proper credit

Ok - so I need to give proper credit where credit is due for that recipe a couple of posts down.

I thought that Ann Marie gave me the recipe as Billy Jack had prepared it - it turns out that what she gave me was his recipe combined with her own personal touches (e.g., feta and spinach in the pepper!) Touche, Ann Marie - that was a very good touch!

I took one of the leftover peppers to work today for lunch and it was quite a topic of conversation!

naked romantics

I don't think that this is real - but it's really well made and, yes, it made me cry:

Recipe sharing.

This blog post is dedicated to Crissa's boyfriend Billy Jack who made stuffed peppers for Ann Marie and Eddie when they visited them in Asheville. Ann Marie raved over the dinner and cooked it here - she gave me the recipe and I cooked it tonight ASAP.

I'm posting the "recipe" as I got it from Ann Marie and then I'll add a couple of comments on what I might change later. The meal was amazing (I'm not really a stuffed pepper fan - but I will be adding these to my dinner repertoire)

Peppers stuffed w/ turkey and cous cous, served with sweet potato:

Cooked a package (1.3 pounds?) of lean ground turkey meat with onions, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic powder....once meat was browned I added chopped spinach, a box of whole wheat garlic/olive oil cous cous (that I had already prepared on the side), and at the very end some crumbled goat cheese.

Stuffed 4 big yellow peppers with the mixture and baked at 400 for 12 minutes or so (until the pepper felt tender-ish; I like mine still a little crunchy so you might modify that part)

For the sweet potatoes (3 big ones) I diced them into small cubes and cooked them in boiling water until tender. Then once the peppers were stuffed and in the oven i put the potatoes in a baking dish and added 2 tablespoons of margarine, some salt, cumin, and cinnamon. Then I put them in the oven for a few minutes until the butter melted and stirred them up before serving.

Shaleen's possible modifications, all based on trying to make the inside less crumbly - it was delicious but messy - all the inside fell out when cut open.

Next time I would:
Cook the meat less, I fully fully cooked it, I would probably cook until just barely browned or slightly pink and then bake longer.

Maybe beat an egg in a separate bowl and add a tiny bit at a time to the mixture so that it would bind it all together.

Bake a little bit longer - my peppers were warm but pretty much totally crispy.

advice anyone?

Hello - sorry I've been gone for a bit. I haven't felt like I've had much to say lately, hmm. I did do some work on the blog, though - as you can see on the right-hand side of your screen, I've added labels to almost all of my posts. So that's a good thing.

Here is where I need some help. I want to buy a vacuum. A good one. Right now we have some super-lightweight bagless thing, but I think that the filtration is really bad - because it seems to blow out unclean air (think hot dog-hair, yuck). I'm kind of over it. Plus with the two dogs, we really need a good vacuum. They bring all kinds of dust and dirt. We have white tile floors in most of the house - so it shows!

Does anyone have a vacuum that they particularly love or hate? I want to know if you hate your vacuum too. I have been reading some reviews and I like what I'm seeing about Dyson vacuums.

Oh, Happy Sunday!

Alex and I thoroughly enjoyed our Sunday. We went to church this morning which was good. At church I lead the group of volunteers at our Downtown campus who are caring for the infants through 2 year old children. I have not always really known how to talk to kids. But I think I've found my niche with the little ones. I still am at a loss when it comes to older kids - but the little ones are cool. I'm actually getting to where I can engage a 2 year old and get them all to do the same thing. That's cool.

Then, Alex and I spent the afternoon in bed watching the tv-movie premier episode of the SciFi Channel's remake of Battle Star Galactica. Ann Marie and Eddie suggested that we watch the series. Oh man, it's awesome. We are hooked. It's your typical sci-fi story: man creates robots, robots get smart, try to overthrow mankind. But in this series, mankind and robots (cylons) come to a diplomatic agreement which stays in place for 40 years...until the cylons come back in the form of humans and launch a surprise attack. Then mankind is on the run from cylons in an effort to recreate mankind. So that's where we are now - but it's really well made and the characters are complex.

Plane crash @ gas station 8 years ago

The gas station didn't explode and no casualties. But that's not the amazing part....

Hello - so I'm sorry that I haven't blogged this week. This week has been busy, not bad or good, just busy. Work has been good but stressful. We're in the middle of tough negotiations with some of our larger contracts - these are the times when I get to really practice management and business tactics. It's good, but I'm trying to soak up new skills from my peers and also apply what I know. BTW, I totally recognize that this little bit wasn't very interesting. Alex swears that it takes months of ongoing conversation before anyone begins to kind of figure out what I do for a living.

So, this week: Alex just got a new extra-wide lens to go with his new Nikon D3. He actually just took a picture of me writing this blog. I'll post his play-time shots later.

I don't really know if any of you also read our photography blog. If you recall, we hired April Greer in Seattle to take photos of us. I blogged about those shots today on that site. Mostly b/c we are trying to get some help deciding which pictures of us we should put up on the blog.

So we NEED YOUR HELP. Below you will find four of our favorite photos that feature the two of us. We would replace the pictures of us that are currently on the blog with one of these. You, our readers, need to VOTE AND TELL US WHICH ONES TO USE IN THE BLOG.

NUMBER 1


NUMBER 2


NUMBER 3


NUMBER 4


These are some of our other favorites: Look how handsome my hubby is! She captured his playfulness but also the fact that he is really a deep thinking intellectual (which he is!)

Great Saturday

Today has been a great day - I'm loving it and it's not even over yet! It really hasn't been anything special except very relaxing. I should backtrack and tell you that we went to the Miami Heart Gallery last night with our friends Jeff and Jen. It was really amazing - the photography was great - I hope that some of these kids get adopted. Then we all went to Swenson's and had sundaes. That was wonderful except that I never eat sundaes so my stomach really hurt afterward, but it was so delicious.

Today we shot maternity photos for a coworker of mine - a woman who was actually my first boss at The Children's Trust before the whole health project took off and my department got created. She's amazing and super-smart - she's one of the smartest people I know. It was really fun and we did the shoot at their house. We didn't intend to when we planned doing a shoot with them, but they are finishing some renovations so they had to stay near home-base. I think it really worked out for the better because Lori is 37.5 weeks - so she could really go at any time. I know that she was kind of uncomfortable so I think it was good that she was at home in a comfortable environment.

Afterwards, Alex and I went to a diner that I like a lot and had breakfast. I had an amazing egg white omelet. I have to thank my friend Chrissy for urging me to try these a couple of weeks ago. I LOVE egg white omelets now! Not only are they delicious but they are healthy and have practically no calories - score!

Then we decided that instead of going to the beach - which is always such a mission - we would just pack up the dogs and go to his parents house to play in their pool. This was excellent b/c since his parents are out of town we got to bring the dogs. They would never be allowed in the pool otherwise! Oh man - this was the first time we've brought Miles here and he was such a goofball - he LOVED swimming in the pool (maybe a little too much). He has successfully bruised and scratched both of us - as we couldn't swim laps in the pool without getting him excited and then jumping in the pool almost on top of us and then trying to 'play' with us - which just meant that he would scratch the heck out of us. Poor alex has three solid red lines down the entire length of his back!

And Pete....poor Pete hates the pool. Despises it. He gets so angry seeing us in it that he just barks at us. We don't think he likes swimming much b/c he is solid muscle so he kind of sinks in water. Nevertheless - we always throw him in at least once because it's funny. Today we learned that we can't do that with Miles the pool-maniac around. When threw Pete in, Miles dove in practically on top of him and then proceeded to try to 'play' with him by pawing him which just pushed Pete under the water. Pete was hysterical - I tried to get in to save Pete but Miles would scratch me (remember all dogs are swimming during this process!). I finally got Pete and launched him onto the side of the pool, out of the water. Now I'm sure he'll hate the water even more. Poor thing.

Tonight, Alex and I will be going to Acqua at the Four Seasons. We go there for dinner every year now for our anniversary - we love it. I'm so excited!

WAY better than expected

Hi people - So today we finally had our appointment at the fertility clinic to review 'take two' of the semen analysis. It was WAY better than I expected!!

I'll just get to the good news right away -- while we're still not 'normal', the doctor did say that that we 'could' conceive naturally. I can't believe it!!! She said that there is a chance. Her first comment when she looked at the pre/post-surgery analyes was that we had "marked improvement". She confirmed that we would never in a million years had conceived on our own with the previous spermie stats, but now there is a chance. She was impressed that the improvement was so good considering that the 2nd analysis was done only 4 months after the surgery - she thinks that we should keep trying and do another analysis in August or September after we pass the 6-month post-surgery mark - 'unless I miss a period before then". If that happens, then she said call the office ASAP so that they can do a blood pregnancy test.

I am so thankful! I realize now, and have to confess, that I had a lack of faith. I only realize that now by how surprised I was to hear that we could conceive naturally. Please continue to pray for us as we are below normal. But as the Bible shows time and again - God rarely (only one time, creation) makes something out of nothing. But over and over again in the Bible He makes something amazing out of very little. If you want to hear the sermon that really spoke to me on this exact topic go to Elevation Church.

Miami Heart Gallery Opens TOMORROW!

Tomorrow is the inaugural opening of The Children's Trust Miami Heart Gallery. This will be a traveling art exhibit that features photography of foster children as artwork. Each child is available for adoption. There are over 500 foster children in Miami who are currently available for adoption. Please attend if you or someone you know has room in their home and heart for a child.

Watch the video below to see how these are just normal children who really need to see that someone can love them!

Happy Anniversary to my Hubby!

I am continually thankful for being blessed with Alex. Today is our third anniversary! And while it seems that so much has changed in the last three years there is also so much that hasn't changed. The constant throughout the years is that he is my best friend. Our friendship has such depth that stays fresh and new time and again.

I love those moments when we are watching TV and one or both of us begins to sniffle and we realize that we're both teary eyed from something stupid, and we both laugh at each other - like that Humane Society Commercial with the dog that looked like Miles. I love you so much for the great, big heart that you have!

Thank you, Alex, for challenging me in so many areas in my life. You challenge me in my faith, my logic and decision making. You help me to be a better person and definitely a better Christian and wife. You are teaching me to challenge my own thoughts and understand where they come from. This makes me a better wife, because sometimes, I get to take that skill and use it on you when I recognize that you need to think deeper about a particular thing. This balance that we have to challenge each other and keep one another accountable is so valuable!

You are a complex person! I still believe that you are most unique in that you are so talented artistically and creatively - but then also so extremely 'left-brained' as well - always needing to learn more and grow intellectually. I truly hope that I help you and challenge you as you do for me.

I am so excited to see what God has in store for our lives! I love you so much!

Wifey.

April & Joel's wedding

This is an excerpt from my blog post on the Candidly Elegant blog. Please, please go check it out...

Last weekend Alex and I had the great honor to shoot a wedding at our own church, Christ Fellowship. We've had the pleasure of knowing this family for some time now and they are so cool. Alex and I were crying half the day while shooting. This was one of the most heartwarming and meaningful weddings that I have had the pleasure of witnessing. I think that this is because the wedding itself was such a very small part of the day - it was really about the marriage. April and Joel are truly amazing people. They treasure each other and recognize that each of them is a gift from God. I am so thankful that I got to participate in their marriage.

When Alex and I have kids, I want to sit down with Sammy and Linda, April's parents, so that they can teach us everything they know about parenting - because we want children like theirs.

Read the rest and see the pictures at the Candidly Elegant Blog.

Amber Alert

Alright, the weirdest thing has happened. I have lost a pair of shoes. I think that it is actually fairly difficult to 'lose' shoes. I have a really cute pair of silver flats (those new trendy ballet-like flats). They match almost everything. They took about a month to really break in and they had recently just gotten the perfect fit. And I can't find them anywhere. I know that I didn't take them to Orlando b/c I only took heels for the conference, flops and then a different pair of flats. That was over a week ago now.

So today I started looking EVERYWHERE. I have looked under all of the furniture, in the closets of the spare bedrooms, in drawers, in kitchen cabinets, in the garage, in the cars, on the patio. They are nowhere to be found.

How do you lose shoes like that? I mean I pretty much always come home with shoes on - so it's pretty hard to leave them somewhere. I called my mom, I haven't left them here. I haven't called Ann Marie yet and I sometimes change at her house to workout - but she would have told me. Ann Marie - when you read this tell me if you've seen shoes.

Weird.

Update :)

Ok - so here's what has happened since last night's post.

I have an appointment with another physician at the fertility clinic to review the semen analysis. But I have also been emailing my regular fertility doctor's nurse (I love that they make themselves available to patients - they are very good at that). She felt for my frustration and encouraged me to see one of their other doctors. I have an appointment for June 13 - the same time that we would have met with the urologist's PA. Next Friday.

Here is the email from her which has made my day!

Good morning Shaleen,

I am sorry you are so frustrated but I have good news. Yes you can see another doctor in the mean time and they will discuss the results with you. Also there has been improvement in your husband’s last Semen Analysis, it is not completely normal yet but there has been significant improvement.

---

Isn't that GREAT!?

Ok, I'm listening

Clearly, the Lord is trying to tell me something. Please, please I ask my friends to help me understand this.

About fifteen minutes ago at 7:30 PM we got a call from the scheduling department at the urologist's office. She said that she sees that we have an appointment on June 13 with Dr. Samowitz, but that he is not going to be in town; the next available appointment is July 1.

I say, "I know, this past Friday we had an appointment which was canceled by your office the night beforehand. They said that we could reschedule with the physician's assistant, that's what we were doing." She says, "I understand, unfortunately, the PA was in a car accident today and broke several bones and will probably be out." Dang; how do I respond to that?

"That's horrible, I'm sorry to hear that. The thing is that we need to know the results of my husband's semen analysis so that we can make decisions about fertility treatments if necessary and at this point our appointment has been pushed back a month and that's a month lost in fertility treatments."

She explains that she totally understands and she is going to schedule an appointment with another physician in the practice for June 20 and that she will leave a note explaining our situation for another PA.

I am praying for a miracle that I find in the next week or so that I'm pregnant. I feel like we were so close to knowing some more about our situation and it's just getting dragged out. I really have no hope in the rather dull girl who took my records request on Friday and that we'll actually get the records in the mail.

What do you think? If you've never left a comment - now is the time to do so. I'm really ok, I'm not traumatized or anything but I am asking for your prayers.

Shaleen.