You're Welcome, Neighbors.

You can't see it now (because it's dark outside, duh), but we have grass growing where we buried Abraham Lincoln there used to be a huge pile of dirt.

Tomorrow we're Charles and his mom are planting shrubs and a tree and mulching (half of the yard).

Pictures to come.

I promise.

P.S. Here's a picture of our little ham.

No, Kim, NO.

And the award for worst pregnancy "fashion" goes to... Kim Kardashian! 

Congratulations, Kim!

going for a ride

I'm pretty sure our neighbors hate us.

Our yard has looked like this since September.

That's SEVEN months.

Seven months of ugliness.

Seven months of a dirt pile that resembles the grave of a very tall man.

There's good news though!

We're Someone else is working on re-seeding it! Progress is being made this week.

(We hired it out. Want it to be done the right way the first time.)

Also, we forgot some plants when we un-landscaped last year.

It's nice to have some color in the yard. 

Now I'm off to find a power washer.

This Weather!

Veggie Pizza

I love veggie pizza as it combines all of my favorite things: cheese, ranch dressing, crescent rolls, and veggies!

I lived off of this after Monkey was born and made it a few weeks ago so I’d have something for lunch at work. However I ate half of it before I even made it to a work day. This is half of a regular recipe and can easily be doubled if you are making it for more than 2 (or in my house, more than just me).

Please forgive me, this photo is ridiculously bad. 

Veggie Pizza

Crescent roll dough

1 package of cream cheese

½  cup sour cream or mayonnaise (really doesn’t matter)

½ packet of ranch dressing mix

½ - 1 cup shredded carrots

½ - 1 cup red cabbage

½ - 1 cup broccoli

½ - 1 cup cauliflower

½ - 1 cup frozen peas

Shredded cheddar cheese

Bake the crescent dough at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.  Remove from the oven and let cool.

Mix the cream cheese, sour cream/mayonnaise, and ranch dressing. Spread on cooled crust.

Chop and/or shred veggies and layer on the pizza.

Chill in the fridge and serve. 

I love me a good Conclave

Happy Pope Election Day!

I’m super excited about the Conclave starting today.  I’ve signed up for my white smoke alert text and email  and I’ve even adopted a Cardinal!

So while I’m pulling for Timothy Dolan of New York and Angelo Scola of Milan,  I am also now routing for Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga SDB of Honduras.

Let’s take a minute to meet Cardinal Oscar.

He’s 70 years old (born on our anniversary – the date not the year) and has been a Cardinal since February 21, 2001.  He currently serves as Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

Side Note: Big Red, wasn’t Maria from Honduras?!

And now for some Catholic stories (the good one is at the end):

:: I went to Catholic school for kindergarten and 8^th grade (because FCA did not have a basketball team that year and I really want to play sit on the bench and score lots of 2 points).

:: My other mother and best friend (two different people) are Catholic.

:: One of our guilty pleasure movies is EuroTrip and one of my favorite scenes is the one that takes place in the Vatican.

:: My Cultural Anthropology Professor’s wife was Catholic and went to see Pope John Paul II lying in state in Rome.

:: C and I used to go to Mass in Chicago when we missed church on Sunday mornings (or wanted to go on Saturday nights) because (in my opinion) Lutherans and Catholics are very similar.

:: While Pope John Paul II was dying I skipped my math class (Methods which taught you to think like a 4 year old so you could in turn teach a 4 year old math) to watch for black smoke and then white smoke.  I wasn’t worried about skipping the class as I had over a 100% and didn’t even need to take the final.  What I wasn’t counting on was answering the phone while I was skipping class and Professor Champaign (who’s class I was skipping and who lived on Michigan Avenue!) being on the other calling to let me know that my homework was on the counter in the classroom and I could pick it up when I was over there.  I think she figured out that I wasn’t sick.  Also, the pope didn’t die during that 50 minutes.

Seriously though, I am so excited for this Conclave and am jealous that I can’t be there to watch because 1) I am not in the Vatican, 2) am not Catholic, 3) am not a man, and 4) am not a Cardinal.

May the best Pope win!