Friday Favorites

Well y'all - it's the last day of September and I don't know if I can wrap my head around that! Tomorrow will be October and that means just one month until our wedding! Time is flying - so let me share some favorites with you and then I'm going to enjoy my busy weekend!

 

Monterey White Chicken Chili - I have finally found the perfect chicken chili recipe and I should have known that Plain Chicken would be the best place to find it! She always has the best recipes and this one did NOT disappoint! It was so tasty and delicious and I've added the recipe to my box!

Monterey White Chicken Chili 

• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup half & half
• 2 cans white meat chicken; drained
• 1 11 ounce can of white corn
• 1 9 ounce can of frozen chopped spinach, thawed & drained
• 1 cup French Fried onions
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. black pepper
• 2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

In your cooking pot, melt the butter and stir in the flour, cooking for 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in chicken broth and half & half. Bring to a boil and cook about 2 minutes, until thickened. 

Add the remaining ingredients and cook for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Serve with your favorite chili toppers: sour cream, cheese, tortilla chips...

The Four Seasons - Please feast your eyes on one of my favorite wedding gifts! This little treasure is the epitome of the phrase "good things come in small packages" because these little spice jars came in quite the small package but man, they bring me such joy!

I found a set that were meant to be a salt & pepper shaker... which led me to these little guys and I added them to our registry! I've got them filled with parsley (Spring), cumin (Summer), paprika (Autumn) and salt (Winter). They are completely functional and just add some flair to our above stove shelf - I love them!

Autumn Colors - Tomorrow is October 1st and the weather has certainly taken a turn toward Autumn! The temperatures have been hovering around the low-60's during the day with Autumn breezes and I have worn long sleeves all week long! I love it!

My drive to work (when I don't take the interstate) takes me through the Virginia countryside and I love it - I get to see apples on the trees in orchards that stretch out into the distance. I especially love the canola fields that I pass because they turn the most stunning goldenrod color - as you can see in my less than impressive picture! 

Forty Years - My sweet parents are celebrating a milestone anniversary on Sunday, October 2nd! They have been married for FORTY years; such a testament to commitment, especially in an age when so many people take their wedding vows with a grain of salt. 

They have been such a perfect example of what marriage is meant to be - sticking together through thick and thin, handling life's ups and down together and knowing that they are stronger together! I am so glad I've had the blessing of watching them - since I'll be starting on my own marriage journey in just forty-three short days! 

So - a very happy anniversary to my parents! Here's hoping you have another forty more! 

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I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! It looks like we will be having a very rainy weekend here in Northern Virginia, courtesy of Hurricane Ian - but man, we will take that rain as opposed to the horrors that Floridians are now dealing with. Bless them - what a situation this storm has created.

Have I Told You Lately - September

 

September has almost come to a close - and what a full month it was! There is so much to love about the month of September and this year was no exception! 

Eating - Hello German Food! My family traveled to Bavaria at the beginning of the month and oh my goodness; I discovered that I do indeed love German food, with the exception of all the wieners! I started our time in Germany with fabulous Potato Soup and Turkey Cordon Bleu Schnitzel at a sweet little German restaurant! I also had a divine slice of Cranberry Rum Cake from a local bakery and sweet shop - also divine! 

Throughout the week I enjoyed even more German food: wiener schnitzel (not a wiener), cherry waffles, Bavarian Cream & Fruit, Kasespatzle, Apple Strudel, an amazing fruit & cheese platter and of course - German Chocolate! Everything we had was so tasty and wonderful! I closed out the month finally finding my perfect White Chicken Chili recipe - yahoo! 

Drinking - Let's play a game called: Something I Never Thought"... as in, I never thought I'd post about and that's drinking beer! I rarely drink and when I do it's normally a cocktail that's more fruit than alcohol or the occasional glass of wine - but I have always turned my nose up at beer! It stinks and honestly - I've never been able to get past the smell long enough to get a good sip! It's just gross!

However - I figured when in Germany, especially when Oktoberfest is on the horizon - you got to at least sample some beer, right? I tried an Austrian beer when we were in Austria (my Dad ordered it & I sampled some sips) and it was surprisingly tasty and smooth - and there was no horrible smell! When we were at legendary beer hall Hofbrauhas München - I had multiple sips of my sister's Radler Beer, which is half beer and half lemonade. I could become a fan of that, ha-ha!

Reading - I only read two books this month (I took a book along to Germany but never cracked it open). Once I was home - I finally found my reading game again and I read two great books! I started with my September Book of the Month: Other Birds by Sarah Addison Allen and it was such a great read! It was a light read, filled with a touching story, a little bit of mystery and even a bi of whimsy! It was such a great little book and I really enjoyed it!

The second book I read was The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and let me tell you - I loved it! The book was originally published in 1998, so it's been around for just while and I stumbled on it as an option for Book of the Month and decided to give it a whirl! The story of an evangelical Baptist minister who drags his family to the Congo as missionaries in 1960 was fascinating and intriguing and even though the book was over 500 pages - I devoured it in less than a week! 

Watching - Of course, I am still watching House of the Dragon and I'm still very intrigued by it all. It's definitely like being back with an old friend, even if the friend is a bit changed! I'm enjoying the palace intrigue and all the plays the characters are making to vie for being closest to the throne. Plus - there are dragons and amazing costumes - what's not to love?

Continuing with all things fantasy, I have also been watching Amazon Prime's The Rings of Power and I'm enjoying that quite a lot too. I don't think (so far) it has quite the pull of HofD but it's very good all on it's own. I feel like so much of this season is laying groundwork (maybe I'm wrong) but I am fascinated to encounter characters that are remembered/mentioned in Lord of the Rings - or some characters (like Galadriel) who are still around in Lord of the Rings, ha-ha!

Loving - Let me tell you that I am loving all the people who are either just so sweet or are genuinely interested in our upcoming wedding! I cannot tell you how many people in the last week have asked "how many more days" or happily said to me "it's getting so close"... and I swear, I don't know if I know all of them, ha-ha! But their sweet sentiments just warm my heart and make me feel so loved!

Wanting - I think at this point, the one thing I am wanting is for everything to work out just perfectly on the wedding day! So far everything has fallen into place just fine and so I hope that trend continues! Everyone has told me to just relax and do my best to enjoy the day because it will pass in a blur - and I believe that! Once upon a time it seemed like it would be forever until our wedding day and now there are just 43 days to go! So I want to be able to enjoy the day and have it go smoothly! 

Quoting - I've seen this quote everywhere in the last few weeks and I love it! 

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September was such a wonderful month - I can't wait to see what the rest of the year holds, because between my birthday, Halloween, our wedding & honeymoon, Thanksgiving and Christmas - it is shaping up to be a wonderful final three months of the year! The "Ber" months are my favorite months and September kicked them off in perfect fashion! 

Wedding Wednesday - The Honeymoon

It’s Wednesday and there are 45 days to go – just 45 little bitty days! It seems wild to think how quickly time is passing and that we are getting so close to the “big day”. Things are still going smoothly, and I pray they continue to do so! I wanted to share today a little about the honeymoon!

We talked about where we wanted to spend our honeymoon for quite some time, and we kept coming back to how much we liked the idea of booking something that was all-inclusive. We loved knowing that once we arrived, everything was taken care of and all we had to do was be there, spend time together and just enjoy ourselves. We looked at the limited options for all-inclusive stays in the US but none of the options seemed to be quite right – Arizona wasn’t really tugging at our heart strings and while Montana sounded awesome, we were worried it would be nothing but snow in mid-November. There were a couple other options, but none really stood out. Naturally – once we’d exhausted the US options – we turned to a name that is synonymous with honeymoons and all-inclusive vacations – Sandals!

One of the things that Ryan and I agreed on was that we are “mountain” people – not beach people. So, you may wonder, why would you choose a beach honeymoon?!? However – neither of us have been to a beach in a long while, we’ve never been to Jamaica and we’ve only heard excellent things about Sandals – so after reviewing the different resorts, we chose Sandals Ochi, in Ochos Rios, Jamaica! I can’t believe we will be sitting on a beach in less than two months, toes in the sand and warm saltwater lapping on the shore. *sigh*

The resort that we will be staying at has so many delightful amenities – the things that are included in our inclusive booking are:

• Unlimited dining @ 16 restaurants (including a speakeasy that you have to get the password for)
• Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks at any time!
• All tips, taxes, and gratuities!
• Roundtrip airport transfers
• Greens fees & transportation to Sandals Golf Club
• Scuba diving (and all equipment)
• Snorkeling (and all equipment)
• Hobie cats, paddle boards and kayaks!
• Beach volleyball, basketball & pool tables
• Day and night entertainment, including live shows

And so much more that I didn’t even list! 

We also chose to do two excursions while on our trip – which did cost extra. We chose to do the night cruise to the luminous lagoon, which contains bioluminescent particles that light the lagoon at night – so cool, right? We also chose to do an excursion that includes swimming at the Blue Hole, ziplining through the jungle canopy, tubing down the river and riding an ATV through the jungle to a delicious meal of Jamaican Jerk and shopping at the souvenir shop! We figured we’d “go big or go home” and so we did.

The whole booking process was incredibly easy, and I cannot wait to be in Jamaica, with my husband, exploring and experiencing new things together! I can't believe there are just 45 days to go!

Back to Normal

Goodness – that weekend passed so quickly! It feels like it just started and already the work week is underway and we are making our way toward another weekend.

This weekend was the Lavish Sisterhood Conference at Ryan and I’s home church – it’s the annual women’s conference – this was my fifth year attending and every year it’s a wonderful experience! This year one of my best friends, Meridith, was able to join me and I was so excited to have her there! Friday night we worshipped together and grabbed a delicious chocolate chip cookie to go when the evening’s session was over.

I loved getting to take pictures with sweet friends – most of them were made while I’ve been attending Abundant Life and they are all so precious to me!

Saturday morning dawned bright and early – and thank goodness that the church had both coffee and an iced coffee station at the conference! I happily partook of both, ha-ha! We heard from our lead pastor’s wife (she’s a pastor in her own right) as well as the speaker and had some amazing treats for breakfast in between the sessions! I thoroughly enjoyed munching on croissants, fresh fruit and sipping my iced coffee before taking some more notes, worshipping a little bit more and just enjoying the whole experience!

The weather has started to take a turn toward feeling like Fall and so after heading home to have some leftover pork sandwiches, I got changed and Ryan and I loaded Watson into the car and wound our way up the mountainside to check out Woodstock Tower! The tower is an old fire tower on the ridgeline and the “hike” is only about 2/10 of a mile before you climb the steps and have a stunning view of the valley before you!

 

We were able to see the Shenandoah National Park and valley on one side of the tower and on the other side of the tower – the town of Woodstock! We peered across the expanse, and I eventually discovered hallmarks along the landscape that led me to our little home, perched in its circle! I was pretty impressed with myself for picking out our house from high atop the mountain ridge! We made our way back down the mountain and both ended up napping on the couch while football was on TV – it was a nice way to pass Saturday afternoon!

Because the weather was so wonderful, we whipped up some burgers, brats, taters, and fruit and loaded them into the car with Watson and a blanket and headed for Seven Bends State Park for dinner. We had our dinner right alongside the Shenandoah River and Ryan tried to convince Watson to wade into the water - but he wasn't much of a fan! I loved having dinner by the riverside; the sound of the trickling water was so peaceful and the slight chill in the air held so much promise for Autumn.

 

We had plenty of daylight left after eating, so we wandered around the state park – past some very rustly fields of corn. I don’t know if y’all are aware, but rustling corn sounds a LOT like something is walking through it to get you! We discovered an old burial ground (not even kidding) and the remains of a boy’s camp that used to be on the site of Seven Bends… and I also plucked myself some corn for decorative purposes! As the sun started to set, we headed home by way of Sheetz for a milkshake and then called it a night!

Sunday was so lovely because I was able to sleep in some – hallelujah! We headed to church and afterwards, we joined a small group for a chili lunch and some fellowship! It was a great time, and the food was so very tasty! We headed home and spent the rest of the afternoon watching football (Ryan) and reading (me) and I tried my hand at making goulash for the first time. I liked my recipe, but I also feel like it could use some tweaking – but for a first time, it wasn’t too bad!

It was such a good weekend – a very full weekend! It was also such a difference from last weekend when COVID-19 had taken over our house! I am so thankful that we recovered quickly and we were able to get back to living and loving life together!