Oh Baby!!

I was going through my pictures on my hard drive and I ran across these that I had scanned so long ago of me and Blake when we were but wee chitlens!





I am guessing these two were from when we were both at LaVerkin Elementary. Blake was a total camera-ham even then!




Who would have ever thought that big ol' butterball could turn into Blake?





I had to add the cake-batter one because it's just fabulous! Plus it was probably the only time in my childhood when I was able to sneak some batter from Mumsy! =D Oh how I wish I could find an adult-sized red dress like the one I was wearing!
And one last pic because I look cute in it and it's amazing to see what the kitchen used to look like! Haha! It was pretty darn cute for being built in the 70's era! Good job Mom!!

Tasty Tasty!!

My new thing is cooking. And I have been cooking up a storm! Blake has enjoyed this new hobby and sometimes he curses the day I picked up a cookbook. It seems that most recipes are new to me, even basic recipes like stir-fry. But the concept of making a good loaf of bread still eludes me! Below is the best loaf of bread I have made.


Sadly charred on the outside, but at least it is not flat as a pancake like all the other loaves I have tried to make. Anyways, one thing I can make is pizza dough, so I made Olive Garden's Caprese Flatbread. Oh yum!





I was astounded that it could be so tasty. So I am posting the recipe to share the love with my family. =D

CAPRESE FLATBREAD

8 Roma or plum tomatoes, diced
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
10 medium fresh basil leaves, stemmed and shopped (about 1/2 cup)
7 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
11 oz container of refrigerated thin crust pizza dough
1 garlic clove
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°F
Dice tomatoes into small pieces and transfer to a mixing bowl.
Add chopped garlic, salt, pepper, 1/2 of the chopped basil (about 1/4 cup), and 4 Tbsp of extra virgin olive oil.
Set aside and allow the mixture to marinate for 10 minutes
Flatten pizza dough into a rectangle pan as indicated on the package, making sure you take the dough to the edge of the pan.
Drizzle the dough with extra virgin olive oil and brush it over the surface.
Bake the dough in the oven at 350°F for 10 minutes on center rack.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly, about 2 minutes.
Cut the garlic clove in half and rub, cut side down, on to the surface of the bread. The warmth of the bread will help extract the garlic flavor.
Allow the bread to cool completely, about 10 additional minutes.
Increase the oven temperature to 450°F.
Combine mayonnaise and garlic powder in a mixing bowl. Evenly spread onto the surface of the bread.
Top with shredded mozzarella to evenly cover the surface.
Drain the Caprese mixture, as the salt will have extracted water from the tomatoes, and spread it evenly over the bread.
Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese.
Return to the oven for 5-7 more minutes until golden, crisp and bubbly.
Garnish with the remaining chopped basil
Serve immediately

I ate as much as I could, but I had been nibbling on the ingredients as I cooked, so I wasn't as hungry as I should have been for such a meal. So I put the leftovers in the refrigerator for the next day. Horrible! Tasted like bovine gases in my mouth! This is not a leftover food! But when it is fresh, it is soo tasty! Uh oh, just got a text from The Blake saying he is coming home for lunch. Whatever shall I prepare? Muahahaha!!!

My Boytoy Spoils Me :)

It was just another windy day in Oklahoma. Blake and I were hanging out--chillin' if you will, when Mom convinced us it was time to add a third to our new home. So we went downtown and adopted a Bernina 350 Patchwork Edition. It was love at first stitch. We named her Bernini because that's what Blake kept calling the brand.



Bernini's even has a place at the table. She is allowed there because there is no place in our apartment to call her very own. I have finished a blue dress that has needed hemming for, well, forever. Blake was my mannequin so I could pin the dress. He looked so beautiful standing on the chair in the dark blue sleeveless dress. A vision. He said I could blog about him being my mannequin, but I couldn't take any pictures. Drat!

I also sewed some patches onto a boring black apron. I left the edges raw and threw it in the wash so the patches have the ratty edges I wanted.



And I sewed drapes for our bedroom. I thought I would just whip up the drapes in an hour or so, but it's amazing how much work they actually are for just being a bunch of straight lines to sew! Last night was the first night we slept with drapes on all our windows and it was nice. It keeps our room warmer too I think. But, if you look behind the drapes in the morning, there is still this...







Apparently that's common in Ok! Sooo weird! I couldn't believe that there was ice on the inside of the window when it hadn't rained or snowed. So much different than S. Utah!

And a few days ago we decided to go window shopping at the Penn Square mall. It was a dream! =D







Haha, those are what came from our "window shopping." =D The polka-dot dress was actually a Christmas present that had finally arrived in the mail as we were leaving though. I love the dresses so much that I have worn them even though it suddenly turned blistery cold! I guess beauty truly is painful! =D Blake got an awesome "Day to Remember" tshirt from Hot Topic so he was happy too! He is such a sweetheart and held my purse patiently while I went and tried things on.

Thankfully I have my new dresses to bandage the wound left from my lack of big-brother Adam. Food just doesn't taste the same without the sound of, "Toodles!" echoing in my ears.

From our honeymoon-cottage to our new love-nest!

So far we LOVE our one-bedroom apartment in Midwest City!! =D The first night I felt comfortable enough to walk around without shoes OR socks, and that's something! =D We live on the third floor, which is fabulous now that we are all settled in! Moving in, though, was another story for another post. >.< Legacy Corner is a gated community with a gym (no more excuses), pool, hot-tub (alright!) and a little putting green. It seems a bit like a hotel at times actually, but we loves it! Anyways, here are a bunch of pics of our love-nest. =D








These are pics of our living room/dining room. It was getting dark as we were taking these pics and there is only one light in that part of the house (besides the kitchen's) and it is over the dining room table. That part pretty much sucks, but we can crack the blinds on the patio during the day and we don't need anything other than the natural light.




Our bathroom. I know. Soo exciting.
BUT! If you follow the door inside the bathroom you get...

...
...
...

THIS!!! =D My very own (well, sort-of) *hallelujah chorus* Walk-in closet!!! It is a dream! The picture doesn't do it justice, but I could spend forever in there if it didn't have a florescent bulb in the light. =D Fabulous!



*sigh* It's a good thing Blake took the closet pictures or else I would have filled the whole post with the closet's different angles. Lets just say, I am in love. And not just with my very handsome hubby. But he allows this love-affair, thank goodness. As Angel Batista says, you can flirt with others as long as you bring home "la passion." Haha.



The hallway closet doorknob is where my Hello Kitty fantasmic purse resides very happily.

And zen da bedroom.



I decided to take pictures of the bedroom before I finished the drapes because, once again, there is bad lighting in the bedroom. I covered one window with a panel, but the big window is gonna have to wait a bit more because I underestimated how much of a headache it is to heft that much fabric around a sewing machine and line everything up properly. Maybe tonight I will finish them. Maybe.










Yes, Simba came along for the adventure-the only one of my stuffed animals special enough to go. At almost-22, I'm still very much attached to Simba. My oldest brother gave him to me when I was little, and even though he doesn't squeak anymore he is still my faithful companion. =D


And I had to post a pic of just our bed to illustrate the magnitude of how completely, insanely scarring it was to get that thing up to the third floor. Poor Blake had a hand in getting all the pieces up the stairs. Poor guy. Thank goodness for an amazing neighbor or else random pieces of the bed would still be in the moving truck!!!



This is my nightstand. I just love how cheery it looks at certain times of the day when the sunlight from the window hits it. The little teacup is one my mumsy gave me and I put my wedding ring in it every night. I totally adore it! =D




These are the most evil stairs I have ever run into. And I've run into a lot of stairs in my lifetime.


And, finally, the view from our bedroom window. Pretty fabulous at night when all the city lights come on. We are in the perfect spot. Seriously. We couldn't have imagined a better place to live. It's five minutes from base, 15-20 minutes from downtown Oklahoma City, and down our street is a TON of places to eat and shop. And we have shopped! We had to buy a new computer desk as, when we were unloading the old one, the leg just crumpled in. It was a 20$ desk from WalMart, but still! *Mutter mutter* And we bought a TV stand for the bedroom which is sooo close to matching our other bedroom furniture! =D And we bought a filing cabinet that we use as another TV stand in the living room. Ooh, and my favorite purchase-- a Bernina 350 Patchwork Edition sewing machine!! It is so special it will get it's own post. Needless to say, I adore it! I guess me, Blake, and the walk-in closet will add another to our love-triangle. It is now a love-square. Sexy.

Not pictured is our dishwasher (whooohooo!!) and laundry room (well, closet). Whenever we move again I just want to take the entire apartment and transport it. That would be perfect! =D We are both relieved that everything is turning out well. We are very happy in our new place and so far we aren't sick of each other!! =D Hehe, not that I could ever get sick of Blake!! Speaking of which, I must go feed that hungry man. He informed me that all he has eaten today was two cupcakes (without frosting) and two string cheeses. Oy. Vey.

Beautimus!

On Christmas Eve, the lovely and talented Ora took some 1-year photos of me and the Blake.










I loves them!! =D