BIRTHDAY HELP!

My birthday is less than a month away and Justin keeps asking me [almost] everyday what I want to do for my birthday. This is how our conversation usually goes:

J: "What do you want to do for your birthday?"
R: "I don't know. Whatever."
J: "Is there something special you want to do?"
R: "Yeah, but I don't know what. Can you just plan it for me?"

Basically, we just go around in circles and I don't have ANY ideas as to what I should do for my birthday. Last year, we went to the zoo for the day, I had class [for the first time EVER on my birthday!] and then Justin surprised me with a really romantic dinner at this beautiful, historical house in downtown Raleigh. Growing up, birthday usually consisted of my mom making any meal I wanted (which was ALWAYS delicious!), cake and presents.

So this is where I need everyone's help- WHAT SHOULD I DO FOR MY BIRTHDAY? Anyone have a fun, unique ideas that they would like to share? One major thing you should know is that we might possibly be moving the day before my birthday, so I have to be able to do this in any state/city (not just specific to Raleigh/NC).

Thanks for your help! I look forward to hearing all your ideas!!

Too Tired

I was going to blog tonight about these....


But I am WAY too tired. They took me about 4 1/2 hours to make and I don't feel like putting in the energy to the blog post I want to create about these beauties.

Why am I so tired?
This has been a pretty rough week for me. I had to proctor my 2nd round of EOG's. EOG's are the End of Grade tests that all 3-8th graders have to take. They test for three days straight, and each test can run from 2-4 hours. I have had to proctor this test twice now (total of 6 days + make up and re-take days... so it's more like a total of 10 days). I walk around, can't sit, can't eat, can't drink and can't talk for these hours. Today I think I just about lost my mind during the math test. So I am exhausted from that.

My job search has also been very exhausting and getting to me this week. The school year is coming to a close (or over for regular schools) and the new school year is fast approaching. I have applied to probably 40+ jobs now and not a single nibble. This is also a popular topic of conversation with my co-workers because they know I have my Master's and am looking for a job. I have earnestly seeking the Lord for his direction and praying that the right job will open up for me soon.

Tomorrow... I shall post about my end of the year cake pops!
Good night :)

Oatmeal Cream Pies

A few months ago it used to be that Sunday was my baking day. With the nice weather that we have been having, and not to mention all the traveling, I really haven't been baking too much. Today, while Justin and Paul were at a movie, I decided to stay at home and do a little baking. I have been craving these Oatmeal Cream pies that I made a while ago, so I decided to make them again. They are super easy to make, and so delicious! So much better than the store-bought ones :)

This recipe is from Martha Stewart's, Everyday Food Magazine. My sister-in-law, Tessa, recommended that I try this magazine and I am glad that I did :) This recipe originally calls for a cream cheese frosting in the middle. Since real oatmeal cream pies don't have a cream cheese frosting I decided to use a regular vanilla buttercream frosting for my own pies, but it is your choice!

Here is the recipe:

Oatmeal Cream Pies
Martha Stewart
Makes 12-13 pies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 c. packed dark-brown sugar
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 Tbsp. unsulfured molasses
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 c. rolled oats (not quick-cooking)
1/2 c. golden raisins (optional) *I did not use

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, with racks in the upper and lower thirds. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. In another large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter, brown and granulated sugars, and molasses on high, scraping the bowl, until light and fluffy, 4 mins. Add vanilla, beat until combined. Beat in eggs, one at a time, scraping the bowl after each addition.

2. With mixer on low, add flour mixture and beat until combined. With a rubber spatula, stir in oats and raisins. Drop dough in tablespoonful mounds 2 inches apart, onto two baking sheets. Bake until cookies are just set at edges and slightly soft in the middle, about 11 minutes, rotating the baking sheets halfway through. Let cookies cool on sheets, 5 minutes. Transfer to wire racks and let cool completely.

3. In a medium bowl, using mixer, beat frosting. (Cream cheese frosting is 8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature + 6 Tbsp. confectioner's sugar). Spread filling on flat side of half the cookies. Sandwich with remaining cookies.

The best thing is that these can also be eaten for breakfast! I mean, oatmeal is a breakfast food, right?!? I'm sure I'll be grabbing one on my way out the door for work tomorrow morning ;)

Cape Hatteras

Justin and I made a spontaneous trip to the Outer Banks today! My sister, Jen, invited me to a girls' outing to the beach in Florida, but seeing how I would have to drive 12+ hours and I only had the weekend off, I wasn't able to make it :( Justin has been wanting to check out Cape Hatteras National Seashore in the Outer Banks for some time. Apparently it was ranked #5 on Dr. Beaches' best beaches in the U.S. (or something like that...)

We left around 7:30 this morning and were able to spend the whole day at the beach. Since it is a National park, it is a very secluded beach. There are no beach houses around, no cheesy beach stores, no hotel, just the waves, sand and the dunes. We were one of about 5 groups within our seeing distance. It was so nice to practically have the entire beach to yourself. It was also perfect beach weather. We have been getting crushed with heat here. It has been in the high 90's and very humid every day. Today, the weather at the beach was low-mid 80's with the light beachy breeze. It was warm, but not scorching hot.

Honestly, today was one of the best days that I have had in a while. Not that I have been having bad days, but I was truly happy and full of joy today. I loved just being able to be outside, enjoy the sun, have the sand in my toes and be with my husband. We had fun reading, taking our strolls along the beach, playing frisbee in the surf, looking for shells and other wildlife. We saw lots of little sand crabs and a jelly.

It was a perfect summer day :)

Cape Hatteras- OBX

Chillin' on the dune

Looking for purple shells

Great day together :)

Our friend!

Couch to 5K

I know you are all probably expecting some more reasons as to why NC is so awesome, but honestly I am getting a little burned out and wanted to blog about something else. Don't worry, I haven't run out of reasons and I will continue that series periodically.

Yesterday was June 1st, which not only meant that it was my lil' bro's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONTO!) but that it was time for me and Justin to get started on our running plan. A couple weeks ago, Justin and I were on one of our evening strolls. I had a crazy thought that we should train for a 5K together. We have both been trying to get more 'in shape' by taking the occasional visit to the gym or by going on walks. I thought that if we trained for a 5K together, it would help us get into shape, be more active, enjoy the outdoors and still have time to bond with one another. I ran cross country for 2 years in middle school and all 4 years in high school. I was actually on the varsity team and made it to the State Meet with the team. It is funny how I haven't run since my senior year. We decided to pick the date, June 1st, to start our new plan. We chose June because we both needed new running shoes (mine were 4 years old).

On Saturday night, we decided to be spontaneous and go out and buy our shoes. Sure enough, we were successful and came back home with two new pairs of running shoes. We decided to do a 'test jog' that night. At 9:30 pm, nice and cool in the dark, we jogged down the street (0.7 miles) and walked back home. This was fairly easy since it is all down hill and we conveniently walked the uphill ;) Monday morning, our neighbor, Derek, invited us to go on another run. This time it was a 2 mile loop around a nice lake in Apex. I managed to run through 1 mile, and then walked the rest. The entire time I was running my mile I kept thinking, "Why am I doing this? This is so painful! I hate running! This is torture! Running is not meant for females with mature bodies! This is the worst idea I ever had..." Get the point?

So yesterday was the first day of June and we decided to stick to our plan and go for a run. We laced up our shoes and discovered a new lake near our house. The lake is a 1.2 mile loop. We ran about 1 mile of it and then walked the rest. Unfortunately, it has been in the upper 90's down here, not to mention the extreme humidity. So it looks like we started our running during ideal running conditions... not! Our plan is to run every-other-day. We are just taking it as it goes and hopefully going to build up our mileage. We do not have an actual 5K race scheduled to run, but maybe in the fall one will come up. I found this workout plan called Couch-to-5K online, and we were planning on using it for our training.

Although it has been a little bit of a bumpy start, we have been dedicated this entire week and have actually ran every-other-day. As much as I hate running while I am doing it, I do feel pretty good afterward (like an hour after). It is nice to be active and be consistent with it. Who knows, maybe next we will train for a marathon.... NOT!!

Love NC #22-24

This is the coffee-drinking you-know-who again. The Sweet-Toothed Wife has a toothache right now, so I'll post something for her in the meantime. How about a sports themed post!

22. The most famous Minor League Baseball Team in the World

There is no minor league baseball team better known across the world than the Durham Bulls. The reason is simple... the popular 1988 movie Bull Durham. That being said, the Bulls are actually good and are in the top tier of minor league baseball, the Triple-A International League. They are an affiliate of the frequently dominant Tampa Bay Rays. The Bulls are about 20 minutes west of us... while the Carolina Mudcats are 30 minutes east. Asheville has the Asheville Tourists. All in all, North Carolina has over 30 minor league baseball teams.


23. The Carolina / Duke Rivalry

The Triangle in particular, but the rest of the state as well, is crazy for college sports. This is especially true about college basketball. Near where we live we have Wake Forest and NC State... but the real focus is on the hardcore rivalry between Duke and UNC: Chapel Hill... aka "Carolina." These are two top-rate universities in academics as well as sports, and they seem to be trading off winning national champions in recent years. In order to invoke strong emotions from any UNC student... just say "Duke" and vice versa. These fans are rabid, and the teams are guaranteed to play one another at least twice a season, not counting any March Madness meetings.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolina%E2%80%93Duke_rivalry
24. Carolina Hurricanes

North Carolina may not seem like a hotbed for ice hockey, but it certainly has become one. The Carolina Hurricanes play in Raleigh, the capital city. I am definitely a 'Caniac,' as the fans are called, and have been rooting for the 'Canes since they won the 2006 Stanley Cup! Nothing beats watching pucks smack against the glass, fists slam into faces, and John Deere Zamboni machines smoothing the ice.

Love NC #19-21

19. Sand boarding
One activity that I would like to do sometime while at the Outer Banks is sand boarding. North Carolina is one state out of five states in the US that has sand boarding available! Sand boarding is a lot like snow boarding, but is done on a sand dune. Anyone up for trying it out with me?!?


20. Snowboarding
So at one extreme you have sand boarding, and at the other you have snowboarding. With the mountains at a higher altitude, North Carolina is able to provide this winter sport. My first time ever and only snowboarding was in North Carolina a couple years ago. Although I could barely move the next day, I had a ton of fun and would definitely do it again!


21. Zip lining
Another extreme activity that can be done in the mountains of North Carolina is zip lining. Justin and I went zip lining in the rain forest during our honeymoon in Costa Rica. It was so much fun and I would recommend that anyone try it out!

All geared up and ready for our zip lining excursion in Costa Rica!

We survived!