Nae’s Heart

So in honor of President’s Day James and  I have the day off of work… We took some time to relax and then went to Aliso Viejo Canyon and took a 5 mile walk.  It was beautiful and very relaxing.  After our beautiful walk we did a little grocery shopping and are now home watching the olympics… I love the olympics and will watch as much of them as I can… Tomorrow we do have work and I have to apply for my passport for the Ladies Retreat in April.

I am not sure if James has other plans for tonight… but I would be content with staying home and spending time together.

Hope you all had a great Valentine’s Day

This is my second favorite Christmas video… Hope you enjoy!

Okay so I absolutely love this version of 12 Days of Christmas… It is by Straight No Chaser and it makes me smile every time I hear it so I thought I would share it with you!

-You drive 20 minutes and pass through five cities.

-You’ve ever been snowboarding, skateboarding, and water skiing… all in the same day.

-You can’t spell your governor’s name, but you think he’s cool because he can beat up every other governor in the country.

-You’re out-of-state on vacation and your heart flutters at the words “Double-Double.”

-You’re ashamed that “California Pizza” means pizza with bok choy, pike eel, portabella mushrooms, and asparagus.

-Your relatives from out-of-state think you see celebrities walking around everywhere

-You expect a high speed chase to interrupt your favorite TV shows at least twice a week.

-You use your whole paycheck to pay for gas.

-You’re planning a vacation and you have four airports to choose from.

-It’s January and you’re considering going to the beach.

-The winter clothes come out when it hits 65 degrees.

-You have ever said, “do you speak english?”

-You see the Police doing “California Stops”

-It sprinkles and the top news is “Storm Watch 2009″ (this was originally written in 2004 but I made it current)

-You commute 35 miles to work and it takes you 2 hours and you drive a minimum of 3 freeways.

-You wonder who’s bright idea it was to call it “rush hour”

-You’re white and think you deserve “minority rights”

-Your neighbors to the left go to Vegas for the weekend, your neighbors to the right go up to the mountains, and the guy across the street with all the tattoos… well, you don’t really want to know, you’re just glad he is gone.

(Special thanks to my parents who inspired Jay to put this in the Youth Light)

Yesterday Ruth and I took a mini road trip to Fresno.  It was Ruth’s 21st birthday and we were going to have dinner with Mom A.  Mom A was doing a WASC visit at a school there and she had Ruth’s car.  Since Ruth had Daniel’s car we  were switching vehicles and what better day then Ruth’s birthday.  We left my house at 10:30 am, grabbed some breakfast, and hit the freeway.

We had a great trip… Lots of laughter, fun, and coffee.  We hit heavy fog going through the grapevine but Ruth handled it like a pro. We decided that Pixley is a very interesting town name and that California cows are happy because the smog makes them high.  We also decided that we like the 99 better than the 5 because of all the houses right by the road.  We got to the hotel where Mom was staying around 3:00 pm.  Mom got there just after 3:45 and Mom and Ruth opened birthday presents.  We went and walked around the small mall there.  It made Montclair Plaza look hugongous. We went to Red Robin for dinner and then back to the hotel.  All of this took 2 1/2 hours, but it was a great time with mom.

We headed home at 6:15.  We stopped for Starbucks in Delano and made the rest of the trip with no stops.  We started the trip in a Ford Focus Wagon and ended it in an ‘09 Versa with 600 miles on it when we left Fresno.  We arrived back at my apartment at 10:30 pm.  It was an 8 hour day in the car… 4 hours there and 4 home.

I missed James but enjoyed having a day off and spending time with Ruth.  It was nice to be home and my bed felt so good.  Check out the pictures here

So after church tonight we had a Fall Fellowship.  Everyone brings soup, bread and pie.  James made the soup and it was delicious, but he will have to post that recipe.  He picked out the pie recipe (Taste of Home 2009 Quick Cooking Annual Recipes) but I was the one who made it this afternoon.  It was delicious also and I am sure you have guessed what it was… Chocolate Cherry Cheesecake.  It was a simple recipe and only took about 45 minutes to mix and bake.

The Recipe: Prep: 15 min. Bake: 30 min + cooling

1 jar (12 ounces) maraschino cherries

2 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 eggs

1/2 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

1 chocolate cookie crust (9 inches)

6 chocolate covered cherries (although I didn’t use these)

Drain the maraschino cherries, reserving 2 tsp cherry juice. Cut the maraschino cherries into quarters; set aside. In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, and reserved cherry juice. Add the eggs; beat just until combined. Fold in the chocolate chips and cherries.

Pour into the crust (crust will be full). Bake at 350º for 30-35 min or until the center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack. Serve with chocolate covered cherries. 6 servings

Hope you enjoy and don’t make your pieces to big because it is very rich!

THis is one of the videos I have of Melissa from San Francisco. Enjoy! Check out the rest on my video page

This is from the Youth Light for February 18, 2001.  

“Did it hurt when you fell from heaven?”

“I stutter when I get around pretty girls… So, what’s your n-n-n-n-n-name?”

“Who’s the thief? It looks like someone stole a piece of heaven and tried to hide it in your eyes.”

“Heaven must be worried right now… because I see they’re missing an angel.”

“I didn’t know angels could fly so low.”

“Do you have a map? I just keep getting lost in your eyes.”

“I’m sorry, were you talking to me… (”No”) Would you please start?”

“Do you believe in love at first sight? (”No”) Okay, I’ll walk by again.”

“If I could rearrange the alphabet, I’d put U and I together.”

“Is there an airport close? Oh, that’s just my heart taking off.”

“Excuse me, do you have any raisins? (”No”) How about a date?”

“I lost my number can I have yours?”

“Have we met before? (”No”) Oh, it must have been in my dreams.”

“Was your dad a terrorist? ‘Cause you’re the bomb!”

Hope you have a great Memorial Day weekend!

This is the Mind Boggler and Funny from the Youth Light February 11, 2001

Mind Boggler:

What’s greater than God, more evil than the devil, the rich don’t have it, but the poor do, and if you eat it, you will die?

Funny: Fun Things To Do In An Elevator…

1. Pass out name tags to everyone. Wear yours upside down.

2. Make explosion noises whenever someone presses a button.

3. Carry a cooler that has “Human Head” printed on the side.

4. Say in a deep demonic voice, “I must find a new host body.

5. Do step aerobics. Encourage others to join you.

6. Whistle “It’s a Small World” constantly.

7. Burp then say, “Mmmmmm…Tasty.”

8. Wear a sock puppet and talk to other people “through” the puppet.

9. Stare at another passenger for 10 seconds then say, “You’re one of them!”  Move to a far corner.

10. Meow occasionally.

11. When arriving at your floor, grunt and strain to yank the doors open, then act embarrassed when they open by themselves.

12. Blow your nose. Look into your hanky and scream, “Yes! Another winner!”

13. Blow spit bubbles and giggle every time one blows up.

14. Say “ding” at each floor.

15. Two words: AIR BISCUIT!  

Sorry if you don’t get the last one.  It was a youth group joke!  

Hope you all have a great week.

So the activity on Saturday was a huge success.  Our secret ingredient was cocoa powder.  We had to use it in 3 courses: an appetizer, a main dish, and a dessert.  We left the church at 12:15 and headed to the store.  We had a couple cookbooks and chose recipes on the way so we would purchase all the ingredients we needed.  For our appetizer we decided to do biscuits, of course they were chocolate biscuits because of adding the cocoa powder.  They were pretty nasty tasting after they were cooked, they tasted fine before they were put in the oven.

Chocolate Biscuits

 For our main dish we made Stuffed Spinach Shells.  We used ricotta cheese, cream cheese, spinach, and of course cocoa.  :)  You couldn’t really taste the cocoa.  They turned out okay.  I wouldn’t make them again, at least not with cocoa.

Stuffed shells

For dessert we made a chocolate pizza.  It had a sugar cookie crust, cream cheese & cocoa for the frosting, and peanut butter chips and chocolate chips on top.  We also drizzled chocolate sauce over the top.  It was the best hing we made.  

Chocolate Pizza

One of the other teams made things like: Chocolate croissants, chocolate breaded chicken, chocolate mousse crepes, rice with chicken boullian, cocoa, and cinnamon in it.

 The third team made: Chocolate covered strawberries, Chocolate tri-tip, Layered chocolate mousse.  

I was tired of chocolate at the end of the end of the night.  Sounds funny but it is true.  

Our team came in 2nd.  We were happy with that.  

For more pics you can go to the pictures page or click on this link Pictures