First dance
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Monday, December 2, 2013
Another divorce may be on the horizon...
It's always disappointing to hear of couples having marital problems. This year has been full of them, it seems. Adam & Tonya, Bill & Rhonda, and now, an old friend confided in me today that she, too, is having problems in her marriage. I am not sure what happened and she didn't disclose any details - but it must be bad.
I've known Samantha since high school. We met our Sophomore year and were inseparable until she got married in 2000 and moved to Alabama. Like me, she met her husband online -- but theirs was an odd story from the start. They talked online for about 5-6 months. He was originally from Alabama, but lived in Alaska at the time and was previously married with 4 children. He was considerably older, although that isn't always a dealbreaker. They met and then the next day, he moved from AK to KY to be with her. She was barely 20 at the time. Before I knew it, they were engaged and married. About a year after they married, she packed up her KY life and moved it to Alabama to be closer to his family. We lost touch for a while but reconnected a few years back, thanks to Facebook.
Since getting married back in 2000, they've had 4 kids of their own. In photos, she looks quite happy being a mom and I always knew she'd be great at it. But, there aren't a lot of photos of her and Chip... and in the ones I've seen, she doesn't look like a woman in love. Now, after 13 years of marriage, I can imagine that kids, money and just life can wear a couple down and they may not keep their newlywed glow. But-that's a lot of time invested and I know she's kept it together this long for the sake of her children.
Right now, she's in KY. I thought she was just visiting, but apparently, she needed to get a break from her husband and try to regroup. That could be all she needs is a little distance. OR things could be headed down a more painful road. I'm not quite sure at this point. It just saddens me that couples... marriages... can break apart so easily. I just pray that Rodney and I can stay strong, united and not allow the influences of the world or Satan's stronghold to gain any ground in our marriage.
I've known Samantha since high school. We met our Sophomore year and were inseparable until she got married in 2000 and moved to Alabama. Like me, she met her husband online -- but theirs was an odd story from the start. They talked online for about 5-6 months. He was originally from Alabama, but lived in Alaska at the time and was previously married with 4 children. He was considerably older, although that isn't always a dealbreaker. They met and then the next day, he moved from AK to KY to be with her. She was barely 20 at the time. Before I knew it, they were engaged and married. About a year after they married, she packed up her KY life and moved it to Alabama to be closer to his family. We lost touch for a while but reconnected a few years back, thanks to Facebook.
Since getting married back in 2000, they've had 4 kids of their own. In photos, she looks quite happy being a mom and I always knew she'd be great at it. But, there aren't a lot of photos of her and Chip... and in the ones I've seen, she doesn't look like a woman in love. Now, after 13 years of marriage, I can imagine that kids, money and just life can wear a couple down and they may not keep their newlywed glow. But-that's a lot of time invested and I know she's kept it together this long for the sake of her children.
Right now, she's in KY. I thought she was just visiting, but apparently, she needed to get a break from her husband and try to regroup. That could be all she needs is a little distance. OR things could be headed down a more painful road. I'm not quite sure at this point. It just saddens me that couples... marriages... can break apart so easily. I just pray that Rodney and I can stay strong, united and not allow the influences of the world or Satan's stronghold to gain any ground in our marriage.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Friendsgiving... Wowza!
I was so hyped about Friendsgiving. For weeks, I've been posting on the FB event page and building excitement for great food and a altogether good time. That's what I remembered from last year, so I thought this year would be the same. Eh, not so much.
The day started off on the wrong foot when my cookie dough cupcakes burned! :/ They were totally ruined! Luckily, we'd already picked up ingredients for a 2nd dessert we planned to make so we had a 'Plan B' -- Chocolate chip bundt cake, homemade caramel drizzle and a Snicker bar crumble. That was until the bundt cake fell apart and the caramel took WAY longer and a LOT more effort than we anticipated. This was definitely NOT our day in the kitchen.
In any case, we brushed it off, got dressed and headed to our destination. Breezy said she was shooting for a 7:00 dinnertime. Knowing Breezy the way we know her, I fully expected things would not be ready when we arrived. That's just what we've come to expect and that's ok. What we didn't expect was that the turkey would be the only thing close to finished by 7. Potatoes and noodles for mac-n-cheese were boiling, cornbread was done for the stuffing and green beans were in the crockpot. But none of those things were near ready to eat by 7. Two or three of us girls were trying to help, but Breezy was just ALL OVER THE PLACE. She literally had spells of standing blank in the kitchen and struggling to figure out what to do, what needed to be done, what she was even doing at that moment. What began as humorous quickly became frustrating. By 9:00, stuffing was still not put together, potatoes were not mashed, turkey was not carved, sweet potato cassarole had not been started... People were hungry and it was starting to show! At 10:00, the sweet potato cassarole was taken out of the oven - only to realize that the oven was turned off and it never even cooked. Luckily, everything else was finally done and we could finally eat.
After all of the chaos, the two girls who were helping in the kitchen earlier were left to clean everything up. I was just... amazed... Definitely not a good way to host dinner, even if it is for a group of friends. Rodney said we should suggest Friendsgiving is turned into a potluck from now on, just to relieve some of the pressure on 1 cook. But she's said before that she loves it... she thrives on it... which is all fine and good if you can get your act together and get things done.
The day started off on the wrong foot when my cookie dough cupcakes burned! :/ They were totally ruined! Luckily, we'd already picked up ingredients for a 2nd dessert we planned to make so we had a 'Plan B' -- Chocolate chip bundt cake, homemade caramel drizzle and a Snicker bar crumble. That was until the bundt cake fell apart and the caramel took WAY longer and a LOT more effort than we anticipated. This was definitely NOT our day in the kitchen.
In any case, we brushed it off, got dressed and headed to our destination. Breezy said she was shooting for a 7:00 dinnertime. Knowing Breezy the way we know her, I fully expected things would not be ready when we arrived. That's just what we've come to expect and that's ok. What we didn't expect was that the turkey would be the only thing close to finished by 7. Potatoes and noodles for mac-n-cheese were boiling, cornbread was done for the stuffing and green beans were in the crockpot. But none of those things were near ready to eat by 7. Two or three of us girls were trying to help, but Breezy was just ALL OVER THE PLACE. She literally had spells of standing blank in the kitchen and struggling to figure out what to do, what needed to be done, what she was even doing at that moment. What began as humorous quickly became frustrating. By 9:00, stuffing was still not put together, potatoes were not mashed, turkey was not carved, sweet potato cassarole had not been started... People were hungry and it was starting to show! At 10:00, the sweet potato cassarole was taken out of the oven - only to realize that the oven was turned off and it never even cooked. Luckily, everything else was finally done and we could finally eat.
After all of the chaos, the two girls who were helping in the kitchen earlier were left to clean everything up. I was just... amazed... Definitely not a good way to host dinner, even if it is for a group of friends. Rodney said we should suggest Friendsgiving is turned into a potluck from now on, just to relieve some of the pressure on 1 cook. But she's said before that she loves it... she thrives on it... which is all fine and good if you can get your act together and get things done.
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Thanksgiving 2013
Thanksgiving was wonderful. Rodney and I got up early to start on our cooking projects for the day. First up, red beans & rice, which we planned to drop off for his family's Thanksgiving dinner. We had to get up at 4:30 to get the beans started and boy, did it come early!! That's ok though... Despite the minimal sleep, we were both in a silly mood and simply thankful to be enjoying another Thanksgiving together.
Later, we finished up my Pumpkin Muffin Stuffin and Cookies-n-Creme Trifle to take over to our other planned Thanksgiving dinner. We were invited to spend Thanksgiving with Christine, Marshall and their family - so we got there around 12:30. I helped Christine finish up her big delicious spread and then we chowed down around 2. Everything was delicious!! By 2:30, everyone was in a food coma! LOL! That's how you know you can cook!! ;) Marshall and Rodney got their naps on while everyone else chatted and Christine's crazy sister in law ran her loud gobstopper. If I could change one thing about this dinner, they would have picked up their plates later, as was the earlier plan so I didn't have to listen to that girl's obnoxiousness!! Rodney and I had fun though. His silliness continued throughout the day... stuffing his cheeks with grapes, trying to smuggle all the leftover turkey out of the house and making Christine laugh so hard she snorted! LOL! Good times, good times!
Anywho, we left around 4:30 and headed to Rodney's family dinner. We knew they'd probably eat before we made it there so we dropped our crockpot off earlier. I was still full from earlier, so I didn't even eat. Rodney had a little bit of food, but he ended up taking some to-go. Our red beans and rice went over well, but the real hit was the trifle. Even though we made it for Christine's dinner, we had a bunch leftover and brought it into our 2nd stop. There were many moans and eyes rolling back in the head! It's now my designated dish... I was told I must make that for every family function --- and in a bigger portion! LOL! I'm definitely family now! ;)
The day was great -- but we were certainly glad to get back home and into our PJs and fuzzy socks! Time to get some rest and let our bellies recover just in time for Friendsgiving tomorrow! I can't wait!!
Later, we finished up my Pumpkin Muffin Stuffin and Cookies-n-Creme Trifle to take over to our other planned Thanksgiving dinner. We were invited to spend Thanksgiving with Christine, Marshall and their family - so we got there around 12:30. I helped Christine finish up her big delicious spread and then we chowed down around 2. Everything was delicious!! By 2:30, everyone was in a food coma! LOL! That's how you know you can cook!! ;) Marshall and Rodney got their naps on while everyone else chatted and Christine's crazy sister in law ran her loud gobstopper. If I could change one thing about this dinner, they would have picked up their plates later, as was the earlier plan so I didn't have to listen to that girl's obnoxiousness!! Rodney and I had fun though. His silliness continued throughout the day... stuffing his cheeks with grapes, trying to smuggle all the leftover turkey out of the house and making Christine laugh so hard she snorted! LOL! Good times, good times!
Anywho, we left around 4:30 and headed to Rodney's family dinner. We knew they'd probably eat before we made it there so we dropped our crockpot off earlier. I was still full from earlier, so I didn't even eat. Rodney had a little bit of food, but he ended up taking some to-go. Our red beans and rice went over well, but the real hit was the trifle. Even though we made it for Christine's dinner, we had a bunch leftover and brought it into our 2nd stop. There were many moans and eyes rolling back in the head! It's now my designated dish... I was told I must make that for every family function --- and in a bigger portion! LOL! I'm definitely family now! ;)
The day was great -- but we were certainly glad to get back home and into our PJs and fuzzy socks! Time to get some rest and let our bellies recover just in time for Friendsgiving tomorrow! I can't wait!!
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
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