Happy 100!

It has taken me a little while... but this is my 100th post!!  WOW!  I wanted to try to make a list of my 100 favorite things... or 100 things I want to do... or really just 100 of anything... but that would be a really really long list... so instead I chose some my favorite posts, one from each month... so here it goes...

August:

Brittany came home... and came to visit me in Atlanta... we had such a great time!

September:

Atlanta flooded... we spent a good deal of the flood in the airport waiting on Patrick's flight...

October:

Patrick had fall break... we got to see U2 in the Georgia Dome...

November:

David and Cherie got married... it was such a great time...

December:

Patrick and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary... I actually wrote about it in a series of posts...

These are just a few of my favorites... looking back over these last few months has been so fun!!  I have enjoyed writing about the little things in my everyday life... Here's to 100 more!

Foodie Friday: Taco Soup

Happy New Year!  I decided, when I stepped outside yesterday and I was hit in the face by a rush of cold air, that I needed to make soup!  Along with that decision I thought it would be fun to have a "Souper" January on my blog.  So on each Foodie Friday for the rest of January I will feature a soup recipe.  There's just something about a bowl of soup... I think somehow it warms the soul!

This soup is from my dear friend Little B... and it is YUMMY!!!

Taco Soup

-1lb ground beef (or she uses turkey)
-1 medium onion, diced
-2 large cans diced tomatoes
-1 can tomatos and green chilies
-1 can yellow corn, drained
-1 can black beans, drained
-1 can pinto beans, drained
-1 pkg taco seasoning
-1 pkg Ranch dressing powder

Brown the meat and onion.  Drain.
Dump the other ingredients into your Crock Pot, add the browned meat.  Stir.
Cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours or until warmed through.
Serve with sour cream, cheese, and tortilla chips... or whatever you want.  I made some Chili's Salsa and ate that with my soup... a warm Mexican feast!

*You can make this on the stovetop if you don't have time for the Crock Pot.  Just put everything in a large pot and cook on low until warmed through... stirring frequently.*

Happy Birthday Little B!

Today is Little B's birthday... she is a great great friend to me! We have been friends for a long time. She is a really awesome gal... and I am happy that she is officially joining me in the quarter-century club. I wrote all about her when she came back from SE Asia... I hope you will revisit that post with me!

I love you Little B!

26 Things... Apples

I am thankful for Apples... Macintosh Apples that is... :-)

When we were roomates in college, Brittany had a Mac and she was always raving about how much she loved it! I didn't really have too much experience with Macs, I was a PC girl... or so I thought. The more I researched Macs, the more I started to like them... and now I can say that I love mine probably as much as Brittany loved hers!!

I also LOVE my IPods... yes I have 2, it's a long story. They have made my journeys to North Carolina much much better! I don't have to worry about finding radio stations and they going out of range... I just plug in my Ipod and drive drive drive!

I also enjoy downloading sermons from great churches around the country on my IPod. I have never really been able to sit still long enough at home to listen to sermons (I always see so much around the house that I need to do.) However, in the car I am a "captive audience." It is so wonderful to be able to compile many different sermon series together in one handheld device.

I think I am now officially an Apple Girl!

An Atlanta Fun Day!

Brittany and I had such a wonderful girl's day exploring and shopping (well more looking) at different shops and stores around Atlanta.

We started our day with a Fiesta Breakfast Casserole, yummy recipe from my mom. It was my first time making this recipe, and I think it turned out GREAT! Stay tuned for the recipe on Foodie Friday.

Next we set out for an adventure to the Dekalb Farmers Market. We looked at all kinds of interesting foods from around the world. I even learned a little about some really exotic foods from my resident expert. We ate lunch at their in-house resaturant... it was fantastic and very affordable! We each got a plate and then shared... my favorite was the butternut squash lasagna Brittany's was the roasted mushrooms. We picked a dessert treat at the bakery and headed home with our goodies.

Our dessert treats... Red Velvet cupcake and cream cheese brownie.

Next we headed into the city to Ikea. We had such fun looking for furniture and other stuff Brittany might like in her new apartment. It brought back memories of all my trips there when I got my first place... new furniture is so much fun!

Looking at everything in Ikea... including where Brit just came from... SE Asia.

Our last store of the day was Target where we shopped for all kinds of stuff... I think Target is one of our favorite places!!

Overall it was a fantastic and much needed girl's day out!

*More pictures to come... we forgot to save them on my computer before B left*

Brittany's Here!

Finally my long lost friend Brittany has arrived at my home!... Well, she wasn't really lost I suppose, but she was a long way away!

She arrived last night so when I got home from work we had a very sweet reunion after not seeing each other for more than a year. We attended the late service at First Baptist today because we stayed up WAY too late last night catching up and eating Chili's Salsa.

Now I have a blogging confession to make... on the way home from church we talked about the fact that if we were really good bloggers we would have already taken tons of pictures. So we decided we would start the picture fest when we got home with our lunch. Better late than never, right? Our stomachs growled all the way home... and as soon as we got there, we dug in... it wasn't until we were cleaning up that Brittany said "We are terrible bloggers. We were so hungry, that we forgot to take our pictures!"

Tomorrow is our "day of fun" and we are not going to forget to take pictures. We promise. Stayed tuned for those coming up later this week!

*By the way... our super yummy, non-photographed lunch was from Alon's Bakery. It was just what we needed*

Brittany is HOME!!!!

This post is a little delayed... she actually got home July 31st... but what can I say, I am still super excited! I have not seen her since a quick visit in May 2008, and as I prepare this week for her visit next week... I thought I should write a little about her...

Little B is one of the coolest girls I know... she is great cook, fantastic crafter, and overall just a fun gal to hang out with. We share a love for the Bulldogs, Mexican food, and a little known TV show called Related. We have so much fun when we are together! Plus it's not very often that I am the tall one.

Her time abroad was in many ways a contrast in old vs new. We could set a Skype date and video chat any time. She didn't look like she was in the next room every time... but it definitely felt like she was just down the street. On the other hand, when I sent her anything via "snail mail" it would take anywhere from 3-5 weeks to get to her. It usually took one week to get from America to SE Asia... then it spent the rest of the time moving within her country. Luckily none of my packages ever got lost is transition. This exercise served as a great reminder of how small the world has gotten... but also just how HUGE it really is!

I missed my Brittany so much while she was on the other side of the world. I am so glad she is home! Now she is just a short drive away! We are so blessed!