Wednesday, November 05, 2008

#44 - BO


My good friend was at Grant Park last night and these are her words:

"I cannot really describe the mood there because saying it was “positive” or “happy” doesn’t really convey how absolutely amazing it felt . . . Looking at some of the pictures today, I realize I was really really lucky to be there. "

Yup.

Now, let's hope for good things!

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

10.31.08


The Soap Opera.State Street.Madison, WI.

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Crockpot Mexican Chicken

My sister posted about this crockpot recipe for Mexican style chicken and I tried it out last night. I have to say, it was so delicious that it deserves to get posted again here. Since it was crockpot style, it was also super easy. I think Gina may have served this over rice (?), but we had ours on tortillas with a little cheese. I also didn't have any corn, so I substituted that for diced green chilis, which might have given it an extra little kick.

Interestingly, as I was throwing everything into the crockpot, I realized these were the exact same ingredients for the enchiladas I make! In that recipe, I cook the diced chicken first, then add the rest of the ingredients below, combine them on the stove top and let it simmer, then fill tortillas and bake them with cheese on top.

So basically what we had last night was exactly the same meal, but the cheese was wrapped in the tortilla rather than being baked on top, the flavor was so much better, and again, a lot less work.

I imagine it would be really good as a regular taco filling too - add some lettuce, tomatoes, avacado, whatever floats your boat. So tasty!

Crockpot Mexican Chicken

Ingredients:4 boneless chicken breasts (diced)

1 jar salsa (around 24 oz.)

1 can black beans

1 can whole kernel corn (I substituted diced green chilis, but I bet BOTH would be fantastic!)

1 box rice (I used Goya Yellow Rice- 8oz. box)

Tortilla chips and/or tortillas
Shredded cheddar cheese/Sour Cream

Directions:
Pour the diced chicken, salsa, black beans, and corn into the crock pot and stir to mix.

Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.

Make rice according to box and serve with Mexican chicken mixture either on tortillas or with chips.

Top with cheddar cheese and sour cream.

Monday, October 27, 2008

go big red!

We had some friends in town this weekend for the Badger homecoming game. Even though we didn't actually go to the game, we still had a blast at the bar across the street from the stadium. I even caught 2 tshirts and 2 can coolies that they were throwing out into the crowd. It was one of the highlights of my day. One of the tshirts was even a size small!! When does that ever happen? I had to fashion it prep style all day though because I had no where to put it.




And guess what else? This guy was there. You know, the Miller Lite guy. Good times.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

10.11.08

I'm having a hard time coming up with a way to incorporate real life happenings with wedding happenings on this here blog of mine. I missed a recap of a big weekend 2 weekends ago...and this upcoming weekend will probably be big too. Whatev, I will just make up my own rules as I go.

2 weekends ago, we attended Kevin and Greta's wedding. These two got engaged the same weekend we did back in December and we both compared notes as we were going through the planning of both weddings. So fun! It was also super fun for us to be at this wedding since this is the first time being a guest to a wedding after having been through one! I have to say, I am much more thrilled for them knowing what it is like going through it...feeling so much love from all your guests and just how fun it is in general. Jon was also in the wedding, so he was even more nostalgic, I think.

Here is the thing on the picture front though. I was trying a lot of the manual settings out on my camera during this wedding (I'm trying to get better! Especially at indoor photos), and a lot of the pictures didn't turn out that well :( I only got one semi-decent pic of the newlyweds. The rest are blurry or have a lot of noise in them.


Like at most weddings, I/we were dancing machines. Jon lost most of his ensemble by the end of the night, save for his undershirt (and pants of course!) and we gladly lounged around at home for the entire day on Sunday.

Now let's backtrack a little bit...

During the break between the ceremony and reception, I headed with Gina, Todd and Cooper to Todd's parents' pumpkin patch, Anderson's Pleasant Patch Pumpkins. They live on the land also, so we hung in the house most of the time, but we ventured out for a little while with Coop to enjoy the weather. (It was SO nice 2 Saturdays ago!) We were a tad overdressed in our wedding ensembles to be traipsing around a pumpkin patch, but what are you gonna do? I got some good shots of Cooper with the pumpkins I think. Fall pictures are so great...and then throw a baby in the mix and you really can't go wrong.



..And of course, Madison was pissed she had to stay in the house couldn't run around the pumpkin patch, terrorizing all the customers. She was probably extra pissed that I was taunting her while taking this picture on the outside where she so badly wanted to be. Poor little Madison.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

9.17.08

Birthday shout outs go out today to:

my mom

my hubby

love you both!
HOLLA!
(pictures by Beyond the Booth)

Monday, September 15, 2008

9.15.08

One of the coolest gifts we got for the wedding was from my parents (as if they didn't get us enough). Early in the summer, they came up to Madison for the annual Art Fair on the Square. We visited many artists, but one in particular caught our eye. His name is Geoffrey Aaron Harris and his pieces were mostly renderings of vintage toys, advertisements, games, etc. The quality of his pieces were amazing and I couldn't stop staring at them. I was attracted to one image in particular though. I chatted with him for a short while, got his business card and decided to think about it.


Fast forward a month later....

I woke up on the day of our wedding, went to the bathroom, and when I returned to my bedroom there was a gift on my bed from my mom and dad...and guess what it was???

Yup, it was the print that I loved! (along with a super nice card that made me cry) It was so thoughtful...and now when I look at it, I will always think of: my parents, our amazing wedding, and of course our awesome Vegas honeymoon.

Tuesday, September 09, 2008

1 month

We have been married for 1 month today! Yeah, us.


I got an AWESOME present from my friend/bridesmaid, Meghan, this weekend. She did some sneaky work and emailed our photographer, Carrie (of CaseyBower Photography), to get the picture below and framed it for us! How cool is that? Extra cool because I had never seen this picture! Meghan said she just remembered Carrie taking it and thought it was so cute and wanted to frame it for us. Love them both...and it makes me even more anxious to get the rest of our pictures back!

Monday, September 08, 2008

9.6.08


I attended the shortest Brewer Game ever on Saturday. I might not even be exaggerating...I think I heard that it was one of the shortest games in Brewer history...or maybe of the season? I'm not real sure. It was 2 hours and 7 minutes. We were having fun tailgating, so we were a little late getting into the game. Little did we know that Ben Sheets would have lit it up and it would be the 5th inning only 1 hour into the game. Needless to say, we missed most of the game, but it was still a good time.

After the game, we hit up Tosa Fest, where Diz and I reminisced about going there as teenagers. Ahh, the memories. Those days we would hang strictly in the parking lot by Baskin Robbins and wouldn't dare venture onto State Street where all the adults congregated. We were now those adults though...sitting on a picnic bench, with our husband(!) and boyfriend, listening to the band while responsibly having a few beers. Where did 10 years go?!

Friday, September 05, 2008

hooded sweatshirt

Thursday, September 04, 2008

screen door


Tuesday, September 02, 2008

8.31.08

Friday, August 29, 2008

8.23.08

This last weekend we made our way to Lodi, WI for our annual trip to Crystal Lake. We stay in a yurt, we relax on the beach, swim in the lake, play bags, drink cocktails, grill some food and have a great time with our friends.  That green water looks nice, hey? 

Sunday, July 27, 2008

that's awesome #3

This is so hilarious. I just saw it on East Side Bride a while ago, but then she mentioned it again. I kind of secretly wish I would have done one of our invitations like this. There are always birthday parties, showers, etc., right? Maybe I'll do something like it someday.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

7.18.08
























I spent Friday night watching Ashley Paige: Bikini or Bust and making this card box!

This took a lot longer than I expected it to. What's so hard, cover the box in some paper and be done with it, right? Wrong.

First, ribbon is not easily adhered to things without Wonder Tape. I tried super glue and it just absorbed in the ribbon. I tried the EZ Runner Scrapbook Adhesive that I raved about earlier, but after a couple hours the ribbon started to curl. Wonder Tape was the key! It is double sided and has some magical adhesive formula that adhered to the ribbon.

I also measured the ribbon and cut it on an angle so it would fit together in each of the corners. Since the ribbon was fraying and looked crappy, I dipped the edges in some super glue to make a workable edge.

I used spray glue to stick the paper to the box. The spray glue was similar to rubber cement in consistency and workability in that it is semi-permanent when working with it. That was handy when I put the paper on the box off kilter a couple times.

Finally, I lined the bottom with a very small amount of packing tape so that the paper wouldn't rip or crinkle in transportation. Since packing tape is so transparent, you can hardly see it.

So what took so long? I don't know! It was just a tedious job. Getting everything to line up and to get the ribbon to look presentable took a lot of time. After I was done, I realized the design on the paper was upside down too. But there was no way I was doing it over again, so it is staying that way.

As for Ashley Paige: Bikini or Bust, it might be one of my new favorite shows. Her life/business is interesting and confusing to me. She is a super famous bikini designer with no money. Like she literally can't pay her rent. I was kind of uncomfortable watching it at times, but then I couldn't help but root for the girl. She is so sweet and artistic...and all she wants to do is make bikinis, darnit!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

K



Monday, July 14, 2008

gina is 30

A big happy 30th birthday goes out to my sister today!

Let's take a trip down the past 30 years, shall we?

My guess this is 1982. I look to be around 1 year old which would make Gina 3 or 4.

I just like this picture. I would guess this is '83 or '84

Charm necklaces, jelly bracelets and jelly shoes...what more could 2 girls want in the mid 80s? Maybe some larger wrists actually...so that Gina doesn't have to hold her arms up to keep her plethora of bracelets on of course.
...And I could use some clothes that fit.
...and some better haircuts.

just taking a nap during a softball game, no big deal.

with our cat, Tacky (RIP Tacky!)
house on the rock. holla!
2 good little Catholic school girls...in need of a bang trim.

I think the side pony, perm, mexican poncho, neon camera, rolled jean shorts and tretorns should tell us this picture was taken circa 1990
These are from the same trip, and just needed to be posted to acknowledge the phase Gina went through when she was obsessed with Betty Boop.


8th grade graduation
The fam in Florida in 1993, I think. Fanny packs being sported by everyone but me. Unless I have one hiding under that massive tshirt.

High school graduation - 1996
this is the only picture I could find documenting 1997-2000.
college graduation - 2001?

2002 - Hoover Dam/Lake Mead

2003 - goin' to the chapel

2004

2005
2006
2007
2008

Happy Birthday, Gina! Looking forward to 30 more years of fun pictures! Wish I could be with you to celebrate. Have a fun day!

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