Everything Changed!

On a night like this on a broken road
She is far from sleep, She is far from home.
For a baby's cries tear the still of night
She wonders why...

The future was bright and clear; she planned for a wedding day.
Her daddy would hold back tears, giving her hand away.
Now all her hope and fear in a cradle lay
For a baby came and everything changed!

On a night like this many years ago
As she held him close, she had come to know
That a mother's heart could not let him go
And she now knows why...

The future was bright and clear with hope and a promise made.
The light of the world was near, choirs of angels sang.
Heaven's exalted King in a manger lay
Cause a baby came and everything changed!

When our dreams grow dim and our hearts grow cold
He is never far from our broken soul.

Gloria! Our God is with us!
Gloria! He has come to save!
Mercy and love now for every generation
For the Savior came and everything changed! 

Wordless Wednesday - Merry Christmas!

Thankfulness

For Thanksgiving, J and I stayed here in Huntsville. We were blessed with many invitations to spend time with area families since we couldn't be home with ours. However, J and I decided to stay home and cook for ourselves.

My guilty pleasure is DVRing the Rachael Ray show each day and coming home and watching it (or if it's a busy week, watching them all on Saturday). She did a week full of shows called "Wild Turkey Week". We combined several of her recipes and came up with our own menu, along with some of our own staples.

First, on Thanksgiving morning, I woke up at regular time when I had the perfect opportunity to sleep in; I hate it when that happens. Since I was up, I made sausage balls for breakfast. They were delicious and we're still enjoying them!

After the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade started, we started cooking. I saw a friend's Facebook status that said she was cooking in between commercials. Our apartment is small and the kitchen, dining room and living room are all the same room so we cooked during the parade and commercials. 

Carrot Souffle

Sautéed Green Beans

Leftover Corn Casserole from our church's Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday.

One of the recipes we loved from Rachael Ray was called "Turkey Breast in Blankets". We'd never used pastry sheets before but it was a great success. It was similar to Beef Wellington.

Before cutting into them...

After cutting into them...

We didn't love Rachael's stuffing on the Turkey Breast in Blankets recipe compared to another day where she made Buffalo Ranch Stuffin' Muffins. We combined the two ideas and made Buffalo Ranch stuffing both inside the pastry pocket and with our leftover stuffing, we still had enough to make stuffin' muffins. Stuffin' Muffins are the perfect portion control and allow you to get some of the crispy edges of the stuffing as well as the mushy stuffing in the middle of the muffin. 

While we missed being with our families, we loved being able to stay home and cook for ourselves! 

Favorite Things

I had seen this mentioned on several other blogs. I wasn't so sure spray lotion was for me. However, I was in need of lotion so I decided to try it. It's amazing! It's easy and applies great. This particular smell is cocoa and is amazing. It smells like chocolate but not overly powerful or too much. I will definitely buy this again and again. In fact, I told J I'm going to add it to my Christmas list to ensure I get a good stockpile of it. :) 

Favorite Things Friday

In my quest to lose weight, I've been switching up the fitness routine. My recent obsession has been this...

I'm not going to lie - it's pretty intense and just down right hard sometimes. Yet, I still love it and it's one of my favorite things. I typically workout in the morning at the church's Fitness Center. Then I shower, eat lunch and head to work. However, sometimes my mornings are packed with other things so I have to workout in the afternoon. When that happens and there's still things to be done and places to go, I use this...

It's dry shampoo and I love it. It allows me to "wash" my hair and go when time is of the essence. Not to mention, it also smells great! 

Projects for Summer

Sugar Block of the Month, June - Home Sweet Home

Sugar Block of the Month, July - Lime Sherbet

Sugar Block of the Month, August - Camp Out

Sugar Block of the Month - The quilt squares thus far...

Block of the Month April 2012 redo - Sunny with a Chance of Hex

Block of the Month June 2012 redo - Greek Cross Block

Favorite Things Friday

I don't know what Peach Bourbon smells like, but what I do know is this new scent from Bath and Body Works is amazing! I love washing my hands even more now! 

Favorite Things Friday

J's parents returned from Hawaii a few weeks ago. We got fancy Hawaii coffee mugs! 

Mine is the Starbucks Hawaii Mug from the "You are Here" collection. 

J's is a masculine flip-flop mug. 

We love them both!!

Wordless Wednesday

Hot & Spicy

A few summers ago, I discovered jalapeno jelly. It was delicious! I had it as a glaze on porkchops, on a hot deli sandwich in lieu of mustard/mayo, and even slathered some on some cornbread. It was fabulous...that is until it ran out and I had no more!

I searched high and low looking for jalapeno jelly. Farmer's markets had hot pepper jelly but usually it was red (not green like I had previously) and had chunks of peppers where the other stuff had been smooth. I asked a few friends that canned different things and none of them had ever made it. I finally found some at a farmer's market in Virginia when visited my parents. It was great but mailing something as fragile as a jar of jelly comes with risks and FDA guidelines ban liquids more than 3 oz. I had a dilemma!

The dilemma was resolved last week when I met my friend C. C is the Martha Stewart type. When I told her I loved jalapeno jelly, she offered to teach me how to make my very own. Oh my - I was in heaven! And to make matters better, the jalapenos came from her garden!!!

We left all the ribs and seeds in from the jalapenos make it extra hot and spicy. Here are all the lovely jars we made.

Here are the porkchops I made the next night.

Here's a crafty jar, where I added a swatch of fabric and took it to a friend's house who invited us over for dinner.

While I don't have all the equipment for canning (did I mention C's kitchen is to die for?), I do think I could can veggies/jellies/jams but on a much smaller scale than C and I did the other day. It was definitely delicious and worth all the time and effort to make it!

Wordless Wednesday

California Vacation, 5 of 5

This is a series of posts about our recent vacation to California. Vacation seems like a foreign word most of the time, because we don't know how to take one, can't afford one, the timing is off, etc. However, we planned and budgeted accordingly and enjoyed our 6 days away. 

Fifth Stop: Dodgers Game

J's uncle bought us tickets to see the Dodgers on Friday night. We are hardcore Texas Rangers fans, but we still loved going to see the game. Our seats were phenomenal both in location and they were comfortable and much more roomy than some of the seats at The Ballpark at Arlington.

We ate a Dodger Dog for dinner.

We were able to get a quick fix for the Texas Rangers. Michael Young is a former Ranger but now plays 3rd base for the Phillies (the Dodgers were playing the Phillies).

Dodger Stadium is on a mountain so we got a great overlook of the city.

No worries - we have plans to see our Texas Rangers in September! 

California Vacation, 4 of 5

This is a series of posts about our recent vacation to California. Vacation seems like a foreign word most of the time, because we don't know how to take one, can't afford one, the timing is off, etc. However, we planned and budgeted accordingly and enjoyed our 6 days away. 

Fourth Stop: Hollywood

On Friday, we went to Hollywood with J's parents. We went on a trolley tour. Our tour guide was less than desirable and our tour was 20 minutes late starting, but we did get to see many sites that we may or may not have found on our own.

A small glimpse of The Hollywood Bowl

Sunset Gower Studios
The studio for Golden Girls, Deal or No Deal, I Dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, and others.

One of the oldest studios in Hollywood.
The home of Castle and America's Funniest Home Videos.

The actual hotel and fire escape used in the last scene of Pretty Woman. Remember where Edward rides up in his white limousine to capture the heart of Vivian. 

California Vacation, 3 of 5

This is a series of posts about our recent vacation to California. Vacation seems like a foreign word most of the time, because we don't know how to take one, can't afford one, the timing is off, etc. However, we planned and budgeted accordingly and enjoyed our 6 days away. 

Third Stop: Malibu

The original purpose of going to California this summer was to attend J's cousin's wedding. The wedding was cancelled about 6 weeks prior to our vacation, so we decided to go anyway and it was a great decision! J's parents had planned to attend the wedding and from California were going to Hawaii for some much needed R&R. We spent time with them on Thursday and Friday and then on Saturday we went our separate ways.

We drove to Malibu and had dinner with J's cousin and his uncle. We ate right on the beach. If you're a Saved by the Bell watcher, I felt like I was at Malibu Sands Beach Club. Remember Zack, Kelly and the gang worked there for the summer. This restaurant/beach club had that same feel to it. We ate outside on the beach in a little cabana. The ambiance was incredible!

California Vacation, 2 of 5

This is a series of posts about our recent vacation to California. Vacation seems like a foreign word most of the time, because we don't know how to take one, can't afford one, the timing is off, etc. However, we planned and budgeted accordingly and enjoyed our 6 days away. 

Second Stop: Warner Bros. Studio Tour

After our two days at Disney, we went on a tour at Warner Bros. Studio Tour. This was such a great tour! 

Our tour was 2 hours and 15 minutes and including both a riding tour and a walking tour. For the riding portion, we rode on this:

Included in one of those seats is a lock-box. On certain portions of the tour, we were required to lock our cameras up and we were NOT allowed to take pictures - this included the most exciting part of the tour, a trip to the set of The Big Bang Theory. We saw Penny's apartment, the stairwell and Leonard and Sheldon's apartment. There were big huge tarps over the furniture in both apartments, as a way to preserve the sets as the show is  on summer break. It was still SO MUCH FUN to see! The sets appear much larger on television, but through the magic of television a.k.a. forced perspective, the angle of the camera matched with the angle of the set pieces can add up to 10 feet of perceived depth to any set. This was definitely the case as we saw the set of The Big Bang Theory. 

We visited the vehicle department and saw many retired vehicles on display. 

We LOVED the show Chuck!

Scooby Doo, Dukes of Hazzard, Austin Powers, and one of the Batmobiles!

Looks like Howard from The Big Bang Theory might not be going back to the moon, since the spaceship set has been retired.

The Matrix

We were allowed to take pictures on one retired set - Friends!!!

The Warner Bros. Studio is actually a small town in itself. It's made up of various stages housing various television shows. Warner Bros. one rule is that you can't blow up any of their sets, but you can alter them however you like for the particular show. 

While we were there, a house was being rebuilt as a car had ridden through the house for a particular show. 

Below are some pictures of various parts of the outside studio:

They have many outside sets that are painted different colors or different signs are posted to look different for each show.

Sidewalk:
Someone from the Props Department actually gets paid to make the new sidewalk look old. 

Trees:
This street corner looks like a Spring/Summer day, but if a show/movie needed it to be winter, someone from the Props Dept. would come and pluck all the leaves off the tree(s) to make it more like winter. And if it was winter and there were no leaves on the trees, someone from the Props Dept. would come and attach each individual leaf to the tree(s) to make it look like spring. 

Inside the Storefronts:
Most of the outside buildings are only outside sets but a few have a small inside shell for filming an indoors scene. When that's the case, the inside room has these huge pipes like this that pour air conditioning into the small space. The area can get very warm due to a small space added with a large group of people, extra lighting, heat from the cameras, etc. When filming, the air condition is not on because of the noise, but when filming takes a break or they cut for any reason, cool air is flowed back into the area.

The Rooftops:
Most of the rooftops of the buildings look like this. This scaffolding allows the crew to shoot film from the top angle and add lights, stuntmen, etc.

Central Park:
When a show films in "Central Park", more often than not, it's this small patchy area of grass found in California.

When a television shows needs a generic type building, they typically use the same building front as other shows have used. However, they take down the title or name of the building and replace it with their own. Most of these buildings are hollow on the inside, allowing for the characters to walk into the building but the inside of the building is another completely different set. 

See below for some generic type buildings that have been used on countless shows. 

This church has been used since The Waltons aired in the late '70's and is still used today.

City Hall

This is a high school currently set for a WB show but it was also seen in Suburgatory and many other TV shows.

Hotel

Theatre

This is the Courthouse that was used in Batman & Robin. We were told that when Adam West/Batman and Burt Ward/Robin would run up the steps the Courthouse, it was the same footage each and every episode. There are two people on the street corner during that scene and they were paid for each episode they were featured in, despite that they only filmed the original scene one time.

Here are some specific sets from television shows.

The train platform from ER.

This is the largest studio on the Warner Bros lot. It was used for movies like Jurassic Park where large set pieces like the large dinosaurs require additional space, especially height.

This is the Growing Pains house. Our tour guide pointed it out and I literally gasped. There were several  teenagers on our tour who had no concept of the show and a few older people that knew the reference, but as a child of the '80's, I LOVED that our tour guide pointed this out.

The only Sound Stage we were allowed in was The Big Bang Theory, but here are some pics from the outside of various studios.

...and last but not least, this is our Tour Guide Garrett. He is an aspiring writer and has played an extra in a few films, but he was fabulous as a tour guide. At the end of the tour, he admitted it was his 2nd day on the job!!!

We concluded our tour by eating at a food truck. Because Warner Bros. is so large (between 5,000 and 7,000 people on property any given day), the food trucks come to them and there's an entire street to choose from.