Peace

Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, not even if your whole world seems upset. If you find that you have wandered away from the shelter of God, lead your heart back to Him quietly and simply.

 ~ St. Francis de Sales

Wordless Wednesday

The Bride-To-Be's Veil

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Our Wedding Day

We drove down to Seal Beach today and spent the day at Brian's mom's house. I took a LOVELY nap when we got here, and then we went out to dinner at Ruby's Diner. We had our first date at Ruby's Diner, and we went there on our wedding day to take photographs. It's always nice to take a walk down memory lane.

— 2 —

This is my nightmare.

Tomorrow I am going shopping for a bridesmaid dress. This is my first time being a bridesmaid and I take this job very seriously, haha! I'm a little nervous about meeting the other girls in the wedding, since none of us know each other. Jennifer (the bride-to-be) also informed me that not only am I the youngest (by at least 3 years), but I am also the only married girl. Isn't that weird? I'm hoping they are all sweet and nice, and that Jennifer doesn't dress me in pink.

— 3 —

Brian is also trying to sell his car this weekend. We have been a one car family for awhile in Santa Barbara. In fact, it's probably been a year and a half since we decided to leave Brian's car at his mom's house. We are tired of paying the insurance and registration on it since we never use it, and we don't want to keep it as it only has two doors and we will eventually purchase something more practical when we start a family. Plus, it would be nice to have the extra cash right now!

— 4 —

I made Shepherd's Pie in the crockpot on Wednesday. It was a bit of a process, more so than most slow cooker recipes, but I really wanted to try it since shepherd's pie is one of my most favorite meals. While it did end up tasting pretty good, the mashed potatoes were a little bit watery. I had to throw the stoneware in the oven to try and evaporate some of the water that was on top. I don't think we ended up eating until almost 7:45! But, although it wasn't the most beautiful dish (hence no picture), Brian really enjoyed it and ate a lot of it. I think I will try it again with a few tweaks.

— 5 —

Finally watched The Help tonight - I read the book about a month ago. I have a policy about reading books before I see the movie, so I'd put it off until now. Anyway, am I the only person who thinks the book and movie were GROSSLY overrated? Actually, the movie was good. I'd probably give it three stars. I wouldn't have been that generous with the book. Someday I might actually sit down and do a book review of it, there were so many things wrong. For example, from the Huffington Post article:

Writing for Ms. Magazine, Erin Aubry Kaplan wonders, "Why must blacks speak dialect to be authentic? Why are Stockett's white characters free of the linguistic quirks that white Southerners certainly have?" The Christian Science Monitor notes the same problem, wondering about the "decision to convey only black voices in dialect, with nary a dropped 'g' among her generally less sympathetic Southern white characters."

For other critical reviews, see the NY Times article here and Cease and DaSista's review here.

— 6 —

On sale for $1? Do you have a wheelbarrow?

My crafting continues. My newest project is called "smashing". It's a bit like scrap-booking and journaling mixed together and I really enjoy it. I got my SMASH book from here, although some people make their own. They were at Michael's and I had a 40% off one item coupon, plus a 20% off entire order coupon. I also got my favorite yarn that was on sale for $1 each!

— 7 — 

Since #5 was so long, I'm taking this one off. Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Zoo Visit

It's been two months since we visited the Zoo, so Brian and I decided to head down there on Monday since he had Martin Luther King day off from teaching. We had a good time!

We got two porcupines at the zoo now!

We got another giraffe! He's a big guy :)

New baby flamingo. So fluffy.

Husband and I on a nice day

Check out my boot socks - $4.99 at Payless

We've had such nice weather here. Too nice really. If we don't get enough rain, I'm afraid the brush will dry out too soon when the summer comes. We've had a lot of fires here in the past 3-4 years, some that were pretty devastating. I'm crossing my fingers for lots of rain -- and soon!

Wordless Wednesday

Bag of clothes and shoes I donated to St. Vincent's

Life is Precious

Thinking and praying for sweet Tripp, who went home to Jesus yesterday. Please keep Courtney and her family in your prayers. Life is so precious.

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Since December 27th, I've been spending my time at home. As in, I am not working right now. My flare ups with ulcerative colitis continued to worsen, and I had to go back on medical leave. So I've been spending most of my time in my pajamas, resting. In case any of you were wondering why I've been posting so much more lately. :)

— 2 —

Brian started teaching again on Monday, so I've had to say goodbye to him two days a week as he heads off to school. He looks awful handsome in his slacks, dress shirt, and tie. I love that he dresses professionally to teach his students. I sincerely hope (and pray!) that he will get the opportunity to teach as a professor someday soon.

— 3 —

Pinkberry. I had a late night craving on Tuesday, so Brian and I hopped in the car around 9:30pm and headed downtown. When I first went to Pinkberry they only had their original flavor, which I hated, so I never went again for two years. I didn't see what the big deal was. Then I got a gift card one Christmas, and discovered the Pomegranate flavor. It's been a love affair ever since.

— 4 —

God's Team or The Second Coming? Tough choice.

I love the NFL. No, seriously. I love it more than my husband, it's my favorite thing to watch on television. I play fantasy football with a bunch of guys every year and always finish in the top 6. So here are my picks for this weekend's match up:

Saints vs 49ers = Saints. They've got a better coach and a better quarterback.
Broncos vs Patriots = Patriots. You need to play good the whole game, not just the 4th quarter, to beat Brady.
Texans vs Ravens = Ravens. I had a tough time with this one. I'm going to go with the Ravens because they have the experience and they are at home.
Giants vs Packers = Packers. The Giants defense has only showed up to play the last 4 games. I'm not convinced.

Brian chose all the same picks as me, except for the Giants. Let's see how I do.

— 5 —

Brunch date with my husband last Saturday. I ordered some hot cocoa and was surprised to find a kitty greeting me. Too bad it didn't taste as wonderful as it looked. It was much too watered down. I had Banana French Toast, which was AMAZING and more than made up for the not so fantastic cocoa. 

— 6 —

Cousin Robert, wife Jackie, son Ryder, and new baby girl Raegan.

My cousin Robert and his wife Jackie welcome their second child, and first daughter, Raegan into the world on the night of the 11th. We are so excited for them! We hope to make a visit up to the San Francisco area sometime soon for a Grandon family visit (my Dad's two sisters and all their children live in Benicia). Congratulations cuz!



— 7 —I absolutely hate blogger. It creates extra spaces in my blog that it will not let me get rid of. It also will not let me bold my text. I'm thinking of moving to wordpress. Other than that, I've got nothing. How about some more baby pictures? :)

Slow Cooking: Chicken with Basil Cream Sauce

This recipe is from Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two. It's very simple: just two chicken breasts, a jar of alfredo sauce, 3-4 T of pesto sauce, and salt and pepper to taste.

I cooked the chicken a bit on both sides before putting it in the crockpot, but you don't have to. Salt and pepper to taste.

In a separate bowl mix the alfredo sauce with the pesto.

Pour it over the chicken. I cooked it for 3 hours.

Served over fettuccine pasta and with a side of veggies.

We have 8 different colored plates, and somehow I manage to get the same one for both of my food posts. Figures.

Anyway, this was really good. My husband liked it even more than I did. I think the sauce had thinned too much. Next time I will cook it for 2.5 hours, or add more alfredo sauce. But other than that it was very tasty, and it is now on our list of things to make again!

Slow Cooking: Enchilada Casserole

I love using my slow cooker, and I'm going to try and use it more often this year. I've got a lot of great cookbooks, but I've also been inspired by Stephanie O'Dea and her 365 Days of crockpot cooking.

Here's what I tried yesterday: Enchilada Casserole

I started by cooking two chicken breasts until they were tender, then used two forks to strip them into shredded chicken. Then I pretty much followed her recipe, except I didn't use olives because my husband vetoed that. I also pared down the recipe since it was just for Brian and I.

Close up of it all layered in the crockpot

My crockpot is a 6qt, so it looks small

And here is the result!

It may not look very pretty, but it was tasty. There are two things I would do different: I would use less sauce (I used a 24 ounce can of enchilada sauce, but I think I needed about half that) and more tortillas in layering. For some reason I used two tortillas on the bottom, but when I layered I only used one. So the tortilla kind of disintegrated and was invisible during consumption. Definitely should have used two tortillas for each layer. Oh, and more cheese. I only used cheddar, but I think I might use a mexican blend of cheese next time, and more of it.

Now I'm off to have some leftovers! Isn't that the BEST part of slow-cooking?

Rated G for Everyone

This rating does not accurately represent my real life. Not even close.

7 Quick Takes

— 1 —

Christmas was fairly uneventful this year. Brian and I celebrated at our apartment on the 23rd, then we celebrated with his side of the family on the 24th. Brian's brother Robert and his new wife Sasha finally announced their pregnancy (I believe she's 16 weeks or more...again they're keeping it kind of hush hush since it was out of wedlock) and we learned they are having a boy. This will be the first grandson in the family, and the first grandchild in fifteen years! Finally, on the 25th we celebrated with my extended family. On the 26th we attempted to drive back up to Santa Barbara from Seal Beach, which turned into an eight hour odyssey that I still don't want to talk about.

— 2 —

I don't do New Years Resolutions. Seriously. I never have, and I don't think I ever will. I have a few reasons for forgoing this tradition, but mostly it is that I don't want to give myself any ultimatums. That kind of pressure hanging over my head the whole year will send me into a tizzy. I know you get a whole year to complete them, but one month into it I'll be bored and want to change my resolution to something else anyway. So there. My New Year's resolution will be, to once again, not have any resolutions. Kind of like when my mom says she given up being Catholic for Lent (and the rest of the year, but anyhow).  

— 3 —

Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock

Brian finally used the Think Geek gift card I got him for his birthday back in April. He's very serious when it comes to spending gift cards and likes to take his time about it. He decided to get two t-shirts, the first being one of my favorite episodes of The Big Bang Theory. For those of you who don't know the awesomeness, please click here to watch a short video.

— 4 —

Bling Your Baubles

For Christmas I did manage to make 8 handmade fabric ornaments for everyone. Not only that, but I also bought red and white glass ornaments and decorated them with glitter, like the picture above. Click on the link below the picture to see a tutorial. Brian and I even found time to make chocolate pretzel candies (recipe here). And, as per usual with me, I did not take a picture of any of them. I am so glad this isn't a crafting blog because it would really suck. 

— 5 —

I want to do something fun this weekend. When I mentioned this to my husband he suggested we watch a movie. This is the kind of people we are. We are so boring I think even if we did have other couples to hang out with, we would put them to sleep. My best friend is planning on bringing her boyfriend to visit us next month, and while I'm super excited to get to spend time with her, I'm dreading the whole entertainment factor. Anyway, my fun idea was to do a day trip this weekend, since Brian starts up teaching again on Monday. All we could come up with was visiting the Ronald Reagan Library, or going target shooting in the mountains. PARTY ON.

— 6 —

It's almost as bad as Gaga.

If I was going to have a New Years Resolution...which I'm not...it would be to get rid of some of the crap I've accumulated over the years. I am desperate to donate/sell/toss old clothes, shoes, and books. I'm tired of trying to shove everything into my closet, knowing darn well that I haven't worn it in eons. Now, if only I could convince Brian to get rid of his video games, toys, and DVD collection.

— 7 —

Does anyone have any fun New Years traditions? Growing up I spent every New Years with my best friend at her house. When the clock struck midnight we would run out and bang pots and pans together. I'm not sure where we got this idea, but I am sure it was very obnoxious. Since I've been with my husband, we spend New Years with friends and celebrate with champagne and a kiss. I think I might like the pots and pans better...

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Patron Saint of 2012

I was over at Jennifer's blog and saw her post about choosing a Patron Saint for 2012, and I decided to give it a whirl. You know, just to see what came up for fun. I was honestly more interested to see what nice Catholic names I might add to my baby name list. So you can imagine my surprise when the first Saint that came up was:

Saint Charles Borromeo

Feast Day: November 4 (My birthday)

Patronage: against abdominal pain, against colic, against intestinal disorders, against stomach diseases, against ulcers, apple orchards, bishops, catechists, catechumens, seminarians, spiritual leaders

I could file this away as a strange coincidence, that the Saint that just happens to pop up has a feast day on my birthday, and is the patron saint against intestinal disorders and abdominal pain. But I don't think I will. And so, I introduce you to my Patron Saint of 2012.