Photo Friday #56

How 'bout them Panthers?? No, I'm not actually talking about the Panthers from UNI, but the Carolina Panthers. We've enjoyed watching them play this season and the excitement in Charlotte has been unreal. Maybe I just think so because I work for a hotel and a lot of our weekend sales strategy revolves around how the Panthers are playing. Playoffs in Charlotte? Could be! Joe and I were walking around Bank of America stadium a week ago and noticed even the Panthers outside the gates get into the holiday spirit. For how ferocious these Panthers look, the holiday wreaths kinda weaken their growl. Oh well, Merry Christmas from Charlotte!!

Christmas Corn Dip

At work we had a Christmas potluck and white elephant gift exchange. The gift I brought was the hit of the party and I was not expecting that. About four years ago I got a disco snowman from a white elephant exchange and for some reason held on to it for a long time. The snowman dances, but the music is broken so we never set it out during the holiday season. I paired the snowman with some Starbuck's gift cards to make it a better gift. It was unwrapped very early on and was stolen multiple times. Everyone loved it. Who knew??

More importantly was this dip that I was introduced to. It was my favorite food at the party. I got the recipe from my coworker and immediately made it at home when we had some friends over. It's super delicious and super easy to make. My coworker didn't tell me the name of the dip so Joe and I named it. Festive, no?

Christmas Corn Dip

Ingredients
5 ounces plain greek yogurt
1/2 cup mayo
1 can Rotelle, drained
2 cans corn, drained
2 ounces diced pimentos (can substitue 1 jalapeno, chopped)
5 green onions, chopped
10 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
Fritos

Directions
Mix all together (except Friots) in medium bowl. Refridgerate until ready to serve. Serve with Fritos.

Weekend in Charleston

As promised in my photo friday post last week, here is a recap of our weekend trip to Charleston, SC. We have lived in Charlotte for just about two years and have said over and over that we wanted to visit Charleston. So many people we've met here recommend it and so many couldn't believe it was taking us this long to finally get there! Well we finally found a weekend that worked for us (the weekend after Thanksgiving) and a really good hotel deal (they're hard to come by in Charleston because it's such a big tourist location). After I got off work on Friday we hit the road for a fun weekend.

There were three items on my "Charleston to-do- list." One of those was a tour of Fort Sumter, where the Civil War began. Our hotel was right in the heart of historic Charleston. We could walk to the ferry landing where our tour began. We could actually walk everywhere in Charleston which was great so we didn't have to worry about parking.

We read up a little bit on the ferry so we knew exactly what we were going to see and experience. We sat inside for most of the boat ride. Although nicer than many part of the country, you could tell is was almost December.

This is the Arthur Revenel Jr. Bridge. I have no idea who that is, but the bridge was pretty and an iconic image of Charleston.

As you can see we stopped at Starbuck's for breakfast. Did you know that between the two of us we've hit gold level members at the "bucks"? Crazy I know, but we do love our Sunday morning coffee date.

This photo is very blurry, but I still wanted to share the bridge in the background. Clearly it was a sunny day... I was not purposefully trying to look asleep.

Finally the fort came into view. It was not only a sunny day, but a windy one too. Windy as in very cold. I felt like we bundled up pretty well, but I was still freezing. I swear these last couple years living outside Iowa has spoiled us. I think going back to Iowa this Christmas will be a wake up call fos us!

We made it on the island!

After the park ranger gave an intro about the fort we had one hour to wander around and explore. I believe our first stop was the huge cannon. Many more pictures of weapons to come...

You can see Charleston through the peep hole!

Windy days make for great pictures of blowing flags. Now if only I could get rid of the sun spots on my lense. Sorry, I'm no professional.

Cannons and more cannons.

I thought it would be fun to show our soon-to-be child proof that they visited Fort Sumter, albeit while in the womb. I tried to get a good belly shot, but with all the layers you could hardly tell. This shot was for you baby mango!

Next on my to-do list while down south was a horse drawn carriage ride. Charleston is basically known for these and I believe there are five companies that operate the carriages there and a ton of horses. We figured it would be a cool and fun way to see some of the residential areas and architecture. Oh and I should mention these were actually mules so technically this was a mule drawn carriage ride, but that doesn't sound as romantic.

I didn't get many pictures of the tour other than the mules leading us. The good thing was we were sitting in the front row so I was able to snap these pictures. There's the ocean straight ahead!

We cruised along the ocean for a bit. Notice the palm trees. No Christmas trees here!

After our carriage ride we walked around to explore a bit more. Most people might think of beaches when they think of Charleston. In reality there are no beaches actually in Charleston, mainly just marshes like you see below. Just outside of town there are plenty of good beaches though (or so we've been told). Maybe next year we can visit there.

We saw a ton of really cool archituecture around town. Pictures were hard to take during our carriage ride, but here is one really good example of a true Charleston house.It's hard to imagine living back in the day when long full dresses and multiple layers were expected. Considering how hot Charleston gets in the summer that would be torture!

Last, but not least on our to-do list was a great meal. I swear everyone we spoke to about our trip recommended a restaurant or would comment on how good the food is in Charleston. We didn't take advantage of that for breakfast or lunch so much, but for dinner we went all out.

Multiple people had recommended Magnolia's for dinner and they didn't disappoint. Magnolia's had traditional southern dishes with lots of fresh seafood. Joe even enjoyed a local brew.

We enjoyed our time in Charleston and are so glad we finally made the trip. I'm sure we'll be back someday... and that time it won't be just the two of us!

Merry Christmas To Us!

Joe and I have always been the couple to buy joint Christmas presents instead of surprises to each other. It has worked out well for us. This way of celebrating Christmaflat screen TV, trainers for our bicycles and other large priced items.

This year we bought two Christmas presenets for ourselves. The first was a sound bar and speakers for the TV in our living room. This was something Joe had his eye on for a while and it has been a nice addition to our house.

My eye, however, has been on patio furniture ever since we moved into the house. We have this nice screened in porch, but no furniture to enjoy it. Well, I should say we had folding chairs out there, but they were terrinly comfortable. Enter our new patio set. It's perfect for the space. The pieces fit well and the color matches the house great.

We got the furniture just in time for winter. Well, we did get a good deal since it was off season, but we just haven't had the chance to enjoy them yet. I know what Jerry's thinking right now. That I need a wide angle lense. I completely agree! Capturing the full set on the patio was difficult, but I think you get the point.

 

Now we can't wait for spring and the chance to be able to use our patio every weekend. I can picture it now... we'll either be enjoying a cold beverage with friends or spending time outside with kids while keeping them corraled in the porch.

Photo Friday #55

Today's Photo Friday is brought to you by our trip to Charleston, SC. The day after Thanksgiving we headed out on a weekend trip driving south through South Carolina and apparently into a different world. Look closely at this picture... notice the legs sticking out to the left and the antlers on the right? That's right, this trucker has a full size deer in his truck bed! I'm not sure if that's the most surprising fact about this sighting or maybe it's the fact that the deer is stuck between a tire, cooler and other random items. I'd be very curious to know where he was off to.

The Hawkeye Gang... Then and Now

After the Iowa football game back in September we walked back to Travis and Abby's house to eat and throw around a football. While there I decided we needed to recreate this picture we took four years ago at the Iowa/Iowa State football game in Ames. Not a huge difference necessarily, but in the words of Trav "we all look much better." Thank you Trav.

2009

2013

Weekly Pregnancy Update (21 Weeks)

Well I'm still in that awkward stage where strangers probably look at me and wonder: is she pregnant or does she just have a little extra padding? My pregnancy is not evident to everyone yet, but to me it's clear! Proof is below. Look, I have a baby belly!

Week Number: 21 Weeks, 1 Day
Baby Size: Spaghetti squash (11 inches, 1 pound). In all reality, who knows what a spaghetti squash looks like?! The best way to think of Baby E's size is a Barbie doll. From head to feet that's about the size of the baby at this point.
Sleep: I have been sleeping great lately. Fingers crossed this continues through the entire pregnancy. What? You say it won't? Well, we shall see!
Movement: Oh boy this is the best update I have this week. I feel Baby E kick and move around a lot. It's the best feeling ever! I even got Joe to feel the movement on my belly this past Sunday. It was pretty special for him to enjoy it as well.When I'm at work and I feel movement I like to stop what I'm doing and just focus on the baby. Of course that's only when I'm not busy or with a client. It's the weirdest, but coolest thing ever.
Clothes: I still haven't officially moved into maternity clothes, but I'll wear them every once in a while, for fun mainly. A few of my coworkers have made mention how they can start to see a belly, but then again they see me almost every day so they're bound to see small differences. I bought a few items on Black Friday from the sales. I'm really excited about the jeans I bought. Other than that I bought a pair of dress pants and a sweater dress (you know, because I still have to look nice at work). Part of me can't wait to be able to wear all of these items, but part of me also worries that by that point these items will be all I will be able to fit into!
Symptoms: Other than some acne issues, I haven't experienced many symptoms lately. I had a few "growing pains" last week which I think were just the ligaments pulling a bit. Nothing terrible by any means, just more annoying.

Best Moment Of The Week: Well this was about two weeks ago now, but most definitely our ultrasound. It was amazing to see our little one.
Looking Forward To: Going home for the holidays! We are getting so close to our trip home to see pretty much everyone on both sides of the family. It will be so great to spend some quality time with family and celebrate Christmas.

Photo Friday #54

Back when we spilled the beans about our pregnancy to both of our parents we also attended an Iowa football game. Truly the trip back to Iowa was planned even before we found out about the pregnancy. The trip was a month after we confirmed so we thought why not wait and tell them in person?! It was going to be pretty special to begin with to have both sets of parents together at one time, why not make it even more special. Trust me, it was very hard to wait those long four weeks. Of course at that time the baby was constantly on our minds! But we endured and I'm so glad we did. To tell family in person was indeed super special. Oh and back to the Iowa football game, we crushed Western Michigan. It was awesome.

Meet Baby E (Well, Digitally)

We are officially just over half way through with this amazing journey. Of course that's assuming Baby E will arrive on the due date, which we've been told almost never happens. Last week we got the chance to see our baby via ultrasound. Coolest. Thing Ever. It was so amazing how clear the image was and how developed our baby is. Although still about the size of a Barbie doll (all squished together of course), the baby already looks human. You might be wondering "well, what is the gender??" Short answer, we don't know... and we won't know. At least until Baby E joins us in April. We chose not to find out and to let Baby E surprise us. I am so glad we chose to wait (and that's saying something because Joe did a little convincing on my part). What do you think? Do you have a hunch? I've been told by four coworkers now that they think I'm having a girl. Personally I have no feeling one way or the other and I don't think Joe has a feeling either. We're both just so happy to have a healthy baby cooking inside me!

(An Early) Thanksgiving

I know, I know it's Friday, but I'm not posting a Photo Friday. I meant to get this Thanksgiving post up yesterday, but the day got away from me. The ironic thing is I titled this post before Thanksgiving, but now it's a late one. Just roll with it. Allow me to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving (one day late)!!!

My parents made the long drive out east to visit us last week and we had an early Thanksgiving. I should say before they even arrived they spend the weekend with Scott and Amy in DC. Then they drove south to meet us Monday night. We took them out for pizza at our favorite spot. Also in town that night were the Carolina Panthers playing the New England Patriots. We definitely didn't go to the game, but it was still fun to watch on TV while knowing the game was just a few miles away.

We had a fun couple days with my parents. We cooked, we shopped and we just spent time together. Remember earlier how I mentioned the baby is the size of a mango? Well we found mangos at the grocery store so we just had to take a picture. I agree, it's a bit dorky, but a fun memory!

On top of that we parked in the "Expecting Mother" parking spot when we went shopping. First time for us, but I know Joe's looking forward to taking advantage of this privilege in the future. Notice how the parking lot has many available spots. If the lot was full we would not have parked in this special spot. Plus it was Buy Buy Baby so there were like five "Expecting Mother" spots anyway!

This year Joe really wanted to try a different type of turkey. We wanted to try a brine recipe to soak the bird in over night before roasting. He searched online, found a recipe and we tried our first brine turkey this year. Here is the recipe we used.

Apple Spice Brine
adapted from here

Ingredients
1 gallon cold water
2 quarts apple juice
2 quarts orange juice
2 cups salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
10 whole cloves
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg

Directions
Simmer all ingredients except water in large pot for 15 minutes or until salt and sugar are completely dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to col. Add water. Place poultry in large plastic container, pour brine over top. Let sit in refrigerator for 1 hour per pound. Thoroughly rinse all brine off bird before cooking. Makes enough for 20 pound bird.

The turkey turned out delicious. Here's Joe carving the bird like always. We had to pull out the festive hats from previous Thanksgivings together. They've now become a dorky tradition that we all love.  I should also mention the rest of our meal was delicious also! We had mashed potatoes, stuffing, edamame succotash and cranberry relish. Thanks to everyone who pitched in to help.

Of course we took a few traditional family pictures. The lighting in these pictures wasn't ideal, but I didn't have anyone else helping out to take the pictures. I actually stood the camera on a ledge, set the timer and ran. And I did that over, and over again...

In time the fun hats came out and we had a lot of fun with them.

Maybe a little too much fun... When we took a look at this picture I think we were all crying laughing. Too funny!

On Wednesday we explored the city a bit. Well, but city I mean local breweries and restaurants. We did kind of a mini bar/brewery tour. First we went to Heist Brewery in the NoDa district. A place neither Joe or I had ever been, but we heard the food was great. What better time to try it out? We definitely agreed with the recommendations, the food was very tasty.

And later on we went to Olde Mecklenberg Brewery to order yet another flight of beers. Maybe not the most ideal outing for a pregnant lady, but it was a lot of fun to spend with family.  I really love this picture of my parents. Thank you both for making the trip to visit us. We'll see you again at Christmas!