A little bit of mush never hurt anyone...

I can't sleep, so, I thought I'd share a few things. I'm so thankful for the 2nd trimester of pregnancy. I know it will be over soon, but I have felt great! The most special moment thus far in my pregnancy occurred this trimester. I felt my baby girl kick for the first time (Oh yeah, by the way, we're having a girl!). It never gets old. I feel so blessed to be able to be a mama, and I am so looking forward to it. The Lord blesses me everyday. I love her already, and I've never even met her.

I just wanted to say, also, I feel so blessed to be married to my man! In the military, whenever we're apart, it makes the time that we spend together so much more precious, in my opinion. I have learned to not take the time that we have together for granted. So, even if he's in the field for a little while or gone overseas for a long while, whenever he gets home, it is such a good feeling (Even if we're just relaxing at home, cooking out & having movie night-Love it). I love that man with all my heart; he is my soulmate. Oh yeah, and I can't wait to have his baby!

Okay, now that I've thrown all this mushiness at you, just thought I'd top it off with some of my favorite pics & memories with my sweet hubby!

Night of our first date!

Home from Deployment! I know I blinked, but he looks so dang handsome, I just had to share!

We're engaged-April 2009-don't ask me what I was doing with my hair, don't know what I was thinking!

Wedding Day- July 2009

Living in Hawaii as newlyweds!

Home from deployment (again)!

Baby on board

A PCS from HI to GA + Pregnancy = MIA!

But, don't worry, folks! I'm back & baby says, "Hey!"

Can you tell?!

Wordless Wednesday

Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede Soup

Okay, so, we've been to Dixie Stampede in Tennessee, and I got to thinking about the awesome food we had there back in December. (Okay, yes, I was thinking about food! If you know me, then you know how much I love to eat!!!) Mainly, I was thinking about the cream of vegetable soup that you drink (there are no spoons---or forks, for that matter)! Fabulous. Anyway, thanks to the lovely invention of the internet, I was able to find the recipe for Dolly's soup! Yes, Dolly put this recipe in her Dixie Fixin's cookbook! Bless you, Dolly! I love you today, and you don't know how much I love your soup. So, I thought I'd make the soup tonight for my husband & ME! Let me tell you, I had a few things missing in my pantry (i.e. corn syrup, parsley & white pepper-who has white pepper in their pantry??) for this recipe, but I thought I'd try it anyway. Praise the Lord that I did, this soup was SO YUM! SO, I just thought I'd share the recipe with you & hope that it turns out as well for you!

*Not my image-google images*(see the pic of the soup!)

Cream of Vegetable Soup

3 tablespoons margarine
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon corn syrup*
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon white pepper*
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chicken broth*
1 1/2 cups water*
3/4 cup finely chopped cooked vegetable (Veg-All will work)
1 pint half-and-half cream or heavy cream (for richer taste)
chopped fresh parsley
(I also added half an onion (chopped & sauteed)
(I also added half a can of corn (drained)

Directions:


In a pot, melt margarine. Add onion, garlic, and corn syrup. Simmer 1 minute. Do NOT brown.
Add flour, white pepper, salt, chicken broth, water, and vegetables. Simmer 3 minutes.
Add half-and-half. Simmer until desired consistency. Stir constantly - do NOT bring to boil.
Garnish with chopped parsley and serve.

*I didn't have corn syrup.
*I used black pepper.
*Also, I used 2 cups of chicken broth instead of the water with the chicken broth.
*I made a roux with the butter & flour before adding the rest of the ingredients.


Okay, I know I made a few changes! But even though I was missing the above, it took a while to thicken up, but the soup was still awesome (at least, that's my opinion!). Patience is a virtue! Let me know if you try it & if you like it as much as I do!