25 Random Things about Me

This note has been going around Facebook for a little while and I thought it would be fun to bring into the blog world. So here are 25 random things, goals, habits, or facts about me! It is good therapy :)

1. I hate dirty dishes...I hate touching them, especially if they have been in the sink longer than an hour. It really, seriously, grosses me out. This explains why I am a freak about putting dirty dishes in the dishwasher, IMMEDIATELY!

2. If I could drink wine for breakfast I would...okay a little bit of an exaggeration, but I love it!

3. Everything about eggs I hate. The smell, texture, taste....kissing Zach after he eats them...everything!

4. I have a KitchenAid mixer but have never used it...Zach uses it for everything he possibly can think to use it for, pudding, pancakes, chocolate milk....anything!

5. Empty space annoys me to no end.

6. I am a huge believer in love at first sight.

7. I believe that God has a plan for everyone, the power of prayer is incredible, and there is nothing better than forgiveness.

8. I have a bad addiction to ice cream...specifically Chocolate Raspberry Truffle...are there meetings for this?

9. I hate where I live....and I truly believe that this reflects in my attitude towards many things which I think I hate more.

10. I have always had a dream of having one big dog and one small dog and them being best friends. Parts of this I still hold on to. I want a French Bulldog and his name would be Fred.

11. I am scared to death of speed...which some of you would laugh at due to my numerous speeding tickets. But I am scared to go too fast on jet skis, can't ride on motorcycles, have a tough time with Atv's, galloping on horse...ahhhh, scared to go too fast skiing or sports like that. Terrified!

12. I wish I was more girly.

13. I love painting, any kind.

14. I cannot wait to be a mother....hopefully one day to 4....and if I am really hoping...to all boys...but once again...it is God's plan :)

15. I can't stand my neck being touched.

16. I get annoyed easily by control freaks.

17. I get disappointed often that I am not doing what I love and worked so hard for, being an interior designer.

18. I love paying things off....I feel a sense of victory!

19. I love surprises, sweet nothings, things you don't expect and cost NOTHING!

20. I have a hard time cooking because I constantly have to wash my hands.

21. I love Calendars. I love writing on the dates. I love marking the dates that have passed. I love looking at them and seeing what is coming up.

22. I love walking around stores and getting ideas that I may or may not ever use, just imagining is the fun of it.

23. I wish there was a Biggest Loser for people who needed to lose 20 or 30 lbs.

24. July 21, 2007 was one of the best days of my life.

25. Never in my life have I felt so loved.

Mmmm...Mmmmm

Paula has done it again! A new love is beginning. Seriously, go buy this cookbook. Last night, Creamy Chicken and Asparagus was the plan. I LOVE asparagus! and it was absolutely wonderful. And.....yes.....this is the highlight of my day that is why it is the topic of the blog! But I am really starting to enjoy this cooking thing, especially seeing Zach enjoy the dishes so much. And it is so much easier than I thought.

Also, on Biggest Loser last night, celebrity chef Curtis Stone from TLC's Take Home Chef made an appearance. He showed the contestants how to make a healthy alternative to buffalo wings, of course one of my favs. His replacement was chicken skewers, the skewer being a rosemary branch. He put the chicken on the grill and topped with a honey mustard glaze....It sounded wonderful. So of course, with my new cooking enthusiasm....I found the recipe on NBC.com.

Here is it and the link to all the other recipes he did:

INGREDIENTS

Juice of 3 oranges
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
6 large sprigs of rosemary about 10 to 12 inches long, with half the leaves removed

METHOD

· Preheat a grill or grill pan on medium high heat.

Place the orange juice into a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the orange juice has the consistency of a very thin syrup.

Add the Dijon, honey, garlic, and ginger and continue cooking over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove from heat to allow flavors to meld and reserve.

Evenly divide the cubed chicken among the rosemary sprigs and skewer the chicken onto the exposed part of the rosemary sprigs.

Lightly brush the grill with oil and grill chicken for 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165F on an instant read thermometer.

Remove skewers from the grill to a serving plate, drizzle with the orange sauce and serve immediately.

For more healthy eating and cooking! http://www.nbc.com/The_Biggest_Loser/exclusives/nutrition/curtis-stone-recipes//

Not so Disasterous

I didn't let our awful hummus get me down.....I tried at the "cooking" thing again tonight and it was quite a success, if I do say so myself. A couple weekends ago, I was up at Crystal's and she was cooking something out of Paula Dean's Kitchen Classics Cookbook. Me...not quite the cook she is, remembers that I have that cookbook at home....of course it was gathering dust in the cabinet. So, I decided to find the easiest thing to make from it and see if I could do it. I made meatloaf tonight and it was delicious and so easy. I got some more ingredients from the store to make some of her other recipes so hopefully I will have the same success. Here is the recipe...and you should definitely get this cookbook!

Serves 4

1 lb. ground beef
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup bell pepper (I forget this part but was still really good...don't tell Zach :))
1 egg, lightly beaten
8 ounces canned diced tomatoes with juice (of course I didn't read the directions...what's new and drained the juice...still really good though)
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix all ingredients well and place in baking dish....meaning get your hands dirty!

Topping (best part...really made it delicious)

1/3 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1 tablespoon prepared mustard

Mix ingredients for topping and spread on loaf. Bake 1 hour. SO easy, so good!

A Day to Pray

Today marks the 36th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v. Wade. As you all know this is the act that legalized abortions in America. If you feel it in your heart today, please pray for the sanctity of life, for all unborn children, for all scared soon to be mothers who feel that abortion is the only way, for all women who have had abortions and for all those who will in the future. Please also pray for President Obama and his views on this act.

Thanks

What a Disaster!

Zach and I have been on a huge hummus kick for the past couple weeks....we just can't get enough of it. So, this past weekend when my Mom was down, we decided to get all the ingredients to make "home-made" hummus. Ummm.....NEVER AGAIN! Can we say digusting! We tried so hard to make it better by adding more garlic or more olive oil...maybe a couple me chick peas....maybe it will be better with the pita chips....maybe maybe maybe....GROSS! We have offically decided to ALWAYS buy our hummus made!

A Great Weekend

This weekend my parents came into town to visit. We had such a great and relaxing time. Zach and Dad went to play golf on Saturday morning....they couldn't have asked for a better day. It was absolutely gorgeous! Mom and I ran tons of errands and I took her to Fairhope. I, once again, love that town. We walked around, got coffee, bought next years Christmas cards (good sales), went into Red & White and got La Linda....a good red wine from Argentina....we had to get it....for those of you that don't know...my mom's name is Linda. After a long conversation with the owner of Stationary Studio, I don't think she had talked to anyone all day, we headed home. That night we went to Mateer's for dinner....SO GOOD!!!!! I think they have some of the best hummus I have ever had...AMAZING! Sunday we went to Church and then headed to Jesse's for lunch....once again AMAZING. Of course football games were on, so Dad and Zach went home to watch and me and mom talked to Kaitlin on Skype in Krystal's, the only place we could find that had wifi. I would not suggest doing this to anyone. So gross...but well worth it to talk to Kaitlin. They left around 6:30 and our weekend is done. It was so much fun though and thank you so much for making the drive to come see us! We love you!

Also, thank you everyone for keeping us in your prayers. Zelda has a consultation with the doctor on Thursday to hopefully schedule surgery to get her gallbladder removed. But she seemed to be doing well when I talked to her on Saturday. Rickey is still a little sore from surgery but is doing well too. Thanks again!

I now have a request for you to keep me and Zach in your prayers. Nothing too big...but a couple extra prayers never hurt, right :)

Prayer Request

Hey Everyone-

Please keep Zach's parents in your prayers.

Rickey went to the ER Saturday night after having chest and neck pains. Sunday morning, he went into surgery to put a stint in. He was 80% blocked so thank goodness he listened to the signals his body was sending him.

Zelda went to the ER yesterday afternoon after having severe pain in her sternum area and having trouble breathing. Last night, they ran tests on her and found out nothing was wrong with her gallbladder. They ran some more tests last night and have also ruled out her kidneys....but still have not found anything wrong. Please be thinking of her. She is still in a lot of pain, sometimes the meds the doctor gives her just isn't enough. Please pray for the doctors too that they find out what is wrong.

Thank you!

Question to the Mothers

Hi All-

Quick Question. How important is it to feed toddlers and kids strictly organic diets? Is it a trend right now? Is it something that mothers read tons about and then feel terrible if they haven't been feeding their children this way? Or is it just a marketing scheme for certain lines to make more money? I wonder if a study has been done to actually see what classifies something as "organic". It is unbelievable the difference in price. Now, don't get me wrong. I am all for eating the healthiest way, especially for kids, but does that mean that if my grocery doesn't carry a strict organic line that I am worse off for it. I just wondered what you all thought about it too.

Happy Birthday Chrysti!

I hope you have a wonderful day! I know it is going to be full of packing and filling in holes with spackle but it is your day! Go eat some Chick-fil-a and that will make it great....ohhh and get some ice cream!

I love you and I am so glad you are such a part of my life!

A Pleasant Suprise

Sunday I received a call from KAITLIN! I was so excited....you don't realize how much you are going to miss someone until they are gone. Kaitlin is the person I call for just about anything so we usually talk about 15 times a day...only for minutes at a time...but it definitely adds up. So not having her for my random calls has been hard. But she called yesterday and we got to catch up. She sounded great and seemed to be having a wonderful time. We also set up Skype to talk to each other....it is so cool and free! It is hard though to be at our computers at the same time considering she is 6 hours ahead. Some of the things she was telling me about were really interesting.

In Spain, they take a break in the middle of the day and EVERYTHING closes....EVERYTHING! Everyone goes home and eats lunch at 2 and has "Nap Time" until 5. After 5, everyone goes back to work or school or whatever. Kind of crazy. They don't eat dinner until 9, which is very different....and they go to bed really late she said. She drank wine with lunch....wouldn't mind that sometimes, but it is very normal in Spain.

I can't wait to travel abroad some day....That is something on my list that WILL GET CHECKED OFF!

Abroad in Alcala

My little sister, Kaitlin, is leaving today to study abroad in Spain. She started a blog because the internet is really her only way of communicating while overseas. So, please keep her in your prayers as she travels!

Her blog is http://www.abroadinalcala.blogspot.com/ if you want to keep up with her fun adventures.

Happy New Year

I can't believe it is already 2009! Where does the time go?

Zach and I spent New Year's Eve with some friends and went to dinner at Ginny Lane's, one of our favorite restaurants in town. It was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, Zach had to work the next morning, so after dinner we headed home. I watched the ball drop in Time Square while Zach feel sound asleep...exciting I know.

I am very excited for this year...Zach and I already have a lot planned and a lot to look forward to.

My 2009 Resolution is to be more patient....it is definitely a tough one...especially for me. I tend to jump to conclusions at times and it gets me into trouble. So pray for me!

I hope all of you rang in the New Year with the ones you love and are looking forward to 2009 as much as I am.