Happy Spring?

I knew there was a chance of snow today, but I thought the meteorologists were full of it again. I woke up to about an inch or so...and it's still falling strong! 

Now...to take a snow day, or not to take a snow day...

Friday Favorites!

1) ACC Tourney - I know we didn't win it, or even make it to the championship game...but we still made a good run and I'm proud of my Wolfpack!

2) Wedding - I love weddings! I had a great time last weekend at Josh's cousin's wedding. It was really great to see family and catch up. It was also nice to get away from home for a little bit.

3) Sunday - We had such a relaxing day on Sunday! I wish we could have more days like that.

4) I'm having a NEPHEW! - I haven't posted about it yet, because I was waiting on my sister's gender reveal party. Clearly she couldn't wait...I'm going to be an aunt again! ...twice actually. My sister is due on September 1st. She just found out she's having a little boy! Josh's brother and his girlfriend are also expecting a baby girl on May 1st. I told you...there are babies everywhere!

Virginia Wedding Weekend!

This past weekend, we went to Virginia for Josh's cousin's wedding. Since the wedding wasn't until 5:00, we just drove down Saturday afternoon after dropping Bailey off at camp. It was a fairly easy ride for the most part. DC was a breeze, which never happens for us. We ran into a little traffic from an accident near Fredericksburg, which is usually awful, but it didn't last long. We were almost there when we hit some road construction around Richmond. It was a parking lot, so we decided to detour. We ended up on a toll road and we NEVER keep cash on us. In MD, if you go through a toll, it's going to run you about $4. Then if you don't have cash or an EZ pass (I got rid of mine since we never use the toll roads anymore), they send you a bill for the toll, plus a $5 processing fee. So, I'm thinking we're about to pay about $9 to go through this toll. It was only $.70! We had a dollar in the car...woohoo! Haha. Then...the toll booth attendant was nice and smiling! That has NEVER happened to us! She even asked how y'all are doing and told us to have a good weekend! It was great to be back in the South for a bit. Haha. We drove through a different part of Richmond than we had been through before. It was nice. There were lots of St. Patrick's Day festivities going on. It would have been a cool place to check out if we would have had time...but we had a game to watch!

We met one of Josh's other cousins at Buffalo Wild Wings just in time to watch our game against Miami. I'm convinced he was silently pulling against us since we had taken his team (UVA) out on Friday. I had never been to BWW before, so I was sort of looking forward to trying it. I don't really do wings, so I ended up getting a steak wrap. It was fine, but nothing special. I probably wouldn't go back again. The game definitely didn't have the outcome we were hoping for, but it was a fun game to watch either way. 

After the game we went to the hotel to get ready then went to the wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony. Tracy's dad is a minister and he lead part of the ceremony, after he gave her away of course. It was very sweet. The reception was on Fort Lee. It was in a really pretty building with Southern charm. 

Bride, groom and dad :-)

 Josh, Ken and I

 I love the back of Tracy's dress!

With the bride and groom

After the wedding, we went to visit with Josh's grandparents. His grandma had a stroke a couple weeks ago and she is recovering in a nursing home right now. She also has Alzheimer's, so her memory is not so great. She was doing really well earlier in the day, but they say the worse time is early in the morning and late at night. She recognized us all when we first got there, but later she asked Josh if I was his girlfriend. Then she got upset once she remembered who I was. She had a couple little episodes like this during our visit. It's so sad to see. Josh's grandparents have been married for 64 years. I can't imagine watching Josh go through something like that now...I can't even begin to grasp how it would feel after 64 years of marriage! His grandpa is a very sweet but strong man. It's really tough to see him so upset. His spirits are high most days, but you can see the sadness in his eyes when she has her episodes. Please pray for them as they go through this. I know it is very scary for both of them.

We left the hotel to head back home Sunday morning. We weren't in the mood to drive straight home, so we started searching for things to do. It was cool and rainy out, so anything outdoors was out of the question. We decided to stop in Falls Church to eat at Sweetwater Tavern, a place some friends had told us about. It was AMAZING! The food was great...they have the best rolls EVER! The service was probably some of the best we have ever had. Oh, it's a brewpub, and the beer is awesome too! They have lots of beers they rotate through. At any given time, they have 5 on draft. Josh got the sampler, so we both got to try all 5. It was a Pilsner, Pale Ale, Belgian, Stout, and a Nut Brown. The Belgian was my favorite (which is what I ordered), but Belgians are my favorite beers anyway. The Pale Ale was a close second. The others were good for what they are...none of them are my favorite styles. Of course, Josh spilled the darkest of them all...all over himself! Our waitress was very helpful and got him some rags and soda water to clean himself up. We decided to get home after that so he could change.  

Sesame Chicken with Fried Rice

I'm trying to make sure we're eating healthier, but I don't want Josh to feel like we're on a diet. Sometimes, especially on the weekends, I like to treat us to a slightly healthier version of a guilty dinner. Josh has been wanting Chinese all week but I know the calories are through the roof. I decided to make Sesame Chicken, one of his favorite Chinese dishes, at home! I found this recipe on allrecipes.com and made a few tweaks...nothing major. Here's my version below.

Sesame Chicken

Ingredients

- 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour

- 2 Tablespoons cornstarch

- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder

- 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

- 2 tablespoons water

- 1 teaspoon roasted sesame oil

- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed

1 quart Canola oil for frying

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

For the sauce:

- 1 cup chicken broth

- 3/4 cup brown sugar

- 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar

- 2 tablespoons soy sauce

- 2 tablespoons roasted sesame oil

- 1 clove garlic, minced

- dash of hot sauce

- 1/4 cup cornstarch 

- 1/2 cup water

Directions

1 - Sift flour, cornstarch, baking soda and baking powder into a bowl. Pour in low-sodium soy sauce, water and roasted sesame oil; stir until smooth. Coat chicken with batter, cover, and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

2 - Bring chicken broth, brown sugar, rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, hot sauce and garlic to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Dissolve 1/4 cup cornstarch into 1/2 cup water and whisk into boiling sauce. Simmer for a few minutes, until the sauce thickens and the sauce is no longer cloudy. Reduce to low and keep warm.

3 - Heat canola oil to 375 in a deep fryer or large saucepan.

4 - Drop in the battered chicken pieces in small batches and fry until they turn golden brown and float to the top of the oil. This should take no longer than 4 minutes. Drain on a paper towel lined plate. Top with sauce and sesame seeds. 

I served this over fried rice. I found this recipe at Slender Kitchen and adapted it a little. 

Fried Rice

Ingredients

- 2 cups cooked, cold rice (day old if possible)

- Nonstick cooking spray

- 2 teaspoons roasted sesame oil

- 1/2 cup Egg Beaters

- Dash of pepper

- 1 large carrot, grated

- 1/2 cup sweet peas

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 2 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions

1 - Heat pan over medium high heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray and scramble egg beaters, adding pepper. Remove from pan.

2 - Add the sesame oil, carrots, sweet peas and garlic to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes.

3 - Add the rice and cook for 2-4 more minutes, stirring constantly, until the rice begins to crisp a little.

4 - Add the soy sauce and egg. Stir together and cook for 1 more minute.

It was very good. The fried rice was delicious! The chicken was very good too, but I think it may have been better with peanut oil.

Friday Favorites!!!

1) Bar - Our bar is FINALLY finished!!! It only took us...5 months. Haha. Our plan changed a few times, which is why it took so long. Then over the holidays, we just kind of lost interest. After the holidays were over, we decided we needed to make up our minds how we were going to finish the bar top and be done with it. SO glad that's out of the way! 

2) Anniversary - We had a wonderful 12th dating anniversary! We started off by going to Frederick, MD to explore the town and grab lunch. We found a really good BBQ place! The weather was super nice, so it was the perfect day to walk around. We went to tour Flying Dog that afternoon. It was a really good tour and we really enjoyed ourselves. We met another couple there then went out for dinner after. We had a great time, but we were both exhausted by the time we got home!

3) Bar Reveal - We had a party and invited all of Josh's team from work over. We had a great time with everyone and enjoying our bar, fully finished, for the first time. I hope we have many of these occasions to come.

4) ACC Tournament - I was fortunate enough to be able to leave work early to watch our games on Thursday and Friday. It was very exciting watching the Wolfpack advance, though stressful at times.

5) Pinterest Projects - I have completed a couple projects over the past week that I'm really excited about. My favorite is the Newlywed Map. I first saw this project either right before we got married or right after. I have loved it since, but Josh wasn't a fan at first. I noticed it on Pinterest recently and re-introduced him to it a week or so ago, and he liked it much better. Either the idea has grown on him, or he's just sick of our foyer walls being bare. Until last week, the only thing we had hanging in there was a picture I took of the Sydney Harbor Bridge. I like it because it's mulit-purpose. It's not just some random piece of art we picked up at the store. It's decorative AND it tells a story of our travels together.

Some people pin places they have been together and separately. We decided to pin only places that we have been together.

Since we had 2 travel related items in there, we have decided to kind of stick with that theme. I made a Met, Married, Live frame (also found on pinterest) to go in there as well.

A little more detail. I got the idea from Pinterest to embroider around the towns versus just printing an image. I like the way it turned out. I just used stickers for the wording. 

Exploring Frederick

We've been in MD for quite a while now, almost 3 years. There are still SO many places we haven't seen. When I made my 101 in 1001 list, I decided I wanted to explore more of MD. I want to make sure we make the most of our time here.

On a whim, I decided to check out the tour schedule at Flying Dog. I guess someone canceled, because they had 4 spots available last Saturday! We love Flying Dog's beer, so we were both really excited. We grabbed up the tickets and invited another couple to go with us. What a great way to celebrate our anniversary! Much better than a typical dinner out!

Since our tour wasn't until 2:30, we decided to go to Frederick a little early to explore. We were hungry when we got there around 12:30, so we decided to grab a quick bite to eat. We saw a BBQ place called Black Hog and we had to try it. They have different styles of BBQ. Of course, we both got eastern NC style. It was really good, it just had too much pepper. Other than that, no complaints. After lunch, we walked around downtown for a little while. It's SO nice. I love little historic towns. I guess Frederick isn't so little, it feels small though. It was a gorgeous day, so there were lots of people out and about. We just walked around until it was time to drive over to Flying Dog. It was really relaxing and enjoyable! 

We got to Flying Dog in time to look around the gift shop a little before the tour. They have kits that you can take home and brew. Pretty cool. It's a different kit each month. We didn't get one this time since we already have a kit we need to brew, but we may get one when they have my favorite! With the tour, you get a souvenir glass and 5 samples. We got to try 1 sample before the tour, then the rest after. It was a really good tour! We also got to try the beer at different stages. Of course, we've done this at home, but it's cool to be able to sample an unfinished version of beers you see in the store. We also learned that there will be 11 rarities released this year, which are limited release brews developed by some of the brewers. I guess I never realized they did this. Pretty cool! 

This is their lab, I could work here! Haha. Although, it would be quite a commute and I'm pretty sure I don't want to take a pay cut. 

Lots of bottles, I've never seen several of these!

After the tour, we just hung out a bit in the tasting room. Josh and Dave went to grab samples and ended up talking beer with several of the brewers who are responsible for some of the rarities we got to try. (The Pumpernickel IPA is delish!) While the guys talked beer, Theresa and I daydreamed about vacations and someday running our brewing business from the phone in some vacation destination. Haha. Fun times. 

After the tour, we went to Barley and Hops for dinner. It's a pretty cool place. We stuffed our faces and chatted a bit before going home. It was a great double date. We'll definitely have to do it again sometime! I hope to do the tour again in the near future.

Friday Favorites!!!

Happy Friday y'all!!! This was a long week, so I'm definitely glad for the weekend to be here!

1) House Progress - We are so close to being finished with our bar. All we need to do is attach the bar top to the base. We plan on getting this done on tomorrow or Sunday. While we were waiting on coats of poly to dry over the weekend and during the week, I started my cabinet painting project. That is almost close to being complete. I will post about this soon.

2) Dates - Last weekend, we went out for 2 dates. Saturday night, we went to Olive Garden for dinner, after a long, productive day. There was quite a wait, so we walked over to the mall while we waited. We made it back in perfect timing and had a great dinner. We used a gift card I got for my birthday, so that made it even better! We came home and watched a movie. I can't remember what it was for the life of me, but it was good. Sunday, we went to a brewpub for a late lunch. We had a Groupon that was expiring during the week. We each got a burger with fries and a beer. I have gotten really good about eating just until I'm full. I ended up eating past full for lunch. It was almost painful. I wasn't hungry for the rest of the night. 

3) Snow Day - Wednesday was a snow day for me. We were supposed to get about 6 or so inches of snow. We didn't have much when we woke up, but it was supposed to get worse during the day. Most everyone in my office were staying at home. I made the call to stay home and Josh decided to go to work. It ended up not being bad at all. The snow was all melted around mid-day, when it was supposed to be bad. It ended up raining for the majority of the day. I'm glad I took the day off though. I got SO much done! I caught up on some cleaning, put 4 coats of poly on the bar top, put the final coat of paint on the bathroom cabinets and painted the base molding in all 3 bathrooms and foyer. I also cooked dinner and prepped dinner for Thursday. It was the most productive day I have had in a LONG time. After me getting so much done, Josh is ready for me to retire. Haha.

4) Our Barleywine - We kegged our Barleywine last night. It was a little premature, we probably should have let it ferment a little longer. It's still really good though. 

5) Flying Dog - We've been wanting to tour Flying Dog Brewery for quite a while. They book up really far in advance, especially for Saturday tours. I mean, 2 months or more. I happened to look earlier in the week to see when the next availability is, and they had 4 spots open for tomorrow! I guess someone canceled or something. Our 12th dating anniversary is tomorrow, so I thought it would be a fun surprise for Josh. Of course, I told him about 30 minutes later and had him invite another couple to come with us. So, tomorrow, we're going to be touring Flying Dog and going out for dinner after. I'm SO excited!

6) Babies - Saving the best for last...one of my good friends just delivered her triplet girls this morning. She was one day short of her 30 week goal. Everyone is healthy and doing well. I'm so very happy for Nikki and Bryan. :-)

Friday Favorites!!!

1) Bailey's Birthday - Bailey turned 2 on Tuesday! I can't believe how fast the time has flown. I made her pupcakes. This time, I didn't use the icky icing that came with it. I mixed greek yogurt and peanut butter. She loved it and it didn't smell like baby formula. :-)

2) Another Bailey Favorite - We have been leaving her out all day since last Thursday, and she's been amazing! She hasn't messed up a single thing. I leave her treats hidden around the house so she can "hunt" while we're at work. I'm sure they're all gone within a few minutes of us leaving, but I try. Haha. She's always sitting upstairs in the window looking out at us when we pull in the driveway. 

3) Working Out - I've been doing really well in this area! I lost another pound this week. That's a pound each week I've been working out and using Loseit! Woohoo! Just 5 more weeks until my goal week! I'm sure I will have a bad week in there somewhere, but my main goal is to be toned and in shape for a new bikini in time for vacation.

4) Dirty Girl Fun Run - I registered for this race this week and I'm really excited about it! It's not as bad as it sounds, but you should have seen Josh's face when I told him I wanted to do it. Haha. Pretty much, it's a 5K mud run and obstacle course that benefits the National Breast Cancer Foundation. I've wanted to run a 5K for a while, but I don't like running. I pretty much assumed I would never do one, but then a friend introduced me to this one. It sounds so much more fun than just running! I can't wait. The only downside is that it's in August. Hot. Humid. August. I decided I would rather it be in the summer than the winter though!

5) Sunday - Last Sunday was a great day! The weather was nice and we had a relatively productive, but still relaxing day. After church, we went to Lowe's to pick up a few things for some house projects. We came home, did some work around then house, grilled out and played with Bailey in the field behind the house. We were originally planning on taking her to the dog park, but it had rained all day Saturday, and we knew it would be muddy. After grilling out and having lunch, we came in and played games for a while. I could definitely use some more days like this :-).

6) Josh's Playoffs - Josh is playing in a basketball league right now and it's playoff time! His team won their second playoff game tonight, so they go to the championship game next weekend! He has played the entire time for both of their playoff games. I'm so proud of my hubby!