Darioush Winery

This was the first winery we went to. As you can see by the stars on the last photo, those were the wines I liked. This place was absolutely beautiful! The pistachio's they had sitting out to eat were so yummy! Some friends of ours went to Napa a few months before us and brought back a bottle of Duel that they graciously shared with us, so it was fun to get to have that again since you can't buy it here.

Crazy last couple of nights!

Ok, so I know I'm a big wimp once it gets dark outside, but I had every right to be freaked out! The last couple of nights someone has decided to play ding dong ditch on me in the middle of the night! The first time was Saturday night. I had to photograph a wedding all day Saturday, so Chris decided he'd go up to the cabin and do some snowmobiling and he took Daisy with so she didn't have to be alone all day while I was gone. I came home and was exhausted and went to bed way early. At 3:15am my doorbell rang! I was freaked out and all by myself! I decided I needed to get up and turn a light on in case someone was checking to see if no one was home before they broke into my house. I heard a car drive away, but I couldn't convince myself to shut the lights off after that. So get this! Last night it happens again at 4:08am! Daisy was home this time thank goodness and she put her little barker to use! The one and only time I enjoyed barking! Chris went outside, but didn't see anyone. So I called the police this morning and another lady down the street from us called in with the same complaints for the last two nights. She actually saw some kids running away. Come on! Really??? Can't kids come up with something better to do at 3am?!? Like be at home SLEEPING maybe!

first stop

Our first stop on the trip was the Jelly Belly factory. I don't even like Jelly Belly, but we had to bring some home for the girls :) Check out the nasty ones they offer on the box! Gross huh?

Delicous Smoothie

Here's the smoothie I came up with for lunch today. It turned out so yummy!

8-12 oz water
2 handfuls of baby spinach
Mango and pineapple (about a cup total of fruit - this is just what I had on hand)
I scoop of protein powder

Great way to get more spinach in your diet! You can't taste it all! You can put a little sweetener in if it's to sour for you.

We're home

Well, we are home! From the second we got home it has been one thing after the next so I haven't had time to look through my pictures yet. We had the most amazing vacation! Napa is as gorgeous as you can imagine even without the vines in full bloom. Here is the wine we had right before leaving to toast off our trip! This was a fabulous wine! I love the Martini Napa cab and their Alexander reserve cab is so fabulous! I'm not a huge fan of their sonoma cab though. If you get a chance to try them, you should!

update

We had a fabulous day yesterday visiting some of the wineries here in Napa! The weather is so beautiful! I guess this is unusually warm here for this time of year and everyone back home is having unusually COLD weather. Stay warm everyone! Today we are going to visit a few more wineries then head to San Luis Obispo where we will go to some more wineries there! I'll post some pics once I download them. Have a great day everyone!

On Vacation!

I'm so excited to leave for vacation! The weather is pretty crappy so please pray for our safe travel! We will be back next Tuesday! Have a great week everyone!

snow ball fight & skating

I love their facial expressions!

Delicous!

Here's what I made for dinner tonight! It was so yummy that I had to share it! I got the recipe from Ellie Krieger on the food network. She has great low calorie meals. The meat department didn't have halibut so I used talapia instead. I also didn't do the shallots, I just started with the broth. It was so filling for only 400 calories! I love Thai food! Your going to love this one Deb!

Thai-Style Halibut with Coconut-Curry Broth

Nutrition Facts

Calories 418
Total fat 8.7 grams
Saturated fat 3 grams
Protein 43 grams
Carbohydrates 41 grams
Fiber 2 grams
Sodium 600 milligrams

Serves:
4 servings

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
4 shallots, finely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
2 1/2 teaspoons red curry paste*
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup light coconut milk
1/2 teaspoon salt, plus 1/4 teaspoon, plus more for seasoning
4 (6-ounce) pieces halibut fillet, skin removed
Steamed spinach**
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 scallions, green part only, thinly sliced
Juice of one lime
Freshly ground black pepper
2 cups cooked brown rice, for serving

*Available in the Asian section of most supermarkets
**Steam or microwave 5 cups of washed baby spinach for 2 minutes

In a large saute pan, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the chicken broth, coconut milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt and simmer until reduced to 2 cups, about 5 minutes.

Season the halibut with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Arrange the fish in the pan and gently shake the pan so the fish is coated with the sauce. Cover and cook until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 7 minutes.

Arrange a pile of steamed spinach in the bottom of 4 soup plates. Top with the fish fillets. Stir the cilantro, scallions, and lime juice into the sauce and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Ladle the sauce over the fish and serve with rice.

Christmas + Family = Fabulous

We all had such an amazing time with family this Christmas! You can't ask for much more than that!

So excited!!!!

I'm so pumped!!! As of this morning I have officially been booked for my 16th wedding for 2009! Guess where this one is???? CANCUN MEXICO! The bride lives in Ohio so I haven't met her yet, we've only emailed. I am so excited to venture into destination weddings! The best part is being able to go to tropical locations and get paid for it!

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!

My wonderful amazing family gave me my dream camera for Christmas!!! Thank you Chris, Craig and Nancy for being so supportive of my business and my dreams! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Check it out! Isn't it fabulous!?! So far there's only one other person in St Cloud that owns this camera (according to the Central Camera) This camera was just released at the end of November so most stores don't have it yet. I am so excited!!!!!

Broken tooth

I woke up this morning to a text message from Bill with a picture of T's mouth with a half broken tooth (picture below is from my phone) and a message that said, "Call the Dentist". So I was a little frantic when I saw my baby with a broken tooth! What happened was they were wrestling and T hit her tooth on the edge of the couch and broke it. She is all fixed now thanks to our AWESOME friend Dave who happens to be a dentist! Thank you Dave!!! Dave said there wasn't any nerve damage so she should be ok, but we need to watch it over the years and she will probably need a crown someday. Nothing like just getting out of braces and busting your front tooth huh??? The wire on the back of her teeth from the orthodontist had to come off to fix her tooth, so she's also getting a new wire today. What a morning!

Fargo Trip

When we were in Fargo, my Dad took us to an egg farm. The girls loved it! Of course the kitties was their favorite part. This egg farm ships all their eggs to a plant that makes egg substitute products, but it's also open to the public to come out and pick your own eggs at a $1 a dozen.



My Mom and my Grandma's!

This is my Aunt Cindy!

Visiting Santa

I'm pretty sure in the second photo that T is telling Santa she wants another puppy :) Oh wait! I think her mom is sending her a telepathic message to ask Santa for another puppy!

Fabulous concert!

We went to the Rock-n-Roll Christmas concert last night at the Pioneer Place/Veranda. It was so great!!! All the shows are sold out but they just added a matinee! If you can, you should see it! It's on Tuesday Dec 23rd at 3:30pm. I love the Veranda! They have over 225 wines to choose from! Another great place for food and wine is Mi Famiglia! My favorite wine that I've had there so far is Ceretto Dolcetto d' Alba. It was so yummy! On Thursdays they do $5 glasses of wine! The also have the best eggplant rollatini! It's worth going just for that!

We made it safe and sound

We're home from Fargo and the blizzard only kept us there an extra day. It was a nasty one though. They even closed the mall and grocery stores. I'll post a few pictures of our trip soon. I'm busy trying to wrap Christmas presents and watch my favorite holiday movies. These are two of my favorite! I think everyone should watch them if they have time during this busy season!

"Love actually is all around us"

not feeling well

So we have all been sick this weekend. The girls are home from school today. This flu bug is lasting forever. It started with Kylah not feeling well at gymnastics Friday night and she wouldn't stop practicing because she wanted to get her front hip circle on bars...which she MADE!!! YEA KYLAH! So Saturday morning she got up and said she felt fine so we all went down to the Minneapolis Convention Center for their meet. Kylah ended up with a fever and we pumped her full of Tylenol because she refused to sit out and not compete. What a trooper! She is truly dedicated to what she does. Nothing could convince her to sit out. She still did a great job fever and all. Taylor did an awesome job too! (I will post pictures soon) We came home and we laid low and then I got sick that night and Taylor got sick the next morning. So don't come near us if you want to stay healthy! Hopefully this will pass quickly and we can get healthy for our trip to Fargo this weekend.

long weekend

We had a relaxing long weekend at the cabin over Turkey day. We just hung out and watched movies and sat in the hot tub. I brought my computer so I can keep playing catch up on work. Chris cleared off the biggest skating rink I've ever seen on a lake for the girls! It's AwEsOmE!!! We can't wait to go back and use it again! The girls made some great pumpkin bread last week. Taylor is huge into cooking and making up her own recipes. This causes quite a mess, but fun for her to experiment! The girls took turns mixing the batter. Check out their adorable aprons Sarah made for them!

Taylor and Kylah

FINALLY! We got it done! The first try of pictures the girls weren't feeling it, so we gave up. Then for our second try I promised them ice cream and boy look what ice cream can do! I wanted sassy pictures and I got it! The girls did great! We only had about 15min or so to take these because it was raining and we waited inside a building for it to clear for a few shots. I didn't get a ton of variety but I got what I wanted! I put them all up on my site so my family can see them all. Go to client proofing and the password is sassy all lower case. I haven't had time to enhance color to all of them except the ones posted here, but I will soon. Surprise, I actually love these in COLOR! So to the family and friends that would like any, just email me the number of the photo you want and I'll get it to you.