#53

I did it!!! I shampooed our living room carpet!!! It is disgusting how much dirt was in it...and I am sure I could go over it again and get just as much! I am so glad I did this because we play on the floor a lot with Brynn. Now the key is...I need to take off my shoes when I come inside (I don't know why I love having my shoes on so much....because really I love when they are off), also we need to try not to let Brynn eat in there (she is a snacker so if every time she snacked she was in her high chair...she'd be in there A LOT) and no other beverages but water allowed :) We have been doing a lot better about eating at the table (Jerret and myself) so hopefully this will be a habit that sticks to help avoid potential spills on the carpet...now to keep my cat from coughing up her hair balls!! I shampooed 1/2 on Sunday, and the cat puked on that 1/2 Sunday night...AHHH!!! Today I finished the other 1/2 while Brynn was napping, hopefully the cat will not puke on it while I am sleeping tonight. Out of all the rooms in our house, why does she have to pick one of the 2 carpeted ones????

Just a glimpse at the nastiness the cleaner got out of the carpet...EWWWW!!!

2nd 1/2

First 1/2

#89

I began my trek on #89, find 15 new dinner recipes. Ihave been wanting to make Vegetable Rice Pilaf since visiting my friend in Colorado last summer. Finally, I decided I needed to find a recipeand make it. I just googled searched Vegetable Rice Pilaf and found one I thought looked good on Cooks.com. I know this wasn't a whole new dinner recipe, however, it was the first time I had cooked catfish too, so I guess it was somewhat of an ALL new experience. The pilaf turned out all right. It called for white rice and all I hadwas brown rice, so after the said amount of cook time, the rice was not done,but all the liquid had been soaked up, so I had to pour an extra can of chicken broth in, and it was still somewhat crunchy :( The flavor was good, despite the fact I went a little overboard on the pepper :) I would try this recipe again, but maybe use more water with the chicken broth when cooking so the rice can get completely cooked.RECIPE:

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. butter

1 small onion, diced

1 celery stalk, diced (I used 2)

1/4 cup diced mushrooms (I used 4 mushrooms)

1 1/2 cup white rice (I used brown)

1/4 c. dry white wine (I used whatever white wine I had...Eola Hills Riesling...boy was it tasty while cooking)

2 1/4 cup chicken broth (I started w/ 1 can and ha

d to use a 2nd)

2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

pinch salt, pepper and dried thyme

In a heavy saucepan melt butter over medium

high heat. Add onions, carrots, celery, mushrooms, salt and thyme. Saute, tossing for about 3 minutes. Add rice and cook, stirring until the

grains become translucent (about 2 minutes). Add

wine, and continue to cooke on high until nearly dr

y (about 2 minutes)

Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Stir, cover and lower heat. Simmer until liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender (about 17 min)

Remove from heat, stir in pepper and fresh parsley fluff w/ f

ork. Serves 4-6

**Well with all of my side notes, maybe mine didn't turn out because I didn't follow the recipe to a "T" oh well, it was worth a shot :)

#71

Today Jerret & Brynn helped me complete my very first item off of my list...take Brynn to the Zoo. We took advantage of the beautiful weather and time off and decided to venture out. Brynn is the perfect age. She loved looking at the animals (despite the fact we went through the time of her AM and PM nap). She was a trooper...by the end of our 3 hour visit, we put her in the car and she was OUT before reaching the freeway (less than 3 minutes away)! I am so glad we were able to go as a family and experience this together. We took lots of pictures and I can't wait to take her again...maybe in another year or so :)

In addition to accomplishing the zoo, I am also working towards blogging about each item and photo documenting each as well :) ENJOY!!

Here I go....

I have decided to begin a 101 in 1001 journey. I read about on a friend's blog and decided it would be a fun challenge to widen my horizons and accomplish things I have always wanted to but never have gotten around to. It was easy for me to come up with my first 20 things, and from there it was a bit challenging. As I was about finished making my list, I set my pen down, and told my husband "I don't think I am going to do this" he asked "why?" and I responded with "What if I don't write things down that I really want to do? What if I am forgetting things?" He inspired me to take the challenge and said it will help me to get out and actually do fun things that I have been wanting to. This should be considered a jump start to those activities. I was thankful for his continued encouragement and am glad I am going to take this journey. Having me talk about it so much, he is working on a list of his own...he is not quite ready to begin yet though. I am hoping to keep up with the blog and work towards accomplishing many of the items that reside on my list! Hope you enjoy reading about my journey along the way, and it would be fun if I could inspire you as my friend did me!