What A Week!!!

Suzy and I have been planning this week for a few months now. The 3rd week in July we traveled a total of 900 miles. Thankfully a friend drove 600 of those miles, but that's still 15 hours spent in the car. It was worth every second!

The first part of our journey took us to Suzy's parent's house in Ocean Pines. We were there with all of her immediate family. Her brother Rob was there with his wife Kristin, and their two kids, Chloe and Trevor. Also Suzy's sister Lyn, her husband Dennis Franks, and their 4 kids were there. Andrew is their oldest son. Followed by twin girls Ashley and Riley. And last but CERTAINLY not least is their youngest son Caleb. So that's 12 people that Suzy's parent's, Paul and Joan had to entertain.

And God bless them for it. We had a great time in Ocean Pines. Daily trips to the beach, cruising the bay in Paul and Joan's boat, trips to Lighthouse Sound (back to that in a minute), Saturday night on the boardwalk, and dinner at Hooper's were just some of the highlights. No child in the house was over ten years of age so clearly there was never a dull moment.

Kristin came up with the idea of showing appreciation and helping out Joan by each taking a night to cook. On Friday, we ate a vegetable lasagne that Joan made. Unfortunately I ruined my appetite to chow down because I love lasagne. But we met Lyn, Dennis, and the kids at Panera in Easton on the way in. The Italian sandwich at Panera is huge, I should know better!

Saturday, Kristin had marinaded two different types of pork tenderloin. One in a Honey-mustard bourbon something-or-other, and one in teriyaki. They were both delicious. Rice and salad completed meal. It was impossible for people at the table to stop picking at the tenderloin. So much so Rob had to stop in the middle of eating to carve more.

Sunday was my time to shine. And I say that because I had my hand full. Suzy is constantly telling everyone I am a good cook. I just think she will eat anything!:-)
It wasn't until we were leaving Food Lion with the ingredients until I realized what was at stake. What if no one likes it? What if people get sick? What if I set Joan's kitchen on fire? What if...?

We decided it was best to do something simple and fool proof that I made a few weeks back. I made it with shrimp but Kristin doesn't like seafood, so I made a version with chicken also. Suzy and I got 3 lbs of shrimp BEFORE we found out that the Franks' children love shrimp. So I had to run back and get another 2 lbs.

For the children I just sauteed the shrimp in olive oil and let them have at it. For the adults I started with garlic, onion, oregano, and fresh basil from Joan's garden, sauteed in 2 skillets. After a few minutes I added the chicken to one pan since it takes longer to cook. Add the diced tomato after browning the chicken. With the shrimp, I sauteed it first and set it aside.

The chicken dish was tossed in the skillet it was prepared in. I let the tomato, onion, garlic, and spices simmer then added the shrimp I cooked earlier and tossed it so the shrimp wouldn't be over-cooked. Suzy made a big bowl of rice.

Thankfully everything went over very well. The kids devoured their shrimp, and the adults did even better. There were no leftovers and Suzy's family complimented me on how good it was. The next day, there were no complaints of tummy aches!!

We spent two more days in Ocean Pines, most of it at the aforementioned Lighthouse Sound. Suzy wanted to take a look at it as a possible wedding venue. Even though we are not engaged at this point, we both fell in love with the location. With Paul and Joan's blessings we decided to put a deposit down. We lost our first choice for a date but secured July 8, 2011.

We left OC Tuesday afternoon and the whole ride home I was thinking we have a wedding date so we better get engaged. It happened that night very quick and simple over Chipotle burritos. The excitement spread quickly via Facebook. We only had a couple days to enjoy it because starting Friday the celebration shifted to Mark Carothers birthday.

We carpooled with 4 friends of ours to Lynn's Pond House near Fayetteville, WVA. The ride was easy since Brandi did all the driving. We listened to music, watched the wire, and sang John Denver songs to pass the time on the 5+ hour ride.

Mark's wife Sarah did all the planning and gets all the credit. The cabin was beautiful! We met some of Mark and Sarah's childhood friends from Pennsylvania. Stocked with all the amenities and then some, it was impossible not to enjoy yourself. We ate like kings and queens and acted like court jesters! The beds were 5-star hotel quality.

Suzy and I did not go whitewater rafting with everyone on Saturday, but we managed to get a lot of wedding planning done. I made us lunch on the grill, and then we played pool and chilled on the dual porch swings drinking cocktails until the others got back. We did manage to do some site-seeing and take pictures of the scenic views that West Virginia has to offer.

We left Sunday, stopping at a winery/distillery in Summersville. After a brief stop in Cumberland for CiCi's pizza, we were on our way back to Germantown. There were storms all around but we avoided any serious weather. Germantown wasn't so lucky. Strong winds had knocked out the power in our area, and we arrived home to spend the next two days in the dark. It was a bummer to deal with that upon coming home, but NOTHING can ruin the week we just had.