A surprise, orcas, and traveling with kids.

I feel shotty. I have a major, major cold. I remind myself of an old woman--stuffing tissues in my purse to wipe my nose with. I dare say, it's rather classy. And extremely appealing. I don't know how Ofir manages to keep his hands off of me.

After having a long day of sniffling, blowing my nose, and continuously wiping my nares, rendering them red and inflammed..I came home to a man that got me this:

Yes, I am being obnoxious and posting a picture of my rings. And what?

That top one is new. No big deal. Just a 5 year anniversary gift that came two months early. He brought it back from Israel, from the same man who made my other two rings. Um...LOVE! My man is such an out-of-the-blue human being. I just love that about him! He said I needed my spirits lifted because I was sick...so let's just hand me a new, gorgeous anniversary band. Oh, and he had Ethan bring me the box. Our very own, built-in ring bearer! :) Again, no big deal.

He needs to go to and come back from Israel more often. Dang! I didn't just say that. Yes I did.

Enough bragging. I hate when people brag. But I had to brag (say brag ONE more time, Kristina. "Brag.") on my amazing husband.

I had a dream about Orcas last night. As in orca whales. Random and deathly scary. Am I the only one who is scared of giant, beastly whales?  Am I the only one who would sh*t my pants if said giant swam up next to me? Anyways, it involved FSU dorms, forgetting I had class and missing weeks of school and then showing up on test day and not knowing a paper was due too (Rach, that was for you) and then seeing orcas in a pool in the back of said dorm and then falling in and being swarmed by the giant beasts and then awakening right before I was surely dragged into the abyss, only to drown and die a horrible death. Phew. I always thank my brain for waking me up before my dreamy demise. It luckily does that for me every time. Thank you, Brain.

If you, like me, are crazy enough to  planning on traveling with a small child or children on those things called planes, take a look at Oh, Happy Day's post today. She travels a lot and is dishing out her best tips. I must say, I am jealous of this woman. She and her husband decided one day to pick up everything and move from San Fran to PARIS for a year. Just because. Just for adventure. Wow. If I were only so brave...

I hope you all are having a marvelous week. I'm going to go and wipe my nose 83 more times.

Good night!

Love,
K

A rite of passage.

Ethan is two and a half now. I felt it was time to have him help me bake and lick the spoon! Licking the spoon is a rite of passage, people.

I still lick the spoon  remember doing this as a child whenever my mom would bake. It was one of those little joys in life.

We baked a cake for my mom's birthday. It was actually the 24th, but my brother and I are cooking her dinner tonight and I wanted to make her a family favorite--yellow cake with chocolate frosting! Mmm! This cake is going to be a surprise. Did I just hear you say "Then why are you blogging about it before she sees it, Kristina?" Well...I love my mom, but the woman never reads this blog. You'd think my mom would be an obsessive reader, right? Nah. I have to twist her arm to read this. Yeah, that's right mom...talkin' to YOU! ;)

Ethan was the biggest help:

We didn't waste any time licking that spoon:

Time for an afternoon BATH:

And, because I love black and white:

ALL clean!!

Let your kid lick the spoon. They'll remember it when they are 27. And they'll smile. I promise :)

Have a lovely rest of the week!

Love,
K

Having many irons in the fire.

Hi friends!

I wanted "Busy" to be the title of this post, but I felt as if that was too boring. So, I did what I do best: I Thesaurus.com'ed it and "Having many irons in the fire" was the coolest synonym I could find :)

This week has been nuts. Finally getting some time to sit down and document the insanity that was my week and is my house. There are dishes in the sink. Laundry in the baskets. The dirty basket is filled to the brim and the clean/waiting to be folded basket is filled too. There are toys everywhere and the pantry could be organized.

But I'll leave that for tomorrow. Sometimes you gotta sit on your bum and do nothing. :)

When I got home this evening from school, I put Boo down for a nap I sat and ate a burrito. A yummy homemade bean and beef and cheese and green chiliand some more cheese, burrito. On the couch.While I watched Valentine's Day (It was OK). The plate was hot so I placed a beach towel...yes beach, like the insanely bright with geometirc patterns, beach towel, on my lap. And ate. I am one classy broad. If only Ofir could see what he's missin' 6,000+ miles away. I'm sure he's just so anxious to get home ;)

This is what he is enjoying over there:

Gosh. It's SO ugly there. I am not looking forward to going there in September at all...

My mom's birthday is today. Happy Birthday, Ma! You're the best Ma in the whole world. Love you! She and I went to see Wicked on Sunday. Uhhh-mazing. That's all I can say about that. Go see it if you ever get a chance. I can't stop thinking about Elfie. And Gaaaalinda.

On Friday I had my first day of Pediatric clinicals. Let me just tell you. I KNEW I had to be around babies after that day. There was this precious 2 month old that was so sick and I was able to snuggle (thanks Ashley!) and feed. I fell in love with her. I don't know if it means Peds or OB, but I need the babes. Period. The End.

I am happy to say that I am hosting my dad and stepmom for dinner tomorrow and my mom and brother for dinner on Thursday! I have a few recipes that I am excited to make. One, will be my new obsession...Greek Lemon soup. I will have to get you that recipe. A new favorite and SO easy! Thursday, I will be making chicken cordon bleu. I have never made it before, but that is what my mom wanted for a homemade birthday dinner. We shall see how it turns out. Yum, I hope!

Anywho, thought I would stop by and say Howdy!

Have a marvelous rest of the week!

Love,
K

Distance, pictures, and a garage sale.

I just Skyped with my husband who is thousands of miles away. 6,422.1 miles to be exact. Yes, I googled the distance from here to Netanya, Israel. Don't hate.

It seems so surreal knowing he is all the way across the world. He's visiting his family. He hasn't been back for almost 10 years! This visit was over-due and I am so happy for him! I just miss him to pieces and pieces.

I complain about being away from him for 2 weeks, but I keep reminding myself that there are brave families out there who don't see their loved ones for months or years due to deployment. I am lucky that we are not in that position. I give so much credit to the wives and/or husbands who are left behind for long periods of time. I couldn't do it. Hats off to you that can! :)

I usually never say when he's out of town, but this was a big one--back to his home turf :)  But don't mess with me...I got guns (Yes, I have a consealed carry license. I'm legal, yo). All types. And a big brother. And a dad that lives 14 houses down...

I did a little photo shoot of my man this morning while we played in the backyard. He was adamant about wearing my scarf. I must say, he looked mighty cute in it:

He's got the best personality, I tell ya. Love him!

We went to a friends garage sale a few weeks ago. It was actually his grandfather's belongings. I must say, they had great taste. He will be missed by his family, but I hope they know that the things he loved are in good hands and with someone who appreciates them very much :)  I picked up a few things. Let us see:

A vintage Argus camera? Oh, yes please:

I have been looking for one like her for a very long time. She called my name and she is now on my mantle.

I picked up three paintings. I had no idea where they were going to go in my house, but they were only $5 each. Plus, I have a true love for any and all things England. These all happened to be paintings of what? Places in England. Who knew?! :)  I have visited all three places and thought it would be wonderful to have them in my house. Boring foyer before:

 And foyer with my new pretties:

St. Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, and Windsor Castle.

I also found a gorgeous chair. I have been looking for this exact beauty. I wanted an aqua, vintage-y looking chair for photoshoots. Well, lookey there...guess what I found:

...an aqua,vintage-y looking chair. Ha!

I picked the "ugliest" (and by ugliest, I mean the most gorgeous one, in my eyes!) one I could find out of the set of four.

Rusty and scuffy gorgeousness.

I actually ended up with two. They didn't sell one and asked me later that night if I wanted it for free. Um, yes! So...I have two aqua, vintage-y looking props for shoots :)

I should probably go and be studious and all and read Peds Nursing...

Just wanted to say Hi!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

Love,
K

Well, hello there.

My absense must mean one thing. School started back up. Peds and OB this time, yo. This was the semester I have been looking forward to. Even though I hear its the hardest--its kids and babies. Two of my favorite things on this planet.

If you don't live in north Florida you probably don't know about Wolfson's Children's Hospital. Well, that's where my clinicals are and it is an outstanding hospital. I always knew it was a great place, but since I walked in there yesterday and got the tour and had my orientation....love. What a wonderful thing those people do for those kids.

I am going on a hot date with my man tonight. Hehe! We haven't been out together, besides our awesome Denny's date in a while. I love getting spiffied up. I am, actually spiffied up right now...waiting on the hubs to get home! :)

I did another photoshoot for one of my besties last week. Laura is a dear friend and I loved capturing her, her hubs Will and their daughter, who I ADORE, Maggie. Somehow we were together long enough for me to take 600 (!) pictures. How does that happen? When you're having fun that happens :) Here are a few:

I really do love photography. I need to just keep practicing and getting better :)  Hopefully I can be the nurse I've always wanted to be and be an uber awesome photographer as well!

I am having a besties cooking sesh on Monday! Can't wait. I will certainly be taking pictures and showing you.

Hope you are all having a great week! I am going to go and get ready for my smooch time date night with my main man!

Love,
K

My niece and some food. Oh, and a cat!

Remember I told you I was going to take pictures of my niece this week? Well, I did...and they came out adorable, I think!

I just love her. A few of my favs:

Ethan came along to help and he and Shiri had the best time chasing one another and laughing. They did make time for many many kisses and hugs too:

A little blurry, but I couldn't resist :)

I mean, honestly...how redic are they? I am a lucky gal, I tell ya.

***

Yesterday I went to my moms and we had a good time cooking! I love hearing about/coming up with new recipes and actually making them. I get some satisfaction out of seeing the recipe itself come to life! We made these fabulous little quiche-like thingies. We put ham (You could put any type of lunch meat, or your could leave it out all together if you want to have a vegetarian meal, which I often do.) in the bottom of muffin tins and then we put some brie cheese at the bottom (You could use ANY cheese here. We only had brie--what a shame...brie is SO disgusting...) and then cracked an egg on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and pop those bad boys in the oven and cook them at about 375 for 12-15 minutes. Just keep an eye on them...take them out when the yolks are where you like them. I like slightly runny, myself :)  You could add veggies such as spinach, broccoli, peppers, onions...oh! you could add salsa too and have a southwestern-y style breakfast. I snapped a shot of the end product so you can get a visual:

See...the ham became crispy and took the form of the muffin tin--like a cup. That you can eat. And people won't look strangely at you for doing so. Eating a cup, that is.

And, simply because he is so gorgeous, I took a few pictures of her cat, Mu. He was actually my grandma's cat and when she passed away a few years ago, my mom inherited him. And he is the most dog-like cat you will ever meet. He's mellow and cuddles. Love him. Check out his sheer gorgeousness:

 Look at his eyes, for crying out loud:

I love him even more because he let's Ethan crawl all over him and couldn't care less. :)

I took pictures of one of my bestie and her hubs and their daughter too, my Maggie Loo-Who, today. We had a great time, despite the overcast, dreary morning. We got some great shots! I'll show you those soon :)

Have a great rest of the weekend, folks!

Love,
K

Ethanisms.

Our darling boy makes us laugh on a daily basis. And he dosen't even try.

He is talking up a storm. Some things makes perfect sense. Others? Not so much, but he is certainly a chit-chatter. I wanted to type this post so I can look back and remember all of the goofy stuff our boy does and says. I am too lazy to actually write it down in the baby book, so this will work for now :)

*Every animal on this planet is a "Doddie." (Doggie) He can, however, make all of the animal sounds for the proper one's, when asked.

*He learned the word "clock" and lovingly refers to it by dropping the "L." He also calls his Crocs, rocks, socks,and any other word ending in "ock" this delectable word. God love him. Hopefully he dosen't bust this word out at daycare...

*Every piece of jewelry I have on is an "earding"--earrings, necklaces, bracelets. Except my rings. He clearly says "ring" and then runs around to find anyone else who is wearing one too and excitedly exclaims "RING!!!" He gets great joy out of this too. So silly!

*He refers to his paints as "Ups."  I think this id due to the fact that I am always saying "Pull your pants UP!" He enjoys pulling his paints down whenever he can. So weird!

*He likes to double up words for some reason. "Eat eat"  "Night night" "Food food" "Potty potty." Who knows why?

*He is putting two and three words together these days...starting to form sentences. His little squeaky voice is so cute :)

*We are working on our ABC's. He's doing pretty well too! It's funny to listen to him. He has the correct tune, but they are all out of order.."P,G,H,L,A,C,D."  Adorbs!

I can't wait to see what he comes up with next!

Have a great Friday and an awesome weekend!

Love,
K

Soup.

All this chilly weather in northern Florida is making me want some warm, comfy soup.

So, I went on the all-consuming Pinterest and fell into it's deep deep abyss. It will do that to you. Not lying. I found a few that looked amazing:

Vegetable Chowder:

via

Stuffed Pepper Soup:

via

Cauliflower Soup:

via



Roasted Corn Chowder with chicken, lime and cilantro soup:

via

Soup makes me happy. Love that I can freeze it too! Not soup related, I made both lunch and dinner yesterday from freezer meals :) Can you say L.A.Z.Y? Haha! Nah, just savvy.

Now go make some soup!

Love,

K

What we've been up to.

Happy 2012 to Everyone! Wishing you all a year of health, happiness, love and prosperity!

This past week has been rather busy. We had Chrismakuh, obviously, my dad got married, some family moved back into town, playing at the park what seems like every day, shopping for sales, New Years Eve. Phew! It was a big one!

Let's start with Chrismakuh. It was a great one this year. Once again, my parents were WAY too generous with Ethan! That child has everything. But, I will say that we made a HUGE box of old toys and took them up to Goodwill for others to enjoy. So, we did some cleaning out of sorts and it always feels good to give to others! I neglected to take any pictures this year. I always feel like there is so much to capture, I just get overwhelmed and figure "Eh..I'll just leave the camera in the case." I have all the memories in my head and those are the best anyways.

My Pops got married on Friday :) 

It was a great wedding and I may or may not have teared up some! Love you, Dad! Love my new step-mom too! I'm a lucky gal. I would post more pictures, but I am keeping them as a little surprise for them to see :)

Ofir's brother, his wife and their daughter moved back into town from Key West! I missed them and I am so happy they are back. Mostly because Ethan and Shiri get to play! They love each other and always play so well together. {THIS} is where I was trying to upload a video for you of them squealing and laughing together, but the silly uploader thingamajig is not working. I could seriously sit there for hours and watch them play and listen to them giggle. Ah, that's what life's all about folks...happiness and giggles!

I am taking pictures of my pumpkin-seed-of-a-niece on Tuesday! I can't wait to see how they come out. I'll be sure to show you all a few. :)

We played at the park 16 trillion times. He loves the big bench swing so very much:

We had a plan to head down to St. Augustine for New Year's at the British Pub; our tradition 5 years running. Since we cannot stay awake until midnight these days, we usually go to the pub, which rings in at midnight--London time. Their midnight is our 7:00pm. Score. However, this year for some reason, was super packed, even at 4:30 when we got there. There was nowhere to sit :(  At all. So, we left. We had plans to meet friends up there, but it just wasn't happenin'. Ethan was with my mom, so Ofir and I went on a date :)  Where did we go? Denny's, yo. It's so us! Haha! Such a classy date night, but I love me some Denny's. There is a much longer story to that. Something involving a major fail at a sushi place and getting annoyed and driving and not finding anything and getting more annoyed and our second choice being closed and then driving some more and then our third choice having no parking and then exclaiming how pissed I was and I'd just "starve" etc, etc etc. Yes, I am dramatic. And what? But, our date was wonderful, snuggling on the same side of the booth and toasting to a wonderful, sweet, New Year with our forks full of pecan pie. Champagne is for woosies--we toast with pecan pie! When our Denny's date commenced, we went to pick up our little man who had hung out with my mom for a few hours. We toasted with her and Mike and snuck in a few obligatory family pictures:

Horrid lighting and blurry, but the only one with our little manzers :)

We have had a wonderful year and have many blessings in our life. We only hope and pray for a wonderful year to come! Just remember "Happiness is Free!"  Don't focus on what you don't have. Focus on what you do have and all that you have accomplished.

Love to all!

-K