Where is Doc????

There is at least one habit that Preston has picked up from Doc and this is one of them...

Do you notice it, the ONE piece of food that he pulled out of his bowl and put on my bedroom floor.  Yeah, Doc loves to do that but I haven't ever seen Preston do it before. That is before now...

My flowers

For Christmas, Grandma E gave my mom and I a flower to pot.  I have it growing and its producing some beautiful buds.

And, if I can grow it, anyone can.  Do you see the second stalk growing down there?? This picture is about a week or so old because its now taller than the one that's blooming.  It hasn't opened yet but once it does I'll have to upload another photo.

View From My Perspective

Thought I might share with you the view from my new balcony.  I really enjoy it...

Reupholstered

It took some time but I finally have the chair reupholstered!!  Woo hoo!! Look how beautiful it is :)

This was my first attempt at adding the ribbing around the pillows.  I broke a few needles in the process of learning but I think it was worth the time and effort!! It turned out better than I imagined it would.  Yay me!!

Welcome Home!

Or, welcome to my home!!! I haven't put pictures up of my apartment in a while so I thought I would show you around.  Check it out!!

Two done... And I love them!!!

I have been told that these chairs were my great grandparents. So, now we know!

Yesterday tested my skills and spent a good portion of my day making the cushion covers and the results were worth it! I think they are beautiful. I made them with zippers, so for now I have the old cushions in them. However, at some point I will make new since, I believe, the old ones were original with the chair and the padding leaves much to be desired. Either way, they work well for now!!

Boys only want girlfriends who have great skills... sewing skills...

Fabric!!

I have a pair of outdoor chairs that I received from my parents who got them, I think, from my great-grand parents (please correct me if I am wrong). I absolutely love the chairs, I love the color, I love the look, just love them! However, the cushions on the other hand left a lot to be desired. So, I haven't used them. Now, I want to make new cushions for the chair so I went to Jo-Ann Fabric and found some fabric that I thought would go well.

Here is my before...

Gotta love my chair!!

Here is the fabric. Beautiful, isn't it!!

I am excited to pull out my sewing machine and give it a go. Hopefully soon I will have a great after picture!!

Christmas TREES Are UP!!!

So you know I heart Christmas. And I heart Christmas Trees... well, I now have two trees up (right now I am looking at my one at home all lit up as I type)!!!!

Here is my home tree...





And yesterday Jerry and I put up the tree at Buckhead Church...


Oh so happy!

P.S. There are more pictures of the trees, just click on the link under Pictures!!

Dinner with a View

For as late as I was up last night, I just couldn't sleep in!! By 7:30am I was ready to be up. So I made my way to my couch, rested for another 30 minutes before doing my workout... 30 minutes of yoga and 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer.

After working out I came back upstairs to the apartment and dyed my hair. As the dye was setting I made breakfast. I may have already mentioned this but Tiffany, one of the ladies in my small group, gave me a whole bunch of Vegetarian Times magazines. I decided that I would take one magazine at a time, mark all the recipes that I want to make, and then make them all before going to the next magazine. Yesterday while I was running my errands I picked up some of the ingredients to make some of the recipes in the magazine, but I did have almost all of the ingredients to make one... which I made as my breakfast.

Pressed Waffle Panini
(my recipe is a little different from the original, I am giving you mine)

2 Italian soy sausages
2 t homemade strawberry jam
1 t vegan cream cheese
pinch of dried thyme
2 leftover waffles from last weekend
4 T reconstituted sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
7 basil leaves, whole,
1 slice vegan cheese

Cook sausages over medium heat for about 2-3 minutes per side. Pull off the grill and cut each sausage into 4's. Combine jam, cream cheese, and thyme in bowl.

Thawed waffles in microwave before toasting in a toaster. Spread jam mixture on the waffle. Sprinkle sun-dried tomatoes over waffle, top with basil, vegan cheese , and sausage. Topped with 2nd waffle to form sandwich.

Coat heated pan with cooking spray. Grill sandwiches 3 minutes per side, or until golden brown and cheese melted.


I loved the panini, however I couldn't taste the cheese so I wouldn't put it on again. If I can't taste it, it's not worth having the extra calories! However, the cheese on its own tastes really good!! I bought it from Publix yesterday and when I ate it by itself I loved it, it tasted just like smoked provolone!!! I haven't had any cheese in so long it was amazing to have!!

After breakfast I finished getting ready for my day and headed up to the outlets off of 400. I had to go up to North Georgia because the funeral for my friends baby that passed away was today at 3:00pm. Since the funeral location and the outlets are pretty close to each other I decided to take a look at the outlets. Mostly to see if I could find a new rug or some pictures to hang in my apartment but I didn't find anything. However, what I did find was 2 dresses (one I am wearing now and have gotten a ton of compliments today on it) and the second I will be wearing tomorrow to work and then to a wedding. I also picked up a present for my dear friend Lynette!! Her birthday was on September 11 and I was supposed to go to her birthday party however I was laid up sick! So, now I will need to get together with her soon so I can give it to her!

After the outlets I went to the funeral, which was held right at the grave site of the baby. I expected it to be sad, however I wasn't ready for how sad I would be. The last funeral I had been to was for my grandfather. It was sad to see him go, however he had lived a good, long life; had children; had a wife who loved him; and was now in a nursing home. So, it was sad to see him go however it also felt like the circle of life. However, seeing the small coffin for the baby, knowing this baby hadn't lived even one day, the devastation this caused to my friend and her family made this so much harder! Andy, our preacher, gave the sermon and it was very good... discussing how this is something that we can never understand and how we need not try to. God does understand and what we need to do is lean hard against him. He talked about how David in the Bible had gone thru the same thing and he leaned on God to get him thru and how David was given compassion and was blessed.

After the funeral I stopped by the Lenox Mall because I had a birthday certificate from Aveda to get a free perfume. I got the perfume, looked around a few stores, stopped into Anthropolgie to see my friend Krista, and stopped by Teavana to pick up some Yerba Mate before heading home.

On my drive home I could think of nothing better than to eat my dinner on the rooftop. Once I got home I knew I needed do it. So I made myself a pear martini, heated up my left-overs, added a salad and headed upstairs.

Could it have been more beautiful?!?!?

While sitting upstairs all I could think of was dessert... and I new I had the ingredients to make some rice crispy treats and knew that I needed some! I have had a recipe that I have been waiting and waiting to make and finally decided it needed to be done... as always, I don't have all the ingredients from the original recipe however you can get the original here. Here is what I made...

Brown Rice Crispy Bars

Ingredients:
3 cups puffed brown rice
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 tablespoon orange blossom honey
couple drops vanilla
2 cups mini marshmallows,
1/3 cups toasted slivered almonds
1/2 cup coarsely chopped dried cranberries, white raisins, dark raisins mixed
2 dried fixed, coarsely chopped
couple pinches coconut flakes
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Lightly coat the inside of a 7 x 5 pan by 2-inch metal pan with oil and set aside. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Spread the brown puffed rice and almonds evenly on a sheet pan. Toast the oven for 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the rice is toasting, prepare the marshmallow mixture.

Place the oil, honey, vanilla, and marshmallows in a large mixing bowl set over a pot of gently simmering water. Stir until the marshmallows are melted, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Once the marshmallows are melted, quickly add the toasted brown rice, almonds, and fruit and stir to combine. Coat your hands or a spatula with oil and spread the mixture evenly into the pan. Once the mixture has cooled completely, cut into squares and store in an airtight container for 1 to 2 days.


These are so good I have had like half the pan already! I am about to freeze the rest so it won't be so easy to eat so much so quickly!! I love the mix of fruit and cereal with the marshmallow!! Yumm-o!!!

Where there is smoke...

Really, right now I am hoping there is no fire.

Doing my typical morning routine, I left my apartment for work. However today was not typical... there is a ton of smoke in the hallway. Hmm... there was none in my apartment. The fire alarm isn't going off. And this smoke smells a little like gas. Maybe I should take the stairs...

I tried taking the stairs but they were locked, so now I need to talk to the concierge when I get back home to find out how to use them in the future if necessary. But, the smoke and the smell is starting to get to me. I am chancing the elevator.

I pray the entire time that I'm in the elevator that it will not stop. Thank God, I get to the lobby and find out that the concierge is already aware of the smoke. The smoke is in every hallway in the entire building but they haven't found fire or smoke in any of the condos. They are assuming that the trouble is one of the air inductors on the roof that pushes air to the common areas but they aren't certain.

When I left I knew that the fire department had been called. And while driving to work I drove by the fire truck going to my building.

Please pray that they catch it and that I have a home to go home to!

Tin Drum - Restaurant Review

I always like to get the guys who help me move something for dinner to say thank you (Sad, isn't it that I move enough to have an 'always'). But, nonetheless, in the past the easiest thing to has been to order pizza. However, since I don't do meat/cheese and my friend Marcus doesn't do the crust (he's allergic to gluten) and there were only 2 people who were for sure available to help me I thought pizza was just a bad idea.


I started thinking about the different options and Tin Drum came to mind. Its cheap, its tasty, and there are non-gluten and vegan friendly options... perfect! So after getting all of my stuff out of storage we stopped by Tin Drum on the way home. And like always... it was great! I had tofu instead of meat and Marcus had rice instead of noodles and we all enjoyed our options. The only downside is that I would have loved to have more vegetables in the dish. Either way, always good!

And, it was just enough food to give us the energy to unpack at the apartment. Brilliant!

Stuff is Moved

So, my stuff has been moved from the storage unit to my bedroom. I slept in what I would have to call a five-year-old's fort. It was pretty cool... except now I have to unpack it all.


Angela is having her stuff moved out as we speak... so the condo will be pretty empty when I get home... which is exciting cause I can then start moving my stuff in!

However, with my allergies I have a stuffy head from all the dust of moving.

Wish me luck!

I Hurt!!

Well, a few ways actually! 

The first, I actually miss having Lucy here!  She would crack me up!!!  I didn't miss her this AM when I had to get up... I was glad I didn't have to do the work... hehe!!  But I would dog-sit her again anytime!

Second... I worked out this morning and did a lot of shoulder exercises and I hurt my left side!!! I can barely lift my left arm!!  Guess I will have to either rest tomorrow or only run!

My goal for today was to clean the condo since Lucy left yesterday but I decided not to strain myself and I am only doing the laundry.  I did organize the different areas that Angela, the condo owner, has set up for cleaning.  I am too, too organized and I was having a hard time because I felt like everything is everywhere.  Now I have he cleaning supplies set up in a way that works for me and I should be ready tomorrow!  

I think she has warmed up to me...

Lucy, the same dog that has been running from me the past few days, jumped up on the couch and sat with me today.  At one point we were both sleeping!  Haha!!  But, I figured since I have this great computer that can take a picture I need to capture this moment...

Haha!!  Hilarious.  

Peachtree Road Race

So I told you last night I was exhausted... I wasn't kidding!!  I went to sleep at 8:30pm and woke up this morning at 7:30am!!!!  It was just in time to take Lucy for a walk and then watch the runners going down Peachtree...

I can't believe I forgot to sign up for this!!  Next year... I need to write it on my calendar so I don't forget!!

Flicks on Fifth

So last night I went with Mariah, Lynette, Chris -- Lynette's boyfriend, and Chris -- Mariah's friend to Steel for free sushi again.  I generally get 2 kinds of sushi but last night I ate three... and the third must have had lactose in it cause my stomach cramped right up!  And mine was the only one.  Now I know I have to be careful with what is put in my maki rolls!

Stomach ache and all, Mariah and I headed over to Flicks on Fifth to watch the Bourne Ultimatum.  We stayed thru most of it and I love seeing free movies with a ton of other people... they clap and scream at the screen!!  Its so exciting!!

Tonight Marcus and Mariah are coming over to eat dinner on the roof... as long as it doesn't rain!!  I need to start making my part (vegetable rice) pretty soon!!

For Sale

Wanna see where I live?? Well, it is for sale and I found the listing online so check it out.  Its such a beautiful place and I totally wish I could afford it... nonetheless its a great place to live for now!

Bring on the Changes

I am moving!!!! My girlfriend Angela has been nice enough to let me rent her condo and I will be moving next week Thursday and Friday!! She has been spending a lot of time in Kentucky because that is where her family and boyfriend is, while she is job hunting (she recently lost her job) and has her condo on the market but it isn't selling.

Since I needed a place to stay and she is gone most of the time I will be moving into her place. She will leave the furniture, the condo will continue to stay on the market, she will visit me from time to time, and I will be paying a very reduced rate. Its a win-win.

I will be moving all of my furniture into storage on Thursday, May 29 and then moving my clothing to Angela's condo on Friday, May 30.

I am very excited about this opportunity. This way I can be without an apartment contract for a little while and can make some decisions about my life.

Also, I am in the middle of a few life changing options and just need some prayers as I let God direct my life. Please pray that he will show me what is the right option for now and pray that my heart will be open to whatever.

This is exciting and I am ready for all the changes!! But, this is also why I haven't blogged since Friday...

I'm Free!!

Not free and clear, but FREE!!! I had a slight show down this morning with the apartment complex and I am able to break my lease without early termination fees. I will be checking out new apartments and will (hopefully) be out within the week.

Pray for me! This is a busy week!!

Urban Garden updated

Well, I found out that squirrel like to dig. Remember this is my first garden, and its on my apartment deck. I am new at this! In learning what was going on with my plants (i.e. why my plants were being dug up) I lost a couple. However what I wanted to show you was the hanging plant... my tomatoes!!


I almost lost these as well but they are surviving well now!! I started by watering them as much as I do my grapefruit trees... about once a week. However they need a LOT more water than than. I try to water these tomatoes about every other day... they are in a hanging basket.

I have been lucky enough to be able to eat a couple of the tomatoes and they are great!! I have a few on my salad today too!!

Yummy!!