Happy Holidays!

I can't believe that in just 4 short days, we will be to the end of 2012! This year has FLOWN by, but what a wonderful year it was.  I can only hope 2013 will be as good to me as 2012 has.  I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is enjoying the end of this holiday season.  I finally switched my Pandora station at work off of "Rocking Holidays" (sadly) and went back to every day, regular music.  Lance and I had a  nice, quiet first married Christmas, but did get to enjoy the use of technology to Skype with my family back in Mississippi. Now I am ready for some real winter weather.. bring on the snow!! :)

I would also like to wish a happy 2 months of marriage to my wonderful HUSBAND! - love that word! :)

Thankful

This month has FLOWN by, at least for me! Thanksgiving was almost a week ago, we were married a month yesterday, and now only 2 days left in November? Holy moly! We have definitely been on the GO it seems for the past few weeks, so I thought I would sit and take the time to write a few things I am thankful for this year.

First off I am thankful for all my wonderful blessing that happened this year- New job, engagement, marriage, and everything that came along with those.  I am also very thankful for the things that I am continuously blessed with- family, friends, a roof over my head, and the ability to live a pretty happy, stress free life.  Some of the most simple things you don't even think about can be some of the most missed by others.  I think it's important to sit back sometimes and not stress over the petty things we want but see what all we do have. (I am for sure guilty of this myself!) We should all try to cherish what we have, because nothing is ever guarunteed, whether it be materialistic items, food, shelter, or even loved ones. I am trying to remember this more often as lately I have seen these things taken from people so unexpectantly.

Now that Thanksgiving is over, Chritmas is less than a month away!! This is hands down my favorite time of the year, so I hope things start to slow down just a bit. ABC Family's 25 Days of Christmas starts this Saturday and that in itself gets me in the best mood.  I could watch Christmas movies all day, all year! Home Alone, The Grinch, Elf, etc - I can't wait!! Also, my Bath & Body Works home items addiction goes into OVERDRIVE with the holiday scents!!!! haha  Unfortunely my family will not be able to come this year as planned, so we will be spending Christmas with Lance's family also. (we got to have everyone over for Thanksgiving).  That is one of the blessings of marriage, you gain a whole other family to have around for holidays and celebrations!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and is getting into the Christmas spirit!! :)

We did it!!

So it's official.. WE'RE MARRIED!!! Whew! What a wonderful past few weeks it has been. Everything went by so fast that I feel like it was a dream.  It was so nice to be home for a week and get to visit with my friends and family.  You forget how much you miss everyone until you are there with them. I definitely miss all my girlfriends and my lovely mommy!!  That week at home was so hectic.. I went NONSTOP everyday.  Luckily I had 5 days home before Lance came, because he would not have had a good time in my crazy planning mode. 

I am happy to say everything went PERFECT for the wedding. Yes, crazy list lady pulled it off!! The one thing that wasn't ideal and that I had no control over.. the weather!!! Of course it decided to be 80's all week and then 2 days before the wedding- BAM! freezing!! Thank goodness the sun came out on Saturday.  The wind made it very cold, but we had sun and that was all I needed to keep my plans the same.  I must say, the cold did help take away all of my nerves. I was so focused on not violently shaking throughout the ceremony, that I really didn't have time to think about anything else! haha I did hear that my lovely bridesmaid, Lauren, was the only one out of us girls that wasn't trembling. Good job! :) Hey, at least it's a day no one will forget!! 

The reception was a BLAST. I have not danced that much in ages!! And goodness, I never knew that Lance was such a dancing machine.  We both had an amazing time, and if I do say so myself, it was one of the best weddings I have ever been too! hehe  It will for sure be a day we will never forget. 

I want to thank everyone who helped so much in the planning and events.. especially my wonderful mother, my grandma Sharon and aunt Katherine for their amazing job with the rehearsal dinner, and of course my four best friends who stood by my side as my bridesmaids- Lexie, Kristen, Amy, & Lauren.  I loved every single event that went into that week and will cherish all of the memories forever.  I am so lucky to be able to have such amazing friends, especially now that we are 11 hours apart. (Thanks a lot, Lance!)  Now in less than 6 months it will be Lauren's turn, and I will get to help with HER big day!! :)  I hope everyone isn't too sick of my wedding Facebook posts and pictures-  I promise it will eventually settle down! 

What's next on my list? Adjusting back into "normal" life of work and see where this married road takes us!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Goodness, I have not posted in almost two weeks.  I have had SO much going on, my mind is in a million places right now.  Luckily, it is all fun and happy places!! I am now at only 18 days until the big day.  This is my last weekend in North Carolina before I head back home.  We are having our Stock the Bar shower Saturday, and somehow I need to squeeze in packing for two weeks this weekend as well. Lord, help me! I am the queen of over packing just for a week, I can only imagine this suitcase's capacity when I get done with it.  Another lovely countdown I have going- 6 1/2 more days of work!! woohoo! I am so excited for my two weeks off, even though the first one will be CRAZY to say the least.  But that second week we will be mega relaxing in St. Thomas.. woohoo!!!! I recently posted some of our engagement pictures on Facebook that my boss here took for us as part of our wedding gift.  She gave me about 60 shots, but I narrowed it down when uploading them.  I figured no one wanted to see us in 60 different lovey, dovey shots. :)  Here are a few of my top favorites:

Luckily Lance was a good sport, since like most guys, he doesn't love to spend his Saturday morning taking pictures all over downtown Concord.

The next two weeks are going to be me going over checklist, checking in with vendors, last minute details, decor, parties, organizing out of town guests, etc so please bare with me if I seem to always be in thought or only talk about the wedding 24/7.  I promise, it will all be over soon and at least for a little while, my mind can rest. :)

Happy Wednesday.. on the downhill towards the weekend!!!

One Month!

I will be MARRIED in one month! Holy moly!! I kept saying that October 27 felt forever away, but I think we are about to officially enter the days of time FLYING by!  We have lots of showers, pictures, and wedding events coming up over the next few weeks. I will be flying home just 3 short weeks from Saturday- wow! I have re-checked my lists a million times, so hopefully this crazy organized girl really has thought of everything. Now I am just waiting on you last minute RSVP'ers.. btw, if that's you.. mail them back!!! :)

Our first picture together- April 2011

I feel so very blessed to be able to truly "marry my best friend" as many people say.  He really is the perfect man for me.  He is able to put up with me and all my WONDERFUL quirks and still love me no matter what.  It's such a wonderful feeling to know how much you truly love someone and when you look at them, know that they feel the exact same way.  I fully believe in this statement now - "It's true that we don't know what we've got until it's gone, but it's also true that we don't know what we've been missing until it arrives."

I definitely don't have a "perfect" life, as I am sure that doesn't exist- but I sure do know that with Lance Rowland by my side, everything will always be OK.

“To love someone is nothing, to be loved by someone is something, but to be loved by the one you love is everything”

Oh, Monday!

Well another weekend has flown by and once again Monday has popped up.  To top it off, it has been rainy most of the day here in Charlotte, which makes me want to take a super nap! Unfortunately no nap, just another day at the office. (only 2 hours left.. woohoo!)  Well this weekend we were very busy, but had lots of fun. Friday night while Lance relaxed after a long work week, I took a little trip to the mall to do some shopping in my form of relaxing. :) I did a bit of damage in Belk and of course took a trip over to Bath & Body Works to stock up on even more candles. (yes, I have a serious addiction).  Saturday afternoon we went to the county fair. Of course we ate lots of good (bad for you) fair food,walked around, and played a few games. I did win a TINY little stuffed animal dog that ended up costing us around $20. ha. We also stopped to watch the family Circus act.. let's just say that was very interesting!  On the way out we had to stop and get the ultimate Fair food.. a funnel cake! They had all different kinds of weird flavors- Birthday Cake, Red Velvet, Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter, Brown Cinnamon Sugar, and then the regular plain white powdered sugar.  I stuck to my simple white powdered sugar.. and boy was it delicious! Just don't watch them make it.. makes you feel super guilty for eating something that is bathed in a huge tub of grease!

 

Now on Sunday I went to my first NFL game, Panthers vs. Saints. My family is 100% crazy, die hard Minnesota Vikings fans, so of course they have and will always be my #1 team. But now that I live in the Carolinas, I will have to cheer on the Panthers (unless they play the Vikes!).  So I bought myself my first Panther's shirt and off to the game we went! We tailgated first, and then walked over to the SUPER crowded entrance of the stadium.. seems everyone decided to head in at the same time.  Our seats were the upper level, but the view was actually way better than I thought.  I actually enjoyed our seats (especially since Lance got them for free from work! haha) The day had been raining on and off, so it was already a bit chilly from being wet. We didn't stay the whole game for this reason, I was wet and cold! I would love to go back to a night game, or even just any game with no RAIN! I don't mind cold, as long as I come prepared.  Hopefully there will be another game in our future.  And btw, the Panthers killed the Saints.. YAY!!!

Now that is is Monday again, it's time to charge through the work week and get the ball rolling for the next weekend! :) I am especially looking forward to this weekend- Saturday will be my first bridal shower and then Saturday night me and my NC girls will head out for a night in downtown Charlotte for my Bachelorette party!! The wedding activities have officially started! I hope this week flies by for me (and everyone else!) and that everyone else has a wonderful work week!

40 days until the BIG DAY!!!!!

Delicious!

So my last post was about some recent recipes that I have begun to try and they were very good, but I definitely saved the best for last (in this go around). We went to VA for Labor Day weekend and had a nice time relaxing and hanging out with Lance's side of the family. I got to not only visit with the family I already knew, but also meet a few more cousins. (he has a LARGE family!) We came home early Monday morning and I decided to try my last recipe out that evening.  My latest adventure in the kitchen was making Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas.

Now I know from the picture it looks like a massive amount of cheese, but it really isnt.  The cheese just kind of expanded over the sauce and blended in with it.  This recipe by no means is healthy (must be why it's so yummy!) but it isn't 12lbs of cheese either! :) This one was also very simple to make.

Ingredients

• 6-8 corn tortillas (enchilada size)
• 1 pre-cooked plain rotisserie chicken, shredded
• 1 cup sweet corn
• 4 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided in half
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1-1/4 cups chicken broth
• 1 – 10oz can cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 – 4oz can chopped green chiles
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Instructions

1.        Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2.        Fill the center of each tortilla with a handful of shredded chicken, a tablespoon or so of the corn, and a pinch of the shredded cheese.

3.        Roll and place in the bottom of a baking dish with the seam side down.

4.        In a pot over medium heat melt the better. Add flour and whisk into a thick paste.

5.        Add chicken broth, cream of chicken, sour cream, chiles, salt and pepper.

6.        Whisk gently for about 5 minutes until warm and smooth.

7.        Pour the sauce over the enchiladas and top with remaining shredded cheese.

8.        Bake for 25 to 30 minutes and serve warm.

This is definitely something I will be making again and highly recommend!

On another note, our wedding is in 52 days!!! That means just 6 short weeks from this Saturday I will be on a plane heading home to have my last week of crazy, hectic planning before the BIG day.  I don't think there is a way to express my excitement.  I am so ready to see everything all come together and marry my wonderful fiance, and go on our FABULOUS honeymoon. (Hello St. Thomas!) The next few weeks are going to fly by and be so much fun with engagement pictures, my NC showers and bachelorette party, MS shower and bachelorette party, and last minute details.  Let the festivities begin!!! :)

From my countdown app! :)

Betty Crocker

As I mentioned before I am definitely better at cooking than I was a year ago,  but I have a few key meals I always make.  I really want to venture out and try some new things, so that's where I am this week.  I finally decided to actually try to make some of the recipes I had been "pinning" on Pinterest. Some key things I look for when searching recipes: Easy, fast, and involves chicken! ha  It doesn't always have to be all 3, but at least one or two of them.  Sunday I woke up and got on my computer and picked 3 recipes to begin with: crockpot salsa chicken, taco pizza, and creamy chicken enchiladas.  So far I have made the first two successfully.  I headed to the grocery store Sunday and stocked up on all my supplies I would need for my new adventure.  I decided to do the crockpot meal first because it took about 6 hours and Lance thinks the house will burn down if we leave it on while not home, so this had to be done a weekend day.  It turned out very good, but I wasn't exactly sure how to eat it.  The picture showed it eaten with a chip, but it wasn't really a "dip".  What we ended up doing was using it to make tacos. Soft shells, the chicken salsa, some cheese, and a little sour cream.. Delicious!! I did not take a picture of this one, because in the pot it looked a little mushy and kind of gross (don't let the image fool you.)


Ingredients:
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 cup salsa
1 package taco seasoning
1 cup sour cream
  
Directions:
Mix soup, salsa and taco seasoning in the bottom of your crockpot. Sink chicken breasts into the mixture, covering completely. Cook on low for 5 – 6 hours depending on size of chicken breasts. Remove chicken, shred and return to the crockpot. Add sour cream and mix well. 

And that's it.. super easy and yummy! This made quite a bit, so with 2 people we had a nice bit of leftovers.


Next I made the taco pizza.. SO GOOD!! I love tacos (soft shell only, please!) so when I see any recipe with "taco" in the name I get excited.  This is one of those recipes you can tweek to what toppings you like.  I happen to like everything that was listed, so I made exaclty as it is.  This also makes a TON, so be prepared for lots of leftovers if you have a family of two as well.  I did take a picture of this lovely creation. :)

 

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
2 (8 oz.) cans Pillsbury crescent rolls
1 (16 oz.) can refried beans (I used spicy)
2-3 cups shredded cheddar cheese or Mexican blend
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup sliced black olives
4 green onions, chopped

Directions:
Heat oven to 375 degrees.
Brown ground beef and drain. Add taco seasoning to the ground beef according to the package directions.
Unroll crescent rolls into rectangles. Place in ungreased 11 1/2 inch x 16 1/2 inch jelly roll pan or cookie sheet. Press dough over the bottom and 1/2 inch up sides to form crust. Bake at 375 oven for 11 to 13 minutes or just until golden brown.
Microwave beans in a microwave safe bowl for 1 minute. Carefully spread beans over warm crust creating a thin layer.
Top with cooked beef mixture, sprinkle with cheese followed by tomatoes, black olives and green onion. Return to oven for 3-6 more minutes until cheese is melted.


Since we had so many leftovers, I have not gotten to the creamy chicken enchiladas yet.  We will be leaving for Virginia tomorrow to spend the holiday weekend with Lance's mom and family, so that won't be on the menu until next week. Stay tuned and have a wonderful holiday! :)

Catching up to speed

Ok, so the last post ended with how I got myself 11 hours away from home, but now it's time to see what I have really been doing here all this time!  The first 8 months I VERY much enjoyed my role as "housewife". I actually learned a lot about being domestic and running a household.  I did laundry, grocery shopped, cleaned house, made all meals, and anything else that came up.  I loved being able to have the freedom during the week to run all of our errands and get everything finished so when the weekend rolled around and Lance was off work, we were completely free to do whatever we please.  In between all my domestic duties, I was actively looking for a job. I met with at least 10 different recruiters, and total went on around 8 interviews.  None of the jobs were really anything I was excited about or really interested in, so as I continously got rejected, I was never really that upset! ha  I had worked for a very small bank back home (operations and 2 branches made up EVERYTHING) so I did start to get discouraged that I would not find that small atmosphere I was looking for, as I now lived in one of the biggest banking cities in the country filled with nation wide banks.  So as I was jobless and free to do what I pleased, I took advantage of this time to redecorate our sad little house.  It definitely needed a woman's touch.  He had tried in some rooms to have a bit of decor, but it just was not happening.  After several months and lots of coats of paint, we completed our room, the guest room, living room, bathroom, and kitchen. Boy does it look much better now! I love decorating and wish we had more rooms for me to work on (we do have one more spare room, but that is his band room and was off limits to my eager hands). I also was able to have friends and family come visit a few times and have the time to hang out with everyone and show them my new city. My mom and Kristen came for Thanksgiving; Mom, Dad, and Grandma came for Christmas; Kristen came 5 days in March; Sarah came in May for a Lady Antebellum concert; and Mom and Kristen back in June to shop for my WEDDING dress!

Now that I mentioned wedding, let's get into that! Of course Lance and I had talked marriage and knew that one day that would be our future, I just had no idea when he planned to pop the big question! I had hoped it would be before Memorial weekend because we were flying home to MS and I wanted to be able to have the chance to celebrate with all my friends and family.  As the days dwindled down and time got closer, I gave up that wish because the time was running out.  He literally waited until 10 minutes before we left for the airport to ask me to be his wife, so needless to say I was VERY surprised and so very, very excited.  It was the perfect moment that I will always treasure.  Of course I was just bouncing off the walls with excitement calling all of my close friends and family as we drive to the airport.  I had to get everyone in before I got on the plane!! It made for a perfect Memorial weekend. I not only got to hang out and see everyone back home, but we had a reason to CELEBRATE!!

Now I had really wanted a fall wedding, perfect weather, beautiful colors, and just really always my favorite time of the year.  So here we are, May 25 recently engaged and I realize, ok we either can have a 5 month engagement or a year and 5 months.. hmm, easy decision, 5 months!! To me, you get engaged because you want to get married- well then let's get married!  When I started telling everyone the date I got a TON of, "why so soon?", which I still don't understand.  What are you waiting for? I had everything planned and booked within a month. (Yes, I am a crazy OCD planner in my daily life so this was a piece of cake!) Over the next month or two I ordered decor, invitations, etc, but now with 2 months left I am basically at the waiting game. There is no way I would survive a year engagement. Little miss impatient is ready to get this ball rolling! I have to say, I will miss the engagement part of things because I have had so much fun planning this wedding. My absolute dream job would be a party planner.  So as of today, I have 2 months and 4 days left in my wonderful countdown! Ahhh!

As I was still fresh in my engagement bliss, I end up getting a job exaclty one week later! Holy cow, what a week! I somehow had a job placed in front of me that was identical to the one I left, only better.  I felt like I really needed to pinch myself!! So far I have been at my job about 2 1/2 months and so far so good.  I really enjoy  being back into the routine and meeting new people, but I am not going to lie, I definitely miss my housewife job.  Hopefully not too long and I can get that back! :)

So here I am, close to getting married, working, and loving life in NC. What more could I ask for?

How did I get here?

I figured I would start off by doing a little summary of how I got to where I am now.  I don't want to have a super sappy, all about my love life, kind of blog... but to get to where I am now it will have to start off that way! :)  Ok, here we go:

I was born in Memphis, TN and moved to Southaven, MS when I was 4 years old.  This is where I would continue to live and spend my life until my 25th year.  In 2011 I had already graduated college- University of Memphis, Go Tigers!!- and had began my first post-grad job.  I was starting to get my finances settled and figure out my next move in "growing up".  In the process of all of this, I was definitely ready for a nice vacation and finally decided to make the journey up to North Carolina to visit one of my good friends that lived in Concord, and also my cousin, his wife, and aunt who lived about an hour away.  I planned out my schedule to split the week between the two and booked my round trip ticket to Charlotte, NC.  I landed on Friday, February 18 having no idea how much this trip was going to change my life.  Trisha picked me up from the airport and we had a fun, girls night out catching up on the past 4 1/2 years that we had not seen each other.  Saturday we got up to go do some shopping and she said how they had planned a little get together cookout with some of her and her boyfriend's, Alex, friends and her family to have over.  As the guests started to arrive, I was introduced to everyone and spent the first half of the evening catching up with her family who I had already known for a few years.  As the night went on, I started talking to one of Alex's friends and band mates, Lance.  We just casually chit-chatted about where I was from and just basic things.  As the night went on I realized he seemed to be following me around more and more (hehe) and striking up more and more conversation.  We ended up hanging out and talking most of the evening until the party winded down and everyone went home.  The next day, Sunday, Lance invited Alex, Trisha, and myself over to have dinner.  Of course we all had a great time hanging out and for Lance and I, getting to know each other even more.  The next day I was due to head on over to spend the next 4 days with my family.  I had a wonderful time, but SOMEONE was constantly on my mind.  I was due to come back to Concord Thursday night, and only had Friday left as a full day before my flight home Saturday.  Friday night I already had plans with Trisha and Alex to go have sushi and I had casually mentioned they could invite Lance. So here we are again, us four all hanging out having a good time.  Trisha and I had girl time after- watching Sex & the City (I will get into my love of that show later) while the boys played silly video games in the guest room.  As the night dwindled down we all said our goodbyes and headed to bed, as I had an early flight the next morning.  I had no idea what was to come, but I figured I would probably never see or hear from my little NC crush again, as we didn't exchange phone numbers or any contact information. 

Fast forward 2 weeks after I am home..   I am sitting at work when my phone beeps a facebook alert: Lance Rowland had requested to be your friend.  Hmmmm :)  Of course I accept right away and wait for some sort of communications.  Nothing.  Ok?? lol  So 2 days later I send him a message saying it was nice to meet him and I had a great trip.. well that turned into us messaging back and forth constantly over the next few weeks and a casual invite for me to come back and visit sometime soon.  Long story short, I ended up going back April 15-17 and that was the beginnng of it all.  We talked/texted/skyped/emailed (thank god for technology these days) 24/7. We flew back and forth every 2-3 weeks breaking our bank accounts to see each other as much as possible.  It was a long 8 months of long distance, but I wouldn't have it any other way.  It was an exciting, crazy, fun, stressful, sad, and wonderful experience all rolled into one.  Finally we just couldn't take the distance any longer.  I had always said I wanted to move away and now I finally had that push.  Concord/Charlotte was such a beautiful part of the country and not only did the love of my life live here, I also had the support of one of my best friends here and family close by.  So I quit my job, left all my friends, family, dogs, and the only life I had ever known to pack up my little Nissan Sentra and move myself 11 hours away to begin my new life.  I have been here almost 11 months and am happier than I have ever been.  During those 11 months I have redecorated a whole house (much needed!), learned a new city, gotten a new job, and also got ENGAGED, ahhh!! So the next few posts will be going over the past year to get us up to speed to where I am now.  I hope you have enjoyed reading our journey as much as I enjoyed living it. :)

First Blog!

Hello all! I figured I would join the blog world and start writing about my random, yet amazing, life. As you can see, my name is listed everywhere on here as Rowland, but I am still a Coffman for 70 more days.  I figured there was no need to set up a new email and/or blog with a name that I would only have for just a few more short months.  So here I am, my beginnings as MRS. Rowland!  I decided to title my blog, My happily ever after, because that is exactly where I am in my life right now. Everything has finally fallen into place, and I am officially starting a new, wonderful chapter of my life.  I hope everyone (and hopefully someone will read my silly blog) enjoys my random stories, thoughts, and whatever else I may come up with.  Please bare with me as I get the hang of this and get settled into my new blogging world.  :)