Happy March 1st!

It has been awhile since we have published a post. However, we have many drafts. Looking through the drafts, I found the following about the girls first experience in snow from over a year ago. The pictures and videos we took were neat to watch and I thought I would share. :-)

And then it started to snow...

I woke up on March 1st to a lite drizzle that was beginning to stop. So, I thought it would be a good idea to continue to "prepare" for our upcoming camping trip and head out for the local horse park where the girls can run off leash and we all get to enjoy running some trails. Well, it started raining again about a mile before the park, but I thought we were going to get wet and muddy anyway, what could the harm be?

We explored two of our favorite trails and enjoyed splashing in the overflowing streams. However, it kept getting colder and the rain came harder in the woods so I decided to head for the car and the warmth of a hot shower at home.

Surprise Visitor

Over the Christmas break, we had some family friends from high school visit and have lunch with us. As we were talking in the living room, we saw the local animal control van pass by our house and then stop right in front of it. Our first thought was oh know, has Moxie jumped the fence....we made a quick look and she was curled up on the couch so it wasn't her.

We went out to inspect and found the animal control officer corralling a supermodel thin hound dog. The hound had tags and the officer was able to contact the owner who lived a few neighborhoods from our house. However, the hound was going to have to stay at animal control over night and the owner was going to have to pay a fine, a higher one because the dog wasn't neutered.

Well last night as we were heading to bed all of a sudden Moxie jumped out of bed and started barking. Normally, she responds pretty quickly and will come to us. However, this was different and she stood her ground by the front window. Guess who was outside in the dark, freezing night?

Meet Otis. The first picture shows a comparison of Otis and Bela to give you an idea of how big he is...he's large.

Using some peanut butter and a squeaky toy, Otis eventually came inside out of the cold. We were thinking that we would just simply coax him inside, look at his tags, and call his owner to come pick him up. Well, the best laid plans....Otis was missing his tags. Hmmm....is animal control open at 11pm? If we do call, what will they do?

So, we agreed that he could spend the night, after a few snacks and a meal. :-) The plan was to call animal control in the morning and see if they would give us the owner's phone number and then contact the owner.

Otis is definitely a puppy. However, he responds to sit, shake, and no. And we can happily say that he is house trained. The only accident was this afternoon, when Moxie finally got tired of Otis company and threw up. (We're not anthropomorphic, are we?)

Doug contacted animal control this morning and was able to speak with the officer we met over the holidays. And she happily gave us the owner's information and thanked us for helping her out. So it was quite an adventure but finally this afternoon the owner was able to pick up Otis, who likes to not only jump fences, but apparently dig under them too. Moxie and Bela were happy to see him go and resumed Lake recuperation mode....sleeping heavy.

Enjoyable Moments

Over the past few months, we have all kinds of things happening (Thanksgiving, Evelyn's Surprise Birthday Party, Dellaina's 3rd Birthday, Christmas times 4, Autumn & Myles visit, the Auwater's visit, the New Year, Andi's surprise birthday party, my certification exam, and probably more that I am forgetting...but our camera has been MIA. So, upon finding our camera this week, we decided to document some highlights. :-)

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

Athens Locally Grown is a weekly farmer's market composed of local Athens-area farmers. It has a great selection of quality in season produce and many other nifty items. Over the summer, I started reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and got really interested in local produce that has a minimal distance to travel to market as well as using food that is in season for my geographic area....all of which Athens Locally Grown does. (more on ALG later)

Right now, there is not as much produce available as there is in other seasons but there are greens and gourds, both of which are new to me in regards to eating and cooking. So, I decided to challenge myself and experiment.

Spaghetti Squash is a large gourd with a tough outer skin. In order to cook with it, it is necessary to slice it in have horizontally and roast it cut side down for about 30-45 minutes so that the inside is soft and able to be scraped out of the tough skin. Then you can eat it plain or add it to another recipe.

"Did you know that spaghetti squash contains a mere 25 calories per half cup? By replacing the pasta you would normally use when making spaghetti; this vegetable will not only lower calories and carbs drastically, but will also add to you & your family's intake of necessary nutrients. It is a good source of Dietary Fiber (our goal is 30-40 grams daily) Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Iron, and Potassium. " from: www.lucidnutrition.com

Back to my cooking...I decided to use the spaghetti squash in a lasagna which turned out to be really yummy. One reason being that I discovered what fennel seeds are. Fennel seeds are the flavor that is in sausage, so adding this spice to a tomato sauce is delicious! My recipe follows:

Ingredients:

• 1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded

• 1 onion, chopped

• 2 tablespoons minced garlic

• 2 (14 ounce) cans stewed tomatoes

• 1 tablespoon dried basil

• 1 cube vegetable bouillon

• black pepper to taste

• handful fennel seeds
  

• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

• 1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Spray a baking sheet with a thin layer of cooking spray. Place squash halves cut side down on the baking sheet.

2. Bake squash 35 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife can be easily inserted. Remove from oven, and cool.

3. Meanwhile, spray a non-stick saucepan with cooking spray. Over medium heat, saute the onion and garlic until golden brown. Stir in tomatoes, basil, bouillon cube, fennel seeds, and black pepper. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until you have a medium thick sauce.

4. Remove squash strands with a fork. In a glass baking dish, layer a spoonful of the sauce, a layer of spaghetti squash strands, and mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers or until all of the ingredients are used. Top with Parmesan cheese.

5. Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until Parmesan cheese melts.

Both, Doug and I, really enjoyed this meal. We would add garlic bread and perhaps a salad the next time we have it. I highly recommend trying this yummy and healthy recipe! :-)

Graduation is just around the corner...

I can't believe that I am about to finish my 2 year graduate program at UGA. My last semester started two weeks ago and I am busy with my internship and job hunting. I would LOVE to find an elementary counseling position in a county near our home, but I am being flexible with the job market.

In November, I decided to apply for the School Counseling Ed.S program and see if I got accepted. It is a one year program from May through the following July. Classes are during both summers and then two days a week during the school year. The program offers supervision of my cases which would be great as a first year counselor, especially if I am the only counselor at my school which is the case at most elementary schools. Also, there is a significant pay increase which seems to be the only way in the public schools to increase your salary (adding more degrees).Saturday afternoon, after my Saturday School, I opened the mail and received my acceptance letter! Yippee! So, even though I am graduating in May, I will still be in school until next July.

Happy Birthday, Daniel! Bananas Foster Style

Saturday evening, after my Saturday School, we picked up Garris and headed down to the Lake for a family weekend and celebration. All of the siblings gathered, along with cousin Joe. The cooks, lead by Daniel, made a delicious dinner of several types of ribs, broccoli, and mashed potatoes. For dessert, Daniel made Bananas Foster for everyone. Dellaina helped by scooping the ice cream and taste testing it. :-)


I am not sure if this is Daniel's favorite dessert or the one he enjoys making the most because of the fire. Basically, you cook the sliced bananas in a mixture of lemon juice(so the bananas don't brown), brown sugar, and butter sauce.

Once it thickens, in a another hot pan combine rum and Kahlua and then set it on fire. Pour the alcohol mixture into the bananas mixture and stir until the flame is extinguished. Then drizzle the mixture on top of vanilla ice cream and enjoy. It was delicious! And fun to watch. Andi and I both tried to capture the action and flames but neither of our cameras could photograph the flames.

Panther Creek Hiking/Camping Trip

Another draft that I thought we would share...:-)

Happy Fall!

Before the leaves had completely fallen, we decided to take the girls and go camping in North Georgia to see the beautiful leaves and have some family time. After laying out things in between tricker-treaters on Halloween night in preparation, we got out the door a little before lunch time on Saturday.

Thanks to some awesome guys at Charbons, we headed for Panther Creek which is located north on 441 about 1.5-2 hours from Athens. The trail has several campsites, waterfalls, and is VERY dog friendly. The girls wore bright colored bandanas during the day and their bright fleeces at night...it is deer season and at times they can look much like deer bounding through the forest.

The girls had a blast investigating the different sights and smells on the trail. There were quite a few people and dogs out and for the most part they did really well. Moxie loves the water and jumping from rock to rock. Bela has always just watched from the shore...however we found out that she LOVES jumping too!

Wedding Pictures

Hi all-

Included in this post is a link to our wedding photographer's website. Eric did an incredible job photographing the special event! We are very pleased and wanted to share his work with you. Doug and I are in the middle of selecting about 60 pictures to be included in our photo album. When Eric finishes our album, we will also have digital copies of all of our photos. We are thinking holiday presents! :-)

Enjoy!

http://www.joneswedding.oldgloryweb.com/