Apple Crisp

A few weeks ago my sister and a good friend came to visit.  Sunday morning, we went apple picking!  I had never been apple picking before so I didn't know what to expect but it was a lot of fun.  I purchased some apples to bring home. 

Here's the first recipe that I tried...

APPLE CRISP
Serves: 5-6
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 45 min

Apple Crisp

Ingredients:
6 medium apples
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 cup of flour
3/4 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of butter

1. Peel, core and slice apples.
2. Arrange in a baking dish.
3. Sprinkle with a mixture of cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. In a large bowl, mix flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter. Be sure to blend this mixture until crumbly.
5. Pour over the top of the apples.
6. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes until apples are tender.

 Serve warm with vanilla ice cream and enjoy!

Spare Bedroom

When we moved into our new house, it was bigger than we needed but figured it would come in handy.  With combining our two apartments, this instantly gave us a fully furnished guest bedroom.  In our guest bedroom, we have a double bed.  This is great when we had friends over but for our parents, they weren't going to sleep in a double bed together.  This meant one parent got the bed and the other got the aero bed.  If we were tight on space, this would have been fine but we had a perfectly good bedroom sitting empty. 

After struggling with what I wanted to do, I settled on wanting a twin bed with a trundle.  This would provide us the most flexibility without taking up a ton space.  Here's the room as it is now.  I HATE the color it's way to dark and makes the room feel small.  I'm reaching out for ideas on what to do with the room.

Any thoughts?  Paint colors? Bed spread? Layout?


I'm hoping to update this room this fall!

Finding Myself

I've been contemplating doing this post for a while.  It may be a bit lengthy, but bear with me...

Over the past 6-8 months, I've been trying to "find myself."  I remember when I interviewed (almost 3 years ago now), the question came up, "What do you do for fun?"  My answer consisted of well in high school, I danced.  In college and grad school, my focus was school and being an RA for 2 years.  I had danced there for a semester and tried ultimate Frisbee for a year.  In grad school, weekly yoga classes with my sister, Amy, became a regular thing.  I found myself asking the same question to an interviewee last fall.  He gave me the "my focus has been on school."  I thought that that was a perfectly acceptable answer just like when I gave it two years ago.  What would my answer be now?  Last year, it was planning a wedding and working on our new house.  After the wedding, things really calmed down.  The house was (and still is) a work in progress.  What was I going to do for fun and for me?  I had to figure it out...  With Tony working second shift, I had to find things that I could do just for me.

Step 1: Join the Gym (lifestyle change)

Okay so I did the very cliché thing of joining the gym after the new year.  However, this was something that I had been thinking about, but "didn't have the time."  My co-worker teaches an amazing Zumba class and that was my main reason for joining.  He had been asking me for several months if I wanted to do it.  The wedding (and work) was always my excuse.  I didn't have a reason to say no.  Plus, my company provides the perk that if you go to the gym 80 times in a year, they'll reimburse you for 75% of your gym membership.  This definitely made it a no brainer!  I am so glad I said yes!  After 7 months, I attend 2 classes a week as long as I am in town.  Zumba gives me my dance fix.  Even though it was cliché, I have stuck with it and love it!

Step 2: Find a dance class (emotional and lifestyle change)

This was a short lived experience.  I found a local studio that had an adult ballet class on Fridays after work.  I loved it!  I was getting my flexibility back and was planning on re-starting Pointe.  Unfortunately, they didn't have the numbers so after May, they cancelled the class.  I am hoping someone else will start an adult class or that the gym will start a barre class.

Step 3: Read more (emotional change)

Sitting and watching TV isn't healthy.  I wanted to read more.  I'm between books right now so this is currently lagging in my life.  Perhaps tonight, I'll start my next book. 

Step 4: C25K (emotional and lifestyle change)

A good number of my friends run and are super athletic.  I HATE running.  I tried it before and couldn't stand it.  My friend, Phil, started the C25K program this summer.  Taking inspiration from him, I started this 5 weeks ago.  It wasn't bad starting out.  I'd listen to a podcast and the 30 minutes would pass quickly.  Week 4 was rough.  The last 5 minute burst was painful.  Looking back, I was so focused on my body and how much longer I had.  When I did Week 5 Day 1, I was fine.  I focused on the podcast and that was it.  For me, running is more of a mental challenge than a physical one.  Running is teaching me to focus on one thing and not multi-task.  This is something I need!

Step 5: Eat better (lifestyle change)

I know a number of people who fast, do juice cleanses, and diet (paleo, gluten free, sugar free, etc.).  I've tried them and it's just not for me.  I've been pretty good since starting the C25K program.  Here's what I am trying to stick to:

- one pop per week
- one sweet per day
- less pasta (mac & cheese is a weakness for me!)
- more water

It is going fairly well.  I slip up every once in a while but I am eating better than I was.

Step 6: Fulfill life goals (emotional and career)

In college, some people said you need to take the FE others said for mechanical, you don't need it.  I didn't take the FE in college.  I now regret that choice.  I don't technically "NEED" my PE but it is now something I want.  So to get to the PE, I have to take the FE.  I bought the books to study and the goal is to take the FE exam in January at the latest.

Mom and Dad, if you are reading, stop here...




I told you to stop reading...




Okay, if you insist...



Tony had been talking about getting a motorcycle for about 5 years.  Last year, he finally did it and loves it.  It would be great to join him and tour the lovely lakes and parks around us.  I have been wavering back and forth about getting my motorcycle license.  I'm not sure if I'd enjoy it or it would stress me out.  There's only one way to find out.  Try it!  I'm planning on getting my permit (tomorrow?) and then taking the motorcycle safety class (this month?).  If I like it, I'll figure out what to do from there.  If I don't, I can say I tried it and will have no regrets moving forward.


That's where I am with life now... I feel I know things will change but I  need to stop focusing on the what-ifs and focus on the now...


What kind of things do you do for you? 

Return to Reading

Growing up, there were very few books that I read and actually liked.  During my spring break two years ago, I read three books in one week while sitting on the beach.  That fall, I started work and took a couple trips overseas.  While there, I finished 4 books in one trip and 6 in another.  I started to really like reading.  Recently, I haven't been traveling as much and my reading has dropped.  That's got to change.  The goal for the rest of the summer is 2 books per month. I'm finishing up Allegiant by Veronica Roth now.

I found HPB - 100 Books You Can't Put Down.  The books that I have read on their list I did really enjoy.  
 
Amazon also has a 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime: Readers' Picks.  Some of the books overlap with the list above. 

Here are their top 100 books:

“To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee

"Pride and Prejudice” by Jane Austen
“The Diary of Anne Frank” by Anne Frank
“1984″ by George Orwell
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” by J.K. Rowling
“The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien
“The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald

“Charlotte’s Web” by ER White

“Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott
The Hobbit by JRR Toiken
“Fahrenheit 451″ by Ray Bradbury
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Animal Farm by George Orwell
The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn  by Mark Twain
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Night by Elie Wiesel
Hamlet by William Shakespeare
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
The Handmade’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
The Little Prince by Antoine de St-Expupery
Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
The Giver by Lois Lowry
Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
MacBeth by William Shakespeare
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
The Holy Bible: New King James Version by Thomas Nelson
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas pere
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Catch-22 by Joesph Heller
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
The Stand by Stephen King
Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden
The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin
The Princess Bride by William Goldman
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
Life of Pi by Yann Martel
The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Dracula by Bram Stoker
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince by JK Rowling
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Outlander by Gabaldon
A Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
The Good Earth by Pearl S Buck
The Time Traveller’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
The Odessy by Homer
Celebrating Silence: Excerpts from 5 Years of Weekly Knowledge by Sri Sri Ravi Shanker
A Prayer for Own Meany by John Irving
And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot
The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullogh
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Wall
Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Helen Keller: The Story of My Life by Helen Keller
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs Basil E Frankweiler by EL Konigsburg
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

I thought I'd pull from these two lists for now.  Up next, I am between:

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Eat, Pray, Love
• The Fault in Our Stars
• Bossypants

What do you think?  Do you have a favorite book on/off the above list?

First (Stress Free) Dinner Party

Since Tony and I bought our house, we've had family visit, a few friends over to hang out, and one Christmas Party.  I've wanted to have a dinner party but timing was always an issue.  We looked at the next several weekends and they were booked.  We decided this past weekend was the weekend to do it.  We invited over two other couples.  That was the easy part.  Next, I had to decide on the menu.

Here's what I wanted: 
- something simple and not too different/exotic 
- easy, casserole type meal where it cooks and can't overcook 

Here's where I ended up: 
Appetizers: 
Cheese, Pepperoni, and Crackers (prepared that morning) 

Main Meal: 
Ceaser Salad 
Rolls 
No Work Chicken with Rice (prepped Friday night, switched to casserole Saturday mid-day, put into oven when guests arrived) 
Broccoli 

Dessert: 
Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream 
Homemade Strawberry Ice Cream 
Easy Classic Brownies 

All that was left was to set the bar and the table. 

We had a great night and I can't wait to hold another dinner party!