In honor of Valentine’s Day, I’ve been trying to decide what to post. And, maybe what better than the story that got my husband to where we are today…
Some of you who have been around for a while know the story, but for those of you who are newer, sure you can read the shortened version up in the tabs, which maybe that’s what you should do. Especially if you want to see husbands side of this here story.
The summer after we were engaged, crazy me got struck with the idea of writing our story and well, it’s kind of like a chapter book, seriously. It’s a lot more in depth than the “shortened” version by far. Truthfully it’s probably pretty boring and I can’t guarantee how bad the writing is…. but if you’d like something to give you a good nights sleep, start by reading chapter one, you won’t make it far, I’m sure :). Just promise me you won’t drool on your computer. Computers DON’T like drool or any form of liquid… just sayin.
I stopped off with the engagement. Dang I forgot how many installments I actually made. Apparently I had no life or something… but as it came to me I wrote. Someday I should really sit down and try to remember the details of everything leading up to the wedding date itself.
I hope you have a wonderful and safe Valentine’s Day! Anyone have any big plans?!?!
Last week hubby and I discussed what we were going to do this weekend. Eventually he asked if I would go to ReRico Brazilian Grill with him in Springfield. He’s been wanting to try a Brazilian Steakhouse out and he found this one. I just so happened to find a groupon the day before for this steakhouse. So we decided to make reservations (so glad we did) and head up for a fun day of togetherness.
Our reservations were for 6:30 but by about 6 we’d exhausted all of what we wanted to do so we headed to the restaurant early. They were busy by 6 and said they really couldn’t get us in until closer to our reservation, no problem.
We were standing close to the hostess station and in the 30 minutes we were there the wait time (without reservations) went from 25 minutes to an hour wait. The lobby was packed! That to me was a sign this place might be good. The gentleman standing next to me asked if it was always packed or if it was packed because Valentine’s Day was coming up this week, but sadly I didn’t know.
6:30 on the spot, they called our name and we had a table. So you come in and they take your drink order, we both went with Sweet Tea, although trying one of the many Brazilian style drinks could have been fun too. Then they ask if you’ve dined with them before. No, ok well you get your first course, unlimited trips to the salad bar, then when you’re ready you flip from red to green, the waiter brings you a clean plate and the guys with meat come around. The meat is generally cooked Medium to Medium Rare but if you need more done, they’ll accommodate you. Plus you get sides and then (not included in price) you have the dessert cart come around.
A friend of mine at work recently gave me an article to read. She knows how much I love cooking and would love to be a chef/attend culinary school. She read this article in a little magazine called Guideposts and I’m not really sure much about it, but she showed me this article on Andrew Zimmern who is on Travel Channel. I scanned the document in for you to read as well because it is encouraging for anyone who struggles with something, whatever your story & case may be.
Marriage is like a peanut butter & jelly sandwich… the husband and wife are the peanut butter and jelly. They’re much better together than apart. God is the bread who holds it all together. When it’s done right, it’s a simple recipe that never goes out of style ~Author unknown
Marriage is hard. It’s easy, but it’s hard. Don’t get me wrong, sooooo totally worth it, but hard and easy, but hard.
Are you confused yet? Don’t worry, I think I am too. Marriage is easy if you are with the right person, to work through and push on through all of your differences, all the obstacles, all the disagreements, all the everything that life is willing to throw at you.
Three Years ago today I chose to enter into this marriage. At 10:15am my husband asked me to be his wife. Be his wife for the rest of our lives. Be his wife through the good times and the bad. But most importantly, to be his wife.
When you start dating a person, you put your best foot forward. You go out of your way to impress. I’m not really sure you know a person until you’ve been together for a while.
We had the advantage of being friends in high school, although a lot had changed from high school until we met back up 10 years later. Life happened. Education happened. Families happened. Hardships happened. Joyous times happened. Heartache happened. Jobs happened. Enough happened to those 2 people that they had been completely reshaped, reformed and molded into the people they were on July 25, 2009, when they met up again after 10 years for their first date. It was almost like meeting a stranger for a first date, a date that no one could have imagined would lead to a lifetime together.
My husband tells me that the night, of that first date, he knew that he was going to marry me; I however didn’t know anything of the sort. All I knew is I went on a first date for the first time in a little over 5 1/2 years and had a fabulous time with a stranger from my past. Who would have known that that first kiss at 3am would be my last first kiss?
As the summer drew on and I sometimes think life sped up, we became closer talking through all means possible. In fact, we had a long distance relationship for the first 2 months of our relationship. In October of that year (2009) when he informed me he was quitting his job and moving home, I actually got a sick feeling in my stomach.
We had talked a few times about marriage and life together but nothing was ever set in stone. Nothing was ever serious even. It was just talk, like we always did. One thing I told him though, I didn’t want to ever be proposed to on my birthday, anything to do with Christmas or New Years, Valentine’s Day, basically any of the “given” times. Turns out, I share my proposal date with National Safety Pup Awareness Day :).
I hear some many times that people are getting married but are unsure if they’re making the right decision. If you have doubts, DON’T DO IT! That’s one piece of advice I have for you! When it’s right, you’ll definitely know and there will be no doubts in your mind.
So, now is time to share the story that I have shared, every year on this day:
This had started out as a pretty crappy day, I surely didn’t know that it would eventually get better! I started doing the mail and got a phone call from Nancy at the front office that I had flowers at the front desk so I headed to the front of the building to go retrieve my flowers. (I work all the way at the back.) I passed Becky grumbling that “Prince Charming’s so in trouble.” although seriously what girl doesn’t like flowers, especially when they look like this!!
Meanwhile back at my desk my mom brought Prince Charming into the building. Tracy got her camera out and Nicole got another camera that had a recorder out. Becky was standing guard in the hallway to announce to them when I got back. Then they all dove into different hiding places.
So when I came back Becky announces really loud that I had beautiful flowers. My desk has frosted glass around it and when I walked around the corner and I could see someone on the far side of my desk but I figured it was a coworker had dropped something or since I was having such a bad day, they were going to jump out and scare me (things like that happen to me from time to time) so I didn’t really think to much of it. So I came up on my mystery guest and Prince Charming is down on one knee.
I just stared at him and he asked me “The Question” and I was rendered speechless. (yes I know, this doesn’t hardly happen at all!)
I just stared at him and it dawned on me, SPEAK Nicole :)… so of course I said yes. He said he had to pry my death grip off the rose container to set them down on my desk for me; He said he thought I’d drop the flowers and he was prepared to catch them… LOL
Then he turned around and I tackled him in a bear hug.
Of course a girl has to try on the ring 🙂
Prince Charming says this is his favorite photo.
I’m officially ENGAGED!!!! I love my Prince Charming!!!
One final note:
Over time your marriage will start to look like the marriages of the people you’re around the most, so be very wise about how you choose your friends. Look for at least one couple who has a marriage worth imitating and then be intentional about spending more time around them.
The classic King Cake is a traditional cake that is generally eaten in Louisiana during the season between 12 days after Christmas and Fat Tuesday. A King Cake is oval-shaped, like the pattern of a racetrack. Trademark decorations–sugars in the royal colors of purple (justice), green (faith), and gold (power)–honor the three kings who visited the Christ child on Epiphany, the 12th day after Christmas.
I thought it would be a fun thing to take to Sunday Night Dinner since last night was the last Sunday before Mardi Gras. It was funny because I swear everyone was avoiding finding the baby like it had the plague or something.
The baby you ask?? Well, inside each King Cake there is a baby (or a pecan or a coffee bean) hidden. I’ve found that it has 2 meanings. 1) The person who finds the baby will have good luck for the next year. 2) The person who finds the baby has to supply the next King Cake. I read the latter of the two because they say that especially in the New Orleans area, there will be a King Cake pretty much every Friday of the season. It also said you can tell the locals who were born with the tradition to the new comers.
So I’m just trying to educate you in case you ever find yourself in that situation :).
NOTE! You may NOT prepare and serve this before Twelfth Night (Jan. 6) or after Mardi Gras Day!
Mardi Gras King Cake adapted via here
Dough 1 cup milk 1/3 cup butter, melted 1 pkg. (envelope) active dry yeast (1 tbsp) ½ cup white sugar 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp ground nutmeg 1 tbsp lemon juice 3 eggs Filling 1/3 cup butter, softened 1 cup packed brown sugar 2 Tbsp. cinnamon Icing 2 cups sifted sugar 2 tbsp lemon juice 2 tbsp water Decorating sugars (purple, green and gold)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Heat the milk and butter in a saucepan until it reaches a temperature of about 110 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in the milk and butter mixture. Add the sugar, 3 cups of the flour, salt, nutmeg, lemon juice and eggs; stir well to combine. Add the remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and supple, about 8 minutes.
Lightly grease a large mixing bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a lightly damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
Deflate the dough by punching it once and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin and roll it into a rectangle that is about 10 x 14-inches. Spread the softened butter evenly over the surface. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle it evenly over the butter.
Roll up the dough into a log and seal the seam by pinching it together.
Form the log into a ring, pinching the dough together at the two ends to form a seam.
Place in a greased 13 x 9-inch pan. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise again for 30-45 minutes.
Remove towel and bake the ring for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. While the ring is baking, combine the icing ingredients.
When the ring comes out of the oven, coat it generously with icing. Then decorate the top with colored sugars (green, gold, purple), in alternating sections, about 2 inches each.
Don’t forget to hide the plastic baby charm inside, but warn everyone to look for it!
Heat the milk and butter in a saucepan until it reaches a temperature of about 110 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast in the milk and butter mixture. Add the sugar, 3 cups of the flour, salt, nutmeg, lemon juice and eggs; stir well to combine. Add the remaining flour, ½ cup at a time, stirring well after each addition. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and supple, about 8 minutes.
Lightly grease a large mixing bowl. Place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a lightly damp cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.
Deflate the dough by punching it once and turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Use a rolling pin and roll it into a rectangle that is about 10 x 14-inches. Spread the softened butter evenly over the surface. Combine the brown sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle it evenly over the butter.
Roll up the dough into a log and seal the seam by pinching it together.
Form the log into a ring, pinching the dough together at the two ends to form a seam.
Place in a greased 13 x 9-inch pan. Cover with a tea towel and allow to rise again for 30-45 minutes.
Remove towel and bake the ring for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden. While the ring is baking, combine the icing ingredients.
When the ring comes out of the oven, coat it generously with icing. Then decorate the top with colored sugars (green, gold, purple), in alternating sections, about 2 inches each.
Don’t forget to hide the plastic baby charm inside, but warn everyone to look for it!
I decided to be informative today… sorry, sometimes it happens, since I did my homework, I thought I’d share what I found out. With Mardi Gras coming up this next week, I thought I’d ponder on what Cajun Cuisine was and what separates it from Creole…
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I sometimes have a very inquisitive mind, especially when it comes to food so I started wondering how Cajun cuisine came to be:
Cajun cuisine is the style of cooking named for the French-speaking Acadian (Now day New Brunswick & Nova Scotia) or “Cajun” immigrants deported by the British from Acadia in Canada to the Acadiana region of Louisiana, USA. It is what could be called a rustic cuisine — locally available ingredients predominate, and preparation is simple. An authentic Cajun meal is usually a three-pot affair, with one pot dedicated to the main dish, one dedicated to steamed rice, special made sausages, or some other seafood dish, and the third containing whatever vegetable is plentiful or available. Ground Cayenne & Fresh Black Pepper are used often. (via wikipedia)
Now I’ve noticed that Cajun and Creole get intertwined a lot so here’s what I found about Louisiana Creole
Louisiana Creole cuisine is a style of cooking originating in Louisiana which blends French, Spanish,Portuguese, Italian, Native American, and African influences, as well as general Southern cuisine. It is similar to Cajun cuisine in ingredients (such as the holy trinity), but the important distinction is that Cajun cuisine arose from the more rustic, provincial French cooking adapted by the Acadians to Louisiana ingredients, whereas the cooking of the Louisiana Creoles tended more toward classical European styles adapted to local foodstuffs. Broadly speaking, the French influence in Cajun cuisine is descended from various French Provincial cuisines of the peasantry, while Creole cuisine evolved in the homes of well-to-do aristocrats, or those who imitated their lifestyle. Although the Creole cuisine is closely identified with New Orleans culture today, much of it evolved in the country plantation estates so beloved of the pre-Civil War Creoles. (via wikipedia)
So one commonality that they have is the Holy Trinity. No, I’m not talking about the Father, the Son & the Holy Ghost… I’m referring to the Cooking Holy Trinity which is Onions, Bell Pepper & Celery in roughly similar quantities.
And most people look at Cajun cooking to be insainly spicy, but they prefer to look at it as “well seasoned”.
Hey and after all of this, if you make it on to who wants to be a millionaire and the million dollar question you get from this blog post, by all means, I’d like some of that prize money too ;). haha! Make checks payable to Nicole 😉 haha.
All of my grandparents have had a major impact in my life. I spent a lot of time while I was growing up with both sets of grandparents. As I got older, I realized the value in spending time with them. The lessons I learned. The great bonds that I formed with them. They helped make me the person I am today.
Back sometime around 2007 my grandma was diagnosed with cancer and she passed away on 9/11/07. To say I was crushed and heart broken would be an understatement. Jump forward a couple of years when I started dating my husband, I was truly upset that he wasn’t able to meet my grandma or my grandpa (passed away on 6/15/08) on my mom’s side of the family.
My grandma’s birthday was February 5th. Just prior to February 5th in 2010 I asked my husband (then boyfriend, dating partner, significant other, whatever you want to call him back then) if he’d go to Red Lobster to celebrate my grandma’s birthday with me. And to some people that may sound weird, but my grandma was a truly spectacular woman and she lived! So why not celebrate her life on her birthday?
This is a tradition we’ve kept going and Tuesday night was no different. We invited my parents to go with us and when my mom and dad got there, I greeted them with a “Happy Grandma’s Birthday to you.” My mom grinned at me and said it back.
Why Red Lobster? Well, that was one place that they (as in my grandparents) always loved to go. So why not!
As I was perusing through the menu, what I normally order was $15.29 (or something close to that) or I could go with the 4 course Feast for $15.99 and it had what I normally get. Sold! Besides I go to a fish house for the biscuits and chicken, duh!
One morning last week, hubby went to leave the house and we both looked at his feet. Something didn’t seem right. Ah yes, you don’t wear house shoes to work…
I laughed and giggled and made fun of him.
I should have known better though…
Tuesday night when I got home from work, I changed my clothes and put on my house shoes waiting for time for us to leave and meet my parents.
When we went to walk out the door, I grabbed my purse and coat and stepped out of the house. Just as hubby locked the door I died laughing… why you may ask? I tried to pull a hubby…
So I really didn’t mention this because it sucked, but Josie was stolen from us a couple weeks after we got her. The strangest part about that is she was gone for about a week, came back and was missing again the next day and we haven’t seen her since. We looked high and low but we never found her.
So we were back to Audrey and Marlie and then Audrey sprung a leak in the form of four puppies. But I think we need our heads examined here at our house because we got another puppy this weekend.
Now Audrey’s puppies will find new homes when they are of age, so we won’t have 7 dogs, however, we will have 3.
The newest addition is almost 8 week old Great Pyrenees named Rio. Pyrenees are good watch dogs for sheep and goats. I sold the last of my sheep a year ago and contrary to what my dad and husband say/think I don’t plan on getting goats any time soon, so why a Pyrenees you may ask.
My answer: Why not?
My parents got Rio’s full sister and named her Tulsa. So Rio and Tulsa have joined the dog clan here at our houses. Mudflap doesn’t know what to think of Tulsa and Marlie acts like Rio has the plague, but new puppies at our house none the less :).
Sunday while I was cooking for our Super Bowl party we were headed to, I asked Tbug to watch Rio for me, the next thing I know, I looked over and this is what I saw.
