Free Vacation?

January saw unseasonably cold temperatures in Mississippi, and Jackson was no different. With below-freezing temps and the forecast of rain, people started getting antsy about the weather. No real snow to speak of, but the busted water lines in downtown Jackson caused just as much a stir! It was the Monday before Martin Luther King holiday. I was running late as usual, and stressed about all the things I needed to get done, again as usual. I have to interject a warning here. I hung out with and was “one of the” boys for a very long time, and I still have a bit of crudity to my ways. I was so frustrated that morning, and I remember texting Kyle on my way in to work telling him I’d give my left nut for a day off. He told me he loved me! Thank you, God, for sending me a man that gets me!

Anyway, at 11:45 that morning our agency received an email that Governor Haley Barbour had declared Jackson a state of emergency. Apparently our building and many others downtown had lost water. Specifically our email stated, “State offices in Jackson will close at noon, and non-essential state employees in Jackson may go home.” Now I wasn’t sure which was funnier, that I was a non-essential employee or that I got to go home on a random Monday at noon! Either way, I was ecstatic, and thanked God the whole way home for hearing my cry (as un-lady like as it was) and for my afternoon off.

Well my afternoon turned into four wonderful, productive days! And to make it even better, Kyle didn’t have school because the water crisis affected Jackson State too! I did, however, feel bad for the folks living in the downtown area. I tried not to brag too much about my time off because some were having to choose between flushing and showering.

I made the most of it though, cleaning and organizing and whittling down the perpetual thank-you note list. And of course, I did a little cooking! I tried my hand at homemade cinnamon rolls, which turned out scrumptiously good! A bit heavy, but will definitely make again.

2 cups sifted all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
¼ cup vegetable oil
¾ cup buttermilk
1 stick butter, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup milk


Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in medium bowl and mix well. Stir in vegetable oil. Add buttermilk and stir just until blended. Knead dough on lightly floured surface until smooth. Roll dough into 15 x 8-inch rectangle. Preheat oven to 400°F. Lightly grease 9-inch round baking pan. Spread butter over dough. Combine granulated sugar and cinnamon in small bowl and mix well. Sprinkle over butter. Roll up rectangle, jelly roll fashion, starting from one long side. Pinch seam to seal. Cut roll into 1½-inch slices. Arrange slices, cut side up, in prepared baking pan. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven. Pour milk over top. Serve hot.

Trust me on the milk! It’s divine!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

With all the hustle and bustle from the wedding, holidays, school, and work, Kyle and I both got run down… and wound up with strep. Not a fun way to spend Christmas and the week between it and New Years, but hey, at least we were together. And at least we managed to make it back home from Louisville even though both of us were running fever and had no business operating a vehicle! We were miserable for a few days and completely out of energy the rest. The worst I’ve been sick since I had the flu about 5 years ago. Mom and Dad both offered to come see after us. I told them as long as one of us could stand up long enough to fix the soup we would be ok. And we survived! By New Years we were feeling better, but still not up to celebrating my 30th birthday in style. We decided to go out for a special dinner to celebrate the occasion nonetheless. Wanna know what we decided to do?! We had a very nice romantic dinner… at Sonic… in our pajamas! It was great! :)

Run, Run Rudolph!

For our first Christmas we went back to our usual mad dash Christmas rush. I have been blessed with a very large family and I try to see as many as possible over the holidays, even if it runs me ragged, which it usually does. We had 8 places to go this year, and by the grace of God we made all 8! Luckily they are all in the Louisville/Kosciusko area. If the family was more spread out, it would be impossible to see them all. Christmas is my favorite time of year! Partly because people are generally in a happy mood, partly because it’s time off work and with the fam, and partly because you’re expected to eat yummy, calorie-enriched, sugar coated goodies every day all day long! A new one I tried out this year… White Chocolate Cookies ‘n’ Cream Fudge!

1 cup sugar
¾ cup butter
1 (5-oz) can evaporated milk
2 (12-oz) packages white chocolate morsels
1 (7-oz) jar marshmallow cream
3 cups coarsely crushed Oreos (about 25 cookies), divided
Pinch of salt

Line a greased 9” square pan with aluminum foil; set aside. Combine first 3 ingredients in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture comes to a boil; cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add white chocolate morsels, marshmallow cream, 2 cups crushed cookies, and salt. Stir until morsels melt. Pour fudge into prepared pan. Sprinkle remaining 1 cup cookies over fudge, gently pressing cookies into fudge. Cover and chill until firm (about 1 to 2 hours). Lift uncut fudge in aluminum foil from pan; remove foil, and cut fudge into squares.

Yum yum delicious!! You just can’t go wrong with Oreos and white chocolate!

Our first married Christmas was pretty special though! Nothing exciting happened really, it was just nice for us to be together, and be able to spend it with all our family even if we were jumping around from place to place like hot potatoes!

Disney Days

Next on our crazy schedule was our honeymoon. We had a blast going back to the most magical place on earth… Walt Disney World! We flew, which I highly recommend, and spent a week at Disney’s All Star Movies Resort. We saw parades, fireworks, and characters galore, and ate some really great food! Other than breakfast, which was always at the food court, we tried restaurants neither of us had ever eaten at.

Friday was T-Rex Café at Downtown Disney. It’s just like Rainforest Café only a prehistoric setting, and had a to-die-for chocolate brownie ice cream dessert called the Chocolate Extinction!

Saturday was the Hollywood Brown Derby at Hollywood Studios. I’ve actually eaten there before with Mom, but we were limited to reservation times because of the fireworks show we were going to see. It wasn’t quite as good as I remembered it being, but they did bring us champagne and strawberries to congratulate us on our marriage!

Sunday was Liberty Tree Tavern at Magic Kingdom. It’s housed in Liberty Tree Square, and has a patriotic feel and awesome down-home food! We had roast turkey and stuffing (what Southerners would call dressing) and apple cobbler, to name a few things. Divine!

Monday was The Crystal Palace in Magic Kingdom. Another one I have eaten at with Mom, David, Justin, and Rhyne, but again not many options for that day because we wanted to see the night parade, and I felt it was good enough that Kyle needed the experience. It was even better than I remembered! It’s buffet character dining with Winnie the Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and Tigger. Kyle had his magical moment that night. He made Tigger laugh!

Tuesday we met my friend Traci for lunch at Flame Tree Barbeque in Animal Kingdom, and had a great bbq sandwich and equally great visit with her! Traci and I were good friends on the college program, and I always try to meet up with her when I come to town. Tuesday night we went to the Boardwalk and ate at Big River Grille and Brewing Works. They have awesome hamburgers and the best light beer I’ve ever tasted! Later that night we met up with my friend Rick and his wife Erica for a chat. Enjoyed getting to meet Erica and catch up with Rick, another close friend who I hadn’t seen since we left the college program.

Wednesday we ate lunch at Yak & Yeti at Animal Kingdom, not realizing it was just like Rainforest Café and T-Rex Café but with an Asian flare. It was at the base of Mt. Everest, decorated with Nepalese touches, and had a really cool atmosphere. We got that same chocolate brownie dessert, only this time it was called Chocolate Brownie Sundae for 2. Not near as cool of a name as the other two restaurants have, but equally delicious! Wednesday’s supper was back at the hotel food court. We met up with one of my former college program roommates, Rachel. Always a blast hanging out with her!

Thursday was our last day and only day at Epcot, and we had the best meal of the trip at Teppan Edo in the Japan pavilion. It was hibachi-style cooking, and the food was incredible! By far my favorite meal of the trip! It cost us 2 table service meals on our dining plan to have dinner there, preferred seating for the Candlelight Processional, and preferred viewing for IllumiNations: Reflections of Earth (the fireworks show), but was well worth it! The Candlelight Processional was a truly wonderful and spiritually rewarding way to end our honeymoon! The whole night was just perfect, as was the whole trip! I’m so glad Kyle likes Walt Disney World just as much as I do!

The Feast

Next up, our first Thanksgiving. For those that don’t know, Kyle is a student at Jackson State University and part-time employee at Best Buy. Working at Best Buy means he must face the dreaded Black Friday madness. He had to report to work at 2 AM Friday morning after Thanksgiving for crowd control in the parking lot, and work until 3 PM that afternoon in his regular home theater department. Craziness I tell you! So we did the unthinkable and didn’t go anywhere to be with our families, who all live an hour and a half away, for the holiday. We actually relaxed for a change! I got up Thanksgiving Day and cooked breakfast and a huge lunch which we ate on for days! Breakfast was homemade blueberry muffins, courtesy of Paula Deen. She says, “They’re the best damn blueberry muffins you’ll ever eat!” So far, I totally agree!

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
½ cup sugar
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 egg, slightly beaten
¾ cup whole milk
1-1/2 cups fresh blueberries
½ cup granulated brown sugar or white sugar

Preheat oven to 350°. Grease and flour 12 muffin cups. In a bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and the ½ cup of sugar. In another bowl, combine butter, egg, and milk and blend well. Pour wet ingredients into flour mixture and, with a spatula, stir until just combined. Do not beat or over-mix; it’s okay if there are lumps in the batter. Gently fold blueberries into batter. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling each cup about 2/3 full. Bake for 10 minutes and remove from oven. Sprinkle tops of muffins with the granulated brown or white sugar and return muffins to oven to bake for an additional 10 to 20 minutes, until tops are golden brown and toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for about 10 minutes in the pan before turning the muffins out.

Lunch was a massive spread of ham, sweet potato casserole, corn casserole, peas, fried green tomatoes, homemade wheat bread, pecan pie, and sweet potato pie. The ham we bought and the sweet potato pie was given to us by my Grandmother and Grandaddy, but the rest was made right there in our kitchen! We also had summer sausage, cheese, and crackers to snack on while I cooked. It was delicious! I will tell you part of me felt rather guilty cooking that huge meal for just the two of us. There are so many people out there that don’t have the luxury of a home-cooked meal or the luxury of a meal period. God bless the food banks, soup kitchens, and churches all over this great country that do their part to take care of the needy. While it doesn’t make up for our lack of compassion for those that did without this holiday season, I will tell you we didn’t waste a drop of that food. We ate it for nearly a week until every bit of it was gone!

Cinderella and Prince Charming

First, the wedding. It was incredible and amazing and everything I could have ever dreamed of! The flowers were gorgeous, the food was delicious, and the cakes were oh-my-gosh-to-die-for! And the people! We had so many family and friends (nearly 200) come by to celebrate with us and wish us well on our new journey together! I’m not sure I will ever be able to describe the special feeling that rushed over me that day. It was truly a fairytale wedding and I felt like a beautiful princess!

Thanks to Wright Griffis from Philadelphia, MS, we had 1100 pictures! He did an amazing job, and I was very pleased. This one is my favorite!

That Special Touch in Pearl, MS made both cakes. I’m sure I just heard a resounding AHHH from everyone reading this that was at the reception to taste them. That Special Touch is unbeatable in the Jackson area! Just in case you’re wondering, the bride’s cake was butter cake with cream cheese icing and the groom’s cake was Bailey’s Irish Cream! William Box (also from That Special Touch, he may own it but I’m not 100% sure) did the flowers. They were absolutely beautiful! I kept staring at my bouquet saying “Ohhh how pretty!” I didn’t wind up with any good pics from the food tables, but we got lots of compliments on them, too. Catering by George’s from Reservoir Pointe was in charge of the food/tables/linens, and they did an impeccable job! I’m telling you the day was absolutely perfect in my eyes! A dream wedding!

And we're back!

Well, the time has come for my blogging hiatus to be complete… at least until the next one! Ha! The past 3 months have been wonderfully exciting and eventful! We had our wedding, first Thanksgiving, honeymoon, first Christmas, first sickness, my 30th birthday which coincided with our first New Years Eve, a random unexpected vacation, an awesome Super Bowl, and equally awesome first Valentine’s Day (complete with snow)! We have been busy!