#MichiganHereWeCome and Other Craziness That Has Happened The Last 5 Months

Wow.  The past 5 months since I have written have been a whirlwind of craziness.  When I sat down to finally write this post I noticed there was a draft that had never been published.  It was titles #MichiganHereWeCome and had 1 paragraph written:

#MichiganHereWeCome has been used on my instagram page more times that I expected this summer.  To add to the chaos of getting married this summer, we made the jump and decided to move to Michigan.  I moved up about a week ago, and my hubby is soon to follow.  I definitely did not expect to be moving and living apart from my husband within our first two months of marriage.  It's been HARD.  But we try our best to make it work.  I am excited for him to be here hopefully tomorrow.

As I read this paragraph now I find it hard not to laugh at what I thought "chaos" was then.  And I am sure in a year from now I will read this post and say the same thing.  To catch up quickly on what has happened.  Tad moved up to Michigan for about 6 weeks.  The main reason we moved there was to be near family (a.k.a. my parents).  My parents also had recently moved from Ohio to Michigan.  6 weeks in Michigan proved to be too much for all of us.  My mom got homesick and missed her job and friends, my job had me driving more than working, Tad couldn't find a job, and my dad was never home.  Enough was enough and we called it quits.  My parents put their house on the market and Tad took the dogs to Saint Louis to start looking for a job.

Fast forward another 6 weeks and I am in Saint Louis too.  Tad and I both have jobs, I especially love mine.  Then a few short weeks later is Thanksgiving, then Christmas and New Years, and now its February 2nd and where has the time gone?

Now in just 1 short week we will finally be out of Tad's parents house and into our own little townhouse!  We put the security deposit down a month ago, and I have been non-stop crafting and cooking and decorating and organizing and planning ever since.

I have no idea where to start, so I guess I will start with tonights dinner and go back from there.

Since we are still staying with Tad's parents, coordinating dinners have been difficult.  Who is going to be home?  Who is cooking?  What do people like/dislike?  Are we eating out?  Since I still have my retail job there is usually a week night or two that I'm not home for dinner.  Tonight was no different.  Since I work at a school now I get off at 3:15 weekdays, so I like to try to make sure to have dinner ready by the time Tad gets home from work.  In my rush to figure out who was cooking dinner, and what to cook if I was cooking I found this simple recipe from Pinterest and it was so good!  There were only enough leftovers for me to take for lunch tomorrow and that's it!  And what's even better, its a one pot meal!  This recipe is from Damn Delicious and is pretty damn delicious. (The photo is hers too).  I have tried quite of few of Damn Delicious recipes and I have never been disappointed.  If you need a recipe, click on over to her blog, you won't be disappointed.

Lemon Butter Chicken

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Yield 8 servings

Easy crisp-tender chicken with the creamiest lemon butter sauce ever - you'll want to forget the chicken and drink the sauce instead!

Ingredients

• 8 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs 
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika 
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste 
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided 
• 3 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1 cup chicken broth 
• 1/2 cup heavy cream 
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan 
• Juice of 1 lemon 
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme 
• 2 cups baby spinach, chopped

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 
• Season chicken thighs with paprika, salt and pepper, to taste. 
• Melt 2 tablespoons butter in a large oven-proof skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down, and sear both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side; set aside. 
• Melt remaining tablespoon butter in the skillet. Add garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in chicken broth, heavy cream, Parmesan, lemon juice and thyme. 
• Bring to a boil; reduce heat, stir in spinach, and simmer until the spinach has wilted and the sauce has slightly thickened, about 3-5 minutes. Return chicken to the skillet. 
• Place into oven and roast until completely cooked through, reaching an internal temperature of 175 degrees F, about 25-30 minutes. 
• Serve immediately.

I hope you enjoy this as much as my family did!