BBQ Chicken

So I (like most people) love Pinterest! I don't spend hours mindlessly pinning things, but lately I have been trying to make at least one recipe a week that I have pinned.

Today I made Slow Cooker Honey Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches from Uncommon Design Online. I have never made anything from this blog before, but I am glad I tried this one. Hope at least someone else enjoys it!


Slow Cooker Honey Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches
Ingredients:

• 3-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts 
• 1-18 oz bottle honey barbecue sauce
• 1/2 c Italian dressing 
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 2 tbls. worcestershire sause

Directions: 

1. Place chicken in the slow cooker (frozen or thawed, I used thawed)
2. In a bowl (or large measuring cup) mix together the rest of the ingredients. 
3. Pour over chicken 
4. Cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 3-4 hours. 
• I cooked mine on high for three hours and it came out perfect. 
5. Shred chicken with two forks 
• You can remove chicken to do this, I just do it in the crock pot-one less thing to clean.
6. Eat and Enjoy!

My recipe had a lot of sauce left over, so it felt more like sloppy joes, which I love! I had no shame and eat my sandwich with a fork :) 

Be full!

Jules 

speechless

I am not sure how much this I want to share with the world, but I am going to try my best. This is not my story to tell.

My friend Jan has been my hair stylist/brow waxer/friend for over 10 years. Monday morning her daughter lost her battle with cancer. This was truly a battle. Summer was an cancer ass kicking machine. It was decided about a month or so ago that she would no longer undergo treatment to return home. 

Then a movement started. Summer asked people to partake in Random Acts of Kindness and to Pay It Forward. Then because it is 2014, people from all over the country are sharing stories of their kindness. I am still moved by the power of kindness in others. 

I am wordless on how to react to the passing of a wonderful woman I have never met-I only know her mother. 

After reading post after post on Facebook-from her friends, family, and strangers-a poem popped into my head. If you have seen "In Her Shoes" you are familiar with this poem. If you are an English teacher you are too..or a poetry lover. I am not a lover of poetry, but this one just works. 

i carry your heart
by E.E. Cummings

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautifully you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here in the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
hither than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

Jan, I don't know if you will ever read this, and that's okay-words truly cannot express, nor should they be able to express, how much good there is in the world because of Summer. 

Readers, find a way to be kind to a stranger (and those you love) each day. 

Pie!

PS Changing the focus of my blog again. Let's try making it all about food and my adventures in the kitchen...which I may have tried before, but I can't remember. 

So this morning I went strawberry picking with my friend at Spencer Farms in Noblesville. I highly recommend this farm. This was my first picking experience, but it was great. No bees. I was super worried about bees. This week marks the end of the season so we got there just in time. I of course enjoyed eating several while we picked. They were so good. I don't remember eating strawberries this good. I don't know if I can go back to the stuff sold in stores.


There were still some (by some I mean a lot) of good berries left. 

Here is my half of the stash. We picked around 7 pounds! 

Simply gorgeous.

So now I have three pounds of strawberries that need to be consumed quickly..oh darn. 

Tonight I made a pie (I am including the super easy recipe), then I am going to make strawberry ice cream tomorrow. I will also share that recipe later in the week. 


The original name for the recipe is "The Perfect Spring Pie."  I don't like that name, so I am going to call it "Strawberry Rhubarb Pie." I know it's very original. 


Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Preheat the oven to 375 
Line a rimmed baking sheet/jelly roll with foil. Trust me don't skip this step!

Ingredients: 
2.5 cups AP flour, divided
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar, divided
2 tsp. grated lemon zest
1 tsp. cinnamon, divided
5-6 cups, strawberries, halved 
2 cups rhubarb, cut into bite size pieces
Pie dough-I used one roll of the store bought stuff
3/4 cup butter, melted

1. In a large bowl combine: 

• 1/2 cup flour
• granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• lemon zest
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon 
• I give these dry ingredients a stir to combine them. 

2. Mix in the strawberries and rhubarb to the flour/sugar mixture. Let it sit and stir occasionally while preparing the pan.  They should start to release their juices, and just look really really good. :) 

3. Fit dough to 9" pie pan. (Lightly flour service and roll out dough to fit if needed.) Flute edges if desired. I don't have time to flute edges, plus I am not very good at it.

4. Spoon filling into the crust. Scrape all that good syrupy stuff from the bowl and get it in there too. 

5. MAKE SURE YOU PUT THE PIE ON THE BAKING SHEET!!! Bake for 50-60 minutes until bubbling and hot. (when I checked my pie I did a Mr. Burns evil "Excellent" laugh) 

6. Meanwhile, in a bowl, the remaining flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and melted butter together with a fork and form large/media crumbs. 

7. Remove pie from oven when it's ready, then place the crumbs on top of the hot pie leaving 1/2 inch boarder between crumbs and crust. Put back in the oven and cook for 30 more minutes, or until crumbs are golden brown. 

8. Cool on rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. Top with ice cream, or whipping cream (my grandmother's personal favorite) if desired. 


Here is my finished project! I am going to go ahead and hashtag this as #foodboner 

Enjoy friends! This was a super easy recipe!

Updates Perhaps?

The commitment of a blog is clearly just too much for me to handle-I'm clearly finding having two is overwhelming. ;) But here I am for my quarterly check in on the blog. This year has been CRAZY! As I get older, I apparently become busier and busier. 

Mom's Cancer: So it's gone. (end of update)....Just kidding. Things I learned from this time around: people get very uncomfortable with cancer jokes. Mom had a long recovery, well I felt like it was a long recovery, but is doing well. Her fake boobies are finally here. And because my family is who we are pictures were sent out of her new inserts. They look great! According to Kim they feel real-I just want to take them and slap someone with them. (is that crossing a line? I really have a sick sense of humor)

Other Boob News: I survived my first mammogram. I leave the details out, but it's safe to say that I made awkward jokes. Oh, and I'm cancer clear. Mammogram: 0 Juli: 1. I'll see you in April mammogram. 

Work: I'm exhausted. Not like abandon ship exhausted, just exhausted. I have decided that I need to make it a priority to stop working each day. Some days are easier to do that than others. It has been hard to accepted that I can't get everything done for work each day and still be a sane person. 

New News: 
- I applied to grad school. Fingers crossed. I will know in December if I got in to the program. 
- I started playing the cello again. Every Sunday in a community orchestra. Muscle memory is fantastic. Our first concert was yesterday-we were pretty awesome. 
- I hired a personal trainer. Yup-paying someone to kick my ass two days a week is already paying off. I am loving it. Weights with the trainer two days a week, and cardio four days a week-30 minutes to myself has been just what I needed. 
- It's Thanksgiving so that means it's time for me to make my menu for the Big Day. LOVE THIS TIME OF YEAR!!!

xoxo
(Maybe I will blog again in another 6 months, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.) 

New Blog

I started my photography blog.  You can check it out here: http://julesmarie-photography.blogspot.com

Enjoy

Surgery Day

“And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:13

Someone posted this on my mom’s facebook wall. I find it very fitting for today. I am humbled by everyone’s love, positive thoughts, prayers, and words of encouragement for Mom and for us as a family. Before I get to a recap of today, I want to thank everyone-it brings me tears of joy (seriously yes I cried J) to know how many of you care and have been praying/sending positive thoughts our way.  

Today was/is surgery day. I hate hospitals. I realize that a lot of people hate hospitals. They just smell so blah. Hospitals should pipe in some of that scented air they have in Vegas Casinos-not the whole place just the doorways that you walk in-how comforting would that be.

Before surgery we were all crammed into a small “prep-op room.” Per usual we were having a good time laughing. Not all of the nurses enjoyed our sense of humor. Here are some photos of my ridiculous nature on the wheely stool that was in her room.

I had a good time “creeping” on people in the hallway.

I also had a good time entertaining with this one. I call it my “nooo don’t take me back there!” others referred to that photos as the “shhh you can’t see me hiding in the corner.” Regardless we had a fun time waiting to go back. Well as fun as 5 adults can have crammed in a small room waiting for your mom/husband/daughter to have a breast amputation.

Before Mom’s surgery she had to go through Nuclear procedure to see if the cancer had spread to her nodes. I’m not really sure what any of that meant but it would affect what needs to happen after surgery (i.e. chemo). Well there were several “Hulk” jokes begin made, and then I kinda hoped her breast would begin to glow a blue color so we knew it was working. We were all sadly disappointed.

I kept my queasy under control until it was time to put in the IV. I stepped out briefly for this.

We said our tearful good byes (positive but still tearful) to her, and well her breasts. In that moment it hit us that it was really happening. There is a certain feeling of denial until she was getting up to walk into surgery.

Surgery took about two and a half hours. The waiting room had a like “ticker” of updates so you could track what stage of surgery she was in-and there were symbols and a little key. It was pretty neat. At one point all four us were working on the crossword puzzle. That’s dad “thinking” face J

We didn’t finish it-or we couldn’t I can’t remember. We got stuck on one of the last clues, but by that time Mom was ready to roll out.

Mom is currently on the 6^th floor-can’t remember the room number. When I first saw mom she looked at me (still very drugged) and said “Hey, baby” I know that she was in the best care, but it was the most comforting part of my day. I’m sure she won’t remember it, but that’s okay.

She looks great. A little flatter, but great. We won’t know anything official for about a week. Mom should be heading home tomorrow. Doesn’t that boggle your mind? I will leave you all with the face that I greeted Mom with once she was settled in her room. It may be a little crazy, but the look is pure me J  

cancer-is that an awkward title

I’m not really sure how to start this point. It’s awkward just putting it out there-like I have said it aloud several times, but typing it out makes me feel like my clothes don’t fit right.

Just in case you haven’t heard, my mother (calling her “mother” makes her sound a lot older than she really is J) found out that she has breast cancer again. Was that awkward for you? Because it was for me…but I’m awkward and ridiculous.

When I was in seventh grade mom was diagnosed, had her first chemo on my birthday, and then shaved her head at my birthday party. I guess at that point it wasn’t my birthday party anymore. I remember no one would shave her head except for Jenny. Then that’s about all I remember until I went to a radiation treatment with her.

Is it weird that I don’t remember? That year of my life is blocked from my memory. I’m okay with that-I know I lashed out at people unnecessarily, but hey I was in seventh grade and my mom had cancer. So here we are 15 years later, I’m older, my sister is older so hopefully I won’t block this year from my memory.

I also made the decision to be more aware this time, and not shut down-I think I’m too old for that. J 

So Mom is getting a double mastectomy. I mean at this point what is the other option? I’m having a hard time wrapping my brain around the concept that when she looks down there will be no boobs to see, not having to put on a bra every day, and just the fact that something that has been puberty will no longer be present.

Mom wrote a list of “perks” I have my own “perks” and questions to add that are way more ridiculous, but they are thoughts I have had:

·        Will she experience phantom boob? Or phantom nipples when it is cold? Seriously though I feel like someone should do a study. The government will fund anything.

·        No more underboob sweat-ladies you know what I’m talking about. It’s so gross and awkward.

·        Get different size prosthetics. Brings accessorizing to a whole new level.

One thing that is truly amazing about my mom is how positive she is-and I mean yes I know it’s better than drowning in sorrow. But if my options are laugh or cry I choose laugh. I’m not a pretty crier. One thing Dad, Mom, Kim, and I do well is laugh. We make sick jokes that make people look at us weird, but we laugh. 

It still sucks. My mom still has cancer. 

is that awkward.? sorry i don't know where to take this entry now.... 

Updates

An update on my 2013 goals: 

~read 50 books: well I am currently reading about 5, and haven't finished any...
Currently I am reading: 

• "Gone Girl"
• "Dead Until Dark"
• "Tough Shit"
• and two others that I can't remember the titles of lol

~start shlumping again: progress! Yesterday I restarted couch to 5 day, and managed almost 2 miles in 30 minutes. I guess I wasn't as out of shape as I thought. :) My friend Lizer and I are keeping each other in check with the gym-she even offers to chase me in her car while I shlump..she doesn't understand running for no reason, and truthfully I don't get it either. 

~take a photography class: I have signed up for Beginner Digital Photography that starts 1/22. I am very excited about it. 

~start a blog about said photography adventures: there hasn't really been anything to say about it all yet. 

~look for a master's program, and possibly start applying: no progress here, this may be a summer item. 

Ponderings

Inevitably as we inch closer to 2013 everyone starts coming up with resolutions. I don't like the word resolution because I feel like it just dooms me for failure. So I'm going to call them goals-besides there is a certain amount of ego boost when one reaches a goal.

Goals for 2012 (6 days left)/2013

• read 50 books. I know that I teach English, but that does not leave me a lot of time to read. I will track my reading on goodreads.com. I think I already have an account...
• start "running" again. well what I like to call shlumping. "Races" for 2013: Race for a Cure, Color Run, Drumstick Dash. None of these are actually races...but in my mind they are. 
• Take a photography class-well probably two, and actually go out and use those skills. I'm most excited about this one. 
• Start a blog about said photography adventures. 
• Look for a Master's program. I am very picky about this for some reason. I know there is no logical reason for being picky, but I can't help myself. 
• Maybe apply for a Master's program. 

My Favorite Holiday!

So Thanksgiving and various other holiday/family get-togethers are right around the corner. I love this season. I love giving, and I love hostessing/help hostess things. I love hostessing things year-round. I know several people who constantly feel like this: 

And in previous years I guess I have felt that way during family events that involved a lot of prep. I know some people ask others to bring things, and for me I have the most fun actually making the food and setting things up. I have learned some "tricks" that I am going to share, because sometimes everyone needs tips. Most of these are stolen from my favorite cooking blog. 

1. Be Santa
Meaning, make lists-yes multiple lists for different things. I start with the menu because that was/is what come easiest to me, I also find the most joy in creating this list. I made lists last year for Thanksgiving, and it saved me a lot of stress, and sometimes money.  I prefer to hand write my lists because I like hand writing, and I feel like I remember things more when I write them. Here are the lists I made with a brief description if needed: 

• Menu-I attach the recipes that I need to the menu to keep everything in one place. 
• Grocery List-I go through each recipe and the cabinets to make my list. I find that when I go recipe by recipe those little (or sometimes major :/) things are not missed. 
• Shopping List-these are nonfood related items that need to be purchased for the event. Again I check around my house before purchasing. 
• Calendar week of-Last year I made several things for Thanksgiving before Thursday. It saved me time not only on Thanksgiving but stress. I include things like what to make, or what to start to assemble/chop, when to thaw things, and what to clean. 
• Play Book for the Day of-plan times out with what time you want to eat. Then backwards plan. Seriously this was the best things I did last year. I posted the time schedule for foods/set up on the fridge so everyone knew :) I also enforce that time table, much to some people's irritation. 

2. Be In Control

So I go ahead and assume that all families are like mine-everyone crowds in the kitchen. Last year I "took control" of Thanksgiving. And if you have cooked that meal every thing finishes at the same time, and it can be hectic. I started to get frazzled-everyone was giving input. This is my family, and I love them. I then promptly kicked them out. I made a rule, no more than three in the kitchen until it's time to eat and then I enforced it. This may be the teacher in me or the control freak in me, but it worked. I am sure I pissed some of my relatives off, but oh well. I know that there are some loved ones who don't listen, and well I just figured out away to get them the hell out of my space. 

3. Something will go wrong...deal with it
Last year we forgot to turn the heat down on the turkey so it cooked in two hours less than I had scheduled. Oh well it was cooked, and things can be reheated. Learn for next year, and move on. Nothing was ruined, and everything was still delicious. I also claim that it isn't a family get together until the f bomb is dropped out of frustration. Laugh at the f'up and move on. 

4. Enjoy the day
Not everything will go as planned, but as long as family or friends are around everything is fine. Don't spend the whole day in the kitchen. Have a glass (or three) of wine and enjoy making the memories. Let your day be like this: 

Gobble Gobble 

Projects

By now all 8 of my readers are on pinterest. I am like most people in that I pin things thinking "I can totally do that" but then never get to it. Well this year I have actually attempted several but ran into several hiccups along the way that made the project a no go.  Most of these were gardening ideas that would have worked if I had a way to constantly water them. My dad and I spent several hours at Lowes trying to make it work. 

I really enjoy spending time on projects with my dad trying to trouble shoot problems to make something work. Once he said that he could drill through my townhouses brick wall to make a power supply I had to say no. I am a renter after all. :)

So I have decided to make a resolution of sorts when it come to pinning.  I am going to try one craft project a month. I cannot commit to one a week-that would involve  more money than I am willing to spend.  I have no real crafting supplies, and I don't want to buy a lot of things for a one time craft. 

I have made recipe off of my Pinterest boards before.  I am making this one right now-literally right now it is in the oven: http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2011/10/cheesy-enchilada-casserole.html It smells delish. I am sure it will be. I have made enough things to know when something sounds like it will work out, or will taste like crap.  

Here is my craft goal for this month: http://www.makeitandfakeit.com/2012/04/diy-wrap-bracelet.html


I think it looks pretty idiot proof. I will post pics if I remember to post ;) 


PS: this past week I have entered what I am calling the "twilight of my 20's". (I stole it from a friend). One of my goals is to blog more than once every nine months. *Fingers crossed* that it works. 

I leave my readers with an adorable pic of my baby-seriously look at those puppy eyes 

My Cooking Essentials

Cooking Entry

I think there are essentials for anyone’s kitchen-well anyone who likes to cook. If you would rather eat out or have it delivered you will probably find this blog boring. By essentials I mean the tools. I don’t really have any brand recommendations, but I do believe that this is one room where I purchase the best because well I don’t want to replace it any time soon. I have found that this usually translates to buying name brand items and doing research. These are things that I currently own or one day hope to own.

So let’s begin…

• An awesome knife set. I think if I were to ask my dad what essential kitchen items one needed this would be in his top two. My parents have had the same knife set for 30 years.
• A cast iron skillet. I recently got one for Christmas from my cousin Ryan. And well I’m in love. Seriously what can’t this pan do? This is a relatively inexpensive purchase, and if cared for properly it will last FOREVER! If you have never owned one you need to research how to care for it.
• Various measuring utensils. I have two sets of measuring cups, and a four cup liquid measuring cup please measuring spoons. These are all pretty much the same, but I like have variety.
• Nonstick pots and pans. These just make life a lot easier. But they are a high care item. Don’t ever use metal inside of them-I did this with my dad’s pan a long time ago, and well let’s just say I still remember him yelling at me… also don’t use brillo any sort of abrasive scrubber on them. I started having kitchen rules meetings with my roommates in college and I felt myself using the same phrases my dad used that evening he caught me using a metal spoon on his pan.
• Various size cutting boards. I have a small, medium, and large. All of them are plastic. I haven’t decided if wood is better or not. I am currently happy with my plastic ones.
• Cookie sheets/muffin tins/cake pans/etc. I use these all of the time. Not always for sweets.
• Parchment paper/silicone mats. I recently purchased the silicone mats and I will not use parchment paper unless I am making bacon in the oven. They are a little pricey, but well worth it. They can be used at higher temperature baking and they are reusable.
• Cooking Utensils. I have so many spoons, spatulas, tongs in metal, plastic, rubber and wood. I learned what to use and when just by trial and error. My parents have been using the same wooden spoon for eons. Seriously eons.
• Food Processor. I have a little one-it is green. I prefer the smaller one because it is easier to store, and I don’t ever need to chop up that much stuff at one time.
• Standing Mixer. I got one from my mom three years ago for Christmas. She is green, and I named her Georgia. This year I also purchased the ice cream attachment. And yes, it is a KitchenAid, and as far as I am concerned there is no other standing mixer worth buying.

I think this sums up what I use most often in my kitchen, and things that I want most for my kitchen. I could probably write pages on just the tools for kitchen use, but I am a total kitchen geek.

Running

I have started running. (cue gasps)

Like many people in my life I have started the couch to 5k. My first official 5k run will be Race for a Cure. I have participated in one way or another (some years I had to do sleep for a cure because of school stuff) in this for the past 13 years. This will be year 14.

My countdown to the race is 13 weeks and 3 days. Which is great because we (my sister and I) are currently training inside.

We go to the gym three times a week to run. Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday or Saturday. I am also picking up a water aerobics class that meets Saturday mornings.


Today I started week 3 day 1. It kicked my ass.
5 minute warm-up
Two repetitions of the following: jog for 1.5 minutes walk for 1.5 minutes then jog for 3 minutes and walk for 3 minutes.

Weeks 1 and 2 were pretty easy minimal sweating but kept my heart rate up. Today was sweaty, and brutal.

I bought an app to help keep track and it will sync to my playlist. It is the active.com couch to 5k app. There are different "trainers" my sister consistently uses Sergeant Block, and I have been using him for the most part. Really I got it because I can use my own music. But there are plenty of podcasts to help keep you moving.


My goal to continue to hold myself accountable is to post after each run (within 24 hours), which is just for posterity. I also have a habit of photographing my distance on the treadmill. So here is my summary.

Reading

I have a nook now, and well I love it-for the most part. I do miss folding down corners of pages when I am leaving the book, and breaking the spine. I really abuse my books. I obviously can't do that with my nook. However some pros..

1. I can get books from the library on to my nook-granted it did take me two days to figure it out.
2. I can carry a lot more books on the nook than if they were real books
3. I can download free samples of books I am interested in.
4. I can organize them into shelves (I know this is possible with regular books, but with the nook the categories are endless!)

So here are the books I have read on my nook, that I would def recommend for others-It is only three books, but I am reading many right now.

1. "Cross Bones" Kathy Reichs.
The TV series "Bones" is based on these novels. I can tell you that the novels and the show are complete opposites. As far as I can tell the similarities consist of the main character's name, and her job-everything else is different.

2. "It Sucked and then I Cried. How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita" by Heather B. Armstrong
I am finally starting to venture into nonfiction. For the most part sticking to humor related items. This one is about a woman who had a baby and ended up checking into the mental ward (is there a better term? if so sorry for my lack of knowledge of what it would be) for postpartum depression. It was hilarious! I have no babies, so of course I know nothing of postpartum depression, but I could not stop reading it.

3. "Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?: And Other Questions I Wish I Never Had to Answer" by Jancee Dunn
This is another hilarious nonfiction selection. It is all about her family, and how involved they are in each others' lives.

It's been a long time...

Since I got my lazy ass to the gym, but I got there today! I have several friends start the Couch to 5k running program. And today I finally started.

Week 1 Day 1: 1.41 miles 30 minutes

I am feeling pretty good. I downloaded a very helpful podcast that keeps track of the times for me. It is a British woman named Laura who tells the listener when to do what. I think what I enjoyed the most is that the whole thing took less than an hour! Perfect commitment for me right now. The music isn't too bad.

My goal is to be able to run the 5k Race for a Cure in April for my first official 5k.

The Fourth!

Happy 4th of July Everyone! I had a very low-key Fourth with my family. We watched movies I love "The Birdcage" and "Independence Day." And as always had great eats: flank steak, mashed potatoes, muenster mac and cheese, and bread. Yea we aren't afraid of the carbs at our house, but surprisingly no one ate the bread. I also made low-cal chocolate chip cookies. No fireworks this year. Actually I don't normally go to fireworks. I have been fighting a head cold/sinus infection thingy (very medical terms) for a few days so I wasn't up to sitting in the heat and crowds.


I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday!

Summer Reading

So I was reading a friend's blog, and she posted her summer reading list. I have decide to copy this idea, only I don't have my entire list planned. I am not a planner, and I tend make lists that I am not fully committed to. Instead I have at least three books selected that I hope to read and not abandon (insert commitment issue here :)).

The first book up is: "The Redbreast" I haven't started it yet, but I just got it from the library yesterday. It is part of a series, but my local library only has this novel, and the next on my list.

"The Snowman" if you didn't know I really enjoy thriller/serial killer books. I don't know what it is about them because they totally freak me out, but I can't stay away from them. I am hoping they are both winners.

The final book on my list is "Step on a Crack". I loved reading James Patterson a few years ago, but after awhile I stopped. I really liked the Women's Murder Club series, but they got boring. I was also reading the Alex Cross series, but again I felt they got boring. Hopefully I will like this series.

Wine Wine and more Wine

So last night I got a text from my good friend Megan asking me if I wanted to go to a wine festival. Little did I know that she was talking about the 2011 Vintage Indiana Wine Festival, and also little did we know that it had been going on for 12 years! I then passed along the invite to my mom who responded with, "Is the pope Catholic?"

So I slathered on some sunscreen and off we went. Yes it was 90+ degrees, and we were melting. There was a breeze every now again, but there was plenty of what we went for-wine!

Lots and lots of ones to taste. There were 20 wineries from around the state each with at least 7 to try. My personal favorites included a raspberry wine, a mango wine, and one called "Blue My Mind." I am hoping that I can find some of these here in the city.


Yay Wine!

Summer?

8 more days before my summer starts. I feel like we are the only school in the city still in session. It is exhausting, especially with the heat and not having A/C at work, and the kids just being ready to be done. I couldn't agree more.

I have been slacking in just about everything. I haven't been working out like at all, but I just signed up for a class so that will motivate me. I also haven't been reading. I don't remember the last name of the book I read. I will start and then just leave the book in the middle of it. I know... I am restarting "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo." I start and stopped it about 5 times last summer. Then I found some books that I am on the wait list for at the library, "The Redbreast" and "The Snowman." Both are serial killer books by Jo Nesbo. I have never heard of this author, and a friend of mine did some digging and he has published a series. Of course the Indianapolis Public Library only has the two I have requested. I am number 8 on the list for "The Redbreast" and 65 for "the Snowman." That gives me a lot of time to start and stop the Stieg Larsson book.

Where I have been lacking in working out and reading I have been making up in the kitchen. I have tried a couple new recipes for different salsas, and made some classic standbys. I made various quesadillas, which I really have not had since college, and many salads. I LOVE adding fruits to my salad. I have lots of recipes earmarked for my down time-most of them being of the dessert variety.

I never now how to end a blog. Do I need some sort of sign off???

I really hate coming up with titles

According to my blogger I have not blogged since November. Let's just blame my ADHD.

I still have Loki, he is still a moose and is still looking for his next sock or other clothing item. He is over the moon when anyone rubs his ears, and he will even purr. He spends a lot of time sitting or laying in the sunlight, until he is panting.

I am still teaching, seriously nothing has changed in the past 4 or so months. Now we are all just counting down the days until Spring Break (9 school days). This year I decided to get healthier. Not a resolution-just a decision. I in fact hate new year's resolutions. I have yet to make it to the gym, which I have joined, but that will hopefully be changing soon. I am down 15 lbs. I am having committment issues (not surprising). Mostly it is very inconvient to track my food. I thought I could do it from my phone, but the 'berry is being less than friendly in this. I am due for an upgrade in less than month, bye-bye 'berry.