Friday, May 16, 2014

We've moved!

Hey faithful followers or those who happened to stumbled upon our blog... we've moved!

Please click on the following link to see all the content and events going on the new home for our blog!

http://yankeebridesoutherngroom.weebly.com/ 

Friday, January 31, 2014

New Year, New Adventures

And just like that... it's 2014.
How is it that time passing can seem both super slow and super fast all at the same time?
2013 was a year of change for both of us, and as most will agree, the changes only continue, the decisions only multiply, and life without a doubt never stops.

We wanted to start you off with a treat. ANOTHER VLOG! Go ahead, click away and enjoy!
And please! Your feedback and suggestions for future Vlogs is always welcome :)



Living in the WHO DAT nation when you're a blood born Cheesehead can prove to be a bit problematic. As twisted as it may sound, I actually count it a blessing that neither of our teams made it to the Super Bowl this year. I can only imagine the pandemonium that would take place if they were head to head in it. I can say one thing for sure, as long as the Saints were in the playoffs this year there was plenty of irresistible food (fresh grilled oysters!) and quality time spent with Ryan's family. It was a privilege to be able to enjoy the game outdoors on such a beautiful 60 degree day. Back home, you'd be watching in an igloo.




Coming into this marriage we both have our own family's traditions which we've melded together through our daily lives, but what's even better is we've made a new tradition for ourselves. And that tradition is Sunday night prayer. Sharing this tradition with Ryan is precious to me and putting God first in your marriage really does make all the difference in the world.


We'd all like to you know we are officially tree huggers! Yeah, no. BUT! We are now the proud owners of two Red Oak seedlings. The local Covington Farmer's Market was giving away seedlings of various trees and before they were completely out of seedlings we snatched up ourselves two of them! The picture you see is what they will look like some day. For now they are cozy in two pots on our balcony, dreaming of their permanent home :)




FLASHBACK TIME: Weddings are one of my personal favorite social events. After all, I did meet my husband at a wedding. The picture on the left is one of our first dates, surprise surprise, at a wedding. And on the right now nearly 2 1/2 years later, we find ourselves at another joyous wedding. It's always fun to see how much we've changed in appearance.

When Ryan found rock climbing, it was kinda like boy meets girl. And as much as he hasn't been in a gym to train like he wishes he could, it will always be his first love (other than me of course..lol). We got the chance to visit his old home away from home, Slidell Rocks. I didn't climb that day but I did get the chance to meet the owners who are just the nicest people ever. They were so happy to see Ryan and find out he had gotten married since they saw him last :)


Being that we are in the winter season, I wasn't expecting much out of Louisiana except a cooler break in temperature and some freezing temperatures here and there. Well it seems that God just knows me all too well, and went a step further from my desire for cooler weather. Over January 27th & 28th we experienced a slushy, sleety, icey days, and partial snow in some areas. Now really in our area, the one picture is pretty much all I have to show for it. On the upside, kids were off of school for three days (the third day seemed kinda pointless in my opinion), which consequently meant Ryan was off. So with the time we got to spend in I decided to make a little "HAPPY SNOW DAY" treat for our neighbors in our building. Sad but true story, when we went to go deliver all the treats.. NO ONE OPENED THEIR DOORS!! Except for one person. I was a bit distraught as my treats were rejected by the neighbors in which I have never met. 


Being cooped up inside makes you really have to get creative and sometimes channel your inner child. What better idea could we possibly have had but to make a fort in our living room! The pictures show before and after as well as the 'spacious' inside. It was so cute and romantic. But little did we know our romantic mood would be killed by quite an unfortunate event. As we shared a kiss in our homemade fort, we suddenly were startled when the "HOME" sign that you see pictured (which was one of the supports for the blanket), came crashing down, with such force that it hit Ryan fiercly in the head.  I was shocked to see Ryan's bloody face as I came out from under the collapsed blanket fort. Ryan had to laugh, and I was freaking out! No worries he is just fine and suffice to say we will not forget that experience!





But now that I've ruined your appetite. Let's talk about food!
This was a month of good recipes!

Tomato Basil Soup! Ryan complains about the lack of meat (typical man), but he praised me for the abundance of flavor!
This is definitely a yummy favorite!

Oatmeal Coconut Chewies. This is not a new recipe but it is definitely a favorite. The name says it all and I paired mine with Earl Gray Tea which made for a sweet and cozy afternoon.


Teriyaki Chicken. Ryan loves to give me gifts and help in the kitchen. Luckily this doubled as both :) This is a super simple crockpot recipe and one we will be putting in our dinner repertoire. 


Two life hacks I learned from my mom. One: reuse an old pickle jar with the juice to make homemade pickles! And two: when using a whole chicken, use the leftover carcass for homemade chicken broth. Love it!


 Who says you can't have dessert for breakfast? This is a simple recipe for Cream Cheese Danish and it makes a ton!


Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes with Lemon Curd filling and Blueberry Cream Cheese Frosting. So the look of these cupcakes is a far cry from the recipe's photos. However, I absolutely love lemon poppyseed anything. It was a long arduous process, but they were a labor of love and full of sweet flavor!



Stuffed Pork Chops. From the recipe box of Martha Stewart, I was impressed by such a easy recipe yet daunting task of cooking pork chops. 

The last dinner we made was a very sentimental dish for me and rightfully so because we were sharing it with our next door neighbors. Alright alright, they aren't our neighbors anymore. I'm gonna miss being able to walk straight out my door and knock on theirs to say hello or drop of a little baked good of some kind. It's really a mystery why we haven't mentioned them before in this blog. Chris & Chelsea are an amazing couple. We find many things in common between our newlywed lives as we both are learning what it means to love, trust, and communicate as God leads us. We can be real with them and vice versa. We also happen to share the same anniversary, June 1st, 2013! Their friendship is a blessing and if it wasn't for Chelsea I wouldn't have my job at honda which I am blessed to have :) We'll miss living close to them, but all the more reason to make the effort to get together. OH! The dish, I completely forgot. One of my favorite dishes from my childhood, simple and comforting. Chicken & Rice. I also tried a new recipe for Bacon & Onion Green Beans.. soooo good!



WOW! If you've endured this long then you'll truly see how jam packed our month was! 
See you next month!!

Love, 

Audrey & Ryan


**DON'T FORGET: Pretty much all the recipe titles are clickable links that will take you right to the recipe in which I used.**

Thursday, January 2, 2014

VLOG TIME

Hey everyone!!

This month is something special. A video blog! About 30 minutes worth of December crammed in to our fun antics with commentary on videos and pictures.

We love you all and wish you a beautiful and awesome 2014!!!



Love,
Audrey & Ryan