So...

After 4 years of being a brunette, I'm finally going back to blonde. Yay!

Buy My Books! Please?

So, in an effort to not hoard my beloved books, I have made a decision to start selling some of them. Fortunately, amazon.com makes it super easy, and I now have a store on their site. For those of you who live a Dave Ramsey lifestyle, you will appreciate my store name"MyDREF". Can you guess what the DREF stands for? That's right, Dave Ramsey Emergency Fund! Go visit my store by clicking this link: mydref I'll be adding more books in the near future...so, check back often!

2nd Blog

Check out my 2nd blog venture Crowding the Nest! It's a place the boomerang generation to sound off and commune together. It's even for those curious onlookers and parents of boomerang kids. Can't wait to hear your feedback... ps if you can do graphic designing for free or cheap, let me know!

Fun Father's Day

Last weekend I spent for days on the Gulf coast of Florida visiting my Dad and a few friends along the way. I cannot sing my Dad's praises enough, but my favorite of his characteristics are his kindness, generosity, and work ethic. He always encourages me to go further and set more challenging goals. Needless to say, I love him very much. We may have had a few rough patches, but these past 3 years have been an absolute amazing time of growth and strengthening in our relationship.

I love you, Daddy!

I also spent time with women I have known since pre-school. These days, that's a long time to maintain a friendship! No matter how many weeks or months have passed between calls and visits, we always pick up as if no time has passed at all. These are women with whom I can cut through the pretense and just be myself.

I have posted pictures of my weekend over on facebook. So, if we aren't facebook friends, request my friendship!

In the meantime, here is one picture for each day of my trip:

The winner...

The fish is now named Ember. Thanks Amy for the name!

He needs a name...

Any ideas?

Yummylicious

Yes, I just created a new word....yummylicious. My dinner was so good tonight that it was yummylicious!

Warning: extreme use of vegetables ahead. If you do not like veggies, you may as well scroll to the bottom of this post for the non-veggie content.

At the beginning of last week I made brief mention to the different meals Stephanie and I cooked over Memorial Day weekend. However, one meal deserves to be mentioned again. Mainly because I made it again tonight! ;o)

Chicken Fajita Tostadas, all credit goes to Martha Stewart Living with a few modifications from me.



Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 medium or large vidalia onion (depending on taste), thinly sliced
• 2 bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
• 1 box (10 ounces) frozen corn kernels
• 1 cup prepared fresh salsa
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast
• For a shortcut, buy a rotisserie chicken from your local deli and shred the white meat. I prefer the Mojo flavor at Publix.
  
• 4 corn tortillas (6-inch)
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar....I always use more though

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. On foil, combine onions, bell peppers, corn, 1/4 cup salsa (might need more depending on the amount of food you end up with), and 1 tablespoon oil; season with salt and pepper.
2. Roast, tossing occasionally, until vegetables are tender and lightly browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Add chicken, stir to combine, and continue to roast until warmed through, 5 minutes more. Transfer chicken and vegetable mixture to a serving bowl, discarding foil (reserve sheet).
3. Arrange tortillas on sheet. Dividing evenly, top with cheese. Bake until edges are golden and cheese is melted, 5 to 8 minutes. (original recipe tells you to brush the torillas with EEOV, but there's enough oil in the cheese). SHORTCUT: put the cheese covered tortillas in the oven for the last 5-8 minutes of the vegetable roasting. Nothing will go cold with this method.
   
4. Dividing evenly, top tortillas with chicken-vegetable mixture, remaining 3/4 cup salsa, and sprinkle with cheese.
5. Serve Right Away

And one last thing....this is what God gave me on my way home tonight...

The view looks fine from here...

This was my view this morning at the Beach...


And this is one fun boy!