At about 9:00 pm on this particular evening we finally sat down to eat. Oh, and unless you have been confined in a box you would know that I DETEST pasta/noodles of any kind, so after all that hard work, only Ryan ate it. I made fish for myself. Anyway- the lasagna was such a hit that he actually took it to work the next day to share with everyone. I think it multiplied.
Fast forward to Tuesday night of this week. I suppose I had gotten sort of a big head after my previous success and thought I would try meatloaf. It seemed simple enough, right? As I did the previous time, I followed allrecipes.com. This one even came with a video, which I followed step by excruciating step. The instructions stated to cook the meat for 45 minutes.
45 minutes later I and my monogrammed oven mitt went to retrieve the meat from the furnace in anticipation. This quickly led to disappointment. I cut into the "loaf"- which was beginning to look like a crime scene with the red glaze on top, and the meat was still pink inside. Gross me out!!! So back into the oven it went for 20 more minutes. Cut into it again- still pink. I was fuming. I work hard enough all day that the last thing I want to do is waste my entire evening on a lousy meal. I finally lost all of my patience....
That, my friends is how you successfully get the meat to cook through. You brutally murder it. Sure, it looks hideous, but if it's late enough you won't care. And oddly enough, my ending steps of repetitive chopping were omitted from the instructional video. Hmmmm.
Despite some struggles I have had some fun lately as well. Imagine that! One night last week I went to Megan (formerly Price now Puryear's!) house, where I was introduced to the newest member of her family, Wrigley. Like the gum! What a doll...I mean, Puppy. Part lab, part chow, and completely adorable : )
I loved Megan's house, the decorations, and of course catching up with her! I was almost as excited to see her as I was when the pizza delivery guy came to the door. We enjoyed a delicious meal and watched this movie, which, by the way was very cute.
I also got to see Jamie & Chris last week!!! She and I had our belated annual gift exchange. Here are some highlights of the gifts we got for each other this year:
I loved my grinch stuffed animal!
She, Chris, and I also challenged each other to one of my favorite games of all time... If I had one hour of my life back for every Mario Kart marathon I could live to be 150.
This past weekend we had a full house of guests who were in town for Logan and Brittany's wedding. Friday night Maggie, Aaron, and I had a delicious dinner at Longhorn. I still say that Longhorn steak is THE BEST in the world. Probably better than Ruth's Chris- which is upwards of $200 for a meal for two. And no, I have never eaten there, but I have cheap taste when it comes to food.
On Saturday morning little Miss Maggie and I went shopping- a few of the places we graced with our presence are as follows:
When we were at Coplon's drooling over dresses that were more than most mortgage payments we saw a lady looking at fur coats. They were of course locked in a glass case. We overheard one of the sales ladies say that "these fur coats are so cheap you could practically wear them to the grocery store." We thought that was a riot. Can you imagine someone in a several thousand dollar fur coat sifting through the produce section at Bi-Lo? That was both a hilarious and a completely ridiculous statement for the sales woman to make. I'd love to see what SHE wears to the grocery store.
Our morning shopping trip culminated with a delicious lunch at Red Robin (YUM!) with several of the boys. Their whiskey BBQ burger is one of the best ever...it is also the reason why I will skip a meal or two this week.
Later that evening we all piled in the car to make the trip to Irmo where Logan and Brittany's wedding took place. Aren't they a beautiful couple???
We at first thought that we had pulled up at the wrong church, to which Autrey said, "I don't know if this is the right wedding, but we're going in anyway." Oh, Autrey!! Logan and Brittany had a beautiful wedding, and I especially LOVED the bagpipes. They were awesome. It's not that often that I get to attend a wedding and sit in the congregation, so I really enjoyed myself!
We later headed to the reception. Two of my favorite things at the reception- besides, of course, Ryan and many of our friends, were the mashed potatoes and the cake pops. And the wedding cake was absolutely delicious. It was so great to see everyone. Logan and Brittany are such a great couple, and we were so glad to share their special day with them and all of the people they love.
Sweet Ryan with his new pair of glasses!
Wherever Daniel goes, fun follows!
Dean, here is your shoutout! Always a blast to have you around : )
Sunday was allll about football. Fortunately, Adam and Kelley came over right around lunch time, so she, Maggie, and I enjoyed chatting and watching movies while all the boys sat outside literally all afternoon and grilled chicken. It was a relaxing day! Nothing says happy quite like having a house full of people : )
One of my newest obsessions: this book.
Love her or not, Kris Jenner is absolutely fascinating, and so is this book. I can't put it down. Did you know that she is a born again Christian? Apparently her first husband Robert Kardashian was a very devout Christian, and he and Kris attended weekly Bible studies in the beginning of their relationship in the 70s. She accepted Christ during one of those studies, and that thrilled my heart to read. I know that some may judge her lifestyle now and for unfortunately, some of her kids' decisions, but once you are saved, nothing can change that. Do I agree with everything about her lifestyle? No, but we all sin and fall short of the glory of God.
I haven't finished the book yet, and there are a couple of unnecessary words in there, but reading about how she grew up and also the O.J. Simpson trial is completely fascinating. Through Kris's connections, she was best friends with Nicole Brown Simpson. She talks in great detail about the time leading up to the murder, the trial, her home life, and everything. I'll never forget sitting at Nanny and Papa's house in the summer of 1994 and watching the two hour Bronco chase on television. We were also staying at their house the weekend when Princess Diana was killed. Anyway, my kindle and I have been BFFs this week. Ryan laughed, because just last weekend I was wiping the dust off of it. But it really is an awesome invention!
I leave on a sad note. Rex Jackson, loved by many in Dillon and especially at First Baptist Church, passed away this week. As I said, Rex was one of those people who brightened your day by just being around him. He loved to perform, and he was great at it. I vividly remember talking to him- half jokingly, half seriously - about my dream of having a choir come out during my wedding and singing the Hallelujah Chorus very loudly. He laughed and said, "Hey, we can make that happen!" I have no doubt that Rex is in Heaven right now singing Hallelujah and just waiting for the rest of his family and friends to join him.
When you get a moment this week stop and pray for the people who love Rex and are now without him. The world lost a bright light this week. God bless you, Rex! You will be so missed but are in the arms of our loving Savior. Things like this put life in perspective- not just our earthly lives but eternal life. If you don't know for sure where you're going if you were to die right now, I ask you to dive into the Bible and ask Jesus into your heart. If you're not sure how, ask someone. Send me a message. Seek out a local pastor. It is a sobering thought, but life is a vapor. Yours can be gone in an instant. Make sure that you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
May God bless you this next week and for many, many more!
I love reading your blogs! You always make me smile and most of the time laugh! This one was pretty special though! Thanks for coming and sharing in their special day!
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