Introducing....Our Lowcountry Kitchen

After a some thought and some playing around with blog design (well, sort of), I am proud to unleash Our Lowcountry Kitchen upon the blogworld!  While I liked my old name, I decided that it was time for a change.  I hope that you like it, too.  I found the pic for our button (coming soon!) and headliner on the web somewhere, and I'd like to give props to whoever did it because it is beautiful and perfect for my blog.  Someday in the future, I'm probably going to have a professional create a design for me, but until then, here we are! 


It may be a few days before I post any new recipes.  Sometimes, life happens, you know?  Last week, I traveled back up to NC for a funeral, and today I had a root canal so it's been a rough week or so for me.  College football starts this week and fall is right around the corner!  I'm looking forward to the lower humidity but not the shorter days.


Thanks for stopping by!!!

Missing in Action!!

Sigh....once again, I've gone M.I.A. from the blog world.  This past weekend, I went out of town for a meeting (again) which was part of the reason that I haven't been posting recipes.  The other one....well, it's a little more traumatic.  Okay, okay, okay, it's really not that bad, but it was traumatic for me at least.  Last Friday was a pretty hectic day at work.  We had a joint injection in between several interviews that were scheduled for our admin assistant position.  After the first two interviews and the injection, I was enjoying my chick-fil-a nuggets and a salad from the Big House (aka the Main Hospital Cafeteria) when suddenly something didn't feel right in my mouth.  My tongue went straight the source of the weirdness which sent me straight to the bathroom.  Yep, my first molar had broken in half!  


Yes, I have to admit that I have a bit of a teeth issue.  Growing up, I had braces twice so despite some of my poor choices earlier in life, having nice teeth is important to me.  When I realized what had happened, I was definitely started decompensating.  The situation got worse when it became clear that my dentist was closed (I used to go to the faculty dentist clinic at MUSC) due to MUSC's having graduation that morning.  I started calling around to find somewhere...anywhere!...that would take me.  Then another thing dawned on me.  My car was in Mount Pleasant!  Dern you, CARTA Express!!!  Between my cell phone and my office phone, I put in calls to several dentists, Rick, and my friend Kelly.  Apparently, I should've gone to dental school instead of nursing school because none of them are open on Fridays. 

Luckily, though, this story has a happy ending because I found one in Mount Pleasant.  Kelly came and got me.  I am now a patient at Smileworks who were wonderful enough to come in to see me on a Friday afternoon.  I didn't have to be snaggle-toothed for the Arthritis Walk on Saturday or my meeting to Cincinnati on Sunday.  I got my new temporary crown (no root canal-YAY!) on Tuesday, and I go back for the real deal on June 7th.   


In the interim, I've been super-careful about what I'm eating because I'm terrified that my crown is going to pop out.  It's been a week of PB&J and soup for me.  I'm so thankful for those fresh soups that they sell at Harris Teeter...you have no idea.  Hopefully, I'll be able to overcome my fear and start adding "real food" to my diet again so I'll be back to sharing them here.  (If anyone has any exciting soft food suggestions, please share!!!!)


Hope everyone has a safe and happy Memorial Day Weekend!!!!

A Nod (and thanks!) to my Frugal Online Friends

Wow, another non-food blog! What is up with that?  I guess I just wanted to take a little time and share spotlight some blogs with you that you may (or may not) have bothered to click on over there to the left of my posts.  Basically, I follow three types of blogs:  cooking blogs, my friends' blogs, and saving/coupon blogs.  Admittedly, I've never been much of a coupon clipper.  I don't think I've ever had the patience or made the time to hunt for them. I'm also notorious for clipping and forgetting, but since I've become an adult (ie, graduated from nursing school and started a real job again), I've put myself on a budget and trying to save money.  I guess it's that pile of student loan debt that for my little world rivals the national debt (okay, maybe not THAT bad, but it feels like it!) that has inspired me to be more conscious of my spending habits.  Rick actually helped me get set up on my budget and convinced me to set up a new checking account for "groceries, gas, and fun" which has actually worked out really well so far!  I fished out this plastic, purple, accordion file that my mom had given me YEARS ago to organize my bills, actually labelled it so that I can organize my coupons alphabetically!  My dad has always been big on coupons, and I'm hoping that I'm making him proud!


Since discovering Friday Follow, I've been introduced to quite a few really cool blogs that are all about saving money, getting free goodies, and coupons!  Now, I enjoy browsing different blogs and checking out their posts about where to get cool free stuff and what specials certain stores are having.  I've started getting the Sunday paper because all the cool coupons are there, and I recently discovered that there are websites out there that give a preview of what the Sunday coupons are.  How exciting is that!  Hmm....maybe I do need to get out more.


Here are some of the buttons  (I think I may have button envy!) that will take you to some really cool places to help you stay on a budget.  Be sure to continue to check them out on a regular basis, too.  If you have any that you frequent or if  you have your own, please share them in a comment.

So check 'em out!

This site I stumbled upon while looking for info on the Publix Penny Saver.






This site has a great FAQ section that explains about couponing that really helped change my attitude about couponing. 



 
The name says it all....


 
This blog has all kinds of links to giveaways and how to get free goodies in the mail (my new favorite thing to do)!

 

Here's one done by a fellow RN! (Me?  Biased?  Never!)




Thanks to all the awesome bloggers who do these sites!  My bank account thanks you, too!

HAPPY NURSES DAY!!!!

I rarely do non-food posts, but I just had to do one today because it's Nurses Day!  I'm really proud that I'm able to call myself a nurse.  This past December, I joined the ranks of many women that I admire and appreciate.  My path to this career was a long one that started off in research in psychiatry, took a turn into the rheumatology world, detoured for a masters in clinical counseling, and then started nursing school in the fall of 2008.  I got some grief today about my many degrees, and minus the student loan debt, I'm very happy with the choice that I've made.  I'm just as thankful to all of those who have supported and encouraged me all that path.  So I'd like to say thank you to all of the nurses in my life...the friends, mentors, and healthcare providers who have been there for me along the way.  I hope that you will do the same and thank those wonderful men and women who call themselves nurses!