Our weekend

We didn't really do much this weekend, but that's ok. We have plenty of stuff coming up with holiday parties, etc. in the next couple of weeks! Saturday was Tracy's birthday, so we watched the girls while Dan took her out, and then we met them for lunch at Paisans. Afterward, Rori and Kirsti were kind enough to come to Target with me (ha, like they needed convincing!) and help me pick out the toys for our Angel Tree girl. She's 9 and wanted a Barbie car, so we got her that, two other Barbies and some cool Barbie outfits. Rori didn't seem to get it at first; she kept saying, "Now who is this for? What's her name? How do you know her? Why are you buying her a gift?" :)

Oh, and Dan put up our outside lights last night. They look good; I'll upload a picture when I get a chance. And we still don't have our tree up......*sigh*.

OH, and we have a freaking mouse in our house! Ick, ick, ick. We had suspected it for quite awhile, and then the other night, Dan was sitting on the floor putting away the laptop, and he opened the flap on the laptop case, only to have a freaking mouse leap out of the bag and over his shoulder! Ewww. I'm so glad I wasn't there when it happened (well, I was there, but I was in bed). That would have scared the you-know-what out of me. So now we have a trap in our kitchen, so when I get home from work, I will not be able to go into our kitchen for fear that I will encounter a dead mouse. It's just not my cup of tea.

I'm back

Well, not that I really went anywhere; I just didn't feel like blogging during Thanksgiving break :) I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We sure did. We went to Tracy and Dan's, like we usually do, and oh. my. gosh dinner was absolutely wonderful. We had the standard turkey, gravy, stuffing, and all that jazz, and it was wonderful. Dan H. is certainly a great cook :) Our contribution to the meal was Chex Mix (me) and apple pie (Dan). Dan seriously makes the best apple pie EVER. It's so yummy. Afterwards, we hung out and played Monopoly, which has become our Thanksgiving tradition. We jokingly call Dan "Old Man Potter" (from It's a Wonderful Life) since he just wipes the board with us. He should go into real estate in real life, then I could quit my job! (Although, with this economy, maybe not!)

Then, on Black Friday we actually went shopping. Yeah, we're crazy. And we know now to never do it again. On Thanksgiving evening, Tracy was asking me if I wanted to go to Boston Store and Kohl's, just to see who was out and about. I said sure, and then she said, "Ok, I'll pick you up at four." FOUR?!? Who in their right mind goes out at 4? Well, we did, and it was a freaking madhouse. The stores were just crammed, the prices weren't even that great; we honestly don't understand the hype about Black Friday. We even tried to go to Target at 5:30 (a half hour before it opened), and there was a line around the store! What the hell, people? It's November in Wisconsin, and you're standing outside? So needless to say, we just went home.

When Dan heard me come in (he stayed home to sleep, since he had to work that day) he just mumbled, "You're back already? Did you guys even go?" Yes, we went, and it was our first and last time :) Don't get me wrong, it was kind of fun to see who was out that early, but it's definitely a one-time thing.

On Saturday we saw Four Christmases. It was SO funny. I literally laughed out loud numerous times. I love Reese Witherspoon, and Vince Vaughn is freaking hilarious (plus, he looked a LOT like Dan in this movie--Dan gets told all the time that he looks like Vince). It's one of those movies I'd like to own.

We still didn't get our tree or lights put up, but we'll do that this weekend. Dan was actually out of town in Milwaukee on Tuesday and yesterday for work; he didn't get back until late last night. So I figured we could wait until Friday or Saturday to start the decorating :) I'll get pictures up when we do!

Probably not the best idea....

But it was fun anyway! Last night, some of my coworkers and I went out to The Brass Ring to celebrate the fact that Kathy, one of the salespeople, was told that her chemotherapy and radiation were successful, and the tumor is gone from her lung! We were all so excited when she told us (she was diagnosed in August) so when she said she wanted to get together, we were all for it. It was a chance to see my friend, Nikki, too, since she no longer works here but wanted to get in on the action :)

I only intended to stay for maybe two drinks; after all, The Office was on and I didn't want to miss that. Yeah, that plan just kind of flew out the window! I ended up staying until 10 or so (we got there at 5); luckily, I had the foresight to call Dan and tell him that he needed to drive me home, so he came at about 7. His verdict is that my coworkers are certifiably crazy :) Sadly, I am NOT feeling the best today (and I have a magazine going to print! ACK!). Oh well; I'm not too under the weather, since I was able to work out at lunch.

So I'm sure tonight we'll just take it easy, especially since tomorrow we're going to the Essenhaus to celebrate my friend Melinda's birthday. That should be a good time :)

Met my goal!

So my sister-in-law, Nancy, got Dan a Wii Fit for his birthday (I got him the Wii). And we absolutely LOVE it. I've been doing it for little over a month now, and today I met my goal! I actually got up at 5:30 to exercise (I know, I know, so uncharacteristic of me) and I weighed myself, and I lost the five pounds I wanted! I'm so excited!

Of course, now I have to lose five more, and five more, and five more.... you get the picture. But still, baby steps, right? I'm just thrilled the first five pounds are off!

My favorite exercises are the advanced step aerobics, the boxing, and the hula hoop. Those three exercises (especially the boxing and the hula hoop) totally get my heart rate going. I love it! I usually do that routine Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and then on Tuesday and Thursday I do more yoga and strength training, like the lunges and torso twists. I also work out in the gym at my work 4-5 days a week.

So yeah, it's been an exercise filled month or so, but I'm happy I finally met my goal!

A Relaxing Weekend

Dan and I didn't really do jack this weekend, and you know what? I LOVED it! My living room and kitchen are now clean, my dining table is cleared off and dusted, and the only things on it are two pilgrim statues that I have out in honor of Thanksgiving. Oh, and our laundry is now put away (all 5 loads of it!), our bed had the sheets changed, and our bathrooms are cleaned. I LOVE it! Oh, and Dan got paid on Friday, so we mailed in our last payment on our bed, which means we paid it off two months before our "no interest/no payments" time frame ended. Yay!

Well, we did do a few fun things, too. Friday night we went out to eat and then went to Borders, since Dan had a gift card from my mom that he wanted to use. We had both decided that we spend too much time just vegging out in front of the TV, and we really want to spend time doing more meaningful things, like reading. So we each got a book; he got one called The Eight (I think it's a conspiracy novel or something, much like The Da Vinci Code. Don't quote me on that, though) and I got a Sandra Brown one called Envy. OMG, it was so good!! I read the whole thing in a weekend; it was one of those that you truly can't put down. And, it was really well-written, too. I highly recommend it!

Now I'm reading a book that Dan got me for Christmas called Mademoiselle Boleyn. That, of course, is excellent (and right up my alley). I absolutely love books like that. The only problem is that I don't want to read too many of them, since one of my goals is to write a historical fiction novel before I die, and I worry that reading a bunch of these books will replace my own ideas with the authors'. Oh well. It's an excellent book, though. I think I also need to read Twilight; there are so many people raving about it, and the movie comes out this Friday. I resisted reading them for awhile, since I'm a contrary sort who doesn't like to read something that everyone is all gaga over, but I learned my lesson with Harry Potter. I REFUSED to read them for the longest time, thinking, "Why on earth is everyone so crazy about a damn wizard?" Yeah, then I read them and I was HOOKED. I think I read the entire series in a month. I got so invested in the characters that I cried--repeatedly--in book 7. So, I learned my lesson, and I'm going to give Twilight a try. Vampires and whatnot aren't really my thing, but then again, wizards weren't either, and we all saw how wrong I was about that!

Old Navy Sale

So there's this coupon I had for Old Navy: 30% off your purchase. Good deal, right? Hell yeah! I went to Old Navy and got $125 worth of clothes (two pairs of jeans, three sweaters) for $87.00. Is that a deal or what? Plus, the coupon can be used again and again. Sooooo, if you are planning on going to Old Navy and you want to save some money, email me (amandaarmendariz@gmail.com) and I'll forward the coupon on to you. It's good through Sunday the 16th.

Good new recipe!

Ok, I actually made dinner last night. I know, I know, it's a rare occurrence. But it finally happened! It was called Smoked Paprika Chicken or something like that; I just found it online. But it was really, really good (and super easy; I think it took me like 5 minutes to prepare or something). Here it is:

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken, 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 pounds, quartered, or chicken parts
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon Spanish smoked paprika (Is this different from regular paprika? That's what I used)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced (I just used garlic powder and it worked fine)

Preparation:

Heat oven to 400°. Line a roasting pan or jelly roll pan with foil.

Wash chicken parts and pat dry. Arrange chicken, skin side up, on the baking pan; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. (I just used boneless skinless breasts, since that's healthier. Didn't affect the recipe at all.)

Combine remaining ingredients; rub the paste over the chicken pieces. Roast, uncovered, for about 50 to 60 minutes, or until an instant-read thermometer registers 165° when inserted into the thickest part of a thigh. Juices will run clear when the chicken is pierced with a fork. Remove the chicken to a serving platter; cover loosely with foil and let stand for 8 to 10 minutes before serving.
Serves 4.

So yeah, it was really good. Of course, I was slightly miffed, since I forgot to point the timer alert on the oven thermometer. So I'm working out to the Wii Fit, and I'm thinking, "Gee, it hasn't reached 165 degrees yet?" I go over to look and it was up to 190 b/c I didn't have the damn alert on! Grrrrr. Of course, that's my fault, but I'm going to blame the thermometer instead :)