My dude is full of win

I try not to be so mushy and public with my affection towards Tyler. But I just gotta say he went above and beyond recently.

I left my part-time job at the mall last night. Ya see, I've been pulling some crazy schedules -- 8 hours at regular job then 4 more at part time gig so when I get home (near 9:30pm) it's very hard to cook anything.

Anyway, as I leave work and walk to my car, I see a bouquet of flowers in my front seat with rose petals everywhere. Also a printed menu with the meal I would be served when I got home. It had lots of flowery french language but it boiled down to taco bar/salad and dessert. Which sounded pretty much perfect after the day I had.

Stuff like that reminds me how wonderful he is. Not only is he great to me on a day-to-day basis, he will go out of his way to show me that he's there for me when times get tough.

I had to take some pics with my cell phone. Here are my flowers:


and a shot of the penguin clip art that was on our menu (cause when I think tacos, I think of a penguin Maître d')



and the photo of the table set all cute for when I got home


Not bad-- a lit candle and some wine! We ended up being too full for dessert.

There was also soothing classical music playing and when we were done eating, I could take a bath and get right in bed. It was pretty much heaven.

Anyway the "Ristorante" as he calls it, will be open again from 9pm-11 pm. I can't wait to see what the chef has for me tonight.

Bliss

There are certain things I remember with starling clarity.

Too many of those moments are about humiliation or hurt, but I also recall some very happy moments in my life.

A few days ago, I decided to make a kettle of German knoephla soup. Knoephla is probably on my list '5 favorite comfort food' meals. I have made it so often that I don't need to think while doing it and I've gotten much better at making it. I can get the dumplings plump, the seasoning right and I've quit scorching the milk! I have a problem scorching things as I tend to be impatient.

Anywho. I had a nice kettle of knoephla and Tyler and I took a bowl to the balcony and ate under the stars. It's that time of summer where the nights are very cool and a bowl of hot soup is heaven. There was a light breeze and no bugs and we had found some random music channel on the TV playing opera. Yes, it's definitely a weird combination but I would say it was perfect.

We had one of those conversations that makes me forget we've been dating for four years. It's still new and exciting and romantic. Sometimes I'm amazed that we still have so many things to talk about. I hope we're still in love and eating under the stars in 40 more years.

I told him that this was one of those moments I hoped to remember forever. I felt calm (so rare for someone with an anxiety disorder), safe, and I was loved and warm. I got to thinking about other moments in my life where I had that. It was a fun exercise and I'd recommend trying it yourself-- very much a 'count your blessings' sort of deal.

*I remember laying outside in my grandparent's backyard on an old quilt. My grandpa gave me a butterfly net and I was trying to catch something. We ate strawberries together that we pulled out of my grandma's garden. He told me, "They taste better with a little dirt on them."

*I remember in 6th/7th grade, it was fall and my mom took me to Menards. She bought me some of those clear stickers for my bedroom window. It was Winnie the Pooh characters playing in piles of leaves. Later when I was in my room applying them, I had the window open and could smell fall (the smell that is part cold air, leaves and part chimney smoke). My mom called me out to the kitchen and we had slices of banana with honey, toast and hot cocoa. Just an average day, nothing special but she and I were very happy.

*I remember taking a trip to St. Louis. I was in a hotel room with Laura and Rehema (exchange student from Tanzania, Africa) and we were laughing so hard that we were gasping for air. I think it had something to do with the Swahili word for 'butt' being "taco."

Those are just some of my moments. I hope I have years and years to create more. But life is a fleeting thing and we have to try and create bliss moments wherever we can.

In other bliss-related news, I have a new fave show... Tyler found out that our TV pulls in channels like National Geographic that we didn't have before. I started watching "Cesar Millan: The Dog Whisperer." And I LOVE HIM. This youtube clip shows part of a show I watched the other night. Observe what happens when Cesar tries to acclimate Gracie, the puppy with a chicken (who Gracie wants to eat). The chicken has an interesting reaction...

I laughed for 10 minutes straight when I saw this clip... literally had tears. That poor bird!!



My idea of bliss -- naptime ;)

Taking on the seeds

click to enlarge

My fear of cooking or anything resembling cooking... is really big.

I have a recipe here and I keep walking out, staring at the seeds and going, EHHH.

How sad is that?

Ok, I think I'm gonna go get some cinnamon and try and make half sweet seeds and half salty.

I'll let you know how it goes...

WISH ME LUCK!

Betty frickin' Crocker

As you recall from earlier posts. I am attempting to bake.

I'm happy to report, that I had another successful baking venture today. I made apple crisp. It didn't look very impressive (*hence, no picture from me-- merely one I stole from google images*) but it tastes freakin' AMAZING. Even better with Vanilla Bean Ice cream.



Just wanted to share.

Me baking is a huge deal. It makes me feel like I've done something amazing.

I'm glad it takes little-to-nothing to amuse me.

It's 2:30 am on Saturday morning and I can't sleep. Lame. Next weekend I will be driving to Milwaukee to visit Laurita and shop for wedding dresses. Looking forward to that but I really need to beat this insomnia thing.

Maybe apple crisp would make me dozy? ;)

Adventures with the easy bake oven

My oven at my apt. has been dubbed "easy bake" because it is so small but it has also given me the chance to try my hand at the joys of gas cooking. Thought I'd share with you all a super-easy recipe that I love. It reflects both my heritage and my love of dough products. If I can make it, anyone can! I also included pictures to assist the recipe-challenged... and just for silliness.

German Knoephla Soup

Get a big kettle (like below and fill 3/4 full with water and milk-- more milk than water). Heat. Add 3 chicken bouillon cubes.




Dice half an onion

Try not and faint from onion fumes (see below) then cut about 4 or 5 potatoes up in bite sized pieces

I am truly lazy so I buy my dumplings ready made at the grocery store and just drop the bag in the kettle. Below is the brand I like... tastes just like Grandma's homemade dough dumplings and 1/2 the work!! I usually wait a while for the potatoes to cook, then add dumplings.


When potatoes are cooked through and dough is big, squishy and dumpling-like you have a bowl of knoephla!! I like lots of black pepper to spice it up a bit. But not too spicy, I am German after all!


This makes you a cook! Hooray! Celebrate and eat up!



And that's how I spend a Tuesday night alone... and no that is NOT sad.

What? It's not! I had a hard day at work! I wanted to make din-din and sleep.