Eastern NC BBQ in China???

Last week we had a double date with Matt and Laura. We got all dressed up, went out to a nice dinner, had great conversation about deep topics and then saw a movie. HEHE. Just kidding. That's not what happened AT ALL!!!

We had 5 people under the age of 4 in attendance, so it was more like our family had a date with their family! Instead of dinner and a movie, we opted for a more family friendly option-we had a picnic and played outside. Laura and I made Eastern NC BBQ, homemade Mac n Cheese, Hushpuppies, a fruit salad and a banana pudding! It was so yummy and so North Carolina! (I give all credit for my BBQ to Andy. I first started making it about a year ago and it's now a family fave! He had been asking me to make it for over a year and I kept refusing because I was convinced I could never make anything close to what we can get at home. We had a bet about something and I lost so I had to make it for him. I was pleasantly surprised at how GREAT it turned out! It tastes really similar to what we can get in good ole Burlington NC!-It's made in the crockpot and has apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, salt, red pepper flakes, and hot sauce. It tastes even better after it's been in the fridge for a day! So since then, NC BBQ has become a regular on our menu!)

After all the kiddos were down for the night we played a rousing game of spades. I think the final score was 90 to -34. Something terrible has happened to our spades skills-it's called marriage. Before we were married, Andy and I were great spades partners. Me, being a risk taker, a bite-off-more-than-I-can-chew kind of person matched with my conservative, play it safe boyfriend made quite a team. My risky bidding was perfectly matched with his play it safe nature. He always seemed to be able to bail us out when I over estimated our hand and I took the risks that landed us the lead. But marriage is changing us. We are both moving to the middle, becoming more like each other. The changes that have been great for other areas of life and our marriage in general are WREAKING HAVOC in our spades game. Just think how bad we'll be at spades by the time we are old and gray!