Happy 4th Birthday Ethan Drake Shepherd!!!

Today is my half-brother's fourth birthday! Here he is last summer and at Christmas at my dad's in Hot Springs. I can't believe he's getting so old! The night he was born I was attending my winter formal for school during my senior year of high school. I wish he could stay three forever, but I guess everyone grows up sometime!

Just trying to get comfortable....

Here are a couple shots of Roxy relaxing in different parts of our house. My favorite is her falling asleep on our bookshelf-please ignore the clutter! I don't think we'll ever own enough shelving to hold all the books we've accumulated!

My New Ride.....

So I sold my trusty 1997 black Civic and got a brand new 2008 Honda CR-V. I LOVE it! I would highly recommend that anyone in the West TN area go to Dobbs Honda in Memphis if they're looking for a new or used Honda. They have great customer service and extremely nice salespeople.

Italian Soup

I've decided to start posting some of the recipes I use during the week, since people are always asking me and I'm constantly searching for new meal ideas. This soup comes from my pastor's wife, Reni Bumpas, who served this after church one Sunday. It's so comforting and it's the equivalent ( in my opinion) to American chicken noodle soup.
Italian Soup
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
4 14 oz. cans of chicken broth
3 14 oz. cans of Italian diced or stewed tomatoes
1 pkg. bow tie pasta
1 bag fresh spinach
1 tsp. dried basil
Parmesan cheese

Saute garlic in olive oil over medium heat for about 30 seconds-1 minute. Add broth and bow tie. Bring to a boil then simmer for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, spinach and basil. Simmer another 5 minutes. Serve sprinkled with cheese and crusty garlic bread.

Jessica's Notes

We're 4 days into my last semester of college (yay!) and we're both already exhausted! The first 2 weeks of nursing school are always crazy with 8 hour class days and lots of new information to learn. I thought when I got to college I would have so much free time, but not when you're in nursing school.
I sold my car this week, so everyone who's familiar with my black Honda won't be seeing me around town in it anymore. :-( I remember that summer day back in 2002 when I came home from camp and it was sitting outside our house. I previously had a 1992 Pontiac Grand Am that spent more time in the shop than with me driving it, so needless to say, I was very excited to get a new car!
For all those who want to know, Erik still hasn't made a decision about law school because he's waiting to hear from all the schools he applied to, but hopefully we'll know something soon!