Goodbye to 2008!!!

It has been a long year! I would definitely say that John and I have been blessed this year. Even through the rough economical times, we were fortunate enough to keep our jobs, each other and stay on top of our economic status. God really blessed us.

Best memory of 2008: getting to spend time at the lake with our friend Andy and having our friends Jeff & Rachel realize how awesome Roanoke is, and get them to move here.

Least favorite memory in 2008: I would say we are fortunate not to have any major concerns. We were very fortunate. I guess if I have to choose something, it would be when John and Andy discovered that it was a relay switch that had prevented my AC from not working the past 3-years! Not the compressor. At least I have a car though!

Best dinner out in 2008: John and I went to Williamsburg, VA to go to Busch Gardens, with our friends Andy and Penny. It was a fun trip. We ate at this nice restaurant next to our hotel. I had Prime Rib for the first time ever! It was amazing. I hope to go there again next time we visit there.

Best date with John in 2008: Honestly, I would rather mention that carpooling with him is best date ever. We get to see each other without much distraction for that little bit of time. I really do cherish it.

2008 was full of weddings as well!

We attended Trista and Allan's wedding in Charleston. It was a fun short little trip. We were unable to stay the night before the wedding due to the Hurricane that was off shore the day/night before. The wedding was absolutely beautiful though, and they couldn't have asked for better weather on their special day!

We also got to be a part of our best friends wedding, Jeff and Rachel. They got married in October. It was one of the best ceremonies I have ever heard. It was fit for them so well. They were blessed to have family from all over come in to visit. John and I will never forget getting to be a part of their magical day.

I am very excited about 2009 and what it holds for John and I as we are in our second year of marriage. I hope it is as blessed as the last and full of laughter and love. We wish the best for all of our family and friends!

I wanted to post a few more pictures of Christmas celebrations from our trip home to see family. It was lots of fun. We got to hang out with friends that we haven't got to see in a while and with my family. I enjoyed getting to spend time with my mom, dad, brother, nephew, niece and my sister. John even took my dad shooting at the range. My dad had never done that and John was happy to have a buddy to do that with.

This is my nephew Bryce, niece Jaden, me and John. We were eating Christmas Eve dinner at my moms.

This is John and me with my niece Jaden. She doesn't really prefer me, but she didn't mind sitting on my lap as long as I was willing to share my food!

This is my niece Jaden with my one of my many second cousins on my moms side of the family. He is adorable he was opening gifts on the floor in front of me, and kept trying to show me everything. There were so many kids. I will post a video if we can figure out how to load it from John's phone. John sent it to his brother who was with his whole family of about 9 people, in Florida. I think they thought we were kidding.

Here I am this past Monday night back at home making chicken noodle soup in my giant new stockpot that my mom and dad got me for Christmas! It was so nice to have a decent large size pot that I wouldn't loose half the noodles to the bottom. (something a lot of cookers understand)

This is the chicken soup I was making for my sick John, in my new pot. (he has strep. lovely.)

I just wanted to brag about what I did. I really wanted to put together a little basket for our friends Pip and Miranda. She is so creative so I had think of something cute and fun. I got a little help from Bed, Bath, and Beyond with their bucket with popcorn and candy. I added to it though. I just had to show the fun little date/movie night bucket! (contains popcorn, candies, pop, and popcorn seasoning)

Everyone stay safe tonight if you are out celebrating New Years Eve! I will be home enjoying shrimp, bacon wrapped water chestnuts, and buffalo wings!

Christmas Weekend!

Jeff, Rachel, John and I will all be heading back to Tennessee to see our families and won't be seeing much of each other this week for the holiday. So we decided to open our gifts to each other on Saturday. We started with a little Christmas dinner of our own. We had a spiral ham that the guys each received from the fire department where they volunteer. We were blessed with an amazing dinner. It was all delicious.

I want to start by saying we all spoiled each other with some amazing gifts, and don't normally splurge this much at all. Big gift for Jeff was a new Wii! John and I chipped in so that Rachel would be able to get it for him. We were all very excited to let the cat out of the bag. It was exhausting keeping such a big secret. Especially for John, who had to hear Jeff talk about wanting one all the time. Rachel also got some awesome gifts from Jeff. She finally got the bedding she had been drooling over. It looks amazing on their bed. John and I got her a few things that she had also had her eye on. A photo serving tray, photo coasters and these fancy gloves from etsy:

John and I got each other a few small things and each picked out one big thing that we will be getting ourselves in January. I got John a few necessities: couple pair of bluejeans, Polo's, a robe, socks, and for fun I got him an 8 gig jump drive. He got me these giant frames that I love from Walmart, a small crock pot, that amazing cookbook that I fell in Love with and blogged about (see post below), a couple shirts, these awesome canvas prints and wall words that I loved, and a pair of these for me:

Jeff and Rachel also got John the knife sharpening kit that John has wanted forever. They also got us the shelf for our office, and a new blender! I am super excited about what was hidden in my stocking. Rachel got me a meat mallet and potato masher! I was so excited about these. I can't wait to use them.

Here's some more pictures from the fun night.

God blessed us this year in so many ways. I hope that everyone is enjoying spending time with friends and family and eating lots of good food this joyous Christmas and holiday season! May God bless you and the ones you love in the year to come!

#40 Get our read on!

#40 Once a month go to the mall and sit at the bookstore together and read quietly



It was so fun to just go sit and relax at the bookstore. John worked on some Gun magazines. Don't laugh, I'm serious. While I worked on a cookbook, 'How to Cook Everything'. One day, I will own this giant book of Everything. I was very intrigued by it.

I also looked at a photography book. Not really the sit in the bookstore and read kind of book. I will have to find a good read for my visits with John. I can't wait to go again. We both had lots of fun.

WC swap time!

I participate in a swap with some ladies on the What's "Cooking Board" on thenest.com. It is a site I frequent when I need direction with a recipe or need new recipe ideas. The ladies there are amazing. That is how I find the amazing blogs that I talk-about. Back on subject, they do a swap of sorts where your name is given to another person anonymously. They secretively ask you what you need. Maybe for the kitchen or just in general. I got to participate in the fall swap and the winter swap recently. I thought I would share some of the fun new things I got.

Fall Swap-

My favorite thing from the fall swap is the was the towel-mitt. I have been using that thing like crazy!

Winter Swap-

My favorite thing from the Winter sway was the little silicone finger protector. You can pick up a pan or an egg from boiling water, and you can't feel the heat! And it is shaped like those little paper things from the 3rd grade that says yes, no, yes, no as you scrunch it open and closed. So CUTE!

I would like to say thanks again to the ladies who got me these wonderful items!

Lets Talk-about life...

It's Talk-About-It-Thursday time!
I have been busy reading this week. I found a very special blog. It is about a young married couple who were blessed with four beautiful babies. If you aren't a mom, it will make you dream about the day you become one. If you are already a mom, it will remind you of the day you fell in love with your child. Don't worry, this doesn't mean that I am getting baby fever. I just love Suz's inspiring story, positive outlook, and dedication to God. It is a long story, but you should take the time to read it. May you all be blessed with beautiful families like the Steece's.


I am actually about to go to CPR class with the hubs. Gotta know how to help where I can!

More fun from the weekend!

I mentioned that I had a busy weekend. I went to Johnson City on Saturday. Rachel and I left around 7 am. We didn't get home until after 11 pm. We went shopping all around town. We specifically went to Kohl's because we don't have one here in Roanoke. I also wanted to go the the Johnson City Mall because the Bath & Body works there is bigger than the one here. So I knew I would have more selection. My mom, and family, sent me a gift card to use there. I was really excited to get to spend a little me money, since it is the season to give! They were having a sale: Buy any 3 signature products get 2 free! Also: Spend $40, get a free gift! &: Get 4 soaps for $10! I had to get a bag because I couldn't hold it all. I picked out 4 signature items and made Rachel pick one out. Remember, the season to give, I'm all about that. So, then I went and picked out 4 soaps for the kitchen. I like the pump and foamy kind. Then I had to get one thing that wasn't on sale. One of those scented oils. They are awesome. I got to the register. Before any deductions the total was $100. After deducting the $20 price of the free gift, $21 for the 2 free items, & then $10 for the sale on the soaps, I ended up paying $50.xx with tax-Wait! less the $25 gift card! I got away with only paying $25! Bargain shopping at its best!

Here's the loot:

Smoked Gouda and Bacon Chicken

Cooking is a big part of my life. I love to cook. I love to hear the happiness in my husband and friends as they ask what I'm making?! I will be blogging about some dishes that I'm serving up. I will try to always put a link to where I found it, in case you want more info or better pictures!

Smoked Gouda and Bacon Chicken
(adapted from Elly says Opa's -Smoked Mozzarella and Bacon Chicken)

Ingredients:

-4 Chicken Breasts
-Smoked Gouda- or whatever cheese you desire, I had a block that I sliced little slivers off of to stuff the chicken
-seasonings: Garlic pepper
-8 slices of bacon


1. Make a slit in the chicken breast.

2. Stuff the chicken with the slices of Cheese (I used smoked Gouda)

3. Season the chicken with light seasons, I used garlic pepper

4. Wrap the Chicken with bacon. (I had very large pieces of chicken that required 2 slices of bacon)

5. Bake the chicken at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until done. (I always slice the thickest piece open to check)



The only thing I will do different next time is put more cheese in.

Busy weekend!

I got a hair cut. The Thanksgiving picture down below is the best look at my hair before. It is pulled half up, but shows the length. I am so impatient when it comes to growing out my hair. So I went to my friend Jayne, who does my hair. I told her I either wanted an inch off or a Bob. So here is what I got. (With fresh highlights. Sorry for the ugly lighting in the picture.)

What do you think? Does it suit me? I go for ease, so time wise it is a little easier to deal with. I am working on styling it better. It is so hard to duplicate what Jayne does to it. She is an artist!

Talk-About-It-Thursdays!!!

Every Thursday I will be spotlighting a blog that I have found online, that I think others might like to see if they haven't already.
First up, Angie's blogS! She is the one whose 101 in 1001 list really inspired me to start my list. She also has a cooking blog and a blog featuring her baked goods that she sales locally.
Here is her food blog: http://angiessimplecooking.wordpress.com/
Here is her baked goods blog: http://thatsweetang.wordpress.com/
Here is her 101 in 1001 blog: http://ang101.wordpress.com/

I aspire to be half the blogger she is. There is a lot to see on her blogs. Have fun looking!

Working out....

I really enjoy taking classes at the gym. Rachel and I take the spin class, pump & cut, and cardio & sculpt classes. Lately it has been frustrating to go to the gym, and then feel like you are getting home so late. So John & Jeff started going in the morning time, to give them more time to be home in the evenings. Since Jeff is out of town this week, John asked me if I wanted to go. Of course I jumped at the opportunity to spend time with John. & It is on my list to try out (#8). 5:15 came really early to someone who usually gets up at 6:45 or 7:00. It was really worth it though. John is teaching me to play racquetball. It is one of his favorite workouts. I am really excited about it. I was pretty lethargic though, so I don't know if he had quite as much fun as normal. Then we ran a little. I'm working on getting into shape, so I won't be telling how horrible I do. Happy Monday to ya!

#1 down!

#1 completed. I was really excited to start my blog! I finally did it. I had an excellent birthday and a great weekend. John wanted to take me to this local restaurant for my birthday that we haven't been to yet. I really just wanted wings. (really) So I told him that we should go to Hooters. He wanted to know where his wife was! Then we came home and had a cake. It was a wonderful surprise that Rachel & Jeff set up. Oh, and they got me an indoor Herb garden, so I will be able to make that one red now. Saturday John and I ran some errands and went to 'The Barbecue Grill', another local restaurant. It was delicious as usual. I made a pot of potato soup on Saturday night. It was delicious. Rachel & I took Jeff to the airport for a work trip today and then went shopping. I found out that Friedman's went out of business and my warrant is null and void for my E-ring. That's a part of this terrible economy I guess. It is going to be a fairly uneventful week. I plan on going to work out at 5:30 in the morning. Wish me luck.

101 things to do in 1001 days!

things that are done will be in blue
things that are in the process of being done will be in red
things that are still on the list will be in black

1. Start a blog
2. Volunteer at a soup kitchen/rescue mission
3. Watch the entire collection of the Office
4. Sell my prom dresses by end of 2009 or donate them
5. Get braces
6. Join a church in Virginia
7. Pick up the trash on the main road next to our neighbors house (been there for a year)
8. Go work out in the morning before work to see if I like it more
9. Pay off 4 bills/credit cards (2/4)
10. Volunteer at an animal shelter/rescue at least 6 times (3/6)
11. Get a Raise
12. Get my dream camera
13. Save all my pictures on my computer to discs and put them in a safe
14. Start taking vitamins
15. Learn to sew on a button
16. Pick out my outfits for the entire week on Sunday 6 times (0/6)
17. Don’t watch T.V. for a whole week
18. Drink only tap water for 2 weeks (instead of bottled water)
19. Buy a new reusable water bottle- it was a gift, that counts!
20. Take a photography class
21. Take a fun picture every week and post it in my blog (I average a picture a week no problem)
22. Memorize the books of the Bible
23. Memorize all of the U.S. Presidents
24. Get to a healthier weight and feel better about myself
25. Get a new vehicle
26. Play all the board games we have, at least once
27. Go horseback riding
28. Take Rachel & Jeff to Mill Mountain Zoo
29. Go to a drive-in movie
30. Go to a local symphony
31. Go to the new museum
32. Together, read the book our friends got us
33. Go rock climbing with John
34. Build, with John, a model of some sort- a plane, car, boat, etc.
35. Shoot with john 6 times (1/6)
36. Help John build me a light box! (updated 7-14-09)
37. Surprise John with fun hobby related gifts 4 times (1/4)
38. Plan out TTC plans with John (later in the 1001 days)
39. Go to antique stores with John to find some fun treasures (0/3)
40. Once a month go to the mall and sit at the bookstore together and read quietly (6/32)
41. One weekend date day per month (6/32)
42. Read all of Nicholas Sparks' novels (8/13)
43. Hang cabinet in master bath
44. Throw Eddy's Slow Churn Summer Block Party for the fire hall & Rescue
45. TBD
46. TBD
47. TBD
48. TBD
49. TBD
50. Go to Hot Springs, NC
51. Go to Canada
52. Go to D.C.
53. Drive on the Parkway
54. Go on a mini-vacation with just my mom
55. Go camping at a campground- with a restroom
56. Go on a short trip with Rachel
57. Go Spend a weekend with Katherine
58. Go on a Cruise (or at least get one booked)
59. Take/Start taking Wilton classes
60. Get one of those indoor Herb gardens and use it
61. Complete one months’ menu plan in advance
62. Make 3 frozen dinners to give to someone who could really use the break (3/3)
63. Make homemade bread twice (0/2)
64. Go a week without eating meat
65. Get the huge cooking pots that I have wanted forever (2/2)
66. Get the Ice Cream attachment for my K.A. Mixer and make homemade ice cream
67. Try to blog about cooking/baking no less than 2 times a month (I am bad at this one apparently)
68. Make a lot of goodies and bring to work unexpectedly
69. Attempt to make Crème Brule
70. Sit down with Aunt Rose & Aunt Susan one day and make a cookbook of Nanny Trotters recipes
71. Borrow my grandma Naillon’s written cookbook and type it all up for her
72. Make pizza dough from scratch
73. Take cooking lessons/classes (0/6)
74. Paint my living room/Hall way
75. Paint my dining room/Kitchen
76. Paint the laundry room
77. Paint my Bathroom
78. Paint my bedroom
79. Paint the office
80. Paint the guestroom
81. Plant flowers in the yard
82. Do a painting of something-anything
83. Frame and hang my 3-D art project- The Wire Shoe
84. Frame weaving pieces and hang them
85. Get another shelf for the office
86. Get curtains for living room & Dining room
87. Get curtains for our Bedroom
88. Get curtains for our bathroom
89. Get curtains for the office
90. Get curtains for Kitchen Window
91. Buy a safe
92. Install under-cabinet lighting in Kitchen
93. Tile the basement
94. Finish dry wall in basement
95. Paint the basement
96. Get laundry room cabinets
97. Finish ½ bath in basement
98. Finish fire pit
99. Create last Name Art
100. Hang Last name letter from Ballard Designs
101. Build fenced in area for Spooky that is larger than what she has currently

Welcome to my blog!

Welcome to my blog. My name is Kristi I am about to embark on a fun new experience. I will be using this blog to document my journey of: 101 things to do in 1001 days project. (Click me). I am very excited about starting my list today, on My 25Th birthday. I will have 1001 days to complete the 101 things on my list. I will coincidentally complete my tasks, on the 5 year anniversary of the day that John proposed to me. Random, I know. I am a numbers person and thought that cool. So, I will be posting my list on here later today.

In addition to posting and discussing each item I mark off the list, I will be posting fun pics that I take. Pictures of our pets, family, food, friends, and anything else I think you might enjoy. A big part of the blog will also be about my only hobby, cooking. Sad I know, I'm working on the hobby thing. I will post recipes that I try out. I will also try to link to the original recipe creator's blog so you can check out more recipes. Wish me luck on this exciting challenge!

I'll give you a couple pictures from the fall to get you started in on the fun. We went to a corn maze and fall festival with our friends, Rachel & Jeff. So there are a couple pictures of that. We also carved pumpkins together, in the garage. It was really nasty, but turned out cute. And a couple pictures from our Thanksgiving feast. Enjoy.

This is my husband John and I at one of the checkpoints in the corn maze.

This is Rachel and Jeff at a checkpoint.

This is John, me, & Jeff carving pumpkins.

This is Brinks (one of our dogs) trying to help. She wanted to climb in my lap.This is Rachel and Jeff carving their pumpkin. (note the new house being built next door, it is really pretty. And going to be ready in the spring)
These are our finished pumpkins! The one on the left is Rachel & Jeff's. Then I carved our Last name initial, F. And the last one is the one that John carved.

This is our feast at Thanksgiving and us enjoying it.