Weekend Recap: A Little Fun Family Time

I know, I know I am late by a few days, but I promise I have a good reason!  We've had a few house guests in town the past few days and how could anyone get anything productive done when you have this completely adorable munchkin who smiles and giggles the most precious baby giggles when you play with him hanging out at your house?

Don't put those shapes in their slots around the number buttons, because he will be removing them as fast as you can put them on! 

Of course we love having his parents around, too because we miss them like crazy!  We got busy this summer and it's been a few months since we've seen my BIL, SIL, and sweet nephew so I was thrilled when Eric told me they were coming in town for a few days this weekend!  This kiddo is seriously on the move these days.  He is a crawling pro and will can be on the other side of the house in .2 seconds if he wants to.  I just know he'll be walking around next time we see them!

We needed a fun visit like this to finish up the weekend because it did not start the way we had hoped.  The football game Friday night started off well, but we hit a brick wall in the second half and ended up losing the game 17-14 after leading 14-0 at halftime.  I don't think I've ever seen Eric so pensive after a ballgame like he was after this one.  The loss really bothered him to say the least.  So much that Saturday morning after he got back home from fishing with his Dad he walked into the living room and told me, "This is what we're going to do..." I thought he meant weekend plans or some new home improvement idea he had. He them proceeded to tell me who they needed to move to what position and what changes they needed to put in for the upcoming week. Oh the life of a coach's wife!  I wouldn't trade it for the world, and I am glad that I can be there as a sounding board for him when he needs it.

Coach Cagle doing his thing.

The rest of our Saturday looked like a nice long morning run for me, puppy walks of course, afternoon naps, and a cookout with one of the other coach's and his family. I was so excited because I made one of our favorite desserts, Shortbread Milk Chocolate Toffee Bars to take over to their house. I put them in the fridge to cool, and I'll give you three guesses where they ended up that evening.  We got all the way over to their house before I realized I'd left them [insert giant sad face here]. Eric and his fellow coaches didn't mind though because they had a film session on Sunday and the entire pan of toffee bars made their way to the field house...minus the few that I kept at the house. I am glad too, because there were 0 left afterward.

Sunday morning I churched while Eric fished and then whipped up some goodies because I was trying to get the time to pass before our guests arrived!  It worked out for me because we've had nothing but delicious home cooked dinners for the past 3 nights, such a departure for us! I whipped up some Southwest Slaw to go with the catfish Eric fried Sunday night. Then I set to work making Skinny Broccoli Chicken and Rice Casserole, which included a rue that I didn't burn or screw up. Shocker, I know. The recipe is amazing and so delicious.  My only suggestion is to cut back on the amount of rice by about 1/3, if not a little bit more. For dessert I threw together one of my childhood favorites, Reese's Peanut Butter Cookies. It's one of those desserts that I could eat the entire pan with no problems. Hence the reason I don't make it often and usually only make a half batch. They are a very dangerous dessert.  I see a recipe share coming in the very near future. =)  And just for funsies, I pulled out the crockpot and made some Slow Cooker Pesto Ranch Chicken (thanks, Mom). My plan is to make some naan pizzas with it tonight for dinner (thanks, Dad).  I'll let you know how it turns out.  Look out world, super wife coming through! Making delicious meals complete with actual sides more than 2 nights a row!

And now the week's half over, college football starts this week,  I have a 3 day weekend coming, and it's September for crying out loud! I am thinking this could be a very good thing!

High Five for Friday

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I am pretty sure fall has the most gorgeous sunrises.  Perhaps it's because the days are getting shorter and so I get to see them in their full glory on my way to work in the morning.  This week they have been absolutely spectacular and I can get enough of them!

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We broke away from our usual after work routine yesterday and headed back downtown for a baseball game.  We watched the Montgomery Biscuits (yes it's the actual name of the team) play the Jackson Generals.  The game was a special one because one of the kids Eric used to coach now plays for the Jackson Generals, so we got to see him, plus we had awesome suite tickets so we got to watch the game in style!  Eric won the tickets a couple of months at a golf tournament he played in and we waited all summer so we could share the tickets with the kid's family and friends while Jackson was in town.  We had a blast, although my tail is dragging today since we didn't get home until almost midnight.  #missedmy9pmbedtime

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You can't go to a ball park without partaking in the food situation, and partake we did.  One of my friends told me about a stand that sold Philly Cheese Steak Nachos, so naturally we had to give them a try.  They were good, but they don't hold a candle to the BBQ Nachos that you can get at any sporting event you go to in Memphis.  At least we can say we tried them.  I indulged in a massive bacon cheeseburger.  It was fantastic and super messy, and I woofed it down so fast that I didn't get a picture of it.  I am going to say it's because I ran right before we went to the game and I was hungry.  =)  I did get to try something that I hope I will be able to find in stores soon....Daily's Spiked Sodas.  I tried the Raspberry Ginger Ale and it was fantastic. Delicious and crisp!  Perfect for a summer evening!

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Tonight is Game 2 of the 2015 football season.  Our team has their work cut out for them as the team we are playing this week is much much better than the one we played last week.  From what I understand THS has never beat this team.  They aren't in our region so we've only played them in the playoffs and a couple of random years we've scheduled games with them, so it would be absolutely fantastic if we could pull out a win tonight!

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Last but certainly not least, we are celebrating 8 years of this crazy monster today! He always keeps us laughing with his crazy antics and is the sweetest, kindest, silliest "lapdog" I know.  Happy Birthday Hawkey Dog!  We love you!

Weekend Recap

Clockwise from top left: 1) Coaching 'em up during a timeout. 2) The boys with their bribe reward for behaving themselves when we went to get their rabies shots Saturday afternoon. 3) Antelope tacos...it's what's for dinner! 4) The only thing I checked off my to-do list Sunday, made Eric some pickled okra.  I hope it tastes good in a couple of months!

Our first official game week is in the books.  One down at least 9 more to go (hopefully more!). We started off the weekend with a win, and ugly win, but a win.  Eric said they have a lot of work to do this week to prepare for Friday because we're playing a very good team.  I don't plan on him getting home early any this week for sure, so dinner will most likely be make-your-own all week.  #coacheswifeprobs  He actually prepared for this by making a big bowl of tuna salad and a big bowl of chicken salad for him  to eat on all week....and my kitchen smells just lovely as a result.  I realized this AM that he didn't put lids on the bowls, just press-and-seal wrap, I remedied this problem as soon as I realized so hopefully it won't smell like a meat locker when I get home today.

Saturday he was out the door early to go work at the hunting land because hunting season is just 2 months away. I passed up a breakfast offer to go to 1220 Cafe in favor of brunch with my PEO Chapter at Shashy's in Montgomery.  It is very close to where I went to college but I'd never been there.  Brunch was fantastic, and a couple of the girls and I decided that when the boys go to do boys-only football activities at Homecoming this year, we're going to head over to there to have some girls time.

We ended our Saturday with our first antelope dish....Antelope Tacos. We marinated the meat in Frontera's Carne Asada Marinade and grilled it.  These sauces are quickly becoming some of our favorites.  They're super easy and everyone we've tried is delicious.   Some of our favorites are the Texas Original Taco Skillet Sauce, the Green Chili Enchilada Sauce.The tacos were delicious!  Eric said the meat was the best game he's had.  To be honest it tasted just like a flank steak or a sirloin.  Certainly not a filet, but is there anything as good as a filet? He said we've got some burger meat coming soon so perhaps we'll be dining on antelope burgers this fall.

Sunday Eric headed off to football meetings and I got some much deserved R&R time. I made out a giant to-do list with all of the things that I could/should be doing with my free Sunday afternoons from now until the end of football season. Now if I could just find the motivation to do these things instead of take a nap.  =)

Here's to another great week!

High Five for Friday

Here we go.......

1.

After a week of just the pups and I, Eric is finally back from his hunting trip out West.  He and his brother traveled to the booming metropolis of Springfield, CO (population 1,400 on a good day according to Eric) to go on an antelope hunt. Thankfully they both came back with a trophy and a TON of antelope meat, making the 18 hour drive completely worth it (I hope).  There is a very good chance I will get my first taste of antelope meat this weekend so wish me luck and please send any antelope meat recipes you have lying around my way...because who doesn't have antelope meat recipes lying around?!

My hunter and his big kill!

2. 

This week marks my 8th year of working at my job.  8 years!  That's nuts! In that amount of time I could have gone back and redone high school and college!  I could have repeated my entire competitive basketball career!  I could have started and completed medical school in that same time!  It's so crazy to me thinking I have been here that long. I am so thankful for my job and I hope I will be able to continue doing what I do to help Alabamians live healthier lives for many years to come.

I celebrated in my office wrapped up in a hoodie sweatshirt and my snuggie...why oh why does it have to be so stinking cold all of the time in the office?!?  

3. 

I celebrated another tiny milestone this week...my half birthday!  As of yesterday I am officially 30 and a half!  I celebrated with a long workday, a trip to Costco, a workout, dinner at home, a puppy walk, a little reading, and an early bedtime.  Pretty much everything one would expect a 30.5 birthday to contain.  So far 30 has been quite nice for me.  I certainly don't feel any older than I did before so we'll just go with it for now and I'll let you know when this getting older thing starts to rear it's ugly head.  For now I am just going to pretend it's not happening, continue to eat Oatmeal Cream Pies for dessert like I'm 7, and wonder why they don't make super cute shirts like this in my size.  =)

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4.

Since Eric was out of town for a week, I have made exactly 0 dinners since early last week. I would say that I have not cooked at all but I made some pretzel shortbread cookies (will be sharing soon) and a batch of banana bread last weekend to take to my friend who just had a baby.  I can usually deal with sandwiches every night, but after night 6, I was ready for something else. Unfortunately due to football scheduling Eric was not home  for dinner the night he got back from his trip, so I cleaned out the fridge instead of cooking. So last night, despite him having another football engagement (gotta love the first game week of the season), I whipped up the most delicious, easy homemade Chinese dish, Honey Lemon Chicken.  It was fantastic and I've already thought about doing Orange Honey Chicken or perhaps just Honey Chicken.  The best part was I had almost everything I needed already, so this recipe can be one of those I keep in my back pocket for a last minute 3rd or 4th meal of the week that I don't have to make a special grocery store trip for.

5. 

Tonight is the night.  We kick off the 2015 football season this evening and I am excited about it! It's kind of hard to believe that it's already here.  I feel like they just started summer practice a few weeks ago.  It's time to start color-coordinating my Friday outfits, so I've got my purple and gold on! I even ordered a couple of new school spirit-themed Fitbit Bands on jane.com that I can wear on game days.  I just wish I'd thought about ordering them before this week.  Oh well I'll have them soon enough!

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Bring on the boots and scarves and crockpot recipes and everything else I adore that comes with the football season territory!  I'm ready for it!