Headache from Hell

This weekend has sucked! My weekend revolved around the headache from hell. On Friday night after we watched our Netflix movie, Just Go With It (Funny by the way), I went to bed with a nasty headache. I woke up on Saturday with the same headache, but worse, so I stayed in bed until I had to get up to go get my nails done. While sitting there for the hour (which I thought would be no big deal) I was feeling absolutely awful! I didn't know how I was going to make it through the appointment let alone head to work afterward. Yes, I had to go into work for about four hours as I agreed to for a presentation. Of all the Saturdays I work (I normally don't work on the weekends) I had the worst headache of all time. It was borderline a migraine because it was causing me to be nauseous, very irritable and just feeling sick to my stomach. I drove down to Chandler just talking myself into this saying that it was only a few short hours. I got home at 5:30 and went straight to bed. Andy woke me up at 7:30 to eat dinner and then it was back to bed at 8:30 until I got out of bed at 9am on Sunday where I was starting to feel better. I don't feel 100% today, but it's much better than yesterday. I can't believe I slept so much and stayed in bed as long as I had. It makes me think my body was just telling me to slow down and relax a bit or it was telling me never to agree to a Saturday work day again. HA HA! I didn't get much done this weekend, but I did sort of get the house cleaned and laundry done today at the slowest pace possible. I was definitely not in a rush as I did not want that headache to come back full force. It has lingered all day today, but at least I could deal with it unlike yesterday. Tomorrow is always another day and I always have next weekend to have fun when my mother-in-law is in town. It's weird to say mother-in-law!

Viva Las Vegas

Andy and I got a good deal on a weekend to Vegas so this past Friday we were on a plane for a weekend of shenanigans! We landed in Las Vegas around 6pm and we were ready to have a good time and since this is the weekend before my birthday we decided to call it a birthday celebration as well. Everybody knows I like to make a big deal out of my birthday, but for some reason this year I am just not feeling it. I wasn't as pumped to celebrate the birth of Jaimi. Actually, the reason is because I am OLD! Yup, very old. Let's just bust out the velcro shoes and the icy hot to celebrate the birth of Jaimi. Ok, that is a bit dramatic, but I am feeling old.

Anyway, I don't have much to say about Vegas because as everyone knows what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. I do know that I am happy that I can go to Vegas with my husband and have an absolute blast all weekend with him.

One thing I can share is that we did watch at least one Bellagio fountain performance.


Here is the only other photo I will share. This one is of us at the new Cosmopolitan hotel having a good time together in their club.


Besides the fountains and bar hopping we did a little shopping and had some fabulous food. We hit up Sushi Samba the first night and that was YUMMY! We also found ourselves at Coyote Ugly, Spago for dinner and Pinks hotdogs for some food at 2am. Other than that it was a typical weekend in Vegas for Andy and I with some crazy shenanigans! Until next time Vegas!

Slow Weekend...Tarragon Chicken

Andy and I did not do much this weekend. I got my house cleaned, ran errands, nails done and we visited Tom and Karen for a bit. I also managed to lounge in the pool on Sunday for an hour or so while I soaked up some rays in the 110 degree heat.

Since it was a slow weekend I busted out the Chicken cookbook and prepared a fabulous Tarragon Chicken. This is what happens when I get bored...I turn into a mediocre chef. This was a very good meal and I will definitely make it again. I served this chicken with fresh green beans that I sauteed in EVOO and salt & pepper. I also made my red smashed potatoes...YUMMY!

Ingredients
4 Boneless chicken breasts
Salt & pepper
1/2 Cup dry white wine
1 1/4 Cups of chicken stock
1 Garlic clove, finely chopped
1 Tbsp dried tarragon
3/4 Cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp chopped fresh tarragon

Directions
Season the chicken with salt and pepper and place in a large skillet. Pour in the wine and just enough chicken stock to cover, add the garlic and dried tarragon. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and cook until the chicken is cooked through.

Remove the chicken, cover and keep warm. Strain the liquid into a clean skillet and skim off any excess fat from the surface. Bring to a boil and cook for 12 - 15 minutes or until reduced by two-thirds.

Stir in the cream, return to a boil and cook until reduced by about half. Stir in the fresh tarragon. Slick the chicken breast and arrange on plates. Spoon sauce over chicken and top with fresh tarragon.


My sauce turned out runny and that is why it doesn't show up well in the picture above. I didn't know what I did wrong until I sat here and re-typed the directions. I believe I put in way too much cream so my sauce never thickened. It tasted great anyway and now I know what I did wrong so I can fix it for next time.

Wedding Photos

Our professional wedding photos and video arrived at the house less than two weeks ago. I was so excited to come home from work to a box filled with our photos, marriage certificate and the wedding video. One of the things we purchased was the disc to all the photos that were taken. At first I was kind of nervous about this because I was worried the expense wasn't going to be worth it because I had no idea how many photos would be taken. Once I popped the disc in the computer I was shocked to find 1289 photos on the disc. It took at least an hour to go through all the photos and I was more than happy with the results and every penny we spent on the photos was well worth it. I told people I would share the photos with them; however, I didn't realize I would have 1289 photos to share. I spent a few hours going through all the photos and narrowing it down to about 340 photos that I uploaded to my Shutterfly account to share with those that attended the wedding and others that asked me to share them. If you did not receive a link to the photos it might have been human error or I didn't know you wanted to see the photos. If you do want to see the photos and did not get a link just email me and I will get a link to you.

When we watched the video of our wedding it brought tears to my eyes all over again when we said our vows. It was a short 15 minute video but the expense was definitely worth it. I just loved watching the video and reliving the most important day of my life.

Here are a couple of my favorite photos from the photographer.

Happy 4th of July

We just returned from camping in Big Bear California for the long holiday weekend. Normally every year we would camp in Payson, which is a short two hour drive. This year there was no place in Arizona to camp since all the camp areas are banning fires. This is totally understandable since it seems as if the whole state is on fire these days. It was the guys idea to make the 5.5 hour drive to Big Bear and stay longer since we had to drive so far. I am not a fan of long drives, especially to park it in the woods for 4 full days, but Andy really wanted to go so I sucked it up and went. This was my first time in Big Bear and it was such a neat little mountain town. I would love to go back and rent a cabin as it is very beautiful there. I also have to admit that it was nice to get out of the Phoenix heat. This past Saturday it was 117 in Phoenix and we were happy to be in Big Bear where it was a beautiful 85 degrees.

Many activities happen while camping. One is beer darts among Andy, Amber and Brian.



We also played cornhole where Andy and I kicked Brian and Amber's butt.


Then there is always good ol' beer pong. On Saturday we beat Brian and Amber, but on Sunday they came back and beat us.


While camping Izzy was just in love with Stella. It was so cute to watch Izzy get so excited to see Stella and give her plenty of kisses. Izzy was all about Stella that I think she found a new best friend. Madison was more just interested in Stella possibly dropping food for her to get. I got Stella to say "Hi Beez." This is what we say to Izzy all the time. Stella constantly kept saying it all weekend and when she was done getting kisses by Izzy she would say "No Thank You." It was pretty cute!


Cutie Patootie Stella was lucky that she was able to get a daily bath. I was kind of jealous of this!


Here is Andy grilling our meal one night. For our dinner we made marinated grilled port tenderloin and potato packets. We were also supposed to have corn on the cob, but I forgot that in the refrigerator...oops!


Of course I brought doggie treats for all three dogs. Zarady is used to me bringing dog treats that this time she was stalking me wherever I went in case I had dog treats on me.


Until the next long holiday weekend for camping...maybe!

Chicken, Mushroom & Cashew Risotto

Now that our travels are over I am able to get back to trying new recipes. On Sunday I tried a new recipe from a cookbook I received from my friend Mindy for my bridal shower. The cookbook is all about Chicken so it's right up my alley and there are plenty of recipes for me to try. On Sunday night I made my first risotto meal. I have never even eaten risotto before Sunday and when I saw the recipe, and the picture, I thought it looked very yummy. It definitely was very good and will now enter into our regular meals. Here is the fabulous recipe.

Ingredients
2 oz butter
1 onion, chopped (I only used a quarter of an onion since I am not a fan of onions)
1 pound of boneless chicken breast
1 3/4 cups Arborio rice
1 tsp ground Turmeric
2/3 cup white wine
5 1/2 cups simmering chicken stock
2 3/4 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/3 cup cashews, halved
salt and pepper

Directions
1. Melt the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes, or until softened. Add the chicken and cook, stirring frequently, thoroughly. Reduce the heat, add the rice, and mix to coat in butter. Cook, stirring constantly, for 2 -3 minutes, or until the grains are translucent. Stir in the turmeric, then add the wine. Cook, stirring constantly until wine is reduced.

2. Gradually add the hot chicken stock, a ladleful at a time. Stir constantly and add more liquid as the rice absorbs each addition. Increase the heat to medium so that the liquid bubbles. Cook for 20 minutes, or until all the liquid is absorbed and the rice is creamy. About 3 minutes before the end of the cooking time, stir in the mushrooms and cashews. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

This was my first experience eating and making risotto. Very yummy! I served it with grilled asparagus.

Wild Wild West

Andy and I experienced the Wild Wild West this past Friday night as we went to dinner at Buffalo Chip in a town north of Phoenix called Cave Creek. We went with our friends, Mike and AJ, and AJ's family who were in town from South Carolina. It was decided to check this place out because we heard they did great Friday night fish fry's just like you get in Wisconsin. Plus, we were informed the original owners were also from WI, so we figured it had to be good.

Andy and I arrived early and decided to head inside to get drinks before everyone else arrived. When we walked in it was apparent that we did not fit in. Our flip-flops definitely did not cut it when it came to cowboy apparel. Either way the staff were very friendly and greeted us immediately and started to get our table ready for nine people. Good thing Andy and I got there early because once 7pm rolled around the place was jam packed. Of course Andy and I ordered the all you can eat walleye fish fry and it was very yummy. Not exactly as good as the WI fish fry's, but nonetheless very tasty.

Following dinner a country band started playing and everyone (but us) hit the dance floor. I am not talking line dancing, but full on couples country twirl dancing. Just like the movie Urban Cowboy. I had never seen anything like it, so it was very entertaining.

After observing the dancing we headed out back for bull riding. I initially thought this was mechanical bull riding, but as soon as we got out back I realized I was wrong. It was the real deal bull riding. Now, I know my friend Jessica is down for this sort of thing, but I am not. I could not enjoy entertaining myself for the purpose of animal entertainment. Sorry, but it's not my thing. Apparently it's very popular though because once we walked out back there were tons more people outside watching the live bull riding. There were tons and tons of cowboy hats and boots everywhere. Nothing like making us and our flip-flops feeling a little out of place. Maybe the website should state "No cowboy boots or hat, No Service." HA HA!

Anyway, it was a good experience, but Andy and I are not into country music so inside was not for us and I am not into live bull riding so outside was not for me. Neither of us own a cowboy hat or boots and Andy does not own a flannel shirt with the sleeves torn off. We just plain did not fit in. I am glad we went to experience it and see something new, but I am not sure I can go back.

Besides our Wild West adventure on Friday night we were able to accomplish the big wedding task of getting our thank you cards written. Yippee!