Friday, January 30, 2009

nestie gtg

I went to my first Boston Nestie get together last night and it was really fun. I was nervous about meeting these ladies that I only "know" from the internet, but it was great! We went to Not Your Average Joe's in Methuen and it was delicious :) It was a little awkward since I ended up being the first one there and couldn't even really give much info to the hostess since I didn't even know who I was meeting! I felt a little out of place since I'm one of the youngest on the board and the only one not pregnant/with kids, but it was still a good time.

Mr. T. came home from skiing last night - he said he can't remember the last time he's seen snow like that in NH, that it was like skiing out west. I'm surprised he came home! We're going up again next weeked - it will be my first ski trip this year and I'm excited. Sox will be going to stay with my parents because I couldn't bear the thought of leaving him at the vet, locked up in a cage!

The hats I ordered for our 3-Day team came yesterday, they are awesome and so perfect! I can't wait to give everyone theirs! My stamps and address labels should be here today or tomorrow, so hopefully my letters can go out next week. I also talked to the HR lady at work, and as I figured, I can't use my company email to send out a fundraising letter to my coworkers. So they'll have to hear through word of mouth and hopefully will see the poster I'll be hanging on my cube.

On another note - I am totally itching to go to Disney World for some reason. It came up a week or so ago that Mr. T. hasn't been since he was really little and I had been wanting to do a small vacation for our first anniversary. At first we were saying that we wouldn't spend a lot of money if we did do something because we have plenty of house projects to spend money on. But we also want to do things with just to two of us before we decide to have kids. So I was thinking of spending a long weekend up in Bar Harbor, Maine - to avoid having to pay for a flight. But then I got to thinking about Disney. I shouldn't have. A package vacation for 4 nights actually isn't over the top and would be totally doable in September. Now I can't get it out of my head. We'll see if we end up going!

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

3-Day stuff!

During our 3-Day orientation meeting tonight, I was thinking of things we can wear. Since we are the Pink Sox, I figured the logical choice for headwear would be a pink Red Sox cap. I found the PERFECT ones at neweracap.com and I ordered one for each of us! I love them and can't wait to get them - they'll be perfect for our mid-summer walk!

notice the little pink ribbon next to the Boston "B" - and there's one on the back of the cap also!

I also just ordered return address labels and stamps to go on my fundraising letters. I got the return address labels for free from vistaprint.com (who knew they'd be helpful even after the wedding?!) and the stamps are breast cancer awareness from the USPS. This may delay the sending of my letters, but that's ok!

Monday, January 19, 2009

random ramblings

There isn't much to report, I just wanted to update since it's been a while.

Things are going well - we're supposed to get hit with yet another snowstorm tomorrow, they're estimating we'll get about a foot at home. I'm hoping to work from home now that I have my work laptop, so hopefully I won't be commuting (30 miles one way) in the snow!

Tonight is our orientation meeting for the 3-Day. I'm looking forward to seeing what information they give us and then hopefully it will inspire me to get my fund-raising letters out. I'm hoping to have them out by the weekend so we'll see. I bought my pink paper and envelopes from Staples last night and the letter is basically done, I just want to go back to it in a couple of days so that I can make sure it's written how I want it. (If you want to donate - there is a link on the left of my blog that will take you to my personal fund-raising page! (Any donation is MUCH appreciated!)

I finally made the leap of letting someone else take care of Sox so that Mr. T. and I can go skiing. For those who don't know - our cat, Sox, is diabetic (diagnosed shortly after the wedding last fall) and needs insulin injections twice a day. Since this has hindered our ability to go away for a weekend and leaving him home alone, I haven't been skiing at all, and poor husband has only been once this whole winter. The vet said they'd board him for the weekend but it made me really sad to think about him being locked in a cage all weekend. And I was originally worried about leaving him with my parents because my mom is wary of needles and the like. But I decided to ask her if she'd be ok with it and she agreed. I assured her it's really simple and not nausea-inducing in the slightest. At their house he'll have free roam of the finished basement (and he lived in the house for almost 10 years!)

That's all for now - off to lunch!

Sunday, January 11, 2009

swiss steak

Last night for dinner we decided to try something new. My husband found a recipe in our Better Homes & Garden cookbook and wanted to try it out. It was delicious! It's definitely being added to our list of favorite meals. It can be cooked stovetop or in the oven - Tim cooked it in the oven so that is the recipe I'm including. And to top it off - it's low fat!

Swiss Steak
Prep: 25 minutes
Cook: 1 hour, 15 minutes
Makes: 4 servings

1 pound boneless beef round steak
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon cooking oil
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano; undrained
1 small onion, sliced and separated into rings
½ cup sliced celery (1 stalk)
½ cup sliced carrot (1 medium)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

1. Trim fat from meat. Cut meat into four serving-size pieces. Combine flour, salt, and pepper. With the notched side of a meat mallet, pound flour mixture into meat.

2. In a large skillet, brown meat on both sides in hot oil. Drain off fat. Transfer meat to a 2-quart square baking dish.

3. In the same skillet, combine undrained tomatoes, onion, celery, and carrot. Bring to a boil, scraping up any browned bits. Pour over meat.

4. Cover and bake for about 1 hour or until meat is tender. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Saturday, January 10, 2009

can't sit still - the aftermath

Though my back, neck, and feet are so sore, I am proud to present - my finished craft room! I worked all day yesterday and pretty much all day today (up until about an hour ago) and it's done! I love it :) The only thing that it really needs right now is a nice little area rug in the middle of the room so that I can craft on the floor if I so desire. I'm thinking just a milk chocolate brown rug - we'll see how long it takes me to find one that's not super expensive. I also want to make some simple window treatments, but since we plan on replacing all the windows in our house this spring, that will wait until that project is finished.





Friday, January 9, 2009

can't sit still

With today being one of my Fridays off, I decided that I've had a long enough break from working on the house and I'm going to start tackling the downstairs bedroom, aka my "craft room". So I'll be spending much of the day stripping wallpaper and hopefully getting the walls ready for paint. It's the last room in the house that still has wallpaper and I can't wait to get rid of it! Here are some before pictures:




The bookshelf that I will repaint to go with the room

Thursday, January 8, 2009

welcome!

Welcome to my blog! Follow along as I document my life as a new homeowner and an even newer wife. My husband, Tim, and I were married on September 28, 2008 and became homeowners a few months earlier in May 2008. Life is great right now and I'm looking forward to what 2009 has to bring for our little family.