Snoozaroo

Zach took this picture several weeks ago, just as I was exiting the first trimester. The exhaustion I experienced was more than I ever could have imagined it would be. I spent most of my weekends curled up in bed with one or both of the dogs. Luckily they seemed to understand I just needed to rest. It's kind of amazing because before I got pregnant, that wasn't always the case. Much of my energy has returned for the time being, but sometimes a good ol' snoozaroo just sounds perfect.

Rozzelle

Oh, hi, blog. Yeah, I'm not doing so well with the keeping up.  I've just had ZERO motivation to get out and take pictures. I really hope the change in weather lights a fire under me.  I have so much I want to capture!   Till then, here's a look inside the Nelson's Rozzelle Court.

Vintage Valentine

2001

This was taken around Valentine's Day back when I was a sophomore in college.... Ten Years Ago. [Moment of silence]. Back when wearing black pants to the bar was normal and Zach would go within 10 feet of an Abercrombie.  Wow, it really feels like yesterday, but at the same time seems like ages ago. Time flies when you are having fun, right!?

Happy Valentine's Day Zach!  

Loves You!

Valentine's Day Sugar Cookies

 

I spent all afternoon baking up my Valentine's Day sugar cookies. I had grand plans for these bad boys including trying out royal icing, but the day just got away fom me and I went with the old standby. I did try making chocolate sugar cookies. That turned to be a HUGE disaster.  The dough didn't chill long enough and it was just one big sticky mess. I ended up just plopping the dough on the cookie sheet and baking it up. Much to my surprise they are very tasty, just not super cute.  Oh well.

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Sporting Event

 

Thursday evening Zach and I attended a happy hour for Sporting KC. For those that don't know, that's the new name for the Wizzards, Kansas City's pro soccer team.  Zach has become a huge soccer fan in the past year or so. So, when he found out that they were building a fancy new soccer stadium for the team he was gung-ho! Through some other events, Zach has made friends with one of the reps for the Sproting so when we purchased a season ticket package (4 games) we got invited to this happy hour thing at their main office to check out the renderings for the new stadium.  Zach really wanted to go and it was close to my work so he picked me up and we headed over. 

 It was neat to see the office. It's in a loft downtown and was done quite well.  There were quite a few people there checking out everything. They also had an open bar. I requested a glass of white wine and it came in what might be the worlds largest wine glass. I'm fairly certain I had an entire half bottle of wine in there.  I knew I was in trouble when the bartender held up the bottle and said "eh, I'm just going to pour the rest in." Oh my! We chatted it up with a few of the Sporting staff, checked out the pictures and video tour then went about our merry way. I'm not really one for hobnobbing.  I would be a terrible socialite.

Check out the model of the new stadium. It looks pretty cool!

I felt so important with my own little name tag, even though I hate name tags. When I picked it up I noticed it was sitting right next to one that said "Mike Sweeney".  Oooh!   He never showed though.

So yeah, soccer.  Woo.

Behind the Scenes

 

A neat baker, I am not.  This is actually pretty clean and tidy for me when I'm cooking. By the end of it the whole counter will be covered in every measuring cup, teaspoon, spatula and mixing bowl I own. 

Thai Honey Peanut Chicken

I discovered Thai food through Weight Watchers Smart ones frozen meals. No really.  There are a few of them that I really love! So when this recipe poped up on my Google Reader, I knew I had to try it!  I  made this on the day of the blizzard and it was so easy and totally hit the spot! I will definitely be adding this to the rotation.

Thai Honey Peanut Chicken
from: The Tasty Kitchen via ThreeManyCooks

1 pound Chicken, In Chunks
¼ cups Soy Sauce
2 Tablespoons Honey
1 Tablespoon Lime Juice
1 teaspoon Minced Garlic (approximately 1 Large Clove)
1 Tablespoon Natural Peanut Butter (heaping Tablespoon Even Better)
½ teaspoons Curry Powder
1 teaspoon Sriracha (optional) - I used Chili Sauce

Mix ingredients and marinate chicken for 2-3 hours.

Cook chicken in the sauce over medium-high heat for 7-8 minutes or until chicken is done. Reduce heat to medium-low and add precooked veggies if desired. Serve topped with sesame seeds.

To thicken sauce if needed: reduce heat to medium-low and add a cornstarch slurry (1 teaspoon cornstarch in 1 tablespoon water). - I didn't need to do this.


 I doubled the recipe and I'm glad I did because Zach said the leftovers were delicious!  My only complaint? It was a bit on the salty side.  It also made my house smell like soy sauce for about 3 days, but it was worth it.

Big T

I can't believe I'm even posting this picture because, lets be honest here, I look terrible (no wonder mothers always tell you not to slouch!).  However, look how damn big my dog is!  He doesn't sit on his bum too often (I can imagine it isn't very comfortable putting all his weight on that tiny bony butt) but when he does we always go "HOLY COW HE'S SO HUGE!". I guess you never get used to it.

Sorry about the lack of non-dog pictures as of late.  I haven't had a lot of motivation to go out and take pictures with this craptastic weather we've been having. No more dog pictures this week though, I promise!

Snow Removal

This is the driveway of the house next door. Nobody has lived there in at least 6 months, however each time it snows, these people show up to shovel. I can only guess they are the realtors or hired by the realtor.  Not sure who the random kid is, he just showed up.

When it snowed blizzard-ed earlier this week the plows decided it would be best to pile all of the snow from the street into the two vacant houses' driveways. So there were these huge 7 ft mounds of snow covering a large part of the driveway. When these people showed up I didn't think there was any way they'd even try to shovel through it, but they have proven me wrong!  That guy is going to be sore tomorrow...  And no, I'm not going to help.  1) I'm terrible at shoveling and 2) I have a cold.  So there.

In other snow related news - I just got a Twitter update from our Greenwood news and it said that there are 45 mailboxes that are undeliverable because the town plowed all the snow into them. It said the mayor himself was going to go shovel them all out.  I find that hard to believe since this huge dead tree is still in my yard 7 months later...

and now for his next trick...

I really don't know where he comes up with this stuff, but Ted is now completely obsessed with shutting the office door. If we aren't watching him and he feels the need to go cause trouble, he will waltz in the office and shut himself in.  Then he knocks all of Zach's movies off the bookcase and chews the corners of the cases.  Looks like even though he's almost 2, we've still got ourselves a big ol' puppy. 

Just a tree

Just a tree I drive by every day. Nothing too special about it, but I like the way this picture turned out.

Lick Monsta!

 Even though this picture is totally blurry, I just love it so much.

That Missy, too much love in her heart.

Snow Going

Wednesday, Kansas City was expecting a big ol' snowstorm. I was pretty skeptical since the news was hyping it up so much. The sunny skies that morning also had me scratching my head.  All was fine and well until the afternoon.... Around 3:00 I turned around and saw this out my window. Yep, time to pack 'em up and head out.

Luckily I took the bus to work and didn't have to worry about driving most of the way home, however this is my third winter riding the bus, so I knew how things were going to happen.  1) The early bus was going to be packed 2) It's going to be a long ride and 3) Walk to Union Station in order to avoid waiting outside.

So, I did. It's about a 15 minute walk at least so while I was walking I took a few pictures with my camera phone.  The snow was very pretty and it was still pretty quiet outside.  It was lovely.

 Notice how empty this street is. Not even 40 minutes later it would be bumper to bumper.

 

Don't you just love Union Station? It's so glamorous!

I wasn't the only one who thought to leave early.  I think most of the people who ride the bus ended up there.  There began our wait.... The bus showed up almost a half hour late (the bus barn is downtown too, so this was a sign of things to come for sure). Union Station is the second stop on the route. The bus was full after I got on.  I knew I needed to settle in because this was going to be a long one. It took us over an hour to get from Union Station to The Sprint Center. Those of you from Kansas City will understand how crazy that is. We had to start turning people away after that stop since we had literally no more room and they had all been waiting in the cold for over an hour! I'd guess at least 30 people had to stand. (don't worry, there were 3 more buses behind us and word on the street is that the last bus only had 2 people on it. Ha!) It took about another 40 minutes or so to even get to the highway and at that point I stopped keeping track. We were going at a snails pace. Luckily everyone that rides the bus is used to it and we were all in good spirits, joking around and whatnot. (side: I remember my first winter riding the bus and a snowstorm hit and it took hours to get home. It was right before Christmas and we probably spent at least half an hour singing Christmas Carols. We even took a little "detour" through some neighborhoods and got to see some lights, it was..dare I say...fun) I have NEVER seen so much traffic in my life.  Literally every person in Kansas City left to go home at the EXACT same time.  Oy.  We got to Lee's Summit at 7. After cleaning my car and slooooowly driving home, I arrived at 7:30.  I left my desk at 3:15.  You do the math.

Needless to say, I worked from home on Thursday.  But the best part? We're expecting another storm on Sunday. Oh boy!

Barns

Perhaps this is a bit strange, but I've always had a thing for barns. Ever since I can remember I've thought they were neat. They are one of the best parts of road trips. I'm always looking for them and find myself daydreaming about what they could possibly be used for, what sorts of (adorable, furry) critters live inside, how old they are and what their story is. I love them all, old, new, falling apart, nearly torn down, white, red, green...anything barn is good to me!  Funny thing is that I don't know that I've ever even really been IN a "real" barn before! So, huh. Yeah, kinda weird.

Years and years ago I always said it would be fun to go around and take pictures of barns.  Even to me, it sounded crazy.  But now that I have a new camera, a new hobby and a goal to take more pictures, I figure why not!?  So, here it is! My first barn.  It's just on the other side of the road and I see it every day.  My favorite part of the barn is its shape and the thing on the top (note to self: find out what that's called...). I also love how it's all the one color.  I took this picture last Sunday when I wandered out into the cold one late afternoon. I really like how this one turned out (I have more to share eventually) and I can't wait to find more barns. I already know of three others within walking distance to my house (another perk of living in a "small town").  So yay! Barns! 

Humor me.

Big Red

One year ago today, my mom and dad adopted Redford from Wayside Waifs. He's seriously the worlds best dog. I know he's made the last year just a little brighter for all of us.  Happy "gotcha day" Redford!

The Face

I mean for real, how can you not love that face? 

 

Diet Coke

I'm currently in the process of giving up my beloved Diet Coke.  Oh the fizzies, how I love them. I never really drank a whole lot of pop before I started working.  Not even in college! (mostly because Northwest had gross Pepsi) I've never been able to drink coffee, so I turned to Diet Coke instead. My one can a day habit is slooowly being cut back.  Right now I aim for just 3 a week (and man do I look forward to those 3...). Then I'll hopefully cut that back some more, but who really knows. I've been down this road before.  I was trying to be strong today and just drink water, but the day (and the headache) got the best of me and I had to give in. There's always tomorrow! I've been doing good, just have to hang in there...

First Snow

Today we had our first real snow of the winter.  The weather people were actually right for once and the storm hit pretty much exactly when they said it would and it did pretty much exactly what they said it would. Crazy!  I am a terribly, terribly nervous driver and that multiplies by about 1,000 when it snows, so I'm lucky enough to take the bus to work.  I especially love riding the bus on snow days!  Sure, my trip to work took over two and a half hours, but at least I wasn't behind the wheel! 

This picture is of Crown Center Square. I took this as I was walking to my office from the bus stop.  I wish the lights showed up better, but it was getting too light out. They are extra pretty, especially in the snow.  I eat lunch at those tables whenever possible in the summer. I just love it out there.

This picture was taken while I was waiting for my bus to go home.  Such a pretty view in the snow. Miraculously the ride home took our normal time since there was a break in the snow during the afternoon rush.  It really picked up again once I got home though. Hopefully the ride in tomorrow goes a little faster.

Welcome to Greenwood

I live in a "small town".  While our house is just feet away from Lee's Summit (seriously, right past this sign), we do indeed live in a small town. Small town life has its advantages and its disadvantages, that's for sure. We love how we are still "close" but are definitely out of the way.  Through my Project 365 I hope to be able to show you a few different parts of my small town. Some I know about, some I've yet to discover.  Just this evening I took a (chilly) walk and snapped a few pictures that I'll post later on.

But for now, Welcome to Greenwood. Population: 3,952.

Hoof

 

Missy and her hoof.  Officially her favorite chew bone.  Unfortunately way too stinky to have in the house. Such is the life.

Uh yeah. I need to start taking pictures of things besides my dogs, no?