Chick in the Czech

Cat Facts- Text- Hilarious

2012-02-01T05:00:00.000-06:00

Recipe Organization

2012-01-31T05:00:00.000-06:00

I have a new project of Recipe Organization. Every week I am left with nothing to fix for suppers and feel overwhelmed with the prospect of thinking about what I should cook when I go to the store. The results of this have been bad: rather than meal planning, I simply buy every ingredient I could possibly need to make any meal that I could want!

I've found that for us, the better system is to buy per recipe rather than stocking up on staples for the pantry and keeping it up because since we are only two people, food turns bad and we never use the staples.

This weekend I decided to try to think of a solution: I created an Excel file and started to think of all of the recipes I know that we love. Then, I write down the basic ingredients so that by copying and pasting the spreadsheet onto my grocery list, I can quickly and easily create a meal plan for the week. We really do not eat very many "meals" because if I make something, we have so many leftovers, but I think that it will make things easier for me. Another plus would be that I can examine what we eat and hopefully get a better variety of food in our diets.

I started by thinking of Mexican-inspired dishes. How do you organize your recipes and think of things to make every week? Sometimes I feel like organization can be a time-sucker in itself and then I never use it in real life. Thoughts?

Our weekend

2012-01-30T05:00:00.000-06:00

We had another great weekend! On Friday evening, I went to Jazz and had some delicious Cajun food with some friends. My favorite thing to order there is fried oysters, and mine did not disappoint. They can also serve up a mean cup of gumbo, which I also order every time I go. SO tasty. The problem with Jazz is that I've eaten at their other branches (specifically, in Columbia), and wasn't too impressed. However, maybe the food is better there. At any rate, I always think that when a small restaurant decides to branch out, the original location is always better than the branches.

On Saturday we hung out at home and I cleaned the house while David studied. After church we went to our church's trivia night with David's sister and brother-in-law. Last year we won the trivia night but this year we were no where close. I am not very good with trivia because I don't know much about movies and sports, but when the art category comes along I usually know a fair amount from taking classes in college.

Then, on Sunday, I went to yoga and had to go into work for a few hours to catch up on some things. David studied all day long.

Did you do anything fun this weekend?

Piano playing

2012-01-26T05:00:00.000-06:00

David is studying again, so in an attempt to spend time with him while he studies in the basement, I an trying to practice the piano more. I've been working on "Clair de Lune" by Debussy. When I was in high school and college, I was a pretty fair piano player, but it is interesting how quickly my skills went by the wayside. It is fun to pick it up every once in a while again!

Egg Rolls

2012-01-25T05:00:00.000-06:00

On Sunday I decided to attempt to make some egg rolls. I say "attempt" because they didn't turn out quite as planned. I think that somehow my wrappers were not wet enough or something because they were crunchy hard (as in the wrappers were still basically wrappers and not that delicious thing you eat in the restaurants)!

Hmmmm...any tips for me? I filled them with eggplant, carrots, celery, and onions that were sauteed. At the end I brushed them with soy sauce and chicken broth in an attempt to make the wrappers more egg-rolly, but it didn't work. Hrm.

The animals

2012-01-24T05:00:00.000-06:00

I noticed that I have not posted pictures from our animals for a while, so I thought that I would share a few.

Nothing is really new with them. They certainly rule our entire house with their antics. We have (mostly) grown out of the accident stage, it seems.

Paco and Arwen are still extremely close friends. They sleep near each other at night (on our bed...it gets crowded!) and love on each other:

Thorina remains aloof and likes to talk to us. She is always meowing and if I respond to her, she will meow even more. Here she is trying to act uninterested in what is happening in the kitchen:

But on second glance one can see that she likes to keep tabs on the family.

Our weekend

2012-01-23T05:00:00.000-06:00

We had a great weekend. Friday evening David studied and I relaxed at home. It was SO nice to finally have a weekend evening where we had nothing planned, because it seems like we go from event to event and while they are enormously fun, it is nice to have a relaxing evening once in a while. I watched I Don't Know How She Does It, which was pretty good, and then I started watching one of my favorite movies (because it is from one of my favorite books): Sense and Sensibility.

On Saturday I went to yoga and we went to church and then we went with some friends to Party Arty, a fundraiser for the art museum here in town. It was SO much fun....the party itself was neat because it was in the art museum and there were performers who performed dances during the event. They also had drinks and delicious food from various places...my favorite was this delicious mini-hot dog with a relish on it. SO good. I may or may not have eaten two. They were mini!

Then on Sunday I relaxed and David studied after being exhausted from having so much fun the night before!

Tips for getting tickets at the Vatican

2012-01-19T05:00:00.000-06:00

When we first started planning this trip, my mom had one request: to see the Pope. I mostly just laughed at her after reading in my trusty guidebooks that this Pope no longer holds personal audiences and just thinking about how overwhelming it would be to try to get tickets to events like a mass at Christmas. But, little things kept happening that pushed us in the right direction: I read in Rick Steve's to try to get tickets to the Scavi tours (but don't count on it), and my parents heard from some priests at an event that you could get tickets to midnight mass at Christmas.

First: the Scavi tours. Basically, in order to request tickets, you have to email your information to the "Scavi" (as we called whoever was answering our emails). Rick Steves said that no answer is common and it means that you do not have tickets, so I was not expecting much from the Scavi. However, soon after I emailed them, I received an email back confirming our reservation...for 9 a.m. the day we arrived in Rome...and our plane was scheduled to get into the airport at 8:55 a.m. I was so sad, but decided to keep emailing the Scavi to try to find a different day/time. Nope...everything was full. After (literally) seven or so emails back and forth, I just gave up. I even tried having David email him with absolutely no luck.

A few days later, my mom also emailed the Scavi, who confirmed her for a tour for a date and time I had already requested (and been denied). No matter: we were simply happy to have tickets!

The day that we arrived in Rome, we arrived at 9 a.m. and our tour started at 11:45 a.m. We opted to take a shuttle from the airport to our hotel and then hoped to get from the hotel to the Vatican ASAP in order to make the tour. Long story short, we did not make the tour. We literally ran around the Vatican, tried to get everywhere in record times, and we arrived at the Scavi office at noon. A group was standing outside the office so my parents and brother just joined that group while David ran into the office. He didn't come out right away so I joined him just in time to hear the official saying, "Impossible!" Getting a sinking feeling, I asked what was going on and David and the official explained that since we were late, another family got to take our place on the tour (understandable, but still stinky). We asked the Scavi official if we could reschedule. At first he just laughed at us and said "impossible!" again, and then suggested that we come back in January. I told him that obviously we were not here that long and that we couldn't really help being late, so we would greatly appreciate any accommodation he could give us. Finally, he said that there was a tour leaving at 1:30 and if we could be back at 1:00 p.m. we could join that tour.

Basically, it seems that the Scavi is pretty precarious. The man behind the counter was an Italian layperson (not a priest or a nun...whenever we came across those Vatican workers they were extremely nice, happy, and helpful). It seems that the tours are just kind of jumbled. I would say that if you want to request tours, have multiple people from your group request reservations and then be on time. As long as you don't get frustrated you are likely to see the tour.

The effort was very worth it. The tour was amazing and it was really neat to see the tombs underneath the Vatican. It was like stepping into Ancient Rome (literally) as we toured grave sites and got a history lesson from a soon-to-be-priest from St. Louis (while we were on the tour with another family from St. Louis!). The highlight of the tour (and maybe one of the highlights of being in Rome) was saying the Our Father in the room where St. Peter's tomb is located (and while seeing the bones that are believed to be his). It was a wonderful experience that I was so happy to have as a Catholic and I am happy to have shared it with my family.

Midnight mass: The best website for any information for American visitors is the Bishop's Office for US Visitors to the Vatican. It was so helpful and when I emailed the Office the replies were so friendly and helpful as well. I e-mailed the office about requesting tickets to Midnight Mass. They replied back that we could send a letter or a fax to a certain number in order to ask for tickets. The day I got the email, I sent a letter to the Vatican with a sinking feeling because I knew that the mail would take weeks to reach the Vatican, especially when the small town postal worker said, "Vatican? We've never had a letter go there! I don't know how many days or weeks it will take to send it!" Sheesh.

Luckily, my parents have a fax machine in their house, so my mom tried to fax the request. She faxed and faxed and had issues times ten with getting the fax to go through. Finally, she was able to fax the letter to a nun at the Bishop's Office and asked the nun to please fax it to the appropriate person for us. We did not hear back for about a week and then, one Saturday morning, my mom found a fax sitting in her machine that said that we had midnight mass tickets. We had to pick up the tickets a day before the event at the Vatican. On the day of the mass we arrived at the Vatican at 5:45 and joined a hugely long line. The doors opened at 8 p.m., so we stood and watched as the Pope made an appearance in his apartment window with a candle:

Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/rf/image_606w/2010-2019/WashingtonPost/2011/12/25/Style/Images/Vatican%20Christmas%20eve.JPEG-0a33e.jpg

The line was incredibly long and it was hilarious as people kept trying to butt in line near us. Eventually, the line wrapped three times around the square and we got into the basilica. People in front of us were running to get in and when we did we saw why: if you got in early enough you could sit on an aisle seat, which was closest to the Pope as he made his way down the aisle. We got into the basilica and sat down near a friend we made while in line.

The mass was incredible and again, a wonderful, wonderful experience. Everything was simply beautiful, from the music to the surroundings, to the readings and message from the Pope himself. After taking the Scavi tour, I couldn't believe that I was celebrating Christmas in the Vatican, just above the ancient tomb of St. Peter. This was definitely the highlight of our trip to Rome and was just gorgeous.

Papal Audience: After my mom heard about midnight mass and that one could request tickets for that event, she suggested that I call my diocese to see about getting tickets to midnight mass. I called my local diocese and asked about requesting tickets and the lady on the other end stated that she did not know how to request tickets to midnight mass, but mentioned tickets to a papal audience. Apparently we had to ask our local priest, who would then request tickets from the Bishop himself. When I told my mom this she volunteered to go through her diocese. The Bishop wrote us a letter requesting tickets to the Audience and then one day I got an email telling us that we had the tickets.

The audience was another wonderful event. We had to pick up the tickets near Trevi fountain before the event. We picked them up at the Bishop's Office late Tuesday afternoon. Since we were receiving an Indulgence at the Audience, we were encouraged to go to confession at the Office where a priest was waiting, so we did.

While waiting in line, we began to realize that we had golden tickets while most other people around us had blue tickets. We figured that they were just printed on different pieces of paper until I walked into the auditorium and was spotted by a man in a tuxedo. He said that I should follow him with a golden ticket, so I did (along with my family) and he seated us seven rows from the front. My mom (who had gotten there earlier in the day) was already seated two rows from the front. We have no idea how we got the golden ticket.

The Audience was spectacular. My tip for a future visit would be to pretend you are with a group (i.e. when you request tickets, say you are with the "Smith Family Reunion" or something) because groups are called and can stand up and the Pope acknowledges them. Again, I highly recommend requesting tickets for this event.

Here is the message that the Pope said at our audience:

The Prayer and the Holy Family of Nazareth

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today’s meeting is taking place in the atmosphere of Christmas, imbued with deep joy at the Birth of the Saviour. We have just celebrated this Mystery whose echo ripples through the Liturgy of all these days. It is a Mystery of Light that all people in every era can relive with faith and prayer. It is through prayer itself that we become capable of drawing close to God with intimacy and depth.

Therefore, bearing in mind the theme of prayer that I am developing in the Catecheses in this period, I would therefore like to invite you to reflect today on the way that prayer was part of the life of the Holy Family of Nazareth. Indeed, the house of Nazareth is a school of prayer where one learns to listen, meditate on and penetrate the profound meaning of the manifestation of the Son of God, following the example of Mary, Joseph and Jesus.

The Discourse of the Servant of God Paul VI during his Visit to Nazareth is memorable. The Pope said that at the school of the Holy Family we “understand why we must maintain a spiritual discipline, if we wish to follow the teaching of the Gospel and become disciples of Christ”. He added: “In the first place it teaches us silence. Oh! If only esteem for silence, a wonderful and indispensable spiritual atmosphere, could be reborn within us! Whereas we are deafened by the din, the noise and discordant voices in the frenetic, turbulent life of our time. O silence of Nazareth! Teach us to be steadfast in good thoughts, attentive to our inner life, ready to hear God’s hidden inspiration clearly and the exhortations of true teachers” (Discourse in Nazareth, 5 January 1964).

We can draw various ideas for prayer and for the relationship with God and with the Holy Family from the Gospel narratives of the infancy of Jesus. We can begin with the episode of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. St Luke tells how “when the time came for their purification according to the law of Moses”, Mary and Joseph “brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord” (2:22). Like every Jewish family that observed the law, Jesus’ parents went to the Temple to consecrate their first-born son to God and to make the sacrificial offering. Motivated by their fidelity to the precepts of the Law, they set out from Bethlehem and went to Jerusalem with Jesus who was only 40 days old. Instead of a year-old lamb they presented the offering of simple families, namely, two turtle doves. The Holy Family’s pilgrimage was one of faith, of the offering of gifts — a symbol of prayer — and of the encounter with the Lord whom Mary and Joseph already perceived in their Son Jesus.

Mary was a peerless model of contemplation of Christ. The face of the Son belonged to her in a special way because he had been knit together in her womb and had taken a human likeness from her. No one has contemplated Jesus as diligently as Mary. The gaze of her heart was already focused on him at the moment of the Annunciation, when she conceived him through the action of the Holy Spirit; in the following months she gradually became aware of his presence, until, on the day of his birth, her eyes could look with motherly tenderness upon the face of her son as she wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in the manger.

Memories of Jesus, imprinted on her mind and on her heart, marked every instant of Mary’s existence. She lived with her eyes fixed on Christ and cherished his every word. St Luke says: “Mary kept all these things, pondering them in her heart” (2:19) and thus describes Mary’s approach to the Mystery of the Incarnation which was to extend throughout her life: keeping these things, pondering on them in her heart. Luke is the Evangelist who acquaints us with Mary’s heart, with her faith (cf. 1:45), her hope and her obedience (cf. 1:38) and, especially, with her interiority and prayer (cf. 1:46-56), her free adherence to Christ (cf. 1:55).

And all this proceeded from the gift of the Holy Spirit who overshadowed her (cf. 1:35), as he was to come down on the Apostles in accordance with Christ’s promise (cf. Acts 1:8). This image of Mary which St Luke gives us presents Our Lady as a model for every believer who cherishes and compares Jesus’ words with his actions, a comparison which is always progress in the knowledge of Jesus. After Bl. Pope John Paul II’s example (cf. Apostolic Letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae) we can say that the prayer of the Rosary is modelled precisely on Mary, because it consists in contemplating the mysteries of Christ in spiritual union with the Mother of the Lord.

Mary’s ability to live by God’s gaze, is so to speak, contagious. The first to experience this was St Joseph. His humble and sincere love for his betrothed and his decision to join his life to Mary’s attracted and introduced him, “a just man”, (Mt 1:19), to a special intimacy with God. Indeed, with Mary and later, especially, with Jesus, he began a new way of relating to God, accepting him in his life, entering his project of salvation and doing his will. After trustfully complying with the Angel’s instructions “Do not fear to take Mary your wife” (Mt 1:20) — he took Mary to him and shared his life with her; he truly gave the whole of himself to Mary and to Jesus and this led him to perfect his response to the vocation he had received.

As we know, the Gospel has not recorded any of Joseph’s words: his is a silent and faithful, patient and hard-working presence. We may imagine that he too, like his wife and in close harmony with her, lived the years of Jesus’ childhood and adolescence savouring, as it were, his presence in their family.

Joseph fulfilled every aspect of his paternal role. He must certainly have taught Jesus to pray, together with Mary. In particular Joseph himself must have taken Jesus to the Synagogue for the rites of the Sabbath, as well as to Jerusalem for the great feasts of the people of Israel. Joseph, in accordance with the Jewish tradition, would have led the prayers at home both every day — in the morning, in the evening, at meals — and on the principal religious feasts. In the rhythm of the days he spent at Nazareth, in the simple home and in Joseph’s workshop, Jesus learned to alternate prayer and work, as well as to offer God his labour in earning the bread the family needed.

And lastly, there is another episode that sees the Holy Family of Nazareth gathered together in an event of prayer. When Jesus was 12 years old, as we have heard, he went with his parents to the Temple of Jerusalem. This episode fits into the context of pilgrimage, as St Luke stresses: “His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom” (2:41-42).

Pilgrimage is an expression of religious devotion that is nourished by and at the same time nourishes prayer. Here, it is the Passover pilgrimage, and the Evangelist points out to us that the family of Jesus made this pilgrimage every year in order to take part in the rites in the Holy City. Jewish families, like Christian families, pray in the intimacy of the home but they also pray together with the community, recognizing that they belong to the People of God, journeying on; and the pilgrimage expresses exactly this state of the People of God on the move. Easter is the centre and culmination of all this and involves both the family dimension and that of liturgical and public worship.

In the episode of the 12-year-old Jesus, the first words of Jesus are also recorded: “How is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (2:49). After three days spent looking for him his parents found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions (cf. 2:46). His answer to the question of why he had done this to his father and mother was that he had only done what the Son should do, that is, to be with his Father.

Thus he showed who is the true Father, what is the true home, and that he had done nothing unusual or disobedient. He had stayed where the Son ought to be, that is, with the Father, and he stressed who his Father was.

The term “Father” therefore dominates the tone of this answer and the Christological mystery appears in its entirety. Hence, this word unlocks the mystery, it is the key to the Mystery of Christ, who is the Son, and also the key to our mystery as Christians who are sons and daughters in the Son. At the same time Jesus teaches us to be children by being with the Father in prayer. The Christological mystery, the mystery of Christian existence, is closely linked to, founded on, prayer. Jesus was one day to teach his disciples to pray, telling them: when you pray say “Father”. And, naturally, do not just say the word say it with your life, learn to say it meaningfully with your life. “Father”; and in this way you will be true sons in the Son, true Christians.

It is important at this point, when Jesus was still fully integrated in the life of the Family of Nazareth, to note the resonance that hearing this word “Father” on Jesus’ lips must have had in the hearts of Mary and Joseph. It is also important to reveal, to emphasize, who the Father is, and, with his awareness, to hear this word on the lips of the Only-Begotten Son who, for this very reason, chose to stay on for three days in the Temple, which is the “Father’s house”.

We may imagine that from this time the life of the Holy Family must have been even fuller of prayer since from the heart of Jesus the boy — then an adolescent and a young man — this deep meaning of the relationship with God the Father would not cease to spread and to be echoed in the hearts of Mary and Joseph.

This episode shows us the real situation, the atmosphere of being with the Father. So it was that the Family of Nazareth became the first model of the Church in which, around the presence of Jesus and through his mediation, everyone experiences the filial relationship with God the Father which also transforms interpersonal, human relationships.

Dear friends, because of these different aspects that I have outlined briefly in the light of the Gospel, the Holy Family is the icon of the domestic Church, called to pray together. The family is the domestic Church and must be the first school of prayer. It is in the family that children, from the tenderest age, can learn to perceive the meaning of God, also thanks to the teaching and example of their parents: to live in an atmosphere marked by God’s presence. An authentically Christian education cannot dispense with the experience of prayer. If one does not learn how to pray in the family it will later be difficult to bridge this gap. And so I would like to address to you the invitation to pray together as a family at the school of the Holy Family of Nazareth and thereby really to become of one heart and soul, a true family. Many thanks.

Italy Hotels and Restaurants

2012-01-18T05:00:00.000-06:00

I'm sorry that I didn't take any pictures of the hotels.

We had great hotels in Italy and I wanted to share our recommendations with you.

Hotels

Hotel Diocleziano, Rome: We stayed at Hotel Diocleziano for four nights while we were in Rome. The experience was wonderful. The rooms were very clean and large (for a hotel in the city). The staff was amazing and always met us with a smile. When we first arrived, we had to dump our luggage off at the hotel and basically shove our reservation number at the man working the front desk because we had to catch our Scavi tour at the Vatican. No problem: they had our luggage in our rooms when we arrived back at the hotel. Whenever we had a question, they had an answer. Finally, the breakfast was very delicious and included a wide variety of foods, including fresh salami, cheeses, breads, croissants, fruits, yogurt, and cereal.

The location of the hotel was great for us as well. The hotel was located near Termini station, which was nice because it was a short walk to the Termini subway stop, which was on the blue and red lines. Furthermore, on our travel days, we just walked to the train station and thus did not have to waste time traveling to the train on those days. For us, it was worth it to stay a bit farther from the main attractions (Vatican City, ruins), but in the future I may consider staying closer to the Vatican just because we were there every day, so it would have been good to be near the action.

Hotel Colomba, Florence: This quaint hotel in Florence was cute and convenient. We stayed here for two nights. This hotel is run by an older couple who also kept everything very clean and tidy. They were very accommodating when we checked in late Christmas day. The breakfast was also tasty...especially the various coffee drinks we ordered! The hotel is situated about a block from the Duomo, so the location was wonderful. Florence is small, so it only took us about ten minutes to walk anywhere we wanted to walk. Again, the service was wonderful and everybody was extremely friendly. We had a great stay at Hotel Colomba.

Restaurants

A few restaurants really stuck out to us (in order of my favorites):

Trattoria Katti, Florence: Trattoria Katti was wonderful. We arrived in Florence on Christmas Day, exhausted from traveling most of the day and from staying up late the night before for midnight mass. Here I had one of the best pasta dishes of my life: a bolognese sauce on pasta that was so. delicious. When we arrived I saw a huge pot with the bolognese sauce inside of it bubbling away on the stove, so I had to order it. The sauce did not disappoint. Everybody else at my table loved their food as well. Katti also had a great house wine and we all enjoyed. Another great part of this restaurant was the atmosphere. Katti's niece served as our translator and made sure that everything was just how we wanted (hard sometimes when two people in the group don't like cheese). When my mom wanted "sweet" wine, they found some for her. One of the best parts was at the end of our dinner, Katti brought out a huge, fresh rack of ribs and started hacking it up in the kitchen with a cleaver for someone else who ordered it--that's how you know the food is made to order---when you see the proprietor bringing your raw meat out from the back. It was awesome.

Antica Birreria Peroni, Rome: This place was hilarious. We stopped here for a very late lunch on Saturday in Rome. By this time, anybody who knew any English in the restaurant was gone. Therefore, we had a fun experience of ordering by basically pointing to random things on the menu. When we got our food, hilarity often ensued (for example, when my dad ordered house red wine (in a glass, or so we thought) and a small pitcher of white wine came out and we thought that it was vinegar until someone worked up the nerve to taste it...also when my dad got eggplant and that is literally the only food he won't eat (but luckily he switched with David, who loves eggplant)). The food was great: I had spaghetti with a red sauce here. We also enjoyed the atmosphere. This is a must-see place that is a bit off the main streets but well worth the effort to find it.

Trattoria ZaZa, Florence: This restaurant seems to be starting quite a stir on TripAdvisor with some reviewers thinking that this was awesome and others thinking that it was a bomb. I thought that the food was good here, but in particular I really enjoyed my pasta with red meat sauce (another bolognese sauce, surprise, surprise). It was quite possibly one of my favorite dishes in Italy. The atmosphere was somewhat fun but if I remember, the service was not the best. I think that you have to get lucky with what your order here, because others in my group did not think that this place was all that great.

Recent cooking adventures and our weekend

2012-01-17T05:00:00.000-06:00

We had a great weekend this weekend...on Friday we went to David's work holiday party and then on Saturday went out to celebrate a good friend's birthday. On Sunday we hung out and then went to a Pitch party, where my team won the top prize! Yay! On Monday we had a wonderful day full of relaxation. So perfect.

I wanted to share some recent cooking adventures that I've had rather than writing another Italy post today. The Italy posts will finish up this week and then we will be back to our normal programming.

On New Year's Day I made a batch of cinnamon rolls. They were good but I added wayyyy too much cinnamon. I used Pioneer Woman's recipe but honestly I don't think that the icing is any good. I need to find a different recipe.

Later that weekend I made these delicious stuffed red peppers:

I usually go an Italian route with these, using Italian spices, but this time I had leftover Mexican rice so I used that for the sake of finishing it up. I added corn and sausage (a key ingredient!) and these were so very good.

Later that week I used other Mexican leftovers (chicken, corn, beans, etc.) to make a quick Mexican tortilla soup, which was pretty good:

And then I made a tasty bolognese sauce (I'm obsessed with the stuff after Italy):

My basic recipe: I process a bit of onion, celery, and carrot and saute it in a bit of butter and olive oil. Then, I use red wine to get the bits off the bottom of the pan and add a can of (fancier than I usually use) pureed tomatoes. Finally, I add a pound of hamburger. I let this sit and simmer for about 45 minutes and it was divine. Next time I want to add a touch of whipping cream to make it go over the top.

[]]]]]]]]]]]] <--------This is apparently a hello from Thorina, who typed on the keyboard while I was writing this post.

Italy: Pics from around Roma

2012-01-13T05:00:00.000-06:00

Italy: Wednesday!

2012-01-12T05:00:00.000-06:00

Wednesday was a very special day because that morning we went to a Papal Audience! It was a TON of fun and a great experience. I highly encourage you do go if you can while in Rome.

We ended up getting great seats: my mom was two rows from the front and I was seven rows from the front with the rest of my family! I will post more tips about it later. After it was over, we went to St. Peter's Square one more time:

And then decided to find the Pantheon. One thing I love about Rome is that you can walk around the city and all of a sudden see ruins among the apartments and other, more modern buildings. The scenery is so wonderful.

David and I went to this restaurant right next to the Pantheon in 2006 when we went to Rome, so we were excited to see that it is still open:

We sipped hot chocolate there while looking at the beauty of the Pantheon:

After that, David and I decided to walk around the city together. I will share those pics in a post of their own, but here is a picture of our last sunset in Rome. It was such a wonderful trip and Rome is such a great city. I love it.

Italy: Tuesday

2012-01-11T05:00:00.000-06:00

On Tuesday, we took the bullet train back to Rome (we didn't want to waste any time now that everything was open!). It is always funny navigating a train system in Europe since trains aren't as prevalent in the United States (at least in the U.S.), and especially since we didn't know the language. We made it, though, so that afternoon we decided to go to the Vatican museum and we saw the Sistine Chapel. It is so gorgeous to see. I love just standing in the chapel and looking up for a long time.

That night, we went out to eat and walked around near the Spanish steps, which had great shopping:

The Spanish steps (sorry for the horrible picture):

Italy: Monday

2012-01-10T05:00:00.000-06:00

On Monday we woke up to our first Florentine morning. My mom, David, and I decided to take a run around Florence. We crossed the river and climbed up a hill with an incredible view of the city. Running is a great way to see a city because you can get far in a short amount of time...I love to do that whenever I'm on vacation.

After the run, we ate a delicious breakfast at our hotel and headed out into the city.

Our first stop was the Uffizi, an incredible art gallery that was built starting in 1560 by Vasari. The building was great and we saw many famous works, including Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Leonardo's Annunciation. It was gorgeous and very reminiscent of the Renaissance. I loved it!

Walking around after:

Our next stop was to see David by Michelangelo, which was incredible. David especially enjoyed it. :)

A gorgeous door

After taking a brief break at the hotel, we went to the Duomo, but it was closing early that day because it was the day after Christmas. So, we just looked in the inside quickly and moved on. That evening, we went to eat at another delicious restaurant, where I had the best Bolognese sauce EVER. It was SO delicious that I still dream about it to this day. YUM!

Every night, after dinner, we went on a quest for the best desserts. My most memorable find was a delicious meringue.

Florence was amazing, and I really enjoyed it!

Italy: Christmas Day

2012-01-09T05:00:00.000-06:00

After experiencing Christmas Eve at the Vatican, we slept in pretty late on Christmas Day. Before the trip started, I decided to make Christmas a travel day because everything was closed. We did find some restaurants open, but overall Italy shut down for the holiday.

At around noon, we checked out of our hotel and then hopped on a train to Florence. We took a slow (non-bullet) train, so it took about three hours, which afforded us many gorgeous views of Tuscany:

Three hours later, we were in Florence!

Christmas Day pictures:

That night, we found a delicious restaurant and enjoyed a yummy Christmas dinner:

It was a great Christmas!

Italy: Midnight Mass

2012-01-06T05:00:00.000-06:00

Italy: Saturday morning and early afternoon

2012-01-05T05:00:00.000-06:00

On Saturday morning we woke up, more rested and happy with sleep! We ate breakfast in our hotel (we had breakfast included every day....highly recommended). After that and with plans to see the ruins that day, we headed out of our hotel! We stayed very near Termini station (more on that later), so we wandered into the Baths of Diocletian. After looking at the ruins for a little while (and being laughed at by the workers as we read straight from the Rick Steve's book), we went into the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels and Martyrs, which was a gorgeous church. We stood in awe of the sight of the gorgeous sculpture and paintings.

After that, we walked around Repubblica Teatro dell'Opera, a square near the church, and realized we were hungry. The nearest restaurant was a McDonald's, so we were bad tourists and went to McDonald's for a quick coffee and french fries. We literally gobbled up our french fries together and then a man offered us his. I'm not kidding. He probably thought that we were very hungry.

We finally meandered via the subway to the Colosseum:

‎

We didn't reserve tickets (you should), so we had to wait in line. However, we were only in line for about twenty minutes.

Inside the Colosseum:

After that, we went to the ruins, which were gorgeous:

It started to sprinkle and rain, so we decided to leave the ruins and walk to the Victor Emmanuel monument. After the sprinkle turned to a more pouring rain, we ducked into a restaurant, which turned out to be nasty (warning: don't go to restaurants with the food out in a display case when you get there), so we walked to a different place. This place had no English on the menu and the people who worked there also did not speak much English. Perfect.

Dad ordered a house red wine (glass) and he got a pitcher of this house white wine. When they brought it we thought it was a condiment of some sort and then when we asked them what it was they laughed. Then my dad ordered and got eggplant, which is the one thing he does not like, so we all got a good laugh. This experience made me want to learn Italian!

After our delicious meal we headed to Trevi fountain:

I threw in a coin so I can return to Rome:

Beautiful:

Italy: Friday

2012-01-04T05:00:00.000-06:00

We flew to Italy on a Thursday, so we arrived on Friday morning. Upon our arrival in Italy, we were tired and hungry BUT we had to rush, rush, rush because we had an appointment for a tour at 11:45! Before we left, David and I thought about the best way to get from the airport to the hotel and then from the hotel to the tour to be the most economical with our time. We decided to hop on a shuttle from the airport to our hotel, and then take public transportation from the hotel to the tour. Our time started to tick away, and it was hilarious when David attempted to ask our shuttle driver how much more time we had until our arrival at the hotel because the driver just looked at him and handed him a tour brochure.

Eventually we got to the Scavi tour at the Vatican (excavations below) and we were 15 minutes late. Unfortunately they let others take our place in the tour, so we missed it. Luckily, though, they allowed us to join a tour later that afternoon so we got to see St. Peter's tomb below the Vatican, which was an amazing experience.

I am happy to be at the Scavi tour

After that, we decided to look in St. Peter's Basilica and climb the steps to the top of the dome.

Here we are at the top:

The gorgeous view of Vatican city and Rome:

Our view of the dome after we climbed, climbed, climbed:

After we finished at the Vatican, we returned to our hotel and went out to eat. We were so exhausted that we had no trouble falling asleep that night!

Our New Year

2012-01-03T05:00:00.000-06:00

We had a fabulous New Year. After returning from Italy on late Thursday evening, we experienced a bad bout of jet lag. Luckily I was off work so I hightailed it to yoga on Friday morning! It felt so good to get back into the swing of working out.

On Friday afternoon, we lazed around the house and that evening we had dinner with David's parents. It was nice to see them since we missed all of the Christmas festivities with his family.

On Saturday morning, I went to yoga again and that afternoon we cleaned the house. That evening, we celebrated the New Year by enjoying some appetizers and drinks at our house with our friends Jancin and Zach and then it was off to a New Year's party with our friend Matt! We had a great time.

On Sunday, we decided to go for a long run and then we met with David's sister's family for some black eyed peas and gumbo. Finally, we were both off on Monday, so we had to un-decorate the house and relax some more. I'll tell you: this long vacation from work has spoiled me!

How was your New Year?

Happy New Year!

2011-12-30T15:34:00.001-06:00

I apologize for the sub-par blog posts for the last week or so, but I pre-wrote everything because we were on a vacation...a Roman Holiday! David and I went to Italy with my family for Christmas this year. We had a fabulous time...a once in a lifetime experience to have with my family that I am so thankful I was able to experience. The highlight was celebrating Midnight Mass at St. Peter's Basilica with the Pope.

For now, I am going to sign off of the blog for the year. For the last few days of 2011, I plan to relax and celebrate with friends and family. 2011 has been a weird year. For lots of our friends, 2011 was a great year. However, some of our friends have had some hard things happen this year. This New Year's, my heart is thinking of them and how difficult it was for them to get through the holiday season. But still, we were all lucky enough to wake up and experience the hard and the good things that go along with life and the New Year. For that, we are blessed. We all have so many things for which to be thankful.

On New Year's Eve, close to midnight, I will think of all of the people who have been a part of my life, old friends who influenced me during a certain part of my life, new friends who teach me new things every day, and my family. When the ball drops, before I kiss my sweetheart, I will send a little wish that they all have a wonderful New Year. Happy New Year to you and yours.

Christmas Card Outtakes

2011-12-29T05:00:00.000-06:00

Everybody looks good except Thorina, who is having a mini-breakdown.

We love sending out Christmas Card pictures every year and always have some funny outtakes.

All of the animals are saying, "why do we have to do this again?!"

David and I trying to reel in the animals.

Our actual card:

Merry Christmas from Chick in the Czech!

Christmas Movies

2011-12-28T05:00:00.000-06:00

David and I have a tradition of watching a few Christmas movies every year. Here is our list. What is yours?

1. Christmas Vacation
Poor Clark.

2. It's A Wonderful Life
I love this movie because it gets me into the Christmas spirit and is probably the most classic Christmas movie.
3. Love Actually
Don't you love the part where "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas" by Otis Redding is playing and everybody resolves their issues a bit on Christmas Eve? That is my favorite sequence. It turns into the part where the friend holds up the signs for the girl he loves, which is one of my favorite love stories of the movie.

4. The Holiday
David doesn't really love this movie, but I like it!
5. Holiday Inn
Another old classic that I love watching around the New Year!

Christmas 2011

2011-12-27T05:00:00.000-06:00

David and I had a lot of fun getting each other gifts for Christmas. We don't really go all out for Christmas, but we do try to surprise each other with a little something for Christmas.

Source

David got me the above robe and these slippers that I have been wanting for a while:

Did you get any good gifts for Christmas?

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T05:00:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas to you and yours.

Source

Don't forget our Favorite Christmas Special!

2011-12-23T05:00:00.000-06:00

My favorite line: "How did you know I needed a kitty on my lap?"

Kitty...

2011-12-22T05:00:00.000-06:00

Kitty Arwen keeps taking the stockings from under the tree (we just throw them under the tree because we don't have very nice stockings anyway) and carrying them around the house. We told her that if she continues to do this she will confuse Santa and he won't be able to bring her presents!

Havel dies

2011-12-21T05:00:00.000-06:00

Vaclav Havel, the former Czech president, died on Sunday. You should read about his life and influence in Europe here or here. Apparently many believed that he should have won the Nobel Peace Prize. Having named my blog Chick in the Czech after the country of which he was president, I figured that I should keep you apprised of the news of the Czech.

Graduation

2011-12-20T05:00:00.000-06:00

We had a great weekend. On Friday my brother graduated from college! We went to see his ceremony and then my parents hosted a nice meal at his college house for everybody who went to the ceremony. On Friday night, we went out with my family and had a fun supper. Then, on Saturday morning, I hosted a brunch in his honor at my house! David was gone on Saturday because his brother also graduated from college that day and David went to his ceremony. His entire family came into town that afternoon so that his parents could baby-sit his sister's kids that evening.

After going to mass on Saturday evening and having dinner with David's family, David and I went out with David's brother and met our old friend Matt (the one with the blog who teaches in Abu Dhabi)! Seeing them was a ton of fun. On Sunday, we took the day to simply relax. I ran a really long run because it was so nice outside, and then that evening we watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. So fun! How was your weekend?

Fast Holiday Decorations

2011-12-19T05:00:00.000-06:00

This weekend I needed to come up with a fast holiday decoration. We were having guests visit and I realized that I did not have a centerpiece for my table!

Luckily I got this bowl for my wedding.

Source

And also luckily, I bought a bunch of shatterproof ornaments last year in gold. So, I just filled the bowl and put it in the middle of the table for the centerpiece:

Other Favorite Christmas Songs this year

2011-12-15T05:00:00.000-06:00

Santa Baby

2011-12-14T05:00:00.000-06:00

Yes, this is a bit small for the pup.

Thorina and Arwen have been developing their Christmas list for Santa. They think that they have been good throughout the year and deserves some Christmas presents. Santa (Paco) questions this but he said that they could still write their Christmas lists. Unfortunately for Santa, they got their paws on the Christmas Tiffany catalog:

Thorina especially loves the Tiffany Key necklaces....in diamonds, please:

Arwen has more modest tastes. She really liked the bow necklaces:

Or maybe some nice cute pearl bracelets:

Santa thinks that these kitties are dreaming too big, considering that they have knocked ornaments off a display, knocked the sheep off the Nativity set, and drink out of the toilet.

Our Weekend

2011-12-13T05:00:00.000-06:00

We had a great weekend! On Friday evening we went to see the Nutcracker at the Kauffman Center. It was a lot of fun! David and I really enjoyed going out on a date night for the holidays. We haven't been to the new Center yet, so it was fun to see the building. It was also fun to see the production. My favorite part is the second act, when all of the famous dances happen.

On Saturday I went to yoga and did a little Christmas shopping...which reminded me of why I enjoy shopping online mostly! The lines were huge at one store in particular, but I don't want to reveal where I went because I may spill one of Santa's secrets!

Finally, on Saturday evening, we went out to eat with some friends that we haven't seen in a while. We went to Jazz, a Cajun-themed place here in Kansas City that David and I loved. It was fun to see them and we enjoyed the food. After that was over, we drove around town to look at Christmas lights, which was fun! The lights were gorgeous on some houses. We ended our evening here:

This guy made a LED Christmas tree that lit up with music that he put on the radio. It was really amazing.

I can't believe that Christmas is already so close. I really enjoy slowing down and enjoying the holidays, and this year I have been trying to remind myself to stop and enjoy the Christmas lights, cold weather, and delicious sweet treats. My favorite part of Christmas is the decorations. I love coming home to our Christmas tree lit up and decorated. What is your favorite part?

Hot Cocoa Cookies

2011-12-11T05:00:00.000-06:00

This past weekend I was in the mood to make Christmas cookies. I saw this recipe on Pinterest and had to try them. I love Marshmallows and smore-like-tastes. The cookies were absolutely divine!

Instead of making them all at once, I rolled up the cookie dough into little balls and froze them. I plan to take them out of the freezer and make the cookies as we want them.

Ohhhh yum....even though I didn't make them all at once I could have! That ooey gooey center was delicious.

The Nativity

2011-12-08T05:00:00.000-06:00

Yet again, our animals are defacing our nativity set. Seriously, if you put a religious article in our home our cats are extremely quick to hop on it, bat it, or otherwise destroy it. This year, they have focused on one particular sheep in the set. When we get home, we note that the sheep is on the floor under the nativity set, and a cat is usually sitting next to it. Okay, I kid. It is really just one cat: Thorina.

How can she possibly go through the entire set and pick out one particular sheep? I put it in different places and yet on multiple days it was the one on the floor. Sheesh.

Our Holiday party

2011-12-07T05:00:00.000-06:00

As promised, here are the details from our holiday party:
Theme
The theme for our party was a United Nations of beers party. In the invitation we asked everybody to bring a six pack of beer from a different country around the world. During the party everybody exchanges beer so that each guest ends up with a six pack of various beers from around the world.

Invitations
This year I decided to keep it simple and send a Facebook invitation. I like the simplicity of FB invites, but honestly it is really fun to get an invitation in the mail! Next year I think we will send paper invitations. Another issue I noticed was that some people don't really check Facebook much, so they did not see the invitation until the last minute. Some of those people were able to make it, but I think that sending paper invitations would ensure that everybody receives them. Plus, it is always fun to get mail!

Menu
The party started at 8:00 p.m., so the plan was to serve light appetizers. I made the following:

meatballs (surprise, surprise! Haha!)

Honestly, these were kind of a waste to make. I have decided that people aren't really comfortable with lifting a crock pot lid (especially when it is on and hot) to get things out of a crock pot (at least I certainly always feel that way at a party!). So, while serving some kind of meat is probably a good idea, I don't think I will serve mine in a crock pot again.
Last year we served bourbon weenies and they went over much better.

caramel popcorn (this deserves its own post)

One word: yum. Look for this tomorrow!

chips and pineapple salsa (from Trader Joe's)

This went over very well. Everybody likes salsa and chips!

olives

Nobody ate these, so they were probably a waste to put out. However, I just had them in my fridge and I really like them, so I sat them out. After the party I just put them back so it really wasn't a huge deal.

meat and cheese plate

Every year, this seems to be people's favorite thing. I like to buy salami from the store deli counter, "fancy" cheeses, and "fancy" crackers. I sometimes also buy pepperoni, which people seem to like.

Other people brought some cheesy dips, which people really enjoyed. Those types of dips aren't my forte since I don't love cheese, so I am always happy when people bring them! We moved the party from the upstairs to our basement midway through the evening, so it was great to simply pick up the dips and carry them downstairs.

Drinks
Besides the beer, we served Christmas cookie martinis (one part vanilla vodka, one part butternut schnapps, one part Bailey's). Everybody loves those!

Games
We played flip cup and Trivial Pursuit, which is a bit of a tradition at our Christmas parties!

Overall I think that everything went well, so that was good. I can't wait for next year's party!

Our weekend

2011-12-06T05:00:00.000-06:00

Last Friday we hosted holiday party. It was a lot of fun! Last year we hosted a party, so we decided to have one again this year. It seemed a bit early for having a party themed around Christmas, but it was great to have an excuse to get into the Christmas spirit!

The most hilarious thing that happened was that we were rushing around at round 7:00 (the party started at 8) and I looked at our heater and noted that the thermostat was completely blank. During the week this happened once and we just poked a button or two and it came back on. Well, the poking didn't work this time, so of course I started to go nuts thinking that we would all be freezing at the party. Luckily someone in our relationship is sane (David), so he called a heating company who sent a nice man out ASAP. The heater was completely fixed before our second guests arrived! Hooray!

On Saturday we slept in (it was the first time in a very, very long time that I haven't set an alarm....I woke up at 9:10 a.m.! Glorious!) and cleaned. That evening I went to my annual yoga Christmas party at my yoga teacher's house, which was really fun. If you put a lot of Bikram yoga students into a room together the conversation sounds like this:

"What is your favorite posture?"

"I also really, really hate head to knee pose!"

Most people probably wouldn't have a ton of fun at that event. :)

Then, on Sunday, we hung around and caught up on the work we needed to finish before the week started! How was your weekend?

Meatball Subs

2011-12-05T12:46:00.000-06:00

One of our favorite dinners is meatball subs. The recipe is pretty easy, really. I do not love frozen meatballs, so I usually make mine homemade.

My favorite recipe is from this soup recipe. I simply make the meatballs and then add some red sauce. Normally, I add oregano, crushed red pepper, some sugar, basil, and a dash of salt to the red sauce.

Then, I buy a loaf of crusty store-bought bread, cut it in half, spread it with oregano and olive oil, and toast it in the oven at 350 for about 10-20 minutes (I just watch it to see when it is finished).

The result is a crunchy and chewy meaty sandwich (by the way, we have figured out that the sandwich is better if the meatballs are cut in half...it is much easier to handle). This makes a delicious weeknight meal that everybody is sure to enjoy!

I have to admit that my blog posting has been rather sparse lately. We have just been very busy, and sometimes life prevents me from keeping up with the blogging. The Thanksgiving holiday has already come and gone, so sometimes I just like to give up a few duties in order to enjoy doing other things with family and friends. So, please forgive me if the blog is neglected!

Getting Ready for Christmas!

2011-11-30T05:00:00.000-06:00

On Sunday we had our annual tradition of getting ready for Christmas by decorating our house the weekend after Thanksgiving! It was a lot of fun and we watched It's A Wonderful Life, which is one of my very favorite Christmas movies. Doesn't the ending get you every single time? What a great movie.

We had a debate in our house about putting up more than one Christmas tree. I wanted to put one in the basement this year, but instead we decided to defer buying one until after the holiday season with the hopes of finding one on sale. Do you decorate multiple trees in your house? We certainly get into the Christmas spirit around here by decorating and blasting Christmas music during the evenings. It is Paco's favorite holiday!

New Old Favorite

2011-11-29T05:00:00.000-06:00

I just love Christmas songs! And right now this is one of my favorites:

Our Thanksgiving

2011-11-27T05:00:00.000-06:00

We had yet another wonderful holiday weekend. On Wednesday, we traveled to my parents' house and enjoyed taco salads for supper with my family. On Thursday, we ran in the Turkey Trot, where I did pretty well (for me...my time was 26:33 for a 5k! Yay!), but yet again came out empty handed. Boo. David, however, won a sack of potatoes for getting second in his age group, so that was awesome! I told him that he was helping out with groceries. Everybody but myself won a prize.

After that, we went to my grandma's house where we enjoyed a delicious Thanksgiving feast. She is such a great cook and makes everything from scratch. My favorite thing this year? Actually, it was the blueberry pie she made for dessert. YUM! So tasty.

After we stuffed ourselves silly, we traveled to the Lake of the Ozarks, where David's parents rented a house for David's siblings to meet and enjoy the holiday. We had a relaxing weekend, eating way too much and playing games. We were all entertained by David's nieces and nephew, who are really adorable.

I am so happy that our families get along so well and our holidays are so easy and relaxing. We had a great time at both families and look forward to next year!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-23T05:00:00.001-06:00

Do you remember when you were in school and learned all about Thanksgiving? I thought that it would be fun to recall the facts we learned in Social Studies, so I read the Wikipedia article on Thanksgiving! So fun!

Blue Eyed Bride posted these questions so I thought that it would be fun to answer them! Comment with yours!

1. Do you eat stuffing or dressing? Stuffing!
2. Did you ever dress up as a pilgrim at school? (I did! Every year, all of the Kindergarten classes in my school got together and dressed up as either Indians or Pilgrims. I was a pilgrim. The school invited the support staff to a Thanksgiving dinner and the paper would always take a picture of the class. I remember my Grandma coming to the lunch (she was my school nurse), so that made me feel extra special! It is a little tradition in my town.)
3. What is your favorite dish at Thanksgiving? I enjoy the stuffing piled high with gravy....oh, and rolls....and casseroles.....this could go on forever. I love Thanksgiving meal!
4. Are you all about the turkey? Or all about the sides? (The SIDES)
5. Do you have a pumpkin pie at your house? Do you eat it? (Yes! We always have a pumpkin pie because my Grandma makes it. It is very delicious and I look forward to it all year long!)
6. Do you watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in your pajamas while cooking every year? (I don't cook, but I watch it in the morning! It really makes me feel like it is the holiday time!)
7. What other traditions do you associate with Thanksgiving? (The weekend after Thanksgiving, David and I decorate our house for Christmas, which I love!)

Thankful for the little things

2011-11-22T05:00:00.000-06:00

I am thankful that this kitty always gets into trouble and makes us laugh...

I am thankful that this puppy always wants to do the right thing and makes us both so happy....

I am thankful that this kitty is so affectionate and loves me unconditionally.

Thankfulness

2011-11-21T05:00:00.000-06:00

Every year during Thanksgiving week, I like to take some time to think about the things about which I should feel thankful. The biggest thing about which I am thankful is my family. I have such a supportive family who is always there for me in my times of need My husband helps me achieve any goal I have, my parents would do anything for me, and my other family members always lend a helpful hand.

Loving these songs right now

2011-11-17T05:00:00.000-06:00

Two Door Cinema Club is awesome. They remind me of Modest Mouse, which takes me back to the spring I studied abroad.

Frasier

2011-11-16T05:30:00.000-06:00

http://image.com.com/tv/images/content_headers/program_new/70.jpg

I've been watching the show Frasier on Netflix ever since I finished The Office a few weeks ago. Right now, I'm on Season 4 and loving it. Seriously, I never realized how funny this show was.

My favorite thing about this show is that you don't need to really watch previous episodes in order to understand the current episode. My favorite character is Niles...he is hilarious.

Have you ever watched Frasier?

Our weekend

2011-11-15T05:00:00.000-06:00

We had another great weekend. This weekend, it was fantastic to have time to sit and just relax. I was off on Friday, which was amazing. I really needed the day to relax and have a break from work. I ran errands, got Paco a haircut, and went to Trader Joe's. I really love our new Trader Joe's near our house, especially the frozen foods. This time, I bought Egg Rolls and Orange Asian chicken, and I am really excited to try them! That night, we hung out at home and watched Bridesmaids. It was really great to have a night alone with David just to relax!

On Saturday I went on a long run with David and then went out to eat lunch with a friend. After that, I went home and cleaned, cleaned, and cleaned some more. Then, after mass, we baby-sat for our nieces and nephews, which is always fun. We made pigs in a blanket, pizza rolls, salad (!), and macaroni and cheese (Spongebob Squarepants style). They LOVED the pigs in a blanket. Other favorite activities while baby-sitting include:

~~Tormenting~~ Playing with the cats
Taking a bubble bath
Watching cartoons
Reading before bed

On Sunday, we hung out and I made a mega feast of chicken, stuffing, potato casserole, green bean casserole, and gravy. I like to make a Thanksgiving-type feast a couple of weeks before the big day and after thinking about Thanksgiving I had a craving for the fixings! I then decided that I am in fact turning into my mother because I watched The Trouble With Angels on Netflix (they just added it!), which is something my mom did every Sunday when I was growing up.

How was your weekend?

Back into the swing of things

2011-11-14T05:00:00.000-06:00

I was sick a couple of weeks ago, and when I'm sick I really try hard not to run. NOT running is almost as hard as running is (for me, anyway), because once your body gets used to the endorphins and the good feelings that come with exercise, it is really hard to go a few days without them. I really think that one can be addicted to working out, and I definitely craved the feeling after a good workout when I was sick.

However, I also think that sickness sometimes comes on for a reason: I always seem to get sick when I'm too stressed, overworked, etc. So, I took my sickly feelings as a sign that perhaps I should slow everything down a bit and I took about a week off from running.

The problem with this is that it is really, really hard to get back into a working out groove. Especially when it is getting colder and colder outside.

I ran on my day off on Friday and it was an extremely tough run. I went for about five miles, which is half of what I used to do at least once a week before I got sick. Blah. Then, on Saturday, David and I went on a 9-10 mile run, which was also really hard but felt really good. I am glad that I have a partner who enjoys running as much as I do because it motivates me to go out and get moving. I am hoping that I can get my groove back despite the very chilly temps.

Happy Veterans Day!

2011-11-11T12:13:00.001-06:00

Happy Veterans Day to all of you vets out there! Your service to our country is appreciated and you deserve a day of rest today. I also think that the families of vets deserve a thank you as well. I can't imagine the worry and other emotions that go along with having a family member in the service. Thank you for all of your sacrifice!

I thought that I would share this version of "The Battle Hymn of the Republic". We sung it in church this past weekend and it is one of my favorite patrotic songs!

I need this shirt

2011-11-09T05:00:00.000-06:00

I really need this shirt. Here is the description:

Here at ModCloth, we might not be doctors, but that doesn't mean we can't diagnose what ails you. Case in point, do you suffer from a severe compulsion for kitty-covered clothes? If the answer is yes, we think you might have caught a case of feline fever. But relax, we also possess the cure.

If anybody has kitty fever, I think it is me!

Bad Cat

2011-11-08T05:00:00.000-06:00

I was ashamed of Thorina's behavior this weekend. She drank out of people's glasses, hit people, and most of all, she continuously got out of the garage door so she could streak outside when unsuspecting people walked into my house. This cat was SO bad!

It is very embarrassing to have a cat this bad when we have guests, so I tried to yell at her and "discipline" her. How can I get her to behave like a real lady?!?!?!?!?! ANY tips or tricks would be appreciated.

Our Weekend: Ruckus Run!

2011-11-07T05:00:00.000-06:00

We had a wonderful weekend this week. David's family came to visit and we had them over at our house. It was fun! David's brother is visiting from his current home in South Korea, where he teaches English to kids.

On Friday evening, we enjoyed chili and soup at our house and prepped for the race. On Saturday, we woke up nice and early and ran in the Ruckus Run. A Ruckus Run is basically a 5K including obstacles. For instance, we had to forge a creek, climb through mud pits, scale walls, and jump over barricades. It was exhausting but a ton of fun! As you can see, we were very muddy after it was over! Our strategy was to go through the run as a team, except for David's brother, who placed very nicely in the race overall.

After that was over, we ate lunch and tried to take some family portraits (of me, David, and the pets. Note the emphasis on "tried"). When that was over, we went to look at the new house that David's sister is buying, which is really gorgeous. Finally, we went out to eat at Waldo Pizza.

On Sunday after our company left, David and I took a long bike ride in the beautiful weather. We cleaned the house a bit and then watched To Kill a Mockingbird. I love that book, but I had not seen the movie since high school. Atticus Finch is one of my very favorite characters.

I hope you had a great weekend as well!

Brain Dump

2011-11-03T05:00:00.000-05:00

I've been feeling sick this week, which is no fun at all. Two days ago, I took my second (half) sick day from work. Being at home sick is a sad reason to be home...I would much rather be my normal and healthy self working! Alas, I had to come home to nap. After a nap in the afternoon and eight hours of sleep, I was almost as good as new. Yay!
Our Halloween was just wonderful and I can't believe that yesterday I took down all of my Halloween decorations and put up my (very few) Thanksgiving decorations. Where does the time go?!?!?
Last night there was a torrential downpour at my house. The forecast called for snow overnight.
I've been in the mood for soups and want to try this Tuscan White Bean soup this weekend.
I enjoy how Google does not end this sentence in a preposition:

Leaving on a jet plane

2011-11-02T05:00:00.000-05:00

Thorina has big plans for travel. She wants to go to many different places, including Germeowny, Great Skitten, and Pawis.

After she read this article about Jack the Cat, she now wants to see NYC.

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-01T05:00:00.000-05:00

I had a great Halloween weekend. On Friday I went to my friend Julie's house where we watched the World Series! The Cardinals won, which was so much fun to see. Everybody was super excited and I saw a lot of people on the highway heading into STL. What a perfect way to win!

On Saturday morning we ran a 10k called the Monster Mash Dash, which is where you dress up for the race. We decided to go as Sesame Street---I was Oscar and we had Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and Elmo.

The 10k was great:

After that was over we went to Julie's house and napped. We went out to eat and then started to get ready to go out! I think that we dressed up pretty nicely, don't you?

We had a fabulous time!!! Thanks for the awesome weekend, girls!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T05:00:00.000-05:00

http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_larvifvhhW1qc0xcno1_500.jpg

Have a spooooky day!

Happy (early) Halloween!

2011-10-28T05:00:00.000-05:00

If this kitty doesn't get you in the holiday spirit, I don't know what will.

Again, Arwen is a little pink piglet and Paco is a green frog. We'll see if I can catch Thorina to get her rooster outfit on her...I'm not sure that I will be able to do so.

Harvest Moon

2011-10-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

The autumn is upon us.

The trees outside my door have been turning, and I have been trying to enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells of the outdoors while I can. While I love every season, and especially enjoy snuggling up during the wintertime, I am in no hurry to put this autumn behind me. Therefore, I have been trying to enjoy time outside, walking and running, so that I can take advantage of the gorgeous weather.

I love seeing the leaves changing and especially enjoy looking at the trees around my neighborhood. Some are red, some are orange, some are yellow, and some refuse to turn color and simply stay green. Seeing the trees reminds me of the little maple tree that David and I planted outside our first house and I wonder what that tree will see during its lifetime. I also love seeing the trees on my way to work...they look like different colored cotton puffs on the hillsides.

The sounds of autumn are also very distinct. The leaves rustle whenever any creature happens to disturb them, thwarting any stealthy plans. I especially enjoy the squirrels, who scamper and play while frantically gathering their food for the winter. I also enjoy the sounds of people as they enjoy soccer games, football games, and seeing their neighbors outside one last time before the snows hit.

Finally, I love the smells. Fresh air is by far one of my favorite smells, and the cooler breeze is a refreshing change from the stuffy summer we enjoyed. I also enjoy the smell of burning brush as I drive down the highway. The refuse is being cleared for something else.

The weather makes me want to cook with pumpkin and snuggle. This is one of the reasons I love fall...what a gorgeous season.

Coldplay

2011-10-26T05:00:00.000-05:00

In celebration of Coldplay's new album Mylo Xyloto being released this week, I thought that I would share some of my favorite Coldplay songs. I've had a fascination with Coldplay for a long time, so I find that the different albums that have been released correspond to periods of time in my life. I remember that I used to listen to Parachutes while on the school bus, riding to track meets and Quiz Bowl matches. When I listened to those songs, I wondered what my life had in store for me and what I would be when I grew up, who I would marry, and with whom I would become friends. This is one of my favorite songs from that album:
And then who could forget this awesome music video of Chris Martin walking around on a beach? I'm pretty sure that I had (have? ahem.) a crush on him for years.

Then, when I went to college, A Rush of Blood to the Head was out and I listened to those songs while I was running or hanging out with David. My very favorite one is called "Green Eyes", and (cue the rolling eyes) David sings it to me still (even though I maintain that I have blue eyes, David thinks that they look green most of the time). It is one of our special songs and reminds me of college.
After that, X&Y was released. I enjoyed the album, but frankly not many of the songs actually stand out to me, except "Til Kingdom Come", a cover of Johnny Cash:

Finally, in law school, Viva la Vida came out. I really liked Viva la Vida...it reminds me of a Beatles album for some reason. My favorite track on it is actually the second half of a different song. It is called "Reign of Love" and I feel a sense of calmness whenever I hear it.
I also really liked the track "Lost":

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Are there any bands by which you measure the time periods in your life?

Fall Cleaning

2011-10-25T05:00:00.000-05:00

The seasons are changing again and that means that it is time to start fall cleaning! I can't believe it is already time to start thinking about cleaning for the fall. I have some motivation, though, because I am having some guests at the beginning of November. Having people over motivates me to finish my big cleaning projects!

This past weekend I already started by totally cleaning the living room. It took me three hours! However, I got so much dirt and grime up during the cleaning session, so I felt good after it was over. On Sunday, I cleaned out the insides of my kitchen cabinets.

On Friday evening, I stayed at home and enjoyed a night in, and then on Saturday, I went to a Halloween party. The party was a ton of fun and I'm sad that I didn't get any more pictures than one of me and my pets. It was fun to get out and celebrate Halloween a little early!

Homemade Twix Bars

2011-10-24T05:00:00.000-05:00

Before I was a bridesmaid, I saw a recipe for these delicious Salted Caramel Shortbread Bars (otherwise known as homemade Twix bars) that looked simply delicious. I HAD to try it but I decided to wait until AFTER I had finished fitting into my (very cute) bridesmaid dress.

The bars did not disappoint and I ate these for days. Now, I don't think real Twix bars are as good as the homemade version (but will still enjoy one in a pinch):

I found the recipe here.

This made a pretty big batch, so I sent some to work with David. Now, I am regretting sharing these with anybody because they were so good!

New Song

2011-10-20T20:40:00.000-05:00

I love Coldplay's new song.

My weekend

2011-10-19T20:39:00.004-05:00

I had a great weekend this past weekend! We were home most of the weekend and relaxed most of the time (I should have been cleaning! oops!), but on Saturday I managed to stop relaxing and go to a pumpkin patch with my friend Jancin!

The pumpkin patch was located in Louisburg, Kansas, and was a ton of fun. They had delicious apple cider doughnuts and sparkling apple cider. We watched the apples being made into apple cider while we listened to the band:

The band was....interesting. The announcer tried to teach the children about Kansas history. Being from Missouri and thus supporting my home team, the themes made me laugh. I guess this is what they call historical children's music? Themes:

How Carrie Nation is a great Kansan and how you are horrible person if you eat tobacco, wear skirts, or drink alcohol (in fact, you will go to hell...and no, I don't get the skirt part);
About the Civil War Era raids in Lawrence and how a bunch of parents died;
How a little boy went to town and his dad got shot and he was lonely.

Seriously. However, the tunes were upbeat and so the kids bounced along as if nothing was going on. The parents just looked at each other.

We had a great time!

Buffalo Chicken Wraps

2011-10-18T05:00:00.000-05:00

I made this in the crock pot a few weeks ago, and it was delicious. Delicious. You must make it ASAP.

I made the chicken during an afternoon and added lettuce, tomatoes, and onions to the tortilla wrap to make a buffalo chicken wrap. It was the perfect easy, quick, and delicious meal for two people. The chicken tastes just like that buffalo chicken dip that people make with the cream cheese, only without the calories (I assume...isn't cream of chicken soup better than cream cheese?). While the wraps were delicious, crispy, and fresh, I used the leftovers as a dip for pita chips. Yum!

Buffalo Chicken Wrap Chicken

4 chicken breasts
one can cream of chicken soup
1.5 cups buffalo chicken sauce (orange--- I used Ott's)

Combine ingredients in the crock pot and set it on high for 4 hours. After the chicken is finished cooking, shred it in the crockpot using forks. Serve with various vegetables on a wrap.

David really liked this recipe as well. It was inspired by Iowa Girl Eats (seriously, I love that girl! Is there anybody who wants to make a pilgrimage to Des Moines with me?), but I sort of revamped the recipe based on ingredients I had on hand. I wouldn't recommend making this without any cream or soup to offset the flavor of the buffalo sauce.

How to eat ice cream the correct way

2011-10-17T05:00:00.000-05:00

David sometimes makes fun of me, but I have a specific way that I enjoy my ice cream. I figure: why waste the calories on ice cream if I can't enjoy it the way I prefer it? I thought that I would share.

First of all, I scoop my ice cream into my bowl:

Next, I add some milk:

Next, add some chocolate chips:

and some cocoa powder:

Mix it all up into a shake-like substance:

I have made my ice cream like this for years and I LOVE it!

This past weekend was so low-key and amazing. I really needed a weekend to simply unwind and enjoy the beautiful fall weather! I will post more about it later. I have so many home projects that I need to accomplish before the colder weather sets in...including my fall cleaning. But guess what? I haven't even started. I am going to make myself clean this upcoming weekend.

Do you have any special way you make your ice cream or other desserts?

World's Fastest Workout Video

2011-10-14T06:14:00.004-05:00

I saw this over on Iowa Girl Eats...and it is amazing. If you can't workout some day, you should try to do this! I've done it for two days and it feels amazing.

Oreos covered in chocolate chip cookies

2011-10-13T06:56:00.002-05:00

One word: yum.

Getting ready for Halloween!

2011-10-12T05:00:00.000-05:00

http://i54.tinypic.com/10fx85w.jpg

Even though my animals will be wearing a Halloween costume, they will be in a better mood than this kitty! One of my friends posted this to my FB wall a few days ago and I thought it was too hilarious NOT to share. Another hilarious thing she posted:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/320278_10150858481410483_604175482_20879785_1973853257_n.jpg

HAhahaha. (Sorry for stealing, Danielle!)

Like cat nip

2011-10-11T05:00:00.000-05:00

Arwen has a sudden infatuation with cat nip. "Sudden" meaning that I put it in her toy and open this bag of cat nip every evening for her to sniff. She LOVES it! Look:

Mmmmm...smells good!

If only I could get a little closer...

Oh yes, this will be juuuusst purrrect...

Nom nom nom.

Speaking of eating, I made this delicious pasta last week.

One of my favorite pastas is a basic white wine cream sauce. Basically, you saute vegetables (I usually use onions as my base and add other vegetables as desired for flavoring), pour some white wine in the pan, and then add cream at the end. This time, I also used shrimp and bacon. My reaction to this pasta is pretty much like Arwen's reaction to the cat nip above.

Nom nom nom.

For my next pasta sauce, I plan to try this...the world's simplest spaghetti sauce. Delicious.

Do you have a basic pasta sauce that you love?

Wedding Weekend

2011-10-10T05:00:00.000-05:00

We had another wonderful wedding weekend this weekend! My Uncle got married back in my home town. The wedding was so cute and the decorations were amazing! The bride and/or her family made everything....from the wedding flowers to the decorations at the reception.

Everything came together just beautifully. My Dad's cousins came into town from all parts of the country, which was really nice of them to do. It was nice to see relatives and for such a happy occasion!

The day couldn't have been better! I just love these fall weddings.

Cool Song

2011-10-07T05:00:00.000-05:00

Apple

2011-10-06T05:00:00.000-05:00

Contemplating the death of Steve Jobs last night, I thought back to my many memories featuring Apple computers. Surprisingly, I have many.

When I was very, very little, my mom was a typing teacher at school and sometimes we were able to have a computer at home. We had one that had actual floppy disks (they really flopped). My brother and I played a game featuring a mouse and Mavis Beacon typing.
One day, I came home from school and the UPS man had delivered a real Macintosh. This was my family's first computer. It was a huge honking thing, but I really, really loved it. I have a bunch of memories on that computer:

Playing Dinopark Tycoon---not only was I playing that game, but I played it on a sample CD, so I could only play it for ten minutes at a time.
Playing Sim Farm....plant the peaches. They are the best investment by far.
Then later, playing Sim City.
Getting on Yahoo! Chat with my friend Jolene and talking about the Backstreet Boys for hours and hours on end.
Printing tons and tons of pictures of the Backstreet Boys to hang in my room.
Playing on Groiler Encyclopedia

Later, we had Macs at school in the computer lab:

VERY fast walking to get to the default leader in The Oregon Train (where multiple computers could play at once) first so that when everybody voted for themselves to be the leader I would win by default (I don't think I made it to the default computer very often).
Playing Number Munchers
Looking at something called "The Internet" on a browser developed by students in Wisconsin in my class.

Then, later, I bought an IPod so that I could listen to music while running. This still has an effect on me today, as I think that listening to music is a huge drive behind my running longer distances and enjoying racing. David and I always listened to our IPods while we ran in college together.
Before law school, I decided to buy a Mac laptop, on which I wrote every single law school paper, exam, and note that I wrote. Furthermore, my Mac has given me a creative outlet through blogging, other writing, and editing.

While I did not know Steve Jobs myself, his company had a large influence on my life, especially at the beginning of the information age.

Big trouble

2011-10-05T05:00:00.000-05:00

This weekend I decided to do a craft project. A few months ago, David's grandmother gave me a bag of cat nip because her cat died. I did not think much of it until I found myself looking at the cat toy department in Target the other day. I saw a cat nip toy that had a Velcro closure and wanted to buy it. I decided against it, though, when I saw that the toy was something like $5! Instead, I decided to try a crafty project.

Here were my steps:
1. Yell down at David, who is in the basement, and inquire regarding the whereabouts of our sewing kit (nonchalantly).

2. Locate said sewing kit.

3. Locate toy that the cats never touch.

4. Try to cut a hole into the toy with the sewing scissors provided in the kit.

5. Realize that the sewing scissors are meant for safety toddler use and will be absolutely no help to you in this project.

6. Cut a hole into the toy with huge human-sized scissors.

7. Cut hole a bit larger so you can try to pull the stuffing out of the toy.

8. Realize that the seam of the toy was right next to your cut; thus, the toy is now coming apart.

9. Frantically try to sew the seam back together.

10. Take out stuffing.

11. Block overactive kitty whose nose is turning bright red because of the the nip from your craft project.

12. Stuff the nip into the toy before the cat goes bonkers. Cat is now rolling on the ground at your feet.

13. Sew craft project back together.

14. Yell down at your husband the reason why you asked for the sewing kit.

15. Again, make your husband wonder why exactly he took you out on that first date.

Ta-da!

Omelette Fail

2011-10-04T05:00:00.000-05:00

Last night I had a very intense workout at yoga. It is a good thing because now that my bridesmaid duties are finished, I have been eating everything under the sun. Seriously. I am not a good dieter but rather believe in just eating in a generally more healthy fashion, but for two weeks leading up to the weddings I tried to limit my ice cream, cake, cookies, and salty snack habit (generally healthy eating, huh?).

After the weddings....man....I have sampled everything from ice cream to cookie dough to sweet potato chips to creamy and delicious pasta to pizza to BBQ to french fries.

One thing I did NOT sample, though, were these eggs that I made for David on Saturday morning. After my run I saw him in the kitchen, grabbing the eggs, and I asked if I could make his eggs for him so that he could study. The advantage for me is that I can practice my omelette making skills, even though I despise eggs (and yes, I have tried them since I grew into adulthood...I made eggs every day for about a month for my breakfast many different ways and I still don't like them). I always whip up a pretty delightful first step but by the time the second step (folding) happens my eggs are a mess. Why?

David says that we have the wrong kind of pan to make an omelette. Another issue may have been the fact that I used a TON of half and half and used five eggs. Do you even add cream or milk to an omelette? At any rate, here is what it looked up post-folding:

So I chopped it up...

and made a delicious egg scramble instead.

Are you good at making omelettes?

Our weekend

2011-10-03T05:00:00.000-05:00

This weekend we were home after quite a few weekends out of town. While our other weekends were a lot of fun, it was nice to have a weekend to catch up on housework and simply enjoy being home! David and I are both homebodies, I think, so we enjoyed our time in our house.

On Friday evening I went with my friend Jancin to Bella Napoli, an Italian place in KC. I must say that I am usually pretty disappointed by Italian in Kansas City because I am used to going to The Hill in St. Louis for delicious Italian. Kansas City's restaurants don't really compare. However, Bella Napoli was delicious. I had a salad for my starter and then a pasta dish with Bolognese sauce. Oh my heavens, it was delicious. The noodles were the perfect consistency and I am pretty sure that they were homemade. The meat, veggies, and bit of cream in the sauce combined to make the best red sauce I've had in a while.

Paco running errands

We ended the night with us both getting dessert. I usually do not get dessert but I was happy I did because I had spumoni ice cream with a chocolate candy shell drizzled over it. I love spumoni but haven't had it in years. It was so good but the pasta stole the show for me.

On Saturday morning I ran and did some yoga, and that afternoon I made a trip to Target. After cleaning a bit, we went to mass and my dad came to visit with one of his friends after they watched the Northwest/Pitt State game at Arrowhead stadium. We got Jack Stack BBQ, which did not disappoint.

I ran 10 miles on Sunday morning and then decided to decorate for Halloween. I really wanted to clean up our front flower bed, but unfortunately the entire thing is currently ravaged by bees. Do bees go away as the temperatures get colder? I hope so.

Happy Weekend, Everybody!

2011-09-30T05:00:00.000-05:00

Paco here...just stopped by to wish you all a Happy Weekend! Aren't I cute?

Pork with apples and onions

2011-09-29T05:00:00.000-05:00

Generally I do not enjoy pork. I grew up on a pig farm so in my youth I had really fresh and delicious pork on a weekly basis. Despite this luxury, since I hit adulthood I never reach for pork when cooking. However, David loves pork, so I decided to try to cook more with the meat.

Last night I decided to make some pork cutlets. I found the cutlets at the grocery store for 5 for $5.00 (high quality, probably). When I asked my dad what to do with them, he suggested adding apples and some butter to make a sauce.

After thinking about it some more, I decided to also add onions (my dad does not enjoy onions, which is why he never suggests them) and try to get a salty flavor in the apples. On a whim while cooking everything, I added some white wine. The result was a succulent, delicious, over-the-top amazing pork cutlet. I highly suggest making this as a cheaper alternative on a week night! SO delicious. (I made some green bean casserole and German Potato Salad for sides.)

Pork with Apples and Onions

five pork cutlets, fat trimmed
one medium apple (I used Gala), minced
one small yellow onion, diced
one tablespoon butter
one tablespoon vegetable oil
3/4 cup white wine
salt and pepper to taste
pinch of thyme

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat a skillet to medium heat and add the vegetable oil. Lightly salt and pepper one side of the pork cutlets. Place the trimmed cutlets in the vegetable oil and slightly sear on both sides.

Once seared, remove the cutlets from the skillet and put in an oven pan. Add the butter to the skillet and allow it to melt. Add the apples and the onion. Saute until the butter is reduced (appx. 7-10 minutes, but don't allow this to burn!). Add the white wine and allow the mixture to simmer. Add the thyme and give the sauce a generous pinch of salt. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.

Take the sauce off the heat and pour over the cutlets. Put the meat in the oven and allow to cook at 350 for approximately 45 minutes in the sauce.

Emily's Big Day!

2011-09-28T05:00:00.000-05:00

Our other wedding was my cousin Emily's wedding. Can I just say how fun it is to have a family wedding? The wedding provides an excuse for everybody to get together for a happy occasion. Everybody is excited and anticipatory for the big day and it is so fun to hang out with family members under those circumstances. My cousin's wedding was no exception: the events leading up to the big day were so much fun, the rehearsal and days before the wedding were a blast, and the actual wedding was beautiful and perfect. I was a bridesmaid in the wedding, so it was fun to hang out with the wedding party on the day! One of my favorite parts of the entire wedding were the flowers...they were so very pretty.

On Thursday we enjoyed the rehearsal dinner. On Friday we went to a bridal luncheon for the bride...SO much fun and such a cute centerpiece:

On Saturday we had the actual wedding at noon and the reception later that evening:

The bride and groom had the absolute perfect day for their wedding: sunny for the wedding itself, a bit overcast for pictures (this is ideal), and sunny again for the rest of the day. Everybody was so relaxed and we danced the night away until after midnight!

I loveee weddings!

Colleen's Big Day!

2011-09-27T05:00:00.000-05:00

Our first wedding was my good friend Colleen's wedding. Two weeks ago we got up on a Saturday and headed to Washington, Missouri, for the outdoor vineyard wedding! This was after we decided to stop in Hermann, Missouri, for a little delicious chocolate malt break. During the car ride, as you can see in the picture to the side, an alien descended upon my head and tried to do my hair. Why I am posting this pic I don't know, but seriously why does my hair have to dry that way?! Argh.

After checking into our hotel and spending some quality time with my curling iron, we headed to the wedding. I got to the hotel and realized that my top outfit choice no longer fit me, so I decided to go with the color combo that Jancin and Amy were also sporting. Yay! We are sisters.

Luckily, I found myself a good looking date for the wedding on the side of the highway Shhh. Don't tell my husband.

The bride was simply beautiful and the wedding could not have been prettier. The bride and groom were stunning and the day was beautiful: a perfect temperature.

My friends and I take pictures to frame after everybody's wedding. Here was the one from Colleen's:

And her gorgeous cake. Seriously one of the more stunning cakes in person.

Best wishes, Colleen and Brian! The wedding was divine and we loved it!

Random Monday

2011-09-26T05:00:00.000-05:00

We have had two big weddings friend/family in the past two weekends, which has made life super busy! It is such fun busy, though. I got to see one of my best friends get married first at a gorgeous venue, and then this past weekend my cousin got married and I was a bridesmaid! Everything was so much fun and it all seemed like a whirlwind.
Today when we were driving home from the second wedding, I finally felt like fall has set in. Usually I feel this way after Labor Day, but this year I guess that the weddings seemed like the end of summer in my mind. As a result, I decided to cook a bunch and bake.
Said baking project went horribly. I tried to make pretzel bites (I'm not even going to link to the recipe I used because those poor people don't need my feeble attempt at making their meal to be linked to their site whatsoever). I threw away the entire batch. I think there were several problems:

         1. I used whole wheat flour instead of white, which does not seem to be interchangeable;
         2. I put baking soda in the boiling water, causing said water to boil over into a foam cloud onto my stove, the floor between the stove and the sink, and the sink;
         3. I cooked the "bites" too long, which resulted in dumplings being put into the over to bake;
         4. I did not drain the dumplings well, so there was runny water all over the baking pan while they were supposed to get golden brown.

The leaves are starting to turn beautiful colors and we saw another hoot owl in our backyard, only this time it was perched very near our deck. Can hoot owls carry away shih-tzus?
I love this version of this song, and I rarely think that renditions are very good, especially when the original song was performed by Johnny Cash:

Blogger break

2011-09-18T13:24:00.002-05:00

I am going to take a break from blogging for the next week. Have a happy week!

Great Product

2011-09-14T05:00:00.000-05:00

Source

Remember how I was having trouble falling asleep a few weeks ago? Well, I found a miracle product that I love and had to share. This Johnson's baby bedtime bubble bath is amazing....I often use it in a bath before bed, or if I have trouble sleeping I wash my arms in the stuff and it helps me doze into a perfect slumber. I don't know if it is the hint of lavender or maybe it brings back memories of when I was a baby, but I love it!

Do you have any sleep tricks up your sleeve?

Dilation

2011-09-13T05:00:00.000-05:00

A week ago I went to the eye doctor for ~~the first check-up I've had in two years~~ yearly check-up. Everything went fine, but the eye doctor made me get my eyes dilated. This is apparently routine-- but I had never had my eye dilated before. Let me tell you: it is really no fun at all. I really disliked the nasty drops they put in my eyes that made them feel so weird. The only upside was that as I looked in the mirror I thought that I kind of looked like my cats when the lights are dim. Wouldn't it be weird if our eyes acted like ours and let in more and less light according to the amount of light in a room (or, I should say that I think our eyes actually do that, but it is more noticeable in a cat)? It seemed kind of strange to me because the dilation was "routine" at this office but yet I had never had my eyes dilated before (at least that I can remember...). Is this a routine thing?

Anyway, when I was there, I had to wait for the doctor in my examination room for about twenty minutes. Generally, I do not mind waiting, but I don't like to be bored waiting. So, I pulled out my phone and started to read blogs and my Twitter. The doctor came in, saw me with my phone, I put away my phone, and said hi and he went about the examination.

During the exam I noticed about three huge signs in the examination room that I had not noticed before. "PLEASE TURN OFF ALL CELL PHONES." "DO NOT USE YOUR CELL PHONE." "PLEASE, PUT AWAY YOUR CELL PHONE." As soon as I saw them, the signs seemed large and obvious. How could I miss them earlier? I got so embarrassed because I felt horrible and I kept thinking that the doctor was probably angry at me. I debated about saying something to the doctor but decided against it, thinking about a saying that I enjoy, "least said, soonest mended." Hopefully I did not mess up anybody's eye reading by using my cell phone out of turn.

Family Vacay

2011-09-12T05:00:00.000-05:00

This past weekend, we went on a family vacation with David's family. We had a great time! We went to Stockton, Missouri, where we rented a vacation home that was simply gorgeous. I really loved the decorations in the house and it was extremely large, which was perfect for our entire family!

On Friday evening we arrived and talked and snacked. On Saturday, my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and I went on a run together. I was pretty apprehensive about running with other people because I do not consider myself to be a very fast runner, but everything was fine (if I did hold you guys back, I'm sorry)! We then played Trivial Pursuit, which was fun, and then we went out to eat dinner at "The World's Best Pizza Place" (located in Stockton, Missouri...who knew?!) and went to mass.

We ended up going to mass in El Dorado Springs, Missouri and after church we visited the city park to get a taste of the mineral spring water:

The water was very rusty tasting. Not what I would consider delicious water!

After that, we went back to the house and made s'mores (we had a fire pit there and my other brother-in-law had the brilliant idea to buy s'more fixings for us!). Finally, to cap off the day, we sang "Happy Birthday" to my father-in-law, whose birthday was yesterday.

Overall it was a really fun getaway! The area is really pretty down near Stockton and I think we all enjoyed spending some quality time together!

Remember

2011-09-11T14:58:00.003-05:00

Source

Random Wednesday

2011-09-07T05:30:00.000-05:00

I was going to post about the show Teen Mom today but after watching a few episodes of it I feel so disguised by it I'm not even going to devote an entire post about it. After just a few episodes I have determined that my brain cells are better used elsewhere.

Did anybody else find it incredibly difficult to get back to work yesterday? I had trouble concentrating, so I tried to do some easy "busy" work to stay productive.

Our weekend

2011-09-06T05:30:00.000-05:00

We had another wonderful weekend. On Friday I made pizza (delicious) and we had a relaxing night at home! On Saturday morning I went on a long run and that evening, I had my friend Jancin over for breakfast for dinner! That evening we went to see The Help. The movie was really good but the book was better (in my opinion!) Then, on Sunday, we went to David's parents' house for their annual fireworks party! It was a lot of fun and David enjoyed shooting off fireworks.

The Boys getting ready to set off fireworks

The beautiful fireworks!

On Monday we came home and we did a bit of fall cleanup in the yard. We will need to landscape our front yard again next year...we need a load of dirt, lots of gorgeous flowers, and shrubbery. Any takers?

Accent Vlog

2011-09-01T21:06:00.001-05:00

Hi Everybody!

I decided to try the accent vblog today. You are supposed to read the words and answer the questions...if you have a blog you should post one, too!

The instructions are to say these words:
Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

And answer these questions:
What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
What do you call gym shoes?
What do you say to address a group of people?
What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
What do you call your grandparents?
What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
What is the thing you use to change the TV channel?

New face wash

2011-08-31T05:00:00.002-05:00

HOW did I go so long without using Cetaphil?!?! I have heard other people say that they use it in the past but I never tried it because I assumed that I would need more heavy-duty skin care. Then, when I was on a weekend getaway, one of my friends let me use hers (I always forget face wash) and I was hooked from that moment on! The wash is so gentle on my face that I don't feel bad washing it multiple times a day. My skin looks and feels more moisturized. I am now a convert.

What face wash do you use?

Pie Making Sunday

2011-08-30T05:00:00.002-05:00

This past Sunday, I decided to try to make some pie. I had been craving the stuff for two weeks since Pioneer Woman announced her contest for a pie class on her blog, so I decided that it was worth the calories to try to make some of my own.

I decided to make the crust with butter rather than shortening because I did not know if I actually had shortening.
I used this pie crust recipe, this strawberry pie filling recipe, and this peach pie filling recipe.
Once my crust was finished, I decided to make everything in muffin pans so that the pies would be miniature.

The peach pie was pretty good, but I did not follow the recipe exactly and I thought that the strawberry pie turned out better.
Really, pie making was no trouble at all and I would highly recommend that if you want to give a try you do. The most intimidating part is the crust, but I used my food processor to help with the mixing and it was super easy. You do make quite a mess, though!

Our weekend

2011-08-29T05:00:00.001-05:00

I had another wonderful weekend. We were home all weekend, which was much-needed and relaxing. On Friday evening I went to yoga and we went out with friends that evening. On Saturday morning I woke up and decided to take a long run. I was gone for two hours and unfortunately did not bring any water....I won't be making that mistake again! I was SO thirsty when I got home.

On Saturday for lunch, I went to Sheridan's Unforked with a friend. It was SO weird to be in a fast-food restaurant where you order and they call your order because I have not been inside of one for years. The food was very delicious, though. I had a hamburger, fries, and a delicious ice cream treat. Yum!
That day I finished all of my weekly house cleaning and after mass we watched our nieces and nephew. They were a lot of fun! We are glad that they live so close to us so that we can baby-sit them.

On Sunday I went to yoga and ran and then came home and cleaned my closet. After that was over, I didn't know what to do with myself! I couldn't believe it: I was actually bored. This is a good thing (all of my law school friends can attest to this) because I have not had that feeling in a LONG time. I decided to go outside and read with my favorite puppy:
Later that afternoon I made some pies (more on that later) and relaxed. It was a great weekend!

Brain Dump

2011-08-25T20:41:00.002-05:00

My husband is vacuuming right now while I write this post. I secretly dislike vacuuming a LOT, so this is a treat for me. I just dusted, which I actually enjoy. What house chores do you like and dislike?
The weather is gorgeous here....today it was not too hot and not too cold. Perfect!
Even though we had gorgeous weather, I was in a funky mood today. It all started when I went running. I did not feel like running and was grumpy throughout my workout session. When I got to work, I wasn't grumpy, but felt draggy all day today. My co-workers said that they felt the same way, so maybe something was in the air. Weird.
When I got home, though, Paco greeted me with a wagging tail because he was so happy to see me. Who could stay in a draggy mood after that greeting?
I started reading The Help this evening, which is as good as everybody said that it was. I plan to read it after I finish writing this post.
My kitties are calling out for a snack, so I better go! Have a happy Thursday evening!

Creamy Pasta

2011-08-24T19:20:00.003-05:00

On Sunday I stopped in Target for a few items and saw a magazine about Italian cooking, which made me immediately crave a creamy and delicious pasta. This craving did not leave me all day so I went to the grocery store and bought ingredients for my pasta!

I threw everything together from our fridge, so this is a little random, but I hope you enjoy it!

Creamy Shrimp Pasta
- 1/2 box whole wheat pasta, cooked and drained
- 1/2 pound shrimp, cooked and peeled
- one strip of bacon
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 2 cups fresh spinach
- 2 cups mushrooms, chopped
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 1 cup whipping cream

Dice and fry the bacon in a large pot. When the bacon is crispy, remove some of the bacon fat and throw it away. Remove the bacon pieces from the remaining bacon fat. Add the olive oil and add the onion and red pepper. Let these saute for 5-10 minutes, until soft. Add the mushrooms and let them soften. Add the white wine and the spinach. Once everything is soft, add the whipping cream, let heat, and toss in the pasta.

This is SO good.

Bad kitty

2011-08-23T05:00:00.001-05:00

Kitty Thorina has started hunting again. One evening last week, we heard a loud meowing, meowing, meowing coming from the garage. David opened the door and Thorina came trotting in with a lizard hanging out of her mouth! Gah!

I screamed and jumped on top of the furniture while Thorina released the lizard from her jaws and began to play with it. Eventually, he went under a plant in our living room. I didn't want him to get lost, so I lifted up the plant. I thought that would be a good idea until he started heading toward the air conditioning vent! We tried to grab (along with Thorina) but the lizard was just too quick.

Realizing that now we had a lizard in our air conditioning vents, we decided to close all of the vents and open the windows for a few days. Once David convinced me that the lizard was gone a few days later, we enjoyed air conditioning again.

I thought that it would be the end of the lizard saga for a while (I hoped that we wouldn't see another for at least a year since the last time she caught one was a year ago). However, this weekend, while I was at a shower, David texted me the above picture and said, "You'll never believe what she brought into the house...."

ANOTHER LIZARD. This kitty is crazy. David rescued the newest victim and released him outside, even though his tail had been dismembered in the garage. I am proud of Thorina's hunting skills, but I wish that she would just take care of her prey outside. The most hilarious part is that you can tell that she is so proud of herself when she brings the lizards into our house. We try to praise her and give her lots of attention for her hunting skills (besides screaming).

My weekend!

2011-08-22T05:00:00.001-05:00

I had a fun weekend full of celebrations for brides! Of course, was is imperative that we send them off to married life in style.

On Friday I got to leave work a bit early and went down to the Lake of the Ozarks for my friend Colleen's bachelorette party. We enjoyed yummy treats and floated in the lake. Later that evening, we played some fun games (including "Pin the Junk on the Hunk") and enjoyed some champagne. The next day, we ate a delicious breakfast and I waved goodbye to everybody and headed off to St. Louis!

That evening, I went to a shower for my cousin Emily that was bedroom-themed. Here was the cake:Isn't it amazing?! One of Emily's friends made it for her. The friend isn't even a professional baker, but we all agreed that she could make a living owning a bakery. Don't you agree?

I think that both brides enjoyed their bachelorette weekends! Did you have a bachelorette party?

The Abbie Dress

2011-08-18T05:00:00.002-05:00

I get emails from Kate Spade almost daily and one day I was bored, so I decided to click through the top trends of fall 2011 and guess what I saw....Source

The Abbie Shift Dress!

Too bad I don't love it and too bad it is for $375, but it is pretty cool to have a dress named for me!

Have you ever found any clothes or styles named after you?

Cleaning out my closet

2011-08-17T05:00:00.000-05:00

I want to totally revamp my closet by painting it, cleaning it out, and organizing my jewelry into some sort of manageable and working system. But it is SO hard to start!

I tried reading some books about cleaning out your closet and figuring out what to keep, etc., but the task seems so overwhelming. I think that I first need to purge, then clean, then paint it (if I decide to paint it after all...David says I'm crazy for painting a closet, but I think it would look cool in a soft gray color!).

Do you have any tips? Help!

Dirty Rice and Fresh Corn Salad

2011-08-16T05:00:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the blurry picture!

Last week, I read this post from Annie's Eats and was inspired to try making my own Dirty Rice. I love the stuff from the box, but I figured that I would try a homemade version like she did in her post! I made it on Sunday and it was a big success. I also made a fresh corn salad because by Sundays evening on the weekend, I always crave a nice fresh salad full of good veggies.

Here are my recipes!

Dirty Rice
- 1 1/2 cup brown rice
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 2 green peppers
- one large can diced tomatoes, plain
- one half of a yellow onion
- one pound hamburger
- one jalapeno
- paprika to taste
- hot sauce to taste
- salt to taste

1. Cook the rice in the chicken broth.
2. Brown the meat, remove from heat.
3. In a large pan, saute the onion, green pepper, and jalapeno.
4. Add the diced tomatoes.
5. Combine everything and season to your taste.

See? Easy peasy.

Weekend

2011-08-15T05:00:00.002-05:00

We had another great weekend! This one was wonderful because I was at HOME and it was great to relax and enjoy a good weekend at home. On Friday night I went to yoga and then came home and made a pizza for us to enjoy.

On Saturday, I decided to try to run a really long run, so I ended up running an hour and forty minutes straight! It was nice, but I have no idea how many miles I went. The morning was beautiful and I figured that I should enjoy the great weather! For lunch on Saturday I went out to eat with friends on the Plaza and we did a little shopping. That evening, our friend Matt came to visit and we went out to eat with him and then came back home and reminisced about old times. Some of you followed Matt's blog while he taught in Abu Dhabi. It seems like he really enjoys it and he is going back for another year of teaching!

On Sunday morning, I went to yoga and ran and we went to eat pizza to celebrate my niece's third birthday. That afternoon I watched The Nanny Diaries (the book is way better, IMO).

Our weekend was wonderful and relaxing...I hope yours was too!

(Side note...happy birthday to my dad today!!!)

Brain Dump

2011-08-11T05:00:00.001-05:00

I love it when other bloggers do brain dumps, so I thought that I would give it a try today!

My eating habits have gone by the wayside again. With all of the vacations and fun weekends, it is really hard to eat in a healthy manner. For instance, this past weekend on Saturday, I ate enough Starbursts to feed a small lion. And why did I do that?! I don't even love Starburst! I wouldn't mind so much if what I was eating excessively was actual, real food. Instead, I snack on chocolate fun size candy bars, chocolate sauce at work, and Starburst. When I get home, I eat cookies and my husband's stash of brownies, M&Ms....the list goes on. I have heard of people getting off sugar cold turkey and I tried that one week....on Monday I said that I was not having any sugary sweet items (I could eat fruit) until Friday. There is no sense in limiting myself over the weekend, but that plan worked! Perhaps I will try it again next week. I hate how I feel after indulging in sweets.
Last night I went to a law school reunion happy hour. The entire time, I kept thinking of how grown up everybody looked and how weird it was that it was over a year ago that I graduated. I seriously cannot believe it. I love my job, though, so it is good to be in this new stage of life...just weird that I will probably not be a student again.
I am back to trying to spend only $50 a week in groceries. Last week, I spent $77, but that included some big-ticket items. For a while this summer, David went grocery shopping and kept going to Costco. I know that in many, many situations that store is a smart move, but we ended up spending way more money than budgeted during the summer months. This month I am trying to get back to the more frugal grocery shopping.
Last night, I used a Shout Wipe on my suit for work. It left a big watermark! Durn. I decided to handwash the suit because it said that I could on the tags....we shall see how that turns out. I hope I didn't ruin it.
Speaking of my work attire, I really need new work shoes. However, I just don't want to spend the moolah on them right now. It seems like it would be smart for me to invest in a really, really good pair of black heels, since I wear them every. day. Any suggestions? I always love Sofft brand but none of them really screamed "work appropriate" to me.
This weekend I really, really want to clean out my closet/drawers. I doubt that I wear 60% of the clothing in that closet, and it is always junky. I would love to get some sort of home organization system going in there. I would also love to paint my closet, but David says that it sounds like a waste of time. We shall see!

Those are all of my major thoughts right now. How is your week going?

High School Girls' Weekend: Brewery and dinner

2011-08-10T05:00:00.002-05:00

After we finished at the winery, we decided to head to the Crown Ridge Brewery. I sampled a beer tasting with Rach, which was absolutely delicious and fun! We got a large sheet of brews and got to pick eight from the sheet of paper to try. I love tastings anyway, but the added bonus of choice made it all the more fun.

After that, we all gussied up and went to dinner:
We just ate at the Crown Ridge restaurant at our hotel- Tiger Pointe. I enjoyed bison chili and pasta (oink, oink). After that was over, we decided to try to take more pics with the tigers:
After this picture, we realized that the bag in Rach's hand contained her leftover bison stroganoff. The cats were getting agitated...they began to pace back and forth in the cages! Our imaginations ran wild as we recalled that cats can smell over 500 smells and scents from something like a million miles away. THEN we realized that the bag was leaking gravy! We began to run back to our room, which was about the time at which the bag completely broke. We shoved it into a trash can, looked at the pacing tigers, the gravy trail, and our dinky door to our condo, and said a little prayer for the fences of the tigers to REMAIN STRONG.

It is always fun to enjoy time with friends and I am so lucky to have so many great friends! Rach planned the entire weekend and it was just divine. I also enjoyed seeing a different part of Missouri...I don't think that I have ever been south of STL on the east side of the state, especially to stay and enjoy the views. There are some really gorgeous parts of Missouri....the flat plains by where my parents live, the Ozark hills...I would say that I am lucky to live in such a gorgeous state! I love to travel to faraway places, but I also think that it is fun to simply enjoy the scenery close to home.

Have a great Wednesday!