Something New: Red Beans & Rice

In honor of the upcoming movie (which I hope to see), Julie & Julia, I have decided to attempt something new. I say attempt, because I'm very aware that sometimes things do not go according to plan, imagine that. I will try to make one NEW meal I've never done before every week (posting the event on Monday). It should not be too difficult to figure out recipes to make because, let's face it, I either cook the same thing over and over or do not cook very well anyway. So this will go one of two ways: a treat or a disaster. Let the games begin.

Tonight I attempted Red Beans & Rice without a box that held all the ingredients except adding water and the sausage. This was one step up, a simple recipe that I found on Kevin & Amanda's Recipe Blog. I started with the following ingredients and then followed this recipe step by step:

1 cup long grain white rice
2 cups hot water
1 teaspoon salt
2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 pkg (14 oz) smoked sausage
1 can red beans
Zatarains Creole Seasoning

Add the rice, water and salt to a sauce pan with a lid. Bring to boil, reduce heat to low, then cover & simmer for 15 mins. Meanwhile, thinly slice the sausage and drain the juice from the red beans into the sink. Add 2-3 tbsp olive oil to to a large skillet and begin heating over medium heat. Add the sausage, give a sprinkling of creole seasoning and stir occasionally for about 7 mins until the sausages start to get sizzly on both sides. Add the red beans and stir until warmed through. About this time, your rice should be done too. Serve the beans and sausage over the rice. Add extra creole seasoning as desired at the table. Serves 2-3.

I had my niece read the recipe to me while I cooked. She was my little helper. Isn't she adorable.


As easy as this recipe sounds and is... I was worried because I have an "issue" with rice. For some reason, whether it's instant or any other kind, it's a struggle for me. Either too watery or too chewy... so I was very thankful it turned out this go around. The hubby, the niece, and even I was pleased with the end result tonight. Adding this one to my recipe cards. Yum.

My niece even took a photo of me while we cooked (below). New dish #1 was a success... encouraging me to try again.

Unlimited Energy?

The hubby and I have the pleasure of taking care of our niece this weekend and part of next week. From this past Friday until this coming Tuesday, we are not only Aunt and Uncle but caregivers of our seven year old niece.

As expected, a seven year old has a bit of energy. I went into the weekend with this knowledge and therefore planned some events that would help focus such energy and maybe work it out of her a little bit.

Friday, we went over to my folks house and hungout with them, my littlest sis and her guy friend. We ate pizza and played a double elimination game of Ladderball. My niece played too, and when she lots twice, she then made her way into the living room to watch Monster House. After taking a quick shower before we left, she fell asleep on the car ride home.

Saturday, we woke up, had breakfast, and watched some morning cartoons. After lunch, we made our way to the new mecca of fitness centers in Collierville where my sister works. Because of my sis' employment there, we were able to visit the massive, mall like fitness center, and enjoy their ginormous outdoor pools for free to entertain our niece. You probably think I'm joking about the whole mecca or mall analogy about this place, but seriously... It is like going from a podunk town where WalMart is considered the big shopping to do, and then arriving into the luxury suburban mall of the large city hours away. A BIG contrast! And we didn't even tour the place, just walked into the entry and dressing rooms, and visited the pool. I'm sure everything else in that place is amazing. Anyway, so once in the mecca of fitness centers, we enjoyed the outdoor pools and waters slides for almost four hours. I was pumped, my hubby and I just knew that swimming all day would tire our niece out, and she'd be ready to rest at some point in the day.

So we made our way home from the pools, even taking the time to shower before we left and change back into real clothes in case our niece fell alseep on the car ride home. Uhhh, that did not happen. When we got home, we all three (hubby, niece, and myself) settled down on the couches to relax and unwind a bit before our next festivities of the evening. Forty-five minutes to an hour later, I was woken up by my hubby... apparently I FELL ASLEEP on the couch while my niece continued to bounce around and stay WIDE AWAKE.

Uhhh, can we say backfire? I'm learning more and more that I'm not as smart as I sometimes believe... swimming did not wear my niece out, but instead tired me out. Seven year olds have lots of energy I say... We're having fun!

a WEEK in the Making

It has been an eventful, fun, and extremely busy week already and it will continue AT LEAST until next Thursday, July 16th. I'm not complaining because I've definitely enjoyed the fun and entertaining stuff, but I am starting to hit that point of running on empty. BH (Before husband), I was a woman that never stopped: activity after activity, event after event, I was similar to the Energizer Bunny... keeps going, and going, and going. The only thing that would stop me was my body. I'd go so hard and so often for multiple weeks without rest and relaxation that my body would finally scream NOOOOO and I'd get sick to take me down for the count. It was like my body said, "Okay, I tried to tell you to stop and rest, you wouldn't, so I'm going to make you!" It was a cyclical way of life for me. A busy busy bee life.

And then the hubby came into my life, he ran on something we call "Kelly time". It was his own beat and his own timing for things. He knew the way of settling down and relaxing a bit to make sure you are running on a full tank. He began to teach me how to compromise into a life less Energizer Bunny like, but not necessarily tortoise like either. We began to build a life a bit more balance than the one I lived BH. He slowed me down a bit, and I sped him up a bit. And that's the life we now live.

This week however has transported me back into Energizer Bunny mode, and my balanced nature is screaming for a night of nothing... okay, maybe a glass of wine and a book.

It started with my boss and some other sales folks at work being on vacation all week. This means my work load is extremely increased for the week. Combine that and our schedule of activities (see below) and you have a week of running full speed ahead EVERY DAY for an extended period.

Monday: Work, Bunko 630-9pm
Tuesday: Work, Dinner with my hubby and littlest sis, and a 730pm showing of Wicked at the Orepheum, which by the way was absolutely AMAZING!!!
Wednesday: Work, Kickball Game at 730pm, in between the two I got a wild hair and completely rearranged one of the guest bedrooms
Thursday: Work, Jessica Harp concert on Beale at 730pm for the Country on Beale***

Friday: Work, Our niece comes to stay with us around 12pm, Possible dinner engagement with the family
Saturday: Niece staying with us, UFC Fight Night at a friend's house
Sunday: Niece staying with us, Sunday School & Church
Monday: Work, Niece staying with us
Tuesday: Traveling to Nashville
Wednesday: Work, Kickball Game

Needless to say, we have lots going on. ***Thankfully tonight, I decided to put bow out of the concert on Beale Street and instead sent my hubby and littlest sis out on their own. I had a long day at the office, and it's probably best that I have some down time to myself. It'll be best for everyone. So now I'm enjoying a BudLight with lime, some blogging time, House on TV, and a quiet night with the pups.

Note: And EVEN after a necessary night of "nothing" to relax and recoup, I STILL slept through my alarm this morning or turned it off unbeknown to myself and slept until 7:03, ran out the door to work by 7:08 to arrive at 7:33am. I was tired! Still am.

The High Cost of Friendship

This morning before work, I read a great article regarding friendship, the cost of building relationships, and the way our technological society is taking us in the area. I wanted to share:

Mrs. McGoo has sent you a link to view this publication: RELEVANT - July/August 2009
Read it now at http://www.mygazines.com/issue/1243/29

After reading this, if you have any thoughts, feelings, or comments regarding it. I'd love to hear them in my comment section.

July 4th Festivities

One of my favorite things about three day weekends is that you find the extra hours to get some specialty cooking done, rather than what you might normally do. Check out these ribs for example, multiple hours were put into the prep time, smoke time, grill time, etc and during regular weekends, the extra time is not always present to enjoy the luxury of such delights. But enjoy we did. Plenty of ribs and shoulder to share with everyone at our family gathering this weekend, added with some yummy fixins by all those in attendance. From baked beans, to green bean casserole, to potato salad (yuck, but everyone besides the hubby and I seemed to enjoy), to garlic bread, chips & salsa, pita chips & cream cheese with a red pepper sauce on top, and of course desserts - we were stuffed. Yum, I'm getting hungry again just thinking about it all.

Along with the food, we enjoyed the company of family, our doggies, and a few friends. From the distance we could see the Olive Branch fireworks from my brother in law's backyard. It was a great evening. Here are a few shots from the festivities.

Above: My Man and Me

Above: Our buddy Stev-O hanging out in the hammock with our pup, Dexter. Hilarious. Dexter loves to cuddle, all you have to do is ask him.

Above: The McGugan Men: My Father in Law, My Man, and My Brother in Law

Reminiscing

A dear friend of my hubby and mine is getting married in the next several months, November actually. Over the last few weeks since she became engaged, I have had the honor of sharing some of my wedding memories, vendors, and experiences with this friend. One of the things she asked me about today was our wedding website.

October 2006 (when we became engaged), the hubby and I put together a wedding website through www.weddingwindow.com, We thoroughly enjoyed the interaction with family and friends, as well as the information and story sharing ability it gave us. In addition, after all the work we put into the site and updating it reguarly, we were able to get a cd copy of our site before it went out of comisision online. I have looked over site today and want to share some of the stories we wrote there. My hubby and I just reread them and it put super smiles all over our faces. I hope you enjoy. These are simply copied and pasted from the site - so this was written over 2.5 years ago.

Our Story

How We Met:
The First Meeting

Ironically we officially met through a mutual love of the same sport... Soccer.

"Somehow" we ended up on the same coed soccer team. The first time we met, it was the first game of the season. Kelly and a couple other "new" guys to the team were on the sidelines. I was still recovering from a hairline fractured ankle (imagine that), and was wearing an ankle brace, plus had my ankle taped for good measure.

Kelly took one look at me after introductions and said, "Nice Cankle"

Needless to say, it wasn't love at first site or first words...

How We Started Dating:
The way we got to know each other...

About a month or so after our first meeting, Kelly and I began to talk a bit through emails, as he sent out the weekly reminder of our coed soccer schedule. The friendly banter began one day after I returned from a family vacation, and Kelly's weekly game reminder stated something along the lines of: "P.S. And Heather if you show up with a tan better than all of us, I"ll kick you in your good ankle". I replied, "Is that a threat?" To which, he in his quick-witted nature said, "Nope, because this is on paper."

The next week after a game, many of our teammates went to hangout. Both Kelly & I went with the group and began to talk more in-depth after figuring out that Laura Reddin was a mutual friend of ours, and we actually "knew" one another through her, without having ever met each other. Through the events of the night, we ended up spending quite a bit of time together and discovered that we lived in the same neighborhood, thus making the suggestion that we should carpool to games.

Over the next few weeks, Kelly and I rode with one another to games, and one night he tore his MCL, thus giving me an excuse to be at his house often to "help" him, and continue to get to know him better.

How we began dating:

One night soon there after his MCL tear, Kelly and I went to the loop. Upon our return to his house, I got my stuff together to leave, and said goodnight, as Kelly "crutched" me out towards my car. We said goodnight, with a hug, and I made my way to the car to go home. When I got to the car, I realized that I had forgotten my keys inside (kind of necessary to drive home). Therefore, I turned around, Kelly still standing outside, went back inside, grabbed my keys, and headed back out to go straight to the car.

Kelly stopped me, "Heather, can I tell you something?" To which I smartly replied, "I don't know, can you?" (not the correct response there, lol)

Kelly then went on to tell me that he liked me... ... ... ... ... ... I was definately interested, attracted, but still unsure, and kind of scared... 2 days later (Thursday), we began dating.

How Heather Freaked Out:
Disclaimer:

Okay, so to be honest, I was going to leave this part of the story out... but Kelly is correct in reminding me that this a necessary piece of our little puzzle. Plus it gives him definite props for being a man & putting me into my place. (did I just say that?) Or maybe, I meant it exemplifies his faith and believing that this was right and I was just being a freak - imagine that.

The attempted break up:
One week into our relationship, a week into a very good relationship, all going well, really well... I freaked out - can't explain it any other way.

On a Thursday (exactly 1 week into our relationship), I had an intense unsettled feeling like something was wrong. I went to bed with the feeling Wednesday late night, and woke with it Thursday morning, and it stood all day. I can't explain this well enough to make sense, because it really doesn't... I felt smothered, like things were going too fast (we hadn't even kissed, how could it go any slower?!), I felt my independence had been stripped, I felt unsettled, uneasy, and couldn't pinpoint why. My immediate idea was that there must be something wrong with the relationship. Is there a reason I shouldn't be with this man... ... ... ... NOTHING - I couldn't think of an excuse. But the unsettledness was there anyway... I ignored Kelly all day in an attempt to understand... until we finally spoke that night, at which point he knew something was wrong!

I went to his house that night with the decision that I couldn't do "this", I couldn't date him, I wasn't ready, and I knew I cared for him already & would probably hurt him, something I didn't want to do. So I went to say, "I just want to be friends." The talk began, I verbally vomited all the craziness in my head, probably talked in circles forever... and then finally said my piece, "I just want to be friends".

Kelly looked at me with those deep eyes, we sat there in silence for some time (felt like forever to me)... and finally he opened his mouth to reply... He said: "Well, Heather, I don't want to be your friend. I want to date you." He went on to describe how I didn't have a real reason for not wanting to date, I couldn't give him ANY reason, except some "feeling" I had... how was he suppose to go off of that? He then told me that he knew he was suppose to pursue me as more than a friend, but if that wasn't what I wanted, then we'd have to part ways for awhile before a friendship was ever possible.

Then and there, I knew I hated the idea of not having Kelly in my life in some form, and we hashed things out for awhile, and decided... let's keep giving this a try.

I praise the Lord for giving Kelly the strength, faith, and courage to say those words to me that night. Had he folded and said "okay" to me, as I thought I wanted, I don't know if I would be writing these words today. God gave Kelly faith that it was time to take a stand, guard his heart, and take the chance. Those "harsh" words, "Heather, I don't want to be your friend", are now some of the most beautiful words ingrained in my memory.

Independence Day

Fireworks, barbecues, parades, time with friends, time with family, and being fully thankful for our FREEDOM!!! Independence Day, often referred to as the 4th of July, is a day in which we celebrate the Declaration of Independence. On July 4, 1776 it all began, we adopted the Declaration of Independence and declared independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. The rest is history. Thank you to all the soldiers that have fought and continue to fight for our freedom! We cannot thank you enough!

Everyone enjoy the 4th!
Be safe and have fun!
I can't wait for more fireworks and of course the McGugan barbecue, yum!