Thankful Thursday - Take 11

291. Gamecocks won on Saturday!

292. Carl and the great seats he gives us.

293. Donna helping us with our house projects. There’s NO WAY we could have finished without her.

294. We finished painting the kitchen, powder room and office before the floor people came!

295. Beau did not fall off the ladder.

 

296. No arguments between me and Beau even though everyone said there would be while fixing up the house.

297. Katie suggesting we paint the kitchen knobs rather than replace them. Saved us $400!

298. Great sermon by Buster on Sunday on Love out of Romans 12

299. Chinese takeout and eating it out of the box!

300. Our new neighbors and they’re children. Very nice people.

 

301. FREE ice cream at Cold Stone

302. Volleyball league/team Beau and I participate in

303. Pretzel M&Ms and Take Five! Yum! Oh and Grape soda.

304. Coming “home” after being at the new house all day.

305. Dried beans-cheap and when cooked well, delicious!

 

306. A great partner that makes up the other half of our great team!

307. Disney World vacation and the Wine & Dine Festival.

308. Port wine-I would love a bottle, but in the meantime love the taste after a special dinner out

309. PTO

310. Phone calls with dad in the morning

 

311. Jennifer called yesterday to say she’s coming down in two weeks!

312. Zatarain’s Black Beans and Rice-a go-to quick meal for me and Beau and I love it!

313. Getting the lawn completely mowed before the bottom fell out

314. Tag-teaming the lawn efforts with the Beau-man.

315. FREE return address labels

 

316. Cheap and healthy black bean soup for dinner

317. Vacation starts today!

318. My goofy husband and his singing. I really love it.

319. My husband who watched a chick-flick with me last night. And he didn’t complain once. J

320. All the compliments he gives me. (Beau)

 

321. Growth for me and Beau individually and together

322. Bed time

323. Cereal. I love cereal. All day I love cereal.

324. Training at work that helps the day go by faster.

325. Four days of vacation with my husband. Pure laughter and fun with the man I love. (Almost a rhyme.)

Tonight

Tonight’s dinner will be Weight Watcher’s Black Bean Soup and my mother’s recipe for cornbread (posted that recipe last week). This soup is delicious and cheap because it’s made with dried black beans instead of the can. Try it out…

 

WW Black Bean Soup

 

1 lb dry black beans

1 small red bell pepper

1 small onion, quartered

2 cloves garlic

3 bay leaves

 

1 T olive oil

1 large onion, minced

½ c chopped parsley

1 red pepper, minced

2 medium carrots, shredded

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 T red wine vinegar

2 oz white wine

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 chicken bouillon

Salt and pepper

 

Rinse the beans and place in a large pot with 8 cups of water. Cover and bring to a boil, then remove from heat and let the beans sit, covered for one hour. Or you can let them sit for 24 hours in cold water.

 

Drain and fill pot and beans with 8-10 cups of water when ready to cook. Add bell pepper, garlic, onion and bay leaves to beans. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to low. Simmer for an hour, or until beans are tender, stirring occasionally. Add water if necessary.

 

Meanwhile, in large frying pan, heat oil on low. Add chopped veggies (onion, parsley, carrots, pepper, garlic) season with salt and pepper. Sauté 5 minutes or until soft.

 

Add vegetables to bean pot. Then add wine, vinegar, cumin, oregano, bouillon, salt and pepper and adjust water if also needed. Cover and simmer on low 15-20 minutes. Remove bay leaves.

 

Use an immersion blender and puree some of the soup, but not all of it. serve with sour cream and/or cheese, whatever you would like. Yum!

Afternoons

Beau and I have been spending our afternoons after work at the new house (I’ll be glad when I won’t have to differentiate between the current house and the new house and I can just say “house”) doing little projects. I have underestimated both of them.

 

Monday Beau and I headed over to tackle the yard. I mowed the grass and Beau manned the weed-eater and trimmed the hedges (mainly the flowering plant surrounding the mailbox and the huge sago palm at the corn of the sidewalk and the drive way). It took us about 1.5 hours or so. I was hot and sweaty and tired when I finished. We have some of the thickest grass I’ve seen. I kept getting the lawn mower stuck. Whoops.

 

Yesterday we headed over to paint the quarter-round. Very much underestimated this one. I thought it would take us maybe an hour. Um, no. Two and a half hours later is when we left. Granted, at the end of our task we did a walk-through of the house since the wood guys finished the installation. And wow! It’s amazing inside. The quarter-round on the other hand. Not so wow. It’s going to need a second coat and some fixing because they started sticking to each other. L But first coat is done!

 

Today’s taskings? None. At least at the new house. We have plenty to do at the current house. Have I mentioned that we haven’t packed anything? Oh yeah, that’s right. We have a lot to do!

 

Paint Job

Beau and I decided to take on the task of painting three rooms in our house before the floors started today, Kitchen, Breakfast Nook, Powder Room and Office. And on Friday we weren’t sure it was going to be finished in time. But we finished at 8:00 last night. Exhausted is an understatement of what we feel right now. But here are some photos of the completed kitchen.

 

Thankful Thursday - Take 10

262. We closed on our house!

263. Neighbors who came over and introduced themselves.

264. A bigger refrigerator.

265. More than one bathroom!

266. Argos was so excited to see all of his new space!

 

267. Bonding with my husband while we paint and tear down wallpaper.

268. Eventually removing all the carpet so that serves as our drop cloth.

269. No problems during closing!

270. Delicious, seasonal fruit.

271. 2 car garage!

 

272. Because we’re working until it’s time to sleep, which is late, we’re sleeping so well.

273. Friends letting us borrow tools.

274. I won at Bingo at the old folks home last night!

275. Fruit

276. Lowe’s gift cards to help with the expenses of our projects

 

277. Holding hands with my husband

278. Donna helping us with our projects

279. Gamecocks won again!

280. Seeing my sin and desiring to change

281. Phone calls with my mom every morning on the way to work

 

282. My dad’s concern over Beau, that I wouldn’t be too hard on him. (I’m not. At least I don’t think.)

283. That everything is replaceable and/or fixable. No worries.

284. The crunchy pieces of a coconut pound cake

285. Celebrating Grandma Thelma’s birthday with her last night

286. A wonderful message on Romans 12 last Sunday

 

287. Forgiveness

288. PTO

289. Friends with sewing skills

290. Typing skills

USC game

Beau and I at the fame against Vanderbilt. Great seats! Having a great time and taking a break from our home projects. A much needed one!

Some serious cooking

Wow, I think I’ve definitely made some yummies over the past week that have not been posted so put your seatbelt on. We’ve got recipes to discuss.

 

As I sit here typing away, I’m listening to one of my favorite bluegrass songs, “I Saw the Light” and I’m a fan of David Crowder Band’s rendition. Listen to it. It’s sure to make you start slapping you knee and take away any melancholy feelings you may have. Good for a rainy day. J

 

Back to recipes…

 

Last night I made Grandma Thelma a Coconut Pound Cake for her birthday. I made a mini bundt for myself and everyone else to have a little taste. Yum! Saturday I made a Cheese Tortellini Pasta Salad and Butter Pecan Cookies. Sunday night I made Chili (recipe given in a previous post) and my mom’s Cornbread. So let’s get started…

 

Coconut Pound Cake

¾ butter shorting

1 c butter

3 c sugar

5 eggs

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

3 c flour

1 c milk

2 tsp coconut extract

3.5 oz can shredded coconut

 

Preheat the oven to 300. Mix the butter, shortening and sugar together until smooth. Add the eggs in, one at a time, scraping down the sides after each addition. Mix the flour, baking powder and salt and alternately adding that and the milk to the butter mixture. Mix in the extract and stir in the coconut. Prepare a bundt pan and pour the cake batter in and smooth it out. Bake in the oven for at least an hour, checking every 5-10 minutes after that  until a cake tester comes with moist crumbs. Let the cake sit in the pan for 10 minutes on top of a wire rack. Invert the cake onto the rack so it cools completely. Feel free to put a glaze over it with some toasted coconut if you so desire, but it doesn’t need it. Yum!

 

Karen’s Cornbread

5 T melted butter

1 ¾ c yellow self-rising cornmeal

2 c buttermilk

2 large eggs

 

Mix everything together, but make sure the butter has cooled at least a little bit so it doesn’t cook the eggs when combined. Preheat the oven to 400 and prepare your muffin tins or 8x8 baking dish. Pour in and bake 20-25 minutes (for muffins). Delish!

 

Butter Pecan Cookies

1 1/3 c pecan halves

2/3 c light brown sugar

2/3 c white sugar

1 stick butter

½ c vegetable shortening

½ tsp salt

½ tsp espresso powder

1 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla

¾ tsp butterscotch, vanilla-butternut or butter-rum extract

1 tsp vinegar, cider or white

1 egg

2 c flour

1 1/3 c butterscotch chips

 

Place pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 350. Toast the pecans until dark and fragrant. Check them often so they don’t burn. Then either chop them or leave them as is. But let them cool before adding them to the batter.

 

Blend together, shortening, butter, sugars, baking soda, salt, espresso powder and vinegar. Beat in the egg. Then add the flour and stir in the butterscotch chips and pecans.

 

It’s best to then let the cookie dough sit in the refrigerator to harden a bit so they stay in cookie shape. But I baked them immediately. They spread out a bit, but it doesn’t change the flavor!

 

Bake 10 minutes and let cool. Enjoy!

We did it!

We closed on our house! Whoo! Hoo! Immediately after closing, Beau and I went over to try out our new keys. They worked and Beau carried me across the threshold! J

 

We ran around looking in all the rooms and checking everything out since there was nothing left of the other people’s stuff. It is our house! Our house. We couldn’t be more excited and happy!

 

CLOSING

We’re closing on our new house today!!!!!!!! We’re sooooooooo excited! 10:00am is our appointment and then the house will finally be ours (and the bank’s). J Beau and I are headed out for a celebratory lunch afterwards.

 

And today begins “project week”. We’re tearing down wallpaper, painting and tearing up carpet and flooring. We have a busy and exciting week ahead of us!

 

Quiz

On the way up to the USC vs. Navy game Saturday, Beau quizzed me on the teams in the SEC East and SEC West. I didn’t get all of them right, but I got over half of each. Not bad. Next, it was my turn to quiz him!

 

Kathryn: What are the spices that make up allspice?

 

Beau’s answer: Salt?

 

Barsa Tapas

I’ve started a ladies’ night with some dear girlfriends of mine from church. We all met at Barsa Tapas on the corner of King St. and Line St. last night for dinner. A great time was had by all!

 

This was my second time there and I’ll have to say, this time was even better than the first! I really enjoyed it! Here’s what was on the table:

 

Appetizer we shared:

Chips and Salsa BUT a different take on it. Homemade chips with a plate laid out with slices of avocado, cilantro, caramelized onion and a tomato sorbet. It’s definitely different. Some of the ladies weren’t too fond of the sorbet, but some of us liked it. It was good.

 

Beverages:

White Sangria – big hit!

 

Other Appetizers:

Garlic mushrooms served over Crudités with goat cheese and arugula

Roasted Vegetables with Romesco Sauce

French Fries with Aioli

Croquettes

Smoked Shrimp

 

Meals:

Seafood Paella

Seared Blackened Grouper with local Pepper Risotto (my dish)

 

We had a great time and are looking forward to next month! We should have taken a picture! That was Nicole’s idea that no one followed through on. L

 

Thankful Thursday - Take 9

242. Belk’s big sale of 80% that allowed me to get a sundress for $10!

243. Restaurant week and trying new restaurants

244. My husband’s admission into the SAR. He’s so happy!

245. We found a coffeepot at the house

246. Finally decided on a flooring company to do our floors

247. The great weekend that Beau and I have had lately. Nothing to do but enjoy ourselves! It’s been so wonderful!

248. GRE test complete!

249. A husband that will go with me to look at consignment furniture. What women can say that?!

250. A washer and dryer

251. Earth Fare coupons

252. Microsoft Outlook

253. A husband who appreciates my cooking

254. My husband cleaned the house while I was taking the GRE. Such a good man!

255. Cooler weather coming our way!

256. Lactose-free yogurt

257. Venison in my freezer

258. co-workers who share

259. Lunch out with dear friends

260. Ladies’ Night tonight!

261. A God who speaks and is actively pursuing us

 

Ducked

At some point last fall, Beau and I drove up to Philadelphia for him to run the Philadelphia marathon. We stopped in to see the parents of some friends of his, Joe and Angie. Joe’s parents, Leo and Sylvia are a darling couple that are in their 90’s.

 

Well, towards the end of the visit, Sylvia wanted to show us around their house and while doing so, she gave me a gift-a little keepsake box in the shape of a mallard. When Beau and I got back in the car to drive back into the city, he showed me all the food Sylvia had given him and I showed him the duck. We laughed.

 

Upon seeing Donna, I gave it to her. I thought she should have it. ;) She didn’t want it. This has started the “Duck War”. We go back and forth hiding it at each other’s house. It’s actually become quite comical. Right now Beau and I have no idea where it is. Donna has put it somewhere.

 

“Duck War” Pasta with Slow-Roasted Duck

1 lb tagliatelle

1 or 2 slow-roasted duck legs (recipe below)

4 finely chopped garlic cloves

1 T butter

1-2 T duck fat

Salt

Pepper

Lemon zest

1-2 T lemon juice

 

ROAST DUCK LEGS

Pat the duck legs dry. Prick skin all over with a needle to help render out fat. Salt all over generously. Place skin side up in a 300 degree oven in a casserole dish just small enough to fit them without overlapping. Cook for about 90 minutes or until skin starts pulling away from the bones and getting crispy. Turn up the heat to 375 for 15 minutes until duck starts to get light golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool 15 minutes.

 

Pick all the meat off the duck legs and reserve the skin. Tear the meat and skin into smallish pieces.

Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add the butter and duck fat and duck meat and skin. Turn the heat down to medium.

Put the pasta in the boiling water. Stir it from time to time.

Add the garlic to the sauté pan and mix well. Watch the garlic: The moment it begins to brown, turn off the heat.

Drain the pasta when it is al dente, or use tongs to take it from the boiling water right into the sauté pan. Turn the heat back on to medium. Toss the pasta in the sauté pan, making sure it is all coated well. Add more duck fat if needed. Add some black pepper and 1 T lemon juice and toss again. Taste and add the second T of lemon juice if you want.

Serve immediately with the lemon zest sprinkled on top.

Best, worth and others

I thought I would do a post on what are my favorite restaurants in Charleston, what are the worst restaurants in Charleston and what are the restaurants that are okay, but don’t live up to the reputation they have. (All of this is based only on the restaurants I’ve tried. There are a lot of restaurants that I have not tried yet.)

 

WORST

Tbonz

Amen Street Fish and Raw Bar

The Pita Pit

Fonduely Yours

Shem Creek Bar and Grill

Bucaneer

Hyman’s

 

DON’T LIVE UP TO THEIR REPUTATION

Sermet’s Corner

The Glass Onion

Charleston Café

Brixx Oven Pizza

Coast

Bocci’s

Rue de Jean

S.N.O.B

Husk

 

BEST

Charleston Grill

Wild Olive (Italian)

Circa 1886

FIG (French themed)

Hominy Grill (Southern)

Old Village Post House

Five Loaves (Café)

YOBE (Frozen yogurt)

Taste of Thai

High Cotton

Long Point Grill

 

Sports

Have I mentioned that Beau and I joined a volleyball league? We’re about half way through the season and we’ve lost almost every game. (We have won one.) But…but, we’re having a good time. I would definitely call our team the team of intellectuals, although I’m really just fluff. Every other team is full of people that live and breathe volleyball. They’re even wearing high school and college volleyball shirts. This is serious! We, on the other hand, have “explosion hands” and go out for snacks afterwards. It’s a good Monday night! There might be some flag football, kickball or ultimate Frisbee in our future.

 

S.N.O.B.

Beau and I went to dinner with Trent and Nicole last night to take advantage of Charleston Restaurant week. The idea is that you get three courses for $30/person. (There is a set menu.) Here’s the scenario at S.N.O.B…

 

Appetizers

Kathryn and Nicole – Curried Shrimp Bisque

Trent and Beau – Fried Green Tomato with Pickled Onions

 

All of us loved our appetizers. Soup-really good.

 

Entrees

Kathryn and Trent – Sirloin with chimichurri, grilled squash and sweet potato hash

Nicole – Shrimp and Grits

Beau – Seared Swordfish with Mushroom Cremes and Haricot Verts

 

Nicole loved hers. Beau liked his okay. I’m not sure what Trent thought out our dish, but it was good. Wasn’t great, but good. I’ve come to realize if it’s not a Ribeye, I don’t want it. There’s not enough flavor. I’ve heard it said that if you have to add any type of sauce to a steak than you can assume it’s not a good piece of beef. I would agree with that. Salt and pepper is all you need on a Ribeye and WHAM! tons of flavor! My favorite thing on that plate was the one piece of grilled squash. The sweet potato hash had too much seasoning in it.

 

Dessert

Trent and Kathryn – Lemon Pudding Cake with Raspberry Coulis

Beau and Nicole – Chocolate Brownie with Salted Caramel Frosting

 

Mine was okay. Nothing to speak of really. The brownie? Let me quote Nicole, “This tastes like a diet brownie.” Never good. Never.

 

So, overall…wasn’t blown away by any of the food and probably won’t be returning only because there are far better restaurants in Charleston for the same price.

 

Regardless of the food, out evening was wonderful. We had a great time out with Trent and Nicole. We would like to revisit that outing, only maybe to a different restaurant. J

 

My work space

So you wouldn’t know it, but I’m wearing jeans a Carolina t-shirt underneath all of this garb. I could wear the same thing to work every day and no one would know the difference. As soon as I get into work I put this jacket on and wrap myself in this blanket. It’s freezing in here! And for those of you who are saying, “sure, but you’re always cold”. I’m not the only one who’s cold. Even the men are cold. But yes, this is the look I sport.

 

interesting readin

I read an interesting article today about Jacqueline Kennedy and her thoughts on past events. Apparently the woman struggled with hating people and thinking bad things about people. Who knew! Maybe you did. But I certainly did not. Anyway, JFK would continually tell her not to say such things and then told her this…

 

“If you start to say or think that you hate someone, then the next day you’ll act as if you hated them.”

 

Definitely something to think about and be on guard for. Words and thoughts are powerful, whether they be positive or negative.

 

Venison

Thanks to Beau and Chris’ hunting abilities last December, we’re eating Venison. If you haven’t heard the story, ask one of them. They were cold! And I’m thankful they endured because last night we were able to eat the fruits of their labor.

 

Venison Stew

 

3 c venison, cut into chunks

3 T flour

Salt and pepper

1 T olive oil

1 ¼ c dry red wine

4 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 ¼ c beef broth

1 T tomato paste

3 sprigs fresh thyme

4 medium cipollini onions (I used pearl onions)

1 c mushrooms (wild, butoon, whatever)

1 T butter

 

With each onion, cut the top off and peel the skins back to the root end. Cut off the skin, leaving the root intact. Set aside.

 

Heat oil in Dutch oven or pot with lid over medium-high heat. Add the flour to a small bowl with salt and pepper and dust the venison in the flour. Add the meat to the hot oil and sear on both sides. You may need to do this in batches. Remove from pan.

 

Deglaze the pot with the wine, stirring the bits from the bottom of the pan. Add the garlic, broth, thyme sprigs, tomato paste and onions, stirring with each addition. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for an hour over medium-low heat. Add the mushrooms and butter and taste for additional salt and pepper, adding what is missing. Then cook, uncovered, 30 more minutes. Remove the thyme sprigs before serving. Serve with buttered noodles, rice, rolls or mashed potatoes.

 

Thankful Thursday - Take 8

223. Our deal for a wedding picture on canvas came in the mail yesterday! (See picture of the picture!)

224. Found a fabulous deal at Bed, Bath and Beyond yesterday in regards to the roasting pan I registered for. Originally $100 and I found it on sale for $40! No brainer!

225. As of this Saturday, I will have one thing checked off of my plate, that being the GRE test!

The home inspection of our current house came 226. back pretty good. Only three minor things!

227. Gamecocks won on Saturday.

228. Great weekend with my brother.

229. Seeing how God kept us from buying those other houses we put contracts on so that we could wait for the perfect house He had for us.

230. Free breakfast at Chick-Fil-A this morning. J

231. Celebrating six months of marriage with my wonderful husband!

232. Free persimmons and tomatoes from Meme!

233. Fulfilled my craving for wings on Saturday!

234. People around us so willing to help us figure out all of this house stuff!

235. Our church. If I haven’t said this enough, we love East Cooper!

236. Tervis cups and lids. What a great invention.

237. Good time with Pop-Pop on Sunday. We watched SciFy! Not my favorite, but I was with one of my favorite people.

238. An obedient dog

239. DVR

240. Restaurant week has started!!!!

241. Handy men that I know (Beau, dad, Chris)

 

Dinner

I made Chinese for dinner last night: Chinese Egg and Tomato and Ginger Fried Rice.

 

Chinese Egg and Tomato

 

4 eggs

1 tsp Shaoxing rice wine

¼ tsp Sesame oil

3 T canola/vegetable oil

3 shakes white pepper

½ tsp salt

1 scallion, chopped

8 oz tomatoes, cut into thin wedges

1 tsp sugar

2 T water

 

Mix the eggs, wine, sesame oil and salt in a bowl. Heat 1 T canola oil in a wok/pan and add the eggs. Cook the eggs, stirring often, to create large clumps. Remove the eggs and keep warm. Heat the other 2 T oil in the wok and add the tomato wedges, sugar and water. Give it a couple stirs and cover. Cook 30 seconds and let the mixture boil. Return the eggs to the pan for reheat and add the scallions. Stir and then serve with steamed white rice or by itself.

 

Ginger Fried Rice

 

2 T peanut oil

½ T minced ginger

½ T minced garlic

3 scallions, sliced

½ tsp Cumin seeds

Pinch crushed red pepper

Salt

1 c day old cooked rice (I used brown rice)

1 tsp Soy sauce

½ tsp Sesame oil

 

Heat half the oil in a wok and let it get hot. Add the ginger, garlic, crushed red pepper, cumin seeds and cook until the ginger and garlic are browned, but not burned! Remove from the pan.

 

Add a bit more oil and then the scallions and cook for a few minutes so they soften. Then add the rice, and the soy sauce and sesame oil and cook until the rice is heated through. We like the rice a little crispy so I cook a bit longer. Mix in the ginger/garlic mixture and stir. Enjoy!

 

*I would reduce the amount of cumin seeds by a smidge. It was a little too robust for me.

 

Our Labor Day Weekend

We had a great weekend! My brother came into town Friday, which resulted in a wonderfully grilled dinner and a trip to YOBE for some frozen yogurt. Yum! Saturday involved a trip to Lowe’s and football, football, football. GAMECOCKS won!!!!

 

Sunday involved church in the morning, which was wonderful, a trip to Your Pie for lunch and while Beau was working on some paperwork I went and sat with Pop-Pop and watched the SciFy network and took a nap.

 

Our actual Labor Day holiday was filled with the dog park, walking, Lowe’s, frolicking downtown for a few hours and then a celebratory dinner at home. We have been married six months!! J

 

Oh and throughout this weekend we watched the entire fifth season of Dexter. A show about a cop serial killer. Scary but funny, if you can imagine that.

 

And the big recipe for the weekend? Butter Pecan Cheesecake…made for Pop-Pop.

 

Butter Pecan Cheesecake

 

5 T butter, melted

1 ½ c graham cracker crumbs

1/3 c sugar

½ c chopped pecans

 

24 oz cream cheese

1 ½ c sugar

2 c sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp butter flavoring

½ tsp almond extract

1 c chopped pecans

 

½ c chopped pecans, toasted

1 c Smucker’s special recipe butterscotch caramel ice cream topping

Whipped cream

 

Preheat oven to 475.

 

Pour butter over graham cracker crumbs, sugar and pecans; stir well. Press into bottom of springform pan. Set aside.

 

Using a mixer, cream together cream cheese and sugar, beating well. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add sour cream, flavorings and pecans and stir. Pour over graham crust and bake at 475 for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 300 and bake 50 minutes. Turn off the oven, open door and let cake remain in oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven and allow to cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate. When ready to serve, remove ring from springform pan. Stir toasted pecans into butterscotch topping, drizzle cake with mixture. Top each slice with whipped cream. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

This week has been crazy and I’m not even sure how. In looking at our schedule it wouldn’t appear busy, but yet it was. I haven’t made dinner one night this week, not one!

 

Sunday-ordered pizza

Monday-leftovers

Tuesday-out to dinner with friend

Wednesday-Beau was out of town, I got a salad somewhere

Thursday-leftovers

Friday-first night of cooking!

Saturday-GAME DAY! WINGS!!!!! …hopefully

 

Btw, in case you’re wondering what game it is that we’re excited about watching it’s the USC Gamecocks! What! What!

 

7:00 EST tomorrow. Call us if you want to come out and join us to watch them stomp on E. Carolina.

Thankful Thursday - Take 7

191. We sold our house! In two weeks with only two people looking at it, it sold! We’re so thankful and relieved!

192. Friends to walk with.

193. Jason’s Deli salad bar to go. $8 and you can pack it as full as possible, take it home and make 2-3 meals from it! No brainer.

194. Updates from friends living overseas

195. Ability to help friends.

196. Volleyball games and hangout time afterwards.

197. A relaxing weekend with my husband.

198. The nice greenway I have to walk on.

199. Niece/nephew #2! Jennifer is pregnant!

200. Hot showers

201. College football starts Saturday!

202. My brother is coming into town for a visit.

203. Post Banana Nut Crunch-my favorite cereal

204. Continued growth for me and Beau

205. Dry shampoo-some days, you just don’t want to blow dry

206. Beau and I have been married six months as of Monday!

207. The sudden urge to clean things. It relaxes me now…go figure.

208. New links to inspirations for design. What I want out new house to look is slowly coming together.

209. Such a handy husband.

210. My deep freezer.

211. Netflix

212. Free magazine subscriptions

213. Soreness from my workouts-that must mean I’m really working, right?!

214. There are people out there who are so passionate about the hope that Jesus gives, that they’ve decided to share it at whatever cost is necessary

215. Giving people

216. The readings of some friends at www.douglassnomads.blogspot.com

217. A beautiful bridge to walk over and call it exercise

218. Free movie rentals from Blockbuster and REDBOX

219. My Coke Rewards and grocery deals

220. Excel

221. Long fingernails that help me to feel more feminine

222. Salads and fresh food (I remember not having that option while living overseas. I’m a girl who loves options!)