Our Des Moines Weekend in Review

Let's start chronologically. That's the way I like things.  

Last week, I whipped up a quick salad to have something filling to eat when Nick got home from a long day. This salad was a hit! 

 Salad contents: a 50/50 spinach and spring salad mix, sliced strawberries, crasins, red onion slices, microwaved eggs (they're so much faster than hard boiled), pepper, and balsamic vinaigrette. So easy and satisfying!

A few days later, we were off to Des Moines! That's right, the second weekend in a row. We had to see my parents while they were in town. The drive to DSM started out as a rainy one.

As we got south of the cities, the sky was muuuuuuch better. You know me an and my sunsets... Love. 

 And it goes...

 and goes... 

The next morning I got to meet baby Hudson! Remember, last weekend, he was in Maggie's belly:

And here he is in all of his cuteness! 

He is such a sweet baby and melted my heart while I held him pretty much the whole time we were there. Just look at those sweet little lips and nose. Oh my melted heart.  

Mag (as I call her) and her babies. Peyton was so cute and when we came in the room, she greeted Nick and I with a "hiiiii Nick... hiiii Missa!" My heart was so happy, I hadn't seen this girl in about a year and it was so fun to see her talking away and being so funny. She's such a sweet girl - I don't get to spend nearly enough time with these dear friends. 

Sweet Hudson. 

After leaving the hospital, we had fun catching up with my mom's side of the family (which I didn't manage to take any pictures at), and after that, headed to my Aunt and Uncle's place. They live out west of DSM and we got to see my dad's side of the family for a BBQ. And of course, we had to ride the 4-wheeler.  

And make friends with the cows that live/graze next door.  

That cow looks so thrilled to have his photo taken! 

 Me and my Texan dad ;)

Like father, like son. My dad's crazy hair is part of the hat by the way:) he loves to have fun with everyone's reaction to it.

 Hey cows! 

 At first, Boo (mom and dad's dog) was not wanting anything to do with Nick or I. He's very protective and wouldn't let us get close to my parents initially, but grew to trust us with time. 

It's a very pretty and relaxed area out there.  

I also got flowers from my parents! They're so thoughtful and the roses they gave me are absolutely beautiful. 

Our weekend with them was so very short, but we'll get to see them again soon which helps the goodbyes turn into a see-you-soon.

 Me and Daddio...

 and Mombo. I just noticed that apparently everyone has nicknames when I'm involved. Don't even ask how many Nick has, haha! There are lots. 

 Check out this rose. It has two middles (sorry- don't know the technical term there)! 

I was completely enthralled with the beauty of this rose. 

 They have a very prestigious spot in front of the window. 

 Each rose has its uniqueness, I loved every one of them! The white one on the left smelled the best by the way. Thanks, Mom and Dad! We miss you guys and wish we could see you more often, but love the time we get to spend together. 

Today's Pinspiration:

(source)

Patriotic Mini Cupcakes & Busy Weekends

Aren't they cute?? These little guys stole my heart. The recipe is below and figure I'll throw in some other updates in the mean time...

Last weekend, we were back in Des Moines for my cousin's baby shower, and let me tell you, the whole weekend had a baby theme running through it. My baby-inspired weekend included seeing and catching up with 4 pregnant ladies in one day and holding 1 very sweet baby. Oh my heart was happy! I'm eagerly awaiting the births of all of these babies!


I got to catch up with Maggie and see her Baby Hudson baby-bump. She is always a cute pregnant mama! I even got to see Hudson kicking and moving all around too which it so cool. It's still so amazing to me that there's a full size baby in there. He's coming very soon too!

Here's another pregnancy belly shot (the Peyton bump) of her just about 3 years ago at my wedding - ha! Love her.

I got to hug and kiss Haven too! Rachel and Jared graciously let us stay with them and it was great to see and spend more time with them and their cute family over the weekend too.

Isn't Haven adorable? All my friends have the cutest kids! I didn't even get a photo with Judah - he's a mover and a shaker at his busy age:)

Rachel and I were able to have time for dinner at Red Saturday night, which was great. I loved the red poppy's all over the place. We headed over to 80/35 afterwards to check out Death Cab for Cutie, one of Rach's favorite bands. I knew a few songs at least! This is becoming a signature sculpture in downtown Des Moines - it's just a few years old (in that spot at least).

It's pretty neat to check out!

Of course I took some on the road sunshine photos on our drive there and back too. 

A pretty day in Iowa. 

Fibro Update: I'm excited as I set up a doctor's appointment next week to meet with some RNP's that specialize in fibromyalgia. I actually connected with the leader of the support group we went to a few months back (blogged about here) about doctors in the area and she recommended these ladies. I also found them on the National Fibromyalgia Association site, and saw another site that had positive comments about their knowledge of fibro. I've been feeling like doctors I've seen lately don't know much about it and don't know how to help me, so I am excited for the appointment!

I have to caution myself though about not thinking everything will be "all better" after the appointment. I know many people never find much relief from fibro going to doctors, but rather other alternative treatments, but I'm hopeful they'll be helpful at least. 

I also get to see my parents this weekend after about 7 months of not seeing them since we left Texas. It'll be great to see them! We get to see more of my aunts, uncles, and cousins too. Yet another weekend on the road, but worth it to see our loved ones!

Alright, back to the cupcakes:

It took me a while to narrow down my options of desserts to bring to the 4th of July BBQ we were attending. I browsed many pins on Pinterest and liked so many of the desserts I saw.

Just in the nick of time, I thought these mini cupcakes with fruit on top would be the ticket. I needed something easy (that was key here!), that could be snacked on (which is why I didn't do full cupcakes) and would have a fresh element which I like for the hot 100 degree temps we were anticipating.

Since I didn't have a lot of time for baking, I used this gluten and dairy free cake mix.

I also bought store-bought frosting which I haven't don't much since I learned to make my own, but it was quick and easy and even dairy free!

Some fresh fruit, and that's an EASY dessert right there. And oh so cute and little.

Patriotic Mini Cupcakes
Recipe makes 48 mini cupcakes or 24 regular sized cupcakes


Ingredients
1 (18.25 oz) package cake mix (recipe said white cake, we used chocolate - use whatever you like!)
1 (16 oz) container white frosting (I was scared of "white", so I got vanilla... what's the flavor of white??)
24 fresh raspberries
1 pint fresh blueberries


Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper baking cups.
Mix cake mix according to package directions. Spoon batter into muffin tins, filling each cup about 3/4 full.
Bake according to package directions (my mini cupcakes took about 9-11 minutes per batch); cool completely.
Spread frosting over cooled cupcakes then decorate with the raspberries and blueberries - have fun with it!

I'll also say I was even able to make half of the cupcakes completely gluten and dairy free. I just use a different kind of butter and they still tasted great!

Here's today's Pinspiration:

(source)

Two Date Nights = A Great Weekend

Friday at work, I got a text from Nick asking me if I wanted to go out to dinner. A date night?!? Count me in! I was so excited. Thinking about where to eat was the hard part.

We decided on our of our favorites, Pairings, where I also went for my birthday dinner in January. I had the pear vinaigrette (awesome!) salad and tried their gazpacho (to compare to mine - mine totally wins in my opinion:)), Sanpellegrino which was fun to try and Nick had a burger and fries. We sat outside and it was a great evening for a patio dinner. Love that restaurant. They have more gluten free options but have been helpful finding out the items without dairy for me too.

Saturday morning, we treated ourselves to a burrito breakfast. Mmm!

To make the eggs for these, I just microwave 2 eggs in a bowl for a couple of minutes (I can't remember exactly how long), until there is no more liquid. We had green onions in the fridge left over from another recipe, so used those and added pepper.

Then we added salsa. It tasted great! It needed some kind of sauce as it would have been dry without it. When I've made these before, I added milk to the eggs prior to cooking them and they are more moist that way, just don't add too much or they'll be runny. Nick has also mastered using a small flat bottom round bowl we have and just cooking the eggs until done (not scrambling them though) and we've had ham and egg bagel sandwiches since the egg stays a nice round shape. There are lots of options with the easy eggs.

Unfortunately, most of the day Saturday, I had a bad and very light sensitive migraine. I get frustrated when I want to enjoy my weekends and end up spending so many of them not feeling well. Thankfully after quite a few hours resting in our darkest room, the Excedrin migraine kicked in and it lifted. PTL. 

Saturday night we had plans with friends to eat at Lola's Lakehouse restaurant. I wore one of my new favorite shirts and we were on the road! It takes about 45 minutes to get there from our place but is worth the drive.

My date.

 The great view from the docks right outside the restaurant.

These photos are all with my cell phone which is surprisingly great quality!

 Looking back at the restaurant from the dock.

We also walked around a bit after dinner to check out the cute downtown area. I got coffee and just we walked around and checked out the area. My kind of date night! 

We used a reflective window on a building as a photo op to capture our date night. This is two date nights in a row if you're keeping track here. It made for a really great weekend! We even watched a movie each night! Moneyball (a great one for baseball fans) and The Birds. Both entertaining movies! 

Sunday, I made chicken salad for sandwiches. I broiled the chicken breasts (boiled until no longer pink in the middle), which is my favorite method of cooking chicken for chicken salads now. Then I added mayo, mustard, and honey to make a great honey mustard flavor - I've made it a few times and am still impressed with the flavor. I also threw in the green onions we had. It's a great and easy meal!

Mexican pizza recipe coming soon (this is why we had so many green onions left over by the way!) - this recipe is a keeper.

 Today's Independence Day Pinspiration:

(source)

(source)

Happy Independence Day, America! 

Who knows exactly what our day has in store. Maybe a beach or pool. Tonight, we've got a BBQ we're attending and I'm bringing red, white and blue themed mini cupcakes. So excited! Hope your day is a great celebration.