This is the Title of an Uncreative Violinist.:)

Tonight, I made another Lake Lure recipe called "Choucroute Garnie", which is basically sauerkraut with assorted sausages, potatoes, carrots and onions.  This was my first time making sauerkraut (NOT from scratch!) for a meal; I typically steer clear from German-type foods (even though this is apparently more of a French recipe) as I'm not particularly fond of them, but for whatever reason, this appealed to me and I had most of the ingredients.  Plus, I love using the crock pot so I thought I'd give it a shot.  I dumped everything in around 1pm, and by the time I got back home from rehearsal around 9:30pm, this place smelled yummy!  I walked over to the crock pot (Ryan never touches dinner--even if it's all ready to go--until I'm home. Before you go "awww, how sweet" it's really because he's lazy and would most likely starve waiting for me to serve him. True story.) and lifted the lid realizing that I maybe should have halved the recipe as ...

Ahh, it's already the middle of the week--where the does the time go?!  On Sunday, Ry and I spent our 6th wedding anniversary pretty low key by taking a pleasant drive to Granville, OH (very reminiscent of the kinds of towns you see in Stephen King movies) and having lunch + ice cream + a stroll with our yorkie, Zoe.  I was half kicking myself for not bringing along the camera for photo ops, but at the same time, I just wanted to enjoy the little moments!  I love Granville--especially in the Fall.  It used to be about a half hour's drive for us, but with the addition of a highway route it's now 15 min. away.  I expect more trips in the future! I'd love to live there, but there isn't a whole lot around there except Denison University, so probably won't be moving anytime soon:( Getting back into the work week, I resorted again to this amazingly yummy crockpot chicken teriyaki recipe for dinner last night and converted them into lettuce wraps for Ryan's di...

I made lasagna for the first time last night.  Yes, you heard that right.  I've eaten lasagna tons of times, but was always too intimidated to do it myself and besides, Ryan has always made excellent lasagna dishes, so I just let it be "his" thing. But I just felt like having lasagna for dinner last night and I never expect Ryan to cook on weeknights when he's worked a long day, so it was left to me to find a decent recipe and see how it turned out.  Sadly, no pictures, as I've been getting worse and worse about remembering to take them immediately after they're completed.  But here is the recipe I found:  sausage lasagna.  Ryan gave it a thumbs up and we truly stuffed ourselves with still enough leftovers for tonight, so YAY for no cooking today!! Not much today except gave one of the dogs a much needed bath and teaching 2 makeups on my day off, then off to a rehearsal until 9pm. This Sunday is our 6 year wedding anniversary and I'm not sure what ...

Fellow blogger and violinist, Sarah Marie , has come up with a fun series called "One Little Thing" where she focuses on everyday little joys and has invited others to join her, too.  I love this idea because I love to slow down to savor life's little pleasantries.  Sometimes, it's really easy to get caught up in the drama of everything else and forget to remember how blessed I am.  Also, I'm with Sarah on the frustration of not being able to complete everything on my grand "to-do" list (although, she has more of an excuse than I do...she has a baby!) and I like the idea of focusing on just "one thing" that gets accomplished either each day, or each week..or whatever works for you. 1.  So today, my one thing (and I guess I'll throw in a few others, too) will be that I thought ahead this week about tonight's dinner and have planned a crockpot meal of chicken teriyaki w/ rice for when my parents arrive later today, and am REALLY relieve...

I made salmon for dinner tonight and am completely stuffed.  I purchased rather large fillets (my eyes are always bigger than my stomach) anticipating Ryan to also eat some, but I ended up being the only one eating my creations as Ryan went to game #3 of the Cincinnati Reds (they lost again, boo) and then called while I was teaching to say he was getting burgers here .  I was just a little hurt he wasn't going to eat my teriyaki-marinated salmon, but that only lasted for 30 seconds when I realized it meant more for me and for leftovers tomorrow. I stopped by Trader Joe's on the way home to quickly grab something green to go as a side with my salmon and sweet mashed potatoes and then popped the salmon in the oven while I waited for Ryan to get home and watched some debate coverage in the meantime. Is anyone else as in love with salmon like myself?  I need to come up with some more creative ways to make it, but most times I'm pretty satisfied with just kosher salt and pe...

I am a TERRIBLE wife!  Why?  Ryan and I woke up on Sunday morning and just went about our business; while I was making coffee in the kitchen, I heard Ryan's phone ringing constantly and casually asked, "Who keeps calling you?" and he says "Just the moms..." Me:  "Mom..ss..plural?" Ryan:  "Yeah, your mom is calling me, too" Me:  "Uhh, why would my mom be calling you...she hardly ever does that!" Ryan:  "probably just wants to wish me a happy birthday" Snap.  I forgot my husband's birthday:(  This is probably the first time this has happened.  I felt so bad, even though Ryan shrugged it off.  No worries, though.  I made up for it by making him a Chocolate Lava Cake that evening and letting him invite his buddies over to play Battlefield into the wee hours of the morning (he's had the whole week off). Still.  I can't believe I forgot .  I was thinking about it all week, too.  I guess I just got preoccupied...

I never get tired of gushing about how much I friggin' LOVE the month of October.  This year, I swear the weather fell right into lockstep with the arrival of Fall as the air felt more crisp and slightly cooler, but with the still welcoming presence of sunshine to go along with it.  Ahhhhh! My parents just left this morning after a short visit.  They arrived Tuesday evening so we could spend the entire day yesterday together.  Didn't seem like we did much, yet what we did do took all day.  We ran errands and gathered ingredients for a planned Hearty Beef and Lamb Stew for dinner.  I picked up more mums to decorate the back patio and front stoop (looking at Fall foliage and flowers makes my heart skip a beat!), and by evening, the whole family (including my younger brother who lives 20 min. away) was sitting around the table with stew in front of them, discussing politics and mulling around the house until the debate came on.  We then migrated over to...