Wednesday Wisdom

And I'm going to be on one in just a couple days!  I can't wait.  Even better, it's dumping snow here today, so I'm even more ready for some warm weather and sun! We're off to Hawaii on Friday, so I won't have another post until December 3rd.  Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Aloha!!

Four!

Days that is, until we leave for Hawaii!!  I’m pretty excited if you can’t tell.  I’ve been lucky enough to go a few times in my life, and it never gets old.  It really is one of my favorite places on earth!

In honor of our trip, I thought I would share some pictures from some of my other trips to Hawaii.  The last time I was there was in 2011 for my honeymoon.  It was fabulous!

 

Here is a picture of Doug and I in Lahaina.  Lahaina is a cute little town that is very close to Kaanapali beach, which is where we stayed on our honeymoon and where my family is staying on this upcoming trip as well.

 

 

One of the best things about Hawaii is the shaved ice. If you haven't had it yet, you must!  It's nothing like the shaved ice you can get here on the mainland, it's so much better.  The ice is so smooth and the flavors are so unique.  And the kicker is that they put ice cream at the bottom.  Yum!

 

 

On our honeymoon, we went to a luau, which was really fun, but unfortunately it rained almost the whole night.  They passed out ponchos, but we were soaked by the end of the night.  We still had a blast, even though we got a little wet.  That's the kind of thing that makes the best memories!

 

 

Here is Doug about to go surfing.  He loved playing in the ocean, which is also one of my favorite Hawaiian activities.  I'm definitely better at boogie boarding, but I think it is all fun!

 

 

One of the great things about the place that we are staying is that they have outdoor barbeques that all of the guests can use.  It's nice to cook dinners some nights so that we don't get sick of eating out.  The grills are right on the beach too, so you can't beat the location.  Everyone loves dinner on the beach, right?!

 

 

Here are a couple pictures of my family and me on another trip to Hawaii.  On this trip, we went to Oahu and Kauai.  Maui is my favorite of the islands (that I've been to), but you really can't go wrong with any of them!

 

 

It sure is fun to look back on pictures from our previous trips to Hawaii.  It makes me extremely excited for Friday and the week that I will get to spend with my family in paradise!!

Weekend Rewind

It was an eventful and fun weekend in the Neil household.  Let's recap the highlights of the weekend!

Friday night, Doug and I had a date night at the Blue & Gold Fall party to benefit MSU Bobcat athletics.  We went to the very first Blue & Gold party back in 2010, and we had so much fun, so we knew it would be a good night.  The main purpose of the party is fundraising for the athletics programs, but there is also wine tasting and hors d'oeuvres (with really delicious chocolate!).  We had a blast, and we've decided that it is one of our favorite functions to attend. I think we're going to try to make it to every one from now on.

Saturday morning Drew had swim lessons again.  He's such a good little swimmer.  Well, I use the term "swimmer" lightly as he doesn't really do much swimming, but he likes the water and I think he has fun.  Here's a picture of him in his car seat before we left for the lessons.  It looks like he was pretty excited to me!

On Saturday, we also fed Drew second food baby food for the first time.  It was called chicken noodle, and didn't really look as appetizing to me as the straight fruits and vegetables.  He seemed to like it though and ate it right up!

Saturday afternoon was the Bobcat football game.  We knew it was going to be a cold game, so we got Drew a new snow suit to keep him warm.  He looked absolutely adorable all bundled up!  We all made it to the tailgate for a bit, but the wind and snow picked up, so Drew and I went home to get out of the cold.  His poor little cheeks were red and I could tell he was freezing, so I think it was the right decision.  He and I enjoyed the game from the comfy couch.  In fact, Drew even got a little nap in!

 

Sunday we spend the day decorating the house for Christmas and running the usual Sunday errands.  We had movie night last night and watched The Heat.  It was pretty funny.  We also caught some of the Broncos game, and we're glad they came out of it with a win.  It was a fun family weekend and we're all excited that next weekend we'll have a fun family weekend in Hawaii!!



High Five for Friday!

Happy Friday folks!  It’s Friday once again, which means it’s time to recap the five highlights of the week.  It was a good one, and I think this weekend is going to be even better.  Plus, this time next week, I will be off to Hawaii on vacation, and I can’t wait!

1.    I picked up some Christmas pillows at Target this week, and I’m in love!  They’re so cute.  I love all things Christmas, and I’m so ready to get the house decorated.  I think that’s the plan for Sunday, and I can’t wait.  Christmas is my favorite holiday and favorite time of year, and I’m so ready to get in the mood.  What am I saying, I’m already in the mood!  And these pretty babies helped out!

 

 

2.    I officially applied for “inactive” status of my CPA license this week.  It’s actually kind of sad, but a necessity if I’m going to be staying home with Drew.  The good news is that I can change back to “active” status at any time by completing the CPE (continuing education) requirements, which is 120 hours.  Maybe in a few years, I’ll be back in the accounting world, but until then, I’m officially “inactive.”

3.    Doug and I are going on a date tonight!  Montana State University has their annual Fall Blue & Gold party, which is essentially a fundraiser with wine tasting.  I’m pretty excited!  We went a couple of years ago, and it was a blast.  I’m sad to leave Drew, but he will be in good hands with my sister-in-law, who is an expert with kiddos.  We’re lucky to have family that we trust in town to give us a break every now and again!  Date nights with my hubby are always the best!  This picture is from the last time we went to the Blue & Gold party!

 

4.    It’s going to be another fun weekend of swimming lessons, football, and hopefully some Christmas decorating.  I’ll be taking pictures of our decorations and sharing them soon.  There’s nothing better than the holidays.  It truly is the best time of year!

 

5.     I'll end this Friday post with a picture of my little man, just cause he's so cute! He's doing so good eating nowadays.  He's funny though because he LOVES the vegetables and only kind of likes the fruits.  Weird kid.  He must get that from his father! ;)

 

 



Enjoy your Friday and your weekend!  It's always nice to take a break and spend some quality time with family and friends!  Hope you have a good one.

Drewday Thursday

It's been awhile since I've shared some pictures of Drew (you're probably thinking, no not really, but what can I say, he's just so cute!).  We've had a fun week doing all of our usual activities.  Drew loves to eat and sleep, and we've been working on sitting and crawling, oh and of course, he's spent some time jumping!  He makes me laugh every day and he's getting quite the little personality.  I just love him to pieces!

 

Drew loves his naps, and recently began sleeping on his side instead of his back.  It's quite cute and makes him look so grown up.  He usually naps in his crib, but earlier this week, he fell asleep eating a bottle. He used to do that all the time when he was younger, but now I hardly ever get to hold him while he sleeps.  I miss the days of cuddling and having him sleep on me, so when he does fall asleep on me now, I soak up every minute of it!

 

We've also been working on learning to crawl.  I've been putting a toy just out of reach and trying to get him to get it.  He's an expert roller, but he hasn't quite figured out that rolling takes him in the opposite direction.  I can tell he's trying to move towards it, and he knows he can move when he rolls, he just hasn't figured out that it's the wrong direction.  He wiggles his legs furiously when he's on his stomach, so I'm thinking he will be scooting around in no time.  I'm excited for him to crawl, but also nervous, because with it comes a whole new set of worries and responsibility.  He's pretty easy to watch when he's not mobile!

 

 

And of course, we've been doing some jumping.  He just loves the jumper and I think it's really helping his leg strength.  He's a strong baby!

I love every day that I get to spend with him.  We have so much fun!  He's the best little guy around!

Wednesday Wisdom from Dr. Seuss

This is one of my all-time favorite quotes.  In fact, it was voted as my senior class saying.  I guess that Dr. Seuss really knew what he was talking about. I love this quote because it is so true and something that I wish more people, including myself, could always remember.  Be authentic.

There are so many people out there who try to be something that they are not, or be who they think everyone else wants them to be.  Be true to yourself and who you truly are, and the rest will follow.  Don’t be afraid of what you think or afraid to share how you feel, even if it's different from everyone else around you.  Don’t worry about what other people think of you.  Don’t feel bad if you don’t like what everyone else seems to love.  Be an original, have an opinion, and don’t pretend to be something you’re not.  

If you’re being you, that’s all that matters.  I know it's harder than it sounds, but I truly believe in it.  The people who truly love you will always support you.  If they really matter, they won't mind!

 

What's That Smell?

We had some company a couple months ago, and they brought me a Bath & Body Works candle as a thank you for letting them stay at our house.  Now, I’ve never owned a Bath & Body Works candle, and to be honest, I’m not much of a candle person.  I’ve had candles for YEARS that I never burn.  I like the look of them, and I’ll burn a cinnamon one around Christmas, but that’s about it. 

Oh how things have changed.  The candle they brought me is called “Autumn,” and it smells absolutely divine.  I lit it for the first time and fell in love.  It smells exactly like you would think Autumn would smell, and it’s beautiful.  Whenever it’s burning, our whole house smells so good.  It actually makes it feel more “homey,” which I love.  To be honest, I’ve become a little obsessed!

 

 

As you can see, I've almost burned through the entire candle, which is very unlike me.  That's a testament to just how good it smells!

So, I figured since Autumn is basically over, surely Bath & Body Works wants to get rid of the “old” smells for cheap, right?  I took a little trip to B&BW, and sure enough, the Fall scented candles were all 50% off.  So I picked up another Autumn candle (and now I’m wishing I would have purchased them all!).  The Winter candles just happened to be on sale as well, so I picked up two of those in hopes that this wonderful homey, delicious smelling track we’re on will last throughout the winter. 

I bought the candle called “Winter,” since Autumn was so good, and I’m hoping they’ve captured the scent of winter just as well as they did Autumn.  I also bought one called “Tis the Season,” because, let’s face it, I love Christmas and Christmas-scented things.

 

 

I’m so happy that my houseguests introduced me to Bath & Body Works candles because they truly smell heavenly.  I’m sure my husband is thrilled that I’ve found something else to spend our money on, but what can I say, they are just so good!

 

Veterans Day

Today is Veterans Day, so I'd like to recognize all of our veterans and thank them for their selfless service for our country.  They keep our country safe, and their sacrifices for all of us should no go overlooked and unappreciated.  My grandfather was a veteran, and I'm so very proud of him.  It's a noble and heroic thing that they do, and we should all be grateful everyday, but especially today, on Veterans Day!  Happy Veterans Day to all the veterans, I thank you immensely!

High Five for Friday

It’s Friday!!!  Yay!  I’m happy it’s the weekend and happy we are that much closer to Hawaii!!  It’s one of my favorite, okay probably my favorite, place on earth and I’m so happy to be going back.  We leave two Fridays from now, and I can’t wait!  Anyway, here are a few highlights from the week:

1.    Drew started to LIKE eating his solid food!  I can’t tell you how enjoyable feeding him is now.  I’m so happy that he’s turned the corner, and that we’re able to keep trying new foods.  He's liked everything we've given him, which makes it easy.  So far, carrots seem to be his favorite, so he must be taking after his great-grandma Pat.  She loves carrots too!

 

 

2.    We went to dinner with friends on Wednesday at the Pour House for Cat Chat.  It was fun to get out of the house and meet up with some friends, and Cat Chat is always fun.  Doug and I also had a good laugh about becoming “those” parents as we forced our friends to watch videos of Drew eating rice cereal and peaches!  Oops!

 

 

3.    We had a couple of snows this week, and I’ve been loving it.  Our new house is beautiful when it snows because we are so close to the mountains.  I feel like I’m living in a little winter village and I absolutely love it!
 

4.    I’m not one to get excited about Christmas before Thanksgiving is over, but for some reason, this year it’s sneaking up on me quite early.  I think all of the commercials, Christmas music, and store aisles lined with Christmas goodies are getting me in the mood.  Plus, since we will be out of town over Thanksgiving and won’t be back until December 1^st, I’m contemplating decorating our house before we leave.  I just love Christmas.  It’s my absolute favorite time of year, and I love the excited feeling I get when it’s near!  Here are some pictures from our house at Christmas last year.

 

5.     Finally, our house has been smelling great this week thanks to this lovely candle! More on that next week, so stay tuned.

 

 

There you have it, the Friday five. Hope you all have a great one!!

Update!

Well, I thought I’d do a little update on Drew’s “real” food adventures.  Last time I wrote about it, he was not into it at all, and was actually quite difficult to feed.  He would arch his back and cry, and when I did get a spoonful in, he’d gag.  He was gagging, even on the good stuff like peaches and applesauce.  I thought the kid was crazy!

Anyway, things are going much better now.  He’s getting the hang of it, and actually starting to like it.  Grandma Brenda was kind enough to get him a pretty sweet highchair, that he loves, and he’s been enjoying his food ever since.  He’s even gotten to the point of grabbing my hand and shoving the spoon in his mouth.

I can’t tell you how happy and proud this makes me.  It’s weird what little things make you happy when you have children!  I was getting frustrated and concerned that he wasn’t ever going to eat solid food, and worried that we’d struggle with it forever.  I’m so glad that we seem to be over that hump, and now he’s loving it.  I guess I’m not surprised because he sure is an easy, happy baby.  He makes being a mommy pretty easy on me, and I couldn’t be more proud of my little guy.  He’s just the best!

In other food related news, Doug and I became "those" parents last night.  We went to dinner with some friends, and had a really enjoyable evening.  We were so close to making it out of there without being annoying parents, but then just as we all stood to leave, we did it.  We had been talking about Drew and his adventures in new foods.  We were explaining how he hated it at first, and then Doug suggested, well here, let me show you a video of him eating rice cereal.  And it just went downhill from there.  At one point, we both had our phones out, actually forcing our poor friends to watch video after video of Drew eating rice cereal and peaches.  And they stood there, feigning interest.  Oh yes, look at Drew eating another peach.  Wow, that's an interesting video.  Yep, it happened.  And when we left, Doug realized that we had become "those" parents in that moment, and we couldn't stop laughing.  I haven't laughed so hard in a really long time.  Hey, what can I say, it was bound to happen right?! 

Wednesday Wisdom

Be honest, you just said "Hump Daaaaaaaaay" in the camel's voice, didn't you?!  Happy hump day everybody!  We're halfway to the weekend and I can't wait!

Homemade Ravioli

For Valentine's Day a few years ago (back when he was still trying to impress me), Doug took a cooking class so he could make me a fancy Valentine's Day dinner.  At the class, he learned how to make lobster ravioli, and he did actually make it for me on Valentine's Day (I heard that most of the guys in the class didn't end up making the meal for their ladies, so I felt pretty lucky!).  It was pretty darn delicious.  We have modified the recipe a little, and have continued to make it at home periodically.  It takes some time, so now that we have Drew, we only really make it on the weekends when we have more time to cook.  We made it this last Sunday, and it sure was delicious!

What you need:

• Won ton wrappers - we buy a 12 oz. package at Wal-Mart

• Filling ingredients - this can be whatever you want.  Obviously, it was lobster on Valentine's day, but now we usually use chicken, mushrooms, cheese, and a little milk.  We've also added spinach.  You can get as creative as you want here.
• Bowl of water
• Discard bowl
• Cookie sheet, or something to put the finished raviolis on
• Pizza cutter

First, we cook up what we want for the filling of our ravioli.  This time, we used chicken (one chicken breast), mushrooms (a small package of fresh mushrooms), an Italian cheese blend (as much cheese as you like), and a little milk.  You want to cut the filling ingredients into pretty small pieces so that it will fit in a ravioli.

Then comes the work, you take one won ton wrapper and wet the edges of it.  I usually just wet my finger, using the water bowl, and trace the outline of the square won ton.  Then, you put the filling in the middle, and grab another won ton wrapper.  Put the wrapper on top of the one with the filling, and press down on the outside edges where the water was.  The water should make the wrappers stick together, and then you will have a square full of filling.  We use a pizza cutter to cut off the corners of the ravioli to make them more round, and discard the scraps in the discard bowl (this is a step that you wouldn't necessarily have to do if you didn't want to). 

 

 

 

You continue that process until you have used up all of your won ton wrappers or until your filling is gone.  We ended up with 26 ravioli (which was all of the won ton wrappers).

Then, you just boil the ravioli like you would any noodle.  It only takes a couple minutes to cook.  I bet we boil our ravioli for five minutes at the most.

We only made 14 of the ravioli, so we had seven each this time, and we'll have six each next time.  One of the great things about this meal is that it feeds us twice, and although the first time it makes a big mess, the second, there's hardly any clean up!

When Doug made it for me for Valentine's Day, he also made a homemade pasta sauce that was really good, but when we make it at home we don't use any sauce.  It sounds strange, and it looks weird, but it really makes it so you're able to taste the flavor of the filling.  However, you could certainly use a pasta sauce if you'd like.

There you have it.  It's not the most pretty food when it's done, but boy does it taste good.  The won ton wrappers give it a different consistency than a regular noodle, which I really like.  Give it a try, and let me know what you think!