Ski Trip!

Last Wednesday, Matt and I left for a celebratory ski trip with 17 of my closest family members. The occasion? My step-dad, Charles, turned 70 on the 4th! A little over a year ago, my step-siblings came up with the idea of celebrating "Papa" in a big way by taking all of the family out to Colorado on the week of his birthday. After a year of planning and anticipation, we had the BEST time on the trip! Five of the seven kids learned how to ski for the first time, and every single one of us made it out onto the slopes to give skiing our best go. Even my mom and sister-in-law, Jennifer, who were not overly giddy about the actual "skiing" part, took lessons one afternoon and got the hang of it! It was such a memorable trip!

Papa with some of the grandkids

Nonna and Papa (A.K.A., my mom and Charles) :)

What kid doesn't love the train ride at the airport?!

Half way to Denver, we stopped at Rock Bottom Brewery and visited with a family friend who gave us a tour of the Brewery.

Love their Uncle Matt! :)

Precious.

Once in Colorado, we got fitted for ski gear (notice Noah's backwards helmet) ;)

Ready for the first day!

And we're off!

That's my sister in the yellow- first day of skiing! She was awesome!

On my sister's first go on the ski lift, I didn't fully explain the dismount well. hahah... here was the result:

Matt teaching Maddox- melt my heart.

Papa... and in case you can't read his shirt, it says, "Oldie but a goodie". Love him! :)

Hot tub after our first day on the slopes!

 

My sister on day two- SO good!

Love these boys :)

On the third day, I stayed back with my sister, mom, Jennifer, and the boys while the guys went out for a snowy day on the slopes. We walked through the town, played in the snow, and got hot chocolate at Starbucks. :) My kind of day!

After leaving a store, Maddox found a plush pile of snow, fell on his back, and went into immediate snow angel mode before we could even say, "wait!". Oh to be three again. :)

What's better than a playground? . . .

. . .a playground with snow.

Heading down to the hot tub!

Chicken Bruschetta Pasta

This was SO good! Give it a try and let me know what you think. :)

Sauté onions with fresh garlic, EVOO, and a little Smart Balance. :)

Slice and rinse zucchini and yellow squash.

Set onions to the side.

Add zucchini and squash to the onion pan, boil water for pasta, and cook two chicken breasts for 4-5 minutes on each side. (The one in the back is a separate one for Matt, you can put 3 in the pasta mix if you want(which = a whole pound of chicken). I prefer less chicken in mine, so I only use 2.

Add Cavenders, EVOO, and a little Smart Balance with Olive Oil to the veggie mix.

Sauté. 

Cook 2 cups of farfalle (bowtie) pasta according to box.

Cut chicken into chunks and add 1/3 cup of chicken both, 1 can petite diced tomatoes (undrained), 1/4 tsp. garlic powder, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/8 tsp. pepper, and a pinch of baking soda (to balance out the acidity of the tomatoes). Simmer (low boil) for approx. 3 minutes.

Add sauteed onions and 1/2 tsp of basil.

Drain pasta and add. (I might have added about a tablespoon of Smart Balance on top of the pasta before mixing). :)

Top with fresh parmesan (remember, Locatelli is the BEST!) and serve.

January Sponsor: Boys, Toys, Chaos, and Joys

Each month, I will feature a Sponsor Spotlight post. This month's spotlight is on Jessica from
Boys, Toys, Chaos, and Joys. Jessica is a former Montessori teacher who now stays at home with her three adorable boys. Swing by Jessica's blog and let her know you visited. Reading sweet comments never gets old!






Hi, I'm Jessica. I blog over at Boys, Toys, Chaos, & Joys. I'm a mom of 3 boys 3 years old and under, which is always fun and sometimes crazy. Hope you have time to swing by and enjoy the good, the bad, and the wonderful chaos that is our life.

If you are interested in being a sponsor or participating in a sponsor swap, please feel free to contact me.

In 2011, We...

• Became homeowners
• Found an awesome contractor
• Lived with Matt's parents during the renovation process
• Started a blog
• Moved in to our house!
• Made a to-do list
• Went to a neighborhood party
• Worked in the yard, then worked in the yard some more, and some more, and some more
• Had a minor disaster that was followed by an ugly decoration 
• Painted concrete
• Enjoyed weekend getaways to Chateau Elan, Greenville, and Savannah
• Went to the mountains with our small group, the lake with friends, and both with family
• Visited friends in Charleston after they welcomed their first little love into the world, and then visited them some more :)
• Went sailing
• Spent a week at the beach
• Had a sleepover with our nephews
• Tried to pretend like we were still in college, and then like we were still kids
• Cooked a lot of meals, but had more fun cooking with friends
• Loved my time as a stay-at-home-wife (and not-so-secretly wished for more of it)
• Went to White Water
• Gave my classroom a makeover
• Had a fun and random night involving Keith Urban
• Saw four friends get married: one in April, one in May, one in August, and one in September
• Remembered 9-11
• Went to FSU games and Clemson games
• Did some house projects
• Celebrated four years of marriage and ten years of being together
• Decorated for our first Christmas in our house
• And finally, said goodbye to the year with sweet friends

Here's to a great 2012!  Happy New Year!

NYE: Callaway Gardens, Canoe, and an Animal Safari?!

I'm happy to say I made it up 'til 12 without a problem this year! I don't have the best record from year's past. But this year, we decided to go out for a late dinner at Canoe and then have some friends over to our place afterwards. The late dinner made all the difference! 

The day before NYE, we took a little trip to Callaway Gardens with Andrea and Patrick. Such fun! The whole time we were there, we kept saying, "Why don't we do this more often?!"

Wish we could sit outside like this everyday!

Get. Excited. 

There are few things that make me feel act like a kid again: a steal of a deal on just about anything, a super sweet gift, and WILDLIFE. In fact, wildlife has such a giddy-effect on me, that I've been unprofessionally diagnosed with animal turrets by our friend Dustin. What is that, you ask?! Well, Matt says I make this sound when I get really giddy about something. It sounds something like, "Oooh!" but way more high-pitched than my regular talking-voice (let's hope so anyway). If I see a fun little animal (remember, we're in the city, so fun little animals are few and far between), when we're driving down the road, I may give the scare-the-crap-out-of-the-driver "Ooooh!" or shout out the name of whatever it is I see. For example, "DEER!",  "CHIPMUNK!", or in my Clemson days, "BEAVER!!!" Hence, the diagnosis of animal turrets.

So, as we were driving home, we I saw this sign for a Wild Animal Safari and we all I got really excited. It said it was only 2 miles off of the road, so I asked Dre, Matt, and Patrick if they would want to maybe swing by and take a quick look?! Maybe?! 

And they said yes.

That is a GIRAFFE!!! A real giraffe! In Georgia!

An ostrich and a ram?!

Is that an elk on the right side?!

YAY of all yays! I think I've talked Matt into going back with Noah. He would LOVE this! And I wouldn't mind going again either. :)

On to New Year's Eve!!!

Kemble and Ashley 

Kemble went to high school with Matt and I and married his sweet bride this past April. Their wedding was beautiful!

Chris and Caitlyn

Cait went to high school with us also. She and Chris now work for Student Venture. You can check out more about what they do here. If you are looking for ways to give back in 2012, you won't regret being a part of the awesome work that God is doing through these two!

Funny story: I don't think I have ever laughed so hard at a restaurant. You can't tell from this picture, but the way the seating ended up, Matt and I were fairly spread apart, and he and Kemble were a little closer. They also happened to order the same thing. So when the server was figuring out how to split the bill, he looked at Matt and said (pointing to him and Kemble), "You two were together, right?" 

Bahahahaha... I immediately flew my forehead to the table and chanted in my head "hold it together, don't laugh, don't laugh. . . cant. hold. it. . ." and out sneaks a silent, shaking, church-like, I'm-not-supposed-to-laugh-but-can't-help-it-bahahahahahahahahah. I thought, "oh. my. server, pahlease leave the table before I make this even more awkward than it already is." 

Finally, he walked away and we all busted out laughing. My stomach hurt and I was crying by the time we all finished cracking up at how sure the guy was about his assumption. Oh my. Wow. I think I'll sit closer to Matt on our next group date.

Happy New Year!