they call me "Yara Roots"

#5

2012-02-01T15:07:00.000-06:00

Checking off #5 (Travel somewhere new!) took Mike & I to Isla Mujeres, Mexico for the most amazing vacation last December. It was beautiful (they film the Corona commercials here), relaxing, authenitic and chill- just what we needed. We spent a week on the island and we already can't wait to go back. Simply put, we fell in love with this small little island. Most days were spent on the beach reading (7 books between the 2 of us) and one day we took an excursion around the whole island on a golf cart- the most popular mode of transportation on the island.
Here is our paradise vacay in a few pictures:

Home Stretch

2012-01-31T12:26:00.001-06:00

Well I'm on the home stretch to the big 3-0 (a few weeks away!) which leave me a bit anxious about THE LIST and actually being able to complete it. I'm pretty excited about the recent things I've checked off, though...see for yourself!

#23

Visiting 1 new MLB and 1 new NFL stadium took us to Kansas City for both!

#20

Mom & I made 2 kinds of homemade cheese! Mozzerella (see me stretching the curd below) and Farmhouse Cheddar (packed into a mold and covered in wax- to be enjoyed in a few short months)

#29

I'd call this photographing something beautiful- hubby & a sunset while on a beautiful island (which caused us to travel somewhere new # 5) is always a good subject!

and there have & will be more- stay tuned to see if I can do it!

#19 CHECK

2011-11-02T11:40:00.000-05:00

#19 might be my favorite check-off so far as Mom & I explored the bike trails of Cedar Rapids including parts of the Cedar Valley Nature Trail. We totally lucked out on weather and we couldn't believe all of the new things we discovered in Cedar Rapids on our 20 mile bike ride! We biked from the Hoover Trail at Ely (near my house) all the way north to my brother's house. We went through downtown Cedar Rapids on the Cedar River Trail, stopped for a pick me up mocha, continued around Cedar Lake and up the trail which runs along the east side of I-380 -but feels very protected and you don't even notice the traffic! to Blairs Ferry Road. We discovered Cedar Rapids' urban trout stream along the way, too, which happens to be Iowa's only. It took us about 4 hours including all of our dawdling and stops along the way. We went 20.2 miles (and burned 805 calories, too!)

It was a blast and I'm so thankful to have got the chance to do it with my mom who is always up for an adventure!

#22 Done

2011-11-02T10:35:00.000-05:00

#22 was check off 2 weeks ago (yay!) as I joined Mike, his Dad and family friend Sam for a pheasant hunting outing during the youth pheasant hunting weekend (the weekend before opening weekend set aside for kids to get their shot at one bird). Since it's my list and interpreted however I please, I am completely satisfied with counting "go hunting" as completed- I didn't feel the need to actually shoot at anything. For me, it was more about the experience of going along which I quite enjoyed thanks to the beautiful day and good company. Although, I have to say I mostly enjoyed watching the dogs in their element; happily bounding, pouncing, sniffing and running between us as we foraged the CRP. Sam didn't get his pheasant but we did see 2 hens take off for the cover of the corn, 2 roosters on the side of the road and 1 rooster scared up but just out of reach.

K.C.

2011-10-18T10:41:00.001-05:00

Over Labor Day, Mike & I took off for a last-minute trip to Kansas City- just for fun and to (of-course) work on checking off my list! We had a great time- see for yourself :)

at the World War I Museum & Memorial

Boulevard Brewery & tasting room- our fave part!

dessert course after an amazing italian meal at Lidias Restaurant- above is our trio of sorbet. Mike said is is the best thing he's EVER tasted!

Guinness while hiding out in a bus stop during a downpour at Irish Fest

checking off half of #23 at a Royals game

Cashing in our Christmas Gift

2011-10-18T09:13:00.000-05:00

In September, Mom & Dad treated us to our surprise weekend get-away gift which was their gift to us last Christmas. My favorite thing about how we 'gift' in my family is that we get to enjoy and look forward to cashing them in all year long!

Our weekend started with a glow-in-the dark charity golf tournament in Cedar Falls. It was ridiculously fun! We decked out our carts and selves with glow sticks galore. We couldn't stop laughing at how alien we looked wandering around the pitch black golf course-the pictures cannot do it justice. Mike only drove us through 3 sand traps, I lost but recovered my driver, Dad may or may not have hit a tree and miraculously we only lost 1 of our glow balls!

The next morning we took off for the rest of our adventure to Perry, IA where we stayed at the historic Hotel Pattee. Each room is themed-we got to stay in the Irish Room and Mom & Dad in the Cream & Eggs Room- they were so cute! We explored a bit and ventured to nearby Snus Hill Winery where we enjoyed a tour and samples. It was the most beautiful day and we even got to sample the freshest just-pressed grape juice- maybe one of the best things I've ever tasted! We had dinner at the Hotel and post-dinner got to bowl in their 2 lane bowling alley in the basement of the hotel.

nice form Dad!

Mom & Dad- Thanks so much for a wonderful weekend- it was awesome!

Progress!

2011-09-20T11:22:00.000-05:00

I'm slowly checking things off THE list (some involve a partial check cause they're 1/2 done or at least in progress.) Regardless, yay, me!

#2- still in progress but long enough (shoulder length) that I'm allowing myself to check it off
#28- I'm officially a working member of New Pioneer Co-Op and I did my first bit of 'volunteering' which I'm actually reimbursed for in gift card dollars back to New-Pi. Talk about a great deal! Last Sunday morning I found myself cutting up apples from a nearby orchard for a culinary bike ride around town and my next gig will be helping out and assisting with a class called "We Love Cheese."

.....Which will perfectly segue me to #20 which is on the books to complete with Mom this fall! We have our cheese-making kit ready to go and I'm almost done with a book about the whole process of cheese making- is it weird how excited I am to make homemade cheese?

Also partially completed are #23 (went to a KC Royals game over Labor Day weekend- loved the stadium!) and #5 (trip to Cancun is booked for December!) #15 (to be completed 10/1- stay tuned cause this will be a fun post!) & #22 (scheduling is in the works- I'm doing it!)

Christmas in July!

2011-07-19T11:08:00.000-05:00

Our Christmas gift to my side of the family last December was a fun weekend of camping and canoeing adventures in Decorah. So last Friday we all met at a campground right on the Upper Iowa River and began the fun (despite ridiculous rain Friday night that required Mike & I spend a little time in the laundromat drying out sleeping bags after a fault with our rain fly...)

We had a great time canoeing and kayaking, sitting around the fire, enjoying delicious grilled food and swimming & floating in the river. The kids (Cale, Ayla & Jonah) experienced real camping for the first time and it was so cute to see them all help set up the tent and roast marshmallows. I wouldn't trade a weekend like that with my loved ones for anything in the world!

One bonus was how much fun Xena had swimming in the river, it was hilarious to watch her work so hard to swim upstream and then zoom so fast downstream with the current! She was one pooped puppy when we got home.

Let That Freak Flag Fly

2011-07-19T08:29:00.000-05:00

Here's the deal: I'm ~~slightly~~ totally obsessed with Harry Potter and have been for 10 years. I read the series once a year and while I am much more devoted to the books than movies I was quite excited to finally make it to Part 2 of the final movie. Sometimes you gotta just fly your freak flag and embrace the weirdo that you are....so last night I proudly did this by wearing my Harry Potter t-shirt to the final Harry Potter movie and even found a broom outside the theatre to fly on!

#13 DONE

2011-06-14T09:33:00.000-05:00

I should have done a before and after pic but at least you can see how #13 was crossed off my list. It took a relocation of quite a few kitchen items but now I'm easily able to access my beloved cookbooks- the object of my foodie obsession- without a stool!

First Fruits (er...vegetables!) of My Labor

2011-06-14T09:27:00.000-05:00

The first thing I've been able to harvest from my garden this year are some tasty green onions, the bulbs courtesy of my green-thumbed mama- thanks Mom!

#27 DONE

2011-05-02T10:08:00.000-05:00

...new to my garden this year are 10 asparagus plants! I just discovered their teeny little bodies poking through the ground this morning after digging a specific sized trench and carefully planting them in rich compost mixture a little over a week ago. Next I will cover them with another layer of dirt and in 3 short years will hopefully be enjoying their delicious, tender crisp, verdent spring flavor.

The Hunger Games

2011-04-29T09:36:00.000-05:00

My sister introduced me to the most amazing series of books I think I've ever read! The Hunger Games, Catching Fire & Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins.

I read the entire series in 1 week thanks to my trusty Kindle which allowed me to instantly download each book immediately after finished the previous one, which thank GOD because there is no putting these books down once you start! Trust me, do yourself a favor, and read these books!

#7 DONE!

2011-04-07T11:07:00.000-05:00

1 month of meatlessness done! Technically, as Jessie pointed out, I did a month of a "pescatarian diet" because I allowed myself seafood but in my mind that is as vegetarian as it is going to get for me and I'm very proud of myself for completing this one! I'm still debating whether to try to go all the way to Easter so we'll see how it goes.

What I learned:
-it was hard, but not as hard as I thought
-it takes a lot of planning
-a meatless diet does not automatically help one drop lbs like I thought it might
-that I am inspired to incorporate a least a few meatless meals into our/my diet each week
-it would be easier in the peak of summertime (seasonal veggies from my garden & farmer's market)

#8 DONE!

2011-04-04T09:36:00.001-05:00

The first thing to be officially crossed of THE LIST is

#8: do a 5K with Jessie!

On Saturday morning Jessie, Chris, Mom & I went to George Wyth Park in Waterloo for the "Fools 5K" where we had a blast joining the 800 other runners and walkers in our (mom's & my) first ever 5K race. Mom & I had every intention of just 'fast-walking' it but with Jessie's encouragement we ended up jogging at least half of the 5K! We were so proud of ourselves and we finished in about 40 minutes which ended up being about 13 minutes miles and for non-runners who non-trained we were pretty happy with that result!

salad it is :(

2011-04-01T11:45:00.000-05:00

Today is posing to be the hardest day of my 1 month vegetarianism so far. Hot, delicious Chick-Fil-A sandwiches were just delivered to my office for lunch. Sigh.

Eagle Eggs

2011-03-30T11:35:00.000-05:00

Juding by the number of viewers at any given time, I am not the only one fascinated by the live eagle cam provided by the Decorah Raptor Resource Project. Check it out soon- the eggs are due to hatch anytime from today to Friday!

http://www.raptorresource.org/falcon_cams/

Slowly but Surely

2011-03-30T11:22:00.000-05:00

I'm 3/4 of the way done with #7 on my 30 Before 30 List, only 1 week left of vegetarianism!

Also, with a last minute entry in a 5K this weekend #8 will be crossed off, too!

2011-03-28T10:08:00.001-05:00

It's easy being vegetarian when you get shrimp this big & delish! Enjoyed at Daniel Arthur's last Friday night on a dinner date with Mom & Dad

#7 = 1/4 complete

2011-03-18T09:44:00.000-05:00

One week of vegetarianism down, 3 to go! I may make it all the way to Easter, just cause. We'll see how it goes!

Here's a snapshot of what I've been eating: shrimp lettuce wraps, halibut tacos with avocado, crispy thin crust veggie pizza, whole wheat pasta with veggie marinara, lots of eggs, greek yogurt with granola & fruit, cheese & crackers, etc.

Mike has been a good sport so far so he got his own crock pot full of corned beef & veggies yesterday.

2011-03-16T05:44:00.002-05:00

Rockin robin tweet tweet: follow me on twitter now! @lrwalsh218

2011-03-13T10:03:00.001-05:00

Test from phone

30 Before 30

2011-03-09T08:34:00.001-06:00

Inspired by THIS, I created my list of 30 things I feel compelled to complete before I reach age 30 (approx 11 months):

and in no particular order here it is:

1. try 3 new types of cuisine (Indian, Cuban, etc.)

2. grow my hair out

3. audition for something *

4. write a business plan

5. travel somewhere new!

6. complete The Love Dare book with Mike

7. eat vegetarian for 1 month *

8. do a 5K with Jessie *

9. watch no TV for 1 week

10. teach my nephews and niece something new

11. knit a stocking hat for Mike (finally)

12. let go of a few hoarded items

13. organize my recipes and cookbooks

14. read the Gospel

15. volunteer somewhere

16. master 5 yoga poses

17. make Boeuf Bourguignon (Julia style of course) for a dinner party

18. learn to putt well and finally get a decent golf score (low 90s would be good for me)

19. bike part of the Cedar Valley Nature Trail with Mom

20. make homemade cheese

21. do something nice for a complete stranger

22. go hunting*

23. visit 1 new MLB stadium and 1 new NFL stadium

24. learn to play Euchre

25. discover something new about my family history

26. create something creative

27. grow something new in my garden

28. join a food Co-op & volunteer there

29. photograph something beautiful

30. brew homemade beer

*indicates: yikes! I'm a little nervous about this one

WISH ME LUCK AND STAY POSTED! (I'll be crossing them off the list at the right side of this blog)

I should probably do this, don't you think?

2011-02-28T11:10:00.001-06:00

http://www.30before30project.com/

stay posted to see my list (I'm starting to write it today)

Oats

2011-02-25T09:00:00.004-06:00

I was pleasantly surprised by McDonald's new oatmeal- I love it! Even before I ordered I was planning to look up the Nutrition Facts just to see how much sugar was in it- because what oatmeal is good without a little sugar? To my surprise the Nutrition Facts were already listed on the container (I appreciate that) and while 32 g of sugar and 57 g of carbs is kind of a lot I think the good amount of fiber and whole grain balances it out enough for me not to feel guilty! And I love cranberries, so they had me at hello. Ronald- if you're reading this I'll take more free coupons- thanks!

29

2011-02-22T11:22:00.005-06:00

Last Friday at 7:50 am I began the first day of the last year of my twenties.
I'm Ok with that.

It was a wonderful birthday weekend because I got to enjoy not only a lot of wonderful food but also because I got to be with so many of my favorite people!

Believe it or not I have no pictures to share but here is what we did in words:

Friday Night:
had a local cheese & local pork plate with wine at Lincoln Wine Bar in Mt. Vernon
had 2 small plates and wine at Zins in downtown Cedar Rapids
had another cheese plate at Daniel Arthur's in Cedar Rapids (our go-to celebration spot) while listening to the sweet ballads of a Norah Jones-esque live musician

Saturday:
had brunch & bottomless mimosas (yay!) with Mom, Dad, Jason and the boys at Granite City where Cale presented me with an awesome built-all-by-himself gift
strolled and browsed downtown Iowa City shops with Mom and Dad
enjoyed refreshing drinks at Java House
had amazing seats for the Iowa vs. Michigan basketball game at Carver
met friends for sushi & drinks at Takanami in Iowa City
hung out with Kay, Tom & the dogs (Angus and Xena) at our house

Sunday:
Absolutely nothing. Perfect!

Texas Sized Super Bowl Fun

2011-02-22T08:56:00.009-06:00

Here are some pictures from our trip to Ft. Worth/Dallas for the 2011 Super Bowl Festivities.

In no particular order we: went to a rodeo, watched live ESPN broadcasts at Sun Dance Square, explored the Ft. Worth stockyards, partook in fun activities at the NFL Experience, saw celebrities Jennifer Aniston, Adam Sandler and Snoop, saw Rodney Atkins & Clay Walker concerts, drank margaritas and ate awesome food at Joe T. Garcias (I love that the menu only had 2 options!) and last but not least celebrated the Packers winning the Super Bowl! WHOO HOO! We decided not to fork over the thousands of dollars to actually go to the game but we sure celebrated with all the fans before and after!

We had an amazing trip with our friends despite the freezing weather and snow that greeted us. We made the most of every minute and have many hilarious memories to tide us over until we can get together again.

Our Next Adventure

2011-02-02T14:41:00.003-06:00

Our next adventure takes us to Dallas for the Super Bowl! We don't know yet if we'll splurge (that seems like a understatement) on actual tickets but we are definitly going to party with old friends and have a Texas sized blast! Good friends of ours moved to the Dallas area last year and right away Mike thought we should take the annual Super Bowl party down there for the big event. Even better, and as fate would have it the Packers are in the Super Bowl! It couldn't have worked out better!

More to come!

November, December & January Ketchup

2011-01-13T08:32:00.019-06:00

November:

-We celebrated Mike's bday, he got a snow blower and is very, very excited about it.

-We celebrated my niece Ayla's 4th birthday and Jessie & I treated her to a fun sleepover (her first) party at my house where we: baked cookies, went shopping & out for pizza, snuggled on the couch and watched movies and had pancakes (her favorite food) for breakfast.

We also had a wonderful Thanksgiving with both of our families and Xena even got a giant bone from my parent's butcher to keep her busy and very happy.

In December we had my office Christmas party at Riverside Casino and I was in charge of the entire event (part of my job I like). It was a fun party and I even won a massage as one of the prize give-aways which I totally think I deserved! It kind of felt like I was planning another wedding reception and spending someone else's money was really fun!

We also decorated the house for Christmas (my fave time of year!) and continued our tradition of going to cut down our own tree (though none were big enough so we went with a Frasier fir that was already cut down but still AT the tree farm so that still counts doesn't it?)

Christmas with our families was wonderful as usual and I could hardly contain my excitement over the gift I planned for Mike....a surprise trip and tickets to the Packers vs. Bears game on January 2nd! He was so surprised and excited! The game was awesome and freezing cold (-5) and the Packers beat the Bears to make it to the playoffs! We saw Urlacher eating at the same restaurant as us (Lombardi's in Appleton) the night before the game which was kind of cool, too. Mike ended up getting sick while we were there but he rallied for the game thank goodness!

In December we also celebrated Chris' golden 30th birthday with surprise party planned by Jessie. It was so much fun and he was truly surprised!

One other fun thing we did in December was dress up in ugly Christmas sweaters and go to a local Rough Riders hockey game. Our outfits were a hit!

Road Trip with Ma & Pa- To Green Bay

2010-12-14T13:41:00.005-06:00

In October (yes, I'm still catching up with posts for the past 3 months) Mike & I cashed in our Christmas present from Mom & Dad for 2010- a road trip adventure to wherever our hearts desired! Well, we all know where Mike's heart lies, right in Lambeau Field of course! And we thought it would be a great choice to pick a Packers game road trip to Green Bay, especially because Dad (a since-childhood Packer fan) hadn't witnessed a game at Lambeau- ever- as he only got to see them back when they played in Milwaukee (sorry Dad, if that dates you a bit!)

We hit the road to Green Bay enjoying local Wisconsin beer and cheese curds along the way. In no time at all we were exploring Green Bay and enjoying delish food at Brett Favre's Steakhouse.

Up and at 'em early Sunday morning for their game against the Miami Dolphins; we were some of the first fans to arrive to the stadium! We had an awesome spot and enjoyed a tailgate breakfast, catch, wandering & shopping the Packer Pro Shop.

Even though the Pack couldn't pull off a win (so close in overtime!) that day we had a blast! Thanks Mom & Dad for a great trip!

Biting the Big Apple: Part 2

2010-12-13T10:24:00.010-06:00

The morning after the wedding (see Biting the Big Apple Part#1) we made our way by train to the heart of NYC and checked into the Roosevelt Hotel, explored the highest floor you can get to in the Empire State Building, trekked to Little Italy in the middle of the celebration of St. Genaro for the famous Lombardi's Pizza, took in the Broadway show Rock of Ages which was so much fun and totally 80's-tastic, and ended the night with a midnight pretzel in ever-bustling Times Square. It was a whirlwind day but fantastic- could've used several more days but there is always next time!

Biting the Big Apple: Part 1

2010-10-10T13:36:00.012-05:00

I've been working on this post since September, seriously. I've tried multiple times to upload a video and it never would successfully upload so I got frustrated and quit trying and have been ignoring the fact that I should just move on with this already! So here I am, moving on and finishing it already. So...last September we went to New York for the fabulous wedding of two friends Brooke & Ted (who we traveled to Mexico with earlier this year)- Mike was a groomsman in the wedding (Ted was one in ours, too). We arrived on a Wednesday and spent time enjoying Long Island where the wedding took place. We got to spend time with the couple and friends and even took in a fun round of golf.

The wedding was on Friday night and Mike and I both agree is was the most fab wedding we've been to (besides our own of course). The reception was at the same place we played golf earlier in the week and it was a beautiful old mansion. The food, people, was AMAZING. We both were embarrassed to admit that we thought the appetizers were the actual dinner- I mean they had a carving station and everything! So to our surprise we were seated for the actual dinner and though we weren't hungry we sure did enjoy even more delicious food (and signature cocktails and dessert plates and an ice cream bar!)

A hilarious and touching part of the reception were the speeches from the best men and maid of honor (I appreciate a good speech because let's not lie they are few and far between!) but the absolute best part was the bride's brother who is part of the NYPD bagpipe & drum band who surprised the couple by showing up and playing for them. These guys were amazing! We got chills it was so great and I would love to share a video of this but as previous mentioned that is apparently not going to happen. Anyways, we all danced around them and the bagpipes & drums and ended the reception in a large circle singing and swaying to New York, New York. The couple planned a fun casino after-party for all the guests at a nearby hotel which aptly got named "Casino Walsh" as Mike was dealing his own craps table til 3am...

Here ends Part #1.

Football Season has arrived

2010-10-10T12:36:00.007-05:00

Even though the weather hasn't quite caught up with football season- it is full steam ahead in our household. Usually around this time of year I tell Mike that I'll catch up with him in February sometime after the Super Bowl- his obsession with all things PTI, Packers, Sportsbook, etc. take over all reality. To keep me sane and somewhat in touch I, again, have my own Fantasy Football team and again, to keep us fed and give me something to do on Sundays I'm attempting Soup Sundays again (a different pot o' soup every Sunday of the NFL season). I missed the first 2 Sundays but am back on track with chili & chicken noodle so far and teriyaki beef (todays).

Oh yes, and of course we are cheering on the Hawkeyes who I think are looking great this year.

The annual Iowa vs Iowa State rivalry was awesome this year and of course we Hawkeyes dominated! We spent the weekend with friends on both sides of the coin and enjoyed catching up with everyone in town for the big game.

Ketchup

2010-09-25T16:22:00.018-05:00

Time to catch up! Been a little M.I.A. lately so here is the last month or so in a nutshell. I left off in August after our wonderful date night planned by Jessie & Chris. Since then we've had a family reunion, celebrated Jessie's 30th b-day in Clear Lake, went camping over Labor Day, partied with friends for the annual Ia v. Ia State rivalry (next post) and last but not least flew to NY for a friend's wedding and spent a jam-packed day full of fun in NYC (that post is coming soon, too). This keeping up on bloggin is a lot of work :)

Family Reunion at Scott County Park

This year I was in charge of planning a family reunion with a few other family members so I went old-school reverting back to the days of the Kuhl picnic pot-lucks we used to have at Scott Co. Park. We almost had the whole family show and it was a great day of food, games, discussions & pie/dessert contest of course. My peach and blueberry pie, though delicious, did not quite earn the title of winner- but I was in close running for presentation at least! We even made time for churning homemade ice cream for Jessie's b-day, an annual tradition and Uncle Bill led a nice Sunday morning devotion.

Jessie B-day Celebration in Clear Lake

We celebrated Jessie's 30th b-day in style in a literal pyramid of a house right off the shores of Clear Lake. We boated and swam (despite the high levels of bacteria warnings) and danced the night away- it was so much fun!

Camping Labor Day Weekend

We decided to get one last weekend of camping in at our favorite local camp site over the Labor Day Weekend. We had a great time boating and playing horseshoes on the beaches of the Res. We had an impromptu photo shoot starring a pair of awesome jean shorts and we weathered a rainy and windy storm in the new tent that Mike & I bought

Christmas in August- Date Night

2010-08-10T06:54:00.009-05:00

A couple weekend ago we cashed in our Christmas gift from Jessie & Chris in the form of our "What I Love About You" date night.

Jessie & Chris planned everything for us and we were not disappointed- in fact we were blown away with their creativity and generosity (as we usually are!) All Mike & I had to do was give them the date and come prepared with our questionnaire about "What I Love About You" for each other (a series of questions we had to answer about memories, thoughts, etc.)

We happened to also have a gift certificate to The Sheraton we needed to use so we made an entire night of it and were quite excited to have a night out back on our old stomping grounds of downtown Iowa City.

J&C had prepared an itinerary for us along with several envelopes we weren't to open until certain points in the night. Our first assignment was to head to Prairie Lights Bookstore for a sort of scavenger hunt but first we stopped for a drink in the Ped-Mall of course.

Our mission at the bookstore was to secretly browse the store away from the other person and find something that the other could put on their desk at work that would remind them of the other. So off we went as we raced around trying to avoid the other person and laughing as we saw each other stumped and scrambling through the store. We both ended up finding a card for each other. Can you guess whose is whose?
After completing the mission and meeting up again we enjoyed a relaxing glass of wine as we explained our choices for the other.

The next part of our itinerary told us to head to Orchard Green Restaurant for dinner so we enjoyed a nice walk through downtown Iowa City on our way there. We had the most amazing dinner (huge steaks of course) and wine and during dinner we read what we had written.

The questions we answered were: I really knew you loved me when...I really knew I loved you when...This is what I remember about you on our wedding day...This is a memory that only we share...I was so proud of you when...This is one of my favorite adventures or things we did together...I am a better person because you taught or showed me...

Each of us were pretty touched by what the other had written and a few water babies may have spilled on my ribeye :)

After dinner we moseyed to The Sanctuary to peruse their amazing list of beers and J&C had another fun list of questions & would you rather's for us to laugh over.

We then hit up a few more places downtown and wondered how we used to do it not so many years ago....

In the morning our last surprise from J&C arrived at 9am with knock on the door- mimosas and a beautiful and delicious breakfast! I couldn't believe it- it was absolutely perfect and we can't thank J&C enough for the thought they put into this gift and for their awesome generosity.

We love you guys so much and thank you for helping us remember why we love each other, too!

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

2010-07-12T12:01:00.002-05:00

Do yourself a favor and read this book soon! It is fantastic and from the moment I picked it up I couldn't put it down.

Ozarks Vacay

2010-07-09T08:23:00.007-05:00

We celebrated the 4th this year with family and friends at the Lake of the Ozarks. As usual it is a great time mostly spent boating on the water. We rented a house which turned out to be perfect for our group and it had an awesome dock to go with it. We boated, floated, watched fireworks from the water, ate, drank and had a merry ole time. Can't wait til next year already!

3rd year anniversary pics

2010-06-28T19:57:00.005-05:00

for our 3rd anniversary we enjoyed a scrumptious dinner, decadent dessert and after dinner martinis at Daniel Arthurs-our 3rd year in a row celebrating there- looks to be the start of a delicious tradition!

3 years and counting....

2010-06-23T08:44:00.004-05:00

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY HUBBY!

3 years ago started out as a rainy day much like today. I remember the excitement and nervousness I felt. I didn't sleep a wink the night before. The silent moment after Canon in D contrasted by the booming start of the Trumpet Voluntary. The day flew by. Three years have flew by. Happiness must make the time fly.

A year in the life of Xena

2010-05-31T19:20:00.018-05:00

Xena was welcomed into our home one year ago last weekend which of course calls for a tribute blog post if you ask me. She has brought so much joy to our life and I am so thankful to have her to come home to everyday. I now know the truth behind the unconditional love a dog can bring into your life and I wouldn't have it any other way.

our first time meeting little Xena

bringing Xena home when she was 7 weeks old

Xena wiped out after her welcome home puppy party

Xena meets Uncle Angus (Mike's parents dog) for the first time- she thinks they are best friends...he isn't so sure about that

Xena grew up fast!

naughty girl got caught digging in the mud!

first time playing in the water at the Coralville Res

one of many destroyed toys...stuffed toys last about an hour max

Angus, Xena & Echo have a play date

Xena discovers snow for the first time and loves to play and stick her face in it

her first Christmas

Our little pup has come a long way in the last year and we capped it off with a Memorial Day camping trip with her. She got the chance to play more in the water and quickly became quite the swimmer- jumping off the rocks into the Res and fetching sticks- check out the video below.

Surprise Picnic

2010-05-11T19:54:00.006-05:00

Last week Mike surprised me with a picnic- all packed and ready to go by the time I got home from work. Seriously, he did! I couldn't believe it either.

Who doesn't love a picnic? Well, does the fact that I have 3 picnic baskets tell you anything about me?

We took off for Palisades-Kepler State Park with our picnic backpack and Xena. We found a wonderful spot by the river and to my even greater surprise Mike had packed sushi for our dinner (this man does not eat seafood so it was spicy tuna for me and veggie for him) cheese & crackers, a decadent piece of cake to share and a bottle of wine. We explored and hiked a few trails, too. It was in a word, ideal. Thanks hubs- what wonderful surprise!

Julia Night

2010-04-25T20:15:00.006-05:00

Last Thursday I invited Mom & Emily over for a fun night in celebration of Julia Child. We had all read and loved the book Julie & Julia and as you can all tell I'm obsessed with cooking and planning things to look forward to (like fun impromptu parties). Also, we all had yet to watch the movie Julie & Julia so I thought we'd make a whole night out of it together- just for fun!

Julie's recipe we made together was Crepes Roulées a la Florentine (savory stuffed crepes with a spinach, mushroom & cheese sauce) accompanied by warm french bread. It turned out delicious! For dessert I had previously prepared us another of Julia's recipes: Petites Pots de Creme au Chocolat, which we enjoyed with homemade whipped cream. Yum!

Emily was a pro and turned out crepe after crepe

The table turned out quite cute if I do say so myself!

Dear Earth,

2010-04-22T15:26:00.004-05:00

Happy you day! I'm sorry I haven't done all that is possible to make you better & last longer. I want you to know I am quite grateful for what you do for me every day- sustaining my and everyone else's life and all. This year I have been working on my compost pile & garden so that I am able to reuse some of your resources for wonderful things this summer. Keep up the good work and I promise to try a little harder every year!

Love, Laura

Xena's 1st Bday

2010-04-14T16:35:00.005-05:00

Xena's 1st birthday was last Saturday and of course we celebrated...who wouldn't?! I made her wear a bow and made cute cupcakes (which she did not get to eat) however she did get a new Frisbee to fetch. I do love occasions to celebrate so I'll probably do something for the 1 year anniversary in May of the day we brought her home :)

Southern Comfort

2010-03-28T14:15:00.012-05:00

We got back from a mini-vacay to South Carolina last week in celebration of Amina's wedding- it was so much fun and absolutely beautiful!
We met Mom & Dad there on St. Patty's day and spend a couple days exploring Charleston's history, golf and amazing culinary scene. Then we were off to Kiawah Island for the wedding celebration and festivities. We found Kiawah to be a spectacular vacation destination for golfing, beaches and outdoor wildlife. One of the highlights was riding bikes along the beach to The Ocean Course Golf Course- where the 2010 PGA Championship will be played! We didn't fork out the $330 to play but we did enjoy lunch, cocktails (my new fave drink is a "John Daly"-sweet tea vodka & lemonade- so good!) & the gorgeous ocean views.
Amina's wedding Saturday evening was so beautiful and sweet. We wish Amina & Ryan all the happiness in the world! Enjoy some pics!

A much needed vacation

2010-03-09T19:35:00.022-06:00

Our mini vacay to Playa del Carmen was amazing! We had the best time with our friends Ted & Brooke who graciously let us stay in their timeshare at the beautiful Royal Haciendas. Brooke & Ted are seasoned travelers to Playa & took us to all of their favorite local spots and we really experienced Mexico 'off the beaten path' for a change - we loved it! We ate at local joints, shopped at the local grocery store, and rode public transportation- saving $ & seeing a lot more of Mexico without the touristy stuff.

Highlights included:

-making homemade smoothies & frozen drinks out of fresh local fruit

-snorkeling in the lagoon at Akumal

-walking 3 miles along the beach to get to an awesome breakfast spot

-happy hour in the hot tub

-lounging under Palapas while enjoying the gulf/ocean views

-exploring the Cave Bar & Restaurant

Here is a visual taste of some of the amazing food we enjoyed:

And a few more pics of the fun we had:

sitting on swings at the bar! photo op at the beach

Speedy Feb

2010-02-25T12:11:00.004-06:00

This month has flown by and I've been slacking on some updates. I never got around to the Souper Sunday Synopsis...and I haven't yet posted about my wonderful bday either. Now I find myself a day away from our Riviera Maya Mexican vacation! We leave for Playa Del Carmen early Saturday morning and are quite looking forward to a drastic temperature change and some much needed R&R &M (you know what R&R is and I've added an M for margaritas)
Ahhhhh....DIOS! Mexico here we come!

Super Sunday!

2010-02-14T10:26:00.005-06:00

Last weekend was jammed packed full of friends, food & football. It was a great weekend but to be honest I am so glad it only comes around once a year (we're still trying to clean up and get the house back to normal)! We had the pleasure of hosting the big football party on Sunday for all our friends and we think we had about 20 people throughout the day! We had a great variety of food and of course a chili cook off competition....which I won! What better way to end my Souper Sunday tradition but by winning the glory of best chili!

Here are some pics of the weekend.

Colleen, Natalie and me at College Street Billiards Club. We revisited our old college hangout in Iowa City on Saturday night.

Mike works the 'books' during the party. We had friendly wagers throughout the day on everything from the Wii Bowling Tournament to the coin toss

the partygoers watching the big game. Go Saints!

Next post will be a synopsis of all I did from start to finish for Souper Sundays.

I ♥ February

2010-02-02T08:12:00.002-06:00

I have always ♥loved♥ the month of February-this one will be no exception. I have SO many fun things to look forward to!

Feb. 6th & 7th - Super Bowl Pre-Party & Party!
Feb. 8th- day off (recovery day from Super Bowl Party)
Feb. 13th- our dating anniversary (7 years from Mike's & my first date)
Feb. 14th- V-day
Feb. 18th- My 28th Bday (Mike hinted he may have something planned already- yay!)
Feb. 27th- leave for Playa del Carmen, Mexico!

enjoying a new old place for the first time

2010-01-30T20:59:00.004-06:00

I met Jason for lunch today at a famous local Cedar Rapids landmark, The Flying Wienie. It was awesomely historic with memorabilia covering the walls and complete with unpretentious menu of barbecue, gyros & dogs. We both decided to stick with the classic Chicago dog and it did not disappoint. For your information a Chicago dog comes with mustard, dill spears, onions, tomatoes, relish, sport peppers & celery salt. From now on I don't think I'll eat another hot dog without adding a dill pickle. So good!

Would you like to know....

2010-01-29T12:27:00.004-06:00

what I chose from the menu last night at Shuey's?

Ruth's Burger $6.95
1/3 Angus burger topped with a fried egg, lettuce, pickles, onions, and tomatoes.

I love trying new things on menus while on the other hand Mike sticks to the classics. Who knew a fried egg on a burger would be so delicious? AND my middle name happened to be involved- I will admit that it was a factor in my choice :)

Week 20 of Souper Sundays!

2010-01-26T20:21:00.002-06:00

Week 20 of my ongoing Souper Sundays challenge featured Cincinnati Chili! Just in case you are not familiar with this variety of chili... what sets it apart from other chili is that it is served over spaghetti noodles. After researching several recipes I found that cinnamon and coriander were called for in almost all of the recipes so in they went with a bunch of chili powder and other spices.You could definitely taste and smell the cinnamon which I think threw Mike off a bit ("is there cinnamon in this?!") and he couldn't quite get past it- I on the other hand loved it!

This was the last week of soup before Super Bowl Sunday's Chili Cook-Off. I will attempt to gather pictures and recipes of my challenge and post them for your viewing pleasure :)

Weeks 18 & 19

2010-01-17T18:42:00.002-06:00

Last weekend's soup for Week 18 was Beef & Noodle soup. The recipe was from Cuisine at Home's Soups, Stews & Chilies book. The recipe called for Madeira wine and it turned out so rich and delicious-we loved it.

Mike convinced me that he needed a soup for today's playoff game so lucky for him I decided to keep going and I whipped up a Spicy Chicken Chili- served over hot white rice for Week 19. Just the right amount of kick came from some jalapenos I've kept frozen from my garden last summer. Mike was pretty happy about the whole situation :)

Souper Sundays 16 & 17...can you believe I'm still going?!

2010-01-09T10:55:00.004-06:00

Week 16: Hearty Tomato with Rosemary
- this recipe was from my new Giada DeLaurentiis cookbook I got for Christmas- the recipe called for fresh rosemary so I went to my patio and uncovered some snow from my herb pot from the summer and grabbed some rosemary that was nice and frozen but still worked great anyways

Week 17: Smoked Turkey & Wild Rice
- this recipe is from Jessie's magazine Cuisine at Home and their latest slow cooker book. I have to say that getting the meat off those smoked turkey legs was the most annoying step ever! Xena sure enjoyed that giant leg bone after we were done though- lucky dog!

This weekend is playoffs so it will be my last soup before the final soup for Super Bowl Sunday!

It was a Blue Moon Ball!

2010-01-06T16:35:00.005-06:00

For New Year's we headed to Des Moines to go to the Blue Moon Ball at Champps. It was of course in celebration of the blue moon that occurred exactly on New Year's night- a once every 19 or 20 years event! We had so much fun as we always do when getting together with Jessie & Chris. We ate delicious appetizers, a steak & lobster dinner, drank Blue Moon beer and danced the night away. We had to make our own count-down to the New Year because somehow we missed out on the actual ball-drop countdown....but we made the most of that and rang in 2010 with kisses and champagne and noisemakers galore!

Twenty Ten

2009-12-31T08:08:00.004-06:00

Happy New Year Everyone!

Mike & I are headed to celebrate the end of the 'aughts' and the beginning of a new year with some of our favorite people ...again! Jessie & Chris & Des Moines get ready cause here we come!

this is us at last year's Black & White Party at Champps. Stay tuned to find out what this year's theme is!

Souper Sunday: Week 14&15

2009-12-21T09:29:00.002-06:00

Week 14: Broccoli Cheese Soup
Week 15: Creamy Chicken Corn Chowder

-these both turned out seriously good, I'd say both making the top 5 so far

Snowstorm, Christmas Tree & Rudolph- we love Christmas!

2009-12-13T07:38:00.007-06:00

Xena is thoroughly enjoying her first winter so far. She LOVES to pounce around in the snow and chase snowballs, she had the time of her life wandering around the Christmas Tree farm with us and even though she is terrified of my stuffed Rudolph and barks at him she was mesmerized by the Rudolph movie (my favorite!) and couldn't take her eyes off it. I think she wanted to join in the Reindeer games :)

Merry Christmas from Mike, Laura & Xena!

Weeks 12 & 13 of Souper Sunday Funday

2009-12-07T16:52:00.002-06:00

Week 12: Hamburger Soup

Week 13: Beef with Veggies & Wild Rice

P.S. My very own Fantasy Football team is going to the playoffs this year! Wish me luck beating all the boys!

my new biz

2009-12-01T09:11:00.004-06:00

I've started a new business for myself! I now sell Cookie Lee Jewelry and would love if you would check out either the online catalog here or ask me to send you a catalog.

Please check it out one way or another to see if you love it as much as I do! Everything is priced competitively under $48 and you won't believe how many compliments I get every time I wear the jewelry- really! This jewelry sells itself and there is something for everyone in every price range. Keep me and my new business in mind as you shop for the women in your lives this holiday season! I am offering FREE GIFT WRAP for all purchases made before 12/9/09 (so you can get and give in time for Christmas) and if you buy 3 items your 4th is half price! Thanks and Happy Holidays!

email me at laurawalsh.cookielee@gmail.com if interested!

Souper Sundays Week 10 & 11

2009-11-24T08:51:00.002-06:00

Week 10: Vegetable Beef & Orzo Soup
Week 11: Classic Chicken Noodle Soup
(my mom suggested Amish noodles & Mike gave it two thumbs up!) I was even able to throw in some fresh thyme that is still thriving outside on our desk in its pot- in November!

An afternoon with Ayla

2009-11-16T18:15:00.009-06:00

I had the pleasure of spending last Saturday afternoon with my one and only and therefore very favorite niece, Ayla. She turns 3 this Wednesday so my gift to her was a special one on one afternoon of just her and me and anything her little heart could desire! We started out at the book store and read probably 10-15 books of her choice and then she got to pick one to take home for her very own. Then we made our way to a couple of stores to try on shoes and shop for clothes. Then I asked Ayla what her very favorite thing to eat would be and without hesitation she knew she wanted pancakes. Well pancakes for dinner it was! She informed me that she thought she could eat seven pancakes and would also like some lettuce for dinner- so a side salad and chocolate milk also completed her special meal. The nice man at Perkins even let her pick a cookie to take home which turned out to be a major highlight for her :) After dinner we had a little more shopping to do and we found her a cute flowery dress and pink shoes for her brand new birthday outfit.

I had the most fun time and we were both pretty happy and tired by the time we got her back home to share our stories and purchases with the rest of her family. I sure hope this is a tradition I can continue with my precious niece and nephews- I'm pretty sure I had as much if not more fun than she did.

Week 8 & 9 & a surprise to go with it

2009-11-12T08:50:00.008-06:00

Souper Sunday Week 8: Steak Fajita Chili- recipe from my sister's magazine Cuisine at Home!

Week 9: BYE week- read on to find out why I deserved a bye this last Sunday.....

Saturday I threw Mike a 30th Birthday Surprise Tailgate & Party! After misleading him to believe that no one could come tailgate but a very few friends- people started showing up from all over to surprise him at our Iowa v. Northwestern tailgate. Then the surprises continued as we convinced him it would be a good idea to watch the game at Old Chicago where his family and more friends were waiting to yell, "SURPRISE!" We had a great time and I thank everyone who made the trip to help surprise him and celebrate his turning the big 30!

The Soup-er Sunday Challenge Continues...

2009-10-27T09:46:00.004-05:00

Week 6
Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

Week 7
Loaded Baked Potato Soup

both huge hits in the Walsh household! Stay tuned!

I'll admit it...

2009-10-20T12:33:00.004-05:00

Overcoming denial is the first part, right? Well here I go. I'll admit it- I bought a Snuggie, yes I did. And I LOVE it! It also just so happens to be an Iowa Hawkeye Snuggie and I WILL be tailgating in it :)

SOUPer Sunday Weeks 4&5

2009-10-12T09:34:00.003-05:00

Week 4: Beer Cheese Soup
-recipe above found on Cooking Light website
-Mike ate 4 bowls in a row so I think it was a winner
-enjoyed on Monday night in honor of Packer v Viking game (unfortunately they lost)

Week 5: French Onion Soup
-recipe from Food Network Magazine insert 50 Easy Soups
-substituted Jarlsberg cheese for the Gruyere (for cheese toast toppers) to save $$ & calories

New Soup-er Sunday Funday Tradition

2009-09-29T09:08:00.007-05:00

+

= love

I'm starting a fun new tradition for this fall/winter football season. You may already know this about my hubby Mike but he lives for and loves NFL football and soup. If these things were available at all times for him he would be a happy guy so I'm doing my part to combine these loves of his and went ahead and made this into a challenge for myself. My challenge is to make a new soup every Sunday this football season. That means 17, count 'em, 17 soups! I'm 3 down so far. I am gladly accepting suggestions for future soup ideas! I am going to try not to repeat too often, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if I had to.

Week 1: Chicken Tortilla Soup (I created my own recipe which turned out delish!)

Week 2: Vegetable Beef Stew (I made 5 gallons in my favorite giant soup pot)

Week 3: Chili (my own classic recipe)

Xena Pupdate

2009-09-18T08:45:00.016-05:00

Believe it or not our little puppy is not such a little puppy anymore!

Xena had a great summer and continued and continues to grow every day. One highlight of her end of summer was a camping night with us at Lake McBride which included much romping through the woods which left her and especially her ears covered in tiny little green burrs (3 hrs of combing and cutting fur later....) and sleeping in our tent with us. She also spent lots of time digging in and eating mud from the puddles in our backyard.

She is approaching 6 months old at the end of this week and has already lost her baby teeth and currently seems to be going through a bit of a rebellious stage (one book I read called it the equivalent of a human hitting their teenage years) This outta be fun!!!

Lake of The Ozarks Mini Vacay

2009-08-19T10:54:00.010-05:00

For the last 5 or 6 years Mike & I, Jessie & Chris and a couple of other friends have been making the trip every August to The Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri to meet Mike's family for a long weekend of boating, golf, lots of sun & coolers of cold beer. We always have the best time and even though the drive down there is not the most fun we always decide it is well worth it. Here are some pics of trip to 'LOTO' last week.

the girls on the boat (Sarah, Becca, me, Lisa & Jessie)

me & Lisa try to stay afloat in Party Cove

Chris aka "filly" with Jessie, Becca, "UJ" and Chris "W" also stay afloat in Party Cove- koozies are a MUST when you party with the Walsh's!

our fearless captain "T-Bone"

(otherwise known as Mike's dad)

Mike caught the largest horse fly I'd ever seen! They were attacking us!

photo-ops after just making it to the dock before a monsoon rain hit

thanks Jessie & Lisa for the photos! :)

Des Moines Adventure & Pics

2009-08-12T09:48:00.022-05:00

We had the most fantastically fun weekend with Jessie & Chris on our "Choose Your Own Adventure in Des Moines" Christmas gift! Jessie & Chris met and greeted us with cold beers at Prairie Meadows where we watched traditional horse racing with the hilarious promo event of camel & ostrich racing Friday night. We each chose our faves but had no idea who won because we were all laughing too hard. Our favorite horse was guess which name (see picture) even though she didn't win us any $!

Saturday we started out the morning with a bike ride to the biggest and most awesome farmer's market we'd ever see in downtown Des Moines where we enjoyed breakfast and a bloody mary bar- yum!

We stopped for a photo-op by Grey's Lake

Then we went golfing! How does my swing look?

Next we headed back to Jessie & Chris' apartment to relax and have a 'dip party' and 'good' beer (2 of our custom adventure choices for the weekend) it was one of my favorite parts! Jessie made 5 dips and provided plenty of fun different dippers.

Then we were off to a Barnstormer's game with a pregame warm-up at a close by sport's & gaming bar (Mike was in heaven!) We snuck down to 2nd row seats and it was such an exciting game- we now LOVE arena football and wish we had a local team! We then hit the downtown bars and experienced the Des Moines nightlife.

We ended our adventure on Sunday morning with a delicious breakfast at a popular local diner and headed home exhausted and happy and feeling so lucky to have such a wonderful sister & brother! Thanks Jessie & Chris!

Christmas in August!

2009-08-05T12:17:00.005-05:00

We are so excited and looking forward to our 3rd & final Christmas gift experience for the year- this one from Chris & Jessie and happening this weekend! Their gift to us was our very own "Choose Your Own Adventure in Des Moines." Jessie created with Chris' help the cutest picture book of so many different things we could do in Des Moines complete with options for snacks and drinks, breakfast choices, etc.! We had to circle what we wanted and send it back to them to plan it all out for us (I know- what a great gift!) We decided upon an outdoor adventure for this coming weekend. It is all starting Friday night where we will meet Jessie & Chris at Prairie Meadows Race Track & Casino in Altoona to watch, get this, LIVE CAMEL & OSTRICH RACING!

Seriously, check out the posters- it is for real!

Then we'll head back to Des Moines for many more adventures- check back next week to see what we did! Thanks in advance to Jessie & Chris- it is going to be awesome!

Xena's Day at the Beach

2009-07-28T11:10:00.007-05:00

Last Saturday Xena had a wonderfully exciting & tiring day with us boating & playing on the beaches of the Coralville Res. As usual she followed right on the heels of & pestered Angus until she ran out of energy and took a nap in the boat.

p.s. the little chunker has put on 7 lbs in 4 weeks :)

RAGBRAI PICS

2009-07-27T14:43:00.006-05:00

RAGBRAI here I come!

2009-07-23T12:45:00.003-05:00

After work tonight I am off to Ottumwa to join up with Mom, Dad, Jessie & Chris who are already on RAGBRAI. I will ride 75 miles with them on tomorrow's route from Ottumwa to Mt. Pleasant- I am excited & nervous so wish me luck!

I'll have plenty of pics to share soon :)

Sum Sum Summertime

2009-07-16T08:41:00.012-05:00

Since my last post I've been to my first rodeo & enjoyed an Independence Day at home for the first time in our own home (celebrated 2 yrs in our house already as of 7/13)! We've also been busy keeping Xena happy, gardening (my green beans are delish and a few cherry tomatoes have made their way into our mouths already) & overall trying as hard as we can not to make too many plans for the rest of the summer because it is already flying by way too fast!

The rodeo was part of the famed Iowa festival called "Trekfest" in Riverside, IA, and let me tell you...it was a mud-fest & we decided we never need to go to a rodeo again. Then we got ripped off by a carnie on the ball toss game. Nuff said.

On the 4th we had friends over to our house, went to the CR Kernals game, grilled out and watched fireworks from our backyard- perfect!

Xena Pupdate

2009-06-30T08:48:00.009-05:00

Xena is now almost 12 weeks old and we can't believe how much she grows every day! She has had a lot of good adventures over the last couple of weeks including a play date with Uncle Angus (Mike's parent's dog), road trip to my parents house in Waterloo, a fall in the pond with a successful exit all on her own, swimming in the Res, daily walks around the neighborhood, a couple of drama filled baths with the hose, her first tick, lots of new neighbor friends, and plenty of loving & playing with her toys.

Tonight is the first trip to the vet for shots- wish us luck!

look at the difference between 7 & 10 wks!

Anniversary Dinner

2009-06-25T13:50:00.005-05:00

Mike & I celebrated our 2nd Anniversary with a trip down memory lane which included a fabulous dinner at the same place we went for our 1st, Daniel Arthur's.

This photo is of us sharing 2 desserts- bread pudding & creme brulee- SO delish!

One of our favorite parts of dinner was the the "amuse bouche" between courses which was a mango sorbet served on lemon slice to cleanse our palate :) Mike stayed true to himself and ordered the Filet Mignon while I tried the Chef's Signature Blue Crab stuffed pork loin.

We of course ended the night with an after dinner cocktail, Gibson martini for Mike & Lynchberg Lemonade for me.

Happy 2nd Anniversary!

2009-06-23T08:31:00.004-05:00

2 years down, many more to go....

I can't help but think back to our wedding day and re-live each moment of that wonderful day that flew by so quickly!

I love you hubby!

Christmas in June

2009-06-15T15:03:00.003-05:00

I've mentioned this before but my family does the coolest thing with our Christmas gifts for each other. We give each other 'experiences' for later in the year so that we can enjoy time together and special treats all year long! This year we have already had our Family Fun Day at Planet X + awesome dinner courtesy of Jason & Em and we have yet to cash in on the 'Choose Our Own Des Moines Adventure' gift from Jessie & Chris. Our gift to the family was a family photo session which we just had a couple weeks ago. The pics turned out fabulous (see the blog post of our family shoot from the awesome local photog we chose for this gift, who just so happens to be great friends of our wedding photog). Next weekend we are heading home to Mom & Dad's for a geocaching adventure (testing out our new GPS devices)+ book discussion+ dinner. I am loving Christmas in June!

Proud Sis

2009-06-11T11:03:00.003-05:00

Last weekend Jessie & Chris came to our neck of the woods to compete in their first sprint triathlon! It was called the Pigman and was held in Palo, just west of Cedar Rapids. After I fed them a hearty nightbeforetheracemeal of spaghetti and homemade marinara they were off to bed to rest up, despite crazy thunderstorms. Up and at 'em we were at 5am. Mom & I cheered them on and snapped pictures throughout the race (we called ourselves their 'support piglets') and we had so much fun watching them and the other amazing athletes! Great job guys!

Welcome Home Puppy Party!

2009-06-03T16:08:00.008-05:00

Pics from Xena's Puppy Party after we brought her home last Saturday

after a bit of whining, she comfortably slept at my feet for the car ride home (thank GOD!)

she'll have to grow into her food & water bowls :)

she slept most of the party!

my favorite sleeping position (the flying frog)

Mike & Xena

And Her Name Will Be....

2009-05-28T12:36:00.005-05:00

XENA!!!!

the name Xena (yes, as in Warrior Princess) won the vote which is just perfect because we were planning on that and already calling her that for awhile now! We'll be going and getting her Saturday morning and then we will have a Puppy Party at our house that afternoon. Mike's family will join us for the festivities as we welcome her into her new home!

How our lives will drastically change in just a few short days...long gone are the days of little to no responsibility for anything other than ourselves!

1 year Old

2009-05-22T11:05:00.005-05:00

Happy 1 Year Blogiversary to "they call me 'YaraRoots!''

I posted my first blog post exactly one year ago today. Over the last year I've posted 80 times and included lots o' pictures- hope you've enjoyed keeping up with what is going on in my (and hubby Mike's) life. Keep the comments coming, I love them! Also if you have any suggestions for my Culinary Adventure Series please let me know and maybe I'll try them out.

Thanks for visiting! Happy long weekend!

This Week's Pupdate

2009-05-19T09:41:00.004-05:00

Our puppy at 5 wks old

less than 2 weeks until she comes home!

Culinary Adventure Series Begins

2009-05-18T12:18:00.020-05:00

As previously posted I am obsessed with all things foodie. Somewhat inspired by the idea of Julie & Julia (blog turned book turned movie) I have decided to partake on my very own Culinary Adventure Series. I'm doing this because I think it will be fun and I do like to challenge myself every once in awhile. This venture series will consist of me, myself & I alone. I'll be taking on out of the ordinary recipes (or things you wouldn't make every day) just to see if I can do it and more so if I'd ever do it again!

Culinary Adventure Series

Part 1: Bagels

time it took from start to finish: 2.75 hrs for 10 total bagels

taste: delicious, comparable to Bruegger's Bagels I'd say.

verdict: not as difficult as expected

best part#1: coming up with all the fun toppings

best part #2: enjoying them still warm from the oven

would I do it again?: yes, on a lazy Sunday

after combining and kneading the dough (thank you trusty beautiful Kitchen Aid) and the dough rose for an hour, 10 balls were formed and patted flat

after forming into bagel shapes and left to rise a bit longer I made it to the 'water bath' step where the bagels are simmered for one minute before topping and baking

this is my toppings assembly line which included from left to right; cinnamon/sugar mix, kosher salt, Swiss cheese, Parmesan cheese with garlic powder, shredded onion & grill seasoning (my idea of a ready made 'everything bagel' seasoning)

the bagels were then seasoned and baked for 25 minutes- you were supposed to flip them halfway through for optimum roundness but that would have ruined my beautiful topping so I skipped that part. Ta-dah! My fave turned out to be the Swiss (duh, bread and cheese combo always wins) and cinnamon/sugar came in second.

PUPdate

2009-05-11T12:26:00.008-05:00

3 weeks and counting until our new little puppy joins our family- we can't wait! The breeder we are getting her from updates us weekly on how she is doing and with pictures of how much she is growing- here is how she has changed since we first met her at 2 weeks (see previous post)

3 weeks old:

4 weeks old:

If you haven't yet voted for your favorite name please do at the right side of this blog. Stay tuned to see what we pick!

A Golf Weekend

2009-05-06T14:53:00.004-05:00

2 weekends ago Mike & I took off to the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri for a long weekend of golfing- 72 holes to be exact (one practice round and a two day tournament). We met Mike's Uncle John and girlfriend Donna there for a 2 day couples tournament held at Porto Cima (a Jack Nicklaus “signature-designed” golf course). This course is so beautiful and we are so lucky to get to golf this course almost every year with Uncle John! Mike won the 'long-drive' contest and Uncle John & I both landed our balls on a par 3 one after the other almost equally close to a hole in one- check it out!

Expecting!

2009-04-27T16:23:00.005-05:00

Mike and I have news.....we are expecting....a puppy! We've made the decision to expand our family and will be joined by a little girl puppy at the end of May, she is an English Springer Spaniel and we met her for the first time yesterday. Once she is ready to be separated from her Mom she is ours and we can't wait! VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE NAME (on the right side of this blog) please!

Here are some pics, by the way she just opened her eyes for the first time last Friday- imagine that! I don't know if I've ever actually held a puppy in my life before yesterday- I highly recommend it but only if you are ready to buy one because, seriously, who can say no to this? We sure couldn't.

j'adore les fleurs

2009-04-23T10:14:00.004-05:00

I couldn't help myself! I may have jumped the gun a little bit but I've already planted my flower pots and baskets for the spring & summer! This is what I was up to Tuesday night:

and check out the awesome flower stand my Mom, sister & I picked up at this cute shop near Kalona on Saturday- I think it adds some character to my little garden

working for the weekend

2009-04-17T10:17:00.003-05:00

What a beautiful day today is! Thank goodness I have a window here at work or I may not make it through the day without being able to stare out it for long periods of time and daydream...

I've been looking forward to and working for this upcoming weekend all week now. Fun things in store...tonight Mike & I head to a rehearsal dinner and tomorrow the wedding of a great family friend of ours. First, though, my whole family will gather and spend the day having fun together around Iowa City before the evening wedding and reception. What to do? Here are my ideas: Frisbee golf around Sugar Bottom, shopping/lunch in Kalona (cute Amish type town nearby), Devonian fossil gorge near the Coralville Res, Ped Mall wandering & shopping, regular golf, exploring the Hawkeye Hall of Fame, a walk around Lake McBride or even a trip to historic Sutliff. The list may continue to grow as I gaze longingly out my window today...

Do Your Soul a Favor and Read This!

2009-04-13T10:13:00.004-05:00

The Shack. This is an UNBELIEVABLY AMAZING book by William P. Young that I just had the pleasure of finishing on Good Friday last week. It has changed/sharpened/expanded my views and thoughts on the Holy Trinity and the form(s) in which God makes Himself known to us and the utter miracle and gift of love, relationship & forgiveness. Awesome.

2009-04-08T08:15:00.001-05:00

here they are- my very own spring signs of hope and new growth!

signs

2009-04-01T16:22:00.005-05:00

Last week I started writing this....

A couple weeks ago I discovered the (still amazing every time) first signs of growth in my garden! Little green shoots are defying the odds and making their way up through the dirt & mulch, much to my delight. First I saw the lilies and just recently the miniature daffodils I planted last year and forgot all about! It seriously brings me so much happiness & hope to see this- something that must be inherited from my mom, a master gardener in her own right. What is it about these small signs in nature that have the ability to inspire in me hopes of my own new kind of growth?

and then it snowed an inch yesterday....so I'll post a pic of my little green shoots soon, when they are defrosted.

Vegas!

2009-03-24T12:08:00.015-05:00

We had a blast in Las Vegas with Mike's family...one week ago we were decked out in our Jameson hats & green clothes, soaking up the sun & lots of green beer outside at the O'Sheas block party as well as many of the other festivities going on along the strip.

Mike's mom & sister & I also took in the Cirque du Soleil show Mystere while were were there and we all enjoyed lots of good food, drinks & sports betting of course. We even met and saw the UPS white board guy filming an upcoming commercial!

One of my new fave things is Old Vegas/downtown- we LOVED the light shows and the more laid back vibe (a.k.a. cheaper). Check out the video I took of one of the light shows...

Overall I was pretty lucky and my gambling highlight was my $100 win on the Wheel of Fortune slot at Green Valley Ranch- yeah! We came home with more $$ than we thought we would which is pretty unbelievable for us!

I must say I could've used another day of recovery after we got home but I sure can't complain. Thanks to the Walsh's for a great trip!

Update

2009-03-11T11:59:00.017-05:00

It has been a busy March so far and my apologies for being a little MIA from the blogosphere these days. In the last month and since my last post I've enjoyed a family day at PlanetX which was so much fun despite bruising my tailbone (ouch! Mike's accidental fault by the way), suffered through the unavoidable yearly cold/cough/sore throat phase, enjoyed an awesome weekend in Des Moines with my sister & now I'm looking forward to leaving for Las Vegas this Friday after work!

Check out pics of the 'space bikes' we all rode at Planet X, you literally do 360 degrees on a bike! It was scary and thrilling and I can't say I'll ever need to do it again. I'll see if I can get some video uploaded sometime, too.

I raced my bro Jason and put up a fight though I lost anyways in total revolutions

My trip to visit Jessie in Des Moines was highlighted with shopping and culinary treats I never get due to my picky non-seafood eating spouse. I had crab at Joe's Crab Shack, shrimp & table side guacamole at a tequila bar and we had a sushi picnic for lunch, too. It was so great, thanks Jessie & Chris!

Jessie & I enjoyed cocktails & crab at Joe's Crab Shack in Des Moines.

Sisters photo op :)

And now we are off to Vegas tomorrow night until Wednesday! Yes, we will be celebrating St. Patty's there, all the better because of my very Irish hubby, oh yeah and we are taking these hats to wear, too.

27, continued

2009-02-19T11:57:00.012-06:00

I was showered with kindness yesterday for my birthday and I am just so thankful for the husband, family, friends and co-workers that really made it a special day!

First Mike got the whole day off to a wonderful start by waking me up with breakfast in bed- so cute and unexpected! He made me a spinach & cheese omelet with toast and coffee :)

Co-workers were especially nice with all sorts of birthday wishes and I even got a nice pair of earrings from Melissa as a gift and Mary-Beth took me out for lunch at The Hilltop.

email wishes throughout the day continued....

and then Mike picked me up from work and we headed to downtown Iowa City to Graze, a new restaurant I've been dying to try after hearing such great reviews from friends- check out the dinner & libations MENUS in the bottom left of their website to see the ridiculous amount of choices for martinis, etc, and the fun food names & descriptions.

We chose the Grazing 101 menu and I had a sweet martini to wash it all down (try to guess which one I'm drinking) everything was awesome but our faves were definitely the 'chicken lips' & the 'half-ass ice cream pie'

I came home to cards in the mail and the cutest gift from my parents- a sprouting seeds kit! I'll be growing & enjoying home-grown sprouts for salads & sandwiches year round.

Thank you everyone for showering me with love on my 27th b-day!

27

2009-02-18T16:52:00.003-06:00

As of 7:50 am I officially 27 years old. It's been a great birthday so far despite the dreary weather outside. I will post pics tomorrow of my special day today because it isn't quite over yet and there is more fun to come- yeah!

Celebration Weekend: 6 yrs & V-day

2009-02-16T12:14:00.016-06:00

Mike & I had a wonderful Friday night as we celebrated the 6 year anniversary of our very 1st date. We chose to venture in the snowy weather to the Ced-Rel Supper Club for dinner and it was quite the place- so old school with their complimentary appetizer tray, beef tenderloins & fried shrimp, bean pot, salad, baked potato and home baked rolls. They even brought us an ice cream sundae with cherry on top to share in honor of our special occasion.

We then checked out the Piano Lounge in downtown Cedar Rapids and enjoyed a few martinis while listening to some very entertaining dueling pianists.

Saturday morning I surprised the hubby with a Valentine's Day brunch of strawberry filled crepes, sausage & spinach egg strata with cheddar cheese, crispy hash browns & heart shaped chocolate chunk brownies and of course served with a beautiful mimosa (or 3).

Sunday the Suzy homemaker in me got down to work on making my largest to date pot of Vegetable Beef Soup- delicious and will provide quite a few leftovers for my soup-obsessed husband.

BRUNCH!

2009-02-12T16:03:00.003-06:00

Tuesday night my high school friend-turned sophomore year in college roommate-turned now grown up friend Rachel joined me for yet another one of my fave local cooking classes at the New Pioneer Co-op. This time the topic was 'Winter Weekend Brunch' and it was fab as usual! We enjoyed samples of and learned how easy Egg Strata is to make with variations such as sausage, feta & various seasonal vegetables. We also devoured crepes with strawberries & chocolate hazelnut spread, frozen 'citrus fruit freeze' & crispy hash browns. We washed it all down with Mimosa's & classic peach nectar Bellini's- yum! I am inspired to create a special Valentines Day Brunch for my very own sweetie this coming Saturday morning (even though it is probably more of an excuse for me to enjoy a decadent breakfast than anything else but he doesn't need to know this).

how to make a classic peach Bellini
fill 1/2 your champagne or wine glass with peach nectar (sold in cans these days) & top off the rest of the way with Italian Prosecco wine, drop in 1 fresh raspberry and enjoy!

The Big Game Update

2009-02-10T14:03:00.008-06:00

Sorry for the delay but check out some pics from our big Super Bowl Bash which somehow ended up being a 4 day event! Everyone had an awesome time and brought great food to share- everything from a 2 man chili cook-off to home-made guacamole with everything in between (classic veggies & dip, several bean/salsa & cheese dips, fruit, sweet potato skins, brownies, broccoli salad, lil' smokies wrapped in bacon, meat & cheese tray, jalapeno poppers, etc) Thank God it only comes around once a year because who knows if our tummies or livers could take it :)

kicking off the party with beers & our party shirts (mine said SUNDAY FUNDAY! purchased online for the special occasion)

my football shaped brownies were especially festive & delicious!

we played the dice game during half time (we call it 'feed the monkey') Mike won the much coveted $75 pot!

our yard after the 4 day melee- no comment.