it's the small things

like watching big snowflakes falling outside your office window. getting a coffee at starbucks instead of 7-11. chasing the dog around the house until you're both panting with exhaustion. seeing good friends for the first time in weeks. pinching off pieces of brownie until your teeth hurt. hearing your husband sing "skinamarinkydinkydink skinamarinkadoo, I love you" out of the blue. holding hands on the couch with your love. curling up in a chair with a book that you know inside and out, but want to read again anyway.

there were a few times yesterday that I almost lost my mind. these moments kept me sane.

our quesadilla

"cheese." now rub my belly, please.

Andy and I joke that Casey has a daily agenda. It goes something like this:

Wake up

Look cute

Stretch and yawn loudly

Look cute

Race down the stairs

Check outside for kitties

Look cute

Go back upstairs for a morning nap

Look cute

Etc., etc.

Casey stinks to high heaven after she's been in the sun. It goes away after 20 or so minutes, but it's horrible for those 20 minutes. She barks at men, she practically stalks some of my friends when they come over, she gets out of our fence and she has gotten on furniture that she's not allowed to get on.

But we put up with all of this because... well, she's cute. She loves us. Every time we walk through the door she acts likes she hasn't seen us for days, even if we've only been gone a few minutes. Her whole body shakes when she's happy. She almost always refuses to play fetch unless she's swimming, and then she'll spend hours paddling towards sticks and biting the occasional leaf that gets in her way. She watches YouTube videos of cats with intense concentration and curiosity. Sometimes mid-video she'll start searching for the cat behind the couch or out the window. Just yesterday she sat down in front of the television and watched the entire trailer of Beauty and the Beast. I think she saw the beast and thought it was her.

A few days ago I walked across the street to borrow honey and I shut the door, except I didn't shut it so it would click. I was at my friend's house for about five, maybe ten minutes, and when I opened his front door to go home, Casey was standing there, wiggling her body with expectation. Found you!

She lives for belly rubs, compliments, kitties, squirrels, popcorn, cheese and empty tuna cans. She nips at our wrists when we do P90x. She sits on the passenger seat when we drive around town, but she jumps down as soon as we get on the highway. I don't know how she knows the difference, but she does. She loves stuffed animals. If it doesn't have a squeaker, she's not interested. She annihilates them instantly. Must find and destroy squeaker. She has a method for getting it out - she tears the toy open with her teeth and then pulls the stuffing out, darting her tongue to the side to get the fluff out of her mouth. It's very impressive. She also has an ongoing love affair with her Kong, which she uses to get our attention when she's bored. LOOK MOM I BOUNCED THE KONG AND IT ALMOST HIT THE TV. NOW WILL YOU PLAY?

Casey will only wait about two minutes after being punished before she sits in front of us and wags her tail slightly, pleading us with her eyes to forgive her. She knows we're really mad when we don't give in and pet her, and then she'll slump to the floor with a sigh and peer back up at us, still hoping.

Andy was hesitant to get a dog three months after we got married. He worried it was too soon and that the dog would be too much of a responsibility. Then he saw Casey and instantly fell in love with her. He later told me, "Having Casey has made me realized that I can be a dad, because I know that if I can love a dog this much then I can love my kids even more."

it's so fluffy I'm gonna die!!

a cabin christmas

sesame chicken, tomato cream sauce and julia child's mushrooms

Don't worry - that wasn't one meal.


Instead of doing New Year's resolutions I'm going to have monthly goals that I (hopefully) will write about each month. For January, my goal is to try at least one new recipe a week. I rarely cooked for myself for the five months that we lived apart, and I think it's time to get back into the swing of things. 


Last night I decided to try a recipe for Lighter Sesame Chicken. Oy. I wish the recipe had been more clear. Make it so a third grader can understand it! When it came time to cook the chicken, I figured I was supposed to dredge it in the cornstarch mixture first, and then into the sauce, and then into the skillet (even though it never says to do this). That made a gooey mess, so in an act of insanity I combined both of the liquids. Whoops... clearly I was wrong. I looked at other similar recipes and realized I was supposed to dredge the chicken in the cornstarch mixture and cook it, THEN pour the sauce on. Reading the recipe again, I can see where I was mistaken, but at the time I imagined the cornstarch mixture to be the glue that would keep the sauce on the chicken. 

I cooked the chicken in three batches, then put all of the cooked chicken and broccoli into the pan and stirred in more sauce and sesame seeds. It was a frustrating and messy experience, but Andy seemed impressed and complimented the dish throughout the meal. I'm sure I'll make it again - the flavor was great  - but I'll do it right the next time!

(I think my dish looks more appetizing than the one on the website)

Tonight I jazzed up an Italian sausage and peppers dish by preparing it with a different sauce. This tomato cream sauce sounded yummy, so I gave it a shot. I've been dying to try Julia Child's mushrooms, so I figured they could be a random side dish.

I was a little overwhelmed because I cooked the sausage in one pan, the pasta in another, the sauce in another, and the mushrooms in yet another. Pictures were out of the question. The sausage dish was creamy and slightly spicy, and the mushrooms were crusty and buttery and heavenly.

Tomorrow I'm taking a break from cooking.

2011 year in review

check out "2010 year in review" here

What a crazy year 2011 has been! New jobs for both of us, lots of traveling, a broken bone, a near move... but we made it! Here are some highlights from the year:

January: I got a new job, and then almost got shot on my first day (not really)

February: I shared my thoughts on love and daydreamed about our upcoming beach trip

March: I recorded 93 things about myself and almost lost my husband while skiing at Snowshoe

April: I shared design ideas for boy's nursery and girl's nursery, had a hard week and had a misunderstanding with my husband

May: We celebrated three years of marriage, came up with a new anniversary tradition, and then spent a week apart (foreshadowing, I wonder?)

June: I came up with a way to give to others (still loving this) and Andy faced a stinky challenge after returning home from our beach trip

July: Andy broke his collarbone, I divulged more than you wanted to know, Andy got a new job, I met Sky (my brother's fiancé) and, following the death of my grandma, wrote a tribute to share at her memorial picnic

August: I shared secrets on a happy marriage, more thoughts on love, some tips on fashion and shopping, and the incredible, compelling, fascinating stories of StoryCorps

September: Went to a grocery store for a date, flew to Boston, and realized Andy and I would be living apart longer than we expected.

October: I put together a guide to Harrisonburg, wrote about our trip to Chicago, posted pics from Chicago, found out we needed to move and quit my job!

November: We snuggled a baby in sunny Tampa, I took my job back, and compiled a 2011 gift guide

December: In case you missed these, I turned 25, learned a hard lesson on compassion, had a birthday that never ended, practiced taking pics with different cameras and listed the books I read this year

by the way, friends, have I shared with you that Andy FINALLY got the position closer to Harrisonburg? Wahoo! He started today, which means we get to LIVE TOGETHER again!!!!!

what a great way to start the new year!