As I was sitting down last night eating some leftovers I turned on the TV and got sucked into watching a rerun of 16 and pregnant. I strongly dislike that show. There was a 15 year old boy complaining to his 16 year old (PREGNANT) girlfriend that he's only fifteen, did she know how hard it was going to be to get a job at 15? But he didn't want her to give up the baby. Well, than maybe you should've thought of that before you jumped on top of her and got her pregnant. Two scenes later she was complaining that she wanted to finish school and go to college and me, me, me. Well newsflash honey, once you have that child your life no longer is about you, it is about that little person that you are responsible for. There is a reason why most people wait until they have finished school, gotten married and are older to have children. Younger people are not emotionally or financially ready to support a child.







I think that MTV's 16 and Pregnant is a horrible show, yes it shows how hard it can be to be a young child and get pregnant why do we even need to have a TV show about that? Most young children know this fact already. The show itself isn't so bad in terms of sending the wrong message to teens about what it's like to be 16 and pregnant, it's the teens themselves that are pregnant and still think that the wolrd revolves around them that makes me want to shake some sense into them.






Which leads me into my next rant...Teen Mom. Yes, I get sucked into watched that show every week. But why is MTV glamorizing these teen mothers?? Farrah puts the want of a boob job before her child's education first; she could be putting that money she spent toward a college fund for her daughter. You are a mother now, superficial things like boob jobs are no longer important. Gary and Amber can not get their act together and stop fighting and cussing in front of their daughter. So when she cussing is preschool no one else is to blame but themselves. And then everyother week at the grocery store, they are plastered on the cover of yet another magazine cover. Stop putting these mothers into the spotlight and let them focus on getting their lives together and providing the best life possible for their children so that they're not in the same position when they are when they're 16. Yes theses shows provide for good entertainment, but do they really provide a good example to any pregnant teens out there? Or teens in general? No. We are a media a society and we should be using the media to set a good example and as far as I'm concerned we could be doing a much better job of that. But, hey that is just my opinion.

Vegetables :)

I tried out a couple new recipes for vegetables this weekend...very quick, easy and super good ones at that so I thought I would share with you all :)

Fried Zucchini
*Cut the zucchini into 1/4 inch pieces
*Heat up 5 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan
*Make a breading using about 1/2 cup bread crumbs, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and seasoning of your choice (I used a little garlic powder, paprika and a touch of Seasonal)
* Beat two eggs in a small bowl
* Place a couple spoons of flour in another bowl
* Place the zucchini in the flour, then the egg and then the breading.
* Put the zucchini slices in the hot oil, fry each side about 3minutes, until golden brown.

Broccoli
* Heat 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive in a frying pan
* Once hot, add in either a clove of garlic or about a teaspoon of minced garlic, let simmer and brown.
* Once the garlic starts to turn brown, add in your FRESH broccoli.
* Let your broccoli cook on a medium-low heat until the tenderness is to your liking.
* Cut a fresh lemon in half and squeeze the entire lemon over the broccoli.
*Sprinkle breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese over top and let cook for a few more minutes

Double Decker Brownie Cookie Bars

Ingredients:



•Chocolate Chip Cookie Layer:


•24 Tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) butter, cut into tablespoon slices


•2 cup firmly-packed light brown sugar



•3 cups all-purpose flour


•1 teaspoon baking soda


•1/2 teaspoon salt


•2 large egg, at room temperature


•2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


•2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips


•.


•Brownie Layer:


•12 Tablespoons (1-1/2 sticks) butter, cut into tablespoon slices


•3/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder (Ghiradelli brand preferred)


•1-1/2 cups sugar


•1/2 teaspoon salt


•2 large eggs, at room temperature


•1-1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract


•3/4 cups all-purpose flour


•.


•Chocolate Topping:


•4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate bar, chopped (or substitute 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips)


•1 Tablespoon butter


Preparation:


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Place rack in the middle of the oven. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with non-stick foil or grease with butter or shortening.






Melt 12 tablespoons butter over medium heat or slowly in the microwave. Remove from heat and whisk in brown sugar until smooth. Set aside to cool to room temperature, but still liquid. This will be for the cookie layer, after the brownie layer.






Brownie layer:


Melt butter over medium heat or slowly in the microwave. Remove from heat and whisk in cocoa powder. Scrape into medium-sized bowl with a spatula. Add sugar and salt, whisking to combine until smooth. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each addition until blended, adding vanilla extract with the last egg. Using a large spoon or spatula, mix in flour just until blended. Pour into prepared pan, and gently spread evenly over the bottom of the pan. Set aside.






Chocolate chip cookie top layer:


Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Stir with a fork or dry whisk until evenly mixed. Combine flour mixture with cooled butter/brown sugar mixture until smooth. Whisk in 1 egg and vanilla extract, mixing again until smooth. Fold in chocolate chips.






Space spoonsful of cookie mixture over the Brownie layer. Gently smooth with a spatula to create an even top layer.






Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with small gooey bits. Do not overbake. Cool to room temperature.

Professional Wedding Pictures :)

I finally got my DVD with my professional wedding pictures back! :) I thought I'd share a couple of them with all of you all in case you'd like to see them, if you don't want to see them well then booo on you! There's so many to choose from so I'm going to do my best not to overwhelm you all!

Theses are just a couple of my favorite, if you would like to look at all of our wedding ones feel free by going to the website.
http://www.sapphirestyle.com/
click on events
click on price and coviello
enter your email address
enter the password (becky-- all lowercase)
enjoyyyy!
xoxoxo

Scrapbook

I love to scrapbook, it's a hobby I have that most people would not expect me to have because it is something that is crafty.  But I love doing it, even though it is time consuming, I love the end result of it! I've made a couple scrapbooks for friends and given them to them as gifts because I think they are so personal and something they can keep for a lifetime and always look back on the memories we made. I just finished mine and Chris' "engagement"scrapbook (I did a dating one as well) and I thought I would share the end result with you all.  I'm not as pleased with it as I was with our dating one but I do love it. 

 The Cover

Page 1

 

The quote on these two pages reads "Once in awhile right in the middle on an ordinary life, love gives you a fairy tale."  The first page is dated November 23, 2010 because that was when Chris returned home from his last deployment and the second page the pictures were taken a couple days later; we were trying to get a decent Christmas card picture.

These pictures were taken during a couple outings to DC shortly after Chris had returned home

These pictures were taken a weekend we went up to New York. Even though it was freezing we had an amazing time.  We saw the Rockettes, which was an absolutely fantastic show, even Chris enjoyed himself! That was definitely a spur of the moment show and I'm so glad we were able to do it! We also bought our wedding rings in the diamond district, took a carriage ride through Central Park and pretty much wandered around the city all weekend and had a great time eating some pretty terrific food along the way :)

A couple of our engagement photos :)

Back to NYC for New Year's 2010! We went to see Lion King on Broadway for my mom's birthday the night before New Year's Eve and it was AMAZINGGGG!! I would highly recommend going to see it if you are in the city and have the time.  It is absolutely unbelievable! The characters voices sound just like the movie and it is so captivating, Chris who wasn't really looking forward to it loved it! We walked over the Brooklyn Bridge at sunset, which was beautiful.  It was a long walk, but so worth it, the view of the city is so breathtaking.  We went on a booze cruise with my sister, her boyfriend and parents for New Year's Eve which was a lot of fun, cold but fun.  We even got to see fireworks over the city at midnight which was definitely an experience.  It was definitely a fun filled weekend.

 My mom surprised us both and put our engagement in the local paper :) It's a simple page but that's all that's needed with something so special.  I'm really glad she did something so thoughtful for us and that we'll be able to show our kids in the years to come.

A couple of pictures from our fabulous engagement party. What a wonderful night that was,  we seriously have the most amazing people in our lives who are truly so happy for us and that night was such a blessing for the both of us, we had such a great time with all our friends and family.

 A select few pictures from my wonderful bridal shower that my awesome bridesmaids threw me.  A day that I will honestly never forget.  I have never felt so much love and happiness in one place, it was such a special day for me.

A rare opportunity that Chris left on his uniform to drive home and Fred had his camera handy when I got home so of course I drug Chris outside to take a couple pictures, clearly you can tell how happy his is about it :)

The quote reads " Love doesn't make the world go round. Love makes the ride worthwhile." Just some random pictures of Chris and I from throughout the year.  Clearly, I have an obsession with green screens and Chris "tolerates" my obsession.

Ahhhh, the night before the next chapter in our lives begins and what a fun night it was!!

Well, that's it! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed making it!

xoxox!

4th of July!

This year for July 4th, Chris and I finally were able to make it down to my aunt and uncle's annual July 4th party! It was so much fun, we had a great time! The weather was perfect and it was a nice and relaxing vacation! Well, relaxing might not be the best word to describe the trip but it was a great family weekend trip. Sad to see it end, looking forward to it next year already!

My sister and I hanging out in the pool, early in the day before the volleyball games and drinking started, before it started getting craaaazy!

Clearly thrilled to be taking more pictures :)

Family shot :)

Cousins :)

This year, they started an annual competetion for the best IPOD playlist, everyone got an hour and half to play their playlist and katie won by a landslide, here she is accepting her award and ITUNES gift card, which we all know she can clearly use.

And of course it won't be fourth of July without some fireworks so t he Schmaltz boys set off some of their own fireworks which were pretty amazing if i do say so myself!

All in all it was an amazing weekend filled with lots of laughter, dancing, food and family.  A much needed family weekend for Chris and I. And of course, a day to remember to America's hero's, a day to remember why we are the land of the free, the home of the brave.  A day to take a quick minute to say a prayer for all the troops who put their lives of hold so we can go on with ours and enjoy all the freedoms that we do.  Obviously having a husband in the serivce makes me extremely proud of all our troops but also him and what he does on a daily basis.  Yes, it is hard and lonely for me when he is deployed but he makes me so proud that he is fighting for the good of our country, I can't help but love him just a little bit more.

xoxox

5k in support of cancer research

My sister and I recently signed up for a 5k in New York that is hosted in the Yankees Stadium; how exciting is that?? We are both pretty pumped to run a race that is actually being held inside the stadium!!  I personally can't wait to run the warning track that so many superstars have run on :) All of the proceeds that are raised will be donated to a cancer research foundation.  I think this is very important because cancer touches the lives of so many Americans, and the more research that can be done the more possibilities of cures being found.  Although we only have to raise $160 to be allowed to run, we want to raise as much money as we possibly can; so if you have an extra dollar to two to donate, please click the link below and support our cause. 

http://damonrunyon.org/yankeestadium?tr=y&auid=8584778