Congrats!

Pat proposed to Diane this week - they will be the second couple in my small group to get married... Praise be to God!

Stir Fry

I got home a little early the other night and thought a nice healthy stir fry would be good for dinner - so I chopped up what veggies I had in the fridge - Asparagus, carrot and mushrooms

Then, using my new mallet - I pounded a nice chicken breast into a flat piece...

With a little soy sauce and olive oil it cooked up nicely... I tossed the vegetables into the pan and de-glazed it with some water...

After it was all done I tossed sesame seeds (way too many) over the top.... what a horribly ugly picture... it was so good though!

No Justice...

I have said it before and I will say it again - I AM NOT A FAN OF PHOENIX - I was there in February and got what I felt was an unjust speeding ticket... Well I decided to fight it and went to court this Monday to appear before the judge. It cost me a free frequent flyer trip and a free rental car certificate...

I had an amazing case against the officer prepared; I attacked his training, the calibration of the radar gun, his positioning and my capability to accelerate in the distance at which I was clocked. I was clear, calm, respectful, articulate and intelligent. The officer had none of the evidence I asked for and the court recognized that my case law (example from a higher court) was sufficient to disregard his evidence (or lack there of).

I really thought I was going to beat the ticket. I did so much research, prepared for a week - and then she took Judaical Notice...

JUDICIAL NOTICE: A doctrine of evidence applied by a court that allows the court to recognize and accept the existence of a particular fact commonly known by persons of average intelligence without establishing its existence by admitting evidence in a civil or criminal action.

This means that even though I presented a clear case against the officer, and he had no evidence to back up his claims she took his word over mine...

$219.00 later I am back home - feeling wronged...just wronged...

Continued Birthday extravaganza...

So we did the family thing at Red Lobster on Friday night... mmm it was so good... Then Rho and I went out for drinks after - awesome to catch up with good friends...

Saturday morning The J Family and I hit Disneyland for a birthday celebration... Maria joined us... it was an awesome day...

we rode lots of rides and had a blast...

Paige got soaked on the canoe ride -

Sheri bought her some dry clothes and Bryce an awesome goofy hat...

meanwhile Catherine and I rode Indiana Jones...

we finished the day with an awesome dinner at Tortilla Joe's Downtown Disney - my burrito was HUGE!

I walked over to the Disneyland Hotel for drinks with Laurie and friends from work... It was an awesome day... after I got home and got the mail and opened my 19th birthday card... God has blessed my with an amazing group of friends and family... contrary to what my sister thinks... Life is so good, so full, so awesome for me... all to the glory of my Father...

Oh no the big 3 0...

That's right, yesterday I turned 30 years old... even as I type it; I don't believe it... It seemed when I was younger that 30 was really the end of the line... now that I am here I feel the same as I did 10 years ago... Maybe my Mom is right, it is just a number....

The festivities started on Tuesday with my small group - Michael, Pat and Diane made me a delicious FROM SCRATCH cake - the delightful inscription was "Roaring 20s over, 30's Great Depression" they are so clever...

Dang that's a lot of candles -

Dang that's a lot of smoke!

While I really appreciated ABBA's greatest hits from Diane, Riley's prune juice left me with a bad taste in my mouth...

I got to work on my birthday to find my office trashed! Totally trashed!

Because it was also Administrative Assistants day; Myriam got to choose where we went for lunch - an awesome Cuban place in Orange. I had the Paella (amazing)

For desert we had tres leches cake...

After work a bunch of us went for drinks, then I went home for more drinks and a special cake Amanda made me - It was a full day - I love my family and friends so much - my day was flooded with calls from well wishers and EATING...

The festivities continue this weekend with bar hopping, Disneyland and dinner at my sisters.

New Kentucky Grilled Chicken...

Have you tried it yet? I did last night and it was delicious - just delicious... I had 2 pieces, green beans and a side salad - A HEALTHY MEAL FROM KFC... who would have thought...

I have been doing good on Weight Watchers... This week I am down a total of 14 pounds... 16 to go... ugg and today is my last day in my 20's - I got old and fat in the blink of an eye...

Wild Jungle...

My yard: a wasteland, an expanse of overgrown and dead foliage... it looks terrible - just terrible... I had to do something - anything, and I hate yard work...

These crispy critters went into the trash -

After hours of toiling, reworking, and tying down my bougainvillea bushes they actually looked nice... oh and please don't call it bougain-vee-ya - it's bougain-vill-ia...

a good scrub and a hose down, a couple bags of fresh bark made the place look presentable again... what an ordeal...

Please...

Easter at Lisa's

I have to admit that my little sister put on a great Easter lunch. The table setting exquisite, the company delightful and the food: delicious - ham, scalloped potatoes, mac n cheese, salad, veggies, deviled eggs, chips and salsa, strawberry shortcake dessert... all simply perfect!

Luckily Sheri told the Easter bunny that her and the kids would be over at Lisa's so he hid the eggs around her house - the kids had fun hunting for them...

What a great day - I spent the afternoon dozing in front of the TV...

Thank you Lord for family, friends, and the salvation you give us through your death and resurrection...

Easter at Church...

I have to say that Easter is my favorite holiday at church... everyone is all dressed up and looking good. The music and atmosphere exude celebration for our risen Savior and the influx of people makes the place feel alive! I had more than double the kids in Sunday school as usual... they all looked so cute!

For our craft and story we made resurrection eggs - a set of 12 eggs with little things inside that told the story of the last days before the crucifixion and the celebration of the resurrection - I think the kids really got a kick out of it...

After serving 2 services with the kids I went into big church and really enjoyed the loud exciting worship songs... It's hard to describe the feeling of worshiping with loud celebratory song in a large group... I imagine it's a snapshot of what heaven will be like... little happy tears trickled down my cheek for most of the service...

More Mini Burgers!

The recent Jack In the Box Commercials for mini burgers has got them on my mind big time...

Saturday I got all the fixings for mini deluxe burgers - Little vegetables:

Nice crusty white rolls:

Nice little beef patties:

I buttered and toasted the rolls and fixed up the little burgers in pairs... cute and yummy...

I made myself a Weight Watchers version with ground chicken patties and wheat rolls...

Pretty close to the original and still very yummy...

Stuffed Peppers...

Based on a Weight Watchers recipe I found on their site I decided to make stuffed peppers the other night....

Rather than beef I used ground chicken breast and instead of ketchup or marinara I used some delicious pineapple salsa Nicole brought me from Hawaii... I covered the top of the stuffed peppers with Italian breadcrumbs and baked them in the oven...

The pic looks terrible but they were so good!