2012- A Look Back

2012 was a great year.  It wasn't filled with major life transitions or monumental events, but it was filled with the people I love.  

January: We went to 12 straight nights of Code Orange Revival at church and it was an amazing way to start the new year.

February: We celebrated Love Week at church.

March: We went to the NeedtoBreathe concert.

April: We traveled to Atlanta for a few days during Spring Break.

May: We traveled a lot.  We went to Wilmington for my sister's graduation and then to Edisto for Brandon's cousin's wedding.

June: We went to San Diego and I volunteered at Camp 658 with some amazing kids.  Oh yeah, and Brandon broke his ankle.

July: I watched one of my closest friends get married. We celebrated the Olympics and were glued to the t.v. for the next month.

August: We celebrated our second wedding anniversary!  Oh and school started back.

September: We went to Myrtle Beach for Labor Day and my cousin got married.

October: We went to Raleigh for our annual Wolfpack football game and we got tickets to the Panthers game that same weekend.  Brandon began traveling for work and was in Florida for two weeks, so I went to visit!

November: We ran the Color Run!

December:  We went to the Panthers game, celebrated Christmas, and prepared to ring in the new year.  

                           Bring it on 2013!!  I know it will be great!!!

Sweet November

hello November!  First of all, where did October go?  I guess all the craziness with the hubby's job made our October kind of non-existent, but here we are and it is November.  Is it just me or is this year flying right by?  Anyways, fall has officially hit NC.  I know we were slow to get there, but boy did it hit us quickly, like overnight.  There I was enjoying the 70 degree weather to freezing my tooshie off.  If you know me, you know I hate being cold.  Hate it!  Even though I hate the cold, there are some things that I love about fall.  

1. Boots, boots, and more boots!!!  Did I say boots!  Yes, I am kind of obsessed.  I have already bought two new pair this season (on sale of course)!  Now, I just need some cute clothes to go with them.  

2. Chilly evenings with a cup of hot tea in my hand.  I love that warm feeling of drinking a simple cup of tea.  

3. Wolfpack football.  Enough said.

4. Fall wreaths.  This was my first year making a fall wreath and I love it. 

5. The leaves!  I love the colors of fall.  I love driving down the street under a canopy of orange, yellow, and red.  

What are your favorite things about fall?

Belk Bowl

On Tuesday the Wolfpack came to town!  It was the Belk Bowl, woohoo.  We love any opportunity to watch our Pack play and guess what?  THEY WON!  We had the amazing opportunity to go to the game with some of our friends from NCSU and my parents tagged along too.  I was so excited because since we don't all live in the same area I don't get to see my State buddies very often.  Michael and Leslie live in Chattanooga (you should go check out her blog) and Kyle lives in Raleigh.  Brandon's sister, Brittany, was also in town for break!  I love getting to see all of them!  It was a chilly night, so we were all bundled up like giant marshmallows.  We tailgated with the never failing Bojangles, played cornhole, and cheered the Pack to victory.  It was a great night full of food, friends, family, football, and fun!

 

this building in downtown lights up different colors for the teams

 

Wolfpack Weekend 2011

Why hello there!  I know it has been a while, but I have had writers block lately and my life hasn't been that exciting to share, but anyways here I am.  Did you miss me?  :)   This weekend Brandon and I headed up to Raleigh for our annual Wolfpack trip.  Usually we make a weekend out of it and spend the night, but we had to be back on Sunday to volunteer at church so we made it a day trip this year.  We headed up with my parents to watch the Pack play Georgia Tech.  This year was special because Brittany, my sister-in-law, is now a student at NCSU, so we got to see her too.  Every year it is tradition to go to at least one football game, no matter how awful we are, which is the case this season.  What can I say, we are hardcore fans.  

We got up early Saturday morning and set out.  We got our traditional tailgate food...Bojangles of course!  Yum!  I feel sorry for you people who don't have Bojangles in your town.  We ate our chicken and drank our sweet tea, and it was ah-mazing.  After eating we broke out our new tailgating game, ladder ball.  I was actually pretty decent, better than cornhole.  We headed into the game and needless to say, we did not win.  Regardless of the game outcome, I had a great time with my family!  I can't wait until Wolfpack Weekend 2012.    

Project 31 Day 11: Good Enough to Eat

 Day 11.  Post a recipe
Buffalo ChickenDip

Ok people it's tailgate season!!  In honor of college football starting this week I decided to post a tailgate recipe.  This is one of our favorite party/cookout/tailgate recipes and it is quick and easy to make.  It is so yummy and everyone always asks for the recipe, so I thought I would share it with ya'll.  So here you go.

Ingredients:
Grilled chicken strips cut into bite size pieces (we use the frozen strips like Tyson)

2 bars of cream cheese (we use the 1/3 less fat)

1/2 cup Frank's Red Hot sauce or any buffalo sauce

1 cup ranch dressing

2 cups shredded Mexican cheese

Make It:

Preheat oven to 350*

Microwave the grilled chicken strips (enough  to thaw, about 5 min.)

Chop the chicken into small bit-size pieces

Spread the cream cheese on the bottom of a 9X13 glass pan (I usually put the cream cheese in the microwave to soften for easier spreading)

Spread the ranch dressing on top of the cream cheese

In a separate bowl, toss the chicken with the buffalo sauce

Evenly spread the chicken over the ranch/cream cheese layers

Top with cheese

Cover with foil and bake for 30 min.

Serve with Tostito's Scoops
Enjoy!

What are your favorite tailgate foods?

Pumped

I am pumped for college football season!  I just thought I would let you know.  How could you not be after watching this amazing video?  I mean all  this talk about the NFL lockout ending just does not have me excited, but mention Wolfpack football and I am all ears.  Is anyone else a college football junkie?  Who is your favorite team?

Wolfpack in the House!!!!!!!

For the fourth year in a row the wonderful Wolfpack have taken it to those tarholes!  What a joyous occasion it is when the Pack take out those bow tie wearing, searsucking, trust fund loving, overly obnoxious crap balls known as the Carowhina Tarholes.  Brandon and I watched the game at my parents house, which is notorious for its bad juju when it comes to viewing the games; hence the results of watching the ECU and Clemson games there.  Reluctantly, we agreed to give it another chance.  The game started off rocky,but I found the solution to overcome the bad luck in the house.  By the end of the game the Frick's and the Brown's were all on the floor watching the game.  I started the trend and lo and behold T.J. Graham runs it back for a TD! haha!  The rest of the family followed suit and sent the good juju to the Pack for the big W!  There is little I love more than a Wolfpack taking out a ram. Next stop...Maryland for a shot at the ACC Championship game in Charlotte!  Here are some of my favorite pictures from the News & Observer.

For all my Wolfpack family out there: Some Highlights

Wolfpack Weekend and Wedding Photos

We got our Professional Wedding Photos back this week from our wonderful photographers, JT Photography.  I love every single shot, they truly are amazing artists!  Click the link above to view all 1,021 of them!  

This past weekend we headed to Raleigh with my parents to watch the Wolfpack take on Boston College.  Of course, the Pack won uncontested!  We had a great time at the game, besides the 90* heat, complete with a good ol' southern Bojangles Tailgate before the game.  

After the victory, we headed to our hotel where there was some drama, drama, drama.  Both my parents and Brandon and I booked King Non-smoking rooms.  When we got there, the clerk proceeded to very rudely inform us that there were only smoking double rooms available.  Of course, we fought it and she magically came up with a King room for my parents but nothing for Brandon and I, except for the handicapped room.  She told us the only difference in the handicapped room is that it did not have a tub, which led us to believe there was an enclosed water closet shower.  Boy were we wrong!  We get to our room to find a tile floor in the shower with a floor drain and a curtain hanging from the ceiling!!  So basically we got nothing that we reserved at the hotel except for the free waffles the next morning.  My mom called the manager of the hotel and ended up getting both rooms comped to us for free, so in the end it all worked out.  After the drama at the hotel, we headed to one of our favorite restaurants in Raleigh, the Village Draft House, for some burgers and beers.  Our close friend Kyle came and picked us up after dinner and we headed out downtown for the evening to catch up with him.  We had a great time!!  We love getting out of town, even for just a night, and can't wait to go back to Raleigh again or possibly move back one day!!  GO WOLFPACK!!