Fun Summertime Treat

Here's a recipe for a great summertime cool-down beverage...we got the recipe from our friends, Kurt and Jackie. They got it from a strawberry patch where they went and picked fresh strawberries. We went to their house for dinner that same evening and everything we had had strawberries as an ingredient. What a fun idea! My favorite was these smoothies though!

1 1/2 cans of 7-Up/Sierra Mist/Sprite
1/2 C. sugar
14-16 strawberries (hulled and rinsed...do you hull strawberries?)
About 14 ice cubes

Put ice cubes in blender. Add strawberries and sugar. Add soda. Blend until smooth. You may need to tweak it just a bit because I'm guessing on the amount of ice cubes!! :o) But once you get it just right these smoothies are the best! They're fruity with a little zip, I'd say.

New DOOR!!

I'm so excited!! Yesterday my brother and his family came down. Crit "helped" us put in a new door. Well, he put in a new door for us. We weren't much help! You know how the box that the door comes in has "easy installation instructions" on the side? Yeah, not so much. I really liked our old door; I believe it was the original door for this house. It was neat, even though it was old and beat up. We had two concerns with the old door: 1) efficiency for when we start up the furnace and 2) security. The deadbolt on the door did work, but really wasn't much use when the knob on the thing was pretty much pasted together. We're happy with the way the new door turned out--Crit did an excellent job!

Our Anniversary

Sunday, August 19, was our one year wedding anniversary. The past year sure flew by! I'm looking forward to many, many more anniversaries. We had planned on going to dinner, just the two of us, Sunday evening. By late afternoon I just didn't feel like getting all dolled up to go out to eat and come home miserable because I ate too much. (We were going to go to Texas Roadhouse--it's easy to eat too much there!) So instead we ordered in--we had Famous Dave's. We still ate too much, but at least we could flop on the couch immediately after. After dinner Cait said she was riding her bike to get "something" at the store. After she got home she decided to make brownies. No big surprise--she likes to bake. Soon after the brownies were done she called me into the kitchen (I heard a little commotion with her and Jason in there). Here she had made the brownies, put candles in them, and wrote "Happy Anniversary" on them. She had gone to the store to get the candles and the gel to write on the brownies. What a sweet kid!! :o) Well I didn't think to take a picture, so I pulled the candles out and started cutting away. Then I remembered the camera...so I put the candles back in and lit them again for the full effect. All in all we had a nice, quiet 1st anniversary.

It's Raining...It's Pouring...Well, Not Really.

It's raining! YAY! I love a good soaking rain, and it's been a while since we've had one. It's a perfect day for it too--we didn't have any outdoor plans (we usually don't). I planned on staying in all day to clean, do laundry, and sort.

I'm going to begin sorting for my first ever thrift sale, which I'll be having Labor Day weekend. I've heard holiday weekends are good weekends for thrifters...we shall see! I'm really excited about it. I think we're in a good location, and, of course, we can use the extra cash. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Other than that not a whole lot going on. Jason is still recovering from his kidney stone episode. Poor thing...hasn't felt decent in weeks. He's on the downhill side of it though, so things are looking up.

Cait got home Monday morning. She's glad to be home and we're glad she's home. She got us back into busy bee mode. Going here and there and everywhere. We have to get it all in before school starts, you know. She's looking forward to school starting (and so am I!). So far she hasn't shown any apprehension about starting junior high. That may change, but maybe not. She's definitely an extrovert and I'm sure she'll be fine.

I think the mail is here! My favorite time of day...it's like Christmas!

Old friends...fun times!

Saturday was my 10-year high school reunion. We had a blast! It was so nice to see some of "the girls". A few of them I had lost contact with, but it sure didn't seem like it--after we gave the 10 minute updates on life we were the best of friends again. We all have good intentions of keeping in touch this time--hopefully this is the case and we don't have to waste our 10 minutes catching up next time we see each other. My friend Lori and I planned the event, and it turned out extremely well...even better than anticipated. We had a good showing, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. We all left looking forward to the next one...

I'd like to say something about each of the girls pictured here...

Me, of course, in the purple. I don't need to say anything about myself. In front of me is my friend Sarah. She was my maid of honor in our wedding and has been one of my closest friends since 6th grade. Next to her is Margo...Margo and I lost touch, but she's an all around great person and I'm looking forward to keeping in touch with her. Behind Margo is Jamie. Jamie didn't technically "graduate" with us. She left our sophomore year, but remained in contact and wanted to come and celebrate with us. Next to Jamie is Lori. She and I have been friends since 1st grade. She also went to college with me...we're very close! Next to her is Kylah...Kylah married one of my close guy friends, Zac, a couple of years ago. Funny how those things work out. They just had their first baby in February. Next to Kylah is Rani. My mom used to work with Rani's mom at the Shoe Revue...that's when we became good friends. I also worked at the motel that her mom and dad managed when I was in high school. And then again, there I am. :o)

All for now. Oh, and in case you're wondering...our school colors were black and gold (GO CANES!)

YUM!

Thought I'd share this recipe while I wait for it to finish baking!

Cheesy Pizza Casserole

3 C. uncooked rigatoni pasta (9 oz.)
1/2 lb. lean ground beef
1/4 C. sliced ripe olives
1 can (4 oz.) mushroom pieces and stems, drained
1 jar (26 to 28 oz.) vegetable primavera pasta sauce
1 C. shredded mozzarella cheese (4 oz.)

1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook and drain pasta as directed on package.

2. While pasta is cooking, cook beef in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally until beef is brown; drain. Mix pasta, beef and remaining ingredients except cheese in ungreased 2 1/2 qt. casserole.

3. Cover and bake about 30 minutes or until hot and bubbly. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered about 5 minutes longer or until cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

*Try your own variations--we use black olives instead of green. This time I put some chopped up pepperoni in too. And you don't have to use "vegetable primavera" sauce. Use any kind! We like to have this with french bread or garlic toast. Also makes great leftovers for lunch at work or tomorrow night!

This comes from Betty Crocker's One-Dish Family Favorites--I highly recommend this cookbook. I got it as a wedding gift from my friend Sarah's mom, Kaye. Thanks Kaye!

LOOK!

Look what I have! Isn't it pretty? I'm so excited about this lil' lily! Jason's mom bought us a few perennials a while back. She, Caitlin, and Jason's niece, Nadja, planted them. These lilies are around the brick patio, then we have some other lilies in our raised garden (no flowers yet). They also planted some hostas (I love hostas!) which, we hope, will really take root and be beautiful next year. I'm new to this gardening thing--hopefully I'll learn a lot and be able to name these things other than saying "that one bush" or "those flowers". We have a couple of nice bushes too...not sure what they are, but as soon as we seem some color on them I'll do some research. I also found this evening that we have a robin's nest in one of our "bushes". This particular bush has green leaves and bunches of small, white flowers. :o)