Inspired Delights

Overcome

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 29 May 2012 02:13:00 +0000

My good friend, Shawn, was born with a disability. If you ever met him though, it would be hard to tell. His personality and spirit for life far surpass his disability. In recognition of his upcoming birthday, rather than ask for gifts, he has set up a fund for Easter Seals Capper Foundation. His goal is to raise enough money to purchase 2 iPads with special software that is used to help treat individuals with autism. Please consider contributing to this very worthy cause. I'm honored to call Shawn my friend and I look forward to what he'll achieve next! Here is his story:

Shawn Bryant's 25th Birthday Giving Celebration

About Shawn

Diagnosed with cerebral palsy after being born 3 months early, my parents were told that I would live a very limited life if I lived throughout the night. However, with all of the prayers and resources that were available, I was able to break free from those limitations and challenge myself on levels that were originally seen as impossible.

The kid who was once deemed to be a human vegetable - is now a international speaker, college graduate, and intern for the Democratic Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives for the 112th Congress.

I believe because of the work of Easter Seals Capper Foundation, and those alike, many others can achieve great things.

Please help me celebrate a birthday that many believed would never come by making sure others like me have a chance to reach it themselves.

What am I giving money to?

The money raised in honor of my birthday would buy at least 2 iPads which have been monumental in the therapy of those with cognitive disabilities such as autism.

To see how awesome this gadget is, watch this video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_8b7PgnNQQ

If that doesn't convince you, here are 10 reasons why iPads are so helpful in comparison to traditional materials:

10) Developers are constantly improving apps, so the apps can evolve with your client.

9) Regardless of the child’s age or ability level, the iPad can be accessible through voice or touch.

8) Apps can easily be incorporated into playing, reading, writing, spelling, grammar, songs and video.

7) Many apps offer free or ‘lite’ versions, so before a therapist makes a big purchase they can sample the program’s features then determine if it’s worth the money.

6 ) There are many apps that offer the ability to record a child’s productions to save for later comparison. With this option, this allows a person to do self-rating and go back to double-check their speech.

5) Parents can help their child participate in school lessons to reinforce education at home, and games and activities can draw in friends and classmates, eliminating isolation.

4) Apps that are skill-focused often make great tools for quick criterion-referenced assessments or dynamic assessments of a given skill, without needing to prepare lots of supplies ahead of time.

3) The data-tracking capabilities of app-compatible devices allow therapists to focus on the task at hand. You can then email the session data to the client’s caregivers or yourself to include in SOAP notes.

2) Apps can target apraxia, articulation, language, play skills, pragmatic skills, functional communication and more all in one device. No more lugging around 12 different sets of flashcards.

1) iPads are cool! Many people, children with autism, could care less to use scissors, paper and crayons and most of the time these end up on the floor. Children are simply more motivated by interacting with the iPad than paperandpencil activities

Super Moon

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 07 May 2012 00:11:00 +0000

Well, as many of you know, last night (May 5, 2012) the moon was the closest to the Earth as it will be all year. A few months ago I bought myself a nice, new DSLR (Canon Rebel T2i) and took it for a spin last night. Here's my contribution to the "Super Moon" pictures... Not to toot my own horn but... toot tooot!

DIY Vanilla Extract

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:27:00 +0000

Until recently, I never realized that vanilla extract was simply vodka (or other high proof alcohol) and vanilla beans. D'oh! Once I saw the light, I decided I MUST make my own. I go through vanilla like crazy and the good stuff is just so expensive to buy.

I went out to Amazon and bought some really great premium vanilla beans. Yes, I got a half pound. I couldn't resist the fact that the more you bought, they cheaper they were. And really, you can never have too much vanilla! Then I went and bought some cute little bottles. Finally, I purchased some vodka. Any vodka will do, so I hear. I used a variety from a local distillery. You can actually make vanilla with pretty much any high proof alcohol. I've heard of people using bourbon, rum, vodka, etc.

Anyway, after I had gathered all of the necessary supplies, I set up a little assembly line to package my vanilla extract. First I split each bean down the center, cut them in half (so they'd fit in the bottles) and shoved them into the bottles. Then, using a small funnel, I filled each bottle with vodka. And last but not least, I screwed on the cap. It took all of about 5 minutes to complete! The standard ratio of vanilla bean to vodka seems to be about 3 beans per cup of vodka. Since my bottles were 4 ounces, I used 1.5 vanilla beans for each.

A wonderful blogger made some vanilla extract recently and was kind enough to share the printable for the labels she used. They are super cute and fit my bottles perfectly. I didn't have any sticky label paper at home, but my husband had some beer bottling labels that I used instead. Worked perfectly!

DIY Vanilla Extract
3 Vanilla Beans, split down the center
1 Cup Vodka (or other alcohol)

There really isn't much of a recipe to note here. It ultimately depends on the quantity you want to make. As long as you follow the ratio above, you'll be good. You could probably get away with using more vanilla for a greater concentration. Once bottled, they need to be left alone to "extract" for at least 6-8 weeks before they're ready to use.

I ended up making 8 of the 4 ounce bottles to give away as gifts. That resulted in 12 vanilla beans and 32 ounces of vodka. A liter bottle (~ 33oz) would work perfectly, if you can find that. The liquor store I went to only had 750 ml (~ 25oz) and 1.75 L (~ 60oz) bottles, so I went with the larger one. I assure you, the excess went to a good cause :)

These little guys got handed out as Christmas gifts and everybody loved them! Homemade is a simple, yet impressive DIY ingredient! Give it a try!

DIY Taco Seasoning

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:39:00 +0000

Making your own ingredients is not only a great way to save money, it also allows you to tailor the ingredient to your tastes! One of the most common ingredients we make ourselves is Taco Seasoning. You can buy the little packets at the grocery store for $1 or so, depending on brand. However, with those prepackaged seasonings, you are typically getting far more sodium and other preservatives than necessary. If you have a well-stocked cabinet, you likely have all the spices to make your own seasoning on hand. This is the recipe I typically use for taco seasoning and it makes enough for around one pound of ground beef, or whatever meat you choose. Like I said before, customization is one of the key benefits to making your own ingredients. What I've listed below is the proportions and spices that I prefer, but feel free to make changes to fit your likes!

DIY Taco Seasoning

1 Tbsp Chili Powder

1 ½ Tsp Cumin

1 Tsp Sea Salt

1 Tsp Black Pepper

1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder

1/2 Tsp Paprika

1/4 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper

1/4 Tsp Onion Powder

1/4 Tsp Oregano

1/2 Cup water

All you do is toss all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well to combine. I toss the seasoning over the cooked beef and add 1/2 cup of water, then let it simmer until the liquid reduces a bit. Then it's ready to go! Super easy and delicious!

Spiced Nuts

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 23:35:00 +0000

These delicious nuts are always a big hit! I used to make the original recipe of just one pound, but it was never enough. Now I've gotten to the point that I always double the recipe so that I can give some away and still have plenty left over for me. The nuts are a wonderful combination of sweet/salty/spicy that most people cannot resist. They're quick and easy, which makes them a nice treat year round. I especially love to hand these out in my Christmas Goodie bags!

Spiced Nuts
2/3 cups brown sugar
1 1/3 cups white sugar
2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, depending on tastes (I've sometimes done 1/4 tsp paprika & 1/4 tsp cayenne)
2 pounds nuts (I like using almonds and pecan halves)
2 egg whites (at room temp)
2 tbsp water

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. In a small bowl, combine the sugars and spices. Mix well and set aside. In a large bowl add your nuts. Like I mentioned above, I typically use a pound of almonds (about 3 cups) and a pound of pecans (about 4 cups), but you can use any kind of nuts you like. In a third bowl (I know - so many bowls!) combine the egg whites and water. Whisk the mixture until nice and foamy. I like to use my immersion blender with the whisk attachment to do this. (This multi-purpose tool is a MUST-HAVE for any home cook!!!) Once foamy, pour the egg whites over the nuts and stir around to make sure all the nuts are covered. Then pour the sugar and spice mixture over the nuts and stir it all together to make sure each of the nuts has a nice sugar and spice coating.

Spread the nuts evenly, and in a single layer, on 2 baking sheets lined with parchment paper. Cook for approximately 30 minutes, stirring and rotating half way through. Once they're done cooking, let them cool down a bit, then stir them around to make sure there aren't any big clumps.

You can eat them out of a Tupperware bowl like I do, or get fancy and put them in little mason jars with cute ribbons and give them away to friends. Your friends will love you for these, I promise!

Recipie Source: Adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Jamaican Honeymoon

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:06:00 +0000

We waited several months after our wedding before taking our honeymoon. Partially because we paid for the wedding ourselves and needed to save up some money and partially because we used a travel deal site and the best deal was for October.

Ryan and I on the plane ride to Jamaica - Bright and Early

If you haven’t already used travel sites like Hotwire, Priceline, Orbitz, or any of the many, many others, I highly recommend you try. You can get enormous savings by booking through these sites. The travel package we chose was a 7 day 6 night stay at RIU in Jamaica. RIU is an all-inclusive resort chain with locations all over the Caribbean and Mexico. The price of the trip included the airfare, lodging and all taxes and fees. Excluding the airfare, it was about $150/day, which included all food, beverages and entertainment. Pretty great deal.

A shot of the courtyard

View from the stairway near our room

We had a 7am flight that connected in Atlanta. We only had about 15 minutes to spare between flights. It was nice that we didn’t have to wait around. I’m just thankful that nothing came up and it all worked out smoothly. We arrived in Montego Bay, Jamaica around 2pm and then had about an hour and a half drive to the resort in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. We ended up using a car service that our friends recommended. It was super convenient and I would definitely use them again. They were waiting for us at the airport holding a sign with our names. It was just Ryan and I in the shuttle which was really cool. They also picked us up on our last day and took us back to the airport. It really saved a lot of hassle and was well worth the fee. In case you’re interested, the tour company is called Karandas Tours.

Upon arrival to the resort we were greeted with drinks! It was very refreshing. The resort itself was HUGE. I think they said it was one of the largest in Jamaica. It was an open air type resort too, which was really neat.

Me in the lobby

Ryan checking out the courtyard

Most of our trip we spent lounging around on the beach, over-eating at the many buffets and restaurants and enjoying the nightly entertainment. The nightly entertainment was somewhat cheesy at times, but still, very entertaining. The entertainment/hospitality crew at RIU was amazing! They were all so talented and STRONG. They also did a really great job at keeping the audience captivated and into the show. Some of their performances included a dancing showcase where they performed various cultural dances from around the world, a production of Grease, another production called Africa, a variety game show, and a beach party. The final night we were there they had a steel drum band play and ended with a break-dance-off. It’s crazy to see people actually break dancing in person! I can’t believe they can do some of the things they were doing like standing on their heads or holding themselves up with just one arm.

Break Dancing at its finest!

Beach Party!

We also took a couple day trips while we were there. The first one we went on was called Reggae and Culture. This tour focused primarily on Bob Marley and the Reggae culture. We took a tour bus up the Nine Mile pass, which is a scary, dirt/gravel road. It’s a single lane that wraps its way up the mountain side. Upon reaching Nine Mile, we were led through the Marley compound. We got to see the house he was born in, where he was raised, and his mausoleum. After we left the compound, we traveled down the opposite side of the mountain, passing through all sorts of towns and villages. It really gave a vivid depiction of life in Jamaica. Obviously it is vastly different from Jamaica through the eyes of a resort. It was very interesting, though, to see this side of the country. If you ever have the opportunity to visit Jamaica, I highly recommend you take this tour. Even if you’re not a huge Bob Marley fan, I still think it’s worth the money.

Ryan and I at Mount Zion in the Bob Marley compound

Some of Marley's friends & relatives playing classic Marley tunes on the compound

Mountain that inspired Marley's "Natural Mystic"

The other trip we went on was somewhat a fluke. We were wandering through the resort one afternoon and a tour guide stopped us. He told us that his tour company (Chukka Caribbean Adventures) was planning a photo shoot for their brochures and said that if we were willing to be in the photos, they’d give us any tour we wanted for free. Well, we were a little hesitant at first, but they followed through on it. The next morning we received a phone call saying that due to the weather they had cancelled the photo shoot, but they were still going to honor the offer of a free tour.

We chose to go on a river tubing/zip line combo. This was SO.MUCH.FUN! We first were driven about an hour away from our hotel, with a group of people from nearby resorts. I believe the town was called Saint Ann. I’m not positive though. They took us to the top of this mountain and put us all in tubes and sent us down the black river. It was pretty cool. Unlike everything else in Jamaica – HOT – this water was actually quite cool. It was a pretty peaceful float, with a few rapids along the way. There was also the largest bamboo I have ever seen growing along the banks. The tour guide told us that bamboo grows SIX INCHES A DAY! Crazy! The tubing portion of the trip took about an hour and a half, travelling around 3 miles down the mountain. After tubing, we strapped into the zip line harness and went on 3 traverses. Let me tell you, I am horrible at zip lines. I lost my hand position on the first and longest traverse and basically spun in circles the whole way. It was a little scary. The other two traverses were much milder, and I had a better idea of what to do with my hands. Still, overall it was very fun. I would definitely do the tubing again, but the zip line may take some convincing. I wish I had pictures to show you, but I didn't want to risk breaking or losing my camera so I left it back at the hotel.

On the last day, I woke up to this under our balcony. Ryan had written "I love you Bails" in the sand down on the beach. He's so sweet :)

On our way back to the airport, our driver stopped off at a scenic view place and took a couple pictures of us. This bay is called "Discovery Bay" and according to our tour guide, this is where Christopher Columbus landed in the Caribbean! It was such a beautiful view. The picture just doesn't do it any justice!

Discovery Bay

Ryan and I overlooking Discovery Bay

We also saw this on the way back to the airport. I found it pretty funny that they have warnings on vehicles for drivers on the left side, since they all drive on the right side!

We didn't buy many souvenirs since we carried on our bags, but we did manage to bring back a ton of seashells, a nice conch shell and a small painting that we bought from a local painter who had a stand set up in the hotel one night.

Seashells picked from the Caribbean Sea by yours truly!

A conch shell that we bartered an old beach bum for with a couple Red Stripe beer!

Two people on a beach beneath intertwined palms

He signed the back for us. We bought it exactly 3 months after our wedding :)

If I had to sum up Jamaica in 3 words, they would be Beautiful, Impoverished, and Friendly. I would love to go back someday!

Wedding Recap

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:06:00 +0000

Well, this is pretty long overdue considering I’ve been married for just over 5 months now. Ryan and I got married on July 9, 2011.

Our wedding was at lake in the middle of a botanical garden. We reserved the gazebo for the ceremony and an adjacent shelter house for the reception. From the pictures, the day looked absolutely beautiful. It was a bright sunny day with very few clouds in the sky. There was very little breeze to speak of, so no crazy hair in the photos. It was, however, quite warm. Okay, incredibly hot. But considering the oppressive heat wave that began the day following our wedding, one might say it was relatively cool.

As you can see, the temperature on my wedding day was 93 degrees. The remainder of July averaged 101 degrees, with 17 of the 22 days over 100 degrees. Did I mention the wedding was outdoors?

Ryan and I, and the bridal party, did all of our pictures before the wedding, so we were all pretty hot by the time the wedding began. The pictures turned out great though! I will share the majority in a separate post. On the bright side, many of the pictures look like I’m “glowing” instead of sweating my rear off!

We tried to keep our guests in mind when planned and set a ceremony time of 5:30pm, hoping that it would cool down somewhat. I’d say it was probably in the upper 80’s around that time so it was still very warm! Luckily I made paddle fan programs (tutorial coming soon!) to help keep them cool!

One of the program fans!

After the ceremony we headed to the shelter house for some cool relief.

I’m SO glad there was air conditioning in there! I played it cool for a few moments over in the corner (while standing on an A/C vent). Before you say anything, you have to know – wedding dresses are hot, especially so in 90+ degree weather, especially when you’ve been outside for several hours!

Just cooling off :)

After everyone filed in the building we began the dinner portion of the reception. We had Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ catered and boy was it fantastic. Ryan and I just love that place! I couldn’t have imagined better food! BBQ food isn’t your typical wedding fare, but it suited us perfectly.

Once everyone finished eating, it was time for the party to begin. A few of our good friends are in a bluegrass band called “That Damn Sasquatch” and they did us the honor of playing our reception. It was so much fun! Again, bluegrass is probably not typical wedding reception music, but hey, it was our wedding and that’s what we wanted. We had our first dance, Neil Young’s Harvest Moon, did the bouquet and garter toss, and then we all danced the night away. A couple of the guys in the band also played the ceremony music. There was an acoustic guitar and steel pedal to welcome me down the aisle. It sounded great and I wish I could have heard more of it.

The band playing on the deck outside the reception house, over-looking the lake

The grand finale of the night occurred at the end of the last song. Unbeknownst to me, several of our friends had brought over our stockpile of fireworks (we have friends in the fireworks business), took them down to a nearby dock and lit them all off. It was amazing! They couldn’t have timed it better either. The fireworks began just as the last song was ending. So perfectly choreographed! I wish someone had gotten pictures of it.

Well that about sums it up. I know there are many details that I’ve left out, but I didn’t want to go on too long about it. Inexpensive and fun weddings are very doable. We felt like our wedding suited us to a tee! Doing a wedding for less money does mean that you have to do a lot yourself. I’m so thankful that my Mother helped me every step of the way with planning, decorating, and anything else that came up. Plus, there were some very gracious relatives who helped get the reception area and ceremony area set up the day of the wedding. I don’t know what we would have done without all that help!

The Bridal Party - Left to Right: Riley (my brother - who walked me down the aisle), Kelsi (my sister), Me, Ryan, Robert (Ryan's brother)

Stay tuned for some of our professional photos and a recap of our Jamaican Honeymoon!

New Job

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:44:00 +0000

I am very excited to announce that I have found a new job. This has me very hopeful that my happiness levels will increase. Don’t get me wrong, my previous job in public accounting gave me a lot of valuable opportunities and a broad range of experience. However, I am so thankful I was able to find a new job.

Today marks the beginning of my second week. I will keep my new job somewhat anonymous as I did with the previous on. However, I will highlight a couple of the perks that came with the new position. Coming from public accounting, my work/life balance was severely unbalanced, leaning heavily toward the work side of that equation. That being said, a major draw for this position was the 37 hour work week! I still have some flexibility with my schedule in that I can arrange those 37 hours over the week any way I want. Now every week I have a half day on Friday. That is so nice! I think I will really grasp this new schedule during the months that were previously consumed by my “busy season”.

Another major draw for me was the work itself. I am now working for a not-for-profit association. We help protect the public interest by supporting state insurance regulators. My responsibilities include quality reviews of insurance examination files, developing training programs for state examiners, and maintaining and updating the examination handbook. There are some similarities to my previous job. For instance, I still deal with financial examinations. In my new role, however, I will have much more of an oversight position rather than “work-horse” position.

Finally, the benefits really played into my decision in taking this position. The benefits package that’s provided by this company covers so much and at little cost to me. A really cool part of the package is the “Babies in the Workplace” program. This program basically allows mothers or fathers to bring their babies to work with them until the child is 6 months old. That will save a lot of money down the line, and will give me a few more weeks with my future babies before leaving them at a daycare!

What’s really interesting about my new position is that in college I wrote a thesis over internal controls best practices for not-for-profit organizations. This article was later published in Fraud Magazine. The content of my thesis included establishing best practices for maintaining reliable internal controls and preventing fraud in smaller companies where certain laws and regulations were not relevant or enforced, due to the size of the company. My new position is quite similar in that we provide oversight and best practices for insurance companies even though they are not technically required to follow our “rules”. They are simply policies and procedures to improve the company and protect consumers.

Anyway, that may not make much sense to people. I guess I still have a job that is difficult to explain to others! At least with this job I think I will get a lot more satisfaction out of it and be happier with the work I’m doing. I can actually see that my effort is making a difference and the work I do is good for the community. I’m very excited to see where this takes me!

Italian Pan Fried Chicken with Parmesan Roasted Green Beans

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 16:11:00 +0000

Tonight my husband and I tried out some of my latest Pinterest finds for dinner. On the menu for the evening was an Italian seasoned pan fried chicken breast with a side of roasted green beans topped with Parmesan cheese.

I was drawn to this combination for a couple reasons. First of all, we typically try to bake most things that are usually fried. We decided to be wild tonight and went with the pan fry. This method results in a crispier texture, with a little extra crispy boost from the panko. Also, by pan frying you get the crunch, but use much less oil than traditional frying. Best of both worlds!

For the beans, I thought it would be a nice change. I LOVE roasting vegetables, but have never actually roasted green beans before. Since the texture of fresh green beans is somewhat similar to asparagus, I decided to roast the beans exactly how I roast asparagus, just with a little shorter cooking time since the beans aren't quite as thick. This dinner was quick and easy. We love cooking together so that made things go a little quicker. I prepped the beans while he prepped the chicken. So with the team effort, this meal came together in about 20 minutes.

Now, I wasn't overly precise in measuring anything tonight. That's the beauty of cooking! Here is the list of ingredients I used and the approximate amounts. Feel free to get crazy though and use your own combo of spices and quantities!

Italian Pan Fried Chicken with Parmesan Roasted Green Beans
(Serves 2-4)

INGREDIENTS & DIRECTIONS

Italian Pan Fried Chicken Breast
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, each cut in half and pounded to approximately 1/4" thickness
Enough panko bread crumbs to coat the chicken (I ended up using about half a can)
Dash of salt and pepper
~ 1 tsp garlic powder
~ 2 tbsp dried basil
~ 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Handful of grated Parmesan cheese (optional)
Enough cooking oil to cook the chicken in

Place a large skillet on the stove with enough oil to cook the chicken in and turn the heat to medium high. While the oil is heating, prep the breading and chicken. You don't need so much oil that the chicken is submerged, just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. I used about 2-3 tbsp.

First we prepared the breading. You want this ready to go so you can just pound out the chicken, coat it with the breading and toss in the pan. We used a pie dish for the breading, but any shallow bowl big enough to hold the cutlets will do. In the pie dish we combined the panko bread crumbs, dried basil, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt and black pepper. I also threw in a handful of grated Parmesan cheese, for good measure. We gave the breading a good mix to combine and set it aside.

We then took grabbed our two chicken breasts. Like I said before, I didn't get very precise with measuring so I'm not sure exactly how much chicken I used (by weight); just two normal-sized, boneless, skinless, chicken breasts. We cut each breast in half. You would do this sort of like how you would if you were going to butterfly the breast, only instead of stopping when you're almost through, you go ahead and cut all the way. That way you end up with two thinner pieces. We did this to each of the chicken breasts, resulting in 4 cutlets. We then pounded out each cutlet until they were nice and thin, about 1/4" thickness. This helps the cutlets to cook quickly and evenly.

Once the cutlets have been pounded, dredge them in the breading, making sure to really press the breading on and transfer to the hot pan. We were able to fit two cutlets in the pan at a time. Try to fit as many in the as you can, just remember that you don't want them touching. Once in the pan DON'T TOUCH them for about three minutes. Just let them sizzle away. After three minutes, give them a flip and let the other side cook for about three more minutes. When these guys are done cooking, transfer them to a separate plate and get the others fried up. Depending on how hot your burner is, the cooking time may vary. As long as your chicken is cooked all the way through, you're good. You may want to cut one in half to make sure it's cooked in the middle.

Parmesan Roasted Green Beans
3/4 lb green beans
Dash of salt and pepper
~ 1 tsp garlic powder
Couple shakes of cayenne
Parmesan Cheese (however much you want!!!)
~ 1 tbsp oil

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. You can get these going before the chicken, that way they finish at approximately the same time. Begin with prepping the beans. I usually chop of the tips of both ends, but I don't think you have to do that - really just need to chop the end with the stem. It's just habit of mine (who am I kidding - I'm a little OCD when it comes to uniformity of my veggies!). Once all the beans are chopped, give them a good rinse. I then transferred them to a medium sized bowl. I poured a little bit of oil and tossed to coat. Once the beans were coated evenly, I threw in all the seasonings. I used garlic, salt, pepper, and a little cayenne. You can pretty much use whatever you want though. Once again, I tossed to make sure the seasoning was evenly distributed. When everything appeared to be combined to my liking, I spread the beans out on a cooking sheet (I laid my silpat down first for easy clean up). At this point, I sprinkled the beans with the Parmesan cheese. However, I think in the future I'll let the beans cook up and then sprinkle with cheese during the last minute or two. This is personal preference.

When the oven is ready, slide the beans in and cook for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, my beans had softened, but were not incredibly soft - does that help at all? HAHA! If you want them a little mushier (yuck! I need some crisp left), cook for about 5 more minutes. If you decided you want to add the cheese at the end, I would add it when there is about 2 minutes of cooking time left. Now, because my oven sucks, I typically rotate whatever I'm cooking halfway through the process, just so everything cooks evenly. Know your oven people!

Kitchen Notes:
The recipe that I used as my inspiration indicated that 2 cutlets would equal a serving size. I'm not sure if my chicken was a big guy or what, but I think that one cutlet with the side dish was plenty. My husband ate two cutlets though. I'd say this meal would feed 2-4 people, depending on how hungry the crowd is and how big/small the chicken breasts are. We (and by "we" I mean "I") ate all the beans, but I love me some beans! Like I said, all in all this meal took about 20 minutes from start to finish. That's my kind of weeknight meal!! I hope you enjoy!

Inspired by: My favorite asparagus recipe and For the Love of Cooking for the beans and Bell'alimento for the chicken breast.

Pinterest - My New Addiction

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:15:00 +0000

Well, it's not like I needed another distraction in my life, but I've finally jumped on the Pinterest bandwagon. I must say, I absolutely love it! It now has a very important place in my morning/throughout the day/evening routine.

For those of you who are like me and have put off joining Pinterest or if you haven't heard about it yet, let me tell you why I love it.

What is Pinterest?
The easiest way to describe Pinterest is to say it's a fancy way to bookmark things you find on the Internet. Instead of adding links to your "Favorites" that you will probably never look at again, you can "pin" them to a board in your profile. Therefore, your favorites are now easily displayed in user defined categories.

How does it work?
Well, I'm all about visuals, and so is Pinterest. So here's an example:

Say I'm browsing for wall art on the Home Decorator's website and see a piece that I love.

Using the "Pin It" button I installed on my favorites bar (find out how to do this here), I am able to quickly pin things I see on the web to my Pinterest boards.

First, I click the "Pin It" button.

Then a box pops up with all the images on the page. I click on the image that I want to Pin

Next a box pops up that asks you to chose which board you want to pin the image to and a box for you to write a description of what you're pinning.

Once you click "Pin It", the image is added to the board you selected. The wall art that I liked from Home Decorators is now pinned to my "Home Decor" board.

Pinterest is definitely more fun once you get a solid number of Pins added to your profile and followers/people to follow. It's so great being able to see what everyone else is looking at and what they find interesting. I also love that my Pins are broken out into descriptive categories. If I stumble on a recipe I want to try, I can add it to my "Recipes to Try" board. If I see a cool looking craft project, I can add it to my "Crafts" board. I think you get the picture!

I'm still learning all the "ins and outs", so I may have a future update if I figure out something cool and exciting!

If you are not already on Pinterest and would like an invite, just leave a comment or send me a message and I'll get you one. If you ARE already on Pinterest, here's a direct link to my profile so you can check out my boards. I also added a "Follow Me" button to my side board if you choose later on to join in the fun! I'm always looking for new people to follow as well!

Happy Pinning!

Wyoming Vacation - Day 6 and Day 7

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 16:12:00 +0000

Well, we've just about reached the end of the vacation. These last two days were mostly spent with Ryan's family in Casper - that is, once we finally got there. Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures due to all the chaos, but we had a really great time.

After navigating through the crazy snow storm in Jackson, we got back down to lower ground and continued on the now six hour journey to Casper. Since our original route had changed due to weather, we were kind of "winging it" on our new, longer route. Since we were adding about 70 miles to our trip, Ryan reviewed the map to see if he could find a quicker way to go. He ended up locating some small highway on the map that appeared to follow closely with the mountain range rather than going down South and back up. We decided to go with it, not knowing what the road was going to be like ahead. I mean, it was on a map, so we assumed it was a legit road. We drove along a nicely paved road for about 10 miles before it turned to dirt. Yes, DIRT. On top of that, there had clearly been snow in the recent past, leaving many of the dirt roads very muddy. Did I mention we were in a Mazda 3? Not exactly the best vehicle for such driving conditions.

Anyway, with every turn we took it seemed like we were "almost to the road". We (and by 'we' I mean Ryan - haha) just knew that around the next curve we'd be on the main highway again. After about an hour and a half, our short cut dropped us off approximately 5 miles North of where we would have been, had we stayed on the main highway. That tends to be how short cuts go though, right? At least the weather cooperated.

This is the route Google Maps suggested we take

This is the Short Cut that we ended up taking

They look awfully similar huh!

Once back on the main road we noticed we were running low on gas. Unfortunately for us, the closest town, Jeffrey City, was about 30 miles away. When we finally got to this tiny ghost town, we went to the only building that looked like it had people in it. We found out that this town had no gas station. It was either continue on our route for 30 more miles or turn around and go 60 the way we came from. We obviously opted for the 30 mile route. When we reached the gas station, we experienced price gouging at it's best. Since it was the only option for many miles, they were charging an outrageous $4.10/gallon for regular, unleaded gas. Mind you, the rest of Wyoming was selling gas for around $3.20 during this time. So we got the minimum amount needed to get us to the next town, where we could fuel up for a more reasonable price.

We finally rolled into Casper around 5:30, just in time for dinner. We met up with Ryan's Aunt and Uncle, then went to pick up his Grandmother, and headed to the restaurant. Dinner was really good, but I was EXHAUSTED! I could not wait to get back to their house and go to bed. It had been a really long day of driving, and had started out very stressful because of the weather. Once we got back, we hit the sheets and we were out!

The next day started out pretty peaceful. We didn't have much planned since Ryan's Aunt & Uncle both had to work this day, so we decided to drive around town a little. We ventured up to the cemetery to visit his Grandfather's grave. Later that afternoon we went and visited his Grandmother and took her out for ice cream and drove up Casper Mountain. We tried to take some pictures up there, but it was really windy and only one turned out alright. We did get some more deer pictures though!

Ryan and his Grandmother on top of Casper Mountain

After we dropped Ryan's grandmother back off, we headed back to his Aunt & Uncle's house. We were notified that many of Ryan's cousins would be coming over that evening to hang out, so we were pretty excited! Ryan hadn't seen many of them for a year or so, and I had never met them. Some of the family had already arrived by we time we got there. There were so many little kids running around all over the place!!

Most of that evening was a blur. It just went by so fast! I so happy to meet everyone and to announce our engagement! After things settled down and everyone went home, we hit the sack again. We had a long day of driving ahead of us. The next morning we woke up to a fabulous home cooked breakfast of biscuits and gravy! The hospitality was so great. It was just what we needed to begin our trip back home.

The rest of the story gets very, very boring. It primarily consists of driving across Nebraska. The trip from Casper to Kansas City was about 14-15 hours, so we didn't get home until around 2 or 3am. I don't really recall - I was that tired! The only thing I really remember from the monotonous drive back is the way the humidity increased with every mile. There is such a HUGE difference between the humidity in Kansas and Wyoming. I didn't notice it as much going there, but on the way back it was extremely hard to ignore.

Well, that about sums it up! I hope I didn't leave anything major out! I probably should have written these recaps oh, about 3 months ago! But what's new?! I'm a little slow to update, obviously! So I hope you all enjoyed reading about my latest vacation!

Picture Troubles

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:28:00 +0000

To those of you who view my blog through a reader or via email, you might get notification of updates to prior posts. I changed some settings on my pictures on Flickr, and apparently, by doing that, I removed them from the blog. So the updates were just to correct that information. Sorry for any inconveniences!

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 21:15:00 +0000

I know it may seem unnecessary to post a recipe for spaghetti with meat sauce. You're probably thinking, "Really? How hard could it be?" Well, I can definitely admit to searching and searching for the perfect homemade sauce. The stuff that comes in jars can be good, but there is so much extra junk added in the mix that really doesn't need to be there. Also, the price. It can get pretty expensive to buy the quality sauces.

After numerous sauces and various experimentation, I've finally created a sauce that I am completely satisfied with. In my personal opinion, and Ryan's too, this is the best sauce EVER! Now I know everyone has different tastes, and some may already have a "best sauce EVER" that they would defend to the end. However, for those of you in search of an easy, flavorful, inexpensive sauce, this recipe is for you! Feel free to change things up too. The fun with cooking is the experimentation!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (or chicken, turkey, etc.)
1 medium-large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 8oz cans of tomato sauce (or one large can - approx 24-28oz. Small ones just happened to be on sale)
1 6oz can of tomato paste (because I like my sauce a little thicker)
1 6.5oz can of mushrooms, diced (fresh would be awesome as well - I only had canned)
1 tsp dried basil*
1/2 tsp dried oregano*
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp salt
1-2 tbsp sugar (depending on personal tastes)
Black pepper to taste
Couple shakes of crushed red pepper (optional)

Instructions:
Begin with browning the meat. Once the meat is fully cooked, drain off any excess grease and return to pan. With the heat set to high, add the diced onions. Cook for a few minutes, until the onions begin to soften. Next throw in the minced garlic. When the mixture becomes fragrant, add in the other ingredients.

Stir in the tomato sauce, tomato paste, mushrooms**, and spice mixture. I personally like to combine all of my spices beforehand. This is just personal preference though. Bring the mixture to a low boil, then reduce the heat. At this point, the sauce is technically ready to serve. However, I like to let it simmer for awhile so everything can mesh together nicely. If you go that route, reduce the heat to a low simmer and cover, stirring occasionally. Depending on how hungry I am and how much time I have, I would let it simmer anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour.

Once the sauce is to your liking, grab a pile of spaghetti, add a generous serving of this meat sauce and a heaping handful of Parmesan cheese (that is, if you are a cheese fiend like me). If you want to get all fancy, you can top the dish with a couple leaves of basil. This treacherous Midwest heat did my basil plant in though, so no fanciness here.

To save time in the future, go ahead and make a double batch of the sauce and freeze it in an airtight container. Before freezing, make sure the sauce has cooled completely. Savour at a later date!!

*Remember - Dried herbs are more concentrated than fresh herbs. When substituting fresh for dried, you will need to increase the amount you are using.
** If you are using fresh mushrooms, add them to the mix with the onions

Recipe Source: My Imagination

Wyoming Vacation - Day 4 and Day 5

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:00:00 +0000

Hi Again!

Back for the Wyoming Vacation recap I see. Well, I pretty much covered the main events of Day 4! After the big proposal we went back to the hotel to regroup. Since it was so cold and snowy we weren't really sure what to do. So we decided that nothing sounded better than taking a blissful, newly engaged, afternoon nap. It was pretty great!

After the nap, we started our search for dinner. We love using Open Table. It's a free service that allows you to make restaurant reservations online (or with your phone). Every time you check in at your reservation you earn points. Sometimes there are promotions and you get a crazy amount of points, but it's typically 100 or so for most restaurants. The way I see it, I'm eating out whether I use Open Table or not. I might as well accumulate points. When you reach a certain balance of points you receive a gift certificate. Moving right along (see how easily I am distracted!)

We chose to eat at the Silver Dollar Grill in the Famous Wort Hotel. It came highly recommended by the hotel magazines! The food was really great, although I wish I had paid more attention when ordering. I chose the Salmon en Croute.... and yeah, I don't like breaded salmon so much. After I removed the "croute" it was delicious! Ryan ordered a super thick filet. I probably wouldn't eat there on a regular basis because it was pretty expensive, but it was nice for the occasion.

After dinner we walked around briefly in the town square. The antler entrance to the park was all lit up at night and looked pretty cool. However, it was freezing out, so we went back to the condo to hang out. It was a night of more roasted marshmallows in our fireplace.

The next day we woke up to beautiful weather. I'd say it was around low 50's. Since it was so nice out, we decided to venture out to some of the nearby national parks. We knew for sure that Yellowstone was still closed, so we headed South toward the Grand Teton National Park

Unfortunately we didn't get to travel very far into the park. We were able to drive about 8 miles in before we had to turn around. Everything was still covered with snow, so the majority of views looked like this:

The entrance to the park looked promising!

The roads were clear, but the snow was piled higher than the car!

We really wanted to see Jenny Lake, but found out the roads leading there were still closed. However, we were pretty excited when was saw that the roads to Jackson Lake were open and went right along the banks. Unfortunately, this is what lakes look like in Wyoming during the month of April:

It was still really pretty, but it would be nice to go back again sometime in the summer! After we left the park, we headed back to Jackson. Right on the edge of town is a wildlife refuge. Since it was on our way and free we decided to check it out. I think it's primarily for elk, but we saw lots of sheep, and even a grey wolf! The animals obviously didn't hang out close to the road, so they look really tiny in our pictures.

(Sheep on the left and elk on the right)

Later that evening we went back to Snake River to get dinner. After that we just hung out back in the condo. Before we went to bed that night, it looked like this outside:

When we woke the next morning it looked like this:

Basically the same shot as the night before - just covered with a few feet of snow!!

The pile of snow on top of Ryan's car as we checked out of the hotel

We wiped the snow off the top of the car and began our trip to Casper. We had planned on leaving Jackson the same way we came. However, due to the snow overnight and the continued snow that morning, the road we came on was completely whited out. I used to think I knew what "white-out" conditions were, but after seeing Jackson white outs, I can for SURE say I know! I tried to take a picture, but anyone who's ever been in a white out knows everything is just bright white, so as you can guess, the pictures didn't turn out very well. Since we couldn't see anything at all, let alone where the road ended and fields began, we decided to turn around and find a new way out of town.

We went up the North side of the mountain, which ended up taking a little longer. On the way we stopped by Teton Village and snapped some photos and checked out the mansions. This is clearly where the rich and famous stay when they come to town! We tried to be as non-creepy as possible while gawking at the mansions, so I refrained from snapping photos of the huge houses. This is the only picture I took while in Teton Village:

The mountains in the background were sprinkled with amazing houses!

Back on the road to Casper! Final Wyoming Vacation post coming soon!

Wyoming Vacation - Day 3

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 01:28:00 +0000

We woke up this morning in Thermopolis. It was probably the warmest weather we had experienced during the trip, although still a little chilly. Since we were staying in the Hot Springs State Park, we decided to take a look around and see what it was all about. Once you got over the smell of sulfur and rotten eggs, it was actually really cool. We got some neat pictures around the hot spring.

Also located on the grounds was a buffalo reserve. We drove up and down the various roads to try and get a close up peek at the grazing buffalo. Most of them were, of course, nowhere near the road. Right as we were about to give up, we got lucky. We came upon a buffalo hanging out right next to the road, so naturally, we took as many pictures as possible! Here are a few of our shots:

After we had spent an hour or so wandering around the park we decided to get back on the road. Next up on the trip was Jackson, our main attraction for the vacation. We planned on staying in Jackson for several nights. I'm going to plug Priceline again! I cannot get over how great some of the travel deals are! We really hit the jackpot on our hotel in Jackson. Since our trip was right at the end of the ski season, many resorts were already offering deep discounts. So if skiing wasn't a top priority for you, the available deals were unbeatable. We ended up staying at the Snow King Resort. It was right at the base of the mountains.

Our room was set up condo style, with a living room, full kitchen, bathroom and separate bedroom. We also had a fireplace, which was pretty cool! We ended up paying just $55/night. This was the biggest, nicest, and CHEAPEST room during our entire vacation (well, except for the awesome, free room that Ryan's gracious Uncle and Aunt offered us at their home)!

Let me back up a second. We arrived in Jackson around mid-afternoon. It was COLD! I still made Ryan stop and take a picture in front of the sign.

Next we stopped by the visitors center to grab some postcards to mail off to our mothers and my grandmother (this is another family tradition). After that, we went back to the hotel to settle in for awhile. We unpacked our bags, looked through the attraction magazines on the coffee table, listened to some music, and just enjoyed ourselves. After awhile we started getting hungry and decided to try out the local brewery, Snake River Brewery. We were only in Jackson a few days, but we went to Snake River at least 3 times! I would definitely recommend it if you're ever up that way.

While there we grabbed a bite to eat, enjoyed some local brews, and Ryan bought a souvenir shirt. It was perfect for him!

"Maintain Your Brain" - Snake River Brewery, Jackson Hole, Wyoming

He's a goofy one :)

Next up I'll post the remainder of our time in Jackson, followed by the end of our trip in Casper! Stay tuned!

Wyoming Vacation - Day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 15:50:00 +0000

Day two of our trip began on a chilly morning, lots of wind, and forecasted snow showers. We left the hotel around 9 a.m. to get a start on our drive. This day we had planned to make several stops in the various towns Ryan grew up in and to visit Devil's Tower.

After leaving Spearfish, we drove about 60 miles to arrive at Devil's Tower. As soon as we got there, snow flurries began to fall. We didn't let that stop us though! We walked around the base of the tower, which is a little over one mile. It was nice to be able to get out and walk, but it sure was cold and windy! Because of the weather issues, we didn't hang around as long as we would have if the weather was cooperating. Oh well!

Devil's Tower from the distance

View from the base

I brought along my super-handy pocket-sized tripod. It may sound utterly useless, but it actually came in handy frequently on our trip. We tried to take some pictures of us together while walking around the base of Devil's Tower, however, due to the wind and uneven surfaces it was hard to find a good place to set the tripod where I wasn't worried it would tumble over. With that being said, we did get one shot that was semi-good. Kind of from a weird angle though!

Pockets stuffed and freezing cold!

After Devil's Tower, we got back in the car to thaw out a little. The next stop on the trip was Gillette. This is the town where Ryan grew up. We drove around the small town to various places from his memory. We drove past his old schools, his old house, and also visited the cemetery where his Father is buried. Here's a good picture:

Ryan and his Father

After eating lunch, we headed on West to Sheridan. Sheridan is the town Ryan was born. The drive from Gillette to Sheridan is very pretty, however, we had to contend with many snow storms along the way. It was almost as if we were driving in and out of the storm. I was able to get a few shots, but the pictures I took do no justice to what it really looked like. It was so CRAZY how you could see exactly where the storm ended.

Half blue skies, half winter storm

Snowy "downpour"

Clear line of where the storm begins and ends! And yes, that's us heading directly toward it!

This was about an hour South of Sheridan. Thankfully, we passed through the storm rather quickly and continued North. We arrived in Sheridan around the late afternoon time, so we still had some daylight to work with.

Since Ryan was so young when he moved away from here, he had very few memories. However, the main thing he wanted to do while we were there was visit a memorial in his Father's honor.

Ryan viewing his Father's memorial

When his Father passed all those years ago, the town planted an evergreen in his honor in one of the parks in town. It was amazing to see how tall the tree was!

Ryan staring up at the tremendous height of the tree

This park was pretty cool. There was some really neat art and even some animals just hanging around.

Entrance to the park

Close up of gargoyle at the entrance to the park

Some animals hanging out near the park. Some Buffalo, Moose, and Deer.

After visiting the park we had to make some decisions on where to stay. When we began the trip, we decided that we'd just play it by ear on this day as far as accommodations go so that we didn't feel rushed to get anywhere. Since we didn't stay too long in Sheridan, we decided to head toward Thermopolis that evening so we wouldn't have as long of a drive the next day. Here's a shot of downtown Sheridan on our way out of town:

Really cute main street

The trip that followed was full of anxiety on my part. The shortest route (123 miles) to Thermopolis was through the mountains. Bighorn National Forest to be exact. I'm sure this drive would have been gorgeous during the day and under better driving conditions. However, the majority of the roads along the way were covered in snow, it was dark and very cold, and the roads were typical for mountains - CURVY! We passed several ominous sights - about 50 deer on the sides of the road upon entering the forest, and the location of a pretty severe wreck that had occurred a few days prior (this was obvious due to the "Danger" signs and road blocks where the guardrails had been broken through). I was terrified and freezing the whole trip, but Ryan held strong and got us safely to Thermopolis! It was kind of interesting watching the temperature drop. Since it was pitch black it was hard to tell the elevation changes. We started out around 33 degrees and eventually dropped to 0 degrees before it started climbing back up again.

Since we took the "play it by ear" route for accommodations for the evening, we ended up overpaying for a hotel. I think we paid close to $100 for a Days Inn inside Hot Springs State Park. We chose that location because it was the only hotel name that we recognized. Being that it was past midnight by the time we arrived I had expected we would get some sort of "travellers discount", but no. Even though we stayed in the hotel a total of 13 hours, we still got charged full price!

Oh, and we didn't get a very clear shot of this deer because were laughing hysterically. When we pulled around to park by our room, there was a deer just standing in the grass next to the parking lot, completely unfazed by our presence. Animals around here must be pretty used to people! You can tell we are mere feet from it! Maybe it was the immense relief of arriving safely mixed with exhaustion from a long day that made this scene so funny to us. Either way, here are the 2 best shots we got!

Stay tuned for Days 3 - 5 for a recap of our day exploring Thermopolis and the "highlight" of our trip - Jackson Hole!

Wyoming Vacation - Day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 17:07:00 +0000

Well, as usual, I'm a little slow at getting my vacation recap up. Ryan and I went to Wyoming for a much needed, week-long vacation after "busy season" ended at work. The trip was so much fun! We ended up touring the majority of the state. Since we took so many pictures and travelled all over, I'm going to split the recap up into several posts.

Our trip began bright and early on a Saturday morning. With a 12 hour drive ahead of us, we decided to hit the road around 6 a.m. The first part of the drive went really fast, and before we knew it, we were in South Dakota. We didn't take many pictures along the drive there because there really weren't many photo ops! Once we reached Sioux Falls, South Dakota, it was time to start heading West. Once in South Dakota, we started seeing signs for Wall Drug. At first there were just a few signs here and there, but as we continued West, the signs became more frequent. So when we started getting hungry, we decided we'd stop off in this overly publicized area.

We saw thousands of these signs driving across South Dakota!

Source: Google Images

Well, once we actually arrived in Wall Drug, I was pretty disappointed. It was like a ghost town. I am assuming it was so deserted because the summer season had not yet begun. Either way, we walked around for a little while, grabbed some food, and then we were on our way again.

The next part of our drive was so.dang.boring! The Badlands of South Dakota carried on for what seemed like days. There was nowhere to stop along the way either. The drive was long, boring, and windy! Western Kansas has NOTHING on the Badlands. From Wall to Sturgis, our turnoff, was about 80 miles of nothingness. Don't get me wrong, the Badlands do look cool. But after about 3 miles, I was over it. It may have been cool to drive through the actual Badlands National Park, but this is 10 hours into our drive for the day and we just wanted to get to our destination!

Finally we reached the Sturgis exit and headed South to Deadwood.

Not the best quality picture - thanks IPhone!

Since Deadwood was so close to the town our hotel was in, Spearfish, we decided to hang out for awhile and explore the tiny town. We tried our hand at gambling and grabbed a few drinks and some dinner. The weather was so great!

We didn't win any money, but we had a lot of fun trying! Ryan is much more of a gambler than I am though, so I only tried my luck with about $5. We ate dinner at the Buffalo Steakhouse Saloon. It was just so-so, but I don't think they were going for "fine dining experience".

After walking around for a couple hours and buying some souvenirs, we hit the road to Spearfish. We stayed at a Holiday Inn that we "Pricelined" and got an amazing deal. One thing that I suggest everyone go do immediately is sign up for hotel reward points or programs. Most of these are free and you end up getting free stuff. Upon our check-in we received a "Welcome" gift since I was in the Holiday Inn Rewards Club. Included in the package was a coupon for the hotel bar, some chocolate, and a couple bottles of water. After settling in, we went down to the bar and redeemed our 2 FREE beers, munched on some free popcorn and watched the live band. By this point, we were both exhausted, and decided to call it a night. We had to get up early for another long day of driving and sight-seeing. Overall, Day One was an awesome start to our vacation!

Stay tuned for Day 2

The first is to show she's taken, the second is for decoration

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 19:58:00 +0000

Like how I rhyme? If you are clever, or if you know me inreallife, you know what I'm talking about. That's right folks, I'm engaged! (And in case you still don't get it - the title is referring to rings. The engagement ring and wedding band).

It happened on April 5th. A beautiful, ~~warm~~, snowy, afternoon during our amazingly fun vacation to Wyoming (a post on this coming soon). It all started the night before THE DAY. We had a spectacular deal on a condo through Priceline. The condo was in Jackson Hole, a town situated in a valley, surrounded by mountains. A wonderful place, I tell ya!

We low-landers had very little clue that winter carries on in the mountains well into April, so most of our trip consisted of snowy, wet, and cold days.

Side Note: This type of weather is much easier to swallow when surrounded by the natural beauty of snow-covered pines and mountains soaring into the sky.

So in ~~order to keep warm~~ an effort to be romantic-like, we spent our first evening in Jackson Hole, buried in our condo, with a roaring fire. The fire. Ah, the fire. This fire I speak of was built by this guy:

"I am MAN. I make 5-second fire"

He was all about the Boy Scout 5 second fire. Although it took slightly longer than 5 seconds to ignite, the fire was great. We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores. It was a good time. 'Round about... oh who am I kidding? Time was not a factor this vacation. We slept when we felt like it, woke when we were no longer tired. Now that's my kind of vacation. So at some point during the moontime, we ventured off to sleep. We awoke the next morning to falling snow. We decided to hang out in the condo a little while longer, in hopes of the snow letting up. While we waited, Ryan made some breakfast - bacon and eggs, in case you were wondering. Eventually the weather leveled out and we left to explore.

The ENTIRE day before, Ryan had been so obsessed with this park. I had no clue what he was talking about. I have this small problem with only half-listening sometimes. I don't mean to do it. I dont' even realize it until there is an awkward pause and I see him staring at me, waiting for my response. So when we arrived at the park the next day, I couldn't quite recall why he wanted to come here. It was snowing... big, wet, snow flakes falling from the sky. Not too cold though, maybe in the mid-forties? Maybe I'm being generous. That's neither here nor there. Back to the story.

The park is located in the center of town, and at each entrance there's an arch made of antlers.

Yep, that's me! Little did I know what was about to happen

I don't remember the name of this park at this moment. It was quite cute though! I also did not take pictures of the engagement happening, or even recently after. I was basically in shock. I mean, I KNEW it was coming... we had practically planned the wedding out (well, loosely planned) before we went on vacation. However, I had no idea WHEN it would happen.

There wasn't a long speech, or gushy-mushy goo; it was purely "Will you marry me?" and "Yes". Well, he also told me to "Turn around" while he got down on one knee. And then to "Okay, turn back around now". It was ADORABLE. And if you notice the ground there - yeah, the ground covered in snow and slush. He got his jeans all wet when he knelt down.

I couldn't have pictured it any other way. I love him so much!

Immediately after - Trying to show off my ring!

More pictures from the vacation coming soon!

Where has the time gone?

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 19:18:00 +0000

So far, 2011 has been a whirlwind of activity. It seems like just yesterday I was heading off to Topeka for my first job of the busy season. I guess time sure does fly when you're AUDITING LIKE CRAZY!

There are many positive qualities about my job. First of all, you have the name (which, for my own sanity, I'm not going to mention). When I tell people where I work I get a generally good response. Things like "wow", "that's awesome", "lucky you", or more often than not, "what is that?".

Most of the year I do consider myself to be quite lucky. My job has put me in a position to learn about many different companies, get into the nitty-gritty of financial statements, the networking opportunities are outstanding. What could be the problem?

I just don't think I'm cut out for this work for the long haul. I want a family. I want a life. While I get decent flexibility the majority of the year, for the 3 months that are dubbed "busy season" my life is a seemingly endless, miserable, black hole.

I hope that the coming months brighten my attitude. Maybe this was just an especially brutal busy season? It could be the new role I was in, the pressure of studying for my exam (one more left!), working 80 hours a week. It's hard to narrow it down, really.

On a much more uplifting note, now that busy season has officially ended, I am allowed to take VACATION! Starting tomorrow, Ryan and I are off to the Cowboy State! I'm so excited to visit Wyoming! It will be nice going there with Ryan too, since he was born there and all. It will be like my own personal tour guide!

We have quite a bit on our list of things to-do:

12 hour drive from KC to Deadwood, SD where we'll stay the night
Next morning, off to see Devil's Tower. I've been here before, but it's been SO LONG ago I barely remember. Plus, it was during my "I'm-too-cool-for-sight-seeing-because-I'm-14-and-know-everything" phase. I've found it's actually quite nice visiting these places again, now that I'm older and have more appreciation.

After Devil's Tower we'll be touring a couple small towns where Ryan lived throughout his childhood - Gillette and Sheridan
Next, we're making our way to Thermopolis. We'll only be here one night most likely. Should be fun though - I've never been in a natural hot spring before!
For the next few days we'll be staying in Jackson Hole. We got an amazing deal on a resort hotel nestled in the mountains! I can't wait! (This is our hotel)
From Jackson Hole, we'll head back East to Casper. Ryan still has quite a bit of family in this area, so we'll be doing the family thing for a couple days before making the 12 hour drive back.

Here's a pictorial view for those of you that like that sort of thing

About 2,400 miles round trip!!

I've recently learned that the winter season lags on a little longer in Wyoming, much to my dismay. Unfortunately, this means we won't be visiting Yellowstone. I guess the roads are all closed until the middle of May because of snow! YIKES!

However, I won't let a little snow ruin my time. And truth be told, I think the mountain setting would look quite nice with a little snow around!

I will be sure to post pictures once we're back!

I've Missed You - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 16:34:00 +0000

Those words sound familiar, huh! I can't believe I haven't posted since November! Well, actually I can. Remember that "Work-Life Balance" calculator from my "About" page? Back in August, I input my "life" into the calculator to see how things fell out. Based on that, I had about 16.5 unplanned hours. At that time, I felt that 16.5 hours was a bit of a stretch. What I'd give now for 16.5 unplanned hours!

Since October I have been in what seems like a constant busy season. Typically, we are busiest from January through April. Contrary to popular belief, my busy-ness is not due to taxes whatsoever. It is purely due to the fact that TONS of companies have a 12/31 year end. My company audits those financial statements. However, my busy-ness has carried on for months now. Due to being short staffed and the numerous "quality" changes that we had to implement my schedule went from a typical 40-45 hour week to a 50-55 hour week, during the off time. Fast forward to busy season...Consider the same set backs (short staff, improved quality measures) and add to that shorter timelines for your audit turnaround and multiple jobs going on at once. You know what that equals? NO TIME. Then, go an extra mile and add to that studying for the CPA Exam and you get me - very tired, very burnt out. It kind of sucks.

Just for fun I went back and filled out the "Work-Life Balance" calculator based off my schedule from last week and here's the result:

Yep - that's right. I'm somehow wrong in my calculations because it says I'm doing more in a week than physically possible. Lumped into the "Chores" section is basic daily routine for showering/getting dressed for work and the night time routine for getting ready for bed, as well as study time.

Maybe I'm overestimating the time I sleep or eat. Luckily my boyfriend has been handling the cooking and cleaning the past few weeks, so that helps dramatically. Unfortunately the "work" hours are correct. My "Time & Expense" tracking software at work shows that I have worked 480 hours since January 3rd, 77 of which occurred last week. Over the 8 week period, that's an average of 60 hours a week. While that may or may not seem like a lot, believe me, it's enough to burn you out, especially when trying to study on top of that.

Good news is that I take my exam on Monday, the 28th. Hopefully I've managed to squeeze enough study time out of the past few weeks to enable me to pass. After that I will just be down to the typical busy season hours for about another month until busy season is OVER!!

After I take that exam I plan to post some things that will seem out of date, like my Christmas goodies that I never got around to getting on here. So while they may seem irrelevant, I still want to share them! I can't wait to get back to my life and enjoying my hobbies again!

I've missed you!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:10:00 +0000

Hello Blog World!

I know I have been pretty terrible at updating my blog lately. The combination of working (out of town, nonetheless) and studying for my next exam has left me with approximately 5 minutes of free time each day. I promise I will be back in action beginning the week of Thanksgiving! I have many posts planned and will have much more free time to crank them out! Love you all!

Sincerely,
Bailey

Spicy Broccoli Pasta

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 17:44:00 +0000

Hey There!

As you probably know I've been working out of town the past couple weeks. Well I have training today in my office so I came back last night to save myself an early morning commute. Since I've been gone so much lately I have hardly any food at my apartment. So for dinner last night, I had to improvise.

I looked in the pantry and fridge and saw that I had some pasta, some frozen broccoli and some parmesan cheese and though oooh! I know what I can make! Awhile back I saw a recipe for spicy broccoli pasta and decided to try it out. It's a simple recipe and doesn't take very long to cook! I love spicy food, so I added some red pepper flakes, however, you can adjust the spice level to your tastes!

Spicy Broccoli Pasta
1 lb. broccoli (preferrably fresh, but frozen will work if you're in a pinch)
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1 lb. pasta, cooked
Hot Sauce, to taste - a few drops (My Favorite is Sriracha)
Parmesan for sprinkling on top

Cook broccoli in boiling water, 3-5 minutes until just tender**. Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add garlic. Cook over medium heat until just golden, about 2 minutes. Add drained broccoli and red pepper flakes, and cook 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add hot sauce to cooked pasta. Toss and serve.

**If you're using frozen broccoli, skip this step. Just warm it up and toss it in the pan and saute with the garlic.

(Ignore my messy stovetop!!)

And here's the finished product!

Source: Adapted from Annie's Eats

So fast and so easy! It was ready in about 15 minutes and tastes yummy! It did make quite a bit, but you can store for a couple days in the fridge.

I hope you enjoy!!

Sincerely,
Bailey

Ohhh my!! It's time for Pumpkin Pie!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 14:10:00 +0000

After traveling the past couple weeks, it's so nice to be able to spend the weekend at home. Today has been very relaxing. I slept in MUCH later than normal and then just lounged around for awhile. After spending some time out on the deck admiring the scenery and cool Fall air, I decided that I MUST bake a pumpkin pie. There was no getting around it!

I have to say that pumpkin pie is probably one of my most favorite pies! The combination of cinnamon, cloves and ginger is amazing! And of course, the pumpkin! I could eat pumpkin most days if given the opportunity! It's so versatile. I try to limit myself to pumpkin during fall only. That way it seems more like a treat and indulgence. I don't get tired of it that way!

So I spent this evening baking my first pumpkin pie of the season. The recipe I used is the classic pumpkin pie recipe from the back of the Libby's pumpkin can. It's so wonderful, I just don't see a reason to alter it. The pie turned out beautifully!!

Classic Pumpkin Pie
3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

2 large eggs

1 can (15 oz.) Pumpkin

1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk

1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell

Whipped cream (optional)

Combine sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. In a separate large bowl, beat the eggs. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture into the large bowl. Gradually stir in evaporated milk.

Pour mixture into pie shell.

Bake in preheated 425° F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350° F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.

Source: Libby's

Stay tuned for my attempt at homemade pumpkin spice latte!

Enjoy!

Sincerely,
Bailey

Branson Vacation

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 15:22:00 +0000

Whew! These past few week have been a whirlwind of activity! My family took our yearly trip to Branson a couple weeks ago. We couldn't have asked for better weather! It was a perfect 80 degrees the entire weekend, with just a slight breeze and ample sun! I wish I would have gotten more pictures! Both my sister and I brought our boyfriends with us this time, which is the first time any of us brought a non-family member along. It went pretty smoothly though.

We did all the traditional things we do in Branson: visit the fish hatchery, go to the ice cream shop up in the mountains, go to old downtown, and of course, shopping at the outlet malls. In the evenings we just hung outside on the deck talking and having a good ol' time! We played a few rounds of nark nark, which is pretty much team solitaire on speed, and a few games of dominoes!

It was my first time playing "real" dominoes. I played against the boys (aka - my boyfriend and my brother) and I beat both of them (by A LOT)! They called it beginner's luck, but I called it the obvious result of playing a numbers game with an accountant :)

It is so nice to have these family traditions. I can't wait to someday take my own children there! It's funny how just a few years ago I *hated* going to some of those attractions. It was just brutal going to the fish hatchery, and utterly annoying going down to the waterfront. But now I can see that I was just a moody teenager with an attitude! I know you're thinking "You with an attitude - not a chance!" HAHA But it's true. Oh how the tables turn when you start to "grow up"!

I planned to post pictures of the trip, but I've been traveling for work ever since I got back from Branson. AND I forgot to bring the right cord with me to upload photos. So I will post the Branson photos this weekend when I get back home!

I have some exciting posts coming up. Well, I'm excited about them at least! Hopefully you will enjoy. Stayed tuned! Oh and I PROMISE I won't wait so long to post! Like I said, it's been a crazy few weeks!

Sincerely,
Bailey

Beef and Butternut Squash Chili

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 03:53:00 +0000

(Beef and Butternut Squash Chili - Best served with oyster crackers)

I know I've said it a few times already, but Fall is my most favorite time of year. I just love all of the scents, flavors, and activities! One of the best things about Fall is the food! Not only is the food good, it is typically well suited for freezing, which will end up saving you time.

The next 7 days are going to be very busy for me. I have a CPA exam next Wednesday and I'm in serious study mode now. That means that ALL of my "free" time will be devoted to studying. (Well, except for Thursday night when Grey's and Private Practice are on!). So in order to save myself some time and hassle, I made this wonderful chili for dinner. I portioned out enough so I can eat it all week long and froze the remaining chili in individual servings. This is perfect weather for chili! Oh and this chili is actually pretty healthy. I've included the nutritional information at the end of the post!

Beef and Butternut Squash Chili
(Prep Time: 20 minutes, Cook Time: 50 minutes, Yield: 8, 1 cup servings)*
1 pound extra-lean ground beef (I used 85/15)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 Serrano peppers**
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 (14.5 oz) cans of Mexican-style stewed tomatoes, chopped***
1 (16 oz) can of chili beans
1/2 small butternut squash, peeled and cubed (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup fat free, reduced sodium beef broth
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp chili powder
1 cup frozen corn kernels

*Okay, I don't know about the rest of you, but I never make food as quickly as a recipe states. It took me awhile to get all the veges chopped, especially the squash! Depending on your chopping skills, I'd add 10-20 more minutes to the prep time.
**I love spicy food, so I added the Serrano peppers to give it a little kick
***For the sake of time and ease, I used 2 cans of rotel

Cook beef, bell pepper, onion, Serrano peppers and garlic in a Dutch oven (or large saucepan) over medium-high heat, until beef crumbles and is no longer pink. Drain well and return to Dutch oven.

Stir in tomatoes, beans, squash, beef broth, cumin, and chili powder and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Stir in corn and cook uncovered for 15 minutes, or until squash is tender and chili has thickened.

Nutritional Information:
234 Calories (22% from fat)
6g Fat (sat. 2.3g, mono. 2.3g, poly. 0.4g)
2.9mg Iron
21mg Cholesterol
65mg Calcium
30g Carbohydrates
642mg Sodium
17g Protein
6.8g Fiber

Source: Adapted from MyRecipes.com

I hope you enjoy this chili as much as I did!

Sincerely,
Bailey