This will be my last post on this blog, so make sure to update your links to my NEW blog….

www.wiivers.wordpress.com

See ya over there!!

I do apologize that it’s taken me this long to get this post up… work’s been kind of busy and I’ve been busy cleaning my house for Thanksgiving company… YIKES!!  Are you ready for my surprise????

Do you recognize us?  Isn’t it too cute!!  A year ago when I started my blog, I wasn’t really sure what to name it, so I just settled on Love Sweet Love… but I was never sold on it.  So, I’ve been thinking long and hard and I finally found a name that fits! 

 The Wiivers – Living the Wii Life

To find out the meaning behind the name and why I chose it, click the link above and check out my NEW BLOG!  I will no longer be updating this blog, so make sure and change your reader links to keep up on what I’m doing.

Thanks so much to Hannah from Craner Design Studio for creating my new blog!!

I know I’ve been soooo absent lately.  But I have a big surprise right around the corner.  Sit tight!!!!

Edited to Add:  No, I am not pregnant!  I went shopping with my parents today; and my mom made the conclusion that this post was about me being pregnant.  Not so!!  Sorry for the confusion/fals excitement mom.

So, I’m late with this post… I never used to be behind or late with anything… but here lately, it seems like that is all I am…

So, today is Veteran’s Day.  It’s a day for us to honor all of the servicemen (and women) who have served and defended our country.  They have basically volunteered to go into service and fight so that you and I may lead free, safe lives.  For this, I am eternally grateful.

I have the pleasure of being related to two amazing veterans, my dad and my grandpa.

My dad, enlisted in the Marine Corps right out of high school and served for quite a few years.  He served in Kuwait during the first Desert Storm.  Here’s his picture from boot camp.  (I love his big black glasses.  He never wore glasses like this in real life, that’s why I think they are so funny.  Apparently, they aren’t even real glasses.  The photographer just has them for people to wear in the pictures.  They don’t even have lenses in them.)

Here’s another picture of my dad (and me).  This was right after he finished a deployment of 6 months in Okinawa and was about to leave for Kuwait.

My grandfather, Pa as we call him, also served.  Pa also enlist pretty soon after he graduated high school also.  He enlisted in the Navy.  He served during the Korean war.  Here’s one of his Navy pictures…

If you’ve been reading my blog for awhile, you may even remember my post when my best friend had her baby?  Her husband had been deployed and could only watch the birth of his first child, a baby girl, via webcam.  Ty just came home a few weeks ago, safe and sound.

I also have 4 great-uncles who served in varies wars throughout the years and made uncountable sacrifices during their military careers and their lives.

One thing that I do urge all of you to do, regardless of your feelings about if we should be at war with Iraq or not, just thank a Veteran or a Soldier whenever you see them. 

To all the Veterans and Soldiers, I thank you, from the very bottom of my heart, thank you.

So, the OSU Cowboys have been doing really really well this season.  Normally, we aren’t the best football team, and we still aren’t, but we are staying near the top of the Top 25 poll instead of near the bottom.  John’s dad and step-mom invited us over to watch the Cowboys play Texas Tech this weekend.  I decided to bring what other than…. CUPCAKES!

So being married to a football coach has it’s disadvantages… my footballs were originally just going to be brown football shaped pieces of chocolate…. but John had other plans…. that’s why the footballs are as accurate as possible in the above picture… white stripes on the ends and the black lacings.  All of the details are made with a chocolate transfer and the goal posts were an afterthought, so they are free-handed.

And for everyone who has sent me emails asking about my new job… today was my first day and it went good so far!  We got my computer and email set up and ordered business cards and office keys… I guess that means I’m official!  Today was fun, I didn’t really do too much though, I’m sure the days will get busier and busier as I start learning the company and my job duties.

Not to you guys, silly.  Today is my last day at my job.  I’m moving on to a new job on Monday.  I’ve been with OSU for the past 6 years, 4 different positions.  It’s definetly a sad day.  To commemorate my time at OSU, I brought orange and black cake balls for all my coworkers.

Brenda (she’s my coworker who I work closest with) is a tad bit camera happy at all times, so here’s a few pictures she took.

Me packing up all my crap, um, lovely belongings .

My empty area… waiting for the “new me”…. as if I can be replaced.   I think this is the absolute cleanest it has ever ever been.

So, I’m really excited about my new job, but nervous also.  I really do work with a great group of people and I’m just worried about if my new coworkers won’t like me or I won’t like them.  I know I’m doing the right thing,  but it’s just all a little nerve racking.

It’s CEiMB – Craving Ellie in My Belly time!!

I looked and looked, all over my town, and couldn’t find whole turkey breasts. All I could find were tiny turkey breast medallions, they were like 2 inches in diameter so I knew they wouldn’t work, so I used chicken breasts instead. Last night was certainly very very interesting while cooking the roulade. But I’ll get to that in a little bit.

Holly from Phe/MOM/enon picked this excellent recipe!

TurkeyChicken Roulade with Apple-Cider Gravy
1 (2 1/2-pound) skinless turkey Chicken breast, butterflied
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1/2 large onion, diced (about 1 1/2 cups), plus 1 cup sliced onion (I read through the list of ingredients too fast, and only bought 1 onion)
2 large garlic cloves, minced
5 slices day-old whole-wheat bread, crusts removed, cubed (about 2 1/2 cups) (I just used regular bread)
1/3 cup lightly toasted chopped pecans
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons fresh crumbled sage or 3 teaspoons dried, divided (turns out I have every spice in the world EXCEPT sage, so I just used some Garlic and Wine seasoning)
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup apple cider
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar (I only used about 2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 tablespoon cold water

Special equipment: kitchen twine (I couldn’t find those in my town, so I just used skewers.)

Place the turkey breast between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and pound lightly with a meat mallet to an even thickness of about 3/4-inch. Set aside while stuffing is prepared.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Toast the pecans in a small skillet over medium heat, about 2-3 minutes, until they become fragrant.

Place the cranberries in a small saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil, cook for 1 minute, then remove from heat, drain and reserve. .

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onions and cook, stirring, until onions are golden but not charred, about 12 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes.Add bread, cranberries, pecans, 2 tablespoons fresh or 2 teaspoons dried sage and 1/2 to 3/4-cup chicken stock, depending upon consistency of stuffing; (you want the mixture to be moistened, but not too wet, since the turkey will release moisture when cooked). Cook over low heat for about 2 to 3 minutes, remove from heat.  I had extra stuffing, so I put in a pan and cooked it for about 15-20 minutes.

Salt and pepper the inside and outside of the turkey breast. Spread the stuffing on the turkey, leaving about 1 1/2 to 2-inches uncovered on all sides. Roll up and secure tightly with kitchen twine skewers, trying to keep all stuffing intact.

Okay, so here’s where hubby started to get annoyed with me.  I kind of forgot the next step (searing the chicken in the pan) and just put the chicken in the roasting pan and into the oven.  About 5 minutes later I realized, OOPS! we have to get the chicken out and sear it, lol!

Heat 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a large Dutch oven or medium-sized roasting pan until hot. Sear stuffed turkey breast on all sides until lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes per side.

Add sliced onion and 1 1/2 cups chicken stock, cover tightly and roast in the oven until turkey reaches 160 degrees F when an instant-read thermometer is inserted into inner layer of meat, about 60 to 65 minutes.

Right before it was time to remove the chicken from the oven and start the gravy, our electricity went out!!  Did I mention that there were insane storms last night and we were under a tornado watch?  Yes, that’s why my pictures are awful!  (At least that’s the excuse I’m going with. )

Remove the turkey breast from oven and transfer to a cutting board to rest.

Make the gravy:
Add apple cider, 1/2 cup chicken stock, vinegar and remaining sage to the onions, chicken stock and juices in the roasting pan, bring to a boil and cook for approximately 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced by 1/3. Slowly add the cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly, and cook for 3 minutes more. The gravy should not be thick, just slightly thicker than a jus. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Makes 1 1/2 cups gravy.

Finally! The electricity is back on!  Yayyyy!!!!!

Remove twine from turkey breast and slice into 1 1/2-inch thick pieces. Serve with gravy.

Okay, so here’s the review.  John and I liked the chicken and stuffing (smaller cranberry pieces next time though) but we didn’t like the apple cider gravy at all.  I guess we aren’t “fruity gravy” kind of people.  I will definetly make it again with regular gravy though.

Don’t forget to check out everyone else’s dishes!

I’m coming, I’m coming! I made this last night, but I didn’t have time to blog it before I left this morning… I’ll try to do it at lunch or it might be tonight… don’t shoot me!

I’m working on redoing my blog, so it may be changing on your computer.  I’m sure there’s a way to do this without “publishing” it, but I don’t know how… sooooo just bear with me.  Thanks!!

Okay, I know, I know, this post is incredibly late… but life keeps getting in the way.  So pretend like today is last Saturday or Friday, then it won’t seem so late.

So, I talked most of my co-workers into dressing up for Halloween.  It seems like our office needs to have a little fun, and I thought a Halloween party would be just the trick.

So from left to right: Me: An 80’s girl, the photographer cute off my amazing high heels I wore with my neon leg warmers, Jennifer: A tree, she even had a squirrel running up her leg!, Steve: a farmer, Brenda: Mrs. Clause, and Kyla: an old hippie.

Here’s an upclose of my “fabulous” makeup.  I don’t remember the 80s very much (since I was born in ‘84, I was pretty young…), so did I get the trends right?  Side ponytail with scrunchie, mismatch earrings, blue eyeshadow (lots of it), pale lipstick and bright blush?

On thing we’re good at in our office, is  bringing food for parties!  I think we had enough food to feed 20 people, at least!

I decided to add some more fun and give spooky names to everything.  Here are my “Goblin Eyeballs” aka, dyed deviled eggs.

I also brought “Bones and Blood from the Crypt”.  They were Pilsbury breadsticks cute to make look like bones and marinera sauce.

To close, here is two co-workers interpretation of American Gothic.  Thanks Julie for photoshopping the background!!