Whosits and Whatnots

I eat when I'm stressed. It's okay because I cooked it, right?

2010-03-23T15:03:00.008-05:00

'Ello everyone,

Big news: in exactly two months, I'm done with undergraduate studies.

Now back to things that are fun for everyone!
Haven't had time to cook as much recently, but we did belt out this fantastic Italian dish:

Pesto Stuffed Shells. We accidentally used large shells instead of manicotti sized jumbo shells. They were probably best at this little size but much more of a challenge to fill. All said, well worth it.

Earlier in the week, we tried an ultra simple but big flavor recipe for black bean and guac burritos. We used taco sized wheat tortillas then grilled them over my new grill pan. Absolutely delicious. We made six total, enough for two meals for the two of us. Only a few members in the cast, but each member stood out deliciously. I recommend it to anyone who has the ingredients patiently waiting in their fridge.

My next project is an Easter dinner (lunch, if you're in the South) to impress.
We'll start with the previously mentioned fruit bruchetta, because it's the best use of fruit and yogurt I've ever experienced.
After church, we'll start with mushroom asparagus tarts. For those more experienced in cooking, does everything involving flour count as a tart?
Next round, we're having cranberry and walnut stuffed pork loin. I'm excited because it involves two ingredients I don't like wrapped in a meat I've never cooked with. Should be fantastic.
Haven't decided about what to pair with the pork loin; maybe we'll have a simple spinach salad.
To close with a bang, we're divulging in a lemon curd trifle with fresh berries. The recipe calls for lemon pound cake, so for anyone eating with us who chose to lose weight for a new year's resolution- sorry. I know I didn't.
It's worth noting that the beginning and end of this meal feature fresh fruit, so it's a healthy meal anyway. Right?

It's a fun experience to watch my taste buds mature. Mom- I know you're still in awe of me enjoying a black bean and guacamole burrito. I am too, it's delicious stuff.

Today's unrelated comic:

Note: found the comic online. No correlation with having a brother named Todd.

Feeling crafty again...

2010-03-11T15:27:00.000-06:00

So, with new, pretty weather and the approach of a new holiday, also comes my creativity creeping back out from hiding. I don't know where or why it goes, but as weather got warmer and I started to see little chickies and bunnies in stores everywhere, it peeped back out temporarily. I wanted to make some kind of decoration for our still-newlywed home, so I went to etsy for inspiration. I guess it's a little rude to tease etsy by not actually purchasing the things I see, but trying to recreate them myself... but I do it anyway! I saw Easter eggs. I wanted to make Easter eggs (not the kind that rot, mind you). Here's what I came up with:

I'm very happy with them, by the way. :) And I'm in love with the little chickies I got at Hobby Lobby! They're all over the apartment. They make me smile. So, we'll see what else happens with my creativity this season. I made a ribbon-flower hair pin to go with my Easter dress as well, but I'd like to make a couple more. If that ever happens, I may post photos of those too!

To wrap up this post, I'd like to share another funny. A video this time. You'll like it if you like movies, satire, and a little bit of sarcasm... like I do! :)

I am a cooking fiend

2010-03-03T11:40:00.002-06:00

With work and school and apartment life, life has been somewhat stressful lately. Not too much, but enough to want to go on a few vacations. Since we can't really afford Pensacola right now, I've been channeling the stress through the skillet.

Lots and lots of cooking.

Last Sunday, for instance:

homemade bruschetta
homemade lasagna
homemade key lime pie minis

Last night:

The best part- it's all been delicious. Not to toot my own horn, but this is "open my own restaurant" good.
Ever since I found foodgawker, I've been scrolling through the pages and finding recipes I MUST do.

If anyone wants to come over for our new weekly event, fun-food-Friday, here's the next two weeks:

And for breakfast this Saturday (hopefully), fruit bruschetta before petite vegetable frittatas.

I want to start taking pictures of the meals that turn out well, and cataloging our changes and thoughts. We'll see how that turns out.

As usual, a non sequitur web comic. This one in no way represents my wife. It's just funny.

Diving back in...

2010-02-22T13:01:00.000-06:00

...because I feel like it today. Had a really good weekend, so I'm feeling the whole blog thing again. We were productive this weekend--hung a bookshelf, printed and framed some wedding photos (I know... it took 8 months for me to get that done! By the way, we've been married for 8 months!), went grocery shopping, bought Tyler some nice sweater jacket things for work so he wouldn't look like a college guy in his hoodies anymore (he's super professional now. :)) So, yeah, I'm feeling good. Here's a funny or two:

Happy Almost Thanksgiving!

2009-11-24T14:09:00.003-06:00

(This is the image I made and turned into a plaque to hang on our door!)

I'm getting so excited about the holiday season, starting with Thanksgiving! This year will be the first that I'm actually responsible for some of the classic Alewyne Thanksgiving dishes--corn pudding, cranberry salad, and pumpkin pie. A little nerve-racking, but I think it'll all turn out okay. None of those dishes are super complicated, so surely I can manage, right? Looking forward to mine and Tyler's 3rd Annual black Friday stakeout! It should be reeeallly cold again, so that's fun. Maybe it'll even rain. Starting to wonder how that makes for a fun night... but it always is!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T13:37:00.002-05:00

Hi everyone! Hope you're all having a lovely day! Here's a pretty darn funny for you today. Please enjoy! And Happy Halloween!

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Woo hoo, 5K!

2009-10-26T09:17:00.010-05:00

This past Saturday was the "1st Annual Stonewall Long Haul 5K." It was also my first 5K! Tyler has done these a lot in the past but not so much recently, so it was sort of getting back in the habit for him. Even though I walked like 94% of the way, I was definitely sore Sunday! Walking approximately 3 miles is harder than you think if you practically never exercise! But I think we'll do these a lot more often now because we had a lot of fun!

Oh, Lucille

2009-10-22T09:40:00.004-05:00

So, I found this Halloween card the other day amongst a bunch of corny ones that said stuff like "Hope your Halloween is BOO-rific!" This was truly a gem. It was so hard not to laugh out loud in the middle of Barnes and Noble. Definitely my kind of humor...

Oh, I love it! The inside reads "Hope your Halloween is a real picnic." Happy day, everyone! Hope you at least got a little giggle from Lucille's misfortune. :)

Tyler Tuesdays (One day late due to government holiday)

2009-10-14T11:26:00.003-05:00

This post if for my mother, my wonderful sweet mother.

I'm not sure this is how most families are, but growing up, there was one food item each child distinctly remembers having ALL the time. My brother Scott claimed he ate nothing but chicken growing up, and now doesn't care for it. My sister Jennifer makes herself believe she grew up on tuna.
Patrick and I- roast beef. Every week, sometimes multiple times a week, we had roast beef. It wasn't so bad when Mom would make mashed potatoes and gravy, but we didn't even have that after a decade or so.

Flash forward three years, and I have iron-deficiency anemia. Combined with the somewhat lousy weather we've had lately, I knew what we (Sarah and I) had to do: fire up the slow cooker and plop in a roast beef.

Mom- I love roast beef. I'm sorry for griping all the way through high school about it. Sarah insisted we throw in carrots and onions, so we did that too. Also delicious. But I'm not afraid to admit- Sarah's mashed potatoes finished the meal off quite nicely.

It really was a lovely meal; we had roast beef, onions, carrots, mashed potatoes, and water. It felt like a throwback to '99. Even better- we started eating at 5:30. Honestly, it's the most like-a-family meal we've had since getting married. And it was fantastic.

Feeling Crafty

2009-10-08T09:14:00.008-05:00

So, lately I've been feeling very crafty. I guess it's the change of season... I dunno. But I had been looking on Etsy (yes, etsy again...) for some cool Halloween/fall decor, and it just inspired me to make my own!

So, first I decided to make a Happy

Halloween plaque because I couldn't find the one I already had... this is what came of it. I designed the text, etc. in photoshop, then burned and distressed the print, Mod Podged it onto masonite, and embellished with black and bronze fabric paint. Finally, I added wire, so I could hang it on our door. All of this was totally spontaneous, by the way... so I'm pleased with how it actually turned out! I feel like it looks

better in person though. Dumb on-camera flash...

Next, I wanted to attempt these paper flowers I had seen. I made them Halloween-themed, of course. They were a lot of fun! I only made three Halloween ones, though I might make more later. I put them in my awesome orange cat wine bottle (Thank you, World Market!). Maybe our bird salt and pepper shakers aren't really Halloweenish, but it looks like the cat is about to eat them... that's scary, right?

Finally, when we put the plaque and a spider web up on our door, I decided to make a spider for the web (duh, right?). Sooo, this is what I ended up with. Spontaneous mishmash of purple and orange magazine clippings, more wire, two beads for eyes, and more fabric paint. Cute lil' bugger. Yay for arts and crafts!

Tyler Tuesdays

2009-10-07T07:36:00.003-05:00

(I know this is Wednesday, but I think if I post this before the work day begins, it still counts)

Sunday while cooking supper and cleaning the kitchen, Sarah had Disney and Pixar's Cars on. It's a great movie, probably in the top three for Pixar. So much thought and detail went in to making every creature a car. Personal favorite- the lightening bugs in the form of small VW Bugs. Genius.

From that movie, Sarah and I took two different feelings. Sarah's were adorable, as the first thing she said after the movie is how interesting it is the feeling of watching these movies with our children. So in five years, we'll let you know if watching Cars with the kids is fun.

My feelings were in response to Bonnie Hunt's character, Sally Carrera. She got fed up with the big city lifestyle and drove until she broke down, which happened to be in a small town full of love. Part of why this affected me was because of a great song we worshiped with at church. I don't remember the lyrics (because I'm not capable. Ask Sarah, she'll tell you the only song I know completely is Happy Birthday.), but they basically say "Lord, I'm in this city, and I'm here for you." I feel many times the desire to have that mentality. I want a connection to a city that makes me want to devote my life to serving God through the city. I don't know what city this will be, or if we'll ever live there. I just know this city exist, and God will take me there when it is time.

Fall Excitement

2009-10-02T15:10:00.004-05:00

Okay, so another reason I love the fall is that it so fresh and new, it gets me excited about new things (ie-the scarves from yesterday's post). I'm so excited about new movies (and television) for this fall! I've already tried out a ton of new TV shows that I love! (FlashForward is cuh-razy good... Trauma totally lives up to its name... Modern Family is cracking me up!) What I'm so looking forward to right now, though is Spike Jonze's adaptation of the classic book, Where the Wild Things Are. It comes out two weeks from now, and I can't wait! I always loved that book. It's just so magical. I think the illustrations really did it for me though, which is part of why I think this film will be awesome. I am amazed at how familiar the characters are in three-dimensional form! The first time I saw the trailer (in the theater--it was awesome) it took me about twenty seconds to figure out what it was.

Everybody watch the trailer! The awesome Arcade Fire song (Wake Up) really makes it!

Finally Fall!

2009-10-01T12:08:00.006-05:00

I love fall. I do. It's just so perfect. It's such a great followup to a long, happy, HOT summer! So, I've been browsing on Etsy.com for a new scarf! I love scarves. That may, in fact be part of why I love fall so much... Anyway, I wanted to share with you some unique scarf options I found that I love:

Oooo...

click here for more!

Aaahh...

click here for more!

Fun!

click here for more!

All I have to do now is decide which one I want... Happy fall!

Tyler Tuesdays: Life Cycles

2009-09-29T17:16:00.003-05:00

'ell0! Can't believe I'm posting this at 9:00 at night, but I have to do this.
The thing on my mind lately is cycles. Not just bicycles, but life cycles. For instance, my work environment is on a three week period. First week- moderate. Second week- boring. Third week- murder. This is inconvenient because I need to recoup after the third week, but have a lot of work. By the second week, I'm finally in work mode again.

Another cycle is what many men hate to admit, but all have: a man period. A man period is generally 8 to 10 weeks and only last two or three days. Nothing gross happens, just a short bout of depressing and desire to be alone. My favorite was the summer after graduating high school. I was working at Macaroni Grill making about $2000 a month with no bills. I realized I was on my man period when I spent $100 at Belk buying clothes.

There are other cycles in my life, such as desire to be fit, passion for cooking, and utter need to just drive away. This week I hit all of them. It's been okay, Sarah has let me cook and we're probably going out of town in a month, so if I can go for a bike ride this week, we're in business!

Slacker?

2009-09-28T13:30:00.006-05:00

Well, maybe. I just got out of the habit of blogging daily last week. I blame it on the Tyler Tuesday delay... I do try to blog every weekday though, and I try to not blog on the weekends... Maybe that's a bit backwards for most bloggers, but weekends are when I try to heal from internetitis. I spend way too much time in front of the computer Monday through Friday, so I try to recoup from Friday at about 4:30 to early Monday morning. That does include checking my email, but I know that can be a pain for others if they're waiting for a reply from me. Because of that, I do periodically update my inbox through my phone and just do a quick scan to see if there's anything important there. Otherwise, I try to stay away from all of that. That said, that's why I haven't posted in four days. I slacked off Thursday and Friday, then stayed away from cyberspace Saturday and Sunday. So, here I am today!

Okay, so now that's out of the way, here are a couple of my favorite funnies from FAIL blog:

HA! I love this one...

And this one is just so classic!

Oh, goodness... Thanks, FAIL blog. Click here to see more FAIL blog. (warning: some of FAIL blog is kinda PG-13...)

Tyler Tuesday (From the future)

2009-09-23T11:19:00.003-05:00

Sarah's right. I didn't post yesterday. Instead, I'll post a week ahead, meaning this post is from the future.

Halloween is coming up, which is my favorite holiday because the weather is perfect. As Kim noted, the weather is much cooler this week. In honor of her A/C issues and my good friend Alan owning a car with no A/C, I've been driving without the A/C anytime I go somewhere.
Some advice for anyone else who wants to do this: only drive at night. Late at night, when the temperature is below 80. I nearly wrecked the other night, because the windshield was completely fogged over. (Remember, I'm doing this for you, Kim)

Unrelated, I have taken up cooking again. We've finished two casseroles, chili, and have ingredients for gourmet sandwiches and sweet potato fries. The recipes are meant for four, which means good supper and even better lunch the next day. Now I want to tackle a tasty but healthy dessert. Let me know if there's a good recipe that fits the bill.

What happened to Tyler Tuesdays?

2009-09-23T09:38:00.003-05:00

Nothing at all! Except a little delay... Tyler never got around to blogging yesterday. He's a very busy man. :) So, I'm giving him Wednesday as well... Let's see if he makes it today.

Just in case, here's my funny for the day. I love, love, love this clip!

Charlie Bit Me...

Topic?

2009-09-21T15:40:00.010-05:00

Goodness. I'm not so good at blogging. I don't have anything to say. Or rather, I have so much to say, I can't decide what to say. That's it. It's like in school when the teacher lets you decide what you want to write your research paper on... without giving you any direction to go in. I always hated that. I'm much more likely to blab if someone sparks a thought in my mind. Otherwise.......... *crickets*........... *crickets*...... Yeah. That's me. I need a topic. Maybe I should take a cue from Linda Richman...

http://www.hulu.com/watch/4118/saturday-night-live-coffee-talk

You just have to love Coffee Talk! Plenty of topics! My favorite has always been, "Ralph Fiennes is spelled neither rafe nor fines. Discuss." Too true, Linda. Too true.

Bloggity, blog.

2009-09-18T11:06:00.005-05:00

Oh, bloggity... I dunno what I wanna blog today. I think I need sunshine... and iron... feeling very sleepy. In an attempt to be unsleepy, I've been playing around in photoshop. Here's a pretty--spawned from my waking mind:

Today...

2009-09-17T12:35:00.004-05:00

Hello. Just sitting and munching on some Twizzlers. Thought I'd check in. I did in fact manage to move away from the TV. I even ended up saving Glee for today (hulu.com...). So, I thought I did pretty well. Both shows were great! It's funny though--of the 3 ANTM girls whose photos I posted yesterday, one got eliminated, and the other two didn't do so hot. This is why I don't make predictions!

So, today I thought I'd show you some cool art. Some may have seen this stuff, but it's always fun to revisit.

First, is some awesome trash bag art from Joshua Allen Harris:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH6xCT2aTSo

Next is Scott Wade's dirty car art:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1wfWPtjxMA&NR=1

There are more images of his work here.

Alrighty, that's all for today. Have a happy Thursday!

New Fall Programming!

2009-09-16T11:52:00.008-05:00

Hi, there! So, today is Wednesday, which means I have a night full of tele to take in (it's not just a pass-time, it's an obligation ;)). Tonight is the second episode of this cycle of America's Next Top Model (CW at 8/7c) AND the third episode of Glee (Fox at 9/8c). See how nicely the time slots fall? Thankfully there is such thing as DVR so that I don't actually have to force myself to sit in front of the TV for two hours if I don't want to... What a great invention!

Anyway, this cycle of ANTM is special because every competitor is short (at least for a model... 5'7" and under)! So, of course I'm excited! I don't know what draws me to this show in the first place, but it's so addicting. Of course my favorite part is all the beautiful imagery they create in photographs and on the runway. Here are some of my favorite photos from last week:

So, I'm not making any predictions... because I've never been good at that, but I can't wait to see what happens!

Then there's Glee. Goodness, like I needed another show to be hooked on. But I do love it. Like I knew I would. I didn't watch the pilot for a long time for fear that I'd like it. Yup. I do. It doesn't help that Jane Lynch (who plays the hard-core cheer coach Sue Sylvester) is so stinkin' funny! Ah well, I guess I shouldn't complain that a network can create a show I like to watch... :)

So, be on the lookout for a post from me tomorrow. If you don't hear from me, please give me a call to make sure I've removed myself from in front of the television! Thanks!

Tyler Tuesdays: 30 Years From Now

2009-09-15T13:22:00.006-05:00

1980:

Reagan takes office
War on Drugs to combat increased cocaine and heroine
Women more prevelant in the work place
Disco ending
Tobacco usage decline

Today:
For most Americans, life is good. Our involvement in a war is outside of the US border. Previously shunned ideas and practices are being accepted. We're leaving a recession. No major drought or famine.
What will this country be like in 30 years?
It's still funny to think of 1980 as being 30 years ago. My mind is seemingly stuck in 99-2000.
I wonder about what will be big, what will be obsolete, and what will be in. For instance, Wal Marts are big. VHS and CDs are near obsolete. Living relaxed is gradually becoming in.
In 30 years, will Wal Mart still be big, or possibly Amazon.com? Will the internet through a desktop computer be obsolete? Will never leaving the house because everything you could possibly need is available for delivery or streamed to the computer be in?

Sarah and I wonder about this because my career right now is based around the internet. How much growth potential is there in this market? When I begin my career in marketing, will these skills I've developed be of use in 30 years?

Is today how you would have expected it, 30 years ago?

Monday, Monday

2009-09-14T10:54:00.002-05:00

Oh, it feels like a Monday, doesn't it? It seems like Mondays are the hardest days to find an outfit... I changed my shirt three times this morning... I blame Monday. To combat the negative forces that a Monday can bring, I've decided to post some good, old-fashioned SNL comercials--always guaranteed to induce laughter (at least in me).

Today will be the jeans edition:

A little bit old-school, a lotta bit classic: http://www.hulu.com/watch/10310/saturday-night-live-bad-idea-jeans

A bit newer, just as funny: http://www.hulu.com/watch/10333/saturday-night-live-mom-jeans

Hope you enjoy! Here's to a good Monday!

Woot! It's Friday!

2009-09-11T12:18:00.007-05:00

Hi, there! I'm very ready for the weekend, if you couldn't tell. The office I work in is smack in the center of the building. This means we have no windows, so I never get enough sunlight during the week. By Friday, I'm very stir-crazy!

So, I have a joke to tell today. At least two of my blog followers have already heard it, but I just laughed at it so hard the first time I read it! It needs to be shared. The last issue of Reader's Digest was the annual Laugh issue. The mag held a contest and gathered the funniest joke from participating countries. There were funny ones and not so funny ones. It was interesting to note the different types of humor from each country. Some things were just so unrelatable to an American. Anyway, the one that turned out to be so hilarious to me was from the UK. Probably in large part to the fact that I was not expecting this kind of joke... It simply read:

"About a month before he died, my grandmother covered my grandfather’s back with lard. After that, he went downhill very quickly."

Ohmigoodness! I think I laughed for like half an hour! Hope you enjoyed it half as much as I did...

Happy weekend!

Go ahead, try it.

2009-09-10T10:06:00.001-05:00

Can't even remember where I found this, but it's crazy... try it.

Second Day, Second Post... Going Strong!

2009-09-09T11:35:00.000-05:00

Hi there! So, it's my second day blogging... Not a whole lot going on today (surprise, surprise), so I'll just skip to the daily funny.

A Graffiti comic or two for your enjoyment:

Bonus:

Here's what I would put on my Graffiti comic if I worked there. I read it somewhere a long time ago and still laugh at it...

EAGLES MAY SOAR, BUT WEASELS DON'T GET SUCKED INTO JET ENGINES.

Maiden Post

2009-09-08T14:31:00.000-05:00

This is crazy. I'm blogging. I certainly never thought I'd have enough to say to support a blogging habit. I guess we'll see! I intend for Whosits and Whatnots to be a mishmash of bits and pieces of my life. I want it to be fun, so hopefully I'm fun enough to keep any followers entertained. =) Who knows what will pop up in these posts...

For today, I'll leave you with a funny from one of my favorite online pass-time blogs. A photoshop disaster for you:

If you're confused (because I was at first) check out the reflection and the shadow... ha!