Insert toothpicks into the tops of the strawberries. In a double boiler, melt the chocolate and shortening, stirring occasionally until smooth. Holding them by the toothpicks, dip the strawberries into the chocolate mixture. Turn the strawberries upside down and insert the toothpick into styrofoam for the chocolate to cool.
"What you need to know about the past is that no matter what has happened, it has all worked together to bring you to this very moment. And this is the moment you can choose to make everything new. Right now."
It's time again for Three Things Thursday!! Let's see here.../
01: World of Warcraft
Yes, I am a huge nerd. I have been playing this game since 2005, and I love it. We have taken breaks from playing during that time, but we always end up coming back. We recently took a break for a couple of months while Matt was going to school, but on Tuesday I re-upped my account, and now I'm looking to start raiding again! Have you met Escalade? Hahaha.... .
I just heard this song for the first time this week. I love it!! So pretty. I'd love to learn to play it. I really really miss playing mallets. That used to be such a huge part of my life. I may look into getting a set of bells...//. although what I would really love it to own a vibraphone. Or marimba. Favorites.
03: Starbucks Green Tea Lattes
Mmmm..... had one of these today, and I was reminded of how good they are!! I guess they're probably not for everyone though. I'm a huge tea drinker, and I drink matcha daily. This drink is just an occasional treat. Refreshing.
I came home to a delicious salmon dinner tonight and a husband who loves me more than I can say. Still feeling kind of emotional, but I have a lot of great things to be happy about.
Ok.... take a break, Nikki. Ok..OK. Things have just been non-stop lately. This year is just flying by. When is it going to slow down so I can catch up?! I have 3 days off this weekend. It's hardly a vacation, but hopefully it will help.
I've missed so much here, where do I even start? Uhhh... /ya know. Maybe most things are better off not said. Let's not go there. Let's just keep this simple. Emotions are running high the past few days, which means I'm super-sensitive. I wish I could just flip a switch and turn that off. I know that I can't control most things in my life. There are a very small amount of things that I can control, and when those things start going off and doing their own thing..// well it's pretty damn frustrating. It is nice to have people there to back me up and support me when I get overwhelmed though. Come on!! I want to get back to happy, optimistic me again!!!
Matt is finished with his first semester already!! Sooo happy for him! He worked so hard this semester, and I really hope that he gets the grades he deserves for it. We started playing Terraria last week. I know... it looks like a dumb, little kids' game. It is SO FUN!! Haha.... having a good time digging and building. I'm thinking about renewing my WoW subscription. I should have some more time on my hands soon, and now I'm starting to miss it again. Hoping Phil&Izzy will be able to play again soon too!!
We went to my boss's 40th Birthday Party on Saturday, which was pretty awesome. Scotch, Wine, Tequila & "other" tasting tables, plus lots of other yummy stuff. It's always fun hanging out with everyone outside of the office.
On Sunday, my Uncle Terry was in town, so we had dinner with him at my parents' house. It was great to see him. It's too bad that we don't get more opportunities to see our cousins as well.
So today I'm throwing out the healthy stuff and giving you a recipe that I got from Stacy a few years ago that's extremely simple and just plain delicious. That reminds me../... at Christmas I made a trifle that was absolutely ridiculous. Sooooo terribly rich,.. and bad for you. I'll have to find that recipe for another time. Haha....
Marshmallow Cream Cheese Fruit Dip:
1 (8oz) Package Cream Cheese
1 (1 pint) Jar Marshmallow Cream
Use mixer to cream together cream cheese and marshmallow cream. Serve with fruit. Enjoy!!
You can call me a cheater. This is the easiest recipe ever. But it's one of my favorites!!
This week has been intense. I haven't given up on blogging. Promise!! I just haven't been in the mood lately.....// and I've been wayyyyy too busy. I'll be posting soon...
(The post formerly known as "The Night Starts Now". Thanks, Blogger, for making me look bad..../ like I skipped out on my favorite blog day or something!!)
Three things... Let's get right to it. No time to waste../ I have season finales to watch!!
Specifically the pad kee mao, chicken satay, tom yum soup, curry..../.. Oh hell, it's all amazing! We had pad kee mao and green curry last night for dinner. Just can't get enough!! This has been our fav Thai place for years- Lee is the best!!!!
This is an artist I just discovered today, and I'm thrilled! This work is so unique and feels so ...//me.
03: Donuts
Ya know.. sometimes you just need a donut. These things are our guilty pleasure. Man/... Now that I have been looking at all these donut pictures.. I want one!! Pederson's is usually our go-to donut place since it's open 24 hours, and we always get our cravings late at night, haha.
I will update and all that later. Nooottttt eeennnnooouuuggghhh tttiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeee............./
Matt's video is finished and complete!!! It was a pain trying to get it uploaded, but he finally got it!! I hope that it is well-received. He did such an awesome job - I'm really proud of him. So, without further ado.//
Wow, is it Thursday again already? Ok, I guess it's time!! This is going to be an especially nerdy one.../
01: The Big Bang Theory
I freaking LOVE THIS SHOW!!!!! I hate to label one show as my favorite because I really love a lot of them, but I think it's very close between this one and How I Met Your Mother as far as shows that are currently airing go. It's hilarious and I looooove all the characters. The cast is fantastic, and they absolutely nail their roles in my opinion! Bud & Christin introduced us to the show when they came out to visit last year, and we watched all the way through and got caught up within about a week's time!! Could NOT get enough. There is a new episode on tonight, and I'm super anxious to go watch it!!
02: 2 Atoms In A Molecule
Yeah, I used it as a blog title not too long ago because I think it's a great song. Listen to it all the time. It always puts me in a good mood and makes me smile. //Maybe just because I'm a huge geek.. There is another song that I really like, and I'll share it now. It doesn't count as one of my three things though!! I found this cover a few years ago.
03: MOM!!
I love my mom!!! I think this picture is cute too! Isn't she pretty! I'm glad I get to celebrate my mom on Sunday. She has done so much for me!! Thank you, Mom!!!!!
I love my Mom-In-Law too!!! She's awesome!!
Last night Matt & I went to see Exporting Raymond down in Hillcrest. It is a documentary about recreating the show Everybody Loves Raymond in Russia. We really enjoyed it! The creator, Philip Rosenthal is a pretty funny guy, and the entire documentary is very humorous. I would definitely recommend it, even if you don't normally watch documentaries. I know I don't, but if I had it to do over again, I would! I used to watch Everybody Loves Raymond with my parents, but I guess if you haven't ever seen the original show, the documentary might not be very interesting. Funny stuff though..../.
Well, Matt finished New Roommate today, so hopefully I will be able to share that soon. He did such a great job. He's just about done with his classes for the semester. Things have been extremely stressful and busy for both of us lately. I am starting to really feel the workload at the office. But it's manageable now that I have the new clerical assistant, Ashlee there. It's taking some extra time to train her, but overall I think I'm better off now than I would be without her there to help.
That's all I've got!! Have a great night, and let's hope that Matt & I end up going to see Thor tomorrow night!!! Yeah!! xoxoxo <3
Today is another Tuesday, which means it's time for Tasty Tuesday Treats!! ... Tasty Treats Tuesday.../. ..Tuesday Tasty Treats.// Which one is it??
Oh anyway, I have another sampling from my personal creations and diet. I've been meaning to post this one for a while, but haven't gotten around to it until now.
Mixed Asian Salad:
Baby Bok Choy Japanese Cucumber Shredded Cabbage Bean Sprouts Enoki Mushrooms Mandarin Oranges (canned)
Finely chop and clean all veggies and combine as desired in a medium bowl. Drain can of mandarin oranges and add to top. If you want, add kimchi, tofu, and/or hard-boiled egg. Mix rice vinegar, soy sauce & sugar in a small bowl. Stir in sesame seeds and oil.
There is a lot of room to experiment or modify this recipe depending on what you like. I don't think I've ever made this salad with everything I listed all at once. It's just fun to try different things. I try to incorporate seaweed, tofu and kimchi into my diet because they have a lot of very healthy qualities... and they're tasty!! Ok../ Maybe they're a little bit of an acquired taste..... Another one that you might consider adding is raddish. That would be tasty!!
Enoki mushrooms - Aren't they adorable?!
I absolutely love enoki mushrooms!! They are delicious, and they're the cutest little mushrooms I've ever seen. I discovered them while we were shopping at a Japanese market in San Diego a couple months ago. I looked around a bit, and there are some interesting recipes for preparing them! Here's one that I want to try.../. I think I must have a special fondness for food wrapped in bacon!! Haha.... I guess I cheat though.... I usually eat turkey bacon.
I'm getting sooooo hungrayyyy now thinking about all this food! It's almost time to go make dinner. If you guys try any of my recipes, let me know how they go!! I know none of them are very complicated .../I'm not much of a cook, but I'm interested to hear if anyone is trying these. Have a good, cool night!! Breezy thoughts. <3
Ahhhh.... here again. I'm going to say this first thing: I don't really have anything to write about today. Today was just one of those days that has to happen to get you closer to the more important, eventful days. It's just a stepping stone. And I hate that. I want every day to be meaningful and intriguing. This is not to say that I am depressed. I am not, by any means. The day was nice. Happy. But it's not one that I will remember a few months from now. Isn't it strange that we have days like this? I think by writing this now, I am already making the day more memorable. Do something creative. Think. Speak. That's how I should prevent days like this. Don't allow them to remain ordinary/.
I am beginning to plan a LAN party, which will probably take place in early June. I'm very excited about it!! A couple weeks ago, it donned on me that we have enough space in our house that we could host a LAN. I hope that all goes well with it. If everyone has a good time, it may be something that we can do pretty often. I think it's a great idea for something to do with friends, since it doesn't really involve spending money. I will get an invite going some time this week, and I hope we can get a good group of people to come!!!
Ok ok. So in light of National Pet Week, why don't I introduce you to my kitty-babies!! We have two cats now. Indie is my black cat (she has a little spot of white on her belly in the shape of a heart), and KC is Matt's silver tabby/white cat.
Little Indie inside my desk!
She was so tiny! She has always loved climbing inside of boxes. She tries to do it even when the box is clearly way too small for her.
One of my best friends-Indie has been through a lot with me. <3
Beeeeeautiful fur!!
She almost always sleeps on Matt's feet.
We love them more than I can say....// They are truly our family. Until next time../...
Well, what do you know? It's National Pet Week. I must say, this will be bittersweet for Matt & me since we've just lost our favorite, most cherished pet...// But that's not to say that we don't love our other two kitties and want to celebrate them!! For those not in the "know", we lost our kitten, Tobi on January 8th. It was devastating to us, to say the least. I feel like I'm crazy sometimes for missing him and mourning our loss as much as I do, but Matt just reminds me that it shows how much we cared about him and how much he meant to us. I wanted to do something in his name that would help prevent the same thing from happening to other cats and their owners. Although I know that's out of my control for the most part, I feel that the best thing that I can do is to contribute to research to find better medical practices for diagnosing problems in cats. The hardest thing about having to put Tobi to sleep was the fact that we still didn't know exactly what was wrong with him when we did it. There was that reasonable doubt that we were doing the right thing.. So, in light of all that and National Pet Week, I am going to ask that you would give a little to this fund if you feel inclined to do so. You can read about it on the fund page.
I like this post about owning pets. Some important things to remember for sure!!
Matt & I had a nice time this weekend catching up on some much-needed rest! We've been playing through the Portal 2 co-op, and it's pretty fun. Yesterday we did a bunch of grocery shopping. We made the trek down to Carmel Mountain to stock up on some things from Costco. I hate going to that Costco-it's been super busy since the San Marcos one closed. After we got back home an put everything away, we decided to go see a movie. Mr. Chewiwie (thank you, Matt!!!) offered to get us in to see something at the San Marcos theatre, so we decided to go see the Dylan Dog movie that just came out in limited release. It was..../not so great. But I was happy to go out and do something. We spent the rest of the evening catching up on some of our TV shows. We watched the most recent episodes of The Office.../. ..They totally made me cry!! So sad! I'm not too faithful that the show is going to make it without Steve Carell, and I kind of wish that they had just decided to end the series completely. It would seem a lot more graceful than desperately attempting to keep the show alive. I think it had a great run, but nothing can last forever, right?
Anyway, today I got to do some more graphics work while Matt did some editing for his class. Afterwards, we hopped into a game of Left 4 Dead 2. I think we were on the level called The Parish.. //It was really difficult at the end!! We weren't able to finish, but we'll give it another go when everyone has more time.
Now we are waiting to hear Obama's statement. Just got the news that Osama Bin Laden is dead. Pretty crazy!! It will be interesting to hear what Obama has to say. Have a great night!! Here comes another busy week. Peace outside. <3
