Because HR appreciates everything you do....have a payday!

Did you know that National Employee Appreciation Day is always the first Friday in March? Well this year my employer celebrated! First, let me just say that I am shocked that I was allowed to proceed with this project, but so glad that we were able to do a little something. 

To complete this project I searched all over for 600 candy bars. Yes, you read that correctly: 600. We have 300 employees and each got 2 bars. We clearly are not promoting employee health…but alas I think everyone enjoyed their goodies when all was said and done. 

I didn’t find all the bars in one trip, so I sent a few other people out to hunt them down for me. Thank goodness we were able to find enough! 

Then the grueling task of putting together 300 goody bags. I may or may not be exaggerating on it being grueling. Perhaps time consuming is a better word. Although I had plenty of offers for help, I put them all together myself over the course of several days. It took a tad bit longer than I thought it would. 

Tags/Cards printed, cut, and hold punched. Phew!

I made 300 business card sized cards and then assembled each bag and tied it off with a green ribbon. Given that the State/TAMU is going through such a huge budget cut (28 million with talks of up to 60 million, but don’t quote me on that) it should come as no surprise that times and money are tight. A green ribbon along (the color of $) with a “100 Grand” and “Payday” are my attempt to poke fun at the situation while also showing how much we appreciate each employee. 

"You are worth more than 100 Grand to us. We appreciate all you do for the Hospital and want you to have a"Pay Day""

So what do 600 candy bars look like?:

Nom-nom-nom

Protein, anyone?

It’s surprising how quickly managers run to pick up candy as opposed to boring paperwork. All-in-all it was a fun little project and I’m so glad we celebrated this year.  And I learned that a Pay Day has about 7 grams of protein. Maybe I was promoting employee health after all. ;)

Subliminal Advertising..It Works on Husbands

.....It works....even when you don't realize you're doing it.

Have I ever mentioned how awesome Stephen is? For Valentine's he totally surprised me and got me not one..but THREE massage sessions at a local spa. The funny thing is that he claims I was sending him subliminal messages telling him what I wanted. Each week (usually on Wednesday) we get the "junk" mail...you know the ones with all of the coupons, advertisements, etc. Well, every once in a while the spa has a giant one page ad. I am so used to seeing it that I hardly ever give it a second glance. Stephen claims that I shoved it in front of him several times. He thought I was trying to give him hints.  I in no way, shape, form, or fashion tried to sway him. I was probably just too lazy to put it in the trash. I wish I knew it was that easy to get him to cave in and I'd try it more often!

Salsa and Sore Throats

My favorite part of Mexican dining is the chip-n-dip. More specifically I looooove salsa. I've already mastered my favorite green sauce/guacomole dip and it's a crowd favorite (perhaps I'll share that another time) so I thought I'd try my hand at salsa. It turned out to be surprisingly easy! Now I never have to be without my beloved appetizer...unless of course I don't have all the ingredients. Which happens a lot.

Most of the ingredients are things you probably have around the kitchen. As this was my second batch I had stored some of the materials in containers. But you'll need whole tomatoes, jalapenos, an onion, fresh cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, and lime juice:

So normally I don't follow a recipe, I eye ball it. This may be why I'm a horrible cook, but nonetheless this recipe turns out great. Forgive me for my lack of exact measurements and for leaving an ingredient out (garlic). I'll put the recipe I semi-followed at the end.

First, I take some canned whole tomatoes. [I only had one can of tomatoes so I asked Stephen to pick some up. He at least got whole tomatoes, but he got the 14.5 oz can instead of the 28 oz can.  Two big cans or 1 big can and a small can seem to work just fine.] Fresh tomatoes would work as well but I would recommend plum tomatoes that have been skinned.

Then I gave them a little chop. Even though everything goes into the blender/food processor...a little chop, chop helps it grind better. Be careful....they're juicy!

Then I took about 1/2 a can of jalapenos. Some recipes call for green bell peppers instead, but I prefer the jalapenos. If you're feeling frisky and like a little hotness..you might even add in a little of the juice. If you don't like it to too hot, then don't add the seeds.

Onions! Of course this recipe calls for onions. They're a Mexican food staple. I used half of a large onion. White seems to be the preferred onion when it comes to salsa, but I'm sure any onion would work fine. Chop it up. You're chopping would probably look 10 times better than mine. Thank goodness it goes in the blender and looks don't matter!

Now for some fresh cilantro. I bought it in a bundle (its even organic) and now have more cilantro than I know what to do with! It smells terrible! I think a little goes a long with with cilantro, so take the leafy bits and chop a small amount.

I

Add all of this to a blender/food processor and then add in lime juice, salt, pepper, and cumin. What could be easier than that! (Notice beautiful Scentsy warmer in background to cover up awful cilantro smell :)

It's literally as easy as 1-2-3!!!!

It makes quite a bit of salsa so I store it in a large container.

The flavors get better the older the sauce gets. It all blends together wonderfully. Best served with El Milagro chips...or as well call them "Austin chips" as they are manufactured in Austin, TX. And if those aren't available serve with your favorite tortilla chip!

Delicioso! It would be even more delicious if I didn't have strep throat. I was feeling sickly all last week and by Friday I was struck with a terrible sore throat. I put aside my stubburnness and detest for doctors and went to the doc that afternoon. Turns out I have strep throat and some fluid in my ear causing pain. I used to get strep a lot as a child but have not had it in years. He gave me some antibiotics and I'm slowly starting to feel better. Not 100% yet, but glad to be a little better. Hoping I'll be well enough to eat my salsa tomorrow for lunch! :)

RECIPE
-3 cups chopped tomato (or canned)
-4 teaspoons chopped jalapeno
-1/2 cup green pepper (optional)
-1 cup onion
-2 cloves of garlic(which I totally forgot to add to my batch...oops)
-1/4 cup minced cilantro
-2 tablespoons lime juice
-1/2 teaspoon cumin
-1/2 teaspoon black pepper
-1/2 teaspoon salt

(PS. If you prefer your salsa less as a sauce, use the same ingredients and just mince/finely chop it all up and skip the blender.)

Enjoy!

Catch Up Time!

And the award for worst blogger of the year goes to......ME!

Wowsers! It's technically been well over a year since my last post. I keep trying to get back in the swing of things but I feel like I don't know where to start. Guess I might as well start somewhere.... so it looks like late on a boring Wednesday evening is as good a start as any! Although this is not jump starting my plan to go to bed early....but that's another story.

2010 was a great year! I say this because if nothing bad is happening...that's my kind of year! The only notable happening to mention here is that I graduated with my Masters in Human Resource Management, and with a perfect 4.0. Super pumped to be done with school. Next up: my PHR Certification (Professional in Human Resources.) That's my goal for 2011!

2011 is shaping up to be pretty exciting. Hopefully as things progress I'll do a better job of keeping you up to date on Spann Clan happenings!

Let me take this opportunity to fell you a bit about my new hobby! Back in August, right before we were about to go on vacation to Delaware/Philly/Washington, I started to get a strong desire to take pictures. Not just any pictures, but "good" and creative pictures. So I purchased a dslr camera, a photography book, and a memory card and got to work. I've done my "homework" practically every single day since I got the camera. I want to learn as much as possible. At this point I feel very comfortable with how the camera works, but I'm perfecting how to see creatively.

So on that note...let's play catch up in pictures!

Over the past few months I've taken plenty of photographs of my children (aka our doggies). Here's Maddie:

Became addicted to Scentsy. It smells soooo delicious!

In October Stephen and I went to Beavers Bend (Oklahoma) with Dad and Linda for some camping fun.

I also did a "photoshoot" for a friend on her birthday. My first official gig. ha!

 Christopher got his Aggie Ring in November! This is a big deal to us Aggies and we are all super proud of him for his accomplishment. Everyone (except Bryan) got to come down for the celebration so it was a great time had by all!

I celebrated my 26th Birthday in November..complete with a mid-life crisis. (Irrationally speaking, if my mother lived to be 49 then 26 is well past my prime.) 

On Thanksgiving day we did something new and celebrated at the Lucks. I took some pics of the kiddos. Here's one of my favorites from that day:

 And then it was December! Christmas! I took plenty of pictures of all my trees. Here is our Charlie-Brown Christmas tree at work:

My small tree at home in CStat. (We inherited the Atkinson tree so next year we'll have a bigger one...unless Stephen makes me abide by that whole "bigger tree when kids" rule....in which case the small tree is working pretty well! No rush.)

 And the Atkinson/Lehman tree in MP. A new tree with combined ornaments from both our families. I had a great time at Christmas home with the family, and I feel so lucky to have each of them in my life. And what an even bigger blessing to have an even bigger family this year!

With January almost under my belt, and plenty of new and exciting things happening in 2011...I can't help but think that I am exactly where God wants me to be. I feel very blessed and I'm looking forward to this new year. And hopefully I'll do a better job of keeping you updated AND with plenty of pictures!!