eXciTiNg NEWS

DRUM ROLL . . . . .

as of last night, January 30,

LUKE - my (2 day younger) cousin,

groomsman in our wedding

JESS - my friend, former roomate & Maid of Honor;
Jake's sister & my sister-in-law

LUKE & JESS - are ENGAGED to be married!!!

Jess & I were roommates for 2 years in MN. We became close friends. During those two years as roommates, Jess would occasionally mention how I should meet her brother, Jake. Jess (and the other Flaming sisters) would also mention this to Jake. I would in turn say how Jess should meet my cousin, Luke. Luke & I are only 2 days apart. We grew up together in PA thru 3rd grade. Then we attended college at BJU.

SOOO . . . last fall Jess's set up of Jake & I finally worked. Jake & I began talking in September & you all know the rest. After we became engaged (January 18, 2008-which is also Luke's birthday), Jake & I started asking our bridal attendants. Once Jess & Luke accepted, I knew i had to start working harder on this set up. I would regularly (not at all subtly) mention my SINGLE cousin, Luke, to Jess. I would also call Luke & tell him to get on this & start talking to/facebooking with Jess. They met each other at the wedding & the rest is history.

The matchmaking went full circle. We are so excited for them! CONGRATULATIONS Jess & Luke!

biRtHdAy FeStiViTiEs! (part 2)

Tuesday night, after work, I stopped at school quick to decorate Jake's office for his golden birthday.  

I dropped off a BIG chocolate chip cookie (in a bar pan) Wednesday morning for the WCA Faculty.  We had dinner at Carraba's (Jake's favorite) before heading to Youth Group.

I bought a cake to bring to Youth Group.  

Jake spoke to the High School Wednesday night and did a great job.

Opening gifts. . .

One of Jake's gifts was a tv mount.  

Our tv has been sitting on the fireplace harth since September.  When I got home from work today, he already had it mounted (not even 24 hours later!).

biRtHdAy FeStiViTiEs!

Happy golden Birthday,
to my Handsom Husband!

Jake is 28 on 01.28.2009

(I'll post pictures of today's festivities later.)

SIX Months

I can't believe that Jake & I celebrate 6 months of marriage today.  We already had our weekend away.  Tonight we are just relaxing at home, together.  We don't have free nights at home that often.

Jake brought home flowers & chocolate covered espresso beans from Fresh Market.

I made a chocolate layer cake with cream cheese frosting (Jake's pick) for our anniversary/his birthday.

sNoW in NC

Jake had a SnOw day today!

Unfortunately, I still had to work a full day.

It's been snowing most of the day.

This was taken mid-morning.

Birthday Freebies!!!

Yup, they're all FREE . . . no strings attached.

Hollywood Video - Free Rental 

Cold Stone Creamery -Free Ice Cream

Red Robin - Free Dinner

Ruby Tuesday - click here

Baskin Robbins - Free Scoop

Red Lobster - click here
Caribou Coffee - Free Drink
Dunn Brothers Coffee - Free Drink
Dairy Queen - Blizzard

A Romantic Get-Away

Jake & I decided to take advantage of a free Friday night (no basketball games!). We celebrated my birthday (1/16), our 6 month wedding anniversary (1/26), and Jake's birthday (1/28). We both worked a half day on Friday and headed to Myrtle Beach. We got a great rate at The Grand Marina, a four star hotel. The hotel was very nice. We went to The Melting Pot for dinner Friday night. Neither Jake nor I had ever been there; we loved the fondue experience. The food is amazing!  Here I am enjoying the fondue. 

We ordered The Big Night Out.

One more thing. . .when I got home from work on Thursday night this was on the table.

Jake "made" me a cake! He decorated it all by himself. 

What a sweetie!

What's Cookin' at Our House

While we were in Minnesota over Christmas, I had to stop in Crate & Barrel. Our closest one is in Raleigh (over 2 hours away). I picked up 4 of these ceramic mini pie plates (and ended up having them as my carry-on on our flights back). The best thing is that they were only $2.50 each! They are "individual" serving size. Tonight I used them for the second time. Jake loves cornbread!
This was the perfect companion to our White Chicken Chili that I made. This chili is AMAZING! In fact, I better put the recipe on here. It's too good to not share! Here is the yummy recipe:

Joan Link’s White Chicken Chili

• 1 lb. chicken, cubed
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 ½ tsp garlic powder
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 cans (15 ½ oz) Great Northern beans, drained & rinsed
• 1 can (14 ½ oz) chicken broth
• 2 cans (4 oz) green chilies, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp pepper
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 cup (8oz) sour cream
• ½ cup whipping cream
  
  In a large saucepan, sauté chicken, onion and garlic powder in the oil until the chicken is no longer pink. Add beans, broth, chilies, and seasonings, and bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in sour cream and whipping cream. Serve immediately. 7 Servings

More fun to come!

I FINALLY took down our Christmas decor last night. We didn't get back from MN until late (a few minutes before midnight) on Monday, December 29. Then I went to work the following day and worked the week of New Year's. . . Hence . . . I was NOT up to taking down all the Christmas decor New Year's day or that weekend. It feels good to have the house all clean & all the Christmas decor neatly packed away (and crammed into a closet).

January is a full month for us! BOTH Jake & I have birthday's this month as well as my mom, our nephew-Carsten, my cousin-Luke, and a few of our friends as well. We'll also celebrate 6 months of marriage! I spent some time today writing birthday cards & getting things ready to send. I also decided to put some birthday decor on our dining table since we'll be celebrating for 2 1/2 weeks!

Storage

Jake & I do not have a lot of storage in our condo. There is a hall closet, no linen closet and then 2 small closets in each bedroom. I have tried to utilize every space available including under both beds. At first, it was quite a challenge to find a space for everything. I was used to having a garage at my old place and large closets. We had to use the space under our built-in desk in the living room.
I hated having the fan & paint cans under the desk, but there is no other place to put them due to size. I have been wanting to do the following for MONTHS, but i finally got around to it this weekend.

I bought a cheap tension rod at Home Depot. I used metal rings with clips (which I already had) and some super-cute tea towels (from Anthropologie) that i had received at one of my bridal showers. Love it! I wish I would have done this months ago.

So much better.

more HiGhLigHtS from Minnesota

We did SO many fun things while in MiNnEsOta.
Here a few highlights with pictures!

Bowling with BOTH families on Saturday morning.

I met "the girls" (Gloria, Aili & Clara, plus Jess & Lindsay) for dinner on Monday night at Joey Nova's.

We went downtown to Macy's 8th floor display of "A Day In The Life of An Elf" on Friday the 26th. We also hit up Potbelly for lunch - my favorite. Of course, we did some shopping.

Saturday morning, the 27th, i met Jeannie & Kristina for breakfast at Panera. It was so great to see them.

Mom invited the Stamper's over for breakfast on Monday (the 29th). Jonas & Ella were in our wedding back in July.

We had a great visit to Minnesota.
We did more fun things too.

Dinner at Big Bowl with Lindsay.
Workout & swim at Lifetime Fitness
Both families went Caroling
Brunch at Tripp & Aili's home
Shop at Crate & Barrel & Anthropologie
Watch Morgen & Carsten ice skate for the first time
Shop at The General Store of Minnetonka
Lunch at Cafe Latte

See lots of friends & family!