Date Night In

One of my Christmas gifts to Brandon was a cooking date night.  One night after the kids went down we were going to try and recreate one of our new favorite dishes.  The Kung Pao Chicken from P.F. Chang's is SO yummy and we were wanting some more.

So I searched online and found a recipe that claimed to taste like the restaurant version.

Half of the fun was us getting in the kitchen together and cooking.

We ate it over rice and it was YUMMY!!!  We will definitely be eating this again very soon.

Update from Charleston 5k

I was so proud of myself.  We hit our goal of finishing the race but we surpassed another goal.  I wanted to run 1 of the miles and walk 2 miles.  Instead I ran more than 2 miles and walked less than one.  I was so proud.  My next goal is to run/walk the Cooper River Bridge Run which is a 10k.  Wish me luck.

BBQ Chicken Nachos

Okay, so I've read lots of recipes on Pinterest that talked about Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce.

I had never heard of it, so when it went on sale 2 for 1 at Publix a few weeks ago I grabbed it quickly.  I bought the Honey Barbecue Sauce because one of my husband's favorite things to eat is the Boneless Honey BBQ wings at Applebees- they are gross to me.  This was a sacrifice! I put chicken breasts in the crockpot and covered them with sauce (about 1/3 of the bottle).  The chicken just fell apart.  It was so yummy!
A few weeks ago we had gone on a date to Sesame, a great local restaurant that is known for their burgers and beer.  I LOVE a good burger...theirs are great; served only with grass-fed beef and house made condiments.  For an appetizer we decided to try their BBQ pork nachos.  They were so good we both wished we would've each ordered our own and just had that for dinner.
So a few days ago when I made this BBQ chicken again I saved two of the chicken breasts for our Super Bowl get together to try my own version of nachos.
I used my favorite wedding gifts, some of my Wilton Armetale platters.

I love these because they can go from oven to grill to freezer to the table.  So I put Tostitos, Hint of Lime chips on the platter, 

topped with the shredded bbq chicken, covered with sharp cheddar cheese and put it in the oven on broil, just until the cheese melted.  Then I topped with shredded spinach, taco sauce, and spicy ranch dressing.  It was so good with made two batches.  So, you've been warned, they're addicting!

Family Pictures

Brandon's cousin, Katie, has an awesome camera and she was sweet enough to take pictures of our family the day after Christmas.  My favorite thing at the time that I was so excited for her to catch was Mackey's smile.  At the time he only had 3 teeth and they were all on the bottom = precious priceless smile.

This is the first picture we've had made of Brandon's parents, sister and the four of us.  I love how Mackey has his little arm propped on Brandon's shoulder.

I'm super impressed that Katie was able to get a great one of the four of us.  Look at these funny ones...

I mean honestly...now that you've seen those you'll be surprised at how great these three are.  Well, Katie is just really talented too.

During this photo shoot I found myself so thankful to be catching these moments on film (well technically not film I guess).

Ready or not here I run (or walk)

If you know me well, you might find this amusing because I am not athletic at all:  I was on the crew/rowing team at College of Charleston my fall semester, freshman year.

My dear friend and roommate, Kelly Parker talked me into going to the informational meeting with her.  It then became a challenge to myself that I could do it.  After all it was just for one semester.  Well, the first 10 weeks of practice I never saw the water, we ran, at 5:30am every morning, all around the peninsula of Charleston and did rotations on the stairs at the Customs House for 30 minutes (torturous).  The first morning of practice they split us into two groups: those who've done sports before and those who haven't.  My roommate was in the first category and I was in the latter.  We ran and we ran and we ran and I was always in the back of the pack.  But I never quit...I did it- it was totally mental.

The week before a big regatta we were doing a practice race on the erg machines in the gym.

I rowed so hard I got a first-degree burn on my rear.  That's right I rowed so hard that I rubbed the first few layers of skin off my rear.  That was painful.  At the end of the season I won the award for the "Best Injury."  Needless to say, I didn't sign up join the sprint racing team in the spring.

I had always had this idea subconsciously looming in my head that I couldn't do it: be athletic, be on a team, survive.  It was wonderful to overcome that.  I KNEW that I could do it.  Thanks Kelly for encouraging me.

That was more than 10 years ago.  Now, two babies later, and I've fallen into this mental rut again.  One of my best friends wanted to do a 5k and so I agreed...not hesitant, but excited, knowing it will force me to conquer this again.  We looked online and chose the "Shrimp and Grits 5k" in Charleston.  It's part of the Charleston Marathon.

So last week (yes I waited til the week before to "train") a friend of mine came over.  We both loaded up our children in our double jogging strollers and went on a walk/jog.  I should note, Christy is a runner and was sweet enough to keep pace with me the little we jogged.  When I began jogging, within five steps, well let's just say after giving birth I don't have great control of my bladder anymore.  I yelled up to my friend what was happening and we just laughed, that's all you can do, right?  I was also laughing because when I began jogging my daughter started yelling "yay mommy! mommy run, mommy run!"

So, Shrimp and Grits 5k, ready or not, here I come.  It's supposed to be 30 degrees at 8am.  Hmmm.  I'll post pictures and tell you how it goes.  Our goal: to finish.  We are going to walk mostly and jog a little.

A Challenge for Valentine's Day

It's coming in one month.  Let's face it, every woman wants to feel special and celebrated on Valentine's Day and every day.  With that sentiment, I think men feel a lot of pressure.  Most disappointments exist because there were unmet expectations.  I recently read an article in Momsense, MOPS internationals' magazine, entitled "Sweep Him Off His Feet."  It deals with how to help make Valentine's Day low-pressure and fun for both of you.  This article challenges moms (but applicable to all women) in January to talk to you husband about what you would like your celebration to look like.  Two things I think can come from this:
    1. Both of you will be able to communicate what will make you feel special- it's a win, win!
    2. The pressure is off of him and you end up celebrating in a way you both love.
So, I'm gonna bring it up to my hubby, we'll plan something together this year and it'll be fun (there I go with expectations).  Comment and let me know how your conversation goes and what your plans are.