Rave reviews

Every Tuesday night we have "the guys" (Jason, Danny and Chris) over for dinner. They are guys from Geoff's unit that are here at the course with Geoff and they live on post in not so great conditions. We have them over to give them time away and a home cooked meal. I thought I would share what I made tonight because it got rave reviews from them. They are always really appreciative and enjoy what I make but tonight they definitely loved it! Here is the recipe:

Croissant Chicken
Serving size 4

4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
2 Pillsbury Crescent rolls
2 cups of shredded Cheddar Cheese
1 can of Cream of Chicken soup
1 cup of milk

You can boil the chicken for 20-25 mins until fully cooked or you can cook in the crock-pot for 3-4 hours on high. I prefer the crock-pot but both work fine. Dice cooked chicken into bite size pieces or shred chicken if you used the crock-pot method.

Place croissants in a glass baking dish (the glass will help you later) pinching the seems between 2 croissants to create a rectangle. Place chicken on top and then place another rectangle of croissants on top to create a pocket with the chicken inside. Repeat 4 times to create 4 pockets.

In mixing bowl combine soup, cheese and milk. Pour on top of croissant pockets making sure to completely cover all pockets with mixture.

Bake in the oven at 375 degrees for 30-45 mins. Keep an eye on it because tops will burn if you aren't careful. You can cover with foil for first half of baking time to keep from burning. Remove foil near end of cook time to brown the top. When you think they are finished cooking look at the bottom of the pan to see if the croissants are brown if they aren't they may be doughy inside.

Serve and enjoy! I usually serve with a green veggie.

I hope you enjoy this Miller family favorite!

An Easter Tradition

Every Easter when I was a little girl we would always go to church in our Easter dresses and hats and then head over to my grandmother's house who we called Mama. It is one of those great traditions that everyone loved. The 7 kids would wait impatiently inside trying to resist the urge to peek as the adults were hiding the eggs in her huge (or at least it was huge to my little girl mind) backyard. They would hide them all over and we would spend hours hunting, eating and re-hiding the eggs. It was lots of fun and it is a great memory I share with all my family.

Last year my mom began her own tradition of an Easter egg hunt for her granddaughters. We aren't always able to do it exactly on Easter but it is still a great tradition that I look forward to every year. Especially as more children are added to our families and Ellie and Alyssa grow older.

This past weekend we continued our traditional Stewart family egg hunt and the girls had a ball. It did not matter that we had to do it inside because everything outdoors was soaking wet from Friday nights severe weather. It is so funny to see the girls and the different ways they participate in things. Alyssa is a go getter hurrying to find all her eggs and then tearing into them to see what all she got. Ellie is much more thoughtful and wonders around slowly looking for eggs and then neatly opens her eggs and enjoys each egg before moving on to the next. I am sure in years to come Ellie will learn to move a little faster when all the eggs are being taken but for now it is cute. For the rest of the weekend Ellie has played with those plastic eggs and all her goodies.

Here are some pics from the our second annual Stewart family egg hunt:

                                                    Ellie ready to find her eggs.

                                     Our attempt to get two two year olds to take a pic!

                                                   What exactly goes in this basket?

                                 We are over this picture stuff can we just find our eggs already? :)

Do we ever slow down?

It has been a fun but busy week and weekend. We left Columbus Wednesday to visit family in Atlanta.  Wednesday night I went to a Jewelry Sample Sale with my mom and found some amazing jewelry for super cheap. I am excited to see what old clothes I can jazz up with my new jewelry. It's amazing what a new piece can do for an outfit. Sample sales are the way to go! A lady in my mom's neighborhood has one every spring and fall. I will post when the next one comes around in case some of you are interested. It is lots of fun to look at all the great stuff she has it is far more than you would ever get in a store. If you ever get to go to one you should take advantage of it!

We also got to see some great friends at girls night. Girls night is one of the things I miss most since we moved. It never matters what we do at girls night we always have a great time! I can't wait to spend a week in Orlando this summer with those girls! I am so lucky to have not one but 7 best friends!

Friday night I picked Geoff up in Atlanta and we went back to my Mom and stepdad's house to celebrate Easter. Thanks to our friend Danny who let Geoff ride up from Columbus with him so we wouldn't have 2 cars all weekend. The girls got to have an Easter egg hunt and then we went to a concert at Suwanee Town Center Park. It was so fun but it definitely could have been warmer.

Sunday we were able to attend Lanier Hills Church and see some more great friends. It was great having lunch with them as well. Then we were able to get one more load from our house and now we are officially finished moving! Thank goodness! Once back in Columbus we went to dinner with some new friends! It is so fun to meet new people and learn new things from them! Looking forward to more dinners with the Greenleaf's! :)

It was a great week and weekend! Now we are looking forward to hanging out with some of our new friends here in Columbus and enjoying this beautiful weather we are having. I am really hoping that one day soon I get over these allergies! :(

UFL

 Here at the Maneuvers Captain Career Course they like to have mandatory fun so every Wednesday we go cheer Geoff and his team on at their Ultimate Football League games. I have no idea what the rules are or how to follow the game that is some strange cross between football and ultimate Frisbee but it is fun nonetheless. Ellie and I go and hang out with the other wives and Ellie yells "Go Daddy Go". Last game we had a cookout on the field after which was fun. I am bummed we will miss this weeks game but Ellie and I are excited to head back to Atlanta to see family and friends this week.

                                                The Beer Cooler the guys favorite part!

                                                     E cheering her daddy on!

                                                                      Warming up

The girls having fun! Sorry Dana this was Ellie's photography skills! I still thought it was a cute even though you are kind of cut off.

                                 The cheering section minus Jessica! Where are you Jessica?

Our New Place

We are finally all settled in here in Columbus. I thought everyone who hasn't gotten to visit yet might like to see what our new place looks like. We would love to have anyone over who would like to visit or even if you are just passing through to more exciting locations. :) Our apartment complex is great so far. It is quiet, we have great neighbors and lots of parking. If anyone ever has to move to Columbus, GA I would recommend this complex.

Thankful or Jealous

I don't know whether to be thankful or jealous that we know we will stay here in Georgia. This week the other wives are going through branch interviews and discussing where they will be headed in August once all our hubby's graduate from this course. There are many locations included in the discussions such as Ft. Riley, Kansas, Ft. Lewis, Washington, Germany, Italy, Ft. Campbell, TN., Ft. Bragg, NC., Ft. Carson, Colorado, and Ft. Irwin, CA. Some are great locations and some not so great. Either way it seems exciting to learn where their futures are headed. I know it is crazy to feel a tinge on jealous watching them experience this. They would probably say I am crazy! We have so many advantages to never having to leave GA. Family and Friends is the biggest advantage. We will never be farther than driving distance from them. I know I should be thankful but I just can't help but feel a little tinge of jealous at the prospect of the adventure each new post brings! There just doesn't seem like much adventure in Calhoun or Macon.

I guess its up to me to create my own adventure!

Getting to know us!

       Geoff and I are college sweethearts. We met and it was love at first sight. We knew we would be together forever well before he went to basic training 6 months after we meet. We wrote many letters through basic and AIT. He returned from basic training and AIT 4 months later and we were engaged as soon as he was able to buy a ring. He completed his education and ROTC at NGCSU. We were married 2 months after he graduated and Commissioned as a 2nd LT in the US Army. The military has always been a part of our life together. He just hit 10 years in the Army in March! We will hit 10 years together in August! I can't believe it! I love him more every year and all the struggles we have been through have made us that much closer. I graduated from NGCSU 6 months after our wedding with my teaching degree. I only used it for 3 years before I became a stay at home Army wife and mother. We have a beautiful 2 year old that is so much fun! She has added more to our lives than we could ever have imagined. I am a classic Army wife. I stay at home to raise the family and keep the household going when he is away. Last year we completed our first deployment. He went to Afghanistan in April of 2009 and returned safe and sound to us in March of 2010 and was promoted to Captain. It was a tough year of raising Ellie and being away from him but I am a completely different person for the experience. I have grown so much from all the things the Army has put us through. I try my hardest to enjoy everyday we have together as if it is the last! 

         We just made our first military DITY move (Do-it-yourself move) to Columbus, GA for the Maneuver Captains Career Course. We are enjoying it here at Ft. Benning even though it is short lived because we will be PCSing in 4 months to Calhoun or Macon, GA. You will find out through future post that we are AGR (Active Guard and Reserves)- meaning we are Active duty but work for the Guard so we will always stay here in GA. We have all the same benefits such as Tricare, same pay and status of Active duty we also have the same hardships of Active Duty such as moving every 3 years (even though it is within the state) and deployments (we do get a little longer dwell time than our Active duty counterparts usually 3-5 years). Our soldiers are M-Day- meaning they drill 1 weekend a month and 2 weeks during the summer. This creates some interesting issues for the soldiers and their families. Geoff is a full time guy and works on these issues, training and maintaining unit readiness, sending soldiers to schools, OER's among other things between drills.