Recipe Post - Black Bean Dip

Alright this is for my mom as well as a few friends who had asked for the black bean salsa recipe. It's really easy to make and involves only a small amount of chopping, mixing, etc. I got this recipe from an old co-worker, so I'm not sure who to credit on this one! And I don't have a photo of the finished product, but snapped a few shots as my mom and I were making this delicious dip for the baby shower a few weeks ago:
1) The canned ingredients plus the onion


2) separating the cilantro leaves from the stems.


Black Bean Dip:

I usually do this in three steps, starting with the canned goods, then the chopped items, and finally the liquid ingredients.

In a large container, combine:
1 can of black beans - rinsed and drained
1 can of whole kernel corn - rinsed and drained
1 can of diced tomatoes with green chiles - do not drain

Then Add:
About 1/2 purple onion - chopped as finely as you like
A bunch of cilantro - a handful or so of chopped leaves
One avocado - sliced and cut into small pieces.

Lastly:
About 1/8c. olive oil
About 1/8c. balsalmic vinegar
1/2 tsp of tabasco sauce
(Some people like more oil, vinegar or tabasco... these amounts are all on the conservative side)

Anyway, that's it! It keeps in the fridge fairly well, and if you want to make it the day before you need it, the flavor gets even better when the ingrediends have time to mix together... just add the avocado and cilantro on the day you'll use the dip so the bright green color really stands out! Enjoy!

Shower fun

My mom came over two weekends ago and was so sweet to host a baby shower for me! It was great to get together with girlfriends, both from high school and college and enjoy some food and fun together. Me (32 weeks pregnant!), Brit, and Libby

We also got to enjoy Stephanie's baby girl Josie (7 weeks)! Alexis, Jenny, Stephanie, Josie.

Really Behind!

There has been so much going on during the past month, and yet I've had no time to update on here! I'm thinking that this will all change in the next few days for two main reasons:

1) We've been moving furniture around to make space for baby Ethan's arrival. Our computer is now in our bedroom and that is also where our air conditioner currently is. Needless to say I've been spending less time in our main living area and much more time in the bedroom. Maybe that will prompt me to blog/download all of the photos from our past 3 or 4 major vacations and events.

2) I have been without a car for the last 6 days! Breaking down out of town on one of the hottest days of the year was NOT a fun ordeal. I was even stuck over in the south sound area (Olympia/Shelton) for 3 of those days. Side note: I was staying with my in-laws, so they rescued me from a gas station on 101 and made life much more bearable even though I really just wanted to be home! Now that I am home, I've gotten used to life without a car (it's still in repair shop limbo)... and while I'm frustrated with the dealership and their shenanigans, I don't really mind being carless because I've been getting so much done around here!

Arches National Park

I knew that we wouldn't have time to spend a full day in Moab as we drove back from Santa Fe. The timing ended up working perfectly however because we left Santa Fe early enough on Wednesday to get into the park by 330 or so and spent a few hours there. We were able to do a small hike (boy was it hot!) and see quite a bit of the park. We saw Balanced Rock, Landscape Arch, Tunnel Arch, and Delicate Arch.
By then, it was time to call it a day and we got dinner in Moab. On Thursday morning we got up early and hit a few of the sights we had missed from Wednesday. Hiking around was much better because it was a good 20 degrees cooler than the evening before. We saw Turret arch, Double arch, and two called the North and South Windows.
Noah is the best at spotting wildlife, and it was no exception while we were at Arches. In addition to the normal lizards and deer that can be found around there, he'd been talking about wanting to find a scorpion all week, and finally, he did!

Sandia Peak

Yesterday, we drove from Santa Fe down towards Albuquerque. There is an area that has a tram to the top of some mountains known as the Sandia mountains. We went up with a picnic lunch and enjoyed the views of New Mexico from 10,000 feet. It was only 70 degrees at the top (compared with 95 down at the base) but that sun was sooo strong! There were some great hikes that Noah and I were wishing we could have done, but our schedule was packed and we had to head back down sooner than we would have liked. Here are a few photos:

Road Trip!

Noah and I have spent the past two days driving through Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and finally into New Mexico! Our truck is very comfortable to road trip in, but 24 hours of driving in two days feels like quite a lot no matter how good the company or how easy the drive. So, we arrived yesterday afternoon with enough time to check out the beautiful house we are staying in, do some grocery shopping, and enjoy a wonderful dinner with my dad and his wife. After a good night's sleep, we were ready to celebrate my birthday and Father's Day by wandering around downtown Santa Fe! I'll update this post and include some photos when we get home.
Building in downtown Santa Fe
The back patio of my Aunt's house. The property also has a 270+ degree view of Santa Fe.
Happy 27 to me!

A Word to the Wise

Package of tealites + car + 80 degree weather = disaster

I don't think that "Word to the wise" is quite the right thing to say because a wise person would not have done what I did this week.

Last Sunday, I had some time to kill with a friend as we waited to hear baby news from another friend in labor. We decided to go to Ikea because I needed some curtains for our living room and I got a few other non-essentials as well.

To make a long story short, baby Caleb made his way into the world, and in the excitement of seeing him for the first time at the hospital, as well as a very busy week, I forgot all about my purchase and it remained in the back seat of the car.

Well, at least until my sister-in-law jumped into the back of the car yesterday and said, "Uh-oh!" and pointed out that the tea lites had melted and I had sticky green wax all over the back seat. I felt so stupid to have had this happen! Actually stupid is an understatement. Even so, I'm so glad that I have leather seats instead of cloth, and the curtains seemed to have been protected from the green, greasy slime.

On the upside, the tea lites were scented so my car smells great (green apple, I think) and if I can get all the gunk out of the seams, it might do a nice conditioning job on my leather seats.

26 weeks:
Roxanne and me:

Deception Pass

Noah and I thought, "what can we go do on a beautiful Sunday?" After about an hour of tossing around idea after idea, we decided on the two hour drive up to Deception Pass/ Whidbey Island. We spent all our time in the National Park area, just walking around and enjoying the nice weather on the beach. We walked the bridge, hung out at North Beach for awhile and enjoyed the warm sand, then hiked around Rosario Head and Sharp Cove. Here are a few pictures:

First Camping Excursion of the year!

A few weekends ago, Noah and I met up with some friends to camp near the Skykomish River. The 8 of us had a great time exploring, hanging out, making food, and relaxing. Here are a few pics:
The four guys jumped in right here and floated with the current for a bit. It was some of the coldest water I've ever felt and think they are all crazy for braving the icy waters and the strong current. Here's a decent shot of me and Noah and you can tell my belly is starting to really pop out!
Our good friends Joe and Tracy:

Great success!

A fun week!

Weeks left of teaching:

One 4-day week

Two 5-day weeks

One 3-day week

Hooray! I couldn't be more excited. In addition to counting down the days (17) I just can't wait to transition out of teacher life and focus on enjoying the summer, going on a few short vacations, and getting ready for our baby!

Even though I'm excited for the end of school, it hasn't kept me from enjoying work in the meantime. This week, we enjoyed a surprise event where five Seattle Mariner's and the Mariner Moose came to our school for an assembly.

Then, on Thursday, the entire second grade (over 100 kids) went on a field trip to the Woodland Park Zoo. The kids were so cute and just loved seeing all the animals we've learned about over the year.

Unfortunately, I woke up today with no voice and my sore throat worse than it's been all week. So I thought, "what the heck, I might as well use one more sick day since I'll lose my accrual at the end of the year." The nice thing about this was that I got to see Noah for a bit. He's had so much overtime this month, which is great, but sometimes I can't remember the last time I've seen him awake (he comes home about an hour before I have to get up for work, and has been leaving before I get home). Then, Roxanne and Dawn came over and we all got to go to my ultrasound. My doctor originally ordered this extra u/s to make sure our little guy was growing at the right rate after our last ultrasound gave some smaller measurements. They also said they might change my due date if neccessary. After looking, it looks like they are going to keep my due date at September 24th, but based on the baby's size and gestational age, we could be looking at as late as an early October baby... whoa!

Overall, there are no concerns which was wonderful news. We also had the best radiologist today who was so kind and explained to all of us what we were seeing as she looked at the baby. When she couldn't get a good measurement of his head, she had me get up walk around and jump around a little so he would try to get him to move from his previous position. Sure enough, it worked and we got all of the remaining data the doctor needed. Hooray! Cute little baby feet: