Taco Salad!

this is a favorite recipe in my family, taco salad! the ingredient combo might seem a little strange, but it's super tasty, trust me ;)


romaine lettuce
kidney beans
fritos
shredded cheddar cheese
ground beef (spiced with plenty of chili powder, cayenne, crushed red pepper, garlic, pepper)

chopped:
tomato
avocado
green onions
jalapeno (optional)

thousand island (we used to buy kraft but in effort to make this slightly more healthy i've been using a yogurt based dressing by bolthouse farms that is just as good! it's in the product section)

make a salad with all of the above :) easy, eh? a word of warning: nate and i usually start with a normal size bowl and add what looks like a normal amount of lettuce and then somehow after you add all the stuff, you have created the salad that ate conneticut! don't say i didn't warn you ;)

cleo digs the porch

she loves to sit next to us on the couch, or also the ottoman which we thought we purchased for putting our feet up but turns out to be cleo's location of choice when nate and i are both sitting on the couch :)

snakes on a porch!

well... snake. and it was a baby. but still! check out this baby snake that made it's way onto our porch this morning. i actually stayed calm... mostly because it was so still i thought it was dead, but snakes aren't near as scary when they're worm sized! nate shooed it into a shoe box and released it into the yard. now it can grow into a big five-footer that scared the #@$%! out of me last time i saw one while doing yard work. yay!

spring cleaning!

i cleaned out my closet yesterday, it's been on my list for awhile! and although i had no issue giving away clothes i've purchased within the last few years that just didn't work out or don't fit, i was really reluctant to let go of some pieces that have been around for so long they're almost memorabilia at this point! most of the clothing in that category happens to be denim. i am finally getting rid of a pair of gap overalls i've had for 10 or more years (nate says he has underwear older than that. i say gross.) they have a bleach spot on the back pocket from cleaning the bathroom in the apartment cassie and i shared for years, and when the little clips for the straps broke, one of my co-workers at danaher soldered it back on for me :) i also go rid of a pair of shorts i bought right before highschool graduation. i remember because i ripped them less than a week later at a graduation party (fell backwards on a fence i think?) and sewed on the little heart patch you can see in the picture below. my compromise with finally letting them go is immortalizing them on film (well.. on a few megabytes anyway) ;)

it's the journey.. not the six dollars you save at costco!

nate and i are heading to the beach with friends in a few weeks and wanted to purchase some cocktail supplies beforehand. we've been meaning to check out the liquor store at costco so this evening, we called our friends to see if they wanted to join us on our trip :) they headed to our house and we headed out at around 8 only to realize that it closed at 8:30 and was a 35 minute drive away! we weren't sure if we were going to make it, but we did- with 5 minutes to spare!

as it turns out, if you're a good bargain shopper like they are, you can find prices at or within a few dollars of what we found at costco, but it was still an entertaining trip :)

so if you give your wife a camera...

no, nate didn't write the comment below. i highly suspect my brother-in-law actually but haven't had the chance to verify that yet :)

"...if you let your wife become a photographer, she'll probably ask for a fancy new camera. Once she gets her fancy new camera, she'll tell you she needs a nice case to 'keep it safe' (oh, and an extra memory card.) and while you're getting the case, you might as well go ahead and pick up a portable hard drive to store all those pictures on, you know, because it's black friday and it's a super deal. Once she has all that storage space, she's going to need to fill it up with some especially artsy stuff, so she'll probably want a new extra versatile lens to attach to her fancy camera. And of course, if you let your wife become a photographer, she'll probably want to grow a beard. Oh, wait. That stopped working."

if you give a mouse a cookie....

...he'll probably ask for a glass of milk. if you let your husband join a band, he'll probably ask for a new pa system. once he gets his PA system, he'll tell you he needs a set of microphones. once he gets the microphones he'll probably need to get some stands for them (oh and some wind screens). and while you're getting the microphone stands, you should go ahead and order a music stand, you know, to get the free shipping. once he has all those stands, he's going to need somewhere to put his drink, so he'll probably want a drink holder to attach to his mic stand. and of course, if you let your husband join a band, he'll probably want to grow a beard.

our nephew cadiem :)

hello from blacksburg! we arrived this morning to visit cassie, jeff and cadiem. he's a little over 4 weeks old now and ridiculously adorable (of course!) we haven't done a full blown photo shoot yet, but i did photograph them all day anyway while they were up to their daily goings-on. here's a few of them:




this is the funniest face he made all day for sure :)

and here's the whole family :)

and one more of mom and baby :)

lime-tastic!

so it's been a limey week :) is that a word? limey? anyway... since living in florida, i've been really into lime, especially key lime :) while grandma & my aunts were here this week, i remembered a recipe for key lime pie that's tasty -- especially when it's hot out! it keeps in the freezer, so nate was a particular fan of it as a nightly treat! it's also a light recipe (from Eating Light magazine) and super easy to make! :)

1 cup key lime juice (yes, it has to be key lime)
Zest of 1 lime
Juice of 2 limes
1 box sugar-free lime jello
2 cans (14 oz) fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1 tub (8 oz) fat-free frozen cool whip, thawed
2 graham cracker pie crusts (most of these seem to have trans fat, so i've been using organic granola pie crusts which are yummy too!)

1. Put Key Lime juice, zest, and juice in a bowl. Whisk in gelatin until almost dissolved, about 1 minute. Whisk in sweetened condensed milk until fully blended.
2. Whisk thawed cool whip in until blended. Pour mixture into crusts and freeze for at least six hours or until frozen.

the other 'limey' recipe we had this weekend was beer margaritas! it's even easier than the pie:

1 can lime-ade
that same can filled with tequila (ay ay!)
1 beer
1 can 7-up
ice

Mix in a pitcher until lime-ade dissolves and serve over ice. Enjoy all summer long ;)

i know it's been forever since i updated

but my grandma and 2 of her sisters, my aunt peggy and my aunt willie, are here and i've been running around with them :) we've been to the parks, been shopping, been to the beach for about 5 minutes and have spent a lot of time relaxing on the patio :) i'll post a longer update sometime soon!

cleaning out the garage + cocktails = entertainment

nate and i are cleaning out the garage today. there is a whole lot of stuff out there! some of it is funny, some nostalgic, and some i can't believe has taken up space for that many years without us throwing it away!

yesterday, we did yard work. it's been a productive weekend!

cadiem rey mangold

was born at 11:32 am :) he is 7 lbs 1 oz and has brown hair :) the whole family is doing well! if you're a blacksburgian/christiansburgian, they are receiving visitors tomorrow so give them a call.

i'm so excited :) and so glad that everyone is doing well. that labor stuff sounded pretty scary over the phone! i know it's totally worth it and i can't wait to meet him :)

no baby yet!

jeff sent updates all night, they're getting close now (starting to push) so hopefully soon!

cassie's in labor!

her water broke earlier today and she and jeff are at the hospital (and have been since this afternoon). my mom and i are getting updates by phone, i really wish i could be there with her! they are giving her medicine to induce labor and her contractions are about 3 minutes apart (so i think that means it should be soon, i hope soon for cassie's sake!) i'll post as soon as i have an update!

music weekend!

music weekend was a success! measure of success? lots of great music, delicious food, cold beer and this year, even a little bit of dancing! :) we had a great time and this year even put together a slide show of the day to the tune of one of the band's greatest hits, 'wagon wheel' by old crow medicine show. enjoy!

Grilled Wine Country Beef with Arugula

Nate and I have been eating healthier lately (think fresh veggies, lean meats, and whole grains) and so far, this has been our favorite recipe hands down! it's easily halved for two :) you can marinate the beef up to 24 hours ahead of time, which i recommend :)

Ingredients:

• 4 6-ounce boneless beef sirloin steaks, cut 1 inch thick
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (or more!) :)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 6 cups torn arugula leaves
• 1 cup thinly sliced celery
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan or Asiago cheese

1. Trim fat from steaks. Season steaks with kosher salt and black pepper. Place in a large self-sealing plastic bag and set in a shallow dish.
2. For marinade, in a small bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, 1 tablespoon of the mint, the rosemary, and crushed red pepper. Pour over steaks. Seal bag; turn to coat steaks. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 to 24 hours, turning bag occasionally.
3. For dressing, in a screw-top jar, combine lemon juice, red wine vinegar, and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Cover and shake well. Season to taste with additional kosher salt and black pepper. Set aside.
4. Drain steaks, discarding marinade. For a charcoal grill, place steaks on the rack of an uncovered grill directly over medium coals. Grill for 14 to 18 minutes for medium-rare doneness (145°F) or 18 to 22 minutes for medium doneness (160°F), turning once halfway through grilling. (For a gas grill, preheat grill. Reduce heat to medium. Place steaks on grill rack over heat. Cover and grill as above.)
5. Remove steaks from grill. Cover with foil and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Slice meat across the grain.
6. In a large bowl combine arugula, celery, tomatoes, and the remaining 1 tablespoon mint. Drizzle with the dressing; toss to coat.
7. To serve, divide arugula mixture among four dinner plates; top with meat slices. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

We had it with toasted whole wheat pita bread brushed with garlic and olive oil. It's delicious, trust me! It also makes for beautiful presentation!

cleo and her party hat

if you haven't been to nate's blog to see his post about cleo and how she reacts to her party hat (i don't know the technical name, but the big cone collar they put on dogs so they can't mess with themselves) -- go watch the video! it's not action packed at all, but i've never seen that dog stand so still. as soon as we put it on her, she freezes and seems to only be able to go in reverse. poor thing! we only put it on her when she won't quit licking though, don't worry!

This Is Just To Say by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

allergic to florida?

cleo has been super itchy and scratchy lately so nate took her to the vet this morning. apparently she could be allergic to dust... grass...her toys...we don't even know what! apparently the longer we live in florida, the worse it will get. we're supposed to spray her paws twice a day with some allergy stuff, give her benadryl, weekly baths, etc. hopefully she feels better soon!

our new baby!

omg i can't believe we bought a car :) is it the cutest or what? after six years, i said adieu to my lovely corolla and nate and i are the proud new owners of a rav4! kept it in the toyota family though ;) nate says the subaru still has more cargo space but i don't know if i believe him!

happy birthday to my husband!

:)

the weather is gorgeous!

i love this time of year in florida :) we're headed over to our local pub to play some trivia, it's been quite awhile since we've been! and ivey extravaganza is fast approaching: nate's birthday, valentine's day, and our wedding anniversary are all within a week :) we always change up the celebrations a bit, some evenings in, some evenings out. we're still figuring out what to do with ourselves this year!

i think cleo likes the band

nate and some friends have started a band, they practiced on friday night. cleo was particularly interested in the sound when they trilled on the keyboard ;)

trying something new...

it may change shortly :) we'll see!

so, GO STEELERS! i have to admit, every time the cardinals scored or showed a chance of making it, i was a little excited for them. but i was super excited at the outcome (as was all of beef o'bradys and all of our PA company that's in town this week!) we had a great time watching the game all together :)

today, we also went to see the manatees at blue springs state park, and found a great place to eat on the river called Swamp River Grille. definitely adding it to our list of great places to enjoy the beautiful winter florida weather!

ivey arrivals tomorrow!

and the next day too! john and nina will be here tomorrow, followed by laura on friday :) they'll be here for an extended weekend and we're very excited to have them :)

virginia is cold!

but surprisingly... not that much colder than florida was when i left :) add "waiting for the plane to defrost" to the list of the many travel delays i've experienced in life! the plane was scheduled to leave at 7 a.m. before the sunrise, so they explained that since we had a hard freeze the previous night, we had to wait for the sun to come up and melt the ice! it took about an hour and fifteen minutes of sitting in the sun and readjusting the plane, but finally, we were cleared for takeoff. i've been having a great time, cassie's friend hosted an absolutely fantastic shower for her with amazing food (and drink!) :) today, mom headed back to charlotte to catch her flight and cassie and i are putting the baby furniture together. jeff's at work but will be home tonight to hang out with us :)

pittsburgh's going' to the superbowl (and so are the cardinals!)

pittsburgh and arizona in the superbowl! how cool is that? back when they both made it to the playoffs, i was hoping it would end up that way, although i didn't really think it would :)

i'm cheering for the steelers though, i was never really even a football fan until nate and i got married ;) i am really excited to see the cardinals in it though, my dad has been a lifelong cardinals fan!

in other news, i'm headed to blacksburg this weekend for cassie's baby shower so i'm very excited for that! oh and of course, i'm way behind on pictures, but i'll catch up in february sometime when our weekends slow down :)

i won grandma!

go steelers!

if you don't follow football closely, the steelers are in the playoffs :) they beat the chargers last week and we were at our usual place to watch the game, beef o' bradys :) here's a shot of the group in front of the bar. it is, obviously, a steelers bar ;) nate and i are on the bottom right!

still kickin'!

just been busy :) we've opened the ivey bed and breakfast for the season ;) the weather has been beautiful too, so it's a great time to be in florida!

last week, nate's good friend from punxsy and his wife (who now live in d.c.) were here to visit. we had a great time :) and they have 2 dogs, 1 of whom is a frenchie and although they didn't make it to FL, they enjoyed cleo and she REALLY enjoyed them :) she spent the week happily getting her belly rubbed and being doted on.

this week the ghoons are here and it's been great so far :) unfortunately the weather's been a bit cold but hopefully it will warm up a bit this weekend so we can go pick some citrus!

next week is cassie's baby shower so my mom and i will both be in VA for that and i'm really excited to be there. nate'll be home in FL with cleo, i think he has all kinds of activities planned for himself :)

god help us all...

our new camera has a video feature! (thanks john and nina :) ) here's the first video i took (well.. technically not the first. the first was the same thing but with nate complaining that i was taking a video and he made me retake it)

merry christmas everyone!

enjoy :)

merry nate & bri christmas!

so nate and i celebrated our christmas this morning :)  (much like the pennsylvania 'thanksmas,' we move the holiday to where it's convenient!)  we played scrabble on 'christmas eve' lastnight.  i thought our santa table decoration coordinated rather well with the scrabble bag.  doesn't it look like his bag of toys?

 

it was a tough board!  we were mostly confined to the lower corner due to some bad start out words (ahem... nate)  and my letters were atrocious!  at one point, i swear i had all i's.  and this rack, which totally made me want to spell hee-haw (but i doubt that's an acceptable scrabble word!)

then nate spelled 'pinna,' which i challenged, and lost.  apparently pinna is a long forgotten botany word.  i don't think he knew that though, i think he just got lucky!  :)

 

after christmas eve, we were excited for christmas morning to arrive!  we got up early(ish) and started with stockings!  (ours are new this year, i finally found some i really liked :)  cleo's has been around for a few years though)

 

then we had the dogs pose by the tree.  for those of you who don't know, benny is a dog we've been dogsitting for the past month and a half (his owner was injured and can't walk him at the moment).  he went home today, but not before he and cleo got their picture together.  you may remember that cleo doesn't like to sit too near other dogs. 

can you believe that pile of gifts in the back is all for us?  nate went a bit overboard this year :)  he even had a few adressed to himself.... from santa.  including this one, a book on tennis skills:

 

santa was all about tennis this year.  he also got nate and i a costco size supply of tennis balls, and a ball hopper!  i got all kinds of goodies including a new camera bag to hold all my gear, a really cool calendar of paris, cool photography books, a new outift, etc.  :)

after 'christmas morning' we had what nate affectionately calls 'mexican breakfast':  refried beans, fried potatoes, and tortillas.  it was super tasty if i do say so myself :)  

and the best part is?  christmas isn't even over yet!  lots more family time to come :)  hope your holidays are happy!

some new photos

finally posted ;) there are some new in october and november - and more to come!

included in the new are a bunch from our weekend in captiva with glen & family -- i took TONS of the sunset. and i posted less than half of what i took so... you're welcome! it's still a lot to wade through but we happened to catch a really pretty sunset. and i was drinking cocktails which tends to increase my 'number of photos taken' metric ;)

enjoy!

cleo says hi!

holiday blog neglect

haven't been posting much lately but holiday activities have been keeping me busy! :) we celebrated thanksgiving AND christmas in PA over the traditional thanksgiving holiday this year (as has become our tradition when we spend thanksgiving with nate's family). it's fun :) kicking off the christmas season by popping up the tree, drinking hot cocoa and exchanging gifts not only gets you in the spirit, but also crosses a bunch of things off of your list early!

since we've been back, we've been playing some tennis, getting together with friends, and finishing up christmas shopping. we bought our tree, 'santa the christmas tree #3,' and decorated the house. this year i FINALLY found stockings that i liked enough to buy, it would have been our third christmas without stockings (oh the horror!) but we're all set now :)

on the picture front, i'm stuck somewhere back in october but as soon as things calm down a bit, i'll get back on the wagon.

also, i really enjoyed the steeler's game last week (against the cowboys). usually i go with nate, but generally ignore the game by playing the bar video game, or reading a magazine, or whatever. this time it was an exciting game and i watched the entire thing. cassie thinks i'm crazy :) but there is really quite a bit of drama in the nfl (just like the commmercial. i'm such a marketer's dream).

happy holidays!

tennis, tennis, tennis!

we've been playing more tennis lately (and are now fully supplied with all the right gear thanks to some christmas presents from laura and drew!)

last week, nate and i played singles and as nate put it, i was 'dogging it.' i was feeling kind of lazy so i didn't exactly bring my A game. i did have a talk with nate about raising his arms NFL touchdown style every time he won a point though ;)

today we played doubles with some friends of ours and had a good time :) nate and i need to do some work on our doubles strategy though ;)

also this weekend, we saw twilight (nate HATED it, i liked it but then again, i read the entire book series and all the outtakes too), had sushi night (and i drank a bit too much wine), and decorated for christmas! more on that later ;)

back from indiana!

and it's a whirlwind week! we just got back from trivia (and lost) and had the worst service EVER. sample dialogue includes:

me: "will our food be out soon?" (inner monologue... it's been an hour)
waiter: "oh.. um.. i'll check on that. what was it you ordered again?"

ahhhh... we were there much longer than usual but ah well, at least we had some good friends with us to pass the time!

i'll blog more later, have some errands to finish!

my grandaddy.

although i tend to avoid blogging about more serious things, i didn't want to let such an event pass without acknowledging it here. my grandaddy passed away on tuesday. cassie and i were able to fly to arizona last week and see and talk to him. he was the best grandaddy anyone could ever want and i'll miss him very much. below is a slideshow of pictures the family put together for the funeral.

the sun sets on the gulf of mexico (and i forget to watch)

while we were in captiva, we watched a beautiful sunset and it reminded me of a poem i wrote years ago about when i was working on the oil rig in the gulf.  i've posted the poem before, but here it is again (with a picture of the almost gone captiva sunset) :)

The Sun Sets on the Gulf of Mexico (And I Forget to Watch)

He asks how long I think it will take the sun to disappear
after it touches the water. Thinking of a movie I saw once
where the sun seemed to disappear almost instantaneously,
I tell him thirty seconds.

“No,” he says. “It takes three minutes.”
Silence lapses between us as fiery light falls
on black water between the breaks of the waves.
He is talking but I am thinking of what to say
next. My gaze is on the water. I hear him
pause, so I smile in what I hope is a valid response,
turn back to the sun on the water.
I forget to pay attention to his watch.

Instead I watch the water until the light fades,
fascinated by the way the sunlight
is carried back to us from the horizon,
dancing along the blackness.
Remembering the sun,
I ask him, “Is it really three minutes?”
“I don’t know,” he says. “Something like that.”

ooh.... ow... ahhh....arghhh!

i am super sore from playing tennis lastnight (and that's exactly what i sounded like during the game).  nate and i played each other and only got through 1 set (close game, i finally lost 6-8) and then i gave up 2 games into the second set.  i had a headache, and my ankle and my back hurt!  nate said i sounded like an old woman ;)

but we're going to go again today, maybe i'll get him this time ;)

also, cleo has developed some crazy allergies and looks like a 'puffer-fish' between gettng little bumps and hives all over.  i took her to the vet friday and she's now on 3 medications... 2 are pills and 1 is a twice-weekly shampoo.  but hopefully it'll make her all better!  nate has created a spreadsheet of the pills so we can check off each time they are administered (he's a total dork, i know ;) )  but also- he wants me to INITIAL it.  there are two of us that live here so figuring out who checked off the sheet shouldn't be that difficult ;)  he thinks that's a totally normal request, what do you think? :)

epcot mexico

a few shots from epcot mexico recently -- i had them and thought cassie might like them so i put them in a collage ;) (made with mcp actions)

paper and ink studio - giveaway :)

Paper and Ink Studio is having a giveaway on her blog, 50 'call me cards' and 25 matching notecards.  Her work is absolutely beautiful, and all you have to do to enter is comment on the post on her blog before tomorrow (saturday) night!  from her blog, you can also get to her site which has all her products.  i've ordered some of the custom notecards and loved them!

http://www.teamcarstens.com/paper_ink_studio_/2008/11/november-blog-giveaway.html

oregon trail!

did you ever play oregon trail?  i used to play it all the time as a kid and this imagined monologue from mcsweeney's is hilarious :)  you may not appreciated if you didn't play the game, but here's an excerpt from the monologue titled 'No Son of Mine Plays Oregon Trail Like That.':

I once completed the trail having survived three broken wagon wheels. It took me 10 days to find an Indian to trade with for the third wheel, and I still scored 6,000 points. The other day, I saw you quit the trail immediately after your wagon capsized in the Kansas River. You lost only an ox and a hundred pounds of food. I drank myself to sleep that night.
Speaking of food, it almost seems like you don't even like to hunt. When you do, you fire randomly at anything that moves. Let me make it simple for you, son: a bullet costs 10 cents, a pound of food costs 20 cents. If you're not averaging a half pound of food per bullet, you're wasting points. So I hope it was fun firing 10 times at that squirrel, which, I feel obligated to add, you never actually hit.

rock the vote!

okay, so that was a slogan from a few years ago, but i'm so excited to see how the coming years play out and i'm so excited to have been a part of the entire process.  now that all the election hulla-baloo is over, i feel like we should all break into a dance of a high school musical "we're all in this together" moment but maybe that's the disney cast member in me talking ;)  but seriously.. red states.. blue states... no matter, it's the UNITED STATES!

hello from captiva!

we're on the beach just outside of fort meyers enjoying a BEAUTIFUL weekend with glen, suzie & ben (jackson will be here tomorrow).  the weather is perfect and we're walking distance to the beach!  i want to hire suzy as my vacation planner.  they'll be here for just about a week and we're just joining them for the weekend.  we just finished playing tennis and it was so fun!  i haven't played in years and am excited to get back into it :)
hope you are all enjoying your weekend!

the new carpet!

finally wading through some long overdue tasks on the new computer -- here's some pictures of our new carpet. it was freakishly clean because we were having company, fyi ;)

we still need to paint in here!  and get a new window shade.. and put stuff on the walls... this room's on deck.

motown philly back again!

Boyz II Men was at Epcot tonight!  Nate and I headed out after work and they were AWESOME.  Well... I thought they were.  Nate thought the Ventures were better, but I was in junior high heaven!

pictures...

so i finally updated more pics!  i'm only up to august though, lots more to come! :)

and now we relax!

we hosted the 'ivey olympics' lastnight :)  we spent most of the week cleaning the house, the garage, buying food, buying beer, etc.  and now we can relax!  we had a good time, so hopefully everyone else did too.  we ended up with three events (out of a planned 6 events) flip cup, darts, and wii olympics.  nate bought some cool trophies from good will and had little plaques made for Ivey Olympics 2008- ha :)

today we're cleaning the house, eating chinese takeout, and heading to buy a flash for my camera- yay!  oh, and probably some football watching (sigh) because PSU is doing well this season.

have a great weekend!

yummy sherry vinaigrette

i've been all about this dressing lately.  i had to buy a bottle of sherry vinegar for something and used like... a tablespoon, so i searched for a salad dressing recipe that included it and ta-da!  here, for your culinary pleasure :)  i highly recommend it with spinach and goat cheese (although it's good on pretty much anything):

2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 small clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Place the vinegar, salt, pepper, mustard, and garlic in a medium size bowl and whisk together until blended.  Slowly add the olive oil, whisking constantly until the dressing is emulsified.

great... someone else at work now thinks my name is ivey

it's always so awkward to correct them for some reason....

wii fitness

we bought a wii fit this weekend and it's awesome :)  nate and i have been using it both for fun and exercise (which i guess is the point, isn't it?....)  it both encourages and harasses you ("a bit too busy to work out yesterday, bri?)

as you do more exercise, you unlock more activities or reps on existing exercises.  i'm a pretty good hula hooper and ski jumper :)  definitely need to work on my balance though!

so krau-zones it is!

and the recipe is from marty's side of the family :)  apparently my german roots ;)

kraut-burgers!

so we had kraut-burgers while john and linda were here and i got a chance to take some pictures of them for this post :)  the ingredient list is quite short:

• 1 lb of lean ground beef
• jar of sauerkraut (i don't use the whole jar, but i eyeball the amount)
• 1 can of thin crust pilsbury pizza dough (or any pizza dough of your preference)

brown the hamburger in a large skillet and when it's mostly done, add sauerkraut until it looks like the amount of each are about equal (and drain the sauerkraut first!).  get the hamburger-kraut mixture nice and hot.

while that's going, roll out the pizza dough -- i usually divide the thin crust pizza dough into 8 squares.  place a square on a cookie sheet, spoon the hamburger-kraut mixture onto one half of it, and fold over, tucking in the sides.  essentially, it should look like a little calzone... but with sauerkraut.

then bake at 400 until they look nice and toasty... mmmmm.

serve with copious amounts of yellow mustard :)

we had them with sauteed green beans, and a salad.

so mom, who's recipe was this?  yours?  marty's?

and everyone else... should we rename this recipe to make it more appetizing?

disney disney disney!

we spent our weekend with john, linda and ross enjoying disney :)  well, actually... linda and i spent yesterday shopping :)  but the rest of the time was disney!

today we started off our day with some delectable french pastries from our neighbors (who make them and sell them at the local farmers' market).  here's a pic of them:

yum.  seriously yum.  those are almond croissants, pain du chocolat, and rasberry napoleons.  after breakfast, we headed to animal kingdom and it was HOT.  but we had a good day and hit all the attractions we wanted to :)  and hardly any rain, which we can't say about last week.  my highlight?  we got to see jiminy cricket!  and pocahontas.  we rarely wait in line for the characters, but the lines were quite short so:

nate took this picture of pocahontas and i and had trouble with the camera.  i ended up having to go back over to him and fiddle with it, so i apologized to pocahontas and she just laughed and said "men!"  :)  funny.

ross and john rode kali while the rest of us opted out (too wet!) but got to see them float by:

we had dinner at downtown disney and ended our evening at the california grill (at the contemporary resort) for wine and cheese and a fantastic view of the magic kingdom fireworks.  a very full, but very fun day :)

a little poetry for your weekend

by one of my favorites, sara teasdale:

I Am Not Yours

I am not yours, not lost in you,

Not lost, altho' I long to be

Lost as a candle lit at noon,

Lost as a snow-flake in the sea.

You love me, and I find you still

A spirit beautiful and bright,

Yet I am I, who long to be

Lost as a light is lost in light.

Oh plunge me deep in love -- put out

My senses, leave me deaf and blind,

Swept by the tempest of your love,

A taper in a rushing wind.

ah.... food & wine (and a little bit of rain)

we just got home from a night at epcot.  the rain held out long enough for us to see johnny lang who i really enjoyed.  definitely going to have some new music on my ipod :)  we tried foods from turkey, canada, greece, poland, and i can't remember the rest :)  it was tasty!  but it was also raining!  we stuck it out with ponchos and watched the fireworks from a great spot since a good lot of people had abandoned ship by then.

now we're home, and in dry clothes ;)  looking forward to the weekend!

and we're back in business!

and since it's late, just a picture of cassie and mom from roanoke and our visit to virginia :)

pictures returning soon!

well our desktop PC stopped connecting to the internet a few weeks ago so that's why i haven't posted ANY pictures lately.  but our new one will be arriving tomorrow (yippee!) so pictures will be making a comeback soon :)

linda, john, and ross have arrived and we're getting ready to head out for some tasty mexican food :)

whirlwind couple of days!

man we were busy yesterday!  we worked outside all day and it was well worth it :)  nate pressure washed the patio and most of the house, i replanted the flower boxes with a flower i can't remember and some lantana (which i hope will trail down the front of the window boxes), we trimmed, we swept, we rearranged and are now pretty proud of our house exterior :)

tonight we've been working on the interior which needed some cleaning.  now we're (almost) prepared for john, linda and ross to visit although i need to make a trip to the grocery store, we're almost completely out of food!  although we do have beer... hmm...

also, an exciting note for this fall is that epcot will be featuring quite a few of my favorite musical acts from way back, including:  starship, en vogue, boyz II men, jon secada, sister hazel... the list goes on!  we'll be checking them out over the next few weeks :)  and hopefully doug's recommendation, cowboy mouth as well :)

you mean our sliding door is connected to a patio?

we absolutely love our patio but from about... may until now, it might as well not even be there.  it's way too hot!  as a result, we've not done too much along the lines of cleaning it, taking care of the plants, etc.  but now that the weather is getting beautiful, we're cleaning it up so we can do our usual (pretty much spend all of our time out there).  bring on the pressure washer, broom, scrub and wash the cushions, throw out the plants i killed (oops!), clip back the ones that survived, etc.

also in the name of beautiful weather, it's festival time in the central florida area, this weekend was winter garden's music fest.  they had over 20 musical acts playing all weekend starting friday night.  my favorite was a just a guy and his guitar (3 guitars actually), nate's favorite was a band we saw inside the mooncricket grille.  the drummer was the lead singer which i'd never seen before- that must be tough!  i think john and frank should get on the schedule for next year, they could definitely rock the crowd :)

register to vote!

register to vote!  cool video (with some profanity, if that bothers you) --

bottom line?  you can head here:  http://maps.google.com/vote and find out what you need to do to register.  by mid-october, they'll show you where to head to vote.

man i'm tired!

since nate and i get the benefits of being cast members, we never feel pressured to get our 'money's worth' out of the parks.  if we're tired- we go home!  if we're hungry- we leave, and eat!  but today we headed out to universal studios, our first time paying to head to a theme park in orlando since we've moved here.  it was fun :)  but nate definitely turned into the 'superdad' variety that paid to get in and now wants to make sure we eek every experience we can :)  he packed his cargo pants with granola bars and every time i whined that i was getting hungry, he handed me a granola bar and told me to buck up - lots to do before the parks close at 6!  he finally let me have a hot dog around 3 pm- whew!

:)  our favorite ride?  (we had the same favorite)  the first one we rode, the hulk, at islands of adventure!  it was awesome :)  full on rollercoaster fun and a whole lot of screaming loops.  we also really liked the mummy (dark themed rollercoaster) and the simpsons (brand new vitrual fun).

and now?  i'm home, collapsed on the couch- that was a whole lot of walking and a really long day for just being 9 to 5!  we had some kraut burgers and settled in to watch the penn state game (key feature for me?  the couch!).

oh... kraut burgers?  one of the weirdest things i make for dinner, recipe courtesy of my mother.  i'll post that recipe sometime soon- it's not too complicated ;)

hail hail to old purdue

all hail to our old gold and black!

i was at my old alma mater last week for a recruiting trip and really enjoyed the time.  it's been a long time since i was there (3 years ago for anna & rick's wedding) and even longer since i graduated (6 years ago now!).  it was interesting to remember who i was then and what i wanted out of life since you spend a lot of time in college thinking about where you're headed (or at least i did, i spent a lot of time writing in my journal in coffee shops!) :)

a lot has changed there, several new buildings and WAY more eateries and places to hang out than ever existed when i was there.  it's neat to see the progress and exciting to be part of an institution that continues to get better but part of me wants it to stay exactly the same as when i was there.  silly i know :)

but looking back on everything that's happened since i headed off to college:  has it all turned out the way i planned?  absolutely not!  but i'm 100% happy with how it has turned out and that's all that matters :)

a few photos:

freshman year, day one.  sarah m. and i were potluck roommates  :)

senior year, from the left, sarah s., cyndi, regan and me (we all lived together junior and senior year) :)

also senior year, anna and sarah m. -- they co-oped, so every other semester they were away for work.

 

my home away from home!  (once after a bad break-up, i said to sarah s.... "you know i really haven't been sleeping well since he and i broke up."  she said "do you think that's because you're spending ALL your time at the coffee shop?"  hmmmm.....)

and finally, graduation!  from the left, cyndi, me, and sarah s.

been mia!

sorry y'all, i've been an absentee blogger again.  and i was doing so well!!  i've been traveling, nate's been traveling, yadda yadda yadda.  also our computer is out of commission as far as the internet is concerned.  we still have the laptop but all my photos are on the desktop so no good!

in other news, is it fall yet?  i can't wait for the beautiful florida winter to kick in, when other people are jealous of our weather instead of vice versa!  our porch has been sorely neglected since it's too hot to even think about sitting outside for leisure purposes (although we have had a few cooler nights here and there).

the steelers have kicked off the season with a win, and game two is currently underway.  i'm in the market for a willie parker jersey, one that's cut for a woman so it doesn't go down to my knees like all of nate's jerseys :)  i saw a woman with a really great willie parker jersey that had glittery gold in place of all the usual gold, but i can't seem to find it online.  i'll keep looking :)

lunch break!

i had a late breakfast today so when lunch rolled around, i wasn't really hungry.  since i had no meetings today, that was a pretty long stretch at my desk to i took a shopping break instead :)  i listened to madonna's material girl and destiny's child independent woman on my way over to the outlets to get in the mood (yes, i really am that cheesy) and picked up a new pair of jeans and some cute t-shirts.  it was a nice way to break up the day :)

sorry i've been an absent blogger lately, our desktop pc has decided to no longer get along with the internet so that slowed down my internet usage.

in other news, we finally got cable!!  our phone/internet/cable company had a deal which ended up working out pretty well for us so we decided to try it.  we're enjoying the novelty so far.  tv you can pause?  record?  a guide you can scan through and search?  this is good stuff people!  :)