Author: Jo

My Bridal Shower

As many of you know, Steve’s and my wedding was here in Tennessee, which means that almost our entire guest list either had to fly or drive really far to get here.  That being said, I knew I wanted everyone to be able to participate in my bridal shower as well, so I had Elizabeth plan it for the Thursday evening before the wedding so that most people coming from out of town would already be here.  It worked out wonderfully.  Almost everyone (except a few people who were coming in late Thursday night or Friday) was able to attend.

We had a wonderful turnout, and I think between 20-25 ladies showered me with love.

Luckily we had enough chairs for everyone to sit down.  That was one of our main concerns….but we were able to bring in some chairs from our kitchen table and place them against the walls and such to make more seating.

My mom gave a wonderful devotional about being a great wife and loving and respecting your husband.

Love my mom!

Then it was time for presents!!  (Side note:  See that “s M j” on the mantle?  I painted that for the wedding and then forgot to set it out on one of the display tables.  Oh well, it still looks cute in my house)

Yay!  My cupcake carrier!!  Now I have more of an excuse to make delicious cupcakes because I’ll have a method of transportation to bring them to other peoples houses so they don’t end up in my belly!

I got many other wonderful gifts, like this beautiful wedding photo album.  But I won’t bore you with all the present opening pictures.  It might  get kinda redundant.

My friend (and former next door neighbor) Connie came with her bouncing baby girl, Camryn.

What a beautiful baby girl!  And look at those deep blue eyes!!

Well you can forget what I said about the present opening pictures.  I just remembered that my good camera battery died half way through, and my friend and bridesmaid, Tiffany, got my other point and shoot camera and finished taking pictures.  So I guess you’ll just have to deal with more present pictures! 🙂  Connie made this beautiful card for me.  It has cut outs of our wedding invitation and the picture we sent with our invitations.  Very creative!

I just like this picture because I look really tan. 🙂  Those days at the tanning salon really paid off!  No bride wants to blend into her wedding dress, and I most definitely would if I didn’t have a little help from some artificial sun.  Yes, I faked and baked and I’m not ashamed!!!

And this is the face I made when I opened Elizabeth’s gift.  A camera bag!!!  Up until this point, every time I wanted to take my camera somewhere I’ve had to just carry it in my hands or try not to ruin it by carrying it in my purse.  This was a much needed and appreciated gift.

And to top it all off, she had it embroidered with my Southern Daisy logo.  Amazing!

What’s a bridal shower without some kitchen towels and oven mits?!

Steve’s mom, Toli, gave us some cute kitchen towels and oven mits with puppy dogs on them.

This is when I realized that this gift from Cheryl McAdams wasn’t just a pretty picture frame, but that it was pictures of buildings and architecture that actually spelled out my new last name, McVey!!  What an amazing and unique gift!  It is now hanging above our pantry.

Elizabeth was there to help me write down all my gifts so that I wouldn’t forget a single thank you card.

It was a wonderful shower, and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.  Elizabeth did a great job planning it, and my mom was wonderful in helping her out and making some of the food.  Oh man, I just realized that we didn’t get any pictures of Elizabeth’s beautiful cake that she made, but just know that it was a gorgeous strawberry cake with white sides and a beautiful pink flowered top.  And we can’t forget that delicious punch!

 

Lingerie Party (Sorry guys)

Well, it’s finally the end of two very busy weeks.  The stress joy of the wedding is over, all of our out of town guests have gone home, and now Steve and I can just look forward to our honeymoon on Tuesday.  We thoroughly enjoyed having all our family and friends come all the way to Tennessee for our wedding, and especially having my parents stay with us for an extra 5 days, but it is kinda nice having our house to ourselves again, and letting everything fall back to it’s normal pace.

So I’m going to start this series of wedding blog posts with my lingerie party.  My wonderful best friend and matron of honor, Elizabeth, planned two amazing showers for me (lingerie and bridal) with wonderful food, friends & family, decorations, and (of course) dessert!

Here is the beautiful table setting I saw as I walked in the door to my lingerie party.

Look at these awesome cookies!!!!  Some are bras with necklaces and others are undies!!! (Again, sorry guys.)

She also had some beautiful mini cupcakes with pink roses on top.

Yummy chocolate covered strawberries….I had a few of these.  Well, actually I had a few of everything.

And these awesome “bra” cupcakes.  I didn’t see it at first, but if you look at 2 cupcakes together they look like a bra!  You’ll see it better in a later photo.

Our friend Jen made this incredible chicken fettuccine bow-tie pasta with sun-dried tomatoes.  I die!  I had 3 helpings of this, I think.

And who can forget the delicious sherbet punch!!!  Mmmmm.  My mouth is watering right now for this stuff!

Alright, Elizabeth, you convinced me.  I’ll have a mimosa too. 🙂

After eating (and drinking) all those delicious treats, we played bridal themed Pictionary. (That looks weird….is that spelled correctly?)

Jenni was the best one at Pictionary  because she is a teacher and is used to writing or drawing on large marker boards.

We had a fun time guessing all the drawings.  And when we ran out of the papers that tell you what to draw, we started making up our own things.

Then it was time for presents!!  (Guys may want to stop reading at this point.)

New lingerie is always super fun!  Actually, new anything is always super fun.  Unless it’s a new mosquito bite, or a new speeding ticket, or a new drool spot on your wall (I get that last one a lot).

And I got some CUTE stuff!

Elizabeth gave me some very risque lingerie…..so be glad that this picture is small enough to where you can’t really see the pictures on the front of those boxes.  Awkward!

Here’s a better view of those “bra” cupcakes.  What a cute idea!  Thank you, Elizabeth, for such a wonderful lingerie party!  Steve I really appreciates it!

 

Mexican Beef Stew

I don’t think there is a more easy meal to prepare than one that is cooked in a Crock Pot.  All you have to do is toss the ingredients in the pot, set the timer, and fahgettaboudit.  This Mexican Beef Stew was one such meal!  I love that I can have dinner waiting for us when we get home, instead of having to go through the ordeal of deciding what to make and making sure that I have all the ingredients I need.  Steve and I bought ingredients for a weeks worth of Crock Pot dinners.  Oh, and did I mention that since we had spent over $500 at Kroger last month, we got 60 cents off per gallon when we filled up the gas tank this morning!  We ended up paying only $2.75 per gallon!!!  Oh yes….that’s right!!!

Now, back to the stew.  Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 1 1/2 lbs beef for stew, cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, coarsely chopped
  • 1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, mostly drained
  • 1 can (15 oz) whole kernel corn, drained
  • 1 can Campbell’s® Condensed Beef Consomme´
  • 1 cup chunky salsa (I used Pace® Chunky Salsa)
  • 2 tbsp chili powder 
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder or 2 cloves garlic, minced

Start by cutting the beef into 1 inch cubes.  You can also buy stew meat that is already cubed if your grocery store provides that.

Thoroughly coat the meat in flour….no we’re not making chicken fried steak!

Throw the flour-coated meat into a skillet over medium-high heat, and cook until browned.

Chop up your onion.  I only used half an onion, but you can use a whole one if it would make you happier.  I’ve never been a real onion fan.  Unless of course it’s in the form of an onion ring!

Once your meat is browned, throw it into your Crock Pot (or slow cooker if you prefer).

Toss in the onion.

Next comes the beans!  I drained almost all of the liquid out of the can before dumping it in.

Drain the canned corn, and add it to the pot.  It looks like a lot, but once it all gets mixed around it will look more evenly distributed.

I had never cooked with Beef Consomme´ before this recipe, and didn’t really even know what it was.  It looks and smells like a very concentrated beef broth, in case you’re like me and have never cooked with it before.

Pour the beef consomme´ into the pot.

Next, pour a cup of chunky salsa into the pot.  I used Pace® Chunky Salsa, but you can use whatever brand you want.  I don’t know if fresh salsa would work well in this recipe, but if you want to try it out with fresh salsa, let me know how it turns out!

Finally, add the chili powder, ground cumin, and garlic powder (or minced garlic if you decided to use that).

Give it all a good stir, and set your temperature to low, and cook for 8-10 hours.  If you don’t have 8-10 hours to wait, you can also cook it on high for 4-5 hours.

Here’s what the stew will look like after 8 hours of cooking.  Yum! Yum!  I love that the house smells so good when we walk through the door after a long day at work.  So nice to come home and have dinner ready!

Pour several big ladle fulls of stew into your favorite bowl and enjoy!  I know this isn’t exactly a “summer” dinner, but crank that A/C up and you’ll be in the mood for hot stew in no time! 🙂