Thanksgiving / My Birthday

Thanksgiving went by so fast but was such a fun time. The boyfriend and I left for Cleveland very very early Thursday morning. My mom rented a house right on the lake that had 5 bedrooms: my sisters each brought him their significant others, plus our friend Jeet joined along as well making it 9 people in the house (my parents stayed at my grandparents house). It was so much fun all being in the house as opposed to a hotel, where we could all relax and hang out. 

View of Lake Erie from our bedroom 

My dad picked us up from the airport, and we drove to my grandparents house to change, and then did a 5 mile Turkey Trot race. It was sooo cold outside - I think it was about 20 and windy and snowing. It was really fun though - I walked it with my parents and the boyfriend ran it with Jeet and the brother-in-law. 

After the race we went to the house to shower and change, and then headed to my aunts house for Thanksgiving. She made a delicious meal for all of us and I had a great time chilling out with my family. 

Friday afternoon we all went to our hometown to get lunch, do some sightseeing, and shopping. Then we all went back over to my aunts house again for pizza which was also a fun time. 

Saturday morning I was supposed to fly out at 8am, but once I got to my gate they were looking for volunteers for a later flight which I happily took for a $300 voucher. Saturday was also my 29th birthday, and once I arrived back in town I took a nice long nap, and then headed to my friend Jesica's house for dinner and cake:

Sunday the birthday festivities continued when my sister and my brother-in-law took me out to lunch at Founding Farmers. They also got me mini cakes for dessert which were delicious. 

Today is Monday which means back to work. At least there's lots of good sales to keep my occupied (although I haven't bought anything yet). 

Almost There

This past month has flown by! I don't have much to catch up on other than the fact that I've been working non-stop. I just keep trying to focus on the light at the end of the tunnel and the fact that busy season is almost over, so I can finally get my life back. 

The boyfriend made it back home safe and sound from his trip to Saudi Arabia and I'm so happy to have him back. 

I've been having some eye issues lately so I've been forced to wear my glasses which is becoming quite annoying. I had an eye infection back in September that apparently never fully went away, and it just kept getting worse and worse and now I can't see properly out of my left eye (it can't focus on anything). I've been having to do drops, ointment, and lots of doctor visits and I can't wait to be able to see again!

Those are all the updates for now, more coming soon!

Happy Halloween!!!

Today is Halloween but it is 70 degrees out and sunny and humid so it does not feel like Halloween at all.

Last night we carved pumpkins at my friend Julie's apartment. It was so much fun! Jesica and I did a combined effort to make this guy:

Here are the group's pumpkins all lit up:

Besides carving pumpkins I'm not doing anything else Halloween related this year :( I had to work last weekend, and again this weekend, so I won't be attending any Halloween parties and didn't have a reason to dress up. Maybe next year I'll be more festive.

The boyfriend left me last week for Saudi Arabia so I've been flying solo all week, which hasn't been too bad since I've had to work so much. He gets back next week and I'm so excited to see him!

That's all I've got for now. More to come soon! Happy Halloween!!!

Lots of Tidbits

I haven't updated in quite a long time so I will try and recap as best I can:

- The other night I had to work late and then over to the boyfriends place. I told him I was starving and I came home to this delicious plate of food:

- Last weekend my sister invited us to an art festival but then couldn't end up going. The boyfriend and I still went and had a great time, and saw a pet pig on a leash there:

  He was a cutie but I don't think I could deal with the squealing. 

- As I've probably mentioned I've joined a women's soccer league that plays on Saturdays. Although our team hasn't won many games (so far we are 1-4) it's an awesome group of ladies and I have so much fun playing with them. 

- Two weekends ago the boyfriend and I went to visit Jenna in Columbus, Ohio for her birthday. It was such a fun time - the highlights included going apple picking, doing a corn maze, experiencing game day at OSU, and of course hanging out with Jenna!

- The last quarter of the year is the super busy time for my me at work. It's already started getting busy and will just keep ramping up from here. Let's hope I can survive until 2014. 

- Today at work we had a brown bag session with one of our founders.  Someone asked him what advice would you give to your 30 year old self and his answer was: be good to your kids and if you don't have kids, be good to your friends. I thought this was very good advice. 

- This weekend the boyfriend and I are

going to Roanoke. I am looking forward to a nice relaxing low-key weekend. 

- The weather has been crazy lately. A few days ago it was 90 and sunny out. Today the high is 57 and it's windy and has been raining all day. I guess Fall is finally here. So far I just miss summer. 

- The boyfriend is leaving me again at the end of the month to go back to Saudi Arabia. I'm hoping that I'll be too busy with work to miss him too much but we'll have to wait and see. 

That's all I can think of for now!

Cooking

As I mentioned, I have been doing a lot of cooking this past week, and I wanted to share some of my recipes with you. 

The other night I whipped up this Shrimp and Green Bean Fried Rice dish in no time at all. I sautéed shrimp in butter and poured this over rice I had whipped up from Boil in a Bag (so easy and makes cleaning up a breeze). I then stirred in green beans which I had steamed in the bag, and cut up quickly with kitchen scissors after they were steamed. I then tossed the mixture with some fried rice seasoning. I had meant to also mix in a touch of soy sauce but forgot. It was good but most of all it was so quick and healthy. 

Last night I made this Crispy Cheddar Chicken Dish that I found on Pinterest and it was very delicious. 

For the chicken you put it in milk, then roll it in shredded cheddar cheese, then roll it in crushed up Ritz crackers, and then bake. The sauce is just cream of chicken, sour cream, and butter. 

Here is the link to the recipe:

http://m.justapinch.com/recipes/main-course/chicken/crispy-cheddar-chicken-4.html

I also made this last week for the boyfriend 

and I, but it was not very quick. I made baked potatoes

spinach, and steak with mushrooms and onions.

The steak was cooked perfectly, one of my best,

but the potatoes took forever to cook. To make the 

steak delicious he first rule is you can't cook it if 

it's cold - I try and let it sit out for at least an hour

before I cook it. After you cook it, you have to let 

it rest for at least 3 mins before you cut into it. 

I try and keep it very simple when I cook steak: 

sautée it in butter or oil (I prefer butter) on med to 

med low heat. I flavor it with McCormicks Grill

Mates, which is mainly just salt and pepper, and 

if the steak is thick I put the heat on low and put

the lid on to help it cook through. It should take no

more than 5 mins to cook. 

Hope to have more recipes coming soon - I 

pinned a bunch of recipes on Pinterest I hope

to try soon!

Staycation

At my work, our vacation days start Oct 1 and ends Sep 30. I had 2 extra days I had to use or I would loose them, so I decided to take Monday and Tuesday off. I had such a nice and relaxing day the past 2 days! I cleaned my apartment from top to bottom, I transitioned out my summer clothes and transitioned in my winter clothes, I made a bunch of meals and froze them for later, and I just relaxed and enjoyed myself. It was glorious, and the best part is its already Wednesday!

This past weekend the weather was beautiful so I tried to be outside as much as possible. Friday I went to crossfit after work, Saturday morning my friend Jesica ran her first 5k at a Color Run so I went to cheer her on, then I had my women's league game in the afternoon (the boyfriend surprised me by coming to watch - he had to work but finished up early), and we went to Georgetown that evening to switch out my Nike FuelBand since it stopped working on me.  

Sunday I went to the boyfriend's soccer game and then he played with my team later that day. It was quite an active and fun-filled weekend!

Below are pictures from Jesica's race:

Pre-race 

Mid-race

Finishing the race

So proud of her!!!

Long Weekend!

Can't believe September is already here, but August ended on a high note with the boyfriend's sister coming to visit. We did lots of touristy things including the Museum of Natural History where we saw the butterfly exhibit. We went into this room where there were butterflies everywhere, of all shapes and sizes. They were so beautiful!

We also went to the Portrait Gallery which has the most beautiful courtyard. 

Another adventure was going to the top of the Old Post Office Building which has magnificent views. 

We also ate and ate and ate! So much eating delicious food, I am still stuffed from the weekend. 

Friday night I went to my friends place for a homemade meal of traditional South Indian food. I wasn't sure what to expect but the food was delicious. Not too spicy, full of flavor, and I definitely didn't miss the meat (the meal was vegetarian).  

Making dosas

Dosas

Eating dosas: my bro-in-law, my sister, Jeet, and myself

Sisters :)

Sunday we also went over to our friend Ros's for a small get together/BBQ. It was really fun, relaxing, and great food (per usual). 

That pretty much covers it. The weekend was lots of fun and went by way too fast. Now it's back to reality time. 

Upcoming this week is soccer on Tues and hopefully crossfit on Wed, Thurs, and Fri...lets hope that's not too ambitious and that I can walk by this weekend, since my new ladies soccer team's first game is on Saturday, and my regular soccer league's season kickoff is Sunday evening.