Five on Friday

This is officially my first Five on Friday post. I'm not sure if there's a right or wrong with this but I'm just going to go with it.

One - Two months until Christmas

Am I allowed to say that? I said it this morning and got "a look". Well poo on them because I am excited, beyond excited about Christmas and the holiday season. I've already been listening to a little Christmas music, well, more than a little.. but I'm ready for it to be November and socially acceptable for my holiday loving habits.

Two - Fun-filled weekend

Tomorrow morning I will be walking the Alzheimer's Walk at the National Mall in DC followed by a brunch with an organization called LadiesDC. This will be the first time I attend a LadiesDC event and I am very much looking forward to it. Saturday afternoon my boyfriend and I will be going bowling and doing some other activities with all of his cousins. And for Sunday, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for my last shot to get to the pumpkin patch. Either way, it will be a fun weekend and I'm very excited.

Three - Camera Fever

Now that I'm steadily back into blogging, I'm trying to find new and different ways to build it up. I have been wanting one of those fancy cameras for quiet a while but couldn't bring myself to buy one without a good cause. Now that I'm blogging and see how horrible some of my iPhone pictures end up, I've decided that I now have a valid reason to buy one. The other day I was at my aunt's and I mentioned it and my cousin said "Well, why don't you take mine for a couple weeks and see how you like it?" Why, of course! Thank you for the offer sweet cousin. So during my busy weekend I will have his Canon Rebel T1i by my side/around my neck. I can't wait to use it and I'm sure I'll just love it!

Four - Boots

FINALLY! Finally it is getting cold. I love the cold! I feel there's so much more you can do with your clothes with different layers and accessorizing and what not. It's also time for me to pull out my leggings and all my boots! I have six pairs of Uggs (and before you say they're ugly, I don't care! They're comfortable and warm.) of different styles, a pair of black Ralph Lauren riding boots and my latest addition.. brown Tory Burch riding boots! One thing my mother has always told me is it's ok to spend a lot of money on shoes if they're a good quality and will last you a long time. And as far as boots are concerned, I have large calves and always have a problem finding ones that don't squeeze the living daylight out of my legs or even just ones that go over my calves. These not only fit over my calves, they also fit when I'm wearing jeans! I've finally found a match made in shoe heaven.

Five - Fuddruckers

Yes, I'm posting about a restaurant. I have been craving Fuddruckers all week so my awesome boyfriend said we would go this evening. Incase you don't know what Fuddruckers is, it's an awesome burger place. They give you just the burger and cooked toppings (cheese, grilled onions, bacon, etc) and then you do the rest at their garden bar which has just about everything (tomatoes, onion, lettuce, pico, different types of pickles, all types of condiments, etc). And their fries, oh their fries are just amazing. They're seasoned wedges and I could eat like a thousand of them at a time (obviously exaggerated).

Well, this wasn't so hard? I'll definitely be doing this again! I hope you all have an amazing weekend. Talk to you soon!

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Last night a friend and I decided to head to our old High School's district cheerleading competition. Seriously, it caused a huge case of nostalgia. It made us miss the days of being young and not having to worry about anything. Our biggest worry was preparing for our cheerleading competitions and Friday night football games. Oh, it was the good old days.

We hadn't been to a competition in a while and we've been graduated long enough that it's a few years since we've known anyone on the team. We went in not knowing what to expect and having no idea how they would do. We did know that they've advanced to regionals a few times since we've graduated and we of course hoped they would again this year. I took my crummy old digital camera so I could record it. 

The girls placed 4th and advanced to regionals which will be on November 2nd. I hope I'll be able to make it then to see how they do! 

This of course made me go looking through old photos to reminisce. I wish I also had a video of one of our routines to share but I don't. Maybe one day I'll take the DVD my friend's dad made us and see if I can get it online. But for now, these will do.

We were (are) the Titans and that would be the head of our mascot. It was a strange looking Titan and he was only about 5 feet tall, but that's ok!

All of us seniors took a photo with our coach so she'd always remember her favorite group. She left the same year we did to teach in South Korea and we all miss her so much!

Of course the pictures weren't that clear because back in the day cell phones didn't have amazing camera like they do today. Yes, I said "back in the day" as if it was SO long ago but for me, seven years is a lot!

I'm sure you've all gone through one of these phases where you kind of wish you could just go back to High School where there were no worries and take part in all of the activities. What memories throw you back to the old times? Ah, let me go reminisce of other awesome memories.

I hope to have more than one post next week. I'll be having a busy weekend and a lot to share! I'll talk to you all soon!

Sunday Funday, Chili Day

Hello Everyone! It's Sunday Funday, Football Day! Today I am spending the day with my boyfriend, his brother and his brother's wife, Autumn. Autumn and I love to cook and bake together and do housewife things, even though she's a wife and I'm not (yet).

It's a beautiful sunny Sunday in the mid-50's and a perfect day for chili. The recipe we are using is Autumn's mom's recipe and let me tell you, it is GOOD. It's so good that I asked if I could blog about her recipe and she said yes.

Ingredients:
2 packages (32 oz) of your meat of choice (we used turkey)
32 oz kidney beans
32 oz pulled tomatoes
1 large onion
2 tbsp minced garlic (add more to taste)
4 tbsp chili powder
4 tbsp sugar
6 tbsp apple cider or white vinegar
1/2 tsp black pepper
We also got a package of McCormick Chili Hot seasoning mix to add in an extra punch

1. Chop onion and add to skillet with meat, 1 tbsp minced garlic and 2 tbsp chili powder. Cook on medium-high heat while stirring occasionally.
2. While meat is cooking, bring out a large pot. Add into pot: drained kidney beans, tomatoes, rest of ingredients except the McCormick Chili Hot seasoning.
3. Once the meat is finished, add them to the large pot and bring it to a boil.
4. Once it is at a boil and the tomatoes are softened, break them apart. At this point you can add (to taste) the McCormick seasoning to the pot to add spicy taste.
5. Simmer for about 40 minutes or until most of the liquid is gone and voila, you'll be done.

Another addition to her recipe is that you can add hot dogs to the top of the chili about halfway into the boil for them to cook and take in the chili flavor. You can either eat the hotdog with a bun or just cut it up into your chili.

On the side we made a box of Kentucky Kernel Sweet Cornbread. Of course you can cook cornbread from scratch but the whole purpose of this meal was to make it quick and easy to enjoy while watching some football.

We had never had this before and we figured we would give it a go. It turned out being pretty good for a box that was all of $1.50!

Other items we had were Keebler Club mini crackers for the side, and shredded cheese and sour cream to top the chili. We were all so hungry that we seriously just forgot about the cheese and sour cream. 

MmMm, thanks to Autumn and her mom Vikkie for sharing this recipe! It is PERFECT for a day like today. Quick, easy and delicious. I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend! Talk to you soon.