Author: Jo

Stay Tuned (Updated)

I know I haven’t posted something new in at least a week, and I’m very sorry about that!  We’ve been crazy busy this past week with Elizabeth and Rustin’s wedding festivities, and I have been editing photos in all my spare time so that I will have a ton to share with you, and I’m almost done with all the photos.  If you’re my friend on facebook, you’ve probably already seen some of the photos, but I’ll give you more of a narrative than what is on facebook.  I gave one of our friends my camera during the wedding, and he definitely did not disappoint.  When I got home and started uploading there were over 600 pictures on my camera from that day!  Luckily I have a memory card that can hold that many photos!!

Overall, the wedding was a huge success and there were a few surprises along the way which you will see in my next post.  So stay tuned, and know that I haven’t forgotten about you, my blog family!!!

P.S. Only 44 43 36 days until our wedding!

Update:  I’m sorry I didn’t have time to post something last night.  I had Bible Study and it ran a little over, so by the time I got home I needed to spend some quality time with Steve instead of ditching him for the computer all night.  I uploaded a bunch of photos onto my blog (or so I thought) this morning so that I could post them while I am at work, but when I went to finish the post, they were all gone.  Lovely.  But don’t worry!  I WILL post them tonight!  I know, my blog is what you live for every day, and every day that there isn’t a new post you die a little inside, but never fear!  Joanna is here!  And I will not disappoint you!

Elizabeth’s Bachelorette Party

It’s almost wedding time for my best friend Elizabeth!  She’ll be tying the knot with her fiance, Rustin, this Saturday, May 28th, and I’m the maid of honor!!  It’s my first time with that special title, and I’m so honored to stand up with her on her special day.

Last weekend we celebrated her last few days as a single woman by going to another bridesmaid’s house for dinner and a lingerie party, then to downtown Nashville for a bachelorette night on the town!

Here’s Elizabeth with her new mother in law, Wendie.  I know, they look like they could be sisters, right?

Look at these cute petit fours that Krista provided!  The chocolate one was TO DIE FOR!!!

Mmm….they were so good that I had to include another picture. 🙂

I told Elizabeth that I wouldn’t post any pictures of the lingerie she got, so here’s one of her opening a Victoria’s Secret box.  I know, I know…..but some things just need to be kept between us girls!

Laughing at a story Krista was telling.

She was telling a story about how she hit her head and then her friend tried to apply some bandaid glue to the wound, but it dripped onto her eye and sealed her eye shut.

Here’s the bride to be and me!  Besties!

We started our night out at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville.  We sat upstairs and pretty much had the whole place to ourselves.  And the nice part about that was that we didn’t have to scream to hear ourselves talk.  It was nice and quiet. 🙂  I know….I feel like I’m an old fogey already.  TURN DOWN THAT RACKET!!!!

On the stage at Margaritaville.  The last person to perform on this stage was Toby Keith!!

Aww, this is a cute one of Elizabeth, Wendie, and me.

Oh Krista, she loves to have a good time! 🙂

Jen likes to have a good time too!

And ok, ok, so do I. 🙂

They had a game at Margaritaville where you had to somehow swing a small ring attached to a cord and hook it onto a hook on the wall.  It was not easy, and none of us ever actually accomplished it.

But we all tried!

I REALLY focused, but I couldn’t do it.

Ok, maybe I wasn’t that focused.  But it’s hard to focus when someone keeps taking pictures of you!

Elizabeth was showing me how to throw the ring.  So I asked her to show me her technique, since she clearly had a secret method that no one else knew about.

But of course she couldn’t do it either!

Being silly.

Are your feet hurting you, Elizabeth?  Haha, don’t worry, all of us that were wearing stilettos ended up taking our shoes off at least once throughout the night.

Go Elizabeth!  Go Elizabeth!  It’s your birthday bachelorette party!

Work it!

I witnessed some expert dance moves that night.  We’ve got Elizabeth with the pointer finger.  Jen looks like she’s trying to DJ.

Everybody put your arms up!

Go Krista with those fake “hand” guns!

Luckily, I was the one mainly behind the camera, so you don’t get to see any of my awesome moves.

Pretty lady.  Looks like she had fun. 🙂

Last photo of the evening, because right after this picture my camera battery died.  We had alot of fun, even though we didn’t end up getting home until around 3:30am.  I hope it was a night that Elizabeth will look back on with fond memories.

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding, Betty!!!  I can’t wait to stand next to you on Saturday when your pledge your love and your life to the man of your dreams!

Cheesy Pesto Pasta Bake

It’s been a while since I posted a new recipe, so I thought I’d post the recipe for the pasta dish I made for Elizabeth’s bachelorette party.  This is a trusty Rachael Ray recipe (love her), and you can find the original recipe HERE on the Food Network website.

Here’s what you’ll need:

  • 1 pound of your favorite pasta (I used penne)
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan in a slow stream
  • 3 large cloves garlic
  • 1/2 small to medium yellow onion
  • 1 (28-ounce) can crushed Italian tomatoes
  • 1/2 cup, 10 to 12 fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 cup store bought basil pesto sauce
  • 1 cup ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
  • 1/2 pound shredded mozzarella

Start by bringing a pot of water to a boil.  Salt the water and add your pasta.  And while you’re at it, preheat your broiler.

Next, finely chop the garlic,

And half of the onion.

Saute in a large skillet until soft and tender.

Next, add the crushed tomatoes to the onions and garlic.  The recipe says to use a 28 oz can, but I didn’t have one, so I used two 14 oz cans.  Same thing, right?

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Since it has already been established that I do NOT have a green thumb, I bought some fresh basil at the grocery store; but if you are like my mom and can pretty much grow anything, go ahead and use your own freshly grown basil!

Tear about 10 – 12 leaves (or 1/2 a cup) into small pieces and drop into your sauce.  Trust me, you’ll want to use fresh basil, not the dried stuff.  It’s SO worth it!

Stir the sauce around so that the basil wilts into the sauce.  Turn your heat down to low and let simmer for a few minutes.

Next, spoon your pesto into a medium bowl.  You can definitely make your own pesto, but I’m lazy, and store bought pesto seemed like the easier option.  Plus I was in a huge time crunch since I had to make this dish in pretty much less than half an hour.  I know….excuses, excuses.

Next add the ricotta cheese.  Now, I’ve used ricotta cheese before in lasagna and such, and it never really looked quite like this.  The ricotta I was used to was a lot more liquidy and not so stiff, but this is what I bought, so this is what I was gonna use.  Stir that around so that it’s completely combined.

Next add your parmesan cheese.  This isn’t quite 1/2 cup, but like I said….I was in a time crunch, and I didn’t feel like searching through the pantry for another bottle of cheese when this one ran out.

Drain your pasta and add to a baking dish.

Stir in your pesto/cheese mixture and make sure it completely coats the pasta.

Pour the tomato basil sauce over the pasta.

Sprinkle shredded mozzarella alllllllllll over.  Now….remember my time crunch?  By this time, I was already about 3 minutes late, and they live about 15 minutes away.  And I still had to stick this under the broiler for about 5-7 minutes, so that means, I didn’t have time to take a picture when it was all finished.  So just imagine that this has been under the broiler for 5-7 minutes and that the top is all nice and bubbly and golden brown.  Looks great, doesn’t it?!

This recipe got rave reviews at the party, so I know you’ll love it!

P.S.  I was 20 minutes late to the party.