Pickles, Pickles, Pickles!

That's right- pickles! 6 quarts of them in fact!
My garden has done pretty well, but the cucumber plants have done GREAT! So with it only being myself and my husband, I knew we could never eat all the cucumbers before they spoiled. Solution- to make pickles! I wish I'd taken pictures along the way, but I do have one of the finished product!
Now I've never done this before. So with a little help from my good friend "Google", I decided I could in fact do this! The first step was the find the Mason jars. Harris Teeter- no luck. Target- same bad luck. And so I took the plunge and went to Walmart- good luck.
Next I had to get the pickling spices. And the local grocery store, Farm Fresh had those. I wasn't sure how many pickles I would get from my "cucs", so I just bought one packet of dill pickle spice.
Getting home, I began to slice my cucumbers into spears.
Next step- boil the spice, vinegar and water.
While this is going, it was vital to sterilize the jars, which meant immersing them in a boiling bath for 10 mins.
Once the spice mixture boiled I poured this over the bowl full of speared cucumbers. Then I let them sit for 30 mins.
So then I stuffed the jars with my cucumbers and filled each jar with the "juice".
Now I decided to just put one jar in the fridge to eat in the next few weeks, and preserve the other 3 quart size jars. After screwing on the lids, I put them in boiling water for 15 mins.
Next problem- I still had more cucumbers! So around 10pm I made another run to the Farm Fresh to get the bread and butter spice. And then I went through all the same steps as the dill pickles, except this "juice" had 5 cups worth of sugar! I ended up with 2 quarts of bread and butter pickles and I preserved both of these.

When I was all done, I ended up with this:

The Bachelorette

Hi Everyone! I hadn't logged onto my blog for awhile and when I checked in on it, I realized it was a disaster! My background was MIA. So I've done a little "tidying" around my blog and I'm back!
Last night the Season Finale of the Bachelorette aired on ABC. I have been a faithful viewer of this season- I didn't miss one episode!I was rooting for Chris (pictured in red) though all along. He had the whole package- such a gentleman, VERY easy on the eyes and I just thought he seemed like a good match with Ali. For starters they both shared the same home state of Massachusetts. I really liked Chris's family when Ali met them. She seemed to fit right in with them.
But it was obvious from the very beginning that she was head over heels for Roberto. Ali gave him the first impression rose on the first episode and I'd have to say he instantly became one of the top competitors there. I can't talk badly about Roberto. He really does seem like a great guy. I just liked Chris better. Ali knew so much so that she wanted to be with Roberto that she didn't even keep Chris around for the final rose ceremony. She told him the day before where her heart was and I have to give her kudos for that. Why put someone through the turmoil of being rejected any longer than necessary.
And for that, I have to say I think her and Roberto have a great chance of lasting. Most of these people on the Bachelor/Bachelorette will be deciding maybe 2 hrs before the ceremony of which person they'd like to choose to be their spouse. Honestly if you don't know, then that person probably isn't right for you. Ali knew though- she knew Roberto was the right choice.
They seemed genuinly happy from what I have seen of them in public interviews on TV so far.
I wish them all the best! And Chris, I wish you all the best too! If he ends up as the next Bachelor, you can bet I won't miss an episode!

Sex and the City 2

This post is a bit overdue, but I wanted to share the highlights of my Sex and the City 2 Pre-Movie Party that I hosted about a week and a half ago. I had the girls over for some food and drinks before the movie and here are some pictures:

Table Spread minus some appetizers:

By the way, appetizers included some Chinese food like Miranda always ate, little "weenies" in crescent rolls (haha what SATC party would be complete without "weenies") and veggies & dip.

Then the desserts:

Cupcakes with pink icing &"pinker" sprinkles, and chocolate covered strawberries!


Don't forget plates and napkins:
Drinks: Pink Sparkling Wine & Fat Bastard Merlot- both very appropriate for SATC!
And last, but certainly not least, and absolutely essential for SATC:
COSMOS!
I think everyone had a good time at the party. We all wore high heels, but didn't think to get a picture of them. Now the movie, well let's just say the first SATC movie was a hard act to follow and I don't think this second movie succeeded in living up to the same standards. Nonetheless, we still enjoyed a fun girls evening!

Thankful...

...for these girls, Lindsay and Bryanna:

(Lindsay, Me & Bry)

Our husband's were all serving on the same submarine in Washington and that's how we met! Now we all live in 3 different states, one on the west coast, one of us in the middle, and the other on the east coast. And can you believe it- we actually pulled off a little reunion! This picture is of us in Virginia Beach.

Wishful Wednesday!

I love The Seattle Smith's blog. She does a wishful Wednesday every week and I've not been around to participate for awhile... but this week I am! The theme this week is your bedroom. I am actually going to use this as an opportunity to show my bedroom as it is. We JUST finished completely redoing it!


My bedroom before we redid it- and I hated it- the gray was so blah and awful!

AND....

My wish came true- I now come home to a bright bedroom every night and I love it!
We obviously painted, as well as replaced the carpeting and got the bed from Crate and Barrel! I love that store!

But if I had my real wish, I'd also have a porch off my bedroom, with a view like this:


One can wish, right?

Happy Wednesday - the week is half over!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there, but especially my mom!! I am so thankful that I have a mom I am close enough with, to still talk with her on the phone every single day! She is always there for me and it means so much!

This photo was taken last year in the harbor of Victoria, Canada!

Smooth Sailing...

That's right! Its that time of year... when tax returns finally come back! We've had plans for this money for months now and at last our money came, and we put it to good use on Saturday!

And this is what we bought:Its a Hobie Mirage Outfitter Tandem Kayak! Let me break that down for you. Hobie is the brand.
Mirage refers to the flipper like devices seen on the bottom of the boat. This technology is newer and there are actually foot pedals inside that you use to put the kayak in motion. If you so choose, you can take out the pedals, or Mirage Drive as they are called, and just use the traditional paddles. However with the Mirage Drive, you can go much faster. Its design is based upon that of how a penguin quickly swims through the water!
Lastly, tandem of course refers to it being a double kayak.
So we thought this was pretty neat the way it was, but an additional option is the Sail Kit, seen here:

Now we actually bought a sail that has the Caribbean Blue as shown, but ours is yellow instead of gray. This will allow for even faster speeds in the water!
I can't wait to get out on the water! We bought a doggie life vest for our little guy Frank, and this way he can join us! I am so happy that summer is pretty much here. We had our first thunderstorm of the season tonight! I love this time of year!

Getting to know you

So I came across a new blog, MannLand5. Its a fun blog, and though I am a day late since she does this on Sundays, I figured I'd participate anyways:

So anyways, here it goes:

The questions..

1. What year did you graduate high school?
2004

2. What part of your body do you neglect the most?
My feet- luckily I just painted my toes since we've been having weather warm enough for flipflips

3. Beach house or Lake house?
A beach house all the way!

4. Mac or PC?
You know I guess a PC cause that's what I have, but I am not opposed to the idea of a Mac

5. Did you wear braces?
Yes

6. If you could be one person for a day..living or deceased..who would you be?
I think it would be interesting to be Rachel Ray- her food always looks delicious!

7. How many times have you moved in your life?
4 times, 3 of them were in the last 18 months and 2 of those were cross country moves!(This was from my most recent move in August '09- my husband and pup in the front seat and 560 lbs of stuff we transported ourselves in the back, along with a moving truck full of stuff the Navy moved for us!)

8. Would you rather cook or clean?
Cook! But that's why I hate cooking- cause there are always dishes to clean up afterward. My husband says I need someone to just do all my dishes for me- Ha! Maybe when we strike it rich winning the lottery.


Happy Monday! Let this be a great start to everyone's week!

Luck O' the Irish

Being that I'm half Irish and my favorite color is green, I couldn't wait to wish you a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

(Picture taken at the Butchart Gardens, British Columbia )

What are some of your favorite traditions? My mom always did the corned beef and cabbage thing, except it was "smoked neck" and cabbage. My grandmother always made this, and her parents were actually immigrants from Ireland. She said her mom had never even heard of corned beef and cabbage until she moved to the US. So today I'll be making smoked neck & cabbage and potatoes, with a beer on the side.
Do you have any food traditions? Do you drink green beer? Do you go to a parade?

Finally...

Finally, I can feel Spring. I can almost smell it in the air.

You know what made my day yesterday? It was 71 degrees, sunny, and I put on my flip flops for the first time in months, and slipped them over my toe nails I'd just painted with this:Its Diamond Strength, Lavender Marqui colored. Remember? I love Lavender ;) And after all, diamonds are a girl's best friend!

Its actually been nice here all week, and my husband and I have been crazy busy working in our backyard. We started with a yard full of weeds, that doesn't drain. So we've been putting in a drainage system and it is A LOT of work! Much more than we ever anticipated haha. We have plans to put in some shrubs and other plants and flowers.
I'm also doing a veggie garden this year! So far I have jalapeno peppers growing, tomatoes, and basil. They were all started inside the house from seeds. I'll also be doing cucumbers and dill, but you are supposed to actually start them outside, unlike the others I already have going. So we'll see! I am super excited about the prospect of having my own veggie garden!
And what else? Oh, we've ripped up our bedroom carpet this weekend and we're having new carpet installed this week. Therefore we have our bedroom furniture scattered everywhere upstairs so we could remove the carpeting, and its a disaster! I can't wait until this process is all said and done! That's for sure! We'll be sleeping in the guest room until we can put our bedroom back together.
How have you been getting ready for spring? Any yard work or spring cleaning?

March 4th already?

Where has the time gone? I feel like it was just Christmas time! And wow its been almost 2 weeks since my last post on here.
I should update you all on my happenings and thoughts over those couple weeks.


Yes I became a fan of this season's Bachelor on ABC. And yes I didn't want him to pick Vienna. I think she is awful lol. But you know, if he is dumb enough to have picked her, he'll get what he asked for. I have to say though, now whenever I here the song "On the Wings of Love" it is forever ruined for me, as Vienna's face is the first thing to come to my mind. I'm sorry, but she is fake. I can just hear it in her voice. She tells people what they want to hear! I know these reality show relationships rarely workout, but have you heard what people are saying about her? An ex stripper? Cheated on her first husband while he was in Iraq? I know you can't believe everything, but come on. I doubt EVERYTHING in the magazines is a lie. There's got to be some truth to it all.

What were you thinking Jake!? She just oozes with "fake"!

_________________________________________

Next thing that consumed much of my last couple weeks was my little buddy Frank. It was just over 2 weeks ago that Frank threw up. And we thought hmm, then he got sick 2 more times that night and I got worried. Then the next morning the same thing. So he got a trip to vet. He sent Frank home with some medicine and told me not to feed him the rest of the day. The the next day we were to only feed him a rice and ground beef mixture. Okay, great. The next day was Friday and he didn't get sick all day! Then Saturday he did well for breakfast & lunch. But Saturday night- the poor little guy got sick yet AGAIN! So this time I started getting really worried, thinking it was a blockage of some sort. So we actually took him to the emergency pet clinic, being it was a Saturday evening. I just didn't want to chance waiting until Monday morning to see our normal vet.
There, they did some x-rays and didn't find anything, so we took him home, and just decided to feed him only VERY small amounts. The next day, Sunday, my husband had to leave for a week long business trip, so I was just hoping Frank would be okay. And he seemed okay. So Monday I had to work. And I was nervous leaving him along all day. But I had to go.
I came home from work Monday evening and that little dog threw up again while I was at work. I felt awful. So I figured I would take him into the regular vet again Tuesday morning. Well he woke up Tuesday and got sick 3 more times before the vet was even open to call. I got a hold of them and brought him over right away. He told us we could wait on it a few more days and not give him food for 12 hours. Or we could go to the internal medicine clinic.
So I opted to take him to internal medicine. He ended up having an ultrasound done, lots of blood work and stayed over night. And they found nothing on that ultrasound. The ONLY thing that came back showing anything was a possible pancreatitis. They said by the time they did the test he may have been on the downside of the pancreatitis, being as though he'd already been sick for 6 days, and so it might have not had a very strong reaction during the test.
So... $1400 later, yes thats right, one thousand- four hundred dollars later after all the vet visits, the diagnosis was a possible pancreatitis. My gosh, for all that money I would have loved to have known what was wrong. He came home with instructions to feed him some special canned food from the doggie hospital. Yuck is what I thought, yum is what Frank thought lol. He is doing bettter now, but what a crazy week that was. It was a lot of money, but he's worth it, and the main thing is that he is okay!
So hopefully over the next week I can really catch up on things around the blogging world. If I am not back before then, have a great weekend. Tomorrow is Friday-woohoo. We're starting our yardwork this weekend- bring on Spring!!!

A Sweet Treat!

Hello All,
I've had a busy week, but I've been wanting to tell you about a sweet treat I made for my husband for Valentine's Day. They were so delicious and super easy!

I found these at Target:
And then I bought some melting chocolates at Micheal's and melted them in a measuring cup in the microwave, 30 seconds at a time:

I decided to put peanut butter inside each candy. This is what I had in the cabinet. It was probably on sale when I bought it:

First I spooned enough melted chocolate in each heart to fill each one about halfway. I let that sit for a minute or so, just to let the chocolate begin to firm. Then I put about a 1/4 teaspoon peanut butter into each heart. I suggest using 2 spoons- 1 to scoop it out of the jar, and the other spoon to get the peanut butter into each heart. I learned this the hard way, but having a mess on my fingers ;-)


Here's what it will look like after the peanut butter is put on. And then after the peanut butter is dropped in, simply spoon enough chocolate on top to fill each heart, as seen below in the 2 hearts. After filling the molds, put the tray in the fridge for 5-10 mins until they are firm. Using these ice cube trays worked great because they are flimsy so the chocolates popped right out when firm.


When they were done, they looked like this. And I put each one in a little foil chocolate wrapper, to make it look that much better!


Here they are displayed in the little box next to his other gifts. My husband thought I'd bought the chocolates from the store! I took it as a compliment :)

And in case you were wondering, this is what they look like from an "insiders view":
Now like usual, even though I put forth a lot of effort, my husband out did me. This was the first time we'd seen each other for Valentine's Day in 5 YEARS thanks to deployments and a looooong distance relationship for along time! So I guess we were due for a good one! Here's what was waiting for me in a box on the doorstep on Valentine's Day:
He also got me a cast iron tea pot. I have been wanting one for so long. The tea stays hot for at least an hour. He also got me this little warmer for the tea pot to sit on. You can put a tea light inside to keep it extra hot :)

Now, to catch up on all of YOUR blogs. Happy Sunday and here's to hoping everyone has a great week!!

Our Engagement Story!

I saw some people posting their engagement story and I thought what better a time for me to do this with it being Valentine's Day this weekend! I know this is a little long, but I promise you its a good story ;-)

My husband and I met in September 2004 and sparks flew instantly! 11 short months later he was sent to South Carolina to begin his training to be on submarines. And then he went to Upstate New York, and then Groton, CT. And then Washington State. And all through this I was in college so we got used to airplanes. What we spent on airfare over the 3 years we were long distance was probably more than my engagement ring and wedding band combined LOL.
But anyways, it was late 2006 when he got to WA State, and this was 3000 miles from me. Soon after that, he deployed and my 21st birthday came up in April. He unfortunately was out to sea for that big birthday, but I saw him a few weeks after. I thought maybe that would be when he'd pop the question- me just having a special birthday and then he was done his first deployment. He came out to visit me in Maryland. But that visit came and went and no ring. I thought "Okay, I think it'll be soon." We'd planned to get married after my college graduation in 2008. So I was thinking, well graduation is about a year away, which is the average length of an engagement. It'll be soon.
I went to visit him in May after finishing my spring semester of my junior year. That visit came and went- still no ring. I just needed a promise... we were long, looong distance for so long and I was exhausted from it. I just needed a promise that things would move along.
So we're at the end of May and he tells me he wants to buy a new car- his car was having some problems. So one Saturday I called him to see what he was up to (and I'm back in Maryland, he's out in WA). He told me and him and his room mate were going car shopping. He went into so many details. Telling me what kind of car, how much they cost and so on. Haha I am so gullible, I totally believed it. Later I'd find out he was RING SHOPPING!
So another month goes by and I go to visit him again at the end of June. I honestly gave up hope of him popping the question then lol. I knew we had 2 other visits scheduled that summer between us and I just assumed being the lackadaisical person that he is, that he'd be waiting until later in the summer. We were trying to figure out things to do while I visited and I suggested we do some hiking. I found the Olympic National Park online and it looked spectacular!
Little did I know he took my idea and decided that up there in the mountains he would ask me. He knew I'd suspect something if he took me to a fancy dinner somewhere- remember I was waiting for that ring (doesn't that sound awful lol).
So on the morning of June 23, 2007 we packed up a backpack for hiking and got in the car to leave. Just before we pulled off I'd remembered I forgot the little chocolate snacks we'd bought for hiking so I ran in and got them. I came out and opened a pocket at the top of the backpack and he goes "NO! Don't put them in there". I was like "Why? What's wrong with you?" And I dropped them in and zipped the pocket back up. Little did I know, a ring box was in that pocket! I was THIS close to finding my ring.
But much to his relief, I didn't. So we headed out on the 2 hr drive or so. We decided we'd go to to Hurricane Ridge, which is a lookout point to some beautiful snowcapped mountains. On the way up the mountain we decided to step out and get some pictures. I had him stoop down so I could get a picture looking up from above him because the view was just amazing.

We got back in the car and finally made it to the top. I don't know what I was thinking and I didn't dress for going up in the mountains. Remember it was June. So typical me, I started complaining because it was cold and he bought me a coat in the gift shop just to keep me happy. He didn't want any sour grapes on this day! It was really beautiful up there. But we decided to head back down the mountain. It was warmer the further down we got. We stopped off at an area that looked like it would be good for hiking. So we explored a little. We came to a hill that had some really pretty plants growing down it and I told him to stoop down for a another "shot looking down" the hill. He said "wouldn't this be a perfect position to ask you to marry me?" I laughed and said "yeah but you're never going to ask!" (I know I'm terrible lol). And with that he pulled the ring from his pocket. I already had the camera ready for what I thought would just be a picture of him and some pretty plants. Honestly I don't remember taking this photo, but this is what was on the camera later when I looked through the pictures! Maybe its cause I was in a state of shock!

He of course asked "Catie, will you marry me" And I just kept saying "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" Finally he said, "Babe you didn't say 'yes". "Well of course you know I will!" I wonder if he really thought it was a question of me saying yes to him lol.
And here I am, after he put the ring on my finger. Just a little excited dancing around the forest lol
Here's the best picture I have of my ring. This shows it with my wedding band, and his too- cause we took this on our honeymoon :) My stone is a princess cut, offset to be in the shape of a diamond- and he thought of that all on his own!

(you can see it better if you click on it to enlarge it)

I hope you enjoyed our story and Happy Valentines Day weekend everyone!