Catch up!

Sorry we haven't posted in awhile!  We have both been incredibly busy over the past week or so!  Since our last post, we made another dinner together that was really yummy!  We made eggplant parmesan nests - thanks to the recipe from Rachel Ray!  We also made some bruschetta! Here are some pictures from our meal:

Last week we also made some "progress" on the wedding plans!  We got a budget worksheet created in excel thanks to Jeff's expertise.  Next on the list of wedding "to-dos" is working on the guest list!  I hear that it is quite the task... We shall see!!

Jeff and I also recently visited his family in Clymer the weekend of June 11-13.  We had a great time visiting everyone.  Jeff's mom and I spent Saturday working on a quilt project that I was working on for a friend of mine in Rainbow.  Before we left for Clymer, Jeff helped me cut all the pieces apart for the quilt!  He was a great help!  We also got to go golfing with Jeff's parents while we were there!  I had a blast golfing - especially since I actually hit the ball more than I missed it!

Here are some pictures from the project...

I forgot in the midst of all the rush at Grand Assembly to get a picture of the final project hung up but I am on the search to see if anyone else has a photo.  If I get ahold of it I will be sure to post it!

After we got back from Clymer, Jeff unpacked and re-packed for a business trip to San Antonio, Texas to learn about a new piece of software.  He left Monday evening and returned home last Wednesday night.  While he was in Texas, I was unpacking and re-packing for Grand Assembly.  I left on Wednesday morning and returned home in the evening of Saturday!  I was so tired but thrilled that I got to see Jeff again!  I really missed being away from him!  On my way home after visiting with Jeff when I returned home, I saw a giant Rainbow in the sky!  How fitting?!

Today, Jeff and I went to church in the morning to say goodbye to the current priest.  He is retiring and moving to Charleston.  Jeff and I have really enjoyed listening to his homilies in church over the past many years and we will certainly miss him.  We are looking forward to meeting the new priest who will be the one to marry us!

After church, we spent the day relaxing at my parents house watching the World Cup (soccer) and the US Open (golf).  I took a long nap to try to catch up on all the sleep I lost!  We had a great day together just hanging out and relaxing.  Back to the real world tomorrow!!!

Chef Jeff & Chef Mallory strike again!

Yup!  You guessed it!  Jeff and I decided to make another Rachel Ray recipe!  This time it was pretzel crusted chicken with a cheddar mustard sauce.  We had to crush pretzels, fry chicken, make the sauce and much more.  We had a fun time dancing around the kitchen making this dinner.  It wasn't our favorite.  It needed a little more flavor to make it more appealing to us.  The recipe called for thyme to be added to the chicken coating but Jeff didn't think it was necessary to add the thyme so we left it out.  We decided that the flavor we were "missing" was the thyme - even though it probably doesn't add any flavoring!  

Chicken with the missing thyme "flavor" while it was cooking

The chicken coating... minus the thyme...haha

Chicken cooking again....

Sauce for topping the chicken....

Finished product!

After making the chicken, we made some broccoli cheddar rice (from a bag - not Rachel Ray) and then decided to make peanut butter cookies.  Jeff took some into his office to share with his co-workers.  We made 6 dozen and froze them!  They are delicious!

Memorial Day

As Memorial Day approached Jeff and I couldn't decide what we should do for the holiday.  The weather was supposed to be hit or miss and we felt like we needed to do something outside to celebrate the holiday and to celebrate the beginning of summer.  Well as luck would have it, the Pittsburgh Pirates were playing at home on Memorial Day!  We sat around for awhile that morning watching the weather before deciding to finally go to Pittsburgh.  The Pirates were going to be playing the Chicago Cubs.

We arrived in Pittsburgh and parked at Station Square after a frustrating drive in Pittsburgh.  I was so excited that we were back at Station Square and we could re-visit "the spot" where Jeff made me the happiest girl in the world!  Before visiting that spot, we had a game to attend!  We caught the last shuttle on the Gateway Clipper from Station Square to Heinze Field for the game.  While were standing at the ticket booth buying our tickets, a stranger came up to us and handed us a ticket for free.  The man said he had an extra and thought we might like it.  Well it turned out that the ticket was in the club level seating and we were able to get a matching ticket in the same section for cheaper than we could have bought two tickets in the regular section.  It was definitely our lucky day!

We headed into the club seating and were amazed!  If you ever have a chance to get inside the club seats in Pittsburgh for a Pirates game, we recommend it!  We were able to escape the rain showers inside and were able to head back out when the showers stopped.  The Pirates won the game 2-1!  It was an entertaining game!  We had a blast!

After the game, we caught the Gateway Clipper back to Station Square and had dinner at Bucca di Beppo and then visited "the spot"!  It was a beautiful night filled with great food, good sports and each other!

Here are some pictures from our little Pittsburgh adventure...

Images from the game...

Us at the game...

After they won!

Jeff aboard the Gateway Clipper on the way back to Station Square...

Mallory aboard the Gateway Clipper after the game...

View of the stadium from the Gateway Clipper...

Picture from THE SPOT!!! :-)

Beautiful city view from THE SPOT!!!

Another city view from THE SPOT!!!

Pomp and Circumstance!

The day finally arrived!  My little brother graduated from high school!  The commencement ceremony was held at the WVU Coliseum on Saturday morning at 10am.  After his graduation we had a party to celebrate his graduation at my parents house.  There was tons of food - rigatoni, meatballs, pasta salad, potato salad, lettuce salad, fried and grilled chicken, fruit, veggies, cake and more!  We are still eating the leftovers!!!

Here are some pictures from graduation:


Nick walking across the stage to get his diploma...

Family after graduation...

Grandparents with the graduate...

Me and my brother...

Two WVU Alumni and a future WVU Mountaineer...

The happy couple...

My lovely grandparents... Still together after more than 50 years of marriage!  Love them!

The yummy cake!!!

Spring cleaning... in the summertime!

In preparation for my brother's graduation, Jeff and I spent the week helping my parents clean the house, cook food and all sorts of other things.  Part of the "cleaning" was to re-arrange my bedroom so that my parents can put a larger bed in my bedroom.  While we were cleaning and re-arranging, Jeff and my brother, Nick, found some real treasures - crazy socks from when I was in middle school!

Here is a picture of my brother in PowerPuff Girl toe-socks...

Jeff found crazy stripe socks... You can kind of see the mess we made in my room while trying to move the furniture...

Jeff liked the socks so much that he wore them to work the next day... He even had a shirt and tie that matched!!

Visit to Clymer

It's been awhile since we have updated everyone on what we are up to - life just gets so busy sometimes!

The weekend of May 21-23 Jeff and I headed to Clymer to visit with his family.  We had a wonderful weekend relaxing and visiting with everyone.

When we got there on Friday evening, we met Jeff's parents at the French Creek Tavern for some wonderful food.  Jeff and I decided to stray away from our usual of wings and criss cross fries and instead we ordered chicken wraps and kept the criss cross fries.  The food was delicious as usual!  That night Jeff and I watched Father of the Bride since I have never seen it before.  It is an amazing movie!  I can't believe I had been missing out on that for so long!  Now we just have to see the second one!

Saturday morning we got up early and had breakfast with Jeff's parents and his grandparents.  We were so happy to see his grandpa was able to make it to breakfast after his recent heart bypass surgery!  He seemed to be doing well.  Food at the Dutch Village was amazing as usual!  During the day Jeff and I relaxed on the couch and watched Smokey and the Bandit - a movie I had never seen!  We watched two of the three in the series.  I had to say, they were quite entertaining. That evening we headed to Jeff's sister's house.  Jeff's nephew Tate was quite the entertainer before he went to bed - he had us all laughing!  We played "Battle of the Sexes" with Kristy, Pat and some of their friends.  We had a great time - and the girls won the game of course!

On Sunday the guys went golfing at the upper course at The Peak.  While they were out having fun, Jeff's mom and I met up with his sister and nephew Tate for some breakfast at the Rowdy Rooster.  Before we left, Tate asked me when I would be back and I told him I wasn't sure, but hopefully sometime soon.  The little guy then broke my heart when he replied, "YOU NEVER SHOW UP!"  I was heart broken, but he still gave me a hug goodbye!

After that, Jeff's mom and I headed into Jamestown to pick out a quilt for Jeff's room.  His parents are re-painting a few rooms in the house and they needed a new quilt for Jeff's room to match the new paint.  We found a beautiful one.  Here is a picture!

The weekend seemed to fly by!  Before we knew it, Sunday had arrived and we had to head back home.  Before heading home, Jeff's mom and I looked through some scrapbooks and then Jeff and I went with his parents to a restaurant called "The Casino" on the Chataqua lake.  Jeff and I stepped outside of our normal comfort foods and tried something a little new.  Jeff had a chicken artichoke sandwhich and I had a Greek wrap.  Jeff's dad thought I was copying him because he and I ordered the same thing, but I ordered mine a little different than his so I wasn't completely copying him!  :-)  It was a beautiful summer day so we were able to sit outside on the deck!

We had such a great weekend in Clymer!  Can't wait to go back!