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*

Foodie Friday Chili's Salsa

I found this recipe when I was reading Kelly's blog. I knew Brittany would be coming soon so I thought it would be the perfect time to try it out... Chili's salsa is her favorite! The recipe is super easy... although the first time I made it I filled my chopper too full so I made a big mess!

CHILI'S SALSA

Ingredients:

1 (14 1/2 oz.) can tomatoes and green chilies

1 (14 1/2 oz.) can whole canned tomatoes (plus the juice)

4 teaspoons jalapenos (canned, diced, not pickled)

1/4 cup yellow onion (diced)

1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon garlic salt

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon sugar

This is not on the recipe but I added: cilantro and juice from 1/2 lime

1. In food processor place jalapenos (optional) and onion and process for just a few seconds.

2. Add both cans of tomatoes, salt, sugar, cumin,cilantro and lime juice.

3. Process all ingredients until well blended but do not puree.

4. Place in covered container and chill.

5. Serve with your favorite tortilla chips!

Finished product...

I found that it gets better with time... all the flavors really melt together as it chills in the fridge for a few days. It is really Yummy!!!

I also tried these chips from Target... they are WONDERFUL!

To tweet... or not to tweet?

After I said I wouldn't do it... I joined Twitter a few months ago, I thought it would be interesting to see what so many people were so excited about. Well, despite my best effort, I have not been able to get really into it. I like to check it occasionally to see what other people are up to, but I am terrible about updating my own status.

Maybe it is because I don't have a Blackberry or I-phone so I can only "tweet" when I am sitting in front of my computer. Thus, I never really have anything too interesting to say because I am probably either at work... or messing around on the computer at home.

Thus, I think I am going to stop pretending that I "tweet," and come out and say I think I am going to be a Twitter dropout. I at least need to take some time to give it a break... besides I have this new blog to worry about.

Coming up Friday... I am preparing to start a weekly feature... it will be exciting!

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!

Science and Snow-cones

Day Two of my adventure to visit Patrick:

After a delicious omelet for breakfast we headed out to explore the North Carolina Science Museum in downtown Raleigh... the best part, the museum is free!

There was a beautiful planter full of HUGE sunflowers outside the museum... too bad it was covered in bees!

Inside the dinosaur part of the museum... we are getting to be pros at taking pictures of ourselves.

Watch out for giant bugs!!! They also had the largest cockroaches I have ever seen... too gross for a picture though.

Sorry Mr. Frog... I'll just have to blow you a kiss...I'm sure you've heard the story about the girl who kissed a frog then he turned into her prince. Well, this girl found her prince without ever kissing any frogs... I am so lucky!!

Have you ever heard of the comedian Brian Regan? He has some pretty funny sketches... one of our favorites is about snow-cones, so when we saw a stand outside the museum selling them we had to get one!!! It was banana flavored.

After a quick drive through the N.C. State campus. We stopped at Snoopy's for a hot dog lunch. It is local favorite, and it was GREAT!

Off to Raleigh I go...

I have been making regular trips to Raleigh ever since Patrick and I met back in December. I usually set out early on my "Saturday" morning and head back to Atlanta very very early "Monday" morning. It's been a while since I made the trek north, but I was happy to see that all my quirky but familiar landmarks were still there. More on those in later posts...

This time, I planned a picnic surprise for Patrick a few days before my trip. So prior to arriving at his apartment I had to make two quick pit-stops. The first place I stopped was Cafe Carolina. It is a bakery that Dana introduced me to a while ago, they have GREAT cupcakes! Patrick and I also ate there once and we still talk about how delicious they are... if you are ever in the RDU area I recommend you try them!

My second stop was at Kroger... I picked up the rest of our picnic foods including one of Patrick's favorite... steamed shrimp!! Apparently, while I was in the store Patrick tried to call me 3 times because I was later arriving than usual. When he didn't get me he decided to go looking for me... luckily I was coming down his street as he started to leave, so the search was called off.

Our picnic was a little rushed because we got to the park at 4:40pm... and it closed at 5:30pm... so here we are about to get kicked out of Falls Lake Park... it is so beautiful there!

More Raleigh adventures and photos in my next post...

Why the Blog: Part Two

You are probably wondering why I called this post "Part Two"... no it's not a typo... I called it this because it is my second start at blogging. I did it just over a year ago but then stopped... my very first post is "Why the blog".

Well friends, I have decided to pick it up again. I love looking at other people's blogs, keeping up with them, and learning how they do life each and every day. I plan to blog about what's going on with me... I'll also post some of my cooking and crafting projects. It will be an interesting outlet for me to use my journalism background (my degree is in broadcast, so don't expect any long drawn out sentences. The simpler the better, that's what my professors taught at least.) I think it will be fun to marry this with my creative/crafty side.

So as I set out on this new expedition into cyberspace... I am hopeful that I will be able to keep it up this time.

Until next time... Happy Blogging!