New Recipe | Skillet Apple Crisp

So I tried a new recipe for the Scott's Thanksgiving meal.  I know, I know.  It is not good etiquette to bring a new recipe to a gathering.  But I did... whoops.

Thankfully, this recipe was delicious!  Recipe three of the five came from a fabulously southern magazine, Garden & Gun.

Meet our leading lady: Skillet Apple Crisp

When I was asked to make a dessert for Thanksgiving, Colby & I decided to go for a classic American dessert, apple pie.  But then this recipe came across my radar and I could not NOT make it.

The consensus?  All around delicious (plus, everything looks better in a cast iron).  I used only one lemon versus two and I would definitely encourage that to all my friends... I would also encourage a healthy dollop of vanilla ice-cream to ride shot gun with this baby.

Stuffing and Shoe Boxes

This past weekend we celebrated Thanksgiving with the Scott's.  It was such a different family gathering.  Colby's cousin, Sarah, is very active in the ministry, Operation Christmas Child.  She also served over in the Philippines this past summer.  Once she came back this summer she was ready to hit the ground running with packaging and delivering shoe boxes full of goodies for her beloved Philippine babies.  So this Thanksgiving Sarah & her mama suggested we could pack boxes for OCC.

Meet Sarah & Mama Penny:

So after the Scott family did some serious grubbing... we started sorting toys, school supplies and hygiene products for the 25 shoe boxes we were going to pack.  Gosh, ya'll.  It was so sweet.  You would go into the living room and all the men where folding boxes and then you came into the kitchen and all the women (& twins) were sorting boy versus girl stuff.

Before we starting packing the boxes the entire Scott family came into the kitchen to pray over the toys, school supplies and hygiene products.

 

Then we started packing our boxes and each of us wrote a note to go in our boxes.

Ya'll.  I can't even.  We live in the land of pure abundance.  I am so encouraged by Sarah's desire to take all this abundance and give it away.. all the while, telling people that Jesus is strong and good and that he loves them.

Amen?


Amen.

Six Months of Marriage

Colby and I are celebrating 6 months of marriage today.  We don't celebrate "month anniversaries" usually.  However, today when I was talking to Colby, we were both in shock that we have already been married for 6 months.  It seems like 3 months MAX!  

Tonight we celebrated by simply living life together.  I cooked supper and we sat at the dining room table, decked out with turkey salt & pepper shakers, and mustard yellow candles.  We did our high's & low's of our days and then cleaned the kitchen together.   Now we are sitting in our freshly cleaned living room, folding laundry together in front of the warm fire that Colby built for me.  

Oh my, my.  There is joy in laundry, folks.  

 

Recipe Challenge | 1 & 2

The results are in.  Drum roll please....

My first two recipes in this challenge were Garlic and Lemon Roasted Chicken with Green Beans and Baby Red Potatoes along with a side of Zucchini and Squash bake.  I thought these babies would be definite yes's because we didn't really deviate from the foods we like.  Colby loves chicken, green beans and red potatoes.  So I was like.. yes, he will be on board with this challenge if I start out nice and slow.  And zucchini and squash?  What southern folk do you know that doesn't love these gourd shaped masses of goodness?

Garlic and Lemon Roasted Chicken with Green Beans and Baby Red Potatoes
Colby: Too much lemon, too much garlic (go figure!).
Courtney: Too much lemon.  I want to like green beans, but I don't.. and this recipe didn't flip my switch for them either.

Zucchini and Squash Bake
Colby: Pretty good.
Courtney: LOVED it!  Definitely a future go-to side!

So here we are.. I would consider us a 1 for 2 in our 5 new recipe challenge!  My next challenge is making a homemade apple pie for Thanksgiving with the Scott's this weekend!  I've made one pie my entire life, and let's be honest, I just tore off the plastic wrap off of it and threw it in the oven.  I'm going all homemade for this next one, baby!

Taste buds, I still love you.

So rumor has it that the word "sacrifice" is suppose to bounce around in our thought process often in the journey of marriage.  Apparently there is suppose to be a lot of give and take?  Is that right?  

Well let me tell you.. my taste buds have felt (tasted rather?) the largest consequences of this "sacrifice" stuff.  My sweet, precious, hardworking, loving, etc., etc. husband has the pallet of a five year old.  Grilled chicken, steak and spaghetti are some of the few things that satisfies those little bumps on his tongue.  And then there is me, the cook, the starving wife, who dreams of bacon wrapped scallops, creamy risotto and basil pesto on anything.  

Growing up, my parent fixed mushrooms with most of their meals.  They put it in the entrees, they seasoned them and boiled them, they sauteed them.  Mushrooms were present often.  But I hated them.  Then one night during college, my boyfriend decided to take me to the Cheesecake Factory where I had this giant plate of deliciousness.  Including mushrooms.  I hate every bite.  Including the mushrooms.  It was like that meal was all it took for me to flip a switch.  From that point on, I have adored mushrooms.  I seriously would consider giving up all meats (maybe except seafood.. its just too good :) ) for mushrooms.  I love them and try to incorporate them in every meal.. just like my parents.

I guess I have this huge hope in thinking if I fix a meal with something Colby doesn't like and mix it with things he does.. his switch will flip too.  And I wouldn't be limited to a meal of grilled chicken, macaroni and cheese, a can of sweet peas and a can of corn and a croissant... for the third time this week. 

So I told Colby I was going to challenge us in trying 5 new recipes before the end of the month.  I know that doesn't seem like a lot.. but its enough to get me inspired to cook more things, learn more and get Colby to venture out a little more. 

I made two new recipes tonight.. they are currently baking in the oven.  Colby has told me how bad it the garlic stinks about hmm, 8 times now.  He has proceeded to opening the kitchen window and the dining room window and he has lit three (STRONG) scented candles.  I am already considering this a fail.   So I gonna whip up a batch of macaroni and cheese as back up.  You can never be too prepared, ya know?  

I will let you know how each five of my recipes go and what the recipe is if it is good at the end of my little challenge!  Stay posted, friends!

Ashley & Tyler | Engagement Session

February 8th is gonna be a good day.  It's the day my sweet sister becomes a bride.  I'm already practicing my matron of honor champagne toast speech while driving to and from work.  As the details of her wedding start to pile up in my parent's house, we all have this insane image of how gorgeous her day will be.  Ashley and Tyler are the seriously the two most creative people I know.  Tyler designed my Save the Dates, Invitations and Programs for my wedding.  He is unreal talented in graphic design.  Ashley has an incredible eye and appreciation for small details... ya know the ones that make the entire look come together.  Seriously ya'll, their wedding will be unbelievable.

I recently had the joy in taking some engagement shots of Ashley & Tyler.  We had a fun fall afternoon at our parent's pond... the place where Tyler proposed to Ashley (with blankets and time capsules and a Polaroid camera! It's a sweet story). Here is a handful of the pictures:

 

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A New Plan

Oh, hi there.  My name is Courtney, writer of this blog.  You probably don't recognize me because I haven't posted in my little corner of the web in almost two months.  I'm sorry, friends. 

Well, Colby and I were about to sign the papers to buy Colby's grandpa's house.  We adore this sweet little house.  It is where Colby's dad and his siblings were raised and it has a ball field literally in the back yard (be still MY heart!).  For several reasons, we adore this house.  And this house fell perfectly into the plan, the master plan of staying in Surry County forever.

But then the government shut down.  During this shut down when our loan to buy this house was at a standstill, Colby got a job offer.. not in Surry County but back in Raleigh.  I didn't take Colby seriously when he told me over the phone.  I believe the actual conversation that went on in my head was like this:  "Hm, interesting. Doesn't matter, Colby Scott ain't going anywhere".  So, when Colby came home and said, "So I think we need to talk about this job opportunity", I WAS FLOORED.  Through several days of very specific praying and beating a dead horse with the exact same conversation with every member of our family... we decided that we were gonna take it.  This meant picking up our Surry County lives and moving them back to Raleigh... in less than 2 months.

So that's the first thing.  Colby got a job offer back in Raleigh.  And he is taking it.

Second thing, I can officially say that I am going to be a Physician Assistant.  I got accepted into my dream school, Wake Forest School of Medicine, about 2 weeks ago.  I am still on cloud nine.  When the representative told me I literally screamed on the phone.  I was over the moon, y'all.  I can't wait to write a post about the crazy process it took to get that glorious phone call.  Halloween was a good day for this future Demon Deacon.

So second thing,  I am going to be a Demon Deacon AND a Physician Assistant.

So, here we are.  Colby and I are moving in less than 2 months to Burlington, the sweet little city that we will call home for now.  Colby starts a brand new job at the beginning of the year and I start a rigorous curriculum in June.   Life is insane and beautiful and intense and scary.  But we have Jesus, so faint not.

And as excited as I am for the changes in our little family, I don't want to be blinded by all them all.  There are still pumpkin pies to eaten, boots to be worn, twinkling lights to be hung and evergreens to be inhaled all before we hit the road.  Cheers to the best time of year, right where we are.