Paige"made" Granola Bars

Have you ever made homemade granola bars? Well I tried it and it was spectacular. It took a little prep time, getting all the ingredients together, but it was worth it. A healthier dessert/snack for us to enjoy. Plus less expensive than the store bought granola bars. Here is the recipe. Just note that it was a bit crumbly when warm, but once it cooled it didn't crumble as bad. Be sure to eat over a napkin or plate so you get every last crumb.

Paige"made" Granola Bars

2 C Old Fashion Oats
½ C Flax Seed or Wheat Germ
1 ½ C Mixed Nuts chopped (pecans, almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, etc)

½ C Peanut Butter
½ C Honey
¼ C Brown Sugar packed
2 Tbls Vanilla Extract
½ Tsp Salt
1 ½ C Dried Fruit (raisins, cranberries, blueberries, bananas, mango, pineapple, coconut, etc)

½ C Chocolate Chips (optional) Place over top of granola and heat for 5 minutes or until melted.

Preheat oven to 350ᵒ.

Mix together Oats, Flax Seed, and nuts. Spread onto sheet pan. Toast in oven for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

In a Medium Saucepan, combine Peanut Butter, Honey, Brown Sugar, Vanilla, and Salt and stir together over Medium Heat. Cook until sugar dissolves and mixture is creamy.

Take Oat mixture out of oven and combine with Peanut Butter mixture and Dried Fruit. Mix together then place in buttered 9x13 glass dish. Bake at 300ᵒ for 20 minutes. If using Chocolate Chips, place over top of granola and heat for 5 minutes or until melted. Then once melted smooth over the top of the granola before it cools.

Let cool and cut into squares. Be sure to cut while it's still a tad bit warm.

NOTE: Place parchment paper in glass dish instead of butter. Parchment paper reduces fat and makes it easier to take the granola out of dish to cut into squares.

Enjoy!!! If you dare to take on the granola challenge.

Surprise trip to MO

Such a blessing! What a great surprise! I pulled it off! After 13 hours on the road I was able to surprise my family and show up at the door! Their faces were priceless! So much love!

This first week I have been to Springfield, and Oklahoma, and Cabool. And I am sooooooo tired. And now I get to work at the florist the rest of the week to get ready for Valentine's Day. I love working at the store for Valentine's Day, it's so much fun.

Emma celebrating her 1st Birthday! It was such a blessing to be able to be here to celebrate with her and the family. She is such a doll; a sweet little girl.

Elsie is now 3 months. She is getting stronger and now she laughs and smiles. Before long she will be crawling all over the place. She's so cute and such a joy to be around. I'm thankful that even with Todd not around they still let hang out with them...lol.


I have been able to see lots of friends and family so far on my trip. But there are so many more faces I want to see. Hopefully time will be on my side and I will be able to see more people I love and miss.

What a fun surprise this has been so far!

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Family photo January 2010. This is us, just the two of us. Married for 7 1/2 years and always planning something new. Most couples by now would have a baby, a dog, a mortgage, and 2 car loans. We are happy to report we have none of the above. Although a new car would be nice, it's just a want (until the nugget dies forever and then we get a new/old car!!)

Things we enjoy as a married couple:
-Coffee. Being able to enjoy a cup or two in the morning before the day begins is just so relaxing.
- Taking walks on the beach. Todd hates the sand but he does love being with me, so we go to the beach.
- Road trips. We love nothing more than driving a few hours to explore a new city. A stop at the local mall is always on the to do list.
- Acting like we are kids again. This is usually done with our friends, as we loving just being complete fools and laughing till our stomach hurts.
- Sitting in the same room or at the dinner table with nothing to say because being together is enough.
- Shopping. We can walk around the mall and not buy anything and have a good time.
- Cooking together. Creating meals complex or simple makes the dinner more enjoyable. Todd takes all the credit on teaching me how to cook. I would have to say that Mom and Grandma taught me a lot of the basics, but Todd did encourage me to try new foods. Thank you! Green food is good too!
- Sleeping in. Nothing is more relaxing or more sincere than cuddling in each others arms in the morning.
- Laughing together. We do this often since, well, face it, we are funny people. Stinkin hilarious!
- Being comfortable in our own skin. We don't have to put on a happy face if we are sad. We don't have to watch what we say. We just have to be our own self around each other. No secrets. No insecurities. Simple understandings. Just Love.

I'm a housewife!!!!

(This is the new dinning/living area! I have a table again!! Don't worry we do have furniture in the place, just not for this photo.)

Oh yeah. This is the start of....The Real Housewives of Emerald Coast! Or at least that's the joke between me and my girlfriends! (filming doesn't start till summer)

My last day of work was Friday and I have a huge relief off my shoulders. I love having a job, just not that job. So while I'm in search for a NEW job, I will be a housewife. My good friend Ashley is a housewife, now she also volunteers at the Pregnancy Care Center (which is really like a job, she just doesn't get paid. lol) Anyways, she has set the standard pretty high, so I hope I can succeed. One thing I will not have to do that she does, is pick out the clothes my husband will wear. I mean come on...he has to pick out my clothes for crying out loud. And I LOVE IT!

So to start my Sunday, I went to church, got a newspaper to clip coupons and search through classifieds, and now I'm super busy working out and cleaning the floors. I mean just look at me work really really hard! I think I am sweating!!

Tile, Carpet, Hardwood the irobot roomba does it all.


The hardest part is finding the right cookbook that will hide the cords so the irobot doesn't eat it.


Notice how I can workout and clean the floors!!! Maybe later I will turn the dishwasher on and do my nails. Oh the life. I guess we will see how long this will last. You know before I go crazy and have to do something outside the house. But in the meantime I'll be selling a few items on ebay to hopefully make cash or at least clean out some boxes!

Oh yeah and church was fun. Of course it's not as fun going alone since Todd worked; but it was a blessing to be able to worship and learn.

2010 Broken to Renew

So do you call it Twenty Ten or Two Thousand Ten or Two Oh One Oh? Well no matter what you say this year will be filled with Newness. What is it about a new calendar year that makes people reflect on their own lives? Most people try to do that on Sundays, and start new "diets" on Monday, but for some reason it's different with a new year. A new clean slate. A new year. A new beginning. A new search for "what" can change our lives for the better. For the Ferguson's it's going to be about a new change, a new home, a new town, a new beach, a new store for Todd and for me a new job search.

But the best part of our new adventure is our old but not forgotten love for church. With our job schedules we have not been able to attend church on a regular basis, and to some that is no big deal but to us, we can totally tell a difference in our lives. With church. Without church. No matter what anyone tells you, it effects your inner being. Our language changes. As much as we strive to be positive and uplifting, the devil tears us down. It's funny when you think that as much as a job can change your schedule so much that you forget how much you truly love and desire to worship the one and only King of my world! We are fortunate to have a solid group of Christian friends and a Bible Study group, but one can only go so long without the true soul breaking time when God grabs a hold of your life and says, "Seriously, Paige. You are choosing to go to a job rather than going to worship and praise ME. Me the one who saved your life. Me the one who continues to bless your life even though you continue to ignore your own hurting heart. You're starving yourself from promises. And it's time for a change. Take a chance." Ok God, you're right. Even in this tough economy, You are the One who can change it! Forget my schedule, my selfishness, and let's just work on focusing on the One True Boss. It's time to take a leap of faith and relearn my soul.

Good things come to those who love God.

Christmas 2009

Todd and I had an absolutely wonderful time in Missouri and Oklahoma! We did not get to see everyone we had hoped to see, but our days were packed full of events, love, and good times. To go into detail about everything that happened and what we did, would be a huge blog, so here are some pictures to get some of the details.

Shane, Rachael and Baby Elsie Mae! Elsie's first Christmas! She is so precious to us.


Dad Ferguson and his new girlfriend Debbie. The Ferguson Christmas was held in OK at Shane and Rachael's house. It was so much fun. Ben brought his new girlfriend and so did Clarke. The family is expanding especially with cute little Elsie who stole all the attention, and made some bank with the Christmas Gifts!

Uncle Todd with his new niece Elsie Mae Ferguson.

Elsie is almost a month old here. What a great early Christmas present that God gave Shane and Rachael. I had to take a few pics during our stay in Oklahoma.

Grandma Mac celebrates her 74th Birthday with a Surprise Birthday Party! My mom and her baby sister, Bonnie "pulled the wool over her eyes" as a group of over 50 friends and family gathered together to celebrate with Mac. Cake, candles, flowers, balloons, candies, punch, cards, and presents made this day super special for Grandma. She couldn't stop talking about how we surprised her and how special she felt at her party.

Grandma Mac blowing out the candles...with a little help from her Granddaughter Crystal! Oh my sister is so funny.


A different kind of Family Photo! How fun to take a picture with my brother's kids. Logan is 3 and Emma is almost 1. What a great Family Photo.


Mom and Dad Walls! We love and miss you! "Home is where my mom is!"

The Walls Family Photo. Can I just say that we were freeeeezing. From left. Papa Glen, Emma, Mema Cleea, Rance, Logan, Elizabeth, Todd, Paige, Haley, and Crystal.

What a long but short trip. Never has 2 weeks flow by so fast in my life. We love and miss our family every day. Merry Christmas!

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I had every intention of blogging yesterday, however I started to get a sore throat so I headed to bed early.
And when I woke up by little sore throat was a really bad sore throat. I was blessed by not being scheduled to work today! Sleeping in and gargling salt water and spraying Chloraseptic was not on my agenda. I was suppose to go hang out with Sally and her family. She is my friend that I worked with in Springfield at Bolivar Insulation. They are celebrating Thanksgiving at her dad's in Alabama and she was going to drive a couple hours down to see me. (such a good friend) I hated having to call her to cancel (I don't want to pass this bug around), so I will have to drop in on her when I'm up that way to make it up to her!
On another note. I was also planning on baking some Cranberry Pumpkin Bread. It's a Dad Ferguson tradition...or one of his many specialties around the holidays. Look I even had Todd pick me up some Cranberries! When I get to feeling better I will make the bread, I would hate to contaminate it with my sickness. lol

The curiosity was killing me. I have never bit into a cranberry before. And now I can say I have and I ate it like a woman. Maybe my sore throat has killed most of the taste buds, but it was tangy and bitter but surprisingly better than I thought it would be.