Birdwell Quilts

Do you have dozens of old t-shirts from your alma mater that are taking up drawer space? Do you have a dilemma with feeling bad about never wearing your Greek life t-shirts ever again? Are you searching for a keepsake to commemorate a specific time of your life?

Look no farther than Birdwell Quilts!

You pick the theme, you pick the size, you pick the colors! Your shirts containing your memories! Complete customization!

Ideas for your Custom T-shirt Quilt:

• University Alumni Quilt
• #1 Sports Fan Quilt
• Greek Life Quilt
• The Player's Quilt (all of your jerseys)
• Baby Clothes Quilt
• High School Quilt (sports, band, clubs, etc.)
• Road Trip Quilt (shirts from vacations)
• Remembrance Quilt (commemorating life of those who've passed)
• Marathon Quilt (all of your race shirts)
• Favorites Quilt (no theme, just all of your favorites!

Quilt Sizes available include: Queen size, Full size, and Twin size. Throw quilts and quilted pillows are also available!

Great Gifts for:

• Birthdays
• Christmas
• High School Graduation
• College Graduation
• Retirements
• Essentially, any occasion!

Don't have enough shirts? Never fear! Consider using the back designs or sleeve designs. As a last resort, you could consider purchasing some second-hand clothing from your local Goodwill or consignment store. 

These are durable quilts with unique stitching and classy compilation. Your quilt will have your shirts, your experiences, your memories! Order yours TODAY!

Contact Tammy at tbirdwell2014@gmail.com for information on sizes and prices!

Tale as Old as Time

This past weekend, Beauty and the Beast came to SKyPAC (Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center). We decided to go because.... well I mean..... do you really need an excuse to go see a tale-as-old-as-time musical?.... The answer is no.

I was excited to go see it for several reasons. Firstly, because I just love musicals. Another reason is because we have never been to SKyPAC and I was interested to see the quality of the Bowling Green Theatre. 

Here are some things we learned:

1. SKyPAC is a nice theatre and you should visit if you get the chance
2. Beauty and the Beast is awesome! I had seen it at Murray State for their annual Campus Lights, but had not seen it by a professional company. Nathan had seen it in St. Louis at the Fox Theatre. Hilarious, touching, and of course great musical numbers.
3. Lots of small children attended. This was a surprise for me. Although, of course, Beauty and the Beast was obviously first designed for children in the Disney Animation, it did not even cross my mind that there would be a ton of kids there. And not just kids, but girls in princess dresses and tiaras. It wasn't annoying, it was just a surprise. We actually had a small girl who sat right behind us. Her quotes throughout the play have turned out to be a good source of one-liners.

My only complaint of the whole night was that there was not a large poster for me to take a picture with. It is customary for me to do that. I guess SKyPAC didn't get my memo.

It was a great night! I would recommend seeing Beauty and the Beast. I would recommend seeing something at SKyPAC. I would recommend all theatres to provide a poster.

Hot Chicken Chili

So.... February 26 was National Chili Day, so naturally, we celebrated with CHILI. I love chili, especially in the winter. And Nathan loves hot dogs. We're perfect combo. I'm the chili to his hot dog. Anyway, enough of that. So, I made chili. I've made chili with this one recipe for several batches, but last Thursday, I decided I would try something a little different, and make the recipe my own.

Ingredients:

• 1 large can of shredded chicken in water
• 1 can of rotel
• 1 can of black beans
• 1/2 onion
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• ground cumin
• ground cayenne red pepper

Directions: 

1. Drain and warm the chicken in a large pot. Cook for just a 2-3 minutes, breaking apart the chunks into smaller pieces.

2. Cut onion and add that to your pot. Drain the cans of rotel and beans and add them to your pot also.

3. Add chili powder. Add a few sprinkles of cumin and a few sprinkles of cayenne red pepper.

4. Stir it all together. Cook covered for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Make sure you keep it covered to keep in the moisture so that the chili won't be too dry. Unless, of course, you like dry chili.

5. Serve in a bowl or on a hot dog. Add cheese, sour cream, or crackers if desired.

Review:

The Original Recipe is from gimmesomeoven.com. Ok, I love the original recipe because its so easy, yet so good. Another good thing about it is that most of the ingredients they recommend are ingredients that we always have on hand. The original recipe uses ground beef, rotel, beans, onion, and chili powder (I have always altered the original to make less since there is usually only two of us eating it). 

For this batch of chili, I decided to use chicken instead of beef, AND add the extra cumin and cayenne red pepper. Let me tell you, the altered recipe tasted significantly different. Obviously the chicken gave it a different taste, but just adding even a few sprinkles of the cumin and cayenne red pepper made it significantly spicier. I have to say, I liked my version better!

Nathan rated my altered recipe a 4 / 5.

I rated my altered recipe a 5 / 5.

Nathan rated the original recipe a 4 / 5.

I rated the original recipe a 4 / 5. 

NOTE: I have also made the original recipe in a slow cooker and its equally as good. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or cook on high for 3-4 hours.

Brown Paper Packages #3

Testing, 1-2-3...

My future brother-in-law has mad skillz! First of all, he deserves a shoutout for just being awesome. But, secondly, he deserves a shoutout for his hard work on their wedding website and the phenomenal finished product. Click Here to check it out!!!

The Lord is working in mighty ways! Jake has been trying to receive the Holy Spirit and the gift of speaking in tongues, which came to him this week. The Lord is doing great things is Jake's life!

Out with the new, in with the newer.... This was an unexpected thing that happened this week. In one day, we went from driving one car (RIP Blue Honda Civic Hybrid...) to driving a different car.  We have extremely mixed feelings about this. Sadness over losing our blue car, frustration over an un-fixable problem, and excitement over having a new (used) car. Say hello to our new car, the Urban Titanium Honda Civic.

Get to know some fellow bloggers in my life! This is ironic because I do not consider myself a blogger. However, it does make me happy when people are supportive of our blog. I am also happy to have some friends and family who are also on the blogging journey. Support them too, people! These ladies are the three of the most interesting women and best writers I know, so their blogs are probably going to be on point!

Songstress of the South - Sarah Baldauff
Play On - Kaitlynn Logsdon
First Time Homemaker - Maegan Woodlee


Thats all folks. Over and out.

Credit is Due

Our wedding day wouldn't have been what it was without the help of family, friends, and our vendors. This blog post is thank our friends and family and give credit to our vendors. The second half of the post is a list of our vendors (click on links to learn more about each one). But first, some shoutouts...

• Shoutout to our parents! Both of our sets of parents were so so so supportive throughout the whole wedding planning process. From throwing showers and arranging flowers, to going to ALL of the pre-wedding planning meetings and doing makeup for the big day. One or more were involved in literally every aspect of our wedding. They were all so gracious in helping us create the perfect day for our wedding. Thank you for your love and support. We love you!
• Shoutout to our bridal party! Our bridesmaids, groomsmen, guest attendant and ushers were ON POINT! We couldn't have asked for better friends and family to stand beside us as we vow our lives and love to one another. We both have great memories of the days and hours leading up to June 14 and we will cherish these moments for years to come.
• Shoutout to our families and friends! To all who attended our wedding, thank you for sharing the day with us. Thank you also to our family members that helped in some way, whether it was making desserts for he reception, or helping set up the day before. Specifically, to Melissa and Chris Logsdon, thank you SO MUCH for all of the ways that you helped us prepare and accomplish what we wanted. Dems da berries.
• Shoutout to the weather! It was great! Honestly, I had no idea how PERFECT the weather was until months later. People kept commenting on how nice it was that June was producing 70 degree weather in Kentucky, but I didn't really process it at the time. 

Our Vendors:

Ceremony Venue: Oak Grove Baptist Church - Springfield, TN

Reception Venue: The Arling - Franklin, KY

Wedding Day Coordinator: Whitney Prescott

Officient: Deon Thompson

Photographer: Josh Salley - Bowling Green, KY

Florist (Bouquets & Boutonnieres): D&M Florist - Franklin, KY

Hair: Reflections Hair Studio - Franklin, KY

DJ: Jonathan Barrett

Dresses (Bridal Gown and Bridesmaid Dresses): David's Bridal

Tuxes: Men's Wearhouse

Rehearsal Dinner Venue: Loving Chapel Stables - Franklin, KY

Caterer: Dianne Thurmond - Franklin, KY
Rehearsal Catering: Brickyard Cafe - Franklin, KY

Again, thank you to every person and vendor who helped us prepare for our wedding day. We are so blessed.

<< Previous in the It's Been 8 Months Series --- Beginning of the It's Been 8 Months Series >>


All Photos by: Josh Salley

Highlights of Our Secret Honeymoon

In case you didn't know, or forgot, we didn't tell ANYONE where we were going for our honeymoon. It started as sort of a joke, but then we just kept on not telling people when they would beg and plead to know where we would spending a week after the big day. We went to Charleston, South Carolina, and, lucky for you, the time has come that we give you the highlights of our week in June. You're welcome.

Day 1: Charleston Strolls - city walking tour. We had decided to do this the first day to get an overview of the city of sorts. We are both so glad we did. It was fantastic! We got to hear about all of the most important aspects of history from a native Charlestonian. Despite his Confederate Pride, his knowledge and insight of Charleston was awesome! We got to see so many neat things in just a few short hours.

Day 2: QuickShot Indoor Shooting Range. They had a "ladies special" that day so we got a pretty good discount on shooting up a zombie. Good times.

Day 3: Fort Sumter. This was the location of the beginning of the Civil War. Not only was visiting Fort Sumter super interesting, it also involved right a boat to the fort. I mean, who doesn't love a good boat ride?! Actually... Nathan doesn't, however, I had a blast! And I'm sure he was secretively having a blast too ;) Additionally, visiting Fort Sumter has sparked our visiting other forts, battle field, and National Parks.

After we were done at FS, we went to the South Carolina Aquarium, which claims to be the best aquarium ever (or something like that). It was pretty fun, but I personally think the Georgia Aquarium is better. Thats just my opinion, though.

Later on that day, we got a couples massage. It was really awkward, but really great at the same time. We'll probably get more in the future. No picture available.

Day 4: Isle of Palms - BEACH DAY! We had a great day at the beach relaxing, playing card games, walking along the shore, taking pictures, patio lunching, and soaking up the sun...... Soaking up LOTS of sun. Too. Much. Sun. Needless to say, although we had a good time, we got really really really burned. Luckily, it was near the end of the week.

Day 5: Charleston Tea Plantation. Did you know that this is the only plantation in America that they grow tea plants! Most are grown out of the country. Did you also know that you can have unlimited tea samples? Yeah. So we were livin' it up with bellies full of tea and skin burned to a crisp.

After leaving the plantation, we went to see the Angel Oak. One word: HUGE. Below is a picture that someone took of us in front of the tree (shoutout to the guy in the red shirt). Yes, they cut off most of the top of the tree. Why can't people take decent pictures? Is it not obvious we want a picture of the how big the tree is? I mean thats why we're here, people... Anyway, if you want to see how big it really is, click on the link above. Thanks random guy. Thanks.

So, as you can see, we did a ton of stuff on our honeymoon. And its fitting because we both love to learn new things, and explore. And now you know. Hope that makes up for us keeping it a secret during the months before ;)

Click here to watch a video of our Secret Honeymoon!!

<< Previous in the It's Been 8 Months Series --- Next in the It's Been 8 Months Series >>

Brown Paper Packages #2

Since my last Brown Paper Packages post, a couple of events have occurred, but other than that, not much has happened for me to report. Therefore, this post is pretty much going to be pictures from those two events.

The first is that Nathan and I spent our first married Valentine's Day together. First, I made a late breakfast filled with heart-shaped food. What can I say, I go all out.

Later, we went to the Streets of Indian Lake in Hendersonville, TN to see Paddington the movie. We were the only people in the theatre that didn't bring small children, but hey, it was a great movie! I would recommend it. When we got home, Nathan fixed his annual Valentine's meal. Chicken from Walmart deli, kraft mac-n-cheese, and doritos.

We agreed to give each other a cheesy Valentine's Day gift. Here is a picture of me forcing Koba to cuddle with my gift. Koba + Gnash = Love

The next event was the snow week we had this week! We got 7-8 inches on Sunday night and another 2 inches on Tuesday night. 

Here are just a few pictures of some entertaining things that happened....

Day 1: Koba deciding the snow wasn't for him...

Day 2: Binge playing Roller Coaster Tycoon like I did in high school... It was nostalgic and great...

Day 3: Snow Shakes!... (click here for recipe)

Day 4: Running out of things to do.... so.... I made a ridiculous video.... (click here to watch video)

Day 5: Shoveling snow with these dudes. Thanks, Kevin, for helping us clear our driveway before it gets covered again.

Needless to say, its been a pretty relaxing week. Hope you enjoyed this edition's Brown Paper Packages.