71. Make 80 new recipes.

Tonight's new recipe comes to us from Rachel Ray's 30 Minutes Meals. Love her or hate her - that woman makes a fine meal. Sometimes when I feel I am at my max level of "yum-o"s for the day, I watch her on mute. Regardless, I decided to try making her Mac and Cheddar Cheese with Chicken and Broccoli.

Chickens and onions cooking.

(Side Note: I love the smell of sauting onions. Yankee Candles should make THAT smell in wax form. I would burn that in my kitchen 24/7. no lie.)

Cooked mac, broccoli, onions, and chickens amxiously awaiting the cheese sauce.

Cheesy. Yum.

Overall - this was a great recipe. J gave it with a thumbs up to include it in our recipe binder.


I did learn two things:


1. Skim milk does not take the place of whole milk. When I make this again - I think I will only add 2 cups milk and 1 cup stock. Or maybe 3 cups milk. 4 cups made the sauce a bit runny.


2. I need to add bacon to this. No other reason than I love bacon and melty cheese.

LOST

I cannot believe I have to wait another week on top of the months I have already waited.


This is like being a kid at christmas. 


Finally, on February 2nd, J and I can resume our tradition of turning off cellphones, putting away laptops, and in stress-related eating - consume an entire pack of reduced-fat oreos while watching 60 minutes of the greatest show every week.

I will seriously be depressed when this show ends in a few months.

10. Take a walk on the beach and build a sandcastle.

This was completed on two different days of our vacation - alas that's a technicality. :)


While on vacation in St. Kitts we visted Cockelshell Bay, located on the southeastern peninsula of the island.  Not only was this beach quiet, sucluded, and off the beaten path (many dirt roads were utilized to get us here!) it also had gorgeous views of St. Kitts's sister island, Nevis.

J and I with Nevis in the distance.

While we were at Cockelshell Bay, J and I decided to built a Caribbean Sand Castle/Fort.


We started out with a moat and high walls to protect the castle from the pirates of the Caribbean.

We added turrets and an interior fort to protect the illustrious dribble castle.


After the fort was secure, it was adorned with local shells as doors and decorations.

Finally, a drawbridge was put in place for friendly visitors to Forte San Julia.

(As you can see from this picture,  I needed to apply just a little bit more 50 SPF.  

Alas, this did not happen and now I currently have peeling sunburn in 20 degree weather,

 and let me just say, it's a super weird feeling.)

A few days later in Sint Maarten, J and I strolled along Great Bay beach located in the capitol city of Phillipsburg on the Dutch side of the island.  The other side of the island, St. Martin, is a French terriroty.  

Our footprints on the white sand beach. 

The water at Great Bay beach was an incredible aqua blue, and we had spectacular views of Saba, the smallest island of the Netherland Antilles.

I love the Listerine water in the Caribbean.

90. Watch a sunrise.

Before I launch into all the events which occurred this day, I will give the abridged version below:

J and I got engaged while watching
the sunrise over the beach in San Juan, PR.

For all the girly details, please continute reading:


We arrived on Puerto Rico on a Friday with J's sister and cousin.  Our other friends were to be arriving around midnight, so J and I agreed to stay up and wait for them.  Like all awesome stories, nothing went according to plan.  Our friend's didn't arrive until 3:30am, but J and I were determined to get up and watch a sunrise in San Juan.  At 6:45 our alarm went off and by 6:48 we were on the beach.  (gotta love the condo with a 10 second walk to the beach!)  The colors were so beautiful - reds, pinks, oranges.  The reflection off the clouds was such a calming sight to add to the equally serene soundtrack of the ocean waves.  While we watched the sun come up, J handed me a a wrapped package. 


I must preface this by saying at this point - I still had no inclination of the events to come.  I just assumed this was a belated 5 year anniversary gift from December.


I opened the gift and inside J had compiled a book of various pictures from our relationship.  Again, I still assumed this was a gift, and thought nothing of it untill...


I turned to the last page of the book and saw the words "Will you marry me?" along with a picture of J's hand holding a ring box.  I'm fairly certain an hour passed before I saw J on his knee in the sand with the most gorgeous ring ever.  I was able to choke out a "yes" through all my unexpected tears - and here we are...Engaged! 

This is me on the phone with my parents.  J had asked for their blessing months before - everyone knew but me!

Oh, and that new bling on my hand? That's my new BFF.  She's exactly like me - but in ring form; bright, classy, and truly one of a kind.