Cheeseburger Pasta + Easter Fun

This weekend started early for me with another business trip for one of our Leadership Programs.  This time we were in Cleveland.  Much colder than Houston, but things went well again.  The participants volunteered at the Food Bank and had a lot of fun listening to our speakers and running through the reaction course the Guard set up for them.  It was a fantastic way to spend Good Friday!

NFL Ambassadors speaking to participants and Leadership Reaction Course with Guard

Volunteering at the Cleveland Food Bank

Couldn't resist a yummy Date Nut Cupcake from Dick's Bakery...

I was back in NYC late Friday night and after a few hours of much needed sleep, I met up with family friends for brunch at Alice's Tea Cup on the upper east side.  YUM!!

Pumpkin and Almond Joy scones...DELICIOUS!

Saturday afternoon, I went for my first run of Spring...and loved every moment of being outside in the gorgeous weather!!  Even inspired me to sign up for my first race of the year in late April.  Yay!

View of New Jersey during my West Side Highway run....

Saturday night, Christopher and I were FINALLY reunited after 22 extremely long days of not being able to see one another.  Long distance is a drag :(  But it was great to be together for a couple of days this weekend!!  I made something new for dinner - Cheeseburger Pasta.  It was actually quite tasty!  And then we caught up on tv shows we watch together...mostly Modern Family.

Cheeseburger Pasta - 1 can Cheddar Cheese Soup, 1 can Tomato Soup, 2 cups of medium shells, 1.5 cups of water, and 1 lb hamburger meat; Cook meat, drain fat, stir soups, shells, and water into skillet, cook until shells are tender

On Sunday, we were up bright and early for church with Chris' mom out in Long Island.  The pastor there is very good.  He brought a great message.  After church, we spent some time with Chris' family.

 

How did you spend Easter weekend? 

Andrea :)

Happy Easter!!

H A P P Y     E A S T E R !!!

 

Thankful that my Lord arose from the grave on that very first Easter morning!  Hope you all find a way to praise Him for all that He has done for you today...and every day!

Andrea :)

Help for Orphans!

When I saw a clothing/sheets drive for orphanages in Haiti in the church bulletin, I knew immediately this would be perfect for my monthly charity project.  The orphanages in Haiti were in need of mostly children's undergarments and sheets.  I threw in a cute fishy onesie as well though.

Ironically, about a week after I collected and donated these goodies for the drive at my church, a family friend emailed me regarding donations for a mission trip she and her daughter.  They would be traveling to El Salvador on a mission trip with Starfish Orphan Ministries at the end of the month.  (They actually leave for the trip today so feel free to follow along with their adventures here.)  I knew immediately that I wanted to donate to their cause as well.  They were looked for similar items, but I just donated some money this time.

I also thought it was ironic that I ended up going to see Annie on broadway earlier this month.  Totally resonated with me in a whole new way since I had been focusing on these two projects during the month as well.  Perspective changes everything, I suppose.

How are you helping make the world a little brighter place for those less fortunate?

Andrea :)

An Italian Weekend - Milan and Verona

Once upon a time, I studied abroad.  It was a fabulous adventure.  One that I will recap further at various points down the road, but today I want to focus on my weekend of Italian fun during that summer spent in mostly London.

A couple of my classmates and I decided we'd go to Italy for a weekend...Milan and Verona to be exact.  We flew into Milan from London.  I really wanted to try to go to Florence or Pisa or Rome, but those were all too far from Milan for a day trip so we settled on Verona.

None of us knew Italian making for a even more interesting adventure.  Melissa and I rode the tram for free because we never could figure out how to buy tickets.  We were completely astonished by the bathrooms at the restaurant.  Everything was just a little more confusing and complex.

But we did have fun touring the Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral).  Unfortunately, much of the exterior was covered in scaffolding while we were in town, but it was so intricate and simply amazing - inside and out.

Gorgeous stained glass window...

One other fabulous place we visited in Milan was the Sforza Castle which is now a museum.  It actually houses the Rondanini Pieta - Michelangelo's last sculpture.  (He did work on the Duomo as well.)  The museum was quite interesting with lots of ancient art and sculptures.

Sforza Castle and Michaelangelo's last sculpture

After we saw the highlights of Milan, we took a quick day trip over to Verona. The city seemed very quaint.  I really liked it a lot.  We wandered around just checking things out for awhile.  Then we tried to find the city centre to grab some lunch.  We didn't have much luck and just kept wandering and wandering...until we came upon a seemingly helpful man.  He knew just enough English for us to believe he would help direct us to the local hot spot in town.  In fact, he was so helpful that he offered to drive us there...and we obliged.  Thinking back on it now (especially after having seen Taken...and Taken 2), I can't believe we just got in his van and went along for the ride.  In the end, his very high pitched and wild opera singing did make him seem a tad bit less harmful, but still...NOT something I would do again should I ever find myself back in Verona.

Scenery of Verona during our "wanderings"...

When we finally made it to the Arena di Verona (which somewhat resembled the Colosseum), we found some yummy pizza and gelati!!  We relaxed and people watched in the square for a bit before we made our way back to the train station for Milan.

Our weekend in Italy was fun, but it definitely left me wanting to explore much, much more of Italy.  A few years down the road, I would find myself in Rome (which I'll recap soon!) falling even more in love with this fabulous country.  Italy is truly the ideal vacation spot if you want to relax.

Have you been to Italy?  Which city is your favorite?

Linking up with Helene for Travel Tuesdays!

Andrea :)

Fun in Houston

 

This weekend, I was on a business trip to Houston, Texas for our first leadership program of the year.

I was on a way too early in the morning flight which required me to get up before 5am.  No bueno!  Needless to say, I slept the entire 3.5 hours to Houston.  We hit the ground running as soon as we landed with meetings at the food bank, with the Guard, and at the Texans facility.  We did manage to sneak a lunch at Jack-in-the-Box in there somehow though.

After our meetings ended, we went on a mission to find a cupcake shop.  We stopped in Tiff's Treats to ask if they knew the best spot. Cookies looked yummy!

Their suggestion was right on the money - Crave Cupcakes.  These might possibly have been the best cupcakes I have EVER tasted.  And I have tasted a lot of cupcakes!  The cake was extremely moist and so yummy that the frosting wasn't even a major factor in taste.  The frosting was also minimal which was nice.  I got a hummingbird and a strawberry.  The hummingbird cake was filled with tiny chunks of pineapple, pecans, and banana with a sweet cream cheese icing.  The strawberry cake had little pieces of strawberry baked into it with strawberry frosting.  Both were absolutely delicious down to the last bite!

Friday evening, a small group of us headed out to Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen for dinner.  There was a pretty long wait, but it was most definitely worth it!!  The food was amazing!  And I was able to try crawfish for the first time.  What a crazy process for such little reward!  It was pretty tasty though. Glad I branched out and gave it a try!  I was also pretty bold with my main course selection going with redfish and dirty rice.  Proved to be a little more spicy than my taste buds appreciated, but it was good.

Bright and early Saturday morning, we headed over to Reliant Stadium for our leadership program.  It was a great event that was well received by the kids participating and our sponsor.  Win-win!  The program has three main sessions - character development presentation, leadership competitions with the Guard, and community service project.

Registration and Dr. Irving Fryer speaking on character development

Team-building and leadership driven activities with the Guard

Volunteering to provide nearly 6,000 meals for the Houston Food Bank's Backpack Buddy program

The event ended around 4pm which left us just enough time to hit up Chick-fil-a before heading to the airport for our 7pm flight back to NYC!!  YUM!!

I spent most of Sunday relaxing!  I did manage to file my taxes, but mostly just rested up for the week ahead!  We have another leadership program in Cleveland on Friday so it will be a short, but busy week!!

How was your weekend?

Andrea :)

30 before 30 - Month Eight Recap

write letter to family or friend

This month I sent a note to a family friend, Edna.  She is a bit like an aunt to me though we aren't technically related.  She is one of the funniest people I know.  Always full of hilarious stories and adventures.  Hopefully, my note brought her a little cheer this time!  The pictures above are from when she and her daughter visited me in the NYC last summer.  We had some yummy pinkberry and Baked by Melissa cupcakes and hung out at highline park one afternoon.  It was a blast!

3 monthly goals

1) Finish Year 2 scrapbook.
99% done.  I have a couple of handwritten items to insert, but I need Chris for those. After inserting those it will be 100% done.  Yay!!

2) Start (and stick with) my read through the Bible in 90 days.
I am reading through the Bible...about halfway through Numbers now.  I am a bit off track with the 90 day plan, but I am hoping to eventually catch up to it.  Regardless, I have every intention of following through with reading it even if it takes me a little longer than 90 days.

3) Go to a Broadway show.
Done. I went to see Annie with my friend, Bukola.  It was a lot of fun.  Check out my post about it here.

facetimes with Brinley

 Our first facetime this month involved the whole family.  My brother and sister-in-law took turns showing me how Brinley can walk with you holding her hands and helping her.  She was still getting her legs under her, but it won't be long until she takes off.  She is such a cutie and loves laughing and squealing.  She is so happy....and just adorable!  Wish I was going to be seeing her in person soon, but I still have quite a few weeks :(



Having a little fun with raspberries :)

We facetimed again later in the month.  She was just finishing up some yummy carrots.  I watched her try to eat a slice of a small tangerine.  She was loving it!  Eventually, she finished up there and was able to play for a bit.  She was really crawling around and getting into everything.  It was particularly fun when she would get distracted by the phone and come crawling (and giggling) toward me.  I can't wait to see her again in person.  May can't get here soon enough!!  She is an absolute doll!!

Date Night

Chris and I weren't able to spend too much time together this month due to our work schedules, but we did have one fun date night in there.  I recapped it as a part of this post.  It was fun to try out a new spot and spend some quality time together in the midst of all the busyness lately.

Girls' Night

I did have a girls' night out for dinner this past month.  It wasn't the regular crew, but it was a lot of fun.  We went to a thai restaurant called Room Service in Hell's Kitchen.  I didn't get any pictures of the group - me, Mary, Reba, and Hollie, but I did snag a few of the food!  I had the pineapple fried rice...DELISH!!

I marked 1 item off the list!!

28 - try (at least) 6 new foods: 1) meatloaf (liked it) 2) asparagus and artichoke ricotta ravioli (liked it) 3) homemade cranberry sauce (it was ok) 4) salad (just can't do lettuce...boo!) 5) split pea soup (didn't like it) 6) white pizza (didn't like it at all)

Andrea :)

NAIA CHAMPS!!!

WE ARE GEORGETOWN!!!!

I could not have been more excited that my college won the NAIA basketball championship last night...and I got to watch on TV!!  That, my friends, is HUGE!!!  You see, I'm not sure I have ever seen Georgetown College play on TV.  Unfortunately, it just doesn't happen when you aren't one of those bully NCAA schools that hog the spotlight...particularly in KY!!  So I was pumped to be able to cheer on my beloved Tigers as they crushed their opponent to bring back the trophy last night!!  Anyone that knows me, knows that I bleed orange and black.  And could not be a more proud Tiger today...and always!!

In honor of the win....well, I guess it was technically just good timing...check out this awesome giveaway that I am participating in as one of Allie's sponsors this month!!  I wish I could win!!!

Here's the info from Allie....

I'm extra excited about today. Not only is today the start of the March sponsor's giveaway, but I've thrown in some extra goodies to celebrate my birthday, a few of my favorite things, if  you will.
First, let me introduce you to the sixteen lovely ladies who are helping make this giveaway possible.

Brin // Jenn // Ricci // Allison Mason // Brooke // Rebekah // Jen Meighan // Savanah // Tarole // Meghan Katie // Frances // Andrea // Ashlee
Now that you know all of those pretties,  let me show you what you could win.

Now. Who wants to win?
Enter below via Rafflecopter. All entries will be verified. US residents only. One winner takes all.
Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Andrea :)