A little place we like to call home

We are all settled into our little place we like to call home (for now that is). Last August Josh moved into a brand spanking new apartment. It was the kind of thing where I walked in and said I loved it so let's sign the lease. I really don't know how house shopping is going to go because I am the kind of girl that if I like it and want it I don't want to keep looking around, why keep looking around when what I want is right in front of my face? Yup, that is me. My husband absolutely loves this quality about me (haha yea right). Right before the wedding I started to move my stuff in. Let's just say I still have about a dozen or so pairs of shoes at my parents with countless college books, notebooks, and binders. Let alone I still have stuff in rubbermaid containers here because my dear husband just won't get me the 6 foot tall book cases I want to put all my books and photo albums and everything in between on. But for the most part we are settle and it just feel like home.

So I will give you a little tour of our almost one thousand square foot living space, but before I do I want you to know I spent all morning cleaning, you know the kind of cleaning you do before your mother-in-law comes over, yup that kind of cleaning.

View as you walk in the front door

One of my favorite places, the kitchen

Bathroom

Dining area

Our bedroom

Hallway with laundry on the right

Deck and a good hello to winter!

Second bedroom or as Josh likes to call it "The Man Cave". That's why the man is always in there, right?

 So there you have it, the  little place we like to call home. Oh and FYI we were watching House Hunters (HGTV) the other night and a condo in NYC that was a little over one thousand square feet was selling for $925,00!!! That didn't include the $25,000 HOA fees or the $40,000 parking spot. And here in my cozy little suburb of Green Bay, Wisconsin we pay about $700 a month which includes heat and water with an in-unit washer/dryer and a garage. So you big city people are just nuts!

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For some other housekeeping, this good old blog will hopefully be getting more use this year. I plan on doing Tastefully Tuesdays as I did last year, but this year I plan on including more pictures to actually show the steps taken to making the concoctions. So if you have any recipe ideas please shoot me an email or leave a comment, we are open to almost anything.

Earlier this week my cousin had a very interesting post on here blog about living less. Yesterday I ran out and got the book "7: an experimental mutiny against excess", by Jen Hatmaker. Josh and I maybe doing a little experimenting on our own about living less and I hope to share with you here about the excitement and challenges we me have along the way!

Happy snowy blizzardy Thursday to you!

2011!

It has been a long , but good six months since I have posted. Just thought I would let you all know that I am back! I hope to bring some new things and ideas to the blog this year, but not before I recap the past year.

January
I told myself that I would be active this year. I also survived playing mama for a week! And my Mom turned 49 (sorry Mom!)

February
The Green Bay Packers won the Super Bowl (that's a pretty big thing in this household). I got reconnected with some special people. Josh and I participated in our first run of the year. And my little brother got confirmed.

March
I took a twist on my "Tastefully Tuesday" posts and traveled world wide. And I wrote about some lenten thoughts here.

April
Not much too exciting happened in April, but we did participate in the local Relay for Life.

May
All the running craziness started with a duathlon. Ran my first marathon and dedicated each mile to someone special. Also I shared a few of my favorite things. And Josh turned 23!

June

Not much going on in June...Josh and I ran the Bellin Run and my little brother turned 17!

After the Bellin Run

July
July brought grief into my life as I lost my best friend to cancer. Josh, my dad, and I participated in our first triathlon! And my dad and I ran the Packer 5k with a group called My Team Triumph.

Getting ready to go! At the Door County Sprint Triathlon.

August
Josh moved into our apartment (will do a post on that soon). Had an amazing wedding shower and bachelorette party. Had a great mother/daughter getaway. And ran a half marathon in Minnesota.

Some GREAT women

13.1 marathon in Minneapolis, MN

September
We found ourselves out in MN yet again for the Breath of Hope Lung Cancer 5k that we run in honor of my Aunt Nan.

Josh and two of his favorites in our first trip to IKEA

October
My Dad and I had the Green Bay Duathlon and also ran the Africa Hope Run with My Team Triumph. We also walked in honor of two great people at the local Breast Cancer Walk. My Dad turned 46. I got a new client at work. Oh, and we got MARRIED!!!!

To see more wedding photos go here

 I will also post more on the wedding soon!

November
Settled into married life. I turned 24. My mom and I went and saw Breaking Dawn Part 1 (yes I am in love with the whole Twilight Saga).

December
Decorated our first Christmas tree. Attended our first "adult" Christmas party :) And celebrated our first Christmas together as husband and wife.

2011 ended as quietly as it started. Here is to you and hoping the new year brings you good company, great health and ever lasting love!

Kate,

It's approaching 4am on Friday morning and I am wide awake. I have been having a hard time since you left this place Wednesday evening. I try and hold it together because I tell myself "I don't have it bad, I wasn't a dear family member or your loving boyfriend, or even your friend since way back in the day," but when I am alone I just can't help it. I pull out the picture of you and I that I haven't let go of since last night and look at one of the most beautiful, amazing, and strongest persons I know.

I feel like there is so much I need to tell you, so much we haven't had the chance to talk about these past, very rough, two months. So much we haven't got to do together. But then I look back at all the times we did share together and it puts a smile on my face, puts me at ease. We may not have gotten to do it all, but girl we sure had some good times.

When Josh and I starting dating, owe 6 years ago, I not only got the man of my dreams, but one of the bestest friends, and a sister in you. I thank God everyday for bringing you into my life. You have taught me so much about love, life, and faith.

I HATE the word cancer and I hate what it did to you (and many other loved ones), but you never showed anyone you were scared. You have the strongest attitude and faith, no matter what kind of news doctors and scans and tests brought you.

You should see all the people that have come together to celebrate you! To celebrate the fun, loving, strong, and kind friend you were. You have touched so many peoples heart, you should be proud of yourself.

I saw your family tonight. They are doing okay. They miss you terribly, but are at ease that you are not in any more pain and that you don't have to fight the battle that you already won. Cancer may have took you away physical, but you won because of all the memories that were made. The life lessons that you taught people through this ordeal, even though you didn't try to teach anybody anything. You won Kate and that is all that matters.

Well I guess I should go and try and get some sleep. I will talk with you again soon.

Love you forever and always,
Samantha

Also read this beautiful post written by Kate's cousin Jessica.

I am here and so is SUMMER!

Again, I have lost track of time and posting. Life has gotten pretty crazy with work, birthdays, the holiday weekend, and unexpected health problems with a friend (who thank God is making improvements!!!!!!!). So I have a couple recipes for you!

Last week I made these amazing homemade chicken tenders! Got the recipe, but from who else, Rachael Ray!

Pretzel Crusted Chicken Tenders (Rachael Ray with some modifications)

1 bag salted pretzels

Salt and Pepper

2-4 eggs

16 chicken tenders or 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

 

Pre-heat the oven to 300°F.

Place the pretzels in a food processor or blender and grind until fine (We don't have a food processor and if you don't I suggest using the blender. I placed mine in a ziploc bag and used a rolling pin, but it left some bigger pieces of pretzel). Transfer to a shallow dish, season with salt and pepper and mix to combine.

Crack and beat the eggs in a second shallow dish with a splash of water.

Coat the chicken in the ground pretzels, then the eggs, then the pretzels again.

Pre-heat a large skillet with EVOO, enough to go a quarter-inch up the sides of the skillet (eyeball it), over medium-high heat. Add the coated chicken pieces to the hot EVOO. Cook in a single layer, in two batches if necessary, about 3-4 minutes on each side, until the cutlets' juices run clear and the breading is evenly browned. Transfer the finished chicken strips to the oven to keep warm as you cook remaining strips.

Nothing like celebrating memorial day with a cook out!!!

Beer Brats and Burgers 

1 yellow onion

butter (half a stick)

beer

brats

burgers

onion powder

salt and pepper

buns

Brats

Place the butter and yellow onion in the bottom of a kettle (depending on how many brats you have will depended on how big of a kettle you need). Place the brats on top and then cover with beer! (I had eight brats and used four bottles of beer). Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and let simmer for 15-20 mins (or until the brats are cooked)

Then place on grill!

Burgers\

I added a dash of onion powder, and salt and pepper to each side of the burger and then placed on grill.

Place the buns on the top rack of the grill to warm and toast!

**Make sure the grill is hot, and you used a wire brush to clean it. Also take a paper towel and dip it in some vegetable oil and use your grill tongs to oil the racks on the grill before placing food on grill.

Yes, I did the grilling!

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This weekend Josh and I have been engaged now for two years and hit the 5 month mark to our wedding!!!! We also celebrated Josh's birthday. On Monday night my mom made him a pumpkin pie as she has done since we have started dating and we had a cookout. Last night we celebrated with his family with steaks and a DQ ice cream cake!

Hope everyone has been having this glorious summer weather and has been able to get out and enjoy it! Hopefully be back sooner then later!

Twenty Three!

Just wanted to say Happy Birthday to the best man I know (well besides my dad)!!!! I hope you have the best day Josh! I love you!

Josh and I

Just a FEW of my favorite things!

Over the weekend Josh and I went up to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Upper Michigan. We couldn't have asked for better weather and a more peace time together (besides almost running out of gas in the middle of nowhere!).

The past couple of years I really have enjoyed the outdoors...I mean look at this picture, sun setting over Lake Superior! The fresh clean air, the peaceful surroundings, and the beautiful setting have found a place in my heart.

We headed up north to celebrate Josh's 23 birthday (which is a week from Tuesday). It was a great time to catch up on each others thoughts and feelings with everything coming up in our lives. I mentioned above that we almost ran out of gas in the middle of nowhere, but we made it to a small town that had one gas station and guess how much a gallon of gas was...$4.35! Now if I would have gotten gas when I was suppose to we would have only paid $4.01 a gallon! So needless to say this little detour cut out on our hiking time.

Happy Birthday Josh!

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I am totally in love with this book right now. My best friend's older sister wrote this book and it finally came from the printers about 2 weeks ago. This is Kristin's (the author) debut children's book. She has been affected by cancer because both her mother and younger sister are battling it right now so the subject touches her dearly. Plus she has a 3 year old son so what better way to bring light to such a dark subject then to write a children's book!

Kristin takes the scary word cancer and shows us the light to what the word can really mean. The illustrations are unique and creative and the words come from the heart.
 Giveaway: I will be giving away ONE book to someone that leaves a comment! Drawing will be Sunday May 29th.

If you would like to purchase your own book please go here...www.kSimonSays.com
- 25% of the proceeds of this book go Families of Children With Cancer (www.focwc.org)

Disclaimer: I bought my own copy of this book and I bought the copy that I will be giving away.

Late again...

Sorry my recipe is late again. On Tuesday night we had chicken tacos/or fajitas. Yummy and delicious and the chicken is a great substitute for ground beef!

The recipe is super simple. Get some chicken (about a 1/2 pound per person) and cook it up. I suggest to shredded the chicken because having it small chunks like I did causes the tortillas to rip. Once all the chicken is cooked mix in taco or fajita seasoning. Place in tortilla or over some chips and top with your favorite taco toppings!

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The week has flowen by. Started out working all my hours between Monday and Wednesday. Got my feet pampered on Monday. My knees are still sore from Sunday, but with running I think my knees will always be sore! Signed up to do a triathlon with Josh and my Dad this summer in Door County (Josh will swim, my Dad will bike, and I will run!). I also think I added a half marathon to my to-do list this summer and I am also thinking of running another full marathon in September...I am crazy?

Josh and I will be heading up to the UP tonight to do some hiking at Pictured Rocks (on Lake Superior). We then have our church picinic on Sunday so lets cross our fingers that the weekend will be blessed with good weather!

Hope you all had a wonderful week and that you will have a GREAT weekend!