Sarah and Ryan

Merging the Blogs

2010-09-16T23:02:00.003-05:00

I've decided to merge my blogs... this one is going away...

To all my MILLIONS of followers (ha), update your bookmarks to Filling The House.

Green Chile Chicken Enchilada’s

2010-08-14T09:08:00.001-05:00

I’m slowly figuring out a routine that allows for working, time with Cason and cooking every night. I’ve tried a few new things the past few weeks and this was definitely one of my favorites.

I always thought I didn’t like Enchilada’s because I don’t like the traditional ranchero sauce that most restaurants serve. After Cason was born, a few different people brought us enchilada’s. Some were more traditional with beef and red sauce and some were chicken with cheese or sour cream sauce. I liked all the different versions so I knew it was time to make them myself.

The Foodie Bride has a Green Chile-Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas Recipe that is highly recommended and freezes well so I decided to give it a try. It was a huge success and not TOO hard to make.

I left out the cilantro (because I don’t like it) but didn’t change anything else. We’ve had this several times in the last month since I made it the first time. It makes enough for two full meals (I put one in the freezer) and some lunches of leftovers. Perfect!

There is something wrong with this picture…

2010-07-19T10:35:00.001-05:00

Admiral’s bed

Cason’s blanket and play mats

"Beverly Hills! What a Thrill!"

2010-06-23T18:04:00.001-05:00

This title has absolutely nothing to do with what this blog is about but yet it does. This is the song from Troop Beverly Hills. I love this movie and have vivid memories of watching it with my friend Ashley when we were in 4th grade. Little did we know then how our friendship would grow and last. Ashley and I didn't go to the same school but we were in APAC (Academic and Performing Arts Complex -- our little nerdy magnet program). We both left our home school early each day and were bussed to the APAC campus for more advanced classes... we took two classes (Math, Science or English) at a grade level ahead. Nerds. I think Ashley was also in APAC Art as well. I had no performing arts and still don't! So Ashley and I met there at APAC and she invited me to her house to play one afternoon. We watched Troop Beverly Hills and I guess you could say the rest was history.

Both our elementary schools fed into the same Middle School and High School (though Ash had a brief stint at a different High School and quickly found her way back home!) so the friendship kept going. When college rolled around we both ended up picking Millsaps and decided to request to be on the same floor/wing of our dorm so that we could meet new people but still have someone we knew close by. The admissions/housing office complied and we were assigned two doors down from each other. By midterm, both of us were looking to switch roommates and ultimately we moved in together. I'll just say we had a blast that year... lots of late nights, lots of double stuff Oreo's and milk... We should have roomed together from day 1!

Ashley decided to change schools after the first year and off to Charleston she went. I stayed in Jackson. Today she's in Colorado and I'm in Texas. Through it all, we are still great friends. She's one of the few people that still calls me "SAD" and I love it!

All of this backstory finally brings me to the project I just finished. Ashley has a shop on Etsy where she sells fun designer ("Beverly Hills" = Designer/High Fashion right???) fabrics. After my first burp cloth, I decided I wanted to make some more and thought I could make some bibs too (after reading this blog on Prudent Baby). I ordered some fabric from Ashley and got to work.

I made the bib first following Prudent Baby's instructions (minus pocket). I don't think I used the best bib as a guide and ended up with a too small neck. I made some adjustments and was able to salvage and learned a few lessons for the next one.

For the burp cloth I just sewed a rectangle of fabric on the center of the cloth diaper and added some grosgrain ribbon on the ends to hide the fact that my rectangle was about 1/4 inch too small!

Neither are quite sellable or giftable but with a little more practice I might be there. I wonder if I could get a "Wilderness Girl Patch" for my sewing! ;) I have lots of fun fabrics to work with.

Zesty Italian Crescent Casserole

2010-06-08T09:57:00.001-05:00

HOLD THE PHONE! SARAH COOKED SOMETHING NEW!!!! It’s been a LONG time since I’ve really cooked anything and longer since I’ve tried a new recipe. I guess that’s what having a baby does. Really, we have just been blessed to have wonderful friends and family bring us food in the first weeks after Cason arrived so I haven’t HAD to cook much.

Ryan’s Mom brought it to us right after Cason was born and we both really liked it. I was in the mood to try it again so I did a quick search on Pillsbury.com since I knew it had Pillsbury Crescent rolls on it and found the recipe. This recipe is the epitome of “easy” which is all I can handle these days. I didn’t get very good pictures (the one on Pillsbury’s site is WAY better) but I don’t like to post without a picture.

Zesty Italian Crescent Casserole
by Pillsbury

1 lb. lean ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup tomato pasta sauce
6 oz. (1 1/2 cups) shredded mozzarella or Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (8-oz.) can Pillsbury® Refrigerated Crescent Dinner Rolls
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted

Heat oven to 375°F. In large skillet, cook ground beef and onion over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes or until beef is thoroughly cooked, stirring frequently. Drain. Stir in pasta sauce; cook until thoroughly heated.

Meanwhile, in medium bowl, combine mozzarella cheese and sour cream; mix well.

Pour hot beef mixture into ungreased 9 1/2 or 10-inch glass deep-dish pie pan or 11x7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish. Spoon cheese mixture over beef mixture.

Unroll dough over cheese mixture. (If using pie pan, separate dough into 8 triangles; arrange points toward center over cheese mixture, crimping outside edges if necessary.) In small bowl, mix Parmesan cheese and butter. Spread evenly over dough.

Bake at 375°F. for 18 to 25 minutes or until deep golden brown.

Camera phone picture = horrible quality. But I wanted to get a shot of the pretty, rounded top before it fell when I took it out of the oven!

To prepare ahead, go through the steps up to adding the crescent rolls on top. Add the crescent rolls, butter and parmesan cheese right before baking to ensure that the crescent roll top “puffs” appropriately!

Being Domestic: Burp Cloth

2010-05-24T17:23:00.001-05:00

In about 20 minutes, I went from this (cloth diaper and some grosgrain ribbon)

To this cute little burp cloth for the future basketball star.

I’m going to take it to have his name embroidered on as a final touch.

This was one of the projects on my “to do before the baby comes” list… most of which did not get done before his early arrival!

Old Family Pictures

2010-05-20T22:52:00.002-05:00

I’m cleaning out boxes of “stuff” my mom brought me after we moved in the house… all my “stuff” (there might be a better word to use here that starts with “cr” and ends with “ap”) that was filling up the closet in my old bedroom.
Tonight I found these pictures and they made me happy. Oh how I wish Cason (and Admiral) would have known my Pop and my Nana!
These are from 1995.
Four Generations (Me, Mom, Grammy and Nana)

Gathered around the breakfast table

Grammy in the Kitchen… go figure…

My dad in his usual chair at Pop and Grammy’s… though it was James’s chair on Christmas Morning. I’m not sure why my Dad and Uncle Deaun are dressed for a blizzard and my Cousin Will is dressed for a summer day… haha. This appears to be after the gifts were open so I assume that means Aunt Rose, Uncle Ed and Cousin Jean sent Will that Jersey from Seattle and he had to wear it.

Pop in his recliner in his bedroom. This is where he was sure to be found after a long Christmas Day.

I don’t remember him sitting in this chair much… especially not at Christmas time!

Though Pop appears to be in the same sweater, this picture is at my parents house and is just too good not to post! Two of my favorite men!

I think this was the year that Mom had her Vertigo spell. I have pictures from the same stack of her laid up on the couch. I’m using restraint and not posting them… at least not for now!

Mother’s Day

2010-05-09T22:23:00.000-05:00

I didn’t expect to be really celebrating Mother’s Day as an actual “Mother” this year. Mother’s Day fell 2 days after my birthday. We joked a lot about how we thought my birthday would be pretty miserable… pregnant, fat, tired, uncomfortable and so ready to meet little Cason. Mother’s Day would probably have been more of the same complaining. :)

Instead, I celebrated my 29th birthday and my very first Mother’s day with my adorable little man, my wonderful husband and my oldest son (of the canine variety).

Mother’s day has a new meaning now. Though I’ve only been a Mom for a little over 3 weeks, I know already what it means to be a mother. As my body was not just my body for 9 make that 8 months… my life is not just my life anymore. Especially in these early weeks and months I hold the responsibility of this life in my hands and its an awesome responsibility and amazing gift. From the morning I jumped out of bed and rushed to check on Cason after he slept for 6 hours to the way he melts my heart when he grips my finger as if he will never let go to all the crazy funny faces he makes as he stretches, wakes up, eats, etc…. I am just so truly blessed to have this happy, healthy baby that arrived 5 weeks early.

Finally being a “Mother” myself, it makes me appreciate my mom and my grandmothers and all the mom’s in my life that much more. I hope to look back in 29 years and see that I’ve been as wonderful a mother as my Mom. And with that, I thank my Mom for always being there for me and James, for loving us unconditionally, for letting us make mistakes (and being there to help us pick up the pieces when we did), for encouraging us to follow our dreams, for offering advice (even when we didn’t want to hear it), for being our friend as we have grown older and for a million more reasons… Thank You and Happy Mother’s Day.

Newborn Pictures

2010-05-06T18:51:00.001-05:00

I had Maternity pictures scheduled for April 26th. Since Cason decided to come early, we changed them to newborn pictures.

Link to the album - Password is “Sarah”

Photos by Rebecca Todd Photography.

New Chair (and a half)

2010-04-30T19:17:00.002-05:00

When we bought our couches, we also got a big, comfy chair and a half. We originally had it in the bedroom, then pulled it out to the living room over Christmas.
We always intended to get another chair for the living room and put the leather one back in the bedroom. With Cason's arrival looming, we wanted to get that new chair sooner rather than later so we could have a chair for nursing, etc in the bedroom. We really became accustomed to the big chair in the living room so we went in search of basically the fabric version of the one we had. We found an almost identical chair with tons of fabric choices and after a few days of fabric-choice-decision-making (I am SOOO not good at this stuff) we ordered the chair with an April 30 delivery date. Little did we know how early Cason would arrive. :)
Here is the before with all the leather.

And the new chair that was delivered this week!

Ryan and Cason give it the seal of approval!!!

Bitten by a Snake

2010-04-26T12:32:00.002-05:00

My fear since moving into the new house has been that we’d see a snake on the porch or that worse, Admiral would get bitten. I really mostly feared it when we let him swim in the pond out front.
We brought Cason home from the hospital on a Monday afternoon. On Tuesday night, I was feeding him around 9:00pm and Ryan came in the room and said “something’s wrong with Admiral”. Ryan looked really upset and that of course freaked me out. Admirals snout was huge and you could see two small punctures so we knew it had to be a snake. He was drooling really bad (worse than normal) and you could tell he was in pain. I called the emergency vet and they told us to call a different one as they had a 2+ hour wait. Ryan and my dad loaded him into the car and off they went.
While they were gone, I of course was “Googling” snakebites to see what to expect. Most of the websites made me feel better but confirmed that Admiral was likely in a lot of pain.
The vet gave him several different medicines and sent him home with anti-biotics. He said it was the 4th snake bite that night and that he was fairly sure it was a copperhead. He also said that April is bad for copperheads… we assume this is mating season or something? Who knows.
Here are pictures I took trying to show the swelling (these were when he got home from the vet).

And this one is two days later.

He was pretty groggy and whiney for a couple of days. Add that to having the new baby at home and he was a sad sight to see. But, he’s back to his normal self, hopping up every time he hears paper/plastic rustling. It was a scary night for the new mom and dad… not exactly what we wanted to be dealing with a day two home with baby. It sure makes you realize how much a part of the family our four legged friends are when they are sick.
We all survived the ordeal and Admiral is definitely warming up to his baby brother.

Cason’s Here

2010-04-20T11:40:00.001-05:00

Cason Philip arrived 5 weeks early!

April 16th, 2010

2:17am

6lbs 12oz

19.5 inches

Our First Family Picture

More about our whirlwind birth story and more pictures coming on Filling The House!

Doggie Videos

2010-04-10T13:10:00.000-05:00

I’ve joked that Ryan is most excited about the toys Cason will accumulate. We got a few things recently… I think this video proves my point. And, I’m pretty sure we are going to have to pay close attention to Admiral and Ryan when it comes to the toys…

And today is the start of the Woodforest Showcase of Homes and Grand Opening. Ryan is off hosting their Showcase Home along with his parents who were dog sitting Kevin and Steph’s dog Clive. He was only here for 10 minutes before I started hearing the playful growls and collars jingling. I caught this little video before they noticed me watching!.

They’ve been going at this off and on for the better part of 3 hours now. Gonna be some tired (and slobbery) puppies!

Puppy Love

2010-03-31T11:43:00.000-05:00

Too Cute

2010-03-24T15:41:00.000-05:00

A friend of mine posted this on her Facebook today. She has a little girl and another on the way. I hope I have a little girl one day so I can make cute things like this.

Prudent Baby's "10 Minute Onesie Dress - Easiest Dress Ever"

I'm really just posting this so that I can find it later because I want to make these one day -- for my own daughter, niece, friend's daughter...

Cookie Mix in a Jar

2010-03-22T17:02:00.003-05:00

As gifts for my Baby Shower Hostesses, I made these and thought they turned out great!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Mix In A Jar
by:Nestle Meals.com

Ingredients In the Jar
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (9 ounces) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Quart Canning Jar

Filling the Jar
Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Place flour mixture in jar. Layer remaining ingredients in order listed above, pressing firmly after each layer. Seal with lid and decorate with fabric and ribbon.

Recipe to Attach
Preheat oven to 375° F. Beat 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) softened butter or margarine, 1 large egg and 3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until blended. Add cookie mix and 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional); mix well, breaking up any clumps. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets. Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

Tips:

After a test run, I measured out all my ingredients into separate bowls so that I could setup an assembly line… Mom was helping.
I found that it was best to slightly pack the flour after placing in the jar.
When layering in the chocolate chips, spoon them in gently (as opposed to pouring them in fast) so that they don’t sink into the flour.
You can play with the layering… I did two jars as flour, chips, brown sugar, flour, chips, brown sugar and two jars as flour, chips, brown sugar. The second approach filled the jar better, probably because I packed the flour too much in the first approach (pictured).
The key is to always pack brown sugar on top of the chips if you are going to put flour on top. Otherwise, the flour seeps down into the cracks between chips.
And always pack brown sugar as the last layer to seal everything together.

I did a test run of the full recipe before starting the project to make sure the cookies were actually good… they were. To finish off the jars, I tied a cute spatula around with cute ribbon. They turned out pretty cute!

Thanks to Suz, Jenn, Whit and Steph for a great shower!

New Phones!!

2010-03-07T13:52:00.001-06:00

Two years ago we went to get new phones when our two year renewal discount was available. We left the Verizon store with a Blackberry for Ryan and a little flip phone for me. I was jealous. Lots of our friends were getting Blackberry and iPhones. It just wasn't in the cards for me back then.

Yesterday we went in for our new two year upgrade and I had already told Ryan that I WOULD be getting a smartphone whether he liked it or not! I need to be able to email him pictures of Cason while I was home on leave. And I need to be able to post them straight to Facebook... I NEED to be able to do this!!!!!

So here I am, posting to the blog from my new Droid Eris. Ryan got the Motorola Droid. I love mine and I think Ryan is starting to like his... gotta adjust from the Blackberry. We've both already spent WAAAY too much time playing with theses phones in the past, oh, 18 hours!

Happy Valentine’s Day and Mardi Gras!

2010-02-14T15:31:00.002-06:00

I had white, yellow and green leftover icing from my Super Bowl Cookie Cake so I decided to make some purple to celebrate Mardi Gras and some pink for Valentine’s. I think the two events go together perfect… I know that there is a lot of LOVE going on down in the Big Easy with more than just Mardi Gras to celebrate. With the Saints Super Bowl win so close to Mardi Gras, no doubt the past week and the coming weeks will be some of the craziest ever in New Orleans!
These are nothing fancy… Slice and Bake cookies, Wilton Butter Cream. But oh so good!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday

2010-02-07T15:43:00.001-06:00

We are having a few friends over to watch the game. A sporting event is always a reason for me to bake and practice my cake decorating skills. This is my standard sugar cookie cake with Wilton buttercream icing. I’m pretty darn proud of myself!

The fleur-de-lis was the most intimidating part. But I think I did okay!

I’ve drawn a million horseshoes in my life, thanks to 4 years of being a Murrah Mustang Cheerleader! These didn’t scare me at all!

Of course, I’m rooting for the Saints! Growing up in Mississippi, the Saints were our team too. And they always were terrible but we’d watch them on Sunday’s anyway. Between Archie Manning and Deuce McAllister, the love for the Saints has only grown in Mississippi over the years. It’s amazing to finally see them have good seasons in a row and to finally be on the big stage at the BIG GAME! Go Saints!

Life and Times of Admiral: Playdate with Clive

2010-02-06T13:09:00.001-06:00

Ryan’s parent’s were keeping Clive while Kevin and Steph were in New Orleans for Steph’s Birthday (Happy Very Belated Birthday!!!) so they brought him over to play. When these two get together, you don’t have to really play with them, they tend to wrestle for hours straight. It’s great.

Jeff did give them a few rounds of fetch.

Clive isn’t interested in being the first one to get to the ball. He’s fine to let Admiral get there first.

Then, he fights him for the ball the whole way back.

And repeat…

I just thought this was a good picture of Admiral in his stride. He’s a pretty goofy dog but can, at times, be graceful when he runs!

Cola Onion Pork Chops

2010-02-06T12:24:00.002-06:00

Suzie sent me this website the other day, http://www.supercook.com/, where you can put in the ingredients you want to use and it will find meals that use them, show you what other ingredients you will need, etc. It searches other recipe sites like AllRecipes.com and gives you options. I put in Pork Loin and Onion and this recipe was one of the top results. I couldn't resist a 3 ingredient meal where one of the ingredients is Coke!

Cola Onion Pork Chops
by: User KATHERINEMICHELLE on AllRecipes.com

3 thick cut boneless pork chops (I thick sliced "chops" off a whole pork loin)
1 (12 fluid ounce) can cola-flavored carbonated beverage (I used Coke)
1 (1 ounce) envelope dry onion soup mix (I used Liption Onion Mushroom, it's all I had)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Place the pork chops in a shallow glass baking dish. Pour the cola over them, and sprinkle with onion soup mix.
Bake uncovered for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Turn over, and continue baking for another 30 minutes, until sauce is thickened and chops are fork tender.
As I re-read this recipe, I realize that I never turned my chops. I only cooked them for 45 minutes since they were sort of small in diameter. They were cooked through and tender. Ryan and I were very pleased with this recipe and it's SO EASY. I'll definitely be making this one again.

Looking back, I should not have sacrificed a Coke for this recipe. I should have used one of the Pepsi's I bought when they were on sale. No reason to waste a perfectly good Coke when you have some far less enjoyable Pepsi laying around! :)

Product Review: Yoplain Frozen Smoothie

2010-02-01T17:30:00.000-06:00

Several months ago I signed up for a program that sends you free samples/coupons for new products. One of the questions for signing up and being accepted is about if you will talk about the products on your blog. I don't know how many people read my blog... maybe 10. But, hey, they sent me a free sample, I'm holding up my end of the deal.

I got a coupon for a free Yoplait Frozen Smoothie and a stack of $1 off coupons to share with friends (let me know if you want one). I've been looking for them at my Kroger the past few weeks and couldn't find them but finally found them yesterday.

They are regularly priced at $3.19 and make two 8oz smoothies for 70 calories each when made with skim milk. It's just a packet of frozen fruits and yogurt that you blend with 1 cup of milk (I had to use a little more milk to get it drinkable). I got the Triple Berry flavor and really enjoyed it. I probably could have had both servings for myself but I shared with Ryan.

I'd probably buy this product again, especially with a coupon. It was a quick breakfast and even if I drank both servings, 140 calories is way less than a drive through at Chick Fil A!

Finger Football (Part 2) and Fievel

2010-01-26T21:45:00.005-06:00

Eric and Whitney(who finally have a blog) came over this weekend so Eric could help Ryan get the rest of the nursery furniture upstairs... and just to visit.

Ryan and Eric had to get a game of finger football in since, you know, Eric's the big stud Division 1 Wide Receiver and all!!! I'm thinking the Ivy League education was more useful than the Football training since the game has so many rules.

Ryan in scoring position...
Something good just happened...
Kicking a field goal or extra point
So determined...
Once again, there was a lot of laughter and when Eric is around it's never a dull or quiet evening!

And a few pictures of their puppy Fievel who was just a few days out of having his man parts removed and forced into a onesie because his neck is so long he could still reach his stitches with a cone collar.
Resting (or pouting)
Trying to figure out why there is glass separating them!

Finger Football

2010-01-23T14:09:00.004-06:00

My parents always find something sort of silly to get Ryan for Christmas. One year was one of those little remote control helicopters they were selling in the malls. This year it was Finger Football. Kevin and Steph came over last weekend and Ryan convinced Kevin to play with him

It looked pretty fun, but more complicated than we imagined.

And requiring a little more skill. But they had fun and there was lots of giggling (manly giggling) invovled as they played.

New Camera

2010-01-23T08:00:00.000-06:00

My parents got us THIS for Christmas this year. (THANKS!!!!!) I was so excited and surprised as I had only half mentioned I wanted one to my mom many months ago. She'd been plotting this for months and getting information from all our family members that have them. My dad used to have his own dark room and I've always wanted to learn more about photography. Now, I have no excuse because I have the perfect camera to start out on. I've got lots to learn and need to do it before Cason arrives!

Yesterday, I met Suz, Luke and Hudson for lunch and took a few pictures. It's amazing what this camera can do on its own (I sure had nothing to do with it)... and of course cute subjects like these two make it even more fun!

Red Bird Problem

2010-01-22T21:25:00.004-06:00

We've had a problem with this stupid red bird (cardinal I guess) liking to peck/fly into the window of the utility room and guest room window. Ryan had this problem at one of his spec homes and we did some research. Everything says that during mating season certain birds (including cardinals) are very territorial and they will see their own reflection and think its another male bird so they attack. I guess hitting the glass doesn't teach them anything and they just keep doing it. Sometimes its so bad they start to bleed! Most solutions were to keep the blinds shut, put the screens on the windows, and other methods to make the windows not have a reflection. None are "pretty" solutions..

Since the problem at our house was not affecting anyone's sleep we never did anything about it. Then, the bird (or his friend) took a perch on our outdoor cooler one day and saw himself in the glass door to our bedroom. For the past couple of weeks, he's been attacking himself in the window every morning around 7:00. I did more research and still found no fool proof solution other than to try to make the window not reflective.

I came home last night to Ryan's version of this solution.... (click for full effect)

And Ryan re-enacting this photo...

It worked this morning... Ryan said he even saw the bird perched on the cooler so we'll see how long it lasts. If we follow the advice of the websites I've read, Ryan's threatening picture will have to stay for a couple of weeks for the bird to forget that he has an enemy in this spot.

Baked Cinnamon Apples

2010-01-12T19:32:00.000-06:00

I've never been a huge fan of baked apples, apple pie, etc. I guess as I've gotten older, I'm starting to like more things. Recently I've been craving cinnamon baked apples... so much so that I ordered them instead of fries or mashed potatoes at Chili's recently!

I had never made them before and wanted something really easy. Ryan's mom sent me two of her apple recipes. One I didn't have the ingredients for and the other was for the crockpot and I was in more of a "be done when dinner is done" mood. I found a recipe on Recipe Zaar that called for 45 minutes of baking time and had pretty much the same ingredients as the crock pot recipe I already had so I gave it a try. They turned out fantastic... but the results of 10 apples disappeared waaaaaayyyy too fast in our house!

Hot Baked Cinnamon Apples
By: Recipe Zaar submitter "Elmolvsu"

10 apples, cored, peeled and sliced thin
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice (optional)
1 dash salt
1 dash nutmeg
fresh whipped cream (optional) or ice cream (optional)

Place cut and peeled apples in a mixing bowl and gently mix all the ingredients together.
Put apples in a non-stick pan, and cook covered for 45 minutes at 375°F.
Stir at least once every 15 minutes.
Once they are soft, cook for another few minutes to thicken the cinnamon sauce.
Tip: Put everything in the baking dish and then mix it since there is less to clean up.

Several of the reviews said this can be made in the crock pot as well and one even said she made it at her desk at work. I could totally torture my cube mates letting this cook all day and making them smell it but not get to eat it! Ha!

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

2010-01-11T22:49:00.000-06:00

I love anything I can cook in a crockpot. Since work + commute makes for long days, its great to have meals that are ready when I get home. This recipe has been a big hit on a local message board for some time but it took me a while to get on the bandwagon. Not sure why but we were missing out for the past year. I am not sure who this recipe "belongs" to but I wish I did so I can give them credit.

Ryan and I both really like the way these turn out and its super easy. I told him tonight that I was glad he liked it because we'd be having it a lot after the baby is born!

Crockpot Chicken Tacos
1 chicken taco seasoning packet (you can use a reg. taco seasoning packet but the chicken kind is best)
6 FROZEN chicken tenderloins (or 3 frozen breasts)
1 container of fresh pico (or can of Rotel)
1/4 c. Olive Oil
1/4 c. Water

Cover the bottom of the crockpot with the taco seasoning.
Lay frozen chicken on top.
Pour Pico/Rotel over chicken.
Pour Oil and Water over everything.
Cook on Low for 4-6 hours. If home, turn meat half way but not necessary.
Shred chicken with a fork and stir into juices.
Let cook/simmer for 30 minutes more (if time is tight, I skip this step)

Serve on tortillas with a shredded Mexican cheese blend. Great for leftovers, too.

I always use Rotel because I tend to make this when I'm having a "what to cook" moment. I keep Rotel and Taco Seasoning in the pantry most of the time and there is always some frozen chicken in my freezer from sale days when I stock up. Fresh pico would go bad in our house so I never buy it.

As an aside, a neat tip I learned (from another source that I can't find anymore) is how to make your "big" crockpot smaller. Many people get the bigger crockpot with the programmable/digital timer which can be too big for meals for two. We aren't big leftover people (with some exceptions) so I like to just cook enough for the two of us on many things. What I learned is that you can put a covered casserole dish inside your crockpot to make it the right size for smaller portions. This way, the meat is in a smaller space and is able to continue to cook in the juices and not dry out. I use the appropriate size Corningware French White covered dish to hold whatever I am cooking (brisket, roast, pork loin, chicken tacos). Just place the casserole dish with the food you are cooking, covered, into the crock pot. Put the crockpot cover on and cook as directed. Works like a charm and since the casserole dish is smaller I can normally fit it in the dishwasher for easier cleanup. Here is a picture of mine (uncovered after cooking) for reference.

Monday in Woodforest

2010-01-11T18:12:00.007-06:00

I woke up today in a funk. We stayed up too late last night budgeting for life after the arrival of Cason Philip and then I didn't sleep well...or really at all. My mind was racing and I was extremely uncomfortable (I'm a stomach sleeper and, well, that's just not possible anymore). So needless to say, today was not a good morning. I was tired and cranky and the water works started. It was just one of those mornings.

So the rest of my day just sort of had that same blah tone. I worked, tried to focus, put dinner in the crock pot, etc. And then things started to take a turn...

First, Ryan got home and said "Hey, come look", directing me to the garage door. And this is what I saw (well, it was sitting in the driveway... I didn't get a picture before Ryan brought it in).

Now to most of you, this is just a really big, new trashcan issued by the trash company. Nothing special. But to me, this trash can was probably the first thing today that made me glad I got out of bed. You see, we've been in this house for over 3 months but TODAY is the first time I've seen this trash can. This trash can symbolizes the end of bags of stinky trash sitting in the garage for a week at a time. This trash can symbolizes the end of waking up to torn up trash bags and trash on our driveway on trash morning (raccoons we assume). This trashcan symbolizes... well you get my point. Whatever was holding up delivery of trash cans to our new neighborhood was finally worked out and all is right in garbage world.

The trash can itself would have been enough to brighten my day but then there was more. We ate dinner and were cleaning up when Ryan said "It's pink outside... get the camera." And he was right. The sunset view from our back porch was beautiful. God is Good!

Family Room Changes

2010-01-07T22:00:00.000-06:00

While we had both familes at the house for Christmas, we decided to move our big chair and ottoman from the bedroom to the family room so we'd have some extra seating. Plus, my mom was dying to make it her morning reading spot! We always planned to get a chair of some sort for the family room but wanted to do something upholstered in a fun print. Since Ryan's brother helped him move the chair to the family room and I couldn't help him move it back to the bedroom, we decided to play with the furniture arrangement to see if a chair this big would fit so we know what to look for.

Some pictures from before

And now...
All four pieces fit really well and I love having the chair in the family room. We still want to get a non-leather piece so we can move this one back to the bedroom and now we know what size to look for. I don't know WHEN we'll get the new chair since there are probably a few other things we need to be focused on first!

Christmas 2009

2010-01-07T21:21:00.005-06:00

We hosted Christmas at our house this year. My parents, grandmother, niece, brother and his dog all came from Mississippi and stayed for almost a week. It was great to have my family see the new house and especially to spend some time with Grammy, James and Helmi as I see them even less than I see my parents. Admiral enjoyed having his cousin Gus around for several days too.

On Christmas morning, Santa came to visit and we opened gifts with my family. All of Ryan's family (parents, both brothers and their wives, and of course all the dogs) joined us for lunch.

It was great to celebrate our first holiday in the new house with both families. Here are some highlights.

Grammy and Helmi making Grammy's famous Lemon Pie.

Helmi in her adorable Christmas Dress

Santa came to visit.

Helmi helping Neanie open her gift... handmade by Helmi (with some help from James).

In the kitchen where I spent lots of time!

My first attempt at Grandmother's dressing.

Admiral getting his gifts.

My family

Ryan's family

All the dogs (I suggest you click on these to see them full size!!)

Fievel makes his escape and Clive TRIES to follow.

Playing Mouse Trap

Admiral and Gus relaxing in the sun.

For the full roll of pictures, click here.

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T20:34:00.004-06:00

Last year I did a sort of 10 year review. I guess you should normally do those on a year like 2010, when you roll to a new decade. I jumped the gun... mainly because 1999 was a big year for me and 2009 seemed like an appropriate 10 year mark.

As I look back on 2009, I again realize how blessed I am. The highlights of our year and the blog are:

We built and moved into our "Dream Home". For me, it was a hard, stressful process. For Ryan, it was all fun. He'd do it again tomorrow (good thing since its his job) and I hyperventilate just thinking about picking out tile, paint, granite... breathe... breathe...
We sold the "Best Boat Ever" (and promised each other we'd get another one one day)
I gained two amazing sister-in-laws when Ryan's brothers Kevin and Eric tied the knot.
We traveled to New Hampshire for Eric's Graduation, to Nashville for my friend Ross's wedding and to San Antonio/Seaworld with my family.
Admiral gained 3 doggie cousins.
And last but not least... telling our friends we are expecting a baby and finding out It's A Boy!

Since I've often devoted a lot of my blog to the food I cook, here are some of my favs from 2009:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies - "Chocolate Heaven" and "Almost Molten Lava Cakes"
Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies - "A Red Velvet Valentine's Day"
Rockets Iced Sugar Cookies - "Baking for Sports"
Fried Pickles
Cheesecake Pops - "Cheesecake Pops -- The Easy Way"
And a few more that haven't made the blog yet... I guess 2010 will get credit for those!

2010 is going to be a great year! I can't even begin to image how my life will have changed by January 1, 2011.

Big News Gets Two Posts!

2009-12-22T14:28:00.001-06:00

We had our "big ultrasound" today to see the baby and find out the gender. See the Baby Blog for details!

Christmas Tree Additions

2009-12-10T23:20:00.004-06:00

The tree is up and pretty much decorated. I might add a few more filler ornaments but I'm in no rush. I was finally able to get some pictures last weekend. Of course it was during the day so it doesn't really sparkle like at night. Oh well.

In my Christmas post last year, I reflected on how I decorate the tree. Again this year, I had a pretty easy time with the lights and was excited to use all 4 sections, though I made the EXACT SAME mistake when putting it up! (I missed a section and had to take it apart and start over). I enjoyed hanging all the meaningful ornaments and the memories they hold. The boat ornaments made me sad but happy at the same time (we'll get another one one day!).

Here are the new ornaments from this year: New Home 2009 (from my parents)
Mom To Be (from my aunts)
Snowmen making Sugar Cookies -- I got this one last year since cookies are my favorite thing to bake!

Hot Wheels aka "As Close to Darda as I Could Find" that I got for Ryan, Kevin and Eric after Christmas last year.

I'M IN LOVE WITH...

2009-12-10T22:51:00.005-06:00

MY OVEN!

It's so pretty and big and roomy and has all kinds of fancy features and I don't have to bend over to use it and there are TWO of them!!!

And tonight, it made me so pathetically happy when I fit all 24 cupcakes on the middle rack. I'm talking so happy that I got my camera and took a picture! Ahhh, I'm in love.

Swing

2009-12-09T10:33:00.001-06:00

I've always wanted a front porch with a swing, and now I have one! My parents bought us the swing as a housewarming gift and it was delivered Monday. Ryan managed to hang it all by himself and it looks fantastic!!!

Now all we need is some neighbors so I can be the nosey lady that sits on her front porch and spies on everyone!

First Christmas in Woodforest!

2009-12-05T14:24:00.007-06:00

This year I've had a lot of trouble figuring out where all my Christmas decorations should go. And even after putting up the tree, decorating the mantle, draping garland on the stair handrails and putting Christmas colored place mats and napkins on the table, the house just doesn't feel as "Christmasy" as the old house did. I guess this is another one of the fun parts of having more space... gradually getting things to fill it all up.

We ran into the same problem outside. We have all these lights... icicles and nets... and no place to put them. Okay, we COULD line our whole house but just the peaks on our one story freaked us out in prior years. There is NO WAY either one of us are attempting the peaks on this house! None of our plants are big enough for net lights. But, we made it work and it turned out nice.

A few icicles on the porch and some lights up the columns (I've always wanted to do that). Frosty and the lighted trees are in the yard and this year they have snow around them (net lights!). The lights that normally string together the candy canes were on their last leg last year and we were too lazy and cheap to redo them this year so its just candy canes for now.

Another challenge was the front door. Our doors are tall and we have the wrought iron over the top glass panel. How do you hang a wreath without putting a nail in the door? I got creative and used some fishing wire to hang it from the wrought iron.

I opted for a more "natural" look to the wreath this year and left the bow off. I think I like it this way best.

I'm happy with the finished product of the outside decor. And to be honest... I think we have a great shot of winning "Best House" on our street! Ha! :)

Doggie Cousins

2009-11-28T22:52:00.007-06:00

Admiral has been a part of our family for over 3 years now and had definitely been our baby boy no matter how big he is. For the first two and half years of his life, he was the only granddog on Ryan's side of the family. He is the spoiled rotten first grandchild who got lots of one-on-one attention from his grandparents!! :)

Now that Ryan's brothers are both married and in their own homes, the doggie family has been growing. When Kevin and Stephanie got married, we added Steph's dog Maya to the family and then we met Clive in June.

Just a few weeks ago, Eric and Whitney drove to Dallas to bring home their baby, Fievel.

Thanksgiving was the first time we got all the dogs together and it was a blast watching the "kids" play. The boys did a lot of wrestling, fetching and swimming while Maya did her best to stay out of the action (which is why I never got her in these pics--I'll do better next time!!! )

Clive and Fievel became fast friends. Fievel would nip and paw and jump all over Clive and Clive seemed to love it.

Admiral seemed to be pretty smitten with Fievel but he can be a bit intimidating to a little guy. Fievel did lots of hiding in small places that Admiral cannot fit! I think that when Fievel gets a little bigger he'll probably be bossing Admiral and Clive around on a regular basis! He's feisty

Kevin started playing fetch with Clive and Admiral joined in. Of course, Admiral thinks the only way to play fetch at the grandparents house is in the pool. Kevin would throw the ball in the grass, Clive would run after it and Admiral would run the opposite direction to the pool wondering where the ball was. Eventually Admiral got a clue. We finally gave in and started throwing the ball in the pool (had to be freezing). Clive followed Admiral right in.

Clive really only likes to get in if someone else (human or dog) is in the pool. He really wanted that ball but was just not so sure about jumping in until Admiral went first.

And you can tell when Admiral gets tired... He starts getting lazy and tries to wait for the ball to drift back toward the edge of the pool instead of jumping in to get it.

Fievel was very curious of what the big boys were doing, but this is about as close as he got to the pool. Only time will tell if he likes to swim!

Cousins... it doesn't get any better! And you know, as I wrote this post, I couldn't help but laugh that sometime in the next few years I could return to this post and replace all the references to dogs and puppies to kids and babies. As I think about how our family is about to grow again and how much my cousins have meant in my life, I think about the fun times our little one will have with his/her older cousin Helmi. And, I look forward to the day (whenever it may be... no pressure) that we add more people cousins to both families!!

A few additions

2009-11-28T10:00:00.005-06:00

Yesterday was "Black Friday" and we contributed, but we did not really do real deal hunting. We didn't even leave the house until almost 12. Our main goal was looking for a swing for the front porch. We didn't realize how hard this would be. I guess the city is not the place for a country porch swing. We reverted to the Internet and got this swing which is being stained a dark walnut color.

Thanks Mom and Dad!!!! Hopefully its here by Christmas and you can see it!

While we were out looking, we made a couple of stops to look for side tables and other things we might need. We went to Old Town Spring (to check the Amish furniture store for a swing) and then went into a few of the antique shops looking for tables.

There is a great home decor place, Metals, Petals and More that I've heard about but never been to. It's not a bargain place but its not over the top expensive either. I was really looking for more florals/greenery for my kitchen cabinets but after getting a good deal at the Holiday Market I'm being cheap! But we did find these awesome planters for our entertainment center (and one was priced wrong so we saved $20... ha).

We previously bought something else that we only sort of liked so those are going back to the store today. We are VERY happy with these planters as they add a little color and totally fill the space.

Then, we hit up Pier One to look at some things I'd seen in their Black Friday ad and to look for little side tables. We found this cute little side table with two basket drawers. We didn't know if the drawers would actually be able to function but Ryan said "If they do, it be great to put toys and things in." Definitely not a conversation we'd have had 16 weeks ago unless it was about doggie toys! Luckily there is plenty of room for the drawers to open so it looks like we have some toy storage for the family room! :) And of course, a place for the lamp and nice place for someone to rest their glass.

The biggest thing we are lacking in the Family Room is a rug. We've started that search and have finally seemed to come to a good meeting point on style. I'm more modern and he's more traditional but we seem to be agreeing on several "transitional" style rugs. I guess they are named appropriately. I'm about to head out and try to see if I can see a couple we've found online in person... and to meet Suz, Luke and Hudson for lunch while Brandon and Ryan play golf.

I'm Officially Ready for Christmas

2009-11-27T18:23:00.003-06:00

And it's not because...

Thanksgiving is over
I put the tree up last night
It's cold out (well, Houston's version of cold)
December is just a couple of days away

No, it's not because of any of those things.

It is because of this...

The Way the Cookie Crumbles' "Slice and Bake Brown Sugar Cookies"

If these don't scream "Christmas", I don't know what else does.

Stay tuned for the follow up on these cookies.

Pecan Pie = Thanksgiving

2009-11-25T18:36:00.003-06:00

My favorite PIE is pecan pie. I love pecans. I don't want them in my chocolate chip cookies, but I like them in lots of other things. Unfortunately, I married a man who doesn't like pecans, doesn't like pecan pie. Even worse, neither does his Dad or either brother. At least his mom is saving the family name... she likes pecans and pecan pie! Whew. I might have had to rethink things had they all been anti-pecan! I haven't polled my new sister in laws to see which team they are on, maybe this will be a boys vs girls issue. I'll find out tomorrow.

Anyway, I've been wanting pecan pie and wanting to make it myself. I've never made one, this is always Mom's job on the holidays. She makes a "mighty fine" Pecan Pie as my Pop would have said. I'd already committed myself to a side dish for Thanksgiving dinner and didn't want to over-extend myself. So, what do I do when I want to bake something, know my husband won't help me eat it and can't justify eating the whole thing myself??? I bake it, eat one piece, take the rest to work. My coworkers eat anything!

And last night, that's just what I did.
Pecan Pie
from Southern Sideboards, Junior League of Jackson

1 (9inch) pie shell, partially baked
1/2 cup butter (or margarine)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 t. vanilla
1 1/2 cups pecans

Bake pie crust 3-4 minutes.

Cook sugar, butter and corn syrup over low heat until the butter melts. Do not let mixture boil.

Cool slightly. Stir in eggs and mix well. Add vanilla and pecans.

Pour filling into pie crust. Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes. Pie should still be soft in the middle.

Overall it was a success. It tasted "different" than my mom's but we've nailed that down to me using real butter, she uses margarine. It was definitely "buttery". My crust also stuck to my pie plate, not sure about that part, maybe because I didn't let it thaw out, who knows. I'll try again one day.

Starting to feel like "Home"

2009-11-14T09:46:00.009-06:00

In the last 5+ years, I've lived in a lot of places. 3 apartments in College Station during graduate school; an apartment in Houston; Ryan's house in The Woodlands. None of these places were "Home". And now, I'm finally in OUR first house together. Yes, you could consider the house we lived in for our first 3 years married as "our first house" but it was always "Ryan's house" to me. He bought it. It was his bachelor pad complete with dart board, foosball table and roommates. Even though I slowly made it feel like home, and it was OUR HOME, it was always "Ryan's House".

When we first moved in the new house... OUR HOUSE... it was so empty feeling that it didn't feel like "home". We are still working on filling it up (in more ways than one) but it's finally started to feel like more than "our house"... it's HOME. I even stored our home phone number in my cell as "Home" and changed my parents number to "Mom and Dad". For some reason, this was a big step for me. I will always feel like "going home" when I go to my parents house in Jackson but our new house together is my new home. This is where I'll start my family... where the good times and bad times will happen... where the rest of our lives begins.

So, it's feeling homier (is that a word? spell check didn't catch it...). We got the couches and the kitchen table.

Now, we've added a new coffee table and end table. They have iron bases and beautiful copper tops.

And we've started to add the little finishing touches. I got these florals and accessories at the Junior League Holiday Market. They help to soften up the kitchen. I still have more to do on the bigger wall of cabinets.

I love this teapot... I couldn't decide on buying it but they put it on sale the last day of the market. So, what did I do... I bought two of them. Ha! I'll find a spot for the other one!

And, we even got a new bedding set for the Guest Bedroom. Mom and Dad, I hope you like it. I've still got to get the square pillows for the solid brown shams that came with the set, and a curtain rod to hang the valance. But, we think its very pretty and much more grown up looking than my old apartment bedding.

We've also added finishing touches in the powder room, but I forgot to take pictures of that... later! Next on the list is drapes in the Master Bedroom and a rug and throw pillows in the family room. I've called an expert to help with these activities so we'll see how that goes.

Slightly Festive

2009-11-14T09:35:00.003-06:00

Though we didn't do full Halloween decorations this year, I did pull out the general "Fall" decor. At the old house, I'd do the mantle and the dining room table and it really made the house feel festive. We don't have a dining room table and we didn't really have enough "stuff" to cover then new, huge kitchen table. So, I put it all on the mantle.

I think it looks really good, but I'll definitely be hitting up some sales to try to stock up on more things for next year. I'm starting to get worried about my Christmas decor and if I have enough. I'm pretty sure I DON'T.

Halloween Fun...

2009-11-01T21:41:00.004-06:00

Last night was the Hebert's 2nd Annual Halloween bash. We went dressed a Jim and Pam from The Office.
Pam is pregnant on the show (note the belly and ODouls in the picture) and Ryan is wearing Jim's "Facebook" costume from this year's Halloween Episode. If you are wondering about any subliminal meaning to me going as a pregnant woman... click HERE.

Halloween 2009...

2009-10-30T12:51:00.003-05:00

I just got a little sad today when I thought about tomorrow being Halloween. The past few years, Ryan and I have enjoyed carving pumpkins and handing out candy. Okay, I did most of the carving and candy giving but Ryan was there, keeping me company!

We decided not to carve a pumpkin this year, instead just hanging out with Ryan's family while they carved their pumpkins. We won't be handing out candy since we don't have any neighbors. We didn't even put our blow up pumpkin man out in the yard. Maybe next year we'll have some neighbors!

We will celebrate Halloween at the Hebert's Halloween Party and I'm very much looking forward to it.

So, in celebration, here are our pumpkins from the past two years.

I'm holding out hope (but not holding my breath) that I'll get to make an Astro's pumpkin one year soon.

Admiral Update

2009-10-17T23:15:00.001-05:00

He loves his new yard... even if he sunbathes as close to the patio as he possibly can!

Kitchen Table!

2009-10-17T22:56:00.005-05:00

Today we went out in search of some tables. We need to get either a Kitchen table or coffee table so we'd have someplace to eat. We previously looked at kitchen tables when shopping for our couches but never found anything we liked. So many tables we saw were counter height tables and that just wasn't what we wanted.

We found a table on Pottery Barn's website that we really liked but we didn't like the price. We decided we'd spend today table shopping and go to Houston if we had to. We were planning for a LONG day of shopping.

We hit a couple of places in the Woodlands and ran by Pottery Barn to check out the table in person. We still loved it but the price was just... well... obnoxious. The salesperson at Pottery Barn told us they were having some great specials so we looked around at other tables. They helped us find one that was very similar to the one we came in for, but for much less $$. And, she snuck us a 20% off coupon so we could get the whole set for 20% off and they had EVERYTHING IN STOCK.

We did lots of inspection and were just really happy with the table and the chairs, so we bought it. It was just what we wanted, a 60" square with 2 leaves to extend it to 76" or 92". I know, sounds huge but its perfect in our breakfast room with one leaf. By 1:30pm we were headed home with our new table and 8 chairs! YIPPEE!!!

All the pieces were well packaged and all we had to put together was screwing the table legs on. Its very sturdy and very heavy! We love it!

The next mission is still coffee table/end tables for the family room but at least now we can eat sitting down!

Planning to Bake... Again

2009-10-15T16:39:00.004-05:00

I have yet to bake ANYTHING in my new kitchen.

I have cooked some meals but no baking. This is going to change soon. My coworkers are asking why I haven't baked for them in a while so I need to rectify this situation.
First, I have to do some test runs on the recipes I am making out of the new Junior League Cookbook for the Holiday Market. I have to make 3 batches each of Peanut Butter Bon Bons and Mississippi Mud Bars.

Second, I saw this on Bakerella today... Snickerdoodle Duo. Yum. I've never made a Martha Stewart recipe so we'll see how it goes.

Moving In

2009-10-10T10:44:00.005-05:00

A quick update on the move...

Three Men Movers were GREAT! If we ever have to move again (please God, I hope not) we will definitely call them first!

We unpacked TONS of boxes...

The master bedroom is pretty much complete, just needs some things on the walls (excuse the bad picture).

The chair from our family room set fits perfect!

New washer and Dryer!

New couches in the family room... still need a rug and tables.

And our first use of the new grill!!!

Final Pictures!

2009-09-30T20:06:00.002-05:00

We sign the final papers tomorrow, will move a few things tomorrow night, movers come on Friday morning! It's done and I can't believe it!

And a few pictures of Admiral exploring his new house and yard!

Landscaping

2009-09-22T21:53:00.003-05:00

The landscaping is almost complete. We are just lacking a little grass in the front and on the side. Here are some pictures from the work that was done last week.

Before grass...

After grass... (front yard is not complete, pictures later)

This tree is a Magnolia... one of this Mississippi girl's favorites. It was naturally growing in our backyard so we saved it.

Back Fence
Side fence

We also got our exterior lights...

Woodfloor was installed last week (and immediately covered so no pictures). Carpet was installed Monday. We are now in the little touch-up/punch-out items. 10 days!

Ready for Landscaping

2009-09-17T12:48:00.003-05:00

The landscapers are at the house as I write this, adding grass and plants. Here are some shots from over the weekend after the driveway and grading were finished. We finally were able to get some full house shots without a dumpster or a Port-o-Let!

The countdown has started. We move Oct 2... 15 days!

Furniture Shopping

2009-09-11T17:30:00.001-05:00

On Sunday, we finally found some family room furniture. Before we found it, we were starting to lose hope. It felt like Ryan and I had been to every furniture store North of 610. I'm sure there are plenty of others we missed, but we had been to a LOT of them. Star, Rooms to Go, Ashley, Bassett, Ethan Allen, Macys, Star Clearance, Louis Shanks, The Dump...

If you are from Houston, you know one major name is missing from that list, Gallery Furniture. We had been there before when we were looking for bedroom furniture and the zoo of a furniture store that it just really turned us off. And by zoo, I'm not being 100% sarcastic. There are monkeys and birds that have habitats in the furniture store. Yes, I said monkeys and birds. Two of the monkeys are named Parker and Tidwell... the two streets that Gallery is between. Cute.

Anyway, Gallery Furniture and Mattress Mack are a Houston institution. Mack does all his own commercials, gives back to the community, sponsors the professional sports teams... he even answers the phones at the main I45 location. We really have nothing against the place, we just were so overwhelmed and unimpressed when we were looking for bedroom furniture that we said we'd never go back. I guess you never say never.

Sunday, we had stopped at the Dump and Louis Shanks after going to all the other places in the weekend/day before. I said, lets just go look. If nothing else, we can see the monkeys! :) So we go, fighting the traffic in the parking lot (that is too small for the place) and walking past the long line of people getting free lunch (hotdogs, hamburgers, bbq). We walk in there are people everywhere. You can smell fresh cookies, there is a Labor Day Cake on a table about to be cut, people handing out free ice cream sandwhiches, free lemonade. They know how to bring in the families, thats for sure.

We walked around the area of the store that is, we think, the better priced furniture and didn't see anything. It was mostly couches, which is what we were looking for but no luck. We went to the other side of the store that we assumed would be mostly bedroom furniture but found more couches. And there we found these... the perfect couches...

A good brown, deep enough for Ryan to sit comfortably, long enough for Ryan to stretch out, the nail heads were not gold. Really, the perfect set of couches.

Of course, they were packaged with this wonderful oversided chair and ottoman that we don't need but decided to get anyway. If we can fit it into the master bedroom doors, it will go there and we'll get something similar in fabric for the living room. I have to admit, I won't be sad if it has to go in the living room because I love a big chair with ottoman.

We are all set to move in now. We have family room furniture and Ryan bought a new TV. Everything else will come with time but at least we have our family room ready to go.

More of This, More of That

2009-09-04T17:38:00.004-05:00

Today's installment of "This and That" features paint and lighting.

First, the finished product of our built in hutch in the breakfast room. We were trying to go for a furniture look, a little antique. With the grooved doors/backing, the antiqued faux finish and the old school hardware, we got exactly what were were hoping for!

And a few final lighting pictures. I didn't get to post the dining fixture until now because it just got its shades today. So, here it is, hung a little higher than normal since the room is two story.

And the fixture in the Wine Room. You can see that there is still some woodwork going on in here. We first had all doors next to the wine slots but decided to leave one section open.
That's all for now. They are working on the driveway and the dumpster is finally gone! More exterior pictures soon.

This and That

2009-08-31T18:00:00.001-05:00

In my constant attempt to APPEAR to be organized, I didn't include a few pictures in my previous posts because they didn't go with the theme. So here are a few things I've been wanting to point out... mostly unrelated but not really worthy of their own posts.

First, my HUGE kitchen island. I love the granite and finally got to see it all cleaned up over the weekend. The sink is under the cardboard... we may be getting a different, deeper sink so no pictures of that yet. I'm really excited about this island. It's going to be my main cooking space. I am already dreaming about the trays of cookies, bowls of buttercream icing, pie crusts... and probably some non-dessert foods too!

Second... Do you remember this post where I was debating on the cooktop backsplash? This was one of the areas I was REALLY opinionated about and of course, what I wanted was $$$. We don't know why its so hard to find pyramid shaped tile dots??? We see them in lots of magazines but they are hard to find and of course, when you find them, they make the backsplash cost more than all the tile in the rest of the kitchen combined. Sigh. Anyway, I am very happy with how it turned out. You can see a further back, full kitchen shot in my last post. Here's the close up. Thanks to Jennifer for all her hard work researching to find what we needed to make this happen. I am sure she will never use metallic pyramid deco tiles ever again!

Third... This is a standard in the homes Ryan and his dad build but its a big, huge, fantastic deal to me. Pull out trays for my pots and pans. I love to cook and cook a lot. I am so excited to be a little more organized in my kitchen (ha, I hope it lasts).

And last, but not least, one of my other minor requests that Ryan gave in on. A plug in my vanity drawer. I wanted to have a plug in my drawer so that I could keep my hair dryer and flat iron plugged in at all times. Now, I am a little worried about the flat iron, I might need to unplug that every day for safety but at least the hair dryer is always plugged in and has a little home in the top drawer so it never gets left on the counter. Ryan laughed when I asked about this but once he realized I was serious, he found out how to get it done and made it happen... and he put one in his top drawer for his razor too!

Now I have this song in my head...

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens

Brown paper packages tied up with strings

These are a few of my favorite things

Let there be light...

2009-08-31T13:24:00.007-05:00

Friday night, Ryan and I went to the house after dark. It was the first time we were able to do this because we finally have lights! All of the fixtures were hung on Thursday and Friday. Ryan would not show me any pictures so that I could see it in person for the first time. I'm glad he did. I don't have a picture of the dining room fixture because it had a missing piece so I'll post that later. Everything looked really great and we were very pleased with the couple of items we had to pick from a catalog. Here are some pictures...

Hanging fixtures in each gallery opening

Fan and recessed cans in the living room

Breakfast room fixture (selected from a catalog)

Kitchen Island Lanterns
Our trip to the house Friday night was interesting in other ways besides all the new lighting. It really set in with me that we are some of the first people in this area. Our street was soooo quiet, dark, still, etc. It was nice and it was a little creepy all at the same time. I am what some might call a "city girl". I guess after living in a big city (meaning not Jackson, MS -- "The Bold New City") and now in the burbs I realize there are both city girls and suburbia girls and I enjoy getting to be a little of both. But the looming thought of living in what feels like "the middle of nowhere" is a new thing to me and something I never thought I'd do. I always thought I'd have a neighbor on either side.

I know that one day, in hopefully not that long of a span of time, my neighborhood will be full of other homes and families. Our street should have 24 homes on it. But it was a little bit of an eye opener. We are, for now, the only people on our street or the street behind us. There are several sold homes in other parts of the development, one a couple of streets over is going up now.

The positives are how quiet it will be while at the same time we (and Admiral) can make as much noise as we want. We'll get to know our neighbors as they move in -- I hope to be the official welcoming committee and Mom wants me to run for Mayor! It is very serene. I am sure there will be mornings and afternoons that I can sit on my front porch and watch deer drink out of the pond. We could really see the stars. But, I do hope that I soon start complaining about waking up to the sound of nail guns, saws, loud music, etc. Because this will mean that more houses are going up, the market is picking up again and neighbors are soon to come.

Until then, please come visit (well, after we move in early October), bring your kids and pets, stay the night, make as much noise as you want, enjoy the new house with us!

Full View of the House!

2009-08-31T10:01:00.001-05:00

We went to the house on Sunday and were surprised with our first FULL VIEW! Most of the unwanted trees have been cleared away and finally we can see what our house looks like from straight on. I think we'll keep the Port-O-Let as yard art.

Tile Pictures

2009-08-25T22:54:00.011-05:00

A few pictures of the tile...
Master Shower Before and After... :)

Master Shower, view from bedroom

Master bathroom floor

Downstairs guest shower

Upstairs shower

Wine room with brick on walls

Floor tile and view of Butler's Pantry (right after we got lights!)

Slate wet bar in gameroom

Faux Paint...

2009-08-25T10:40:00.000-05:00

Ryan just sent me this picture of the fauz paint in the little niches at either end of the gallery hallway between the family and dining rooms. You can also get a little glimpse of the tile. We also have faux treatments in the powder bath and on the furniture piece in the breakfast room. Pictures of those later.

Moving... part 1

2009-08-24T09:44:00.001-05:00

We moved out of our current house on Saturday. After a week of hard core packing (plus all the boxes we packed when the house first went on the market), everything was boxed up and ready for the movers on Saturday morning. It was a really long day of moving almost everything we own into storage. The movers were SLLLLOOOOOOWWWWW which made it even worse. But, by 4:30, the house was empty, the storage unit was packed and all our every day belongings were at Ryan's parents house. We will be living there until the new house is ready... which is looking like early October!

I have new pictures of the progress at the house that have not made it from camera to computer yet. I hope to do that one night this week. Things change daily out there so there is a lot to update about.... granite, tile, lighting....

Metal roof in progress...

2009-08-12T16:44:00.001-05:00

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ryan Paul

Kinda hard to get full effect from this pic but trust me...it looks awesome.

Sold!

2009-08-07T13:54:00.001-05:00

Shutters!

2009-08-04T18:16:00.001-05:00

::since Ryan won't post on the blog himself, I'll just include his email to make it look like he did ::

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Ryan

Shutters are installed....

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

A little more paint and stain...

2009-08-03T22:42:00.003-05:00

...and probably at least one more to come.

But first, I'll correct myself in case you didn't read the comments in my last post. Ryan notes: "I still have to paint the facia later this week and I will be installing the metal roofs Wednesday of next week...THEN the exterior will be complete." I consider myself corrected... I am just a little anxious. Can you tell?

Back to the paint and stain... Here are a few more pictures of the exterior that we took on Saturday.

Shutters

Garage Door

And some pictures of the interior paint and stain.

Action shot of the beams in the family room being stained

Final product

Breakfast room beam.
(Just before I took this, the painter was taking down the piece of wood he had between the two ladders. He had one leg on each ladder in a pretty wide split. The ladders were shaking and he was totally unfazed. Of course, my heart was racing for him!)

Study wall and ceiling colors

Media Room wall and ceiling color.

There are no pictures of the main wall color yet. We went out on Saturday to pick a new color after the samples of our original pick turned out to be way too peachy. After some serious comparison of various color samples in various lighting next to a few pieces of our tile, we finally settled on Sherwin Williams Macadamia.

Cedar Staining

2009-08-03T11:04:00.002-05:00

Ryan just sent me these pictures of the stained cedar elements on the front of the house. I have pictures of the garage doors at home that I will put up soon. After the shutters are installed (this week) the exterior of the house will be complete!

The Fray w/ Jack's Mannequin

2009-07-26T13:39:00.004-05:00

Last night Ryan and I went to see The Fray and Jack's Mannequin at The Woodlands Pavilion. Kevin and Steph went with us and my friends Erica and Dylan were there too. Ryan and Kevin's main goal for going to the concert was to see Jack's Mannequin. They are bigger fans of them than The Fray. I like both so I was excited despite some reviews that said Jack's was awesome but The Fray was boring. It was a great show and both bands really rocked. I was able to get some decent pictures.

Jack's Mannequin
Rocking out while playing piano
Piano playing singers like to get on top of the piano!
The Fray. He sang the first few songs out front.
Then sat down for a few on the piano.
More singing on top of the piano
Encore!
At the end, the whole band came out front, one by one. It was a nice ending to the show.

Eric and Whitney, we missed you guys! Whit, hope you are feeling better!

A couple of house updates

2009-07-24T23:29:00.002-05:00

There is a saying about something being so boring that "its like watching paint dry". Well, these days, our home building process is really boring because it IS just watching paint dry. The painters have a couple of more weeks and we are getting really impatient! :)

All the stain is complete so the next two weeks are baseboards, painted cabinets and walls. Boring! I'm ready for tile and granite!
Stained front door
Primer coat on upstairs cabinets
The following pictures are not our house. These are some tile pictures from the house Ryan is building around the corner. I took them because they are the same tiles we are using.
Front and back porch slate
Main first floor tile

Spring Chicken Roll-Ups

2009-07-24T23:07:00.003-05:00

I first saw this recipe on a blog I follow. It's a Rachel Ray recipe so I hoped it would be easy enough. It turned out pretty good despite on mishap. The middle of the chicken was not cooked through when I took this out of the skillet. I think the problem is that when rolled, it made an inner layer of chicken. Next time, I'll do more of a fold-over than a roll-up. It had really nice flavors and Ryan liked it (always a plus with chicken).

Spring Chicken Roll-Ups
by: Rachel Ray

2 (6-ounce) pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 thin slices provolone cheese
4 thin slices prosciutto
12 thin spears asparagus, trimmed of tough stems and blanched in salted water 2 minutes, drained
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken stock or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/2 lemon, zested and juiced
1/4 cup chopped, flat-leaf parsley, a handful

Cook's Note: Some markets sell "thin cut" chicken for a premium price. With a sharp knife, cutting the chicken breast yourself is easy. When chicken is on sale, stock up. Plastic storage bags can be stacked and frozen. Each portion will thaw in minutes and ready to use for dinner any night of the week. Plus, by halving and pounding out the breast meat, you're stretching your dollar and the meat to provide twice as many portions.
Halve the chicken breasts horizontally separating each into 2 cutlets.

Place each halved cutlet in an individual freezer plastic storage bag (with slider tab). Add a tablespoon of water to each bag and pound into1/8-inch thick cutlets.

Arrange the 4 cutlets on work surface. Season cutlets with salt and pepper on the side facing up. Cover each piece of chicken with 1 slice cheese and 1 slice ham. Starting on 1 side of the breast, place a small bundle of 3 asparagus spears.

Wrap and roll the chicken around the asparagus. Wash hands.

Heat about 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, a turn of the pan, in a nonstick skillet over medium heat.

When hot, using tongs, add the chicken roll-ups to skillet with seam side down. Season the roll-ups with salt and pepper.

Cover the pan loosely with tin foil and cook 4 to 5 minutes, turn roll-ups over and cook and other 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove cooked roll ups to a serving plate.

Add 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons flour Stir in the chicken stock and Dijon mustard, scraping up any drippings from the bottom of the pan, and simmer 1 minute.

Remove from the heat, add the lemon zest, lemon juice and parsley and spoon over chicken.

A little more love for the family

2009-07-24T22:35:00.006-05:00

My parents sent me all of their pictures from our week together. Here are a few more pictures.

I had to show this picture of Helmi with her tongue out while she worked on her artwork. So cute.
As if we don't already know how crazy tall Uncle Ryan is! Helmi learned the phrase "Everything's bigger in Texas" before she visited. We asked her about it one day... "What's bigger in Texas?" She pointed at Ryan, then Ryan's dad. Ha.

Helmi with the three men in her life.
Helmi posing in our pantry.

Helmi wanted to make cookies. Here we are rolling out the dough.
Cutting out cookies.
About to go in the oven. H for Helmi and a fish for Shamu!
Pink Icing!
The whole family waiting for our Riverwalk boat tour.

Helmi and Uncle Ryan being silly in the pool.
The family on their last night. Don't you love Helmi's little yellow shoes with her black and white dress??

Helmi Takes Texas

2009-07-19T22:44:00.007-05:00

A few pictures of our niece Helmi hitting some of the hot spots of Texas during my family's trip last week. These are the non Sea World Pictures. To see those, go here.

At the Houston Children's Museum.

Posing by the pond in our new neighborhood.
Swimming at the Cranebook Pool (she did not want to get splashed in the face)

San Antonio Riverwalk
Goofing around with Uncle Ryan in the hotel in San Antonio.

Riverwalk Boat Tour

She was just a doll the whole week. Four years old, a week of non-stop activity and not one melt down. She's just awesome to be around and we miss her tons!

Admiral Gets a Haircut -- Take 2

2009-07-19T02:43:00.004-05:00

Admiral had his first hair cut in March. This time, we did it ourselves. We put him in the bed of the truck to keep him contained. Lots of hair, one bath and 2 hours later, Admiral got his summer 'do back.

Stain!

2009-07-15T22:36:00.002-05:00

The painters are in the house. They start with spraying all the stain. Then they will cover all these cabinets and spray the wall paint. Here are some pictures of our dark stained cabinets.

Cheesecake Pops -- The Easy Way

2009-07-13T09:23:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago, I posted that I was going to make cheesecake pops soon. I made them before Eric's Graduation and they were a hit. But man, was it a pain. You have to make a cheesecake (it was my first time to do this), get it nice and chilled, form the balls, freeze the balls, then finally dip them in chocolate. It was a three night process.

My friend Suzie is having twins and I helped host her shower. I decided to make cheesecake pops as one of the desserts. Since my family was in town all week and we were going to Sea World, I didn't want this to be a three day process. So, I took the Sandra Lee "Semi-Homemade" route and bought pre-made cheesecake bites. This meant all I had to do was add the sticks and dip in chocolate. It's still a time consuming process, but not 3 days.

Easy Cheesecake Pops

Sara Lee Cheesecake Bites
Semi Sweet Chocolate for Melting
Shortening
Sucker Sticks

Let Cheesecake bites soften just enough to insert the sucker sticks.

Melt chocolate and shortening according to package directions. I used two boxes of Baker's brand and added probably 3 tablespoons of Chocolate. Bakerella always suggests this when dipping with chocolate and I always ignored it. She is right... it REALLY helps.

Dip sucker stick in chocolate and insert into cheesecake bite.
Put un-dipped pops back in freezer while you finish prepping them all. They don't need to be completely frozen before dipping but the colder the cheesecake, the better the chocolate will coat and harden (less dripping).

Dip pop in chocolate. Gently tap the stick on the side of the bowl to get rid of the excess chocolate. Stand pops on Styrofoam block to cool. Return to freezer or refrigerator until ready to serve.

See Bakerella's blog for more detailed instructions! :)

Sea World

2009-07-12T13:42:00.009-05:00

My family (Mom, Dad, James and Helmi) came to visit this week. James had a BIG SURPRISE planned for Helmi... a trip to Sea World. We rented a car big enough for all six of us and headed to San Antonio on Thursday morning. When we finally arrived and told Helmi where we were she said "I can't believe I'm at Sea World!"

It was VERY HOT but we had a great time. We saw the Dolphin show "Viva" and the Shamu show "Believe". Helmi fed the dolphins and rode her first roller coaster --the "Shamu Express". Helmi and my mom took a break in the Penguin exhibit (air conditioned) while the rest of us rode the "Steel Eel". James and I even rode the Great White roller coaster that twists and turns you upside down.

Here are a few pictures. More to come about the rest of the week together.

On the road...

Finally there

Helmi LOVES Shamu

Feeding the Dolphins

Helmi and Daddy

Posing with the sharks!

She finally passed out and took a nap. This was right before we got to the penguin hut where Helmi and Neanie hung out while the rest of us road some rides.

Whitney and Eric Get Married!

2009-07-11T00:09:00.005-05:00

Since the first time I met my newest sister-in-law, Whitney, I knew I loved her and hoped that one day, we'd be family. By the time she and Eric went off to college in different parts of the country, we all knew that if anyone could survive the distance, these two could. Ryan and I had done the real long distance thing for a year, plus a couple of more "short" long distance years while I was in grad school. We knew it would be hard but also knew that it would likely prove just how much they were meant to be together.

That phrase... "meant to be together"... is almost an understatement when it comes to Whit and Eric. They are just so perfect together that its simply a joy to watch.

After what seems like 10 years (I think it was about 6 years), Whitney and Eric finally got to "tie the knot" and join their lives together in marriage. Pulling a trick out of Kevin and Steph's book I'll direct you to their blog for the play by play. I'll just add some pictures here.

Everything about the wedding was just amazing and the love that is so obvious between these two is an inspiration to us all! Congrats you two!

Pulled Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches

2009-07-10T23:56:00.004-05:00

I found this recipe on Foodie Bride. I can't seem to get enough grilled pineapple these days so a dinner sandwich with grilled pineapple sounded great. And, as always, I like to try new ways to cook Ryan's least favorite meat... Chicken.

The flavors were awesome but something was funky about the chicken. It was all sort of mushy... probably didn't let it sit long enough before shredding. I dunno, I'll likely try this again soon to perfect it.

Pulled Hawaiian Chicken Sandwiches
copied from: FoodieBride

1/2 cup Heinz 57 Sauce
Fresh pineapple, cored and sliced into 7 1/4″-1/2″ inch rings
2 Tbsp honey, plus more (if desired)
Tabasco sauce
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Olive oil
Salt
Fresh ground black pepper
6 buns or sandwich rolls (I used sliced, toasted sourdough)

Heat grill to medium heat.

Place one 1/2″ ring of pineapple into a food processor or blender and process. Puree. Or obliterate. You’re looking for a sauce-like end-product.

Pour the processed pineapple into a medium bowl and stir in the steak sauce, agave nectar, and a couple of dashes of Tabasco. Taste and add agave if additional sweetness is desired.

Remove 1/4 cup of sauce to use for basting and reserve the rest for serving.

Brush pineapple rings with olive oil and place on the grill. Cook for 5-7 minutes on each side, until the sugars start to caramelize and nice grill marks have developed.

Pound chicken breasts lightly, just to reach an even thickness. Brush the Hawaiian sauce on one side of the chicken breast and season liberally with salt and pepper. Place on the grill and cook until internal temps reach 170 (about 6-8 minutes), turning once halfway through. Before turning the chicken, baste with the remaining Hawaiian sauce.

Remove chicken and pineapple rings from the grill when done. Let chicken stand for 5-10 minutes before shredding with two forks. Add the chicken to a bowl and toss with the remaining Hawaiian sauce. Divide the pineapple rings and Hawaiian chicken between the 6 buns/sandwich rolls and serve warm.

Thanks, FoodieBride, for another great recipe!

Fried Pickles

2009-06-29T15:14:00.002-05:00

One of my favorite places back home in Mississippi is Que Sera Sera. It's a local place near Millsaps Campus with good southern food. Of course, the main attraction is the fried pickles dipped in peppercorn ranch dressing.

We search for fried pickles wherever we go. If they are on the menu, we order. We like chips better than spears. I finally decided to try to make some a few months ago. Still haven't perfected but getting close.

Fried Pickles

Thick Sliced Hamburger Pickles (Vlassic Ovals and Mt Olive Hamburger Dills are the ones I have used)
1/2 c Bread Crumbs
1/4 c Corn Meal
1/4 c Flour
Vegetable Oil

Heat oil in large skillet, just enough so that pickles can still float.
Mix dry ingredients together.
Coat pickles in breading.
Drop in very hot oil. When they start to float, flip them over and let cook a little longer, until golden brown.

Remove from skillet onto paper towel to drain off grease.

Serve with ranch dressing.

Woodforest Discovery Day

2009-06-23T09:36:00.002-05:00

If you are looking for something to do on Saturday, want to take a peak out our new house or the other houses being built in Woodforest... head out to Montgomery for Woodforest Discovery Day. There will be lots of kids activities including a Petting Zoo. There is a drawing for a $2500 Home Depot gift card as well.

Ryan and I will be there in the afternoon. Hope to see you there.

Crush: A Wine Lounge

2009-06-20T11:09:00.000-05:00

I really like wine. I don't really know much about it, but I like it.

A couple of weekends ago, we tried the new wine bar in The Woodlands -- Crush. It's located in on the second floor and rooftop of a two story build right on The Woodlands Waterway at Waterway Square. We had a nice table on the second floor patio that had a good view of the park and waterway. A band was playing in the park and families were gathered on the lawn. We ordered a bottle of wine and stayed until the sun went down.

We ran into some friends and stayed a while longer. They ordered pizza and shared. The pepperoni was yummy.

Good Wine. Good Food. Good View. We'll definitely go back again.

Deer

2009-06-20T00:37:00.003-05:00

Oh yeah... we saw a pretty deer on our street today. I wonder what Admiral is going to do when a deer comes up to our fence?

Starting to see the details

2009-06-20T00:00:00.004-05:00

The trim work is really coming along and I am starting to see the details. Here are some pictures from my trip to the house today.

Kitchen: I am really excited to see the vent hood 100% complete. Right now, its a little "wide" looking as we are waiting on the vent motor to be installed and then they will finish out the front panel to the right size. One of Ryan's "for sale" houses has a similar (but larger) vent hood that is already stained and I fell in love today. Ours will be painted with the surrounding cabinets stained. I'm very excited to see it come together.
Bookshelves on both sides of the island for cookbooks. Cabinets under the bar overhang.
Pull out shelves in the cabinets surrounding the stove.
Family Room: Ceiling beams, entertainment center, mantle (will be surrounded by stone).
Home office off the study. This will likely be where I work on the days I am at home.
Butler's Pantry between the Kitchen (standing here while taking picture), Wine Room (opening to the left) and Dining room(opening to the right).
For some reason this big, wide drawer makes me happy!
My Closet: SHOE CUBBIES!!!!
Utility Room
Game Room Entertainment Center
Upstairs home office -- for the future kids.
Breakfast room built in hutch.

Don't call Animal Control...

2009-06-19T22:59:00.002-05:00

Earlier this year, when we were cleaning up the flower bed, we decided to put Admiral in the trash can. Don't ask me why, but we thought it was pretty funny.

I don't think Admiral thought it was funny, but we did. And, he did help smoosh (is that a word) the twigs and leaves down so we could fit more in the trash can.

Pink Cupcakes -- Pink Cake

2009-06-19T13:42:00.000-05:00

I try to bake for my coworkers birthday's. I think everyone needs a birthday cake and I like any excuse I can to bake. One of my coworker's birthday was this week so I asked him what kind of cake he wanted. After some prodding, he finally said a white cake with white icing. So I asked what his favorite color was (who wants a plain white cake???). He kept saying he didn't have one and finally said "Pink". "Really?" I asked.... "Really??".

Ask and you shall receive. Boxed white cake mix with Spreading Consistency Wilton Butter Cream Icing. I did half cupcakes to look like flowers...
And half as a cake... as girly as I could make it. (Hey, when you ask for pink, might as well go all out!)
I think he liked it! It definitely was delicious!

Happy Birthday, Erica!

2009-06-15T18:51:00.006-05:00

Last week we celebrated Erica's birthday at work. Her request for a birthday cake was 'Dirt Cake'. So, Dirt Cake is what she got. I had never made Dirt Cake before. Its pretty darn easy.

Dirt Cake
from All Recipes
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
2 (3.5 ounce) packages instant vanilla pudding mix
3 1/2 cups milk
1 (12 ounce) container frozen whipped topping, thawed
32 ounces chocolate sandwich cookies with creme filling
Gummy worms

Chop cookies very fine in food processor. The white cream will disappear.
Mix butter, cream cheese, and sugar in bowl.
In a large bowl mix milk, pudding and whipped topping together.
Combine pudding mixture and cream mixture together.
Layer in flower pot, starting with cookies then cream mixture. Repeat layers.

Chill until ready to serve.
Add Gummy worms, artificial flower and trowel. Enjoy!
This was a huge hit at work and at home. I am sure it will be made again. Maybe I'll save it to make with my niece when she comes to visit.

Eric Is A College Grad!!!!

2009-06-15T18:00:00.012-05:00

This past weekend started what I am calling "The Month of Eric".... a graduation and a wedding all within about 2 weeks. Eric (Ryan's little brother) graduated from Dartmouth College this weekend. We all made the trip to New Hampshire for a whirlwind weekend of events. I won't go through all the details. Instead, here are some highlights.

Steph and I drove the carts while Kevin and Ryan played 9 holes at the Lake Morey Country Club.

The flowers were amazing everywhere we went. Just beautiful.

As always, we tried the local beer. This one is the Long Trail Ale. We also liked the Magic Hat Summer Whacko.
From the top of the tower on Gile Mountain for a 360 degree view of the mountains. The view is quite possibly the best definition of the word 'AWESOME'.

Eric's last concert on campus.
And, the reason for the whole trip. Graduation was Sunday morning. It was outside... a rain or shine event. And, in true New Hampshire fashion, it was raining. As an added bonus we got to see the great Bill Russell receive an Honorary Degree from Dartmouth.

And the weather cleared up right as the ceremony ended. Made for nice pictures at least! Eric, the baby of the family is all grown up, a college graduate, about to get married and join the work force...
Of course... "all grown up" is more likely used in a figurative manner here... he's still a big kid and I think he always will be. Nothing wrong with that!
Congrats Eric! It's been awesome to be even a small part of this adventure through high school and college with you!

Welcome Home Admiral!

2009-06-06T11:44:00.000-05:00

Admiral made his first trip out to the house since the house got walls. We let him off the leash and he did some exploring. He definitely likes going up the stairs and seems to have mastered the art of going UP but is still pretty awkward going DOWN.

Exterior Photos

2009-06-06T01:58:00.002-05:00

I just realized I never posted these "finished" exterior pictures. Okay, so it's not finished yet. The metal roof over the porch will be installed after the painters stain all the cedar and paint the fascia. We are also still waiting on the shutters to be installed. But for the most part... this is it. I still can't get a good picture of the whole front of the house due to the trees, port-a-potty and dumpster. But, I think these are better than anything I've previously posted.

More Trim Work

2009-06-06T01:30:00.002-05:00

Here are a few more pictures of the cabinets that are currently being built. I haven't been to the house since last weekend but Ryan's been taking lots of pictures. It is really coming together.

This is the hutch that is being built into the breakfast room. The backing and the doors will have a bead board look.

The master bathroom vanities. My big request here was lots of drawers. I'm pretty happy about this. And, I also have a "drawer plug" installed so that I can leave my hair dryer plugged in but still put it away. VERY EXCITED about this feature.

Closet and vanity for the downstairs bedroom/bathroom.

Cabinet Progress

2009-06-05T15:14:00.002-05:00

The first picture is of the wine racks in the wine room. Looks great! I've got a lot of wine buying to do!

The second and third pictures show the base to the Island.

Have I told you how much I love Ryan's Blackberry (because he can send me pictures while he's at the house) and that Blogger has this email posting function? Well, I love both. And, of course I love Ryan for keeping me updated while I sit in my cubicle.

Gone Country in Nashville!

2009-06-01T16:59:00.001-05:00

Since we were headed to Nashville for Ross's wedding, we decided to make a weekend out of it. The last time I went to Nashville was sometime in elementary school. Dad was some sort of Officer in the Optimist Club and Nashville was the location of the national convention. I remember that they messed up our reservations and we got a really fancy room for the cheaper rate at the Opryland Hotel. It was pretty cool. The only other thing I remember about that trip was going to Opryland and riding my first roller coaster that went upside down. Well, I think I rode it. I know my brother and dad rode it and I have this memory that I rode it too. Mom?? Dad??? James??? anyone want to verify?

As we planned the trip, I was pretty sad to find out that Opryland doesn't exist anymore. It has been torn down and replaced by a mall I think. So sad.

I had to come up with alternate plans. What do you do in Nashville? We aren't big country music fans so we were a little worried. I was so busy at work the weeks before our trip that I didn't have much time to plan like I normally do. For me, that means stalking Tripadvisor, reading all the reviews on the hotels, restaurants, events, etc. All I did for this trip was to book a hotel with good reviews and a good price and rent a car on Priceline for $20 a day -- full size!!

Okay, I knew a FEW things about Nashville. I knew there were a couple of breweries and that there was a street in downtown that was lined with bars that almost always had live music. So, here are some places we visited....

First... the Big River Brewing Company. We each enjoyed a flight of their beers... 8 samples in all and I drank all 8 of mine, including the darkest, nastiest one. :) Ha, I'm not much a beer drinker. Surprisingly enough (okay, not surprising at all), my favorite was the Sweet Magnolia. I am sure part of it was because of the name but the other part was that it had similiar flavor to my favorites Southern Pecan, Shiner Bock and Amber Bock. Good Food, Good Beer. Good start.

We then hit Broadway to see the "Honky Tonks". Our first two stops were great. We learned that you should go in and see if you like the music before you buy a beer. It took us a couple of places to learn this as we suffered through our beers with some "just okay" music on the stage.

Legends Corner -- Good band though the more the guy drank the worse he got. :(

Tootsies... per recommendation of my friend Barb. The band was really good and the singer really put on a show. It was 3pm on a Friday afternoon and the bar was packed and he was working the crowd...up on the bar... just fun.

On Saturday we decided to try the Country Music Hall of Fame. We walked over, took our picture...

...walked inside and learned it was $20 EACH to go in. We decided against $40 and headed back to Broadway for more honky-tonkin'. :)

The Stage (also recommended by Barb) and Second Fiddle were cool bars but the music was just okay that afternoon. I guess this is really when we learned the "don't buy a beer first" rule.

We made a quick stop into Hatch Show Print. This is where all the cool concert posters and such are made. They still do everything old school style. It was neat to go in and see it.

Sunday afternoon our friends Brad and Rachel met us in Nashville. They live in Knoxville and came for the weekend to see us and some of their other friends that recently moved to Nashville. I somehow convinced everyone to go to Arrington Vineyard for the afternoon. Ryan was giving me a little grief about it but I love wine and didn't want to pass it up. Plus, my mom called to tell me that my cousin (Mom's cousin's son) Tyler worked there. So off we went, about a 30 minute drive from Nashville but well worth it. Good Wine. Awesome Scenery. Just a really cool place.

Tasting with Brad and Rachel.
Cousin Tyler and me. So fun to see family!
Opening the cheese and crackers we bought to go with our wine.
Beautiful view!

Sunday night we hit downtown with Brad and Rachel. We also met up with our friend Emily but I don't have a good picture with her. We hit the dueling piano bar and The Stage for a second time.

The band at The Stage on Sunday was super fun and the singer (Chris Weaver) was pretty darn good.

We headed home on Monday/Memorial Day/Ryan's Birthday. It was a fun weekend of friends, family, music, beer and wine! :)

Planning to bake...

2009-05-31T10:24:00.002-05:00

This will be my next baking challenge. Ryan and his brothers are all pretty big cheesecake fans. I think I'll make some for Eric's graduation weekend and hope they survive the plane ride.

Cheesecake Pops

It felt like home

2009-05-30T16:23:00.007-05:00

Over Memorial Day weekend, Ryan and I flew to Nashville for my dear friend Ross's wedding.
The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a blast. It was great to have the gang from Murrah back together again. Not much had changed!

As I left the reception tears welled up in my eyes. I exchanged hugs and "I Love You's" with Ross, his parents, Ann and Taylor. Something just hit me about how much I do love those people, how much we had been through together and how hard it was to leave them all again. We don't see each other much since we all live in different cities but when we do, its just like old times. They are my family. The friends I was always myself with, the friends that always made me laugh. Their families opened their homes to me on soooo many occasions (as my family did for them.) And oh, the stories we have shared. I think it just hit me how hard it is to "grow up", to move away from home, to leave the people who lived through the events of my life that made me ... me. Its part of life... we move away, we get jobs, we get married... but man, do I miss you guys. Ah... I'm crying again.

Back to the wedding... Here are the few pictures I did take. As I said, it was a beautiful wedding. The food was great. The cake was awesome and the band played all night.

Ryan and Ann at the Kids Table. He really fit in that chair! :)
Ross playing a couple of songs (with his band, Telephant)
Congratulations Ross and Mandy!

A weekend with the girls!

2009-05-30T15:40:00.007-05:00

One of my college sorority sisters, Amanda, got married a couple of weekends ago in Clarksdale, MS. I flew home solo to go to the wedding and several of my other sisters came without their husbands as well. It was great to see everyone again and so fun to party with all the girls.

Chi Omega's
How many people can sit on Lanier?
(Lanier, Jennifer, Leslie, me and Amanda)
Barb, Jessica, Mary Emrey, me, Leslie and Jennifer
Jessica, Ashley, Leslie and me
The reception was held at the Hopson Plantation. There are several buildings on the property including houses that can be rented. All the wedding party and lots of the guests stayed in these houses and I crashed with some of the bridesmaids in this big house. There were interesting things all over the house from signs to mannequins to furniture. I am sure some of it is worth some good money. Definitely years and years of history in these buildings.

And the "stuff" was not limited to the insides of the houses. There was plenty of yard art to go along with it.
A random pile of water skiis...
Cutout shadows on the wall (that were extra creepy in the dark)
And a unique bowling ball / wheel sculpture.

It was the perfect setup for a wedding, especially one where most of the guests were from out of town. We partied late, did lots of catching up and made the most of our short weekend back together.

Congratulations Amanda and Peyton! Thanks for the great reunion!! :)

Trim Work Has Started

2009-05-27T14:59:00.002-05:00

The trim carpenter has been in the house for almost a week now hanging doors, installing baseboards, and most recently building cabinets. Ryan just sent me this picture of the built in for the Family Room.

PS: Jennifer H... Hope this is update makes you happy! Thanks for reading!

Garage Doors

2009-05-19T10:57:00.000-05:00

My awesome husband just sent me this picture! EEK! How pretty??!!!??.

All the wood on the house (columns, corbels, shutters, garage doors) will be stained a darker color.

Staging for sell...

2009-05-15T20:27:00.000-05:00

One of the blogs I like to read is The Nesting Place. The Nester writes about all kinds of home decorating related things. Recently she said something that really struck a chord with me and I have said it several times.

"Staging, every home for sale can benefit from being staged. And before you think you'll skip this series because your home isn't for sale, think again. The one complaint heard after people stage their home for sale is, "Why didn't I do some of this stuff years ago so I could enjoy it?" Yes, there are some things that you might do only when you put your house on the market but, for the most part, if you keep your home up over time, you will enjoy it more and it will be market ready just in case you ever need to sell." - The Nester's Staging Series

This question in bold has been my mantra lately. Our house is for sale since we are building the new one. Ryan bought our current house his first year out of college and the house was already completed, so he didn't get to pick any of the finishings. Over the years, we have done some upgrades. Ryan had the whole house painted so it's not longer "builder beige". Most of the house is Sherwin Williams "Tony Taupe" which is a great all over wall color. He had some cabinets built in the living room and master bath to add some much needed storage. And, of course the floor upgrades (Carpet and Laminate) we were forced to do when the AC leaked.

The biggest complaint we have had has been about the Kitchen. It's very functional but it's the one place in the house that we have done no work and it shows. White tile floors, white counter tops, white appliances, light wood cabinets. OK, I take back that nothing was done to the kitchen... Ryan did add lovely nickel hardware to all the doors. Anyway, I've never loved all the white and especially hate the white counters. Everything stains them and any crumb shows up.

If you read this blog regularly, you know I spend a lot of time in the kitchen. So, after seeing the complaints (that we agree with) about the kitchen, we considered offering some upgrades in the kitchen... new granite, new appliances, etc... with an acceptable offer. As we put this package together, I was just kicking myself for not doing these sort of upgrades the day I moved in this house. How much I would have enjoyed a Gas Range and Granite Counters. Sigh. "Why didn't I do some of this stuff years ago so I could enjoy it?"

We have not actually done any upgrades to the kitchen, but we have been doing some staging. The extra desk was removed from the study and replaced with an old couch we borrowed from Ryan's parents. This was in hopes to show the study off as more of a flex room that could be a study, sitting room, nursery, exercise room, etc.

This couch has great shape and is pretty comfy....
It just needed a little face lift. We got a cheap slip cover and some pillows from Target. I am now considering how much it would cost for a professional to re-upholster the couch and add some cute little feet to the bottom for use in our game room or media room. Ryan's parents have another one just like it.
We also did a little bit of work in the backyard. Okay, by "we" I mean Ryan called his landscaper and he brought some guys to fix things up. Spending all day in the yard in this heat is just not on my agenda. We only had the one tree in the back corner and now we have this. It looks great and again... "Why didn't I do some of this stuff years ago so I could enjoy it?"

I guess all this is just to say that I have learned that I shouldn't wait to fix things up around my house. I regret not fixing up the kitchen and now that I see how pretty the yard is, wish we had done something there too (of course, Admiral would have destroyed the yard as a puppy). So, as The Nester reminds us, don't wait until you are selling to get your house like you always wanted it!

Stone and Stucco

2009-05-12T14:45:00.003-05:00

Ryan just sent me these pictures, what a good husband! I'm testing out the blog email updater to post these. If you are reading this, I guess it worked.

You can see the stucco color on some of the window trims and then, of course, the progress on the stone!

Almost Molten Lava Cake

2009-05-10T20:24:00.003-05:00

Happy Mother's Day! Today Ryan's brother and wife hosted both families at their house for a Mother's Day cookout. Kevin and Stephanie just got married in March so this was the first holiday we spent at their house. I am sure there will be many more to come! They were fabulous hosts and their newly remodeled house and yard looked awesome. Though it is Mother's Day and I could go ON and ON about all the wonderful mother's in my life, I will instead write about food!

I volunteered to bring dessert but decided not to try anything new. Instead, I worked on presentation of a new found favorite -- Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Brownies. These brownies are always a mess to server with the gooey chocolate icing. So, I decided to make them like cupcakes so there would be individual servings. This is how I did it...

Preheat oven to 350.
Place paper liners in muffin tins.
Prepare the brownies and cookie dough as directed.
Spoon brownie mix into muffin tin, no more than 1/3 full.
Drop one spoonful of cookie dough.
Bake for 20 minutes or until toothpick stuck in the brownie part comes out fairly clean (I like a little gooey-ness)
Prepare Chocolate Icing as directed.
When mostly cool, remove paper liners from cupcakes and turn over on a pan.
Spoon a tablespoon (not the measuring kind, the kind you eat cereal with) of icing on top, letting it drip down the sides. Use more or less to your liking.
Enjoy!

I say these are almost lava cakes because they look like a lava cake but there is no gooey goodness inside. You still get the surpise of the chocolate chip cookie inside but it's not quite a lava cake!

Tilapia with Crawfish Champagne Cream Sauce

2009-05-05T17:29:00.002-05:00

Our friends the Hebert's are Houston "transplants" from Lake Charles, LA. Just this weekend they opened a crawfish to go store, Hebert's Hot Tails. I went by on Sunday and bought 10 pounds of crawfish. Ryan was on his way back from New Hampshire and I thought it would be a good dinner for us. Since Ryan got home so late, we didn't eat as much as we normally would so I had a good 3 or 4 pounds leftover. I really wanted to find something to use the leftovers in other than gumbo or etouffee so I thought some sort of cream sauce over fish would be yummy.

I asked for some suggestions on a local message board that I participate in and one of the girls suggested this Champagne Cream Sauce adapted from one by Emeril Lagasse. As she notes, champagne, cream and butter are a perfect combination.

Crawfish Champagne Cream Sauce
adapted from Emeril Lagasse

1/4 cup chopped shallots
1/2 cup Champagne
3/4 cups heavy cream
2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon Champagne vinegar
1/2 cup cooked crawfish, peeled

In a saucepan, combine the shallots and Champagne. Bring to a boil and cook until almost all liquid evaporates, about 6 minutes.

Add the heavy cream, bring to a boil and simmer until cream thickens and coats the back of a spoon, and is reduced by nearly 50 percent in volume, about 3 minutes.
Whisk in the butter until smooth and strain the sauce through a fine mesh strainer, pressing on the solids to extract as much liquid as possible.

Add Crawfish. Season, to taste, with salt, pepper, and vinegar and serve immediately over fish or shellfish.

Note: If sauce is made in advance, keep warm in a bain marie over barely simmering water. I used a "homemade" double boiler to keep it warm while I waited for the potatoes to cook.

For the fish, I used the Sauteed Fish recipe minus the cajun seasoning, then topped with the crawfish cream sauce.

Sheetrock and Exterior Update

2009-05-04T22:04:00.004-05:00

I never did find my old camera so I never got pictures of the house over the weekend. I went to the house today during lunch and boy had things changed. 80% of the house was sheetrocked and the whole thing should be done by the end of Wednesday!!! It was amazing to see how the rooms REALLY look. Some of them felt way bigger with sheetrock than before. I've very exited. Here are a few pictures
Master Bathroom
Ryan's closet
My Closet
Master Bedroom
Master Bedroom
Gallery
Stairs
View of gameroom from top of stairs
Media Room
Game Room
And, here are some exterior pictures since the stucco and stone prep has started. They metal mesh has been installed all the way around the house and the first phases of stucco are underway.
Front
Back
Mesh Closeup
Box of stone waiting to be installed