I'm still here!

Long time, no post my friends.  Sorry!  Life has been quite crazy the past few weeks.  Here's a brief list of some of the new things in my life:

1.  I am officially off of orientation at work and flying solo as a RN!
2.  I had my first experience of a patient dying.
3.  I started studying for the GRE...AND a have a study buddy!
4.  I went 4.5 days without internet & cable (when all your friends & your hubby are busy or at work, this is a long time!)
5.  The Gators finally won a football game :)
6.  The wedding photos are here!
7.  I started my Christmas gift list.
8.  I have become re-obsessed with Little House on The Prairie - thanks to having no internet or cable as mentioned in #4.
9.  Chris are planning a trip to Orlando to visit Jennifer and possible use one of our leftover Disney tickets.  Yay for something to look forward to!
10.  We are going to see Mannheim Steamroller in concert next Thursday!
11.  I have some super fun craft ideas...thanks to Nancy & Aunt Karen for the suggestions.
12.  I am going to have next weekend off (Nov 13-14).  I can't wait to go to church again!!


Well, there's a brief update!  I have lots of posts I want to do - I just need to get around to doing them...

Happy Thursday :)

Adham's come to visit part 2 :)

See part 1 to read about what we did on Friday night of when Sarah and Michael came to visit!  We woke up Saturday morning and I started making breakfast!  Breakfast is my absolute favorite meal of the day - there's nothing better than a good breakfast to start your day.  I put my belgium waffle maker to use and we also had bacon and fruit.  We ate breakfast with College Game Day on in the background (of course!). 

Fruit & bacon

Waffles!



The spread

We relaxed the rest of the morning - watching the rest of GameDay ad we even were able to watch one of the wedding DVD my uncle made for us!  We then finished getting ready and headed out to Publix to grab some subs to eat on campus before the LSU game.  Once we made it to campus, Michael "made" us a parking spot over a sewer drain next to the apartment he lived in on campus when he was a student!  It turned out to be a great spot - thanks Michael! 



Our tailgate spot next to Keys (Michael's old apartment)





The Buick in the "parking spot"

We spent the afternoon on campus, visiting with friends and watching other football games (Alabama vs South Carolina game!).  One of Michael's friends got us into the booster's pre-game meal in the O-Dome (FREE FOOD!) for a little snack before the game! 

Sophia & Sarah

The boys

My sick hubby and I

The gang

Danny!



The group before we went into the stadium

The entire game was heartbreaking!  We had 3 drunk LSU fans sitting behind us.  They snuck beer in with them (we're thinking the put it in ziploc bags) and dumped it all over my Vera Bradley Totally Turq backpack and on both Sarah and I's jackets.  As you can imagine, I was not a happy camper.  I eventually was able to get over it and try to enjoy the rest of the game.  Even though the outcome was dissapointing, it is always fun to be in the Swamp - especially with friends!  As soon as we got home I threw everything into the washer to get the nasty beer smell out.  We didn't go to bed until late and spent the next morning sleeping in.  This whole time poor Chris caught some kind of cold from the kids at school and had lost his voice on Saturday night.  Sunday we went to lunch at Las Margaritas - one of our favorite Mexican resturants!

It was a great weekend!  Thanks for coming down Michael & Sarah!

Tragedy!

Sad news everyone...my camera is non-functioning.  Usually I am very careful when carrying a water bottle in my purse, but this time I guess the cap wasn't quite tight enough.  As I was walking to meet my parents at the UF Homecoming Parade after work on Friday, I started to feel something wet on the bottom of my purse, getting my clothes damp.  I instantly searched through my bag and found my camera case soaked.  Once I got home I put the camera in a bag of rice, but it didn't help :(  I love taking pictures to document events throughout my life, so I am going through a period of withdrawal!  Unfortunately there may be picture-free posts for a while until I get a new camera...

Well, I am off to eat some lunch but I'll be back sometime during the next few days to share part 2 of the Adham's visit!

Adhams come to visit part 1 :)

This past weekend was very exciting because our good friends Sarah and Michael came to visit and go to the Gator football game!  Sarah and I were college roommates and we were all in each other's weddings.  After they got married they moved up to Atlanta, so it's always great when we get to see each other.  They came into town Friday afternoon and after a few hours of blabbing (what do you except?!), we finally got ourselves ready to go out for dinner. 

When we all lived in Gainesville we pretty much went out to eat at the same places over and over again (Moes, Outback, Chick-Fil-A, Chipotle, etc) - don't get me wrong, we love those places! - but I thought it would be fun if we went someplace new and different.  I had heard awesome things about The Ivy House, so I suggested we go there!



The Ivy House, Alachua FL

 When we got there, it was just a 10-15 minute wait so we chatted some more out on the porch :)



Sarah, Michael, and Chris




Me, Sarah, and Michael




Sarah & Michael



Chris & I

I loved the cute, homey feel of the place.  It was a nice change compared to most of the restaurants that we've gone to recently.  Of course we had to take pictures of the food...

Delicious house salad

Baked Crispy Chicken 

Not pictured are the cheese fritters!  They were AWESOME - definitely one of the best parts of the meal!

After dinner we went back to the apartment and watched Date Night (it seems that whenever we have people over that haven't seen that movie, we must show it to them!).  It was a fun and relaxing way to end the evening.


You'll have to wait for part 2 :)

Kitchen Adventures #1

I love spending time in the kitchen cooking, baking, trying new things, etc.  It can be a big stress reliever...and fun!  For Christmas last year my Aunt Karen got me this awesome cookbook - "More Super Secret Restaurant Recipes" by Todd Wilbur.  It has fun recipes - everything from restaurant entree clones, to low fat clones, to drinks, and fast food clones.  There is a little bit of everything!  A few weeks ago I decided to make the reduced fat version of Olive Garden's Zuppa Toscana - one of our favorites!  It is very simple and quite tasty. 

Ingredients
.5 lb lean hot turkey Italian sausage
3 c fat-free chicken broth
3 c fat-free milk
2 T minced onion
1 T Hormel Real Bacon Pieces
1/4 t salt
pinch crushed red pepper flakes
1 med russet potato, peeled
2 c chopped kale

1.  Grill or saute the sausage until cooked.
2. Combine the chicken broth, milk, onion, bacon, salt, and pepper flakes in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
3.  Quarter the potato lengthwise, then cut into 1/4-inch slices.  Add to the saucepan.  When mixture begins to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
4.  Cut the sausage at an angle into 1/4-inch thick slices.  Add the sausage to the saucepan.  Simmer for 1 hour or until potato slices begin to soften.
5.  Add the kale to the soup and simmer for an additional 10-15 minutes until potatoes are soft.



In the midst of cooking!

In addition to the soup, I also tried out my Oster Breadmaker (a wedding gift) for the first time!  I tried out the recipe for French Bread, since I thought it would got well with the soup - and it did.



Final product!



It was a lovely meal - that served as leftovers for the next day :)  If you try out the recipe, let me know how you like it!

COUCHES!!

YAY!  I am excited that we FINALLY have a normal living room :)  We spent our first almost 3 months of marriage with a "bachelor pad living room" with 2 recliners.  We wanted to get nice furniture before we got married, but we didn't want to go into debt setting up our first apartment.  Our bedroom set was the priority - so we purchased that before the wedding, and then started saving for couches.  A few weeks ago we started looking for living room furniture and we found a perfect set.  It was little bit more expensive than what we had saved up so far, but we were able to talk them down to the amount :)

Now...what you have all been waiting for...PICTURES!



Before



After




After

 I took these pictures right before I started posting this blog, hence the laptops are out :)

Let me know what y'all think!!  I still have some little things I want to do to finish the living room but it already feels more homey.

Anxiously Awaiting!

Well, we purchased a new living room furniture set and I am anxiously awaiting its delivery any time now!  We found a set that would be perfect for us - it was on sale AND we were able to talk them down in price to the exact amount that we had set aside for furniture!  I have LOTS to update yall on (recipes and fun weekends with friends) - I'm hoping to get some of those posts out today....with a picture of the furniture of course!

Tornadoes of The Round Table

Last night we went to the Bradford High School's 2010 Tornado Whirl with the theme "Tornadoes of The Round Table".  I was warned by Chris's co-workers that if you're not from Starke (or any really small town), you would have never seen anything like it before.  We had pep rallys in high school, but none of them were quite like this!

On our way to the event, Chris and stopped for some Moe's.  You can never go wrong with Moe's!

We had a great car ride to BHS, catching up on things that had happened this week.  I love talking with my husband :) 

We were the first all of the English teacher's to get there, so we saved seats for the whole crew.  It ended up being Chris and I, and three other teachers, 2 of them with their kids.  I enjoyed getting to put a face with a name since I hear about so many of these people! 



Mr. Thoburn, the principal, welcoming everyone

The night was jam-packed with special events!  Each of the classes put together a skit, and there were also presentations of the club sweethearts, and of course the Homecoming Queen & King.


Freshman Skit (Chris's students!)



More of the freshman skit - they did great!!

 

Varsity football team



Majorettes twirling FIRE!



Senior Skit

The Seniors ended their skit with performing "We're All In This Together" from High School Musical.  It was cute!

Seniors

The senior class ended up winning best skit - the freshman came in second place, though!  They all did a great job.  Now, onto my favorite part of the evening!  They had a special presentation by the BHS Faculty!  Originally Chris did NOT want to be apart of this - you know how he avoids attention as much as possible! - but he ended up getting bribed into participating (by my support of course!). 

Chris out on the 50 with some of the other BHS faculty - getting ready! 

All set!

I took a video of this event...and Chris doesn't know it is going on here, but I just had to share it!  Just as a warning, the first time around, they are purposely looking stupid.  Enjoy the video - Chris is usually on the right side of the screen, the really tall one with a gray shirt and jeans! 

We had a great night!  I hope you all enjoyed this post!  There are going to be some fun cooking adventures in the kitchen today, so be on the look out for recipes!

Have a splendid Friday!

Your Love Is Strong

Howdy folks!  I hope you all have had a great week so far.  This past weekend was good and bad.  Friday night Chris and I decided to invite some friends over to watch a movie!  It had been a few weeks since we had been able to spend time with some of our friends and thought it would be fun.  Megan, my SIL, and Simon, one of Chris's old roommates, came over to watch Date Night.  We LOVE that movie - it is a must see!  We had a lot of fun just talking, sharing stories, and updating each other with our lives.  We can't wait to do it again sometime :)  Saturday morning we woke up STARVING and I was planning on making a big breakfast to start off our day, then Chris surprised me and wanted to take me out to Peach Valley!  I immediately jumped on that bandwagon :)  It was great to spend time with each other and enjoy a meal without having to cook or clean up afterwards.  So far, the weekend had been great!  Then we enjoyed an afternoon of college football - and an awesome Gator victory, which made it even better!  Saturday night I went to bed not feeling the greatest, but still planing on going to work the next day.  When I woke up Sunday, I was having a rough morning.  Let's just say I was making several trips back and forth to the bathroom....thankfully my preceptor let me go home early.  I spent the rest of the day re cooperating and was able to go in Monday and Tuesday. 

Wednesday night is my pod group night (yay!) and tonight we met at Bonefish for their $5 Bang Bang Shrimp!  Delicious!  I forgot my camera at home or else I would have taken a picture :)  It was great to be able to fellowship with each other, discuss God's word, and see how He is already working in all of our lives.  I was a good wife and got food for my hubby, but here it is 8:30 and he's still not home yet - should be soon though! 

Tomorrow we are going to Bradford High School's Tornado Whirl as apart of their homecoming week!  I don't know what it is yet - some sort of pep rally I believe - but it should be entertaining.  For now, I want to leave you with lyrics to a song that has been a great encouragement to me recently...listen to it :)

Heavenly Father
You always amaze me
Let your kingdom come
In my world and in my life
You give me the food I need
To live through the day
And forgive me as I forgive
The people that wronged me
Lead me far from temptation
Deliver me from the evil one

I look out the window
The birds are composing
Not a note is out of tune
Or out of place
I look at the meadow
And stare at the flowers
Better dressed than any girl
On her wedding day

So why do I worry?
Why do I freak out?
God knows what I need
You know what I need

Chorus (3x):
Your love is
Your love is
Your love is strong

The kingdom of the heavens
Is now advancing
Invade my heart
Invade this broken town
The kingdom of the heavens
Is buried treasure
Will you sell yourself
To buy the one you've found?

Two things you told me
That you are strong
And you love me
Yes, you love me

(Chorus 3x)

Our God in heaven
Hallowed be
Thy name above all names
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven
Give us today our daily bread
Forgive us weary sinners
Keep us far from our vices
And deliver us from these prisons

Your Love Is Strong - Jon Foreman

Friday Fives

I'm starting something new on my blog!  Every Friday I am going to answer five random questions from Beth's blog! 

1.  What is your "comfort food"?

This a tough one for me!  I LOVE sweet potato casserole.  It is my favorite part of holiday meals, both to eat and make!  I have a delicious recipe that I have made every year for Christmas and Thanksgiving for the past several years!  Delicious!

I also love me some brownies.  If I had a choice between ice cream and a brownie, I would go with a brownie (or brownie with ice cream hehe).  They are definitely one of my favorite deserts.

2.  One thing that is on your mind right now?
PICTURES!!  I am obsessed with organizing pictures on my computer.  I am WAY behind on that, and I haven't ordered pictures to be printed in several months.  It is driving me crazy!  I wanted to wait until I had my wedding pictures back to do one massive order, but I still don't even have those back!  I am anxious to put new pictures in my frames and finish decorating the apartment so I think I am going to go ahead and order from what I have so far. 

3.  What's the best advice you've ever received?
I'm going to put a twist on this one and base it on something I've learned recently from my Heavenly Father.  I've been struggling with feeling comfortable and confident at work.  I still have 5 weeks on orientation working with another nurse, but I have been doing most of the work independently.  I've had some rough days...and some good ones, but in my quiet time earlier this week, God brought me to these verses:

I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire.  He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along" - Psalm 40: 1-2

Why am I discouraged?  Why is my heart so sad?  I will put my hope in God!  I will praise him again - my Savior and my God! - Psalm 42: 11

Wow - how encouraging.  The first verse reminded me that God WILL carry me.  He hears my cry and rescue me.  The second verse was very humbling to me.  It reminded me that I need to praise God for blessing me with a job in the first place!  He has gotten me through so far, even during the rough days He has been with me.  I've started something new - each time I am at work feeling discouraged (and just whenever I feel like it!), I've started to silently praise Him for bringing me where I am, thanking Him for this job, and asking that He work through me and get me through the day.  It has given me a greater sense of peace and hope! 

4. If you found $10 today, what would you do with it?

I would go out to Starbucks and buy a Pumpkin Spice Latte and Pumpkin Muffin!  No question on this one :)

5.  What is your least favorite thing to clean in your house?
Bathtubs!  I'm not exactly sure what it is, but I really do not look forward to getting on my knees and scrubbing the tub.  I will do everything else without complaints (except maybe the floors sometimes lol), but not the bathtubs!

I hope y'all enjoyed this week's Friday Fives!  Any special plans for this Friday out there?  I've already done the cleaning and laundry for the week, so I'm hoping to catch up on pictures this weekend!  It's homemade pizza night in the Chaplin house - yummy! 

Happy Friday :)