First she had to get into UNC's School of Nursing. 

It was not an easy feat.

(UNC's nursing school is small and is consistently ranked in the top ten in the US.)

She was elated when she was accepted. 

We were proud.

In December (13), we celebrated her graduation!

Since then she has been at home doing this…..

studying…

AND 

messing up the office

AND

collecting cups and plates upstairs

AND

living in sweats

AND 

shuffling around the house in slippers. 

But, all of the hard work paid off.  

Monday morning she went to take the state boards 

and today she found out that she passed!  

She is officially an RN!

We are so proud of her! 

Let job offers begin!

DINNER TONIGHT

Oh my goodness!

 I started this post and planned it to be very simple and more about the pictures. The first draft ended up being about nutrition and Italian family dinners and me peeping into windows during my trip to Italy.  

Scratch that.

Tonight I had a produce drawer full of things I needed to use, thawed chicken breast and thirty minutes. 

So here is what we ended up with for dinner:

I cut up some tomatoes and tossed them in olive oil. 

I put them onto a baking sheet and salt and peppered them. 

I added fresh basil leaves, some garlic powder and roasted them in the oven. 

Ten minutes before taking them out I crumbled blue cheese on top.  

While the tomatoes were roasting, I browned cut chicken breast, onions and garlic.

After the chicken was almost cooked through I added this ready made sauce and two large cans of sliced mushrooms.  

I reduced the heat and covered.

While the chicken was doing it's thing, I sautéed two big bags of spinach and a half bag of kale.  

I added salt, pepper and squeezed the juice of one lemon while cooking. 

(Sometimes I drizzle balsamic vinegar)

I used my cast iron frying pan. 

If you do not have at least one cast iron skillet, go get you one.  

They are wonderful to cook in and actually add minerals to your food. 

(I have had low iron and using cast iron has helped. ) 

I always struggle to get all of my  greens into the skillet at first, but in the end they reduce so far down

I end up wishing I had another bag.  

 I forgot to take a picture of everything together on a plate, but dinner was delicious

and 

quick and easy!  

MARSHMALLOW MAN

It was over seventy degrees today and it was wonderful! 

I sat out side on the front porch steps and read for a few minutes 

while waiting for Barrett to get home from soccer practice. 

Sooo nice!

It is hard to believe that last week this is what we were dealing with in Raleigh…..

This is the actual picture except, of course, the Marshmallow Man was photoshopped in.

I thought it was so funny when I saw it on Instagram. 

 Raleigh made the national news…..

gridlock, cars on fire or abandoned, hours to get home, people having to sleep in the malls…..

It was a mess!  

 (this is close to where we live and the road I would have been stuck on if I was trying to get home)

While all of that was going on,

Barrett, Brittany and I were all hunkered down at home. 

(Art was still playing/working in Hawaii.)

Lola and Charlie were beyond excited about the snow.

But after a day of heavy snow, we got ice on top of it.  

The dogs had a totally different opinion on the conditions after it sleeted all night. 

They were so afraid of moving. 

They looked like little ice skaters out there. 

Potty breaks took forever

and 

a lot of coaxing!

It was beautiful though!

Skeeter our pool greeter is so ready for summer!

so is this guy!

Art made it home from Hawaii on Friday evening….after all of the excitement was over and the roads were clear, of course! 

He took Barrett and I out to eat for Valentine's Day even after a long day of traveling.

Brooke and BFE (boyfriend E) were supposed to fly from DC on Friday to spend the weekend here in Raleigh, but the storm left the flights all cancelled or overbooked and so they decided to drive. 

We had a great weekend all together. 

The "kids" went to the UNC Chapel Hill basketball game.

BFE graduated from UNC so he was excited to go.  

We went out to eat Saturday to Brooke's favorite restaurant

and then came home and watched a movie. 

On Sunday, 

I mad my "famous" braised short ribs, mashed potatoes and a salad. 

Barrett made a wonderful dessert from one of the Barefoot Contessa's cookbooks….frozen fresh berries covered with melted white chocolate.

 We sat around the table and ate too much again.

Brooke and BFE left around 6PM to head back to DC

and

our weekend was over.

ALOHA

This is the view my husband is enjoying this week:

This is what those of us he left at home are expecting tomorrow:

Been there already done that once before.

We lost power during an ice storm years ago for five days.
Here at our house that means we not only have no electricity, but we also have no water
AND
WE CANNOT FLUSH THE TOILETS!

My wonderful husband missed that entire episode.
He was strolling around the San Antonio Riverwalk.
He pulled in the driveway thirty minutes after the power came back on.
AND…
he came home empty handed…. no roses or diamonds or hot takeout food or
nothing!

Tonight we are going to bed with our bathtubs full of water.
We will at least be able to use that water to flush the toilets if we do loose power.
We did a battery and flashlight check this afternoon
and
bought the last gallon of fat free organic milk at the grocery store.

So bring on the snow and ice tomorrow……
 and dear husband, you bring on the presents!

IT SNOWED!

Our little bit of snow is finally melting here in Raleigh.

It was so exciting to finally be included in the winter weather.  

It was just enough, four to five inches and a couple of snow days.

Lola and Charlie could not get enough of it. 

They LOVED it.  

Yesterday, after almost waiting too late, I took the camera out to take some pictures.  

Charlie would not stop digging and so now he has a dirty face.  

I think there are some moles moving around out there. 

He kept staring at the ground and turning his head to the side as if he heard something. 

Lola (AKA…Speed Racer, The Energizer Bunny, Road Runner) could not stand still. 

She was running laps around the yard. 

She eventually settled down…

"Our" deer have been spending a lot of time in the yard.  

They are not bothered by the dogs at all, unfortunately. 

The squirels packed their house with leaves. 

Every now and then they would poke their heads out to see 

if I was filling up the bird feeder 

what was going on. 

I think I could handle one more bout of winter weather - one that would keep the hubs home. 

But that would have to be a lot of snow and ice because he doesn't stay home unless he absolutely has too. He does sleep in a little and will sit and drink coffee with me while we watch the news and traffic reports.  It would be nice to have him iced in just one day. 

There is a long "honey do list" waiting for him!