Countdown to Retirement

So I needed a place to put this widget, and remembered I have a blog! So, first post in almost 5 YEARS!

Crock Pot Hungarian Goulash

Crock Pot Hungarian Goulash (from SavingDinner.com menu mailers for 2)
(serves 2—use small crock pot if you have one, or make a double batch and take leftovers to work...)

2 teaspoons olive oil

2/3 pound lean stew beef, cut into 1-inch cubes (all visible fat trimmed)

1/3 an onion, sliced

1/3 of a large red bell pepper, seeded, de-ribbed and cut into strips

5-oz. canned low sodium beef broth

2-oz. canned tomato paste

1-2 cloves garlic, pressed

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

1 dash caraway seed-OPTIONAL

4 teaspoons cold water

1 tablespoon flour

• In a skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Brown beef until browned. Add onions, bell pepper and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent and fragrant.
• Now place beef and veggies in a slow cooker.
• Combine broth, tomato paste, garlic, Worcestershire sauce, paprika, salt, pepper and caraway seed. Stir into beef mixture.
• Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or until beef is tender.
• Thirty minutes before you are ready to serve dinner, mix together water and flour. Gradually stir this into slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 30 minutes.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS: Serve with wide egg noodles and steamed broccoli.

Hey! Here are the Beach Pix! :)

And the slackness is a theme...

Oh well, since this summer I've only done a couple things anyway:

Picked out my dress
Started building the house (buckeyehouse.blogspot.com)
Adopted a kitty (long story... maybe I'll tell it tomorrow)

168.5 (yeah, that's not going so well, considering I need to be 155 for my dress to fit!)

Yeah, I'm pretty slack...

Basically I took May off because I didn't have class and I didn't do much of anything :)

Went to the CocaCola 600 again this year-- Yay! Jimmie Johnson didn't win!

The house is going off the market tomorrow so we can sell it ourselves. Still a little unclear on whether we have to wait 30 days to complete the sale or not though... so I'll keep ya posted.

Class started up on Tuesday. It's a whirlwind 5-week course on library management, and we meet TTh 7-11:15 PM! Ugh!

165 (not as bad as it could be, I suppose)

Happy Cinco De Mayo!

It's here again, and I'm allowed to drink! Dos Cervezas, por favor!

165 (sigh)

Things are getting better... :)

Diet's starting to work again. School is winding down. Just one more week and then exams. Only 4 more days without alcohol too! Yay!

163

The diet isn't working

I'm having a horrible time this go-round with the diet thing. Seems like I lose a pound and then gain it back the next day... I think I need to go back to logging what I eat everyday. It's a pain, but it did help the time I lost 34 pounds. I haven't gained them all back, but enough of them have returned that I'm pretty down... :*(

167 (sigh)

What a week!

I was off Monday & Tuesday because Mom & Dad came down to visit. Tuesday we went to the Masters Practice Round. That was fun, and the weather was beautiful! So yesterday I had to do my homework and then also had a quiz (I think I did ok).

Today I finally got a few things crossed off my to-do list! Yay!

And oh yeah, my sweetie lost 27 pounds, so today is my first of 27 days with no alcohol... BOO!

166 (not bad for post-parental visit)

It SO snowed!

But it was a ton of fun-- except for the Busch brothers winning the races. It snowed really bad during the Busch race-- the pit crews were having snowball fights with the fans! Except for the freezing toes and such, it was great!

Going to Bristol, Baby!

Going up to Bristol for the races this weekend. Hope it doesn't snow (it might)!

164 (hoping to just maintain over the weekend away...)

Hmmm

I guess I'm happy, but kinda sad too. We're probably going to sell our land (2.77 beautiful acres) and buy a house instead of building one... I'll get a swimming pool (yay!), but it won't be our perfect house that we'd planned :( and it's on less land (1.5 acres). I know it's the right thing to do, because we should make enough on the sale to pay off my credit card, but... I'm still a little down about the whole thing... Sigh.

164 (Hey, at least that's a total yay!)

Happy St. Pat's Day!!!!!

365 days 'til the wedding! Yay!

Now it's time for some green beer!

164 (Whoopee!)

Library School is going to kill me!

I have a reference assignment that is not going well. I stayed up until 1 this morning working on it, and I'm only half done, and it's due tonight. :(

I should know how to find this stuff, and I'm not finding everything, and it makes me want to cry.

165 (that sucks too)

Much better!

1. They're not splitting up, although there's a lot of repair work to be done...
2. I think I did pretty well on my midterm...
3. And I'm finally making progress again!

164.5

Not the greatest weekend

It looks like my best friends may be splitting up.

And I have a midterm tonight that I haven't had enough time to prepare for, given the turmoil.

Plus, I'm fat. Ugh.

165.5 (dammit)

You go, IRS!

Yay! I did my taxes last night and I'm getting a decent refund, for once! I need it too! $$$$

165 (sigh)

Update #1

This whole engagement/wedding planning thing will be good for LOTS of posts! :)

First, we've set the date........... March 17, 2007! Yes, that's right, it's going to be a St. Pat's Day celebration!

165 (Dangit! I've got to get serious now!)

The best Valentine's present EVER!

What else needs to be said? :)

164.5 (20 pounds to go, and now for a good reason!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's a day to celebrate LOVE! Woo Hoo! Git u some, everybody! :)

164.5 (yeah, yeah, yeah)