5 years ago

5 years ago today I walked down the aisle to merry my best friend. The past five years have been an adventure and I can't wait to see what the future brings. I am so blessed to share my life with you, I love you Drew!

Merry Christmas

Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a child is born,

to us a Son is given,

and the government will be on His shoulders.

And He will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Prince.

Merry Christmas Y'All

Chili Night

It has finally gotten cold enough where I can justify a chili night. Chili just doesn't sound good to me on a warm night. So I (I mean Drew) cooked up a pot of chili and we had our GREAT friends over! We enjoyed a time of eating, fellowship, and games (the boys whooped us in Trivial Pursuit). When you make it through my post, you'll find the recipe at the end :)

The boys...they're silly. We couldn't get one of the girls because a member of the group felt she was not dressed up enough :)
We have Goody (Jason), Drewski (Drew), Ry-Ry, and KiKi (Kain)...Thanks for the nicknames Ry-Ry!

Ry-Ry and Mindy

Ryan's best friend Kendall

Lesly and Kendall playing games and having a blast!

Hamming it up for the camera

Lucy hanging out under the table

Lots of love between the girls

Looking for a good chili recipe? I just so happen to have one (thank you Vaughn).

Ingredients:
2 lbs. ground beef
1 medium onion diced
1 large bell pepper diced
4 cloves of garlic (minced)
3 jalapenos (if you like is spicy, 1 if you like it mild) diced
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz. can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
2 Tbs. salt
2 Tbs. chili powder
2 Tbs. pepper
1 Tsp. cayenne pepper

Directions:
Brown ground beef in large skillet. Drain half of drippings, add onion, bell pepper, garlic, and jalapenos saute until veggies soften.

Transfer to a large pot. Add chicken stock, water, tomatoes, sauce, paste, and spices/seasonings. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer 3-4 hours.

Serve with cornbread, potatoes, and cheese.

A Friendly Thanksgiving

We enjoyed the Saturday after Thanksgiving with some friends. Ryan made a delicious turkey, we all brought our leftovers, and stuffed our faces. We played some fun games; Imaginiff and Mexican Train...good times were had by all!

Ally, Kain, and Amber

Ryan and Mindy

Ryan with his super cool dog, Abby

Loaded Potato Soup

Absolutely the best loaded potato soup ever, hands down! Look no further for a great recipe!

Ingredients:
9 baking potatoes
2/3 cup all purpose flower
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 cup bacon bits, divided
10 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
2/3 cup butter
6 cups whole milk (I use milk with less fat)
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
4 green onions chopped
1 8 ounce container sour cream

Directions:
1. Prick potatoes with a fork and cook in the microwave 3 or 4 at a time, and scoop out the flesh while the others are cooking.

2. In a large saucepan over medium heat, melt butter. Stir in flour and cook about a minute. Whisk in milk a little at a time, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in potatoes, salt, pepper, 1/3 cup bacon bits, 2 tablespoons green onions, and most of cheese. Cook until thoroughly heated. Stir in sour cream and heat through. Serve with remaining bacon, onions, and cheese.

Thank you Allrecipes!

The end of a rivalry? I sure hope not!

Drew and I spent this Thanksgiving down in College Station with his family, my brother, and some of our good friends. Although the outcome of the game was not to our liking, we still had a great time, and I am still PROUD to be an Aggie! Here are some pictures from that day, hopefully not the last pictures I will ever take from an A&M v. t.u. game.

Our tailgate is always AWESOME, this game was above the rest. We were all set for a Thanksgiving feast tables decorated with pumpkins, flowers, and candles. All the pumpkins were painted maroon...no orange flowers here!

Drew and I enjoying the tasty food (this was Thanksgiving #3 for me!)

We brought my brother James to the game, he had a good time. I wish we won because I don't know if he will see a t.u. game when he attends A&M in a couple years.

Devin and Nikki, unfortunately I did not get a picture of the Mueller's.

The Gardner family

The senior line...I'm going to miss some of those guys!

The 12th man proudly flying their towels...it looked really cool, but my camera didn't capture it quite right.

Drew and I saying, "so long to the orange and white..."

Happy Birthday Tim

Tim turned 17 on Tuesday before Thanksgiving, and we celebrated with him at Dave and Busters. Drew and I had such a good time playing games.

Tim blowing out the candles on his traditional pumpkin pie birthday cake

A little basketball for Drew and I

He did better of course!

You can't have a night of games without Whack a Mole, right?

...Fun times had by all!

Our Black Friday Tradition

This year brings about the 5th year of preparing for Christmas together. Each Friday after Thanksgiving, it has become a tradition for Drew and I to decorate the tree while eating yummy cookies and drinking eggnog while watching a Christmas movie. This year we enjoyed the decorating while watching Home Alone.

Here's to kicking of the Christmas season!

BTHO t.u.

This is it, the last year, the end of a 117 year tradition...lets make it count and beat some bevo butt! Gig 'em Aggies and beat the ever livin', ever lovin' hell outta t.u.!

The 2011 bonfire...Let's show our burning desire to beat t.u.

24 Days of Thanksgiving

This November I decided to come up with something I am thankful for every day from November 1st through November 24th. I hope to continue this every year at Thanksgiving and when we have kids I hope to involve them and create a thankful tree in our living room. I'm thinking great family dinner conversations. Here is my thankful list:

1. I am thankful for my amazing husband who did the dishes for me tonight!
2. I am thankful for our amazing life group, we have great friends to walk through life with, hold us accountable, and help encourage our marriage to grow stronger!
3. I am thankful for wonderful cool fall weather and a warm cup of tea!
4. I am thankful for a great school and work environment, I have some great coworkers!
5. I am thankful for afternoons with family.
6. I am thankful for financial peace, God has been faithful during our time to become debt free, even with the uncertainty of jobs on my end!
7. I am thankful for new challenges and new opportunities.
8. I am thankful for my sweet Buttercup, she is a great cuddle buddy!
9. I am thankful for a wonderful group of ladies who encourage me to be a more Godly wife and a stronger woman of God, I love my life group bible study!!
10. I am thankful for my great friend Megan and our girls nights!
11. I am thankful for the brave men and woman who fight for my freedom!
12. I am thankful for pedis and girl days with my mom and sister.
13. I am thankful for Chick-Fil-A, where I first met Drew, and it's yummy!
14. I am thankful that tomatoes, garlic, basil, mozzarella, and olive oil blend so well with red wine to create a delightful little girls night in!
15. I am thankful for sweet kiddos that I get to work with everyday.
16. I am thankful for the cold weather that came in today, and for a thanksgiving feast with the life group...yum!
17. I am thankful for soy chai lattes, it's fall in a cup!
18. I am thankful to be an Aggie, and for great Aggie traditions like bonfire, I will never forget!
19. I am thankful for game days at Kyle Field, and BTHO KU!
20. I am thankful for great times with family, yummy thanksgiving food, and an early Christmas with my sister!
21. I am thankful for a much needed week off, to rest and be a little lazy, and to get the house clean!
22. I am thankful for a warm house and God's blessings to provide everything I need.
23. I am thankful for Drew's job, he is such a great provider, and he loves his job!
24. I am thankful for a day that we can share our blessings with friends and family, and share a tasty meal with. Now let's go BTHO t.u.! Gig 'em Ags!

Christgiving or Thanksgivemas

My sister has been home for 3 weeks, and she will be leaving to go back to Brazil on Wednesday. She wont be back until Christmas of 2012, so we decided to celebrate Christmas and Thanksgiving on Sunday. We had my Grandma and my Uncle Geoff, Aunt IIma, and little Geoffrey over for a yummy feast. Then we opened a few presents with my sister.

The yummy caramel apple cheesecake I made for dessert

Elizabeth opening up her presents from the family

James is very festive and likes to decorate himself

Buttercup is very helpful and loved to open presents

Her favorite is ripping the paper to shreds.

All of us kids in our Christmas PJ's, a family tradition

And a goofy one of all of us kids.

Happy Christgiving!

Meal Planning Monday

Monday: Shredded Chicken Tacos with beans and rice
Tuesday: Chicken Kabobs with black beans
Wednesday: Salmon burgers with roasted red potatoes
Thursday: Thanksgiving dinner and BTHO t.u.
Friday: Turkey day leftovers...yum!
Saturday: Dinner with the family
Sunday: Dinner with family

More Aggie Football!

Drew and I have been blessed with season tickets this year and we have enjoyed going back "home" to Aggieland. Aggieland is definitely a place we love and is near and dear to our hearts! Here are some of the pictures from the last few games.

Our friends Daniel and Summer Stoneking and Lesly and Jason Goodwyn joined us for the Mizzou game

Drew says, "Gig 'em!"

We enjoyed this last weeks game with my family and Megan. We had a great time BTHO Kansas!

Me, Elizabeth, and mom...Gig 'em Ags!

At half time the ENTIRE corps of cadets filled in the block T. It was the first time the Corps had done this since 1954. It was the military appreciation game, and it was neat to see soldiers everywhere around the world saying gig 'em. Also Goerge Bush Sr. attended the game and Lt. Dan from Forest Gump was there to support the troops.

Whoop! Aggies win 61-7. we had to celebrate with a family photo!

Some of our best friends from A&M have season tickets as well and we always meet up at the tailgate. The girls: Terri, Nikki, and me!
The whole gang: Vaughn and Terri, Devin and Nikki, and me and Drew

Game night

Saturday night we had our friends the Steeles and the Goodwns over for a little get together. The night was complete with...

• homemade spaghetti
• the Rangers game
• Board games
• Mario Kart Wii

Good times were had by all, with the exception that the Rangers lost :/

Girls Night Out!

This spring, Drew and I finally got involved in church and joined a life group, and we LOVE it. We have made some great new friends. This last Wednesday the ladies of the group met and Cheesecake Facotry for a tasty dinner and some great fellowship. I am very blessed to have these amazing women by my side encouraging me and helping me grow.

Thanks Mindy for putting it together for us!