Weekend explorers

Living down south certainly has its perks (as Mike mentioned in his update during Grey's Anatomy on Thursday). Standing in line at the grocery store the other day was a perfect reminder of the genuine hospitality down here. Since I was buying wine the cashier asked to see my id and instantly realized I wasn't from Georgia...yes I know its time to switch to a Georgia license. After this realization she asked what brought me to Macon and quickly suggested a restaurant right down the street from the college, her boyfriend happens to manage the kitchen there so she insisted that I go for lunch and tell him that I went through her lane at Publix. I guess Mike and I will have to have a lunch date this week! The fact that people down here truly care and want to talk to you just amazes me and brings a smile to my face every time. Of course, I sometimes still have my go get my errands done mentality so much so that I will even pick up the small bag of dog food instead of the big bag just to insure that no one insists on carrying my groceries to my car...which all of you know is usually in a state of disarray.
Another perk of living in Georgia? The awesome Georgia Aquarium! Mike and I's "first" date included a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium so when we passed billboards for the aquarium in Atlanta I was super excited. This weekend we decided getting out of town for a bit was a good idea so we headed off to Atlanta for the aquarium and the World of Coke. The Georgia Aquarium certainly gave Baltimore a run for its money. As soon as you walk in you have a ton of options of which way to go and every choice opens up into a long winding exhibit, some are even interactive. Literally everywhere you look there are fish, even up over your head!

This exhibit even had a moving sidewalk that you could stand on while you went through the tunnel. This particular exhibit happened to include four whale sharks and the Georgia Aquarium is the only place where they have been kept in captivity. They were absolutely amazing to see!

Another highlight of the day were the penguins. As soon as Mike saw the tunnel to crawl through the exhibit it was decided that we were going in. So we literally got on our hands and knees and crawled through a tunnel that went under the penguin habitat, when we got to the end of the tunnel there were two spots to stand up and be quite literally face to face with the penguins. Mike also made a new friend outside of the aquarium on our way to the World of Coke.

Right across a little courtyard from the aquarium is the World of Coke. I was a tad skeptical at first but honestly as soon as you walk into the World of Coke you want to know more about the story of Coke. The tasting room at the end of the tour was everything you can imagine. They have different soda drinks from all over the world...from the super tasty to the revolting. One drink in particular was from Europe and named Beverly, it was soooo gross! We even ended up having a conversation with another visitor who happened to taste the drink with us and couldn't believe that anyone would actually like drinking it.

Any piece of Coke memorabilia imaginable can be found in this place!

The famous Coke tasting room.

I was lucky enough to get to end the weekend with a great practice with the hunt seat team before they head off to Georgia Southern on Saturday and then a trip to see Lou pony. When I got home this evening the apartment smelled delicious from the bbq pork Mike had going in the crockpot...it tasted just as awesome!

Our Southern Comfort Zone

Be aware: The blog has been hacked yet again by Mike...good luck!!

     Back by popular demand might I add my dear. I haven't had too much to say these past few weeks that Jess wasn't saying for us. It took us a little while to settle back in after our trip up to the great white north (NJ and VA) but it was well worth it. It was great to see our families and a few friends, I think it made us miss them even more though once we got home. We had to get used to being on our own once more. After a few weeks it was back to normal though, back to our southern, red state living. I like going to the grocery store and having conversations with my cashier, I like driving down the road in the pickup at work and waving back at others driving down the road, and it amazes me how honest and good people actually are. New Jersey will always be home to me, I love it, but I feel people have lost touch with a few things in their pursuit of happiness up north. It doesn't kill ya to greet someone, even a perfect stranger, with a smile. Whatever you're rushing off to do will more than likely still be there if you need to stop for 5 minutes to help someone jump their car. Don't sweat the small things, it really isn't worth it. Maybe someone bumped into you on the busy sidewalk, say "excuse me" or "sorry" instead of trying to stare a whole through their head for a change. The small things aren't worth getting so worked up about.
     Every time I come back south I find myself having to readjust to the pace of life. I'm happy I haven't lost my northern hustle, don't get me wrong, but like I said above their are a few things that are different. Life is slower down here and the older I get the more I like it, we don't need to rush through life, it goes too fast as it is. Slow down, smile, help your fellow man, or woman, and be thankful for the things you have in your life whether it be your health, your family, or a roof over your head. Be thankful for the little things just as much as the big things. It still makes me smile every time I see Jess play with her engagement ring, every time. It's strange to say this when I don't really have a group of friends down here yet, I haven't found my niche yet, but I feel like I belong and I feel welcome down here. I'm an outsider in this southern world but everyone has gone above and beyond in welcoming me with open arms and friendly conversation.

Winter denial success!

Every winter I go through what I like to call "winter denial," where I literally dress in bright colors, eat lots of fruit and lots of seafood and pretend like winter just isn't happening. Well down here in Georgia winter denial isn't even necessary, its been great! We had a little bit of crazy weather this past week with insane wind and torrential downpours for an entire day but overall I really can't complain about the weather. I have been repeatedly warned, of course, about the fact that summertime will kill but I'm going to look on the bright side and enjoy the 60's in January. Another perk of the awesome weather has been being able to enjoy it on campus and out at the farm with Lou pony. Today we took the dogs for an adventure around the Wesleyan "lake" and got a special treat. About a month ago Mike and I spotted an interesting critter swimming in the lake and have been determined to figure out what it is, after talking with some other staff on campus we had a combination of animals that it might be. Some of the guesses were a muskrat, a rat or a beaver while we were guessing an otter. Today while walking around the lake "it" popped up right in front of us in the water and swam along the bank watching us! "It" actually popped up a few more times and then would dive back down. We're still betting on it being an otter but feel free to give your guesses!

Now that classes are back in swing and routine is returning to life I get to start looking forward to wedding planning. So at the end of February I'm heading to Savannah,Ga to meet up with Katie to go to a wedding expo. I'm so excited! We also get to shop for our bridesmaid dresses for Gray's wedding so it will be an extra productive trip. In other words prepare yourselves for lots of wedding updates! As of know we are looking at May 2014 on the Chesapeake Bay. Any suggestions or ideas are more than welcome, especially any advice from brides or grooms who have been there and gone through all of it.

Dear Mr. President

Dear Mr. President,
 today I woke up with a fever and a splitting headache that has now landed me in bed for the rest of the day. Now sick days, by rule, must involve trashy tv and soup in bed from the best fiance around, however, you have interrupted my trashy tv portion of the day. Yep that's right the day I actually get sick enough to call off of work is the day that the President just has to have a news conference where he repeatedly answers each question in the same exact way no matter what question was asked. Oh well, I did at least get soup in bed and Badger curled up at my feet.
I am so sorry that I have been awful about updating recently, the routine of work, stress, sleep must have gotten to be a bit. But my body has slammed me down today in a way of telling me to chill the heck out so its up date time. Since returning to the warm weathered south (it was 75 degrees this past weekend) Mike and I have rearranged the apartment to make it cozy and used almost every single one of our new kitchen gadgets. I am in love with all of our new kitchen stuff and my adorable new apron! The casserole dish has certainly proved to be one of the most useful gifts; we've made cheesy chicken and rice casserole, chicken roll ups, crab mac and cheese and all kinds of deliciousness in it. Thank you so much to everyone for the amazingly thoughtful gifts! After Christmas I also promised that I would share the recipe for the candied pecans and I figured I'd throw in the recipe for the Georgia Peach Cookies, which are much easier to make than the recipe makes it seem. So here are the candied pecans

Candied Pecans

Ingredients

• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups raw shelled pecans

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, whisk the egg white until light and foamy. A drop or two of water helps break up the egg whites, making them easier to whisk.
2. Add the sugar, spices, and salt to the bowl.
3. Whisk until incorporated.
4. Add the nuts to the bowl and coat them completely in the egg white mixture.
5. Spread the pecans evenly onto a parchment or tin foil lined baking sheet. Put in a preheated 300 degree oven.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes. Every few minutes turn the nuts in the pan. They will be done when they are dry and the nuts are toasted and brown.
7. While they are still warm, I like to give them an extra sprinkle of salt. You do not have to though. Let the pecans cool completely before you package them.

 The pecans were amazing, easy and made the apartment smell divine! Certainly worth making when there's some extra time in the day.
I also made some Georgia Peach Cookies for the parents' baskets at Christmas so here is the recipe for them as well...

Peach Cookies {That Look Like a Real Peach!}

Yield: 17 sandwiched cookies (34 singles)

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 10 1/2 Tbsp butter, softened
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 Tbsp sour cream
• 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
Filling and Coating
• peach jam or preserves
• 6 Tbsp milk, divided
• red and yellow food coloring
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• fresh mint leaves, for garnish (optional)
• you'll also need a clean paintbrush

Directions

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt, set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together butter, granulated sugar and light-brown sugar on medium-low speed until well blended, about 1 minute. Mix in egg and vanilla. Add sour cream and mix until blended. With mixer on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Scoop dough out 1 even tablespoon at a time and with buttered hands roll dough into a ball. Place balls on cookie sheet (you can fit 15 per sheet but then you are left with 4 in the end so unless you were making a double batch it wouldn't matter to try and fit that many). Bake in preheated oven 14-15 minutes until bottoms are lightly golden brown. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool. Allow cookies to cool completely then spread about 1 teaspoon of peach jam evenly across the bottom of one cookie then gently press another cookie over the jam layer to sandwich them together. Repeat this process with remaining cookies.
• To decorate cookies, pour 3 tbsp of milk into two small bowls. Tint one bowl of milk with red food coloring until it reaches a vibrant pink, then tint the other bowl of milk with yellow food coloring until its reaches a vibrant yellow. Take a paint brush and dip into the yellow tinted milk then paint randomly across both cookies leaving some areas unpainted. Then dip paintbrush into red tinted milk and paint randomly across unpainted areas and blend slightly (tip: I found the less milk I was able to paint across the cookie the better because then your cookies won't become soggy. You really don't need very much at all). Immediately after painting cookie, dip and coat entire cookie with sugar. Insert one or two fresh mint leaves into the side of each cookie if desired. Store in an airtight container. 

Hope everyone is having a great day! Happy baking!!

Made it home minus a leg...lamp that is

We went through the rain, wind and snow and made it back to Georgia after an amazing trip up north for Christmas and New Years. While we are certainly glad to be back in the warmer southern weather we are so happy we were able to make it up to see family and friends for the holidays and we are already missing everyone!
Christmas morning began early with chores out at the barn and holiday peppermints for the ponies...the never ending chores of horsey life:) Then I ran off to see Lou pony while Mike caught up on some much needed sleep for the trip. I have to say that Lou can put a smile on my face no matter what stresses are surrounding me and Christmas morning was no exception. As soon as I saw him cantering across the field to see me I knew it was going to be a good day. After lots of Lou kisses I headed back and Mike and I packed up our bags, gifts and puppies for the long drive up to New Jersey. 15 hours later we arrived in chilly Jersey at 4:00am. Thankfully a nice warm bed was waiting and we promptly passed out! The next 2 1/2 days were filled with family and great food. It was so much fun to see how much all of the boys have grown, especially Henry who is now running around on his own! There is just something about Christmas with kids that brings all of the magic back to the season. That pure excitement on their faces is something you just can't find anywhere else. Saturday morning we packed up all of our new gifts (yay for new dishes!!) and the puppies and headed out...whoops I guess we "forgot" that leg lamp from Mike's room:)

The next leg of the trip took us through the snow, quite literally, to grandma's house in Alexandria,VA. Thanks to good ol' Betsy...for those of you who don't know Betsy she is my 2000 Ford Explorer that I've had since high school, she has been through college and the many moves since graduating and is well over 200,000 miles at this point! But Betsy never missed a beat through the snow and rain on the trip and we arrived Saturday afternoon without any hiccups, we didn't even get lost!

Once we got to VA and got the puppies settled in Mike and I headed off to the metro to see the national Christmas tree. First stop in the city was a date night dinner at La Tasca, an amazing tapas restaurant in China town ( be sure to stop there for sangria and tapas if you find yourself in DC!). Then we started the trek to the tree and surprise surprise we found ourselves all turned around and had to ask for directions. As often as I get lost you would think I would be used to it but still can become a tad frustrating but Mike is perfect at making me laugh it off. We finally made it to the tree and have now checked a second year off the list and the first national tree during our engagement.

It was just a tad windy!

The next day was family Christmas with the Dailey side of the family which is always full of laughs and amazing baked goods. It was so nice to be able to see my sister and cousins who are all off in different sections of the country for college. I'd say we are all a far cry from those little girls on the slide so many years ago for Christmas cards!

The night ended with the search for the pickle on the Christmas tree and with a little "tipping" of the tree in the direction of my poor Aunt Monica, I found it! It is now on our Christmas tree in Georgia, which yes is still up and on the list of projects for the week. New Years day Mike and I met up with Gray and her fiance Wade for a sushi lunch and wedding chat. I am so excited that I will be a bridesmaid in their July wedding! This coming summer is shaping up to be quite full of wedding fun with Gray and Wade's wedding and then Richie and Mandy's wedding in September. We are so lucky that we were able to end the year with family and friends and ring in 2013 with family and a celebration of Omi's 82nd birthday! We hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday and we can't wait for our next trip up north! Hopefully next time we will have more time to see everyone we missed this trip and so that I can force Mike to listen to more N'SYNC during the crazy long drive!! Ha!