I saw the sign... I opened up my eyes and saw the sign!

So lots has been going on lately. We have moved, almost completely done. Still some small stuff and cleaning to do at the old place. Trying to get most of it finished before I leave on Tuesday to go to California for four days for work. I also moved into a new position at work, which meant my salary increased which is totally awesome, especially with the way the economy is. But for the important stuff... Kayte asked if I wanted to go yard sale-ing with her since Chad and the kids are out of town and she wanted to find some 'yard art' for her gardens. And oh, did we find some art. We went to this crazy place just north of Bend, its a cross between a yard sale, antique store and a dump. I wish I had gotten a picture of it. Anyhow, I found THE COOLEST 'yard art' anyone has ever had. And it was only $5! Chad, you can thank me later when you get home and experience Frieda first hand. After the crazy place we went to the candy store (amazing) then cruised through the Saturday market along with the hippie market across the street (complete with bongos, hula hoop lessons and some lady waving around an incense stick) and grabbed lunch at the Pita Pit. Then we went to a couple awesome stores near downtown, Kayte scored some cool wire gates for her garden and a half door that will look awesome when she's done with it. I got a really cool hummingbird feeder and these champagne glasses that have no bottom and are kept in a vase, I'll have to get a picture of them, they are pretty awesome. Enough suspense, though. Here I give you 'Frieda', the coolest yard art in the world:

We're Moving!

But before you get too excited, we're not moving out of town. We have been wanting to move for awhile and we found a place the other day that's probably less than a mile from where we're living now. It is smaller and older than the place that we're living in now, but it has a big yard and it's a house, so no more sharing a wall with the neighbors who stomp up and down the stairs at all hours of the night. Now we will be able to take the puppies outside without being swarmed by tons of little kids. AND, it's within walking distance to the Old Mill so we can walk to movies or concerts and not have to worry about parking. The place that we're in right now is really nice, but its in a neighborhood that is all duplexes really close together. And since we live in a culdesac it feels like we live in a fishbowl, when you walk outside it's like EVERYONE can see you. So we are looking forward to having a house with neighbors that aren't as close (and hopefully not as annoying) and having a little more privacy. Whoever said a good fence makes a good neighbor was onto something. And the rent is cheaper so that is always a bonus. The carpets are getting cleaned on Friday and then we'll start moving in this weekend or early next week. Oh and the back yard is big enough that I can turn a section of it into a garden, so that will be awesome too! So, who wants to help us move?

Happy Mothers Day!

I have been making comments to Michael for the past week about today being Mothers Day, and he said I wasn't getting anything because I'm not a mom. I told him I am too, we have the puppies. He said I didn't give birth to them so that means I'm not a mom; I asked him if that means that people who adopt aren't moms. Well, it worked because this is what I found when I got up this morning. :)

My flower pots.

We don't have much garden space here, so I have been wanting some pots for the front door. I found some really awesome ones at Costco, along with some cool flowers, so here they are. I also got some really cool solar lights to line the driveway and they were up for about two weeks before the jerk face neighbor kids broke one. Why were they in our yard? Jerks. They are the most annoying kids, ever.

Sunday's Special...

So one of my goals this year is to try new recipes/foods. Since it's too crazy during the week I've decided to make Sunday my 'try out a recipe' day. Today I decided to try another crock pot recipe, so here it is:

Chicken Tortilla Casserole

-4 chicken breasts (I used the frozen ones from Costco) cut up into 1" pieces, cooked. (Reserve 1/4 C of the broth chicken was cooked in)
-10 6" flour tortillas (I used whole wheat), cut into strips about 1/2" wide x 2" long
-2 medium sized onions, chopped (I didn't have regular onions so I just used two bunches of green onions, I think 2 whole onions would be a little much)
-1 tsp. olive oil
-10 3/4 oz can fat-free chicken broth
-10 3/4 oz can fat-free cream of mushroom soup
-2 4oz cans chopped mild green chilies
-1 egg
-1 c. low-fat shredded cheese

1. Spray your crock pot with non-stick spray then put the reserved chicken broth in.
2. Scatter half the tortilla strips in the bottom of the cooker.
3. Mix everything else together, except the second half of the tortillas and the cheese.
4. Layer half the chicken mix, top with second half of tortillas then put the second half of the chicken mix in.
5. Cover. Cook on low 4-6 hours or on high 3-5 hours.
6. Add cheese to the top of the dish during the last 20-30 minutes.
7. Uncover and allow casserole to rest 15 minutes (it's worked really hard)

So, typing the recipe here has made me realize I did it way different, but not on purpose. I got half way through cooking this and realized that its almost like a 'chicken enchilada' recipe that Kayte and I like. Not only did I not put the egg in (I realized I forgot it after everything was in the crock pot) but instead of the 10 3/4oz can of chicken broth, I put in a 10 3/4 oz can of cream of chicken soup. I thought it turned out alright though, even Michael liked it enough to go back for seconds. It was a bit runny, but that's probably because I forgot the egg. Although I think the can of chicken broth would make it super runny. I think I like my version better. Tasted almost just like the recipe Kayte and I use, but this was a lot easier and less time consuming.

Our Raider Boy...

So we learned awhile ago that if we say "Oh Petree, what a good boy" over and over that Petree would just go crazy and start whining, it was pretty funny. Well, recently we've discovered that one of the puppies, Raider, does the same thing. But better, and more funny. So watch the video, I think it's hilarious. Make sure your sound is turned on and up. Warning: my voice is pretty annoying but it's totally worth it.

Deliciousness

My contribution to Easter dinner was cheesecake. Delicious, and not nutritious, doesn't get better than that. I found the recipe online and started it about 9 at night. Only when I had it all mixed and in the oven did I see someone had left a comment on the recipe. Yeah, they said that the cooking time was way off and that it took closer to three hours to cook than the hour that the recipe said. Well, there was no way I was staying up that late so I just cranked the oven up and cooked it until I thought it was done. Turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. I cut up some fresh strawberries to go on top, too. On our way over to Kayte's I made a comment about how the top of my cake wasn't all flat and smooth like the cheesecakes in restaurants. Michael said it's because they know how to cook and claimed that if he made one the top would be all flat and nice. I have challenged him to prove it but so far he has yet to do so.

Spring weather...

So when the puppies were little they weren't big enough to go outside when it snows. Lucky for us it has snowed throughout almost the entire day (sarcasm). So here are the pictures of the puppies first time in the snow. They actually liked it, Scooter thought it was tasty.

Tasty dinner

My mom got me a CrockPot cookbook for Christmas so I have been trying out a few recipes here and there and the following is a good one. I'll admit I was skeptical about the book at first, I thought it was gonna be just a bunch of gross old lady recipes since the people who submitted the recipes were all named Betty, Dorothy, Eleanor, etc. But I'm glad to say I have been pleasantly surprised. I don't use the crock pot often enough, I am paranoid about leaving it during the day because I worry it will start the house on fire and kill all the puppies. I like to worry. But I am going to start leaving recipes for Michael to do on his days off and that should make dinner a lot easier on those nights.

*Mandarin Orange Chicken*
Ann VanDoren of Lady Lake, FL (see, she's probably some old, retired lady living in sunny Florida because it helps her arthritis)

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (I use the frozen ones from Costco)
1 medium-sized onion, thinly sliced
1/4 C orange juice concentrate
1 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/2 tsp. salt
11 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained, but save 3 Tbsp. of juice
2 tbsp. flour

1. Put chicken in the cooker (duh)
2. Put the onion, orange juice concentrate, poultry seasoning and salt over the chicken.
3. Cover and cook on low 4-5 hours (mine was done closer to the 4 hours)
4. Take just the chicken out, leaving all the juice and stuff in the crock pot
5. In a saucepan put the 3 tbsp of mandarin orange juice that you saved and the flour, stir until smooth.
6. Stir in chicken cooking juices (I just spooned as much out of the crock pot as I could), bring to a boil, stir and cook until its thickened (about 2 minutes).
7. Stir in mandarin oranges, then stir all that back in the crock pot with all the onion, etc.
8. Pour over chicken.

I cooked some rice in the rice cooker and put the chicken and sauce over the rice, it was really good! Michael wasn't a huge fan because he "doesn't like fruit in his dinner" but whatever, he's not much for going out on the "food" limb. The recipe makes 4 servings and is only 240 calories a serving (not including the rice). I guess old ladies, although slow and dangerous behind the wheel, can still serve a purpose in society.
Haha, that last sentence is from the movie Dumb&Dumber, just for all those who might be offended.

Jump for joy

Another Link-

Here is the link to the second puppy album- http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2390788&id=10710948&l=93e18 there were too many to put all of them in the first one. In non-puppy news, I have started my garden inside and have planted a bunch of flowers and some vegetables and herbs, my first little greenhouse almost got ruined because Missy decided it'd be fun to dig in. It was on the nightstand where I thought it would be safed. Lucky for her she only ruined a couple. I have 11 zuchinni plants that are growing awesome and I planted some spinach too. Now if I could just get Michael to build me those garden boxes....

Here you go Mom!

The puppies are growing like, well, puppies. They run around like they're crazy, wrestle and bark at each other. They LOVE to torment Petree and chase him around anytime they realize he's near them. We are taking them in for their first shots on Saturday. Here are a couple pictures, so if you want to see more then go here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2365335&id=10710948&l=cb669 they take forever to upload on here, so that will take you to my "puppy" album on Facebook. Potty training is going good and they are starting to sleep longer at night- thank goodness.

New Orleans Pictures

New Orleans

I got back from New Orleans a week ago but have been sick since then so I know I'm a little late in getting this up, what can you do? I was in New Orleans for a week to attend a training class and then the Marriott Extended Stay GM's Conference. All of Marriott's classes are always fun to attend and they pull out all the stops. I did have some time to sight see a little and the hotel was only a block or so from the infamous Bourbon St., which I was not all that impressed with. Maybe if strip clubs and all you can drink slushie hurricanes were my thing I would think otherwise. Needless to say, there was lots of other stuff to see. I finally saw the Mississippi River, I didn't have the time to go look at it when I was in Memphis, that was also just down the street from the hotel. The French Quarter is pretty amazing and beignets are a new favorite of mine. Beignets are pretty much French doughnuts, but SO good. I brought back a box of the mix so Michael would believe me. The food was good, I tried alligator, rabbit and oysters (oysters are gross) and every meal at the conference had some type of seafood which was awesome. Although I was glad to finally find a Subway for lunch one day. It would have been more fun if Bud had been able to come up to see me or if Michael could have come for a few days, but he had to stay home and watch the puppies. :)

So excited

This is what Petree thinks about being a dad, he just can't stop smiling! haha