Ham and Corn Chowder

As promised, here is my friend Lea's Ham and Corn Chowder recipe.  I'm going to post this one 2 ways: her original (super delicious and fast) recipe and my edited recipe (less canned ingredients because I used what we had on hand, less dairy).

Ham and Corn Chowder (Lea's version)

Ingredients:

1 package baked ham, diced

1 can sweet kernel corn, rinsed and drained

1 can cream corn

1 small onion, chopped

2 cans diced potatoes, rinsed and drained

6 cups milk or cream

1 bag shredded cheese, 2 cups

butter

2 T. flour

salt and pepper

Ham and Corn Chowder (Sonya's version):

1 T. olive oil

2 T. whole wheat flour

1/2 lb deli ham (we used black forest)

2 cups frozen corn, thawed-puree 1 cup and leave the other in kernel form

1 onion, chopped

2 potatoes, diced

1-2 cups chicken stock

2-3 cups fat free milk

1 cup sharp cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Directions are the same for each version:

1. Saute ham and onion in butter (or olive oil) on medium heat until brown.  
2. Stir in 2 T. flour to thicken.  
3. Stir in corns and potatoes.
4. Add liquids (broth and milk or milk/cream).
5. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Reduce to low heat.   
7. Add cheese and stir until melted.
8. Enjoy!

Nashville girls weekend

Over the weekend, I made made first ever trip to Nashville to get in some much needed girl time with some of our Ft. Bragg friends. Alison and Steve welcomed baby Colin about 6 weeks ago and we needed to meet this little guy! They are stationed at Ft. Campbell in Clarksville, TN, which is almost an hour from Music City. We spent Friday night in the city having dinner and checked out Broadway Ave, where all the bars are. Every place we walked into featured live music...so fun!

On Saturday, we hung out on post visiting my friend Caitlin's SIL and her kids, who are so, so cute! We even played some freeze tag in the park while we were there.

After picking up new momma Alison for a quick lunch and Starbucks run, we spent the rest of the day catching up, drinking wine and Steve's homemade beer (well, some of us) and holding the baby. Our other friends Brice (in town for training), Christie and Patton (who were driving cross-country) came over later, such a fun reunion for our group! We did miss Kendra and Mike, Brice's wife Missy and Chris but this is a tough group to get all together as we are scattered across the country. Here are a few photos of the trip:

Me, Lea and Alison in Nashville/ Holding baby Colin in the quilt I made him/Cait and Colin:

Wedding Weekend (and Week 23)

Over the weekend, my first Ohio University friend and later roommate got married!  Yes, Jen and I met on the first day of Freshman year in Mod 3B of Martzolff House and we shared an apartment with Brandon and Jim our Junior and Senior years.  We walked to many a parties together, watched musicals on our southwest themed sofa and made late night runs to Dairy Queen for ice cr  My OU experience, which I loved, wouldn't have been the same without this girl and I'm so blessed to still call her one of my dearest friends. I was so honored to be a part of her and Josh's very special day.

I couldn't find any photos of our time together at OU but here are a few from after graduation:

Chris and Jen, Drinking $1 beers before a Reds Game,
Leave 2007

Jen and Sonya, Labor Day 2007

Kelly, Sonya and Jen-Halloween 2007 in Columbus

A few weeks ago, I made the 5+ hour drive to Cincinnati for her bachelorette party.  What a great time!  Over the years, I've gotten to know Jen's friends as well so I really enjoyed catching up with the bridal party.  We stayed in downtown Cinci and Brandon (the Man of Honor and another one of my college roommates) planned a very fun photo/video scavenger hunt that had us running and laughing all over downtown.  I even managed to stay out with the group until about 1pm and didn't make it to sleep until well after 3am....not too bad for being 5 months pregnant!

Jen and I, at the start of the Bachelorette Party,
I've got my "mocktail" in hand!

Angie, me, Carissa and Tracey checking off one of our
scavenger items: a photo with a horse

Jen met her fiance in high school through mutual friends and even though they weren't dating during the start of our time at OU, I remember her saying she was going to marry Josh some day.  I guess that day was October 12, 2012.  Jen and her mom did an amazing job planning a "Cincinnati" themed wedding and everyone was more than gracious to us out-of-towners.  The evening ceremony was beautiful and the reception full of joy and dancing (gotta love a live band!)  I did a terrible job with photos but here are a few I did manage to snap at her fun, fun reception!

The bride, this photo does NOT do her justice,
she was stunning in her gown!

Chris and I at the reception

Here are a few photos of my bridesmaid dress and hair from the wedding.  I was fitted and ordered the dress BEFORE I was pregnant and anyone that has bought a bridesmaid dress knows that once you place the order, there is no going back.  Thankfully, Jen chose a style that had an empire waist and I found a really good tailor to make a few alterations for me.  There was no way I was getting into my pre-pregnancy size at almost 6 months pregnant.

Week 23 Baby Bump

Loved my hair, the stylist did an amazing job!

All in all, we had a great weekend in Cinci and I was so thrilled to be a part of Jen and Josh's wedding day.  Here's to many, many years of blessings and happiness for the newly married couple.  I'm excited to see what life brings in the next phase of your life together.  And many, many more years of friendship with my dear friend.
  

2011 In Review

We've had a very blessed and busy 2011!  Here were the highlights:

In January we flew to Colorado to meet up with our NC friends and to ski at Vail.

In February we added a new family member, Lila.

In March Chris ventured to Brazil for spring break.

In April we ran a 10 miler with Brittany.

In June we spent a week in the OBX with family and friends.  Shortly after, Chris started making the weekly drive to Cleveland for his internship.

In July we participated in our first adventure race..which ended in a broken hand.  And had our first guest blogger, Brittany!

In September brought Chris home again and the start of school at OSU and the start of football season.  But not before I made a trip to Cleveland for a visit.  We also hosted a baby shower for Danielle and Tim's pending arrivals.

In October we welcomed our first nephews Luke and Logan.  Chris ran is first (and only) marathon and I was so proud of him.

In December we finished out the year by spending the holidays with family and a few sunny days in Sanibel Island, Florida.

What were your favorite parts of 2011?  What are you looking forward to in 2012?  We've got some adventures pending so keep in touch!

One More Week...

before Christmas!  Are you ready???? 

We've finished the shopping and wrapping...
And the tree trimming and White Christmas watching (it's our tradition)...
And the baking (I only made one type of Christmas cookie this year, Peppermint Whoopie Pies, yummy)...
And the Christmas cards...
And some Christmas sewing, well almost done...
And the Advent masses at church...
All that is left is the ENJOY time with friends and family and the birth of Jesus! 

What are your plans for the next week?

Merriest of Christmases and Happiest of New Years to you!

Christmas Stocking

A few months ago, while browsing around one of our local quilt shops I came across this old-world nautical fabric and knew that it would be perfect for our friend Grant (here are a few posts where Grant has made an appearance on the blog: Thankful Day 9, C's Brazil Trip, Pre-Deployment Charleston, and our UK Adventure).  Grant is one of the friends that Chris first met when he started his Army career and they deployed together twice.  Now he's one of both of our dearest friends.  Grant is working on his masters in history at the University of Exeter in England so even though I made this stocking months ago, I had to wait until he received it to post it!  

  

 Close of up of the toe:

 Close up of the top, I did a slight ruffle (but not too much since it's a guys stocking!)

I've got a few other projects to get to before Christmas so more to come!  Are you hand-making any Christmas gifts?  If so, I'd love to hear about it!

Thankful-Day 5

Have I mentioned how great our friends are?  Well if I haven't, I'm sorry because they are AMAZING and I'm so thankful to have them!  Here are some photos of our friends over the years...  

Sonya and Kelly, 2007 Marathon

Kelly, Annie and Sonya, NYC 2008

Sonya, Grant and Lea, 4th of July 2008

Chris, Matt, Zak, Heather and Jamie Savannah St. Patrick's Day 

Sonya, Chris and Grant, Charleston, SC

Alison, Sonya, Missy, Lea, Caitlin, Christie

Brian, Patton, Bryce and Steve

Sonya and Jenni

Caitlin, Lea, Missy and Sonya, Slip N Slide

Grant, Chris and Yonel, London 2010

Nicole, Rachel and Sonya Homecoming 2000

Eric, Zak. Chris, Sonya and Aaron OU Halloween

These are just a handful of photos of all the fun we've had with our friends...can't wait to make more memories with you over the years!

Beautiful Balance Check Book Cover

TODAY is the birthday of one of our dearest friends, Lea (Happy Leapalooza, my friend)!  What is Leapoolza, you ask?  Well, it's the week before and the week after Lea's birthday and the rules are simple:

1-Do something extraordinary that brings you joy ever day. 
2-Do something extraordinary for someone else everyday.

One of my "for someone else" was to make a special gift for the birthday girl, a check book cover from Amy Butler's Style Stitches.  I've used this book before to make a gift for another friend (you can read about it here and see the outcome here).  I still wish that I could have more photos in the patterns but this one wasn't too difficult though somehow I ended up with a whole extra piece of fabric cut out and and lined and then I didn't know where to put it....so I guess I have the start to another one of these!

Amy's cover calls for a plain front but I wanted this one to be extra special

We were even able to give our gift in person this year (Lea is one of our NC friends) and have dinner with her on Friday night!  Happy Birthday to a wonderful friend!

Pittsburgh

While in Pittsburgh we did more than just the Ruckus and the urgent care visit. Here's a photo of Chris, myself, Kelly and her fiance Altay. They were wonderful hosts on our city adventure. Our first night in town, we went to the Friday night downtown gallery hop and had dinner at a Pittsburgh institution Pimanti Brothers (where they put french fries on my salad...seriously!) All of this was after our warm greeting with homemade chocolate chip cookies :)

We also took in a classic car show, went for a hike in South Park, enjoyed a great grilled dinner and fire pit with s'mores. All in all, a great weekend with friends!

Fractured Triquetrum-At least it's a good story!

Last weekend, at the spur of the moment, Chris and I decided to meet up in Pittsburgh to spend the weekend with my good friend Kelly and her fiance :)  They were so generous in allowing us to stay in their beautiful and cozy home...once again, thank you!  On Saturday we participated in our first ever adventure race (a Ruckus in this case).  What is a Ruckus???  Well this is the description from the Ruckus website:

This is not a trail run. This is not a mud run. This is an obstacle course.
This event was created for those looking for an "Adult Playground" experience that they can't get anywhere else. The Ruckus obstacle course is designed for those with casual fitness abilities, but is challenging enough for the fittest. There is no time limit and participants are encouraged to run the course at their own pace.
At the end of the day, the course is what the participant chooses to make it, and will provide an unforgettable experience.

And if you want to see more, check out this video.  Yes, I realize that we may be crazy... 

Needless to say, mine truly was an unforgettable experience and I'll always have the x-rays to remember it!  Chris, Kelly and I started with the 10:40am heat on a beautiful Saturday morning.  Chris decided that he was in it for time so he took off ahead of Kelly and I.  The hilly terrain and obstacles made it challenging but fun, over dirt piles, under army nets and through mud pits...until the gauntlet!  Kelly and I were about 1/2 mile from the finish line when as I like to put it, I misjudged my dismount...and fell about 10 feet to the ground landing on my left side (mainly wrist and hip).  Well, my hip took it better than the wrist and I left the race after a the next set of obstacles to head over to the medical tent (I'm still a little bummed that I didn't finish the race).  There I got some ice and was directed to the urgent care for further treatment.  The urgent care folks were very kind and splinted my left arm from elbow to fingertips which really did help the pain, that and the pain relievers they prescribed!  The whole time we were at the urgent care, Chris kept saying "never again, you are never allowed to do a race like this again".

 Team 2 Bobcats and a Buckeye

 Chris "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast"

 Finishing the Ruckus and checking his time :)

Post race, pre-urgent care

I followed up with an ortho specialist on Tuesday and the diagnosis is a fractured triquetrum (small bone in the hand, on the pinky side of the wrist).  I'm now in a removable brace for the next 8 week or so.....which I'm happy with as it could have been much, much worse!  Overall, a great weekend with friends that we will never forget!

Splint from the urgent care...no mobility in left hand

Ortho brace, yay for being able to move my fingers and remove it to shower!

PS. please forgive the hair and makeup...seriously hard to do with one hand!  I even went to the stylist and had her cut 5 inches off my hair just so I could attempt to style it myself.

PPS. Shout out to Chris who completed the race at an awesome pace of 48:53.5 (12:13 per mile).  Remember, 4 miles and 20+ obstacles :)  Great job!

Bag for Caitlin

When speaking with my friend Caitlin, she was telling me that she needed a tote bag to haul stuff around in. As mom to a one year old, I'm sure there are always things in her hands and I wanted to make her something special! I used Amy Butler's new book, Style Stitches and fabric from my fav sewing shop, Sew to Speak. I tried to take more photos of the "process" of creating the bag but there are many, many steps missing. The pattern was fairly easy to follow but there were times I was wishing for more pictures in the pattern to follow. I do LOVE the way the bag turned out and want to make one for our beach trip this summer in Amy Butler's laminated fabrics.