Dinner Last night

I've been trying out new recipes via my Pinterest Dinner board. There are so many yummy dishes all around, sometimes it is hard to choose just one! I wanted us to shy away from having chicken all the time, so decided to try a shrimp dish. It was Delish! Simple ingredients and simple process. Even Andrew liked it (he doesn't always like the new dishes) and said we should make it again.

Orzo with Feta, Basil and Shrimp

1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp. sweet Spanish paprika

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp. sea salt, plus more, to taste

3 cups orzo

1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, snipped into small pieces, plus 4 to 6 whole leaves

1/4 lb. feta cheese, crumbled

In a bowl, stir together the shrimp, the 1/4 cup olive oil, the paprika, red pepper flakes and the 1/2 tsp. salt. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours. *I only let it sit for about 20 minutes and it still tasted great!

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the orzo, stir well and cook until al dente (tender but firm to the bite), according to package instructions.

Meanwhile, in a large fry pan over medium-high heat, warm the 2 Tbs. olive oil. Drain the shrimp, discarding the marinade, and add the shrimp to the pan. Cook, turning once or twice, until the shrimp are opaque throughout, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer the shrimp and any pan juices to a plate and cover to keep warm.

Drain the orzo and transfer to a warmed serving bowl. Add the shrimp and their juices and stir several times. Add the snipped basil and cheese and gently stir again once or twice. Garnish with the whole basil leaves and serve immediately. Serves 6 to 8.

*For the Feta Cheese, the variety I used was tomato and basil. I only put in what I thought looked good, rather than a 1/4 lb. 

*For the basil, buying fresh is really expensive here, so I put in 1/2 tsp instead.

A few pictures from our last nine months in Alaska

Although most of our photos are on Facebook, I decided to share a few of the pictures we took during our last 9 months in Alaska so you can see what we've been up to! (not in any particular order).

Talkeetna, where Mayor Stubbs lives.

Moose at Kincaid Park

Hiking to Snowbird Hut

Doing Puzzles with the Mitchells.

Trying out the Hookah

Andrew's re-enlistment (June 2013)

Rick & Sheryl came to visit

Denali National Park

Beginning Gull Rock Trail with Alex and Danielle

Andrew's Marathon

Cross country skiing at the golf course

In Fairbanks/Chena Hot Springs

The ice museum

Apple martini in a glass cup!

The "Ice Bar"

Coming back from a loooong hiatus!

Well Hello!

Obviously I have not kept up with sharing my adventures to everyone. For that I apologize. Our last nine months in Alaska went by so fast and we crammed so much into that short time. A couple of days ago I re-vamped the design etc of this thing and I hope it will encourage me to keep this up!

I have been thinking about this past year and doing research on ways to live more graciously, more simply, and work on building up our nest egg/gaining full ownership of the red Subaru. I want to live a fuller life. Stay tuned for my thoughts on 2014!

Midnight Sun Cafe

We sat in a  sunny front window of the cafe.

Andrew had a pepper-jack turkey sandwich

Many lunch options! And they prepare it right under the sign!

I had a delicious one called 'Zeus' that had artichokes, onions, roasted peppers, lettuce, mozzarella and salami.

101 in 1001

So I have been following a blog of someone I went to college with and she is doing a project called 101 in 1001 - as in 101 goals in 1001 days (or 2.7 years). You can read more about it at www.dayzeroproject.org or just Google it.  And being me, liking to make lists and things, I think this is a pretty neat idea. I've been thinking about it. What types of goals would I have? What projects would I find doable and most enjoyable?

The blog post I read this in has plenty of homestead goals - after all, they do own a house and have started a family. For us, as much as I would love to put on there 'paint the kitchen' or something along those lines, we are soon to be in a moving state and putting something like that would be silly since we don't know what our next living space will be like.

Think, think, think. I have a few categories picked out: Personal, Creative, Professional/Education, Travel & Food (those too I stole from her). Can I really come up with 101 goals with just those five categories?

We shall see! I'll post when I've got the list!

Who else would like to try this with me?

Yoga anyone?

I've decided to get into the practice of yoga. I went about a month ago to a class at the gym and really enjoyed it. Since I work until 6 every night, I'm not able to go during the week, but one of my girlfriends has been doing Jillian Michael's Yoga Meltdown Level 1 and I decided to try it out. I've been doing it for about a half week now (and on my awesome new blue flower yoga mat Andrew bought for me!) and I am definitely feeling a difference! I've been doing it in the mornings before work which is working out pretty good so far. We will see what happens next week as we drop down to one car again :(.

I never thought this would happen, but I am already feeling the effects from a couple of days. Yes, most parts of my body are sore, but I can already see I've gained flexibility and I feel looser - not so tight and wound up!

I haven't done a lot of running at all, even though I should be. For right now, I would like to continue in this yoga mindset and get a little bit stronger, and then in February or March I plan on starting some training for the Twilight 12k/Skini Mini 6k. We shall see where that takes me.