Family Traditions LLC and Teodora

I love, love, LOVE to cook so this entry pains me a bit but I really have to share a little gem I've found recently. I know many of you have crazy schedules and do not always want to eat out or on the run!! Well we are the same in this house - Roy and I have many nights (like tonight) that we do not get home until 8:30pm (or after) and unfortunately those nights are becoming more frequent due to his recent promotion and my call increasing. However, a little local company by the name of Family Traditions (www.familytraditionsky.com) has made it possible for us to have "home cooking" even with our crazy schedules!

This company posts a menu on their website monthly and you can place orders (usually place on Monday to pick up by Friday) that are preassembled so all you have to do is defrost and pop in the oven! For instance, today was a hectic day and when Roy arrived at home at 7:45 pm he preheated the oven and popped in a Chicken Pot Pie from FT and dinner was ready by the time I was home at 8:30pm (not to mention how proud my husband was that he "cooked"). The owner also has many Weight Watcher options to choose from!! My MIL bought us our first order last week which were all Weight Watcher items or "lightened up" selections off the regular menu. We are so thrilled that there is an option between cooking and eating out and intend to use her services more on my busier months.

Also, she can deliver but we picked our order up and discovered she shares her space with a Romanian bakery called Teodora and let me say . . . YUMMY!! We were headed to a dinner on Friday night and purchased several Romanian desserts called Carpati (carmel and chocolate dessert that looks like a thin bread slice with dark chocolate dipped on the side) and Amandina's (we tried the lemon and chocolate) to take as dessert! I included a pic of the Carpati because they were so good!

Although I still am a firm believer in planning ahead and preparing healthy meals, we are so excited that we have a healthier option as a backup! Hope you find yourself at their store and finding a way to have more meals at home.

Redecorating, again

Whenever I have too much time off I always end up redecorating something (Roy says its too expensive for me to be off work :-) - so right now we are planning to finish a storage room in our basement and I want it to be a "project room"/extra office space and I think I've finally convinced Roy how great of an idea it is!! I want it to resemble his pic with the tall project table and the credenza of deep drawers to store stuff from all of my various hobbies but with the entry cabinet in the next picture and with a wrapping station that holds paper, ribbons, adornments, etc. It'll be a highly functional "multi purpose room". Here are few photos I am using as inspiration (change everything to white with green accents in your mind - I like things to look clean and crisp). Also a corner desk for Roy since our nice office furniture is constantly covered in work "stuff".

This project may be a late summer/early fall because last time I was off I picked out curtains and new bedding designed by Hubbuchs (Carolyn T. is wonderful) and we are getting some new furniture and plants for our courtyard as soon as the sun peeks through the clouds! Looking forward to sharing as soon as everything is done!

Looks so picturesque - think how productive I can be in that room! Sorry I've had this photo awhile and do not remember where it was from!

Little charging station for our plethora of electronics (from Ballard Designs)

Wire In/Out Baskets so little papers have no place to hide (Ballard again)

Love this desk set from Pottery Barn but its not solid wood and I do not prefer the spaces between the credenza bases (although that would give me a great place to store all of our x-rays of Olivers hips and of the things he's swallowed :-)

I think these entryway cabinets are genius. I think the ones I am going to get have shelves above the hooks so it can hold baskets of winter wear and extra bags in the bottom (gym bag, barn bag, etc). From Ballard Designs

Def need a big bulletin board above the credenza for organization and planning and to get all of our invites off the fridge! (Also from Ballard)

A GC win

We went last night to watch GC play St. Catherine's at home and are happy to report two Tiger victories!! This pic isn't the greatest but my phone couldn't quite keep up with the speed of play :-). You can see my two favorite players in this pic - the guy at the free throw line has so much personality and always seems to hit 3's when it counts and number 11 resting on the bench plays with so much speed it looks like he's on fire. Also next to 11 is my father in law - he's helping out with GC Men's Bball this year and is loving every minute of it!

Melanie Mauer Photo Session

As I was replacing some photos around our house with our latest, I realized I forgot to add a photo from our session last summer with the uber talented Melanie Mauer!! We wanted some professional family pics in between wedding and babies (and no - there are no babies in immediate plans) and could think of no one other than Ms. Melanie to take these images. You'll see why - she's completely amazing and has an incredible talent. You would have no idea our dogs were about to overheat (well maybe Oliver's big floppy tongue is a bit telling) and that we were sweating! We love her and will cherish these photos forever!!

"My wife rode Tubby Smiths horse"

Roy and I have been together for a total of NINE years (dating for 7, married for 2) and he had yet to see me ride a horse! We couldn't believe that he had never watched me ride because as my dad has said horseback riding is something I have an "uncompromising passion" for. I rode all. the. time. in elementary through high school and rode only occasionally in college because I tore my ACL my soph year and had little time to ride after. So now that I've been riding more regularly he's missed it because I'll go on days I get off early (yes, even residents occasionally get off early) or days when he is going to a game or something else "manly". Anyway, as part of our staycation mission he promised he would come to the barn with me!

So, when we arrive at the barn my trainer pulled out a horse and started telling me about all of his accomplishments and telling me about his bad habits and as she and I are talking Roy leans over and reads his name plate: "Heirithmatic Owners: Orlando and Donna Smith". Of course his mind is clicking and he interrupts and asks the trainer, "Does Tubby Smith own this horse?" She smiled and said that they do but since they've moved to Minn. he can be used for teaching. . . .

So our ride was great and I wish I had a picture to post (mostly for Roy since he probably only looked at the horse the entire time), but because my husband is worse than a politician with his phone (ALWAYS texting, replying to emails, checking voicemails, checking out the stock market etc. etc. etc.) when I want his attention I always ask that he leaves his phone in the car. Since we were without iphone assistance I attached a photo of the horse being ridden by someone else that I found with help from google.

Anyway, as we were pulling out of the barn Roy called his dad to tell him we are coming to his game tonight and he blurts out, "Hey! My wife rode Tubby Smith's horse!" I couldn't help but laugh . . . typical man - completely uninterested in the whole riding part but all over the former UK bball coach! His dad did not let us down with his response either: "Really! He'll be so happy! I'll call and tell him right now!" :-) Glad something made them proud today!

PS his barn name is "Ken" because when he was a baby he would always stand so pretty - like a little Barbie doll. I agree - he's a total ham.

Job well done hubby!

In more ways than one!! For starters, Roy rec'd another promotion (this is just 8 months after his last!) and I have honestly never seen a man more dedicated to his work than he is. Every time we have a pause in the day I ask him what he is thinking about and he simply gives a sheepish grin and says, "work". He loves his job and feels so lucky to work at our alma mater where so many wonderful memories live (#1 - where we met and fell in love :-). He also recently received a job offer from another school in KY right after I had an offer from Paducah (the two cities are 7.5 hours apart!) so obviously his hard work is being recognized.

Secondly, Roy bought me these towels (so those of you who know me well know that I love our house and love making it more perfect for us) at LV Harkness on Monday as a "staycation" gift. When you unfold them they are full of pictures of things we love around Lexington including Keeneland, Rupp arena, the arboretum, etc - and they are absolutely beautiful! Roy had too much going on at work and not enough days off for us to take a big trip so I've been doing fun things around town and he's joined me for some of them so it at least feels like a vacation. He also traded me a new Kate for a half day him going to work when he could have been home - this is a reward system I could get used to!

Thirdly, this guy has been kicking my butt in spin this week! We went Monday and today and both days he comes home with pep in his step and I can barely walk!

Just had to take a moment to brag and show you these too cute towels!

R squared

So I just did a quick little google of "r squared" to see if my blog comes up and instead I found many definitions of the statistical meaning of r squared. I thought this was too cute to not mention. "An r squared of 1 indicates a perfect fit". Well if thats any indication consider our R x R to = 1. :-)

Much too long . . .

Happy New Year everyone!! Our household is thrilled to welcome 2011 (mostly because that means we are that much closer to 2013 when I complete residency)! We also have some THRILLING news to report - two of my besties, Margaret and Cindy, are getting married!! Margaret is getting married this October and Cindy will have a NYE wedding - congrats to both these terrific ladies!

My grandmother always says "every ol' crow thinks hers are the blackest" - translate: everyone thinks what they have is the best, and this is how I feel about my friends! I feel so lucky to know so many great people and honored that they consider me a friend.

This photo is of Margaret, Mandy, and I at one of my favorite 2010 weddings :-).

2011 will be an awesome year for this little pocket of the world and we hope its wonderful where you are as well!