Chocolate Chip Pie

This is one of those pies for those people who don't like pie.  It's simple and delicious and it's great served with ice cream or whipped cream! 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I prefer the mini)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 stick (1/2 cup) melted butter
• 2 beaten eggs
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 2 Tbl flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 thawed pie crust

Press an unbaked pie crust into a pie plate and place the chocolate chips and walnuts in the pie crust.

Mix butter, eggs, sugar, and flour by hand.  After mixing ingredients, add vanilla.  Pour entire mixture on top of nuts and chocolate chips.

 Bake 30-35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  It should not be jiggly, if it is, turn over to 300 and cook for a few more minutes.

 Served with vanilla ice cream (or whipped cream)!

 I hope that you find this recipe as easy and enjoyable as I did.  I owe credit for the recipe to Denise from St. Ann's.  I received the recipe after we ate the pie at a retreat I attended.  I received lots of good recipes, and I'm sure you'll see some more soon. Happy baking!

Birthday Weekend Recap: Feb 15-18

As you get older, the celebration of your birthday gets smaller and smaller.  You don't necessarily want everyone to know its your birthday, or maybe spending it with family is all you really need for a celebration.  I feel lucky and blessed that I got a little taste of both this past weekend!

Friday night, my parent's were actually at a family friend's daughter's 21st birthday party, so I hung out with my little bro!  I love spending time with my little brother, even when all we do is watch funny movies...because I love to hear his laugh.  We got some snacks, curled up on the couch, and watched Pitch Perfect.  It was a wonderfully peaceful and fun evening.

The next morning, I worked out!  What?  It's been so long...but it felt great.  We ran a few errands and I took a short nap.  What a glorious thing a nap is! After we ate some dinner, we went to the Mallards hockey game (fun!) before meeting up with Brooke and Ryan at one of our favorite local breweries, Bent River.

My rum and diets kept getting smaller...

Sunday: clean clean clean!  We were having family over at 2:00.  It was so wonderful to have our parents and siblings over for a super relaxing, chill afternoon.  We simply had a couple snacks, played some games, and enjoyed each other's company.  I scored some money for a new mattress, a biking tshirt, a super cute wallet/purse, and a Cards Against Humanity IOU from Ryan (they're sold out again)!

Ryan and his friend Jason in Preschool (His mom brought lots of pics over)

On Monday, my actual birthday, I had a retreat for work.  There were some nice surprises including the fact that one of my good friends received some great recognition, Brooke participated in a dance in front of everyone, and there was a really awkward singing of "Happy Birthday" for me while my picture was on three large screens...EEK!  This was all followed by lunch with some of my closest coworkers, mattress shopping, grocery shopping, and watching Seven Psychopaths.

It was a happy birthday.  It is definitely the week of birthdays among some of my close friends.  So a very happy birthday to Ashley, Jess, and Stephanie!

(Girls) Weekend Recap: February 8-10

If you are a girl, and especially if you have good girl friends, than you totally understand the necessity of a "Girl's Weekend."  For several years we had bachelorette parties and an annually scheduled girls weekend; our group of friends actually had a lot of girl time together.  However, the last bachelorette party was in August...and the girl gatherings were lacking.  And thus, the 2013 Girl's Weekend was born.

What does a good Girl's Weekend consist of?  Good talks, lots of snacks, wine, games, shopping, thrifting/antiquing, wine, delicious dinners, local events, wine, and pictures!

Do you have to know everyone who will be there? Heck no!  It's fun getting know the other girls in your girlfriends' lives.  Only requirements: no penises, big hearts, and a sense of humor!

What if you're pregnant?  No worries!  Every year we have had a lovely lady pregnant, and trust me, it doesn't hinder the fun, even if it is a little boy kicking around in there.  Bring on the babies!  Someday Girl's Weekend will be more like a Friend's Reunion with lots of kiddos running around.  But we'll still make it work!

How do you get one started?  Be cool, contact your friends, pick a date, and get together.  With or without concrete plans, I guarantee you will have a good time and feel refreshed.  Every woman needs an estrogen boost from time to time. 

Enjoy your future Girl's Weekends, as I did mine!  Happy Thursday. :)

February Goals

January Goals
1. Hit the gym 4 times per week
           Did it!
2. Eat out less, a whole lot less (as I write these goals at Panera!)
           Pretty good, but the unexpected meals did come up
3. Organize a bible or book study with friends
           Did it!  We've had two bible studies already :)

So let's see, January was pretty successful!  Nice to set goals that are attainable, as long as I make a plan to complete them.  I'm going to shoot for the same things in February.

February Goals

1. Stick with our healthy eating plan

2. Celebrate my birthday with my family

3. Finish the book I started in Mexico

What goals have you set for the month?  I will be readdressing goals next week when Lent starts...I always have a good deed to-do list and this year it's quite expansive and exciting! :)

Vacation Recap: Jan 17-21

I'm a little behind in this recap, sorry!  We landed home from our trip on Monday, January 21 at 10:00pm and I woke up Tuesday sick!  I have been pretty sick since then...started feeling better yesterday!  So I have been lazy about uploading and editing my pictures, and I finally got around to it this morning!

Earlier this month, Ryan and I joined Andy and Ashley in Cancun, Mexico for a quick little getaway!  I'm not going to make you read detailed descriptions of the whole trip, so I'll give you the quick rundown along with plenty of pictures.

Thursday

-Long layover at Dallas airport

-Land in Cancun on a windy, cloudy, and cold day

-Wandered the resort and decided it was awesome

-Dinner, drinks, early bed time!

Friday

-Cool morning in Cancun, warm morning in Tulum

-Breakfast was yum-yum

-Fun and informative drive down to Tulum with our new friend Edgar (our driver)

-Tour the mayan ruins of Tulum, beautiful

-Lunch and shopping in Playa del Carmen

-Euchre until midnight and walk on the beach at 1:00am: AWESOME

Saturday

-Early morning wake-up call for beds by the pool

-RELAX and read all morning

-Swimming in the ocean

-Reservations at Italian restaurant

-Lame early bed time (we were so full from dinner!)

Sunday

-Another morning on the beach, swimming in the ocean

-Walked to La Isla shopping center

-Watched the playoff game at Hooters

-Ashley and I USED THE SWIM-UP BAR (even though it was freezing cold)

-I had a little too much tequila in a short amount of time, it was kind of funny

-Dinner at the Asian restaurant

-More Euchre!

Monday

-Sunrise on the beach (I apologize in advance for all the pictures!)

-Left the hotel at 9:30 for the airport

-Spent way more time than needed in the Cancun airport

-Long wait to get back into the US

-Landed in Moline at 10pm and 5 degrees outside

I could have spent another four days there, our trip was too short!  But it was a great time with great friends who we can't wait to see again!