Long Time No Blog

And I'm back. Where did I go, you ask? Nowhere! I just fell out of Blog World. I've been trying to get back into my routine of working full time and keeping house and having fun and in the midst I quit writing. I suck at balancing things. In general. I wish life could be as simple as making a list. Like: make breakfast, clean kitchen, go to work, cook dinner, vacuum, do laundry, call friend, answer email, write blog, sew something, do workout, go to bed. Start over. Then there's the general goal list like: Develop portfolio, display photos in gallery, lose weight, become a mom, survive a hike, travel, sell something I sewed, write an amazing song, publish a book. But it never seems to work out that way cause I lack focus. Life is to me what a candy store is to a fat kid. Or chocolate cake. Mmm. Wait! Did I just list goals? I don't do the goal thing... I've never done the goal thing, always dreaded setting goals, have always thought goals were lame. I just did the goal thing. Hmm... how unlike me!

So anyway, not a whole ton of a lot has happened since I wrote last. I think we had some bbq's with friends and went to Vashon Island. We went to JLo's wedding and to Alki. We started Weight Watchers and I got a new office chair (I like to think of it as a desk-couch). And I bough an espresso machine (for home, not the office). Oh I also hung shelves in my pantry and painted the ugly bookshelf in the office so that I can switch it out with the one that is currently in the pantry. Only the painted one is still in the office and the pantry one is still in the pantry. I also got rid of a bunch of towels so I could organize my linen closet only the baskets I bought to help with the organization are still empty. See... no focus. :) AND to top it all off I had intended about blogging all of these things and even took pictures so I could do so but here we are with no pictures to illustrate the mundane.

The espresso machine is the result of Geoff's new work schedule. His position at work was terminated (not horribly surprising because they did create the position for him so of course it has to be the first to go when money gets tight). They did however offer him another position in one of the client's houses. He now works from midnight to 8am. It's been an adjustment. We're lucky that we still have evenings together but neither of us are getting enough sleep. I'm hoping our bodies will get used to the new schedule soon. I hate feeling like a zombie all day. Makes me cranky! Which, and I can't fathom why, Geoff does not appreciate.

Weight Watchers is the result of my boss's ambition to lose weight. Don't get me wrong, I have ambition too (some days) but he started going to the meetings and asked me to go to one with him so I did cause it's no secret I need to drop a few (read: A LOT) of pounds. So I went and it was cheesy but seemed doable. Matt (boss man) bought me the books so I was left with no choice but to try again. I tried WW before online and it never worked for me cause (all together now) I didn't stay focused. SO. I'm doing it. And so is Geoff. I was shocked he volunteered to follow along with me. But extremely grateful! The first week I wasn't expecting much because I had a piece of cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory, burrito from Chipotle, and ice cream from Cold Stone and didn't really exercise. But I lost 3.4 pounds! And Geoff lost 4 I think. Last week I tried harder and ate less. I didn't reach my points any of the days (I'm allowed to eat 34 pts worth of food per day, and have an extra 35 per week), and I actually worked out. Like dripping sweat workout. So I was kinda excited and hopeful on Wednesday when I went to my weigh-in only to find out I had actually gained 0.8 pounds. I honestly wanted to cry. And the feeling didn't leave me the rest of the day. The ladies told me I didn't eat enough, you have to eat all of your points. But the thing is I've been full with fewer so I figured it'd be better to not stuff myself. But I guess not. And I've heard people say it before, if you don't get enough points you won't lose. So my goal (again) this week is to eat my points. Geoff bought me Wii Active and I really like it. It's a pretty intense workout and I burn almost 200 calories in 20 min. I just would like to see some results so that I can convince myself to keep doing it. I'm so easily discouraged. :(

So anyway. I think that's all for now. Off to lunch. Yes. I blogged at work. From my new desk-couch-chair. Maybe 1-5 will be more productive though it's not likely. ;)

Too Tired

Hello Blog World. I'm too tired to blog. I want to get you caught up on my last few days in Chicago and my weekend but I don't have the energy! I went back to work full time on Monday and it's kicking my ass. I got to sleep in til 8 or 8:30 for two months and so now 6 is horrible! I promise to catch you up soon. In the mean time I'm shopping around for an external flash for my camera. Those suckers are expensive! I'm taking pictures at my friend's wedding this weekend and want them to look a little nicer than amateur. So we'll see what I end up with. That's all for now. More later.

Last few days...

True to vacation style I'm not sure what day it is or in what order things have happened lol. Let's think here. Wednesday we ventured to Janesville, Wisconsin. We went to a mall there where I pondered exactly how menopausal women shop in shopping malls. Haha. I got so overheated that I had to buy a new shirt and flip flops to change into. I also bought a souvineer for my hubby at the Badger store. When I say I bought I usually mean my mom funded. :) Anyway. Then we had lunch at Perkin's. Then we headed back toward home. On the way, Fritz got pulled over on the state line! The cop said she couldn't see his seatbelt. Which is silly cause he had it on the whole time. But she gave him a warning and said she was giving him the benefit of the doubt. Silly. I couldn't resist taking a picture of the car behind Fritz's truck.

That night we had a thunder storm! I was less thrilled with the tornado watch also issued with the storm. The storm wasn't nearly as powerful as the news said it would be but it was still impressive. I took a video of it. I stood out in the pouring rain and strong winds to get this!

That brings us to Thursday. We got off to a lazy start. Mom and I sat around and did our nails and did a face peel. Then we had a big breakfast. Then we went shopping some more. We went to the Springhill Mall which is where we shopped when I was little. It's kinda neat to revisit places like that just for the memories. On our way home we stopped at the Polish store to pick up some cabbage rolls and had those for dinner with mashed potatoes. Yum! So good! After dinner we went back out and found this store called Archiver's. It's an amazing scrapbooking store. We dug through the bargain bins and got some cute stuff for cheap. I am definitely going to save up for my next visit! Fritz mowed the lawn while we were gone and I had to take a picture of his red socks. Fritz and his red socks!

We are now waiting for my brother Alex to get home from work so we can go meet him for dinner. I think we're going out to pizza. I am hoping to get together with a friend from when I was little tonight. Her name is Carrie. My mom is good friends with her mom, we used to live in the same apartment buildind when we were little. So anyway, hoping to see Carrie tonight.

Oh, I almost forgot! I finally took a picture of the quilt I made for my mom for Mother's Day. Here it is:

Tomorrow it's on the plane for me. I fly out of here at 2:00 (noon Pacific) but don't get home til 7:30 (Pacific) which means I have a looong day of travel tomorrow. My layover is in Phoenix. Just enough time to pee and grab a bite, then back on the plane. Then my dad and Geoff will be waiting for me at the airport and we'll go to Chipotle for dinner. Yay!

I'm excited to see Geoff. I have really enjoyed my visit with my mom, don't get me wrong, but I'm hopelessly attached to my husband so it'll be good to be in his arms again. And I'm not nearly as sad about leaving my mom this time because Geoff and I will be back in a month and a half. That's like no time at all! Hopefully by then the weather will shape up and the pool will be in place.

Okay... that's all for now. Probably won't blog tomorrow cause I'll be on the plane.

Adios!

What a crazy couple of days. Well, actually, yesterday was crazy, today was chill. Yesterday morning we left the house to go see my Aunt Claudi. She lives about 45 min away in West Chicago. My mom didn't tell her I was in town so that we could surprise her and she was pretty shocked to see me. We played with my cousin's baby, Jayce. He's very cute and very entertaining. He didn't like the food he was fed and he didn't like the water either. My mom kept giving him more and every time his opened his mouth and let it fall out like a fountain. Needless to say we were very entertained by this.

After my cousins came home and Claudi was off babysitting duty we decided to go get pedicures. Claudi was a pedicure virgin. We decided that a beer would calm her nerves but she didn't want to have one before we left the house cause she had to drive there so I joked we should bring some and drink it in the parking lot when we get there. Well I guess you don't joke about beer with Claudi cause next thing I know my purse was weighed down with three beers and we were out the door. Claudi and I downed ours like champs and my mom took a few sips and was done. Claudi was giggling like a little girl when we went in. Can't take that lady anywhere! :) It was so fun and relaxing. And amusing because it was Claudi's first time and she got stuck with a guy to do her feet.

After that we ran around town to find the color I picked for my mom's toes cause she loved it. And of course with two German ladies this is no ordinary feat. It was a crazy, loud, all over the place, fun feat. :)

Today my mom had to work so I stayed home with Fritz. I worked on a video in the morning, I'll post it below. It's really more for Geoff than for anyone. As of today we have been together for 4 years. I can't believe it's been that long but at the same time it feels longer... in a good way! In a comfortable, happy way. So anyway, I worked on that and then Fritz and I went and got some stuff for dinner. We ended up with Bratwurst and my potato salad. After running around we came home and I layed on the lawn chair in the lawn. My mama and Fritz have the best backyard in the world (it'll be better when the pool is up). It's green and lush and perfect for running around without shoes. Love it. I took my book outside to read and ended up taking a two hour nap. Whoops. I didn't think I was burned at first but now my arms are nice and red and I have a funky tan line cause I fell asleep with my arms folded over my book. Nice.

This evening after dinner I went and got my hair trimmed. It was starting to get really tangled. And then after that I made a chocolate pudding pie. Delish. She told me to put cool whip on it but she didn't say what "it" was so I took my liberties and put some on her hand. She's going to kill me for putting this picture on here. Haha.

Well anyway, now you're caught up on my last two days. Here's that video I mentioned earlier:

(Hope you enjoyed the video baby, thank you for 4 amazing years so far)

Mother's Day

Hello from Chicago (Crystal Lake to be more exact). I flew home yesterday to surprise my mom for Mother's Day. This is a picture of her face when she saw me. I am happy to be home and I think she's pretty happy too! I made her a quilt and she loves it. I gave it to her last night though cause I was to excited to wait! I will take pictures of it tomorrow and post.

This morning we went to brunch at a place called Warsaw Inn. The food was ok. Then my mom and I went to an outdoor mall in Barriongton. One of the stores we went to is called Soft Surroundings where everything is, well, soft. They have bedding, clothing, robes, and beatuy products. I bought this delicious smelling lotion (the Ore scent). I can't get over how good it smells. I'm a big fan. :) For dinner Mama, Fritz, and I went to a drive-in in Huntley called the Dairy Market. They have everything you can think of in terms of hot sandwiches, burgers, corn dogs, fish, ice cream, etc. We had burgers and fries and the prices are unbelievably cheap! The three of us got burgers and fries and drinks for $15! I am surprised the McDonalds across the street is still in business. Fritz said when he was 16 he used to drive there on the tractor. This does not surprise me. :)

Tomorrow we are going to my aunt Claudi's. She doesn't know I'm in town. Later this week we'll see my brother Alex too. That's all for tonight, I'm so drained. More tomorrow!

PS
This is my Kuzco before I left for Chicago. He has his little paws crossed and his ears back while laying on my suitcase. He doesn't like when I leave home...

Anniversary at the beach

So we're back from the beach, we actually got back Friday afternoon. We had an amazing time. We have our little traditions which I love and this time we ventured to Astoria. Her are some pictures from our time at the beach:

View from our room

Says: I Love Your Mrs. Brown :)

Astoria Bridge

After only 3 hrs of sleep lol

So my fav parts of our trip is first all of our little traditions. We wrote letters to each other on our wedding day and did so again on our first anniversary and this year and we'll continue to every year and when we're old we'll have our love story on paper. :) We also watch our wedding video and dance to the song we danced to at our wedding. I love these things. And I love the tub. I always watch Big Fish from the tub and we always have country fried steak delivered our first night there.

My second fav part this time was Astoria. It's a pretty little town. I hate the bridge and I hate that the speed limit on the bridge is 55. But I fell in love with this store called Ambiance. This store was made for me! The front half of the store was filled with things that would fit in perfectly with my living and dining room, I wanted it all! And then the second half of the store was filled with things that would fit in perfectly with my bathroom and I wanted to buy all of that too! I want to live in that store!! I wish they had a website so that you could see how beautiful the store is. I can't wait to go back and I hope I have some spending money so I can bring home some treasures!

So anyway, we had an amazing time. :)

Going to the Beach...

I am going to the beach to enjoy this...

And this...

And this...

Happy 2 Years, My Love!

Nothing Special

Nothing worth blogging about today. Pretty ordinary. Went to work. Worked. Watched the rain fall so fast you could barely see it. Ran errands after work. Worked on project, almost done. Started packing for the beach. Took a shower. Now I'm here.

The End. :)

New Day

Today is a new day...The sun is shining, the air is warm. I dragged my rocking chair outside onto the paito to enjoy it. I should be inside working on my project but today I need the sunshine. I have a horrible headache and he glare doesn't really help that matter but eh, I'm content anyway. The birds are eating from the feeder and a squirrel just came along. The blossoms are blowing off the tree, making it look like pink snow. I love it. :)

So I didn't really focus on the positives of yesterday. Earlier in the day Brooklyn, my niece, called asking to hang out. Miss 13 going on 21 doesn't usually call unless she needs a ride somewhere. And don't get me wrong, I'm happy she calls when she needs something, but my goodness was it nice to get a call just asking to hang out! I told her we just had some boring errands to run but she was more than welcome to join us. So we picked her up and went to Kohls so I could spend my $10 coupon. I intended on buying some khaki capris but ended up buying more soft towels. We were laughing at Brooklyn cause she's glued to her cell phone texting and when she lost reception she was raising her phone toward the roof and hopping, trying to get reception. Aah teenagers. :) After that we took her to Big Tom's where she saw a guy who was "beast" and his look was "scene". Um yeah. Way to make me feel OLD! I'm only 12 years older than Brooklyn but she's already talking another language, lol. Anyhow, she's a vegetarian these days because she watched a horrific video on You Tube called Meet your Meat. I've not watched it, but Brookly has described it in full detail several times. So she ordered a Boca burger and ended up with a double Boca and wolfed the thing down, goop all over her face and all. Then we went to the mall so Geoff could get his hair cut and Brooklyn and I walked around while we waited. She showed me all of the things she's into. Mostly Neon and 80's-esk. I used to live in neon when I was little, haha. It felt so good to hang out with her. We then dropped her off at her friends house and went to Waddel Creek Rustics. I love their stuff. I bought my desk and chair there last summer for $15. Yesterday I bought a sign for my laundry room that says: LAUNDRY drop your drawers here. Very cute. They had an old rocking chair painted black and scuffed up like my desk and so I think I might do that with my rocking chair. It needs refinished one way or another. After all of our running around we both took a nap and then went to Caroline and Brendan's where we enjoyed cupcakes and watched Yes Man while loving on Lucy and JoJo.

Today I need to get a lot done. I have to make some serious progress on my project and a million other things. Fluff (Geoff's mom) said she might bring over Bride Wars to watch. I hope she does, that would be nice. After having a sad day hanging out with a parent is comforting. Thank goodness for parents. Funny how when we're growing up we do everything we can to distance ourselves from them but when it comes down to the tough stuff in adult life they're the ones we want to be around.

Hard Stuff

We received sad and shocking news today. A friend of a family member took his life. While Geoff and I didn't know him well, we met him a few times, we are both still shocked and sobered this evening. We don't know anything other than he is no longer with us. I feel so sad because I know what it is like to have feelings of hopelessness and to have no desire for life. I've been there. There was a point in my late teens, early twenties where honestly didn't care to see 25 nor did I think I would be alive to see it. I am so grateful today that I made it and that something inside of me kept me alive. Subconsciously there was something in there strong enough to let me now I had a future waiting for me. I feel sad because I am reminded of those desperate feelings and my heart breaks to know that someone else felt those feelings so strongly that they acted on them. I realize people take their lives every day and my life never changes because of it. So many of us go untouched by this kind of tragedy. But I guess maybe because this individual is someone I've met and seemed happy and successful, it hits closer to home. I feel so sorry for those around him who are affected. I feel sorry that they will at some point drift off to sleep tonight only to wake and re-live the pain again tomorrow. Suicide is so selfish. I feel helpless because though we know those close to him, we're not in the circle and so there's nothing we really can do to help. Though, really, is there anything that helps?

Paid to Play, May Day BBQ

Oh what a day. I feel so wiped but probably just because I spent my workday in the sunshine. And I made good, home-cooked food for dinner (three more recipes below).

This was my office today. Rough huh? My only complaint is that my right arm is now more tan than the left arm. But really, I enjoyed working the show today. I like to talk to customers and we don't usually get too many in the office. Didn't sell anything but talked to a few people who are interested. Sometimes that's as good as it gets. :)

Geoff wanted me to share this video. He was playing with Piper this morning before work and she got really into it. I swear I'm not choosing favorites, she's just more entertaining lately. As you can see Kuzco doesn't really care what's going on. I think he just wants to know why the office is such a mess. I wonder the same.

And now dinner. We had my dad and his friend over for a barbecue tonight. I made burgers from scratch, my delish potato salad, and corn on the cob. Here are my recipes:

First the corn cause it's the easiest: Peel your corn, place on a piece of foil. Smear with butter, sprinkle pepper, garlic salt, and paprika. Wrap it up with the foil and put it on the grill as the grill is heating, usually takes a little longer than meat to cook.

"Best Ever" Potato Salad (3 people said so):

12 small red potatoes

3 stalks celery

1/2 large or 1 small onion

1 green bell pepper

4 strips bacon

6 Eggs

Mayo

Mustard

Fresh dill

Pepper

Salt

Paprika

What to do: Clean the potatoes and cut into 1/4" disks, boil until soft but not mushy. Also hard-boil the 6 eggs. Cook the bacon in a frying pan. Dice onion and celery. Once bacon is done cooking remove only the bacon to a paper towel lined plate, leave the grease in the pan. Saute the onion and celery in the bacon grease (I know, SO bad for you but SO yummy!). Let the onion and celery cook down until they are soft and translucent. Dice the green pepper and toss in with the other veggies once they are done. Let sit while you drain potatoes. Put the potatoes in a bowl and cut the peeled eggs into the potatoes. Add veggies. Cut bacon into small bits and add that as well. Add 3-4 tablespoons of mayo and a squirt of mustard and mix. Add more mayo if needed, but be sure to mix as you go so you don't end up with mayo salad. Add the dill at the end and season to taste. Ennnjoy!

I've been told by 3 people that this is the best potato salad they've ever had. I'll take it! Even Geoff who doesn't do veggies had seconds tonight. Love it!

Burgers (makes 12):
2 lb Ground beef
1/2 C finely diced onion
Bread crumbs
2 eggs
Caribbean Jerk Sauce
Pepper
Garlic Salt
What to do: Mix together all of the ingredients. Form large meat balls and squish into patties. Remember to make them on the large side because they'll shrink on the grill. Refrigerate until you're ready to grill. Don't forget the cheese!

And here is the result! A not so healthy, but very tasty home cooked meal. I also wanted to show off my flowers. Both Geoff and my dad bought me flowers for May Day. So pretty!
Oof! Kuzco is now on my chest, giving my face kisses. And now he's curled up on my chest, very annoyed that I'm still typing. He's kinda hard to see through. I better get going anyway. I'm
going to take my last two ounces of enerygy and get a shower and then off to bed. Goodnight!

PS I apologize if the formatting is off tonight. It's giving me a hard time with my pics tonight and I am WAY too tired to fight it. :)

Ella, Shopping, Looking Forward

I sold another building today! And Ella came to work! She's my boss' dog. She's super sweet and a welcome distraction. Keri tells her to leave me alone but I like to love on her while I work, sometimes I let her sit on my lap and she stares at the computer screen so intently. Ella makes me go against my general dislike for little dogs. :) Isn't she cute?!

Before work I got some more of my project done. Lots to still do though. After work I went shopping and to dinner with my mom in law. She ends up paying for most of what I pick out when we go together and that makes me feel bad cause I don't want her to think I'm a mooch. Mostly though I think she's just nice and likes to take care of her kids. So I got some basic tops and a really cute spring green cardigan. And Geoff got a couple shirts and shorts and more of his coveted Adidas socks. Doesn't take much to make him happy. :) One of the stores we went to was Lane Bryant and I have to tell you, I think that's the best store on earth. I never pay what the price says on the tag. I think this is because the fine people at Lane Bryant know you're depressed about having to shop there and so they send you out the door with all kinds of discounts to make you feel better. Several times I've saved more than I've spent! And, best of all, they play up the discounts if your husband is with you... I've seen it happen many times! Husbands think discounts are great and then they let you shop there more often cause you always walk away with such great deals. Anyway this business philosophy works for me. If I ever do lose all of this weight I will be sad to not get those amazing discounts anymore!

On a side note, next week is Meredith and Derek's wedding on Grey's. I'm super excited (but we'll see if they go through with it, seems too good to be true). Geoff and I will be enjoying the Wedding/100th episode at the beach. We're going to the beach for our anniversary and staying at the Inn at Discovery Coast, which is where we stayed for our honeymoon. When I'm stressed I escape there in my mind. The bed is an AMAZING king size and the jetted tub is my home away from home, seriously! I am also super excited that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button comes out on May 5 cause that's just in time to buy it and take it with us to the beach. When we stay at the beach I always watch Big Fish, it's tradition now, and when I saw Benjamin Button I told Geoff it would make an excellent beach movie cause it reminds me of Big Fish and so it's perfect that the movie is coming out they day before we leave. But I suspect if I watch it from the tub I will probably be as wrinkled as Benjamin is when he's a baby!

Poop! I just remembered I need to go water my flowers and it's already 11:30, ugh. It's supposed to be SO beautiful out tomorrow. Here's hoping I get to work the Garden show so that I can spend the afternoon marinating in the sunshine! *fingers crossed*

Creative Cats, Turkey Meatballs

My boys are sleeping on the couch. Kinda like this only Kuzco is on my head instead of Geoff's. :)

Work was good today. I sold two buildings and I'm working on two large buildings so I guess you could say I'm earning my keep. We are going to be at the Junior League Gift and Garden show this weekend at St. Martin's. I hope the show goes well cause if the show goes well, I get to go back full time!
So last night I was working on my new project last night and Kuzco and Piper decided they could be my helpers:




Tonight I made Mozzarella Stuffed Turkey Meatballs:
1 lb ground turkey
1 egg
Bread crumbs
Mozzarella Cheese
Basil
Oregano
Sage
Thyme
Garlic Salt
Pepper
What to do: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients in a bowl. I sometimes use regular ground turkey, sometimes italian seasoned ground turkey, both are good. And for the mozzarella I prefer to buy a ball of fresh mozzarella and cut it into cubes but tonight I used shredded cause that's what I had. After ingredients are mixed form a ball between the palms of your hands and then press a thumb-print into the meatball. Stuff your cheese and cover it by rolling the meat into a ball again. Place the meatballs into a baking dish with a thin layer of olive oil in the bottom. Garlic infused is my favorite to use for meatballs. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Ooh and I almost forgot!! You know that top Laura helped me make? She also forwarded a blog with a cute purse on it and I noticed that the lady was hosting a Spring Top thing so you could send in pics of the tops you make and so I did and she posted my top on her blog! Here's the link: http://madebyrae.blogspot.com/2009/04/spring-top-week-day-3-raes-tie-top.html, She cut off my face but eh, what can you do? :)
Geoff just woke up and wants to go to Baskin n Robin's cheap scoop night so off we go. Hope there isn't a line.

Back to Work, Beef Stroganoff

Greetings from the desk of Jessica L Brown. Yes, that's right I'M AT WORK!!! Not back to full time yet but off and on for a few weeks and then back to full time. Woo. I never realized how much I missed my job until I sat down at my desk today. I was delighted to find a stack of work that Keri put together for me and Matt threw some in too. Jackpot! I got most of it done, just one more tedious customer to tackle. I have to draw plans and do up and estimate. The plan drawing is the tedious part but it's work. :) Today I am happy for work. Later this week, when the sun comes out, I'll be wishing was still unemployed. But this morning when I woke up to rain it did feel like a sigh of relief. Dunno why, just sometimes the rain is nice. And my flowers are grateful.

For dinner tonight I'm making Beef Stroganoff. Here's my recipe:
1 lb (more if you like) stew meat
1 Family sized can Cream of Mushroom Soup
Spicy Brown Mustard
Worcestershire Sauce
Sour Cream
Milk
1 Bag Egg Noodles (make 2 for leftovers)
What to do: Cut the stew meat into smaller pieces, usually in half or quarters. Saute in pan with Worcestershire sauce. Let simmer for a while, til the meat is tender. If you don't live with a mushroom hater you could even throw some fresh mushrooms in to simmer w the meat. You may need to add more sauce or a little bit of water so it doesn't dry out. Leave the juices in there, don't drain it. Add mushroom soup, milk, sour cream, and mustard. For the milk, I just add as much as I need to get a good consistency, a little at a time. I think I probably add a cup to a cup and a half. Same with sour cream and mustard. These two are more for taste than texture, so put a little in and taste. I also add a fair amount of pepper. After you add those, cook the noodles and allow the sauce to simmer while noodles cook. Serve it up with a dollop of sour cream on top and enjoy!

Now that my mouth is watering and I've wasted a sufficient amount of time NOT working at work... I better get back to it.

Pictures of Kuzco, Piper video, My top

Some pictures! Here are Kuzco's birthday pictures:

So I was being silly with the Corona, thinking it would make a funny picture, but as it turns out it's Piper who really has a thing for Corona:

And finally my first attempt at making clothing:

Love love love my top! It's a little more full than I would have liked but that's ok. I can still take it in a bit. I wore it to the symphony last night and felt oh so stylish. The bag turned out cute too, just big enough to hold my cell, ID, and car key. I'm excited to wear my top again! And I can't wait until I have a little girl to make summer dresses for. :)

That's all for now. I have so much to get done today but still not feeling well. Today would be a good day to summon my inner Domestic Goddess... ha!

Turkey's Birthday, Oly Symphony

Today my cat Kuzco turned 5. We bought him a new collar, cat grass, and a crazy feather toy. He seems pleased with all of the above. I can't believe he's been with me for 5 yrs now. We've been through hell and back together, that's for sure! He holds the record for most dependable male in my life... he's got Geoff beat by 2 yrs. :) I took birthday pictures but I'll put them up tomorrow. Too sleepy tonight.

We also went to see the Olympia Symphony tonight. I was super excited cause I used to play in the Olympia Youth Symphony. It was a good concert. I was most excited to hear Copland but they didn't play a very exciting Copland piece. They closed with a D'vorak piece that was amazing though.

Laura helped me with my shirt dress this morning. I took it in even more when I got home so it fits a little better and made a little bag to match. I took pics of those too but again, pics tomorrow.

I'm going to go to bed. I have a yucky cold and my allergies are acting up on top of it so I'm feeling pretty miserable.

Oh, btw, boss called today and said he might be able to have me come back to work soon. Bitter sweet. :)

Ok I'm off. *achew*

Intro I Guess

So I'm a blogger now. I am not sure yet where this will take me or how exactly I will format my blog but here I am. Today is Saturday. My husband and I were supposed to go on a hike today with my dad but we crapped out. But so did Dad in the end. Geoff (husband) is playing video games with our nephew. I'm on the couch trying to talk myself into getting ready for the day so we can take Dallas to go see Earth. But I have a cold and I am sooo tired.

Yesterday I went to the zoo with my mom in law. We had a fun time. We don't hang out one-on-one very often and so it was kind of a treat. I took some pics but none worth posting. The animals were sleepy. The sun was out and it felt good to marinate in it!

I have a couple projects going. I am working on a quilt and a shirt-dress. I will post pictures later when I'm feeling better. I need to take shirt-dress over to my friend Laura's so that she can hopefully help me make it look less like a pumpkin! It's so poofy but the fabric is super cute. I think we just need to take it in on the side a bit. I was inspired by an apron pattern I saw: http://www.mkquiltdesigns.com/pattern%20pages/p-lillyapron.html. The quilt will be a gift. I made my first quilt last month, I took a class at JoAnne's. It turned out amazing for my first shot at it. I'll post a pic of that one too.

This weekend is Art's Walk downtown. I really want to go. I hate to drag Geoff to look at stuff he's not really interested in but he's good to me and goes along with it anyway. :)

Ok, I guess this is it for now. My first post. I will make future posts much more interesting, I swear!