Adventures in Baking: M&M Cookies

I think that my husband has a special smile reserved for his favorite cookie -- the M&M cookie. That was my inspiration for this week's baked goodies...

I used the same cookie batter that I've used in the past for chocolate chip cookies and replaced the chocolate chips with M&Ms. These cookies were seriously SO easy to make and so good... deserving of a smile from my husband :)

This was a nice treat to have in the middle of the week. Hope you're enjoying your week!

Happy Monday!

I have discovered a new favorite breakfast item...whole grain toast with peanut butter and Nutella!  I don't know why I haven't thought of it before. I've had toast with Nutella, toast with peanut butter, but never both. All I can say is YUM!

This breakfast discovery, along with a day off, equals a Happy Monday, indeed! Here's to the start of a new week :)

I especially love how there's a mix of the PB & Nutella dripping off the side...drool...

A Normal Day

This weekend has been wonderful...

Friday, I had sushi with a couple girlfriends.  The sushi I had was A-MA-ZING! (it's pictured below...I wish I could reach in and eat more of it.)  After sushi, we went to my friend's house for coffee and a visit with her little baby, who is just so adorable.  And, somehow I got hooked on Grey's Anatomy again and will have to start recording it lol.  You can't really beat a great night of conversation with girlfriends :)

...drooool...

Saturday, Ryan and I went to see Shrek the Musical, a Broadway play based on the movie.  He had planned on surprising me and waiting until Saturday to tell me about it, but he couldn't wait and spilled the beans this past Wednesday.  It still amazes me how thoughtful he is.  We saw a commercial for Shrek coming to our area quite a while ago and I got so excited about it and mentioned I'd love to go see it...and then totally forgot about it.  I think Ryan also knew that I was having a really rough few weeks at work and wanted to get me out to do something fun.  What a guy!  

Here I am waiting for the play to start with my Princess Fiona "ears", a souvenir from my hubby :) 

(note: as I was putting them on before this picture, a little girl about the age of 4 walked by with the same ones on.  Also note: later on I saw more people with them on, and some were even older than me lol)

Today, we slept in and lounged in bed for a while.  We were too lazy to make breakfast (and it didn't help that we didn't have any eggs, bacon, or milk in our fridge), so we went out for breakfast.  We went to a diner type place by our house that has pretty good breakfast and it's a nice change from going to Perkins or Denny's.  After breakfast, we ran some errands and did some grocery shopping.  It was when we were grocery shopping that I really took the time to appreciate today.

I guess I'll back up a little bit.  A couple weeks ago, another co-worker of mine found out that her husband has cancer.  Stage 4 lung cancer.  Last year, another co-worker lost her husband to cancer, so this news hit way too close to home for a lot of us.  We are all devastated for her, her husband, her children, her entire family.  It's heartbreaking.  We do what we can, but really, what can you do?  I read his caringbridge site whenever there's an update and the most recent one mentioned that he was hoping that the next day would be a more normal day and that they were slowly getting there.  That reminded me of a conversation I had last year with my other co-worker, who later on ended up losing her husband to cancer.  We initially were talking about how she was doing, how her husband was doing, how her 2 young boys were doing, and when she asked how I was, I said, "not much, same old stuff...". I will never forget her response:  "Be thankful for that. Be thankful for normal, every day things."  

So as Ryan and I rounded the frozen foods section aisle and walked down past the sandwich meats, I took a look at my husband, my kind, thoughtful, loving, always-there-for-me husband, and I thanked, thanked, thanked, God for this normal day. As much as I love events and plans to look forward to, I don't think I will ever take for granted the regular, normal, every day things.

Through Hubert's Eyes #3

There's a little over a week left of January and I am just itching for spring to come...I would say that I am in the homestretch of getting over this winter weather, but knowing MN, that would be speaking way too soon. Spring is my favorite season and I just can't wait for it to get here. I am looking forward to the flowers blooming, green leaves on trees, the smell of rain, butterflies, the air getting warmer...everything!

One of the things I like to do all year long, but especially during the winter time, is buy inexpensive bunches of flowers from the grocery store to try and brighten up the house when it's so cold and yucky outside. I'm also lucky enough to have a husband who brings me flowers for no reason too :)

Here are a couple pictures of some flowers that are keeping me sane. Happy Monday!

Adventures in Baking: Double Chocolate Brownies

In case I forgot to mention it already, Ryan bought me a new mixer for our anniversary this past November to replace my broken one. It's a mixer I've been wanting for quite a while now...my very own KitchenAid! Ever since I got Betty (well, you can't be surprised that I named her!), I've baked Christmas cookies and chocolate chip cookies. I haven't baked much yet, but plan on trying more recipes now that we aren't as busy.

I had planned on sharing my baking adventures on here, but forgot to do so the past couple times I've baked. Today's baking adventure consisted of a recipe I found for double chocolate brownies.  Once I got the batter ready, I was kind of afraid that I did something wrong because the batter was SO thick.  I wondered if I forgot to add something or added too much of something. They turned out pretty good though, so I guess that's just how home made brownie batter must be like? I wouldn't know...prior to this, I've only made brownies out of a box!

Here's proof that I've been practicing my baking skills! I'm debating tackling banana bread sometime soon...

Ryan's favorite dessert :)

On The Go Playlist

A few days ago I got into a Twitter conversation with a friend of mine regarding music that we're listening to and I thought I'd share my current "On-the-go" playlist.  I absolutely love music and since my "On-the-go" playlists are usually ever-changing, maybe this will become a regular type of post.  So, if you're interested, here's my current "On-the-go" playlist from my iPod.  What songs are you listening to and who are the artists that you're really into right now?

1. Dog Days Are Over, by Florence + The Machine.  Ever since I first heard this song, it has made it back into my playlist repeatedly.  I just love Florence Welch's voice and find that this is a great song to get me going and lift my spirits (and is also the perfect song to play at the end of a really rough work week). You may have heard it in the previews for Eat, Pray, Love. The rest of the album (Lungs) is also fantastic.
2. Teenage Dream, by Katy Perry.  Another song that repeatedly makes it back into my On-the-go playlist.  This started out as one of my favorite summer songs, and here I am in the middle of winter, still loving it. I dare you not to get up and dance when you listen to this. It just makes me happy.
3. Send Me The Moon, by Sara Bareilles. I don't think she has come out with a song that I didn't like. I love the depth and emotion in her voice, it is just lovely to me. I feel like a lot of her songs are a little tongue-in-cheek and very "I am woman, hear me roar" (also why I like her songs so much).  This is one of the more serious/emotional songs by her.
4. Terrified, by Katherine McPhee (feat. Jason Reeves).  I don't know why, but I just love this song. I could listen to this over and over...and I have lol.
5. Loving You Is Easy, by Sarah McLachlan. I've been a fan of Sarah McLachlan since high school, so her voice always takes me back there. Her voice will always be one of the most beautiful, haunting voices I think I will ever hear. She is one of the few artists I have multiple CDs of since I started liking her before iTunes was created. Crazy.
6. Love Love Love, by Hope (feat. Jason Mraz). This is just an upbeat song I've been liking lately. I'm a big fan of Hope so I thought it was interesting that she had a duet with Jason Mraz, I would've never thought of them doing a song together, but I like it!
7. Marry Me, by Train. I could listen to this song forever. It brings tears to my eyes, but in a good way, and that's always a good thing.  I LOVE THIS SONG. That's it, I really can't say anything more about it.
8. Day Too Soon, by Sia. I've been a fan of Sia for years now so I'm happy that she's been getting more exposure lately. This is my favorite song of hers. Another song that has been popular by her is "Breathe Me" (it was featured in Six Feet Under) and more recently, "My Love" (from the Twilight Eclipse soundtrack, which coincidentally was one of my favorite scenes from the movie and also was the part of the book where I "heard" this song playing when I first listened to the soundtrack...I must have a gift lol). Leave it to me to bring up a Twilight reference in a random blog post, hehehe.
9. Sweet Disposition, by Temper Trap. I just love the mood and beat of this song. This is a song that I plan to add to my Washington trip slideshow...if I ever get to it...
10. The Only Exception, by Paramore. This is another song that brings tears to my eyes, in a good way. I hear it and a flashback of images of my life with Ryan is in front of me. It just reminds me of how lucky I am.
11. Starlight, by Muse. Muse is probably one of my favorite bands of all time and I've been a fan of theirs for almost 10 years now. I love the drama and theatrics of their music. Usually my on-the-go playlist contains one of their songs, and this one is my favorite.
12. Mine, by Taylor Swift. Ah, I've really lost my fight against disliking Taylor Swift, so I'm embracing it. Her new CD, Speak Now, has been playing on my iPod a lot in general, but this is one of my favorites from her new album.
13. Blood Bank, by Bon Iver. I love songs that lyrically pull you in and tell a story, and does it simply. Bon Iver does it well.
14. Wait Til You See My Smile, by Alicia Keys.  This is my current "I can conquer anything" song. I play it any time I need a pick me up or a boost of confidence and this is also on my working out playlist. It reminds me that things will be ok and that I will be ok.

A New Year

Well...once again it has been quite some time since my last post.  It's been a busy few months...excuses, excuses...

It's a new year, so I hope everyone has had a good one so far!  Somehow I started off the new year by getting my wisdom teeth pulled out...I know, what a start, right??  I got them pulled a couple weeks ago today actually, and so far I am doing well...no dry sockets!  I'm shocked at how well it all turned out since I was so nervous about it and putting it off for YEARS.  I'm glad I finally did it though.

I want to give a special thank you to my babysitters, Ryan and Kung Fu (my pillow pet I got from Ryan at Christmas) during my wisdom teeth recovery. Aren't they cute?

Here's to a whole new year of possibilities :)