Monthly Archives: June 2009

Wedding Eve Mishap

June 27, 2009
Wedding Eve Mishap

I am entirely unsatisfied by the manicure I received today. It felt great, but the pink tint the manicurist used was very dark and she didn’t smooth out the white tips very well. Also, it seems that she didn’t apply a very good layer of top coat because as I washed my hair just now, the polish from two nails just peeled right off. Also, when she dipped my right hand into the paraffin wax, she touched my middle finger to the bottom of the hot container and it took the warm shower water to make me realize that I have a blister. It’s taking a great deal of self control to keep myself from picking at it or stabbing it with a safety pin. I would normally do that, but I don’t think it would look too great to be sporting a band-aid on my finger on my wedding day. Could be a might distracting in photos. How on Earth am I supposed to get my nails fixed by 9:00 tomorrow morning? I’ll have to ask one of my most wonderful bridesmaids to run by a pharmacy or grocery store for a DIY french-tip nails kit. I’ve done...

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T minus 11 hours

June 27, 2009

I am due to be married in just about eleven hours. I was out of the house from about 9:00 this morning until around 4:30 this afternoon having a girl’s day with my bridesmaids and flower girls. We got manicures and pedicures, had lunch, and shopped for shoes. My groom stayed home with Jeremy doing boy stuff. Jason left about an hour ago to have a last-minute bachelor party. In the time he’s been gone, I got Jeremy bathed and in bed asleep and successfully baked one loaf of Laura’s Strawberry Bread (it smells heavenly as it cools on my countertop), the second loaf is in the oven now. Unfortunately, I forgot to get Jason to re-light the pilot on my oven before he left, so I have to bake off one loaf at a time in my toaster oven. It’s working out perfectly. I’m baking to have something for my bridesmaids, flower girls, and a couple of friends to snack on while they hang out with me tomorrow morning as we do hair and makeup before caravanning over to the chapel. Before I head to bed tonight, I need to finish the dishes that are piled in the sink,...

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Rehearsal Day

June 25, 2009

Alrighty, the day has crept up on me and now I have a very long list of things that I have to get done prior to the wedding rehearsal at 5:45 this evening. Pray for me! Finish printing the programs. Assemble the favors. Format & print the signs to reserve four tables for special guests. Prepare disposable cameras (unwrap from the plastic, wind them for first use, and fold the table tent instructions). Go to David’s Bridal for a long-line bra. Go to Target for blue undies (to serve as my “something blue”, my cousin’s very cheeky – pun intended – idea). Pick up the rental shirts, vests, ties, and shoes for Jason, two of his groomsmen, and groomswoman (his sister). Acquire an assortment of items for the kid’s table to keep the little ones busy during the reception. (Puzzles, travel DVD player and movies, books, medium-sized toys.) Wrap gifts for the wedding party. They came in individual boxes, but I haven’t wrapped them yet. Buy/borrow a cake-cutting and serving set (I think they have a small collection at David’s Bridal, maybe this could be combined with item #5). Check the box with the guest book, flower girl baskets,...

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Orange Chicken

June 23, 2009
Orange Chicken

Last night I pulled together and made a truly amazing main course. I hadn’t realized how quickly it would be ready, so I completely forgot to make the side dish of veggie fried rice. Oops! Well, before I could even get two bites into my own mouth, Jason was nearly finished with his plate. I asked if he wanted me to make some Minute Rice, and he replied “Nope, I’m very content. This was really good.” I beamed. Here is my recipe for Orange Chicken. I was browsing through a few highly-ranked recipes online and read through some of the most helpful of the comments. I sorted through it all in my head, implemented some of the suggested changes, and made a couple of changes of my own (because I didn’t have a couple of the ingredients that I didn’t realize I’d need). As I said, it turned out fabulous, but I’ll tell you what changes I made so that you can switch it back if you’d like. Step 1: Heat about 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a large pan. Saute 4-6 chicken breasts in the oil until cooked through. Step 2: Combine the following into a medium-sized...

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Friendship is a terrible thing to waste.

June 23, 2009
Friendship is a terrible thing to waste.

My soon-to-be sister-in-law sent this to me via email. I normally just archive these chain letters, but I really wanted to share it because it reminded me of someone I once knew. One day, when I was a freshman in high school, I saw a kid from my class was walking home from school. His name was Kyle. It looked like he was carrying all of his books. I thought to myself, “Why would anyone bring home all his books on a Friday? He must really be a nerd.” I had quite a weekend planned (parties and a football game with my friends tomorrow afternoon), so I shrugged my shoulders and went on. As I was walking, I saw a bunch of kids running toward him. They ran at him, knocking all his books out of his arms and tripping him so he landed in the dirt. His glasses went flying, and I saw them land in the grass about ten feet from him. He looked up and I saw this terrible sadness in his eyes. My heart went out to him. So, I jogged over to him as he crawled around looking for his glasses, and I saw...

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Menu Plan, week of June 22, 2009

June 23, 2009
Menu Plan, week of June 22, 2009

Monday: Orange chicken. I finally made it, but forgot the rice. D’oh! But it was fabulous and is now one of the meals Jason would like me to add to our regular rotation. Tuesday: Hot dogs and criscut fries. We had this last weekend, but we’ve got leftovers and I want to use them before the buns go stale. Wednesday: Fish sticks and mashed potatoes. Simple, easy, and we’re trying to use up a bunch of the stuff we’ve had in the freezer for a while. Thursday: Rehearsal dinner with the wedding party. All-you-can-eat sushi for everyone, except me, who doesn’t like raw fish – I get to have teriyaki chicken. Friday: London broil cooked in the crock pot with potatoes and carrots. I’m cooking it whole so that we can have shredded beef leftovers for the weekend. Saturday: I keep putting off the cheese enchiladas and spanish rice that I planned two weeks ago, put off to last week, and we never got to have. Perhaps with leftover shredded beef from Friday? Sunday: It’s our wedding in the morning with lunch at the reception! I sure am not going to cook on my wedding day, so we’re going...

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Quick lunch with my honey…

June 16, 2009
Quick lunch with my honey…

This morning I was up and out the door at an unreasonably early hour, awake at 4 am and in the car at 5 am to be exact. In order for Jason to be to work on time, he needs to leave our house at 5:00. Since we are visiting family in Lake Elsinore tomorrow evening and Jason has to stay at work overnight tonight, we decided that I would ride with him to work this morning, hang out til lunchtime, and drive home this afternoon. Tomorrow I will drive back to San Diego to pick him up and we will drive to Lake Elsinore together. This is much better than driving separately all over the place. What I am grateful for this Tuesday is the opportunity to have lunch with my love on a day that I would normally not see him again until tomorrow‘s lunchtime. Also, I was rewarded with a small taste of one of the many ways that shows how much he loves me. Jason drives 95 miles each way to and from work every single day in order to live where we live instead of closer to his base like most of his coworkers. Between...

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Menu Plan, week of June 15, 2009

June 15, 2009
Menu Plan, week of June 15, 2009

Monday: Spaghetti with meat sauce and garlic bread. Tuesday: Jason has duty (meaning he works all day and stays there overnight to cover for emergencies, returning home sometime the next day), so I’ll be all alone. I’ll either have a sandwich or maybe even catch up with my sister or something. Wednesday: We’re driving out to Lake Elsinore to meet up for dinner with some of Jason’s family who will be out of town for our wedding. Thursday: This will be my first day returning to my office in Los Angeles in about 2 1/2 months. I expect that I will be quite tired so we’ll have an easy dinner of beef hot dogs with oven fries. Friday: Orange chicken with some egg & veggie fried rice. Saturday: I think we’ll have those cheese enchiladas and spanish rice that I planned for last week and we never got to have. It’s going to be warm again on Saturday, but enchiladas take less than 30 minutes in the oven to melt the cheese, so we won’t be heating the house up much. Sunday: Jason has to work (in return for having Friday off), so I’ll probably have leftover enchiladas for...

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Handpainted Child’s Stool

June 12, 2009
Handpainted Child’s Stool

Several of the children in my family received a wooden stool when they were between two and three years old. All of them were handpainted by a wonderful old woman in our hometown. Each was different but they all looked uniform. They all came from the same blank so they were all the same size and shape. Here is a picture of my 25-year old stool: It was personalized with my name and a very sweet little poem: “This little stool is mine I use it all the time To reach the things I couldn’t And sometimes things I shouldn’t.” As you can see, the years have been rough on this treasured piece of my childhood. There is a significant crack that my mother patched with a piece of clear packing tape. My 2 1/2-year old son Jeremy has fallen in love with my stool. I keep putting it away to keep it from being broken any further, but he always drags it out from wherever I’ve stashed it. He loves to “help” me do dishes, cook, and do all number of things as long as he can stand on the stool (even washing his hands!). In my wanting...

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Jen’s Lemon Pie

June 11, 2009
Jen’s Lemon Pie

As my very first post on my brand new blog, I’d like to share my absolute favorite pie in the entire world. I love Baker’s Square’s Lemon Supreme Pie, I go wild for it. Unfortunately, the closest Baker’s Square is a few cities away from where I live now and I can’t just take a walk to get a slice of pie like I could when I was a kid. So, I decided to make a copycat recipe. I must say, my first attempt was fantastic! I hit it on the nose on the first try. Without further ado, here is my recipe for the very best lemon pie you’ll ever eat.   This pie is created in three layers: crust, cream, lemon curd (with a little whipped cream for garnish). Layer 1: A Simple Pie Shell, 9″ or 10″. You can use a boxed mix, your grandma’s recipe, (LifeasMom’s Gramma John’s Pie Crust is really fantastic), prebaked, or the refrigerated kind that you unroll and put in the pan. Whichever crust option you choose, just make sure you let it get completely cool before adding the next layer.   Layer 2: The Cream Filling. - 8 oz. of softened cream...

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