story time

Six years ago, to this day, a girl met a boy.

Spoiler Alert: this is a love story.

The day before the girl meets the boy, the girl notices the boy. She admires him from afar - his good looks, his talented guitar playing, musical voice, and his confidence. Before the girl knows it, she has spoken her thoughts out loud.. "he's cute" - only to be heard by a nearby friend. Slightly embarrassed and ashamed, the girl tries to brush it off but the friend knows who "he" is and the girl can't hide from her confession. With some slight prodding, the friend invites the girl to meet the boy the next day at a neighboring coffee shop. The friend and the boy will be there all day studying and could use some "study snacks" - a sly little hint given by the friend. Fortunately, the girl had just completed her first quarter of college and was already planning on baking cookies for a Christmas party she planned to attend.

The next day rolls around. It was Wednesday of finals week but the girl was already done with finals. She was excited and energized by the thought of being done. She bakes cookies for her party, gets dressed into her awkwardly festive attire (i.e. ugly Christmas sweater) and bravely decides to venture to the neighboring coffee shop. Despite her boldness, she still needed the comfort of a friend to come along for the potentially awkward introduction. Before she knows it, she's at the coffee shop doors and her body is full of excitement and jitters. Imagine someone who drank a few too many cups of coffee... but she hadn't, that was just her. So in she walks, and before she knows it she is face to face with Mr. "he's cute". Her reaction? "Blah....blah....blah....blah....blah...blah....blah...blah...blah". She talked and talked and talked. Not only did she talk but she was animated and hyper. Basically, overwhelming. When she finally leaves, the friend asks the boy, "so what did you think?"and the boy's response was "really cute... but a little hyper". Despite the overly animated first impression, the boy and the girl began hanging out.

The story doesn't end there. The boy and the girl eventually got married despite many bumps and turns in the road. Now, six years later, the boy and the girl live happily in Denver, CO together. They never would have guessed that a silly coffee shop introduction would lead them to the place they are now but they are beyond thankful and blessed.

Do you remember the first time you spoke to your spouse? Or met your significant other? How long ago was it?

Blogger Birthdays

Okay, I love birthdays so I love this idea. This blog is committed to tracking bloggers' birthdays so people can get a little birthday love. I'm somewhat new to this whole blogging community but what I can tell you is that sometimes blogging feels a little invisible. We share a lot of ourselves through the work of our blog, but the person behind the blog is still such a mystery. Maybe this birthday connection thing will make us all feel just a wee bit more visible - like real people instead of a website. 
Anyway, YOU can do this too. Just simply go to the birthday blog, fill out your info and keep spreading the word! Who doesn't want a little birthday love from friends of all kinds (including your blogger friends!)?

the thrifty style

Now that I’m back on a college campus, I’m quickly absorbed into the world of style again. It’s easy to turn off the “need” to have new clothes when you’re not seeing the new styles all around you. However, it’s not so easy now that I’m immersed in that culture again.

As I walk around campus, these are the thoughts passing through my brain…

“Ohhhh, that’s cute. I want that!”

“That’s funky…but I think I can pull it off.”

“I totally NEED that!”

“I wonder how much that costs??”

Welcome to the world inside my head. It’s ugly and embarrassing to admit that I fall victim to being “such a girl” every once in awhile.

My longing for new clothes increases by the day but sadly the budget for new clothes doesn’t. Staying on top of the trends ain’t easy or cheap but want to know my trick?

Wait for it…

THE THRIFT STORE.

Seriously, this is my new favorite store. Just ask the husband.

My schedule hasn’t allowed me to get out of the house much, but fortunately we live only 3 blocks from the best thrift store in town. This has become my outing excursion as well as my primary shopping destination!

I love the search of finding something worthwhile. I love the prices. I love the uniqueness. I love the proximity to my house. I love it all and I can’t get enough.

The husband isn’t always the biggest fan of my findings but I’m usually quite proud of them. Take a look and decide for yourself….

jacket: thrifted // t-shirt: target // scarf: pitaya // skirt: thrifted (originally j.crew)

tanks: target // skirt: thrifted // flip-flops: pacsun // watch: macys

blazer: thrifted (originally j.crew) // t-shirt: nordstrom // necklace: unknown // jeans: abercrombie & fitch  flats: kmart // bag: kenneth cole

I've snagged a few other great pieces from the thrift store but they have yet to make their outfit appearances. I'll post more as I wear my other great finds. But what do you think? Am I fitting into the fashionable world of a college campus again?

thankful

Oh, how quickly time flies and the holidays are already here. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I'm way behind on my "holiday spirit". Halloween came and went without me even touching a pumpkin or buying trick-or-treat candy. Thanksgiving is now here and I still haven't done anything festive. No decorating. No crafts. No baking (well, kind of). But still, my point is that the holidays seem to be passing me by all too quickly. There's a reason for it though. Although I love holidays and the opportunity to get into the holiday spirit, I have been a little more consumed with something else. This something else is the thing that I am beyond thankful for.

This something else is my graduate program for teaching. No words could explain how thankful I am for this opportunity. At this time a year ago, I was still floundering to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I had great family and friends, but most of which lived over 1,000 miles away. I had the most amazing husband who was living out and pursuing his dream. I lived in an exciting and beautiful place. Yet, I was still lost.

It took a lot of praying, crying, talking, and faith to finally come to the decision of going back to school. I felt like I was taking a huge leap of faith because I wasn't 100% sure that teaching was what I wanted to do. I wanted God to audibly speak to me and tell me what to do but that just wasn't seeming to happen. It took a lot of reflection to realize that God had been telling me quite subtly [and quietly] over MANY years that teaching was where I was supposed to be. 

Now, I am in the thick of school -- taking graduate courses that stretch my mind and heart in ways that I never imagined. School has required many sacrifices and some sacrifices that I don't particularly like, but ultimately, it has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me. For the first time, I feel like I'm actually on a path that is my own perfectly designed by God and not one that I am forcing or controlling. 

So it sum it up, I am thankful for finally figuring out my passion and having the opportunity to pursue it.

A big thank you to Julie Ann Art, Yellow Heart Art, and Rouge + Whimsy for hosting this Blog Hop!

everything's better in 3's

The husband's birthday was a month ago [exactly] but I'm finally getting around to posting pictures. The celebration came in three parts. The first part was a date night dinner at the Crimson Canary - a restaurant within walking distance of our home. We devoured the delicious lemony calamari!

The husband is impossible to surprise but I was determined to give him at least a little surprise for his birthday. I made scrumptious Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream Cupcakes and invited just a few friends over to meet us back at our place for a nightcap of "Happy Birthday", cupcakes, and spiked apple cider. 

A week later, we were finally able to rally some friends for a birthday celebration. We ventured to a sketchy bowling alley, ate questionable pizza, and later watched the Huskies play. I'd say three part celebrations aren't so bad! Happy Birthday Jon!

p.s. I just had the most amazing weekend -- I can't wait to post about it soon!

p.p.s. Remember how I said the husband is impossible to surprise...? Well, I've got a story to tell you. You'll have to wait for it though - this gets to be your surprise!

avocado chicken egg salad

For some reason, a turkey sandwich makes me want to puke. I don’t know when I got so tired of them. I wasn’t even a sack lunch kid. It’s funny because you always envy what you don’t have. I envied my classmates and friends that had homemade lunches. And they probably envied me – they probably thought I was the rich kid that bought lunch every day. The reality though is that my parents just didn’t really do sack lunches. I guess it was easier for them to reload the lunch card than creatively make and pack a lunch.

I get it now. I don’t even like having to pack my own lunch.

But I do because I just don’t understand how someone spends [on average] $7-$9 for lunch everyday.

Leftovers use to be my “go-to” lunch but that was back when I was making dinner most nights and had a microwave at work to reheat it. My days don’t look like that anymore. I rarely have time to make dinner on any night of the week, let alone most nights. This results in minimal leftovers. Not to mention my school campus lacks a microwave. Hence, the turkey sandwich dilemma!

To avoid the turkey sandwich, I desperately search around for other types of cold sandwiches, wraps, salads, etc. The husband and I have established quite a repertoire, but my taste buds can’t handle too much repetition. I needed something new so here’s the arrival of the Avocado Chicken Egg Salad. It’s delightfully good! If you need a new lunch idea, try this!

RECIPE:

Ingredients

• 1 avocado, chopped (almost mashed)
• 5 hard boiled eggs, chopped (I used mostly only the whites)
• 2 tsp. coarse ground dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. dill weed
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• dash of pepper
• 1/4 tsp. parsley
• 1 Tbsp. greek nonfat yogurt
• 1 can white chicken
• 1 stalk celery, chopped thinly
• sun-dried tomato wraps, bread, or bowl - up to you!

Combine all ingredients and enjoy! This recipe probably provided 4 sandwiches worth for the husband and me so feel free to double or halve as necessary.

craft night - love it or hate it?

What do you do when you invite 20+ high school girls over to “hang out”? My idea was a craft night. Despite my love for crafting now, I wasn’t always that way. In fact, when I was a high school girl, I’m pretty sure I despised crafty stuff. I was too much of a perfectionist back then to be satisfied with my attempted craft. So if these 20(ish) girls I invited were anything like me in high school, we were in a world of hurt. I had to create an idea that was easy enough for everyone to enjoy and affordable. Not an easy task.

With the help of the massive blog world and pinterest, I found a number of websites featuring different projects you can do with an old t-shirt, scissors, and a hot glue gun.

Here are some of the resources I used:

DIY Accessories From A T-Shirt over at Tripping Over Joy

Tshirt Crafts and Headband Tutorials over at Sugar Bee Crafts

Explaining how to do these projects to 20+ giggling and talkative high school girls was not an easy feat. My type A, perfectionist self, quickly had to let go and let the girls have fun. The projects weren’t glamorous but the night was perfect. 

apple cider baked chicken

I am obsessed with pumpkin. I am also obsessed with fall. But Colorado just recently had the arrival of true fall. The temperatures were still a little too high for me to bust out all the fall-ish treats. I also don’t want to overdo it too soon. I don’t want to ruin my love for pumpkin or for fall. But, like many, I was craving it. I was SO ready for fall to be here. I had to resort to other “fall” things to get my fix without prematurely jumping on the pumpkin bandwagon. Instead of pumpkin bread, I made banana muffins. Instead of pumpkin soup, I made Apple Cider Baked Chicken. Apple Cider recipes scream fall too so I successfully postponed my pumpkin while still getting my fall fix.

I absolutely loved this meal. In fact, it may just make it into the “staples” category for meals. Please try this. Quite easy and amazingly tasty.

RECIPE: (adapted from here)

Ingredients:

• 3 chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
• 1/2 large onion, cut into large chunks
• 1 red bell paper, cut into large chunks
• 1 lemon, cut into thin rounds
• 2 cups apple cider
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. dried thyme (fresh would be better - put in about 1/4 cup if you use fresh)
• 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 2 tsp. coarse ground dijon mustard
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1 large apple, sliced 
• 1/2 lb small red or yukon potatoes, cut into large chunks

Place all ingredients except the apple and potatoes into a large ziploc bag, shaking and combining well. Allow to marinate in fridge overnight or at least 4 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pour entire bag of ingredients (including liquid marinade) into a roasting pan -- I used my iron skillet and it worked great. Cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes and stir halfway through. I like my potatoes on the softer side so I had to cook those for an additional 10 minutes or so. 

Now that Colorado has had the first two snows of the year and halloween is in a few short days, I'm beyond ready to bust out the pumpkin! Thanks to pinterest, here are a few recipes I want to try out.

Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Buns

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese Frosting

Pumpkin Better Than... Cake

Pumpkin Poppers

Pumpkin Coffee Cake w/ Brown Sugar Glaze

Or my friend, Mackenzie, posted this great little treat

Pumpkin Cheesecake Squares

Oh, did I say a few? I guess I meant a lot. I told you that I can easily get carried away with pumpkin!

Do you have a favorite pumpkin recipe that I should try out? Or what about apple cider recipes? Let's bring on fall!

unexpected benefits

Believe it or not, there are some perks to being a med school wife. A couple months back, the husband and I had a conversation that went a little something like this:

Husband: “I have a med school conference that I have to go.”

Me: “Ohhh…” (while busily and distractedly doing something else)

Pause…

Me: “When is it?” (attempting to be interested)

Husband: (starting to conceal a grin) “First weekend of October”

Me: “Oh cool – where is it?”

Husband: “San Diego…” (not holding the grin in so well anymore)

Note: San Diego is where my best friend, Betsy, lives.

Me: (excitedly) “Wait, what?!?!? Is your school paying for you to go?”

Husband: “Yep…” (still grinning)

Me: “So do I get to go???”

Husband: “I figured I couldn’t go to San Diego without taking you with me!”

So there it is – the perk of being a med school wife. I got to go to San Diego for a brief, 36-hour, mini-vacation to visit my best friend and her hubby. To top things off, friends of ours from Seattle were visiting San Diego that same weekend.

The 36-hour trip included a visit to the local street market, lounging on the beach, watching Husky football, eating delicious food, having photo shoots, going on a coastline hike, and strolling the streets of downtown San Diego. Oh, and a med school conference for the husband.

Warning: Pictures Galore!

No big deal, just hanging out on the beaches of the Pacific Ocean!

 

Husky Football & Photo shoot fun!

Meet Dodger... :)

Best Friends! I love you Betsy! 

We saw dolphins.

And went "hiking" (San Diego style)

Bad lighting but don't we look like the modern day "Friends"? 

The beautiful red head in the photos is my sweet friend, Erika, from rouge + whimsy and she posted about our fun San Diego trip here. Check out her amazing blog too!

p.s. thanks for so patiently waiting for me to blog again. keep checking back because there's more to come this week!

who needs a reason for a party?

I adore parties. Not necessarily the wild, loud music, jump-up-and-down in a drunken orgy type of party but the let's decorate, drink a glass of wine, and socialize type of party. Some of you are probably thinking, "that's a party?". But, that's my kind of party! Can you tell I'm not in college anymore?

A couple months ago, I was desperately itching to throw a party. The husband and I had plans to have a few friends over for dinner. Much to his surprise, I transformed our casual "have friends over" into a themed dinner party. Yes, I said, themed. It was very slight and hardly tacky. You probably won't even notice it in the pictures. The friends were coming over the day after the opening ceremony for the summer Olympics. This meant red, white, and blue were running through my veins. I didn't want the potentially tacky summer BBQ look. I wanted something elegant and classy, yet still showing a hint of American pride.

Side note, the chairs on the right hand side of the table were a side of the road gem. Completely free and a perfect addition for our table. I'm planning on sprucing them up with a coat of paint! I can't wait to do the project and I promise, I'll post pictures of the final outcome.

Now, back on topic. The dinner party was a great success. Our friends, the Hutchins and the Mengels, came over for a kabob and appetizer feast.

I am absolutely obsessed with caprese, so that was an appetizer must. I also fell in love with these cucumber boats, found on susie freaking homemaker's blog. 

The food was delicious and the company was amazing. Now it's time for me to plan my next dinner party!

p.s. this is way late post so all pictures are from our old house -- I promise to get some pictures up soon of our new place.