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Sunday, April 22, 2012

The grand adventure

Well, the cats out of the bag so I figure I'd update my blog too. We're in the process of a big move! At the end of May we'll be moving out of Texas. First we'll spend the summer at my parents' cabin, working part time and getting lots of quality family time (especially with my nephew and soon-to-be new niece/nephew), and hanging out in Glacier National Park. Then we'll be off to Seattle in August. It's my dream place to live and I just accepted a position to work at the University of Washington Medical Center in their acute leukemia unit.

The fun begins now though because our house got broken into again. The grandparents are letting us stay with them for the last month we're here so we don't have to paranoid all the time. We had a garage sale yesterday and have packed up almost the whole rest of our house today.

Friday, April 20, 2012

Complimentary

Today a patient told a family member, while I was in the room, that I was "an effing cool nurse." Those words exactly. It made my night.

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Cheesecake

I had this really fantastic post all ready in my mind about this white chocolate strawberry cheesecake I made to celebrate my brother in law's engagement. I had taken some amazing pictures and then my camera got stolen. Yes, our house was broken into again. So this instantgram will have to do.


We're moving out sooner than originally planned so I'm spending today getting ready for a garage sale on Saturday. Woo!

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Seattle: The Trip


Warning, picture overload. Sorry. But really, our trip was awesome so I couldn't cut any of them. Above, you see us next to the Space Needle. We didn't go up but we did spend two hours in the park where Seth took the best nap of his life.

The frist day we spent wandering around the city including Pike's Place Market (we saw the gum wall, which is gross and the grafiti wall was next to it). One of my dreams is to go to the market, but whatever fresh ingredients are there (some fish at the fish place, homemade pasta and tons of fresh fruits and veggies), a boquet of fresh flowers and make a lovely fresh dinner that night.
Chck out the produce!


The day was gorgeous! Seth found this sticker, so we did.


We were super thankful to have my friend Kristen showing us around! (and driving us around)



Typical.


On saturday we spent lots of time outsite becasue the day was another beautiful one. That night Seth's cousins came down to hang out with us (they work at a camp north of the city). We had a lovely happy hour at Palamino's downtown then saw the sunset.



aaand Sunday was again awesome. After church we went to a few parks with some great views (like this one!) and then got Molly Moon's (see the food post).

I'm sure we'll be spending more time in Seattle and that makes me happy.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Seattle: the food

Our trip to Seattle was awesome. Food was probably a highlight. We didn't have one bad meal the whole time we were there. Here are the highlights (or at least the pictures I took!)

The first picture is of Molly Moon's. Amazing, Seattle ice cream. I had a bowl of honey lavender ice cream with hot fudge on top. It was so good I bough a few pints to have for dessert later that night.

These pictures are from Skillet in Capitol Hill. It's an awesome restaurant where all the waiters wear plaid and the food is amazing. Seth had a burger and massive pile of fries! I had a breakfast sandwich made with corn meal pancakes. My friend Kristen had the carmelized grapefruit. We will definitely be going back when we go to Seattle again. Next time I go I'm getting the grilled PB&J and poutine.


This is the white velvet latte I had at Vivace. Amazing.

Drip coffee at home.

Chowder at Pike's Place in a sourdough bread bowl.

Finally, the pictures from dinner at 9 Million. We went for Happy Hour. Seth got the Barbeque chicken pizza. I had a fantastic glass of pinot noir, fried tofu, broccoli & rabe, truffled mac & cheese and a roasted beet salad. (Don't worry, I shared)




Friday, April 6, 2012

Hawaiian Granola Bars

In an effort to eat less processed foods I've started making granola bars and man are they delicious.

This recipe is
mostly based off of this recipe from the Joyful Abode.

Ingredients:
  • 2 cups oats
  • 3/4 cup wheat germ
  • 3/4 cup sunflower seeds
  • Macadamia Nuts (roughly 1 cup, some chopped, some not)
  • 2/3 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 4 tbsp Earth Balance (or butter if you prefer)
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 8 oz. dried pineapple
  • dried coconut (unsweetened or sweetened, I had sweetened on hand)
Mix together oats, wheat germ and sunflower seeds and about half the macadamia nuts (that are chopped). Put on pan and roast at 300 degrees for 12 or so minutes, mixing periodically so nothing burns. (The original recipe recommends roasting at 400 but I ALWAYS burn the oats at that temp.)

(granola mixture on the bottom, top is another fantastic recipe I'll share sometime)

While those are roasting heat the honey, brown sugar, butter/earth balance, salt and vanilla over low heat on the stove until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm. Now put the oat mixture in a large bowl, add pineapple and coconut and stir. Dump in the liquid and mix it all together.

Take a 9x13 pan, line it with wax paper and spray the wax paper with some nonstick oil. Dump all the mixture into the pan. Once it's sort of spread out and smooshed I put the rest of the macadamia nuts on top and a little extra coconut on top. Take another piece of wax paper, put on top of the pan and push it all in together. You really want to get it in there tight or they'll crumbled when you cut them.


Let this pan cool for a few hours. After it's completely cool turn the pan over onto a cutting board. The whole thing should sort of fall out but you may have to help it a little. Cut the bars using butcher knife and don't saw it, just push through the bars (if you saw they'll fall apart, speaking from experience). Now package and enjoy (I use sandwich bags if I'm lazy or wrap them in plastic wrap). You do need to package them individually before storing or they'll stick together in a tupperware.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Seattle!

We are currently on our way to one of my favorite cities in the country! Our plan is to see some friends, drink some delicious coffee (well me, not Seth), eat delicious food and see the sights!

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Favorite thing


Y'all know about Felixx, my new iPad. I got him a home aka a case the other day and it's awesome. I got it from labudde on Etsy. Best part? It's made from a recycled coffee bean bag.


I wish I could be like Oprah and now say "EVERYONE IS GETTING ONE!!!" and have all of you scream at me.