2 Years

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful husband!

It's been the best two years of my life! I love you so much!!

Savory Saturday - Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

I feel like every time I post a cr0ck pot recipe I always comment that it's the easiest recipe yet.

Well, y'all, this one really is!! You must make it just for the simple fact of using only 3 ingredients!

I put the pork on buns, but feel free to serve in whatever way your heart desires. It freezes great too!

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

1 (2 lb) pork tenderloin

1 can or bottle of root beer

1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

Place the pork in the crock pot; pour root beer over the pork. Cover and cook on LOW for 6-7 hours or until well cooked and shreds easily.

Drain well. Shred meat; stir in BBQ sauce.

Not From Aroun' These Here Parts

Y'all, I found out something about a co-worker that left me speechless.

Literally speechless!

He casually mentioned that he was looking for a way to cook chicken breasts for dinner. Immediately my mind starting racing with recipes to give him that were simple and made with commonly stocked pantry items.

I mentioned using St0veT0p stuffing and adding some frozen veggies, sour cream, and cream of chicken soup.

His response?

Him: "What was that? Did you say cream of chicken soup?"

Me: "WHAT?!?! You've never heard of cream of chicken soup?"

Him: "No"

Me: "Are you SERIOUS?!?! What about cream of mushroom, onion, celery, potato, cream of anything!?"

With his face all contorted he answered, no.

I was beyond speechless!

When I finally found my voice, I said, "Well, what do you use to make casseroles?"

Him: "We don't make casseroles"

I KNOW!!! Can you believe it??

Now, I'll stop here to mention that he is not from the South. He & his family moved here from California about 3 years ago.

Me: "I can not believe that you've never heard of cream of anything soup and that you don't make casseroles! What do you eat? I bet you don't know what a 9x13 is!"

Him: "You mean a baking pan?"

Me: "Ugh, yes!! You are so NOT Southern! You know, I've actually heard of people like you, but I've never met one!"

He was slightly amused and very curious about these creams of anything soups.

I, however, could only respond with "Well bless your sweet, pea-pickin' heart!"

Intense Downtime

My sweet Hubby works a very stressful job. When he's home he really needs to relax and just enjoy the downtime of being home.

One way that we enjoy relaxing together is to watch TV in the evenings.

One of the perks of his job that we enjoy and take full advantage of is "rent one, get one free" at Bl0ckbuster. For us, it's cheaper than RedB0x. Two DVD's for $1.00...if it's not a new release!

I'm not big on movies but I love to get sucked into a great TV series. We've rented all the seasons of "Arrested Development", "Life", and now we've started one of the best TV shows ever....

image credit

I have no idea why I've never watched this drama before, but OH.MY.WORD! It is so intense and SO good!

We are currently at the last 2 episodes of season two...and eagerly awaiting starting season 3. The first disc is already rented and sitting by the DVD player!

One of the best things about catching on to this fabulous show so late in the game is that we have 7 seasons to watch with out interruptions, commercials, and waiting for a new season to start!

If you know me in real life, you know that one of my favorite shows was & is "Alias". I'm not ashamed to admit that I enjoy 24 even more than my beloved "Alias"! It's THAT good!

Are there any shows on DVD that you'd recommend?

Fall Randomness

I have been a very negligent blogger. My only excuse is that I just haven't had a single stitch of anything interesting to write about!

It's really been a low-key summer. Not that I'm complaining! Fall is heading in with a vengence!

So, on to my ramblings....

*Today is the first day of FALL!!! YAY!! My favorite time of the year!! Now, if the weather would just cooperate and become more fall-y.

*Now that it's officially fall, I can treat myself to a Starbux Pumpkin Spice Latte. Ahhhhh....I can't wait for that first sip....now if the weather will just get a little cooler....

*My job is killing me lately. A whole bunch of changes and new responsibilities....NOT fun!

*Hubby has been talking about upgrading our queen size bed to a king since the first days of marriage. I managed to hold out for almost two years and now I want to know WHAT I WAS THINKING?? I held strong because we had registered, received, and used our beautiful queen comforter set and sheets. I didn't want to shell out our own money to replace items that were practically brand new.

Well, I finally caved and after much searching we bought a king size frame and mattress over the weekend. Oh.My.Word!! I don't ever want to leave my bed because it's so spacious and comfy!

I will say that we've been spoiled by having a memory foam mattress topper and we did get one of those to go on top of our new mattress. Seriously, it makes all the difference in the world when you're sleeping and it's just heavenly. I can't gush about it enough!

*Tonight starts a new year of Bible study/small group at my church. We will be studying prayer and I'm super excited about the topic.

Well, there's my sorry post! I'll try to do better.... :)

Savory Saturday - Spicy Cheese Soup

Y'all, fall can not come soon enough! I love the cool weather and the warm comfort foods.

This recipe is a must for the fall and winter. It doesn't get any easier for a crock-pot recipe! Just brown the meat, open the cans and dump it all in!! The juices from the canned veggies give all the liquid needed for the soup, so don't drain them!

I didn't add the jalepeno because I didn't want it super spicy.

Spicy Cheese Soup

1 lb processed cheese cube (like Velveeta)
1 lb ground beef, cooked & drained
1 (8.75 oz) can whole kernel corn, do not drain
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, do not drain
1 jalepeno pepper, seed & dice
1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilis, do not drain
1 (15.5 oz) can stewed tomatoes, do not drain
1 envelope taco seasoning

Combine all ingredients in a 4.5 - 5.5 qt crock pot.

Cover and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours or on HIGH for 3 hours.

Serve with sour cream and corn chips.

9/11

A cute olive green sweater, blue jeans, and brown-heeled boots.

I still remember exactly what I was wearing eight years ago.

It's just one of those things that gets burned into your memory forever.

I was leaving class at our local community college and there were people huddled around a small tv near the front entrance. It was so hard to break away from the coverage to drive the 10 minutes home and turn the tv on.

I remember working my job at the doctor's office that afternoon with the radio turned up so loud in the waiting room for the entire office to hear. I remember a patient commenting to me and the doctor that she had heard there was speculation regarding a correlation between the date, 9/11, and our emergency response number 911. As if the terrorists wanted to prove a point regarding our national security.

I was thinking this morning about the bombing of Pearl Harbor and those who were alive during that time. They received the news, but there was a delay.

Because of the technology we had on that day, 9/11 was literally burned into our memory the exact moment it happened. We watched it. We can't get it out of our heads.

It's hard to believe it's been 8 years.

My office at work is located very close to our city's airport. We have wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling windows. I see planes taking off and landing all day. There are times when those planes look a little shaky or veer so sharply, almost at those exact same angles, that I remember those images from that morning and it makes me catch my breath.

I hate that feeling because I know it stems from 8 years ago.

This morning a local radio station played a tribute with news bits from that day. I was surprised at how emotional it was for me to hear that and relive that day all over again.

We move on, but we still remember.