Success, Oh Yes!

Today is Eric's last day of studying! I couldn't be more thrilled. Unfortunately, he has still studied a lot today, like ever since we got home from church, so I had to spend one LAST day entertaining myself. And did I ever get a lot of stuff done!

~ Lunch: Did you think I completely forgot about trying out new recipes? Though my experiments have been few and far between these last few months, I managed to sneak in something new this afternoon.

(I should note that I have been putting off trying this particular recipe because Eric thought the name sounded gross. So I gave him time to forget about it, made it, and it was delicious. By the time I told him what it was, he was totally over the name.)

Famous Butter Chicken [sorry, no pictures for this one - definitely a winner though!]

2 eggs, beaten

1 cup crushed Ritz crackers

1 tsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

1 tsp. black pepper

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

1/2 c. butter, sliced into 1 tsp. pieces

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Place eggs and cracker crumbs in two separate shallow bowls. Mix seasonings with cracker crumbs. Dip chicken in the eggs, then dredge in cracker crumbs to coat.

Arrange chicken in a 9x13 baking dish and place butter around chicken. Bake for 20 minutes, spoon juices over chicken, and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

~ Shopping: I bought Eric's snacks for his test and planned what all he is going to take with him. I'm not really sure how he is going to consume all of this in an 8 hour period:

Grapes

Bananas

Dark chocolate almond peanut butter granola bars

6 bottles of water (okay, admittedly not all for him)

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies (see below)

Turkey sandwich

White Cheddar Cheese-Its

Chocolate pudding

Regular chocolate chip granola bars ("just in case")

At least it's decently healthy stuff.

I also looked at new running shoes at Kohl's. There are definitely a few pairs I like, but I think I'm going to wait until I can go to a professional running store to get my arches checked and see how my feet pronate before I invest in more shoes. Still, it's fun to look.

~ Decorating the WALL: I have looked far and wide for some cute lettering that would look good on that thing.


Today, I finally found some. And paired with my fabric flowers, I think it turned out well! (I still have to do the liquid starch to get the flowers to stay - that's also why they look a little funky up there).

~ Making Jam: Thanks to a tip from my sweet friend Jamie Walton, I decided to go ahead and go for Harris Teeter's Buy One Get Two Free deal on strawberries this week and use one package to try my hand at strawberry jam. Who knew it could be so easy?

Strawberry Jam (Pectin-Free)

1 lb. fresh strawberries, hulled

1 1/2 c. white sugar

1/4 tsp. lemon juice

Puree strawberries in a blender, then mix in sugar and lemon juice.

In a heavy saucepan, warm over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Turn up the heat until mixture comes to a rolling boil.
Allow to cook for approximately 10 minutes, or until the mix reaches 220 degrees. Remove from heat and transfer to hot, sterile jars.

Note: To test if the jam is ready, put a cold plate in the freezer, then place a small spoonful of the warm mix on it for 1 minute. Once the jam has cooled, check the consistency.

~ Working Out: I finally got off my behind and did the first section of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred video. Thankfully, I'm in better shape than the last time I tried it, so it didn't kill me. I even went and did a mile on the treadmill afterwards, and set a personal record: 7:30.

~ Signing up for a 10K: I'll be running 6.2 miles on April 16. Let's hope I don't poop out!

~ Trying out Flax Seed: So I've read and read about how great flax seed is. It's basically just a ton of polyunsaturated fats, fiber and protein. Nobody has anything bad to say about it anywhere. So when I found some at Wal-Mart yesterday for less than $2.00, I decided I'd try it out.

For dinner tonight, I made myself a strawberry-orange smoothie with a special additive: Flax seed! I know, that sounds gross, right? But I totally couldn't even tell it was in there. It's so milled up, it just mixes right in. Instant protein boost!

I also finished up the evening making Eric's oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with, you guessed it, flax seed added in.

I also cut a little bit of sugar out. You can't really taste the difference, so I figure every little bit helps!

So there's a successful day in a nutshell. Aren't Sunday afternoons the best? :-)

Opinions, please...

I really like our apartment, but there are some things you just can't do when you are renting. I took a little gamble with painting our little dining area, but there's no way I am going to paint the entire living room or kitchen when I know that I am going to have to paint it back before we move again. So, that being said, I have been generally satisfied with our decorations for the time being with one exception:

The WALL. It's white. It's ugly. It's just there, sitting above my kitchen counter with one lone, sad clock ticking away. I have racked my brain and shopped all around for something to put up there, but it's all been to no avail. It's just an awkward space.

I've been thinking for awhile about putting wall decals up, but haven't been able to find any that I like. Several people I know have made their own lately, so I thought that I would try my hand at it...

This is what I've come up with so far.

It's not great, but neither is my artistic ability, so I have to be realistic. I tried a branch. And then a swirly. Can you say "utter failure?"

There's some sort of disconnect between my brain and my hands that does not permit me to draw anything other than flowers, leaves, or cute bubble letters. And I'm pretty sure my cutting skills are about the equivalent to those of a first grader.

So, honestly - thoughts? I've just got everything taped up there right now so I can move it wherever I want. And, of course, I will eventually do the other side of the clock. Is it any good, though? Does it even help at all?

Also, I did cut out a flower with the thought that maybe I could combine the two. They're a lot more trouble and there's a lot more room for error with those though. Are they worth it?

Any opinions or advice would be more than welcome. :-)

Bienvenidos, Primavera

Spring is here! The leaves are budding, flowers are blooming, and my mood just feels a little brighter every day!

Here's a few notes on what's going on with us these lovely days:

Today: Marks 9 days until Eric takes Step 1. I love that we are in single digits now! I really am not sure at this point that I remember what it feels like to have a husband who doesn't study 80 hours a week... I'm certain it's going to feel GREAT though!

Yesterday: I ran in my first 5k of the year and finished in 26:56, almost 3 minutes ahead of my time last fall. I actually placed (yay!) in my age category (not that there were a lot of people IN my age category to begin with, but I will take my cute silver medal nonetheless :-) .

Wednesday: I bid goodbye to my dear laptop. We thought the issue was the battery. It wasn't. The replacement battery we ordered would only work for about 2 hours and would not be rechargeable after that. So we spent two hours salvaging what we could of my documents and photos. I got my documents, wedding pictures and pictures from my trip to Spain, the most important things. But all of my music and several files of pictures are gone forever. R.I.P. Sony Vaio.

Tuesday: As I was leaving work, I saw these two first grade girls run to give each other a hug in the hall. One of the little girls gave the other some purple flowers, then had to go since her mom was there.

I went up to the remaining girl and said, "Wow, those sure are some pretty flowers! You have such a sweet friend!"

The little girl looked at me and, smiling, said, "Actually, Miss, these aren't flowers. They're just a bunch of weeds."

Last week: I planted a little garden. And when I say little, I mean ridiculously minuscule. We have a little "yard" area in the "back porch" of our apartment. It probably measures 2 feet by 8 feet. So I planted a few lettuce, onion and spinach seeds. I really don't expect anything to grow, but I figure it will be fun if it does!

Last Saturday: I ran 10 miles - no walking included in that! I was sick for about a day afterwards and more sore than I've ever been, but at least I can say I did it!

This whole month: I keep catching Connor in the sink!

Apparently it's just the right size for him. He does it nearly every day, but it still makes me laugh every time.

Next week: Charleston! I haven't really had any time off since Christmas, so I am super-excited for a four day weekend going to the beach and exploring a new city at our leisure. :-) Any suggestions about things to see/places to eat are more than welcome!

Just another day...

So it's been awhile.

Normally my lack of blogging can be primarily attributed to my laziness and general lack of interest in technology. This time, however, slothfulness only partially contributed to my long absence. My computer decided to die on me a few weeks back, and has left me quite without a connection to the world. I have been occasionally using Eric's to check facebook and my email and patiently waiting for my new battery to come in the mail in hopes that that would fix the problem. It didn't. So we are trying to find some other way to get all of my pictures and documents off, but I decided I probably needed to break down and just take over Eric's laptop for good. So here I am.

And what wonders have I neglected to post about?

Well, not a lot.

Why? Because we are right in the middle of the most horrendous part of medical school: Step 1 studying. Boo. (In truth, it's not that bad, it just means ALLLLL of Eric's time is spent studying, including weekends, evenings, etc.).

Since Eric has been diligently plugging away at books and questions and practice tests, I've decided to take up a hobby of my own: training for a half marathon. It works out pretty perfectly, because between running 20 miles a week and staying busy hanging out with friends and working and doing church activities, I've occupied my time quite nicely. Hopefully I will keep it up after Eric's done with his test and I can be ready to run by the end of April. We will see!

Sadly, many of the recipes I wanted to try were also listed on my computer as well. This has prevented me from achieving my try-something-new-every-week goal. I'm not *too* far behind, though, and I have done a couple of fun things lately.

Chicken Enchiladas -- I, of course, didn't add olives. I also used flour tortillas, because that was what I had (not the best idea ever). Despite the fact that the tortillas stuck to the pan, they tasted really good! Definitely a recipe I will try again.

I also took on one REALLY BIG meal...

That's right! That $6 turkey I bought back at Thanksgiving finally got roasted! And it was oh-so-good. I'm glad, too, because in case you didn't know, making a turkey is a really, REALLY disgusting process. It's worth it, though, since it makes a TON of leftovers, so I was able to freeze a bunch, plus use some to make sandwiches etc. this week.

I went shopping last weekend in Charlotte and was pretty pumped to finally get myself a wok from Ikea for only $5! I whipped up a nice big batch of stir fry Wednesday night to celebrate.

Eric even took time out to help me cook.

That's right, he's definitely listening to lectures while he stirs.

I was also really excited to find a good deal on a new comforter last weekend, since this little guy

decided to tear up our old one.

It doesn't match perfectly, but I really really like it, and it's sooo comfortable!

Anyway, that's about all. 23 more days...