Charlie!

As if it weren't great enough that PW has turned Black Heels into a book, now she has gone and written a childrens' book about Charlie!

It is due out at the end of April, right about the time I should be coming out of my "I just had a baby haze" long enough to blink, and maybe even read through the book once!

I could not be more excited about this book - and I hope it becomes a series.

Thanks, Ree! You made my day!

Nesting?

On top of all of my cleaning, purging, and priming this past weekend I also had the urge (and reason) to cook. I blame hormones. I usually hate cooking.

On Friday afternoon I realized that we had some apples that were ripening too quickly and were getting past the point of edible. I decided to bake something with them, but I didn't want to make an entire pie as I only needed to use 2-3 apples.

I had recently flipped through PW's cookbook and remembered seeing a recipe for French Breakfast Puffs that looked tasty. I found the recipe, decided that adding diced apples would be DEVINE, and set off to make them.

Of course, I first had to call Tina and see if she had eggs because I had none. She did, and there was much rejoicing! (Actually, I had to promise not to send any muffins home with her in order for her to bring me the eggs. Apparently cinnamon-sugar coated muffins are not part of her breakfast diet plan)

I didn't take pictures of the entire process, but here is what the table looked like, and then the finished product. They are as, if not more tasty than they look - and the addition of apples? Fantastic.




Then, as though that wasn't enough, I've made dinner twice in the last two days! Two for two!

Friday night's dinner was a less than stellar chicken, rice, and veggie adventure. I was SO hungry that I couldn't wait for Frank to get home and I started making dinner for us by myself. The veggies and rice were leftovers, so that was easy. I sauteed the chicken in olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and rosemary - and per my usual MO, the chicken was overcooked and dryyyyyyy. Oh well, I tried! Frank dutifully downed his dinner and only spoke of the chicken's dryness after I did.

Saturday night was much more successful! I made another PW recipe, this time it was her chicken spaghetti. We both liked it, but decided that I played it too safe with the peppers. I used the low end suggestions for the quantity of green peppers, onions, and cayenne. Next time I'll be upping all three, and maybe finding a way to work in some Frank's Red Hot. The biggest deal of the evening was that I managed (with a little help from Frank) to break down a chicken! Like a whole chicken! It was kind of fun, though a little disconcerting to hear the bones and ligaments crack....whatever, chicken is tasty.

For now, I'm going to blame this kitchen flurry on hormones and hope that it keeps up for a little while longer. If I can get a few more successful dinners on the table (without crying), I might actually start to have a little confidence in the kitchen.

Here's hoping!

Im Excited About: Sharkbear and Dinosaur Geese Edition

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a 20-something girl living in Montana with a stash of hilarious life stories and fair drawing capabilities?

YOU HAVE?!

Well, you're in luck. Tina showed me this website and it is hysterical. Every post is funny, and sometimes they are so funny that I end up crying.

Here is your warning that her language can occasionally be crude, but the story is always funny.

Hyperbole and a Half

Thanks for the laughs, Allie!

Blog Changes

So, "Cutest Blog On The Blog" decided to change their website and delete all of their templates that people are using now. I got a note telling me I had to change my template before Friday - and it has been an hours long event.

This will do for now, hopefully it will be back to something with a little more character soon!

I hope CBOTB gets their act together soon.

In the Kitchen

I was in the kitchen last week! OK, it was two weeks ago but that isn't the important part - the important part is that I was in the kitchen.

I decided, after days of thinking about it, that I wanted to make oatmeal chocolate cookies. I went to Tasty Kitchen and found a recipe. Tasty Kitchen is a recipe sharing site started by The Pioneer Woman and I'm pretty excited about it. The recipes are from real live people who make this food, and if you register you can comment on and rate the recipes.

There is an entire section devoted to 'slow cooker' meals, and since we just got one, I'll be hitting that area up soon.

Back to the cookies. They were fantastic! So good that I have already shared the recipe with a friend and I intend to make another batch as soon as I can come up with a good enough excuse. So, Tuesday sounds good.

I highly recommend the site and the cookies! And if you are one of those people that has some awesome recipes to share, sign up and share away. The rest of us cooking-deficient peons will thank you if they are easy and tasty!

I'm Excited About: Massage Edition

I'm getting a massage tonight. Need I say more?

I cannot wait, this is about 6 months overdue and if I waited one more day I think my back would have held an outright revolt. I hold most of my tension and stress in my upper back with my legs taking any left over tension and holding it in my quads.

A couple of years ago it was getting close to Christmas and Frank was deciding what gifts he should get for me. I do my best to be straight forward and honest and not desperately hope for things that I've never mentioned to him before - that being said, I'm pretty sure I had said (a few times) I would LOVE a massage, like a real one, with a massage therapist. So, I hoped and waited and ..... did not get a massage. Want to know why?

Because Bill Simmons' wife, The Sports Gal, who occasionally writes for his columns listed a massage gift certificate as "cop out" gift (Week 13) for wives/girlfriends/etc! I was furious! I love spa gift certificates and I really do want it. I wrote a mean email to Sports Guy and told him that his wife ruined my Christmas.

After that I told Frank, flat out, that a massage was a wonderful gift and that I would be happy to get one every Christmas, birthday, anniversary, or for any other gift-giving occasion.

I'm glad we got that settled.

Tonight I'm going to Massage Envy - I think I've mentioned them before. If you've never had a massage I recommend you call them to schedule an appointment because they run a $50 special for first time clients. $50 for a 50 minute massage - woo!

Almost There

My paper has been written, printed, scribbled on, edited, and printed again. Now there are two copies in my bag and I'm ready to hand them in, do my 5 minutes presentation (well, I'm lying...I'm not ready for the presentation...I'm waiting until after lunch then I'll reread the paper and make my speaking notes), and be finished with grad school!

Then I'm getting in the car and driving to Cary, NC going to sleep, waking up and driving to N. Litchfield Beach, SC and hanging with the family for a couple days. For my grandfather's 80th birthday party actually.

I had a little trouble packing last night...what does one wear to an 80 year old's birthday party? I'm hoping the answer is already in my suitcase because there isn't much I can do if it isn't.

For now all of you should click here to see two of my favorite pictures of 2009. He isn't mine, but he looks just like mine and it makes me melt.

PW's Chicken Pot Pie

I made dinner last night (and cookies)! It was my first attempt at making something from the new Pioneer Woman Cookbook and it was a smashing success!

First I made the dough for the top crust, from scratch! It was easy and tasty in the end

Second, I chopped a lot of carrots and onions - Tina later pointed out that I could have used my food processor to do this, but these are the mistakes of those who don't spend much time in their own kitchens...

The recipe calls for carrots, onion, peas, and celery - we forgot the celery, but Frank was ok with that because he isn't a celery fan...next time I'll say I "left it out on purpose"

The chicken cooked alone as the veggies sauteed in a nice pan of butter. mmmmm

Having the pictures in PW's cookbook really helped; there were times when I thought "this can't be right" but the pictures in the cookbook were just like what I saw in front of me, so I kept going!

The above picture is of the thick inside goodness of the pie, and it is where I stopped and went to sewing. I just wrapped up the dough and the pie in plastic wrap and threw it in the fridge.

Frank says we needed proof that I really did make this dinner (from scratch), so here I am putting the pie in the oven!

This is the end product, and it is tasty, too! I had extra filling and extra pastry so I made mini-pot pies in a muffin tin.

On Twitter it is "Follow Friday"

but for me it will be "Follow Sunday." I got started blogging because I found so many great blogs that I enjoy reading. Here are a few that got me going:

Sports: I guess the first thing I read that was blog-like is Bill Simmons' column on Page 2 of Espn.com. He is entertaining and often does 'mail bags' but I've mostly moved on to his podcasts because I can listen to them on the metro

Adoption: The Whites started a blog when they began the process of adoption from China and they are now blogging the process of their SECOND adoption from China and while we all wait for their 3rd daughter to come home, they post updates on their three adorable kids! Their blog started my adventure into other adoption blogs - I read a few blogs about families who have or are in the process of adopting children from China and Africa. Something about these families coming together is fascinating to me.

Cooking: I don't cook, but that doesn't stop me from reading about it! My friend Megan blogs about cooking and she is also responsible for introducing me to The Pioneer Woman. That blog is an entire universe in itself - and she has a basset hound, so that keeps me coming back! PW has a cookbook coming out soon and I promised Frank that I would learn to cook out of it if he bought it for me.

Friends: Tina has a blog about life and a blog about crafts. Her blog is where I occasionally guest-blogged before starting my own. It also makes me want to read more books and do more craftsy things...but that rarely happens.
Lydia has a blog about dogs and that girl does her research! She is a great go-to for dog health, food, toys, etc. We recently bought Hamilton some new toys based on Lydia's post on puzzle toys and they have been a huge hit!
Theodora is "Losing Weight in the City" and has lost 43 pounds to date! Watching her journey has been inspiring (and a bit shaming). The girl up and moved to NYC - the city of overindulgence - and has completely changed her lifestyle. I think she should change her blog to "Losing Weight with Guacamole" :)

My Favorite: There is a family in West Dallas, TX and they have absolutely captured my attention. I don't know how to describe them other than Godly and amazing - the blog is called "A Long Way from the Theta House"- go ahead and read it, I dare you to not be hooked.

I keep hoping that some kind of pattern will appear in my blogging so that I can have some kind of directions...so far I have a lot of travel, a spouse in law-school, and sports. We'll see if anything comes of it, or it continues to be a "what are the Webbs up to" kind of blog.