High Five for Friday

Happy Halloween!  To be honest I really wasn't feeling Halloween this year.  With it falling on a Friday I knew we'd be at a football game.  However, our teeny tiny town decided to move it back a day which makes a lot of sense, but I am usually at the dance studio on Thursdays so I was not planning on being home. I did buy some candy just in case Eric felt like handing some out.  Dance ended up being cancelled because well kids want to trick-or-treat, and Eric had to run a call an hour away from our house after practice and with our crazy dogs, handing out candy is a 2 person job: one hands out candy, the other corrals the dogs.  Instead I walked the boys early, got a run in, and stayed inside with the lights off until Eric came home with dinner. It was a wild and crazy Halloween, let me tell ya.  I didn't even buy pumpkins this year...I know, I know. I did manage to put up my Boo Y'all Bunting on the Mantle, and I have on black and purple today (for the football game). I'm going to have to do better next year.  In my defense, Truck-or-Treating has taken over our town and there are very few people in our neighborhood who put out candy.

Here's my weekly 5 for the week:

#1

In the past couple of weeks I have received 7 calls from different random numbers.  Most of the time I let it ring and I don't get a voicemail.  Every once and a while I will pick it hoping I can yell at whoever is on the other line that my number is on the do-not-call registry and they shouldn't call me.  Unfortunately, the majority are robo calls which are illegal but I have looked into reporting them and you have to get information from the robo caller which is not possible because it's freaking robo call!  I am extremely stingy with giving out my phone number for any reason so it really confuses me as to why I still get these. I did received 2 calls from Colorado numbers that were doing election polls for the state of Michigan. I realized I might still be a registered voter there, so after explaining that while I have a Michigan phone number, I have actually physically lived there (I was a resident there when I was in college and my parents lived there).  I haven't heard back from them since.

#2

Speaking of elections, I cannot wait until next week when all of this is over.  It's times like these I am so thankful I have satellite radio and don't have to listen to every candidate explain why their opponent is a piece of garbage and a horrible person, so vote for them instead!

#3

I saw a car on my way to work the other day that had "We love our son's FEYONCE," written on the back window. I hope that they were using is as a play on the singer Beyonce's name (though I'm not sure why, unless their son is actually engaged to Beyonce but last time I checked she was in fact still married to Jay Z so I highly doubt it) and not how they actually thought it was spelled.

#4

This weekend is going to be COLD down here.  I'm talking Freeze Warnings through Sunday night. Eric is so excited to go hunt Saturday morning he can't stand it.  And I am pretty excited,too!  Fall is FINALLY here and I hope it sticks around.  Tonight might get a bit dicey at the football game with 40s and 20 mile per hour winds but we'll make it through.  Thanks to our ski trip to Colorado earlier this year I have an arsenal of long johns that will be making an appearance this evening, along with my fuzzy boots of course!  And if it gets to be too much there's always the field house. #perksofbeingmarriedtoacoach #yestherearesome

#5

With the weather turning I've been whipping up some warm-you-up dinners lately that have earned the right to be moved over onto my Recipe Favorites Pinterest Board (it's kind of a bug deal). Some of my favorites include:

 Crock Pot Beef Stroganoff - absolutely delicious, 

P.S. This was taken right before it all cooked together.

Tomato Pie - a new favorite that I never thought in a million years I would eat, 

The literal name for this would be sauce-less deep dish pizza in a pie crust.

Tacos-which are nothing new in the grand scheme of things but when you make them with Frontera Skillet Sauces they are amazing!  

Eric said it tasted just like the tacos they eat when they hunt in Texas so I guess Frontera knows what they're talking about. We've tried the Fajita one, too and I have big plans for the Enchilada Sauce this coming week!

Also, you should try these, yes Wasabi Ranch sounds crazy but they are crazy good!!!

I hate to end this on a somber note but, we found out today that one of Eric's old teammates from HC's wife who has been battling a brain tumor for a year and a half now received some not-so-good news that the cancer has spread and is now at stage 4. I wrote about about a year ago and we all thought things were looking up for her, but it does not look that way.  Please keep her, Eric's teammate, and their son in your prayers and they are facing some very difficult decisions right now.

Weekend Recap: Fun Fun and More Fun

You know you've had a good weekend when you're laying in bed Sunday night and your husband says what a fun weekend we've just had.  And it was it was an awesome weekend.  It ended up being pretty busy but everything we did was so much fun I could do over and over again.

We started off with a football game Friday night (what else would we do, amiright?).  This was a must-win game for us and after the dismal game we had the week before we had some motivation to take care of business. What we were expecting to be a back and forth battle quickly became anything but.  We ended up winning 34-7 and from what I've heard from everyone who was at the game the week before, we looked like a completely different team.  Let's just hope we can continue on that high because we have another biggie this week.  It's not a region game, but it's the biggest rivalry game we have and it's Senior Night.  The other school is literally 10 minutes from us and the way the playoff seedings are being put together this year, we really need to win that game.

1-2. I found this little slice of heaven at the grocery store Friday afternoon. It tasted like a glazed donut filled with chocolate pudding.  It was calling to me as I headed to the checkout line.  I just wish I'd bought more than one.  

3-4. I've been quite impressed with our band this year, they've added some guitar and dub-step to the halftime show this year.  It's been quite entertaining.  But they blew me away Friday when the majorettes busted out the flaming batons....FLAMING BATONS.  Coming from a girl who is just now learning a thumbflip from one of my 6th graders, I was beyond impressed. More flaming batons!!!

We did not stick around too long after the game because Eric had to get to bed so he could take full advantage of the first day of hunting season.  He was like a little kid anticipating Christmas morning.  I didn't even hear him get out of bed (around 4am apparently) to head out to the woods.  I cleaned up the house and got myself ready because we had a very important birthday party to attend Saturday afternoon for none other than our favorite neighbor kid who is now officially 5 years old.  I can't believe how fast that kid is growing up.  The party was great, and how could a party not be when it includes a bounce house...yes I jumped. =)  We finished off the night with burgers and sausages on the grill and football.  I have to brag on Eric for a minute.  He is certainly one of the best grill masters I know but he made some burgers this weekend that were amazing!  I don't know why we don't grill burgers more often because they really are my favorite!  I realized at one point Saturday night that we had 7 yes SEVEN dogs running around the house/carport.  It was our 2, plus my MIL's dog, plus our neighbors' 2 puppies, plus 2 of our friends' dogs. Talk about chaos, but it was so much fun!  They all got a long quite well and were beyond entertaining.  Considering 3 of the 7 are puppies who are in the 11-15 weeks age range it was almost too much cuteness to take.

1. Eric and his first kill of hunting season.  To say he was pumped was an understatement.

2. Bounce house castle = best birthday party idea ever!

3. I tried really hard to get my Tennessee Vols going on Saturday, but Bama was just too much for us.  And now I have to listen to how dominant Bama is for another year....awesome.

Sunday we slept in and just hung around the house all morning, perfection in my book.  Eric left for football meetings a little after lunch, and I got ready for some basketball! Don't worry, I'm definately still not coaching.  This was my annual alumni game at Huntingdon, which is always so much fun! We ended up losing to the current team 68-48, but I'm pretty sure they should be us.  It took us about a half to get our shots to fall and start clicking as a team, but what do you expect, we're old and it takes us a little while to get going.  =)  I am paying for it today.  I leaned over to brush my teeth this morning and had to push myself back so I could stand up straight again, but I would play again today if they asked.  It's so much fun to go back every year and meet a new group of alumni.  That program means so much to me and my teammates played a big role in shaping who I am today.  I am hoping to make it back for a game or two this year.  Since I am not coaching, I should have time this year.

 Lady Hawks Alumni Team....we keep getting bigger every year!  

 We may be the oldies, but I'm pretty sure thing just bet better with age!

 Both teams after the game...#hawkabirdsforlife

We've got another busy one this week, Senior Night, dance classes, Halloween, and hopefully getting to meet our nephew this weekend!

Shortbread Milk Chocolate Toffee Bars

I came across another amazing and easy dessert this past weekend that I could not help but share.  I've never been a huge toffee fan, that us until I came across bags of Milk Chocolate Toffee.  Basically it's toffee bits with milk chocolate mixed which is the best of both worlds, amiright?  I threw in that little tiny recipe tweak when I was putting this recipe together and came out with a winner winner chicken dinner. This recipe fit nicely with my recent tendency to make cookie bars instead of plain old cookies, see here, here, and here for some of my favorites. I really like that I don't have to put several different batches in the oven, just put it all in a Pyrex dish, put it in the oven and that's it.

Adapted from this recipe.

What you Need:

Shortbread Crust

3/4 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

Filling

1 cup (14oz can) sweetened condensed milk

1 Tbsps butter

Topping

2 cups milk chocolate chips

1 1/3 cup (one bag) Milk Chocolate Toffee Bits

How to Make It:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease the bottom of  a 9" x 13" baking dish.

Crust: Beat butter and sugar together until combined (about 1-2 minutes). Scrape down the sides of your mixer and mix in the flour. Press dough mixture into the bottom of the greased baking dish and bake 12-15 minutes, until the top turns a light brown.  Remove from oven.

Filling: While the shortbread crust is cooling, heat sweetened condensed milk and butter in a small saucepan and stir until smooth.  Pour over shortbread crust and bake 12-15 minutes until the filling starts to bubble around the edges. Remove from oven.

Topping: Immediately sprinkle chocolate chips over filling when it comes out of the oven, place back in the oven for 4-5 minutes, until chips are shiny and soft.   Carefully spread chips over filling (this did not work to well for me, so just spread as much as you can...you won't be able to tell if it's smooth once you add the toffee any way). Sprinkle toffee bits on top and press into milk chocolate.  Allow to cool before cutting.

Note: I got impatient waiting on them to cool completely so I ended up putting them in the fridge for an hours or so to harden. However, I have not refrigerated them since and they have kept their shape.

This recipe is totally drool worthy and I cannot stress how easy they were to make.  They are certainly going in my arsenal of "Crap I forgot to make something for XYZ Event and I need something now!"

Enjoy!

Weekend Recap

Being a natural-planner, I usually try to have an idea of what the weekend will hold for us by at least Wednesday, Thursday at the latest.  Based on the time of year I usually have an idea of what we have in store, usually.  This weekend was no different.  With the birth of our sweet nephew last week we had decided we would go down for a quick visit to meet him and see his parents, too!  Thanks to Hawks extended vet stay, those plans were starting to look a little dicey by Thursday afternoon.  Friday morning we found out Eric's Dad would not be able to go (he was supposed to ride with us) because of an illness, however our plans were still to head down Saturday morning.  And then Friday night happened...I ended up staying home from the football game (it was an away game about an hour from us) because I had just picked up Hawk and did not want to drop him off at the house Friday and take off Saturday morning.  The first half was back and forth and ended up and was tied at 28 at halftime...too close for comfort if you ask me.  And then the bottom fell out.  In the second half we only scored one more TD and kept on ending with a final score of 49-34.  Eric was exhausted and beat down by the time he got home.  He takes losses very personally.  I don't know that I've seen him that upset about a loss since he played.  To make matters worse, when we woke up Saturday morning (early because we were planning on heading out pretty early) he had a horrible cough; on top of every thing he caught a cold.  That was the last straw because the last thing we wanted to do was bring nasty cold germs into the house.  Cue a sad auntie and uncle.  We called and told them we would have to reschedule our visit for another weekend, that will be in the very near future because I do not want to miss out on little bitty baby time!

1. Right after I sprung him from the puppy hospital...so happy to be outside!

2. So glad to have both my boys at home.  

3. Apparently he missed being able to sprawl out on the bed...can't to that at the vet!  You can see where they shaved his face to attach the drain in this pic.  I have to call to get the culture results today, so send me happy thoughts and prayers that they've kicked the infection please!!!

So at 8am Saturday morning we were faced with something we had not been faced with in quite a while....a wide open weekend with zero planned activities (well until 1pm Saturday when Eric had to be at football film). We started it off in due fashion with a breakfast trip to 1220 Cafe, duh. After that Eric and his buddy headed out to the hunting land to do some work.  Apparently the state of Alabama went and changed the first day of hunting season on me to Oct 25 this year, but only for half of the state.  Basically if you hunt south of I-85 or Highway 80 in West AL where there is not I-85 (with a couple of exceptions) they've moved deer bow hunting season back 10 days. Eric is in a unique situation because we live north of 85, but the place he hunts is just south of it, meaning they can't start hunting until Saturday the 25th.  As much as I am sure he would have liked to hunt, I know he was glad to have another weekend to prep everything.

Once he headed off, I figured I needed to find something productive to do, so I called up Eric's buddy's girlfriend and we headed off to the booming metropolis of Loachapoka (population 135, normally) for Syrup Sopping Day 2014. It's basically a giant arts and crafts fair in the middle of no where.  The website claims the population can reach as many as 20,000 that day.  I am not sure there's THAT many but I will say there were several thousand people there for sure. The only thing I had on my list was a bag of kettle corn per Eric's request, but I managed to find a few other items I've stored away for Christmastime, which is by the way less than 10 weeks away!

Fun day and Syrup Sopping!

I made it home just in time to watch the kick-off of the Texas A&M slaughter at the hands of Alabama.  It was so bad that I left somewhere during the 2nd quarter to get the stuff to make some potato soup for dinner.  We finished off the night with another fire pit and a few more football games.  It was a glorious fall evening and apparently my tater soup hit the spot because there was barely one bowl left for my lunch Sunday afternoon.

Loaded potato soup and a campfire...it doesn't get much better than this!  

Eric did manage to get a little bit of hunting in this weekend.  He went hog hunting Sunday morning and brought home a HUGE one.  He hung it up, cleaned it, cut it up, and threw it on the grill for dinner.  It doesn't get much fresher than that ladies and gents.  He chopped the butts up when he got home from film last night and we had some delicious nachos with fresh pico de gallo for dinner while we watch Peyton Manning break Bret Favre's TD record...so awesome!

High Five for Friday

We made it to Friday!  This has been an absolutely jam-packed crazy week, which has been perfectly fine with me because it made the week fly by!  I'm just going to hit the high points today because there's lots to talk about!

#1  

We have a new addition to our family and I am now officially an Aunt!  My BIL and SIL welcomed their sweet baby boy into the world on Wednesday afternoon.  He was 7lbs 13oz and 21 inches long...thankfully for my SIL not as big as they were expecting him to be! I am so excited for them and I cannot wait to meet their sweet little man this weekend!

#2 

An update on our Hawkey Dog...Our sweet puppy is STILL at the vet as of this morning.  I thought I was going to get to bring him home yesterday afternoon but when I called to arrange picking him up, I was told they wanted to keep him another night to give him one more round of an injectable antibiotic this morning.  The trade-off being that he won't be sent home with a drain in his neck like we were planning on.  To be honest, I would rather not have to deal with the drain and kenneling him so I reluctantly agreed. I told them they'd have to keep him all day and I would pick him up on my way home if that was going to be the case...they just better hope he's ready to go when I get there this afternoon, otherwise they're going to have to deal with an upset Mama.

#3 

I am really really hoping that fall is here for good! It has been nothing short of absolutely beautiful here this week.  I am really hoping that this means fall is here to stay. Because I am loving this weather right now, and not coaching means I actually get to enjoy my afternoons outside. =)  It's the little things, I tell ya!

#4 

Speaking of the little things, I know I say this every year but I really really love teaching dance classes.  It blows me away that these kids come in every week and really really want to improve and learn what I have to teach them.  And it's so rewarding to see them "get" a step that they've been trying so hard to perfect.  Last night I decided to attempt a couple of steps with one of my classes that I have tried to teach for the past 2 years, but have never had much luck with.  They try hard, but most end up super frustrated so I put it away for another day.  I guess something clicked this year (or it could be the fact that it was the 2nd or 3rd time most of them had attempted the step) because every single kid got it and a couple of them did the step perfectly.  I was so excited because they're some of my favorite steps to put together and I can actually put them in a dance this year!  Yep, definitely the little things.  =)

#5 

Samantha's Back  I realize this one is pretty up there on the random scale, but it's something near and dear to my heart.  I was a HUGE fan of the American Girl books and dolls when I was a kid.  I was reading them when it was just Samantha, Molly, Kirsten, and brand new Felicity. Samantha was my doll of choice, with Molly coming in a close second because she was a tap dancer of course.  I loved Samantha's stories and read them over and over again growing up.  I still remember getting my Samantha doll for Christmas one year and it was the best thing ever!  Of course my family indulged my love of Samantha. I am pretty sure I was the only kid I knew who had doll outfits and my size matching outfits that were made by my grandma.  We even had matching baskets from the Samantha Saves the Day book that my mom made.  Let's just say that Samantha and I dressed alike for many a book report circa 1992.  I promise this trip down memory lane has a point....a couple of years ago I discovered that Samantha had been retired and I was a little upset about this.  I realize they've introduced 9 more "historical" dolls as they're now called.  They've also introduced the annual "Girl of the Year" and the "My American Girl" dolls that you can get to look like you making the entire collection of dolls enormous, but I hated to see all of the original dolls I grew up with retired. I still get the annual catalog in the mail (due to a weak moment and free catalog offer) and I was delighted yesterday and I was flipping through it to see they are re-branding the historical doll collections and bringing back all of the classics!!!  They have changed up the outfits for whatever reason, but the most important things is that Samantha and Molly and Kirsten and Felicity are coming back for a new generation of girls to enjoy.  

That's all I've got for today.  Happy Friday to all and to all a good weekend!

Happy October 15th!

October 15th has rolled around again.  I have mentioned what this day has meant to me for so many years once or twice around these parts.  It will surely forever hold a special place in my heart because of all of the wonderful memories of basketball seasons past that truly were "the good ole days."  The girls I played ball with are still some of my closest friends.  They are the kind of friends you don't see all the time, but you know you can always count on them when you need them or you can drop in on them and pick up right where you left off.  We share a bond that is truly unique and I absolutely love all these girls so much!!!

The past three years I had my own little team of basketballers to coach and attempt to guide through the crazy thing we call life.  It was fun, challenging, exhausting, and rewarding all at the same time.  I enjoyed each season, but this year I decided to hang up my whistle.  They say you should do something for as long as you love it.  And as last season wore on I stopped loving it.  It became a chore and I knew that it was time for me to move on.  It seems a little surreal not bringing my practice clothes to work with me and rushing out of the office at 3:30 on the dot to make it to practice. But at the same time I am looking forward to free Friday nights and Saturdays (in 4-6 weeks) when football season ends and [hopefully] a less stressful holiday season.  Someday I may pick that whistle back up and coach again, but who knows.  I always said it was crazy that I was coaching because I was never one of those college athletes who planned on coaching one day.  I just kind of fell into it, and I enjoyed it so I kept going.  I am looking forward to catching at least a game or two this season because I've crossed paths with some of my girls already this school year and they made sure I got a copy of the schedule so I can come watch them play.

So Happy October 15th to all of you current and former NCAA Basketball Players!  And I guess I have to throw in a Happy October 15th to all of the bow hunters in Alabama, including my hubby who starting today will be spending most of his free time in the woods trying to get a big buck!

Weekend Recap

There's nothing like a 3 day weekend to get your sleep patterns completely thrown out of whack, right?  Just kidding, I would never complain about getting a 3 day weekend.  Plus my lack of sleep is more likely the result of staying up to watch the entire Dancing with the Stars Episode last night that I DVRed. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Apparently I don't learn from my mistakes very well because I did the exact same thing last Monday.

We had a jam packed weekend between Homecoming at THS Friday night (which we won), PEO for me on Saturday morning, and several very exciting football games Saturday afternoon/evening.  After  all of that, I was really happy to see Sunday afternoon. I caught up on all of my DVRed shows from the week and got a nice long run in, and did very little other than that.  I was hoping to work on some projects on my day off Monday, but those plans unfortunately got side tracked.  I mentioned about Hawk having to go to the vet for some swelling on his neck about a month ago.  We treated it with antibiotics and he was fine a few days later.  Well we noticed it again on Saturday night.  It was just a small spot so I gave him a little bit of the same meds I had leftover from the time before and decided we would get him checked on Monday if it got worse.  Well, it did. The pocket of swelling became hard and got bigger in a day's time. The whole side of his face started swelling so we took him to the vet in Montgomery who thinks he has an abscessed salivary gland.  They kept him over night to drain the pockets, and will probably have him another day or two just to make sure to get it all cleaned out. They are sending off a sample of what they drained to see what they need to give him to treat it further.  Hopefully we will have him back in a day or so as good as new.  The strange thing about this is that he has never acted like he was hurting or in pain.  I noticed Monday that he looked a little uncomfortable, but that's understandable when you have a swollen face.  So please say a prayer for him that he will get better soon because there are two humans and a little dachshund at home who miss him very much.

No that's not a second tongue, that's how swollen his face was Monday morning. 

This week is going to be a interesting one...we have lots in store and a lot of it is uncharted territory for us!  I just hope that it helps this week fly by!

Homecoming Weekend Recap

When we finally sat down last night around 8:30pm, all I could think was thank goodness Eric didn't have a football game Friday night.  I really don't know how we could have fit it in. It was one of those weekends where I can look back and say that we really lived it up.  I took advantage of the free Friday night and got a quick run in when I got home and I am so glad I did because this was my backdrop:

If that doesn't say "you've made the right decision this evening" I don't know what does.  We tossed around the idea of going out to dinner, but ultimately went with steaks on the grill, which were much better than anything we would have had to wait for at a restaurant.  We called it a night shortly after dinner because we had plans bright and early on Saturday morning for Homecoming at Huntingdon!

This is seriously one of my favorite weekends of the entire year because we get to see all of our college friends and since nearly all of us are married we don't have as many opportunities to get together (weddings were our other get-togethers).  We left the house at 6:45 [yikes] to make it to Montgomery because Eric hates to be late to anything.  I did convince him that we should stop and pick up breakfast for our friends who we were meeting because normal people don't get up that early on weekends.  The boys took off to meet up with the rest of their buds and the girls hung out at my old teammate's apartment until it was time to go to the Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. This year one of my old teammates became the first women's basketball player to receive this honor, and one of Eric's old roommates was receiving the honor as well.  It was a wonderful ceremony made even better by an inductee from the c/o 1966 who told some absolutely hilarious stories from when he and his buddies were students.  I was crying I was laughing so hard.

Me with my teammate who was inducted into the Hall of Fame, the Coach Smith who recruited me to play basketball at HC, and another one of my old teammates.  

Eric with some of his old teammates at the pre-game tailgate lunch.

Eric and I at the game.

The game was great and HC ended up winning 51-14.  It really could not have been a more beautiful day for football.  After the game we headed home and got caught up on the goings on in the SEC and oh my did things get a little crazy this weekend in the world of college football.  Who would have thought that the only game that wasn't close or an upset would be the Auburn-LSU game?  Since that game ended up being a blowout so we opted to sit around the campfire instead of watching the 2nd half.  Combined with the chili I whipped up for dinner it really felt like fall!

Sunday was back to our normal routine: church and grocery store for me, football film for Eric.  I spent the afternoon whipping up some goodies [I had a weak moment at the grocery store which resulted in some mini pumpkin spice cakes with cream cheese frosting] and getting ready for my Monday night classes because dance classes are back as of today!  I cannot wait!

45 degrees on Sunday morning = BOOT WEATHER!  And a little bit of pumpkin spice goodness!

I'm not going to lie, this morning was a struggle to get out of bed.  With the days getting shorter, it's dark outside when I leave which doesn't help me whatsoever. BUT, I got a treat this morning that made it all worth it:

Sunrise over the cotton fields....it doesn't get much better than this!

High Five for Friday

Woohoo Friday!  I'm so glad we made it through another week...the first week of October no less.  Time is flying by! It's been a minute since I've done a High 5 for Friday Day post (probably because it's been that long since I've had anything interesting to talk about !), so I figured there's no time like the present to talk about a few things.

1. Twinning

This happened on Monday:

During a shopping trip while my parents were here a couple of weeks ago, Mom and I picked up nearly identical bright green sweaters as we were perusing the Talbots Outlet.  We were on different sides of the store, and when we met back up we realized what we had done.  Mom asked me what I would wear with it and I told her I would surely pair it with navy, she agreed.  We laughed about it and continued on shopping.  Fast forward and entire week.  We're having one of our afternoon phone calls while I am driving home and Mom casually mentions that she got lots of compliments on her bright green sweater that day.  Jokingly I tell her that I hope she wore it with navy.  Turns out she wore it with a knee length navy dress.  Guess what your's truly had on that very day....my bright green sweater over a navy dress.  We got a kick out if it.  I've always known I would eventually turn into my mother, but I guess I never thought the change would be so literal...lol.  Great minds do think alike!

2.Raspberries 

I received a large box in the mail this week from my grandparents.  I was curious considering I was not expecting anything, so I was pleasantly surprised when I opened the box to find a big bunch of raspberry plants!  I brought several home with us from out trip to Indiana this summer, but only one of them made it...I might have waited a little too long to get them in some dirt.  I am hoping our newest raspberry additions will thrive so we can have LOTS of raspberries next year!

3. Brazilian Food

The father of one of our friends who is from Brazil has been here visiting for the past couple of months.  He speaks very little English and we speak no Portuguese so it has made for some awkward but endearing conversations while he has been here.  Sadly he had to head back to the Southern Hemisphere this week, but we sent him off with a big cookout Tuesday night.  I have discovered over the past couple of months that I LOVE Brazilian food.  It is super light and flavorful, kinda tex-mexy but so much better.  I am sure I have mentioned the Brazilian Potato Salad once or twice around these parts,  It looks like a Shepard's pie, has the flavor of the bacon ranch boxed pasta salad you can get a the grocery store, but is filled with delicious things like carrots, olives, and even chicken!  This stuff is amazing.  At the cookout this week we had this delicious dish, as well as several grilled meats and of course fresh pico de gallo with rice and guacamole.  It was sooooo good!  As much as I hate to see our friend's dad go back home, I am so glad we got to send him off with a bang!

4. Dance Starts Up Next Week!

I am getting really excited because the 2014-2015 dance year kicks off next week!  I feel like it's the first week of school or something (which is guess it is the first week of dance school).  I cannot wait to get in the studio and work with all of the little darlings this year. I am going to get to work with 3rd graders-7th graders this year which will be lots of fun!  I will be tap-tapping to my little heart's content and I can't wait!

5.  No-football Friday/Homecoming?

We get to switch things up this weekend for football.  THS has a bye week [WHAT?!] which means we are footloose and fancy free this evening!  We considered going out to eat and then we both laughed and remembered that we are anti-Friday night date nighters.  We have never had luck trying to go out to eat on a Friday night.  It never fails.  We gave it up when we were in college.  Having football and basketball games on those nights normally keeps us from going most of the time, but when we have a free night we tend to momentarily forget about it.  My vote is for some Little Caesars and catching up on this week's NCIS episodes that we have yet to watch.  Whatever we do it won't be too much because we are going to be up bright and early to head to Montgomery for Homecoming at Huntingdon!  It's going to be a full day of fun and friends, most of whom we haven't seen in a year and I cannot wait!  It is supposed to be in the upper 60s and sunny all day which is going to make for an absolutely beautiful day!

The picture on the left was taken during Eric's last football season (fall 07) and the picture on the right is last year at Homecoming. 

Happy Friday!

Best Marinade Ever

This recipe has been a long time coming.  We first had this past summer (I can say that because it's fall now!), during a trip to the beach to visit my BIL and SIL. My SIL made some pork chops for dinner for us one night and they were marinated to perfection; absolutely delicious.  Of course I asked her for the recipe and she told me she found it on Pinterest...I mean seriously is there any other place to get a good recipe besides an old family cook book these days?  I found it and I pinned it and the rest is history. So far we've had it on pork, steak, and chicken and it tastes wonderful on all three.
So why haven't I shared thus far?  To be honest, we inhale what ever we make with it so quickly it took me 3 months to get a "cooked" food picture....and heaven forbid I share a recipe without a finished product picture, right?!  So without further ado:

adapted from this recipe

What You Need:

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 Tbsp garlic powder

3 Tbsp fresh basil

1 1/2 Tbsp parsley 

1 tsp ground pepper

2 garlic cloves, minced

How to Make It:

Whisk all of the ingredients together in a bowl until thoroughly mixed.

Pour marinade over desired meat (chicken, steak, pork, etc.). Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour. I prefer to marinate the meat over night. Cook meat as desired.

Yes it's that easy and have I mentioned it's delicious?!

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Hungry yet?  You're welcome. =)