Happy Birthday Kamie!

My beautiful, amazing, talented, insane, smokin hot, super fun, and hilarious little sister just celebrated her 23rd birthday! She is seriously my best friend ever and has been my whole entire life!

She is the sweetest and most caring person ever and gets honestly affected by the sufferings or joy of complete strangers! Everything is personal to her, which means that she would never, ever hurt anyone on purpose! She cares more about people than any other soul I have ever met!

She is also the most hilarious person I have ever met! She can have me rolling on the floor peeing my pants at the snap of a finger and almost all of my very best memories have to deal with Kamie! She has a humor that is all her own and is so true and genuine that it can never be repeated!

She is also seriously talented at everything she does - super woman or something like that! She is an amazing dancer, choreographer, coach, teacher, and public speaker! She rocks my socks off!

Something not a lot of people know . . . Kamie is also an AMAZING writer! It just all comes naturally to her! She has written some amazing poems and the funniest yet most profound short stories I have ever read! She also has a beautiful singing voice (which she never uses!)

She can down food like no one I have ever seen and yet still run circles around Jer and me at the track! She is buff and hot yet still a total chocoholic!

She is completely original and unique - and could never, ever be duplicated or replaced. She is one of a kind in every sense of the phrase and such an amazing creative person! I have never met anyone else who can clean a whole house with vinegar or fix a stain on a blue shirt with white out!


Most importantly, though, she is a loyal and true friend. There is no one in the world who would listen to my problems with more patience and understanding and absolutely no one else I would rather waste away the day with doing absolutely nothing. Kamie makes that time fly by and I feel like I can never, ever get enough of her! I never get sick or tired of her and just always wish that she could be with me 24/7! She knows me inside out and loves me anyway - which is saying a lot! There is no one who knows more just what I need and when I need it then she does and for sure no one else I can laugh with as much!









So here's to you, baby sis! Thanks for being my absolute best friend no matter what and being my true soul sister! I can't wait to see what the next 23 years have for us! And, as long as your there by my side, I am sure they will be fantastic!

Oh, and I miss you!

Jealous? You should be!

Quick post to let everyone know that we are leaving for New Zealand tomorrow! Jer is doing 1 day of work, then we are having 9 glorious vacation days! Wooohooooo! It will be quite the adventure considering we don't really know what we are doing there, but it will be fun! I can't wait to share lots and lots of pictures!

Jealous? :)

Recipe Winners!!!!!!!

I know, I have been terrible at updating my blog! What can I say? I could lie and make up an excuse, but there really isn't one! Sorry, I will probably neglect you again in the future, but for right now, you have my full, undivided attention (well, maybe not undivided. I am listening to music, after all . . .)

So, in honor of Cinco de Mayo (late, I know, but just allow me my delusion) I am extremely pleased to announce

2009 Kasie and Jer Recipe Winners!

Thanks a ton to all of the people who entered my little contest - it was so much fun to eat all of your yummy recipes! I had mexican food for like a month straight! (Pure heaven). It was hard to choose, but here (in no particular order) are the winners!

Ashley Smith's Green Chicken Enchiladas!
I actually am not a huge enchilada fan . . . they always sound good, but then I take a couple bites and feel sick. THESE delicious beauties, on the other hand, I could NEVER get sick of! Yum Yum good! They are a little more work then the enchiladas I am use to, but SOOOOOO worth the effort! And the leftovers are yummy, too! Here is the recipe!

Ingredients:

4-8 Chicken breasts boiled and shredded
1 cup grated cheese
3/4 cup chopped onion
tortillas
1/2 cup butter
1-2 cups chicken broth
1 small can chopped green chilis (I couldn't get this, so I just chopped up a mix of green chilis and green bell peppers)
1/3 cup flour
1 cup sour cream (Ashley doesn't use this, but I did!)

Melt butter add flour and broth-stir- add sour cream and chilis -stir. heat tortillas in microwave and coat both sides with a little pam to prevent sticking. put 2 Tablespoons of sauce in each tortilla along with some onions, chicken and cheese. roll up and place in baking dish. When dish is full pour leftover sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle cheese on top. bake 350 for 30 minutes.

I like them best served with a pinto bean/salsa mix and tortilla chips on the side!

Jeff Payne's Homemade Salsa!
I am a salsa junky and this one really hits the spot! So easy and sooooo yummy! Best part, you can really play with it to make it however you want! Be warned - it makes a lot of salsa! Invite friends over before you make it!

Ingredients:

1 can of diced tomatoes - fire roasted (I just used plain diced tomatoes)
1 small to medium onion minced (I used yellow but you can use purple, too)
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
2 bell peppers (I picked a green and a yellow one because they made the salsa pretty!)
1 to 2 small jalapenos seeded and minced
1 Tbsp vinegar
1 Tbsp lime juice (I love lime, so I squeezed a whole lime in and added some of the zest, too!)
Cilantro 1/8 cup (I didn't have this so I used watercress instead!)

This all should go into a small sauce pan and be brought to a simmer just long enough to let the flavors mix but not to 'cook' then put the pan in a larger pan with water and ice in it to cool, stirring until the mix is chilled. This will stop the 'cooking' process, you can serve now or put in a container in the fridge for later.

Jeff Payne's Healthy Pumpkin Cookies!
These are to die for good - sooooo yummy. I love pumpkin cookies, but don't really like how squishy they are. This recipe is a good mix - it almost tastes like a mix between a pumpkin cookie and a no bake cookie! If you can get about 35 cookies out of the batch, then it works out to each cookie being only about 75 calories! Yum!

Ingredients:

1 cup canned pumpkin (I didn't have this, so I boiled some pumpkin then mashed it!)
1 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup applesauce
3 cups oatmeal
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
Dark chocolate chips (this wasn't in the receipe originally, but I just couldn't resist adding it! I used a small bag of extra dark chips - they are healthier and taste so yummy in the recipe!)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix together the pumpkin, sugar and applesauce.
In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, then add to the pumpkin, mixing well.
Drop by spoonfuls onto a baking sheet. Bake for 13-15 minutes or until done.

Congrats winners!

I hope you all enjoy these yummy recipes - they really were all so good, it was hard to choose! Ashley, I need your address (e-mail me?) so that I can send you your prize from Australia!

I love you all and will post pictures soon! Happy cooking!