home from thanksgiving!

we had a great time in PA (pictures to come!) and are now getting ready for christmas!  well, the rest of christmas- we celebrated "ivey-mas" as ross coined it over the thanksgiving holiday :)  nate's family moves the holiday whenever everyone can't be in PA for christmas which i love ;)  gets all of us a jump start on the holiday!  it's late so short post - happy holidays all!

thank you!

thank you for supporting our relay team!  relay for life was this past weekend and went well :)  we were all a little worse for the wear on sunday morning, but our team raised over $4,500 and the event overall raised over $100,000!

now that it's cold enough for soup...

i was looking for a healthier version of our family's potato soup (which is DELICIOUS by the way, i'll post that recipe soon) and i think i found it!  this baked potato soup (from cooking light, where else?) was delicious and fed an army:

• 4  baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
• 2/3  cup  all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces)
• 6  cups  2% reduced-fat milk
• 1  cup  (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese, divided
• 1  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1  cup  reduced-fat sour cream
• 3/4  cup  chopped green onions, divided
• 6  bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
• Cracked black pepper (optional)

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash.
3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Place flour in a large Dutch oven; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.
4. Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 8 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon. Garnish with cracked pepper, if desired.

it makes 8 servings (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups soup, 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon).  and 1 serving is 329 calories and 11 g of fat - not bad for a very filling soup!)  we had it with salad and rosemary bread.  yum yum!

i didn't take a picture of ours, here's cooking light's, and their link.

november? but it's 80+ degrees!

so it's been a warm fall for us so far!  but i figured out something:  that's not nearly as bothersome when you're lying on the beach :)  we just got back from a fantastic weekend with glen, suzy and family in captiva.  it was WONDERFUL.  much tennis and beaching was had.  and the wildlife!  i couldn't believe all the activity on the beach.  we saw a great blue heron, which i got some great pictures of when he caught a fish!  we also saw a fisherman on the shore catch a shark- twice!  the surf was full of fish.  how do i know?  because they were doing backflips about every 20 seconds while we sat and watched the sunset - it was the coolest thing!

i posted a bunch of pictures on our picture site here:  http://floridaiveys.smugmug.com/November-2009

but here are a few of my heron friend :)

can you see that fish's mouth?  he knows what's coming.

showboating his catch:

happy november ;)

happy birthday cleo!

for cleo's birthday, she received a 'pup'cake that sarah and i found at this cute little dog bakery and 2 new bones (one from us, one from aunt sarah & uncle ryan) :) she also got lots of attention from nate and i all day (like that would differentiate the day...) here is the pupcake:


cleo discovering what it is:


loved the frosting!


i think this is where the panic that we might take it away from her set in:


all done and checking for crumbs!


hope you enjoy your next birthday cake as much as cleo enjoyed hers :)

happiness?

is feeling a brisk breeze blowing through the window, listening to your husband practice guitar, drinking a great glass of wine, and relaxing with a good book :)

i know i haven't blogged much lately but we're still here! i think we can officially declare fall in florida, we had a cold snap this weekend -- we had a game night with friends and we had chili to usher in the cool weather :) i LOVE this time of the year in florida (and i know i'm not alone!) we open the windows, drink orange juice, drink red wine and dark beers, eat cold weather food like chili and potato soup, play tennis, go for bike rides, enjoy the patio, and just be :) makes all those summer months worth it!

nate's band has a gig this weekend! they're playing a benefit concert for relay for life :) i'm really excited, not only because sarah and i have been planning the event, but also to see nate and the band at their first public place! if you're local, stop by next weekend!

also, nate bought a new guitar this weekend, or... what i like to refer to as the precursor to my new camera :) i've been saving up my birthday money and have been eyeing a new camera from canon. i may buy it tomorrow if our local camera shop has it in stock... cross your fingers for me!

go steelers!

FINALLY today i'll get to watch my first game this season! (i've missed the past 4 games for a variety of reasons)

relay for life!

so we'll be doing relay for life in november,

Relay For Life is the American Cancer Society’s signature activity. It offers everyone in a community an opportunity to participate in the fight against cancer. Teams of people camp out at a local high school, park, or fairground and take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Relays are an overnight event, up to 18 hours in length.

we have a very energetic team and lots of events and fundraising leading up to the event itself :) if you'd like to help out, you can donate here: my relay fundraising page.

thanks :)

nate and i did this several years ago when we were dating -- we participated with the virginia tech graduate students association and each person dressed in a different color to represent a different type of cancer to fight. all seriousness aside... aren't those pants i'm wearing the least attractive thing you've EVER SEEN? :)

i'm not dead

just been working a lot :) but i am SO EXCITED -- cassie, jeff, cade, mom and marty are all headed to florida this weekend! expect lots of pictures (of course!) :) we plan to hit up epcot's food and wine festival, do some dinners in, some dinners out and just enjoy the weekend.

we also had the most beautiful day of weather since ... march maybe? usually when i'm driving to work, it's around 80 degrees, but this morning, i was almost all the way to work before i saw the temperature was 69 degrees! i was so excited, i immediately rolled down the window to see if it was true :) and it was! nate and i cleaned off the patio in prep for the beautiful weather that's sure to begin appearing on a regular basis :)

also, nate started growing his beard again :)

fletcher william

but also... how cute is he??

cadiem rey

so i know it's out of focus a little, but how CUTE is he???

a nately quote for your evening

"would you accept 'stanky' as a acceptable scrabble word or would you challenge it? for example... she was stanky. she was real stanky... "

and for the record, no. i don't consider that an acceptable scrabble word and yes, i would have challenged it ;)


in the end, i won because the word "aw" is actually in my dictionary (as an interjection!) but it was a close game :)

excerpt from the book i'm reading, "prep"

"...we got shuffled and thrust together and shuffled again, and there was always the chance that you might find out one of the pieces of hidden information. This was why I felt excited when life was different from normal, when things happened- snow and fire drills and the times we had chapel at night, evensong, when the sky outside the stained glass windows was black. Depending on circumstances, a wild fact could be revealed to you, or you could fall desperately in love."

i really like this paragraph and totally identify with it :) that when things are totally thrown out of normal is when the exciting stuff happens or at least the air seems charged with something different. like a snow day or hurricane watch or a change of travel plans. good book so far!

wall art!

nate and i really need to work on getting more art on the walls. for a long time, i've been meaning to do a scrabble dealy in our ... extra room... music room... random room that happens to be filled with guitars? whatever room it is, i'm planning on framing the travel scrabble board that nate proposed on (which is still snapped in place!) in a shadow box with some notes or pictures, surrounded by square frames holding the pictures below. if it looks like hell once i get it all together.... well then i'll try something else!

oops! have a safe trip on the 20th grandma!

:)