Longitude and LADDitude

Before and After

2010-08-12T20:55:00.007-05:00

Before.....A cozy table for 2

Waiting......

TADA!!!! A table for a family.......no we are not adding to our family of 2 at this time!

Close up!

No we haven't actually eaten on the table......I need to buy place mats. We looked a few weeks ago but I just couldn't pull the trigger without having the table in our possession. We knew it possibility could take till the end of this month. So we were THRILLED when we got the call that it was in. (Not like another company...cough Nebraska cough Furniture cough Mart cough cough) But place mats will have to wait BECAUSE........

This weekend I have BIG PLANS.....MUSIC CITY is in my near future. I'm flying out tomorrow afternoon and will get back late Sunday night. SO EXCITED to have a girls weekend with my closest friends from Nashville last year. I'm leaving Eric at home but don't worry he has plans with friends here in Omaha. Why I choose to go in August when it will be miserably hot.....not sure...probably not by best decision.

By the way during my latest blogging hiatus (which is in part not my fault.....our modem broke and Eric refused to buy a new one for a few days because he was convinced he could fix it.....well he bought a new one today......)

Eric and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary......PHEW....we made it. I will admit it took a few months for us to get used to each other but marriage gets better and better every day.

Wedding Weekend

2010-08-01T18:00:00.007-05:00

Jamie and Mitch got Hitched this weekend in Wichita and we all had a great time catching up! Not the best picture of us but the only one I had of all 6 of us. Jamie was a BEAUTIFUL Bride and we are so happy for them as they start this next chapter. Hope you both have a blast in Costa Rica!

I didn't take a lot of pictures this weekend because I was just having to much fun! We went to breakfast this morning at the Beacon........DELICIOUS......it was a dive kinda place. I had the Cinnamon Raisin French Toast.......YUMMY!

Then back on the road to The Big O! We picked up friends who lived in Lincoln so it made the 5 hour drive more tolerable and entertaining. Getting ready for the work week ahead.....We have big plans this coming weekend too!

zoo addition

2010-07-25T22:03:00.002-05:00

My friend Anessa posted this picture from the zoo and I thought I'd share to go with my post earlier today! Happy Monday all!

A Zoo Full of Fun!!

2010-07-25T12:39:00.010-05:00

On Saturday we had BIG plans!!! A trip to the zoo with friends. Anessa and Dom came from Ottawa, KS, Dana and Mark from Lincoln, and Katie from Manhattan and we all met at the zoo. It was the perfect day for the zoo AND apparently everyone else felt so too because it was PACKED!!!

We took a break from walking to ride the Skyfari.....Katie jumped on with Eric and I.

Anessa and Dom in front!

Dana and Mark excited for the Skyfari trip

We rode over the rhino cage....

Since we are all Cats at heart we had to go visit the Cat Complex!

Remember this guy from the first time Eric and I went to the zoo....

Well he's a little bigger and I'd say his mom still didn't want much to do with him :-)

Katie needed her picture before we left......I think these kids wondered why the grown adult was in line for her picture....they just don't know Katie

We headed to the house after we were done at the zoo and grilled out....the patio furniture is coming in handy! Its so great to spend time with friends and we all get to see each other next weekend at Jamie and Mitch's Wedding in Wichita!!! So FUN!!!

A First

2010-07-22T19:42:00.002-05:00

Well today I had a work first......I fired someone. I won't go into details but we were "challenged" before and we are even more so now. When I say "challenged" it's fancy for we are short on help right now but we don't want to promote it so I learned today I am supposed to call it challenged. Good thing I had 4 interviews lined up today!

Well I'm tired because I helped serve tonight so that is all......but thought you might be interested!

Happy Hour

2010-07-20T16:23:00.008-05:00

As in Sonic Happy Hour!!!! The only good part of getting to work at 6:30 in the morning is that I supposedly get to leave work earlier than normal.......AND......I made it to Sonic right before happy hour was over!! I had a safety meeting at 7:00 a.m. and after racing out the building this afternoon at 3:30 (YES I really have to jet out of there and look like I'm on a mission or I may never leave!!!) AHH!!! Refreshing!

A couple of weekends ago I went on yet ANOTHER float trip.....I know I'm really turning into an outdoor kinda girl right!?!? Well Jamie is getting married the 31st of July and she really wanted to go on a float trip so her Maid of Honor (her sister) found a GREAT company Up A Creek Canoe and Kayak Rental. (We even made the website so check it out) We had a GREAT time BUT was a little different than my float trip the previous weekend. My first float trip I did little to no work and the river moved us quickly along in our tractor tire tubes so I was expecting something similar RIGHT?

WRONG!!! We actually had to work at getting down the river.......yes those oars were not just for show.......The water was VERY still so we had to paddle our way down the river.....at first we weren't to concerned about getting down the river but our guides told us we would go under 3 bridges before we got the Kansas River which he promised the current would pick up and our stopping point was along that River as well.......WELL we had been paddling for awhile and we still hadn't made it to the 1st bridge so we asked how much further to the first bridge.....OH maybe 1/2 mile or so....OKAY......well I think we started to sound a little like kids in the backseat asking how much further till the next bridge!!!! BUT we made it back after 4-5 hours from starting. In the process we got a good workout, a great tan, AND we had LOADS of fun!!! We are even planning to make it an annual event! Check out the pics that the company took of us!

Taking a break to take a picture

Look at me working hard with my feet up.....it helped get an even tan :-)

Look at us go!

WE SURVIVED!!!

Cleaned up and out for dinner......food never looked better we were starving after our afternoon of hard work!

Cheesy Chili Bake

2010-07-19T18:49:00.000-05:00

Well I haven't featured a recipe lately so here you go! I've made this recipe a couple of times and its SUPER easy. Check it out!

Here are the ingredients you'll need

1 lb. ground beef
1 c. onion, chopped
1 1/4 oz. pkg. chili seasoning mix
14 1/2 oz. can Rotel
15 oz. can corn, drained
15 oz. can kidney beans, drained & rinsed
tortilla chips, crushed
shredded cheese
optional garnish: sour cream

Brown the beef and onion; drain. Add the chili seasoning, Rotel, corn, beans, and any other additions you may like. Heat until bubbly and warmed through, stirring occasionally. Spoon into a lightly greased 9x13 pan. Top with crushed chips and cheese. Bake at 350 until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 15-20 minutes. Garnish with sour cream if you wish.

Weekend of Projects!

2010-07-18T19:31:00.006-05:00

Well we had a visitor at the Ladd household this weekend....my brother Brent came to visit!

We had a great weekend! On Saturday, after sleeping in which was AWESOME!! since Eric and I haven't been able to do that for several weekends now....We headed to the Lucky Bucket Brewery for a tour. It was interesting and the boys were happy since they got free beer.....

We headed to Old Market and got some pizza at Zios before heading over the the Bluffs....to gamble! Yes we went to the Casinos. Eric and I went in with a limit of how much money we were willing to spend and ended up pulling out of Black Jack after about an hour of entertainment and losing a total of 25 bucks. Of course Brent came out on top winning $40 in between black jack and the crabs table.

Eric and I were invited to 2 parties on Saturday night so we party hopped to make our appearances. We really aren't that popular.....I swear.

On Saturday we took advantage of Brent having an SUV and we went to Lowe's so we could get a ladder......SO ERIC COULD INSTALL A LIGHT in our living room. YEAH!! We had the wiring for a light but the house didn't come with one so Eric can check this off his honey-do list!!

The fan AND the light work!! Good job Eric!

AND what was I doing while Eric was hard at work (besides taking pictures).....working on our lawn furniture!!

I forgot to take a before picture so you'll have to look in the picture I took the night we got our Free lawn furniture! If you look on the table and chairs there are some parts that the black part had worn off......

Nothing a can of spray paint can't fix......so far we've spent $6.42 on our lawn furniture renovations!!!

Here is one of the spots I've fixed.....not perfect but it looks better than before I started!! We are on the hunt for some new tile to add a little pizazz......stay tuned

Tomorrow I'm featuring a recipe....Cheesy Chili Recipe....come back and check it out

Someone Else's Trash is Anothers Treasure

2010-07-11T20:34:00.006-05:00

Well we have a new addition in the Ladd Household that has taken up home in the backyard!!! And NO its not a puppy......

YES we have found lawn furniture......found being the KEY word.....tonight Eric and I were on our after dinner walk and on the curb about 3 blocks from our house was this lawn furniture. So I say to Eric,

Me:"Do you think they are giving that away?"
Eric says, "Well I'll go ask but usually that's what it means when its sitting on the curb"
Me: "Okay BUT first let me walk down the next street so I don't get embarrassed"
Eric: "Comes back and says the guy says its ours if we want it"
Me: "Okay well are we going to have to carry it home? or do we need to go befriend one of the neighbors. I've talked to those one neighbors with 4 kids once....they have a pickup"

So as we are walking back to our street and I see one of my former Lincare coworkers at his friends house and I asked if he had a truck.....and WOLOAH!! we are headed to pick up our "new to us" lawn furniture.

Now I know that its in need of a little tender loving care BUT I really think I can make it our own......get some new tiles, paint the metal parts and maybe get new cushions!

All Eric needs is a beer and a fire......yes that is a firepit in the center....JEALOUS?!?! AND the best part it was FREE!!!! The previous owners had it for 2 years and bought it at Mrs. B's and it admitted he was to lazy to fix it back to its former glory.

I have been wanting patio furniture for awhile now and I really wanted something similar to this so I'm so excited that we got it and I didn't have to spend any money....yes we'll have to spend some money to fix it up BUT way less than we would have buying it new. Right now my husband is the most in love with me than he's ever been......that's what I get for marrying a cheap guy :-)

An Itch You Just Have to Scratch

2010-07-06T20:55:00.002-05:00

Yes my mosquito bites are craving attention and I almost don't have enough fingers to itch them all......it drives Eric nuts and he's constantly telling me to stop itching. I'm like a little kids with chicken pox.

This proved no different than at 4 a.m. this morning....Eric randomly woke up and got up to check the time which woke me up.....and the itching resumed and no different than during the day Eric threatened me to STOP ITCHING.....OOPS!

YEAH for tomorrow being Wednesday....today was a little rough at work so I'm hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Adventures of Camping

2010-07-04T16:54:00.014-05:00

Well we are BACK and yes I survived......a little less sleep, a few cuts and A LOT more mosquito bites!

Now like a mentioned before this was not my first rodeo in camping adventures.....

My dad would always take Brent and I camping near the end of the summer.....mom stayed home which now that I think about it, it was probably a vacation from us.....BUT we always had a grand time playing cards, swimming, fishing and literally sleeping on the ground....that is until I became a little to much of a girly girl and wasn't so excited about going camping.

These days camping has become a little less primitive.....

Yes that is our air mattress and I did make sure that we would have the capabilities (electricity) to blow it up so we could sleep in "comfort" during our camping adventure. And no we were not the only couple who brought their air mattress.....ALL of us brought air mattresses. My other requirements before agreeing to go....working bathrooms and a shower. (I would say both were fairly primitive but they got the job done....I don't think I've ever seen so many bugs as in the bathroom at night or in the morning....I tried to do a funny dance to keep the bugs from biting me....pretty sure it didn't work)

Here we are shortly after arriving with our humble abode.....the Ladd's 2 room tent....which the 5 of them used to use when going on vacation......before going on this camping trip I made it clear that my idea of a vacation is NOT driving to various sites in the US and camping our way there and back.....we stopped at Alan and Christy's on Friday night and had a practice run of setting up the tent and to make sure all the pieces were still there. I'm sure the neighbors thought we were crazy putting up a tent and then immediately tearing it down. On Friday night they were reminiscing about the good old times....in particular about how they got soaked one time when it rained......

Saturday was GORGEOUS and we went tubing down the river......There were 4 couples total and 2 of the couples have done this 3 years in a row.....as we were going to put on our swimsuits the girls pre-warned me that the river was going to be muddy....I said it wouldn't be a problem.....I mean the Stafford lake will prepare you for anything :-)

Now most of you know we honeymooned in Jamaica and as you can see my husband is a "little white" so we stockpiled on spray on sunscreen which let me tell you was one of the best inventions. I LOVE IT! Its so easy to put on and works great. We had a few cans left-over as did the over couples who have recently gone on honeymoons.

Now I didn't bring my camera on the river but wanted to give you an idea of what it was like! We did have a "drink" tube that we made sure was manned at all times. We floated for 3 hours and dodged lots of downed trees and cows crossing the river. In all honesty I got clobbered by a tree but I made it out a okay.....Again this wasn't my first go-around using tractor tires in "muddy water"

Brent and I floating in the lake....not quite as "exciting" as the adult version of a float trip.

Now you might have wondered what I meant by cuts....well as we were climbing out of the river we had to navigate a rocky bank and my foot slipped......I have this lovely cut and a rather large scratch on the other side to remember the trip by.....and since I don't heal very quickly I'm sure it will be there for 6 months to come.

NOW....remember how the Ladds reminisced about how they got soaked when it rained......well it started to rain in the middle of the night and I was GLAD that I made Eric sleep near the door. It took several attempts on my part to get Eric to get up and close the tent flaps so the rain would stop blowing in and in the morning our tent and a little puddle of water also accompanied us in the tent. I was pretty glad we were only staying one night since I'm going to work on Monday because I'm pretty sure it was going to rain most of the day and that would have been "not so fun" in my eyes to be camping in drizzly/raining weather.

AND NOW we are drying out our air mattress in the basement and all our camping gear in the garage.....Oh they joys of sleeping outside.....AND we got invited to participate in an annual camping/float trip.....OH YEAH! Really I had a good time but I wouldn't call it a vacation by anymeans....AND guess what I'm doing next weekend....that's right going on a float trip but this one is a guided tour for a bachelorette party....it will be interesting considering that on the trip this weekend the boys took care of everything.

AND tonight.....SUPER excited to sleep in my own bed with the tent not blowing so hard that I worried Eric and I may have a tent collapse on us :-)

CAMPING?!?!

2010-06-29T20:41:00.003-05:00

Yes you read the title right....CAMPING....

One of Eric's work friends invited us camping this weekend.....we were originally going to go to an Omaha Royals baseball game with friends from church but to many people were going out of town so it got canceled

When my brother called yesterday I mentioned our plans and his response....."you're not really a camping kind of girl".....my response...."I know"

So wish us luck and I'm sure we will have stories and pictures to come.......AHH!! I haven't been camping since I was in grade school when we had Daddy Camp Trips with Dad, Brent and Me.....at least I've been, one of the other couples that's going his wife has NEVER been camping. Should be an interesting weekend....I better go get some OFF WOODS Insect Repellent. Yikes.

I got Tagged....

2010-06-28T20:09:00.005-05:00

Well I'm not usually one for chain STUFF.....BUT I'll give it a try today!

1. What’s your staple meal (ie. what meal do you cook most often when you can’t be bothered to be adventurous)?

PIZZA!!! No its not takeout.....I make my healthy homemade pizza made with part whole-wheat flour.....you can't even tell the difference....pepperoni is our flavor of choice

2. What do you want to be when you grow up?

Teacher.....I would seriously bargain with my classmates to take there workbooks home at the end of the school year to play teacher with all summer long.....I would get SO frustrated with my brother (my lone pupil) because he wasn't mastering my spelling tests (I mean he was only 2 years younger than me) I'm telling you that's why my brother is such a SMARTY PANTS!

3. What book are you reading at the moment (if any)?

Eternal on the Water by Joseph Monninkger BUT I should probably should be reading some management book about how to manage tattle tales (seriuosly sometimes I think I'm playing referee at work between siblings)

4. How do you relax?

Running! YES I know CRAZY! I ran at 6 this morning and it was AWESOME! I don't know why I don't do it everyday.

Read! It's an escape.....

5. What color are the interior walls of your home?

I would like to plead that we haven't lived here for THAT long.....but right now all but one room is the tan that was on the wall when we bought it.....I am trying to figure out what I want to do! Our office is PRETTY in Purple and Grey.....if you remember we had quite the time trying to find the PERFECT GREY!

6. What is your guiltiest pleasure?

HANDS DOWN........Raw cookie dough.....I will make cookies just to eat the dough (Ask my husband...I rarely eat more than a couple of the baked cookies and one of us ends up taking them to work so they don't end up going in the trash)

YEAH, YEAH, YEAH......I know don't consume raw eggs....WHATEVER....its SO GOOD!

7. What time is bedtime and getting up time?

You know when you were younger and you HATED that you're parents made you go to bed at 10:00.....well it stuck around....granted my hubby gets up SUPER EARLY to go to work so he needs his beauty sleep.....technically I wake up the first time at 5 when Eric's alarm goes off.....maybe 5:10 if he hits snooze.....then at 5:30 when he kisses me good bye......at 6:00 my alarm goes off to go run BUT lately I get back in bed and GET UP at 7:00 (I REALLY like my sleep :-)

8. How long do you spend reading blogs (per day or per week)?

More than I should.... :-)

Now I am supposed to tag other people, so I will try Elizabeth at Everything in Moderation and Megan at Coffeehouse and Rachel at Keepin' Up With The Kelly's. Well I better get back to watching the Bachelorette....I know guilty pleasure.....DON'T JUDGE!

Wrong Choice....

2010-06-22T18:49:00.002-05:00

Well.....Tuesday night is NOT the night to go to Applebee's....why you might ask? Because kids eat for 99 cents.......no we didn't know before we went.....but it became more apparent as our meal went on for sure.....I do believe we were the only people in the joint that didn't have some tag alongs. (I'm not a huge fan of Applebees but Eric won a gift certificate at a golf tourney recently and won't stop offering to take me there)

Well there is never a dull moment at work and today proved to be no different. I am hiring in my department and I conducted a rather interesting interview today. First off I knew I was in trouble when the front desk called me and told me my interview was there to see me.....and I got a heads up that they didn't speak English.....YIKES! Well she brought her brother to serve as a translator (language of choice.....french)....who became inappropriate before we even got into the room where I was going to do the interview. "You're a good girl I can tell you're a good girl"

Well lets say the interview didn't go much better than the introduction. One of my structured interview questions was what kind of training or education do you have that will help you succeed in this position......ANSWER with lots of french translation....."You will see" REALLY!

Much of the interview went this way with the translating brother giving lots of commentary....that wasn't helping there case. At the end he said okay now I have questions for you....Okay I just asked if you have any questions so now would be the time.....

Question: What do you think of her so far?
My answer: Well I have several other candidates that I'm interviewing and we will let you know as previously discussed by mail or phone call the results
Question: That DOESN'T answer my question

OH GOSH!!! I hope the other interviews go better because for obvious reasons I won't be hiring today's candidate.

Weekend of Celebration

2010-06-20T15:39:00.008-05:00

Wow where do I start?!?!

First off.....HAPPY FATHERS DAY to my favorite dad out there!

And although I couldn't be there with him today I was happy to hear when I called today that he was doing his favorite thing to do on Father's Day.....cutting wheat in the combine! I think the only thing to make today better for him would be having me ride in the combine with him!!! :-)

We were in Creston, IA last night celebrating Eric's grandma, Carol's 85th birthday! What an accomplishment! We had a great BBQ with family and friends!

Eric and I with the birthday girl!

4 generations! Eric's oldest cousin Kyle and his wife just had the cutest baby boy, Harrison, who will be a month old on Tuesday! First Great-Grandchild!!

Grandpa Krantz and Harrison

Today, Eric's family came over for lunch. It was great to have Floyd and Bonnie, Carol, and Brian and Jillian over to see the house.

I think we need to search a little harder to find a dining room table......Jillian and I had to sit at the bar so we'd have enough room and Alan had to sit in a lawn chair!

HAPPY FATHERS DAY TO ALL THE DADS OUT THERE!!!

Friday Night Drinks

2010-06-18T22:57:00.006-05:00

Well as you can see from the picture above.....Eric and I had a good time tonight! One of the ladies at work had a birthday today and wanted to go to a winery outside of Omaha. Soaring Wings Winery in Springfield, NE.

There was live music!

And a Great view! We paid the $5 cover and then also spent $6 for a wine glass and 5 tickets which got you 1 oz samples of the various wines. It was nice to hang out and relax on such a beautiful night!! We learned that they have live music every Friday night of the summer!! TO FUN! I can't wait to go again!!

Have a GREAT weekend!

Survival

2010-06-17T20:35:00.006-05:00

Well I survived the flood of Norfolk, Nebraska. Our first night there we all got phone calls in our rooms to let us know we needed to pack as they may need to evacuate us in the middle of the night if the water kept rising.......we ended up not having to evacuate but as we went to the conference the next day the parking lot next to us (the mall) and almost all of the parking lots across the street were flooded....and not just a little flooded. I feel bad for the families and businesses who are displaced from the flooding. FEMA was staying in our hotel.....trivia information for ya!

By the time our administrator made hotel reservations the only rooms left were suites. SO......we all got way more space than we needed. Our rooms had 2 rooms and 2 TVs. We didn't share rooms because our boss didn't realize the rooms were going to be so separate..... so to get good use out of both TVs I turned both to the news in the morning so no matter what room I was in I got to watch :-)

Bedroom number 1....otherwise known as my changing room

Bedroom Number 2......sleeping quarters

The conference itself was a bit of a snooze but mostly because it was for all disciplines and I only am responsible for 2 sections out of a LOT ......Nutrition and Dental....not sure how excited I am to ask people to open up so I can inspect their mouths but I guess I'll gum my way through it.....haha! The other reason.....the instructor literally read the book to us......I just have a big problem with people reading things to me mostly because I'm a visual learner and I figure we all got through college so we can probably handle reading.......just saying.

But anywho! I'm going to spend some quality time with my hubby who I missed a TON while I was away!!

Weekend O' Fun

2010-06-13T20:02:00.003-05:00

This Friday we trekked it down to the Omaha Royals baseball game! Eric's parents invited us to the game and we had never been before so why not?! RIGHT!!

and who did the Royals play.....the Nashville Sounds....thats who!

The night even ended with fireworks! They were really good! We are planning to go to the game on July 3rd with some friends and there is supposed to be fireworks that night too.

Saturday we headed to Iowa for one of Eric's college friends weddings. We had a good time and since it was a Catholic wedding Eric and I decided that we went to church for the weekend.....definitely not the way to look at things but I went into work for a couple of hours.......

Funny Story: We were talking with another couple from K-State before the wedding started and made a comment about the fact it wouldn't be a 30 minute wedding and the couple in front of us turned around and told us it would be good for us........well gosh its not like we don't go to church we just aren't catholic.

I'm headed to Norfolk, NE for most of the week after work tomorrow so not sure how much I will be blogging but have a GREAT week!!

LOVE IT!

2010-06-10T20:35:00.003-05:00

Well I really think I've found my place! Which feels AMAZING!!! There is never a dull moment at the long term care facility that I work at and tonight Eric got in on some of the action!! We had a fathers day BBQ and invited their families. I asked Eric to come to sit with residents who's families didn't show. It was also a good opportunity for him to meet some of the residents that I talk about.

Poor Eric he is subject to my jabbering of oh it was so cute when this person said this today.....etc......When I got home tonight I said, "Oh didn't you just love Ed. He's one of my favorite residents!" Eric's response....."well he didn't talk much but yeah I guess he was okay"

Well back to the BBQ we had steak, baked potato, sesame green beans, texas toast and apple pie ala mode. The male residents were SO excited for it. One guy held onto his invitation all day just waiting for 5:00, another made the therapy department take him to the activity room so that he could see where it was going to take place.....and he doesn't get excited about anything. Another would not believe us that we were really having steak! We had a barber shop quartet sing for an hour while they finished up dinner. Eric said one of the residents that sat near him just sang along!

Well afterward the Barber Shop Quartet hung around and ate some apple pie and Eric was visiting with them. Apparently they thought he would make a good bass (if you know Eric.....he doesn't carry a tune to well) and they actually made him sing doe, ra, mi, fa, so, ti, la.....LOL!!!!

I Really Love older adults and am so happy that I have the opportunity to touch peoples lives at the end of life and hopefully I make it a happy time for them and can bring them joy.

Funny Quote of the Day: "One of our male residents stopped me in the hallway and told me that I just looked really classy in my skirt" Well.....I wouldn't categorize the skirt I wore as "classy" more fun and summery but you can make that judgment call.

No judging on how I look....this is after being at work for 11 1/2 hours today.......and if I come home and blog about how much I love my job after a day like that.....its saying something! :-)

HAPPY FRIDAY TO ALL!

Wakin' Up is Hard to Do

2010-06-08T20:14:00.002-05:00

......Especially when you don't reset your alarm......Yes at 8:00 this morning I woke up and went OH MY GOSH what time is it! I HATE it when that happens! So here's how it went.....

5:00 a.m. --Eric gets up
5:30 a.m. --Eric leaves and kisses me goodbye and tells me its pouring out so I won't be able to run outside
6:00 a.m. --My alarm goes off...I get up grab it from across the room and lay back down in bed

TIME OUT: This is fairly normal as I get back in bed and reset the alarm for 6:45 or 7:00 because I decide that I don't want to work out and I'd rather sleep.....yep that happens

8:00 a.m. -- OH CRAP! It's 8:00 and my phone is laying open.....yep I didn't even reset the alarm...I fell back asleep before I had a chance....
8:15 a.m. -- I'm out the door....YES you heard right....and no I didn't take a shower so YES I rocked a ponytail
8:30 a.m.-- Rolled into work.....WHEW!!! I made it in time for my 8:45 meeting

My day was good EVEN THOUGH it didn't start as planned and one of my favorite residents threw up shortly after arriving in the dining room tonight for dinner......Puke definitely not something I deal with well so glad I'm not a nurse in this particular instant......but I grabbed a nurse and rubbed his back a bit.....guess its good training for when I have a kid.....or when one of our parents has to move in with us.....UM probably not going to happen :-)

Well Happy Hump Day tomorrow!!

Strawberry Spinach Salad

2010-06-07T17:30:00.006-05:00

Eric and I are going to a BBQ with our small group tonight to celebrate the beginning of summer and we will be going on break from meeting regularly for the summer. So what will the dietitian and her husband be bringing tonight......you guessed it (if you looked at the title) Strawberry Spinach Salad!

Here's what you'll need:

-1 package fresh baby spinach
-1 carton fresh strawberries, cut into sections
-1/2 cup slivered almonds
-1/4 cup granulated sugar
-Light Done Right Raspberry Vinaigrette

Sugared Almonds: Place almonds and sugar in saute pan and turn on medium heat. Constantly stir mixture and when sugar is melted and almonds are lightly browned take off of heat and cool on waxed paper.

Toss all ingredients together and enjoy this YUMMY HEALTHY SUMMER SALAD!! The sugared almonds provide a crunchy texture and add a great flavor!

I started training with the contract dietitian today at work and it was a good day and I'm excited about the possibilities and can already see how much of a beneift it will be to have a full time RD on staff and in the building. I am headed to Norfolk next week and I was very excited when the non-smoking car asked me to ride with them......it will be fun to get to know everyone on a different level AND there is free wine from 5-7 at our hotel......YES PLEASE!

Talented Husband

2010-06-03T21:16:00.005-05:00

So not only can my husband kill unwelcome creatures but he can also make dinner! Yes I know you all are insanely jealous but he's not up for grabs.....he's all mine!

Last night I got home from work later than Eric and I wanted to go for a run so I asked him to make dinner! What was on the menu......Aloha Chicken Burgers.......YUM!

ALOHA CHICKEN BURGERS from allrecipes.com

Ingredients

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 slices thick cut bacon
2 large hamburger buns, split
1 tablespoon softened butter
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
2 slices Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 slices pineapple
2 slices tomato
2 slices of iceberg lettuce

Directions

Place chicken breasts into a plastic zipper bag with soy sauce, seal the bag, and marinate in refrigerator for 30 minutes. While chicken is marinating, cook bacon as desired (we cook ours in the microwave)Drain the bacon slices on a paper towel-lined plate, and set aside. Spread cut sides of hamburger buns with butter.
Preheat an outdoor grill for medium heat, and lightly oil the grate.
Remove the chicken from the soy sauce, and discard the excess soy sauce. Place the chicken breasts onto the preheated grill, and grill until chicken shows good grill marks, is no longer pink inside, and the juices run clear, 4 to 5 minutes per side. When chicken is almost done, brush each piece generously on both sides with teriyaki sauce to finish grilling. Place a slice of Swiss cheese on each chicken breast, and cover with a lid to help the cheese melt onto the chicken.
While chicken is grilling, spread the buns open on the grill and cook until toasted and showing grill lines, about 2 minutes. Set the buns aside.
To assemble, spread the grilled sides of each bun with mayonnaise, and top each bottom bun with a cooked chicken breast, 1 1/2 slices of bacon, a slice of pineapple, a slice from a head of lettuce, a slice of tomato, and the top bun.

We served with sweet potato fries and a lettuce salad

ENJOY YOUR FRIDAY!!!

Mouse Killing Husband

2010-06-02T19:06:00.002-05:00

YES I had another mouse sighting outside the house (thankfully it was outside but not good that they are out there!) It was climbing on our basement window when I went to check the plants.......

MY REACTION: Running into the house.....ERIC COME QUICK!!!!

Him running into the yard without shoes......

ME: KILL IT! Where's the mouse poison?!?!...

Eric: Jill go inside and finish dinner and I will take care of it

ME: Take care of it?!?! Does that mean kill it?!?! I want you to kill it!

Eric: Yes

ME: Okay....you sure you don't want me to watch it

Eric: It can't get out of the window well.....

YHEW! End of story.....Mouse is dead via shovel and across the street in the weeds. Eric will be finding the poison after dinner and setting up a perimeter....(he didn't want to put out poison and then eat....I can understand)

Well better go stir my sweet potato fries....just wanted to let you know about my amazing husband!

5 Ingredient Meal

2010-05-30T13:35:00.003-05:00

So I was computing yesterday looking for recipes for the week and I ended up on kraft.com and I stumbled across a recipe for Grilled Greek Chicken Kabobs......last time Eric and I made kabobs they didn't turn out the best so I decided to follow the recipe but skip the kabob part.....check it out below!

GREEK CHICKEN

1/2 cup KRAFT Greek Vinaigrette Dressing

2 Tbsp. KRAFT Real Mayo Mayonnaise

1-1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts

1 red onion, cut into rings

1 lemon, halved

MIX dressing and mayo; pour over chicken in shallow dish. Stir to evenly coat all chicken pieces. Refrigerate to marinate.

HEAT grill to medium-high heat.

GRILL until chicken and onion rings until done, turning occasionally. Meanwhile, place lemon, cut-sides down, on grill grate next to kabobs; grill until heated through.

SQUEEZE lemon juice over chicken just before serving.

Eric got our onion rings a little scorched....it happens

As you can see I added grilled zucchini and yellow squash to our meal which is DELICIOUS!!! We've never grilled veggies and my parents were here this past week and I decided we should try it and the result is GREAT!! I drizzle olive oil over cut squash/zucchini and sprinkle with seasoned salt, black pepper and a little garlic powder. Then I mix it all up to ensure its evenly distributed and ask Eric to put them on the grill!!

Eric and I were working in the yard late yesterday afternoon and one of the neighbors came up and let us know they were having some people who moved in this week over for a BBQ and let us know that we could come over. We had fun and its nice to be able to walk across the yard to get home! Granted we were about 5-10 years younger than everyone there. They were all talking about what year then graduated from high school and they turned to us and we said 2004....."WHAT THE 2000's that's crazy"......... and we don't have kids.....so we were a little out of the loop. The new neighbors have a 3 year old and a 5 week old.

Tonight we are trying a new recipe.....Carne Asada.....and NO I didn't get the recipe off of kraft.com!!!

2010-05-28T17:50:00.012-05:00

Well long time no post! Sorry about my absence but we've just had a lot going on here in the Big O! Here are a few updates on our lives!

JOB:
--I'm really LOVING my new job. I forgot how much I truly enjoy working with older adults.
--Well being a manager is definitely a learning curve and I'm still learning my role but I think I'm getting the hang out of it...I hope atleast

House:
--Our first daylily come out today!

Graduation:

Last weekend I made the trek to South Central, Kansas for my cousin's graduation from Skyline High School!

We had a good time giving awards to various people......best shoes (cute pink high heels on the graduate next to Brian)......worst shoes (well.....I she probably should have been wearing shoes to get this award but she wasn't)

Partner in crime

The weekend before we were in Kansas City for Eric's cousins home school high school graduation....which was most definitely a first for me.

Candace with the boys

Around Town:
--Eric and I went to Lazlos on the lawn last night. It was PERFECT weather....I do believe we were the only ones with a K-State lawn chair....lots of red if you know what I mean. It was great to have a few drinks and listen to some live bands.

Well not big plans around here but I think maybe I'll try to find some new recipes to try. We've also talked about going putt-putting......time will tell!

MIA

2010-05-24T21:32:00.001-05:00

Well I will be MIA for a few days as my parents are in town visiting and won't have time to blog!! I was out of town for the weekend at my cousins graduation....fun times....with pictures to follow. Hope you're all having a great week out there!!

Kraft Magazine

2010-05-19T21:01:00.006-05:00

I know....I know! You all think I'm CRAZY when it comes to kraft.com BUT a perk of my job is that we get the Kraft magazine and I get to have it! And what did I find on the New Products page.......YES Chipotle Mayo

I tried it on my sandwich for lunch today and I enjoyed it!

I was corrected when I told you all that I had just dug my first hole......

AWWW wasn't I cute!

SO BUSY!

2010-05-19T20:36:00.009-05:00

Sorry that I missed posting last night....Eric and I have been SUPER BUSY.......planting our plants/flowers in our landscaping project!! Due to rain and some other issues our plan to have me plant on my week off did not go as expected.....so our plants were delivered on Tuesday (supposed to be in Monday....another story) but it took us 2 nights of planting to get it all done! Take a look!!

BEFORE

AFTER

Last time we were at Menards I bought some gardening gloves!! Aren't they cute?!?!.............not so much anymore...they are a tad dirty!

This was my first time doing any gardening/landscaping........and my husband went golfing after work on Tuesday which meant I was on my own to start the project! AGH!! After calling my wonderful mother-in-law to answer some questions :-) I got dirty....literally!

My first hole!! Super exciting....

Lilac bushes surrounded by day lillies

Front of the house

Now all we need is to get our mulch down and we are done for now at least!

AND I even made dinner!!! Homemade pizza!

First day down!

2010-05-17T18:04:00.004-05:00

Well I've completed my first day....YHEW! For the next 2 weeks I'm learning the ropes as the Director of Foodservices and then for 2 weeks I'll focus on clinical stuff. Following that I'm off to training for 3 days in Norfolk on MDS (not sure what that is yet) but think it has something to do with care plans for residents. THEN I'm ON MY OWN!! It's a little weird being introduced as "this is your new boss" but I'm getting more used to hearing it after today.

Eric and I did have plans to plant our plants today but they aren't here......guess I better call the landscaping people. I wish people would call if there are a change of plans......so we will make it to small group tonight after all.

Check out this Cool Summer Treat that I discovered at the grocery store recently! It's only 60 calories, 1 g fat, and you get some Vitamin C!
Yes they are weight watchers but they are so tasty......ERIC even agrees! So for a healthy summer treat try the Strawberry Smoothie bars! Short post tonight since we are headed to small group soon! Hope you all had a wonderful Monday!

New Beginnings

2010-05-16T19:41:00.003-05:00

Well.....tomorrow is the day....starting my new job!!!! YIKES! It's exciting to start a new job but also scary. I don't really know what's in store for me.....

We were in KC this weekend helping Eric's cousin celebrate her high school graduation. It was great to see everyone and we got to celebrate Alan and Christy's 30th Wedding Anniversary with our immediate family. We went to dinner on the plaza and walked around for awhile in the rain Saturday night....

Eric and I have realized that our summer weekends are quickly filling up and its looking like we won't be home much.....I guess that's the time of our life.

Not much to report as we were gone this weekend but wish we luck tomorrow on my 2nd big person job..... :-)

AMAZING CHICKEN ENCHILADAS!

2010-05-12T11:36:00.008-05:00

So my experiment worked. As I'm sure you're all aware I'm in love with the Southwest Chicken Salad since I've featured it TWICE.......

HERE'S Jill's Chicken Enchiladas:
Spray baking dish with cooking spray and lightly cover bottom of pan with enchilada sauce.

Warm up tortillas in the microwave for 30 seconds and dip each tortilla individually in warm enchilada sauce. I placed 1/2 cup SW chicken salad and some shredded cheese and rolled up and placed in baking dish.

I covered top with cheese, extra cilantro and green onions.

I baked at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes. AND ENJOY!!!

So Bush's Grillin Beans Commercial has really worked on me! I drove to the store yesterday to specifically get the Black Bean Fiesta. The commericals were right they are SO GOOD!

Both Eric and I really liked them......just like in the commercial Eric asked where I found the recipe! Well I opened the can and baked them! I'm excited to try some other varieties!

NOW IF YOU HAVEN'T DONE WHAT I'VE TOLD YOU TO DO....make the Southwest Chicken Salad here is the link to it!

Days of a stay-at-home wife

2010-05-11T17:24:00.005-05:00

Yes that's right I'm back to being a stay-at-home wife.....even if its just for a week! Those of you who have followed me from the beginning know that I started this blog to chronicle of my life as a stay-at-home wife......more like making fun of myself and the things that I did to entertain myself during those LONG days while I was searching for a job and my hubby was off at work.

MY Top 10 Duties of a stay-at-home wife:

1. Laundry

I can do number 1 and work on number 8 at the same time :-)

2. Clean the house

3. Dodge all phone calls (okay so this is a new one.....but I don't answer my phone anymore unless I know who it is) It was hard enough having to break up with 3 bosses and a few referral sources.....now I let my voicemail break up with them. I'm averaging about 3 calls per day and my new voicemail is doing the trick...no voicemails! :-) It's very weird for me to listen to my phone ring and to ignore it after months of jumping for the phone in order not to miss a possible referral.

4. Supervise the lawnscaping crew

If it doesn't rain tomorrow then they should be back tomorrow to till in some soil and then I can plant some lovely plants/flowers! That will be an adventure in itself......

5. Work out at whatever time of day I choose. Yesterday at noon....Today around 2:45....Tomorrow to be determined :-)

6. Beauty Sleep (unless my cell phone rings and wakes me up ....which of course I'm ignoring)

7. Have dinner on the table (okay so not literally the moment he gets home but I've usually done so prep work)

8. Catch up on my DVR'ed shows (okay so I DVR'ed some movies that were on TV this past weekend....I knew I might get bored....I'm averaging 1 per day.....)

9. Answer my husbands every beckon call.....HAHA!! NOT!

10. ENJOY MY WEEK OFF! MOST DEFINITELY!!!!

Tonight I'm trying out my own version of chicken enchiladas. If they turn out great you can expect the recipe later this week. We also had manicotti earlier this week.....YUM!

Bowling Injury.....

2010-05-10T16:04:00.002-05:00

Yes I do believe I have a bowling injury from Saturday.....what does this mean?!?!

1. I'm really out of shape
OR
2. Used some muscles that I haven't used in awhile

I promise I've been working out so I really don't think its number 1.....I'll go with option number 2. The "unique" aspect of this injury is that it is only "one cheek" that's causing me a lot of pain.....yes that's right. Yesterday I was really "feeling the pain" and I wasn't sure what had caused my "injury" so last night I did a reenactment of my bowling.....OUCH! Eric is enjoying making fun of me....what can I say 3 games of bowling can really cause some damage.

I went to workout this morning and It really hurts to run on the treadmill....I can usually workout the pain at least while I'm working out but not so much today! I had a nice walk. :-)

While we are on the subject of exercise. Today I had to go to my new job and get a physical. I was slightly surprised that I was going to the long term care facility to have it done but I went with it. They told me to dress comfortably so of course I was wondering if this meant I could wear workout clothes.....lets just say Eric was NO help! I ended up wearing workout pants and a t-shirt. I was glad I did.

Here was my physical:
They took my blood pressure and pulse....good on both

1. Lift hands above head 10 times....check
2. Do 10 squats...check
3. Bend over to touch your toes 10 times....check
4. Lift 45 lbs.....EEK!....check (YHEW!!)
5. Do 75 steps on a stair-stepper....check

Re-checked my pulse....and it barely changed....that's right!

Sooo.....You can rest assured I passed. I think Eric was worried about me passing as he called during his lunch hour to check on things. When I called him back he mentioned how happy I sounded on my new voicemail message. Lets just say Eric is enjoying having his happy wife back! :-)

FOR THE REST OF THE WEEK....THE STAY-AT-HOME WIFE IS BACK
(at least for this week)
STAY TUNED!

Happy Mothers Day!

2010-05-09T09:24:00.004-05:00

And most definitely not to me!

Apparently my blog title yesterday, "9 months Baby" had a few people think we were announcing something. Sorry to confuse, excite, scare people (most importantly my brother-in-law) but those of you closest to us we will most definitely tell you in person before we post on our blog :-) His text gave me a good laugh....guess it was a good play on words....even though I wasn't trying to be funny....

But I do want to give a shout out to my mom! LOVE YOU SO MUCH! Thank you for EVERYTHING you do! You are so giving and I've enjoyed becoming friends over the past couple of years!

Also, my first mothers day with a mother-in-law. Thanks for bringing and raising my wonderful husband into this world. You are a wonderful and special woman.

Happy Mothers Day to all of you current and future mothers!

9 months Baby!

2010-05-08T16:04:00.009-05:00

Eric and I had lots to celebrate this weekend!
1. Done with my job!
2. Married 9 months today!!
3. Celebrating the weekend!!!

Friday night we went to a Dante Pizzeria Napolento which is a semi-new restaurant in Omaha which features wood-food grill pizza....yes dad we can go when you come to visit. We were going to go to a movie, Date Night specifically but we didn't get done with dinner in time to go.

Onto Saturday.....Happy 9 months babe!

Arbys....fancy I know! We had a coupon for a free combo and it was close to the bowling alley....yes the bowling alley!

We started out even "almost"....

End of GAME 1

This was upscale bowling alley....couches took the place of traditional bowling alley chairs

End of GAME 2.....I'm doing better....

Eric's happy because I didn't beat him....oh yeah and he got like multiple strikes in a row!

Game 3.......We originally were only going to play 2 games but I HAD to get above 100. I got 3 spares and a strike all in a row! Eric says I'm pretty good for a girl...I guess that's a compliment.

True Nebraskan

2010-05-06T18:49:00.003-05:00

Well one day it had to happen and I happened to have a deadline...May 31st. My Kansas car tags were set to expire at the end of the month so I decided while I have the time I should head to the DMV and get things set up.

You didn't think I'd really put my own tags up did you... :-)

WHAT A PROCESS NEBRASKA! First I had to have my car "inspected".....basically I paid $10 to have them write down my odometer reading....seriously. Then on into the office to wait in line....and wait some more....and you guessed it I got to wait some more. The computers crashed so they were even slower than normal. Finally I get to the counter and when I bought my car in 2003 my dad's name was also put on the title. THANK YOU Kansas for not having to have both people on the title have to sign the title....Seriously it says Randy OR Jill not AND! But they had never had anyone from a different state, with a different last name (yes I was smart enough to bring my marriage certificate WHEW!) and want to get a title and register in the great state of Nebraska.

NO WORRIES I had to sign the back of the title like I was selling it to myself from my old last name to my new last name. AND NOW I have Nebraska plates.......okay I haven't put them on the car yet but I at least have them ;-)

I also now have a Nebraska cell-phone number and will using that number exclusively. If you want my number just let me know!

As you all should know if you are a faithful follower.....tomorrow is MY LAST DAY at work!!! PRETTY EXCITING. I've already been planning my new voicemail for my phone :-) You can count on it 5:00 o'clock tomorrow it will no longer be.....This is Jill ****, Registered Dietitian with ******, I'm currently with a patient. If this is after 5 or on the weekend, or need immediate assistance please call 800-***-****. (It was something like that)

I think my new voice mail message will be. Hey you've reached Jill ****, leave me a message. If you're trying to contact ****** please call 800-***-**** as I am no longer working for *****. BOOYAH! (okay probably minus the BOOYAH)

OKAY WELL TUNE IN TOMORROW TO FIND OUT HOW ERIC AND I DECIDE TO CELEBRATE!

Cinco De Mayo

2010-05-05T19:30:00.000-05:00

Well when I was looking for new recipes to try this week.....of course on Kraft.com....my new favorite place to get recipes....who would have known what a treasure I had stumbled upon. If you haven't checked it out I highly suggest it. Lots of recipes had a Mexican flare this week because as I'm sure you're all aware today is Cinco de Mayo. So in honor I'm featuring a new favorite recipe of Eric and I's.....however, I altered the recipe because the original called for me to fry them......and how could I fry something after my post yesterday.....Eric did beg to register for a deep fryer.....he didn't win that one :-) SO I baked them and they turned out SUPER YUMMY!!!

Chimichangas

1 lb. ground beef

1/2 cup finely chopped onions

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp. dried oregano leaves

1 tsp. crushed red pepper

8 Flour Tortillas (we used whole wheat.....of course)

6 oz. VELVEETA, cut into 8 slices

1/4 cup oil

1/4 cup Sour Cream

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro

BROWN meat in large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. Add onions, garlic, oregano and pepper; mix well. Cook until onions are tender, stirring occasionally; drain.

PLACE 1/4 cup meat mixture onto center of each tortilla; top with VELVEETA. Fold in all sides of tortillas to completely enclose filling; secure with wooden toothpicks. Place in single layer on baking sheet; Brush tops with oil.

PREHEAT OVEN to 350 degree F. Bake until golden brown around 15-20 minutes. Remove toothpicks. Serve topped with sour cream and cilantro.

If you must fry your chimichangas click here for the original recipe.....but I'm watching you ;-)

ENJOY!! HAPPY CINCO DE MAYO!

P.S. I really think you should try this simple but delicious recipe....okay thanks!

Heart Attack Waiting to Happen

2010-05-04T15:20:00.004-05:00

Well last night Eric and I ventured out to grab a bite before our small group so we choose Don and Millie's a local fast food joint that we thought we should try to be true Omahaians?!?! So I had heard talk they were famous for their Frenchies......so we walk in and this is how the conversation unfolds:

Eric: "What's a frenchie?"
Behind the Counter lady:"It's a deep fat fried grilled cheese sandwich with mayo"
Jill: As I'm trying not to gag on the floor
Eric: I'll get the double cheeseburger

The conversation halts while we get our ketchup and at the counter they also had a ketchup style dispenser for ranch dressing (help yourself style)...a real health conscious place

Conversation resumes.....
Eric: Gosh that's a heart attack waiting to happen
Jill: Still to shocked to speak....sitting in silence
Eric: That's like a state fair food.....not a fastfood food.....definitely not an everyday food....

Ahh you gotta love my husband he's learning.....

Here's the culprit....I found the picture off the internet....so hopefully I'm not false advertising....

In the spirit of my heart attack post I guess its fitting that I've been waiting for tonight FOREVER.......Biggest Loser MAKEOVER WEEK!!!! Seriously every week I've looked over at Eric and said...."I hope next week is makeover week" and finally my wish has came true. Now I know I haven't been talking up the biggest loser this season but I'm just not connecting with the contestants as much this season...I'm still watching but its not necessarily something that I just can't wait till Tuesday night.....My favorite is Darius and I hope he makes it all the way. So I'm eagerly awaiting our evening of TV watching....but first I'll have to go workout!! Haven't decided whether I'm going to brave the Nebraska wind or head to the gym....time will tell.....

Darius is in the orange in case you're not a faithful follower.....which you probably should be

Flooding

2010-05-03T17:02:00.004-05:00

Nashville has had over 13 inches of rain in the last 2 days and are suffering from massive flooding. All of my friends are safe and their homes/apartments are okay; however they are very lucky as you can see from pictures below.

Downtown Nashville....

Inside the Opry Land Hotel. According to reports they will be closed for months to come.

An aerial view of the Opry Land Hotel...It's really hard to look at

I lived in Bellevue last year and this picture is from that part of town. It was one of the hardest hit areas. My apartment was on a huge hill so would have been fine but just amazing.

Please keep Nashville in your prayers in the coming days.

Vitamin D Day!

2010-05-02T17:11:00.009-05:00

First of all please pray for the state of Tennessee. Lots of Nashville is under water at the moment....I know that the dietetic interns are off for the next couple of days just because of the inability to get around the city. I have a special place in my heart for Nashville and still have lots of friends there.

Well, Eric and I got home from church and it was just a BEAUTIFUL day so I decided that I was going to sit on our patio and get some quality Vitamin D (from the sun people) while I ate my lunch....

Isn't this sad looking......no patio furniture.....I can't wait for the end of the season so we can look for some sweet deals...I have my eye on some at Sears that I really like. If you know of any good sales let me know!

I know I've had this recipe on here before but I'm not kidding you HAVE to try it!!! I revised my recipe a bit this 2nd time so here's my revised version.... SERIOUSLY PEOPLE TRY IT!! When have I ever featured a recipe TWICE!

Southwest Chicken Salad

2-3 cups diced chicken
1 1/2 cups, frozen corn thawed
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 bunch green onions, chopped
1 can black beans (optional)
1/2 cup - 1 cup minced fresh cilantro

Dressing:
3 T lime juice
3 T olive oil
1 T honey
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp black pepper

In a large bowl, combine the first five ingredients . In a small bowl, whisk the dressing ingredients; pour over chicken mixture and toss to coat. Refrigerate until serving. Serve as desired. Which could be on a salad, in a wrap, grill up a quesadilla, eat with chips, in a pita or just eat it with a fork.

This weekend we tried it in a pita and tonight we're going to have quesadilla's to finish off the rest of the salad. It's just SO GOOD. Eric doesn't even like green/red peppers but I dice them up so pretty (okay small) that he really likes this recipe too. He says the flavor is great and you all should try it (okay I added in that second part)!!

The recipe featured on today's blog comes from Taste of Home a wonderful cooking magazine that my mom has subscribed me for!

Eric and I used avocado on our pitas! You could also add some almonds to for a tasty treat!

5 MORE DAYS OF WORK LEFT!!! And after this weekend....it has solidified the fact that I need something new.....lets just say I was in the car for around 5 hours this Saturday for work (definitely not planned)....and I got paid zip....oh well I helped out someone in need. I hope someone will watch over my patients when I leave......yikes!

Landscaping

2010-04-29T16:59:00.005-05:00

As most of you know Eric and I recently bought a house here in Omaha. We are the first people to live in it which is amazing but it also means that we have some work to do. Next on the honey-do list.....LANDSCAPING.

One of Eric's co-workers had used a company where they come to your house take pictures and then complete a design for you. There isn't any cost in having it done and we wanted some advice in what to do.

So here is what we have right now.

By the way the random plants in the middle of the yard won't be there....he was just showing us some other plants that we could try.....that would be a bit random for us.

This is the second draft and we have made a few changes to this as well. Eric and I still have to discuss some things....but I think we are going to have them cut out the shape and till in some good soil and compost.....aren't you all impressed with my gardening vocabulary..... this is definitely something new to me but I'm excited to get my hands dirty....literally!

We just got back from a nursery to compare prices and so I could look at the real deal in person....I was OVERWHELMED....so many plants and varieties ect. GOODNESS GRACIOUS! I'll keep you updated as we progress on this project!

HAPPY FRIDAY TOMORROW!!

Two Weeks Notice

2010-04-26T17:13:00.002-05:00

I've been dying to tell you all that I have been applying/interviewing for jobs however, didn't think that it would be the smartest decision to post it on the internet for my current job to find out. SO I can finally tell you all I gave my TWO WEEKS NOTICE to my job today. :-) My heart was racing and I was nervous/excited as I drove to the office this afternoon....after driving to Carroll, Nebraska.....2 hours away from Omaha (one way). But seriously this was my first job that I've actually had to quit. All of my other jobs ended at the end of the summer or I was graduating but this one not so much.

My last day will be Friday, May 7th. I will be taking the next week to transition and relax a bit. I'm very excited to be attending a conference on Healthy Aging, Evidence-Based Wellness and Treatment plans on May 13th which is perfect for my new job because........

On May 17th I will begin working at a Long Term Care Facility as their dietitian. I will be serving as the clinical dietitian as well as serving as the food service director. I'm excited that I will be working with older adults.....if you know me well you know that I have a secondary major in gerontology and have a special place in my heart for them. To top things off my boss was a K-State grad :-)

Just thought I'd share the good news with you all. Thanks for hanging in there with me as I know I was a little depressing at time when I wasn't so happy.

BUSY BUSY BEES!!

2010-04-25T19:56:00.006-05:00

First of all, hope you all had a wonderful weekend....I know we did! Here is my suggestion of the day to all of you.....I know you're falling off your seats to get a teaspoon of my wisdom....haha!

If you need to get a project done around the house or just need an excuse to get some deeper than normal cleaning done.....have people over.

On Monday Eric and I decided that we wanted to have friends over from our small group on Saturday night....well this meant that we HAD (okay so we didn't HAVE to but I really WANTED to) get the office done. So Eric and I were BUSY BEES after work each night painting and doing touch ups. In all honesty we set up the office on Saturday morning/afternoon, no seriously we were picking up painting supplies, moving the plastic paint tarp to the basement the very day we were having people over. And to add to the excitement I had to a set-up for a patient after lunch which left Eric to his own devices for an hour or two.....Atleast we had cleaned the rest of the house the night before.

To bad we don't have before and after pics

Didn't Eric do a great job with his hanging projects! Yesterday afternoon before people came over he was just astonished with the space we had open in the office.....seriously it has been a mess since we moved in back in February.

I stopped at Hy-Vee on Saturday and found a great find....$1 bunches of flowers that were not seeing their best days....so I grabbed the 2 best bunches if I do say so myself and added a little color to the house! You can't beat that price!

One of our friends from small group brought us some lilacs from her lilac bush....so pretty!

We ended up having 3 sets of couples come and we had fun grilling out, playing games and just hanging out. I hope that we can become closer as we get more settled her in Omaha.

Well Monday is quickly approaching! Hope you all have a wonderful day!! :-)

Grilling Fools

2010-04-22T19:12:00.006-05:00

At the moment, our entertainment for the evening....the neighborhood children..... have apparently built a fort in one of the play houses and have all trooped back over from their respective houses in their PJs.....I think they might all be on something their energy level is up a couple of notches from their normal enthusiasm. Let me tell you they are the best birth control.....they have SO much energy.....well onto to tonight's dinner!

You guessed it tonight we broke out the grill again. Can you blame me I've been "patiently" waiting to get one so we better break it in!

I've been dying to try a recipe for BBQ Bacon Grilled Chicken Sandwiches that Chelsie featured on her blog awhile back. She raved about the success of this recipe and Eric and I gave it 2 thumbs up.

Sandwich Fixings:

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed & ready to go
4-6 hamburger buns
4-6 slices of your favorite cheese
Cooked bacon slices (2 slices per sandwich: We use Center Cut Bacon because its the healthiest type of bacon....not that bacon is healthy....and yes its better than turkey bacon)
Desired toppings, i.e. lettuce/spinach leaves, fresh-sliced tomatoes, sweet or red onion slices, etc.

Marinade:

1/4 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1/4 c. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. dry mustard
few shakes of garlic powder
shake or two of chili powder
1 c. of your favorite BBQ sauce (In case you were wondering my favorite is Curly's and Eric's is KC Masterpiece.....but since I prepared the marinade I chose my favorite :-)

Marinate your chicken breasts in the sauce overnight or several hours prior to making; reserve about 1 c. for basting while the chicken's grilling.

Grilling Instructions:

This is where Eric's help comes in. Fire up your grill. Grill chicken breasts until juices run clear now don't use the same utensil for the raw chicken as you do with the cooked chicken....I'm just saying you don't want to get sick. Take that 1 cup of sauce and baste both sides of your chicken breasts...just slather it all over until they're nice and covered! (I can't attest for this part because I forgot to save a cup and there was no way I was going to use the marinade that was raw chicken infested.....and neither should you! Now, go ahead and cook your bacon strips too. When chicken is very close to being done, go add your cheese slices until they're all gooey, melty, and delicious!

Well all....good night! Tomorrow is Friday in case you forgot....I didn't :-)

NEGATIVE!!

2010-04-21T20:52:00.006-05:00

Well my TB test was negative today....PHEW!! I passed with flying colors; however, my boss had a few problems. He was leaving to go get his read and I asked if I could just ride with him and I looked at his arm and I was happy to see he had a similar reaction to me. When the lady ran her finger across his arm she was not happy with the bump that had formed.....well they ended up saying it was negative but not sure how I feel about there method of saying he was okay....a little sketchy.

We broke in the grill tonight! However, we probably should have tried something a little simpler for our first endeavor.

AND I finished painting the office today!! YEAH!

Feeling Grey....

2010-04-20T19:53:00.004-05:00

No literally...we finally found a grey that we liked for our office. YEAH!!

It's the one on the last row 2nd from the left. I know...I know we only tried a "few" different colors right? Seriously I hope we don't have this many problems finding other colors for the house or we are going to be able to open our own Sherwin Williams Sample Paint Store.

So tonight after work I painted the largest wall and the wall that the door is attached to. Seriously people painting is HARD work, what an intense workout.

You may ask what was Eric doing while I was hard at work painting.....Finishing the grill that's what!!

Something that literally made my mood a little grey was my need to get a routine TB test for work. Well I wasn't worried going in.....I've had a few in my lifetime. However, throughout the day and then last night I started to get a "little" worried.

Yes that is where my TB test was administered...doesn't look so hot huh! Even Eric agrees the picture doesn't look as bad as it did last night! But good news its looking A LOT better today so hopefully tomorrow when I get it checked I'll pass with flying colors!

I was on the internet diagnosing myself as I was on the phone with my parents. I did learn that it has to be raised at the site and mine wasn't so much but I've never had such an adverse reaction to the test.

You can say I'm a little bit of a Hypochondriac....a little....

Beef Enchiladas

2010-04-19T21:00:00.000-05:00

On Friday, Eric's dad was gracious enough to come over and share some of his Omaha Gro. He bought a truck load and shared some of it with us. When I thanked Alan for bringing the dirt he corrected me that is was compost......OOPS!

Well while the boys were hard at work I was busy in the kitchen making dinner.

Beef Enchiladas was on the menu! **Disclaimer**Not the healthiest meal that I've featured but it sure is good and is a family favorite.

Here's what you'll need:

Tortillas
1 lb hamburger
2-3 cans enchilada sauce
shredded cheese
canola oil

I find its easiest if you form an assembly line. Heat up oil in pan in frying pan. Dip tortillas in oil an turn over with tongs. Dip both sides in enchilada sauce and then place beef and some cheese (I mix enchilada sauce with the beef to add a little more flavor) inside and roll. Place in greased pan. After all enchiladas are rolled sprinkle cheese on top. Cook at 350 and bake until bubbly.

Auction Time

2010-04-18T19:09:00.010-05:00

***First off I would like to send my prayers to the Poole family, friends of Melody and the entire Stafford Community who are grieving the loss of someone so young. May everyone feel god's loving embrace and comfort during the coming days and weeks***

I've been gearing up for this weekend for awhile. You see our church here in Omaha was given all of the model home furniture from a builder here in town to auction off for a fundraiser to aid in sending kids on mission trips. The auction ended up being on Saturday and Sunday but I had already committed to going to a baby shower on Saturday so that left Sunday for me to peruse the selections.

Now growing up on the farm I've been to my share of auctions, ranging from cattle, machinery and an occasional estate sale. I rember going with my dad or Grandpa Fritzemeier and I was always scared to even scratch my nose as I didn't want the auctioneer to think I was going to buy something. When we went to the Pratt Livestock auction we always got to eat a Cinnamon Roll...YUM!!

Enough with memory lane. I had my eye on a desk for our office but that wasn't going to sell till later in the afternoon. I had to go by myself as Eric had gone to Manhattan for a FH event. So to kill time I decided to see what other treasures I might muster up.

My only purchase of the day. The desk went over what I was willing to pay. :-( I also bid on a fake tree and some greenery but I guess I was feeling cheap. I'm not happy to say that I think that Eric's "price consciousness" is staring to wear off on me.

I decided to replace the office lamp we had been using in the guest bedroom with a little more "grown up" lamp.

Since I didn't spend much at the auction Eric and I decided to go look for a grill.

You have NO idea how excited I have been to get a grill. I have never had a grill since I left home for college (unless you count the grill at Kappa) SO....a caterer I had been using struck a deal with us that for every $250 we spent on catering he would give us $25 Visa cards. So as you can see from above I had $125 saved up....before I quit using them. Eric once suggested we buy a used grill off Craigs List and I got a little upset. I'd been "saving" up for the grill and it was one of the few joys I've gotten out of my current job....sad I know.

SUCCESS!! at least until Eric starts having to put it together.....

As I type I'm watching the country music awards...I MISS NASHVILLE! Eric can we PLEASE move back!!!

Traveling with Boys....

2010-04-15T20:50:00.002-05:00

First off I'm feeling much better today. Thanks for the well wishes!

As you know if you're a regular to my blog I traveled to Denver on Monday for some training on Hospital Sales Calls. This wasn't a training for dietitians but I think that one of my area managers didn't want me to feel left out......

SO...8 of us flew out of the Omaha airport...5 from Omaha, 2 from Lincoln and 1 from Fremont.....and yes I was the only girl. Now if you think about my background I'm a dietitian....are you thinking so what? Since graduating high school I've been surrounded by girls. Guys are the minority in dietetics but I was definitely the minority at the Oxygen sales meeting. Out of 25 people I think there were 5 women....I was the youngest by far. I can say that I cramped some of their style but what's a girl to do. I would just like to say that I carried on my luggage....I mean seriously people I was an expert by the end of my internship. I couldn't believe how many of the guys checked luggage.

Lincoln has a new rep and when we landed in Denver he came up to me and was perplexed at the number of people that rushed outside to get a lung cancer :-0 We work for an oxygen company and a large percentage of the offices smoke....I just patted him on the back and told him I went through the same shock...you'll get over it....but never stop thinking they are stupid.

Tomorrow is Friday!! Eric's dad is coming and staying tomorrow night to do some yard stuff....my contribution....Beef Enchiladas....Check back for the recipe!

Under the Weather

2010-04-14T19:45:00.003-05:00

Well friends I'm a little under the weather today so short blog post for me.....I have lots to tell you about my trip BUT for now....

Our flight last night got canceled and we got re-booked for a later flight that night but that meant I didn't get home til 1:00 a.m. I slept in some this morning but I never felt good....but no worries I made my 10 sales calls but when I got home, I crashed with no plans to rise from my spot.

Eric has been doing a great job taking care of me though. He mowed the lawn, went to the grocery store, made dinner and even cleaned up. What a guy! What a guy!

I thought I made a simple request of Mac and Cheese (from a box with the powdered cheese...I'm very picky when it comes to my boxed mac and cheese) chicken nuggets (all white meat of course), and a piece of toast. (This is my sick food of choice....Eric claims he doesn't have a sick food....who doesn't have a sick food come on people)

My simple request however, proved to be a little complicated for my hubby. I looked up from my tv watching and found Eric with his hands on his hand. I asked if he needed help. "Yes I can't figure out the oven timer".....so up I went to help with dinner. Eric claims he was just struggling tonight in the kitchen....I think maybe he's getting a little rusty. Dinner was yummy and with a tiny bit of assistance I would say Eric hit a home run with dinner!

Don't judge me as a dietitian today I realize that all our food was yellow (if you don't count the ketchup) and yes no fruits and veggies....we'll make up for it tomorrow!

Wonderful Weekend!

2010-04-11T20:27:00.010-05:00

AMAZING!! Describes our weekend here in Omaha!

Friday we went for a run/walk for over an hour in the gorgeous weather! Upon getting back I had multiple voicemails from the on-call RD and our local respiratory therapist....one of my patients out near Grand Island was completely out of formula.....lets just say that if I would have had to drive to Grand Island at 7:00 on a Friday night I wouldn't be working for my company on Monday. However, I got lucky and somebody was coming to Omaha and could pick up the formula from our house. So Eric and I went to the office (a much quicker drive than the 2 hour trek to Grand Island....one way)

Saturday we headed to Creston, Iowa to visit Eric's grandma who is on the mend from a couple of falls recently. Her jaw is broken and therefore has to eat a pureed diet....while we were there I got to go to the grocery store and then I made a batch of potato soup which I then put through the blender.

Sunday was AWESOME! We got up and went to church where the message was very practical and applicable to real life. Pastor Craig talked about how while god forgives us of sin that doesn't mean there aren't consequences to the sin we commit. Next, we did a run/walk in the neighborhood.

I really felt like an adult today because we went to Menard's (kinda like Lowes/Home Depot) and bought some grown up stuff for the house!

A nice cold one!

2010-04-08T21:04:00.002-05:00

BAD DAY #2

Not to be a debbie downer but seriously people....I'm only trying to help. I had a patient start screaming at me on the phone today because I had asked, "How do you feel about your weight loss?" I was only trying some motivational interviewing by using open ended questions......didn't think I'd set a patient off with it. After yelling at me using some colorful language she hung up on me. About 15 minutes later she calls back and lays into me a second time. She threatened to switch companies and I asked where she'd like me to send my notes. It won't hurt me any to have her leave and I'll have a heck of a lot more time on my hands.....

Well now that I got that off my chest on to better things.

I spoke at an ALS support group tonight about what tube feeding is and how it an improve quality of life. I really enjoyed visiting with the people in attendance and learned some more about the disease.

Eric and I met at Roja after wards, a great Mexican restaurant near our house and I was definitely in need of a drink. And my Budlight hit the spot!

YEAH for tomorrow being FRIDAY!!! WHOOP!! I am going to attempt to make Chicken lo Mein with LOTS of fresh veggies this weekend! Look forward to this cooking adventure sometime this weekend on the blog. I'm hoping to get in a good workout tomorrow afternoon after work if the weather cooperates. It will be nice to work out some of my frustrations on the pavement. :-)

Bad News Bears

2010-04-07T19:56:00.008-05:00

Poor Eric.....I'm not in the best mood today and I'm feeling very torn about what to do in my career aspirations. Here are my considerations:

Masters in Public Health
Masters in Education
Going to nursing school
Going back to being a stay-at-home wife......Eric says NO!
????????????

A year ago Monday was Match Day otherwise known as the longest wait possible to find out where or if you are matched to a dietetic internship. Last year several of us went to the bars before the midnight posting of matches.....we even made shirts.

Here were our "I'm so nervous to find out faces"

Yes a fun play on the Nutrition Care Process (only RDs will find this funny) The front of our shirts said I "heart" Dietetics....but rather than using a heart we used a strawberry....I know I know we are corny but we love our fruit!

My twin and I!! Melanie and I were both Kappas and basically had every class together in college....and almost once a week we ended up accidentally wearing the same shirt as each other. What can I say great minds think a like. While I headed off to Vanderbilt, Melanie got into her first choice as well at KU Med.

I was so thrilled to get into my first choice at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. The internship met and exceeded all of my expectations and I got to see so many things that I never would have been exposed to in another setting. I got to see rare diseases and had the opportunity to work with people from different backgrounds.

The match rate is less than 50% which means that more people are hoping to get into the profession of dietetics but there aren't enough internships out there to meet that demand. I spoke with one of my advisers from college today and he said that 4 of his students that he had no doubt would get an internship didn't match, which makes me feel incredibly blessed that I was matched and that I got my first choice.

All 16 of us near the end of our internship!

The 8 of us in my section

Nashville is a favorite place of mine and I would love to move back someday....of course it may also be partly that I miss my friends that are still living there. I'll continue to ask Eric if we can move back to the south :-)

Off to see the Wizard

2010-04-06T19:49:00.009-05:00

Oh goodness we had a wonderful weekend in the land of oz.....otherwise known as Stafford, Kansas.

First off I got to see one of my bestest friends from college...Miss Anessa who is soon to be Mrs. Anessa Nation since she got engaged on April Fools Day :-) We celebrated by meeting in Hutch to get Pedicures.

Oh yes it couldn't be a trip home without the animals.....Dad giving the cats scraps from dinner and boy did they eat good this weekend.

Yes that's Ralph the dog eating with the cats....they are all the best of friends. A new addition is the lovely K-State cat/dog dish. Everyone in our house is a wild CAT! :-)

Eric and I are discussing when we will be adding to our family...no not a baby but rather a dog....my motherly dog instincts have much to be desired so I decided to practice on Brent's dog, Ralph.

Oh look, here's Ralph in our family picture!!

The whole Fritzemeier/Ladd Clan!

Celebrating Grandpa's 76th Birthday!

Yes, Eric, Dad, Big Cat and I watched the Amazing Race together on Sunday night. Wondering why we are all smashed together on the love seat well Big Cat is very particular about his seating in the living room as he is the King of the love seat. (Of course he's only allowed on my dad's lap or it's back to being an outdoor kitty)

I hope you all had a blessed Easter Weekend and got to spend it with family and friends.

We're OFF!!

2010-04-02T14:22:00.002-05:00

Well I will be having a blogging hiatus....Check back Monday or Tuesday for your Longitude and Ladditude blogging fix!!

HAPPY EASTER ALL!!

April 1st

2010-04-01T07:34:00.000-05:00

Well April 1st is significant to me for multiple reasons.

#1: Eric and I have officially been together for 4 years today!

We went to my winter formal and become "official" that night which just happened to be April Fool's Day we like to joke that its the longest running April Fools day joke!

Our very first date happened earlier in the semester when Eric asked me to a date party. I had to consult my calendar since I was in Human Body that semester and since I didn't have a test on Monday so lucky for us I said YES!

#2: Today is also my Grandpa Moore's Birthday! Happy Birthday! We will be celebrating this weekend on Sunday at Easter dinner!
Yes I did get FOOLED today. Eric gets up way earlier than me to go to work but always kisses me goodbye....today as I'm half asleep he tells me that the weather changed and it snowed last night. I was not a happy camper about this news but fell back asleep. When my alarm went off I checked by blackberry and I had an E-mail from Eric.....April Fool's it didn't really snow. What a Sneaker!! I don't think it should be allowed to do a joke when someone's half asleep! :-)

APRIL FOOL's DAY Everyone and Happy Anniversary to us!

Good Day at 68130

2010-03-31T19:56:00.004-05:00

WE MET THE NEIGHBORS!!! Yes this deserves capital letters because I have been wanting to make friends....

Eric was out fertilizing the lawn.....

and he found a toy in our backyard and took it over to some of the parents who were out in their yards with their kids. I noticed this from the kitchen and quickly put on my FLIP FLOPS and crossed the yard to meet them. Let me tell you there are A LOT of kiddos in our neighborhood. 4 of them are starting kindergarten next year. There are some cuties and can you believe this 2 of them have Type 1 Diabetes. Interesting I know! I think we will hang out some in their backyards with them.

And to start the day.....Eric made me breakfast!

I know pretty extravagant huh!

Tomorrow's my last day of work for the week!! 4 day weekend for me!

Nutrition Philosophy

2010-03-30T19:27:00.008-05:00

I was recently asked to share my nutrition philosophy and I've been thinking about it ever since. So tonight........

Jill's Nutrition Philosophy:
I believe you can consume anything in moderation and that physical activity is as important as diet when it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle.

Dietitian pet peeve: I hate it when everyone assumes that I eat healthy 100% of the time because I happen to be a dietitian. Look above....everything in MODERATION....so yes I do have a cookie or two now and again or eat french fries at a restaurant but I don't do it everyday.

On the reading front I started the new Jodi Picoult book House Rules at the suggestion from my mom and again she's not disappointing me (both my mom and Jodi if you're wondering)

We're exciting to be visiting the County Line this weekend for Easter. Yes it happened to be that I grew up with the road right in front of our house being the Stafford/Reno County Line. If you click on the link it will take you to my mom's blog. We haven't been back since Christmas and I'm very excited to go home while not taking call for work.....HALLELUJAH!!

When I asked Eric what I should blog about tonight....he says that its should be about our lawn.....Eric says its lawn time and therefore he will be fertilizing the lawn tomorrow evening.....not sure what this entails but I will watch....... :-)

On the decorating front we still haven't found a color for the office that we like alongside the purple accent wall.....I went to Sherwin Williams today to buy my $4.70 quart of paint.....Yes I do know exactly how much one costs and they know us on a name basis...I'm serious.....Sad I know especially when we've only painted one wall.

A few are duplicates (only 2) but still

Our collection of sample paint

Oops here's a straggler

Well this was a RANDOM smorgasbord of information but Yeah for tomorrow being Wednesday!!

Southwest Chicken Salad

2010-03-29T18:00:00.000-05:00

AS PROMISED.....SOUTHWEST CHICKEN SALAD.....But First Oh what a beautiful morning...Oh what a beautiful day (feel free to sing along)

Today was GORGEOUS....I ran/walked outside for 50 minutes then I sat out on the patio for a bit and read while soaking up the rays. AWESOME!!! I think I scared the neighborhood kids who cut through our yard to get to their friends house. One little boy hovered as close as possible to the neighbors fence. I didn't realize I was so scary looking!

But back to the featured recipe from my most recent edition of Taste of Home:

Here's what you'll need:

4 cups cubed chicken
2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 cup chopped red/green peppers
1 cup chopped red, sweet or green onion
1 cup minced fresh cilantro (I don't love cilantro so I used a smaller amount)

Dressing: (I didn't follow the recipe exactly....so here's my version)
3 T lime juice
3 T olive oil
1 T honey
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
(Adjust as you see fit)
Optional: Fresh Avocado

Nutrition Bite on Avocados:
Avocados provide nearly 20 essential nutrients, including fiber, potassium, Vitamin E, B-vitamins and folic acid. You may have heard that they are full of fat.....well they are BUT its a healthy fat, monounsaturated fat which can help lower our cholesterol. So I'm not saying go hog crazy on avocado but its definitely a food to add into your diet occasionally. Did I mention they are yummy!

The great thing about this recipe is you can use it in multiple ways.

Wrap:

Dinner on Sunday night!

Salad:

Lunch on Monday.....me not taking a turkey sandwich means that this is a GREAT RECIPE!

Pita:

I couldn't find any at the grocery store. I'm not enjoying getting used to a new Krogers since the move...

Lettuce Cups:
Quesadillas:

Dinner on Monday night! Eric said it smelled like Chipotle....a very good thing in his mind

As you can see you REALLY need to try out this recipe! Eric and I were eating it as a dip while we waited for our quesadillas to cook. The possibilities are endless.....Let me know if you think of any other ways to use this Southwest Chicken Salad!

Apologies all around!

2010-03-28T18:10:00.005-05:00

Yes I know it's been a few days since I've posted. I do have some excuses though!! Here you go!

1. Wednesday I got up early to go to a class at 5:45 at the gym. I know dedicated right. Well I only lasted 15 minutes in the class when I had to walk out (yes embarrassing) but I was either going to pass out or throw up so I thought it best I leave. So I went and sat on one of the couch's for a while and then since I was at the gym I felt like I needed to work out so I got on the treadmill and struggled through walking one mile. Sad I know. So off to work I went and I never felt good, mostly I was light headed. (And no I'm not preganant....seriously once you're married if you feel sick that's the first question out of everyone's mouth....)

2. Thursday I called in sick. My first one in a long time. (Technically I don't get sick days and I was going to talk the day unpaid until.....)

3. Friday. Off to Lincoln I went for a lunch and I got a referral (number 9 this month).....well his surgery wasn't scheduled till 2:00....4:00 o'clock rolls around and he's just now going into surgery. What does this mean for me.....well that I'll need to go back to Lincoln on Saturday. WAIT...K-state plays...I decided I wasn't coming back which meant I decided to wait till he got out of surgery and did my education in the hospital.....got home at 8:30.

We aren't going to talk about what happened Saturday. But I'm proud of the CATS!! We watched The Blind Side and it was just as good the 2nd time. I told Eric he should pop it in the DVD whenever I have a bad day......Seriously I really like the movie.

Today we went to Cirque de Soleil. Alegria was the title of our show. It was good but a little different than what Eric and I were expecting. It's amazing how some of those performers can get their body to contort.

These ladies were CRAZY flexible.

Tonight's dinner.....Southwest chicken Salad....YUMMY! Tune in tomorrow for the recipe trust me you don't want to miss it! Here's a sneak peak...

Another SUCCESS from Kraft.com!

2010-03-23T18:55:00.005-05:00

Yes folks kraft.com is turning out to be a great resource when it comes to quick and easy weekday meals.

Tonight's Menu: Creamy Chicken with bacon and penne

Ingredients:
4 slices OSCAR MAYER Bacon

4 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1 lb.)

2 cups penne pasta, uncooked

1/2 cup (1/2 of 8-oz. tub) PHILADELPHIA Chive & Onion Cream Cheese Spread

3/4 cup fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved (As you will see from the picture we omitted these.....Eric and I aren't big on tomatoes)

2 green onions, chopped
Dashes of garlic powder, seasoned salt, chili powder and black pepper

Now I didn't follow the directions exactly like the on-line recipe so here's my version

1) Cook bacon slices in microwave.

2) Heat large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat. Add chicken (I mixed the seasonsing from above with the raw chicken before adding to the skillet....a little of this a little of that) Cook 5 to 7 min. on each side or until chicken is done (165ºF). Remove chicken from skillet and chop into small pieces. Tear bacon into pieces and add to chicken. Set aside

3) Cook pasta in large saucepan as directed on package. Meanwhile, cook cream cheese spread and broth in skillet (used to cook chicken) until cream cheese is melted and sauce is thickened and well blended, stirring constantly with whisk. Stir in tomatoes and onions; cook 2 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally.

4) Drain pasta; return to pan. Add sauce and chicken and bacon mixture; mix lightly. AND ENJOY.....BECAUSE this is YUMMY!

As you can see we had stir-fried vegetable medley and a garden salad. (I think we might have some ice cream later on :-)

Now I know all of you wonder where do blogger's work.....well folks for me right here on my couch. My wonderful husband was kind enough to snap this shot and seriously people this is my blogging spot and all my wonderful (lol) blogs are composed here :-)

Wondering what I'm holding in my hand....YES that is The Blind Side on DVD! I almost NEVER buy movies...the last movie I bought Sex in the City....I've been waiting (not so patiently for weeks for it to come out...I know I know patience just isn't in my blood) No Eric and I aren't watching it tonight but my friend Anessa is coming to visit this weekend and she hasn't seen it so we are excited to watch it this weekend! I just really liked the movie when Eric and I saw it in theaters!

Anessa and I back in Manhattan before a basketball game this year!

Yeah for Hump Day being tomorrow.

5 Ingredient Dinner!

2010-03-22T18:17:00.004-05:00

Another Monday has come and that means a quick and easy dinner here at the Ladd household so we can get out the door to our small group on time. On the menu tonight.....

Chicken Nacho Bake

which comes from Kraft.com Use this link to find the original recipe. We have 3 recipes on the menu this week from Kraft.com and I'm excited to share the results with you all!

4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup salsa
1/2 sour cream
1/2 cup crushed tortilla chips
1/2 cup shredded cheese

PREHEAT oven to 400ºF. Place chicken on foil-covered baking sheet. Slice three cuts on top of each chicken breast with sharp knife.

TOP each chicken breast evenly with salsa, sour cream and tortilla chips.

BAKE 20 min. Remove from oven; sprinkle with cheese. Bake an additional 10 min. or until chicken is cooked through (165ºF).

ENJOY! As you can see from the picture at the top we had rice and stir-fried vegetables from the freezer!

It's was a GREAT weekend to be a WILDCAT!

2010-03-21T17:27:00.008-05:00

Eric and I had a fun weekend. Friday night we just vegged on the couch and watched basketball. I think that having me fill out a bracket this year to compete in Eric's work competition was the best thing for our marriage and my sanity. I of course don't mind watching our KSU Wildcats but basketball ALL DAY Long can become a little much for me at times. BUT having a bracket I'm interested and invested in the games. (Oh and I happen to be beating Eric at the moment :-)

I started reading Dear John by Nicholas Sparks this weekend and have already finished it. It was such a quick read. I would recommend it to all you readers out there.

On Saturday morning I woke up around 8:30 on my own and decided it was an omen for me to go to a kick boxing class at the gym that started at 9:30. Oh my gosh.....I loved it. Today my body is not loving me and I'm in a significant amount of pain. But No Pain No Gain.....Right?

Eric and I invited a couple over to watch the game with us. Dana and I were in the same sorority at K-State and she is now working on her masters at UNL. Eric and her boyfriend Mark hit it off at a wedding we were all at in December....you guessed it they bonded since they were all missing the K-State game by coming with us. There were a few of them just huddled over by one of their blackberries keeping up the score of the game. So Dana and I were more than happy to let the boys do their "sports" talk while we caught up. I had the makings for panini's but I'm so mad that I forgot to take a picture. Oh well, next time.

Today, Eric and I went to church and afterward headed to an outdoor mall so I could purchase some more workout shorts. You see the shorts I've been using are from high school are "starting" to get a "little" worn out. Plus I only have 2 pairs that I'm using. And Eric was okay with this purchase because if I hold onto these shorts for as long as I did my last pairs, the cost per wear will be GREAT!

One of the old pairs...if you look closely you'll see the beginnings of a few holes.

And my new ones!!! Aren't they cute. Eric was a great sport and helped me figure out which ones I should get.

Hoarders

2010-03-18T20:34:00.006-05:00

Yes I believe that I would have qualified for the show hoarders if you had looked inside my car before yesterday. Let me tell you when you're car is basically your traveling office it starts to get a "little" cluttered. Eric and I haven't taken my car anywhere for a LONG time mostly because he wouldn't fit in my car.....no I'm not exaggerating. I forgot to take a picture before I started cleaning yesterday afternoon. (Yes, I came home from work a little early but as Eric said....I was just cleaning out my office so I could be more efficient) On my behalf it's been so cold and gross all winter I didn't want to brave the elements especially when we were back at the apartment with no garage. My excuse since my car has a home.....super busy with work. I haven't been very busy this week which is good and bad at the same time.

Check out the messiness on the floor.....not good!

Part of the trash I threw away....Yes I did fill 3 trash bags worth of trash....sad I know

The backseat in the middle of the process....this looks AMAZING compared to what it did look like. You couldn't even see the floor or the seats before I started.

Last but not least the trunk. Maybe the best looking at the start of the process.

I can officially say that my car is very picked up at the moment.....I don't say clean because Eric wasn't home to put together the shop vac so I didn't get to vacuum it out. Guess it will wait till another nice afternoon. I can't believe after the 2 nice days we've had that its going to snow.....so not excited....

What's For Dinner??

2010-03-15T21:00:00.003-05:00

Well if you don't have a lot of time to get dinner on the table. I have a quick and easy solution for you BAKED BURGERS! Eric and I are always running around trying to get dinner around before our small group on Mondays and now with our new exercise routines we have even less time. (And Yes both Eric and I made it to the gym tonight after work.....and I had a set-up today which I got to set the patient up during working hours WAHOO)

SIDE NOTE: I forgot to update you all on my cut finger situation. We ended up not going to the Urgent Care which was the best decision. It is healing nicely and only occasionally hurts....sorry to keep you all on the edge of your seats for so long.

Baked Burgers:

Browned Hamburger
Ketchup
Mustard
Sliced Cheese
Hamburger Buns

Add ketchup and mustard to ground hamburger. This was already ground in the fridge so after mixing I heated up the concoction in the microwave.

Since it's just Eric and I. When I make a recipe with hamburger I usually cut it in half to avoid having a lot of leftovers (I'm not a huge fan of leftovers) so I usually have about 1/2 pound of hamburger ground up sitting in the fridge.

Place one slice of cheese on bottom of bun. (We used pepper jack but choose what your family likes best) Top with meat mixture. Place top of bun on-top of sandwich and wrap foil completely around sandwich.

Place in 350 degree oven until cheese is melted.

MMM!! Unwrap and ENJOY!! This was a sandwich my mom would make for my dad and our farm hands when they required a meal out in the field at night!

Here's my Nutrition Tip of the Day! Look for WHOLE WHEAT when you're shopping at the grocery store. Just because it says wheat doesn't mean its the healthy whole grain/whole wheat version!

Omaha 68130

2010-03-14T19:30:00.000-05:00

Well it's back to Decorating 101.....wait I never had that class in college. Maybe that's why I'm struggling so much when it comes to deciding how to make this house our own. Even before buying our first home I worried about how I was going to make decisions when it came to decorating it. (You think I might be a little bit of a perfectionist...)

This weekend Eric and I got our hands dirty (literally) and rolled up our sleeves. Saturday after our fabulous trip to the gym we got busy painting our accent wall in the office. Now I was super excited to paint.....yes really....you see I've never gotten to paint walls in a house. When I was little I begged and begged to have my room be pink and I got what I wished for; however a couple of years later when I wasn't so hot on the color pink I wanted my dad to paint it a different color. Well that didn't happen until with enough persistence he finally painted it again but white.....that way he wouldn't have to do it again......sad I know :-)

Sorry, got a little sidetracked down memory lane.....back to Saturday....Eric was surprised to see my enthusiasm for this project but was more than happy to let me paint away under his supervision....you see Eric is somewhat of a painting expert (okay compared to me at least)

See how excited I am!

Yes, Eric tackled the high parts....

Look at that handy work...not bad for a first timer

As you can see we are still struggling to decide what the other wall colors should be.....ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE MUCH APPRECIATED!!

Any other view! As you can tell I'm a little excited :-)

Today, Eric and I (mostly I) painted a second coat on the wall. I thought I had hit jackpot when I found that Sherwin Williams (where we happen to be buying our paint) has a website where you can "paint" your room and try out different colors. Sherwin-Williams Color Visualizer was something I thought was going to save us a lot of money from buying all those sample sizes of paint. BUT I was very disappointed when we bought a sample after church that I swore THIS IS GOING TO BE IT! However, unfussy beige turned out to be kinda white....not what we were looking for. SO back to square one!!! ANY SUGGESTIONS WOULD BE APPRECIATE!!

In other house news....we hung our Ladd sign....I had a follower comment that they wanted to know where Jillian my favorite sister-in-law :-) had gotten the sign. Here you go! SIMPLE EXPRESSIONS WEBSITE This is what Jillian had to say about the purchase..."I emailed Kimberly to place the order. Kimberly is very helpful and will make samples of the item in Word for you to approve before ordering. When Jaclyn (who gave a similar sign to Jillian for a wedding party gift) gave it to me, she had Kimberly make the stickers, buy the board, paint it, and then stick the stickers which I think she said was around $25. I only ordered the stickers from her and purchased the wood, painted, and put the stickers on myself."

And hung our leaves that we bought at Hobby Lobby last week!

Sorry for the long post....but we've been busy around here! Eric and I even made it to the gym again. We packed our gym bags and headed there right after church. It worked out GREAT...maybe we'll make a habit out of it! :-) Have a WONDERFUL MONDAY!

I'm BACK!!!

2010-03-13T16:40:00.004-06:00

Well today Eric and I made a big step in our married lives.....WE JOINED A GYM! Now you would think we would have joined as a couple but it was actually cheaper for us to get the student (under 26 rate) as individuals. Oh well when I turn 27 and if we are still members here we'll probably become a couple.....(lol)

Now as a former-avid exerciser (6 days a week of at least 45 to an hour a day) I will admit I fell off the workout train. I'm embarrassed to admit it and as a dietitian I felt so guilty for slacking in this department. In my defense, this winter has been a rough winter. Eric and I think it might have been worse than just Seasonal Depression I was pretty down in the dumps the last few months. It was a combination of things but mostly my job, moving to a new place and the rough Nebraska winter. Thanks for sticking in there with me babe! I was also a little burnt out on exercise coming off of the 1/2 marathon and then being an exercise fen (sp??) before our wedding (yes I admit I worked out a couple of times a day in the month or two leading up to the wedding) EXCUSES ASIDE.....I'm ready to hit the ground running again.....literally :-)

After we moved into our house I vowed to make a change and start exercising regularly again. Last week I tried out Anytime Fitness free with a 7-day pass.....I went 3 times which is way more than I have been exercising but I just wasn't excited about the gym. Not many people only 4 treadmills....and NO ARC TRAINER and there was only one group fitness class that I would have had to pay $75 extra for...no thanks.

So today I made Eric go with me to another gym close by...Lifetime Fitness.

It is HUGE and they refer to themselves as a club.....but that's not why we joined. During our tour I fell in love with it. The atmosphere is awesome and it's really what I've been looking for. Group fitness classes are included...there are so many treadmills I couldn't even count them all. And there were at least 15 arc trainers throughout the cardio room. It met Eric's requirements as well......which are a racquet ball court and a sauna. And Eric was excited that they have a cafe. Which we got to have lunch at for "free" today. I got a Fiesta Quesedilla and Eric got a chicken pesto pizza with a strawberry/banana smoothie. The menu has nutritional information right on it which was great.

Other Amenities Included in our membership:

spin class
in-door rock climbing
indoor/outdoor pool access
in-door hot-tubs
sauna and steam rooms
locker rooms with everything you need to get ready including blow dryers ect
And much more....

And for additional money we have access to:

Life spa/salon
Cafe
Raquet ball club
and more....

Now how am I going to make sure I get to they gym:

pack my workout bag and put it in my car....I drive by the gym on my way home from work so if I don't come home first then I won't be as tempted not to go
find workout classes I enjoy because if I look forward to working out I won't want to skip my workout
get up early.....not everyday but occasionally I need to go in the morning especially if I know its going to be long day at work (for instance Tuesdays....they always seem to be a long day that often goes into the night)
get Eric on the work out train with me.....then I'll feel guilty if he goes and I don't (what can I say...I'm kinda competitive)

Well wish me luck on my journey of getting back into shape and enjoying to work out again. :-) It's sad how quickly you lose it when you don't use it. Oh well all the more motivation to get back out there. I think this experience will be good for me when emphasizing with my future clients that I work with. I know its not easy to get in your workout with everything going on in your life but there are so many benefits to exercise and I truly believe that it can make you healthier, happier and more productive!

I'm excited for the old me to be back and what a great way to Spring Forward into Spring!

Patience

2010-03-12T19:00:00.000-06:00

Well Patience isn't something I have a lot of.....Eric definitely rounds me out well since his middle name should be patience.

So when I bought bananas 2 WEEKS AGO to make banana bread I did not expect to have to wait 2 weeks to make my favorite yummy quick bread. And to be honest I probably should have waited a bit longer but I just couldn't wait anymore (again that patience thing)

3/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups ripe bananas, mashed
2 eggs, well beaten
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp soda
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter milk (don't have any...no problem....mix 1/2 cup milk with 1/2 T of vinegar)

Combine first five ingredients. Add dry ingredients, alternating with buttermilk, beating after each addition. Optional: Add nuts or chocolate chips (see below) Bake in large loaf pan or two small loaves or in muffin tins at 325 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes (if using large loaf pan)

Want to mix it up?!?!
Banana Nut Bread: add 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
Banana Chocolate Chip Bread: add 1/2 cup chocolate chips

As you can tell from the picture above this recipe has been used often and has definitely gotten some batter on it.......which I believe is the sign of a TASTY recipe that all of you should try out there!

Today I just went with the traditional banana bread. Can't wait to have some for dessert tonight!! YUM!!

And I Thought marriage would fix my problem....

2010-03-11T18:07:00.005-06:00

You know growing up with an 11 letter last name that has some silent E's in it can be challenging at times. I remember in Kindergarden we had to line up in order of shortest to longest last names and Jeremy Hildebrand and I sat there counting out our last names to see who's was longest....mine was by 1 letter.....

SO when Eric proposed and I knew I was going to have a 4-Letter last name I was pretty stoked to say the least (no offense mom and dad) Marrying Eric met all of my requirements in a new last name....

--shorter than Fritzemeier.......check
--not to far down in the alphabet.....check (why you may ask...you don't want your kids to be in the back of the pack when it comes to getting there name called and seating arrangements)

Back when I called pharmacies, doctors offices, to make appointments ect. I always would say Fritzemeier...and then automatically begin to spell it F-R-I-T (you get the picture)

What I didn't anticipate were the problems I would have with my new last name....but it never fails that atleast once a week someone asks me Glad, Laid....for goodness sakes. If I am picking up a catering order for work I have to make several attempts at placing/picking up my order. Especially Panera, I don't know why they struggle so much but they do. (BUT I love panera's food. I did a lunch with them today and it was YUMMY!)

Well better get to watching my CATS! EMAW!

HAPPY RD DAY TO ME!!

2010-03-10T18:18:00.002-06:00

Well first off....I'm very disappointed in all of you for not wishing me a Happy Registered Dietitian Day.....although don't feel bad for to long because I didn't realize today was the day until I got several e-mails wishing me well on my special day. I did have fun scaring Eric when I got home from work by asking what he'd gotten for me. I could see the wheels turning in his head trying to figure out what he should have gotten me a present for. Don't worry I put him out of misery quickly :-)

March is also National Nutrition Month. What you may ask does this mean? National Nutrition Month® is a nutrition education and information campaign sponsored annually by the American Dietetic Association. The campaign is designed to focus attention on the importance of making informed food choices and developing sound eating and physical activity habits. Initiated in March 1973 as a week-long event, "National Nutrition Week" became a month-long observance in 1980 in response to growing public interest in nutrition.

This years theme is Nutrition From the Ground Up.

Well not to much to report here tonight glad to be home tonight on time. :-)

Decorating 101

2010-03-08T18:22:00.008-06:00

Well this is going to be a quick post with lots of pictures! Your favorite right?!?! I just got done making dinner and Eric is cleaning up then its off to our small group for church.

After work today I begged Eric to come play with me.....at Hobby Lobby....he was less than thrilled but I really wanted to spend time together! Upon arriving I began to wonder if this was a bad idea, as he would know how much I'm spending before I got home with the goods and could tell him how much I had saved on all my purchases :-)

Check out our finds!

I got 2 of these babies (I would have liked 3 but they only had 2)...I thought they would look good above our bed and they nicely mimicked a design in our comforter......see below! (Eric was "okay" with the purchase, good thing it was 50% off otherwise probably not)

Part of the design on our comforter...kinda hard to see but you get the idea.

Jillian got me this sign for Christmas which I LOVE!!! Thanks again Jillian. I've been looking for a picture frame to put underneath on the wall with a picture from our wedding day. I think we might have found a keeper :-)

Hobby Lobby wasn't the only place we decided to visit! Eric and I have plans to paint the office this weekend so we decided to go look at some paint!! We were originally thinking of doing a purple accent wall with the rest of the walls being gray.....But we don't like the gray we picked... GLAD we only bought the sample size paint cans.

We do like the purple though!! Hope you all had a great start to your week! Have a Terrific Tuesday!

Careful While You Cook......

2010-03-07T10:38:00.007-06:00

Well it seems to be a right of passage in the Ladd family. And I think I can officially call myself a Ladd now. You're probably wondering what I'm referring to.... well kids be careful when cutting with knives.....Eric/Drew you're next.

YES, I cut myself while making lunch for Eric and I. I was cutting red potatoes and then it happened I sliced my finger, perpendicular to my fingernail. Kinda in a weird place I know. Well it was bleeding pretty good and seemed to be fairly deep. So I call Eric to find out how far away he is from getting home......(side note) Eric was gone for the weekend, having a boys weekend in Manhattan celebrating Fake Patty's Day (no I didn't mention this earlier because I don't like to promote the back that I'll be home alone for the weekend :-)

Well he was about 20 minutes from getting home so I put some pressure on it and decided to finish up lunch. (I know...I know I'm a very dedicated wife right!)

Here's the damage....if you think my ring has a little extra sparkle you're right. I got it cleaned on Friday since on Thursday I got some formula on it while doing a set-up at a patient's house. (The picture really doesn't do it justice...It's hard to capture it with my camera)

Now you may ask..."a family tradition??" Well, yes considering both Brian and Jillian have been to urgent care this year for stitches after having a cutting accident in the kitchen.

Christy even gave me a red kitchen towel this Christmas for this very occasion; however, in the heat of the moment I forgot and used one of my other kitchen towels.....we will see if we can get the blood out.

Well I am hoping to avoid urgent care today but we will keep our eye on it and don't worry we will keep you updated on the situation as it unfolds. In the meantime...please I beg of you... be careful when using knives in the kitchen. It can be DANGEROUS!

Omaha 68130

2010-03-06T15:43:00.005-06:00

Well we have come to another weekend here in Omaha (very excited about that) and here are the latest happenings in the Ladd household.

The sun is out.....yes I said the sun is out and that means that some of our massive piles of snow are melting.....YES!!! But as the snow melts we are finding problems with the yard......something we bought sight unseen.

Yes that is our deck......and yes there is definitely something out there that needs to be removed. The builder will come pick up all material we find under the snow so at least we don't have to do that :-)

But even worse.....the ground has settled??? I guess!! And there is a massive hole that leads right under the concrete patio....I hope nothing crawls under there and dies.....YIKES!

No the sod they layed down before winter isn't looking so hot. Our builder provides a "we fix it in the first year kind of warranty. We will have a 30 day (probably more like 60 day because of the snow) walk through again so this will most definitely be added to our list.

On a better note....we have new neighbors....I saw the Uhaul there today.

I'm thinking about making cookies tomorrow to take over!!! What kind should I make?

AND I CLEANED....I love that the bar doesn't have mail all over it...how long will that last....probably till Monday (since the mail doesn't come on Sundays!!)

I also tried Anytime Fitness this morning and am doing a 7-day trial with them. Probably won't be buying a membership even though its only 5 minutes from the house. I wasn't all that impressed. I got spoiled last year at the YMCA in Nashville which had individualized TVs on every machine. This place didn't even have a radio station you could tune to to listen to the TV. Also, another strike against them is they only have 4 treadmills. I might consider paying for just the Boot Camp...which you still have to pay for if you have a membership....strike two!

Well hope you all are having a WONDERFUL SATURDAY!! I know I AM!

Budget Blinds to the Rescue!

2010-03-04T21:07:00.006-06:00

Well folks, tonight's going to be a short post. I just got home from work....yes it is 9:00....enough said.

Today I made a little break in my schedule to meet the Budget Blind's Guy at our house so he could install our blinds!! Yeah for our neighbors not being able to spy on us at night anymore! Honestly I was kinda nervous about our choices....I mean it was a small swatch of fabric and it was hard to tell if we would like it when it covered a good chunk of our south side of our living room/dining room. But both Eric and I are happy with the result. Check it our for yourself.

What they look like at nighttime....when I drove up tonight I couldn't see through them so check on that requirement...we were a little worried.

During the day time...before the blinds in front of the sliding door were installed. I had to quickly snap a picture while the guy was grabbing something from his truck....didn't want him to think I was some weirdo :0

This is a closer look at the color. It's kinda greenish/brown....

The alternative to having vertical blinds in front of our patio. I really like the valence.

And finally the faux wood blinds. I would probably prefer them to be darker but that would have shown a lot more dust....

All in all Eric and I were very happy with our selections and the quality of product we got. AND it was well worth the price for the guy to come and install it himself....what took him an hour and half to do would have taken Eric and I a whole day.

Well all....off to bed for this tired girl. BOY am I ready for the weekend!! I need a little R&R. I haven't been home before 7:30 any night this week....seriously.

Carol Ireton-Jones

2010-03-03T19:27:00.004-06:00

For all you dietitians out there you will quickly look at my subject and know exactly who I'm referring to. Tonight at the ODDA (Omaha District Dietetic Association) Meeting she was the guest speaker.....even if she was sponsored by one of my competitors I was interested in hearing her speak tonight.

For those of you who are not dietitians or soon-to-be RDs then let me give you a quick briefing. During our 5 years of schooling you often hear calculate this person's energy (calorie) needs using the Ireton-Jones Equation.....(yes the woman who came up with this equation spoke to us tonight) Her equation is specifically used to calculate energy needs for patients in acute care on ventilators. Okay...okay....i hear you...stop talking this scientific talk!! :-)

I visited a potential patient today at a cancer center near our house this afternoon so I headed home for a bit before going to my meeting tonight (which counted for multiple sales calls since I talked with several of my referral sources)....so not only did I get continuing education credit I also got to count it towards my 50 sales calls for the week (which I'm a little behind on, since I've already set up 3 patients this week :-) ANYWHO!!! Back on track....I WENT FOR A WALK OUTSIDE...granted it was only 20 minutes because my time was limited but it was GLORIOUS to be able to be outside and moving without wanting to run inside and curl up in a blanket....we can even see some of our backyard...but never fear we still have plenty of snow melting to go.

I almost forgot to tell you our BIG NEWS!!! We are going to Cirque de soleil on Sunday, March 27th! When I found out they were going to be in Omaha I asked Eric if we could consider getting tickets and he agreed that it would be a good show! He bought tickets today for us!! Don't worry I will post after we go...however, I don't believe that photography is allowed (you're not even supposed to take out your cellphone during the production)

Well I guess I need starting cheering harder for the BIG GAME!!! GO CATS!!!

Santa Fe Cheesecake

2010-02-28T19:33:00.005-06:00

Well, all I have to say is that it pays off to be a planner sometimes.....(okay I think all the time :-) We signed up to bring snacks for our small group on Monday so Sunday afternoon I was busy flipping through recipe books finding the perfect fit.....And I came across a recipe for Santa Fe Cheesecake....we love cheesecake and Mexican but the two mixed you may ask.....SIMPLY WONDERFUL!

Now back to planning ahead. I made the cheesecake base for the dip and then also made our dessert on Sunday night and thank god I did.....my plan for Monday was to come home early and get things around before small group. I also got a call from Eric as I was walking out the door to go to work and he let me know we forgot the GPS in his car. No problem I NEVER get set-ups on Monday....well I spoke to soon! I had 2 referrals on Monday that were going home....now only one actually went home (yes this happens ALL the time) but the one that I did set up was in the country outside of Lincoln.....SO I had to print directions off the internet at work...GASP I know! I was happy the family had also given me directions via the phone.

But anyways Eric got a call at work telling him he would need to finish up the cheesecake and take them to small group because I would most definitely be late. I told him to put the White Chocolate Popcorn in a nice bowl.....Eric's response oh the plastic one in the pantry....Eric I said "nice" bowl....like the ones we got for wedding presents not the 99 cent special from Wal-Mart....sometimes I just know ;-) And of course I told him to take a picture so I could feature the recipe on the blog.....

Don't you just want to dig in....I know you do!

Here's the Recipe:

2 packages (8 oz) cream cheese, softenend
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups sour cream, divided
1 package taco seasoning
3 eggs
1/2 can (4 oz) chopped green chilies
1/2 can (4 oz) chopped jalepenos

Topping:
2/3 cup salsa
1/2 cup green onions, sliced
1/3 cup tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup black olives

Tortilla chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat at medium speed cream cheese and cheddar cheese until fluffy. Blend in 1 cup of the sour cream and taco seasoning. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Mix in chiles/jalepenos. Pour into a 10-inch springform pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 10 minutes. Top with remaining 1 cup sour cream. Bake 5 minutes longer. Remove from oven: loosen edges from rim of pan. Cool completely. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.3-4 hours. Remove pan rim. Put on plate an top with salsa, onions, tomatoes and olives. Serve with thick tortilla chips. Yield: 20 servings

Note: Half of the recipe can be made in an 8-inch springform pan.

Sorry I have been lagging in my blogging, work has been keeping me super busy and I haven't gotten home till at least 7:00 every night this week and I already know that is going to be true of tonight as well......Oh well at least business is picking up.....Well I better get to work!

Washer Debacle!

2010-02-28T18:55:00.009-06:00

You guessed it....Nebraska Furniture Mart (NFM) called on Friday....I recognized the guy's name because I had talked to him before.....

My first response was "Let me guess you're re-scheduling to next Saturday....AGAIN"

His response, "Actually, March 14"

My response, "Whatever".....I didn't even have the will to fight them anymore.

SO....I then preceded to call my hubby at work and let him know that I was done dealing with this washer mess. So we decided that Eric was going to call NFM and cancel our order for the washer and make them come pick up the dryer for free and in return give us a full refund.

In the meantime I started calling around to find out what companies in town had washers/dryers in stock. And that is when I stumbled upon a salesman named Seth at Lowe's. They had what our W/D in stock and can deliver on Sunday.....ummm let me think for a second YES!! So Eric and I headed over to Lowe's checked it out AND got a DEAL! We asked for the price we payed at NFM and they gave it to us!!!! (What they didn't know is I would have payed anything to have a W/D this weekend.

BEHOLD:

Check these babies out in another angle:

Did we have any hiccups with Lowe's? Well since I'm asking you can probably guess...we ran into a small glitch when they didn't bring the right power cord which we specifically asked about when we bought the W/D. Eric and I were very firm that they would have to go back or have someone bring them the right one. Also they scratched the wall in our laundry room. At that point I really just wanted to do our laundry.

How much laundry do two people accumulate over 2 weeks.....check it out....

YES...it was spilling out over our 2 baskets

Separated into darks, whites, and towels.

The Man-of-the-House had quite the task before him today.....putting up the mural of pictures in our entry way. It wasn't fun the first time in the apartment so I had to do a lot of coaxing to get him to tackle this special project. I cleaned and went grocery shopping during his task because we work better on tasks like this separately.

Check out his handy work....and ENGINEERING skills. I knew I married him for more than reaching tall things :-)

My mom took this picture when my dad and her went to San Fran... I love calla lilies...hint why they were the flower we used at our wedding.

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

DELIVERY DAY!!!

2010-02-25T18:17:00.008-06:00

BEFORE......

AND AFTER!!!!

TADA!

Here is one of the side tables....

Partial Room Picture!

Eric says just adding the TV stand really makes our house feel like a home! I agree don't you!! I was very impressed with Ernie's out of Ceresco, NE.

Delivery on time....check
Quality furniture....check
Friendly staff....check
NOT Nebraska Furniture Mart.....check check

Man of the House

2010-02-24T19:24:00.008-06:00

Well Eric is definitely earning his title of "Man of the House" tonight. Eric is very helpful around the house and kitchen (usually his role being doing the dishes after I've cooked.....I think its the perfect deal :-) BUT sometimes Eric has to step up his game on nights that I work late (for instance tonight)

We have been living on leftovers for the last couple of days but there wasn't much to choose from so if we wanted a home cooked meal then Eric was going to have to be the "Man of the Kitchen". I had a list of meals I wanted to try on the fridge for the week so Eric chose off the list....Drum roll please......Skillet Pasta Florentine.

The recipe comes from a Taste of Home, Healthy Cooking Magazine. Want to take a stab at it?? Here's what you'll need.

3 cups uncooked spiral pasta
1 egg beaten
2 cups 2% cottage cheese (we left this out....I can't stand to even look at cottage cheese...it's a texture thing)
1-1/2 cups reduced-fat ricotta cheese
1 pkg (10 oz) frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 cup shreeded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1 tsp each
dried parsley flakes
oregano
basil
1 jar spaggheti sauce
2 T grated parmesan cheese
1 lb ground hamburger (if you're meat lovers like Eric and I....I mean my dad is a cattle producer) I asked Eric to add this to the recipe

1. Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile in large bowl, combine the egg, cottage cheese, ricotta, spinach, 1/2 c mozzarella and herbs.
2. Drain pasta. Place half of sauce in a large skillet; layer with pasta and remaining sauce. Top with cheese mixture.
3. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 25-30 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan and remaining mozzarella: cover and cook 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

****Eric and I decided that this dish looks better than it tastes. If we make it again we would add more spices...garlic powder, chili powder, ect******

After dinner Eric asked if it was my job to do the dishes?? I gladly did the dishes with all he's done since getting home (later than usual for him too)

Oh yes we had our first how do we (Eric) fix this moment in our house. The toilet made a clicking sound this morning and wasn't filling and emptying properly but I didn't have time to deal with it so I e-mailed Eric at work and told him he'd need to work on it when he got home....lets say I got a phone call shortly after asking if I had left and there was a mess or something (I'm not stupid...I knew I wasn't going to be able to fix it....but you can give me some credit, I called to see if my dad was home...he wasn't so that's basically when I gave up)

After a couple of phone calls, one being to Eric's uncle who's a plumber....Eric had a success!!! He fixed it! AHH! I love my husband.

Eric says that being man of the house is tiring...Guess he deserves a beer!!!

On the Hunt

2010-02-23T20:27:00.005-06:00

First of all....I hope you all appreciate my post tonight. I didn't get home till 7:45 tonight and already know that I have a busy day tomorrow BUT I took last night off from blogging so I didn't want to leave you all in the dark. Why did I skip blogging last night you might ask.....Eric and I are in search for a dining room table and we had a couple of places we wanted to look before our church small group.

I had looked at this dining room set before at Ethan Allen but Eric hadn't gotten to look at it.

Imagine this in a darker wood

Here is a fabric we were looking at and next to a sample of the darker wood.

Here it is draped over a chair.

Here's another one...but now that I see it on a picture I don't think I like it much anymore. Glad I took a picture :-)

BUT....I think we are back to square one....Eric's not sure if he likes it. Which is fine because I do value his opinion and we plan to keep this dining set for A LONG time. (and if Eric gives his preference I should really listen because it doesn't necessarily happen all the time)

Usually I took the lead in stores but Eric wanted to try taking the lead in a store and I could chip in when I felt like it. So basically he ran the show but when it came time to take down information the sales lady didn't even want Eric's name, she wanted my information....sorry babe....I LOVE YOU!

Okay I'll try to do better blogging tomorrow night.....GOOD NIGHT!

Still Washerless.....

2010-02-20T09:25:00.009-06:00

Saturday was supposed to be the day....our washer was supposed to come; however that is not the case. Nebraska Furniture Mart called me several times Friday....the first to tell me the washer would be delivered on Monday....next call they re-scheduled the following Saturday....at that point I asked to speak to a Manager.....someone called me back but I was on the phone with a patient and on my voice mail basically explained they really don't know when our washer will come because Maytag hasn't updated them....So I called back and asked to speak to a manager who basically was mad that I was calling to complain about the fact we had paid cash, our sales person told us when we bought it, the washer was in stock and no problem to deliver on the 12th. Nebraska furniture mart refuses to take any responsibility on this matter and basically will only apologize on behalf of Maytag. I don't think they understand what a lie is. I told them that when you have a bad experience you tell 10 people and I still need furniture for our house but I refuse to purchase anything from them again because they have never offered to compensate for our situation. The manager's response, well why would be compensate you with a gift certificate excreta if you're never going to shop here again.....And I yes I'm sure that we will be the last people to receive a washer who are on the list because of my complaining.....

Vowing to not shop at Nebraska furniture mart might seem like an easy thing to do.....however, finding other furniture stores to shop at......not an easy task here in Omaha!

So Eric and I made a little road trip on Saturday...to Ceresco, NE. What is here you might ask.....Ernie's of course....the largest family owned furniture store in Nebraska and yes Ernie's is about the only thing in the town.....BUT WE HAD SUCCESS!! We bought a TV stand and 2 side tables for the living room. Both Eric and I were impressed with the selections and quality of the furniture at the store. I forgot my camera on the trip but I promise pictures to come when the loot gets delivered on Thursday.

Why we need a TV stand....This used to be our dining room table!

If you look closely that is my glass of tea just waiting to be knocked over. We (I) can't wait to have side tables.

Oh yes, we are using a folding table and chairs as our dining room table....but in all seriousness what a great wedding gift!

Eric's parents called on Saturday morning and were coming to Omaha for a Home and Garden show at the Quest center so after a quick trip to Ceresco we headed to downtown Omaha for the show. We got lots of brochures from fence companies, landscaping businesses and tree sellers. WHEW! Lots to do!! No we won't do it all this spring/summer but we decided that it would be a good time to collect information.

(Tired yet??) Well Saturday is definitely not over....Then we jetted back home grabbed our dessert bars and threw together a salad for Eric's work party. We watched a movie that was aired on HBO, called Temple Grandin. She is an autistic woman who has become one of top scientists in humane livestock handling and yes Eric's company is one of the best in the nation on this subject and Temple herself comes several times a year to bring students from Colorado State to teach them. Temple designed the barns for Eric's plant. Okay, I will admit I wasn't super excited to watch what I thought was going to be a biography about this woman but it was a movie that was really funny. I always enjoy hanging out with Eric's co-workers.

The couple who hosted the watch party live a couple of blocks from us so Eric asked if we could bring a load of laundry....when we walked in Beth asked if we felt like we were coming home from college. When Eric asked if we could do laundry, Beth said we could as long as we would serve as a "safe house" for her kids to come to in the neighborhood. :-) Her kids are adorable and I hope they do come over sometimes when it gets nicer out!

WHEW! Sorry for the long post...today was equally busy with church....dining room table shopping....set up for a patient that went home from the hospital...Eric made dinner....BUSY BUSY BUSY!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Ho Hum....

2010-02-17T21:03:00.004-06:00

Honestly I don't have much to report today kind of a boring day here in the Ladd Household. Eric and I went back to our Fireproof your marraige class tonight after missing last week (I worked till 9 that night, we were packing, and we didn't feel like we got out a lot from going the first week......and honestly we were disappointed there wasn't anyone our age) But last night I got a call from one of the leaders and she was wondering if we would be coming this week.....I'm pretty good about saying no and being assertive but I just couldn't tell her no so......Eric and I were rushing around to get to the church on time and I didn't have time to make dinner.....I wasn't thinking about how long it would take to make all of the recipes I choose this week and I didn't have anything on the line up that we could whip up quick so we ended up eating out. (note to self: you are no longer a stay-at-home-wife pick quicker and easier dishes to make during the week....note taken)

AnyWho! We tried a new place called Newman's Pasta Cafe. It was in between fast food and sit-down (kind of like panera only pasta instead of sandwiches)

We ordered a Omaha Originals Dining Card when we first moved here. You can use the card at local restaurants and get good deals. For instance tonight we bought one entree and got the other free. Can't beat that right?!?!.

Okay back to fireproof your marriage sorry I got a little off track, I mean food does that to a dietitian :-) I'm glad we went tonight, everyone talked more and it was nice to hear other opinions on the covenant of marriage (topic for this week) I think we will go back next week as long as I'm not setting up a patient.....

On the way home it came to me that I would like to be an office manager....I actually really enjoy that part of my job, ordering inventory, keeping par levels, making set up packets, writing notes on patients, filing, ect...... so of course I shared this with my husband:

Eric's response: I think some nurses work their way up to that

My response: I know I've been thinking about it a lot..I might need to go back to school

OH what am I supposed to do with my life.....another day...another day :-)

2 more days this week :-) Have a GREAT THURSDAY!

Good Day....GONE BAD!

2010-02-16T20:41:00.005-06:00

So I was having a perfectly good day at work....extremely busy... but good. Tomorrow I should be setting up my 7th patient for the month which is one better than last month and it's only the 16th. AND THEN DISASTER STRUCK!!! I LOST MY PLANNER. This isn't just any old planner it's my lifeline for work it has all of my lunches written down notes on when to call certain people excetra and now it's GONE. I think I put it on my trunk and drove off including my notes from the past week or two.......AGH!!! I called the med center's lost and found and went back after discovering I had lost it and drove around the parking garage but no such luck. AND because of my detour I didn't get home till 6:45....so pancakes it was for dinner tonight because it was quick, easy and I had the ingredients (sorry no pictures)

BUT I did get a much needed haircut today and I was mentioning to my stylist that my flat iron was turning my bathroom counter brown and was wondering if she had any ideas and she gave me a travel holder for free that folds into a mat! SCORE!!! Of course I left her a nice tip.

BEFORE!!

Folded Case

Case folded out as a mat

Well that's it for tonight.....Hope all is well in your lives

Vacation Day?!?!......HA

2010-02-15T18:24:00.006-06:00

Well I would say that I got the morning off for President's day but after that not true.....of course my set up couldn't be in Omaha but rather Lincoln. I knew about this patient beforehand so I had all of her stuff at home with me but that doesn't work so well when her orders changed so off to the office I went to get different formula. GOOD NEWS though it only took me 40 minutes to get home from Lincoln today....living so far West has its advantages for both of us. I was supposed to set up another patient in Omaha today but he ended up staying overnight so tomorrow it is.

I got home around 4:00 this afternoon and decided to get back on the exercise train (because I promised myself I would after we moved) SO.....I did a biggest loser DVD that Eric's parents gave me for Christmas. Good workout and I can guarantee I'm going to be feeling SORE tomorrow! (I'm definitly a "little" out of shape) BUT tomorrow I'm planning to get up before work and do my BOSU (check out tomorrow's blog)

Sometimes I wish we could go back to Jamaica where the sun was shining and there were no worries.....(I'm working on Eric to let us take a nice warm vacation next winter.....working being the key point) AnyWho....Tonight's dinner is one of Eric's all time favorites....HAWAIIAN CHICKEN!! I could totally go for visiting Hawaii how about you?

So here's the recipe!

2 pounds of chicken breasts (I use chicken breast tenderloins because they are smaller and cook faster than the hour and half suggested)
1 can (8 oz) crushed pineapple
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup vinegar
2 T cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Worchestire sauce
1 tsp soy sauce

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a 13X9X2 pan, place chicken breasts.

Combine all ingredients except chicken. Cook until thickened. (Yes I know it doesn't look great but I'm not lying it so good)

pour over chicken.

Bake, uncovered for 1 1/2 hrs. Yield: 6-8 servings

ENJOY!!! I serve over fried rice.....

Happy Valentines Day!!

2010-02-14T19:28:00.012-06:00

Hope all of you had a nice Valentines Day! What did the newly married couple do??? Well.....we cleaned our apartment...I know I know we are so exciting and romantic....

Do you notice that I'm cleaning down low and Eric's cleaning up high? That is what makes our relationship work so well!! Eric is there to reach high things for me and I'm little enough to get into small spaces.

AND YES crazy from down below watched us from the blinds as we left the apartment.....we waved :-) Turning in our keys felt awesome!! I can't tell you all how happy we are to be in our very own place; however at the moment all of our neighbors can keep an eye on us as we have no blinds or curtains. Hope they are all saying that they want to meet that nice couple when it gets nicer out.

I made Special K Bars this afternoon for a sweet treat for Eric on Valentines Day. Eric's mom Christy gave me this recipe and says she used this recipe often when the boys would forget to tell her they needed to take treats for something.

Eric shoveled snow while I made him treats!! I like that arrangement.

Here's the recipe for Special K Bars!!

1 c white syrup
1 c sugar
1 1/2 c peanut butter
5 c special K or corn flakes
1/2 c chocolate chips
1/2 c butterscotch chips

Combine 1 c white syrup and 1 c sugar and bring to boil and remove from heat.

Stir in 1 1/2 c peanut butter until smooth

Pour over 5 c special k or cornflakes

Stir and press in 9 X13 pan

Top with melted 1/2 c chocolate chips and 1/2 c butterscotch chips.

ENJOY!

My parents stayed on Friday night and tonight Eric's cousin Leah is staying with us as she was driving from Iowa back to her job in South Dakota and interstate 1-29 was closed due to white out conditions. We had lasanga and are now watching the Olympics! I LOVE that we now have room for visitors and they can have there very own room and bathroom.......we love to have visitors and we would love to have you here!!

We're HOME!!!

2010-02-12T20:58:00.007-06:00

YES we all survived the big move and we are getting settled into our house! Bad news I couldn't find my camera during the move......and I'm new at having internet on my phone and a little to late I realized I could take pictures on my camera. Here is the moving crew eating lunch. Christy brought her famous Chicken Tortilla Soup.....so yummy.....and great on such a cold day!

Where's Alan you might ask?? Just sitting by himself at the bar.

I'm honestly surprised how much stuff we got put away....lots of thanks to our moms. The boys were good at moving the big stuff but after that part of their job was done they didn't have much motivation to do much else. I believe they read the paper and sat on the couch. Alan did try to get out and scrap off our patio in our backyard that we still haven't seen.

We got lots accomplished today and it felt like we had a revolving door......first Nebraska Furniture Mart came and delivered our Fridge and dryer....are you thinking to yourself won't they need a washer??? Why yes but that will not be delivered until Saturday the 20th. (Long story short Whirpool ran out of a part and now are behind in production.....yes we were promised when we bought our appliances that they were in stock and no problem to deliver on the 12th when we bought them....ha!......okay back to who came to visit....next, Budget Blinds came and we decided on faux wood blinds in the bedrooms and roman shades for the living/dining room (Brian and Jillian used them for their blinds and were happy we even got 10% off for saying they referred us) and finally.....Cox came by to set up our cable and internet and after much searching he discovered that our builder had stapled through the cable wiring.....YHEW!!!

Well we are busy watching the Opening Ceremony to the Olympics and tomorrow our trip to the Little Apple for the Basketball game!!

IT'S FINALLY HERE!!

2010-02-11T21:27:00.001-06:00

Well tomorrow is the big day! We are moving on up in the world and into our very own place! We packed the U-Haul trailer tonight and its completely full and ready for the first trip to the house. Sorry I haven't been blogging much this week. Late nights at work (2 days of getting home around 8) and trying to get everything all packed up leaves little time for blogging. But no worries I will "try" to take lots of pictures of my moving crew and our weekend festivities. Oh no we couldn't just move into our house we are also headed to Manhattan for the basketball game on Saturday.......when we put the closing date on the paperwork we had forgotten that Brent had gotten us tickets to the game that Saturday!

Wish us luck!!!

Weekend Fun

2010-02-09T20:31:00.008-06:00

YHEW!! I'm one tired girl....I went to Fairbury, Nebraska this afternoon for a set-up which I learned this morning was 2 hours and 15 minutes away from Omaha and I just got home at 8:15 p.m. But as promised I am blogging just for you all. So you please enjoy every word :-)

This weekend we celebrated Christy and Eric's January birthdays by going to the Iowa State vs K-State basketball game in Ames, Iowa. This was my first game in an opposing stadium and it was definitely weird being the minority. Here are a few pictures from the game.

From our seats

Alan, Christy and Carol sat in the row above us

I will admit that Jillian might not have payed such close attention to the game as we were a little distracted with catching up since the last time we had seen each other. At one point during the game Alan leaned down and asked me if we were ahead or behind. He laughed when I looked at the scoreboard to reply......to my defense Jillian didn't know either without looking ;-)

We headed back to Atlantic for dinner were we at the Feedlot. Alan and Christy had a couple of gift certificates that they needed to use up. The boys got stuck holding our purses while we went to the restroom. Thanks Jillian for capturing this great picture of the guys!

Yesterday was a big day for Eric and I.......it was our 6 month anniversary. Are you asking what did we do to celebrate??? Well at 6:00 in the morning I got a call from Eric who had slid into a ditch on his way to work. During his time waiting for the tow truck 5 other people slid into the ditch. I drove to pick Eric up but the tow truck showed up about the same time.

Eric got home from work late since he had difficulties getting to work and by the time he got home it was almost time to leave for our church small group. The mall is on the way to our small group and I needed to return something so our 6 month anniversary meal.....the mall food court. :-)

Eric choose Indian food for these reasons.....they gave him a free sample and he felt bad for them because no one was getting food from there......

These are my new scrubs. I've gotten several compliments on them. It really is great basically wearing pajamas to work.

As promised....Here's my Valentine's Heart Healthy Snack Mix I've been giving out this week. The response has been good from my referral sources and I think they are enjoying getting something more healthy than the typical Valentines Day Treats!!

COMING SOON!

2010-02-08T22:06:00.004-06:00

I haven't forgotten I promise!! I will write about our weekend and our AWFUL Monday tomorrow but right now bed is calling my name!!

To Come:
--K-State vs Iowa State
--6 months down
--Car in the ditch (not me....) yes Eric is okay and so is the car
--Washer Fiasco
--Working...Working...Working to get my patients (seriously I think I talked to everyone employed at a hospital today just to secure a referral for tomorrow....oh the life of sales person (it's not so great by the way)

WHEW!! I might have to break it up to two "smaller posts" but blogging will resume tomorrow!!

American Heart Month

2010-02-04T17:32:00.015-06:00

Don't forgot to wear Red tomorrow because FRIDAY FEBRUARY 5th is National Wear RED DAY!!

Did you know that heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women! In honor of American Heart Month I am giving away Heart Healthy Trail Mix on my sales call this week. Instead of giving Valentines Candy I thought I'd provide a heart healthy snack. I don't have all of the stuff to decorate my bags here at the house but I'll be sure to take a picture tomorrow when I get them done! But in the meantime here's my recipe for.............

Heart Healthy Trail Mix

Almonds

Can help reduce your risk for heart disease. They are full of Vitamin E which can lower Low density lipoproteins (LDL) cholesterol by eating just a handful a day.

GO LEAN CRISP!

(naturally sweetened multi-grain cluster cereal)
FULL OF FIBER! Fiber keeps us feeling full longer which helps with weight loss/maintenance. Being at a healthy weight also helps reduce risk of heart disease.

MultiGrain Cheerios

Whole grain foods decrease serum LDL-cholesterol and triglycerides, thus contributing to their protective role against heart disease.

Dried Blueberries and Cranberries

Anthocyanins, antioxidants found in blue-red pigments such as blueberries, improve the integrity of support structures in the veins and entire vascular system which helps fight heart disease.

- Dark Chocolate

A piece of dark chocolate a day -- a very small piece -- keeps the doctor away. Dark chocolate can significantly reduce the inflammation that leads to cardiovascular disease

Another one of my favorite red things!! KETCHUP and boy do I have news for you........

Recognize these bad boys. Well, I've always thought that they don't have enough ketchup in them because I have to use a bajillion to get enough ketchup and apparently others thought the same thing (and yes I do admit to using A LOT of ketchup) I've been known to order french fries just to be able to have ketchup. Sad I know.

BUT I JUST SAW ON THE NEWS......PRESENTING THE NEW KETCHUP PACKET!!

DIP AND SQUEEZE KETCHUP PACKET!!

WATCH THIS VIDEO

Watch the video that CBS had on TV tonight if you want a demo!!

If you don't want to take the time I did take pictures of the demo on the TV! YES I am a dork. But it's all in a days life of a blogger!

Sorry the picture is kinda crappy... but you might be able to get the general jist!

SQUEEZE
You can tear the top like the old ketchup packet......or better yet

DIP
You can dip your fries/chicken nuggets in the packet....I will for sure be using the dipping method.

YHEW! Well remember to wear red tomorrow!

Fireproofing

2010-02-03T20:28:00.005-06:00

No we aren't fire proofing out new home.....we are fireproofing our marriage.

Neither Eric or I were super impressed with our pre-marriage counseling which consisted of "OH! you fight about money.....well it's great that you've figured that out......."

Okay so we also had a secret hope that maybe another newly married couple would also be wanting to learn more about how to make their marriage successful and were also looking for friends.....no such luck in the last category. I believe the youngest couple there were our parents age (really old according to Eric)......SO our goal is to learn as much as we can from the 6 other couples who have been in their marriages for several years.

It's supposed to snow again here tomorrow....imagine my excitement.....

MOVIN' IN STYLE

2010-02-02T19:31:00.008-06:00

Yes that car is moving down the streets of Omaha with its door open.....Why you might ask? Well, there is a recliner in the back seat. As we drove to church on Sunday we saw this car and my response was "I didn't know that a recliner could fit in the back seat of a car" Eric's response "well obviously it can't"

And NO we won't be using this same method next Friday when we move. We have rented a U-Haul trailer that will transport our belongings.

Speaking of belongings.....Whenever I move I take the opportunity to purge of things that I no longer need/want.

On Sunday I went through my clothes and made a nice pile of clothes that I haven't worn in awhile.

Eric however does not share my same enthusiasm for getting rid of stuff. I am quickly learning that he likes to hold on to things....I had to coax him to throw away some free curve body wash that he had gotten awhile ago. SHEESH!

After church I wanted to drive by the house and GUESS WHAT!! YES there was a SOLD sign. VERY EXCITING!!! I had to take pictures.

You can kind of see the for sale sign it was hard to get a shot of the sign and the house while in the car and trying to avoid getting Eric in the shot! Life as a blogger....what can I say. We have our walk-through this Friday to make sure there aren't things that need to be completed...like the dripping gutter we saw when our parents were here.

Eric is at the game in Lincoln tonight. I am already going to Lincoln tomorrow and Thursday so didn't really want to make the trek tonight too. If I got a referral in Lincoln today I would have gone to the game...BUT I didn't and now I'm catching up on the latest episode of The Bachelor. He's probably glad he's not here :-)

TOMORROW IS WEDNESDAY!!! HALF WAY THROUGH THE WEEK!