Healthy Pumpkin Dip

If you are looking for a super simple, super quick AND healthy recipe...this is it!  A few ingredients, 20 seconds in the blender and you are good to go!  The best part?  It is made of all real ingredients that you can feel good about: greek yogurt, pumpkin, and spices.  Use fresh cut apples to dip and this pumpkin dip will taste like a treat but leave you feeling great.

Healthy Pumpkin Dip

Ingredients:

3/4 Cup Pumpkin puree, canned or fresh

1 Cup Greek Yogurt (I used vanilla)

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon Pumpkin Pie Spice

1/2 Teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract

Directions:
Blend all ingredients in the blender until well mixed.
Refrigerate for at least one hour.
Serve chilled.

Rocky Top and Moonshine

I am obsessed with college towns.  Especially on game weekends!  I just love the energy, the excitement, and the traditions!  Over Columbus Day weekend, we had the opportunity to experience the University of Tennessee with our friends Blair and Wil.  They were the best tour guides because they both went to Tennessee!!!  Is there anything better than experiencing a college town with the people who know it best?!

We left Meridian on Friday after the guys got off work.  What should have been a six hour drive ended up taking nine hours so needless to say, we checked into the hotel and headed straight to the bar.  First stop -- DGB, the location of Blair and Wil's first date!  After that, we hit a few spots along Market Square before grabbing one last drink at the speakeasy, Peter Kern Library.


Saturday we woke up early to start tailgating for the Tennessee-Georgia game.  It's so fun to see different tailgating rituals at different schools.  We ended up getting tickets last minute to the game (thanks to Wil's parents!) and it is lucky we did!  Tennessee ended up beating Georgia and it was an incredible game!!

On Sunday, we kept the "SoutheReddy family vacation" going and drove to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg.  We tasted our fair share of moonshine at three different distilleries, ate rooftop mexican food, played games at the arcade, and toured the Ripley's World Record museum.



Luckily the guys were off on Monday for the long weekend so we were able to sleep in and get breakfast at a Pancake House in Pigeon Forge before making the trek back to Meridian.  The whole month leading up to this trip, I kept saying that I wanted a fall weekend.  This turned out to be the perfect fall weekend!

You've Been Boo-zed!

Growing up, I remember "getting boo-ed" as one of my favorite parts of the fall!  The doorbell would ring, one of us would answer it...no one would be at the door, just a package of treats and a note saying that we had been boo-ed.  It was always so much fun to decide who we were going to pass it on to, our escape route for not getting caught, and picking out the halloween treats.

I think BOO-ZING might be even more fun!



Our neighborhood on base is filled with lots of young couples our age so last fall when I came across the idea of boo-zing instead of boo-ing, I knew I had to remember!

Rob and I hit the store for some treats and then once dark fell, we headed out to start the domino effect.  We boo-zed two of our neighbors and ran out of there before anyone could see us.  (Of course, five minutes later we get a text suspecting that it was us! Oops - this totally has my name all over it!)  It has been so fun to see this trend continue throughout the neighborhood!



I found these printables on Pinterest and just adjusted them a bit.   It's not too late to start it in your neighborhood.  Just get a few goodies, print out a copy of each page below (right click to save image), and leave it at a neighbors doorstep :)



Happy Fall!

Hokie Reunion Weekend in Blacksburg

Last fall when a bunch of my friends were in Blacksburg for a football game, I had to pry myself away from social media to avoid crying.  Living 800 miles away is tough sometimes.  But this year, when talk of a reunion came up, I knew that I was not missing it!  Well worth a plane ride from Mississippi!



I flew out of Jackson on Thursday and into DC to spend the night with my parents.  Rob couldn't come since Blacksburg is out of bounds (and let's be honest, even if they would have approved his leave, he wasn't going to take it for a VT game!) so I was flying solo.  It was nice to be able to have dinner and catch up with my parents.  Friday morning, Molly and Shawn picked me up on their way to Blacksburg.  We got into town just in time to grab lunch at West End.  (For you non-Hokies, West End is one of the insanely amazing dining halls at VT.  Think fresh lobster and steak daily on your meal plan!)  I would be lying if I said I didn't get a little teary eyed walking on campus but let's just blame it on the wind.  To no one's surprise, I got the old standby: london broil, garlic mashed potatoes, and a roll.  Just as delicious as ever!



After lunch, we headed back to the house to wait for the others to arrive.  There were 17 of us in town for the weekend and we rented a big house about half a mile from the stadium.  It worked out great because instead of all being in separate hotel rooms, we were able to hang out all together in the huge common areas.  Most people got in around 5 and we headed straight downtown to Cabo for dinner.  (Soy ginger shrimp tacos and a workmans margarita -- again, no shock there!)  After dinner, we headed to TOTS for a rail and I have to say I was a little depressed to find that TOTS might not be the most popular bar anymore :/




The only downside of the weekend was the weather.  While Mississippi was sunny with temperatures in the 80s, Blacksburg was hit with pouring rains and temperatures in the high 40s!  Needless to say, none of us made it to the actual game!  We had a big tailgate breakfast at the house and then headed to Sharkey's to watch the game.  It honestly felt like we never left!  Just like a typical college Saturday, Sharkey's blended into Big Al's which blended into Benny's for late night pizza.  Unlike a typical college Saturday, I didn't bounce back quite as easily as I used to ;)





We woke up early Sunday morning to start the drive home.  I had dinner with my parents and lounged around all day.  I flew back home to Mississippi on Monday wondering how on earth we survived four years of college!  I am so grateful to be a Hokie, to have such amazing friends that pick up right where we left off, and to be able to see them for weekends like these even though we all have our own busy lives.