NY Highlight

This is my NY family. It was the highlight of my trip to be able to see them. Jonathan is the one standing next to me. He has grown and changed so much. He's turning into a MAN, and I can't believe it! He's doing awesome things...he's in a band and is going to college. He is such a sweetheart.

Robyn is standing between her parents. She is still in high school, but is getting her cosmetology license at the same time. She is so grown up and is turning into an AMAZING young lady!

We ate dinner and reminisced. It was so much fun! They are wondeful people!

NY

This is Chris at Times Square. He loved NY so much. It was so fun to be there again and see him look around in awe. When we went to Grand Central, Chris just loved it. We found a corner and people watched for awhile. It is amazing how many people there are in this city! You never fully understand it until you visit yourself. Fun times!

While there we also got to see Wicked on Broadway. It was the best play ever. During intermission I broke down crying. Everyone was staring at me because the play isn't sad. I was so completely homesick. I missed my kids more than I ever had in my life. I knew they were well taken care of, but I just couldn't take being away from them for that long.

On our last day we NEEDED bagels. There is nothing like a NY bagel. I love them all...every flavor. I love them with every cream cheese flavor, butter, as a sandwich, or any other way they make them. We found the best bagel shop on the planet. They were AMAZING...man I'm making myself hungry! Then we went for a run at Riverside Park. It's a large park. We got separated, and Chris had the cell phone, money, subway cards, and hotel key. I cried. I asked a lady to help. We were lost most of the morning and on into the afternoon. I prayed. I looked ahead. There was my husband running toward me! Our NY experience would not have been complete without getting lost in the Big Apple! We drowned our wasted day in.....BAGELS...yup, we went back to the same place.

NY

This is Chris on the Brooklyn Bridge. Right after we checked into our hotel, we took a subway down to the bridge, walked across it, and ate pizza. The pizza was fabulous. If you've ever seen the Seinfeld episode about the soup nazi, it was just like that. On the outside there were all kinds of hand written signs telling what the "rules" were....no strollers, no cell phones, you MUST wait in the line, no checks, no credit cards, etc. When we finally got in, the place was PACKED. We were seated at a table with 10 other people who we didn't know, which made it tough for conversation. I was so glad to have this experience because I wanted Chris to see what NY was really like.

This is me after we had pizza in Brooklyn with the Manhattan skyline in the background.

The next day we went to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. I had NEVER been there during the 2 years I lived in NY! This is my favorite picture of the Lady. Chris and I had to wait in line FOREVER for security to go inside the statue. Ellis Island was really cool, too. After we got off the boat we were sooo hungry, so we went to Chinatown. We got lost on some side streets and it turned out to be really cool cuz we got to see what it's really like. There was tons of fish markets, and the fish looked like they had JUST been caught because they were still moving. Everyone was speaking Chinese and staring at us. Eventually we found an authentic Chinese resaurant. They only had chopsticks there and you had to ask if you wanted a fork. We wanted to fit in, so we struggled along with our chopsticks. The next thing we know all the cooks decided it was lunchtime for them too. They came out to a huge table filled with food, and whipped out........forks for themselves! We were cracking up! The food wasn't that great. Chinese food has definately been Americanized....and I learned that I like it that way!

The next day we went for a run in Central Park and visited Grand Central Station, the NY public library, Rockefeller Plaza, Times Square, and the Empire State Building at night. This collage is completely made of recycled stuff...cell phones, keyboards, mouses, etc.

Boston

We went to Boston and NY back in April, but until now I couldn't post the pics, so here goes. This first picture is me and our good friend Yvette. She let Chris and I crash at her house. She was a wonderful hostess. Thanks Yvette!

The next pic is Chris just after he finished the marathon. He was awesome! We loved Boston so much. Yvette's law office was in a high-rise, so she took us up to the top and we were able to see the entire city.

This is Chris sporting his medal. Did I mention he was AWESOME?! The food in Boston was magnificent. The seafood was so tempting, even for this vegetarian girl. Chris ate squid, and several other things which normal people don't usually eat. We wished the boys were there, but loved sleeping in too!

This is Chris and I at the Boston airport waiting for our flight. While running the marathon, the spring sunshine burnt Chris to a crisp...but only on one side of his body. He forgot to wear sunblock, and was soooo red. He wore his beanie for the first couple days after the marathon because half a burned bald head isn't exactly the look he was going for :)

Pictures!!!

We have high speed now, so now I can post pictures! This is just a test post to see how it works. This picture is of my handsome boys Braxton, Calvin, and Anden.

Oh, and one cute story before I forget. The phone guy was coming over to put in our internet and do some other work. I warned Andy ahead of time not to get in his way or talk to him. Anden LOVES to talk, and I know it can get annyoing sometimes. Well, the guy comes over and the next thing I hear is Anden asking him, "you were in the back yard before. Why did you come to the front yard?" "I found 3 salamanders today. Want to know what color they are?" "I'll show you where I put them too." "Maybe we can catch them again." So, I went out to save the man. I called Andy inside and told him not to talk to the man because he needed to work. Anden said, "but I wasn't talking to him when he was working, I was talking to him while he was walking." I have no idea where he gets his talkativeness from. Definately not from me or Chris. I used to hide from my teachers when I saw them at the store because I was too scared to talk to them.

Chili Recipe

So this recipe is kinda cheating since I use a seasoning packet, but it's so easy to make and tastes really good on a lot of different things. I use this chili for my taco salad, Navajo tacos, and a yummy and easy Mexican casserole. I'll post that recipe maybe next week.

Sarah's Vegetarian Easy Chili
1 chili seasoning packet (doesn't matter which brand, I use the cheapest)
2- 8oz. cans tomato sauce
2- 14.5 oz. cans tomatoes (I use stewed or diced...if you don't like tomato chunks you can blend the tomatoes in the blender before adding)
2- 15 oz. cans beans (I like to mix it up and use a combo of black, red, white, or garbanzo)
1 onion
any other veggies you like...most veggies are good in it...it's also good without any

Cook chopped onion in a little (1 T.) oil in a big pot. Add any veggies you want, or none at all, the choice is yours. Cook until veggies are crisp-tender. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for 10-15 minutes. That IT!!!

Taco Salad & Navajo Tacos

Taco salad is an easy, healthy thing to make, especially if you are crunched for time. Last night I whipped it up really fast. This really isn't even a recipe. First I made my homemade vegetarian chili...it's really easy...I'll post the recipe after this. Then you just need to assemble the ingredients: corn chips, chili, cheese, lettuce (please don't use iceberg...instead use red leaf, green leaf, or romaine), tomato, olives, salsa (or taco sauce), dressing (we use homemade low fat ranch).

First, crunch up a few corn chips at the bottom of a bowl (start with just a little of each ingredient or your salad will be huge in the end). Add the chili, cheese, then, for health, add a lot of lettuce, then whatever else you like.

I like to make a big pot of chili and use it for taco salad, then later in the week I make Navajo tacos. They both use a lot of the same ingredients. For the Navajo taco dough, I just use a bread recipe...it's not traditional Navajo, but I like its taste better. I fry up the family's dough, just like you normally would in lots of oil (I use canola), then when I am finished I dump out the leftover oil. The pan will be coated just enough to fry up my bread without it sticking. It'll be lower in fat and calories because it's not sitting in oil. I hope this makes sense. I'll post the chilli recipe later.