Rachel's Ramblins

Catch Up

2012-01-03T20:32:00.004-05:00

Geez, I certainly have a lot of catching up to do, huh? Sorry I have been MIA for the past two months, however, most of my time was spent cooking Thanksgiving dinner for my entire family, celebrating our second wedding anniversary, finishing a beast of a Master's Thesis Paper, freaking out when my professor wanted alot of last minute changes to my Master's Thesis Paper, completing my other online class with a very hard-to-deal-with group, Christmas shopping and wrapping, celebrating Christmas with both families all over Pennsylvania and ringing in the New Year with an amazing group of friends! Whew...I'm tired just reading all that we've been doing! I'm VERY happy to say that I officially earned my Master's in Public Administration and happily graduated with a 3.9 GPA. All of the hard work definitely paid off in the end and I am proud to be a Penn State Alumni! We also spent our first Christmas in the house, which was very special for both of us.

Here are a few snapshots from the past two months:

The Final Product!

Christmas Decorations

Anniversary Flowers

Because at the Cianfichi house...you never know who is going to show up for Christmas dinner....

Ready for 2012

Recipe Rut Solution #11

2011-11-03T17:02:00.003-04:00

This recipe was a winner!! I love cooking things in the crock pot because it's usually pretty easy, and it's always nice to have something slow cooked and warm on a cold fall evening. I made this chili last Saturday during the freak October snow/rain/sleet weather event and it was the perfect way to end a gross day. Adam even said it might be the best chili I have ever made...not sure about that, but it was REALLY good. Also, it's just about the easiest recipe EVER...it literally took me about 15 minutes to make (not including the cook time).

Without further adieu...I give you Taco Chilli!

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1-2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup salsa
15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
15 oz. can kidney beans, rinsed and drained (the recipe called for corn...but if you know me, you know I hate corn!)
1 packet taco seasoning mix (I used the low sodium stuff)
1 cup Mexican cheese blend
1/2 cup sour cream
2 tbsp lime juice

Directions:

1. Grease a slow cooker with non-stick spray and place the chicken inside.

2. Add 1 cup of chicken broth, lime juice, salsa, black beans, kidney beans, and taco seasoning mix.

3. Cover and cook for 6 to 8 hours on low or 3 to 4 hours on high. (The chicken should be falling apart tender.)

4. Remove the chicken and place it on a plate or cutting board. Use two forks to shred the chicken.

5. Add the cheese and sour cream to the sauce remaining in the slow cooker and stir until melted. Return the chicken to the pot and stir to combine. At this point, I added more broth because the chili seemed really thick. I added broth until I thought it was a good consistency.

What I would do differently: Double the recipe!! This made enough for Adam and I to eat for dinner and then have for lunch the next day. I would love to have a container of this in my freezer, though.

Total Meal Cost: less than $20

Adam's Rating: 10 out of 10

Next Day Lunchability: Awesome!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T16:27:00.002-04:00

We're ready for our first Halloween in the house!

Recipe Rut Solution #10

2011-10-25T17:53:00.002-04:00

Two entries in one day?

Last night I made Greek stuffed peppers. They were cheap, easy, healthy and yummy! I will definitely be making these again.

Ingredients:

1 lb. lean ground beef
10 oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 medium zucchini, coarsely grated
1 small onion, minced
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
3 large red bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise, ribs and seeds removed
1 (14.5 oz) can stewed tomatoes, chopped with juice reserved
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:

(I realize that this ingredients picture looks like an ad for Super Giant generic brand)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, combine beef, spinach, zucchini, onion, bread crumbs, egg, oregano and salt.

3. Arrange the peppers cut-side up in the baking dish. Fill each pepper half with the meat mixture.

4. Pour the tomatoes and their juice over the peppers. Sprinkle the feta over the peppers.

5. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and continue baking until the peppers are tender and the filling is cooked through, about 45 minutes.

What I would do differently: This made alot of filling mixture, so I actually made up some hamburger patties and froze them for some future Greek Burgers! Next time, I'll add the feta cheese into the mixture and not sprinkle on top so it's easier to taste. Also, it takes a long time to cook...luckily we have a convection oven, so I was able to bake them in about 50 minutes.

Total Meal Cost: less than $20

Adam's Rating: 8 out of 10 (I would give it a 9)

Next Day Lunchability: These were great the next day! The peppers were softer, but it was still fantastic.

Recipe Rut Solution #9

2011-10-25T17:16:00.002-04:00

Oh my gosh! It's been over a year since I last did a recipe rut solution! Time flies when you're working, going to school, buying a house and moving.

But have no fear, blog readers (if there are any out there), I recently picked out five new recipes and bought the ingredients for them...so Recipe Rut solutions is back!

Last week I made a spin on jambalaya, complete with shrimp and sausage. It was really good for a chilly fall evening!

Ingredients:

2 T. olive oil, divided
1/2 lb. andouille sausage, diced or crumbled
3 T. butter
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium to large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 fresno or jalapeno chile pepper, seeded and finely chopped
2 T. thyme leaves, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 T. regular sweet paprika
2 T. all-purpose flour
1 (12-ounce) bottle beer
1 cup chicken stock
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 lbs. medium-large shrimp, peeled and deveined
Rice for serving

Directions:

1. In a large pot over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the sausage and cook until brown. Remove the sausage from the pan and drain on paper towels. Reserve.

2. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and the butter to the pot. Stir in the green pepper, onion, garlic, chile pepper, thyme, and bay leaves. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 7 to 8 minutes.

3. Sprinkle in the paprika and stir, then add the flour and stir for 1 minute more.

4. Pour in the beer and cook for 2 minutes, scraping any bits off the bottom of the pot. Stir in the stock and Worcestershire sauce, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 3 minutes to combine flavors.

Add the reserved sausage to the sauce. Bring the sauce to a low boil over medium heat, then stir in the shrimp. Cover and cook until the shrimp are pink and firm, about 3 to 5 minutes.

What I would do differently: Next time I might add a can of beans to the mix to thicken it. I might also leave out the hot pepper...it was a bit spicy for me!

Total Meal Cost: about $30.00. The shrimp were expensive!

Adam's Rating: 9 out of 10

Next Day Lunchability: Adam gave it two thumbs up the next day! I didn't take it to work because it is one of my biggest pet peeves when people bring seafood in and stink up the break room!

The Dining Room

2011-09-30T16:27:00.003-04:00

When we moved into the house, one of the first things we tackled was painting the dining room. Adam and I also got a new dining room table and chairs made out of reclaimed barn wood. Then, we changed the light fixture and had hardwood floors installed.

My amazing mother-in-law designs window treatments. We spent a ton of time in August discussing different fabric choices for the huge window in the dining room and finally decided on a pattern and a fabric. Today, they came to install it! I could have never predicted how amazing it would look in the room.

For Christmas of 2009, Adam's Dad promised that he and Adam would build me a hutch for the china that I inherited. I don't know how much work Adam really put into it, but today, they brought it down to our house. It was the first time I had seen the whole thing together with the glass in it. He even ordered special wavy glass for the doors.

So, now I feel like the dining room is complete! We are very happy with the way it turned out and hopefully it's ready for many holiday dinners in the future.

Before:

And After:

The Canned Food Drive

2011-09-28T13:05:00.003-04:00

Each year before Thanksgiving and Christmas, every office I have worked in collects cans for homeless veterans. One year, I was in charge of wrapping the box and making sure everyone was contributing.

Today at lunch, a couple of my co-workers were looking in the box while they were waiting for their turn at the microwave. Out of the box came a can of low sodium collard greens that has been sitting in the break room since I started in June, as well as five cans of expired canned mackerel and an expired can of sardines. First of all, I didn’t even know that one could buy canned mackerel, and thinking about opening an expired can of it almost made me lose my lunch.

I know that a lot of people use canned food drives to clean out their cabinets, or they buy the cheapest possible thing at the store to contribute. Sometimes, I’ve heard people say, “beggars can’t be choosers” or, “I’ll never use this and it’s been sitting in my cabinet forever, so I brought it in for the food drive”.

When I hear people say things like that, I think to myself, “a good can of soup or vegetables, or a box of macaroni costs what, $2.00?”. I just don’t see why there’s any reason to put expired things in the box for the people we are trying to help.

Weekend Recap

2011-09-19T17:52:00.004-04:00

Unfortunately I was feeling extremely under the weather this weekend, so we hung around the house and watched football for the most part. Thanks to a couple of gift cards from Lowes, we were able to buy a new light to hang over our kitchen table. The new light replaced what we referred to as "the flying saucer" and I think it looks much better.

Before:

After:

A couple of people have asked how the furry member of our family has adjusted to the new house. It's been a rough few months for Griffin, but I think we might (fingers crossed) be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. When we first got Griffin, he was extremely shy and anxious and hardly ever played and ran around. Since moving into the house we have conquered the anxiety when left alone and recently he has started to play ball inside the house. We did have one fence jumping incident and many house training accidents, but we are hoping that he is coming around.

Most days you can find him situated in front of his "HD TV", otherwise known as the storm door.

26

2011-09-12T17:57:00.006-04:00

Today is Adam's 26th Birthday! We celebrated with family and friends over the weekend with cake and singing and tonight we are having a nice dinner at home. On Wednesday we are going out to dinner to officially celebrate!

After celebrating six birthdays with Adam, here are some of the things I most admire about him:

- He's one of the most laid-back people I've ever met...it takes alot to make him really angry, in fact, I can count on one hand the number of times he's been really mad in front of me.

- He's quick to forgive and forget. Every time we fight, he is the one who gets over it and is ready to move on.

- He's smart...I'm talking really, incredibly smart. Whenever he talks about work, I try to pay attention, but hardly ever understand what he's talking about.

- He's a problem-solver, I have grown to love this trait even more since we've had a house. When I want to give up on a project or take the easy way out, he's willing to work through it until it's finished.

- He's a wonderful cheerleader and supporter. There have been so many times that I have broken down over things from wedding plans to graduate school and from buying a house to starting my job in Wilmington. He is always there to listen and talk me through things and he rarely loses his patience.

- He's a tried and true husband, friend, brother, son and coworker. I love that he has never given up on me or on our relationship and I've never doubted that he loves me just the way I am.

Thanks for letting me spend the last six birthdays with you...

from 21

to 26

Happy Birthday to my #1 Guy, I don't know what I would do without you.

Goings on

2011-09-05T15:16:00.002-04:00

Another long period of time has flown by without a blog entry. We have been really busy, which leaves little time for blogging. We have been working hard on the house and at our jobs, and my summer classes for school took up the rest of the time. We took a nice vacation to Rehoboth Beach a few weeks ago, even though it seems like forever ago, and we lived through Hurricane Irene last weekend without a power outage or water in the basement.

Labor Day weekend has been nice, although I can't believe it's already almost over. On Saturday we did some work around the house before going over to a party thrown by one of our neighbors. Yesterday we spent the entire day in the front yard trimming bushes, pulling out old and planting new flowers, raking and mowing. Hopefully that is the last full day of working out there before fall. Today has been spent cleaning, washing cars and doing laundry. I was thinking last night that it certainly has been a momentous and extremely busy summer for us. It is hard to believe that we have been living in the house for 2 1/2 months already and have done so many things since we've been here. We're so proud of our home and have had a wonderful time putting our stamp on it.

Since it's been awhile since I've shown one of the rooms, here is the powder room, which has made a huge transformation from the cracked tile floor and lime green walls.

Before:

And After:

Master Bedroom

2011-07-18T16:50:00.002-04:00

When we first looked at the house, we thought the master bedroom would be one of the first rooms we'd want to paint. However, after learning what a pain in the butt painting is, the color in there mysteriously began to grow on me. Now, I figure painting that room can wait for a year or two.

Please excuse the quality of the picture. We call the room "the cave" because it's pretty dark. Good for sleeping...not too great for picture taking.

Life is Good

2011-07-15T08:29:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was beautiful...like the kind of day that makes you want to call in sick to work and sit on the back porch with a drink and a book (fun book, not textbook) all day.

Instead, I got up and went to work. When I got home, Adam and I went for a walk, and then he ran up to the store to get something to grill for dinner. When he got back, he proceded to make the most amazingly fresh, summer dinner. We had watermelon, grilled shrimp skewers and a vegetable salad with tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and celery.

We went out onto the porch, put up the umbrella, lit a candle and ate our dinner, then his parents stopped in on their way to the beach to say hi. We sat out on the porch enjoying good conversation, the cool temperatures and the breeze until well after it was dark.

After they were gone and we were getting ready for bed, Adam said to me, "Nights like this are what I was most looking forward to when we bought this house together, it was perfect".

I would have to agree.

Your Opinion

2011-07-11T18:17:00.004-04:00

Next week, we are getting almost the entire downstairs of the house painted. The colors now include a grayish base coat that is a little bit too modern for my taste, dark red and sage green. Next week, the office and laundry room will remain green but everything else is getting painted a nice, fresh cream color. The only thing I can't decide on is the powder room.

I feel like I can do something a little bit different in there, but I don't want to go too over the top. After much consideration, we've narrowed it down to these two colors:

Revel Blue

Anjou Pear

I'm leaning toward the yellow because it's on the same color card as the cream color we're getting everywhere else, but I don't want it to be too loud in such a little room. I feel like the blue is more conservative.

So, what do you think? I only have until Thursday to decide!

House Tour 1

2011-07-10T19:08:00.002-04:00

We've been busy around here! I thought I'd take you on a tour of the house room by room, starting this week with the deck.

The deck was a huge feature for us when we bought the house. Who wouldn't want a huge 10 x 20 Trex deck? The weekend we moved in, Adam and his dad power washed the whole thing and it turned from an ugly gray to a nice brown. We started out with a little bistro table and a separate chair and lounger from the apartment, but upgraded last weekend to a bigger table and chairs. Today we hit up the Pottery Barn outlet and found a really nice umbrella for a third of it's original price. We added some Tiki torches for fun and no deck would be complete without an amazing grill. We have already used the deck lots for dinners on nice evenings.

Of course every deck needs a fierce watchdog!

Curb Appeal

2011-06-27T15:52:00.002-04:00

Over the weekend, Adam and I decided to take on painting the front door. It was a faded burgundy color with ugly numbers, so I was eager to change it. I picked a brighter red color and last Thursday, we headed over to Home Depot to get the paint. When we got there, the guy at the paint counter explained to us that it is hard to match a red Martha Stewart paint like the one I had chosen to a Behr exterior paint, which was the brand we wanted. He suggested that we pick a Behr color that was similar to the original red. We picked one, he mixed it and off we went with our paint and various painting supplies.

On Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early (8:00) to get started because I knew it would need time to dry before we could close the door. We taped plastic up over the open doorway and Adam got to work removing all of the old hardware. He hit a snag when he got to the deadbolt and had a difficult time removing it. An hour later, all of the hardware was off and we were ready for the next step. I sanded and cleaned the door while he worked on patching the holes left behind by those ugly numbers. Unfortunately, the patching material we used required one to five hours to dry….cue Adam standing in front of the door with a hair dryer.

Finally, we were ready to paint. I opened the can and to my surprise, the paint was not barn red, but hot pink. I began to paint it on the door, thinking the color might change once it started to dry, but no such luck. Off Adam went to a different Home Depot to get another color of paint. Luckily, the paint desk at that Home Depot was able to match the original Martha Stewart color. Once he returned, we got to painting. Three coats later, the door was a beautiful barn red.

After about three hours of drying, we decided that the door was ready for the new hardware. Unfortunately, we forgot to get a kick plate that matched everything else. Trip number three to Home Depot to pick up a new kick plate. Once back, we installed the kick plate and the deadbolt. When it came time to install the handle however, we realized that the lock was not configured for our door. After two hours of taking the handle apart and putting it back together again, Adam was able to install the doorknob.

Twelve hours later, we closed the door and walked out into the front yard to admire our handy work. After all of those hours, three trips to Home Depot, alot of frustration, some red paint on the carpet after Adam got it on his shoe and quite a few profanities, we are going to admire that front door every.single.day.

So, if you’ve made it to the bottom of this extremely long post, here is the before and after of our beautiful front door…

Before:

After:

The Move

2011-06-20T19:50:00.002-04:00

Whew, life has been extremely busy lately, but we are now in the phase of settling into home ownership and residency in Delaware. Last Tuesday was my last day of work in Baltimore, Wednesday we closed on the house, Thursday we moved all of our stuff and Friday, Saturday and Sunday were spent working like crazy to get lots of little jobs done around the house. Luckily, we both have amazing families that helped with all of those little jobs. We couldn't have done it without their help. Now, all of the boxes are unpacked and the house is already looking much, much better! I'm hoping I can take you all on a tour room by room as we make them our own.

We have already made some changes to the outside....can you tell?

Before:

After:

Monkeying Around

2011-05-08T07:35:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we celebrated my nephew Jacob's first birthday! My sister did an awesome job throwing the party and everyone seemed to have a great time. The place was full of kids, including my other sister and brother-in-law and their two kids from Atlanta who flew up as a surprise. I'm not really sure he knew what was going on, but he definitely did a good job looking cute on his big day.

I can't believe that he's already one and I'm so thankful that I got to see him grow up throughout his first year. Here's to year number two!!

The House

2011-05-08T07:29:00.003-04:00

Our search for a house began in late February and just ended last weekend. It was a really difficult and really stressful, especially because we didn't agree on a house at first. After seeing many houses, we ended up debating between two...one that Adam loved, and one that I loved. Of course, we both REALLY LIKED the other person's house too. In the end however, the price solved the problem for us and we ended up putting an offer in on the house that I liked most. We feel as though it has the most potential and we can really put our mark on it and make it our own. The couple moving out is divorcing, so we are hoping to bring a little bit of love back into our new home.

We are planning on moving in June 16th so that I can start my job on June 20th. I know the next month is going to be extremely stressful, but I know that it will all be worth it in the end!

A big announcement...

2011-05-03T16:21:00.001-04:00

Something big has happened in Cianfichi land, but I have no time to post about it now.

Until I have time to blog, here is a hint:

Easter and other things

2011-04-25T07:58:00.002-04:00

A few more weeks have gone by without a blog post, so I thought I'd better update! For those of you who don't know, we recently found out that my job has been transferred to Delaware and I officially start at the office there on June 20th. We are really excited about moving somewhere new and the possibility of buying a house there. Adam and I have been up to look at houses a few times, but can't seem to agree on the one for us. It has been extremely stressful, but I know the stress will be worth it when we find the perfect house for us.

We spent a great Easter weekend with our families and really enjoyed relaxing and spending time together. I even got a few pictures of my adorable nephew, Jacob.

And because no Easter post would be complete without a picture of the Easter bunny himself:

The start of spring

2011-03-22T16:54:00.002-04:00

I was reminded last night that I haven't updated my blog in a little while. To put it simply, life has been busy, but boring lately. Since turning 25, I have been busy with work (including many hours of mandatory overtime). I have also been busy with my two classes and counting down the days until I am done with this degree. Adam and I have been busy with family happenings including the death of his grandfather last weekend. Currently, I am a bit under the weather and recovering from bronchitis, an ear infection and, as of today, a newly removed ingrown toenail. Oh, and we are hoping and praying that spring has finally begun to arrive in Baltimore. Yep, that's about it.

Just to include something remotely interesting. A week ago, I was sitting at my desk working on some homework when I heard a crunching sound. I turned around to see that Griffin had gotten into Adam's trashcan in search of some Triscuit crumbs. Unfortunately, he was caught red handed.

25

2011-02-11T17:56:00.002-05:00

On Wednesday I turned 25! Overall, I would say that I had a pretty fantastic birthday this year. Last weekend, my entire family helped me celebrate, including my sister and brother-in-law that live in Atlanta and their two kids. It had been a really long time since we were all together to celebrate a birthday, so I feel really lucky that it was mine. On Wednesday night, Adam took me to the Melting Pot for dinner, which has become a yearly tradition. He also made me a chocolate cake with pink frosting that tasted much better than last year's cake.

This was an amazing year and I was sad to see it end, some of the things I did as a 24-year-old
1. Switched graduate schools and began an online program
2. Helped welcome two adorable nephews into the family
3. Got a promotion
4. Bought a new (used) car
5. Said goodbye to one dog and found another one
6. Celebrated my first wedding anniversary

While I'm 25 I have two really large goals:
1. Buy our very first house!
2. Finish graduate school

If I can accomplish those two things this year, 25 might be the best age yet!

Snip Snip

2011-01-27T21:27:00.003-05:00

We are starting to adjust to Griffin and he seems to finally be getting comfortable in his new home. Last week, Adam was out of town and there were a few times that I almost lost it. Between the incessant whining and the peeing in the apartment, I almost dropped the dog off on the breeder's doorstep. Once Adam returned, we started working really hard to get Griffin under control, and I am happy to say, that he seems to have turned a corner. He is no longer whining in his crate at night, and hasn't gone to the bathroom inside since Monday (fingers crossed). He is starting to play with some of his toys and even turned a moose toy that one of my coworkers gave him into a double amputee.

Yesterday was a big day for him: he was neutered! The vet said that he was extremely nervous and had major separation anxiety while he was there, but he seemed to be fine after we got him home. Today, we had a snow day and he was happy camped out in front of the space heater. We are looking forward to starting obedience classes with him next week.

Here is a picture of him following his surgery...the vet said he was very sweet and had a big heart (hence the little picture on his bandage):

Meet Griffin

2011-01-15T15:13:00.003-05:00

Last night we went to pick up the newest addition to the Cianfichi apartment. His name is Griffin and he is a seven month old Welsh Terrier puppy. We got him from a breeder about 30 minutes away. So far, he has been awesome. He loves sleeping on his bed and playing with toys, he also loves attention.

The Case of the Missing Glasses

2011-01-13T07:27:00.002-05:00

Since New Years Eve, I have been having problems on and off with my left eye. It's been stinging and hurting, but I just kept figuring that I had scratched it and it would heal. This morning when I woke up, my eye was bright red and very sensitive to the light. I got dressed and ready for work and put some eye drops in, but my eye just kept hurting.

For those of you who don't know, I wear contacts, and I wear them all the time. I have contacts that you can wear continuously day and night for 30 days and I love them. For this reason, I don't often wear my old glasses, or get the prescription updated in them. This morning, however, I was desperate. I looked high and low, but my glasses were nowhere to be found. Finally, I had to leave for work with my painful contacts still in my eyes.

Once I got to the metro station, I took out my phone and saw I had eight missed calls from Adam. When I called him, he said he had found my glasses and told me not to get on the train. Two minutes later, he came flying into the metro parking lot with my glasses, contact solution and a contact case. He was just like my knight in shining armor, only he was barely awake (Adam is NOT a morning person) and had on shorts, a t-shirt and flip flops in the 20 degree January air. He even informed me that he had run out into the apartment parking lot in his underwear, but he had missed just me.

So, although I don't have 20/20 vision today (but I can see my computer screen and that's the most important thing), I am very appreciative for my knight in dingy athletic shorts and t-shirt and I'm pretty sure I will be making an eye appointment ASAP.

Farm Show

2011-01-09T18:13:00.002-05:00

We had a great weekend this weekend! On Friday night, we decided at the last minute to head up to Adam's parent's house to watch the University of Delaware game on the big screen. Unfortunately, the Blue Hens stunk it up in the last half of the game and ended up losing.

Yesterday we headed to the Pennsylvania Farm Show with some friends and Adam's sister Cara. We had a great time walking around and looking at all of the animals, booths and exhibits. Of course the most important part is the butter sculpture:

Overall, we had a great weekend. Stay tuned for an announcement concerning a possible new furry member of the Cianfichi household later this week.

Good News

2011-01-03T17:18:00.002-05:00

This past weekend was horrible for us, but today we finally got some good news. On Friday, when we decided that we were unable to spend the money for Tobey's surgery, we decided to sign him over to the vet, who would attempt to find a rescue organization to pay for the procedure. We left the vet without knowing what would happen to our very precious pup.

Today, Adam called the vet in an attempt to get an update. He was told that a group had paid for the surgery and that they were going to place Tobey in a new home. Immediately, we began to regret our decision and decided we would try to get our dog back. When Adam called the rescue organization, he received some bittersweet news. Tobey's surgery had cost twice what they expected because when they opened him up, they found a huge tumor on his kidney and had to remove it, plus remove all of the stones in his bladder. Apparently this tumor had grown since we had him there last April.

What was surprising to hear was that the organization had found an older couple willing to take Tobey in and pay for all of his medical care, which is likely to soar to thousands of dollars as he ages. They had just lost a dog and were eager to have a new pet. They have a fenced yard and were even planning on letting him sleep in bed with them. Adam got their contact information and I am planning on calling them soon to thank them and tell them that they gained a wonderful dog who hates wearing ugly Christmas sweaters, loves chasing his ball and craves ice cubes as treats.

Although I'm very sad that he is having major health problems and his life expectancy will most likely be cut in half, I am so happy that he has found a new, loving home with people who will be there to care for him 24 hours a day. We will miss him terribly, but know that this is for the best.

Saying Goodbye

2010-12-31T14:17:00.002-05:00

Today was probably up there with one of the hardest days of my life thus far. For the past two days, Tobey needed to pee constantly. When he wasn't standing by the door for us to take him out, he was hiding in his cage because he had peed inside. Today, we decided to take him to the vet because we thought he had a bladder infection. When we got there, the vet did an X-ray and determined that he had some pretty serious stones in his bladder. If they didn't do emergency surgery, he was going to die over the weekend. The surgery cost thousands of dollars.

So, we made the very difficult decision that at this point in time, we couldn't pay for the surgery. We said goodbye to Tobey. Saying goodbye to a three year old dog that you have raised from the time he was a puppy was so incredibly difficult. He was an amazing dog and we loved him so, so much. I know nothing will ever be able to replace him. I just keep remembering him run through the door with my engagement ring tied around his neck and then Adam getting down on one knee. I thought he was going to be the dog that our kids played with someday.

I know it's going to be really hard for a while. Even coming into the apartment was really hard, but I know it was the best thing for us at the moment.

Apartment Living

2010-12-18T21:42:00.001-05:00

For the past seven years, I have been living in an apartment of some sort. In that amount of time, I have enjoyed the benefits of apartment living (people come and fix things for free, no maintenance, my amazing roommates in college, etc.). Unfortunately, the negatives of living in an apartment outweigh the positives and over the past six months, we have had the feeling the some greater power is trying to tell us that it’s time to purchase our first house.

Currently, we live in a three bedroom, two bathroom apartment on the second floor of our building. We’ve been living there for about 18 months now. The first year was going great until Stanley moved in above us and became our very first sleep disturbance. Once per week, Stanley and his lover found it necessary to have steamy love making sessions for hours (I am NOT exaggerating, it was hours). These sessions did not take place at 10:00 PM when I was still awake and watching TV in the living room, no, these sessions happened at 3:00 AM and the creaking and screaming was loud enough to wake me up (that’s how we found his name was Stanley). No amount of banging on the ceiling with the broom would shut those two up.

When Stanley moved out, Adam and I breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, we could go to sleep without being disturbed by middle of the night sexcapades. Then, the new neighbors moved in…two women, and their four children, all under the age of eight. Suddenly, it seemed like a rodeo was going on above us at all hours of the day. Jumping on beds, running laps around the living room, dropping who knows what heavy objects and children’s screeches have become a part of the ambiance in our apartment. Then, they got a puppy. A six week old, poofy, small, whiny puppy. This puppy is not a quiet puppy, it yips its head off…ALL. NIGHT. LONG.

Wednesday night, however, was the last straw. On Wednesday, I left work early with a stuffy and pounding head. After resting for most of the afternoon, I headed to bed around 9:30, hoping I would feel better in the morning. At 12:30 AM, a car alarm started going off. This happens frequently, and usually the owner of the car shuts the alarm off within five minutes or so. Not last night. The car alarm kept going and going. Finally, I called the local police station. Around 1:45 AM, the police officer showed up, ran the plate, walked up to one of the apartments, knocked on the door and the owner came out and turned off the alarm. How in the world can you be so ignorant, that you don’t notice your own car alarm going off for over an hour?

And so, it has been decided that we will save every single penny we can in an attempt to buy a house when this lease is up, because I cannot take it anymore.

One Year

2010-12-06T17:59:00.002-05:00

Yesterday was our first wedding anniversary and we had a wonderful weekend to celebrate! For the past month or so, Adam has been planning our anniversary weekend. He managed to keep it a surprise (which is very hard to do) until Saturday morning when he told me we were going to stay for the night at an old plantation called Antrim 1844. We packed our suitcases and drove the 45 minutes our getaway.

When we got there, it was gorgeous and I thought it was really sweet that he had picked something that is so my taste. We got to our room, which was the old barn of the plantation and discovered that the bed was up in what used to be the hay loft.

After we dropped our stuff off, we headed up to the main house for afternoon tea, complete with scones and little tea sandwiches (very manly). After tea, we went back to the room, Adam lit a fire in our own fireplace and we relaxed until dinner. At 7:30, we headed back up to the main house for a six course dinner that ranks up there with some of the best food I've ever had. We sat right in front of an old fireplace and talked for two hours over dinner. At the end, we got a personalized dessert.

Yesterday we got up, ate breakfast and headed home. After visiting my sister, brother-in-law and nephew for a little while, we headed home to enjoy the rest of our anniversary. Adam grilled some steaks and I made some salad and we topped it off with the top tier of our wedding cake, which had held up amazingly well in my parent's freezer for the year.

Overall, it was a wonderful anniversary and I felt so lucky to have a husband who listens to what I like and plans a weekend full of surprises that he knows I will love. Our year as newlyweds went so quickly, but it was filled with so many wonderful memories. I can't wait to see what is in store in the next 60 years with him.

Thanksgiving and the beginnings of Christmas

2010-11-29T08:55:00.005-05:00

We had a great Thanksgiving weekend spent with family. We headed up to Boiling Springs on Wednesday night to spend and had a wonderful Thanksgiving on Thursday. My parents and grandmother were invited to Adam's parent's house for dinner and it was so nice to be able to spend time with everyone without having to eat two meals. The food was great and I must say that I did a pretty good job on the pies!

On Friday, I got to help watch my adorable nephew Jacob while my sister went to the spa. I made cookies and visited with everyone and of course we all admired the baby. We finished up that day with dinner at my parent's house.

On Saturday, we were those crazy people who sit at freezing cold football games while it's snowing. We went up to the last Penn State game of the season, froze our butts off and watched the football team lose. I'm not sure I'll ever need to attend a football game in the snow again.

Yesterday we woke up and headed back to Baltimore bright and early. We had planned on stopping at a tree farm on the way home to get our first live Christmas tree, but then we passed a little nursery with trees ready to go, so we purchased one there. Not only did they have really nice trees, they also had lights, wreaths and poinsettias so I got all of my decorations in one place. They tied our tree to the roof and we were ready to go.

We got home, unloaded the car, set up the tree and dug out all of our ornaments. The apartment looks so festive now and we really got in the Christmas mood. It's hard to believe that last year at this time, we were frantically doing last minute wedding things. It is so nice to have a live tree to admire while we're watching TV and hanging out in the living room!

I am not dead...

2010-11-18T09:01:00.002-05:00

No people, I am not dead...just extremely, extremely busy. Since I last posted, some exciting things have happened:

1. My new nephew Max was born at the end of October. I went down to Atlanta to visit last week and he is adorable! It was great seeing the whole Davis family, getting to cuddle with Max and play with Charlotte. The best memory of when I was down there was when my sisters and I were all singing Bon Jovi with Charlotte while we played pretend instruments.

2. Fall semester is almost over which means that I only have one more year of graduate school left. Next December, I will officially be a Master of Public Administration and a Penn State graduate.

3. It's almost my first wedding anniversary. I can't believe how fast the year has gone. We're hoping to make 2011 a year to remember by finishing grad school and possibly buying a house.

Those are just a few things happening in the Cianfichi household. I know I've been slacking on recipe ruts, but I'm hoping to get back to them after the holidays. Hope you all are doing well.

Recipe Rut Solution #8

2010-10-04T18:04:00.003-04:00

Yesterday I made chicken chili and it was YUMMY!! The recipe was a bit complicated (and made a mess of our kitchen), but it was well worth it. I apologize for the lack of pictures, but I got really caught up in making the chili.

For the Roasted Garlic:

12 cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

For the Chili:

12 shallots, chopped
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 Anaheim chile peppers
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 cup dry white wine
7 cups low-sodium chicken broth
4 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 15-ounce can navy beans, undrained
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 10-ounce box frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
3/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 cup grated Monterey Jack cheese, for garnish

Make the roasted garlic:

1. Toss the 12 cloves garlic with the olive oil and 1 teaspoon water in a microwave-safe bowl. Cover, leaving a vent, and microwave until soft, about 90 seconds. Let cool, covered.

Prepare the chili:

2. Cook the shallots in the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat until caramelized, about 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, place the chiles on a foil-lined broiler pan and broil until charred on all sides, turning, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and let cool. Peel the peppers with your fingers or a paring knife. Stem, seed and chop.

4. Add the minced garlic to the shallots and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

5. Add the flour and cook, stirring, until toasted, about 3 minutes.

6. Increase the heat to high and add the wine; simmer 2 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from the pan.

7. Add the roasted chiles, 6 cups broth, the chicken, chili powder, cayenne, beans, and salt and black pepper to taste. Return to a simmer.

8. Squeeze the soft pulp from the roasted garlic into a blender or food processor. Add the remaining 1 cup broth and process until smooth.

9. Add to the chili and simmer until thickened, about 30 minutes, adding the spinach during the last 5 minutes.

10. Add the paprika and cream and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with the cheese.

Again, this recipe was awesome and we now have a huge Tupperware full in the freezer which will be perfect to pull out on a cold day later this fall.

Total Meal Cost: $20.00

Adam's Rating: 10 out of 10

Next Day Lunchability: It was even better the next day for lunch!

Quarter of a Century

2010-09-14T18:17:00.002-04:00

Last Sunday was Adam's 25th birthday. I invited everyone down on Saturday night for dinner, cake and the Penn State game. Adam's present was a 60" plasma TV and he was in heaven watching the first big weekend of football. It was so nice having everyone there to celebrate another wonderful year in the life of a pretty great guy!

Recipe Rut Solution #7

2010-09-12T09:56:00.003-04:00

Mexican food is a favorite of mine, so this week I decided to make fish tacos with homemade guacamole. When I've had fish tacos in the past, the fish has been breaded, but this recipe calls for plain, grilled fish with just a bit of lime juice. Adam loved the tacos, but unfortunately, the textures of the fish and the guac weren't my favorite.

4 pieces fresh halibut, steak or filets, 6 to 8 ounces each (we used tilapia because it was much cheaper)
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
1 lime, juiced
3 small to medium ripe Haas avocados, pitted and scooped from skins with a large spoon
1 lemon, juiced
1 cup plain yogurt
1 teaspoon coarse salt, eyeball it
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
2 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle
1 heart Romaine lettuce
12 soft (6-inch) flour tortillas

1. Drizzle halibut with extra-virgin olive oil to keep fish from sticking to the grill pan or grill. Season fish with salt and pepper, to your taste.

2. Grill fish 4 to 5 minutes on each side or until opaque.

3. Squeeze the lime juice over the fish and remove from the grill pan or grill. Flake fish into large chunks with a fork.

4. In a blender or food processor, combine avocado flesh, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, yogurt and salt. Process guacamole sauce until smooth.

5. Remove guacamole sauce to a bowl and stir in diced tomatoes and chopped scallions.

6. Break up fish and pile some of the meat into soft shells and slather with guacamole sauce.

Total Meal Cost: $30.00 (this was the most expensive meal we've made, mostly because of the fish)

Adam's Rating: 9 out of 10

Next Day Lunchability: I would not necessarily recommend saving the leftover fish, and please, don't bring it in to work the next day and stick it in the microwave so that the entire office smells like fish!

Recipe Rut Solution #6

2010-09-05T19:11:00.004-04:00

So I officially suck at updating the blog with new recipes...sorry! Life has become incredible hectic with classes starting again and mandatory overtime implemented at work. I have lots going on, but nothing interesting enough to blog about.

Since it's Labor Day weekend, I had some time for another recipe rut solution. This one comes compliments of my Dad (thanks Dad)! Without further adieu...here is Kung Pao Chicken!

2 Tbsp wine vinegar
2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sugar
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut in bite size pieces
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp oil
1 green or red bell pepper, cut in chunks
1/2 cup broccoli, washed and cut up
1 tsp crushed red pepper
2 medium green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup peanuts, dry roasted and unsalted

1. Mix together vinegar, soy sauce, and sugar; set aside.

2. Coat chicken pieces in corn starch. Heat oil in large skillet or wok.

3. Add chicken, green pepper, broccoli and red pepper and stir-fry 5-7 minutes until chicken is cooked. Remove from skillet and keep warm.

4. Stir-fry onion, garlic, and ginger for 30 seconds.

5. Add vinegar mixture and return chicken and vegetables to pan, stirring to coat chicken.

6. Mix in peanuts and heat through.

Total Meal Cost: $15.00

Adam's Rating: 8 out of 10

Next Day Lunchability: I am imagining it will be really good for lunch tomorrow or Tuesday.

Overall, it was an awesome recipe, healthy and really light. In the future, I might try making it with shrimp and maybe adding some snap peas or water chestnuts. Also, it was had a bit of a kick, so if you don't like spicy, you could skip the red pepper.

Something New

2010-08-16T18:52:00.003-04:00

Right before I bought my Hyundai Santa Fe, I test drove an Audi A3 and absolutely loved it. Unfortunately, the one I test drove had a ton of miles on it, which is why I ended up not purchasing it. Since then, Adam has been researching and has been on the look-out for a nice A3 at a good price.

Last weekend, we found one. At first, I thought it was crazy to even go look at another car because being spontaneous is totally not my personality. However, he talked me into going and looking at the car on Saturday afternoon after I was done working overtime.

Well, I fell in love and so... we bought it! I know, it's crazy! We even traded the Santa Fe for what I bought it for!

Since we drove it home on Saturday evening, we've had a blast driving around with the sunroof open, singing to the radio and figuring out our new toy. Rest assured, I WILL NOT be trading this one for something else anytime soon.

Recipe Rut Solution #5

2010-08-15T21:01:00.002-04:00

This week's recipe rut solution was a real winner! Last summer, my mother-in-law gave me a bunch of Cooking Light magazines. Last weekend, I sat and went through all of them to see if they had any good recipe rut solutions. I gave Adam some options, and he picked lamb-burgers for tonight. They are a healthy version of a Gyro and they were incredibly easy and tasted great!

Here's the recipe:

3/4 lb. ground lamb
3/4 lb. ground turkery
1 container feta cheese
2 tsp lemon rind
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp. rosemary
1/2 tsp salt
1 pack of pitas

Mix all of these ingredients together to make the burger mix, then form them into patties and they are ready to grill! For me, it made eight patties and I wish we would've invited people over to help us eat all of them, but we will take them for lunch tomorrow and I'm assuming they'll have good lunchability.

For the Tzatziki Sauce:

3/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
2 tbsp grated peeled seeded cucumber
Pinch of salt
1 clove garlic
Squeeze of lemon juice

Mix all of these ingredients together and it turns out to be really tasty sauce.

Once your lamb-burgers are done, shove them into a pita with some lettuce, tomatoes and sauce and you're ready to go! I paired them with french fries and some homemade pickles that Adam's grandma sent us home with a few weekends ago.

Total Meal Cost: $25.00

Adam's Rating: 12 out of 10

Things I Saw Today

2010-08-10T18:16:00.002-04:00

Today I saw the inside of Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. We were only there for six hours, and yet I saw so many things that really affected me.

I saw a soldier be medically discharged, ending his military career.

A veteran took her first steps on an artificial leg.

I met a hopeful quadruple amputee that is one month younger than me.

I learned how doctors at Walter Reed are able to reconstruct soldier's skulls in 4 hours, when it used to take 12.

I saw pictures of double amputees who were able to do all of the things that they used to do, including hunting, fishing and skiing.

I met the mothers, fathers, wives, husbands and siblings who give up everything in their life to stand by the soldier that they love.

I heard stories of toddlers taking their first steps as their mothers and fathers begin to walk again.

On the way out, one of my coworkers said that on the way home, we should really stop and a church and pray for all of the healing that is going on in that place, and he was completely right because it really is a remarkable place.

We are so incredibly lucky to live in the land of the free and the home of the brave, but it's so easy to forget that people fight for that every single day.

Jacob's Baptism

2010-08-08T17:03:00.003-04:00

Today we celebrate my nephew Jacob's baptism! He was perfect throughout the entire church service and Sally and Andrew hosted a wonderful lunch for everyone.

Recipe Rut Solution #4

2010-08-08T16:44:00.002-04:00

Last week was crazy and I can't believe I wasn't able to post my recipe rut solution. I kind of flaked on the recipe this week and did two deserts for my nephew Jacob's baptism. I made vanilla cupcakes with strawberry icing and white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. I promise this week I will do another dinner recipe!

For the cupcakes, I made a basic yellow cupcake batter (you could use boxed cake mix). The frosting was REALLY easy, light and fresh for summertime.

1/2 cup whole frozen strawberries, thawed
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, firm and slightly cold
Pinch of coarse salt
1 1/4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1. Place strawberries in the bowl of a small food processor; process until pureed.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy.

3. Reduce mixer speed and slowly add confectioners’ sugar; beat until well combined.

4. Add vanilla and 3 tablespoons strawberry puree (save any remaining strawberry puree for another use); mix until just blended.

I didn't take any pictures while I was making them because I was making them at 6:30 AM on a Saturday morning, but here is the final product:

Here is the recipe for the white chocolate macadamia nut cookies (which also happen to be Adam's favorite):

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 package white chocolate chips
1 cup chopped macadamia nuts

1. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl.

2. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract until creamy.

3. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Gradually beat in flour mixture.

5. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts.

6. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased baking sheets.

7. Bake at 350 degrees until brown

Shoe Explosion

2010-08-05T12:06:00.002-04:00

The entry to our apartment can be quite hazardous by the end of the week, due to none other than the SHOE EXPLOSION!!!

Since I ride the metro everyday, I usually wear sneakers on the metro and then change into sandals/heels when I get to work. Therefore, I am usually carrying a pair of shoes in my work bag.

Each morning, when I'm getting my bag ready, I toss the shoes that are in there from the day before into the small entrance way of the apartment and put in the pair of shoes for the current day. Of course I never think about picking up the shoes later and putting them back in my closet.
By the end of the week, the entrance to the apartment looks like this:

Perhaps a shoe rack would be a good Christmas present this year?

Recipe Rut Solution #3

2010-08-02T17:29:00.002-04:00

All of the craziness from last week prevented me from posting my recipe rut solution! Adam LOVES chicken, so I am always looking for ways to spruce up a plain chicken breast. The recipe for this week is called Roman Chicken.

Here's the recipe:

4 skinless chicken breasts
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus 1 teaspoon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1 teaspoon
1/4 cup olive oil
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 (15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons capers
1 package Fontina cheese

1. Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In a heavy, large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, cook the chicken until browned on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.

2. Keeping the same pan over medium heat, add the peppers and cook until the peppers have browned, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

4. Add the tomatoes, wine, and herbs.

5. Return the chicken to the pan, add the stock, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 to 30 minutes.

6. Add the capers. Stir to combine and serve. If making ahead of time, transfer the chicken and sauce to a storage container, cool, and refrigerate. The next day, reheat the chicken to a simmer over medium heat. Stir in the capers and the parsley and serve.

Total Meal Cost: $20.00

Adam's Rating: 8 out of 10

Next Day Lunchability: Still good the next day, just a bit dry.

Walking on Broken Glass

2010-07-28T16:16:00.003-04:00

I've come to learn that just when you think your day is as bad as it's going to get...it gets worse.

After a particularly crappy day at work, I went to the store in pursuit of the ingredients needed to make my Recipe Rut Solution tonight. I was able to find all of the ingredients I needed and then stood in line for about 20 minutes while some old lady used a coupon for all 150 items in her cart (seriously...you're retired, why can't you shop for groceries at 10:00 AM?!?!).

I arrived home, took the dog out, unpacked the groceries, changed and was preparing to relax for an hour or so when I happened to notice the huge sliding glass door that leads onto our patio. The entire thing was cracked and splintered, precariously still standing and threatening to tumble into the dining area.

It's always something, isn't it?

Recipe Rut Solution #2

2010-07-21T21:02:00.005-04:00

This weekend, Adam and I are going to Rehoboth Beach. Every time we go, I try to bring something for breakfast (banana bread, muffins, etc.) because I love to bake and everyone usually eats breakfast together.

For this week's recipe rut solution, I made peach muffins with a pecan crumb topping. I figured they would be summery and semi-light for the beach!

Here's the recipe:

2 cups finely chopped fresh or frozen peaches
1 1/4 cups sugar, divided
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
4 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup ground pecans
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons cold butter

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly Grease 24 (2 3/4-inch by 1 3/8-inch) muffin cups.

2. Place the peaches in a bowl and cover with 1/2 cup of the sugar. Mix thoroughly. Allow the peaches to sit for 1 hour.

3. Cream the butter and remaining 3/4 cup of sugar.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat until fluffy.

5. In a mixing bowl, combine 3 1/2 cups of the flour, baking powder, and salt.

6. Alternately fold in the milk and flour mixture.

7. Fold in the peaches.

8. Spoon 1/4 cup of the filling into each prepared muffin cup.

9. In a small bowl, combine the remaining flour, brown sugar, pecans, and cinnamon. Mix well. Add the butter.

10. Using your hands, mix until the mixture resembles coarse crumb like mixture.

11. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the crumb mixture over each muffin cup.

12. Place in the oven and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm with butter.

These turned out to be quite tasty (Adam tried one after they came out of the oven). One trick I learned while watching TV last night is to use an old ice cream scooper to put the batter in the muffin tin. It worked really well and puts just the right amount in. Also, after the peaches marinate in the sugar, it makes a ultra sweet peach syrup that would be great in some iced tea.

Total Cost: $25 (I had most of the ingredients, but pecans and peaches were kind of expensive)

Adam's Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Next Day Breakfastability: These muffins could be frozen and thawed anytime you want, they are also supposed to last for a few days in an air-tight container.

Recipe Rut Solution #1

2010-07-15T17:27:00.002-04:00

Last night was the start of my new adventure! I found a recipe for spinach and artichoke calzones and decided to try it.

I had every intention of making my own pizza dough, until I found out that they didn't have any yeast at Trader Joes. Bummer! I did discover that they already have pre-mixed pizza dough that you can roll out yourself, so I got garlic and herb dough for $1.00 and it was perfect. I also decided to divide the dough into 1/4ths and make "mini-calzones" the only problem was they still weren't so mini!

Here's the recipe:

1 cups part skim ricotta
1/2 cup (a couple of handfuls) grated Parmigiano, plus extra, for sprinkling
1 package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and squeezed dry
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 (10-ounce) tubes refrigerated pizza dough
1.5 cups shredded mozzarella

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl (except for the pizza dough).

2. Roll the pizza dough out into 4 mini circles.

3. Spread even amounts of the cheese mixture onto 1/2 of each circle of dough.

4. Work on just half of the surface of each circle of dough, then fold dough over top of filling and pinch edges firmly to seal.

5. Repeat the process, spacing the calzones evenly on baking sheet.

6. Bake the calzones for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown all over.

Total Meal Cost: $15.00

Adam's Rating: 11 out of 10

Next Day Lunchability: We took the leftovers for lunch today, and they were a bit soggy after being microwaved.

Recipe Rut

2010-07-14T08:45:00.001-04:00

Lately I’ve noticed that the blog is getting a bit boring, I mean, who really cares about what I do from day-to-day? I can only post so many tear-jerker veteran stories and horrifying metro escapades.

Last night, I was thinking about a way to spice up my blog, and then I had a great idea that will not only make this place a bit more interesting, but it will be helpful to me (and to Adam)!

Have you ever gotten into a recipe rut, where you have the same eight or nine things for dinner over and over again? WE DO! Most of the dinners we make (tacos, chicken, spaghetti) are easy and require little preparation.

So I’ve decided that in order to get out of this rut, I need to expand my horizons and try new things, this is why I am going to try a new recipe once a week. One night, I will find a new recipe and make it, and then post the recipe and pictures right here. I will show the good, the bad, the ugly and the terrible tasting, all in an effort to improve my cooking capabilities. The recipe doesn’t have to be a main course, it could be a side dish, a salad or even a dessert.

Tonight, I am going to try my first new recipe, so wish me luck!

Vacation Hangover

2010-07-07T17:43:00.002-04:00

Vacation last week was amazing! Adam and I did nothing the whole time, and enjoyed it immensely. Everyday, I would get up, have breakfast, take the dog for a walk and read until the pool opened. Then, we would read at the pool for a few hours before returning for nap time. We would read or play games until dinner time and then we would go walk on the boardwalk. I couldn't have asked for a better trip and I definitely got to use my new Nook!

I didn't take too many pictures because we were pretty boring while we were there.

One of the highlights of the trip was going to Dogfish Head Brewery in Milton, DE. Adam loved it and you got free samples at the end:

My favorite part was visiting Lewes, DE on Saturday night for dinner. The town was adorable, and I loved all of the colonial style houses. I'm not an expert night photographer, but I thought this little church was beautiful:

Overall, a fantastic trip.

Vacation

2010-06-25T07:30:00.001-04:00

Today we are leaving for vacation! It’s the first time we’ve had off of work for an extended period of time since the wedding/honeymoon and stretched ahead of us are 10 days of doing nothing. After much debate about what we wanted to do this summer, we decided to spend the week at Rehoboth Beach. Why? One, it’s pretty much free (you really can’t go on a nice vacation for less that $2,000) and two, there is no pressure to get out and do things.

The one thing that sucks about vacation….getting ready for it. On top of work, 4 discussion boards to participate in and the 10 page paper I had to write this week, I also had a huge list of things that needed to get done before we leave for 10 days. All of the preparations: doing laundry, cleaning (I hate coming back to a messy apartment), baking and packing = exhaustion! It was 11:00 last night before I got everything done. Now, the car is packed and parked in the garage below my building and I will be picking Adam up after work.

We plan on lounging by the pool, going to the beach, catching up on sleep, walking the boardwalk, shopping and exploring the towns around Rehoboth. I’m also excited to take full advantage of my new Nook!

Avenue Q

2010-06-23T16:32:00.004-04:00

Last weekend, Adam and I went to Philadelphia to visit my Grandma and see the off-Broadway show Avenue Q. My parents and sister had raved about the show and said it was hilarious and they were right. Some of the lyrics to the songs were very unexpected, but really, really funny. Even though it was a bit risque, I could hear Grandma laughing sitting on the other side of Adam. I would recommend the show to anyone.

This song was my personal favorite:

After the show, we went over to Pat's for a highly anticipated cheese steak (really, Adam had been looking forward to it for a month).

Overall, a FANTASTIC weekend!

Check the Glove Compartment

2010-06-15T21:30:00.004-04:00

For months now I have been drooling over the Nook at Barnes and Noble. How cool would it be to be able to read any book you want, any time you want without having to lug it around with you? I worked some overtime in the hope that I would be able to get one before we head to the beach in two weeks.

Today Adam and I celebrated 4 years of being a couple. When we celebrated one year of being together three years ago, we went to Washington, D.C. for the weekend. On the way home he asked me to look for something in the glove compartment of his car and when I did, there was an IPOD in there for me! It is still one of my favorite memories.

Tonight after dinner, he asked me if I wanted to go get ice cream, so we headed out to the car. Just joking around I opened the glove compartment and said to him, "oh, is there anything here?" Little did I know, there actually was something in there! A NOOK!!!

Of course, I felt like a total idiot because I completely ruined the surprise, but I am still really excited about my new toy.

Hello Summer

2010-06-08T18:49:00.002-04:00

Does anything say summer like a fresh watermelon? I don't think so.

Full of it

2010-06-04T13:46:00.008-04:00

Source

WARNING: THIS POST IS NOT DIRECTED TOWARD ANYONE IN MY BLOG AUDIENCE.

Do you have someone in your life that you avoid like the plague simply because they are so incredibly full of themselves? You know that if you so much as say "good morning" to them, they will launch into a huge soliloquy about how their day is going, what they did last evening, what they had for breakfast, what their children had for breakfast, what nail polish is on their toenails and what color lipstick they're wearing today. OK, so I might be exaggerating, but people like that have really been bugging me lately. Do you ever want to say to them, "_________, do you really, honestly think that I care about what you just said?".

I consider myself a pretty good listener and most of the time I remember things that are going on in people's lives: coworkers, family, friends. But sometimes it's frustrating when a person doesn't inquire anything about you in return, or everything that you say somehow turns into something about them. Sometimes it's nice to hear, "Rachel, what are you doing this weekend?" or "What do you think about this?" instead of, "Oh, you're going to the beach this weekend? When I went to the beach last weekend I almost got eaten by a man-eating jellyfish...blah blah blah."

The jelly fish probably got sick of listening to them too.

Crabby

2010-05-30T08:26:00.004-04:00

We started out our Memorial Day weekend by going up to my sister and brother-in-law's house for crabs. They got two dozen jumbo crabs for us to pick and enjoy, and even though I'm not a big fan of getting my hands covered in crab guts and Old Bay seasoning, I still picked 3 crabs before letting Adam do the hard work for me. In the end, two dozen was too much and my wonderful husband got stuck with the job of picking the rest of the crab meat. Now I can make crab cakes tomorrow night.

It was baby Jacob's first crab experience and he was dressed for the occasion! He was a good sport during the photo shoot as we held stinky crabs up next to him. Maybe next year he'll be eating them along with everyone else.

Shot to the Eyeball

2010-05-26T07:39:00.002-04:00

Last night, my Delta Gamma little sister, Missy came to spend the night because she is working in Baltimore today. I haven't seen her in about a month, so it was great to catch up. We talked as we watched American Idol and Glee. When the 10 o'clock news came on, we were about to get up and go to bed when an interesting story caught our attention.

Apparently, the new trend in getting drunk is to pour vodka directly onto your eyeball. Yes people, the taped footage showed people of questionable intelligence holding a cheap vodka bottle directly up to their eye and pouring it in. Apparently the alcohol travels more directly to the blood stream this way, resulting in higher levels of intoxication.

My favorite line of the whole story, "This activity is not about getting drunk, it's about pure stupidity." I would have to agree.

New Look

2010-05-20T17:06:00.004-04:00

It's been a crazy week so far for me! My spring classes just ended (as in, I just turned in my take-home final about 2 minutes ago) and Adam bought be a new lens for my camera as a present for finishing. The lens is pretty amazing, and takes some great close-up shots, some of which are displayed below. Hopefully this summer I will have the opportunity to take a photography class at a camera shop right around the corner. I wish I could say things are slowing down for the next few months, but my online course already started and I have some big things going on at work.

The blog also got a new look, thanks to Adam. He is my personal web-designer, even if he doesn't always take my opinion on how things should look.

The Graduate

2010-05-16T14:29:00.006-04:00

This weekend Adam and I went up to Penn State for his sister, Cara's graduation. It was fun to see everyone and celebrate such an important event in her life! The whole day was really nice, and we ended up going out with her downtown after all of the festivities.

I can't believe that when Adam and I first met, Cara was just venturing off to Penn State and now she is done!

Mother's Day

2010-05-09T11:28:00.005-04:00

My family has many things to celebrate this Mother's Day. I invited everyone over to our place for a yummy Mother's Day brunch including my creation from yesterday, orange cupcakes with orange butter cream frosting and candied orange slices:

I also added a bit of color to our porch yesterday. Hopefully I can keep these flowers alive!

Sadly, my sister Sally and brother-in-law Andrew couldn't make it over for lunch, but I suppose they have a pretty good excuse:
Happy Mother's Day!

Jacob Andrew Birmingham

2010-05-06T14:53:00.004-04:00

I just returned from visiting my sister Sally and new nephew Jacob in the hospital. I know I am a bit bias, but he is the sweetest, most adorable baby ever! I got to hold him for about an hour while he slept (I figured I would get my time in now before people are fighting over him). Sally was doing pretty well, but was very tired. It is so nice to know that this amazing little person will be in our family forever, I love him so much already.

La Cucaracha

2010-05-05T12:25:00.005-04:00

How fitting that I have this to post on Cinco de Mayo! Today, I walked into the bathroom at work and this is what I saw (I know the picture is REALLY grainy, but I imagine you can still see the largest cock roach ever):

Now, I am extremely afraid to go to the bathroom in this building.

The whole situation reminded me of the time my family lived in this little rental house in Arkansas while our other house was being built. The place was full of roaches and when you opened the silverware drawer in the morning, they would all scatter away. Once, one ended up in my sister's shoe and she screamed bloody murder until we got rid of it. Just one of many hilarious childhood moments.

Bathing in Champagne

2010-04-29T18:54:00.005-04:00

Today I was browsing Facebook when I saw an ad for a resort in the Poconos. The ad looked so crazy that I had to go to the website to see for myself. I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a picture of an 8-foot-tall champagne class that doubles as a whirlpool bathtub.

At first I thought it was kinda cool, but then once I saw all of the pictures that looked like the people in there were in for quite the romantic night (*wink, wink*) it made me consider that all I would be thinking about as I slept on the big, round, king sized bed is all of the people who had slept there before me and what they had done (and if I would come home with any mysterious diseases).

I don't think I would get much sleep.

Four Years Ago

2010-04-23T08:46:00.003-04:00

Four years ago today, I walked into a disgusting frat house with my best friend in a blue shiny toga made from fabric bought at Wal-Mart to celebrate the end of Greek Week. Over in the corner of the basement was the fraternity president, wearing a gold toga and playing beer pong. He was the same guy who had played the guitar and sung one of my favorite songs at the Greek God competition the night before (I am a sucker for guys who can sing and play the guitar). We started talking and discovered we grew up only a few miles away from each other and had some similar friends. Even though he was the cool and cocky Phi Sigma Kappa president, I could also see a sweet side.

We hung out for the rest of the night and he even convinced me to do my first beer bong (oh so romantic). At the end of the evening, he was my knight in shining armor when he rescued my North Face fleece from where it was wedged under two extremely intoxicated people who were in quite the compromising position on the nasty basement couch (one of these people eventually sold Adam and I our wedding bands).

Since then, we have talked everyday and he has become my boyfriend, my best friend, my fiancé and now my husband.

Thank goodness for Greek Week toga parties!

Early Morning Surprise

2010-04-21T07:57:00.002-04:00

This morning I woke up, got ready, drove to metro, caught the 6:05 train and headed into Baltimore for work just like every other weekday. When I got off the train, I met up with one of my coworkers and we began the walk from the metro station to the federal building.

As we were walking, I noticed a huge rat peeking his head out from underneath a trash can in the plaza in front of the building. Even though rats are all over in the landscaping that surrounds the plaza, it still churns my stomach when I see one early in the morning (or any time of day).

We started walking up the steps when all of the sudden my coworker lets out the most blood-curdling scream I have ever heard. Seriously, I thought she had been shot or something (which could happen in Baltimore). All of the still-half-asleep federal workers turned around to stare at us.

The rat had literally followed us across the plaza and was following us up the steps! The scream, however, must have scared the poop out of the thing…it even made him drop his coveted day-old MacDonald’s french fry and run for cover.

What a way to start the day!

Accepted

2010-04-17T09:08:00.004-04:00

A few months ago, after I found out that I would not be able to finish my master's degree as planned at UMBC because of class scheduling conflicts, I started looking into other schools that might fit the bill. After looking for a while, I learned that Penn State was offering an online MPA program. Adam and I have been thinking about whether or not we want to settle down in Baltimore, and we decided that it might be nice to have the flexibility to go somewhere else if the opportunity arose. Going to school full-time in Baltimore would hold us here for another 2 years, not necessarily something that we are interested in at this point in time, especially considering that his job offers the flexibility to work from home.

So, I applied to Penn State and I got in! I can start taking classes this summer toward my MPA. I haven't fully decided whether it's the right thing for me to do or not (there are still some kinks to work out), but it's nice to have the option!

A weekend at the bay makes sickness go away

2010-04-11T19:16:00.004-04:00

Last week was a rough one for me, I was sick for most of it with infections in both ears, a high fever and a sinus infection. I also called in sick to work for 2 days, which rarely happens because I HATE calling in sick and feeling like a slacker.

I was starting to feel better by Thursday, so we decided to head down to the Cianfichi bay house in Rehoboth Beach, DE. We got there Friday night and had some Grottos pizza followed by a good night's sleep. Even though it was too cold to go to the pool or to the beach, it's amazing how nice it feels to be in a place with no cable, no Internet and bad cell phone reception. I was able to lounge around and read my new book (I actually got to read for fun) and take walks in the sunshine.

We just got back an hour ago and now I have to get geared up for another work week and a crazy 5 final weeks of classes. Sometimes I wish I could just live at the beach permanently (and I think Tobey does too)!

Explosion

2010-03-29T08:46:00.003-04:00

About a year ago, I wrote about men's jobs and women's jobs when it comes to a marriage. I'm pretty positive that this weekend we discovered a new men's job.

I'm sure this has happened to just about every dog owner, but that does not make it any less disgusting when it happens to you. On Saturday, Tobey pooped inside twice, and usually we take that as a sign that he is sick, because he is completely house trained. We put him in his box Saturday night and hoped he would feel better in the morning.

Yesterday, I woke up early to finish the take-home midterm I had for one of my classes before we went to church. When I opened the door to the office (where Tobey's box is located) this insanely horrible stench hit my nose and I had to hold myself back from vomiting. There was my throw up/poop covered dog sitting in his throw up/poop covered cage. I almost died.

Instead of cleaning it up and giving him a bath, I went back to our room and woke Adam up. For some reason, he has a really hard time stomaching baby poop and regurgitation, but has no problem with dog excrement. He opened the window, put the nasty towels in the washing machine AND bathed the dog, all while I tried not to be sick from the smell.

This morning, I was running late for work, but when I was walking down the hallway, the same smell as the one from yesterday morning hit my nose. I couldn't be late for work (wink, wink) so I woke Adam up and asked him to check on Tobey ASAP.

The man really deserves an award.

Serendipity

2010-03-22T09:17:00.007-04:00

This weekend Adam and I headed home for my sister Sally's baby shower! It was wonderful and I think Baby Birm will be the best dressed little boy around when he arrives in May. I will try to post some pictures from the shower tonight.

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day, so we decided to take the scenic route home. While we were driving, we were talking about how much fun it would be to have a really cute sporty car to drive around on nice weekend afternoons. Adam said that his dream car would be a 1970 orange Corvette.

When we were about 20 minutes from our apartment, we were driving along and all of the sudden I saw an orange Corvette for sale by owner in a vacant parking lot. I thought Adam was going to crash my car as he u-turned and headed back for his dream ride. Turns out it is the exact one he was describing to me. He checked it out for about 20 minutes while I took some pictures. He put the guy's phone number in his phone and called him later to find out that the car is $21,000.00.

I wish that I could magically write a check for $21,000.00 and have that car sitting in the parking lot with a big bow on it when he gets home from work tonight, but for right now I think he'll have to keep dreaming.

Spring has sprung?

2010-03-08T16:22:00.005-05:00

If you would've asked me a month ago if I thought spring was ever going to make an appearance in Baltimore, I would've been hesitant to say yes. If you ask me today, on this absolutely gorgeous, 60-degree, blue-skied and sunny day if I think spring is finally here, I will say, I sure hope so!

I couldn't resist buying this cute little tulip in Trader Joe's this afternoon and sticking my one little Easter decoration in it!

Now, if the ugly, dirty snow piles would just melt already, I'd be a very happy camper.

"Don't worry, the cream always floats to the top..."

2010-03-04T07:16:00.006-05:00

That is what someone told me a few months ago at work when I was disgruntled about something. But is it true? Not always, according to this article that I read on CNN.com this morning.

According to the article, people that are courteous, trusting, good-natured, cooperative and tolerant don't always make the best managers because "being too nice can deter your career progress and muddle your effectiveness as a leader." I agree that it's probably not possible to be a best friend AND a boss to your employees, but I also don't fully agree with the article's definition of "nice."

The article defined someone as nice if they are trusting of others as well as likable (good-natured, cheerful, gentle), nurturing, sympathetic, supportive and agreeable. They argue that people with these traits may be push-overs, afraid to rock the boat and worried about what other people think. Sure, nice people might have these characteristics, but I also think being nice means genuinely caring about people, being someone people like to talk to and confide in, and being a good listener, which I think are all good qualities in a leader or manager.

In my organizational management class this semester, we've been discussing why some managers are great and some are not so great. One trait in a good manager is the ability to recognize an employee's strengths and encourage an employee to use them in work-related tasks, so that they can feel successful. One of the ways to learn an employee's strengths is by taking a vested interest in them, asking questions and really listening to their answers. Isn't that also something that a nice person does?

So, does the cream always float to the top?

Day Trip

2010-02-28T18:38:00.007-05:00

For the past few weekends, Adam and I have stayed in Baltimore and laid pretty low. Usually, it was snowing, so we were unable to go anywhere. On Friday afternoon we both realized we were experiencing some cabin fever, so we decided to head to Washington, D.C. for the day on Saturday. It's amazing that the nation's capital is in our backyard, and we've only been a few times.

We woke up yesterday morning and even though it was cold and windy, we decided to go. We drove down, parked in the big parking garage and walked to the National Museum of American History. We spent quite a few hours walking around, checking out ALL of the galleries. It wasn't very crowded and we were able to read and look at everything.

After we had our fill of the museum, we walked over to the Old Ebbitt Grill, which also happens to be the place where we went to eat to celebrate one year of dating. By the time we had finished dinner, it was getting dark, so we decided to walk back to the car. It wasn't very cold, there was a full moon, and we got to see all of the lit monuments.

Overall, it was a really fun day and I'm already looking forward to going back for the Cherry Blossom Festival in April. Sometimes it's just nice to go experience things in your own backyard.

Bloody Mess

2010-02-22T19:20:00.005-05:00

I'm sure you all NEVER get sick of reading my amazing metro stories, so here's another one for you....

Last week, following the double blizzard of 2010, the metro was insane. For most of the week, it was running only on 1 track, and sometimes the trains would be 45 minutes apart. Besides the long span in between trains, they were crowded. I don't mean not find a seat crowded; I mean, heads pushed into armpits, not able to move, nauseous just thinking about it crowded. On top of all of this wonderfulness, the Maryland Transit Authority thought it would be awesome to crank the heat up to 102 degrees, even though everyone was wearing full winter jackets and boots.

On Tuesday, after waiting for 30 minutes for my train after work, it finally came. A sea of humanity piled on, and I raced to sit down so that I could hunker into my protective cocoon with my IPOD blasting. Two stops down the line, when a woman came to sit next to me, I didn't even look up, until something red plopped onto the leg of my pants. Yes, the woman had blood gushing out of her nose, and she had no tissue or anything, it was just running down her hand!

I swear, I almost died right then and there. I couldn't even get up because people were crammed so tightly together, so I just sat there in misery, with strange blood on my pants until the lady got off of the train. I really need to find employment that does not require public transportation.

Blizzard Part 2

2010-02-11T15:33:00.008-05:00

Tuesday night into Wednesday, it snowed another foot in Baltimore, and blizzard conditions yesterday prevented us from going to work, or anywhere else. The clean-up from the second round of snow began this morning and work was canceled again. I could get used to this 1-day work week.

A few pictures of the aftermath (by the way, that lump of snow behind the picnic table is actually a car):
After shoveling for an hour to clear out my parking spot, there was only one way to keep it from getting stolen by someone else:
Today I discovered one sign that spring is on the way, I cannot wait to see this tree in bloom in a couple of months:

24 with snow on top

2010-02-09T20:51:00.006-05:00

Today was my 24th birthday! I got to sleep in late (we got a 2 hour delay from work) and I got to leave work at 2...so I really only had to work 4 hours today, and we already have tomorrow off. Even though I spent a total of 4 hours on a metro that was only running on one track, I tried to make the best of it.

Adam was great at cheering me up after my long trek home in the snow; he made me dinner (homemade stuffed shells) and a birthday cake (since my original cake is still stuck in Mechanicsburg at my parent's house.) The cake isn't the most amazing looking thing in the world, but I'm sure it will taste wonderful once we cut it a little bit later.

I also got an amazing present, a Nikon D3000 camera, thanks to everyone from my family and Adam's family pitching in! I can't wait to spend my day off tomorrow watching the instructional DVD and learning how to use my new toy.

I also got this voicemail on my phone courtesy of my sister, Carrie and my niece, Charlotte:

Here is one of the first pictures that I took with my new camera, I'm sure there will be many more to come:

Snowmageddon

2010-02-07T15:55:00.004-05:00

To say we were buried in snow this weekend would be an understatement. Over 2 feet fell on Pikesville, MD and we're still attempting to dig out. The snow started coming down on Friday afternoon, prompting the federal government to release us at 11, and also prompting Adam and me to go out and buy a Wii with the percentage of our tax return money deemed as "fun money." We made it home just before the roads became really treacherous and we have been stuck inside ever since.

Unfortunately, the snow storm ruined my birthday dinner plans that were scheduled for Saturday night and then postponed (and later canceled) until today. Even today, it would have been hard to get out and about, so we stayed put.

We have been passing the time playing Wii, watching movies, napping and working on schoolwork and real work. I am hoping that the government will be closed tomorrow, because I am still a little bit nervous about driving in all of this mess. Another 6-10 inches is expected to fall again starting on Tuesday and continuing into Wednesday.

Today, as we were attempting to break up the icy chunks of snow in front of his car, Adam suggested that we start looking for a warmer place to live. I would have to agree.

Bilingual?

2010-01-31T08:49:00.005-05:00

At our premarital counseling sessions, the minister that married us spoke about a book called "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman. I meant to buy the book and read it, but unfortunately I don't have much time to read for fun. Luckily, someone bought it for us as part of a wedding gift, and I was able to read it over Christmas and New Years because I didn't have class.

The book explains the 5 different love languages that people can have, and it also explains that many times couples do not speak the same language. This can lead to your "love tank" being empty. It describes the different love languages and how to decipher which is your primary language as well as your spouse's primary language. It also offers ways to turn your spouse's primary language into your secondary language. If it sounds confusing, buy the book and read it, or you can borrow my copy.

Here are the five love languages:

1. Words of Affirmation: This language is mostly about words: unsolicited compliments mean the world and insults can leave your significant other shattered and are not easily forgotten.

2. Quality Time: This language is all about being there for the other person with undivided attention and without any distractions. Distractions, postponed dates, or the failure to listen can be hurtful.

3. Receiving Gifts: Receiving gifts is not about the money spent on the gift, it is about the love, thoughtfulness and effort behind the gift. If you speak this language, the perfect gift or gesture shows that you are known, you are cared for, and you are prized.

4. Acts of Service: The words he or she most want to hear: “Let me do that for you.” Laziness, broken commitments, and making more work for them tell speakers of this language their feelings don’t matter.

5. Physical Touch: Hugs, holding hands, and thoughtful touches on the arm, shoulder, or face can all be ways to show excitement, concern, care, and love. Physical presence and accessibility are crucial to the person who speaks this love language as their primary language.

Through reading the book, I learned that Acts of Service is my love language. I love it when Adam empties the dishwasher, folds the laundry or vacuums the carpet on his own. You can find out what your primary language is by taking this assessment. What's your love language? Is your love tank full?

A little bit ambitious

2010-01-25T12:48:00.012-05:00

While we were in Italy for our honeymoon, I read the book Julie and Julia. I really enjoyed the book, it actually made me laugh out loud while I was reading it. Last weekend, Adam and I rented the movie and I made it through the whole thing without falling asleep. I guess Adam was feeling inspired because he decided to cook beef bourguignon in our Le Creuset yesterday for dinner.

On Saturday, he looked up the recipe and wrote down all of the ingredients. We proceeded to go to the store, where he bought 95% of what he needed, but somehow managed to forget the beef stock. Yesterday, we stopped after church to grab the missing ingredient and ended up standing in line for about 25 minutes with our one item.

Throughout the early afternoon, I kept reminding Adam that the football playoffs were on at 3:00, and kept inquiring about when he was going to start cooking so that he wouldn't miss the game. He remained on the sofa, laptop open with ESPN.com emblazoned across the screen. Usually when he is in this entranced computer-viewing state, I suspect my voice sounds like the teacher on the Peanuts.

At 2:37PM he decided he'd better get started, the beef bourguignon needed 3 hours to cook in the oven and there were 47 steps in the recipe.

"47 STEPS," I gasped, "how are you going to accomplish this in 23 minutes?"

"I'm not worried," he explained, "you're going to be my sous chef."

There goes my relaxing Sunday afternoon.

What I realized is that the title of sous chef is code for clean up crew. While he splashed grease and oil and beef stock all over the kitchen and dirtied every pot, pan and spoon we own, I followed behind him with the Lysol spray and a paper towel.

After about an hour of cooking (combined with catching glimpses of the game) and an emergency run to Target for a forgotten sieve, the beef bourguignon was in the oven and the kitchen was semi-clean.

At 7:00PM we took it out of the oven and tasted it to find that it was ~~delicious~~ disgusting. It was insanely salty, and resembled the canned dog food you might find at the dollar store (see picture below). Even Adam agreed that it was not very edible. We ate rolls for dinner and finished watching the NFL playoffs. The smell of beef still lingered in the air as the master chef licked his wounds and Tobey licked his chops.

So much for Julia Child!

It's been forever...

2010-01-18T10:43:00.006-05:00

Yes, it has been awhile since I last updated...we've been very busy running around doing lots of things and keeping very busy.

We had a wonderful Christmas filled with lots of friends and family. We spent time in Mechanicsburg with my family and in Scranton with Adam's family. It was nice to spend time with everyone and just hang out and relax after the craziness of the wedding was over.

On New Year's Eve, we hung out with Adam's sister Cara and my friend Laura. We had a really nice dinner and then played some games until midnight. On January 1st, Adam and I threw our first big dinner party since we've been married. We hosted both families and had a great time laughing, talking and watching football.

Last weekend, we headed to the PA Farm Show in Harrisburg and had a great time looking at all of the animals and exhibits.

We are planning on sitting back and enjoying the rest of the winter months without too many big plans. Graduate classes start again for me next week and I will be taking two classes, both on Thursday night. Adam and I can't wait to stay in Baltimore, stay warm and enjoy being newlyweds for a little while.

I thought I'd show you Tobey's favorite spot to nap, right in front of our space heater:

Christmas Cards

2009-12-22T18:20:00.005-05:00

Every year, people at work hand out Christmas cards. This year, someone handed out a card with this picture on the front:

I just found it kind of strange because:
A) I didn't know that Native Americans visited baby Jesus in the manger and
B) I didn't know wrapping paper and bows existed when Jesus was born.

You learn something new everyday.

It's probably one of the weirdest Christmas cards I have ever seen.

Top 5

2009-12-19T15:03:00.007-05:00

Currently, we are snowed in and the snow it just keeps piling up. Right now, we have over a foot and the "winter wallop" as they are calling it, is supposed to continue until tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, I thought I'd post what Adam and I voted as the top 5 funniest pictures of the wedding reception, which by the way, was a blast. So here they are:

#5: We think it looks like Adam's Mom is doing Mr. Roboto in this picture.

#4: During dinner, we had a special surprise, the Hershey Kiss showed up! Lots of people posed for pictures with it, and my niece Charlotte hugged it about 25 times...but Adam's coworker Rob really got some action with the Kiss. Don't worry Rob, I won't tell your girlfriend. By the way, we still have no clue if there was a man or a woman in the costume.

#3: The last 3 pictures of the night were all similar to this one, I think anytime grown men are holding bouquets of flowers, it makes for an interesting picture.

#2: The groomsman in this picture has been Adam's friend since Adam was in elementary school. I also happened to grow up going to church with him, and we both know that he likes to have a good time. He was the life of the party, and I saw him dancing with many women, including both my mother and Adam's and my aunt. I also like this picture because my sisters are pointing and laughing at him in the background.

#1: This is the best picture of the entire night, who knew that my brother-in-law Andrew had such amazing dance ability? This must be his signature dance face, because there are 2 more pictures where he has exactly the same look. I'm sure my sister is very proud.

Here Comes the Bride

2009-12-18T07:38:00.004-05:00

On the morning of December 5th, we woke up and headed out to the salon to get beautiful. The snow had just begun to fall and everyone was asking me if I was anxious about it. I thought it was wonderful and was very happy about the fact that it was not sticking to roads. After the salon, we came back to have lunch and get ready. All of the bridesmaids looked incredible and it was so nice to be able to talk and laugh with them all day.

Once we got ready, it was time to head to the church. The limo driver was a bit directionally challenged (I know how that is), but eventually we made it to the church and had just enough time for pictures before the ceremony. I only had to wait for about 30 minutes in the holding cell room before the big walk down the aisle.

The ceremony was perfect: the church had just been decorated, so you could smell the fresh greens and all of the candles in the windows were flickering away. The sermon was great, and it was so special to be married by the same minister who married both of my sisters. Adam was very handsome, and the best man didn't forget the rings. Overall, it was a success and by the end, we were the new Mr. and Mrs. Adam Cianfichi.

There are hundreds of pictures of the wedding, and you can check them out here.

The Best Day

2009-12-16T16:09:00.006-05:00

December 5th was by far the best day of my life. I know I'm bias and everything, but my wedding was amazing...actually, it was beyond amazing. The day was everything that I had pictured in my head since I've been engaged, it even included the perfect amount of snow: enough to make it beautiful, but not enough to hinder people's ability to come.

If I jammed the entire wedding into one post, it would be a book, so I'll break it down.

On December 4th, we had an incredible day of relaxation before the big day. It started at the spa, with manicures and pedicures. Adam's Mom even got her first pedicure EVER, and now we know what gift certificates to get her for all major holidays.

On Friday night, we had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. The rehearsal went off without a hitch...everyone was on time and cooperative. The Cianfichi's had gone to so much trouble to make the rehearsal dinner beautiful, relaxing and fun. The Two Mile Hous e in Carlisle was the perfect setting and the food was killer. It was nice to sit and laugh with family and the bridal party before the craziness of wedding day started.

Christmas Preparation

2009-11-29T10:23:00.005-05:00

Even with all of the stress and craziness that goes along with the planning of this wedding, last night Adam and I took some time to set up the few Christmas decorations we have. Now, we will return from our honeymoon to a festive apartment and be able to enjoy the final 2 weeks before December 25th!

This ornament was attached to one of the gifts we have already received, and it quickly became the focal point of our little tree.

Tactics

2009-11-20T07:45:00.002-05:00

Usually when I leave work, there are various homeless people out in the plaza in front of my building, and they always ask for money. Once one of my coworkers that I was walking out with said that he was probably alot less likely to give money to a homeless person when he was just leaving a very long day at the office.

Yesterday, I was walking out when I saw a young guy (probably my age) dressed in nice jeans, a button down shirt and a Polo blazer. Honestly, he was probably dressed in more expensive clothing than what I was wearing. He claimed that he had recently become homeless and then, in a southern accent, asked me for money. I don't ever carry cash, so I didn't have anything to give, but it got me thinking about whether that is a good tactic.

Giving the guy the benefit of the doubt (because I have no idea if he really was homeless or if he just wanted to go buy a pack of cigarettes at the CVS), I would be much more likely to give money to him because he is less threatening to me and also because I can picture myself if that kind of situation (hopefully that never happens). It made me want to go out and do an experiment to find out what type of homeless person gets the most money, although I don't really think that would be very ethical.

Bachelorette Bonanza

2009-11-17T07:55:00.005-05:00

Last Saturday, my amazing sister Sally threw me an incredible bachelorette party with 10 of my closest friends. My oldest sister flew up from Atlanta and even Toni traveled down from New York City. Every time I get together with these friends, it feels like no time has passed since we've seen each other. We talk, laugh and goof around and it was so nice to catch up with all of them before wedding day.

We started the day off with lunch at Sally's and then visited two different Maryland wineries: Basignani Winery and Boordy Vineyards. We tasted about 25 different types of wine between to two and even got a tour.

After sipping wine all afternoon, we headed to Sally's to hang out and get ready for dinner. Around 7:00 we went downtown to Pazo, one of my favorite restaurants. We paired up, ordered lots of different types of tapas, and I even got to drink two really fun cocktails.

After a 3 1/2 hour long dinner, we went to Powerplant Live, where we witnessed the shortest dress I have ever seen as well as some pretty interesting pole dancers. We were there for about an hour before we decided to go back to Sally's and go to bed.

I had a wonderful time with amazing friends and I'm sure I'll remember it forever.

Improv Everywhere

2009-11-08T09:54:00.001-05:00

This morning I was cruising YouTube and found Improv Everywhere, a group that goes to different public settings in NYC and breaks out in song. Some of their music videos are hilarious, but this is my favorite. Can you imagine being in a grocery store and having this happen?

T-Minus 1 Month

2009-11-05T08:20:00.002-05:00

So the big day is only a month away and I am getting more excited by the minute. I have various countdowns going on as well....30 days, 5 more grad school classes, 15 more days of work, 4 more weekends, etc.

On the planning front, everything is running smoothly and I am confident the day will be beautiful and really special. We've met with the musicians, the florist and the photographer, and we've also ordered all of the place cards and thank you notes. This Saturday is the final meeting at the reception venue. We even have about 98% of the responses and it looks like an amazing group of friends, family and coworkers will be there.

I feel like I've been waiting forever for this day (well, 17 months is a pretty long time) and now I'm afraid it's going to be over in the blink of an eye. So, I'm going attempt to sit back, relax, and not become Bridezilla because at the end of it all, I am marrying my best friend and the perfect guy for me, and that's nothing to stress over.

Think of him as your solider

2009-10-27T17:06:00.003-04:00

For the past 18 months, I have been working on a joint Department of Defense and Department of Veteran's Affairs pilot program called The Disability Evaluation System, or DES. Basically, the two departments work in conjunction in order to help some of the Gulf War's most seriously injured veterans. Working on this project has been hard for me, because many of the claims are for people my age or even younger, and many have catastrophic injuries.

Today, one of those service members took the time to come visit the office with his mother and speak to us about his struggles thus far. They traveled up to Baltimore from Walter Reed Army Medical Hospital outside of Washington, D.C., a place that has been their home for almost 3 years, since the service member was flown out of Iraq after stepping on a land mine. His injuries are unbelievable, and he is only 25 years old.

Although seeing this young hero was extremely emotional and heart-wrenching, it was even more emotional hearing from his mother. When the accident occurred, she quit her job as a nurse to be her injured son's full time advocate, sleeping in his room on a hard hospital cot, and fighting with doctors and physical therapists to get him the care that he deserved.

The whole time she was talking, she kept referring to him as "her baby" and "her soldier." Here was this big, 25 year-old man, but to his mom, he was still her baby. It just goes to show, that no matter how old people get, they are still someone's baby and mothers are willing to do everything in their power to make sure their babies are not hurting.

She encouraged us to imagine that every case we work is "our soldier," someone who is important to us and what an important lesson as we approach Veteran's Day on November 11th.

Glee

2009-10-22T08:59:00.006-04:00

A couple of months ago, Adam and I started watching Glee on FOX Wednesday nights. Let me say, that the show really brings out the inner band/chorus nerd in both of us, plus it really appeals to our sense of humor. We find the sarcastic and off-the-wall jokes and comments hilarious and usually spend the whole episode laughing.

Throughout the show, they have little vignettes where certain characters sing a song that has something to do with the story line. It made me think about how much a song can describe a situation, a feeling or a story.

Have you ever been listening to a song and you can totally relate to it, or you are just so moved by the moment, the notes, the chord progression, the words that it catches you off-guard? That is honestly why I think music is so wonderful...it can be a song without lyrics and it still has the ability to make you feel a variety of different emotions.

When it came to picking the song for our first dance at the wedding, we had a hard time. We didn't know whether to pick one of our old favorites, or something new and different. Eventually, I heard a song on XM radio and fell in love with it because it describes one of my favorite times of the day.

Anyway, if you haven't watched Glee, I would recommend it, then you can write long, drawn-out blog posts about what music means to you.

Carving

2009-10-19T11:15:00.003-04:00

On Friday night, Adam and I drove through the pouring rain to Mechanicsburg for another busy weekend. The plan was to meet with the minister, the DJ and celebrate my Dad's birthday with a nice dinner and then pumpkin carving. Even though it was raining, we picked out some great pumpkins and had a wonderful evening carving them and celebrating Dad's birthday with carrot cake made from scratch by my sister, Sally.

When we were growing up, Dad always used to carve our pumpkins for us after we would scoop all of the goop out of it. Usually, we would stand around the kitchen table that was covered with newspapers and Carrie, Sally and I would argue about what the face should look like. Dad usually drew the design quietly, maybe listening to our design ideas, maybe not, but our pumpkins would always turn out to have great little faces.

Over the past couple of years, we haven't carved pumpkins at home, we were all busy doing different things. It was fun to sit around the kitchen table and carve pumpkins, even if Adam was the one carving it for me this time.

Photogenic

2009-10-08T08:07:00.003-04:00

On Tuesday afternoon, Adam and I went to have our engagement pictures taken. The pictures were kind of an afterthought, considering we have been engaged now for about 16 months, and I wasn't even sure that I really wanted to have them taken. I am very happy that we went, because the pictures are great! Here are some of our favorites:

Being Sensible

2009-09-29T09:04:00.003-04:00

Over the weekend, Adam and I ventured up to State College, PA to catch the Penn State vs. Iowa game and also to celebrate my future sister-in-law Cara's 21st birthday! We had been looking forward to the weekend for a long time and we were very excited to go up for the whiteout game.

Around noon on Saturday, it started to drizzle, and then the drizzling turned into a downpour. Thankfully, we were all in Adam's grandparent's RV enjoying chili and other football games on TV. Around 7, with the rain still coming down relatively hard, we all bundled up in sweatshirts, ponchos and hats and headed over to the game. Saying I was miserable would be an understatement. The game was wet, cold and the people in front of me decided to combat these two problems by making out through the entire first half. And to top it all off, Penn State played like crap, and they lost.

After the game, we met Cara and her friend and began the long trek down to the bars so she could be there and ready to party when the clock struck midnight. It took us longer than expected, and she actually ended up turning 21 while she was in the bathroom of a computer lab, complete with countdown and all.

Shortly after midnight, Adam's parents called to wish her a Happy Birthday and tell her to "be sensible." "Being sensible" then became the buzz phrase for her 21st birthday night. We went to a really cool, dirty and dingy Irish bar where everyone was getting warm and drowning their sorrows after the horrible game.

Overall, the celebration went off without a hitch: she got really drunk but didn't get sick (the sign of a successful 21st birthday), both the band and the entire bus on the way home sung happy birthday to her, she rode the children's carousel in front of the Giant at 2:30AM and Adam and I got to relive our long-lost college days.

Madness

2009-09-21T08:08:00.002-04:00

I feel like the next few months might be the busiest and most exciting of my life so far.

For the past 16 months we have been waiting in anticipation for the big day...December 5, 2009, and with two and a half months to go, everything is moving very quickly. I'm sure that October and November will fly by and the big day will be there, staring me in the face.

This past weekend, we sent out invitations, met with the church wedding coordinator and went for the first floral meeting. Needless to say, it was so neat looking at pictures of flower arrangements and trying to pick the right color of roses for everyone's bouquets. I think the most exciting thing for me, was finally sending out our beautiful invitations and I can't wait to see who will come and share this wonderful day with us.

Other than worrying about all things wedding, I've also started back to grad school with a governmental budgeting class. Honestly, it's not a subject I am very interested in, but at least it will be over and I won't have to worry about it anymore after this semester.

Sorry this is just a boring life update entry, but life is pretty crazy right now!

What a guy!

2009-09-09T10:04:00.003-04:00

Last weekend, Adam and I drove through Newark, Delaware on the way back from visiting my Grandma in Philadelphia. As we were going down Main Street, Adam asked me if I would go back to college if I could. I said no, because I think that it's exciting being in the working world: paying for your own stuff and a nice apartment, having responsibilities, working and being taken seriously (most of the time.) It was fun while it lasted, but I wouldn't want to go back to college.

Someone must have been listening to my comment and thinking, "hmmm I think this week would be a good time to give Rachel a good taste of grown-up life."

This morning, I got ready for work and headed out to my car. I Stuck the key in the ignition and nothing happened. Now, the reason I bought a brand new car was so I wouldn't have these problems anymore. So, pissed off and upset, I went back into the apartment and woke Adam up from his deep sleep. "Babe," I said, "my car won't start." Grumbling an inaudible statement, he proceeded to get up, throw some shorts on and walk outside with me, where we both confirmed again that my car was not starting.

Then came the big decision....what do I do now? Do I take the day off of work to call AAA and figure this out, or should I get Adam to take me to the train station and figure it out after work? We decided on the latter, and my wonderful fiance agreed to work from home and pick me up in the afternoon. So off we drove to the train station, he still shirtless and half-asleep and me still upset and wondering how much this will all cost, but when I got out, all he said was, "don't worry, I'm the man, I'll take care of all of this," and it made me feel much better.

Super Market = Not so super

2009-09-01T12:07:00.004-04:00

Perhaps one of my least favorite errands to run after work is going to the food store. Adam and I usually go grocery shopping once every 2 weeks, but of course we always need something in between. Yesterday, I needed Catalina dressing and tomatoes for our taco salad.

The grocery store we visit also happens to be frequented by many elderly people. Nothing against older generations, but why must they do their grocery shopping at 5:00 on a Monday evening, when the whole working world goes to the store? Once, I was wearing my VA polo shirt while shopping and was accosted by a man in the produce section who wanted to know about his benefits (note to self: NEVER wear VA polo shirt in public.) Since we started shopping at this particular store, I have been almost hit in the parking lot twice, helped numerous other shoppers figure out the electronic scale and label maker, and have been asked by a little old lady to get the prune juice off of the top shelf.

Yesterday, I was not really in the helping mood and all I wanted to do was get home. I quickly grabbed my salad dressing and tomatoes and made my way to the check out lines. Of course all of the lanes with a checker had hoards of people stretched to the back of the store, so I made my way to the self check-out station.

In my opinion, self check-out lanes should have disclaimers posted above them stating that people must have enough knowledge to use them. I got into the line behind an elderly woman with only a small container of potato salad and some olive oil, thinking she would be speedy. Boy was I wrong! It seemed that having to type in the product code for her potato salad and weigh it was just a little too much for her, so she stood there glaring at the screen and refusing help from anyone, claiming that she "would like to figure it out by herself."

I could hear a collective sigh from the group of tired workers (who had only ventured into the store to purchase a few things for dinner that night) as they observed this lady ahead of them. Finally, one store employee took pity on us and opened another self check-out, which was quickly followed by a stampede of people to the newly-opened lane.

Maybe you should have to carry a special bonus card with you shopping to prove that you are a proficient self-checker, and if you don't scan your card, the lane doesn't work. Just some food for thought.

The Cat's Out of the Bag (Or the Apartment)

2009-08-26T06:54:00.006-04:00

It was a sad day in the Cianfichi/Achuff apartment on Sunday as we said goodbye to Hailey, Adam's cat. Adam bought Hailey shortly after he broke his ankle his junior year in college. A few months later, I met Hailey when I went to a fraternity party at Adam's house. She was cute, but I'm not a cat person and I left the party wondering why a college fraternity guy had a little kitten. Over the next year, I watched the poor cat get locked in the bedroom during parties, fed weird food and given all sorts of odd alcoholic concoctions. She was the only female in a house full of messy, dirty boys. No wonder she tried to run away 3 times.

When Adam took his job in Baltimore and moved into his own apartment, Hailey was left for weeks at a time while he was away on business trips. He got calls from the management office saying that she would sit by the door and cry. He had her de-clawed after she destroyed a desk chair and one of my bags because she was lonely and bored.

Then, the other animal entered the picture. From the beginning, Tobey was fascinated by the cat. He would run around the apartment looking for her, and then terrorize her when he did find her. She would, however, get back at him by standing outside of his cage and pawing at him through the bars. When we moved into our new apartment, the complex changed the regulations regarding pets, so we thought about it and decided to attempt to find a better home for the cat.

On Sunday, Adam dropped Hailey off with a really nice family that lives in a big, beautiful house near his parents. Even though he was pretty upset about it, he said that the family was incredibly excited about their new pet and had already purchased her all sorts of toys and treats. She will certainly be spoiled and get tons of attention, and that makes both of us feel much better about the decision.

Metro Mania

2009-08-17T08:14:00.005-04:00

For a year and a half, I have been riding the metro to and from work everyday. Two years ago, I would have never thought that I could ride public transportation every single day, but it's pretty easy and when I think about the money I'm saving on parking, gas and car maintenance, it really seems like the best option.

Usually when I get on the train, I put my sunglasses on, crank up my IPOD and read a book, and most of the time my rides are pretty uneventful. Last week, however, was an exception. On Wednesday, I was sitting in my usual seat when we stopped at one of the stations. The doors only stay open for about 10 seconds, so many times, you see people sprinting down the escalator to try to make the train, and often times, people force the automatic doors open so other people can run on.

Last Thursday, a woman ran on with her baby in the stroller, but her husband/boyfriend/baby daddy/flavor of the week man must have been behind them because the lady stuck the baby-filled stroller into the door to stop it from closing. The stroller was squished by the force of the door and the poor baby started screaming.

What a wonderful way to show your child how much you love them, shoving them into an automatically closing door. Stroller companies better start equipping their products will roll cages or something.

Red All About It

2009-08-13T07:19:00.005-04:00

It's a bit overwhelming to be planning a wedding in the world of blogging, facebook and The Knot because there are so many amazing ideas out there when it comes to planning. It's hard to sift through everything to figure out what is really important to you. Obviously you can't have EVERY cute thing you see...it would blow your budget (and probably drive you crazy.) I have, however, decided to enduldge in a few wedding trends for December 5th.

About a month ago, I made the executive decision that the girls in the bridal party would all wear red shoes. Since they will all have different black dresses, I thought red shoes would be a fun and unique way to tie everything together. I even decided to match! Thus started the quest for the perfect pair. I finally found them at DSW for a reasonable price, so I bought them for everyone.

When Adam and I returned from our long weekend at the beach, I was surprised to see that they had already arrived. Of course I tore open the box and gushed over them (I mean, every girl loves shoes, right?) while Adam proclaimed that it looked like OZ had puked all over our living room. I can't wait to bring them along for my first dress fitting next week. Next on the footwear checklist is finding the perfect red argyle socks for the guys.

Weekend Getaway

2009-08-03T18:15:00.005-04:00

This weekend, Adam and I went to check out the little house that his parents recently purchased in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. It was the first weekend they owned the place, so we christened it with a bottle of champagne (we drank it instead of smashing it against the house) and had a relaxing weekend at the beach.

On Saturday, they had a neighborhood picnic, so we all hung out there for a while before heading to the beach in the evening. Dewey Beach allows dogs after 5:30 PM, so we packed some sandwiches and watched the sunset. Tobey HATED the water, and would not go anywhere near it...so now we know not to waste our time bringing him again!

On Sunday, we stopped in Wilmington to pick up our wedding rings. They are beautiful, so I thought I'd give you a sneak peak before they get locked away for the next 4 months.

Happy Anniversary!

2009-07-31T09:02:00.002-04:00

It's been one year since I started my little blog, and what an exciting, exhausting and fun year it has been! Whew...I get tired just thinking about it!

In the past year I have:

1. Planned most of the wedding: reception location, celebrated our -1 year anniversary, picked a cake, booked the honeymoon and had a great bridal shower just to name a few!

2. Vacationed in Hilton Head, S.C. and Boston

3. Met some memorable people on the train

4. Celebrated Adam's 23rd Birthday and (and mine)

5. Learned to appreciate football

6. Moved....twice

7. Had Tobey's manhood removed

8. Celebrated lots of holidays

9. Went back to school

10. Had bad days & good days

11. Purchased a new car

12. Learned to appreciate my wonderful fiance and his quirks

13. Had some interesting experiences at work and grew to respect the nation's veterans

14. Been grateful to have a good job, a nice place to live, and plenty of people who love and support me.

I know the next year is going to bring lots of new adventures (the biggest being marriage), and I can't wait to blog about them all!

Bridal Shower Surprise!

2009-07-27T07:18:00.004-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, I was told that my sister and brother-in-law would be coming to Pennsylvania for the weekend, and I was asked if I would drive up to see them. So on Saturday morning, Adam and I made our way up to Mechanicsburg so that we could hang out, and so I could go mother-of-the-bride dress shopping with my Mom and sister. After finding a beautiful dress for her, we went over to one of our family's favorite restaurants in Hershey for what I thought would be a girls lunch. Little did I know, the girls lunch would include about 25 women and was actually a surprise bridal shower. Needless to say, it was a great shower and it was so nice to see everyone from my family and Adam's family in the same room. We also got some wonderful presents!

Here are a few pictures, courtesy of Adam's Mom: