Just wanna say...

...I love coming home to this little girl. =] And, I sorta get the impression she is just as excited to see me. ;-]

Position sense

It's been so long since I've posted, I feel guilty. So here's the 3rd post in one day!!! Aren't you excited?! (I can tell you are.) ;-] Reese likes to claim the leather recliner for her spot when we're chilling out. She pulls herself up to the side and actually swings her butt under her to sit upright like a person. I have NO idea where she gets it. =]

Me: "What the...?"

Reese: "What? You gotta problem?"

Reese: "Yeah, I'm comfortable. What's the big deal?"

Reese: "Here's my opinion about your paparazzo tendencies."

=]

LOL dog and more Reese

The epitomy of a "LOL dog" =]

kisses*

smilin' Reese

goofball

bout a year old here

funny long dog!

Look at dat face! =]

Yard buddies

I came across these pictures as I was perusing my photos and thought I'd share. Reese sure enjoyed stalking around the old backyard with Titus one April afternoon when we were having a beautiful spring about 3 years ago! She kept a really close eye on him and pretended to just be smelling the flowers, like he was, so he wouldn't suspect anything. ;-}

"What are YOU doing out here?"

"You just go about your business, I'll keep watch."

"Did you find something good and stinky?"

"Really? Do I HAVE to suffer the indignity of this mutt as a babysitter?"

Reese: "Did you hear that?!" Titus: "Yeah, whatev."

"Oooh, what did you find?! Is it stinky?!"

"Keep walkin cat."

"Mom, can I please go back inside?"

~A

Recipe: Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Sauce

Something you probably didn't know about me...I love to cook! There's just something very fulfilling about cooking food that everyone can really enjoy. Anywho - please forgive me for taking so long to get this recipe to you guys! You know how it is...summer just flies by because we seem to find a way to fill up every precious minute of daylight available before the dreaded winter hits again. =] So, without further ado, here's my favorite way to prepare morels if we are lucky enough to find some in the spring!

Chicken Breasts with Mushroom Sauce
Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:
6 (6-oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves; flattened to 1/4 inch thickness
3 tablespoons butter, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces morel mushrooms
4 ounces button mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup whipping cream
4 1/2 cups hot cooked egg noodles

Directions:
1.  Heat 2 teaspoons butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Sprinkle chicken breasts evenly with salt and pepper. Add 2 breast halves to pan and cook 3 minutes on each side, or until done. Repeat procedure twice with 4 teaspoons butter and remaining chicken. Keep warm.

flattened chicken breasts halves

2. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in pan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms to pain; saute' 5 minutes or until moisture evaporates, stirring frequently. Remove mushroom mixture from pan. Add broth to pan; bring to boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook until reduced to 1 cup (about 5 minutes). Return mushroom mixture to pan. Stir in cream; cook 2 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring occasionally.

Our bounty

All cleaned up and ready to go

3. Place 3/4 cup egg noodles on each of 6 plates. Cut each chicken breast half into 1-inch thick strips. Top each serving with 1 chicken breast half and about 1/3 cup mushroom mixture.

Mmmm! Delicioso!

close-up of the good-ness *drool*

This was a recipe out of the May 2009 Cooking Light magazine (you can find it on their website too...and it has a pretty picture of a prepared dish on it!). Now, I just typed exactly what the recipe said. When I'm making this dish; however, I don't follow it exactly. I may use just 4 whole chicken breasts (cuz we can each eat at least 1 chicken breast by ourselves!), and if I have more mushrooms, I add more mushrooms! You can't let those puppies go to waste. =] Of course, if you don't have morels, you can use any other kind of mushrooms, but I'd suggest something with a meatier flavor/texture...like shitake. Play around with this recipe and see what you can come up with. Make it your own!

Enjoy!

Mushrooms!

So this post is a little late, but we did go Morel mushroom "hunting" this spring. It was a blast, as always. And, we didn't get skunked this year! We came across a little hill with a whole bunch of 'em and came away with a grocery sack full. Yum. Here are some pics from the day and I will do another post with the delicioso chicken mushroom dish I make with those delectable little morsels!

Over the hills and through the woods.

Reese leading the way

Looking here...

and looking there...

Any in there?

Ooh, think we found one!

What a beaut!

Kevin got credit for the first find!

Reese checking the pond...just in case.

A picturesque walk at least.

It's just fun to wander in the woods

Muddy girl

 

Back to the truck after our second attempt.

The gang reflecting on the days' find and reminiscing.

The best part? No ticks! Woo hoo! It's pretty amazing to get through the woods in the spring ti
me without any of those darn things stuck to ya. Stay tuned for an awesome chicken and mushroom pasta recipe!

Me from A to Z...simple as Do, Rei, Mi. (Yes, I'm a simple creature folks!)

Ok, so a reeeallly long, long, time ago (and over the hills and through the woods we go), after reading her blog post with all kinds of good tid bits, I told Elizabeth over at Chronicles of Cardigan that I'd share some juicy details of my own. So, here goes it! 

A. Age: hahaha...I'm 27. Yes, but I feel like more of a mother hen around here than my age would suggest. ;-]

B. Bed Size: Queen, unfortunately. Gotta get that king size someday!

C. Chore I Dislike: Cleaning cat litter boxes. And, doing dishes by hand. Yuck. I actually like some chores. (I'm sick, I know!) I think they make a pill for that. =P

D. Dogs or Cats?: Dogs - 1, Cats - 3 (Like Elizabeth, I was a cat person first. heh)

E. Essential Start to My Day:  Shower. No other choice. MUST shower.

F. Favorite Color: A nice, bright orange. However, this changes with my moods as I'm an artist!

G. Gold or Silver: I've been more of a fan of silver lately, with turquoise.

H. Height: bout 5'6''

I. Instruments I Play: I played saxophone for a year in 5th grade, then I got headaches from practicing, so had to quit. =[

J. Job Title: I work for the feds and help veterans on a daily basis. Really. A long shot from what I went to school to be: a relationship/sex therapist. I got burned out after my first four years of school, so grad school just didn't hold its appeal any longer so I joined the adults in the working world instead.

K. Kids: Hopefully two. (Don't have any yet) =]

L. Live: In a house, in Iowa. Originally from Illinois.

M. Most attractive feature: Hmm, I didn't want to put my mom's maiden name like Elizabeth (she said she changed it to suit herself). So, I changed this to be one of those other "standard" questionnaire inquiries. I'd have to say my hands. LOL

N. Nicknames: Umm I don't really have one, but my dad calls me A-Nate' (pronounced "nuh-tay") It's my middle name, like after the perfume.

O. Overnight Hospital Stays: Yes 3 occasions: twice for carbon monoxide poisoning; once for gallbladder removal (cholescystectomy, or something like that).

P. Pet Peeve: Public speakers that say "umm" a lot, liars, a messy house, people who spit with reckless abandon. *shudders* Ew.

Q. Quote from a Movie: "Mock-Yeah; Ing-Yeah; Bird-Yeah! Mocking bird, everybody, have you heard? She's gonna buy me a mockin' bird." Ok, not the same effect as the movie...but it's from Dumb and Dumber. Best ever; and, the only thing I could come up with on the spot here.

R. Right- or Left-handed: Right.

S. Siblings: Yes, a younger sister.

T. Time I Wake Up: 5:08 a.m. on weekdays; 9-10 a.m. on weekends.

U. Underwear: I like the string bikini kind. Too much information?

V. (No one else did 'V', so I'm making one up.) Vacation Wish: Ooh, Irish getaway with horseback riding through the green, green hills. Or, Australia visit to Sydney, etc... PLEAAAASE?

W. What Makes Me Run Late?: Usually my husband not listening to me as I list the things that need to get accomplished before we leave the house, so I have to run around like a chicken with my head cut off to do them myself. Then, he blames it on me. *sigh*

X. X-rays: My right arm, right ankle, teeth. I broke my right radius as a kid, and recently rolled my right ankle. Who hasn't had dental x-rays? I got braces at 23 years old! So fun. Not.

Y. Yummy Food I Make: You ain't had good food til you've tried my home cookin'! *said in the best Southern accent I can muster* I love to cook!

Z. Zoo - Fave Animal: Toughie. I am not sure on this one. Animals are so cool...probably horses cuz they're so beautiful and fun to ride. =]

27th Letter (yet to be designated): ? Hmm, If you caught my spit comment above, you may be wondering what is up with that. I have a bit of a spit phobia. Ewwww. Long story - goes back to high school and watching a brother/sister fight at a friend's house and seeing (in slow motion) spit fly from his mouth into her mouth (inadvertently of course). DIS-GUST-ING. I have to go wash my hands now. ;-]

*****

Ok, I hope I have satiated your lust for personal information about me! heh. Please feel free to re-post this and share you own! Don't we humans just love that little glimpse into peoples' personal lives? We're such voyeurs at heart. ;-]

Cool and comfy for summer

Ok, so this post is not dog-related. Sorry if that's all you tune in for. I do like to feature Reese as the main attraction, but this is just too good to not post!

Loki is no longer Maximus Fluffimus for the summer! See his reaction to this new cut below...

Before

 

After

You should know a little more 'bout the Lok-ster to fully appreciate this clip. He will be 5 years old in a week. His coat has always been longer than his brother's. By the age of 3-4, a Ragdoll's coat should be fully filled in - what you see is what you get, right? Well, we thought so. The really great thing about a Ragdoll's coat is how bunny-soft it is and how it doesn't mat because it has no undercoat. We barely ever needed to brush the two boys because their coats were very low maintenance. Titus has a shorter coat and it has never matted. Now, Loki's has always been longer, but it's never matted until this last 6 months or so. I just couldn't keep up with it. It kept growing and growing, and no matter how much I brushed him, it would always ball up under his armpit area. He hated having to go through wrestling matches with me and the brush. I admit, we even laughed sometimes, because when he tried to lick his chest, his "mane" got in the way and by the time his tongue got to the end, the hair was still stuck to it and he had a heck of a time spitting hair out of his mouth constantly. Poor guy!

We finally took pity on him when we moved and realized how it was getting warmer, and how he just looked even more miserable as his coat was growing what seemed like constantly (and the mats were getting worse by the day). I called the groomer up and they said they only do lion cuts. Figures. We'd always laughed at how silly those cats looked, but there was no other choice at this point. Poor Loki.

The minute he got home from his grooming session, he started acting like he owned the place (well, he's part owner anyway, but this was just NOT like him)! You should have see him! This perpetual wallflower strutted around the house like he was the bee's knees.The other cats were horrified. Who was this intruder who smelled all perfumey and looked unlike any cat they'd ever seen? They hissed and growled when he came their way, but Loki paid no mind to these nay sayers. Normally, he would've been cowed into a corner or retreated to a dark room if the other cats had behaved toward him this way. Not anymore.

I am so happy for the big guy cuz he is so much happier than he's ever been. I just wish we'd thought of this about 2 years ago cuz he's always acted hot in the warmer months. Side note: I realize now why he acted this way all those years though...even with his hair so short, you STILL cannot see his skin if you try parting the hair...it's so dense it's unbelievable. And, he's not nearly as fat as he always looked...lol!

Houston, we have a .....CGC?

Today my morning started off with a bang.

Normally, for me a Sunday morning consists of...well, not much. I like to sleep in as long as possible to delay the inevitable return of work the following day. Sure, I have to do chores around the house and run errands that don't get done during the week because of the perpetual shortage of time that occurs on the days from Monday through Friday; however, I also put these off as long as possible (or at least until I've wrinkled myself like a raisin in the hot shower).

Reese got a surprise this morning! I decided we should take advantage of the local rescue league's Canine Good Citizen testing opportunity! So, up at 7:30 for a nice long walk/jog to wear her out (a bit at least!) so that she wouldn't be bouncing off the walls and barking at every moving thing once we got to the facility. It was overcast and windy, but humid as all get out...so we got sweaty, but the wind/lack of sun kept us somewhat cool. We journeyed two miles! Truth be told, we both needed the exercise anyway! By the middle of the second mile, she was stopping off in the grass to test if I'd let her just relax and take a load off. Nope...leisure was not the idea this morning!

Once we got home, we had to coax her toward the car to load up...COAX! The poor pup was grudgingly walking toward the car like we were going to torture her with a trip to the dog park or somewhere else she'd have to walk forevermore! It was too funny to see her expression. =]

Anywho - immediately after we arrive and take her outta the crate, she starts barking at every little thing (unfamiliar territory after all) and she is pulling on the leash like a madwoman with a second wind! I can't believe it and my heart sinks. All I can think is, "Great, so much for THAT brilliant idea...now we're going to look like fools and fail the test because she is going to be a basket case as long as we're here." Luckily, I see there are only a couple of other cars there..."Good, there appears to be a shortage of witnesses for our humiliation." heh

Fancy my surprise when we walk into the building and Reese quiets down and puts on her game face. It was instantaneous. She was curious and wanted to look around and check things out...which the judge excitedly encouraged us to do (she was a VERY nice lady!). I walked her around the training room so she would become familiar with the sights and sounds and she was a dream after that. The judge was taken with her and thought her absolutely adorable. =] We ended up having to go first for everything (wasn't too excited about that), but all went well and I didn't fall on my face or make a fool of myself.

So, that's the long story...but she PASSED with flying colors and will now be a CGC! I will post pictures once we officially receive the certificate in the mail, but it's SO exciting! I couldn't wait to post it. =] I took some great pics of her after we got home and will maybe have to get them framed with the certificate or something. I definitely want to submit the pics to the Corgi Butts "Corgis with blogs" calendar contest!

PS - Reese was interested in the agility stuff on the sidelines and the judge told me they do a 4 week class for agility . We are seriously thinking of signing up for it! *squeal!!*