Anyone else excited?

I love Grey's. I love Patrick dempsey and in fact I have had a little crush on him ever since "Can't Buy Me Love". That movie came out when I was SEVEN!

















Classic last season dialogue:
Callie:Do people ever think you two are a couple?
Meredith: No, because we screw boys like whores on tequila.
Cristina: Then we either try to marry them or drown ourselves.













I'm excited to get back to this moment....and maybe to have a happy Mer-Der relationship for once.











And some more eye candy? Nothing wrong with that!













Totally wish-listing this! Perfect to watch while cleaning, scrappin' or sewing.
I can't wait for September 25th....2 hour season premiere here we come!

















Tonight we went to the fair....actually some friends and I went to the fair at lunch and then E and I did date night at the fair tonight too. Agenda for tomorrow is crossing a few thing off of my bucket list. I'll blog after and post pictures from the fair. I have to say I love having E. home....he travels a LOT in the fall....he won't be home a single weekend in October so I'm loving having date night and chilaxin with him!

Remembering

It seems like I come to this day every year and no matter what else is going on in my life I find myself thinking constantly in moments of idleness about the terrorist attacks in New York and D.C. on September 11, 2001.

It amazes me sometimes because I didn't even live in the US at the time. I was in college in Ontario and had already had one early morning class that day. I was driving from campus to my guitar lesson listening to a CBC interview and they cut in to say that a plane had crashed in to the world trade center in New York.

I thought like everyone thought that it must have been a small plane accident. A small plane losing control and crashing. At the guitar store we watched the second plane hit. We watched the towers fall. In real time....no delays or scripted commentary. It felt like the world stopped and in some ways it still feels like it has.


















In completely selfish ways I feel the slight annoyances and bumps. The longer wait times at airport security, 3-1-1, immigrating to the US after 9-11, trying to open a bank account, all of these things were a different and more challenging experience in a post 9-11 world.

And some days I'm annoyed...I'm impatient and self-centered.

But today, I'm sad and I feel much appreciation. I may not agree with the war but I am thankful for the members of the armed forces who give their service and their lives. I feel appreciation for all of the law enforcement officers who daily work to protect us. Who were literally doing their jobs that day and gave their lives.

And I feel hope. I have HOPE that we are moving forward as a country. A country I now call home. I have HOPE that this upcoming election will more this country forward in a positive way.

Sometimes I get very maudlin and upset by my job....it's a hazard getting to exposed to the most horrible acts that people do to each other every day. But I'm hanging on to hope...hope that we as a people can do better and be better.
And I'm grateful.

Beautiful Arizona!

A few days ago I ventured out to our back yard after work (it was too venturing....I was wearing heels!) to look at what E. is calling the forest. You see as much work as we have done to the inside of the house and even the outside of the house....we have done NOTHING with the yard. So Wildlife abounds....like this cute little lizard hiding beneath the tumbleweed.

















And these beautiful wildflowers...that grow wild.

















So when I said we hadn't done anything to the yard this is the exception.
This is what E brought me out here to see....our trees!!! We planted a mess of trees in the spring in this sheltered corner of our back year to let them grow until they are strong enough to transport. So fun!













And now for my least fave thing about Arizona and living in the desert. This is a centipede that E killed on our driveway....so far that makes centipedes (none in the house this year though), black widows (never in the house) and scoripons. Fun times!!

7 things I love today

So in keeping with trying to incorporate gratitude into my life here are 7 things that I love and am grateful for today.

My husband. Why yes he is holding a spoon and the head of Dora on a stick.
He's a rock star and I love him. What you need an explanation about the picture? Two words birthday pinata. Anyways moving on he is a total support to me in my life and at the same time supports me in being totally myself. Even if it includes watching girly movies.












Oh Burt's bees. Our relationship is a strong one...I remember the days when I could not find you...in the cold hard north of Canada. Now is the golden years of our relationship! I can buy you at Target and WalMart and you live in every room of my house, in my car, my purse and my office.
















Here is a newcomer to my life. Introduced by Nicole C (I'll be forever thankful). A lozenge to soothe my sore sore throat that does not taste horrible. At moments it really does taste like ginger ale.
















How here is a geeky thing, wait everything on the list is semi geeky so I'm just going for it. FLAIR! I love getting it from friends and I love when they send me one and I'm like "YOU SOOOOO GOT ME!" My friend.....lets call her Serity sent me one pictured below labeled "book slut". She gets me.

















SCENTSY!!!
Beautiful wax warmers (I have the blue one on the right, so pretty) that make your house smell FAB!
No more sooty candles!













This was a recent discovery at Safeway. My fruit guy at the store, Travis, saw me checking this lemonade out and advised me "If you like lemonade, good tart-sweet lemonade, you'll like that." Travis knows his stuff...he also gave me the word on when to expect those lovely Honey Crisp apples. As a side note....having a good fruit guy = priceless. He has been known to whip out a knife and cut us a sample and he never leads us wrong.





















And last of all.....I'm grateful for you! I love knowing my family and friends like reading what I write! And random blog friends or even strangers....whatever!!! Embracing the love!

Fantasy Football

Football. My only real interest in the sport is that I think Peyton Manning is hysterical and I lurve him. And the shorts are cute. So I'm going to play in a Fantasy Football league. I know! Completely random but E plays almost every year and why not. The draft is tonight so that will be a fun end to a good day...I slept a TON...I'm still really tired and coughing a lot but much better. Also had a really good visit with my uncle G, he stopped by on the way to California. No nice to have family visit! My parents are talking about coming to visit after Christmas and I'm so excited!! Ok must go now and make tea. GO PEYTON!!

Coughing....endlesss coughing.

I have a cold. I'm whiny and I have a cold. I keep randomly commenting to E about how my throat hurt and when he asks if I would like some tea my response is "No, I just want to whine." Charming Eh?
So in the spirit of being not quite so dismal....I present things around my house that are making me happy in random ways!!!


















1: Dishwasher magnet. Because for real....we can just not get our stuff together and remember if the dishes in the dishwasher are clean or dirty without help. So I made a magnet.













2: Sink caddy from OXO. My random scrubbers used to reside in a big root beer mug and they would randomly lose their heads and soap would get everywhere. Yup. But not now. Now they have a neat and tidy home. I lurve it! You can even see the jars that we had out for canning on the counter in the top of a paper box. My office uses obscene amounts of paper and boy do those paper boxes come in handy.













3: Last but certainly not least. Fresh veggies from my in-laws garden. So delish, so fresh, so much. We are blessed. We have a barren tumbleweed yard and they have a lush garden...and we are blessed.

So I'm trying to hang on. Drinking obscene amounts of tea (chamomile), sleeping for absolutely ridiculous lengths, sucking on halls (Canada dry flava yum!!) and trying not to smash my fist into any one's face at work because I'm a cranky whiner.
I did pull it together and make E Kimchi fried rice for dinner last night. Unfortunately since I'm sick it did not taste good to me so I ate plain rice (no worries...he ate the whole pan without assistance).
But those are the breaks and I'm rambling so don't be whiny and cranky like me! Find the lovely things in your life and bask in the blessings. Because seriously, there is only so much cranky to go around and I'm OWNING IT!

Red or green? GREEN!

So in Arizona, when dealing with New Mexico Mexican food the question you are most often asked is red or green? Meaning do you want red chile or green chile on your dish.
I personally am not a big fan of red (at all). It's usually too hot for me to taste any flavor and overall just not as yummy as green chile gravy. So last week when we saw a cart by the side of the road selling roasted green chiles we HAD to stop. See we were out of our home canned green chile and have been for awhile. As after a quick call to my inlaws to see if they were in to split a bag we were on!

The first step to processing green chile is they dump the whole bag of chiles into this roasting drum at the stand where you buy them. The flames blister the tough outer skin and once it is all roasted they put it into a plastic bag for it to steam slightly.


















Next, using gloves, you take the chiles and take the charred skin off, take the seeds out and if you are canning them chop them. If you leave them whole they are perfect for chile rellenos aka. stuffed chile peppers.

















I personally like to keep mine canned so the last step is to put the chile in jars and process it in a pressure cooker to kill all bacteria and seal the jars. Yum!
Green chile is totally delish in scrambled eggs, made into a gravy to serve over chimi's, in chicken enchilidas, in white chicken chile and E even had some in his grilled cheese last night.

I made it to the weekend by the skin of my teeth.

So I made it to the weekend. Barely. But last night was good, date night with E so we saw Hellboy 2 at the Roxy (I love that the theatre here in town is called the Roxy). And today had a great scrap class with Kimmy and we are now canning green chile with my in laws. Love some green chile! Pictures to come of canning and the card class.

So I have a confession. I like the twilight books. I'm excited about the movie too. It was supposed to release on E's b-day and has now been moved to a new release date of our 5th anniversary! Unfortunately E will be out of town so anyone else in?

















There has also been a LOT of Olympic watching going on at our house. I was heartbroken when Canada had no medals last Friday night but became somewhat happier over the course of the week as we climbed to 18....yes roughly a 10th (slight exaggeration) of the USA medal count I KNOW. No worries....the plan is to OWN THE PODIUM in 2010 in Vancouver. Seriously. And it can happen. The biggest winner in Turin 2006 was Germany with 29 medals, followed by USA with 25 and Canada with 24. So...summer...not so much our thing (but kudos to Canada's medalists, you rock!!) but be prepared for Vancouver 2010. It's GAME ON!
And for now. Enjoy the eye candy and althletic power that is Michael Phelps and other assorted adorable olympians. After all...there is also a lot more clothing in the winter games!

Scrap Love (lots of pictures....be patient)

So I've been super stressed at work (one particular person who is unavoidable and pretty much makes work suck). SO I've been channeling all my stress into creativity. And watching Jane Austen. And reading. But lots of creativity!!
SO here it is! Pretty please leave me some love because I'm hanging onto my sanity by a thread. Seriously. B one of the attorneys I work with made a joke this morning and my heart felt like it skipped three beats. I didn't get that he was joking and I mentally was preparing myself for a case to start a jury trial instead of taking the plea as planned. It was really funny in retrospect and he was teasing me because I've been stressed but seriously...three beats.

Cats!

We have always thought of Abby (our tabby) as the more timid cat. She doesn't like water, she startles easily, she would pimp herself out for a cupcake, Wait that doesn't really apply but anyways.....she's meeker. Well she was anyway. Until E was on vacation in Nevada and I was home alone. At 11:00 pm. Reading in bed. In my pj's.













That was the moment that she decided she had had enough of the nasty neighbor cat taunting her from outside the window and SHE BROKE THROUGH THE SCREEN to chase her.

And I freaked out. And I called E. Who offered to come home from Nevada...very sweet.
Have I mentioned before that our yard is roughly three quarters of an acre? With no lights? Or streetlights? Or lights?

I ran around in my Pj's and flip flops in our yard full of stickers and tumbleweeds at midnight hoping that my flashlight would catch her eyes (it did). She was camped out by our old horse shed (we are zoned for large animals and someone once upon a time had a horse) I managed to lure her in with treats and got her back inside. Total drama.

So you can understand why we keep a super close eye on her when she tries to sneak outside. We were outside looking at a lizard and she wanted to come out and play.
Gosh she really puls off that innocent "what? I'm not doing anything?" look!

















And just to be fair here is our other cat Ariel. Who has been SO well behaved! She didn't even jump out of the window after Abby!

Deliciousness!!

These two recipes were given to me by a friend and we REALLY enjoyed them. The first is for Sweet Pork cooked in the crock pot so it's super easy












5-7 lb pork loin or pork sirloin roast
3 - 8 oz cans tomato sauce
2 - 8 oz cans El Pato (this stuff is E's fave Mexican Hot Sauce you can't always find it some places SORRY mom and dad! But it's available everywhere in Arizona)
2 cups brown sugar
1 c water

Mix all ingredients except pork together and pour over meat in crock pot. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Shred the meat and serve with sauce.

So delish! Great for using in salads, on quesadillas, by itself. Just yummy!

Now the second recipe was a sleeper hit. It is for Lime Cilantro Rice and I should have known we would like it because my husband lists rice as his favourite food and would quite happily eat it as often as I want to cook it. He loves my mom's rice dressing at thanksgiving and this is almost a kicked up mexican version of that.
Needless to say our rice cooker gets quite the workout...my parents bought it for E as a birthday present about 6 years ago and it is his fave kitchen appliance.

This recipe can be made in a rice cooker(that's what we did) or following the directions on your rice. There was a little chopping and prep involved but if you had your mise en place done it would be a super quick recipe. If you are in the mood for something a little more flavorful than plain rice totally give this a try!

Cilantro Lime Rice

4 cups white rice (I used jasmine because that's all we really keep on hand)
1 cube butter (I used about a tablespoon)
1 c chopped celery
1 medium onion diced
1 bunch cilantro chopped
zest and juice of 2 limes
4 cups chicken broth
1 teaspoon salt (I would adjust this based on how salty my chicken stock was)

Melt butter and all all of the remaining ingredients. Cook according to the rice package. If using a rice cooker, use 1 cup rice to 1 1/2 c liquid.

Some notes:

• My husband will say "Make sure you wash your rice!!!" and I have gotten into the habit of doing that since we got married. Wash your rice in a bowl (we just do it in the rice cooker insert) until the water runs clear and a handful of rice will not stay together when you compress it in your hand.
• A microplane grater (Thanks MJ!) works really well with the lime zest. I think it's important for this recipe to have the zest be fine and well distributed.
• Watch out for any seeds in your limes...not pleasant.
• Remind me to plant Cilantro next year. I swear I am forever buying it fresh!

Save me!

There are days when I REALLY need music. When I feel totally overwhelmed and stressed at work. When I feel the need to get in the mood to excercise. When I feel like driving and just blasting the music. Today is totally that day. I still have a headache. Nothing comparable to the headaches I was having last week but still....painful and annoying. There is work stress with one of the attorneys I work for...nuf said! So i've been tuned in with one ear bud trying to get a little head space back. Loving the song that I put on my playlist. All These Things That I Have Done by the Killers


Yesterday was a great day. We didn't do a whole lot after work....just random stuff around the house and we walked for a mile and a half. I have vowed to take my camera along for one of our walks so you can see the pretty horses on our street and other random things. I tried out a few new recipes this weekend too and took pictures so expect a recipe post soon!

My love--hate relationship

As a general statement I like Arizona. I enjoy the temperate (for the most part) weather, the desert beauty, the mexican food and plenty of other things.
I do however miss the rain. It rains so little here that when we get a true monsoon season it's really quite amazing. Every day lately has been starting out something like the picture below.
Bring and sunny with a sky full of fluffy white clouds. Beautiful!













However every afternoon this week it has slowly turned into the sky pictured below. Complete with thunder, lightning, power outages and rain.
I really do love the rain but this has also brought on massive headaches for me. Since Sunday night. It's Friday. So for real? I no longer miss the rain....I have moved on to missing sleep.

Scrap

Here are some pictures of the pages I did Saturday. Lots of fun!