Thanksgiving Success

In my last post I went on and on about how I had to prepare my first Thanksgiving feast, about how nervous I was and about how I was doing tons of research on the matter. Now, three days later, I can officially say that my Thanksgiving meal was a success. Research definitely helped me out on this one. I can't tell you how many minutes, no, hours I spent researching the perfect turkey recipe, the perfect pie recipe, etc.

I also blogged about brining. Brining was relatively easy, cheap and definitely worth it - our turkey was the juiciest turkey we've ever tasted, thanks to the brining. Matt, who is not a huge fan of turkey, is now a firm believer in brining. Here is a picture of the end result:


I don't have a lot of pictures to show of the rest of the meal because, unfortunately, a lot of the pictures we took turned out blurry because the camera was on "landscape" mode. Bummer. I can tell you that the rest of the food was delicious and nothing was a disaster (phew!). Even the homemade dinner rolls turned out yummy (they can be seen next to the turkey in the picture above).

I would also like to give props to my hubby, Matt, for doing a great job carving the turkey. He's helped my dad in years past with the carving, but he's never done it completely on his own. So, thanks to the Food Network's Alton Brown and online videos, Matt carved the turkey beautifully. Sorry about the quality of the photo below, it was taken on my iPhone but it's the best one I have...


Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays and I'm sad to see it pass, but I can't wait to spend the Christmas season with my family...I get to see them so soon and can't wait!

Who Wants Turkey?

Every year since I was born, Thanksgiving has been spent at my parents' house. Since my family has become so large over the past few years, we've needed enough food to feed an army - okay, maybe not an army, but enough to feed seven adults and eight kids. We always have a ton of delicious food, which usually includes two turkeys, stuffing, cranberry salad, sweet potato casserole, numerous kinds of pies and more.

This year Matt and I are staying in Houston for Thanksgiving, which means I am making the Thanksgiving meal...and that I am baking a turkey for the first time. I'm very intimidated about cooking a turkey. The only thing I've ever done with a turkey is help my parents by injecting it and basting it. When I think about myself baking the turkey, I always picture the Griswolds' turkey from Christmas Vacation and worry that mine is going to end up something like it...maybe not that bad, but super dry nonetheless.

To try and remedy some of my fears, I have been doing a ton of research online on how to make the best turkey. Let me say this: there is a ton of information out there on how to cook an amazing turkey. They can be baked, grilled, barbecued or deep fried (which is my personal favorite, but there is no way I'm going to try and fry a turkey in gallons of scalding oil). I've heard that grilled turkey is delicious, but I feel that because this is my first turkey experience I should stick to the traditional method: baking.

Another technique that I have learned about is brining. Apparently, brining will create one of the most delicious and juicy turkeys that you have ever tasted if it is done correctly. The basic way to brine is to submerge the raw turkey in a bucket or very large pot of cold water with dissolved sugar and salt and refrigerate from eight to 24 hours. There are "brining mixes" at the grocery store if you would like a seasoned brine and you can also find brining recipes on a number of websites. I had never heard of brining until last week and I am seriously considering trying this step. If you're thinking about brining a turkey for the first time, a key thing to remember is to purchase a turkey that has not already been pre-brined or "enhanced."

Besides the turkey, my Thanksgiving menu so far includes salad, rolls, stuffing/dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole and pie. Don't let my fear fool you. I am actually pretty excited about making the Thanksgiving feast this year. Something that eases my anxiety is knowing that my parents are a phone call away if I have any questions. Any prayers are welcome and appreciated!

4 Years

May 14 was our 4 year anniversary. 4 years!! I honestly can't believe how fast it has flown by. It's fun to look back to see how far we've come since we were first married.

At the beginning of our marriage, we lived in Pensacola, Florida. Matt worked at Kay Jewelers and was finishing up his senior year at UWF while I was working in the Jewelry/Accessories department at Target. We had purchased our first house together a month prior to the wedding and were in the process of making it our home.

4 years later, we live in Houston, Texas. Matt is the Creative Services Director at HFBC and I'm working in the admissions department at First Baptist Academy Primary School. We have been here for about 10 months now and are about to close on our second house (we still own our house in Pensacola, but it is being rented).

It has been a really busy last couple of months, for Matt especially, so we decided to take a weekend trip to Austin. It was raining and storming most of the day on Saturday, so most of our "outdoorsy" plans had to be pushed to Sunday. We started the day with breakfast and by going to lots of little shops - Antique, Art, Furniture - all very eclectic and fun. Below is one of the streets we were on while shopping during the rainstorm. We found my street! If you look closely, you can see the capital at the very end of the street. Matt likes to compare the street to the Champs Elysees in Paris (ask him to pronounce it for you with the French accent...hilarious).



After shopping, we went to a really cute coffee shop on Lake Austin, called Cafe Mozart. It was right on the lake so we were able to sit on the covered deck and enjoy some coffee and cookies. The picture at the top of the blog is on the deck of the cafe. After the coffee shop, we drove around the Austin hills and looked at some of the HUGE mansions. The city was gorgeous! Here is the view from one of the hills:

That evening we went to dinner at Tree House Italian Grill. We sat outside on their patio and listed to a live jazz band while we ate. It was such a wonderful restaurant with great ambiance.


After dinner, Matt and I went to the Driskill 1886 Cafe for dessert. The cafe is located in a really old hotel that is rumored to be haunted. Even though we didn't see any ghosts, we did have a really yummy banana split!


After breakfast Sunday morning, we went to look at some caves in Georgetown which is just north of Austin. Matt had never been on a cave tour before so we jumped at the chance. The tour was about a mile long and really fun to see.


Matt was really excited, haha!



After the cave tour, Matt and I went on a boat tour of Lake Lady Bird. The weather was perfect and the boat ride was so relaxing. I love boats and the water so I was in heaven.


After the boat ride and a walk in the nearby park, Matt and I headed back to Houston. Even though we were only in Austin for 2 days, we really felt we experienced a lot of what the city has to offer. With it being the live music capital of the world, I'm sure we will visit often.

Procrastination

I know, I know. It's been far too long since I last updated my blog. The truth is, I'm a major procrastinator. I thought I was done with procrastination when I graduated from college and was finished with doing homework, but man did I fool myself. Whether it's procrastinating getting ready for work, doing laundry, or balancing the checkbook, I tend to wait until the very last minute to do things. Why do I do that? I'm trying hard to work on my procrastination problem. We'll see if it improves. Posting a blog has been in the back of my mind for a while but I just kept putting it off. Now that I actually want to post a blog, we don't have an internet connection at the condo so this blog post, unfortunately, will be pictureless since I'm posting from my work computer.

We actually did a bunch of fun things in February. First, we were invited to go to a Houston Rockets game by our sweet friends, the Murrays. A bunch of us from church went to the game and had our very own suite stocked with yummy food and drinks.

Toward the end of February, Matt and I went on a weekend road trip with our good friends, Michael and Laura Simpson. We started off by driving to Austin where we toured the State Capital, the University of Texas, and later had some delicious Mexican food for dinner. That night we went to San Antonio and stayed with the Simpson's good friends, Karen and Byron. Saturday we went to lunch at Rudy's "Worst BBQ in TX." This slogan is seriously posted on the sign but I must say, despite the description, it was really good BBQ! We spent the rest of our day visiting the Alamo and the Riverwalk, which was GORGEOUS! I've heard many people talk about how pretty the Riverwalk is, but I just never understood how beautiful it was until I saw it. We had such a great time walking around the river and enjoying the view. We ate dinner (more Mexican, of course) and capped off the evening with dessert at The Landing, a really fun jazz club where we saw the Jim Cullum Jazz Band perform. These guys have been performing at the Landing since the 1960's. They were spectacular.

A couple of weeks ago, we went to the Houston Rodeo. That night I got off work late so we didn't get to see the Livestock Show, but we saw part of the rodeo and Rascal Flatts perform. As you can imagine, Matt was ecstatic because he really likes the Rascal Flatts. We're going back tomorrow with our good friends, the Kisers and the Odoms, to see the Livestock Show.

That's what we've been up to lately. A few weeks ago, Matt joined an indoor soccer team so he's been training for that. He scored a goal during his first game! He joined toward the end of the season, so he's considering joining the summer league as well. I'll try to post pictures later.

Matt and I are going to Pensacola for a long Easter weekend and we couldn't be more excited! We haven't been back since Christmas so the trip is long overdue. Just a few more weeks!!

Pensacola Christmas Vacation

The recent Christmas holiday was fantastic! Matt and I made it to Pensacola around 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday. It was nice getting there before midnight for a change! Matt stayed a week longer than me to spend time with his mom, so unfortunately, we had to drive separately.

We had dinner with my parents that night and later visited Tara, my best friend, for our gift exchange. Tara recently moved back to the states from England where she and her husband lived for three years. It was so awesome seeing her again, even if it was only for a couple of hours.

We spent Christmas Eve preparing for the following day and visiting Matt's family. Since we've been married, our tradition has been to spend Christmas Eve with his family and Christmas Day with my family. It works out great because they live in the same city, not to mention they live within a mile of one another.

It has been really hard being so far away from family, but it makes our reunions with them so much more special. It was fun seeing everyone open up their gifts, especially the kids. They get so excited!

Matt and I went to the movies on Christmas Day and saw "Marley & Me" with my parents and Matt's mom and brother. First, I would definitely recommend the book - it was a great read. Second, the movie was also a good adaptation of the book. One minute you're laughing hysterically and the other you're balling your eyes out. It doesn't help that I'm a dog lover, but it definitely doesn't help that one of my dogs shares the name, Marley. If you see the movie or read the book, be sure to have some tissues ready!

For the record, we named Marley before we ever heard of the book. ;)

My good friend, Laura, drove from Tallahassee on Saturday just to see us! We had brunch at an amazing local jewel in Pensacola called "The Coffee Cup." I've been wanting to go there for a long time. I saw (and tasted) why so many people love it! The food was delicious and our waitress was really nice. After we ate, we headed to the mall to battle the crowds (compared to Houston, it was NOTHING). 

Later, Matt, Laura and I went to my nephew's first birthday party. Check out this awesome photo of Nikolaus chowing down on his first birthday cake! It was adorable.

After saying our sad goodbyes to Laura, Matt and I stopped by the Coleys' house. We were only there for a little while, but we always have a blast with Steve, Amanda and their precious daughter, Ava. Matt was excited that he was able to spend practically his last week with them just hanging out, playing with Ava and working on his Rock Band drum skills. We love hanging out with the Coleys!

Later that night, we joined the Coleys for an "After-Christmas" Party at Josh and Megan Moralita's house. It was great seeing all of our friends again, but unfortunately, I wasn't feeling well, so I had to leave a little early. It was hard leaving not knowing the next time I would see them again.

On Sunday, I headed back to Houston all by my lonesome. I sound pitiful, but it really wasn't that bad. I think I'm getting used to the eight-hour drive, which is hard to believe. It stinks being in Houston without my husband, but I know he's enjoying his extended vacation in Pensacola spending time with his family and friends. I only wish I could be there too!

After I returned to Houston, Matt stayed and spent time with some of our closest friends whom we miss so much. He was grateful to have an extra week to hang out with many of our closest friends for a New Year's "bashapalooza" (as Matt called it) at the Henrys' house.  I hung out with some friends from our Sunday School class where we spent the evening building a bonfire and shooting off fireworks. Even though Matt and I weren't together, we still had a lot of fun on New Years Eve. 

We miss all of you so much and can't wait to see you very soon! We hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas! Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

Three more days until Christmas...that's just crazy. I can't believe Christmas is this week. I feel like it was just yesterday that Matt and I moved to Houston, but that was five months ago! We are driving to Pensacola tomorrow and I can't wait! We get to celebrate Christmas with all of our families, friends and dogs (Marley & Macy) - we are so excited to see them all again! We are very lucky that our families are very close to one another so we won't have to travel all day on Christmas day. We are really looking forward to spending time with all of the people that we love the most. My best friend Tara just moved back from England so I'm ecstatic about seeing her and her husband this week. I also get to see my really good friend, Laura, who lives in Tallahassee. I just love reuniting with people that I haven't seen in such a long time! We just finished our Christmas shopping yesterday - FINALLY! It was a madhouse out there...and I thought Pensacola holiday shopping was bad. We're going to see the Nutcracker at the Houston Ballet tonight and then a full day of traveling tomorrow.

We hope all of you have a very Merry Christmas!

~The Arnolds

White Christmas

Anyone who knows Matt well knows that he loves cold weather.  So when he started his job hunt last summer, he didn't start looking in the south.  Anywhere with cold weather was good for him.  However, he figured out that cold weather must not have been in God's plan when we moved to Texas.  You can only imagine our shock when it started snowing last week.  I know it wasn't a lot of snow, but it was still exciting for us because neither Matt nor I have seen snow for nearly 15 years.  Here are some photos of our fun night:

We still have a lot of Christmas shopping to do so the next few days are probably going to be pretty busy.  Also, Shane and Shane plus Bethany Dillon are playing at our church Saturday so we're stoked about seeing them.  Next week we'll be driving to Pensacola for Christmas.  We can't wait!  We're so excited to see all of our family, friends and dogs again!