L-O-V-E

My friends are the most beautiful people I know. Seriously.



And they make beautiful babies.

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Photo Credit: Leigh Ann Hall Photography

The Other Woman

There's another woman in Chase's life.

It's no secret. Everyone knows how she feels about him.

She lights up when he walks in the room, smiles at him from across the table all night, and even has the nerve to climb up in his lap when I'm sitting right beside him!

But, you know, I'm ok with it.

I think she's pretty cute too. :)



Madelyn and Chase

Flour Arrangements

My dear husband will vouch for me when I say I love to watch cooking shows. I often get in trouble for filling up the DVR with them, so I try to be selective now. I've tried my hand at a few southern recipes from Down Home With the Neelys, butter filled creations with Paula's Best Dishes, and even a few Italian dishes with Giada de la Cleavage...err Laurentis. I think I just like her show because I like to say things like prosciutto in her Italian accent. She makes words like rotini sound fabulous. Enough about those other chefs, my absolute favorite is Ask Aida because she does well at explaining things for new cooks like me....and she slices things really cool. Which is why I forego the 10th commandment and desperately want

this knife

and this pretty little Martha Stewart dutch oven (on closeout at Macy's!)

Chase is one of the most easy to please when it comes to food. This is a GREAT thing for someone like me who constantly uses him as my new recipe guinea pig. He typically tolerates it, and most dishes get a, "That was good." BUT Sunday night, I tried my hand at a recipe for Sweet and Sour chicken and

1. I got a "That was really good."

2. It actually looked like the picture of the recipe, which almost never happens.

The recipe is posted below and is SO simple. I found it on Tasty Kitchen, a site from the creator of The Pioneer Woman Cooks (i.e. my cooking Bible). Try it tonight!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

• 3 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• Salt And Pepper
• 1 cup Cornstarch
• 2 whole Eggs, Lightly Beaten
• ¼ cups Canola Oil
  
  FOR THE SAUCE:
• ¾ cups Sugar
• 4 Tablespoons Ketchup
• ½ cups Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon Soy Sauce
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Salt
  
  Cut chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg (yes, this will be messy but it will be worth it, I promise!). Fry in a little oil until browned on all sides but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish.

Mix sauce ingredients together and pour over chicken.

Bake for one hour at 325 degrees F. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced, about 6 to 8 minutes.

"You Watch, You Wait, You'll See"

I shared a few months ago about how I had made it a regular habit to listen to the "Focus on the Family" broadcasts on my way to work in the mornings. It seems like every other day there is a story that I want to share with you, but I can't resist sharing this one. Please listen to the testimony of Anne Kiemel as she shares her heart.

Listen to Anne Kiemel's Story

Her story is especially timely as the first ever Orphan Sunday will be held on November 8th. Our church will participate in this day. Please prayerfully consider this ministry at your church as well.

A couple in our young married ministry adopted a baby last December. To follow their personal journey (or for a good laugh) please visit her blog, Consider Joy.

Hints (not) From Heloise

I'm all about keeping it simple, especially when space is minimal in the Tyson casa. A short cut or helpful hint makes my day. For example, I recently started sorting all the silverware while loading it into the dishwasher. I was a little apprehensive at first, thinking that the spoons would 'spoon' and not get clean. But, it works! Now unloading the dishwasher basket is easy peezy.

Here are two more helpful hints I came across this week.

1. Real Simple Magazine (which I adore) suggests putting a marshmallow in your brown sugar container to keep it from getting hard.

2. The Simply Dwell blog has a new, hopefully less messy, idea for cleaning ceiling fans...with a pillow case! Ours desperately need cleaning, and I might try her method this weekend. If you've tried this before, let me know!

Rammer Jammer Yellow Hammer...

We did a little tailgating this weekend for the Alabama vs. FIU game. Here are a few pics...

Allow me to introduce...

William Barrett McKelvey

born September 11th
6 lbs 14 oz
21 inches long

He's a cutie! (see his long little fingers?)He belongs to our good friends Grant and Maggie. Chase and Maggie are in Dental School together, and Chase was actually there when her water broke at Dental School, ha. Several of us from our young married class made the trip to the hospital Friday night.

Jonathan & Kristie



Josh, Katie, & Madelyn


Further proof that everywhere we go.....we thoroughly enjoy ourselves.

Let the countdown begin...

231 Days Folks. 231 Days away...

nope, not Christmas

not graduation (although I need another countdown for that)

not until a birthday or other milestone achievement

and certainly not a baby if that's what some of you were thinking!

231 Days until the Junior League of Birmingham's Bargain Carousel!!!

If you've been fortunate enough to experience this with my Mom, you should laugh out loud right now at the memories. If you haven't, you should definitely join us in line this year...about 12 hours before the doors open (no we don't wait outside that entire time like the crazy people at Best Buy on black Friday). There are some seriously good bargains to be had, but I think now I just do it mostly for the experience. It's laughable. Picture thousands of people flooding into an old Belk store like they're at the running of the bulls or the Kleinfeld NYC dress sale......except these clowns are armed with shopping carts and trash cans to carry their loot. It's not for the faint of heart.

Aunt Sandy (errr, Uncle Richard) mark it on the calendar NOW haha.

www.jlbonline.com

winner winner chicken dinner...

If you know me, you know that I absolutely never win anything (even though I enter practically everything). In fact, I'm almost positive that the majority of my business cards have not been handed to esteemed members of the business community, but rather dropped in fishbowls at restaurants (don't judge me).

Imagine my surprise when I received a call from Birmingham Works, a local magazine, telling me that I had won an original piece of art! I originally entered the contest because I just loved the painting. Admittedly, I'm not a fine art curator so I didn't understand what all the fuss was about when they came to present the art to me and take my little picture for the magazine. As it turns out, the artist is a well known, gorgeous woman who has recently relocated from Georgia to Birmingham. They also gave me a copy of the Southern Living magazine in which her story is featured. I am now the proud owner of a beautiful canvas that I'm told is worth about $650 (and yes, Chase promptly asked me if we could sell it on Ebay). The picture below is not of my painting, but of a similar one. When I decide where to hang mine, I'll add another picture.

Cat Tesla Art

Excuses, Excuses....

I've been pretty bad at blogging lately, but I am having trouble uploading pictures....and I just can't post without pictures! (I'm a visual person - I blame my mother) Never fear: it's a long weekend, and I intend to figure out iPhoto while Chase is watching 24 hours of college football on Saturday.

Speaking of football, the official college season kick off was last night, and so all of our board games and Phase 10 cards have gone into hibernation until the season comes to a close. We all met up at Full Moon BBQ last night, stuffed ourselves, and then came back to our house to watch the pretty uneventful game.

It's so funny to see how excited Chase is for Saturday's Alabama game (and every other game that's airing on the channels we have). You would think it's Christmas morning. It's endearing, really. I love my football-lovin man.

I get pretty excited about football season too, but for all the wrong reasons. My dear friend and very good cook Katie starts making her famous cream cheese Rotel dip. This is soooo much better than the original Velveeta/Rotel combo. I've made it, once, in her absence for a Super Bowl party and it was super easy....but it always tastes better when she makes it. This dip and puppy chow (i.e. chocolate/peanut butter/powdered sugar covered chex cereal) are regulars at the Saturday get-togethers. I love it...and so do my thighs, unfortunately.

Katie's Cream Cheese Ro-Tel Dip

5 bars of Cream Cheese
1 large can of Ro-Tel
2 lbs of sausage (mild or hot)
1 bag of Tostitos Scoops

Place your crock-pot on the lowest setting (8 or 10 hrs). Brown your sausage and do not drain. Soften the cream cheese bars in the microwave for about 30 seconds. Place softened cream cheese bars in the bottom of the crock pot. Pour the sausage and Ro-Tel on top of the bars. Do not stir! Let it warm for about 15 minutes, and then stir. Once all of the ingredients are mixed up, turn your crock-pot to “Warm”.

Helpful Hints: Start making the dip about an hour before you want to serve it. Also, the longer the cheese sits in the crock-pot, the more likely it is to burn to the sides. Reynolds makes clear crock-pot covers that are definitely worth the investment. No messy clean up at the end of your party!

Mums the Word

Last weekend I made a quick trip home for my Aunt Crissy's baby shower (more to come on that later). On Saturday, we loaded up all the girls and drove to the Limrock Nursery. It's a total hole-in-the-wall place with a sweet old man who sells beautiful plants for dirt cheap! We each bought a few mums. I'm hoping mine will add a little color to our pitiful front yard. I will post some pictures when they bloom!