The Border of Reality

AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!

2009-02-09T20:12:00.002-06:00

Okay, I've been out of the blogger loop for quite a while. I'm just so overwhelmed with wedding stuff right now. Anyone seen my countdown on this page??? 19 days people. Oh my god!! I'm leaving for Georgia in two weeks. The wedding's in 19 days and I'm not ready. How did that happen?

And to top it off, I got this brilliant idea to start an 'online thrift store'. So I've been trying to get that going but it's going to have to be put on hold. I just can't keep up with the wedding stuff, my daily stuff, and trying to start a business. Too much.

I will be posting lots of photos on here....maybe I'll add a 'slideshow' app.... when we come back from Georgia. Super excited to be taking my new Canon with. The city skyline and River Street. Not to mention the mansions and churches. Ohhhh, **sigh**. I can't wait. :)

Peapod

2009-01-21T21:39:00.003-06:00

This past Sunday I ordered our entire week's groceries from Peapod.com! It was amazing!! You can load your list into the little widget and it guides you through the virtual aisles. You can sort the products by many different factors: price, unit price, and so on.

As if that weren't good enough, the products are priced just as they are in a store. So for a can of diced tomatoes, I paid $.89. Yeah, that's bodacious!!!

AAAAANNNNDDDD, the delivery is only $9.95 (gets lower if you buy more than $50 worth of groceries). This is so worth it to me for many reasons. First, I don't have to actually go to the store. I hate shopping. Second, when I do, I never can stick to my list, so I end up spending AT LEAST an extra $20. Plus, there's the gas factor too. I don't waste any gas... true our store is about a mile away, but still.

They now have a promotion going on for free delivery for 60 days after your first delivery. YEA!! The delivery man was so nice, he brought all of our groceries in, bagged and set them on the counter for us. It could not have been any easier!! Sunday morning, I was drinking my coffee reading my ad papers and my shopping was ALL done for the entire week. I didn't have to go anywhere!!

I seriously don't know why I didn't start doing this sooner.

Wedding Makeup Choices (REVISED), please help me choose!!!

2009-01-21T21:27:00.006-06:00

Okay, I'm trying out some wedding makeup looks. I could really use some help choosing.

Here are the first three. The first two are kind of the same look, one is just a bit more intense. The third one is a little bit more purple-y.

We will be in Georgia in March, so it will be fairly warm, around 70 degrees. Here's a photo of me in the dress (still needs to be hemmed in spots) to help get a feel for what the makeup will look like against it:

Leave me a comment with which look you like best.

Choice A:

Choice B:

Choice C:

I've gotten behind...

2009-01-21T21:03:00.002-06:00

I haven't blogged in quite a few days. There's been soooo much going on. My mom decided to throw me a bridal shower at the last minute (as in February 22, 3 days before I leave for Georgia). So we've been getting the invitations assembled, addressed, stamped, and such. Those all went out today! Yea! And they're so pretty. I'll take photos tomorrow and post them up here.

I have lots to blog about, it's just been very hectic around here.

Swiss Burgers

2009-01-16T19:39:00.002-06:00

Easy and SURPRISE healthy too!! These are not Rachel Ray's recipe, they are my own. Enjoy.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound lean ground beef
1/2 pound ground turkey
1/4 cup oatmeal uncooked
1 tsp. worstechire sauce
salt and pepper
2 TBS. Italian seasoning
1 15 oz. can chickpeas
2 TBS. olive oil
2 TBS.Garlic powder
8 slices swiss cheese
buns

Directions:
-In food processor, chop oatmeal until it resembles bread crumbs. Set aside.
-In food processor, pulse chickpeas, olive oil, and 1 TBS. of olive oil until completely smooth.
-Combine ground beef and turkey, oatmeal, chickpea mixture, all seasonings, salt, and pepper, and worstechire in a large bowl. Mix well.
-Form into patties.
-Broil until desired doneness.
-Remove from broiler and place 1 slice of cheese on each patty.
-Toast buns in stove if desired and place patties on top.

Deconstructed Lasagna

2009-01-16T19:28:00.003-06:00

Yum, this was easy, quick and of course Delicious. Courtesy of Mrs. Rachel Ray!!

Ingredients:
Salt and pepper
1 pound long fulili
2 TBS. EVOO
1 pound ground beef sirloin
1 small carrot finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely grated or chopped
1 cup beef broth
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
A few leaves of basil, torn
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 TBS. butter
2/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Directions:
-Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain.
-Meanwhile, heat EVOO in a large skillet over edium heat. Add thae beef, crumbling into bits and cook until lightly browned, 3 to 4 ninutes. Add the carrot, onion, and garlic. Season ith salt and pepper. Cook until the vegetables are softened, 5 minutes. Stir in the beef broth, then the tomatoes and basil; simmer.
-In a small bowl, stir together the ricotta and parsley.
-Toss the pasta with the butter, then stir in the parmesan and meat sauce. Scoop the ricotta mixture into each of 4 shallow bwls, then top with the meaty pasta.

This was super easy to make. I substitted the butter used to toss the pasta with olive oil. Also, I used Smart Taste Rotini instead of fusili and added ground chickpeas and olive oil to the meat mixture.

Fiber One Muffin Mix Review

2009-01-15T16:00:00.002-06:00

I’ve been trying to work more fiber into my family’s diet. Namely my oldest daughter, Angel. She has stomach problems and her doctor said that more fiber would help to alleviate this. So among some of the foods and other remedies we’ve been trying, I came across a new product at our grocery store. FiberOne muffin mix.

There are two flavors, Apple Cinnamon and Banana Nut. I picked up the apple cinnamon and crossed my fingers. When I got home, I made them immediately adding about ¼ cup of blueberry flavored ground flaxseed to the mixture. Before pouring them into muffin cups, I tested the batter (force of habit) and was genuinely shocked. It was DELICIOUS~~ So I poured the batter into the muffin tins and baked it according to the package directions. Once they were done and cool enough to eat, I tried one. Again I was floored…. Not only was the taste incredible, but they were MOIST. I just couldn’t believe it. The true vindication came when my picky-as-hell daughter Angel tried one and actually liked it. These babies contain a whopping 20% of the daily fiber suggestion!!! That’s great.

These were so good and not too bad, price wise. We’re going to try the banana nut next. I just wanted to share this with anyone out there who has the same problems as Angel. Her stomach gets blocked and she has such a hard time… but she’s so very picky about what she eats, it’s hard to make her eat healthy (see my Sneaky Ways to add Healthy Foods blog)

Sneaky Ways to add Healthy foods to your family's meals

2009-01-15T15:57:00.001-06:00

All right, so my oldest daughter has been having BAD stomach problems lately. Actually, this has been an on and off thing for a while now. The doctor has told us repeatedly it is because of the way she eats. This of course, falls back to me. I fix dinner almost every night. But, I’m Italian. So, even though I’ve learned how to personally control eating the bad stuff…. Pasta, potatoes, bread, etc…. I haven’t quite mastered how to consistently shy away from cooking them for my family. My bad. So I’ve recently taken up preparing healthy dinners for my family along with the healthy lunches and breakfasts I was already making for myself.

I’ve found some really interesting (and admittedly delicious) ways to “sneak” healthy foods into the ones that I already make. So as not to cause a huge rebellion from my husband and kids.

Here are a few that I’ve tried with tons of luck! They actually went over big. Of course I didn’t tell any of them what was really in the food they were wolfing down, I just smiled to myself and watched as my family began the journey to healthy.

-Sloppy Joes-
My family LOVES ground beef. In pasta sauce, meatloaf, burgers, sloppy joes, you name it. Here’s an easy way to turn these otherwise not so healthy foods into ones you can be proud of.

For sloppy joes…. Forget the canned sloppy joe mix. Brown your lean ground beef in olive oil. Instead of all ground beef, use half ground turkey and half ground beef. To the browned meat, add ¼ cup ground flax seed and 1 pureed avocado (I place mine in the food processor with a bit of olive oil, garlic powder, and pepper). Mix well. Then add 1 small can tomato sauce and 1 cup of BBQ sauce. Mix well and heat through. Serve with whole wheat buns if desired and TADA! You’ve just made HEALTHY sloppy joes!!

-Sweet fruit Salad-

My kids actually love fruit, so I capitalize on this.
Mix peaches, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and grapes in a large bow. (I use frozen fruit, except for the grapes) In a small bowl, mix together 3 TBS. honey and the juice from half of a lime. Add a dash of cinnamon and 1 packet of Splenda. Pour over your salad and serve at room temperature.

-Pasta Sauce-

This is an easy one. Tomatoes are healthy by nature. You just have to make it homemade. It takes barely any more work than opening a jar and heating it. But the rewards are soooooo much better.

In a food processor, pulse 1 can chickpeas, 1 TBS. olive oil, garlic powder, and a dash of MRS. DASH until smooth. Heat 2 TBS. olive oil in a large pot. Saute ½ of an onion until they begin to carmelize. Add about 1 cup of red wine to this. Boil down for about 5 minutes. Then add 1 can of whole tomatoes to the pan. Let them heat through, then begin lightly smashing them down. Add 1 can tomato sauce and the chickpea mixture. Mix well to combine. Your sauce will be a bit light in color, so add another can of tomato sauce if desired. Season to taste with Italian Seasonings, garlic powder, and pepper. I add a packet of Splenda because we like our sauce not quite so tart. Serve this with Smart Taste Pasta of Whole Wheat pasta.

If you would like to see more of these easy healthy ideas, let me know. I have an eBook that has so many more ideas in it. I’d be happy to send it to you!!

Tilapia with Roasted Corn

2009-01-14T16:13:00.002-06:00

Here's our recipe from this past Tuesday.

Tilapia:
Ingredients:

1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tsp. chili powder
salt
4 tilapia fillets
1 1/2 cup
1 lime cut into wedges

Directions:
-Preheat the broiler. In a small bowl, combine the mayo, chili powder, and 1/4 tsp. salt.
-Grease a 9-inch square baking dish with 1 tsp. of the mayo mixture.
-Place tilapia fillets in he baking dish and coat with the remaining mayo mixture.
-Top with the corn.
-Broil until the corn is lightly browned and the fish is cooked through, about 10 minutes.
-Garnish with the lime.

Chickpea Salad:
Ingredients:

1 can chickpeas
1/2 can diced tomatoes
1 cucumber, diced
2 TBS. olive oil
Salt and pepper

Directions:
-Heat oil in large pan.
-Add all ingredients.
-Saute about 5 minutes, stirring often.
-Remove from pan and place in bowl.
-Refrigerate until ready to serve.
(Best served cold, but can be eaten warm). Also delicious on a salad!!

Lean, Mean Meatloaf

2009-01-12T21:40:00.006-06:00

Okay, as mentioned in my Menu Plan Monday post, here is the recipe for:

MONDAY"S recipes

Meatloaf:

Ingredients:
3/4 cup oats
1 red onion, quartered
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 TBS. Olive oil
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1 egg + 1 egg white
salt and pepper
6 TBS. parmesan cheese

-Pulse oats in food processor until they have a crumb-like texture. Set aside in large bowl.
-Place onion in processor and pulse until finely diced.
-Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions, cook, stirring until soft. About 5 minutes.
-Place diced tomatoes in processor. Pulse until mostly smooth.
-Combine tomatoes (reserving about 1/2 cup), egg, egg white, parmesan, salt and pepper, and ground beef with crumbled oats. Mix very well.
-Add onions to mixture. Combine well.
-Pat into 9x9 baking pan. Top with remaining 1/2 cup tomatoes.
-Bake, at 375 for about 45-50 minutes.

I topped ours with a little mozzerella at about 40 minutes. Let it melt and then placed it in the broiler for a minute to golden brown it. Yum!

Papaya Salad with Honey Lime Dressing:

Ingredients:
-Papaya
-Peaches
-Blueberries
-Blackberries
-Strawberries
-Grapes
2 TBS. honey
Juice from 1/2 of a lime
1 tsp. cinnamon

-Place all fruits in large bowl.
-Mix well.
-In small bowl, combine, lime juice, honey, and cinnamon.
-Pour over fruits and combine well.

Menu Plan Monday

2009-01-09T17:43:00.007-06:00

I'm taking my inspiration from THE Mrs. Rachel Ray this week. I'm a subscriber to her magazine (hell, I'm a subscriber to A LOT of magazines) and there were some DELICIOUS looking recipes this week. So, without further ado:

Monday-Lean Mean Meatloaf, Papaya salad with honey lime dressing, Mashed garlicky cauliflower

Tuesday-Tilapia with roasted corn crust, chickpea salad, baked corn fritters

Wednesday-Deconstructed Lasagna, Honey flax bread

Thursday-Swiss Burgers with Baked Zucchini Chips

Friday- Inside out Pizza rolls, Peach and Berry salad

Saturday-Fried Chicken roll-ups, Strawberry salad with honey lime dressing, salsa and whole wheat pitas

Sunday- Greek Chicken Salad and Garlic Cottage Fries

Dealing with the office Bitch

2009-01-09T17:22:00.003-06:00

I love my job. For many reasons, one being that it reminds me sooo much of when I was head chef and shift manager at a popular chain restaraunt, we'll call it CB. Of course, what I do now is not even in the same industry as food service. I am an executive assistant to the Human Resource Manager in a major Medical Billing Firm. However, my job is a lot like my shift manager job in that I am well known (in an office of over 100 people, everyone knows me), well liked, and most importantly, well respected and looked up to. Aside from that, I feel like I am very good at what I do. Probably because I like it so much.

But here's the thing. There's this woman, let's call her KB, who I swear not only hates me, but is out to tear my carreer down. She is very condescending and rude. I've tried being rude back, but that's just not in my nature. I can't do that. And I don't want to get that kind of reputation.

I looked up some articles online on dealing with people like this. One in particular had me laughing with it's gentle humor but it also struck true. It's a very good article. It says that (and this is something that my pyscaitrist told me of my mother-in-law) some people simply are not capable of 'normal' socially acceptable behaivor. It goes on to explain why this happens (scary) and how to deal with it.

Personally, I'm thinking of putting my whole dog/personal space theory to the test. Not sure what my boss would think when KB tells on me though. Hmmmm.

Truthfully, I need to handle this professionally, but it's getting out of hand. I'm going to be 29 in about 2 weeks. This woman treats me as if I'm an incompetent 13 year old. I am neither and I'm not willing to take her shit anymore.

Does anyone have any more suggestions?

Are humans really that bad???

2009-01-08T15:41:00.003-06:00

In a typical week, I visit our local Dunkin Doughnuts about once or twice. They know me there.... I always order an extra large coffee with extra cream and 7 splendas and either a blueberry cake doughnut (I know so bad for me but it's my once - or twice - a week indulgence) or a bagel.

The man at the window always has a big smile and a "How are you today?" for me. Today I drove through and ordered my usual (coffee and doughnut) and was instructed to pull around, which I did. Unfortunately by the time I'd gotten to the window, I'd uncharacteristically decided I wanted an order of hashbrowns, too. So, after telling the drive-up window guy this and apologizing for being a pain in the ass, he kindly asked me to pull around to wait. I did this of course, thinking "I don't want to hold the line up."

My hashbrowns only took an extra minute or so. One of the other clerks came out to bring them to me and before I could get another "I'm sorry" out, he started apologizing to me. He appologized for asking me to pull around. That got me thinking... are most other people just such jerks that they would have required the apology from this nice man? Would other people have been put out by the fact they were asked to 'pull around'? I mean, it was me being a pain in the ass, so of course I pulled around. I didn't feel like the guy was in the wrong for asking me at all!

It makes me wonder about where the human race is heading. I try so hard to teach my children to be humble, compassionate, and honest people. Am I alone in that? Good god, I hope not.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Free eBook

2009-01-06T13:59:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone! I just wrote an eBook. The premise is a month's worth of healthy, easy, DELICIOUS meals all rolled into one book. This book is focused solely on dinner items. My next one will be breakfast, then lunch.

If you're interested in receiving one absolutely free (no strings attached):

-add yourself to my followers list
-email me at amberavon1@yahoo.com

I will send the eBook directly to you, FREE! I'm just trying to get it out there.

Thanks all. ;)

Personal Space

2009-01-06T13:36:00.004-06:00

Has anyone ever noticed how dogs have NO sense of personal space???

Take our dog, Violet for example. She'll just come right up to you and stick her big long sausage dog nose right in your face. And leave it there. Or worse, start kissing you. It's nothing for her to try to slip someone the tongue. :)

What if that was socially acceptable human behaivor? I tried it this mornigng on my mom.... she wasn't too happy. But wouldn't that be a good tactic to get on someone's nerves who you couldn't actually tell off but wanted to??? Think of what would happen if I went up to my mother in law and stuck my face under her chin. What would she do? At least she'd have something real to talk about then instead of making stuff up. :)

Well, regardless of personal space or not, we love our Violet-dog. What's not to love? She's happy to see us always, knows to curl up by my legs when I'm reading and never talks bad about us... even if we do stick our nose in her face. :)

Violet Bass

Cranberry Bars

2009-01-06T12:41:00.003-06:00

Okay, as promised, here are the delicious Cranberry Bars that I made the other night.

Here's the easy recipe:

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Cranberry 'sauce' ingredients:

1 bag cranberries (fresh)

about 1/4 cup sugar

1 TBS. vanilla extract

2 TBS. water

Directions:

-In medium saucepan, combine 'cranberry sauce ingredients'.

-Bring to a low boil until cranberries begin to pop.

-Physically mash the cranberries a little bit. You should see a sauce starting to form.

-Continue to 'low boil' for a few minutes until sauce is thick and still coarse.

-Remove from heat and let cool.

-In medium bowl, beat butter and sugar until creamy.

-Add egg and vanilla, beating until blended.

-Add flour, beating until JUST blended... it will be crumbly, that's ok.

-Reserving 1 cup dough, press remaining dough firmly into a lightly greased 9"x9" baking pan.

-Spread cranberry sauce on top evenly.

-Sprinkle reserved dough evenly over the top.

-Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 28 minutes or until golden.

-Cool completely on wire rack.

FIVE

2009-01-04T12:13:00.002-06:00

I saw this in Sarah's post and couldn't resist reposting it... customized to my taste, of course. This is just too good. :)

These are in no particular order.... Five things I suck at:
1. Accepting Dave's family and ex-wife
2. Saying "no"
3. Focusing on just one thing at a time
4. Making friends
5. Having patience

Five things I'm good at:
1. Cooking
2. Dancing
3. Loving my husband
4. Reading
5. List-making

Five random things about me:
1. I have one brother.
2. I have an extrememly soft heart for dogs.
3. I'm mildly obsessive compulsive (in a good way).
4. I have big plans and not ever enough time to accomplish them all.
5. I've watched the Friends series (the whole thing) 6 times (I own it).

Five things I will not do:
1. Party like a rockstar.
2. Quit trying to 'do it all'.
3. Easily admit when I'm wrong.
4. Give up my love of Georgia.
5. Stop loving my husband.

Five people I have to talk to:
1. Dave
2. Angel
3. Alexis
4. Mom
5. Dad
6. James (yeah, I know.... that's 6)

Five places I'd like to go:
1. Georgia (home, for good)
2. New York
3. Italy
4. Fiji
5. Georgia (haha)

Five celebrity boyfriends:
1. Matthew McConaughey
2. Tim McGraw
3. Brad Pitt
4. Kid Rock
5. Johnny Depp

Five things that annoy me:
1. People who think the wold owes them everything (Dave's family and ex-wife)
2. When you email/call someone and they don't email/call back.
3. Drunks
4. When I clean the house and an hour later it's a disaster again.
5. When I can't figure out what to make for dinner.

Five things that scare me:
1. Flying
2. The thought being without Dave
3. The dark
4. Ghosts
5. German Sheppards

Five things I cannot live without
1. Dave
2. My daughters
3. Pasta
4. Books
5. My computer

Menu Plan Monday

2009-01-04T10:26:00.003-06:00

Okay, this is my first 'official' Menu Planning Monday. I actually do this every week, but on paper. I found this great site, Orgjunkie.com that does a link up to like a billion people who do this electronically.

I've not been feeling the greatest today, so I'm only going to post partial info for right now. Tomorrow I will have it completed and with recipe links!!

Monday- (I cheated) Takeout Pizza :(

Tuesday- Bacon, Tomato Bagel Melts (thanks Laura, these sound DELICIOUS!!), kicked up salad, and Homemade Mac n Cheese

Wednesday- Inside out tacos, spanish rice, and sister-in-law dip

Thursday- Black forest Reubens, Homemade potato chips, hummus and grapes

Friday- Pork Chop Balsamico, corn salad, hawaiian rolls, baked potatoes

Saturday- Filet mignon in wine sauce, double baked potatoes, broccoli au gratin

Sunday- Stuffed shells, homemade garlic bread, kicked up salad, white chocolate pudding

I'll post recipe links tomorrow everyone. Check back for them and more posts. I made this AWESOME cranberry bar the other night and just haven't had the energy to post the recipe on here. So that will be up as well as a few more little things. :)

Weeknight Chicken Sammies

2008-12-30T21:14:00.000-06:00

Okay I guess it's pretty apparent that we eat chicken. A LOT. :) It's good for you though, and very versatile. So without further ado, I present:

Weeknight Chicken Sammies:

Ingredients:
- 2 large split chicken breast*
- 4 cups water
- 4 TBS. Chicken bullion
- 1/2 jar pasta sauce*
- provolone cheese
- kaiser rolls or buns

Directions:
Boil chicken in water and bullion. I usually cook these in the crockpot overnight, but if you forget to throw them in there, they take about 35 minutes in a pot with water.

Remove and shred. *I always take out half and place in zip top bag. Then I put in the freezer for later use.... chicken and dumplins, etc...*

Toss with warmed pasta sauce (I usually make my own, but storebought is just fine).

Slice rolls open and place cheese on them. Fill with chicken. Oala'!

Enjoy!!

New photos

2008-12-28T22:07:00.000-06:00

So if you read my last post about my new camera you'll know how much I love it!! I've been practicing. See my new blog for more photos or you could see my myspace page for even more photos. :)

Calzones

2008-12-28T22:00:00.000-06:00

Here's the recipe of our classic Monday night dinner. I like to make this on Mondays because it's super easy and my girls and fiance LOVE it!

Ingredients:
-1 container refrigerated bisquits (I use flaky buttermilk)
-garlic salt/powder
-1 small can pizza sauce
-1/4 pound ground beef*
-shredded cheese
-1 egg white, whipped

Open bisquits and flatten to circles about 2 in. x 2 in.
Sprinkle each with garlic salt/powder

Spread a teaspoonish of pizza sauce on bisquits
Add a spoonful of ground beef (cooked) to one side of the circle
Top with cheese

Fold one side of circle onto the other and seal with fingers
Brush each with egg white

Bake at temperature specified on package until golden brown on top.

*When I make pasta sauce, I always save a little bit of the ground beef for these. Just toss about 1/4 pound of the cooked meat in a ziptop bag and toss in the freezer. Pull out the day before and put in fridge to dethaw. You can do this with taco meat as well. Pepperoni, chicken, or anything of your choosing can be used in place of the ground beef.

Enjoy!!

Chicken Fried

2008-12-28T21:51:00.000-06:00

Anyone ever hear this song? It's by the Zach Brown Band. This is such a great song. It completely embodies nearly everything that I love about the South. Sweet Georgia.

It's all chicken fried, a cold beer on a friday night, and a pair of jeans that fit just right.

***sigh***

I know all of my problems won't go away once we move to Georgia. But oh, it will make them seem so much more bearable. Grrr...

My new camera

2008-12-26T16:44:00.001-06:00

Yes, I actually got the Canon EOS Rebel for Christmas!!! I soooooo was not expecting it! Dave even through me off by saying that he wasn't going to be able to pull it off and that he got me like 5 other things.... I kept telling him "save away for it, we have three gift giving times between now and when we leave for georiga.... Christmas, My Birthday, and Valentines." I didn't want a bunch of things for all of those. I just wanted the camera. And he shocked the HELL out of me when, after opening two beautiful outfits and a sexy new jacket, I opened (drumroll please) my camera! It's the most wonderful camera ever.

I've shot with the Canon EOS film camera before when I did wedding photography. This digital one, the Rebel blows the doors off of that other one. It's amazing.

Here are a few photos I took, just messing around with it. This is before messing with the aperatures and everything else.

Here are a few I took, messing around with the lighting:

More are definitely going to follow! I can't wait for it to warm up just a little so I can take outside snowy/ice pictures!!

He makes me laugh

2008-12-25T20:48:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I can't help but admit how very lucky I am. My fiance, Dave is just an amazing man. He adores me in a way that no one ever has. He's incredibly patient with me, our girls, my family, and just everything else. He's a great cook and can clean the hell outta the house if given the time. He remembers the little things I love. Like for our anniversary, he remembered that I fell in love with these blue and purple glitter dipped roses from Jewel MONTHS ago. Check the beautiful bouquet he brought home for me on our anniversary last month. And he makes me laugh so hard. All the time, about the stupidest little things!!

Of course we have problems sometimes. Every couple does. But I'm lucky enough that we can work them out and they don't turn into big humongous fights most of the time. We are good together. Most days, we are yin and yang in almost all things. But it not only works, but it plays off of one another and enhances our relationship.

He is the one my soul has searched for all these long hard years. Finally, it is at peace.

Easy, Cheesy Chicken Tortilla Soup

2008-12-25T20:29:00.000-06:00

So, this store right by our house makes the best Chicken Tortilla Soup....I absolutely LOVE it. But they only make it on Wednesdays (grrrrrr) so I decided to make a big batch for us for dinner and then I'll individul-size freeze the rest for me at a later time.

This soup is my own (easiest in the world) recipe and is jus phenominal!!

Ingredients:

- 2 large split chicken breasts
- 1 jar salsa con queso (I used mild but use whatever you like)
- 2 cups water
- 3 TBS. chicken bullion
- 1 can chili flavored diced tomatoes, drained
- 1 can white hominy
- tortilla chips, corn chips, or homemade tortilla chips

Put all ingredients except hominy and chips in slowcooker. Cook on low overnight. Remove chicken the next day and shred or "chunk". Return to slowcooker and turn to WARM. Let sit another 3-4 hours at least. When ready to serve, saute hominy in sauce pan with 1 TBS butter and a dash of salt and pepper. Add to soup, let sit on warm for another 10 minutes.

Serve with chips on top for crunch and shredded cheese if desired.

All I can say is YUMMY!!

Almond-Raisin Scones

2008-12-22T20:54:00.000-06:00

The other day at work, our Managed Care office ordered lunch for a meeting. This is a very common occurence. We at Med3000 LOVE our food. We have a 20 minute meeting and we order lunch. A client is coming in and we order lunch. It's Monday afternoon and we order lunch. It's a beautiful thing. Anyway, the other day we ordered from a local deli/bakery that we use quite often. This particular day we had ordered their scones along with lunch. They were TO DIE FOR!!! So chewy, moist, not too sweet not too dry. Ohhhh, they were perfection with sugar (litterally) on top. So I decided to bake scones. :)

This is a very simple recipe. Even shaping it into the 'dome' was easy enough:

Slicing was easy.....:Looking at the finished product, easy....:

All right all right. Here's the recipe. Not quite what I had from the bakery the other day, but still very good and chewy, not at all dry!!!

2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 c. granulated sugar*
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/3 c. butter, softened and chopped
1/2 c. buttermilk
1 Large egg
1/2 c. raisins*
1 tsp. almond extract*

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease and flour a baking sheet.

In a medium bowl, blend flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda. Mix well. Add chopped butter and using a pastry blender or two knives scissor-fashion, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Add raisins and blend well.

In small bowl, mix the buttermilk, egg, and almond extract. Add to the flour mixture.

Knead dough 12-15 times until well combined and smooth.

Shape into 8-inch dome. Using a serrated knife, score the dough into 8 wedges (don't cut all the way through).

Bake 12-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven an brush with "icing" while still warm.

Icing: mix 2TBS. OJ and 4TBS. granulated sugar

**A few notes**
This recipe calls for dates instead of raisins. I like raisins better so switched them out. It also calls for only 2 TBS. of sugar in the dough. I increased it to 1/4 of a cup. I like it a little sweeter. It calls for orange peel, but didn't have any oranges on hand so added the almond extract to the buttermilk.

Also, it took much longer than the 15 minutes to cook. I would say at least 25 minutes, but keep a close eye on it.

Enjoy!!

Deep cleaning

2008-12-20T08:25:00.000-06:00

Well, to accomodate my New Year's resolution of reducing the clutter in my life, I started deep cleaning my house. We just moved to this big beautiful house (5 bedrooms, huge living room, large kitchen, dining room, etc...) this July. I love it here. We just finished repainting the kitchen and dining room and it's just gorgeous.

So, anyway, we've accumulated some clutter. Nothing major, like you'd see on TV, but still a decent amount. So I took 3 hours yesterday and DEEP cleaned our room. It feels soooo much better in there. Airy and refreshing.

Today I'm going to do the same to the kitchen and dining room.... and also alleviate some of the bottlenecks there. Our garbage is ALWAYS full. Overflowing. However, we still have the tiny 'apartment sized' garbage can we bought when we got our first apartment. So, I'm going to get a larger one. Also, I'm going to rearrange the cabinets to make more sense for the kitchen.

Tomorrow, I'll do the living room and bathroom. Then Monday, I can work on the back bedroom, basement, and the basement bedroom. Then I will do the girls' rooms upstairs.

After I'm done with all of that, I will begin my new organization system for all of my paper crap.

I feel better already. :)

New Year's Resolution part II

2008-12-18T20:35:00.000-06:00

So, I've come up with another New Year's Resolution. I'd like to reduce the 'clutter' in my life... namely the paper clutter. It's the worst. No matter what I do, I seem to accumulate more and more of it. So that's my second resolution. To do away (or control) the paper clutter.

Now, on to the "How" of executing my New Year's resolutions.....

The first one, letting go of my anger and all that toward's Dave's family, may be the tougher of the two to execute. The little trick my pyschologist gave me (see the "crazy crazy crazy" sign on www.myspace.com/dreamingofgeorgia and read my 1st new year's post) helps, but it doesn't quite alleviate the problem. What to do? I've already told Dave that I am looking out for my best interests and absolving myself of his family and ex-wife. That was a huge step. I've begun conditioning myself by physically telling myself "NO" as soon as a thought of them creeps into my mind. I am a firm believer in conditioning yourself into a different lifestyle or change. It worked for me when I decided to get healthy and lose weight. Conditioning. I will keep that up and keep referring to my CRAZY CRAZY CRAZY sign.

Now, on to the clutter problem. I know the key is organization and planned execution. A lot of it comes from the girls' school stuff. So, I can try a trick I read about with "inboxes" for each of them. My magazines, I've already solved that problem (I'm a magazineaholic!!!) As soon as I'm done reading them, they get tossed into a milk crate. When it's full, I have a lady who comes and gets them. She and her 5 daughters read them and pass them on. I am really proud of that solution. Now, comes the hard part. The compulsive PRINTING that I do with recipes, coupons, LISTS, and everything else. Do I cold turkey that and give it up? Or find some way of wrangling it all? When I finally came up with my filing system for all of our bills, that REALLY helped. Maybe I can do the same for all of the crap that I print. That will work. Yea!! I'm proud of myself.

:)

Winter wonderland my ass

2008-12-16T20:12:00.000-06:00

Ugh! I hate this weather. Winter. It's such a crock. LOL!! I say that like it's a theory or something. Winter in Chicago is utterly preposterous. Bitterly ridiculously cold. Grrrr.... It's winter that I miss the south the most, for the obvious reasons. I mean, don't get me wrong.... this cold is good for something. Snuggling in bed or on the couch with the hubby watching movies. And drinking hot tea. But those things can be enjoyed without freezing cold snow and biting wind outside.

Okay, I'm just grumbling here. But is it really neccessary this weather???

The countdown is on... 10 more years till we can move to Georgia. Sigh.

My New Year's Resolution

2008-12-15T21:14:00.000-06:00

Okay, okay, I know it's about 2 weeks early (give or take)... but somehow, I came to this today and absolutely knew that it has to be mine. First a little bit of background. I am hated by pretty much all of Dave's family. Not just hated, but treated as though I am the anti-Christ. This has gone on for three years. I won't slander anyone by telling the gorry details of the mean, vindictive, horrible things they have said and done to me. But let's just say that it's bad. Not your regular "in-law" hatred. And it's not just them, but his sister, her kid, his ex-wife (same deal, not your everydy run of the mill ex-wife hatred), his grandparents. It's been a very long three years. They've dedicated the time to making my life miserable and making our wedding as non-celebration-esque as possible. So to say the least, I'm resentful and actually hateful towards these people. This is not who I am. I'm not a hateful person. I'm a country girl.... I love everyone if they give me the chance. But this hatred has taken up soooooo much of my energy this past three years. And I can't take it any more. I just can't. I've done everything in my power to make ammends for something I didn't wrong in the first place. I've tried to play nice, I've done EVERYTHING I can. To no avail.

So, I've come to the conclusion (my resolution) that I just have to give up my hatred, resentment, my anger, and my hostility towards these people. They obviously are not going to change. And as my shrink once told me, they are not capable of acting socially "normal". She said that I have to see a big blinking "CRAZY, CRAZY, CRAZY" sign whenever I have to deal with them or even think about them. (those of you who've been on my myspace page will see that I actually have a sign that says that very thing.... to remind me) I have to let it go, because they are wasting too much of my energy and they honestly, don't deserve it. They're not worth the time it takes to be hurt by them.

So that's my resolution for this year. Though it's come a few weeks early, I think that it is very good.

DIY invitation instructions

2008-12-11T18:57:00.000-06:00

Okay, here are the instructions on how I made my wedding invites.

You can modify these to whatever size you want. I like the way mine turned out because they are beautiful and are not too "invitation-y". We're not very "traditional" so these are very us. :)

Supplies used:
Astrobright glisten cover stock paper in Venus Violet (8 1/2 x 11)

Fiskars scalloped scissors

Glue Runner

Paper Trimmer

12 x 12 in. silver/black scrapbook paper

Linen paper (bought from Office Depot)

Step One)

Score the Cover stock at 4" from the bottom. Turn over and score at 3" from bottom.

Step Two)

Fold at scored spots. Run the back of a spoon over the folds to assure flatness.

Step Three)

Make a template for your flap. I used a triangle template but you can do round or just leave the flap plain.

Step four)

Trace template onto smallest flap.

Step five)
Cut along line of tracing with scallop edged sckissors.

Step six)
Use glue runner to fasten edges of your "pocket" together.

Step seven)
Cut scrapbook paper to 3 1/2" x 7 1/2". Attach with glue runner to 'top flap'.

Step eight)
Print your inserts onto linen paper and insert into pocket.

(In this photo, the cover stock looks blue. This is just a product of my crappy camera. It's actually a very vibrant purple. To see the actual color, click on the link in my supply list.)

Last step!!
Print your invitation (mine are 3 x 7) and attach to silver/black paper with glue runner.

This is an easy enough project. It's just very time consuming. For 70 invitations, I spent about 4 hours.

Saw this in another post....

2008-12-11T17:41:00.000-06:00

Can we ever love the same way after betrayal?I think we have no choice but to guard ourselves a little more.
I am more cautious, more leery. I don't make myself vulnerable to him in the same way.But I also think that, finally, we have no choice. Asking if we can we loveafter a betrayal is, in a way, like asking whether we can love for more thanjust the few weeks or months before the other does something that leaves us hurt and crying.

All love, eventually, comes in the wake of some kind of betrayal.

Little white lies

2008-12-11T17:23:00.000-06:00

Okay, I know everyone does it. Little white lies. They're supposed to be harmless, right? But what happens when your partner tells one.... and somehow it turns into a big fat black lie? You know, where you know it's a lie and keep calling them on it... they keep denying it and generally making it as though you're nuts. Then you finally prove the lie.... and then what? Then it's turned into this great big fight for something so stupid that shouldn't even register on the radar. Damn.

I don't know. What compels men to do this??? I mean, Dave knows how I feel about lying. He knows that I would rather him tell me, "baby I ran over you cat" then him tell me he found it dead in the street and I later prove that he did it. (by the way, this never happened... just an example)

Is it just me? Ladies, help me out here. Do your guys tell supposed "little white lies"? And how do you deal with it?

Sweet Savannah

2008-12-09T20:44:00.000-06:00

The scent of the sun and the pines is just about overwhelming to my brain. 900 some odd miles away and I can still smell the sweet, warm air. God, how I long to be there. Just be in that place that's always, somehow, been my home.

Sitting in that hotel window on our last night in Georgia, listening to the distant traffic and the peaceful vague noise, it hit home. I won't ever be at peace in my head and my heart until I am there. There, free to be myself, to give in to the indulgence of a cup of morning coffee on the porch. To sip the sweet tea by the pitcherful. To drift off to sleep with little thought of the worries of everyday life. To breathe the life that's been waiting for me all of mine. Goddammit, why did I leave there. It was so hard for me to be alone, but it was so wonderful at the same time. I had everything there. No, I know, if I hadn't come back here, I'd never have met Dave. I know that. And I'm so thankful I did. But is it wrong to want both? Him and the other love of my life…. Georgia. He wants to go back too. He doesn't quite get my love affair with the south, but he understands enough to know that's where I belong. Thank god for that. 10 ½ more years. He asked what will the girls do when we leave. I imagine they'll go to college. Or start lives of their own. Either here or they'll follow us to Georgia. That is Lexi's home too. She has that fire in her soul for it like I do. It's strange how a geographical place can take on so much space in one's heart as if it were a living breathing person.
I think often of my dream….. laying on the beach, sipping sweet tea. Watching my young women of daughters flirt playfully a ways down with some passing guys. My husband, Dave, laying next to me, just talking and drinking in the warm Georgia sun. It's so simple and yet so fucking far away. Dammit all.

The Belinda Photo

2008-12-07T19:55:00.000-06:00

I was going through my photos from the last time we visited Savannah and came across this one:

I had forgotten how much I love this photo. It reminds me very much of one of my favorite books, BELINDA. It has the feel of "Belinda, on the Wharf". This book is so good, I've read it probably an easy 200 times. The first time I read it was right out of high school.... over ten years ago. Great book. Anyway, this photo reminds me of it. :)

In looking through my photos from the last time we were there, I realize just how crappy my camera is. :( I've been shamelessly dropping hints to Dave that I want a Cannon EOS Rebel for Christmas, or my birthday, or Valentine's day. Or all three....don't care, just so long as I have it before we go down to Georgia for the wedding.

Here are a few more of the photos I took last time we were there:

I had seen a few photos like these online and tried very hard to duplicate them with my crappy little K***c camera. :(

Monogram

2008-12-06T15:22:00.000-06:00

All right.... so on to what I began in the last post. I designed our monogram yesterday. It took a little bit of time, a ton of patience and lots of starting over again (and again and again and again.....) but I finally came up with something I absolutely love!

Here's a photo of it...kind of pixelated but that's because I've enlarged it for printing.

This will be painted onto our aisle runner (more photos as that's being done) and used for other accessories, like on our favor tags, on the invitation belly bands (thanks Heather for the great idea!) and several other projects.

Stay tuned for more!!

Almost there.... twice.

2008-12-06T15:05:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I designed our monogram that will be used on our aisle runner, on the invitations going out for the Illinois reception, and several other DIY projects I have going for this wedding! If you haven't guessed, I'm getting married. In a few months.....and then again at the end of May. Okay, okay, let me explain.

Almost two years ago, Dave proposed to me. Immediately, I said yes! And so began the planning. Long story short, we ultimately decided to have our wedding in Savannah, Georgia.... the long-time love of my life. (more on that later). But when his parents caught wind of it, they threw a fit.... so, I'm the lucky bride that gets two weddings. One in Savannah, the official one, where I, Elise Amber Mirkov will become Mrs. Elise Amber Bass. And the second one, here in Illinois where we will pay waaaaayyyyyy too much money to feed a bunch of people I will never see again. 150 guests, about 140 of them are his family. More specifically, his MOM'S family. People he hasn't seen in years. But that aside.....

So, the first wedding, the real one..... is on March 1, 2009. In Savannah. It's sooooo close. Less than three months. There's so much left to do. I've taken Wednesday off so that I can get caught up on some of the little things without interuption. It's hard to paint an aisle runner with a seven and eight year old running around. :) As the days fly by, I'm getting more and more anxious.