2013 Adventures... a Little late

So I was all ready to share my T25 experience when I realized I didn't even sum up last year. No biggies like babies, weddings, or house buying so I guess it didn't cross my mind. Anyway, to keep everyone up to date, here goes my year in review for 2013...

January- Spent New Years Day with my family and friends. This is probably one of my favorite traditions our family has started in the past few years. I also ran a 5K. Good thing- because it was the only one I ran last year :/...

February- Year 2 in the house! Our plan is to celebrate home ownership rather than Valentine's Day. The idea is that instead of Valentine's gifts, we will buy something together for the house... it's a work in progress :) 

March- Went to New Orleans for my best friend Annie's bachelorette party. Got to see my friend from Girl Scout camp, Goldie, and eat beignets! 

April- Prepared for STAAR testing... 

May- Got a plane ride with Will as the pilot for my birthday present! SO fun!!! & Celebrated 1 year of marriage.

June- Bridesmaid in Annie's wedding & started training with NMSI. This training gig is legit- loved my train the trainer experience & sharing my passion with other educators.

July- Mediterranean Cruise! We went to Spain, Croatia, Montenegro, Italy (Venice, Rome, Naples, Cinque Terre), & France. Loved our stops, not a big fan of cruising :/ 

August- Year 6 of teaching! OMG, I am starting to feel old. This year, I accepted a new position as GT coordinator. 3 words- LOVE MY JOB! 

September- Went to Missouri to see family over Labor Day weekend.

October- Went to G'Nosh and painted with my sister in law for her birthday. It was a lot of fun, and I did better than I expected :)

November- Justen, my god son, turned 5. That means he will start Kindergarten next year! He loves to listen to stories, go to school, spend time with his family and cousins, and of course spend the night with Aunt Katie! 

December- started T25... Can't wait to share the results! 

What to pack for a Mediterranean Cruise

After deciding to book a Mediterranean cruise, the first thing on my mind was "What am I going to wear?" Last summer, Germany and Austria brought cool days and even cooler nights. I did some research that lead me to believe it would be warmer in the Mediterranean, but I still had a hard time finding a packing list that fit me. So, here is my list!

Toiletries:

• Medicines
• Toothbrush and toothpaste
• Sunscreen (do not let yourself burn!)
• Make up
• Hairbrush and hair products
• Teasing combs 
• bandaids (for blisters)
• deodorant 
• Make up remover
• razors 
• Kleenex (this goes in your purse because a lot of public toilets lack toilet paper or charge extra for it) 
• Tweezers 
• Nail file/ clippers 

Clothes-Accessories:

• scarves (for fashion or religious sites)
• over the shoulder purse & safety pin (I found a great tip online to help you feel more secure about pickpockets- use the inner back zipper pocket to store your credit cards and money. Safety pin it shut! That way, if someone tries to get into your bag, they would still need to undo the safety pin to get to your money and surely you would notice before it was too late)
• Water bottle- buy a large one before overseas flight, and refill over and over again! 

Clothes- For Women:

• flip flops 
• Tennis shoes 
• Brown walking sandals 
• socks
• underwear 
• bras
• shorts (3-4 pairs)
• pants (1 pair)
• formal wear (up to 3 outfits/ I brought 2 and was fine)
• T-shirts (4)
• Shirts for sightseeing (7/ because I packed one per port) 
• Pajamas (up to 3 pairs/ can bring pajamas that double as pool wear or work out clothes)
• Work out outfit (if not using old pajamas) 
• swimsuit 
• White tank top

Optional Items:

• Tanning Oil (optional, but it really helps)
• A rain jacket (I brought one but it never rained!)
• Plug extensions for on the ship
• Books (our ship had a library and I read 3 amazing books onboard)
• clothes toed shoes (Great for pompeii and some longer days over the uneven roads)
• drivers license - I brought because some places you needed an id and I felt more comfortable with a small license than my passport

Technology 

• Headphones 
• Ipad & charger 
• Ipod
• Camera & case
• battery charger for camera
• SD card reader

Basic packing tips:

Definitely buy a water bottle at the airport before flying to Europe. You will drink it on the flight, and then reuse the bottle throughout your trip. The ship's water is perfectly safe to drink, and it beats paying $5 or more for a bottle of evian. Also, there are lots of free water fountains throughout Mediterranean towns such as what you see here:

 or here: 

Another tip is to only bring 1 or 2 long sleeve shirts. I brought more, thinking it would be like it was in Germany and that was not the case. I am from Texas and when they say hot- they mean hot (even for a Texas girl!). Many times it turned out okay, like here in Venice! 

So you may be thinking- then why pack scarves? First off, they look cute! Also, it is inappropriate to walk into religious sites such as churches without covering your shoulders and having shorts to your knees (or longer). I found that on hot days I could even use one of the free fountains to get my scarf wet and cool my neck. See! Looking cute in Cinque Terre.

My last piece of advice is to coordinate your outfits and think through the activities you will be doing and what to wear during them. My rule of thumb is if I can't wear it twice, I do not pack it. (Some people even say 3 times!) On a cruise, it is easy to think about unpacking once and bringing 3 suitcases. However, you have to remember there is travel through airports (many times multiple ones before your final stop), travel through your starter city, and travel at the end of the cruise. We had an early flight and choose to disembark by ourselves and we were so glad we packed light for this! 

I hope this list helps someone! Hopefully I can get around to posting about the cruise soon!

2012 Adventure

2012 was definitely a year of firsts and adventures for me. Here are some highlights from my year:

January- Spent the first day of the new year with family and friends at our annual Italian feast! 

February- Celebrated 1 year of home ownership with a repeat first meal- little caesar's pizza & girl scout cookies!

March- I got my wedding dress and took bridals at a nearby park. 

April- My amazing best friend threw me a beautiful bridal shower and a super fun bachelorette party :) Wedding prep began!

May- I got to celebrate my marriage with family and friends! Ran a 5K without stopping! Went to Mexico for our honeymoon! 

June&July- Planned a trip to Germany and Austria and spent 10 days in what is now my favorite place on earth. Best summer job ever= selling fireworks!

August- I began my 5th year as a teacher! Began saving money by meal-planning

September- Got settled in to my new classroom and began working with the best student teacher. 

October- My first sister! (Okay, she is a sister-in-law, but I am counting it!) 


November- Spent Thanksgiving with my husband's family in Missouri and ate my fav- Andy's Frozen Custard

December- We bought our first Christmas tree and had a first Christmas as husband and wife with our family in our home. 

Made from Scratch Pizza Adventure

My dad is full-blooded Italian and his cooking proves it. He makes amazing dishes and finds recipes that really speak to the stomach... I mean heart <3.

Over the past year he has been making his own pizza and it got me thinking that "hey, I could make my own pizza, too!" So I did.

I used my mom's dough recipe (not Italian) and it tasted... well... dry. Like it was missing something. So I asked my dad for tips. He gave me some recipes to thumb through and encouraged me to try again. 

After about 4 tries, this is my best shot so far:

It is sooo yummy! I know what ingredients go in it, and I love that I have "made it my own." Also, it is so yummy that I never remember to get a picture before I have already had a slice ( or two ).

So here is my not-quite perfected but still better than the frozen stuff pizza recipe:

3 cups flour

2 tsp yeast 

1 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 crushed garlic cloves

basil- about 1-2 teaspoons 

Sun-dried tomatoes seasoning (Pampered Chef)

I put the flour, crushed garlic cloves, salt, and basil in a big bowl. Then, I mix about 1/4 cup flour with 120 degree water and the yeast in a measuring cup. Once the yeast has dissolved, I add it to the flour mixture. 

After researching and finding many ways that did NOT work for helping my bread rise, I found this way of activating the yeast to be most effective. 

I cover the bowl with a wet dish towel, then place in the garage for about an hour. This is usually enough time for the dough to double in size.

Once the dough has risen, I knead it a few times in flour and prepare the stone. The stone should be heated first and you really need olive oil and corn meal but I have not bought that yet so I just put flour down and I have not had problems with it sticking to the stone. I shape the dough and place it on the stone.  Then, I add olive oil all around the pizza and sprinkle the sun-dried tomatoes seasoning around the crust to give it some extra flavor. I bake the dough in the oven for about 5-8 minutes.

After the dough has been in the oven for 5-8 minutes, I pull it out and add my dad's homemade sauce (double yum!) and my toppings. I prefer mushrooms and hard salami (both of which need to be fresh/ from the deli ). Then, I add freshly shredded mozzarella cheese and finally add some parmesan cheese (sprinkled) and cheddar cheese (sprinkled)

I bake it at 425 degrees until the cheese is melted and boom! You have amazing pizza. Better than the frozen kind. I even prefer it over Papa Johns. Oh, and so does my husband :)

Banana Bread Adventure

My husband thought he wanted bananas. A lot of bananas. Aldi's had them on sale for $0.49 a pound so I bought A LOT of bananas. They sat in the fruit bowl for about a week when I mentioned, "Hey, I thought you wanted some bananas." So he ate one. And then the bananas began to turn.

The good news is that when bananas get ripe, you can make banana bread!

I followed the recipe here: http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/banana_bread/

and ended up with this:

Yum!!! 

It was so yummy! And it feels good to not waste food. 

p.s. the time is real- 9:18 PM. Because I bake at night when I am bored :)

Week 6 of the grocery budget adventure

I feel like I cheated. 

It is week 5 and I had so many errands to run Sunday that I stopped at one stop- Kroger- to do my shopping. I missed my Aldi's trip this week! And even with missing Aldi's, I spent.... $32!!! 

Yep folks, this week my grocery expenditures was only $32. 

Here's the menu for the week:

• Sausage with rice and corn
• Tacos
• Chicken Pot Pie
• Breakfast for dinner
• chicken parmigiana 
• frozen pizza

So I have been making AMAZING homemade pizza, but my husband cleaned the kitchen and he likes to keep it clean for a few days afterwards so we resort to frozen pizza. 

Anyways, all of the meat was already bought for the week. I stocked up on green beans and corn (our favorite vegetables) last time they were on sale. I already had rice, pasta, and all of the ingredients for chicken parmigiana. The chicken pot pie is frozen from last month when I doubled the recipe and made an extra serving. Taco kits are about $2.50.

I felt so bad I bought Moose tracks ice cream :) And a bag of "real chips"! Oh, and the expensive meat from the deli! 

Next week is the last week of "planned menu items" for the month and for the budget I set. The good news is that I will still have enough items in my freezer and pantry to probably last an extra few days. Since I am reaching the two month mark it is definitely time to clean out the freezer. Once that is done, I will begin working on the next month's grocery list. 

I plan on checking out some recipes found here:

http://www.momswhothink.com/healthy-recipes/healthy-recipes.html

Classroom Pass Adventure

Okay so this is less about the classroom passes, and more about having an amazing student teacher :)

She made these for me! (And posters, bulletin boards, anchor charts, lesson plans, activities, etc.) 

Apparently you don't need much for new passes:

• Painter Sticks 
• Sharpies
• Duck tape
• Sparkle stickers
• Puff Paint

I <3 them and I <3 my super hard working student teacher for helping me out with this!