Family fish fry

As some of you know, mr wonderful loves to fish...see here-
And as some of you know, I love for him to fish too...when he brings some home for me and fries em up! {okay yes we are slightly hillbilly...but the high class kind!}

Over the break he took a little fishing trip with his dad and brother to dirty wonderfully sunny Galveston. And I must say I am proud of my little fisherman:

{thats how me likes them...this is how i like them}

After an amazing dinner, where sharing my fish was NOT an option, we had an equally amazing dessert that was homemade by yours truly. I picked this recipe mostly because I had the ingredients and was tight on time.....but also because its from the queen of the south herself, Miss Paula Deen

Now I occasionally crave chocolate cake - and by that I mean every second of every day - so here is one of my favorites!{trust me...there will be plenty more}

Sour Cream Yellow Cake with Chocolate Fudge Icing
Cast of Characters:

1 (18 1/4-ounce) box yellow cake mix
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
3 eggs
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon butter extract - Who knew there was such a thing!
1/2 teaspoon salt

Now pay close attention; this is where it gets tricky!
Step 1: Mix everything together on a low speed for about 2 minutes.

Yep, that's it. Pour the mixture evenly into two greased cake pans and pop them in the oven on 350 for about 30-35 minutes. {I always say you should use this time wisely by having a margarita cleaning up the mess you just made, so get on it}

Once they are nice and brown, take them out and let them start cooling while you whip up the frosting.

This is what you will need:

4 ounces butter
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 pound confectioners' sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla

Step 1:
In saucepan, over medium heat, combine the butter and milk. Bring to a boil.

Step 2:
Sift the confectioners' sugar and cocoa powder into a large bowl. Add the butter mixture and whisk well. Add the vanilla.

*Note: I put my finished frosting in the fridge for a few minutes to cool it down so it didn't run off the cake when icing.

Now, I am a firm believer in cutting the top off of the bottom later in order to create a level spot for the top layer. {also because i enjoy eating that part while i finish my cakes...i dare you to try and not eat it!}

Next, put a small amount of frosting between the two layers and then ice the whole cake.
*Note: it's easier to ice between the layers if you flip the cake with the top cut off over so you are not trying to ice over crumbs

Feel free to eat any left over icing...hey, it's why the recipe makes so much isn't it?

Here is your finished product, ENJOY!

- Lindsey Nicole

on the corpus christi bay

WARNING: LONG POST (in all fairness it covers a WHOLE weekend)

"If I could live my life all over
It wouldn't matter anyway
Cause I never could stay sober
On the Corpus Christi Bay"

Why oh why did I come back....

Let me start from the beginning - after a 3.5 hour road trip with mr. wonderful we finally reached corpus christi where the wedding festivities began!

Friday...Rehearsal dinner: mr. wonderful and i joined our good friends April and Kelby for their rehearsal dinner at joe's crab shack at which i probably ate my weight in fried shrimp and seafood nachos...mmmmmmm

here is the gang

SWITCH TOPIC: This trip was also a chance for us to see a couple other really good friends....who also deserve a HUGE congrats as he just popped the question and she said yes :)

aren't they ADORABLE!

Okay back to the wedding..
Saturday.....WEDDING DAY!
the ceremony was outside on a beautiful waterfront platform at the Corpus Christie Aquarium and was absolutely beautiful, but definitely not as beautiful as he bride! take a look!

Oh yeah, here's her and her groom!

The reception was packed full of good food, margaritas and aggies, WHOOP! Oh and lots of FISH!
April and Kelby - we are so happy that we could a part of your special day! We love y'all!

Here is me and mr. Wonderful

Since we were there for the whole weekend we made sure to spend time with our newly engaged friends as well. We did one of my all time favorite things...fishing! (All my friends and family who read this just choked on whatever they were eating because I DON'T FISH!) but I do love boats and we were on a boat...hence the favorite part!

Isn't my honey so stinking cute!

Oh and here are our friends being so damn cute and not even knowing it!

I did learn one thing on this fishing trip...it must be a man code to take your picture with our fish

(He made me take this one...and let me say, fishing doesn't look good on me...that is for sure!)

The end! Great people - great weekend!
- Lindsey Nicole

playing catch up

I know, I know, I know. It's been awhile since we have talked. But in all fairness let me just recap (briefly) my life since we last talked.

- April and Kelby's wedding in Corpus
- 2 THANKSGIVINGSS!
- being a supportive law school student's wife during finals
- decorating for christmas; getting all christmas gifts bought and wrapped
- the first 2 weeks of December i had to wrap up my work life to get ready for my honeymoon :) details and pictures to come soon!
- LAUNDRY from the trip
- 2 CHRISTMAS'
- family trip to Tulsa
- family wedding
- new years eve

Deep breathe....and that's not to mention all the WONDERFUL new recipes and crafty projects I have been filling my few moments of free time with.

So here comes the promise (i'm raising my right hand)....I, Lindsey Nicole, promise to recap and continue to keep this blog updated as part of my new year's resolution!

Happy Reading!
- Lindsey Nicole