fRiDaY FaVs!

TGIF!!! Everyone, this is my first attempt at making the blog revolve another topic besides just ourselves! A fantastic topic, indeed, but maybe not of as much interest to everyone else as it is to us! :)

We are aways trying new things, and sometimes I just can't resist passing them along so that others can enjoy them as much as we do.  Sometimes I just stumble upon something really nifty and think others would find it useful! A lot of these are probably going to be recipes.  This week I'm going to list several things...this post will be a long one!... because it's my first try at this and I have had a lot of ideas of things I'd like to share.  I will probably stick to just one or two things most weeks going forward. Most of these are not my own ideas, so I'm going to try to always put links to the original source!

Recipe of the Week: Mexican Restaurant Queso Blanco

I know I have got some Laredo's lovers out there and it has been very hard moving to Columbus and not having access to their incredible cheese dip!! I discovered this recipe online and had to give it a try...it's true.  It really does taste just like the dip in the restaurant.  Maybe even better! I'm not kidding!! And it was SO easy.  I threw this together in about 10 minutes...in the microwave!... before having Jon and Autumn over for dinner the other night. Piece of cake.  Probably cost about $4 for the whole recipe and there was enough to last for more than one meal.  

Here is the site with the recipe: http://penniesonaplatter.com/2011/11/30/queso-blanco-dip-the-second-and-final-attempt/

The recipe suggests using Land 'O Lakes cheese, but I actually just used a block of Kraft White American cheese slices, which were just one pound as opposed to the 1.25 pounds suggested by the recipe, but it turned out fine and I suspect the cheese slices were easier to melt than the block of cheese would have been.

Date Idea of the Week: Fondue night!

This was a tough one between a picnic and a fondue night, but I figure most people already know how to go on a picnic. You don't have to have a fondue pot to do fondue...but if you are going to cook meat in it, I would say it is a necessity.  I would definitely recommend this one, which is what we have: http://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-CFO-3SS-Electric-Fondue-Maker/dp/B00018RR48

It is a common misconception that fondue is a huge mess and not worth the trouble.  Actually, I do not find it to be any messier than most other recipes I make.  You have to chop up a bunch of veggies and meat...all that requires is a knife and a cutting board.  You also have to make the fondue, but really all you need for that is a saucepan (if making it on the stove and transferring it to the fondue pot)...many recipes are even made direcly in the pot.  Our pot has a nonstick surface, and it comes apart from the chord, so it's easy to clean.  It's really the easiest thing in the world, so don't let it scare you!

As you can see in the below pictures from last weekend (yesterday's post), we do both cheese fondue and the "coq au vin" fondue, which is what we cook our meat in.  You can be really creative with your dippers, which is why I love it so much. For the cheese fondue, we have found that some of the best dippers are brocoli, artichokes, bread, and tomatoes.  We have also dipped celery, but have found it doesn't soften enough.  You can try with just about anything you would think is good with cheese, which is...well, just about anything.  Here is the recipe we used the other night..it was very good and came off The Melting Pot blog:

http://fonduefanatics.com/chefs-corner/recipes/  <-- Scroll down to the "Irish Aged Cheddar Cheese Fondue".  This recipe was perfect for us last weekend because we had so much Guinness left over from the St. Patty's party.

I have also used this recipe, and it was quite good as well: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Creamy-Veggie-Fondue/Detail.aspx

I used these recipes because they didn't call for any unique (i.e. expensive) cheeses.

The past few times we have done fondue, we have used the following recipe to cook our meat in.  I like it because I have found that I normally already have all the ingredients on hand (except for the mushrooms):

http://www.grouprecipes.com/42405/melting-pot-coq-au-vin-fondue.html

I make the coq au vin in a sauce pan and then transfer it to the fondue pot to simmer.

We have cooked chicken, steak (recommend filet mignon...it makes a huge difference.  When we make fondue, I ask the butcher at the store to seperate a package of filets into just a single, because we usually have some other meat dippers on hand and we don't want anything to go to waste), and tuna filets in the coq au vin and all have turned out well.  I'd like to try shrimp, too.  The steak and tuna, if you try it, can be cooked to your preference, but make sure you let the chicken cook several minutes.  The vegetables that we have cooked with our meats are cauliflower, onions, bell peppers, and mushrooms.  We tried new potatoes with it last week, but if I would have researched it, I would have found out that it is best to steam the potatoes before using them with the fondue.  They just weren't able to cook enough by dipping them in the coq au vin alone to make them mushy and flavorful.

Why do I think this is such a fantastic date night?? Maybe because Chris and I eat in front of the TV most nights, but when we "fondue", we actually sit down at the table and talk for hours.  It takes a long time to do the fondue because you have to cook everything individually.  It's kind of like a meal and entertainment, all in one. It's very romantic and fun.  It's fun to try different combinations of veggies and meat.  If you have ever been to the Melting Pot (highly recommend if you haven't!), you know what a great date night that is...and how expensive it is! Fondue night allows you to have a similar experience for a fraction of the cost.  Yes, you have to do the work yourself, which I suppose makes it less relaxing.  But I would highly recommend either investing in a fondue pot or borrowing one and giving this date night a shot!

Favorite Decor Idea of the Week: Hanging Plates

I tried this simple decorating idea last weekend and just love how it turned out! My mom and I found the plates I used at various antique stores.  You can find the plate hangers just about everywhere for around $1-2.  You could use any color plate to match your color scheme!

Here are some more pictures that I found online:

This is kind of the model I used, since the color scheme of our kitchen is yellow and blue.

Wouldn't this be fun to do! Esspecially if you collected plates from special places you had been, or as gifts, etc...

    

Craft of the Week: Doiley Candle Holders

If I were you, I would not expect a "craft of the week" every week...but this week, I actually got around to this idea that I saw at some point or another on Pinterest.  It was SO easy!

1.) Purchase some doileys at an antique store, or at my case, at Michaels.  I bought mine in Easter colors, but of course you could do them any color!

2.) Blow up some balloons to be the right size for you to fit the doileys over them and be the shape that you want once they are finished.  I rested the balloons on top of some pub glasses to keep them from rolling around.

3.)Heat up 3/4 cups of sugar and 1/4 cup of water over medium-high heat in a saucepan and stir until the mixture looks uniform, but don't boil.

4.) Dip the doileys in the mixture and get them entirely drenched. Squeeze out the excess.

5.) Drape the doileys over the balloons and let them dry...it takes only a few hours.  Then they will be solid! So just pop the balloon and they are ready to go!

The only adjustment I would make to this is because you have to mash down the bottom once they are dry to make make them stand up straight, since they are curved on the bottom from drying over the balloon.  Chris and I were thinking that if I had not soaked the centers of the doiley in the sugar mixture, and the centers had not have dried stiff, they would have rested flat on the surface I sat them on.  Hope that makes sense!

Now I would stop reading now if you are short on time, because the rest of this post is PRETTY long!



iPhone Apps of the Week...no, Month...no, Year: Cozi & Food on the Table

  Sorry, but this logo image is not wanting to cooperate with my trying to make it smaller!

If you and your husband/wife/child/boyfriend/roommate are having a difficult time coordinating your schedule and keeping everything in one, simple, organized spot...you HAVE GOT to dowload this app! If you don't have an iPhone, you can still use this online.  I bet you can get it on other smartphones as well.  Here is the site: http://www.cozi.com/

What do I love about Cozi? First of all, the calendar function lets Chris and me organize our calendars from our phones...and we can look at either the "Amanda" calendar, the "Chris" calendar, or the "All" calendar.  We could even make a calendar for Mason if we wanted to.  So now, when I'm trying to plan something, I can look at the calendar and see if Chris has a test the next day or something.  I might decide to plan whatever it is for a different night in that case. There is a text bar at the type of the calendar where you could type something like "Amanda has yoga at 5:30pm every Wednesday"...it will automatically put yoga on the calendar at 5:30 every Wednesday indefinitely.  No more having to go to a certain day on my iPhone calendar and tediously type in every bit of information...I can just type it in conversational format! Another example would be "Concert on April 21 at the park ampitheatre"...in this case, it would default to the "All" calendar and to an "All Day" event...and even fill in the location for me. 

Cozi also keeps all of your shopping lists together.  So now, when I go to the store, I have a list that I can "check" off, that Chris is able to add/delete items on as well.  So if he goes to the store and picks up  everything on the list and doesn't tell me, we won't wind up with two of everything.  And if I go to the store and he has special requests that he forgot to tell me, there's no having to make a second trip. He can add the items to the list from his phone.  The shopping lists also have the Amanda/Chris/All distinctions.

My final favorite feature (there are even more features that I don't use) is the To-Do List function.  This works the same as the grocery list, and is convenient so that both of us are clear on what we each want to accomplish during the week or weekend.

The next app I want to share is the Food on the Table app: http://www.foodonthetable.com/

You can also use the website-version of this if you don't have a smartphone.  I have already saved a good bit of money using this.  I know there is a monthly premium membership where you have to pay, but I was able to get mine for free with the code MARFREE, which I would guess will continue working through tomorrow. 

The app allows you to choose the grocery stores you shop at, and your meal preferences (meat? fish? vegetarian? low fat? low carb?).  Then it produces lists of recipes, all rated by other users and marked if they contain items that are on sale at the store you shop at.  You can click through the recipes, and add them to your recipes for the week.  From those, it gives you a grocery list.  I scan the list, mark off items I already have...and in my case, I add the items I need to buy to my Cozi list, but you could also use the list on the app if you would rather, or just print it out.  The site focuses on EASY, CHEAP meals! I like to cook unique meals out of my cookbooks pretty regularly...but some nights, you just need to...well, put "Food on the Table" and you need to do it efficiently!

Best Coupon Websites of All Time

People are always asking me when I am going to teach them to coupon.  I will be happy to give lessons on this subject any day of the week because I love couponing! Right now my stockpile is pretty low, because unfortunately, the grocery stores around here are not the best couponing grocery stores.  I haven't been to Birmingham the past few weeks, but I always do some major grocery shopping when I go because the best of the best place to coupon is Publix.  My Phi Mu big sis, Sybil, taught me how to coupon at Publix two whole years ago, and I have been getting 70%+ off of groceries ever since! You really don't even need a lesson if you just go to this website:

http://www.iheartpublix.com/ 

Once again, sorry about the huge image, but this website really deserves one!!

If you go to iheartpublix, you will find a complete set of instructions on how to coupon in general, and how to coupon at Publix.  If you live in Columbus, I would suggest keeping up with this page so that when you drive through Tuscaloosa, you can hit the Publix there.  The Publix in Tuscaloosa takes Target coupons, a huge advantage! Only some of the Birmingham Publix's (Publixes?) take Target coupons and not all of them double.  If you live in Atlanta, you will find that you can use just about any competitor coupon, and that they double.  Unfortunately, most Florida stores neither double OR offer the 1/2 off BOGO (more on that later).  Auburn Publix does not take Target coupons, but they do double.

I am going to give a brief "how to" on couponing, but I would encourage you to visit this website if you want to know more.  This is how I do it:

1.) Collect coupons everywhere you can and keep them organized.  Get a file, organized by section of the grocery store, where you will keep any coupons that you peel off of items at the store (morally acceptable according to iheartpublix.com), take from "blinkies", "tearpads", or free samples, etc.  This makes it easy to find the right coupon while you are at the store.  I also organize mine by expiration date, so that when they expire, you can throw them away (OR send them to overseas military families, who can use them up to 6 months after expiration.  For more, see http://thekrazycouponlady.com/coupons-for-military/)   IMPORTANT: If you decide to collect Sunday paper coupons and clip all of them, you will get burned out quickly! I suggest using the "insert method".  Keep the entire insert together, make a list (if you want) of what it contains along with the last expiration date in the insert so you know when you can toss it, and file it away.  If you use iheartpublix, or any other similar couponing website, they will tell you exactly what insert to go to if you need a coupon.  To decide if you even want to buy a paper, you can use http://www.sundaycouponpreview.com/, but be advised that not all cities have the best coupons...always buy the paper for the biggest city you have access to!

2.) Every Monday, go to iheartpublix.com around 10am and she will give you a preview of everything on sale for the week.  She tells you EXACTLY where to get the coupons.  If it's a printable, she will give you the link.  If it's a Sunday paper coupon, she will tell you exactly what week and which insert you will find it in.

3.) Plan, plan, plan your trip! Make a grocery list with expected prices that you will pay before and after the coupons, so you will know if some of your coupons aren't scanned correctly.  Keep in mind that sales tax is added before the price of the coupon comes off.  Therefore, if an item is $1, and tax is 8%, and you have a $1 coupon, you will still pay the $.08 in tax.

The beauty of couponing at Publix (and the reason that it is the best place to coupon) is BOGO! At most stores, the "Buy One Get One" really means "Buy each at 1/2 off". (The exception is Florida...there, the first item is full price and the second is actually free.  Therefore, to get the bet deal, you would need to purchase and have coupons for both items.) Most Publixes (Publix's?) double coupons up to $.50 and accept one store coupon and one manufacturers coupon per item.  Publix puts out tons of store coupons, and as mentioned before, accepts competitor coupons as store coupons! So consider this scenario:

Barber's Chicken Breast, normally $6.99, this week on BOGO.  I have a $.50 off 1 ($.50/1) coupon that I got out of my All You magazine (another great source for coupons)...it will double to $1.  I also have a $1/1 coupon from a Publix flyer, available at the store.  I am going to buy this chicken for $1.50 ($7.99/2 -1 - 1)...that is over 75% off! There are deals like this every week at Publix.  It will take you a while to build up a stockpile of coupons.  Once you get there, you will be set. 

Many people don't want to try couponing because they think it is too time consuming.  Couponing takes me a maximum of about 45 mins a week.  When I go to the grocery store, I will typically save $50+.  $50 for less than an hour of work is WAY more than I get paid at my job, so I would say it is worth my time!

Some people also say that with couponing, you tend to buy things you don't need.  Dang right I buy things I don't need...at the moment! Successful couponing requires you to build a "stockpile" of food, so that you can have enough to last you until the next great deal comes around.  I also buy things that I don't need at the moment, but I think may come in handy when I make a certain recipe.  I buy chips to save for a tailgate, pickles to save for a week when hamburger meat goes on sale, or bread crumbs for when it's time to try a new recipe that calls for them.  I don't build a stockpile of Zebra Cakes because we don't eat those ever.  I love buying frozen or canned items that will last a long time, until I'm ready to eat them.  You don't need to be a crazy hoarder like the people on Extreme Couponers and make an extra room in your house for coupons and stockpiles, but you should try to keep your pantry full!

Wow, I just said A LOT about couponing! Hopefully I've convinced you that it's worth your time and effort, because it really is easy once you get the hang of it.

Military Couponers:

http://thehappyhousewife.com/real-life/category/journal/military/military-commissary-deals/

Lists coupon matchups for the commissary.  The commissary is a little harder to coupon at because they have a more limited selection and don't discount things steeply from their regular price...but... the commissary has the lowest prices every day, so you are still saving a lot, even if it doesn't show on your receipt.

http://commissarycoupons.blogspot.com/p/whats-on-sale.html

Great list of resources for couponing at your commissary

Whew, alright I think that's all! This really wasn't just a weekly "Friday Favs" post, it was a "My favorite things through the years until this Friday" post.  If I keep doing it, the others will be shorter, promise!!

Thanks for reading!

A Toast to the Future...

Ahhh...another week has come and has almost gone...this week carried some news with it that required a little celebration.  I can't resist a good chance to build suspense and I just can't share this news with the blog world yet.  Keep reading over the next several months and eventually I will have to spill it.  All I'm going to say is...it's NOT a baby!!! Wanted to make that clear!

This weekend was a relaxing one and was far too short! Saturday morning was spent doing taxes...yuck! Taxes are no fun, esspecially when you owe them instead of getting the nifty refund that lots of people get!  Of course they say it is more fiscally responsible to pay taxes in April because that means that you have been earning interest on your money all year instead of giving it to the government to earn interest on, just so you can get a refund (with no interest).  That doesn't make writing checks to the government any more fun...even as a lisence-pending CPA, taxes make me so paranoid that I will leave something out, so hopefully we won't get any "screw-up" letters from the IRS!

To blow off some steam after that miserable task, Chris and I went out to the CAFB lake for a picnic.  I made guacamole bacon grilled cheese sandwhiches and homemade hummus and we brought a bottle of wine out and played with Mason.  I am just loving this weather!

Complete with homemade bread :)

Saturday night was fondue night...I had been meaning to bust out the fondue set again, and I figured that the rare weekend spent at home with no big events planned was the perfect weekend for it.

Chris had some studying to do on Monday, so I kept myself busy by making some Easter candle-holders out of doileys, doing a little decorating in the kitchen and around the house, and some other things on my list.  For lunch we made black bean burgers and they were delicious! For those of you who like to save money and who aren't scared of veggie substitutes, I would highly recommend this.  Black bean burgers don't necessarily taste like hamburgers, but they are low fat and very delicious! And get this...6 black bean burgers cost about $1.50.  I'm pretty sure you would be lucky to make 6 hamburgers for $5.  We put the leftover guacamole from the picnic along with some white cheddar cheese on them and they were dee-lish.

Monday we had Jon and Autumn over for dinner.  Autumn left Tuesday to go to Washington for a couple of weeks for a wedding so it was nice to catch up before she headed out.  Tuesday we returned to Little Tokyo and it was my turn to take a picture with the sushi "Love Boat".




Fast forward many years, and I feel like this picture of me would be a pretty good indication of what our future teenage sons could look like...haha


So, I've been doing a little updating on the blog and have decided on a couple of things.  First of all, there is a new page that I'm going to add tomorrow with all the events going on in Columbus.  Lately, I have had quite a few people ask me how I know everything that's going on, and it's mainly because I just look high and low to find some fun events to try.  However, Columbus isn't the type place that you can just google "events this weekend in Columbus, MS" and come up with...well, anything! Hopefully this page will be useful to some of our friends here, to me, and to any of our friends/family who I know are looking for excuses to visit us :)

Another thing I'm going to start doing tomorrow is something I'm going to call Friday Favs.  I know some of my friends are laughing at what a nerd I am right now! Laugh on, but I know you will love it! I am constantly coming up with recipes, tips, products, ideas, etc that I want to share with the people I care about.  I have gotten even more obsessed with this since a.) joining Pinterest, and b.) becoming an avid blog-reader. The problem with these venues is that on Pinterest, as much as I love it, it is hard to keep organized the things you would like to try, and the things you have tried.  Beyond that, it's hard to organize the things you would recommend that you have tried, and the things you wouldn't recommend.  Plus, not everyone has Pinterest, and it's not the best avenue to describe things in too much detail. 

The main problem with sharing things on this blog is that, unlike most of the blogs I read, which focus on cooking/decorating/crafting/couponing, etc, this blog isn't really about anything except for, well...us! I am not an expert enough in any field to attempt dedicating an entire blog to it, nor do I have the time.  But I do have time to write reviews about the many venues I use, whether sucessfully or unsuccessfully, to spice things up and keep them interesting.  I have been sharing these in the blog all along, but not in much detail, and I feel that they kind of "clutter" the point I am usually trying to make, which is, more or less, "here is what we did this week".  This way, if you don't care what we do, you can just read my Friday Favs posts, and if you don't care about the Friday Favs, you can just read the normal posts. 

Chris passed his test on Monday with a 90 and has another one, the hardest one so far, tomorrow on weather.  Then he is done with academics and gets to take his first flight! Everyone wish him luck and keep him in your prayers... He passed his PFT (Physical Fitness Test) yesterday and did even better on it than he did on the last one.  Next week he begins FORMAL release (this is a correction...previously I ha written permanent release, but thank goodness, it's not permanent!) which means that he will be gone a mandatory twelve hours a day.  So if he goes in at 4am, he gets off at 4pm.  If he goes in at 9:30am he gets off at 9:30pm.  He doesn't get to choose when he goes in, it's all on a schedule and will vary day to day.  We hope this demanding schedule only lasts the minimum amount of time.  The amount of time spent on formal release depends on how long it takes the class to meat certain qualifications.

So there is the update! Ever since I have gotten so into reading blogs, I have been itching to try something different with ours...we will see how it goes! I'll leave you with some pics of our house all decorated for Easter. Thanks for reading!

I am in the market for some Easter egg placemats...if anyone knows where I can get some, let me know!

That is one of my homemade doiley candle holders.

My other candle holders.

See how hard Chris is studying for his tests...wait, that's an ESPN magazine.

Yes, we have light up Easter eggs!

A Time for Everything

I have taken another long break from blogging due to the past few weeks containing so many events.  Some have been very joyful, and some have been very sad.  That’s life, and it’s important to put into perspective the fact that no day is guaranteed to us.  Chris and I have always made it a point to take no day for granted. That was put to the test this week when we received some very bad news on short notice.

Before I get into some of the things that we have been up to, I would like to share that someone very special to us passed away this week.  Chris’ grandfather, Martin Beck, has been a huge role model and supporter of Chris throughout his life.  We were very shocked earlier this week when we found that he had come down with a case of pneumonia, which many of us already know can be very serious for older people. 

I have known Martin since I started dating Chris back in the 10^th grade.  He lived right down the road from Chris’ dad, and I always loved how involved he was with his family and how interesting and witty he always was.  He had so many interesting stories to tell, from his days as a Kappa Alpha pledge at Auburn to being a POW during WWII.  He was a very successful man.   He invented several machines related to turf farming and ran his own grass farm business before eventually settling into retirement and never letting a day go wasted.  If he wasn’t travelling to other countries, or even just to other states to visit his many old friends or spend a few days in Panama City, he was on the golf course.  He was also very generous.  He was absolutely the definition of someone I would call a “life-long” learner…he never stopped being interested in learning new things as he got older, and funded a lot of scholarships at Auburn.   He meant a lot to a lot of people, especially Chris and his brother, Warren.  I know everyone who knew him is sad to see him go, but the great thing is that we can look back on his life and see someone who had a lot of accomplishments and, more importantly, never stopped contributing to his family and community.  To me, this is very comforting during a time of grief.

Martin loved reading this blog and even asked about Mason when he was in the hospital and not doing well or talking much.  I heard him say several times that he thought Mason belonged in commercials. I’m glad that Mason got to pay him a visit a couple of weeks ago over the Christmas weekend. I know Martin is glad to have been able to watch his oldest grandson graduate from the Air Force Academy, be appointed as an officer, and get married.  

 I wish I would have found this earlier, but I was poking around online after hearing of his death, and found this copy of his original patent for a grass planter (as well as some other articles about this history of turf farming that mentioned his name for the other invention of his that I mentioned above).  I found it so inspiring and a perfect example of how brilliant he really was:

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/3159121.pdf

We will always remember Martin fondly and I know we are both so glad that we got to know him and that he was a part of our lives.  Please keep Chris, his brother Warren, dad Chris,Sr., and Martin’s wife, Virginia in your prayers.

Us with Martin and Virginia a couple of nights after we got engaged.

I must say, since Chris left Tuesday for his month of training in Pueblo, Colorado, I already feel the pressures of being military wife since I have been working in Birmingham this week and had to make special arrangements for Mason to stay with our friends Meredith and Ryan King during the day.  Still trying to figure out what I’m going to do with the little guy while I’m at work all day since he’s used to his daddy taking him out to play.  Oh, the trials of single motherhood!  For the first time since I started blogging I admit that I am just too busy this week to gather all the pictures I took together to post...especially since Chris has half of them on his iPhone.  Maybe I can get them up next week!

The last couple of weeks, we have really been busy.  Christmas was a special weekend since it was our first together.  We had the opportunity to spend some quality time with many of our family members that we don’t see as often, although I’m sure we would have spent longer with them if we would have had the time.  The good news is, it’s finally 2012 which means I get some vacation time! So maybe next year’s holidays won’t be so short.

We were especially glad to see Nancileigh and Matt, Chris’ grandparents who live in Florida.  We had not seen them since the wedding.  We also went to Phenix City Christmas evening to see some of my extended family.  We weren’t there for very long since we then came back to spend Christmas night at Chris’ dad’s house, but it was still nice just to pop in and say hello to everyone there. To be honest, I’m sure there were tons of things I was going to share about Christmas, but things have been such a whirlwind since then and so many other things have happened, I’m afraid to share too much because I don’t want to leave anything out J

Last week I took a week off of running to spend more time with Chris since I knew he would be leaving soon.  We packed up Thursday to go to Atlanta for the weekend to go to the bowl game.  Thursday night while we were getting dinner ready, I got a call from someone who is a super-special friend of mine (since the 7^th grade, plus we were roommates for all of undergraduate college at AU) with a surprise announcement…yes you guessed it, but I don’t think anyone was as surprised as she was.  My friend Hannah is engaged to her boyfriend, Chase.  They are another couple a lot like Chris and I who started dating in high school, took a little time apart in college which (apparently) made them realize that they couldn’t do without each other, got back together and, alas, they will be joining the married people club sometime soon. 

The bowl game weekend was awesome.  Friday night, we met up with another of my closest friends, Lauren Emily (I call her Ellie) and her fiancé Matt (they got engaged over Thanksgiving break…yay, another couple for the married people club!)…and also, with Sara and her boyfriend Aaron who spent the weekend in Atlanta with us…we went to this restaurant that I’m a big fan of in Atlanta, called Dante’s Down the Hatch.  If you love fondue and Pirates of the Caribbean, you should be a fan of this place.  There is a big boat in the middle with a real alligator in it (or maybe it’s a crocodile?).  

I am eternally grateful to Ellie for keeping Mason over the weekend! She is from the Atlanta area, and her house was just 20 minutes from our hotel in Buckhead.  We got into a real bind with Mason because all of the boarding facilities we tried to use were full.  Ellie volunteered to keep him and we could tell he had an awesome time because he so tired after the weekend was over! He got to play with her and Matt’s dogs (Mason loves to play!).

Saturday morning, Sara and I did some light shopping before meeting up with the guys to go to lunch in downtown Atlanta.  From there, we tailgated for the game at an RV tailgate that Dusty invited us to.  RV tailgates are so fun, I kind of want one! Anyway, the game was awesome and we won by way more than any of us thought we would!

After the game, the 6 of us (Ellie and Matt met back up with us) went to Gordon Biersh in midtown Atlanta.  This wound up being the most perfect plan, although I wasn’t sure how it would turn out at first.  I was concerned that if we tried to go to any of the Atlanta bar/clubs to ring in New Years that we would get lost in a huge crowd and spend way too much money on the expensive cover that most places had because of New Years.  Plus, I was afraid we would spend the “clock-stroking-midnight” moment waiting in line somewhere.  Plus I knew we would be hungry.  So, even though Chris and I love going out in Atlanta, we decided to take a different approach by making a reservation at Gordon Biersh at 11:30.  I really liked how we could make reservations that late on a website I use called Open Table, so we knew that we would have a guaranteed seat.  When we got there (about 11:45 after taking the Marta from the GA Dome), the restaurant was practically empty and we got served champagne and lots of food very quickly.  The restaurant was quiet enough for us to all talk and have a great time, and there were TVs everywhere where we could keep up with other games.  Did I mention the food? Football makes me hungry! Ellie’s sweet dad even picked us all up from Gordon Biersh and took us back so we didn’t have to wait forever on a cab or take the Marta back. 

Unfortunately, on the way home, that’s where we received notice that Chris’ grandfather was not doing well.  We changed our plans from going back to Columbus Sunday to going to Auburn.  Chris prepared some things that he wanted to tell his grandfather in case this was “it”.  Luckily, he got a chance to say those things and I know that now he is very glad that he got to.  We left Auburn feeling very encouraged that Martin was going to recover, because he looked well and acted positive in the time we spent with him.  However, we all know that it is not God’s will for us to live forever.  I do not claim to be familiar every verse in the Bible the way I probably should, but one that I am familiar with is in Ecclesiastes 3 and it has brought me comfort over the years during sad times. As it says, there is a time to be born and a time to die…a time to weep, and a time to laugh…a time to mourn, and a time to dance.  Chris and I have had many good times in the (almost) 6 months we have spent married.  Right now is a very difficult time because in the wake of Chris’ loss of his grandfather, he is far away in Colorado and will be unable to return for the funeral.  I am deeply saddened by Martin’s death, as well, and the one person I would really like to be able to comfort and to have comfort me cannot be here.  However, I know that the good times will come again and that the family can find comfort in each other and in his memory, and that Chris can have the relief of knowing he got to say goodbye before leaving to train.  Martin will be very much missed.

The Culinary Adventures of Chris and Amanda Beck (+ some other adventures...)

This week was a very busy and fun week for us.  Wednesday night Chris and Jon's beer was finally ready, and they were able to sample it for the first time.  It turned out to be a success, which is a good thing, because we have about 50 of them between all of us.  Here are some pictures of the beer's debut:

On Thursday night, Chris and I decided to try something a little different.  We had a Melting Pot "date night", and it was so much fun.  For those of you who have never visited The Melting Pot, you must try it ASAP! It's a LOT of fun.  The Melting Pot is a fondue restaurant that has locations in most big cities (Chris and I have been to the one in Colorado Springs and I have also been to the one in Houston). The meals there consist of 4 courses where you get to choose a cheese fondue appetizer which is served with bread and vegetables , a salad, a broth- or oil-based fondue to cook all kinds of delicious meats in (such as shrimp, chicken, steak, and pork), and a desert fondue like s'mores that you dip graham crackers, pound cakes, fruit, marshmallows, etc in. I got a couple of recipes online and decided to recreate two of those courses.  I made a vegetable cheese dip that had spinach, cheese, green onions, and several other ingredients in it.  I bought all kinds of vegetables at this farmers market store we have here in town that sells fresh produce that is locally grown, and we used those for dipping.  Then I made a Coq Au Vin fondue to cook our meat, which was chicken and steak.  Also, we figured if it were a real date night at the Melting Pot we would probably order a couple of their signature martinis. Chris made a couple of lemon drops and they were so delicious! We got to use the crystal martini glasses that we bought at the outlet mall in Destin when we were there with Tammy and Greg right before the wedding.  Also, Chris used the shaker set that his groomsman Dusty bought us. All in all we felt it was a huge success and I definitely think we will be doing it again! It really wasn't as much of a mess as I heard it would be...in fact, since we ate all the food, I only had to clean up a few things afterward.  The whole thing literally lasted about 3 hours, so it was a very relaxing way to spend the evening.

 

Friday night, we travelled to West Point to try out a new restaurant I had heard about called Anthony's Good Food Market.  The food there was really good, and driving to West Point from the base really only took us about 5 minutes longer than driving to downtown.  I definitely think we will be going there again, maybe on a Wednesday when they have live music.

Saturday morning was the Columbus AFB career day.  This was "mandatory" for students and "encouraged" for spouses.  First we sat through presentations on a lot of the planes that Chris could fly, where they discussed specific characteristics of the planes and well as the lifestyles, deployment rates, bases, etc. that go with each. Then we got to the cool part, which was going out to the runway where a lot of the planes were parked for the weekend for us to go look at.  Chris has been mostly interested in the C-17 lately, but he is open to considering other planes and, ultimately, it won't be his decision although he will get to request his top choices.  It was really cool getting to not only see, but actually go inside a bunch of these planes and talk to the people who fly them! I already knew that military planes were "armed" but I guess I had never really thought about exactly how armed they are...the plans had all kinds of bombs, missiles, guns, canons...pretty cool.  I took a ton of pictures:

Inside a Black Hawk helicopter

RC-135 "Cobra Ball" (Looks like Air Force One to me!)

Inside the RC-135

C-17, the plane that both Chris and Jon are currently interested in flying.

Inside...it's huge!

The Cockpit of the C-17

Jon and Chris outside the C-17 (Pilot and Co-Pilot hehe)

See how huge it is?!

A-10 "Warthog"

Scary cannon coming out of its mouth!

Bombs!

AC-130 "Spectre Gunship"

Just hoisting one of the many weapons on the sides!

C-17 from the front...I noticed how the wings went down, and now I can recognize it.

Outside the Blackhawk, with the refueling boom (the planes use it to refuel the helicopter in the air)

I thought it was funny that it said "Do not sit"

For the rest of the day on Saturday, we watched football, which was fairly miserable since all the teams I wanted to win lost (including Auburn of course). We had a late celebration of Chris' 25th birthday.  I made fried zucchini and stuffed tomatoes, and Chris grilled some filet mignons (we get excellent prices on meat at the commissary). My fried zucchini was fine, but the stuffed tomatoes were really good, and of course the steak was fantastic.  I have been trying to learn how to fry things, and have tried zucchini, sweet potatoes, fried green tomatoes and asparagus, but I think I am done because it never turns out that great (never bad, just never great), and fried food is bad for you anyway, so I think that may have been my last attempt at it. Except maybe fried green tomatoes, which were really good.

This is starting to sound a little like a cooking blog, but I just got to spend a lot of time in the kitchen this past week, which I really enjoyed.  On Sunday, Autumn and I came up with the idea of having a fall party as an excuse to do all the "fall" things that are fun to do, such as carve our pumpkins.  This was also a good excuse for me to make a couple of recipes that I was really wanting to try.  I made pumpkin bread with our bread machine, and even used real homemade pumpkin puree instead of the canned stuff.  I added chopped pecans to the recipe and it was really good! I definitely think I will be making it again.  I also made caramel apples.  I have never even tried a caramel apple and I also don't really have much of a sweet tooth, but I have always wanted to try them, just because they are a fall tradition and so pretty! My most recent monthly Paula Deen magazine (a wedding gift that keeps on giving) had some really fun looking caramel apples in it that were coated with chopped pecans, so I gave them a try and made the caramel from scratch. They looked really pretty on the plate...they weren't so pretty to eat, but they tasted good, and Chris took the leftovers to the fighter pilot squadron he works in, so I'm sure they will enjoy them too. Here is the table of food.  Autumn made the cider and cookies and other sweets, and my bread is in the bread basket but you can't see it.

We had a group of about 8 or so at Autumn and Jon's house.  The guys watched football while the girls carved our pumpkins. Here is mine:

It was fun socializing with some other wives.  I'm definitely happy to have a job, but sometimes I feel like it is going to be hard to make friends as long as I have one since I am the only spouse I have met so far with a full-time job.  Chris and I had to leave the party a little early because I had to wake up so early. A lot of the events on base are during the middle of the day, which just doesn't work for me.  From what I have heard, there will be a lot more social opportunities to meet new friends once Chris starts pilot training and gets in his class.  Until then, I have really enjoyed the opportunities I have gotten to meet some interesting people, and I also am really thankful that I have been able to keep in touch with my old friends so well.

Other news from the weekend: Chris and I put up these lights on our patio.  I think they add a lot of "ambiance" and kind of look like a starry night.  Chris did most of the work...I'm so glad he's such a handy man because I am not!

We decided instead of building a fence for Mason we would try getting him a cable/chord thing and attaching it outside so that when he paws at the door when it's 30 degrees outside, we can just put him out for 5-10 minutes and not have to stand out there with him.  Part of the reason we didn't want to get a fence is because they are expensive and we would have to put it up ourselves, plus the lawn people wouldn't mow our grass anymore.  And, let's face it, a chain link fence can be a bit unattractive.  But we would have put up the fence if that were the best option.  After giving Mason a test run on his cable, we were reminded of why this would never work: Mason is a digger.  He can dig an 8" hole in a matter of minutes! I don't think we could bury a fence deep enough for him to not eventually dig under, especially if we left him out long enough.  Look how filthy he got just from us leaving him out for a few minutes...he dug 3 holes! Granted, the ground was muddy from the rain.

When we use the chord for it's purpose, which is to let Mason "go potty" without us having to supervise him, we don't think we'll have this problem.  We would only have him out for a couple of minutes and when he has to do his business, that pretty much keeps him occupied.  This is what happens when we leave him out there with nothing to do and nothing to chew on. We will definitely have to keep an eye on it, because we can't be bathing him every time we let him out!

Yesterday I ran the farthest I have ever run without stopping, which was 6 miles.  I am really enjoying training for my ½ marathon, and almost to the halfway point (which would be 6 ½ miles).  I don't ever actually have to run 13 miles under the training program I'm doing until race day.  The longest I will have to run is 10 miles.

We found a BLACK WIDOW on our patio yesterday after Chris sprayed for bugs.  It is so scary! Don't worry, we sprayed it with spider killer, then smacked it until it was in little pieces.  Hopefully we will never see another one!

Today is the only day I will be here this week, as I am leaving for Birmingham tomorrow for work.  Chris is joining me on Thursday, and we are driving straight to Auburn after work Friday for the game against Ole Miss.  Two of Chris' friends from the Academy are coming, too, so it should be a good time. We are looking forward to what will hopefully be an Auburn win! Next Monday is trick-or-treating on base, and we have some funny costumes that we are wearing, so I am looking forward to posting some pictures of those next week! Until then, xoxo...The Becks