new yumminess!

last night i made a very simple, delicious recipe! i seriously think it is going to go in our weekly rotation. THAT GOOD! i got it from Gina's Skinny Recipes. here it is! if you try it, let me know what you think :)



Broiled Tilapia with Tomato Caper Sauce
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 4 servings • Calories: 256.5 • Old Points: 6 pts • Points+: 6 pts
Fat: 10.5 g • Carbs: 1.7 g • Fiber: 0.2 g • Protein: 37.4 g
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 (6 oz) tilapia filets
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 shallots, minced
2 tomatoes, chopped
2 tbsp capers
1/4 cup white wine (I use Pinot Grigio)
salt and fresh pepper
Brush fish with 1 tbsp olive and season with salt and pepper.

In a medium sauté pan, heat remaining olive oil. Add garlic and shallots and sauté on medium-low about 4-5 minutes. Add tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Add wine and sauté until wine reduces, about 5 minutes. Add capers and sauté an additional minute.

Meanwhile, set broiler to low and place fish about 8 inches from the flame. Broil until fish is cooked through, about 7 minutes.

Place fish on a platter and top with tomato caper sauce.

Note: The olive oil adds to the flavor of this dish and is an essential healthy oil. If you want to lower the points, you can lightly spray olive oil with a Misto or use Pam. Points per serving would be lowered to 4 points per serving, 197 calories, 3.8 grams of fat.

P.

last week i went to dinner with my two childhood friends, kelly and jenn. unfortunately, kelly wasn't able to make it our housewarming party so she came for dinner a few nights later instead! it actually turned out perfect because we met at jenn's house so she could give us a quick view of their new nursery before heading to a yummy dinner! we were definitely able to visit more on this visit than at the party, so i was glad she drove over (thanks, kelly!). she brought me a gift, and i think it is one of my favorites so far! she got me my new initial :) P!! i am sooo excited to have this new piece in my home. check it out!

sometimes i glance up at it and get confused b/c i'm not used to referring to myself as a parks yet. i'm sure that will happen once we get married! thank you kelly!(jenn, still haven't opened the vino you gave us, but we will soon!)

RSVP

i am wondering the best way to go about this.

we have a website where people can RSVP.

with our formal invitation that goes out, should we add an RSVP card that tells them to go to the website and RSVP there (essentially where the Save The Date directed them). Or...do we do an RSVP card w/ an envelope ready to be dropped in the mail?

what do you think? which are people more likely to do?

we are very limited in our seating in the chapel, that's why these RSVPs are BIG for us!

reception music.

i have always been a music lover. i love introducing people to new music as well as learning new music from others. never in my life did i think finding songs for your wedding reception would be this difficult!

my oldest brother will be DJing this event. i am not worried b/c i know he will know what to play. and he knows our family and what we like. BUT, there are still those songs that maybe i have to have that he would never think of!

i'm drawing a blank! so i'm taking requests...who can think of some great songs? i am trying to think back to my days at church dances, etc. my middle brother used to DJ those dances, and they were way fun! are we too old for baby got back? haha!

send me your requests!!

the proposal.

i realize most of you already know this story because you've either heard it in person or read it on our website by now, but here it is anyway :)

Thanksgiving morning 2010 is one morning I will never forget! I began waking up and getting restless around 8am that morning. I was quickly greeted by Sean who jumped in the bed and said, "Come cuddle!" I did just that, but think I sort of killed it when I started going on and on about what a horrible, morbid dream I had just woken up from. He patiently listened to my babbling, and when I finally shut up he handed me a homemade card titled "Ten Reasons I'm Thankful to Have You in My Life." The card also had a turkey on it, so I thought, aww, he got me a Thanksgiving card :) So I began reading his top ten reasons, and when I got down to the bottom, there was no #1?! He just said it was really late when he made the card and couldn't believe he left it off! I believed him and still half asleep, gave him a hug and thanked him for my sweet card. Then, he quickly reminded me how he didn't do anything for our 4 year anniversary (that's right people, NO card, NO flowers, NO NOTHING!) and that he had been feeling bad and wanted to make up for it (I am still clueless at this point). He told me to look under the bed because there was something else for me (Oh boy, maybe this is it?!)...nope, it was a shoe box sized Nordstrom box. So I grabbed the box and quickly opened it up to find a card that read;

1. I am thankful to have you by my side for the rest of my life!

Still in disbelief, I pulled back the tissue paper, and there it was....the box! with the ring! Streaming tears and lots of shaking take over my body as he took the box from my hand, got down on one knee next to the bed, and said those four little words, "Will you marry me?"...I said YES!...On to the bubbly!

Housewarming Slash Engagement Party

this past weekend, sean and i threw our first house party! we cooked a big pot of red beans and rice, made cornbread, and coleslaw! the party was a huge success! we had a really good turnout which is always a plus! we spent most of the weekend before getting the house ready for the party. we came to a conclusion after many hours of cleaning. next time, clean the bathroom really good, and everything else, DON'T! it just gets SUPER MESSY all over again :) and then you find yourself re-cleaning, which is not a lot of fun! anyway...here are some pictures from the party!

seeing the light!

after my last post, i am not sure how it has happened, but we have gotten way closer to figuring out our honeymoon as well as our everyday dishes, which have been our two biggest headaches so far!

more to come, but i see the light people...i see the LIGHT!

(oh, and in other exciting news...S. got a new car today!!)

no one told me.

no one told me it would be this hard to decide on a honeymoon location. seriously. this is no joke. i feel like our entire wedding is planned (ok not really, but a lot of it), and we can't even decide on where we want to go on our honeymoon!!! ahhhh! it's starting to drive me nuts. are we making this way harder than it actually is? are our expectations too high for our budget?

just to give you some insight on where our heads have been, here is how it's gone so far:

hawaii
st. lucia
hawaii
jamaica
st. lucia
st. lucia
mexico
tortola
st. lucia
banff
napa valley
st. lucia
and now i'm back on hawaii.

i really want to go to hawaii. so i know what you're thinking...GO! easy for you to say! hawaii is expeeeeeeensiiiiiiive! i need to find a good deal. i need luxury, clean, and romantic. i know any of these places will be romantic. but i want that crisp looking room, not a room with so much open air we will have rats running through our room (true story at a resort in st. lucia), or have obnoxious tropical flowers all over my bedspread!!

ok people...i need a miracle. HELP US!

2010, ended with a bang!

it's been a while since i've blogged anything. i haven't really had that much exciting going on in my life...until now :)

thanksgiving morning 2010 was one of the greatest moments of my life so far, and one i will never ever forget! S. proposed to me before i even got out of bed :) {talk about a great way to wake up!}! the story will come soon.

so aside from me having a wedding i can start blogging about, i have decided this really is a great way to go back and remember things you have done. on new year's eve, S. and i got to talking about what we have done to celebrate in the past. we finally figured it out, but that's when it hit me...if i had been blogging all of this time it would be so easy to go back and read about all the fun things we've done! so here i am. a new year. an exciting journey in life S. and i will soon embark on. it's time to put this chapter into words :)