Leap Day Greetings!

I figured it was fitting for me to post on Leap Day since my blog posts are just as rare these days....I'll save you the excuses.  But I do hope to be able to get back on the wagon soon!  Here's a little peak into our very interesting life out here in MS lately....outside of our law/tax bubbles.

B-Dub finally got a little free time to try out his new dehydrator

 Simple

 Clean

 Snack

Yum

 We've been running a lot...this trail used to be a railroad 

track. If you look closely you can see B-Dub up there outdoing 

me.  We have to go to the smelly stank gym on campus during 

the week but it sure is nice to get some fresh air out here 

on the weekends.

Ummmm, did you know that we are "vegetarians" for 2012?  Yep.  

It's true.  Don't get the wrong idea. We will be eating a big 

fat juicy steak on 1/1/13. :) It's just a little "challenge" of 

B-Dub's...that I got roped into.

But honestly, it hasn't really been a challenge for either of us so far.  

We aren't missing meat at all...

Portobello Mushroom Burger. Straight off the grill! Yum!....Really!

December Recap

Ok, so the blog has definitely been neglected lately.  I will make sure to 

add "Better Maintain the Blog" to my new year's resolutions....

Here's a little recap of the past month to catch us up.

 a little snow in Oxford...but no "snow day" so it doesn't count

 driving to work in the snow...

 a little "Dub" was born....Wesley Trae Joyner!

 Congrats, Katie and Greg!!

 Holiday Party Hosting

we filled stockings for our law "partners" to have while they studied for finals

Holiday Baking

Brent even helped...and I made him listen to Justin Bieber's Christmas album while we baked.

I hope your Christmas was this messy, crazy, fun, exciting and full of love! :)

Catch ya next year!

Gobble, Gobble

Thanksgiving at the Coles!

kinda convenient that our anniversary is just before t-ving ;)

turkey prep

 turkey done

 Adria checkin' on all of our goodness in the oven

 

 too many cooks in the kitchen?

turkey carvin'

 

the cooks and their spread 

I'm grateful for our "Oxford family" and all the fun times 

we've shared over the past 3 years. Tear!

Grovin' with the Girls

Mama and Magen brought the girls out to see us last weekend.  We took them out to the Grove for the Ole Miss/LSU game.  Here are some shots from the weekend.

First time flying....Chael, Chael did not like it.

 Their "go-to" guy...hmm, I wonder why? 

 Hangin' with Colonel Reb

 Maley got to experience her first college football game

Unfortunately, our team didn't fare so well...

But a good time was had by all!  It was quite depressing

when our house went silent again on Monday. :(

Pumpkins

I love Fall.

However, I really struggled with embracing pumpkin season this year.  

I guess I just wasn't ready for September to be over.

Or maybe it's because deep down pumpkin orange combined with mum yellow makes me cringe.

I'm just not a fan of that combo.  

And you know that's all the pumpkin suppliers' go-to presentation...

Anyway, I just couldn't embrace the pumpkins.

Until I saw these.....

Precious Polka dot Pumpkins!

Is this not the cutest thing ever?????????? I'm sure you could recreate

this on your own.I'm just honestly not artistic (or patient) enough 

so I paid a marked up price for someone else to do it for me.

Paula Deen, Y'all!

Most of you probably know at this point, but I met ol' Paula Deen last week. :)  She's just as sweet and southern in person (and honestly way more genuine than they make her appear on TV).  Of course I told her I was from Jesup and that I had my Bridesmaids Luncheon at Lady & Sons...

Hey Bridesmaids!

 Oh, and what you probably don't know is that I got an extra copy of her new Southern Cooking Bible cookbook (autographed, of course) for the highest bidder....

Basilicious

After wanting to do this all summer, I finally got around to buying a few herbs to plant back in late August/early September so that I could quit spending millions of dollars at the grocery store on fresh herbs.  I know they won't last much longer (especially since it turned Winter here all of a sudden today) but I've already gotten my money's worth by using them for just a couple of dishes.  I have to say that the basil was the most impressive.  It doubled its size (or maybe even tripled - seriously) in just a couple of weeks! These were really easy (and I'm no Green Thumb) and save a lot of money if you like to use fresh herbs!

 Is someone wanting to sign me up for Photography 101 yet?

Doesn't this make you want a big Caprese salad!? Yum!

Thirty never looked so good!

public embarrassment. check.

The perfect weekend/Grove scenario to leave your 20s behind. check.

Does this say something about us that these

were our two choices for schooling...??

I sure think so.  I think it says that we are FUN! Cheers to a fun 

30 years, B-Dub!  And since I witnessed about half of those I can 

personally attest to the "fun-ness" of them.  Wow, that just made

me feel really old.  But not as old as you. :)  

Happy, Happy Birthday to my most favorite person in the world!

Bang Bang Shrimp (kind of)

Ok, I promised to get this recipe to several of you...

It's not exactly the Bang Bang shrimp that you love but it is close...and it's not loaded with calories.  The big difference is that the shrimp is not breaded.  The sauce is pretty similar, in my opinion, and I like to just have it as the salad dressing for the greens.

Bangin Good Shrimp

Sauce:

• 5 tbsp light mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
• 1 tsp Sriracha (to taste)

Shrimp

• 1 lb large shrimp, shelled and deveined (weight after peeled)
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp canola oil
• 3 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
• 4 tbsp scallions, chopped

In a medium bowl, combine mayonnaise, Thai sweet chili sauce and Sriracha. Set aside.
Combine lettuce and cabbage and divide between four plates. Set aside.

Coat shrimp with cornstarch, mixing well with your hands.

*See full recipe post and information here

School, Football and Mini Tax Season

After our busy summer, I was really looking forward to some downtime here in Oxford.  However, with school and football starting up (which completely consumes our Saturdays and turns the weekend into one day really) and us having mini busy season at work right now (Sept 15th and Oct 15th are extension deadlines, remember??), we've turned out to be just as busy this month.

 Thanks to Santa, we have a great cooler and wagon now 

that make getting out to the Grove a piece of cake

A is for Apple

Someone in our house is a cool, hip Mac user now....

You going vegetarian now, too, B-Dub??

P.S.  Thanks again to our sweet family that donated to the "let's do something crazy nice for BWC fund" and 

made this possible.  Muchas Gracias!

When in Oxford...

We are pretty good at keeping the roads hot.  I'd say at least one or two weekends every month we are traveling.  This is what it looks like when we actually get a weekend in Oxford town...

Bottletree Iced Lattes. Check.

 some cooking is attempted - peach crumble (easy recipe to use up some peaches, courtesy of GP)

new hangouts are discovered

 p.s.  ever seen a yellow flesh watermelon??  this was my first...tastes the same.