Recipe Time

I have been enjoying a little bit more free time this week with only one class at the moment. I dug out my sewing machine and some other crafty stuff for the first time in months on Sunday evening. It felt good to work on a project. I actually have a few projects going right now. If I finish one of them, I will post :) 

I am just about in vacation countdown mode...I can't wait for Boston and our cruise!!! It will be nice to have some time off from work too. It has been awhile and things have been busy at work so I'm ready, to say the least. We fly into Boston on Saturday and will hang out there for 3 days until we board the ship on Tuesday. We have never been to Boston and it is definitely on my bucket list. I have been bookmarking all kinds of stuff on Yelp. Let me know if you have any Boston recommendations. 

Last week I tried a new recipe. George really likes shrimp scampi so I decided to give it a whirl and I was glad I did. It turns out that shrimp scampi is super easy...actually probably one of the easiest dinners I've ever made. 

There were minimal ingredients which is always nice!

Someone gave us this little dish for a wedding present. It was the perfect size for this dish...

Very tasty over pasta!

**Note: the only modifications I made were the addition of a bit of white wine and 1/2 the butter that the recipe calls for...those were recommendations that I found in the reviews.

 INGREDIENTS:

1 cup butter 2 tablespoons prepared Dijon-style mustard 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon chopped garlic 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley 2 pounds medium raw shrimp, shelled, deveined, with tails attached

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
2.	In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the butter, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, and parsley. When the butter melts completely, remove from heat.
3.	Arrange shrimp in a shallow baking dish. Pour the butter mixture over the shrimp.
4.	Bake in preheated oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until the shrimp are pink and opaque.

Gender Reveal!

Another Monday already! I don't have much time to write, but I wanted to at least post some pictures from the gender reveal on Saturday night! Terrisa had some great ideas that she found on Pinterest.

Paisley was excited for the party...she wanted to know if it was her party :)

The guests voted on boy or girl for each of us...

 

Brian and George were in charge of blowing up the balloons. As you can see below, we are having a GIRL and they are having a BOY! 

 We had some treats for people to snack on. I made my favorite, chocolate covered strawberries! 

My parents gave us some really nice gifts...adorable diaper bags and the cutest outfits from Janie and Jack (picked out by Dad and Hannah on their trip to Oregon)...

George had his first sort-of Father's Day yesterday. He enjoyed Dunkin Donuts in the morning and a cute little onesie! 

Insane Week!

Oh my gosh, this has been such a busy week with school. I have had 24 hours of class within the last 7 days...plus hours of homework/studying/reading on top of it. I am exhausted and ready for the weekend, to say the least. I mentioned it before, but I have loaded up on classes this summer (particularly during the first half of the summer) so that I can have an easier load when the baby comes. After this summer, I will have all of my electives complete and I will be able to take off quarter 2 of my second year (mid October - mid January). When I go back in January, I will only have 2 classes left. So, in other words, the craziness right now will definitely pay off! And even though it is a lot of work, I really like my classes right now and I am learning a ton. 

George has been in his new job for about a month and a half already. He is loving it and is SO glad that he made the switch over to this position. I love having him around more too! The best part about his new position is his schedule. Instead of working five, 8 hour days, he has the option to work four, 10 hour days. His schedule right now is Tuesday-Friday with Saturday, Sunday, and Monday off. Imagine how jealous I am on Monday morning! :) 

We have the gender reveal party this Saturday evening with Brian and Terrisa and friends. I can't wait to tell friends what we're having! I will post pictures on Sunday or Monday. 

In other baby news, the nursery is well underway now. George finished up building the furniture on Monday night. We rearranged the room a ton of times to see what looks best. I think we finally figured it out! We are going to order the mattress and rocking chair soon as well...and then paint, decorate, etc. It's an exciting project for both of us. 

Time for some sleep...and TGIF (almost)! Have a great weekend.

Dinner Time

Really quick post before I head up to bed. On Monday night, Hannah and Jeremiah made dinner for the family. I have to admit, I was a bit skeptical (just kidding), but the meal turned out delicious! I told them that their meal was fancier than anything that I've ever made for my family. They're making the rest of us look bad!

The main course was "healthy" Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo (no cream, regular milk instead, I believe). Hannah found the recipe on Pinterest. I'll see if she can send me the recipe so I can post. It was delicious and didn't taste low fat :)

Sides were broccoli, green beans, and Italian bread

Compliments to the chefs!

Tonight, George and I got started on the nursery furniture. We bought a three piece set from Target (crib, dresser, changing table). We got the changing table 100% complete and the dresser about 50% complete. George is going to work on it a bit more this weekend while I'm in class and then we'll probably finish next week. I will post pictures when the furniture is all assembled. The next steps will be the decorations, bedding, painting, etc. We're getting an early start on it all...but that's how I like to be!! :)

Awesome Finds

This morning I woke up early and headed to Superstition Farm's "urban boutique"...basically, an organized garage sale kind of thing with different vendors who all sell vintage or antique type things. I wasn't sure if I would find anything good, but I definitely did!! I got a quilt rack for only $10, a little while side table for $12, a toddler high chair for $25, a bunch for cute wall decor (anywhere from $3-$15), and more. It was so much fun...I am so glad Emily told me about it (she was out of town and couldn't go). I will definitely be hitting up the next boutique in the fall. 

We also went to the grand opening of Eastmark today with Hannah, Terrisa, and my parents -- it is new neighborhood on the old GM proving grounds in Southeast Mesa. It was quite the event with entertainment, organized transportation, tons of free food, and lots of people! We probably looked at 10+ models. We aren't in the market for a new home (we love ours :)) but it is still fun to get decorating ideas. Anyone else like to look at model homes for fun?! We do it quite frequently. 

Tonight we went to Liberty Market in downtown Gilbert for dinner with some friends. That was my first time going there for dinner and it was very delicious. I got a wood fired pizza and George got a burger....oh, and we got my fav, creme brûlée! When we were leaving, I noticed that the new Mexican restaurant, Joyride, next to Postino had people in there dining. We walked over to check it out and it was actually the "friends and family" soft opening, but they do officially open on June 4. I briefly looked at the menu and it looked very promising (same owners as Postino, by the way). I want to check it out soon....too bad no margaritas for me right now!

Anyway, back to the books...soooo much reading to do for school this week!