Oh what a mess!

Everywhere I look is a mess! Boxes, bags, piles... Chaos. This is what my room looks like. This is what the basement looks like. This is what the garage looks like. No matter how many times I attempt to clean or sort there is seemingly an unmountable amass of stuff that we have somehow accumulated. Since we have been staying with my parents most of our stuff is packed. Of that I am grateful, but even so there is so much to do before we exit the DMV and enter North Carolina. I am ready to just be done with it. Between my graduation, work, planning my sister's shower when I come home I want to just sleep! Jon was able to come home this weekend which was a welcome distraction. Although we got some packing done it was no where near what I thought we would accomplish. Maybe I have unrealistic expectations? Seeing as though my friend Serinia and I only accomplished 3 measly boxes in our "packing" day maybe I'm shooting for the stars. From here on out I just plan to do a little a day. Maybe then I will see the sun rising above the horizon of my mountainous collection of stuff. As one of my new favorite quotes says... "If plan A doesn't work the alphabet has 25 other letters stay cool." Oh and i almost forgot about the wedding I am working on. It's coming along. We were working on centerpiece samples this week. I'm excited how they came out...

Tuesday Suppers

I have finally gotten some normalcy back to my life and schedule. Except for the disarray that is my bedroom and the mounting boxes in the garage everything is pretty much back to normal. Who am I kidding! My life will be anything but normal in the next 4 weeks. We have started looking for a house in Jacksonville so hopefully we'll find something that works for us soon. The process is more than daunting and I am starting to feel a little crazed. What do I know about renting a house 6 hours away?! My Dad has helped us get in order the steps we need to take, but I am still a little apprehensive. With that being said I have been cooking so I can get back into posting some more quick weeknight suppers. This week is Pan Seared Chicken Breast Tenders with Parmesan Garlic Roasted Broccoli and Steamed Brown Rice...

8 chicken breast tenders
2 crowns of fresh broccoli, florets separated from the stem
olive oil
2 tablespoons of grated parmesan cheese
2 cloves of garlic, minced
salt
pepper
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 cups steamed brown rice

1. Preheat oven to 400F
2. On a baking sheet arrange broccoli so it is in a even layer. Toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, minced garlic, salt and pepper
3. Roast in oven for 15 minutes.
4. Remove the broccoli from the oven and sprinkle with parmesan cheese
5. Heat olive oil to coat the bottom of a medium skillet over medium heat 
6. Season chicken breast tenders on both sides with the garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper
7. Add to skillet and brown on one side without moving for 5 minutes
8. Flip and cook through on the other side, remove from pan and allow to rest for 10 minutes
9. Season the steamed brown rice with the butter, salt and pepper.

Enjoy!

Finals, Orders, and New Adventures

I'm so sorry to have neglected this space for so long. So much has happened in 2 weeks. I have finished all my finals and will be graduating in a few weeks. I really thought I would never get here. Of course it was always a goal of mine but when you're elbow deep in textbooks, Legos, and other responsibilities it's easy to get discouraged. So I am just glad this one part is done and I can kind of catch my breath for a moment. So on top of finishing up finals Jon got his orders!!!! So in just a little over a month we will be moving to.... Jacksonville, NC! That's right he will be at Camp Lejeune and we will be starting another new adventure. It's strange how I was anticipating this time when we found out where we were moving to but it actually was quite anticlimactic. Needless to say we are looking forward to tackling this adventure together. We only have about 25 days till he graduates and it can't come soon enough!

Tuesday Suppers

So let me start by saying I am postponing my Tuesday Suppers post. I have been crazy busy with finals and projects I have barely eaten this past week for dinner. When I get home I pretty much have been working on my final projects and papers for school. Seeing as though tonight's dinner consisted of microwave popcorn and raspberry lemonade I think postponing the post would be in everyone's best interest. Ahhh I feel like I'm back in culinary school. Back to the days when a bag of chips was all I saw in the way of food outside the classroom. Yes me and my fellow culinary students ate many a bag of microwave popcorn. What you thought we were whipping up Beef Wellington with whipped potatoes and haircot verts? I'll be the first to tell you we all probably ate just as much if not more junk food as the average college student. Well my books aren't going to study themselves... Or can they? Any suggestions? At least I have one thing to smile and dance about... Just broke the 30s! Happy dance ensue now!