New attraction in Manhattan

This weekend I discovered a new attraction in Manhattan, a water park in City Park. It looks really fun and can't wait to take visitors to it. The sign said it just opened. We also discovered this very cool fountain

Pictures of the new digs

Here are pictures of my new home. I really do love it. I will try to give you a good idea of the layout.

This is the wall to the right as you walk in the door. Pretty proud of how straight the pictures are :) And this the wall to the left as you walk in. You can see the edge of the stairs.The living room & dining room as you enter into the house. Notice the bistro height table & chairs, I love them!View of the kitchen from the dining roomTV area

Fireplace. Thanks to my mom for the awesome picture above it. The kitchen is behind it. Dining room to the left, half bath to the right and the garage door is to the right too (has the bags hanging on it)Half bath, pantry door & garage door
View of front door & entry way from living room. View of entry way from 2nd floor UpstairsGuest room to the right of the top of the stairs

Jack & Jill bathroom between guest and officeOne view of the office, it basically has furniture that I don't know what to do with in it :)
My bedroom, I forgot to take a picture of the bathroom & walk in closet. Later I guess

Before, during and after

Here are some pictures of my room before, during and after everything got in its place.

This first picture made me nervous. So much stuff everywhere!

I quickly got everything put away in my closet

Then finally got my new bed delivered

And there you have it. I still am waiting on my coverlet to come from Target... It is on backorder until next week :(

I love my giant mirror!And I love my bed, so cozy and big all for me!

Ready for visitors!

This weekend I will be having my first over night guest, Audra, Kane & Lydia. I am very excited to see them and lucky for them their room is the only one I have done right now. I hope to get the rest done by Saturday morning and will post pictures later.

This is the guest room
And the guest bathroom

So as you see I have plenty of room for visitors, actually there is a 3rd bedroom that could fit 2-3 air mattresses. Reserve your room today!

Dumpster diving

Since my move I have been making a mental list of things I would like to get for my house. Not necessarily a need but a want so I can wait a little while to get these things, such as a new trash can. The one I have had for years is a plastic white one that isn't very appealing and since I can't store my trash can away in a closet I wanted a nicer looking one, I had a stainless steal one in mind but if you have priced them they can range from $60 to $140, too pricey for me right now.

Well low and behold yesterday the house across the street had just been moved out and there was someone there cleaning it. I noticed that they toted a few things to the curb for the trash man and guess what one of those things were... yeap you guessed it, a stainless steal trash can! I didn't go over right away to get it, I wanted to wait for it to get a little later in the day. About 7 that night I still had not gone to get it but my Aunt Brenda & Uncle Rick were coming over with an extra lawn mower and I knew Brenda would go with me to get the trash can. We ran over and inspected it, as far as we could tell it was perfect. So we snatched it up, along with a sponge mop :) Here it is in my kitchen after I Clorox-ed and cleaned it. What do you think? Not bad for FREE dollars and FREE cents!

1 sentence can say it all

It has been quite the day. My furniture was to be delivered anywhere from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and of course they came at about 1:00 after managing to get lost, why don't movers use google maps?? A refrigerator and washer/dryer were delivered but didn't have the right parts so they left it up to ME to get them. Seriously?? I do eyes, not plumbing & air... But I did manage to get the fridge fixed up and had some problems with my dryer. Stupid air vent. Fortunately, after calling the furniture store crying, my friend Barry rescued me and fixed it right up for me. To top it off I also went to my least favorite place on earth, no not SCO but the dreaded Wal-Mart... duhn duhn DUHNNNNN! Needless to say I am having a few glasses of wine and kicking up my feet.

I think this pillow really does sum up my day.
I start my training tmrw. Should be interesting. More pictures of my new place to come. Stay tuned!

Tasty Tuesday - Mad Hatter Salad

This is a recipe from my friend Audra. It is SO good. Thanks for sharing Audra!

Mad Hatter Salad
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1 (16 ounce) package coleslaw mix
8 green onions, chopped
1/2 c. butter or margarine
1 head fresh broccoli, cut into florets
2 (3 ounce) packages chicken flavored ramen noodles
1 c. slivered almonds
1 c. unsalted sunflower seeds (i used salted)
1/2 c. white sugar
1/4 c. apple cider vinegar
1/2 c. vegetable oil
1t. soy sauce

1. In a large bowl, toss together the coleslaw mix, green onions and brocooli, set aside.
2. Melt the buttter in a large skillet over medium heat. Crumble the ramen noodles into a bowl, and mix with the almonds and sunflower seeds. Sprinkle the seasoning packets over all. Add to the skilet; cook and stir until noodles and nuts are toasted, about 8 min.
3. In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the sugar, vinegar, oil and soy sauce. Seal, and shake vigorously to blend.
4. Just before serving, combine the slaw mixture with the nuts and noodles. Pour the dressing over all, and stif briefly to coat.

No more microwaved dinners!

I know I blogged about my first dinner at my new pad but tonight is my first REAL dinner. As in dinner I made myself. Spaghetti pie & sauteed spinach.
Here is my quick and easy recipe for spaghetti pie:
- brown 1 lb beef or turkey, add 1 jar of spaghetti sauce and set aside (my favorite sauce is vodka sauce)
- boil 1 package spaghetti noodles, drain. Mix in 1 egg & 1 cup parmesan cheese
- place noodle mixture in 9 x 13 pan and top with meat sauce. Add mozzarella cheese on top if desired. Cook at 350 for 10-15, or until bubbly.

A taste of what is happening

I was very excited to go back to church here in Manhattan but was caught by surprise when Father Keith did give mass b/c he was on vacation... I guess I have something to look forward to next week. Don't get me wrong, it was a good mass but Father Keith has a way of really relating things to real life.

After church I headed to Bed Bath & Beyond to look around. I need many things for the house but need to make some cash first and get everything unpacked so I can assess the situation of what I really need. I did pick up a trash can there for cheap. Then I headed to Tuesday Morning to see what buys I could find. Here are pictures of what I picked up.

Soap/lotion dispenser for kitchen - $9.99
Bamboo mat for garage entrance - $7.99
Jute rug for entryway - $7.99
Here is a picture of really the only room semi-done, I still have to hang pictures. The lamp really does make the room. I love it! I will share that story later.

First dinner

Today I moved into my new home in Manhattan. It was a stressful day to say the least but isn't moving always stressful? The worst part of it was it rained the whole 2.5 hours, needless to say things were damp/wet inside but the upside everything looks like they have been salvaged. The house is in total disarray so I am going to wait to show pictures. I have lots to keep me busy for the next few days that is for sure.

Tonight I treated myself to a little Chinese Kitchen from Dillons. If anyone has ever lived in Manhattan you know just how delicious it really is.
My parents were awesome enough to give me money for dinner and wine! They know how to make me happy for sure. I am going to eat my yummy dinner, scrub the main floor & watch a movie, all while enjoying my wine :)

Moving day

Tommorrow is the big day, moving day! I am excited but sad to leave home for the final time. My family & friends packed up my things in storage last night and now I just have to pack up the odds and ends, which sometimes seems to take forever! I do not have cable or internet set up yet so I may be disconnected for a little bit. But if you know me at all you know I will try to pick up a WiFi signal somehow. So if you want to get a hold of me, call me! I can't wait to share photos of my new home with my stuff in it.

Tasty Tuesday - Prosecco Poached Fruit Tarts with Lemon Cream

Over the past weekend we celebrated my dad's 59th birthday. He says he isn't one for "sweets" which is a total lie b/c when ever there are cupcakes or brownies or any baked good around he is eating it. For this birthday I wanted to bake him something different and he love peaches so I sought out a recipe for a peach tart. Here is what I found.


Prosecco Poached Fruit Tarts with Lemon Cream

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Ingredients:

1 package (10 oz) Puff Pastry Shells, I used Pastry sheets and had to cut them into 3"x3" squares

6 medium peaches, seeded and diced

1/2 cup Prosecco or dry white wine such as pinot grigio

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup apricot preserves

1/2 of an 8-ounce package cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoons butter, softened

1/2 cup confectioners' sugar

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Mint sprigs (optional)

Directions:

Bake, cool and remove the "tops" of the pastry shells according to the package directions.

Heat the peaches, wine, sugar and preserves in a 3-quart saucepan over medium-high heat to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 5 minutes or until the fruit is tender. Remove the saucepan from the heat. Cover the saucepan and refrigerate for 30 minutes or until the fruit mixture is cool.

Beat the cream cheese, butter, confectioners' sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest in a medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until the mixture is smooth.

Spoon about. 2 1/2 tablespoons lemon cream mixture into each pastry shell. Top each with 1/2 cup fruit mixture. Garnish with the mint, if desired. Serve immediately.

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I actually heated the peaches up a little bit and served it with ice cream. Everyone, except one person, loved it. Such a nice change up to birthday cake and a summery treat. The one person that did not like it actually took one bite and said "it is like a french pastry, looks better than it tastes." I wasn't a fan of this person to begin with and am definitely NOT a fan now. How completely and utterly RUDE! She will never eat another dessert of mine again, nor be invited to my house.

Here are some pictures of my dad getting the birthday song sang to him and blowing out his candles. Obviously I could not fit 59 candles on to this :)

Lazy bones

This is what Jeff likes to do in his spare time these days... Maybe it has something to do with having to be at work at 6 a.m.???

Catbackers Annual Dinner

Wednesday night was the annual Catbackers Dinner in Winfield. Every year there is a golf tournament & dinner. At the dinner a speaker comes, usually from K-State, and gives a little talk. This years speaker was the one, the only, Coach Bill Synder!!! He is basically a God at K-State, so obviously when he talks people listen. He spoke about how important the Kansas Mentor program is and how funding is lacking. He also mentioned with all the budget cuts happening that the Kansas Hall of Fame is at stake which would sadly mean that all the memorabilia would go to the highest bidder and be in a private collection. Please visit each site and see what they are all about and get involved!

I just took a few pictures of Coach Synder speaking, I wish I would have taken a picture of my dinner plate, my steak was rare and over half the size of my plate. I gave it my best effort but if you didn't know how big the steak was to begin with you would not have thought I touched the steak. It was a great evening and an absolute pleasure meeting Coach Synder for the first time.

Me, Coach Synder & Audra -- Can you tell we are overly excited to meet him??

Something more for my new home

I was shopping with my friend Erin this week and found this awesome painting and had to get it. It will go great with my bedroom colors and I just love it. My bed will look very similar to the picture below, except I will have a white down comforter with the coverlet, a bolster pillow and some euro pillows with the painting above the bed. What do you think?

Thirsty Thursday

The story of Bellini begins in Venice, in the legendary setting of a world-famous artists’ café. One warm summer evening in 1948, its owner decided to mix the fruity joy of perfect white peaches, the grapy sparkle of Prosecco spumante, and a whisper of wild raspberries. He called it Bellini as a tribute to the arts and to his city: the Venice-born painter Giovanni Bellini had first incarnated the sensuous colors of the Venetian Renaissance. The original formula became as well known and imitated as apple pie – and just about as wholesome. Two thirds Prosecco sparkling wine from the hills north of Venice; one third white peach juice with fresh fruit pulp; a few drops of raspberry juice. Yet for many years, the one and only true Bellini was sipped in Venice, where the authentic ingredients could be found and would maintain their pristine freshness... Until, forty years after it was invented, Italy’s award-winning Prosecco grower, Canella (also a Neil Empson Selection), took up the difficult challenge of producing the famous Venetian cocktail to satisfy its numerous worldwide fans, yet maintain the freshness and delicacy of the original recipe.

New Furniture

A few weekends ago my mom and I went furniture shopping! My new favorite past-time, which I have put myself on a spending hold for the moment. Here are some pictures of what I bought. Sorry about the quality of the pictures, all I had with me was my phone and I don't care what phone you have, a camera phone just doesn't produce high quality pictures like a camera does. But I use it rarely so I guess posting pictures just once isn't bad.

My new queen bed - I got a mattress & box springs too

Upclose on the headboard

Bistro height dining room table

Large wall mirror -- I love this!TV stand or entry table, not sure what I will use it for yetWasher & Dryer with pedestals :) I did get a black side-by-side refrigerator with water & ice in the door