Hello Sunshine

As pasty white ginger folk, my husband and I always jest about how the sun is our mortal enemy. And you know what? That's actually pretty accurate. I can't believe how quickly my skin burns. It's impressive and extremely annoying that I still burn even when I'm so careful, and every time it happens I feel like the ugly skin cancer monster creep a little closer. Gingers have problems, man. Lots of them.

However, this winter has made me realize just how much I love the sun. I've been checking sunrise and sunset times at least once a week all year, and the lengthening of days has been making me even happier than it ever has before. It's been around 70° every day this week and it is doing my soul so much good. The open windows let in such sweet, fresh air and I'm convinced my house smells exactly like heaven right now. It's been so nice that my daffodils are venturing upward to enjoy it too.

Also, the fact that these have survived my black thumb of death is truly a miracle. Now if only I could kill the weeds that spring up every summer (the remnants of which are still hanging out in the yard, as you can see) as effectively as I do the rest of the plants the have the misfortune of finding themselves in my care.

Hello spring, you beautiful thing. You should stay a while.

Mawwiage

I really like being married, and I really like talking about it. If you want to read some things I have to say on the subject, head over to Jen's blog to read a guest post I've written!

Eli Thursday

49 weeks

This cheap bubble machine is one of the best purchases I've made. It's also apparently the most amazing thing Eli has ever seen.

I love that little pointing finger.

Spring in January

One of the perks of living in Arizona is that Spring starts "springing" up as early as January.

We took the beautiful weather as a sign that we should go to the park and enjoy it while it lasted, which was wise considering it is cold and rainy now. 

I (tried to) read my book while Eli wedged himself between the book and me and proceeded to eat my snacks. Clearly he was enjoying them too... little nut. 

Eventually he went back to playing, but not for long once he realized how much more there was to explore besides our blanket on the grass. 

So we headed over to the swings, which was obviously a big hit. Pure joy right there!

As much as I love cold weather (no really, I do!), I'm itching for longer days and warmer weather and for the January blues to be over and done.

Easy Chicken Curry

We are major curry fans around here. This recipe is from an uncle of mine who lived in Thailand, and it is seriously delicious and so easy to make! It's a staple at our house, and I hope you love it as much as we do!

Yellow Curry with Chicken

Cook/prep time: 30 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 can coconut milk

2-3 tablespoons of Mae Ploy yellow curry paste (I buy mine here on Amazon, and I'm sure you could find it in some Asian markets too)

Around 1 cup of chicken breast, cut into bite-sized chunks (I cut and freeze large batches of raw chicken at a time which makes this really easy!)

1 potato, chopped into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces

1 yellow onion, diced

1 tablespoon fish sauce (optional)

Rice (I like to use jasmine. Make sure you start cooking this before you begin making the curry!)

Instructions:

Spoon the cream off the top of the can of coconut milk and place into a medium saucepan. Add curry paste and mix until it is thoroughly combined with no lumps. Heat for a minute or two on medium, then add chicken. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink on the outside. Add the rest of the can of coconut milk, the potato, and the onion. Return to a boil and cook until the chicken is cooked through and the potatoes are tender. Add fish oil, if desired. I have made it without and it turned out just fine, but it does add a little bit of flavor, and doesn’t make it taste fishy. Serve over rice. 

Eli Thursday

48 weeks

I've started bathing Eli almost every night. It's partially for fun, and partially because this little boy is already turning into a dirt magnet. 

Annnnd it's also partially because his little baby self is so darn cute, especially when he's trying to figure out what's going on with the bubbles on his toesies. 

Currently...

Loving: This beautiful warm weather. It feels like Spring here and I love it so very much! 

Looking forward to: The AZ blogger meet-up next month, assuming I get the guts to actually go since I hardly feel like I qualify as a "real" blogger. I'm such a wimp. 

Thankful for: Baby tylenol and ibuprofen. Last night was pretty awful with a very sad teething baby, and I don't even want to think about how bad it would have been without pain relievers. Poor kiddo.

Working on: Redecorating and rearranging and painting and reorganizing all the things. If only a certain someone would take longer naps so I could really make some progress...

Dreaming about: Plane tickets and Italy. I've got the traveling bug big time, and it doesn't help that I found tickets for all three of us to go next month for $1700. I so wish that were in the cards for us. That's such a smoking deal that it kind of makes me crazy that we can't take advantage of it. Also I should probably (definitely) stop stalking Expedia and Travelzoo, but let's be honest... that won't happen. ;)

Laughing about: This video of Eli and I reading a book last night. Such a silly goose. 



Watching: Friends. It's funny, but just makes me want to watch Seinfeld again. 

Reading: Wonder by R.J Palacio. So far so good! 

Eating: Banana and Nutella toast, all day erryday. It's on my homemade whole wheat bread so that cancels out the Nutella, right? If I'm wrong I don't want to be right.