3rd anniversary....Skyview Atlanta

I'm a month late at posting this, but wanted to include it since the ferris wheel is Atlanta's newest attraction.

Wednesday, October 23rd, Donald and I celebrated three years of marriage. This year was noticeably different from the past two, since we are now parents.  I fixed a tasty French inspired meal of Dijon chicken over rice pilaf and green beans amandine. The Dijon chicken was the first recipe in such a very long time that I actually followed almost to a tee.  I usually tweak recipes to our liking (isn't that what it's all about when you're the cook?) or substitute other things when I don't have a particular item.  

This day turned out to be the coldest day/night of the season. It was super windy and we were a bit concerned about being 20 stories high, but it turned out to just fine.  Stella wasn't feeling too great and luckily she fell asleep on the car ride down.  We parked and I wrapped her up warm and cozy in my Mei Tai carrier and we walked towards Skyview.

The picture quality here is pretty crappy (cell phone & flash doesn't cooperate always), but I love it.  I love that Stella's little head is peek-a-booing in from the bottom.  

I feel as though D and I look so visibly happy. 

We are happy. Parenthood is treating us well.

Stella mostly slept throughout our little date since she wasn't feeling good, but occasionally would pop her head up and look around like below.

From our gondola (which has AC or heat depending on the temperature-Sweet!), we could see the rings at Centennial Olympic Park.  We walked over for a bit after our ride was finished and I actually wanted to walk around the park, but....it was night and I honestly didn't know if it would have been a good idea.  It's one thing to put just me and D at risk, but I didn't want to take the chance having Stella with us. I hate to say that about the city, but stuff happens all the time.  Really, it could happen anywhere, city or not.   

If it had been the day, I wouldn't have thought twice about it.

This is a shot of the Georgia Aquarium. D and I have only been once and it truly wasn't the greatest experience. But, it wasn't long after it opened and it was a Sunday.  I say it wasn't a good experience because the crowds were insane. We couldn't see anything. Actually, that's a lie. We got to see a Beluga whale's boy parts. Insert loud "GASP!"  

Apparently we picked Beluga Whale mating season to visit the aquarium.  I'd like to go back during the week and when school is in session and when Stella is a little older. We went to the Zoo Atlanta in September. Stella has developed quite the love for animals (ie: our dog, Bandit) and although I think she enjoyed it, she obviously didn't fully grasp the idea of 

"Oh yay, being at the zoo surrounded by wildlife is awesome!"

We saw a small group of people standing around the fountain of rings holding coffees and daring each other to run into the water.  I developed a craving for coffee while I was preggers with Stella and it has stuck. Since I decided to leave my jacket in the car (turns out, not a great idea on the coldest night of the season, but I thought I'd be too warm with Stella wrapped up against me), I was cold and really wanted a vanilla latte. Now, I knew there was a coffee house just across the park that I really wanted to go sit at and warm up in, but several factors swayed us otherwise.  1. Stella wasn't herself and consequently was passed out 2. It was late and a school night (hehe). 3. No jacket to walk across the park in.  4. Probably would have been approached by half a dozen "homeless" people on the short walk over and well...you know.  So instead, we headed back to the house.  I have the cutest journal a friend gave us before we married and I designated it to be our "Anniversary Journal." Each year, I document what we did that year to celebrate. I think it will be fun to look back over it as the years pass and it will be a wonderful keepsake for our child(ren). 

Herd the Bird

Last week it started off somewhat mild, but as the week progressed, it got cooler and cooler. There's something so comforting about a warm meal made all in one pot.  I'd made mashed potatoes and had a good bit of them leftover. One of my favorite things to do is to transform leftovers into a new meal, so I made a delicious Shepherd's Pie topped with said potatoes.

Now traditionally, Shepherd's Pie is made with lamb, and most make it with beef.  But I went a little different route and made it with ground turkey.  You really can't taste a difference and it's a nice alternative if you want something a little healthier or have already had your beef fix for the week.

I served our Shepherd's Pie with leftover homemade bread that I'd made the day before in the bread machine.  I'd put it in the machine and left to run some errands and returned home to the smell of yeasty dough rising and baking. Ahh, such a wonderful aroma!  This pie is made with lots of veggies and what's nice is you can make it with whatever ones you like. Also, you can use fresh, frozen or canned veggies or a combination which is what I did.

Turkey Shepherd's Pie

• 2 lb package of ground turkey (you can use the ground white & dark meat combo like I did or if you prefer, ground turkey breast)
• 1 medium onion, chopped as fine or chunky as you like (I prefer small dices)
• 2-3 cloves garlic
• 1 cup green beans (I had fresh ones and steamed them for a few minutes before adding to the rest of my veggies)
• 1 cup corn (I had fresh, but a certain little one, was a bit fussy, so we resorted to frozen to speed things up)
• 1 cup leeks (I had frozen, sliced ones from Trader Joes)
• 1 cup fresh, sliced mushrooms
•  1 cup green peas (frozen)
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• salt and pepper 
• 1/2-3/4 cup of turkey or chicken stock (I happened to have turkey on hand since it's the holiday season)
• 2-3 cups of leftover mashed potatoes (Or make your own fresh taters to top with)
• 1/2 cup cheddar cheese (optional, but Donald suggested it and I went with it)

1. Heat oven to 350 F.
2. Heat Dutch oven on medium high heat and add ground turkey. Break up with a wooden spoon and stir around pot until just cooked through.  I scrape it from the pot into a colander with a plate underneath to catch grease and extra liquid.  (I let it cool, then transfer it to an old can or jar and discard in the trash. )This makes it healthier and a lot less greasy on your palate. I do this to all ground meat I'm cooking.
3. Add onions and cook until tender and translucent.  Add garlic and stir in good with the onions to prevent it from burning. Then add the rest of the veggies of your choosing.  Add salt and pepper. (But don't go too crazy as you want to taste again after adding the meat, tomato paste and stock below.  These ingredients might add just enough saltiness to your liking and you won't need to put more. If you feel it needs more s&p, then sprinkle away. Remember, you can always add more, but you can't take away.)
4. Splash in about 1/2 of the stock and cover the pot and let the frozen veggies steam and heat up.
5. Add the drained turkey to the veggies and mix together.  
6. Add the can of paste along with the rest of the stock and combine.  Adjust seasoning if needed.
7. Top with the mashed potatoes.
8. Sprinkle cheese on top of potatoes and place in a 350 oven for 20-30 minutes.

If you are not in any hurry on eating, this can sit for a while and still be quite hot. With the blanket of potatoes and cheese keeping the turkey and veggies warm beneath, you could leave this for days and return to find it still warm. However, if you'd like to eat that day, I would suggest going ahead and spooning out your portion onto a plate soon after taking out of the oven.  It will be very warm, but will cool down nicely.  I love watching steam escape from a fresh made meal. Plus, the warm plate will keep your hands toasty on especially cold days.  I wrapped our leftover bread in tinfoil and had it heat through the last 10 minutes or so.  To be honest, I miss the orange color of that carrots would bring to this dish and I'm pretty sure carrots are very traditional in Shepherd's Pie, but I just don't like cooked carrots.  Donald will eat them, but I just didn't feel like peeling, chopping and cooking something only to pick it out later.  Besides, as I said before, fussy pants wouldn't have allowed me to do this if I wanted to. If you like carrots, then by all means, add them to your pie.

"New" laundry "room"

We've lived in our home for over five years and our laundry "room" has never been practical or functional.  It's not really a room, it's merely a space just off of the walk way to our backporch.  It was literally a washer, a dryer, a double laundry bin and a re-purposed bookshelf that held supplies. I'd been unhappy with it for years, but didn't know what I wanted. Scratch that, I knew what I wanted. I wanted shelves and cabinets (read: functionality), but I didn't know how I wanted it to look. Until I saw this picture on pinterest one day.  This laundry room is about the same size as ours so I knew it was totally doable.  I set out on the hunt for a cabinet.  I'm a thrifty girl, so there was no way I was going to pay full price for a cabinet. I went to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore hoping to find something there, but had no luck.  I looked very briefly on craigslist, but didn't see anything and got bored.  One day, a lady in my MOM's Club emailed everyone about her neighborhood yard sale. Let me tell you, this subdivision was organized!  She attached a map of the subdivision with each house that was participating.  And each family who was participating could list the main things they were selling.  So awesome! One house listed cabinets. Bingo!  

I got this guy right here for $10!

Here's the "before" of our laundry "room".  

Originally, the washer and bookshelf were in each others places, but about two months ago, I decided to flip them.  I couldn't access much below the first shelf with it in the corner. I took everything off the shelves, cleaned them, dusted off the products and re-organized.  There was still the problem of having the wall space and not utilizing it, plus, now it was more difficult to get to the washer.  

Now for the after pictures.  

Donald purchased some light blue paint for the ceiling on our front porch. When we vacationed and/or honeymooned in Charleston, we learned that people in the South paint their porch ceiling blue to keep wasps from building nests.  Apparently if your ceiling is blue, the wasps think it's the sky and therefore, do not make a nest.  If it's white, then they just move right in.  Like I said above, we've been in our house for over five years now and we noticed the ceiling needs a bit of re-touching.  Since he bought a gallon, I decided to borrow some of the blue paint and paint the cabinet.  Donald got one, 1 X 12, 8 foot board from Home Depot (which he cut into 4 sections himself), along with 8 metal brackets to make the shelves.   The knobs on the cabinet were brass colored. They had.to.go.  Since the brackets were a matte black color, I painted the knobs with leftover black chalkboard paint.  

Winner, winner.  

The baskets and jars were all re-purposed. 

I moved the washer back to it's original spot and put the laundry sorter in the corner.  I took the Bandit's dog food bin and his treats out of the pantry and put them on this little wooden shelf. It was making do as a temporary nightstand for Donald, but I snagged it instead.  The 3-drawer compartment holds batteries, superglue and little odds and ends. I wanted it on the shelf or in the cabinet, but it's very heavy because of the batteries. The cabinet was mounted on the studs, but the shelves/brackets are not unfortunately, so they cannot bear much weight.  Why does that always happen during projects/renovations?  Nothing ever seems to line up with the studs.  So frustrating, but I made it work.

I was able to get rid of the bookshelf completely. 

Everything fit in the cabinet or on the shelves.

The bulletin board came from Goodwill for less than $2. 

I actually got two of them and one is going in the office.   I've got a stain removal, list of chores to help serve as a reminder, a calendar and a few other miscellaneous items on here.

Donald painted the boards for me over a month ago. Then I painted the cabinet a week or so after that. And then everything sat.  And sat. Basically, the time changing messed us up. He could have hung the cabinet whenever, but he couldn't cut the board into sections because by the time he got home from work, it was almost completely dark. Then we went out of town 2 weekends ago. So last Saturday, Donald hung everything and went to a motorcycle show with his cousin, Justin. Stella took a 2+ hour nap and I unleashed my inner Monica Gellar and did all of this in that time. Ok, I didn't do the bulletin board, because it wasn't hung yet, but I got everything else done. I felt sooooo accomplished.  And organized. And happy.   Such a good feeling.  

So, here's the rough estimate for costs for the laundry room renovation.

1" X 12" X 8' board-$16.16

Metal brackets $6.87 a piece X 8=$54.96

Bulletin board-$2

Cabinet-$10

The gallon of blue paint was $31.87, but since I only used a little of it, I'll just say $5.

We already had white paint from house touch-ups. 

I already had black chalkboard spray paint, but I think it was around $7.

Basically, this transformation was done for less than $90.  I am thrilled with the results and it took less than 2 1/2 hours. 

Before & After of our pottery

I'm finally getting around to posting the "finished" pictures of the pottery we painted at Just Kiln' Time with Stella's footprints.

So here's the "before." 

And the "after."  D was going for something reminiscent of Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night. The footprints are supposed to be a sun. It's not exactly what I wanted, but it will do.

This is a close up of D and I's thumbprint heart.  His is on the left, mine on the right. My print looks bigger because I didn't make a good enough first stamp and when I went back over it to fill in the bottom, I accidentally made it a little bigger. Oops. Oh well, I still love it. I'm going to tie a ribbon around it and make it a Christmas ornament. But I'll most likely keep it out year round somewhere in the house.

Getting our little one Baptized

Two weekends ago, we went down to South Georgia for Stella's Baptism. Friday night we celebrated Donald's oldest brother, Daniel and his 39th (gasp) birthday. It was at (drumroll please.....) El Vaquero.  I truly believe this place has such a booming business due to The Bryan Family.  Donald's parents, Daniel, his girlfriend, Jaycie and their friends meet her every, yes EVERY Wednesday night for supper.  When we lived in Sylvester, this was the only Mexican restaurant I ate at. And many other Bryan family members frequent this tasty establishment quite often.  

Jaycie is a Spanish teacher and had the table decorated with these cute sombreros. 

As you can see here, Stella had too much tequila gotten sleepy 

and passed out in Daddy's arms.

Saturday we hung out at Mama and Daddy's all day. The weather was perfect to hang out on the lawn and cheer on UGA.

The Baptism was at the church where most of my family attended and where Donald grew up going to. We had to be up bright dark and early Sunday morning: 6 o'clock am!  This was the earliest we'd had to get up as a family since becoming a party of 3 and let me tell you, it was difficult.  We had to be at the church for mass at 8:30 am and we had a 45 min drive.  I'm so happy we don't have this type of time deadline a lot.  It turned out great. She did great because she LOVES the water.  The weather was wonderful ( a bit warm for the season but very nice) and the company was even better.

I snapped this right before we walked into the church.

Father Stanton, The Godfather, Uncle Daniel, us and The fairy Godmother, Aunt Ginger.

As you can see, she was very content just playing in the water.

 She absolutely didn't mind water being poured over her head. I don't think she would have minded actually taking a bath in it.

So here we have my Aunt Ann Marie, my grandpa, my Nina, my parents: Grammy and Grampy, my brother, Michael and his girlfriend, Jessica.

Stella and her Great Grandparents (my mom's father and my dad's mother).

Donald's family: middle brother Paul and his wife, Ginger and their children, Emily, Asher and Ivy, Daniel and Donald's parents: Nini and Grandaddy

Stella was over pictures at this point, but this was the first she fussed. Donald's oldest brother, Daniel, Aunt Janet, cousins Monica and Becky and Aunt Bonnie 

Stella makes Nina a first time Great Grandmother

Our baptized little angel

Grandpa and Stella

Ann Marie and Stella

Papa and Mema weren't able to make it, so we visited them instead.

Later on Sunday night, Stella got to meet Stacy, Kris and Kabe. I haven't seen them in about 2 1/2 years since they were in Japan until June. I'm so happy we could get together.

Here are better details of Stella's gown

Our friend, Kim got Stella this bracelet and I love putting it on her at special times.

Thanks to Stacy for the beautiful necklace.  

Monday we went back out to my parents to get Bandit.  While we were waiting for it to get dark (Stella sleeps great at night), Daddy took Stella for a ride on the lawnmower. I expected her to be startled when he cranked it up, but she didn't care. They rode around for about 5 minutes or so. I guess when she gets a little older, he'll have her on the John Deere. 

It was such a beautiful weekend and we were thrilled to be surrounded by family and friends for our daughter's special occasion.