Shaz by the Sea

I have been blogging a lot about pregnancy and the twins...and some of you might want to rip your eyeballs out. However, with sticking to one of my goals of this blog, I want to document life experiences so I can look back and happily experience them again. While I may not want to relive all the pains and unpleasantries of pregnancy, but I would like to highlight moments so I can reminisce when I feel like it. :) I feel fortunate that I have had a pretty decent pregnancy. At first (well, for the first 5 months...not 3 like everyone kept insisting), I was extremely sick. I couldn't keep anything down and I lost about 9 lbs. I was concerned for the babies' sake, but I started drinking 'Ensure' protein drinks like a 90 year old woman. I honestly liked them. I would eat plain carbs like bagels with cream cheese, plain pasta with butter and cereal -- and then drink the Ensure drinks and take prenatal vitamins. The doctors said to eat whatever appealed to me and I did jus

Jim and I decided it was officially time to be grown ups and invest in a real car. We knew we needed an SUV so that both car seats could fit inside safely and with room to spare. Between my jeep wrangler and Jim's ford ranger truck...we needed a serious upgrade. After months and months of research, we opted for a 2014 Acura MDX. We wanted the three rows of seating, all wheel drive and the tech package. Those amenities will be nice when we have visitors in town, or when we drive up north for the holidays. Here are a few shots of the car; it looks really pretty with the sun setting last night.       And the beautiful, spotless tires that don't have a touch of dirt on them....we honestly didn't even want to drive it.   The sales guy, Tony, took our picture...first (and second) family photo in front of the new car! Haha     Jim was SO super stoked. He was like a little kid on Christmas morning. When we drove the car off the lot, it

Lá fhéile Pádraig Shona Dhaoibh! (Happy St. Patrick's Day!) We were fortunate to enjoy a fun, different St. Patrick's Day this year in Alexandria. Typically we go on some sort of bar crawl and consume some green beverages, but this were different this year -- and we had just as much fun, if not more. What was supposed to be our first day at our new assignments, ended up being a SNOW DAY. Can you believe it?! We were so happy -- because after having about a week off, who wants to go back to work? We woke up at Joyce and Dennis' house to this snowy scene. It was actually quite pretty. I haven't been around snow in such a long time, I think Jimmy and I enjoyed it. Well, he was the one brushing off the car, so maybe he didn't enjoy it as much as me seeing it from the warmth inside.   Not only was it warm and cozy inside, but Uncle Den started his corned beef bright and early! He and I both have to check the opm.gov website to see if we report to the offi

Happy one week for us being on the east coast!!! I know, I know...I already posted my chicken marsala recipe while my dad was visiting in LA a few weeks ago, but I decided to make it again last night. The Condons have been such gracious and hospitable hosts, so Jim and I wanted to make them dinner last night. I opted for chicken marsala, and I think it came out pretty good. Jim did the grocery shopping -- and while he was at the store, he sent me a few texts w/ pictures asking if the onions were the right ones, and specifically what type of chicken to buy. It was cute. He did a great job...perfect amount of food for everyone. Here I am starting out in the Condons kitchen last night. They renovated their kitchen a couple of years ago and it came out amazing. It's super inviting for guests and extremely user friendly for any chef or in this case, chefs! :) Auntie Joyce and I were chit chatting during "happy hour" at their place...wine, cheese, crackers and grape

Jim and I have been staying with the Condons since Sunday and each night they prepare amazing homemade meals. Tonight, they made Beefsteak Pizzaiola. It's a steak and pasta dish with a red sauce that has green peppers and minced garlic -- YUM. This blog post is near and dear to me because it sounds like this recipe has been in the family for years. Apparently Grampa Callahan LOVED this dish. The book below was given to my Grampa ("Frank") from Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Charley. Charlotte and my Grandmother "Mama Rita" were sisters. I love family history like this! Here are Joyce and Den with the book, " Leone's Italian Cooking " - referring to the restaurant in New York in the song 'Movin Out' by Billy Joel.  And here's the recipe for the dish. 2 1/2 Pounds of Tenderloin Steak (Aunt Joyce recommends the London Broil) 1/4 Cup melted butter 2 tsp Olive Oil 2 Garlic cloves, mashed 2 Medium green bell peppe