Superb week

It may seem as if I have been slacking on the blog, but there are valid reasons for that, 1.) we had visitors all week, and 2.) before the visitors arrived I had to finish my two summer classes. This past week was indescribably superb. Tyler and Amelia came to visit and we are already missing them! They arrived last Monday morning and the fun started right away! We ate at yummy restaurants, cooked yummy food at home, shopped till we couldn't fit anything else into the trunk, and went to the ocean enough to all receive sunburns (Tyler wins the prize for the lesser of all the burns).
Some specific highlights: (and anyone thinking of coming to visit, hopefully this post convinces you)
-We spent a full day in Foley, AL at the Tanger outlet mall. So many good deals. The best deal was that we received an unexpected check that allowed for some great new clothes for both of us!

-Our sushi night ended with a walk on the beach in the dark using our phones as flashlights. Thank goodness for iPhones and great apps. We saw SO many Jellyfish. Thinking they came in from the two days of rain. They were everywhere and if we turned off our lights we could see them glow in the dark. Such a sight in that clear, clear Pensacola beach water. During our walk we also saw the biggest sand castle any of us had witnessed. John tried to find the architect by asking every kid around. Too funny.

 -We purchased a couple body boards and had quite the time hitting waves with them. Lia wins this prize for being quite the go-getter out there in the water. She lived on that board. The first day we took them out it was a "red flag" day and people were not allowed in the water without some sort of board. The currents were crazy. And the size of the waves was even crazier. 

-We ate out by the water on Saturday. It was beautiful. And the food was great too. Only down side was we forgot to grab my box of leftovers. I'm still trying to get over it.

 -Sunday, we went for a dolphin cruise! It was a beautiful day for a boat ride, and we had two dolphins swim along the boat for what seemed like forever. It was cool to see. There were other dolphins as well. We got our money's worth. There was even a dance party on the boat! And I'm hoping one of my pictures will win me a free ticket for another trip.  

Other than these specifics, we watched a few movies at night, went to the beach twice more, shopped on base, ate pb&j's on the beach, John and Tyler went for a run on the base beach, visited some tattoo parlors, walked out on the fishing bridge, played with Belleau, ate huge plates of Mexican food, made homemade pizzas, and so much more. This week has made me like Pensacola a little more. Maybe one day I'll end up loving it as much as I did Virginia.

 I really want to do it all over again. Who's next to visit? 

Meatless Monday's and John flying!

I'll get to the food portion, but first let's talk about John ... who has been FLYING for the last week!! He flies almost daily and is still home at a decent time (1400 ish). He has had some awesome landings. In his words, "It's exciting. It's fun. It's challenging." On Wednesday I heard a plane that sounded low, so I jumped out of my seat and went out back with Belleau to check it out. Sadly, I couldn't see it through the trees, but about two minutes after I came back in, I received a text from John that said, "Hey look North, I just waved." How cool is that? He really is loving it.

I wish I were learning to fly ... I am still jobless. I had an interview that went very well yesterday, but got the call that I didn't get it. I personally saw eight other people that were interviewing for the same position. Talk about competition. Surprisingly, I don't feel so bummed today. It's in God's hand and I'll leave it at that for now. To keep busy (when I'm not doing homework) I have been making cards rather religiously, which I thoroughly enjoy. If anyone has a need for some cards, let me know.

Belleau is getting so big, so fast. She has had multiple play dates with other dogs and she is just the friendliest thing you'll ever see. She played with a puppy Golden Retriever last week, and completely crashed after the puppy left ... I'm talking slept 14 hours! She is a riot. Her latest best friend is a French Bulldog, Meya. She copies everything Meya does ... while they run around at the beach. And she LOVES the ocean ... even with the waves crashing in. It's so adorable. Then she is absolutely pooped afterward, which we love. Belleau (or Bells, Belly, Bell, Belsa) is sleeping till 0700 every morning! It's been great. Such a big girl, and still no accidents in the house or crate.
Just noticed her update is getting to be the longest ... guess that goes to show who gets the most attention around here.

On to food:

Last Monday, John and I had our first "meatless Monday"... meaning I made dinner without meat. Ha. This NEVER happens (we even add meat to frozen veggie pizzas), but I thought I'd try it once and see how it went over (great way to cut down the grocery bill a little). It went great! We had Greek spinach feta burgers. They were SO yummy. And meat eating John agrees completely. The leftovers were fought over.
We will probably have the exact same thing for the next "meatless Monday".
The full recipe can be found on this blog, but I'll give a quick run down here.

For the burgers you need: 
1/4 olive oil
1 clove garlic minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried dill
1 cup herb stuffing mix
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1-10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
salt and pepper

Combine everything and form into four patties, heat a skilled to medium high heat, spray with cooking spray and cook the burgers for 4-5 minutes per side. The outside should get crispy and brown.


for the simple tzatziki sauce you need:
1 small container non fat greek yogurt
1 small cucumber chopped finely
1 minced garlic clove
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
salt and pepper

To make the sauce, add everything together in bowl and stir. Set in fridge to chill.

to assemble the burgers you need:
4 whole wheat hamburger buns ... toast them!
red pepper ... don't skip this, it's a must!
red onion. sliced thinly
tomato slices
extra feta crumbles


and you get ...

bugs bugs bugs bugs

Let me tell you what I don't like about Florida. THE BUGS. They are everywhere. I get bit on average 4 times a day, and that is no lie. The first two weeks we were here I had 19 mosquito bites. NINETEEN at once. It was horrible and has not been any better. I spray down every time I take Belleau out and still manage to come in with new bites. Currently I have ten. Three of which I JUST received after taking Belleau out for five minutes (and they have inspired me to write this). Insane. My skin cannot take this. I have never been as ready for winter as I am now. I love the sun, love the beach, but the bugs out weigh those perks. Any secrets, friends? I have tried several "heavy duty" bug sprays, AND candles, and pants/jackets. They just love me.

I wonder how the summer bugs are in Virginia? Cause I sure miss it there. I miss Crate&Barrel, Cheesecake Factory, outlet malls, free museums, friends galore, substitute teaching, West Elm, having the best base nearby ... ah, that was the life.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Florida. In fact, when my bites aren't itching, I really do enjoy it here. Our house is adorable, the beaches are great, lots to do and fantastic places to eat.

Enough with bugs, all this talk is only making me want to scratch more.
Belleau is getting bigger (duh) and has been a GREAT pup. She really has. She is now officially potty trained (haven't had an accident in a loooong time). She did get a little sick and is now on medicine, but she is getting back to her wild self.

fell asleep on my lap

John is studying away! This Friday he will complete the ground school part of IFS and next week will get to fly! He does homework everyday on base, then comes home and does more homework. Poor guy. He is taking in so much information and most days says his brain hurts.
I am still on the hunt for a job, but have a good lead ... so pray. I am staying busy with making cards and working on my homework. Only two more weeks of my current classes then TWO classes left and I will have a Master's degree. Guess it's time to think about what to get next.
Food. Oh, we are eating yummy food as usual! :) Favorites lately: new steak marinade, Italian drip sandwiches, pesto-corn pizza ... is it lunch time yet?

marathon!

A kayaking marathon. It really was a marathon. John picked our route for the trip and picked the 26 mile route on purpose. Now that it's over and done, I can say I am happy about it. But Saturday around 4pm, I was not a happy camper.

This was a fourth of July for the books. We drove to meet the wonderful Eckhardts for a kayak/camping trip. We did a lot of kayaking! Friday night we sat up camp and got little sleep (setting up camp after 10pm is not recommended). The birds woke us up bright and early and we packed up. We then drove to drop off our cars at our ending location, and hopped into an SUV that took us to our starting location. We somehow managed to pack everything into and on our kayak... by everything I mean: food for five meals, a tent, sleeping bag and blanket, two sleeping mats, camping stove, fishing gear, loads of water bottles, and other misc. items. It all fit. I was amazed. Shame on me for doubting my overly prepared husband (by overly prepared I mean he guessed right).

So once in the water, the paddling began. The lake, I mean river, was still as can be. It was not functioning properly, i.e. not flowing AT ALL. So lots of paddling, lots and lots. We completed 16 miles on Saturday! And our bodies were feeling it. There was one mishap this day ... other than the burns and hunger and thirst ... a kayak flipped, and it wasn't ours.

Quite the excitement and it had to happen at least once. Everything was saved and nothing was ruined but a deck of cards. Oh just writing about this 16 hour day is making my shoulders hurt all over again. We pulled off to camp and it was quite the night! Started off with a family giving us cold drinks! We were desperate for something cold (eight hours in 96 degree weather will do that to ya). Pepsi and Mountain Dew never tasted so good.

We then had some dinner, no hick-ups there. Then played a little Phase Ten and all decided it was time to retire by 10pm. So off we went to our tents, and less than thirty minutes later we were all wide eyed and watching a 'coon go through all of our stuff! They primarily wanted Bran's "snack" bag, who can blame them? So we scared them off, and moved things inside the tent, and back to the tents we went. Lo and behold, there they were again. After the peanuts and other random snacks were placed at my feet, I was convinced they would tear through the tent to binge eat. Needless to say, Brandy and I were up most of the night. The husbands had no worries. Call me crazy for being scared of fat 'coons. 

Back on the water we went Sunday. Sun burnt and exhausted, but the day was fantastic in every way. We stopped several times for a swim (we had less miles to travel), and had lots of laughs. We made some great time on the water, and no one flipped over. By the time we made it back to our cars it was 2pm and we all felt very accomplished. We set up camp again and went for one last swim in the evening. Then we decided to shower and GO TO DINNER. That's right, the campsite had a little, tiny restaurant. We came back and played Farkle. Such a great ending to the weekend! Nothing went "wrong" on Sunday. In fact, I slept best that night (minus the wind storm). Overall, I would do it again. With the same people (they are our favorites!). Hope your fourth of July weekend was a memorable one!

finally some news!

We actually have news to report to our blog readers! We'll start with Belleau. She is just a riot and could have her own weekly posts. Latest news, she never did "pass" the plastic bone she ate. Just last Thursday, we were out on the hammock and Belleau was laying at our feet then started gagging all of the sudden. She has only thrown up once before (too much water too fast) ... we both jumped up and were a little nervous. In her pile of throw up was the part of the bone she ate (10 days earlier!) and a red plastic piece (from what ... who knows). Cannot believe it. Glad it just stayed in her stomach ... could've ended in surgery otherwise.

She has not destroyed anything else (thank goodness!!). Still cracks us up. She can now jump up on our bed (it's low), but cannot get back down. So gets up, then just cries and whines because she is too scared to jump back down. It's pretty cute.

Okay, on to more "news" ... John starts IFS (Introductory Flight Screening) on WEDNESDAY!! IFS is the first step in what we are bundling together and calling "flight school." At IFS he will get to FLY a lot! And get to study A LOT :). I am excited for him. Sad our days together will be shorter, but shouldn't be quite as bad as TBS. Many fun stories to come.

Still no job for me. But the jobs "close out" in the next two weeks, so we shall see. It's in God's hands, though I am starting to get a little frustrated. He knows best. He knows best. He knows best. And as if not having a job is bad ... check this out ...

I woke up today with a swollen left eye
And have no idea why
Hoping it turns into a stye
But I ain't looking too fly
Enough with my eye.

Let's end on a couple good notes! We purchased a new toy! A red tandem kayak! It's a beauty. Has cushioned seats and all. We just picked it up today (John has spent a good majority of the last two weeks shopping and shopping and shopping and shopping ...) and we will hopefully take it out tomorrow! Otherwise it will be taken out for our 4th of July adventures with the Eckhardts!

One other "good note" ... after talking about it for 18 months we have finally made our own sushi! It was quite exciting. We smoked some salmon and haddock, then made a fresh crab mixture, used cucumbers, avocados, green onions, and just got crazy with it! It was quite yummy. We are trying to get good before Tyler and Lia come visit ;-) (IN JUST FOUR WEEKS!!!!)

That's all from us Lynch's for now.

Sunday creation: PIZZA

Once again, I am writing about food. It is consuming our lives. Having John home at 0800 every morning means we have the opportunity to cook three meals together. Needless to say, our dishwasher has been working overtime. Some days we do have to take a cooking break and catch up on the left overs that are overtaking our fridge. In Virginia, we rarely were able to prepare dinner together (let alone breakfast and lunch). But here in P-Cola, we are putting out some amazing dishes in this Lynch kitchen (not that I didn't alone ... it's just more fun with John). John and I have very different cooking styles, he can throw anything in a pot (do some magical wand twisting) and it turns out amazing. I am much more cautious. I love to cook, but am not yet at a place where I can just grab out of my fridge and pantry and make something worthwhile. unless it's pizza.

We are pizza peeps. Love pizza. Could eat it everyday and seek out the best of the best whenever we are. We did find the best in the D.C. area (which I have already mentioned in a previous post) and have our favorite take out pizza and a favorite frozen brand even! But nothing compares to the masterpieces we create ourselves. We have dubbed Sunday pizza day, whether that's making a new creation or trying a new pizza joint.

So with all that said, I have to share our most recent Sunday creation. The idea for the pizza is partially from a picture I saw of a pear flat bread. From there I thought of what bold cheeses would go best with pears and what meat compliments those cheeses. And here is what we came up with ...
A pear, lean sausage, blue cheese, sharp cheddar cheese, sage and honey pizza with an aioli sauce. YUM.

You will need:

• Pizza dough [We did not make our own dough this time (though I do have a great, simple recipe) we used a Boboli crust, which I would recommend unless you are making your own.]
• An aioli sauce [it's a garlic sauce: we used garlic (doy), two types of oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper then used a blender till it became a mayo consistency...just looked it up online]
• One pear, thinly sliced (peel on or off) 
• Lean or turkey sausage, about 3/4 lb
• Blue cheese, 3-4oz crumbled
• White sharp cheddar cheese, shaved (roughly 5oz)
• Sage, teaspoon (we only had dried, and that worked great) 
• Honey, about a full tablespoon

The assembly (in order):

Aioli sauce, sharp cheddar cheese, pear slices, sausage, blue cheese, sage, then drizzle the honey on the top. Bake at 425 (either on a preheated stone or directly on rack) for 12-15 minutes. Indulge.

yum. yum. yum.
I didn't take pictures of the assembly because I didn't know how it would turn out, and I didn't take pictures of the final product because it turned out so good that it was gone in a matter of minutes. Pizza doesn't last long in this house, have I mentioned how much we love pizza?

Food has been our excitement lately. From grilled pineapple to turkey burgers that make you drool. And peanut butter cookies that are way too easy to make...and eat. But let me try and update you on something other than food.

• John is still getting home early everyday (0807 was a record last week!) and we are enjoying our days together. Little P90, making lunch, some shopping online, some shopping in stores, movie, maybe a nap, trip to the beach, trip to base, mowing the grass, hanging up pictures, test driving cars, homework, playing with Belleau, ahhhh. I love flight school so far ;)
• Belleau is growing up and still enjoying our toes a little too much. She comes and tells us she has to go out now for potty time. Such a big girl. And is an amazing swimmer! She experienced her first swim Saturday, we were amazed. She swims with ease. Adorable. She also ate one of her bones ... a plastic one. She ate about an inch of it, and we are really hoping she can "pass" it if you catch my drift. Poor baby.
• I should hear back about a job next week. And also applied for three others in another district. Fingers crossed.
• We are heading to the beach in a couple hours. 
• Our hammock is up! And lovely, and comfy, and perfect.

Let's talk food.

It is 0635 and all I can think about is the amazing dinner we prepared and consumed last night. To be honest, the reason it’s so imprinted in my mind is because it’s causing my eyes to water every time I have an itch. I cut up jalapenos, which is not a rare thing. But these were rare jalapenos. The recipe (I’m getting to that) calls for two, which to me is not very much. I just followed the recipe and these two jalapenos are HOT. I washed my hands about four times after cutting them (with soap and all) and my little fingers are still burning my eyes every time I scratch that little itch.

Okay, enough about my burnt fingers (is it called burnt? Burning?) and on to the recipe that deserves a blog posting.

We made this salsa last summer. It was a huge hit (remember, MarLa?). Most looked at it and said, “uh, no thanks” and after a little encouragement that it’s not as strange as it sounds, it received lots of oh’s and ah’s and many “it just taste so fresh.”

The story: John has been grocery shopping for us a few times and each time he comes back with something he just couldn’t pass up (much like my dad). So last summer, he went shopping at HyVee and came back with a HUGE watermelon … for the two of us. Now, I do like watermelon, but consuming one with just one other person is no easy task. He assured me that it was okay because he found a salsa recipe at the grocery store that called for watermelon (you can imagine my face here). So we made it and made enough to feed everyone we know. 

Here it is (and thank you, HyVee, for giving us this recipe):

You will need:

·      Watermelon, 1 cup, diced (we cut ours into about ½-1 inch squares or as close to square as we can get). We also put the watermelon in a strainer as we are cutting up everything else. It obviously has a lot of water, so getting rid of some of that helps the salsa out. It will be watery in the end, but that watery mix at the bottom is delish.

·      Kiwi, 1 cup, diced (roughly 2 kiwi, cut the same size as the watermelon slices)

·      Cilantro, 1 tbsp, (I just tear it into tiny pieces with my hands, or use the kitchen scissors)

·      Onion, 1/3 cup, chopped (we used white both times)

·      Jalapeno peppers, 2 tsp, finely diced (watch your eyes!)

·      Lime Juice, 2 tsp

·      Dash of salt

In a mixing bowl, gently stir all ingredients together. Enjoy. Refrigerate leftovers for one to two days.

Now, we did not just have salsa for dinner (although we could have). The whole reason we made the salsa is because John, yet again, bought a HUGE watermelon when he went grocery shopping. We used about ¼ of it this time and will grill the rest tonight.

In addition to the salsa, we had taquitos that I found a recipe for on a food blog. I won't share the entire recipe but will give you the blog site (thank you, Stephanie!). Find it here: chicken taquitos

They were yummy! John LOVED these. Our rule is (maybe I've shared this?) we make something once and if we love it that first time, I write the recipe out and it goes in our recipe box. We are picky with what goes in there, but I can guarantee everything in there taste a bit like heaven. And the taquitos have found a spot in the recipe box.

we cooked ours longer than what it said. we love crunch.

dippers: guac, salsa verde, and sour cream.

This is getting long, but I must give some Lynch updates: 

1. John is currently attending a motorcycle class so he can ride his bike on base (and I can have the car!!!). His schedule has been so nice it is hard to know what day it is. He leaves here at 0645 (same time Belleau and I leave for a morning walk) and gets home around 0900! Everyday is Saturday. He is thinking his first phase of school will start here in two weeks, and I'll have to say bye-bye to weekends everyday.
2. Belleau is currently sleeping, AND slept through the night (first time, we are still in disbelief).  She is still keeping us busy but is getting easier and easier. She loves John, more than any toy and more than me.
3. I have applied for a few jobs ... all teaching jobs (please be praying that God's will is done and He gives me favor with the school districts here). AND I have hung a few things up on the walls. Paint to come next week ... hopefully. 
4. We tried one church and have two more we'd like to check out before we call one "home". More on churches to come later. 

That's all from us, try the salsa!