Anne on Tap: January 2010

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Freezer Cooking Day!

I've been in SUCH a cooking slump lately. I can't think of anything that I want to cook, and when we get home, nothing sounds good. When I plan our meals ahead of time, it's so easy to come home and pop something in the oven or whip something up if all of the ingredients are right there. So I decided that tomorrow I will invest a little bit of time in the kitchen, and make a bunch of stuff that we can freeze. And the best part? My friend Payton from work is coming over to do it with me! Here is what we are planning:

Spicy Chicken Noodle Casserole (1 for dinner on Sunday, 1 for the freezer)
Taco Soup (1 for the freezer)
Almond, Chicken, & Rice Bake (2 for the freezer)
Crock Pot White Chicken Chili (1 for the freezer)
Beef and Rice Enchiladas (1 for the freezer)

I planned a couple of other easy meals for the rest of the week:

PW's Penne Alla Betsy
PW's Chicken Spaghetti
Zatarain's Cheesy Jumbalaya with Cajun Sausage

Stay tuned for pics and to find out how it goes!!

Sunday, January 24, 2010

January Weekend

Other than this, we had a pretty good weekend. Saturday we took Bailey to the dog park where she got to play with all of her friends. There were some pretty huge dogs there, one in particular that took a special liking to our little friend, Casper. And then there was a super cute border collie, who took a special liking to Bailey...the kind of liking that might produce little Border Collie/Bailey puppies if Bailey wasn't fixed. (Which would probably be some of the cutest puppies EVER, in my humble opinion).

Saturday night we enjoyed a cozy dinner at Chili's, one of our restaurant weaknesses. Sunday morning it was pouring down rain, but actually warm enough (for a little while anyways) for us to enjoy our coffee on the balcony....in JANUARY!! I love coffee on the balcony and I'm going to take advantage of every nice day I can until it gets too hot. Then Sunday afternoon we helped Brian and Anne load up ALLLLLLLLLLLL of their belongings and enjoyed one last dinner as a group (at Mr. Wang's).

I always love me some weekends, but lately I've been craving them! I seriously cannot wait until the weekend. I've been enjoying every second of them. And although I LOVE football, it's kind of nice that I don't have to base my entire weekend around 1 (or 2) games. 4 more days...........

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Goodbye Drankas!

I am NOT looking forward to this Sunday. Our good friends, Brian and Anne, are moving far, far away to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They both earned their PhDs this past winter and have taken positions as post-docs up north. It's definitely not going to be the same without them, and I'm really going to miss hanging out with them. (And Bailey is going to miss Bentley, even though they were never really BFF, they got along pretty well after they were able to spend some QT together). We're going to miss you Anne and Brian. Can't wait until we can all work together at the CFDTAB!

Monday, January 18, 2010

DC Weekend Trip

I'm back! I had a great weekend visiting with Mags and Brie in DC. Brie got there before I did, so as soon as my plane landed they picked me up and we went out to dinner at the Capital City Brewing Co. in Shurlington, a cute little area not too far from where Mags lives in Arlington. We decided we were all officially old after dinner when we realized we were too tired from our "day of traveling" to go out, so we rented a couple of movies and opened a bottle of wine (or 2) and hung out at Mags' house for the rest of the evening. (Go rent The Hangover now, especially if you've never seen it. Also, don't ever rent "It's all about Steve." Ever.) Saturday Mags cooked us breakfast and then we hopped the Metro into DC to explore for the day. We went to the Crime and Punishment Musuem and then walked by all of the national monuments (and I mean ALL, we logged over 22,000 steps on my pedometer!) and then headed to Georgetown for an amazing Italian dinner (some martinis) and a little window shopping. Again, we were exhausted, probably from all of the walking, so we went back to Mags place and crashed. Sunday we went to brunch at a trendy little restaurant in Alexandria called Rustico. It was seriously the best grilled cheese panini and tomato soup I've ever had!! Then, sadly, our fun weekend in DC then came to an end.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

DC bound!!

I'm leaving for DC tomorrow to visit Mags and Brie!! I can't wait! Tom is staying here in Bama to hold down the fort. The most impressive thing about the trip so far? I packed my clothes, toiletries, etc in the smallest carry on bag we have!! I'm quite impressed with my packing skills, it's not really my strong point. More on the trip when I return!!

Circa 2006

Monday, January 11, 2010

17,000 steps

That's how many steps I took today! Our work is participating in Virgin Healthy Miles as a part of our benefit package and we all get pedometers. We can earn points based on how many steps we take in a day, logging workouts in your activity journal, and at healthy checkups throughout the year. It's really kind of cool, but it takes a TON of points to earn any money. I'm hoping to average at least 10,000 steps every day, which shouldn't be a problem considering I had 10,000 before I even went to the gym today. Finally! A reward for being on my feet all day and running all over the hospital like a crazy person!

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Puppy sleepover

We've been puppy-sitting Bailey's BFF, Jack, the past few days. Bailey has loved having him here because she has someone to play with nonstop and I've loved having him here because he actually LIKES to cuddle, as opposed to Bailey who sighs and lets you know she's not happy when you pull her up on the couch with you! Jack has had fun tormenting the chinchillas and curling up in a ball on the couch. Bailey and Jack both tried to help open a package that my parents sent, and Bailey even volunteered to get in the box and make sure there wasn't anything else for them in the box! (They loved the "vegetable" treats!! Thanks Mom and Dad). Bailey's not going to know what to do with herself when Jack leaves tomorrow! I'm definitely not going to miss their 4:30 AM play sessions. (We thought it would be "cute" to put their puppy beds right next to each other in our room).

Oh! And this isn't puppy related but it's kind of funny - tomorrow it is supposed to snow here in Birmingham. We are expected to get.....wait for it............. ONE WHOLE INCH!!!! And guess what? All of the county schools in the county we live in have already cancelled school for tomorrow!!!!!!! Can you believe it???? Everyone freaks out for the tiniest bit of inclement weather! Although, I do have to stand up for Birminghamians because the city is just not equipped to deal with ANY snow (let alone a whole inch!!). They don't even have a single salt truck! And with how cold it's been here this week ice is likely to be a bigger problem than the snow. Wish us luck tomorrow! :)

Monday, January 04, 2010

New Year's Resolutions

I don't really make New Years Resolutions. I guess you can say I don't believe in them. Mostly because they are so generic (i.e. lose weight) and rarely kept. It's kind of ironic, because I LOVE making "To Do Lists" and checking things off when I finish them, and aren't new years resolutions just a big To Do List? So in the spirit of a personal goal I've been thinking a lot about lately and combined with the fact that I haven't updated my monthly goals in 2 months, here are a few 2010 Goals, if you will.

2010 Goals
1. Be more positive. Eliminate negativity from my thoughts and sentences.
2. Save enough money in the first half of the year to end up exactly where we are now financially in 6 months. (June is going to be a killer month for us, mostly because our car lease is up and we will more than likely buy our car. Add to that a wedding, a PT conference in Boston, Tom's conference in Baltimore for breast cancer research, and Bailey's biannual vet trip).
3. Simplify my purchases. Really try not to buy things I don't need or desperately want.
4. Open a Roth IRA (I have a feeling I should just put this one on my "Things to do before I'm 35" List....actually it might already be on there).
5. Finish "On Becoming a Leader" and apply it to my work
6. Stop procrastinating when it comes to putting things away. Everything has it's place. This is how clutter happens and clutter-free equals stress-free.
7. Try not to obsess over where we're going to move this year. Whatever happens, happens. Everything happens for a reason. And it will all work out for the best!