Reaction

When it comes to the dogs, my husband is not very observant at times & this concerns me - especially if we are to one day have any children. For example, today he got home before me & like usual, he let the dogs out to potty. I got home shortly after & was greeted by the furry-children when I walked in the door. I went to pet Millie & immediately saw that the entire right side of her face was swollen. I could barely even see her eye it was so bad. Definitely couldn't miss it - unless you are my husband.

H: Honey, what happened to Millie's face?

S: I don't know, why?

H: Half of her face is puffy & her right eye is almost swollen shut. How did you not see this?

S: No, I had no idea it was like that.

What? How could he not see that the entire side of her face was swollen?? I guess men just don't pay attention to "details"!?

I examined around & in her eye & in her wrinkle to see if she got bit by a spider or stung by a bee/wasp but couldn't find any bump or anything that resembled a bite. So I took a medicated wipe & cleaned her face & then gave her 50mg of Benadryl for the swelling. I also rubbed some hydro-cortisone cream on her puffy face because she kept pawing at it like it was itching.

An hour later & the swelling seems to have gone down somewhat & she is fast asleep - thanks to the Benedryl!

I am going to have to keep an eye on it to make sure it doesn't swell anymore or affect her breathing. She goes to the vet tomorrow to get her ears checked since we have been battling yeasty ears for a month now so I will have the vet look at her face also to see if I missed something.

7/22/10 - update

Took Millie to the vet this afternoon & the vet was concerned that her face was still swollen so she put her on Prednisone for 2 weeks & I am to continue the Benedryl 2x's a day for 2 more days. Now that the swelling has gone down you can see a small bump that is oozing under her eye so we are guessing this is where she got stung at - by what we don't know. Poor lil' punkin :(

I swear, it is always something with our sweet Millie Milz!?

Top 2 Tuesday

This weeks topic - 2 things you want to purchase

1) Canon's EOS Rebel T1i - I've been wanting/needing a new camera for awhile now. Today I own a nice little point and shoot which has been really handy & small enough to keep in my purse but it's time to take a step up to something better. I've been doing some research on digital SLR cameras & now I'm trying to figure out which one to purchase. I'm thinking a Canon Rebel is soon to be mine :) Anyone have any advice to share on these cameras?

2) Cowgirl boots - I have wanted a pair of cowgirl boots for awhile & one of these days I'm going to walk into Shepler's here in KC & buy me a pair. Maybe for my birthday next month?!?

Wedding Pics

I finally got the CD of all my brothers wedding pictures from June so as I promised earlier, here is a slideshow of some of my favorites from that day!

Enjoy...

Cocktails & Cupcakes

Tonight I headed over to Miss Amber's for our monthly game-night gathering. She is one of the newest members of this fun group & we have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her.

We all brought the usual - an appetizer to share - while Amber provided the beverages & dessert. Her choice for the dessert ended up being gourmet fudge filled cupcakes with PB frosting. They were dee-lish & had the cutest pink leopard wrappers around them. I was going to take a pic of them but unfortunately I had left my camera at home :(

We didn't end up playing any games but instead enjoyed catching up with each other while snacking on all the yummy dips & food.

Thanks Amber for being a great hostess & for a fun-filled evening with the girls!

Top 2

This week it's Top 2 favorite summer recipes:

1) Caprese Salad

1 large tomato sliced in 8 slices
8 oz fresh mozzarella into 8 slices
5-6 basil leaves sliced
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
salt and fresh pepper to taste

Top mozzarella slices with tomatos, olive oil, balsamic, basil, salt and pepper. Only 100 calories per serving!

2) BLT with avocado spread

Spread
1 extra ripe avocado
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepperSandwich

8 slices turkey bacon
8 slices whole-wheat bread
8 leaves romaine lettuce
2 medium tomatoes, cut into 12 slices

1 small red onion, thinly sliced

Combine spread ingredients in a bowl. Mash until smooth and set aside. Prepare bacon as directed on package; drain thoroughly on paper towels. Toast bread. Place 4 slices on 4 plates. Spread an equal amount of avocado spread on each slice. Top each with 1/4 of the bacon, lettuce, tomato, and onion. Cover each with another slice of toast. Cut sandwiches in half and serve immediately.

Family-Time

This morning I got to sleep in a bit before meeting my parents & their friends for breakfast - which I definitely needed after being out so late the night before.

After breakfast, my mom & I headed an hour east to Sioux Falls to see my sister-in-law as well as my nieces & nephew & enjoyed the afternoon hanging out with them. My brother had left for Vegas early this morning so I missed seeing him :(

Here are a few pics I took at their house:Aunt Heather & Joslyn

My nieces Kyra & Joslyn

My nephew Lane & big sister Joslyn

My adorable nephew Lane

After a wonderful afternoon spent with family that I don't get to see very often, my mom & I made our way back home. We had dinner plans with my grandparents later that evening so we didn't have much time to relax before we were all on the road again traveling 30 min to my grandparents farm.

Grandpa ended up taking us out to dinner at the local restaurant & then we headed back to the farm where we toured grandma's awesome garden & spent more time visiting. It is always wonderful to get to see my grandparents & I cherish every moment I get to spend with them!

It ended up being an early night to bed for me as I was getting up early to make my way back to South Dakota. It turned out to be a great trip back home spent with old friends & my wondeful family.

20th HS Reunion - part 2

After some down-time & a cool shower, I got ready for this evenings conclusion of the 20th reunion festivities. I picked up my friend Murf & we decided to eat first since we would be drinking this evening & should probably have full bellies beforehand! We may have gotten old but we definitely aren't dumb :)

We headed to Chef Louie's for a steak dinner & some one-on-one time to catch up. We started dinner with a glass of Reisling & soon time was passing us by with all our chit-chat. After a lovely meal we paid our tab & moved on to Dr. Lucky's Bar & Grill where everyone from the reunion was meeting. One of my classmates owns this bar so he shut down the place for a few hours so we could all enjoy ourselves.

We walked in & this was the sign above the bar that greeted everyone:

Time to mingle & get this party started! We spent most of our evening catching up with everyone, snapping tons of pictures & reminiscing about our high school days!

Murf, Amy & Fry pose for the camera

Darin, Fry, Farah & Murf

(I have been friends with Farah since the 3rd grade & friends with Murf since the 7th grade)

Me & some of the girls I used to hang out with in high school - minus the dude in the middle! I think he saw an opportunity to get a pic with these lovely ladies & jumped in!

Fry & Murf toasting the evening with Purple Passion - our drink of choice in high school! Tastes just as good as I remember it!

I ended up staying out until 1:30am with my ol' classmates & had SO much fun! I didn't want to leave but I had an early morning ahead of me so I said my goodbyes & we all agreed to get back together in 2015 for our 25th reunion.

Scary to think I will be in my 40's by then....yikes!

20th HS Reunion

This morning I awoke early to the sound of an empty house. Dad was out feeding the livestock & mom was still asleep. I made a pot of coffee & then made my way out to my favorite spot in the house - outside on the front deck. This was the view:

It was just me, my coffee, the horses, birds & this awesome view. So peaceful! What a great way to start one's day!

Today was the beginning of the reunion festivities starting with the picnic. I spent the rest of my morning getting ready for that & then made my way over to my friend Heather's house - who was my BFF in high school - to pick her up & head to the park. Her last name was Murphy & mine was Freier so all throughout high school we were known as Murf & Fry! I haven't seen her in 10+ years so I was very excited to pick her up & catch up with her. Here we are in 1989 - big hair and all :)

We were in charge of the "registration" portion at the picnic so we set up our stuff at a picnic table & greeted everyone who arrived. This was nice as it allowed us a chance to see everyone who was there as well as meet their spouse & their children.

After everyone checked in, we all enjoyed a catered lunch & spent the next few hours catching up with everyone. It was fun seeing how people have changed - for the better & for the worst - as well as seeing my old classmates interact with their children. Here is a pic of me & my classmate Jenn Dice who was the organizer of the entire 20th reunion event!

Shortly after we ate, we all gathered for a professional "group photo" which took forever to take! By this point, it had gotten extremely hot out, the kids were hot & tired, the adults were hot & people wanted to get going. After about 45 min of shifting people left & right & up & down they managed to get the picture. Hope it is a good one after all that trouble!?

I left shortly after the picture & made my way home for a little "down-time" before the evenings festivities....as well as a nice cool shower :)

Road-trip

I am leaving the hubby & dogs behind & making my way to South Dakota for the weekend. Seems that when I wasn't looking, 20 years passed me by since I graduated high school & for some reason my classmates wanted to all gather this weekend for a 20th High School Reunion!?

I was unable to get Friday off so unfortunately I had to work the morning shift before I could make my way. I went in to work around 6:30am & left the hospital around noon. Put the top down on the convertible, iPod was on shuffle & I was off for the 7 hour road-trip to SD!

This was my first long trip in the car with the top down. The first 3 hours were fantastic. Sun shining down upon me, wind blowing through my hair, fun music being played. But after awhile, I had to put the top back up because I was starting to get burnt - even with my SPF on - & I didn't want to look like a red lobster for the reunion. So I finished the rest of my trip in the air conditioning.

Arrived into my hometown of Mitchell around 7:30pm & my mom had an awesome steak dinner waiting for me when I got there! I enjoyed the rest of the evening hanging out & visiting with my parents. It was so nice to be back on the farm & spend some "alone" time with my mom & dad!

Top 2 Tuesday

Top 2 Favorite Purchases Made This Year

1) Dell laptop - I bought this in January & can't believe I lived this long without one. It has been SO nice being able to watch TV, lay in bed, sit on the patio, hang with Shane all while being on the laptop surfing the internet. It was definitely money well spent!
2) Mustang Convertible - it has been so much fun driving this little sports car around town - especially with the top down. Unfortunately, these last few months it seems we have had more rainy days than sunny days but it has still been fun regardless if the top is up or down!

Holiday Weekend

So excited to get to enjoy a 3 day weekend. Shane & I didn't have any definite plans since I was on call the entire 3 days but we did enjoy it none-the-less. Unfortunately, it ended up raining the entire holiday weekend so that really put a crimp in my "pool-time" :(

Saturday morning Shane woke up bright & early to install a storm door to the doorway off of the patio. One more to go & soon all the outside doors will have the protection of a storm door. The rest of the day was a lazy one spent inside (since it was raining) catching up on the DVR, cleaning the house, running a few errands & waiting for my pager to go off. Lucky for me it never did.

Sunday ended up being another lazy day. I woke up thankful my pager hadn't gone off yet, thankful I have the freedoms I do as an American citizen & thankful to be spending the latter part of the day with awesome neighbors.

Since they made fireworks "legal" in Spring Hill this year, I ventured out to get a few as did the neighbors so we could light them up later in the evening. The rest of the day was spent lounging around watching movies. While out getting fireworks, I made a stop at the local Redbox & rented Shutter Island. After watching it, we both agreed that it was a pretty good movie that kept your interest but I didn't particularly care for the ending. We were both glad we didn't pay to see it in the theatre also!

After the movie, we met our neighbors out in the cul-de-sac to light fireworks & enjoy the evening. About 15 min after everyone got settled in their lawn chairs it started to rain. So, fireworks were postponed to Monday night. Talk about a bummer :(

Monday I woke up to another quiet evening on call. Can't believe I had been on call for 50+ hours & I hadn't gotten called in yet!? Crazy...but I am not complaining! Shane & I decided to risk my being called-in & went to a movie. I had been wanting to see the new Twilight movie: Eclipse so we went & ended up seeing it in the IMAX theatre. I have loved all of these movies & would have to say this was the best one I have seen thus far. I loved it & can't wait until the next one comes out.

Afterwards, we ran to Hyvee, got a few groceries & headed home. As soon as we walked into the house my pager went off. Talk about good timing - was thankful we weren't still sitting in the the theater. So I rushed off to St. Lukes East, did the procedure & was back home in time for dinner & fireworks with the neighbors.

It was a beautiful evening to be outside & we enjoyed watching the little kids light fireworks....as well as the "big kids" :) Our neighborhood friends Melissa & Nick ended up walking down to our cul-de-sac & joined in the festivities. It was nice to be able to catch up with these two "busy bee's" as it seems they are always on the go!

Since Melissa is our "photographer" of the group, she made sure to get a pic of the girls before her & Nick left. Little did we know that my neighbor Brian snuck a lit firecracker behind us - can you see it in the pic?! Yeah - that would be the "big kid" I was referring to earlier :)

Thanks neighbors for another successful July 4th gathering! Until next year...

Dream Dinners

How many times do you come home from work & ask yourself "what should we have for dinner"? This is a question I ask myself at least 3-4 times a week & I hate having to think about it. I wish I was one of those wives who was better prepared during the work week & provided her husband a hot-cooked, homemade meal Mon-Fri but lets be realistic - my job is not bankers hours. 2-3 nights a week I am either on call or scheduled on the late team which means I don't get home until around 6pm - sometimes later. By the time I get home, I am not in the mood to figure out what's for dinner.

So last month, a co-worker of mine was telling me of a place where she goes & chooses meals off of a menu, prepares them, takes them home & freezes them. She will then take a meal out of the freezer in the morning & it is thawed & ready to bake when you return from work. Sounded awesome to me so I looked into it.

The place is called Dream Dinners. I checked out the menu for June & signed up to attend a session with my co-worker Lisa. For those of you who have never heard of Dream Dinners you are about to be enlightened!

First you select your meals online from a menu that lists up to 17 entrees which changes every month. You can choose either 3-serving or 6-serving meals. Next you select which session you want to attend to prepare your meals. Don't have time to go & prepare them? No problem. They can prepare them for you & all you have to do is pick them up.

When you get there, you grab an apron & start assembling your entrees. There are stations organized so that guests can rotate from one to the next. Each station has all the ingredients needed for a particular dinner, from main ingredients to sauces to seasonings. Easy-to-follow instructions are posted, all the ingredients are pre-sliced & cut, & appropriate measuring cups & spoons are provided. Scoop/pour ingredients into Ziploc bags or baking pans that they provide & store in the frig until you are ready to go. It’s that simple. Takes about 2 hours to make everything.

Since it is just the two of us, I opted to make the 3-serving meals - minimum order is 36 servings. Each meal cost me around $10-$12 to make & I got a total of 12 meals. To some that may sound expensive but to me, for 3 nights during the work-week I can come home, not have to worry about what's for dinner & can be eating a nice hot meal with my husband in 20 minutes. In my opinion, you can't put a price on that!

Off of the June menu, I made: Hawaiian Chicken w/Jasmine rice, Surf & Turf Pinwheels, Sweet Chipotle Chicken over Egg Noodles, Grilled Pork Chops w/sweet potato fries, Southwest Chicken w/ciabatta rolls, Mango Glazed Salmon, Calzones, Italian Pomodoro Burgers & Herb Dijon Chicken Breasts w/Garlic Bread. And to think there were 9 entrees on the menu that I didn't choose! They also provide you a "side suggestion" with each entree so you can create a grocery list of "sides" for the week. Convenient!

Tonight was my first night baking one of the meals. I pulled the Hawaiian Chicken out of the freezer, put it in the frig this morning & by the time I got home it was thawed. Took less than 20 min to cook, made a side of honey-glazed carrots with it & it was dee-lish & easy-peasy.

After just one meal, I am already "hooked" on Dream Dinners & can't wait to go back at the end of July to prepare more!

Let me know if any of you reading this from the KC area are interested & would like to join me ;)