Last Wedding related post

Well, to finish up Kelly's Korner Show Us Your Life - Wedding Edition, I'm putting some of my honeymoon pictures up. Mr. Potts and I flew down to Barbados and stayed at the Crane Resort and Spa. It was absolutely wonderful. You'll notice in all these pictures that I didn't touch my hair down there. Pretty much 100% humidity guaranteed that there would be no straightness for me.

It was absolutely beautiful there & the highs were in the mid 80's the whole time. Once we arrived at the resort this was the first thing we saw.
We checked in & they handed us the "Island Punch". Indeed!Mr. Potts took his punch out on the balcony of our roomThe view from our bedroomThe next thing we did was change in some money for Barbadian currency.Because we had to have money to purchase what we would be drinking pretty much all week.Our first night there. We obviously found a tiki bar & more Banks beerA little cafe on the resort where we usually had lunch. Great little sandwiches & yep, you guessed it. Banks!Mr. Potts made a friend. But he wouldn't let me bring him home.
The view from our deck was amazing.
Mr. Potts & I loved the infinity pool. You notice who is taking most of the pictures, right?These were left in our room one day to congratulate us on our marriage.We found a wonderful restaurant situated on the water of a little bay in a town just one over from the resort. We were able to sit outside on the water and watch the turtles swim right under us. I tried to take pictures, but I have no skills for capturing turtles swimming at night. We also found a Mexican restaurant (more Tex-Mex) & had Coronas and Mango margaritas!
Another night we found an Irish pub. Fun little place
We spent most of our time here and at the poolsWe had a wonderful time!We for sure didn't want to leave.
Too bad I caught a very NASTY bug the last day. From eating locally caught fish. Thank God for first class upgrades or I may not have made it back. It was such a severe bug that it was tracked by the CDC & the Health Department. Yep - that's the kind of luck I have.

All in all, it was a wonderful time away for us. We'd love to go back, but maybe in a few years.

One last look

Show us your Wedding - Reception

Kelly over at Kelly's Korner has been hosting Show Us Your Life - Wedding style. I missed out on last Friday's which was reception & honeymoon, so I'm doing reception today & throwing in a little honeymoon tomorrow. Happy Tuesday!

Our photographer caught us running for our trolley - note the blue shoes!
The trolley the wedding party took to our reception siteI was SO excited to be Mrs. Potts!
Mr. Potts gave me dance lessons (have I told you how clumsy I am?) and our first dance was to "When You Say Nothing At All". Pretty telling - since I'm the chatty Potts! A twirl & a pause A dip (my bustle broke - thank God for safety pins)
So excited that we did the dance, remembered all the steps & I didn't fall!
Cutting the cake - oh so yummy! Notice my sweet niece...just waiting.....

Yep, first bite
No cake left for anyone - it was THAT good. No worries - our baker will make us another top.
Our "sweetheart" table Our tables at the reception
My niece was so excited to dance with me, she jumped in my arms, caught me off balance & down we both went!
While my niece was in the middle of things, my nephew was content with a spoon.
My brother & me
We like to party - 80's Hairband style!

Mr. Potts getting down

Last dance - Bruce Springsteen - Dancin in the Dark

One of my favorite couples
Lots of fun!!!

Butterflies

Southern Belle over at The Tale of a Southern Belle graced me with the Social Butterfly award. I like that she sent this on to some of her new followers - me included!

"Love is like a butterfly, it goes where it pleases and it pleases wherever it goes."
Author Unknown

She certainly knew what she was doing in sending this to me. Let me tell you a little bit about why.

• I love to entertain, having lots of people or small groups over for raucous parties or elegant dinner parties. We've had Competitive wine tastings, Oktoberfests and our annual holiday party, just to pick a few favorites.
  
• I often plan small nights out with some of my best girl friends.
• My next plan is for a girl's breakfast over. Some of my besties will be invited to come over in their pj's & partake of a yummy breakfast.

Instructions: Please take this award, place it on your blog, and share it with whomever you wish. I am taking SB's lead and choosing a few new followers.

Part of Life is Having a Good Ponytail - Lemon Blueberry Bundt cake? YUM!
igniting my thoughts - check out her post about falcor from her dreams.
Chaotic Bliss - don't we all often feel our lives are like this?
Heather at Live.Love.Laugh - I love her....her cat helps her blog!
KAC at A Boston Belle - check out the shoes she just won!

I'll share the info about competitive wine tastings soon - maybe later today?

Observations from Wednesday night

Wednesday nights are when I leave work, walk across the street and go to Cardio Sculpt. Last night I realized the following things:

• No matter what, I'm going to walk out of the gym after that class looking like I just died & someone revived me. And then slapped me. HARD.
  
• It is HOT in that gym. I had sweat running down every single part of my body. Even my feet.
  
• Desiree could kick Jillian Michael's ass every day of the week. And then do it again. Seriously.
• I need some new training shoes.
• I need new sports bras.
• I need new tops for heavy sweating. I mean, I walked in & Mr. Potts asked if I'd gotten caught in the rain. I looked outside at the sun & said, "Nope, just Desiree."
• I've tried to get Mr. Potts to go to her class with me. He just laughs.
  
• I may (just maybe a little) be ready for fall weather.
  

Anyone have any good recommendations for training shoes (like for lifting or doing cardio classes)?

Yummy tummy - Tuesday's dinner

Over the past few months, I've been trying to introduce Mr. Potts to new foods (he's a terribly picky eater - or he used to be) while still staying health conscious. Last night I succeeded.

I love calzones, but dislike the fact that I can't control the calorie/fat/sodium content. When I saw a recipe in my Cooking Light Magazine, I had to try it out. I substituted chicken for spicy Italian turkey sausage only because I use that in the stuffed peppers I make (Thursday's dinner) & I didn't want to overkill on sausage. Well, and the fact that Harris Teeter had boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale - buy one get one free!

This turned out wonderfully & Mr. Potts has already requested that I make these again. Next time I will use the spicy Italian turkey sausage.

The yumminess that was

One that was cut in to and ready to be taken to work for lunch today.
The recipe is fairly easy.

Chicken, Pepper & Onion Calzone

Ingredients

• 1 can Pillsbury pizza dough – I used the thin crust version
• 1 Vidalia or other sweet onion, diced
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced and then halved
• 1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced and then halved
• Cooking spray
• 1 pound chicken - diced
• 1 ¾ cup pasta sauce – I used a Vodka sauce for a little more flavor
• 1 1/3 cup (about 5 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 500°

2. Lightly spray non-stick pan with cooking spray and cook chicken until no longer pink.

3. Coat onion and bell pepper pieces with cooking spray. Add vegetables to the pan with chicken. Grill vegetables 4 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove vegetables and chicken from pan; cool slightly.

4. Place dough on a lightly floured surface; divide dough into 4 equal portions. Roll each portion into a 9 x 5-inch rectangle. Spread 1/4 cup pasta sauce evenly over each rectangle, leaving a 1/4-inch border. Arrange chicken/veggie mixture evenly over half of the dough. Sprinkle each calzone with 1/3 cup cheese. Fold other half of dough over filling; press edges together with a fork to seal.

5. Place calzones on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Coat calzones with cooking spray. Bake at 500° for 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Cut each calzone in half; serve with remaining pasta sauce.

My note - keep an eye on your oven. I believe since I used the pre-made dough (the original recipe called for homemade) it cooked a little quicker. Mine were done in about 12 minutes.

It's the Simple things

I recently read an article about Life's 5 Most Important Lessons. This article deals with people and aging. I find myself relating to this more and more as I take on a bigger role in my mother's life.

Isn't it amazing that at 5 our mothers are perfect? They can make us happy, they can make us smile, they can smooth our hair and kiss away the tears. I'm not sure where she has gone, but in the last 7-10 years my mother has slowly disappeared to be replaced with a woman who is helpless and can't make decisions on her own. It breaks my heart to see her like this. The added weight that she is carrying on her shoulders does not help her - it tends to make her needy. Mr. Potts and I will be spending more time with her to help her draw up a budget that she can live within. We'll be helping her clean out her house in hopes of one day selling it.

I went with her yesterday to help her obtain custody of my niece and nephew. I sat in the office and handed over my credit card while the angels were "writing" letters to their daddy.

Back to the article. When I read this, it really hit home. With everything that is going on in my life, the lives of others I know and for people I don't know, I thought is especially important to share this. The key points I took from this article are below.

1. The simple things matter most.
2. Humor and time cure most pains.
3. There's more satisfaction in giving than getting. Service to others is the most satisfying activity.
4. Choose your spouse carefully. It will be your most important decision.
5. Work hard and in a field or role that you enjoy.

I've begun to chant the first point lately. It seems to have become my mantra. The simple things matter most, the simple things matter most. Sure, we all want happiness and some of the extras in our lives, but what is it that gets us through each day? It is love and happiness. It is the laughter of a small child as their face lights up in love. It is the lazy stretch of my Pepe cat as he is waking up to greet me. It is my happy Hayden and her love of walking with me.

It is my family - whom I love with all my heart. It is my mother - knowing that our roles are reversing and that I will soon become more of a caregiver to her. It is knowing that I can help her - that it may be me smoothing her hair soon and hugging her to help cheer her up.

It is Mr. Potts - my heart. My person who "knows" me. Who "gets" me. Who loves me no matter what.

A weekend tapas

I hope that you all had a wonderful weekend! Mr. Potts and I did. Nothing too over the top, just good friends and good food.

My best girlfriend was coming over on Friday night & I decided we'd have tapas. In order to fully enjoy tapas, you almost need to have more than 3 people. Mr. Potts invited a few of our neighbors over and we enjoyed the night.

For our tapas, I made Patatas Bravas, Veal Empanada, Mushroom Risotto, mini Lamb Chops and Herbed Goat Cheese and Prosciutto Shrimp. The Shrimp were a huge hit - so I have to share the recipe. In addition, I made my famous Sangria - the recipe will follow below the Shrimp.

Herbed Goat Cheese and Prosciutto Shrimp

Ingredients

• 6 oz goat cheese
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh tarragon
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh chervil
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 24 large shrimp, peeled, tail-on and butterflied
• 24 thin slices of proscuitto
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

In a mixing bowl, blend the cheese, herbs and garlic together. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Press one tablespoon of the filling in the cavity of each shrimp. Wrap each shrimp tightly with one piece of proscuitto. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the stuffed shrimp and sear for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, or until the shrimp turn pink and their tails curl in towards their body. Remove from the pan and place on a large plate. Garnish with parsley.

Mrs. Potts' Famous Sangria

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lemon
• 1 lime
• 1 orange
• 1 apple
• 1 pear
• 1 ½ cups rum
• ½ cup white sugar – Splenda mix: A little less than ¼ cup
• 1 (750 milliliter) bottle dry red wine
• 1 cup orange juice

DIRECTIONS

1. Have the fruit, rum, wine, and orange juice well chilled. Slice the lemon, lime and orange into thin rounds and place in a large glass pitcher. Chop the apple and pear into bite size pieces. Pour in the rum and sugar and then stir in the wine and orange juice. Adjust sweetness to taste.
2. Chill in refrigerator for 2 hours to develop the flavors.
3. When ready to serve, crush the fruit lightly with a wooden spoon