Flashback Friday - 10 Year High School Reunion

In 2008, I attended my 10 year reunion high school reunion.  For you who aren't quick with math, I graduated in 1998 :)

I had a fabulous time with some great friends!

Gretch & me

Marci & Me (one of my favorites of us!)

Me, Alana, Sara & Bren

Me, Marci & Jess

Marci, Justin & Me

Me, Sara, Gretch, Jess, Bren & Alana

The girls - Jess, Marci, Sara, Me, Alana, Bren, Gretch & Mandy

 I am so blessed to be in touch with all of them!  And even saw everyone (except Mandy) this year!!

98!!!

Simple Tomato and Corn Soup

I've been craving soup the past couple months since it's been so cold and love trying new soups.  So when I found this recipe for Tomato and Corn Soup it looked yummy & easy, so I tried it!

Ingredients:

1 (10 oz) can diced tomatoes, if you use salt-free then add salt to taste
1 (10 oz) can creamed corn
1 cup skim or low fat milk
1/2 medium onion, minced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons olive oil
about 3-4 green onion stalks, chopped
additional salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat medium pot, add olive oil. Once oil is hot, add onion and garlic and cook until transluscent.
2. Add canned tomatoes. Cook for about 3 minutes until combined well with onion/garlic mixture.
3. Add canned creamed corn and milk. Stir to combine evenly, then slowly bring to boil.
4. Reduce heat, add green onions and salt/pepper to taste.
5. Cook for about 5 minutes until soup is combined well.
6. Serve warm with your favorite bread or crackers.

You can find the original recipe by clicking here.

I could not find green onion stalks, so I omitted those.  It was definitely easy to fix and was good, but slightly bland.  It definitely needed some more spices.

Here is a pic from the original blog:

And here is how mine turned out:

2013 Favs!

Here are my favorite pictures of 2013...

January

Me & my dad right after we found out the Ravens were going to the SUPERBOWL!!!

Decked out in my Raven's gear holding Superbowl tickets!!  (not mine of course)

February

My dad welcoming & celebrating the Raven's Superbowl win at M&T Bank Stadium

Alana, Laura & I at Hibrewnation

March

Shelby & Dusty going for a walk together.

Best. Holiday. Ever.  St. Patty's Day 2013!!

April

Meg, Me & Monika on the west coast.  One of my favorite vacations ever -
click here to see more about my trip to San Francisco

Best. Smile. Ever.

May

My co-worker and I were orange color throwers at The Color Run in Baltimore. More pics and info here.

Mother's Day - Boh & Crabs... YUM!!

June

My friend Marci's son having fun at the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh... more fun here.

The same weekend I visited my friend Tracy & her girls... such cuties!

July

Shelby is very patriotic :)

My bitches.

August

Happy Birthday Alana!!  Love summer fun.

Justin Timberlake & Jay-Z concert - all the cell phone lights when he sang Forever Young.

September

Me, Wendy & Laura in NYC for the weekend.  

I saw Ray Lewis at the Raven's game :)

October

Wedding month!  First wedding was for my friends Ralph & Bryan.  Fantastic!

Second was for my friend Sara and her fiance Mike's wedding.
Sara is not pictured, but I've known these girls for almost 20+ years!

November

My dad's surprised face... yes, we surprised him.  100% surprised. :)

My mom and grandparents in front of one of my mom's paintings in her art exhibit.

December

My friend Jayme (from college) and me after Detroit Lions game.

Alana's Baby Shower

Laura & her polar bear friend...

Me & Monika... last pic of 2013 :)

Happy New Year - 2014!

It's a new year and an opportunity for another chance at old resolutions! :)

First, lets review how I did with my 2013 resolutions:

1. Take More Pictures - Mid-year I dropped and broke the camera I bought on black Friday in 2012 (to take more pictures in 2013), so things slowed down in the summer, but overall I think I well.  Therefore....
SUCCESS!

2. Blog More Often - 20 blog posts in 2012, 18 in 2013, and my last blog post in 2013 was in July!!!
FAIL!

3. New Recipes - (2 each month)  I tried 10 new recipes by July and know I tried more after that, so...
SUCCESS!

4. Purge - I have rocked this resolution.  I still have some stuff to go through, but overall I made some money at a yard sale and donated lots of stuff.  I am also changing my habits and trying not to keep everything "in case" I need it one day.
SUCCESS!

5. Read More - 25 books in 2013??? Who picked that number?!  But I did read more books in 2013 than 2012... by 4 whole books! So I give myself 1/2 point for that.
1/2 SUCCESS!

6. Become Healthy - I started Weight Watchers in June and lost some weight.  Of course with the holidays, I fell off the wagon and the wagon ran over me... but back on the wagon!  I didn't add too much exercise, but did lose some weight the healthy way... so another 1/2 point :)
1/2 SUCCESS!

7. Add Something New - Hmm... new things in 2013: I went to California for the first time, volunteered at the Color Run, took an online photography class (which was "eh"), and threw a surprise party for my dad.
SUCCESS!

Now onto 2014!!

1. Keep Taking More Pictures 

2. Blog More Often (and past July! haha)

3. Read More books in 2014. (Friend me on Goodreads!!)

4. Send out Birthday cards to friends and family.

5. Create a Vision Board... just because I think it'd be fun! :)

6. Step out of my comfort zone and take chances... what will that bring?!

(....and of course lose weight, but that's every year, so why add that to the list?!)

I hope all of your hopes and dreams come true in 2014!!

Weekend Getaway

A couple weekends ago I went to visit some old friends... ok, they're not "old" just some people I have been friends with a long time :)

First stop was to see Marci.  I met Marci when I moved to Pennsylvania in 1991 and entered the 6th grade.  We've been friends for 21 years.  (If you're quick and did the math, you'll see that doesn't add up.  Yes... we were not friends in the 6th grade... in fact we disliked each other enough that Marci told me I would die on my 19th birthday.  I obviously survived... palm-reading was not her specialty.)  

Marci now lives in western PA with her hubby Justin and their cutie pie son Caleb.  Family member #4 is on the way! :)  We went to the Children's Museum in Pittsburgh to have some fun...

We did some painting... and managed to keep (most of) the paint on the paper!!

Played in the sand!

But the best part was Clifford!

We had so much fun :)

That evening after dinner we went to a nearby farm to look at the cows.  They were so cute!!!

We dressed alike on purpose.

Then we went to see the baby cow...

And then test out the tractor.

Of course after seeing the cows, we had to get some ice cream... with sprinkles!!  YUM!

After my visit with Marci, I drove about 1/2 hour to my friend Tracy's house.  Tracy was my randomly selected college roommate at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) in 1998.  We were so lucky to have found each other... we became friends immediately and were joined at the hip for the next 4 1/2 years and have remained friends for 15 years.  (This is making me sound old...)  

Tracy lives with her hubby Mark and their two beautiful daughters Lexi and Aubrey.  I had such a good time at their home!!  Unfortunately I dropped my camera at the farm and broke it, so I could only take pictures with my phone.  But I still got some great ones! :)

We did a little sightseeing in Pittsburgh...

First we had lunch at Redbeard's where I enjoyed my favorite beverage of the season...
a Summer Shandy... YUM!

Then we walked over to the Mt. Washington Observation deck to take some pictures.

Lexi & Aubrey being cute as always!

On our way to Point State Park Fountain!

It was a little stormy looking when we got there... but we were hoping it would blow over or we would get out of there before it started raining too hard!

I snapped this quick family photo.  <3

And then the rain came and we ran!!

It rained for awhile...

We were soaked!!

I had a fantastic weekend visiting my BFFs!  I am so blessed that I still have their friendship!

I just wished they lived closer... :)