate, we went to dinner at Ruby Tuesdays with the whole family. I am so glad that we finally out grew the stage where it wasn't cool to be nice or hang out with your sibling. He has done so much living already at the age of 22. He has experienced Ole Miss, Breckenridge, and now he leaves in a few weeks for his latest adventure to Hilton Head, SC for golf professional career college. I admire my brother's courage & care free spirit to be able to move to a new place without knowing anyone and just go with the flow. He has done more things in his life that I only wish to do. I am proud of you little bro and good luck in SC!

*THREE* HERE COME THE MUMMIES

Every first weekend in August, my hometown of Decatur, IL has a massive street festival that brings in tons food vendors, live bands, and lots of free entertainment! To people who live here or in the surrounding areas, it is kind of a big deal! This year, they did a kick off party on Thursday night & had a great band come play at the Lincoln Square Theater called Here Come The Mummies.  They are a funk/R&B group, who are best known for their energetic live performances in which band members perform in full mummy bandages. Jeff and I saw them two years ago at the Celebration and wanted to get tickets to see them again. We had a blast and hope they will come back to the Decatur Celebration next year!

*FOUR* ALL ABOUT EMBER 

First day @ her new home!

9 Weeks Old

Such a doll! One year old

Jeff and I aren't the only members of the Neisslie family, we have our sweet little puppy girl Ember that we just adore! Ember is a Shih-poo,a cross between a Shih Tzu and Poodle (love that she doesn't shed). We got her last July as soon as Jeff and I arrived home from our honeymoon. We looked at the newspaper ads for puppies and found a nice Amish family in Arthur, IL that was selling Shih-poo puppies for a great price! Right away, I knew which puppy I wanted with there only being 3 girls left, Ember was the one who came to me and wanted to play. I gave Jeff "that look" and he knew we would be taking her home. She is definitely a spoiled little girl and we love her so much. She is full of energy and very smart. Jeff and I are so happy that Ember was our first addition to the Neisslie family :)

*FIVE* YOU EARN YOUR BODY*

With summer almost being over and a new school year about to begin, it is time to make some changes in my life. I am ready to get back in shape and become a healthier person! Let's face it, I have too many cute outfits that are going to waste in my closet and I want to wear them again! I know if I am going to stick with it, I need to start out slow and work towards achievable goals so I won't want to give up. I'm sure there are others out there just like me who once they don't see results after a certain amount of time just throw in the towel and I want to make sure I just keep going because those results will happen! Life is too short to be unhappy in your own skin.This week, Jeff and I had a conversation about motivating each other to be better, exercise, and eat healthier. Together as a couple, we want to be happy with our bodies and feel good inside & out. I believe doing this together will not only strengthen our bodies but also our marriage! We will be one another's support, accountability, and encouragement. No more of the woulda, shoulda, coulda, we must commit to changing our lifestyle for the outcomes we want! "You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great."

Hope you all enjoyed another rendition of my 5 on Friday Sunday! Have a wonderful week :)

XOXO, Sara