Foodie Friday: Mrs. B's Scrambler

I threw this together one morning and Mr. B and I were impressed! It's a delicious and easy breakfast.

4 Trader Joe's frozen hash browns
2 eggs
Splash of milk
Hickory Farms Turkey Summer Sausage (any sausage with brown sugar & honey flavor can substitute)
Pepper Jack cheese
Black pepper

Heat up the hash browns in a pan with olive oil. Scramble the two eggs & milk, add pepper jack cheese and sliced up sausage to the eggs. Once the hash browns are cooked thoroughly, slice into small pieces and add to the egg mixture. Pepper to taste. Serves two. You can add anything you like, such as peppers or onions. Make it yours :)  Enjoy!

Wrapping up 2010

I am so excited to see what 2011 brings for us! Here is a wrap up of 2010...

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?
Zip lined through a rain forest in Costa Rica!

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions and will you make more for next year?
I don't think I made any resolutions for this year. If I did, it was to lose weight and that did NOT happen :/

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
My co-worker did in October. She had a beautiful baby girl named Sydney.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Tragically, yes. My Grandpa passed away in June, just about a year after he was diagnosed with multiple Myeloma. It was much too soon for such a lively, healthy man. I still think about him every single day.

5. What countries did you visit?
We were in the Caribbean for both major vacations this year. St Maarten, St Thomas, The Bahamas, Colombia, Costa Rica, Panama, Aruba and Jamaica.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
The will power to eat better and exercise.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
-April 10, 2010: our wedding
-June 17, 2010:  my Grandpa passed away

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting married

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not exercising

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
I rarely get sick, but I did get my usual hormonal migraines. I was in the ER for the pain at least three times this year.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My 2005 Infiniti FX35. I love this car!

12. Where did most of your money go?
Our house. We finished all of the exterior work and landscaping.

13. What did you get really excited about?
-Getting married
-Beginning our journey to get pregnant

14. What song will always remind you of 2010?
"Dog Days Are Over" by Florence and The Machine

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:
– happier or sadder? Happier.
– thinner or fatter? Fatter, for sure.
– richer or poorer? Richer

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Exercise

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Worry. I am such a worry wart.

18. How did you spend Christmas?
Christmas Eve we took Apollo with us to my parent's, had a crab dinner, spent the night, opened stockings & gifts, and had Eggs Benedict for breakfast. We spent the afternoon with my in-laws and had a ham & turkey dinner.

19. What was your favorite TV program?
We have tons of recorded shows we love, but our favorite had to be It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

20. What were your favorite books of the year?
-Harlan Coben's "Play Dead"
-Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Played with Fire"

21. What was your favorite music from this year?
-Anything by Florence and The Machine
-500 Days of Summer soundtrack

22. What were your favorite films of the year?
-Inception
-The Fighter

23. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 27 this year (booooo!) Mr. B really knows how to make my birthday special. Everything was a surprise. Dinner with friends Friday night. Saturday morning we drove down to San Diego, went to a horse show and then to the fair, went out to dinner together and then stayed at a gorgeous resort for the night. We stopped at the beach on our way home and ate a delicious breakfast at a place called Nick's.

24. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Getting pregnant.

25. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2010?
Jean, t-shirt and flats.

26. What kept you sane?
My husband. He is honestly the best.

27. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2010.
Be patient. Everything will happen in time.

Goals for next year:
-Run a 10K
-Get pregnant
-Try yoga to reduce my anxiety/worry
-Learn something new for my job
-Take a class at school
-Travel to a country I have not been to
-Volunteer in our community

"An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in.  A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves." Bill Vaughan

xoxo,

Mrs. B

Let's Do This!

Tomorrow is the day for an early start to a 2011 resolution at the top of my list! Running. And getting into the routine before I get pregnant so I can keep going. I have a new iPod Nano, a new heart rate monitor and soon I will have some new running pants from lululemon. No excuses not to go! Oh crap. I just checked the weather and it says "100% chance of rain." But it should stop tomorrow night. So we will start either tomorrow or Thursday. I cannot wait. I actually loooove to run, especially outside. Mr. B has agreed to run with me too. Sweet. It's on. I really hope I don't get shin splints!

"I always loved running... it was something you could do by yourself, and under your own power.  You could go in any direction, fast or slow as you wanted, fighting the wind if you felt like it, seeking out new sights just on the strength of your feet and the courage of your lungs." Jesse Owens

xoxo,

Mrs. B 

p.s. Apollo loves to run with me, but his back feet always end up bloody around his outside toes :( I need to find him some booties for his back feet. He can't go every day, but every once in a while. Anyone use dog boots LOL? These look like they might work: http://www.ruffwear.com/dog_boots

Christmas Recap

Mr. B and I had a wonderful Christmas. Well, besides Aunt Flow showing up on Christmas morning. Thanks a lot, you biatch. Hello cycle nine. Anyways, we packed all the gifts and Apollo into our car and drove to my parents on Christmas Eve. We had delicious crab and lots of wine for dinner. We spent the night there, woke up and had Eggs Benedict for breakfast, then opened our stockings & gifts.

Mr B. is always so good to me :) He gave me wine tasting / horseback riding in Temecula, Pablo Francisco tickets for New Years Eve, and the heart rate monitor & exercise ball on my list.

My family is also very good to me. I got everything I wanted and needed, and I am so thankful.

I also received a very special gift from my Grandma & my late Grandfather. He passed away in June at age 75 of Myeloma. He was the healthiest Grandpa I know, so his death was VERY unexpected and horrible. He was a hunter. My Grandmother had some of his hides, so she sent two of them to two different artists to be made into purses; one for my sister and one for me. It was the last gift I opened and it was bittersweet. I was sobbing the entire time, but I knew I would be carrying a little piece of him with me everywhere I go. Isn't it beautiful?!

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday. I am so excited for 2011. I need a fresh start right now :)

"If a fellow isn't thankful for what he's got, he isn't likely to be thankful for what he's going to get." Frank A. Clark

xoxo,

Mrs. B

Random Wednesday - Apollo goes to work

I am lucky to work for a small, fun company. Our president/owner has dogs and loves them, so all of us with dogs bring them in every once in a while. We have a new employee this year who has never met Apollo, so I had to bring him in. She reallllly wanted to meet him :) Apollo is about 175 lbs so he can really surprise people who have never met him or a dog like him! He is such a good boy, too. He stays in my cubicle and rolls over for tummy scratches.

 He thought the ornament was a toy :)

The new co-worker made us all handmade ornaments (so cute!!!), and mine had Apollo's face and a dog house on it. LOVE.

My other good friend/co-worker and I exchanged gifts. She got my favorite perfume & the matching lotion. Yay!!!

Another co-worker brought in her homemade Peruvian Aji Verde sauce. Peruvian food is my favorite. The recipe is here.

I love my job and my co-workers! :)

xoxo,

Mrs. B

I hate hormones

Oh man. I am having one of my horrific hormone headaches today. This sucks.

Let's go back in time first... back to when I first tried birth control to help clear up my acne as a teenager. Shortly after starting the pill, I began having horrible migraine-like headaches. I had beautiful skin, but the headaches were awful. I tried another kind of birth control. I tried the patch. I tried the ring. All of them made my headaches worse and more frequent. My doctor and I decided that I should not take any kind of birth control. But I still got the headaches. At first they were sporadic and made no sense. I had an MRI done and there was nothing abnormal. Now that I am charting, I can see that they are occurring with the shifts in my hormones. When I end my period, I get a bad headache. Right before I ovulate, I get a bad headache. And then right before my period, I get another one. All of those times, one of my many hormones is surging.

These headaches can be debilitating. To the point that I have to go to the ER for IV pain medication, for fear of shooting myself in the head! Not literally, I promise. The pain is just so bad that sometimes that thought crosses my mind :(  They make me so sick that I usually end up vomiting. I have a migraine medication, a pain medication and even anti-nausea suppositories when it gets really bad. There are still times where none of these pills can touch it and I just have to go to the ER or I will break down. Lovely, huh?

Now that we are TTC and I have not been pregnant after almost 9 months, I wonder if my crazy hormones have something to do with it. I mean they give me the most horrific headaches I can ever imagine, so how surprising would it really be if they were f-ing up my reproductive system? After this next cycle, I am going to make a doctor appointment. I think I am due for my yearly exam anyways, so might as well talk to her about my hormones at the same time. I feel better just having a plan for 2011 :)

Something that makes me happy

I have been riding horses for as long as I can remember. Wait. I don't even remember this photo below. So let me re-phrase that. I have been riding horses since before I can remember!

My first real horseback riding lesson was at age 6. My Mom tells me that I was drawn to horses very early on. Once I started riding, I never stopped. It was all I did. I had no extracurricular activities in school because every day I went down to the local stable to ride. 

I have owned three horses in total. My first horse was a psycho LOL! Of course, we didn't know that when we bought him. I actually saved my own money to buy him when I was 14. I think I paid around $1,000 for him. I named him Tucker. He was about five. He was broke to ride, but everything was still new to him. I worked with my trainer, so she helped with training and I took lessons on him. I rode western pleasure at the time. I was always complimented on my seat. I could ride through anything. My trainer would put me on the crazies sometimes because she knew I could stay on. Well, Tucker spooked & reared up one day and flipped us both completely over. I did stay on, because of that great seat, but that meant he landed on me. Thankfully, he did not crush me into oblivion. From that day on, he had "issues." We found him a cowboy, and it was a match made in heaven!

Tucker (and me at 14 - eegads!)

My next horse was a dun mare who I named Maddie. She was a reining horse and an absolute sweetheart. And most importantly, not a psycho! She was always ready to go, as most reining horses are. We enjoyed several years together, riding around at the local stable, even competing in a few shows. I got too busy toward the end of high school and sold her to a nice girl. I miss her still. She was a really great horse.

I jumped on the crazy wagon again and purchased my third horse, while also working at a stable teaching lessons. I love the draft breeds, so I went in search of a Percheron. I wanted a young horse that I could finish training. I found Blake. He was just two and a big sweetheart. I finished his training, moved between three different stables, and then decided to move out of my parent's house. There was no way I could afford rent, bills AND a horse. I found him a nice home with a couple down south of us. He was fun :) And he was the first horse Mr. B was around and fell in love with.

The point of my post was that horseback riding makes me happy. Whenever I am feeling down, I want to ride. Something about being on a horse, feeling each step they take, watching their ears as they take in the sights... it just puts a smile on my face and on my heart. It makes life seem perfect even when you know it's not. It's hard to put into words, but I am sure all of you have something in your life that does that for you. 

What makes you happy?

This song semi-inspired this post.

 

Introducing Troy Nickolaus

Mr. B's best friend, who lives in Florida, just had his second baby boy. They used Mr. B's first name & spelling for Troy's middle name. If you didn't pick it up, Mr. B is Nickolaus ;) I brought them a "Baby's First Christmas" outfit when we were in FL for our cruise. Momma just sent me a photo of him in the outfit and I about died from the cuteness!

Welcome to the world little man :)

"A baby has a special way of adding joy in every single day." Author Unknown

xoxo,

Mrs. B

Christmas Fun

I luuurve this season!!! Everything about it makes me happy :)

My sister, Mom and I decided to bake Christmas cookies...

 With the addition of Target holiday sprinkles.

Apollo made sure no cookies left the kitchen!

We made Christmas crafts...

DIY wreath before

 DIY wreath after. And it's real pine. Smells yummy :)

Apollo helped ;)

This is for my mantle. We made two, placed a stick between the two, hot-glued safety pins onto the stick, then used the pins to attach Christmas cards :)

Here it is on my mantle. I just need more cards now.

  

My Mom has given us an advent calendar every year since I can remember. Some things never change :)

I couldn't leave out the infamous Christmas card from my Mom's cousin (who is also an artist). 

Warning - this card includes nudity. And a rubber ducky too!

Even Apollo got into the Christmas spirit :)

Santa Paws

Rudolph the sweet faced rein-dog

Mr. B and I also picked up our Christmas tree & decorated the rest of the house... we were late this year, with the vacation and his travel for work.

Isn't she magical?! We call her Trisha Tree :)

Decorations are up...

The wreath I made on our front door

I am leaving you with one last Apollo picture. My helpful elf. He is the best dog ever :)

"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree:  the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other." Burton Hillis

xoxo,
Mrs. B

I love giving gifts!

My favorite part of Christmas is buying gifts for family and friends! I love getting creative and finding something extra special for each person. If only I had abundant amounts of money, I could really go crazy. I am not going to share too much about the gifts I bought, in case family or friends see this. But I can't wait to watch each person open them on Christmas Day. We have breakfast together at my parent's house, open stockings, open gifts and enjoy each other's company :)

One of my favorite stores this season: www.perpetualkid.com Part of the reason I love them? Look what I saw when I opened the box of gifts I ordered:

What's on my Christmas list this year?

The new iPod Nano

Victoria's Secret Bombshell. Yum!

Guess White Stainless Steel Watch

Dog toys for Apollo. My favorite dog toy company is Fat Cat Inc. These piggy toys are adorable!

EatSmart Precision Scale; to help me lose the LB's!

And the most important gift... for everyone to have a happy & safe holiday!

xoxo,

Mrs. B

Christmas Potluck

We used to have extravagant Christmas parties at my work, but those days are gone. Now we do a potluck lunch every December. We have some great cooks and bakers here, so it's always delicious. I tried to take photos of everything, but I missed some things because everyone was hungry!

Deep fried turkey, cooked in front of our office LOL.

 My plate - turkey, sweet potatoes with maple glazed pecans, homemade macaroni salad (so good!), and the best salad ever - mixed greens, pears, onions, pecans, cranberries with Marie Callender's poppy seed dressing. I could have eaten the whole bowl of salad, mmmm :)

I really liked the pasta salad, so I had some more. What? It was sooooo good!

And dessert... "elephant ears", gingerbread cupcake pop, World Peace chocolate cookie, and my sister's homemade peppermint bark.

These gingerbread cupcake pops were AWESOME! 

Of course, we ended the meal with wine! A co-worker of mine bottles this with a friend. Delicious.

"I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month." Harlan Miller

xoxo,

Mrs. B

A Lullalo Giveaway

My favorite artist is giving away two adorable 8x10 Christmas prints! I blogged about her adorable paintings here. Check out her blog for more details: Lullaloo Giveaway

xoxo,
Mrs. B

p.s. I guessed right. I am ovulating when Mr. B is out of town, so hopes are down for this cycle. Time to focus on losing weight ;)

We are home!

We got back late on Sunday, so this has been my first chance to sit down and blog. We had a really, really good time. Even despite Aunt Flow showing up the day we left. We were able to relax and really enjoy ourselves. To sum it up... we laid on the pristine beach in Aruba, climbed Fort San Felipe in Cartagena, Colombia, watched in awe as we went through the Gatun Locks in the Panama Canal, zip lined in the pouring rain in the Costa Rican rain forest and climbed Dunns River Falls in Jamaica. And the rest of the time we relaxed, laid by the pool on the ship, shopped for souvenirs and I finished two great books; "Play Dead" by Harlan Coben and "The Girl Who Played With Fire" by Stieg Larsson. A few photos to share:

The view from Fort San Felipe in Cartagena

The New City - Cartagena, Colombia

On our way into the Gatun Lock - Panama Canal

A rainbow greeted us in Ocho Rios, Jamaica

 Jamaica was beautiful! We could have spent all 10 days there.

 On a ski lift up to Mystic Mountain

 View from the top. That's our ship in the distance.

 No, I didn't pee my pants in this picture. We had just climbed the waterfall and I still had my swimsuit on ;)

 The view from the restaurant on Mystic Mountain

 Jamaican Jerk Chicken

 Our ship, the Coral Princess

It was a great vacation, but it feels good to be home! We missed Apollo and the kitties very much. My parents were nearly in tears bringing Apollo back to us; they really love him like he is their grandson. I cannot wait to give them a real grandson. I am also excited to be back for the holidays. I looooove decorating, hanging the lights, putting up the tree, lighting fires in our fireplace, giving gifts, spending Christmas morning at my parents, opening stockings. Yes, my Mom STILL fills up and hangs a stocking for my sister and I, and for the past few years for Mr. B and my sister's boyfriend too. I just cannot get enough of this season. It puts me in the best mood!

Mr. B is back out of town for work tomorrow morning and of course I am about to ovulate any day now. Dang it. He is back on Saturday, but I really think it will be too late. We are doing what we can, but the rest is out of our control. All I want for Christmas is to be pregnant :)

xoxo,

Mrs. B