Thankful Thursday-He Set Me Free

He set me free, He set me free

My Jesus came and rescued me

He set me free, gave me eyes to see

No bonds and chains shackle me.

-Thad Cockrell

What beautiful words for a beautiful day. This post is coming to you from a local coffee shop. Caribou Coffee to be exact. In fact, I owe my dear hubs an apology. I was adamantly against this place for quite some time, but after my first foray into what I consider the "frou-frou" drinks, I'm hooked. I don't want to say he was right but . . . he was right.

Anywho, being back in a coffee shop with my computer, a long to-do list, and copious amounts of coffee throws me back to being in school. Despite the fact that it was only a little over a year ago that we graduated, it seems like ages ago. So much has happened since we officially walked across the stage and marked "education" off of our bucket lists, but that's another post for another day. Today I am collecting a list of all the things that I am thanking God for right now.

*caffeine*

(this is very common item on Thankful Thursday, but I'm ok with that!)

*air conditioning*

(very necessary in this North Carolina humidity)

*running*

(I may not be very fast or very good at it, but I sure do enjoy doing it!)

*a job*

(I'm excited to start nannying part-time next week. Gives me something to do on the long days that David is gone!)

What are you thankful for??

Chicken Green Noodle Casserole

Growing up we had this about once a week because it was one of the few dishes we would all eat. Can easily be frozen for a later day!

Casserole

5 chicken breasts, boiled until cooked

1/4 cup butter (1/2 a stick)

1/4 cup flour

1 cup milk

1 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup lemon juice

1 pint sour cream

1 tsp. Accent

2 tsp. Lawry's salt

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cayenne

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 package "green" noodles (spinach noodles)

Topping

2 tsp. butter

3/4 cup dried bread crumbs

Chop cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces.

Melt butter on stove top. Stir in flour and at medium-low heat slowly add milk. Stir constantly.

Add chicken broth.

Cook over low heat, stirring until it thickens.

Add lemon juice and sour cream.

Add all the spices to the sour cream mixture.

Cook green noodles according to package directions.

Layer sauce, noodles, chicken, sauce, noodles, chicken, etc ending with sauce.

Melt 2 tsp. butter and mix with bread crumbs. Sprinkle on top.

Bake at 325 for 30 minutes or until bubbly

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday America!

In honor of America's birthday we headed to Raleighwood to visit with friends. We've spent every 4th in Raleigh for the past 4 years (minus last year because of that whole we went on a honeymoon thing) and our great capital has yet to fail us! Our weekend was mainly spent doing what we do best: eating, drinking, and getting our sun tan on.

 A boy and his dog.

 You can't really tell here but she was doing a Butterfly-esque stroke.

 Kelsey and Casey-so glad we got to visit with y'all!

 Our one picture from the weekend.

 Supersmash Brothers dominates their lives.

 Steve and Baily at Boylan Bridge Brewpup!

 My little is almost all grown up-good luck on your interview!!

Our hosts for the weekend!

I miss this beautiful city.

After all the weekend's activities we were too pooped to poop (name that movie quote!) and ended up in bed very early last night. I don't hate it :-)

Wacky Cake

Every year whenever Momma asked me what type of cake I wanted for my birthday, this was my go-to. In fact, we've now reached the point where she doesn't even have to ask. All she needs to really make is the frosting and I'd be a happy camper (is anyone really surprised by this?!). If you're looking for a piece of heaven in your mouth, look no further!

Cake

3 cups flour

2 cups sugar

2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. salt

1/2 cup of cocoa

2 cups cold water

2 Tbsp. vinegar

2/3 cup oil

2 tsp. vanilla

Mix the first five ingredients together. 

In a separate bowl mix the final four ingredients.

Combine wet and dry ingredients.

Pour into a greased pan (I usually use a bundt) and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Frosting

3/4 cup butter

1 1/2 cups brown sugar

1/4 cup and 2 tsp milk

3 cups powdered sugar

2 tsp. vanilla

Melt butter and brown sugar on stove. 

Add milk and bring to a boil.

Cool and add powdered sugar and vanilla.

Pour over cake and let it solidify.

Enjoy the explosion of deliciousness in your mouth!

2 dogs + 1 tiny apartment = chaos

We are blessed enough to have family who live close by and are willing to help us out with our little lady. Whether it's letting her out during a long work day or keeping her for a week so we can catch up on some R&R, they got our backs. In fact, just last week my family took her for a week so we could go to Asheville for our anniversary trip and David's family took her in April so we could go to the beach during my spring break. Seriously, these people are full of awesomeness.

When Mama Mobs called earlier this week to see if we could keep their dog and Daisy's BFF, Hank, for a couple days I quickly agreed. Hold the phone, you're probably thinking, "don't you live in an apartment?" Why, yes we do. Last time I traveled down the adventuresome road of puppy sitting things went well (minus the noise complaint from all the barking, but that's another story for another day). Jeter was also about half the size of Hank, and Daisy wasn't as concerned with playing attack.

Flash forward to this week when Hank arrived. To give you an image of Hank, he is a 75 lb. Lab/Pitt mix. All 75 of those pounds are love that's for sure, but Hank the Tank (or Hankapotamus as I like to call him) is one who doesn't realize his own strength. Last night I took them out back at 10:30pm when they still weren't tired enough to sleep and I was almost catapulted into the woods when they ran into me as they played. After about 30 minutes of this they finally pooped themselves out enough where I could drag them inside for bed. All that energy rebounded and at 6:15 this morning they were jazzed and ready for me to wake up.  Keep in mind we were outside until 11 last night playing.

For those of you not in the great North state, it gets hot here. Very quickly and very early. By 7am they'd decided it was too warm for their spoiled behinds and crawled up the stairs into the apartment. They then proceeded to drink about a gallon of water each (the jury is still out on how much was actually consumed and how much was sloshed across my kitchen floor) before regaining their energy and pummeling each other. My poor neighbors. It's a good thing we're moving soon or we'd be kicked out from all the thumping. After trying to take them out again, they flat out refused to play. They just sat there and looked at me. The heat must be too much for their furry little tushes. You better believe the minute we got back inside the pummeling commenced.

They both really are great dogs and play so well together, but this itty bitty apartment and over a hundred pounds of dog just do not mix well. At all. The moral of this story? Lauren will not be pet sitting in the apartment again. Ever. When we get a house the doors will be wide open for puppy guests, but in the apartment? Nope. Not happening.