A lesson in Lasagna

If you know me at all,

you know that
I DON'T EAT CHEESE.

In my attempts to be a good wife,

I have started cooking with cheese.

A few months ago, I tackled

lasagna (Jake's favorite food).

The recipe called for Parmesan, 

mozzarella, and ricotta cheese.

Excuse me, what is ricotta?

I went to the supermarket and 

found the Parmesan easily enough...

Then I went to the deli and they sliced

me up some fresh mozzarella 

(only the best for Jake!)...

Then I asked for this mysterious "ricotta."

The man behind the counter 

was stumped.  He said deli's

don't carry ricotta.

So he sent me to the fancy cheese 

section, and sure enough, I found a

wedge of "ricotta." The recipe

called for 16 oz. and this thing came in

lbs, but oh well.  I found it.  Great!

It was a little pricey, but

I bought it and took it home.

The recipe then tells me to combine

the ricotta cheese with an egg.

Strange...but hey, I've never

made lasagna before!  

So I grated up that ricotta cheese

and mixed it with an egg.

It looked very...clumpy.

A few hours later, 

the masterpiece was complete:

Jake and the missionaries loved it

(at least that's what they told me).

A day or two later, I was shopping

at Target and came across this:

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh...(Picture the
proverbial lightbulb above my head).

So THAT's why my mom's

lasagna contained something

 cottage cheese-y. 

Well, lesson learned.

Next time I'm skipping the

fanciness and going straight

to this crockpot lasagna.

5 ingredients,

no ricotta,

done. 

America's Birthday

Jake was working nights the week

of July 4th, so we celebrated the

holiday after he got off work that morning.

First off,
red, white & blue waffles:

Then, we checked out an awesome

state park called Kelly Springs.

It's a natural lazy river!

We tubed down the river for a few hours, 

then went home so Jake could sleep.

We both agreed we need 

to go back soon.

A quick dinner before work

was short ribs (mmmm), sweet

potato fries, and corn on the cob.

After Jake went to work,

I met up with some of his

co-workers to watch fireworks

downtown, at Lake Eola.

A cool addition to the fireworks

was a fountain show in 

the middle of the lake.

I love the 4th of July!

It's been cool to watch fireworks

in different places the last 3 years:

Washington DC, Niagara Falls,

and now Orlando.  Where to next?

Note to self...

Putting your phone on top of 

your car is a bad, bad idea.

Especially if you leave it 

there and drive away.

And this is why I have no

pictures from Jake's birthday.

RIP little Droid.

A manly Father's Day

My dad happened to be in Orlando

for business a few weeks ago, so we got

to celebrate Father's Day in person!

For the occasion, we pulled out

the grill that Jake got for his birthday.

Watching her father and husband

put together a grill is a sure way

to warm a girl's heart.  :)

We had a wonderful 3 days together.

Thanks for all you do Dad!

And looking forward to when this guy will 

be a dad. He's sure gonna be a great one!

(sorry, no announcements yet)

Prime numbers are the loneliest numbers

Poor Jake.

He really liked being 30.

And he doesn't like prime numbers.

But June 8th arrived nevertheless,

and Jake turned 31!

We celebrated for a week.
It started off with dinner (at Thai Thani)
and a movie (X-Men: First Class)
with Aunt Barbara and Uncle Ray.

On his actual birthday, I surprised Jake
at work with cookies for him and his co-workers.

After work, we went on a date to Giordano's
(Chicago-style pizza), followed by Jake's
favorite dessert: Yogurtland.

Then it was present time!
Unfortunately, I recently lost all of the
pictures saved on my phone, so I can't
share with you Jake's excitement over his new
scrubs (thanks Spencer) and earbuds (thanks Adam
and Cam for the consult on Skullcandy).

But here is a picture from Jake's
phone of his new favorite beverage:

Jelly Belly + Soda =
one happy Jake!

Seriously, can you believe how
perfect this gift is for Jake?
I was pretty excited when I
discovered it at TJ Maxx.

We wrapped up the week of
celebrations with a fun game night
with some of our Orlando friends:

Trista and Ty

John and Carley

Matt and Margaret
(thanks for the new game of Things!)

James, Adriane, and cute baby Mason
(they have since moved
to Utah and we miss them!)

Russell
(don't worry, he's harmless)

and Brock.

Happy Birthday to the best husband,

son, brother, and pediatrician around!

Sister Sue

This is my sister, April:

She recently turned 21, and is now

serving a mission for our church

in San Jose, California.

For the next 18 months, she

will be known as Sister Poulter

(although she'll always be

"Sister Sue" to me).

Before she left on her mission,

she came and visited us in

Florida, along with my parents

and younger brother Adam.

As a future missionary, her

main vacation request was to go to 

the Orlando temple, and we obliged.

But then it was time for some fun!

(Not saying the temple's not fun,

but just thought she should

see some other things while here)

We went to Cocoa Beach and

tried to watch one of the last

shuttle launches, but it was 

canceled at the last minute,

due to some technical difficulties.

No problem, we still enjoyed 

relaxing and playing at the beach.

I think our sand castle for Flat Stanley

could have used the help of a few

5 year olds, but still...not too shabby!

Then it was off to Disneyworld.

We did 3 parks in 2 days.

Adam and I at Hollywood Studios.

The whole gang at Epcot.

Enjoying the Flower and Garden

Festival at Epcot.

Fierce Vikings at Epcot!

Italian birthday dinner.

Happy 21st April!

We'll miss you and will

see you next year!

Visitors from the Lone Star State

My cousin Aubrey and her husband Tyler 

are pretty awesome parents.  On a road trip 

between San Antonio and Washington DC, they

decided to detour in Orlando and take their girls

to Disneyworld for THREE days.  Kaylee (4) and

Allie (2) were very surprised, and pretty darn excited.

We loved having them stay with us, and I had fun 

joining them for a day at the Magic Kingdom.

The girls got all dressed up to meet

some princesses.

 The gang with Mickey and Minnie.

 Kaylee is my little buddy from when

I lived with her family in Washington DC.

She wanted to go on almost every

ride with me. From Dumbo...

...to fighting space aliens and the

Evil Emperor Zurg...

...and even Spash Mountain!

Yep, that's a brave 4-year old.

Her only complaint about the ride?

We didn't get wet enough.

Jake was busy at work during the day,

but enjoyed chilling with Kaylee at night.

Jake will read you Bernstein Bears 

if you come visit too.  :)

Thanks for a fun time, Horner family!