Christmas Cards

We weren't planning on sending out cards this year but then I heard about this awesome promotion from Shutterfly.  There are so many fabulous card designs to choose from...it's too hard to pick just one.  So I had to really think about what picture(s) we were going to use and came up with 2 of my favorites.



http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/peppermint-pink-christmas-card-5x7-flat?sortType=1&storeNode=93476

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/cards-stationery/with-love-chartreuse-christmas-5x7-folded-card

A Family Affair

Saturday we all went out in support of Fallen Soldiers.  There as a 5K run/walk and The General and I along with my father-in-law participated.  This was my first real attempt at a 5K since the accident 14 months ago.  There were times I wasn’t sure I would finish but I was determined to walk the entire course in under an hour.  My father-in-law also walked the course while The General was the runner in the family. 

 

It was a trail run and the course was pretty difficult with rocks and tree branches and such.  We all finished proudly.  After the race, we stayed for the awards ceremony.  Turns out, my father-in-law ended up being the Grand Master Champion for the men walkers!  And I got 3rd place for the women walkers in my age category!!  It was very exciting.  Although The General didn’t receive an award, we are very proud of him.  For the men runners, he had a lot of competition in his age category.

Then on Sunday we heard a wonderful message at church.  It was a great weekend!

Great Giveaway

Want one of these?  I know I do.


Go visit New Girl On Post's giveaway for a chance to win one!

Peyton's Place

The dog is mad at The General and I.  Yesterday we worked on cleaning the house in anticipation for my in-laws coming to visit next weekend.  We've known that the dog likes to hang out under our bed and we knew that he takes things and hides them under the bed.  When we got under the bed, it was a disaster.  When the dog gets mad at us he digs in the trash for paper and plastic.  Then he takes it under the bed and tears it into pieces.  Yesterday we found aluminum foil and a pie pan.  I tried to get a picture of the dog looking into the camera but he was having none of it.  He was trying to protect his loot!

While cleaning we had a great idea.  We put paper boxes under the bed and made it so the dog cannot get under the bed anymore.  He is not happy.  It was hilarious the first time he tried to go under the bed after we blocked it. 

Football and Friends

What an awesome weekend!!!

We spent Saturday evening with friends watching football. I tried a couple of new recipes and they turned out great. I love finding new recipes that end up being really good.

The first one is for Football Party Dip. I've included the original recipe. I changed it up a little. Instead of celery and tomatoes I used a can of Rotel. I didn't use Bob Evans ingredients. I don't think that matters too much. This is the best dip I have ever had! Even The General liked it.

Football Party Dip

Prep time :10 minutes
Cook time :10 minutes
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pound Bob Evans Zesty Hot Sausage Roll
• 1 cup Bob Evans Wildfire Barbecue Sauce
• 1 can (16 oz.) baked beans
• 1 3/4 cups fresh diced tomatoes*
• 1 1/2 cups diced celery
• 1 1/4 cups diced onions
• 1 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 3 to 4 dashes hot sauce to taste
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• Garnish Options
• 3/4 to 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup sour cream
• 1 large bag tortilla chips
• 1/4 cup green diced onions
• *Drain excess liquid from tomatoes for thicker dip.

Directions

Crumble and cook sausage in a large skillet or soup pot, over medium-high heat until browned. Carefully drain off excess drippings. Add celery and onions to sausage and continue to cook over medium heat until vegetables are slightly tender and sausage is no longer pink. Add baked beans, barbecue sauce and mix well. Add tomatoes, garlic powder, hot sauce, salt and pepper to mixture. Simmer together for 5 to 10 minutes and serve in a large bowl. Garnish with cheddar cheese, sour cream and diced green onions on top if desired. Serve with tortilla chips. Refrigerate leftovers.

Then came the pie...oh the pie! Delicious...needless to say there was only a little bit left at the end of the night.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell*
2 large eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened
1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped pecans
Serve with ice cream (optional)

• Preheat oven 325 degrees F.
• Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high until foamy.
• Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter.
• Stir in morsels and nuts and spoon into pie shell.
• Bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm.

Watch Your Step

You'd think by now I would have learned to watch where I'm going.  Apparently not.  I fell the other day in a fast food restaurant and broke my tail bone ~ OUCH!  So while I'm recovering I'm hoping to catch up on blogging.

Baby What a Big Surprise

Last Friday the General returned from the Gulf Coast - yay!!  When he got home just before lunch he suggested that we go to Gatlinburg to celebrate our anniversary.  The catch was that we were leaving just after lunch.  Hmmmm....how to make it happen.  So for the next couple of hours we were frantically packing and getting everything ready and I was trying to tie up loose ends at work.  Then we officially started our vacation.

We started by heading to see the in-laws.  Turns out they were also going Gatlinburg for their anniversary which is about two weeks before ours.  So we stayed there for the weekend and then headed up to Gatlinburg on Sunday morning.  We were able to stop and meet my brother and his family for lunch.

My nieces

We had an awesome time in Gatlinburg.  It was tough for me since there was so much walking and I'm still recovering from foot surgery but it was great!  They have a really nice aquarium and we love to go there.  Even though it rained a little every day we couldn't have asked for better weather. 

The top of our wedding cake

This picture makes me giggle every time - the shark is headed right for him!

One of my favorite pictures of all time - the shark teeth going right through his head!

Playing around at the aquarium - I was talking to the fish

Safety Dog

I have one smart dog!  He knows how to get himself into the seat belt.  We noticed it a few months ago and couldn't figure out how he was doing it but now we know.  Because he weighs so much, he sets off the passenger airbag warning whenever he gets in the front seat.  To keep the beeping off, we have to buckle the seat belt.  So, when he gets into the front seat, he works his way under the shoulder belt.  It's amazing.  I'm really going to work harder to get it on video since no one believes us!

Almost Doesn't Count...

But in this case it does.  The General and I were married in August 2009.  Technically today is our wedding anniversary.  However we didn't actually get married until August 29th.  The preacher put the wrong date on our marriage license!  He put the 8th instead of the 29th...big oops.

In any case...Happy Anniversary to me

Best Breakfast in Mississippi

I got to enjoy the "Best Breakfast in Mississippi" this morning.  And it was super yummy!!  There's a place in Gulfport called Triplett Day Drug.  But it's not your ordinary drug store.  Hidden away in the back of this old time drug store is a small cafe with the best beignets.  If you've never eaten beignets you are truly missing out on a wonderful treat!  They're also called French doughnuts - very similar to funnel cake. If you are in the area, you definitely need to stop by and try them. But you can only get them Monday through Friday from 8 to 11!

This Better Work

 
Breaking News

BP finishes pumping cement into blown-out well

BP says engineers have finished plugging the blown-out Gulf of Mexico well with cement in their effort to permanently seal it. More>>

I really need this to work out well so I can have The General home.  It's been 65 days since he left home to work in the Gulf of Mexico.  Lucky for us I have been able to visit a few times.  That's made it bearable, but I really want him to come home.  There's talk of a deployment in his future and I would really like to be able to spend the next few months with him until then.  I am super proud of him for all his hard work during this time.  It's going to be a change for him coming home and going back to work essentially 7-4 every day.

 

Mini Vacation

With The General still working with the oil spill, my mother and I decided that it was time we took ourselves and the dog down there for a few days.  It was the first time the dog has been to the beach.  We had a blast!

At first, he was afraid of the water and kept backing out of it.  But we finally got him to go in the water and pretty soon....well take a look...

We had a super awesome time!!


Even though it was just a couple of days we enjoyed our time spent with The General and can't wait to go back to the beach.

 

Happy 4th of July

The 4th of July is my FAVORITE holiday.  I'm excited to get to spend the holiday with my husband on the Gulf Coast.  Fireworks rank pretty high on my list of favorite things.  Looking back at last year I will have to say that things have greatly improved for The General and I.  We spent last 4th of July in a hotel after moving out of our apartment when we found out they were providing illegal electricity.  So we were practically homeless.  Let me just say that 2 nights in a hotel room with a dog and a cat are not the most exciting way to spend the holiday.  But we did get to see some pretty awesome fireworks from the balcony of the hotel.

No More You Tube

Not forever...just no more for me today!

I've gotten sucked in and have been watching videos of soldiers coming home and crying my eyes out for about 2 hours.  Definitely not a good way to spend the holiday.  I'm spending the morning at the hotel waiting for The General to get done with work for the day.  It's been 33 days since The General left home to work on the Gulf Coast.  I'm thinking of it as a "mini-deployment."  I'm so blessed that I'm able to talk to him most every day and that I can come visit him.  But it still sucks having him away from home.

A New Family Tradition

I've created a monster! It all started with the quilts I made for two of my best friends' weddings. Then The General's cousin and his wife were pregnant and we wanted to make them a baby quilt. Now it's almost expected that I will make one for each of the nieces and nephews (thank goodness we only have 5 between the two of us) and for any new babies.


The one for the baby turned out great. The General's cousin is a hunter so we decided to make the quilt for both the cousin and his wife. One side is all pink and white (so cute) and the other is pink camo!

Here's one of the nieces and her new quilt. I absolutely LOVE the way this one turned out. This girl is all into pink. When we gave the baby quilt to the cousin and his wife, she came up to me later and said she wanted one just like it. So I was able to use some of the leftover fabric. And I found some awesome fabric for the back - you can't really tell in the picture but the back is pink and sparkly.  It was so pretty I wanted to keep it for myself but I knew she would love it more than me.

Well we just found out that two of the other cousins are now pregnant and due a month apart this Fall. I had better get busy on those.