Kyle's ALS Graduation

It's finally here! He graduated from ALS (non-military read: Airman Leadership School) on October 18, 2012, the next part in his career training. He did fantastic, scoring very well on all his projects, speeches, tests, and PT tests. We are glad this is over with, so we can move on with our lives - and I couldn't be more proud of the work he put into this course.

It was a hectic few days, though. Wednesday, I picked up his dad from the airport, and Thursday I had 2 appointments, immediately followed by getting ready and heading to the ceremony. It was a fancy ceremony, dinner, drinks, the whole bit. And what girl doesn't like getting all dressed up, however stressful and time-crunched she may be?

The official pose as he's given his diploma.

With Kyle after the ceremony - it did not occur to me to take a picture of the room...

Kyle with his dad - number one comment as he introduced him? "Wow, you look so much alike!" or other various forms of the statement.

Family photo after we picked her up.

Eveyn with grandpa - had to pick this one!!

And let me just say... Getting my hair to be wavy like that took days of practice, an hour of crunching and shaping, about half a bottle of mousse, and hair spray!

Pinterest Fun: Crockpot Pulled Pork

I'm from GA. I can't resist me some good tastin' pulled pork! But when I found this recipe from Sweet & Savory Food, my mouth was watering. It was easy (the hardest part was picking the meat!) and every ingredient I love!

Ingredients List:

Pork Butt (sometimes called shoulder)
Lawry's Seasoned Salt
Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce
1 can of dark soda

Sweet Baby Ray's is from Chicago, and is a staple ingredient in my kitchen. Seriously. Ask my husband just how much we've gone through since we moved her (in July).

Ok, seriously. The first time I made this, I didn't know what I was doing picking the meat. I actually did better just randomly picking up something than choosing the meat originally called for. But maybe it was just packaged wrong, who knows. I grabbed a boneless pork roast (I think) the first time. Had no problems, shredded immediately, tasted fantastic, and had minimal fat. The second time I made this, I searched for a pork shoulder, and was disappointed in it. It had MUCH more fat than my liking, plus, it didn't shred... We had to pull it out of the crockpot, and cut/shred it by hand - a huge pain. And seriously? The amount of fat on this piece of meat was ridiculous. It kinda ruined the pulled pork for me.

So whichever you choose... good luck. The meat lady flat out told me no other meat would shred the way it should for pulled pork, but the roast seemed to work. So. Yeah. *shrugs*

This is so easy.

1) Coat meat with seasoned salt. Everywhere. As much as you want.
2) Add BBQ sauce.
3) Pour in dark soda of your choosing (I used throwback Dr. Pepper the first time.) You could honestly probably even use apple juice if you don't want to use soda.
4) Cover & cook on low for 4-5 hours (for 2-2.5 pounds)
5) Drain some of the liquid out, add more sauce if you like your sauce thick, and shred the meat. It SHOULD fall apart with minimum work.

I only have one picture because after it was shredded, I kinda forgot about the picture-taking thing.

It's REALLY good, and it's GREAT for company because you can do it ahead of time, and it can just soak in all the flavor while you do everything else.

We had so much left over last time that I don't think I'll be making it again any time soon - I still have a bag full in my freezer!!

Picture Frame Project

Moving to the other side of the world takes a (HUGE) toll on your things, especially things like picture frames...

This particular frame we bought at the BX in Germany, and the paint job was shotty to begin with... Add traveling 6000+ miles, and it needed an overhaul.

I decided to repaint the frame with glossy black acrylic paint, and paint the wires red for some color.  Little did I know that acrylic paint wouldn't stick to the wire so well (oops), but a million coats did the trick.

Also, turns out my "Bright Red" metallic paint was really more like hot pink. But at least it still goes with the theme!

Waiting for the paint to dry...

Hanging on the wall, finally!

It now lives in our bedroom above our bookcase, which just so happens to have engagement  pictures on it. And a couple stuffed animals Kyle gave me during our time in Germany.