Bethlehem, GA

Today I finally got my wish...SNOW in Georgia! Now, my Northern friends will laugh at me, but I was excited about the 2.5 inches we accumulated today! The morning started out very cold and rainy...I'm not a huge fan of cold weather and the drive to church wasn't the most thrilling. But on my drive over the radio reported dropping temperatures and snow later in the day. Well, later in the day occurred sooner than expected...not long after I arrived it started hailing and within an hour of being at church, the minister decided to cancel the service. During my thirty minute drive home...it started SNOWING! Yeah!

It steadily came down the rest of the day and before long the yard was completely covered. Now, it's not the fun powdery stuff great for throwing snowballs--more of slush--but still very pretty to look at. Poor little Jackson, my Chihuahua, was not happy about the cold white stuff. In fact, when I let him out to pee, he took one look at the snow and stayed under the covering of the back door and just peed right there by the door mat!! Oh well, I don't blame him...I probably would have done the same thing if I was in his situation. :-)

Here are a few pictures of our winter wonderland--Hope you enjoy!

Thanks for Reading!

If you are in the market to buy or sell your home in the Bethlehem or Dacula area, I would be happy to assist you! My passion is helping people find their dream home and stepping them through this exciting journey. I serve the Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett county areas. Call or text me today!

Sometimes, it's hard to come up with a fresh new idea for dinner, which is why I love chicken so much--it is so versatile and can be used in so many different ways. If you have a lot of mouths to feed or just want to cook one night and have left-overs for a few days, a casserole is an easy and quick way to get a hearty meal. So, here's my solution for tonight's dinner:

Chicken Casserole (it's a Paula Deen recipe, of course, because she's my favorite!)

Photo by Dave-F

Ingredients:

• 2 C. cubed cooked chicken
• 2 C. breadcrumbs
• 1 C. cooked rice
• 1 C. milk
• One 2 oz. jar pimentos, finely chopped
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• 4 eggs, well beaten
• 1 10.75 oz. can cream of mushroom soup (or cream of chicken)
• 1 C. heavy cream

Directions:

• In a large bowl, combine the chicken, breadcrumbs, rice, milk, pimentos, salt and cayenne.
• Stir in the eggs.
• Pour the mixture into a buttered 2-quart baking dish.
• Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.
• For the sauce, combine the soup and cream in a small saucepan and heat until bubbly.
• Serve the sauce on the side.

This recipe will serve about 6 entree servings. I don't like to eat a huge dinner, so I just served it with English peas. I stored the sauce and the casserole separately and re-heated them separately and it tasted just as good as the first day it was made...okay, maybe not just as good, because everything is always better when it's hot and fresh out of the oven, but it still tasted good. You can see from the picture below, that the warm sauce is poured all over the casserole...very delicious!

Bon Appetit! Thanks for Reading!

If you are in the market to buy or sell your home in the Bethlehem or Dacula area, I would be happy to assist you! My passion is helping people find their dream home and stepping them through this exciting journey. I serve the Walton, Barrow and Gwinnett county areas. Call or text me today!

The Riverwalk YMCA in Bethlehem opened this past summer and is another great asset to the growing community of Bethlehem. It is part of the Riverwalk neighborhood and is a beautiful craftsman-style facility. The fitness center features a swimming pool, playground, 4 tennis courts, beach volleyball court, fitness classes and plenty of cardio and weight machines.

We are members there and really like it, especially because of the current competition they have going. During the month of September they have a football themed competition where teams of 4 people can do exercise for yardage...basically the team with the most touchdowns at the end of the month wins a prize. For example, if you spend 30 minutes doing cardio you get 5 yards and if you do 3 sets of 10 on eight circuit machines you receive 10 yards. I am ashamed to admit that I've never made exercising a priority in my life, but for the first time ever I've been motivated to go to the gym frequently....I kinda wish they would just keep extending the end of the competition...maybe a year long competition would be better?!

The staff members are always friendly and the equipment is nice and new. They offer plenty of different group exercise classes and also there is free childcare while you are exercising. All in all, it is a great place to workout...and yet another reason for you to contemplate a move to the Bethlehem area.

If you are wanting to move to Bethlehem, Loganville, Athens or any other city within the Gwinnett, Walton and Barrow counties, please contact me today--I would love to help! If you have any questions about the YMCA or real estate in general...you know what to do, comment below.