Back & Catching Up!

This past week has been so busy! I have so many recipes to post it's not even funny. I've been really bad at keeping up so this will be my catch up post. I've had a horrible cold so I'll blame it on that. Hopefully over the weekend I can get caught up on the recipes :-)

So...in the past week...

Work has been getting busier. That's a good thing. Before Christmas was a little slow because I was waiting on so many ingredients to come in. I'm working on several projects now...BBQ Sauce, Pizza Sauce, Wing Sauce, several Caribbean sauces & some yummy Asian sauces. I'm really enjoying my job & that's a big deal for me because I get bored so easy. I'm learning a lot & I get to do something different almost every day. I've had jobs that I didn't mind but I haven't had a job that I really enjoyed the work AND the people since high school. haha. Anyway, I'm very thankful for my job & the experience I'm gaining.

We have been finalizing our plans for our vacation at the end of February. We booked our flights a few months ago, the hotel early this week & we plan on buying our Disney tickets tonight. I'm getting really excited! We leave from BWI the morning of the 24th. We'll be at Disney with my daddy, sister & niece from the 24th to the 27th. On the 27th we'll meet up with Anna & John in Melbourne & ride down to Miami with them. We'll be staying there until March 5th.

We got our 2nd snow (technically the 3rd but we weren't here for the 2nd). It was the type of snow I like. Enough to cover the ground completely & make everything absolutely beautiful but not enough to make the commute horrible. Unfortunately it's mostly gone now & I didn't get to take many pictures. Maybe we'll get some snow during the weekend next time so we can actually go out & play a bit/take some pictures. I did get this one crazy picture. It doesn't look like anything special but it was taken at 8:30 pm! It's crazy how bright it is! It was actually brighter then than it was when we got home around 5:30. It didn't look quite as bright as the picture but it was pretty close! The top one is one I took with a random setting when I was playing with the camera. I thought it looked cool :-)

My red Wii came in! I've been wanting a Wii since they came out but there has always been something else to save for. When I saw the red one I definitely wanted it! At first I tried to talk myself out of it since it's more than the white one. I tried to tell myself that it wasn't worth $20 extra just because it was red. Then I thought about it & it comes with Mario, I would definitely buy Mario anyway & that would be around $40-$50 more so it's definitely worth it! I was going to wait to see if they got any cheaper but they're limited edition & we haven't been able to find them in the stores anymore. Some of the online stores are even out of them. I found it a little cheaper at BJ's before Christmas but I didn't get it, now they only have the HUGE bundle with lots of crap I don't care for. Anyway, it's here & I'm super excited about it!

We made a huge decision! I'll post more about that later...when we know more :-)

Bringing in the New Year!

The last part of our trip was going to Raleigh to visit friends for New Years. We met up with my sister and her boyfriend at Cracker Barrel for lunch. I LOVE Cracker Barrel & I had been craving it for a while so I was super excited. We have them up here in MD but the closest one is about 40 miles away. Not really worth it, especially when there are tons of local restaurants we still haven't tried. My sister was on her way back from picking her boyfriend up from the airport. He went home to Louisiana for Christmas. This was our first time meeting him. Josh and I both like him :-)

We stayed with our friend Chris while we were in Raleigh. Josh went to play frisbee golf with some of our friends while I went after Christmas shopping! I always go after Christmas to buy things like wrapping paper, cards etc. when they're on sale. I got some really good deals but I didn't find a few of the things I was looking for. I found Black Ops on sale & picked it up for Josh. I knew he would end up getting it anyway & I like to get him things "just because" every once in a while...although they're usually a little cheaper; he's worth it though :-) We were invited to go see Tron & to go out to watch the UNC game but we decided to stay in to watch the game since our "going out" budget was blown in FL. We saved a good bit of money & we got to spend time with another one of our friends Spenser. Josh met him during a co-op at IBM. He moved to Raleigh from PA after he graduated. Shortly after he moved closer to us, we moved to MD. Anyway, we missed him the last time we were down & he had other plans for New Years so we wanted to spend time with him while we had a chance. It was a pretty low key night but that's kind of what we were in the mood for. It was an absolutely horrible game but we still had a good time.

The next night was New Years Eve!!! I can't believe how fast 2010 went by! Chris threw a party, a bunch of friends came over & our friend Kallie came up from SC. We haven't partied that hard in a long while & I needed it. I thought I missed being a college kid...& I know I still will sometimes (AKA Football Season)...but I'm definitely over staying up until 4 am just to feel like crap the next day. I'm too old for that now. haha. We had a great time but it ended too soon. We'll get to see Anna & John at the end of February but I have no idea when we'll see everyone else again. We took a lot of trips back home these past 7 months & we've been spending way too much money traveling back & forth.

Some lovely ladies :-) Miss you already!

I realized a lot of things while I was in town. I don't miss Raleigh as much as I thought I did. Sure, I miss my friends...but Raleigh really isn't any better than where I am now...except they have Cookout. When football season rolls around again I'm sure I'll miss it a lot, because that's something I can never bring up here. When we first moved, kept wishing I could bring everything from Raleigh up here because there was so much I didn't do while I was there. I realized I experienced Raleigh for 5 years, if I didn't do everything I wanted in that time, I probably never would. Also, if I dwell on Raleigh, I'll never get to appreciate where we are now. We live in a great area with so much to do...I really couldn't ask for more! I also know that if we were still in Raleigh, things wouldn't be like they were when we lived there. We would still have "real" jobs, although mine wouldn't be in my field & we would still have responsibilities like we do here.So...basically I realized that my husband makes perfect sense. He's not very big on looking back at the past...he's all about moving forward. I think this is something I really needed. I've always been one to look back & miss things...just wishing I could go back and re-do this or that. In reality, that's not possible. Why spend time wishing you could do something you can't when you can spend it reaching your goals?

Enough of the deep stuff...we left to come home on New Years day. It was sad to leave our friends but we were both more than ready to just be home. To sleep in our own bed & get our clothes out of the closet instead of a suitcase. We got home around 6:30 & did pretty much nothing for the rest of the night. We had dinner on the couch in our tiny little apartment & watched TV. It was great :-)

Going Bowling!!!

Part 2 of our trip was going to Orlando for the Champ's Sports Bowl! We left Josh's mom's house early Monday morning to go pick up our best friends Anna & John. We had a pretty smooth trip down aside from a little bit of traffic in SC. We got to Orlando Monday evening, cleaned up & met some more friends in downtown Orlando. We had originally planned on going to the pep rally then going out. Unfortunately, the snow storm kept the band & cheerleaders from getting to town on time & it was canceled. We decided to just go out for dinner & drinks. I was surprised to see that about half of the restaurants/bars were closed. The ones that were open were not really prepared for a large out of town crowd. We finally found a restaurant that could accommodate all 8 of us & it took forever for us to get service. It was SO crowded & I really think there was only 1 waitress in the whole place. Other than that & a random UNC jersey on the wall I liked the place. The pizza was great & they had decent specials. We went out to one other place then went back to the hotel since we wanted to get up early to tailgate.

We got up & got everything together the next morning. We got to our lot around 12. We paid $30 for parking we were told we had to pay for in advance. I found out later that we had other friends in the same lot that paid $20 that day! Anyway...at least we knew where we were tailgating & didn't have to try to find a place. It was pretty empty when we got there since the game didn't start until 6:30. We parked beside all NC State fans & they were all really nice. One of the guys that was parked near us ended up being someone I studied abroad with...small world. We played tailgating games & had a ton of fun. Some of our other friends came by too. I haven't seen some of them in a long time so it was nice to see everyone. Our seats were on the upper level & was pretty cold. It actually wasn't much warmer than it has been up here. Crazy. The upper levels were not nearly as full as I expected them to be. The crowd in general was much smaller than I thought. We played well & ended up winning 23-7. Better than I expected :-) By the end of the game we were on the bottom level & we just moved up to the front row after the game. Later on we found out that about 15,000 people weren't able to make it down for the game because of the snow. I guess that's why it was so empty! It was a great game...I couldn't have asked for a better way to end football season.

Study abroad reunion!


Celebrating!

Unfortunately, I don't have many good pictures. Anna has some great ones though!
We had a pretty smooth ride home. We were all tired & the ride home is never as exciting as the ride there. We stopped my Josh's mom's house to pick up the rest of our things before we dropped Anna & John off. We had way more stuff than I realized & everybody but Josh had something in their lap. Luckily it was a short ride. We went to visit my parents 1 more time before we left for Raleigh. Once we left we decided to stay with Josh's mom in Lumberton for the night. We were both really tired & we just wanted to sleep in a comfortable bed. We were definitely not up for crashing on an air mattress that night. We got up the next morning & got ready for Raleigh!

Christmas!!!

This past week has been pretty eventful. We took a few trips in one! I've decided to break the posts up into sections. If I write one ginormous post it will just be WAY too long. So...here goes part 1!

Josh and I left on Christmas eve to go spend Christmas with our families. On the way to my mother in law's house we stopped to visit Josh's grandparents. Josh's cousin came over & we stayed for a few hours. It was really good to see them all. It's nice to live so close to his grandparents. We're only about 2.5 hours away from them now. Since they're getting older, it's a lot harder for them to travel. They still come down to spend Thanksgiving with Josh's mom every year but other than that, their trips are pretty limited. It's on the way home anyway, so we try to stop by each time we go home to visit. Josh's grandma hasn't been doing very well & I think she's been kind of depressed because of some of her health issues. When they were in town for Thanksgiving she made several comments about it being her last trip. It was really hard to hear her talk like that. She was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer's & it's been really hard on everybody. She seems to perk up a lot when we visit :-)

We got in late that night but we stayed up with Josh's mom to catch up a little bit. Christmas morning started bright & early for us. We got up for breakfast & to open gifts with Josh's mom's side of the family. His step brother & his wife were there with our little nephew, EJ. Christmas is so much more fun with little kids around. They get so excited, it's adorable. Next, we went to my mom's house to celebrate with my side of the family. My mom always does lunch & it's pretty much like Thanksgiving again :-) We have turkey, ham, all the sides & desserts. I love it! My niece was there so it was entertaining as always. She got a little four wheeler this year. We took turns riding with her after lunch & gifts. I think it can go up to 30 or 40 but it has a switch that you can turn on to control the speed. I think it goes down to 3-5 mph or something like that. After my mom's we went over to Josh's Aunt Gayle's to visit with his dad's side of the family. I love going to visit with them for the holidays. She is a great cook & she makes the BEST dressing EVER!!! Luckily, we got there before everyone left. We haven't seen a lot of them since our wedding & some of them even before that. It was really great to catch up with everyone. Every other year they go on a cruise as a group. They invited us to come in 2012. We're going to think about it but we're saving for something really big so I don't know if we'll be able to make it this time :-) We visited some more with my mom, my dad & Josh's dad before we went back to my MIL's house...that's 5 separate stops not including Josh's mom's! That's why I'm always exhausted during the holidays!

This is me with Natalia on her four wheeler

It was supposed to snow Christmas night but I didn't really expect it to. We're from Southeastern NC & when it does snow, it's usually mixed with a ton of sleet & we get like 2 inches max. It rarely snows in December. Apparently we had another white Christmas back in 1988 or something like that. Of course I don't remember it. We were planning on going to Josh's childhood church but when we got up we had like 4 inches of snow! Of course EVERYTHING, including church was shut down. We made an awesome wolf snow man! After it warmed up a little & the roads looked a little clearer we went over to my dad's to spend some more time with him & build a snowman with Natalia. This was her first big snow so I wanted to make sure she got a chance to make a big snow man! She wanted a snow woman so Josh gave her boobs...you can't really tell in the picture.

I'm supposed to be kissing the wolf & Josh is supposed to be beating him up.

With our nepher EJ. His parents are UNC fans...this is for them :-)

Uncle Josh showing Natalia how to make a snow ball.

Natalia's first snow woman. She wanted to make funny faces.

Unfortunately, this was about all the time we got to spend with our families during our trip. We left early the next day to go to Florida. I'm usually ready to leave home to go to Raleigh or somewhere else. This time was different. I'm not sure if it's because I don't get to spend as much time with my family or what. We'll be taking a trip with my Dad, niece & sister at the end of Feb. but I'm not sure when we'll get to visit with the rest of the family again. Maybe that's what it was :-/

This was our first married Christmas & it was absolutely amazing. As crazy & busy as it was, I wouldn't have it any other way. I love spending the holidays with our families. It's worth the stress, but I'm glad we only have to do it 2 times a year!

As always, we didn't take enough pictures...We didn't take any with our whole families :-/ I'll have to remember next time. This is one with some of my favorites :-)

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 :-)