"Jillia"

So I assume many of y'all have heard of and/or seen the amazing movie "Julie and Julia"...



well needless to say... I was inspired.

Aaron's new nickname for me is "Jillia" because I have been cooking my way through Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" and it has been quite the adventure! No I'm not cooking every single solitary recipe like Julie did but I have been picking and choosing recipes that I know we will enjoy (about 30 so far yay!). Aspics, calves brains, and liver are so not for me. But Beouf Borguinioun, Coq Au Vin, and Bearnaise sauce are most definitely for me!

I really wish I would have had the blog going when I started cooking all of these delicious recipes because I would love to show y'all all of them. It has been so much fun and I have definitely learned a lot about cooking. I have always loved food and loved the idea of cooking but I used to be kind of intimidated by it. For years- and my friends and family can attest to this- Food Network has been my favorite TV channel (besides HGTV) and I think I have seen every show Giada, Paula, and Ina have ever created and then some. Is it weird to say I just love these women and I don't even know them? It is but at least I admit it.

The Barefoot Contessa might be the last and smallest picture but she's my FAVORITE! I love her cooking and entertaining style and her show is soothing. I have made many of her recipes and all of them have been fabulous.

And not to ignore Paula and Giada- I love to put Paula on when I'm in some hotel up north or out west (by myself and missing home) where you just can't get a bowl of grits or a glass of sweet tea... and just to hear a southern accent is like music to my ears!

I love to watch Giada not only to see her cute wardrobe (minus the "ta tas" she likes to flaunt) but her food is so yummy, healthy, and simple- which I like.

These ladies introduced me to cooking and with really simple and delicious recipes and now I have been challenging myself through Julia Childs' complicated but oh so worth it french recipes.

I have decided to start writing about my cooking endeavors to share with anyone who stops by this page. They will be anything from Julia Childs to recipes I've made up in my head! (which I do a lot of the time) If any of them look good to you try it and let me know what you think!

Have I missed my calling?

So it has been about a week and a half since Aaron had surgery and I have been playing nurse.

Can you believe I took his stitches out? Here is a picture:

We go to physical therapy a couple of times a week (I go because I love to watch- and I just love anything medical- I think it's genetics) and he does his exercises everyday 3x's a day. He has been so self-disciplined with his rehab and he still works out everything except his right arm! He inspires me :)

I have been doing everything I can to help him in everyday tasks, cooking his favorite foods, and putting that darn sling (he calls it his "life restraint") on him about 50 times a day! This has definitely been a team effort. Aaron is convinced that I should consider nursing but sometimes I wonder if that's just the Loritab talking :) I tell him I thoroughly enjoy taking care of him because I love him.

Because of the surgery and rehab we won't have to go to spring training for the month of March. This is a negative and a positive thing. We are going to miss all of our friends we were looking forward to hanging out with (and living with...) but we do get one more month at home and for the first time Aaron is actually getting to come on a Carter family vacation!!! Every time we go somewhere he never gets to come because of baseball so for Julie and Jessica's spring break we are going to be CRUISIN'!! We can't wait!

Fresh Catch of the Day: Amberjack

This weekend my family (except Aaron unfortunately) went deep sea fishing and boy did we have a good day! It was a little chilly but beautiful weather. We caught about 40 fish but we could only keep about 12 of them and that's all we needed to keep because these were some BIG fish!

It was quite a workout reeling the fish in... My dad had to keep me from falling in a few times!


Mr. Andy was so nice to take us out on his boat!




It was such a good day.

Court and Jill ran up the hill

So I know it has been a while since my last post but some pretty BIG things have been keeping us busy these past few weeks.

• we celebrated our first anniversary!
  
  

• we found out that Aaron was going to have to have labrum surgery on his right shoulder
• we spent a few days with aaron's parents in Mississippi and saw lots of snow!
  
  
  
  
  Aaron and his dog Ruger (he says me and Ruger are his two "redheads")

• my best friend Courtney and I ran the Mercedes half marathon in Birmingham on Valentines Day

Our fan club! (minus mom who is taking the picture)

• Aaron had his surgery done and it went very well
• I have been playing nurse these past few days 

Happy Birthday Mrs. Vickie!

Today is my WONDERFUL mother-in-law's birthday! She is such a selfless and giving person and I am so BLESSED to be her daughter-in-law. She's basically been my second mother since I was in the 8th grade but now she's more like a best friend. We have so much fun talking, shopping, cooking, and laughing at each other because we're both a little "blonde" :) Here is a picture of her and I at one of Aaron's games:



Isn't she the cutest thing? I love her so much. And I love the son she raised of course :)

Blog Makeover...already

So I found this background and it's my favorite color combination - melon and green- so I had to put it on the blog!

I love these colors so much that they were my wedding colors with accents of gold...




I had a wonderful weekend with Lindsay and her sweet family... We talked for hours, shopped 'till we dropped, ate Mrs. Alisha's good cookin', and watched the Miss America Pageant. I am so proud of Miss Mississippi, Anna Tadlock. She is a sorority sister of mine and represented our state beautifully!

Well that's all for tonight!