Happy Friday and Holiday weekend!

It's here, a 3 day weekend! Not only is it a holiday weekend, it's the FIRST DUCK GAME of the season!!! I can't sit still I'm so excited, work about did me in today. I was worse than a 5 year old on Christmas Eve. Factor in the grande mocha I had about 10am....talk.about.jittery/antsy. YIKES! 

Tonight is Hawaiian pulled pork prep, and a high school football game! Yes, after TOO many years to count, Brent and I are going back to our Alma Mater (yes, we're high school sweethearts) to watch our high school football team kick off their season. GO OC PIONEERS! I may or may not have debated on wearing my lettermen's jacket, Brent said not a good idea....ok fine kill joy. HA! I hope everyone had a great Friday. In mean time, here are some of my Friday favorites, or just favorites in general. :)

My all time favorite flower. Doesn't the bright yellow look happy?! 

 

  
The best place on earth....Maui.

 

Where great teams come to die. Autzen. 

Great Read!

I'm sure everyone out there has heard of "The Help", a great novel by Kathryn Stockett.  I first heard about it from my mom, which led to my sister, then a few blogs....so, needless to say I had to get my hands on it and see what all the fuss was about.  I saw Sherah last Friday, and luckily she owns the book and lent it to me, yay! I must say, the fuss isn't all for nothing.  This a great great read.  I can't put it down.  It sucks you in with humor, truth, and prejudice I still can't quite wrap my head around. It's heavy, don't get me wrong.  But, that's part of why I love it so much.  Prejudice, slavery, and mistreatment of other humans is NOT to be taken lightly, nor is it a "light" and simple issue.  I encourage everyone to read this.  I'm only only page 150 and I already have a strong attachment to the story and what it stands for. P.S. Only a few days more, and DUCK FOOTBALL is back!!! Happy Thursday!

Wish I Was here Wednesday...

It's the middle of the week...and I may or may not have slipped into a daydream about these gorgeous places. Happy Wednesday!

 

Game Week

I can't believe it's upon us.  The first Duck game of the year is THIS WEEK! UofO vs. LSU Sept. 3rd.  In case you didn't know...I thought I should refresh everyone's memory. I'm just a LITTLE excited. In celebration of the first game we're getting together with a bunch of friends and Duck Alumni to cheer on our Duckies.  I'm making Hawaiian Pulled Pork!!! I'm putting the recipe on this post in case someone wants to make it.  I could eat this week in and week out, pulled pork is one of my addictions. Happy Monday and GO DUCKS!!!

DUCKS!

 Here is the recipe, enjoy!

Hawaiian Pulled Pork

Ingredients:

·         -1 or 2 7lb pork shoulders (1-4 people use 1 shoulder)

·         -1 bottle of Wright’s Liquid Smoke

·        - Hawaiian sea salt (found at Umajawaya Specialty Asian food store)

Instructions:

·        - Rub the pork with sea salt, roughly 2 teaspoons per shoulder.  DO NOT over salt before cooking.  You can always add more salt after you have pulled the meat apart.

·      -   Put pork in the crock pot, add ¾ the bottle of liquid smoke (for one shoulder).  If you are making two shoulders, it’s safe to use the entire bottle.

·       -  Slow cook the meat for 8 hours, it’s best to make this right before bed.

·        - When pork is done I take it out of the crock pot, put on a large plate and with a fork pull it a part so it looks shredded. 

·        - Take out excess fat floating in the pot, and off the meat.

·       -  Take out half of the juice left in the pot, once the meat is pulled apart put it back in the crock pot.

·        - If you are going to eat it soon after pulling it apart you can leave the crock pot on low to keep it warm, if you’re eating it that evening turn it off so the meat doesn’t dry out.  It only takes about half hour to warm it up when you turn the crock pot back on low.

·        - Serve with BBQ sauce (I use Sweet Baby Ray’s), and Hawaiian sweet bread (also sold at Umajawaya). 

BBQ Chicken & Dark Chocolate=Healing Powers

The past 5 days or so I've been sick with some sort of summer cold, bleh. I like to call it the bubonic plague, a bit extreme, but it feels justified for how crummy I felt.  Today I've finally hit a turning point, NyQuil has done me GOOD! Brent was VERY lucky he did two back to back fire shifts Sunday/Monday night because I looked like Medusa on meth when I woke up...I was a sight to be hold.

Dinner w/healing properties.

I also think Brent's excellent cooking/bbq'ing has nursed me back to health, (along with my half a dark chocolate bar I consumed at work).  Last night we feasted on BBQ chicken, red & yellow BBQ'd peppers, sticky rice, and strawberry, goat cheese, spinach/arugula salad...YUMMM. I gorged on dinner and then let it settle with a lazy walk down the street to return our movie and redbox. We debated getting another movie and then Brent reminded me we had yet to watch the finale of Spartacus Blood and Sand! SO, I geared up with a huge glass of wine and we snuggled in for the last episode. It was a great summer evening! Can the sun stick around forever, please? But on a side note, I may not be a medical professional, but I now STRONGLY believe dark chocolate had some aid in my recovery, try it.  At the very least it will be delicious and it will make you happy!

Ab challenge!

Confession Friday, here I come. For those of you who know me, know I work out/exercise regularly.  As in, mostly every day except Sunday or Monday (depends on how the weekend goes). Lately, I get to the gym and have NO motivation to work hard.  In the past, I would put all my effort into it, now....I do some cardio and then I feel like I more so dink around with the weights instead of challenge myself. I'm not sure how to get myself back to the motivation level I once had when I would leave the gym exhausted and feeling great. So, I have an idea. I'm going to do a 30 day ab challenge.  From now (8.4.11-9.4.11) I am going to do my eight minute ab work out, of the lovely russian twists/plank scenario. Hopefully some changes take place!!!!!! I figure, even if I don't make it to the gym, I'm at LEAST doing an ab work out, NO. MATTER. WHAT. And believe me, once Brent catches wind of this, I will NOT get away with slacking on this, I firmly believe that man is hard coded to not let me get away with anything! So, good luck to me. Feel free to call me out if you think I'm slacking, I need the motivation! Also, if you feel so inclined...join me! :-) 

P.S. I wish Brent worse awesome tank tops and spandex pants...sooo hot. HA! 

GO DUCKS!!!

I have nothing but love for these new uniforms, my team, and football season. GO DUCKS!!!

 Is it socially acceptable to make a paper chain counting down the days until kick off? If it's not, I don't want to be right...I'm THAT pumped.