Baked Potato Soup

This is one of my favorites!

Baked Potato Soup
Prep Time: 15 Minutes
Cook Time: 25 Minutes Ready In: 40 Minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients:
12 slices bacon
2/3 cup margarine
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
7 cups milk
4 large baked potatoes, peeled and cubed 4 green onions, chopped
1 1/4 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Directions:
1. Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium heat until browned. Drain, crumble, and set aside.
2. In a stock pot or Dutch oven, melt the margarine over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Gradually stir in milk, whisking constantly until thickened. Stir in potatoes and onions. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
3. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Mix in bacon, cheese, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Continue cooking, stirring frequently, until cheese is melted


My one tip for success with this recipe is to make sure the bacon is nice and crispy. If not, it ends up kind of icky.

Life update

It's been awhile since I've had time for an update. Carter is now crawling (not just army crawling) which definately makes life more interesting. We have definatley discovered what areas we need to do some childproofing. He is curious about anything and everything now.
I only have a couple more weeks of classes which equals a ton of work that I still need to get done. Needless to say I'm stressed out.

To paint or not to paint

So I finished Mod Podging the fabric to my bulletin/white board yesterday, but I can't decide if I should paint the wood edges. My choices are A) No painting, B) Teal and C) Lime Green.
Any thoughts?

New music

I've been adding tons of new music to my blog lately because I keep thinking of songs that I absolutely love. A few
explanations of what/why these are my favorites:
Answer by Sarah Mclachlan: I love her and this is such a beautiful song.
Shimmer by Shawn Mullins: The lyrics are great and they remind me of Carter.
These are the Days by 10,000 Maniacs: A classic. We used this in our picture show for our wedding.
Time of Your Life by Green Day: I love Green Day and most of their other songs are not blog appropriate.
She Walked Away and Mirror by Barlow Girls: My cousin is a fan of this Christian group, which got me to check them out.
Samson by Regina Spektor: No real reason besides I like it.
Better by Regina Spektor: This song always puts me in a good mood.
Rock and Roll by Eric Hutchinson: I am the crazy person in the car next to you dancing and singing to this song.
Ice Cream by Sarah McLachlan: With lyrics like "Your love is better than ice cream" how can you not love this song. I've loved this song since 8th grade.
Shine by the Newsboys: One of the first Christian bands I ever listened to. It reminds me of my old dance friend Hilary.
Love Song for a Savior by Jars of Clay: This was the theme song for a retreat I went to in high school.
Summertime by the Sundays: Another song that I was introduced to by dance. It makes me think of sitting outside in the summer sun.
Capri by Colbie Caillet: I heard this song when I was first pregnant with Carter and it made me cry.

ECFE/ Volunteering

We've had a pretty busy week so far. I've spent the past two afternoons working in my mom's school so I could get some of the classroom hours I need for my classes. Being the first couple days back after spring break the kids are crazy!
This morning Carter had his ECFE class. The babies are so much fun now that they're all pretty much mobile. THe oldest two in the class just turned one in the last two weeks. Carter is the third youngest in the class. It was kind of crazy today because two of the moms announced their pregnacies today. I know so many pregnant women right now!
I'm hoping to get the first two projects for my craft corner started tonight. :)

Craft corner

After seeing all of the amazing craft rooms/spaces of many of the craft bloggers that I follow, I've been so inspired to work on my craft space. The problem for me is that I have pretty much no budget for this kind of stuff. I'll just have to get more creative about how I accomplish this masterpiece.
So far my biggest inspiration is Grace Violet's craft area. I just love the pink desk. My current desk is a white hand me down from my brother. Very not inspiring. So far, I'm thinking I might go with a turquise color when I re-paint it.

(Check it out at her amazing website www.graceviolet.com)
My other great need for my craft area is to come up with a plan of how to store all of my precious supplies. I found a couple different other rooms that I really enjoyed on rate my room.

I love how luvmibug uses the color behind the shelves. It's just so fresh and fun.


I love the flow in storage in this room by style by Ka.

My plan so far is to paint the current desk I have, decorate a bulletin board/white board combo that I have, and use/adapt shelving that I already have or that I can get cheap for all of my supplies. I will try to remember to take before and after pictures.

Nothing too exciting

Nothing too exciting to report about us. Carter was only up once last night which was wonderful. There's nothing like a good night of sleep to make you feel good.
We spent the day hanging out with my parents since they got back from Mexico last night. Carter was so happy to see them.