Last Day of February!

SNOW DAY

I have  many updates since I last posted...I have been a busy bee!  I have to admit though...my motivation has been low to update during this month, sorry....the dreary weather has been kicking my butt, I need sunshine people!!!  Honestly, snow in February?!?!?! (I was lucky enough to have a SNOW DAY and not go in to work yippeee!) Then, FRIGID cold weather that bites your face off, and today, monsoon like conditions...yikes!!!  The weather can't make up it's mind here in Oregon.  It's not sure if it is winter time, or April...I wonder what next week will bring, summer like conditions? Yes please!

Veggies GALORE

Tah Dah!

Since the lack of sun has had me couped up in the house it's given me time to snoop around on the internet and find yummy new recipes!  Kelly sent me a great site that has quinoa recipes....and so far, after the first attempt of this new food, I love it!  Quinoa is a brilliant food, it's gluten free, full of protein, fiber, and carbs...it's the ultimate healthy energy food! I loaded in every possible veggie I could think of that "went well together".  Take a looksie at my pile of ingredients, and then the finished product, YUM!  I made to add in some chicken for Brent, I wasn't sure how he would like quinoa from the start...so I thought going purely vegetarian the first time would give him a mini heart attack, I kid!, he is great about trying new things I make.  But...I wanted to cover all my bases so chicken it is!  He really liked the quinoa and the entire bunch of veggies! YESssssssssssss (happy dance!). I would say the ONLY down side to this delicious meal is the copious amounts of chopping...chopping, and more chopping of the vegetables.  

Coconut Milk

While making the quinoa I tried a new beverage...it's called Zico.  It is different.  I'm not yet sure if I like it, or just tolerate it.  It's pure coconut milk.  It's extremely good for you, and full of potassium, but it's odd.  It has a very unique taste and I'm on the fence about it, we'll see if I buy it again...it's hard to drink something that's just so so, even if it is really good for you! 

Beautiful flowers from team parents!

Moving on....basketball season has come to a close.  Last week on Thursday evening we had our end of the year banquet.  My sister gave out awards and spoke about each player, and their parents pitched in to get them necklaces.  It was adorable, the girls were genuinely tickled.  You could tell they had fun this year.  Unbeknown to Ingrid or I...their parents got together and gave us gift cards, and a bouquet of flowers.  We honestly had the best team parents, we were EXTREMELY lucky, we had zero parent or team drama!

Take a look at the snow we got last week.  We woke up to A LOT of snow...then it melted away about mid day, then it came back in full force about 2:30pm and blanketed the city once again! 

Yes, this is a cake. Pretty cool!

Delicious cake!

Now for this weekend!  I had Sophie and Isaac (my niece and nephew, ages 7 & 5) on Saturday, and they spent the night.  They were great, I was extremely impressed.  Not one time did I ever have to tell them to mind, behave, be good etc...they were little angles.  I have no idea how they were so wonderful because I don't believe I was THAT good at their age :)  Once they got to my house I told them that we were going to a surprise party that evening for their dad (my brother Brian)! They were thrilled, I now know they love surprises!  The party was a success...it was a Congratulations party on getting the head baseball coaching job at OC!  The party was of course baseball themed and we all got to wear his old uniforms.  It was a very fun evening and there were a lot of great faces to see and chat with that I haven't seen in years.

Slacker Pants

Best. Food. Ever.

Ok ok ok, I have not posted in a LONG time.  At least it feels like it.  I was just perusing the pictures on my phone and realized, holy smokes Batman!, I need to post these! Don't worry about me, I haven't been busy....I have just been a sack of lazy bones.  When I have time alone to myself (which is rare) I read.  I don't watch tv, movies, go shopping, etc...I read. Exciting I know!!!  So, I've been reading instead of blogging, my bad.




First things first...I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day! I'm going to be honest, I had a rough Monday, it slapped me across the face a few times.  I also let myself get a bit mopey on my way home from work....knowing that Brent wouldn't be home until 9:15pm-9:30pm from Fire Academy (big sad face).  I kept it together though....we usually don't have a big hurrrah for Valentine's Day anyway, but we always do some sort of delicious dinner, wine...then movie/snuggle time.  That's what I was missing, my man.  After I let myself mope for a few minutes I decided to get off the Negative Nancy bus and realize I have a lot to be happy about.  I sat there on the couch plotting...coming up with ways to make dinner great.  Then it hit me, BUSTERS!!! Brent and I have a crazy obsession with BBQ food, and Busters is our favorite place. It's heaven in my mouth, that place makes me so happy, sigh.  
Brent topped it off by walking through the door with a giant bouquet of flowers for me. The picture isn't that good, my apologies....I had a struggle getting a good angle since I'm not that tall, the flowers were tall...etc. We then snuggled up with a delicious dinner and a new episode of Hawaii Five-O.  Success! 


Now it's time to back track.  On Super Bowl Sunday I went over to my sister's house.  She made an amazing white bean chili.  It was SO YUMMY.  It was semi spicy, had some warmth, lots of flavor...I added a nice little helping of cheese, sour cream, and cilantro to top it off.  We also had quite a few amazing appetizers and an apple/pear crisp for dessert!  I ate like a Queen, and felt like a stuffed piglet...life was good that day!  Scout was there also, (my moms dog) and he was extremely uninterested in the football game as you can tell.  He had his eyes snugly shut, only to peek open if he heard you going for the snack counter. He only shows up for the food.

A few days after my Super Bowl eating extravaganza I decided to attempt making Gnocchi for the first time.  I was successful, but it didn't meet my expectations.  Next time I will make a white Parmesan basil sauce,  that should take it up a few notches.  It's good that I added in some caprese salad!  That is always a best seller.  If I had no no regard for my health there's a good chance I would make caprese every other day.  I love mozzarella that much. I also diced up zucchini and carrots, let them saute in some evoo, now those were scrumptious!  Overall dinner was delicioso...but I was bummed that I didn't make a white sauce...next time... next time. 

A few days later I wanted to veggie it up.  I'm not talking only veggies for dinner, I can't handle that, not with BBQ being one of my all time favorite foods.  My goal was to cut out some starches/grains and replace them with veggies since we had previously eaten at the Spaghetti Factory the night before and consumed a ton of carbs....amazing, melt in your mouth carbs.  As you can tell, I don't like food at all. I LOVE it.

Back to my mainly veggie plan....it went over great!  I baked an acorn squash and made sure to add some brown sugar on it (sub for carbs/grains).  I cut up zucchini and tossed some green beans and shallots in the pan with evoo and sauted a yummy combo. Then I made soy sauce chicken!  Ta dah! 

Game Day

Wednesdays are good.  You know why?  It means that there are only two more work days left until freedom.  I'm trying to stay perky today and keep my eye on the prize (the weekend)...but I'm extremely sleepy!  This week has been busy...I am either working out each night, having b-ball practice/then working out, basketball game/and then working out...it's a rigorous week! Normally I would slack a LITTLE bit on the work outs with basketball events EVERY night of the week...but I'm training for the Shamrock Run. The only tough part about the training is getting up early on Saturday mornings to run.  The runs are not extremely hard, it's just the mental hurdle, the thought of waking up early on a weekend...that is what gets me.  I value my sleep, and I love sleeping in.  Needless to say, I get really grumpy about waking up early, when I COULD sleep in, and instead I'm running.  THAT is my battle.  Once I'm actually running, it's not bad at all.  It's just the song and dance leading up to the run. Booo. 

The 5th graders I'm helping coach have a game today! It should be a competitive game.  We play Canby and I think they are beatable.  I guess we will find out one way or another! Last night at practice we worked on, getting open and in-bounds passing.....let's just say......it wasn't pretty last game.  I will up date later on the final score, cross your fingers for us!

Jewelry + Wine = Haggard Cork

All of us girlies got together tonight to make the necklaces we're wearing in Tessie's wedding.  They turned out GORGEOUS, but the corks on the other hand...did not.  It looks like a wild rabid animal got a hold of the bottle and then chewed the cork out of the bottle.  You will be relieved to know that wasn't the case, or maybe not relieved? Take it as you wish.  These pictures my friends are the handiwork of none other than, Tessie, Chelsi and last but not least, myself.  I was the victorious, thank goodness, because Lord knows we needed more wine. Yes, I said needed.  You see the cork that has finally loosened its death grip on the bottle?  Yes, the one in shambles...that was our handiwork!  I will have to say, after a bottle of wine split between the three of us, made us a bit more aggressive than usual.  Thus the mangled bottle, shredded cork...etc.  I think Chelsi was chewing on it? Typical.  We're working on that...chewing on bottles isn't very becoming of a lady. 

After all of our struggles, we managed to create masterpieces.  Example A: to the left.  These will be beautiful with the light nude/pink dresses, nude pumps, pearl earrings, and hydrangea bouquets.  I'm still debating on how to wear my hair...but I think an up do will complement the cream ribbon and bow at the back of the necklace?  It's still a thought...this hairstyle will also be contingent upon how tan I am.  This is key, if I am butt white (like I am now) I will NOT have my hair up, but if I have a nice becoming glow...the hair will go up! The wedding is in June and I'm very excited, it will be beautiful! They're having it at the Oregon Golf Club! Ahhhhhh.....June can't come soon enough.  Oh summertime, where are you?  I wish with all my heart I could skip over winter and spring....sigh.  

Dark Chocolate and a Mocha!

You know how I know today will be a good day?  It's 9:07am Friday morning and I've already had a piece of bittersweet dark chocolate AND I'm sipping on a mocha. Now that my friends, is a GREAT way to start your Friday morning! HAPPY FRIDAY!

Since Brent has the Fire Academy every day of his life and is never home on the weekends I've been doing a bit of decorating with my free time.  Yes, it's long overdue and still not done.  So far, I've only decorated the night stands...and added a bit to the mantel, but it still needs work. I mean, lots of paint....
I especially like the candle/rock situation I have going on.  I put it in a glass vase of some sort (saw this at Pottery Barn) and added a few rocks! My nightstand is now complete...and yes the picture frame has a picture in it now.  However, Brent's nightstand needs a new frame (I'm getting a matching white one of course) and I think a few vintage books...that will spice his up.  I also gave him a choice, flower or candle...duh, he choose candle.  BUT, now seeing the two night stands on each side of the bed, I still feel his needs a flower despite the fact that he has a candle.  A vase will spontaneous appear in a few weeks on his stand, I doubt he'll notice (fingers crossed!).  

Here's the lovely fireplace/mantel.  It's a work in progress as far as I'm concerned.  I do have GREAT news to report!  I have been given an explicit GO AHEAD on painting this bad boy.  YES, I said it.....it will no longer look HIDEOUS!!! But I digress, almost every single person that comes into our home loves this damn thing, antiqued and weirdo looking.  Brent loves the damn thing.  I however, HATE and LOATHE it.  Ask Brent, we had a serious argument about the mantel before we moved in.  I know, not normal right?  I hate it THAT much.  I almost did not move in.  It was honestly close, and that's not a joke.  I was 100% willing to forgo living with fabulous man over this heinous piece.  It's like a little boy covered in grime and stinky from catching tad poles that is constantly poking me 24/7, asking me, why, why, why, why, why to everything I say.  THAT is how annoying it is for me to see this everyday.  It's good Brent has the patience of a Saint, or more for that matter, it's me we're talking about.  And, he successfully talked me down.  He helped me see the logical side of the situation, thus I conceded...but only under the condition that there was some ray of hope that the gross fireplace could POTENTIALLY be painted.   

On a different note, I created a pizza that should be shared with everyone!  I found the recipe on The Crepes of Wrath, but I modified it a bit due to the short amount of time I had to pull this dinner off. 

It was fantastic!  I used naan instead of pizza dough, which saved me many many long hours of waiting, rising, kneading etc.  I home made the pizza sauce with aid of the recipe, but I added my own touch too.  I then put dry salami, mozzarella slices, grated cheese, Roma tomato slices, Bella mushrooms, and basil leaves at the end.  They came out with a perfectly crunchy/soft crust and fabulously combined flavors.  It was a home run.  Brent LOVED the pizza. Cha CHING! I know, I'm money! hahaha.  But really, I highly suggest this little concoction, it's very easy and extremely scrumptious, you are sure to impress with this dish!!!