Hey Brant...You're Welcome.

Some days I feel like I'm not creative enough with my post's title. I tried to be creative today, what do you think?

Well, I suppose I should get on with the post and then you can let me know. Sound good?

My sister called me a few days ago...


Hi, Sissy! Wow. This is us 6 years ago at her college graduation. WEIRD!

Any who, she called me to see if I knew of any good, healthy recipes she could make for her husband the nights when he gets home late from class.

Oh. This is Brant. Also know as my brother-in-law. He's OK. Just kidding. I wasn't too sure what I thought of him at first, but who doesn't love someone who can go from looking like a banker at 6am to a lumberjack 48 hours later? No one.

Moving on with the story...I told her about a recipe, only to find out she already knew of a very similar recipe.

Dadgumit.

I was feelin' stumped.

So I made-up/tweaked a recipe last night.

Here you go sister!

It's called...Nameless pasta casserole.

Ingredients:
2 T butter
2 T olive oil
1 1/2 t minced garlic
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 can artichoke hearts
1-2 cans diced, low sodium, tomatoes
1 pkg frozen spinach (thawed according to package)
5oz cream cheese
1/2 C milk
mozzarella cheese
1 box of your favorite pasta (whole wheat)
(I used penne, but it's not my favorite. I thought it was a little harsh with the rest of the ingredients. Next time I think I'll try bowtie or ziti.)

Let's get started. Get your pasta cookin'. I'm not gonna tell you how to do that. Everyone has their own method. Just don't cook it all the way! About half the time it says on the box. It will finish in the oven. :)

Start out by heating the butter and olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. While the butter and oil melt, prep and nuke the spinach in the microwave. Add garlic and onions to the pan and turn up the temp. Caramelize until soft. Add the diced tomatoes (juices and all), and artichokes-allow to heat through. Then add the cream cheese (i cut my into cubes to assist the melting) and a dash of milk. Stir until combined and melted. Then fold in the spinach and a handful of mozzarella cheese. Salt and pepper to taste. Add any seasonings you like, I used dried basil. Shhh don't tell Jonathan! ;)

Drain your pasta and fold into the sweet, cheesy, yummy goodness. Put in a casserole dish, top with a little cheese and bake at 350 til bubbly. You could even broil it to get the top nice and crispy. If you don't like artichokes, bell peppers or shredded rotisserie chicken would be a delicious substitute.

ENJOY!

Oh. And Brant...you're welcome. :)

Hope your day is delicious and nutritious!

Love,

K

Update: The Garden Project

Well, I've made a little progress on our garden! I love it. It makes me really excited to think I may have the ability to grow something that we could eat!

First, Saturday we went downtown to the river market and got lots of fun stuff at Planters. This. place. is. awesome.
Here are a few reasons why it's awesome:
1. It's in the river market
2. It's super old. (80+ years) which means there is history in this place. I love that, the thought that I'm buying stuff for my home in the same place my Grandma and Papa probably bought stuff for theirs.
3. Bulk. You can buy any and every kind of seed in bulk. Just go to the counter and tell'em what you want.
4. Original merchandise. The stuff they sell is unique and fun, not like something you see everyday at Lowe's or the home depot. (Not that those places are bad, we shop there a lot.)
5. Spices. They sell all sorts of fun spices, soup mixes, nuts, and gift baskets. SO FUN!
6. It just feels American. I love America.
7. They sell WIRE fly-swatters.
Oh. Yes.
NOW. You will only understand the significance of this if you're
A) An Opie
B) the offspring of an Opie or
C) married to an A or B.
But folks...this is a pretty big deal. WHY? Because all Opie's fear the wrath of the wire fly-swatter. Not because we're scared of flies, but because we're scared of a good ole'fashion whopping from Granny.
Yup. It's true. When we were little, if anyone dare misbehaved at Granny's house, she went straight for her utility cupboard and warned of the wrath of it's contents within. Her fly-swatter was super ancient, wires poking out left and right. Everybody knew it, too; which was usually enough to scare the H.E.double-hockey sticks out of whomever was misbehavin', if you know what I'm sayin'. :)

Now, I have one of my own. And I'm not afraid of corporal punishment. That's a blog post for another day, I'm not ready to get all political of you folk. Lucky for you. ;) I'll stick to swatting flies for now.

Whew. I'll get down from my planters soapbox now and continue with the purpose of this post. :)

The Garden.

YAY! All ready to go with our bag full of goodies!

Here are a few of the fun things we got.

THE LINE-UP: Jiffy seed pots, to start some of the seeds indoors.

Gladiolas. My mom had several big bags of these guys and let me steal a few. Thanks Mom!

Herbs. Yum. We got parsley, basil, mint, and cilantro. My four favs. We're startin' small. If all goes well, I'll add more next year.

Punkin's! and Guords!

Onions. Heard these guys were easy to grow.

Sunflowers.

Note: Apparently the hubs doesn't like sunflowers in the yard. He thinks they're to messy looking. That's fair. But when I snip a few of these bad boys to make a lovely arrangement come July/August, I'll remind him that it only cost us a few cents vs $10 bucks at the grocery store. :)

VEGGIES: Jalapenos, cucumber, lettuce, green beans, carrots, and tomatoes. (Big beef, and heirloom)

Cute little plant sticks to help you keep track of which veggies/herbs you planted where.

Here goes nothin'!

I modge-podged the front and back of the seed packets to pieces of cardboard. I hope this will help me keep track of how to take care of each plant. It's kind of confusing.

Cute little garden pail. I got this last year at Old Time Pottery. One of those things, you know you don't need it buuuttt it was only $1.50.

My pretend greenhouse. Jonny's utility spotlight helps keep the seeds warm as well as provide light. Especially since the weather around here has been quite dreary these days.

Little man wants to see!

We're in our jammies today. Someone is havin' a rough day. :( Growin', bein' a big boy, and cuttin' some major molars can take a lot out of ya. :)

I love this verse. It always sets me straight, when I need to be straightened. :)

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Galations 6:9

Love,

K

Arizona Trip: Part II

What do you say we wrap up our trip to Arizona, shall we? *~*WARNING~*~Lot's of pics ahead! Filled with shopping, beautiful scenery, ladies hangin' out poolside, and cacti. Or is it cactususes. cactisuses? oh. ok. cactisuses. Let's start at the beginning. Here we are! Together at last. This makes me smile. We are feeling beautiful, well rested, nourished, and not greasy or gross from traveling all morning. As soon as we checked in to the hotel we slapped on our bikinis and headed for the pool. And snapped a pic with Mr. Cactus of course. FACT: Did you know that cacti live a long time? Yup, they do. When they are about 70 years old they start growing their branches (see above). So...pretty much, that's a super old cactus. Day 1: READY FOR SHOPPING! Two ladies ready to shop til' they drop. Mom's on the phone with Dad; meanwhile, I'm morphing into a whale, shooting water out of my head. You didn't know I was a whale, did you? It's true. Starbucks oatmeal. Yuummm. Fuel for shopping. Done. Guess what kind of restaurant this is. You guessed it! A burger joint. Wait, WHAAA?? But it's so puurrddy! Meet Pablo. Pablo and his brother's, Pancho and Paco, delivered drinks to us by the pool; as well as accompanied us to the restroom. Thanks, guys...!? Yea. Weird.

Hi love! Do you want to come live in Kansas? You do?! OK.

Success?

I'd say so.

View outside our hotel

Not to shabby, ehh?!

Day 2: Grand Canyon

*I know I had a post devoted to this day, but here are a few pics my sister captured with her camera. Thanks sis!

Outside the Indian, excuse me, Native American, reservation trading post where we at lunch. We got to do some shopping, (cha-ching!) as well as learn about Native American culture. (boorrriiingg) Just kidding. It was actually very interesting. I only wish Jonny would have been there to remember all the details! He's good at stuff like that.

Oh!! Bless her heart! This is Kanika. Actually. It's not Kanika. I went to babynames.com and picked out a random Indian name that sounded good. I picked Kanika. We never actually figured out what her sweet soul's name is. BUT! She. was. precious.

She wanted to take a picture with me and Jen because she never had daughters (only boys) plus, she thought we were awesome. (I mean, who doesn't?) Now, the story of how we actually figured out why and with whom she wanted to take a picture with is for a completely different blog post. :)

Day 3: Ssspppaahhh Day

Note: You have to use fancy words and draw out your "s's" when you're talking about the sssspa.

Momsiesss and me outside Ssspa Lamar. Yesss, darling...it was quite a lovely, rejuuuuventating experienc(sss)e.

Post facialsss, lounging in the whirlpool, sssipping our herbal tea.

Enough. of. that.

Let's go to where the real party's at!

THE POOL!

All afternoon. Done.

Love. it.

Some lame lady watching us take this pic told us to take our hats off. Psshhh. News flash; lady in the pool, who wasn't asked to share her opinion...hats make the pic way cuter.

Pina-colada's? by the pool? Yes, please!

Ready to go out for dinner for our last night!

BUUUTTT....

Not before we do some more shopping!!!

If any of you feel like getting me a $70 hat anytime soon, I think this one is real cute. Anthropologie. Thanks! ;)

This one is for your Dad! Outside Los Olivos Mexican Cantina.

It's a donky.

Dad loves donkies.

When you ask him why he loves donkies so much, he will tell you, "because nobody else loves donkies and they're lonely, because nobody loves them."

That is precious.

Welp! That's all I got.

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

Love,

K

PS- Thanks to all of you who have kept me in your prayers over my interview that I had yesterday. They were felt! I appreciate your thoughts and prayers very much! The interview went well. It was long and intense, but I'm glad it's over. I am still feeling like this is God's calling for my life, so for now...we wait. I should know if I am accepted soon after April 15th.

A Wreath for the Momsies

Things have been a little extra busy around here lately. I was traveling for 10 days straight up until Sunday. And. I. Am. Pooped. (from all the crazy fun I was having) :) I traveled over 4,200 miles. I know, right? I feel very well cultured and my thirst for travel and knowledge has been quenched. At least for now.

Any who. My mom is the best. She's done so much to help me out the last 2 weeks while we were gone; she did my laundry, she made us food, she watched our dog, she packed us snacks for the road. She's just crazy awesome like that. I wanted to do something for her to say thanks.

SOOOOO I made this!

Isn't it awesome?! I know. It's awesome.

I love spring. Actually, I just love all four seasons- especially when they're new. I'm going to make two more of these bad boys and hang them in our kitchen on our "fake" french doors leading to our deck and backyard. They're fake because only one door actually opens to the outside...just one of the many things on our list to change in our house. Who wants fake french doors? No one.

Now, now...I contemplated whether or not to tell you guys this. BUT. I am an honest person. That wreath wasn't completely my idea. (humph... :( I wish it was). I found this really cool super awesome totally entertaining inspiring and rad blog via another blog. (do you think I'm crazy yet? good.) And while I would love to keep this blog a secret and hord all this gal's awesome ideas, that just wouldn't be nice. SO head on over to www.jonesdesigncompany.com . It's pretty neat.

Thanks, Mom, for being awesome. You ALWAYS put others before yourself and with a smile on your face. I don't know what I would do without you. You truly are a proverbs 31 woman.

Proverbs 31:25-31

"She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
“Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the LORD is to be praised.
Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate."

Give your Momsie a smoocheroo today. She'll love it.

Love,
K

Arizona Trip: Part I

My trip to Arizona with my mom and sister was amazing and MUCH needed. Our time together could not have been more perfect. The three of us were pretty much attached by the hip the whole time.

We arrived Saturday morning. Jen all the way from Charlotte, NC and me and mom from KC. We shopped all day Sunday (pics to come later!). BUT! Monday morning we woke up early and journeyed north to see the Grand Canyon.

And boy was it Grand.

Let me start off by saying that our journey was 4 hours. Each way. In a 12 passenger van. Passengers from India, New Jersey, Ohio, and London. Yea. Oh and our seats were in the caboose, which could be fun...if you weren't about to wet your pants. Since I knew we were going to be climbing significant altitude that day I thought it would be a good idea to drink lots of water.
I'm not sure which is worse: about to wet your pants in the back of a 12 passenger van, or suffering altitude sickness.
I'm gonna go with wetting your pants.

This is a picture of my mama giving me lots of lovin' and kisses. She felt bad for me because I had to go potty really bad. I may be 24 years old, but I still need lovin' from my mama. :) *Note* By potty, I mean bathroom. Sorry we're starting to "potty" train Caleb.

We finally made it! Our first stop at the Grand Canyon. It really is....I mean I can't really say, it leaves you speechless. Here you can see the Colorado river in the upper right hand corner.

Me and mom went climbing. ;)

I think our tour guide liked taking pictures of us. Not in a creepy way. He just liked us. Cause we're cool.

Mom was being crazy. Jen and I turned our backs for one second...and there she goes, running off down the canyon.

Mama with her girls. I'm not sure how she survived raising the two of us, but she did. Bless her.

Our group. It really was quite fun getting to know everyone. Especially the couple from India on the left and Chavivia from London, on the right. Oh and don't forget Marie and Johannah from Jersey! Jason and Jen from Ohio...they were just weird.

I know. I'm so artsy. Don't worry about it.

I want to be this girls best friend. Chavivia, from London. I got to talk with her a lot when we walked along the canyon. She counsels drug addicts (in London). Her Dad's a rabbi. She's seen the queen. She eats kosher. She's cool.

So. Purdy.

Stay tuned. More travel pics to come!

Love,

K