MY BEST FRIEND BRIDGET AND ME ON MY WEDDING DAY ~ AUGUST 21, 2010

THE PUGGLES - LOVES OF MY LIFE !

Celebrating Rachel's wedding with some of my best friends ! January 2012

I am an Aunty - AGAIN!

Yesterday marks another amazing day in my life... I am an aunty to a healthy,beautiful and sweet as can be baby boy. My sister is a rock star and gave our family another perfect child. I am over the moon excited to watch the little guy grow up and become someone awesome. Watching my nephews and nieces grow up make my heart smile.
Gabe came to the hospital to see the baby and as soon as he walked into the room I teared up hoping and praying that someday Gabe and I will have a child of our own. I believe miracles happen and we will have a baby. Seeing my new nephew yesterday gave me a renewed hope of that.
Yesterday proves one thing ... I am blessed!

WOW - Hello Mr. Sunshine !

So the past few days have been simply amazing in Sonoma County!  We hit 84 outside yesterday and today they are saying it will be even warmer... YIPPIE. I was off of work yesterday so I was able to go have a fun and relaxing lunch with my mom and sister ( the sister who is about to have her baby ) it was nice to just sit and talk. After I got home I went and pulled some weeds in the backyard - we have a large yard and it is all weeds :(  I really need to win the lottery to get the yard landscaped. I took the dogs for a walk around 8 pm and it was still about 70 degrees so it was perfect. It is days like this that I remember how very blessed I am to live here with my family.


Speaking of family - mine rocks. We unveiled the AWFUL FALAFEL truck this week and my family was there to support us. It feels so good to know that we have them here with us. The opening night went AMAZING - we were so busy and the public seemed to love the food. Gabe is so talented people would be crazy not to like the food.
Tonight for dinner I am thinking of making chicken and rice with artichokes. 
I will let you know what I settled on tomorrow!


Have a great day - ENJOY THE WEATHER !

Blah - a way of life!

I have been down and out with a horrible cold - flu mixer thingy that has thrown me for a LOOP. I am on day 4 and feel like I have lost a good week of my life to a sickness I did not ask for. As I sit at work and deal with the public I can feel my temperature rising again. 103* has been normal for the past 2 days so anything around there is normal. I must be floating around 110* (I KID)

I am however looking forward to booking my trip to Vegas with my girlfriend Adrienne for her 35th birthday. Just her, me, a pool, water and SUN. Her birthday is in July so it is a perfect time to escape to the dessert for some sun. I am hoping the falafel truck will be up and running by then so Gabe will not even miss me while I am gone. I am also super stoked to be booking my flight to go to NC to see my BESTIE Bridget. We are headed to the shores of South Carolina and once again it will be fun in the sun.

Although I am sick as a dog, I am blessed and I thank the LORD for this amazing day.

I'm TIRED

Sometimes I am not sure if I am coming or going. Awake or sleeping, hungry or full, happy or sad. One thing I know for sure is that I need a good nights sleep - a good 12 hours of no dogs, no phones, no light just DARK, COOL and no interruptions.
Today I am working 10 hours of overtime, and while I like the paycheck I am getting exhausted and need a break.
Today after work I am going to run to the mall to get some makeup then head home, take the puggles on a walk and do some praying. With Easter fast approaching I find myself missing my Grandma Ester more and more. It is funny how just a smell can bring her back and I can close my eyes and she will be with me, making me pancakes and mac and cheese, walking to get the mail, sitting in the sun in her blue Buick or doing leg exercises in the morning side by side in her twin beds. My grandmother was (IS) one of the GREATS. She will never know how much I love her but someday I will be able to hug her again and tell her all she means to me.

Early Morning wake up call

Well, I see I have a few friends up in Alaska... WELCOME!

I got called into work at 2 am this morning, I will get off at noon so I will be able to enjoy some of the nice weather that has been sent to us from somewhere above.

I want to report that I made my buffalo chicken dinner the other night ... well kinda - I did not have the buffalo wing sauce so I ended up doing the following:

Whole wheat pizza dough - roll out to rectangle ( use flower or it will stick ) 

Homemade pesto sauce

Chicken ( baked with a bbq sauce on it ) 

Cheese

on the outer crust I put a small amount of EVOO to make it crispy

350 degrees for just about 15 minutes on a pizza stone 

SUPER GOOD! 

We had our California state inspection on our food truck yesterday and we PASSED!
So happy and excited for my husband ( who by the way asked what was going on with me because I have started to cook more and he knows I think I suck at cooking so was confused at to why I was being more domestic ) He has worked so hard on this truck and I am so so so thankful we got the PASS vs the FAIL on the first go round. Most people have to go through the inspection at least 2 - 3 times before passing.

I mentioned in my first blog that we have been trying to have a baby and it has not been as easy as I thought it would be. I have some testing coming up on April 11th and we are hoping to get some answers. I have always known that I wanted to be a mom. That is my dream - pure and simple - a mother. My heart aches for all of us women who have issues getting pregnant and carrying a healthy baby to full term. UNLESS you have been in the shoes of a women with NO children but wanting children you have NO IDEA the pain, suffering, stress and sadness we go through. I often find myself so upset with people that do not think before they speak and make off colored comments about pregnant people or getting pregnant or being pregnant and complaining and being tired and sick and upset all the time. They should keep in mind that some of us would give anything to have all those problems.

On today's agenda:

• Work until noon 
• Meet up with a friend visiting from out of town 
• Meet up with another friend and give her the wedding shower gift that I should have given her last weekend
• Take the puggles on their walk
• Make something wonderful for dinner -not sure what though- any suggestions?
• Relax with my husband (hopefully)
• Get my laundry pile washed/ folded and put away
• Smile ! 

Dinner tonight :

Buffalo Chicken Pizza Dough Roll Up:

2 boneless chicken breasts
1 tsp. olive oil
1 pizza dough (I get pre made from our local supermarket Olivers in the cold section)
8 oz. of shredded mozzarella cheese (I used part skim)
3 oz. of shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup of Franks Wing Sauce
1/3 cup of ranch or blue cheese dressing

Directions 

• Pre-heat oven to 425°F. 
• Cut chicken into cubes.  Season with salt and pepper.  Heat teaspoon of olive oil in skillet and add chicken when hot.  Cook chicken completely and then add 1/4 cup of wing sauce.  Stir to coat chicken and let simmer for a minute or two.Take chicken off heat and let cool.

• Roll out the pizza dough to a rectangle shape (use flour on the bottom or it will stick to the rolling surface)
• Layer on the dough: ranch or blue cheese dressing/ chicken / cheese and the extra wing sauce
• Roll the whole thing up (like a sushi roll - just not as tight)
• Place on a baking sheet (spray with PAM or use a silpat)
• Cook for 20-25 minutes
• ENJOY ~ we sure will ;)

 

I figured why not...

I love to sit at work and read blogs that other women have written so I thought "start your own blog" and well, here I am. I am 31 years old, married to the love of my life (Gabe - and YES he is a chef) We met 7 years ago on a blind date, moved in 2 weeks later and now have been married for 20 months. We just bought a house in Sonoma County and we share our home with our two sweet dogs - puggles - Sierra and Delylah. The puggles are the best doggies ever (yes really the best dogs ever) We are working on having kids, but that is not as easy as it sounds. On top of life we decided to open up a mobile food truck (because trying to get pregnant was not stressful enough) so we tossed a business into the mix.
I have decided to get healthy this year and start cooking more. I can not expect Gabe to get done working on the truck then come home and cook me a meal. I work as a 911 dispatcher for a local police department. My job is an insane amount of stress and unless you do this job you have no idea how answering a phone can change your life. Yes, I have had that phone call that changes your life, that takes the air out of your lungs and stops you dead in your tracks. I also had to learn to get past that and move on. Like falling off a horse, if you don't get right back on you will never ride again. I never know what the next phone call will bring, but I have faith God will get me through whatever he throws my way.
I am the youngest of 5 kids, an aunt to 5 nephews and 3 nieces and my sister is due to have a baby any day now. I grew it in the most amazing family and will never be able to express my gratitude for all my family (specifically my mom and dad) have done for me (and Gabe)
I have some of the BEST friends a girl could ever ask for. I love all things outside, a clean kitchen, fresh and crisp laundry just out of the dryer, sushi,the beach after a storm, walking my dogs, cuddling with my husband, buying new cars, my mom's cooking, the sound of my nieces and nephews playing, Black Friday (a good sale in general), Catalina Island, chap stick, whole fat milk, brand spankin' new socks, tomatoes off the vine,waking up to the sun shining in my room, kisses from the puggles and water. I miss my grandmother's daily. I need to save more money - I spend way to much! I need to not let things bother me as much as they do - for the sake of a good nights sleep! I will love Gabe and my family until I take my last breath on earth (and then some) and I promise to make you giggle while reading my blog.
Welcome to my world - It could get crazy so hold on ;)