No Problems Mon!

Day 16: A picture of a place you've recently traveled.

Labadee, Haiti  SB2011 Cruise

Here is a picture of me on the way to Dragon's Breath Point in Labadee. After our "grueling hike" we settled down in some beach chairs for some fun 'n' sun. They had the tastiest drinks called Labadoozies! 

Here's a few more pictures from the cruise. We had the best time and the ship was the biggest one we had ever been on. If you haven't cruised do it! Its super fun and surprisingly cheap.

At the hot tub! 

Green Grotto Caves
Falmouth, Jamaica

Climbing Dunn's River Falls
Ocho Rios, Jamaica

Walk for Wishes for Make a Wish Foundation

What's yall's favorite vacation spots?

I'm back!

I'll start off by saying that SB was fabulous and was over wayyy too fast! I'll have a special spring break post up soon. Right now i'll just resume the 30 day photo challenge (we're halfway through).

Day 15: A picture of something you want to do before you die

I want to sail on this boat:

Holland America's ms Amsterdam

To all of these places over 112 days! 

How awesome! 

And all this will only cost you $20,000 for an INTERIOR stateroom! 

Also, I planted some flowers today and I just can't wait for them to start sprouting! 

 

SB post coming soon!

Bon Voyage!

Tonight Beau and I are starting our journey to Ft. Lauderdale. Tomorrow we leave on a 5 day cruise for SB! Here's the ship we will be calling home for the next 5 days! We will be visiting Labadee, Haiti and Falmouth, Jamaica. In Jamaica we are going to climb Dunn's River Falls! I can't wait. Lots of pictures to come.

Navigator of the Seas

Day 14: A picture of something I couldn't imagine my life without

Love! 

Have a fabulous week!

Day 12 & 13

Day 12: A picture of something I love

The obvious thing would be to put a picture of Beau but I don't think thats the point and I'm pretty sure yall have that one figured out by now! So instead:

I love cooking! Nothing makes me feel more at peace than if
I have the time to just stand in the kitchen making an elaborate meal!

I love lillies! These were the first flowers that Beau ever bought me!

Day 13: A picture of a favorite band or artist. This one is hard because I love a lot of music. Right now my favorite band is probably Muse and my favorite artist would be Lady Gaga. 

One thing on my bucket list is to see Muse at Wembley Stadium in London!

This is my favorite Lady Gaga song and the video is great! 

Day 11 and Pink and Green Thursday!

Day 11: A picture of something I HATE!

I hate hate hate when people drive and text! Its super dangerous and annoying. If you have to do it, do it at a red light, but please keep glancing up so I don't have to give you the 'courtesy beep' letting you know that the light has changed.

Also, I decided to jump on the pink and green bandwagon! I thought since today was the last day of classes for me and I am officially on Spring Break (yay!) that some pink and green cocktails were in order!

Classic Mojitos!

Sugar-rimmed Margaritas? Count me in! 

These look like candy! 

Happy (almost) St. Patrick's Day!

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Recipe Wednesday: Manicotti alla Romana

Okay so this is a new recipe I found on Allrecipes, my favorite recipe site. I would say this isn't the typical weeknight meal, but my schedule is light on Mondays and Wednesdays so I go all out for dinner. Oh the life of a college student! This is my first time so I didn't photograph everything, plus I enlisted a hungry Beau's help so he was a little impatient when it came to the food photoshoot! Anywho, lets get to it. 
Here's what you'll need: 

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 pound ground beef
• salt to taste
• 1 (10 ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 1 (12 ounce) package manicotti shells
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 cups spaghetti sauce, divided
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons chicken bouillon granules
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

First you'll want to dice up your onion to a fairly small size. Then heat up some oil in your skillet and cook the onion until translucent. Then add your garlic and saute it for a minute or so.

Then you'll want to add your hamburger meat and cook it until fully browned. After its done, set it aside and let it cool. I stuck mine in the freezer to speed up the process. A hungry Beau calls for drastic measures! I'm sure yall can relate.
While doing this, cook spinach according to package directions. I just threw mine in the microwave for four minutes. When spinach is done, mix with hamburger and let cool. 

Next you're going to wanna make the cream sauce. Meanwhile start cooking your manicotti. Only cook it for about half the recommended time (approx. 4 mins), then drain it and cover the shells back up with cold water. This stops the cooking process and keeps the shells from cracking. 
For the sauce, melt butter in a small saucepan, once melted add flour and chicken bouillon. Cook this until bubbly. It will appear dry, dont worry! Add half and half and bring to a slight boil. Let boil for one minute stirring frequently. Set sauce aside away from heat to thicken. 

Next spray your baking dish with cooking spray and spread some spaghetti sauce on the bottom of your baking dish, about a 1/4 cup should do it. I just used some leftover, homemade spaghetti sauce so its meaty; yours can be from the can. Meanwhile, have your oven preheating at 350. 

Next stir ricotta cheese and beaten egg(s) into spinach hamburger mixture. Then stuff into shells. Sorry I'm doing this with my hands. If you have a better way please share. I know I could do it with a pastry bag, but this filling was a bit too chunky for it. 

Next you can either follow me or the directions in the link at the top. I just did spaghetti sauce first because thats what I put on bottom. So cover remaining shells with spaghetti sauce. 

Then cover shells with white sauce, being careful to not mix the sauces. Although I don't know what harm it'd do. I think its just for presentation. I let my sauce sit a bit long so it wasn't as thin as I'd like it to have been but it cooked all the same. 

Bake uncovered at 350 for 40 minutes, sprinkle with Parmesan and continue cooking for 10 minutes. Sorry I don't have a photo of the finished product, me and Beau were pretty hungry after all this prep work. Next time, I promise! But just so you don't have to suffer here's a picture of someone else's. 

YUMMY! 

Day 10

Hey yall!
Okay, so I know I did it again. Sorry I'm not sorry! Haha. So I made the executive decision (yes I CAN do that, it is my blog afterall) to throw out day 9 anyways. I thought it was boring and I didn't have a picture anyways.
So on to day 10: a picture of the person I do the most ****** up stuff with:

Introducing Beau! Isn't he adorable. This is the most important man in my life (well tied for first with my daddy!). Me and Beau are practically inseparable. When its just us we have the most fun. We can be just who we are, which I have to admit, is pretty crazy! I love all the love and humor and inside jokes we share just between us.
So there you have it. Also, don't fret. "Recipe Wednesday" is still on. We had Manicotti all Romana and it was absolutely delicious. Thank goodness for leftovers!