Preparations

Kirby is preparing for the arrival of his car today!! The drivers called yesterday afternoon to let us know they would be arriving around 8:00 tonight. We went to get the plates and the paperwork squared away earlier this week and then Kirby cleaned up the garage and was sure to have a nice clean spot ready for delivery. :)

I am preparing my classroom for 24 1st graders to come in about a month!! I found this name plate tucked away in a closest while I was cleaning. Kirby made this for me my first year of teaching. I struggled with keeping it or throwing it away since we don't have a lot of space to keep things stored at school. I ended up throwing it away, but taking a picture (of course) to remember the memories. :)

Won'tchu be our neighbor

As we have told many people, we love our neighborhood! It's quiet, not a lot of traffic, a quick golf cart ride to the beach... and of course, great neighbors! We met 2 of our neighbors, Mitchell and Gina, a few weeks after moving in when they came over to introduce themselves. Kirby and Mitchell are always chatting in front of the house while they are both out working. Gina and I got to know each other a little more when she and Mitchell got married a few months after Kirby and I.





Surprisingly though, we've never been out to dinner or hung out until just recently. We took them out to dinner for helping us with our lawn while Kirby has been healing from his accident. Mitchell doesn't just mow the lawn either! He also edges, blows the grass clippings, kills the weeds, and even fertilized a few times!





We are very grateful for all his help! Aren't our neighbors great!!

Keys, yes. Car, not yet...

No car yet, but we did receive a set of keys in the mail, as the dealership forgot to put them in the car along with the other set when it got picked up for delivery. I called the couple (Bill and Virginia, from Texas... http://www.intercitylines.com/drivers.cfm ) who are delivering the car. They were driving through Nevada at the time, on their way to Texas to pick up a couple other cars. They said they may have the car here this Thursday.

Cooking with the Kings

About a month ago, I told Kirby how I would really like an apron since I've been cooking more. Yesterday in the mail, I received a package... First of all I love getting mail, so that was an excitement by itself. Then I realized it was a personalized monogrammed apron! Last week Kirby found an Ebay seller who sells personalized aprons. Mine had my initials embroidered and a border of ribbon in our wedding colors! Isn't he the best?! I think so... :)

So what do you do when you get a new apron and you're a new "chef"? Make a cooking video with your husband! :) Enjoy....

golf cart problems

Our golf cart hasn't been working for the past 2 months and with Kirby out because of his broken arm and shoulder, he hasn't been able to fix it as soon as he normally would. I've helped him look at this or that...even bought all 6 new batteries, but nothing seemed to work. Since his breaks are healing nicely and he's been feeling better, he was finally able to start tearing it apart yesterday to figure out the problem.

At first he thought it might have had something to do with the wiring with the lights and reverse beeping sound. He drove it around for awhile and thought he had figured out the problem... but when he got back on it to drive it again, it didn't move! Ugh!

So he was back at it again... took it all apart and started checking more wires.

He finally found the problem... a shortage in these wires. Simple and easy to fix...And we are sooo happy it was just that! We realized that we use the golf cart way more than we thought. Not only does it save on gas, but it makes going a lot of places (especially the beach) that much more enjoyable! :)

Chic-fil-a sandwich- King style

The other day Kirby had the great idea (in hindsight, it wasn't so great) to try and mimic the chicken sandwiches from Chic-fil-a. First, we googled (what would we do without google!!) Chic-fil-a recipes and found a few people who said they had the "real thing". After looking at a few, we decided on this one.

3 cups Peanut oil
1 Egg
1 cup Milk
1 cup Flour
2-1/2 Teaspoons Powdered sugar
1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
2 Tablespoons Salt (we found out this was WAY too much salt)
2 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts, halved
4 Plain hamburger buns
2 Tablespoons Melted butter
8 Dill pickle slices

Mix together the egg and milk. Place the filets in this mixture, and let
sit for at least an hour.



While the breasts are sitting, mix together the Flour, Sugar, Pepper, and
Salt.



Once the sitting is done, dredge in the flour. (After the first dredging, we would put them back in the milk bath for a few seconds, and re-dredge!)

Place the Peanut oil in a deep fat fryer, and bring up to a high heat.
Once up to 375 F., gently drop into the oil, and let cook until golden
brown. (This is for those of us who do not have a pressure cooker. If you
do, follow the note below!)

(We used our Rival "Wing It" fryer since we don't have a pressure cooker.)

Note: Chick-Fil-A actually uses a Pressure Cooker to cook the Filets in. If
you have one, use the peanut oil according to the instructions for frying in
it. Desired heat is 400 F. Once steam starts shooting through, cook for
about 4 Minutes.
Lightly butter the buns, and grill until heated through. Place two
pickles on each bun, and place a hot breast on each!
Servings: 4

It ended up not being quite what we expected and a lot more work than we wanted, so we probably won't be making them again. We spent about 3 1/2 hours preparing and cooking about 8 chicken breasts! I guess we'll just have to keep buying it straight from Chic-fil-a. Which... by the way... does your Chic-fil-a have "Face to Face service" in the drive-thru now? When I went a few weeks ago, before even pulling up to the speaker, someone standing outside my car window took my order on a notepad (face to face) and then handed me my order slip. Then, I pulled up to another worker (also face to face) who I gave my order slip to and he used his headset to tell someone inside my order. They say it's friendlier and faster service. I'd say friendlier, but faster... I'm not quite sold. I'd say it took just as long or longer to get through the car line of about 10-15 cars.

Happy Independence Day!

We hope everyone had a great 4th of July! Kirby and I enjoyed our usual traditions for the 4th of July weekend. We finally got a break from the triple digit weather so we were able to go to the beach the whole weekend. It was in the mid to high 80's and beautiful! :)






Kirby got the "go ahead" from the doctor to start doing more with this arm. The best news... he can surf in a few days if it's still feeling well! Of course, he's super excited about that and even practiced paddling in the ocean this weekend. He's out fixing his board as I write this post, so I know he's itchin' to get back out there. Until then we've been trying to walk together in the morning. As I said above, it's been beautiful and not too hot in the morning, so it made for enjoyable walking weather this weekend.





Before heading to the beach for the Cherry Grove fireworks, I decided to make a 4th of July dessert for Kirby and I. I narrowed it down for Kirby and then he picked his choice... Berry Cheesecake Parfait. We brought some over to our neighbors too, as a small thank you for mowing our lawn since Kirby's been "out of commission". VERY simple...& delicious!





It was back to the beach for dinner and fireworks that night. We ate our Subway and then as we waited for the professional fireworks, we sat and watched all the amateurs set theirs off. However, if you looked down the coast, the amateurs lit up the sky! Soooo many fireworks were being set off and it was a sight to see!