Life on the West Side

Three years

Wed, 16 May 2012 10:00:53 +0000

I’ve been a walking heartache, I’ve made a mess of me. The person that I’ve been lately ain’t who I wanna be.
But you stay here right beside me and watch as the storm blows through
And I need you .

Cause God gave me you for the ups and downs,
God gave me you for the days of doubt
And for when I think I lost my way, there are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you

There’s more here than what we’re seeing, a divine conspiracy
That you, an angel lovely could somehow fall for me
You’ll always be love’s great martyr and I’ll be the flattered fool
And I need you

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
And for when I think I lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you

On my own I’m only half of what I could be
I can’t do without you.
We are stitched together
And what love has tethered I pray we never undo.

Cause God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
And for when I think I lost my way
There are no words here left to say, it’s true
God gave me you, gave me you.
He gave me you.

Happy 3rd anniversary, Merrick. I have always loved you… and I always will.

You sneaky Veggies, you!

Tue, 08 May 2012 03:48:04 +0000

I must admit, Merrick and I are not very good at getting in our 5 veggies a day. We’re pretty good at fruits – an apple and a pear in the lunch box, a banana for breakfast, etc. But we have a harder time sneaking in the veggies. There’s just something not quite as fulfilling as eating baby carrots pretending their strawberries dipped in chocolate. Thankfully, Mamma Pea is good at sneaking veggies in. Usually she has to sneak them in for her young children. I have to sneak them in for my adult husband. Tomayto, tomahto. So here’s her sneaky and tasty way of getting in a few extra veggies.

Spaghetti Squash casserole (adapted from PeasandThankyou)

Prep time: 30-40 min
Cook time: 25 min
Hands on time: +/- 1 hr

1 large spaghetti squash
2 c. marinara sauce (Ragu has some with 2 servings of veggies in them… another sneaky way to get the veggies in!)
1 bag of spinach
2 t. dried oregano
2 t. dried basil
1/2 c. light cream cheese
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 bag broccoli florets
1 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

Poke holes throughout spaghetti squash. Microwave speared squash for 12-15 min. While squash is cooking, pour entire bag of spinach into a large saucepan with a smidge of olive oil, sautee. Cut squash in half lengthwise. Deseed. Scrape out the “spaghetti” with a fork and place it in a greased 9×13 baking dish. Mix spinach with spaghetti squash in baking dish. In spinach saucepan, combine marinara sauce, oregano, basil, cream cheese and Parmesan. Heat over medium heat until cream cheese has melted into the sauce, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Chop broccoli florets to preferred size (I just threw them in from the bag and they were a little too big for a bite). Add broccoli to spaghetti squash/spinach dish. Toss marinara mixture over vegetables. Top casserole with grated cheese and bake for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

*For added veggie goodness, add sauteed mushrooms, steamed bell peppers and cauliflower, or whatever veggies float your boat…*

And since my Mamma always said, “Eat your veggies and thank your Mother.” Let’s all go and thank Mamma Pea for being a sneaky Mom and adding more veggies into our lives.

10 more questions

Sat, 05 May 2012 18:06:28 +0000

I got these q’s from some blog… and I don’t remember where. Sorry!

1) If you could find out the exact day and time you were going to die, would you do it?

- Probably not. Although it may be helpful to know just to help me live life to the fullest and encourage me to make the most of my relationships before I kick the can. Maybe if I knew the year. But if I knew even the year, for all the years leading up to that year, I probably wouldn’t wear my seat belt or eat healthy. I wouldn’t live healthy and safe because I’m not going for longevity anymore

2) Your first childhood memory?

- I think it’s at my 5th birthday party and I got a doll named “Katie.” You’d think I’d be excited about that (as I should have been), but I was so upset she had my name and I threw the doll and had a temper tantrum and had to leave my own party. Every paahty has a pooper, that’s why we invited YOU, George Baaahnks - name that movie

About 2 years before the birthday party incident.. with my fresh new baby sister

3) If failure wasn’t possible, what would you accomplish?

- Well as much as I dislike things that are painful, hard or give me the possibility of failure, I’ve learned and grown from all my failures in life. I think an “easy” life would be nice for a while, but then you start feeling entitled and get lazy. Plus, you wouldn’t appreciate what you’ve accomplished if you never had the possibility of failing. But that being said, if I could do anything without failing, I’d be the President. First order of business – calorie free chocolate for all!

4) One song you could listen to for the rest of your life?

- Only ONE song? For my ENTIRE life? Man, even the best songs I’d get sick of. But I suppose the one that’ll always make me smile is, “Lost in this moment”

5) You have a life altering disease. You’ll either lose your hearing or your sight. Choose one. Why?

-It’s a seeing world. I’d rather be deaf than blind ANY day (but then I couldn’t listen to the song from #4). And the best way out of any conversation would be just to look down… I can’t read your lips = I can’t hear you. Boom. Lame conversation over. (side note, I actually knew someone who was deaf who did this)

6) You’ve just hit the lotto. How do you spend it?

-I’d first pay off everyone I know’s debt – school loans, mortgages, etc. Then I’d donate a large portion to a charity. And I’d probably buy our dream house. Then of course shopping spreeeeee!

7) Would you break the law to protect/save someone you loved?

- It depends on which law. I mean, I’d never kill anyone to save someone… that’s a little contradictory isn’t it? But I don’t think I’d put it past me to pull a John Q

8 ) You can only bring 5 items to a deserted island. What are they?

- Man, this is hard. And it changes all the time. But 5 things… Cell phone (assuming there’s service…), kindle (then I’ll be able to read AND pray. E-Bible boom), water bottle, hair tie (cuz NOTHING is more irritating than scraggly, hot wet hair on your neck and face), towel (doubles as a blanket and a dryer)

I wouldn’t mind being stuck on this deserted island! And I might bring my sunnies too…

9) Summer or winter?

- Summer lovin’ foreverrrrrr

10) Top three pet peeves?
-People not using their blinkers, interrupting, rudeness

Best of 4.15-4.21

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 19:34:11 +0000

Sunday 4.15: We had a nice birthday brunch for a friend. Sunday brunches are one of my favorite things in the world.

Monday 4.16: I actually worked this Monday, which is unusual for my schedule, and at the end of the long day, the Mister helped me make dinner and we watched The Voice together. A great way to end the day.

Tuesday 4.17: I met up with some of my bestest girlfriends for a mandatory meeting and a non-mandatory hang out time.

Wednesday 4.18: I was kind of in a funk on Wednesday, but I got an encouraging email from a good friend and a good workout which revived my day. Then in the evening, the Mister and I stayed up way too late dancing together at midnight, and not the horizontal mambo… although…

Thursday 4.19: A day off and the start of my weekend, yay! I was pretty productive and then was able to spend some quality time with the fam.

Friday 4.20: Another morning brunch and the Hunger Games with our favorite Cubans!

Saturday 4.21: The Mister’s company party and getting dressed in fancy pants… Aaaand the person who can’t take our picture well.

On one hand…

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 04:45:11 +0000

Ever see “Fiddler on the Roof” and remember the scene where the fiddler is deciding whether a guy is good enough to marry his daughter? He goes back and forth with reasons for and against him for a while… that’s how many of the conversations in my head go. The most recent one is my career. Grad school is wrapping up and I’ll be in the midst of job hunting again and I’m really trying to figure out what I want…

On one hand, why should I stop practicing as a nurse? I loved my old job.

On the other hand, I’ve always wanted to “be” a Nurse Practitioner.

But on the other hand, there’s a really steep learning curve with NP practice and it’s really hard.

And on the other hand, I’m past the learning curve of being a RN and I’m good at it.

But on the other hand, I’ve been out of practice for 7 months already, will I still be good at it?

And on the same hand, I won’t be making much more dinero working as a NP than I do as a RN

But on the other hand, I didn’t get into nursing for the money.

And on one hand, I love the 3 12 hour shifts of RN work

On the other hand, I don’t like working weekends and holidays

On one hand, a NP job will allow me the normal M-F, 8-5 schedule that everyone works.

So all this tells me is that I have too many hands and I never should have quit piano. At least that would’ve put all my hands to good use! Plus I bet Mozart never battled his career. Maybe I’ll go back to school for a degree in music…

Notes

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:35:08 +0000

Today was a horrible eating day full of chocolate, cheese and all sorts of carb-y crap. But I’ve accepted it and I enjoyed every deliciously, terrible bite and I’ve moved on. Tomorrow will be better. No use crying beating myself up over spilled milk eaten chocolate.
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Speaking of carb-y crap – cinnamon raisin bread doesn’t make the best grilled cheese sammies, it makes burnty bread. What does make the best grilled cheese are the TWO slices of Kraft singles I added. That’s what my Grammy D said, and everyone knows Grammy’s only speak the truth (which means she was right, I WAS the favorite! (Just kidding, Sarah) )

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I went the entire day today without one single human interaction. Didn’t talk on the phone, didn’t see anyone and I only briefly texted 2 friends. I didn’t even leave my house. The closest I got to any kind of interaction was during my workout jumping around and the neighbor below me didn’t like that and banged through my floor for the duration of the exercise DVD. Now if that’s not neighborly love, I don’t know what is. And NO, downstairs neighbor, you CANNOT borrow some sugar! RUDE (must be spoken in Bon Qui Qui accent)
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It’s getting warm out here again every day, which means it’s time to bust out my favorite kitchen appliance – The Vitamix and green monster smoothies! (sorry Kitchen-aid Mixer and Crockpot, we’ll be back together soon!) Look at this beautiful mess of nast.

The green monster (aka a smoothie with spinach in it) is proof that a) beauty is in the eye of the beholder and b) don’t judge a book smoothie by it’s cover color. That’s a delicious mix of banana, vanilla greek yogurt, strawberries, pear, clementines, ice and of course, spinach

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I’ve been listening to “New Direction” this whole past week. They are surprisingly reminiscent of Backstreet Boys. And I, not surprisingly, LOVE THEM! #TeenyBopper (don’t tell anyone, but I also like the Biebs and I watch Glee)

One Last Thing

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 00:35:14 +0000

I’m catching up on my smutty mags during brief study breaks and in a recent People, they had an interview with actress Lily Collins (Phil Collins daughter, who knew?) and asked her these “one last thing” questions. So although Lily’s answers are cooler, here’s my rendition of People’s One Last Thing:

Last time I went out to dinner: Funny you should ask that, because it was just last night actually. I met up with some of my peeps for a lil girl time, margarita and Mexican time. The event has been better documented here and here.

Last time I laughed: Well I just recently got twitter and one of the best peeps I follow is Ellen DeGeneres. And I was dying laughing watching this video that she tweeted. Basically I laugh every time I watch her.

Last big splurge: Well there’s this thing called “grad school tuition,” that I splurged pretty big on. But aside from that… I can’t remember the last large purchase I made. I mean, our cruise was pretty much a splurge. But when I think “splurge,” I think clothes/shoes/purse shopping… none of which has been done in a while.

Last song I listened to: I usually study to something soft and slow on Pandora, alternating between John Legend radio, Natasha Bedingfield, sometimes Glee and my new found great station, Karmin. The current song on now is Killing me softly by the Fugees on John Legend’s station. What a great classic.

Last time I cried: Probably yesterday… wait a couple days ago? A week ago? Have I gone a whole week?! Who AM I? Hold up again. That is false. I teared up in The Voice the other day watching all of them so emotional (ahem, Jamar) and grateful when they do well and get great feedback. I don’t cry when they get eliminated because suck it up, sister (ahem, Cheesa)

Jalapenos from heaven

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 10:01:09 +0000

My friend Sara is the party and hostessing queen. She always has the best decorations, best drinks and the absolute BEST appetizers. I was introduced to her famous sausage stuffed jalapenos back in January for her baby’s 1st birthday party. She was generous enough to share the recipe and I’ve since made them twice. And they are HEAVENLY. And because Sara is so generous, I’m sharing her recipe to anyone else who wants a bite of heaven (that, plus she said she got it online, so if you GTS, I’m sure you can find her recipe). They’re a perfect dish to bring to a party, or… you can just bring beer and save the jalaps for yourself.

Sausage Stuffed Jalapenos

Prep Time: 25 min
Cook time: 20 min
Hands on time: 45 min

1 pound ground pork sausage OR any kind of sausage – dinner, breakfast, whatever sausage you have or like OR 4-ish strips of bacon (per usual, more to taste)
1 8oz package of light cream cheese, softened
1 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
12-16 large fresh jalapenos, halved lengthwise and seeded (or keep some seeds in if you like it with a kick!)

Cut and deseed jalaps. Place sausage (or bacon) in a skillet over medium heat and cook until evenly brown. Drain grease. Chop sausage (or crumble the bacon). In a bowl, mix cream cheese, parm cheese and crumbled pork. Spoon about 1 TB of cheese mixture into halved jalap and place in a shallow baking dish or cookie tray. Cook in oven (or toaster oven… that’s what I did) at 400 degrees F for 20 min. Devour immediately. And if you’re nice enough to BRING them to a party, set aside at least 1/2 for yourself for when you get home…

Weekend Roundup

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 15:17:08 +0000

Rarely do I make plans for the weekend and go out. In fact, I was telling Merrick the other day, I will almost always choose staying IN over going out. That being said, although I’ve become more of a home-body, I really enjoy when I do go out. This weekend was one of those jam packed ones with A LOT of social events. And A LOT of fun (although it’s the end of the weekend and I’m exhausted. It’s 8.30pm and I’m ready to watch Golden Girls and go to bed… only sort of kidding)

So here’s a recap of our fun weekend:

It all started Thursday with more visits from family, which meant fine dining in Laguna.

After a few hours of apps and drinks downtown, we headed back home for more fun family time. I was the lame duck and had to peace out early thanks to a long work day on Fridays. Lucky guys who get their Fridays off.
Friday morning we woke up bright and early (well, early for the late night party people… normal time for a workin’ lady) for a delish breakfast at Polly’s Pies. Mmm I can still taste that cinnamon roll!

Friday was a long, busy day at clinical but ended hanging with some of my favorite Cubans and the Hunger Games! (I’m totally team Gale… and I was team Jacob in Twilight. Going for the underdogs!). Our hunger got the best of us during the Hunger Games and we headed over to Yard House for late night apps and drinks (the theme of the weekend)

We went to bed late Friday and got to sleep in a bit Saturday morning, hit the gym together and get ready for the next big thing – Merrick’s company anniversary party. We got our fancy pants on and headed to the Disney Land Hotel to listen to Colin Powell talk about company growth and hard work. It was an inspiring event, made better with our good friends and good food and drinks. Plus I got to walk away with the gorgeous centerpiece!

And the lovely centerpiece that made it’s way home with me

We came home late (8pm is late for me, remember?) and spent the rest of the evening just hanging and talking. Sunday we met up with some more of our favorite Cubans for a Mexican breakfast (we’re a multicultural family here)

So although this weekend wasn’t the most productive, it was still one of the best we’ve had in a while. Great company and great food was the theme and that’s all that really matters in life anyway. Who cares that I didn’t clean the bathroom or unload the dishwasher, our time was better spent. What a great weekend!

Best of 4.8-4.14

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 04:59:49 +0000

Sunday 4.8: Easter Sunday! We had such a fun time at our events.

Monday 4.9: I have Mondays off (for 2 more months…) and I got to meet up with the Hus and our friend for sushi lunch

Tuesday 4.10: I got out of class early and the Hus and I had a really nice, relaxing, lovie evening together

Wednesday 4.11: We had a happy-hour-turned-dinner-turned-late-night-drinks with our bfffffs. A 6pm happy hour turned into a four hour event full of margs and Jesus talk – an odd, yet great combo

Thursday 4.12: I was able to skype my beautiful European, jet-settin’, travelin’ sister. Then I got the hurrr did. The bangs are a little short, but I went darker and it brings out my sultry side (or it brings out my eyes… same thing, no?)

Or it brings out the creepy/bug eyes…

Friday 4.13: I had a surprise day off clinical (yay for CME requirements!) and was able to meet up with my long lost friend Rachel for lunch, then my other bfffff Janae for fro to the yo. Then I get home and Merrick and I exchanged Easter baskets! Easter week got a little too busy for us, so we postponed our baskets until Friday. I got wine and some of my favorite chocolates, that’s an Easter win!

Saturday 4.14: The Hus wasn’t feeling well, so we spent the day watching movies and hanging. I like those “nothing” days. Would you believe me when I said there used to be a day when I never cried in movies? Well there was. And now I cry in at the dumbest things ever – like the movie “Friends with benefits.” Cheeseball!