DD session #2

So we have eaten & thoroughly enjoyed the 1st months set of meals that I prepared from Dream Dinners & they were all very good. It has been such a nice treat to come home, have dinner thawed, & ready to eat in 15 min! I usually did a DD meal 2-3 times a week & it worked out well!

Since I enjoyed attending last months Dream Dinners session I went ahead & booked another one! I ended up meeting my friend Lisa there after work this evening to put our meals together & am excited about this months dishes. Again I did the 3-serving meals for a total of 12 meals.

Here are a few dishes that I prepared:

California Chicken with Fettuccine

Chicken w/honey, garlic & orange glaze with Jasmine Rice

Greek Island Shrimp with Fettuccine

Kentucky Pork Chops

Also while I was there, I received a "pay it forward" coupon which is worth $50 off to any friend who would like to attend a Dream Dinners session with me. I booked the next one on Aug 21st @ 10:30am for anyone who is interested...

Top 2

Top 2 Favorite - Colognes/Perfumes/Scents

1) Clinique Happy - I've been wearing this for about 12 years now & I just LOVE the "hint of citrus & flowery" scent! When I wear it, it makes me feel "truly" happy. It always reminds me of one of my best friends Stacey whom I don't see near enough of :( She introduced me to the perfume way back when we lived in SC & I have been wearing it ever since! The hubby wears Clinique Happy for Men & it smells dee-vine on him :)

2) Crabtree & Evelyn's La Source - this is another favorite "scent" that my dear friend Stacey introduced me to. I swear, she is one of my bestest-smelling girlfriends :) This lotion is a light, crisp, clean scent reminiscent of fresh sea air. I have their body lotion, hand therapy cream & body wash & LOVE it! It is a bit pricey so I don't use it everyday but definitely worth the $$!

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!