Remind me again...

Life without the Moo

2012-02-06T15:50:00.000-05:00

So, unfortunately, Baby Girl has gastrointestinal issues. At 4 weeks old, she had blood in her stool and being the first time mom that I am, instantly freaked and called the doctor. He said it was most likely due to a sensitivity to something in my diet; the most likely candidate being dairy.

Since then, I've cut dairy almost completely out of my diet. And let me tell ya, a sandwich just isn't a sandwich without cheese. I don't really miss drinking milk, although I do miss milkshakes! I have never wanted a cookout milkshake so badly in my life! However, when I cut out the dairy, her fussiness went way down, so here I sit... cheese and milkshake-less.

So in efforts to make the best of it, I've gone in search for some yummy dairy-free recipes. Here are my favorites so far:

"Loaded" Black Bean Soup

Here's what I put in mine: avocado (this replaced the creaminess I would've gotten from the sour cream), cilantro, crumbled bacon, andouille sausage, lime (I squeezed this on at the end and it was wonderful!). And I didn't miss the cheese at all!

Bourbon Chicken with my yummy green beans

I served the chicken over brown rice and served my yummy green beans to go with. They's super easy to make. Here's the recipe!

Teri's Yummy Green Beans - serves 4

2 T butter
4 handfuls of frozen green beans (I like the long skinny kind, not the cut ones)
One or two shakes of Lawry's Seasoning Salt
1 T dried minced onions

Melt the butter in a frying pan and add the green beans, seasoning salt, and onions. Toss to coat and allow the green beans to warm through.

Steak and Mango Salad (made this for a lunch date with the lovely Carla)

I used frozen mango chunks because fresh mangoes are hard to come by this time of year.

Crispy Coconut Chicken Fingers

So crispy and delicious, but it wasn't as good the next day, so only make as many as you think you'll eat!

What's with this weather, eh?

2012-02-04T21:42:00.002-05:00

I'm not complaining! Far from it! I'm wondering what NC did to deserve such a wonderfully mild winter. And Baby Girl and I have been taking advantage of it fully! I try to go for a walk with her everyday whether it's just down the street, at the shopping center or at my favorite park, Lake Johnson.

I foolishly tried to walk around Lake Johnson the whole way with Baby Girl the other day...It took us an hour and a half to get all the way around. And about half of the way around, Baby Girl decided she was done being in her car seat and started wailing. Well, there wasn't much I could do, but press forward. And I was sore the next day. From walking. That is how out of shape I am. (But in my defense, Lake Johnson has some pretty serious hills to it)

Any way, I hope you have been enjoying the weather as much as we have! :)

I think I might be tired

2012-01-27T17:12:00.001-05:00

This is a conversation from last night:

Matt (holding a sleeping Baby Girl): I want to put her down, but I think she'll wake up.
Me: I don't know what that word means.
Matt: What?
Me: Uhhh... I mean, yeah put her down.

In explanation, I answered his question with what I was looking at (a word on a photography blog) instead of the answer I meant to give him. Have you ever been able to think about one thing while talking about another? I can... usually.

I think those days may be over for me.

Sleep and other elusive beasts

2012-01-26T21:31:00.002-05:00

I love making lists, so here's my list of things that have almost disappeared from my life since having Evie:

Sleep

So, even though Baby Girl sleeps pretty well at night, she still gets up at least two times, but usually three. I have never slept so little in my life. Well, maybe when I was in seminary, but at least I got a break on the weekends.

Long showers

I love taking long, hot showers. Especially in the winter months. It's my "me" time. I get to stand there and soak up the warmth and enjoy the water beating on my back. It's my daily therapy and I miss it!

Free hands

Baby girl will sometimes play by herself on her back and be fine, but mostly she wants to be up on my shoulder and will start wailing if I put her down. I've tried putting her in the moby wrap and a sling type carrier, but she doesn't like either of them. But on the other hand (arr arr, get it?) I'm getting better at doing things one handed.

My clothes

Even though I weigh much less now than I did before I got pregnant, my shape has changed. Therefore, most of my clothes don't fit me anymore. I'm really sad to see some of the pieces go, but mostly I'm frustrated that I have to start my wardrobe from scratch again. (I'm also frustrated by the stubborn belly flub that won't go away)

But even though I really miss all of these things, I wouldn't trade Baby Girl for any of it. I have loved watching her grow and can't get enough of this face these days.

PPD

2012-01-17T12:41:00.000-05:00

So, at the risk of over-sharing (some people say I have a problem with this), I wanted to share with you my struggle with post-partum depression.

Around the first of the year, I was diagnosed with post-partum depression. The atmosphere in my house had not been good since I had the baby. I am NOT a crier. And yet I found myself crying all day long. And not just a few tears, I'm talking about body-wracking sobs accompanied by panic attacks and wishing I could give my baby away. I was not instantly in love with this little person who entered my life and I was definitely not sold on the idea of motherhood. And all of that made me feel so guilty that I cried all that much harder. I didn't want to eat. I didn't want to hold the baby. I fed her out of obligation (and Matt's persistent "nudging"), and I had trouble sleeping aside from the fact that baby girl never sleeps any way. In short, I ceased being able to function. I just felt so sad and helpless all the time and nothing anybody said could change that. And on top of everything, I was completely exhausted.

I'm on medication now and it's starting to get a lot better. I don't instantly dissolve into a puddle when I can't get Baby Girl to stop crying and I feel like I can handle my life now (mostly). It'll be a few weeks before the drugs fully kick in, but I feel good about the decision to call my doctor and get some help. I was choosing to be happy, even if the happy took a little while to kick in.

And the hero of this story is Matt. If he hadn't been there, I'm not sure both Baby Girl and I would have made it. He made sure I ate, bathed, put on clean under-roos, and took Baby Girl most of the time. If I wasn't feeding her, she was in his arms. He did everything and never complained once. Now I know why it is that Heavenly Father says that children need a mother AND and father. It's because some of us can't do it alone. I also have a greater respect for single parents. Their lives are rough.

All in all, even though I'm still exhausted, can't seem to get things done around the house and I generally feel like I'm trying to climb up the down escalator, I'm ok with it. I realize that this is just a phase and I'm trying to focus on the positives, rather than all the things that suck.

And now I can't seem to kiss Baby Girl's face enough (which she hates).

Photo by jadesweetdreams

One Month Old...

2012-01-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe I am writing this post already. Baby Girl (as she is known in this house) is one month old yesterday. Seriously, when did that happen?!

Mommy-daughter cuddle time

Mere moments after birth. She's so tiny!

I have realized that I am not going to be one of those mom's who dresses up her daughter. Maybe part of it is that she doesn't fit in her 0-3 month old clothes at all and I refuse to buy more newborn sized clothes (because they'll only fit her a few more days). So pretty much she has one outfit that fits her, pictured here,

here,

here,

and here.

Baby girl does not sleep much. She averages somewhere between 10-11 hours in a 24 hour period, although I will say that most of that sleep is through the night. She will usually go right back to sleep after waking up to eat between the hours of midnight and 8 AM (thank goodness!). So at least there's that.

Love those sleep smiles

How come you can't be like this more often, baby girl?

Also, she's got crazy neck control. I blame/credit Matt for this. He isn't very good at supporting her head and so she's had to learn to do it on her own. Other milestones include her first real smile (it was so sweet!), her umbilical stump finally falling off at three weeks, and blasting past her birth weight at her 1 week check up. As of Tuesday, she weighed 8 lbs 13 oz. Go Baby Girl! You get that 47th percentile!

At the doctor's office

Chillin' with Dad

Truman is adjusting to her quite well. His first reaction was to run away when she started crying, but now he'll sniff her if Matt brings her close enough to him, even when she's crying. So far, I'm hopeful about their relationship.

I didn't quite catch it, but when I started taking the picture, all of them had their eyes closed.

All in all, I'm totally in love with this crying, poop machine and cannot kiss her face enough.

But seriously, though... Stop growing Baby Girl.

Everly's Birth Story

2011-12-29T18:40:00.004-05:00

Since I know you're just dying to hear it (riiiiiiiight...) and I think it would be good to have it written down somewhere, I thought I'd share my birth story with you guys. Fair warning: it's really long and really, not much happened other than a typical birth story, but I wanted to make sure I could remember every little detail. So, for your reading pleasure, I share with you (after the jump), Everly's Entrance.

Pregnancy had not been entirely easyfor me. I had dealt with fairly common, but severe nausea, heartburn,fatigue along with some surprising side effects (like chronicnosebleeds). And from a very early point in my pregnancy, Iexperienced frequent Braxton Hicks contractions. So, when thosecontractions started becoming quite regularly spaced a week beforelabor, I was pretty hopeful that my baby might come a few days early,if not on her actual due date. Starting the Saturday before my duedate, I would get contractions that were usually 15 minutes apart(but sometimes as close at 2 minutes) for several hours at a time. Wecalled the doctor several times, but were told to stay home untilthey became so painful it was hard to talk through them.

And so it went for a whole week. Wewould get excited thinking this round of contractions could be thestart of labor, but it never was. My due date came and went and I wasfeeling pretty annoyed that this baby was not here already. OnMonday, the 12^th, I woke up at 6 in the morning with someminor cramping. I didn't think anything of it, as many of my falselabor contractions had felt this way, but when I saw the bleeding Idecided I should call my doctor's office. I had a doctor'sappointment already scheduled for that day, but the nurses told me tocome in as soon as possible to get checked out. The doctor saideverything looked normal and that I was 2.5 cm dilated already. Shewas, however, concerned about the bleeding so they monitored the babyfor about an hour. When those results came back as normal, she saidto go home, take it easy and that most likely labor was right aroundthe corner. So, I went home, once again disappointed that nothing washappening yet. I continued to have the cramping throughout the day,but it was just like the rest of my false labor, so I ignored it.

At about 10:45 that night, I distinctlyremember turning over in bed to snuggle with my husband and feelingan intense cramping pain. This was so markedly different from what Ihad been feeling before that I took notice and started timing. Itstarted out 10 minutes apart but quickly progressed to every 2-5minutes in the course of an hour, all the while getting more and morepainful. We finally called the doctor around midnight and when theforce of the contraction took my breath away while I was on thephone, she told me it sounded like it was time for me to come to thehospital.

So away we went, the whole time usingthe techniques we talked about in the birthing class and calling onmy years of yoga meditation to get me through each contraction. Inaddition to the pain, I was feeling pretty sick to my stomach, andshaking violently with chills which made for a very uncomfortable carride. Once we got to the hospital, we were told to wait in thewaiting room until they could check me in the triage area. Much toour surprise, we saw the Haug's from our birthing class waiting thereas well. We had to wait a long time there because apparentlyeverybody had decided to go into labor at the same time that nightand there weren't enough beds for us yet.

I remember sitting in that waiting roomfor what seemed like forever, trying to consciously relax all of mymuscles and not tense up through the contraction. And I was reallyglad that there was something stupid playing on the TV in the room –Lizard Lick Towing – but it didn't stop the contractions fromgetting progressively stronger and my nausea from getting the best ofme. I remember that I could not try to talk or even think aboutanything other than the conscious effort to relax or the contractionwould be so much worse. It made for a long and silent night.

Finally, they sent us back to thetriage area where they checked us in and confirmed that I really wasin labor this time. I was so grateful that we got to stay as I haddilated to a 3.5 and my contractions were 2-4 minutes apart by thistime. I remember telling the nurse (as soon as she told us we werestaying) that I wanted an epidural as soon as humanly possible. Ilook back at this and laugh because I had wanted to try doing IVmedications before going straight to the epidural. But I was notprepared for the intensity of those contractions.

Not long after that, we were in our ownroom and the nurses were finally able to get an IV in (it took themseveral attempts and two different nurses). And at 6:30, I finallygot my epidural. It was not anywhere near as bad as I expected(having a severe aversion to needles), but the one surprisinglypainful aspect of the procedure was when the doctor threaded thecatheter into my back. It hurt in a tingly, knee jerk, hitting yourfunny bone kind of way and it took all I had not to kick the nursestanding in front of me. And not long after that, the drugs tookeffect and I felt so much better. At this point it was early in themorning and we were both exhausted, so Matt went to sleep and Itried, but the stupid blood pressure cuff kept going off right as Iwould be drifting off to sleep, waking me up. The nurses also had meturn onto different sides every hour or so, making sleep pretty muchimpossible.

Later that morning, the doctor finallycame in to check on me and said that while I was dilated to a 4, mycontractions had slowed down significantly and that my water stillhadn't broken. She suggested that in order to speed up labor, thatshe break my water and start a pitocin drip. I was all about gettingthis baby out as soon as possible, so I agreed. So she broke my waterand I went on pitocin around lunchtime. Thankfully, I couldn't feel athing (thank heaven for epidurals!) and my contractions really spedup after that.

After a while though, I started feelingpain with every contraction on the left side. This wasn't all thatsurprising when I think about how the epidural was effecting me. Myentire right leg was completely numb and I could only wiggle my toes.Getting any other movement coordinated was pretty much impossible. Myleft leg however, still retained a goodly amount of sensation and Icould use it to push myself around the bed. I remember the nursetaking out an wet swab and asking me if I could feel whether it wascold and wet and if I could feel her stroke my skin. On my right leg,pretty much nothing. On my left, not only could I feel the strokingsensation, I could feel that it was cold and wet. She seemed reallysurprised by that. So, the nurse decided to give me a boost to myepidural so that I couldn't feel the contractions. After that, bothlegs were completely useless. I couldn't even wiggle my toes at thatpoint, but I didn't mind so much. At least I wasn't experiencing thecontractions any more.

At about two, the nurse came back inand said that I was 9.5 cm dilated and thought that I should bepushing by about 3 pm. She called the doctor back in (who wasdifferent from the first doctor as there had been a shift change) andhe said that I was fully dilated and should be pushing soon.

I was worried that because of theepidural I wouldn't know when to push, but thankfully there was thisdownward pressure and some slight pain associated with mycontractions that told me to push. I told the nurse who goteverything ready and right on the dot, I started pushing at 3:00 pm.After about 30 minutes of pushing, the nurse told me to breaththrough the next few contractions so she could get the doctor. Hecame in, I pushed once and our daughter, Everly, came into the world.

I couldn't believe how small she was orhow much hair she had! I also had a hard time thinking she was mine(she didn't look a thing like me or Matt – she looked asian!). Iremember crying I was so relieved she was out and that everything wasok. I think Matt was in a state of shock because I had to tell him togo over to the warming station to our daughter and tell me what wasgoing on and take pictures as the doctors continued to work on me.Unfortunately, I tore in two places and required quite a fewstitches. Eventually, our daughter was brought back to me, all cleanand wrapped up and I was able to get a good look at her. I couldn'tbelieve how perfect she was, all 6 pounds 11.5 ounces of her.

After that, things are a bit of a blur.I was so tired from pushing and I just wanted to sleep (you can tellfrom the pictures!) that I don't remember much other than my sisterand Shelly were there and adoring little girl and it was taking agoodly while for my legs to come back from numbness. Once I hadregained most of the feeling in my legs, they moved me to therecovery room where I spent the next two days (which in my opinionwas not long enough!). I seriously wish the nurses and lactationconsultants could have come home with me because I was simply notprepared to care for this infant on my own. And I know that I had myparents and my husband to help, but it's just not very helpful whenno one knows exactly what the little girls wants/needs. Motherhood isa heck of a lot harder than I thought it would be (especially withthe hormones and sleep deprivation) but every day seems a little bitbetter. I just hope I can figure this whole mothering thing out soon,or I think I might pull out my hair.

Any way, I thank my lucky stars everyday that I'm not pregnant anymore and I don't wish she was backinside of me EVER. I'm glad she's here, safe and sound and growingevery day.

Presenting...

2011-12-22T22:06:00.002-05:00

I know this is a little late but for my 200th blog post, I proudly present for your approval,

Everly Faye Davis

Born December 13th, at 3:39 pm

6 lbs 12 oz, 20.5 inches

After many false starts, she has finally graced us with her presence. I just can't believe she's finally here (and how much hair she has)!

Holiday Baking

2011-12-08T15:13:00.000-05:00

So, I've gotten a bee in my bonnet about holiday baking/candy-making. I just have to make a mess in the kitchen or I'm going to implode with boredom. So, without further ado, I present to you this year's holiday baking list!

My mouth is watering already. Now, the worst part - grocery list making and grocery shopping. If I could figure out a way around these two tasks, cooking would be much, MUCH more enjoyable. As it is though, I happen to love cooking, so I guess it's a good thing that there is something to prevent me from cooking (and baking!) myself, and my family into an oblivion. :) I'll post pictures when I'm done! And if you're local and want some, let me know. I'll have more than enough to share!! :)

And if you find yourself with nothing to do over the next three evenings, might I suggest the Apex Nativity Celebration? It's a three night long celebration of Christ at the Mormon chapel in Apex. There's hundreds of nativities from all over the world, beautiful decorations and paintings displayed and wonderful music. And on Saturday night, there's a performance of Handel's Messiah with a full choir and orchestra. It's an amazing event and I highly recommend seeing it!

Staying busy

2011-12-07T16:31:00.000-05:00

In an effort to get my mind off of a certain someone's imminent arrival, I've been trying to keep busy. Between having my brother-in-law, Daniel, with us and doing small craft projects, I've been mildly successful (emphasis on the, MILDLY). A few days ago, I created these super easy and cute glitter Christmas tree decorations ...

My big girl camera is packed in the hospital bag, so you get crappy phone pictures! :)

(tutorial found here)

and printed off some new subway art for my mantel ...

(print one off for yourself, here).

Hopefully, it will look a little more Christmas-y when I get the nativity and stockings up tonight.

Today, I have plans to work on my thank you cards from my shower (oops, these have totally been ignored!) and the Christmas cards/baby announcements for this year. And tonight, Matt and I are going to decorate the house for Christmas. I feel a little less grinchy as a result. :) And if anyone wants to hang out (because I would LOVE some company/distractions!) let me know! Here's hoping the next few days go by quickly!

False starts and frustration

2011-12-04T17:22:00.000-05:00

Last night, I started having contractions at a fairly regular rate. I mean, I've noticed having braxton-hicks contractions for a while now, but these were gratifyingly 10 minutes apart for a solid couple of hours. Matt and I were taken aback and started a frenzied rush around the house. We hadn't put the stroller together, or installed the car seat yet, not had I packed my hospital bag. But for several hours, I had a secret hope that this baby was on its way, I didn't have to be induced and that I didn't have to pregnant all that much longer.

But around midnight, the contractions started being farther apart and eventually stopped. I went to bed, and woke up this morning completely and thoroughly exhausted. But I bucked up and got ready for church, only to have a few annoyingly intermittent and slightly painful contractions start back up. The painful part got my attention and I (being a first timer) got worried and called the on-call physician. She said it was probably nothing but the baby having "dropped" some (probably from last night's activity) and that her shoulder or something may be digging into my back. But unfortunately, there's not much they can do and as long as the baby is still moving around and my contractions are not closer together. So ultimately, nothing to worry about and don't come to the hospital.

That is the most frustrating thing I've dealt with this whole pregnancy: "Yes it's normal, no there's nothing that can be done about it". For the most part, I've expected to be uncomfortable and hormonal on top of huge, but I feel like I've had both common and uncommon symptoms of pregnancy that have impacted my ability to function on a daily basis. I can understand that being pregnant is a huge shift in for your body and that it takes some adjusting on your part to deal with all that comes with being pregnant, but why is there so little that the doctors can do when it comes to the aches, pains, bleeds, etc.?

And I'm frustrated that I am still pregnant after last night. I know my due date isn't until this Saturday, but I am done. I'm done with stupid things people say, I'm done with random people thinking that it's ok to touch my belly and I'm done with not being to bend over. And the worst part now, is that every time the baby moves, I think it's a contraction. Any slight change in pressure or sensation has me on pins and needles thinking I might be starting another episode like last night. It's seriously feels like I'm a race horse, in the gate and some jerk face is rattling the door to my pen just because I'll jump. It's completely draining me of all energy and is putting serious strain on my ability to react to things rationally. I just want to be done.

Some Homebaked Goodness!

2011-11-28T14:08:00.000-05:00

While perusing one of my favorite websites (Tastespotting - Love it!) I stumbled across this photo.

Photo found at Jamiecooksitup.blogspot.com

Don't these make you want to run into your kitchen and make a huge mess with flour? Because I certainly did! The recipe was a bit fiddly (I'm not a great baker) but totally crazy delicious.

I made these puppies for Thanksgiving this year (mine did NOT look that pretty) and after that small success, I decided to try some of her other recipes. Matt and I had the braided sandwich loaf last night, and man was it good (but again, not as pretty as hers turned out, but closer to the mark than the rolls. That means I'm getting better at this baking business, right?)! And since it makes two BIG loaves, I froze one of them before rising and baking for after the baby comes. I'll let you know how that one turns out.

So, if you're ever looking for some totally delicious recipes for dinner, side dishes or desserts, look no further! You won't be disappointed!

Consider my brain wrinkled

2011-11-26T09:02:00.000-05:00

Did you know that the plural form of octopus is octopuses? I had always assumed it would be octopi, after the latin tradition (e.g. radius to radii, etc.). But because the word is derived from Greek, octopous, you add an -es to the end and call it good! Crazy, right?

Now in honor of my newest brain wrinkle, I submit for your approval the video that caused it. It's crazy what you'll stumble upon when you can't sleep.

Turkey Day 2011

2011-11-24T16:14:00.000-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving!!

As I was prepping our Thanksgiving feast this morning, it struck me that this will be the last Thanksgiving Matt and I spend alone for a VERY long time, so I'm going to revel in the slow, relaxed pace of the day today. I'm not going overboard on anything. Just having the basics. No fine china, no fancy tablecloth, no flowers, just me and Matt enjoying some good food and thanking our lucky stars for our little girl on the way.

This year, I would have to say the thing I'm most grateful for is pinto bean. Matt and I didn't have the easiest time getting pregnant, so to be able to have kids without having to turn to fertility treatments was a blessing (both financially and emotionally). I'm grateful that Heavenly Father thinks well enough about Matt and I to bless us with one of his precious spirits and I hope we're able to be blessed a few more times (although, not too many more times!). I'm grateful that after a rough start to this pregnancy, things settled down into a more manageable discomfort. Throwing up and feeling nauseous ALL the time was no fun, and not sleeping for several weeks was no fun either. But the latter third has been more comfortable. And even though things are starting to be uncomfortable and I complain, I thank my lucky stars that I am not on bed rest, that my baby is perfectly healthy and active, and that I've made it this far into my pregnancy with very few problems.

I would be remiss if I did not mention my gratitude for my family, friends and especially my Savior for His love and sacrifice for me. I have a firm testimony in the love of Christ and how freely His love is given to all.

I hope you are spending your Thanksgiving exactly how you want to this year (whether with family or not!) and that this day is full of gratitude and good food! And bonus, here's a photo of me from today. I'm almost 38 weeks. What?! When did that happen!

You can come out now!!

Baby Shower

2011-11-22T17:38:00.000-05:00

I didn't take my camera, not did any body else for that matter, so unfortunately I HAVE NO PICTURES... AGAIN!!!!!! Oh, but someone did take pictures of the cakes. Priorities, people.

Lemon Raspberry Cake - just like my wedding cake! It was my favorite!!

Black Forest Cake - Super delicious and both were made by a super talented lady in my ward!

It was so nice to have my friends and my family there to talk to and catch up with. Our surrogate family, or "The Other Davises" as we like to call them, hosted the event for me and let me tell ya it was really nice. My only request for my shower was to have friends and good food. And there was plenty of both!!

One of the really great things that Shanon did was have everyone bring a decorated onesie in different sizes. They are SO adorable and I love them so much! I'm going to take a permanent marker and write the names of the people who gave them to me so I can remember them every time my little girl gets dressed. I can't pick my favorite! And I *love* that they are homemade. So a BIG thank you to any of my readers who came and decorated onesies for me!

Blogger Hates Me

2011-11-16T15:15:00.001-05:00

Recently, I switched my blogger account over to a different email address. Since then, I've had nothing but trouble with my google reader and the blogs I've been following! I've even had Matt look at it and he can't figure out why it's doing what it's doing. Ugg. I have a love/hate relationship with technology and this is exactly why. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't! Why can't it just work?!

Favorite Things

2011-11-15T11:11:00.000-05:00

Here are a few of my favorite things right now:

Sweet potato pie

No, not the blue grass band (found here and also very good!), but the actual pie. We got a boatload of sweet potatoes in our produce box and I've struggled with using them all up, so I decided to make pie. I used this recipe from Allrecipes.com and it is fantastic! I doubled the recipe because I had almost 3 pounds of sweet potatoes and thought it couldn't hurt to put more sweet potato in each pie. It turned out great! So much better than pumpkin pie (to me, at least!) and I could use some of my NC goodness.

Adele

Photo courtesy of www.adele.tv

I love this woman's voice! But I don't like her live. I've heard a few live recordings and the woman has some serious pitch and support issues that makes it hard to listen to. I also recently saw one of her videos on youtube and she was smoking. SMOKING!! Why is she trying to ruin her beautiful voice? I don't quite understand it, but I truly think she has a beautiful, rich quality to her voice that is so pleasant to listen to.

Pan Am

Photo courtesy of worldscrews.blogspot.com

What can I say? I'm a sucker for anything set in the 60's! I just love the fashion and the hairstyles! I also love that it follows the lives of the stewardesses. I've always loved flying and secretly wanted to be a flight attendant for a long time (until I realized they keep crappy hours/sleep schedules and are away from their families for long periods of time). The acting is passable, at best, and the plot is the same every episode, more or less, but I still love it. I can't help myself!

T-minus one month, and counting...

2011-11-10T11:14:00.000-05:00

As of today, I have exactly one month left in my projected pregnancy time-line. Now I realize that this baby could come earlier (if I could be so lucky!) or later (unfortunately, what is most likely) depending on this baby's sense of timing. I just can't help feeling excited but completely neurotically crazy at the same time.

In other news, we got our pack 'n play yesterday from my mom (thanks, mom!!) and in my excitement, I set it up immediately!

Sorry about the quality! My BGC battery was dead!

I was so proud of myself, having set it up all by my lonesome. So needless to say I was surprised when Matt came home kind of grumpy. After some prodding, he finally admitted that he kind of wanted to be there when I set it up and he felt like he missed out! What can I say! My excitement ran away with me! I'm so sorry, sweetheart!!

Also, I got the best compliment yesterday in yoga! My teacher came up to me while we were doing a modified moon salutation and she whispered in my ear, "You have great body positioning and awareness! Your poses always look just like they do in the books!" I was so happy to get this compliment especially because I try VERY hard to self correct and know where my body is in space, and at practically 9 months pregnant to boot! I felt like that was a win for me, especially when I feel like I must look ridiculous trying to modify the poses to get around the soccer ball in my belly. Have any of you felt like you've had a "win" moment recently?

Nesting

2011-11-07T16:52:00.001-05:00

I think I'm finally feeling my nesting instincts kicking in. All I want to do is move furniture around. I don't necessarily want to clean anything. Just move things around. We've also been struggling with how to make the nursery/craft room and guest room work for us upstairs and I think I've finally figured it out. I honestly cannot believe it didn't occur to me sooner!

I really want to keep a guest room available for friends and family to stay at any time (because I know how much I love to sleep on a bed, rather than an air mattress). But I don't want to give up having a craft area. And since the baby will be here soon, we were basically trying to fit three rooms into two.

But I have realized that there is an unused room in our house with lots of storage built in and we won't have to sacrifice closet storage!!

We have since painted those cabinet doors white. It looks much better now. :)

Ta Da! I'm moving my craft stuff into the green room. Currently the most action it sees in a day is when I go get something from my "pantry". I don't even walk into that room that often!! So, when we were trying to figure out where to move my craft stuff, it dawned on me to utilize that space and all the shelves built into it! :) Here's the plan:

Reorganize the shelves so that the bottom shelves are empty for craft things
Add a DIY drop down table where the orange cabinets are in this picture, replacing the current cabinet doors. This is be my new desk
Make curtains to cover the bottom few shelves and revamp the current curtains that are covering the pantry
Move everything downstairs

I think it will be fantastic once it's done! Now I need to get to the really awful part and start organizing and cleaning out. Blech!

Homemade Laundry Soap

2011-11-02T12:29:00.001-04:00

We were about to run out of laundry detergent when I came across some startling news about it: you can make your own for MUCH cheaper. AND it supposedly works just as well.

What the what?! How have I not known this! Any way, I was immediately intrigued and set about researching different recipes and the one I went with is this (it happens to be the simplest as well):

Ingredients:

2 cup washing soda (NOT baking soda. They are different, chemically speaking)
2 cup borax
1 - 5 oz bar of soap (you can use any really. Doesn't seem to matter which, but I used a castile soap with a lovely lavender scent. Others have also used Fels-Naptha or Zote which are marketed as laundry soaps in bar form. I didn't see these at Target when I bought everything, but your grocery store or Wal-mart may carry them)

Instructions:

Grate or otherwise mangle your bar of soap into small, small pieces
Mix together with washing soda and borax
Put in a container

And done.

It seems much simpler and easier than the liquid detergent recipes. Any way, other recipes seem to say you should use about 2 tablespoons of the dry detergent per load (or a little more if it's really dirty). When you break down the costs, it's just unreal when compared to the liquid Tide I've been using.

Tide (Free and Gentle liquid) = ~ .28 cents per load

Homemade = ~.07 cents per load

I've seen some people's calculations as low as .05 per load because they used regular ivory soap, but I really liked the lavender scent. But one of the best parts is you can even use this in high efficiency washing machines because it is a low sudsing (is that even a word?) detergent. Cool, huh?

I've still got a few drops of Tide left in the bottle, so I'll use that up before I'll breaking into my new batch of homemade soap, but I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes!

Happy Halloween!!

2011-10-31T16:06:00.001-04:00

Is everybody ready to see the costume?

Ugg. Fat Face strikes again! Can't wait for the swelling to go away!

Ta-Da! I didn't have enough paint to do the pants as well, so I just wore my jeans. I also wore this today to my OB/GYN appointment and all the nurses and other patients thought it was so cute. I think the bow really adds to the cuteness. :)

I think the head looks like a crash test dummy, but whatever! It was the best I could do!

I hope everybody has a wonderful and safe Halloween!

Halloween Costumes

2011-10-24T15:39:00.000-04:00

Our ward is doing a Trunk-or-Treat this year and Matt and I are dressing up! My original idea for a costume is not going to work. I thought it would be fun to be a pirate lady carrying a cannon ball, but in execution, the cannon ball idea just didn't come through. It just looked like I was wearing a black t-shirt with a weird string thing hanging off of it.

Any way, since the trunk-or-treat is happening this Saturday, I've had to scramble a last minute idea for a costume and I think I've found it!

Kinda creepy, yet kind of cute, right?

I love this blog because it's a little bit of everything (but mostly sewing) and I know I could totally pull this together pretty quick. The only hard part will be finding a long sleeved black shirt for me that I'm okay with painting a skeleton on. I don't want to pay full price, ya know? So here's hoping I can find something cheap!

I will definitely post pictures of the two of us wearing our skeleton costumes at the trunk-or-treat next week!

There is nothing better...

2011-10-19T13:01:00.000-04:00

Than an ice cold glass of apple cider. I just cannot explain for refreshing and delicious it is. The only thing I can conceivably come close is.... drum roll please!


Love the veggie baskets!

Totally awesome carved pumpkins and squashes!

My sister made that red dress!

Found this little guy over in the garden section.

The State Fair! Ok, ok, I know this is totally corny but I *love* the state fair. There is so much to see, do and taste that it can't hardly be fit into one day! My favorite parts have got to be the big giant vegetables, or maybe the hideously dressed people that come out every year, or perhaps it's all the food! I can't ever decide which part is the best!

Can anyone guess what I have in common with this watermelon?

And this year, the fair is even more fun because not only did enter one of the fair's competitions, but a few people I know did as well! My sister entered a few items, namely a quilt, and won 5th place!! I don't know if she won any prize money, but that's still an achievement! Also, a friend of mine, Britt Brostrom, was recently featured in the New and Observer for winning 3rd place in a pie contest! She also won 1st place in the horseshoe throwing contest! Way to go Britt!

I, on the other hand, did not do as well as I had hoped.

There were no ribbons on my pictures, which was a major bummer, but it was still cool to see my photo hanging on the wall like a real gallery. Here I am with my picture (sorry for the blurriness! It's the only one I got!).

I am *so* tired after the 5 hour trip to the fair. I just cannot keep up with my sister (power walking champion of the world) with my back and feet hurting like they do! I tried, but in vain. By the end, I was limping along quite pitifully. Oh, but I had such a great time, seeing the giant vegetables, eating lots of food and having the weight-guessing carnies comment on my immanency (which is not immanent enough!). Regardless of the heckling I received, I am glad I went today. And I'm looking forward to going again. On Thursday. With Matt. :) Hope everyone can make it to the fair this year (and if you do, be sure to go see my photo!!) and have a great time!

Belly pictures

2011-10-14T14:49:00.002-04:00

I apologize about the quality, as I only had my phone to take pictures with, but here are a few pictures of my belly. (I also want to say it's a lot harder to get a side picture of yourself that isn't crooked.) It's getting pretty big and obnoxious, especially when the two year old wants to sit on your lap to snuggle while you read books at night. Also, it kind of sucks when said two year old pushes/kicks/falls on the belly. Ouch!

I can't see my toes anymore, so I tilted the camera out a little. It's good to know they're still there somewhere!

Sheesh!

Here's hoping I don't get too much bigger. I won't, right... right?

People ask the strangest things

2011-10-12T21:22:00.002-04:00

Sunday, I was asked (by a father of 4 mind you) what it was like being pregnant. What immediately came out of my mouth was, "You have a wife and four children. Ask her." He blushed, but persisted in saying that he thought it must be better than digging holes or something. I quickly corrected him, remarking on how much I would take the back breaking labor any day. Just a thought...

Halloween Blocks

2011-10-07T17:41:00.000-04:00

I saw some blocks like this on another craft blog (can't remember which) that was actually about something else. They just happened to be in the picture and I thought to myself, "I could make those." My sister (Thanks Megan!) cut out the letters for me and supplied the blocks. I spray-painted them black (using the new Martha Stewart spray paint stuff - totally awesome!) then gave 'em a coat of slime green, just for good measure.


Freshly painted slime green

After that, I put the letters on the paper and mod-podged the heck out of those suckers. What do you think?

Final product. Cute, non?

I am so excited about Halloween this year! :)

And the winner is...

2011-10-05T12:26:00.001-04:00

Jumping Jellyfish!

After much deliberation, I narrowed it down to three photos and had them all printed. When they arrived, it was pretty evident which one was the winner. I had it framed (and still can't believe how much it cost) and it's ready to be dropped off at the fairgrounds later this week! I've got my fingers crossed and I have lowered my expectations to just having it deemed worthy to be a part of the competition! Apparently, just because you enter your work in the competition does not mean it's automatically good enough to be a part of the competition and get hung up on the walls at the fair. Crazy, right?

Well, regardless, I'm going to hang it on my walls when this is over. Unless, of course, someone at the fair decides they must have it and buys it from me. :) A girl can dream, right?

It's starting to feel real...

2011-10-04T17:07:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, we bought our car seat and stroller. So, we now have two strollers (one jogging, one standard), a car seat and a base. On the way home from the store, it really hit me hard that there will be a new little person coming home with me. Soon. I've always intellectually known this. It's hard to forget. But it just doesn't feel real to me. It's almost like it has been this romantic idea that maybe, might one day happen, but probably not. It's hard to remove myself from the whole pregnancy equation and really know that there is a whole new being coming... and that I'm going to be responsible for it.

WHAT WAS I THINKING?! I CAN'T EVEN KEEP TRACK OF MY SUNGLASSES! HOW AM I GOING TO BE IN CHARGE OF A HUMAN BEING?!?!

Needless to say, I am completely and thoroughly freaked out.

A long awaited picture

2011-09-26T20:10:00.001-04:00

We went to Blacksburg this past weekend and FORGOT THE CAMERA AT HOME! ARGH!! It was so beautiful up there this weekend with one notable exception: I came down with a cold.

You know how most of the time, you feel kind of cruddy and then finally you get the majority of the symptoms? Yeah, that didn't really happen. I has a sore throat Friday night and woke up with a runny nose and congestion. I think I'm on the other side of it now, but I'm taking it easy for the next few days.

Other than the cold, it was wonderful to visit my parents. We spent the morning at a Virginia Tech surplus auction, at which I accidentally bid on a few items (yikes!). Luckily, we only won the items we wanted which included two desks, a rolling chair and a sweet sweater vest for my dad.

In other news, I've started my third trimester and so far it's been pretty good. Pinto bean is flopping around like a little fish and I'm having to go to the doctor more often (every two weeks, as opposed to once a month. This means I'm almost done, right?). Oh, and I finally feel like I look pregnant, not fat. Here's one of the *FEW* belly pictures I am going to share with you guys.


Look at me, aren't I fah-bulous dahling? Good grief.

I'm not really digging the swelling though. My hands have swollen so much that I can't wear my wedding rings any more (this picture is about two weeks old, although I don't look that much bigger) and I feel like my face is looking pretty wide these days. I am, however, happy to say that I'm in the home stretch and I can't wait until December gets here! Here's to a swift and problem-free 11 weeks (give or take)!

Baby Quilt

2011-09-19T17:43:00.001-04:00

I'm done with all the cutting! Phew!

It took a long time, but I'm now starting to piece things together! Look at all that fabric!
And that's just the long bits!

There are approximately 200 2.5 x 2.5 squares that I cut out. See?

I have to say, this has been my least favorite activity so far. But I was so excited by my triumph over the pile of fabric that I decided to piece together one of the blocks last night and sew it. Just to see how it turned out. And to my anal retentive credit, obsessing over the straightness and length of each piece cut (which was frustrating, but I couldn't just let it go!) made this block go together in a snap and fit together like a dream. I could get into this part. :) We'll see how it goes when it comes time to quilt the darn thing!

Chowda, of the corn variety

2011-09-12T15:48:00.000-04:00

It has been entirely too long without a Teri-original recipe on here! So, to satisfy this urge, I decided to share the best corn chowda recipe you'll ever find. :) Be forewarned that this soup makes A LOT and is insanely delicious. The recipe will be after the break!

Corn Chowda

Ingredients

4 cups milk
4 large red potatoes (you can use regular russets but they will end up kind of mushy)
2 cans of creamed corn
1 can of sweet kernel corn (you can use frozen too!)
1 teaspoon of garlic powder
1 cup of grated cheese, reserve a 1/4 cup for garnishing
salt and pepper to taste
8-12 strips of cooked bacon crumbled, reserve a small portion for garnishing (depending on how much you like bacon)
2 green onions,chopped, reserve a small amount for garnishing
3 tablespoons of flour mixed with 1/4 cup of milk or water (optional-depending on how thick you like your chowda!)

Pour the milk into the pot and turn the heat to medium-high.
Chop the potatoes into bite-sized chunks and put in the pot. You will cook your potatoes with the soup, eliminating the need to pre-cook them (however, if you've already got some cooked and ready to go, it will make the soup cook up a lot faster!).
Let this cook for 7-10 minutes Watch the pot to make sure the milk doesn't froth up on you and adjust the heat as needed to prevent it from bubbling over.
Add the cans of corn, garlic and cheese. Cook until the potatoes are mostly cooked.
Depending on how thick you like your chowda (I like mine REALLY thick), add more or less of the flour and milk mixture to thicken your soup.

Side Note: The creamed corn, cheese and starch from the potatoes should create a thick-ish consistency and if that's good enough for you, then don't add any of the flour and milk mixture. Adding the whole flour mixture will thicken up your soup considerably. If you do decide to add any or all of the flour and milk mixture, SHAKE IT UP REALLY GOOD. Flour lumps are never tasty.

Once the soup has thickened, add the green onion, bacon. Sprinkle with reserved cheese on top. Serve immediately!

Sorry there aren't any pictures. It disappears too quickly in this house to get a picture of it! I'll also be doing a focaccia bread recipe soon too, as I recently had a win in that department last night! Go me!

A time for everything

2011-09-10T23:25:00.001-04:00

Today, I attended the funeral service for a friend of mine that I've known since middle school. Jimmy had cystic fibrosis and fought the good fight up to the very end. Jimmy was catholic and we attended the memorial mass for him this morning. One of the readings from the service today came from Ecclesiastes chapter 3. The verses that stuck out to me particularly were the following:

1 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

2 A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

What struck me most was the second verse. Not the "time to die" part, but the "time to be born" part. It got me thinking about my baby and her time. Her time to be be born is now. Matt and I had our struggle with getting pregnant, and just when I was about to give up, I found out about our little pinto bean.

For so long, I had been asking God, "Why not now?" I could not see at the time, blinded as I was by baby fever, that it was not the best time. The time for our daughter to be born was not a year ago or even this month. Her time is soon to come and not a moment sooner. Looking back, I can understand that it wasn't yet my season to be a mother. I just couldn't understand that, while my impatient heart was yearning for something I seemingly couldn't have. It just wasn't her time... yet. 

And that is the hardest part sometimes. Understanding that we don't live on our time schedule. We live on God's. Just as my daughter's time is soon to come, so too, was it Jimmy's time to lay his mortal life by and return to our Father in Heaven; to breathe easy in the presence of God and Our Savior, Jesus Christ.

I know that God has a plan and a purpose for all of us, but there is a season for everything. And often the periods between seasons are the hardest to get through. But patience and dedication are the only ways we can get from one season to the next. We have to be patient with ourselves, and know that God will provide a way, even if it doesn't seem clear to us at the time. It's been a hard lesson to learn, and I'm not sure I've learned it fully yet. I just pray that I will have the patience to wait for those seasons and be able to rejoice in them, even if it seems hard or near impossible. Like Elder Jeffery R. Holland says in the following video, "Trust God, and believe in good things to come."

I want to bear my testimony of Christ and His love. He gives it freely to all those who seek Him. And if we continually seek after Christ, our lives will be blessed and uplifted to that of the Divine. I know my Savior lives and I say these things, in Jesus' name, amen.

I'm feeling needy

2011-09-07T12:07:00.001-04:00

If my cat could talk, that is what he'd be saying. We recently returned from a long weekend at the beach with several friends and the whole day yesterday and today, he hasn't left my side for long. Truman likes to be near you, but will rarely sit in your lap. Today he's been climbing all over me. It's like he's saying, "If I walk all over you, you won't be able to leave again."

'Take me with you!"

And it's not like we left him alone! Our roommate Shelly was here the whole weekend to love on him and take care of him. It's nice to know that he misses us when we go away. Although, most of the time you'd never know it! I love that furball.

NC Fair Photography Competition

2011-08-30T23:14:00.001-04:00

So, I've decided to enter another fair competition: amateur photography! I can't seem to figure out which of my pictures is the best. I've put my favorites below and would really appreciate your input on which is your favorite! I can only submit one photo, so it's got to be the best! Here's hoping I can get an "Honorable Mention" ribbon this year, because the competition is pretty stiff! Thanks for your help!

A Perfect Beginning

Biltmore Bliss

Lovely Lily

Dark Daffodils

A Day at the Beach

Sunlight Bath

Jumping Jellyfish!

The Lone Fisherman

Shark Infested Waters

E Loves the Beach

Toes in the Sand

Thoughts at 25 weeks

2011-08-29T14:31:00.000-04:00

Heartburn is better than nausea, but plums are better than everything else.

The ability to bend over is a seriously under-rated activity.

My daughter is destined to be a world champion kick boxer or a ninja. (I'm really hoping for a ninja in the family, since it's always been a dream of mine... heh heh heh, Ja-ninj-uary...)

I thought I knew what tired was, but I guess I was wrong. I'm sure I'll be proven wrong again soon.

Foot rubs are a close second to plums for best thing ever. ( I crave plums, ok?)

The best way to ask if a woman is pregnant is the following, "Are you in a motherly way?" Said, of course with a thick southern accent and a skeptical look on your face. I think I almost died laughing.

Things are a lot more scary. Like earthquakes. And spiders.

If you want a good laugh

2011-08-24T11:57:00.000-04:00

Try doing something you haven't really done since high school. Yesterday, I pulled out my oboe and thought I might play a little something.

HA!

Note to self: Leave the past behind you, or it will make it impossible for you to open your mouth wide enough to stick anything in it, let alone chew.

I'm workin' on a baby quilt

2011-08-21T10:01:00.000-04:00

I'm not like most other expectant mothers out there. Instead of wanting to go out and buy all things pink and frilly when we found out we were having a girl, I started thinking about making my daughter a beautiful quilt.

I'm using this pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew.

It's a pretty simple pattern (which is good since this is my first quilt) and I liked the colors they used in the example so much that I am using the same fabrics they used. Right now, I'm in the cutting stage and will soon embark on the lay-everything-out-then-sew-it-all-together phase. I'll post progress photos as I continue to work on it. Wish me luck! And if you have any tips on how to quilt, or a method that works great for you, let me know! I'm all ears!

Blacksburg is Beautiful

2011-08-19T22:07:00.000-04:00

And again, I HAVE NO PICTURES! Arg! I curse my parents for not being the kind of people who whip their cameras out for everything!

My parents recently relocated to scenic Blacksburg, Virginia so that my dad can earn his PhD at Virginia Tech (Go Hokies!). This week, I went up to see them and help them unpack. I didn't feel particularly useful, as my ability to bend over has been severely limited as of late, but I was able to smooth ALL of the packing paper from the boxes so they can save it. Go me!

Their apartment complex is amazing! It is a group of several different kinds of rental properties catering to specific demographics. For example, my parents live in the section that caters to older adults and families (meaning no roudy students to deal with). Their building is the farthest into the complex and is next to Virginia Tech farms, so the view is incredibly picturesque. Pictures will be provided upon completion of another trip up there!

In addition to having a fantastic view, they are only two miles away from campus. Since my parents only brought one car with them, that means my dad will be riding his incredibly fancy bike (it costs more than my first car!) to school everyday. That is, until it gets to cold and snows. Then he'll take the bus that picks up right at his building and drops off on campus. Very convenient.

Their apartment is a tiny two bedroom, two bathroom place that has been fitted to be handicap accessible (a plus for my mom and her walker) and the kitchen is pitiful. I inherited my love of cooking from my mom, so this is going to be a challenge for her. But knowing her, she'll make it fabulous and work for her in short order.

Part of me thinks my dad is crazy for going back to school at this point in his life (I mean the guy is 60-something), but another part of me is really proud of him and wants him to have that accomplishment under his belt.

I'm also excited that they are a mere 221 miles from me, as opposed to the 2157 miles previous. I am planning on visiting often, especially after the baby comes. I'm so glad that we'll be able to see Grandma and Grandpa Dudley more often than when they lived in Utah. The only unfortunate downside of this is that after three years when my dad finishes, they'll have to move back to Utah. They're currently renting out their house and most of their stuff is still in the basement there. Since my dad's work is paying for him to go to school, he had to agree to work for them a minimum of three years after the completion of his education. *le sigh* Well, maybe by that time, we'll be rolling in the dough and can fly out of Utah twice a year or something... One can hope, right?

Well, I'm happy for my parents and hope they can make some good friends there soon! Good luck, Dad!

I love this

2011-08-10T14:03:00.000-04:00

So, in my daily blog searching, I cam across this website:

She recently featured a tutorial on turning old concert t-shirts into a newborn gown.

These gowns are adorable, so of course I had to try it for myself (especially since I just got my sewing machines tuned up for a quilt I'm making).

I followed her instructions with one exception. Since I was doing a trial run on a white undershirt I had lying around and didn't have any images to try to include, I cut my front and back pieces so the bottom was already hemmed!

I thought I was being so clever until the time came to put the elastic in! :) I "lovingly" picked out the seams at the bottom and threaded my elastic through the existing hem. To close, I hand stitched the sides closed again so the elastic is free to float inside the garment. And here's the final product!

I dyed the gown using Rit's liquid dye in Aquamarine! So pretty!

I cannot figure out where those black marks came from! They only showed up after I had hung it to dry. Weird, huh?

Isn't it adorable? I used the ombre dyeing technique on the Rit website (found here) to achieve avariation in color (which ended up being very subtle and hard to see in the photo). It was also my first attempt at dyeing anything (apart from tie dye). So, I was really proud of how everything turned out!

Perhaps I'll put some rhinestones on it to make it even more adorable (everything's better with a little bling, right?!). Hmmm... Any way, now that I've made one (and worked out some kinks), I think I'm going to try it on this t-shirt.

I already know I'm going to have to make the sleeves out of a contrasting fabric, but I'm not sure what color I should use. Any ideas?

Any way, I just want to give a HUGE thank you to Carrie over at www.thismamamakesstuff.com for the tutorial and I'm seriously looking forward to making these for all my pregnant friends too!

My hair! The Results!

2011-08-07T15:46:00.000-04:00

Not long after I published this post,I scheduled an appointment with my stylist with the intent of either cutting it all off, or getting a trim and dyeing it. After consulting with my stylist, she suggested cutting it. Now I was thinking something along these lines,

but she talked me back from that a little and gave me a great cut! It'll appear after the break!

Isn't it amazing! I love it! And the best part was, this morning it only took me 3 minutes to blow dry my hair (as opposed to the 30-45 minutes it usually takes)! I love this new look and think I should've gone shorter a long time ago! :)

The Gender Party

2011-07-30T15:22:00.000-04:00

So being the non-conformists that we are (ha ha!), we decided to find out what we were having in an interesting way: A cake.

I had my ultrasound Monday, the 18th. We informed the ultrasound tech of our plan and agree to help us out. When it was time for her to determine the gender, she told us not to watch the screen and printed out a separate picture, which she proceeded to put a few staples in (so we couldn't sneak a peek). I then drove it to Fuquay to the lady who was baking our cake for us (because there was no way I could have that photo in my possession very long and not want to peek!).

I then had to pick the cake up on Thursday. Thursday people! The party wasn't until Saturday!!! It was hard opening the fridge and having that box just sit there and mock me every time. But Saturday finally arrived (as well as a few guests) and we cut the cake. Here's the reaction:

I love that Matt is trying to play it cool, like he doesn't care.

Initial reactions

"Having sunk in" reactions (can you tell I really wanted a girl?)

You can't see it, but I started tearing up at this point I was so happy.

It was wonderful to be able to share that moment with friends and family (Matt, computer nerd that he is, streamed the whole party live on the internet for our family who live far, far away).

all in all, I don't think I'll find out this way again. There was way too much suspense. :) I think we'll just have our excited moment in the doctor's office.

My hair!

2011-07-26T14:50:00.000-04:00

I am bored by my hair. I want to cut it off. Like all of it off. But I've been growing it out for so long I've become sort of attached to easy ponytails and the laziness of never styling it. Like, ever. Here's a good picture demonstrating the length.

So in lieu of cutting it off, I've thought about dying it some kind of craziness. I just don't know what. My husband has said no to my repeated requests to perm it and/or dye it red, so I've got limited options there. Also, the streak of blond I put in the back (which was delightful for a while) has grown out something serious and looks bad. Any ideas?

Also, my lack of hitting the gym has seriously taken its toll on my arms... I think I need to start lifting again. Soon.

Dreams are the windows into our souls...

2011-07-24T22:17:00.000-04:00

Well,if that's the case, then I'm in trouble! I recently had a dream starring myself, my husband and my good friend (and roommate again!), Shelly. In the dream, we stole a cruise ship. Yes, the three of us managed to break in and operate a cruise boat without any help! And we all had designated jobs: Matt was the pilot, Shelly was the Cruise Director and I was the chef.

In our newly acquired vessel, we sailed all over the world, stopping in some interesting places. For instance, did you know that the port in Key West was a maze that only the native cart vendors knew how to navigate? Neither did I! And every time we would ask for directions on how to get into Key West, it seemed to get us more lost.

I also found out that Shelly is an accomplished aldergator fisher. Oh yes, you heard me right: aldergator. It's a cross between an alligator and a crocodile, don't you know? And the only way you can fish for one is with you rear end stuck in the water. Eventually, Shelly was pulled under and I, of course, had to jump in and save her. But, in the end, everything turned out just fine.

I cannot explain my subconscious sometimes. I honestly don't know where it comes from, but I'll tell you this: sleep is never boring. :)

It's a Girl!!!

2011-07-23T16:50:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to say... :)

Lack of posting due to lack of pictures

2011-07-15T21:19:00.000-04:00

So I hate writing posts and not have pictures to go with them. I am a visual person and half the time I just like looking at pictures people have taken. Now, we've been remarkable busy the past two weeks, but believe it or not, we did not take ANY pictures!!

Our friends in Charlotte invited down for an Independence Day party and we were there for a long weekend! The party was fun, but I've developed some pretty intense allergies to EVERYTHING since I've been pregnant including dogs. I've never had a problem with dogs before in my life (other than not particularly caring for them as them jump all over you and lick you all the time), but the weekend was miserable due to the presence of a very large boxer in residence. Bella (pronounced in the spanish version: Be-ya) is an incredibly well behaved dog and I generally like her, but I had a running nose, congestion and itchy eyes the whole weekend. Top that off with a killer headache the day of the party and the weekend was pretty long.

Any way, we left their house on Tuesday and on Thursday night we left for Wadesboro. my father-in-law got married last weekend and it was the same story. The house is old and there are dogs there as well. It was great because the weekend was filled with family we don't see often, but between the allergies and lack of central AC (only window units in a ginormous house doesn't quite cut it) and the general stress of getting ready for a wedding made the weekend equally long.

And the whole time, we never got our cameras out! Any way, I'm recovering from seeing HPDHP2 this morning at 2:50 AM. Ugg... I am not as young as I used to be.

Restaurant Review: Poole's Diner

2011-07-06T21:05:00.000-04:00

Matt and I went on a date to Poole's Diner in downtown Raleigh. Poole's Diner is self-described as a "part of a community that recognizes the importance and value of supporting the small family farm". The diner focuses their food on seasonal, local offerings while being "simple to digest", "creative" and "carefully executed".

My first impression was that the place reeked a hipster vibe. The walls were adorned with chalkboards covered with the day's offerings in addition to some interesting photos from the original diner. Matt and I sat at one of the two semi-circle counters and turned around to browse the chalkboard menus (they don't do printed menus). We ordered the watermelon salad to share, and for the main course, I ordered the herbed chicken over mashed potatoes and double stock, Matt got the open faced burger and we shared a side of the macaroni au gratin.

Let me begin with the salad. The salad was this: champagne vinaigrette, watermelon, avocado and basil. When it came, I wasn't sure about it, but let me tell you, it works. It was incredibly delicious! The salad was a perfect balance of sweet, salty, savory and creamy. Truly, it was a great start to the meal.

Then, there came to 25 minute wait for our food. 25 minutes. I cannot believe how long we waited. And apparently this is the modus opperandi for Poole's. And once our food arrived, I was ultimately disappointed. Matt's "burger" was a giant (think baseball sized) meatball that was completely raw on the inside, with a slice of cheese on top, served on a thick piece of what looked to be texas toast, with a side of au jus. I didn't try it, but it looked gross. Matt said it tasted alright, but it wasn't that great. Definitely not worth the 13 dollars we paid for it. My chicken was moist and flavorful and the mashed potatoes creamy and smooth, but other than that it was fairly unremarkable. I can achieve the same meal at home and definitely cheaper than 18 dollars. The macaroni and cheese was pretty good, but not any better than I can make at home.

When all was said and done, we left feeling pretty cheated. With tip, our date was 70 dollars and all for a dinner that, apart from the watermelon salad, was ultimately disappointing! I can appreciate that local organic produce and meats do not come cheap, but when I'm going to pay a premium price for my dinner, I want a premium eating experience. Not only was the food disappointingly average, the restaurant was incredibly loud. When we left, my ears felt a little fuzzy, like I'd been to a rock concert.

So, bottom line: Over-priced and underwhelming. There are plenty of restaurants in Raleigh that I would rather spend my money at. I won't be going again.

Busy Busy

2011-07-06T16:03:00.000-04:00

We are busy people. At least I feel like it sometimes. We went to Charlotte this past weekend for an Independence Day party at our friend's house. It was a great party, or so I was told. I basically felt like total crap the whole weekend and escaped from the party several times to go lay down. The party started at 4, but people were still hanging around at 11:30. I think at one point, there were almost 70 people milling around the deck and in the back yard, even despite the rain that came through! Blayke said she just kept inviting people! I think I would have gone crazy if I were her!

We came home Tuesday morning and I slept for 4 and a half hours in recovery. And then I went to bed early! And then this afternoon my husband reminds me we're leaving Thursday evening to drive down to Wadesboro for my father-in-law's wedding this weekend. I feel like we just got home!!

Any way, I was asked to play the piano for Wayne and Elaine and have been feverishly practicing to get the music just right. It's almost there. I just hope I don't make too many mistakes! :) Wish me luck!

Recipe Review: S'mores Bars from Cherry Tea Cakes

2011-06-28T10:41:00.000-04:00

I posted a while back about my web happy places; one of them being tastespotting.com. Tastespotting lead me to a blog called Cherry Tea Cakes. I instantly fell in love with this person, without having ever met her, and have enjoyed the inspiration she's lent me in the kitchen.

Recently she posted a recipe for s'mores bars!

Image courtesy of Cherry Tea Cakes

I had to try them! I love trying things completely from scratch, rather than taking short cuts to get to an end product. I think I'm one of the few out there that actually enjoys doing things the long way occasionally (with a few exceptions of course. I still cannot bake bread. I bake door stops). Any way, the recipe is divine.

I do have a few snags with this recipe though. You would expect the bottom graham cracker type base to be crunchier. With the maximum time said in her blog, the bottom layer was somewhere along the lines of an overdone cake. Don't get me wrong! It was delicious! I might actually try to make a type of spice bar out of it one day. It just wasn't the crunch I was expecting, but insanely delicious all the same.

Additionally, the homemade marshmallow layer is incredibly sticky and difficult to make in my bosch mixer. I *love* my bosch. It is superior in every way to all other stand mixers except one: It doesn't do small batches well. And this marshmallow recipe did not give me a ton of marshmallow goodness. In the future, I'll just double the recipe (and you should too) and be on my merry way. Also, the marshmallow really does need a few hours to set up, unless you'd like the marshmallow to stretch right off the base while you're cutting it (or eating it, for that matter!)

Don't let this totally ruin this recipe for you though! I think it can be improved, but in the end, I think it might actually be easier to melt down some marshmallows and add butter to it to serve as your marshmallow layer. *Gasp* Did I just say that! Surely not... I think I need a few minutes of introspection. While I do that, whip up a batch of these. You won't be sorry.

Crazy pregnancy horomone-induced dreams

2011-06-20T22:46:00.000-04:00

The other night, I had the strangest dream. I attribute this craziness to the pregnancy hormones, that instead reducing me into a blubbering mess, make me rage like the She-Hulk. In fact, my new favorite thing is a tea-towel that says, "I chant, I meditate, I do yoga... and I still want to smack somebody." I think that sums me up right there.

Any way, the dream started out with me, my sister and my mom huddling in this little cinder block house for safety while 5 or 6 tornadoes start whipping around our little house. Just our little house. They just kept turning around and running over our house again and again. I was pretty terrified.

After the tornadoes subsided, my mother got this secret encoded message for our next door neighbor. She said I had to take it to him and go with him on his mission. I was pretty confused, but took it next door any way. Once there, the captain person heard the message, got all flustered, kissed his wife and two kids goodbye and dragged me behind him to his parked jumbo jet, waiting for us at the curb on the street.

Once in the plane, he proceeded to drive it, like a car, to the nearest airport. Once we got there, he was stumped by the air strip. It wasn't your normal long, flat and straight affair. It was on a raised plateau. So in order for planes to take off, they had to get up to speed, hit the ramp on the one side of the plateau and take off. In order to land, you had to hit the ramp coming back down and slow down on the other side. It was crazy.

The pilot guy was complaining and while hopping out to talk to somebody, told me to park the plane. Park the plane? I don't know how to park the plane? So what did I do? I got out, tied a rope to the front of the plane and pulled it along behind me like it was a radio flyer wagon, no problem. I proceeded to "park" the plane and went inside to catch up with the pilot guy, but we must've missed each other because when I came back from the bathroom, the plane was gone.

I woke up pretty soon after that. I was pretty dumbfounded by this one. First of all, the airstrip made total sense to me in the dream, but upon waking, became the most absurd thing I've ever heard! Secondly, why did this guy have a jumbo jet just parked outside his house and why did he drive it on the road like a car? Any way, I'm just grateful that I'm able to sleep enough to dream. Sleep is so much harder when you're used to sleeping on your stomach and you just can't do that comfortably any more!

I am a dead-eye shot... sorta

2011-06-19T14:38:00.001-04:00

So, this last week, I spent in the "wilds" of Randleman NC at girl's camp and let me tell you, it was quite a week. Several things went wrong this year and I am really glad to be home. I was telling my mother that I am so glad to be home, but I would definitely go back again, next year.


Don't you just love the way those harnesses are so flattering?

So the weather was pretty nice Wednesday and we had a great time. Thursday started out horribly, having had the lights thrown on at 6:30 in the morning and our ward ended up with an incredible amount of free time that day. The girls were bored and we didn't have enough for them to do. Finally, the stake leadership pulled all the ward camp leaders together for a meeting to let us know there was a girl at camp found with lice. Everyone had been exposed as we were all sharing helmets for the high ropes course. I was really happy that they let me go up (being pregnant and all) and the zip line was amazing!

They wanted to send everyone home, but left it up to us to decide for our wards. I figured we would stay but I would give them girl's individually the option to call their parents to go home. None of the girls wanted to go home since they'd all already been exposed.

The next morning, we were checked for lice and none of us had it (or had it yet), so we went about our day on Friday. Friday was incredibly hot, but at least, we were occupied! We had archery that day and I'm incredibly proud to say, that this happened on my first shot.

Can you say dumb luck?

Any way, after dinner, the stake leadership wanted to send us home again, but most everybody wanted to stay (because what's the difference between packing up that night or packing up in the morning?) We had a lovely testimony meeting and bishop's night, which ended up with ice cream sundaes and cracking up to funny stories into the wee hours of the night.

We woke up the next morning, did our cleaning assignments and pulled out! And we weren't the last ones to leave (like every other year I've been to camp)!! I was so excited! We brought the girl's back, and then I came home, threw everything I could into the wash (to kill any little critters), lice shampooed my hair (which smelled awful), having Matt comb out my hair, then collapsing into my bed for the next two and a half hours. It was glorious. I think I'm still slightly dehydrated, because I have a nagging headache and I've thirsty all day today and yesterday.

Any way, I'm glad to be home (hopefully lice free) and only a little worse for wear. And I'm seriously considering taking up archery. :)

GIRL'S CAMP!!!

2011-06-12T21:49:00.000-04:00

The girls putting up their tent!

When we first moved into the ward, the Bishop asked us if we could have any calling in the ward, what would it be. I immediately answered, "Girl's camp." He looked incredibly surprised and said with a smile, "Well, alright then. I'll keep that in mind." A few months later, I was called to be a girl's camp leader and have practically begged them not to release me every year since. The pictures are from last year's camp!

Hangin' out!

Three years later, I still love going and having a chance to see the young women let loose! I also get to see the girls that started in activity days when I was in the Cary 2 ward. Umm, they are practically grown ups now! It is so weird.

My girls at the evening program

As you can probably tell, camp is this week and I'm looking forward to have air conditioned cabins! I think having to sleep in the heat, on the ground while being 14 weeks pregnant would not be an all together pleasant experience.

Grilled cheese sammiches are the best!

I am, however, sad to think this is probably my last year to go to camp for a while. Next year I'll have a 6 month old and won't be able/want to leave him or her for a week. Although, it might be nice to have a break from one of my three callings. I'll definitely miss going to camp next year, though!

The Amazing Deflating Tent!

Put some windex

2011-06-10T23:43:00.000-04:00


Image from www.cetaphil.com

Funny story from the beach. My mom insisted that we go to walmart with the express purpose of buying some cetaphil cream in the tub (coincidentally we ended buying a ton of food too, but the main reason was the cream). Not in the tube, not in the pump bottle, the tub. She claims it's different and works much better than all the others. Any way, the whole week, my mother kept telling us to slather our sunburns in this cream and trumpeting it's virtues any time she could.

I, being the oh-so obedient child, put the cetaphil on my burns. And when I got stung by a jellyfish (in a rather delicate spot), again my mother cried out, "Use the cetaphil!"

Now, cetaphil on the burns didn't really help them feel any better, but amazingly, it did help the jellyfish sting. I continued to put cetaphil on my burns until they stopped hurting, at which time I became lazy (I mean, I'd burnt my entire body pretty much and putting lotion all over takes forever) and stopped using the cream.

The amazing part was, she was right! Our beach trip was over 2 weeks ago and I'm just now peeling. And instead of the color peeling away (which is what normally happens), it's just the top, colorless layer! Amazing! I got burnt, kept my color, and didn't peel for two weeks! I think I'm a converted cetaphil user. No more aloe for me!

And the whole time my mother was telling us to use the cetaphil, I kept thinking about the father in "My Big, Fat, Greek Wedding" telling everybody to use windex on everything. I laughed every time she brought it up!

P.S. - I'm not going to apologize for the lack of pictures of my sunburnt body, or the creepy peeling that's going on right now. You're welcome.

Recipe Time: Chicken Tikka Masala

2011-06-06T14:54:00.000-04:00

So, this is one of my favorite recipes right now. I have always loved Indian food and this is a great recipe with authentic flavors and beautiful colors! It does take some time to prepare, so plan ahead. Most of the time, you're just letting the meat marinate and the longer it marinates, the better it tastes!

Yummy marinade - it makes everything better!

The ingredient list is long with a few spices you might not normally have on hand, but I easily found them at the grocery store. Try it! I know it'll become a family favorite.

Chicken Tikka Masala - from Jodi Kilpack's novel English Trifle

Marinade

1 cup plain greek yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper (or less for a smaller kick)
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 1/2 pounds boneless chicken thighs or breast (I like the thighs better for this)

Combine all ingredients in a ziploc gallon sized bag. Knead the mixture so the chicken and spices are evenly distributed. Allow the chicken to marinate at least one hour in the fridge (but you can marinate it overnight as well).
After marinating, remove the chicken from the bag and broil or grill the chicken until cooked. The marinade is thick and may cook off. You don't need to save it.

Sauce

1 tablespoon of butter or oil
2 garlic cloves minced
1 jalapeno minced (I usually leave this out)
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon garam masala
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 - 8 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup whipping cream (You can use half and half or milk as well, but it won't be as rich)
Cooked Rice

Melt the butter in a large skillet and add the garlic and jalapeno. Cook about a minute. Add the spices and tomato sauce, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes (this is a good time to start cooking the rice). After simmering, add the cream and cook until the sauce thickens. Add the cooked chicken to the sauce and cook a few minutes. Serve over rice.

Sorry I don't have a finished photo! It's just too good to wait to eat it! I like to heat up some frozen veg mix and put it on top of rice and then top with the chicken and sauce. :) I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Da Beach!

2011-06-05T19:42:00.000-04:00

Ok, so we're back from the beach and amazingly, we only took a handful of pictures during the week (with the exception of the portraits). How crazy is that?! I suppose my family has never been very photo crazy. That may explain my disdain for excessive amounts of picture taking... Hmmm...

So, I brought my big girl camera and the little point and shoot. I figured we'd take most of the pictures with the point and shoot. I did not, however, take into account that the battery in the point and shoot might be dead or that I would forget to pack the charger (because the battery is speeshal and requires a plug in charger). Thus, I was not able to get many pictures at the beach. I was also too chicken to take my BGC with me to the beach with me (because of the sand and the water), so the only pictures we got were from our planned family portraits taken on the balcony and the portraits I did for my sister and her family (which I bravely took out to the beach, but got go where near the water and BGC was in my hands the entire time).

However, here are my favorites from the two sittings. I think some of them turned out really well! And as always E was not very smiley (but I caught the smile a few times).

The bean

2011-06-01T19:59:00.000-04:00

I figure this post is self explanatory, but we're expecting! Crazy no?! Baby Davis is scheduled to arrive December 10th. We're betting the bean will show up on my birthday instead (the 17th).

We're still a few weeks away from finding out if it's a boy or girl (because I seriously can't handle the suspense) and yes, we're totally out of our minds ecstatic for this little bean. Now if only December could be here sooner....

Freezer jam

2011-05-17T19:13:00.000-04:00

It's stupid simple. You mush up yer fruit, dump it on top of your sugar and pectin, then divy into jars and freeze. How is it that I've never made this before! I think it's going to become my new favorite thing! I could be that crazy lady who is always giving people jam. :)

But seriously, I was looking through Ball's Blue Book Guide to Preserving and there are a ton of recipes in there that I really want to try, like salsa, marinades, different kinds of jams and spreads, and recipes for using your canned vegetables or other preserved items. I feel like I got all this for free (even though I bought the book a long time ago and totally forgot I had it).

So I have a few jars of jam and would love to share (really, it's the best jam ever). Especially if the sharing involves some warm biscuits or scones with clotted cream and good conversation.

I laughed so hard I cried

2011-05-09T21:29:00.000-04:00

I've known about this website for quite some time, but haven't visited it recently. I don't know what prompted me to visit it today, but I did I and for some reason, I could not help but laugh out loud at some of these cakes.This was one of my personal favorites.

Photo from cakewrecks.blogspot.com

I love how the Easter bunny looks like he might jump out of that box and kill you.

Recipe Time: Kabobs, Pineapple and Sangria

2011-05-03T15:33:00.000-04:00

Last night I was in the mood for some chopping. I know that sounds weird, but chopping massive amounts of fruits or vegetables is a relaxing activity for me. I love to just stand there and mow through some veggies like they were yesterday's news. So here's what was on the menu last night:

Mormon Girl Sparkling Sangria

Doesn't that look refreshing?

Basil Rosemary Kabobs and Spicy Glazed Pineapple

I haven't had a more delicious dinner in a looooong time! I don't know what it was about the combination of the flavors, but it hit not just the right spot, but the left one and the bottom one and that so very hard to hit top one too!

I served the kabobs over plain white rice because I was starving and didn't want to take more time doctoring some rice. But you know what, I always buy the jasmine rice, so it already has a delicious flavor regardless of the addition of any extra spices.

I've put the recipes after the page break! Try them! I know you'll love them as much as I did!

Mormon Girl Sparkling Sangria

1 bottle of sparkling white grape juice ( I like the target brands for sparkling grape juice. They taste more grape-y to me. Plus they have a super fun cap to open! Makes you feel like you're opening champagne!)
1 bottle of sparkling red grape juice
2-3 cups of OJ
3 medium to small apples peeled, cored and chopped into bite sized pieces
1 bunch of grapes taken off the stem
1 orange cut into wedges
1/2 fresh pineapple, peeled cored and chopped into small bites
1 lime sliced thin

Wash all the fruit (even the orange and limes! They're going in the drink, you know)
Put the fruit into the pitcher you plan to serve it. Muddle the fruit as best you can with a wooden spoon or rolling pin. (You want to release the juices of the fruit!)
Pour the juices on top of the fruit (you don't have to put the OJ in. It makes it delicious, but clouds the drink. If you want a clear looking beverage, skip the OJ)
Let the fruit and juice mixture hang out in the fridge so the flavors all mingle together for at least an hour before serving

Basil and Rosemary Kabobs

2 tbls chopped basil
2 tbls chopped rosemary
4 cloves of garlic, mined fine
1 to 1-1/2 tsp salt (depending on taste)
1 tsp pepper (freshly cracked, of course!)
3 tbls olive oil
zest of 1 lime
juice of 1 lime (zest before you juice. Much easier)
1 lb. of steak cut into chunks - or - 1 lb. of stew or fajita meat (be warned if you use stew meat, you will end up with some really chewy pieces. It's a time saver because it's already chopped, but they tend to use the gristliest pieces they can find. That's why it's good in stews. The stew can break down that connective tissues better. Science! It's great, right?)
several wooden skewers pre-soaked for at least an hour (more is better though)

Place the first 6 ingredients into a mini food processor and whirl until it looks fairly uniform
Place oil mixture into a small bowl and add the lime juice, stirring well. (You can add the lime juice to the food processor but it will end up more like salad dressing than a wet rub, which is what we're making. You also don't need the food processor, just make sure you mince everything very fine and mix together)
Toss the meat chunks in the bowl with the wet rub and them skewer them, leaving some space between the chunks
You can either grill them on a medium hot grill for 5-7 minutes on each side (depending on how done you want you meat and how big your chunks are. Smaller chunks = faster cooking time) or under the broiler or approximately the same amount of time.
Be watchful, as the wood skewers can burn and burst into flames in either application quite easily. That is why pre-soaking is a must!
Serve immediately over rice

Ok, so I know this wasn't a real balanced meal and I could've done veggies if I'd had them. Mostly I buy frozen these days as I seem to throw away a lot of veggies that I've forgotten about int he bottom on my crisper drawer. It's very frustrating. If you do choose to do veggies, do them on their own skewers as the cooking time can be more or less than your meat. Softer veggies like onions and zuchini are great for kabobs, but cook much faster than the meat will. Alternately, small fingerling potatoes or carrots would also be excellent with the same rub, but will take much longer to cook. Put those items in a cooler part of your grill or broiler and let them cook longer. You can also pre-cook these items to save time on the grill.

Spicy Glazed Pineapple

1/2 Fresh pineapple, peeled, cored and chopped into bit sized pieces
2 tbls honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp (or a pinch) of nutmeg
a dash of cayenne pepper

Mix the honey and spices together in a bowl. Go easy on the cayenne if you don't want a lot of heat. It has a wonderful flavor, but it does pack a punch so watch out!
Toss in the pineapple and coat well.
Skewer the pineapple and place on the grill until slightly charred and carmelized or place under the broiler until the same effect is achieved
Serve piping hot along side of the kabobs or over ice cream with any left over glaze.

That little touch of cayenne really makes a differences and takes the pineapple from pretty good to outright fantastic. Matt has asking if there was any more! I only made half of the pineapple because the other half was in the sangria, but you could double the glaze and use a whole pineapple. Your family/kids/guests will be begging for more!

Bug of Death - A Short Story

2011-05-02T12:10:00.000-04:00

The following is a short story I've written about a recent incident in our home. It is a soaring tale of honor, villainy and the largest insect I've every seen in my life. It's pretty long, so if you want to read it (and I highly suggest you do!), it'll be after the jump. Here's a picture to whet your appetite!

It was a cloudy afternoon, and I was snuggled safely (or so I thought) in my home, when I heard the sound of despair in my house. I thought it odd that such a noise should occur inside my house, so naturally I investigated. I am ashamed to say I screamed like a little girl when I saw what the source of the noise was.

I didn't dare venture further to investigate, lest my arm be taken in the attempt. The size of the monster was nothing compared to that of the trees themselves! I'm sure the stinger was twelve miles long and would kill me instantly if I were to be so careless.

I told this horrible creature that it was no longer welcome in my home (not to its face of course. I'm not an idiot. It could take me down) and called in the cavalry for reinforcements. Typically, my husband said he couldn't rush home on account of a little bug and that I just needed to wait. I tried to impress on him true terror of the monstrosity that plagued our home, but failing to grasp the situation fully, he decided the winged horseman of the apocalypse inside our home could wait.

Truman had indicated some initial interest in the vermin, but quickly learned that distance would be crucial to maintaining one's appendages. The both of us cowered in other rooms and waited until my brave knight could get home. Oh, the minutes seemed to creep by, putting a snail’s pace to shame. All the while, I cowered in fear at every little creak, jumping at every little noise. It was if time itself stood stark still.

But lo! My rescuer did appear. The darkness that had settled in our hearts seemed to lift and I knew all would be well. I pointed the way to the demon's lair, sent a quick prayer to the heavens for his safety and ran away. I hid myself in a defensible position where I could hear the commotion, but swiftly escape if needs be.

When finally my knight's eyes did gaze upon the terrible visage of the savage, he uttered a heroic and courageous, "Oh, wow." With only a moment's hesitation, he leaped to the kitchen to equip himself for the deed of dispatching the fiend. Valiantly he chose and went again unto the battlefield, armed with his trustworthy cup and stiff letter.

Patiently (and wisely), he observed the brute's patterns; he watched with the wisdom of time and experience. He waited for his moment to spring into action and capture the barbarian once and for all. The villain, however, took advantage of my knight’s seemingly lax defense and gained a considerable advantage by moving to higher ground. With the aim to lift my spirits, my knight called out, saying things like, “I can’t see it anymore,” and, “I don’t know where it is.” I screamed with “delight” and ran away to my area of safety.

Finally, after squaring off for what seemed an eternity, a cry of triumph left my brave knight’s lips. “I’ve got it. Come look at it!” he cried. Trembling, I left the safety of my hiding place and slowly crept closer to the defeated insect. My knight had it trapped against a curtain, but the foul flyer was not giving in easily. It waved its arms at us, in a style akin to the ancient art of foot boxing, trying its best to intimidate and subdue us. My knight never relented.

I quickly took some photographs, to prove my story was true to any unbelievers and allowed my husband to dispatch the insect fully. But instead of giving the intruder what was coming to him, he showed mercy and allowed it to fly away from our house, a free agent.

I’ve kept a vigilant eye on all horizons, watching for the return of the colossus. But we have seen neither hide nor hair of him, and I pray I never will. Thank your lucky stars that you have not received a visitation from… the Bug of Death!

Fish Tacos

2011-04-25T15:24:00.001-04:00


Photo courtesy of allrecipes.com

So much better in theory than in practice. Don't get me wrong, they were good, but not as delicious as I was hoping. I followed the general recipe found here by Mabcat, but made a few tweaks of my own. Here's what I did (I've indicated my changes in green:

Marinade
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Juice of 2 limes
2 teaspoons lime zest
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay™
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sweet and spicy tabasco sauce
1 pound tilapia fillets, cut into chunks

Dressing
1 (8 ounce) container light sour cream
2 tablespoons adobo sauce from chipotle peppers
Juice of 1 lime
2 teaspoons lime zest
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon seafood seasoning, such as Old Bay™
1 persian cucumber diced
salt and pepper to taste

Toppings
1 (10 ounce) package tortillas
3 ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 handful cilantro, chopped
pre-shredded lettuce
2 limes, cut in wedges

Basically, I didn't have time to marinate the fish the 6 hours called for in the recipe, so I just brushed it on top like a glaze. I broiled the fish instead of grilling it (because our grill is out of commission). I actually liked the way the fish tasted as is and would definitely make it like that again. The honey caramelized slightly on the top and was delicious.

It was the sauce I was not a fan of. I liked the addition of the cucumbers, as it added some crunch to the taco and it played well with the other flavors, but I feel like I didn't get enough flavor from this sauce. I know the original recipe called for 1/2 cup of the adobo sauce but that stuff is too spicy for me and I could only handle the 2 tablespoons worth of heat. I also felt like the was something missing in the flavor department. Like it was too blah for me. I think it could have done with some more lime and another flavor component, like garlic or onion to punch up the other flavors.

Overall, the meal was good (although next time I might use cod instead of tilapia) but sort of unsatisfying. I hate it when I have a fail in the kitchen, but thought I might see if anyone out there had an idea on how to fix the sauce without it burning my mouth (and my tummy) to shreds.

(I would still recommend trying the fish with the marinade as a glaze. Served with lemon risotto and some asparagus? Ummm, heck yes.)

The Pilot

2011-04-21T21:49:00.000-04:00

Matt and I recently undertook a large item, both in our budget and our driveway. We've been looking into purchasing a larger vehicle with which to haul around future children and/or stuff. We knew we wanted an SUV, but didn't really know which one. Let me tell you that this is one you want:

Photo courtesy of automobiles.honda.com

The Honda Pilot is pretty awesome. It can tow up to 5500 lbs, comes with a trailer hitch already installed, has options for bluetooth sync with your phone, onboard navigation, back up cameras, parking sensors and on and on! The features you can get are pretty amazing.

The ride is pretty quiet and smooth for a mid-sized SUV (we've test driven a few) and the best part is it drives just like our Accord. Plus, you've got the dependability and durability of the Honda name behind it and like our Accord we will be driving it into the ground.

The only sad part about this whole story is that we had to trade in the little red egg. I miss my little car every day, but the trade-up was worth it. I don't think I'll ever forget my red egg. *sigh* Let's all have a moment of silence for the red Ford Focus hatchback with the wonderfully plucky manual transmission.

I'll miss you.

Busy-ness

2011-04-14T23:27:00.000-04:00

So between the musical and working out, I've found a new passion in my life.

I just can't describe how wonderful it feels to be able to control an animal who is much much larger and heavier than I am. It is a total confidence booster and has helped me gain perspective on how to handle things in my life.

I've been riding a few weeks now and I'm loving it! I don't even mind the smell (as my husband can attest to I've always had the nose of a bloodhound). I can't say it's my favorite yet, but it's not bad either.

Right now the fastest I'm going is a trot, but it's plenty fast sometimes. My favorite horse likes to trot at a pretty good clip, unlike the first horse I was on (Artie did not like to go anywhere and would try to bite me while I was grooming him).

Riding is nothing like I thought it would be. I mean, I expected to have an ear to ear grin on my face after lessons, but I did not expect the direction it's given my life lately. I feel empowered and confident. And it doesn't hurt that it's a good workout too! :)

These are a few of my favorite things...

2011-04-05T13:37:00.000-04:00

My new digz gloves
These have been a lifesaver, especially since I've been doing much more in the yard then I ever have before. My gloves have a "suede" palm, adjustable velcro wrist straps, and padding right where you need it (basically everywhere I'd gotten blisters before). And the best part is they're machine washable! They are wonderful and I would highly recommend them to anyone doing some dirty work in the yard.

Broiler Pans/My Oven's Broiler
I've recently discovered how much more wonderful food tastes when you broil it. It cooks things much quicker and adds more flavor. The broiler is, in essence,an upside-down indoor grill. So of course it makes things taste better!

Zumba
I love to dance and shake my bootie, but Matt absolutely detests it. So this is my opportunity to go shake my thang and burn up some calories. I love my instructor Audra. She's amazing!

Matt's New Job
Matt has officially gotten a new job that will keep him home all the time!! Hurray! He starts staying home after this Friday and will start his new job on the 15th. And the best part is that he won't be taking a pay cut like we feared! They're keeping it the same! *Whew*!

Writting is harder than it looks

2011-03-30T17:59:00.000-04:00

So, I'm writing the script for the youth musical I'm directing and it's much harder than I expected. I think I have a tendency to over analyze every line and where that line could take the show. In fact, I scrapped the whole script yesterday and rewrote the first three pages. I know this is all a part of the editing process (and I can honestly say the show is going in a better direction for the youth involved), but it was a little bit discouraging to start over and to have failed so terribly on my first try.

And you know what else, I've realized that I crave validation and approval. I had my co-director read over the script and see what she thought and she liked it. She made some good critiques, but it meant so much to me that someone else thought I had written something presentable (corny, maybe but presentable). So thank you Courtney! I really need a gentle nudge from time to time in the ego department. :)

Unexpected things

2011-03-21T17:06:00.000-04:00

So, you know how I talked about auditioning for Hello Dolly? Well, it bore some unexpected fruits! I was talking to a friend of mine at church about it and then her son piped in and asked if I would be the head director for a musical our church is putting on. I was so excited and nervous at the same time! I don't have a lot of experience and all of that experience happened years ago, but I love musical theater so much! However, I know how the youth can be and told myself that it really wasn't going to happen and for a while, it looked like that was going to be the case.

But is isn't! It's actually happening and I'm so excited for the opportunity to work on this! We're doing a 40's musical review that will be set in the 40's during a ward bond benefit dinner. I'm writing the script (there will be very little dialogue) and we're using most of the music from another review called All Night Strut. I wish we could just do All Night Strut, but we're keeping it to a one act show and ANS is two.

Our first meeting is this week and I'm scrambling to get things together and to thing of a story that can flow easily in between the songs. I'm also equally grateful for the prescence of Courtney, my "assistant (which actually will be her telling me what to say and sound director-ey) director. Honestly I think she should be the head director and me be the stage manager or something, but she's leaving on a mission a few weeks before the production so she declined.

Any way... I can't wait to get into this project and I'll try to post pictures periodically about the show! I hope you all will come! I'll definitely let you know when the show dates have been finalized!

Wish me luck!

Taking the new girl out for a spin

2011-03-15T12:13:00.000-04:00

Our 6 year anniversary is next week, so we decided we'd celebrate with Matt's hard earned Marriott points! We got a free weekend at The Grand Bohemian hotel in Asheville and it was wonderful!

The hotel was nicely decorated and the atmosphere was great. My only complaint about the place was the noise. You'd think for a fancy-shamncy place like that, they'd take the trouble to soundproof the rooms (so you can't hear your neighbor snoring at night or hear the cars whizzing by outside your window). Otherwise, the hotel was wonderful!

The hotel is located right in front of the entrance to the Biltmore (which we didn't see) and is located in a quaint little town with the cutest shops! There were so many interesting places and beautiful flowers that I had to take my camera out for a whirl! I submit for your approval, Biltmore Village.

Photo taken at the Porter and Prince

Why I hate pick axes

2011-03-08T22:05:00.000-05:00

I've been doing some landscaping and I officially hate pick axes.

In other news, if you want any irises or day lilies, I've got plenty!

Why everything sucks

2011-03-07T18:23:00.000-05:00

I love Craig Ferguson. Matt showed me this hilarious clip of one of his rants. Enjoy (but beware of a little foul language).

Ummm, how did I not know about these?!

2011-03-05T18:09:00.000-05:00

Image courtesy of www.Bakerella.com

They are the most delicious things ever! How have I lived 25 years on this Earth and not known about cake balls?!?!?!

Seriously easy to make (albeit time consuming), completely delicious and the possibilities for ridiculous cuteness are off the charts!

My sister and I checked out Bakerella's book on cake pops from the library and we decided since we've got some time on our hands, we'd try making some!

I've always excelled with fiddley things. I think it brings out my OCD tendencies.

I only realized afterward that I made cake balls in ECU colors, but I guess it's alright since I went there for *ONE* semester. :) Regardless of the color scheme, they tasted amazing! I will definitely be making these again! The recipes can be found on Bakerella's website (although in her book she recommends using 3/4 can of frosting to one cake instead of the one to one found on her blog).

Just when you think you're life is boring...

2011-03-01T22:57:00.000-05:00

Some crazy stuff happens. And doesn't it always seem to happen all at once?

Last weekend, my roommate moved out. No, I don't mean my husband (although he's gone enough I might sometimes consider him as such). I mean, my good friend Shelly. It's been such a blessing in my life to have Shelly living with me while Matt's gone. There's something creepy about sleeping in a house by yourself and it's been so wonderful to get that much closer with her! I'm really going to miss her!

So, I took Shelly out to Kanki the other night (her favorite) and I missed three phone calls from my mom. I jokingly said that when someone calls that often it never means something good. Oh how I was right. It turned out that my sister had to have some emergency surgery and mom wanted me to drive out to Burlington to take care of my niece. So of course I ran home, packed a bag and drove out there. My sister is fine and the surgery went well, but it was a little scary for a while. She came home yesterday evening, which meant I got to play with E for a whole day!

Unfortunately, Megan ran a high fever Sunday and I was called back in for round two. I'm going home tomorrow and I can definitely say I've learned a thing or two about what it means to be a mom! Even though E is the most well behaved child on the planet, she still is a handful sometimes! I love her to bits (even though she tried to pee on me). I'll post some pictures when I get back to my camera!

Pocket Mod

2011-02-23T14:01:00.001-05:00

I'm not sure if there's anyone else out there like me, but I prefer paper to most paperless technologies. Granted, I would much rather type a paper on my computer than write it out by hand, but when it comes to notes, books and planning, I'd much rather do it o paper.

Now, I love my phone and I love the calendar program on my phone, but it takes so longer to input anything. It's almost useless because of it. So, when I found this, I practically jumped for joy! The Pocket Mod is for all you analogue lovers! You can customize 6 pages of life organizing bliss, very easily and print it off as needed. You can have a new one for every day, week, month or whatever you need!

In addition to being completely customizable, it is recyclable! You can throw it in your recycling bin when you're done! Amazing, no? While I'm not entirely convinced that "paperless" is more environmentally friendly (when you think about the stuff they put in batteries and all the non-recyclable parts of a computer and printer, it makes you wonder if cutting down trees and planting new ones wouldn't be better). The Pocket Mod is also incredibly easy to use. No typing on an incredibly small keyboard which nine times out of ten types the wrong thing. And no clunky menus to fight through. All you have to do is put pen to paper!

So join me in the paper revolution! Put down your phones, your palm pilots, your computers. And take up the pen and paper! ¡Viva la Revolución!

Bad Blogger

2011-02-22T18:29:00.000-05:00

I've been a bad blogger. Honestly I can't really say much has been going on here lately. I was sick last week and slept almost the entire time. Also, no word on the job front. So basically, I'm being pretty boring right now. *sigh*

Well, I guess I could share my new favorite thing with you:

Image courtesy of fanpop.com

Ok, I have a confession to make: I love anime.

I have always loved cartoons and there's something about anime that I've always liked. I can't explain it, but I love to watch it in addition to reading manga from time to time. My little brother got me hooked on One Piece as well as a few others from Shonen Jump. Does this make me an uber nerd? I think not, but my dear husband likes to mock me every chance he gets. (What he won't tell you is that he's also a fan. He's the one who introduced me to Avatar and one of his favorite movies to date is Appleseed. Se there!)

Any way, if you have Netflix instant view, all three season of Avatar is on there. I highly recommend watching it. Well, I 'm off to Young Women's! I'll try to blog more this week!

Hello Dolly!!

2011-02-03T16:13:00.000-05:00

Hello Dolly! is one of my all time favorite movie/musicals. I love Babs in that role and of course Michael Crawford is just amazing! If you haven't seen Hello Dolly, you should. Go out, rent the movie and watch it. Right now. I'll wait. You can thank me later. :)

Any way, I've had Hello Dolly on the brain because the North Carolina Theatre is putting on a production in May! I'm so excited because I've never seen it live (which will be awesome), let alone have the chance to audition for the production! The auditions are next week and I'm really looking forward to it! I've always wished that I could be more involved in musical theater, but school or my jobs have always prevented me from doing it. Since I currently have neither obligation, I'm going to try out!

Now, I have no delusions as to me landing a principal role, but I feel like I'm a strong singer (apart from my solo acapella fiasco at the Messiah this last Christmas) and I could be a really great chorus member! :) so wish me luck! I'll keep you up to date on the results after the 13th!

World of Coke and Georgia Aquarium

2011-02-01T12:55:00.001-05:00

Matt and I drove down to Atlanta late Friday night so that we could spend Saturday seeing some of the attractions here, namely the World of Coke and the Georgia Aquarium. They were both pretty amazing!

I remember going to the World of Coke back in the day, when the tasting room shot streams of coke over your head into your cup. Pretty cool. This is what it looks like now. If you go, don't try the Beverly. It's disgusting.

They've remodeled the whole museum so it's more free flow. You can go and see the things you want instead of going through everything in a set order (like before). I have always had a love affair with Coke and it was great to share that with Matt. :)

The aquarium was amazing! It was a "pick and chose the exhibits you want to see" kind of museum. My choices were based on which exhibit looked like it was the least crowded. I think my favorite exhibit was the one with the whale sharks. They were really neat to see!

They also had a glass tunnel that went through the middle of the tank at the bottom, so you were able to see the fish swim right by your head! We got some pretty amazing pictures from this exhibit!
I love that you can see Matt's Marvel comic's t-shirt in the reflection of the glass.

That's a lot of teeth!!

My other favorite exhibit was the one with touch tanks were you could touch sting rays and sharks! Sting rays, by the way, are slimy feeling. :) Here are the rest of my favorite photos from the day!

If you are ever in the Atlanta area, you should definitely hit up both of these places (although doing both in one day is not for the faint of heart... especially on a Saturday!) We both enjoyed spending time with one another and I loved sharing a part of my city with Matt.

P.S. - I had such a hard time narrowing down the pictures for this post! We had *so* many from the aquarium that were just amazing! If you want to see all of our pictures, head over to our gallery on smugmug!

Not much happenin' here

2011-01-27T14:56:00.000-05:00

So, still not a whole lot to report on the job front, but there are a few things going on around the Davis household. On Friday, Matt and I are going to the Dirty Dirty. Yep, that's right! We're going to Atlanta! I'm *so* excited for this trip because it's the first time I'll be going back to my hometown since I've been married! I'm really looking forward to taking Matt around my old neighborhood and seeing my friends that still live there!

I'm also going to go total tourist. I left Atlanta when I was 13 or 14 so I don't remember doing many of the touristy things there (other than the World of Coke. I mean, come on? Who doesn't want to go to the World of Coke again and again?). I'm also really excited to go to the aquarium they built after I moved. So watch out fishies! I'm coming with my camera!

Speaking of cameras, here's a few of the better pictures I've taken!

I love these duckies! I pretend they're me and Matt. I'm the one quacking at Matt and he's the one ignoring me. :)

I spent a whole day with my sister and E. 99% of the picture I took, E had the most serious look on her face. Now I know where she gets it.

When E was napping, Megan and I made these journals for her young women's personal progress. I'm particularly proud of this one.

Where is a cat's favorite place to sleep? On freshly laundered blankets of course! Where else?

I *love* this picture of E. It is so her!

Here's one of the few "smiling" pictures I got.

Greg's parents are serving a mission in China. They send back cool things.

And of course I have to end with this one. E threw her cup on the floor and Megan won't pick it up. Life is hard when you're little.

Any way, I hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them! 'm definitely going to be taking a lot more! :)

Catharsis

2011-01-17T19:50:00.000-05:00

So I originally titled this post “ New directions part 2” because of the first piece of information. But then I got rolling and I couldn’t stop typing. This post is mainly me venting my frustrations and fears. But you know what, I learned a little something about myself and I realized that maybe you might get something out of it too. This is a long post so I’ll put my catharsis after the jump.

Ummmm..... I have some news. I can't decide if it's good or bad. I'm a little ashamed which should mean it's bad, but I'm kind of glad too which makes it kind of good. I just can't decide. I'll let you all be the judges. So here it is:

I quit my job.

Without going into all the details, let's just say that there was no way around it. I believe I left on amiable terms and I probably could get a recommendation letter from them if needed, but it wouldn't be my first choice I think.

So here I am, the same place I was last year at this time, directionless and unemployed. I am not trying to throw a pity party or anything, but I honestly feel like I'm the only one suffering from this sometimes!

I know that jobs are harder to find these days, but I think one of my problems is that I have absolutely no clue what I want to do with my life! I have a degree which is a bonus, but honestly I'm not sure I want to go further into nutrition. I enjoyed my classes (mostly the food science ones) but I don't know that I want to be a dietitian.

I'm struggling with the fact that I'm 25 and it seems like everyone else around me at the very least knows what they want in life, if they aren't already doing it. I feel like I'm standing at the end of a road with a wide expanse of possibilities in front of me. I could go any direction I wanted and the incredible amount of choice scares me to death.

Aren't I supposed to be doing something with my life? I feel like working in retail for the rest of my life would be letting myself down; like I'm not living up to my potential. And I'm scared of letting my parents down. I know they love me and will support me even if I decided to sell tie-dyed shirts out the back of a van while dancing around, banging a tambourine. But there is so much pressure with both my sister having her PharmD and my brother doing so well in school and working up the ladder at his job. I feel like I'm the only one who isn't being a productive member of society. It's like I've hit a brick wall. I know there must be more on the other side, but I don't know what and it's driving me mad.

I know I should be grateful that I don’t have to take a job because I have to in order to survive. I’m grateful that I’m married and that there is someone to support me financially and emotionally. But let’s face it: most guys are emotionally constipated and my husband is no exception. I love him dearly and he has his moments, but he’s a realist to the core. He doesn’t do well with the “It’ll be alright” speech. It’s also really hard to lean on someone when they’re hardly ever there. Talking on the phone is good, but it doesn’t compare to actually being physically close to someone. I hate that Matt’s gone all the time, but it’s the way things are right now and there’s not much else to be done.

I've always struggled with making choices. Even the stupid little ones like what kind of toothpaste to buy. Have you ever really looked at the astounding choices available in toothpaste? There are so many different kinds claiming all sorts of effects. "Whitens teeth" or "Reduces tooth sensitivity". Have you ever seen just plain toothpaste? Me neither.

Toothpaste aside, I think I need to figure out a way to whittle my choices down to three. Picking from three different options is better than picking from 25 or 100. Right? I just don't know how to do that.

Well, I think my rant is done. It's good to just get it out there, even if no one reads this. I highly doubt anybody made it through this post to the end and if you did, well, thanks for listening. I may not know who you are, but thank you for sharing my fears and anxieties. I needed it. I didn’t write this post to garner anyone’s pity, but to scream at the proverbial universe in frustration. I know I'll land on my feet.

I always do.

Living life in a new direction

2011-01-15T15:24:00.000-05:00

I've decided that this blog needs a new direction. I just can't decide which. I've toyed with the idea of creating a food blog, giving photographed, step by step instructions and an occasional "what not to do". I've also been intrigued with the idea of making this blog a mish mash of my creative outlets (eg. photography, photoshop, stamping, drawing, etc.). All of this would be in addition to the general goings on in the Davis household. What do you guys think?

P.S. - My big girl camera is on it's way! I can't wait! :)

I survived!! Again!!

2011-01-05T17:24:00.000-05:00

I don't know what it was about this holiday season but it was killer for me. I felt like there wasn't enough hours in the day to do the things I needed to do and we had several house guests this holiday season! It was nice to be with Matt's Dad and brother for Christmas and also to have friends come to ring in the new year with us, but all in all, I'm exhausted! I'm sure most of you can relate!

On an entirely different note, I wanted to see if any one else out there is a crazy as I am!! I signed up for the Krispy Kreme challenge again this year and wanted some running buddies! I run pretty slow (I'm just now getting back into running since my surgery in November), but I don't want to run alone this time! So let me know if you want to run this crazy race together! If you haven't already signed up for it, sign up fast! Race slots fill up quickly! I'm really looking forward to this race again! :)

I am a geek...

2010-12-23T22:45:00.000-05:00

It's taken five years, but Matt's completely transformed me into a geek. I laughed so hard after watching this!

Also, on a side note, Orange is a cell network in the UK. It'll make sense after watching this video. :)

Whaddya think?

2010-12-21T20:23:00.000-05:00

Pretty cool, right? I recently took my life in my own hands and redesigned my blog on my own. It was actually incredibly easy using the new blogger design thingy. I loved my last design, but like my hair, I don't think I'll ever be able to settle on one style! I must have them all! For now, I'm digging some sunshine-y goodness to brighten up these terribly dreary winter days.

I'm probably going to continue to tweak it over the next few days, so be patient with me!

Hilarious (but crude) dinner conversation

2010-12-12T11:32:00.000-05:00

Matt and I went out to dinner after the Messiah performance last night and somehow we got onto the conversation of how if we didn't ever go to the bathroom, we'd all weigh 3000 pounds or something ridiculous like that. Matt then forks a piece of his meat, looks it square on and said,

"I'll see you later."

I about died laughing! Isn't it funny how funny potty humor can be? :)

Christmas cookies are a'baking

2010-12-12T11:22:00.000-05:00

Last year, I made a few cookies and other items and gave them to a few people. Well, this year, I'm planning on expanding my route because of this fabulous Black Friday find!

These tins were 3 bucks for a set of 3 at Ikea! That is the right price! And they're totally cute too!

The only cookies I can remember making last year were florentines. They were pretty delicious, but a pain in the butt to make in large quantities. So, I'm trying to come up with 3 or 4 different kinds of cookies that are easy to make and taste fantastic!

If you have any ideas (or requests!) I'd love to hear them!

A Helping Hand

2010-11-29T13:24:00.000-05:00

I started a 10 month fellowship with this organization back in August. I love what I do and we were recently featured in a local newspaper. Here's the the link for the article.

http://www.chapelhillnews.com/2010/11/28/60983/give-it-a-rest-help-is-available.html

The Cruise

2010-11-28T21:03:00.000-05:00

So, after typing out three *very* long posts about our cruise, I decided that you probably don't want that much detail about my life, so I'm just giving you the highlights! :)

The boat was amazing, the food was great and the entertainment for the most part was terrible. One of my favorite things on the boat was the hot glass show, where three glassblowers made some incredible works of art on the top deck of the boat! It was pretty amazing. I also really enjoyed the indoor adult only pool. It was so relaxing!

Our ports of call were pretty great too! The only place I was marginally disappointed with was Magen's Bay on St. Thomas. It's supposed to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and it was only meh to me. We also did a tree top zip-line excursion which was awesome. They said we couldn't bring our cameras, as we'd need both hands to do it (and they were right), so I'm pretty bummed about that.

All in all, the cruise was amazing and I am definitely converted! I can't wait until we can go on another one! :) I put together a little slideshow of some of our pictures! Enjoy!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T18:45:00.002-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I am so grateful for so many things this year! I'm thankful for my family, for our home, our jobs, for living in a country with so many freedoms, for my education, my kitty, the nice things I have, and the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This year for Thanksgiving Dinner, it was just me and Matt. We had baked salmon, with arugula salad, mashed potatoes, rolls, green beans, roasted sweet potatoes and beets.

For dessert we had an apple and pear galette. I got the recipe for the galette on allrecipes and it was pretty good. My crust was a little dry and crumby, but it had a good flavor. Click here for the link to the recipe. I added some sugar and salt to the crust to give it more flavor. I also used pumpkin pie spice instead of the spice mixture (because cardamom was 10 bucks for a little bitty thing!). I just realized that I forgot to add the brown sugar in the mixture, but I didn't miss it at all! I also brushed the crust with some egg whites (because I had some left over from something else) and sprinkled the whole thing with a little sugar in the raw. Any way, it was Matt approved which for a pastry is incredible! Try it! You'll love it! Here how it turned out.

The Concert

2010-11-25T18:28:00.001-05:00

I think my husband said it best after the concert. He said (of Muse), "They are amazing musicians, but they aren't performers." I would totally have to agree. Don't get me wrong! The concert was incredible and the experience, unforgettable. But all they did was go from one song to the next. There was no interaction with the audience beyond the obligatory, "How are you doing tonight, Raleigh?!" I love Muse and their music. It was as good, if not better live. I just wish there had been a little more performing in addition to all the incredible, ear drum bursting wall of sound.

Now, that I've said my peace, I can dwell in memory of the gloriousness of the evening. Muse is one of the few remaining bands/groups that sounds just as good live, if not infinitely better. At the risk of going off on a tangent, why is it that so many "singers" have to rely on technology to sound even half-way decent on a recording? You know what, never mind. Muse has always sounded delicious live, as it should be.

Any way, the concert was amazing and I made some friends with the guys standing in front of us (so in the event of me jumping up and accidentally landing on their feet, they wouldn't mind so much) and had an awesome time. My ear drums felt like I had cotton balls stuck in them for the rest of the evening and I honestly thought that I might lose my voice for a while the next morning (but nothing can get these pipes down for long!). Truly, it was a wonderful night. *sigh* I definitely will go see them again when they come to town.

So, here are my favorite pictures. Enjoy!

I survived!!

2010-11-14T21:33:00.000-05:00

But, just barely. The concert was auh-mazing, the cruise was unbelievable and the surgery was awful (but necessary). I've only recently come off of the narcotics (which are frustratingly mind-addling. I think I may have had the same couple of conversations with Matt five of six times. Sorry honey.)

I'm in the process of sorting out our pictures, but here are my favorites from all three events. :) More to follow soon (most likely).

This was the beach we went to on St. John. By far, the most beautiful place we went on the cruise

Muse. Love it.

This was taken soon after waking up. Considering what I looked like after waking up from my last surgery, I'm looking pretty hot!

Great things are a'comin...

2010-10-25T19:20:00.000-04:00

This week is going to crawl by *so* slowly because of the tremendous things happening.

1) Muse concert Tuesday night - I am so excited, I can't even begin to express myself. The tickets are my early birthday present (even though my birthday is 2 months away). I am going to go to bed super early tonight in preparation. :) Muse is one of the greatest bands in terms of musical talent, in my opinion. They sound just as good live as they do on their records (which is a rarity these days) and if you listen to the basic constructs of their music, it's classical in nature (which I LOVE). Any way, if you haven't heard of Muse, check them out. Like, right now. I'll wait.

Are you back yet from having your mind blown? Good

2) Cruise Sunday morning - Matt and I are going on our cruise! WAHOO! It's going to be both of our first cruises and we're really looking forward to it. We're going to Puerto Rico, St. Thomas and St. Maarten on our week long cruise. There's a good mix of time on the boat and time at sea, so we'll have some time to explore the ship in addition to getting burnt to a crisp on the beaches. We leave on Saturday to fly to Ft. Lauderdale and I seriously want to start packing now.

Oh, and Matt and I settled on our Halloween costumes. I can't remember if I've said that yet or not. I know it's lame, but we're going to be video game characters.

Here's a little introduction to my character. Enjoy!

They have a video for the spy (which is Matt's character) but it's really gory and not funny at all. So here's a picture instead!

Any way, so excited! :) See you during my surgery recovery the day after I get back!

If you could live anywhere...

2010-10-20T19:19:00.000-04:00

Where would you live? I know that there are a lot of factors that go into that decision like where your job/school is and proximity to family and sometimes money, but if those factors weren't an issue, where would you live?

Matt and I have talked a lot about it lately because his job is becoming too much for us to handle. Matt being gone all the time sucks. So we've been looking into other jobs. Ideally we'd stay in the area because we own our home and because of my job, but we're not ruling out the possibility of moving somewhere else.

I know Matt has some pretty strong objections to Utah (which I do not share) but no strong inclination towards any other place either. I would love to live abroad for a little while (definitely not for a long time or permanently) and we've already shot that one down once. Right after Matt started working in Australia a few years back, they offered him a position there. I still regret him turning it down, but at the time we still had a lot of family close here. Since then, our extended families have spread out some and our tie to North Carolina isn't as strong.

Recently, we've had an opportunity arise to live in the UK for a year in addition to making a permanent move to California. Now, I'm not sure where in the UK it would be, but most likely somewhere in England and close to London. I jumped at the idea more than I thought I would. It seems crazy to me that I would drop my life here and live across the ocean in a foreign country, but I would do it in a heart beat. I balked at the idea of living in California, but the thought of being in England for Christmas fills my head with romantic images of snow covered country lanes and funny paper hats. And that got me thinking: Where would you live if you could move anywhere? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Just call me Sickie Poo

2010-10-15T12:26:00.000-04:00

I haven't been feeling really great the past few days and I'm proud that my body was able to fend off getting sick for so long (especially now I'm interacting with so many people on a daily basis), but unfortunately, my body caved in today. So it's time to play my favorite game! Web MD Symptom Checker!

Ok, so I know it's now really a game, but I like to put in my symptoms and see what the most random diagnosis is. Usually, whatever it is, that's what I'll claim as my illness, because suffering from walking pneumonia or cryptococcosis sounds so much cooler than the common cold. Today, I'm suffering from viral pneumonia. So take pity on me. *I would just like to note that I'm really not suffering from anything other than a cold, which still sucks*

I did get a lot of intermittent sleep and watched my favorite movie *ever*: Beauty and the Beast. Disney, in their infinite wisdom, has seen fit to bring Beauty and the Beast out of their accursed vault and make their delightful movie available for purchase again. I got it through netflix the other day. (On a side note, I love netflix. That is all.) I think I may go purchase it soon and give it to myself as a Christmas present this year. :)

Coolest thing ever! (Well, if you're into that sort of thing)

2010-10-03T12:38:00.000-04:00

I recently reinjured my left knee (the one I've had surgery on) and my doctor is worried that I've torn my meniscus. In order to diagnose it, I had an MRI scan performed on my knee on Monday. Here are some of the cooler images.

I love that you can see the hole they drilled for the replacement ACL. I also don't love that I can see the incredibly thick layer of fat surrounding my leg. It makes me want to go work out for 3 hours.

So a few days after having the MRI done, my doctor confirmed that I have torn it and recommended surgery to repair it. So once again, I'm having my knee cut open. My doctor assured me that the recovery will be nothing like what I went through with my ACL (thank goodness) and that I should be down for a week max. I've decided to wait until after our cruise to have the surgery though (because there's no way I'm limping around in the carribean) so I'll have to put up with the dull ache and sharp stabbing pains from sideways movement until November. I suppose it could be worse. I could've torn my graft!

This reminds me of a conversation that Matt and I had last night. Matt was talking about some games he had on his phone. It immediately made me think of my new favorite game on my phone, Speed Anatomy. I pulled out my phone and started playing. After a few minutes I noticed he wasn't paying attention to me any more and I put away my game. He then looked up at me with a stone cold face and said, "Nerd."

Halloween costume

2010-09-11T16:44:00.001-04:00

Why is it that it is nearly impossible to find a cute, non-dumpy Halloween costume that doesn't make a girl looks slutty? I don't understand what it is with Halloween that makes girls think they've got a pass on that night to dress (and often act) as slutty as possible.
With Halloween quickly approaching (as well as our cruise which leaves on Halloween), I find myself frustrated that the only costumes I can find are "sexy"(insert profession here)s. Or, the costume is of a superhero which basically means spandex. I don't look good in spandex (who does really?) And let me tell you nobody needs to see that!

The other frustrating aspect (which is slowly becoming a non issue as I can't find anything!) is that Matt and I wanted to coordinate our costumes. All the couple's costume ideas are weird, creepy or dumb. Ball and chain? No thanks. Ketchup and Mustard? What the heck? Marc Anthony and Cleopatra? Boring! It's hard to find a couple that involves both of us dressing up. Matt had the idea of Dr. Horrible, but Penny is just in regular clothes. Perhaps I could cross-dress and be Dr. Who...

Any way, I write this in the hopes that anybody has a good idea for us. It would be great if the costumes were coordinated or related, but at this point I don't much care if it isn't. So far the top runners in our minds are:

Wolverine and Rogue - I know they weren't a couple but they're good friends. Plus, Matt can really pull off the beard and hair. It does however require an incredible amount of spandex on my part.
Dr. Who (Danid Tennant style) and his companion - I would love to do this one, but again, I would just be in regular clothes. Boring!
Christine Daae and The Phantom - I love this musical more than life! However, Matt's costume would be stifling, what with the shirt and vest and pants and cloak and mask...
King Leonidas and his Queen - Matt would not be naked at all, but again, he can pull of the beard.

So, there you have it. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Ummmm.... Heck Yes!

2010-08-31T18:11:00.001-04:00

I've had some pretty amazing culinary adventures as of late, but I only have pictures from one of them. Yesterday, I tried recreating Cafe Rio's Pork Barbacoa Salad. I think I came pretty close, but I haven't had it in a while, so I may not be as close as I think I am. Any way, after searching for some recipes, I made up my own. Here it is:

Pork Barbacoa Deliciousness

3-5 lb. Pork Roast
1 7oz. Can of chipotle chiles in adobo
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Garlic minced
1 tsp Dry Mustard
1 1/2 cans of Dr. Pepper (or 18 oz)

Mix all ingredients except for the roast in a bowl, chilies and all. Place the pork roast and the sauce into a slow cooker and cook on low for 6 hours. At the end of the 6 hours take out the roast and shred the meat. Put about half aside for other purposes (like yummy barbecue later!). In another bowl, mix the following ingredients:

18 oz Dr. Pepper
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tsp (or more if you like the heat) Franks Red Hot Sauce
1/4 cup Sticky Fingers Carolina Sweet barbecue sauce
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic minced

Once you have the sauce mixed, reduce in a pot on the stove until the sauce is slightly thickened (about 5-10 minutes on medium heat). Mix in with the shredded meat and eat.

I think it's pretty good regardless. It know it's a little labor intensive, especially with making a whole new sauce, but the chilies added a great kick to the meat, but left the cooked liquid too spicy (It stings the nostrils). Any way, we used it to top a Cafe Rio-esque salad. Basically layer the following:

tortilla
rice
beans
lettue
pico de gayo
pork
cheese
squeeze o' lime

Also, I found a goo tomatillo dressing here. I actually used the recipe for the initial cooking liquid from her blog as well. I made up the second sauce on the fly with what I had. :) Any way, it was delicious.

My second adventure happened this afternoon on my way home. I stopped into the bakery on Salem Street in downtown Apex. I told the lady I wanted chocolate something and she suggested this.

I can't even remember what it was called, but I think it was something like, "The most delicious chocolatey thing you'll ever put in your mouth, ever." Ok, not really, but it should be called that! It was rich and creamy, but not too rich (which given it's size is a good thing!) I didn't eat all of it in one go, because I had to run, but boy did it fix my chocolate itch. If you ever find yourself in downtown Apex, you should definitely stop in and get this, or one of the many other delicious desserts they offer!

Imagery

2010-08-13T00:09:00.002-04:00

"If you select 'Yes' we will include your blog in Google Blog Search and ping Weblogs.com. If you select 'No', everyone can still view your blog but search engines will be instructed not to crawl it."

So I was perusing my settings for my blog and read this statement. It is weird that the image that popped up in my head was that of a personified search engine dragging himself with his hands, bloodied and burnt to the point of cracking and bleeding, across the desert, half starved and reaching up toward the oasis that is me and my blog.

I think I might have an overactive imagination.

Photo courtesy of Annay's picasa web album.

Recipe time Part Duex!

2010-08-11T20:11:00.001-04:00

It occurred to me that I haven't been very good about posting Teri-original recipes on here, so I thought I should share with you one of my new favorite things: smoothies!

Now I know it doesn't take a genius to make a smoothie, but there is a science to it (sort of). A good smoothie should never require too much extra ice to be added, as it dilutes the flavor, and it should have a wide variety of flavors. Here's my favorite one right now:

Teri's Berry Smoothie

1 cup frozen tropical fruit (My mix had mangoes, pineapple, kiwi and melons)
1 cup frozen berries (My mix has blackberries, raspberries, strawberries and blueberries)
1 small container of strawberry yogurt (think yoplait sized containers and the like)
1/2 cup or so (you might need extra depending on your blender) apple juice
roughly 4 ice cubes

Put the liquid and yogurt into the bottom of the blender and pile the fruit in on top. Blend. Add more apple juice if needed. One of the tricks to getting a smooth texture is letting the blender run for about a minute once the mixture become visually the same. You want there to be a hole down the middle of your smoothie while it's running, so that everything can get down to the blades eventually. Once you've let it run for a minute, add the ice cubes one at a time until the hole down the middle disappears. (You may need more of less than the amount of ice cubes indicated. It's not going to be the same for everybody) I've also experimented with adding protein powder. While this makes a pretty good, easy breakfast for me, it makes the smoothie really frothy, so only add the protein powder at the very end so it doesn't explode out of your blender like mine almost did this morning.

If you have any left overs, store them in an airtight container in the freezer, but use it within the next month. To thaw, set it in the fridge for about an hour and half. That will get it to a similar consistency as when you started out! I hope you enjoy!!

Teri's Ridiculous Frosting

2010-08-10T01:02:00.002-04:00

Ok, so my first day of work was... interesting. I pretty much screwed up big time in the first 3 hours of work, met with a client, became a running joke, and subsequently fell in love with the ladies I work with.
Any way, we're having a potluck tomorrow for a client who's turning 103. (Yeah, I know! That's amazing!!) I volunteered to bring chocolate cake. It's the same cake recipe I used for my sister-in-law's wedding. But, because I messed up the batter on the first time around, I didn't have enough cocoa powder for the frosting recipe. So I made one up. And it was ridiculously good. :) Here it is!

Teri's Ridiculous Frosting

6 oz (or half a bag) of semi-sweet chocolate chips
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbls chocolate sauce

Melt the chocolate chips over a double boiler or in the microwave and stir until smooth. Using a stand mixer or hand mixer (because this next part will be *really* difficult without it) beat the softened cream cheese into the melted chocolate. Add the powdered sugar, vanilla and chocolate sauce and continue to beat until smooth and fluffy. If you want your frosting stiffer, add more powdered sugar until it reaches the desired consistency. Likewise, if you want your frosting more fluid, add more chocolate sauce.

I think I might be in love with my new creation. *sigh* I'll try to get a picture of the cake tomorrow before we cut into it. :)

*update* So, I got to work that morning and frosted the cake (so it wouldn't get smeared all over the lid to my cake pan) and then they told me that I would be going on a client visit during the party. I got to meet and read to a pretty amazing woman, but when I got back, the cake was gone! So, no photos of the cake other than the ones taken by the official A Helping Hand camera, so I don't know if I'm allowed to post them or not... Any way, everyone said the frosting was delicious! I'm glad the cake was a hit!

My Web Happy Places

2010-08-07T12:32:00.000-04:00

Here they are in reverse order of how happy they make me:

Bloom Floral Design

This lady down in Atlanta has some beuatiful and unique flower arrangements! I love looking through her work. The only downside is that she doesn't post very often, so it's like waiting for Christmas to see some of the new things she's doing. I would love to be able to be a florist one day. I just love flowers!

Photo Courtesy of bloomfloraldesign.blogspot.com

Tastespotting

I *love* food. I always have. It's the reason I pay good money to Mike (my trainer) to beat me up at the gym. This website is the food porn mecca! There are beautiful photographs of the different foods and links to the websites or blogs they came from. Most of the blogs I've been sent to have had the recipe or a link to the recipe, so you can make it too. IF I had any kind of photographing skills, I would put some of my recipes on there, but alas, I am not Emily.

Photo Courtesy of theurbanbaker.blogspot.com via Tastspotting.com

Adventures in Dressmaking

I like crafty websites, but I like this one the best so far. She has a little bit of everything, but mostly sewing. I feel like that is a craft I can do well(ish). I love her tutorials on how to take old shirts and make them pretty in a new way! I also love seeing all the dresses she's made

My Blogger Reader

I love having all the blogs of friend, family and complete strangers all in one place. And I know my husband is saying, "Finally!! I've been telling you all along!" But until recently (read: since I've been unemployed and out of school) I didn't have that many blogs that I read with any kind of consistency. Now there are too many to go to individually everyday. My reader makes my life easier (blogically speaking, of course).

I can has cheezburger?

What can I say? I love cats and I love snarky humor. Both are in rich supply at my favoritist of web happy places. I love a lot of the other off-shoot sites, like the ROFLazzi and the oh so popular Fail blog. I can honestly look through the archives for hours and laugh my head off!

Photo Courtesy of icanhascheezburger.com

The latest crazy dream:

2010-07-28T18:17:00.001-04:00

The other day, I had a dream and the guys from Top Gear made guest apperances! We had to build a car that could both fly and go underwater. I can't remember who's team I was on (it was either Richard Hammond or James May's team because I don't think I could ever get a long with Jeremy Clarkson). The entire time, they made fun of me because I am a girl, I didn't know anything about cars, and I am American.

I don't know if watching Top Gear right before bed is the wisest idea any more.

Photo Courtesy of TheNeave.com

I am NO longer depressed!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-07-26T15:18:00.001-04:00

I just got a phone call from the lady at A Helping Hand and they offered me the fellowship position!!!! Hurray! I can't even tell you so very excited I am right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (I think the gratuitous use of exclamation points might help though) It is such a relief to finally have employment prospects. And employment prospects that are pertinent to my field as well!

I just can't believe that I'm getting a real-person job! I'm just so happy!! :) Now I am going to celebrate by buying new work clothes (as it turns out I only have one pair of dress pants that fit). Hurray for me!! :)

On a totally unrelated noted, I think that all cities should install a "fast lane" in all stair wells.

I am depressed

2010-07-22T21:18:00.002-04:00

I'm waiting to hear back about a job and the suspense is killing me. I'm pretty sure I got it, but still I'm nervous. Ugg... I think I need chocolate, ice cream *and* chic flick therapy. Hopefully, my fate will be decided by tomorrow or Monday at the latest. I really hope it's tomorrow.

*update* - I decided to go with retail therapy today instead, although I think I'm going to indulge in some milkshake book therapy in a second as well...