Anticipate!

That's a saying I tell Gary a lot while driving. I'm sure that I annoy him with my constant freak outs and "anticpate"'s! and my random finger pointing but really, it's a good concept. I'm a terrible driver, but anticipating is very important :)

Like I've mentioned in previous posts, I have been starving. I can barely eat something without still feeling hungry before I'm finished with the last bite. My stomach needs to catch up to my brain because my brain has done a good job (probably too good) telling me I am no longer hungry. Tonight I came home wanting a pizza but also spaghetti. I decided on having pizza and thought I'd make the spaghetti sauce for later juuuuust in case. Anticipate! (also anticipating for lunch....) And now, a full 2.5 hours since finishing my pizza, am I hungry? No. Not at all. Bummer because I really wanted some spaghetti.

Here is the recipe I used just in case you guys don't have it. It's the sauce mom makes that is sooooo good.

Spaghetti Sauce recipe from Brenda
1 lb ground beef
I can 28 oz canned whole tomatoes
1 tsp oregano (or to taste)
1 onion
1 bay leaf
Salt/pepper to taste
1 glove garlic chopped (mom uses more, as did I :))
1 lb spaghetti
1 T chopped parsley (or to taste)

Brown meat & onion, garlic, parsley. Cook for at least 10 minutes stirring constantly. Add tomatoes and rest of seasonings. Simmer until desired thickness. Remove bay leaf OR keep in pot. Then whoever receives it in their serving will be stuck with the dishes. Make sure they don't eat it though. Bad news bears.

Here is the picture. I apologize that you can't smell it because my word it smells goooood!

Who knew??

I read an adorable blog called "Enjoying the Small Things". The author is a mother of two precious little girls and I believe a professional photographer so her blogs are ALWAYS filled with THE cutest pictures. The blog she wrote the other day included a new sponsor which makes cute baby/kid clothes. They are SOOOOO COOL and with a little one on the way, I swooned :) Anyhoo, she mentioned that one lucky winner would win a gift certificate simply by commenting to the blog three things we enjoy.

Guess what................I WON!!!

Out of 757 comments, I won. How insane is that?? I found out by reading her blog post today about her Easter weekend (super cute!) This is what it read:

Congratulations to Mountain Aven Baby gift certificate winner, Commenter #615 V.wiest: I am enjoying the thoughts of spring as I eat a fresh roma tomato, a short weekend with my new husband who lives 3 hours away because he's still in school AND I am reaaaallly enjoying being just over 7 weeks pregnant with our first little peanut :).

V.Wiest, Please send your contact info to kellehamptonblog@comcast.net, and you'll be able to pick out some cute baby goods soon!

And that, I did :) Can't wait!!!! You can view the Mountain Aven Baby items here.

gross.

I came home from work an hour early today but to be honest, I'm surprised I lasted that long. I knew when I went in that it would be a loooong day. I felt a little weird and soon felt really warm, then really cold. Yeah, fever-like symptoms. Not my fav. Anyway, it was really only bad when I was in my office alone. When I was out and about or distracted in a meeting (I got to do some housing assignments! It brought me back to my FAVORITE part of my summer job!) it was completely fine. Eventually I mustered up the courage to ask to leave early. Believe me, I don't even understand that concept. I've never had to leave work because I was sick before. I find it weird. I'm sure that'll change though :)

Sooo yes, I took a wee little nap and I felt sooooo much better. Then, I started watching the Top Chef I missed. Bad idea. They had to cook with bugs.

Now I just feel nauseous....

and hungry....

Secret exposed....

I can't not talk about it. Though there is still a few key people yet to be told, I NEED to talk about it.

There is (as of week 6) a little sweet pea growing inside of me.

I have been super tired, unmotivated and most recently, STARVING all day long. I have yet to have morning or evening sickness so I can't really complain :) I just need to get used to a routine no matter how tired I am. Those dishes won't do themselves! Also, I NEED to eat more. I clearly didn't eat that much before but my word, I have got to invest in some snacks. I eat a huge meal and less than 1 hour later, my stomach is screaming for food. It must be a boy :) My problem is that I have never been a snack person so I don't have the slightest clue what to eat. I don't like granola bars or nuts. I'm thinking grapes, crackers and peanut butter, rise krispies (just because ;)....what else??????? I've got 33 more weeks! Heeeeelp!

In other news, Gary comes soon!!!! Though he is now coming up Friday morning, I can't wait. I've had a rough few weeks without him and really need his company :) I find myself overemotional almost nightly and then call Gary in a crying frenzy (sorry honey bear, but thank you for always making me feel better) We'll also be joining Bridget & Drew on their MN vaca on Saturday for dinner. I AM SO EXCITED. I saw pot roast on the menu. Yes please.

Done and Done.

I have been anticipating this day for quite awhile. I have recently decided that onions aren't completely the worst food on earth and have wanted to make some caramelized onions for a.w.h.i.l.e. Sure, it doesn't really count for liking onions but I promise, I'm getting better. I can even eat them in my favorite Chipotle salsa. Baby steps people, baby steps.

In anticipation for making burgers, I went to the Wedge Co-op last night (which was AWESOME!) to pick up some cilantro. That was when I remembered I wanted to try and make caramelized onions since I've never done so before. So I got me an onion as well. Vanessa was dreaming big!

Due to eating lunch ridiculously early today (9:45am? I didn't realize it was so early...) I got super hungry by 4pm. That was when I cut up that onion and got super excited. I LOVE the smell of cooked onions. I can still smell it now. Amazing. They turned out okay, a little burned, but still okay. I will do better next time.

Caramelized Onions. Yum.

I have been anticipating this day for quite awhile. I have recently decided that onions aren't completely the worst food on earth and have wanted to make some caramelized onions for a.w.h.i.l.e. Sure, it doesn't really count for liking onions but I promise, I'm getting better. I can even eat them in my favorite Chipotle salsa. Baby steps people, baby steps.

In anticipation for making burgers, I went to the Wedge Co-op last night (which was AWESOME!) to pick up some cilantro. That was when I remembered I wanted to try and make caramelized onions since I've never done so before. So I got me an onion as well. Vanessa was dreaming big!

Due to eating lunch ridiculously early today (9:45am? I didn't realize it was so early...) I got super hungry by 4pm. That was when I cut up that onion and got super excited. I LOVE the smell of cooked onions. I can still smell it now. Amazing. They turned out okay, a little burned, but still okay. I will do better next time.

all opposed

Today was a big day at the office. I will not say for what reason until a later date but it was a big day and that must be noted.

In other news, it is also a big day in the not-complete (Gary, move :)) Wiest household:

1. I love garlic. I reaaaaalllly love garlic. However, my body can't handle how much I love garlic. My body got mad today after I ate a lean cuisine garlic-chicken pizza. I didn't love it and it was not a fun afternoon. No more copious amounts of garlic for me. sad day.

2. I recently (FINALLY) watched Lincoln Lawyer with Gary. It was a great movie and I was definitely looking forward to it because the book that the movie is based on was written by my favorite author, Michael Connelly. I was a little skeptical though because the last time they made a movie from one of his books, Blood Work, they ruined. By they, I mean Clint Eastwood. He ruined that movie and almost ruined that book for me and it's one of my favorite Connelly books. I dislike you greatly, Clint. Thankfully, he was not directing nor was he starring in Lincoln Lawyer. It was a great movie and I thoroughly enjoyed it. SO much in fact that I skipped ahead in my re-reading endeavor (I have read (and own) all the Michael Connelly books to date and now am re-reading them for kicks. It's been fun!) (also, I actually stalled my re-reading endeavor since I moved to Minneapolis on Feb 21. I was scared of living alone and knew his books would only freak me out more. Since moving, I actually feel really safe so I decided it was time.) to the Lincoln Lawyer book. So far so good. The movie people actually took words right out of the book. Let's just hope they stick with the rest of it. I hate when they change things to make it work for the movie. I don't like ruining the integrity of the book one bit.

3. I LOVE coupons. I love not having to purchase a newspaper to get the coupons. It must be a MN thing because I get free coupons in my mailbox frequently, probably 2-3 times a week. Loves it. I now have so many coupons lying around that I realized I need to put them in a place where I will look at them and actually use them before they expire. Thus came my idea to use one of the many recipe boxes I recently received for this very purpose. I am excited.

4. Gary & I got a slow cooker as a gift from the ATHENA ladies. We got a brochure for different items we could choose and though I got Gary's opinion, I forgot what we decided. Apparently it wasn't the slow cooker. Oops :) Sorry, honey bear. Anyways, we got the slow cooker and I couldn't be more excited. I think soup when I think slow cooker. And I've had a huge desire to make all kinds of soup. Hopefully this will be the healthy push I need to make all these kinds of soup. Also, very exciting :)

5.

As I was making dinner tonight I noticed that my pasta stash is awfully low. It's pitiful for my standards. So while I'm at the grocery store this weekend picking up soup materials and other important stuff like milk and OJ, I WILL get some more pasta. Can't wait to have more options. I miss my penne. Notice how much chocolate I have in my cabinet. That has been there since I moved in. I just have no desire to eat chocolate/I didn't have eggs to make the brownie or cake mix :) One of these days....

How can I help with homework?????

At work yesterday I met the new dean of students for LSM. She mentioned during our little meet & greet that there is a new way to teach math these days and it's COMPLETELY different than how we were all taught growing up. There's some sort of box involved and they calculate everything differently (adding, subtracting, etc). She went to our trusty whiteboard to explain but I couldn't really fathom how ridiculous this was. It wasn't until today when I realized it. I am currently in Rochester for a database training (which by the way WILL save our lives at LMP!!!!!!!! I am so excited!). I of course stopped at Chipotle AND Noodles & Co for dinner and while I was waiting for my pasta, I overheard a dad and his daughter working on her math homework. He was trying to tell her how to figure out a complex division problem and she was having NONE of it. She kept saying, "that's not how we do it!" And he kept trying to tell her because to him, it was the MUCH easier way to solve the problem. I just had to smile but really, how will I teach my kids if I don't know the method that they are being taught??????

First Friday {1}

This is the very FIRST edition of FIRST FRIDAY!!!! I am so excited to report that yes, my job does indeed include a day of from work every first Friday of the month. I've decided that I will do my best to be productive on these days off AND to report my productivity in the First Friday blog. I must admit that this is not the first First Friday I've had, but I honestly cannot remember what I did that day. I had just started the new job and was most likely getting settled in the new apartment. Or grocery shopping. If I had to guess, it was probably the day I walked downtown only to get lost and not find anything I walked there for. Sorry, that was just much too frustrating and boring to write about :)

So, for my first First Friday blog, I am SUPER pumped to report that I got a hair cut. When my mom and I came up to Minneapolis to look at apartments, we kept driving down Lyndale. On Lyndale, there is a salon called Moxie. It looked like a hip (probably too hip for me) little joint so when I decided way back when that I'd cut my hair after the wedding, I kept Moxie in my back pocket. Yesterday, I pulled it back out and scheduled an appointment for 9am so that I wouldn't back out. Not that I would, but having gone a couple weeks shy of a full year since the last hair cut debacle, you never know. It could happen. At 9am sharp, I arrived, all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. This place is AWESOME! They gave me a tour of the place which I thought was really cool and everyone was so nice. They wore all black and a retro/edgy style that I find refreshing. The person who did my hair was really sweet and very knowledgeable about hair. I just gave her some direction and was confident that I'd love what she did. And boy do I love it! It's adorably cute and light and short. I'm excited for Gary to see it in person :) Phone pictures don't do it justice.

The other productive activity on my to-do list was to take the MN driver's license test. After my haircut I came home and read 70 pgs of the manual. As I was nearing the end of it though, I realized that I want to have my new name on the license. Unfortunately I don't have my new marriage certificate yet. Sooooooooo I guess I'll wait until Gary gets here for Easter weekend to do it. Yes, they are open, don't worry :)

Item #3: Pay rent :P I called up the leasing office to figure out what I owed for moving in early and guess what?!?!?! They are NOT charging me! They decided after I signed my lease that it wasn't worth charging me OR that I was just that awesome. I'm choosing to believe the latter.

Item #4: Organize :):):) I cannot wait to start putting everything away. Everything has just been hanging out since I moved in February 21. Not good. Besides, my mom thinks I'm lazy ;) I swear I'm not....

Item #5: Take out the trash. I forgot to do this yesterday but it's imperative that I do it sooooooon. I made the mistake of leaving the chocolate covered strawberries out because I like strawberries when they aren't freezing cold. Bad idea. They stink!

I'm looking forward to the rest of my first official First Friday!