dinner tonight.

since the days have been so crazy lately, i haven't had a lot of time to do much of anything besides work on the taleo upgrade, the conocophillips repositioning, and fill notably noted orders.

tonight, i decided to whip up a somewhat decent dinner based on stuff i had on hand.  i happened to have some alfredo sauce.  i dressed it up with fresh tomatoes, freshly torn basil, capers, and mushrooms. 

it was mm-mmm-good!  semi-homemade, but i'll take it!

a bit of a change.

do you know what this is?

it's my hair!!  yes, mine!  i don't know what got into me this week, but i decided to just go for it.  and i love it.  i think.  =)  travis didn't know what to think when i walked in the door, but i think it's growing on him. 

homemade cheese and egg muffins.

today i tried out a recipe i found on pinterest.  homemade egg mcmuffins.  they have three ingredients {and the ones at the fast food restaurant have more than 52}!!

these are super easy to make and can be frozen for quick morning meals.  you start out by toasting english muffins on a baking sheet.

this next part is genius!  you can fix the eggs all at once, too, in a muffin tin.  once they've baked, they hold their shape.

pull the eggs out of the oven, place them on the muffins, add sliced or shredded cheese, and top them off with the other half of the muffin.

these are so yummy and super handy for tossing in the microwave right before we run out the door on our way to bartlesville.  {if you can't tell, my life has become incredibly hectic since the repositioning was announced at work -- i'm working about 13-17 hours a day and it's about to kill me}.

let me know if you try these and what you think.

notecards {pour moi}

i was in desperate need of note cards {and you know i'm always referring to the age-old-adage that the cobbler's family always has the worst shoes ...}, so i stopped into the inviting place.  i hadn't been inside the new location, and i thought it would be fun to check it out. 

i love my new cards.  aren't they sweet?  i just wish there were more than ten in a package.  that's the great thing when i design my own ... an unlimited number!

thanks, girls, for taking care of me!

these days.

these days i can't decide if i'm coming or going
these days i'm so happy to be busy with notably noted orders
these days i'm excited about the opportunities everyone is discussing with the conocophillips split
these days i'm enjoying a night in with my boys ... a must needed evening in
these days i'm flattered that someone i met a year ago kept me in mind and gave me a call
these days i'm trying to decide if i will go to my ten year {1o year???} reunion tomorrow
these days i'm trying to figure out how to balance everything
these days i've been cooking and cleaning up a storm
these days i'm happier than i was a few weeks ago
these days i'm looking forward to the crisp clean air of fall {and wishing fall lasted longer}
these days i'm beginning to run again {and am enjoying it!}
these days i'm making sure to get to my google reader because it inspires me
these days i'm feeling old
these days i'm grateful for the true friends in my life
these days i'm enjoying men of a certain age and franklin & bash
these days i'm on my way to do a million things ... so goodbye for now

gratitude.

Wait, what?? I haven't posted since February?? As in five months ago?? Are you kidding me? Craziness. There are SO many things that have happened in these past five months -- looks like a LOT of posting is in order. I'm not going to get into all of that tonight, though. Instead I'm going to share a glimpse into the girl I was five to eight years ago. While unpacking a few random boxes tonight, I found a "Gratitude Journal" that Amelia had given to me as a gift a looong time ago. In it, I found the following entry:

When I was a freshman at TU, Aimee Bauerlein Keiffer made a gift for me.
It was a cup that said, "My cup runneth over," around the top. Along with
it she provided small squares of paper -- these were to be used to write
blessings and other things I was thankful for. The idea, of course,
was to place the "blessings" in the cup and watch it "runneth over."
;) I found thme the other day and it was wonderful to look back on those
blessings.

Tonight, I was blessed again as I read through the things I had written as a 22-year old wrapping up her last year of college.

• My great roommate and friend Aimee who encourages me (and who made me this cup) =)


• Thank you God for being my Provider: Gates Scholarship


• I am the daughter -- or princess if you will -- of THE King!


• My brother made it safely through his wisdom teeth removal


• My bank account $till ha$ money in it -- Thank you! =)


• You are the only one I need. I bow all of me at your feet. I worship you alone. You have given me more than I could ever have wanted and I want to give you my heart and my soul. You alone are Father, & you alone are good, & you alone are Savior, & you alone are God. I am alive!


• J


• Sierra


• The little miracles that happen each day -- those small things that seem so insignificant but still matter so much


• "You can't ask for a Godly blessing and live a goldfish life."


• We found out about the golf tournament scheduling error before October


• Blessed is the man whom God corrects so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. Job 5:17


• Being an American citizen is such an amazing blessing


• The gift of creativity


• The ability to read God's word. This is a blessing I need to remember not to take for granted.


• Daily reminders of Your continual presence and guidance!!


• My king died for me -- a mere pauper and sinner


• I got an "A" in Culpepper's!!


• I love my mama!


• You've given me the desire to find a young girl to mentor and spend time with and disciple -- help me find her


• A dad who has worked hard my whole life to provide for his family


• M.O.M.


• Sierra ~ Thank you for how much she loves me and for allowing me to have such a great sister to love!!!


• I serve a God who is the God of another chance, another time. Thank you for your mercy and grace


• The interview I have Monday


• My brother has turned into an amazing young man! It's unbelievable that he's 17!! -- and now as I re-read this in 2011, my brother is 25 and my sister is 17 (soon to be 18)!

These are just a few of the slips of paper that I wrote. I tried to remember to write at least one blessing each day and the cup did get very full. I think I might try that project again. I moved from writing on slips of paper to writing in the journal. I got halfway through the journal and then the entried slowly dwindled away {not unlike our blog lately}.

Every day I want to remember just how blessed I am and how many incredible things I have for which to be thankful. You are one of them, my friend, my family.

Thanks for being a part of my life in each of the small and enormous ways you are.

random update.

01. it's 11:10 and i want to post, but can't believe that i'm still awake as it is.
02. kate didn't get home from work until 9:30 tonight. 9:30!! how nuts is that?
03. travis and i have followed the dave ramsey plan and have paid off $17,000+ in debt in the past year!!! $17,000+ people. and yes, there is a +. (as if the $17 followed by three zeroes wasn't enough).
04. i wish i had time to be a fun, crafty blogger like all the interesting women i follow.
05. so many things to write but the time keeps ticking away and my car pool will be here very early in the morning.
06. oh! travis will be joining my car pool in mid-march. monday he accepted an offer from conocophillips. we will both work in bartlesville in just a few short weeks.
07. nighty night. i've missed writing. i'll try to come back again soon.

another workout in the books.

did i mention that i worked out earlier this year? i can't remember exactly when it was, but a week and a half to two weeks ago.

travis signed us up for a membership and i went with him. can i just say, i.thought.i.would.die. die i tell you! it took me almost twenty minutes to run a mile!! ridiculous! in high school we had to run a little more than a mile in under ten minutes or run it again. ridicamous.

tonight i did much better. i was afraid i would fail dismally because i remembered my earbuds, but forgot my ipod. there was nothing on the tvs, but i was able to tune into the local radio stations on my eliptical and worked out to the likes of rihanna and britney -- two artists i really like very little, but who had very peppy beats for running.

today i went two miles in twenty minutes!!! {okay twenty-two minutes, but that is waaaaay better than my one mile in close to the same time last time}. hopefully i will keep this momentum {does two times to the gym in a two week period really counts as momentum?} but you get my drift.

help me stay motivated girls!!! i need to drop these lbs in a bad way. i can't keep buying new clothes!

you are beautiful, my sweet, sweet song.

lying here wishing i didn't have to fall asleep, these lyrics popped in my head.


you are beautiful my sweet, sweet song.
you are beauitful my sweet, sweet song.
you are beautiful my sweet, sweet song.
i will sing again.

you are so good to me. you heal my broken heart. you are my father in heaven.

you ride upon the clouds. you lead me to the truth. you are the spirit inside me.

you are my strong melody. you are my dancing rhythm. you are my perfect rhyme and i want to sing forever.

you poured out your blood. you died upon the cross. you are my jesus who loves me.

homemade pancakes.

this morning travis wanted homemade pancakes for breakfast. i've wanted waffles lately, but i don't have a waffle iron, so i decided to settle for pancakes as well. i considered making the healthy pancakes i've been making over the past few years {i thought i had shared the recipe, but it doesn't look like i have -- looks like i have another post in the works}, but i didn't feel like being good so i decided to whip up a batch of regular ol' homemade pancakes. i used this recipe from the food network, and they turned out delicious. i'll definitely be using it again in the future {i actually considered creating a large batch of the dry ingredients that i could use just like i would use a box mix} but i'll save that for another saturday. travis specifically requested no chocolate chips, no raisins, no bananas on top, no blueberries. just plain pancakes.

ingredients:

1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

3 T. sugar

1 T. baking powder

1/4 t. salt

1/8 t. freshly ground nutmeg

2 large eggs, at room temperature

1/2 t. pure vanilla

3 T. unsalted butter, plus more as needed

directions:

in a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg

in another bowl beat the eggs, then whisk in the milk and vanilla

melt the butter in a large cast iron skillet or griddle over medium heat {i really need to get both of these}

whisk the melted butter into the milk mixture. add the wet ingredients to the dry mixture and whisk together until a thick batter is just formed

keeping the skillet at medium heat {i actually ended up having to turn down my electric stove from medium to the notch in between low and medium to keep the pancakes golden}, ladle about 1/4 cup of batter onto the skillet. cook until bubbles break the surface and the undersides are golden brown {about two minutes}. flip with a spatula and cook about 1 minute more on the second side.

i added more butter to the skillet as needed. i put a serving platter in the oven, and turned it to warm. as the pancakes finished cooking, i would place them on the platter in the oven. everything came out just perfectly and i loved having saturday morning breakfast with my boys.

project 365: sneaky, sneaky.

i shot this picture through the mirror over our kitchen sink because i didn't want conor to catch me spying on him. i fixed breakfast this morning, and when travis and i got up to put away our plates, conor couldn't jump on my chair fast enough. he didn't know i was watching him through the mirror. of course i wanted to tell him to get down, but he just looked so cute, i decided to watch him instead. he never got on the table any further, but he wanted that stack of fluffy pancakes so badly!

project 365: little cowboy.

i love getting mail. love, love, love it. this month hudson turned 2 years old! {i can hardly believe it}! i remember when jen first told me she was pregnant, receiving the texts that he had been born and suddenly he was turning one. now another year has already passed. very hard to believe. i attended his party the saturday before his birthday {travis was sick and didn't want to infect all the babies so he stayed home}. jen had a fun cowboy party for hudson {i plan to feature it on notably noted's blog}, and keeping in jen-style, it was perfectly designed and so much fun for grown-ups and kids alike.

today i received this precious thank you card from hudson.

melted. my. heart.

i did it!

well, i did it! i got all caught up for the project 365. i had to cheat a little bit on a few of the days because as i've mentioned a couple of times, i didn't decide to do project 365 until january 20th {yesterday}, so i didn't really have a picture for every single day of the year so far. i still like the things i added and i think i'll enjoy looking back on them in a year. if you want to see all of the pictures, just scroll back through the blog or click on "project 365" in the topic cloud to the right.

first official girls' dinner.

tonight we all met up for girls' dinner. i say all, but kate actually wasn't able to join us -- the duties of work called. jen, teah, and i met up at wolfgang puck's on brookside as planned. i was a nervous wreck by the time i got there. it snowed and iced earlier this week, but my car always does pretty well in it so i don't mind terribly to get out in it. i had worked from home that day, however, and a lot of to-dos came through my email at 4:25, so i was rushing around like a crazy person trying to get ready for dinner. i was looking frantically for my keys {i usually keep them in one of three places}. i then realized travis's keys were in the cabinet where we keep our keys. he has class on thursday nights, and forgetting that i had dinner with the girls tonight, he had taken my car because it does better in the winter conditions than his truck.

i wasn't going to, but finally decided to take his truck. on the way to the restaurant i kept feeling i had made a big mistake. huge. his sterring wheel has a lot more play it in than mine, so i wasn't able to tell if i was slipping on ice or if it was just the steering wheel . travis's truck is also a standard, so i cringed when another car pulled up too closely to me at a stoplight on a hill. yikes! i just knew i was was going crash into him as i let off the brake and pushed on the gas. i made it through okay, but i don't remember the last time i have been so ready to get out of a car.

jen and teah were already a couple of drinks in when i arrived and laughed to hear the abridged version of my trip to dinner. and i couldn't agree more when they told me i needed a drink. we moved away from the bar and settled in to our booth. we were having so much fun catching up on one another's lives that it took forever for us to order. it was such a good night.

i'm so glad we followed through on our idea to do this ... and i hope we follow through as the months go on. i feel like life is passing us by so quickly, and i don't want us to all miss out on one another's lifes while we're caught up in the daily grind.

i can't wait until next month!

project 365: snow day!

Project 365.

i've never done project 365 {and i don't think i had ever even heard of it before last year}. i wasn't planning to do it, but just realized that i am almost positive that i have a picture for every day of this year, so i might as well give it a shot. if i don't complete it, well, then i don't complete it. but i'm always super impressed with those who do it, and i think it will be fun to look back on so, i'll give it a shot. {you'll have to look back in the blog to find posts leading up today. -- as i post the picture, i'll give it the appropriate date for the day it was taken}. wish me luck! and let me know if you've done/are doing Project 365 and what you think about it.

a week has gone by!

yesterday while sitting at my desk, i received the following text {jan 19, 2011}


i really did start laughing immediately. on my way home, i received a message from facebook that andrea and jenny had both commented on my wall. {i love getting comments}. when i logged in, this is what i saw:

i called andrea, again cracking up. she couldn't talk, but heard me laugh anyway as soon as she picked up the phone. when she called me back she said she kept checking the blog all day thinking, maybe i was updating right.at.that.moment. i love her.

so , here you are my friends. a new blog post. wasn't it entertaining? =)

Project 365: because it makes me laugh so much.

i know i already posted this, but it's the only picture i took that day ... and it really makes me laugh.

Project 365: girls' dinner

a few weeks ago jen and i got together for a fun evening of sushi and catching up. we so rarely see each other and she's one of my absolute favorite people and a very dear friend. we both decided to do a better job about seeing one other and thought we should initiate a "girls' dinner." every third thursday of the month, jen, teah, kate, and i are going to try to meet for dinner and drinks. we thought it would be fun to try new restaurants each time we go. this week we're going to do wolfgang puck's on brookside. none of us have been there and it should be a fabulous new place! i love my friends.

Project 365: a stay at the omni.

it cracks me up that i even have this picture! hahahahaha. i took it because i was staying at the omni hotel in houston, while working out of the conocophillips offices there. i was so exhausted and was really disappointed to find my toilet looking like this. i took the picture when i was trying to decide if i was going to complain to anyone or not. hahaha. i'm so odd.

Project 365: an edmond visit

i so wish my iPhone camera had a zoom ... or that i would just get back in the habit of carrying my actual camera around again. this weekend we paid a visit to edmond for tabitha's birthday. conor was so excited to run and play outside with all the boys as soon as we got there. there were so many endearing shots i wish i could have captured.

Project 365: travis and zoey.

travis stayed the night with amanda and zach last night so he could wake up this morning and play in a pool tournament. he said as soon as amanda came in the guest room where he was sleeping, zoey jumped on the bed and laid right on top of his head, like a hen sitting on an egg. he got her to move down and she stayed right beside him all morning. such sweetie pies.

Project 365: oh, how he makes me laugh.

the silly things we say and do.

Project 365: nighty night.

we are beginning to realize that we just might be getting old ...

Project 365: puppy cut.

travis dropped conor at the groomer on his way to work today. i was working from home because i was attending a typros event at lunch time. when it was over, travis asked me to swing by and pick conor up because the groomer had finished with him early.

he really was not happy about having to get a hair cut and wouldn't even look at me at first.
i did finally get him to look in my general direction, but he was definitely pouting.

chicken fingers.

i wish you could smell my kitchen tonight. monday night i made the mac & cheese soup from our meal planner. last night we had leftovers from monday. tonight i made the chicken fingers that were next on the planner. the recipe was also from the food network magazine, again the january/february edition. i love that these recipes are so easy and they really do come together quickly.

chicken fingers

cooking spray

2 eggs

1 tablespoon dijon mustard

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp ground cumin

kosher salt {i used sea salt}

2 cups panko {japanese breadcrumbs}

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts {i used four}, cut into 1-in wide strips

1 bunch broccoli cut into florets

preheat the oven to 400 degrees. mist a baking sheet with cooking spray. whisk the eggs, mustard, curry powder, cumin, & 1 tsp salt in a shallow bowl. mix the panko with 1/2 teaspoon curry powder in another bowl.

dip the chicken strips in the egg mixture, letting the excess drip off, then coat with the panko. place the chicken on the cooking sheet and mist all over with cooking spray. bake until golden brown and cooked through, about 20 minutes.

battered but not yet cooked

all cooked

meanwhile, bring about 1 inch of water to a boil in a large pot with a steamer rack or basket in place. add the broccoli, cover and steam until crisp-tender, 8 to 10 minutes.

calories: 330 fat: 5 grams {1 g saturated} cholesterol: 155 mg carbohydrate: 34 g fiber: 3 grams protein: 37 g

to make the sweet potato fries, i peeled one large sweet potato and sliced it into fry-sized pieces. i then put the slices in a mixing bowl and drizzled with evoo, just enough to cover the pieces. i tossed it with my hands and then added pepper, sea salt, and garlic powder. i then layed them all out on a cooking sheet and cooked them for about 20 minutes. they smelled soooo good when they were cooking. i wish they would have been just a little bit firmer, but they were delicious nonetheless.

of all the meals we've made over the past few months, this one has been my favorite. travis said it was really good, too. i was afraid i wouldn't like the chicken since it called for curry, but it didn't have an overpowering flavor. it was yummy!

yay! score 2 for 2 on the meals out of our food network magazine recipes.

Project 365: chant de bois.

i've found a new perfume i like: chant de bois by anthropologie.

wiped out.

i am having a hard time believing it's only tuesday. last night i cooked dinner, visited with kate while she waited for nick to get home since she didn't have her house keys, and then watched an episode of cupid with travis. by the second episode, i was having such a difficult time keeping my eyes open. travis really wanted me to see the episode so he kept trying to wake me. i must have looked pretty funny trying to come out of my stupor because i heard him laugh once.
"it's not even 8:00" is the last thing i remember hearing. i later heard a movie start on the television. i asked him why he changed the show; i thought we were going to finish cupid. he laughed and told me he gave up on me. i made my way to bed and passed. out. i was exhausted. i didn't even take off my work clothes. i woke up later and remember shedding a few layers. finally around 11:30 i pulled myself out of bed, made my way to the kitchen bar and finished some work that i needed to do. i had planned to do it before falling asleep on the couch. around 1 i flopped back in to bed, just to sleep lightly afraid i wouldn't hear my alarm go off at 5:30.

now i am going to wrap this up, head back to my work laptop, and hopefully make to bed before 1 a.m.

mac & cheese soup.

we didn't follow through with our meal plan for last week. i got home from work late each night and something always came up that prevented us from going to the grocery store. yesterday we decided to take our original grocery list and put our meal planning into action.

monday night i fixed the mac and cheese soup. it wasn't what i expected, but still oh-so-yummy. the pic below is mine, but the recipe is courtesy of food network magazine, page 71 of the january/february 2011 edition.

the recipe says it takes a total of 35 minutes to prepare and cook the soup ... and that really wasn't too far off. i think it would have been right on, but i don't have a food processor so i had to mince my shallot, carrot and celery the old fashioned way, with a knife and cutting board.

we really enjoyed the recipe and even had leftovers for travis's lunch today and my dinner this evening. and there is still another bowl's worth left. the soup wasn't quite was i expected, but i still really enjoyed it and will definitely make it again.

mac & cheese soup

* kosher salt * 4 ounces elbow macaroni (1 cup) - i used the large elbow macaroni and would consider making it with just a smidge more pasta ... though it would probably defeat the purpose of it being a light dinner option. * cooking spray * 2 plum tomatoes, sliced 1/2-in thick * 4 1/2-in-thick slices baguette * freshly ground pepper * 3 shallots * 1 carrot, cut into 1-in pieces * 1/4 cup all-purpose flour * 3 3/4 cups fat-free low-sodium chicken broth * 1 1/4 cups 2% milk * 6 ounces shredded cheddar cheese (about 1 1/2 cups) * 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. position rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 450. bring a medium saucepan of salted water to a boil. add the macaroni and cook as the label directs; drain
2. mist a baking sheet with cooking spray and arrange the tomato and baguette slices on it in a single layer; season with salt and pepper. bake until the bread is golden brown, about 7 minutes
3. mince the shallots, carrot and celery in a food processor. mist a saucepan with cooking spray. add the vegetables and cook over medium-high heat until softened, 4 to 5 minutes. add the flour and cook, stirring, 2 minutes. gradually stir in the broth and bring to a boil; cook, stirring 2 minutes. gradually stir in the broth and bring to a boil; cook, stirring, until thickened, 6 to 7 minutes. remove from the heat.
4. add the milk, cheeses, and macaroni and stir until the cheeses melt. season with pepper. top the toasts with tomatoes; serve on the soup.

my baguette, though fresh, had gone a little stale on me, so i sprinkled evoo on the baguette slices and tomato while on the cooking sheet and then sprinked a little garlic salt to all of it as well and popped it in the oven.

everything turned out really well and i'm happy that a new recipe was delicious and not weird. and light!

{per serving: 476 calories 20g fat, saturated 12g 84mg cholesterol 636mg sodium 46 g carbs 2 g fiber 27 g protein}

bon appetit!

Project 365: homemade mac & cheese soup

i know i already posted about this soup, but it's the only picture i have from the day. and it was oh, so delicious, it deserves an extra posting.

Project 365: lazy weekend.

Project 365: a night in with snack trays.

{the date on this first picture is wrong, but i'm too tired to change it and want to get caught up on this project}.

today the weather turned kind of icky. travis and i had planned to cook one of our planned meals, but felt a little drained. the mood was definitely a snuggle at home, watch movies, and be cozy kind of evening. i asked him if he would like to stop and get summer sausage, several cheeses and just make snack trays.

at christmas and new year's eve, his mom usually makes several "snack trays" and travis loves them. she didn't make them for christmas this year since zach and amanda were out of town until christmas evening and she didn't make them at new years since we were all celebrating separately.

even though it was just us, i still wanted everything to look nice. we had several different kinds of cheeses, crackers, apples, summer sausage, li'l smokies in rib crib bar-b-que sauce, and two kinds of dips.

nothing gourmet by any means, but a nice relaxing evening in. one of those perfect-kind-of-evenings.

Project 365: i love you.

Project 365: office move.

today our offices moved to a more updated building. before we were sitting in the phillips building; now we sit in the adams building. here's a quick glimpse {not a great view of the space, by any means}.

before, all our furniture was cold gray, and bulky metal pieces. now we have the warm wood tones. it sounds silly but everything really is much nicer with the woods.

Project 365: a couple of things on my wish list.

we were so blessed at christmas this year and loved all of the presents we received, so i feel a little silly starting a wish list so soon, but travis and i have decided that we would like to be better this year about shopping early for events we know are approaching. we would even like to purchase everyone's christmas presents over a matter of months instead of the last couple of weeks leading up to christmas. our moms are slowly starting to buy us more and more things for "around the house" and while i hope i don't start receiving crock pots and ironing boards for my birthday {how boring, right?} i do have some things i just love and have been eye-ing for the past year or two.

this is a set of dishes/accessories at dillards that i have been in love with for two years or so. i love this cake platter in particular! i like the large dome and the iron scrolling. i don't particularly care for the oranges and greens {though a couple of serving dishes in those colors could be festive for thanksgiving}, i adore the cream with hints of brown. adore. the canisters and the pitcher are pretty divine, too.

we took these pictures while walking around the mall returning a few christmas presents that weren't our size and looking for amanda's birthday present.

Project 365:

i don't have a picture specifically from today {i didn't decide to start doing project 365 until the 20th of january afterall} so i decided to post the blog header i created to start off the year. our header changes, and i never remember what it looked like as the year goes on. this way, we'll be able to remember in the future. i'll try to remember to do this each time i update the layout.

Project 365: yours truly.

oh my. i look scary. let's hope i'm better to myself in 2011 and can get back to a point where i actually don't mind to see pictures of myself.

winter cleaning.

today was a busy day. we awoke bright and early, a little unusual as we've been sleeping in pretty late the past few days. i guess we caught up on all our sleept and were ready to start the day nice and early. travis took the pup out and i started sorting laundry and loading the washing machine. for the next few hours we worked on laundry, rearraning furniture in the living room, and cleaning out a very cluttered closet in the office. we had three trips to the dumpster worth of trash and two+ bags of donations for goodwill when all was said and done. all our cleaning out and cleaning up projects took most of the day. we stopped for lunch and an episode of smallville around 2:00. we each ate something little and then set back to work on the office. around 4:00 we took showers for the first time all day and headed out to get the oil changed on the rodeo before i have to drive back and forth to bartlesville everyday. we had to wait two hours for it to be complete! we walked ourselves over to mcalisters and grabbed mcalister clubs and soup and then spent the rest of the evening walking around walmart waiting for a call that the car was ready to go.

while driving to the shop {with a brief stop at a local fitness center for travis to check out the cost and amenities} i spent time filling out our meals-for-the-week planner. i had planned to do so before we left the house, but the day escaped me with all our other cleaning. i finished up while we were eating dinner. i planned four days and had my shopping list all ready to go, but by the time the car was ready again, travis and i were both so tired we decided to save the grocery shopping for tomorrow.

here's what i have planned for the week:

- mac & cheese soup
- chicken tenders
- soft tacos
- hamburgers & sweet potato fries

each of these recipes are made for weeknight dinners so they're quick and easy & they're also low-cal versions. i'll let you know how they go.

for now, i'll wrap up for the night and finish watching our nightly dose of smallville. i head back to work tomorrow. i'll admit i've gotten very spoiled working from home last week. i worked from home the tuesday and wednesday before christmas, our offices were closed that thursday and friday, and then i worked from home all last week, and then i was off work today for the new years holiday. it's been two weeks since i was in bartlesville! so wish me luck as i find myself waking super early again and heading back to the daily commute.

recipes.

lately i've been on a bit of a cooking/baking kick ... or imagining that i'm on one. sometimes i have ideas of whipping something up in the kitchen, but then realize i don't have the right ingredients on hand -- and we all know how i just love running errands after i'm already home. so maybe i think i've been on a cooking kick and it's really just all been in my head. but i digress.

the main reason for my post is because i need some ideas from you, dear readers. my mom got me subscriptions to food and wine, southern living, and the food network magazines. these were some of the christmas presents that excited me most.

i've also been finding recipes on the internet. the help i need from you? an idea for keeping all of the ideas i like in one handy, dandy place. i like the pictures i get from ideas online and in magazines, so i considered keeping a three-ring binder filled with page protectors to keep these ideas easily accessible. the only problem? the pages from the magazines are not a standard 8.5 x 11 size. i love the abnormal size of the magazines, but they don't store easily. ideas from the internet, print on regular sheets of paper. so what do i do? how do i keep all of thse ideas in one place, where i can find them quickly and easily and make them for many years to come?

any ideas?

Project 365: The boy.

i have a feeling this little guy will end up being our picture of the day a lot this year. we love him so. {he seems to have lost his eyes in this picture, but i still think he's adorable}.

ringing in the new year with kate & nick.

forgive the grainy pictures. i have my camera now and below are the few shots i captured of the evening.

the new year's ball after the countdown. happy new year!

new year's kiss to ring in the year right ... it's supposed to bring good luck, you know. travis and i smooched as well, but as i was the picture-taker, no evidence exists.

travis and me just moments into 2011

the sweet men in kate and my lives

the girls

the pictures below capture part of our fabulous spread. i didn't get any pictures of our signature drink or our desserts {all of which i made for the night}, but you can still see we had no shortage of delicious treats for the evening.

kate & nick did a fabulous job whipping up philly cheese steaks, chicken quesadillas with peppers and onion, ceviche, cheese trays with fruit and honey, crostini ... the list goes on.

i served paloma coolers, a traditional tres leches cake, and molten lava chocolate cakes.

we spent the evening at the hoback evins household preparing food, watching football, playing comedy movie scene it {the guys won the first round, the girls won the second} and then we moved along to the game dirty minds ... which was a disaster really ... and landed mine and nick's minds in the gutter for the rest of the night, with kate continually asking nick "who are you?"

we quit the games to watch the countdown, share our kisses, and pop two bottles of champagne outside. all in all the night was a perfect, laid-back, success. i couldn't think of a better way to ring in the new year -- surrounded by some of our closest friends, with great food, great drinks, and lots of laughs.