Some new pics

The boys are sleeping and we are still awake... hmm... Notice how Bear is sleeping and note they are both on Jose's side of the bed :)

Our furniture is so ghetto, our TV is larger than our dresser.... Time for some new furniture...
I am so happy Fall is here, I just wish the temperature would follow suit. I love pumpkin pie, candy corn and soup and I can't enjoy them without the Santa Ana winds and cooler weather.

That's about it but we are excited to now be able to watch TV in our bed and not have to sit up to do so... Yay :)

Live, Laugh, Love

Sorry for the delayed post...

So what have we been up to? Not too much except, getting ready for Sarah's wedding, doggy training classes for our babies, trying to hang out with friends more often, and compiling a recipe book of our favorite recipes.

Sarah's wedding is a mere 18 days away. We are going to be leaving in only 15 days and we are getting pretty excited to go on this small journey. We will be driving up north, to Eugene, OR, with my brothers in tow. It should be an interesting drive and I will need to stay up all night to make sure Jose does too, he is driving. We are both taking that day off so don't worry, we will be resting for most of the day. I must get on finalizing the details for her Bachelorette Party and I will be stressing a bit to make sure Sarah doesn't have to so much. I am happy to make this a special day and what ever stresses I go through will be worth it so, Sarah - don't worry!

Doggy training classes have proven to be successful; given, they aren't finished yet, but Blue is almost always sitting on command. He has separation anxiety issues, which the instructor pointed out (I already knew) but now we are training them apart and this is helping Blue's success. Bear is a sweetheart and at times can be considered a selective listener, he is getting there and if there is a treat involved he will do anything. That is why I think he doesn't sit on command at times, he knows there is no treat :) Very smart dogs can also be way more difficult...

Hello friends, again. For a while we were unable to hang out with friends due to home improvements, financial issues and just stress making us tired. So now we are done, for now, with home improvements and have less stress on our shoulders and this makes it more fun and way easier to hang out with friends. Mitch and Cindy finally took us out on our boat and we went to Palos Verdes, Julio is trouble but definitely fun to visit with, and Rosa and Lili crack me up and it is nice not to have to negotiate to watch a girly movie with someone :) Next on the list is Jolene (and maybe Mike), Cara and Jana. I'm happy to have friend time again!

Lastly, this recipe book. I have been going through my mom's old recipes and slowly, making all of them. It will be a very slow process but I am hoping by October I will have the book in my hands. I am doing it through Taste Book, for those interested. This website allows me to type out my recipes, maintain rights to them and not allow others to see them. Once I have entered all the recipes I would like, the books only hold 100, then I order it. I have about 97 in one of the books but I still need to try about half of them, to make sure the proportions are correct. I think I may make two, part one and two, so I can have even more recipes together. What is great is you can add pages later so I can continue to add to the books but the downside is the pages are front to back so I'm not sure how that would look when adding... I will update you all on my progress. I would like to thank Rosa for helping me make many of the recipes, she is a beginner cook but very fun in the kitchen and helpful to bounce ideas off of.

Till next time, Live, Laugh, Love!

Eugene, here I come!

So it turns out that everything seems to be working out so I can go to Sarah's Bridal Shower. I have no issues getting there, but getting back may be hairy so I pray it will all go alright and worse case scenario, I have to fly home Monday... The reason, some of you may be wondering, I have such iffy plans is because I fly standby. It is much cheaper, I actually only have to pay the taxes, but it can be a bit stressful. I am happy to go to the shower and be there for Sarah, I just hope I can get home Sunday!

Updates:

Europe is a maybe. Jose and I were discussing things and we feel that it may be too much for us to be gone for that long of period of time. I would love to go to Europe but we need a more relaxing vacation and we also want to visit family. We are thinking maybe a road trip next spring but we'll see. Our focus is on our trip to Eugene and the New York trip. I can't wait to see NYC again, it will be fun! I hope it snows when we are there...

Jose's dad is working again! This relieves a lot of stress for everyone. So yay :)

I think that's about it.

Till next time!

Live, Laugh, Love

Life is funny

As I sit at my desk at work trying to think about all the small tasks I have for the day, I wonder... Who decided to make offices??? Why can't we all just sit outside in tents and enjoy our natural surroundings??? Then I thought... I don't like bugs... See what happens when I wonder...

Anywho, Jose took this hilarious picture of Blue and I had to post it for all to see because it will make you laugh :)
Really though, isn't that the funniest picture... I believe this was taken when Jose was putting our new purple sheets on the bed... I like purple :)

So what else is new you ask? Not a whole lot... Sarah's bridal shower will be next week but I don't think I am going to be able to go. I would love to and if we can find a seat that would be great but flying standby can be tricky and sometimes there is room for me and sometimes there is not :( I love Portland but don't want to be stuck there.

Is that all? NO, we are going to NYC in 4 months!!! I can't believe it is actually coming soon!!! I love the fall though so I will try not to let my anticipation overpower the consuming of candy corn and cooking turkey. (Yumm... turkey)

Jose will be starting school again in 2010 so he is kinda excited to get back into it. I am happy for him but I hope he doesn't get too discouraged, as that can happen...

Lastly, after many months of thinking, discussing and pondering, we have decided we will be going to Europe next year! With Jose in school we will be going during the summer, which I hear is the busiest time to go but we are going to do everything we can to make it happen, so Europe and chaos here we come!!! Plus, the way I see it, what isn't fun about being surrounded by familiar languages in a country where we know not the language or customs? If you have any suggestions on places to stay, we are all ears, it is very difficult deciding on places to stay when I don't really know the area... Where are we going, you ask? Well, London, Paris, Rome, Venice, and a bunch of places in between :)

'Till next time!

Live, Laugh, Love

You can't go wrong with Nestle Toll House Cookies!!!

I made these twice this week and I have to say they are the best. The first time I mixed chocolate chips and M&Ms the second time they were just M&Ms.

http://www.verybestbaking.com/recipes/detail.aspx?ID=18476

This is definitely a staple recipe in every kitchen, even if you don't bake often, or at all... One thing to remember, make sure the butter is soft and sometimes I will add a little bit of extra flour to make them more cakey. The last batch I did worked well with an extra 1/4 C of flour. I would advise making a test cookie first and go from there...

Live, laugh, love

Birthday Party Pics

We had a good time :)

Home Sweet Home

This is our home, we will add more pics of the interior soon. Nothing super exciting, we haven't finished much of the rooms. We have painted but the complete decor isn't complete.

I can't wait for the first party at our house, for my birthday :) Mostly just a couple of friends but I am looking forward to it and so is Jose.

Live, Laugh, Love

Seafood Cocktail

This is delicious and refreshing, especially for the hot summer months.

Ingredients:
1 can baby clams, drained
1/2 lb cooked shrimp, detailed
2 cucumbers, cubed
3 Roma tomatoes, cubed
1 medium onion, diced
Cilantro, a handful chopped
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
Garlic Powder, to taste
1 Lime, juiced
1 C Clamato juice
1/2 can of V8
3 T ketchup
Avocado

Combine all the ingredients together and top with avocado. If you are planning on saving the leftovers add avocado as a garnish once served. I really like this with tortilla chips but saltines would be great too!

Also, this can be done with any kind of seafood, get creative with it if you would like. If the clams are too weird for you just substitute with shrimp (about 1/2 lb). If you would like more of a soupy consistancy just add more Clamato, V8 and Ketchup.

Enjoy!

Strawberries make life sweeter!

It's strawberry season and I love them so!

Some ideas to jazz up your "fresas"...

Creamy:
Slice desired amount of strawberries in 4 pieces and sprinkle with just a little bit of sugar, and set aside. What the sugar does is extract some of the juices from the berries and creates a great topping to just about anything, I like using frozen cool whip (lite tastes good too, or chocolate). Scoop out cool whip like ice cream, and pour some of the strawberries with some of the juices on top. If looking for an extra touch, chocolate syrup should do the trick. You can use this for an easy dessert at a dinner party. Just portion the cool whip in bowls before and keep in the freezer. Add sugar to the strawberries before so you will only have to top the cool whip and serve!

Savory:
Combine spring salad mix, pecans, strawberries and sprinkle some goat cheese on top and you have a refreshing salad. Drizzle a bit of balsamic vinaigrette on top and yummy! Balsamic works great with strawberries. many cooks will reduce balsamic vinegar, to a syrup, and use it for a topping on strawberries. I haven't tried it but balsamic is actually a sweeter vinegar and more full bodied than most so I can bet it tastes good. Another tidbit about balsamic, it is aged like wine, so make sure not to skimp on it. A good balsamic is important to a dish just as a good wine would be.

Other good combinations:

Rhubarb. Rhubarb has to be cooked (or it will be more sour than a lemon) so either cook it with sugar and let cool then combine with strawberries for a great ice cream topper or cook the strawberries with the rhubarb and use as a pie filling.

Cream. A classic way I used to enjoy them would be cut up in a bowl with a little bit of cream poured on top and sprinkled with sugar. Brown sugar would add a good flavor to this as well.

Goat Cheese. It is tart and the berry is sweet, put it on top of a cracker and you have the crunch. A great combination if trying to figure out what in the heck to do with all of those strawberries! I love goat cheese. it satisfies my cheese cravings but is relatively ok for you and since it is pretty rich, a little goes a long way!

Banana. Umm.. Duh :) I also love frozen bananas but since strawberries have a lot of water in them they freeze way too hard but make a strawberry sundae without ice cream, replace with frozen bananas and you have a healthier version for a sundae. Don't forget to top with whip cream and maybe a little of that chocolate syrup...

Chocolate. Again, easy... but have you ever tried dipping strawberries in chocolate pudding??? Sounds a little different but so good and at least pudding has calcium in it and can be proportionate with the individual packages.

That's about all I have for now but get creative with those fresas and don't limit yourself to sweet when they can be just a delicious paired with savory flavors!

Birthday...

So, I'm turning 26... I still have to think a minute about how old I am. I suppose that is a good thing that I don't feel 25 (almost 26) but yikes!

The new stuff:

Still working on the house... It's getting there! I will post pictures once they are done painting, I can't wait :)

Sarah's wedding is creeping up... So much anticipation for this event. I know it will be everything she imagines it to be and more, I will make sure of it!

Summer heat... Poor grandma and Phoenix heat, I feel I can't even say it's hot compared to what she has to deal with (105+) but it's going to get friggin' hot (~90). The past few days have been pretty hot and we are getting used to the heat. The plus side, it makes me crave fruit and veggies more than fatty stuff and I drink a lot more water than I did before so maybe the heat is a blessing in disguise... The neighbors all say we will get used to it so I am crossing my fingers and realizing I need to invest in some sun dresses :)

Life is great. Jose is such a sweety and I am so blessed to have him love me and take care of me when I am down and so patient when I go crazy. I am truly blessed :)

Live, Laugh, Love