So I feel that I have neglected my blog and I guess I have, however, I have yet to neglect my wifely duties! Soooo, I wont bore you with all of it, so here are the breifs:

I had my first experience with Baked Spaghetti! Zach loves spaghetti and he had baked spaghetti at my family renunion a few weeks ago, made by Mrs. Grovene! Anyway I followed my own recipe and I'm pretty sure I will never be able to make it like that again! BUT...talk about leftovers, we ate them the whole week!

Salmon...I cooked it in my TownCraft electric skillet! I came very close to burning dinner that night! The fillets turned out pretty good...it was a learning experience. My first try at the electric skillet!

I also made one of my favorites! Spicy Black Beans & Rice! I added chicken to my recipe for Zach, but I prefer without! I think this is a recipe worth sharing.
This is what I did:

1/2 Onion ( I usually use a Vidalia but I used a red onion this time it was good but vidalia is best & I use the whole onion)
2T Olive Oil
2T Minced Garlic

Heat oil, add garlic & onion. Cook until tender. Then add:

1can Black Beans (washed & drained)
1can diced tomatoes (undrained)
1/2 bottle of salsa
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (I usually keep adding until I can smell it!)

Heat to boiling, stir, reduce heat then simmer without lid for 15 minutes.
Serve over rice. Top w/ light sour cream &/ light cheese.
I doubled the recipe for us and he had two days of lunch & I had one!

For chicken Tyson Pre-Cooked Grilled Chicken strips. Warmed in pan with EVOO and served them on top!


This week I have been doing a choreography for Piedmont Middle School's 6th grade cheerleading squad. Monday, Tuesday & Thursday 5:30-8:30 then a 45 minute drive home! Zach & I haven't had much time together this week & we haven't had time for running either! However, I believe he has agreed to do a 5K with me in September! I'm so proud of him!

Michael we are going to be RICH!

Here is the weekend in review:

Friday: Pot Party=FUN=WE GOT TOWNCRAFT COOKWARE!
Saturday: Breakfast, Clean House & Tractor Pull
Sunday: Church, Sunday Lunch at Pat & Hamps, Dinner with the Threatts & the Hummingbird Moth

Zach & I hosted another Towncraft Party & it was really fun! We decided to purchase the cookware!
I have mastered the omelet pan, however, the rest of the pots/pans simply SCARE ME!
Tonight's dinner will be from my new pots & I'm pretty excited and scared to try them out! I think we made a great investment considering the lifetime warranty...but to give up my Calphalon is a nightmare!
I'm not sure what I will make tonight but hopefully it will be great!

For the fear of boring you beyond words I will skip to the fun events of last night! Here you will learn why the post is called "Michael we are going to be rich!"
While at Mom & Dads, Zach and I were watching the Medlock Midgets on all their toys, Michael & Morgan on the Ripster (I think that's its but its basically a two-wheeled skateboard), Mason on the scooter, Marissa on a bike with training wheels. There were several times last night that Michael, Mason & Marissa wiped out...sometimes we have heart failure watching these kids.

Mom has these amazing yellow flowers that only bloom at sun down. During the summer we always stand watching and waiting for those flowers to burst open. While playing by the bush last night a hug "something" came flying around the bush. Zach said it was a hummingbird and I totally disagreed. It looked mean like a bug! The more we watched we saw that it had wings like a moth and a really long needle nose! Michael and I thought we had discovered a new crossbreed! We captured the 'thing' and studied it a little more...realizing the needle only came out during pollination, it had an antenna, and it made a humming sound! Haha, sadly enough, this insect has already been discovered and I'm sure most of you are familiar with the Hemaris Thysbe, also known as, the hummingbird moth. For those of who are like me and have never heard/seen this before here is what it looks like:

Its rather strange looking isn't it? Anyone else had these in their yard?

Random!

I'm a little behind with the meal updates, but rest assured that I have made Zach breakfast everyday this week.:) Yesterday morning was not so fun in the Autry house! GRRRRRR! Zach did make the comment "there's nothing to eat in this house!" I was appalled, and it went from there! I ended up making him Rice Krispy Treats before I went to work and during my lunch break I went grocery shopping. Not sure if I was doing this as an act of love or anger! However, he was so thrilled about his goodies when he got home last night my angry cooking didn't matter.

Zach and I worked a long time on the house yesterday. He had a lawn to mow and I had laundry and cleaning to do! We ate supper rather late last night! We had Bratwurst...his request! I'm not so sure I'm a fan! It tasted like a really really big maple syrup link sausage.  He would like it again, but I wouldn't order it! I ende up covering mine in so much mustard and onions, I really couldn't taste it!

I wont have the pleasure of cooking tonigt because we are having some friends over for a Towncraft Party! A TownCraft Rep is coming to our house to show off his cookware and then he demonstrates it and cooks a big meal for us! Meatloaf, Chicken, Corn, Cabbage,Carrots, Cornbread & Peach Cobbler! Its so delish & the rep is really fun! We are excited! This is why we had such a long night last night...trying to prepare our place for guests!

A couple of Random Updates:

I need to let everyone know about my sweet husband...
This week he has given me another surprise! Last week he gave me a house phone! Ha I know; NOBODY uses those anymore, however, we live in the 'sticks' and I have no cell phone service! So along with no cell phone service, there is also a lack of light! Several months ago Zach put little small solar lights along the pathway to the door so I could see and now this week he upgraded to a yard light! Its AMAZING! Thank you muffin!

I have been running the last three days, the soreness has started to kick in! Its much worse today...walking like a normal person seems to be a challenge! Think I may have to take a break today and power walk instead! I forgot how much of a total body workout running is! 

I know this post is a little random! Got to keep you on your toes! Ha!

What a Friend we have in Jesus

Church last night was a lot of fun! I gave a lesson on having Jesus be your very best friend. Its based on the verse Phil 4:6-7 and the hymn, "What a Friend We have in Jesus"

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

What I wanted the kids to take away from this is that, Jesus wants to be our friend he wants us to talk to Him about everything and anything, like we do our best friend. We share our secrets, dreams & fears. God wants to be this in our lives.

These kids have that "child-like" faith where they pray for anything anyway, I have the perfect example...my four year old nephew, Mason. Zach and I taught Bible Study during VBS this year and Mason prayed in class one night. He said, "God please let me go to Zach and Trisha's and spend the night in the tractor room." Mason prayed because he knows that if you pray God will hear you! God answered his prayer the following week! :)

Phil 4:6-7 was not just something that the kids need to hear. I needed to hear it to! HE says don't worry about ANYTHING instead PRAY ABOUT EVERYTHING! Everything means everything! He wants to hear from me no matter how small or how large the situation. I am His daughter and He wants me to find comfort in Him.

During our campfire time on Wednesday nights we sing "old" hymns. I used to complain so much about having more contemporary music in church. Since campfire time learning about these hymns and the stories of those who wrote them, makes me appreciate them so much more. Last night I fell in love with, "What a Friend we have in Jesus." The words are so beautiful and bring great comfort. Read it slowly and ponder the words. I hope it "hits home" with you.

1 What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit,O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.

2 Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness;
take it to the Lord in prayer.

3 Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge;
take it to the Lord in prayer.
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer! In his arms he'll take and shield thee; thou wilt find a solace there.
Just in the first verse: Jesus, our friend, we can cast all our cares upon Him AND its a privilege! Then we give up having a peace that passes all understanding and go through unecessary worry & pain because we do not go to God in prayer!

For some reason this hymn & Phil 4:6-7 just speaks to me, it actually blows my mind because of how often I don't have that peace that only God can give. I walk around being scared, anxious, & sad instead of choosing to let God take care of it. God gives us the privilege to rely on Him, but we often don't take advantage of that and HE wants us to!

"In His arms He'll take and shield thee; thou wilt find a solace there."

Breakfast for Zach is always fairly easy. The boy LOVES livermush (yuck!). I don't even have to pan fry it, he just likes it warmed up in the microwave (ewww). So Tuesday morning he had to be at work at 7. Once the temperature reaches 100, he works from 7 until 3:30. I could have slept in a whole hour and 20 minutes but because I didn't know if Zach would be around for dinner I got up and made him scrambled eggs and livermush! Tuesday night when I got home the power was out and didn't come one until 7:30 or so and Zach was out on calls for the majority of the night so its a good thing I made breakfast!

Last night I was bored, hungry and single I decided to go for a run...

I put on my workout clothes walked outside, turned around and walked right back inside and sat on the couch! The heat was so terrible I couldn't go at that time I waited until just before dark to begin my run.

Since I graduated high school I have "had" to run.  It was part of my training for cheerleading. I was a cheerleader at Appalachian State (best school eva'!) and we had to run a timed mile every once in a while my freshman year. My Sophomore year we got a new cheer coach and we had to run a mile everyday before practice and then we had to run it in under 7 minutes every once in a while. My Junior year...we just had to run, all the time, I really think our coach hated us! Haha. A few of my girls on the team really enjoyed running so I ran with them outside of practice 2 to 3 miles. They ran faster than I enjoyed so I found a new buddy and began running with her. Soon I fell in love with it. It became a peaceful time for me. A time to reflect and listen to music. My new running buddy and I had a dream to start running races. We wanted to do the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston first then proceed to bigger/longer runs. So we began to train. The summer before my senior year of college I was running all the time. I could run 6 miles with no problem. Im sure this isn't that big of a deal to most people but I used to hate running and up until that summer had only ran 3 miles at the most.  This was huge for me! When I went back to school in the fall I began my weight training for cheerleading. My trainers saw some potential in me to do some serious weight lifting, however, I would have to give up distance running...so I did. I would run sprints but thats it, no more miles.

Since the beginning of my senior year I might have ran more than 1.5 miles about 4 times. It really makes me sad to think that I had trained my body to do something so incredible and then let it go. I do not in anyway regret my strength training because my body was doing pretty incredible things then too! I just hate that I stayed away from running so long. I want it back I want to run mile after mile, again!

Zach and I have a pretty long driveway so last night just before sun down I stood at the top of my driveway and began to run! I ran the driveway until it got dark and I got scared :) it felt pretty good, like something I could do again. I keep daydreaming that while Im running I'll get the "Forest Gump" syndrome and just keep running! Haha. I didn't go very far last night (.9miles) but I have to start somewhere.  Running is a mind game...I have to tell myself "mind over matter" The human body is capable of doing a lot more than we let it!

New Goal: I'm going to try to get my body to like running again!

Tonight is church night! So I wont be able to run until after. I pray that I get home early enough to run and that I have the energy! Maybe my hubby will join me :) Tonight my lesson is on What a Friend We have in Jesus! I can't wait to share with you.

Mondays & the Mouse or was it a Hamster?

Sooo we all look forward to Monday morning right?! Well Zach gets a call at 5 am and has to start his day a little earlier than usual. For me this means sleeping in! Yes! It was great. Its okay skipping his breakfast because I knew I would take care of him for dinner! On the menu was Chicken Stir Fry. Loved it, very simple! I'll post this recipe at the end.

Dinner was quick but I did make a mess. When I start chopping veggies I get them everywhere! AB was coming over to watch The Bachelorette so I had to get cleaned up fast! My husband is so good to me. I hate (I really mean it) to wash dishes. My favorite things to cook with and use are things I can throw away or put in my wonderful dishwasher! Of course my Calphalon pots/pans are great but "hand wash only." Zach to the rescue...he washed all the pots and even washed the leftover items that wouldn't fit in the dishwasher! He didn't even complain! That’s one of the many things that I SO love about him. He always helps clean up after dinner.

When the "Hen Party" started Zach went to visit AB's brother Aaron. AB and I are lounging on the couch watching Ashley break the hearts of so many men then all of a sudden from behind the TV walks a MOUSE! Except it really didn't act like a mouse or look like one. He didn't scurry when we screamed he walked calmly behind the blinds that cover our sliding glass door.

 We live very far from the road and right behind a field so we expect that these varmints would visit us from time to time. However, this was unlike any mouse I had ever seen. Naturally AB and I are squealing like school girls and I immediately phone Zach and tell him the situation. He says "kill 'em." I'm thinking, "You did not marry Billy the X-Terminator!" I went after two sticky pads and the broom. The plan was to place one at each end of the blinds so no matter which way he exited he would get stuck. AB places hers on one end and I place my on the other. Right as we drop them to the floor, he pops out of the blinds like he is playing peek-a-boo with us! He just sits there while we scream. Then we move away. He calmly strides right behind the TV again walking around the sticky pad. He thinks he is soooo smart!

While I formulate the next genius plan, I put AB on mouse watch. I move one sticky to the other side of the TV and create a canal for the mouse to follow. When he gets to the end the only way he can go is on the sticky. After the canal is formed I take my broom and whack behind the TV hoping to scare him down the passage leading to his captivity. Well…after a few minutes he still has not moved. We have a small table beside the TV, on the backside the table is raised about 2 inches. I knew he must have been under that table. So AB and I sat back and continued to watch Ashley and wait for the hamster to make an appearance.

Soon Zach is home, not exactly with the urgency I had hoped. He joins us in the living room and sees my work consisting of a box, my bridal portrait, the dust pan, a toy truck and deer antlers. All of these items constructed in such a way to guide the pest to the trap! I tell Zach where I believe the mouse to be and he says "he ain’t under there." Well let’s see I grab the flashlight and give it to AB. Zach is on the ground ready to look and I begin to lift the table. Yes, as I suspected he was under there. Zach moves the sticky pads to the rear of the table and I begin with the whacking again. Eventually he comes out and gets stuck then Zach disposes of him. This was no ordinary mouse; he was shaped like a hamster and was brown. Not to mention his calm, cool and collected attitude.

Anyone missing a pet? :)

Here is the Chicken Stir Fry Recipe:

2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil (you can use whatever oil you have)
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces
3 cups veggies (i used green & orange bell peppers, broccoli florets, very thinly sliced carrots)
1 garlic clove ( i used 1tsp of minced)
1/2 cup stir fry sauce ( I made my own)

Lemon Stir Fry Sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup chicken broth
1 tsp lemon zest
2 Tbs sugar
1 Tbs soy sauce

Combine then stir. 
***I would heat all liquids before adding sugar so the sugar will disolve properly.***

Heat 1 Tbs oil in skillet then add chicken. Stir fry for 3 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove chicken from skillet. Heat 1 Tbs oil then add veggies.  Stir fry 2 minutes or until tender crisp. Add chicken and stir fry sauce to skillet and cook 2 minutes or until heated through.

I served this over white rice! Makes 4 unrealistic servings. So Zach and I had enough for both of us and for him to have some for lunch the next day.

Saturday & Sunday...Whew!

We had a very busy weekend so this is a little long :)

I look forward to weekends when we don't have any obligations. Times that we can sleep in and enjoy the company of each other. Saturday had the potential of being one of those special times, however, when Zach is on-call we have to be flexible.

He tells me Friday night we are going to get up at 7 then he is going to take me to Bobby's. Bobby's is one of the many perks of living on "the other side of the tracks." It is a truck stop/grill located on hwy 601.  Zach and I are omelet connoisseurs and he claims that Bobby's has the BEST omelets! Many months ago we said we would go sometime so I could finally enjoy the omelet masterpiece. So of course I am so excited when he tells me that Friday night! "How thoughtful of my husband to take me to breakfast at the local truck stop!" In all seriousness it really made me feel good, not because we were going to a truck stop, but because it was something we said we would do and he took the initiative to make it happen for me. So 8:30 rolls around and we finally are out of bed and of coures he has to go work! No Bobby's this weekend maybe next time. I'm also looking forward to eating a hamburger at Duke's! :)

The rest of our Saturday continued with me doing housework/cooking and him working. We had my family reunion and his family's reunion on Sunday both at 1 o'clock! So I spent the afternoon preparing a marinated vegetable salad and a lemon-blueberry cake. The cake was very simple, but for some reason it gave me more trouble than I had planned for. I was meeting up with my bud A.B. to go to the Lilesville Rodeo at 7 and at 6:30 I still had frosting on my face and blueberry filling all over the countertop! Needless to say, we made it to the rodeo fashionably late. If you are interested I'll post the recipes for marinated vegetable salad and the lemon blueberry cake at the end.

Sunday comes around and this is the very first "Little Reunion" that Zach had been to. I bet you can't guess what happened...yes he "got a call" at 12:30! However, he was able to make it back by 2:00 so he was able to enjoy some of the goodies! He did enjoy the veggie salad, but I can't let him eat too much of it because he is allergic to all things good for him such as, tomatoes & cucs. As for the Blueberry-Lemon cake he said this, "if I was in a restaruant, I wouldn't order it." In other words, he didn't like it! Ha-ha its okay though everyone else at the reunion enjoyed it, even me.


Here are the recipes. Hope you enjoy them!

Marinated Vegetable Salad (healthly + quick)

You can do this a variety of ways, adding whatever veggies you like best.  This is what I did:

1 red bell pepper diced
1 yellow bell pepper diced
2 medium cucumbers sliced
1/2 red onion sliced
2 cups broccoli florets
2 medium tomatoes sliced and seeded
1/2 -1 cup of Italian Dressing

Cut all veggies and place in large bowl. Pour dressing over veggies, stir, then cover and refrigerate 8 hours or over night.
I used Roasted Red Pepper Italian dressing because thats what I had on hand. 

Blueberry-Lemon Cake ( I was inspired to try this at an attempt to replicate my wedding cake!!)

1 box white cake mix
1 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 Tbs lemon zest
3 eggs
1 1/3 cups blueberry pie filling

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 2 (8-inch or 9-inch) round cake pans with baking spray with flour.

In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil, lemon peel and eggs with electric mixer on low speed 30 seconds. Beat on medium speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally. Pour into pans.

Bake:
8-inch rounds 27 to 32 minutes
9-inch rounds 23 to 28 minutes
OR until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.
Cool in pans 10 minutes. Remove from pans to cooling racks. Cool completely, about 1 hour.

Place 1st layer on cake plate and add 2/3 cup blueberry filling. Add 2nd layer. Begin icing only the sides of the cake. Build up a slight edge of frosting around the cake, then add remaining filling to the top. Garnish with lemon peel or wedge.

I skipped the lemon zest and used a lemon cake mix. Then I skipped the store bought icing and made my own vanilla buttercream.

My very first blog :)

"Love...Love will keep us together..." Do you recall this song? Its a great idea but unfortunately its false...love isn't enough. Yes I love my husband a great deal but the emotion of butterflies & fireworks are not going to keep us together. We as a couple understand that yes we love each other dearly and to make our marriage work we must remember its about the covenant you make with God and your spouse. Covenant: a binding agreement, contract, or pact between two or more people.

I recently got married, May 21, 2011. Since then I have been inspired to blog about our first year of marriage. I do plan to give some behind the scenes details about what goes on in the Autry household and this blog is to discuss our first year of married life, but there is another purpose as well.


My dearest, Zach, is a lineman.  He is great at his job, he loves what he is doing and he is a provider! Zach also works with a bunch of other married, divorced and single men. The first couple weeks into our marriage Zach was telling his buddies about my cooking abilities. Yes, I have made my man breakfast or dinner everyday since we have been married (except for on the honeymoon of course :) ). If its been good every meal; I'm not sure, but I'm getting food on the table either way.

If you are reading this I'm sure your first reaction is, "well that wont last too much longer." Well guess what?  We've heard that one before.  We hear it all the time! Just like during our entire engagement; up until we said "i do" we heard "you can still run" "are you sure you want to do this?" Since I don't like to hear "I can't" & "You wont." I have challenged myself to prove all of those naysayers wrong!

I vow to continue to prepare at least one meal everyday for my husband.  Now these aren't all going to be 5 star fine dining meals, everynow and then it may be a hotdog or sandwich. However, the point is that I will be engaging in an act of service to my husband.  I will be showing him love in a way that he understands.  Zach told me a couple weeks ago the top three things he needed from me: To Cook, to Clean & to frequently engage in the gift God has given us as a married couple :D! So here I am trying to accomplish the "To Cook" part.

I know cooking one meal a day does not sound that difficult but I figure if its not that difficult then  everyone would do it! I don't always want to get up when Zach gets ready for work. There are days that I would like to stay snuggled in bed rather than in the kitchen beatin' eggs and fixing bacon. So I hope you enjoy the blog. I hope that it motivates, inspires or at the very least makes you laugh.