Thursday, September 30, 2010
Pending Good Night's Sleep
I just can't hold it in any longer. WE ARE GETTING A NEW MATTRESS SET TOMORROW! Delivered between the hours of 10am and 12n. Can't wait. We are sleeping on a 15ish year old mattress right now and although I have back issues, I have held out. However, now that the Hub (with no back issues) has expressed concerns with the mattress in question, we decided to take the plunge. Mattress sets are expensive! We hope this is the one that will bring us all joy and last the 15 yr. warranty we have been promised! Upcoming post on the night's sleeps I am hoping for!
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Cake Mix Magic!
A little while ago, my grandma gave my this cookbook called "Cake Mix Magic." All of the recipes including cookies, bars, etc. use a box cake mix and then some add-ins. Well, a couple of weeks ago when I bought a yellow cake mix for the Hub's birthday cake and the box cake mixes were on sale so of course, I stocked up on a few. SO, the other day I was looking through this cookbook to use one of the boxes I have and of course I come across a pumpkin bar recipe. Well, I was feeling very "fallish" that day so I decide I have to make the Pumpkin Snack Bars. The irony of it all? It calls for a box mix that I hadn't stocked up on. I have my mind set on these bars so of course, I head to the store to get...Spice Cake Mix! All worth it because they are delicious and so easy so I thought I would share!
Pumpkin Snack Bars:
Cake:
1 package spice cake mix
1 can (16oz.) pumpkin
3/4 cup Miracle Whip or Miracle Whip Light Dressing
3 eggs
Frosting:
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
CAKE BLEND cake mix, pumpkin, dressing and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Pour into greased 15x10x1-inch baking pan. BAKE at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack.
FROSTING BLEND all ingredients with an electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy. Spread over cake. Cut into bars. Makes about 3 dozen bars.
Enjoy!
Pumpkin Snack Bars:
Cake:
1 package spice cake mix
1 can (16oz.) pumpkin
3/4 cup Miracle Whip or Miracle Whip Light Dressing
3 eggs
Frosting:
3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
2 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
CAKE BLEND cake mix, pumpkin, dressing and eggs with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Pour into greased 15x10x1-inch baking pan. BAKE at 350 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely on wire rack.
FROSTING BLEND all ingredients with an electric mixer on low speed until moistened. Beat on high speed until light and fluffy. Spread over cake. Cut into bars. Makes about 3 dozen bars.
Enjoy!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Random
OK, so obviously it has been a while since my last post. The past few weeks have been pretty busy so I guess I will list off what has been going on because I don't think there is a cohesive way to put it together.
-My grandma is still not feeling well so emotionally this has been draining on me, trying to keep her in my thoughts, trying to support my mom and not be distracted in other areas of my life.
-We took a week long vacation to San Diego with 3 other couples (our first vacation with non-family members or just ourselves) and had an absolute blast! We relaxed on the beach, read, napped, made good food, drank cocktails, went to the zoo and Sea World, and played lots of games! What a fun, fun group of people and there is already talk of what trip we will take together next year! We are so fortunate to have a group of friends similar in age, place in life and that can get a long so well!
-We returned from San Diego and Hub headed straight to Vancouver, B.C. for the week for work (literally the same night we flew in from SD).
-While he was gone, I was sick, worked everyday, morning and nights and slept as much as possible.
-The day Hub returned, we celebrated his 26th birthday with dinner and cake at home. We spent the rest of the weekend at home, relaxing, enjoying each other and getting the house ready for fall (i.e. cleaning up the yard, bringing out fall decor, etc.).
-We also had to do something not-so-fun this past weekend and that was "breaking up" with our "little brother." Hub and I had been participating in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program and we have had a "little" for the past 10 months. However, due to our schedules growing busier by the minute (me with a second job, Hub with growing responsibility at work) and the talk of our own addition to our family (yes, in baby form) we just didn't feel it was fair to our little to be waiting around wondering when the next time we would see him was. As if he doesn't have enough going on in his life, we broke the news to him, however, it wasn't quite as bad as we had imagined. We explained it, let him ask questions and decided, with his mom that maybe it wouldn't be a "never see you again," but maybe "see you sometimes" so as not to cut ties permanently.
Now for the next couple of weekends, we are busy with some birthday celebrations so hopefully will remember the camera (which I remembered the camera for SD, just not the memory card!) and will post pictures as the events occur!
-My grandma is still not feeling well so emotionally this has been draining on me, trying to keep her in my thoughts, trying to support my mom and not be distracted in other areas of my life.
-We took a week long vacation to San Diego with 3 other couples (our first vacation with non-family members or just ourselves) and had an absolute blast! We relaxed on the beach, read, napped, made good food, drank cocktails, went to the zoo and Sea World, and played lots of games! What a fun, fun group of people and there is already talk of what trip we will take together next year! We are so fortunate to have a group of friends similar in age, place in life and that can get a long so well!
-We returned from San Diego and Hub headed straight to Vancouver, B.C. for the week for work (literally the same night we flew in from SD).
-While he was gone, I was sick, worked everyday, morning and nights and slept as much as possible.
-The day Hub returned, we celebrated his 26th birthday with dinner and cake at home. We spent the rest of the weekend at home, relaxing, enjoying each other and getting the house ready for fall (i.e. cleaning up the yard, bringing out fall decor, etc.).
-We also had to do something not-so-fun this past weekend and that was "breaking up" with our "little brother." Hub and I had been participating in the Big Brothers/Big Sisters program and we have had a "little" for the past 10 months. However, due to our schedules growing busier by the minute (me with a second job, Hub with growing responsibility at work) and the talk of our own addition to our family (yes, in baby form) we just didn't feel it was fair to our little to be waiting around wondering when the next time we would see him was. As if he doesn't have enough going on in his life, we broke the news to him, however, it wasn't quite as bad as we had imagined. We explained it, let him ask questions and decided, with his mom that maybe it wouldn't be a "never see you again," but maybe "see you sometimes" so as not to cut ties permanently.
Now for the next couple of weekends, we are busy with some birthday celebrations so hopefully will remember the camera (which I remembered the camera for SD, just not the memory card!) and will post pictures as the events occur!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
A Weekend Behind
So, as I mentioned last weekend, we attended a wedding in Bellingham for some college friends and here are some pics!
Boys:
Girls:
Ben and I with beautiful Bellingham Bay in the background!
And the happy couple! Love having married friends!
What a fab weekend we had!
This past weekend Ben and I had planned to have a date "day" that turned into an amazing date weekend! Simple enough for us is a weekend relaxing at home with some recipe experimenting, snuggling on the couch and watching some True Blood! Saturday morning we woke up leisurely and made a yummy breakfast of eggs benedict and hashbrowns. We then lounged around and in the afternoon headed to a fun grocery store and collected ingredients for Pad See Ew, one of our favorite Thai dishes as well as for Panang Curry and some wine. We cooked, laughed and had a wonderful weekend full of time spent together!
Boys:
Girls:
Ben and I with beautiful Bellingham Bay in the background!
And the happy couple! Love having married friends!
What a fab weekend we had!
This past weekend Ben and I had planned to have a date "day" that turned into an amazing date weekend! Simple enough for us is a weekend relaxing at home with some recipe experimenting, snuggling on the couch and watching some True Blood! Saturday morning we woke up leisurely and made a yummy breakfast of eggs benedict and hashbrowns. We then lounged around and in the afternoon headed to a fun grocery store and collected ingredients for Pad See Ew, one of our favorite Thai dishes as well as for Panang Curry and some wine. We cooked, laughed and had a wonderful weekend full of time spent together!
Monday, August 23, 2010
Busy, Busy Summertime
This end of summer is shaping up to be pretty busy! This last weekend we got to head to Bellingham for a wedding for some friends from college. We headed up early to reminisce in the city where we met and fell in love. We got to have lunch at a delicious sandwich shop, meander around the farmer's market and have a beer at the local brewery. We then headed to the wedding and danced the night away with some of our best friends! (Pictures to come!) Sunday morning we all woke up, had a lazy morning just visiting and enjoying the continental breakfast and finally got going and stopped to get a burrito at a yummy Mexican restaurant. There is just something about being in Bellingham that makes me feel happy and at home. It's funny because I only lived there for about 5 years during and a little after college and have lived in the town we are in now for all the rest of my life but there is just something about Bellingham that I love! Never know, maybe someday we will end up back there! It was also so fun to see our friends, who are really more like family, and laugh, drink and dance with them! And a big Congratulations to our friends Nic and Stefanie on their nuptials!
I just feel like summer is flying by now with every weekend busy and September quickly approaching! I am working A LOT right now, so it feels like I never have one minute to breathe during the week! Next weekend, we are hoping to take a sailing trip with my brother, the weekend after that is LABOR DAY (I can't even believe it!) and we leave for San Diego for a week! After that is diving into fall with the hub's birthday coming up and another friend's birthday soon after! Wow, I am getting tired just thinking about everything!
I just feel like summer is flying by now with every weekend busy and September quickly approaching! I am working A LOT right now, so it feels like I never have one minute to breathe during the week! Next weekend, we are hoping to take a sailing trip with my brother, the weekend after that is LABOR DAY (I can't even believe it!) and we leave for San Diego for a week! After that is diving into fall with the hub's birthday coming up and another friend's birthday soon after! Wow, I am getting tired just thinking about everything!
Reading Response to Chapters 11-20
1. Where do you think Tim and Marty are at this point in the story?
I think that Tim and Marty have gone off to take care of their own lives. Sad to say but I don't think Tim cared about CeeCee they way she thought he did and after this plan seems to have gone awry, what with Genevieve dying, the guys will definitely have more at risk than they had originally planned.
2. What were your thoughts as CeeCee was helping Genevieve deliver her baby?
As CeeCee was helping to deliver the baby all I could think was that she must be so overwhelmed. At age 16, with a woman who is obviously angry beyond words with you to begin with, a high risk pregnancy, and CeeCee seeing things she has most certainly never seen before would really be scary for anyone. I think it shows a high level of maturity on CeeCee's part because she did get through it even though it was a little hysterically, she did it and helped Genevieve deliver the baby. Afterall, she could have passed out or something!
3. After Genevieve died, what would you have done with her baby if you had been in CeeCee's shoes?
Thinking in terms of being in CeeCee's shoes, I probably would have done the same thing. Delivering and caring for the baby for the first few days made her fall in love with the baby and taking her back would have gotten her thrown in jail right then and there and I think that thought scared CeeCee a lot.
4. Why do you think CeeCee/Eve is still holding onto hope that Tim will come for her?
CeeCee is in love with Tim. If you think someone loves you, of course you think they are coming back for you. Tim also promised CeeCee that even if he and Marty had to go underground, they he would find ways to see her. Now, CeeCee, being the naive young girl she is, believed all of these promised so we will see if Tim holds up his end of the bargain....
5. How do you think Eve will establish her new identity in Virginia?
I think she will find some meaningless job to start earning money for her and the baby and remain very inconspicuous and low-profile being as though she is scared to death of getting caught now that she has decided to go through with everything. She is so lucky that she has Marian to help her start out because Marian seems to have such a calming demeanor and a motherly instinct which is just what Eve needs to feel comfortable somewhere.
6. What do you think of CeeCee/Eve now after she has gone through with the kidnapping, the delivery of the baby, the escape, and the relocation?
I think this is a hard question to answer right now because immediately it is easy answer that she has done the wrong thing, she should give the baby back and face her consequences. However, in Eve's mind, she semi-believes she is doing the right thing by loving and caring for the baby and absolutely does not want to get in trouble or go to jail. I think from here on out we will be able to judge Eve a lot better to decide if she has done the right or wrong thing and how she is coping with it.
I think that Tim and Marty have gone off to take care of their own lives. Sad to say but I don't think Tim cared about CeeCee they way she thought he did and after this plan seems to have gone awry, what with Genevieve dying, the guys will definitely have more at risk than they had originally planned.
2. What were your thoughts as CeeCee was helping Genevieve deliver her baby?
As CeeCee was helping to deliver the baby all I could think was that she must be so overwhelmed. At age 16, with a woman who is obviously angry beyond words with you to begin with, a high risk pregnancy, and CeeCee seeing things she has most certainly never seen before would really be scary for anyone. I think it shows a high level of maturity on CeeCee's part because she did get through it even though it was a little hysterically, she did it and helped Genevieve deliver the baby. Afterall, she could have passed out or something!
3. After Genevieve died, what would you have done with her baby if you had been in CeeCee's shoes?
Thinking in terms of being in CeeCee's shoes, I probably would have done the same thing. Delivering and caring for the baby for the first few days made her fall in love with the baby and taking her back would have gotten her thrown in jail right then and there and I think that thought scared CeeCee a lot.
4. Why do you think CeeCee/Eve is still holding onto hope that Tim will come for her?
CeeCee is in love with Tim. If you think someone loves you, of course you think they are coming back for you. Tim also promised CeeCee that even if he and Marty had to go underground, they he would find ways to see her. Now, CeeCee, being the naive young girl she is, believed all of these promised so we will see if Tim holds up his end of the bargain....
5. How do you think Eve will establish her new identity in Virginia?
I think she will find some meaningless job to start earning money for her and the baby and remain very inconspicuous and low-profile being as though she is scared to death of getting caught now that she has decided to go through with everything. She is so lucky that she has Marian to help her start out because Marian seems to have such a calming demeanor and a motherly instinct which is just what Eve needs to feel comfortable somewhere.
6. What do you think of CeeCee/Eve now after she has gone through with the kidnapping, the delivery of the baby, the escape, and the relocation?
I think this is a hard question to answer right now because immediately it is easy answer that she has done the wrong thing, she should give the baby back and face her consequences. However, in Eve's mind, she semi-believes she is doing the right thing by loving and caring for the baby and absolutely does not want to get in trouble or go to jail. I think from here on out we will be able to judge Eve a lot better to decide if she has done the right or wrong thing and how she is coping with it.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
OK, Seriously?!
Wow. I had totally forgotten what the crazed, 7am, caffeine junkie is until I got back into the stand this morning. I have gone back to some barista roots after quite a few years in the restaurant. I figured it would be nice to have a little extra cash and a little change of pace. However...these people can be a little neurotic about their beloved coffee! "24oz., iced, split shot, white chocolate americano with a little white chocolate and a pump of raspberry. Oh, and can you put a splash of non-fat half and half in there?" I AM NOT EXAGGERATING! What in the heck is "non-fat" half and half?! I never knew such a liquid existed! I guess over the years of my own coffee addiction evolving to a couple cups of black coffee every morning, it totally slipped my mind what these coffee fiends are like! I think this image pretty much sums up the crazies that I encounter:
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