Cold Weather = Beefy Nacho Soup Dinner

If you live anywhere near the path of Jonas (the snowstorm, not the brothers) this past weekend, you were keenly aware of how freaking cold it was. We didn't get any snow but we had highs in the low 40s with windchills in the 20s and 30s. I realize that for my family and friends up north that's called a blustery winter day, but in these parts it's called stay inside by the fire and eat all of the warm comfort  foods you can get your hands on.

#truth

Since I am a transplant, Indiana born and bred, but raised in Tennessee, and a current resident of Alabama, I feel like I can laugh at both sides. However the pursuit of comfort foods when it's cold outside is one thing I think we can all agree on. I really wanted to make soup on Saturday to warm me up from the inside out, but I wanted something different that wouldn't take all day in the crockpot and that we'd end up having to eat for dinner and lunch for the next 5 days. This is always something I think about since it's just the 2 of us. 

Certain things I can make knowing that we will devour the entire pot (looking at you Crockpot Potato Soup), but I hate to make a crock pot of something new because neither one of us are very good leftover eaters when it comes to things we aren't wild about. The solution? Enter one of my all time favorite recipe blogs: Plain Chicken. Her recipes are among some of our favorites, including Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup, Pecan Pie Brownies, Cool Ranch Chicken Tacos, Sauteed Brussels Sprouts with Bacon, and at least 100 other recipes I have pinned from her blog.  Including this newbie: 

Saturday's dinner, Beefy Nacho Soup. It was quick, easy, and absolutely delicious! Normally I don't go for beaney soups, but I left most of them in, and added a can of corn to my soup because I love corn. I topped it with some shredded cheese and Tostito's Cantina Chipotle Thins chips and it was delicious! We have one small bowl left of it that will most likely become my lunch one day this week. SO if you're looking for a quick delicious soup, you need to try this one. 

Since we've got a little bit of warmer weather this week, I am going the opposite direction for dinners this week. I'm actually going out on a limb for myself, and am making...........salmon. I'm not a fan of fishy fish (I just started eating tuna steaks last year), so salmon is a big stretch for me. We had some over Christmas at Eric's Mom's house - Eric loved it and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would - so in the spirit of eating healthy for our latest Biggest Loser Competition, I decided there's no time like the present. Wish me luck and hope I don't over cook it. This was the one warning my MIL gave me about cooking salmon - it was the only advice she had on making it so I figure it's a biggie!

A Chilly Birthday Weekend

Good ole South Alabama, we got passed over by the Snowpocalypse.....again. We haven't had even a smidgen of snow in 2 years since the last big snow event that shut down the south. Thankfully the southerners who did get hit by the storm were prepared this year. I heard there were some flurries around our area but nothing too exciting. I told Eric that if it snowed while we were at the movies Friday I would make a snow angel in the parking lot. Sadly, said snow angel did not happen. But we did have a little bit of ice on the truck after dinner. I'll take what I can get.

little baby ice droplets

We spent our Friday celebrating Eric. We started our evening at the movies to see The Revenant. My review: Fantastic movie, but quite graphic so if you get woozy when you see someone get stabbed in the leg, or eating raw meat from a freshly killed animal carcass that you just watched them kill, look away. But the story was great, and the acting was superb. Leo for the Oscar! The movie had very little dialog, but the 2.5 hours went by pretty quick. Eric was a bit underwhelmed by the ending, but I googled Hugh Glass (the main character) earlier in the week, so I knew bits and pieces of the story going into it, so I didn't mind it. Since we didn't get out of the movies until after 8, we wanted something quick and had a nice dinner at Newk's where I ate a salad as big as my head.

It took me a while but I made it through most of it. 

With a side of Bacon Pimento Mac and Cheese. You didn't think I went all healthy on you, did you?! We passed on dessert there because I had birthday cake waiting on us at home. I made mini-cakes like last year, which tasted great, but left a bit to be desired visually. My icing did not want to spread and I had no patience, so it ended up looking like a 3 year old iced the cake.

It was delicious and lasted all of 10 minutes so who cares about how pretty it is, right?

After a delicious breakfast at 1220 on Saturday morning, Eric took off for the woods. He and some buddies decided to hunt and camp out for the night. I told him he was nuts as the high on Saturday was in the low 40s with 20 mile per hour winds. I stayed home (because I'm smart) and enjoyed movie time in front of the fire. I know 2 movies in 2 days....it might be a record for me. Eric rented Woodlawn the other day and we had on the DVR for a few more hours so I decided to watch it. Eric said it was pretty good and it was. It was a really great movie, I highly recommend it. It's a true story about the Woodlawn High School football team, in Birmingham, AL, in the mid 70s. Rent it. Watch it. You won't regret it.

After I finished the movie, I begrudgingly decided to take the pups out for a walk. I rarely don't want to take them, but I was dreading it. But I knew that it would make their little puppy hearts happy so I did and they loved every second of it. I'm not sure why they love the cold so much but they do. I skipped on a second walk for the day that afternoon and just took them out to play for a little while, until my hands were so cold they hurt. The things I do for those 2.

                   Hawks favorite way to play               vs.               Peanut's favorite way to play

In between playtime in the frozen tundra I finally made it to a THS basketball game. I know this is only the second year I haven't coached, but it seems like it's been much longer. The girls played really well, and ended up losing by only 2 pts. They have a winning record this year, which is all I ever wanted for them and I'm so glad they are winning games now. It does help that the kids who were freshmen and sophomores when I was their coach are now juniors and seniors - experience is definitely something you can't teach. And no I don't miss coaching. The girls, yes;  but the long nights at practice and games every Friday and Saturday night, not at all. I ended my night with church and an Insanity workout before crashing on the couch at 8:30pm. It was a wild night, what can I say.

Want to know how to tell you're in the South? Instead of putting THS on the wall like normal people, they painted it like you would a monogram. 

Eric came home Sunday morning and we spent the day on the couch, watching football games (in between puppy walks because it was so much nicer on Sunday). I can honestly say that this is the first time in a long time that I have actually been excited to watch the Super Bowl, and not just because I can actually say that I have seen both quarterbacks play in person. True story: I was at the UT/Memphis game in 1996 when Memphis beat Peyton and Tennessee, and we got to go to the Auburn/Clemson game in 2012 when Cam brought Auburn back from a 17-0 deficit to win the year they won the National Championship. I have a feeling that it's going to be a really exciting game to watch!

Happy Birthday Eric!

I want to wish a very Happy Happy Birthday to this handsome hunk of a husband of mine!

He hits the big 3-2 today, and of course I did my best to make it special with balloons and banners waiting for him on the breakfast counter. Plus a little extra surprise of his work truck being filled with balloons. =) I know he is going to LOVE it. Hopefully he won't lock me out of the house for that one....I kid, I kid. 

In the words of the Black Eyed Peas - I've got a feeling oooooooooooooohhh! That tonight's going to be a good night! Because we get to celebrate you!  

Happy Birthday, Eric! I love you!

Weekend Recap: Veterans and Veterinarians

Normally after a 3 days weekend I am all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed from the abundance of sleep I've had, plus the extra day off, which is always nice. However, I am struggling this AM. Why? A tiny little puppy dog who is not quite feeling up to par. He is fine, just a little needy right now, but I will get into that a little later.

The first part of our weekend was spent at a really fun event, not far from our house. It was the culmination of a week-long deer hunt for wounded veterans. We attended the wrap up party last year, but this year Eric was a lot more involved with helping put the event together, so we spent quite a bit more time there. It started with a cookout on Friday night. We Eric grilled steaks and we got to hang out with several of the folks involved with the event.

They share so well when the stick is that long and they can both chew on it without bothering the other one. 

Saturday was an absolutely beautiful day. Eric hunted and then headed down to the event to start cooking dinner, so I took my time and enjoyed some puppy walks and a run outside! I headed down to the cookout that evening in time to hear one of our friends and his band play and we had a great night!

The Kevin Adair Band

We spent the majority of Sunday lounging, although Eric did head to the woods one more time Sunday afternoon. He got back and we had dinner and then things got a little crazy. About 9PM I was getting ready to take the puppies (who had been asleep on the couch for a good couple of hours) outside one last time. When I picked Peanut up he let out a yelp like he was in pain which concerned me given his previous back issues, but I figured I might have turned him awkwardly somehow. When I picked him up again I noticed his stomach was really hard and seemed swollen, which also concerned me, but I figured he was just really full. But then when I took him outside and he just laid down I got really worried. I brought him back inside and Eric and I discussed it. I was minorly afraid it could be bloat, which is not common in small dogs, but is a huge concern if that is what it is. He was clearly in pain and his stomach was pretty swollen, so Eric called the vet emergency #. After talking with them, he told me they'd meet me at their office at 10:30PM. They checked him over and did some xrays, and said it looked like he had a little gas bubble in his tummy and his intestines were definitely full of poo, so they kept him over night and gave him an enema (he may never forgive me for it) to make sure that his intestines weren't blocked. They did a barium test yesterday and everything went through his system fine, his blood work also came back normal, but he was clearly still in some pain.  They sent him home with something to settle his stomach, and something for his pain. The best we can figure is that his back was acting up (despite his reflexes being normal), which is common for him, especially when the weather can't decide if it's going to be winter or summer like it has been lately. I felt kind of bad for being the crazy dog mom who has the vet meet her at the clinic in the middle of the night, but I am so grateful for the vet and thanked her over and over again. He'll be kenneled for a little while until he starts feeling back to his old self, but other than that he seems fine. Judging by his reaction when Hawk gets too close to him, his back is definitely bothering him. I am just thankful it wasn't bloat or something stuck in his stomach. I am not sure if it's residual effects from the enema or the barium, but his stomach was quite upset last night, hence me not getting much sleep because I had to take him out a few times. He was not too thrilled to get up at 5:30AM with me but did go outside. After a nap while I was getting ready he seemed a little more back to his old self and was eating his breakfast. Hopefully he'll be feeling even better after a little kennel rest today.

Don't let that face fool you, he was thrilled to be going home, he was just letting me know how awful the enema was. 

I attempted to be productive yesterday on my day off but I was pretty much a mess waiting for the vet to call and give me updates on him (the barium test takes a while and involves xrays done at certain time intervals every few hours). I managed to clean out the shoes in my closet (yay!) which needed to be done badly, and took Hawk on a couple of walks which he LOVED and yes he swam when it was 40 degrees outside.

In his happy place. 

This week's going to be a pretty busy one for us, with everything we do normally plus a birthday for Eric on Friday. He's hitting the big 3-2....yikes we're old! It should be fun!

Moscow Mules

I have developed a bit of a crush on a new (to us) drink. It's rare for us to find drink that both of us really love, plus they are served in super sweet cups which helps, too. The beverage? A Moscow Mule. The best way I can describe it would be that it tastes like a hard ginger ale. Um, yes please! I've seen the cups online for the past year or so but didn't give it the time of day because I am not much of a hard liquor drinker, especially vodka...blech! This all changed over Christmas when we were visiting Eric's Mom and her hubby. She served us Moscow Mules one night and we were both hooked. So naturally I scoured Montgomery for the ingredients and the cups (at a reasonable price...they can get expen$ive)!

What you Need:

crushed ice

splash of vermouth

2 oz vodka

4 oz ginger beer

4 oz(ish) limeade* (prepared ahead of time)

How to make it:

*Limeade - thaw 1 can of frozen Limeade and mix with 3.5 (limeade) cans full of water in a pitcher.  Set aside....this is the limeade mixture you will use for your drinks.

Fill a Moscow Mule Mug 1/3 - 1/2 of the way full with crushed ice. Splash vermouth over ice just to get it wet. Pour in 2 oz vodka and 4 oz ginger beer. Top the drink off with limeade mixture-roughly 4 oz, give or take an ounce. You may need to add another handful of crushed ice if the ice has already started melting. Stir and serve immediately. You can garnish with a lime wedge if you'd like to.

Christmas trees make great garnish, too!

The hardest ingredient to find by far was the ginger beer. Most grocery stores don't sell it in my experience.  It's non-alcoholic beer and you can find it with the drink mixers, not with the other beers. Our Walmarts carry one brand, packaged in 4 packs of 8 oz cans (think Red Bull can size). If you want variety, check World Market. They carry 4 or 5 different brands. So far my favorite is the Fever Tree brand at World Market. It has a really strong ginger/citrus flavor to it and is delicious!

The cups are a nice addition, too, and I think the drink tastes better when you drink it out of one. I priced them at three different stores and found them anywhere from $9.99/each to $19.99 each, and I am sure you could pay a lot more if you wanted to. Target was the winner with $10 cups. Eric and I treated ourselves with a set of 4 as an early Christmas present to each other.

So there you have it. Now go forth and drink happy! =)

Cheers to 2016!

I put up my last Christmas recap up 13 days after Christmas so I figured it was only fitting and not lazy that I publish my New Years recap 13 days after New Years. That's completely acceptable, right??

New Years has always been one of those awkward holidays to me. On one hand it's fun to celebrate and ring in the new year with champagne toasts and fiends, but on the other hand, most people have to work on the 31st so I always feel like I'm rushing into it (I usually end up taking the day off) and have a really hard time staying up until midnight unless there's something exciting going on between the hours of 9pm and 11pm. If not, I'm out. However, a solution has presented itself that has been a lifesaver (for me anyway)....the College Football Playoffs. Since the semifinal games are played on the 31st, we have something to occupy our time before midnight, and kind of helps us close up the back porch for the year. It also helps that Alabama has played in the playoffs both years, but we always end up watching both games so I am sure we would if they weren't, too.

However, even with the games going until 11pm, we've struggled to stay up until midnight. Perhaps it's a case of our age showing? About 15 minutes after the last game ended, the kiddos (and man children) were getting restless, so I suggested that we set off the fireworks. This seemed to appease both sets of children. Personally, I have always thought the man children enjoy the fireworks more than the actual children. Long story short, we shot off our NYE fireworks at 11:15pm, and then most everyone went home. Eric was leaving the next morning for a duck hunting trip, so he even went to bed at 11:40pm. I decided that since I had made it that far, I was going to see the beginning of 2016, so poured glasses of champagne for our tiny remaining crew on the back porch and then went back inside to ring in the new year with Eric. We said happy new year, I gave him a smooch, and he went to bed. Since we had a few folks left, I went back outside to entertain them for a bit. To be honest, I would much prefer a subdued NYE like we had to all of the craziness and crowds. Perhaps I would change my mind if I had the opportunity to celebrate on a balcony in Times Square where I could drink fancy champagne, in a fancy dress, in a heated area overlooking the Ball Drop. I saw that the Olive Garden in Times Square was charging like $800/person to be there on NYE so yeah, that's not going to happen any time soon.  I don't want to go THAT bad. I might consider it if they served endless soup, salad, and breadsticks, but if not, what's the point?!

Thank you to the beer lights on the wall for making us looking like we're at a really exciting party instead just on our empty back porch. 

Since we didn't toast champagne at midnight, Eric and I toasted mimosas on New Years Day instead.

I sent Eric off on his hunting trip around lunchtime and ended up enjoying an afternoon on the couch. I did venture out New Years evening with my mother in law to have dinner and do a little shopping. We don't have the opportunity to do a lot one-on-one so it was really nice getting to spend some time with her.

I should have been excited because after having the 31st and the 1st off, I still had an entire weekend off, but I ended up succumbing to the crud I'd been trying to ignore that kept me glued to the couch (except for puppy walks) for most of the weekend. And I even got a souvenir (from the crud).

Sorry I know that will gross some folks out. 

Yup, I busted a blood vessel in my eye coughing and hacking one morning. Fun, right?  It looked way worse than it felt. In fact I never felt a thing, and didn't even know it was there until Eric and I were at breakfast on NYE and he asked me what was in my eye. I had to look at it to realize I had a red blob in the corner of my eye, that turned into a line going from the corner of my eye to my iris by New Years Day. Little did I know it would take nearly 2 weeks for it to go away completely (today is 2 weeks and I am happy to report there is no longer any red in my eye).

I started to feel better Saturday evening after a 2 hour nap so I made the courageous decision to take down the Christmas decorations. I thought about leaving it until Sunday, but I am so glad I didn't because I got on a roll that didn't stop until I was hauling the Christmas tree out the front door at 11pm. At that point I told myself to stop and picked back up in the morning cleaning out random drawers and cabinets. Seriously, there was absolutely no rhyme or reason to what got cleaned but the Tupperware and wine glass shelves, along with a storage bin with canvas drawers that contained random mail, including pay stubs from 8 years ago all made the list.

Random shots from the remainder of New Years weekend: Clockwise from top left: 1) It was chilly but really nice on our puppy walks over the weekend, not freezing but cool enough for the pups to want to go on extra long walks. 2) Cooler temps meant that I got to wear my new Cuddl Duds long johns on our walks....aren't they cute!?! I might have worn them around the house all weekend day. 3) One of the reasons I did so much cleaning out was because got to put my new cabinets in their place by the mantle (which meant moving the current bookshelf and some of its contents to other places). I am absolutely in love with these cabinets! I have been looking for something to replace the Target book shelf that was there before for quite a while, but due to the size restraint of the area (it's less than 2 feet wide and had to be under 42" so it didn't cover up the light switch) and my pickyness of wanting doors and not drawers it took me a few years to find something. Actually Mom found them at a home store in Memphis and gave them to me for Christmas. I initially planned to paint them another color, but the red adds a nice pop of color to our other wise brown and earthy green living room so they are going to stay red. 4) When Eric is gone I think it's totally appropriate to eat an entire wheel of brie cheese with crackers with a mimosa for dinner. But it was sooooo good!

And there you have it, the start to our 2016! Never mind that the first month is almost halfway over already....yikes!

Currently

Since the holidays are now officially over I figured its time for a life dump update. I still have intentions to recap our NYE, so hopefully that will happen this week, too. Anyway, life dump...updates on where am I on this 2016 thing so far. This new year started out in a hurry and I feel like I am still trying to catch up. I guess I thought things would slow down after the holidays but so far not happening.

I figured the easiest way to catch up on everything going on would be a list (of course) of things currently going on around here, so with out further ado:

Currently, I am.....

Needing......another cup of coffee and maybe a couple hour nap? In case you didn't hear, the Alabama Crimson Tide won their 16th National Championship last night. The game was really exciting, I mean REALLY exciting, and didn't end until after 11pm. I was kind of secretly hoping the game would be a blow out and I could go to sleep early, but that was NOT the case. We had some friends over for the game but because we're all old and have to wake up early during the week, everyone left at half time. I think I barely made it to bed before midnight....Eric being the diehard Alabama fan that he is, was whooping and hollering the entire second half so I couldn't have gone to sleep early if I had wanted to. He managed to help the Tide pull out a victory, and went to bed with happy little elephants dancing around in his head along with all of the other Bammers who weren't out at Academy picking up their Championship swag immediately after the game.

via

Hoping......I can start remembering everything I need to teach my classes.  I am usually Ms. Overprepared (I have been called Rescue Ranger on more than one occasion) but in the past week I have forgotten my choreography book twice and my tap shoes once (I've only taught 5 times since classes started back last week).  I feel like been running around like a crazy person the past couple of weeks, and I haven't quite figured out why. Hopefully I can get my act together soon.

Loving......this cold weather that we are FINALLY having around these parts! It finally feel like winter and I'm so happy I get to break out my hats and boots and coats.  Now if it would just snow my winter would be complete! But not on a day/weekend when I have something to do like it did last year...kthanks.

Wishing......I had a heater at my desk. I really love this cold, but I only want to mess with it outside. My office is ridiculously cold for some odd reason, and the thermostat does nothing to control the temperature....it's set on 85 and feels like 65...maybe. It's not that cold in the general office space, or the offices adjacent to mine, just my little office. For example right now I have on boots, a scarf, and my coat I wore in this morning (still) and I am fuh-reezing. I could ask about getting it fixed but the last time I tried that on another floor, it got colder, so I'm hesitant to do that. I'll just sit under my Snuggie and deal with it. 

Peanut and I clearly have similar opinions on the cold; Hawk does not share our opinion.

Dreaming......of vacations and trips that we are hoping to take this year. We have a couple of ideas we've been tossing around and I really hope we can find the time to go!

Looking forward to......lunch (of course), but it's mainly because I've got some really delicious things to dive into like my favorite Avocado Chicken Salad and some No-Bake Energy Bites, whose recipes I will be sharing soon because the original pinterest links I pinned are no longer active.  We started Biggest Loser 2016 this week and I am ready to stop eating like crap like I have the past few weeks. I wasn't as bad as I was last year, but there's something about Christmas that makes me feel like it's appropriate to eat every piece of chocolate or bread I can get my hands on and that's not good. Eric tightened up the belt on our treadmill which is also going to help (because slipping a few inches every time you take a step on the treadmill is not safe.....or smart).

Glad that I......had the bright idea to put some of my favorite pinterest recipes into a recipe book on shutterfly a couple of years ago. I know blogs don't always stick around forever, so I took several of our absolute favorite recipes and put them into a photo cookbook so that I have them forever. It is also a great gift, and I have had requests from several friends for their own copies. I really need to do another one soon with another installment of recipes.

Hoping......to continue blogging and not disappear like I did last year.  I really of wish I hadn't let myself take so much time off from writing. When I was writing my 2015 Recap, I realized I skipped nearly 2 months in the fall. Granted it was in the middle of some trying times with my grandmother's passing and Eric's surgery, which aren't particularly happy fun things to write about, but they're things I definitely don't want to forget about because they're a part of our life. This little space serves as a place for me to record our memories as they are happening and I hate that I let the ball drop because I don't want to leave anything out. Sometimes I wonder where the first five years of our marriage went, because it certainly doesn't seem like we've been married that long. Thankfully I have this little blog to help jog my memories for the majority of that time, and I hope that I can continue to document the big and little things in our life as they happen.

Breaking Records and Taking Names

Yes, believe it or not, yours truly is (unofficially until we get the official confirmation from Guinness) a World Record Holder. Well part of a large world record holding group: Most People on One Scale. It's real I promise. The link right now takes you to the old record holders, but I will update it when they redo the site. So how did this happen?

In Alabama we have a program called Scaleback Alabama where they encourage people to make a New Years Resolution to lose 10 lbs in 10 weeks. The program started 10 years ago, and I actually worked as an intern with the program that puts on the program on one of the first years they did it. Back then it was just a state employee thing, but now it's a very successful statewide program. They give away cash prizes to select "losers" and "losing teams" that lose more than 10 lbs each.

So back to the record, a couple of weeks ago we got an email at work about a Guinness Book Record Breaking attempt, looking for volunteers to come out at 6:45AM to get on a giant scale to attempt to break the world record. I figured I get to work at 7AM normally so whats leaving the house 15 minutes earlier for a fun morning activity....plus we got a free long-sleeved t-shirt! I have learned over the years that people will do literally anything for a free t-shirt (myself included), so it was a no brainer. I mean, how many opportunities do you get to break a world record?!

The event wasn't too crazy. We got to the designated meeting area, signed in, and they bused us over to the scale. We used a freight scale at a steel plant, not far from the office. They corralled us on the scale, took some pictures, a few people talked (we were in the back and couldn't hear much...just waved our pompoms when the people in front did), and then it was over. We were bused back to our cars and headed to the office....all before 8:15AM.  What did YOU do with your morning? I can say I accomplished quite a lot. From what I've heard we ended up officially with 154 people, breaking the old record by 24 people. It's not a huge number, but it's more than the old record and that's all that counts!

I guess that's a pretty good start to my weekend! =) 

Christmas 2015: Round 3

Christmas 2015: Round 1 and Round 2

Since yesterday was the 12th day of Christmas, I can get my final Christmas recap installment up without worrying about it being too late to talk about Christmas, right? My last recap ended with Eric and I finishing up our Christmas morning at home together. Like I said, the calm of Christmas morning was short-lived at our house because we were on the road an hour later, heading up to Memphis to have Christmas with my parents and brother. We made it just in time for Christmas lunch (which was insanely delicious BTW), and spent the afternoon exchanging gifts and enjoying the company. The evening ended with family pictures in front of the tree, and for the first time we took pictures in matching pajamas. It was awesome! The boys weren't entirely thrilled but they played along, and even smiled!

 Mom even made scarves for the puppies that matched our pants. =)

 Of course we had outtakes.  I set my camera to take several shots at once and the first time I did it and ran over to my spot, Maggie freaked out, which set Hawk and Peanut off, and well I have an entire series of photos that look just like this one. 

 My little plaid family =)

Love these guys!

Top Row: This was an actual gift I received from my brother. He's so clever.....But I got my revenge! Want to know how to keep an engineer busy and drive them crazy? Give them a marble ball puzzle game that has 100 levels. =) Big sister ALWAYS gets her revenge!
Bottom Row: Maggie picked up on Christmas very quickly, and was totally digging her new ball!

The next day was spent duck hunting, golfing, shopping, and puppy walking. It was quite warm the day after Christmas and we spent the evening frying a turkey and drinking Moscow Mules....in shorts. Yes it was that warm. When it's warm enough for the pups to swim to their little hearts' content the day after Christmas, it's warm. And Maggie actually SWAM, not just waded chest deep. It's amazing what (accidentally) throwing her favorite playground ball into a reservoir will get her to do.

Clockwise from top left: 1) Mom holding treats court with the pups. I wish mine would listen to me as well as they listen to her. 2) Saturday morning paper reading and puppy naps are a given. 3) Hanging around with Maggie the day after Christmas on the back porch...in shorts. 4) Maggie wanted to sleep over in our room with Hawk one night so we had a puppy slumber party. 

Eric came back from hunting early Sunday morning and Matt had to leave to head back to Wisconsin that afternoon so we loaded up and headed downtown to visit the World's Largest Bass Pro. Yes, that's right, the world's largest Bass Pro.  Impressive right?

Even more impressive/ironic?  This is the same building I graduated from high school in, 13 years ago. You see, up until a couple of years ago, this building was a basketball/multipurpose arena facility, but once the city acquired the Grizzlies and built FedEx Forum just a few blocks from there, they didn't need the building any more. It sat empty for a few years until Bass Pro bought it and gave it new life. It now houses a hotel, 2 restaurants, a bowling alley, 2 giant aquariums, a stream with fish and ducks that live in it, an alligator tank, the world's tallest free standing elevator, and amazing observation deck that overlooks the Mississippi River, oh and an enormous hunting and fishing store. Like I said, quite impressive. We spent a few hours inside (lunch included) and didn't even spend any time up on the second floor. Eric and Dad ran upstairs to get a part for Dad's turkey fryer and saw an $8,000 smoker (not sure why anyone would need a smoker that costs that much) and professional fisherman Bill Dance who was just hanging out. Eric said he gave him a few fishing tips. We did make it to the observation deck where we got to see some great views of the Mississippi River.

Clockwise from top left: 1) The stream that runs through the store. 2)  Some of the sturgeon who reside in the stream. 3) The view of the ground floor going up the elevator. Yes that is a boat docked in the stream that flows through the store. 4) You can't go to Memphis and not have BBQ nachos.  These were a little different from what I'm used to, but they were delicious! Coleslaw and Gorgonzola cheese for the win!

I found the bridge!

That would be Harbor Town behind us. 

 Believe it or not, Mom is 5'8", not a midget even though she looks like one. She's just standing in between two giants. 

 Eric and I on the observation deck.

We had a really wonderful trip and were sad to have to head back home (and back to quasi-reality) on Monday. Because real reality didn't start until this week amiright? The trip home was wet. It rained the ENTIRE way home...like poured buckets of rain for the entire 5 hour drive, so we ecstatic when we pulled into our driveway. (But we did stop at the Flying J for pizza and potato soup.)We spent the rest of the day unpacking, snoozing on the couch, and a quick overnight visit from Eric's brother's family before they headed home from their Christmas vacation. It was the perfect way to end our Christmas Vacation....for that week. =) I ended up going back to work for an entire 2 days before we were off again for New Years! Let's just say that we had a houseful to watch the College Football Playoffs and ring in 2016.  But that's another recap for another day. And hopefully I'll get that one up before the end of January.