Thursday, May 27, 2010

Updates!

Okay, so I know that I have been absent for a while now, but I am alive. The first thing that I want to update is my 101 in 1001. No, I haven't forgotten about that!

2. Run a 10k Completed 3/27/10!

10. Take a Zumba class Check out the tagged posts on the side for that update!

14. Do a workout from Fit T.V. I have done a few of these now, and some are good, some are not. It's kind of hit and miss!

22. Go to the Farmer’s Market We went about a week ago. It was not the big one here in Richmond, it was the one near to our house. I did not buy anything because it was mostly very expensive.

30. Buy a DVD shelf Thanks Goodwill!


31. Buy a CD rack Thanks Goodwill!

32. Reorganize townhome cabinets Did this one last week- most of my appliances fit down there now... ugh- too many fun kitchen things and too little cabinet space!

33. Buy a fire extinguisher We needed one for the apt for our insurance, and I finally bought one!


51. Rotate photos in frames I did this several weeks ago... Feeling the need to do it again!


52. Make 3 pieces of jewelry I have made LOTS of jewelry. There's a post tagged on the sidebar, but I've made much more than that now!


74. Volunteer for something I went with our Youth Group to pack meals for Haiti. We packed 15,000 meals! It was great!


77. Buy a Kate Spade purse OR TWO! Hahahaa. I love the outlets! I got a lovely $355 purse for $55!!! Oh yeah!!! I also got a precious canvas tote that says "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood" on the side. So cute!


92. See Wicked What a day! It was the day after my big race and I cried when those first notes sounded! Such an experience!


95. Go see a play A lot of our Youth Group kids are in a Christian Youth Theatre group here in town and we went to see them perform in The Jungle Book. They were awesome! We're going to see Peter Pan next month- it's gonna be awesome!


************

Let's see... what's new around here? We caught our mischevious mouse. That was not fun. At all. Luckily, DH cleaned up the mess!

Job prospects for the next school year are slim and subbing jobs are getting hard to snag with the end of the school year in sight (3 weeks for the county kids). I've been trying to clean up around the house in my spare time and I've also been re-watching Bones.

LOST ended. That was a big event in the past two weeks. I was pleased with the ending. DH was not. I did not expect the questions to be answered, so I was not frustrated. The one question I wanted answered in the finale was answered. I'll be cryptic so as not to ruin it for anyone out there. :-)

I did the first phase of P90X (almost perfectly exercise-wise), but I have lost my motivation and have taken this week off... Oops. I'd like to finish it, but I had no changes to my measurements in that first phase, so I'm a little discouraged.

That's about it for now. Y'all have a lovely day!

Monday, May 17, 2010

I'm alive

and I will post. Soon. I've just been swamped. We had a mouse. It consumed me... or just our crumbs.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Mother's Day

This will be quick, but I realized it'd been a while since I posted, so I wanted to let you know I'm alive and I have food coming to you!

I'm in Charlottesville with my extra-special Mom! :-) We went out on the town yesterday and even got our toenails painted! I loooove a good pedicure. These weren't that great, but at least my nails look good and we had fun.

This morning, they had a "Thanks a Brunch, Mom!" at my Mom's church, catered by Panera. It was great. :-) We came home, did some gardening, and washed our cars. I haven't washed/vacuumed mine in FOR-EVAH. In high school, I did it every weekend. My Gizmo (from Gremlins) sticker finally died. He's been withering for some time on the inside of my back window, but his ear came off today in the cleaning. I hate to say the word "replaced," but that's essentially what I did with my new Iron and Wine sticker. Let's see this sticker last 6 years on the inside of my car! :-)

Speaking of Iron and Wine... a few photos from the evening of dumplings, Chaps Ice Cream, and wonderful music:


The opening act... can't remember his name, but he was good.

Us in our amazing seats! :-)

Sam Beam or... Iron and Wine

Also, the super cool Lunar Moth waiting for us at the door. :-)

Well, I hope all of you have a lovely rest of your Mother's Day and make sure to tell your mommy that you love her! :-)

Also... here's a video from the concert:

Monday, May 3, 2010

Weekend/Monday Update

Good day to all!

This weekend was Youth Weekend at our church, and I lead a small group of 6th grade girls. It was a blast!

For lunch yesterday, we had...

Steak Tacos with Avocado Cream Sauce

The taco, assembled!


The avocado cream sauce... with toppings behind. :-)

These were easy, easy, easy. I just seasoned the steak with some mexican spices, cooked it up in my cast iron, put it in corn tortillas, and served them with lettuce, tomatoes, red bell pepper, and cilantro and of course... the avocado cream sauce:

Ingredients:

1 avocado, pitted, peeled
6 oz greek yogurt
1 jalapeno pepper
1/4 cup cilantro

Directions:

Put all ingredients in food processor with standard blade and pulse until well combined.

And... for dinner tonight...

Chicken Breasts with Caramelized Onions, Cranberries, and Balsamic-Glazed Asparagus


Caramelize 1 medium yellow onion over low heat in nonstick or cast iron pan for 20 minutes, add 2 tbsp dried unsweetened cranberries, cook for 2 minutes. Remove from pan.

When the cranberries hit the pan, put ~1 lb asparagus (trimmed, on cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil, drizzled with balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper), in a 350* oven for 15 minutes.

Heat pan over med-high, add four 4oz chicken breasts (pounded to same thickness) and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side. Add onions and cranberries and cook for 2 minutes.


Tomorrow night, we are headed to Charlottesville for an Iron and Wine concert- CAN'T WAIT!! :-) Everybody have a lovely night!