really good pasta!

i got this off PW's Tasty Kitchen website. (what a great site by the way if you haven't been there!!!)

It was SO good! Tasted gourmet :) Matt said it was like a dish from Macaroni Grill, fancy!! :) haha.

Bowtie Pasta with Boursin Sauce

• 8 ounces, weight Bow Tie Pasta
• 1 bunch(es) Asparagus Spears, Washed And Trimmed
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 4 cloves Garlic, Minced
• ⅓ cups Sun-dried Tomatoes Packed In Oil, Drained And Sliced
• ¼ cups Grated Parmesan Cheese
• 2 ounces, weight Garlic And Fine Herbs Boursin Cheese
• 1 Tablespoon Chopped Fresh Dill (or 3/4 Teaspoon Dried Dill)
• ¾ teaspoons Lemon Pepper, Or More To Taste
• ½ cups Chicken Broth
• ¼ cups White Wine
• Any Additional Add-ins (chicken Is Great!)

Fill a large saucepan three-fourths full with water. Bring to a boil over high heat and add kosher salt. Add the pasta and cook, stirring occasionally, until barely tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the asparagus to the pan and cook until tender-crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain the pasta and asparagus.

Set the pan over medium heat and heat the olive oil. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and lightly brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Return the pasta and asparagus to the pan,then add chicken broth and white wine. Add in the tomatoes, the Parmesan cheese, Boursin, dill, and the lemon pepper and toss to combine. Season with kosher salt to taste and more lemon pepper if necessary.

the diamond story and what's going on with me ..

ok. first. story.

christmas eve we went to church with dad and susie then headed over to matt's mom's. we'd only been there for a few minutes when i looked down and saw this...

!!!!!!!! i couldn't even talk. finally i got my words and was like, "MATT!!! MY DIAMOND'S MISSING!!!!!!" we dumped out my purse, searched in the presents, bathroom, out to the car, under the seats, in the trunk, in the street, crawling in the grass in the freezing rain, we looked EVERYWHERE!!! i didn't remember hitting it on anything and i was sure i remembered still having it at church. the weird thing is, when you hear of a diamond falling out, its usually bc a prong comes loose and the diamond slips out, in this case, the entire setting was gone!! anyway.. when we had almost given up hope, we decided to go back to the church and see if it'd falled out when i took off my coat. i was in the front seat, already cranked the car, crying and waiting on matt to get in when he came running up to my window, jumping up and down. when he was walking around the back of the car to get in the passenger side, he just shined his flashlight (one more time) in the road and saw a pebble looking thing out of the corner of his eye, he found it!!!!! PHEW!!!!!! it's insured and everything but i mean, thats the diamond matt proposed with, and we got married with, and i didnt want a different one!!! i am so happy he found it. took it to hale's (the jewelry store) monday and they were very apologetic and happy matt found it, they fixed it. man. im so happy. just thought that story was crazy enough to share!

it's back and shinier than ever :)










OK. on to a quick recap of my heart issues:

1. the doctor found the problem while reviewing the results from the heart monitor i wore for 3 weeks.

2. i have atrial tachycardia. which means... there are 4 chambers in the heart. my atria (upper two chambers) are beating faster than the lower two. this causes the blood to not flow properly to my organs (particularly my brain) and causes the weak, dizzy, light headed, passing out.. etc. (which is what everyone kept trying to blame on low blood pressure)

3. im going to rome, ga (where my doctor is, bc my aunt works for him and he's been the one doing all of the monitoring, etc, hes an electrophysiologist) on JAN. 22nd to have a small procedure/surgery.

4. if you're really interested google EP Test and Cardiac Ablation. if not ... the nut shell is. they go in through my groin with a few tiny catheters (while im AWAKE) up to my heart. then, with drugs, they speed up my heart to try to "recreate" what happens when i have an "episode" . if they find the exact place that is "firing bad signals" they will put me to sleep and do an ablation. which means they use a little electrical signal to kill the spot on my heart thats causing problems.

5. i'll most likely be able to go home that day. my nanny lives nearby and we're going to stay with her for that weekend.

i am so so so thankful that they found SOMETHING, anything! i have been so frustrated just knowing that someone had to be wrong and no one was finding it. if they are successful in the ablation, i shouldn't have anymore problems for a while. if they cant find anything, they will hopefully at least be able to regulate it with medicine. everyone say a quick little prayer for me in january! this isnt a burden, its a blessing!! just a little nervous about being wake for the first part.

got a YUMMY recipe to post tomorrow, check back.

oh, and happy new year!!!! matt is playing a gig at the poinsett club and i am babysitting. whatta a different kind of new years eve for us. it's good money for him, and i didnt want to be sitting there bored and not know anyone while he was playing, or go out without him, and then got asked to babysit, so i am. but then new years day im making pork chops, collard greens, and black eyed peas!!! pictures to come :) happy 2010

-b

this christmas..

sorry so long between blogs. WHAT A CHRISTMAS!!!! we had an awesome one!! We still haven't completed the "Bolt Christmas Tour," as matt was calling it all last week. short recap:

Tuesday night: We went to matt's dad's house to celebrate with his dad, stepmom, half brother and sister, and kelleigh :) awesome gifts we racked up: coach sunglasses, best buy card, some nice polo shirts, MAC and benefit makeup ! we love seeing them

Wednesday night: We went to Clemson to Mimi and Grandy's to celebrate with dad, susie, tyler, uncle sammy, aunt twila, matt & ashley. we had a great meal and then a huge christmas!! awesome gifts we racked up: pea coat, massage chair thingie for matt's office, cuisinart griddler, money.

Thursday night (Christmas Eve): we both did some last minute shopping then went to Christmas Eve service at Brookwood with Dad, Susie, and Tyler. Then we went over to Cindy's (matt's mom) for christmas eve dinner. awesome gifts we racked up: lottery tickets (we ended up winning $90!) michael kors watch, lucky jeans, iPhone (matt got a new one bc his screen was broken), boots, victoria secret giftcard.

Friday Morning: We had a lovely "first" Christmas morning together! It was really our second christmas but last year we lived in Raleigh and we were home traveling all around during Christmas. so it was our first time waking up, in our own house, with our dogs, eating breakfast and opening what we got each other! we had waffles. matt got me some beautiful diamond stud earrings and a bunch of yummy candy! i got him a new computer monitor, a coffee mug warmer, and a lowe's gift card and some stocking stuffers. The spoiled furchildren, Cooper and Annie, got GIANT "candycane" rawhides and some really cool little stuffed animal toys that you put empty water bottles in, so that they can have a new chewtoy all the time. and some beggin strips. they had a great time!

then we headed over to my dad's. opened presents with him and susie, my stepbrothers, and tyler. highlights: best buy card, world market giftcard to get a rug for our bedroom, a beautiful wrought iron scrollwork type piece with a monogrammed "B" to put over our bed (pictures to come). awesome clothes :)

thennnnnn we headed to Bishopville, SC with Cindy to spend time with her family. We had a lot of fun! We watched Christmas Vacation, laughed a lot, drank some wine, ate til we were about ot pop, and opened presents. highlights: "BOLT" picture frame, scarves, money. we drove back home that night and got in about midnight. needless to say, we were exhausted! but im not done yet!!!!!

throughout all of this my poor mom still hadn't seen us all week!!! we just had so much to fit in! so we went over there saturday and spent the whole day with her and trav, tyler and linds. we got a Wii!!! we love it! we played it for a while then all piled in the car and went to best buy to get a new game. we got family feud .. it is amazing, for any of yall that have Wii's!!! then we went to see "It's Complicated" it was really cute!

Phew!!!!! As you can see, having two sets of divorced families can be a lot of traveling and cause extreme exhaustion but we are so lucky and blessed that all of us are healthy and well and able to spend time together! we have so much fun!!! and hey, its like, quadruple the presents :) ... just playin. in all seriousness we love giving so much more than receiving, we could have gotten nothing and been so happy just to spend time with everyone and enjoy the holidays. and we're STILL not done!!!!! We have Christmas with my mom's family in a few weekends! i can't wait to see them all. they live in GA and we don't see them as often as i wish we could.

i have more to write about my heart issues and new years etc... but i will make a different post about that tomorrow :) (or one day soon)

short post

i just wanted to share some pictures of our house! mom did the wreaths for me, they look so good! and she helped "spruce up" my mantle and mailbox. ill put some daytime pictures up tomorrow! :)

holiday #1

we had a great holiday!! we left Wednesday evening and went up to my families mountain house in highlands with my family. played a pretty intense game of Mad Gab on Wednesday night (if you haven't played it, I recommend it, it's amazing). Thursday we watched the parade, made a huge breakfast, watched the Dog Show (my favorite part!!!), cooked a ton of food, watched Clemson lose a basketball game, ate dinner, and wallowed in fullness the rest of the night. i made some killer deviled eggs and my nanny's dressing. it was so good!!!!!!!! i was pretty proud of myself. friday the girls went shopping and we got some fun christmas presents, then matt and i headed home friday afternoon and went to eat over at his mom's house. it was a really good weekend, until Clemson lost the Carolina game SAturday. We were doing so bad by the 4th quarter that Matt and I left to get our Christmas Tree. It's not a masterpiece, but I'm very happy with it!
i got those really fun, cozy, chenille stockings at Garden Ridge. I really love them. And my mantle COULD be all elaborate and straight out of Southern Living, like my mom would do really well, but I'm happy with it being very simple and "homey." Please excuse my two air freshners in the picture. They were sitting on my coffee table and i didn't realize it. one is fall harvest (from thanksgiving) and one is gingerbread man... they are both delicious smelling. ANYWAY this actually is Matt and my first Christmas having our own tree and stockings and everything. Last year we were living in Raleigh but came home for the holidays and stayed at my mom's and his mom's so we didn't decorate our house in NC. We've been working on...or should I say...Matt's been working on the yard a lot too, and putting spotlights on the house. As soon as I get my wreaths up I will post a picture of the outside!! Hope everyone had as great of a holiday as I did!!

christmas ideas

ive been scanning the web lately to try to find a tree "theme" that stands out to me... our living room is blues, creams, and browns but i dont think i want to be trendy i think i want to be traditional. does anyone know or have you seen any good websites with tree ideas? last year was our first christmas together but we left raleigh and came home on like, the 17th, and didn't go back to raleigh until after new years. so we didn't get a tree and decorate or anything bc we werent going to be there to enjoy it. that being said we have no ornaments, garland, etc. all we have are lights. i just want to buy stuff that is pretty...and practical that we'll use every year. here are a few pretty trees i found... what do you think?

heath report and a good weekend....

a lot of you have been asking what's been going on and im so grateful for the prayers and words of encouragement. To sum it up for those of you who are out of the loop, on Oct. 25th, Matt and I were at Carowinds with some friends and while waiting in line for our last ride of the night, I passed out and had a seizure. after an ambulance ride and boring stint in the ER in Charlotte, Mom came to pick us up and we got home early that morning. They weren't really sure why it happened, and asked me to follow up with a neurologist (who can't see me until November 16th) and my cardiologist ( who can't see me until Dec. 4th).

Since then I have had a few more "episodes" feeling like im going to pass out again, weak, nauseas, etc., but have not had another seizure or actually lost consciousness. Right now, I am not allowed to drive and it's been really challenging. My sweet mom has been taking me to and picking me up from my classes (just like im in elementary school again). Friends taking me on errands, to the grocery store, etc. and Matt has been awesome ! My mom's aunt is a cadiac electrophysiology nurse (a dr. that studies rhythms of the heart) and her and her doctor have been helping me out as well. They've prescribed me to some medicine that raises blood pressure (to keep me from having that woozy, passing out feeling) and sending me a heart monitor to wear for 3 weeks. So we don't really have a firm answer, and it's taking a while to get into see these specialist doctors, but I'm feeling ok . For example:

My cousin, Ashley and her fiance Matt had their engagement party this past Friday night at my grandparents house in Clemson. Matt and I were scheduled to be the band, and I'd been feeling alright at the end of last week so we went. We ended up having so much fun!! It was set up so beautifully and everyone enjoyed our music :) So we spent the night at Mimi and Grandy's in Clemson on Friday and then woke up Saturday...went to Monterreys :) then watched some football until we headed out to the tailgates around 4 . We got to sit in the box with my grandparents so it wasn't too cold, and we got free food and drinks! Around the 4th quarter I really started feeling weak, and tired, and our parking spot was literally RIGHT outside the stadium. I was scared that if we (Clemson) did one more thing wrong, people would start flooding out and we'd be trapped there or in traffic for another hour or two. So we left, and rushed home to watch the rest of the game. Turns out we must have been good luck for leaving, bc the second we did, Clemson started doing awesome!! We got home within about 2 minutes and watched the rest of the game! What a good night!

Then...to make it even better. We got up this morning to come home for church because my sister, Lindsey, got baptized this morning. What an awesome thing to witness. I was so proud of her and excited for her! The sermon was also really good this morning.

To summarize: good weekend over all. still having to take it easy until i see the doctors. glad that nothing really eventful (health-wise) happened. this should be a pretty relaxing week as well. just having fun looking up thanksgiving recipes !!! everyone have a good week, keep me in your prayers! I really appreciate it, and i'll keep you updated!!! -b

a fun questionairre..

1. What is your favorite thing to snack on while your blogging?
Candy. I just finished eating some sweetarts. I love the blue and orange ones best!

2. What is one thing you wouldn’t want to live without?
Eyeliner. addicted since the 7th grade.

3. Beach, Mountains, or Farm? Where would you live if you had a choice?
the mountains. hands down. no questions.

4. What’s your least favorite chore/household duty?
there isn't really anything i hate doing, i'm just lazy most of the time. once i start cleaning though, i usually do everything in one fell swoop. i dont really like folding laundry or trying to put sheets on the bed by myself.

5. Who do people say you remind them of?
ugh. Britney Spears. all the time. i've gotten Drew Barrymore twice...i dont think i look like her at all!

6. Prefer parties and socializing or staying home with the fam?
I could copy my friend Whitney's answer word for word on this. I like to socialize when I'm in the mood but I'd rather stay home on the couch and watch my tv shows and surf the internet. i love having people over to our house though!

7. What’s your all time favorite movie?
I have three: Father of the Bride, Father of the Bride 2, and The Wizard of Oz

8. Do you sleep in your make-up or remove it like a good little girl every night?
I usually dont even wear make-up (like base/foundation) but I wear eyeliner, mascara, and blush everyday and usually don't take it off. but lately ive been using a new face lotion system my mimi gave me so i've been better about it.

9. Do you have a hidden talent or a deep desire to learn something that you’ve never had a chance to learn? What is it?
i dont know about talent but i can do a lot of stupid human tricks. weird thing with my tongue, hold my hands behind my back then pull them over my head. stick my fist in my mouth. im a freakshow.

10. What’s one strange thing you’re really good at?
Directions. I dont know if that's strange but i can find my way around anywhere. i can always tell which way im going in the grand scheme of things

11. What first attracted you to your spouse?
hmm, a lot of things but probably that he was singing, playing the guitar, and drinking a beer at the same time. :)

12. What is something you love to smell?
christmas trees!!!!! and leaves burning.

13. Tell something about you that you know irritates people.
i make a lot of weird noises. like, i do that scratchy throat thing, that's really annoying and sounds like a pig and everyone knows someone who does it and hates it. also i gag a lot, randomly.

14. When you have extra money, what’s the first thing you think to do with it?
shop :)

15. Are you a silent laugher or a loud laugher? What makes you laugh the hardest?
i'm a pretty silent laugher. matt is always dying laughing at stuff and says "you dont think that's funny??" bc im not laughing out loud. Anything Ellen says. I love Ellen.

16. Where is your favorite place to shop?
j crew if i have the money, ha! urban outfitters, forever 21, anthropologie, old navy :)

17. What’s one thing you’d do more often if you had more time?
if i had more time, i would probably do more of nothing, because i love having free time and not having anything important scheduled or doing homework, going to class, babysitting, cleaning, etc.

18. Are you a big spender or frugal?
i think im pretty frugal. i get the bargain shopping gene from my mom, so i love to find a good deal, the problem is, i find too many good deals and turning into a big spender :)

19. Who is your favorite character of all time?
ummmmmmmmmm. close tie between Dorothy and Annie from Father of the Bride :) :)

20. Would you want to be famous?
definitely but NOT for anything bad (like a scandal or nudey pictures or something) haha.

what about you.....:)

one year :)

i can't believe we've been married for over a year!! it has really flown by! we had a marvelous mini-vacay at my grandparents mountain house in highlands, nc last friday through tuesday! it was SO beautiful. the leaves were turning and we built a fire and watched football and just relaxed, the dogs had fun too! :) on the way home we stopped at the farmers market in cashiers and got our pumpkins and some apples. it was such a pretty day! i love fall!! and i feel like christmas will be here before we know it!!!

waiting for the weekend....

not to be a debbie downer, but these past couple weeks have just been ... stressful. i can't remember the last time i had a really good day. dont get me wrong, i have had good things happen several days... celebrating sarah's birthday, cookout with good friends, visit with lindsay temple and baby noah... but i just haven't have an overall good day.

school started out with flying colors. easy peasy, best grade in the class... then i had a test on bones last week that i BOMBED! (not just like naming the bones..but everything about them) a lot of words that sound the same etc etc. yikes. also my math class has started and its all the way in simpsonville and we are doing FRACTIONS right now .... fractions that i did in 6th grade... fractions so easy that i wonder how i was stupid enough not to test out of this MAT101 class. I guess it's better being easy than hard, but just sucks to drive 30 minutes there and 30 minutes back to sit there for 2 hrs. and 15 min. of stuff I've known since I was 11.

sorry for burdening you with my stress. now onto the good news.. it's our one year anniversary on sunday!! we are so blessed that my grandparents were kind enough to let us use the mtn house for the weekend. we're going up to highlands, nc friday and staying until tuesday! matt is taking a couple of days off and i've already told my teachers i wont be in class monday or tuesday (just missing 2 classes). it's going to be so nice to spend some time with matt. between him working and me at school, we really haven't had much time together lately. so i know i havent posted pictures in a while ...when we get back ill have some good mountain pictures to share! cooper and annie love the mtns too :)

so here's to hoping (knowing) the week's going to get better and anyone else having some bad days, pick your head up and truck on ... good days are coming!! :)

-b

where i've been ... and what's going on :)

sorry i am such a terrible blogger. we have still not totally settled down since we moved back. some recent happenings: matt's been working on the yard a lot. it looks so good! we had a lot of patchy grass because we dont get much sunlight in a few areas, but he's been working away and the yard is looking better and better. going to plant some flowers in october. i looked up "traditional anniversary gifts" the other day. you know like... 50 is Gold ... 10 is tin ... etc etc. Well i thought that 1 year would be something cool, but it's paper. a card. awesome. haha. anyway it has a type of flower you are supposed to plant on each anniversary as well, and 1 year is pansies. so we will be planting some pansies this october :)

also we finally painted the kitchen. took a few coats and still have paint on my hands but we're done. we first painted it green and it looked like nickelodeon threw up in there....it was bad...like slime green. so we decided out with the green all together and painted it a cream color called "antique lace" and we're just going to accent it with a lot of bold colors. im a fan. ill post pics in about a week when its done being decorated. i also cleared out and set up the dining room. just need some artwork/mirror on the walls in there. so things with the house are slowly coming together.

class is going well. still feel like im at the DMV sometimes. you would be shocked at some of the things people say/do. i think like 10 people in my 3 classes have had the swine flu or family members have had it. i walk into class with my tshirt pulled up over my nose. i need to go get the vaccine.

Clemson football is in full swing! Though we've tailgated twice already...the first game was hotter than hot and the last game was at noon and raining. So this weekend's game vs. TCU is going to be the first game I actually cook some yummy tailgate food for. I'm gonna crank out some delicious pimento cheese, black eyed pea dip, 7 layer mexican dip, and a to die for spinach dip. I know it seems like Dip Party 2k9 but everyone else brings Chicfila nuggets...fatz chicken...etc etc so I decided to opt out of "must stay warm" meat dishes :) Here is the black eyed pea dip recipe...it's Paula Deen's, and it actually is more like a salsa than a dip, I think ...

Ingredients

• 2 (15-ounce) cans black-eyed peas, drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (10-ounce) can spicy canned tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 2 to 3 tablespoons chopped fresh jalapeno pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped yellow onion
• 1 (4-ounce) jar chopped pimentos, drained
• Corn chips, for serving

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• Pinch dried oregano
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the black-eyed peas, corn, tomatoes, red, green, and jalapeno peppers, onion, and pimentos.

In a glass jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the wine and balsamic vinegars, salt, pepper, mustard, sugar, oregano, and olive and vegetable oils. Shake until the ingredients are blended.

Add the dressing to the pea mixture and stir gently but thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate until serving time.

Hope yall have a fabulous first weekend of fall!! I'm so excited for fall, it's going to be awesome. Halloween party, thanksgiving, football, amazing. xoxo

Britt

school and recent happenings

i ended up getting a class changed and didn't have it yesterday. so my first class was tonight. it was so weird being in a classroom again but you wouldnt believe the difference, in myself (not school). i felt like i was in 2nd grade again. when i actually loved school and learning and hearing what the teacher had to say. so much different i guess going to class with a ton of weirdos i dont know and not having friends and trying to catch up on the latest gossip/a million other things going on at school. my class tonight was medical terminology and instead of just going over the syllabus and leaving (like every other 1st day of college class i had) she did that and then went right into the lesson. i was taking notes with different colored pens and highlighting and loving everything she said. i suppose its a bit of the fact that i love vocabulary in general, so the medical vocabulary is really fun to me.

i also figured out that its going to be pretty easy considering one guy asked what a tonsillectomy was and the teacher explained it and said it was one of the "harder" terms. i was like. what. haha also. immediately when i walked in a very enthusiastic girl, resembling queen latifah, was like "whats yo majah?" and i looked up and her and the 10 people already in the room where all staring at me blankly. i was like "umm.. sonography." (i was so caught off guard bc i was early to class and scared me that someone was sitting right in the door way and yelled that right when i walked in the room, and everyone was looking at me. anyway once i answered she was like "oh girrrl. no problem, just askin everyone what their major is bc im hopin im not the only Radiology person in here" then i chuckled to myself as i watched each person mosey in the classroom only to jump out of their skin when greeted by "WHATS YO MAJAH??"

anyway.! im not saying that i will be this enthusiastic about anatomy, or math, :) but i really like it and think learning is fun again! this is a good thing. i also just got done doing my homework that's not due until our first test and isn't even technically due, just allowed to turn it in for 1 extra point on the tests . and i finished my anatomy reviews online that i dont have to have done until sunday. i am being quite the overachiever, different from the brittney anyone who's been in school with me since i started liking boys and playing sports..like in 6th grade, knows.

i babysat for the little girl i babysat last summer, Lauren and her little brother Brennan today from 9am to 12pm. they are 2 and 1/2 and 7 months. it was very new to me, never babysat two that young together before. it wasnt as hard as i was expecting though. and then i grabbed some lunch with mom and went straight to my next babysitting gig for an 8yrd old boy (who's autistic) and a 6 going on 14 year old girl. first time i kept them. the boy, Garrett was so PRECIOUS! i loved him. he was very touchy feely and just wanted to be next to me, and very smart and just so interesting. little girl, Ryan, told me that she asked someone the other day, "do you wanna piece-a me" after being accused of being mean to her. haha she was really funny. ANYWAY so i babysat back to back and then came home, got my book bag, and traveled all the way back across town to go to class. then came home, ate dinner with matt, and did my homework. im pooped! havent had this eventful of a day in a while (besides moving).

going to post pictures of the house soon enough. just still have stuff everywhere and want to have it looking good before i "reveal" it to all of you in blogland. write soon.

britt

We're Here!

we're in greenville and have hit the ground running. we've been doing something, dinners, cook-outs, home improvement days, organizing, simplifying, cooking, dog-sitting, you name it, we've been doing it every single day since we got here. when i finally get a free minute i will blog about everything thats going on. right now we're keeping Layla (matt's sister's boxer puppy) and the dogs are in heaven playing in the yard and ruling the house, im starting back school TOMORROW, have babysitting jobs lined up, and matt is swamped with work. we are busy bees but we are SO SO happy to be back in greenville and getting into the swing of things. i promise to post pictures and details soon!!

-britt

anyone else?

this is short and sweet. but has anyone ever noticed, that everytime you try and guess which bottle is shampoo and which is conditioner (if the bottles are similar) in the shower, that EVERYTIME you guess wrong???? it is true!! if i ever just reach for one really fast hoping it's the right one, it never is. k just wondering. back to packing...

packing, moving, and mexican chicken

phew. 5 DAYS til Greenville!!! buying a house has been so much harder than matt and i originally anticipated. you'd think we would have known a little better what was going to happen, since both of our mothers are real estate agents, but we definitely didn't know the roller coaster of emotions we were about to face. it's been one thing after another, after another, but we're finally closing, Friday July 31 (which also happens to be my 23rd birthday)! What a blessing it is and what a good birthday present. We are so lucky to be buying a house at the ages of 25 (soon to be 26) and 23 ... and have a happy marriage and 2 lovely dog "children."

Things I'm most excited about moving back to G-Vegas:
1. My friends and family being a stone's throw away
2. Taco Casa
3. Downtown Greenville
4. Knowing how to get around without my GPS
5. Clemson football games are easily accessable and our dogs will have their own house to stay at until we get back home... in the same night! Wasn't possible before :)
6. Tsunami
7. The Halloween Party we're throwing in October and all of the future parties and get togethers
8. Our Doctors and Dentists... that we've been going to and comfortable with our entire lives, and not having to go to some random person I find on google here in Raleigh.
9. Michael Cogdill and Carol Goldsmith ...even though i reallllllly dont like Carol, it will be good to see their familiar faces again every night :)
10. High school football games... im definitely going to some and im definitely making yall go with me :)

So there are a few SMALL reasons why I'm so glad to move back. Really I just cant wait for everything that comes with moving back. Mom was here (in Raleigh) yesterday helping me pack the kitchen and some other things. I have a few things left... like our closet which is totally organized and neat already I just have to decide if I want it in boxes or what. And a few nightstands, lamps, etc. Matt is going to pack up his office today.

In the midst of all this packing and moving stuff. I want to leave you with a recipe I made a few weeks ago. It is TO DIE FOR! So easy and so good. It's a modification of a Paula Deen recipe.. Mexican Chicken. When I looked it up and read comments and reviews I noticed most people had tweaked it to their own liking... so that's what I did and here's what I came up with ...

Mexican Chicken

• Vegetable oil cooking spray
• 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of chicken soup
• 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cheddar cheese soup
• 1/2 c. of sour cream
  
• 1 (10-ounce) can tomatoes
• 1 whole chicken, cooked, boned, and chopped or 4 cups leftover cooked chicken (i used a rotissere from the grocery store)
  
• 1 (11 1/2-ounce) package flour tortillas
• Small pack Taco Seasoning ... I used McCormick's Chicken Taco and I didn't use the entire package
  
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar (or Monterry Jack or whatever you like)
• shredded lettuce

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a 13 by-9-inch pan with the cooking spray.

In a large bowl, stir together the soups, sour cream, and the tomatoes. Stir in the chicken. Add the seasoning mix. I didn't add the entire package bc I didnt want it to be TOO much but I added what I thought was enough :)

Layer the tortillas and the chicken mixture in the pan, beginning and ending with tortillas. Sprinkle the cheese over the casserole and bake for 30 minutes.

Serve with shredded lettuce and a dollop of sour cream on top. That really MAKES the dish. It is so good!

Easy as can be and SO delish! I also had some Tostitos Cheese Dip on hand and between the layers (when i put the shredded cheese) I also dotted that around. MMMmmm. I wish I could make it tonight but already packed away all my dishes. So try it out :) Let me know if you do!

Aren't you proud of me for blogging again so soon :) Next time I blog, we'll be in Greenville! Hoorayyyyy! See you there :)

-B

hello greenville!! :)

15 days til Greenville. We got everything finalized with our new house today. we are SO excited to move back to greenville and especially to be getting such an awesome house in an awesome neighborhood, i cant even contain myself!! this is our new house

the past couple of days, not only have we been packing, but also cleaning. ugh! our lovely (not) landlord called us Sunday to "let us know" she would be showing this house tonight (wednesday night) so. not only have i been packing boxes, wrapping wine glasses, organizing medicine cabinets, and on and on and on.... but ive had to have the house spotless for her to come show it. we have a whopping $2500 deposit on this place that we're GOING to get back and we didn't want to give her any reason to rethink that. so i have been cleaning NON STOP for 2 days. and now matt said he feels like he lives in a neat freaks house. i am happy its clean bc it's a little easier to pack when everything is already in it's place, but i am sad bc i have no visitors or friends here to come see what an awesome cleaning job ive done! (im not the cleanest person ever... im actually very messy) thats why i wish someone could see this in person! here are a few pictures of what it looks like ... if youre just seeing pics of our house for the first time... dont worry it's not always this bare. we've packed most of our "decor" already .































So to sum it up... there has been so much going on lately. Cathleen's Wedding and festivities, Megan's wedding and festivities (both of which were absolutely beautiful) and packing and cleaning and getting our carpet professionaly cleaned, and trying to find a job, and getting boxes on craigslist and ashley getting engaged (yay! my cousin. im going to be the matron of honor and she sent me some really pretty flowers...the ones that are on the table in the picture above) and all the loan and house stuff and scheduling the movers. i have had so much to do! i am so lucky that matt has such a great career and i am able to not have a job right now and be able to do all this stuff. as soon as i get to greenville, im going to contribute to the cash flow again :) i love yall!

-britt

ready to give her away

i just came downstairs to find this...if you cant tell. that is a HOLE in the carpet that annie decided to dig up. and chew. through both the carpet and the padding, leaving the bare subflooring exposed. keep in mind, we live in a RENTAL house. the carpet is already pretty dingy, and it was when we moved in...so we are sure the landlord would probably update it or get laminate flooring when we move out in a month and a half anyway, but now she definitely will. and now, it will be at our expense. i am so angry. there had to have been some sort of scent or bug down under the carpet right there though bc annie typically doesnt dig. unless she finds a worm in the yard or something. i am almost ready to give her to my grandparents or something. good grief. she is SO BAD and so mischievious!!!!!!!! but she really is sweet in her heart of hearts. and she's the cutest thing youve ever seen. she just is so destructive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! gah!

ok. enough venting about that. we're going to greenville tomorrow. and she will get to be at matt's mom's house which has an awesome, huge, yard and her and cooper can stay outside all day and get their energy out. thank God. we have a wedding to go to saturday and we're going home a few days early to HOPEFULLY figure out our living situation. it's been so stressful. but i just keep telling myself. be so happy you're moving back to greenville. and i am. at this point i dont even care where we live, im just glad to be going home :)

please pray for annie to be a better *dog* (keyword) and get out of the freakin' puppy stage. otherwise im going to go insane. she is such a baby and i wish she would grow up to be an old lazy dog. major props to all you moms of human babies out there! i dont know how you do it!!!! you're amazing.

here's the culprit...in case you all forgot how innocent she looks...

i guess im a "once-a-month" blogger

though im on my computer quite a bit, i always forget to blog. well /i guess i dont forget to, because i always read everyone else's blog, but i just dont. i promise to start doing it more often.

ill start with the most recent happenings first.

i was just cooking dinner. where usually the dogs sit in the kitchen the entire time waiting for me to drop a morsel, and i realized they werent in there. i thought it was strange and came into the living room to find, cooper looking guilty as can be and put his tail between his legs. then annie COVERED in what looked like red mud, then seeing a HUGE MASS of this "red mud" like substance all over the quilt on the couch (thank goodness it wasnt on the couch itself). first i freaked out then realized there was no red mud outside right now. noticed annie was licking herself insanely. then saw a chewed open box of jello- chocolate pudding mix on the floor. i didnt know whether to laugh or cry. ended up being an easy mess to clean as i just threw the quilt in the washer and vaccummed some powder left on the couch. matts going to give annie a bath in a little bit, and cooper's already mananged to clean himself. and i looked up whether it woud hurt them or not and they're fine. the whole "dogs cant have chocolate" thing is NOT a rumor, however, it's mainly the rule for DARK CHOCOLATE. anyway. just another day in the life of a dog owner :)

second. weddings galore. one month from tomorrow is cathleen and chris's wedding. and megan and blake's is july 11. im so excited! i have decided im going to start packing stuff over the next couple weeks (we're hoping to move back, mid july) and i have to be back for 4 weekends in a row from june 13-july11 then moving so it's pretty much the only time i have to pack. i hate packing. ill just turn on some music and get a wad of newspaper, boxes, and tape from somewhere and get after it. if anyone has any moving tips, i'd love to hear them.

we're deciding this week whether we're going to rent for a year or buy a house in greenville. it has been a much more stressful situation than i had planned for. trying to take it day by day and see what happens. at this point, im just so glad to be moving back to greenville that i dont care if we have to live in a box. i mean. i do. but i am so happy to move back!!!

i am so excited for american idol tonight and the new "preview" of Glee. i think it's going to remind me a lot of chorus in high school (glee, that is). it looks really good. i miss high school. i think i am one of the only ones. a lot of people say they wouldnt go back if they were paid to. i mean, i dont want to go back for the whole time, but a couple months or so would be nice. didnt realize how easy we had it back then did we?? gah! wish i could just up and go to the beach for a week and spend my parents money and then come back and hit up payson's house and do something crazy. i loved chorus and i loved cheerleading (ha) and i loved my friends. just hated waking up that early. that is something i DO NOT do. (megan, admire you x1,000,000 for the time that you wake up every day. gah) .

ok. this is just turning into a journal entry, rather than telling you anything productive, but i figured i owe you all a blog. :) talk sooner than later, i swear.

britt

coming up on 6 months...

can you believe it? matt and i will have been married for half a year, this saturday. it seems not that long ago, but at the same time it does. there's been so much going on lately.

work is super annoying. i still love what i actually DO, just some people are very negative and it seems like i can never do anything right in their eyes. also i end up driving an hour (there and back) everytime i work. then dont get paid that much. ANYWAY, i really do love love love working with the brides and helping them pick out their dress, i guess i just wish i owned my own wedding boutique with designer quality dresses, and a happy environment :) wishful thinking. maybe one day.

right now i am sitting waiting on my chicken spaghetti to be ready. ive still been cooking a lot lately. this recipe is from the pioneer woman (LOVE her blog!) check it out.. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2007/06/chicken_spaghet/
ive made a couple of her recipes and they are always fantastic. ill let you know how this one turns out.

i finally got a new camera battery for my canon "nice camera." i cant wait to start taking pictures again. matt and i are not able to go home for easter this year, so we're going to celebrate here with the littles. (dogs). maybe ill hide some eggs for them. cooper probably wouldnt know whats going on, but annie can SMELL ANYTHING. i could just put some peanut butter or something in the eggs and she would definitely sniff it out. then i could get some good pictures. yeah! i might do that!

there are so many exciting things coming up! i know its going to fly by. im going home next weekend for megan wells' shower. i am so happy. i love going home and i love that shower's are starting bc that means the weddings are just getting closer!! i am going to be home an awful lot in june and july then we're moving back in august. yes! how awesome!

matt just took on a *side* job contracting for this really guy. he is going to pay him pretty well and we are hoping to save most of the money he makes from it, but also put away a little "vacation" pot and hopefully go back to the most amazing place on earth for our anniversary. le blanc resort spa (in cancun) was the absolute best hotel ive ever ever stayed in and i wouldnt choose anywhere else to go. (that's where we went on our honeymoon). i hope it works out!

we are going to start looking at houses in greenville towards the end of may. i will keep yall posted on what we find. i know i havent been the greatest at updating my blog, but i will get better, you'll see :) hope everyone is doing as great as we are!

b

recent happenings

where to begin. so much to tell. i guess first and foremost, we are moving back to greenville in june or july!! we are so excited about it :) let me explain how this is possible.

we first moved to raleigh bc matt's company (about 30 people) were going to try to get a raleigh office (they are in wilson, nc right now, about 45 minutes from raleigh) and consolidate people who live in GA, St. Louis, Arizona, California, etc. They were probably going to move to Raleigh as well. Then when the economy got so bad, they decided everyone was doing fine working from home and they didnt really have the money to get a new raleigh office (the wilson office is already really nice anyway). SO technically matt can work from anywhere. he's only been to the office about 5 times since we've lived here. but the MAIN reason we are moving back is because I am going to finish at Clemson. :) last time i was home the opportunity presented itself to us and it is just something we couldn't pass up.

Incase you dont know why i didnt already finish at clemson... i took statistics 4 times and couldnt get through it. tutors, acad. support center, etc etc etc. there really is a lot more to the story but i tried meeting with advising counselors and others to figure out if there was another major i could switch to that didnt require statistics and ran into MULTIPLE road blocks along the way. now i have an awesome opportunity to meet with the head provost of the university and she is going to help me find a way around all the roadblocks. dont bother with the "why dont you just..." we literally tried everything we could. but now im going back :) hooray!

on a much sadder note, matt's nana passed away earlier this afternoon after battling cancer for over 2 years. we are headed to bishopville, probably friday, for the services on saturday. she was one of the sweetest people i knew. so glad i got the opportunity to meet her and spend some time with her since matt and i got married.

after that i dont really want to talk much about anything else. just going to remember Nana today and be thankful for this wonderful life God has given us. despite this harsh, horrible economy, and the struggle to make it (economically) as newlyweds lately. this has really turned my attitude around and made me thankful for the life that we have. :)

-B

a reason to blog...

sorry it's been since february 4th. been working a whole lot this past week. i have a very specific reason for this post. since i've been married (well technically since we've lived in Raleigh), i've cooked a lot of dinners. We've probably only gone out to eat about 5 or 6 times in the 4 months we've been here. I haven't really cooked the same thing twice, because i've been experimenting with so many different recipes. i like trying new things. there have been several things i made that REALLY stuck out, but tonight was unlike any other. i made THE BEST baked potato soup ever. Since I was little i always loved potato soup (ordering at restaurants like Fatz, O'Charley's, Outback, etc. to mention some of my faves). I found this recipe that is supposed to be like Tony Roma's Baked Potato Soup. Of course I tweaked it a little. (I used to NEVER tweak recipes but i think ive gotten a lot more confident since i first started cooking and I change things around a good bit now) Anyway. I HAVE to share this recipe with yall. It is TRULY outstanding, and next time I have company, this is what I'm going to cook, to be sure to impress!!!

Baked Potato Soup

• 2 medium potatoes (about 2 cups chopped)
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup diced white onion
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 cup instant mashed potatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/8 teaspoon thyme
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream or half-and-half

Garnish

• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 cup crumbled cooked bacon
• 1 chopped green onion (green part only)

1. Wash potatoes thoroughly and microwave until tender.
2. If you would like you can always bake in a 400 degree oven for one hour or until done.
3. As the potatoes are cooling, melt your butter in a large saucepan and saute your onions until light brown.
4. Add in your flour to make a roux.
5. Add in your chicken broth, water, cornstarch, instant mashed potatoes and spices and bring to a boil.
6. Reduce your heat and simmer for about 5 minutes.
7. Take your cooled potatoes and peel off the skin and chop up into desired pieces.
8. Add in your chopped up potatoes and the heavy whipping cream to your soup and bring it back to a boil.
9. Reduce heat and simmer for about 15 minutes or until it is thick.
10. Garnish with cheddar cheese, crumbled bacon and green onions.

That really is 10 steps to heaven. mmmm mm! I made some cornbread (wish I would have made homemade) to go with it, and it went together perfectly. I have been spoiled my whole life eating my Nanny's homemade cornbread. I found a deal on one of those little cornbread mixes (like muffin mix) and it was not that great. I'll make homemade next time. Let me know if any of you try this recipe, you should!!

B

things.

where to begin? i will start with how excited i am about this upcoming week! over christmas break, we planned to go to my mountain house in highlands for valentines weekend with some other couples. meanwhile, hunter dawson (matt's friend and loose change manager) had been asking us to come play a gig in clemson. matt decided since we were going to be so near for the weekend that we could play Thursday night in clemson at loose change. then we realized all the equipment is at matt's house in greenville so we would have to leave really early thursday or wednesday night, and matt cant miss that much work. so i happen to be off work next week and it's easier for matt to miss work on a sunday so we're going home to greenville on sunday!!! YAY!! i am so excited to watch the bachelor with my friends and go to taco casa and just see my family and friends, maybe go to tsunami downtown :) i am doing WORLDS better in raleigh than i was when we first got here, but i really do miss greenville mainly for the people who are there.

so, we'll be there sunday through thursday. then driving to clemson to play a gig at loose change and staying with my g'parents. then heading on up to highlands for valentines weekend with some of our best friends! what awesomeness to look forward to! i hope it snows in the mountains, it's so pretty up there!

in recent news, i was looking on the internet yesterday afternoon for one of those recipe generators. where you type in whats in your fridge and pantry and it tells you what all you can make. haha. (we are not buying groceries this week so we can save money for going to greenville next week). anyway. i found this recipe and i didnt have one thing, or i would think it needed something else so i tweaked it... a lot. and was really nervous how it would turn out, as i always follow the recipe, like, perfectly. SO it ended up being AWESOME and i am so happy because it's like ... my recipe. like when i give it to people i can be like i made it up. kinda. lol. here it is... it was great for a cold night like last! i have no idea what to call it. any ideas??? right now i will call it Brittney's Casserole. haha.

casserole
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
2 5 oz. cans cooked chicken (I used Swanson)
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (you could use another kind if you wanted)
2 cups of milk
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
a few shakes of minced onion flakes
salt and pepper.

topping
butter
breadcrumbs

preheat oven to 350F.

in a large bowl,mix all ingredients together well. pour into large 9x13 baking dish.

next i melted about 2 tbsp. of butter and mixed in some breadcrumbs. make sure they are all saturated and sprinkle over top of casserole.

cover with aluminum foil and bake 35 minutes. Remove aluminum foil and bake about 10 more minutes until bubbly.

AHH! that stuff is amazing. though next time i think ill use chicken i cook and not the canned chicken (but thats all i had last night) and i think next time i will add some broccoli florets. let me know if any of you make it. it was great! and it needs a name!! :)

snow and soup!!

so we have 4 inches of snow. Cooper loves it, Annie isn't so sure. But the fireplace is going and I'm making my favorite soup EVER period, but it is even BETTER on a cold snowy night like this one. Here is the recipe:

Chicken Tortilla Chowder

1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 can Cream of Potato Soup
1 can Chicken Broth
1 cup of milk
1 can of Mexican Corn
1 to 2 cups (depending on your liking) of canned cooked chicken (i use swanson)
3 soft taco size Tortillas sliced up into pieces
As much Mexican Shredded Cheese as you desire

(Other ingredients that are optional that we don't use because one or the other doesn't like)
1 can sliced, drained mushrooms
1 can chopped, drained tomatoes
1 small can green chiles, drained

Add all ingredients up to Tortilla Strips and Cheese. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, add tortilla strips and simmer on low for about 8 to 10 minutes or until tortilla stips have the consistency desired. (usually taste about like dumplings)

Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and top with cheese!!!

AMAZING!

a little bit of everything..

sorry i've gone so long without blogging. i've been busy at my new job :)

where to begin? it's just begun to snow and supposed to snow pretty hard between now and noon tomorrow. 4 inches likely! i am praying it's true, I miss snow so much. (and am VERY jealous of megan's pictures of her weekend getaway in alaska, i would love to have been there!) I think I am one of the ones out of my friends who adores winter. I love being cold one million times more than being hot. i love the excitement of even a possible snow. i love the fireplace (which we finally got working) and blankets. i love the naked trees. truly, i love winter. matt says when we're millionaires in 3 years *HA. HA. HA* we can get a mountain house, or just live there. i would love to live in the mtns. like Highlands or Asheville or Boone. Ahhhhhmazing. Ok I feel like I've said love about 300 times so far so I'm going to move on to something I dont like:

Doggie Diarrhea. It smells nasty, it looks nasty, it makes the carpet nasty, it IS nasty. We had a problem with Annie getting it right when we got her. Then she was fine, now it's back. We're about 99% sure it's the food she's eating so we got a new food today, and I'm praying that fixes it. When I was in Greenville over the holidays I got the WONDERFUL please of holding baby Naphtali Wells Ford (Megan's neice) and she spit up on me and Megan and her mom were like "Ahhhh! Oh no!! I am so sorry!!" And i was like "This is nothing, I'm used to dog diarrhea." It really seemed like hooray! baby milk spit!" instead of dog poo. Ok, now I apologize for talking a whole paragraph about dog poo. Hopefully this puppy stage is nearing an end.

things i need (really dont NEED but would absolutely LOVE to have right now)
1. a new camera battery for my Cannon Rebel XTi. I really need one!
2. a new pair of the most comfortable. idontevencareifthey'recute shoes for work. my feet are KILLING me everyday that i get home.
3. a Bissell proheat 2x vacuum because I am obsessed with clean carpet all the sudden (dog poo probably to blame)
4. a memory card reader so i can finally upload all of my Christmas pictures
5. a jacuzzi (ok now im just getting ahead of myself)

Some funny things:
1. I keep having dreams that I am pregnant or either have a baby (not amusing, in any way as I dont want that to happen for at LEAST 3 years). HOWEVER. every dream, for some reason Matt gets to name the baby. The names THUS far (in dreams) have been Cordell, Percy, Todd, and Camillo. Todd is the only normal name. hilarity.

2. Another dream yet again having to do with baby names: When I found out Danielle Gibbs, mother to Red Marshall Gibbs, was pregnant again I got really excited! (even though i havent even met Red yet, dangit, but needless to say I guess my excitement led to dream.) I dreamed that Danielle had a girl and named her Violet. Then I ran into Danielle and was like "Oh my gosh I love the name Violet! It is too cute!!" and she responded, "Oh thanks, We dont really like the name at all, we just wanted to stick with colors." HA!

3. My first "bride" I had (like, alone with no one shadowing me) was a 61 year old bride who tried on about 17 dresses and didn't like any of them. My second bride was a heavy-set, maybe 23 year old, girl was short and plump and had about 2 week grown out armpit hair and smelled like sweaty children. she talked in a baby voice the ENTIRE time and had huge glasses. anyway we put her in this really pretty halter lace dress with a band of beading under the bust, like an empire waist. and it looked prob the best any dress could look on her and then she INSISTED that we put a BRIGHT royal blue (think eastside blue) sash around the beaded bust line. which looked HIDEOUS ! thennnnnnnnnnnn she wanted this veil that was trimmed in BABY BLUE satin. so the blues didnt match AT ALL and she was standing in the mirror in a baby voice saying "oh yeahhh i really like this .... this is actually perfect." she sounded like minnie mouse i could barely understand her. but it was one of those times i had to be like "do YOU love it?" (bc i think its terrible) and she was like "ohh yes i really really do." she didnt buy it bc she wanted some time to think. but needless to say i have had some crazy first time experiences. lol

i can never read blog posts when they are really long so im going to quit while im ahead but hopefully ill get a little bit of praise from you all for updating my blog. (and maybe i made you smile, today). anyway i promise to not be a stranger and as soon as i get a memory card reader i will put up some pictures!!

**B

back in raleigh.

if you'd ask me a month ago if I would be happy to return to raleigh after a lovely long break of seeing friends and family, i probably would have told you no. now I realize I would have been terribly wrong.

I am so happy to be back to our house with my husband and doggies. my bed. my closet. my kitchen. mostly my fenced in yard. no one tells you how different it is to have dogs you actually have to take out on a leash every single time they have to go to the bathroom! it sucks!! i love having a fenced in yard here in raleigh so i can open the door and let the little ones run out and play in the yard without worrying they'll run away.

We had a fabulous holiday but felt exactly like Vince Vaughn and Reese Witherspoon (if you've seen Four Christmases.) We went to about 6 Christmases in 48 hours. From Greenville to Clemson, to Greenville, to Easley, back to Greenville, to Bishopville, and back to Greenville again. We had a lot of fun but were absolutely exhausted by Christmas night. I feel like I am still catching up on sleep. I asked my ladies (matt's aunts) in bishopville what the heck i had to do to get people to come to me and in unison they all said "have a baby." hahaha. then in unison again they said "but not anytime soon." Which won't be happening anytime soon, in case that just worried a reader (mother.) But it is a nice (and relaxing) thought to think that ONE DAY families will come to us and we wont spend all our "Christmas Money" on gas driving from one family to the next.

Despite the driving, gas, exhaustion, etc. we are so happy and thankful we got to spend some time with everyone. We gave and received some wonderful presents. Now we wont be going back to greenville til maybe May when wedding showers start popping up here and there! Im so excited to be in Cathleen's wedding june 20th and Megan's wedding july 11th. hooray!!!

I've also started working at David's Bridal in Durham and I love it! It is so much fun and I dont dread a thing about it (first job I havent dreaded something). I really really enjoy it and I like getting out of the house and interacting with some people my age. I will put up some pictures of our first Christmas as "The Bolts" as soon as I can find my memory stick reader :)

write again soon,

BB