Ladies Night

Last Thursday night, October 23, we had Ladies Night at church. It was so nice! We had salad, parmesan chicken, green beans, potato casserole, and great desserts! Shari Pickel spoke and was so inspirational. I LOVE that lady! (She was my wedding director, also...she is AMAZING!) Amber & I decorated a table, and we had lots of fun with that, too! Each table had a theme that had to do with a Chrisitian song. Ours was "Count Your Blessings." We decorated it with pictures of people we were thankful for, and Elaine Stafford let us use her tray of two people praying, thanking God for their blessings, as a centerpiece. Thanks mom, Kristy, & Mona for sitting with us! :o)

Mine & Amber's table

Amber, me, & Kristy

LeAvEs

Our neighbors gave us a lotion/hand soap gift set from Bath & Body Works in the Leaves scent, and we LOVE it! I just wanted to share in case anyone needed fall gift ideas! Here is a picture of the room spray.

My Fall Favorite

My favorite things, all throughout the year, are Yankee Candles, but the fall & Christmas collections are my favorites. This year, I found a new scent that I absolutely LOVE. It is Iced Pumpkin and is a swirl of Pumpkin Pie & Vanilla Cupcake. I have burned it almost every night since I got it, and it makes the entire house smell like fall!

Quick & Crispy Chicken

This is a very yummy recipe that I wanted to share: Ingredients 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 4 tablespoons flour 1/2 cup Dijon-style mustard 1/2 cup dry bread crumbs Rinse chicken and pat dry. Coat chicken with flour, then spread with mustard and dredge in bread crumbs. Warm a skillet over medium hear and spray with cooking spray. Cook chicken for 5 to 6 minutes per side or until no longer pink. Makes 6 servings. I got this from a cookbook my great aunt Martha gave me as a wedding gift. It is called The Rush Hour Cook presents Weekly Wonders. Each chapter deals gives a meal for each day of the week. The recipes are really easy, too!

It's fall, ya'll, and we're MaRrIeD!!

So much has happened in the last 3 weeks! John T. & I got married on October 4, we spent October 5-October 11 on a cruise to Nassau & Freeport, Bahamas, we came back home and boy did we have a lot to do last week! John T. did not have to go back to work until Thursday, so we had the whole week to get lots of stuff done! Monday, we took a few duplicate wedding gifts back to Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Target, & Wal-Mart, we bought lots of groceries, & I cooked my very first meal in our new house as husband & wife (recipe to follow, because it was so yummy!). We also watched one of our favorite shows, One Tree Hill, on Monday night. We have kept up with this show since high school, and we LOVE IT! On Tuesday, we woke up & headed to the Roane Co. courthouse to pick up our marriage certificate...we learned that this little piece of paper holds a lot of power! We then headed to the DMV to get our new driver licenses (mine for name & address change, and John T.'s for address change). Afterwards, I met one of my best friends Brittany & her two sisters @ David's Bridal to try on bridesmaid dresses for her upcoming wedding in May. I am very excited about it, and the dress is super cute! After that, I headed to the social security office in Oak Ridge to apply for a new card. I never knew that on a Tuesday afternoon that a place like that would be so crowded! It made me really see how bad of an economic mess our country is in right now because so many people were there trying to draw their social security earlier than what is expected. Tuesday night I headed to church to help the WMU groups wrap boxes for the Samaritan's Purse shoebox ministry. This is something that our church has done for several years, and I really enjoyed helping. Wednesday, we headed to the bank to order new debit cards. When we came home that afternoon, we realized that our washer had bit the dust. The owners of the house we bought told us that it could last a month or 5 years, but just to be prepared that it probably would not last much longer...so we broke down and headed to hhgregg to buy a new one. I LOVE the one we got. It is just like the one I had in my college apartment. A good ole GE (I have a love for the GE brand because of nuc. med. and because every appliance my grandparents have is GE & they have lasted for over 22 years!) Dad came up Wednesday night to help John T. set it up, and mom & I decorated our master bathroom, which I am very proud of now! It looks super cute (pictures to come)! Also, on Wednesday nights @ 9:00, another favorite show of ours comes on...Friday Night Lights! We really just started getting into this one, and it is so so good! I look forward to every Wednesday night now! Thursday, John T. went back to work, and I attemped to unpack some more of my boxes I still have from my room @ home. This seems like a never ending process, that I'm sure will take a long time to accomplish! Friday morning, I always take my poppy to get groceries & eat breakfast @ Hardees, one thing I will truly miss when I start working! Our weekend was very relaxed, and Saturday, we welcomed home John T.'s family, who had been in Disney World all week. It was great to see them and hear about all of their experiences in Orlando. Sunday was pastor appreciation day @ John T.'s family church in Lancing (Elizabeth Baptist), so we went up there and ate some yummy food after the church service! We watched the Colts/Packers game Sunday afternoon, which was not fun at all. There were so so so many penalties!! John T.'s granny celebrated her birthday on Sunday, too! I love Minnie to death. She would do anything for anybody in the world, and I am so glad that I am a part of his family now! Monday was definitely FUN! We went to Becky's in South Harriman to get some pumpkins & mums to decorate out front porch for FaLl! I was so excited to see the cold weather get here because that means pumpkin time! :o) Below is our finished product after decorating. The little scarecrows were an added touch, and I was very excited to find them @ Wal-Mart for only 94 cents a piece! Tuesday, I met with my future supervisor @ Ft. Loudoun Medical Center about my upcoming position. I am going to start out PRN, and after all of this economic turmoil, I will settle into a full-time position. I am really, really looking forward to start working! I also got to meet mom for lunch in Lenoir City @ Aubrey's & we picked up my pictures from our honeymoon...all 316 images! LoL.. I was super excited! Wednesday morning, Amber & I decorated our table at church for Ladies Night. This is a night that our church has, once a year, for all the ladies at church. There is a speaker & delicious food, and this year, Amber & I being the "Ladies" that we are, were asked to decorate a table with the rest of the women @ our church. Amber picked out the colors, hot pink & brown, and our theme is "Count Your Blessings" (pictures to come after tonight). I think that updates our life for now! Enjoy the FaLl colors & weather...I am loving it!! Pictures of wedding & honeymoon coming soon! :o)