a promotion and a shiny new ring

jason and i had a wonderful valentine's dinner at the black hat cattle co. i had filet minon with mashed sweet potatoes and seasonal veggies. jason chose the new york strip with a caesar salad and potatoes. for dessert: chocolate coconut mousse with fresh berries. it was... amazing. after dinner we walked home, and there was a tiny wooden box with a beautiful engagement ring. a truly wonderful night. 

outside of valentine's, things have been really busy lately. mid january i had applied for an internal promotion, thinking i had no chance at actually earning this position. after two lengthy interviews, the job offer was made to me. getting my desk and work PC updated has been a process... i also have 16 people to manage, and i am exhausted but trying to remain positive. the new job comes with different hours and a substantial pay increase, which is nice, but it takes away a lot of time from jason. 

in three weeks we'll be traveling to maui for a work related trip. december 2008 i was given an award for my work with the company. there will be several work related events to attend, but we will have quite a bit of free time. my parents will fly in to meet us as well and enjoy the week. 

my stress levels have been really high lately, so i've taken tomorrow off and committed myself fully to update this blog more, take more pictures and relaaaax. 

be well...

2009: a fresh start

things have been busy. jason and i have become engaged. i recently won an award at work and will be traveling to hawaii for a week with jason and my parents to celebrate. more later...

an update in photo form:

is anyone out there?

why is it when you need to get a hold of someone you never are able to reach them? 

i'm frustrated today, even though it's friday, and i really don't enjoy this feeling at all. 

anyway, hoping for a weekend turnaround,

m

vacation, please.

things have been kind of hectic around the cabin lately. with winter coming it's been all about winterizing the jetta and the cabin, canning vegetables, and prep work. 

the kittens have become very comfortable here. dennis has mastered fetch (it's a maine coon thing), while sweet dee... hasn't. dennis walked across my lap this morning onto my macbook keyboard and now the 'i' and '7' keys are displaced. can i fix this on my own? 

anyway, aside from the house work, jason and i have been really busy with work. due to the economy's downturn, our positions have become more valuable to the company, so they are making us work a little harder, a little longer, etc. next week we will tailor our office hours to coincide, so we can now commute together and avoid rush hour completely. 

i'd like to update in photo form. however, i keep receiving an error code when trying to upload, so i will try again later. 

enjoy your week,

m

windmills, tulips and the dutch pancake

this week has been crazy busy. i'm EXHAUSTED and ready for the weekend, so i needed this very, very much. 

the dutch pancake: ridiculously easy, fast and goooood, oh so good. this is the kind of food you don't mess around with. no frills. 

this was a breakfast staple of my mother's, especially on dreary winter mornings in north dakota. 

serve it with a little maple syrup (please spend a little more and get something quality) and/or peanut butter (jason likes both) and dust with confectioners' sugar. 

fingers crossed you make it through your work week,

maggie

shirley's dutch pancake

1 C all purpose flour

1 C milk

4 eggs

1/3 C butter

pinch of salt

while preheating oven to 425 degrees, melt butter in a 9 x 13 pan. Combine wet ingredients with flour and pour over melted butter. Return to the oven for 20-25 minutes. Bake until pancake is golden brown and puffy. Serve immediately. 

meet dennis and sweet dee!

kitty pants!

it was decided last weekend that two kittens would be really nice to have around the cabin. the search began, cruising petfinder.com for a potential addition. the evening progressed and two kittens were selected from the pet project rescue www.pet-project.org, an application was submitted and approval was given. 

the kittens will join us september 27th. 

any name ideas? 

EXCITING, no? 

jason is away camping this weekend, so i have the cabin all to myself. time for projects to be pulled out, blogging to resume, cleaning to be done. 

happy weekend (!!!), 

maggie