Yay work!

I am really upbeat today. Not only is it B-E-A-U beautiful outside, I found out at work today that I had awesome numbers for the month. For those of you not in Vending Management, the business is all about good numbers. Meeting food cost, labor, etc. January wasn't so great for me, but February was right on track! Woot!

I am also in a great mood because even though I worked a long 14 hour day yesterday, I got a lot of great compliments on some garnishing and table presentations that I did for a really important meeting on campus. Even though I may not be a practicing chef anymore, I occasionally help with some events and it is always nice to get compliments on my "work".

Here are some pics:

These really aren't some of the best that I have done, but the event coordinators were blow away by everything (I also did a pretty fruit display, but I don't have a pic :(.) which is always nice to hear.

One of these days I will try and post a blog with more food pics since they are kind of like my "art".

Happy Friday!

My wedding album

Just over two years ago I was married. It was a great day, and I owe a lot of that to my fabulous wedding photographer, Sheila. She was the perfect person to capture all my favorite and crazy details of the day from my beaded bouquet to the 350 mini wedding cakes my mom and I made. She also put out quite an amazing album for Nathan and I. Recently, I have been telling more and more past and present brides about the album. Even though taking pictures of it with my crappy cell phone camera doesn't give it near the justice it deserves, I still think it is pretty sweet! Enjoy!

Now that you are all totally in love with Sheila, here is her website: http://www.goportraitgallery.com/. It has more of her amazing work and I am still honored to have two photos still on the wedding page. Plus, if you venture over to the family page, you will see the super cute picture of my grandparents with all of my mom's brothers and sisters.

I can only hope that one of these days Sheila will follow in the footsteps of other great photographers like Browers (http://www.browersphotographyblog.com/) and SJ Macky (http://sjmacky.blogspot.com/) and start a blog. Come on, Sheila, you know you want to!

I need more!

After two days of only having about 10 new blogs on Google Reader, I have decided that I need more! So please post your blog or blogs you love to read in my comments section. They can be personal, money, cooking, or whatever! Please help feed my new found addiction!

Favorite things (part 5 of 83)

I think a favorite things post is long overdue. Part 5 of 83 is a favorite thing that was very recently come into my life. Drum roll please.......

My new coffee mug! No my 8 year cousin didn't paint it, I did. It was purposely painted with annoying colors and dots because I planned on taking it to work and annoying my boss a bit with a cute but a little ugly big mug. But after discovering that it fits perfectly under my Tassimo, I think I may just have to keep it at home.

The only part I don't like about it is the purple came out darker than I thought it would. Other than that I think it is pretty cool and a little vintage looking.

Not to shabby on the inside either, right?

Yay for bright big coffee mugs!

Oh and another yay for having the company of super cool ladies while painting the mug!

Another weekend didn't go as planned.

Freaking floor drain didn't get fixed correctly last Saturday. Grrrr. Luckily for us, when our neighbor (who actually lived in our house for a short time) saw a plumber poking around outside she came over and informed him that we do have outside access to the lines and she pointed him in the right direction. None of us found the access, but we will! The progress was of course stopped by the fact that it snowed again. I had no idea that was supposed to happen.

But anyway, Nathan and I were supposed to make a last minute winery trip with his parents, but because of the drain, we didn't. So we started cleaning which was become an every week thing due to one major factor: dog hair. Roxie sheds just as heavily in winter as she does in summer and her hairs were staring to be long.

So we finally broke down and took her a groomer. After 3 hours of doggie day spa treatment, Roxie is adorable, soft, happy, and (for at least the time being) will not be leaving little white hairs all over my house. She really doesn't look that different except for the fact that she has a wayyyy smaller tail. Who knew she had so much hair on her tail! And we can see some new spots all over her body.

These are not the best cute pics of her, so here are a couple bonus ones of Roxie from last weekend, in one of her favorite places...the car!

Roxie is really super cute with a bandanna. Don't you think?

So much...

What a crazy weekend! After the plumbers fixed the floor drain issue, Nathan and I got ambitious and drove all the way down to Dexter afterall. Short trip but super fun. We ate at this total out in the middle of nowhere place called Cowtown. Cowtown had great catfish and sides, I am sure the steak is good too, but I was in the mood for good ole fried fish.

On Sunday we got back home just before noon which was just enough time for me to unpack, repack and shower before heading to KC for a short business trip. What a crazy few days! I am soooo happy to be home and even happier because this week Nathan is on day shift so we get to see each other and I get to cook!

I plan on posting my fabulous menu for this week so stay tuned!!!

Not the best day for Teresa and family

Ok, so earlier this week I posted about my washer needing to be fixed because it was leaking. Well, the washer is fine. The floor drain in the basement is clogged. Nathan and I being smart and ambitous (and cheap) decide to try and fix the problems ourselves. We rented a mini rooter from Home Depot, got it home and tried to fix the clog. Father in law comes over because he is the neighberhood for work and tries to lend a hand. What a mess. I suggest that we use our Christmas present wet dry vac and get some of the water out so we can maybe see the problem a little better or at the very least the guys wouldn't have to keep sticking their hands in ice cold nasty water.

Great idea until father in law doesn't latch the vac, drops it and water goes everywhere. I instantly laugh, because honestly when black nasty water goes all over your basement you really have three options: 1. laugh 2. cry 3. curse. Laughing was the first thing that came to mind.

We seemed to be making some progress, so we tried using a plunger just in case it was a clog that could come up and again me made some progress, then all of a sudden major back up.....and I won't go into detail and gross anyone out, but let me just say it was bad, really, really bad. By this time our 4 hour rental is almost up on the mini rooter and Nathan had to go to work. Um, isn't this the kind of thing you can skip work for? Really. But he insisted on going.

I finally mustered up enough courage to put on old clothes and go back to the basement and try to shift the washer even further away from the drain and clean up. I can't believe I was able to do this. I dumped bleach on the floor and got up what I could with a towel and old mop combo. Not much left, but still not real clean. I think to myself, I just need a few rags and I could get the rest of this up.....

The next part of the story just shows how freakin crazy I am. I took off my shirt, shook my head and put it on the floor. So there I am, shirtless in old jeans and mud boots, cleaning up the floor.

At least it is semi clean for when the plumber comes tomorrow. But it looks like no visiting friends this weekend....unless the problem gets fixed quickly and we can hit the road at a decent time. But it is really doubtful. Plus if we have to drop some obscene amount of money for this to get fixed we really shouldn't be making road trips.

Well, what can you do? Shit happens. We shall see what the plumbers say tomorrow.

150% increase, what gives?

Last night was quite the night. I posted yesterday that we were going to my favorite Mexican place because of $2 margaritas that were soooo good. Well, we get there and the price went up to 2 for $5. Yes, it is only a 50 cent increase. But these margaritas were $1 4-5 months ago. 150% increase in 4-5 months!?! How riduculous! I know the increased price of corn is probably affecting Mexican restaurants hard, but come on...leave my tequila alone!

Plus, they changed the salsa and the portion of my favorite meal was changed. We still had a great time, but all the changes definately bummed me out.

It also bummed me out when I face planted on a side walk at my friend's Dan house. I blame my clogs and the curb and not the fact that I had a pitcher of margaritas by myself and a corona.

IHO of long posts... a short one

My last few posts have been LOOONNNG. So here is a quick post to lighten the load.

Tomorrow to Sunday is going to be fabulous! Tomorrow is V day and although I admit that V day is a total commercial holiday, I still love it! The last two V day's my husband and I have shared have been low key and fabulous! Our first married V day we had a wonderul time eating Qdoba. The second we eat White Castles and rented a couple good movies. This year we are going to one of my favorite Mexican restaurants with friends and $2 maragaritas!!!! Nathan asked off that night so we could do something and I took a vacation day on Friday so I could stay out late! We both so rarely have a weeknight together that this is truly a reason to celebrate!!

Friday I plan on totally taking advantage of my day off sleeping in until at least 9, doing some light grocery shopping (a favorite pastime) and just hanging around the house.

Saturday we are heading down to Dexer, MO to stay at a friend's place and just hang out, play games, and generally enjoy each other's company.

Sunday I leave for my first short business trip! While it will be jammed packed and lots of time in a car I am still excited!

So much to look forward too this weekend!

The story of Teresa, the awarding winning actress

Taking blog requests is cool in my book. And after me sharing a tidbit about my past on my favorite forum, one of my ultra cool, fabulous readers requested more info.
I used to act in plays, musicals, and murder mysteries. I LOVED it. For awhile I can say this was a true passion on mine.
As a child I was pretty theatrical. I had two older sisters in the arts so I got a fair amount of exposure to plays even with living in a small town. I would see plays and recite lines. I would renact favorite moments from books and movies. I was super entertaining to almost all of my friends. I went to small private school that didn't have any kind of theatre program but they did have "speech" competitions. There were basicly kids competing from various schools doing monologues. I did every event I could. Drama, Comedy, Duet, etc. I would get close to perfect scores, if not perfect, everytime. I loved every moment of it. Besides that I did church plays and just kind of waited out getting done with junior high so I could go to the big public high school and do real shows.
In high school, the once a year fall play consumed me. from August to November all I could think was play, play, play.... My freshmen year I had the great priveledge of having a named part in "Dracula, the Musical?" even though my singing totally sucked. I envied the lead role Seniors and Juniors and yelled and screamed when they took the final bow at the curtain call. They rocked. My sophmore year was great too, I had a ton of fun in the play version of "Get Smart".
Between shows I worked some murder mystery dinner theatres. This were so fun and I got paid to do them! I did everything from the train shows to B&B shows. The roles were all improv, I just had a list of things I had to get across and things I wouldn't reveal until the end of the night. Those nights were sooooo awesome. And while playing dead while people poke you and yell is one of the hardest things ever, it was still so cool.
One summer I even went to a theatre camp/seminar in Michigan. It was so great. 3 weeks of acting nonstop and at the end they picked one student as the best of all of them to come back the next year. Guess what? It was me! I beat out all the others from around the country! When they annouced my name I was shocked and so happy. It was too cool and the following year I came back to the camp for free.
Then my Junior year started and I played one of the leading roles in a hilarious show called "Faith County". What is note worthy about this show is that was in 99 and to this day, people still come up to me and my friends when we are in our hometown because they recognize us, tell us how funny it was. My Senior year I was a title role, which is one of the most amazing things ever, even for small high school plays. I starred in "Lady Dracula", which wasn't the greatest of plays, but getting to be a villian is the most fun ever. And the last night of the show when I took my final bow I realized that people were screaming and cheering loudly for me. Nothing can beat that feeling.
After wrapping LB it was time to seriously start thinking about college. Although I love theatre, I knew that I wasn't cut out to do it in college...too competitive. And even though I was told I was the best actress in school, college was a different story, those were going to be people that really knew what they were doing. Sure, I had one that ultra cool award in Michigan, but what did that mean really?
But after hearing about some auditions for full scholarships from a totally overbearing teacher, I went to one and auditioned. What I thought would be a waste of a Saturday turned into a two year full ride as long as I participated in all shows in some form or another.
The first show auditions came up quickly. I was totally apprehensive but still gave it my all. If I didn't make the play then I would have to paint sets or something and I really didn't want to do that. To my utter surprise, I got the lead! My first show in college and I was the lead!!!! I was Ruth in the drama "Book of Days". While the show itself was weird, it was amazing. I embrace so much of the character that I became a little Ruth myself. With that show under my belt I did about 4 more in the short time I was at that college. Each role was fabulous and I had a wonderful ensemble that I acted with in each of them.
Unfortunately, things can't stay that great forever. I finished my two year degree and transferred to a University. My fear of sucking consumed me and I didn't do any shows there.
I still love acting and would eventually like to get into some type of community theatre. And as much as I would love to try and "make it" no way that will ever happen. I am not about to move to New York or California and get lipo to drop 100 lbs.
No thanks....I will just stick with my great memories of the shows, people, and those wonderful cheers.

Favorite things (part 4 of 83)

In August if you would have told me I would call this one of my favorite things on Feb. 13 I would have probably slapped you in the face. Well, not really, even in my most negative times I am not that violent. :)
What a build up....anyway, it's my job! Crazy I know. If any of you were part of my life a few months ago you know that my job totally sucked. I was over qualified for what I was doing and under appreciated by patrons. Plus, when I would meet someone for the first time I was ashamed to tell them what I was doing. But now is totally different.
I can proudly say that I am the Manager of all the St. Louis vending and K-8 school accounts for my company. Dream job? No way. Do I still long for a job where I can use my public speaking and creative skills and be making twice my salary? Absolutely. But for this time in my life my job is pretty freakin sweet.
For one, I went to school for management. I even got a great job right out of college. I was making good money working for the 5th (or something like that) highest volume Red Lobster's in the world. I had over 100 people under me. I was losing weight, getting married soon, and living in a fabulous apartment. But I was totally miserable. I was so stressed that I would cry almost every night after work or sometimes in the bathroom at work. I could only think about my job on my days off and couldn't even put work behind me to enjoy a bridal shower.
About five weeks before my wedding I put in my notice. My boss was disappointed and told me I was doing a good job. He tried to convince me to stay 6 more months just to see if things got better. I said no, I was miserable. He then told me if I stuck around until right before the wedding I would get a decent quarterly bonus. But I just couldn't, I couldn't do that. All I did was sleep and work. In fact, that is why I lost so much weight, because I was too stressed to stop and eat. After explaining that I gave him 3 weeks notice. I left there having no idea what I would do after the wedding. I didn't care.
Three jobs later, here I am. Even though I have been with my current company almost two years, I am finally starting to really enjoy being there. They acknowledge a great potential in me and when my job came availiable they didn't even open it to anyone else. They just put me in it, which was a big compliment.
One thing that rocks about it is my schedule. While so many of my friends think I am crazy for waking up at 4:15 am and getting to work around 5:15am I really like my schedule. Most days I can leave right at 1:30 and on a totally busy/crazy day which rarely happens I leave at 3 by the latest.
The other element that I love is working one on one with only a handful of clients. When I was cooking I had to deal with sometimes 100 different people everyday. And usually not people that were in a good mood.
Sometimes my job gets pretty stressful but now my worst day doesn't even seem so bad. And when times are tough my awesome boss steps in and does what he can to make things not so rough.
Well, I actually have three bosses. Usually have multiple bosses is a bad thing, but not for me. My immediate boss is the one I was just referring to and again let me stress that he is awesome. I work on his account's campus and we actually share part of an office space. He has really been supportive and helpful in my transition to this much higher up position. He constantly pushes me out the door saying, "Leave! Seriously, you have worked hard and long enough today....the rest can wait until tomorrow." He also always make sure I don't have too much on my plate. We help each other out and really make a fabulous team.
My second boss doesn't really deal with me all that much except with a few key items from each account that he oversees. He too is good to work for because he is very encouraging.
My third boss is the big one. He is the District Manager for all of the St. Louis. And while I don't need to report to him directly on most issues, he is my boss for my vending accounts. We've had our ups and downs since I have been with the company, but today I received the nicest email from him:
"Sounds good. Keep me posted. Also I wanted to say THANKS FOR DOING SUCH A GREAT JOB. I enjoy working with you more closely. You are a true professional."
He typed in all caps! Compliments from your boss are always so much better when they are in all caps. Plus, I love the phrase "true professional". I think for a 25 year old that is fresh in the game this is a truly great and hard to live up to phrase.
Yep, job is good if you can't tell or have poor reading comprehension. Thanks as always for reading!

My ultimate blogging compliment!

Many thanks and appreciation goes out to Jenn (http://ourlifeastheadamsfamily.blogspot.com/), who I do believe is the first one to add my blog under their daily blog visits section! Yes, I am a nerd, but this excites me. That means others could be finding my blog and stopping by for a read! Sweet!

One of these days I will take the next step and make one of those sections...

Ok, nerd moment over, you can resume your regular blogging!

The experience of pumpkin cobbler

I was sitting in my living room with crabby dog Roxie catching up on DVR'ed Sex and the City reruns that I have seen a thousand times but still love. The particular episode that I was watching was the one where Charlotte is dating a pastry chef. I was being all comfortable and lazy when pastry chef starts talking about his experimental date tart with pumpkin custard. The it hit me like a ton of bricks...my pumpkin craving was back!





You see all fall and winter I eat, baked, drank, and dreamed just about everything pumpkin. I seriously love pumpkin anything. But I was "pumkinizing" everything so much that I got seriously burnt out on it a few days before Christmas. But now it was back!





I immediately got up, totally forgetting how much I was enjoying Sex and the City and started looking for my pumpkin cobbler recipe. It was my old stand by all Fall, but I was still trying to jazz it up a bit and add my own Teresa "spin" to it.





Of course, I couldn't find the recipe. Why? Well even though I have a decent collection of cookbooks, even after my recent finding of good new homes to about 12 to save book shelf space and decutter, I still have a problem with keeping my favorite recipes organized. Normally how it works is I will find a recipe online or come up with an idea for one. I will put some notes in one of my five smaller notebooks lying around. I find it ok the first few times I make it, but then I either tear it out and stick the paper in a random notebook or lose track of it in the notebook with all of my grocery lists, menu ideas, and bill paying schedules.





But I don't dispair, I call my mother. No, she doesn't have the pumpkin cobbler recipe. She has a pumpkin cheesecake bar recipe that I wanted to steal the topping from to experiment with on the cobbler. After she finds that recipe and we make some small talk, I continue to hunt for the cobbler recipe. I check all my books, random recipe computer files, and all my notebooks. I finally find it in one of the notebooks between an old shopping list and bill paying notes from September.





I start pulling out bowls and my canisters and I think, "Geez it will really suck if after all this I work I don't have all the ingredients." And that was the kiss of death. I open up the carton of eggs and see 2. I check the recipe...I need 3. WHAT!?! My supply of eggs is usually a dozen plus because I hate moments like this. Then I remember Nathan has been up early this week so he was probably making himself eggs for breakfast. Grrrr....





I stand there for a second pondering.....do I REALLY need 3 eggs? I mean it is baking, so things need to more exact, but this isn't a real precise recipe. I say to myself, "Oh screw it! I am not running out to the store now!" And I begin to break and beat my two eggs. As I am getting everything together I am thinking about my experiment. I decide that with the new topping the little cobblers will look great in my little red hardly ever used ramekins.





After I get the perfected filling in the ramekins, I begin on the topping. I realize the recipe my mom gave me was wayyy too much so I try to half it. Since butter/margine is such a pain to measure out from the tub (because of course I was out of the sticks too!) I eyeball it. I use wayyy too much butter but I try to balance it out with a little more flour and brown sugar. Methinks that will work.





I throw them into the oven and half a glass of wine later they are done.

Voila! And upon first taste inspection I would say the new topping is pretty good! Not the best I have ever made but I still love it!

If you are still reading this long ass post, here is the recipe:

Teresa's oh so fabulous pumpkin cobbler

Yields: 4 ramekins with extra (can be used up a few days later) or a 9x13 baking dish

Start by preheating the oven to 350. Lightly grease ramekins or dish with butter.

Filling:

3 (or 2 lol) eggs beaten

15 oz canned pumpkin

12 oz evap milk

1 c. sugar

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp plus a little extra vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients together and pour in dish or ramekin (about 2/3 full)

Topping:

1 c. Flour

1/3 c. Brown Sugar

5 tbsp butter, soft but not melted

A little more cinnamon

Mix b. sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Cut in but with a fork until crumbly. If using ramekins you will have a little extra you can use later with extra batter.

Put topping on filling, bake 30-40 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the middle that comes out clean will indicate cobble is done. Let cool. I think the cobbler is best served only slightly warm.

I hope you enjoy! Even if you don't, your kitchen will smell amazing afterwards so it will all be worth it!

Chai Tea OVERLOAD and another favorite thing (part 3 of 83)

I have been going overboard on Chai Tea Lattes lately. I have drank five since Sunday night, which for the usually coffee fanatic I am, this is a lot. Luckily, none of them have been out, they have all been brewed in my amazingly wonderful Tassimo.

For those of you that don't know the pure of awesomeness of the Tassimo, go to there website and read up on it next time you are bored. It makes tea, hot chocolate, coffee, lattes, and now chai!

I am actually pretty picky about chai lattes. Most of the time they are really toooo sweet or too heavy on a tea flavor. The Tassimo ones are pretty good though. Of course I would take a fresh coffeehouse chai latte over a homemade one any day, but still they are pretty darn good considering they make a good size mug full for 63 cents (thank you Target for the lower price in store that online!) versus 3 plus dollars. Of course, I don't figure in the $170 dollars we paid for the Tassimo when we bought it with wedding gift cards ;)

Another good thing is that the Tassimo ones are less in calories and sugar vs. an instant mix I get at Trader Joes. Still a good substiute, but I am really digging this new chai. It is definately a favorite thing for this week. Obviously, because I just started sipping number 6. Hehe.

When is enough enough?

Backstory:

I had a friend, lets call him Guy, who I was inseparable with in high school. We did everything together and did it well. Guy and I were co-editors-in-chief of the school newspaper, president and vice president of several different clubs, and he directed the plays and musicals that I starred in. While we both had a lot of different friends and would always hang out with others, we were still very close. I would have done anything for Guy. But Guy being a guy, he didn't always express to me that he would do anything for me and some of my friends thought he abused our friendship by taking advantage of me. I never really felt this way, but everyone is entitiled to their own opinons.



We went our separate ways in college, but still managed to talk pretty frequently and get together when we could. When I got engaged Guy was so very happy for me. He didn't make it to the wedding because he had joined the military, but their didn't seem to be a whole lot he could do about that.



Over the summer Guy called me because he was in town and said he really wanted me to join him at a friend's Bday celebration. I reluctantly agreed just because I was never really friends with this friend of Guy's or any of the people that would be at the party. Guy was late to the party so I was left to make awkward conversation with the others. He finally showed up with another friend who was driving him around because he was drunk out of his mind and still drinking. Plus he was smoking like a chimney.

I honestly don't hold anything aganist anyone that smokes or drinks if they do it in a respectiful (and safe!) manner, but he definately wasn't. In addition, he was always that person that lectured others for smoking and drinking so it was very hypocritical of him doing all that.

Guy then did something stupid. He hit his friend in the head in a semi-joking manner. Well, Guy's friend said it hurt him and they stayed mad at each other the rest of the night. As we moved the party to a local restaurant to get a late meal, Guy stayed outside mostly refusing to come in until his friend apoligized to him. Basicly, Guy was being a huge, drama filled asshole. I said good-bye to him that night and as I went home I was really angry at Guy for being so disrespectful. I don't think it is right to cause uneccessary drama with a good friend and I although I can certainly drink my fair share too, doing it to the point of being obnixous and dangerous is just not ok in my book. After that I decided that maybe Guy and I were a little too different now and I wasn't going to call him anymore.

Fast forward to this weekend. I am at a restaurant in my hometown and Guy's brother happens to be in a large group of people I was eating dinner with. I over hear him say that Guy is home from the military (sounds like permanently) and is going to be staying in the area for awhile.

So now I am perplexed. After our last time spent together with him being such an asshole I didn't really want to see him. But on the other hand I do. He was a good friend for so long and what happened with him friend really didn't have anything to do with me, other than me just observing it and not agreeing with the way he was treating his friend.

In the back of my mind I really want to see him, but why does part of me think that I may just get hurt trying to be his friend again? And do I really want to associate with someone that makes bad decision in regards to drinking?

So when is enough enough? When do you stop investing in a friendship and pull the plug? Any advice on the matter is encouraged.

Oh, and thanks for reading this MEGA HUGE post. :)

Laundry, in-laws, and taxes, oh my!

Yesterday was the first day since I started the blog that I didn't post a new and exciting post. While I know that lots of people that write blogs don't update them daily I am still kind of bummed because I was wanting to be dedicated to at least write something daily. But yesterday was a busy day.



First, I had water in my basement a few days ago. That sucks. I (yes, me) determined that it wasn't the actualy basement getting water but the washer was leaking. So even though that is no good it will probably be less to fix than some kind of major issue in the basement. However, my whole schedule was thrown off track because Sunday is laundry and grocery shopping day. So with a week's worth of work clothes dirty for both Nathan and I we headed over to the in-laws house.

Now I love my in-laws. They are really good people at heart. We don't always get along, but overall we have a good relationship. We especially have a good relationship when I visit their house. Being a semi-poor, semi-newlywed certain things I really appreciate about their house:
1. Lots of name brand snacks. I don't keep a lot of snacks in the house because they are expensive and unhealthy. And even when we do buy them, I am wayyyy to cheap to buy the fancy namebrand ones that are oh so delicious. But the in-laws are big grocery shoppers, so they are never lacking this stuff.
2. Flat screen TVs, satelite dish, tons of movies, etc. I think those things kind of explain themselves.
3. Home cooked meals. While it is apparent I enjoy cooking, I enjoy it even more when someone talented (like my father in law) does it for me and I don't pay for it! Throw in not having to do much clean up and I am sold!

So not only did we get food, TV, more food and laundry done, but we got to spend some quality time with them which is always good too. It put me in a good mood for the bad news I got today.

Oh taxes.....we used father in law's accountant this year because of buying a house and we wanted to make sure we got all our deductions. Well, he called me today asking me about a couple items because it "wasn't looking good for us". EEkk. He wanted me to look at a couple things from closing on our home and if I didn't see any money paid to A, B or C we may have to pay 1300 or so between MO and Federal.

In keeping with my recent new found positive attiude I was upset about this for about 2 minutes. Did we think we were going to be getting a lot back since we bought a house this year? Yes. Did we already have the money spent? No, we definatley already had plans for it, but we waited to purchase our plans. Thank God for that.

Nathan is going to go over there tomorrow and make sure we didn't forget to give him something since we have a ton of 1099s. But it is out of my hands now, if we have to pay, we have to pay, period. Not much I can do to fix that sp I may as well not get upset about it.

Hopefully my readers will have better luck than me on washing machines and tax refunds this week. :)

Pomegranate Mojitos and not remembering how many you've had

Ok, in case you didn't know, Pomegranate Mojitos are incredibly fabulous. They are made even more fabulous when you can enjoy one in a bar with swings, stimulating people, and lots and lots of laughter.

Thank god I could stay awake until after 1 am last night. And while I was embarrassed for not knowing how many drinks I had (only 2 by the way) I know it was because of the great conversation and not me being tipsy!

So GNO girls (especially the late night ones) my hat goes off to you for a wonderful time. :)

Stuck at work

Ick, it is 3 pm and I should have been gone about two hours ago. I hate waiting on people especially when I have plans to go out tonight.

Oh, and I think my favorite forum just got blocked. :( I normally don't get on it at work but since I am here killing time it would be nice to be able to browse.

I am starting to feel the fact that I have been here for over ten hours.

Favorite things (part 2 of 83)

Well, today's addition of favortie things features someone that probably should have been featured in the first post; however this "thing" isn't too blog supportive so I suppose it isn't too bad to put him in part 2.

Blogging world, meet my husband, Nathan. :)

He is a 25 year old amazing person that has taught me a lifetime's worth of life and love within a few years. Not only does he love me unconditionally, but he is truly sentimental and kind to everyone he meets. One of his best qualities is that he deeply cares for each and everyone of his family and friends even when they haven't always given him the same respect.

He takes my competitive nature with stride, and isn't too embarassed to admit that I sometimes wear the pants in the family. He does little things to help me out/cheer me up all the time.

He is a master of pancakes, cornbread, and flourless peanut butter cookies and occasionally the grill when I let him near it.

Anyone who tries to steal him after this post will have to deal with my scary side. ;)

When life throws lemons at you go ahead and be pissed, lemons to the head hurt.

Just when things are going good for me job wise, poor Nathan hits a big bump. The company he works for annouced today that no one on salary would receive a raise this year. He was so upset. I actually wasn't surprised because I wasn't counting on much of raise for him. I mean, last year he got like 1% or some measly number.

But he is understandably upset, and although he has casual been job hunting before, he is now hard core.

I honestly believe the situation is going to come out positive and even though it may take awhile he will get a job with better money and hours, because what he currently has is crap. He is between 5,000 to 10,000 under paid for this area and he works evenings, the complete opposite of me.

If anyone needs to hire an awesome corporate or call center trainer, let me know.

It is a Super Tuesday!

Well, it's Super Tuesday. For me it is in more way than one. Fat Tuesday has been a big deal for me ever since I discovered how much I love Cajun cooking. Usually I would have a big Fat Tuesday dinner at my place that would involve lots of friends an TONS of food and yummy Hurricanes. However, this year due to crazy work schedules for Nathan and I the Fat Tuesday dinner has to be delayed. I am thinking about doing it sometime in March over a weekend. I know, I know, it won't be the same, but at least I will get to cook some fabulous food with close friends.

Even though the party isn't happening tonight, the idea of Fat Tuesday still brings a smile to my face. So in honor of that here is the Jambalya recipe that has never done me wrong. It is a collection of a couple different recipes I have found over the past couple of years altered to meet my personal tastes. I.e. no yucky celery. Although I make this a whole heck of a lot spicier. Just taste it as you cook it and decide for yourself if you need more heat. I purposely left it a little milder so as not to kill anyone.

Jambayla for Four:

2-3 Andouille sausages links

8 oz of salad shrimp or any cooked shrimp without (If we are hard for money anytime I make this I swap out cooked chicken cubes for shrimp, but it is not near as good)

1 tsp Cajun Seasoning

Olive oil (a couple tablespoons)

1 medium onion

2 bell peppers (I normally use one red and one green)

Garlic (4 cloves or 2 tsp granulated)

2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. cayenne

1/2 tsp. season salt

A couple dashes of Worchestire sauce

12 oz Beer (any pale beer or lager)

1 tbsp. better than boulion chicken mixed with water (or can use chicken broth, but you get a much higher and stronger flavor with this awesome product!)

1 1/2 c. Instant White rice

1. Cut Andouille into small discs. Drizzle olive oil in pan, brown Andouille with Cajun Seasonings, just a couple minutes.

2. While Andouille is working, cut peppers and onions to quarter size pieces. Remove Andouille from pan and set aside. Saute onions and peppers 3 minutes.Add chopped garlic unless you are using granulated.

3. Stir in drained tomatoes, rest of seasonings, and andouille.

4. Add liquid ingredients and bring to a boil.

5. Cut off heat, add rice and shrimp. Let rice cook through. Very little liquid should remain as this is a more traditional Jambayla. Top with hot sauce if desired.

And there you go! It is an easy recipe! If you can saute veggies and cook rice you can easily make this.

Feel free to post questions.

My blogging frustration

Ok, so if you scroll down you will see that I made my first post. Yay me! But with this post came much frustration. So much frustration that the creation of the last blog involved three cups of coffee with yummy flavored creamer, 1 1/2 Schlafly pale beers, at least one hour of being upset because I couldn't get pictures in the blog successfully, one venting post on the my favorite forum, at least two comments from husband about how he "didn't get the whole blog thing".

Well, I got pics to post, obviously, but damn blogger why can't I add more than five pics at once and why is it so difficult to move them! Yesterday I took a dozen pics showing how I make these yummy cookies. And stupid blogger won't let me easily put them in order!!!! WTF!?! Plus, the pics are blurry, that really bothers me, but not to the point that I won't post them.

Worst part of all blogger makes me feel stupid for not being able to figure these things out myself. I am not usually this scary negative, I don't know if I can continue this blog if I get so cranky.

Favorite things (Part 1 of 83)

Ok, well, I started this blog so everyone could be oh so impressed with my life (not really). Honestly, this whole blog thing seems to be the cool thing to do and I am always trying to be more cool.

I am thinking that most of my readers either won't know me or know very little about me, so for my first post I decided that there is no better way for my readers to get to know me than through a few of my favorite things. So this post is the first in a series of 83, because 83 is a cool random number. :)

I spend a good part of the day Sunday taking pics of stuff around the house I really love. Unfortuately, I have no digital camera except for the one on my phone so the pictures are a little crappy looking. I apoligize, but hey, you will get the idea.




Yep, it is a stove. Exciting, I know. But in the past few years of cooking professionally and not so professionally I have tried to expand my culinary horizons and a good stove is key to this. And luckily I have a great one. Gas stoves are awesome. I still fear that one day there will be a gas leak and I will die a painful, exploding death, but oh well.
This is Roxie. She is a huge PITA but I still love her. She's some kind of English Setter mix, but I definately see Lab too. She is so much of a favorite thing that she gets three pictures!
Even with being in a house with hardwood for 6+ months she still can't keep her stance.
Yep, she's a cutie.
My never been used, fave Christmas gift---a firepit. yes, it is on the living room floor at the moment. One of these days it will be brave enough to go into the wild of our yard. One of these days......
I am a game freak. I am super competitive and all of my friends love playing any kind of game with me because I make them roll laughing. While it may seem corny to some, I love board games. Spend $25 on one and you have countless nights you may never forget with friends, complete strangers, and your significant other that you threatened witholding sex to at least twice within one game of Monopoly because they purposely wouldn't sell you St. Charles Place, not because they needed it but just because you wanted it! But I digress, I love games. The End.
At one point in my life I was a infomercial junkie. I had the Jack Lalanne Power Juicer, the plastic containers that all fit on the lazy susan, the silcone bakeware, etc. But out of all of them, the Magic Bullet has been my best friend. It has ground my coffee, made a killer frozen drink, and consoled me after my failed attempt of homemade salsa.
I love hot anything. I normally go through an entire big bottle of hot sauce within two weeks. My husband Nathan thinks I am burning holes in my insides.

I have a super cool bar glass collection. Tons of wine glasses as well as a good selection of martini and other cocktail glasses. While I do use them, I just enjoy the fact that each set has a story. Like the set of blue stemmed martini glasses in the back are an incomplete set after I used them to decorate a dessert display at my Grandma's wonderful 80th bday party.



Just a little taste of Teresa. Hopefully that amused someone for at least 30 seconds.