Last weekend of summer holidays!!!

Yes its that time again...back to school! Where on earth has this summer gone?!?!

Allen and I went to camping this past weekend with his family. He did some fishing while I did some reading and relaxing.

Emma and I spent a fair amount of time on the beach. She has been getting more and more brave with the whole water thing. Emma also got to play with another ridgeback! She met a 3 year old boy named Malec. We set up a date and supervised while the two love birds played.

Can you tell which one is Emma?

Anyways it was a great weekend to cap off the summer.

Now its back to the grind...back to waiting for the TOC call outs each week..

I don't know if its because of back to school or whether its because I am turning 26 soon, but

I decided to set some goals or resolutions. I know everyone sets New Years resolutions, but I thought maybe a birthday would be a good time to set some resolutions and stick to them.
An astrologer on the news also said this would be a good time for virgoes to set some goals..

So here are some of my goals for my 2-6 year:

• Exercise at least 2-3 times a week. This better be the breaking sweat kind of exercise.
• Cut down on the amount of suqar in my diet. (I was watching the news and they were discussing the amount of sugar people actually drink. They mentioned that suqar consumed in liquid form is actually stored as fat quicker than raw solid sugar!)
• Accept more and more TOC call outs. This means I need to be ready in the mornings to accept all calls.
• Network more. Meet more teachers and get myself into new schools.
• Increase the amount of veggies in my diet...and Allens.
• Spend less, save more.
• Learn to stress less. I am a very high stress...over thinker..and I always wonder what good it does me besides make my skin break out and for more grey hairs to pop up.

So those are my goals for the year.

Check out Amanda's back to school goals!

B

New Music Tuesday

Anyone watch the VMA's this past weekend?

I feel like I was a little out of the loop with some of the artists... I have never heard of some of them and I consider myself familiar with alot of genres of music.

My highlights from the award show was Adele's performance and Beyonce showing off her baby bump!! :) Both Beyonce and Jay-Z looked so happy to be expecting! So cute!

 

Anyways I spent some time this morning downloading some new music and updating my ipod.

Here are some new tunes I recommend you check out!

Dev feat. Flo Rida- In the Dark (remix)

Florence and the Machine- What the Water Gave Me

Florence and the Machine- You've Got the Love (REVOLVR remix)
Keri Hilson- Lose Control

Jay-Z and Kanye West- Otis

 

Bombay Bicycle Club- Shuffle

Young the Giant- My Body

Adele- Someone Like You

Hope you can check out some of these awesome tunes!

B

Duncan Farmers Market

This past weekend I visited a Farmers Market in Duncan with my mom and a couple of her friends. It was a great local market with lots of fresh produce.

My mom and I picked up some amazing sourdough bread..

Some succulents.. this one is called a chick and hen?!?! I am pretty excited because the lady that sold them to us recommened planting them outside as they are pretty hardy.

I was expecting to have to keep it inside, but nope this plant finds a home outside!

We also bought some blackberries, but I ate my share on my car ride home. Such a good snack!

And last but not least, we bought some rhubarb! I was so excited for this purchase as I love making rhubard sauce!

If you haven't made rhubarb sauce before you must try it! I just chop up the rhubarb...pop it into a pot and let it boil down. Halfway through I add some sugar to taste. I added approximately 1/3 cup for a good size amount of rhubarb.

Once I have let it cook down.. I pop it in a tupperware for storage in the fridge!
Then....when I am ready for dessert..

Pop it on some ice cream... 

I must say...pretty good dessert!

I am pretty excited for today. Courtney is coming up for a visit. I believe we are going to venure out for lunch at a restaurant that offers a gluten-free menu. Perfect for my gluten-free friend Courtney.

And then....Allen is home Wednesday!

AND THEN SCHOOL GOES BACK IN THE FOLLOWING WEEK! ECK!

I am excited to start TOCing again, but honestly where did the summer go???

I always get excited for the start of a school year. I get back to routine...

Before school starts I always like to do a big spring..er fall clean and organization of my closet...office...entire house.

What are some of your back to school or welcome to fall routines?

B

Basil pesto pasta

You will have to excuse my lack of posts lately.

I am feeling unmotivated...uninspired with my blog right now.

I have been running out of ideas.

I am hoping that I will get motivated soon..

I did promise you a new recipe or two. I finally tried a new recipe today.

Basil Pesto with Tomatoes and Feta

I didn't have any bowtie pasta so I just used macaroni.

I really enjoyed this recipe. The best part was probably the cherry tomatoes. They provided a great contrast in flavor against the pesto.

My mom and I made pesto this past week and I just popped it into the freezer until I needed it.

We just used this simple pesto recipe.

Super easy, super delicious.

I would definately give both recipes a try.

Super easy and delicious...couldn't ask for more in the summer!

B

Some sad news for BC

I don't consider myself a very political person. I don't follow politics (that much).

I always try really hard to vote or at least understand what each political party stands for.

Well I have got to say that I am very sad today.

Jack Layton from the NDP party has passed away at 61.

I have always liked him. For the amount of politics that I have followed, I have always felt connected to him. I have always like the way he speaks and relates to a crowd.

He recently took a break from politics to battle cancer for the second time.

Sadly the cancer won.

Sad to see this Canadian icon pass away.

Rest in Peace Jack Layton.

B

Amazing Fishing

Hello! So Allen and I had a great time fishing this past weekend!

I got to battle some big fish, and now are freezer is stocked full with fish. I am so thankful to have all this fish! Hopefully our grocery bill will be cheaper especially with Allen going back to school in October!

Here are some of the photos from the weekend:

Don't you just love the outfit?!?! Fashionable, hey?!?!



All in all it was a pretty cool weekend. Memorable weekend!

So on a different note...I have a few recipes that I am hoping to try out this coming week to post for you.

Here are some I am hoping to try:

Pepperoni Pizza Puffs

Harvest Bread

Quick Mexican Rice with Beans

Pesto Bowties with Feta and Basil

I am thinking I will be trying to pesto dish tomorrow night for dinner :)

B

Butternut Squash Fries

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. I don't know where the time has been going.

This past weekend Allen and I went fishing again.

The fishing was awesome...

Not sleeping because I thought every sound I heard was a bear....not so awesome.

Yes, I am a bit of a stress case when it comes to bears...or cougars...apparently rain drops on the tent...you name it.

Oh well...

Anyways photos to come!
Just wanted to quickly let you know I was still alive and to give you this awesome recipe.



Butternut Squash Fries

Recipe adapted from a number of website recipes

1 butternut squash

Veggie oil

Garlic Powder

Sea Salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Clean squash of inner stuff (seeds, etc.)

Cut squash into "fries" and arrange on a baking sheet.

Sprinkle with garlic powder and sea salt.

*I just eye-balled how much of the seasoning I wanted to use.*

Bake for 35 minutes flipping halfway.

If you like yam fries,  I think you will dig squash fries. Super easy and delicious!

Anyways I will be back soon with some fishing photos and hopefully some more recipes.

B