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! :)