baby it's cold outside

we have had such freezing weather the past two days...chilly mornings and nights. so i am loving toasty fires at night and lots of cinammon apple spice hot tea.

i got some cool shots yesterday morning when the icicles were still hanging everywhere. and we had sheets of ice melting off our copper roof overhang (it was awesome in real life)

"baby, it's cold outside" ella fitzgerald www.imeem.com/24th/music/w6YFYN6I/louis_jordan_ella_fitzgerald_baby_its_cold_outside/

Viva Las Vegas

guess where we're going in march??

mike has never been and i've only been once when i was really little, so we're super excited. one of mike's clients has a villa on lake las vegas that she's letting us stay at.

on our list of things to do:

see this...

go here...

and do this...

we cannot wait to get away and relax!

"Viva Las Vegas" Bruce Springsteen http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TD-obwhf9Ug

L-O-V-E

today mike wasn't feeling good, but he worked hard all day and went to a community event after work...as soon as that was over, he was on the phone about a congregation matter...i sometimes forget to tell him how much i appreciate all he does...in our little family, at work, and in the congregation!

he makes me laugh all the time, and i love being married to him. love you babe!

"LOVE" by Matt White http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dUW_QnFwnA

Paper Plane

it was a day for flying paper planes on friday...the weather was beautiful, the sun was shining, and it felt like spring...

after my terrible experience yesterday, i went to my normal stylist today and got hilights. i think i'm going to like them for spring and summer!

"Paper Plane" by Lucy Schwartz www.imeem.com/lucyschwartz

You're So Vain

there have been very few times in my life that i have been treated so rudely as i was today...the intention of this blog is to share encouraging, happy stuff, but i have to tell you what happened!

i made a hair appt. 6 WEEKS AGO with a guy here that i'd been to once before (Daniel at Salon Dada)...he's really good with color...so 2 weeks ago i called to reschedule the appt. because my thursday class doesn't end until 12:30 and my appt. was at 12. the receptionist told me to come after my class and he would do as much as he could...that he might not be able to blow dry and fix my hair. i said that was fine. so i walked out of a lecture early so i wouldn't be super late to my appt. when i came in the receptionist (a different one) basically told me the stylist had left since i was late and there was no way he could hilight my hair today. i told her the whole story and she acted like i was lying to her and was really rude...

so i waited until he came back at which point he implied i was lying about the whole situation because "that was very unlike his receptionist" to say that to me. i said "why would i be making this up, i was the one who tried to reschedule?" he said i was 40 minutes late and there was no way he could do my hair today...it would mess up his schedule completely. then he had the audacity to rudely ask me if i could come back in 3 weeks! ha!

it boggles the mind that people who are in customer service lines of work have absolutely no people skills. and hello, this is small town texas, not a salon in new york or la!! (i bet the stylists there don't treat their clients rudely)

okay i'm done venting...back to happy posts

"You're So Vain" by Carly Simon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B7bVD_DkM4

Dangerous and Sweet

so i made tres leches for a mexican food themed party on sunday... i don't really like tres leches because usually the cake is so gloppy from all the milk and you need a spoon instead of a fork to eat it! but this recipe turned out so yum...not too much milk and so easy to make!

Ingredients for Cake
1 package white cake mix
1 1/2 cups flour
5 eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup cooking oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup milk
Filling
1 can evaporated milk
1 can condensed milk (14 oz.)
1/2 pint whipping cream
Frosting
1/2 pint whipping cream
3 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions
1Mix cake ingredients together and place in a rectangular cake pan (spray with non stick cooking oil) Bake at 350 degrees for 45-50 minutes until knife inserted in middle comes out clean.
2Allow to cool for 20 minutes.
3Mix together milk filling together and refrigerate while cake is cooking.
4Mix Frosting together as cake cools.
5Mix well until whipped cream peaks.
6When cake is done allow to cool, then fill with milk filling.
7You can poke holes in the cake or use a flavor injector.
8Frost and decorate.

got this great recipe from Recipezaar

then we had a Blokus tournament. that game is so addictive...it's sort of like Tetris but on a board game.

"Dangerous and Sweet" by Lenka

http://apps.facebook.com/ilike/artist/Lenka/track/Dangerous+and+Sweet

Blue Suede Shoes

that's the song that Jackson sings all the time in his cute little voice. last night he i asked him if he was going to dance with me at the anniversary party for ricky and dana, and he said "no, i'm gonna be playing." Jen and Jason brought his little guitar so he could "play" it standing next to Nathan on the stage. he was so serious about it too. so cute!

we had a good time. Mike and i got to dance, and they had the best white cake with yummy frosting for dessert.

"Blue Suede Shoes" by Elvis Presley http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1Ond-OwgU8

Food Chain

i love to cook! it makes me happy, it's my release, it's a quiet time for me to think and create...

i truly feel that chefs are artists in their own way, just like a painter, photographer, or musician. not that i am at all comparing myself to a chef, but cooking is something i so enjoy doing. so from time to time i'm going to blog about recipes i like and dishes i have recently made. so here's the first one...

chicken piccata with artichokes

(recipe for 2, but easily doubled)

2 boneless chicken breasts, thawed

1 egg

1/4 cup bread crumbs

salt and pepper

1/2 package of organic spagetti

1 lemon (juice and zest)

1 bottle of quartered, marinated artichokes

1/2 teaspoon garlic salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp. dried parsley, or one handful fresh

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly beat the egg and put on plate. Mix bread crumbs, s & p, and put on another plate. Coat chicken breast first in egg, then bread crumb mixture. Bake in glass pan for 30 minutes. While chicken is cooking, boil water for spagetti and cook according to directions. In large saute pan, add artichokes in their juice, olive oil, garlic salt, parsley, lemon juice, and the zest. Heat up and simmer. When spagetti is cooked, transfer to directly to saute pan and coat with sauce. Dish spagetti and sauce into pasta bowl, top with chicken breast and plenty of fresh parmesan.

"Food Chain" by Eric Hutchinson http://www.ilike.com/artist/Eric+Hutchinson/track/Food+Chain

Summertime...and the livin is easy

it has been so cold and windy here today, and while i love cold weather if i'm at home reading a book by the fire, i don't like it so much when i have to be in and out of it all day long! i'm finally home today after a long day of classes, then teaching a kindergarten class, then going to a biology night class...i am cold and tired and i really would like to be in this picture...in palm springs this summer when it was so hot that we had to wear flip flops to the edge of the pool at our hotel , because our feet would burn just walking from the chaise to the pool...oh how i would like to be there now!

"Summertime" by Ella Fitzgeraldhttp://www.last.fm/music/Ella+Fitzgerald/_/Summertime

Be True to Your School

why am i once again carrying a backpack you ask? i am officially a student again...yep, it's all coming back to me now, the endless reading assignments, quizzes, tests, group projects (ugh!), presentations (double ugh!). so why do i want to subject myself to this, for goodness sakes, i'm practically 30...way too old to learn anything else, right?

i've always wanted to finish my bachelor's degree, at some points in my life more than others, but i figure now is the time. so i am seizing the opportunity and just going for it. all of that sounds fine and good, but now as i have finished my first day back, the reality has set in, and i must admit, i am FREAKING OUT! assigning chapters to read and talking about quizzes the first day. what about just calling the role and asking us what we did on our winter break?

yes, it has been a long time since i was in school.

"Be True to Your School" by the Beach Boys http://www.last.fm/music/The+Beach+Boys/_/Be+True+to+Your+School

Miss you

so we had to put our precious little buffy to sleep...what a crazy hard decision that was. she was really sick and not getting better, so we know it was the right thing to do. we had her for almost 5 years, and she was the greatest little pet to us.

she would sit right by our bed when mike or i were sick, she loved to stand in the kitchen beside me while i was cooking (hoping to get a bite of whatever it was), and she was such a little priss and did not like to get her paws wet or walk on the grass unless it was absolutely necessary!

"Miss You" by The Rolling Stones http://www.ilike.com/artist/The+Rolling+Stones/track/Miss+You

Where the Party At

saturday night we went to mike and cady's to celebrate her 25 years in the full time ministry. she was completely stunned and surprised...we played games and the guys got way too loud. i swear you put a bunch of guys in a room with some form of competition and they all revert back to elementary school antics. cady got some great little gifts, plenty of wine and chocolates. it was a great evening.