YAY for Weekends!!!

Last week was a great week! I completed my first week at work :-) I got a few assignments so I definitely have some work to keep me busy. It was just a four day work week for me since I took Friday off for Josh's oral surgery. I definitely have to start keeping an eye on the weather. We got about 2 inches of snow Thursday & I didn't even know there was a chance. It had been looking like it might snow for a day or so but I didn't know when it was coming. I thought it was supposed to be over the weekend. My boss is wonderful & she let me leave work early Thursday. It did take a little longer than usual to get home but it was mostly because I had errands to run. The main roads were pretty much fine. We still went the speed limit for the most part. The parking lots & side roads are another story. I may have fishtailed a couple times. haha.

Yesterday morning Josh got his oral surgery. I'm not going to post any embarrassing pictures of him but he has chipmunk cheeks. He's doing MUCH better than I did so that's good. He was absolutely hilarious when he woke up. He had me and the nurses cracking up. He didn't eat anything but a frosty & a can of soup yesterday. He's eating much better today so far. He's well enough to play Halo so he's not too bad. haha. He does have a bit of trouble talking & swallowing, especially if it's been a while since he's had his pain meds. I feel bad for him but he seems to be recovering well :-) He took Monday off so he'll have a full 4 days to recover before he goes back to work for a 3 1/2 day week. He's decided to work half a day on Christmas eve. This week will make 6 months since he's been at his job. Time is just flying by! He'll have his reviews & we're hoping for a raise :-) We have lots to save for...vacation to Orlando/Miami in February, a red Wii & a house at some point!

We've recently decided that we'll be looking for another apartment when our lease ends here. We really like it here but we're more familiar with the area than when we came to look in May. We know we can find a cheaper place. Our complex will be building a new pool house & club house starting early 2011 so I'm pretty sure the rent increase will be more than we're willing to pay here anyway. Moving is such a pain so I wasn't crazy about the idea at first...I'm starting to get excited about it now though!

Job Hilights

This week has been great so far! Yesterday was the first day of my new job. It was a very cold day but I was SO excited that it was snowing when we left for work. It was actually snowing pretty hard but it wasn't quite cold enough for it to stick. I definitely feel like I'm in the Christmas spirit more than I have been the past few years this time. Maybe it's because we've already had some snow (we had some flurries last Friday too but that didn't stick either). Maybe it's because I'm not distracted by exams, getting engaged & planning the wedding. haha. Anyway...back to work. Yesterday was pretty eventful for my first day of work. I learned how to do some tests on our products. I'll mostly be working in the R&D (research & development for non foodies :-) ) but I'll be doing some quality control work too. I got my computer & all that good stuff. This is the first time I haven't had to share my computer & desk with co-workers so that's kind of nice.

Today was even better. I started on my first project! I messed it up the first time so I had to re-do it. I had to measure out a TON of ingredients but at least I know what I did wrong :-) The test kitchen/lab that I work in is pretty much my office. That's where my desk is. It's nice because I can see outside. Anyway, I get to organize things the way I want it. Today I raided the fridge & organized it the way I wanted. That will make it a LOT easier to learn my way around. I really didn't know a fridge could hold so much stuff!

One negative thing about my new job is that I have to go through a toll both ways. Luckily, I can get a Baltimore area discount package that will save us $3.20 a day...that adds up fast! I also have to drive through a tunnel both ways. I've always enjoyed riding through them but the first time I ever drove through one was on my way to the interview for this job. It's a nice change of scenery & it doesn't bother me at all.

This week is already half way over for me! I had to take Friday off because Josh is getting his oral surgery. He's getting his wisdom teeth extracted :-/ I hope it's easier for him than it is for me. Because of that he has a 4 day weekend & next week is only a 3 day week for him! Crazy. I can't believe Christmas is so close!

Parmesan Crusted, Stuffed Chicken

Two very delicious things in life...parmesan crusted chicken & stuffed chicken. Earlier this week I decided to combine them. Josh usually doesn't like stuffed meats...no chicken cordon bleu for him. He's getting more open to trying new things & agreed to try this. It was SO good! I do my parmesan crusted a chicken a bit different. I brush it with alfredo sauce first, no eggs, flour or any of that fuss...just simple alfredo sauce. Next, I bread it with italian flavored bread crumbs. I usually mix in equal parts parmesan cheese with the bread crumbs but I didn't have any on hand when I decided to make this. It's still delicious.

I experimented a little & the easiest way for me was to butterfly the chicken, bread it, then add my stuffing.

I decided to stuff my chicken with spinach, cream cheese & mozzarella. It was really good & I would definitely cook it again. You could stuff it with a combination of things. I decided to keep it simple this time. You could try adding mushrooms or even sun dried tomatoes. I think either would be really good. I put toothpicks through the chicken to hold in the stuffing while it cooked.

I served it with fettuccine with a pink sauce. Pink sauce is my favorite. Just mix in your favorite alfredo sauce & red sauce. It's the best of both worlds :-)

French Onion Burgers

I almost always have packets of French Onion soup mix on hand. It's great to use for pot roasts & all sorts of things. I got the idea for french onion burgers from the package. The recipe called for 2 lbs of ground beef, a packet of french onion soup mix & a cup of water. I was hesitant to put that much water in, so I didn't. I used 1 lb of ground beef, half a packet of French Onion soup mix & an egg. I cooked the burgers on the George Foreman grill. I used the rest of the soup mix to make french onion dip (you just add sour cream). I topped the burgers with the mix and added cheese, bacon & A1. It was pretty good but I think the A1 was a bit overpowering. The burgers would have been fine without it.

It's That Time of Year

Yep...it's time for the Victoria's Secret fashion show! I've watched it religiously since I worked at VS sophomore year in college. I don't know what it is...I don't watch any other fashion shows. Maybe it's all the glitter & bubbles. haha. The live performances are usually really good too.

I'm amazed at how some of these ladies look after having kids! I have no idea what their regimen is but I want in on it! Adriana Lima had a baby barely a year ago & she looks like this now!
Heidi Klum is probably even more of a freak of nature. I know you can't see her stomach or legs but she still looks amazing! This is only 5 weeks after she had her 4th kid in 5 years at age 36! This is from last year's show. Crazy!

On another note...THAT is this year's Fantasy Bra that Adriana is wearing! It's not that pretty...& are those seriously the best matching panties they could come up with?!?! I guess the recession has hit everyone! This year's bra is $2 million. Here are all the Fantasy bras from 1996 to 2008. Some of them are amazing! This one just doesn't compare. MAYBE if the panties had a little bit more bling it would make a little bit of a difference.

Now is the part where I go to the VS website & add all the pretty, sparkly holiday lingerie to my shopping bag then realize it's completely ridiculous to spend that much money on something only 1 person will see. Then I'll think about working seasonal hours at VS so I can get free bras again...then realize it's worth spending $40+ a bra rather than parking in a ridiculously crowded parking lot & walking across the parking lot & mall to get to a ridiculously crowded store to make like $7 an hour & never get to spend time with the hubby. haha

O Christmas Tree!

I'll admit, we've had our Christmas tree up for a while now. We put the tree up & put the lights on it before we went to NC for Thanksgiving. When I was growing up, we used to go pick out our Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. Josh's mom gave us this tree a few years ago. It's a really pretty tree but it's a HUGE pain to put up. This is why we decided to get it up before we went home. This way when we got back home, we just had the fun part left to do :-) I love real trees & I definitely prefer them, but we save at least $30 each time we use this one. I got a scentportable from Bath & Body Works that smells like christmas trees (Fresh Balsam) that I put in the tree. It helps :-) We'll probably continue to use it until we buy a house. I think if/whenever we leave MD, the tree stays. The box is HUGE & I don't want to deal with moving it again.

The tree looks a little more plain in pictures than it does in person. I have "icicles" all over it that don't really show up in this picture. They're left over from the crystal tree we used at our reception :-) I like that they remind me of our wedding day. I bought some plain ornaments that I plan to decorate at some point. I might add them this year. If so I'll put up a new picture when they're on. I did make one ornament on this tree. It's just a clear circle with a block S, the year, our name & the football record since it's the best we've had since either of us went to State. I intend on making one every year. Eventually we'll be able to have an all NC State Christmas tree :-) Please ignore the wrapping paper in the back corner. I thought I would hide it behind the tree until everything is wrapped versus sticking it back in back of the closet just to have to dig it out again.

I've done a little decorating in other areas of our apartment, but not as much as I would like. This is our dining room. This is the picture I posted about a while back. Only $15 from Goodwill...SCORE! A real Wolfpack...it looks perfect on our red wall. I'm not sure if you can tell but the cylinder on the table is filled with silver & black Christmas ornaments. I usually just have a fruit bowl there & candles aren't there. I thought I should switch it up & do something a little more festive for Christmas.

Here is a close up of the table. It didn't turn out exactly how I imagined, but I still think it's cute :-) BTW...I'll never own another glass table. I love the way they look but they're a pain to keep clean...especially when a child visits.
This next picture doesn't have a lot to do with Christmas, except it was our Christmas present. haha. We were supposed to buy it & keep it under the tree until Christmas. That changed the day we got it. We got it the Sunday after Thanksgiving & Josh said he wanted to watch the Ravens game on it. I caved & agreed. I'm glad I did though :-)

It's a 42" LED. We ALMOST got the 47" & I'm really glad we didn't now. First of all, this one barely fit in the car, there's no way the 47" would have fit. Next, it would have been bigger than our State picture & I know my OCD would have driven me insane with that issue. Speaking of that picture, it's a picture of my first ever NC State game (that we lost...but we don't talk about that).

Peppermint Bark

I love peppermint bark & I've always wanted to try to make it. I've had some not so good experiences with chocolate so I've been putting it off. I finally gave it a shot today. It was delicious! I looked at tons of recipes online before I picked one. Of course I couldn't leave it as-is. I got my recipe from allrecipes.com. I doubled the recipe because I wanted a larger batch. I also used 12 candy canes rather than peppermint candies...they just feel more like Christmas to me :-) I used the food processor to break up the candy canes. This worked out really well for 2 reasons. 1) It was really fast. 2) some of the candy was very fine & some was chunky. I just sifted the pieces to separate the fine pieces from the chunky pieces.


I used about half of the fine pieces to sprinkle on the semisweet chocolate. I used the other half to mix in with the white chocolate after it was melted. Since I was adding actual peppermint candy I only used half the amount of peppermint extract that the recipe called for. I thought it would look really pretty & it did. However, once I sprinkled the chunky pieces on top you couldn't really tell. Once I sprinkled the chunky candies over the white chocolate I pressed them down lightly with my hand so they stayed in place.

This was really easy & it turned out SO good. The hardest part was breaking it apart at the end. Breaking cold chocolate is actually pretty hard, & a little messy. I had candy cane pieces all over the place!


Ingredients:

1 pound high-quality semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces
1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon canola oil, divided
1 teaspoon peppermint extract, divided
1 pound high-quality white chocolate, broken into pieces
50 peppermint candies, crushed

Directions:
Break up candy canes or peppermint candies. You can do this in a food processor or put the candy in a zip lock bag & break it with a rolling pin or meat tenderizer.

Place semisweet chocolate & 2 tsp canola oil in double boiler over barely simmering water. Scrape sides of double boiler with spatula often so your chocolate doesn't scorch. Once chocolate is completely melted, add 1/2 tsp peppermint extract & stir in. Pour in pan, covered in wax paper . & spread evenly.

If you don't have a double boiler, they're wonderful. Today is the first time I've ever used mine. I used to use a glass bowl in a pot & it was so much harder. The handles make it so much easier & I didn't burn myself at all. haha. I also used to scorch chocolate a lot using a glass bowl. I'm not sure if this had anything to do with the bowl or if it was just my technique. For this amount I used a 10x13...I didn't grease the pan as the recipe calls for, I didn't think it was necessary with the wax paper. I didn't have any trouble.

Place the pan in the fridge until chocolate his hardened, about 20 mins. I began to melt the white chocolate when I had about 3 minutes until I could pull the semisweet chocolate out & the timing worked out perfectly. Repeat the melting process with white chocolate. I only added 1/4 tsp of peppermint extract to the white chocolate & mixed in the rest of the fine peppermint. Pour over the semisweet chocolate & spread evenly. Be careful during this part, I was a little too persistent while trying to spread it evenly & I started to mix the semisweet & white chocolate in a few areas.

Sprinkle the chunky peppermint over the white chocolate & press it down lightly so it settles in the bark rather than on top of it. Put in fridge until hardened.

Break up into desired pieces.

Slow Cooker Beer Turkey Chili

My favorite kitchen appliance is arguably my crock pot. I use it at least once a week. I love having chili when it gets cold. I usually find some random recipe online & try it out. Last weekend I decided to make up my own recipe :-) I had some leftover turkey from Thanksgiving so I made turkey chili. It turned out really good but I would still change a few things.

Ingredients:
1 can dark kidney beans
1 can light kidney beans
1 can black beans
3 cans diced tomatoes
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup bell pepper, chopped
3 cups turkey, chopped
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
pinch of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
pinch of celery salt
1/2 teaspoon mustard seed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 beer (I used light beer but you could use a heavier one for a stronger flavor)

cook on low for about 6 hours, serve with grilled cheese. SO YUM!

I would probably decrease the chili powder & cumin slightly, maybe 2 1/2 tablespoons of chili instead of 3 & 1/2 teaspoon of cumin. I would also add about 1/2 cup-1 cup of chopped onions. I think it was pretty good at my first attempt!

Good News/Weekend Update

I've been interviewing for a job at a food company in Baltimore. It is for a research & development position. Today I got an offer! Of course I accepted...I start next week. I'm so excited that I've found a job that actually pertains to my major! I can't wait to start but I'm looking forward to have this week to get lots of things done...my to-do list isn't getting any shorter as Christmas gets closer!

This weekend Josh & I went down to VA for his family's Christmas party. This was the first time we've seen a lot of them since or wedding. Some of them we haven't seen since last year's Christmas party. We always have so much fun catching up & watching football. We watched the ACC Championship game. His mom's whole side of the family are all UVA fans so they were obviously not happy with the outcome. I had mixed feelings...I'm still a little bitter about us not making it to the game. I think I would have been fine with either outcome. While we were there VA got a bit of snow. Raleigh was getting snow too! I'm the type of person who usually dreads snow, but on the inside I'm a little excited when it comes. This year I'm just excited for it! I'm a little disappointed NC & VA got snow before we did up here. There's a chance of scattered flurries today but we haven't had any yet.

Josh and I had a great ride home yesterday afternoon. We didn't hit any traffic & it was such a beautiful day. Yesterday also marked the 6 month mark since we've been married. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by! The past 6 months have been absolutely amazing! I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of our lives together!

College Park

Last weekend Josh, my brother in-law & a high school friend of ours went to the UMD v. NCSU game in College Park. We all know how it ended but we still had a great time. We parked in the parking deck where we were told we could tailgate. We went to the very top since we didn't see anybody tailgating in the lower areas. We were the ONLY State fans up there! It was a pretty cold day...in the low 40s. It wouldn't have been so bad, but it was also really windy. I think there were bursts up to 30 mph or something like that. Being on the top of the parking deck on a cold, windy day...not so awesome. I honestly thought it was going to be a pretty boring tailgate since there were only 4 of us & there were no other state fans in sight. We were playing ladder toss & somehow I managed to kick a set of balls off the top of the parking deck. Josh and I went down to get it & to find a bathroom.

It was hard to spot them since we have the same colors, but we found some State fans! On the way back from the bathroom we saw a guy with a MD hoodie & a wolf hat on. We talked to him for a bit & found out he was from MD but his daughter was on NC State's swim team & will be graduating in May. We ended up talking to his daughter & the rest of the family on the way back up to the deck. They invited us to come down to their tailgate. I'm SOOOO glad we did. They were all so nice & of course at a tailgate in MD there will be crab dip! DELICIOUS! We added our KFC to the table.

We had such a great time, aside from a very painful loss & possibly the worse call I've ever seen...everybody knows that was NOT a first down. Thanks for nothing Ron Cherry. Anyway, I went into Byrd Stadium expecting the absolute worse of the fans because of some things I've heard. They really weren't bad at all. We sat right behind our players bench about 5 rows up. We had a good mix of State & MD fans around us. Of course they heckled the players but I've definitely heard worse in Carter Finley. We weren't in the student section & I'm sure they were worse but based on our experience, they're not any worse than any other away crowd we've been around.

Here are a few pictures from the day

This is part of our tailgating group.

This lady was Russell's teacher, I forgot from when. She was sitting right behind us. We were sitting beside his uncle too but we didn't get a picture of him.

2 rows of Mustafa's family...they left right after halftime because it was cold. Ridiculous...did you not know it was going to be 40 degrees? I didn't even break out my hand warmers!


We were surprised to see that we're not part of this little graveyard. We were excited about this tombstone though...who cares if it happened before we were thought of. I would also like to note that Dan, on the right, is a UNC convert, we brought him over from the dark side :-)

Thanksgiving!!!

I LOVE Thanksgiving! It's one of my favorite holidays. We left MD Tuesday afternoon to drive to our hometown. I thought traffic would be really bad since we were leaving around 3. We didn't hit a bit of traffic. We got to Josh's mom's house late Tuesday night & spent a little time with his mom, step dad & grandparents. I love his grandparents to death! Most of my grandparents died when I was really young & I wasn't close to the rest of them so I'm really glad Josh is so close to his. We went to bed early since we had been up since 5 & we were so tired from the long ride.

Wednesday morning we got up to take my niece to her first gymnastics class. She was really shy at first. She's only 3 & she hasn't had much interaction with kids her age. Once she warmed up she had a ton of fun. This is her on the balance beam. She had to learn to wait in line behind the other little girls :-)

Her pants kept getting in the way because they're too long for her. She calls them her Wolfpack pants because they're red :-) Love it!

After gymnastics we went to my mom's to get some cooking done. I made a sweet potato pie, sweet potato casserole & a pumpkin cheesecake. I LOVE sweet potato pie. This is only the second one I've ever made from scratch. I forgot to take a picture after it was done.
While the pie was cooling on the table Josh & went outside to visit with my cousin. My mom came out from the porch to ask if I still had the recipe. Her min pin got on the table & ate around the edges of my pie! I was so mad at the time but I guess it's kind of funny. My mom made another one so it wasn't a huge deal I guess. I kind of wish I would have taken a picture now.

Thanksgiving day is always a really busy time for us. First we eat with Josh's mom's side of the family. We eat lots of food then just hang out & spend time together. This is one of the only times of the year we get to visit with his aunt & uncle so we both really enjoy it. Next, we go to my mom's & have Thanksgiving dinner #2 around 2:00 with my parents. My parents are divorced but luckily they still get along well & we can still have the holidays together. Last, we go to Josh's aunt's & hang out with his Dad's side of the family. Most of the family is usually gone by the time we get there but we usually get to see a few of them. This year we got to see a couple of his aunts, his uncle & his dad. We ate some dessert & the best stuffing I've ever had while we were there. I'll have to get that recipe :-)


This is Josh after dinner #2 at my mom's...watching Detroit let us down :-/ That's my Dad in the background.

It's our tradition to get up at the crack of dawn & go shopping on Black Friday. It may be crazy but we have fun & we usually get some really good deals. We got the majority of our Christmas shopping done & we got new coats for ourselves. There were so many great deals, I could have spent a ton if we weren't trying to save money!

After a long day of shopping, leftovers & a nap we left to come back home. We left around 4 & were back by a little after 9. Again...no traffic! I was so surprised :-)

2 Weeks

I haven't written much in my blog about my job...mostly because I pretty much hate it & I want to leave all those feelings there. I don't want to bring them home with me. I hate it for a ton of reasons. There is SO much drama. Like the kind of drama you only see in high school. It's absolutely ridiculous. Needless to say, it's not a very positive work environment. The hours are horrible. I like consistency & rotating from opening at 6:30 am to closing at 8:30 pm this month has really not thrilled me. The money is OK & but I know I could do a lot better in a better economy. I guess the biggest thing is that I don't even like the actual job. It's so...boring. I schedule appointments, answer phones & get blamed for things I have no control over. It never changes...I don't learn anything new. I have never worked for a more ungrateful person either. I don't want to bore anyone with details but this is hands down the worse management I've ever dealt with.

Anyway...I've been thinking about leaving for a while. I've been so torn. I hate the job & it was getting to the point where I was bringing my frustrations home with me. At the same time I was so happy to be contributing financially. We have been doing really well with paying off our debt. We have way more than I would like, especially since I forgot about the loan I took out to study abroad :-/ That added a few months to our plan. Last week was probably my breaking point. I didn't care if I got blamed for something that was my fault, I didn't care when someone walked out & said they weren't coming back, I didn't care about anything but getting home. Thursday there was a horrible mix up with the schedule. I think if my manager had been there I would have just quit on the spot, that is NOT like me at all. Luckily, I guess, she was conveniently off on a chaotic day & I took Friday off since we were leaving early to go to Raleigh. That gave me a little time to think things through & make a more rational decision. I thought & prayed about the whole situation a lot. Josh has been super supportive through this whole thing. He's listened to me complain about work more times than I would like to admit. I think he may be almost as excited as me about me having the chance to be a housewife for a little bit again. haha.

I decided that I was definitely leaving. I told my manager this past Monday. I told her I would finish out my posted schedule. My last scheduled day of work is Dec. 2. I have to work tomorrow...that should be a crime in itself & I'm kicking myself for that right now. I can't believe I won't be able to watch the State game with Josh. I only work 2 days next week since we're going to NC for Thanksgiving. The following week is a 4 day week since I took Friday off for Josh's oral surgery. So, technically I only have 7 days of work left. WOOHOO!

I've thought a lot about what I'm going to do. I've been looking for jobs since I got this one...I guess I never really stopped because I've never been happy where I am. I'm going to give it a month to try to find something in my field. At the beginning of the year, if that hasn't worked out for me, I'll start looking for other jobs. I do have an interview Monday morning so hopefully that will open some doors :-)

Homecoming!

This post, as usual, is about a week late. Josh and I traveled down to Raleigh last weekend for homecoming. It was SO good to be home, even if it was just for a few days. I got to see so many friends that I haven't seen in a long time. We had an amazing tailgate with some really amazing food! I've been craving some real BBQ for a while & I finally got some! After lots of catching up & cornhole the food was finally ready.

This is Adam, I worked with him in MAD lab. He's a home brewer & he brought some of his Oktoberfest to the tailgate...it was SO yummy! He's going to be moving to Ireland with his wife soon...Josh and I hope to visit sometime.

Brittany & I FINALLY reunited at a tailgate :-)

Liz! One of my favorite Food Science ladies...with Kelsy, the other fave, in the left corner :-)

YUM!

Aaron chopping the BBQ, we even got a little to bring home :-)

After the past few weeks at work, I definitely needed to get away. This was the perfect opportunity to get away from everything, have a great time with old friends & clear my mind :-) I just wish Anna & John could have been there...hopefully we'll get to make up for it in December :-D

Weekend Update

This past weekend was a lot of things. It was definitely a much needed break. It was productive, relaxing, amazing & disappointing all at the same time! Last week I worked the early shift so I ran at the gym Monday & Wednesday after work. Friday was a pretty tough day & I came straight home. It was nice outside so I decided to go for a run here. It was perfect weather for an outdoor run. Not so hot I was sweating before I got started & not so cold my chest was burning. I felt much better after. I got some things done around the apartment so I could relax Saturday.

Saturday was a let down for the most part. We lost our game to Clemson :-/ It was a horrible game! Because of us losing I had to count on my 2 least favorite teams in the ACC winning in order for us to have a chance at the ACC Championship game. That doesn't mean I pulled for them though! haha. After the game we went grocery shopping & to finish picking out my birthday gifts. It was super double coupon time at Harris Teeter so we got some awesome deals! I get way too excited over that but after we swiped our coupons & VIC card our grocery bill was half as much! We also found a picture to hang in our dining room. I've been searching everywhere since we moved in & I haven't been able to find anything I really liked that wasn't crazy expensive. I decided to go check out Goodwill to see what we could find there & I found it!!! We still have to hang it. As soon as I get it up & find my camera charger I'll post a picture.

Sunday was way better as far as sports. The Ravens won & Chargers won & the Panthers & Pats lost...what more could you ask for ;-) We went to church Sunday morning. We know it will probably be a time consuming process finding a church we both like. While Josh and I have the same beliefs, he prefers a more traditional church & I prefer contemporary. The church we went to Sunday was even too laid back for me. They had snacks & refreshments & everyone seemed nice. Neither of us really cared for the music so that's a definite negative. The people around us were pretty distracting. The people behind us were doing something, I never figured out what they were doing but it sounded like they were looking at a magazine or something. The preacher seemed nice enough, he just wasn't a good speaker...that was kind of the deal breaker.

This week I'm working the late shift (UGH!)...but on the bright side, I took Friday off so we could leave at a decent time to go to Raleigh. I'm SOOO excited to go home for homecoming :-D

Birthday Weekend!

This past weekend was my 24th birthday. I remember when I used to think 24 was old...man, that was a long time ago! My birthday festivities started a little early I guess. Thursday night Josh and I went to Damon's to watch the NC State vs FSU game. We were there with some of Josh's co-workers. One was a FSU grad, one was a State grad & the other 2 were neutral. We had a great time & the game was awesome! Friday I was running off very little sleep so I'm glad I was still pumped about our win...there's no other way I would have made it through that crazy day without losing my sanity.

Friday I got cupcakes at work for my birthday. Josh and I went grocery shopping on the way home from work. When we walked into the apartment it was all clean & I had flowers on the coffee table. I love my amazing hubby! He got me a delicious pumpkin spice cake too :-D

Saturday we watched some football in the morning...how else are you supposed to spend a Saturday in the fall?!?! After that we went shopping at one of my favorite shopping centers & I got another tasty treat...CINNABON! My favorite! I was picking out birthday presents but we ran out of time. We had dinner reservations & I was starving! We went to a great restaurant in the Baltimore Art Museum. There was some Halloween event going on so we didn't get to look around or anything. Dinner was AMAZING though. We both got crab cakes. Josh got grilled veggies & mashed potatoes with his...SO good! I got roasted red potatoes & apple fennel cole slaw with mine...again...SO good! I got a pumpkin martini & it was so yummy!

Sunday we didn't do much of anything. I just wanted to be lazy. I did a little organizing but most of the day was spent relaxing. We did have plans to go watch Saw 3D for Halloween but that just didn't happen.

All in all...it was a wonderful weekend! I FINALLY got to relax a little & spend lots of time with the hubby. Definitely something I needed after last week!

Spaghetti Casserole

I LOVE spaghetti but I have been looking for a slightly different spaghetti recipe. I came across this one & I was feeling adventurous so I tried it. It's SO good!

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces spaghetti
• 8 ounces sour cream
• 8 ounces cream cheese (cut up)
• 1 lb ground beef, cooked and drained (crumbly)
• 30 ounces spaghetti sauce
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• season with salt and pepper (or anything else as you see fit)

Directions:

Prep Time: 30 mins

Total Time: 1 1/4 hr

1. The recipe calls for a 9x13 casserole, but I usually split it between two 8x8 pans (increasing the spaghetti, beef, sauce and mozarella slightly if needed) and freeze one of them for another time.
2. Cook the spaghetti and drain, but don't rinse.
3. Put it right back in the warm pot and add the cream cheese.
4. Blend the cream cheese until melted with the spaghetti and then blend in the sour cream.
5. Put spaghetti mixture into greased pan.
6. Layer some of the mozarella, then the beef, then a little more mozarella.
7. Spread the spaghetti sauce across and then put the rest of the mozarella on top.
8. Bake at 350 (or maybe 375?) for 30- 35 minutes- until a knife comes out clean.
9. Let it stand for 5 or 10 minutes.

I added roasted red peppers to the spaghetti, cream cheese & sour cream. I froze one to make for dinner later. Josh wanted it again like 2 nights later...I guess it was a success :-D

Still Playing Catch Up!

I hate that I don't feel like blogging when I get home :-/ I'm always so far behind now! This was definitely easier when I was a housewife! Man, I really miss being a housewife! I was so much more organized less stressed. I'm still applying & hoping for a better job to come along. I know I have to be patient & eventually it will happen...that's just not a strong point for me. Anyway...

I was supposed to work last Saturday but we ended up being closed because a Dr. wasn't available. Since I was on the schedule for Saturday I had Friday off. That happened to be an off Friday for Josh so we had a 3 day weekend together!

We decided to go to the National Aquarium in Baltimore. I LOVE that place! We have season passes that get us into the one in Baltimore & DC. This was our second time going. The first time was the Sunday before labor day...BAD idea! It was SO crowded. I don't think we'll ever go on a holiday weekend ever again. We found super cheap parking only a few blocks away. I was kind of excited. It was only a quarter for an hour & 15 mins! We usually go on the weekends when street parking is free. Most places the street parking during the week is closer to $1 an hour. haha. We ended up staying for about 2 hours because we wanted to make it out before rush hour. It did get a little crowded during the end of our trip last week. Turns out, we picked a field trip day to go. They have an awesome jellyfish exhibit we were seeing for the first time. They have SO many different types. When we got in, there was literally one other person in there. 5 minutes later, there were hundreds of elementary school aged kids running around. I don't know how teachers do it! After that, we walked through the Australia exhibit...of course I LOVE that part! I saw some things I never saw in Oz then some that I did. It's obviously not the same but it still brought back some memories. I took tons of pictures, unfortunately I can't find that memory card right now so I have absolutely nothing to show for it.

One of my favorite parts of going to the aquarium is seeing their sea turtle. She was found off the coast of NY with an infected leg that had to be amputated. Her other leg was all broken up. Of course a turtle with no front legs can't swim so something had to be done about that. I'm not sure if I've ever talked about what kind of work is done at my work but we do orthopedic surgeries. I found out last week that my boss fixed her other leg! That's so awesome & it made me like my job a little more! haha. I LOVE sea turtles. If we ever make enough money for us to accomplish all our goals without working that's what I want to do...save sea turtles :-)

After we left the aquarium, we walked around the inner harbor. It's so peaceful when it's not super crowded. We love just hanging out, looking at the boats & looking for jellyfish & crabs. We didn't see any crabs but we saw several jellyfish. The weather was absolutely perfect!

The rest of our weekend was very relaxing but we still got a lot accomplished. I started unpacking our warm clothes since fall is definitely here! We still get some really warm days but it's starting to cool off. The mornings are a little too cool for me most of the time...Josh LOVES it. I typically don't care for fall because of the following season. This year I'm actually excited for winter. I guess just because we're in a different place. I'm not really sure why. I'm sure it won't last too long though. Haha.

So, last weekend was one of the most productive & peaceful weekends we've had in a while. It was perfect! I wish we had more 3 day weekends. I'll post some pics from last weekend when I find the card they're on. I don't know how I lost it :-/

Baked Mac n Cheese

Mac & Cheese is probably one of my favorite comfort foods...I can't do the blue box stuff though. I love to make baked mac & cheese...with tons of real cheese!

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 3 cups milk
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced
• 1 large egg
• 12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded
• 1 tablespoon salt
• Fresh black pepper

Topping:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta

While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and keep it moving for about five minutes. Make sure it's free of lumps. Stir in the milk & onion...simmer until thick

Temper in the egg. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese.

Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

This time I didn't do a bread crumb topping. I wasn't really in the mood for a crunch. I also used penne because I didn't have enough elbows.

DC

Last weekend my dad, sister & niece came to visit Josh and I. We took them to DC on Saturday. It was a perfect fall day...a huge improvement from the last time we took them. We took them to the National Aquarium & to look at some of the monuments & museums. It wasn't as crowded as it was when we took Josh's family so that was nice. Here are a few pictures from our trip.

Josh and I...I love my sister, but she isn't the greatest photographer ;-)

Me with my dad, sister & niece...Josh is a little better but he still didn't get the top of the monument


Trying to be artistic...I don't remember taking this so I guess Josh did it...I like it :-)

Pretty coralish stuff & a fish.

You can't really tell in this picture, but this lobster is HUGE!!!

Overall it was a great weekend! I made dinner for everyone on Friday. We had a great time Saturday in DC. It was really good to get to spend some time with my family since I don't get to see them much anymore. We went to TGIFriday's for dinner & it was delicious as always. I'm not huge on chain restaurants but that's one I do like. They left out early on Sunday & Josh & I spent the rest of the day relaxing. The only thing that kept last weekend from being perfect is State losing to ECU & UVA losing to the Holes :-/ It was NOT a good day for football. Unfortunately, our record is 5-2 now. UGH!

Raleigh!!!

This post is SO late. I'm super behind on blogging. I sit behind a computer all day at work. The last thing I want to do when I get home is touch a computer or a phone. Soooo...this weekend I'll try to catch up a little.

Josh and I drove down to Raleigh 2 weekends ago to visit some friends & go to the NC State v. Boston College game. We had such a great time! It was great to see all our friends together again. It was a long weekend for Josh so I took Friday off. We drove down Thursday evening. Thursday night we went out for my best friend's birthday! Friday we ate at Melvin's on Hillsborough St. Melvin's is a burger place Josh and & both know from our childhood. The original restaurant is in Elizabethtown in eastern NC. My family used to eat there on the way to the lake in the summer. The burgers are still good but they're not the same as the originals. Anyway, we were both very excited when a location opened in Raleigh. We walked around on campus, got some Howling Cow (I miss NC State ice cream SOOOO much!) & went to the bookstore.

This is Josh being ridiculous, biting the wolf's ear. One of the 97393217 reasons I love him!


Friday night we had a party to celebrate everyone's birthday since we all left Raleigh. We had a great time! We had plans to go to bed early since we were going to be tailgating at 7 am Saturday...of course we didn't go to bed until WAY too late!

Saturday we tailgated with some old friends & went to the football game. I miss tailgating so much! It's just so laid back & carefree. We had a little mishap with the grill so food pretty much just didn't happen. We still had a great time catching up. It was kind of like we never left :-)



44-17...not bad :-D

It was so good to be in Raleigh for a little bit. It was nice to re-live the old college days a little. I know my body definitely could not handle being a college kid anymore. I don't know how I ran off so little sleep back then! I finally came to terms with the fact that college is over, I'm finally ok with it. I still miss it but life is great now!

On the way back home our tire blew out. It set us back quite a bit but we still made decent time considering we had to drive so slow on the donut.

A Late Weekend Recap

This past weekend Josh and I drove down to NC to see 2 awesome people get married! It was a perfect day for a wedding. It was warm during the day & cool at night...a typical fall day :-) This wedding was on a farm in the country. I'm a country girl & after being away for so long I sometimes forget how much I miss it sometimes. Don't get me wrong, I love MD & I love Raleigh...but there's really nothing like a clear sky in the country during the night. It's just so quiet & peaceful. :-) Anyway, the wedding was absolutely beautiful! Here are some pictures :-)

The GPS took us down this gravel road for about 2 miles.

When we got to the Britton homeplace there were a series of signs. I LOVE stuff like this!



Sorry the last one is a little crappy, there was a truck coming up behind us & we didn't want to hold them up. We stopped for all the rest but I told Josh to just keep going for this one.

The groom

My favorite bridesmaid & groomsman

Flower girl...she was adorable
Ring bearers...they were TOO CUTE! They're twins
Sealed with a kiss!
This are was flooded the day before the ceremony. They had to pump a ton of water off.

Loved this! You can't really tell in the pic but the flag says "The Wagners". Josh & I have to get one!

Our escort cards & favors...too cute!

Cute pic of the hubby & I :-)


These 4 boys fought over the garter until Brandon finally broke them up. It was hilarious.


On a less happy note, State lost on Saturday :-( I was definitely heartbroken! It was just a horrible day for college football. I've been so excited because we were 4-0 for the first time in FOREVER! We were ranked for the first time in FOREVER! UGH...life goes on.