48 Hours

until vacation.

I.

Can't.

Wait.

Needless to say, my thoughts are not on

working.

Blogging.

Or anything other than vacation.

So I'll catch ya'll in a few weeks!

Things to Be Excited About...

• On Friday, my mom was in a very bad car accident. The car was totalled, and yet she was completely unharmed (with the exception of some soreness). I like miracles.
• On Saturday afternoon I finished the last installment of my three-session sewing class and completed my first sewing project
• On Sunday morning I wore that sewing project to church (yes, I will post pictures!)
• On Thursday, a friend will visit
• On Friday, my two week vacation begins
• Tomorrow I get to eat at one of my favorite restaurants
• Tonight is the finale of The Bachelorette
• Today I will make chocolate chip cookies
• I am wearing a new tank top

Things to be not-so excited about...

• By Friday, I must complete a book review of a book that I have not finished reading. A book that makes my head hurt and spin and do all kinds of rebellious things that do not help in the writing of a book review for professional purposes.
• I have to work on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. McGruff the Crime Dog is back on the prowl.
• Packing
• Cleaning
• Muggy, warm, wet weather all week
• The scientific fact that weeks preceding vacations creep at half the rate of the average week.

Five Years Ago Today...

I put on a dress...

Said a little prayer....

Kissed my Daddy...

Cursed my florist (long story!)...

Shed a few tears...

Took a deep breath...

Walked down the aisle...

Said "I Do" to the man of my dreams...

Started a journey...

And drove off into the sunset...

And that was only the start of the journey.

Thanks for an incredible 5 years, Jonathan. Looking forward to many, many more!

I love you, handsome groom of mine.

Beyond Band of Brothers

• 

As an Air Force brat from a long line of servicemen, and an all-around history lover, I have always been intrigued by stories of WWII. My dad and I spent evenings together watching The History Channel throughout my high school years, and when Band of Brothers came out on DVD several years ago I was hooked.

This book is the memoir of Major Dick Winters, the leader of Easy Company on which Band of Brothers was based. The courage of these Average Joe young men never fails to leave me in awe. While the book is full of stories, it is essentially a book on leadership, and it left me with several challenging thoughts to chew on regarding my own personal discipline as a person and development as a leader.

So if you just so happen to be a girl who gets as big a kick out of a war story as you do out of a chick flick, check it out! (And if you are a guy who just happens to read this blog, then you should really check it out!)

Fabulous Party, Lame Pictures

This post could also be titled, "Why We Need a New Camera. Desperately."

Warning: The pictures you are about to see are in no way representative of the actual awesomeness that was my Hubby's 30th Birthday Fiesta. But I promised pictures, and pictures you will get.

How about we all just pretend that I am pioneering a new form of Impressionistic, Monet-esque photography? Okay? Okay.

In the kitchen, the buffet (Just picture it full of enchiladas, rice, black beans, salad, and that big orange and white tray full of those bacon jalepeno thingies I told you to go make).

Confession: the red and white fabric on the table and "bar" were the curtains in our first house. Oh, how I love creative repurposing!

The bar...the bucket contains iced sprarkling water and sweet tea, and was later filled with Mexican beers contributed by a few guests. In your imagination, add a big frosty pitcher of watermelon-mint margaritas right there in the middle...

Going out with a bang...key lime tart with fresh fruit. Accompanying whipped cream was served from my new antique green glass compote dish, of which I neglected to take a picture. Use your imagination once again, please.

And what party is complete without favors? A jar of homemade salsa for each guest, waiting on a tray by the door. The flip side of these tags reads: 30 and Still HOT!

Hee hee. It is outside my realm of self-control to resist a good cheesy pun. Especially at Birthday Boy's expense.
And the only photos of hostess and Birthday Boy. And by far the worst photos of the evening. No, I am not pregnant...it is just a pooch-inducing dress.
What's wrong, Birthday Boy? Don't like key lime tart? Get too close to the candles? Overwhelmed with angst over this milestone of aging?

It was at this point that I realized that I have yet to turn 30. And that Birthday Boy is keeping mental record of every old man joke I have made for the past month. And that when my 30th comes around, he will not hesitate to return the favor.

This is when I got real sweet and stopped teasing the Birthday Boy. And started telling him that he has never looked so muscular, fit, and generally young and handsome.

So there you have it...the 30th Fiesta! Wish you could have joined us!

Hot Stuff

The party was a success!

All of the food turned out well (with the exception of the key lime tart being a bit runny...but it tasted good!) and everyone seemed to have a great time.

Several guests even stayed late to watch The Bachelorette. Because honestly, what healthy, normal 30 year old male doesn't want to cap off his birthday bash with some quality reality romance television?

But the biggest success of the night? Pioneer Woman's Bacon-Wrapped Jalepenos.

I bought about a pint of jalepenos at the Farmers Market on Saturday, and then on second thought bought some more at the grocery store on Sunday. And I am so glad that I did. Those suckers went down fast! I probably had about 50 of them (each pepper is cut in half) and there were only four left by the end of the night.

So simple. So delicious.

In a nutshell: Cut jalepenos in half lengthwise. Scrape out white membrane and seeds. Grab a spoon and a block of cream cheese. Fill each pepper half with cream cheese. Grab a slab of bacon. Cut it half or in thirds, depending on how big your peppers are and how many you want to make (I cut it into thirds, which was perfect for my smaller Farmers Market jalepenos but not quite long enough for the bigger grocery store peppers). Wrap each cheese-stuffed jalepeno in a piece of bacon and secure with a toothpick.

I prepared all of these the day before and put them in a sealed container.

30 minutes before guests arrive, arrange the peppers on a wire rack (like the kind you put cookies on to cool) over a cookie sheet (to catch bacon grease). Pop 'em into a 375 oven for about 20-30 minutes or until bacon is cooked and the peppers look a bit shriveled and tender.

Put on a plate and watch them disappear.

A few pics from the party to come, but I'm afraid I was not the best photographer. I didn't even get a pic of myself with the Birthday Boy! It is hard to take pictures of a party when you're the hostess (and I get a bit self-conscious of taking pics of food and decorations after guests have arrived...I don't want to look like an ego maniac or like they cannot disturb my picture perfect food arrangement. I dunno).

Oh, and my camera is a big fat loser. So that makes picture taking frustrating. And then I just don't do it.

Dear Santa,

I have been a very good girl this year. I even threw my husband an awesome birthday party out of the goodness of my heart. All I want in return is a Digital SLR camera that doesn't make everything look yellow or dark.

And a boat load of bacon-wrapped jalepenos.

Sincerely,

Leslie

Ole!

Tonight is Jonathan's 30th Birthday Fiesta.

And I am pulling out all the stops.

On the menu:

Watermelon Mint Margaritas
Homemade Salsa and Chips
Pioneer Woman's Bacon-Wrapped Jalepenos
Chicken Enchiladas with Creamy Green Sauce
Farmers Market Tomato and Cucumber Salad
Cilantro-Lime Rice
Smoky Black Beans
Barefoot Contessa's Key Lime Curd Tart with Fresh Fruit and Whipped Cream

I was able to make everything but the rice yesterday, so now it is just a matter of warming things up and setting things out...my kind of entertaining!

I'll be sure to recap the festivities soon!