happy mothers day

Happy Mothers Day to all, especially these two ladies! Three generations. :) Love them.  

on a mission

San Diego

Ryan was in California last week for work training so I drove out to meet him for a nice long weekend of relaxation. We had a great time because what did we do the whole time there? We brought a beach blanket, snacks, drinks, and sunblock to the beach and just layed with our toes in the sand talking, talking, talking. This was our routine for the 3 day weekend we had together and it was perfect. :)

We tried to break out of the routine and go downtown for the Cinco de Mayo festival, but when we got there (and for being two non-drinkers) we decided we'd rather just go back to the beach and relax more. We laughed at ourselves because we are such home-bodies!! There we were at some packed festival with loud music, dancing, drinking, food, and what did we want to do???? Leave and go have some peace and quiet on the beach. We know what we like and we'll just stick to that.

overdue attention

My mom bought this to display my dolls in when I was a little girl. Let's just say, my dolls were never even saw the inside. This cabinet has been in our garage since....well, forever. It needed to be stripped and repainted and some major TLC but it never received this slightest attention...That is, until today.

I decided, this baby has potential to be great and i'm going to help it grow into a thing of beauty.   I'm crossing my fingers because this is my first refurbishing project and it will be quite the learning experience. You would think I would start off small like stool or something......nah....... go big or go home is my motto. (Wait, this cabinet is big AND at home?) Anyway....Stay tuned to see what beautiful disaster I create.

Cinco de mayo

Enjoying the fifth day of May at the beach with the hubby. Festival and Mexican food for dinner and discussing why America celebrates this holiday. Not like we need another reason to celebrate :)

mango salsa

Mango salsa-

2 mangos

1 tomoato

1 avocado

1/2 red onion

1 serrano jalapeno- optional if you want a little kick

cilantro

lime

My husband was out of town for last week so I this lonely girl stayed with her parents. I found this simple mango recipe and thought it would be fun to try out and have my parents and brothers as guinea pigs. We had it over brown rice and baked chicken and turns out they LOVED IT. SUCCESS!

protein bars because i'm sleeping in

The husband has had some dang early mornings for work layely that should be down right illegal (.... winning the lottery right about now would be nice). Some mornings I get up and see him off for the day, but to be honest-- it's not on a regular basis. I am adamant though about him having something for breakfast and not just junk food either. I needed something healthy, filling, and easy to grab as he walks out the door.

Which leads me to Ryan's new breakfast menu for the past week.
I've adapted this from so many different recipes because I just wanted one that had easy ingredients that I always have in the pantry and fridge. Yes the whole flax seed and chia seed and wheat germ and that health stuff would be nice, but I'm not be to go out and buy it because I would hardly use it. SO, without further ado, this is my concoction that tastes oh-so-good I want it for breakfast, a snack, and dessert ;)

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 scoop of whey protein powder (we had vanilla)

1/2 cup crushed oat bran cereal

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips

1/4 cup raw sunflower seeds

2 egg whites-beaten

1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup honey

2 tbs peanut butter

1/4 cup brown sugar

I've made a few batches and have mixed up the additives so get creative. Also, I ended up eliminating the egg whites and just upping the applesauce to 2/3 cup. You'll have to experiment and adjust depending on how chewy you like the bars to be.

Preheat oven to 325. Line 9 in. baking pan with sprayed aluminum foil.

1. mix dry ingredients in one bowl (- brown sugar)

2. mix wet ingredients in another bowl (+ brown sugar)

3. Combine together and place in pan. Flatten outmixture in pan (I use bottom of measuring cup to smooth and compress)

4. Bake 30 minutes or until firm and lightly browned on edges.

5. Let cool and use foil to lift out of pan. Cut into bars or squares. Store in fridge.

Mas tacos por favor

You know when you find this recipe online and they have a list of ingredients but they don't specify the amount? It drives me crazy. I'll have my list of ingredients out and I'm really getting into to pouring and measuring out everything when BAM! I get to one of the items and the recipe doesn't specify the amount. WHAT?? HOW MUCH DO I USE? THIS MEAL IS DESTROYED! IT'S GOING TO COME OUT ALL WRONG NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!

(I tend to exaggerate a tiny bit)

Well, I'm throwing one of those recipes out at ya because when I was making it, I was wingin' it. You know you're moving up in the world of cooking when you can start "wingin" it. :)

Ingredients:

1. mix chopped tomatoes, onion, jalapeno, cabbage, garlic, cilantro, lime, corn, sea salt. Add more lime and cilantro to taste.

2. cook shrimp, glaze honey over shrimp and flavor with lime, cilantro, sea salt

3. Scoop salsa cabbage mix over warm corn tortillas and top with shrimp!

You can also add black beans and avocado to the salsa mix as well.

I can't even think of a title

Ryan is out of town this week for work which means crashing with the folks in the mean time. There's something about sleeping in your old room after being out of the house for about 6 years (wow, am I really coming up on 6 years out of high school? AND my little bro is gaduating.) I feel old. And now I really do feel old for saying "I feel old" because I always hear my mom say that and she is, well, ya know, older.

Anyway, it's a mixture of being in my old room that's giving me the creeps and not having my husband next to me. Plus, the bed is a bit of a downgrade to what I've grown accustomed to but I'm not about to complain about first world problems. I just like softer beds can you blame me? They're like sleeping on a cloud.

I better end this before my restless zombie-like state turns into something awkward. I miss my husband and our bed. That's all.

airplanes and youtube

Saturday was take-your-wife-to-work day. Ok not really, but for us it was. Ryan was working the saturday shift AGAIN (can you hear the resentment in my voice?) but it was still a nice day, just the two of us hanging out in a work trailer. Plus, their office is set up right next to the airport runways so they have planes landing pretty dang close-by. He didn't seem too keen on going out and watching them, probably because he sees a plane land every five minutes all day long. I, however, took full advantage by getting as close as I could- but not too close where security would come tazer me. That would NOT have been a fun Saturday.

As I watched these massive planes descend, I thought of this video. Which pretty much gives a friendly but straight forward reminder of being grateful for all the comforts we enjoy this day in age.