Thanksgiving in TEXAS

Sorry this post is so late...Better late than never, right?!?

Thanksgiving was wonderful! We spent Thanksgiving in Texas with my family. We were able to travel on Tuesday and spend four solid days with my family! Here is a picture of Bindi and me while we were driving:

Wednesday we went to Denton to see the house my brother has been living in. Wednesday night Barrett went to see The Blindside with my brother while I hung out at the house with my parents! Turkey Day was spent in Sherman visiting mom and dad's sides of the family. My granny cooked a great Thanksgiving lunch. Here are some pictures of our visit at their house:

Papa & Granny

My brother with Nana
Me, my brother & cousin Rhonda

LOVE HER!

My hubby

Turkey Day night was spent at my Nana's house. Nana made a great stew and cornbread. I had a great time catching up with my cousins! Friday and Saturday we shopped, and shopped, and shopped! It was FABULOUS! I have really really missed the shopping near my parents house. Not to mention, I have missed my shopping buddy!

Our Thanksgiving was great! I love my family and was so glad to spend time with them. I wish I would have had more time to see some of my friends, maybe next visit!

Friday's Food

Friday's food is brought to you by none other than Paula Deen!!! My mother-in-law introduced me to these sweet chicken bacon wraps a couple weeks ago. I tried my hand at them tonight, and they were DELICIOUS!

Here is what you will need:

• 1 1/4 pounds boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (about 4 breasts)
• 1 (1-pound) package sliced bacon
• 2/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• toothpicks
  

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes. Cut bacon slices into thirds. Wrap each chicken cube with a piece of bacon and pierce with a toothpick. Mix the chili powder and brown sugar in a separate bowl. Coat chicken/bacon pieces with the mixture. Place on baking sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes or until bacon is crispy. Let cool and ENJOY!

Date Night with "The Boss"

Last night Barrett and I went to see Bruce Springsteen in concert. I have to be honest, I only know the chorus of 2 Bruce Springsteen songs, but I will not pass up a good concert and a date night with my honey! ;)

Here is a picture of us before the concert started.

(Not the most flattering picture, but if you know Barrett, getting a picture is like pulling teeth!)

I have to say that although I didn't know many of the songs played, it was a great concert. The band played for 3 hours straight and put on a great show! Thanks for a fun night babe!

Girl's Trip - Gatlinburg, TN

Last weekend me, Barrett's mom (Deb), Barrett's sister (Paula), and Aubrey went on a little girl's weekend get-a-way. We left on Thursday night and came back on Sunday. Here is a glimpse of our trip!

On Friday we drove to Asheville, North Carolina to the Biltmore Estate. For those who don't know, the Biltmore is the largest private residential home in the United States. It was built by the Vanderbilt family in 1895. The home sits on more than 8,000 acres, has 255 rooms, and is over 2.4 million cubic feet of home. To say the least it is INCREDIBLE!!! To read more about the Biltmore Home go here. Asheville is usually a 1.5 hour drive from Gatlinburg, but a land slide shut the interstate down, so we had to go an alternate way that took a little over 2 hours. This is what Aubrey and I did on the way to the Biltmore...


This is what you see when you are walking up to the property...


I could not get over just how large and spectacular this home was. Oh, and I forgot to mention it belonged to a family of 3!!!!



This is a picture of me standing on one of the many balcony/overlooks. Beautiful view!

They do not allow photography while you are inside the home, so if you want to see more of the Biltmore go to the website above!

After touring the home, we headed to small little cafe/bistro on the property to get an ice cream cone before starting the drive home. This is what that area of the property looked like:

I snapped this picture of Aubrey and made it into a sketch! So cute!


On the drive home traffic was backed up going down the mountains, and we could not figure out why. Finally, we realized everyone was stopping to take a picture of this little guy off the road.

(sorry it's blurry!)

On Saturday we headed to the outlet mall to Christmas shop. Here is a picture of me and Aubrey getting ready to get our shop on!


At the outlet mall there were tons and tons of people. We had not expected the large crowds, so our shopping adventure ended prematurely without a lot of bags! We spent Saturday night watching the Tide roll over Mississippi State! ROLL TIDE

Sunday, we stopped at a few shops we had missed Saturday before we started the long haul home.

It was a fun weekend with the girls!

Game 11 - End of Season

Friday was our first playoff game at Camden. The sign for the game was AWESOME and was my personal favorite for the year. Way to go cheerleaders! Here is it:

It says, "If the Panthers didn't have a chance we wouldn't be here!" The hidden message (yellow letters) spell out FAITH!

I also got a picture of Barrett on top of the press box at the game. He is the second from the right.

The game did not have a good ending for the Panthers. We lost the game 35-7. I always hate the last game of the season. Our seniors were very emotional and some of the coaches were too. I was proud of Barrett, he has completed his second year of coaching. I am disappointed in myself...while I was posting this blog I realized I didn't get a picture of me and Barrett from the season :( Maybe next year...

Until the 2010 football season....

GO PANTHERS!

Friday's Food

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

Here is a chicken pot pie recipe a lady I work with told me about! It was tasty and very easy! We will definitely be making it again!

What you will need:

• 3 cups of cooked chicken


• 1 16 ounce bag of frozen veggies (thawed)


• 8 ounces of Velveeta cheese (cubed)


• 1 can of cream of chicken soup


• 1 can crescent rolls

Preheat oven to 375. Mix chicken, veggies, Velveeta, and soup in a 9x13 dish. Cover mixture with crescent rolls. Bake for 20-25 minutes until top is brown. Let cool and enjoy!

Game 10

This week the football game was moved to Thursday night, because there is suppose to be bad weather coming in tonight. Both schools wanted to make sure and get the games in since play-offs will start next week. It has really thrown off our schedule!


I was VERY disappointed, because I had a mid-term for school and was unable to go to the game. I was at least able to listen to the game on the radio after I finished my test. I don't have a picture of the cheerleader's sign, but I found a really cool picture of a PANTHER!!!





The Panthers played East Hickman at their stadium. The game went really well! We were able to pull out a 34-0 victory. Another team in the district that we needed to lose to secure our play-off spot lost, so we will be starting play-off play next week! Stay updated on the PANTHER'S PLAY-OFF RUN!!!!

GO PANTHERS!

Game 9

Friday night was our 9th football game. The game was away against the Fairview Yellow Jackets. I almost didn't get a picture of the sign, because the cheerleaders were running late. They literally ran from the bus and onto the field. I'm glad they made it, because I have only missed one sign so far this season! Here was the sign for the game:

It says, "Panthers.....Nuff' Said!"

The game started out and our guys were doing really well. We went into halftime with a lead of 14-0. I really don't know what happened after halftime, but we couldn't keep it together and ended up losing the game 21-23.

This week is a must win if we want to make it to playoffs. Yes, you read right, we can still make it to the playoffs with only a 3 and 7 record (right now our record is 2-7). I won't even try to explain it to you, but it is a crazy new system Tennessee is using this year. Check back with the blog to see how the Panthers finish off regular season play!

October Awareness

In Tennessee, October has been designated as Fraud and Financial Exploitation Awareness month, especially for seniors and disabled adults. Please make sure all of your elderly loved ones are aware of the many frauds and scams out there. For more information on frauds and scams targeting senior citizens go here.

Aubrey & the Old Navy Puppy

I was able to spend quality time with my little niece, Aubrey Grace, over the weekend. Saturday me, Aubrey, Rylie (Barrett's brother) and Paula (Barrett's sister) went shopping. We made several stops, but Aubrey's favorite was Old Navy. She climbed right up on the puppy on display and started trying to rock on it like a rocking horse! It was too cute! I just love being an aunt!

Dad's H.S. Reunion

My dad had his 30 year high school reunion a couple months ago. I thought their picture was AWESOME! Check it out!

Don't they look great?

Love you Mom and Dad! :)

Game 8 & Sr. Night

Last week was our bi week, and it felt really weird not going to a ball game or posting about it! Friday we played Giles County for Senior night. It was FREEZING and MISERABLE outside. I didn't make it to the senior night festivities, because I waited until the last possible second to get to the game. I wanted to stay in my warm house out of the misty freezing rain as long as I could! I was able to get into the game just in time to get a picture of the sign.

It says, "We love our seniors!"

I really wasn't sure how our boys would do against Giles Co, because they are one of the hardest teams around here. However, they played them really well. The Panthers fought really hard in the first half and only let Giles Co. get a 6-0 lead. The second half our boys struggled and the game ended 22-0.

I was absolutely miserable during the game. My attire (3 pairs of socks, leggings under jeans, 3 shirts, big jacket with hood, scarf, gloves, and a blanket) did not do a good job of keeping my warm. I had prepared for the cold, but had not considered rain because the radar was clear before I left the house. Wet and cold DO NOT MIX! Here is a picture of me sitting at the game.

All I can say is I definitely have PANTHER PRIDE!

The first thing I did when I got home was take a hot bath and fix a pot of coffee! :)

Next week we play Fairview away. Keep watch for more Panther football posts! :)

Friday's Food

Here is a recipe for an easy, tasty snack!

Fire - Crackers

Ingredients needed:

*4 sleeves of saltine crackers

*1 1/4 cup of vegetable oil

*1 package of dry ranch

*2 1/2 Tablespoons of dry red crushed pepper

Directions:

Place crackers in Tupperware container with lid. Pour remaining ingredients in container with crackers. GENTLY toss crackers. Let crackers sit for a bit before enjoying!

Sleep Over at MY HOUSE!!!

Yes, you read the title right! I am CRAZY and had a sleep over for the high school volleyball team Saturday night. Barrett went out of town on a "guy trip", so it was just us girls!


We ate pizza, chips and cheese dip, cookies, and brownies! The night was filled with Twister, Guitar Hero, Taboo, "Booty Popping" dancing lessons, a movie, a lot of laughter, and of course not a lot of sleep! I really enjoyed having all the girls over, and am still paying the price from lack of sleep!

Thanks for a fun and memorable night Lady Panthers!

Oktoberfest

This past weekend was Oktoberfest in Hohenwald! I remember Oktoberfest last year, but didn't really have a chance to see what it was all about. Basically, it is a festival with arts, crafts, live bands, great food, and miles of yard sales. Last year I went yard saling, but this year I checked out the arts, crafts, and food! This is a picture I took walking up to the arts/crafts fair. You can see the little white tents in the distance!

The best thing about Oktoberfest is the food...in particular the apple fritters! They are AWESOME! The best way to describe them is, they are a dough nut type things filled with apple slivers fried. To finish them off, they are rolled in a ton of confectioners sugar and served warm! All I can say is absolute heaven...hence my face in the following picture!

Looks like I will have to wait until next year to enjoy another bag of apple fritters! :)

Bindi's Favorite Commercial

I don't know if many of you have seen the Toyota commercial with the couple in the car looking for their dog. They have the dog's squeak toys and are driving around, squeaking them trying to find their beloved pet.

The first time Bindi heard the commercial she went NUTS. She tried to look all around the television for the toy making the squeaky noise. I was able to capture Bindi's reaction to the commercial, thanks to DVR! It was sad and funny all at the same time!

New Do

Friday I got my hair cut the shortest I have EVER had it. I really
like the change, but I am still getting use to it! What do you think?!?