I managed to be vegetarian for over half a year! Pretty impressive I think. I learned that I like many more vegetables than I thought I did, including onions as long as they're cooked, and beans! I used to hate the texture of beans, but now I know how good they are for you and they actually taste pretty decent, so I can totally handle eating them a few times a week. I will definitely be able to remain veggie on most days which is really healthy, saves a lot of money, and is good for the environment. So, why am I eating meat again? Doctor's orders. Gotta do what I gotta do I guess...
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Quick Pasta
This is a quick, vegetarian, pasta recipe I threw together last night that filled us up and tasted delicious. It's easy to make and the ingredients are all things I normally keep in the fridge and pantry.
1 box of noodles (I used elbow)
1 cup olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 cup marinated artichokes, chopped
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp dried basil or 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
salt
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Prepare the pasta as directed. While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a smallish saute pan on medium-low heat. Add the garlic and stir frequently until just browned. Add tomatoes, artichokes, basil, and a pinch of salt, and heat through. Drain pasta. Toss oil and veggie mixture with pasta. Sprinkle a generous amount of Parmesan on each serving. Enjoy!
1 box of noodles (I used elbow)
1 cup olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 cup marinated artichokes, chopped
1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1 tbsp dried basil or 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
salt
1 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
Prepare the pasta as directed. While the pasta cooks, heat the olive oil in a smallish saute pan on medium-low heat. Add the garlic and stir frequently until just browned. Add tomatoes, artichokes, basil, and a pinch of salt, and heat through. Drain pasta. Toss oil and veggie mixture with pasta. Sprinkle a generous amount of Parmesan on each serving. Enjoy!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Bye Bye Borders!
Yesterday was my last day at Borders and it actually makes me sad! I had a really fun time there and it's been a REALLY long time since I felt so appreciated at work. I honestly felt that way at my previous job until about March and it was nice to have that back again. All of my managers were so disappointed because I'm really good at meeting sales goals and I did everything else the job entailed very well. Sadly, I don't have a full time job waiting for me, but I needed to quit so Ryan and I can find an apartment this weekend, go to California next week, and move soon after we get back. We're looking to moving to downtown DC or Virginia to shorten his commute which is currently about 45 minuted to less than 15 minutes. Working at Borders was convenient here because it was literally across the street, but commuting would be inconvenient. Hopefully, I will have a full-time job soon! I've applied to more jobs in the last three years than most people have in their entire lifetime! Honestly! I've applied to over 400 since January 2007. If a job doesn't miraculously appear soon, I do have other Borders locations to fall back on and would be highly recommended by my former managers. I'm going to miss the free books, borrowed books, and discount more than I can describe!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The Ring
We have an engagement ring! It will actually be my engagement ring and wedding band and it's a perfect symbol of us: a beautiful white gold band with seven channel-set princess-cut diamonds to represent our first seven years together. It's awesome! I love it so much and I love wearing it! Since it will be my only ring, I'm currently wearing it on my right hand and will switch it to my left hand during the ceremony. This makes our engagement even more real! I love love love my ring!!
Sorry no pics! You'll just have to see it when you see me!
Sorry no pics! You'll just have to see it when you see me!
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Video...
Ryan and I are trying to be very budget conscious regarding the planning of our wedding. I mean, we have a whole life ahead of us and I'm still up to my armpits in debt from school, so we're trying to be smart about it! I think the only thing I haven't figured into it which hasn't been offered to us already is a videographer... anyone have a digital video camera and a steady hand and the desire to work for practically nothing? If you're out there, I will love you forever!
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Happy New Year!
Happy 2010 everyone!! What a happy year it has been so far!! We rang in the new year with our neighbors Christine, Jason, Leah, David, and Mickey just one floor above us which was really nice because it was freezing cold out and I was able to just walk downstairs at 3am when I was exhausted and the boys kept on partying!
We had a good time playing Apples to Apples, eating all the yummy food Jason prepared for us (even a special veggie dish just for me), and partying the night away.
Since then, we've been dealing with an unexpected flood and been busy planning our future together!!
Yes, we had a flood! It hasn't been over 40 degrees in the last 3 weeks (the snow from our snowman is still on our balcony from the blizzard on December 19th), so all the freezing and unfreezing caused the apartment 2 floors above ours to burst! Thank goodness we were home otherwise everything in our living room and bedroom would have been ruined! It was so bad, it was dripping through our floor and into the lobby below us. All of our stuff was shoved into one side of our apartment, the carpet was lifted, the padding was torn out, and we had industrial fans running in both rooms for over 48 hours. Fortunately, we have guest suites we were able to stay in because we still had to function! Unfortunately, they didn't replace the carpet or dry the interior of the wall so we might be moving a little sooner than we thought.
Our lease is up in March and we've been planning on moving closer to the city. Ryan's current commute to work is about 45 minutes and he would prefer if it was 5 minutes like everyone in the city! We started looking at apartments last week and think we might have found a winner that's only 11 minutes from Ryan's office (big points for him) and just might have room for a kitchen table (big points for me)! Plus, it's right across the street from a Morton's Steakhouse (points for Ryan) and next door to a Cosi (points for me)!
Also helpful for our future is the fact that I had my first interview in months! Yay! It's been promising so far and I will know next week. I'll keep you up to date on that! Until then, I was kept at Borders after the holidays, so I have something to do in the meantime and I don't feel like I'm completely abusing the unemployment system.
Wedding news:
-we'll be using the blog as our wedding website, so as things become permanent will keep you posted and important links will be up on the sidebar
-we don't have the ring yet, but we know what we want
-we know what kind of wedding we want (casual, yummy food, no dancing) and we want it to be in California
-it will most likely be in a restaurant near the coast (the list is down to 5)
-the date will probably be August 29, 2010 (I like the way it sounds when you say "eight, twenty-nine, twenty-ten")
-I've chosen my bridesmaids (Amber, Jenn, and Jacque) and Maid of Honor (Dani)!
-Ryan's chosen his groomsmen, but hasn't asked them yet
-I have my dress! I can't wait to wear it!
-Only seven and a half months to go!
We had a good time playing Apples to Apples, eating all the yummy food Jason prepared for us (even a special veggie dish just for me), and partying the night away.
Since then, we've been dealing with an unexpected flood and been busy planning our future together!!
Yes, we had a flood! It hasn't been over 40 degrees in the last 3 weeks (the snow from our snowman is still on our balcony from the blizzard on December 19th), so all the freezing and unfreezing caused the apartment 2 floors above ours to burst! Thank goodness we were home otherwise everything in our living room and bedroom would have been ruined! It was so bad, it was dripping through our floor and into the lobby below us. All of our stuff was shoved into one side of our apartment, the carpet was lifted, the padding was torn out, and we had industrial fans running in both rooms for over 48 hours. Fortunately, we have guest suites we were able to stay in because we still had to function! Unfortunately, they didn't replace the carpet or dry the interior of the wall so we might be moving a little sooner than we thought.
Our lease is up in March and we've been planning on moving closer to the city. Ryan's current commute to work is about 45 minutes and he would prefer if it was 5 minutes like everyone in the city! We started looking at apartments last week and think we might have found a winner that's only 11 minutes from Ryan's office (big points for him) and just might have room for a kitchen table (big points for me)! Plus, it's right across the street from a Morton's Steakhouse (points for Ryan) and next door to a Cosi (points for me)!
Also helpful for our future is the fact that I had my first interview in months! Yay! It's been promising so far and I will know next week. I'll keep you up to date on that! Until then, I was kept at Borders after the holidays, so I have something to do in the meantime and I don't feel like I'm completely abusing the unemployment system.
Wedding news:
-we'll be using the blog as our wedding website, so as things become permanent will keep you posted and important links will be up on the sidebar
-we don't have the ring yet, but we know what we want
-we know what kind of wedding we want (casual, yummy food, no dancing) and we want it to be in California
-it will most likely be in a restaurant near the coast (the list is down to 5)
-the date will probably be August 29, 2010 (I like the way it sounds when you say "eight, twenty-nine, twenty-ten")
-I've chosen my bridesmaids (Amber, Jenn, and Jacque) and Maid of Honor (Dani)!
-Ryan's chosen his groomsmen, but hasn't asked them yet
-I have my dress! I can't wait to wear it!
-Only seven and a half months to go!
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