"I love you because..." frame (& exciting news)

If you are on Pinterest, I'm sure you've seen what is below, or at least a version of it...(If you're not on Pinterest - send me an email for an invite!).  How cute is this:

source: Kiki Creates via Pinterest

I decided to get a wee bit crafty this weekend, playing with my new Silhouette Cameo, and came up with my own version of the dry erase love note frame.  

Speaking of the Cameo - this thing can do anything!  Look how intricately it can cut:

 

Though the subsequent love notes from the Hubby are lovely, I promise, I only made it for my own crafting pleasure ;)  [aside - if you know us, you know the Hubby is the king of love letters.  Unfortunately, med school doesn't equate to much time for penning love letters.  This is an excellent substitute, instant-gratification-style!].

While this crafty project is great and all, what is more important (with regards to the "exciting news" teaser in the title) is written below as the reason why I love the Hubby.  (There are many - this is merely one.  Though it is a big one!). 

I hope you are excited when read it.  I get excited every time I read it. I might do a happy dance just thinking about it.  

Yes, that is right - the Hubby and I will be traveling to Puerto Vallarta for six nights during the Hubby's spring break.  

And folks?  We. Are. Excited.

We weren't going to go anywhere over the Hubby's spring break.  That time should really be spent focusing on studying for his Step One boards that are on June 16. 

But I mean, really, he can study by the ocean just as well as he can study anywhere else, right?  Mmmm....beach..............

Plus, everyone and their sister has been stressing to us the importance of DOING things together (aside from med school/every day life) and GOING places together, much like a normal, non-med school couple would.  Especially prior to having little mini-doctors running around. 

Also, let's face it - the Hubby has an absolute minimum of five more years of school/residency after this.  That means that the next time that we might have the opportunity to vacation together, I'll be, you know, old in the next decade of life. 

So we bit the bullet and booked the trip.  

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaeeeeeeeeiiiiiii!!!!!!

Let the countdown begin: 33 days until we are dancing the salsa!  (or at the very least - eating salsa!).

Partying here this week.

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You need only be still.

The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still.  

Exodus 14.14  

  
I don't know about you, but being still is undoubtedly the hardest thing for me.  Need a reminder?  Download one of these printables in five colors, and place it in an 8x10" frame.  Click the caption below your favorite color scheme to download for free.  Enjoy!

. navy . gold .

. cools .

. earthy .

. natural .

. pinks .

Sharing here this week.  

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Crispy Baked Falafel Recipe

So you may or may not know that the Hubby is of Lebanese heritage.  (And Polish, among other things.  But I like to focus on the Lebanese part...primarily because then I can pretend that I'm Lebanese too!).  My palate for Middle Eastern foods has grown quite a bit since meeting, dating and marrying the Hubby.  Rolled grape leaves, fattoush, pita and hummus, tabouli, kibbeh, lamb & tahini (on and in everything), baklava, shwarma, toum, etc etc.  Delicous to the max.  

But there is one Lebanese delicacy that the in-laws and family don't eat for some reason: falafel.  After trying it for the first time from the only place where we ever get carry-out our local Lebanese restaurant, I was in love.  Then, serendipity: the lovely Sarah posted this recipe for Baked Falafel on her blog!  I made it and it is beyond awesome.  Perhaps better than the place down the street.  (Don't tell Ishmael!).  I followed her ingredient list and proportions, but cooked them a little differently to get that crispy feeling (without deep frying!).  If you want to only dirty one baking sheet, see her post...but if you don't mind getting a skillet dirty too, then see below ;)

Thanks for the wonderful recipe, Sarah!

---

Crispy Baked Falafel 

Ingredients

1-15oz. can chick peas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
1/2 medium red onion (squeeze in towel to remove extra moisture)
1 large egg
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
2 cloves garlic
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. chili powder
3/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. dried parsley

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth.  

Heat a skillet over medium heat.  Lightly spray with olive oil, and using cookie scoop, scoop out the batter into small patties onto the skillet, lightly flattening with the back of your scoop.  Allow to cook until the bottoms are lightly browned, and then flip and let the other side cook until lightly browned.  Remove from skillet and place on a parchment- or Silpat-lined baking sheet.  Repeat with remaining batter.  

Bake browned falafel in preheated 400 degree oven for 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  

Serve while still warm in pita with hummus, lettuce, tomato, cucumber and red onion, on top of a salad, or eat directly off of baking sheet ;)

---

Salivating yet?  

Now you are!  ;)  Sharing the yummy goodness with these parties...

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See this recipe featured over at Scissors & Spatulas - thanks for the feature, Jen ;) 
Also see it featured at Bacon Time - thanks Mindie!! 

Fabulous Fonts: Unique

I am so excited to share a few more Fabulous Fonts with you - these fall into the "Unique" category!  If you are looking for the Simple or Fancy fonts, or how to download fonts, just click on the hyperlinks.  

Here are ten great unique fonts for you.  To download each individual font, click on the link below the pretty text:

Download Angelic War

Download Artistamp Medium

Download Beyond Wonderland

Download Black Out

Download Burgoyne

Download New Garden

Download Soul Mission

Download Uncle Typewriter

Download Vanessa

Download Waltograph

Enjoy!  I'll be sharing these unique fonts with these parties this week!

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Purex UltraPacks Review

Laundry.  No one loves doing it, but it is a necessity of life (unless you want your hubby to be the smelly kid in med school!).  I have a minor love affair with the Purex line of laundry detergent, for several reasons.  First, it comes in a "free and clear" variety - a necessity for somebody's ridiculously sensitive skin in the Dr. + Mrs. family (not mine!).  Second, not only is it reasonably priced, it often goes on sale!  Third, it works.  Well.  Even in cold water.  

When Purex sent me a package of their brand spanking new UltraPacks to try and review, I was pretty darn excited.  These cute little pre-packaged, pre-dosed UltraPacks will be hitting store shelves in February 2012 for you to try.  

They are simple to use - with dry hands (as to not dissolve the plastic-ey film that encases the detergent), toss one pack into the bottom of your washer, then add the clothes and wash as normal.  That's it!  

Here are the highlights: 

• Convenient pre-dosed liquid detergent packs that make doing laundry easier than ever
• All of the performance of the new Triple Action liquid formula in one powerful pack
• No mess, no smells, no heavy jugs
• Each UltraPack contain powerful 2x concentrated liquid detergent, giving double the cleaning power in ever drop
• Dissolves quickly once the washer is started - even in cold water
• Formulated and safe for all machines, including high-efficiency  machines

Purex UltraPacks come in two varieties, Mountain Breeze and Free & Clear (yes!):

The only possible downside that I could see to these is the fact that they are "one size fits all."  While I normally only do laundry when I have a full load to save water and energy, sometimes there is an emergency situation (like last night, when the Hubby came home with an ink stain on his white coat and I had just washed our whites the day before).  With only a third of a normal-sized load of laundry to wash, I wouldn't have wanted to waste an entire UltraPack that can handle the full load worth of detergent on a mini-load.  

But other than that?  These little dudes rock.  They'd be perfect for those times when husbands kids do laundry too!

Purex will be offering free samples for you to try in mid-February.  I will let you know when and how!

Happy Laundry ;) 


Disclaimer:  Purex provided a free sample of their UltraPacks laundry detergent so I could write a review.  However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own.

Guilty Pleasures: Pentatonix

We discussed guilty pleasures (harmless ones, of course!) at my last Side by Side (aka doctor's wives) Bible study of last year.  Spur of the moment, all that I could think of was Pinterest, which is definitely one of my bigger guilty pleasures.  However - really?  My true current guilty pleasure?  Pentatonix.

No idea what I'm talking about?  Pentatonix is the group that won this season of The Sing Off, an a Capella singing competition.  However, we don't watch the show.  The Hubby and I stumbled upon Pentatonix via Gungor.  (Kevin, the beatboxing cellist, performed with Gungor when we saw them in concert, and it was mentioned that he was competing on the TV show).  Anywho - we watched their performances on NBC's website and fell in love.  There is so much talent in this young group-three of them are only 19 years old!  Their sound is beefy and pure.  After discovering them I might have listened to all of their performances multiple times per day for a week straight several times.

I give you Pentatonix (all performances, part 1/3 - hit up You Tube for parts 2 and 3!): 

So amazing!  I literally cannot believe that so much sound comes from just five voices.  

Speaking of guilty pleasures, many of the girls brought up The Hunger Games as theirs.  I borrowed the first one and read it in about...oh...one day.  I literally devoured it (no pun intended).  I started it before going to bed one night and accidentally read a third of it.  I finished it the next day.  It was unbelievable.  A mildly disgusting premise?  Absolutely.  I'll be getting the second installment this Wednesday.  And finishing it soon there after!  

What's your current (not-so) guilty pleasure? 

Resolved.

Just kidding.  I'm not resolved.  In fact, I think that the concept of new year resolutions are a bit ridiculous.  Why do people feel they need to wait until the new year to make positive changes in their lives?  If you have an area of your life that you obviously need/want to work on and recognize it, then just make the change when you realize it and be done with it.  Don't give into bad habits for a few more days, weeks, or months...just set your foot down and be done with it.  If  the desire for a lifestyle change happens to occur around the same time as the first of January, super.  If it happens in October, go for it.  May?  Buck up and make positive changes to your life. 

Which discussing this with the Hubby, he told me that I feel this way because I have strong willpower.  I think that's funny, because I wouldn't think that about myself.  I consider it more of a "do-it-now" personality.  It goes for little things like never leaving dirty dishes in the sink overnight ("do it now, so you don't have to deal with it in the morning"), to more lifestyle-like changes.  For instance, this past year, I decided I would start flossing daily instead of weekly (fine: bi-weekly...okay, fine: when I ate sweet corn...).  So I did.  I mean, I know I'm supposed to floss, so I just started some random day in December 2010.  And I've flossed almost every day since then.  Is it because I resolved to do so because I flipped a new calendar to January?  No.  That is ridiculous to me. I knew that I should floss because it is an important part of good dental hygiene, and I like my dentist to give me a good review twice a year, so I started flossing.  End of story. 

What about you?  Are you a new year resolution maker, or a do-it-now-er? 

Oh, right - and happy new year ;)