We Made It!!!

Well after a long day of travelling and time zone changes and loooooooong customs lines, we finally made it to our hotel here in Vancouver at about 4:30 pm (our time 6:30 your time). The flights themselves were not too bad and were all on time just all the other stuff in between took a while. We went to bed last night about midnight ish and got up about 5:oo am. I took this picture of our pretty irises that bloomed last night. It looks like they are most going to bloom while we are gone and start wilting when we get back :(

Brennon got us to the airport at about 6:45 am which was as it turned out SUPER DUPER early but at least we had plenty of time and didnt have to rush like some people did. That left me with plenty of time to work on my newest knitting project!!

The first flight was pretty choppy for Matt (who was in the back of the plane). He almost got super sick but made it to Denver and immediately took some dramamine and pepto. Then he did well the rest of the trip. We rolled into Vancouver at about 1:30 our time but waited in a ridiculously long customs line. It took about an hour and a half to get through!! Finally we did, hopped on the skytrain to our hotel area, checked in, unpacked and headed to the tourest information center right here where we are standing in these pics. As you can see in the picture of Matt, we have a lot of planning to do tonight!

We then went to a local grill/pub, stuffed our faces and are now relaxing at our cute little hotel. I hope you all have a great week, I know we will :)

*If I have time, I might make another blog update but I am not making any promises...you know how bad I can be at time!

Happy Birthday Lucy Goosy

Well as you probably knew, we treat our dog like a human child. She is most certainly our little fur kid princess!! And our puppy dog turned 4 (or 28 depeding on how you look at it) last week, April 6th. She is as old as me and Matt!! So as per usual, we gave her a little celebration. I forgot to buy doggie ice cream but I made her a birthday-dinner-of-champions! It consisted of rotisserie chicken pieces, white rice, and a dollop of peanut butter. Lucy is not-so-patiently waiting for it here in this picture.

She's licking her chops in anticipation!

Mmmmmmmmmm, dont you wish you got that for your birthday!

I forgot to mix in the peanut butter and she licked that up in one swoop and got it all stuck in her mouth! It was funny!

And as if I dont buy her enough toys anyway, I got her another toy at the store when I was there to just pick up one thing :) It is kind of a creepy toy though because it is a platypus looking thing with removable squeeky eggs from the stuffed animals stomach. But as long as it squeeks, Lucy is entertained.

Happy Biirthday little Lucy, I know you will be reading this :)

Chicken Pesto Pizza

Matt and I really like this pizza I make often and for lack of better creative names, I call it Chicken Pesto Pizza. I am, in general, not a huge pizza fan but my favorite pizza is the ones I make and Hideaway Pizza (and Mazzio's on occasion). Here is the recipe if you would like to try it yourself:

Ingredients:

Pizza crusts (personal or regular sized)

Pesto Sauce (my favorite is the Classico brand)

Olive Oil

Cooked Chicken ( I usually use shredded rotisserie chicken bc I dont like to cook it)

Feta Cheese

Italian Cheese Blend

Spinach

Sun Dried Tomatoes

1. Heat oven to 350 Degrees

2. Foil and grease a cookie sheet

3. Lay crust on foil and brush olive oil on the edge of the crust and put a layer of pesto sauce in the middle of the crust. I like to make the smaller pizzas because you dont waste as much if you dont end up eating it all for leftovers and it is always better the first go around than reheated many times.

4. Then put a small layer of italian cheese blend next.

5. Next cut the spinach and add it to your pizza along with the chicken and sun dried tomatoes

6. Finally add your feta cheese and then another small layer of italian cheese to top it all off

7. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes or longer if you want the crust to be more cruchy.

Yuuuuuuuuuum Yummy!

Birthday Month

Well now that my birthday month is over, I guess it is time for an update. I had an absolutely wonderful birthday month - and I celebrated with friends and family just about that long too! I think the festivities officially began the day before my bday with my bday lunch with work friends, then pre-birthday dinner with my grandparents at Iron Starr. They came to take us out to eat that evening. Then the next morning, my work friends brought a whole bunch of delicious breakfast food because I was only working a half day because my sweet hubby planned a weekend away for us at a bed and breakfast in Arkansas. I had been looking forward to that for months! We stayed at the Beland Manor which was located just across the Oklahoma border in Ft. Smith. My favorite part of the weekend was the massage that we got Saturday morning right after breakfast. We dont get those nearly enough!! We continued our eating festivities and had dinner at a great little Spanish/Cuban restaurant one night and ate at a German restaurant the other night. Both of which were delicious. We didnt do a lot of shopping but I did get to go to the yarn store there in town and we also played frisbee golf at their park which is always fun! We also watched some movies, relaxed in our room and I was often sitting in the rocker by our fireplace in the room! So that was my first celebration weekend!

Then, the weekend after that, the Meredith clan came to visit us! They made it just in time before we got all the snow that weekend. Luckily we only lost power in the middle of the night or that really would have cramped our style on Saturday! We did a lot of hanging around the house which is always nice. We cooked some delicious food, watched tons of movies and played with some of my new bday gifts too. I got a super awesome Italian Cook Book from Deanna, a few clothing items and a new Wii game called Just Dance from John and Monica and then a surprise present that is not here just yet from everyone which is: a new laptop!!!!!!!!!! (But since this post was originally written, my laptop came in and this is the official new post from my new lappy)! Matt got a super good deal since he is a student at OU and surprised me with it since I always steal his :) We had tons of fun with the new Wii game (which included forcing the boys to play) and just enjoyed being with family and not having too many plans to attend to. And we again managed to eat out a time or two that weekend too!

And then, the weekend after that (last weekend), we got to go to Tulsa and spend time with my family! Shay just moved to a new apt and we went and helped her get all set up in there. And everyone knows how much I LOVE organizing and moving things!!!!!!!!!!! We did tons of shopping but Shay certainly won the spending contest by a factor of 10 or more :) Matt and Janoah got to play frisbee golf, Lucy got to play at the little dog park near by alot, we met up with my grandparents, had delicious desserts from Whole Foods, and got to meet up with some dear friends that we haven't seen in almost 3 years! Way too long! Shay got me a whole bunch of knitting books with tons of cute ideas in them and mom got me a kit to make knitted boots and all of the ZOE group cds that I didnt have and have wanted for a long while!

I am so incredibly blessed to have friends and family that love and care for me so much! They do way more for me than I deserve and I love them very much! I am sure I dont say that enough too!!! Thank you everyone for all the special things you gave me for my bday and for spending time with me and for loving me so much. I love you all and very much!!!!

**sorry for the lack of pictures, I didnt take very many with my camera but I got a few from the John and Monica

more knitting stuff

I promise I will write another post not about knitting sometime but I havent got the pics still and I wanted at least a few before posting my bday update. So until then, here are some more pics of my knitted stuff from last week. The first hat is the first billed hat that I have made and I am pretty happy with it. I think that the next hat I make I wante the bill to be a little more angled but in general I am happy with this one. It was supposed to be for a one year old but I think it will be more like a toddler sized hat. The second hat is an elf hat for newborn pics. I dont like it as well because I think even strips would look better but I am still pleased with it in general. They always look a little funny laying flat but they are super cute on the tiny babies!