Cilantro Lime Shrimp

Part of my 30 Before 30 List was to try a new recipe every week. We knocked that out a long while ago and I've gotten into a routine of making the same recipes over and over. One of the joys of summer is the time to try new recipes, and we have a new favorite!

1 1/2 pounds of cooked shrimp

1/4 tsp cumin

salt

pepper

2 tsp olive oil

2 tbls minced garlic

2 tbls lime juice

2 tbls cilantro

Pull the tails off the shrimp and place in bowl.

Season shrimp with cumin, salt, and pepper.

Heat olive oil on medium heat.

Cook shrimp until pinkish color.

Add garlic and cook another 2-3 minutes.

Remove from heat and add lime juice and cilantro.

Enjoy!

30 Before 30-Vacation Somewhere New

Well, this past week my sweet husband who reads my blogs daily (hey, baby!) reminded me that I could check something off my 30 Before 30 List that I haven't checked off yet-a trip somewhere new! A few months ago we took an amazingly awesome super exciting trip out West to Colorado and it didn't even dawn on me to check it off. Here are the posts about our trip:

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

 19 tasks down, 11 to go!

30 Before 30-New Pictures!

One of the items on my 30 Before 30 List was to have pictures taken of us now that we are married. The last time we had formal pictures taken was our engagement and wedding pictures three years ago! When I found a Groupon offering an hour long shoot I jumped at it. After many attempts to schedule (thank you North Carolina monsoon season) we finally met up with Jennifer Hogan of Hogan Imaging in downtown Charlotte and got some fantastic shots. 

Here are a few favorites:

Clearly Daisy was the star of the show. She did so well with the crazy heat and listening to the photographer! I wish we had gotten a picture of her afterwards, completely pooped laying on the cold hardwoods conked out. I guess modeling isn't in her immediate future. . .

30 Before 30-Sunrise/Sunset

One of the items on my 30 Before 30 List was to see the sun rise and set in the same day. Why? Because I never had. It was always one or the other. This past Friday I was able to check that off my list in a pretty unique way. . .

 This shot was taken on my morning run through the neighborhood. I love the way the sun peeking over the houses as I turned the corner and went down a street in our neighborhood.

This shot was taken from a restaurant in Ocean Isle Beach, NC. I love how peaceful everything is there.

When I set this goal for myself I never thought one would occur in one city and the other in another, but I am very pleased that they did!

Mind Clearing Hike

One of the items on my 30 Before 30 List was to go hiking with David. We had been talking about doing it since college, but never got around to it. I figured by putting it on a "to-do" list we would definitely accomplish it. In the midst of all this, the crazy Mother Nature gave us a few days of 60 and 70 degree temps. We decided to take her up on it and head out to breathe in some fresh air and clear our heads a bit.

Our first attempt took us to the Whitewater Center. The key word is "attempt". It had rained for a few days prior to Saturday, but we didn't think much of it. To our surprise we were greeted with news that the trails were closed. The parking attendant informed us of a gravel trail we could try, but it was only eight tenths of a mile, and we would still have to pay for parking. Bleck. We decided to hit the road again and head for Crowder's Mountain.

About thirty minutes later we were hitting the trails. In our extreme naivete we decided to take on the "strenuous" 2.8 mile route. Little did we know the route was 2.8 miles one way, and that it didn't even take us to the top. The trail took us to another spot where we could either return to the visitor's center or we could keep going to get to the top. We felt fine and chose to keep going.

If the trail had continued as it was we would have been fine, but it began to go almost entirely up with no flat spots for rest. Then, there were the steepest set of stairs I had ever climbed, or at least it seemed that way. When we finally did reach the top (after quite a few breaks for me) we were out of breath and ready to rest. The view that greeted us made it all worth it.

Kind of foggy, but worth the climb.

David and Daisy had no interest in the view or the cliff you had to climb to see it.

After a few minutes of taking it all in we headed back down. Our adventurous pup did way better than both of us and was scaling rocks left and right.

She was in no mood to model for the camera.

The paths we took, both up the mountain and back down, varied as we walked. Some parts were rocky and covered with tree roots, while other parts were smooth and flat. A book we are reading for a marriage class through our church compared hiking a trail to the seasons of a marriage. Some moments are flat and mostly uneventful, while others are bumpy and keep you on your toes. We are in a season of bumps and challenges, but will see a season of rest eventually. We don't know when that will happen, but it will. 

David's strength through all this has amazed me. He has been able to have those difficult conversations with others that I am not quite ready for. He has held me when I've cried despite the other millions of things he could be doing. He has constantly pointed me to God when I've struggled, reminding me that we are not in this alone. Like the song says, "God gave me you for the ups and downs". Whether we're on a mountain and I need a break, or I'm crying on the couch and need a hug, God certainly gave me David for a reason.

2012 Rewind

Happy New Year's Eve one and all! I've decided that people fall into two distinct categories: they either loved the previous year and are hopeful for the new year, or they are totally over the previous year and are hopeful for better times in the new year. Regardless of which camp people fall into, no one ever wishes to stop time. People are always hopeful for the new year, and I am no different.

Here is a glimpse at some of what we've been up to . . .

I set some goals and created a 30 Before 30 List. 

I completed my first 5k.

My sweet husband guest posted and kick-started his blogging career again.

We ventured to Charleston, SC for a few days.

We witnessed my brother graduating from NCSU and his commissioning ceremony into the USMC.

We celebrated our 2nd Anniversary.

I had surgery on my foot to remove a cyst.

We spent a week at the beach with family.

My kidneys relapse, and we tackled the minimal change disease again.

We announced our little family would be growing in the coming year!

And much, much more. Thank you for joining us on this journey!

Operation Nursery

From the moment we found out we were expecting, I have wanted to work on the Nursery. My lives-in-the-real-world husband was good about reminding me we should probably wait a bit before until we decorate because I'm likely to change my mind 15 times. He's so wise, that one. We knew the room that we would use as the Nursery namely because it was the only room in the house without furniture in it. We go for simplicity around here, folks.

So, when I was about three and a half months pregnant we went ahead with the first step of painting. Choosing a color wasn't difficult because we knew we wanted this to be the Nursery for any future children we had-boys or girls. We went with a neutral color referred to by Lowe's as "tranquility". Honestly, it's a lovely sea foam green color. Something that would look good with blue accents for a boy and pink accents for a girl. We dove right into it on a Friday evening and finished in just a few hours. Minor touch-ups were completed the next day but overall it turned out pretty well!

We decided not to purchase any furniture because my super sweet and generous aunt had furniture from my cousins she was more than willing to pass along to us! And before any one freaks out my last cousin isn't even in kindergarten yet so things still meet code:-) We saw it for the first time at Thanksgiving, and I couldn't wait to get it home and set up. It sat in my parents' garage for a few weeks before they kindly brought it down to us. We made plans to put it together this past weekend, so imagine my surprise when I come home Friday afternoon from a long week at work to see this. . .

My sweet husband had put it all together to surprise me! I sure got a good one:-) 

The next step? Wall hangings. We picked up some things when we were in Boone a few months ago that I can't wait to put up. After that we'll get a dresser of some sort and bedding then we should be all set for her! It's making it all so much more real!

Zucchini Spice Bread

I was very excited a few weeks ago when we had the opportunity to knock something off of my 30 Before 30 List by visiting the local farmer's market and creating a meal from our purchases. One of the items we picked up was zucchini. We'd eaten it a million different ways a million different times, but had never before tried it as a bread. Cue the need for a sweeter item to round out our menu. Here is the recipe I tried and tailored. It tasted especially yummy warmed up with vanilla ice cream. Mm mm mm!

Ingredients

1/2  cup  applesauce

1 1/2  cups  all-purpose flour
1  teaspoon  baking powder
1  teaspoon cinnamon
1/2  teaspoon ground ginger
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon  baking soda
1/4  teaspoon  ground nutmeg
1/2  cup  light brown sugar
1/4  cup  granulated sugar
2 eggs
1  teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups coarsely grated zucchini (about 1 medium)


Directions
Heat oven to 350.

Grease an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2 in loaf pan.
In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg.
In a separate bowl, mix together the oil, light brown and granulated sugars, eggs, and vanilla.
 Mix in the zucchini.
Add the flour mixture and mix until just combined (be careful not to over mix).
Spread the batter in the prepared pan and bake 50-60 minutes.
Cool in the pan for 30 minutes.
Enjoy!

30 Before 30: Farmer's Market Feast!

David and I have always preferred buying local to not. If it comes to going to the corner coffee shop or Starbucks, we choose our local place. When it comes to produce, we always try and buy what we can from the farmer's in our area. About a year ago we started getting a box of fresh produce from a local farm. Each week we stop by and they give us a great selection of what's in season. So when I created my 30 Before 30 List I knew I wanted one of the items to reflect this passion of ours. So I chose to attend a local farmer's market and create a meal from the things we pick out. All that happened this past weekend!

We headed over to the local market armed with cash and a cooler for our goodies (we were running errands afterwards). Neither of us were in the mood for anything in particular for supper, it was only 9:30am after all and we had just gorged ourselves on breakfast. So we started perusing to see if anything caught our eyes. After a loop around (we wanted to get an idea of what was out there) we ended up with the following items:

eggplant

spaghetti squash

mushrooms

sweet potatoes

green beans

zucchini

There were lots of other items to choose from, but since our weekly CSA box included a bunch of items this week I knew we didn't want to go overboard. Anywho, what in heaven's name could we make with the above items?? We decide on eggplant parmesan with spaghetti squash and sauteed mushrooms with a bonus dessert of zucchini bread! I don't have the recipes organized quite yet but will be sharing them all in the coming weeks. Until then just know that our supper was absolutely awesome made even better by the fact that it was provided to us by the little old farmers behind all the stands.

What's your favorite thing to get at a local market??

30 Before 30-Brew Tour

One of the items on my 30 Before 30 List was to tour a brewery. I figured this one would have to take place on a weekend visit to Raleighwood since breweries are few and far between around our parts. When I saw a Google Deal (similar to Groupon) on touring a local brewery I jumped all over it! David and I were able to take a tour, get a sampler, a souvenir glass, a pretzel, and a growler for $11 each. Talk about a steal!

I should probably rewind and let you know that we're not alcoholics who spend our lives drinking beer. I will say we are a bit of beer snobs. It began when my dad started brewing beer and therefore showing us the difference between good beer and that cheap clear stuff we often turned to. Fast forward a few years and we definitely have learned a few tricks of the trade.

So this past weekend we were blessed enough to be visited from a few of our great friends from school. Scott and Steve are bothers and were David's roommates in college. Caroline is Steve's girlfriend and was my roommate for a year in college. We're like one big happy family! Knowing that they were coming we quickly determined the brew tour would be a great way to show off some of Charlotte.

We learned all sorts of interesting things about Olde Mecklenburg Brewery from a fellow beer snob.

 He shared with us the importance of using certain ingredients and how the best beer is kept fresh.

They had awesome "community" tables where you just sat down and hung out with your neighbors.

 We learned the intricacies of bottling.

OMB Copper. Yum.

It was an awesome way to spend an afternoon and we can't wait to head back soon! What's your favorite brew??

Tile Coasters

Many moons ago I saw a fabulous idea on Pinterest that I wanted to replicate. So I hurried out to A.C. Moore and bought all the supplies only to have them sit in my "craft" room for six months. I guess I just kind of forgot about them there for a bit. With all this extra time on my hands thanks to summer vacay I knew it was time to crack these puppies out and give it a go! Here are step-by-step instructions on how to create tile coasters with some of your favorite pictures:

Step 1: Purchase tiles

These cost me about 40 cents each at the local Lowes.

Step 2: Select pictures and cut them to the size of the tile

I used pictures from our wedding, but you could use anything you wanted. This process also works with scrapbooking paper. Just about any paper works other than something printed by an inkjet printer (it gets smudgy). 

Step 3: Apply a light coat of Modge Podge to the back of the picture and adhere it to the tile. Let the tile dry for about 20 minutes. Then, apply a light layer of Modge Podge on top of the picture. Let dry for about 20 minutes. Repeat 5-6 times.

While these were drying, I cut out the felt for the next step. 

Step 4: When your tiles are dry, turn them over and adhere felt to back.

I used a hot glue gun, but rubber cement or super glue would probably do the job too!

Step 5: Display and tell everyone how hard you worked;-)

You can use your coasters the next day but don’t put anything HOT on them for a month – that’s how long it takes the mod podge to fully set in and do its job.

30 Before 30: Nail Polish

Y'all, I'm going to be honest with you here, this is a ridiculous post. What I am about to consider an accomplishment is also pretty laughable. I get that. But on the same front, it's also fairly impressive that I was able to successfully complete this task. What is that task, you may ask. Well, the fact that I kept nail polish on my nails for over a month without picking it off! WAHOO!! I warned you it was kind of ridiculous;-)

I've also admired people who are able to keep their nails tidy. It's not something I have ever been able to check off my to-do list. Until now that is! Before the wedding, David's sweet grandma, Grammie, took me to her salon for the full treatment. We're talking mani, pedi, fake nails-the whole nine yards. I honestly loved them. It was such a fun feeling! Even if I was wearing workout clothes, I still felt like a princess. Unfortunately, I was never able to master taking my contacts out with the fake nails. In fact, I punctured my eye so badly the night before our wedding I was convinced all the pictures would show a bloodshot eye. Mercifully that was not the case, but when we returned from the honeymoon I had them removed.

Fast forward to a few months ago. I told myself I was going to make a concerted effort to keep my nails tidy. No chipped nails, no hang nails, nothin'. I am happy to report that I was able to do so! I repainted them about once a week so they didn't look too ragamuffin, but other than that nothing changed!

"The Thrill of Brazil"!

Is this a real accomplishment? Nah, not really. But I must say I do enjoy my nails a lot more these days:-)

30 Before 30: Cookout

One of the tasks on my 30 Before 30 List was to host a cookout. I was really hoping to have a big soiree to show off our expanded patio, but that would require us to have expanded our patio. It's in the plans, but won't be happening for quite some time now. The opportunity to host over the long weekend presented itself and the "Martha" in me just couldn't say no!

I have always loved celebrating summer with family and friends. There is something about gathering 'round the grill with a corn hole tournament going that is really good for the soul. Now that we have a house we can finally host our very own cookout! We ended up having 4/5 of the Wardlets together again (missed ya, Manda Panda!) which is impressive in and of itself. We also had a few of my close friends from childhood over to catch up and celebrate life.

The smell of burgers and hot dogs greeted guests out back along with a table filled to the brim with sides, dips, and desserts. As neat as it is to be able to host and provide food for everyone, there is something about inviting everyone to share their signature dish. I can't wait to get some the recipes to share with y'all!

A few pictures from the weekend:

TJ and Megan came to visit us from Raleigh!

Bored? Crack out the Mario Kart of course!

Friends for over 20 years!

Family portrait:-)

How many engineers does it take to move a light for games?

Can't wait for the next opportunity to open our home up to everyone!

30 Before 30-TV Show

Earlier this year I created a list of 30 things I want to accomplish before I turn 30. Some of them were fairly large goals (going on a mission trip, adding to our family, etc) while others were a little sillier (keeping my nails painted for a month for instance). Well, folks I'm here to tell you about my most recent feat-I watched an entire show from beginning to end!

I know this seems silly. That's because it is. This is a bit of an accomplishment for me, though. While I have never been formally diagnosed with ADD, I'm 99.99% sure my job has given me some form of it. Between the children constantly shouting questions and concerns at me coupled with the million things I have going on with my computer at any given point in time, I have developed a tendency to stay away from focusing.What the heck does that have to do with watching a TV show? Well, prior to this I had never watched an entire TV series from beginning to end. I usually start it, then somewhere in the middle I lose focus and quit watching. The TV show that has snapped me out of this funk? None other than Friday Night Lights!

I found it after searching Netflix for an hour-long show I could watch while I was on the treadmill. This gem was recommended after Netflix perused my previous collection. I was hooked from the first episode! Everything from Eric and Tammy's love-infused marriage to the drama of Jason Street's accident kept me watching. The writers never gave us an opportunity to get bored with the storyline. My only complaint was the way it all ended. It was as if they weren't renewed for another season and they had no way to end it but to cut it off.

So if you're looking for something to do this summer while the shows on are hiatus, I highly suggest checking out Friday Night Lights! I've since moved onto Mad Men and have actually broken my own rule of "only Netflix shows while on the treadmill" to keep up with the action. Don't be surprised if I start replicating everything Betty Draper wears and pursue my masters in advertising. . .

30 Before 30-Blogging Daily

At the beginning of the year I created a "bucket list" of sorts. This is my 30 Before 30 list. It includes a hot mess of random things I want to accomplish before I am 30. As is often the case with bucket lists, you start off pretty gung-ho about things. The goal becomes not to do them all before 30, but to do them as soon as possible. One of the goals I set for myself was to blog daily for a month. I figured this wouldn't be too difficult of a task since I love sharing my adventures.

I started trying to keep up with this soon after I published my list. Then, life got in the way (as it so often does) and I missed a few days. No biggie; I'll just start over. So from mid-February until last weekend I had kept up with the blog by posting every day-wahoooooo!

My hubby teased me and said that while I couldn't see to find the time to finish folding the laundry, I was somehow able to find the time to write a post or two. Why is that, you may ask. . . because it's fun! It such a great outlet for me to write about everything that is going on in my life. I love having the opportunity to share the ins and outs. The fact that people read it is a bonus! It never gets old for me to hear from someone that they read my blog. What an honor!

Now that I'm in the habit I hope to keep up with my regular posts. I can't promise it will be everyday because it is nice to just shut down technology once in a while, but I hope to keep up with it fairly regularly.

To my sweet hubby. . .

Truth

Kickin' Some 5K Booty!

Well, folks, I did it. I ran my first ever 5K! Let me just take a quick minute to celebrate- wahoooooooooooooooo! About a year ago I got into running. I started on a treadmill at our apartment complex's gym. When we moved to the house and I didn't have the treadmill anymore it dawned on me how much I enjoyed, and now missed, running. My sweet husband recognized this and used his Craigslist sleuthing skills to find me a used treadmill. With the kidney revolt it was put on hiatus for a while. When I finally got the go ahead from my doc I laced up my shoes and hit the treadmill again!

With the new year I made a set of goals for myself to accomplish before I turned 30. One of them was to run an entire 5K. Now, I've walked quite a few in my day, but never run one. I starting my own version of training and began scouring the internet for a local race I wanted to support. Many 5K's are run in support/honor of a cause or a person, so I wanted to my first full one to be a cause I was interested in.

About a month ago someone I went to high school with posted about a 5K taking place in my hometown (about 10 minutes down the road from where I live now). This was the Angels of '97 5K. This is an organization very near and dear to my heart. It was started to honor five students from a local high school who all passed away before their graduation in 1997. The organization now honors other local teens who passed away before their time. The 5K, along with a silent auction and all-you-can-eat spaghetti dinner, race money to fund scholarships for teens at the local high schools. In fact I earned one when I graduated in 2006! I couldn't imagine a more perfect race to be my first:-)

I woke up early Saturday morning a ball full of nerves. I'm still not exactly sure why I was freaking out so much. It's not like this was my first time ever running. Regardless, I grabbed something to eat and was out the door. I was about ten minutes down the road when I realized I forgot my headphones. Mother of pearl. There was no way this thing was happening without some musical motivation, so I turned the car around.

This set me back in time, which I had so carefully plotted out. I had it in my mind that I would get there with 30 minutes to spare to pick up my race day packet, stretch, and get in the zone (hey, I've warned y'all from the beginning I'm too Type-A for my own good). Fat chance that was going to happen now.

Anywho, I arrived with just enough time to grab my packet and head up to the starting line. I turned on my running playlist and got ready for the start. A few minutes later we were off! It was a great run and aside from the hill in the first mile I felt awesome! It didn't hurt that I had this cute kid as my leader:

About halfway through I realized that I was definitely going to be able to run the whole thing. That momentum was enough to help me pick up the pace until the end. My final mile pace was 8:10 and my final time was 25:23. WAHOOOOOOOOO! I finished first in my age group and 32nd overall. I still cannot believe it. God truly pushed me to keep going and it showed in the end.

Will I be doing this again? Heck yes. I'm already on the hunt for another! If you know of a good one in the Charlotte area, let me know!

Homemade Chalkboard

We've been in our house a little over 6 months now and the blank walls are starting to get to me. We've hung up a few things, but there is still a lot of empty space. One space in particular was really getting to us-the kitchen wall. What to do? Tootle around Pinterest, of course! As soon as I saw it I knew it would be perfect for our space-a chalkboard! To make it even better, it was super easy and super cheap!

What you will need

Chalkboard paint

Frame

Directions
Remove glass from frame.
Make sure there is no debris on glass.
Paint 5-6 layers of chalkboard paint on frame.
*Very Important* Allow 4-5 days for the paint to dry. 
Return glass to frame
Use the long side of a piece of chalk to cover entire surface.
Use a wet sponge to clean it off.
Your chalkboard is now ready for your words of wisdom!

Frame of choice

Supplies

Paint of choice

 After the first coating

Final product!
Don't worry, we aren't going to leave a white frame on a white wall. We just haven't decided on paint colors yet!

As you can see this project was super easy and super fun. The hardest part was waiting for the paint tor dry!

30 Before 30-Dinner Party

At the beginning of the year I began a quest. Not just any quest, but a quest to complete a "30 Before 30" Bucket List. Some of the items I've been trucking along on, and others I've been avoiding (who knew The Scarlet Letter would be so hard to get in to?!?). I am excited to announce that I have completed another task-host a dinner party!

Actually I completed this and blogged about it a few weeks ago, but had completely forgotten that this item was on my Bucket List. For David's birthday we had about 16 people over to celebrate him entering his 24th year of life (posted here). We had wonderful people from both sides of our family over to love on him. It was wonderful!

As for the dinner party part of it, that was pretty wonderful too! The original intention was for it to be smaller and more intimate, but I got a little carried away (no surprise there!) and it grew in size. That growth in size added to the celebration, though. It was a great learning experience (lesson learned: I do not need to wake up at 6am for a 5:30pm supper) and we had a lot of fun. Will we do it again? Most definitely! A few (repeat) pictures from the evening:

 Grammie, John, and Gramps

The spread

Birthday cake

recipe

 Gotta love presents!

Happy Birthday!

Hummingbird Cake

I am excited to announce that I have completed my first "30 Before 30" task-baking a cake from scratch! A few weeks ago I was flipping through the latest copy of Southern Living (love it!) and I stumbled upon a recipe for something called, "Hummingbird Cake". Thanks to my sweet tooth, I always linger on the dessert recipes a while longer. After scanning through the ingredients I knew I could tackle this and did the old-school version of Pinterest- I just ripped it out of the magazine:-) Our community group takes turns making dessert for each other, and they often become my guinea pigs when I find a new treat. When the email was sent asking for some one to make dessert last week, I jumped at the chance. Let me know what y'all think!

Ingredients 

Cake Batter 

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans 

3 cups all-purpose flour 

2 cups sugar 

1 teaspoon baking soda 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

3 large eggs, lightly beaten 

1 3/4 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 4 large) 

1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple (do not drain) 

3/4 cup canola oil 

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Frosting 

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened 

1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened  

1 (16-ounce) package powdered sugar, sifted 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions

Cake

Preheat oven to 350°. 

Bake pecans in a shallow pan 8-10 minutes or until toasted, stirring halfway through. 

Stir together flour and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl.

Stir in eggs and next 4 ingredients, stirring just until dry ingredients are moistened. 

Sprinkle 1 cup toasted pecans into a greased and floured Bundt pan. 

Spoon batter over pecans.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.

Cool cake in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan to wire rack, and cool completely.

Frosting

Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. 

Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until light and fluffy. 

Stir in vanilla.  

Frost cake.

Enjoy!

Everything waiting to be prepared!

All the dry ingredients

Going into the oven.

The final slice before it was all demolished!