stump face.

my niece, Abigail, loves Iphoto. She seriously thought it was so funny! I will share...

no worries about that scrape on her face.. she hit a stump... so i guess you could call her stump face!

 Also, class is happening and this is how i feel about it. Our first test is next week and Im seriously freaking out! I have no idea even where to begin studying! Why did i go to grad school again?!

Grilled Chicken Salad!

Just like I said yesterday, jon jon and I made some delish dinner last night! It's super light and easy! So i will share it with you! My vote is you should make it for dinner tonight!!

I used her picture because frankly my picture didn't do the meal justice!

I didn't use the blueberries because they are too expensive to buy and I didn't have time to pick fresh ones from my house because I had to read for my class! I also used three corns because one of them was a sorry excuse for fresh corn!

Grilled Chicken Salad with Feta, Fresh Corn, and Blueberries

Ingredients

• 4 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• Salt And Pepper, to taste
• Olive Oil, For Drizzling
• 3 stalks Celery (inner Light Green Stalks), Finely Diced
• 2 ears Fresh Corn
• ¼ whole Medium Red Onion, Finely Diced
• 1-½ cup Blueberries
• 3 Tablespoons Fresh Dill, Minced
• 4 Tablespoons Mayonnaise
• 4 Tablespoons Sour Cream
• ¼ cups Half-and-half
• 1 whole Lemon
• 1 teaspoon Sugar (more To Taste)
• Salt And Pepper (additional) To Taste
• ¾ cups Crumbled Feta

Preparation Instructions

Place chicken breasts into large plastic storage bag. Pound with a mallet or rolling pin to flatten to 1/4 inch uniform thickness. Season chicken with salt and pepper.

Heat grill and drizzle chicken with olive oil. Grill chicken on both sides until done, about 7 minutes per side. (Rotate halfway during grilling each side to ensure pretty grill marks.) Remove from pan. Allow to cool.

With a very sharp knife, shave kernels off each corn cob. Combine with the onion and celery. Set aside.

Mix together mayonnaise, sour cream, feta, and half-and-half. Stir in sugar, squeeze in lemon juice, and add salt and pepper. Stir, then taste. Add more salt if necessary; do not undersalt!

Slice chicken on the bias to create flat, randomly shaped pieces. Throw into a bowl with celery, onion, and corn. Stir to combine. Pour half the dressing over the ingredients and toss gently. Add more as desired, but don’t overcoat the salad; should be light!

At the end, toss in the blueberries to lightly coat them in the dressing. Serve, then sprinkle individual helpings with feta.

At the end, toss in the blueberries to lightly coat them in the dressing. Serve, then sprinkle individual helpings with feta.

also im linking with Jenn for...

first day.

first.. why does blogger look weird?

Okay, so today was my very first day of school for my masters... it was crucial. Its an online class and its like one big skype convo with 26 other people. It's weird. Today my teacher said... i dont know how on earth you will manage to read 300 pages a week, but it's gotta be done. Seriously? please punch me in the face now. On top of that my books havent even come in yet, although one is suppose to be in today. The other not until the end of the week but luckily my friends book came in and she scanned it and sent me copies of what we will need for class tomorrow! So tonight after dinner, that is what I will be doing! The class is for three hours on tuesday, wednesday, and thursday.... so so long and its hard to pay attention! Today we just went over the syllabus but im hoping it will get better tomorrow when we talk about real stuff!

Also, im cooking some delish supper tonight with jon jon  and i will share the recipe soon!!

i was so excited for this moment.... 

and anxious.

Three of my other friends who are in the same class sat in the same house and sat through it together. #thankful

seriously, it was so weird.

hi teacher.

pancakes!

So, I really love pancakes. At my wedding I would be totally okay with having a pancake bar and chick fil a... With that said a couple weeks ago I made some Lemon Blueberry pancakes. They were good, but I totally prefer my wheat white chocolate chip pancakes. You people may totally be obsessed with the lemon blueberry goodness, so i shall share.

its pretty much enough to feed an army so be prepared!!!

Ingredients

• 1-½ cup Cake Flour
• 1 Tablespoon (additional) Cake Flour
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1-½ cup Evaporated Milk (more If Needed)
• 1 whole Lemon (more If Needed)
• 1 whole Large Egg
• 1-½ teaspoon Vanilla
• 2 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
• Zest From 1 Lemon
• 1 cup Heaping Blueberries
• Extra Butter
• Maple Or Pancake Syrup

Preparation Instructions

Heat heavy skillet or grill over medium low heat.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, mix evaporated milk, juice of 1 lemon (more if lemon isn’t very juicy), and lemon zest. Allow to sit for five minutes, then add egg, vanilla, and melted butter. Mix to combine.

Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients. Stir gently to combine. Splash in more evaporated milk if mixture is overly thick. Stir in blueberries. Again, check to make sure mixture isn’t overly thick.

Melt butter in heated skillet. Drop batter by 1/4 cup measures and fry pancakes on both sides until golden.

Serve with softened butter and warm syrup.

More Recipes Here

first purchase!

Sooo.... Jon Jon and I bought our first wedding magazine together!! whoop whoop!!

We have already looked at about half of it together and are getting some really great ideas! The first one that i can officially share with you is about the programs. Since we i want an outside wedding its going to be hot in the summer... in louisiana... yes probably not my best idea but hey! We are going to put the programs on little fan shaped things so that way the guest wont be totally burning up! considerate... i know! Not the wratchett kind with the sticks either... they will be shell shaped and you hold the skinny part! I think we may even have colors but im not going to share just yet, it could always change! I know i said in my last post that i didnt want to plan but... i confess its secretly a little fun... but that could change once all the big stuff has to be planned! 

planning... whats that?

so, seeing as I'm engaged now jon jon and I should prob start planning... but how the heck does someone even know how to plan a wedding? When is it too early to start... I mean I guess it's our wedding so technically we can start whenever the heck we feel like it. Plus its not going to be until next summer... this girl has GOT to go to grad school. Lets be real though, I'd rather get married! Who wouldnt?! I have this really cool idea in my head... luckily I stink at making a plan happen and Jon Jon is really good at it! Flowers, tuxes, dresses, bridesmaids, groomsmen, invitations, cakes, beverages... Where do you start?! Plus.. lets not forget the ultimate dance jams that are a MUST HAVE. Venue... well good thing jon jon and i are both frugal and good thing we have a friend with a MASSIVE backyard who is also excited about this wedding! No worries I'm not hinting.. she told us we could use it before we even got engaged! #friendsforthewin
I think if I suck up to my little big sister long enough and dont make her wear this...

via

surely she will do most of the planning for me if I tell her what I want... :) Afterall what are sisters for.. and she has been married for like 4 years now so planning is still fresh on her mind.

Jon Jon and Shan Shan part 4

This past weekend, on Friday May 27 was a year since he drove five hours to surprise me! The day started out like any other.. actually it was a pretty bad day after lunch because i spilt melted chapstick all over my new shorts and I felt bad all day! So I was kind of in a bad mood and kind of taking it out on jon jon... and by kind of I mean i did, until he politely put me in my place! I was sitting in the apt floor and he said... if i tell you something, promise you wont be mad at me? He then told me that our friend Jen was planning a surprise congrats for getting into grad school party for me. He asked if i wanted him to call her and cancel the whole thing because i felt bad! I of course said no, and went to change clothes! On the way to the party we got pulled over from the cops about ten minutes before we were suppose to be there. It was so annoying because we were going to be late! I had even worked on my surprise face! Jon was so confused as to why we were getting pulled over.. he was going 47!!! The cop stopped us and asked Jon to get out of the car so he did! They questioned him and then came over to my side to get the insurance and stuff out of the glove box. The cop then asked me to get out of the car, so i did. I was freaking out because cops sometimes scare me! The cop told us that before he could write the ticket one thing had to happen... Then Jon got down on one knee and said.. Shannon Marie Smith I love you so much will you marry me?! I responded with what any girl would say... Are you for real?! He then said yes i am! Eventually, i said yes! Then our state trooper friend ran out of the second cop car and hugged us! Jon had set the whole thing up with them! We then went to Jens house for the grad school party... Joke was really on everyone else because it was an engagement party! All of my friends were there! Jon knew how important it was for me to tell them and him not too because I wanted to be the first so he had to come up with a scheme to get them all to come! It was fabulous!! 

This my friends.... is only the beginning!! :)