Sunny Slide Up

paint your pet

I just discovered the most amazing thing this past weekend. A paint your pet class.

Now, I have been to a couple of these painting studios that are the new trend lately….you know – bring your own wine, a couple of friends and the whole class paints the same random picture of the day thing. Well, this class was different. We had to submit a photo of our pet a few days prior to the class and of course everyone was painting their own pet. Here is my photo I submitted of my dog, Willy (you might remember him from the superman costume):

When we showed up at the class, they had our photos enlarged on the canvases in black and white for us to paint over. Sweet! So much better than the pressure of starting with a blank white canvas! We started with a background color of our choice and a little general instruction to get us started. I brought my brother along with me, who was painting his cat.

Now, I have an art degree…but I have never painted a dog! There were two instructors to help, thank goodness and they each took time coming around and helping each person out with their individual paintings. I was pretty nervous when I got to the stage when my photo was all covered with paint. You can see my brother working on his cat’s belly shadows. He has a fat cat!

After a little under three hours, we were all done! We were both so pleasantly surprised at how great our paintings came out! I must admit I had a lot of trouble with Willy’s eye/nose area and the instructor helped me with that and some finishing touches of the painting. Ultimately, they were there to help you take home a great painting of your pet. I will be so proud to hang this up in my house! I told my husband he might have to take the TV down from above the fireplace so I can hang it there. HA!

There was one girl in our class there painting a photo of her best friend’s dog as a surprise for her best friend’s birthday. What a great gift idea! Everyone’s paintings in the class turned out great. We had so much fun too. And now, I want to go back and paint my other two dogs!

This class was at Wine and Design in Charlotte, NC – they have other locations on the east coast too. Lots of these painting (and “wine”) studios are popping up all over. Check for one in your town!

As you can see….my brother decided to make his cat a super cat. HA!

mexican pork tenderloin with veggie quesadilla and brown rice

by Mandi | recipes

Last night The Mister and I cooked another AMAZING meal and I just have to share it with you guys! It was very, very easy to make and he LOVED it! So… I guess this one will be going into the dinner rotation. These are actually recipes that I made up were passed down from my mom… If you try one of these out – let me know what you think! I’m always up to suggestions!

Best thing yet – this ENTIRE MEAL is under 800 calories!!!

First up is the Mexican Pork Tenderloin – this was so easy and I just used ingredients I had in my kitchen. The ingredients are an estimate as I just shaked in the bowl…. but I do believe what I have here is pretty close!

Mexican Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients

Pork Tenderloin (mine was about 12 oz)

MARINADE:
1/2 of a light beer (I used Bud Light from a can)
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon of tobasco sauce (I used about 10 drops of Texas Pete)
3 garlic cloves minced
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Directions

Mix all marinade ingredients in a large bowl.
Put the tenderloin and marinade mixture into a ziploc bag and let sit for 5-8 hours (I did mine before I left for work and it was ready when we got home – mine probably sat for close to 10 hours).
Set the pork bag out for about 10 minutes before grilling
Grill on medium heat for 20-25 minutes.
Pull apart or slice to enjoy.

Next up is the veggie quesadilla. I have been making these for years and decided to add it to the pork. The Mister added in the pork to his, making a pork quesadilla – but I kept mine separate. Either way works!

Veggie Quesadilla

Ingredients

1 Tortilla Quesadilla shell
1 green pepper
1 small onion (vadilla)
1 can of black beans
2 pickled jalapenos (optional)
1/2 cup mexican shredded cheese
2 tablespoons olive oil
salsa (optional)

Directions

Slice green pepper and onion into fajita style slices. Saute with oil in medium frying pan on medium high until the onions start to turn brown! Remove veggies and turn the heat down to medium.
In the meantime warm up the black beans. Add sliced jalapenos (to taste) and cook with the beans.
After removing the veggies from the frying pan, lay in the tortilla and layer in the shredded cheese.
When the cheese is starting to melt, add a layer of the black bean / jalapeno mixture as well as green peppers and onion on one 1/2 of the tortilla.
Fold over the top of the quesadilla, flip once in the pan to cook on both sides and then serve.
I use salsa on mine, but you could also add sour cream or guacamole.

Finally – Brown Rice. This is not what you are thinking of when you think brown rice. It is actually white rice with beef consume soup. Don’t knock it till you try it. I LOVE it!!! Mom has made it for us for YEARS on mexican night and now I can’t eat tacos (or quesadillas) at home without it!

Brown Rice

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups white rice (I use Uncle Ben’s)
2 cans beef consume soup
water
salt

Directions

You will need to combine ingredients into a microwave safe bowl.
Pour 1-1/2 cups of rice in the bowl
You will need a total of 2-1/2 cups of liquid. Use the soup and then water to make 2-1/2 cups of liquid to add to the rice. I rinse out my cans with water to make sure I get all of the soup out of the cans.
Cook on high for 10 minutes. Stir. Reduce heat to medium power and cook for another 20 minutes.

All of this took me about 30 minutes to prepare and was super easy to make. I hope you enjoy!!!

my happy end

by jenn_davis | personal

The funny thing about life is that, it happens.

Yesterday was one of those days when, looking back on it, I just have to laugh! I fell going into my office when I was climbing the stairs and cracked my foot a little. Then, of course, any time a pregnant woman falls she should be seen…..so after getting my foot secured in a stylish black boot it was off to the OBGYN . Baby girl was perfectly well and there were no concerns as far as my fall, however my doctor proceeds to inform me that my weight is a slight concern. It seems I have gained twice the suggested amount thus far and it’s something they want to keep an eye on (for blood sugar purposes). From there my day only got better (sarcasm) as I went back to work and barely made it to my scheduled conference call before managing to hobble inside my son’s daycare to fetch him after leaving work (I should mention they don’t give expectant mothers pain medication. BONUS.).

I was dreaming about relaxing on the couch with an elevated foot and letting my son watch afternoon cartoons until my husband got home (to make dinner……I did say daydreaming, after all). Don’t you love how those day dreaming scenarios never pan out? Instead I came home and not only was our power out because of a storm that afternoon, but I discovered that our dog had had an upset stomach ALL through the house and had thrown up on the couch. I immediately called my husband and told him that I was giving up.

It was not my day.

Being the amazing man he is (duh), he came right home and cleaned the mess and loaded our son in the car so we could eat dinner out. We were hoping our power would be back on by the time we returned. Again, day dreaming scenario. Needless to say, our power never came back on and as I am typing this post it is still not on. We were told they are hoping to have it back on by 5pm today.

So here I am, thinking about all the food in our fridge we will have to throw out. Then thinking about food in general. Then thinking about lunch. And dessert. Then thinking about those extra pounds I should be concerned about.

And the only thing left for me to do is laugh. I laugh and smile and thank God for everything that happened yesterday.

Thankful that I didn’t break my neck when I fell. Thankful that our baby wasn’t harmed. Thankful for doctors who care enough about me to be honest. Thankful for a job that allows flexibility. Thankful for a private office where I can unbutton my pants after lunch and elevate my bum foot. Thankful that a tree didn’t fall through our house because of the storm. Thankful that because of two days without power our electricity bill should be lower. Thankful for a dog who only threw up on our couch and got off before anything came out the other end. Thankful for a son who asks me if I’m ok. Thankful for a husband who can laugh at this mess with me. Thankful for a God who allows me to see the bright side.

And thankful for this blog where I can ramble on about my bad luck and feel it’s completely appropriate.

I will leave you with this little video. It made me smile and hope it can do the same for you….