Wedding Plans So Far...

Even though our goal was not to get stressed with planning the wedding, that goal was quickly broken.  There have been many moments when I have felt so overwhelmed with all that needed to be done!  And as luck would have it, Sean has been asigned to a project in North Carolina for the next three months, starting this past Wednesday (July 21st). 

There were two things that have already been checked off of my to-do list: wedding dress (ordered-will arrive on September 13th) and date (we are hoping for Friday, October 22).  Now it is time to find a place that is available on that day!  We picked Friday because 1) we figured it would be easier to find a place, photographer, etc. that is still available on such short notice on a Friday as opposed to a Saturday, 2) a lot of places offer a discount if the event is on a Friday, 3) I like even numbers (weird, I know), 4) we don't want a winter wedding, so that is how we narrowed it down to the month and day...

Here is a list of just some of the places I called to see if we could have the ring-exchange ceremony and reception:

1. Woodlawn Plantation, Alexandria
2. Westin at the National Harbor
3. Charthouse Restaurant
4. Torpedo Factory
5. Hollin Hall, Alexandria
6. Waterford in Springfield
7. Waterford in Fair Oaks
8. River Farm
9. Officer's Club at Fort Belvoir
10. Marriott Hotel Fairfax at Fair Oaks
11. Bethesda Marriott
12. Bethesda North Marriott
13. Crown Plaza, Silver Spring
14. Crown Plaza, Tysons
15. Mount Vernon Inn
16. Oatlands Plantation
17. Westin Alexandria
18. Westfield's Marriott
19. Landsowne Resort
20. 1757 Restuarant, Leesburg

After calling tons of places (I think I might have called every possible location in Northern Virginia!), we narrowed it down to go and visit four last Saturday:  The Westin at the National Harbor, Indigo Landing, Bethesda Marriott, and The Waterford in Springfield.  The Westin is definitely amazing, Indigo Landing (where I intially wanted to have it-just by looking online, wasn't nearly as great as we thought it would be), and The Waterford was OK.  While we were driving home, Sean suggested us stopping by the Marriott at Tysons - where he stayed for 9 months before finally moving here.  We decided it couldn't hurt, so we did.  The receptionist immediately recognized him and personally showed us the newly renovated ballrooms and she suggested we call her good friend, Ana, who works at the Westfields Marriott, and that she would talk to Anna and tell her about Sean, etc.  (Westfields Marriott is INCREDIBLE!  The front is all stone and it is absolutely beautiful!  Downside: it is about 2 hours from the temple with rush-hour traffic; we called to get a proposal but decided that it was simply too far away from the temple to even consider it further).

So, now it is down to the Marriott at Tysons or the Westin at the National Harbor.  The Marriott is giving us a phenomenal deal and it is in a great location for everyone, but the Westin is absolutely gorgeous-inside and out.  My personal deadline is today-we only have a few more hours to decide!!

We have our photographer lined up...  He is coming up from Virginia Beach just for us!  I found out about him a couple of years ago when a co-worker went to her friend's wedding and used him-he is incredibly talented and I'm super excited that he will be taking our pictures!

On Thursday, my closest friends met me at David's Bridal so they could try on their dresses - they are so pretty!  (Another big check off of the to-do list!).  Dresses, jackets, and shoes will all be ready on September 9th for pick-up.

The invitations are posing to be a bigger issue than I ever imagined...  I want the pocket-kind of invites so that everything is all in one place for the guests, but it has been harder than I thought to find navy-blue pocket invites.  Crazy, I know.  I thought navy blue was a common wedding color.  At any rate, I might be making them with the help of my fantastic friends!

Trip to New York with Ethan and My Dad

During the winter, Dad and I talked about taking a trip to New York to do family history and to visit some family that still live there.  When we contacted them, we were told that we should come for the annual Firemen BBQ in July.  So we decided to wait and drive up on Friday, July 16th...

It was such an amazing trip!  It was great spending time with my dad and Ethan, seeing where my dad's family is from, and to meet our relatives that I haven't seen in over 10 years.  We even had time to go to two of the churches there and we found where some of our relatives are buried, including my great, great, great, great grandpa, Lawrence McGinnis-who is the one who came to America from Ireland!  It was so awesome!  (I'm really into family history so this really meant a lot to me).  Oh how I wish we could ask them questions! 

Friday:  Ethan and I were scheduled to be at Dad's at 6:45AM so that we could leave by 7.  We were running late so we didn't get there until 7:15 (opps!).  Dad was a great sport about us being late and we hit the road.  We were so busy talking, though, that we totally missed our exit, so we had a nice tour of Northern Virginia on 495:)  We arrived in Hunter, New York, checked into our hotel, and then went to Hunter Mountain (a big ski resort and it was conveniently right across the street from our hotel).  We went on the ski lift up mid-way of the mountain (the rest of the ride is closed because they are installing new ski lifts).  We got off and walked around-it was absolutely beautiful!  Afterwards, we went to a church and walked around the cemetary looking for any family members.  It was here that we found Lawrence McGinnis, his wife, and one of his daughters (who passed away when she was only 19).  The church is really deteriorating, as the roof is caving in and there were several headstones that were broken and just put along the wall of the church - it was really sad and it makes me worry about what is going to happen to my ancestors' final resting places.  From there we went and met with Erin McGinnis (who married my dad's cousin, Ray McGinnis)-who was getting things ready for the big BBQ on Saturday.  After a short visit, we went to the other local church and found my dad's dad's grave, and his grandparents graves.  After a long day, we grabbed a bite to eat (easier said then done-the main part of town lost power so we had to drive around for a little bit until we found a local pub that still had power!).

On our way up the Mountain!

Ethan giving me flowers he picked while we were walking around the ski trails of Hunter Mountain

Church where my great, great, great, great grandfather is buried (7512 Main St., Hunter, NY)

Headstones that have been broken and placed along side of church

Ethan next to Lawrence McGinnis (immigrated from Ireland)

Flowers Ethan left for our ancestors

Lawrence McGinnis, Died May 22, 1878 60 years old; Margaret Erskine, his wife, Died December 12, 1895, 76 years old

627 Platt Cove Road, Elka Park, New York

Saturday:  After a quick breakfast, Dad took us to Kaaterskill Falls.  These are beautiful waterfalls that can partially be seen from the main road up the mountain on your way to Hunter and Tannersville.  We hiked around and up to the second set of falls.  My dad told me that he remembers when his dad and grandpa took him there-it was neat to think that they had been in the same place together and how Dad was passing down this special place with us. 

Kaaterskill Falls - the background picture is the view of the falls from the road; the picture of my dad in the top center picture and the picture of the falls in the lower right corner are the second set of falls that we hiked up to (you can see them a little bit in the background picture-they are at the top, right under the picture of my dad).  There are even more falls higher up, but we didn't have time to hike up to them.

Quickly, we stopped by the hotel so Dad and Ethan could take a swim in the hotel pool before we set off for our old-fashioned train ride with Elaine and Al (relatives).  I know, I know-I need to break down and buy a bathing suit!  I still had fun watching them swim and race each other from one end of the pool to the other! 

After 15 minutes of swimming, we left to meet Elaine and Al  at an old fashioned train station and took the hour and a half train ride along the river.  Elaine shared with us memories of her working all day in the fields and then jumping into the river - how fun!  Al is really into family history, too, so we were able to trade our information that we have found.  I REALLY look forward to comparing what I have to what he has, and keeping in touch! 

After the train ride, we all ate lunch at a cute little restaurant in Phoencia, NY; then went to the house that my dad's dad built and the house that Elaine grew up in - the houses are right next to each other (yes, we even parked in the driveway and got out and walked around-luckily the owners weren't home and the neighbors didn't seem to concerned!).  It was amazing to think that my great grandfather was able to build such a quaint little home-long before power tools and all of the conveniences that we have today.  Oh, if those walls could talk and tell the many stories and memories that were created within them!  Dad and Elaine shared with Ethan and me many memories that they had in the home.  Dad even pointed out the homemade bird bath that his dad made, and all of the stones that were hand-picked and carefully placed to make the small wall (which I didn't take a picture of-next time I will!). 

It's hard to see in this picture, but the smaller rock on top has a natural curve in the middle, so when my grandpa found it, he put it on top of this big rock and kept it filled with fresh water so the birds would have a nice bird bath:)

526 Platt Clove Road, New York

A busy day was wrapped up by attending the annual Tannersville Firemen's BBQ!  The food was delicious and it was great to sit and chat with family:)

Sunday:  Packed up and hit the road back to Virginia!  What a great trip!  It was definitely too short, and we are already planning another (longer!) one for next year.  There is surprisingly a lot to do in the small town and although we were non-stop busy, we didn't even get close to doing all that we wanted to do.  Hopefully next year we will even be able to go tubing down the river.

Great time, people, and memories!  I'm so grateful that we were able to go and learn more about our family!

Recipe

Last week I tried another new recipe and simply haven't had time to post it on here, so here it is: 

3 Cheese Pasta Bake
1 can condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 package (8 oz) shredded two-cheese blend
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 cups corksrew-shaped pasta (rotini), cooked and drained

Stir the soup, cheeses, milk and pepper in a 1.5 quart casserole.  Stir in the pasta.  Bake at 400ºF for 20 minutes or until hot.

SURVEY SAYS... it's a keeper!  It is incredibly easy and really good!  Frozen veggies, chicken pieces, or pieces of ham can be added to it, too, so it is a recipe that definitely has some flexibility.

I don't know where I currently am with my New Years Resolution of making 3 new recipes a week, but hopefully I'm close to my goal!

July 4th, 2010 & Sean's Proposal!

This year our 4th of July started just as any other one would... we went to Mom and Dave's house of course!  Our old nieghbors, Keith and Laura came, as well as Annie, Amanda, Cherie, Meg, Bobby, and Sean.  We played games in the field in front of their house (Washers and Cornhole) where Annie learned her hidden skills at Cornhole!  Afterwards, we went into the backyard and had a yummy BBQ; followed by a hysterical game of Catch Phrase ("reality, reality.. you know-reality!") between the ladies while the guys watched.  As it started to get dark, we all moved back into the front and Dave proceeded to light all of the fireworks he bought-with Ethan and Ryan being our designated firefighters.  Shortly after we ran out of our own fireworks, the ones from the nearby country club started.  They were so pretty!  They had some new ones this year, which were really neat to see.  It never ceases to amaze me at how pretty fireworks can be!

By the time the show was over, it was nearly 10PM, so Meg, Bobby, Cherie, Annie, and Amanda all went home.  I went inside to start gathering our things while Mom, Dave, Keith, Laura, and Ethan went out back to show Ethan the new lights that Mom and Dave hung up in the backyard.  While I was trying to get all of our stuff packed up, Sean told me he wanted to show me something.  I remember him being pretty insistent that he show me...  So we got in his car where he drove me to my old elementary school.  When we got there, there were a lot of people in the parking lot, apparently they watched the country club's fireworks there.  So we went back to my parents house-all the while I was asking what he was doing and that we needed to get Ethan home and into bed.  We ended up sitting on the curb in front of my parents house and he pulled out a little box that he made for me.  On the top it says "How Do I Love Thee..." and inside were 40 hearts, each with reason why he loves me written on them.  He then handed me 10, and told me that he wanted me to read them first.  So I went through them, and the last one said, "Because you said yes" - he then got on his knee, pulled out a ring, and asked if I would marry him!  I was in total shock!  I couldn't believe it. 

The ring is beautiful!  A couple months ago we went looking at rings so Sean could get an idea of what I like.  We also looked online and found one that was really cool looking from the side (we learned it is called a "trellis").  I liked how it was different than the sides of all of the other rings that we saw and how it was just really different... We showed it to the Jared's employee who was helping us (Deeno) and he stated that it is hard to make with the size of the center diamond Sean was thinking about (he never did tell me-he had me turn around when he whispered it to Deeno!) and that it would have to be custom made because they didn't have any like that in the store.  I didn't really think much more about the "trellis" sides, but Sean and his new best friend, Deeno, were able to custom make it just for me!  Everyone is always commenting on how pretty the ring is-Sean definitely did a great job:)

Sean and I are engaged!

July 4th-Recipe

Usually I make the traditional Flag Cake for July 4th, but this year I wanted to try something different.  I went online and found the recipe below and decided to give it a try:

Stars and Stripes Grand Finale Cake
2 pints fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/2 cup white sugar
1 (.25 ounce) envelope plain unflavored gelatin

2 pints fresh blueberries
1/2 white sugar
1 (.25 ounce) envelope plain unflavored gelatin

2 (10.75 ounce) loaves angel food cake, sliced 1 inch thick
2 (8 ounce) tubs frozen whipped topping, thawed

1.  Mix half of the strawberries, 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1 envelope of gelatin in a bowl. Set aside at room temperature to allow the juices to develop and the sugar and gelatin to dissolve, about 15 minutes. Heat in the microwave for 2 minutes on full power, or until gelatin has dissolved. Stir to blend in the gelatin and then mix in the remaining strawberries.


2.  In a separate bowl, mash 1 cup of the blue berries with the back of a fork. Stir in 1/2 cup of sugar, and 1 envelope of gelatin. Set aside at room temperature to allow the juices to develop and the sugar and gelatin to dissolve. Heat in the microwave for about 2 minutes to melt the gelatin, then stir to blend. Mix in the remaining blueberries.

3.  Cover the bottom and sides of a springform or a tall, removable bottom tube pan tightly with aluminum foil to keep the juices from seeping out.

4.  Pour all of the strawberry mixture into the bottom of the cake pan, cover completely with slices of angel food cake, tearing or cutting pieces to fit in a tight layer. Spread 1 container of whipped topping over the first cake layer. Make a second layer of angel food cake, like the first, and pour the blueberry mixture evenly over the top. Arrange the angel food cake in a third layer on top of the blueberries, spread the remaining container of whipped topping on top. Finish the dessert with a final layer of angel food cake.

5.  The layered cake will be higher than the edges of your pan. Carefully lay a large piece of aluminum foil over the cake and place a baking sheet on top. Invert the cake, press the cake firmly onto the baking sheet. Weigh down the mold, using pie weights or bags of dry beans or rice; refrigerate 8 hours, or overnight.

6.  Soak a kitchen towel in very hot water, wring out excess water, and wrap the towel around the cake pan; let stand for 1 minute. Remove the towel. Holding the pan and plate together, shake the cake back and forth to release it from the sides of the pan. Open the springform ring carefully, or pull back the sides of the tube pan. Do not force the cake to release. If it continues to stick, repeat the procedure with the hot towel.
 
WHAT I FOUND OUT:  OK, so I didn't have the fancy "springform or a tall, removable bottom tube pan" but thought a Bunt Cake pan would work fine.  WRONG.  When it was time to get the cake out of the pan, it was impossible, without totally destroying it.  So, I had to serve it to everyone in the bunt cake pan!  Oh, well.  Also, the bunt cake pan definitely did not have sides that were tall enough, so I wasn't able to make all of the layers as the recipe called for (no matter how much I tried to flatten it all down!).  The overall product was OK... as in, I won't ever make it again, but I learned what a Springform Pan is and how, if a recipe calls for it, USE it!

Ethan's Excitement for Church Continues...

Ethan during Sacrament on July 4, 2010...

Well, at least he was quiet! :)

My New Spice Rack

So I know this sounds lame, but the shelf where I kept my spices has really been driving me crazy.  The spice containers were all crammed with other cooking/baking stuff, stacked on top of each other, and whenever I needed one, it tended to be at the bottom in the back and I would always knock all of the others over in the process of getting the one I needed.  I looked online for a spice rack and I didn't really see any that I liked enough to buy (spice racks are surprisingly expensive!  Well, at least they are more money then I want to spend on one) and the ones I did like would not fit into the small space where I wanted to put it and you had to empty the spices in small magnetic containers (which are an additional cost and I would run into the dilemma of where I should store my extra containers, etc).  I saw one and it gave me an idea of making my own and altering it to make it work for my needs.  I immediately went to Lowes on a mission to get the needed supplies!  Long story short and three stores later, I couldn't find the main supply item that I needed to make my idea into reality (a piece of magnet about 6 inches wide and 2 feet long-I was going to use it as the backboard and then add a small piece of magnet to the back of each spice container). 
What's the next best thing aside from Magnets?  Velcro! (Thanks, Mom!).  So here is my "idea turned into reality" for my spice rack:

It cost about $35 (just the cost of the velcro and the hooks).  I used cardboard that I had from one of Ethan's school projects and modge-podged it with scrapbooking paper, stickers, and ribbon that I had.  Then I added rows of 1" thick velcro.  Afterward, I added a small peice of velcro to the back of the lids of each spice container and used stickers to write "Got Spice?" at the top of one of the boards, and typed out "'by small and simple things are great things brough to pass.'  Alma 37:6" on the top of the other board.  (I ended up having to make 2 columns of "boards" - with each column having 3 boards - so I would have enough space to add more spices as I buy more, but at least they are off of my small cramped shelves and I will always quickly and easily know which spices I own!) 

This is what inspired me to make this...

Below each of these are 2 more boards to add spices to... I have three boards full of spices already, and three more that are empty, ready for when I need to buy any I don't already have:)  They are hanging inside of my pantry, between the door frame and the shelves-completely out of my way!