My sister and I successfully made the great trip across the Midwest hitting all of the popular tourist destinations such as the great states of Minnesota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado... which isn't really Midwest but was part of the trip anyways.

I'm so lucky that my sister is also one of my bestest ever friends.. you know, along with my husband, parents, and brothers.  

And Grandma.

Who I got to see by the way!  She's great and even let me plant her flowers.  Already miss that lady. So much.

We got in one final shopping trip this afternoon before my sister takes off for Kansas.  Summer will be weird without her!

We have no idea why winter seemed soo long for us this year.  But it did.

And we've now had a string of spring/summer weather that has done the body and mind well.  

And I came home yesterday to the air conditioning on.  People, it is not that warm out and not to point fingers but I was not the one who turned it on.  

Just saying.

I'm leaving tomorrow morning at crack of dawn to visit my grandma (!) and my sister.  Actually, my sister casually mentioned that she was going to have drive all the way back home by herself.  I really have been missing my grandma and my sister so it as the perfect excuse for a quick visit.

Then my sister will be home for 4 days (yes, we will be shopping for one of those days) before she goes off to her summer internship.

To study spiders.

Not even joking.

Probably even getting paid with your tax dollars.

So, if I'm cranky all summer long its because my sister is gone.  Very sad day.


I almost felt bad that I was leaving my husband alone all weekend but it's quickly filling up with things such as hiking, exploring the mountains, probably some home cooked meal from some home that isn't ours, etc.

We're spoiled with really great friends.

Counting down the days until our next vacation to Moab!  And then maybe some kitchen and bathroom remodel?

In other news, I've had nothing but kitchen failures lately.

Crunch sweet potato fries were my failure of choice this evening.

Sweet potatoes they were.

Crunchy they were not.

This is unfortunately something I can't blame on the altitude.  

Darn.

I hope you all had a great weekend and a fabulous Cinco de Mayo!

And Kentucky Derby!

We went to our first ever Kentucky Derby party and while my hat was fabulous my horse did not win.  

And then turned around the next day and ate way too many burritos, queso, and guacamole.

And then made spicy fish tacos with mango salsa the day after.

Seriously, I could eat Mexican food every day of my life.

But then I remember how much I love every other kind of food and realize I would be missing out.

Anyways, after the feasts of the weekend, fish tacos were a delicious way to end our Monday night.  Plus you can make this whole meal in 30 minutes or less.  I made them super spicy so in the recipe listed below I halved the spicy parts (jalapeño pepper and cayenne pepper) but you could totally leave the cayenne pepper out of the spice mix and use some other fresh crunchy vegetable in place of the jalapeño pepper if you don't like spicy food.  Also, because I made these recipes up in my head they are as simple as they can get. :)

Fish Tacos

1 lb of white fish (I used cod because it was on sale)
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

Directions

Mix all spices together and sprinkle on both sides of fish. (I then cut the fish up into smaller strips but you could leave it in one piece if you wish.)  Use a generous dash of olive oil to coat the bottom of a pan.  Heat on medium high.  Cook fish for 2-3 minutes per side or until cooked through.

Mango salsa

1 mango, diced
1/4 cup purple onion, diced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, diced
Small handful of cilantro, chopped into small pieces (probably 1/4 cup total)
Juice of 1 lime
Generous sprinkle of salt

Directions

Mix all ingredients together.  I made this before I started working on the fish so the flavors would have time to meld.  This was also excellent the next day on the leftover fish.


Serve together on corn tortillas.  Yum!

I first made this last year sometime and I've pulled it out many times since.

They are always a hit and so easy to make even on a time crunch.  And they don't need to stay heated.

And they taste like spring.

Our grocery store sells 'Pearl' mozzarella balls and I usually try to buy that size to make these.  But really, no matter the size of the cheese, tomatoes, or basil- you can make it work.

If the cheese is really small and you buy cherry sized tomatoes, cut the tomatoes in half and use them as the base of the appetizer.  The packages of basil that are available at our grocery store have very large leaves so I rip them down to whatever size.  If the cheese is super small, add 2 pieces with the basil sandwhiched between.

The only recommendation I have is to either cut the cheese in half or the tomatoes in half so there is a flat base to work with (I like to place mine upright).

For the finishing touch, drizzle balsamic vinegar over the whole set.  If you're super fancy, you can reduce the balsamic vinegar to turn it slightly more syrupy before drizzling.  As you can probably guess, I usually don't have time for that step.

I'm trying to blog from my iPad because I'm too lazy to run downstairs to grab e computer. Pathetic attempt at being a successful human being on my part.

In other news, Colorado is doing its absolute best to avoid spring. Gosh!  Although I'm sure lots of people are experiencing the same thing based on Facebook updates. At least forest fires haven't started yet. We shall continue to be thankful for the snow for that reason alone. Also, because I got absolutely fried on Sunday from a little too much frisbee golf it kind of felt like we escaped to a tropical location and came back to old man winter with a nasty sunburn to prove it.

There is really nothing new going on here (as evident by my lame weather talk). Think I'm going to take the plunge and switch platforms and kiss all my pictures good-bye. Sad day but I'd really like to be able to blog and post pictures from the iPad. 

We're planning an escape to the mountains this weekend. We're assuming they're still buried in snow so we'll make plans once we get up there. 

We fly by the seat of our car.

Consider yourself caught up and bored. I promise pictures and food tomorrow!!

Before we bring anyone with us we [I] need much more practice but it was great to be outside.  Our grand plan was to go hiking today.  Which then we decided hiking was out of the question as all of the ski resorts reopened this weekend because of the excess snow.  So we thought we could go snowshoeing.  Until the prediction of lots more snow.

Then we decided we could go to Target.

Perfect.

Cale is not dead.

He is just fixing our dishwasher.  Why a single slipper is hanging out on the floor without its match may or may not have anything to do with fixing the dishwasher but I know now why my parents had 4 kids. 

Two to wash the dishes and two to dry.  Kidding.  But really.  My hands are raw and there are only 2 people that eat at our house on a regular basis.

The motivation it takes for us to be even more motivated to move into a different house is increasing every day...

It also takes very little for us to wonder if apartment living is more our style.  Just in case no-maitenance town house living isn't easy enough.  Ahem.

I tried to be super helpful by searching 'Broken Dishwasher' and reading to my husband every possible solution.  Then showing him pictures of parts to see if anything looked familiar. After reading cause and effect, we decided to order one single part.  Our fingers and toes were crossed.  

For the rest of the week our kitchen looked a bit like this:

We were almost to the point of giving in and buying a new dishwasher as neither of us are self-proclaimed or proclaimed by others as 'handyman-ish'.  And then it started working.  Hallelujah!

For the love.  

Unfortunately our excuse for eating out is now gone.

While I wouldn't recommend calling us for any house problems or dishwasher problems, I do have two suggestions if you ever find yourself in a similar position.

1)  Make sure all cords, wires, and hoses are reconnected in the proper fashion.

2) If you were smart and turned off your water, be even smarter and remember to turn it back on.  A fully functioning dishwasher works much better this way. :)



Praying for everyone in Boston!!