Marriage Conference

This weekend, our church had a marriage conference that Jonathan and I went to. We met up with several couples from our small group and just had the greatest weekend worshiping Jesus and learning how to have a better marriage. We just LOVE our church!! Here's a funny picture from that:

I cooked some dijon chicken with green beans tonight. This recipe for green beans is the BEST! It is so much better than the canned variety, and it's a yummy, quick way to snazzy up some fresh green beans. Here's a picture of the beans ready to be put into the saucepan (don't you just love that bright green?! It reminds me of summer.)

Here's the recipe (adapted from allrecipes.com)

1 lb. fresh green beans, trimmed
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped cooked ham (don't leave this out...it's where the flavor comes from)
3 Tbsp. butter
1/2 cup water (or chicken broth)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

In a saucepan, combine all ingredients. Cover and simmer 25-30 minutes or until beans are tender.

Here's the finished product:

Dunkin' Donuts!!!

Today, I had my first Dunkin' Donut EVER! They opened one right down the street from the dental school, and my rotation partner and good friend, Vaishali, and I walked over there this morning. Now, you must understand that I normally do NOT like donuts. But, I had never had a cake donut. I know, I know, true southerners should prefer Krispy Kreme, but let me tell you, that cinnamon cake donut was to die for. I washed it down with a cup of their famous coffee, and my tummy was satisfied :) Here's a picture to celebrate the occasion.

I Survived!!!

I made it! I took the first part of my licensing exam yesterday, and I made it out alive :) I was at the school from 6:30 am to 5:00 pm, drilling my heart out. I've never been so exhausted. The day before, I had assisted a senior with part 2 of this same exam (I'll be taking that part next year), so this weekend has been crazy! I'm so happy I made it, though, and I feel really good about my performance. I should find out in about 2 weeks if I passed. Eek...I'm nervous!

Hopefully, I'll be able to post some recipes soon. I've been so swamped that when I do cook, there's no time to post about it. Bye for now!

What a Weekend

Who spent nearly her entire weekend at the dental school? This girl :( I'm taking part 1 of my licensure board in 2 weeks, and this weekend we had a mock board put on by the professors at our school. It was from 8-5 both Friday and Saturday. I have to say I wasn't too excited about it, but I really did learn A LOT of great tips, and I feel much more confident now that I can do well on this exam. It's on a manikin, and I have to do a couple of root canals and a few crown preps. This is an example of what I was working on:

(Image credit: http://img239.imageshack.us/i/img0011ot4.jpg/sr=1)

Since my Saturday was completely gone, Sunday was my "catching up" day. I've really enjoyed the day, though. Jonathan and I went to our church, where we were celebrating the 10th anniversary of the church. It was so exciting to remember what God has done in the 10 years since the church first opened!

We really don't care much for either team in the Super Bowl this year, but we figured we'd watch it anyway. Jonathan is in mourning about the end of football season :) I made a new dip that is similar to one served at one of our favorite restaurants. It was Baked Goat Cheese Marinara from this guy's cooking blog. WOW! It was so good. I served it with slices of french bread topped with garlic butter. Check out the picture on the link above because I didn't have time to snap a picture before we dug in! I cooked it in my beautiful new Le Creuset au gratin dish that I received from my fabulous sister as a Christmas present:
I'm also cooking some taco soup right now. I'll share the recipe with you if it turns out well :) Bye for now!