daily bread: week 2

Here we go for the second week of photos!

Turns out, I do okay at actually taking the pictures, but am horrible at posting them!

[January 16] One of my favorite things about going to Atlanta and staying with Lizzy and John is walking their dogs in the mornings with Lizzy. Her dogs are crazy and adorable, and we get a free hour of therapy when we walk the dogs and talk...(We also stumbled upon this quite impressive snow fort built by some kids in her neighborhood!)

[January 15] Lizzy and John's house...great friends...football Sunday...TONS of food! We all gathered to cheer for our team and play games, and had a wonderful time. Check out this SPREAD of food!

[January 14] On the road again...Heading to Atlanta to spend the weekend at my second home (the Burge / Mello household...thanks Lizzy and John!)...

[January 13] Every Tuesday for the past year or so, Andy, Sarah, and myself have gone to one of my favorite restaurants, Taqueria del Sol, to enjoy our weekly Taco Tuesday. Because of the snow, we rescheduled for Thursday this week. Below is the "after" photo...empty Coronas, an empty basket of chips, and an empty cup of queso...YUM!

[January 12] On the third day of snow and ice, I went back to work, and then joined some good friends for dinner. We tried a new restaurant called A Tavola! and then had a yummy adult beverage at Normal Bar. My dear friends Carey and Brad were my company. Here, she is sporting his hat ;o).

[January 11] My next post will include more photos from the SNOW WEEK 2011, but my good friends Andy and Sarah came over to hang out during one of the few days that we had off of work, and during their visit my neighbor's dogs decided to stop by my front porch. My neighbor has two Alaskan Malamute dogs who just had three adorable puppies. We stepped outside and completely enjoyed watching them jump around in the snow...pure joy.

[January 10] My co-worker brought this soup to work one day, and I knew that I HAD to have the recipe. This was my first attempt at making it, and it was absolutely delicious! You MUST try it...

Southwestern Chicken and Rice Soup with Tortilla Strips

1 medium onion, chopped

1 large carrot, peeled and chopped

1/2 medium red bell pepper, chopped

1 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

3/4 cup uncooked white rice

2 medium plum tomatoes, chopped

1 to 2 Tbsp. chopped pickled jalapeno slices

1 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. black pepper

8 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves, chopped

Juice of one lime (2 Tbsp.)

1 ripe avocado, chopped

Tortilla chips

1. Saute chopped onion, carrot, and bell pepper in hot oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat for seven minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add minced garlic and saute one minute.

2. Stir in chicken and next five ingredients. Stir in chicken broth. Bring to a boile, reduce heat, and simmer for twenty minutes or until rice is tender. Stir in cilantro and lime juice. Serve with avocado and tortilla strips.

(Of course...I added cheese... ;o)).

Enjoy!

best words, part 7

"Then the time came when the risk it took to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom."

- Anais Nin

[ps...posts from 'blizzard 2011' and week 2 photos are forthcoming...]

daily bread: week 1

As mentioned in my resolutions listing, I'm attempting to take a daily photo, which I'll be posting here.

Are you people ready for this?!

A daily (posted weekly!) dose of Danika!?

[Note that some of the photos were taken on the phone, which isn't super great...I've decided I'm going to try to stick to a real camera from here on out...]

[January 9] Today, I'm posting my first set of 2011 photos, from a delightful coffee shop called Two Story Coffeehouse, and drinking some green tea. Yum. Today, I'm thankful for photos, good music, and tea, and I'm hopeful for snow. Happy Sunday.

[January 8] I'm not sure what your favorite part of the weekend is, but I would venture to guess that most people are thankful that they do not have to work and can use their time however they choose to... For me, the highlight of each weekend is not the pure fact that I'm not at work, but rather the fact that because I'm not at work, I can wake up and make a delicious, hot breakfast...complete with eggs (with green onions and feta, of course!), turkey bacon, potatoes, toast, grapefruit, yogurt, and whatever else strikes my fancy. Coffee or tea are also a given... {very important}.

[January 7] I work with Andy, who is married to Sarah. During the last year, they have become two of my favorite people. One of our favorite hobbies is spending time at Walker's, drinking coffee or beer, and playing board games. (I feel confident in saying that Walker's and games will be mentioned a lot over the next year!) This is the newest game that we have started playing...called Dominion. It's semi-ridiculous but totally amazing and addicting. Check it out.

[January 6] This is probably something that no one will laugh at, except for my co-workers...who don't read this...however...I look at this at least 28 times each day, and laugh at least 27 of the 28 times, so I figured it was at least worth a mention. This is on one of the white boards in our office, and the hilarity is two fold:

1. The top box indicates restroom rules for proper trailer toilet etiquette: #1 ONLY in trailer #1 (where our offices are) and if #2 is required, the boys must go to trailer #2. Someone mentioned #1.5, and we're not even going to go there ;o)...

2. The trailer MOJO meter...we had a few tough things at work recently, and are working to increase our "mojo"...My co-worker's wife is the one who gifted this meter to us, and I love it.

[January 5] Technology is a great thing, however prior to my car telling me EXACTLY how much I can push it until I run out of gas, I NEVER would have run it down this far...one. mile. left. Thankfully, I made it to the gas station, but I was definitely sweating it for a minute...

[January 4] Because of a random night shift at work this week, I had a few hours off in the middle of the day, which I used to go CRAZY cleaning my kitchen. We're talking EVERYTHING. It's wonderful, and I feel so fantastic and productive when I do things like this...great way to start a new year. I fully satisfied my anal retentive cleaning tendencies. As usual, this cleaning experience didn't come without it's clutzy Danika moment, however... I managed to drop an entire (essentially full) can of oats on the floor. I couldn't help but laugh.

[January 3] Overall health is definitely an objective / resolution for 2011. Below is one of my major obstacles...CHEESE. Cheese is practically a food group in my world, and is a part of {almost} every meal. This photo was taken during my first grocery shopping trip of 2011, and I wanted all of it...BUT...I settled for a small portion of brie. Yum. I'm also throwing in a second picture...no great story...just liked it.

[January 2] Lizzy and John are two of my favorite people in the world. I have an unofficial bedroom at their house, as they are gracious enough to let me stay there whenever I am in Atlanta. I have enjoyed spending a lot of time with them recently. With them come two crazy pups...Charlie (a Chesapeake Retriever) and Rooney (a rambunctious mut). During my most recent visit, it was bath-time for the dogs. Charlie is slightly older and wiser, and handles baths like a champ, understanding that it will be over quicker if he just stands still and cooperates. Rooney (shown below) on the other hand, doesn't do *quite* as well, and requires assistance from Lizzy. We died laughing watching the little guy squirm...

[January 1] We celebrated the one year birthday of some good friends, Daniel and Rebecca. Below are Greyson (1 year) and Daniel (more than 1 year). I'm not sure who enjoyed opening Greyson's birthday presents more, Daniel or Greyson, but either way, a great time was had by all.

[blessings...over and out]

re:focus - 2011

Well hello there, my dear blog.

You have probably forgotten who I am, by now, as it is has been many months since I have visited you, but do not fret - I am back.

Let's get reacquainted...

[NEW YEAR'S EVE]

Everybody celebrates this day differently.

For me, the hype of doing something fancy and frilly is too much, so I prefer to just spend quality time with friends over food, beverage, and whatever brings the most laughter.

This year, that involved some great folks in Atlanta, ridiculous amounts of buffalo chicken dip , Miller Lite, and the game of Things (wonderful game...everyone should play!)...and it was perfect. (For those that know me well, you may find it hilarious that I was awake at 11:57pm and at 12:07am, but asleep at the stroke of midnight...pretty standard).

New Year's DAY, for me, often brings a time of reflection...

...of things that went well last during the past 365 days...

...of things that could have gone better...

...of things that I am thankful for...

...of things that I want improve upon / do differently in the next 365 days...

...and of things that I look forward to being completely new in the new year...

For me, the turn of the year serves as the perfect moment to regroup and refocus.

It's the end of a significant but manageable amount of time that is perfect for self-evaluation.

SO, after my moment of reflection, here's what I've got...

{success}

learned a LOT at work (and had fun along the way)

made new friends in and fell in love with a new town

{thankful}

for family

for health

for independence

for my beautiful world

and there's always {room for improvement}...so my 'resolutions' are...

• move: continue running. enjoy nature while doing so. run a 1/2 marathon. find new ways to be active.
• eat: eat healthy food. home cook food. try new recipes. cook without recipes. enjoy delicious food.
• budget: reverse my spending problem. save. budget. enough said.
• shoot: take pictures. lots of them. one per day, in fact. (will post here..)
• read: more. books. cookbooks. non-fiction. fiction. everything.
• love well.

I hope that the recently passed holidays treated everyone well, and I look forward to hearing and seeing from you all in the coming year.

Let's show 2011 the business.

{only love}