Been a While and Changes are Here to Stay

Well it's definitely been a while since I've blogged. I've been going through some major changes in my life--Career changes. Mid January I quit my job at the Toyota Scion dealership I've worked at for almost 4 year! I was definitely sad to leave all my co-workers and friends I made over the years but I still feel it was for the best. Everyone was so sweet my last week at the dealership, it definitely made it hard. Here's my "going away" cake courtesy of our service department...apparently there was a problem at the bakery...
she was blond but not after the guys got a hold of her and "dyed" her hair with a magic marker.
They also threw me a nice going away lunch catered by Qdoba! It was so nice.

I didn't waste any time, and started my new position with LPi the following Monday in Minneapolis for training. All of my new colleagues are really nice too. I am one blessed person to have great people to work with yet again!

While inI stopped off at the Mall of America.
The mall wasn't what I was hoping for, but definitely overwhelming. I couldn't believe how many food options there were in one mall.

I did however happen to find the cutest restaurant (not at the mall) called Patrick's Cafe. This place was a treat! I got a chicken salad and this stellar cheesecake for takeout.
It was almost too pretty to eat...but I managed. Look at that yummy surprise in the cheesecake--raspberry filling!

I'm learning a lot at my new job and hope you girls are doing well. I hope to get back to blogging now that I'm home and working. Please pray for my success at my new job in advertising sales...there's a big learning curve and I need it!

Easy Yummy Reduced Fat Alfredo Sauce

While I love Mexican food (I could eat queso dip for BL&D), I've always had a spot in my tummy for Alfredo Sauce. The bad side to it--it's enormous fat and calorie content! When B and I go to Olive Garden we order a side of it for our bread sticks and refer to it as our "lard boat." I never order the whole dish, it's just a gut bomb.

I came across this recipe and thought, "Hey, that looks like it'd be good." So I made a few modifications and came up with my version. It was divine!! Tons of flavor and yummy texture too. I love it with Dreamfield's Rotini.


Reduced Fat Alfredo Sauce
adapted from Our Best Bites

1/2 C skim milk
1/8 C reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 C fat free evaporated milk
1 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
1 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1/4 t dried basil
1/2 Tbsp butter
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/2 C Parmesan cheese

1. Toss the milk, cream cheese, flour, pepper, basil and salt in a large cup and process with an immersion blender (or regular blender). Process until smooth and set aside.
2. In a pan, melt butter on med heat and add garlic. Let the garlic saute for about 30 seconds, you don't want to burn it. It should be nice and bubbly.
3. Then add milk mixture to the pan. Stir constantly for about 3 or 4 minutes or until it just comes to a simmer. Keep stirring and let it cook for a few minutes more. It should be much thicker now. When it's nice and thick (it's almost as thick as a normal Alfredo sauce) remove the pan from the heat. Add the cheese, stir it up. Let stand for at least 5 minutes before using. It will continue to thicken upon standing. Add additional garlic powder to your taste.
4. Toss with your favorite cooked pasta and enjoy!

(I hate the flash on my food, I swear it's not cafeteria food)

I can't believe I wasn't being bad...until my second helping. Hey that's spinach salad on that plate so I consider that nutritious.

Sunday Brunch and Couch Shopping

For those of you who have some non-sporty husbands, let me fill you in. When one marries a sports fanatic, they become a widow--a football widow all fall! Most weekends, I spend cleaning, working out and shopping since I can't pull him away from the TV. Sunday was a different story, I actually got to spend time with B! After church, we went for brunch at Le Peep. B didn't want to go there at first because he thought it "sounded fruity". He lost the battle.

I ordered a yummy Cinnamon Roll Latte. One of the best lattes I've ever consumed! (Because I'm an addict, drugs on the side please.)

For my meal, I ordered the pumpkin stuffed french toast. It was even better this morning for leftover breakfast!

Brian got the Cinnamonster (and other food but I didn't capture it)...he's giving his monster look too!
After brunch we went to the only furniture store in Nebraska-- Nebraska Furniture Mart. FYI, this place makes all other furniture places go out of business because it's so big. We've had our current couch for a hefty 3 years and it's complete crap, and looks like crap too. Brian, with his geriatric ways, wants a recliner. I simply hate the look of recliners--so old fashioned. I want leather since it seems to last forever. So we're looking at leather recliner couches.

#1

...but in the color of the chair below.

#2

#3

which is your favorite?

Rainy Boston...

"Pahk the cahr in Hahvard yahd" That's the lingo in Boston! I love this accent, it's so American.


Our 6 day trip to Boston consisted of LOTS of rain...

Me at the Boston Harbor

Our vacation started in Providence. We enjoyed a fun dinner at Andino's on Atwell St. The gnocci was amazing!

Lovely Andino's

Me and the lovely Gnocci!

We capitalized on one of the only non-rainy days (overcast but not rainy) to take in a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. Truly one amazing experience witnessing a game in one of the oldest fields in the U.S. I scratched one more item off my "bucket list" when we went to this game.

The next few days were very wet and rainy but we managed to hit up Boston's notorious, North End. Some refer to it as little Italy. We dined in North End twice and both times were excellent!

Albeit blurry, this is the Paul Revere statue in North End. It's a retake of the one below it. I hate making other people take our pics, they're just not as good.

Us at the Paul Revere statue, take two but blurry.

Take one: Good Photo of us but where's the statue?

We also visited the uber tourist attraction--the Cheers bar. I was a little disappointed it didn't look more like the set inside but the outside shots for the show were really from the outside of this bar. The food was good and it was still a fun experience. Just make sure you go to the real one on Beacon Street, it's the original.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out our trip :-)

Belated B-Day Post

I know I'm not the best at getting pics up...I hate uploading photos!

Anyway, May 4th was my birthday so a couple of friends came out with B-man and I to the Cheesecake Factory!



That's Kristen and her hubs...They're great friends and couldn't be nicer :-) They are our go-to couple for the movies!

My new blog design!!

Hey everyone, check out my new blog design. Isn't it cute? I'm so glad it turned out well. I have been on vacation and then completely swamped this week at work...I'll be posting again this weekend. Don't forget about me.