26.

 

This week I celebrated my 26th birthday. I use the word celebrated now but in the months leading up to my birthday I was not sure I would be celebrating it. Normally I am a birthday maniac. I count the days down for months in advance and remind Daniel daily in the lead up. Lets not forget the many emails I send people with ideas for gifts and so on. Like I said, birthday maniac.

This year something was different. My birthday scared me. I would break down in tears every time I thought about it. The strangest part was that I had no idea why I was feeling like this.

Something did change though in the week leading up to the big day. I don't know if it was seeing Daniel excited about it or if I just realised getting older isn't such a bad thing. I might not have done anything special this year but I have so much to be thankful for. I had everything I needed already and I think turning 26 for me was about appreciating what I already have.

It ended up being one of my favourite birthdays. I am so excited for the next year to come and I just know that things will be so different this time in one year. That excites me beyond words.

I also got some of the most fabulous presents from the most fabulous people. Thank you!

Happy Birthday to me and Happy Friday to you.

60 Years Of Love.

We are off to celebrate these two (Daniel's Grandparents) this weekend for their 60 year wedding anniversary. This photo was taken on their honeymoon and I just LOVE it.

So we get to spend the weekend by the seaside with Daniel's family and I am really looking forward to it. We are meant to get a lot of sunshine and I am looking forward to spending time with my hubby.

I have to be honest I am slightly disappointed as I ordered some new clothes online for the weekend and I just found out they won't be here in time. So I have had a secret silly cry. Vain moment over.

Happy Friday everyone. I hope your weekend is Sunny!

Life Lately, according to my Iphone.

Life has been so busy this last few weeks. I am sure you can tell by my lack of attendance here. Things will get better real soon, I promise. I have been so busy I haven't even snapped photos but here are a few that I have managed to scrape in.

A bit of food mixed with life.

As you know I have been one sick lady. I think I am through the worst of it but I tell you come 9pm at night I am not a good person to be around. It comes for me and it thrashes me around until I can finally beat it and fall asleep. The positive of this illness having a time frame is that I can work around it. So last night I made a really yummy Mushroom and Spinach Quiche. I got the recipe (and photo) from the one and only pinterest. I only share the good recipes with you so here it is...

Crust
250ml flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sugar
50g cold butter (cut into small cubes)
1tsp salt
1/3 tsp pepper
Pinch of Nutmeg
200ml cream cheese
1-2 tbs milk

In a medium bowl combine the flour, baking soda, salt, sugar and pepper. Rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles the breadcrumbs (better to pulse in a food processor). Add the cream cheese and milk to bring mixture together.

Knead lightly to form dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough into an 11-inch circle. Fit into a 9-inch round tart pan (or spring form pan), pressing dough into corners. Transfer to freezer to chill for 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).

Filling
350 g chopped mushrooms (I used Shitake and Button)
3 tbsp butter
1 small onion (chopped)
300g fresh spinach (chopped)
150 ml cheese (shredded)
2 eggs
150 ml milk
Salt, ground black pepper to taste

In a medium fry pan melt butter. Stirring occasionally, sauté onion until translucent, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in mushrooms and continue to cook stirring frequently, until liquid evaporates and mushrooms are golden brown, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add spinach, season with salt, nutmeg and pepper and cook, stirring a couple of times, for another 2 minutes. Take off from the heat and set aside.

Take off the quiche crust from the freezer. In a small bowl whisk together milk and eggs. Sprinkle half of grated cheese on the bottom of the crust. Spread filling mixture over the cheese and then top with remaining cheese. Pour the egg mixture over the filling. Bake in oven for 35-40 minutes or until set. Cool for about 10 minutes before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.

This Happened.

I have so much to tell you. But I can't. Because right now I can barely move or do any of the minimum essentials to get me through one day. I am on struggle street friends, and there is a long road ahead.

For now I am focussing my energy on eating an ice pole to give my body some type of will to live. Once I am at the end of this road I will be back.

Wish me luck.

A Happy Moment.

On Friday Daniel surprised me with something I have been wanting for a very long time - a Costco membership. I have been begging him to take me since the first store opened in Australia (luckily only 20 minutes from us) and that was months ago.

So when I got the surprise envelope I was one happy lady. We made the trip there on Saturday and it was everything I imagined. We spent far too much money. I knew this when the checkout guy said to us when taking payment "this is your first time here, isn't it?". Oooopps.

I now have enough toilet paper to last us months. This makes me very happy. What doesn't is the fact that I actually can't even remember half the things we purchased now. However I am sure they were all very useful things.

The only negative was being rammed by a lady on a mission with a trolly and accidentally loosing my cool for a few moments. It did feel good though especially when I had a Rocky moment as my fellow shoppers cheered me on. I will keep those moments to a minimum though.

I just want to let you know that the warm weather is slowly starting to sneak in. Yay. The mornings are getting brighter and the nights seem to be lasting slightly longer. I swear it is summer letting us know it is coming so I can start the trek out of my hole.

Cheers to Costco.

Food Suggestion...

Have you ever tried a Deep Fried Onion? No, well neither had I. In fact, just for the record, I generally dislike onions. There are certain exceptions to this dislike.

Daniel and I had a dinner so we decided to go early and have a drink and a snack. Which turned out to be the Deep Fried Onion. Oh my goodness it was amazing. Seriously. Please go find one in your area and eat it STAT. We found ours at Outback Steakhouse. The onion and drinks were delicious but I can't vouch for the meals.

I also have to say I had lots of fun going earlier with Daniel and just winding down together. It was almost like a spontaneous date and those I like.

I didn't get a great shot of the onion but trust me the taste is what counts. Oh and a shout out to my drink that was yummo.