Weekend Tidbits

warning: this post is lame but I just needed to write about some mundane activity for my own memory... and because I'm feeling super nostalgic these days and don't want to miss a thing.

Labor Day Weekend: fun.  I don't think Karl & I have had a 4-day weekend, just the two of us, at home, ever.  Normally we take advantage of these long weeekends time off to fly home or go visit family or friends in the area (and by area, I mean 3-4 hour radius) but this weekend has been so nice and long and wonderful!  I feel like the funk of being bored in Sumter wore of a few months ago and we have just been determined to stay busy and find something, anything, to do to fill our time and this weekend has been no exception!  Friday was spent preparing for what has been a continuation of the longest anniversary celebration ever- we had anniversary pictures taken at our home on Saturday so obviously I have been cleaning and 'styling' our house all week and tied up loose ends Friday... and baked these little mason jar cake gems after seeing them on my cousin Lincoln's blog and being challenged by her to try them myself.  So I did.

I'll be posting on those little bad boys later this week because a) it was really fun to make them b) they are delicious and c) I learned a darn good many things in the process because the blog where the recipe originated  was ridiculously vague and for an amateur baker like myself (and unlike Lincoln), I need like detailed step by step with absolutely nothing left out.  

Anyways... the pictures on Saturday went swimmingly and Karl & I had a really awesome time with the photographer, however, we are both SO SUPER awkward in front of the camera that I basically put no stock in how the pictures will turn out.  I will certainly blog more on that when I get the photos back but it's pretty much a crapshoot.  I chose a stranger to shoot them in hopes that we would feel less awkward being all lovey in front of someone we know but whatever, we are just really uncomfortable in that situation no matter what.  I do love the photographer and I prayed that I will love the pics so that's what I'm banking on at this point.  After the pictures on Saturday we went on a date... to Red Lobster.  Yes.  Red Lobster, the nicest restaurant that I'm aware of in Sumter.  And thanks to Shane & Allison, it was freeeeeee for us because we had an awesome gift card from them!  YESSSSS.  It was so nice to eat out with Karl after our long hard day of being models.

Sunday we skipped church.  Heathens.  Well, we mostly skipped church because we knew that the sermon would be on Jonah.  For the 8th week in a row.  That's all I'm going to say about that.  We are struggling with church here.  Rather should I say, The Lord is wrestling with us and church here.  And we are either fighting Him or patiently waiting... not sure but if I know myself, it's the former.  We drove to Columbia and enjoyed walking thru a few stores and then enjoyed the absolutely gorgeous fall-ish weather while we sat outside of Starbucks and indulged in a latte... and maybe a pizza and hotdog at Target.  Then to top it all off we came home and played a rousing game of Phase 10 outside while Karl grilled one of my favorite meals that totally reminds me of home (thanks, Mom!)- Turkey Caribe

4-6 Turkey cutlets

  same number of American cheese slices as turkey cutlets

  same number of bacon slices as turkey cutlets... or double, if you love bacon as much as I do.

  1/2 tsp. garlic powder

  1/2 tsp. onion powder

  1/2 tsp. oregano

       mix the spices together in a bowl.  lay a cutlet out on a cutting board.  top with a cheese slice and sprinkle the spice mixture on top of the cheese.  roll up the turkey and cheese, wrap with bacon, and secure with toothpicks.  Grill or broil until bacon is crisp and internal temperature of turkey reaches 170 degrees.

Just an overall great day in general... except at the end of dinner when Karl & I were talking about this little procedure I'm having on Wednesday (related to the little steak stuck in the esophagus + ER visit = esophageal endoscopy on Wednesday) and the hypothetical situation of my dying came up (thanks, Karl) and I asked what he would do and he said he would probably move to Colorado to be by himself to heal and I burst into tears at the idea of him being alone and I couldn't stop crying.  So yeah, it was a super romantic dinner filled with lots of peace and comfort.

Today Karl plans to smoke ribs all day for our big Labor Day dinner tonight and work on a little woodworking project we've been talking about.  Can't wait to see how i turns out!  ANNND I ordered a planner.  That my mom bought me, even better.  I am obsessed with planners, like, every year LIVE to buy my planner for the next year!  Get this, I haven't even had a planner this year.  Ridiculous for me but I haven't needed one.  We have had such a low-key (read: mundane and sometimes boring) daily schedule that I have had no need for one.  BUT here we are facing a very busy year and hopefully a year with a job so I definitely am ready to have a planner again.  I love expensive, beautiful, efficient planners (as seen by the fact that I blogged about my last favorite one here) and cannot wait for my new planner to get here!  I ordered an Erin Condren planner and am going to be obsessed with it.

Back soon with the cake jar recipe ANNND I never wrote about Callie's visit but I want to include pictures so I will as soon as I have them!  I know all my millions of readers are just beating down my virtual door for the post.
Hannah K.C. Burton