Man pulling milk crate

Ha!

Pan-seared pork with potatoes and lemon

(beautiful AND delcious)

What you'll need:

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 lb. red potatoes, cut in to 1/2 inch cubes

Coarse salt and ground pepper

3 scallions, thinkly sliced

1 pork tenderloin (about 1 pound)

1 lemon, thinly sliced

1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

1) In a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp. olive oil over medium-high. Add potatos and season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing occasionally, for 8-10 minutes until golden brown. Add 1/2 cup water; cover, and cook until potatoes are tender and liquid has evaporated (about 5 minutes). Add scallions; cook 1 minute. Transfer to warming plate.

2) Cut tenderloin crosswise in to 12 equal slices. Press between your hands to flatten evenly.

3) In skillet heat 1 tbsp. oil over medium-high. Working in two batches, coook pork until browned, 1-2 minuts per side. When flipping sides add lemon slices (1/2 per batch).

Serve pork with lemons and potatoes, topped with fresh cilantro. Serves 4 (or 3...)

Per serving: 284 calories; 10.9 g fat; 26.5 g protein; 21.8 g carb; 3.5 g fiber

Sounders 'till we die!

Thursday March 19th marked the first Sounders FC game and what a game it was. The Sounders took down the New York Red Bulls 3-0.

Did I mention Kevin and I are season ticket holders? Game 1 was an absolute blast! Here are some pictures for all of you are are jealous....

1 year wedding anniversary

Sunday, March 15th was our one year wedding anniversary. We celebrated Saturday evening with a dinner at Tutta Bella. We enjoyed some delicious wedding cake (technically it wasn't our real wedding cake. Geoffrey gave us an anniversary cake in the same flavor as the top tier of our wedding cake).

The one year anniversary is the "paper anniversary". Kevin framed me a copy of "I love you much (most beautiful darling)" adorned with clippings he cut out from magazines. He also gave me a small potted plant for my desk at work that matches perfectly with a framed photo I already had of us on my desk.

I gave Kevin a jigsaw puzzle that I had made from his favorite wedding photo.


It was a wonderful evening!

i love you much (most beautiful darling)

more than anyone on the earth and i

like you better than everything in the sky

- sunlight and singing welcome coming

although winter may be everywhere
with such a silence and such a darkness
noone can quite begin to guess

(excet my life) the true time of year -

and what if calls itself a world should have
the luck to hear such singing (or glimpse such
sunlight as will leap higher than high
through the gayer gayest someone's heart at your each

nearness) everyone certainly would (my
most beautiful darling) believe in nothing but love

- ee cummings

Attack of the illnesses

What a week!!!!

Sunday I woke up at 5am with the stomach flu (blah!).

Mon/Tues I spent in in bed (unable to move!).

Wed I went back to work.

Wed evening I noticed a rash forming on Maddie's stomach. Within an hour it was spreading across her body. I called the doctor's office thinking she was having an allergic reaction. They gave me the ok to giver her some benadryl along with some warning signs to look for (swelling of hands, blistering, swelling of lips and face etc.) stating that if those signs should appear we get her to the ER.

Thurs. morning we awoke to her body being swollen and completely rashed covered. We made the decision to take her to the doctor as soon as they opened (none of the warning signs we present so we didn't deam it necessary to take her to the er.).

Dr. Scott ran some tests and concluded that she had a virus of some type, what, we are still unsure. he prescribed a super stregnth antihistamine and sent her home. Later that afternoon her joints and muscles started to swell causing her to be unable to stand up do to intense pain. We immediately called the doctor and he explained that the swelling was do to the virus and called in a prescription for tylenol with codeine which fixed the problem very quickly.

Friday I went to work and Maddie stayed home with Kevin. We were told that as long as the infection was "flared up" she was not to be in the presence of other children meaning no school and no swimming lessons. We were also told that there was a chance this would last up to 6 weeks!!!!!! When I came home Friday she was looking MUCH better as far as the rash was concerned. The aftermath however left her body severely bruised.

Today Maddie has made almost a 100% recovery with very few patches of swelling and hives on the skin. We expect her back at school on Monday!!!!!

And here is the sadest picture in the world....

A Wonderful Sunday

Talk about starting March off with a bang. Today has been a truly wonderful Sunday.

This morning I woke up before my family (a rarity considering Maddie is usually up by 7 on Sundays. She must have been tired...). After a quick shower I headed off to a meditation circle at my church. CSL offers a guided meditation before first service on Sundays. I have been wanting to give it a try for months now and finally did. It was truly wonderful. I was able to completely let go of myself and give in to the guided shakrah cleansing (not sure if that is what they call it but it's close enough). Afterwards I felt so alive!!!

After meditation I went to first service. The message of course was uplifting as always. Kathianne has this way of speaking that always makes me feel as though she is speaking directly to me. I will admit though, I do not like the 9:00 service as much as the 11:00 service. The dynamic amongst members isn't as alive and peppy. Suffice to say I will be going back to second service next week.

After service I had brunch with Sody at Cafe Presse and enjoyed a DELICIOUS Croque Monsieur (Baked ham, gruyere and béchamel sandwich). If you haven't already, I highly recommend dining there.

I made it home around 11:30 and picked up Maddie & Kevin for a trip to Wallingford Playground (or "Museum Park" as Maddie named it almost 2 years ago). We played outside for about an hour before our friends the rain clouds decided to join us. At that time we walked over to Tophy Cupcakes to pick up two cupcakes for us to snack on later.

Lunch time! Maddie and Kevin were hungry for lunch and we were all feeling lazy. So, we went to Kidd Valley for grilled cheese sandwiches. That's when it happened. "He" sat down in the booth directly behind ours. Facing none other than ME. I was staring at this beautiful man thinking to myself "Do I know him?". Kevin says to me "What?" knowing that I am distracted. I quietly whisper to him but he can't hear me (man that place is packed on Sundays!). This time, a little bit louder and more clearly, he hears me. Kevin then proceeds to turn to verify and confirms that I am correct. The man I am staring at is the beautiful, handsome, extremely sexy Dave Matthews (don't worry, Kevin is very aware how attracted to him I was. I told him all about it while I tried not to stare). At one point I said to Kevin "it's too bad he not on my "list". My darling husband's response (as if I would have even had a chance) was "sorry, the list is not changeable in the presence of a the new addition". It was a good lunch.

Off to the grocery store after lunch and now we are home. Tonight's dinner: flat iron steak tacos with red cabbage and spanish rice. YUM!!!!!!