a year to celebrate...

This past Sunday was the one year anniversary of one of the happiest days of my life...our engagement.  I truly can't believe how time has flown by!  It seems like just yesterday I was busy cleaning my apartment and got the call that Big Red was "broken down" on Mountain Brook Parkway, needing my rescue...which turned into this:

Good plan...don't you think?  Talk about a surprise!  John David hired a photographer to capture every moment, and I'm so thrilled to have pictures of such a special day!

To celebrate our engagement and welcome him home from a trip to the country, I made a great dinner and even tried my hand at a cheesecake! 

I had made the pasta dish before, but the cheesecake recipe came from my good friend, Liz.  She got it from her mom, Allison, and it was surprisingly super easy!  I even got to use my Kitchen Aid mixer for the first time!

I got permission, and couldn't resist sharing the cheesecake recipe (thanks, Liz!).

Allison's Cheesecake:

3 large pkgs. of cream cheese, soft

4 eggs

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 pint sour cream

1/3 cup sugar

Crust:  1 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs; 1/3 cup butter, melted; 1/3 cup sugar. Mix together and press into a 9-inch spring-pan.

Cream the cream cheese and then add 3/4 cup sugar and eggs one at a time.  Add vanilla.  Pour into greased spring-pan lined with crust.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes (until the middle is almost set, but jiggles some).  Whip sour cream and 1/3 cup sugar and pour over cake.  Return to same oven for 10 minutes.  Chill in refrigerator for 2+ hours (overnight is best).

I made a simple raspberry sauce to go with it, and it was delightful!  I'm already thinking how I can tweak the recipe to make a pumpkin cheesecake for the Fall.  Yummo!

The whole dinner was delicious, but the highlight was definitely the cheesecake.  We've been eating it for three days now, and it just keeps getting better and better!

It's amazing the changes that can happen in just a year.  I'm so thankful for such a wonderful past twelve months, getting engaged and marrying my very best friend.  I love you, Chams.  Thanks for asking me to spend the rest of my life with you.  My cup runneth over.