Happy Anniversary, Mom and Dad!

Today is my parent's 35th wedding anniversary! I want to wish y'all a very happy anniversary even though it involves traveling to see my grandparents and back. My parents had to get married in December while my dad was on break from medical school and when we were little, we would always drive up to see my grandparents in Alabama on Christmas Day and then drive back home on my parents' anniversary. Mama Mil always takes a picture of them in the same spot of her house for as long as I can remember and I'm assuming they did it again today!

  I hate that I'm not there to celebrate with y'all, but I love both of you very much!! Thank you for showing me the important things to remember in a marriage and I hope that Patrick and I can still be as happy as y'all when we reach our 35th anniversary!

  Cheers to you, Mom and Dad! Love y'all!!

A Year Ago Today

  Last year on this day, Patrick and I were driving back to Atlanta from Birmingham after we had picked up our little bundle of joy from our breeder (http://www.tresaithcorgis.com/). Yes, this little man became ours one year ago and it's hard to believe that he's only been with us for a year!

  Patrick surprised me one night after I came home from work and said, "Well, I was going to wait until Christmas, but you need to know this sooner...." He had e-mailed our breeder, Janet, and she had one boy corgi from an October 10th litter that was still available if we wanted to go to Birmingham and see him. Patrick showed me a picture (actually, 2 boys were available, but a family was coming to see the other one) and of course, I was in love. You see, I have grown up with corgis since I can remember. My mom has had 4 corgis total and I told P that although he is a golden retriever man, I have to have my corgi. Merry Christmas to me! P and I drove to Birmingham and I immediately fell in love with my little man. I told Patrick that I hoped he really did want a dog because now we had to get him since I had seen him. My dad knew P was a goner.

  Anyways, we picked Wrigley, "Tresaith's Field of Dreams" up on December 26, 2009 and I have loved him ever since. Of course, he is a mama's boy and is quite the little scaredy cat, but I love him to pieces even though he chewed on my door frame and chewed up a piece of my hardwood floors in the dining room. It's ridiculous how many pictures I have taken of him from the last year, but these pictures are from the first few days we had him (we had to tape his ears and oh, how he hated that!!) and I love them! I kind of wish that there was a miniature corgi because they are just so darn precious at this size!!

  All I have to say is that I'm thankful for my husband for giving me the best gift last year and creating our family of three! He cracks me up and I could go on and on, but I'll leave you with a few more pictures of my little bundle of joy who has truly become my first child.

 My most favorite picture of Wrigley to date (first vet visit)

Pat used to be able to hold him with one arm

Corgi Christmas

  We participated in Kelly's Corgi Butts Secret Santa Exchange and it was awesome! Since Patrick was flying up to see his family in Chicago yesterday, we decided to do our Christmas a little early on the 23rd. I had to work on the 23rd and had just been hit by a drunk at a stoplight coming home, so please pardon the terrible pictures of me!

  We received our present and Wrigley was ready and waiting to open his gift! He was slightly apprehensive at first, but after he saw the awesome toys inside, he couldn't wait to stick his nose into every bag under the tree. Silly corgi, not all Christmas bags are for you!!

  We opened the card first and found out that our Secret Santa was none other than Kelly and Gibson!! The card is ridiculously awesome!!

 I pull out the first item and it's a mini muttpuppet. I squeak the squeaker and of course, Wrigley lunges for it and runs off with it to his spot. 

 Next, I pull out a kong tennis ball that squeaks and Wrigley comes running back for that. 

  Also inside is a large antler which attracts Wrigster's attention immediately, but he isn't so sure he wants to let go of the tennis ball, so he switches to his game of kickball with the antler in his mouth.

  Kelly also included a cute corgi magnet that is proudly displayed on my fridge. I love it!
Thank you so much, Kelly and Gibson! I hope you decide to do the exchange again next year; we're totally up for it!!

  Merry Christmas, y'all!!

Chili and Chex Mix

During the winter, one of my favorite foods to eat would be either some kind of soup or chili. When I met Patrick's parents for the first time, his mom made a huge batch of this chili and I became obsessed with it! Ever since then, I've made it over and over again! 

Patrick's Mom's Chili

1 lb. sausage

1 lb. ground chuck

1 large onion, chopped

4-6 stalks celery, chopped

1 large can tomato juice (I use spicy V8 juice)

1 6 oz. can tomato paste

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

1 14 oz. can tomatoes, don't drain

2 cans kidney beans

2 tablespoons chili powder (I don't measure it-just pour it in, baby!)

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Brown the meat together

Chop up the celery and the onion (I forgot the onion, so I used onion powder) and brown with the meats

Add in the kidney beans

Then add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste

Pour in the tomato juice

Add your spices and let the chili simmer for several hours

Once the chili has simmered for several hours, then serve with sour cream and cheese! (I forgot to take a picture of the finished product but it's super yummy!)

Last week, I also decided to make some chex mix. I had no idea that Patrick doesn't like chex mix, so I was glad I could take it over to Kathryn's house to have some help finishing it off at her birthday party!

Chex Mix (recipe from www.chex.com)

3 cups corn chex cereal

3 cups rice chex cereal

3 cups wheat chex cereal

1 cup mixed nuts

1 cup pretzels

6 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons seasoned salt

3/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Melt butter in oven heated to 250 degrees.

 Add in seasonings and worcestershire sauce to butter

Stir in cereal mixture and bake for 1 hour. Stir every 15 minutes and then allow mix to cool on paper towels.

Enjoy!