Greetings from 38,000 feet! You may have noticed that my blog has been quiet for awhile. There is a reason. I have been "home" in Southern California for the past 9 days. The trip was a surprise for my Grama who turned 90 last Wednesday (more on that in another post). So I had to keep quiet on my blog (since she reads it) and then did not have time to update from Cali.
Right now I am on my way home, above the clouds at 38,000 feet. Alaska Airlines has free Wi-Fi until August 1, so I am taking advantage of it until my battery dies on my laptop. :)
I will post more (lots more!) about my trip once I get home. It was an absolute blast and it was so hard to leave. But all good things must come to an end.
Anyway, be watching for more posts about my SoCal adventures. . .
Why is it that when you spend about 3 hours at the lake on a hot sunny day, everywhere you really don't want to get sunburned/tanned ends up beet red, and everywhere you wouldn't mind a little color ends up white as a sheet?
Yep, happened to me today. My arms and legs? Still white. I wouldn't mind tan arms/legs. My neck and shoulders? Red. I wouldn't care if they stayed white. I even used lots of sunscreen. Everywhere. Arms. Legs. Neck. Back. I'm sure that explains the lack of color on my arms and legs. But my neck and shoulders? Really? Oh well. At least this time my ears and nose aren't quite as pink as they like to get.
It was well worth the time spent with friends at the lake. After the initial shock, the water felt quite comfortable. And I hope to go back soon for more summer fun. :)
I never did post about my adventures at Stars on Ice, so I thought I should remedy that. :)
I apologize for the lack of pictures. We were not allowed to use the flash on our cameras and my little camera did not like taking pics in a dark room. Oh well. :) I did grab pictures of Sasha, Alissa and Evan from the internet so my post wouldn't be *too* lacking. :)
In late May I had the opportunity to go to Stars on Ice when the tour came to the Spokane Arena. I can't even tell you how amazing it was - the lights, the costumes, the music, the skating, and Evan Lysacek. (*grin*)
When I first heard that Stars on Ice was coming to our area, I knew we needed to go. The U.S. Figure Skating Nationals have been in town twice, and I haven't been able to attend either time. So getting to see Olympians during this performance was a must. And I was not disappointed. When four friends and I arrived in Spokane, we were quite early (on purpose) so headed to The Onion for dinner. We had never eaten there before, but I must say that their French Onion soup was delicious. I am a big fan of French Onion Soup. It is, quite possibly, one of my favorite soups ever. So I was a happy camper over dinner. I kept looking over my shoulder to see if Evan Lysacek or Sasha Cohen had also decided to have dinner at The Onion, but, unfortunately, they had not.
After dinner and a brief walk through Riverfront Park we got in line to enter the arena. This, in itself, was torture because they played an ad for the upcoming Carrie Underwood concert no fewer than 6 times. Did I mention that I really, really, really (REALLY) wanted to go to the Carrie concert, but didn't try to get tickets in time? Yeah. Hearing the ad was torture. But I was too excited about the skating festivities to care *too* much. :)
We finally got our seats and then got *really* excited. Before long the lights dimmed and the skaters were introduced individually. This was all fine and dandy, but they did not introduce Evan Lysacek during this time (can you tell that he is the skater I most wanted to see?). I was beginning to get worried. But I was excited to see skaters such as Sasha Cohen, Todd Eldredge, Alissa Csyzni, Jeremy Abbott and Tanith Belbin/Ben Agosto, so all was not lost.
After a variety of group numbers and some individual numbers (all of which were very well done!!), and some guitar playing by Ben Agosto (he played the Olympic theme song on his electric guitar - SO COOL!), the music began to play and Olympic Gold Medalist and Dancing With the Stars Runner Up Evan Lysacek was introduced to a screaming crowd. I guess I wasn't the only one who really wanted to see him. :) He was AMAZING. My only disappointment is that a) he only got to skate one solo number and everyone else skated two (I'm sure that had to do with the fact that he had been really busy with Dancing with the Stars, so couldn't do too much with the Stars on Ice tour), and b) he skated to Michael Jackson. However....I will give him credit: he totally dressed the part - one white glove, black pants, white shirt, etc. And he was amazing. Amazing, amazing, amazing. :)
Another highlight was Jeremy Abbott skating to a Michael Buble song. I love Michael Buble and I also became a fan of Jeremy Abbott's during the Olympics. Perfect combo to me. :)
Eventually (far too soon) the show was over, but it was amazing and I'm so glad I got to go. I really want to go again next year! :)
I did find a couple videos from the Stars on Ice people that they had posted on YouTube of some of the performances. Here you go! Unfortunately the Jeremy Abbot routine (skating to Michael Buble) was unable to be posted.
I made the most delicious Chicken Alfredo the other night and want to share the recipe with all of you for my 12 in 12 Challenge. This is an easy chicken alfredo that does not require cream, but rather uses evaporated milk and butter, thus making it a tad bit healthier for you. Anyway, if you try it, let me know what you think!
Easy Chicken Alfredo
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
2 tablespoons powdered milk
1/4 cup butter
2 tablespoons flour
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (I used the powdered stuff for convenience)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. dried thyme (rubbed between your fingers to release the flavor)
1/2 cup milk
1 cup thinly sliced grilled chicken (optional, but so good)
Pasta
Directions:
1. Shake together powdered and evaporated milks; set aside.
2. Melt butter in medium saucepan; stir in flour to make a roux; cook until bubbly.
3. Gradually whisk evaporated milk into the roux. Cook sauce over medium heat, stirring, until bubbly.
4. Reduce heat. Add parmesan cheese, garlic and thyme. Stir until melted.
5. Thin sauce to desired consistency by stirring in up to 1/2 cup milk (I admit I used a tad bit more. . .my sauce was thicker than I wanted).
6. Add chicken pieces. Heat through and serve over hot pasta. I garnished with more dried thyme and some paprika for color. :) Bon Apetit!
My Thoughts:
This is delicious. I would totally make it again. I had plenty of leftovers and I can say that if you re-heat it and eat it leftover it is just as good. Try it. You'll love it.
I got to see MercyMe perform live when I went to the Rock & Worship Roadshow in Spokane a few months ago (it was $5 admission and there were a whole bunch of Christian artists performing...although, no surprise, MercyMe was my favorite). Anyway, they were about to release their new album, The Generous Mr. Lovewell (which is *awesome* by the way), and this was the first single off the album. I had heard it on the radio already and so was excited when they sang it live. I currently really, really like this song and thought I'd share it with you all. :)
Sorry some of the words are cut off. Must be something to do with my template. :)
I'm guessing most of you know by now that I cannot STAND Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana. However. . .I saw this video posted on a friend's blog and it made me laugh so hard. Maybe that's because Miley is not in the video. . .and the guy is just so into the song you can't help but laugh. :)
I'm sure most of you have seen this already (since it was all over the internet about a year ago)...but I was watching some clips on YouTube today, stumbled upon this one again, and decided it was worth posting on my blog in case any of you haven't seen it yet.
So. . .enjoy. . .this is the craziest wedding entrance ever. :)
