Les Miserables

Recently, a teaser for the newest adaptation of Les Miserables to hit the movie screens Christmas of this year has appeared on the internet.  This remake shows the likes of Russell Crowe, Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried, Helena Bonham Carter among others.  Anne Hathaway plays Fantine who gets to do the "honors" of singing the haunting song, "I Dreamed a Dream." A gorgeous song that is normally belted out to the rooftops.

This adaptation however, is getting some mixed reviews on many things, but one of the things is the way that Anne Hathaway sings this song.  Some say it doesn't stay true to the original, but others say that it might be more realistic in how that character might actually sing the song- a bit more quivery and not as belted- when considering her circumstances.

Although I love the belted out version that we have heard from the musical, Susan Boyle, and even Glee, I gotta say, I don't hate the way she sings this song.  They don't have a full trailer out, but just a teaser.  It looks pretty darn good from what I can tell and her singing in the background kinda gives you chills.

Click here for the 2012 Les Miserables Teaser Trailer:

Click here for Susan Boyle's performance of the song:

And of course one of my favorite renditions of it on Glee performed by the Broadway legend, Idina Menzel, and Lea Michele:

What do you guys think?  Need to stick to the original way sung or do we like this version?  I am really looking forward to this movie!

3 Whole Years

We have officially spent 3 years in our home.  Three years seems like such a long time some days, but it seems like it should be 10 years other days.  We have done more to our house in three years than some people have to do in 20.  Some out of pure function, some of taste, and some of necessity.

The first thing we changed out the day we moved in were the appliances.  An immediate update we found to be necessary out of pure taste for us.  We were getting a bunch of things from Nebraska Furniture Mart, so why not add to it?  We found great deals on all and it was definitely worth it.

We got a new shed for the backyard.  Not much to say about that but it was a nice expansion to have for our mower and other tools that crowded our garage.

Around September/October 2010, insurance agents were going around the neighborhoods assessing hail damage and it was something we qualified for with our carrier.  We chose 123 Exteriors to do the job and we got a whole new roof, new siding, new trim, and new gutters.  A complete outside makeover.  I was never a huge fan of the outside color of our house cause it was a bit light for my taste, so it was the perfect opportunity to choose the color we liked the best since they didn't have that same color we had already in stock.  SHOOT.  Our entire block got new roofs.  And most of the houses got all new siding.  A lot of homes chose a different color for their siding too, so the whole block looks different than it did 2 years ago.  Pretty fun summer to watch all the transformations.

 While all the outside craziness was going on, we thought it would be fun to finish our basement.  We had about a week or so of overlap with the outside and inside guys at our house all day.  And I'm pretty sure nothing was stolen.  The outside was done and it took 6 weeks for R.D. Schuller Construction to finish the basement.  And they did an amazing job.  There was literally nothing there but the stairs so they had to start with a blank slate. They were rated Best of Omaha and we were very impressed with what they had to offer.  We would recommend them highly.

In the fall of 2011, we had a gas leak in our air conditioner which required immediate replacement of our air conditioning and heating unit.  We added on a heat pump and humidifier to the house along with it.  This was something we had not planned on and having only one salary at the time was pretty difficult for us but we made it through.  No pics of that excitement, sorry. Haha.

I also redid the bathroom along with many other tiny projects throughout the house (such as spray painting and knob upgrades, outside hardscaping, etc.) .

So, in a nutshell, lots of stuff going on in the hizz house.  We have another exciting thing being added to the kitchen (that Scott got me as a Mother's Day gift) that I can't wait to talk about when it gets installed.  How were we able to do all this financially and not be swimming in large amounts of debt?  Well, at the time we moved in, we both had jobs and pretty much my whole paycheck went into savings.  We rarely go anywhere and we buy maybe 1-2 things clothing wise every year.  Not kidding.  Fashion and clothes are something that means absolutely nothing to us so don't be surprised if you ever see me in a volleyball camp shirt from 1999 cause I do still own one and I do wear it.  Most of the clothes I own are from high school.  After baby, things didn't fit as well but I stay at home all day so t-shirts suffice enough.  Any other new clothing for us probably comes in the form as gifts at Christmas or birthdays.  Our splurges are going out to eat and once in a while buying a gadget here and there from Woot or if there is a good deal somewhere.  We have certain financial priorities that allowed us to pay for the new A/C and heating unit when the emergency struck us.

We have enjoyed all of the new improvements that our house undertook whether it have been out of qualification, fun upgrades, or emergency situations.  You never know how long you might be in your house, but you can sure have fun with it while you are there.

Recipe: Chicken Florentine Bowtie Pasta

Now that Nolan has been eating with us for a couple of weeks, we thought it would be best that we plan some more meals.  Ones that are somewhat healthy and that he could take a liking to.  Since this child could live on cheese and bread alone, we knew that we are in for a potential picky eater.  One day he will eat a bunch of strawberries and grapes and the next day they might as well be rocks as he looks at them with such distaste.  I don't know how he decides what is acceptable for the day or not, but it's a learning process for him and us.

We really enjoy the Chicken Florentine Pasta Bertolli bag, so when I saw this recipe, I knew it had to be one to try.  Supposedly simple and made with lots of yummy ingredients.  One ingredient that I had been wanting to try was the Philadelphia Cooking Creme.  I was really excited that that ingredient was in there.  The recipe doesn't say exactly which one to buy, so we bought the Italian Cheese & Herb.  We thought it was the one that made the most sense.  Let me tell you, I will be buying more of these to add to pastas as it was absolutely delicious.  The best bites were the ones where I got a lot of that mixture.

Another thing that excited me about this dish- which I didn't know until I started cooking- was that it called for a dutch oven or a big sauce pan.  Scott and I had purchased a cast iron dutch oven over the holidays for a cool $25 when they were having all the crazy sales.  Cast iron anything isn't cheap and most of the ones that I had looked at were at least around the $75 range, so this was an awesome deal we couldn't pass up.  I'm sure I could have used this sooner, but this recipe actually called for it so I knew for sure it was the proper way to cook the meal.  It cooked very very well and I will be using it WAY more often as we always feel like our pans aren't big enough for a lot of the dishes we make.  I think it can be more versatile that we thought so it's being moved to the front of the cupboard.  PROMOTION!

And finally, another little tid bit of fun-ness.  My dad had sent me this "Great Ideas" email which had a bunch of you guessed it, great ideas!  One of them that I wanted to try immediately was if you put a wooden spoon over the top of the boiling pasta, it won't boil over.  I always have a problem with this and am constantly babysitting pasta when I need to be doing something else.  I set the wooden spoon over it and it didn't even come close to boiling over.  Not even remotely threatening to boil over.   It was awesome and exciting and I was able to work on what was cooking in the cast iron the entire time.  So, I would definitely say that this trick worked.  I will let you know if it ever fails on me in the future.

This dish was really good.  It was a tad hectic with a one year old and about three pans going at once, but once the chicken was cooked and I gave some pieces to Nolan, he was entertained enough that I could finish the dish.  It calls for bowtie pasta or any small pasta so we just used the ziti pasta we had on hand.  It had a lot of great flavors and Nolan couldn't get enough of it.  He even stuffed stringy bits of spinach in his mouth which I was a little surprised about.  Scott couldn't keep up with his demand of wanting more.  So, I would say this is definitely a winner for all parties and one we will make again.

Recipe can be found here at Picky Palate.

Recipe: Grilled Salmon with Lime Butter and Aspargus

Disclaimer-The salmon is chopped up for Nolan.  We don't normally have our salmon in tiny pieces. :)

Nolan has been eating table foods here and there for a couple of months now, but now that he is one and is not restricted to anything but honey, peanut butter, and nuts, we now have to plan all meals for him.  Ones for big people.  My sister Kim asked me this past weekend, "How do you know how much to feed him?"  My answer?  "We don't have a clue what we are doing".  To be completely honest, we don't.  No first time parent ever does and if you say you do, you are lying. We seriously had no idea how much this kid can and should eat besides the small pamphlets we got at his 1-year appointment.  I was still feeding him the same jar food I had been up until his birthday and so I thought that is all he needed.

A visit to our primary doctor: Dr. Google, a couple of whiny days, and a very productive trip to Hy-Vee to stock up on fresh fruit, veggies, meat and fish, and everything needed to satisfy the hungriest of overweight adult males, we were prepared to feed Nolan food just like us.  That first lunch, he had about three times the amount of food that we had been giving him and let me tell you, that child was literally dancing in his highchair.  A content and full-tummied little boy.  We are finally figuring this thing out!  So Kim, there is your answer- we feed him until he starts throwing all of his food on the floor or says "done" and tries to tug his bib off.

After supplying our house with the appropriate foods, and not just cheese and slim fast, we were ready to have some meals together.  Scott and I never go buy tons of fresh fruit and things that are good for us, but we feel it is important that Nolan eats that way.  He will be a great influence on US! The first meal that we decided on was grilled salmon with lime butter sided with asparagus.  Nolan had his first bite of salmon and he LOVED it.  He ate every single bite of it along with a lot of asparagus.  We were all eating together as a family the exact same food for the first time and it was awesome.

Let's also give a shout out to NO MORE FORMULA as of 5/15/12!  I think our bank accounts would hug us if they could.

Recipe can be found here at BigOven.

The Big ONE

People always say time flies as you get older, but I only think that is the case when you have children.  I'm pretty sure it was just a couple weeks ago that I was in labor with Nolan and he somehow turned one on us.  I think he is a sorcerer.    Although, my labor did feel like it was a year long so maybe that's just how these things turn out.

As the undeniable fact of him turning one approached, I knew that I wanted to make a cake for him.  I was planning to make his smash cake and the big cake, but as we got closer, I chickened out.  I decided about three days beforehand to just order the big cake from Hy-Vee.  I am very glad I did cause we were getting to about 11:00 PM the night before his birthday before I finished his little cake.

Here is his smash cake.  I think it turned out really well.  There was another little blue dot on the "1" that fell off in the transition overnight but that's alright, you get the point.  And, we tore that cake up anyways.  And yes I said we, as Nolan was a bit hesitant diving into it.  I don't think I have seen a more careful smash cake eating in my life.  He was picking up pieces of cake with his thumb and forefinger like they were tiny ants.  When he finally got his hands dirty, he looked at them and you could tell by the expression on his face he was thinking "What is all over my hands?"  It's not like he has ever eaten a cake before, so it was just funny to see how he was going to react to it.

An appetizer I was really excited to make were these olive penguins.  (I got the idea from here.) I saw them on Pinterest forever ago and knew I wanted to make them sometime, especially for Nolan's party as it was penguin themed.  They were a bit tedious to make and we were getting to crunch time the night before, so I only made about 20 of them.  I had one and it was pretty good!  Just a little cream cheese burst in your mouth with the saltiness of the olive and the crunch of the carrot.  I hate carrots too, as I think they taste like what poison might taste like but even so, the little wobbler was delicious.

I also decided to do a time capsule for Nolan to be opened on his 18th birthday.  I asked family who came to write something to him, about him, or bring something regarding the year he turned one.  We got a lot of letters and Scott and I went out and got a World Herald that we will put in there. We also put some of his smaller decorations from his party into it as well.  I think it will be a fun/cryfest thing to look back on when he is older.

I know that everyone wanted to hold Nolan during his party, but it was really important to me that I got to hold him for just a little bit.  Just to have him sit on my lap, look around at all the people who love him so much and take in the fact that he is already one year old.  Our little baby is already one.  As we watched the one-year video before everyone else, both Scott and I couldn't help but cry as we saw him grow up in an instant, the same amount of time if felt like in real life.  If I could just hold him on my lap and freeze time for only a minute, I knew that my baby boy would stay one.  We never realize the time we take for granted until it has already passed us.  We sometimes need to step back and hold on to those moments in your mind cause they are only one once.  Happy Birthday Baby Boy.

I Can See Clearly Now the Crack is Gone

It's gonna be a bright, sun shiny day.... Great now I have that song in my head. 

What do you see out this here window?  Well, a tree, a beautifully manicured lawn, a screen, and a window pane.  What you don't see is a huge crack going from the middle right side clear to the other side of the window.  It is gone!  Magic?  No, but finally a call to a glass company.  I wish I could do magic. 

How do you go about finding a glass company in Omaha?  Well, we used our trusty Best of Omaha guide and I found two companies that were listed.  One was Quality Glass and the other was Rainbow Glass.  I called Quality first on Monday and they said they couldn't get anyone out here to even look at it this week....well, alright.  So, I made a call to Rainbow Glass and they said they could have someone look at it that afternoon.  They were in and out in less than 30 secs, I do not lie.  They measured the window, said they would call me with estimates and were out the door. Three days later we had ourselves a new window.  Best customer service ever.  So efficient, to the point, friendly, and out the door.  We will definitely be using them again if we ever have another 2 year old cracked window somewhere else.  Yes, this window has been cracked for at least 2 years.  Don't know how or why it happened, we just found it one day and it kept growing and growing until it made its way to the other side of the pane.

I couldn't be more happy to not feel self conscious about this window anymore.  We can keep our new curtains wide open 24/7 and let the light shine in!  So happy we got her done before Nollie's bday!

Woot! Another thing to check off of our list!

Our Spring "Projects" (in no particular order)
Have Scott get rid of the cobwebs in the foyer 
Get a new grill cover
Finish landscaping the two backyard trees and clean up the third tree
Fill in the mulch around the shed
Clean up the front yard landscaping
Replace the broken window
Spray paint the two kitchen light fixtures silver
Spray paint the lawn furniture
Change all the doorknobs on the first floor to nickel
Seal and/or stain the deck
Finish putting up wood along the bottom of the fenceline
Get a new curtain for the dining room
Replace light in the bathroom
Replace lightbulbs in the front yard
Patch ceiling in the extra bedroom
Organize the basement storage area
Organize and clean out the garage