classics

Today I made a couple of classics that I love.

Good Old Fashioned Pancakes
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3 1/2 tsps. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 egg
3 Tbsp. butter, melted

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Make a well in the center and pour in the milk, egg and melted butter; mix until smooth.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle or frying pan over medium high heat. Pour or scoop the batter onto the griddle, using approximately 1/4 cup for each pancake. Brown on both sides and serve hot.

*I, of course, added chocolate chips because that's just how it should be. Recipe courtesy of allrecipes.com.


Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup white sugar
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients together using an electric mixer. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Once the mixture has formed a nice dough, roll the dough into 1 inch balls. Place on the cookie sheet 1 inch apart and press with a fork (criss cross style). Bake for 10 minutes and let cool. Enjoy! (Recipe thanks to my girl, Paula Deen)

movie time!

I've watched quite a bit of movies lately so I thought that I would share them with ya'll:

UP

This is an adorable movie. If you're looking for something light hearted and cute, you've got it. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

The Hangover

This movie is freakin HILARIOUS!! I loved it!! At first I thought it was going to be vulgar but when I was assured by a few good friends that it wasn't but it was soooo funny I decided to watch it. I highly recommend it, warning: there are a lot of swear words, so if that bothers you then you might not like it. I give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Taking Woodstock

This movie was awful with a capital A. When we rented it we thought "oh, there should be some good music in it and Demetri (whatever his last name is) is so funny". No. Not at all. So boring. Its one of those movies where you wonder when there will be a point or you're like "oh this has to get better". But it didn't. It gets 0.5 out of 5 stars.

It's Complicated

Before I even start this review this needs to be stated; I ADORE Meryl Streep, she is an incredible actress!! I don't think I've seen her in a movie where I didn't absolutely love her. And she has such a classic beauty, I hope to grow up with her class. Anywho...this movie was sooo cute and funny! I mean how could it not be? It has my girl Meryl in it plus Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin! I absolutely loved it and highly recommend it. I give it a 4.5 out of 5 stars.

Avatar

This all started because John really wanted to see it and suggested it for a date night. Since I'm a good wife I begrudginly said yes. I mean only dorks go see movies like Avatar, right? Right. So we went to theaters, paid for the tickets, retrieved our 3D glasses and found our seats. Yes, my arms were crossed almost the whole time to show off my begrudiness (yes that's a word and yes, John has become immune to this type of behavior). The movie begins and I'm like rolling my eyes (no one can see because its dark and I have huge 3D glasses on). Then about 10 minutes into the movie I was in love! I was enthralled by the movie, I absolutely LOVED it. The special effects were incredible, the storyline was great and just the whole thing was awesome! Now you all know that I can be an obstinate, prideful person so it pains me to write how incredible this movie is. But it is! I would totally go see it again and I highly, highly recommend it!! This movie definitely gets 5 out of 5 stars!

spaghetti pie

This is a yummmy and simple recipe from my good friend Anna, enjoy :)

Spaghetti Pie

8 oz cooked spaghetti
2 Tbs olive oil or butter
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2c and 2 Tbs Parmesan cheese
1 c. ricotta cheese
1 c. spaghetti sauce
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 350. Toss hot spaghetti with oil. In a small bowl combine eggs and 1/2 c Parmesan. Stir into spaghetti. Pour spaghetti mix into lightly greased 10 inch pie pan and form a crust. Spread ricotta over crust. Top with sauce. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Top with mozarella. Bake 5 more minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbs Parmesan cheese. Cool for 10 minutes before cutting into wedges.

book list

I know that I'm behind the times by saying this but did ya'll know that you can create a "wish list" on amazon.com? Oh yeah, me too...as of a few weeks ago. Well here are some of the items on my list:

1. Barron's 500 Flash Cards of American Sign Language
2. Signing Illustrated
3. Churched
4. Angry Conversations with God: A Snarky but Authentic Spiritual Memoir
5. A Million Miles in A Thousand Years by my boy, Donald Miller!
6. Food Inc.
7. Committed

Oh yeah by the way, I'm attempting to learn sign language. A few of our clients are deaf or non-verbal so sign is a great way to communicate :)

i love you in sign
(photo courtesy of google search)

lately...

In the past week I have contracted some disgusting sickness that has claimed my voice and ability to sleep through the night. Ok, ok, I have a cold. But I don't get sick very often and I don't like it when I do! Its slowin my roll and I don't appreciate it! I couldn't get off of the couch last Sunday (when the sickness appeared at our house), Monday I worked from home and sounded like a sketchy man and the other days I worked, volunteered, ran errands and came home to pass out. I hate when your body just feels exhausted...grrrr. Doesn't my immune system know that I just started a new job and I have to finish putting Christmas decor in storage?!

On a brighter note, I'm officially in full swing with my new job! And...drum roll please....I LOVE IT! How long has it been since I can say that I love my job?? Too long, that's the answer. God has seriously blessed me and I am so very thankful. Unfortunately due to HIPAA violations, I won't be able to tell ya'll a lot about my day to day tasks. But I can tell you that my clients are awesome and I love working with them. I'm daily reminded of simple happiness and how seemingly small goals that are attained can be SO huge. Yay! :)

sweet potato fries

These are yummmmmy:

Sweet Potato Fries

• 1 1/2 pounds of sweet potatoes (about 2 medium potatoes)
• 1 tbsp. canola oil
• 1/2 tsp. salt, plus more to taste
• cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 450 F. Cut the potatoes lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick matchsticks, and toss with the oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray. Arrange the potatoes in a single layer on the baking sheet and bake until the fries are tender and crisp, about 30 minutes. Season with additional salt, to taste. Serve immediately.

(much thanks to Ellie Krieger for the recipe and foodnetwork.com for the pic)

babies, babies everywhere

To keep ya'll updated (for those of you who are scared to stalk the blogs that I have listed to the right) here are some pics of my fave preggy ladies:

Pregnant Callie (due in 4 weeks):

Pregnant Emily:

As some of ya'll may know, Callie is pregnant with twin GIRLS! Yay! And Emily just found out a couple of days ago that she also has a baby GIRL growing in her belly!!! Precious Alice Harper will be here in early June :) Callie's girls are currently named Baby A and Baby B, their beautiful names will be revealed when they come into this world! Please keep both of these women in your prayers, they are both very dear to me as are their precious girls. Love ya'll, you're beautiful!!

(photos courtesy of their blogs...hope that's ok)

new years!

Happy (way) Belated New Years everyone! I hope that ya'll had a great New Years! As many of you may know, I am not a big fan of New Years, its quite depressing to me...Christmas is over and yet another year has past...sigh...oh well. However, this New Years was great because my fam came up to celebrate Christmas! So we had two Christmases and virtually no New Years, wahoo! Well, I pretended that New Years didn't exist :) Sorry if you like New Years and it may bug you that I don't...well, it is what it is. Anywho, it was great to have the fam (plus Andre) up here! They even got to see lots of snow! Thanks for the gifts ya'll, they were great! We pretty much just lounged around, played Wii, the guys watched bowl games (yawn), some went sledding (you know I wasn't included), and we went to an eleven story Macy's downtown! Wow, now that's a big stinkin store! I will say that we had T minus one hour to go through all 11 stories, I'm pretty sure we just hit up 4. Apparently Macy's closes at 6 pm on Saturdays downtown...who knew? Anyway, it was great and I'm so thankful for their presence and all of the presents! I love ya'll so much, thank you for making the trek up here! :)