Our Wedding Weekend, part 1

I just realized today when I was playing with the layout of the blog that I've never done a post on our wedding.  I am going to do highlights from the whole weekend (with pictures of course).  We got married on December 19, 2009 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama at First United Methodist Church.  We had our reception at the wonderful North River Yacht Club.  Throughout the planning process we knew that we wanted to make sure that we were able to relax and enjoy the weekend when it finally arrived.  We planned so many pre-wedding and post-wedding activities, and we are so thankful that we were able to enjoy that time together with our family and friends.

On Friday morning, we had the Bridesmaid Brunch which was hosted by one of our minister's wife (who happens to be one of my mom's good friends).  It was fun.  I wanted to do a brunch because I love brunch food, and who doesn't love a Mimosa in the morning?  While we were having brunch, the boys were playing golf together at the Yacht Club (in the cold rain).  Who do you think got the better deal?  I'd argue it was the girls, but Greg insists that they had fun.

I would say this isn't the most flattering picture, but it is one of the only ones I have from the Brunch.

The Moms had a fun time at the Brunch too!

Friday night we had the rehearsal at the church.  I wanted it to be FUN.  I feel like I have to been to a ton of wedding rehearsals that were boring and no one paid attention.  I made so many jokes, and at one point Greg looked at me and asked me to try and be serious.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend.  Dan had just said, "and this is when I'll say you may kiss the bride."  Greg's response was, "do I have to?!"  Dan said, "If you don't, then I will!"  Needless to say, we all got a good laugh in!

This is Greg's grandmother and his cousins.  I love this one because they were obviously having a good time.

And of course, there was the on-going joke that Greg would pass out during the ceremony.  Cody was practicing how he would catch Greg if he went down.

I mean, can't anyone be serious!?

Greg's favorite type of food is Bar-b-que, so when we talked about where to have the rehearsal dinner he knew immediately that it had to be Dreamland Bar-b-que.  I mean how could you pass up their sauce and banana pudding?

Ralph and Linda were wonderful hosts!  Ralph was giving a toast, and thanking everyone for coming.

I might venture to say that my dad had the most comical toast of the night. 

We really enjoyed ourselves!  

After dinner, we had invited everyone (who was over 21) to hang out at one of my favorite bars in Tuscaloosa, Innisfree Pub.  We all had a few drinks, and a few laughs.  And for some reason... I don't have any pictures from this!  In the invitation that I sent to everyone I made sure to remind them not to drink too much because we had a day full of pictures the next day.  haha!  

What a fun Friday we had.  I'm going to post the rest of the weekend later on.  I hope you enjoyed this walk down memory lane with me.  Love!

Amazing (and easy) Roast Chicken

Part of my job is to cook dinner for the family that I nanny for.  I cook 2 nights a week for them.  I've been exploring different recipes and trying to cook a variety of different things.  I love cooking, and so I was pretty excited when we agreed that this would be part of my duties.  The really fabulous part is that they buy enough for 4 people, and I am able to take half home for Greg and I to have.

I have been working for three weeks now, and here is what I have cooked:
- Lasagna
- Roast Chicken
- Sweet and Sour Pork
- Ground Turkey Enchilidas
- Pizza (mushrooms and spinach)
- Greek Chicken and Veggies

The roast chicken that I did is an Ina Garten recipe, and it's called Engagement Roast Chicken.  I think that she jokes that if you cook it for your boyfriend that he'll propose to you because it is so good.  Let me tell you, it is so good!  AND it is super easy to make.

Ingredients:
- 1 (4-5 lb) roasting chicken
- kosher salt and ground pepper
- 2 lemons
- 1 whole head of garlic (cut in half, crosswise)
- olive oil
- 2 Spanish onions sliced thickly
- 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

Remove and throw away the giblets (gag).  OR buy a chicken without giblets.  Salt and pepper the inside of the chicken, don't be stingy!  Quarter the lemons, and add one to the inside of the chicken along with the head of garlic.  Next, rub the outside of the chicken with olive oil and then salt and pepper (I use a good bit on the outside too).  Tie together the legs with kitchen string and tuck the wings behind the body (this helps to make sure that everything is cooked evenly).

Put the chicken in a roasting pan (11x14 inch).  Put the onions and the remaining lemon pieces into a bowl and toss with olive oil, 1 tsp of kosher salt, and 1/2 tsp of ground pepper.  Then add the lemon and onions to the roasting pan (around the chicken).

Roast for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  It is going to make your house/apartment smell heavenly!  Take the chicken out and place it on a plate, and cover with aluminum foil.  Let it rest for at least 10 minutes. 

She just puts her roasting pan on the stove top, but for some reason that makes me nervous, so I poured the onions, lemons, and all the juices into a sauce pan to make the gravy.  Put the heat on high/ medium high.  Add the wine and chicken stock.  Sprinkle in the flour and whisk until the sauce is as thick as you want.  Make sure that before you carve the chicken up that you pour the juices on the plate into the gravy.

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That's it.  Super easy.  The main change that I would make is reducing the amount of lemons.  I felt like it was too much lemon.  I would do 1/2 of a lemon inside the chicken, and the other half in the roasting pan with the onions.

I made mashed potatoes and green beans with it.  It was so good.  If you want an easy meal to impress whoever you are having over for dinner then this is it!

I wish that I had taken pictures of everything that I've made, but I have been slacking. I promise to do better!

What have you been cooking lately?  Is there another recipe that you guys want me to post from what I have already cooked?

Cha-cha-cha-changes!

Hi!  I am the most terrible blogger out there...  I'm sorry!  I am going to try and do better, I promise. 

We've had a lot happen since the last time that I updated the blog.  We were kind of in limbo about what the future was going to bring.  WELL........

Greg graduated from Georgia Southern University on December 10.  He received his Masters in Sport Management.  He had absolutely no desire to walk at graduation, but I made him!  Can you blame me?  I was and still am so very proud of him!  Of course, I made him take a bunch of pictures, and he was so embarrassed (but he tolerated it). 

We got there REALLY early because I wanted to make sure that I got a good seat.  

Here is Greg before anyone else was there. ha!

 

This is the stage

Can you spot Greg?  I'd say he was pretty happy and proud of himself!

I was SO proud!

Here he is with his diploma! 

He was so ready for me to stop taking pictures, but isn't he so handsome??

After graduation, we had to get back to Charleston because Greg had a phone interview set up for that afternoon.  He felt like it went really well, and he was pretty confident that things would work out.  So, for a week and a half we were stressing out, trying to make arrangements for where we would live, what we would do, how long I would work before moving, etc in case things worked out.  Well, HE GOT THE OFFER!  We were so excited!  We made the decision to keep it a secret until we went home for Christmas.  We told our parents while we were home, and then once we got back I told my boss.  Come to think of it, I don't think I ever made the big announcement...  

Greg accepted a position with the Durham Bulls!  They are the Triple-A affiliate of the Tampa Bay Rays.  He is so excited to be working there, and he is absolutely loving his job!  We are thankful that he was able to find a job so quickly.  I am really excited for baseball season to get here, and we are looking forward to hopefully staying in the Raleigh/Durham area for a while.  

It's the Holiday Season!

Hi!  I'm sorry that it has been soooo long!  I haven't been blogging lately due to a lack of inspiration and time.  But no more excuses!  We have had a lot of exciting things happening, and we are so excited about our future and what will happen in the next few months!

Well, let's see...  where to start.

Thanksgiving?  We invited our family out to Charleston for the holiday.  My parents and my in-laws decided to make the trek out to see us.  Greg and I planned and planned the menu because we were going to be cooking the Thanksgiving feast.  I have to admit that I was really excited about cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the first time every despite the fact that we live in a tiny 700 sq foot apartment with a very very small kitchen.  We planned on having turkey, ham, dressing, sweet potato casserole, macaroni and cheese, corn casserole, green beans, pineapple and cheese casserole, chocolate pie, and pecan pie.  We began cooking on Wednesday night, and then I got up early on Thursday to start again.  Everything turned out well!  I didn't burn the apartment building down, and everyone seemed to enjoy the meal.  I was proud of myself.  If you want any of the recipes please just comment and let me know which ones that you are interested in and I will do a post about it!

Exciting news to share, Greg will be graduating from Georgia Southern on Friday!  We are getting up really early to head to Statesboro.  Greg has to be there around 6-7 am to get his cap and gown, then graduation starts at 9 am!  I am so proud of him, and due to some confusion about whether or not he would be able to graduate I will be his fan club!  Our parents are not going to be able to make it, but I am planning on taking our video camera!  Expect to see some clips from graduation on the blog!  He will be receiving his Masters in Sport Management.  I'm beyond proud of him!

We are so excited about Christmas.  We will be heading home for the first time in three months!  We are excited about spending time with our families.  I finished decorating the apartment yesterday afternoon, and it looks so festive.  I love our Christmas tree.  I think it is the perfect mix of personal ornaments, and generic holiday-ish ones.  We don't have a mantle and so I've set up our stockings on the TV stand.  I think it looks really cute.  I think it will be fun to be able to enjoy our first real Christmas together.  =)

Oh, I guess something else big is coming up.  Our 1 year anniversary.  We don't have the money to do anything fancy, and to be honest, we haven't even thought about anything having to do with our anniversary.  Maybe we will go out and have a nice dinner.  I wish that we could afford to take a trip somewhere, but it's just not possible this year.  We are planning and saving for a trip in a few years.  I guess you could call it a re-do for our disastrous honeymoon.

How are you guys doing?  We love you!

It's Cooking Time

Hello!

It has been a while since I posted any recipes, and frankly it has been a while since I have been able to cook what I want when I want. Living with Greg's parents this summer was great, but I really missed having my own kitchen, with my pots/pans, knives, groceries, etc. It has been fabulous being able to organize my kitchen, use our cookware, and really make I want. I hadn't really realized how much I missed it.

Tonight, I decided to make Vodka Cream Sauce for pasta. I had made Rachael Ray's "You Won't Be Single for Long Vodka Cream Pasta" before, but I was feeling up for a challenge. When I googled that recipe I saw this one, "Penne with Vodka Sauce" by Giada de Laurentiis. I liked her recipe better because it called to make her Simple Tomato Sauce first, and I've been wanting to make a tomato sauce from scratch lately. I knew that would be a difficult task until I had a light go off in my head today about how to get rid of the chunks (which Greg and I hate). I got an immersion blender as a wedding gift, and I knew this would be the perfect occasion to use it! And as always, I made a few changes to suit our tastes.

Here the journey begins... It all starts with getting your veggies ready. You need one onion, some garlic (I used 6 small cloves, we LOVE garlic, so if you don't love it then use less), a carrot, and a stalk of celery.

Mince the garlic, and chop the onion. Throw them in the pot with a big dose olive oil and saute them until they are starting to get soft. A problem that I used to have was that I always burned my garlic, which is not the most delightful taste. I have found that if you put the garlic and onion in before the oil gets hot and then heat it all together, it doesn't burn as easily! I learned that from reading one of my cookbooks, and it is a tip that has really helped me.

Next, chop up the celery and carrot. Add them after the onions and garlic have started to soften, and cook them all together until everything is pretty soft. I think this took me about 15 minutes. Make sure that you keep stirring it so that nothing gets burned. Also, add a salt and pepper to taste. I love using kosher salt.

This is one place where I made a deviation from the recipe. I added a splash of red wine to deglaze the pan to get all that yummy goodness off the bottom. Now, Ina Garten says that you should always use a wine that you will drink because you don't want it to taste like cheap wine. Well, lucky for me, I actually like cheap wine. It's pretty much all I drink, and so I'm not going to tell you what I used (let's just say it was on sale, so we bought it). Just use whatever you drink!

I let the wine cook out a lot. The next step is to add your tomatoes. The recipe calls for crushed tomatoes, but I didn't have those because we don't eat them. I used cans of tomato sauce because that's what I had. I'm a firm believer in using what you have instead of running out to the store because "oh no! I have tomato sauce but not crushed tomatoes!" It didn't matter because it all gets blended in the end.

You mix everything together and let it simmer for at least an hour.

Next is the fun part! You taste. Decide what it needs, more salt? more pepper? Add whatever you think it needs. Then get your blender ready. Like I said before, I used my immersion blender because it's so much easier and less to clean up later. Make sure that you put the blender in all the way before you turn it on, other wise you will have a HUGE mess to clean up. You can also pour the mixture into a regular blender. Just make sure to take the plastic thing out of the lid of the blender and cover that with a towel, or the lid will blow off when you go to press blend. Something about the hot sauce expands, and if you thought your would have a mess with the immersion blender, look out because that will be a disaster!

After I got the sauce nice and smoother, I ladled out half of the sauce into a container that I am going to put in the freezer for another day.

First things first, put on a big pot of water. Make sure to salt it and add some olive oil to the water so that your noodles don't stick together, and it helps prevent your water from boiling over. I learned that tip from my mom.

Now on to the vodka part! Add a cup of vodka! Remember, use what you drink. =) You need to crank the heat up a bit and cook the vodka and sauce until it has reduced by 1/4. I didn't this like I should have tonight, and we had a ZING of vodka after taste. Next time, I will make sure to crank the heat up, which is what I did not do tonight. I just left it on low and let it cook about 20 minutes.

Bring the heat back down to low. When it stops bubbling like crazy, add 1/2 cup of cream. You don't want it to be too hot because the cream will curdle (yuck). Next, the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of grated parmesan, but I only had asiago. SO, I added 1/2 a cup of asiago. Mix it in, until it is nice and creamy.

Make sure you pay attention to the pasta. Drain it while it is al dente (it has a little bite to it). I put the pasta in our pasta bowl, and then ladled some of the sauce on top. I mixed it together, and then added some asiago and basil leaves on top.

Voila! A delicious italian dinner! We had some wonderful focaccia bread that we got from the Farmer's Market this morning that we had with it. It was very good, and Greg liked it!

Friendship

Do you remember when you were a senior in high school and you thought that your best friends would be your best friends for the rest of your life? You thought that going off to different colleges wasn’t going to change anything. I know that I thought I would call my best girl friends everyday and talk to them about what was going on at MC. It didn’t happen. I am still friends with my best friend from high school, but we talk once in a blue moon. The amazing thing is that we just pick up right where we left off. It isn’t strange or awkward at all. It is a true blessing to have a friend like her. As for my other “best friends” from high school, I can’t tell you the last time I saw or spoke with most of them.

Then, you go off to college, in my case you go to 2 different colleges. And you make best friends there too! As a matter a fact, in some ways you begin to replace the old friends with new friends. This is only natural, right? My college roommate is still one of my good friends today. Of course she lives in Denver, CO and I live in Charleston, SC, but we still talk fairly often. I feel lucky that I still have her as a friend. I transferred schools, and then I met another good friend. We’ve had many adventures together, and I am so glad that I have her to laugh and cry with (and of course to have Wine Wednesday with!).

Sometimes you have a place that’s special to you, and that place helps you bond and form friendships with people because that place is special to them too. My special place is Camp Sumatanga. I began working summers camps there in 2004. I have Camp Sumatanga to thank for many of my friendships today. That’s where I met my matron of honor, and it’s where I met my husband. I find that it’s easy to form friendships there because camp holds a special place in their hearts too. We go there for 6 weeks in the summer and work with kids. We laughed and formed numerous inside jokes, we cried during amazing worship, we found our boyfriends/husbands there, and we find peace there. I am always thankful for the blessing of friendships that I have found at camp.

I have always wanted to know who my friends are, on the deepest level. I think it’s important to know them for who they are on the inside. I am quick to open up and expose myself, flaws and all, to my dearest friends. I think it’s important to do that because you want to be able to be real with them, right? One of the most hurtful things to me personally is to realize that one of your friends is being fake with you. I find this difficult because I am so quick to open up and trust my friends. If I can be open and honest about my thoughts, feelings, my past, my hopes for the future, and my beliefs then how can they not do the same thing?

I have been contemplating the meaning and reasons for friendship all summer. I have been thinking a lot about my friends and friends that I have hurt or lost touch with in the past. What went wrong? Was it me? Is it better that we are not friends? These questions have been running through my head for months.

What if you have a friend who is nothing that you thought they were? What happened to the person that you knew? The person that you knew doesn’t resemble this new person at all. What do you do? Do you change with them? I can’t change with them because I am not like the person they have become, and I actually tend to avoid that type of person all together. So, I guess my question is do you just end a friendship? Is this change enough for me to say, I don’t want to be apart of their life anymore?

I have been worrying about this constantly. I think that I’ve come to decide it is enough. The person that I knew is no longer recognizable in that person. The problem is that this worries me so much that it consumes me. I believe I will be happier without the worry and stress of this friendship. It’s a harsh realization because I cherished the friendship a great deal, but I have to let go because they are no longer the person that I knew.

Moving

Hello!

We have made the move to Charleston, SC. It has made me realize that the title of this blog is absolutely perfect because it has been a true adventure. So, pull up a chair and pour yourself a glass of wine because you may need it. =)

On Friday, we got a Uhaul trailer in Tuscaloosa because my washer and dryer had been in storage there for a year because the apartment in Savannah had one in it. It was good because we were able to grab a few things from my parent's house and go by their offices and tell them goodbye. It was really nice. Then we headed back to Childersburg to finish packing our stuff, and then move it into the trailer and the cars.

We got up early on Saturday morning because the drive is pretty long (8 hours). We made sure that we had everything, and then we said goodbye to all of Greg's family. So, we were off! We "had" to stop at IKEA on the way and pick up a desk that I had fallen in love with. It was literally the fastest IKEA stop ever, we were in and out in 15 minutes. We had to jump back on the interstate and hit the road! We had to be in Charleston by 5:00 pm so that we could sign the lease before the office closed. Everything was going really well, and then we hit HORRIFIC traffic around Columbia. I quickly began to panic because I knew that there was no way that we could make it in time if we were in this traffic for more than 10-15 minutes. I was calling the office and asking if they could help us, and we had a plan worked out so that we could get in the apartment if we didn't make it in time, and then we could sign the lease on Sunday. BUT we ended up making it at 5:05 and they were still here. YAY!

We walked into our tiny one bedroom apartment to be knocked down by the smell of cigarettes. What a nightmare. I am really sensitive to cigarette smoke, and it tends to make me feel really bad (headaches, etc.). YUCK. So, the next day I went down to the office and told them, and they gave me this super strength air fresh thing that goes on your air filter. That helped, but I knew once it wore off the smell was going to be coming right back because it was in the carpet. I went back to the office and was talking to them about it and they said they would have the carpet cleaning guy come by to talk to me about it. He came, and we decided that they would clean the carpet again, and then set off this bomb/fog thing that would fill the apartment and get in the filtration system and help eliminate the odors. They did that today, and it seems to be okay, but I'll let you know.

Sunday, one of Greg's friends was suppose to come and help us move, but he could not make it at the last minute. Greg and I began to move everything we could out of the trailer and then out of our storage unit. I was firm in the fact that I would not be able to move the washer and dryer. Sunday night, Greg's mom came and she was a huge help. By a true miracle of God, the three of us were able to move the washer and dryer into our 2nd floor apartment. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do, and it sucked.

This beings the drama that is the washer and dryer.

• First of all, Greg had to go to Sears and buy the hoses and such that you need to attach the washer and dryer to the wall.
• Then, we finally get the washer and dryer in and Greg realizes that the plug on our dryer is three-prong and the plug in the wall is four-prong. So, he takes his second trip to Sears to figure out how to rewire the dryer so that we can have a four-prong plug.
• Then we can't get the water hoses to go on the washer straight, so we just put it off for another day.
• The next day we finally get the hoses on! I load up half our towels to wash because they smell like the storage unit, the washer fills and then it won't spin. Seriously, you've got to be kidding me. Greg calls Sears to see if anyone has any ideas of what to do, and they are no help. So, he is using google to trouble shoot. He goes back behind the washer, and lucky for us one of the maintenance men had come to work on our ice maker (which is still broken). I asked him if he knew anything about washers, and so he went back and helped Greg and they got it working!
• I am SO happy that the drama is finally over, so the cycle begins to run and about 5 minutes later I hear GUSHING water. The drainage hose has been blown off and water is spewing EVERYWHERE! I was yelling for Greg to come, and he turns the washer off, but the damage is already done. Have I mentioned that the washer and dryer is in the closet in our bedroom? So, we aren't dealing with water on tile, we are talking about water soaking our carpet in the bedroom. And of course, what's in the washer? Towels. ah-mazing.
• So we realize that there is a clamp missing that holds the drainage hose in place. Greg goes back to Sears to get the clamp, and he clamps the hose on. We are FINALLY done.

Greg's friend came yesterday, and we got our bedroom furniture, mattress and box springs, coffee table, and our kitchen table and chairs from storage. We have gotten everything in the apartment and now we are in design mode. We are hanging pictures and such. I will post pictures when we are done.

Are you exhausted? I know I am after reliving all that. I think I'll go relax and keep sipping on my wine. There's your glimpse into our move.

Maybe one day I will write a book about all the crazy things that have happened to us during our first year of marriage. I think that it would be very entertaining. What do you think? What have your moving experiences been like? Any advice on the smoke smell?