LAKESIDE COOLER RECIPE

I am a fruity cocktail kind of girl.  Give me a strawberry margarita over anything straight up any day.  I prefer to mask the alcohol with delicious juices.  With the weather getting warmer, it’s finally time to break out my favorite drink.  It tastes just like summer.  I’ve been making it for a few years, and it never disappoints.  I would have named it beachside cooler, but alas, a lakeside will have to do.

Lakeside Cooler

Serving size: makes 1 drink

Ingredients:

1.5 oz. Rum

4 oz. Orange Juice

2 oz. Cranberry Juice

1 oz. Lime Margarita Mix

1 oz. Ginger Ale

**disclaimer—these are all rough estimates of how much of each ingredient to put in.  The majority of the drink is OJ with some cranberry juice and a splash of margarita mix, topped off with ginger ale to give it some fizz.  You can’t mess this drink up, so just keep adding everything until you get the taste you prefer!

Step 1:  In a tall glass or mason jar, pour in the Rum, Orange Juice, Cranberry Juice, and Margarita Mix over ice.  Stir with a spoon to make sure all ingredients are mixed up. 

Step 2:  Top off the drink with a splash of Ginger Ale for some fizz.  Then enjoy!  You’ll feel like you in the tropics in no time.

Optional:  Guilt-free Lakeside Cooler: low calorie version.  Just use diet versions of all ingredients listed above.  Since these fruity drinks can get high in calories, I use OJ that has 50% less calories than the regular kind, diet Cranberry Juice, zero sugar margarita mix, and diet Ginger Ale. 

Also, you might like to enjoy in a hollowed out pineapple for added effect.  Cheers!

MOTHER'S DAY PICNIC

This weekend was absolutely the best.  My mom is the greatest, so we had not just a day to shower her with love, but a full weekend.  It was filled with family, fun, and delicious drinks.  A perfect combination.  On Saturday, we all met up at a beautiful lake that my brother knew of.   Despite the wind, it was a pretty nice day out.  We wanted a festive picnic, so I made these streamer poles to add a little bit of color. 

My brother and me in our Ray-bans

My nephew, dressed as a cowboy, fished for a while, Wade concocted some delicious drinks, and we just enjoyed the day.  It filled my heart to the brim to be able to spend time with everyone and relax. 

I hope my mom knows just how much she is loved.  She does so much for all of us, without ever asking for anything in return.  Her love knows no bounds, and I wouldn’t be the person I am today without her.  She is my mother and best friend.  I truly don’t know what I would do without her.  I love you, Mom!

Pictures of the rest of the festivities to follow...

Evening Walks

white men can jump

With the weather finally warming up, Wade and I started taking evening walks through our neighborhood.  I mentioned yesterday that I questioned our area, but I really love where we live.  Especially in the daylight hours.  It's amazing to be outside again and see all the brilliant colors and green everywhere.  It makes winter feel like a world away. 

Neighborhood Watch

Last night was kind of scary.  I had just drifted off into a peaceful slumber, when I was woken up by the sound of a helicopter that seemed really close by.  The police were outside our house, canvassing our neighborhood and looking for some guys who had fled an attempted burglary. 

Just the day before, we had gone on one of our nightly walks around our neighborhood.  We walked up to a grocery store that is close by to get some things and then walked over to a pizza place to pick up dinner.  As we were walking back through the park I commented how much I love where we live.  We’re close enough to walk to places, and everything we need is right in this three block area.  I went on to say that even though we live near a busier road, it still feels like we live in a quiet little sleepy neighborhood.  I love that neighborhood feel, while still being close to city amenities.

This experience just made me realize that it's still important to keep your eyes open and to always keep watchful vigilance.  In fact, as I write this, Wade is staring out the window watching the street.  He does this all the time, though, mostly to spy on the neighbors.  

I hope the police caught the guys so they don’t have the ability to hurt anyone in the future.  It seems as I grow up, the world just gets scarier and scarier.  It’s important to open your eyes to be aware of your surroundings, but how do you maintain your laughter when there is so much sadness and uncertainty?  It gets so overwhelming that I have to just focus on little things that make me happy: reading an inspiring blog, making a colorful craft, or just watching mindless TV.  Everyone has their own coping mechanisms.  I woke up today and with the sun shining, the day turned into just another day.   Without focusing on the people in the world who inspire me and who are there to make my life better, I wouldn’t be able to leave the house.

What do you do to cope with the stresses of this crazy world we live in?  Have a safe weekend! 

ROAD TRIP TO IOWA

view from the car

A few weeks ago we took a road trip to visit Wade’s family in Iowa.  He’s from a really small town, less than 1,000 people!  Being from a bigger city, I always had romantic notions of growing up in a small town.  I envisioned it to be like Star’s Hollow from Gilmore Girls.  Everyone knew your name, and there was always some fun town event going on.  Wade’s town does have the annual Sweet Corn Festival, but I’m happy where I am for now.  I need my Target close by. 

It was his brother’s birthday, so we all loaded up in the family RV (the only cool way to cruise around town) and hit some local bars.  And who do we run into?  The Dos Equis guy! 

I know he looks real, but unfortunately he was just a cardboard cutout:)

So at one of the places we went it was karaoke night.  Am I a good singer?  No, not at all.  Not even a little bit.  Did I feel the need to get up and sing a song despite my best judgment?  You betcha.  I always promise myself in these situations that I will not fall prey to the allure of getting on stage and belting out an 80s rock ballad.  I tell myself that it is not as easy as it looks, and I will not sound pretty good with the music.

Alas, my rational side fell by the wayside, and I took to the stage.  Now I was smarter this time, because I forced Wade to come up with me.  If ever you find yourself in this same situation, learn from my experience.

 Within 5 seconds you will think to yourself that there are few things worse than the realization that everyone is staring at you make a fool of yourself, but there is nothing you can do since it would be worse to just walk off and not finish the song.  So try not to make eye contact with anybody and just pray that this is a shorter version of the song. 

When it’s finally over, you may think it's over, but there is still one last bit of humiliation left.  You may find that when you walk to the table where your group is sitting, no one says good job or gives you a high five.  That, my friends, is something you file away to save for the next time there is an “opportunity” to sing karaoke.  Have another drink, though, and the embarrassment will start to subside.  Then you can scoff at the next person singing and think to yourself how terrible they are and that you were way better than them.  That is called self-preservation.

What my brother-in-law wore that night.  Of course, Wade had to try it on first to make sure it worked.

On the way home, we enjoyed a time honored tradition that my mom started on family road trips.  A stop at Dairy Queen.  Nothing like a frozen treat to finish a fun-filled weekend.

Any karaoke experiences you’d like to share?  I’d love to hear them to make me feel better about mine.  Sound off in the comments below!

GETTING LOST

There’s a huge park not far from us with a lake and lots of wooded trails to get lost in.  It’s where I went on a trail run a few weeks back in an effort to help my runner’s knee.  I had wanted to show Wade my new adventure route right away, but the weather didn’t cooperate. 

Well, last week we finally got a break in the weather, and it was a perfect 80 degrees.  We hit the trail, which was a lot of fun.  It was nice having a buddy there since it sometimes seems like the beginning of a horror movie when I go running there alone.  Nice girl out for a leisurely run, until BAM!  Zombies appear over the hill and start coming towards her.  The zombie piece didn’t actually cross my mind before Wade mentioned it.  Now it’s all I think about.  What fits in a fanny pack that can save me from a zombie apocalypse? 

After our run, we felt great.  That is until we saw the ticks climbing over Wade’s legs.  Gross!  I found one in my shoe, and the moment was ruined.  We made up for it, though, by basking in the sun by the lake for a while.  I can’t tell you how good it felt to feel the sun beating down on me as I watched the water.  It’s not the beach, but it’ll do for now. 

Besides the trail running, I really wanted to share this place with Wade because it was a huge part of my childhood/teenage years.  I worked at the little marina that rents out paddle boats and canoes for a few summers, and coached baseball at a field in the park.  Being at this place again brought back so many memories of carefree summers and seemingly endless possibilities.  I wish now that my job was still dependent on the weather.  There was no better feeling at the time when work would get rained out, and I got to go home early and take an afternoon nap. 

What about you?  What are the places that bring back memories for you?  Do you visit them often?

I almost forgot.  Since I was feeling so nostalgic, I made Wade take me to get a Slurpee afterwards.  I used to get one of these everyday after school for like 10 years.  Still hit the spot.

CARNIVAL



This past weekend we took my nephew to a carnival that was held at the elementary school my siblings and I went to.  It was surreal going back to my school all these years later.  When I was little, everything seemed so big.  The gym seemed huge, and the classrooms seemed monstrous.  Now, everything is so little.  Tiny desks and tiny gym.  I guess it’s just me who’s gotten bigger. 

I have memories from when I was little of going to this carnival.  It was the highlight of my school year.  Everything seemed so magical as I flitted from game to game, winning as many tokens as I could so that I could buy some cool prize (which usually turned out to be a light up rubber ball or something else that would break within 10 minutes).  It was always a debate in my house as to how many tickets we would get.  That would determine how many tokens I could expect to win, which would affect my prize value.  See?  Carnivals aren’t just for fun.  They also teach children relevant financial lessons, such as how many times do I have to throw this roll of toilet paper threw that toilet seat to get enough tokens to buy that bottle of slime.  That kind of knowledge will stick with you for years to come.

We had a blast with my nephew.  You may remember that he was wearing a Captain America outfit in the photos from Easter weekend.  Well, this weekend Superman chose to join us, adorable cape and all.  I can’t tell you how many compliments he got as we walked around.  He’d go into classrooms and announce himself by singing “dun dun dun –Da!” and swing his cape.  Sheer awesomeness.  It was so much fun watching him explore everything and see how excited he got when he won a token.  It made me so happy seeing him so happy.  He's only 3 1/2, but he was able to wait in line so patiently.  I was impressed, because even I got a little antsy waiting for it to be his turn. 

He won cupcakes with green icing at the cake walk (guess he wasn’t concerned about kryptonite?) and had a great idea to go find a bench to enjoy a few of them.  Who could resist cupcakes?  So we took a break from the games.  Here’s Superman with Wade enjoying a cupcake.  I think we were a bad aunt and uncle, because we let him eat a bit too much.  How can you say no to that cute face, though?

After cupcakes, he wanted to read a book that he had won.  Then the sugar rush hit, and we went off to play more games and win more tokens.  We found a great prize—these glasses!  Perfect for Superman’s alter ego, Clark Kent.  Now the outfit is complete.

Thanks for a great time, Superman!