Molten chocolate cakes

I made these molten chocolate cakes Friday night for dessert. They were such a hit & only took about 30 minutes total to prep & cook! I'll definitely make them again.

Here's the recipe.. and you can check out other great similar easy recipes at the Kraft Foods' website!

4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup powdered sugar
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
6 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

PREHEAT oven to 425°F. Butter four 3/4-cup custard cups or soufflé dishes. Place on baking sheet.
MICROWAVE chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min. or until butter is melted. Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Stir in sugar until well blended. Blend in eggs and egg yolks with wire whisk. Stir in flour. Divide batter among prepared custard cups.
BAKE 13 to 14 min. or until sides are firm but centers are soft. Let stand 1 min. Carefully run small knife around cakes to loosen. Invert cakes onto dessert dishes. Serve immediately, topped with whipped topping.

lazy Sunday...

I love to hear it rain...

We had been out tossing a frisbee in the backyard this afternoon & it started to rain. By the time we made it inside it was pouring. Chris let up the windows in the living room and we just listened to it rain...sometimes I love a rainy afternoon.

We really enjoyed our visit with mom & dad this weekend. It was very laid back but we got out a bit and saw quite a few things. I cooked Friday night & the rest of our meals we ate on the go, with the exception of breakfast & we had these delicious berry cheesecake muffins I made!

We picked up some great things at the Farmer's Market Saturday morning. Chris & I got fresh green beans, okra, & strawberries and we bought bell pepper and tomato plants to plant in our garden hopefully next week. I'll have to take some pictures of them later! We also hit up a few antique stores since my parents enjoy "antiquing". I have been on a quest for antique hardcover books and ended up finding one so that was fun.

Last night we actually ended up at Carolina Brewery for dinner & it was so delicious! Oddly enough my dad said he wanted to see Horton Hears a Whoo so we went to the movies after dinner & what a cute movie it was! They came to church with us at U.B.C. and then headed home. We were sad for them to go, as always, but so enjoyed their visit with us!

My parents brought us the set of wingback chairs we bought from my uncle's friend. They're in our den at the moment, but aren't in position so when they are I'll take some pictures of our newest furniture.

Off to find some dinner for us...

Company's coming...

My mom & dad are on their way to see us right now. We're so excited to have them visit us again.

While they're here I think we're going to visit the Sarah P. Duke Gardens and hit up the Farmer's Market in Raleigh. Strawberries and sweet potatoes are in season now...2 of my favorites! We'll probably cruise around Brightleaf Square too.

I made some mixed berry cheesecake muffins to share while my parents are here. They turned out looking pretty good, so I'll have to take a shot of them to post later.

Chris & I wanted to cook dinner for them one night and go out to dinner with them another night that they're here. I think we'll head out to dinner tomorrow night. With the help of some of my fine-food-loving friends I've selected a few places Chris & I have never been to but are supposedly great. We'll let them decide between Squid's, 411 West, or maybe Pop's. Who knows!

I better get going for now...I have an appointment for a hair cut at Aveda at 0930.

more edited shots

More shots edited with the help of Picnik...love it!

Sadie...the edited version

My friend Hollie told me about this great website called Picnik where you can edit your pictures for FREE! They have great features & I had some fun playing with my favorite picture of Sadie. Here it is 3 different ways.

Sadie

More shots from today with our new camera...

Here are some pictures of Sadie doing her favorite things: smiling at us, sleeping while keeping guard at the front door, and shaking hands!

Fresh cut grass & flowers to share...

Chris cut the grass yesterday a.m. I love the smell of freshly cut grass.

Here are some pictures I shot this afternoon of flowers blooming in our yard. Our tulips are on their way out, but I did get a lovely shot of my favorite yellow one. We have 4 different varieties of azaleas in our yard so there are shots of some of those too!

Love the new camera!

FINALLY...

FINALLY...

We bought our camera today...hooray! It was quite a decision for me & I actually ended up getting a model one step down from the one I had originally planned on, but that's all for the best.

We ordered it online & will pick it up when we're out this evening...I can't wait! Here's a picture of my new toy!

Look for new pictures to be up soon...

A new find...

Recently I have discovered McDonald's Premium coffees....they're delicious and reasonably priced!

I have totally fallen in love with everything I've tried. I think so far my favorite is the iced vanilla latte. The vanilla cappuchinos are great too. An iced mocha is next on my list to try.

They make a nice treat...try one out!

things to share...

We're hoping to get our new camera next Saturday. When we do, I'm going to be taking photos like crazy. I have so much to share...

the flowers blooming in our yard

the lamp on my desk in the office-it's so adorable

my new black & red toile tote bag

new photos of Sadie-she's such a photogenic pup!

the arbor we built a few weeks ago for our flower garden

updated photos of our house-it's been a while since I took new shots

the metal 'T' hanging by ivory ribbon on our front door

the adorable yellow taggie blanket I'm working on

the herbs I potted 2 weeks ago-basil & oregano...yummy!

It won't be long either & I'll have photos to share of my parents visit (less than 2 weeks!), our vegetable garden, our 2 new upholstered chairs for the den (my parents are delivering them to us), & so much more!

what a day

Whew!

What a day it was! I worked again today after having just Monday off from the conference Thursday & Friday & working Saturday & Sunday...not enough of a break I must say.

I had a patient that went "bad" quickly today. It makes for a bummer of a day. It is days like this that make me appreciate my co-workers even more though. We all work so well as a team & while I spent the hour & 1/2 in my patient's room before I transferred him to the MICU they managed to keep an eye on my other patients and help our transition to the MICU be as smooth as possible. Go team!

I feel that nursing is my "calling", however there are some days that make me feel more like my calling is a blessing. Today was less like one of those days. My calling is by no means easy, but more often than not is rewarding, even when the patient's outcome is not for the best. Days like today force me to remind myself that there are patient success stories and that no matter what happens there is a reason I have been placed where I am.

I have a calling to fulfill...

playing with the templates..

I'm playing with my blog templates, colors, & fonts...what do ya think???

past updates & future plans...

It's been a while...

Our tulips in the front yard are blooming. They're red & absolutely lovely next to my white and purple hyacinths! If only I could post a picture of them...

Speaking of pictures...we got our tax return $ today, nearly $2500! We're using most of it to open a roth IRA and the rest to buy a new camera. I've been doing quite a bit of research on different cameras so hopefully next weekend we can go to Wolf Camera and check my faves out in person. I can't wait to have a camera again. Then I'll have sooo many shots to catch up on.

Only 3 more weeks of this semester left...thank goodness! I'm ready for new classes and different types of learning opportunities. I'm hoping to have my research proposal paper wrapped up by the middle of next week & it should all be downhill from there.

I'm headed to a 2-day seminar tomorrow with some of my coworkers on caring for patients at the end of life. Not exactly a fun thing to talk about but a very important thing for us to be able to do well. It'll be refreshing to get go to a class while getting paid. Such a change of pace from a typical work day.

Next Saturday I have to go to a scientific writing course from 9-4 for a 1-hour class I'm taking. Then I have to write about it & I get credit for the course...a pretty sweet deal! Unfortunately that Saturday is Chris' 25th birthday...bummer. But to make his day special, I'm planning a little surprise birthday party at his favorite Mexican restaurant with a few of our friends. It should be fun!

My parents will be visiting us towards the end of April. I'm so excited. It's been almost a year since they were here last. We have a lot of new things around the house to show them & fun things planned for their stay!

That's all for now...off to get ready for bed so I can get up before 0600...good night!

busy times...do they ever end?

I feel like I have been so busy lately...I think it's an ongoing cycle!

Monday I spent all day running errands & catching up on things like taking Sadie for a pedicure & taking my car in for an oil change & brake service. I filled the rest of my day with catching up on school work. I worked Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday.

Friday I spent the morning running a couple of errands and donating a few hours of my time to help set up for a Relay for Life Hot Dog Fundraiser lunch we were having a work. Friday afternoon I spent a few hours with Chris watching UNC play in their ACC tournament game-somewhere in all of our lives' craziness we know it's important to spend time together doing things we enjoy! I agan spent the rest of Friday doing school work.

Yesterday we spent all day building the arbor in our garden we've been planning. It turned out sooo great! I so wish I could post pictures of it here, but without a camera I'm out of luck. Hopefully soon I can remedy that though! We got finished with it just before it started storming. We had dinner with friends last night & I came home & again did school work until midnight.

We went to Sunday school & church today & I came home to again, you guessed it, do more schoolwork while Chris headed to lab for a few hours. It's been a productive weekend, but one without much time for a breather.

The upcoming weeks are looking just as busy, if not more so! The end of the semester is nearing & that's always stressful. I have more than usual going on with work & I'm also trying to squeeze in time to study for the OCN exam as well...I don't think it ever ends!

spring has come & company has gone...

I'm back...

Chris' grandparents from Lake Hartwell visited us this weekend. They came in Friday evening & left this afternoon after church & lunch. It was rainy & very windy the entire time they were here, but we got out a bit anyway. Yesterday we took them to the Duke Gardens. It's a bit early for most stuff to be blooming, but we got a glimpse of the daffodils, pansies, and hyacinths. The cherry trees are blooming too so they were beautiful. There were even a few tulips in bloom. I think Chris & I will plan to head back in a few weeks when the tulip will be in full bloom. They took us out to dinner last night at Macaroni Grill (one of my favs!). Chris & I of course had to watch the Duke vs. UNC game last night & they even watched part of it with us. They came to church with us this morning & then we stopped by Panera (another of my favs!) for lunch. We had a great time with them & are so glad that they had the chance to visit us.

Speaking of flowers....spring has sprung at our house....yeah! I can't remember when I've ever been so ready for spring. Our quince, camelia, forsythia, and daffodils are in full blooms & are sooo pretty. I have about 20 hyacinths in the front yard that should all start blooming later this week. I have about 30 tulips that look to be ready to bloom very soon too. It's going to so lovely! Chris' grandmother is sooo sweet & brought us 4 little baby rosebushes this weekend. They're small, but are of a fast growing variety so we got them planted this afternoon & I can't wait to watch them grow!

The ad below thrills me to no end...I have a dear friend at work who sells Longaberger products. I love their products, but rarely buy them. I can't turn this offer down though. I love to drink coffee but only out of coffee mugs, I've never been satisfied with a travel cup made from plastic. I'm definitely going to buy 2 of these, I just have to decide what color to order them in. I can't wait for them to come in!

This week is spring break from classes so I'm excited about that although I'm going to try to get ahead on a couple of big assignments coming up in the near future as the coming weeks are looking busier & busier!

We have a big project planned for this upcoming weekend...we're building a garden arbor to replace the one currently in our yard. The current one is made of bamboo & a rather sad excuse for an arbor. We're going to buy a new vine to start on it after we get it built & stained. We bought the lumber this weekend & got to use a $5 off coupon I had from Home Depot (I love using coupons!) so we'll be all ready to get started on Saturday morning. I can't wait to see it in it's new garden home!