Christmas Eve

Me and Beau at Charleston Grill for drinks with friends on Christmas Eve.

 

 

Dinner upset

April was in town last night and she doesn’t eat a whole lot of meat. So…I made fish. I made flounder. I baked it with a sauce made of lemon juice, capers, tomatoes, olives and garlic. It wasn’t good. L It just goes to show you that flounder is always best fried. Next time…fry that fish!

 

I did make a yummy salad and pasta dish.

 

Linguine with Asparagus and Pine Nuts

12 oz linguine

2 lb asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces

¼ c pine nuts

¼ c olive oil

4 cloves garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

1 c Shaved parmesan

 

Cook the linguine to al dente. Drain.

 

Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat and add the pine nuts and garlic. Cook until nuts are toasted and fragrant. Add asparagus and cook, tossing occasionally, until just tender, 3 minutes.

 

Add asparagus mixture to pasta, along with 1 tsp salt and ¼ tsp pepper and toss. Sprinkle with parmesan before serving.

 

Spinach and Apple Salad

DRESSING

¼ c minced sweet onion

3 T apple cider vinegar

3 T white vinegar

2 T sesame seeds

Pinch paprika

3 T sugar, divided

½ c EVOO

Salt and pepper, to taste

BUTTERED ALMONDS

2 T unsalted butter

¾ c sliced almonds

SALAD

10 oz bag of spinach

2 medium apples, any variety, sliced thin (I sued Granny Smith)

Cheese, any variety (I used goat cheese)

 

Mix all the ingredients of the salad dressing, using only 2 T of sugar and store away. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the almonds and cook, stirring constantly, until almonds are browned and fragrant, about a minute or two.

Add remaining T of sugar to almonds and gently toss to coat. Continue to cook until sugar is melted. Remove almonds from heat and set aside to cool. Assemble the salad and toss with dressing. Enjoy!

 

Thankful Thursday - Take 22

447. A friend who called and asked to have tea with me. Just to chat. Meant so much to me.

448. My new favorite tea flavor – Sleepytime Vanilla

449. Shared Christmas with both mine and Beau’s family. I was so thankful and grateful they shared their day.

450. Lots of sleep and rest last week

 

451. Ability to run again. I’ve run two miles a few times! Huge progress.

452. A FROG that’s finally clean with stuff put away!

453.  Pictures and picture phones. They allow me to be a part of things I otherwise would not.

454. Lunch with Beau on Wednesday. Always nice to see him in the middle of the day!

455. My good friend, April, is coming into town tonight to see us! We knew each other in China and I haven’t seen her in over a year!

 

456. Beau is able to see all of his closest friends this week. He loves them so much!

457. A wonderful sister that is so encouraging and understanding.

 

 

Spreadsheet

Beau knows I LOVE spreadsheets. I love creating them and adapting them and just in general, working with them. If I can put it in a spreadsheet format, it will be there!

 

Therefore, I gladly accepted the task of compiling and working through a spreadsheet for work. I started this spreadsheet on October 28^th! October 28^th! And it was only today that I finished. And what is today? December 28! Two months later I finish this spreadsheet.

 

Beau and I celebrated with lunch at Madra Rua. Btw, delicious fries!

 

The Happenings

Beau and I have had many adventures in the last 10 days!

 

On the 17^th of December Donna, Beau and I piled our stuff in the Subaru and pulled out of the driveway at 3:08 am to drive down to Port Canaveral to get on the Carnival Dream for our one-week cruise to the Bahamas, St. Thomas and St. Maarten. My first cruise! (Pictures and stories to come!) We had a great time and came back rested and relaxed!

 

We drove back from Port Canaveral on Christmas Eve and arrived in Charleston around 4:00 pm. We picked up Chinese takeout at our favorite Chinese joint, Golden Garden. They have been named one of the top 100 Chinese restaurants in the country! I knew we had a good one! My parents were in town so we shared Christmas Eve dinner with them and my brother. We opened gifts with my family and then Beau, Donna and I headed out on the town to join in her tradition of drinks with friends.

 

We first met up with Joe and Richard and 82 Queen and then walked down King St. to Charleston Grill where we also met up with Ben. We had a great time at both places and tried to finish off the evening at the Mills House, but much to out dismay, they were already closed for the evening. We headed home…

 

Christmas morning was busy with mom and I making our typical Christmas breakfast, Monkey Bread and Grits Casserole. Yum! We ate together and then all headed to church, meeting up with Donna, Meme and Dick. Buster preached a wonderful sermon and we enjoyed the singing of Christmas carols.

 

We all headed home to get our food together and went out separate ways: my parents to Pop-Pop’s house and me and Beau to Aunt Lynda’s house. This was my first holiday spent with his side of the family and I truly enjoyed it. We sat around drinking wine and talking prior to dinner and then enjoyed a feast! They had corn pudding, which I love! The macaroni and cheese was the cheesiest I’ve ever had and the dark meat on the turkey was cooked perfectly. It was wonderful. I really enjoyed the whole afternoon.

 

We left around 4:30 and headed to Pop-Pop’s house to see him and have dessert. At the end of the evening we left with my parents and brother packed in the Subaru and we leaded to the James Island County Park to see the lights. I was wonderful! We hadn’t been in years and they’ve added so much!

 

Monday was spent mostly cleaning the house. The FROG was still packed with boxes that we had yet to do anything with and because of all the company we have coming into town this weekend, we need the space so we got to working on it! We made quite a dent for sure!

 

Julia came over for lunch (used the leftover Chinese to make some fried rice and it was delicious!) and we got to catch up which was so nice! I miss that girl!

 

Beau and I got back to cleaning and then met Donna and Ben at Charleston Beer Works for Ben’s birthday celebration. We had a great time of laughing and sharing stories and celebrating Ben. And we ended the night with an oyster roast with the Woofters.

 

Whew! What a great time! Pictures to come…

Cruise

We are on our way to Florida!

Neice

This is one of the cutest pictures I have seen of Riley. And I LOVE the dress.

 

 

Backpacking Trip

 

Backpacking Trip

 

Backpacking Trip

 

Backpacking Trip

 

Backpacking Trip

Check out all of our pics! We went to Jones Gap and had a wonderful time! Memories filled with steep climbs, some throwing up, some crying, some laughing, etc. Great time!

 

A full-on weekend of fun

Beau and I had a full weekend! Rehearsal dinner Friday night, my company Christmas party Friday at the aquarium, Chet and Stephanie's wedding Saturday afternoon/evening and then the Evans family Christmas on Sunday. Whoo! Definitely a full-on weekend. And we had a BLAST! And we are...tired! But check out the pics and see us all decked out. Btw, my company Christmas party was not a formal event, but Beau insisted on wearing his tuxedo. He bought it; might as well wear it! He looked o handsome!

Thankful Thursday - Take 21

421. Safe travels for everyone on the backpacking trip.

422. That Beau and I were able to take off work and go sleep in the mountains with friends and family. We had a great time!

423. A hot fire while out in the woods.

424. There were no encounters with bears.

425. Beau and I got our fix of Taco Bell…and that will do us for a LONG time!

 

426. My knee, nor my hip hurt the entire backpacking trip!

427. Donna came over Tuesday night to clean up after my baking mess. So helpful!

428. A coupon for a free meal from Whole Foods. We’ll be getting those again btw; they are delicious!

429. Completed enough of Christmas baking to get some gifts out the door this week!

430. Everyone is in a good mood at work, which makes it all the more wonderful!

 

431. My company bought everyone breakfast Tuesday morning. So nice!

432. Those revelations that pop into my head as I drive down the road. Revelations that are clearly from the Lord. He shows me that I had been looking at/thinking about something all wrong the whole time! Perspective my dear…

433. Being able to console and help a friend.

434. The beautiful sunflowers Beau brought home for me on Monday in honor of our 9 month anniversary!

435. And that wonderful man mowed the lawn and edged the yard one last time before spring comes back ‘round.

 

436. Ladies’ night tonight! It’s such a wonderful treat to be with them one night each month!

437. Continued knee healing

438. Feeling sporty

439. My husband’s support in everything – means so much to me!

440. Laughing with the man of my dreams

 

441. Having a dog who runs to me when he’s hurt.

442. I have a reliable car to drive.

443. I live in a safe neighborhood where kids run and play.

444. Having friends at work.

445. My mom and sister, who have become my best friends!

 

446. A fabulous church to attend.

Some People

Yesterday I ate half a bowl/can of Campbell’s Southwest Chicken Chili and put the rest back in the fridge at work (with the lid on it). Today I go to the fridge to finish that bowl/can off and it was gone! Someone stole my soup right out of the fridge!

 

I attached a note to the fridge that read:

 

Shame on you for eating or throwing out my soup!

 

Thankful Thursday - Take 19 & 20

I know it’s Wednesday, but I’ll be incommunicado tomorrow because of the great Thanksgiving Day! I’ll be spending it with my husband and my immediate family. I’m super excited! But here’s the Thankful Thursday on Wednesday!

 

378. Getting to spend Thanksgiving with my family in North Carolina!

379. The feast we get to enjoy tomorrow. There are so many around the world and in this country that will never have a feast such as the one many of will have tomorrow.

380. Conversations that bring me and Beau closer together.

 

381. A closer walk with the Lord for me and Beau.

382. Ability to offer free blessings to friends

383. Prilosec

384. DVR

385. Enjoying the Citadel/Carolina game with familiy and friends

 

386. Mini oyster roast with the Hlavaceks and the Beechs! So fun!

387. Time with my brother and Hannah. Such fun people! Thanks for coming down to spend time with us!

388. Silliness

389. Three-day work week!

390. Pina Coladas! Oh how I love those flavors!

 

391. Tears of joy

392. Loving someone more everyday

393. Walking

394. Saving grace

 

So I thought I sent this last week and then realized I hadn’t. So…there will be two posted today! Aren’t we all lucky!?!

 

395. Gamecocks beat Clemson 34 to 13! That’s three in a row!

 

396. A wonderful Thanksgiving Day with family. Super fun and relaxing!

397. 50% off at Ann Taylor Loft!

398. Laughter. So much laughter!

399. That we saw so many family and friends over the last week. So great to see people and share memories with them.

400. The second year to share Christmas decorating with Beau. Such a special time of year that I wouldn’t want to spend with anyone else!

 

401. Creating new traditions with each other.

402. Our little crockpot that helps to make delicious fondue!

403. Safe travels since we were driving all over kingdom come.

404. Gracious people to allow us to park our car at their house.

405. People opening their homes to us to crash for the night.

 

406. Rested and relaxed after a full-on weekend.

407. That we have so much to be thankful for!

408. My husband’s thoughts on what he’s thankful for. So sweet! I’ll never forget it!

409. A fried turkey  breast from Donna. We’ve been eating on it all week and haven’t had to think about dinner! Yea!

410. A wonderful husband who thinks of things like watering the Christmas tree, which I inevitably forget! J

411. Time to do some Christmas baking.

412. Free pecans from Meme!

413. Lunch with Beau and Donna. Such a treat for me.

414. Abililty to run, though short, with Beau.

415. A husband who likes to do thinks right the first time.

 

416. That today is my Friday!

417. Christmas music, Christmas movies, Christmas goodies. I love it all!

418. It’s hot chocolate time baby. Love it! Williams-Sonoma hot chocolate is the best! I have to get some!

419. The bag of Cheetos Rosa brought into work for me. She knows that they are my “bad” treat.

420. God’s faithfulness in growing me and helping me see hope.

 

A few things

A few things that have been humorous to me lately…

 

Beau walked past the dining room the other day to see me decorating the table with Christmas dishes, napkins, cups, candles, etc and laughed. He laughed because we won’t be using that table or those dishes since we don’t have any chairs. But I wanted to decorate it anyway. J

 

I should also mention that Beau tricked me into watching “Gremlins” telling me that it was a Christmas movie. It takes place at Christmas. It is NOT a Christmas movie. Beware ladies. Don’t let what happened to me, happen to you! J

 

 

USC vs Clemson

That would be three in a row, thank you. Yes, the Carolina Gamecocks have once again become the victors over the Clemson Tigers for the third year in a row. And we were there to see it! We had a great time and Beau’s hands hurt from beating the stands out of excitement.

 

We even found our very own Benedict Arnold among the crowd. Beau realized the guy in front of us was wearing Carolina clothing but was rooting for Clemson and Beau called him out on it yelling “Traitor”, “Liar”, “Benedict Arnold”. I had to calm him down. “Get a hold of yourself!”. J

 

Way to go Gamecocks!

 

 

The Lovelys

As I mentioned in the previous post, the chocolate hazelnut cake was a big hit. And as you can see from the photos of Riley, she was eyeing it and then eventually satisfied that wanting. J

 

Thanksgiving oyster roast

Beau had a great idea to throw an oyster roast for my family the day after Thanksgiving. So I bought the oysters, packed up the cooler, the oyster cooker, propane tank, rags and oyster knives and we headed to NC. We also had some family friends join us who had never had oysters (they’re from Colorado). Everyone really seemed to enjoy themselves and we were so happy to see it! There’s nothing like leftover Thanksgiving food and oysters to tie up the night. J

 

Before dinner

Beau's favorite cereal! Captain crunch! Special for him on this fine Thanksgiving morning!

Irena Sendler 1910-2008 A 98 year-old Polish woman named Irena Sendler recently died. During WWII, Irena worked in the Warsaw Ghetto as a plumbing/sewer specialist. Irena smuggled Jewish children out; infants in the bottom of the tool box she carried and older children in a burlap sack she carried in the back of her truck. She also had a dog in the back that she trained to bark when the Nazi soldiers let her in and out of the ghetto. The soldiers wanted nothing to do with the dog, and the barking covered the kids’ and infants’ noises. Irena managed to smuggle out and save 2500 children. She eventually was caught, and the Nazis broke both her legs, arms and beat her severely. Irena kept a record of the names of all the kids she smuggled out and kept them in a glass jar buried under a tree in her backyard. After the war, she tried to locate any parents that may have survived and reunited some of the families. Most had been killed. She helped those children get placement into foster family homes or adopted. Last year Irena was up for the Nobel Peace Prize. She was not selected. Al Gore won - for a slide show on Global Warming.

 

 

Chris and Hannah

My brother and his girlfriend, Hannah, came into town this weekend to spend time with me and Beau and we had a great time! After church Sunday, we headed into the county park by our house for a picnic and a walk through the park. And then we headed towards Folly Beach for a drink at Blu and some pics on the sand!

 

Chris also treated all of us to some delicious Ribeyes and Beau and I made up the rest. On the menu:

 

Baked brie with fig preserves

Ribeyes grilled with butter

Asparagus grilled on a plank and topped with blue cheese (my favorite!)

Roasted peppers, broccoli and cauliflower

 

 

How to deal with close talkers.

USC vs. Clemson

Hanging out with Aaron and Christy!

Trial run

Beau and I bought a new oyster cooker and needed some guinea pigs to try it out. Sooooo....we called some friends over!  And we had a great time! Yummy oysters!  All in our backyard :)

Dinner

Last night I made grilled pork chops (Beau grilled them) with a Tarragon Cornichon sauce to go over. Beau loved it! I, on the other hand, didn’t care for it. This being my first experience with Tarragon, I soon learned the flavor is not one that I would like to revisit. But here’s the recipe for those of you who do like tarragon. J

 

 

 

PORK CHOPS WITH TARRAGON SAUCE AND CORNICHONS

6 T butter, cut into 6 pieces, divided

4 pork rib chops

5 tsp chopped fresh tarragon, divided

½ c sliced shallots

¼ c thinly sliced cornichons (gherkins)

1 T whole grain mustard

½ c chicken broth

¼ c apple juice

 

Melt 2 T butter in a heavy skillet over medium- high heat. Sprinkle chops with salt, pepper and 2 tsp tarragon. Add chops to skillet; cook until browned and cooked through, adjusting heat to medium if browning too quickly, about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plate and cover to keep warm.

 

Add shallots to same skillet; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in 2 tsp tarragon, cornichons, mustard, chicken broth, apple juice; boil until sauce thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter, 1 piece at a time. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer chops to plates. Spoon sauce over pork chops and top with 1 tsp tarragon.

Thankful Thursday - Take 18

351. Lunch date with the hubster

352. Great weekend at the lake with Katie and Tony & Lauren and Danny

353. Game Day! Gamecocks beat Florida!

354. Popcorn

355. Continually meeting new neighbors

 

356. Shopping with friends

357. Ladies night and delicious sushi

358. Laughing hysterically with Rosa at work

359. Romantic dinners on the deck with Beau. He creates the ambience with the candles and the music. So great!

360. Physical therapy is really helping my knee

 

361. Beau lovingly supporting even though I can act crazy

362. My friend, Katie, who was willing to be my fashion consulting on our shopping trip yesterday

363. That I was not one of the cars involved in the 20-car pile-up this morning on the bridge

364. Holiday festivities have begun!

365. Beau swept, vacuumed and mopped the entire house yesterday afternoon while I went shopping! Who has a better husband than me?!

 

366. Thanksgiving Day lunch with my company – man the day went by fast!

367. Creative ideas.

368. Clean water for drinking

369. Donna did our laundry while we were away

370. My engagement ring that Beau put so much thought and effort into

 

371. Laughing and being silly with Beau

372. I was able to run ½ mile with Beau again – working my way back up

373. Beau and I got accepted into The Citadel for graduate school! We start in January!

374. Paid off a loan!

375. Back to talking with my sister almost daily.

 

376. Beau and I praying together

377. A good job

I do this...all the time.

Our love is like...

Beau and I were sitting on the couch Monday night and he looks at me and says, “Kathryn, our love is like a big shoe. It has room to grow.”

 

Memorable… J

No Words

  There are no words…

Thankful Thursday - Take 17

383. Flowers from Beau to commemorate our 8 months being married!

384. All the leftovers goodies Donna gave me!

385. Pretzel M&Ms – did you know that they are the least caloric of the M&Ms?

 

386. My heirloom ring

387. Time with the Popster

388. Reminders that it’s the people you’re with that counts the most

389. To be loved

390. Phone conversation with April last night

 

391. Sweet pictures of my neice

392. All the great deals I’m finding lately (this girl’s on a budget!)

393. Corkscrew noodles (they are the perfect noodle for any dish!)

394. The free pumpkins I received on Sunday – making pumpkin butter and pumpkin waffles and pumpkin muffins, etc. What else can I make?

395. Birchbox samples

 

396. Having plenty to do at work – makes the day go by quickly

397. Books on what not to do. I’m happy to learn from other people’s mistakes

398. My brother – he makes me laugh so much!

399. YOBE J

340. Inspiration

 

341. Experiences that have made me who I am

342. Laughter

343. The wonderful slow cooker recipes Donna sent me

344. Argos – he’s a sweet, sweet dog and that tries so hard to protect me when Beau is gone

345. Beau cleaned out my side of the garage so that I could park in it! So thoughtful. J

 

346. Red, orange and yellow leaves. They’re breathtaking.

347. Keeping the windows open.

348. Good neighbors – we met them Monday night. Great time chatting.

349. Water – can’t ever be too thankful for this. There are plenty who don’t have it.

350. My new passport came in!

 

 

 

 

Vs Florida

Me, Beau, Carl and Helen at the Carolina game today!