2nd Anniversary!!!!

This past week on June 23rd, Nick and I celebrated our 2nd Wedding Anniversary! It's hard to believe that 2 years have gone by since we got married, time has truly flown by. Nick and I started a tradition last year that we plan to repeat for each of our anniversary's. On our wedding day a friend of ours gave Nick $50 and told him to take me out for a nice dinner that night. WELL . . .instead of doing that we got Zaxby's which is one my favorites (Nick's too) and took it back to our house. So in keeping the tradition we have Zaxby's for dinner on our anniversary. This year we picked it up and had a little picnic on Wing Deer Park, which was really nice.

Nick and I at Wing Deer Park on Our 2nd Anniversary- June 23, 2009

In celebration of our anniversary Nick and I took a little trip to Gatlinburg to do a little shopping and some hiking. My mother told me when I got married that I should have picked a wedding date later in the year so anniversary trips would be cheaper, but I was determined to be a June bride so Nick and I end up taking trips at peak tourist time every year. This year I got us a good deal on a cabin using VRBO. If you have not used VRBO you should give it a try it is FABULOUS! We rented a cabin called Bearadise- which I think is just so funny. But on VRBO it had lots of pics and great reviews, and we found everything to be as advertised for our stay. Below are a few pics for you to check out . . .

The Bearadise

Master bedroom

The Catwalk- this lead out to a really neat upper deck

 

View of the living room

We drove down to the Bearadise Friday after work. The cabin was located up in the mountains but still close enough to all life's necessities (downtown g-burg). One bad note was our Garmin the cut back turns seemed to confuse it and it took us 30 minutes Friday night to get back to our cabin from dinner. I think rain and darkness were also factor but it was still an unnerving experience.  Our Garmin has had a few other glitches recently so I think it might be time for a map update.

Saturday we took a hike on Little River Trail located in the Smokey Mountain National Park between Sugarland's and Cades Cove. I had actually hiked there years ago with my parents (1996 to be exact according to my Mom who keeps hiking records). The trails was pretty flat and nicely shades with tree cover, which I was thankful for since it was such a hot day. Nick and I had actually gotten all fancy and packed a huge back pack with a lunch but we did not hike as far as we expected so we lugged a backpack for nothing. Here are a couple of my favorite pics from the hike.

A pretty view of  “Little River”

Another pretty spot

Ain’t he cute??

Saturday night we had a nice dinner at Calhoun’s one of our favorite “out-of-town” restaurants. Although we still enjoyed our meal we did find that the overall service at the restaurant had gone down hill and so had some of our favorite menu items. Despite that we did have a FABULOUS dessert- Banana Pudding, but this was not just any Banana Pudding. Instead of the usual vanilla wafers it was made with white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. It was just wonderful, absolutely yummy! I am getting hungry just thinking about it right now.

Sunday we hit the Outlet Malls for a little SHOPPING one of my favorite past times. Now in general I am not a huge outlet shopper I do not feel like you truly get the best deals. They lure you in with that “outlet” word but then everything is still full price or close to it. However on this little outlet excursion we did really well. I got a great deal at the Gap Outlet on some shorts, Nick got several things from Old Navy and they were so cheap I felt like we were stealing or something. We also found some really good deals on kid clothes, but not having any kids yet not being able to pass up a good deal we bought a couple of things for our nephews.

All in all it was a FABULOUS trip and a Happy Anniversary!!

I  am happy to be married to Nick, he is truly the love of my life and my best friend. We have had a wonderful 2 years and I look forward to many, many more!

 

Picking out Paint

When Nick and I got married we bought a foreclosure that needed some work. Luckily, Nick is pretty handy and I like picking out new stuff :) (I paint some as well). Thus, we have been able to do most of the work ourselves. We are currently finishing up a master bathroom project and I am prepping for our Master Bedroom by picking everything out so we will be ready to go.

So for about about 3 weeks now I have been trying to pick a paint for our master bedroom, and I must confess that anytime I go to pick a paint color it is challenging. HOWEVER this one has been the biggest challenge yet. I was wanting a beige/taupe/brownish color . . .little did I know that there were SO MANY options on that. Luckily, Glidden (our paint of choice which can be purchased at Home Depot) now has one of the most FABULOUS home decorating/renovating things I have ever seen, tiny bottles of paint sample. They are only about $3.00 and come with a brush! For those of us who are incapable of making a decision and like choices, choices, choices this is FABULOUS!

Despite the fabulous new sample bottles, I have yet to be able to pick out a color. I have tried three samples (see photo below) and have not liked any of them. I have mad some really BAD choices so far:

• Whispering Wheat- looked a bit flesh tone
• Soft Suede- a nice color just to dark for us
• Warm Carmel (had high hopes for this one)- looked like clay mud
• Mixing Whispering Wheat and Soft Suede- just bad
• 

So I guess it is back to Home Depot to get some more little sample bottles and give it another go. I am confident that I will find the perfect color! And then it will be on to picking out floor :)

Good, Bad, and Fabulous!

So I started this blog over a month ago and then got a little lost as to what to do . . .I mean I could not fathom what I could write about that would really interest other people. THEN this week I had an epiphany, I could use this blog to fine tune my writing skills and talk about things I like and of course things I do not like on a variety of topics. I am talking everything from restaurants, stores, clothes, food, recipes, books, movies . . .the possibilities are endless. Thus . . .The Good, the Bad, & The FABULOUS!

So in the interest of starting this new blog epiphany off right here is something I had this week that was FABULOUS! (Cue drum roll) BUTTERSCOTCH BROWNIES! Ohhhh my, these were truly FABULOUS! My sister, Jennifer, actually shared the recipe with me with a warning that they were quite addictive and she was Ohhhh Sooo Right! I made them for Nick and I Thursday night and well I think we have already ate half a 9x13 pan, ooops! They were fairly simple to make and did I mention that they were FAT FREE . . .okay not really but that were very tasty and lets face it we all deserve a treat now and then. And I am choosing to pretend they are fat free ;)

Here is the recipe for anyone else that would like to join in the fabulousness . . .

Butterscotch Brownies:

Prep: 25 Min Bake: 30 min Oven: 350°

Cool: 2 hours Makes: 24 brownies

1 cup butter

2 cups packed brown sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Maple Icing:

1/2 cup softened butter

3 cups powdered sugar

4 teaspoons milk

2 teaspoons maple flavoring (maple syrup works 2)

1. Grease a 13 x 9 x 2 – inch baking pan: set aside
2. In a medium saucepan melt butter. Add brown sugar, stirring until combined. Cool mixture for 10 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Stir in vanilla.
3. Stir together flour, baking powder, and salt; stir in egg mixture. Stir in chopped nuts. Spread batter evenly in the prepared pan. Bake in a 350° oven for 30 minutes.
4. Cool in pan on a wire rack. Frost with Maple Icing. Let stand until icing sets. Cut into bars.

Maple Icing:

In a medium mixing bowl beat ½ cup softened butter with an electric mixer on medium speed for 30 seconds. Add ½ cup powdered sugar; beat well. Beat in 4 teaspoons milk and 2 teaspoons maple flavoring. Add 2 ½ cups additional powdered sugar, ½ cup at a time, beating well after each addition. If necessary, add a little more milk to reach spreading consistency.

I know that the recipe is long but it is simple and FABULOUS! I hope you enjoy it!