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