H5F 01/29/2016

Something new that I'd like to try on the blog is a recurring post on Friday called, you guessed it -- HIGH 5 FRIDAY. These posts will highlight what I'm loving this week, good things that have happened, whatever. It might involve sports, social media, my personal life, books, whatever... just FIVE things I would give a HIGH FIVE for! STARTING NOW.

1. I found THIS VIDEO yesterday on Facebook and I have watched it about 15 times now. I'm a sucker for spoken word, especially when it relates to some cause(s) that I believe in.
2. 
   ERIC BERRY!!!! Eric Berry might be on my list for the rest of the year (okay, not really... but he should be) because he is ERIC BERRY! This guy was diagnosed with cancer at the end of 2014, and not only did he BEAT IT, he started in the home opener for the 2015 season and got a pro-bowl nod! All on top of running the Eric Berry Foundation, which just won $20,000 from the WPMOY Charity Contest.
3. Venesia is in a production at her school and they are performing them this weekend. She is in a "short" that is murder-mystery themed and she ends up getting murdered by way of a PEN to her NECK! She has been really excited about these plays and I'm looking forward to her getting to show her stuff.
4. I made a playlist for January that I'm really loving. Sometimes you just need good music.
1. Good To Be Alive - Andy Grammer
2. See You Again - Wiz Khalifa
3. The One That Got Away - Jake Owen
4. Hello - Adele
5. Gone, Gone, Gone - Phillip Phillips
6. Same Love - Macklemore
7. The Anthem - Good Charlotte
8. Slide - The Goo Goo Dolls
9. Try - The Backstreet Boys
10. Pompeii - Bastille
11. Back Here - BBMak
12. Like I'm Gonna Lose You - Meghan Trainor
13. What Hurts The Most - Rascal Flatts
14. Here I Go Again - Whitesnake
15. Gives You Hell - The All-American Rejects
16. Drink You Away - Justin Timberlake
17. Bring In On Home - Little Big Town
18. Break Up With Him - Old Dominion
5. 
   I found this quote on the internet a couple of weeks ago, but I found myself reflecting over it this week when I heard from an old friend. When I think about the friendships that I have now versus those I used to have, I know that the depth of friendships is way more important than the number of them. I am so thankful for the people who hold me up when I'm feeling down. XXO.

ESPN & Coffee

I've spent the past few weeks watching a lot of ESPN and drinking a lot of coffee. Lately, things have been stressful and I'm trying to find the balance of work, personal life, relaxation, and sleep. Since getting back from Houston, I haven't felt like I've been able to recover. It was such a great weekend that is has left it hard to adjust back to normal life. Right now I'm trying to transition back to the day-to-day workings of home and school. Naturally, I will document this for you in photographs:

I've started working on my Goddaughter, Aniston's, "YEAR 1" scrapbook. Her mom and I have talked about this a bit and she chose the pictures that she wanted included, and I'm being the creative brains behind the operation. I've had a lot of fun looking back through the pictures and I'm finding it so hard to believe that she will be ONE in March. I can't imagine how her mom and dad feel!!!

 

With the new semester came the starting of novel units in class at school. Right now, classes are reading the following books:
- LA1: To Kill A Mockingbird
- LA2: Animal Farm
- LA3: The Great Gatsby

I actually, in my working memory, had never read Animal Farm before, so this has been a learning curve for me.

  

The following are just some random photographs that I've captured over the past weeks. Just some fun snapshots of my cat, my most recent Fanatics order, the greatest dog that has ever lived, and a few others.

 

 

Really, I wish this batch of photos were here to chronicle a Chiefs narrative about how they are going on to the Super Bowl, but alas, that's not in the cards. Instead, the day of the playoff game against the Patriots, I went in and had about 3 inches of hair chopped off because I needed a change of pace. I've never dyed my hair, so cutting is really the only option. It's coming up on 3 years since I shaved my head, and it's hard to believe how fast and well it has grown. There are definite textural differences, but I'm blessed that it is as healthy as it is. As far as the Chiefs hoodie -- the day that the Broncos played the Patriots, I supported the good guys!

  

  

Overall, life is rolling. Other than being sick this week, I can't complain. Venesia is in a play production at school, has a dance at school next weekend, and a job interview the week after that... so things have been busy trying to keep up with her. I'm planning to visit my friend Shelby in Tulsa, OK at the end of February, so I'm looking forward to that.

I hope all is going well for all of you. Happy Thursday! XXO.

CURRENTLY

As most of us on the internet do, I follow a number of blogs. In reading blogs the other day, I came across this fun, simple survey about what I'm currently doing. I thought I'd share it with you today!

Obsessing over...

"Determination becomes obsession and then it becomes all that matters." - Jeremy Irvine

Working on...

Catching up on my personal scrapbook in addition to getting Aniston's "YEAR 1" book done for her birthday in March! I'm having a really great time looking back at all of these old memories, but it will be such a relief to not be behind on it anymore. [This is an ongoing project, and I'm still a year behind, haha].

Thinking about...

The Chiefs family is talking about wanting to venture to San Diego this fall considering it could possibly [mostly likely] be the last year that the Chargers play there. I want to travel more this year and I'd love to go, so I'm just getting anxious about when they'll play there, logistics, etc.

Anticipating...

Baseball season. I've already been obsessing over the schedule, figuring out which games I want/will be able to go to. Coming off of such a crazy year of baseball in Kansas City, I'm looking forward to just going out and catching a few ball games with beer and peanuts.

Listening to...

Right now, Hoarders is playing on the TV. Watching shows like this miss make me feel like my house is far less dirty than I feel it is... As far as music though, I've been listening to Gavin DeGraw and Good Charlotte a lot today. And yes, I know what decade it is.

Eating...

Today all I have had is water and soup. I'm feeling a bit under the weather!

Wishing...

I am wishing/hoping for the opportunity to travel to see friends more. I have friends all over in various cities and states, and I would love to be able to see them and the places that they live. There's this one thing standing in the way... oh right, money...

RECIPE: Slow Cooker Cheesy Bacon Ranch Potatoes

As I've mentioned on the blog before, I meal plan for my household for a couple of weeks at a time. Lately, with everything going on in life, I've been searching high and low for crock pot recipes to make things a little bit easier. Who doesn't like the idea of your food cooking while you're at work? This time, when I set out for new ideas, I came across this recipe for SLOW COOKER CHEESY BACON RANCH POTATOES.

The ingredients that you need for this recipe include:
- 3 pounds of red potatoes
- 1.5 cups of shredded cheddar cheese
- 6 pieces of bacon*
- 1 packet of dry ranch dressing mix
- 2 tablespoons of chives*

I found that once the prep work for this recipe was done, it was super easy! I had gone ahead and bought bacon that needed to be cooked before hand, but I think next time I would just use bacon bits to cut out that extra time.

I also used a crock pot liner. Who knew these existed?? I just recently came into using them and they are a GAME CHANGER. (Venesia surely appreciates having a lot less to clean).

 

I started by putting a layer of potatoes in the bottom of the crock pot (about 1/3 of them). I then layered bacon, cheese, and ranch powder over them. The original recipe calls for only 2 tablespoons total, but I used more than that for my personal taste.

I repeated the layering process until there were a total of three layers and all of the my ingredients had been used. I put a little bit of extra cheese on top and then covered it with foil.

 

 

I cooked the potatoes on low for about 8 hours. At the end of this time, they were the perfect tenderness. Instead of using fresh chives, I used dry chives for our potatoes.

We had the potatoes with pork chops and green beans; they were a hit. What would you serve them with??

What I've Been Reading...

I wish I could tell you that I've been doing a ton of leisurely reading in my free time, but that's just not the case. I read one book over Christmas break though, and I'd love to recommend it to you guys!

Eleanor & Park was the perfect novel for the modern-day girl who is a little self conscious about her body. Eleanor is a high school girl who has some body issues and has to figure out how to let somebody love her even though she's not sure she loves herself. Park is a high school boy who is trying to figure out who he is, how his friends play into that, and how to love somebody else who he never expects to feel anything for. IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THIS - GO! FIND IT!

For the next month or so, class novels will take up my reading time. We are reading the following books at CHS:
LA3: The Great Gatsby
LA2: The Book Thief
LA10: Night
LA1: To Kill A Mockingbird

I'd still love book recommendations to add to my TBR list - whatcha got for me?

Restaurant Review: First Watch

I wouldn't normally do two "restaurant reviews" so close together, but I felt that First Watch deserved some love, so here we are. The 13 Best Breakfasts in KC was put on hold when Venesia came to our lives. Honestly, money is better used in other ways now, but I'm hoping to finish out the list this year! As something to tide you over, I have a short brunch review of First Watch. There are a few locations around Kansas City, but this is actually a national chain. Luckily, it's one of those chains that you can't tell is a chain because they use locally sourced products and each restaurant is quaint and charming.

For this visit, we went to the location off of Southwest Trafficway near Westport. It was a Sunday morning around 8:00 and we walked in and were given a table immediately. I liked this place already. We ordered coffee and juice and took a moment to look over the menu. I had been to FW before, but it was when I was gluten-free, so I hadn't looked at most of the menu options.

The two dishes that we ended up ordering are listed in order:
1. Eggs Benedict - Turkey and Avocado: Two poached eggs atop a toasted English muffin piled high with turkey and avocado covered with hollandaise. Served with fresh, seasoned potatoes.
2. Bubba's Benny: Our house-made biscuits sliced and covered with sausage and over-easy eggs. Topped with savory turkey sausage gravy. Served with fresh, seasoned potatoes.

 

Both dishes were delicious, but I enjoyed the Turkey and Avocado Eggs Benedict more because it felt like such a light, fresh dish. I love avocado on anything, so that may have had something to do with it. I also think that their seasoned potatoes are worth mentioning because HOLY COW THEY ARE GOOD.

We had a great experience and really fantastic server who chatted with us about the Chiefs game and more. I would definitely recommend that you go try First Watch!

RE-Introduction

Do you ever feel like you need to re-introduce yourself? Like, Hi, I've been doing this for so long that I've forgotten that some of you may not know me? Or more importantly, that some of you DO know me, but maybe not as who I am now? Lately, I've been feeling like a re-introduction is needed. I need it, y'all need it. So here it is:

I started this blog when I was 24 years old. I was young, excited about work, and a year away from getting married. [Click here for the very first post]. Since then, things have changed. Priorities have changed. I have changed. I would say that the past three years have been easy, but that would be a lie. Health problems, marital struggles, and work frustrations pepper my reflection of this time. With that in mind, so do beautiful friendships, happy moments, and travel.

Overall, I would say that I'm a driven, happy person. I'm passionate, obsessive, creative, and strong. I'm sassy to a fault (or so I'm told), and I struggle on a daily with my health issues. But I have the greatest people in my life, so I'm happy.

Here is a look into my brain today:

• I am mildly crazy when it comes to the Chiefs. Give me some good friends, a beer, and a football game - I'm set. Really, it's not just the Chiefs, because I like the Jets. And really it's not just football, because baseball does it for me too. I like the family, I like the game.
• My God daughter, AE, is the best thing to happen to me in a long time. I don't see her often, but knowing a little girl is watching me [or will be in the future] makes you strive to be better. I have to do right by her.
• I love to give people presents, but I am so bad at opening gifts in front of the people they are from. I'm awkward. The struggle is real.
• I genuinely believe in happiness. I think that life is hard and there are struggles, but ultimately, you can't let yourself sit in the same place stagnant. What is the point if you're not happy with what you're doing or who you're with?
• When I want to talk to you - texting, e-mail, in person, whatever - it MEANS something. I do not open up to just anybody, so it's a big deal if I do.
• I am a notoriously sarcastic person on the surface, because it's easier to be that way than open up about insecurities. I have health issues, daddy issues, and love-and-be-loved issues. If I'm the funny one, you don't ask about the not so funny stuff.
• I drink a lot of coffee, take a lot of pictures on Snapchat, want to chop my hair off, and educate the youth. (Or at least most days, I try).

  

Welcome to my corner of the internet, friends!

XXO,
KD

Restaurant Review: McCormick & Scmick's

On the second of January, I had the opportunity to go and try McCormick & Schmick's. It's a higher end surf and turf style restaurant on the Plaza here in Kansas City. Trying new restaurants is kind of my jam, so I was excited to head down there.

To start off, we of course ordered drinks. I forget their cheeky restaurant names, but on the left was a drink that combined Guinness and Blue Moon, and on the right a drink that had Blue Moon, Hard Cider, and OJ. Mine was the drink on the right and it might be my new FAVORITE. We also ordered calamari and a crab cake with avocado and mango. YUM.

 

For the main course, we decided to go the seafood route. The dish on the left is the Ultimate Mixed Grill and came with Stuffed Shrimp, Grilled Shrimp, Seared Scallops, and Grilled Salmon. The dish on the right was one of their basic fish dishes. Both came with potatoes and green beans, but we ordered extra Red Pepper & White Cheddar mashed potatoes, as well as mushrooms.

 

 

Overall, I really enjoyed the restaurant. We had a reservation so it made it much more accommodating. People who did not have reservations were waiting for 2+ hours, whereas we walked right in to our table. The food was delicious and the service was good as well. It was a great experience! We were not disappointed.

As a bonus, a fun snap shot of the Plaza lights - because you can't go to the Plaza without staring at them during the winter - and my piece of cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory. It's okay to drool. :)

 

SPORTS: CHIEFS AT TEXANS

THE POST YOU HAVE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR!!!
WE WENT TO HOUSTON!!!

Over the weekend, a crew of us went to Houston for the Chiefs vs Texans playoff game on Saturday. When we found out that this was where the Chiefs were going to be playing for the Wildcard game, we immediately started making plans to travel there. This was my first road trip to a game AND my first playoff game. I was not disappointed.

GETTING THERE:
Thursday night, Stacey and I ended up being able to get on the road to Tulsa, OK. Shelby lives there and we were driving as far as her apartment to stay the night. We were happy that we got to do this as it shortened our drive into Houston on Friday.

We ended up hitting a little bit of traffic due to an over-turned semi, but we made good time and were able to rest up overnight. Plus, we got a great mid-highway selfie during the traffic stop.

  

Friday morning - bright and early - we were up and ready to get on the road. Naturally, we sported our Royals gear and utilized the selfie stick whenever we had the opportunity to do so. We broke up the remaining eight hours by stopping periodically at different landmarks (Welcome to Texas sign, Buc-ee's, etc.). We also stopped in Dallas and had lunch as Whataburger. This was my FIRST Whataburger experience and I was not disappointed. A friend had recommended the patty melt and fries, so I had just that. I am now very sad that Whataburger does not exist in MO.

 

 

We arrived in Houston at about 3:15pm. We had a great drive into town with minimal traffic, allowing us to see the city and blast Chiefs songs on the radio as we moved through downtown. At this point, the excitement was unbearable.

HOUSTON:
After arriving to town, we went to check into our hotel about two blocks from NRG Stadium. We chose to stay close to the stadium, rather than downtown, so that we'd be able to walk to the game. We rested up for a couple of hours and then headed out to meet a friend of mine. I took my very first Uber ride, visited a few local spots, and had a great night with friends!

 

My brother, Justin, and Andy got in super late Friday night so we didn't see them. On Saturday morning, we woke up and met up with them and headed to breakfast with our friends Mario and Rolando who had traveled to Houston from Mexico. It was great to have the opportunity to sit and chat with friends before heading to the game.

 

After breakfast, we went back to the boys' hotel to hang out and get pumped for the game. Obviously this provided us more selfie-stick opportunities. We may look funny using it, but these photos make for some great memories.

 

 

After awhile, we walked to NRG because we heard that there was a huge Chiefs tailgate. We were not disappointed when we got there. Hundreds of Chiefs fans had convened in the parking lot. It was a great experience getting to be at this tailgate because it truly showed the following that the Chiefs have - even on the road.

 

CHIEFS VS TEXANS:
And now the game... WOW. First of all, NRG Stadium itself was a great experience. I've never been to a stadium with a closed roof before, so I thought that was pretty neat. I didn't have to worry about getting sunburned. HA! We got lucky and were sitting next to about eight other Chiefs fans.

The game started out with a bang when Knile Davis ran the kickoff back 106 yards for a touchdown. We went WILD. And though the Chiefs offense wasn't too hot the first half, and we took a big hit with Jeremy Maclin going down to an ankle sprain, our defense did what they do best. With a number of interceptions and fumbles, the Chiefs were able to hold the Texans to a 30-0 loss. Not only did we take the game on the road, it was a shut out... and oh, what a feeling!

 

 

POST GAME:
After the game, it was clearly time to celebrate the win. While we didn't go out and get crazy, we celebrated, watched more football, and had a couple of beers. Here are some snapshots from the rest of the night:

   

 

GOING HOME:

 

We drove straight through on Sunday to get home for work on Monday morning. Of course though, we had to stop at In-N-Out in Dallas to round out the trip. Animal-style fries have changed my life.

Getting to experience this game with two of my best friends on the planet was an experience like none other. So much so that I wish Hannah could have been there with us to experience the victory. Taking a trip to experience a new town, my first playoff game, and more with two women who love and support me unconditionally is the best thing I've done for myself in a really long time. We laughed, we cried, we played the One Tree Hill radio game... It was probably the best weekend of my life.

The Chiefs move on in the playoffs thanks to this victory; they will play the Patriots on Saturday afternoon in New England. I'm excited to see how the team does; it has truly been an amazing year for Kansas City sports, and more importantly for my little corner of the Chiefs Kingdom. I'm so thankful for the family that I have thanks to this game and this team. GO CHIEFS!!