Happy 2 Year Anniversary!!

Just wanted to do a quick shout out post to my best friend, my LOVE

Happy 2 Year Anniversary, John Boy !

I'm actually a day late in posting this .... but it's because we were out celebrating our anniversary last night

So....

WORTH IT!!!

We ended up just going out to eat at Applebee's

and hitting up a few bars for some drinks...

YUP.

I drank during the week.

BUT... It was my anniversary! I felt it was worth the celebrating. =)

We had planned to go to this nice little restaurant in town,

but of course with my luck...

It's closed on MONDAYS!

WHOMP WHOMP

I was really craving their cocunut shrimp too.

Oh well - ALL the more reason to go back sometime later this week! Riiight?

It's been a crazy two years filled with LOTS of adventures -

some exciting, some challenging

but there truly is NO ONE else I would have wanted to have by my side

to be along for the ride

(NO... I did not mean to make that rhyme..

but I guess I'm a poet and didn't even know it...

and yes.... that just happened)

I LOVE YOU, JOHN!

Here's to MANY more years! =)

This is us holding our one year anniversary picture!

Life IS beautiful - count your blessings!



Edamame

I. HEART. EDAMAME.

It's a really good appetizer to order when you are at a sushi, chinese, or thai restaurant.

Those are usually the most common places you will find this.

Usually it's steamed with some sea salt on top.

Recently, I found this recipe and thought I would give it a shot.

It's a nice little treat/snack to make that you can munch on throughout the day.

EDAMAME:

What you will need:

- Aluminum foil

- 1 Package frozen edamame (shelled) - this is sort of hard to find so you may have to check a couple stores

- 1 tbsp. olive oil

- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

- 1/4 tsp. garlic powder

- Salt and pepper to taste

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2) Let frozen edamame thaw on the countertop on a paper towel.

3) Mix parmesan cheese and garlic powder in a bowl. In a separate bowl, toss edamame with olive oil.

4) Add the edamame to the parmesan mixture until evenly coated.

5) Spread onto pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.

6) Bake for 15 minutes.

AMAZEBALLS!!

SO YUMMY!!! TRY IT! :)

Life IS beautiful - Count your blessings!

Mini Meatloaf and Asparagus

So again... when it comes to cooking...

I don't like to toot my own horn

but let me tell you...

This recipe is EASY and DELICIOUS.

When I made this for John boy - I think his comments were

"I don't know what to eat first...it's all so good!"

TOOT! TOOT!!!!

TOOT! :)

Ok... So here it is...

MINI MEATLOAF:

Meatloaf:

- 1 lb of hamburger (or turkey meat for a healthier version)

- 1 box of StoveTop Stuffing (any flavor)

- 1 egg

- 1 cup of water

Topping:

- Ketchup

- BBQ Sauce

- Mustard

- Syrup

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2) Mix together hamburger, stuffing, egg, and water in a bowl and form them into balls. Ball size may vary (TWSS) depending on the size of your muffin tin.

3) Spray your muffin tins with cooking spray and insert mini meatloafs.

4) Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

5) In the meantime, I usually just eye-ball the topping. A good squirt of each and mix it together. After 30 minutes, pull the meatloaf out and top it with this mixture. Place back in the oven for another 5 minutes.

6) Voila. AMAZING MEATLOAF.

Side note: YES... YES I DID make a 'That's what she said" joke in a recipe :)

ASPARAGUS:

Ingredients:

- Aluminum foil

- Asparagus

- 1 tbsp. olive oil

- Grated parmesan cheese to taste

- Salt and pepper to taste

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2) Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread 1 tbsp. of olive oil onto the pan.

3) Spread the asparagus out on the pan in a single layer and ensure it's evenly coated with the olive oil.

4) Sprinkle with parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper to taste.

5) Bake for 15 minutes.

Yes... that's it... and I promise you! You WON'T be disappointed!

Now.. go make some meatloaf and asparagus and ENJOY!!!!

Oh... and those peppers are literally just mini peppers cut in half

with a little piece of string cheese inside. Broil for 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. :)

Life IS beautiful - Count your blessings!

BELATED WEEK and WEEKEND RECAP

Woofta... where has the time gone?

Last week went by so fast - the weekend flew by - and now it's already Tuesday again??

Not to mention --- Can you believe it's already June 18th???

The summer is already almost here and gone!!

Anyway - I have a lot of recapping to do (HANG WITH ME.. I promise to try and get better about posting so these aren't so long) 

AND - THIS JUST IN!!!  I've also been doing a lot of cooking -

posts with recipes coming soon :)

Last week - the boy had some vacation time to use up so he took a few days and came and stayed with me.

I. ADORE. THESE. TIMES. TOGETHER.

The plan was to celebrate our two year anniversary together - so we did. BUT

I think we are going to do it again this coming weekend too! :)

Two year anniversary = two celebrations... right?

I can't wait until 40 years... almost two full months of celebrating (HA! HA!)

Anyway... We made a nice meal on Wednesday consisting of

meatloaf, asaparagus, and these stuffed peppers.

NOW... when it comes to cooking.. I don't like to 'toot my own horn'

BUT

I have to say - I make a mean Meatloaf... and a mean asparagus...

TOOT! TOOT!!!!

To be fair... it's all pretty easy - but - it's good.. and better than the boy's mom's... so...

Meatloaf and Asparagus recipe to come... stay tuned! :)

Anyway - the rest of the week consisted of going to movies, grilling with friends by the pool, relaxing, bike rides, going on walks, and spending some quality time together.

When we were on one of our walks - we saw TONS of these little frogs.

I mean check out this picture.

Baby Frog vs Pinky Toe

Friday I took vacation and we spent the day shopping at an outlet mall nearby. I got some PRETTY amazing deals.

BUT my favorite is the deals I got at Old Navy.

I got two pairs of workout capris, a pair of running shorts, and a sports bra (all part of their new active line) and it was $50!!!!

I.HEART.THIS.PURCHASE. They are uber comfortable and CUTE.

SCORE!

We obviously got a lot of good deals :)

After a long day of shopping - we decided to hit up a couple pubs and eat supper at our new favorite restaurant!

My outfit for the night - everything from EXPRESS.

Saturday we got together with some old friends and had a few beverages. Sunday - headed home for Father's Day.

Now - I don't really know how to break this news you ya'll but....

I HAVE THE BEST DAD IN THE WORLD!

I'm sorry... I know ya'll thought you did... but...

I.DO!

He's the first man I ever loved.

He's a magnificent man, a loving husband, a devoted father, and a true friend.

He has taught me that men CAN love a woman faithfully and unconditionally

for a lifetime.

He has provided me with a never-ending sense of safety.

He has taught me so many things in life.. including but not limited to:

the power of humor (when to use it and when not to use it), that hard work always pays off in the end, make God and faith a priority, and enjoy life and those around you that are along for the ride.

I truly feel so blessed and honored to be this man's daughter.

I always have been and always WILL be a daddy's girl.

Life IS beautiful - Count your blessings!

Fifty shades of..... Tess?

So... remember those days that you were bored and on Facebook

and you would decide to fill out those notes that everyone was doing that was like

a GAZillion (and one) questions about yourself that you were CERTAIN everyone was going to read and be SOOO interested in all these FUN. (or NOT.SO.FUN) facts about YOU! 

Yea... I'm bringing it back for this post....

Be jeal....  

I figured - if you're reading this blog - then you probably ARE interested in knowing random facts about me... and if not... WELL....

too.damn.bad.

Here it goes.....

1. Do you like blue cheese? Only the dressing with my BWW wings (SWEET BBQ... SAY WHAT?) but I CAN.NOT. stand blue cheese crumbles... ralph..

2. Have you ever smoked a cigarette? Whomp.. whomp....

3.Do you own a gun? No. The only reason I WOULD own one was for protection, but I'm pretty certain that if I was put into that situation where I needed it - I would freak out and it would probably be used against me instead.

4. What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic? Um... I think I've only ever been to Sonic once.... and I had no idea you could add a flavor?

5. Do you get nervous before doctor appointments? Not really unless it's the lady doctor - and I don't really get nervous but the whole situation is just.plain.awkward.

6. Do you like hot-dogs? YES! I.HEART.HOTDOGS. I wish they weren't so terrible for you - or I would probably get one each.and.every.time I went to the gas station. Those things are the BOMB and they have ALL the fixins. However; I probably only eat them twice a year. Boo.

8. What do you prefer to drink in the morning? A Busch Light. HA. Joking -- I drink an Advocare SPARK every.single.morning. It's the first thing I do. I'm in love with the Fruit Punch flavor. It truly helps with mental focus too so it's a win-win. Gets you goin and gets you focused. Why would you start your day ANY differently?

9. Can you do push-ups? I have the upper body strength of a 9 month old... so no. I can't do push-ups. I should make that a goal though!

10. What’s your favorite meal? Sushi. I can put the HAMMER down on some sushi! Holla!

11. What’s your favorite piece of jewelry? I'm not a big accessorizer... though I WANT to be. I'd have to say that my favorite piece is probably my diamond earrings from my parents.

12. Favorite hobby? It's always been boating. I'm a river rat. However; I rarely get there anymore --- so now it might be this blog. :) (Remember my recent obsessions?)

13. Do you work with people who idolize you? Maybe for something - I just don't know what? I work with a team and we all excel at different things which is what makes us successful.

14. Name a trait that you hate about yourself? Trait (singular?) ... hmm... I might have to make this plural.... but for the sake of this blog I won't... so I would have to say how anxious I am or can be.

15. Middle name? Anne - pronounced ANN not ANNIE.... it just has an 'e' at the end of it --which I happen to be VERY proud of. I think it makes it somewhat different. I mean -- you can't get TOO insanely different with a middle name like ANNE but... it works.

16. Name 3 thoughts at this moment: 1. My face is all broken out and it's driving me cray-cray. I made a goal to drink just one quart of water today and couldn't do it - only made it half way through... (Side note: how pathetic is that? If only water tasted like diet. dew and THAT'S probably why my face is broken out). I really should be working instead of blogging... but.. NAH!

17. Name 3 things you bought yesterday: Hangers (too many clothes), TONS OF YUMMY FRUITS, and a Chipotle salad, of course.

18. Name 3 drinks you regularly drink. mmm... Ya'll pry know this one already. Spark, Diet. Dew, Busch Light

19. Current worry right now? We'd be here all day....

20. Current hate right now? Living a couple hours away from the boy

21. Favorite place to be? On a boat or in bed.

22. How did you bring in New Years? A party at my place with tons of friends and John Boy. JUST THE WAY I LIKE IT.

23. Favorite place to go? Target. but I spend way too much damn money there.

24. What is your most recurring dream? Always.about.work - it's exhausting, folks.

25. Introvert or extrovert? Extrovert. I love me some people. I'm not good at being alone. I don't even care if you're a stranger - I wanna get to know ya! (especially if the drinks are flowin' --- HEEEEEY!)

26. What color shirt are you wearing? Gray.

27. Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? YES.

28. Can you whistle? You betcha! 

29. Favorite color? Purple. I used to always say orange, but then realized that I'm FAR more attracted to all things purple.... so it's OBVS Purple.

30. Would you be a pirate? I've never really thought about it... but... boat, booze, boys.... YES. I would probably be a pirate.

31. What songs do you sing in the shower? Well if we head on back to my recent obsessions.... #beautiful (obviously) and another fav... Pusher Love Girl by the good ol' JT!

32. Favorite girl’s name? Tess

33. Favorite boy’s name? John (PS - I'm lying about both number 32 and 33, but I'm not sharing these.. SOME day I hope to be able to use them! :)  )

34. Who is your loudest friend? I'm pretty sure that in my group of friends ... I'm probably the loudest.. so... whomp.whomp.

35. What’s in your pocket right now? I don't have pockets right now - and very rarely is anything ever in my pockets. SOMETIMES my phone.

36. Last thing that made you laugh? The show the Big.Bang.Theory. Gets me EVERY.TIME.

37. Bed sheets as a child? I had flower flannel fabric sheets - especially in the winter time. My late GREAT grandma - who I adore - always had them and so of course... I HAD to have them. Amazing.

38. Worst injury you’ve ever had? Mmm.. I was pretty accident prone growing up - but I broke my elbow once jumping off a swing. (See... told ya... accident prone.... and unfortunately I think my niece follows in my foot steps..poor girl)

39. Do you love where you live? I like the area. I don't LOVE it since MY LOVE isn't here but ya know - life goes on. :)

40. How many TVs are in your house? Two. One in the living room and one in the bedroom. (SIDE NOTE: there is only three rooms in this apartment).

41. What is your worst habit? Cussing... for sure. It's definitely something I need to work on.

42. How many dogs do you have? Zero. but I REALLY want a teacup yorkie. Have you seen those things? There is absolutely no way you can say no.


43. Does someone have a crush on you? Duh.
44. Do you own slippers? Yes. I have probably 5 pairs - and they are all HIDEOUS! For some reason, I'm REALLY attracted to ugly slippers - but they are usually the most comfortable.

45. What is your favorite book? I'm not a huge reader but I did read the Fifty Shades trilogy.. and... well... I can't say I've met ANY female that didn't like those books - and probably any male that was brave enough to read them.

46. What is your favorite candy? Anything with Peanut Butter... PB M&M's, Peanut Butter cups (especially the eggs... MAN those things are like heaven in your mouth... TWSS)

47. What is your favorite sports team? Not a big sports fan... but the boy is a Packers fan... so... Once you go PACK you never go BACK.

48. What song do you want played at your funeral? I've never thought about this.... until now... and I'd have to say.... Another one bites the dust. Kidding.. but I really have NO IDEA - I'll be dead... so... who cares?

49. What were you doing at 12 AM last night? SLEEPING. 


50. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up this morning? I can't WAIT to retire.

Well... there you have it folks.

Fifty random and AWESOME things you know about me now.

Side note: I went to HyVee today - to get some more groceries and some toilet paper... and I'm pretty sure this was some kind of sick joke. I mean... honestly....

TP on SALE... but... how on EARTH did they expect people to get it down??

I'm 5'6 and I'm standing back from the shelf a little bit.

Like I said... SICK.JOKE.

Life is B.E.A.U.tiful - count your blessings!

SO.MANY.OBSESSIONS

I've always known that I have a really addictive personality. Hence why I do not smoke or do any illegal drugs - or I would be in trouble.

Instead - I turn to Diet Mt. Dew and whatever else I grow to be obsessed with... and I must say - I have

ALOT of obsessions. So I thought I would discuss a few of the recent ones with you... but first...

I had my cousins wedding this weekend.

I HEART WEDDING SEASON!

There is so much love in the air and always good to get together with friends and family.

Two great things happened at this wedding:

1. I caught the bouquet! YUP! ME! Granted - there was only four single ladies on the dance floor - two of which were already engaged and a whole bunch of little girls under the age of 5, which I was willing to take out if I had to... I'm ONLY kidding... sort of!

ANYWHO - I then had to dance... BY MYSELF.. in the middle of the dance floor to single ladies.. you know the song by Beyonce "If you liked it then you shoulda put a ring on it"

I could have made a giant fool of myself and/or rocked it - and with a little (OR ALOT) of liquid courage - I'm pretty sure... I ROCKED IT! Or I'd like to think so!

2. My parents were one of two couples there that were married the longest! It was soo amazing to see. Brought tears to my eyes as the two couples (40 years) and the newlyweds did a dance together.

Here's a pic -- but it's pretty grainy! Sorry...

My ma and pa - still SO.IN.LOVE.

Ok - so back to my obsessions..... more or less my recent ones - and I won't even go into all of them or you might think I'm CRAY-CRAY!

1. BLOGS. I'm officially obsessed with a BUNCH of blogs. I currently follow about 8 blogs (which isn't terrible), but I'm constantly checking to see if they have updated. I'm also obsessed with my own blog. Trying to figure out ways to make it more appealing to the eye (side note: did you check out my new about me section), thinking of things to post about, so on and so forth. Now whenever I'm doing anything outside of work - I think if I want to post about it and if yes, then I best be getting a picture. I'm generally pretty terrible at taking pics.

2. CHIPOTLE SALAD. YUMMO! I literally crave this every single day. I could eat it for lunch and turn around and eat it for supper and it wouldn't bother me a bit and at least it's somewhat healthy!

Look at those amazing COLORS! YUMMY!

Here's what I get in it... you can't read the calories very well but it's 560. Which isn't GREAT... but not terrible. Especially considering it's UBER filling.

3. #Beautiful. It's a song by Mariah Carey and Miquel. I probably listen to it once an hour. I listen to music while I work - and I'm soo addicted to this song. It just makes me happy. It reminds me of a newer version of like "My Girl".

Listen here: #beautiful

CAUTION: You WILL be obsessed and you WILL want to listen to it ALL.THE.TIME.

4. NEW WORKOUT SHIRTS. I absolutely LOVE my new workout shirts from Ruffles with Love.

They are sooo cute and soo comfy. Now I just need to put them to use.

Just sportin the shirts for ya (Shown wearing a medium)

These shirts are exactly that.... SupercalafragalisticexpialaDOPESHIT!

5. SLEEP STREAM 2 APP. This thing is AMAZEBALLS. I used to always fall asleep to the T.V. which was difficult BECAUSE if it was a show that I liked... I would end up watching it and not falling asleep right away - and I didn't feel like I got that great of sleep.

This new app plays relaxing music and you can set it so that it knows if you want 'deep sleep' or just a '15 minute power nap'. Last night I feel asleep to rain and distant thunder.

BEST.SLEEP.EVER.

Download it - it's free - and you WON'T be disappointed.

6. This.YouTube.Video. I'm not lying when I say I probably watch this video once a day. It makes me bust a gut everytime and this is why. I SUCK at this. When someone asks you something where you have to come up with the 'as-in'. I usually am like "T as in..................... pause...thinking...thinking hard... thinking harder..... Tom" and by THAT time I'm pretty certain that the person on the other end is like.. "yea I got it". Anyway - I know that there is like a standard for this - but I do not have that memorized - nor do I have the time to try. So... instead.. I think next time I'm going to do this.

Enjoy: Phoebe

That's all I have for now. I'm sure we will revisit this topic in the future.

Life IS beautiful - count your blessings!

Weekend = AMAZEBALLS

So it's been ALMOST a week since my last post. Where has the time gone?

I guess what they say is true

Time flies when you're having fun and that's EXACTLY what I've been doing.

So last week I spent a lot of time with my folks - and as mentioned in my last post... there truly is no place like home. It was GREAT!

Friday night, we had a mini class reunion and there is nothing better than a fun night out with old friends. Some of them I see often and some of them I don't see nearly enough - either way - it's always a DAMN GOOD TIME. We grilled, played drunk driving (Mario Cart style, of course), bags, flippy cup, boom cup, beer pong, etc. Like I said.... DAMN.GOOD.TIME.

 I.HEART. THIS.PICTURE!

                                                                

My girls!

Saturday night = yet another EPIC night.

The boy's (I refer to my boyfriend as 'the boy' and/or 'John Boy') cousin is moving away to JERSEY!!!

So... OBVIOUSLY... in true fashion

We threw him a going away party....

JERSEY.STYLE.

EPIC!

It was so much fun. Lots of family and friends were there - it was a great turn out and an even better time.

I spent that afternoon decorating my flat bill hat (NEW YORK, of course) and blinging it out. I also blinged out some sunglasses and wore some crazy earrings.

The boys went after the v-necks and bro tanks.

Flip cup - V-Necks vs. Bro tanks

John Boy and I - Late in the night =/

Anyway, after ALL of that fun - it's TIME to buckle down and get serious. We have a TON of weddings this summer and my parent's 40th wedding anniversary

and you BEST believe... I want to look bangin'.

OK - so BANGIN might be a little far fetched.

BUT

I do want to look better than I do RIGHT now.

So, I've made a commitment... No FRIED foods for a month (it's going to be hard). On top of that though, I'm watching my calories again and trying to 'eat clean'. I've been trying to do some reading up on this.

I'm also looking into a lot of different gyms in my area and what I think is going to be the best for me. Getting a personal trainer is also something I've been contemplating. Hmm...

My friend (over at Twenty Five Dreams) swears by hers and is now pursuing becoming one - so it's probably worth it.

Last but certainly not least - and probably one of the things I will struggle with the most (unfortunately) is limiting myself to consuming alcoholic beverages one night a week.

Whomp... whomp...

It's truly going to be a tough one!!!!

Welp - that's all folks (or folk).

Life IS beautiful - Count your blessings!

Ps - I'm trying to make this my 'sign-off' ....

is it working? or just annoying? :)

I figured ELLEN has a sign off and I LOVE it!!!

"Be kind to one another"