Long time no blog...

Hi friends! Sorry it's been so long since I've blogged, I have been SUPER busy. I'm hoping to have a bit more time for blogging now. Until then, I thought I'd put together a few pics of things I'm LOVING...

Cozy Fall clothes

Cool Fall nights cuddled up with a cup of hot cocoa by the fire

My new addiction...pinterest

Mostly, I'm just soooo loving that its Fall, its such a great time of year!!

I love how this time of year reminds us all of how much we have to be thankful for

In all things give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Happy Fall!

Can you believe today is the 1st day of Fall?!? This year is just going by way too fast!!

What's on your Fall Bucket List?

The other day, I stumble across this amazing blog....where I found this bucket list.

How fun, huh?!?! Full of everything I've been wanting to do this Fall - it's just perfect!!

Katie, from Loves of Life, printed her list off and I loved the idea so much that I did the same. I'm so glad I did because it's really started Kevin and I talking about when we will get each checked off!

On a related note, I lit my first Fall candle yesterday - woo hoo!! And with our amazing weather, I think it's safe to say....

Fall is Here!!!

It's Labor Day!!

College Football Friendly Recipes

Who's ready for College Football season?!?! It's gonna be a great year!!

The start of football season is the perfect time (for me) to grab my recipe binder and decide on some yummy dips for game days. Since BooMama is hosting a dip recipe link-up - DipTacular'11, I thought it would be the perfect time for me to post my top 3 fav dips!

The #1 fav dip in the Rooney house is Buffalo Chicken Dip {aka, Crack Dip}

- If you've ever had this dip then you know where the nickname comes from. If you haven't, beware, it's pretty addicting!

Here's how ya make it ~

8 ounce package of cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup ranch salad dressing
1/4 cup blue cheese salad dressing
1/2 cup buffalo sauce or buffalo style barbecue sauce
1/2 cup crumbled blue cheese (shredded mozzarella cheese can be substituted)
1 cup shredded chicken

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a deep baking dish, mix cream cheese, salad dress, buffalo sauce, and cheese. Stir until combined. Stir in chicken.
Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until the dish is heated through. Serve with crackers, pita chips, sliced bread or vegetables.

Our 2nd fav has got to be Paula Deen's BLT Dip. This recipe is so easy yet so yummy! Perfect game day combo!!

Here's the recipe for this one ~

1 cup crumbled bacon

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
Iceberg lettuce shredded
2 large vine-ripe tomatoes diced
Sea salt bagel chips

Combine the mayonnaise and sour cream in a small bowl with a snap-on lid. When well mixed refrigerate until serving time. When ready to serve combine ingredients in a large serving bowl by placing one layer of the mayonnaise mixture then a layer of lettuce tomatoes and bacon. Repeat layering as desired. Serve with bagel chips.

Last, but certainly not least - Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Dip! No explanation needed on this one, the dip speaks for itself!!

Here's the recipe ~

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 (8-oz) pkg cream cheese
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar
3/4 cup semisweet mini chocolate chips

In a small saucepan, melt the butter with the brown sugar over medium heat. Stir continuously, until the brown sugar dissolves. (You can also do this in the microwave but watch it closely. The butter/sugar mixture will boil over fast. Stir every 30 seconds or so.) Remove from heat, whisk in vanilla extract and set aside to cool. Beat the cream cheese and confectioner’s sugar for 1 minute. Slowly beat in the cooled butter mixture and beat again for another minute. Stir in the chocolate chips. Pour into a serving bowl and refrigerate. Garnish with additional chips, if you choose. Serve with Nilla wafers and/or graham crackers. Enjoy!

Do you have a Football favorite dip???

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is....

---

Thanksgiving is a
time of gratitude to God,
our Creator and Provider,
whose guidance and care
go before us...
and whose love
is with us forever.

Thanksgiving is a time
to reflect on the changes,
to remember that we, too,
grow and change
from one season of life to another.

Thanksgiving is a time
of changing seasons,
when leaves turn golden
in Autumn's wake
and apples are crisp
in the first chill breezes of fall.

Let us remember the true meaning
of Thanksgiving.
As we see the beauty
of Autumn, let us acknowledge
the many blessings
which are ours...
let us think of our families
and friends..
and let us give thanks in our hearts.

~~Author Unknown~

Wishing you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Time to Talk Turkey

Thanksgiving is almost here!! Yay, yay, yay!! I love Thanksgiving!!! I love that the holiday is about being grateful, giving thanks, spending time with friends and family....love all of it!!

Ok, on to the menu!! Yes, the turkey is the star of the menu but I'm more of a "sides" kind of a girl. Don't get me wrong, I love turkey but, Thanksgiving just wouldn't be the same without all the delicious sides!!

I think I finally have our menu planned out! Which is good since I've got to do my grocery shopping today...yes, I'm going grocery shopping 2 days before Thanksgiving - I'm kinda scared. Wish me luck, I'm - eeeekk!

Our 2010 Thanksgiving Menu

Smoked Turkey

White Wine Sage Gravy

Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce

Baked Brie en Croute with Apple Compote

Bacon Leek Stuffing

Garlic & Herb Mashed Potatoes

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta

Maple Glazed Petite Carrots

Pioneer Woman's Dinner Rolls

Desserts:

Nantucket Cranberry Pie

Autumn Apple Pie

Maple Pumpkin Pie

Now it's time to set my Thanksgiving Day Game Plan!! By-the-way, if you're looking for a Thanksgiving day game plan inspiration, be sure to visit Annie. She has some awesome ideas!!!

Happy Fall!!

It's finally Fall - Yay!!! I don't know about you but, it's been a great morning in the Rooney house. We got our morning run in and now we have a pretty lazy day ahead of us - which I am super excited about. Things have been hopping on the Ortho floor lately, I'm ready for some downtime!! My plans for today include - napping, baking (maybe some pumpkin beer bread and some kind of fall-ish muffin???) and, of course, watching the Sooners and the Hokies!!!

Go Sooners - Beat Cincinnati!!!!

Go Hokies - Beat Boston College!!!!

Have a great Fall weekend blog friends!!!!

Things I LOVE about Fall

Since Labor Day is over and Football Season has began, I can officially say I feel that Fall is here!! I LOVE Fall (I feel like I say that about every season - ha!)....and I love pretty much everything about it....

Yankee Candle's Autumn Collection...I may have a small candle addiction. I just love my candles!!

...Leaves Changing Color

Crisp Cool Mornings - perfect for jogging!

William Sonoma's Mulling Spices on my stove

Bath and Body Work's Creamy Pumpkin Wall Flowers

Autumn Bouquets

OU Football & VT Football

Fall's color palette! Red, orange and gold - some of my favorite colors to decorate with

Fires in the fireplace

ps...I LOVE the tile around this fireplace!!

Sleeping with the windows open

Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte

I was pretty excited to see that these were back!!

I love, love my pumpkin spice lattes!!

Apple Cider

Hot Cocoa

And, most importantly...our Anniversary!! I can't believe that Kevin and I will be celebrating out 2nd anniversary next weekend! Time has just flown by!! Honestly, I feel like our wedding was just a few months ago - ha!!

Our Thanksgiving

What a wonderful day! It was just Kevin and I and while we both missed our families, we had an absolute blast!

In the morning we cooked while watching the parade - gotta love the Macy's Day Parade!

My sous chef/amazing husband was a HUGE help in the kitchen!! :) Even all of my baking/cooking stuff (with the majority of the rest of my stuff, including shoes - eek!) is in storage while we are here in our little furnished corporate apartment, I still had big plans for this Thanksgiving....which meant that we had to get pretty creative with what we had - it's times like these that I'm glad I'm married to an engineer, he's super creative when it comes to stuff like that! ;)

Even with the lack supplies, we were still able to have an amazing Thanksgiving dinner that we both prepared together (- which was by far the BEST part).....I am so thankful for such an wonderful husband & sous chef. ;)

.....that all being said, I may have worked him a bit to hard - because, when I turned around here's how I found him.....don't worry though we totally took a lllloooonnnngggg nap after we ate! Ha!

After our nap, during our James Bond Marathon (which has become quite the tradition of ours) we decided it was the perfect time to put up our little tree......

Even though it's small, I think it still provides the room with that great Christmas ambiance. :)

I hope everyone had an absolutely lovely Thanksgiving!!

I'm off to get some sleep before tomorrow morning...because it's BLACK FRIDAY!!! YAY!!

Let's Talk Turkey

....but, everyone knows that Thanksgiving food is soooo much more than just the turkey. Don't get me wrong, I love turkey (especially leftover turkey sandwiches - yum!) but, I think I might be more of a "sides" kind of a girl. ;)

I think we finally have our menu planned out - which is probably a good thing since Thanksgiving is tomorrow! Ha Ha!!

Our 2009 Thanksgiving Menu

Beer Brined Turkey

White Wine Sage Gravy

Cranberry-Lemon Sauce

Bacon Leek Stuffing

Garlic & Herb Mashed Potatoes

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

Brussel Sprouts with Pancetta

Maple Glazed Carrots

Pioneer Woman's Dinner Rolls

Desserts:

- Autumn Apple Pie

- Bourbon Balls

- Mini Pumpkin Pies

Can't wait to start cooking!! Yay!! And, of course, to start eating!! Ha!

Our Artsy Weekend

Omaha has a great theater and symphony hall and when we moved back we were determined to take advantage of these great resources. ....PS if you are ever in the Omaha area and are looking for something to do, I highly recommend checking them out!

Friday - Kevin and I have a great Christmas tradition of getting a real Christmas tree but, this year since we have a very small area, we chose to get an artificial tree this year. Luckily Garden Ridge is having some absolutely amazing deals and we were able to pick up this adorable little pre-lit tree....plus, I'm pretty exciting about being able to use this tree somewhere in our new house next Christmas!!







Saturday - Wow, Saturday was a busy and full day! I work on Saturdays so anything we do has to happen after 7pm-ish. Earlier in the week, Kevin and I learned that the Omaha Symphony would be preforming a special Patriotic performance and were pretty excited when were able to get tickets!! We had a terrific time!! The Symphony did a wonderful job! It was my first time in the Holland Center (Omaha's Symphony Hall) and I was super impressed - not only was it a gorgeous building but, the acoustics were just as impressive!

There were tons of Christmas trees - yay!! Gotta love the taken yourself pics! Ha!

Sunday - Earlier in the week Kevin said that he had a surprise for me for Sunday afternoon...but that was all he said. It's pretty hard to surprise me - and actually, this was the very first time I actually didn't guess my surprise....shocking!!! The surprise was tickets to Cirque Dreams Illumination!!! Since they were only in Omaha for 3 days, I never thought we would be able to go - hence, another reason for my surprise. I was soooo thrilled! The performance was out-of-this-world amazing!!! I've been wanting to see a Cirque Production for years!! The show was at Omaha's Orpheum Theater - which I thought was the prefect backdrop for this breath-taking show!!

When this pic was taken I had *just* found out what we were doing & I was super surprised!!

Another Christmas tree - yay!!! Luckily, this time a kind stranger offered to take it - sooo thankful!

That just about sums up our weekend! It was pretty full - BUT we still have to figure out our Thanksgiving menu - eek!! Soooo not like me to wait till the last minute to plan a menu! I *heart* menu planning!! ;)

Hope you had a great weekend!!

Our East Coast Adventures

While we were living on the East Coast, we found ourselves blessed with lots of time to do tons of traveling. It was so neat to have soooo much available just within a days drive – which meant that we took LOTS of day trips. Yay!!!

Virginia Tech - Of course, one of the first trips we took was to Kevin’s beloved Alma Mater – Go Hokies!! We ended up going on “move-in” weekend which was a bit chaotic BUT we had so much fun!

Philadelphia – Kevin’s Cousin attends college there were she is a dance major – how fun!!! We spent the day with her and did a bit of sightseeing. It’s such a beautiful and historic place.

Redskins - Attended a Redskins Pro Football Game....GO Skins!!!!!

Robooth Beach – having a beach nearby is a pretty exciting thought to this Midwest girl! We took every opportunity to hang out by the coast – we even headed up to this great little beach in Delaware.

Annapolis – I just LOVE Annapolis. Honestly, I feel as though it is the place I am meant to be. Have you ever been somewhere and just felt as though you were “home?” That’s how I feel every time I am in Annapolis. One day, I will live there. J

Washington DC – we have such an amazing capital. I feel so blessed to have been born in such a great nation. Since DC was just “down the street” we went quite often. We totally did some pretty tourist-ie stuff while we were there (which now I’m pretty happy we did) like taking a guided tour of the capital building and attending a show at the Kennedy Center. I just love DC and am so glad that Kevin will be traveling there pretty frequently….I will definitely be tagging along for some of those trips! ;)

Alexandria

Capitol

Kennedy Center

Baltimore – we lived about 20 minutes away from the inner harbor so it was kind of our go to place when we wanted something fun to do. It seems as though there was always something fun going on. I especially loved their aquarium!

Virginia Vineyards – Virginia has lots and lots of vineyards & wineries – I was in HEAVEN!! We visited several of them....here are 2 pics of vines from different vineyards (I don't remember where each was from though - sorry)

By far, my absolute favorite was Blackfoot Ankle Vineyards. It was just amazing! The facility itself was a completely “green” building. The building was built with straw and covered in mud (yup, dirt and water mixed to make a clay-like consistency). Even part of the roof is “green” – literally actually, it has a working garden on it!

Here's a sneak peak inside their walls....

Just as we found out we were leaving, one of my best friends was moving to the area....total bummer! But, we were able to spend some wonderful quality girl time together. Since Kevin has lots of friends in that area, we were also able to lots of time with those guys - including seeing one of his friend's new babies (yay for babies!!) and attending a wedding....I *heart* weddings!!!