P.S. I can't wait for June 13th to be here!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Master Asher Throws a Party
About a month ago, I finished up my Masters program at Webster. I was wanting to have some type of get-together to celebrate being done. So one of my friends from class, Valerie, offered to let us have a party at her house. She has a nice big house, so I was happy to accept the invitation.
Earlier this week I was talking to James...trying to figure out what food to make and when I'd have time to cook everything. I was kind of stressed about it, because this week at work was very busy and hectic. I was hoping I could take Friday afternoon off, come home early, and get everything together. But then I ended up having an IEP meeting that I couldn't miss. So that was out of the question. My husband, being the wonderful guy he is, offered to take off work and spend the day in the kitchen. I told him it wasn't necessary but he did it anyway. And wow....just wow.
I had made a list of different hors d'oeuvres and appetizer foods that I thought sounded good and told him he could choose a few things from the list. Well he decided to make EVERYTHING on the list...and more. And everything he made was from scratch. He made turkey meatballs with a homemade sauce, stuffed mushrooms (I helped stuff), caprese-stuffed tomatoes, tortilla roll-ups (I rolled and cut them), deviled eggs (aside from boiling the eggs, I actually made these), guacamole, spinach artichoke dip, and pudding-filled sponge cake with fresh berries. On my way home from work, I picked up a meat and cheese tray...just in case we didn't have enough food. Totally not necessary. We had a ton of food, but surprisingly, a large amount of it got eaten.
My friend Valerie also provided a chocolate fountain with strawberries, marshmallows, and pretzels, which was fun. And my friend Melissa brought a "Congratulations Becky!" cake and champagne...super sweet.
We bought a pony keg of Bud Light and a couple boxes of wine (classy, I know) to drink. We have quite a bit of both those left, but K-State plays today so I don't think we'll have a problem getting rid of it.
It ended up being a really fun night. Around 20 people showed up, which I thought was a good turn out. Nothing like a night of good food, good drinks, and good friends!
Earlier this week I was talking to James...trying to figure out what food to make and when I'd have time to cook everything. I was kind of stressed about it, because this week at work was very busy and hectic. I was hoping I could take Friday afternoon off, come home early, and get everything together. But then I ended up having an IEP meeting that I couldn't miss. So that was out of the question. My husband, being the wonderful guy he is, offered to take off work and spend the day in the kitchen. I told him it wasn't necessary but he did it anyway. And wow....just wow.
I had made a list of different hors d'oeuvres and appetizer foods that I thought sounded good and told him he could choose a few things from the list. Well he decided to make EVERYTHING on the list...and more. And everything he made was from scratch. He made turkey meatballs with a homemade sauce, stuffed mushrooms (I helped stuff), caprese-stuffed tomatoes, tortilla roll-ups (I rolled and cut them), deviled eggs (aside from boiling the eggs, I actually made these), guacamole, spinach artichoke dip, and pudding-filled sponge cake with fresh berries. On my way home from work, I picked up a meat and cheese tray...just in case we didn't have enough food. Totally not necessary. We had a ton of food, but surprisingly, a large amount of it got eaten.
My friend Valerie also provided a chocolate fountain with strawberries, marshmallows, and pretzels, which was fun. And my friend Melissa brought a "Congratulations Becky!" cake and champagne...super sweet.
We bought a pony keg of Bud Light and a couple boxes of wine (classy, I know) to drink. We have quite a bit of both those left, but K-State plays today so I don't think we'll have a problem getting rid of it.
It ended up being a really fun night. Around 20 people showed up, which I thought was a good turn out. Nothing like a night of good food, good drinks, and good friends!
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Reasons why it's GOOD to get home after 2:00 AM
Actually, I can really only think of one reason why it's good to get home after 2:00 AM. Here it is:
Taco Bell is closed (sad) so I'm forced into eating half a bagel with fat-free cream cheese, dill, and sliced tomato, cucumber, and orange peppers. I'm estimating less than 200 calories...which is much less than whatever I would have gotten at Taco Bell (even if I had ordered from the Fresco menu).
Taco Bell is closed (sad) so I'm forced into eating half a bagel with fat-free cream cheese, dill, and sliced tomato, cucumber, and orange peppers. I'm estimating less than 200 calories...which is much less than whatever I would have gotten at Taco Bell (even if I had ordered from the Fresco menu).
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Manhattan's St. Patty's Day Run - The Most Unorganized Racing Event of the Year
Last Saturday, the hubby and I made the trek down I-70 to good ol' Manhappenin, KS. Aggieville was having Fake Patty's Day Part Deux, so we decided we wanted to partake in the festivities. Part of this included the St. Patty's Day 2 Mile Fun Run. My sister, Nicole, and her friend Lexy decided to join us. Nicole and Lexy ran track and cross country together all throughout college and are actual "runners". James and I each used to run back in high school, but haven't really done much since. So our expectations for the race were slightly different than Nicole's and Lexy's.
Overall, the actual race went fine. I was a little surprised by how much 2 miles kicked my butt. But at the end of the race, I was able to kick it into high gear and pass a bunch of people at the finish line.
Here are my complaints about the race:
Nicole Taylor - 39th place overall (that includes men and women), 9th in the overall women's category, 1st in the 30-34 year old women's category, with a time of 15:16.
Lexy Schwartz - 57th place overall, 13th in the overall women's category, 2nd in the 25-29 year old women's category, with a time of 15:46.
Becky Asher - 115th place overall, 48th in the overall women's category, 9th in the 25-29 year old women's category, with a time of 17:25.
James Asher - 142nd place overall, 75th in the overall men's category, 7th in the 25-29 year old men's category, with a time of 18:14.
So, as you can see...all four of us placed in our age brackets, yet only one of us got her medal (we accepted Lexy's on her behalf, because she left early). I want my medal, Manhattan!
Overall, the actual race went fine. I was a little surprised by how much 2 miles kicked my butt. But at the end of the race, I was able to kick it into high gear and pass a bunch of people at the finish line.
Here are my complaints about the race:
- My sister was unable to pre-register, due to a problem with her debit card. So when she went to register Saturday morning, they had run out of t-shirts. So, she didn't get a shirt. Let's be honest, most people who run road races, do it for the shirt. So not getting one sucks.
- In addition to running out of shirts, they also ran out of shoe tags (the chips they use to record your time). So my sister (and MANY other same-day registerers) did not get one of those either. We figured that wouldn't be the sole way they had of keeping track of times and places...so it must not have been a big deal. We were wrong.
- After the race, we went and had some beers at Pat's with my parents. They ordered food, which looked delicious. But we all opted out, because we were going to get "Free BBQ" at the awards ceremony. I thought I loved free BBQ, until we got there and found out that it was Burger King hamburgers with Kroeger chips. I'm not sure what makes Burger King "BBQ". There wasn't even BBQ sauce. Lame.
- At the awards ceremony, they were supposed to announce the top 10 finishers in each age bracket. We all figured Nicole was going to win her age bracket (30-34) because she was one of the top 10 overall female finishers. When it came to announcing the places, she (according to them) didn't place at all. However, the winning time for the 30-34 age bracket was 16 minutes and some odd seconds. Nicole's time was 15:16. So, she SHOULD have won it...but they screwed up and she walked away with no recognition and no medal.
- When the announced the top 10 finishers for my age bracket (25-29) I was not mentioned. I figured it was because I sucked and wasn't one of the top 10 finishers. Turns out I got 9th...they just messed up, again.
Nicole Taylor - 39th place overall (that includes men and women), 9th in the overall women's category, 1st in the 30-34 year old women's category, with a time of 15:16.
Lexy Schwartz - 57th place overall, 13th in the overall women's category, 2nd in the 25-29 year old women's category, with a time of 15:46.
Becky Asher - 115th place overall, 48th in the overall women's category, 9th in the 25-29 year old women's category, with a time of 17:25.
James Asher - 142nd place overall, 75th in the overall men's category, 7th in the 25-29 year old men's category, with a time of 18:14.
So, as you can see...all four of us placed in our age brackets, yet only one of us got her medal (we accepted Lexy's on her behalf, because she left early). I want my medal, Manhattan!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Poker Pro
For those of you who don't know me well, I play poker every Monday night at Jerry's Bait Shop. It's a bar just down the street from where we live. I'm not a fabulous poker player, but I do alright. Lately, I feel like I've been doing rather well, so I decided to check the poker league's website to see my ranking. I'm currently the point leader at Jerry's for the month of March. Number 1, baby!
Thursday, March 11, 2010
I'm getting old...
Is it bad that instead of Cosmo or People, I now read magazines like Midwest Living and Family Circle?
I might have to order a subscription...
I might have to order a subscription...
Monday, March 8, 2010
New Coach
Okay, so a couple Christmases ago, James got me a Coach purse. A black and gray Carly...she's adorable. Anyway, I use it as my everyday purse and needless to say, it's started to fray pretty bad. I've had it for about a year and a half and I guess I just figured I was really hard on purses.
So, I've been saving up to buy a new one. BUT I found out this weekend that I might not need to be saving my pennies.
Saturday night James and I (and a bunch of our friends) went on a pub crawl. We had party buses transport us around to each bar. Fun times. While on the bus I had a random stranger notice my frayed purse. She informed me that the same thing happened to her Carly and that it was actually recalled. She told me if I took it to the Coach store, I can get a new purse. They don't make the Carly anymore, but from what I understand...I'll just get a store credit and be able to get whatever I want. I can't tell you how excited I am. I'm thinking I might go after work some day this week and see what I can do!
So, I've been saving up to buy a new one. BUT I found out this weekend that I might not need to be saving my pennies.
Saturday night James and I (and a bunch of our friends) went on a pub crawl. We had party buses transport us around to each bar. Fun times. While on the bus I had a random stranger notice my frayed purse. She informed me that the same thing happened to her Carly and that it was actually recalled. She told me if I took it to the Coach store, I can get a new purse. They don't make the Carly anymore, but from what I understand...I'll just get a store credit and be able to get whatever I want. I can't tell you how excited I am. I'm thinking I might go after work some day this week and see what I can do!
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Healthy Feels Good
In February, I made it my goal to go to workout at least 3 days a week. It's not a ton...but it's something. It was sometimes difficult to get my 3 days in....just because of my busy schedule, but it's something I'm going to try to continue to do. It's apparently been paying off. I've been tracking my weight online http://www.blogger.com/www.weightchart.com. In the month of February, I lost 5 pounds.
Also, in February, I went to a cooking class with my friend Diane. It was something our school district did. The focus of the class was how to incorporate more vegetables into your diet. This is something I've always struggled with. I'm not sure I learned all that much from the class, but it got me "in the mood" for veggies. For the past 3 weeks, I've been visiting Hen House and stocking up on lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. At any given time you can find oranges, bananas, grapefruit, blueberries, fresh spinach, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and red peppers in my kitchen. I've been much more satisfied with what I've brought in my lunches.
My new favorite (healthy) thing to bring in my lunch...veggie pita. I get the whole wheat flat bread pitas from Hen House. In it, I put a thin layer of Philadelphia Spinach Artichoke cream cheese (you should try it...SO yummy). Then I stuff it with spinach, grape tomatoes, red peppers, cucumbers, and goat cheese (YUM!) with just a tiny little drizzle of low-fat caesar dressing. It's to die for!
Tonight James and I made an awesome salad. It just looked pretty and tasted delicious. It had shrimp, roasted red peppers, cucumber, grape tomatoes, avocado, and goat cheese. I also decided to experiment with making my own dressing. So I made an olive oil/balsamic vinegar concoction with a little bit of honey, garlic, basic, rosemary, and tarragon. It wasn't too bad. We also toasted some pita in the oven that was lightly brushed with the dressing. SO GOOD!
Also, in February, I went to a cooking class with my friend Diane. It was something our school district did. The focus of the class was how to incorporate more vegetables into your diet. This is something I've always struggled with. I'm not sure I learned all that much from the class, but it got me "in the mood" for veggies. For the past 3 weeks, I've been visiting Hen House and stocking up on lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. At any given time you can find oranges, bananas, grapefruit, blueberries, fresh spinach, grape tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, and red peppers in my kitchen. I've been much more satisfied with what I've brought in my lunches.
My new favorite (healthy) thing to bring in my lunch...veggie pita. I get the whole wheat flat bread pitas from Hen House. In it, I put a thin layer of Philadelphia Spinach Artichoke cream cheese (you should try it...SO yummy). Then I stuff it with spinach, grape tomatoes, red peppers, cucumbers, and goat cheese (YUM!) with just a tiny little drizzle of low-fat caesar dressing. It's to die for!
Tonight James and I made an awesome salad. It just looked pretty and tasted delicious. It had shrimp, roasted red peppers, cucumber, grape tomatoes, avocado, and goat cheese. I also decided to experiment with making my own dressing. So I made an olive oil/balsamic vinegar concoction with a little bit of honey, garlic, basic, rosemary, and tarragon. It wasn't too bad. We also toasted some pita in the oven that was lightly brushed with the dressing. SO GOOD!
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