{ RECIPE :: Grilled Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken}::

this must be a good recipe if i'm going to post it! and indeed, it is! we had this for dinner last night and it was so yum! party in the mouth with delish flavors! i'm not even a huge fan of balsamic vinegar, but this was really tasty! i totally plan on adding this into our menu of meals.

INGREDIENTS:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, thawed (I use the big Costco bag)
Pinch of salt
¼ Cup balsamic vinegar
¼ Cup extra virgin olive oil
8 slices fresh mozzarella cheese

4 Roma Tomatoes, seeded and diced
8 fresh basil leaves, stacked, rolled and thinly sliced into chiffonade
3 cloves fresh garlic, minced
Pinch of salt
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat a grill pan over medium heat on the stovetop. Spray with cooking spray. Combine balsamic and olive oil in a bowl. Season both sides of chicken with pinches of salt and place on grill. Brush top sides of chicken with balsamic mixture. Cook for 4-5 minutes and flip chicken. Brush with additional balsamic and cook for an additional 4-5 minutes or until cooked through. During the last 2 minutes of grilling place 2 slices of cheese over top each chicken to melt.
2. In a large bowl combine the tomatoes, basil garlic, salt and balsamic. Toss gently to combine. Place chicken breasts on a serving plate and top with tomato mixture. Serve warm.

we had grilled asparagus and these mock cauliflower mashed potatoes : and instead of using chopped up garlic, i actually roasted a bulb of garlic with a little olive oil and wrapped it in foil and cooked it for 35 minutes on 425 in the oven. and then you just squeeze out the garlic into the cauliflower and mix it up, it's SO GOOD!!! and i may have used a half stick of cream cheese but used fat free and it was delish! ENJOY!

{ Pictures on the Run } ::

Brody and I had to run downtown this morning to run few a errands, so i figured if we were going to head downtown, we might as well go for a run and feed the ducks while we were at it. the weather is great today, so it's nice to get out and soak up the sun while it kisses our faces. if you recall this 'picture on the run post', i do mention that columbus is the best for running. well richmond is in the running for taking 2nd place. i love the history that richmond holds and for the colonial atmosphere and it's sweet southern charm.

i like taking pictures on the run, it's fun to caputre the moments and remind me of the things we see as we... (in the words of brody) " go go go" ! we live in such a beautiful city and i love it! brody was a little upset when it was time to actually start our run... he thought he got to be the runner and push me in the stroller! he even said 'here mom, i show you, you hop in and i push you!" if only it worked that way!

but i've got to admit...this kid makes my day, everyday!! his little personality beams brightly that i can't help smother him with kisses and hugs!! with a little brib and reminder that we were off to see and feed the ducks, he was pleased to hop in and get going! LOVE that little boy of mine!!

we had a fabulous run (loving this weather outside!) and we had a good time feeding the ducks. i'm not too sure who enjoyed the bread more, brody or the ducks. :)

i must also credit some of the pictures to brody himself for taking them. i'm telling you, the kid has skillzzz!

with out further a'do...
Pictures on the Run :: Downtown Richmond Style

{ over the weekend...} ::

late friday afternoon we hopped up to D.C. for a little weekend adventure. i got us a stellar deal on orbitz and we stayed just a few minutes outside of downtown D.C. in an area called Tyson's Corner. how fitting huh? :) we ate a yummy early dinner, went swimming in the pool and then relaxed in our extra fluffy bed watching a movie together.




saturday we got up, ate at our hotels breakfast buffet which i scored for free in our orbitz deal. sweeeeeeet! then we headed over to the D.C. Temple. it was a first for us all to visit this LDS Temple and it was beautiful! we walked the grounds and went through the vistors center.




then we headed into the city and went to the National Aquarium. we had a blast checking out all the fun fish until brody decided it was time for a melt down (awesome!) so we left and brody screamed "i want to see the fishies" all the way out to the car (double awesome!)




we headed out to the car and drove over to Georgetown for a late lunch and had amazing bbq (yum!) and tasty cupcakes, we also added in a little history too. it was a drizzly day but warm, which was actually really lovely.






we also just quickly hopped over and checked out the gorgeous Cherry Blossms! we have plans to be back up there the next few saturdays to check these beauties out again. can't wait!





we headed home around 4:45pm and were home by 6pm and enjoyed a relaxing evening at home and spent our sunday going to church and spending time together. a simple and fun weekend!

{ hello, march! } ::

Life has been fun, and our days have been great, and i am finally starting to feel more settled in our new home and new "non-student" life. can you believe we've been here now for almost 3 months. crazy! i'm not 100% yet, BUT, as I knew things would, it's getting better day by day with the adjustment of being somewhere new. not gonna lie, i still miss ohio so much, and i am sure i will feel that way for a long time. it might sound soooo silly and ridiculous, but my heart still has some sort of void with all the change that happened so fast. but that's me and that's life. everything is still great, i just have my moments. i'm human and it's me.

But now that things seems to be slipping into a more regular routine and things feel more comfy now I am so happy to let things slow down and to enjoy the little moments with our little family. The sun has been shining bright around these parts, the weather forecast looks great, and it makes me happy. I love the people I spend my days with...and I am so happy that I get to be brody's mom...it's better than just about anything. I am pretty lucky and I know it, but I don't take it for granted. I can't believe how fast he is growing. Everyday really is more fun, but it makes me sad to think how fast it goes by...although I am trying to soak it up as much as I can now so I am not regretting how we spent our time together later. Life is good. brody is my favorite. The husband isn't half bad either (Who am I kidding? He is a total keeper!)




march snuck up on us and now it's almost over. how did that happen??? while the begining of the month may have brought a day or two of cold even a little snow to us, that has changed drasticly for the good. hello hot weather! we've enjoyed our weekends together. and notice tyson with that pie? of course we had to celebrate pi day back on 3.14!



our days are spent at the children's museum, being crafty, sitting in the sink blowing bubbles and brody using his incredible imagination by building the "Temple" out of water bottles. love him!



super brody and his goggles, this kid cracks me up! and a friend of mine, little girl wanted a "Tangled" themed birthday party so she let me help out and i made her invites and cute little Pascal party blowers. i think they turned out super cute!



there have been a few days that have been so warm that we've spent some of our time inside in the AC and paint. painting rocks was a huge hit! and that spot on our couch is seriously brody's favorite place to be.



just doing some of our daily stuff...grocrey shopping and saying hi to the cow in front of the store. fancy, eh? and one of our weekly favorite things, lunch dates with tyson, defintely a highlight for us! we love that we get to see Tyson for lunch every week and spend a little extra time wit him. i feel so lucky! and a little shopping at Target too, is always a good way to spend quality time. ;)



i made a super speedy fast weekend trip back to Columbus last weekend. yay! i signed up to run a race with these lovely ladies and it rocked! i had a blast and got to see wonderful friends and eat some of my favorite food! before i headed back to richmond, i stopped by kelli and neal's house for a few hours. everytime i've seen them, we make a little "hello" video for brody. he's watched them not only on the computer but i've kept the video on the camera too for him to watch. all week he's watched it over and over again, for over a half hour. ha! he loves them sooo much!!!



before i left for my quick to ohio last friday, it was 89 degrees, so it was time to run through the sprinklers and eat popsicles! it's march, right? while i was away last weekend brody and tyson played together...it was also St. Patricks day, so i made sure to plan some fun green things for my boys. i made brody a cute lucky leprechaun treasure hunt that tyson set up for brody the night before. he loved it, and his yummy treats and it was a fun surprise for brody.



this past week has just been beautiful! we've spent almost everyday at the park! seeing all of nature come to life makes me giddy! i love spring! we are so spoiled to be having such great weather. but shoot, i'll take it! :)

{ chubby bunny } ::

a few weeks ago it was cold outside. it's kinda hard at this point to think about what it was like to be cold, seeing to the fact for like the past 3 weeks it's been above 80 degrees and we've been soaking up the sun! but there was a day where it was chilly and staying inside was the thing to do. so what's more fun than playing with marshmallows and eating them? for this little guy, nothing! he thought it was awesome and it kept him entertained for more than an hour. and as he would shove marshmallows in his mouth i would make him say "chubby bunny". it cracked me up. i love our time together and how much fun we can have, even if it just simply includes toothpicks and marshmallows!!

{ Double Take } ::

here's brody at 1 year old & now at 2.8 years old

isn't it crazy how fast they grow?

{ the happiest place on earth, indeed!} ::

months and months ago...i was talking to my brother on the phone and he was telling me that they were planning a trip to Disneyland in February. At the time we didn't know our future plans,but i asked if we could tag along. of course he said yes! once we knew what we were doing, tyson bought brody and i plane tickets to Disneyland! such love! we were so sad Tyson couldn't join us, but we know there are many more Disney trips in our future.

brody and i set off for 5 days of adventurous fun! brody LOVED every moment of it! i knew he would! every morning he would roll over in bed grab my face with his little hands and say "mom, let's go to disneyland RIGHT NOW!" and then give me a sweet kiss! and i would reply, "well, LETS GO! cheers and jumping up and down on the bed followed!

we had the best time and were SO happy to be able to spend time with my family! those that know us, my family is disney obsessed! so, nothings quite better than spending time doing something we love all together. it went by far too fast!

brody asks at least 500 times a day to go back and fly on a plane. and we've been back from that trip almost a month! brody thinks all you need is a ticket to fly. well indeed little one, you do "just" need a ticket, but too bad that ticket cost $$!

if you recall we took this trip for brody's 1st birthday and he loved it at the time, but of course doesn't remember it. but to take him at this age was a dream!! he was so good and so happy! i love how adventurous brody is and how he wasn't afraid of anything. he loved the train that takes you all around the park, he adored the buzz lightyear ride, along with the tea cups, dumbo, soar'in california, the little mermaid ride and the tiki room just to name a few! i think it was fun for him to see rides and characters that all go along with the disney movies he's seen and piece it all that together. so magical for him! oh such fun we had!

and on top of it all...i got to spend my Birthday at Disneyland! that was the cherry on top of a great trip! happy birthday indeed!

but let's not delay this any longer...let the slide show of pictures begin!






















The magic is as wide as a smile and as narrow as a wink, loud as laughter and quiet as a tear, tall as a tale and deep as emotion. So strong, it can lift the spirit. So gentle, it can touch the heart. It is the magic that begins the happily ever after!!