My Friend Teddy

Theodore Roosevelt once said....

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorius triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.

This is my short post for this week. When caught in a cross roads in any matter, at any point in your life you must remember these wise words. What is the worst that could happen? If you never try, you'll never know.

I first heard this quote from my college rowing coach. If you try your hardest when running, rowing, or swimming the worst that could happen is that you end up last. Is that such a bad thing? In my opinion it has only made you stronger for your next challenge.

If you have a dream, don't sit by and watch t.v., do a little bit of what you love everyday.

August is Awesome!!

Well I survived...I turned 35!!! yesterday. Yikes! and yes...I know the clock is ticking. Someday I'll be able to decide on that important commitment. Although seeing Darrell with Tyler and Zac at my sister's wedding reception proved that he is just a kid at heart. They gravitate to him. It sounds silly but I had a great day. I worked til 6 but got word that my job will be changing in the near future, for the better. Darrell treated me to a glass of champagne, a very funny Hoops & Yoyo card (if you know me, you know I love these guys), a new Nike i-pod pedometer, and an awesome Strawberries and Cream Cake from CakeLove. I can't even describe how good this cake is. Then we ordered pizza and watched the Olympics. Tonight we will go out to dinner.......ahhhhh he is such a keeper!

So this is such an exciting month...Happy Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa. You are awesome role models for us. You are such wonderful people and we all aspire to be with our other halves so happily for so many years. It starts as best friends, that is for sure. We love you both!

Then Big Al...Man Happy Birthday. Lovin' your classical music stint lately. Hoping that So. Cal is treating you well and soon you will find that lucky gal. I know we are all lookin'. You're brilliant.

Who else? My sister, as you know. My brother in law. I know we have a few kids in there too.
We share birthday's with the likes of Madonna and Napoleon Bonaparte are know for being creative but demanding people that love to be the center of attention..me...nooooo...shocker!

The end of my Cheer's for the week....love you all.

Happy Birthday Laura

It is not too often that my sisters check out this site, however I thought I might let everyone know that my baby sister turns 31 today! Happy Birthday..Megee.

This was taken last year but you get the idea!

Alright, the chaos continues but what ya' gonna do. It has been a busy week of concerts. Sunday's Coldplay concert was so awesome! I can't even explain how much fun we had and I was VERY thankful that I had arranged with my boss to take my Friday summer hours on Monday AM. Here are a couple shots from the concert. My husband managed to get me incredible seats about 15 rows from the stage! They were all over the arena. At one point they left the stage and went all the way across the arena and played in the middle of a second deck of fans. Wow, they didn't know what to say. They were shocked.

Meanwhile Darrell spent the weekend at Lollapalooza in Chicago. Nine Inch Nails, Rage Against the Machine, and Radiohead just to name a few. He had a great time with the guys. Here is a photo of some of the insanity of this three day event.

Then...yes...one more. Saturday night (last night) we went to the Virgin Mobile Music Festival at Pimlico Race Track here in B-more. Highlights were definitely Offspring and Foo Fighters. Both had some incredible energy and their sound didn't skip a beat. Foo Fighters have gone through a little bit of an instrumental phase but didn't hold anything back last night. Man they let it all out! Sooooooooooo much fun. Imagine me singing at the top of my lungs and you got the right picture in your head!

and now we are broke....jk.

Have a good week! Stay tuned for a new recipe next week.

Sisters

So it has been a very busy two weeks since last post.
On Wednesday of last week I left for Michigan to join up with my family to go to my sister's wedding reception. She got married back in March in St. Lucia. Wed through Friday were full of planning and visiting with family. Darrell joined us on Friday night. My sister from California brought along her two kids....total cuties. Here are some shots from the event. It was a long five days but a ton of fun!








The rest of this last week was packed with events every night. Monday- softball, Tuesday- softball, Wednesday- Dinner out with Darrell's office mates (It's restaurant week!), Thursday- softball, Friday- Restaurant week for me and a girlfriend and Darrell left for Chicago (Lolapoluza with the guys!)
Week before last I fertilized all the indoor and outdoor plants and flowers. The basil is just awesome right now. Therefore, I thought I might share one of my favorite pasta salads!

Pasta Salad with Mozzarella, Sun dried Tomatoes and Basil
Dressing:
6 Tbs Olive Oil
1/2 cup drained Sun-Dried Tomatoes in oil (cut into strips)
1/4 Balsamic or Red Wine Vinegar
1 Tbs drained capers
1 crushed garlic clove

Salad
1 pound box fusilli pasta
12 oz cherry tomatoes halved
8 oz mozzarella cheese (fresh water packed is awesome) cubed
1 cup (packed) fresh basil, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 minced pitted kalmata olives

Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water just until tender. Drain. Transfer to a bowl. Mix dressing in and allow to cool. Stir occasionally to evenly coat. Stir in fresh tomatoes, cheeses, basil and olives. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or refrigerate for up to 6 hours.
Enjoy!

Tomorrow night....off to see COLDPLAY!!!!!....I'm so excited. They were awesome in San Jose back in 05!

Inspired

This week I have been inspired by several different things. First, last weekend I went to a BBQ where I brought this watermelon side dish. Everyone thought it was awesome and seriously it was so easy. It took my creative brain and about 15 minutes and we were good to go. Try it the next time you have to bring something. This was an all adult affair so I am not sure if kids are cool with green in their watermelon ...but it's worth a shot.

One medium seedless watermelon..scooped into balls either with a melon baller or a 2 Tsp measuring spoon...which is about the only use I have for this crazy size spoon.

About 2 to 3 tablespoons minced fresh mint leaves (currently growing on my deck!)

Juice of half fresh lime (depending upon the size of your melon you may want more)

Toss gently, refrigerate or serve immediately!

Alright, the inspiration for this comes from Big Al. Al turned us all onto Blogging recipes last week and I thought...what a great way to share. This one got such rave reviews by my friends that I thought you might like it.

The second inspiration of the week came on Tuesday night. A large Mac & Cheese producing customer of ours...we wont say who they are....blue boxes...were in town and we wanted to wine and dine them, showing just what a fabulous company we are......please let us make your seasoning blends??!! Anyway, our executive staff put together a wine and food tasting/paring. The food was created and designed around our Flavor Forecast. Our chefs and food insight folks get together with about 15 well known chefs around the country, including some of those that you see on the food network to come up with what the next great flavor pairings will be. Orange and wood smoke. Hummmm can you say BBQ sauce? wait...on a mini BBQ chicken slider with provolone cheese. Yum! Alright now train my mind how to pair an awesome big and bold Syrah from California with that and man....I was in heaven. It made such a difference. Pair acidic iwth acidic, sweet with sweet, smoky with smoky....How to pair things completely changed how the two tasted together. By the end of the night I said to myself. "I love this stuff!" Awesome food and how it is all put together and then the wine paired up so beautifully. What a dream to go around doing this type of thing for a living. What would I have to do to do this for a living?...um other than have a degree in wine making and 10 years experience in the food industry.....check. Well, motivation to leave my current job for one...anhh...let's take some baby steps first. So, baby step one. Meet up with all my foodie friends and start learning, tasting, pairing, and teaching. Once a month a girlfriend and I are planning said experience. There is already one group that does something similiar to this but to this point I have not yet been included. We are just not that close of friends, however, I hope to be able to incorporate myself into the group if mine fails miserably! Stay tuned.

God Bless America....a week late but...we shouldn't need a day!

This last weekend was filled with so many activities that Monday was here before I knew it, and then the work week, and now it is Friday and I am just getting to posting. We had a last minute BBQ on Friday, posted an Evite as many friends had nothing going on. Above is a shot of the most handsome host. How I love this guy! It is amazing how we come to the East Coast to advance my career and he is doing so awesome with his! Darrell just got rave reviews for managing his staff of 5 and the fact that he has passed every project against the city council that he has presented to them. He is so meticulous with financial details and presenting his reasoning! How can they say no. Sure genius! Love this guy! Anyway, "The Fourth" was a hit. We live on "the hill" so the view of the fireworks downtown are great from our deck. We had about 15 people over. A few showers but none-the-less people were fed and happy. I told the story of the Fish celebration and see that photos have been posted......thanks Sarah and all. I do miss the awesome personal show that comes with being a Missouri relative! Next year we should seriously consider coming out...although I still have scars from my last visit to the chiggers!!!!

Well...either way I love you guys and we will have to see the little ones sooner or later, whatever excuse we want to give the husband! Thanks so much for Natalie posting her love of the Star Spangled Banner. Written at Fort McHenry, I might add. Just about 3 miles away. Any time you want to come visit the home of the actual making of the flag (D and I have actually been there) or Fort McHenry, where it was written, just holler! Some serious great American History here on the East Coast. Next year, if we don't come to Missouri, I am considering going to D.C. where you can watch the fireworks to a full symphony orchestra overlooking the Washington Monument Fireworks Spectacular! You can't love freedom more than that!!!!

Miss you all- Cheers!- Steph

Stealing from Amanda

Alright, so I understand that the game is probably that I am supposed to be tagged before I lay out the three things about me but I just thought it was such a great way to tell about yourself, at least for that moment in time. So here it goes:

Three Joys

*Cooking (shocker!)

*Taking Fall Hikes with my wonderful husband and dog

*Snuggling my cat

Three Fears

*Heights

*Going fast (either in a ride, water skis, downhill skiing, etc.)

*Motorcycles

Three Goals

*Manage a product development lab

*Reach a 50 year wedding anniversary

*Complete another marathon under 4 hours and be able to walk the next day!

Current Three Obsessions

*Softball- In particular, avoiding making a fool of myself.
*Farmer's Markets on the weekends

*Not working over an extra 4 hours a week....not an easy one for me.

Three Surprising Facts

*I don't like Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Icing or Chocolate Ice Cream.

*I am completely uncoordinated and go through several injuries a week.

*I have to be reminded to drink water.

Three people I tag....I'll skip this one since I wasn't really tagged in the first place.

So that is me this week. I thought I might share this cute picture of Diana. Most of you haven't seen her since we adopted her two years ago. She is in love with Darrell!

Cheers!

Steph