Summer Eats...

One thing I miss about my summer vacation is that I had a desire to cook/plan out meals. When school starts, dinner becomes a quick/ what do we have/ what do we feel like/ how fast can it be made.

This summer's ingredients of choice were:

-tomatoes

-fresh mozzarella

-fresh basil

I just like how light they are. Perfect for the heat. So I made chicken sandwiches with the mozzarella, basil and tomatoes with balsamic vinegar drizzled on. I got the concept from "Real Simple." I thought it turned out nicely.

When my family was here in February, my mom, Camille, and I went to this little restaurant that we just seriously stumbled upon. I got this pasta dish that had none other than mozzarella, tomatoes and basil. It was amazing! I, sadly, have not gone back to get some more but one summer evening I thought I would have a go at recreating this dish that I have placed on a pedestal.

Here's my take....

Michael said there were too many tomatoes. (Waaah) But I left my plate on the coffee table to get a glass of water and came back to our puppy devouring my food. So, since she liked it so much, I let her finish off my plate and I got a new plate and fork. If she likes it, that's a compliment, right?

...Even if she does eat grass sometimes.

So now, help a girl out. I need some school year worthy/basic meals. Any tips?

Ramblings of Randomocity

So I feel now that school has started our lives have hit a new boring level. True we had our anniversary. That's a pretty exciting event. But, that was two weeks ago and I had lost my voice and caught a cold from the first week of school. (I know- my school year starts super early. But, we get out for summer May 15- so fair trade.) We were pretty bummed because we had to miss one of Michael's cousin's wedding and a family reunion because school had just started and Michael has no more days off work. So that was a let down! That's a sign the summer is truly over when we can't just go and do the things we want. Ouch!

The heat hasn't been as bad as it was last year and my class has been a lot better than the start of last year. Both of these are major blessings. However, the heat is hot! I think I've built up some tolerance because I know that September isn't going to be any cooler, but I'm sick of sitting inside bored or standing outside sweaty! Something's gotta give!

Michael's been loving inexpensive golfing rates in the heat and he's been doing really well. He's also starting his MBA with Arizona State this week. So we're pretty excited about that, but man, weren't we just finished paying tuition and books and studying? C'est la vie!

Friday, I made Michael watch, "Beastly" with me. Quite the gem...

I think he's going to hold that one against me for awhile...Totally worth it.

Saturdays are now SUPER lazy. Our house usually looks like a wreck by the end of the week so It's nice to actually do the dishes, make my bed, clean my clothes...you know. The basics that I was so good at staying on top of during the summer that are now making me feel like I'm drowning in my own house. Bless Saturdays!

And today, all of my nursery class was 18 month olds and only one 3 yr. old. That meant the 3 yr old said a lot of prayers as she is the only one who can talk. There was a lot of drooling and chewing on toys today. And a lot of spills during snack time as they are used to sippy cups. It was quite the adventure.

And that, I do believe, sums up our random dealings this week. Here's hoping that now that I have been teaching four years my immune system steps up and covers the germs this fresh batch of students brought. Bring on the Orange Juice!

PS I got to see, "The Help" with Alicia last weekend! LOVED it! Go read it! Go see it!

Happily Ever After...

Three years later and our happily ever after continues to be a lot of fun. We had a lot of adventures this past year, and I'm sure our next year will not disappoint!

Well, it's here...

The final sunset of my summer freedom has come...

Good thing it's a beautiful one! Now let's hope all the nightmares about my students, me forgetting to sharpen the pencils and me forgetting certain articles of clothing do not come true. Oh boy...I'm nervous!

Snowflake 3.0

This weekend was time for the third annual Snowflake, AZ trip. It is a very welcomed escape from the valley heat. We are glad the Baers could make it with us again this year!

The agenda...

Wake up really early. Drive 3 hours. Avoid overheating the car. See the beautiful, Snowflake temple on top of the plateau as you drive over the hill.

We did a temple session which is perfect because the Mesa temple is closed.

After the temple, we had lunch at none other than the Skillet. For the past two years, we pretty much could pick any seat in the house at the Skillet, but Saturday was quite the different story! See the crowd we had to fight to get our sweet table? (That's why the bottom three are blurry.)

Lesson learned last year, the hamburgers are good!

Up next was the golf course. It's such a fun course. And this is coming from the non-golfer. I did take some fun swings though. Look at me keeping my eye on the ball.

Maybe one day I'll be a golfer...

Everyone else did great though...

Good form, sweetheart!

With colors like these, who wouldn't have jumping pictures?

Sorry for the tank top showing...

Best Picture of the Day...

I enjoyed my Big Bikkie imitation. Then we enjoyed the ride home. It was great being with friends and taking in the view!

Dear Snowflake,

See you next year!

Love, The Shields

Sad, sad day...

So yesterday was free spay/neuter day and so we took our puppy there. Michael found out that they don't do that many so he woke up at 3:30 AM to take her there and there were people already there! He dropped her off and came home around 7:30 AM. Then we got ready for church. (Sorry for the blurry pic)

Our puppy didn't get home until 9:00 PM. There were complications and she ended up having to go into two more surgeries. I was there from 2:30-4:30 and watched all the other dogs walk on out of the clinic. Except ours. Michael stayed until she was finally able to go home. Even then, she couldn't walk.

The vet didn't think she would make it out of the second surgery but after the third, her vitals were looking better. It was a VERY long day. And a VERY, VERY long night thanks to her pain and the HUGE monsoon storm.

Fortunately, she was able to sit up this morning and waited for Michael to wake up so that she could go to the bathroom. She is walking, eating, taking her meds, and even wagging her tail sometimes. So we hope she is permanently getting better. Poor girl!

I'm telling you, it's amazing how close these crazy pooches are to us. It felt like my own baby was having all these surgeries. It was a sad day!

Foreboding, isn't it?

Not only are the weather reports reporting 112 degrees with 20% humidity foreboding, but so is seeing this coming your way...

This, my friends, is a haboob. Yep that's what a giant wall of dust and crazy wind is called. You can tell how dusty it is from the haziness of the pictures. It's our second one this season. Our last one...

...made some national headlines. That's pretty sweet, but clean up/dusting afterward is not my favorite.

Sunshine on one side...

and this from the other direction...

Monsoon season 2011 is definitely here!