I'm a Bad Blogger

But I have good intentions.

I’m sorry for those of you who “follow” me that I don’t blog on a more regular basis. I promise, I’m always thinking of things I want to write about and fun topics for my blog posts, but somehow I struggle to find the time to do it. I recently wrote out a list of about ten post ideas I’ve had up in my head for a while, with the lack of opportunity to actually put them on the blog. I promise, I have all the intentions of a regular blogger, I just haven’t figured out how to fit regular blogging into my schedule!

This weekend my husband and I are up in Napa, CA, visiting some very good friends. We’re staying with a couple whose romance in their early dating days sort of paralleled our own…we started dating around the same time, went on double dates together, and Brent and I got engaged the day of their wedding, just hours before Brent got all snazzied up to be a groomsmen.

We’re also up here to visit the couple who took us under their wings during our dating and engagement days. Though our relationship with this couple is now mostly a friendship rooted in our common love for the Savior and love of laughter, we still look to them as examples of a godly and wise husband and wife team.

We feel so blessed that these couples give us an excuse to drive up to Napa Valley every once in a while! Talk about a beautiful place to visit! The wine vineyards never cease to take my breath away…

I’ll hopefully have pics up soon.

Oh, and as I sit here writing this on the evening of Friday, the 28^th of May, I’m typing my thoughts out into Microsoft Word because I haven’t gotten the chance to ask for our friends’ internet security password….so if the date that this is actually posted is different from the date I claim to have written it, that’s why.

And lack of security password is another excuse I have for the delay in blogging.

So THERE.

Kalamata Lemon Chicken

Let's see...it's been a while since I've posted a New Recipe of the Week. That's because while I was in Seattle, I didn't attempt any new dinner recipes, and I've only been home for three Saturdays since then, and two of them Brent and I spent out on an adventure. So here is the New Recipe from two Saturdays ago.

This was good.

I wouldn't say excellent, or even super good, only because the chicken turned out very dry. I was supposed to use chicken thighs, but because I usually associate chicken thighs with nasty quality Chinese food, I used chicken breasts. I'm tempted to try the dish again using chicken thighs because I think it might turn out more tender (would it? anyone know? please answer?), but Brent's opinion is that I should let the dish be, because, remember, I don't like chicken thighs.

I hope I grow out of that someday. I know many food-loving people who think that chicken thighs are the bomb. Let me try that again -- I know many food-loving people who think that chicken thighs are fantastic. (Saying "the bomb" just isn't me.)

Aside from the dry chicken, everything else about this was delicious. Neither Brent nor I had ever tried orzo before, but this first experience was a good one. I definitely am motivated to try more orzo recipes.

Without further adu, the recipe.

Kalamata Lemon Chicken

Madison Mayberry's recipe featured in the 2010 edition of MixingBowl.com Magazine

Ingredients

1 to 1 1/4 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs

1 tbsp olive oil

2/3 cup orzo

1/2 cup rinsed, pitted, and halved Kalamata olives (Um, I just used black olives...Kalamata olives are just so expensive. And...I sliced mine. Halved olives can be overpowering.)

1 14-oz can chicken broth

1/2 lemon, cut in wedges

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp Greek seasoning blend (made my own with what I had on hand)

1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400. In a Dutch oven, brown chicken in oil. Stir in orzo, olives, broth, lemon wedges, lemon juice, Greek seasoning, salt, and pepper.

Cover and bake for 35 minutes. Makes about 4 servings.

You Can *PAM* it Like This!

Last Georgie story, I promise.

My little 3 year old niece has quite the little mind of her own. She'll come up with her own phrases and names for certain things if no other names exist for those things that are suitable (in her mind). For instance, Heather's nursing pillow is not a "nursing pillow" or a "boppy pillow," no, it is a "cumbaya." And a little dollop of mushy food crumb found on your finger, or a booger found on your finger, or a spit wad, or any tiny-little-pretty-gross-something, is a "peeta-potter." Duh, right?

One morning while I was in Seattle, Georgie woke up ready to play and to narrate excitedly to Heather and me as she was going about her business of making us breakfast with her toy kitchen utensils. She chattered away excessively while she went to and fro, bringing dishes to Heather, telling her what was on them, when Heather could start eating, etc. In the midst of all of that busyness and chatter, I heard Georgie pause in front of Heather long enough to show her a toy skillet and say,

"And you can PAM it like this! *PAM* *PAM* *PAM*!" With each *PAM* she smacked the bottom of the overturned skillet with the palm of her hand.

Then she just went about her business of preparing breakfast and narrating.

Heather and I looked at each other and got the giggles. What in the WORLD does "pamming" mean?

Oh, George.

Back to the Blog

I'm so sorry for the lull in blogging. Not to make excuses, but I have an excuse: I kind of hit the ground running when I arrived home from Seattle. After I got home last Thursday night at 10 pm, I set out at 8 o'clock the next morning for a job interview at QAI (to be blogged about), then I went on a lunch date with Brent, then I slept for three hours, then Brent and I got caught up on all our tv shows that we agreed not to watch while we were separated, then the next morning we went out to breakfast, bought a bike for Brent to ride to work, then we did some shopping, went to Santa Monica, rode bikes for an hour next to the beach, met my mom and Hunter by the Santa Monica pier, rode bikes for another hour with them, stood in line for Iron Man 2 while eating Johnny Rockets burgers, watched Iron Man 2, the next morning we went to both services of church, went home to do laundry, met my family at Claim Jumper for a Mother's Day celebration, went to my family's place to watch The Village (Vika's Mother's Day gift for my mom), then Monday started. And if you're tired now of reading what I've done since I've been home, you'd be exhausted if I told you what I've done since Monday.

So here are some stories that have just been waiting to be typed.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Georgie vs. The Suitcase

The Suitcase was an area of great temptation for Georgie. When she first climbed in it and closed it on herself, I thought it was cute and reached for my camera. But soon enough Heather and I had to enforce The Suitcase as an off-limits zone for Georgie, because a favorite past time of hers was to unpack and unfold all of my clothing from it. One day, towards the end of my trip, as Heather and I both sat busy at our computers, we heard Georgie working hard and chattering while she did it, saying things like "I'm putting EVERYTHING in the suitcase!" Because Heather and I were both busy at our computers, we would both make cheerful, mindless comments back, like, "Oh how silly!" By the time we shook ourselves out of our too-busy-to-notice-what-the-little-monkey-was-doing state, The Suitcase looked as it does in the above picture. What is NOT pictured is that beneath the first layer of toys, there was a layer of office supplies from the desk right next to The Suitcase. By "everything" Georgie apparently meant toys and office supplies.

We told Georgie firmly to stop what she was doing, (I giggled a bit), then I set about ridding The Suitcase of everything that didn't belong. I told Heather that I was SURE I was going to accidentally go home with a Georgie toy. Sure enough, while unpacking The Suitcase back at home, I found this.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hayley vs. The Coveted PJ's

Before I arrived in Washington, Heather went through her entire wardrobe and emptied her closet of four bags worth of clothing she was ready to pass on to me. 3/4 of the stuff she gave me I have NO IDEA why she was getting rid of -- it's just all too cute and SUCH great quality. Therefore, as I was going through all of the clothing with Heather looking on, I would periodically exclaim, "HEATHER! Why THIS? This is ADORABLE! Why are you giving it up?" To which Heather would reply, "I just NEVER wear it!" And I would then say "Thank you."

But then I came to these:

"HEATHER! Why THESE? These are ADORABLE! Why are you giving them up?"

"I just NEVER wear them."

To which, rather than saying "Thank you" (in hindsight I wish I had), I cocked my head, frowned a little, and said, "Why?"

I can understand never wearing an adorable dress...one does not often have the opportunity to wear an adorable dress as a mother of two in rainy Seattle. I can understand never wearing an adorable shirt...sometimes certain shirts require a certain amount of effort for hair and make-up and jewelry that is just not reasonable for your stage of life. But never wearing adorable pj's if you have them? I am baffled. There is not any sort of other preparation you must do to make yourself look presentable, if not SMASHING, in adorable pj's. They're like, the easiest things ever to wear. (Did I seriously just write like a Valley girl talks?) Also it's fun to look presentable, if not SMASHING, when you go to bed if you're going to bed with a husband.

I explained a little bit of this to Heather, who replied thoughtfully, "Yeah, I could wear cute pj's like that."

Something in the back of my mind told me if I didn't shut my mouth, I wouldn't be in possession of the cute pj's much longer.

A few nights later, I decided to wear my new adorable pj's to bed. I got ready for bed before Heather disappeared for the night -- bad mistake. She looked at me in my adorable pj's that used to be hers and said wistfully, "You look cute."

I said, "Thanks!" Then, when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that she was still eyeing the pj's, I offered with puppy-dog eyes, "Do I need to give these back to you?"

She shrugged and smiled.

I sighed and dramatically said, "Well, I guess I'll just go change into some other pj's then," not believing she was REALLY going to accept them back.

To my surprise, this was her response: "Oh, you don't need to change now. You can wear them tonight if you want."

Um, for real? Really you're going to take back the adorable pj's you just gave me? Seriously? Why did I offer them back?

Heather, I still haven't gotten over acquiring such a precious item, only to have it ripped from my hands.

And you'd better be wearing them on a regular basis, or else I want them shipped within the week. ;)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Hayley vs. The Interview

A few weeks ago I posted a prayer request about an upcoming telephone interview with QAI, and in a following post I gave the praise report of how well it went. QAI contacted me while I was in Washington to set up a time when I could go out to their lab for an interview. We agreed on the morning of May 7, the day after I arrived back home. Much prayer went into the interview, and by God's grace it went really well. I'm pretty sure you can tell that an interview went well when you thoroughly enjoyed yourself throughout it. For the first half hour I was interviewed by the two lab managers who were easy to talk to and who seemed to be impressed with me. God blessed me again with swift and detailed answers to all of their questions. They told me congratulations, from the initial hundreds of applicants I had made it down to the last five candidates. They told me they're looking to hire three of us in the next several months for a few different positions. For the last half hour one of the lab managers took me on a tour of the lab where I would be working if I got the job. The tour was fascinating and whet my appetite for working there! I was even privileged enough to witness a fire resilience test of an airplane cargo wall! Pretty awesome.

So Tuesday, I called one of the guys who had interviewed me to thank him for the interview and re-establish how much I felt I belonged in the company. He thanked me for following up and let me know that for right now, they've hired someone else for the position. :( He did say that they are still wanting to hire two more people for other positions in the next coming months, and he said I am still on their minds as a top candidate.

All of that to say, I didn't get the job. But that's how the interview went. :)

Still trusting God. It's a comfort to know that I am exactly where God wants me to be right now, job or no job.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eyes vs. The Sun

This was our first attempt to take a picture with our mother during our little Mother's Day outing to Santa Monica. Hunter looks like he's praying, mom looks like sand is blowing in her eyes, and I look a little woozy. We had all been waiting for the count of three to open our eyes for the picture, as the blinding Sun was just at eye level behind the camera. Apparently our timing was a little off.

A little better. At least we're all looking at the camera. This time Hunter looks a little seasick, mom looks like she's trying to be a sassy model, and I look Asian.

Finally, we gave up and took a picture facing the other way. This is much better.

Hmm...shoulda stopped with the previous one maybe.

How did it escape my notice that Brent was wearing socks above his shoe line before we went out the door that morning? I literally just discovered this...this is not good.

Awwww. :)

Bicycle fail.

Pose fail.

Too awkward for my taste. It's not a toilet, Hunter! It's a bike!

Georgie Quotes

Georgie, walking toward Heather with the newly purchased Mothers' Day gift: "Happy Balentine's Day!

Georgie: "It's a long, long walk."
Me: "To where?"
Georgie: "To Wendy's."

Georgie: "I don't want pizza."
Heather: "But I made you a really yummy pizza."
Georgie: "SANK you."

Georgie: "I'm hot."
Me: "Do you want me to take your sweater off?"
Georgie: "Um, no sanks. My disser is hot."
Me: "Your disser?"
Georgie: "Yes. My disser is my heart."
?????

A Big City and Da Zoo!

Georgie and Smithers were best friends last night. At least Georgie thought so. It all started when Georgie was given a cookie after dinner, and Georgie decided she wanted to eat it with Smithers. She searched long and hard around the house for Smithers, then finally found her perched in one of the shelves of the changing table. Georgie plopped down next to the changing table and ate her cookie while loving on her kitty.

I came and checked in on them later, and laughed when I found cookie crumbs on Smithers' forehead. Poor Smith-face. She's such a good dog-cat.

I was trying to get a close-up of the crumbs, but Smithers yawned. I thought it made a funny action thought.

While Georgie ate her cookie, she said, "It's a long, long walk for Smithers."

I said, "Where is Smithers going?"

She answered, "To a big city!"

When Georgie finished her cookie and Smithers moseyed out of the changing table, Georgie announced to "Everybody" that she and Smithers were going away, "To a big city and da zoo!" A few minutes later, when all was quiet, I looked for them and found them like this:

I asked Georgie what she was doing and she replied, "We're goin' to a big city and da zoo! We're goin' to da zoo first." She said all of this without looking back at me.

Smithers glanced back at me.

Then Georgie glanced at Smithers.

Then I got a front shot of them. Before I snapped the picture, Georgie had her two fingers in her mouth, and she was just gazing out into the distance. I wonder what exactly she and Smith-face were pretending.

:)

Lately

We've been busy! This will be quick, because I've already wasted enough time getting these pictures ready for the blog. I'll write what commentary you need to know then get back to loving on Georgie!

Friday Heather and I hosted some very old friends of ours, Brittany Gaydos and Brooke Abel. The Abel and Hays families were very good friends as we grew up, and it turns out that the Abel sisters are both currently living in Seattle, so it was just a little drive for them to come have lunch with us. Brittany brought her little cutie daughter, Eleanor! It was a fun afternoon catching up and enjoying lots of memories.

The next morning Heather took us all out to breakfast at Salish Lodge. I had heard so much about this place from Heather, so I requested that IF we got out of the house for anything during my time up here, perhaps we could go there? We had the most delicious breakfast with a window seat that gave us a gorgeous view of Snoqualmie Falls and the surrounding mountainside.

When you order coffee at Salish Lodge, it comes with the most delicious toppings.

Sugar, fresh whipped cream, half-n-half, and chocolate shavings!

When Georgie's hot cocoa arrived, she guzzled it like there was no tomorrow.

I ordered the croissant french toast. Heather enjoyed it vicariously through me. It was SO good.

It came with butter and jam. The tabasco sauce was for Georgie's eggs...not the french toast.

As the guzzling slowed, Georgie's playfulness kicked in. She thought it was too cool to sip hot cocoa AND ice cold water at the same time.

On the way home from Salish Lodge, we stopped at the mall for a bit of shopping. Georgie was SO excited at the prospect of getting new clothes. We stopped at Baby Gap and got some summer clothes for her. Georgie clung tightly to any clothing we picked for her.

At home Georgie prompted a cozy session with her mommy and sister. She spread the blanket and cuddled in, saying, "We're so COZY!" Over and over again.

I've been having too much fun with Heather's cute dishes.

Sunday morning we went to the zoo. Here's George making a silly excited face for the camera while she watched the meerkats.

Messy do. Another topsy turvy. Didn't turn out as neat and clean as the last one I did with her hair, but this one turned out messy in a trendy way.

When we got too cold (and Olivia needed to eat), we stopped at the zoo cafe for hot cocoa. George got whipped cream all OVER her face.

Yesterday I tried out some more fancy skills with Georgie's hair.

She looks too grown up. Like a little school girl.

Yesterday Georgie and I ran some errands together, so I took Georgie out to lunch at Wendy's. I ordered her a doublestack cheeseburger and as I was taking it out of the bun and cutting it up for her, she said, "Mmm, doublestee-yack." There was a grandma sitting near us who chuckled and smiled at Georgie upon hearing that.