Peach Coffee Cake for my main squeeze

I was browsing foodie blogs this afternoon and on one of my faves, Everybody Likes Sandwiches, I saw a yummy coffee cake which she found on anther blog, La Vie Cerise, where I proceeded to and her coffee cake looked just as yummy and I thought to myself "what a coincidence, a delicious looking coffee cake recipe and Jo-Ben is coming home tonight and guess what his fave cake is?!" So, I made my own version of the oh so popular coffee cake but I took the suggestion of the original coffee cake producer/blogger, La Vie Cerise and substituted peaches in for the apples and added a touch of nutmeg to the batter... it turned out beautifully but next time I would add a couple of more table spoons of flour to the batter because the peaches are so juicy it makes the cake quite wet. Anyways, I highly recommend this recipe and you can find if on both Everybody Likes Sandwiches and La Vie Cerise. My favorite part of this cake is the ratio of topping to cake... its pretty much half and half which I LOVE. Along with this cake I also highly recommend listening to Colbie Caillat really really loud while baking... the coffee cake and Colbie Caillat make everything brighter!

How many posts can I post in one day?

Hahaha I guess thats what you get from a Saturday spent at home... So, tonight I was on the phone with Jo-Ben and he told me that work up there is REALLY slow and they are most likely comming home TOMORROW!!! This means that they will have to find work down here because their season was cut short up north but thats FINE BY ME!!! I am sooooooo excited. So after I get off of the phone with him I hear some popping noises out side and this is what is happening outside of my house across the street & across the field...

FIREWORKS!

I thought that was pretty cool... a sign maybe? hehe. Sorry for the bad pics, I have a rediculously basic camera... the fireworks were much better in person but I did the best I could capturing them!

Pumpkin Ginger Muffins with Walnuts and Cream Cheese Icing

The making of Pumpkin Ginger Muffins in no particular order...

craft of the day

http://www.marthastewart.com/portal/site/mslo/menuitem.3a0656639de62ad593598e10d373a0a0/?vgnextoid=6ce6511807325110VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&vgnextfmt=default

Check out this link above from Martha Stewart.com, its a really cute craft making little picture frame magnets out of old belt buckles... Im going to head out to Value Village next weekend on a hunt for some cool old retro looking buckles and make some sweet magnet belt buckle picture frames for my little sister...I think she'd love em! ...now to find a rotery tool... hmmmmmmm, well guess its a good way to get to know the neighbors "Hi! Can I please borrow a cup of sug... uhhh I mean a rotery tool with a #409 thingy?" hahaha :)
We will see how it goes...

If you were the floor Id be the rug, If you were a kiss I know Id be a hug...

So, I want my sister to walk back up the isle this summer with her new husband at their wedding to this song... I think its the cutest song ever and it suites them perfectly... so far her fiance Josh said no but she said shed think about it... I think I can win them over in due time. Hee hee.

Spent the morning and part of the afternoon in bed (ahhhhh- sigh of contentment) I LOVE sleeping and lounging in bed.... I am reading the newest book in the Shopaholic series: Shopaholic and Baby. Lovin it. I am spending the afternoon baking and cleaning the house. I am having a bunch of friends over tomorrow for a brunch style lunch after church... its going to kinda be like a potluck where everybody brings stuff to contribute but I am making the two mains: Pumpkin Ginger Muffins with Walnuts and Cream Cheese Icing and Coconut & Banana Spice Pancakes. I'm baking the muffins today so that all I have to do tomorrow is ice them... they smell soooooo good. Both recipes are off of the foodie blog cumin and coriander on my side bar... She always posts such great recipes. I believe the muffin recipe is from Everyday Food from Martha Stewart which is a magazine that I adore and her pancake recipe is adapted from a vegan cookbook... Le Dolce Vegan or something... you can check them out on her blog which is amazing. I have added a new foodie blog and a new friend blog today, the foodie blog being Shutterbean and my friend blog being Jen Isaak... check em out, both very cute! Well, I'm off to clean and bake some more!!! Happy Saturday!

Everybody sucks

ARG! So, I went to the bank yesterday to pay off my Visa so that I could make room on it to buy a plane ticket to BC on west jet online... The nice lady at the bank told me that it would be effective immediately so I headed back to my office and tried to find a good deal online, ended up finding a BETTER deal than the day before and my entire round trip was going to cost me like 250 bucks... so I filled out the extremely long and annoying part before you get to the payment part online and when I finally had all of the info in and pressed proceed on the payment page it DENIED me.... ARG! I was so frustrated because I just paid my bill and the lady said that it would be effective immediately. Anyways, I let it go and decided to try again later... I tried 4 times yesterday and NOTHING. So, once again I let it go and decided to wait till this morning.. the deals would still be there right? WRONG! my ticket to BC is still the same price but my return flight went up by over 100 bucks... and I can go to BC at various times so if there are better deals the next day or whatever I can change my plans but I can only leave at this one time and its DIFFERENT! ahhhhhhhh... how can they fluctuate their prices to much and so often... its like Russian roulette! So, I called the Visa people and they basically said that the bank lied to me and that it takes 4-5 business days... hope the prices are in my favor on Monday... grrrrrrr.

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

Alternate titles to this post:
Title: SERIOUSLY?!
Title: What the?!
Title: What were we thinking?
Title: Why do we live here!?!?
Title: Noooooooooooo!

Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure!

Outside of my office in the parking lot this morning...Across the street, again, this morning...

The look of terror & disgust.

My footwear for the moment...ugggghhhhhhh.

Now I am remembering why I had had enough of Alberta last year and hightailed it to B.C. on April 1st not to return untill July... better luck next year... :( April 17 can not come soon enough!

my life

So, I don't really have anything particular to post about but I'm going to post anyways...

Jo-Ben left to go back up north yesterday morning- was quite strange not to have him sitting on the couch watching basketball or whatever when I came home for my lunch break. It took a couple of days to get back into the swing of things having him back at the house, I wasn't quite used to having someone else living there with me in my space... but after a couple of days it became normal again and now its weird to not have him there again... its really messing with my psyche! hahaha. Before he left he told me that there is a possibility of him having another stint of days off in about 21 days so that is pretty exciting- I guess now that things are thawing out up there there are less guys working on the rig so there are less welds for him to shoot... things are getting slower for him (I guess that has something to do with the fact that in Jan. there were 3 crews of welders up there for him to inspect and now there are only 1) so when the one crew takes a break there is nothing for Jo-Ben's truck to inspect so they will be taking breaks when the welding crew takes breaks which is legally every 21 days... wow that took way too long to explain- sorry! As I said before, things are allot more messy and busy and crazy when hes around but I much prefer it to the alternative... things are just better when were together. :)

In other news, I am planning on going to BC for the weekend at the end of April! YAY... less than a month and I will be back home for a short visit- I am UNBELIEVABLY ecstatic about this... I think I am going to fly out on Thursday afternoon on the 17th and stay till Monday morning on the 21st... I really lucked out cause I have been wanting to go out there during this time for a while (there is a HUGE bridal shower being held for my sister and her fiance that weekend) and I just found out that my bosses have entered themselves and most of the guys that work for us in a hockey tourney that weekend (Thurs-Sun) so its a perfect time for me to go. Here are some things that I can't wait for:

1. Green grass and lots of flowers
2. Family
3. Mom's waffles with pudding and blueberry verenicka with cream sauce
4. Rain (weird, I know but I haven't seen rain since I was last in BC ... at Christmas & I have actually woken up at night convinced that I was hearing it... but I wasn't)
5. everything about MY NEPHEW!!! & my bro and sis in law of course... seeing them for the first time since Christmas and for the last time till next Christmas :(
6. my friends
7. bridesmaids dress shopping
8. p... I just wrote the letter p and then a co-worker came in and we chatted and now I don't know what p was supposed to be...
9. oh, now I remember what p was supposed to be... possibly giving my sister and her fiance a scandalous gift at their co-ed wedding shower in front of my whole family muwahahahaha
10. spending time with my little sister & being silly, pestering my mom together, bugging my dad together... not making sense to anyone but us
11. Vietnamese food
12. Granville Island
13. doing "the rounds" with my mom (Cost-Co, Winners, Wal-Mart & Super Store) :)
14. seeing my Dad laugh

I am sure the list could go on but I think ya get the picture... I'm pretty stoked. I wish Jo-Ben could come but there is no guarantee that he will be on time off at that time... maybe his next stint of days off will coincide with that time and he will be able to find a last min seat sale or something... fingers crossed.

Things out here are going well, Jo-Ben and I got our mortgage reworked so now we have some funds to finish out the basement... its going to be tight but we are going to make it work and have some left over to do our yard in a couple of months too... can't wait. We made some pretty sweet landscaping plans while Jo-Ben was here and informed the "soccer boys" that they would be helping us with everything :) What, did they think Jo-Ben was coaching them this fall because he is nice?! ha. just kidding... but they are going to help us. So very soon we will be getting the guys from my company to start framing out the basement suite and the chaos will start. We plan on having the suite done up to boarding stage by May and then this summer we will tackle the finishing ourselves (Painting, tiling, etc.) Jo-Ben is sceptical but I know we can do it. Oh man, do I see another "test in our relationship" coming on? hahaha Seems like its self inflicted torcher hey? On Sunday I am hosting a brunch with some friends at our house... I am going to make two fabulous recipes that I found on the food blog Cumin and Coriander on my sidebar... I am going to make Coconut Spice Pancakes and Pumpkin Ginger Muffins... everybody else is bringing stuff like whipping cream, syrup, orange juice, hash browns, bacon... Its kinda like a brunch potluck... It'll be fun... we are doing "brunch" after church so we don't have to rush, I hope its nice out on Sunday afternoon so we can hang out outside afterwards...

Anyways, basically that's it. Looking forward to allot of things... what I have mentioned above and also to learning about gardening in Alberta and figuring out exactly what I would like to plant and where, Jo-Ben coming home soon (we are on the downhill slope now!) and summer approaching with all of the goodies in store for us... that's it for now!

CIAO!

Paska

SO, I didn't make Paska this weekend because my aunt stopped by for a visit on Saturday and I knew she would be bringing us some & its a little ridiculous to make a batch for just Jo-Ben and I (even though I could probably eat it all myself within a day or two!) but I did make some about a month ago and definitely got my fair share and that familiar, comforting feeling of this time of year through the smells and tastes of that amazing bread & ps- mine was amazing... first time ever making it and it lived up to all of my expectations- props to Lovella for the recipe and tips... I read Martha Stewart's blog today and found out some new meanings behind this heritage bread of mine and that she likes it too! :) The one that the lady is holding in the pic is amazing looking, mine just looks like a loaf of bread (as it did growing up) but I might have to try to make mine a lil more fancy next year... imagine a Paska with birds and flowers on it? hello!... check it out on Martha's blog- looks amazing! She also posted some pics of some beautiful Ukrainian eggs on her blog as well... Ive always wanted some of those.Her PaskaMy Paska

whatever... does hers have icing and sprinkles? uhhhh NO!

A MAJOR post

(warning: my spell check isn't working so now you will know what a bad speller I really am...sorry!!)

Monday morning... ughhhhhhhhhh. Not lovin it... I AM, however, lovin the office... we are doing some major renovations at our office and the slate floors got sealed over the weekend and they look FABULOUS so I snapped a few pics...
BEFORE:

this is a pic of me in my old office from a few months back...horrible picture of me but its the only one from in that office that I could find. :)

AFTER:

ANNNNNND this is what my old office looks like now... its pretty much the same angle as the last pic was taken, the wall behind where my desk used to be has been knocked out and my old office is now becoming a break room/kitchenette area. there is a hall going out of it that never used to be there before and down the hall is a new bathroom for the shop guys on the left and Sharon's office (our book keeper)after that... the shop is connected to the office at the end of the hallway...



Yup, this used to be my office, minus the beautiful slate floor and the cabinetry ... this is what I basically saw from my desk before...



... above are some more views of my old office that is becoming the break room and a pic of one of our guys working on the new bathroom taken this morning.

And below, these are some pics of our office foyer (we just sealed the slate floors so they look all purdy)and my new office... I semi share it with the guy who heads up our painting division. Irina (my friend at work) and I thought we were funny and quarantined off his office with painters tape, we even created an in swinging door... haha we're awesome.






And FINALLY some pics of me and Jo-Ben this week...

Me at home on my lunch break last week.. Jo-Ben had to snap a few pics of his workin girl...

I am totally cut off and look redic but Jo-Ben thinks his eyes look really blue in this pic and so do I so I'm putting it up... this is before his hair cut...

and after, the man on his 30th BIRTHDAY!!!! woot woot.

He buzzed his head (apparently I'm not allowed to say he shaved it because that implies that he "bicked it" ughhh didn't know there was so much "head shaving lingo" Anyways, he just up and decided that he needed a buzzed look and took the clippers to his hair, Ive never seen his hair this short but I like it. :) This is where I viewed him from for most of the weekend- on the couch cause it was March Madness... college basketball playoff time... awesome. hahaha I'm not a big fan but for a girl I think I am generally a big sports fan all around. I even filled out a "bracket" for the tourney... I just tried scanning it and I got it on my computer but for some reason I cant find it to post on my blog so you wont get the joy of seeing my bracket but just know I'm doin pretty good... The teams are in the regional semis and I have 9 teams picked in the "sweet sixteen" I am pretty sure my top team will win again this year... GO TARHEELS!!! woot woot! hahaha I do not follow college basketball throughout the year but the playoffs are lots of fun to keep track of... my main goal is to beat Jo-Ben. Anyways, when Jo-Ben wasn't watching basketball games streamed on his lap top we were spending lots of time relaxing, eating and watching movies this long weekend. SO good to have him home. We also had the opportunity to spend yesterday at an Easter celebration with a family that we have managed to weasel our way into in Red Deer... they are a BLAST and so hospitable... we just love em! Mrs. Kooman gets major props for her Easter feast... I officially don't need to eat for the rest of the week because I am STUFFED... even this morning I felt like I had to literally roll out of bed because I still felt stuffed from last nights Turkey dins. It was a little bitter sweet because as we were having a GREAT time with our pseudo (sp?) fam in Red Deer we were missing our "real fams" in B.C. and North Carolina (and Abu Dabi!!! Hannah & Stephen teaching over there) Can't wait to see pics of the fam gaths (ahem *Ang* ahem) All in all it was a great long weekend... two more days with my babe and then he heads back up north for another month and a half...
:( Can't wait till hes back for good. Life is definitely more messy and busy but ALLOT more fun when he is around...
Well, Signing off for now... CAIO!

new food bloggs in my side bar...

I put some new food blogs in my side bar that I have glanced at and am SO excited to peruse... I am constantly drawn to the bloggs with funny names (hope everyone else thinks they are as funny as I do...) Anyways, they look awesome and I hope someone else in my blog land checks em out and enjoys them too! :) Not much to post on in my real life... ooo its Jo-Ben's birthday today... the unmentionable one... ya know... the big "something-oh" hahaha I love it. I'm just going to say that half of our household is in their 20's.... heehee. HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABE!!! I LOVE YOU! :) We had dinner with some of our friends tonight (Jo-Ben's fave- Amanda's special lasange...pretty much the best thing on earth)and then we had a bon fire and the boys exploded stuff when it turned midnight to celebrate the start of Jo-ben's new year... it was gooooood times. Tomorrow we are realaxing & then going into the city for an Easter celebration with some friends and their fam & celebrating all of the Easter goodness... Sad that I am not celebrating with my fam in the lower main land this year but SO GLAD that I get to celebrate both Easter and my babes birthday with him this year! ~ HAPPY EASTER BLOGGERS!

9 months

Not too sure what to post today but I'm feeling a little blue...
Today marks my estimated due date of our little one that we lost this fall...
Allot of weird emotions.
On one hand I am relieved that time is going by so quickly and that after today I feel like for some reason that I can really start moving past everything
but on the other hand...
today marks a day that we were so excited for and that was stolen from us...
its hard.

Funny Story

So, last night I was really tired for some reason, probably doesn't have ANY reason with the fact that I came home from work and immediately went grocery shopping, made two huge lasagnas to put in the freezer for this weekend, did two dishwasher loads of dishes from my party on Sunday night and three loads of laundry... nah! Anyways, I fell into bed just before 10 and read for a while before nodding off... all of a sudden, it felt like three in the morning but it was actually only 12:30, the phone rings... I was awoken out of a dead sleep so I was pretty ticked off and decided not to plodd down to the kitchen to awns er. Then it rings a second time! I was like "what the heck?!" but I still decide not to awns er but to just go to the kitchen and peek at the caller id. So on the third call attempt in a row I manage to see the caller id and its Jo-Ben's work cell... I knew that they were working a late job last night but had no idea why he would be calling me at midnight...we had already talked twice that day... I was also still half asleep and super disoriented... and when I suddenly get woken up like that I get really gross feeling like acid refluxy... ugh reminds me of tree planting mornings.

Anyways, I awns er and this is the convo:
Him- "Hi Babe"
Me- "Hi? Whats wrong?"
Him- "nothing, just working a really late night and wanted to let you know I was ok... nothing wrong"
*note- if I was fully awake this is where I would be having one of those "ah-ha" moments or whatever*
Me- "are you okay... I was sleeping"
Him- "yeah, I'm fine"

This is when my door bell rings... OK so you kinda have to know me to know that this is like my worst nightmare... weather I am on the phone with my husband or not I am thinking that there is a masked murderer at my door...I am one of those people who triple checks to make sure the doors are locked before I go to bed- well, actually any time I am home alone- and I even lock my bedroom door at night... and when I'm having a shower at home alone I lock the exterior doors, the bedroom door AND the bathroom door... a little paranoid? yes.
So, I am still on the phone with Jo-Ben and I am freaking out... I am standing at the top of the stairs looking down into our vaulted foyer trying to see who it is without turning any lights on or letting the murderer see me.

Me- "there is someone at the door!!"
Him- "go see who it is"
Me- "I cant see anything, I don't have my glasses on!"
Him- "just go look!"
Me- "I don't want to turn any lights on or they will know I am home!"
Him- "can you see anything?"
Me- "hold on, I have to put the phone under my shirt so they don't see the blue glow"
*I put the phone under my shirt and run to the en suite to grab my glasses... door bell keeps ringing. I get to the top of the stairs and can see that its a hooded figure... SO SCARED AT THIS POINT!!!... turn around and put the phone back up to my ear...

Me- "I cant see who it is!!! I cant see anything!"
Him- "just go answer the door"
*this is where I sort of catch on but I am still freaking out and my heart is racing a mile a min and I have that horrible acid reflux feeling. I slowly go down the stairs and vaguely recognize the hooded figure...

Him- "hi"
Me- "is... is it you?"
Him- "yeah! open the door"

I open the door and and experience the weirdest mix of emotions... pure joy plus the sickest I have felt in a long time... weeeeeeird...

Him- "surprise! I'm home for a week!"
Me- "ugghhhh, I feel like I'm going to throw up!"

hahahah not exactly what he wanted to hear coming home to surprise his beloved...

Even though I had a night of constantly pulling the blankets over to my side and waking up every time he stirred (not used to sleeping with him anymore) I woke up this morning to my wonderful husband peacefully sleeping in our bed... bliss.

Happy St. Pattys

So, I had a ladies party last night and it was St. Patricks day themed & turned out really cute... it was very springtimey so I just wanted to post some of my pics of the table well, because of its fabulousness. :) We never celebrated St. Patricks day when I was growing up except for sort of at school... kind of a silly holiday to me but I guess I don't really know much about it... maybe I should read that blurb on my msn hotmail sign in about the origins of St. Patricks day because I am sure it means more than just green beer and tacky shamrock decorations... hmmmmmmm. To me, I love this time of year because Easter is right around the corner and spring time is near, YAY! plus green is my favorite color... HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!!!

Green Apple Martini fixins!

Green Veggie Platter... arent the green pepper shamrocks cute?!

Guacamole and Tatziki, two very yummy green dips!

Deviled eggs... traditional style and some with a touch of green food coloring to make them all festive for St. Patty's.
Green olive and Green chili cream cheese Spinich Tortilla roll ups!~my fave!

Annnnnnnd I think I found the bridesmaids dresses for my lil sis' wedding... so exciting! I really wish that we could have gone shopping together but a) we arent in the same province and b) she isnt really into that kidna stuff anyways so she gave the task to moi. MY only guidelines were chocolate brown, tea length and not too expensive. I love the dress that I found, the girl at the bridal store said that it flatters almost all body types and photographs really well... I'm not goig to post the pic of me in it because I look like a mess and the sample size was a 10 and I am probably a 2 so it looks rediculous on me but here is a picture of it off of the web site. It has a cross over neckline that has some pleating and a really cool sash that croses over in the front around the bodice and ties in the back. Super cute... maid of honnor duty number one- CHECK!

love it!

dang...

...its Monday morning.

That's what I thought of first thing this morning when I woke up... how about you? Does ANYONE like Monday morning... I doubt it. The only thing I liked this morning was that I was able to wear some of my new purchases from this weekend. I went on my major shopping trip on Saturday with my friend Kate and scored... big time. I found boots that I have been looking for (all my life) that were originally 190 dollars and I got em for 60 bucks!!! whoa. I know. My husband was joking with me and was all like "wow, I think you may have actually MADE money on that purchase!" ha ha. very funny. I was quite impressed. Now I am just "breaking them in" ouch. My little toeseies aren't very impressed. I found a CUTE black trench for 50 bucks and really nice really dark denim jeans for 19 dollars!!! I KNOW!!! The jeans I found at the Super Store... I was really impressed... sometimes I find a cute t-shirt or something there for like 3 or 4 bucks and I think that's a great find but a t-shirt is a t-shirt and Ive never really found anything uber stylish there but these jeans... they are FIERCE! This is my plug for the Super Store- I think everyone should go buy a pair of these beauts! Anyways, it was really fun getting up this morning and having a really cute new outfit to throw on for work... but its still Monday morning and I am still at work so new outfit or not, I am not entirely thrilled. This weekend was fun... as I said I went shopping all day on Saturday- it was allot of fun and I got aot done, you've gotta when you only go into "the city" once every couple of weeks :) Saturday night I just chilled at home and watched Survivor and Top Model which I recorded from the other nights. Sunday I went to church in Linden with my friends Ryan and Kate... wasn't all that impressed with church this week (I know, its not there to "impress me" per say) It was just one of those weeks that I couldn't follow along with the pastor and he was preaching on "church" and some of his points I didn't really agree with... it was just not so great for me... maybe I just wasn't in the right "head space" or something... the worship was AWESOME though and I found a book at the library that I have been wanting to read for a while called "Bad Girls of the Bible", started it last night and its pretty decent so far... you can really hear the authors voice coming through and I love that. She is writing about the so called "bad girls" in the Bible and how we can learn from their mistakes ins ted of just casting them aside as bad girls and turning towards the so called "good girls" in the Bible as examples... I really like this concept because, not that I think we should put Delilah or Eve on a pedestal or anything, I think there is something to learn from those stories if looked at from the right way and, to be quite honest, I probably identify with their imperfectness more than I do with those seemingly perfect "good girls". Anyways, just read the first chapter but so far so good. Also after church yesterday we went to Ryan and Kate's, we being me and some other friends from church, and we had a Ham and Scalloped Potato lunch, does anything taste more like spring than that? I don't think so. We even went on a walk in the afternoon because it was 12 degrees out here... YUP! TWELVE... without a minus behind it!!! Spring is right around the corner for us Prairie people. So, that was my weekend... well, I have to track down an order for stairs for one of our houses that we are building so I better get back to it... ciao for now, Amanda

YUM

So, I was looking in my fridge and pantry last night thinking I shouldnt go grocery shopping for a while because I have enough staples to last lil ol me a good month but Im one of those people who LOVES food- cooking it, looking at it, smelling it, reading about it... whatever, so even though my fridge is packed fully of goodies Im thinking about ideas I have had recently or recipes I have seen recently that I am inspired by and want to go out and get everything that ISNT in my fridge. ARG. I am particularily inspired by the two blogs on my side bar- 101 cooks and creampuffsinvenice this week. I LOVE LOVE LOVE breakfast for dinner- my moms waffels and pudding are the best but really anything will do. Eggs Benny, Crepes, good ol Bacon and Eggs, a Fritatta but to me the most comforting breakfast for dinner of them all is PANCAKES! I love em and this week creampuffsinvenice is featuring a recipe for Ricotta Pancakes that looks SO light and fluffy, can't wait to make them... and eat them! Also, I have been all about making soups lately- probably because winter just wont go away here! Ive made a devine Roasted Fall Veggie soup which I have been eating little by little out of my freezer and my fave Tortilla soup but this week 101 cooks is featuring a Yellow Split Pea soup... I am really excited about this because Jo-Ben has a MAJOR aversion to split pea (I think he had a bad experience with split pea soup when he was growing up that has scard him for life) But I love it- my mom used to make this awesome green split pea and ham soup- omg. to die for.. THATS my comfort food right there... I am thinking though that Jo-Ben would really like the Thai version of the Yellow Split Pea soup on 101 cooks blog, I make this Spicy Thai Chicken soup with Cocoanut milk that he loves so maybe I can sway him over to the dark side of split pea with the word THAI... hmmmmmm? hahaha well, must do some "real work" SO glad its Friday- Im going to the city with a friend to do some major shopping tomorrow-Im thinking new knee high boots (they are majorly on sale because apperantly its almost summer- not here!!) some new dark denim for work, maybe some new tops... may even find a bridesmaids dress for the little sisters wedding- I will bring my camera. CAIO!

My Buisness Card!

Sorry, not such a great picture but you get the idea... VERY excited that buiness is underway and that I finally get to do some aesthetics again... I have applied for my buisness license and need to get insurance (so no one sues me!) and then I'm as good as GOLD (and hopefully making some on the side too!) Oh BTW- Pura Vida is litteraly translated as "pure life" in Spanish... its a term widely used in Costa Rica which is a place near and dear to the hearts of Jo-Ben and myself so I thought it was quite a fitting name all around. Here is a bit about "pura vida"...

"Literally translated as ‘pure life’, pura vida is the phrase most commonly associated with Costa Rica. Most foreigners imbue the term with a sense of the ‘laid back’, hippy or surfer lifestyle where time is of little importance and friendship taken for granted. Indeed, the most credible origin of the word is that it developed from the interaction between the surfing pioneers of the mid 1950’s and the local Costa Ricans (or Ticos) they encountered.
Whatever it’s beginnings there is no doubting that it has become part of the vernacular and Costa Ricans claim it to belong to pachuco, a slang or common speech somewhat removed from Spanish and very particular to Ticos. Used as a greeting, a goodbye, sometimes as an agreement, this versatile phrase, often shortened to a brief pura, signifies something deeper to Costa Ricans. It embodies a philosophy in which communal ties are strong and close; difficulties are overcome with a resilient and happy spirit, where life is enjoyed leisurely and to the full, and where fortune of whatever size is heartily celebrated."

http://www.puravida.com/

Random as usual!

So, I didn't watch my Oprah online class last night... I guess 500,000 people watched it simultaneously so the connection was horrible but I might check out the recorded version of it that they put up later today... not sure though, I checked out some youtube videos of the author and hes pretty sketchy, I am interested in the discussion that he and Oprah have though and her take on the book... I might not read the book and just watch their pod casts. I did however find some interesting articles while I was on Oprah.com last night trying to load the live feed... one in particular was an article on how to attain a lasting and happy marriage (how about send your husband up north for half the year?! works for us! hahah) The points in the article are actually pretty obvious but good to reiterate... not too sure how good I am at all of them though, especially the whole seeing my partners point of view and not bringing up an argument either at night, when we are hungry or when we are tired... eek. Pretty sure I fail at those ones... allot. hahaha. I am pretty good at the rest though so I guess it evens out? hmmmmmm. Actually, now that I think about it Jo-Ben and I really are everything that the other person is not, I am really good at doing all the other things in the article and hes really good at doing the things that I am not good at. Anyways, here's a link: http://www.oprah.com/relationships/webmd/relationships_couple_nitpick.jhtml
Also I watched a video on there of Dr. Oz swallowing a pill with a camera that takes a pic every half second of the inside of your body- so werid. I can't post it on here but you should check it out... its on today's episode I think.

The past week here the weather has been pretty nice and mild (for Alberta anyways, no shorts and flip flops yet!) but last night I ran out to the car to grab something and then came back in and watched an episode of Big Brother online and within that time (maybe 45 mins) everything was covered with a blanket of snow- it was so strange, like the temp just all of a sudden dropped and the hugest snow flakes started coming down, it was like a shock when I went to lock the door before I went to bed and saw that everything was all of a sudden white outside when I had just run outside and thought to myself how mild it was. It has been really strange this past week because its been getting warmer so it started to feel like spring but since it never rains here its all grey and brown out... guess that is one of the nice things about living in rainy BC, its always so lush as soon as spring hits, I guess it takes a while out here. I asked my friend Kari (who is a BC girl and has lived in Man. for the past couple of years) when it starts to turn green out here and she said its not till like end of April/beginning of May but she said that when it does it feels like your on drugs hahahah... sometimes I just can't believe I live here- so weird but im getting used to it.

Tonight I am having some of the boys from the bible college that Jo-Ben coached soccer for and a couple of their girlfriends for supper. Its funny that I call them boys cause a couple of them are my age or older but they are "my boys" :) Ive made Tzatziki with Nann bread to start, a Tortilla Chicken soup and then Chocolate Chip Banana bread for desert (Elliot's fave so I make it every time... what is it about Chocolate Chip Banana Bread that boys like so much? Ive never met a guy, except my husband but he has a weird aversion to chocolate and bananas give him heart burn, that doesn't like LOVE banana bread)Anyways, should be good and its 10:28 am and dinner is done. Make ahead meals, gotta love it. I'm going to post my recipe for Tortilla soup because I love it and its so easy:

Took this pic from the internet but this is what it looks like :)

Amanda's Tortilla Soup
1 T oil (I use canola)
1 yellow onion, chopped up as big or small as you would like
1 t minced prepared garlic
spices (sometimes I use cumin, cayenne, red pepper flakes, taco seasoning... whatever "Mexican" spices I have on hand, this time it was taco, cayenne and red pep and I usually use a couple of t)
1 Large can diced tomatoes & juices
1 Large carton chicken stock

1 rotisserie style chicken from the deli
corn-optional
black beans-optional

toppings:
Avocado
Sour Cream
Cilantro
Green Onions
Tex Mex Cheese
Jalapenos
Broken up tortilla chips
Lime Wedges

In a large soup pot heat oil and cook chopped onions till transparent.
Add garlic & spices and cook for a min.
Add entire can of tomatoes and carton of stock & bring to a boil.
Turn down heat and simmer while adding shredded chicken.
Add corn and/or black beans if desired and take pot off heat.

The soup is basically done at this point. I like to make it the night before and reheat it the next day for dinner. I usually serve it on the stove in the big pot I made it in and then on the table I have all of the toppings in small bowls so that people can top their soup however they would like... its the same kind of concept as chili or baked potatoes. I love this soup because its so easy to make and is so versatile when you have guests because they can prepare theirs however they like & the possibilities are pretty open ended. (I load mine up with everything and I ALWAYS make sure there is a squeeze of lime on top- it really freshens up the soup!) I'll post some pics tonight if the camera batteries get charged up miraculously :)

Also- had business cards made up for my in home massage stuff, first client tomorrow night!...Ill scan the cards when I have a chance- they are so cute!

Have a great day!!!

Thoughts

This is what the sky looked like on my birthday from my front yard.

Finally, my blog is back to normal... it went all wonky this weekend, when I was viewing it anyways, but it looks normal now... did anyone elses do that? And whats with spell check not working? I rely on that thing! (so I finished writing my post and just realized that spell check works now- there is just a new way of using it and I have figured it out! YAY!) Oh well... So, I'm back at work today looking forward to a good week.

Tonight I start this thing on Oprah online... its this online class on this book called A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle, not too sure about the book and I start the first class today and haven't started the book yet ( I know, bad girl)So we will see how that goes... I have read a few passages from the book and it looks interesting... If its totally hoakey (is that how you spell that?!) I'm not even going to bother getting the book.. wonder if they have it at the library. I have read some forums with soem Christians vs non-Christians debating about the good and bad of the book- very interesting...I've also watched some stuff on youtube of the guy and he seems REALLY weird. oh well, its a free online class so worth watching I think... on Oprah.com it says that I am going to learn about my "healing, forgiving and awakening to my own life's purpose". Haha, we'll see. I really like to read all kinds of stuff (ie: not just Christian material), "broaden my horizons" I guess... I remember when I was in high school I was given a book called The Celestine Prophecy and I read partway through it but it turned out to be really "new agey", I was pretty closed minded back then and became so frustrated with the book and it not aligning to what I personally believed that I actually burned it. Looking back I realize that this was very naive and closed minded of me... I am secure in what I believe now and find it interesting rather than intimidating to read about what other people believe and their insight into psychological and spiritual ideas. I think that is one of the things that draws me to blogging and why I am so interested in this class that Oprah is offering online, I really like to read or hear about other peoples views and ideas and comparing them to my own.


That actually brings me to another "blog topic" on my mind... blogging! This weekend I have read a few blog entries and comments on "blogging etiquette". I have found what I have read to be VERY interesting, some of the topics that came up I have honestly never even given thought to... does that make me rude? I dunno. So, I'm going to talk about some of the things I have been thinking about that I have read on various blogs about this. First of all, I have been thinking about why I blog and there are quite a few reasons. I really like the sense of community that I feel with other bloggers especially being able to keep up with friends and family back home in BC, being able to see what every ones up too... seeing pictures of everyone (expecailly my cousins adorable and ever growing kidlets!)and everything (like the green grass and rain I often miss in BC) and being able to do the same for all of them (posting pics and entries of what I am up too!). I also love that I get to learn from the blogs that I choose to view like foodie blogs that I love to look at every day, I cannot tell you how much I anticipate a new recipe post on foodiebride or everybodylovessandwiches or what the cookie or craft of the day will be on marthastewart.com. I also love the new friends and connections that blogging has allowed me to find- so cool. One thing that has surprised me is to find out that people like or do not care about asking them if you can post a link to their blog on their own blog or commenting first or even commenting at all on their blog to let them know that you are looking at their blog. I honestly had never even thought of this before... I have posted many links on my sidebar and hope that I havent offended anyone in doing so without getting their permission first and also hope that I do not offend anyone if I don't comment on their blog entries... I honestly check out every single blog on my side bar every day, sometimes more than once a day :) and I rarely comment... maybe I should more but I don't always feel comfortable doing so (if its really personal, I'd rather just emial them, and don't always feel like I have something valuable to say or don't really feel like repeating what other have already commented. I dunno- maybe its just me. I am not offended when I don't get a comment on a post- sometimes I just post for me as if using my blog like a diary... it is always nice to see a comment though:) Also- I am not offended when my blog isn't linked on someone elses sidebar even if I check theirs everyday- just because I like their blog doesn't mean that they have to like mine! I DO agree with refraining from posting uber personal info about other people on your blogs and should be more careful about what I post on mind- more because of embarrassment issues rather than identity theft or anything like that... I do think that giving credit to others is important in all facets of life so that is something that I try to do on here too but as far as asking permission on stuff like taking pics or info off other peoples sites weather they be blogs or not I think that is totally up to the individual and if you post stuff on the internet you should be prepared to see it anywhere but I do agree that giving credit is polite... on here and in life in general. I agree and disagree with some of the things I have read on posts and comments on all of this but I guess my major opinion on all of it is (and here is the "golden rule" shining through yet again) treat others as you would like to be treated hmmmm novel concept hey? I think its a good one to remember and that we should all apply more often in blogging and in life :)Hope you all enjoy my blog because I sure enjoy yours and I really hope I haven't offended any of you through my blogging :) Happy blogging... Ive gotta get back to "work".

What a week!

I had a great week- Jo-Ben surprised me on Monday night by coming home (& staying for 4 days & 5 nights!) & we had a really good week being together & spending time with friends. It was a really tiring week because I was working the entire time and we deliverd two houses at work in one week which we have never done before so I feel like the time just flew by, plus when I was at home i didn't want to "waste" time on cleaning, paying bills & all that regular stuff when I could be hanging out with my guy... but all that other regular stuff still had to be done so all that plus only getting like 5-6 hours of sleep each night leads to a very tired Amanda. :) I am spending today just relaxing and puttering around the house which is turning out to be quite nice (and much needed!) Jo-Ben left this morning which was sad because I don't know when the next opertunity for me to go see him will be but he seems to be in high spirits (higher than when he left in Jan at least!) Things are shaping up better than last year I think so hes doing better mentaly, doesn't seem as worn down. Plus this time at home was a God send, totally unexpected but made a big difference I think... maybe he should tear his rotator cuff more often! :) hahah just kidding... he has actually been in allot of pain because of his injury so that hasn't been so fun to witness but I gave him a few massages and got to break in the new massage table & he didn't have to carry around the 70lb camera that he uses at work so that was a good thing. I miss him already :( Last night we went out to the Keg and celebrated our brithday's together (mine is today actually and his is on March 23) We had a great dinner and then came back to our place for a little surprise party I planned for him (& me too) with some of our friends from here in Three Hills. It was allot of fun, I got Jo-Ben a soccer ball cake and candles that spelled out "21 AGAIN" (hes turning 30 this year) & some of our friends got fireworks and we put on quite a show which we all watched off of our back deck- it was really fun. Anyways, just snapped a few pics this afternoon in my "font yard" because the ground in our yard looks so cool right now because we have had some nice weather and no rain the snow has melted and its drying up the ground, it looks like one of those dry skin commercials. the sky looked pretty cool too- like its opening up... I like it. AND my American Mom (Jo-Ben's mom) sent me a birthday gift of an apron, pot holders and oven mits that she got when she was in Africa, I love that they are pink and black and the design is so cool, I will post a picture of the pattern up close. Well, heres hoping that 25 turns out to be a fabulous year for me (& everyone!) Have a good day bloggers!!!