Saved by the Bell

This morning I was 10 minutes late for work. Why? Because for some crazy reason I turned on "Saved by the Bell - the college years" while I was getting ready and I kept stopping to watch. I grew up watching SBTB and then when I went to college - two of my favorite shows went to college also - "Saved by the Bell" and "90210". I remember exactly when Kelly and Zach finally got married because it was my senior year in college and we had a big viewing party. ha! I also remember when 90210 ended because I had another viewing party for that.
One of the fun thing about those shows was at the time - (because I had short dark hair and the same chubby cheeks) - I was constantly told I looked like Kelly Kapowski/Valarie Malone. Every time I checked out at Wal-Mart or went somewhere new - I heard "do you know who you look like?" One time I went to visit a friend and went to church with her and after the service - two little girls walked up to me with their bulletins and asked me for my autograph. Yes - Tiffani Amber Thiessen is at your church in Little Rock, AR. ha! (I signed it if you are wondering).
I wish I had an old picture to put up so you could compare. Times have changed (although we have both gone blond) and I no longer look like her but for a few years - it was kind of fun to be confused for a celebrity.

Rain Rain Go Away

I'm thankful for the rain because

1. We aren't having a drought and don't have to worry about water supply

2. We don't have to run our sprinklers so we are saving money on our water bill

3. I don't have to worry about watering my plants (because Scott says I'm not good at taking care of them) (he's right)

4. It's keeping the weather from being extremely hot.

But I wouldn't mind to have maybe a couple of days in a row with abundant sunshine and no rain. Preferably on the weekend!

Fun with Kids

This morning Scott and I taught Sunday School. We were learning about how Jacob took a trip and slept on a rock and had a dream where God told him he would be with him everywhere he went. So we sat in a pretend car and went on a pretend trip. We had everything we needed - keys, maps, suglasses and of course a camera (which was the kids favorite part). Scott enjoyed sitting "in the back of the bus" while the kids drove and they enjoyed wearing my big sunglasses. ha! After our story - our car stopped to let us get some snacks - which you can see the boys loved.
Then Scott and I filled in for 2x2 which is Childen's church for 3-5 year olds. It was really fun. They do a good job of having different stations of crafts, games, music and a story. I loved the kids. I had several fighting over who would sit in my lap and who would hold my hand. It filled my heart!
After Adult Sunday School - we ate lunch, came home and then took Dawson for his weekly walk and swim at our favorite trail. This was one of the first time we made it there without rain! Yeay!

Afternoon Delight

Scott and I had planned all week to have an actual DATE tonight. I can't remember the last time we had a real date - I mean dinner and a movie! I think it was my birthday in December. Sad! We are just homebodies who prefer to stay at home in our pj's and eat takeout.
Since it was so rainy and yuck most of the day - we were stuck in the house and a little bored so we decided to move our date night up to a date afternoon. So we got ready and went to a matinee movie at 3. We saw "Evan Almighty" and it was really cute. Kind of weird how even a movie made in Hollywood could lead me to my theme of answered prayers and having faith in God. God can speak through anything.
Then we ate an early dinner at P.F.Chang's. SO yummy! Then we looked around at Borders bookstore, walked around the mall and ended the late afternoon date at Sonic with some ice cream. There is nothing as wonderful as a summertime date - especially with your husband! (not that I would have a date with anyone other than my husband but I'm just thinking back to some awkward summertime dates I had with different guys and how thankful I am to have a wonderful husband to go on a lifetime of dates with)!

Prayer

A running theme in my life last year seemed to be on "trusting God". Lately what I think God has been trying to teach me is the importance of prayer. I've heard a lot lately on this subject and Scott and I recently started a Bible Study and the first part has been on prayer. It's amazing how much of the Bible is dedicated to prayer and especially on how we can ask God for anything. I've never thought about this before but I've always understood that God knows what we need before we ask and I wondered why He wants to ask anyway. Doesn't he already get a million requests a day? But God wants us to ask Him so that we can have answered prayers. He wants the praise and glory when our prayers are answered and He wants our faith to grow as we see those prayers answered. It also gives us opportunity for testimony when we see prayers answered. Just another reason why God is so great!
I want to list some of the wonderful promises in the Bible that I've been reading and claiming lately on asking God. There are really too many to name but these are my favorites.
"Ask and it shall be given to you" Matthew 7:7
"If you ,then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him" Matthen 7:11
"Again I tell you that if two on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my father in heaven" Matthew 18:19
"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. " John 15:7
"You do not have, because you do not ask God." James 4:2b
"Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours." Matthew 11:24

B is for Baby

A couple of weeks ago I said I went to the cutest baby shower that should be in a magazine and several people asked me what the cake looked like since I said it was SO cute.
Well - My friend Rebekah (who hosted the shower) finally posted pics on her blog so you have to go look. The onesie with the brown and pink bow was one of our gifts. And yes that is me in a red dress looking terrible. Please ignore that one.
Didn't I say it was a cute cake (and cute decorations and a cute cookie favor idea)?
http://www.hogwildharrisfamily.blogspot.com/
Or use my link to the side for Flint and Rebekah

Ants in My Pants

If you read my blog - then you might remember that a couple of months ago we had a horrible invasion of ants in our house. And you might remember that I have a terrible phobia of ants. Not just one ant or two but when I see more than say 10 - I just freak out.
Well - we did rid our house of ants thank goodness. But tonight I came home and one of my favorite things to do when I first get home is get the mail. So I pulled the mail out and looked down to see what we had and noticed that it was CRAWLING with ants! CRAWLING! So I looked in the mail box and there had to be MILLIONS of ants in there. I threw my mail down on the street and went in and got our can of raid and sprayed for about 30 minutes. YUCK! How did those ants invade our mailbox. Thank goodness this was a day when all the mail was junk because I pulled our trash bag to the curb and picked up the mail (that I had sprayed with raid) and dropped it all in.
I hate ants.

Happy Father's Day!

Scott and I have had a busy couple of weeks so we really needed a relaxing weekend and we got one. We went to bed on Friday night at 8 and didn't wake up until almost 10 on Saturday. FOURTEEN hours of sleep - that NEVER happens! But it was well needed.
Last night we got to keep Emily for a few hours so her parents could have an evening out alone. We had such a good time with her and she was so much fun. And I know Laurie and Steve enjoyed a free night out! Emily is so active and fun. We took several walks around the neighborhood, played in the backyard and read books and sang and then we watched "Finding Nemo". Dawson wasn't too sure how he felt about her being here. ha!
Today was a great day at church. Both our sermon and our Sunday School Lesson were on the importance of Godly fathers. I'm so thankful that both Scott and I grew up with two loving parents and wonderful fathers who were role models to us. I hope we will continue that legacy. We love you Dad and Bill! Thank you for loving us and showing us how a father should be!

Cha Cha Chicken Salad

This is the recipe for the chicken salad I made last night. It was REALLY good so I thought I would share!

CHA CHA CHICKEN SALAD

Ingredients
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
1 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon salt
6 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple
2/3 cup orange-flavored sweetened dried cranberries
1 cup chopped roasted, salted almonds

Preparation
1. Whisk together cream cheese and next 3 ingredients in a large bowl; stir in chicken, pineapple, and cranberries just until blended.
2. If desired, spoon mixture into a plastic wrap-lined 8-inch round cake pan; cover and chill at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours. Invert chicken salad onto a cake stand, and remove plastic wrap. Gently press chopped almonds onto sides of chicken salad. Garnish, if desired.
Yield
Makes 6 to 8 servings

Catching Up

I haven't updated this week because I have really been bogged down with work and there really hasn't been much going on. But to just catch up -

I got my hair done last night. I think in 12 years of coloring my hair - I am the happiest I've ever been with my color. I noticed she had changed the formula and she said she was trying to brighten my blond. Love it! I almost want to send her a thank you note. Is that weird?

Today we are going to lunch at Mimi's Cafe with all the girls in the office because another person is leaving us. (notice a pattern?) I haven't been to the Mimi's here yet but I've eaten at the one in Little Rock a few times and love it. So I'm excited! We ate thanksgiving lunch this year at Mimi's - it was a fun,interesting holiday!

Tonight I'm having Bible Study at my house. I'm making a menu that really isn't something I would normally make and I was laughing last night when I was making it because it is all of Laurie's most hated foods : chicken salad, green salad and rolls. That is the typical bridal shower/bridesmaids luncheon food and I always get a kick when we go to such an event and I have to watch Laurie torture herself. We've had to make more than a few runs through a drive thru after these things. I guess it would be like if I went to a dinner where they were serving eggs ,lima beans, and hot dogs. Those are the foods that make me gag. Luckily for Laurie - she's not in this Bible Study. ha!

June 10 is a day that always makes me smile. It's the day I met my future husband. Seven years ago - I left Fayetteville and drove to Little Rock to meet Scott Stamps. I remember when he called and asked me to meet him in Little Rock (halfway) for a date. I expected him to say "Let's meet at like 5 for dinner" and instead he said "How about meeting at 10 a.m.?" Nothing like starting things early.
We were supposed to meet in the food court of the mall - but I stood where I could see him first. Cause I'm sneaky like that.
We spent the whole day together and it wasn't the "perfect" day. Neither of us knew our way around Little Rock that well so we kept getting lost. And we went to two different restaurants for lunch that weren't open until we finally picked one and it was raining by then so we got all wet trying to go in. I left feeling like he really didn't like me and I think he had the same idea.
So I can't help but smile when I think about that day so many years ago and the road that God has taken us down since. It makes me wonder what is in store for us over the next seven years. I have a feeling that 43 years from now ........ my mind will be a little fuzzy but I will still smile every year on June 10th. (This picture is us when we were first dating)

"All by myself"

Scott went on a camping/floating/fishing trip with the guys from Sunday school last night and today so I've had some quality alone time this weekend. And I'm ready for it to end.
I did all the girly things I could do..... I went to the mall last night and walked around and then came home and read magazines and watched lifetime TV and the food network and ate ice cream. I slept late today and have just relaxed most of today. More lifetime movies and magazines. This is the first time since we've been married that Scott has been gone overnight and it has brought back a lot of memories of when I was single and lived alone and it has been a nice reminder of how much I love being married and how lucky I am to have a husband.

Ladies who Lunch

I've had a pretty tough work week this week (can I just say that I'm SO glad that tomorrow is Friday?) But one bright spot has been that I've had three great lunch "dates" this week.
On Tuesday I ate lunch with a lady from church who I'm doing a Bible Study with this summer. She is a really neat Christian lady and it's so nice because she is one of only three women at my church (that I know of ) who do what I do so it's great to have someone to talk to. We ate at McAlister's Deli.
Then on Wednesday I ate with my two favorite girls in the world - Laurie and Emily. We ate somewhere our husbands wouldn't be caught dead - Taste of Thai. It was delicious. Emily had a ball as you can tell.
Today I ate lunch with my boss and her new baby and another lady I work with. We ate at Atlanta Bread Company and I held the baby most of my lunch.

Spinach Artichoke Chicken

Yes - sadly - TV is over for the summer and last night I actually came home and (gasp) read! I did my Bible Study for the week and then finished a library book I had checked out. But there is one show that I started watching......"The next food network star". That's one reality show I would like to get on (besides Amazing Race and Biggest Loser).....I'd love to have my own cooking show.
But in the mean time - I thought I would share a recipe that I made Friday night for my friends. I found this several months ago because I love all things artichoke. I gave it to my friend Kelli and it has become a family favorite for them. Her sons request it for their birthday dinners. And Laurie asked me this morning for the recipe so hopefully if you read this and you are looking for something new - you can try it and let me know what you think.

Spinach Artichoke Chicken

4 chicken breasts
1 frozen spinach/artichoke TGIF dip
¼ shredded asiago cheese (or I use parmesan)
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp creole seasoning
½ cup italiam bread crumbs
1/3 cup butter

Cut slits in each chicken. Thaw dip. Mix in garlic with dip. Stuff chickens and secure with toothpicks. Blend bread crumbs, cheese and creole seasoning. Dip breasts in melted butter and dredge in crumb mixture. Set in dish.

Artichoke sauce:
¼ cup butter
1 can artichoke hearts, chopped
1 tsp parsley
½ tsp creole seasoning
3 tsp flour
3 cup chicken stock
1 cup cream

Heat butter. Add artichokes and parsley. Saute about 3 min. Sprinkle over w/ flour. Slowly add stock and cream and any leftover dip. Bring to a boil and simmer. Season with creole seasoning. Add any of the leftover dip to sauce also. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pour sauce over chicken and bake for 40 minutes.

Saturday

This morning Laurie and I went to a baby shower for our friend Katie at another friend Rebekah's house. It was really fun and they had beautiful decorations and the cutest cake I'd ever seen. It was a shower that should be in a magazine. BUT I forgot to take my camera so I can't share any pictures.
And then tonight, we went to eat at Doe's with Laurie and Steve. They had hired a sitter for E so it was just the 4 of us and we had such a good time. Afterwards (as if we hadn't eaten enough) we decided to go to Dairy Queen and get some ice cream. We laughed harder than we have laughed in a long time. It was a really fun night.

Meet the Friends

Laurie and Hillary

Emily liked Josh

Emily eating some "puffs"

My friend Hillary has been dating a guy, Josh, now for several months but he lives a few hours away so they only see each other on weekends and we have never had the chance to meet him. So tonight - we finally got to have them over for dinner so Laurie and I could meet him. He was very nice and cute and he gets the thumbs up from us!

Gimme a W

Today was the annual Wal-Mart shareholders meeting which is always an experience. I think this is my 12th one to attend. I would say (and several people agreed with me) that this was the best one I've ever been to. The day starts early. I left my house at 5:20 to be at the meeting by 6. Yes - that is 6 a.m. UGH!
Instead of the usual long speeches by executives - there was a lot more entertainment. Sinbad, the comedian, was the MC (which they have never had before) and he was HILARIOUS. He made all of these WM jokes and he had filmed all of these videos of him in WM stores doing crazy stuff. There were lots of inspirational videos of employees and a sort of "Cirque De Soleil" trapeeze show that was pretty cool. Jordin Sparks (our American Idol) sang two songs and it was her first performance since winning. And Jennifer Lopez sang two songs. She was (in the words of Randy) "just alright for me". We could not figure out what on earth she was wearing but it wasn't a good look for her.
The girls in office had a fun lunch at Jose's afterward.