Give Thanks

Thanksgiving reminds me of this song:

Give thanks with a grateful heart,

Give thanks to the Holy One;

Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son

And now let the weak say, "I am strong,"

Let the poor say, "I am rich," because of what the Lord has done for us.

Give thanks with a grateful heart,

Give thanks to the Holy One;

Give thanks because He's given Jesus Christ, His Son.

Give thanks, give thanks.

After our New Orleans trip we drove to my hometown to spend Thanksgiving Day. Like I've said before, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Everybody can do what they wish in the morning, watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, hunt, cook, etc. I prefer to watch the parade. This is actually one of my favorite things! I love to see what Broadway plays will be showing, the movie stars and musicians that will appear, and of course, the large balloons. I watch the entire parade without missing a single performance or balloon. However, this year while watching the parade, NBC just stopped playing in Greenville, MS. I was mad. My favorite part of Thanksgiving that I've been looking forward to for weeks was ruined. My mom even called the cable company to complain (this is not the first time NBC has shut down during an important showing), but the complaining didn't really help. Fortunately, I was able to watch it live on the Internet. The parade was as good as always! After thinking that the worst part of my day was not seeing 25 minutes of the parade, I realized just how much I have to be thankful for this year. I am thankful with a grateful heart!

While I enjoyed my morning of parade watching and coffee drinking, Nick was out hunting. He woke at 4:45 a.m. to sit in the woods. Nobody else wanted to hunt with him, but he was going no matter what. Well, he was successful! He killed a 9-point deer after sitting in the stand for less than an hour. He was so excited! My dad had dropped him off, and he was able to take these pictures when he went back to get Nick. This made his Thanksgiving! He is thankful with a grateful heart too!

After our successful morning, we headed to the lake (our cousin's cabin on Lake Chicot in Lake Village, AR). This is only a 15 minute drive from our house. It was a beautiful day, and we thouroughly enjoyed ourselves. We had a wonderful turkey along with green bean casserole, crab and rice casserole, dressing, sweet potatoes, rolls, and gravy to top everything off. We all ate too much, and I didn't even mention dessert. Then we enjoyed visiting by the fire. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because I enjoy good food, family, and relaxation, and you don't have to worry about all the gift giving.

The setting of our Thanksgiving feast, the Archer's cabin

Our beautiful turkey

Nick getting a second round of food
It was a beautiful day!


The MozingosMollie's photo shoot! Isn't she cute?! And she is soon to be a big sister!

Nick and me. I love this picture becasue it captures the fall season so well!

Sitting by the fire after the big meal

The Brown siblings

Mollie fishing

While sitting outside, listening to the radio, mamma wanted to dance (she danced last year too). At the moment my dad was unavailable, so she convinced Lollie to dance with her.

Soon daddy came out and cut in on Lollie.
What a wonderful day!

I hope your Thanksgiving was as good as mine!

Now, on to Christmas!

Tator in the Big Easy

It is nice to be home after last week's fun travels. We spent our Thanksgiving week in MS and a few days in New Orleans. Sarah Barry did a good job of describing Tator and our trip to NOLA. Here is a little more on our trip (most of it is pictures).

Before heading down to The Big Easy, Nick and I hung out in Madison, MS (Nick's hometown). We celebrated our first Thanksgiving meal with his family. On Monday morning the rest of the family came down to board the train. Yes, we rode the Amtrak train from Jackson, MS to New Orleans! The train was great! The seats are bigger than airplane seats, there is plenty of leg room, and you can get up and walk around whenever you please. We even took our own ice chest filled with fun drinks and snacks. There were twelve of us on the train, and we managed to find seats all together. Unlike a plane, you do not have an assigned seat. It is first come, first serve.

Gillespies and Freemans waiting for the train in Jackson.

Archers and Mozingos waiting for the train.

Shots from the train.

Once we arrived in NOLA we enjoyed good food, good company, good weather, and good walks.

We also spent a lot of time at Cafe Du Monde. It was wonderful! Just take a look:

Mollie's favorite part was the powdered sugar.

Enjoying some drinks to go.

Enjoying drinks on Bourbon Street.

Here is some of the good company that I enjoyed on my trip:

Mollie and Pop

My aunt, Lynn, and my dad (Doc)

My cousin Ellen and Mollie

Stephen Grande, Nick, John George

My mom, Lovie, Bibba, Win (SB's friend from Greenville), and SB

Strolling around, enjoying the streets of New Orleans:

Photo shoot by the MS River

A few of us also went to see the new 4-D movie about WWII at the National WWII Museum. It was very cool! The movie makes you feel like you are in the war. It was very educational and entertaining.

Snuggies were the birthday gifts from my cousins for Lovie, Tator, and Doc. They came in handy on our balcony.

After spending two fun days in the Big Easy, we boarded the train to head back to MS.

Exhausted from having such a good time!

Pre-Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving holiday has begun. When the bell rang on Friday afternoon I packed up and hurried home. Nick and I were trying to leave for Mississippi as soon as we could. I got home at 3:17, got a Coke Zero, and we pulled out about 3:23. We were leaving before 3:30. We were excited to get to Madison, Mississippi (Nick’s hometown) at a good time. Well, we were driving along enjoying fun music and the fact that we were off for a week, when Nick’s mom called. This made me realize I have not seen my phone in a while. So I began to look for my phone. Nick just about hung up on his mom to call my phone. Then I realized that I left it at home. This normally would not be a big deal, but we were going to be gone for 8 days! We are also going to New Orleans (more on that in a minute). I hate to not have my phone for that long (mainly for security reasons). So, we turned around after we were 40 minutes away from Montgomery. I was mad at myself. Nick was frustrated. But we went back and my phone was sitting on the seat of my car. Nick got over it quicker than I did, but I just felt bad the entire trip. He was trying to get back to see a football game. He missed the football game (a live game, not on TV). And instead of getting there in time for dinner at 7:30, we arrived at 9:00. It is so frustrating to leave something so small as your cell phone. We had carefully packed and prepared the night before, and then I wasted almost an hour and half because of my cell phone! Well we made it safely, and I’m finally over my frustration. Now I can really enjoy myself!

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! I love the traditions of Thanksgiving. I wake up and watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while drinking my coffee. I love the parade! I watch the entire thing, and I don't miss a beat. Then I get dressed for the day to eat and visit with friends and family at the Archer's cabin. I'll report more on this after Thursday.

This is Nick and me last Thanksgiving.

This year we are doing something a little different. We are beginning our Thanksgiving in New Orleans. We are going to celebrate my brother George's (a.k.a. Tator) 21st birthday. He will be 21 on the 21st. I am really excited about this trip for a few reasons. One, to celebrate the life of George. Two, I don't have to teach 160 thirteen year olds how to read a map scale for the next week. Three, Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday.

This is most, but not all, of the group headed to New Orleans.

Me and George. Happy 21st Birthday Tator!

I hope you all have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

"Oh, give thanks to the Lord for He is good, his love endures forever." Psalm 118:29

Chicken Enchiladas with Green Salsa

I was off from work on Wednesday because it was Veteran's Day. Thank you Veterans for all you have done!

Well, I had a great day not working. It began by drinking coffee in the bed and flipping channels to watch Fox and Friends, some of the Today Show, and other shows on TNT. However I was disappointed while watching the Today Show. They interviewed Andre Agassi. He has always been one of my favorite tennis players. I was disappointed because he said he never liked tennis. How can a professional tennis player not like tennis? I have been a big tennis fan and player for many years. The fact that Andre hated playing tennis for a living is just sad. It was also sad that he did drugs, but this did not surprise me as much.

I finally got up around 7:45 and started cleaning. I cleaned out the fridge and our closet. I had to change out my summer and winter clothes. I intended to do more around the house, but I got distracted by TV and food. I made some orange cinnamon rolls for the first time since high school. They were just as delicious as I remembered! The important things I forgot to do were laundry and grading papers. Oh well, that's what the weekend is for.

Around 11:00 Nick came home for lunch. After he left I went on a nice walk with Sarah Barry and Stephen Small. It felt wonderful outside! A great day for a walk! Then I ran my errands and came home to cook.

I made yesterday's dinner and tonight's dinner. For tonight I made a soup that will be easy to re-heat and eat. Wednesday I made chicken Enchiladas with Green Salsa. I got this recipe from the REAL SIMPLE magazine. This is my favorite magazine! I read it from cover to cover. I don't skip any articles. Well, one day I was having a bad day (the day of the fight), and I thought the REAL SIMPLE Magazine would put me in a better mood. While I was at the grocery store, I bought it without really looking at it first. When I got home to read it, I realized it was just a book of recipes. This did not put me in a better mood because I was looking for the real magazine. However, after looking through it, every recipe looked really good. Here is the recipe for the Chicken Enchiladas with Green Salsa. I loved it!

Chicken Enchiladas with Green Salsa
4 tablespoons canola oil
2 small zucchini, diced
1 small red onion, chopped
1/2 cup corn kernels (from 1 ear, or frozen and thawed)
1 2-2 1/2 pound rotisserie chicken, meat shredded
1 1/2 cups crated Monterey Jack (6 ounces)
Kosher salt and black pepper
12 6-inch corn tortillas
1 pound tomatillos, papery husks removed
1 jalapeno, seeded
1 cup of fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 cup sour cream (optional)

-Heat oven to 400 degrees. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the zucchini, onion, and corn and cook, stirring, until the onion begins to soften, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl.

-Add the chicken, Monterey Jack, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Mix to combine.
-Wipe out the skillet and heat the remaining 3 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. One at a time, cook the tortillas in the oil until softened, 10 to 15 seconds per side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.

-Roll the chicken mixture up in the tortillas and place them in a large baking dish, seam-side down. Bake until heated through, 8 to 10 minutes.

-Meanwhile, in a food processor, pulse the tomatillos, jalapeno, cilantro, lime juice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt until finely chopped. Serve the enchiladas with the salsa and sour cream, if using.

The final product. It is delicious!

Enjoy your next day off! Make something yummy!

Homecoming!

When Nick and I decided to live in Montgomery, we had many plans about what we would do and how we would live. One thing we were really excited about was being close to Auburn. We planned to go to all the home games. We are only 40 minutes away. Why not go to the games?

Well, last season, Nick had to work almost every weekend. I went to more games than he did! This season has not been much better. Needless to say, we have not taken full advantage of our location. So when Nick found some free ticket to the homecoming game this weekend, we could not pass up this opportunity to be in Auburn for the day.

We picked up a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts (I ate 3) and drove on to Auburn. We parked far away and walked to the stadium. We got there right in time for kickoff. It was a beautiful day! We enjoyed a hot dog and boiled peanuts at the game. To make things even better, Auburn won! We left during the 3rd quarter and drove back home. We did not spend a lot of time in Auburn, but we still had a lot of fun! Even though Auburn is not our home, we are still deeply connected to the town. We did spend 4 years of our lives there. We met each other while living in Auburn. It is a town of memories and reunions with friends. We thoroughly enjoyed this homecoming!

The view from our seats. We were up really high, but we had a great view. The only eye-sore is Haley Center. The building where I spent most of my college career.

The alumni band played along with current band after the homecoming girls left the field.