this week.

i've been typing and deleting trying to figure out the right words. there are none. this week has been pretty terrible, probably one of the worst of my life. there have been a lot of contributing factors, and i am simply exhausted.

but in the midst of a terrible week, i am thankful for friendship. thankful that my sister has been checking in on me & bringing me meals on a daily basis since the saturday night phone call that rocked my world. thankful to have a best friend who cried on saturday night, simply because she could tell how much i was hurting. thankful for friends who listen to me talk on back porches on wednesday evenings. thankful for wine & ice cream. mostly just thankful to have some pretty amazing girls in my life who make the shitty days a little easier.

so cheers, to next week and to finally getting on with my life.

recipe: crock pot chili!

last saturday, katie & i woke up and decided to go errand running first thing that morning. while in target, i decided i wanted to give my step mom's delicious chili recipe a try. she bought me a crock pot over 2 years ago, and i still hadn't used it. so we picked up all the ingredients and went for it.

what you'll need:

• 1.5 (ish) pounds of ground beef (or turkey)
• 1 packet of chili seasoning
• 1 large can kidney beans
• 1 large can of black beans
• 2 cans of "chili magic"
• 2 cans of chili beans
• green peppers (i got the pre cut kind from HT)
• onions (also pre-cut)
• tomatoes (again, pre-cut)

what to do:

1. brown the onions in a skillet. i added a little bit of oil and salt and pepper.
2. once browned, add the meat and also brown it. once it is cooked, add the chili powder to the pan.
3. throw everything else in the crock pot. i used all the tomatoes and about half of the green peppers.
4. add the meat & onions.
5. cook on low for 6 hours or high for 3 hours. serve with cheese on top!

it was so yummy, i'm making it again this weekend!

 

{ingredients!}

 

 

{browning the meat}

 

{at the beginning}

 

{our touch screen crock pot... ridiculous/awesome}

 

 

{finished product}

 

 

 

{bonus: step mom got us a keurig!}

ten day highlight.

i've been a bad blogger. there has been so much going on that i haven't had time to sit down and type. so instead of feeling anxious about "catching up," i'm just going to give you the highlights of my first 10 days of october.

1. chelsea's birthday! my dear friend chelsea (aka chester, chelsman, chelsh) turned the big 25 on the 2nd. we celebrated on wednesdsy night at this little hidden restuarant called sir ed's with all of her closest friends. we then celebrated in a serious fashion on friday night with lots of shots & lots of love!

{birthday girl #1}

{birthday girl # 2: sums up our friendship perfectly}

2. GAMECOCKS! my goodness. i'm still not over it. saturday was one of my favorite days of life so far. after tailgating the perfect amount and seeing lots of old friends, we headed into the stadium for the loudest game i can remember in years, if not ever. the first quarter was amazing, and i have bruises on my shins from jumping up and down and hitting the bleachers in front of me. we absolutely killed georgia. the final score was 35-7, making this the first time in the history of the gamecocks that we have beat georgia three consecutive years. the ride home in the back of the truck with 6 of my guy friends was just the cherry on top. i can't remember that last time i laughed so hard.

{found brantley!}

 

 

{crocker girls + me}

 

{carolina sunset over williams brice}

{the ride home}

3. katie & mom's birthday! it's pretty awesome with two of your favorite people share a birthday! we went to dinner at zink on friday to start katie's celebrations. their actual birthday was on sunday, so i woke up early and headed back from cola to get the festivities started. we had brunch at kennedy's, then went to painting with a twist, and ended the evening at selwyn. it was a great day celebrating two people that bring me so much joy & love me so much even though i don't always deserve it. i love you both more than most things on this planet.

 

{my birthday girls}

 

{our paintings of lola!}

 

{b's & momma's}

 

{oh derrick...}

 

{sweet step dad}

 

{that is one tuckered out birthday girl...}

 

4. mary annie's birthday! i know, it's crazy to have this many loved one's birthdays in 10 days! it's hard to believe it's been 1.5 years since i've seen this girl's face. she is a former roomie turned forever friend that lives in mississippi. you can find her incredible fashion blog here and fall in love with her just like i did back in 2009. she is the ma to my la & i can't wait to see what the future holds for this girl - she is going to do some seriously big things. :) missing you more everyday, my sweet ma!

{circa july 2009: my fave pic of us}