G is for goat

I've mentioned this here before, but I love the Carl Sandburg house. I feel so blessed that we can get out and hike whenever we want now that we live in NC and this is one of my favorite places to do it. Last weekend we got out with some friends to visit the goats and take a hike on one the CS trails. Here are some pictures from our day...

Truth be told. I have a bit of an obsession with goats. I would love to have one some day but I hear they are a lot of work to care for. You have to milk them like a million times a day. Maybe one day, but for now I'll have to get my goat's milk cheese from the farmer's market.

Later on we spend some QT on the porch and I did a little front porch "pickin" (I quote it because iI use that term loosely and that phrase jokingly). I am still working on learning the mandolin. School delayed my plans a bit to become a master mandolin player but now that I'm only taking one class for Spring 2012, I'm hoping to have more time to devote to becoming an expert :-)

One last thing...here's my new favorite website...The Skinny Confidential!

Christmas fun!

There is only one word I can use to describe Christmas of 2011 and that word is "blessed". Beau and I felt so much love coming in from all ends of the globe. This was our second Christmas in NC and that in and of itself was a blessing but add to that the time spent with friends and family (be it over the phone or in person) and you have yourself one amazing holiday.

We started things off by a fun Christmass Eve Eve party at some friends from church. It was good to see so many close friends and to see so many family members in for the holiday. Christmas Eve I awoke to Beau insisting I open up my "big present". We had decided the night before to open our bigger gifts for one another early because Beau said I would need mine for the rest of Christmas.

I was thrilled to see receive the Kodak EasyShare Z5010 from Beau. I've been wanting a "big girl" camera forEVER! And now I finally have one!!! There are so many things I want to learn to do with the camera and first and foremost is bokeh. I saw this tutorial on The Friendly Fox and it seems really easy but I need to figure out how to do it. Any ideas or help is much appreciated :-)

Beau got a "big boy" present too. He has been dying for a video game system and I got him an X-box. We have a Wii but Beau really couldn't play the games he wanted on that. I originally thought that we might keep the Wii to do exercise stuff but now that I've seen all the bells and whistles that come with the X-box Kinect, I'm not so sure. The Kinect kicks serious tail!

But enought about gifts. Christmas Eve we spent most of the day relaxing, cooking, and getting ready for Beau's family to come on Christmas day! We went to Christmas Eve service at our church which was absolutely magical. Our pastor did an incredible job by giving an overview of the Christmas story from Genesis to the birth of Jesus and it was awesome. The service was full of babies being babies and hearing the sounds of all those children made you realize how incredible a miracle His birth was given the knowledge that this newborn baby would be our world's Savior.

After church we went to our friend's home where we ate a delicious meal and had fun with the wonderful company. Their girls took turns reenacting the Christmas story, we sang carols and it was just an incredible way to spend Christmas Eve. I hope we can make that a new tradition!

Christmas morning we woke up and opened up or wonderful gifts from family and some stocking stuffers we'd gotten one another. We played the X-box Kinect game that came with Beau's game system and got ready for family. Beau's mom and grandmother got in around 1pm and we had a delicious Christmas meal: Ham, green beans, sweet potatoes, yeast rolls and some gluten-free shortcakes for dessert.

To top of the holiday festivities, we decided (inspired by a video from close friends) to start a new tradition of a Christmas music video. We chose Bootylicious, because nothing says Christmas like a little Destiny's Child, right?

In between all the Christmas family we spend time catching up via phone with family and friends. I cannot even begin to tell you how blessed we feel to have spent such great quality time together with our loved ones. We hope that 2012 is filled with as many blessings as 2011 has been for us.

Old favorite/New favorite: Oreo cookies

Yum! I love oreo cookies! So when I saw this recipe for delicious, homemade oreos, I could not resist trying. These guys are super easy to make and turn out so delicous. It is a bit scary when you make them to realize how absolutely horrible oreo cookies are for you, but other than those few moments of panic when you read the recipe and go "more butter...really?", you'll love them.

Check out the Smitten Kitchen recipe!

Halloween Fun!!!

So last night Beau and I threw our first big bash at the new house. Here are a couple pictures from the event. I've also attached a link to the recipes that I used (some I embellished on a bit) for the food. These are all super easy dishes that I suggest you try sometime.

Beau and I went as Beetlejuice and Lydia from their "would be" wedding. I have to say, I was a little nervous because I didn't get to spend as much time on my costume as I would have liked, but I think our costumes turned out great.

Recipes to try....p>

Pizza Bread-yum yum...you can't see this one in the pictures of the goodies because it and the pigs in a blanket were still baking but it was delicious. Just slice this guy up and it is a delicious party treat. I used just pepperoni and mozzerella cheese but if you follow the recipe on this site you can see a recipe with a lot more ingredients.

Source

Artichoke/Spinach Dip

-For this one I just used the simple recipe on the back of the Hidden Valley packet but I added artichoke hearts to it and served it in a bread bowl to really give it some "class". Just kidding. Actually now that I go back and look at the recipe they suggest you serve it in a bread bowl too so I guess I'm not as classy as I thought :-)-Hidden Valley Ranch dip people: 1, Jolie: 0

South Georgia Caviar-Let's be honest Paula Deen, everyone knows this recipe as Redneck caviar but I realize that isn't so PC. In any case this caviar super yummy and really easy to throw together and make substitutions to if you don't like a specific item.

Pigs in a Blanket-I just used a simple Pillsbury recipe for these but bought the jalapeno/cheddar mini sausages to spice things up a bit and they were delish!

Cake pops-These are (and I'm not afraid to use this expression here because the cake pops warrant it) thebomb.com. Check out Bakerella.com for all sorts of deliciousness including these red velvet cake pops. These get easier to work with as you get used to the cake "medium" that you are dealing with. I also found that chocolate bark is easier to deal with than the Wilton candy melts.

Rice Crispie Treats-I made some of these and added orange food coloring to them to make them festive. I had every intention of cutting them into pumpkin shapes with my cookie cutters but ran out of time. Oh well. They are always super yummy!

I hope you enjoys these delicious treats as much as we did!

Quick craft: Toilet Paper pumpkins

If you do a quick google search of toilet paper pumpkins you will find tons of tutorials, but I got this idea from my friend and fellow blogger Elisa. This is a great, cheap way to decorate for fall without spending a lot of cash (oh any cash if you use stuff around the house like I did). I made two different versions of this craft, but more on that later.

Supplies:

1/4 yard of fabric

Newspaper

Toilet paper (full roll)

Empty pill bottle (if you opt to make smaller pumpkins too)

Twigs

1. Lay your fabric right side down and center your toilet paper on the fabric. Surround your toilet paper with crumpled news paper. More if you want a fat pumpkin, less for a slightly less obese pumpkin.

2. Take and squish the edges of the fabric down into the toilet paper roll adjusting both the fabric and the newspaper as you go. Repeat until all fabric is squished into the roll hole and arranged in a way that resembles a pumpkin. (this part is important as it is easy to do this craft haphazardly and end up with something not resembling a pumpkin).

3. Finish it off by putting a twig down in the toilet paper roll with enough of the twig sticking out to resemble a stem. The fabric will keep the twig mostly in place.

*** If you want smaller pumpkins you can find smaller items around your house with a toilet paper roll size opening. For example I had just finished a prescription so I used the empty pill bottle to make a little pumpkin. Less fabric is needed for this too though you will need to be more careful with how you arrange the newspaper.

You'll notice that I also took front-porch sitting to a whole new level by taking a TV tray out on the porch so I could craft while enjoying this beautiful, fall day!

Happy Fall!

Happy Fall!

Hello readers!

Sorry for my long absence. I've had lots of exciting stuff going on since my last post. No, no, I'm not prego (the typical reason for long absences of female bloggers ages 28-32 who are nervous they will accidentally spill the beans before hitting the 12 week "safety" mark). Nope, we've just had tons 'o' stuff going on.

1. I decided to work on some classes I need to get licensed to teach. This is something I've always wanted but has become harder and harder to do as I get older. When Beau and I eventually have kids I would like to be on their schedule. I could have waited to get these classes in, but when would I do them? When I'm a new mom? When they go off to school? No, more than likely I would be freaking out 10-12 years from now when our kids go off to middle school going. Oh my goodness why didn't I do this earlier. So I decided for once in my life to make things easier on myself and get them done sooner rather than later.

Turns out I only need 6 additional classes so I am kicking myself for not having completed my minor in education when I was in college but grateful that I didn't totally slack off because it has made things easier for later on down the road.

School has been great but has kept me busy. I want to do this right so I'm devoting the majority of my time to this goal until it is completed. I'm happy about this but after work activites like blogging, running and much of my social life have taken a hit.

2. We've moved!!! This is a super fun announcement because we are finally settled in a house that we love. The dogs are happier, we're happier...LIFE IS GOOD! GOD IS GOOD!!!

Our new back deck view!

3. We've traveled a bit. We always wanted to do a cruise but were nervous/forced into doing something else for our honeymoon so we put it on hold. Nervous because neither of us had been on one before and what if we got super sea sick and forced because of a weird situation with Beau's old job. No biggie. We had an awesome honeymoon and both Beau and I love a good story and we certainly have one for our honeymoon.

In any case last year we decided to stop putting it off and booked ourselves a cruise as our Christmas present and finally went on it earlier this month! It was awesome. We loved it and definitely plan to cruise again, though this time someplace we are more interested in visiting. The Bahamas seemed more about shopping than really experiencing anything truly Bahamian. We're thinking New England or Canada next time :-)

Beau in front of the ship!

Beau coming down the water slide...

A beautiful sun getting ready to set.

Beau and I maxing and relaxing :-)

So that's that. I hope to be back up and blogging again soon but can't make any promises other than a quick craft later today because this is my last day of fall break from classes.

Until next time...Happy Fall Y'all!!!

Lessons learned from reality television or Can anyone explain: Reality TV Stars who think they can sing

I had a bit of insomnia last night and after tossing and turning I finally decided to give in and watch some late night television. After considering Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives but being caught off guard by a curry dish that included apples, I finally settled on The Real Housewives of New York.

Why these Real Housewives shows are being made period could use some serious explaining in and of itself. Isn't a housewife technically someone who stays home from work? All the real housewives on these shows seem to have jobs. There is also the issue with half the women not being married and thus not even technically being a wife. I guess Bravo though prefers to go the route of "spirit" not "letter of the law". And since they are the ones that make the "big bucks" I'll assume they know what they are talking about and move on to my real issue.

I have a lot of legitimately talented friends that will never make it to anything close to mainstream because their musical ability goes unrecognized. That's fine. Contrary to the popular Roots song "Everybody is (not) a star". All my friends have learned to deal with that so I need to move on too. However, when I watch shows like "Real Housewives" I am stunned to see these less than talented women making music videos and getting legitimate, albeit mocking entertainment coverage.

I realized that there are some lessons to be learned from reality television. If you are on a reality television show: 1) It doesn't matter if you are far too old to be considered "pop star" age, if you have a reality television show, you get a music video. 2) You don't have to have an ounce of talent, you get a music video....It's really like a sick version of something I've seen a time or two on Oprah: "You get a car, you get a car!"

Oh well, I guess the true moral of the story here is that with enough money and a film crew following you around, you can be anything from a music video star (New York, Atlanta housewives) to a gallery owner (Miami housewife), to a runway model (Orange County housewives and the girls of Laguna Beach).

So that's the lesson kids. You can be anything you set your mind to as long as there are people following you around filming your every, pointless move.