30 Things: Day 25

If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?

I would LOVE to be able to sit down and have a meal with past Presidents. Probably more so those in the last 20 years - George Sr. & Jr., Bill Clinton, and of course, Barack Obama.

I find the entire presidency so fascinating. I don't even know that I would want to delve into the deep stuff. But I would just love to have their inside, personal view on what it was like to run the most powerful country in the world, at the turn of the century.

I don't care what we eat. I have never turned down food. But seriously, I would want to be at the White House with the personal chef. What he serves is up to him....

Or maybe at Disney World. With all the characters in attendance as well. That'd be a party for sure!

SUYL: Appetizers

Linking up with Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life: Appetizers today!

Confession: we eat appetizers A LOT. Like, sometimes (and by sometimes I mean weekly) we have entire meals of nothing but appetizers! I don't know what it is.... But it makes me happy, happy, happy.

One of our recent favorites could not be MORE simple!  

Chipolte Raspberry Cream Cheese Appetizer

This D.L. Jardine's Buckin' Berry sauce is UH-MAZING. It's a raspberry chipolte sauce and I could seriously drink it. All we do is take a block of cream cheese (I use the 1/3 less fat because it seems to soften & spread better), let it sit out to soften up, then pour some of this sauce over the top and serve with crackers. We may or may not eat the ENTIRE block of cream cheese in one sitting.....


I also make little cocktail weenies in the crockpot all the time. I will add two packages of cocktail weenies, a jar of chilli sauce, and about half a jar of apricot preserves and let it cook on low for a few hours. Yummy!

We also make a pretty delicious Cream Cheese Crab Dip that is super easy! (Um, we obviously have a love of cream cheese in these parts...)

You need:

• 1 block cream cheese
• 2 cans lump crab meat
• 1 jar chilli sauce

We take a large oval serving platter and spread the cream cheese out over it in a uniform fashion. I drain the crab meat, and also make sure to squeeze out all excess water with a paper towel. On top of the cream cheese, spread a think layer of chilli sauce. Sprinkle crab meat on top. Serve with crackers. Sounds so weird, but my oh my - it is GOOD!

Hope ya'll enjoy these as much as I do!

Thoughtful Tuesday.... Can we choose who we love?

Source: danoah.com via Claire on Pinterest

I was searching for a quote or saying or verse that had recently touched me. Trying to come up with some amazing Thoughtful Tuesday piece since I have been noticeably absent. Then I came across the link to Dan Pearce over at Single Dad Laughing and this post he published today entitled Anything Other Than Straight.

What he says touched me to the core. His words are prolific. His thoughts - so honest and raw.

I have always held a firm belief that we, as humans, as Christians - don't always have a choice in WHO we love. It happens.... In my work, I see it all the time. How someone can be abused, degraded, berated yet still come in and sit down and tell me, with tears streaming down their face, "But, I love him."

I am in NO way, shape or form comparing being gay to being abused. But what I am saying, is that sometimes, our hearts have ways our minds don't understand.

I do not think being gay is a choice, any more than I had a choice as to what color eyes I was born with.

Please, read his post. Understand what he is saying, begging from the rest of "us" in this world.

Total Recap!

Whoa! I have been so MIA here lately. Yikes. Work has been SO crazy. The holidays always bring out the very worst in people....

We participated in the Trunk-or-Treat in our community on Halloween night. We did this last year through our church as well. Justin & I are always the "ring-leaders" of this event. We dressed up as Shaggy and Velma - and of course, didn't get a single picture of ourselves.

The back of our "trunk"

Lots of candy!

This place was PACKED!! The lines were SO long, and most people ran out of candy early. I am not sure how to remedy this, but there needs to be a better solution.

Our little Minnie Mouse came by for some candy (and a few laughs with Uncle Jay) as well.

Too cute for words!

We have spent a lot of time trying to relax and just catch up. Justin is coaching a Little League basketball team, so a couple of evenings a week he has practice. His Grandma Poley passed away at the beginning of November, which was a very hard time. She was very sick and he/we spent a LOT of time at the hospital those last few days. We both missed almost a week of work.

That being said, this little guy sure does make our life happier:

We had such a nice Thanksgiving! Of course, did not get a single picture :) We started the day off at Justin's Grandma's (his Mom's mom) with all of his family. Lunch was delicious! Grandma Jo made fried cabbage especially for us. YUM! My Mom and Dad also prepared a big feast, and we went over there for dinner. We stayed and watched Christmas Vacation, which is our Thanksgiving Tradition.

We were up fairly bright and early on Black Friday, which is a shocker for us. LOL. Although we didn't go crazy, we did end up getting some really good deals and a large portion of our Christmas shopping done.

This past weekend, we laid around and put up a lot of our Christmas decorations. Pictures to come soon!

THE PERFECT VICTIM

THE PERFECT VICTIM: Watch Trailer

While in law school, I had the opportunity to work on the Clemency Project to help battered women who were in prison for killing their husbands before their husbands killed them.

I will never be able to adequately express what I learned from this work. I will say it has highly influenced the path I have chosen in my career now.

Please watch the trailer to this video - and feel free to ask any questions you may have.

SUYL: Favorite Desserts

Here is the honest truth: I can't pick a favorite dessert because I LOVE ALL DESSERTS. I am an equal-opportunity dessert lover. There have been many times when I have asked Justin to take me for dessert FIRST before going to eat, just so I know I have room for it :) I never (rarely ever, anyway) turn down a good dessert.

That being said, I have a few that are always favorites.

One of those is commonly known as Better than Sex Cake. Let me tell you, it's flipping awesome. Don't know that I'd go that far, because I usually refer to it as Heath Bar or Icebox Cake.

Source: centercutcook.com via Claire on Pinterest

It is super easy to make,  and you can find a recipe here. You can change things up and use caramel or chocolate sauce, and any type of crushed candy bar. My mom uses Skor bars sometimes with chocolate sauce to give it a different feel. Anyway you make it, though - it won't last long!

I am always looking for new cake and cupcake recipes. Most of my best though, come from a box and just adding a little bit here and there!  I think you can never have too much dessert :)

 

Day(s) Late & A Dollar Short

Ya'll! It's like I have fallen of the blog wagon. I was doing sooo good and life just got in the way :) I feel like I have so much that I have forgotten to blog about.

My 27th birthday was October 4th. It was a very great day! Actually, it was a great week. My darling of a husband sent me birthday WEEK flowers on that Monday. I am typically not a flower person, but they were such a great surprise!

  

The night before my birthday, or Birthday Eve, I walked back to the bedroom to find a couple of decorations :)

 

The morning of my birthday, I was treated to a new Vera Bradley! I seriously love my Vera :) I also had another special delivery at work that day from my hubby.

We ended up eating birthday dinner at my parents, and my Dad cooked my favorite meatloaf and my Momma cooked my favorite mashed potatoes and icebox cake. It was a wonderful day! We continued the celebrations onto Saturday, when we went for a massage and out shopping and to the winery. My family made me feel so loved and special - I am so blessed!