Stewing it Up!!!

Hi All,

We've had a pretty low-key weekend because Rosie has been under the weather. On Saturday morning we headed to our local grocery store, Stop & Shop, to do our weekly shopping and buy the ingredients for the "Nor'easter Beef Stew" recipe (posted last year). My friend John was supposed to come over for dinner so we could start planning a Christopher Reeve fundraiser. Anyway, Rosie had an accident in the grocery store and we were beyond mortified. This has only happened one other time @ Kmart!!! Another horrifying experience!

When we got home, she had the runs.Needless to say, we knew she had something wrong. We decided to cancel our plans that evening with her being sick. We had no idea if we would be cleaning up the condo all day. Caitlin will get together on Sunday w/ John and work on the fund raiser plans. Saturday night we stayed in and played Scrabble. Caitlin beat Kyle in a close game. Cait is addicted to playing Scrabble on Facebook.

Sunday morning we began cooking the beef stew since we had bought everything for it. We feed Rosie a rice and 1/2 her dry food. She is pretty starved, but seems better than yesterday. Kyle has to work this evening so he is staying home w/ the dog while Cait meets up with John at a coffee shop to start planning the fundraiser. This post has a few shots of Cait cooking. It was a group effort but I refused to let Cait take my picture since I had not yet showered. Cait had not showered either but she still let me post the pics. Have a great week.

P.S. Did you all hear about Hurricane Kyle?

P.S.s. Last night we made an apple blueberry crisp and it was FAB! Not diet friendly, especially with the gob of vanilla ice cream on top :)

See the big pot behind Cait? It is filled to the rim with beef stew. Cait wanted to double the recipe. Not sure that was a good idea as we have no room for freezing it in the freezer!

Hello From Vermont

Hi All,

Just a quick hello from Burlington. What a beautiful place! I miss Kyle a lot and wish he was here as I know he'd love it! My co-workers and I are having a good time. We love the Inn we are staying at and the accessible room is fab with a nice King size bed. Love it! So far we've eaten at 2 of the culinary restaurants. Yummo!! The diet is NOT going well here!

I need to take a few more pics of the Inn itself b/c it is really stunning! I'm a little bummed that the foliage isn't more pronounced. My guess is that it will hit peak in a few weeks.

We drove my Lake Champlain and it is so gorgeous. The bummer about being here on a work trip is that you don't get to do all the fun things that you want to because you have to work. I definitely want to come back!

Ok, I'm super tired so I will do a trip recap when I get home but before I close I want to post some very cute pics from Vermont so far.

Ok, the pic of Rose on the bed came out sort of dark but it still captures her cuteness!

Heading to Burlington,Vermont

Hi All,



Just wanted to do a quick post before heading to VT tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn. I'll be there for four days and three night. We are staying at the Vermont Culinary Institute. http://vtculinaryresort.com/photo_gallery/photo_gallery.cfm I'm pretty excited about staying at such a great place. As most of you know, I am a total foodie so it should be good grub. However, I'm still on WW so it will be challenging to stay within my point range. I gained 1.3 pounds this past week so I was super disappointed but the week before I lost 3.3. I just hope I don't gain while away. So far I've lost close to 11 pounds. So, I'm 1/3 of the way there. It is so much harder than I thought it would be. I find it is so much harder to eat well while traveling. I know it all comes down to personal choice and making good decisions but when you LOVE to eat like me it is easier said than done.



Since Kyle will only eat processed food if I leave him to his own vices, I figured I'd be a good wife and cook him something yummy! He requested Homemade Mac & Cheese (my mom's recipe) and of course I could not make it without trying multiple mouthfuls of it. It is soooooooo good but not so good for my diet!!! Of course I had to take a shot of Kyle's dinner because posts without pics are boring :)


The pic is kind of at a weird angle because the dish was on my lap. I was trying to capture how gooey and cheesy it looked. I made it with medium shells and 3 types of cheese.



Ok, the next shot is a recent pic of Rosie next to my gorgeous mums. I had to take another pic of the mums to demonstrate how pretty they are in full bloom. I don't think the pic does it justice but I tried! They are just so pretty.



Ok, I hope everyone has a great week. Big hugs to all!

Beginning to see signs of Autumn

Hello Everyone,

The weather is getting chilly here. This past weekend we bought a beautiful basket of mums for the front of our condo. We always plant flowers in the spring but Kyle never wants to buy fall flowers because he says they don't last long enough. He is the gardening expert b/c he worked at a flower shop to get thru college. Anyway, I finally decided I really wanted some fall flowers so we bought the above beautiful basket @ Home Depot. I really wanted the reddish or pink mums but Kyle loves the orange color b/c it reminds him of fall.

After going to Home Depot we headed to the dog park with Rosie. We had not been in probably a year or more. Rosie absolutely loves going because she can meet new dogs and sniff up a storm. Below is a shot of Rosegirl and Kyle at the park.

Overall last weekend was pretty quiet but very productive! This weekend we don't have much planned. I do need to go to the post office to mail some of our adoption profiles to an adoption agency in Arizona. I HATE going to the post office and put it off at all costs. I even order my stamps online!! Anyway, other than that we don 't have anything big planned for this upcoming weekend.

Before I close, I just want to send positive thoughts and prayers out to all the families that lost someone on 9/11. I can't believe it has already been 7 years. Boy does time go fast. It is still so sad!!! God Bless all those that were touched by such a horrific tragedy.

The Power of Words

I may have posted this before but I thought it was worth posting again. We are still waiting for our little miracle!

Legacy of an Adopted Child

Once there were 2 women who never knew each other.
One you do not remember, the other you call Mother
Two different lives shaped to make you one
One became your guiding star. The other became your sun.
The first one gave you life, and the second taught you to live it.
The first gave you a need for love, the second was there to give it.
One gave you a nationality, the other gave you a name.
One gave you a talent, the other gave you aim.
One gave you emotions, the other calmed your fears.
One saw your first sweet smile, the other dried your tears.
One sought for you a home that she could not provide.
The other prayed for a child and her hope was not denied.
And now you ask me through your tears The age-old question, unanswered through the years.Heredity or environment. Which are you a product of?
Neither, my darling. Neither. Just two different kinds of love.
Author Unknown

How Cute Is This?

How many doggies Can you spot in this picture???