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!

Two!

*TWO NAMES YOU GO BY:

1. Amy

2. Slave to the man ;)

*TWO THINGS YOU'RE WEARING RIGHT NOW:

1. denim skirt
2. grey shirt

*TWO THINGS YOU WANT VERY BADLY AT THE MOMENT:

1. a cinnamon roll (thanks Ray)
2. an iphone (we don't even get service here)

*TWO PEOPLE WHO WILL MOST LIKELY SEND THIS BACK:

1. Nicole (but she already sent it to me)

2. Christa

*TWO THINGS YOU DID LAST NIGHT:

1. yoga
2. talked to Nicole

*TWO THINGS YOU ATE TODAY:

1. water

2. oatmeal

*TWO PEOPLE YOU LAST SPOKE TO:

1. Ray

2. Maribel

*TWO THINGS YOU'RE DOING TOMORROW:

1. working
2. getting ready for scrapfest this weekend

*TWO LONGEST CAR RIDES:

1. Sudbury to Lethbridge

2. Holbrook to Rocky Point Mexico? Not really sure.

*TWO FAVORITE BEVERAGES:

1. Ice water with lemon

2. Coke?

So i'll be back (probably tomorrow) with more war on chub stories and stuff i'm doing. For now do the quiz, love the quiz! ;)

War on CHUB!!!

So me and chub....I guess the correct term is Chub and I?
We're tight....we've been through the thick and thin, the up and down, the brownie and the salad.
We've grown close.
We've GROWN together.

But you know what? I'm going to try and break up....we've had our times this past year....there have been losses. Slow and steady.
There have been things that I've had to let go of.
The saying everything in moderation including moderation has come into play.
There has been an increase in physical activity.
Playlists enthusiastically titled "jogtunes" and "tunes that move".
Yoga, lots of yoga.

But you know what? Chub is not intimidated by yoga, moderation or hopeful playlists.
It knows that deep down if i'm not focused enough to keep track of everything I eat we will stay together. It knows that I will keep enjoying the empty calories and luscious caffiene of soda. And that Jeopardy usually trumps a brisk walk around the block. (I do love me some jeopardy. Alec I love you!)

So I start this week....feeling more committed.

I'm making new friends...like The Daily Plate We're getting tight.
New friends like my runners.
Old friends like salad.
Water has been with me all along...trusty old friend. When i'm thirsty and tired....always there.
Awesome friends like the girls over at Angie In Shape they are ROCKIN IT!!

Love this quote they posted:
"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, 'I will try again tomorrow.'"
- Mary Anne Radmacher

So I guess this is the start of something. I am thinking that this time i'm coming in stronger, more committed, more angry and more ready to kick chub to the curb. Anyone with me?

Home Improvement

We bought our house two years ago and it was a great deal....as all homeowners know by a great deal I mean it was a great deal of WORK!!!

I can't even count all of the things we have done to improve the house itself and unfortunately did not take pictures of the "before" but as a result we have steadily turned the house into somewhere that we love to be.

Other than several big jobs, new windows, bathroom and kitchen renovations, we are pretty much happy with the inside. We even went so far as to take the screen doors off the front and back and make them more a part of the house. The pretty red front door now opens into a mudroom not into a concrete floored closet.

However much we have done on the house we have done practically NOTHING to the yard....and by yard I mean 3/4 an acre of tumbleweeds. I feel really intimidated by the whole process so I've decided to start posting about it....asking for ideas. Here is the first problem. The house is surrounded by this vinyl white stockade fencing. In the front of the house it is even over the concrete driveway. Seriously.













Do you see it? I took these pictures in the street facing our house and I'm thinking that the taller fence is too much for the front. It makes it feel too closed in.













Plus the sand gets blown out from underneath it. And it leave us one big square of yard with the house right in the middle and a concrete driveway/carport that we can not use. See? In that picture E is backing out of the gravel driveway next to the concrete driveway. And the sand....don't even get me started on the sand. You can also if you look see just how well the lifetime guarentee fencing (bought by the previous homeowners) has stood up to the wind. It's open range behind us and they have cattle that graze there. My idea...and this is open to comment.....is to move the fence back halfway, about midway on the side of the house and put the small gate that is onver the walkway right now on the left side of the house, the larger drive through gate that is over the gravel driveway on the right side of the house. This would effectivley give us front and back yards and in my eyes make landscaping easier. Then I am thinking a shorter cinderblock fence with stucco over it in the front. No gates just a short fence that would help contain the yard.












Any advice? Opinions? Offers of help? ;-)

Kicking tail and taking names!

Miss Kimmy and I switched some pictures last month(because I was super super inspired by her Wicked page and wanted her to scrap our wicked pictures fro when we were in LA last November). By the way, so did not even realize that my new specs were WICKED looking until Miss Lou pointed it out.....I am obsessed even in my subconscious! Anyways we switched and Kimmy did a super job on my pics her wicked page for me. I however had been slacker/super busy and so have just now finished!!!










I have been super busy all weekend getting stuff done (can anyone believe I actually made bread?) and have also completed these two lanyard ID holder thingies. At my work you have to wear an ID badge...they are coded to open doors and all sorts of other things so I whipped these two up. I have made a few as presents and now people are wanting to buy them. FUN!!

I made bread....for real!

So I made bread! I can hardly believe it myself but E and I both agree it was really yummy! I use the recipe below and it produced a round loaf of bread that had a good crust with a great texture inside, slightly chewy but very tender. That's one more thing crossed off my bucket list!!!
Bread Recipe

U.F.O.'s

Wow. Life has kind of exploded for us the last few weeks.

Work for me has been busy and E has had lots going on with finishing house stuff and getting ready for school to start. Whenever life gets super busy I feel like UFO's pile up around the house.

Of course in this case UFO stands for the dreaded UN-FINISHED OBJECT. I'm going to go ahead and include books in this because I am such a reader (and i've had a biography of Marie Antoinette on my nightstand that I have been reading since we visited Canada for christmas 2006).

SO in the spirit of feeling a little more pulled together and on task (and feeling really awed by E's getting so much done around the house)...this weekend is crunch time to clear some things from the list:

• finish b-day present for a friend (birthday has passed = me being busy and lame)
• order photographs (the downside of going digital is that you have to edit, choose & order)
• make lanyards
• make bread
• going to Kaitee's b-day party
• work on super secret present for mom and dad's 30th (which has also already passed but in my defense this is in addition to the present I already have them)
• finish biography of MA mentioned above
• backup photos
• backp cd's that i have purchased on itunes
• do yoga
• new banner for blog

Many many other things that I can not think of....I was attempting to post this last night and have actually crossed some of these things off the list but I couldn't add pictures. I actually still can't but the lack of posting is quite disturbing so i'm going to go ahead and post and try and add pictures later!

UPDATE!!!!
Pictures not added....these are my new specs!

bucket list

A few weeks ago I made a list of things I want to do before I go. Go where? Who really knows? That is another whole post. But for now this is my list. I've actually got it on the sidebar as well and i'm hoping to get some of these things checked off. All offers to help are graciously accepted. :)

















My list of things….inspired by Mighty Girl:
Safari in Africa
Scuba dive
Pyramids at sunset
Ride a trolley car in San Francisco
Visit South Korea with E
Have a beignets in New Orleans
Take a road trip across the U.S.
Stay in an ice hotel
Go to a rodeo
Compete on Jeopardy
Visit London
Learn to play at least one song really well on the guitar
Visit Paris
Know basic French (ok so yes I can do this a little but I would like to be better)
Set foot in all fifty states
Stand atop the Great Wall of China
Practice sign language to where I am MUCH better
Stand inside the Taj Mahal
Do two push ups
Witness a miracle
Go berry picking and make pies
Have a dog again
Make a peaceful living space for our family
Get in the habit of grand loving gestures
Visit New York City
See the nutcracker ballet
Make a sand castle
Go back to school
Learn to play the piano (again)
Learn how to remember peoples' names
Carve our initials inside a heart somewhere
Take a two-week vacation without computers
See monument valley at sunset
Go to a Josh Groban concert
Sew an apron
Learn how to drive stick
Make Toffee
Explore Washington DC
Go to Machu Picchu
Learn to surf
Make a loaf of yummy bread
Show E a moose in the wild
Read or attempt every book on my must read list
Do something I think I can’t do (marathon, sky dive, hang glide, movie script)
Have a family portrait taken
See a glacier
Live in another country for a year

Giveaway winner!!

So the grand prize winner, as chosen by random number generator was number 4 or Gene!! He was the winner of the fun prize package below.














Gene, Nicole and Caleb are actually staying with us this weekend and we were all very amused when he won the Canadian treats! In other news I got these adorable shades in the mail as part of the "Shades of Summer" fun on this adorable girls blog. Elizabeth Kartchner













So cute!!!













Then it was on to the annual 4th of July Fireman's BBQ and fireworks. We are having a total blast with the C's. So fun to have company for the 4th!

Signs you might be a Canadian

Signs You Might Be Canadian

1. You stand in "line-ups" at the movie, not lines.
2. You know Toronto is not a province.
3. You understand the phrase, "Could you please pass me a serviette, I just spilled my poutine"
4. You eat chocolate bars instead of candy bars.
5. You drink pop, not soda.
6. You know what it means to be on pogey.
7. You know that a mickey and 2-4's mean "Party at the camp, eh!!"
8. You never miss "Coaches Corner".
9. You talk about the weather with strangers and friends alike.
10. You don't know or care about the fuss with Cuba, it's just a cheap place to travel with good cigars and no Americans.
11. When there is a social problem, you turn to your government to fix it instead of telling them to stay out of it.
12. You know what a tuque is.
13. You get milk in bags as well as cartons and plastic jugs.
14. Pike is a type of fish, not some part of a highway.
15. You drive on a highway, not a freeway.
16. You sit on a chesterfield not a couch - that's some small town in Quebec!
17. You know what a Robertson screwdriver is.
18. You have Canadian Tire money in your kitchen drawers.
19. You know that Thrills are something to chew and "taste like soap".
20. You know that Mounties "don't always look like that"
21. Back Bacon and Kraft Dinner are two of your favorite food groups.
22. You admit Rich Little is Canadian and you're glad Jerry Lewis is not.
23. You know that Casey and Finnegan are not a Celtic musical group.
24. You participated in "Participaction".
25. You have an Inuit carving by your bedside with the rationale: "What's good enough protection for the Prime Minister is good enough for me".
26. You wonder why there isn't a 5 dollar coin yet.
27. Unlike any international assassin/terrorist/spy in the world, you don't possess a Canadian passport.
28. You use a red pen on your non-Canadian textbooks and fill in the missing 'u's from labor, honor, and color.
29. You know the French equivalents of "free", "prize" and "no sugar added", thanks to your extensive education in bilingual cereal packaging.
30. You are excited whenever an American television show mentions Canada.
31. You make a mental note to talk about it at work the next day.
32. You can do all the hand actions to Sharon, Lois and Bram's "Skin-a-ma-rinky-dinky-doo" opus.
33. You can eat more than one maple sugar candy without feeling nauseous.
34. You were mad when "The Beachcombers" were taken off the air.
35. You have some momento of Doug and Bob.


NOW ON TO THE GIVEAWAY!!
Post in the comments your favourite Canadian thing or person (yes it can be me ;) )
The winner will be chosen at random and mailed (you have to be ok with giving me your mailing address) a package of random Canadian goodness! If you are Canadian living in Canada or anyone else living in Canada you will get an American assortment instead! So all you lurkers post and maybe you will win!

Nanaimo bars

Tomorrow is Canada day! I miss Canada very much and for so many reasons. My family is (mostly) there, I miss the weather, the food, friends, the food, water....lots of things! I made these yummy Canadian treats for a party Saturday (so much fun Linda!!) and another tomorrow evening (can't wait Kimmy!!) and they were SUPER yummy!
I'm thinking of doing a giveaway tomorrow in honor of Canada so check back then!













The Original Nanaimo Bar

Ingredients:

***Bottom Layer ***

* 1/2 cup unsalted butter (European style cultured)
* 1/4 cup sugar
* 5 tablespoons cocoa
* 1 egg beaten
* 1 1/4 cup graham wafer crumbs
* 1/2 cup finely chopped almonds
* 1 cup coconut

***Second Layer ****

* 1/2 cup unsalted butter
* 2 tablespoons cream PLUS
* 2 teaspoons cream
* 2 tablespoons vanilla custard powder
* 2 cups icing sugar

***Third Layer ***

* 4 squares semi-sweet chocolate (1 oz. each)
* 2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions:

Bottom Layer

Melt first 3 ingredients in top of double boiler. Add egg and stir to cook and thicken. Remove from heat. Stir in crumbs, coconut, and nuts. Press firmly into an ungreased 8" x 8" pan.

Second Layer

Cream butter, cream, custard powder, and icing sugar together well. Beat until light. Spread over bottom layer.

Third Layer

Melt chocolate and butter overlow heat. Cool. Once cool, but still liquid, pour over second layer and chill in refrigerator.

This recipe for Nanaimo Bar (Official) serves/makes 24 bars.