Vavavavacation!!!!! Pt 2

So Tuesday of our vacation was awesome!  My family (Aunt Sharon, Uncle Juan, Mom, Kelly, Rachel, Blake, Abby, and Olivia to be exact) came to see us!  We had lunch at Cracker Barrel and then went to Huber's!  Only Jon and I had been, and everybody loved it!  We took the tour of the wine cellar, bought wine ;), went to the bakery, and the ice cream/cheese shop.  We didn't make it to the area with the petting zoo and mazes, but we were still there a couple hours!  I love my family so much!  I just hate the sad part of every visit.  They leave!  Anywho, I completely forgot my camera (I know!!!) but my family got lots of pic's, so I'll throw in some of theirs once they send them to me!

Summer is...

...hot pavement and cold ice cream, sunshine and arm floaties, laughter and freedom, popsicles and lush greens, peaches and hiking, roadtrips and cherished memories, sno cones and concerts, Sonic happy hour trips, picnics and fishing trips, Michigan and family time, swimsuits and sunscreen, grilling out and camping, life and love.  I'm so very glad summer is here. :)

Vacation has Begun

...and I'm loving it!  First of all, Happy Memorial Day!  Take a moment to think of those that have sacrificed their lives in the service.  That's what this holiday is all about after all.  Now on to the happy!  This week is vacation for Jon and I which is awesome!!  We started it off right this weekend by getting together with Dustin and Amber and doing a whole lot of nothing!  Today we're cleaning the house in anticipation of my family coming to visit tomorrow.  Plus it just really needs cleaned!  I hate cleaning, but I really like the feeling of an evening in a spic and span house.  Mmmmm.  It just feels so right.  Tonight we celebrated with pizza and A Very Harold and Kumar 3D Christmas.  Let's just say the movie was disappointing.  It has its moments, but definitely not up to their normal standards.  And that's about it for now.

Almond Smoothie

1/2 cup almond milk
1 frozen banana
4-8 ice cubes
dash vanilla
1 tbsp almond butter

Blend it all up until smooth.  Drink!

Summer has arrived

Summer is pretty much officially here around these parts.  Josh has 2 weeks left of school, it was 90 degrees yesterday, and Jon and I go on vacation in one week!!!!!  I am LOVING summer!  Yesterday was a great Saturday, if a little too hot for my taste.  Jon and Josh had a squirt gun battle in the back yard and we hit up Sonic for happy hour slushies!  I did laundry and took a wee bit of time to myself and watched a few youtube videos outside whilst sippin' on my slushie.  We each picked out a record and listened to them all in a row.  This is something we've been doing a lot lately.  Just putting a record on and relaxing to the music.  I'm loving it!  We capped off the awesomeness of the day with a viewing of Ghostbusters. Today I did more laundry and the boys did dishes. Then we lazed about the house for a while.  It is the weekend after all.

Healthier Chicken Enchiladas

3 chicken breasts
1 fat free cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup fat free sour cream
1 can rotel
1 cup chopped onion
1.5 cup fresh mushrooms
6 whole wheat tortillas
6 wedges skinny cow cheese

Cook and shred chicken (I fry mine in a pan with olive oil cooking spray).  Layer laughing cow cheese, mushrooms, onions, and chicken in a tortilla.  Roll and place seam side down in a 9x13 baking dish.  Repeat for all 6 tortillas.  Mix together rotel, soup, and sour cream.  Pour over tortillas.  Bake for 25 minutes.

If you're less worried about calories, you can add 1 cup shredded cheese to the top of the enchiladas and bake an extra 5 minutes.  Yum!

Cinnamon Tart

1 pie crust
1 cup flour
1 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
8 tbsp butter
2 tbsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350.  Put crust in a pie pan.  Cut the rest of the ingredients together until crumbly.  Pour into crust.  Folde edges of crust over.  Bake 25 minutes.

Recent Aquisitions

I stopped by our local flea market and picked up a few things.

I have no idea what this little owl is for, but it was so cute I couldn't turn it down!  So cute!

I still need to clean this, so forgive the fingerprints.  I got 3 of these and I'm using them as candle holders.

Our plastic kool-aid jug recently went out of commission and I really wanted to get a glass jug.  I saw this  yellow one and had to have it!  

They had an adorable baby blue vintage suitcase that I want so bad!  If it's still there next time I go, I'll have to pick it up.  And that's what I got at the flea market!

Crockpot Chicken and Rice Soup

6 cups water
1 tub Knorr Homestyle Concentrated Chicken Stock
1 box Uncle Ben's Long Grain Wild Rice, include the season packet
4 chicken tenders
3 stalks celery, chopped
6 baby carrots, chopped

Put it all in the crock on low for 4 hours.  Shred the chicken and let it go for another 15 minutes.  Eat!

Mocha Chip Frappe

One of my favorite blogs, A Beautiful Mess, had a recipe for a Mocha Chip Frappe and I had to give it a try.  Yum!

4 coffee ice cubes (simply brew strong coffee and freeze into cubes)
2 scoops chocolate ice cubes
1/3 cup milk
handful chocolate chips

Blend it all up and drink it!  I will note that it has a definite chocolate taste, so if you like less chocolate, use vanilla ice cream.

Sometimes, you just wander into areas you're not ready for...

The title is a quote from Jon whilst playing Morrowind.  We spent some time with that this weekend.  We also attended the first birthday party of lil' miss Brooklyn!

(pilfered this pic from Dustin's facebook)

I can't believe she's one!  Of course, today is Mother's Day so we made the rounds with Jon's family.  I called my mom to wish her a Happy Mother's day.  I can't wait to see her in a couple weeks!  I got the best present ever!  It's a combined Mother's Day/early birthday/early anniversary present.

We got a treadmill!  I've been wanting one for ages b/c I really want to get in healthier shape.  I plan on watching the entire Friends series while walking. ;)  Anywho, that was our weekend in a nutshell.

Happy Mothers Day!

First and foremost on this May 13th, Happy Mother's Day!  Secondly, Happy Birthday to my bestie Amber!!  I hope everyone has an amazing day!

Life and a Puppy

I seriously don't know what happened to last, week, but I am glad it's the weekend!  Monday night Schatzi had her puppies.  Sadly, only one lived, but she sure is a sweet little thing!

Awwwww!  Cuteness overload!  Wednesday night we headed over to Sonnie and Phil's for a cookout!  Not so good was the fact that Kate got hit by a car on the way there!  She's ok, just a lot of bumps and bruises.  It did make for an eventful evening though.  The whole week seems like a blur.  I'm sure the weekend will too!  Just now we are off to look at treadmills and get a present for miss Brooklyn who is having her first birthday party today!  Hope you all have a great weekend!

PS I took this really cool picture of birds in one of our trees.  I love how his wing is going so fast it's almost transparent!

Martha's 50 Ways of Summer

Found this list on http://ovenlove.blogspot.com.  I have been loving this blog!  So much that I turned into a stalker and I'm currently reading the entire backlog of posts!  I'm getting tons of recipe ideas!  Anyway, I just thought this list was so cute!  Leave it to Martha Stewart! I can't say I'll try all of these, but I do love a good list to check off!  

1. Eating a ripe peach at its peak. 
2. Dig into a funnel cake or corn dog at a state fair or hometown street festival.
3. Spend the day outdoors loaded up with picnic fare. 
4. Watermelon juice for a day at the beach: puree the fruit in a blender and don't forget the ice.
5. Make homemade barbecue sauce for grilled chicken or ribs. 
6. Strawberry ice cream in a waffle cone is worth sticky fingers.
7. Sharing a box of saltwater taffy on the boardwalk.
8. Throw summery herbs like basil and cilantro into a dinner salad. 
9. BLTs with heirloom tomatoes and smoky, thick cut bacon. 
10. After picking blueberries and eating your fill, freeze the rest for pancakes.
11. Your turn to grill dinner? Good time for a cold beer.
12. Corn on the cob with salt, pepper and fresh lime.
13. Cooking what you've bought at the farmers' market as soon as you get home.
14. A big pitcher of punch or sangria made with seasonal fruit. 
15. Making jam or pickling vegetables.
16. Cracker Jacks and foot-long hot dog at the ball park.
17. Coconut-cherry smoothie: Pitted cherries blended with coconut milk and ice- hammock and warm breeze optional.
18. A special occasion calls for a double-crusted jumble-berry pie with raspberries, blueberries and blackberries.
19. Delicious potato salad: toss the spuds with dressing while they're still warm.
20. Sipping the perfect iced coffee.  The secret ingredient? Cubes of frozen coffee.
21. Salads for dinner because it's too hot to cook.
22. You haven't made strawberry shortcake yet?  Get cracking!
23. Best tomato sandwich: thick slices of juicy beefsteaks, mayo, salt and pepper on lightly toasted bread.
24. Make a refreshing Arnold Palmer: half iced tea, half lemonade.
25. Thunderstorm?  Have fun indoors with board games and homemade ice pops. 
26. Sunset cocktails on the beach. 
27. Eating leftover pie for breakfast.
28. Trade some of your bumper crop of zucchini for a neighbor's sweet peppers.
29. Fresh shrimp on soft white bread with malt vinegar. 
30. Use chocolate wafers for ice cream sandwiches. 
31. Pucker up: slurp a fresh-squeezed limeade sweetened with agave.
32. Perfect your dry-rub recipe, then enjoy the raves.
33. Savor a lobster roll on a buttered, griddled hot-dog bun. 
34. Fresh and fuss-free: gazpacho or tomato bread salad. 
35. Beach bonfire and clam bake.
36. Spice up fish or pork with mango salsa.
37. Any excuse for a pool party.
38. Stir pesto into softened butter and add to grilled corn, vegetables or steak.
39. Unexpected dessert: grilled plums and nectarines.
40. Bacon-wrapped scallop kebabs.
41. Snack on pretty radishes with sweet butter and sea salt.
42. Grilling burgers to order for a crowd.
43. A pulled-pork sandwich with extra coleslaw.
44. A refrigerator filled with watermelons and beer.
45. Nothing beats chips and salsa (homemade, of course).
46. A big jug of iced tea with fresh spearmint.
47. Eating tomatoes off the vine.
48. Finding the perfect stick for roasting marshmallows.
49. Bowls of corn chowder or an unexpectedly cool evening. 
50. Sitting in the pool eating watermelon. 

What a Great Weekend

We had such a good weekend!  Friday night we picked up Josh and spent the evening in.  13 Dead End Drive was calling our names!

Saturday we sat around the house getting caught up on laundry and such.  Then we headed to Jon's dad's house for a visit.  The dogs are so cute.  I can't wait to see their puppies!

That evening, I had a photo shoot with David and Kate.  It was so much fun!  I was really glad to get some more experience.  

I couldn't' stop editing once I got started.  I stayed up until 2 in the morning!  Well, I suppose the whole truth is we stayed up later than normal anyway.  We wanted to see the supermoon!  It was so cool!  We borrowed Zach's telescope and got to see the moon really clearly!  

Sunday was a lazy day.  The weather lately has been hot and humid and has given me cravings for summer food.  We kicked off the warm season with strawberry shortcake and my new favorite drink, mint iced tea.

I am seriously in love with the tea! It's so simple you really don't need a recipe.  Basically, brew your iced tea as you normally would.  Crush some fresh mint and put in the tea.  Let it sit at least an hour.  Drink!  I love how subtle the mint is.  We got a houseful at one point when David, Kate, Zach, Sonnie, and Phil all stopped by.  I love it when we all get together!  Lucky for me, we're all having lunch this Wednesday!  Now I'm just blogging away and relaxin'!  

David and Kate's Engagement Shoot

I had the pleasure of shooting an engagement shoot with my brother-in-law and future sister-in-law.  We went to a couple places.  Other than a couple rain showers that got in our way, it was a great time!

stuff n nonsense

I'm so very glad tomorrow is Friday.  This week started off comically bad.  Monday morning I had to drive my car through mine and my neighbors yards to get to the road.  Why?  Because some construction worker had parked their huge truck directly in front of my drive way.  And left.   Let's just say the rest of my Monday followed this precedent.  Tuesday was rough at work.  I missed lunch, so I left at 4 which was nice.  Jon and I stopped by The 13th Floor and picked up a Primus album on vinyl. Then David and Kate came over for dinner and we talked wedding and pictures.  Wednesday was skippable.  Today has been redeemed by a visit from Dustin.  Always fun :).  I'm really looking forward to this weekend.  Saturday is calling my name with a pedicure with Amber.  I love girl time!  Later Saturday I've got a photo shoot with David and Kate, which I've been dying to do!  I just hope the weather holds!  Anywho, that's what happened this week.  Oh and Topeka was super cute too. :)

Me: I'll be at the house in 5. Be ready to meet me outside and go.

Jon: Why?!

Me: Because I have to get gas and run to the 13 th floor

Jon: Oh I thought you had committed some heinous act

Sarah: Not yet...

(\/) (;,,;) (\/)