My Favorite Things — Wanchai Chinese Food

I love, love, love Chinese food. Well, the Americanized stuff.

A few months ago, there was a coupon for $1 off and so I picked it up ... and I totally still do. But luckily for me there are still coupons from time to time ...

This stuff makes a FANTASTIC quick and easy meal. :) Oh, but you gotta provide your own chicken. Poultry not included.

Admittedly, I'm stuck on their sweet and sour chicken. But today, I grabbed the cashew chicken. AND on the box it suggested throwing veggies in. So I rummaged through the freezer and found a bag of garden veggies, which I threw in. YUMMIE!!!!!

I don't do this from a box dinner ALL the time, generally just in a pinch .... but this makes it sort of special. Yeah, I'm busy, but it's a special treat.

In other news, I'm still working on the photos from last week. And LOVING them. :) Still can't share here ... SORRY! It's NOT easy to keep these under wraps!

Hopefully tomorrow I'll find some time to do a bunch of blog posts. :)

Personal neurosis

Every family has quirks. Things unique JUST to them or their brood.

Right?

As we've gone trough the first few months of marriage, we've had to adjust to some of the insane antics of the other.

I am still perplexed by Erik's need to have at least 1,503 condiments (marinade, mustard, katsup, salad dressing, etc.) open in the 'fridge at one time.

In all fairness, Erik's had to adjust to some of my insanity, too. I store my wheat flour in the freezer. I don't make Jello w/o applesauce. I like to sleep with a minimum of 4 pillows (note to everyone: it's now down to 2, thank you very much).

So why am I writing now?

Well, let me show you Exhibit A;


Yes, potato chips. Growing up, we didn't have chips a lot, but every once in awhile, we'd have them. I'd go out to the freezer and pull a bag out.

Yes, folks, I said pull chips out of the freezer.

So when I saw them on sale a few weeks ago, I got a few bags, and tossed them in the freezer. Everyone does this, Right?!??!?? Evidently NOT. I'm told it's just a "your family" thing. Really? REALLY!?!?? Why so? Buy them cheap, put them away for a rainy day, and they're still fresh. And because they're in the freezer, I'm not tempted to eat them. Just pull them out and you can eat them right away .... or wait an hour. Either way works.

Other things make it into the freezer, too. Bread, for example. And Erik's even heard of this before, and doesn't think THAT's insane. why are the chips so nutty?

Oh, and because I have a feeling some of you will ask about the Jello ... it's my mom's recipe.

Kathy's Applesauce Jello:

Make Jello according to instructions, with 1 c. of hot water. Stir, dissolve. Now, INSTEAD of putting in cold water, put in 1 c. of applesauce (basically, substitute the applesauce for the cold water).

Stir, put in the fridge. Let set.

Simple!

Also ... I'm in a bit over my head w/ life right now. Super busy. So .... it means blog posts will not be as frequent. I know, you're sad. And I'm sorry for that. But here's what you have to look forward to when I get about 39 free seconds to blog:

• Trip to San Diego w/ Baby Paul (we drove out).
• Trip to the Grand Canyon
• Backyard tree taming
• Photos of Allison's cute baby boy (from like MONTHS ago!)
• More photos of our adorable cat, chillin' in her cathouse
• Easter photos. Sounds unexciting, but trust me, they're gonna be amusing!

See? Lots in my "to blog" list ... but not enough hours in the day....

Random rambling

• I had an AWESOME bridal/fashion shoot yesterday for Kansas Wedding Plan Magazine. It rocked OUT! A massive thank you to Erik who really helped me ... he was just amazing. Even though Erik's not a photographer, per se, he has a visual sense b/c of his work in page design. He commented about how the light kept changing, and how it was probably good b/c it'll give a wider visual variety. I didn't think of it that way, but good ol Erik did! Thanks sweetie. :)

• Also, big props to my boy Coop who came out and helped, too.

• If you're wondering WHERE the photos are from yesterday, I have to download them still ... and besides, I gotta wait till it publishes, so I don't "scoop" the print publication. *sigh* so I have to wait to share.

• I love sleep. I need it. It's not a "want" but a genuine "need." For those of you parents w/ little kiddos out there, i give you many props. For your amusement, check out this blog where my bizzzness partner, Mike, posts a photo a day from his daughter's first year. It's amusing to read, and probably my favorite thus far is THIS ONE :) So, after 10 hours of slwwp Weds night, I was spoiled. Last night, not so much sleep. Ugh.

• Where did all of the space on my 'puter go? Seriously.

• Speaking of photogs and photos, go to THIS SITE and check out Shawn's Landscape Gallery. UUUUUUUH-MAAAAAAAAZING!

• I'm wearing awesome knee-high socks from my mother-in-law and I love them!

• It's been about a month and a half since I started my effort to keep the back seat of my car clean. Wow. A month and a half? Almost half way there! And it's not been too awfully difficult. I just have to remember to take my trash with me.

• I wore long underwear (pants) yesterday to shoot in ... and Erik laughed at me, but when we got to our location, he almost asked to climb in them with me .... because it was CHILLY!

Rain Barrel upgrade!

Before:


After:


So what did I do? Erik and I added a screen to the top of the rain barrel.

We took a 48-inch bungee cord and wrapped it around screen on the barrel.


Let me tell you, it is ABSOLUTELY a 2-person job. It took both Erik and I to wrestle it onto the barrrel.

We opted to do it because there was an awful lot of gunk in the barrel. We cleaned it out, and it was good as new. But, then it was empty (we watered the garden with all of the 50-55 gallons).

So, last night it rained about an inch and a half, and now it's full again! :)

Please vote for us if you have the time!!!!

If you have 5-10 minutes to kill and haven't already voted for the 2009 Reader's Choice Awards, please CLICK HERE to check out my previous blog post about it.

Thanks! :)

Shooting the ....

A treasure map? Where could we be going?!???!?


Yes, to an area of cow excrement. It's always exciting when I go adventuring with Kristine.


We were scooping cow dung so I could put it in our garden.


I even got in on the fun!!!! Yeah, those are my killer gardening galoshes.

New career?

If this photography thing ever doesn't work out, I truly think I could have a future in floral arrangements ...


Just a little detail.:)

We grabbed this dozen flowers for $4.99 in the clearance section of Dillon's. :)

Milestone

Check out what happened w/ Erik's trusty vehicle!

Closet — demo + rebuilding

Once we removed the shelves in the closet, I saw that the person who put it in had *less* ability than I did! (side note: it was NOT Erik, it was probably the person who sold him the house).


See? This person hangs pictures a *Iittle* bit like I do! ;)


Yeah, check out the number of shades of brown I was trying to choose between. For the most part, I get a few colors on the wall and Erik chooses the final color. Mostly because I can't decide and just tell him to pick. But he ALWAYS chooses well.


He even picks up a brush every once in awhile.


Doesn't the color look *fantastic*??!!??!?!?


Even better in the morning light!


On come the boxes of wood!


We ordered 2 closet sets, one for each wall. Basically, one for him and one for me! Could a girl get any luckier?!?!?!???


Then it was time to start drilling holes in our pristinely painted walls.


Erik rocked it out with drilling them. :)


Since we didn't necessarily put all of the holes in the studs, we had to put these plastic thingies in the wall. But ... well, some of them broke. :(


Getting the upper bar up was pretty exciting! :)


This is the COOLEST thing! See how the hook is on the bottom? That means I can just slide the hanger right across the rod. Know how some racks, especially department stores? The hanger always gets caught in the rack. Yeah, annoying.


Vertical column is up!!!!! (Hi Esse!!!!!!!)


See how long Erik's shirts are?


Another vertical column up!


Erik is GREAT about pitching in! :)


Once I got the lower bar up, I drug clothes in, to see if it was too low. I hung the bar a little lower than it suggested. Mainly because Erik is so tall and his shirts are LONG ....

Closet — Esse

Our crazy cat had a fantastical time investigating everything that was out of order during our closet remodel.

This is her condescenting "what the heck are you crazy humans doing" look:


Esse likes, no, LOVES, boxes. :)


And even hiding behind them, checking out what E is up to ...


Checking out things a little closer ....


"The Squint" .....


Enjoying a nap on the dresser that was moved. I thoughtlessly tossed a quilt on it, and, as we all know, Esse is an opportunist. :)


Checking out the paint job ....




How did she get up there?


Overseeing the instillation.


More:


And giving a good sniff to the closet shelves.


Every time we'd get a shelf up, we'd go grab the cat and put her on it. If it could hold a 7-pound cat, it can hold our clothes, right? ;)


Esse taking a spin on our vertical shelving.


I wish she'd find another way up and down from the top of the closet .....