Jon's Birthday

We had a great Thanksgiving with Jon's family - tons of food, and tons of fun. Jon also had a great birthday! He got new turn signals, taillights, a shift knob, and a new BMW badge for his car. He also got cologne and the Starwars The Force Unleashed video game (which he is playing as I type). For Jon's birthday I surprised him with a weekend trip to Savannah, GA. Jon went to college in Savannah (SCAD), and I had never been. He is always going on and on about how awesome it is and how much he would love to visit with me. He was so surprised! I wrapped a big box that had "supplies" for his "birthday celebration". It had cookies, peanut m&ms, cheezits, chewy bars, a sweater, and a travel guide to Savannah. Jon was SOOOO surprised. We left Fort Myers around 5pm on Thanksgiving, and arrived in Savannah around 1am. We had incredible weekend! Tomorrow I will post pictures and more details when I get them all loaded on my computer! Needless to say, we are glad to be home - but not quite ready to go back to work ;)

Thanksgiving

Tomorrow will be the first thanksgiving that I will not be in Louisville with my family... I am going to miss them so much, but I am excited to be with Jon's family, and to bring a little of my family tradition (the food part) to them! I am making...

• A cheeseball
• Dressing
• Grape Salad
• Green bean Corn Casserole
• Sugar cookies - shaped and iced to look like fall leaves
• Jon's making sweet potatoes!

I am excited to cook everything with Jon tonight!

Also, we are celebrating Jon's birthday tomorrow with. So stay posted to read about all the great things he is getting, and see pictures! I will leave you with pictures from my family's thanksgiving table last year! mmmmm....

Thanksgiving Appitizer

I think one of the best parts about Thanksgiving is everyone in the kitchen helping to cook! It is so much fun - and I will miss sharing that time with my mom and sister this year! Fortunately one of the High School girls from our church, Brooke Jennings is going to come over to cook with me Wednesday night! And Jon is going to make his family's version of sweet potato casserole, so I am looking forward to starting new traditions! And when you cook you ALWAYS need something to snack on. I brought this appetizer on Sunday to a leaders meeting and it was a hit, so I thought I would share it with you! It is great to munch on while you are cooking, or to serve to your family and friends! Plus it is easy!! It's a cheese ball - yes you can make them homemade - and they are soooo much better than the ones you buy in the store that are not spreadable! This one, I promise you, will spread with ease. Try it out!

Homemade Cheesball
1 8oz cream cheese
1 small glass jar of pimento cheese
1 small glass jar of Old English Cheese
1 T Worchshire sauce
Garlic powder to taste
Cheyenne Pepper to taste
1-2 C chopped Pecans

Cream together all 3 cheeses with a spatula (It works a lot better if you set your cream cheese out to get room temperature first).
Add Worchshire sauce, garlic powder and Cheyenne pepper. Start out with a little and add more to taste. You can mix a few pecans in if you the nuts are your favorite part like us :)
In your bowl shape it the best you can into a ball with your spatula.
Refrigerate for a few hours covered (until you can pick the cheese ball and and shape it).
Shape your cheese into a ball
Spread your nuts out on a sheet of aluminum foil or wax paper, and roll your cheese ball in the nuts until it is covered.

I love to serve this app with Ritz Whole Wheat Crackers!

You can enjoy it right away or refrigerate it as long as you like. They last about a week in the fridge! Yummy!!!

She is soon to be Lauren Keeling

This weekend Lauren and Chad got engaged. They have been dating for 4 years - since they were seniors in high school. Saturday morning Chad took Lauren horseback riding - one of her favorite things to do. Towards the end of their path Chad had a photographer waiting with a little area with hay and a table and chairs set up. There Chad got on one knee and asked Lo to spend the rest of her life with him - and of course she said YES! The whole event was photographed - I can't WAIT to see the pictures! (They will get the next week. For now, all I have is a picture of the ring! Pray for Lauren and Chad as they being this journey to become one! God it so good! (This is a picture of Lauren and Chad from our wedding!)

Romanian DInner

Last night Jon and I got the opportunity to hang out with some of our friends from church - the Mateescu's. We had such a great time. They are Romanian, and so Tabitha cooked us an incredible Romanian dinner. Adrian does home remodeling, and Tabitha does faux painting - and their home is absolutely amazing! We are going to have to enlist them as help when we get a place of our own :) 

Mini Road Trip

Today I am headed to Bradenton Fl (about 90 miles north of Fort Myers) to visit my great friends the Ryherds! I'm excited to see Jess! They just moved into their new house, and I can't wait to see it! 

Chicken Cakes

I always like to try new recipes, and tonight I tried something really different. I kept seeing recipes for crab cakes that looked so good, but I had a dilemma - Jon does not eat seafood. I decided to mix several recipes together and substitute the crab for chicken, and it turned out great! So for those of you that don't eat sea food, or don't live close enough to a place to get good seafood, try these....

Chicken Cakes

(Makes 5 patties)

1 Can Tysons Chicken (You can use fresh chicken, but this faster and simpler)

1/3 cup Mayo

1 roll of Ritz Whole Wheat Crackers

1 Small Onion diced (About 2/3 cup)

4tbs butter

1 egg

1 tsp cheyenne pepper

salt and pepper to taste

vegetable oil (or peanut oil for a healthier meal)

In a small skillet saute diced onions until tender

Mix all ingredients together in large bowl

Separate mixture into balls and flatten into cakes (just enough to fit into the palm of your hand)

Cover the bottom of a heavy frying pan with oil (about 1/4 inch) 

Cook on high, Allow oil to get very hot before placing crab cake (it should simmer as it hits the pan)

Cook about 6 minutes on each side (until golden brown)

Serve immediately.

We had a cheese rissotto and broccoli with ours!

Sorry no pictures - we don't have a camera right now :)

Finally

Finally! I have ben wanting to start a blog for our family for so long - we have just been so busy! But here it is! We want to use this blog to keep everyone updated on what is going on with us in SUNNY Southwest Florida! We love you all and are excited to share our lives with you!

To start, here are some pictures of our home... enjoy!