I have to say that I enjoyed my mini vacation this weekend.  My house is clean!  WooHoo! I also had a lot of fun playing in the snow with Sophie.

This is Sophie.  Sophie is the world's most hyper dog and a lot of fun.  She is Kevin's dog (my brother) but she lives at my parents' house.   She gets fed at both houses.  When my brother decided to turn his garage into a new addition to his house, she packed her bags and moved into my parents' garage.  Sophie has invisible fencing and can come all the way to my property line.  Valiantly, she spends her nights protecting us all from wild animals - unfortunately, she wakes us up in the process.  (She can be rather barky at night.)  I love Sophie. 

That's an earlier picture of Sophie sitting at the end of her invisible fencing waiting for me to walk over and play. 
Luckily we now live next door to mom & dad so the snow/ice didn't stop us from all having Sunday Dinner at mom's. 

That's a picture of Daniel trying to steal Papaw's apple pie.

Well, I've reached my snow quota for the year.  Bring on the Spring!  Moo. 

Let it Snow Baby, Let it Reindeer....

When I left my office it was snowing rather heavily.  It hasn't snowed at all at my house....YET.  I know it is coming.  I hope everyone has milk and bread.

Speaking of food, Scott has recently become a connoisseur of all things pizza.  He has been making his own pizza dough for a while but recently decided that to make a truly good Italian pizza he would need to make the pizza dough with caputo flour.  So....he had a box of caputo flour delivered all the way from Italy.  He made the tomato sauce using San Marzano certified tomatoes (among other things) and covered it with fresh mozzerella and pepperoni.  It was really good. 

After eating all of that pizza, I have decided that it is time to get serious and start exercising regularly.  Last night I finally tried out the EA Active program for Wii.  Luckily, I have a really great (4 legged) workout partner.  Here's a picture of Greta standing on the Wii Fit board.  I'm actually working out beside her but I can't compete with all of that cuteness.  Scott didn't take a picture of me.  :-) 

Speaking of exercising...I'm hungry.  I think it is time for supper. 

Good night!

Where's Greta?

Laundry Day

My friend Liz and I have recently discovered that we share the gift of procrastination.  I have developed a bad habit of only doing laundry on the weekend.  The problem is that I don't always catch up.   You can see how this presents a problem.  Here is a picture of some of today's pile: 

The picture shows about 6 large loads.  I couldn't show all of today's pile because I would have had to wake Scott up so that I could take the blankets and the sheets off of the bed.  I also have to admit that there is about 2 more loads that didn't make the picture.  Actually, after seeing this picture...it doesn't look so bad after all.   OH and by the way, I will not be putting Greta (cat) in the washing machine.  Or the dryer.  Just a good policy to have. 

Chicken Little

Last night Scott made BBQ chicken.  It was AWESOME!  The recipe is from Myron Mixon, Chief cook of Jack's Old South Bar-B-Que competition team.  Here is a picture of my piece of chicken: 

And this was the small piece!  Here is the recipe if anyone is interested: 

Ingredients

• 4 (3 to 4-pound) chickens, halved
• Jack's Old South Meat Marinade, recipe follows
• 1 cup apple juice
• Jack's Old South BBQ Rub, recipe follows
• Jack's Old South Competition Vinegar Sauce, see recipe

Directions

Combine the chicken and marinade in a large non-reactive pan. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 6.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.

Remove the chicken from the marinade and coat generously with some of the rub. Arrange the chicken, skin side-up, in a baking pan and pour the apple juice in the bottom. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

Uncover the chicken and continue roasting, basting with the sauce occasionally, until the skin is golden.

Jack's Old South Meat Marinade:
2 quarts apple juice
1 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 cup orange juice
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons hot sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup salt
Combine all the ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Whisk until the sugar and salt dissolve. Let cool.
Yield: 12 1/2 cups

Jack's Old South BBQ Rub:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sweet paprika
1/4 cup kosher salt
3 tablespoons black pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
Combine all ingredients and mix well.
Yield: 3/4 cup

Bon Appetit

Wordless Wednesday

Kevin...

This is my brother, Kevin.  He is much, much, MUCH older than me.  (wink, wink)  I just realized that all of the really great pictures of us together are at mom & dad's house.   

Kevin married UP.  Here he is with his beautiful wife Rana.  I couldn't have asked for a better sister-in-law.  She's fantastic in every way.  Rana came all of the way from Damascus, Syria to be with Kevin.  ???

This is Laura Kristin.  She was named after me - Julie Kristin.

And here's our guy - Daniel.

Daniel has yet to meet a meal that he didn't like. 

And there you have Kevin & family.  I'm sure that you'll be hearing a lot more about them in the future. 

CORRECTION:  Apparently I still have not mastered my left and right sides.  In the picture in the previous post below of my 2nd grade birthday party....I am the 2nd one from the LEFT not the right.  For those of you who don't believe I was a blonde, here you go...

What a day....

This is Scott's uncle, Ken.  He is the kindest, gentlest person you could know.  Oh and that's Scott's moms' dog, Eclair, sitting in the chair.

This is Ken's car...I hit it with my truck today when I was pulling out of my garage.  Oh...I feel so bad.  It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. 

I was on my way to meet my friend, Deanna, for lunch.  Deanna and I have been close friends since the beginning of time.  Well, the beginning of first grade.  This is a picture of my 2nd grade birthday party.  I'm the 2nd one from the right.  Deanna is the one on the end cheesin' it with her eyes closed. 

We decided to meet for lunch at one of our favorite restaurants...Sweet T's Diner. 

But it had closed!

 So we decided to go elsewhere for lunch.  All of a sudden, Deanna had a great idea!!! Cupcakes. 

 We've been through a lot together over the last 30+ years.  It's great to have a friend that shares the same neurosis as I do.  :-) 

It turned out to be a good day after all!  

Meet My Parents....

Say hello to Ward & June Johnny & Doris - both the product of large cotton farming families.  Mom was the 14th child in her family and Dad was the 7th out of 9 children.  Mom enjoyed getting up at 4:00 am to milk the cow. (Didn't you mom?) Oh, and that's Grandma Helms in the picture.

This is before Dad found Jack Lalanne

Here they are in front of Mom's favorite breakfast place -The Pancake Pantry in Gatlinburg, TN.  They went to Gatlinburg on their honeymoon Dec. 24, 1958. 

Over the years I have taken many pictures of Dad napping on the couch.  Here's a recent one...  You can almost hear him snoring. 










Goodnight.

Here we are....

Aren't we just the cutest!  hehehe  That's me & my husband, Scott.  Scott is a Software Engineer.  I'm not 100% sure what that is but I know it doesn't involve driving software trains.  Scott & I have been together since 1993.  Scott loves everything geeky & nerdy.  Except me...I'm just goofy. 

And this is our cat, Greta.  She has been with us since 1999.  Greta runs our house.  You'll be hearing a lot more about her later. 

But no blog about us would be complete without a picture of our beloved Sadie.  Sadie was our gentle giant.  We miss her everyday. 

Under the chocolate milky way?

I'm an addict. There I said it. If you truly are what you eat then I am a glass of chocolate milk and a pack of saltines. Ever since I was a little girl my favorite snack has always been chocolate milk & saltines. My favorite chocolate milk has to be Hunter Farms BUT due to all the rich and creamy goodness (cholesterol) I soldier on with my old friend Nesquik. I could fill an olympic size pool with all of the Nesquik I have consumed through the years.