Photo Friday #23

Today I'm off to Connecticut. It will be a quick weekend trip, but one I've been looking forward to for a long time. Well, I guess I've been looking forward to it for about 3 weeks since that's how long ago I bought my plane ticket. I get to join my mom, Amy (my brother's fiance) and Amy's family to search for a wedding dress. Thinking about weddings makes me happy. Thinking about planning our wedding makes me happy. Hey Joe, let's throw another party just like our wedding. We can forget the ceremony, expensive dress and decorations. Just invite friends, hire a DJ and buy a couple keys. Perfect!

This picture is from Christmas 2010.

Homemade Pizza Dough

Homemade pizza is a triple win: it's easy, fun and delicious. The best homemade pizza starts with the best homemade pizza dough and this recipe is just that. I found this online a while ago and it's really a perfect Friday night meal. We usually keep the toppings simple, but we need to start thinking outside the box. Check out the link below where I found the recipe for more details.

Homemade Pizza Dough
recipe from Annie's Eats

Homemade Pizza Dough
Ingredients
1/2 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1 envelope instant yeast
1 1/4 cup room temperature water
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions
Measure the warm water in small bowl. Sprinkle in yeast, let stand five minutes. Add room temperature water and olive oil. Place flour and salt in stand mixer with paddle attachment. Combine at low speed. Slowly add liquid ingredients and combine until mass forms. Replace paddle with dough hook and knead dough until smooth and elastic (about five minutes). Add extra flour if too sticky. Form dough into ball and put into a deep oiled bowl. Cover with plastic wrap or kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in size (about two hours). One batch makes two pizzas.

Joe even got fancy while making the pizza. He's a natural.

Weekend Mashup

Sorry for the lack of posts last week... I had none. If you're reading this, thank you for sticking around. To be honest, it was quite a relief to take some time off. We had a lot going on last week, but unfortunately I can't share some of those "going-ons" quite yet.

There is an abundance of these colorful flowers around Charlotte. What are they?? I need to know so I can buy some to plant in the future. We saw them in this vibrant pink, a lighter pink and white. Just another reminder that Spring is here!

We had a visitor over the weekend. Joe's cousin is a cheerleader for Notre Dame and traveled to North Carolina for the women's NCAA basketball tournament. Joe's aunt flew into Charlotte to spend a day with us before heading to Raleigh to watch the games. It was great to have family in town again. We showed her around town while trying to avoid the rain.

While visiting, Joe's aunt introduced me to my new favorite beauty item. Have you heard of EOS lip balm? I guess I am behind the trend because these have been around for a little while. I love the shape of the lip balm, the fruity smell and how it makes my lips nice and smooth. Get yourself one at stores like ULTA or Walmart.

In humorous news... this little guy had a date with the vet this past week. He came home with the collar of shame. Lucky for him he's still super cute. I even get to meet him in less than a week!

Have a wonderful week!

Photo Friday #22

It's March Madness time! I might not be a huge basketball fan during regular season, but come tournament time I enjoy watching it all. I also don't know much about each of the teams, but I enjoy filling out a bracket! I chose UNC to win. Does that make me predictable seeing that we now live in North Carolina? This is Joe's bracket. He started highlighting the games he got right in the first round. How is your bracket looking so far? Who do you have winning it all?

New-ish Hobby

I took up crocheting back when we lived in Des Moines. A couple of my co-workers signed up for a crochet class and I thought... why not? It was not only fun to learn a new skill (or is it more like a talent?) but we also used the time for socializing. I think the class was twice a week for maybe 4 weeks? Our teacher was pretty sick (and by that I mean cool). We even had a potluck on our last night.

I didn't bring any yarn or hooks with me to San Francisco so I haven't crocheted for probably 8 or 9 months. There were also some unfinished projects left behind. Determined to finish at least one this year I found my skein and G hook and got to work. Just like riding a bike, I picked up where I left off and didn't have any trouble remembering how the stitch went. Although I will say I sat and starred at the finished square for a while trying to remember how I've tied the knots. Don't worry, I got it! Eventually I'll share the finished project... eventually.

It was fitting that I started working on the black and gold blanket. Iowa basketball playing in the NIT tournament was on TV and what a game that was! Iowa beat Dayton to advance to the second round. It was so much fun to watch. I'm thinking maybe we'll see an Iowa/UNI matchup soon???

What Do Weekends Call For?

Picture your weekend, what makes it special? What do you look forward to?

Sleeping in?

Enjoying a picnic?

Attending a wedding?

Cooking, and then eating?

For me, I always look forward to spending more time with Joe, checking things off our to-do list and exploring Charlotte. We don't get a chance to do any of those items during the week.

Our weekend included a trip to Buffalo Wild Wings. We tried to eat here the weekend before, but because of the CIAA basketball tournament in town, it was packed. All I wanted was some honey BBQ wings and a beer. This past weekend I was able to enjoy just that.

That was before we walked over to Time Warner Arena to watch the Charlotte Checkers. Yes, that's the town hockey team, and yes, they check a lot. We knew nothing about the team, but we quickly learned they were leading their division and were playing the number two team. Like most hockey I'm used to, there was a rowdy crowd and lots of beer.

I love weekends!

Photo Friday #21

This week's Photo Friday is nothing to write home about. Well, I guess in a way I am writing home... hi mom and dad! My game plan for meals during the week is usually making a large dinner on Sunday and/or Monday and then having leftovers for the week. My unusual work schedule (I work until 7:00 PM) doesn't leave much time to prepare a meal. Joe and I are both usually starving by 7:00. This past week I made a side dish I saw on Rachael Ray's show. When a recipe calls for a whole pound of pasta I know we'll have plenty of leftovers for that week. I think I'll use the techniques for other dishes too. Roasted garlic is delicious!

House Hunting: What Neighborhood?

We have been all over the board in terms of neighborhoods to live in. Our realtor has given us lots of information on the up and coming neighborhoods, school districts, etc. We've also done a lot of research on our own. Let's just say I'm dreaming about houses because we've looked at so many and discussed them over and over.

Here's a little taste of some of the neighborhoods and suburbs we've been looking at. Clearly South Charlotte is the place to be.

Treating Ourselves

Saturday morning seemed like a perfect day to treat ourselves. We had a day of house hunting planned and started our day at the Starbucks in Dilworth. Thanks to Deb and Jerry we had a gift card still from Christmas to use. In case you're wondering, my cinnamon chip scone was delicious.

This Starbucks is so neat and unique. It resembles a house with a front deck, windows and a front entry way, but inside it's open with the coffe counter, tables and chairs. It's definitely a local hang out. We sat and discussed some houses while other people chatted with neighbors or studied their textbooks.

Photo Friday #20

Today's a two-fer... there was no Photo Friday last week!

Spring has been in the air here in Charlotte. Yesterday it hit 80 degrees! There are some beautiful blooming trees we've spotted around town while house hunting (I should probably update you all on that sometime too). The blue sky behind the pink flowers screams Spring! Happy Friday!

U.S. Whitewater Center

We took Joe's parents to the U.S. Whitewater Center this past weekend. In short... this place is awesome.

It's located just outside of Charlotte along the Catawba river which runs between Lake Norman and Lake Wylie. Do you like how my knowledge of the area has improved? I actually am starting to feel like a true resident.

I had heard about this place beforehand, but I didn't realize how cool it was really going to be. There is so much to do! The list of activities we participated in include:

• rock climbing - we came back to this later in the day and Julie conquered the black diamond of rock walls
• mountain biking - although not on the trails, unfortunately the trails were too wet
• climb to zip - you climb up a net and zip down, repeat as necessary... in our case twice. After that it becam too much work for a quick zip down.
• adventure course - walk a tight rope while maneuvering obstacles, I laughed the hardest during this activity thanks to Joe and Jed. It was challenging, but rewarding
• kayaking on the Catawba - Jed, Julie and I bet Joe he couldn't stay dry while paddle boarding (we didn't bring swinsuits). Joe decided to kayak instead... smart choice
• canyon crossing - just like the adventure course, but higher up between trees with a longer course. Plus once you were done you zipped back to the starting point
• canyon zipline - I can't remember how many times we did this, it was fun and finally an activity that didn't take strength or concentration

Unfortunately we weren't able to whitewater raft. Of course this time of year the course is closed due to weather, although there's no snow. We did see the course though and it excites me to get back there again to test it out. We also weren't able to do the mega zipline (it is 1,000 feet long!) because the wind was too strong. Just another thing to add to my to-do list.

Now that you know what it was all about, here are some pictures.

Joe and Julie conquering the rock climb wall.

I joined in on the fun and showed the wall who's boss.

Then we biked around the whitewater rafting course. They had drained the water for repairs.

We spotted Hawk Island and were secretly planning to bring spray paint next time to make it Hawkeye Island

Getting ready to zip down. It actually took a lot in me to finally jump off the first time.

Joe getting ready to zip. You can see the net we climbed up.

Action shot.

Julie finishing the adventure course.

Don't look down!

The adventure course. Now doesn't that just look like fun?!

It literally started to rain a minute after we got in the car to leave. Perfect timing and ending to a fun day.