Monday, May 30, 2011

Happy Memorial Day



HIGH FLIGHT

Oh! I have slipped the surly bonds of Earth
And danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings;
Sunward I’ve climbed, and joined the tumbling mirth
of sun-split clouds, — and done a hundred things
You have not dreamed of—wheeled and soared and swung
High in the sunlit silence. Hov’ring there,
I’ve chased the shouting wind along, and flung
My eager craft through footless halls of air....


Up, up the long, delirious, burning blue
I’ve topped the wind-swept heights with easy grace
Where never lark nor even eagle flew—
And, while with silent lifting mind I’ve trod
The high untrespassed sanctity of space,
Put out my hand, and touched the face of God.

John Gillespie Magee, 1941


Our hearts are full of thanks for those that serve our country and defend our freedom. Today we especially think of Aaron's grandfather Dr. Paul Brown Long (served with Merrill's Marauders in Burma during WWII), Susie's grandather's O.B. Tillery (navigator, B17, USAAF WWII), Clifton O. Poythress (USAAF), and our brother-in-law Daniel Carlson (US Airforce, current)


(Pictures from our recent trip to the Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, FL)

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Millie is Here!!

Memo is my lifelong best friend and on Monday she become a mommy:

Susie Amelia Taylor (aka Millie)
8 lbs
20 inches

She is adorable and already VERY loved.

Update: You can go hear and see a video of her that their pastor took

Monday, May 23, 2011

Garage Sale Finds

On Friday I promised to share my weekend garage sale finds if there were any and I am happy to report what I found! Whitney and I set out to see what treasures might await us, but weren't really looking for anything specific. A lot of the fun is the perusing, but the fun was sweetened by the fact that we did land some deals.

Aaron had told me to be on the lookout for a stool for his classroom and I was happy to find this sturdy one for $5:


Remember one of my last garage sale buys, the wonderful tole chandelier? Well, I couldn't resist this similarly styled lamp for $4:

I think it will look just lovely once it is spruced up a bit! Perhaps I will paint the lamp and chandelier to be matching or maybe I will split them up and spread the vintage blossoms around our humble abode :)

Friday, May 20, 2011

New Things

1. Hanging out with the twins 3 days a week. They are cuties and I am enjoying getting to know them!

2. Performing The Magic Circle. I have been learning this educational touring show and had the opportunity to perform yesterday for the first time. (Not sure what I am talking about? Check out this video.) It was fun! I took my friend Rhea's spot since she is competing in a choreography competition this week. Go Rhea!! I hope you win!

3. We went to our first Restoration Academy graduation last night. That's right...Ronnie has completed his first year of teaching at RA. Go Ronnie, you did a great job! Graduation was really neat. There were 10 graduates and all of them are headed to college next year. 5 of them performed a rap that they had written- it was pretty cool.

We are looking forward to the weekend. I am looking forward to garage sale-ing with a friend on Saturday, maybe I will have some fun finds to share with you next week! Also I am looking forward to Susie Amelia's arrival. If she doesn't come this weekend, she will be here on Monday. Can't wait to meet Millie!!

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Easy Baked Eggplant Parmesan

I made Martha Stewart's recipe for Baked Eggplant Parmesan a while ago and we both loved it. The wonderful thing about this recipe is that it is frugal, meatless, easy to prepare and best of all, delicious!

I made this again on Monday night and again we weren't disappointed. I halved the recipe and would say it makes about 5 servings. You will need:

1 eggplant
breadcrumbs
1 egg
dried basil and oregano
parmesan cheese
grated mozzarella cheese
1 jar tomato sauce


Slice one eggplant into half inch slices. (I didn't bother to peel it and we didn't mind.) Mix bread crumbs with dried basil and oregano, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. I didn't measure these ingredients, just dumped and mixed.

Whisk together 1 egg and 1 T water. Dip each slice in the egg mixture and then the bread crumb mixture. Lay them out on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, then flip and bake for 20 more minutes.


Pour enough tomato sauce into the bottom of square casserole dish to cover the bottom, layer with eggplant, more sauce, and grated mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers ending with cheese. Sprinkle a little parmesan cheese on top as well.


Bake at 400 for 15 minutes. While it bakes make a salad and some angel hair pasta.

Enjoy!!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Coupons...How I have missed thee!

Today for the first time in about a month, I couponed at Publix. It was wonderful! :) I know for some using coupons is a chore, but I honestly really missed it. Call me crazy or nerdy, but I enjoy researching the deals, clipping coupons, and then of course saving a lot. My laptop has been replaced and recitals are behind me, so hopefully this will mean much more savings in the coming months (and also more blogging too)!

Today's trip:

$16.97 Spent, $49.84 Saved!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

What a Week!

Just when I feel like I am getting into a groove being a little more regular updating the blog life gets a little crazy! Between devastating weather, lots of dance recitals and a laptop that is on the fritz yet again, I have not updated so it's time for another catch up post as it has been a VERY full week and a half.

Last Wednesday morning we awoke early to tornado sirens. About 15 minutes later there were very scary strong winds and heavy rain. We lost power but didn't have any other damage. Sadly, my parent's neighborhood did not fair so well. They live in an older neighborhood with lots of beautiful tall trees. An F-2 tornado ripped right through their neighborhood and uprooted TONS of trees. Many landed on houses, cars, and blocked all the streets in the neighborhood. We are so thankful that my parents and their neighbors were all ok. We know that God was definitely merciful in saving lives when we see the many trees that smashed through houses. My parents lost lots of trees in their yard and had 2 and 1/2 trees on their house mostly above the kitchen. Thankfully they did not smash all the way through, although significant repairs will have to be made to the roof and the house frame.

My parent's house

I didn't get to see my parents house that day as the neighborhood was completely blocked by trees. In addition, things were getting canceled right and left as the weather guys reported even stronger storms and tornadoes headed our way for the afternoon and evening. They were quite serious about these storms and we decided that staying at our second floor apartment was not the best idea so we headed to our good friend's house with a basement and hung out there through the storm. As you have seen on the news these tornadoes were devastating to much of the state. Many lives were lost and the damage is unbelievable. Again, we are so thankful that our family was spared from damage and loss.

Aaron by a huge uprooted tree in my parents yard

Many of Aaron's students and coworkers live within the affected areas so it was a little nerve wracking waiting to hear news on them. In the end, we found out they were all ok. One student's family lost most everything to the storm and then lost even more to looters. With the help of friends and family we have been able to meet some of the needs of this student, but as more needs arise I might pass some of them on here on the blog.

The weekend came and it was time for my marathon of 3 CDF dress rehearsals and recitals. Wow....marathon is definitely the fitting term here! The kids were cute for sure and of course did some funny stuff on the stage. My older classes did beautifully and my little 3 year old classes were especially entertaining. I had 2 little girls discover a sequin on the stage and they were totally distracted by trying to pick it up. So distracted in fact, that the got into a fight over it. I had to intervene and remove the tiny sequin...needless to say, the audience was highly amused.

In all this craziness would you believe that I haven't used coupons at Publix in about 3 and 1/2 weeks?! I have been shopping at Aldi and also we have eaten a lot of the food that was in my parents refrigerator. They ended up being without power for about a week so we rescued their stuff and they ate here at our place some. Thanks Mama and Daddy for the food!

My dance classes are coming to an end next week. This weekend is my last round of recitals for the year! I will then be jumping into a new adventure for the summer. I will only have a few dance classes for the summer, so I will be working as a part time nanny 3 days a week for a family from church. I will be hanging out with a very cute set of 7 month old twins! I am looking forward to the change of pace for the summer. Aaron will finish teaching in the next few weeks and then plans to teach summer school in June.

Sorry for the very long post, but that is a little update on our lives. Hope that you all are well!