Happy New Years!!

Happy New Years to all the people in blog land.  I have decided to start the year off right and get a new tattoo! It all began when my little brother entered college; I told him that when he finished college that I would go get new ink done with him. Well, college didn't work out for him, and he entered Job Corp for Welding. The deal changed at that point to he needed to complete the program and had a full-time job for six months before I would get one with him. He did it, when my mom and little brother came up for the Christmas Holiday from North Dakota we went to Eagle River Tattoo. Turns out getting a tattoo is on my mom's bucket list, so she got one too.

Mom's New Lady Bugs courtesy of
Matt @ Eagle River Tattoo

My tattoo in memory of my dad. Courtesy of Matt @Eagle River Tattoo 

My ink is AMAZING!!! The signature in my heart is my dad's name that was found on my kindergarten graduation card that I got in 1991. That card was 22 years old; I am lucky that my mom kept things like that. I walked in with an idea and no drawings. Described what I would like, and it came out a million times better than expected.

After the ink, it was finally time to eat our New Years dinner.  Before we had left for the tattoos, I had put the ribs I had bought from Costco in the roaster to cook on low. I wish I had taken a picture of them before they were devoured by the three of us, they were fall off the bone good! We also had Alaska King Crab and potatoes.

The sad point in the night came when I would have to say goodbye to my mom and little brother. I had gotten used to them being around, and house being noisier than when it is just me and the cats while the fiancee is on the slope working.  But, the countdown has already begun again because they will both be up here before the 7th of June for our wedding!!

Memorial Day Weekend

Happy Memorial Day to all. Thank you to those who have served in the Armed Services.

In exciting news I traded in my 2008 Chevy Cobalt for an amazing new vehicle for me. I got a 2011 GMC Terrain AWD it rides like a dream and has a lot more room.

Watch out world it has warmed up a lot here in the last couple days. It has been in the 70's, I had forgotten what that felt like after 232 days. I have been busy planting flowers and grilling everything possible on the grill. I also created a new recipe with inspiration from two salads. One was a Grilled Corn Orzo Salad with Chili Lime Vinaigrette and Mediterranean Orzo Salad

Now for the long anticipated Salad. I am having a hard time coming up with a cool and funky name for it...
1/4 cup feta cheese crumbles
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced
1 cup orzo, uncooked
2 ears sweet corn
1 avocado, chopped
¼ small red onion, minced
2 Tablespoons chopped basil

Dressing
½ cup olive oil
honey (can use however much you want) I think I used 2tbsp
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 teaspoon chili powder (Next time I will use a little bit more)
Salt & pepper

Cook orzo in a large pot of salted, boiling water until al dente. Drain and rinse under cold water. Set aside.

Shuck corn then grill for 5-6 minutes, rotating every minute or so to evenly char on all sides. Let cool slightly, then cut kernels off the cob.

Combine cooked orzo and corn kernels avocado, red onion, olives, feta and basil in a large bowl and stir to combine.

For the dressing: Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine or you can put it in blender. Pour over salad and toss to coat. Serve chilled, or at room temperature