Friday, December 31, 2010

FLASHBOOK FRIDAY: NYE

NYE 2007/2008

NYE 2009/2010 - Las Vegas

For the life of me, I couldn't remember what I did for 2008/2009 until I remembered that we spent a quiet evening with our friends Mike and Shelly drinking far too much champagne and not taking any pictures. I'm sure that won't be the case tonight! Be safe!

Thursday, December 30, 2010

WEDDING FAVORS & SHOES

A couple of weeks ago, I became the proud owner of my very own Cake Pops book! I entered a giveaway on her blog, and I won! I know... I couldn't believe it either.



What?!?! You have never heard of Cake Pops. You have got to check her out. Don't these treats look drool-worthy?


After flipping through the book, Andrew saw the bride and groom cake pops and thought that maybe that could be our wedding favors.


I'm a little skeptical. Will I end up making them all by myself? Will it be hard? Will they look like crap? I guess the only thing we can do it try. Don't worry, I will document the whole process!

Also, I have started my search for wedding shoes. I never realized how picky I was going to be. It all started with a single pair of "dream shoes" by Kate Spade. They are called "dream shoes" because I will never be able to afford them!



After seeing these babies, I haven't been able to get away from the idea of glitter heels for the big day. And there are so many things preventing me from finding the perfect pair (height, price, stripper platforms, etc...) I think one solution might be to be DIY heels, but that could be disastrous as well. I'll keep that as my last resort and keep searching for now....

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

CHRISTMAS 2010: FLATER EDITION

Here are a few pictures from the weekend spent with the Flaters. I'm sorry the pictures are so awful...the good camera was in the car and I was too cold to go outside!


This was the view from our room at the new Flater household. I actually woke up one night and had a new deer friend just feet from the window. Ahhhh nature!


Guess who found the Christmas pickle? This girl did! (Thanks for the help Jenny!)


I was dedicated to this puzzle. Sadly, no one else was and it was put away within 1/2 hour of being take out... until next Christmas!




In this Christmas game, we guess the total amount of money in a small jar provided by the Browns (Steph's parents). I guessed way to low, but Andrew took home the big prize!

Wayne announcing the winner!


Farm King! I actually really love this store. And, this one displays the one and only Naked Coyote courtesy of Mr. Flater! (Story to follow in another post...sometime)


Finally, Jen's bridal shower hosted by her wonderful friend Kelsey. I want a new Crock Pot! I'm sooo jealous.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

This video made me smile! I hope your day is full of smiles, family, food, and fun!




MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

TOUGH LOVE

I love my tortoises. I really do. But I can't help but be frustrated with Gary right now.

Gary

Gary has been biting Greta's legs in an attempt to mate with her. Nipping at the legs is part of mating, but they will have to be separated until Greta heals to avoid infection.

Greta

I know that he is only doing what is natural. But Greta is hurt, and it hurts me to see her in pain...

Andrew cleaning up the tank before we split it in half.

Does anyone else have tortoises? Any advice?

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

CORN CHOWDER

I actually made this recipe last week. It took me so long to post about it though because I was so embarrassed about what happened while I made it. But alas, this recipe is too good/easy to keep to myself. 


This is a recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking. I was looking for a recipe that would be healthy and light. This def. fit the bill! I was so excited to see that the ingredient is almost ALL veggies! And cooking it in the slow cooker meant that I didn't have to cook once I got off work. Double win!


But this recipe wasn't all fun and games....


8 cups of chicken broth
1 small onion - chopped
1 red pepper - chopped
1 peeled and chopped carrot or a few baby carrots
2 (16-ounce) bags frozen corn
2 medium potatoes - chopped (I left the skin on)

Finely chop the onion and brown in a tablespoon of olive oil in a medium saucepan. You want the onion to be cooked, but not totally translucent since it will continue to cook in the slow cooker. 
I missed this step. I was just too tired. It didn't seem to make a difference, but I also have nothing to compare it to!


Mix throw it together with your other chopped veggies. I did this all the night before. It made this morning a breeze! Especially because I wasn't fully awake (Ummm I put the coffee pot in the cupboard! What?!?!)




Put everything in the slow cooker. I think I need a bigger Crock Pot... Add that to the wedding registry list.




Plug in your slow cooker and set on high for 4-5 hours or low for 8-9 hours. How great is that? Picture perfect by the time I get home from work. Or is it... One last step...

This is the tricky and totally fun part: Her words, not mine.

Use a hand blender to chowderify. Another item that I will be adding to the wedding registry after this little mishap! I used the blender instead (don't worry, I have done this before!) The plastic part of the lid somehow made it into the blender too! Oops!



I thought I could just strain the soup to get the plastic pieces out. I took one look at the chowder and changed my mind. This was not going to work!


Because I did the last step in two parts, I still had more than enough for dinner. And I'm so thankful that I did because this soup is too good to miss. Seriously, try it!




Sorry the lack of pictures of the final product. We were hungry by the time dinner was actually ready!

Friday, December 17, 2010

FLASHBACK FRIDAY


There once was a time when my kitties were little... How cute are they?!?!


Ashley - Christmas 1987. I still have that doll!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

SAVE-THE-DATES & WEBSITE

Get ready! We are about ready to put the save-the-dates in the mail. It was our goal to get them out before the end of 2010, and it looks like it's going to happen! Now we just have to buy some stamps...



Addressing didn't take too long. Andrew is a speedy writer!


Now my only fear is that we forgot someone. I'm sure I'll have another one of my crazy dreams about that!

Andrew and I got in our first website argument, but in the end our website is coming together! I can't wait to share it with you guys! Here is a little sneak preview...



This week, I plan on ordering some of my accessories and looking into getting our toasting glasses engraved. I found this set of four at one of my favorite stores - Goodwill! Heck yes!

Monday, December 13, 2010

WEEKEND: LOCK IN

This weekend was the best I have seen in awhile!

Friday night, I sat for my favorite family and their cute little boy! After I got home, Andrew was practically sleeping, and I hit the hay too.

Saturday morning couldn't have started any better... SNOW! I have been begging for this for awhile now, and it's about freaking time!



After running a few errands (before it got too dangerous), Andrew and I had a lock-in! We spent the afternoon and evening watching movies...

+

 making cookies...


playing Yahtzee (I won by a landslide) and Wii Golf (he won by a landslide)...

and making dinner together...

I added ham, mushrooms, and peas to my recipe.

It was nice to be able to see each other and not have any other obligations for the day. I asked him if we could do it again next week, but I guess it's back to real life - errands, christmas shopping, etc....

This week I plan on being extra productive! I will....
1. Finish my Christmas shopping
2. Send a care package to my solider
3. Address ALL the save-the-date invitations
4. Enjoy my day off (Friday!)

What are your plans/goals for the week? Anything fun planned?

Friday, December 10, 2010

HOCKEY GAME

Last night, we started our weekend by going to a UNO Maverick hockey game. (What? You didn't know that weekends always start on Thursday? For shame!) I had never been to a hockey game before! So when our friend Nicole asked us to go, I wasn't going to turn it down!


We met them at the Mattress Factory for a drink before the game started, and then rushed over to the Qwest before the $1 hotdogs/beer ran out. Try as we might, we missed the cheap beer boat. We had to "settle" for some delicious - and higher quality - $6 beer.


As soon as the game started, I could not believe how fast-paced and violent it was! I think for the whole first period I sat with my mouth wide open!


During the second break, we stopped by the NE Lottery booth and snatched up some free lotto tickets. The best part was when Andrew thought he had won $35,000. Good thing we had someone else double check his handy work before we took it in to claim our prize! Sorry Andrew.... maybe next time!


I had so much fun last night! I know this will not be my last hockey game!

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

X-MAS CARDS

Although I begged and begged last year for a Christmas card, it just never happened. Maybe it was my suggestion to wear ugly holiday sweaters in the pictures - who knows?!?!

But this is the first year that I have felt like I can do Christmas cards (ummm... having a fiancé is a good enough reason!) and Andrew doesn't really have a say because I already have a few good shots of us together! I know some of you were hoping for cards with pictures of the cats in their Christmas shirts....



You didn't think I would let you down! Who doesn't love fat cats in little shirts?

Getting photo cards is one of my favorite parts of the holidays. It's such a good way to keep in touch and see everyone grow and change. I wanted to make sure that the cards matched our personalities and I was looking for a design that was fun and youthful.  Shutterfly was the first place I went to look for pre-made designs, and I was pleasantly surprised by their selection of cards.

After scanning their selection, I have picked out a few options and would now like your vote for the winning Christmas card!

Let me know what you guys think....

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Will you be doing a Christmas card? Will it include pictures? What company do you usually use?

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

WEDDING UPDATE - HOTELS & SAVE-THE-DATES

I have been working my butt off to cross off multiple items off our wedding to-do list.

I have been having the what I call "wedding nightmares." These are just awful! Let's see... this week I dreamt that Andrew and I saw each other before the ceremony, we didn't have a caterer so everyone ate hotdogs, and my photographer sent someone else! Do other brides have these dreams? The make me soooo nervous! 

But back to the to-do list!

We got our save-the-dates right before we left for Thanksgiving. Once we get the final addresses, we can start sending them out. I was really hoping that they wouldn't conflict with Christmas cards...which I really want to do (more to come on that tomorrow). I guess people will just be getting a lot of mail from us in the next couple of weeks.



First up was our hotel block. I found out that because of the of the conference rearrangements, there will now be a football game the day before the wedding. This could be a nightmare for hotels, traffic, and just people in general. That's when I knew that I had to get the hotel blocks done ASAP! I have sent in the contract and we should be good to go by the end of next week. (I just talked with our wedding coordinator and it's ready!)

My apartment has become a storage closet for everything wedding! My table barely has enough room to contain any more! Brides: where do you store all of your wedding day goodies? Were they hidden out of sight?