babe miller

My dearest friend at work is about to leave me high and dry for the next 10-12 weeks.

She's supposed to have a baby on monday 4/3.

That is if baby miller decides to come on his/her due date.

Jayme (my friend) is betting that it happens closer to easter weekend.

Today was our last walk during work.

We try to walk at least 30 mins every day that we're both in the office.

We use this time to catch up, step away from our desks and talk about things other than work.

She is going to WFH next week hoping that her water breaks.

She was concerned about it happening at work. i mean really? lol

I am not really sure what I am going to do without Jayme at work.

She keeps me sane

She lets me vent

She proofreads my really important emails

She makes me laugh

I am so lucky to have such a great friend at work.

When you spend so much of your day at one particular place one could only hope to enjoy the people you spend it with.

Jayme has had a pretty crazy couple of years trying to get pregnant, the process of adoption, etc.

I remember when she told me she was pregnant this past summer.

I started crying knowing that is what she and her husband had hoped and prayed for so long.

She was very calm, cool and at ease with it.

You could tell it was meant to be.

I can’t think of two better people to be given a sweet baby.

Jayme - i'll miss you pal. wishing you a heathly and speedy delivery. and a precious baby!

over the past couple of days i realized (for about the 100th time) that i have some pretty amazing friends. 
people i have known and enjoyed being around since the 3rd grade, middle school and k-state.
a few of us this year will celebrate being friends 20 years! 
i had the privilege to sit around a dinner table with many of them over the past few days.
gabbing about the days activities, new babies, weddings, recipes, husbands and planning vacations. 
we all come from different places, families and backgrounds. 
but one thing is for sure i can count on all of them. 
some are punctual (one of my favorite qualities) - you know they will always be on time or early to whatever is going on.  to me being early or on time is a sense that what you're doing is important and they want to be involved.
some are good listeners
some can always make you laugh
some share my passion to be creative and crafty
it is interesting to see so many different people just click. 
i'm lucky to have those of you in my life.
i'm also lucky to have those of you that are far away ...you make me a better 'phone talker'. 

PW Meatballs

Last Saturday on the Food Network PW made some meatballs.
The husband said, "We've got to make those!!!" His mouth was watering.
So Sunday afternoon - I opened my coveted PW cookbook and got started on Monday night's dinner.
Yes - you thought right - they are make ahead meatballs!
I followed her instructions up to the point of baking them for 30-40 minutes.
I let mine cool in the pyrex and then threw them in the fridge until I got home from work on Monday.
Let me tell you how many compliments I got on those meatballs.

• 3 at least during dinner
• 2 for just the sauce that was drizzled all over them
• 1 on Thursday afterwork - he ate them for lunch on Tuesday and Thursday.

Talk about a winning dinner! And it is just a ball of meat rolled up with some seasonings and oats and baked in a simple sauce.

We paired our meatballs with a small sweet potato and fresh green beans.

I stole another picture from PW - is that illegal? FYI these would be great for a party, kept warm in a crock pot.  I am not really sure why she calls them BBQ Meatballs - I didn't think they were very BBQy. But they were oh so good!

PW - Shredded Pork

I told the husband that we were going to use our crock pot this week. I am trying to make things a bit easier at dinner time. He found this recipe for Spicy Shredded Pork and jalapeno slaw on PW's website.  If you're ever needing to buy a pork butt (shoulder is the same thing) - go to Costco. The price per pound is great and you normally get 2 within the package. This allows us to freezer seal the extra and put it away for next time. Which the hubs will probably get out the smoker this Spring and cook it up.

This recipe was super easy - we put everything together like PW recommends in her recipe. We set the crock pot at 630 this morning and by 530 we were ready to eat. Yes we eat that early :). 

I also whipped up her jalapeno cilantro slaw but ended up not adding the jalapeno or the cilantro. I wasn't feeling it.This meal is great for a crowd and is super easy! Get out those crock pots people and put them to use!  the picture below is from PW's website - yes i stole the picture because  I failed to take pictures of my own. I hope she doesn't sue me. Yes, mine did look like this!

PW - Spicy Shredded Pork (really isn't that spicy but the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce do turn it up a notch). 

PW Cilantro Jalapeno Slaw - really good even without the C&J. Here you can see how she put the slaw on the sandwich. We didn't do it - we used it as a side item. 

fresh start

The  older I get the more and more I remind myself of my mom. Some people would not admit to that about their own mothers. But for me, I have no issues :). Growing up my mom would always change the furniture around in our living room. There are about 3 different ways to have the furniture placed - they have a great long living room and lots of space to work with. If I remember right she did this at least 3 times per year.  As a kid I would change my bedroom furniture around. Luckily my parents didn't care because normally the task would include a thorough cleaning of my room.

Today was one of those days. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I was out of sorts, the husband was driving me bonkers (he was doing nothing really). But everything was getting on my nerves. After a few errands and lunch, I decided I needed a change.

I rearranged our bedroom furniture. I must have had tons of energy to burn off because once I got to moving the furniture and  cleaning out drawers, I felt a ton better. I think I understand now that my mom changed the furniture to gain a new perspective and to make a fresh start. Even the hubs said the room feels better and he liked the arrangement.

I think I might tackle the living room next weekend to keep the momentum going.

** cooking update - several slow cooker recipes are being tested this week - hopefully I'll get to blog about them. check back.

H & H - Pillow

For Christmas my mom and dad got me a personalized pillow from Pottery Barn. They had it monogrammed after my two kiddos - H & H. Love it.

sweet pecan breakfast rolls!

before the holidays i found this pretty great sweet pecan roll recipe. they are super simple and would be great to make for breakfast or brunch. i happened to make the on christmas eve.  they were a hit! you can find the ingredients and directions here. seriously it could not be an easier recipe!

put the yummy sugary goodness and pecans in the bottom of the muffin tin. roll up the puff pastry with butter, brown sugar, craisins and yellow raisins and cut into chunks like you're making cinnamon rolls. put them upright in the muffin tins.

bake until they're bubbily and light brown

flip the muffin tin over onto a baking sheet lined with parchment! watch out for hot bubbily sugar...it can burn you. let them rest a bit. if the sugary pecan goodness spills over just scoop it up with a spoon and put it on top of the roll. they will set as they cool off.