A long and winding road.

Oh how it's been so long! Life gets so full! Things have to get done and looked after and followed up on. I promise to update this more.

Christmas coming, vacation to California coming, my birthday coming!

Fast and Furious Weekend

Great weekend! Started with dancing and drinks with the Shopes, had a blast and didn't stay out too late. Met new international exchange student. Name is Anna from South Korea. Very sweet. Also volunteered at Ronald McDonald farm on Saturday morning. Tiring but fun. Anna came over dinner and dessert Saturday night. Also invited brother and sister in law and nephews over for dessert. It was a fun night.

This coming weekend is Clints birthday! The big 4-0! We are having a big BBQ for him on Saturday the day after his birthday. I invited Anna to come along also and bring her dorm mate who is from Iowa. Also invited someone we met through the Shopes to join us. Should be a good group of people.

Missed the gym for 3 days but will head over there tonight after work. It's been fun having ES with me!

Until next time-
Alicia

I <3 CC

Where's the Beef?!

Foot xrayed today. We'll see.

Had leftovers last night that were out of this world! We had some pork chops and some teryaki beef from the weekend at my folks house. So we warmed all that up in the skillet and I made a burrito from the beef. Warm flour tortilla, strips of beef and jack cheese. MMMmm! Unfortunately there were only 3 little strips of beef so no more for tonight. But it was so very tasty after marinating in the soy sauce before being cooked at my Moms. Leftover Heaven!

This Saturday we are volunteering at the State Fair for the Ronald McDonald House. Should be fun. Plus we get into the fair for free and get a free lunch afterwards! Woo hoo!

Oh and I'm not sure what the boys did with the warmed up pork chops, I was too involved with my burrito to notice. LOL!

Until I beef it up again-

Alicia

I <3 CC

New recipes and new blogs

Ooh I keep meaning and meaning to get back here. Life wraps me up and keeps me hostage and then what can ya do right? I have been trying out some new recipes that I'll be posting on here and can't wait to share. But first things first. I've been checking out new blogs and found this one: http://www.amylovesit.com/2009/09/08/giveaway-goody-ouchless-hair-accessories/ she is funny and clever with her writing. And today when I visited she is doing a Goody hair accessories giveaway. Cool! So check it out and maybe we can all win something! :)

Cheers-

Alicia

I <3 CC

Time to make the donuts! Oh wait no, just time to hit the gym.

Still going to the gym. Feeling good about it. I try to go 5 times a week. My workout is about an hour. Lots of cardio and core work with a few other exercises. I talked with the trainer last night and signed up for an "upper body" class next week. We'll see how that goes. Things I'd like to avoid: crunches and free weights.

Crown Financial seminar tonight and tomorrow. Hope to learn new techniques!

-Alicia

I <3 CC

Improvising as I go! AKA: "New chicken recipe"

Made some yummy chicken last night. Had a recipe for the "tater tots, mushroom soup, chicken dish". Clint looked at the recipe, saw the soup and tater tots part and said his Mom used to make it ALL THE TIME. So okay that's the hint to ME that he isn't all into it. (Kind of like me and lasagna Hamburger Helper) But I still really have been wanting to make it. Last night I pulled it out and took a look again...well it wasn't a chicken dish, it was ground hamburger! Oh good grief. Well I had chicken out thawing so I'm gonna improvise. I also didn't have tater tots (for shame!) but I did have frozen seasoned pototo wedges. Basically same thing right?

The more and more I looked at the recipe I decided I really couldn't copy this recipe and just subsitute chicken. Because you cook the meat, mix in the soup and yadda yaddda yadda. See my problem? So here's what I did.

3 thawed chicken breasts (I always use boneless)
1 can mushroom soup
3 handfulls of the seasoned frozen potato wedges.
*note these amounts are for my family of three, so add more chicken or wedges depending on how many you are serving. The soup could definately stretch to more chicken.

Grease 9x13 pan. I always grease the pan, why take chances of having things stick and...ugh! Scraping and soaking just to end up killing your sponge and nails? Forgetaboutit.

Place chicken breasts in pan, meaty part up. Cover with soup. The soup is pretty thick and I thought about adding water, but didn't. I just gooped it on there with a spoon. Made sure each breast had sufficent soup on it. What I had left I just dolloped around the chicken for moisture.

Scatter 3 handfuls of the potato wedges around the chicken. Cook at 325 degrees for 35-45 minutes. You can go longer to get the wedges a bit crispier but they soak up the soup and get real tender and yummy.

Serve immediately and enjoy! This fed us 3 with the kiddo having seconds on the potato wedges.

Until I make it up as I go along again-
Alicia

I <3 CC

Another sad day.

Another sad day at work. Our Operations Director has resigned. She is one of the nice ones. I'm sorry to see her go.

On the wings of angel food cake

Did I mention the Angel food cake? The one I made a week or so ago? It was gooooood. Just a recipe from the BH&G cookbook. But it really turned out moist. MMmm! I heartily encourage anyone to try it. Not hard to make. I do suggest using a stand mixer if you have it for the eggs. You have to beat them til stiff peaks and this can take some time. A stand mixer will allow you to move about and go on with your time as you see fit. The first time I made angel food cake I didn't have a standmixer. This was 10 years ago. Heck I didn't have a hand mixer. I had no electric mixer to my name! So I used my wisk. Yes I wisked 1 dozen egg whites to stiff peaks! Yeah, I'm the woman. I served it with whipped cream and fresh berries. But all that wisking... well it frightened me for years. Such a fright that I just couldn't imagine making it again. Til I caved last week. Wanting that sweet, light, FAT FREE wonderfulness. So I get out the cookbook and find the recipe. "Yup, the dozen egg whites, I remember this", I thought to myself. But then it occurred to me, "Hey! I have a stand mixer! I can DO this!" Got it done in no time. Of course I don't have the newly formed arm muscles that I had after wisking my hand, but it was good. Even the next day it was good. And the next day after that it was still moist!

Yes yes, you must try making this recipe instead of buying it.

Until I wisk again-

Alicia

I <3> CC

Going on day 2.

I've gotten over day 1 of my new workout. Feelin' pretty good! My biceps are a bit sore and so is the upper part of my belly. But other than that I'm feeling energized! I go for Day 2 tonight. Then hopefully to dinner with the hubby. Went to Hobby Lobby last night. Got there just before 8 when it closes. Didn't have what I hoped for but I've come up with a new plan and I'm running with it. Also went to Walmart last night after dinner and got a cheapie MP3 player for 30 bucks. Very excited to be in my own little bubble while at the gym.

I'm trying to cut my portions down, and I'm starving! Might need to eat just before going to work out.


munch munch...

Alicia

I <3 CC

I'm a little 'Runaround Sue'!

My life as I know it is about to change:
This past weekend the hubby and I joined a gym. Nothing fancy but very inexpensive - Planet Fitness. Biggest plus is that I can take a guest anytime I want as often as I want. Cool. Started on the treadmill on Sunday. AM also goes to this gym so we walked together on Sunday. Also went yesterday. Upped my walk and got my butt kicked! So today I'll take off since tomorrow I meet with the personal trainer (which is a freebie) and find out from him what exactly I should be doing. Also grocery shopping tomorrow. Thursday back to the PF working whatever the trainer has suggested for me. And Friday...well Friday should be jam packed for me. After work I'd like to run over to Hobby Lobby and get some stuff for Clints birthday party invites. Then a bite to eat and head to the big suprise for the kid. Maybe after that I MIGHT get over to PF for a quick work out/walk on the treadmill. Just to feel good about myself. Saturday morning meeting AM at the gym for a full work-out, home to shower, then to sisters house for card making/scrapbooking party. Which AM is going with me. And hopefully Carls Jr for lunch. I know I know, going to the gym and still eating fast food? And NO this isn't a "reward" for going to the gym. I am going to try and cut out the junk food, but hey this is ME we are talking about. I don't see myself cutting everything out completely. Besides other than the occasional Friday lunch I don't eat out all the often. Not as often as I'd LIKE anyway, hee hee. Saturday evening is a rest for me. Maybe a nice healthy dinner at home, we'll see.

Plan plan plan!

Alicia

I <3 CC

Tirelessly blogging

I'm sorry to admit that I've gone back to one-a-week blogging. I just get so wrapped up in day to day. I dunno. I'll try more for my sake. After reading one of my favorite blogs today and finding a new one I'm not so sure about I've figured out or finally resolved myself to think that this won't be a blog with photos. I just can't get everything together. Maybe in the far off future but for now it ain't gonna happen. I'm okay with it. Really I am. Really.

Off to PetSmart tonight. We told the kid that we would get him a really "far out" present if he managed to get his act together and finish the 6th grade year with straight As. Well he did. And we have been toying around with different ideas and tonight we are going window shopping to see if we like the "pet idea". He has no clue what we are up to so that helps to keep him off our backs while we decide.

I realized today that monsoon season is upon us here. So hot during the day and the humidity???! Wow, we are usually so dry here any humidity kills me now. It rains in the evening just as I'm getting off work but does it cool off? NO! Sheesh. Is it Christmas yet? :)

Oh and had my annual review today. All went great. They love me and I love them.

Until I blog sooner-

Alicia

I <3 CC

Weekend World

Well the weekend is finally here and I made it through my first week back after Colorado. I miss it up there already! Not sure whats all on tap for this weekend. I'm nephew sitting Saturday afternoon, and the Yankees are playing Saturday night. AM is coming over tonight for dinner and relaxing. I'd love to have plans for Saturday morning but not really sure what I'm in the mood for. Hmm... Well I guess I'll just have to sit back and see what gets thrown my way.

Until next time-

Alicia

I <3 CC

So many sites to see in the Springs!

Oh Colorado was wonderful. My mom and I had a great time. We walked all over Colorado Springs. Took a tour (#2 for me) of the Olympic Training Center, stopped at the Outlet Center in Castle Rock a couple of times, and got our minds blown away at the Denver Art Museum. We got to see work from Monet and didn't know that the museum has a Picasso! Cool! Also it was fantastic to see my Aunt Jane and cousin Judy again who live in Colorado Springs. Had the sense to pass along my email address to Judy to be able to keep in touch with that side of the family.

We had great food, dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery where we both tried the beer. Also my Mom was excited to have lunch at Wahoos where we met up with my Aunt and cousin. We grabbed a beer at the Phantom Canyon Brewery Co. Which is located in one of the oldest buildings in the Springs, I think that was my favorite part. Just sitting at the bar talking and laughing.

More to come-

Alicia

I <3 CC

Yay! Just three more days until Colorado Springs! My Mom and I have gone over the schedule tons and tons of times. We know where we are going and when. We talked and talked about what clothes we are bringing and what we are going to wear where. We've discussed how much things are going to cost and what extra food we are bringing. I really think we are ready to go! The hubby rented a movie tonight, "Coraline". So tonight is my free sit and relax night. Then Wednesday I'm going to pack my clothes. Thursday I will go to the store to get my extra munchies for the car ride and make sure I charge the batteries for the camera and that the photo card is clear for new photos. Woo hoo we are ready!


**on a side note I don't think someone should be "protected" at their employment if they aren't following the rules.**

Tasty Kitchen and more!

Found a fun new website through my favorite Pioneerwoman.com site. Share recipes, find new recipes and all sorts of fun! Can't wait to try it out! :) My username is AliciaC if you ever see me on there.

As for me, 10 days til my Colorado Springs vacation with my Mom- woo hoo! I'm so excited to see my Aunt Jane again. Also excited to take another tour of the Olympic Training Center. I've been before there and also took a tour of the Training Center in Chula Vista, California. But I've got to say that the Colorado Springs site is way better. While we are up there we are taking a day and driving to Denver to see the Denver Art Museum. Woo hooo!!! So I could go on and on about the trip but I don't want to go on overload when I still have days to go.


So until I go on and on again-

Alicia

I <3 CC

BBQ goodness

4th of July was a blast. We invited over my brother, his wife and their 2 boys. Plus AM came over. She brought the most wonderful scrumptious appetizers I have ever had. Easy peasy too!

Cut up boneless, skinless chicken into 2 bite pieces.
Wrap 1 piece of bacon around each chicken piece.

Season to your liking. She used lemon pepper, garlic powder, salt and maybe that's it.

Clint cooked them on the BBQ grill until browned and crispy. MMMMmmm! I don't know how many I had but I could've kept eating it we hadn't run out. Man they were good! Wow!


It rained on us just after we were finished eating and we gathered everything and ran inside for 10 minutes when it stopped suddenly and we took everything back outside. By this time it was dark enough for fireworks. A family down the street had the fireworks that shoot up into the sky, so we sat and watched thiers while Clint set our little ones off. It was a warm night and we finished the night off with sparklers.


Until I MMMmmmm again-

Alicia

I <3 CC

A hot time in the old town tonight!

I'm excited. Tonight I'm going with AM and the hubby to a new place we've been checking out. A local band I last saw 10+ years ago plays there regularly on Thursday nights for open mic night. Not entirely sure what that entails tho. I'd think it is you request to sing a song with them or something. The only other mic night I knew of what you brought or played your own music. So this should be fun. And I always liked hearing them play. A cover band that branched out to do their own stuff too. Memphis P Tails to be exact. AM called me at work at 8:40 and said she'd DIE if we didn't get out tonight. LOL Rough day already girl? Well as she starts work at 5:40am I'd say she's half through her day at this point. So she is going to come over for cheesy brats and homemade french fries before we go check out this open mic night. Have I mentioned the french fries?
Here's a go over again just in case I didn't and since they are so good you can never get enough recipes!

Homemade French Fries
Servings: 3-4

Wash 4 to 5 medium sized potatoes
Cut into six wedges (cut in half, then those halfs into thirds)

Toss into a large bowl and drizzle with your choice of oil (vegetable, olive or canola). I use vegetable since olive oil upsets my stomach. You COULD use butter but it has a tendency to burn and smoke up the kitchen to I don't. Stir this all around a bit to get all the wedges coated.

Sprinkle in your choice of seasonings. I usually stick with salt, pepper, season-all. But have been known to use a little dill and or rosemary. Be sure to salt them enough! PLEASE don't undersalt!

Spread out on cookie sheet and bake in 450 degree oven for 20 minutes. Checking in the middle to turn and/or scoot them around a little.

Allow to cool a bit out of the oven, we didn't once and a burnt tongue is NEVER fun.

Enjoy!

Mmmm french fries...oh and we have grapes too! Yipee!

Alicia

I <3 CC

Is it the 4th already?

With 4th of July quickly approaching, I'm getting the menu ready for friends we are having over for a BBQ.

The passing of 2 icons

Yesterday: Michael Jackson passed away from cardiac arrest. 50 years old. I'm still in shock.
Also Farrah Fawcett passed away after a long battle with cancer. 2 icons gone in one day. The world is reeling. I feel like I'm on overload from all the news. Time to take a step back.

:(

Alicia

Camping plan

Well our family vacation is quickly approaching. We leave this Friday! Woo hoo! Today I head to the dollar store on my lunch break and get napkins and paper plates. I think I will also pick up some washcloths. Always handy. Tomorrow after work I will do some shopping. Things like sunscreen, handwipes, toilet paper. Then on Thursday I will get the food shopping done. Clint will pick up the pop-up camper we are borrowing on Thursday and we'll need to air that out also that night. Then Friday morning we head out! I'm hoping to leave by 9am. But if we are ready sooner we'll go. Most everything should be packed up and in the living room Thursday night. Except for personal items. The boys will probably take showers Thursday night while I'll take one Friday before we leave as to have clean hair for as long as possible for the next 5 days. Easy enough to "spot clean" your body but washing the hair is a pain! Although with it being shorter...hmm.... :)

2 more days not counting today!
Alicia

I <3 CC

Pasta time!

Here's the recipe:

1 16oz package rigatoni
2 cups pasta sauce of your choice
12oz ricotta cheese
2 cups shredded romano cheese.

Cook and drain pasta. In large bowl mix together pasta and ricotta cheese. Mix in romano cheese. Alternately layer pasta mixture, sauce and cheese in 9x12 baking dish (like lasagna).
Bake in 350 degree oven for 20 minutes or until top is brown and bubbly.

Enjoy!

Alicia

I <3 CC

PS- I cut my hair 2 days ago and just today really like what it's become. The ends are so healthy and thick! Yay! Plus I have a very cute pony tail now so that's a major bonus. It's just above the middle of my back.

Dinner? not yet...

Woo hooo! Another recipe to share! Tomorrow tho, cause I don't have the quantities with me right now.

So check back tomorrow for a WONDERFUL pasta recipe! :)


Meanwhile wish me luck as we have company coming over for dinner tonight-

Alicia

I <3 CC

Soup for dinner??

I made a great new dish last night. Mmmm! It was so tasty I had to call my Mom right away to tell her about it and give her the recipe. Just the right consistancy of everything. But enough talking about it here is the recipe:

1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup salsa
1 can tomato soup
6 6" flour tortillas cut into 1" pieces
grated cheddar cheese


Directions:
Brown the beef in large skillet breaking up any large pieces so it looks like taco meat. Drain excess fat. Add water, salsa, tomato soup and tortilla pieces and cook to a boil over high heat. Lower heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, add cheese and enjoy!

Now the recipe I have says "feeds 4". But uh uh, it fed our 3 just perfectly. So I think if you have more than 3 people I would double the recipe. You can also add to this mixture easily. 1/2 cup sour cream? Corn tortillas or fritos instead of the flour tortillas? Mmm or add chopped up jalapenos! It's like a homemade hamburger helper! Yay! My Mom said it was "Alicias soup dinner", so I guess I'll go with that. Hee hee!

Until I soup again-

Alicia

I <3 CC

What a long strange TRIP it's been.

There is a spot near where I'm sitting that people keep tripping at. I'm not really sure why. I've walked over there and looked around. No protruding point, no loose carpet, nothing. I just can't figure why people are tripping! Maybe they aren't paying attention when they round the corner. But at this point, I can't help but laugh hysterically everytime it happens! Which is turning into a problem since as soon as they trip I'M RIGHT THERE looking at them. This calls to mind the many occasions where people would be walking out of the building and instead of walking through the door they would walk right into the glass next to the door! As if we had no front walls. Man I've laughed many days about that. But it was also hard since as soon as they did it they looked at me. So I learned to put on a sweet smile and tell them, "Are you okay? That's alright everyone does that." Which mostly is true since so many visitors DID do that. But it took some strength not to laugh right at them! There was always the forehead mark that was left on the window to laugh at later. At least until I windexed it off...

Until they trip again-

Alicia

I <3 CC

What a weekend!

Had a great weekend! Friday afternoon the kiddo got picked up to go fishing with his grandpa. We had a quiet evening at home just the hubby and I. Watched tv all evening.

Saturday morning was spent with my Mom at Wallyworld. She stopped to pick up my nephew Asher first. They were giving away FREE ICE CREAM! Mmm it was Ben & Jerrys. Some new vanilla ice cream with brownies and chocolate sauce combo. Very tasty!
In the evening we had plans to meet with friends and go dancing. One couple was there that we hadn't seen together in a very long time and it was awesome to see them again. Clint was telling them about our next camping trip and they both said we were gonna be miserable camping in a tent for 5 days and that we MUST use thier pop-up. So! We might do that we'll see.

Stuck a roast in the crockpot Sunday morning and we had shredded beef soft tacos for dinner. Mmmm! Stuffed! There was enough leftover that we are probably going to have that again for dinner tonight.

Oh! And the kiddo caught 1 fish Saturday and thankfully ate it at his grandparents house so I didn't have to look/touch or smell it.

I love a nice long weekend...

Alicia

I <3 CC

BBQ anyone?

Did I mention the food? Mmm we had a great big bbq the last night we were there. Everyone brought meat. I think the surprising thing was no chicken. All red meat around here! We also brought sides to share. I had made a HUGE bowl of potato salad. There were also beans, garlic bread, green chile corn bread, mac n cheese. And a vegetable platter. A good spread!

Here's Clints plate. I sneaked a shot while he was up getting another plate full of food. Yeah he's a smart guy gettin' that potato salad on his plate! Everyone was good and "grub drunk" by the time the meal was over. I even brought out the remainder of the strawberry shortcake cake I made and it hardly got touched! Good thing we had the s'mores in reserve. Those went fast.

Hi ho the diary-o a camping we will go-

Okay...here it is.....

WE WENT CAMPING! Woo hoooooo! This is me, resting comfortably at the lake. See even little Walter is resting comfortably. See him down there? It was so beautiful there. I decided after our three days that I wanted a house built right where I was sitting. Well I guess a little further back since we were a good ten feet or more from the water.

Two out of the three days were spent with me sitting in this spot. Next to that rock is another smaller rock that I rested my feet on. Ahhhh! :)

Here's the man. I found him a nice little spot too. Right next to me! But without the rock so he could stretch out his long legs. When he wasn't trying to relax he was down at the water with the kiddo helping him cast his line.

Doesn't he look serene?? He totally does.

look for the big orange tent

Gone campin', pictures to follow! woo hoooo!

Oops!

I know I know, I did it again. But here I am WILLING myself to get home later and add photos....

until tonight!

Neglected

I know, I've neglected this blog. But I promise to get on here this weekend and upload some photos from the birthday party.

We had a blast! Had everyone over at our house. Some of the wives couldn't make it so that was weird but ended up having plenty of room!

Until this weekend-

:)

I <3 CC

It's almost here!

Yay! The big day is almost here! Tomorrow is the kiddos 12th birthday party! We are ALLLLL set. It's going to be at a park that is close to our home near the foothills. We are planning on bbq-ing hot dogs and hamburgers. We'll have chips and fruit to munch on also. Yay! I'm baking the cake tonight. Pretty sure what I'm doing with the decoration on it. He wanted a white cake with white frosting. (Hmmm wonder where he gets THAT?) I'm going to stack 2 sheet cakes and frost them up. The write his name in chocolate and stand the letters up on the top of the cake. I'm thinking about other little doo-dads that I can do also. Like stars or swirls. Gotta keep it from getting girly tho.

Just spoke to the hubby who is working in the snow today. I really hope it stops soon. Will kinda ruin the park adventure. We CAN have it at our place but there's not much room...but it will have to do!


Praying for sunshine-

:)

I <3 CC

me me meeeee!!!

Well I did it. I buckled down, got to it and did it. I entered the Pillsbury Bake-off! Woo hoo for ME! The hardest part was taking my recipe and making it out of their ingredients. In the end I decided to use their premade cookie dough and do my thing to it. It's a simple and quick cookie recipe. I figure the simplicity will either work for me or against me. Either way I'm glad I did it and can move on. They make thier decision in September and 100 finalists will be flown to Florida for the bake-off contest. Wouldn't THAT be fun! I don't really expect to be a finalist but it's fun to dream. All in all it's something I can say I did and maybe even enter again next year!

Until September- fingers crossed!

:)


I <3 CC

5 years

Happy Anniversary to me and my hubby! 5 wonderful years of bliss. Learning from each other and leaning on each other. I'm convinced more and more everyday that THIS is what God intended marriage to be. Give and take. Love and be loved. Honesty. Understanding. Laughter. Humility and Faith.

He's my rock-
I LOVE HIM!

food food food

We got the food for the party! Looks like we are going to have 12 plus a couple "little ones", including us. So that should be fun. Still waiting to hear back from one family but they are the ones I didn't think I'd hear back from. That's okay. :) We have TONS of hot dogs and hamburgers. That was the one thing that we really wanted to do, was provide all the meat for grillin'. I'm sure the guys will be grateful to make double cheeseburgers if they want. That reminds me, we still need to get cheese. We also got some chips to put out. Lots of paper plates and napkins and forks. And the fixings for cake. Have two options for the cake. Either way I think I'm going to do a three layer round cake. Either going to be big and yellow with the happy face on top. OR look like an oreo cookie. I'm leaning towards the cookie. Need to look at one online or something, it's been awhile since I've seen an Oreo. Mmmmm oreos...

Our wedding anniversary is tomorrow- whoop whoop!

:)


I <3 CC

R.S.V.P.

Sent out an email to friends inviting them to Jonethans birthday party next Saturday. Should be fun we are going to bbq hot dogs and hamburgers. On the invite I asked everyone to rsvp by next Monday. I'm really hoping folks do this we are buying the food and it would be great to have an accurate head count. So I said if we didn't hear anything by the 13th that we are going to count them as a no. I can only really think of one family that might not reply. But I also think that they won't come either. I'm really hoping CM and her familiy can show up. It's unfortunate that none of our friends have boys..but I hope that lots of our friends can show up with the girls and at least have a big party for him. And we found a park near our house that we are going to have it at. They don't have/allow reservations for the parks so we have planned to start cooking at 11:30 for the party and have decided to just go at 10am and find the table(s) we want to be at and "save" them that way. Just sit outdoors for awhile, read. That'll be nice. Maybe have the kiddo open our gift from him. That'll give him something to do. Hopefully I can go tonight to the bookstore and get his gift. Yay! I'm excited!

3 days until our wedding anniversay-

:)

I <3 CC

HE GOT IN!!

More info to come.... :)

Funds for the party!

Let's just get this outta the way: that sunburn I got on my neck? It's peeling. Fun. It's just a little strip of burn so I'm anxious for it to heal.

Okay let's move on.

The kiddos party is approaching and I'm happy to say that as of 10:04 mountain time in the State of New Mexico, MY STUDENT LOANS ARE ALL PAID OFF!! Woo hoooooo! Pass out the noisemakers, pass out the champagne and let's all take the afternoon off!!!!!!!!! Yeah if I could emote anymore happiness on here I would right now!
But back to the party, I have some overpayment coming back to me from the loan people and am going to throw the party with that money. It's not much but at least we can buy the hot dogs and hamburgers/buns for the event. Along with paper plates. Maybe even some chips! Now we'll pray for good weather on April 18th as we would like to have it outdoors. Actually in the foothills of the Sandia Mountains where there are covered tables and bbq grills that we can use. I almost want to find a park that we can play at tho. Because at the foothills you aren't even allowed to throw a frisbee. I hope with the good weather we can throw the frisbee and find something else active to do. I think there is another park nearby that we can go to if needed. But my nephew just had a birthday party at a park so I'm not sure I want to follow so close. But even as I type this I'm leaning more towards the park. I guess it depends on the weather. If it's nice we can eat, open presents, and then hike around the foothills. That's my #1 party idea. Yeah, gonna go with that one. I'm just so excited about my loan being finished. Took me 10 years but I did it!

WOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:)

bbq and sleeping

What fun we had at the Pork & Brew! AM and I were the "sample girls" and had a really great time meeting and talking to people. The owners plus my husband were there also to answer sales questions. I even got a bit sunburned! Yeouch!! It's faded a little today and is more tolerable. Sunday we mostly vegged on the couch and had leftover bbq from Saturdays event. Not much on the horizon this week, should be pretty quiet.

*snooze*

I <3 CC

Reading and writing, no arithmatic please.

So I'm inspired. (or) I'm so inspired. Nope, don't really like either but you get what I'm meaning. I'm reading other blogs and websites and they really inspire me to write more often. Even if I'm babbling. Which more often than not happens in my head as I think about what topic to write about in the first place. But today I've read so many blogs and here I am, writing. But I'm stopping to make note that I think I'm allergic to my shampoo and conditioner. Which makes me so sad. It's new and I really like the smell. And to a more personal note, my scalp has been hurting and the only thing I can think of is that it's my new shampoo. I've tried changing everthing else and it's really the only thing that is new and I haven't changed it. So there's that.

It snowed last night! I had 3 inches on my car this morning! Phew! Good thing we had the long snow broom. Only a little ice on the windshield so it wasn't too hard. But it was kinda funny b/c I think I'm the only one up in the neighborhood at 7:15 in the morning and the 2 minutes of scraping was really loud this morning! HA!! I felt a little embarassed and wanted to stop but really, if I don't get that little layer of ice of the front windshield I'm outta luck and can't leave for work.

On to the Pork & Brew tomorrow to cut and serve samples with AM. Yay! I'm going tonight to get throw away aprons for us to wear. Should be fun.

:)

new job -sorta, not really

I don't think I've mentioned my catering adventures yet. MAD Catering. MAD is Mother And Daughter. Yup, it's me and my Mom. :) We have our next job lined up for next month catering the jail ministry lunch/conference at church. It's a breakfast and lunch deal. Continental lunch and we are going to offer hot bbq sandwiches. Meaning pulled pork and chicken on kaiser rolls. Pasta salad and chips. For dessert (there always HAS to be a dessert) we'll offer white sheet cake, brownies and lemon squares. Those are our signature desserts that we always offer. Except in winter when the lemon squares are replaced by carrot cake or something else. We are going this weekend to look at new aprons and hopefully get these embroidered! Yay! Red aprons are what we are hoping for is white lettering. We hope the lettering looks something like this:

MAD C a t e r i n g.

Or something where the catering part is streched out and the MAD is close together. I'm excited about it!! :) We were going to give the client the option of cold hoagie sandwiches, but decided it would be easier on us to just focus on one meal and offer just that option.

Yay! MAD Catering!!!

Alicia

I <3>

New place, new outlook.

We've moved! Yay! No more loud neighbors above us! No more drug dealers next door! No more landlord that doesn't enforce the rules! Yay!

We are very happily in a one story four plex. It was so quiet Saturday morning when we got up. We have a bird in the backyard that happily chirps away in the morning and as loud as that is, it's WAY better than the other noises we've been dealing with over the last 8 months. The hubby bbq'd last night and I baked on Saturday, we feel like we are home and happy. I made some cookies from another blogsite that I read daily. And also some chocolate chip cinnamon rolls that were just to die for. The recipe is in the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. Mmm, it made tons so we had Sunday breakfast and this mornings breakfast, and will have some probably for tomorrows breakfast. Yum!
Also on Saturday morning, we went to take a family photo for the new church directory. Honestly I can't believe how nice I look in the photo. If I'm not careful my ego is gonna inflate! LOL It really is a nice photo of all 3 of us. Hopefully we can purchase the photo of me and the hubby at a later date as they save the photos for one year. Meanwhile we are going to stick with the free 8x10 that they are giving away. The directories will be out in about 3 weeks and I can't wait to see everyones photos.

All in all-- I'm just so glad that we are away from that awful situation at the other apartments. And here we thought that since we were paying so much more that it would be that much more wonderful. Wrong!


Ahhhhhh-

Alicia

I <3 CC

Sneaky Business

Yay! I'm off to do my "sneaky business" this afternoon. Should be all finished up by Saturday night! Not going to tell what my sneakiness is about yet. Perhaps on Monday I'll be able to blog and tell all about it. Not able to blog at home yet, computer is being a stinky butt. I'm excited! Yay!

Plus I'm off right after 3pm today so that's getting me excited too. Gonna pick up the kiddo from track practice. I'm looking forward to watching him run.

-Alicia

I <3 CC

upcoming events

Okay, day 2 of no allergy meds. Feelin' okay. Nose kinda itchy, but I think I'll survive.

So I'm set on making these brownie bites, that we buy from the bakery at Albertson. I'm really wanting to make them. But due to homelife right now, I may have to wait until next week to bake anymore. Will post when I get them made. On the good side of this coming weekend is my nephews 3rd birthday! Woo hoo! I can't believe he's 3 already. His parents are having it at a local park and it should be nice. I've got my kiddos 12 birthday coming up next month and we are praying for no rain on his birthday so we can have a bbq up at the foothills. More on that later also. Not sure why I mention that, don't know that anyone really reads this blog. I guess it's turning into something for future reference. Perhaps I should start out with "Dear Alicia" or something of that sort. LOL But I do have secret things happening right now that really makes it difficult for me to post in case someone else IS reading these...."highly suspect"!

-Alicia

I <3 CC

Will the misery ever end?

My allergies are still bothering me. 3 weeks and counting...will the misery ever end? I'm taking Benadryl at night (which is wonderful) and then an Alavert in the morning. And still have the sniffling/sneezing all day. At least my eyes aren't itchy, that's the worst! I did try Claritin too but it no work so good. It's the Juniper, when it's in full bloom, I'm at my worst. And the count is really high right now. Some rain would help, but none on the forcast.

ugh--*sneeze*

Alicia

I <3 Benadryl

cakey chocolate chip cookies

Yay! I baked cookies! Chocolate chip this time. I was going to bake chocolate chocolate chip cookies, but didn't have any dark chocolate on hand. So I used the basic recipe in my Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. But added 1/2 cup of oats and about an extra cup (or so) of flour. The reason I do this is because the hubby doesn't like hard cookies. And after a day or so, the flat crispy cookies are hard as a rock! So adding the extra flour makes them more "cakey" and they last a little longer. Of course I'm really learning to not bake all the dough in one night. But I'd like to get a better "keeper" for the dough while it's in the fridge. So to sum up--yay cookies!

Oh and in response to yesterdays rant, I do need to mention that when I finally give up and move on, that's when things work out. ??? Strange but that's the way it is. :)


Until I add more flour-

Alicia

I <3 CC

Confession

So I'm here to admit I'm a "chaser". Chasing after stuff I want. Yes you could also call this pursuing, but I like "chaser". This can yield great results at times. It gives me the confidence to ask for a discount on shoes that have a little imperfection. Which is NEVER a bad thing. But on the flip side it means I can get frustrated if I feel my efforts (aka: "chasing") aren't working out. I try NOT to be a chaser. I get tired of it. MOST of the time, my chasing doesn't work out. For example: pursuing a friendship. This is the most frustrating this IN THE WORLD! But do know that I'm not being pushy or smoothering mothering either. I have my space and know other people have theirs. But I think it gets to a point where I feel my efforts are being pushed away and I finally give up. Or another example is trying to get people to care. At times I feel I'm the only one that does! So that is currently where I'm at today. I'm giving up. I'm done chasing. Back to my shoes--it always works out better with the shoes.

Alicia

I <3 CC

pure envy

So I read other blogs. I find so many new things I want to do or try just from reading other peoples blog. One of my favorites is pioneerwoman.com. She is really fun, has great recipes and is an awesome photographer. And did I mention she has my life? Well my dream life....lives with her husband and kids on a working cattle ranch. Homeschools her kids and has this great blog/website. She will make an entry and get...are you ready for it....16,000 comments about it. 16,000!!! Holy tomatoes! If you have the time and are ready to smile I really suggest checking her site out. If only...*sigh*. Any "commenters" out there???

Paradise found...in the kitchen.

Well it seems that I post once a week always on Tuesdays. Don't know why that is...it just is. This weekend you ask? It was a great weekend. Did some scrapbooking at a friends house and met a new friend there also. We are all getting together this weekend as well. She has a great big table we can all gather around and a separate table for our gadgets. Not that I have any gadgets that need a separate table but I appreciate that we all share what we DO have. It's nice. CM invited a new girl for this weekend, so I look forward to meeting her and seeing how we all fit around this table.
I ALSO BAKED COOKIES! My world-rockin' sugar cookies and also oatmeal chocolate chip. Someday I'll have to remember to get raisins when I go to the grocery store so I can make oatmeal-chocolate chip-raisin cookies, my all time favorite. I made so many cookies! I've been giving them away. Really should start freezing some dough so that they are fresher.

But that was my weekend: scrapbooking and baking. Ahhhh, what a weekend!

Until paradise comes again-

Alicia

I <3 CC

What a weekend!

Had a really nice weekend- Valentines Day really isn't so bad when you're married. Infact it practically doesn't exsist anymore. We try to spread our date nights out and not concentrate on one day. But this was a nice weekend. The kid was up in Colorado with the youth group at church and returned last night. Went grocery shopping Saturday morning with dinner in mind and made a really nice pasta dinner. Hey it's red- that's Valentinsey isn't it? Used bow tie pasta to make it fun and got a bunch of fancy cheeses to mix in. Asiago has got to be one of the better cheeses. Or Gouda. But I used Asiago this time and made cheesey toast in the boiler. Left the other cheeses to mix in with the pasta. Mmmm carbs! lol Okay so we had salad too. Even had hard boiled eggs in it! Watch out- I'm gettin' healthy! We had Dions for lunch Saturday and then rented a couple movies to watch before dinner. I had been pushing to rent SATC since I'd only seen it once in the theater. We also got a testosterone filled movie with Cuba Gooding Jr in it. On Sunday we played hooky from church and hubby and I went to an outdoor show. They had the CUTEST little puppy up for adoption that I just knew Walter would love. But no. Hubby said home too small for 2 dogs. Then we went to the bookstore and got a cool book about camping sites around New Mexico. Found a lake that we'd like to camp at that isn't even on our other maps. Cool! We also went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch and stopped at Target for a few things. All in all it was a good quiet weekend with just the two of us.
Oops- before I forget, we had a GREAT time out with friends for drinks on Friday. It was great to spend time with friends on non-work time. Lets see, 9 of us: me and the hubby, AM, Boston & Wife, "scooter twins", Kellie and her hubby that we found out used to work with MY hubby a long time ago. Had a great time at a new place, I even ran into an old friend who is now managing the place. Really great time. Hope we get to do it again, soon.

Until I feel content again-

Alicia

I <3 CC

Good times, good friends, good rice!

Had a really nice weekend. Not too busy, not too lazy. Saturday afternoon was spent scrapbooking at a friends house. She wanted to get the new Slice machine so we took off for Hobby Lobby before getting started. It's a really great die cutting machine, I can't wait to get one for myself. Sorry CTMH but I'm so over with stamping right now. ("We are SOOO OVER!!" "Hmph, hehhhhhhh, FINE BY ME!!!" - Sorry had a Friends moment there)
Most exciting part was having AM over for dinner Saturday night! Yay! Clint cooked a pork loin, so great I can't even put it into words...And I decided I needed to upgrade the rice that I had planned on. Don't get me wrong, I love white rice. LOVE LOVE LOVE white rice. Little butter, little salt- I'm in heaven. Ooh or with soy sauce...mmmm. But with having the yummy pork loin and having AM over, I wanted something fun. Aka-different. Well...kinda gets hard when it's the few days before grocery shopping day. But I had broth! Yay for broth! After conferring with my sister in law who is an AMAZING cook. I used the broth for half of the water I would normally use. YUM! It was really tasty. And we had such a great evening with AM. After dinner we sat around the table, drinkin and talkin. Before we knew it she and I had finished off a 12 pack and it was 10:30. (Must of been all that pork, or Clint hid some but I wasn't feelin it.) I miss her so much at work and it was nice to be with her again.
So anyway- last night we had pork leftovers and I wanted rice again. Well Saturdays rice was good, just a hint of the chicken broth flavoring but I wanted to see if it would be even tastier with full broth. Okay, so I have a rice cooker. Yeah yeah, but it's awesome. This way I can put it all in there and then move on to the other foods I'm cooking. Or dessert, yeah I've made dessert while dinner is cooking. :) That's how I roll. So I put in the broth, the rice and move on. 20 minutes later I hear the click of the rice cooker and can't wait to dig in! Well? Not as great as I hoped for. It was much drier this time. And I don't really think it tasted more brothy. The kid liked it, but Clint and I left most of our portions on our plate to feed the trashcan. Oh well, live and learn- at least I got to try it out.

Until I roll again-

Alicia

I <3 CC

Super Over!

Well it's finally over, the big game. And whether you rooted for Pittsburgh or Arizona it was a good game. Especially the second half! We had great food and great friends at our house this year. I made Texas chili that we will be eating for a week since the recipe makes so much. And I made mini frittatas that were GREAT! Really easy to make too:

Makes 24 mini frittatas
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1 egg
4 egg whites (bad part of this, I can't figure out what to do with all the left over yolks!)
1/4 cup chopped onion - I've also used dried onion flakes
1/2 cup spinach

Brown onion in skillet add spinach and cook til wilty and yummy looking.

Whip together the egg and egg white. Mix in spinach and onion mixture.

Spoon into non-stick sprayed mini muffin pans filling them 1/2 full.

Bake 15 minutes or until puffy and browned.

-I actually prefer these with ham instead of spinach. I use one of those white packages that you can get for a dollar at the supermarket. Did you know those are 1 serving per package? I had no idea! So, with the ham chopped up- that's when I use dried onion flakes and mix it all together without cooking anything before spooning it into the muffin pans.

*Side note: Okay so mine didn't come out to 24 frittatas. I was really bummed by this. I got 22 and 2 of those were really small. Eh, what can ya do right?


Until I frittata again-

Alicia

I <3>

By the pricking of my thumb, something wicked this way comes

It's a sad day around here. The company is going through hard times (who isn't I guess..) and there were layoffs here. AM was let go......I'm so deeply sadened by this. So sad. Boston was let go too and I was just startin' to like the guy... ;) And others- 5 in total. For a staff of 25 that's a lot. I guess the best way to explain how I'm feeling is calling it "survivors guilt" and I know that is no where NEAR the correct way, but I feel guilty for still being here, but totally grateful for being here. "Layoff guilt"?? I dunno. But just wanted to add a quick entry for this day. It's going to be hard not to see AM everyday... she and I have grown really close in the 14 months we've known each other. But I'm promising here that I'm not letting her friendship go. Not like the other people I've worked with.

So much for the great Superbowl entry I was gonna make today....

Alicia

I miss AM

I wonder as I wander...

This is one of those days when nothing really is going on right now. Same old same old. Remember that old Del Taco commerical? "Same thing, same thing. Day in, day out" Yeah that's me right now. No new fun recipes to share. Don't get me wrong, I'm still in the kitchen. Just making the same old things right now. And as much as I LOVE LOVE LOVE to bake, the boys at home just don't eat a lot of sweets. I made a wonderful white cake last week. Just a single layer 9" white cake. No frosting since I had whipped the batter so much it was a nice lil fluffy cake. "Aren't you a nice lil fluffy cake?! Yes you are! Yes you ARE!" Sorry, was having a walter-dog moment. Well I have one really great 9" pan and two 8" pans and most of the time I use the 9" unless I'm making a cake for an order. So with the leftover batter, since it's supposed to make two 8" cakes, I made mini cupcakes. Well we ate those all in one night! mmm I love minature things...cupcakes, liquor bottles, those desserts they serve in a shotglass... But the poor cake is still sitting there after a week. Really should try and polish that off tonight with all the milk we have. I've added mini cupcakes to the Superbowl party. Brown sugar batter. Mmm I may leave the frosting off just so I don't feel so guilty after I've eaten half of them. Fighting AM for half of them anyway...lol.

Until I wander aimlessly again-

Alicia

I <3 CC

Yay Superbowl! I'm so excited this year. We are having our own Superbowl party at our place this year. Yay! My focus is going to be on the food of course and I'm still looking into new menu items. We have a friend coming over that is diabetic so I'm keeping that in mind also. I do want to make these low carb pizza bites-
You'll need:
Large pepperoni.
Mix together some cream cheese (some is 8oz), 2 eggs, 1/4 cupsugar-free pizza sauce, toss in some oregano and garlice powder. Add CHEESE, mozarella anyone? 1/2 cup please. You can also add in any pizza toppings you like- make it 1/4 cup. Jalapenos (I think I'll add those), bellpeppers, mushrooms. Anything as long as you chop it up small. Diced. NO-minced. There ya go- The use the pepperonis like the crust and put them in the mini muffin cups and add the mixture. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until lightly browned and se in center. Allow to cool for 5 or so minutes so you don't burn the roof of your mouth off. This should make 24 cups.
MMmm!
I'm looking into other options asl well, I'll be sure to add them here incase anyone wants to try. There's also an avacado dip that I'm working on.

Until I mini-muffin pan again-
Alicia

I <3 CC

the weekend is coming! the weekend is coming!

So I made a new brownie recipe! Well memo to me, "chewy" brownies don't do so well in muffin pans. Gotta use the "cake" brownies. Okay okay. So they came out like little cups! And now I'm on a mission to see what great filling(s) I can put in them! Great idea or what?! :) More than just the usual buttercream frosting I mean. Cheesecake! Yes, I think I will try cheesecake next. Mmmm... hee hee-

Until I bake again-

Alicia
I<3 CC

Things to do, plan, buy, shop for...

All of a sudden on a random Monday morning in January, I feel so busy! Not really sure why, maybe because I FINALLY FEEL BETTER! Yeah that could be it. Things running through my head...let's see...off work next Monday- going to AMs house to play with kitties. Superbowl coming up, want to have friends over, problem tho- not a lot of friends, must remedy. Family vacation in June, looking up all fun things to do while camping in North Rim of Grand Canyon and fun things to see while driving to and from. Thinking maybe driving old Route 66 on our way...gotta watch "Cars" again and get inspired. But also want to just see things on the drive that I haven't seen in our million drives on this stretch of I-40 over the last 13 years. Hoping to get that new camera this weekend, REALLY looking forward to that. Found out the camera we are looking at is same camera brother and sis-in-law have and that makes me stoked since their photos always look awesome. Found recipe for dessert-like lemon bars but it's more like margarita bars since there is wonderful wonderful tequila and limes in it. Hope to try this weekend and bring to AMs. Have doctor appt next Monday also, had blood drawn this AM. Arm still a little sore. This coming Friday is blissful 2nd payday of 3 paydays this month! Yay! Going to look at tents for upcoming vacation and local camping in our favorite spot in Manzano Mountains.
Wow reading over this...total gibberish. Oh well, it's just one day..........

Until I run-on again-

Alicia

I<3 CC

oh...so...sick

As of this post I have been sick 5 of the past 6 days. It started over the weekend with the stomach flu, I was well on Monday, then Tuesday got a head cold. Three days of this and I'm starting to feel better. I love Sprite. Never have I loved Sprite so much as these past 6 days!

On my well day I decided to finally make the pumpkin pie I've been meaning to. Not feeling all the way in the baking mood I remembered I had 1 frozen pie shell. Yay! So I make up the filling, having a great time and realized that the filling makes 2 pies. Well great. I really don't think we can eat 2 pies up (sure we COULD but shouldn't). So I pull out the butter and flour to make the pastry. At this point I decide to make little "tarts". I received a great new (2 actually) muffin pan and cut out little pastry circles and made mini pumpkin pies. Baked at 350 degrees for 35 minutes and they are great! A little dollop of cool whip on top and they are good to go. I'm gonna try these little ones next time with apple pie. They are really perfect to pack up for lunch. Or a late evening dessert when you don't want to go overboard. Yay!

*on an end note: I would like to get photos on here but at this time don't have the camera cord to upload, in the future I hope to remedy this as we are in the market for a new camera at this time.

Until I bake again-
Alicia

I <3 CC

Quick & Easy snack

So I love love LOVE to make this little snack. Good thing I don't keep cream cheese on hand all the time or I'd be in trouble!

1 long skinny baguette cut into small slices (under 1 inch)

1 pkg cream cheese. Sometimes the whipped is easier for spreading purposes.
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Chop them up and mix into the cream cheese. (take out the seeds!)

1 pkg sliced turkey. The thinner the slices the better, and I've even gotten that cheapie under a dollar smoked turkey- for this recipe it's perfect! Chop turkey up into little squares or small bit sized pieces.

*things to have on hand: vegetable oil, garlic powder

Turn oven on to 350 degrees. Use a pastry brush (got mine 2 for $1 at the $1 store!) to brush vegetable oil on one side of the bread slices. Sprinkle with little amount of garlic powder. Don't over do this part. Yes I have a love affair with garlic but too much and it's over whelming. Start small and add more the next time you do it. Or go whole hog, it's your bread. :) Place on baking sheet oil/powder side up.
Bake in the oven about 10 minutes. Or until very lightly browned. This is a personal choice.
Side note: I often forget to watch the clock when I put them in so I'm constantly checking them -yeah I got an egg timer for Christmas that has a magnet to stay on the fridge or a rope to hang around my neck but I forget to use that too. Sorry honey!
Take bread out, spread with the chipotle cream cheese and top with the turkey. If you even wanted a little more kick sprinkle a few chile flakes on top.
Enjoy!

(I've also made this without the turkey and chipotle peppers for a super quick snack. )

Until I cook again-

Alicia

I<3 CC