We had a pretty good Valentine's Day!

So my Valentine's Day started out early.  I signed up to go to this free seminar at Mid-West CAD for Revit
Architecture.  It is a program that I used a TON in school, and really LOVE using!  Many firms are making the switch to Revit, so it's important for me to have the skills that I have with this program.  At Mid-West CAD they offer a certification exam, which is what I'm striving towards.  Their next exam session isn't until April, so I may do some classes to "study up" for the exam.  Just one more positive thing for my resume!  :)

That started at 8am and went till about 4pm (which we got out early actually which was nice!  it was kind of a long day of info).  We got to see a live demonstration of the program, which she covered a lot of the basic components of the program.  The rest of the day was primarily videos shown from AU (otherwise known as Autodesk University).  This is a great website for video tutorials and help from any of the Autodesk programs.  I am really excited to go to classes and learn even more through this company.  Everyone there was so great and helpful!  Getting my certification in Revit would be awesome!  (and they also offer AutoCAD certification that I am probably going to get as well!  :D)

After the seminar was over, I drove over to Grant's place to get things ready for dinner.  I had to run by the grocery store to get a few more things to make the lasagna.  The lasagna I made last night was AMAZING! lol  not to brag, but it was really good!  I really wanted to take pictures of each step, but I kinda forgot about it and all I had was my cell phone to take pictures with (not the best camera on that thing  lol) so bare with the quality of the photos.

These are the cupcakes I made Monday night.  They're just chocolate cake, with pink vanilla icing.  Some of them have red sugar sprinkles on them.  They were pretty delicious!  :)

Basically I just followed the directions on the back of the lasagna noodles, and added my own twist on it.  The picture above has the ground italian chicken layer.  The recipe called for italian sausage, but I used the ground turkey with onions and spinach.  So good!

This is the cheese layer.  Right before you but on the cheese and meat layer you put on the noodles.  It has 2 eggs well blended, shredded mozzarella, and some ricotta cheese, just like the directions.  Unlike the directions, I also added cottage cheese, and some creamy pesto mix (the dry sauce mix you can by at the grocery store).  I think this added a lot to the flavor.

This is the last layer (besides the shredded cheese on top).

In the oven it goes, for 60-70 minutes.  This time I got the oven ready noodles, which made it SUPER EASY.  Just put it all together and throw it in the oven!  yay!

Oh, and I made some chocolate covered strawberries too.  yum!  Getting everything all set up for dinner...

So these pictures came out pretty terrible, but it was really cute when I got it all put together.  I made a little "coupon book" for Grant.  There's all kinds of things like "one night of a home cooked meal", or a "weekend full of me doing a chore of your choice", etc.  I don't think he was expecting me to make anything, but I think he liked it.  :)  I can't help but be crafty sometimes.

Everything is ready, and in about 5 minutes after taking this photo Grant got home from work.  Perfect timing!  Last night was so great!  We just stayed in, and enjoyed each others company.  I had been wanting to watch Water for Elephants for a while now, so Grant agreed to watching it with me last night.

Today on the other hand wasn't the best.  I don't wanna vent on here really, but this job is killing me and my spirit.  Must get a new job soon...  Well, I'm going to get some laundry done tonight, so until next time.

Creativity is to think more efficiently. - Pierre Reverdy

Best,
Megan

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend has been pretty nice.  To start things off Grant and I went out to dinner and did a little shopping. We decided to go to On the Border which was alright but we weren't that impressed.  Those hole in the wall mexican places are better lol.  We were in the Town Center shopping center, so we went to a few stores.  I ended up getting a new pair of stud earrings at Macy's which I love!  They're super cute.

Saturday Grant and I got up around 8am and had breakfast together.  Then we went back home and just hung out till about 1pm when I left to go to my grandma's place where her, my aunt, and I went to the Mother Daughter (Grand Daughter) Valentine's Tea Party.  They had a couple who played music and sang throughout the tea which was nice, and also raffled off some candy.  There were easily over 150 women there.  They had punch, finger sandwiches, candy, cake, and cookies.  It was pretty good.  It was really nice to see my grandma and aunt and talk to them.  I'm glad I'm so close to them now and we can get together more often!  :)  After I got back to Grant's house, we went to Target to get some things Grant needed around the house and groceries and what not.  I made spaghetti and meat sauce and some garlic toast for us for dinner.  It was pretty good.  We ended up watching more Sopranos last night before getting to bed around midnight.

Sunday we got up around 8am again, and I made breakfast burritos for us.  Today has been a very lazy day.  We continued watching some more episodes of the Sopranos and Big Love today.  For dinner I made FROM SCRATCH mashed potatoes.  lol  They really aren't that much of a pain, so I don't know why I was thinking it would take forever.  I guess I just hadn't made them in a while.  With the mashed potatoes I made pork tenderloin and for dessert Grant wanted brownies, so I baked a batch of those as well.  It was another pretty good dinner.  I just don't want the day to end!  Luckily I do have tuesday off for that seminar, so hopefully that will be a nice break from work.  We decided to stay in on tuesday for Valentine's Day, and I'm going to fix dinner for us.  I'll get off work at 5pm that day, and get stuff cooked and ready for Grant when he gets home at 8pm.  Should be a nice low key night in at his place.  :)

Well, hope you all had a great weekend!  Time for the work week!

Behavioral design is all about feeling in control. Includes: usability, understanding, but also the feel.  - Don Norman

Best,
Megan

Am I too serious?

Ever since I can remember I have had dreams of growing up and having a job, getting married, and having kids.  I was like the girl in 13 going on 30.  lol  And even in high school and college I was the responsible one, the one who kept things together and made plans happen.  Did I waste away my youth?  Part of me asks that of myself, but most of the time I just keep thinking "you know, that's just who I am."  I didn't need to go out to the bar to have fun, I didn't need to go to frat parties in college all the time.  I don't need to go have drinks every Friday and Saturday night.

I guess where this kind of came about is from someone who tells me I'm too serious and need to be more "sassy".  Whatever that's supposed to mean....  Maybe I am serious, but I am professional and respectful.  When the timing is appropriate I am very laid back, as anyone who knows me would tell you.  I guess I just need to stop letting her get to me.

I am so glad tomorrow is Friday!  The weekend is definitely my favorite time of the week now, because I can actually relax and not stress about work.  This weekend I am going to have tea with my Grandma and my Aunt.  The community that my Grandma lives in has these mother-daughter 'tea parties' and this will be the first one I will be going to.  My mom and sisters have been before, so I am glad I will be able to go this time!  It will be nice to talk to both my Grandma and Aunt this weekend.  The rest of the weekend I'll be hanging out with Grant.  Nothing planned, and we'll probably just stay home since we were out most of last weekend.

Next week is Valentine's Day folks!  :-P  Not only am I excited to spent the evening with Grant, but that day I got signed up to go to this seminar.  My dad emailed me about it; I can actually get certified as an AutoCAD and Revit Architecture specialist.  So on the 14th I will go to the seminar, and figure out what all the exam entails, and freshen up on the programs a little.  Plus its free and they're providing lunch!  yay!  I dunno what will happen that night, but I have a few little things for Grant and I am going to make some cupcakes for us Monday night to bring over on Tuesday.

Have a Happy Friday!  Till next time...

Design is in everything we make, but it’s also between those things. It’s a mix of craft, science, storytelling, propaganda, and philosophy.  - Erik Adigard

Best,
Megan

I get way too excited about holidays!

Today has been a pretty normal day; nothing too dramatic to report here at work.  Tomorrow I am going to have to stay late for an event that they're having, but hopefully it will be more fun than stressful.  

Okay, so we all know what holiday is coming up; Valentine's Day.  Some people hate it, some people love it, and I happen to be somewhat partial to it.  Its great to dedicate a day to the people you love, but you shouldn't just do it on this day, you need to let those people in your life know how much you love them EVERY DAY.  I do however do excited about the opportunity to get something special or be creative in gifting things.  Valentine's day for me is a great time to do fun crafting type things and some baking.  So I plan on doing some of that in this next week, so it's all ready for next Tuesday.  I will share the goodies with you next week, as to not spoil the surprise!  :)

Another planning thing that I am SUPER excited for is my bestest best friend Janelle.  I am a little too excited when it comes to planning events and what not.  I just love to organize everything, and make people have a good time.  So when Janelle asked me to be her maid of honor (besides the feeling of a bit of shock since I was not expecting her to ask me when we met up for lunch before Thanksgiving) I was ecstatic.  I can't wait for her to be back here in KC so we can get together and talk about ideas, and just HANG OUT!  I miss that girl!  :-P  

Well that's all for today...  Just keep pushing through till the end of the week!  We'll make it through!

Design is about making things good (and then better) and right (and fantastic) for the people who use and encounter them.  - Matt Beale

Best,

Megan