Le Blog De Ree

Scott & Ann Marie: 10 Years!

2011-11-02T15:09:00.003-05:00

In some ways, I think, "I couldn't have been married for 10 years already!"; but in other ways, I cannot remember what my life was like before Scott!
Of course, at 21 and 23, we were children when we married! ;)

So, here's a fun "then and now" comparison!

10 years ago, Scott had just finished college the May before and finished the Managment Associate program at AmSouth Bank (now Regions). He was opening new branches, managing branches, poised to become a junior executive.
10 years ago, I was almost finished at Jefferson State Community College with my Culinary Arts degree, working full-time at Saks, Inc. Corporate Dining. (Remember when Saks 5th Avenue was headquartered in Birmingham??) I was the catering assistant and deli chef. I liked my job, but really, all I wanted was to be a homemaker. I wasn't really keen on working full-time outside the home.

Now, Scott just began seminary at Beeson Divinity, and works part-time for SMIC and Berney Points Baptist Church. He is the College and Young Adult Minister for our church, and we couldn't imagine a better ministry! Over the last 10 years, his focus for a career has certainly changed!

Now, I still work outside the home for an OB-GYN office, doing secretarial work, and I own my own business, Tres Beau Weddings and Special Events, planning and designing weddings! I had quickly learned that full-time chef work was not what I wanted long-term...I still keep my hands in food (so to speak!) but doing some catering on the side! I also cook dinner for the college group weekly Bible study and the Young Adult Bible study.

10 years ago, we were attending Shades Mountain Independent Church, our home church, where we've both grown up. I sang in the choir, and if my memory is correct, we still had two services back then. Scott led worship in the Youth Group with Jonathan. (Ah, the pre-cursor to Adoration Band!)

Now, we still at attending SMIC! As mentioned above, we do the College and Young Adult ministries. Scott went to work for the church about 4 months after we were married, to do the church administration. We thought that this would be short-term job, then he would either start applying for grad schools for economics, or go back to the banking world. Eventually, we felt the Lord's call to full-time ministry. (This realization took me much longer!)

10 years ago, Scott and I signed for our house the day before the wedding (happy birthday to our house!); however, the house was not "live-able", and required 6 weeks of intense remodeling after our honeymoon! We were so grateful for our families who helped non-stop and several friends who worked long hours with us! We bought our 1948 cottage, thinking that it would be a good "starter home", and that in a promotion or two, we'd upgrade.

Now, we are still in remodeling process (I've already re-done the bathroom for the 2nd time). We love our little home, and couldn't imagine living anywhere else! Our most recent (still not finished) projects include re-doing the outside from the old siding to cedar shingles, adding on a laundry/mud room, and a re-configured deck.

10 years ago, the September 11th attacks happened right before our wedding. We changed our honeymoon plans because of this, because international travel was so if-y. We went to North Carolina instead and had a wonderful, relaxing time. But patriotism abounded at this time, and the Afganistan/Iraq War was beginning.

Now, we all know that the wars are still going on...but we caught and executed Saddam Hussein and more recently, Bin Laden. Scott and I made it to London and Paris for our 5th wedding anniversary, and have also been abroad for missions. We are planning our big 10th anniversary trip to Paris for January!

How about some pop culture and price comparison info! This should be fun!

Gallon of Gas:
2001: $1.47
2011: $3.45

Pound of Coffee:
2001: $3.06
2011: $10.00 (depending on your brand, of course) and/or $5.00 for an espresso-based drink

Postage stamp:
2001: 34 cents
2011: 44 cents (wait, people still mail things??)

In 2001, Wikipedia came online and Apple released the 1st iPod!

Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, was released that Christmas (totally went to the midnight release!). Shrek began his movie franchise, as did the Ocean movies. And Harry Potter began his 10 year reign (while Southern Baptist preachers were denouncing him from pulpits) with The Sorcerer's Stone.

On the music scene, we had a weird mix of "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias, "Here's To The Night" by Eve 6, "Beautiful Day" by U2, "I'm Like a Bird" by Nelly Furtado, "Fallin" by Alicia Keyes, "Independent Woman" by Destiny's Child, and "Lady Marmalade" (Moulin Rouge soundtrack!) for some of the good stuff. Unfortunately in 2001, we heard, "Drops of Jupiter" by Train (over and over and over), "It's Been Awhile" by Staind, and "With Arms Wide Open" by Creed....

Happy Anniversary to me and Scottie!

Two Thousand and Eleven

2011-09-21T11:28:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting here in front of my computer screen trying to think through all of the things that have happened in our lives over the last 10 months...that last time I blogged was last November, 2010! But alas, words are escaping me.

Me and Scott in Zurich, Switzerland, en route to Montenegro this August

We've travelled--North Carolina, California, Montenegro/Switzerland/Italy/Croatia. Anniversary trip to Cali and missions to Montenegro (by way of the other countries). See Cali pics here! And my pics from Camp Monty here.

Us with the Cali nieces and nephews!

College group Spring Break trip!

We've closed one book of our life and opened a new one--Scott started post-grad work at Beeson Divinity. He is no longer employed full-time at SMIC, although we are continuing in our college and young adult ministry there. And the Lord provided a full scholarship and other employment!

Scott's stack of books for seminary...semester one! Many, many, more books to come!

I'm trying to grow a small business, while still working full time--Tres Beau Weddings and Special Events is growing so well, and I'm so thankful to be able to do what I love! I'm formulating a new business plan for expansion, with possibly a store-front! Learning as I go, of course.


One of my biggest weddings of 2011, Josh and Julie Payne!

And the other big wedding this year just happened to be my cousin's! Chris and Natalie!

We've also had some hard times this year--job changes, and circumstances thereby, were hard emotionally. Scott still struggles with pain from his two shoulder surgeries, and probably will for the rest of his life. And last week, cancer invaded my family once again, with my mom's diagnosis of breast cancer. It's early for her, and she'll have a double mastectomy next week. But her genetic testing came back also with a positive for BRCA, or the "breast cancer gene", so that has some serious ramifications for me and my sister.

Mothers Day 2011 at Mimi's house

So, there's the BIG highlights of 2011...see my Twitter if you want the specifics, and my Facebook if you want pictures....I'm MUCH better at keeping up with Facebook and Twitter!

Scott and Ree's Guide to New York City: Part 1, Restaurants

2010-11-19T11:55:00.000-06:00

We are not experts (whatever that means) on New York, but plenty of people ask us all the time about what to do/see/eat while visiting the Big Apple. It's one of my favorite places in the world (right behind Paris, duh) & we go at least once a year, so without further ado, here's Part One, Restaurants.

Our Short List:

Brasserie Les Halles

This French restaurant is owned by Anthony Bourdain and has traditional French cafe-type dishes. Surprisingly, its affordable too! We first went there for my 30th birthday last year and also visited last summer. It has a bustling, dark interior, wood paneling and white tablecloths. No reservations are needed, but might be useful if you are visiting on a weekend evening. There's two locations in New York, but we have only been to the Park Avenue South location.
I've ordered the steak frites and the steak au poivre and both were excellent. (Randomly, they have the best butter that I have ever tasted! Its cold, smooth and creamy, not too salty but has an amazing fresh taste. And I cannot figure out who their supplier for that butter is either, or I would buy some and ship it to Birmingham!)

Grimaldi's Brick Oven Pizza

This Brooklyn classic is tucked under the Brooklyn Bridge and is a short subway ride away from Manhattan. In nice weather, and if you feel like some exercise, it is fun to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge. You can get some great photos of Manhattan from the bridge!

Be prepared for a wait--we've never caught it when there isn't a wait. But the pizza and atmosphere are well worth it! While you sit and wait on your order at the checkered-tableclothed tables, you can watch the pizza chefs toss the dough, throw the toppings around and slide the pizzas in and out of the ovens. It's a noisy, crowded, fast-paced New York pizza joint, and so much fun!

Yummy!!

Great views from across the Brooklyn Bridge!

Worth the wait!

Magnolia Bakery

This bakery's popularity exploded after being in a popular TV show, but it remains a nice little spot to grab a snack and explore a unique NY neighborhood. We usually go to the one in Greenwich Village, but have stopped at the Rockefeller shop too, out of cupcake desperation.

There's no seating at the Greenwich Village location, but in nice weather, we like to sit in the little park thats across the street and enjoy the neighborhood while enjoying our cupcakes. And cupcakes particularly are the draw here, my favorites are the ones with sprinkles!

In rainy or snowy weather, take your little cupcake box and head to Grand Central Terminal or to Rockefeller Center to people watch while cupcaking!

Serendipity 3

This restaurant is always crowded as well, as it's a popular tourist spot. The main thing here is their signature Frozzzzzen Hot Chocolate. It's like a chocolate milkshake/sundae thing, and its reeeeeally good. Its topped with plenty of whipped cream and served with a spoon and a straw. It's more than enough to share with a friend. However, they have a minimum charge per person that is required here. So if you only come for dessert, everyone has to order a dessert and a drink to spend enough. So, that's kind of a bummer, unless you go and also order regular meal. So we reccommend Serendipity with these reservations.

Chocolaty goodness!

The restaurant is very cute, decorated in fanciful Art Deco style. Its a fun girls place for sure!

Fun Lunch Options in NYC:

Shenanigans in Central Park after lunch

Enjoying our lunch, just watch out for the squirrels!

Find a deli or sandwich shop that's not a huge chain--grab a sandwich and head to Central Park. Find a shady bench and enjoy! Hands down the best way to eat lunch!

Bryant Park- There's lots of options around the park to grab lunch and there's also a cafe. We haven't eaten at the park cafe, but I'm sure its worth trying out! This is personally my favorite spot in the city! Its a small park, but it seems to be where locals eat and enjoy good weather on their lunch breaks. In the warm months, they have an abundance of cafe tables and chairs set up on the lawn. In winter they convert the lawn to an ice rink and have little booths set up for shopping. Southwest Air sponsors a patio that sells drinks and appetizers and even provides Snuggies and patio heaters in cooler weather!

Even though it was rainy, Bryant Park was still a great lunch spot!

Fun Dinner Options in NYC:

Little Italy: Yes, its a tourist trap, but decent Italian food can be found here. We don't have a particular favorite, so take a little time and look at menu boards and decide what fits your craving and budget. In the summertime, most restaurants have patio seating. After dinner, find a gelato stand and you can't go wrong!
The Upper East Side: This posh residential area of Manhattan is sprinkled with restaurants of all price points. Do a little research and find something that sounds good! We've eaten at a couple of good places, so be adventurous and try something new!

Our General Advice:

Try to eat local! Why would you spend all that money to go to the best city in the world and eat at a place you have at home??
Your meals don't have to be expensive either--we are usually dragging a group of college students around, so we definately can eat on the cheaper side! And work deals like hotel breakfasts too.
I haven't done food carts or trucks, but that's a huge trend right now in bigger cities. Great for lunch and late night. Next trip I'm wanting to research that and see what I find!
Avoid Times Square area like the plague...I try not to go there in general anyway, but its worth seeing the spectacle, especially at night, if you've never been. But don't eat there. Please. The restaurants will be sub-par and over-priced.
Remember that you are in arguably the food capital of the world--try a new type of cuisine! Do a little research ahead of time if you know you want a type of cuisine. Rachel was in the city at the same time I was last August, and she had researched Greek restaurants, so we met at one of them for lunch!

Bon appetit and happy travels!

Home Improvement Afters

2010-09-01T09:33:00.000-05:00

I finally blogged and told yall what we've been working on, showed you some "before" and "during" reno pictures, but I suppose you'd like to know how our projects turned out, huh? :)
Here's a few from our almost-but-not-quite-finished home improvement projects:

My fab aqua trim in the re-decorated bathroom!

The Bathroom: got a complete redesign, going from black and white toile wallpaper to soft gold walls with antiqued aqua trim on the window and door frame. I haven't finished getting all of the accessories, but we did buy a new mirrored medicine cabinet and did away with the over-toilet cabinet. I found rugs the same color as the walls, but haven't decided on fabric for a shower curtain...still searching for just the right thing!

Wide-shot of the wall color with the trim!

Shot of the inside door trim...still deciding on painting the entire door aqua...what do you think?

The trim work was painted aqua, then sanded down with the power sander and then glazed with 2 coats of brown glaze to tone-down the blue and antique it.

This was my inspiration for painting and antiquing the trim:

This was taken in our room at the B&B we stayed in in Montreal last year for our anniversary!

The other major project we tackled was the laundry room addition! I haven't taken a lot of afters with the shelving in and my new, fun laundry sorter, but these few pics will give you a good idea of what it looks like!

My brother Jacob & Tommy hard at work, with my dad supervising :)

You can see how the room was extended out to the right, enclosing what was the outside door from the kitchen (you can see the white door behind the ladder). The room was also doubled in width! And then, you can see the window that's now being enclosed, right in the center of the new room. On the other side of that window is the 2nd bedroom (that we use as a den), so that window got taken out and drywalled in.

Here's the new room with walls! That hole is now the door to the outside, which will walk out onto the new deck (yet to be finished)

So you can get a good idea of how it looks now! There are two windows that were cut out after this pic was taken, and of course a door installed. We changed the roof-line so that we can accommodate any future additions!

I painted the walls a nice light tan. For the flooring, we finally chose a tile that looks like travertine. Maybe I'll get pics of the inside soon...

Oh, Hey, I Remember Blogging

2010-08-23T14:49:00.000-05:00

I suppose I should talk about how sorry I am about not blogging in such a loooong time. But instead, I'll just do some pics n' bullet points about what's been going on in the Leveille household in the 6 months since I last talked on here...

Scott and Ben hard at work tearing the laundry room out!

Ok first up is some home improvements! We hit the house stuff pretty hard this spring and early summer because of Scott's 2nd shoulder surgery (more on that later). Here's what we did:

Bathroom--stripped the old wallpaper, saying "au revoir" to the toile...made me a little sad, but it was time for a change. And if I ever try to wallpaper something again, slap me. Stripping wallpaper is NO fun!
Bathroom--got repainted to Pale Gold 2 and the trim done in turquoise with an antique-ing and brown glaze to tone down the blue. Definitely a very different style!
Laundry Room--we totally demo-ed! The "before" LR was a lean-to type of room tacked onto the back stoop outside the kitchen. Some of the college group guys came over and had fun slinging sledge hammers through the walls!
Laundry Room--we hired a general contractor to help with the re-design. The new LR is about triple the size! The back door was moved, the hot water heater has its own little closet, and I have LOTS of storage space!
The rest of the front facade was re-sided to the cedar shingles and the door and window trims re-worked. No more shutters, but pretty, wide woodwork! The front of the house is now much more presentable!
Deck--oh golly...the poor deck was demo-ed, but hasn't been put back together yet...but we've re-designed it and it will be bigger, wrap around the side to the back, meeting the new laundry room addition. Hopefully we will have that finished soon!

Laundry Room in the middle of demo!

So, while the laundry room was torn apart, we had to live with my mom, because the hotwater heater lived in said laundry room, and it spent 6 weeks in the middle of the backyard. Can't live very long without hot water! But, my mom was very gracious, letting us take over her house, doing our laundry, and generally putting up with our messiness. And, as home improvement tend to go, an estimated 1 week project turned into 6 weeks.

At the end of which, Scott had his 2nd shoulder surgery, stemming from an injury when we were overseas last summer on missions.

So here's how THAT weekend in June went down:

Scott has surgery + staying overnight in hospital + Ann Marie coming down with stomach flu + lack of sleep because of hospital neighbor singing all night/Scott in crazy post-op pain/Ann Marie running to the bathroom + Ann Marie in mini-tern at UAB with crazy amounts of papers to write + a house that was torn apart and dirty = we were REEAALLLY glad to be staying at Mom's house! :(

OK I think that I've reached my writing limit for this afternoon...stay tuned and I ~~might~~ will finish the story later this week.

I'm trying to be more disciplined in writing....but don't hold your breath! ;)

Both Feet In

2010-03-08T12:00:00.003-06:00

So this has been a really busy semester, as I have doubled by class load to TWO classes at night, but it has stretched my schedule pretty much to capacity. Thus, blogging has suffered quite a bit. In fact, I am writing this on Friday and I should be at least doing some research for my paper proposal thats due Wednesday, or doing reading for class discussions...but this is important and I wanted to make sure that I blogged about this before time goes by too much!

Here's a little bit about our ministry story and what is new...

When we were married 8 1/2 years ago, Scott worked for one of the largest banks in Alabama, working his way into the corporate world. Through a series of events in our lives and the church as a whole, Scott quit the bank and came to SMIC as the financial/business administrator the spring after we were married. (Ironically, a job that his dad held for like 15 years and had vacated a couple years earlier...weird, eh?) We THOUGHT that would be almost a temporary gig...he'd go in, get everything in shape and running well, then go back tot he business world.

As I have pointed out many times since then, life is seldom what YOU plan! And thank God for that!

It's now eight years later, and Scott is transitioning to a pastoral role at SMIC! A couple of years ago, the college group was orphaned when their latest leader left our church. Someone needed to take them on, and Someone decided it could be Scott and I.

I, admittedly, was NOT in favor of this. I can't really explain why, aside from my selfishness, except that I felt like we did enough around the church and we didn't need any more responsibilities. (Ridiculous thinking, I know)

Eventually, God worked in my heart, and actually, did a lot of shaping in both of our lives, and we threw ourselves into college/young adult ministry. It was at the Thirsty Conference in 2006, put on by Louie and the Passion team, that I really let God mold me and lead me into whatever He wanted of me/us. We felt the call of college ministry pretty strongly.

As we have deepened relationships with students and others we have been ministering to/with, the desire to do MORE ministry has grown in both of our hearts. But its frustrating because our scheduled literally do not allow for anything else!

Scott has been the go-to person for anything non-pastoral at SMIC (including grounds and facilities, budgets, HR, insurance, technical stuff...and probably more that I'm forgetting!), but had let Harry know of his desire for having a more free schedule to focus on ministry, the desire to learn to preach and his passion to see others develop their intimate relationship with God. But no one saw a way out of him doing all the other business stuff.

Meanwhile, a man in our church who has served as board chairman, Gary, lost his job...at a BANK, of all places. He had been feeling the pull to get out of the business world. SMIC also lost our Executive Pastor, Jeff, last year, as he returned to his homeland of Australia, and we had a vacancy in our pastoral staff.

So, long story short, Gary is coming in to be the business administrator and Scott will transition into a full pastoral role as the college/young adult/young marrieds/discipleship pastor. We are excited, because this truly has been a desire of both our heart, but nervous as well.

As I was telling Harry and Karon the other day, its a little scary because its so official. Officially moving from the Professional to the Pastoral. For some reason that is sticking with me. I think before, we had one foot in, and now its both!

So, the future at SMIC is exciting for us and we are privileged that the board and staff are willing to give Scott this chance at doing fully what we believe God has called us to. I've been at our church my literal entire life, and everyone there is truly family.

I'm still working full time and going to UAB at night to finish out my BA, but Scott is looking at starting seminary too, possible later this year. We continue on a full, busy schedule, but looking forward to what God has in store for us and our SMIC family!

Professional Croissant Taster and Other Jobs I Wish I Could Have

2010-01-28T12:38:00.010-06:00

Scott and I are headed to Asheville, North Carolina this weekend for a quick get-away and to visit his grandparents. Asheville is one of our favorite spots and it's so convienient to travel to from Birmingham. And we've always said that if we lived anywhere else in the Southeast US, it would be Asheville. So, that got me thinking about what I would do if I moved to a different city. Just for fun, here's my plan for a couple different places!

Asheville, NC

I would get a job at the Biltmore Estate, "America's Largest Private Home" (AKA-Castle)

I could be a hostess and welcome people on their visit and tell fun, historical facts. I love history and I love the Biltmore. Its amazing and you should visit one day!

And I would insist upon wearing a period Victorian costume to work. Something like this:

Because I am that ridiculous...

But seriously, I would probably apply to work in one of downtown Asheville's chocolate shops. Our favorite is The Chocolate Fetish! They make fabulous European-style artisan truffles and chocolates. Heaven. May favorite truffle is called Velvet Sin. So great I can't even describe it.

Or I could apply at The French Broad Chocolate Lounge, where they serve coffee only in French presses. How great is that?! They serve what they call Liquid Truffle Sipping Drinks...this is no ordinary hot chocolate!

Scott enjoying his treats at the Chocolate Lounge when we were there in September.

Paris, France

Mais oui, I dream about living and working Paris one day because I am obsessed with that city and French culture. But what would I actually do if I do go to live in Paris?

Would it be acceptable to be a professional Francophile and Student of French Culture? I know I could study language, but what about walking around the lovely streets of Paris or sitting in cafes while wearing a scarf and beret? Will someone pay me to do that?

How chic is she? Source: The HiP Paris Blog

Or what about being a Professional Croissant & Cafe au Lait Taster?

From In Praise of Sardines Flickr stream.

C'est la vie...that certainly would be the life!

So what about you? Where do you dream of living and working (or not working!) ?

"Le Blog de Ree" is Two Years Old!

2010-01-11T08:00:00.001-06:00

Happy Bloggiversary to moi!! This will be entering my third year blogging...not very faithful at it mind you, but I'm here in the blogosphere nonetheless!

Merci beaucoup to anyone out there that reads me, whether I know you in the real world or not! I hope that you've tried a new recipe or been encouraged, or, more likely, laughed at our crazy lives!

Here's to a new year, a new decade, and the next year of my Le Blog!

Ree's Cookbook: Leek and Potato Soup

2010-01-08T11:52:00.003-06:00

Scott and I came back from an exhausting, but powerful, weekend at Passion 2010 with our college group. We were "vegging" on the sofa, flipping through the channels when we landed on PBS and "Jacques and Julia At Home". Re-runs of this show have become one of our favorite cooking shows! (We don't have cable, so there's not many options anyway) We love how Jacques and Julia banter while cooking, often bickering like an old married couple...reminds us of ourselves while we cook together! One of my favorite quotes from a show is, Julia: "You could leave out the butter and cream, but why would you want to?" My sentiments exactly, Julia! Anyway, we were watching J & J so a show on soups, and as their different versions of leek and potato soups came to life before us, we looked at each other, and said, "Let's head to the store! We have to make soup tonight!"

So, here's our version of Leek and Potato Soup, adapted from "Jacques and Julia At Home" TV show!

Leek and Potato Soup

1 bunch of leeks, trimmed, thoroughly washed and chopped

1 white onion, chopped small

4-5 medium russet potatoes, peeled and chopped

2 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock if you want to keep it vegetarian)

3-4 cups water

Watercress, minced

Salt and pepper

Heavy cream

1. Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil and a pat of butter in a large stockpot. Add leeks, stirring to saute for a couple minutes. Add onion and continue sauteing until vegetables are soft.

2. Add chicken stock and at least 2 cups of the water, stirring well. Let mixture come to a boil.

3. Add potatoes and more water if needed. You need enough water in the pot to cover all the soup ingredients completely. Let soup come to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are soft enough to mash with a spoon.

4. Add watercress and salt and pepper to taste.

5. Remove pot from heat and use a slotted spatula, large fork or potato masher to mash the chunks of potato, leaving smaller pieces in the soup. The idea here is to help thicken the soup with the mashed potatoes, yet leaving large enough chunks to eat. This is not a pureed soup, so don't worry about getting things completely smooth!

6. Return to heat and let simmer for a few more minutes until soup is heated back though and thickens slightly.

7. To serve, pour 1-2 tablespoons heavy cream in the bottom of soup bowl then ladle soup on top. The diner can then stir the cream into the soup as they eat. We also served this with cheese toast!

Hope you enjoy this country-style soup! Its "souper" easy and quick on a cold winter's night....don't worry about following the directions to a "T"...add things here and there and I promise it will be great!

Variation: puree soup, add heavy cream, chill and it now becomes Vichyssoise, an iconic French soup! Serve with a dollop of sour cream!

2009 in Collage

2009-12-30T10:20:00.001-06:00

(Click on collage for a larger view!)
We've been half-way around the world and a few places in between...here's a collage of people and places from our year! God has blessed us richly in 2009, and we are thankful!

Merry Christmas! (AKA-Your Digitized Christmas Card)

2009-12-21T12:26:00.006-06:00

I'm still scrambling around for a few addresses for cards this year, AND I needed to cut down the list to save some money, SO here's a digital version for everyone's enjoyment!

This is in Central Park at Wolman Rink, taken a couple weeks ago by our own Rachel Jones Photography! I cropped and added the script myself in Picasa.

Oh yeah, go over to Faith's blog and link up your card too!

Holiday Tour of Homes: Christmas Ornaments Special

2009-12-10T13:23:00.008-06:00

I love my ornaments on my tree! Most of the ones I put up every year either were bought on a trip, given to me by someone when they were on a trip, or represent places we've been! And then there's a few "just because" ornaments!

Since I did a pretty full-house tour last year (Part One & Part Two), I decided to focus this year's tour on my special ornaments! hope you enjoy, and don't forget to link up with Greta!

Overview of my tree and mantel deco. The main thing that changed on the mantel is that my artificial pre-lit garland died this year...so I used the cuttings from the tree and wove lights in that. Its very pretty and natural, but I fear the branches will be brown by Christmas!

Close up of the mantel with leopard ribbon running through the branches; it coordinates with my leopard bow and tree skirt on the tree!

Nativity Ornament always takes center spot!

This nativity ornament is carved from olive wood and came from Israel! Scott's parents gave this to us.

"Our First Christmas" ornament by Christopher Radko, given to us by my grandmother at our first Christmas in 2001.

My sister brought this back from Guatemala last year, where she went on a short-term mission trip.

This snowflake came from Dubrovnik, Croatia last summer when we were in Montenegro for short-term missions.

Scott and I visited Montreal, Canada for our 8th anniversary this year and I found this real leaf coated in silver!

This cute Santa is scaling the Eiffel Tower! I picked this up in the Eiffel Tower's gift shop when we visited Paris in 2006!

This disk ornament is from a 2006 trip to New York City when we visited the Empire State Building.

This nativity ornament is at least old as I am and was one of favorites growing up! Mom gave it to me a few years ago when she was cleaning out her decorations.

This is the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in North Carolina, where we spent part of our honeymoon in 2001.

This little Eiffel Tower did not come from Paris, but I picked it up at World Market! They have great ornaments!

Garfield has always been one of Scott's favorites! His mom gave me this ornament among other childhood favorites!

This brass cutout ornament came from the Biltmore Estate, where we also spent part of our honeymoon!

I hope you enjoyed a closer look at my Christmas tree!

Happy December!! With Bonus: Reflections on a Birthday

2009-12-01T08:53:00.005-06:00

* OK I know its been 2 months since I've blogged. I'm a horrible blogger. I haven't even documented our missions trip or our anniversary trip...bear with me people.

December is a great month: Christmas, good music, fun decorations, cold weather, and my birthday! This is a big birthday for me...I'm turning the big three-oh (30). I don't feel 30, and most people say I don't look 30 (even if they are just being nice, I'll take it).

So this might be a looking-back post....looking back to the last decade of my life. When I think about my 20's, what comes to mind the most is my wonderful hubby. We've been together since I was a teenager, but we were married when I was 21 (almost 22) so he is the person I have spent my 20's with....and God willing, many more decades with!

This is random, but here's what I remember about turning 20, ten years ago (I'm a math genius, no?) and reflections thereof:

The best gift I received for my 20th birthday was my KitchenAid stand mixer from my grandparents! I was in culinary school at the time, so this was very exciting! I also got a fondue pot and a couple place settings of my fall and winter dishes. (I think I was more domestic then...)
I don't remember feeling like it was a big deal to enter into a new decade of life then. I was thinking forward too much. All I wanted was to be married to Scott at the time. I don't regret this, but I'm happy where I am in my life right now. I think so many of us get caught up in "the next thing" in life that we don't enjoy the stage we are in now. Right now, my 30's are looming up at me, wide open to anything! A fact that can be daunting, no doubt, but also exciting.
Speaking of looking forward to what was coming, at 20, I had my life planned out: Scott and I were going to get married, he was to be a bank executive, and I was to be a housewife. Life rarely works out the way one plans it, and now, 10 years later, I thank God it didn't work out that way. Well, except for the marrying Scott part, of course! The Lord saved Scott and I from ourselves, and a life of comfort that wouldn't really matter. (We certainly are not perfect, and have a lot to learn still, but we are light years away from where we would have been!)
I was working retail at the time, at NY & Co (called Lerner NY at the time). I was an assistant manger over the accessories department. I loved it, but was also in culinary school at Jeff State, so soon after, I got a chef job at Saks, Inc.

So what a I looking forward to as I enter my 30s?

I am looking forward to growing closer to my husband. There are times when we are closer, but sometimes it feels like we couldn't possibly love each other more, and then God surprises us and gives us MORE love for each other! Sappy, I know, but I absolutely love the journey of life we are on together. I could not imagine life without him.
I know my friends and (especially) my family will want me to say that I'm looking forward to starting a family...this is one area of my life that I'm just not certain of. This is one of those decisions that I can't put off much longer--I know this better than anyone. I have not talked about this on my blog before...its a sensitive subject for me, deep down, even though I usually laugh it off. And I need to pray about it more. So, for now, I am looking forward to praying about adding to our family. Let's just leave it at that.
I am looking forward to finishing my undergrad at UAB. I have been a sophomore for the last 3 years, so I am looking forward to being an upperclassman as I enter my 30s! :) I love school and love learning new things, so I am looking forward to getting into more of my major's courses! (International Studies and French) I also have a study abroad requirement, so I am definitely looking forward to living in a foreign country, even if its for a few weeks.
I'm looking forward to where God will lead us in our ministry and church. We love doing the college/young adult ministry and have a desire to more with this. But it's great to be in a spot where we feel like God can tell us anything.

Ok I guess this is enough for today. I might just drum up a few old pics of Rees of Birthdays Past, so stay tuned!

A What-I-Have-Been-Meaning-To-Write-About Post

2009-10-02T09:36:00.004-05:00

I week ago I promised more posts. And here we are....postless for another week. So many things are floating around in my head. So much has been going on, that I can't seem to get my thoughts in order. Ahhhh, the truth comes out! Sometimes, I have too much to say, but can't get it organized, so I just don't say anything! Sometimes I just plain suck at expressing my thoughts, even in written form.

So here's a bullet-point version of what I have been meaning to write:

Labor Day weekend Scott and I got away to the ever-beautiful Asheville, NC. It was like a mini-retreat. Much needed time together, focusing on each other. We've had a lot of time together, but it's been injury-focused, if that makes sense. It was great. Beautiful, Sweet.
I started back to class in August and the only thing that fit my time slot was British and Irish Lit. It's really not bad, small class, feels more like a book club than a class. And my prof is a recent immigrant from Toronto. So its been fun discussing the quirks of living in Birmingham as compared to Toronto.
We took "the kids"whitewater rafting again in September. Turns out, that the outfitter we used earlier in the summer, RaftOne, knows one of the basketball coaches, Rick DeYoung, that we worked with in Montenegro this summer! The world truly is smaller than you think! Scott, of course, couldn't raft, but everyone else had a great time. Me, Scott and KR had tamer adventures of our own, exploring the Occoee River area.
The SMIC staff and spouses had a great time on the retreat to PCB in September as well. It was fun staying in really nice condos instead of the old Laguna Beach Retreat Center! However, we did have to battle rain and ant invasions!
We are planning fall and winter events for the College/Young Adult group we lead, so adventures in camping, retreats and Passion 2010 are in the works!
Finally, we have said goodbye over the last couple of months to several friends: Meredith is in Portugal teaching, the Jones family is pastoring in New York, and we are saying goodbye to Rachel as she moves to the Atlanta area this weekend. Goodbyes really suck, even when you understand that God moves His children where He will. I'm just thankful for technology like blogging, Twitter, Facebook, etc., to keep us all connected!

Well, there you have a the condensed version of our lives over the last couple of months. I told someone the other day that I feels like we just got back from our mission trip, but its been two months already! It's flown by, and life is definitely full. But I'm thankful for a full life!

Hmmmmm

2009-09-22T13:21:00.003-05:00

Yes, it has been over a month now since I've blogged.

I haven't posted any recipes, or written any more stories from our missions trip.

You would think that we've been lazy and lying around with nothing to do!

Sorry, Dear Readers, all 2 of you, for neglecting. Every weekend in September we were out of town. We've been dealing with the aftermath of Scott's shoulder injury and surgery. I've gone back to classes. And we are desperately trying to get back to "normal", whatever that means!

So, I promise: update will be coming more regularly, pictures, recipes and other fun stuff!

Left-Over Wednesdays Special Event: Julia Childs Day Celebration!

2009-08-19T13:45:00.007-05:00

As previously referenced on this blog, Saturday, August 15 was Julia Childs' birthday! To celebrate, I had an entire day of cooking Julia recipes! I used Baking With Julia and Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Brunch

Buttermilk Crumb Muffins

Scrambled eggs

Sausage

French-pressed coffee

Berry mix

Dinner

Beef Burgundy

Rice

French bread with goat cheese

Red wine

"Improvised" berry shortcake from the morning's muffins

I had a lovely day cooking...but had forgotten what it's like to cook all day! Recipes will be posted in two more posts, just to keep things organized!

Bon Appetit!

Shoulder Surgery Scottie

2009-08-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

Yall that personally know us, know the little "joke" of Scott's name...all kinds of adjectives, verbs and otherwise descriptive terms that start with the letter "S" can be applied to his name. Thus today's post title.

Poor Scottie will go under the knife, or laparoscopy rather, today around 1:30 PM. We have to be at St. Vincents at 12:30, so hopefully the Doc will not be running too far behind by then! But I work for docs who do surgery on a daily basis, so I know how THAT goes!

Pray for the physicians and nurses who will be taking care of him today, pray that they will be able to do the surgery fully by scope, and pray for Scott as he starts physical therapy on Tuesday. THAT is sure to be painful!

He's having his shoulder ligaments repaired and his rotator cuff fixed up, so he won't be so sad...

...so he'll be back to normal...

...and so he can go back to doing this...

Happy Birthday, Julia Childs!

2009-08-15T16:03:00.001-05:00

Today, Julia would have been 97. In honour of her birthday, I am having a Julia Childs Cooking Day!

This morning, er, this afternoon, we started with Buttermilk Crumb Muffins, from "Baking With Julia". We complemented the muffins with fresh berries, scrambled eggs and French pressed coffee. Yum!

Dinner tonight will be the enduring classic, Boeuf Bourguignon, from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"! I'll serve it with her suggested sides of rice and onions and mushrooms.

A full post with receipes and pictures will go up next week! Until then, Bon Apetit!

Tales From The Field: Getting There Is Half The Fun! Right?

2009-08-12T13:48:00.007-05:00

Well I finally got my pics uploaded to my computer, and had a little extra time at work, so here's a little installment of the stories from our trip!

Thursday July 27

We leave! The start of a long journey...one that takes us on 4 airplanes, one mini-bus, 5 cities, in *only* 40 hours.

Along the way, we napped on the river bank in Frankfurt, had coffee in the airport cafe in Zagreb, and saw the sparkling lights on the Adriatic coast.

Hanging out in Frankfurt for 8-10 hours...

Coffee in Frankfurt!

The Main ("mine") River

Frankfurt

Then came the harrowing mini-bus ride from Dubrovnik to Niksic. The drive was only supposed to take about 2 hours. It took almost 4. In the middle of the night. With drivers who *claim* they don't speak English. In a former Communist country with no cell phone signal.

By this time it is late Friday night, almost Saturday morning, local time. Although our bodies have NO idea what time they think it is!

We load up at the Dubrovnik airport, after finally figuring out we lost one suitcase along the way. We rumble through Dubrovnik and other picturesque sea-side towns, full of condos, houses and boats. Finally, we leave the coast-side and begin climbing up into the mountains. Have no idea what country we are in at this point. Of course, it's pitch-black out, since it's the middle of the night AND the middle of nowhere.

The driver speeds up and is whipping us around hair-pin curves on the side of mountains where there's a 1,000 foot cliff. Great. I close my eyes, trying to doze off while tuning out the Euro-pop dance beat. Not an easy task, in case you were wondering.

Then, the road ends. Yes, ENDS. As in, some ruts in the grass is what we drive along now. I think at this point, we all start getting a little nervous. We go along the grassy-rutted-"road" for a while, then it turns to gravelly rock. All the better for those van tires to slide around on! Meanwhile, the driver occupies himself by texting and looking at his Facebook account on his phone. Safety first, you know!

This went on for a while, although probably not as long as it felt. And I have to admit: I really thought for a while that we were getting kidnapped and/or trafficked. Seriously, don't laugh. It was the middle of NOWHERE and we have no idea who these guys are or where we are going. We knew the name of the town in Montenegro we were headed to, but it took us all week to learn to say it! (Niksic=neek seek) Plus I was majorly sleep deprived. My brain does not exactly think rationally in that condition.

FINALLY, we pop out onto a real road, come around the bend on the side of the mountain, and see city lights below us. The driver points and says "Niksic", and decides to step on it again. After a few more near-misses with other cars and guardrails, we start coming into Niksic.

Looking back, we only went through 2 border checkpoints...but travelled through 3 countries! (Croatia, Bosnia and Montenegro) Hmmmm.... We are not sure what the deal was, because the "shortcut" took waaaayyy longer than the route we took back to Dubrovnik.

Something fishy was afoot, and I don't think we really want to know what! Thankfully, we all made it, the lost suitcase caught up to us, and Montenegro was better than we expected!

Back Home!

2009-08-04T12:15:00.002-05:00

We are back from our missions trip, so post n' pics will be forthcoming....however, right now we are having to deal with Scott's shoulder injury, my car that has died, and mountains of laundry. And I had to go back to work today! :-/

Just be in prayer for Scott's shoulder. He was playing basketball last Thursday on the trip and popped his shoulder out of joint. It was bad enough for a visit to the local ER (yikes). He is going to doctors today and I believe is having an MRI done right now to determine the extent of the damage. They are saying it might even be a shoulder separation and surgery is more than likely in his near future.

Oh, and my car battery has died so I'm borrowing Rachel's car, but it will be Wednesday night before I can see about getting a new one. Just pray that the battery is the only thing wrong!
But, God is faithful and His name was proclaimed in a little town in a little country that has been really dark for a long time!

Missions Trip Coming Up...

2009-07-21T13:37:00.003-05:00

We leave this Thursday for our first-ever foreign missions trip with "our" college /young adult group! We are so excited, maybe a little nervous, and definately dreading the long flights!

We leave Birmingham at 1200 PM on Thursday, and 4 airports, one bus ride, and about 36 hours later, we will arrive in Niksic, Montenegro...some time in the wee hours of Saturday morning. (Local time. It'll feel like about 6PM Saturday for us. Yikes.)

I have made endless lists of the stuff to pack, supplies, and made more trips to Wal-Mart than I usually make in a month this week! And, unfortunately, I think I have to go back tonight!

Please pray for us over the next 11 days or so! I am really worried that all our bags won't make it all the way through!

If we get internet access at all, we will try to post updates on Facebook and Twitter!

Left-Over Wednesdays: Blueberry Muffins from Martha Stewart

2009-07-15T08:00:00.003-05:00

Blueberry Muffins

from Martha Stewart Living, July/August 2000

This is my all-time favorite muffin recipe! The batter turns out absolutely beautiful, creamy and fluffy! Be sure to very carefully fold in your berries so you don't deflate the batter!

3 cups + 2 TBLS flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 TBLS butter, softened
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 whole egg + 2 egg yolks
1 tsp pure vanilla
1 cup milk
blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare muffin tins; line with papers or spray tin well with pan release.

2. Sift flour, baking powder and salt; set aside. *I like to sift directly onto a large flexible cutting mat, rather than into a bowl. Makes integrating the dry ingredients later much easier!

3. In a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar together on medium speed until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and blend well.

4. Slow mixer to low speed and alternate adding flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with flour mixture.

5. Carefully fold in blueberries by hand. Scoop batter into muffin tins. Sprinkle tops generously with additional sugar.

6. Bake for approximately 30 minutes until golden brown.

Happy Bastille Day!

2009-07-14T08:00:00.002-05:00

Or La Fete Nationale!

Today is the remembrance and celebration of the storming of the Bastille in Paris during the French Revolution. You can read the Wiki article here.

To celebrate Bastille Day here on Le Blog De Ree, I've included a few of my photos from our trip to Paris in 2006. Enjoy!

Where the Bastille used to be. Now there's residential, shopping, restaurants, markets...

La Tour de Eiffel!

Looking up into the Arc de Triomphe with the French flag

Announcing Ree's Cookbook!

2009-07-13T11:28:00.005-05:00

I have decided to link up all of my recipes that I feature on my blog with a handy-dandy button! Look over on my right-hand side bar for the "Ree's Cookbook" button!

Thanks to Rachel for helping me learn some design tricks and making my Cookbook button!

Beach Time

2009-07-08T10:41:00.005-05:00

We spent the July 4th weekend with 20 of our college students in Panama City Beach! It was plenty hot, but the breeze was nice off the ocean and the water was cool! Here's a few pics from our time there!

My view from my beach chair, under my umbrella. That is where you would've found me all weekend, napping and reading! I "color-sucked" the blue out and left everything else in black and white!

Even though they are not in college, the Long girls were home from Costa Rica so we took them along too! Love them!

The traditional girls' picture on the docks at Capt. Andersons!

Cub and Abby came too!

Silly...

Me and my sister!

Bonjour! Nouveau Design!

2009-07-01T10:19:00.002-05:00

Le Blog De Ree has been under construction this week, so here's the final product!
Tres bien, no? My good friend Rachel over at Grasping For Objectivity is starting to dabble in blog makeover and design. She held a Reader Appriciation giveaway for a free design, but, alas, I did not win. But I hired her to help me do a custom blog design!

I was hesitant at first to create a custom design, because I like to change things around too much! If you've been around Le Blog for any length of time, you know what I mean! But Rachel has also graciously offered to teach me blog design too so I can do mini-makeovers myself!

I'm still working on my sidebars and my blog lists...a couple of weeks ago I lost all my bloggy links! So if your blog has been missing from my reading list, I'm sorry! I still love you and I'm working on getting you back!

In other news, we are headed to the beach with all the kids, 20 of them to be exact, but it will still be a relaxing trip.

Left-Over Wednesdays: Orzo and Rice Salad

2009-06-17T09:41:00.005-05:00

Scott, Rachel and I recently ate at J. Alexander's and I had their chicken salad sandwich. Their chicken salad is great, served on focaccia bread with provolone cheese. Yum! But my favorite was the orzo and wild rice salad that came with it! So, I set out to find a copy-cat recipe!
I based my creation on CDKitchen's copycat recipe for Orzo and Rice salad, making a few tweaks here and there.

Orzo and Rice Salad

Salad:

2 cups orzo pasta, cooked and drained well

1 cup wild rice (I used a wild rice and long-grain rice mixture)

1/4 cup red onions, diced very small

1/4 cup corn nibblets (the canned variety)

1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced very small

1/4 cup green bell pepper, diced very small

1/4 cup green onions, sliced small

1/4 cup Craisins (original recipe called for currants, but I like Craisins better)

1-3 tablespoons pine nuts (my addition)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Dressing:

1/4 cup canola oil

1/4 cup olive oil

1/8 cup white balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 clove garlic, minced

Salt and pepper

All the lovely, fresh ingedients assembled!

1. Cook orzo and rice according to directions. I like to leave both slightly al dente.

2. Chop all vegetables, being sure to try to make everything the same size. With this type of salad, it's important to make everything about the same size, taking your cue from the orzo and rice. Toss vegetables, orzo and rice together in a large bowl, seasoning to taste with salt and pepper.

Notice how small everything is, and mostly uniform in size.

3. Make dressing: combine all ingredients, except for oils. Whisk well to dissolve sugar and incorporate mustard. Slowly whisk in the oils until fully emulsified. (I used both oils like the recipe called for the first time I made this, but the second time I only used olive oil. Either way, the dressing tasted fine.)

4. Toss the orzo and rice mixture with the dressing until fully coated. Refrigerate salad until ready to serve. Also good the next day after the flavors meld together.

Yum! We grilled chicken breasts to serve with the salad!

Wordless Wednesday: Road Trip Pics!

2009-06-10T14:00:00.003-05:00

The DC Metro=very cool in the stations, and very clean!

Me and Stucky in NYC

Me and Scottie at Grimaldi's

DC Metro map

Me and Rach in Bullet

Our sweet friend from last summer and last year's road trip, Lauren! She and a friend came down from CT for the day to NYC!

Me at Julia Child's kitchen in the Smithsonian. Highlight for me!!

Best Brooklyn pizza=Grimaldi's, under the bridge

Washington Monument at sunset

Famous quote at the Kennedy grave

Left-Over Wednesdays: Chicken Pitas with Hummus and Spinach

2009-06-03T09:40:00.004-05:00

So it's been a while since I've done a recipe! I was wandering around the store Monday in search of something cool, light and healthy for dinner, and this is what I came up with!! Hope you try it, and add some other fun ingredients to make it your own! Be sure to come back and let me know what you think and what you added to this! Bon Appetit!

Chicken Pitas with Hummus and Spinach

I did this two ways: baked open-faced like pizza and cold like a pita sandwich! Both ways were great!

Medium pitas

Chicken strips, baked with Cavendar's Greek seasoning

Hummus, store bought or homemade (I used a good store bought brand that had garlic and pine nuts)

Fresh baby spinach, lightly steamed, but not wilty

Goat cheese

1. Bake the seasoned chicken strips in a 375 degree oven until cooked through. Dice chicken strips once cooked.

2. If you choose to bake them, place pitas on baking sheet; or place on a serving tray if leaving cold. Spread about 1-2 tablespoons of hummus on each pita.

3. Place spinach in pot with about 1/2 cup water and place over medium-low heat. Toss spinach constantly until lightly steamed, or just beginning to wilt. Drain well.

4. Layer spinach, chicken and cheese on pitas.

5. If baking, place in 375 degree oven for 5-10 minutes until warmed through.

After the fact, I wished for some roasted red peppers or maybe sun-dried tomatoes to add a little color and flavor, but everyone agreed this was a yummy experiment!

Nutrition Info: I figured that one pita had 280-300 calories!

We Are Back...

2009-06-01T16:08:00.005-05:00

A post and pictures are coming this week! Stay tuned to my Le Blog and to Compass College Group's blog for all the fun from the Road Trip!

Summer, Already??

2009-05-21T11:24:00.006-05:00

With the return of students from far and wide, the advent of hot weather, finals at school, and the preparation for Camp Straight Street, comes SUMMER!

This summer promises to be a busy one, and it starts next week when we leave for our annual Road Trip!! We do our College Group Road trip either before camp starts or after it ends, so this year we managed to fit it in early. Which is fine by me, as it only gets hotter as the days get longer. We are headed to Washington DC and New York City, leaving Tuesday morning at 3 or 4 AM.

Also on tap for this summer will be the first ever College Group Missions Trip to Montenegro, also my personal first foreign missions trip! If you don't know where Montenegro is, look it up on Google. It's a lovely little Baltic state, but only has 125 believers. That's staggering to me. I can't wait to go! We will be running day camp for local teens and pre-teens, using sports, art and English classes.

I'm not taking a class this summer, mostly because of our missions trip, but also because there was nothing I needed being offered at night or online. Bummer. I hate taking a semester off since I only take one class each semester, but it's nice to have a break too. I really am praying something will work out financially for 2010 so I can take more classes each time!

I have also joined a weight loss challenge that some wedding photographer friends of mine are hosting. The Greshams are wonderful, talented photographers and we worked together last year some. Check out their website for great pics, and the start of our Challenge! It's 20 weeks, so by the end of September, I hope to be 30-40 pounds lighter! Food is a huge obstacle for me-it's the first thing I run to for comfort, or out of boredom, or to celebrate. For heaven's sake, I spent 4 years learning all about food and how to cook it, present it, appreciate it. I think I can still do that, but NOT become slave to it too. It's going to take a heart transformation though, and I realize that now.

This is my official "before" photo taken by Brandon Sunday at the Bham Botanical Gardens!

"Set your mind on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:2-3

So, that's a random update on what's happening, here at the beginning of the summer.

Stay tuned for pics and crazy stories from the road trip next week! Follow me on Twitter, as I'll be tweeting from B'ham to NYC and back!

Birmingham in the NY Times!

2009-05-08T10:06:00.004-05:00

Yeah, I'm a little on the late side getting this linked and written about, but here ya go.

Birmingham was featured last month in the NY Times travel section for "36 Hours in Birmingham". They highlighted the best things to do, best places to eat, and a couple good places to stay.

My only disagreement in the food section would be the BBQ choice of Miss Myra's. Nothing against Miss Myra, I'm just a loyal Jim n' Nick's fan!

Me and Scott at Jim n' Nicks.

I also would have reccommended eating a full meal, not just breakfast, at Chez Lulu's.

Me and Scott in our favourite booth at Chez Lulu's!

Check out there article and slideshow of our great city! What changes would YOU make to their recommendations?

Long Over-Due Easter Weekend Pics

2009-04-28T10:02:00.005-05:00

I didn't post anything last week, and I really don't have much to post about this week either....hmmm...sorry I'm such a bad blogger!

Here's a few pics from Easter weekend, which was also Scott's birthday. Poor Scott...his birthday kinda got lost in the shuffle of all the family things we had to attend that weekend!

Scottie's Birthday cake at mom's house on Easter Sunday

Me and sister bein' sassy on Easter. Yes, I wore black on Easter. Don't judge me.

Us with Lauren Saturday night at Mamaw's

Chris found this kitten under his house in Auburn, so he and Natalie adopted it. It is SO cute! I love it!

The girls Easter Saturday night!

Lauren meeting the kitty...I think Lauren liked the kitty, but the kitty was pretty scared of her!

Posty Post

2009-04-14T10:53:00.005-05:00

Long time, no blog, eh? Sorry for that. It's been busy at work (so, ya know, that comes first, right?), been off for the Easter holiday, and just generally busy!

On the "busy" note front: My typical response lately to the question of "How are you? How have you been?" has been, "Busy!"

So, here's one thing that has contributed to my perpetual state of busyness:

Home Improvement

The front of the house. You can see the progression of the re-siding and the old front door.

Owning a home of any age requires you to almost constantly be doing something to it. But owning an older home requires some TLC. And some creativity.

Our house was built in 1948 in Bluff Park. We love it, and I would much rather have a quirky, old house than even a custom-designed new one! Well, let me amend that: Old house, but with a custom-designed new kitchen.

Back to our cozy (AKA really tiny) cottage. When we bought the house, the day before our wedding, it was not live-able. As in, the bathroom was disgusting and non-functional and neither was the kitchen. Now, this is a long story for another day, but needless to say we have done lots of home improvements/renovations over the last 7 years!

Scottie hard at work. There was some water damage that caused some rot in the wood underneath the old siding that had to be replaced as well...it's never simple.

Our latest project is on the outside of the house. No, not the landscaping, yet, but re-siding the entire house. The original siding is whatever they put on it in 1948, painted grey, with a plain cinder-block foundation, also painted grey. The house featured dark green shutters, a matching shutter door (a pre-cursor to storm doors?) and an old fashioned 3-window front door.

We (Scott) are (slowly) in the process of replacing all the siding with cedar shingles. We wanted to give it a Cape Cod cottage look. The process is quite time-consuming, but once we (Scott) figured it out, it has gone quicker each section that we (he) do! We have also picked out a natural stone product that we'll use to veneer the cinder-block foundation, the concrete front porch and stairs.

My latest contribution has been to pick out a new front door, and, let me tell you, this is harder than you would think. And more expensive than you would think. After looking for about a month, liking the doors that cost multiple-thousands of dollars (yes, multiple), we finally bought one last weekend at Home Depot, for just a few hundred dollars. It's not the solid-wood Craftsman that I loved at another place that sells only doors, sigh, but the style will work with our home's new facade.

The old front door, out and discarded....sad!

Now I have to decide what color to paint it...

My dad, of course, helped Scott install the new front door.

Left-Over Wednesday: Parmesean-crusted Chicken with White Wine Sauce

2009-04-08T15:13:00.004-05:00

It's been a couple weeks since I've posted a recipe, so here's a quickie that I tested this past week! The results were great, although the breading of the chicken needs some work, so I'm sure that I'll tweak this one. Y'all don't mind if I post imperfect recipes do you? Didn't think so! Feel free to alter as you will, just let me know how it turns out!

Parmesan-Crusted Chicken with White Wine Pan Sauce

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, dried well
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper
1 tsp. dried basil
5 TBL butter
1 cup dry white wine (I used "Goats Do Roam" White)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
angel hair pasta, cooked and drained

1. Bread the chicken: Combine Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and basil. Dip each chicken breast into the egg, then into the Parmesan mixture. Option: cut chicken breasts into strips before breading.

2. Melt 4 TBL of butter in pan over med-high heat. Place chicken in pan and cook on all sides until brown and crispy. Be careful of breading sticking to pan instead of chicken! When chicken is cooked through, place on a baking sheet and place in low-temp oven to keep warm and crispy.

The cooked chicken, going into the oven to keep warm. Did perfect on my baking stone.

3. Heat pan back up on medium heat with the butter and juices that remained behind from cooking the chicken. Deglaze pan with the white wine, scraping the bottom of the pan to get any residual pieces. Add garlic, reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer.

The sauce cooking, before the finishing butter

4. While sauce is cooking, boil water and cook pasta. The sauce will be done when pasta is cooked, approximately 10-15 minutes.

5. Finish sauce: remove from heat and whisk in remaining tablespoon of butter until melted.

6. Serve chicken over angel hair pasta, spooning sauce over everything.

Good Friday Service at SMIC

2009-04-07T11:33:00.002-05:00

I just wrote a post on the College Group's blog about our upcoming Good Friday service! Go check it out!

Menu Planning Monday: Happy Spring and Welcome April

2009-03-30T11:56:00.003-05:00

WOW can you believe it's April this week?? I can't! Oh, the proverbial time flying away, etc, etc...

Anyway, here's the plan for this week.

Dinners:

Monday: Parmesan Crusted Chicken with White Wine Sauce (from Allrecipes.com from iPhone app=no link)

Thursday: Chicken Caesar Salad

Weekend: Grilled Chicken Kabobs with Broccoli Rice Goodness

Travel Thursdays: Downtown Asheville Dining

2009-03-19T09:16:00.012-05:00

Asheville is in Western North Carolina, right in the heart of the Carolina mountains. Scott and I visit at least twice a year, mainly because his grandparents live near Asheville, but also because we just love the area! We have been during all seasons, at Christmas time, Apple Festival, Thanksgiving and the ensuing shopping madness, gorgeous fall leaf season, summer....well, you get the idea.

There's no shortage of restaurants, cafes, coffee houses, and food shops in downtown! Here's our short-list of favorites!

*Bouchon, French bistro.

We discovered Bouchon on our last visit to Asheville, and I was so excited to find this wonderful, authentic French restaurant! French cuisine might scare some away, but give it a try! I had the Beef Burgundy and Scott had the Steak Frites. The Steak Frites was the best I have ever had! Their crepes are also very good and we tried the dessert crepes with strawberries! Located on Lexington Avenue, parking on the street. And, this restaurant is owned by a "real Frenchman"...a plus in my book! The atmosphere is great...sting lights, exposed brick walls, close tables...all give an authentic French cafe flair. The owner also can be seen walking around his restaurant, greeting visitors and his regulars. Tres bien!

Mmmm....dessert crepes!

*The Chocolate Fetish, gourmet chocolate shop

This is a must-do whenever we are in the area...even if we don't spend time downtown, we will drive in and go the the Fetish. They hand-craft European truffles and chocolates right there in their shop. If you look past the sparkling display cases you can catch a glimpse of marble-topped work tables in the back room. My favorite truffle they make is Velvet Sin. It is the absolute best thing you will ever put into your mouth. It tastes sinful and heavenly all at the same time! Others to try are Ancient Pleasures, dark chocolate infused with Cayenne pepper; Wine and Roses, red wine, chocolate with a candied rose petal on top; Dragon's Kiss, infused with a touch of wasabi with sesame seeds sprinkled on top; and Grand Mariner, with a hint of that famous liqueur.

*Salsas Mexican Caribbean, Latin restaurant

We stumbled upon this tiny restaurant for lunch one day while wandering around Asheville. This is not your typical Tex-Mex fare that you might be used to! The ingredients are fresh and colorful and the savory smell is wonderful! They are open for lunch and dinner 7 days a week and are located in Patton Avenue. They make unique salsas in-house; try the Mango and Roasted Pepper! I had the Fire Roasted Chicken Quesadella, the ancho on the side, and it was great! The portions are large too!

*Bistro 1896, American cuisine

We stopped here once for a Sunday brunch with the "kids" (our college group) and everyone loved the food! There was something on the menu for all tastes, from French toast to omelets to shrimp and grits. We had been on a retreat at the near-by Lake Lure area and stopped in downtown on the way back home. I don't remember what I had to eat, but I do remember everyone being happy with their meal! That's pretty good when there's 15 people dining together! The ambiance of the restaurant is laid-back, but not too casual and has an eclectic feel. The walls feature local artists who use the city as their inspiration.

They have a cool lounge area that we waited in before we were seated!

So what about you? Any places that you have discovered? Where do you like to eat when you travel to Asheville?

From Me, To You

2009-03-18T08:30:00.000-05:00

Rachel of RachelJones Photography, started this nifty little fun thing! I responded to her blog post, so now I will pass this on to YOU!

The first five people to respond to this post (from my blog and/or FB) will get something made by me.

This offer does have some restrictions so please read carefully:
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make.
- What I create will be just for YOU.
- It will be done this year (2009).
- It will be something made my own two hands.
- It might be a mix CD, a knitted scarf, stack of cards, a poem, baked goods, an original photograph....the possibilites are infinite.

In return, all you need to do is post this on your blog or facebook and make 5 things for 5 other people. Pass it on!

Menu Planning [Tuesday]: March 16-22

2009-03-17T12:29:00.003-05:00

I had a nice, long, 4-day weekend, so that's why I have not posted in a while, and you are getting your reader barraged by posts today! Here's this week's Menu Plan!

Breakfasts:

~Oatmeal

~Bananas

~Fruit Parfaits

Lunches:

~Lean Cusines

~Apple with low-fat peanut butter

Dinners:

~Grilled chicken kabobs with brown rice

~Spaghetti with meatsauce

~Grilled steak and potatoes

Creative? Nope...I was in a funk this weekend because of the rain and my brain just was not functioning correctly. I am very happy to see sunshine outside, even if I am stuck in my cube all day...

Survey Time! Couple's 25 Questions

2009-03-17T08:49:00.004-05:00

This is kind of like the 25 things - except they are pre-decided questions, and they're about you and your spouse, not just you. Come on, play along - inquiring minds want to know! ;-) Once you've been tagged, send it back to the person who tagged you, and all those you want to do it as well!!To do yours: copy and paste to your notes/new note. Highlight these answers and replace with your own. Do your tagging, and post!!

♥ What are your middle names? Marie and David...I get really annoyed when people ask me that question.

♥ How long have you been together? Married for over 7 years, but together for almost 12

♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? Well, we've actually known each other since childhood, but we became closer friends in high school, then really close friends. After getting really close, it was a couple months before we were "official". I was about to start my Senior year in high school and Scott was about to start at Samford.

♥ Who asked who out? We hung out a ton together, and with other people. The first "official" date that we consider, was when he took me to see The Sound of Music at the Alabama Theater and dinner at Salvatore's (the nice restaurant they used to have), right before he left for Africa for the summer.

♥ How old are each of you? 30 and 29

♥ Whose siblings do/did you see the most? Mine, definitely.

♥ Do you have any children together? Nope

♥ What about pets? Not anymore...RIP Katie Belle. Hopefully another cat in a year or so.

♥ Did you go to the same school? Yep. Scott was 2 classes older than me.

♥ Are you from the same home town? HAHA! I have to LOL this one... I have lived here all my life, but Scott was born in Buffalo, NY, lived in San Diego, then moved here when he was about 8 years old, and has been here ever since. So, basically, that makes him from Birmingham too! ;)

♥ Who is the smartest? Scott, for sure

♥ Who is the most sensitive? I am, I guess, since I'm a girl. But Scott is sensitive toward me, in a good way.

♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? Chez Lulu's and Jim n' Nicks

♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? Paris, France

♥ Who has the craziest exes? Well, neither if us really have "exes", and none are crazy...

♥ Who has the worst temper? We don't ever really lose it with each other...but, I used to have a fairly bad temper

♥ Who does the cooking? Me, duh, but Scott holds his own in the kitchen right beside me. He does have exclusive control over the grill tho

♥ Who is more social? Scott, because he can go into any type of social setting and be comfortable. I usually have to battle some insecurities...

♥ Who is the neat-freak? Hmmm...well it depends on where you are looking. I'm neat at work, but Scott definitely is not. My car is for sure a wreak, but he's pretty OCD about his car. The house falls somewhere in the middle.

♥ Who is the more stubborn? Scott?

♥ Who hogs the bed? He hogs the space in the bed, but I usually hog the covers

♥ Who wakes up earlier? Neither of us...we both sleep until the last possible minute. Usually tho, I'm out the door before he is, since his commute to work is about 5 minutes.

♥ Where was your first date? Oh, well, see above for the answer

♥ Do you get flowers often? Not as often as I used to. ;) But Scott always brings roses to my office himself for Valentine's Day!

♥ How do you spend the holidays? Running around to family stuff, but Christmas Eve is always at church, then Christmas morning is just our time.

♥ Who is more jealous? ?? Both if us?

♥ How long did it take to get serious? Well, I knew by Christmas of my Senior year in high school that I was going to marry him, but he says he knew he wanted to marry me before that! So, pretty quickly, I'd say...especially being so young!

♥ Who eats more? Uh, really? Scott? Depends on what we are eating! ;) I win if it's something chocolate!

♥ Who does/did the laundry? Both of us, whoever can get to it...usually he'll wash and dry and leave the baskets full of clean clothes around, so I'll fold and put away

♥ Who’s better with the computer? Scott is, for sure.

Confessions of a Charm School Teacher

2009-03-13T08:07:00.000-05:00

As alluded to in my previous posts late last week, I am teaching a class called "Life Skills" at John Roberts Powers in the Galleria Towers, every other Saturday. JRP is a talent and modelling agency, so they place kids and teens (mostly) in a lot of print ads and TV commercials. They teach runway modelling, do photo shoots, teach acting and dance. The class I teach goes over basic etiquette, fashion tips, makeup, health, etc. So, that's basically like the old-school Charm School.

Emily Post

What is Charm School, you ask? You may be unfamiliar with this idea. But, "back in the day" a lot of young women really didn't go to college after they finished high school. They got married, had babies and kept house. Think, June Cleaver. However, if you were privileged, you might go to Charm School as a young woman, before you were married. In Charm School you learned all sorts of useful information about how to throw fabulous dinner parties for your one-day important husband's colleagues. You learned what to do with a 25-piece placesetting of silver. You learned how to build a wardrobe, including what the rules were about matching your hats and gloves with you handbag. Overall, how to be a charming woman and wife.

Fast-forward to the 21st century, and we have young girls wanting to be Hannah Montana and crushing on the Jonas Brothers. Girls with eating disorders. I'm talking about 9 year olds worried about getting fat so they starve themselves. 11 year olds with fake nails and highlights in their hair. Stores like Libby Lou that dress 8 year olds like Brittany Spears and teach them how to shake their booty. (Thank GOD that place has gone out of business! At least in our mall it has.)

I guess in my day we had Madonna and the New Kids on the Block, but everything seems hyped up that much more.

So where does that leave Christian young women? If they really follow Jesus, how can they follow the culture too? Y'all know that I'm no prude, and I definitely won't advocate dressing in those much-feared "missionary dresses", going without make up, and never listening to secular music. I even have fake nails. I love my acrylics, and actually I'm about to get rid of them, but only because I'm trying to save money. I've never dyed my hair, but I'm blessed with pretty good natural highlights. Although, I do keep finding stray grey hairs, so I'm not far away from needing to color.

But I digress. I have this opportunity to teach something that I love, namely etiquette, but also an opportunity to influence young women in a positive way. Wait, you love etiquette? you ask? Yes. I'm just weird like that. I study old etiquette books for fun, and yes, I DO know what to do with a 25-piece placesetting of silver, thank you very much. AND why your hat and gloves should match. Nevermind that it's fairly useless information.

Sorry, digressing again. JRP has no curriculum for this class, or, rather, they did, but the last instructor took the manual with her and never returned it. They have given me carte blanche to teach what I want, I have only a basic outline of general subjects to go through. Like I said, a great opportunity to influence young women. Hopefully I can teach them something about inner beauty, not just the outer looks and behavior. Because I believe one of the reasons to be concerned with teaching etiquette and manners is that it reflects who you are on the inside, and if you are a Christ-follower, it reflects Him. Are we not called to love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness? Having "good manners" means that you are treating others kindly, with respect, and etiquette is merely a tool to help you do that. But, I have to translate this for a secular setting, for ages 4-19.

So, more to come about my adventures as a "Charm School" teacher, as I'm sure that I'll have interesting and funny stories. But for now, let me hear from you. If you have daughters, how do you instill godly values? What do you think about manners? Any tips on teaching really young kids manners?

Yes, I have 3 Blogs

2009-03-12T10:05:00.001-05:00

Hey, so I just wrote a small blog post over at the Compass College Ministry blog, so, check it out, and let's talk about it...yo.

Left-Over Wednesdays: Breakfast Casserole

2009-03-11T08:30:00.000-05:00

Breakfast Casserole

This is a dish that I learned at Saks, Inc., when I was a working chef. We would usually throw in breakfast meat leftover from service and any veggies that needed to be used up. Feel free to add other veggies, meats, different cheeses! This type of dish is also known as a strata, because of the layers of ingredients.

1 loaf white sandwich bread

1 tube sausage, cooked, drained and crumbled

3-4 Roma tomatoes, diced

1 bunch green onion, sliced thin

1 dozen large eggs, beaten

3-4 cups milk

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Tear or cut bread into small pieces and place in 9X11 baking dish.

2. Layer sausage, and handful or two of cheese and vegetables on top of the bread.

3. Whisk eggs, milk and salt and pepper together in a separate bowl until well blended. Pour over bread, meat and vegetables. Press mixture down so that all bread is soaked and other ingredients are well-covered with egg mixture. Add additional milk if necessary.

4. Top with remaining cheese and bake approximately 1 hour, or until casserole is firm.

Menu-Planning Monday: March 9-15: Happy Spring Break!

2009-03-09T10:12:00.003-05:00

Spring Break! Yeah! Party!

Er, not really...I haven't had a true spring break since, well, probably high school. And I was the party animal, let me tell you.

The sarcasm is dripping today, probably due to the lack of an extra hour of sleep...puts me in a mood. I'm not sure what kind of mood, but it puts me there. So, I sacrifice my sleep so the farmers of America can farm for an extra hour in the evening. Wait, what?

Let's get back to the subject at hand.

Breakfasts: (can we say: stuck-in-a-rut?)

~oatmeal packets

~bananas

~fruit/yogurt parfaits

Lunches:

~Lean Cuisines

~apples/low-fat peanut butter (the Jif brand is pretty good)

Dinners:

~Easy Beef Tips with Noodles from Allrecipes.com *I've had some sirloin tips in the freezer, meaning to use them

~Grilled chicken kabobs with rice

~Breakfast for dinner, backup plan/extra dinner

We may go out of town Friday-Sunday this week with some students, still trying to decide/find somewhere to stay.

Miss Manners?

2009-03-06T08:54:00.003-06:00

Anyone who knows me in real life, knows that I like etiquette. Not that I'm like a stuffy old lady, but I like things that are proper, I like china and silver and setting a pretty table, I like hand-written notes and hand-addressed envelopes. *I think I read too much Jane Austen when I was young.* I read ettiquette books for fun, and collect old copies of Emily Post, Amy Vanderbilt and the like. The older, more antiquated the "rules", the better!

So, I have had the opportunity arise to teach ettiquette and poise classes at John Roberts Powers group starting tomorrow! I am really excited! I will update next week on how tomorrow's classes go. Pray for me, as this will be quite "off the cuff", at least for tomorrow's sessions, and the first session is for 4-7 year olds. Yikes! Those that know me in real life also know that I'm not big on little kids, but I think I have some ideas to help make it fun for both of us. The kids I will be teaching are in modeling and acting, so they should, hopefully, know how to be attentive and will be receptive.

Here's some thoughts that I will might be developing:
* What do you think ettiquette is? Why do you think it's important?
* Why should you be concerned with the "proper" things to do?
* What is self-confidence and what does it have to do with manners?
* The "Golden Rule" and what it means for your everyday life
* Acting "like a lady (or gentleman)": an old-fashioned idea for a post-modern world

Left-Over Wednesdays: Espresso Pots de Creme

2009-03-04T08:30:00.000-06:00

Espresso Pots de Creme

Ooo lala! Little heavenly, creamy, pots of chocolately goodness...I first had a pot de creme at Chez Lulu, my absolute favouite restaurant in Birmingham. This is pronounced, "po [long o] de crem". Good way to practice your French accent. This is basically a cream custard, baked in the traditional water bath, served chilled. I like to accent with a couple of strawberry slices and fresh whipped cream. The recipe is simple, just be careful when incorporating the eggs, or they will curdle and you'll end up with lumpy pots. Nobody wants that! This recipe is adapted from gourmetleauth.com. Photos here are my own.

2 cups heavy whipping cream, chilled

1 1/2 tablespoons strong brewed coffee or espresso

5 oz. bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces

6 large egg yolks, room temperature

2 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

pinch salt

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Position oven rack to the center.

2. Heat the cream in a sauce pan over medium heat to just scalding. Add coffee and stir well. Remove from heat and add chocolate pieces, stirring occasionally with a whisk to incorporate chocolate with cream until completely smooth.

3. In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and salt, until well blended.

4. Temper the egg mixture with about 1/4 cup of the chocolate mixture, whisking the chocolate very slowly into the eggs. Gradually add all of the chocolate to the eggs.

5. Place 6 small, oven-proof cups in a large roasting pan (souffle cups, ramekins, etc. As you see in my photos I use small espresso cups) that hold approximately 3/4 cup each. Divide the mixture evenly in the small cups, keeping the edges clean. Pour hot water into roasting pan so that the water comes at least half-way up the side of the small cups. Tent foil over the entire pan and place in oven.

6. Bake approximately 25 minutes, or until custard is set around the edges, and the middle is not very jiggly. Remove cups from pan and let chill in refrigerator for at least 2 hours before serving.

7. Serve with whipped cream and sliced strawberries.

Oh, Just Another Survey

2009-03-04T08:02:00.003-06:00

I can't help it...I was tagged by Natalie on Facebook, so I gotta do it...

This is a survey for all of you married folk. Fill it out & don't forget to tag other married couples on your friend list. Don't forget to tag back the person that sent it to you.

1) When was your wedding day? November 3, 2001

2) What day of the week was it? Saturday

3) Did you get married in a church? yes

4) How many in your wedding party? 22, I think

5) Where was your reception? Church kids' area. AKA The Garage and Parking Deck

6) How many guests were invited to your wedding? 800+

7) How long did you wait to Tie The Knot after your proposal? 21 months=waaayyy too long!

8) Who did you hire as your photographer? Mark Lawley Photography

9) Did you have a DJ or a band? no, Herb Owen MC'ed the reception and played our "mix tape" CDs we burned with all our favorite music

10) Did your father walk you down the aisle? yes

11) What color were the bridesmaid dresses & groomsmen vests? BM=burgundy GM=black

12) What was your first song? we didn't dance since the reception was at church, but if we could've it would've been "Dreaming My Dreams" by the Cranberries

13) How long did it take to plan the wedding? all 21 months of our engagement....yes, I was that bride

14) What type of limo did you get? none, Scott surprised me with a vintage Rolls Royce

15) Where did you go for your Bachelorette/Bachelor Party? didn't have one, closest thing was my lingerie "after party" at Rachel Callahan's with all my bridesmaids and some other close friends

16) What type of wedding gown/tux did you two wear? My gown was made by Angelique and was a corset-style, Victorian gown with cathedral train and extra-cathedral veil. His tux was classic cut, black with ivory vest and tie.

17) How was the weather? Perfect, cool but not cold

18) Where did you go on your Honeymoon? We were planning on Paris, but then the 9-11 attacks happened, so we changed last minute, going to North Carolina. We spent about a week in the Asheville area in the mountains, and another week on the Outer Banks, in Manteo.

19) What was your favorite part of your wedding day? Taking communion together during the ceremony.

20) How long have you been married? 7 years

21) What was the worst part of your wedding day? The stress of a florist who wrote down the wrong day and almost didn't pull off the florals.

22) Did you see your husband before the ceremony? No

23) What kind of flowers were in your bouquet? Roses, in all fall colors

24) What were your "something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue? My old=my ring and my great-grandmother's hankie pinned under my skirt. All the women in my family have carried this hankie! My new=my dress. My borrowed=the poofy slip under my gown, borrowed from Scott's sister, Heather. My blue=my undies

25) Did you light a unity candle? no

26) Did you cry during your wedding? No, I was too excited.

27) Where did you buy your wedding gown? Bridal Bliss, after going to every dress shop in Alabama...literally.

28) What flavor was your wedding cake? Chocolate! We didn't have a groom's cake because we had a dessert reception, and I don't like white cake. The icing was ivory though, and the design matched my gown.

28) Did you smash cake in each other's face or were you "nice"? No, I threatened Scott with his life if he stuffed that in my face.

29) Did you freeze the top layer of your cake and eat it on your first wedding anniversary? Yes. It was actually great! The key is multiple, alternating layers of foil and plastic wrap, sealed in Tupperware.

30) When did you open your wedding gifts? Well, you see, we were gone on our honeymoon for over 2 weeks, so mom and Abby opened them while we were gone. At first I was mad, but it did save me a lot of hassle.

31) Did you have a bridal shower? I had a Southern Living at Home/Tupperware shower (thanks Aunt Sandy), a couples' around the house shower (thanks Mawmaw and Aunt Marsha), a lingerie shower (thanks Rachel and 'Maids) and a HUGE tea. We were very, very blessed and received more stuff than we needed!

32) The night before your wedding, did you sleep much? Yes, and my best friend and MOH, Stephanie, spent the night one last time with me!

33) Did your bridal party deck out the get away car? No, I threatened them with their lives and Becky, my director, did too! Scott took his car to the hotel earlier that day anyway.

34) Anything special about the day/time of year you were married? I always wanted a fall wedding, but it's the height of football season. Our wedding day was also Alabama's homecoming. I also wanted a super-formal wedding at night, so we were married at 7 PM.

35) Words of wisdom? Follow God first, submit to His leadership together.

Sorry I don't have any pics to post here too...those were days of the advent of digital, so all of mine are prints from film. Crazy, I know.

Menu Planning Mondays, errr, Tuesday, March 3-8

2009-03-03T12:26:00.003-06:00

Menu planning has not been going so well lately. Last week the menu plan was a bust starting on Monday! That's discouraging! Now, this week, I'm a day late...le sigh...but I'm doing it anyway.

Breakfasts:

~oatmeal

~strawberry/blueberry parfait

~banana

~coffee

Lunches:

~Lean Cuisine

~apple with peanut butter

~sandwich on whole wheat

Snacks:

~LIFE cereal

~100 calories crackers

Dinners:

1. Skillet Lasagna from Cook's Country/salad (*new recipe to try*)

2. Bruchetta baked chicken breasts/garlic-rubbed bread

Now, to make that shopping list...

Blizzard of 2009!

2009-03-02T14:06:00.007-06:00

Well, it happens about once every 10 years...snow in Birmingham! Measureable snow that is. It has flurried, sleeted, etc off and on during the winter months, but seriously, it was the year 2000 when we last had a good snow shower. We have waited all winter anxiously for our snowy dreams to come true, and the weather waited until March 1st!

Here's some pics from our fun snow event in Birmingham!

Our little house in the snow!

The shed in our backyard looked a lot cooler covered in snow!

The big magnolia in our front yard

The Smith Farm in Bluff Park

Snow-covered pansies at church

We went downtown so Rachel could take some photos. This is the Jefferson County Courthouse and Linn Park.

Linn Park looking toward the BJCC and Art Museum

Snowy Scottie! You can see how hard the wind was blowing the snow around!

City Hall and Linn Park fountain

Me and Rach...we were quickly getting covered in snow!

Rach, doin her thing. This shows how hard it was snowing! This is REALLY alot for Birmingham!

Random Funness (AKA Chain Blog)

2009-02-25T13:37:00.005-06:00

I know FB and Blogger have been virtually infected with surveys that you pass along like old-school chain letters, but this one was quick and interesting! Rachel did it and looked fun!

Random Band Generator

Here's my band's name and album cover:

Here's the instructions so you can have fun too:

1 - Go to "Wikipedia." Hit "random article" in the sidebar.The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to "Random quotations" (or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3) The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to Flickr and click on "explore the last seven days" (or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days) Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.

5 - Post it to FB with this text in the "caption" and TAG the friends you want to join in.

Left-Over Wednesdays: Napa Valley Tomato Sauce

2009-02-25T08:30:00.000-06:00

Napa Valley Tomato Sauce

This is a pasta sauce I invented a couple years ago to use some red wine vinegar that I bought on a trip to Napa Valley, California. I had used some of the vinegar for salad, but wanted a use that was a little more special. I serve it over angel hair pasta because the sauce is fairly light in weight. (Heavier, chunkier, meaty sauces call for bigger, thicker pastas) We usually grill or bake chicken breasts to serve with this dish as well. Almost every time we cook this, something about it gets tweaked, so feel free to experiment, and don't feel like you have to follow this to the letter! Hope you enjoy!

4-5 Roma tomatoes, chopped

1 shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

Olive oil

1/4-1/2 cup high-quality vinegar: red wine, balsamic or raspberry-balsamic varieties

Feta cheese, crumbled

Fresh basil, julienned

1. Saute the shallot and garlic in olive oil until shallots are translucent. Be careful not to let them brown.

2. Add tomatoes, and saute for a couple minutes, salt and pepper mixture.

3. Add the vinegar, stir well and cover to let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Sauce needs to simmer to reduce by at least 1/4 to 1/2.

4. When you are ready to serve, stir in feta cheese and fresh basil.

5. Serve over angel hair pasta with chicken.

*Note: Try to use the highest quality vinegar you can afford, since that is the main body of the sauce. I prefer this recipe with balsamic. Gives the sauce a tangy, rich quality. If you choose to use raspberry-balsamic vinegar, the sauce will be sweeter. Experiment for yourself and have fun!

Menu Planning Mondays: February 23-March 1

2009-02-23T09:51:00.005-06:00

Well last week we didn't stick completely to the plan, and ended up eating out everyday of the weekend...boo. Oh well, this is a new day, a new week! So, here we go:

Monday Feb. 23:

D: French toast (that we didn't do last week) after S.leads Compass Bible study

Tuesday Feb. 24:

D: @ College Group-Hearty Tomato Pasta Soup/garlic bread (new recipe to try!)

Wednesday Feb. 25:

D: out/leftovers for S.

Thursday Feb. 26:

D: Grilled chicken kabobs over brown rice

Friday Feb. 27:

D: Out?

Saturday Feb. 28:

D: Out?

Sunday Mar. 1:

D: ??

Breakfasts: oatmeal/fruit/yogurt parfaits

Lunches: sandwiches/out/Lean Cusine/fruit

Snacks: cheese crackers/100 calorie pack cookies

Left-Over Wednesdays: Angel Chicken

2009-02-18T08:38:00.000-06:00

Angel Chicken

I bummed this recipe off a friend I worked with when I was a chef at Saks Inc. I Tweaked a bit, and here it is. Not sure why its named "Angel", that's what Kelly called it...enjoy!

boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 stick butter, melted

1 sleeve Ritz crackers, crushed

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Mix the cracker crumbs and cheese together in a medium bowl. Set up a standard breading line: butter, cracker crumbs, baking dish. Be careful of cross contamination and food safety!

2. Dip each chicken breast in butter, then coat in cracker crumb mixture. Place in shallow baking dish. Sprinkle extra cracker crumbs on top of each breast. The more crispies, the better, as Scott would say!

3. Bake in 375 degree oven for about 30 minutes or until done.

Francophile Post #2

2009-02-17T13:54:00.006-06:00

This is for the second day of RhondaMum's Love of All Things French Day! I work in a doctor's office in a little cubicle, so I made the most of my surroundings and decorated the boring old cube! I chose a black,white and red colour scheme, Eiffel Towers (of course!), and my own black and white photos from our trip to Europe.

So, here's a look at my cozy little cube a la Francais!

The walls of my cube are an awful eggplant purple, so I brought this scrap of Eiffel Tower toile to "wallpaper" one wall of my cube. The picture is one I took at the Louvre, hung with paper clips and red ribbon. (Those office supplies are handy!)

Here's the other picture, opposite of the previous on the "wallpapered" cube wall, same method with the paper clips and ribbon. Between the photos on my desk top I have an organizer for my pens and such that is black with hounds tooth accents.

Nice close-up of my Eiffel toile! I love this print!

Shot in Macro mode, close-up of London photo with ribbon in foreground, toile in background.

This is the other wall of my cube, to my right. I covered my cork board with crushed red velvet material I had at home. I had bought this velvet for a home decor project that I never did, but now I get to enjoy it everyday at work! It is upholstery weight fabric, so surprisingly it holds up to the push pin holes quite well!

Close up of the crushed red velvet. I love the texture!

I work under florescent lights that kill my eyesight, so I brought a lamp from home! The black base and little crystal accents go perfectly! Behind the lamp is a magazine holder I use to hold daily work projects and paperwork, as well as my small mirror hung on the cube wall.

This is actually a decorative paper clip in the shape of an Eiffel Tower! So cute! I hug it on my computer monitor by red ribbon and strategically placed double-sided tape! It's my little Paris reminder that literally is in my line of sight all day long!

Menu-Planning Mondays: February 16-22

2009-02-16T13:58:00.004-06:00

Alrighty, here we go again at my attempt at domestication! Ha!

Monday Feb 16:

D: Frittata/steak, goat cheese, green onion, tomato (experiment)

Tuesday Feb. 17:

B: oatmeal/coffee/fruit & granola parfait

L: Free @ work/coldcuts @ home/fruit

D: @ college group

Wednesday Feb 18:

B: Oatmeal/coffee/fruit & granola parfait

L: Free @ work/coldcuts @home/fruit

D: out/leftovers

Thursday Feb. 19:

B: Oatmeal/coffee/fruit & granola parfait

L: Free @ work/Lunch @ UAB

D: Out with friends at Chez Lulu

Friday Feb. 20:

B: oatmeal/coffee/fruit & granola parfait

L: Lean Cuisine & fruit/coldcuts @ home & fruit

D: Out/@ Board Meeting

Saturday Feb.21:

B: pancakes/bacon/coffee for work day on house

L: Out

D: @ Mom Leveille's

Sunday Feb. 22:

B: @ church

L: Guests for lunch-TBD

D: Breakfast for dinner/BYOC time/French Toast/sausage links

Here's a little bonus recipe for you this morning, even though it's not Wednesday! :)

Scott recently discovered Panera Bread's new yogurt, fruit and granola parfaits. They are yummy, but he doesn't want to spend the time and money to go to Panera every morning. So, he made up his own version!

Scottie's Yummy Breakfast Parfait

Vanilla yogurt

Honey Bunches of Oat Cereal "Just Bunches" version

Strawberries/blueberries, washed and cut

Combine all ingredients for a good, healthy breakfast or snack! Spoon into a plastic cup for a "to-go" version like Panera's!

J'aime Tout Ce Qui est Francais! (I Love All Things French!)

2009-02-16T10:27:00.009-06:00

Most of you reading thins are thinking "Duh Ann Marie...geez". However, this post is to participate in Rhondamum's French Day! I stumbled on her blog somehow last week, and she seems a kindred French spirit!

My collection of French things is varied, and so I have included a few of my favorite things I have collected and a few of my favorite things about France!

One of my truly prized possessions is an autographed copy of Mastering The Art of French Cooking, signed by both Julia and Paul Childs! I scored this jewel in my grandmother's antique store, probably about 10 years ago. I might have paid $10 for it. Shown here is my beloved trio of Julia's French cooking masterpieces: Mastering The Art of French cooking Volumes 1 and 2, and The French Chef Cookbook, taken from her TV show by the same name. While Julia herself was not French, she did indeed master the art, and science, of French cuisine and paved the way for women chefs!

Whoever Ruth Engles was was lucky indeed to have met the Childs! I so wish I could've met Julia before she passed!

This is still one of my favourite photos of Scott and I! I cannot tell you how excited I was to see the Eiffel Tower for the first time! I was giddy like a little girl! We went to the top at night, so we could see the entire city shining below us. This picture was taken the morning we left Paris. Before we caught the Eurostar back to London, I just had to go back! It was one of those classic, misty, drizzly, Paris mornings. The kind of look that I thought only existed in films. Perfect.

While in Paris, we visited the Louvre, fairly running through exhibits to see the highlights. Next time, we will build in a week to visit just the Louvre! My favourite in the vast collection was the Winged Victory of Samothrace. Though she is headless and armless, she bears what I consider the perfect female form, graceful and flowing, even in marble. She was created by an unknown sculptor during the Hellenistic period.

9 Years Ago

2009-02-14T11:00:00.000-06:00

Valentine's Day 2000, Scott proposed to me over dinner at Melange Bed and Breakfast in Hendersonville, North Carolina. He took me by surprise, although I should have suspected, I had pushed the idea of imminent engagement out of my head, so as to not come home disappointed. So, the best surprise of my life, was that Valentine's night!

Scott is my best friend, my soul-mate in every sense. I could not have dreamed up a better match. God did a very good thing when He brought Scott into my life in the spring of my junior year of high school.

Travel Thursdays: Some of Our Favorite Inns

2009-02-12T14:22:00.000-06:00

Another idea I had for a regular column is about travel. We travel more than most of our friends on a regular basis, because of the lack of little ones, but I would love to travel more! So these posts will be dedicated to our travel adventures and other fun stories, good deals, or whatever I might find online! Hope you enjoy!

My inaugural Travel Thursdays post will be info about various inns and B & B's we've enjoyed! The locations are mostly in the Southeast US. I've included links to the establishments' websites and some of our own pics!

1. Melange Bed and Breakfast: Hendersonville, NC

This B&B will always be special to us because we were engaged here on Valentines Day 2000. Scott surprised me while we were visiting his grandparents in Hendersonville, NC. His sweet little grandmother scouted out all the romantic places in town and found this one for Scottie. We had a marvelous dinner, prepared by the chef-owner, in a private dining room. Before dessert, we went into the parlor, in front of the fireplace, and sat on the red velvet couch. Scott handed me a red gift bag that had a note rolled up in the bottom. At the end of the note I looked up and he was on his knee holding up a ring! I was so surprised and excited that I threw my arms around his neck, completely forgetting to even look at the ring! A few minutes later the owners brought out a cake that had my soon-to-be married initials on it! They were so happy for us and took our picture, looked at the ring, etc.

Fast-forward to November 2001, and we are finally married and on our honeymoon! We had saved and planned on going to Europe for 2 weeks, but the 9-11 attacks changed those plans. So we took 2 weeks and wandered around North Carolina, spending time in the mountains and on the Outer Banks. We spent 3 or 4 nights at Melange, and the owners remembered us and were so excited that we came back!

The inn itself is an old house, has 5 or 6 rooms, all decorated with an abundance of antiques. We stayed in the Rose Suite on the top floor. This spacious suite takes up what should be the entire attic area, and has a sitting area with a TV and a bath with jetted tub. The owners are gracious, and not pushy. We slept in most mornings, so we missed breakfast, and maid service, but they would leave a little pile of clean towels outside our door.

This B&B gets our award for "Most Romantic", for obvious reasons!

2. Maraton House: London, UK

We traveled to London and Paris for our 5th anniversary in 2006. We mostly stayed at Marriot properties, thanks to Scott's dad's generous contribution of reward points, but we wanted to stay in one unique European place on our trip. So, after much searching and looking online, we found Maraton House, in the Kensington area of London.

Maraton House in a former life was a hostel, but I think a fairly nice one, considering the area we were in. The current owners converted it to be a small B&B, boutique-ish hotel. The rooms are tiny, in the European tradition, and not all of the rooms have "en suite" accommodations. (En suite means the bathroom is an actual private bath, not a hall or community bath. Be very sure of what type of room you book when in Europe, if you are wanting a private bath.) But, the room we had was charming, and included and electric teapot and a small television. We had a tiny balcony that overlooked the community park. The breakfast is mostly traditional British, but they did offer cold cereals for their Western visitors. It was fun to have a traditional breakfast, but I wasn't all that impressed. I felt like the food could've been better.

Kensington is a great area of London, easily accessible by several area tube stops. Kensington Palace is nearby, which is where Princess Di resided while still married to the Prince. There's little green areas scattered all over, quaint shops and plenty of pubs and restaurants. We ate a couple of times at the pub on the corner of our street while in London, and it was great! We were also close to where Samford University students live while studying abroad, the Daniel House. We visited a couple of students we knew, took them to dinner, and caught them up on the gossip from home!

3. Keefer Mansion Inn: Thorold, Canada

I traveled to Canada for the first time for our 6th anniversary in 2007. We planned to visit Buffalo, NY (Scott's hometown), Niagara Falls and Toronto. We decided to stay close to the falls area, but everything nearby was very touristy and seemed over-priced. Finally we ran across the Keefer Mansion Inn in little Thorold, about 15 minutes from the Falls area.

The inn is an historical home, built by one of the first settlers to the area, and has been beautifully restored. The innkeepers are extremely nice and helpful. Staying here truly was one of the best inn experiences we've had. The breakfasts were wonderful, and we also ate dinner one night in the main dining room. Our room was posh and comfortable and featured a wonderful four-poster canopy bed and clawfoot tub.

This area and Keefer Mansion is a great alternative to staying in the middle of the Falls area, and is only 1 1/2 hours drive from Toronto. This inn gets my vote for "Best Over-all Experience"!

4. Kilarney House Inn: Hendersonville, NC

We stayed at Kilarney for our 7th anniversary in 2008. We went for a week to North Carolina, and stayed most of the time with Scott's grandparents, but wanted a couple nights to ourselves. We didn't even book this inn until the day before, but that's the advantage of having an anniversary in early November!

The inn is tucked away about 3 minutes from downtown Hendersonville, in a residential neighborhood. Its a great old house and the innkeeper was very nice. Our room had bath accommodations in the room, but were interestingly laid-out. The sink and whirlpool tub were not separated from the bedroom and the toilet was behind a partition. The room itself was bigger than I expected, but I did not expect the bath accommodations how they were. My only complaint was that there was not a stand-up shower. The breakfasts we had while there were outstanding! The innkeeper prepared the food himself, and we were served 2 and 3-course breakfasts! European-style food included a fruit, nut and cheese plate as our breakfast "starter" then something more substantial, like French toast or an egg dish. This inn gets our "Best Breakfast" award!

The link to their website was not working at time of this blog, so this link is to B&B online and still gives great info and pics.

5. Stone Fort Inn: Chattanooga, TN

This is our most recently visited inn! Scott surprised me a couple of weeks ago and we stayed overnight in this Chattanooga inn. The inn is housed in a building downtown that is about 100 years old, furnished with great antiques, and is in a central location to anything you would want to do downtown.

The inn's hosts are gracious and made sure we had everything we needed. The breakfast the next morning was served buffet-style, but with the chef waiting attentively if any guests needed some help. Scott's reason for choosing this inn: Jane Seymour stayed here once! Ha! He knows me too well! Our favorite part of our room was the private balcony with a hot tub! It was freezing the night we stayed there, so the hot tub was perfect!

6. Tranquil House Inn: Manteo, NC

Tranquil House was another one of our honeymoon spots! This inn is on the Outer Banks of North Carolina near the Kitty Hawk area. Scott's uncle owns this establishment, so when the honeymoon plans had to be rescheduled last-minute, we decided to go to NC. The Tranquil House is a very posh, old-money, yacht-clubby place, but everyone was nice and friendly. We just felt slightly out of place, when we realized the other guests drove their yachts to the private dock, rather than their cars! We were, by far, the youngest guests! But don't let that stop you from visiting!

Tranquil House is located on Manteo Island, the location of the "Lost Colony". Quick history lesson: The Lost Colony was left behind on the island for the captain of the ship to sail back to England to get supplies. Months later he returned, and there was no sign of the people he left behind. Nothing. It's been a mystery ever since! Most historians believe that in order to survive, the colonists made friends with the Indians and assimilated into the tribe. Today, the island has museums and living history parks, tons of antique stores, quaint shops and many opportunities to walk or bike to enjoy the scenery. There's not a ton to do around the island, so side trips to light houses and other historical sights are a great idea.

Tranquil House is also home to 1587 Restaurant, referring to the time when the colony disappeared. Its a five-star restaurant with an award-winning cellar and chefs. We ate there twice while staying at the inn and each dinner was wonderful! On one occasion, the chef found out that I was a chef and came out to visit our table (a big deal, in the fine-dining world) and chatted with us for a few minutes. He asked us about dessert and a few minutes later he returned with a tray of every dessert they were making that night, all for the two of us to share, compliments of the chef for our honeymoon! And we ate it all. We have never been so gluttonous in our lives! This inn gets our "Best Dining Experience" award!

Sorry there's no pics from our honeymoon...that was back in the day of real film camers! One day, I'll get them scanned into the computer...

Left-Over Wednesdays: Beef Goulash

2009-02-11T08:30:00.001-06:00

Goulash brings to mind connotations of a mom's home cooked meal gone awry. At least it did for me. But, I looked this receipe over and, hey, it sounds kinda good! So I bought all the ingredients and set out to make this on a cold winter's night.

SO GOOD! I hope you give goulash a chance!

Note: This receipe is from Cook's Country website, a division of America's Test Kitchen. The photos here are my own. All notes that are mine are in bold italics.

Beef Goulash
Serves 6 to 8

The flavor from the beef fat adds an important richness to this stew, so be careful not to trim the meat too closely. We recommend you remove the external fat from the chuck roast, but leave the internal fat, unless it is excessively thick. Serve this hearty stew over buttered egg noodles.

1 boneless beef chuck roast (3-pound), trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
Table salt and ground black pepper
1/4 cup sweet paprika
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 onions , minced
6 cloves garlic , minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 red bell peppers , stemmed, seeded, and chopped
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 300 degrees. Dry the beef thoroughly with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper and 1 tablespoon of the paprika. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of the meat and cook until well browned on all sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer the browned meat to a plate. Return the pot to medium-high heat and repeat with 1 more tablespoon of the oil and the remaining beef. (Pay close attention to the cooking times; I rushed this once and the meat was tough.) 2. Add the remaining tablespoon oil to the empty pot and return to medium heat until shimmering. Add the onions, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and the remaining 3 tablespoons paprika. Cook until the onions have softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute. Slowly stir in the broth, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in the browned beef along with any accumulated juices. Bring to a simmer, cover, and transfer the pot to the oven. Cook for 1 hour and 20 minutes. 3. Stir in the red peppers. Cover and continue to cook in the oven until the meat is just tender, about 40 minutes longer.

4. Remove the pot from the oven. Whisk 1/2 cup of the stewing liquid into the sour cream and add the sour cream mixture to the stew. Stir in the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste before serving. (I served this with the reccommended egg noodles and it was perfect. I also had extra sour cream on hand for those that desired more!)

Like It? Merci!

2009-02-10T15:08:00.004-06:00

I have a little bloggy makeover and the banner I created using clipart from the Graphics Fairy! Visit her site for beautiful, vintage graphics! She has lots of fun, Frenchy things I love!

This was a vintage Valentine!

Menu Planning Monday

2009-02-09T10:08:00.009-06:00

Alright, I'm trying something new...something rather domestic for me. I have gotten rather un-domestic/housewifey in recent months because of our schedules, school, etc etc.

In order to save money each month, Scott and I are going to try to eat at home more during the week. And he has been wanting me to menu-plan for a while now, and I just haven't done it.

So, while perusing the bloggy world for ideas, I came across this website devoted to organizing a few days ago, and she has a weekly menu-planning linky thing. So. Here I go. Menu planning for week 1!

February 9-15

Monday Feb. 9th
B: Oatmeal and coffee
L: Lean Cuisine and apple w/ PB
S: Frosted Mini-Wheats
D: Angel Chicken w/ Rice and Broccoli Goodness

Tuesday Feb. 10th
B: Oatmeal and coffee
L: Free @ work
D: @ College Group

Wednesday Feb. 11th
B: Oatmeal and coffee
L: Lean Cuisine and apple w/ PB
S: Frosted Mini Wheats
D: Out

Thursday Feb. 12th
B: Pancakes and coffee
L: Free @ work
D: Company Coming!Chicken with angel hair pasta w/ Napa Valley Sauce and Cesar salad and garlic bread

Friday Feb. 13th
B: Oatmeal and coffee
L: Out
D: Out

Saturday Feb. 14th Valentines Day!
B: French toast
L: Out
D: Steak and Greek potatoes

Sunday Feb 15th
B: @ Sunday School
L: Out
D: Out (In ATL)

Be impressed. We grocery shopped last night for most of the items, except for the meat, which we will get the day-of and the salad for Thursday. Lunches for Scott are either out, in meetings, or he will go home to scrounge for whatever. Breakfasts for him are usually in, consisting of pancakes or fruit and yogurt parfaits.

My Artistic Side...?

2009-02-05T10:05:00.012-06:00

I've never been "artistic" in the ways that one normally thinks of being artistic. Art classes in elementary and middle school were torturous. Let's just say a middle-aged, balding man slapping yardsticks on the desk in front of you so you quit talking does NOT inspire creativity. Or art appreciation, for that matter!

While in high school I discovered scrapbooking, which in the late 1990's was really gaining popularity. My first scrapbook chronicled my experience as a Hoover Belle in high school. I have made many more albums since then! More recently I've been interested in digital scrapbooking, having made storybook-style scrapbook of our 5th Anniversary trip to Europe in 2006.

Other pursuits of creativity began, I guess, when Scott and I were engaged and I had to think about furnishing and decorating a home of my own. I attribute my skills in decorating to my mom and grandmother. They taught me through the years little "rules" of decorating, infusing my developing taste with their own, and giving me an appreciation of beautiful surroundings. I've even been able to use this aspect of creativity in ministry! From Women's Ministry events, to Adoration, to the Jones House, I've been blessed with the opportunity and freedom at SMIC to exercise my creative muscles!

This fall I have also discovered that I actually CAN paint, on a canvas, of all things! I still struggle to make a decent stick figure, but with good instruction at Sips n' Strokes, I have painted a couple things I actually like! If you live in the Birmingham area and have not heard about Sips n' Strokes, well, I don't know where you've been the last year or so. They have studios all over the city! It makes a great girls' nite out too!

So, the point of my post, is a list of What Inspires (or Helps) My Creativity! Have fun, and I hope you'll be inspired too!

Scrapblog.com

This website I stumbled on one day and I love it! They have free templates or you can build pages from scratch. They have digital "paper" for backgrounds, "stickers", text balloons, photo editing...you can actually do more with your digital photos this way, than with traditional photo albums or scrapbooks! And the software is a free download! Did you catch that? FREE! I made our Christmas cards on this site, printed them and mounted them on cardstock. I have started a few "books" and work on them as I have time, so I have not used their publishing services. If you do, please let me know how it turns out!

World Market

I love this store! Most of what I use to create ambiance in Adoration services come from this store! Some of the things are not exactly my taste for my own home, but their eclectic offerings are perfect for Adorations and the Jones House! My favs there include the paper lanterns that I have hung all over the place for Adoration services and the glass lanterns I bought this Christmas! I buy their imported olive oil to use at home and Scott loves their Moka Java coffee. They also have really unique jewelry too and I've picked up pieces here and there! On my list of "wants" from this store is a tiny red loveseat-sleeper to go in our TV room at home. The loveseat folds out into a twin-size bed, which would be handy, since our guest bedroom space is our TV room.

This is a tablescape I did for a Women's Ministry dinner last month. I used my own dishes, glasses and flatware, but everything else is stuff I use for Adoration services or swiped from the Jones House. The Jones House at Christmas! Star lanterns from World Market, also used in Adorations. Photo credit to Rachel Jones Photography.The little loveseat I want!

Sips n' Strokes

I mentioned them earlier in the post! I was soooo nervous when I went for the first time! But all the instructors I've had are great and make it less intimidating! The "sips" part is a BYO, and I usually sip on coffee to keep me going! Check their website out for the monthly calendars. The only painting I do not like is the pumpkin...let's just say I do better when the painting is more interpretive or abstract! With the pumpkin, you had to be really careful how you blended colors and did brush strokes, so you get a dimensional round object. My poor pumpkin is rather 2-dimensional.

Ahh, the sad pumpkin painting...

These turned out a little better!

Paint.NET Software Download

I stumbled on this more recently too. They claim they are similar to Photoshop, which I don't have so I can't compare for myself, but it's been fun to play around with! My little photo banner here on my blog was done on this photo editing program! This is also a FREE product, so the price was certainly right for someone like me who isn't a professional, or aspiring, photographer! This still allows me to crop, edit, adjust and add layers to photos and other media.

I also edited and enhanced this photo, taken in Chattanooga last weekend

Soooo, what about you? What inspires you to be creative?

Left-Over Wednesdays: Broccoli and Rice Side Dish

2009-02-04T10:02:00.006-06:00

Broccoli Rice Goodness

I made this up the other day as I wandered around the Piggly Wiggly. I wanted to have some fresh veggies, but I get tired of salads and plain steamed vegetables. Hope you enjoy!

brown rice (I used boil-in-bag 10 minute rice)

2 heads fresh broccoli, cut into small florets

2 Roma tomatoes, diced small

1 shallot, minced

1/2 container feta cheese, crumbled

olive oil

salt and pepper

1.Put rice on to cook according to directions on the box. I used the 10-minute rice and the timing was perfect. Allow much more time if you use the "regular" rice.

2. Saute shallots in olive oil until translucent, about 1 minute. Add broccoli and saute quickly for 4-5 minutes until broccoli is just starting to soften.

3. Add tomatoes and lower the heat to medium; keep tossing mixture in saute pan.

4. When rice is finished, add the feta to the broccoli mixture and toss until cheese starts to melt.

5. Add the broccoli mixture to the sauce pan with the rice and toss well. Salt and pepper to taste. (Or add all ingredients at this point to a serving bowl and toss together)

Chicken Noodle?

2009-02-03T12:54:00.009-06:00

I have the best husband! Really, I do not deserve him!

Last Friday I was off work and and really had nothing planned for the weekend. Scott told me Thursday night to be home around 3 on Friday and have a small bag packed; we were going away for a short trip! Hooray! I love surprises like that! He would not tell me where we were going or where we were staying.

My clues were: 1) It takes about 2 hours to get there 2) We were driving 3) Pack a swim suit

Hmmmm....my first thought was Atlanta, but Scott really does not like Atlanta. And it takes more than 2 hours to drive to the beach.

We headed out on 459, but didn't get off on I-20, so I knew we were not headed to ATL. My next thought was Chattanooga! Of course!

We stayed at Stone Fort Inn in downtown Chattanooga. Jane Seymour stayed there once, and wrote a nice review. So that's mainly why he chose that inn. He knows me too well! (I met her once when I worked at Saks Corporate. She's very nice. And short.) The inn is a B&B type, but bigger, having about 12 rooms. Our room was very cute and included a fireplace (yay) and a hot tub on the balcony (double yay), thus the need for a swim suit.

Friday evening we finally decided on a place to eat dinner downtown. Easy Bistro is located downtown very close to the Tennessee Aquarium. The city has done an excellent job of revitalizing downtown Chattanooga, making it accessible and family-friendly. Scott and I were pleasantly surprised! Easy Bistro was really good, kind of a modern French fusion restaurant, locally owned and chef-operated. It had a great decor; very Art-Deco, all in black and white. Definitely my kind of place! Scott had his typical steak frites and I had a fabulous veal stew. The sauce was like velvet and the veal absolutely melted in my mouth! For dessert we shared a chocolate terrine. Yum.

Back at the inn we took advantage of the hot tub on the balcony! It was perfect! About 25 degrees outside and we could look up and see the stars twinkling above us!

Saturday morning we ate breakfast at the inn and checked out, then explore more of Chattanooga's downtown area. We found the art district, Bluff View, and walked around the area. Next we decided to see the obligatory Chattanooga Choo Choo. I had not been to the Choo Choo since I was about 4 years old. That's where the post title comes from: "Chicken Noodle" is what my 4-year-old mind processed "Chattanooga" to be. So my family has always called it "Chicken Noodle Choo Choo". If you know me and my family, you are not surprised. Even my sister asked me when we got back to Birmingham on Saturday evening, "How was Chicken Noodle?"

The Choo Choo, well, has seen better days. Let's just say we were by far the youngest people there. We walked by, look a picture, and left to explore Lookout Mountain. Lookout Mountain and the river valley below was the site of the Chickamauga battle in the Civil War. There's various war sites all around the area, Confederate cemeteries, etc. Today, Lookout Mountain has Rock City and Ruby Falls. All over the Tennessee Valley you will find barns and building painted the iconic red and black with "See Rock City" painted on the roofs. Let's just say Rock City seemed a lot cooler when we were 11 years old. We thought about going again, but really didn't want to spend the money to look at garden gnomes.

After exploring the top of Lookout Mountain, and finally deciding on a place to eat lunch, we headed back to B'ham. It was such a nice little get-away!

22 Random Things

2009-01-29T10:11:00.011-06:00

So, a bunch of people tagged me in their 25 Random Things notes, so I figured I would do it...

I'm publishing this on Blogger, but if I tag you in FB, you have to do the same! Then tag 25 others!

1. I have a weird accent. Pseudo-British-ish. I think that I trained myself out of a real southern accent when I was a kid and heard my self on a video. I was embarrassed that I sounded so country.

2. I also have a good phone voice, and sometime my friends call me and are not sure if it's me or not because I'm using my phone voice. I recorded a lot of the phone messages that you hear when you call my office.

3. I hate sports. I can't play anything, but secretly wish I could play tennis. Mainly because of the cute clothes.

4. I have a fear of heights and a fear of drowning.

5. Despite my fear of heights, I love roller coasters! My favorite is the Batman at Six Flags over GA.

6. I love to read! And I do not mind re-reading books. I try to re-read The Lord of the Rings every couple of years...it's better every time!

7. I secretly want to be an Elf (as in LOTR, not like Buddy the Elf) (yes, I realize that makes me a huge dork)

8. If I could do anything in the world for a job, it would be to go to work with Scott and help him.

9. I am realizing that coming up with 25 things about me is harder than I first thought!

10. I am still in college, trying to finish up a Bachelors degree at UAB in International Studies and a minor in French. I love school, but hopefully I'll finish before I'm 40!

11. I used to be scared that God would call us to the mission field and I would have to leave Birmingham. Mostly, I was afraid of "missionary jumper dresses" and no electricity. Now, I'm open to leaving, or staying. And I'm glad God changed my heart toward missions and leaving my "comfort zone".

12. I actually would really love to live in a different culture for a while. Preferably France.

13. I started learning French when I was in the 3rd grade at First Bapt. Church School of Pleasant Grove. I'll always remember those songs in French! "Sur la pont, D'Avingnon..."

14. I like to scrapbook, but lately I have not had the patience for it.

15. I love to decorate and I credit my ability and style to my mom and grandmother. We all have different tastes, but they taught me well!

16. My sense of style (for the house) has streamlined over the years. I think it has come from living with a boy. ;)

17. My sense of personal style has changed too; I dress much more casually than I used to. I think it's because we are always around college students or other people younger than ourselves! I typically wear jeans to church now.

18. I was a Hoover Belle while in high school. When I applied, I wanted that more than anything, and I was so excited that I got it! And I was super excited that I got to wear a hoop skirt! My dress was custom-designed by a lady in Mobile to look like Scarlett's picnic dress in Gone With The Wind, only mine was solid blue. I also had the biggest hoops of all the other Belles!

19. Despite my now-casual style, I love to dress up! I wish I had somewhere fancy to go so I could wear a pretty gown.

20. I also wish I had somewhere to wear a period dress. I secretly want to be a period reenactor.

21. I like etiquette and I read etiquette books for fun. I particularly like reading books from the early 20th century to learn how people (supposedly) behaved. I would secretly love to go to the Washington School of Protocol.

22. I have revealed several secret desires/wishes, so NO MAKING FUN!

Left-Over Wednesday: Baked Mac n' Cheese

2009-01-21T12:27:00.000-06:00

Mac and cheese has an entire food group catagorzation, in my books! And I do not discriminate against the varieties of mac and cheese that one may find. I. Love. Mac n cheese.
So here's one of my fav reciepes, if you want to take the time!

Baked Mac n' Cheese
From Ree's Kitchen

1 stick butter
1/2 cup flour
3 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream

Salt and pepper
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese (or any other combination of cheese)
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1 pound macaroni
1 sleeve Ritz crackers

1. Melt butter over low heat in medium size sauce pan.
2. Whisk in flour until smooth, continuing to cook over low heat and whisking. Cook for approximately 2-5 minutes, until flour mixture is light brown and bubbling. (You just made a roux, the basis for almost any sauce)

3. Whisk milk in very slowly to ensure the smoothness and to keep the milk from curddling. Keep over low heat, whisking frequently. Sauce will start to thicken as it warms.

4. When sauce starts thickening, slowly whisk in cream, still keeping over low heat.

5. Raise cooking temp to med-low, still whisking frequently, cooking until sauce is thickened and just starting to bubble.

6. Add salt and pepper to taste and remove from heat.

7. Add the cheese one handful at a time, whisking each until smooth before adding the next.

8. Add mustard and adjust salt and pepper as needed.

9. Cook macaroni according to package, drain and pour in a 9X13 baking dish. Pour cheese sauce over macaroni and fold in.

10. Options: Last time I made this I had some left over feta cheese and I folded in crumbled feta, making little feta-cheese-suprises! Or add chopped, cooked ham, for a classic Mom-dish. Be creative with your cheese choices!

11. Top with crushed Ritz crackers and bake in a 375-degree oven until bubbly and the crackers are toasted.

Silence.

2009-01-20T14:20:00.003-06:00

"Be still, and know that I am God." Psalm 46:10

Selah.

Don't worry, I'll be back.

I have some scheduled posts too.

Left-Over Wednesday: Marinated Pork Chops with Greek Potatoes

2009-01-15T12:38:00.005-06:00

This week's L.O.W. is a day late...sorry! Better late, than never, eh?

Marinated Pork Chops

Scott adapted this marinade recipe from a grilling cookbook he has. He is the grill chef of the family, so I do have to note that the grilling instructions are specifically for charcoal grills. Scott's a bit of a snob about grilling...he'd sooner die than use a gas grill! So, if you use a gas grill, just up your cooking times for the pork chops.

Marinade:
1/2 cup lemon juice
2-3 TBS olive oil
Salt and Pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced

Meat:
2 boneless pork chops, 1 in. thick

1. Whisk all the marinade ingredients together. Place pork chops in a baking dish, pour marinade over, cover and let marinate in refrigerator for at least one hour. (It's ok if it's longer)
2. Flip pork chops over in marinade at least once, half-way through marinating process.
3. When you are ready to grill, place the pork chops on the grill, but reserve the remaining marinade.
4. Initially, leave the chops over the fire for 2 minutes. After 2 minutes have elapsed, flip the chops and pour a little of the marinade on each. Leave over fire for one minute. Flip chops again, and baste with reserved marinade. Continue this process of one minute intervals, flipping and basting each time, until about 6 minutes have elapsed. Chops should be medium-well after 6 minutes. Don't forget this is for charcoal grills, which get much hotter than gas grills! Adjust accordingly.

Greek Potatoes

Small red "new" potatoes, cut into 1/4's
2 shallots, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
Greek seasoning-Cavender's is my favorite
Feta cheese, crumbled

1. Par-boil potatoes for a few minutes until they are just tender. Drain well and place in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add shallots and garlic. Coat all generously with olive oil and sprinkle in at least 2 teaspoons of Greek seasoning, more if desired.
3. Transfer to a baking dish and top with feta cheese. Bake uncovered in 375-degree oven until potatoes are cooked through and cheese starts to get crusty.

Snapolicious College Retreat

2009-01-13T12:20:00.005-06:00

We had a grand time in the Boone, NC area on our college group winter retreat! Here's a few pics of the trip!

Skiing at Appalacian Ski Mtn!

Grandfather Mountain

No, Scott, you cannot have a pet puma; and no, Peyton, you cannot pet Mildred the Bear! :)

Some of the group at Grandfather Mountain!

Happy Bloggy Birthday To Me!!

2009-01-11T08:00:00.005-06:00

Le Blog De Ree is one today!

So, thanks for reading everyone!!

In celebration of me being the the blog-o-sphere for one year, I thought I would post a few of my favorite bloggy things! Some blogs offer design inspiration. Others make me laugh. Others encourage me in my daily walk with Christ. I'm sharing the blog-love!

1. Favorite Funny Blog I Read Every Day: Stuff Christians Like

Jon Acuff writes this sarcastic blog from our neighbor Atlanta. He graduated from Samford and randomly knows a couple of people I know. His writing is so funny that I cry, yet he pulls out a serious card from time to time to really address the heart of the Christian culture he pokes fun of. We are also Facebook friends. I also joined his cyber book club. Don't make fun of me.

2. My Friend That Has a Nationally-Read Blog: Rachel Callahan of Grasping for Objectivity in My Subjective Life

I mean, she's the closest thing to a blog-celebrity that I personally know! She is featured on Five Minutes For Mom, read by people all over the country, holds contests and even has a customized template that she designed. I've been friends with Rachel ever since her older brother "broke up" with me in high school. We didn't become real friends until after the break-up...she didn't like me while I "went out" with JC...seriously. She told me that. But that's cool. I became great friends with all the Zannis' and was honored to be Rachel's Maid of Honor in her wedding and she was my Matron of Honor. Our weddings were about 6 months apart in 2001. Scott and I were also in Lindsay and JC's wedding. She's a great friend and we are both so busy that I've had fun keeping updated on her, Chris and Ali via her blog. She is a MUCH better blogger than me!

3. Blog Templates at Cutest Blog On The Block

'Cause I just can't resist a decorating opportunity, even if its virtual! Their templates are free and easy to copy n' paste the code onto your blog. Great for those that are HTML-challenged!

4. Favorite Ministry Blog: Desiring God Blog

John Piper has become one of my favorite theologians to read and listen to. His blog is a must-read for me everyday. He gives updates on his church and ministry in Minnesota, theology thoughts, encouragement and even "shout-outs" to family members and staff members, such as his wife, Noel. His concept of treasuring Christ for who He is above all else is one that I am having to continually re-visit. And, if you ever have the chance to hear him speak in person, do it!

5. Favorite Ministry Blog: Louie Giglio and the 268 Generation Blog

Um, yeah, that wasn't a typo. I couldn't choose between Piper and Louie. I'm a dork, and fairly blog-stalked Louie and the Passion team as they travelled around the world last year on tour. Anyway, if you are familiar to Passion and the 268 Generation, this is the blog for that ministry. Louie will be starting his own church next month in Atlanta, so that's pretty exciting too!

6. Favorite Website That I Found Through Someone's Blog: Etsy, introduced by my friend Greta Carter at I Love Mr. Pibb

Etsy is a really cool webstore that sells all handmade products. They have everything, from hand-knit scarves, jewelry, furniture, paintings...check it out if you are looking for something unique! And, for a shameless plug, Greta has her own Etsy store where she sells cool jewelry and stationary. I have some earrings and her Wells necklace. She also did awesome custom invitations for my 10th high school reunion last summer! She is oh-so-talented! I have found cute little things around Etsy, like luggage tags and passport covers. There's also a bag that I really want...gotta save up though!

7. Cool Wedding Vendor Site: I Do Originals

They custom-design a "look" for your wedding stationary, monogram, etc. See my review of them on my wedding blog here. They also designed my wedding planning logos! I love them and can't wait to have a bride that uses them too! Their blog is also a great read and they have scores of great ideas!

8. Favorite Wedding-Related Blog: Elizabeth Anne Designs

These ladies are so talented and have a great business, the kind of wedding business I wish/hope for! They are based in Atlanta, but do events, weddings and parties all over the country. One is even planning her own wedding in England. They have great inspiration for weddings and other events! I have blog envy!

So, how about you? Contribute to the party by posting a comment and leaving a link to any blog or website that inspires you, makes you laugh, makes you think, or one that you just plain love!

Left-Over Wednesdays: Cajun Chicken Pasta

2009-01-07T20:13:00.003-06:00

This week's recipe is something that I adopted from a dish that my friend, Janet Revel, made one time. It's really easy, using store-bought sauces, and can be multiplied to feed lots of people (like hungry college students!).

Cajun Chicken Pasta

4 Chicken Breasts
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
Cajun seasoning
1 jar 'Classico Spicy Tomato Basil' sauce
1 jar Alfredo sauce
1 box/bag of bow tie pasta

1. Pan fry chicken breasts until cooked through. Chop into bite-size pieces. Set aside.
2. Saute bell peppers, onion and garlic in olive oil. When vegetables are almost cooked, add a teaspoon (more or less to taste) of Cajun seasoning and finish cooking.
3. Add both jars of sauces and cover. Let simmer for 15 minutes to meld flavors.
4. Add chicken back to sauce and continue simmering.
5. Cook pasta according to box.
6. Serve sauce over pasta. Garlic bread goes well with this too!

Oh Snap!

2009-01-06T16:33:00.003-06:00

I've been MIA lately, which isn't too unusual for me.

I'll have an update ready, pics and all, from our Winter Retreat of 2009!

I'll also be back with an all-new Left-Over Wednesday post!

Christmas a Deux

2008-12-29T11:16:00.007-06:00

Well the weekend was busy, to say the least!

We had Christmas Eve service at church, where all things technical went hay-wire! I was running the light board and JC and Lindsay were running sound and Mediashout, respectivly. Fifteen minutes before the service was supposed to start, JC was messing around at MY light board and got the levels all locked up! In the end, we had to call Paul Sutton, shut down the board and restart it...we were trying to get that taken care of before Kevin started the service, but alas, he started on time and so we were in the dark through the first song. Awkward. But it was a fine, old-school SMI service, complete with all Vignuelles participating. Mick and Rick sang, Tiffany and her Children of the World performed and Pastor Dick gave the message and candle-light part. Vintage 1985-SMI! I felt like a little kid again when Pastor Dick got up to the pulpit.

After the service. we went to Dad's to exchange presents with him. Dad made some browines, and bless his heart, over cooked them quite a bit. Everyone made it except Noel and Ash, but Dad was going to spend Christmas morning with them and the baby. After Dad's we still had to eat dinner, so Cub and Abby came over and helped Scott wrap presents while I made dinner and worked on pies.

Christmas morning, we slept in, made sausage balls and cinnamon rolls for breakfast and opened out gifts from each other. "Our gift" was an ottoman coffee table that I had been wanting! It's dark brown leather, so it looks great with our lighter brown sofa, and has two cubes that store inside. Slowly but surely I'm replacing the hand-me-down furniture in the living room! This will also give us lots of extra seating!

Scott made his pies, he made an apple pie and saved me crust to make a chocolate pie, which will probably be a future Left-Over Wednesdays posting! We ran to Mimi's house just in time to open presents with them, the Brannons and Noel and Ashley. The baby, of course was the center of attention! And, random side note, me, Abby and Mom all matched, unintenionally, in shades of grey, purple and black. Oddly enough, that happens with me and Abby quite a bit. Not so much with Mom, as she wears too much pink. We then made our way to the Leveilles for dinner and presents with all of them. Carrie, Chris and James had been in town for a while, and Heather and her crew were coming over from Trussville. With 5 children ranging from 4 to 11, it's usually mass chaos for present time! The pies we made were for dessert at the Leveilles, and I have to say, MY chocolate pie was liked better than Scott's boring old apple pie! :)

Saturday I started feeling sick. Scott was getting over a viral cold, so I'm sure that's what I caught. The rest of the weekend was spent on the sofa or in bed. Boo. I'm still not completely better. A shot in the hip helped yesterday, but it's one of those things that has to run it's course!

We leave tomorrow morning at 6AM for Boone, NC, with 23 college students and young adults for our winter retreat! We are so excited, but I sure hope I feel better than I do now! I'll be back next week with an update from retreat!

Happy New Year All!

Christmas...Round One

2008-12-24T08:28:00.004-06:00

So we started Christmas celebrations early...we had Christmas with Mom on Saturday and Christmas with Mawmaw on Sunday. This was only the beginning... Mom decided that she would not cook and had Cajun food catered in for Christmas dinner. And spinach ravioli for me, since I don't eat seafood. Random, I know. Here's a few pics from the evening! Baby Lauren was the center of attention for most of the time!

All the sibs...we coordinated nicely. The boys wore green and me and sister had on red! ;)

Abby just thinks she's the favorite aunt...

The other "sister", Rach, came too! :) Reechel! (for those that don't know, Ree + Rachel = Reechel we are alot alike)

Sunday was at Mawmaw's house with Dad's side of the family. We always have fun with our cousins Chris and Katie (and Chris' GF Natalie). Scott and Katie have a tissue-paper-throwing-war that has been ongoing for years now.

All the grandkids plus Lauren, the first great-grandchild

Lauren was more interested in eating things. At least she was eating her new doll rather than tissue paper!

Isn't she CUTE???
Mawmaw with her first great-grandchild!

We played Dirty Santa too and I ended up with a large stuffed Santa and Scott ended up with The Dark Knight DVD. We were pretty excited about the DVD since we have not seen that yet! I, however, have no use for another Christmas decoration, so my dad trade with me later for the tin of Double-Mint gum and $15 cash that he got.

That was round one...stay tuned for Rounds Two and Three!

No Recipe today...Merry Chirstmas!

2008-12-24T08:23:00.003-06:00

I'm not doing a Left-Over Wednesday today...Merry Christmas everyone! See yall Monday!

Oh, and if you do not receive your Christmas card today (and half of you won't) just consider it a New Year's card...

Left-Over Wednesdays: Party Food!

2008-12-17T10:56:00.010-06:00

Well, just in time for Christmas! Here's a few of my favorite things for holiday food!

Sausage Balls

1 "tube" hot sausage
2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups Bisquick baking mix, more on hand as needed

1. Mix cheese and Bisquick together in large bowl
2. Start combining raw sausage with Bisquick mixture by hand. (Gloves are a good idea if you are squeamish about raw meat!)
3. The consistency must not be too loose, so the balls don't hold together. The sausage is the binding agent, but I have added small amounts of milk to help, if I've added too much Bisquick. 4. Hand roll mixture into golf-ball sized balls and place on greased or lined baking sheet.
5. Bake in 375 degree oven about 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Tomato and Goat Cheese Dip with French Bread 1 jar gourmet tomato pasta sauce (I use Classico's Tomato Basil)
3 TBS pesto
3 TBS goat cheese

1. Pour tomato sauce in small baking dish (something you would serve in too)
2. Spoon the pesto into tomato sauce, but don't combine fully
3. Spoon dollops of goat cheese on top of sauce, and again, don't combine.
4. Bake in 350 degree oven until warm through and bubbly.
5. Serve with sliced French bread.

Cranberry-Apple Crisp

from America's Test Kitchen

Topping
3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon (but I like to add more)
12 TBS unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces and chilled
3/4 cup old fashioned oats

Filling
1 pound cranberries, fresh or frozen
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup water
2 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples (I used 6 and it was plenty), peeled, cored and cut
2 1/2 pounds Braeburn apples (same as above), peeled, cored and cut
1 cup sweetened dried cranberries (Crasins)
3 TBS Minute tapioca

1. Make the Topping: combine flour, sugars, cinnamon and butter in food processor and pulse until you have course crumb texture; OR use pastry cutter (and elbow grease!) to combine in large bowl manually. Stir in oats and set aside.
2. Make the Filling: bring fresh cranberries, 3/4 cup sugar and water to simmer in stockpot/soup pot over med-high heat and cook until cranberries are softened and mixture is jam-like, about 10 minutes. Scrape mixture into bowl and set aside.
3. Add apples, remaining 1/2 cup sugar and dried cranberries to pot and cook over med-high heat about 5 minutes.
4. Off heat, stir in cranberry mixture and tapioca and pour into 9X13 baking dish.
5. Scatter topping completely over apple mixture and bake in 400 degree oven about 30 minutes, until brown and bubbly.
6. Serve hot with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Chocolate Truffles

16 oz dark chocolate bar, top quality, broken into small pieces

8-10 oz heavy cream
2 oz rum, whisky or other, if desired

Coatings:
cocoa powder
cinnamon-sugar
chopped pistachios
crushed peppermint
coconut

1. Heat cream in pot over very low heat until scalding.
2. Remove from heat and stir in alcohol (if desired) and chocolate pieces. Stir until chocolate is completely melted, smooth and shiny.
3. Pour chocolate into shallow dish and place in refrigerator to chill completely. This will take several hours, chocolate must be completely "set".
4. Working quickly, roll ping-pong ball sized balls of chocolate mixture in your hands and place on a lined sheet pan. I use a small scoop to help or you could use a melon-baller if you want smaller truffles.
5. Place your desired coatings in bowls. Toss each truffle in your desired topping. I like classic cocoa powder the best, but be creative. I included a few ideas here.
6. Store in the fridge if you are not serving immediately.

So, what about you? What are some of your favorite things to serve at holiday parties?

Christmas Cards

2008-12-15T14:32:00.003-06:00

...because I may not get them sent out this year...

Christmas Funness

2008-12-12T11:10:00.002-06:00

Oh man, I found the funniest thing I have come across since "Elf Yourself"! It's a design-your-own holiday sweater! I found it through the Stuff Christians Like blog comment section.

Here's the link to mine!

Christmas Sweater!

Look at mine then design your own! Have fun! Share what you made too...that would be fun!

Christmas Tour of Homes, Part 2

2008-12-12T09:16:00.009-06:00

Finally! I finished decorating our house! So here's the other link for Greta's Tour!

Here's pics of the dining room. I kept it pretty simple since the wreaths and garland in the chandelier are really sparklely. I toned the sparkle down with brown and white polka dot ribbon that I hung the wreaths with and ran thru the chandelier. This coordinates nicely with my fall and winter dishes, "Friendly Village" by Johnson Bros. (I use them Sept thru March, not just at the holidays)

This is my kitchen decor! I love my little red kitchen! So I had to buy this cute red tinsel tree and decorate it with cooking-related ornaments! I used a vintage Christmas handkercheif as a tree skirt and a vintage apron as my curtain on the back door. One of my favorite onaments is on this tree, the gingerbread cookie baker in the pic above...isn't she cute?

My tree is pretty traditional, but with a fun twist...leopard! My tree skirt is black plush with leopard trip and my tree topper is leopard plush ribbon. I have the same ribbon running thru the garland on the mantel. I don't have a theme with ornaments, but I like the look of Christopher Radkos, so I have plenty of look-alikes. I also try to collect ornaments from trips we go on. The newest addition is one from Guatemala from my sister's mission trip! Scott and I have velvet-striped stockings that I had monogramed, hung by fleur-de-lis hangers. Here's the piano, which never get decorated the same way year to year. This year i replaced my lamps with lit topiaries and put cute little ornament candles on my stacks of old books. The other pics are in the hall of the ceramic tree that my mom made the year I was born. I was 6 weeks early, so mom actually had not finished the tree, so her ceramics instructor finished it for her. THe first Christmas I was married Mom gave the tree to me!

Oh, Just An Update For Ya!

2008-12-11T13:07:00.012-06:00

Its been a while since I blogged about random things, so I thought I'd be random today.

~ Finished my class for the semester. I had to write a paper on Navajo sandpaintings. Thrilling. I didn't actually hate the class though...it was an Anthro class on symbolism. What did I learn, you ask? Um, I'll get back with you on that one. Next semester I'm taking a comparative politics class, which should be really interesting with the new president and senate coming into office next month!

* I still have not finished decorating our house for Christmas...I feel like a failure of a housewife. Tonight, hopefully, I will watch it SNOW and finish decorating. And take pictures for Greta's Tour of Homes! Which, by the way, if you haven't participated, please do!! It's always fun to see other's decorations!~ Current Books I'm reading:

Christy Miller: The College Years by Robin Jones Gunn (3 books in 1 volume)

**I loved Christy Miller books when in high school! Now I can read about her college days! This is really easy reading, of course, but the books are packed with great Godly truths too....perfect if you know a teen who needs some spiritually-uplifting books to read!

God Is The Gospel by John Piper

** Piper has been my choice of devotional reading for the last year or so. I have to read his stuff slowly to absorb it! This little book (only 179 pages) is so crammed full of theology. Even though so much of how salvation works still remains a mystery to me, this book helps me delve into scripture to understand the Gospel, and how to l ive a gospel-centered life in Christ.* Current Music I'm listening to:

Coldplay's Viva La Vida

~~I can't help it. I know its been out for months now, but I just really like it alot still! My favorite track is "Yes"...the music is really cool and I love how deep his voice gets in that song.

Enya's And Winter Came

~~ I love Enya and was super-excited when her holiday CD came out! Got it for my b'day this week! "Oh Come, Oh Come, Emmanual" is pretty amazing!

~ I went to Sips n Strokes again last night with mom, Abby, Steph, Ashley D, Laura B, Heather and Rach! It went MUCH better than last time when we attempted a pumpkin! You would think a round vegetable would be pretty easy to paint...not so much. We had fun do "Retro Christmas Trees"!

* I cannot find a Nativity set that I like. Well, actually I did, but I bought it for the Jones House last year and I can't even remember where... The ones I find are either too childish, too fancy, too expensive, too small, too big...I need one that's "Just right"! And no, I do not want a Willow Tree set like everyone else. Willow Tree is great and all, but everyone either has it, or wants it.

Had enough randomess from me? Stay tuned...I'll post another "Gift-Giving That Makes a Difference" soon too!

Left-Over Wednesdays: Male Chauvinist Chili

2008-12-10T10:34:00.005-06:00

Hi! Sorry I didn't post a recipe last week! Here's the famous Leveille chili recipe! It's more complicated that your usual chili recipe, so get ready to do some time in the kitchen, then let it simmer all day! Perfect for a cold winter's day...especially considering we have a chance of snow tomorrow here in Bama! ;)

Male Chauvinist Chili

by Sue Leveille

6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled; set aside
1 LB Italian sausage, sliced and cooked; set aside
1 LB ground beef, cooked and crumbled; set aside

1 large white onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, diced

1 cup dark red wine, I prefer a Cabernet Sauvingnon
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp hot dry mustard
1 tsp celery seed
1 1/2 tsp chili pepper (or more, to taste)
salt and pepper, to taste

6 cups Italian-seasoned tomatoes in can, "smashed" or "crushed"; do NOT drain

1 15 oz can pinto beans
1 15 oz can kidney beans
1 15 oz can garbanzo beans/chickpeas

1. Reserve the juices and fat from the pan the meat was cooked in, using that to saute onion, garlic and peppers.

2. Add cooked meat back to vegetables

3. Stir in wine and Worcestershire sauce. Bring mixture to a simmer for 10 minutes.

4. Add mustard powder, celery seed and chili pepper and canned tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

5. Add beans with juices and salt and pepper to taste, adjusting the chili pepper also if needed.

6. Maybe simmered for several hours on stove top or transferred to a crock pot. Works really well in a large cast-iron Dutch oven. Leftovers get even better with time! Freezes and re-heats well too.

7. Serve with cornbread, grilled cheese or garlic bread; top chili with shredded sharp cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Christmas Tour of Homes...Kinda

2008-12-06T16:47:00.012-06:00

Well Greta came up with a great idea about posting links to your blog with your Christmas deco. How fun! Um, except that I am the loser that hasn't decorated yet and it's *gasp* December 6th!

All joking aside, y'all that know us know that we've been swamped right now..so as soon as I post this post, I'll finish my paper, THEN go home and start decorating. If Scottie got the stuff out of the attic that is.

I did manage to decorate my cubicle at work this week and we decorated the Jones house last Sunday. So here's pics of those, and as soon as I decorate MY house, I'll post a link again!My cubicle is decorated in a black, white and red Paris theme (shocking, I know) so I have this small silver tinsel tree with black ornaments and small Eiffel Towers with a red ribbon.Close-up of an ornament.Now for the Jones House, which we use for college ministry, if you don't know. We decorated last Sunday with the Young Adult group who also use the house!I swiped these paper stars from the stuff I use for Adorations and I LOVE them in the windows so much! They may have found a permanent home...Rachel took this shot too and I'm sure hers turned out better! My attempt to be artsy...The mantel.Oooo, artsy shot again.

The ribbon I used here is also on the tree and it's brown and cream window-pane plaid, wired, silky. It doesn't scream "Christmas", and that's what I intended. I wanted a cool, laid, back look for the J House decor.Close-up, but a little blurry, shot of the Nativity.I love this Nativity set, and I want one for my house, but I can't remember where I bought it last year...oh well. I love the figures hands. They seem like they are in awe...

Gift-Giving That Makes a Difference, Part 2

2008-12-02T10:29:00.008-06:00

My next installment features a company that I found through Passion's One Million Can website, where they are striving to raine one million dollars for various causes around the world.

Sari Bari Project

This project is located in India and seeks to help women out of the sex trade, getting them off the streets, into housing and providing training and a job to help support themselves. This type of cause is SO SO SO important becuase the sex trade industry is ramant, even in the US, much less say in poorer countries. I love their slogan: "A new life in the making". Because not only do these women get a respectable career, they are shared the Gospel, and that is the greatest gift that they could receive. They truely have the chance for New Life!

Here's what their website says about what their company name means: "The name "Sari Bari" comes from two symbols. A sari is the traditional clothing worn by women in India. Saris represent the essence of womanhood. In Bengali, the word bari means "house” or “home." Our hope is for Sari Bari to be a safe home where women who have been exploited in the sex trade can have their dignity restored and experience a new life in the making."

They make blankets in several sizes and handbags from the sari quilts. Here's a few of my favs off their website:

This is a baby blanket size in a simple red and white. I strongly encourage you to visit their website where you can view the individual products and zoom in to see the detail!

All of the bags on their website are this style, crescent shaped with bamboo handles. This is a particularly affordable option! The bags are only $25!

Another example of a twin-size blanket. I love how no two are alike! They do a great job of putting the various patterns and colours together!

**NOTE: They sell-out pretty quickly of their bags and blanets, but check their site regularly for shipment updates!

Left-Over Wednesdays: Breakfast Casserole

2008-11-26T12:21:00.003-06:00

Well I am purposely staying away from a recipe that is Thanksgiving-y. See last week's recipe post if you need a side dish idea! (Don't worry April and Jaci...I'll get to the chili recipe soon! I won't forget!)
We had Anti-Thanksgiving Dinner last night at college group (not that we are against T'giving, just an "opposite" dinner). The meal that I could think of that is completely opposite of turkey and dressing would be sushi...but I wasn't going to make sushi for 25 college students...so we had breakfast for dinner! I served this casserole with cinnamon rolls and OJ.

Breakfast Casserole

Makes one 9X13 pan

This is also great to make the night before, especially if you are serving this for breakfast or brunch, then pop in the oven when you get up.

1 loaf white bread, cut into cubes or chunks
1 "tube" sausage, cooked and crumbled
1 dozen eggs
2 cups milk
Salt/pepper
3-4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1 bunch green onion, minced
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded

1. Place bread cubes in bottom of pan
2. Whisk eggs and milk together until fully combined. Salt and pepper to taste.
3. Layer chopped tomatoes, green onions, sausage and a cup or so of cheese over the bread in pan.
4. Pour egg mixture over bread and ingredients. **NOTE: I usually don't measure the milk out to an exact amount, so you may need to add extra milk. The egg/milk mixture needs to cover the ingredients completely. Sometimes I add heavy cream too!
5. Top with remainder of cheese and bake in 375 degree oven for 45-60 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.
6. Can be made "vegetarian" with no sausage, or add your own veggies (mushrooms, peppers, etc) for some variations. This is the version the college kids like!

Gift-Giving That Makes a Difference, Part 1

2008-11-25T16:50:00.007-06:00

So I thought I would feature a new weekly or maybe bi-weekly column about some "gift ideas" that are about more than just us...this really stems from what God has been doing in my heart the last few months...maybe I'll share some of that as we go along.

Anyway, nobody likes to shop more than I do...just ask Scott. All joking aside, I have been learning to be a lot more disciplined in money matters and I still have a VERY long way to go!

But, as we approach the Christmas gift-giving season, we (like 99% of you!) have to cut back on what we spend on others this year. So I was trying to get creative with gift ideas and really trying to come up with some thing that will be meaningful for each recipient. Thus this weekly article, starting today!

1 John 3:17-18

"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

Compassion International

Compassion is one of the largest and most widely-used child-sponsorship programs around. I know several people who sponsor a child through them. They have a great reach all over the world!

Besides the obvious child-sponsorship gift, I found some unique ideas on the website! Here's a few of my favorites:

Men's or Women's Graphic Tees found at their online store. This one says "Please" in Portuguese. Proceeds from this $22 tee goes to the Global Food Crisis Fund.

This Baby Onesie features the word "Baby" in several different languages. Also in brown and blue for a boy, but I have some little nieces to buy for, so I featured the pink. The proceeds from this $15 onesie go to support the Child Survival Program.

They also have a unique Christmas Gift Program for children in poverty. A donation of at least $18 per child helps to provide Christmas gifts. You can then get creative with what you give to the person you gave in honor of.