Unusual, but good

Are we really Carolina Panther's Fans?

Aaron and I dont watch sports....period...ever... but we have watched every Panther's game so far this season....and enjoyed them. I look forward to it now every weekend and I think I am beginning to understand the rules.....The only football phrase I knew about before this season was from middle school cheerleading..."1st and 10, Lets go!, Lets Win!" lol.....so not much football knowledge here.

We also watched The Office for the first time this week....everyone always brags about it, so we thought hey, why not. It was good...I believe we will be tuning in again this Thursday.

One final random thing. We got an official notice, Friday, from Charlotte saying to remove our "junk from the property in order not to be fined." As I was reading this notice, I had absolutely no clue what it was referring to...finally I figured it out, on the back, there was a pic of a shopping cart. (it was in our front yard when we moved in, I wasnt sure what to do with it, bc trash men dont pick up shopping carts, so I put it in the side yard towards the back for the time being) I didnt move it over the weekend, b/c I still dont know what to do with it and was kinda confused by this notice and the fact that some "official Charlotte guy" came and took a picture of my almost backyard to get a pic of a cart, that has probably been there for a year as the house sat with no tenant. This morning while I was working, an "inspector man" showed up at the front door and was quite rude about my "stolen shopping cart"...yes he accused me of stealing a shopping cart!! who does that?? Do I look like a shopping cart thief?? He told me to put it in the garage, out of sight, immediately......so anyways I kindly put it in the garage and Aaron is calling the city to find out about extra trash pick up....urr.

The New Kitchen

new microwave, cooktop, dishwasher (from Craigslist), and oven

New sink and faucet
We added a bar (we love it!)
Overall view of kitchen

The Old Moldy Kitchen and Appliances

HERE IS THE OLD WHITE KITCHEN WITH WHITE APPLIANCES AND MOLD UNDER THE CABINETS. MY DAD AND MOM MADE SUCH AN IMPROVEMENT TO OUR KITCHEN, AS YOU CAN SEE IN THE PICS IN MY OTHER POST. WE HAVE BEEN SO BLESSED TO GET OUR "DREAM KITCHEN" SOOO QUICKLY, WHEN FINANCIALLY IT DIDNT SEEM LIKE WE WOULD BE MAKING ANY CHANGES FOR A WHILE.

OLD WHITE COUNTERTOPSA NEW WALL AND MICROWAVE
THE OLD STOVE

YOU CAN SPOT THE OLD DISHWASHER IN THE CORNER
THE REDOING OF THE WALL

Home Sweet Home

For the majority of the 2 1/2 years we have been married, we have been very busy people. We both worked full time, Aaron was in college full time, and I was in school part time.....In the last week I have realized, wow, I dont know how we did all that, and kept the house together, and had a social, church, and family life. The whole time we were going through these motions, I could not wait to be at home more and to spend more time with Aaron. We prayed that this would be financially possible......and now it seems like it is coming together more and more all the time. I am working from home now, making phone calls for Great Direct Concepts and nannying on the side. I love it! God really answers prayer! He has given Aaron a great job at UNCC that allows for me to be home more. It used to seem like I would miss out on a lot of things, and never had a flexible schedule with working in daycares, but now when I get a call to do or help with something I am able to go! I am so much happier and less stressed than I used to be. Some nights when Aaron gets home from work at 5:00 pm, it kinda feels like what do we do now? It is wonderful to get that time when we dont have to do anything, but enjoy being home together. The Lord is wonderful to provide our needs and wants. I think about how a year ago, I was concerned that Aaron would not be able to find a job, wondered where we would live at, and if I would ever get to see my husband more often...and now it seems crazy that I was concerned when God is in complete control and sees the "big picture", not just what my eyes can see.

Yummy Chicken

Last night, I threw together a new chicken recipe for dinner. I havent had an oven for a few weeks now, since we are still redoing our kitchen. My made-up chicken concoction turned out quite good, so I decided I should share this easy recipe.

I sliced chicken breast in half first..(they were the pre-cut thin perdue, ones from BJs.)

I mixed some honey, ginger, parsley, and Tony Chacheres seasoning(our fave) in a bowl.

(just enough mixture to cover both sides of all the chicken being used.)

I dipped all the chicken in the mixture and placed in a greased skillet on the stove. I cooked on med for 5-10 minutes until the chicken was done.

It kinda has a chinese type taste, but it was very moist, and still kinda spicy from the seasoning.

As Good As New.......

This old baker's rack was out in someone's yard in the neighborhood. Kasey and I went over and asked the people if I could buy it from them, and they told me just to take it. They were going to throw it away! Aaron approved of the item,(of course, it was free) and we decided to paint it and make a nice little addition to our kitchen. Here are the before and after shots. We really liked how it turned out after all the black and red paint. I also included a shot of Speckles, the stray cat, that is still around and doing well. She has been coined our "outside cat" so I guess we get to keep her. =)

Beach Pics!

We had a great time at the beach over the weekend. We ate breakfast at Dino's three days in a row =) and pretty much just laid out by the pool relaxing. The weather was beautiful and the water was warm. Here are some pics from our weekend!

Aaron and I the first day at Dino's

Mike and Audra

The pool, right downstairs from the condo

Aaron always digs a huge hole in the sand when we go to the beach...(don't know why, its just tradition) This year he made a pretty cool tunnel and was quite proud...=)

the ocean

So, I wanted to make a dessert, and did not want to have to go to the store. So I found a recipe online with some of the ingredients I had on hand for snickerdoodles. I tried to bake the snicker doodles as cookies, but instead they all just formed together in this flan-like substance...weird, but it tasted good.....the consistency was kinda hard to get past, lol. I will never make cookies with pancake mix again.