songbird says stuff...

name that toon!

so today we woke up and headed over to the eastern shore to spend the day with family and families friends for my niece meaghan's birthday party. she is 8! makes me feel so old. haha. anyway - it was a lot of fun. they had a moon bounce and all the kids had so much fun they barely came in for lunch, cake, and presents! it was fun. meaghan loved the splat toys we got her... yay!

afterwards, we came home and just vegged. we watched the hangover. i had seen it but bud had not. he almost died several times from laughter. haha. fun times.

now i am here - writing this so i don't forget and fail like i did yesterday. i am so tired. life has just been so busy. tomorrow i go to try on my dress for kate's wedding. *sigh* i hope it works out. i'm sure it will. anyway - i need to get some homework done as well. anyway - i don't really have much to say as i'm so tired and am thinking of going to bed and its only 11:15pm. haha. talk to you later!

all our troubles seemed so far away! wait... thats backwards. everyone was freaking out yesterday with the possible shut down of the government. but i won't go into it. the government did not shut down. everyone can sit back in their upright positions and take their finger off the red panic button. anyway this is a blog for yesterday because i failed... so here you go. it will be short so i can update for today.

yesterday i worked for my brother in the day time. it was fun, pretty low key as carter had his 3 year check up (he is a picture of health!) so i just had the baby who was asleep for most of the time. it was pretty chill. i missed playing with the boy but thats okay. afterwards, got some sushi at the mall and hung out at bud's work. talked to bex and bud for a bit then headed on over to rhonda's. i watched the girls last night. it was so sweet to see them. they ran to me and met me with hugs and kisses. they were thrilled! i was thrilled. i missed them a lot more than i let anyone see. they are like apart of me. i've watched them for an entire year and basically feel like they are mine. but i know they aren't. it was just a weird feeling. but i sure do/did miss them. look forward to seeing them again in 2 weeks.

afterwards, got some wine and headed home. reisling relax is amazing. becky and i love it!

had some good times with the husband once he got home from work and i called it an early night as i was exhausted. besides, had to get up at a reasonable hour to go over the bridge for my nieces birthday party. huzzah! so that was yesterday. sorry for the fail and no update. <3

here are three things i love!

so all i can think of is john lovitz singing ladies night on the wedding singer... oh yeah, you know what i'm talking about...

 oh man. so today was pretty amazing. looks like things are working out with the dress situation for katie's wedding so that is good. still not sure whats happening with our jeep. and lets see... today at work, my dad came and hung out with carter. i invited him. not that i wanted a break, but i just thought it'd be good for carter. and it was! he wore the poor little guy out. but it was a lot fun to watch them play and have so much fun. =D then carter and i spent 90% of our day outside playing with sidewalk chalk!

for the enjoyment of my husband and a few other people who commented on the use of the triple t's - i've switched the day that i will be posting treats and recipes. so there you go. i'm also not going to be as strict on the format of how i write this. ooooohkay. enough of that.

this week i chose to do fish!

recipe: salmon with garlic asparagus


ingredients
2 - 6oz salmon fillets
1-2 tbsp butter
1/2 lemon
lemon pepper
salt
garlic powder
3 tbsp soy sauce
4-6 stalks of asparagus
garlic salt
2 garlic cloves (optional)

method for fish
1. melt butter in pan over medium high heat.
2. season fish with salt, lemon pepper (about 1-2 tsp), and garlic powder (this is totally up to you, depends on how much garlic you want on it). make sure to season both sides.
3. place seasoned fish into pan with the melted butter.
4. pour in the soy sauce and squeeze some lemon juice on top of the fish.
5. wait a few minutes and flip and squeeze the remainder of the lemon juice onto that side of the fish
6. cook about 10 minutes per 1 inch thickness of salmon or until the fish flakes

method for asparagus
1. while fish is cooking, steam asparagus a few minutes - until desired tenderness is achieved. (i usually do like 4-5 minutes on thick asparagus. that way its still semi-crispy but not bitter and has some tenderness)
2. once it is done i toss the asparagus with butter, garlic powder (or the garlic cloves... up to you/whichever you have on hand), some salt and pepper
3. serve with the fish.

voila! i hope you enjoy this recipe. i just had it on sunday and it filled me up and was delicious. another idea is to substitute the lemon for orange juice! soy sauce and orange juice (freshly squeezed) on salmon is delightful! try it! oh and if you want to cut down on some of the fattiness of this, try grilling it. just brush the fish with some melted butter, season it, put it on tin foil and grill it with all the seasoning! yum!

this is kind of what it will look like. i forgot to take a picture!


yum! let me know if you try it and what you think. i kind of made this up on my own... so i hope you all like it. i know i do.

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life is incredibly stressful right now. we will be down to 1 car as early as may (thankfully katie said i could use her mom's old car for a temporary solution), my dress has still not come in, i have to go to va and possibly buy a new dress as a contingency plan, the wedding is next week. *sigh* its just so stressful! bah. anyway - i stopped and had dinner with bud and that was nice. especially since i won't really see him all that much this week because he's working all nights except thursday. *sigh* anyway - i am going to get off of here and relax. i haven't really done that in, oh... 2 weeks! goodnight. love to you all!

i finished my essay and my amazingly talented english "professor" husband edited for me. i was still almost 100 words over the minimum so that is good! i hope i did well. i know i procrastinated but i know i worked hard on it. so at least i can say that much.

today was a lot of fun! instead of writing it out... here's a picture blog. i'll start with a little bit though:

i got to work and watched a half hour of tv with carter. then we decided to play with some of his new toys he got from his birthday party. to add to it, we colored some spider man and did a few mazes! :) then while evan went to sleep he and i went outside and played with the 3D chalk i got him... believe it or not... it totally works! i don't know how but it does. we went inside and he relaxed while i woke the baby up and changed him. had some lunch and then we went outside again! and this is what happened:

after that we went in and i fed the baby while carter watched go diego go. i put baby evan down for his nap, got carter ready and he went down for a nap too. i took a 30 minute "nap" (it was more of a rest my eyes but could hear everything that was going on type nap) and then watched some british comedy. once the boys were up we played, i fed evan, carter had a snack and we played some more until sarah got home. it was a delightful day.

then the not so fun part came. i went to the auto parts store and got new windshield wipers (that is a good thing). went home and got started on my paper. took me about an hour and a half to really get started on my paper... and i'm just now finished. bud edited it and i turned it in. its not that i don't like writing. i love writing. but i have such a hard time getting papers started that it holds me up. and i can't just start from the middle and then come back to it. i need the beginning so i can kind of have a heading to go from there. it sucks. but once i get the beginning its USUALLY smooooooooth sailing.

well now it is really late and i need to go to bed. oh Lord, please make my sleep feel like more than it really is. tomorrow i have to really look into dresses that i like as a contingency plan for katie's wedding. we're going out on wednesday night to check out dresses. maybe we will find something that is lovely and fits right off the rack. thats what i'm hoping and praying for. *sigh* okay. for realz now. goooooodnight!

so today i woke up early to go get my dress fitted for katie's wedding. i showered, put on my spanx, my new strapless bra, grabbed my silver shoes and headed out with lindz. once we got there, come to find out that my dress is not there. i contain myself... no need to freak out because it will all work out and i don't want katie to stress and feel any more strain then she is already feeling. but needless to say - i feel like crap. i'm glad i was there (had i known my dress wasn't going to be there, i would have gone anyway because its katie and its apart of the experience and i love her and will do anything for her) to see kate in her dress again and to support her. i'm pretty sure my dress took longer to make because i'm large and in charge. had i been a size 10, 12, 14. 16... it would probably have been easier to make and not taken so long. but thats neither here nor there. i don't want to focus on that... except thats all i'm thinking about now. oh look, the superman theme song is on pandora... awesome.

thats a nice segue.

i got home, watched a bit of tv, had some salmon and okra for lunch, and pushed bud out of the door to do the laundry. i couldn't keep my eyes open and there was no way i'd get any homework done. so i took a nap... woke up still tired. this weekend was so busy! and the next two are going to be busy as well... crap. i thought next weekend would be easy, but i will most likely be heading up to bel air at some point to get my dress and have it fitted, then my niece meaghan is having her birthday party, and thats on top of homework, writing my speech, work, doctor's appointments and everything. man. i think i may die of exhaustion.

monster truck is laying on the floor next to me doing a warning bark thing. it almost sounds like human hiccups. she's too cute.

hey go to: http://dft.ba/-teamfeck and vote for bud. just hit the thumbs up and thats it! super simple and such. remember to vote everyday. you have until the 8th and then voting is closed. this will definitely be super helpful for bud's career. 


want another random picture? well... here you go!

bud is recording a song as i type this. he's always recording a song or a video or editing a video or watching videos these days. he loves the youtubez. yep.

so today was another good day. spent the day watching my nephews, got off work a little early - went to the bank, cashed and deposited my check, went to the grocery store and came home. tomorrow i will be making salmon and snap peas! yum! hehe. i have not really done much except just a little while ago i went out and got my nephew carter a birthday present. they are things that i will benefit from, since i watch him everyday. haha. it will be fun.

i have a lot on my mind. a lot is changing and well... life is always interesting it seems these days. i can't really go into it because its just so much. but really its just that i need to try and prioritize things in my life. i have so much going on and there is always something i have to think about doing. and its not that i don't like being kept busy - but it can become overwhelming at points. but God is sufficient and pulls me through! every time. i don't know why i ever doubt him, He is always faithful, even when i am faithless. its because i am lame.

tomorrow after my nephew's party, i'm going to head home and do a copious amount of homework. booooo. i have to read and write 2 essays. or at least one i think... i'll have to check. really i have to write 3... 2 for english and one for history. once i get the history one done, i'll be like 85% done with my history class! huzzah! i really need to just bust out my history class and get it DONE! because then i can just concern myself with my english course. i know... i've probably said this a million times. oh well... maybe soon i'll listen to my own advice.

i think i'm gonna go for now. gonna go relax and wrap my nephews presents. i hope he likes it. i got him the best birthday gift last year! he still plays with it! i was the winner for gifts. but i don't think i will own up to best gift this year, but i could be wrong. ;-P

here is a random picture.

so i should have posted this yesterday. it was on my mind to make but i never posted it. i basically made this today... (kind of. i made garlic butter asparagus and seared sirloin steak so i didn't use the mustard, broth or white wine... but i will next time!) check it out. it was delicious!


recipe: garlic steak with asparagus


ingredients
2 10 - 12 oz. boneless beef top loin (strip) steak, 3/4 inch thick
1 or 2 large cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp. cracked or coarsely ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
8 to 10 thin asparagus spears, trimmed (6 oz.)
2 tsp. garlic-flavored olive oil or olive oil
1/2 cup beef broth
1 Tbsp. dry white wine
1/4 tsp. dijon-style mustard

method
1.     Rub the steak on both sides with a mixture of the garlic, pepper, and salt, pressing in the mixture with your fingers. 2.     Place the asparagus in a shallow dish and drizzle with the oil.
3.     For sauce, in a medium skillet stir together the broth and wine. Cook over high heat for 4 to 5 minutes or until mixture is reduced to 1/4 cup. Whisk in mustard; keep warm.
4.     Preheat grill on high setting. Place steak on the grill rack, close lid. Grill until steak is desired doneness. (3 to 4 minutes for medium rare or 5 to 7 minutes for medium, turning steak once.) Add asparagus to grill for the last 4 to 5 minutes of grilling. Cook asparagus until crisp-tender.*
5.     Spoon sauce on serving plate. Cut steak in half crosswise. Serve steak halves atop sauce with asparagus on top.
*Note: The asparagus cooking time will vary with the size of asparagus. Also, if there is no room on the grill, the asparagus can be grilled after the steak.