12/27/2008- Six months out!

Six months from right now I will be getting very nervous/excited! Why? Well, because I will be about to walk down the aisle to marry this guy:

YAY! Can 6/27/2009 get here already!?!

Why my christmas tree has so many bent branches

Thats Ariel, perched in my tree. LOL. I saw her, ran to get the camera. Snapped several pics. THEN yelled at her to get out of the tree. Gotta love the animals for entertainment!

Eddies Sweeties

So... I did some baking tonight. We are having a carry-in (pot luck, whatever you wanna call it) for our Holiday party at work tomorrow. We were supposed to have a big, fancy lunch... but um... budget cuts and all, so now we are doing a carry-in and a white elephant gift exchange. Anyway, I decided to pull out an oldie, but a goodie for my contribution to tomorrow's festivities.

Eddies Sweeties

1 Box German Chocolate Cake Mix
2/3 cup evaporated milk

1 stick of butter, melted

1 bag of caramels (I got the unwrapped baking kind this time.... SUCH a time saver!)

1 bag (6 or 8 oz) of chocolate chips

Mix the cake mix, butter, and 1/3 cup of the evaporated milk until crumbly. Put 1/2 of the mixture into a buttered cake pan. Bake for 10 minutes at 350.

Melt in a saucepan the remaining 1/3 cup of evaporated milk and the caramels until smooth.

When cake mixture is finished baking, sprinkle the chocolate chips over the hot cake. Pour the caramel mixture over top of the chocolate chips. Finally, drop little chunks of the remaining cake mixture over the top and bake for another 15 to 18 minutes. Do not overbake.

Yumminess.

The last time I made this and brought it to work (a different job) I had like 5 people ask for the recipe. Lets see what happens tomorrow!

Kitty Pics

Why? Because they are just too damn cute.

Puerto Rico Pics

These are the views from our room which ended up being a Cabana room. It was pretty sweet b/c my Mom and I went down a few days early- she booked the room through Travelocity so we ended up getting an upgrade. Then, when the conference rate kicked in, they let us stay in the upgraded room for the same price! It was soooo nice!

My Mom and I ran into another woman who works where I work... we went do dinner the second two nights with her and her friends. In the pic above we were enjoying some free shots they gave us at the restaurant after we had enjoyed a free pitcher of Mojitos! I love the pic of me and my mom :) We are standing in front of some fountain in Old San Jaun.

Here are just a few random beach pics. The beach was great... you know, other than the whole knee incident... See how big the waves are?!?

Anyway, thats about it. I may load some more pics later, but for now, I need to get to work!

Well Helloooooo

Well, is been awhile since I wrote... and much has happend. When I last wrote I was en route to Puerto Rico... which was AWESOME! I will post some pics in a separate post and probably a review of the hotel we stayed in to chronicle this trip. PR is a great place to go... its in the south carribbean, so very warm and tropical. What is nice about it is that you get a different cultural feel without having to go through customs, change currency, etc. It was great.

The only bad thing about the trip was that I chose to ignore this sign (notice the human being on his ass being swalled by a wave!)


Which ultimately resulted in me getting swallowed by a wave... losing my favorite sunglasses and then in the process of dragging myself out of the water to avoid drowning, I did something to my right knee.

After an x-ray and then an MRI the other day I have learned that my injury is most likey a torn meniscus. I have an appointment this morning with a knee guy to find out my diagnosis. Hopefully it doesn't require surgery. That is not my idea of a good time. I will post more later when I have news.

Anyway, on Tuesday I took, and PASSED part 2 of the CMA exam! WOO HOO! YAY! Now only two parts left. Passing felt really good because I truely spent so much time studying. It was rough! I need to take some time and evaluate whether or not I actually have time for them in 2009 due to the wedding and our honeymoon. I really don't want to be studying in Maui like I was in Puerto Rico. YES, I studied in Puerto Rico. I even have proof:


Other than that... not much is new. I'm going to try and blog more often. I wonder if anybody is actually reading this crap!?!

3:30

Good Lord.

It is just not right to try and get up this early.

The weather in PR better be good to make up for this!

I will try to blog and post pics while I am there.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Think Thin Thursdays

My good friend Bridgette started this challenge on her blog, the Not So Blog. Always up for a good diet/exercise challenge (I need motiviaion, like really bad) I jumped at the chance to participate.

So, here goes. My overall goal is weight loss, which is something I have been working on for oh say... my whole life. In fact Bridgette and I first met in an online forum about 8 or 9 years ago on ediets. Our group has managed to stick together! With the wedding coming up, I would really like to tone up and lose some of the extra weight I have been carrying around. I think it makes me feel older and is contributing to the aches and pains I have been experiencing.

My goal for this week is to work out today after work and Thursday after work (which I have already tried to talk myself out of twice today and its only 6:54 AM... maybe writing it down will help.) I leave Friday morning for PR and am not sure how much working out would get accomplished down there, so I figure the least I can do is attempt to get a few good work outs in before I go. Further, my goal is to not go apeshit in Puerto Rico. For some reason, travelling has always ended up being like some kind of food orgy for me. I don't know why- maybe my mind thinks that if I don't consume the calories at home they don't count?!? I dunno... but nonetheless, that is my goal.

We are supposed to post a goal every week and then weigh in and blog about our experiences. I will do so tomorrow and then will try to remember to do the same when I get home from PR next thursday, although it might be Friday morning since my flight gets in really late.

Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

MyHeritage: Celebrity Collage - Family search - Family genealogy

I just found this site courtesy of someone on the J9 board on the knot. Pretty cool, huh? Does anybody know who the hell Mini Anden is? Whoever she is, we look a hell of a lot alike!

Another 1.5 down

So I got off track for a few weeks, but seem to be back on it now. I have been making a real effort to work out every day after work- even last night when I had totally talked myself out of working out and skipped doing the 30 day shred before I left work, I dragged my sorry ass onto the Wii Fit when I got home. After my 30 minute workout the thing told me that I had lost 1.5 pounds and that my Wii Fit age was 28! Woo Hoo!

I think tonight Katrina and I are graduating ourselves to level 2 of the 30 day shred. That should be interesting LOL. Hopefully I can still walk tomorrow!

Puerto Rico, Baby

So, we have these semi-annual meetings for work where all of the Tax people in the company get together and discuss tax stuff. PLEASE try to contain your jealousy people. Not everybody can be as cool as us tax geeks.

Anyway, tradition is that the spring meeting take place at our Corporate headquarters. The fall meeting however, is typically held at a warm weather location. This year we are headed to Puerto Rico!

The best part is that my Mom is coming with. We are leaving a few days early and making a little mini vacay out of it :) Really looking forward to it because 1- PR looks pretty cool, 2-The weather here is starting to suck, and it will be nice to see some sun, and 3- it will be nice to have a change of scenery for a few days.

More to come...

The 30 day shred continues

Well, I'm not exactly doing the workout every day, but I have been trying to do it at least several times a day. And, I finally made use of the really excellent gym facility that is available at work. They have an aerobics studio there where they hold some group classes during the day. I'm not really one to work out at lunch (who wants to return to work all sweaty, and no way I have time for a full workout, shower, then get ready for work again all at lunch time.)

Anyway, I found out that they don't mind if you use the studio when its not in use to do your own DVD's and such. And, I found a workout buddy! So, the other day we both stayed after work and first studied for the dreaded CMA Exam we both signed up for and then went down and took worked out... our as Katrina put it, got our asses kicked.

Either way, it felt pretty good!

My goal is to do the same each day next week after work.

13 Hours of Hell

I just spent the last 13 hours of my life studying some of the most boring, difficult, really really frustrating material. See, I decided to take the CMA exam. If you know anything about accounting, you have probably heard of the CPA exam. Well, the CMA exam is kinda like that, only more geared toward mangement accounting. It is actually 4 separate exams that are about 4 hours each. Have you fallen asleep yet?!?

Well, I took (and passed, horrah!) the CPA exam like 8 years ago and decided to go for the CMA this year due to some financial incentives they are offering at work. Needless to say, my 30 year old brain is not very happy with me for trying to cram so much in right now.

I have about a month before I sit for the part 2 of the exam. I am about 1/2 way through the review book that I am using to study. I have been making flash cards and seriously need to start memorizing some of this shit, because this exam is coming soon.

Oh, and I am doing this with about 30 other people where I work, so if I don't pass I am going to feel pretty dumb.

I think its miller time now.

The 30 Day Shred

The 30 day Shred is this exercise video I have been hearing good things about from all of the girls on theknot.com. I ordered it a few months ago, but true to form, never even got it out of the case. Well, with the success I have been having with the Wii Fit, I am feeling pretty motivated. I realize that I would like to lose some weight before the wedding, even if it means needing to pay for alterations to my dress, which fit perfectly when I bought it last month.

Anywho, to that end, I did the level 1 workout tonight. The Shred is organized into different levels- you progress as you feel you can. You are supposed to do it every day for 30 days and can lose up to 20 lbs, or so the case says.

Well, level 1 kicked my ass. I am a sweaty mess right now, but I couldn't feel better! It was very difficult, not gonna lie about that. I am very out of shape, which sucks. However, there is only 1 way to change that, and only 1 person who can do it. Me. And thats exactly what I am going to do.

Another 1.3 lbs....

BITES THE DUST!

This is kinda fun :)

Wii Fit is definitely helping me stay motivated to exercise. Its nice to know that I can just come home and do it. Part of why the whole health club thing never works for me is that I have to physically go there, change, etc, etc, etc. By the time its done there is like 2 plus hours down the drain. Here I can do it right in my living room under careful professional supervison. Plus, Josh uses it to, so we have a healthy competition going for who is better at what. So far he is kicking my ass at anything having to do with coordination LOL. I am kicking his ass at the yoga and aerobic type things like step aerobics. Good times :)

Wii Fit seems to be working!

Well, since we got our Wii Fit I have lost 5 lbs! And, apparantly my balance has improved as well. As you may recall, the first time I Wii Fitted, the damn thing told me I was 54 in Wii Fit years. Since then, I have been doing much better! While I still have not reached my actual age, I am now right round 33. I can live with that :)

Spooktacular Cupcakes

So I have been on a bit of a baking kick lately. I think its because we have been sampling wedding cake and it made me want more :) I have been hunting online for some good recipes and landed on these today. With Halloween coming up, I decided to make my cupcakes Halloween themed.

I found the cupcake recipie at Amber's Delectable Delights.


White Cupcakes
Source: A Baker's Field Guide to Cupcakes By Dede Wilson

Yield: 12 cupcakes

Ingredients:
12 paper liners
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large egg whites
3/4 cup milk, at room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Place paper liners in all wells of one 12-cup cupcake tin.
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl to aerate and combine; set aside.
3. Whisk egg whites and milk together in a small bowl to combine; set aside.
4. In a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium high speed, beat butter until creamy, about 2 minutes. Add sugar gradually, beating until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes, scraping down the bowl once or twice. Beat in vanilla extract. Add the flour mixture in 4 additions, alternately with the egg white-milk mixture. Begin and end with the flour mixture, and beat briefly until smooth on low-medium speed after each addition.
5. Divide batter evenly among cupcake wells. Bake or about 20 minutes, or until edges turn light golden brown; a toothpick inserted in the center will show a few moist crumbs.
6. Cool pan on rack for 5 minutes, then remove cupcakes to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Recipe Notes: This is a simple, moist white cake that can be varied endlessly. The cupcakes will keep for 2 days at room temperature in an airtight container or for 1 week frozen in an airtight container.

Amber had a buttercream frosting recipe that went with this one, but I had seen an interesting looking recipe for frosting earlier this week on allrecipes.com and had been wanting to try it out.


Grocery Store Frosting

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 1/2 tablespoons vanilla extract
2 pounds confectioners' sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons water

Directions:

In a heavy duty mixer combine the shortening, butter or margarine, vanilla and water. Add the sugar and salt, beat until well mixed. Add a tablespoon or two more of water if needed. Turn mixer to the highest speed and beat for 15 minutes.

This frosting was ridiculously easy to make. Only bad thing was that I ran out of clean spatulas to use because I kept licking them! I even let Ariel (she was supervising my progress) have a little lick. She loved it too :)


And the result?!?

I'm pretty proud of myself. These are probably the prettiest (and tastiest) cupcakes I have ever made! I bought a Wilton cupcake decorator kit today at Michaels. Basically was just a set of decorator tips and some bags with some simple instructions. Used my 40% off coupon from today's paper so it only cost like $5. After the wedding some friends and I are talking about taking a cake decorating class... I thought this would be a good way to see if I am any good or not. So far, looks like I don't suck at it. More to come :)

Honeymoon- Airline Tix and Rental Car

Well, we finally bit the bullet last night and booked our airline tickets and rental car for Hawaii. I had been hoping that if we waited a bit, prices might go down, but to no avail. Also, thanks to the advice from the ladies on the honeymoon board on the knot, I learned that the price we got was actually pretty good considering we got a flight from Fort Wayne to Maui direct vs. getting a flight to Honolulu and then having to take an interisland flight. Since our trip is already pretty short (for Hawaii anyway) I really didn't want to screw around with island hopping and wasting more time in airports and such.

We also went ahead and rented a convertable for our week there. Its the most expensive option as far as rental cars go, but I figured what the hell. How many times are we going to be in Maui!

We booked all of it through priceline, which had the best prices. We also had an opportunity to book a snorkel tour and dinner cruise at the same time. We are pretty excited. Now we just have to decide what other activites we want to do while we are down there.

So YAY. Exactly 9 months from right now I will be in Maui, baby. Will probably be asleep in our condo with the lanai doors open, with the sound of the ocean in the background. Can't wait!

I think I need an Idiots Guide...

... to Blogging!

I keep trying to make my blog pretty, but none of the formats I find online work when I try to use them. WHAT am I doning wrong?!? Someone help please!

Wii Fit

So, we got a Wii about a month ago and last night finally got a Wii. Its really fun- we messed around with the one my brother has this weekend. We decided we liked it, so went to 3 different Walmart's last night in search of one. Finally found one at the last Walmart in between here and my parents place. YAY.

So anyway, when you first WiiFit, you do this body test thing. Basically it weighs you and then makes you do some balance tests and then presents you with your Wii age. Any takers on my Wii age?!? 54! WTF?!? 54?!? Ok. So, I have zero balance and even less coordination. Thats why it is so high. But whatever. My new personal goal is to kick WiiFit's ass and make it tell me my real age. On the plus side, I did some Yoga with it and it is actually pretty cool. Told me that I have excellent flexibility and am a Yoga Master. At least its something!

My Inner Bride

They had this on the Knot... I think it turned out pretty close:

YAY Honeymoon Booked!

Well, sort of!

We found a fantastic condo we reserved for our honeymoon next year. I just called the owner and reserved it for our week. We will be going to Maui, and will be staying on Kaanapali Beach just outside of Lahaina. I am very excited for this trip! We wanted to find a place that neither of us had been before and did some research and landed on this place. It looks like heaven! This is the view that we will wake up to every morning. Yay!

Awesome Chicken Recipe

So... cooking around our house is a bit of a challenge. Josh is not only extremely picky, but also has restrictions on what he can eat due to his Crohn's disease. Sometimes finding recipes that work for both of us is tricky, but I think this one is a winner- the leftovers only lasted 1 day and he said this one is a "keeper" I found this recipe on Heather Drive, which is a blog I stumbled on while doing some wedding planning. I've actually tried a few of Heather's recipes now and have been impressed with both of them :) I did have to modify a bit from her version of this though.... I don't have words to describe how much I hate cooked brocolli, so that obviously had to go. Thanks for the great recipe Heather!

Spicy Garlic & Lime Chicken Pasta

Ingredients:

- 2 cups chicken broth-
3 tbsp. lime juice
- 2 tbsp. corn starch- (didn't have any so I used flower)
- 4-5 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper- (I didn't have any so I used Franks cayenne pepper sauce)
- 1/2 tsp. paprika
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder- (didn't have any so I left it out. Added an extra clove of garlic just in case it wasn't garlicy enough LOL)
- 1/2 tsp. onion powder
- 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
- Approximately 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small chunks
- 2 tbsp. butter or margarine
- Drizzle of olive oil
- A box of pasta (approx. 1 lb.--we use the Barilla Plus or Barilla Whole Wheat, and it usually comes in slightly smaller amounts, like 14.5 oz.)
- Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions:

1. Boil a pot of water and cook pasta according to your package directions. Drain.

2. Meanwhile, mix together all of the sauce ingredients (chicken broth through parsley). Set aside.

3. Heat butter and olive oil in large skillet (we use a big stir fry pan) over medium heat. Add chicken pieces into the heated pan. Cook chicken until no longer pink. Pour sauce mixture into pan over the chicken and bring to a simmer. Let simmer until chicken has cooked through and sauce has thickened.

4. Add pasta into pan and toss to evenly coat with the sauce. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and serve.


I should add that while I was shreding parm. cheese for this recpie, I turned around and saw Mason with a piece of raw chicken hanging out of his mouth. Little stinker. I really wish I had a picture of it, b/c it was cute as hell, even though he was being naughty!

Jumping in... feet or head first?

Ok, so it seems like just about everybody is blogging these days. Since I started planning our wedding, I have come across lots of blogs- I never knew how much useful information is out there. Just last night, I tried a new recipe that I found on a fellow wedding planners blog. If I get fancy enough, I will post a link to it. The recipe was great! Now I am going to hop over to Bridgette's blog and sign up for her awesome giveaways she has on there. Maybe play around with the layout on this thing a bit too.

Oh, and I suppose I should get some work done today too.