in love in okc

Recent Giveaway Wins

2012-02-12T11:11:00.000-05:00

I love entering giveaways and occasionally I win some of them. Recently I've been pretty lucky and I really need to give a shout out to the great blogs I frequent that hold awesome giveaways. From October to January I have won the following goodies:

+ Five boxes of Kinnikinnick gluten free donuts: {Pumpkin Spice, Chocolate Dipped, Cinnamon Sugar, Maple Glazed, and Vanilla Glazed} from Gluten Free Fun. These were really tasty microwaved for a few seconds with milk. They had a cakey texture and no weird gluten free after taste.

I LOVED the chocolate ones, but I love chocolate so that's no big surprise. Albert helped me out and he really liked the vanilla ones. The pumpkin spice donuts didn't taste as pumpkiny as I would have liked, but they were pretty good. We had our friend Amanda, who is also gluten free, and her boyfriend over to help us finish them off.

+ A box of stevia goods from NuNaturals: {a box of NuStevia Packets, a bottle of Vanilla Stevia Liquid, and More Fiber Stevia Baking Blend} on Gluten Free Frenzy. I like the stevia packets, but I haven't really tried the vanilla or the baking blend yet since the box arrived the day before we left Virginia (good timing!). I'm excited to see how it turns out. It's a great way to cut out the sugar naturally without cutting out the sweetness.

+ A coupon for one free Mi-Del product on Gluten Free Frenzy. I cashed in my coupon at Whole Foods the day we arrived in Oklahoma for a bag of Swedish Style Vanilla Snaps. They were lovely with milk.

+ Gluten Free in Five Minutes Recipe Book on Gluten Free Frenzy. The week my mom was here we made English Muffins, pancakes, sandwich bread, cinnamon bread, pound cake, and cookie bars. This book is AMAZING! You make 1-2 servings of baked goods in the microwave using rice flour, sorghum flour, or corn meal.

All the ingredients are things you have on hand and it's so easy to make a hot dog bun in the microwave minutes before the BBQ instead of buying a $5 bag of gross gluten free buns. It's seriously a bummer spending all that money on a bunch of gluten free flours only for them to have go bad. So many gluten free recipes have really expensive ingredients you only use once and it makes so much that you never make them because who needs a pan of rice crispy squares just for themselves.

It's fresh and is good. The bread tastes better toasted, but all gluten free bread does. My mom was so impressed with it she immediately bought won for herself. It would be fantastic for my brother who is in college.

+ A medium Planetwise re-usable wetbag on Diaper Style. I love the material and the fact that it's machine washable. I have a wet section in my diaper bag, but you can't wash it. This will be great for swimming and I could use it if I need somewhere to put my nasty workout clothes.

+ Three boxes of Bakery On Main instant gluten free oatmeal: {Strawberry Shortcake, Multigrain Muffin and Apple Pie} on Gluten Free Frenzy. I LOVE oatmeal and although I have fun making up my own toppings, I really miss the convenience of the instant packets, plus it includes other grains like chia (of the chia pet fame), flax, amaranth, and quinoa which adds a nutty flavor and lots of nutrients.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 51

2012-02-10T12:44:00.000-05:00

It's getting tough to take pictures of Quentin because he never sits still and is into everything all the time. He really doesn't like getting his diaper or clothes changed and likes to throw himself backwards and try and crawl away mid-change. He likes to find tiny bits of lint or paper on the floor and eat them. I'm starting to pick my battles with this. As long as it won't hurt him I don't go digging it out of his mouth because that's unpleasant for everyone.

Since Dad has been training in the evening and is home during the day it's been a lot more difficult to stay on schedule with naps, but he's doing pretty good, much better than before. I've just accepted that he will be getting up at 6:30 AM since I haven't been successful in getting him to sleep any longer. The days he doesn't wake up any earlier are very good ones.

Quentin really likes going to the library playgroup for babies and tots on Wednesdays. They have fun toys they play with and then we sing songs and read a book. It's nice to get out and see other people. He's getting a lot better at walking as long as someone is holding him up.

Recipe of the Week: Parmesan Roasted Potatoes

2012-02-08T08:00:00.000-05:00

I found this recipe on Pinterest here, but originally it was on Chicho's Kitchen. They are easy and very tasty. They are a great side dish, with great flavor and crunch.

Ingredients:

4 medium red potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC). Cut the potatoes in wedges.
In a small bowl, combine the Parmesan, garlic, and paprika and set aside. Next, toss the potatoes and oil together in a mixing bowl then add the bowl of cheese and seasonings and stir to coat.
Arrange them on a cookie sheet in a single layer.
Bake for about 30-35 minutes then remove from oven and turn over all the potatoes. Bake for another few minutes until crispy and golden.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 50

2012-02-03T09:34:00.000-05:00

Quentin has been napping much better this week and with the increased sleep he's been a lot more fun to be around in the afternoon and evening. He really is the sweetest little baby in town and I really enjoy hanging out with him all day. He just started blowing kisses on a regular basis and does it throughout the day. He's been getting really good at walking while holding onto something, walking around the coffee table and along the cabinets. He also likes to flip through books by himself and enjoys our reading time. His favorite books are the Usborne "That's not my..." series and enjoys feeling the fuzzy pages.

Oklahoma City National Memorial

2012-02-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

Grandma Wendy came to town for a week and we had so much fun hanging out. The only time we actually got out the camera was when we stopped by the Oklahoma City National Memorial right before we dropped her off at the airport on January 31, 2012.

We couldn't have picked a more beautiful day to go to the memorial. I had heard good things about it and it certainly lived up to those expectations. I was really wishing Albert was there, he would love it (plus he would have been the photographer instead of me). It's beautiful and peaceful just like a memorial should be. It was really sad looking at those little chairs symbolizing the children that were killed. It's still crazy to think that something so horrific could happen anywhere, but especially in Oklahoma.

They offer $5 parking in a designated lot, but we found on the street parking for $.25/half hour. You can take a viritual tour here.

Two of my favorite people: Quentin & Grandma Wendy

Gates of Time: "These monumental twin gates frame the moment of destruction – 9:02 a.m. – and mark the formal entrances to the Memorial. The East Gate represents 9:01 a.m. on April 19, and the innocence of the city before the attack. The West Gate represents 9:03 a.m., the moment we were changed forever, and the hope that came from the horror in the moments and days following the bombing."

9:01 gate

Reflecting Pool: "The pool occupies what was once N.W. Fifth Street. Here, a shallow depth of gently flowing water helps soothe wounds, with calming sounds providing a peaceful setting for quiet thoughts. The placid surface shows the reflection of someone changed forever by their visit to the Memorial."

9:03 gate

Field of Empty Chairs: "The 168 chairs represent the lives taken on April 19, 1995. They stand in nine rows to represent each floor of the building, and each chair bears the name of someone killed on that floor. Nineteen smaller chairs stand for the children. The field is located on the footprint of the Murrah Building."

Field of Chairs

Survivor Wall: "On the east end of the Memorial stand the only remaining walls from the Murrah Building. These walls remind us of those who survived the terrorist attack, many with serious injuries. Today, more than 600 names are inscribed on salvaged pieces of granite from the Murrah Building lobby."

The Survivor Tree: "The Survivor Tree, an American Elm, bore witness to the violence of April 19, 1995, and withstood the full force of the attack. Years later, it continues to stand as a living symbol of resilience. The circular promontory surrounding the tree offers a place for gathering and viewing the Memorial."

Survivor Tree and Wall

Children's Area: "In the aftermath of the blast, children from around the country and the world sent in their own expressions of encouragement and love. That care is represented today by a wall of tiles painted by children and sent to Oklahoma City in 1995. In addition, buckets of chalk and chalkboards built into the ground of the Children's Area give children a place where they can continue to share their feelings -- an important component of the healing process."

Children's Area

Recipe of the Week: Baked Cinnamon Banana Oatmeal

2012-02-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

I made some nice warm oatmeal for breakfast from a recipe I found here. I didn't have the fruit from the recipe so I used bananas instead and topped it with some peanut butter. I love oatmeal so you can't really go wrong. It was something different and was a good excuse to turn on the oven.

Ingredients:

1 cup old fashioned {gluten free} oats
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1/4 cup maple syrup, plus more for serving
1 cup milk (I used skim but any kind will work)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 bananas

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease or spray a 2-quart casserole dish with either butter or cooking spray.
In a medium bowl, toss together the oats, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In a separate small bowl, whisk together the maple syrup, milk, egg, the melted butter, and the vanilla.
Place the diced apples in a single layer in the bottom of the prepared casserole dish. Sprinkle about two-thirds of the raisins over the top of the apples, then cover the fruit with the oat mixture. Drizzle the milk mixture over the oats, making sure to distribute the milk as evenly as possible. Sprinkle the remaining raisins over the top of the oats. Bake the oatmeal for 35-45 minutes, until the top is golden brown and the oats have set.
Remove the oatmeal from the oven and serve hot with more maple syrup.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 49

2012-01-27T14:43:00.001-05:00

Quentin eats his snacks in his bumbo with the tray on it. He can get out of the bumbo without the tray attached, but he has yet to escape with the tray. I went in the kitchen for a second while he was eating and came back to see him crawling around with the bumbo still attached to his behind. It was too funny not to photograph.

We have been "trying" to sleep train all week and some days have definitely been better than others, but at least Quentin's no longer waking up at 5:30 AM. Morning naps go well most days, but the afternoon nap is the hard one. He likes to lay or stand in bed chatting away to himself instead of sleeping. At least he's not crying anymore and he eventually falls asleep most days.

Other than that Quentin is starting to slide a long while standing and holding the table or cupboard. He likes to clap frequently and sporadically and will sometimes give kisses. Grandma Wendy flew into town for a visit on Wednesday and has been staying with us. Although he just saw her a few weeks ago he has been going through the warming up process again. I'm sure he will be all warmed up to here just in time for her to go home next week.

Grandpa's Funeral

2012-01-26T07:30:00.000-05:00

My Grandpa's funeral was held on January 14. Many people came to the funeral at the church and I enjoyed hearing all the stories about him. Quentin was pretty darn good, which was good since we were seated directly behind my grandma in the second pew in the very center so there was no getting out and the meeting lasted over two hours. Luckily we were seated next to my step-sister's two boys, Brock and Kaden, who distracted my very tired baby for the last half hour while he crawled along on the floor.

Since my grandpa was a Korean War veteran he was buried with military honors, which was very cool. I'm bummed I forgot my camera. Luckily the weather was actually pretty nice. Quentin slept in the Ergo Carrier and barely flinched when they shot off the guns. My cousin arranged for all the grandchildren to have a flower to lay on his casket which was really nice and gave us another opportunity to say good-bye.

All of my grandma's eight younger siblings were able to make it. They are some of the happiest people I've ever met. The bottom picture is my grandma with six of her eight kids. I'm so glad I was able to go. After living so far away from family for so long I've gotten used to missing out on family events so it was nice to actually be in attendance. All my cousins were there too. I didn't get a chance to really hang out with them, but it was nice to see them.

Recipe of the Week: Gluten-Free Bisquick Pizza

2012-01-25T08:00:00.001-05:00

I followed the recipe on the back of the gluten-free Bisquick recipe for pizza and loved the results. Some of the best gluten-free pizza I've had. It's not spongy or too crumbly. I also really liked that I didn't have roll it out, which saves a lot of time and makes it much more likely that I will make it more frequently.

Visit with Kim & EB

2012-01-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

Our friends Kim and Elizabeth came for a visit while we were in Evanston, Wyoming since they're hanging out in Salt Lake City, Utah for a bit.

Aren't these girls cute!?

It was so fun seeing them after so much time. The babies have both gotten so much bigger and could actually play together. Hopefully we'll be doing this again after we move to New Mexico :)

Fun in Green River

2012-01-23T07:30:00.000-05:00

While we were in Wyoming we were able to go visit our family in Green River for a few days. Quentin had a lot of fun hanging out with his aunts, uncle, cousins, and grandparents. We even ate out at

Here he is with his fun Aunt Melaina:

With his cousins Haidyn and Korbin and Grandpa Randy:

"Coloring" with Cousin Haidyn:

Hanging out with Uncle Jesse:

Grandpa Bright

2012-01-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

My grandfather has been battling cancer since the summer of 2010 and fortunately Quentin and I visited him last July because his time on earth came to an end January 8. We were told that we would pass away within the next two days on Friday, January 6 and so Quentin and I flew to Wyoming the next day.

It was an emotional week to say the least, but I am so glad I was able to be there. I was nervous that being there while my grandpa was dying would be too hard and too sad, while it was hard and it was sad it was also a very spiritual experience. He definitely did not look like himself, but that didn't change the way I remember him and seeing him that way made it easier to let him go knowing that he was pretty much already gone anyway. I also felt like it was nice to be there for my grandma and other family members who were closer to him as they mourned and I was there for my grandpa as he made this step into the unknown.

Sunday night I actually said my good-bye to him before we left. Quentin was having a major breakdown in the other room so it was quick, but I told him that I appreciated his good example to me and told him I would miss him. I'm sure I could have thought of a million other things to say, but I'm glad that I was able to kiss him on the cheek as he had done to me so many times before. He would always kiss both of my cheeks and hug me every time I saw him and I'm really going to miss that. I look forward to it when I see him again on the other side.

I haven't been able to spend as much time with my grandparents as I would have liked because my parents divorced when I was less than a year old and then we moved to another town. My grandpa was one of those people who was very easy to love. He had a way of making me feel very special and loved just by looking at me.

He was always a teacher. Very open and anxious to hear your opinion about things. He and my grandmother have always been very supportive of me. They have attended all four of my graduations, my mission farewell, and my wedding. They even contributed to my mission fund.

I'm thankful for his good example of service to his God, family, and country, having served three missions, married in the temple for over 57 years, raised eight children, served in the Korean War, and worked at the State Hospital for 22 years after receiving a Ph.D. in educational psychology. (You can read his obituary here.) I'm lucky to have been his granddaughter and I hope I can live a fulfilling life like he did.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 48

2012-01-20T16:19:00.000-05:00

Night time sleeping has gone much better this week since Quentin has been sleeping in his own bed. No more waking up at night. We also bought a white noise machine that has really helped. Unfortunately napping hasn't been going as great and he is slowly returning to his early wake-up so we're back to sleep training during the day. I'm not great at being consistent during the day and that has been holding us back thus far.

I've been sick since we got home and I think it has rubbed off on Quentin because he occasionally coughs and he hasn't been wanting to eat much. Even things he likes, except for yogurt bites. I think he got spoiled with all the baby food I bought for the trip.

He has been standing with only the support of one hand on the coffee table or his jumperoo. His favorite song these days is "Three Little Monkeys" and he likes it when Daddy chases him around the apartment.

Recipe of the Week: Baby Food 4-6 months

2012-01-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

Besides oatmeal I made a variety of fruit and vegetable purees. I made them in our magic bullet or mashed them with a fork and added breast milk and water as needed to get to a good texture. I steamed the summer squash and peas and roasted the sweet potatoes. I recommend roasting the whole sweet potato in the peel, it's much easier to mash up than peeling and cutting them into cubes because the skin gets hard.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 47

2012-01-13T08:00:00.000-05:00

Q making his funny face with his buddy Grandpa Kalei

This week Quentin was able to visit all his relatives inWyoming except for his Uncle Luke who is going to school in Laramie now. We were able to see my grandfather before hedied and then we went to his funeral before we left. Quentin seemed to reallygrow and change while we were there. I was bummed that Albert wasn't there tosee him clapping for the first time or rolling a ball around on the floor. Oneof his favorite games is throwing things on the ground and crying until youpick it up for him. My step-sister calls this game "pick-it-up, Stupid." It's much more fun for him than for whoever is lucky enough to play with him.

He liked visiting with all his grandparents, but he lovedplaying with his cousins. He is sosocial around kids. We also got a visitfrom our friends Kim and Elizabeth who we used to hang out with all the time inVirginia before they moved to Denver. Hopefully we have more of those visitsonce we move to Albuquerque.

Quentin definitely had separation anxiety and didn't like tolet me out of his site. He napped prettywell, but woke up a lot at night, which was a huge bummer. I ended up letting him sleep with me when hewouldn't go back to sleep and he would snuggle right up to me. One night I woke up with him sleepingentirely on my pillow around my head and another night he laid his head on mychin and held my hand. It wasuncomfortable, but so so cute.

He didwell on the flights as long as I entertained him. I was really wishing I could just curl upwith my book, but instead I played patty cake and pointed to things out thewindow. Luckily the seat next to us was empty both flights so I could spreadout a little.

Recipe of the Week: Homemade Tortilla Chips

2012-01-11T08:00:00.000-05:00

One night we were eating taco soup, but we didn't have any tortilla chips so I made some out of corn tortillas using this recipe. They turned out great and were easy. I'm pretty sure they're healthier than the ones you buy at the store.

Ingredients:

1 package flour tortillas or 1 package corn tortilla
2 tablespoons oil

Directions:

With a pastry brush, paint a very light coating of oil on one side of each tortilla.
Stack the tortillas greased side up in an even pile.
With a sharp, heavy knife (or serrated knife) cut the stack in half, then into quarters, then into eighths.
Separate the pieces and arrange them greased side up on a lightly oiled baking sheet.
Toast the chips in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes or until they are crisp and just beginning to brown lightly; watch them closely so they don't become over baked.

Ringing in the New Year

2012-01-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

We hung around the apartment for the most part on New Year's Eve with this little guy. He gets sweaty a lot and his hair gets all wet so this time I decided to give him a faux hawk for fun. I can't put bows on his head so I have to have some fun with all that hair.

Despite opting out of his afternoon nap he was well behaved on our dinner at Red Lobster. We went early which was great because we got right in and we came home in plenty of time to give Quentin a bath before bedtime. Thanks to Albert's parents for the gift certificate! It's different going out to eat in Oklahoma because the servers are so darn friendly...lots of small talk.

We were able to stay up long enough to ring in the new year and watched the ball drop in downtown Oklahoma City on tv. There were a ton of people there! Glad we were at home :)

On New Year's Day we went to eat at my friend's house outside of Oklahoma City. We were visiting teaching partners in the single's ward in DC years ago so it was nice to catch up. Hopefully we can hang out a few times before we go.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 46

2012-01-06T13:40:00.001-05:00

This week Quentin decided he wanted to get up at 5:30 AM and only nap for an hour during the day. It's been rough, but hopefully we can get things back on track soon. It seems like he's been teething because he's been gnawing on everything he can get his hands on. He gives kisses and hugs and has even started to blow kisses, we're still working on that one. Quentin loves to chase Daddy around the apartment and is drenched with sweat afterwards. He stands for long periods of time and has a much longer attention span while reading books or watching "Baby Signing Time." Besides standing at the coffee table, he enjoys opening and closing the doors he can spend a lot of time doing this.

Quentin loves to smile and flirt with people at the pavilion while we eat or anywhere in public and he still really loves to be around kids. He kept crawling over to a toddler at the library. I figured all kids were like that, but it seems like he's a bit more social than some of the other kids. I'm thinking he's going to be extroverted with all the chatting and loving to be around people and getting attention. He also started giving little cheesy grins whenever I get out the camera or smile at him.

Recipe of the Week: Lemon Chicken

2012-01-04T08:00:00.000-05:00

Another Simply Recipes recipe. So good! Albert and I were both big fans and it's so easy. I love make ahead recipes because Quentin always has a break down around dinner time. You leave it in the fridge to marinate and then an hour before dinner you pop it in the oven. Albert and I both gave it high marks.

Ingredients:

3-4 pounds chicken parts (thighs and legs recommended), skin-on, bone-in, trimmed of excess fat
2 Tbsp lemon zest
1/3 cup lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 Tbsp fresh chopped thyme (or 2 teaspoons dried)
1 Tbsp fresh chopped rosemary (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 teaspoons salt1 teaspoon black pepper
2-3 Tbsp melted butter
Lemon slices for garnish

Directions:

Place lemon juice, lemon peel, garlic, thyme, rosemary, salt, and pepper in a small bowl, whisk to combine. With the tip of a sharp knife, cut into each chicken piece one or two times by about 1/2 an inch. (This will help the marinade penetrate.) Place the chicken pieces and the marinade in a gallon-sized freezer bag. Rotate the bag so that all chicken pieces are coated with the marinade. Seal the bag and place in a bowl in the refrigerator (in case of leakage). Let marinate for 2 hours.
Preheat oven to 425°F. Remove chicken from marinade and place in a single layer in a large baking dish, skin side up. Reserve the marinade. Use a pastry brush to brush a little melted butter on to each piece of chicken.
Bake for a total of 50 to 55 minutes, until the skins are crispy brown, and the chicken is cooked through, juices running clear (breasts have an internal temperature of 165°F and thighs 175°F). Half-way through the baking, at about the 25 minute mark, baste the chicken pieces generously with reserved marinade.Depending on the size of the breasts, they may be ready before the thighs, so if you are cooking a mix of chicken parts, keep that in mind, you may have to take them out of the oven before the thighs.Let rest, covered in foil, for 10 minutes before serving.
Pour the juices from the pan into a serving bowl. Use a tablespoon to skim the fat off the top (save the fat for cooking with later, or discard, but do not discard down the drain or it will solidify and clog your drain). Serve the chicken with the juices on the side or a little poured over the top of the chicken.Serve alone or with steamed rice.

Yield: Serves 4-6.

Christmas Day

2012-01-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

We get up pretty early these days since Quentin decided that 5:30 - 6:00 AM is a good time to start the day so we had time to open presents before we went to church at 8:00 AM. He helped his parents open their gifts as well so he's all set to open more gifts for his birthday. Church was great and it was so nice to talk about the Savior on the day we celebrate His birth and life.

After church we Skyped with my family in Wyoming and Quentin opened the cool Hallmark book they sent with my mom and siblings reading "Frosty the Snowman." We listen to it a couple times a day.

They had turkey and ham at dinner at the pavilion and we ate with two of Albert's classmates who happen to be LDS and live at our same complex. Unfortunately their wives are back in Utah so no friends for me yet.

We went out to see lights downtown, but it was too crowded due to a game going on and there was no parking so we went home. We did get to talk to lots of my Dad's family while driving around. When we got home we opened our presents from my Dad and his wife and Quentin started dancing when the music began on his new "laptop." It was the cutest. After Quentin went to bed we Skyped with Albert's siblings, which was lots of fun.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

This year has definitely been the busiest and the best year yet. We've had a lot of personal and professional changes, but the biggest and best was the birth of our sweet baby boy. He has radically changed our lives and opened us up to love in a way I never thought possible.

We are looking forward to all the changes that 2012 will bring with celebrating Quentin's first birthday, moving to a new place, and starting a new job.

In other news, Albert's sister had a baby girl yesterday morning and our tenants moved in so we have a new niece and a new lease. Hopefully we get to see baby Jasmine before she's a year old!

Here's to 2012! May God's blessings continue to surround us all in the new year.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-31T08:00:00.000-05:00

I was pretty bummed that we wouldn't have our tree with us for Quentin's first Christmas so I talked Albert into getting a wreath that was on sale for $2.50 at Wal-Mart. I decorated it with lights and ornaments from Family Dollar which is walk-able distance from our apartment. Quentin received some packages from his aunts and uncles and grandparents which made it a lot more fun since we were only able to get him a couple of toys. Albert's coworkers in DC gave him a stocking that I filled with little gifts.

I made a special dinner for Christmas Eve since we were going to be eating at the Pavilion for dinner on Christmas Day and they didn't serve dinner on Christmas Eve. I decided to have Italian food since that's my specialty.

I wanted to make lasagna, but couldn't find gluten free lasagna pasta. Albert said that he would rather have polenta anyway so I improvised and made polenta lasagna layering polenta, a homemade ragu sauce (cooked for over three hours), bechemel sauce, and mozzarella. It turned out really well. I had purchased a gluten free Chebe foccacia mix while we were in Florida and I made a green bean and red pepper mix for the vegetable. I wanted to make something special for dessert so I made one of Albert's favorites molten lava cake in the cockpot with Jule's Gluten Free Flour and paired it with Blue Bell's peppermint ice cream. Good thing it all turned out because I would have felt bad spending the whole day cooking and not having a nice meal.

After dinner we had Quentin open one of his gifts. It was the first time he ever opened a present so it was momentous, at least it was for us. He was mostly interested in the wrapping paper and we had to sort of prod him a long. He's a cutie!

Fun Photo Friday: Week 45

2011-12-30T08:00:00.000-05:00

Q in his new coat

This week Quentin had his first Christmas! He really enjoyed the wrapping paper and boxes the best and was pretty good at opening all his presents. He is crawling on his hands and knees all the time and continues to pull himself up on everything. He dances, moving his little arms around when he hears music. It's very cute. Quentin "talks" all the time and we can't wait until he starts saying words. We can't wait until he stops grabbing, scratching, and pulling on our faces and necks. He is very squirmy when getting his clothes and diaper changed, but he is really cuddly when he's sleepy. Besides Quentin we call him Quen, Quennie Bear, Bear, Baby Boy, and Baby Bear.

Driving Across Arkansas

2011-12-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from the road in Arkansas. We didn't do any touristy things while we were there, but it looked nice. I think it would be a nice place to live. You can also see just how packed the car was. There was not an inch of left over space. Poor Quentin had just his little space in his chair.

We have a trial period for XM radio so we listened to a lot of Christmas music since it was Quentin's favorite and we also listened to an audio book. I had a big box of snacks which included my favorite no-bake cookies and Cuties Clementines. Albert was skeptical about the clementines, but later remarked that he was happy I brought them.

Recipe of the Week: Pumpkin Pudding

2011-12-28T08:00:00.000-05:00

This is a Hungry Girl recipe so it's super low in calories. It was ok. Maybe it would be tastier with whipped cream or more sugar. Perhaps it was too low calorie for me.

Ingredients:

1 Jell-O Sugar Free Vanilla Pudding Snack
1/2 cup Canned Pure Pumpkin
2 Splenda packets
pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

Simply combine the contents of your pudding snack with a half-cup of the orange stuff.
Mix well and, if you like, add a little Splenda and/or pumpkin pie spice (or cinnamon and nutmeg).

PER SERVING: 100 calories, 1.5g fat, 186mg sodium, 24g carbs, 4.5g fiber, 4g sugars, 3g protein = PointsPlus® value 3*

Graceland

2011-12-27T08:00:00.000-05:00

On Monday, December 19 we went to Elvis' home. I have always wanted to go and pretty much made Albert go. We probably won't be going through Memphis anytime soon, if ever. It's somewhat expensive, but worth every penny.

I grew up listening to Elvis because my dad is a big fan so it was cool to see the house where he lived, died, and is buried. The house is very 1960's and reminded me a lot of my grandma's house, especially the Christmas tree in the dining room complete with tinsel ice cycles and big lights. When we were touring one of the planes we ran into the missionaries for the LDS church. Crazy :)

Interesting facts about Elvis I learned on the tour:

He never wrote any of his songs, but he produced every single one.
Elvis won three Grammys all for Gospel.
He really liked racquetball and built a court in his backyard to lose weight.
He owned a pink Cadillac that was his mom's favorite car.
He paid $102,500 for Graceland in 1957 when he was 22.
The sinks on the plane the Lisa Marie are gold. Real gold.
Elvis was an avid reader and would bring a chest of books with him on tour.
Some of his favorite movies were the Monty Python series.
Besides during his service in the military in Germany, Elvis only spent one Christmas away from Graceland. He was in Las Vegas and he hated being away from home during the holidays.

Here is a virtual tour of Graceland since I KNOW you want to see ALL the pictures Albert took and are curious to see where the KING of rock n' roll lived. Merry Christmas.

Graceland Mansion LiveCam

Taking Care of Business in a Flash

Santa at the Oklahoma Heritage Museum

2011-12-26T14:54:00.000-05:00

On Sunday, December 18 the Gaylord-Pickens Oklahoma Heritage Museum was free plus Santa made an appearance. Quentin opted out of any naps that day so I figured meeting Santa would probably end in tears, but I didn't realize he would be so upset just standing by him. Nothing personal Santa!

The museum was okay. It had a lot of videos, paintings, and busts of prominent people from Oklahoma, only a few of which we had ever heard. Probably more interesting for natives to the state, but we learned a lot about the people of Oklahoma.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

I can feel the Spirit of the season when I watch this beautiful video about the shepherds visiting baby Jesus. Being a mother for the first time this Christmas my feelings about Christ's birth and His mother Mary are much more tender.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

2011-12-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

2011 has been as easy as 1, 2, 3. One baby, two moves, and three different jobs.

In January we thought we were pretty busy preparing for our new addition, both of us working full-time, Albert going to school full-time, and deciding to purchase a foreclosed three bedroom condo that needed major renovations.

Quentin Albert Cortez was born on February 21 at 8:22 PM. He has been such a blessing to us and has brought so much joy into our family. We had no idea how much becoming parents would change our lives and ourselves.

Albert had a temporary position at the headquarters at working in Aviation Safety and was able to switch to a permanent position in Human Resources, also at the FAA in April. Since Albert was able to get health insurance Tiffany was able to resign from her position working as a project coordinator and stay home with Quentin full-time.

We closed on the condo in March and started renovations in April. We moved –in May 1 and the renovations were finally done a couple weeks later. In July Quentin and Tiffany went to Wyoming to visit his maternal grandparents during an otherwise non-eventful summer.

Things seemed to remain quiet in the fall and we were mostly concerned about what sort of party to throw for Quentin’s first birthday and looking forward to spending a long Christmas break in Florida with Albert’s family.

On Albert’s birthday, October 25, he received an email telling him his class date for his air traffic control training in Oklahoma City, OK was December 15 – April 15. Last year we were told that it would be three years before he would get a class date so we were not prepared to up and leave our comfortable life in Alexandria. We even asked if we could postpone until spring, but to no avail.

We sold almost all of our big furniture we had acquired in the last year and some from years prior. We also squeezed in a five day trip to Florida the week before Thanksgiving to make up for Christmas and we bought a new-to-us Chevy Traverse and traded in our beloved Yaris the day after Thanksgiving.

We packed and packed and invited our friends over to help us move everything downstairs to the container we rented. It all went very smoothly. The last week we were in town we were able to get renters for our place, friends from our previous ward (church congregation) who are moving back to DC.

We drove to Oklahoma City and visited Nashville and Graceland on the way. We are staying in a one bedroom fully-furnished apartment that includes breakfast and dinner and weekly maid service. Albert trains during the day and studies in the evening. He will most likely have evening classes at some point.

Quentin has been a real trooper through all of the changes. He is in the 80th percentile for height and weight. He low crawls very well and occasionally crawls on his hands and knees. His favorite thing to do is climb up on things. He eats well and particularly likes sweet potatoes, apple sauce, bananas, and chili. We are very busy chasing after him all day trying to keep him out of trouble.

In April 2012 we will be moving to Albuquerque, NM where Albert will be working as an air traffic controller, yet another new adventure!

We will miss all our friends in the Washington, DC area and hope to stay connected to them in years to come. Start planning your trips to the southwest for next year!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

Albert, Tiffany, & Quentin

Fun Photo Friday: Week 44

2011-12-23T11:26:00.003-05:00

Quentin turned ten months on Wednesday! He's been crawling, both low and regular, all over the place. He has gotten really good at pulling himself up in his bed, on the coffee table, pretty much anything he can get his hands on. He loves flirting with all the ladies at the pavilion where we eat breakfast and dinner, he's quite the charmer. Quentin has been taking nice long naps in the morning and we've been taking lots of walks looking at all the ducks and geese at the pond.

Gaylord Opryland Hotel

2011-12-22T08:00:00.000-05:00

The Gaylord Opryland Hotel reminded me of the big casino hotels in Las Vegas. It was such a dramatic difference from the ICE! exhibit we had just went to. Lots of beautiful vegetation and warm. They had it all decorated for Christmas with multiple Christmas trees. We enjoyed going on the little path and seeing everything. It wasn't quite as exciting as I was expecting, probably because it was talked up so much, but it was nice. Very commercialized.

Recipe of the Week: Caramel Apple Cheesecake Dessert Dip

2011-12-21T08:00:00.000-05:00

I found this dip recipe on Pinterest, but it originally comes from Fake it Frugal. I served this at our bi-annual General Conference get together and lets just say it was all gone by the time everyone left. I think I ate half of it though. What can I say, I'm a sucker for toffee. Albert loved it and suggested using it as frosting. It tasted good with apples, but it was divine with strawberries. Highly recommend it. Yum!

Ingredients:

8 oz Cream Cheese, room temperature
4 Tablespoons Confectioners Sugar
Caramel Sundae Sauce
Mini Chocolate Chips
Crushed Heath Bar
Granny Smith Apples, sliced & soaking in lemon juice/water until ready to serve

Directions:

Beat the Cream Cheese and Confectioners Sugar until slightly fluffy.
Spread the Cream Cheese mixture onto a serving platter.
Top with Caramel Sauce, Mini Chocolate Chips & Crushed Heath Bar.
To serve, arrange the sliced Granny Smith Apples around the platter.

ICE! Merry Madagascar at Gaylord Opryland Hotel

2011-12-20T08:00:00.000-05:00

After our lunch we went to the Opryland Hotel that we had heard good things about. In fact as we were pulling in my mother called to tell us we should go there. She didn't even know we were in Nashville. We found some free parking in the back, better than $18 in the front and decided to see the ICE! show. I had heard a lot of good things about going to these displays that they have around the country, but I didn't really know what to expect. I knew the theme was Merry Madagascar, but I didn't realize ALL the ice sculptures were from the movie. It was really cold. Bring a hat.

The sculptures were pretty neat, very bright and fun, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if it weren't based on a cartoon or if I were 20 years younger. Albert enjoyed taking lots of pictures. Quentin stayed pretty quiet. I think he was just trying to stay warm.

They wouldn't let us go on the slide because you can only go one at a time. I was a little bummed. I did like the Statue of Liberty and the pink Eiffel Tower.

My favorite part was the nativity at the end. I wish more the displays were like this one.

Downtown Nashville

2011-12-19T15:33:00.001-05:00

We left Alexandria on Friday, December 9. We were supposed to leave around 1 PM, but we didn't actually leave until 9 PM. We had over estimated the capacity of our new bigger car and even with Albert's expert cramming of all our belongings, we couldn't fit our stroller in there. Luckily we remembered that our friend Laura who has saved us too many times to count, was traveling to Oklahoma City for work and would be there the day we arrived. We swung by their house and she graciously accepted the job of gate checking it for us. She's a saint.

We called Albert's sister, Melina, who is on bed rest to find our hotel rooms for us. To leave this sort of planning out all together is totally unlike us and just goes to show just how busy we were those last two weeks. It worked out fine, however, and Albert worked on his negotiating skills at each hotel seeing what sort of discounts we could get.

We didn't get to bed in Roanoke until about 2:30 AM and then Quentin was up with chest congestion. We did make up for our lost sleep the next day since we were sharing a hotel room with Quentin who likes to go to bed early we decided to hit the hay ourselves. Quentin was a good little traveler and slept most of the time. We tried to take breaks and left for the day around nap time so he'd have time to crawl around in the mornings. We got much more prepared when taking him to restaurants which helped.

After Roanoke we drove to Nashville to see what we could see. After church we went downtown to a BBQ place that was highly rated according to Melina's research called Jack's Bar-B-Que. It was good. Nashville is a great place to hear live music. It was a Sunday afternoon and every bar on the street had a live band playing. I was amazed. We passed by four or five different places in a row and all had a country music band playing in the front. It wasn't too hard finding a free parking place despite that large number of people gathered to watch the Tennessee NFL game going on nearby.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 43

2011-12-16T16:03:00.001-05:00

Nashville: Gaylord Opryland Hotel

Last Friday we packed our bags and headed out of town. We arrived in our new place in Oklahoma City on Tuesday and have been settling in ever since. This has been quite the change for our little guy. He's been handling it quite well despite his chest congestion which kept him and me up the first few nights of our trip. He has mastered pulling himself up on just about anything. He can even open the closet door from his bed (he's sleeping inside our closet since we're in a one bedroom apartment now.

Recipe of the Week: Baked Spinach & Chicken Pasta

2011-12-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

This recipe is from here, but I found it on Pinterest. It was pretty good, especially the cheesy part on the top, but it was missing sauce to tie it all together. Maybe a white sauce would do the trick.

Ingredients:

8 oz. pasta (I used GF quinoa macaroni)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs.), diced
1/4 cup olive oil
8 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. salt
5 cups fresh spinach, chopped
1/4 cup white wine
2 cups mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°. Set a large pot of water to boil. Once it comes to a rolling boil, salt it and cook the pasta until just al dente. Drain.
While the pasta is cooking, set a large skillet over medium heat. Once it’s hot, heat the olive oil then add the chicken. Brown the chicken on all sides – about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and simmer with the chicken until it’s fragrant and begins to turn golden – about 3 minutes.
Add the salt. spinach and white wine to the skillet and cook for an additional 3 – 5 minutes, or until the spinach begins to wilt. Toss the contents of the skillet with the pasta and place in a casserole dish. Cover with cheese and bake for 25 minutes.

Makes about 8 servings.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 42

2011-12-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

This week has been a busy one. Luckily Quentin has started napping more so I can get things done around the house instead of chasing after him trying to constantly keep him away from this and out of that. This crawling is serious business. He is spending more and more time on his hands and knees instead of his normal army crawl. I can't believe that he's old enough to crawl! My little baby is growing up! He's also getting really good at pulling himself up and will stand if he has something to hold onto.

He's been throwing a fit if we take away something he wants, crying like I hurt him. I hope this isn't an indicator of what's to come. I didn't thing they started doing that stuff until they were toddlers. He has been much more into books lately. Not just munching on them either (although he still does that), he will listen while I read to him and look at the pictures.

It seems like he's really starting to understand me. He knows his name and will stop in his tracks when I call to him. If I give him a choice to go in the jumperoo or I explain that I'm going to put him in there he does a lot better than if I just put him in there. This week he ate pasta that I mushed up (I'm feeding him only gluten-free food until after he's a year old because I read that he would be less likely to develop Celiac that way) and I blended up some chili that he also ate without a problem.

Recipe of the Week: Pancit

2011-12-07T08:00:00.000-05:00

I used this recipe I found on All Recipes. It's good and makes A LOT. Enough for a party. I would half the recipe. We found out that Filipinos usually serve this dish for birthdays and the long noodles signify a long life.

Ingredients:

1 (12 ounce) package dried rice noodles
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups diced cooked chicken breast meat
1 small head cabbage, thinly sliced
4 carrots, thinly sliced
1 cup snow peas
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 lemons - cut into wedges, for garnish

Directions:

Place the rice noodles in a large bowl, and cover with warm water. When soft, drain, and set aside.
Heat oil in a wok or large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and garlic until soft. Stir in chicken cabbage, carrots and soy sauce. Cook until cabbage begins to soften.
Toss in noodles, and cook until heated through, stirring constantly.
Transfer pancit to a serving dish and garnish with quartered lemons.

Packing with Mr. Cutie Pants

2011-12-05T09:27:00.001-05:00

Here's Quentin hanging out in the little fort Albert made for him in our living room with our boxes. Those boxes are now resting safely in our Pack Rat container which will be taken away this morning per the request of our condo association. We were hoping to keep it until we left that way we could continue using some of our belongings in the meantime, but apparently the association didn't like it parked in the parking lot (even though it's in our assigned spot).

We had a moving party on Saturday and some of our good friends came to say good-bye and pack down boxes. We had a huge pile that took up pretty much our whole living room and it was all gone in like 20 minutes. A-MAZ-ING. Our friends Laura & Blake who rescued us during our last move showed up an hour early and helped pack a few more boxes and take our giant mattress downstairs. Everyone needs to have a set of friends like them. It was so great to catch up with friends we hadn't seen in awhile. We're sure going to miss everyone.

I suppose that it's only right that we are now back to camping out in our home just as we did the first week we moved in because the construction wasn't finished yet. We are eating off of paper plates while sitting on our patio furniture and sleeping on our blow-up mattress, even Quentin is resigned to the pack n' play. We only have the stuff that will fit in our car (hopefully). I guess we should have gotten a nicer air mattress since we've used it so much. I'm not much of a camper and really miss my bed. It is making me excited to move though so I can sit on a couch.

I do miss Quentin's fort because now it's nearly impossible to keep him away from everything. He's been a real trooper though this whole thing and hope all the changes aren't too unsettling for him. We haven't had much time to play with him lately, but hopefully we will get all caught up on together time during our trip west.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 41

2011-12-02T08:00:00.000-05:00

We wanted pictures of him in his cute Sunday outfit, but all we got was this face :)

Quentin has now been outside the womb for as long as he was inside. Last week at the pediatrician's office they asked if he was pulling himself up and I had to say no, but this week my answer would be yes. He has started climbing up on me and the packing boxes we have put around him as his little fort. It's actually been quite nice having a walled off section since he can't get into all the stuff we have laying around from packing. Good thing we're leaving soon because he's going to learn how to climb over it really quick.

He's been sticking his tongue out all the time lately which is actually really cute. Hopefully he gets it out of his system now and isn't doing it when he's older. Then it's not so cute anymore. Ever since the doctor said he could eat pretty much anything now except raw honey and anything that could choke him, I've been trying to give him the same stuff we're eating. He seems to like the same things that his dad likes. Meatballs, turkey rice soup, and Filipino breakfast (rice, egg yolks, Vienna sausages).

New Ride

2011-12-01T08:00:00.000-05:00

We had been talking about getting an SUV before Quentin was born, but we figured we'd wait until we moved to New Mexico and just use the Yaris until then. Then we decided to drive to Oklahoma and bring four month's worth of belongings for the three of us. We recently realized that this was not reasonable. The Yaris couldn't hold one person's stuff let alone a baby's. Plus we were a little nervous about how the Yaris would do in the high winds of Albuquerque and the ice storms in Oklahoma.

So on black Friday we went car shopping. My dad who is a mechanical engineer and lives in Wyoming where the wind never stops suggested we get a Chevy Traverse. We found the only used one in the area and bought it the same day. Boy it was a long day! Poor Quentin was up way past his bedtime. Buying a car takes FOREVER. It took us a half hour to decide and then we spent the next 3 hrs waiting for the papers to be drawn up. We traded in the Yaris, which was a little sad, but we LOVE this new car. When I took it for a test drive I didn't want to stop.

It's a 2011, only owned for six months prior to us. Since we got it used we were able to get a nicer model with leather, heated seats and a back up camera.

It's so nice to drive and really comfortable. Our long cross-country trip is going to be so much nicer. Plus it seats seven people. It's like a van in that it has three rows of seating, but it's higher off the ground and does great in bad weather. You can lay down the back two rows so it has TONS of room. It also has a great safety rating.

Like any big car, it is a lot harder to park in small city spots and the gas mileage, while pretty good for an SUV, is no comparison to the Yaris. That car got great mileage. Good thing we're moving west where parking isn't a problem and traffic isn't so bad.

Recipe of the Week: Marion's Pumpkin Heath Muffins

2011-11-30T08:00:00.001-05:00

I was very lucky and won two Marion's Smart Delights Gluten-Free Cookie & Muffin mixes AND two Marion's Smart Delights Gluten-Free Lemon Bar mixes from Gluten Free Frenzy! I highly recommend checking out all the great giveaways Gluten Free Frenzy! has coming for the holidays.

I decided to make muffins with my first mix using pumpkin instead of applesauce and Heath pieces instead of chocolate chips. They really tasted more like cupcakes, but not as sweet, just the right amount. So good! They were moist, not gritty or crumbly or spongy. They did have a little baking powder aftertaste, but that sort of comes with the territory when eating gluten-free food and I didn't really notice it too much. They didn't last long.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-29T08:00:00.000-05:00

We held Thanksgiving dinner at our condo this year. The last time we enjoyed our condo and our table and our living room furniture. It was a culinary feat. Albert was so distracted by the abundance of food for the four of us that besides a picture of Blake carving the turkey, we have no pictures of people. I was really bummed there were no pictures of Quentin on his first Thanksgiving, but I doubt there are pictures of me on my first Thanksgiving and look how far I've come.

The artichoke dip and sweet potatoes turned out really good. I highly recommend adding those recipes to your list of to-try items (don't worry, eventually they'll show up as a recipe of the week). Of course you can't go wrong with lots of butter and cheese :) Laura and Blake did really well with the turkey and look at those beautiful pies Laura made! A work of art. My pie was not beautiful, but it tasted pretty good :) I was lazy and decided not to do a gluten-free crust after all.

After dinner we played one last game of Settlers of Catan. We used to get together almost monthly for a game at Kim & Joe's before we had babies and they moved away. It was a relaxing and wonderful holiday and we are so happy we could spend it with Laura & Blake.

Florida Trip

2011-11-28T08:25:00.001-05:00

We had planned to be in Florida for Christmas this year and so when we found out we would have to be in Oklahoma instead we were bummed. We decided to move up our Florida vacation to November and we were so glad we were able to go. Maybe we can go next year for Christmas.

We hung out with lots of relatives who fawned over Quentin. His favorite was his cousin Maya. Too bad we don't live in Florida we'd have a great little babysitter. He also enjoyed watching his cousins play. He's going to love going down there when he can join in. Uncle Jerard and Uncle Alvin were also a lot of fun to play with.

We went out to eat a lot with Albert's parents and his Uncle Ben. They go out a lot to Olive Garden, Outback, and Cracker Barrel and have certain servers who treat them very well. It was like going out with the God Father or something. Uncle Ben likes to tell everyone that Quentin is going to president someday. Maybe because he was born on President's day. Uncle Ben is very respected in Albert's family because he was the first to come to the US and helped his siblings and their families come to the US too.

We were able to leave Quentin with Albert's brother-in-law while we went and saw "Breaking Dawn". Albert took me upstairs to see the projectors and stuff at the movie theatre where he used to work. We also visited a couple of Albert's friends from high school which was fun. We hadn't seen them since we drove down to Florida for Christmas in 2008.

Albert had been talking about this mural he helped paint in his elementary school, when he was in elementary school for awhile. He wanted to get a picture of it before they painted over it so sleeping Quentin and I waited in the car while he took pictures of his mural and chatted with an old teacher. He said that they wanted to paint over it because no one knew what it was supposed to be. He explained to them that it was for an inter-school mail system and that there used to be a mailbox right where he's standing in the picture (the astronaut was pointing to it). Since they removed the mailbox ages ago it didn't make much sense anymore. Luckily the mural is still there :)

Albert's sister Melina is due to have a baby girl in January. She's been on bed rest her entire pregnancy and could deliver at anytime. It's wonderful she's held off labor for this long. Jesicca arranged a fun baby shower for her.

It was a lot of fun and we got to see all of Albert's aunts, uncles, and cousins who live in the area. Plus I guessed the number of candies in the bottle (I was amazingly only off by one!!) and we won the best onsie. I kept telling Albert to take a picture of the awesome onsie we made, but he never did. It was based off of the one below, but was much more colorful and said "filipina" instead of "filipino".

There was a lot of great food of course.

We also got a family picture with everyone except for Maya who was with her dad.

The weather was so beautiful the entire time. Every time we go there in the winter I can't believe we actually choose to live somewhere else.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 40

2011-11-25T08:00:00.000-05:00

On Monday Quentin turned nine months old and finally met cousin Jake and his wife Bethany before we headed back home from visiting family. In about six more months Quentin will have another cousin down in Florida when these two have their baby! They are going to be the best parents and we are soo excited for them!

with Cousins Bethany & Jake

Tuesday at his nine month pediatric appointment, Quentin's head measured 18 1/4" (79th percentile), he was 28 3/4" long (68th percentile), and weighed 21 lbs 4.5 oz (72nd percentile). The doctor said he is proportional, just a little big for his age, just like during his last appointment.

Quentin follows me around the condo now that he can army crawl. I thought he was pretty good at getting around when he just rolled everywhere, but now he's really picked up speed. It's tough to keep him from gnawing on our rug in the living room or picking at the carpet along the wall.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T08:00:00.000-05:00

This year we're giving thanks at our condo with our good friends. It'll be small so there will be way too much food I'm sure. I'm excited to see how the recipes I'll be trying from Pinterest turn out. I'm making sweet potatoes, artichoke dip w/ corn tortilla chips, chocolate pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, and brown rice stuffing.

I'm excited to take a minute to not stress out about how we have barely started packing, still haven't sold our elliptical, and don't have a tenant yet for our condo. Instead I'm going to remember how insanely blessed I am for a wonderful, supportive husband who also doubles as my best friend and the sweetest, cutest little baby boy who now follows me around the house now that he can army crawl.

I'm very thankful for membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and all that it entails. I'm grateful for Jesus Christ and for His infinite atonement that helps me become a better person and so much more. In light of our upcoming moves I'm particularly appreciative for the social aspect of the church and the fact that no matter where we move we will always have a ward family waiting for us. I'm also thankful for prayer and the answers I receive even for the little things in my life.

We have a great extended family who are always looking out for us. Praying for us and providing moral support when they are far away. I couldn't ask for better in-laws who have quickly become not only family, but good friends.

In celebrating the friendship that was created between the pilgrims and the Native Americans I'm thankful for old friends, new friends, and those friends who I have yet to meet.

Recipe of the Week: Peaches

2011-11-23T08:00:00.000-05:00

We bought some peaches that needed some more time to ripen but we really wanted to eat them. We decided to cook these hard peaches and it turned out so good. They were a perfect dessert.

Ingredients:

peaches, diced
butter
brown sugar

Directions:

Fry peaches in butter until soft.
Add brown sugar to taste.
Serve alone or over ice cream.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 39

2011-11-18T08:00:00.000-05:00

This week Quentin started army crawling all over and regular crawling a little bit. He also started waving bye-bye, which is the CUTEST thing I've ever seen. Unfortunately he's very picky on what days he'll do it. Quentin flew to Florida to visit his family. He met lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins and of course his grandma and grandpa (shown above). Everyone was so happy to see him and despite being clingy and often tired, he did well. He warmed up to people quickly and loved hanging out with his cousins. I know they will have so much fun when he gets older.

First Haircut

2011-11-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

Quentin has always been blessed with lots of hair. However, in his early months he went through a period of time where all the hair around the edges wore off and since then it's been slowly growing in. He had a lot of really short hair in the front and on the sides and we tried to trim it to blend it in with the rest of his hair, but it was all uneven. It's really hard to cut his hair when he's moving around and we have no skills in hair cutting anyway. So, I talked Albert into cutting his hair with a razor to even it all up. Albert cuts his own hair and has a set of razors so it was bound to look better than my hack job.

We put him in the sink with some towels and toys and it went pretty well. Unfortunately we didn't get an "after" shot because by the end he was ready to go to bed. You will just have to wait for the "Fun Photo Friday" picture to see the results :)

Recipe of the Week: Quick Spinach, Tomato, & Bacon Quiche

2011-11-16T08:00:00.000-05:00

I based this recipe off of my favorite quiche recipe found on All Recipes. I used part mozzarella for the cheese because I ran out of Swiss and then I added frozen spinach that I drained and diced tomatoes to make it a little more healthy. It was very yummy.

Ingredients:

8 slices bacon
2 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
2 ounces shredded Mozzerella
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose {Jules GF} flour
1 1/2 cups milk
3/4 cup frozen spinach, drained
1/3 cup diced tomatoes
I added basil for fun

Directions:

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
Line bottom of pie plate with cheese and crumbled bacon. Combine eggs, butter, onion, salt, flour, tomatoes, spinach, and milk; whisk together until smooth; pour into pie pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, until set. Serve hot or cold.

American History Museum

2011-11-15T13:32:00.001-05:00

For playgroup last week we went to the American History Museum. Well, Quentin and I did and we met up with a couple other moms there. I really wanted to go one last time before we move away and I'm glad I did. The weather has been so nice lately and the leaves are really beautiful.

Here's my traveling buddy. He did great on the metro. He loves to people watch.

When I got there I called Albert to see if he wanted to stop by since his work isn't far away. He came and checked out the cool pop culture stuff and then we headed down to the cafeteria with my mom friends and had lunch.

After lunch Albert and the other moms had to go so Quentin and I checked out the military history stuff and Julia Child's kitchen. I had never seen it before so I made sure to take lots of pictures to document for posterity.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 38

2011-11-11T20:15:00.001-05:00

This week Quentin started to low crawl and he can stand holding onto the couch. He can't do it for very long, but it's exciting anyway. I can't believe how fast time is going!

I bought him some finger food and he's been practicing picking up smaller items using the pincher grasp. Those yogurt bites always get lost in his wet hand so it can be frustrating. He tried mango this week and really seems to like it. I mixed it with brown rice and coconut milk, yum!

His two top front teeth are really starting to come in now that they broke through the gum. He's been such a trooper while we clean the condo and have various strangers over to look at the place and buy furniture.

Recipe of the Week: Baby Oatmeal

2011-11-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

I have found some recipes in the For Dummies Book on feeding your baby and toddler I borrowed from the library. Luckily I've found the same and other recipes on various websites and blogs. I found this simple recipe on the Momtastic blog. I froze the rest of oatmeal and warmed it up for subsequent meals.

For babies 4-6 months

Ingredients:

1/4 cup of ground oats (use regular or steel cut when possible), ground in blender or food processor
3/4 cup - 1 cup water

Directions:

Bring liquid to boil in saucepan.
Add the oatmeal powder while stirring constantly. Simmer for 10 minutes, whisking constantly, mix in formula or breast milk and fruits if desired
Serve warm.

Hidden Pond Nature Center

2011-11-07T16:17:00.000-05:00

Playgroup last Wednesday was held at the Hidden Pond Nature Center. By the time we rolled in a half hour late there was only one other mother that I recognized and she seemed busy so Quentin and I went for a beautiful walk around the pond. The weather was AMAZING and the golden leaves almost made up for not going to Shenandoah this year. Almost.

As we walked along a path we found a playground area with a baby swing. Quentin swang until he couldn't swing anymore and then we headed back. It was a lovely day.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 37

2011-11-04T12:33:00.000-04:00

This week Quentin fell forward, which happens occasionally, but this time his bottom tooth punctured the gums on the top and it started bleeding :( Since there was a tooth under those gums his top left tooth has broke through. So it just ended up speeding things a long a little.

He loves pumpkin mixed with banana and cinnamon, string cheese, and rice crackers. He started eating pasta (gluten-free quinoa) and chicken! He's not really into them since I still mix veggies in with them.

He's been hanging out on his knees, rocking back-and-forth more frequently and for longer periods of time. He recognizes his name and the words cheese and bath, those are his favorite things.

ATC Update: It's Moving Time! Again!

2011-11-03T08:00:00.000-04:00

Remember how Albert has been trying to become an air traffic controller? Well, he went to school and took the test two yrs ago in December in Texas. Last year he received a tentative offer letter to go to Albuquerque, but his HR lady said it would be another 2-3 yrs because he was #24 in line to go there. So he found a permanent job at the FAA so I could quit my job when Quentin was born and we moved into our place in May.

Well, on his birthday, October 25, he received his class date to go to Oklahoma City for four months and then onto NM. He starts December 15 and goes through to April 14!! It took us a few days to even decide we wanted to still go since it's such poor timing for us. When Albert went to tell his boss he was leaving he tried to entice him with all sorts of bonuses and promotions so it wasn't an easy decision at all.

We figure if he doesn't like being and air traffic controller we can always come back to DC and he can work at the FAA again since they love him so much. If we don't do it now, he'll never get to be a controller due to the age limits and over all difficulty of getting in, in the first place. Ready or not, here we go!

It's all so sudden! We have been planning like crazy trying to figure out what we're going to do and how. There are so many things to decide. Should we drive/fly? If we fly, should we buy/lease a new car? Where should we live in Oklahoma and New Mexico? What should we keep, what should we sell? Should we hire movers or try and do it ourselves? Trying to balance between saving money and saving our sanity.

We've recently decided that Quentin and I will join Albert the entire time so we'll have to move all our stuff to Oklahoma City and try and rent out our condo by the time we leave. We definitely want to be together for Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day, and Quentin's birthday. I'm also thinking about going to Houston to see my dad and maybe see my family in Wyoming in January.

We bought tickets to go to Florida for Christmas so we are going to go this month instead so Quentin can see his grandparents before he starts walking. It'll be nice to see everyone and re-group before the big move(s).

I'm a lot more attached to our condo and DC than I imagined I would be. We've been talking about leaving ever since we got married, but it's strange to think we're actually going to do it. I have lived here 7.5 years! I'm pretty anxious about moving somewhere I've never even been before and planning on living there for the foreseeable future. Hopefully we love it there as much as we've loved living here. Luckily we have Facebook so we can still keep in touch with all our friends.

Recipe of the Week: Chicken and Dumplings

2011-11-02T08:00:00.000-04:00

I found the gluten-free dumpling recipe on Gluten Freely which is General Mills GF recipe site. I made up the chicken soup recipe myself. It reminded me of when I was little and we'd visit my great grandma who made the best chicken and dumplings :) You can make the dumplings out of regular Bisquick here.

Ingredients:

Chicken Soup

2 cans chicken broth
1 lb chicken, cubed
3 carrots, sliced
2 ribs celery, sliced
1/2 onion, diced
Parsley
Salt
Pepper

Dumplings

3/4 c gluten-free bisquick
1/3 c milk
1 egg
1 T Parsley

Directions:

Add all of the chicken soup ingredients into the crock pot beginning with the chicken, carrots, onions, and celery. Add parsley, salt, and pepper to taste. You can cook the chicken ahead of time or cook it in the crock pot. In small bowl, stir Bisquick mix, milk, butter, egg and parsley with fork just until blended. Gently drop dough by 8 rounded spoonfuls over soup mixture. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours until chicken is no longer pink and vegetables are soft.

Danielle & Stephen's Engagement Pictures

2011-11-01T10:01:00.000-04:00

We are really excited for our good friend Danielle to marry Stephen on January 14 in Florida. Albert took their engagement pictures in Old Town Alexandria on October 22. We really enjoyed meeting Stephen and are so happy for the pair of them. Luckily for the happy couple Quentin and I tagged along so the photo session had to come to an end when Quentin's bedtime came around. Albert could take photos all night. Here are some of my favorites.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T08:00:00.000-04:00

Date Night with Othello

2011-10-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

On October 26 Albert and I went on our first date since my dad came and visited in April. Our friend came and sat with Quentin who was asleep while we went to see Othello at Synetic Theatre for Albert's birthday (he got free tickets from the USO).

When we arrived we realized that it was a silent play. We were a little concerned about not having any words, but it ended up being really cool. Albert really liked it and now hopes to go to Romeo & Juliet when it comes out in November.

They used music and symbolism to get the story across. It would be an excellent play for someone with who is hearing impaired.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 36

2011-10-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

This week Quentin started getting on his knees! He hasn't done it for very long, but it's progress :) He tried eggs, string cheese, and is totally in love with baby rice crackers. His top teeth are coming in and he's had a snotty nose all week (still). He's been a lot of fun. We have so much fun tickling and playing and kissing his yummy cheeks (after we clean up after lunch).

Throwback Thursday: Oxford 2007 Part III

2011-10-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

Here is my final post on my two week study abroad to Oxford, UK. You can find the other posts here.

Jul 30, 2007

Day 10 -- Oxford

Hello!

Well, I have been somewhat busy the last few days. Saturday I mainly stayed in and read my book for class. I did go shopping at the Gap when we went out for lunch since it's been a lot colder than I anticipated and I wanted some more long sleeved shirts. They had a bunch of stuff on clearance so it wasn't too expensive. I just wanted a white long sleeved shirt and everything here is so expensive. This is after we ate at KFC -- I'm getting real tired of English food, but I was dissappointed that they didn't have the mashed potatoes like they do in the States.

On Sunday I went to church. I was really proud of myself because I actually found it okay. I took a different bus from the one that Jenny had recommended and I still made it there okay. It was really nice to go. I kinda miss hanging out with Mormons sometimes. I'm known as the good church going girl who will be offended by crass things and is the reminder to not be too extreme.

After church I came home and worked on my paper until 1 AM. I'm so glad that's over. I was really tired yesterday because I didn't get too much sleep.

Monday we had a lecture by a lobbyist for the UK government and then after lunch we had a talk by a professor at Oxford about UK politics.

After class I went with Hallie and Bobby to St. Mary's College and we went up in the tower and took tons of pictures of the city. We had to clime a very tall spiral staircase that went up forever. It reminded me of the staircase inside the dome of the Vatican and I was feeling a little claustrophobic.

Afterwards we went inside of Christ's Church College which is what they modeled Harry Potter after. They were going to shoot there, but the college couldn't do without its facilities for so long so they had to make a replica. They did do other filming here in Oxford. It was pretty cool. It's really touristy though and you have to pay to get in.

I went shopping until 5:30 when all the shops close. I found a store that doesn't cost so much so I bought a jacket and a purse. I came home and talked to Albert for a little bit and then I ate the pasta I bought at the grocery store outside with some guys who had kebabs that looked pretty tasty.

There was a big group of peeps who went and saw "The Simpsons." Bobby and I went to the theatre but it was sold out. They said it was okay, not great. I hung out with some peeps at the pub close to our house for a bit but I was super tired so Bobby said he had to go back to get something so he could walk me home.

---

Aug 2, 2007

Oxford -- Day 13

Hello!

Well, yesterday after class Hallie and I went to Magdelene College, which is really beautiful. Part of it is a forest and some American guy who is doing a doctorate dissertation on CS Lewis told us that the path that goes through the park is where he and the guy who wrote "Lord of the Rings" had theological discussions. There was also a heard of deer in the park and we ran into a couple of the actors from "Mid Summer's Night Dream" that we went to the day before on the sidewalk. It was really nice weather too, I could have definitely gotten away with wearing short sleeves and it didn't rain at all.

I then went into the cheap store in the mall and I ran into a guy I met at church (this town in really crazy, I'm always running into people here and I don't even know that many people). I told him I was looking for a place to stay in London on Saturday night and he said that his brother lives there and he might be able to hook me up. So I'm waiting to hear back from him. If not it seems like there are lots of hostels open still so it shouldn't be a problem. If I don't hear from him by tonight I'll just reserve myself a spot at another hostel. Everyone from my group is going home on Saturday so I can't stay with them like I'm doing Friday night.

I also grabbed a great crepe at a little vendor for dinner. That's the best food I've eaten since I got here. Even American and Italian and I hear even Indian food is really lacking here. Maybe we'll have better luck in London with the cuisine.

I took another cold shower and I even tried to shower earlier than usual. I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed and having a nice hot shower. At night I watched "The Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe" with Bobby on his computer. It was pretty good.

Today we just talked about the book reports that we handed in and about the paper we will have to hand in by Sept. 15. I think I'm going to do mine on the economic and political developement of Bulgaria (or Romania) in joining the EU.

We had a break so Hallie and I went around to the Oxford Univ. stores and now we're just chillin' until we have to meet our group at 12:15 PM to go to the pub for lunch. Then we'll be going to the palace where Winston Churchill grew up. It's too bad that it's all cold and rainy today. I thought it was going to be nice.

At 7:00 PM we are having a garden reception and then we'll have our award ceremony and dinner at 7:30 PM. We'll get our group picture and our certificates. It's the only study abroad program in the School of Public Policy at GMU I know of that you get a certificate so that's pretty cool -- it'll look good on the resume.

I'll be going with David to London tomorrow in the mid morning when we have to check out and we'll hang out there and stay in a hostel. We'll probably hang out with Bobby and Ryan and maybe some others who are also going to be in London Friday night. David flies out Saturday evening so I'll hang out with him on Saturday until he goes and then I'll stay the night and fly out Sunday at 11:00 AM. I'm flying into BWI around 4:00 PM so I figure it'll take me a couple hours to get home.

Anyway, should be fun. Hopefully the weather will be good.

Recipe of the Week: Baked Potato Soup

2011-10-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

I found this creamy soup recipe on Mama Loves Food!, found on Pinterest. I halved the recipe when I made it and it filled my crock pot so I recommend not making the whole recipe unless you have a gigantic crock pot and a huge family. It was a super easy recipe, you don't even have to peel the potatoes and it's very good, the bacon adds a nice flavor and texture. I think I liked it more than Albert so it might be more of a chick dish.

Ingredients:

5lbs Russet Potatoes, washed but NOT peeled. Diced into 1/2 inch(ish) cubes
1 large yellow onion, diced
10 cloves of garlic, whole
8 cups chicken stock
16 oz cream cheese (I used 8oz regular and 8oz lowfat)
1 TBS seasoned salt or all-purpose seasoning (like Aunt Cora's Soulful Seasoning)

Garnishes:

Crumbled bacon
Shredded cheddar cheese
Green onions

Directions:

Add potatoes, onion, garlic, seasoning and chicken stock to slow cooker.
Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 10 hours.
Remove and puree the garlic cloves along with 1/2 to 1/3rd of the soup, and then reintroduce to the remainder in the crock pot.
Stir in the cream cheese and allow to melt. Stir every 10-15 minutes until soup is well blended.
Top with your choice of garnishes & serve!

Yields about 10-12 servings.

Birthday Boy

2011-10-25T07:54:00.003-04:00

Today we are celebrating Albert who is now the ripe old age of 29.

I'm so glad Albert was born! He is so thoughtful and loving and shows me how to be a better person. Marrying him was the best decision I've made and I'm so blessed to have him by my side for eternity. He is Quentin's and my best friend and every day we look forward to when he finally comes home from work to hang out with us.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOO!!

Monday Movie Match-up: The Eagle vs. X-Men First Class

2011-10-24T07:26:00.000-04:00

Albert and I love watching our free movie rentals. Each of us gets to pick one and then we decide whose movie was better.

Last Monday Albert chose "The Eagle" with Channing Tatum who we saw in person at the USO sponsored special showing of "G.I. Joe." If you've seen one Roman army movie, you've pretty much seen them all. The story was a little different, but the feel of it was the same. If you love Roman army movies then you will love this one. There was a lot of battle scenes, no romantic story line, and the sadness of the reality of war. It's all about honor and courage. Very manly.

I chose "X-Men First Class." We both enjoy pretty much every comic book movie that's come out and we've seen all the X-Men movies. This one was the back story on how it all got started and I really enjoyed learning about the different relationships and why certain characters are the way they are. It made me want to go back and watch all the other X-Men movies again knowing what I know now.

Winner: X-Men First Class. It was unanimous. Albert said this was his favorite of all the X-Men movies. It kept you guessing and introduced new and old characters in a new way. Of course the effect were cool on our big tv. Plus it showed Oxford which was cool because I've been there.

Bonus movie: We had an extra free code for Blockbuster Express so Albert rented me "Jane Eyre" to watch during the day. Having never read the book, I found the story line of the movie to be very confusing. So much that I had to look up the synopsis on Wikipedia. The beginning skipped around and I couldn't tell if we were watching the past or the future for awhile. Once I read the plot I really started to enjoy it. It wasn't super clear, but I'm sure if you already knew what the movie was about you would like it better. I don't know how it stacks up to the book, but it was definitely made for people who are already "Jane Eyre" fans.

I enjoyed the character of Jane Eyre and appreciated the strong, moral, feminist person she was and despite her hardships she was not looking for a pity party. Interesting note: the male lead was played by Michael Fassbender who also played Magneto in X-Men.

Quentin + Pumpkins = 100% Cuteness

2011-10-23T11:05:00.000-04:00

It didn't take much to convince Albert to take pictures of Quentin with pumpkins after I put on his cute Zutano hat. Happy Halloween!

Fall Festival Fail

2011-10-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

We had a fun filled Saturday planned for October 15. We started out 90 minutes later than planned, but such is life with a baby. It would have been ok except for all the traffic we ran into on our way to Shenandoah National Park. Quentin wanted out of his car seat bad and we still had an hour to go when we decided to cut our loses and hang out at the Fair Oaks Mall so we could still make it to the USO sponsored Fall Festival, which started at 4:30 PM. We ate at Five Guys and happily stopped by H&M and Godiva until it was time to go.

We were really excited to go to the fall festival because the last time Albert and I went in 2009 it was lots of fun. There was a lot of free food and we got our picture taken, a free mini pumpkin, there were costume competitions, a petting zoo, and they raffled off free bikes. We were the only ones there without a kid so we were excited to take Quentin this time.

This year it was held at a different base and it was outside. There were a lot more people there and we ended up standing in various lines the entire time. First we stood in a really long registration line where we assumed we would get a bag full of awesome goodies. We just got an empty trick-or-treat bag and ONE raffle ticket. Then we stood in a line for hot dogs where we only got one hot dog a piece. We then wandered over to the cotton candy line, which was also long, but we wanted some sugar to off set the hot dog. The popcorn line looked a lot shorter so we went and waited in that line, but a lady in front of us had like 50 kids and she kept asking for more and more bags so that ended up being really long too.

The highlight was getting a balloon made for Quentin by a clown. He loved it and wanted to chomp on it so we had to take it away because I was afraid it was going to pop in his mouth. It ended up popping anyway. They raffled off a barbie doll and some candy which we didn't win. We didn't enter Quentin into the costume competition because there were so many kids and they had cooler costumes anyway. Plus we didn't have a bunch of friends or family there to cheer for him so he would win.

We're going to try the Shenandoah trip again.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 35

2011-10-21T10:27:00.001-04:00

Quentin turned eight months old today! Such a big boy :) This little guy had a majorly stuffy nose at the beginning of the week and has been teething so that hasn't been fun and he's cut back a lot on his eating solids. I have to beg him to eat the bare minimum. He's still been our happy little boy even though he wasn't feeling well. On Thursday Quentin was able to meet little Scotty (Scott and Courtney's cute baby) in town from California.

Throwback Thursday: Oxford 2007 Part II

2011-10-20T08:33:00.000-04:00

Here is part two out of three posts dedicated to my short study abroad to Oxford, UK in the summer of 2007. You can find the rest of the posts here.

Jul 24, 2007

Oxford -- Day 4

Hello!

Today has beautiful weather. It's been a blue and gold day as they say and actually warm enough to shed my jacket for a bit. We had two entertaining guest lecturers this morning who spoke about Englishness and about why the UK should not adopt the Euro. We had a more technical lecture this afternoon by our very pro-Euro teacher who balanced things out a bit. After class we took our group picture in front of the Principle's Lodgings so hopefully that turned out good.

After class David, a guy from school, and I went into town to see Christ's Church. It is the most famous church in Oxford and they modeled the dining hall in Harry Potter after the dining hall at that college. We walked around the gardens and examined some of the flooded areas. I have it all well documented incase they need any pictures for insurance purposes :) Apparently it's a pretty big deal. We were supposed to have another guest lecturer this afternoon however he couldn't make it from London because the train tracks are flooded. He's getting married on Thursday so we won't be able to reschedule.

We were going to go inside the church but it closed before we got a chance. Next time I guess. I had some homemade ice cream while David ate a bagel sandwich and then we went shopping for a bit and I picked up a sandwich (tuna and sweet corn on malted bread) and water from the grocery store for dinner.

My plan is to read my book this evening and try to go to bed at a decent hour. It's hard getting used to going to bed 5 hrs earlier and definitely getting up 5 hrs earlier is a challenge.

---

Jul 27, 2007

Oxford -- Day 6

Current mood: sleepy

Hello!

I didn't write yesterday because nothing cool happened. I went to class and then I took a nap. I went to the grocery store and bought dinner and read my book all evening. I did buy a cool Oxford University polo looking shirt that was on sale.

Today was much more exciting. This morning we left at 8:00 AM for London. We went to St. Paul's Cathedral, but none of us went in because it costs £8.50, which is about $17. It was pretty cold and windy so we hid out in a restaurant until the bus took us to our first meeting at the European Commission in the UK. The guy who gave the presentation was a bit dry and I'm still not really sure what the commission does. Someone later explained that they were the civil servants of the EU. Afterwards we went to a more lively talk at the EU Parliament in the UK.

I had been planning on staying in London and going to dinner and taking a later bus back to Oxford, but when we got out of the last meeting it was raining pretty hard so I just rode back with the chartered bus. We got back to Oxford at about 6:00 PM and I went out to dinner with a couple guys and a girl from my group. It was fun.

It's been interesting on this trip because alcohol has been a big part of it for the majority of my classmates. It seems like alcohol is much more the norm here culturally than in the States. I noticed that when one of the lecturers talked about someone who made Cognac for a living he talked about it in a very matter of a fact way as though he made shoes. My American classmates sort of giggled about it. I see that alcohol is a more normal part of life, while even for my classmates who drink it's not quite as normal as it is for the Europeans.

I have also noticed that by not drinking I have limited my social interactions with most of my classmates. I'm not as close to them as others are because I haven't gone out drinking with them and some of them still remember me being the one who was kept awake by their late night wine drinking the first night we were here. I don't want to be seen as not fun, but going and hanging out at a pub late at night doesn't sound like too much fun.

Tomorrow I'm going to go to Bath with Bobby, a guy from my program. I've heard some really good things about it so I'm looking forward to it. I'm not sure what I'll do on Saturday. There are some peeps going to London to watch a double header soccer match that could be cool. Inter Milan is playing in one of them.

---

Jul 28, 2007

Day 7 -- Oxford

Hello!

Well, today was good. This morning I got up and went to Bath with Bobby from Arkansas. We nearly missed the bus because we didn't realize that the one we needed was already there. The Scottish bus driver barely let us on and he was pretty strict, telling us we were talking too loud and we needed to put on our seat belts. We had been sitting in the front next to him, but at the first stop we moved to the back of the bus so we didn't have to worry about getting in trouble.

The first thing we did in Bath was go to McDonald's since we were both starving and needed to use the loo and you can do both at McDonald's. We generally stay away from American restaurants but frankly I'm getting tired of English food, which isn't all that great. After eating a mediocre quarter pounder we toured through the Bath Abbey, which is really pretty. The square outside the church was great. There was a kid playing classical guitar which was absolutely beautiful and the architecture was amazing. The ambiance was a lot like Italy and I think that's why I liked it so much.

Afterwards went to the Roman bath museum. It was cool, a bit long, but interesting. I wanted to jump in the water even though it was all green and there was stuff growing in it. We walked through the city a bit and then headed back to the bus station.

On the way home we were the last ones on the bus so we had to sit on the back row with a group of about seven 17-yr-old Brits heading home from holiday. They were pretty annoying, but in the end we had a conversation with them about our different cultures. One is going to college in the US on a soccer scholarship.

We finally got back to Oxford at about 7:30 PM so we went and ate at an Italian restaurant then came back and watched "Snatch." Some of the group went to Paris and London and a couple went to Stonehenge. Bobby wanted to go to Stonehenge tomorrow, but decided to hang out here after I said I had to stay and work on my paper. Since I'm going to church on Sunday I won't have time to do it Sunday. I'm looking forward to a break from traveling and sleeping in a bit. I have to figure out how to do my laundry as well.

My new boss emailed me saying she'd like me to start my job on August 6 even though I won't have my security clearance. I would be working at the main building in Silver Spring. I was really looking forward to that two week vacation once I got back and having my bday off. I haven't told her yes or no since I just checked my email. I'm thinking I'd like to take at least a week off.

Recipe of the Week: Quick Swiss Cheese & Bacon Quiche

2011-10-19T07:45:00.000-04:00

I was always under the impression that quiche were very expensive to make and being gluten-free it would be a big pain to make a homemade crust so I was very happy to find this easy and yummy recipe on All Recipes. I will definitely be making this again.

Ingredients:

8 slices bacon
4 ounces shredded Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons butter, melted
4 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose {Jules GF} flour
1 1/2 cups milk

Directions:

Place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain, crumble and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9 inch pie pan.
Line bottom of pie plate with cheese and crumbled bacon. Combine eggs, butter, onion, salt, flour and milk; whisk together until smooth; pour into pie pan.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, until set. Serve hot or cold.

Big Apple Circus

2011-10-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

Albert was able to get free tickets to the Big Apple Circus through the USO along with free food vouchers so we went out to the Dulles Town Center on October 8. It was pretty cool. There were acrobats, clowns, magic tricks, a juggler, horses, and trapeze artists all in a big tent as it should be.

After seeing Cirque du Soleil nothing else really compares, but it was fun to see. Unfortunately Quentin didn't enjoy it as much as we did. He didn't like the loud noises and was too distracted to really eat anything so he was hungry. My arms were sore from trying to wrangle him for two hours. Luckily his cries were drowned out by the applause so we didn't have to take him out. We will wait until he's older to go again.

20 happy things

2011-10-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

Taking a cue from Rockstar Diaries I'm making a list of what makes me happy, but I couldn't decide on 10 things so I went with 20.

found here.

A crisp fall day
Having my husband home from work
Sounds of my smiley happy baby
Saturday morning breakfast
Country music on the radio on a lazy day
The smell of bacon
Shopping in the city
A nice long Albert (or Quentin) hug
Farmers markets
Listening to General Conference
Painting my nails
Drinking hot chocolate
Making a great tasting and looking meal
Long hot bath/shower
Getting a good deal
The spirit I feel as I leave the temple
Catching up with family & friends
Going to lectures on any social science
Chocolate no-bake cookies (w/o pb)
Colored tights

Fun Photo Friday: Week 34

2011-10-14T17:04:00.001-04:00

This week was pretty rough. Quentin is getting another new tooth on the bottom plus he's been really congested. He cried a lot on Tuesday and Wednesday I broke down and gave him some Tylenol which helped a lot. Since he's been sick he hasn't wanted solids although he has eaten a little the last two days.

He doesn't want to be alone at all so it's been tricky to get anything done around the house. Needless to say we didn't get out much so it was a pretty low key week. Quentin is still working on crawling, getting those hips up more frequently.

Thursday Throwback: Oxford 2007

2011-10-13T08:00:00.001-04:00

Way back in 2007 I was going to school for my masters degree and dating Albert. I went on a two week study abroad to Oxford, UK and while I was there I decided to blog about my adventures on MySpace. Since I no longer use my MySpace account I figured I'd better get the posts I wrote and put them somewhere I actually use and so they won't get deleted from inactivity. I will break them up into three different posts because there is a lot of material here :) You can find the other posts here.

Jul 21, 2007

Oxford -- Day 1

Current mood: tired

Well, I made it to Oxford! My flight was actually pretty good. I fell asleep pretty quick after I got on the plane, I even missed the snack, which is unlike me since I seem to have an unexplainable fear of starving to death on a plane. Luckily there wasn't anyone sitting next to me so I was able to stretch out a bit. I slept pretty well for me, probably got a good 3-4 hrs in. I got through customs and onto the Oxford bus with no problems and even got off on the right stop. It took me a bit to find a taxi but eventually I got one and found my way to my friend Jenny's house. I took a lovely shower and she kept me awake by taking me downtown to run some errands.

I forgot the all important tooth brush, luckily British Airways includes that in a little packet they give you, but I wanted a full length one so I bought one at Boots and after a bit of searching I also found the book I'm supposed to do my 2nd book report on (it's due next Monday and is 500 pgs so I wanted to get started on it). I couldn't find it in any book stores in the US and ordering it would have taken too long. I looked up some bookstores in Oxford this last week to see if I could find one here that might have it, but had no success. I did email back and forth with a manager of a store here and he said he could order it for me, but it would take a week. It was funny cuz I went into that same book store today (unknowingly) and asked the man at the counter for the book and he asked if I was the person who he'd emailed. Crazy to talk to the same guy who I emailed in DC here in Oxford. I took the guy's suggestion and checked a book store up the street and they had a used copy even so it was cheaper.

Oxford in the rain

It's pretty cold here and really rainy. They are selling scarves on the streets and everyone is wearing coats. The city itself is very quaint, Harry Potterisque. Everyone is pretty obsessed with Harry Potter and there are books everywhere. It reminds me a lot of Italy and I'm sure Jenny is already tired of me droning on about it.

After we went to the grocery store where I bought an obscene amount of digestives (to take back...geesh, I'm not going to eat them all myself, today anyway), a few Mueller yogurts and some black current juice, Jenny and I went to the LDS church to help out in a children's activity. I had to be in a play about loving one another. Luckily I only had two lines, which I was horrible at because I'm exhausted. I'm really trying to stay awake as long as possible though.

Cheers!

---

Jul 22, 2007
Oxford -- Day two
Current mood: cheerful

Everything is going well. I made it to my dorm after church. I'm sitting here at my little desk drinking black current juice (it's very popular here). I'm so excited because not only do I have my own room but I also have my own bathroom and they are both clean! Immediately I put all my stuff away and blew out my i-pod speakers -- apparently I needed to use my voltage converter after all. At least I have my laptop.

This morning I went to church with Jenny and that was good. I walked back to her place alone cuz she wanted to stay for choir practice. I ate her peanut butter and honey and bread and packed up my stuff. I took a cab to my new home for the next 2 wks. The cab driver was new and had a hard time finding the place and I had no idea where it was, but he didn't charge me for the time we spent looking for it. I'm still not sure if it's customary to tip cab drivers since yesterday he drove off w/o one, didn't seem like he expected one, and today he seemed surprised when I added one. So I don't know. After I checked in I got a little lost trying to find my dorm and ran into the teacher for my program. He helped me find my dorm and even carried my very heavy bag up the stairs, I felt bad, but very grateful. Everyone has been very nice and helpful.

I have an orientation and dinner tonight that I have to dress up for. I'm still trying to get used to the time change. I have no internal clock that tells me about what time it is...I can't even guess w/o looking. It's a beautiful campus and the weather has been sunny and pretty warm...like a nice spring day.

---

Jul 23, 2007
Oxford -- Day 3
Current mood: cheerful

Hello!

Well, today has been the most exciting thus far. I didn't get much sleep because the pub going folk came back around midnight and broke out a bottle of wine and were talking in their loud drunk voice right outside of my paper thin walls. Finally I went out there and they apologized and went to bed. Hopefully it doesn't happen again tonight.

During breakfast I sat by an older couple who are at Oxford researching for the book they are writing about the leaders who have influenced the Middle East including kings from the UK down to Wolfowiz. Sounds pretty interesting. It'll be out next year.

This morning we had class and learned all about the history of the EU. It was pretty interesting. Our guest lecturer couldn't make it into town because of the flooding so hopefully she'll come later on this week.

For lunch we went to a pub and I had fish and chips. The food was okay, but the conversation was good. Afterwards we went on a tour of Oxford, mostly of the University. I took loads of pictures. It was fun. Then I stayed downtown to check out the stores. I bought more scarves even though I had decided not to buy anymore, because it's been cold enough to wear them and they were fairly cheap...for here. If you think about the prices in dollars it's like everything is on sale, but once you convert them to being twice the price everything seems ludicrously expensive.

I went to Lush -- where they make handmade cosmetics out of all natural ingredients and I actually did come out with some soap that I bought (I'm a little primadonna with my face wash and like all natural ingredients if I can help it) along with a bunch of free samples that are quite large. The store clerk really hooked me up with shampoo, conditioner and hair treatment. I stayed there long enough.

Then I ran into a guy from my program randomly and we had dinner and went to the grocery store. The city is small and quaint. I really like it. It's fun. Expensive, but cool. It would be fun to be here during term. There is so much tradition, it would be cool to go to school here. Don't worry I'm not planning on it...yet

Recipe of the Week: Polenta with Italian Sausage and Vegetables

2011-10-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

I based this yummy recipe off of this recipe from Betty Crocker. I ended up changing it quite a bit because I couldn't find any zucchini or squash that was worth buying and I had left over sausages I wanted to use (they added a really nice flavor). Also, I like to eat my polenta either broiled or grilled. If you want a vegetarian meal, omit the sausage. If you don't have a lot of time you could make the polenta and add your favorite jar of pasta sauce as an alternative to pasta.

Although I don't cook with artichoke hearts often, I really liked the flavor they added to this sauce. Albert LOVED it and said it was like eating at a restaurant. I will definitely make this one again.

Ingredients:

1 cup of polenta or medium course corn meal
3/4 cup cold water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups boiling water
2/3 cup (2.5 oz) shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup chopped red or green pepper
1/4 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic, crushed (optional, I forgot this and it was fine)
1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained and cut into fourths
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1 can (8 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (4 oz) mushrooms
2 Italian sausage links, sliced (like these)
1/4 cup chopped fresh or 1 tablespoon dried basil (or more to taste)
1 tablespoon oregano (or more to taste)
salt and pepper (to taste)
parmesan cheese

Directions:

Beat cornmeal and cold water in 2-quart saucepan with wire whisk. Stir in boiling water and salt. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and boils; reduce heat. Cover and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in cheese until smooth. Pour polenta into a 9x13 pan and smooth. Let cool. It will set up and harden a little.
Heat oil in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook sausage until brown. Add bell pepper, onion and garlic in oil about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisp-tender. Stir in seasonings, artichoke hearts, diced tomatoes, mushrooms, and tomato sauce. Let simmer.
Broil polenta until brown. You can also cut the polenta into squares and grill it which is really good, but more time consuming.
Serve vegetable mixture over polenta and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Tip of the Day: Baking Soda and Peroxide

2011-10-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

I found this tip on Pinterest, but originally it came from the blog "One Good Thing" by Jillee. Jillee used it to get hard water stains from her cooking utensils and to clean up her old jelly roll pans. See the miracle this mixture performed on her pan below.

from here.

RECIPE: Mix 1/4 cup of baking soda in a small glass bowl and squirt in hydrogen peroxide until it makes a nice paste. Then rub it on the offending dirt/stain/grease. You can use your fingers or a small sponge. She doesn't specify how long or if she waited so I left if for an hour or so for good measure.

from here.

RESULT: I tried it out on one of my non-stick pans that has some oil/grease build up that we can't seem to get off. It got off all of the oil from the dish I made that day really easily, which is generally a pain, and some of the oil from before, but didn't get it spotless. I liked that it's not a harsh cleaner so I can use it on my cook wear.

I also used it on our toaster and the stove top. It worked really well on the toaster, getting off all the old build up that appliances seem to collect. It didn't get old grease that was on my stove burners that even Comet hasn't been able to get off, but it cleaned up the new stuff really nicely. The only problem was that I had to clean the baking soda off about four times from our black stove. I do not recommend buying a black stove because it shows any sort of spot way too well.

I'd definitely recommend it. It's cheap, easy, and not harsh and it works pretty well. Worth trying.

BONUS TIP FROM E.L.F.: Need to remove stains from your teeth?Mix a little bit of baking soda and peroxide together and use as a paste instead of your normal tooth paste once a week.

Regular Day Off

2011-10-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

Albert works 9 hours a day and gets every other Friday off. We love this arrangement because we get a lot done on his days off. Running errands with a baby by yourself is much more time consuming and difficult because even if you just want to run into the library to drop off a book you have to bring the baby with you. If you have someone else with you they can just wait in the car.

On Friday, September 30 we ended up doing some fun things we weren't expecting.I had read on a gluten free blog on Thursday that the sâuçá food truck would be giving away Glutino gluten free sandwiches right by my old work at Farrugut Square the next day. So we made sure we got there to get one of these great sandwiches. I hadn't eaten a whole sandwhich in a long time so it was quite the treat. Albert picked up another one for me, both were turkey and avocado, my favorite.

I ate the first one immediately. It had a nice texture. The crust was hard, but the inside was nice and soft. It wasn't crumbly or anything.

I saved the second one and made into a panini the next day. It was also delicious.

On the way out of DC we passed by the Washington Monument where they were inspecting the damage caused by the earthquake. We could see the guys repelling on all four sides. How cool would it be to say you repelled down the Washington Monument? Very.

We happened across a Hana Tokyo Groupon for half off of lunch good only for Friday. We bought two and headed on down to one of our favorite restaurants. We had tempura ice cream (not gluten free) for dessert. Yum!

Fun Photo Friday: Week 33

2011-10-07T07:58:00.000-04:00

This week Quentin has moved up from cobra to upward facing dog pose. He's getting closer and closer every week to crawling. He is eating three solid meals a day. We're still working on naps and getting him on a good schedule during the day. It was really nice weather so we tried to get out. We went for a few walks and went to a nice park for playgroup. He did well while we watched General Conference last weekend and had fun hanging out with our friend's little boy when we had people over for the Sunday morning session.

Zutano Giveaway Loot

2011-10-06T10:35:00.000-04:00

Two days after I delivered Quentin and I was still in the hospital I received an email from Spearmint Baby letting me know that I had won a $100 gift certificate for Zutano online baby boutique. I was so excited to get cute clothes for my new baby! Unfortunately I was too busy to buy clothes then, they have the cutest newborn clothes, so I waited a bit.

I wanted to buy their cute booties because they are really hard to find and they are a bit pricey. I have a pair of well-loved booties like these I received in a box of free clothes from someone from my old ward (church congregation) that are getting too small. I noticed Zutano had free shipping for the month of September so I made sure I used my gift certificate then. I bought three pairs of booties, a hat, and mittens for the upcoming winter. They are nicely made and very cute. I can't wait for Quentin grow into them!

Thanks Zutano and Spearmint Baby for the awesome gift!

Recipe of the Week: Lemon Chicken Stir-fry

2011-10-05T08:00:00.000-04:00

This isn't so much a recipe as a seasoning packet review. I used a Sun-Bird seasoning packet. It was pretty good, but needed to be more lemony for my tastes. I added a bunch of lemon juice, but then it was too much.

Lots of yummy vegetables.

Natural History Museum

2011-10-04T10:04:00.004-04:00

On September 26 Quentin and I went on a little trip to the Natural History Museum in DC with some friends from church. Quentin wasn't nearly as excited as I was. I had to take pictures of the cute baby bear (too bad he's stuffed) and the antelope and gopher, I'm sure they're from Wyoming (FYI: WY has more antelope than people).

My favorite part was the section on forensics. It was like TV show "Bones." The picture of the skulls are skulls from a Native American, a European, and and African and details how you can tell the ethnicity of someone through their skull. I should have been an anthropologist.

Quentin really liked the artistic interpretation of the deep sea or twilight zone where they light up. Very cool. He also liked the little fish tank. We were lucky because the butterfly pavilion is free on Tuesdays so we got to go in and see the pretty butterflies flying all around us. Plus there were hardly any tourists there...it's a good time to come to DC friends! Another lucky find was that it was the day they feed the taranchula. She only eats like once a week so it was a big deal. Did you know there are no reported cases of a taranchula killing a human?

Overall it was really fun to get out of the house and wander into the big city. We might have to do this again folks!

Tip of the Day: How to Buy a Mattress

2011-10-01T22:26:00.000-04:00

We decided to buy a new bed. We have been sleeping on a full sized mattress that Albert bought off of Craig's List for my birthday in 2007. While pregnant I vowed that I would have a new bed by the time we decided to have another. It was uncomfortable and there was no room for all three of us plus my maternity body pillow. Even though I'm not expecting, we decided to go ahead and get a new mattress since we both wake up to middle back pain every morning. Family members suggested we skip the queen sized bed and go right to the king since kids always want to hang out on their parents' bed.

Initially we looked online planning on buying the cheapest one we could find and then we went to Sleepy's to check them out. We really liked their My Side Series 6 Mattresses and after doing their little test we found that instead of a firm mattress like we thought we wanted, we really needed a softer mattress that conformed to our bodies.

We talked the guy down some and he threw in a pair of sheets. It's the most expensive mattress in the store and we weren't sure we were making a good decision. We decided to cancel our order and keep searching. When I called the headquarters to cancel they offered me the employee discount. It was 48% below the initial price. We decided to take it figuring we could always cancel it again later if we found something else. The trick with Sleepy's is that you can cancel anytime before it's delivered so make sure you give yourself enough time to do some shopping before the delivery date.

We went to almost every mattress store in the area to try out different mattresses and Albert looked on-line at all the mattress purchasing tips. They said not to buy any mattress for more than 50% of the initial price and they also said that there isn't a big difference between $2000 mattresses and $1000 mattresses. I could tell a difference between the lower priced mattresses so I'm not sure if that's true or not. Especially when purchasing a king sized mattress you need to make sure there is enough support in the middle of the bed because they are so big they tend to sag.

We never found a mattress we liked better so we had it delivered on September 3. We opted not to get the box springs as it saved us $1000. Instead we bought a platform bed frame from Wal-Mart. We also put cardboard between the mattress and the frame to provide extra support.

We've had the the mattress for a month now and we love having the extra space. It's so much more comfortable and I rarely wake up in the middle of the night like I used to. So far so good. Our bedroom is finally starting to come together.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 32

2011-09-30T11:54:00.000-04:00

This week Quentin started eating corn. He's sitting up a lot better. He's still waking up early and going to bed earlier. Still not really taking naps. We went to the Natural History Museum on Tuesday with some friends and to playgroup and had a play date on Wednesday and Thursday. Quentin loves interacting with other babies and kids so he was in heaven. Friday Dad was home so Quentin was able to hang out with his favorite playmate.

Recipe of the Week: French Toast

2011-09-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

French toast was something I wasn't sure about making. How much egg? How much milk? So I found this great easy recipe on Simply Recipes and haven't looked back. I use Udi's Gluten-Free Bread and it works so well. I highly recommend it. Yum!

Ingredients:

4 eggs
2/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons of cinnamon
8 thick slices of
2-day-old bread, better if slightly stale
ButterMaple syrup

Directions:

Beat eggs, milk, and cinnamon together. Whisk until well blended. Pour into a shallow bowl.
Dip each slice of bread into the egg mixture, allowing bread to soak up some of the mixture. Melt some butter (or use vegetable oil) over a large skillet on medium high heat. Add as many slices of bread onto the skillet as will fit at a time. Fry until brown on both sides, flipping the bread when necessary.
Serve hot with butter, maple syrup, and if available, fresh berries.Serves 4.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 31

2011-09-23T08:40:00.001-04:00

This week Quentin turned seven months old! I can't believe we're past the half-way mark to the big birthday! He has been eating oatmeal and carrots everyday. At first he liked the oatmeal more than the carrots, but lately he never finishes the oatmeal and can't get enough of those carrots. Hopefully this translates to good eyesight like my mom always promised.

He sits for short periods of time by himself and occasionally pokes his butt up in the air while in cobra pose. Maybe he'll start crawling one of these days. I have been putting him on sheet in the living room surrounded by toys (thanks for the sheet idea Sara!), but he always goes for anything that's not a toy (couch, toy box, tags on anything, the sheet, a rag). Sometimes I wonder why we even bother with toys. We went to music makers (sort of like a music Gymboree class they teach for free at church) on Monday and he really enjoyed all the singing and being around other kids and babies.

Thursday while I was making lunch and he was playing in the living room he started making his scared cry so I immediately went over to check on him. He was all wrapped up in the sheet, head to toe. It took me awhile to get him out because it was wrapped around him four or fives times. He must have just kept rolling and then got scared when he couldn't get out. I was wishing I could get a picture, but I was afraid maybe he couldn't breathe very well. Crazy kid!

Recipe of the Week: Baked Sweet Potato

2011-09-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

One of our favorite vegetables is a baked sweet potato. They are so easy and good. I like to just add butter and maybe a little brown sugar. Albert likes his with butter, salt, and pepper. It's one of those things that is so easy you might not know the recipe (like me). They are especially good on a cool day when you need to turn on the oven for an hour just to warm up. I used this recipe on Real Simple.

Ingredients

2 medium sweet potatoes, unpeeled
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions

Heat oven to 400° F.
Pierce each sweet potato several times with the tines of a fork.
Place the sweet potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet lined with foil.
Bake until tender, about 45 minutes. Make a slit in the top of each sweet potato.
Top with 1 tablespoon of butter and season as you like.

Closet Organization

2011-09-17T10:52:00.000-04:00

We are SLOWLY getting our place put together. The first "room" we finished was our bedroom closet. This is the first time we've actually shared a closet and it's worked out well. I'm really happy with it. I had to keep my clothes in the guest room closet until it was finished so I'm doubly happy it's done.

This is our before picture:

While doing the remodel we painted all our closets white, including ceilings. Albert added a rack on the far wall where I can hang my long clothes. Originally we only had one rack that was there was really old so Albert replaced that too. We bought the crates on the shelf at Wal-Mart and Target where we put my nice purses and our bedding. I keep my nice scarves in the hat boxes on the floor.

We used our Double Hang Closet Rods to make the lower rack for my shirts.

We bought all new hangers. We used to have a mix of plastic and wire hangers and I am so happy with our new thin velvet no slip hangers.

I love this jewelry organizer I bought off of Amazon.com. I have one with hooks that hangs on the wall, but I have way too many necklaces and they were always getting tangled.

Household Essentials 80-Pocket Cotton Canvas Jewelry Organizer

Albert finally has a tie rack where he can keep them nice.

We keep our belts on an over the door rack

My bigger, not as nice bags are hung on the back of the door.

I bought a scarf hanger from IKEA where we keep all our warm scarves in the coat closet. This is so nice! It's very sturdy and holds a lot of weight.

Albert put this shoe rack up inside our coat closet. He bought the materials at Home Depot.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 30

2011-09-16T09:18:00.000-04:00

The Saddest Boy in the World

This week was a little rough. Quentin was pretty fussy for the first couple days and I couldn't leave his side without him crying. He's been waking up at about 6 AM instead of his usual 8 AM, which has been hard on me. He has been doing better at eating and I've been trying to give him rice cereal everyday. I know he needs more food because he's waking up hungry so early in the morning. Next week we'll try giving him another meal of solids and see how he does.

We went to playgroup on Wednesday and it was so nice outside. He had so much fun hanging out with the kids and being outside. On Thursday we had a playdate with a little boy who is exactly two months older and that was a lot of fun. Quentin has started to sit up by himself for short periods of time, he's getting pretty good at it.

Recipe of the Week: Lemon Garlic Tilapia

2011-09-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

This recipe comes from AllRecipes and can be found here. It was pretty good, but I think it would have been better with more sauce. We like to eat our fish with rice and it's better with sauce. Perhaps it's just a personal preference. It is really easy with just a few ingredients although I added salt and pepper since it's not very flavorful otherwise.

Ingredients

4 tilapia fillets
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakespepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Spray a baking dish with non-stick cooking spray.
Rinse tilapia fillets under cool water, and pat dry with paper towels.Place fillets in baking dish.
Pour lemon juice over fillets, then drizzle butter on top. Sprinkle with garlic, parsley, and pepper.
Bake in preheated oven until the fish is white and flakes when pulled apart with a fork, about 30 minutes.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 29

2011-09-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

This week we have been trying to get Quentin to go to sleep on his own instead of falling asleep eating. He hasn't been taking it too well. When I've woke him up after his feeding he cries and cries and I usually end up feeding him again.

We have cut out the multiple feedings in the evening (luckily he's been sleeping through the night for months now) by feeding him before his bath and then once before he goes to sleep. This has gone over really well and is leaving us more down time in the evening. We also moved up his bedtime since he's tired at 7 pm.

Things are going better with the teething business and he is back to his happy self. He loves rolling and scooting on the floor and our big new bed. We also discovered that he likes bananas just like his daddy. Perhaps this will lead to more foods he will eat. He will eat pretty much anything that isn't actual food :)

Recipe of the Week: Taco Soup

2011-09-07T14:42:00.002-04:00

We make taco soup a lot. We love it and it is so easy! Can't beat that :) We based our recipe on our chili recipe we just replaced the chili powder with taco seasoning and added corn. I like to make it in the crockpot.
Ingredients:
1 onion
1 lbs 96% lean ground beef
14 oz tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 packet of taco seaoning mix
17 oz diced tomatoes
155 gram green pepper
1 can kidney Beans
1 can of corn

Directions:

Brown the meat. Add all ingredients into the crockpot starting with the onions and green peppers. Cook on low until the onions and green peppers are cooked through or you're ready to eat. I like to start mine in the morning or afternoon before Quentin has his breakdown in the evening. We like to eat ours with corn chips and sometimes we add cheese.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 28

2011-09-02T11:02:00.000-04:00

This week Quentin's two bottom teeth broke through and he's been so whiney, poor guy. We've had a few biting incidences with his new teeth that are very painful for mom, but hopefully it won't be a regular thing. We've also been trying to get him to eat solids on a regular basis. Originally he liked rice cereal, but lately he refuses to open his mouth and just cries instead, he's a very stubborn little boy. It's no fun and everyone loses. luckily the latter half of the week has been a lot better and hopefully this continues.

Birthday Time!

2011-09-01T14:56:00.000-04:00

Since it was my birthday last week we went out to eat using up birthday coupons and gift cards. First we went to Noodles & Co. on August 12. We got a totally free meal here. Albert used the t-shirt I got awhile back for a free salad and I used my coupon for free birthday noodles. I chose mac & cheese with rice noodles since it was my birthday, but was a little disappointed because they started using this liquid cheese and it's just not as good.

On my birthday, August 16, we went to Maggiano's and used a $10 off birthday coupon and a gift certificate from my good friend Sara. It was pretty fun trying their new Classic Pastas. They have gluten free pasta and if you get a classic pasta you can pick one to eat there and another to take home for $12.95. We end up with four meals because you are good eating half of each at one sitting. Such a good deal. Quentin wasn't as excited about going out to eat so we took turns holding him while the other one ate.

While I didn't really do anything special during the day, it was so nice not to have to go to work this year and to get to hang out with my favorite little buddy who is always full of smiles. No one is ever happier to see me.

We went to Sam's Club that weekend and bought frozen Cheesecake Factory Cheese cake and I ate the Godiva Double Chocolate cheesecake for my birthday cake afterwards.

Albert's parents gave me gift certificates to Chili's so we stopped there on August 17 when we didn't have time to cook. We went back to Noodles and Co. on August 23 to celebrate Albert's promotion and then got my free birthday ice cream at Coldstone (it's now buy-on-get-one free so it's barely worth it). It was pretty tasty though.

Recipe of the Week: Gluten-Free Biscuits

2011-08-31T08:00:00.001-04:00

Pin It

I have tried many different recipes for biscuits using the Jules GF Flour but they ended up really hard so I finally tried a regular gluten-free recipe and it turned out great. It does have an after taste from all the cornstarch but it's not that bad and the texture is great. You can find the recipe here. They are great with gravy!

Ingredients

1 cup cornstarch
1 cup brown rice flour
1 tsp. xanthan gum
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. kosher salt
4 Tbsp. butter, unsalted, chilled, cut into small cubes
1 cup buttermilk
2 egg whites
cooking spray

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare two baking sheets by lining them with parchment paper or by lining them with foil and a light coating of cooking spray.
In a medium mixing bowl, add cornstarch, brown rice flour, xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Combine with a fork until ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the mix. Add the chilled butter cubes and work the butter into the dry ingredients using your fingers or a pastry cutter until the mixture has a sandy, crumbly texture.
In a small measuring cup, measure the buttermilk and add the egg whites. Pour the wet ingredients into the mixture of dry ingredients and butter and work with a fork until just combined. This is a wet, slightly sticky dough, and you can easily make these into drop biscuits if you’d like at this point, but I personally prefer to use cutters to make the biscuits. If you’re using the “cutter” method, then spray your hands with cooking spray and turn the dough onto a floured or non-stick surface (I just use another sheet of parchment paper), forming it into a 3/4 inch thick disc. Spray your dough cutter (I use a 2 1/4 inch round) with cooking spray and cut as many biscuits as you can from the dough, reforming and cutting until the dough is gone.
Move the biscuits to the baking sheets and place in the oven. Immediately lower the temperature to 400 degrees F and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown. Serve warm. The biscuits also store well in the freezer.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 27

2011-08-26T10:08:00.000-04:00

This week Quentin turned 6 months! We went to the pediatrician for his 6 month check-up on Wednesday and since there was an earthquake on Tuesday Albert had the day off and was able to come with us. Quentin weighs 19 lbs 5.5 oz which lands him in the 80th percentile and his height is 27.5 inches or 84th percentile. His head is also in the 84th percentile so while he may look super chunky, he's actually proportional, he's just big for his age.

He had a couple shots and he did really well. They didn't bother him in the evening like the usually do. His bottom front teeth are just below the surface so they could come in soon or it might be awhile. Now we just have to start giving him cereal on a regular basis. He has started drinking water from a sippy cup and he seems to really like that. He can sit for short periods of time by himself before slowly toppling over.

Another new thing this week is making noise by hitting his mouth. I have done it to him in the past and he always enjoyed it and now he can do it himself. Here's a video of what I mean using the 8mm app.

The Last Days

2011-08-25T23:07:00.001-04:00

At about 2:00 pm I was taking a nap with Quentin on my bed when I awoke to what I later confirmed was indeed an earthquake. I had felt small tremors before when I was in Italy, but it felt more like a big truck passing by. This was much different because it escalated and things started falling off my dresser and bookshelf.

I had remembered learning from some tv show when I was a kid that you're supposed to stand in a doorway do I grabbed Quentin and stood in the doorway of my bedroom until it stopped. I then grabbed my keys and shoes and we went outside. There wasn't really anyone around and those that were out seemed unconcerned. There was a couple smoking on their balcony and a few people in the pool. I felt like I was in the twilight zone. I tried to call Albert to tell him about it, but I couldn't get through on my cell phone or on our magic jack. I was able to call from an app on my I-touch but he didn't pick up.

Occasionally our Magic Jack phone would ring but no one was ever there when I picked up. Quentin was really fussy and wanted to eat and his crying was not helping my nerves. I felt better watching the tv and seeing what was going on outside my home. I really wanted to talk to someone but couldn't get through.

Albert came home not too much later. I was afraid he was going to be stuck in the commuting mess I saw on tv, but he was smart and left right away.

It really made me think about how un prepared we were for the whole thing. What if it had been worse? What if we couldn't go back to our house? What if it wasn't an earthquake, but a terrorist attack? We definitely need to get a go pack. You never know when something bad might happen. This was definitely a wake up call for me and it scared me feeling so unprepared, especially with a little baby.

Now we're supposed to be getting a hurricane (tropical storm) coming through Saturday afternoon / Sunday morning. At least we can see it coming. I'm really hoping we don't lose our electricity. Good thing we're on the top floor.

Albert didn't even really feel the earthquake. He thought it was his body reacting from low blood sugar since he hadn't had lunch yet, then he noticed a huge group of people running for the door to get out of the building. He wanted to go back to his desk to grab his bag, but the foot traffic wasn't going in that direction so he had to ride the wave out.

Over the past few days we've found cracks in our tile, large paint chips that fell off the ceiling in Quentin's room, and the counter top in our bathroom is separated from the wall. They are small problems, but they aren't easy fixes. At least Albert got off work early on Tuesday and didn't have to go in on Wednesday (of course they didn't tell him that until he got there).

Recipe of the Week: Rice Tortilla Pizza

2011-08-24T05:00:00.000-04:00

I got this idea from this recipe. I usually get rice tortillas from Trader Joes, but they aren't very good for much because they are so tough and chewy. This recipe is great because the sauce makes them soft and they work perfectly as ultra-thin pizza crusts. I either make them on the stove in a pan like a quesadilla or I put on pasta sauce, cheese, and toppings and then pop them in the toaster oven which also works nicely. It's a great, fast lunch.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 26

2011-08-19T08:00:00.002-04:00

This week Quentin has been sucking on his thumb a lot and he's really proud of himself whenever we stand him up (he just needs balancing support). It's really cute. He's turning over like crazy and scoots backwards a lot so we find him in all sorts of weird positions in the morning. One morning he was laying on his stomach with his whole leg up to his thigh was stuck between the bars of his crib. He had red marks on his leg from the bars for half the day.

Recipe of the Week: Vanilla Pudding with Strawberries and Caramel

2011-08-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

We found Dr. Oetker Original Vanilla European Style Pudding at the commissary and I wanted to make it in a mold, however we don't have one so I just used a bowl that had a little bit of a wave in it. After it set I turned it upside down and decorated it with caramel syrup, strawberries and whipped cream. Albert thought it was pretty so he took pictures.

We really liked the caramel and strawberries with the nice thick pudding (not instant by the way). I made another dessert with the same pudding in wine classes, layering blueberries and caramel syrup with the pudding, but I didn't like the blueberries as much as the strawberries with the pudding, although it looked really nice.

Fun Photo Friday: Week 25

2011-08-12T12:04:00.003-04:00

This week Quentin started rolling from his stomach to his back, but usually cries a little bit before he does it because he doesn't want to be on his belly anymore. He has also started standing with balancing support, which is a big feat for him. It looks like he might be teething too because there are little white spots where his two bottom teeth should be. We also gave him a little trim while he was in the tub one night. It looks better (not so much like a toupee), but it would be nicer if we actually had any hair cutting skills and he wasn't moving around so much. Oh well, it'll grow :)