Chicken Georgia

Since I made Mississippi Dip last night - I thought I would keep the SEC theme going so tonight I made Chicken Georgia. If you like Mushrooms - this is REALLY good! (and easy)

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 tablespoons minced shallots
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 ounces grated mozzarella cheeseMelt butter over medium heat. Add mushrooms and shallots and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook 10 minutes. Add chicken and cook 10 minutes on each side, or until tender. Transfer chicken to platter and sprinkle with grated cheese. Top with mushroom mixture. Cook and let stand 5 minutes or until cheese melts.

Pre-Gameday Preparations

ARKANSAS FLAG ON HOUSE - CHECK!
CAR FLAGS AND MAGNETS ON CAR - CHECK!
CASUAL DAY FRIDAY HOG T-SHIRT - CHECK!

LET FOOTBALL SEASON BEGIN!!!!!

Choir and Cowbells

I was not blessed with musical talents. I took piano lessons for several years when I was younger and in an attempt for my mom to give me a little talent and I sang in the youth choir. I grew up in a little church and there were many Sunday nights that (bless their hearts) - they would just about let anyone sing. So my friends and I loved to sing the special music. I just feel bad for everyone in the church when they had to endure those nights. I specifically remember one night when I decided to accompany us on the piano as we sang "El Shaddai". I can neither sing nor play the piano well so that memory makes me cringe.
But I love to sing and I love to worship and in my car - I am right up there with Christy Nockles and Point of Grace. So I finally did what I have wanted to do for years last night. I went to Choir Practice. I really liked it except I just felt so inadequate to be in there.
Afterwards the choir director asked anyone who was new to meet with him in his office so he could tell them more about choir. Everything was fine until he said they usually liked people to get with a lady who was the professor of music at my college (and has since retired) and who basically started Point of Grace to sing a few bars for her and make sure we had good pitch. I think he could see the horror in my eyes. Julie was with me and we both looked petrified. So instead he had us all sing together and said "okay - you won't have to do that". So unless they make me audition - I will proudly be wearing a choir robe on Sundays. To quote the Pointer sisters -"I'm so excited".

On another note - college football starts tonight and all the guys in our Sunday School class are getting together to watch Mississippi State BEAT LSU and do their fantasy football drafts. (I'm pretty sure I'm the only girl in the class who would like to watch it with them so I'll just watch at home. I like to clean when I watch football anyway) (too much nervous energy). But I'm going to make Mississippi Sin Dip that I got from Bigmama for Scott to take in honor of the Bulldogs. Ring those cowbells!

God is more than Good or Great - He's AMAZING!

This is a very personal post but it's just too good not to share. Plus - I use this blog as an on-line journal to help me remember events and my thoughts and feelings.
Scott and I have been trying off and on for about a year to have a baby. I really don't think about it too much because I've just tried to put it in God's hands and I really trust that He will bring us a child. But the last couple of months have been pretty difficult for us because we are SO ready to get pregnant and every month that the answer is "no" is one step closer to 34 for me. I don't think I've put off having a baby because I didn't get married until I was 30 and I believe with all my heart that that was God's will. And we wanted a year or so to build a strong foundation in our marriage before we worked on growing the family.
Most days I'm just really full of hope because I know God loves me and wants to bless me. But today was one of those days that I had a hard time. A girl in my office announced she was pregnant. And while I am very happy for her - it was just a reminder of what I long for so badly. So I left work and went to Wal-Mart and I was kind of wandering around feeling sorry for myself as I watched all the parents and kids walking by. And I did what I try to do every time I get down - I started to count my blessings. God has been unbelievably good to Scott and I. Sometimes I just can't understand why He chooses to bless us so much. Even today - God answered some specific prayers we had been praying in ways that can only be described as miraculous.
So I don't know why this surprised me so much because I serve a God who cares about every detail of my life and who knows the number of hairs on my head and knows my prayers before I pray them ..........but I came home and pulled out the mail and the first thing I saw was a cute little envelope. I opened it up and couldn't believe what I was reading. A sweet girl who goes to my church but who I don't know AT ALL (but who I admire and think a lot of) - sent me a card. She said that I had been on her mind for several months and for some reason God had prompted her to pray for us and that he had told her that we wanted a baby. She is someone who has struggled with the same thing and now has one precious baby and another that is coming any day! She said she might be totally wrong - but she was going to pray for us anyway.
I stood in the driveway and just started sobbing. I went inside and Scott thought someone had died I was crying so hard. When I could finally choke out the words I showed him the card. Not only does God have PERFECT timing but that He would gently show me that He cares enough to put us on the hearts of others just blows me away. And this is not the first person who has told me that they felt like God wanted them to pray for us. This is just the first person who I don't know that has done this. I really don't think there is a praise song out there that can put into words how amazing I think my God is.

Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this:
Psalm 37:3-5

Are you ready for some football???

I am so excited that the first football game is in FOUR Days! I can hardly wait! There is nothing better than going to a college football game. That is one of my favorite things in the world. I can't wait to see this guy run! Here's to a great season and to Arkansas' first Heisman trophy winner!

www.5darrenmcfadden.com

I am always curious about who is reading my blog. So if you are reading this right now - please sign in and let me know!!!! I saw this on another blog and thought it was so neat!

Oh those Summer Nights

We had another great day on the beach. It was just a beautiful day. Tonight we ate at Desoto's Seafood Kitchen which I would give about 2 stars. Not the best but it was okay. Then we went to see "Resurrecting the Champ" which was a great movie. (I had never heard of it and really wanted to see Nanny Diaries or that chef movie with Catherine Zeta Jones) - but I'm glad we saw it.
We took some pics on the beach tonight after dinner.
Sadly we are heading home tomorrow. I could use about 10 more days here.

More Pictures from 8-23-07

You are my Sunshine

We had such a good day yesterday. We got down to the beach around 8:30 this morning and pretty much had the beach to ourselves all day. It was SO hot so we spent most of our time in the water. We had a couple of rafts and just rode the waves and sat on the sand in them. Scott and Steve tossed the football a bunch. We stayed out almost all day. And then we had an early dinner at Bayside Grill and then went and played putt putt. It was so hot that we quit after the 15th hole because I think we were all about to have a heat stroke. So of course we went to Scoops to get ice cream and then came home. We think today will be much the same - except we will probably go to a movie instead of putt putt.

LIfe's a Beach

Scott and Laurie in front of Shoney's

Condo Kitchen

Scott and Steve - watching Sportscenter

The view off of our balcony

After a long, long journey - we have finally arrived in Gulf Shores. We started out Friday after work and we first stopped at the Red Rooster in Alma. We got to Camden around midnight and spent the night at Laurie's parent's house. We got up at 5 and left around 6 to drive the rest of the way. The boys couldn't wait to get to Shoney's at Vicksburg to eat the breakfast buffet.
We decided to take a detour and to go down to Steve's hometown because he hadn't been there since the hurricane hit. We went through Gulfport, MS and Biloxi and looked at all the damage. Two years later - there is so much gone and so much rebuilding. Then we were going to Ocean Springs but the bridge was out. So we turned around and went a different way to get to Steve's hometown of Gautier. We went and saw the house he grew up in. His parents sold it after the hurricane and moved to north MS.
We finally got to Gulf Shores about 4:30. We were SO glad to get here. Our condo is really nice. We all really like it a lot. We have a great view of the beach. The town is pretty empty like we expected which is nice also. We went last night and ate at the Original Oyster House. It was SOOOO good. Then after a quick trip to the grocery store we went to Scoops for Ice Cream. We were all exhausted so we went to bed early.
So far - our trip is going great. Even though I think Scott and Steve might be ready to leave Laurie and I for laughing so much.

Start spreading the news........................

Since I'm reminiscing old trips..........................here we are in NYC.

Sweet Home Alabama

Well - thankfully for us - Dean has decided to head west so our trip is on. (But I'm still praying for anyone who is in Dean's path. How horrible to live where a hurricane could strike - they are scary scary things)
This is a picture of the last time I was in Gulf Shores - May 2003. This is Hillary, Megan, me and Laurie. We had so much fun on that trip. We went to NYC the next May and I'm not sure which trip was more fun. We were carefree single girls then and now three of us are married, Laurie has a not so little baby and Hillary has a serious boyfriend. How life has changed.
Two more days!

Quiet Weekend

Scott got what we have needed for a long time.......a quiet, uneventful weekend. For the first time in about two months - Scott didn't have to work. (He FINALLY changed teams at work on Friday).
And since it was raining - we mostly stayed inside and vegged. I did a little laundry and a little housecleaning and a LOT of watching Lifetime movies. This weekend's theme on lifetime seems to be pregnancy - yesterday it was "Fifteen and pregnant" and then today I've watched "Unwed Father" with Brian Austin Green and right now I'm watching a movie where a woman finds out she's pregnant at 50 right when they were going to retire. Dawson and I have just snuggled in the bed and enjoyed being still. (and Scott even joined us for as long as he could stand it). ha!

Last night we ate dinner at our friends Kacy and Mike's house and we had such a good time. They are both so funny and just make us laugh. Mike was celebrating taking a new job - so we were excited for him.

Today was my last Sunday with this year's crop of 4 year olds but Scott and I have decided to teach again next year (after I had kind of decided not to) so I'm once again looking forward to it. There is a BIG class of 4 year olds coming up so it should be an interesting year. This morning they had all the kids who were going into 1st grade and moving up to "Crosswalk" come up and they gave them all Bibles. There were tons of them but I had at least 1/3 of them in SS 2 years ago and it's fun to see them grow and begin to accept Christ.

Almost Here

I can't believe there are only 2 weeks until the first game. I'm getting so excited for football season! It's almost time to start picking out my game outfits, getting out the car magnets and flags and our big house flag with the hog on it and start playing the Razorback band CD.
Last year I made this big Razorback collage and hung it above my desk at work so I can't help but glance up at it and my big Matt Jones collection picture that my dad got me that hangs to the right of it on the wall and get REAL PUMPED for some hog football! I can't wait to see DMAC in action!!!

Dean, Dean......GO AWAY!

In six short days, Scott and I are leaving for a short vacation in the Redneck Riveria with our best friends Laurie and Steve. I can speak for all of us when I say we all REALLY need a vacation. Gulf Shores, AL is one of my favorite places and I haven't been in four years. The last time I went was about 3 days after I got engaged when I went with Laurie and two of my other best friends (bridesmaids).
This is what I'm excited about in Gulf Shores:
1. Condo on the beach
2. Walks on the beach in the morning and at night
3. Scoops Ice Cream
4. Shrimp
5. Watching Laurie eat her weight in fried oysters
6. Foley outlet mall
7. Shrimp
8. Putt Putt
9. Dipping Dots
10. Driving through AR, MS, AL and LA - I love the south!
11. Shrimp
12. Laying out
13. Reading a book
14. Shrimp
15. Getting tan
16. Pictures on the beach at sunset
17. Spending the night in Magnolia and Camden
18. Laughing and laughing and laughing some more
19. Humidity
20. Shrimp

But we need Hurricane Dean to stay away! Come again some other day!

Cuteness

Dawson's new haircut + Scott's new camera lens = Cute doggie pictures
(Dawson is thrilled - can you tell?)

I scream for Ice Cream

Over the last couple of months - I have woken Scott up at least 5 different times by screaming in my sleep. Sometimes I just scream and sometimes I scream out "Scott" or one night I screamed "Daddy". Scott says it happens after I eat ice cream before bed but last night I vaguely remember him asking "did you have ice cream?" and I did not. But I did have a little cake. So he said he was putting a padlock on all sugar after 7 p.m. (which should probably be a good policy weight wise anyway. ha!)
Poor Dawson - it scares him to death. He jumps off the bed and just looks very alarmed and it scares Scott to death as you can imagine. It's not exactly fun for me either - I keep having nightmares that people are trying to "get me". I don't know if it's anxiety driven or really sugar but I hope it doesn't happen anymore.

Sunday School and Singing

This morning one of my favorite little girls, Maggie, came in and her mom wanted to take her picture with her SS teachers. She said she had done that every year so she would remember who her teachers had been. I thought that was a sweet idea.
This morning was the annual women vs men choir sing off. This week the women had to fill the choir loft and next week it's the men's turn and the loser makes ice cream after church next week. Last year I did it and loved it and decided I would join choir and then chickened out. This year Julie and I went together and once again I LOVED it. So I'm going to pray over the next 2 weeks about whether God wants me to do it and if I think He says yes - I'm going to. I can't sing worth a flip - I would never get on American Idol - but I just love to sing and I love to worship. So we'll see........................

Laser Tag

Last night our Sunday School class played Laser Tag. I wasn't so sure about it but it was a lot of fun. They put us in teams and then you go in this dark area with black lights and neon colored things and you shoot your lasers at each other. I did terrible but I loved it. Scott had to work so he didn't go but afterwards we went to Mike and Kacy's and had appetizers and that was a lot of fun also. I didn't take any pictures there but we had lots of good food.

German Chocolate Ooey-Gooey Butter Cake

Tonight our Sunday School class is playing Laser Tag and then having an appetizer supper party. Don't worry - I'll have lots of pictures later. I'm making three things for tonight and if they turn out good - I'll post all the recipes. You can bet they should be okay (except for cooker error) because they all come from who else? My girl Paula Deen.
I made these last week for my mom and then took them to work because we didn't need to eat them but I made them again tonight. They are VERY good - so I'll go ahead and post the recipe. If you like coconut - you will be in heaven!

GERMAN CHOCOLATE OOEY-GOOEY BUTTER CAKE

1 box German chocolate cake mix
1 cup butter, melted and divided (you know if it has a cup of butter -it's good!)
1 large egg
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese softened
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 16oz box confectioners' sugar
1 cup sweeted flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a 13x9x2 inch baking pan.
In a large bowl, combine cake mix, 1/2 cup melted butter, and egg. Beat at low speed with an electric mixer until combined. Press evenly into bottom of prepared pan. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Gradually beat in sugar until smooth. Add remaining melted butter , beating at slow speed until combined. Stir in coconut and pecans. Pour over cake mix layer, spreading evenly. Bake for 45 minutes (the center should remain slightly gooey). Remove from oven. Let cool completely before cutting into squres.

Hanger Heaven

So this morning I worked at the clothing drive (which was amazing) and somehow I got on "hanger" duty. When the people would take clothes off of the racks - workers would pick up the empty hangers and bring them to me and I would sort them by type (childrens, wire or plastic) and organize them into boxes. I had two wonderful helpers - Emily and Morgan. I bet we had over 5000 hangers to sort. It was crazy - our pile was endless. Luckily towards the end we had a lot of people come help us and we ended up throwing most of the hangers out. It was very tiring work!

Pork - the other white meat

One great thing about Scott working for a food company is that he is constantly coming home with free food. We have a pelethora of chicken products in our freezer right now. He also gets to shop at the employee store which sells great food for cheap prices. One thing we really love is pork tenderloin. I found this great recipe from my BFF Paula Deen. I made it for the second time tonight and it is really yummy - the marinade just has a great flavor.
Marinade:
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 oranges, juices
1 lime, juiced
1/2 cup tamarind concentrate
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon chopped scallions

1 pork tenderloin (about 12 ounces)
Olive oil, for brushing

Combine marinade ingredients in measuring cup and stir to combine. Place the pork tenderloin in a plastic, sealable bag. Pour marinade over the tenderloin and seal bag. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat an outdoor grill or preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Remove pork tenderloin from marinade and pat dry. Brush olive oil onto grill and over meat for extra flavor. Reserve marinade. Grill tenderloin until cooked through, about 30 minutes to 40 minutes over medium heat. Or roast in oven for 35 to 45 minutes. Allow meat to rest about 10 minutes before cutting into 2-inch serving pieces.

While meat is grilling, bring reserved marinade to a boil in a small saucepan, then lower the heat and gently simmer until it is reduced to about 2 tablespoons. Stir occasionally. Drizzle a small amount of marinade over each piece of meat.

Clothing Drive

We live in a pretty affluent community but there is still so much need. One thing that I love about our church is that we try to reach out and meet those needs. Two big events that we put on that are my favorites are the clothing drive and the Christmas store.
This Saturday is our clothing drive. Members in our church donate clothes and then people in the community can come and shop and get clothes for their family. We always do it right before school starts. Last night I worked at the church to help recieve clothes. It was unbelievable how much we had and we got so much more - we couldn't get it all put away.
It was really fun and afterwards - the two women I worked with stood in the parking lot with me telling me funny stories about people in the church. They have both been members for a long time and had seen several pastors and church buildings come and go.
I'm looking forward to Saturday morning and to doing my part in serving!

Sunday

I was SOOOO super excited because this morning our church service was a concert by Travis Cottrell. He did such a good job of leading us in worship. It was just a wonderful service.
Mom helped me teach Sunday School and that was fun and then we had a good SS class in couples class.
Mom took Scott and I to lunch at Outback and then she had to head home. It was a nice weekend having her here. She is very excited because she has started her own blog. You need to go look here and leave her a comment.

Saturday

This morning Mom and I got up and went to the farmer's market on the square. It was so fun. I've been wanting to go it for a while and there were all kinds of neat booths. Then we visited a few little stores and Hobby Lobby and then ate lunch at Atlanta Bread Company. Tonight Mom volunteered to babysit Emily so we could go out to eat with Laurie and Steve. We went to eat at P.F. Chang's and it was so good. We even splurged and had 6 layer chocolate cake and it was SO delicious!