Hey, y'all.

Geez... I feel so disconnected from bloggy world. I can't get on blogger at work, but I had been able to at least get on Google Reader and keep up with y'all that way - even though I couldn't leave comments. But now Reader has been blocked - um, hello! Highly annoying. And I haven't had the energy or time lately while at home to hop on here much. I've been slappin' Lucky's bachelorette invitations together over the last few days and finally got them mailed out today. These pics are craptastic because I had to resort to using my camera phone (my real camera crapped out on me last night), so just trust that these are WAY cuter in person...




We're doing a whole bachelorette weekend at a cabin up in Helen, Georgia. We're old... we're over the whole go-out-and-wear-a-veil-with-condoms-and-get-drunk thing. We're all in our 30's, so it's going to be a low-key weekend of good girly fun.

As for Buford Baby, we had our IUI on Monday! I had another ultrasound first thing Monday morning to make sure my lining was OK before going forward with insemination. My doctor wants it at 7 and it was at 6.9! Last Wednesday it was only at 5.5 - not good. So I had been poppin' the fatty estrogen pills since then to help it along. Everything going in - my lining, potential eggies, the hub's specimen - looked the best of all 3 cycles we've done. So we were really thrilled and feel pretty great about this cycle. Of course there's no promise it'll be a success, but we're excited about it. So yeah, we're on the forever long two-week-wait right now. Luckily we've got plenty of other stuff going on so I'm not dwelling on it 24/7. And now I know definitely not to read into any symptoms too soon... The whole sore boobs and wonky nipples were totally due to the estrogen. Had to be. They've already started again - before I even ovulated, so yeah. I'm just trying to stay chill and keep praying for a sticky baby to set up camp in my oven.

Not much coming up this weekend other than GroupLink at church - we did decide that we're definitely going. We had a training thing at church Monday night and it kinda firmed up the fact that we need to get back in a group. So we're just gonna give it a go and let God do his thing. I'll of course let y'all know how that all goes!

And lastly... finally I can post the recipes I mentioned last week. Sorry it took me two forevers! First is this great Sangria recipe. I had one that I used all the time, but I can't find it to save my life. So I resorted to google to find a similar one. My main concern - I had the red wine but no other liquor. A lot of recipes call for brandy, triple sec, or some other liquor, but it was a Sunday when I decided to find this magic recipe and well, you Georgia girls know you can't buy liquor on Sundays (for the same reason Sally Albright said they don't make "Sunday" underwear). I looked high and low for a recipe that sounded good that ONLY required red wine. But I gave up. I found the closet thing, that sounded good and similar to what I'd made before and tweeked it a bit. So here goes...


Red Sangria With Oranges and Apples

1 medium apple, cored and cut into chunks
1 medium orange
1 bottle of quality red wine (um, the cheap stuff will do)
1 cup club soda
1/4 cup sugar (I only used a little sugar - I don't like it super sweet, so do this to taste)
2 cups orange juice
1/2 cup Cointreau, or any other orange flavored liqueur (I substituted a 1/2 cup of 100% grape juice)

Directions:
In a large pitcher add the red wine, orange juice, club soda, sugar, and orange flavored liqueur and stir till sugar is disolved. Slice the orange into wheels and add the apple chunks and orange slices. Chill at least one hour and serve over ice in individual glasses. (I usually don't add the club soda till right before I serve it so it doesn't go flat.)


Ahh... I do love a good glass or six of Sangria. OK so my dessert that I made the same night was baked apples with vanilla ice cream. I used bestest's recipe or method or whatever you want to call it for apple pie filling to do the apples. Then I found a recipe for a walnut topping to finish it off. OMG it was SO good. Peeling and cutting the apples takes a little time, but this is all so easy. Check it out...


Baked Apples with Walnut Topping

Apple mixture:
6-8 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon

Walnut topping:
1 stick butter
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 cup flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup whole walnuts, coarsely chopped

Directions:
For the apples, mix the sugar, flour, and cinnamon and set aside. As you slice the apples, set them in a separate bowl and add a little of the sugar mixture after every apple or so. (So like slice up an apple or two and sprinkle some of the sugar mixture on top, then repeat - you don't necessarily have to use all of the sugar mixture). And bestest - totally correct me if my amounts are way off on the sugar mixture. I did it from memory.

For the topping, melt the butter, then add the brow sugar, granulated sugar, and cinnamon. Stir until well blended. Then add the flour, powdered sugar, and the walnuts. The mixture should be crumbly but also clump together some.

In a baking dish, spoon the apples in and sprinkle the walnut topping all over, covering the apples. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until apples are tender. Yum-O!!!!!!


So there you go. Alright, I'm off to enjoy a bowl of cereal and then I'm gonna call it a night. I'll check back in soon! xoxoxo