New Blog Title - Again

As much as I thought I would be oh so witty naming this blog Two Tall Mexican Bookends I realized three things:

 

A: It's way too long

B: People don't get it

C. I never was one for witty plays on words, I'm an Accountant after all

 

I did consider naming it Melony since I already established that's our couple name but it seemed too cheesy and it ryhmes with Bologne, so I am simply naming this masterpiece of mine The Chronicles of Mely and Tony at www.tonyandmely.blogspot.com

 

Capiche?

 

~Mely

Happenings

I slowed my roll on the cooking front.. Sunday night I made this Chili recipe that knocked my socks off and Tuesday I made Chicken Penne Alfredo, which was basically one of the most unhealthy dishes I make. Not my proudest moment.

 

On the work front we are in the middle of an audit and campaign is gearing up which means I will be drowning in work soon! Eeekks!

 

On the personal front, reading Pioneer Woman's love story with her cowboy has made me want to passionately kiss Tony every night because I am reminded of all the reasons I fell in love with him plus he's readily available since he's my roommate.

 

Also, one of my good pals Crystal had major surgery and I am looking forward to heading out to this place over the weekend to see how she's doing!

San Francisco, my beautiful San Francisco

 

Shamelessly, I have been obsessed with these new $1 Beefy Mini Quesadillas from Taco Bell. Me and Taco Bell go way back, I worked there for 2 years during my "late teens, early twenties - find myself - figure out what I am going to do with my life - reckless" time. I love Taco Bell! When it comes to fast food, Taco Bell takes the cake for me everytime.

 

Don't judge, we all have our weaknesses

 

And as of 2 seconds ago, my coworker Matt convinced me to play Fantasy Football on his league this year. I don't know why I do this to myself... I already become way too emotionally charged when it comes to Football. Sigh.

 

 

~Mely

 

Killer Good Chili Beans

I discussed my love for this Chili in earlier blog posts and I am so tickled to share the recipe on this here humble little blog of mine.

 

I am linking up with Andrea over at Momfessionals to share this recipe for her August Recipe Club.

 

Like I said, this Chili recipe is the only Chili recipe I will touch. It makes all other Chili recipes obsolete, nothing mattered before you my beloved Chili. It's a lil' spicy, a lil' sweet, chunky, filling, flavorful and it is easy! The most difficult part is scouring your pantry for the spices to make the Chili spice mix then it's smooth sailing. I would like to thank my Bro for introducing me to this recipe!

 

 

For the Chili Seasoning Mix:

 1 TSP Dry Basil Leaves

1 TBSP Onion Powder
4 TSP Chili Powder
2 TSP Ground Cumin
1 TBSP Ground Cayenne Pepper
1 TBSP Garlic Powder
2 TSP Sugar
2 TBSP Flour
1 TSP Ground Pepper

 

For the Chili:

1.5 LB Ground Beef (or Turkey)

1/2 White Onion

3/4 Green Bell Pepper

1 Jalapeno (you can omit if you don't want this spicy)

3-4 Garlic cloves (depending on the size of your cloves)

2 (15 OZ each) cans of Kidney Beans **

1 can (14.5 OZ) Diced Tomatoes

1 can (15 OZ) Sweet Corn

1 large (29 OZ) can Tomato Sauce

1 normal (15 OZ) can Tomato Sauce

a good splash of beer (your choice)

1 TBSP of Brown Sugar

Salt

Olive Oil (or anything you got)

 

For the toppings:

Oyster Crackers

Shredded Cheddar

Sour Cream

 

 

 

1. Mix all of your Seasoning Mix ingredients together, set aside. Don't lose, this stuff is powdered gold.

 

2. Open all your canned ingredients and drain (except for the tomato sauces and diced tomatoes, obviously)

 

3. Grab a large pot and a pan, empty all your canned ingredients into the pot. Start warming the pot on really low.

 

4. Now heat up a drizzle of oil in your pan on medium heat and brown your beef in the pan with some salt. While that browns, dice all your veggies. You want to dice your onion and bell pepper into small 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch squares. Your Jalapeno and Garlic need to be finely diced. When your beef is done browning, go ahead and drain all the fat and throw your beef into the large pot that has been warming all the canned ingredients.

 

5. Clean off your pan and brown your veggies with a drizzle of oil for 15 minutes until the edges start getting golden. Enjoy the aroma wafting through your kitchen.

 

6. Once your veggies are browned, add them to the pot. Now the fun begins! Add that gorgeous seasoning mix, your brown sugar and a good splash of beer (I used 1/4 of a can of Bud Light) now stir everything as to make the magic come together. Your seasoning and brown sugar will be dissolved.

 

7. Crank up the heat to medium high and bring the whole thing to a nice boil. Once it starts boiling turn the heat down to low, cover and simmer for as many hours as you got. I like 3-4 hours, my brother does it overnight but I am not that dedicated. Stir occassionally (I do every half hour), the Chili should not stick to the pan, keeping it covered will help it not dry up.

 

8. Serve and top with sour cream, cheese and oyster crackers. We also like using tortilla chips to scoop it up. Yum.

 

Enjoy :)

**I don't know what compelled me to use one can each of kidney and white beans instead of two cans of kidney beans in this particular batch. That's why you are seeing a can of white beans in the pic. You do the right thing and use two cans of kidney.
 

~Mely



Favorite Things Link-Up

Today I am linking up with Andrea over at Momfessionals to show you a couple of my favorite things under $10!

 

 

 

These Strawberry Fruit Bars

 

 

Recently I traded in my unhealthy daily Ice Cream habit for a slightly less unhealthier daily fruit popsicle habit, I recently blogged about these popsicles here but I've moved on to these popsicles I got at Le Tar-Jay over the weekend and I am in love. A six-pack is less than $2! Lately I have been sustaining myself with a combination of Coffee, Cheese, Popsicles, Bread and Fruit. My Husband only slightly dissaproves of my strange dietary habits.

 

This Book

 

 

I don't read often but when I do read it has to be an enthralling memoir or auto-biography. I ordered this memoir by Ree Drummond AKA The Pioneer Woman and it was delivered over the weekend. I paid less than $10 for the book, taxes and shipping on Amazon. This memoir chronicles how Ree fell in love with and married a cowboy and then moved to a cattle ranch in Oklahoma. It's such an endearing story and an easy read! I've only read the first few chapters but I can't wait to read further tonite :)

 

Wednesday on the Momfessionals recipe club I will be linking up to show you a killer good Chili recipe that made any other Chili recipes obsolete in my eyes. It's so good that this California girl ventured out to make it in 80 degree August weather.

 

 

Love,

Mely

Weekend Story - Earthquake Edition

 

This weekend was an interesting one! Practically anything anybody can talk about is the 6.0 Earthquake that hit 3 AM Sunday morning here in Sonoma and Napa counties, California. Here's the thing, Earthquakes don't scare me, they don't intimidate me and I am perfectly okay living in an area that has them. When this Earthquake hit, I slept through it while everybody and their mothers woke up. I only woke up because Tony woke me up immediately afterwards to tell me there was just an earthquake. His Mom had gotten us out of bed and after going downstairs and realizing the world wasn't ending, I went right back to sleep. So everybody can keep their Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Blizzards and Thunderstorms and I will keep my Earthquakes.

 

Now back, back, back it up...

 

Friday

Friday night my Momma invited us over to have Tacos al Pastor. We indulged in Tacos along with Salsa and Queso Fresco. Then we had pie and wine. By wine, I mean my Momma and my Sister in Law had wine. I tend to prefer hard alcohol or a nice wheat beer, don't judge.

Chester was ready for bedtime

 

Saturday

Saturday we left to my Momma's house around 8 AM to make breakfast and babysit my nephew. In case you missed it, I have 2 siblings. My sister is 11 and my brother is the only one of child rearing age besides myself. He has a 6 year old son who made me an Aunt for the first time, he's a cutie, so much fun and has a great personality. I made this Croissant French Toast and I wasn't too crazy about it. My sister and Tony ate all of it but I wasn't crazy about the texture. Sorry PW, I love you, I really do. After breakfast, everybody left for work and a soccer tournament while Tony and I stayed at home with Anthony, my little sugarcube. Anthony had little league practice and oh my godness look at how cute he looks!

Just stay this size forever my little sugarcube and always give your Tia Melissa kissies

 

After practice we ran a couple of errands and hit up the Costco food court for pizza, a Churro and a Hotdog. Then we went home and Tony and Anthony played Playstation and ate popsicles until Anthony's Mom came to pick him up. We had an absolute blast babysitting Anthony, he's such a well behaved funny kid with tons of personality. It was also great practice for when we have little Tonys and Melys ;)

 

Adrian or Yadira, if you are reading this, I would highly appreciate more nephews or a niece... Now. K thanks!

 

We relaxed a bit before going to my Aunt's house for my cousin's Sweet Sixteen. It was great hanging out with my cousins and catching up. Tony got to spend some time with my uncles and my brother! Tony left early to go to the gym while I stayed behind with my brother and his wife. My Sister in Law gave me a ride home at around 11:30. Then Earthquake madness ensued in the middle of the night as described above.

 

Sunday

Sunday was the PERFECT day. It was so marital bliss-like. I slept in until 9 which is rare and we went to the laundromat to wash our duvet cover, sheets and clothes. Tony is so good, he helped me fold all the clothes and to top it off, he's way better at folding laundry than I am. I joked around on FB about it. LOL.

 

Notice the Earthquake post below as well... I really am a Pro at being a CA resident

 

After the laundromat we came home and I failed at inserting our Down Comforter into it's Duvet cover properly. We decided it was close enough and made our bed this way. Tony put away his laundry while I procrastinated and casted my laundry away to a corner for later storage.

 

We decided to have Tony's car washed at a Car Wash and wash the Melymobile by hand ourselves at the self-serve Car Wash. By ourselves, I mean Tony washed while I watched and periodically inserted quarters in the machine then told him he looked sexy all sweaty and manly after he was done.  Afterwards we went to Tony's Aunt's house for a bit and then to Le Tar-Jay for a couple of things. We came home and this happened.

 

 

 

I made the best Chili EVAH! It's so good I wanted to make love to it. This is the Chili recipe my Bro makes and I think you should make it too because I know what's best for you. I will be sharing this recipe on Wednesday when I link up with Andrea at Momfessionals for her monthly recipe linkup.

 

Here's the series of Snapchats my Snapchat friends were graced with. If you want to add me on Snapchat and you aren't trying to send me creepy snaps and don't mind constant snapchats of food and Chester, here is my username: missmelybee

 

 

I read a few chapters of this book before falling asleep!

 

I love this simple life of mine.

~Mely

Friday Favorites Link Up

I'm linking up with Andrea at Momfessionals to show you my Friday Favorites!

 

 

1. These Popsicles

 

 

 Last weekend my Dad bought me a Watermelon Bomb Pop at my sister's soccer game and it was so good that I wondered "why don't I ever eat popsicles?" So I headed over to FoodMaxx Monday... FoodMaxx! Take it to the Max, maximize your shopping POW-ER.. FOODMAXX! (sorry guys, it's a requirement I sing their jingle everytime I mention FoodMaxx) to find popsicles and I found these. And let me tell you they are tasty and only 35 calories each. So I've been having like 3 a day because of course!

 

2. This lotion

 

I got this set as a Bachelorette Party gift and although I am not a huge fan of this scent I started wearing some and weirdly after it's been on my skin it smells better and I love it! So I wear it all the time because combined with my sexy pheromones body odor it smells like heaven.

 

 

 

 

3. Bella Rosa Coffee

Sorry for the tilted picture, that's how it is on the website

 

This is a locally roasted coffee company here in Sonoma County and the stuff is good. I got super excited when the Bagel shop next door to our office started serving it this week. One of the best things about living and having grown up here is the wealth of agriculture, local fine foods, produce, meats, cheese and Wine that is all cultivated here. I know we live in one of the best areas in California! #sonomacountyliving

 

 

4. This Camelbak Water Bottle!

 

 

One of my sweet coworkers Jenn used to work at Camelbak's Marketing department and she brought all of us here at the office Camelbak water bottles and I chose this one in purple because it's super cute. These bottles are high quality, durable, and the pop up straw works great. It's a lot easier for me to drink more water through a straw than a bottle. I love my new Camelbak bottle!

 

5. These Old Navy shorts!

 

 

I recently bought a slightly longer pair of these Old Navy Active shorts on clearance and I absolutely LOVE wearing them around the house. They're lightweight, super comfy and I adore the design. Kari even got a little jealous and wanted a pair of her own :)

 

Can't wait to see all your Friday Favorites!

 

~Mely

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

Talking about the randomness that is going on in my brain right now!

 

Currently on our Netflix List is:

 

 

 

We LOVE this show, it's so captivating. I hope they come out with a Season 2. Also, Tony has been enthralled playing GTA V and I enthralled watching along while he plays because I find it really entertaining.

 

 

Food 

I've also been Crockpotting away quite beautifully. I've made Rolled Chicken Taquitos with Green Avocado Sauce, Chicken Enchiladas and Pork Chile Verde.

Tuesday I made this recipe by Pioneer Woman!
 

Pioneer Woman's Spicy Dr. Pepper Pork

 

...As we speak the pork is cooling in my crockpot for later. When I get home from work I will remove the by then hardened fat layer on top, shred the meat, add BBQ sauce and serve on warm toasty bread for Pulled Pork Sandwiches. Yum!

 

And I can't wait to try this recipe...

 

Pioneer Woman's Croissant French Toast

 

 

 

Family:

I posted this pic on Instagram yesterday. My baby sister is starting Middle School and it's hard to imagine that she was just a baby not so long ago. She was the most beautiful, well behaved, charming baby I've ever known. She will also make a solid Auntie to my babies one day. Kari loves anything babies or animals, Starbucks (who knows who she got that from), making questionable fashion choices, Panda Express, Taylor Swift (me too) and she's also a Momma's girl. She has a feisty personality and is very sensitive and caring. My hope for her is that she can grow up to be a confident, kind and goal orientated girl. Although most people would agree she can be a demanding, entitled brat she has had to mature too early for her age.

 

 

Fitness:

I have resorted to waking up at 5:45 each morning to go work out BEFORE work. And you know what's crazy? I love it! Tony likes to go work out at 7 PM and me joining him was just not happening. I hated getting home at 5:30ish and relaxing for an hour and then having to switch into "go, go, go" mode and go work out. It just was not happening, his work out time was not working for me! I didn't have enough time to do anything at home because arriving at the gym at 7:30 meant we would get home at 10 PM and pretty much go straight to sleep. Now that I go work out before work, I have so much more energy at work. The best part is that I get my coffee after my work out and that cup of coffee tastes just THAT much sweeter and well deserved after some solid cardio. As a bonus I get to have the TV and Netflix all to myself while Tony goes to the gym in the evenings. Sweet Joy :)

 

Having said that, working out early has helped me move more toward my goal of becoming a morning person. Yes, I want to be one of those 60 year olds that wakes up at 5 AM everyday just because. It's going to happen.

 

 

And that concludes the randomness!

 

~Mely

 

 

 

Mely Cooks Monday - Enchilada Tutorial

I realized that the whole whopping 3 months Tony and I have been married I haven't made him Red Chicken Enchiladas so naturally, on today's edition of Mely Cooks Monday I chose to make my man some Enchis. Of course, I used my Crockpot to cook the chicken because it comes out perfectly moist and cooked with little effort.

 

I crockpotted (you like that? I made it up myself and I'm going to copyright it) the Chicken breast and made my Enchilada sauce from scratch. Remember what I said about canned Mexican sauces disturbing me? Well it's a true story. I like baking my Enchis with regular Jack and Chedder cheese or any melty cheese I have on hand. I'm a bad Mexican for not making these authentic. P.S. Authentic Mexican Enchiladas are made with Queso Cotija, Carrots and Potatoes. Who knew right?!  This Enchilada sauce recipe I'm about to use is actually from my Momma and my Grandma Flora uses one that's very similar so the sauce is as good as it gets you guys!

 

Of course... If you happen to have a nice chunk of Queso Cotija or Queso Fresco on hand you can make these puppies with real Mexican cheese instead of melty cheese.

This recipe feeds 4 hungry adults. The sauce renders use for as many as 25 to 30 Enchiladas.

 

What you will need...

For the Sauce:

23 Dried Chiles California (see more about this below)

2-3 Garlic Cloves

Pinch of Oregano

2 Peppercorns (optional)

1 TBSP Salt

2 TBSP Oil plus a couple more for "cooking the sauce"

1 Cup of chicken broth from your crockpot for thinning to your liking

 OR it is perfectly okay to buy a couple of Canned Enchi sauces, but that's not how Mely rolls. Mely likes to keep in touch with her Mexican heritage and make her own Mexican sauces. If you buy Enchi Sauce you can use this stuff:

(Personally, I don't like this stuff. It makes me sad but if you are used to using this stuff I can see why de-stemming chiles, washing them, boiling them, blending them with spices, straining them and cooking the sauce in oil would be a huge pain in the butt)

There are some recipes out there for homemade enchilada sauce that call for tomatoes, pureed tomatoes or chili powder. This is Heinous!  Enchilada sauce is NOT supposed to have tomatoes in it. Listen to Mely, Mely knows best.

I'm sorry I keep speaking of myself in third person, I know it's probably annoying. I'll stop now.

 

Chiles California: Red Enchilada Sauce is supposed to be made with these suckers. Don't let anybody else tell you otherwise.

 

For the Chicken:

1 Whole Chicken Breast

2 Garlic Cloves

2 TBSP Salt

Water to halfway cover Chicken in Crockpot

 

And for Assembly:

20 Tortillas

3 Cups of Shredded Melty Cheese - Your Choice (I like Cheddar-Jack or Cheddar AND Jack HA!)

Sour Cream

Diced Green Onion (optional)

Shredded Lettuce (optional)

 

Go ahead and cook all Chicken ingredients on high for 4 hours or if you'd like 8 hours while you're at work. Simply use two forks to shred once they are done. Set aside in a bowl with a few TBSP of broth mixed in to keep moist.

 

 

 

Back to the Sauce...

First take all of the stems of your chiles and don't sweat to much over removing all the seeds, just shake them a bit to get them out. Also, a few of them come out during the boiling process. Usually these Chiles aren't super spicy because they've been dried. Once you have de-stemmed them place them all in a small pot like so:

 

 

Then go wash those Chiles in the same pot and drain them. Then add water to the pot as to almost cover them up:

 

 

Then cook on medium heat with a TBSP of salt for about 15 minutes until the chiles are nice and soft. Once they are cooked go ahead and put them in a blender with all the water. You'll notice a lot of seeds at the bottom of the pot. You can discard them or you can use them, up to you.

 

 

 

Now add your Garlic cloves, Oregano, Oil and Peppercorns (if you have some) and blend until nice and smooth! Taste test it for more salt and add Chicken broth to thin it out as you like. I like mine thin but not too thin, I don't want it the consistency of broth. Your sauce will have a beautiful deep red color.

 

 Grab the same pot you used to cook the Chiles, and put on the stove with 2-3 TBSP of oil on LOW heat. Place a strainer on the pot and strain your sauce directly into the pot you will use to cook it. You want to strain it because you don't want any chunks of chile skin or garlic in there. Make sure you use a spoon to strain the sauce as to not letting the sauce get stuck in there because of all the gunk your strainer is catching.

 

I don't have a picture of this because I was using both hands but once you're there you'll see what I'm talking about.

 

Now remove the strainer and crank up the heat to medium high and cook for 10 minutes stirring every 30 seconds or so. The Sauce will bubble up rather quickly. Once done you can let cool for a while or try to brave the conditions and assemble your Enchis while the sauce is still hot.

 

 

Look at that Beauty!

 

Now grab your Tortillas and place in a plastic bag or cover with a towel as to steam them in the microwave for a couple minutes until they are all soft and ready for your use.

 

 

 

Now is the FUN part and you have two options: I did both because I'm crazy.

 

A. You can do things the "traditional" way and individually cook a tortilla in a pan with oil and then dip in the sauce and roll up ONE by ONE with Chicken (this is also what makes cooking enchiladas a real pain in the butt) This makes them taste real good because each tortilla is slightly fried a few seconds on each side as to give it more flavor and fat!

 

B. OR You can directly dip each tortilla in sauce and roll up with chicken and assemble layered in a Baking Pan with a ton of Sauce to keep them moist...

I made you this super dandy collage because I got mad skills

 

...Then add all that Melty Cheese and throw the whole thing in the oven!

 

 

 

OR You can use your Sauce and assemble your Enchis however the heck you want to!!! (Okay I guess that makes 3 options)

 

 ~You can use flour instead of corn

~You can omit meat and use black beans or just cheese

~You can add the sauce to your chicken and make Chicken Enchilada Quesadillas

~You can add the sauce to your chicken, omit the tortillas and make chicken enchilada bowls with lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese, sour cream and beans

 

The possibilities are endless...

 

Hope you enjoy!

~Mely

 

Weekend Story - All about that soccer

Friday

Friday night we went to one of Tony's aunts house. This particular aunt is my favorite one and she is my Momma's bestie. Her birthday was the Saturday we were in Yosemite and we were having a nice little something something at her house to celebrate her birthday. There was cake, I like cake.

 

Saturday

Saturday we were up very early to head to my Momma's house (4 AM early). My sister had a soccer tournament in Palo Alto (this is where the famous Stanford University is located) and we were off by 5AM. We spent most of the day in Palo Alto watching my sister's team play. She played Goalie for most of both games and although she doesn't regularly play Goalie, she did really well. I was super proud of her because she's come a long way. Today I also had this crazy thought that she's 11 now and I want her to stay that way forever and will be really sad to see her grow up. Can't she just stay 11? It's a great age, she's old enough to be independent but she's not in that awkward preteen phase or the angry teenager phase.

 

After we arrived at my Momma's house we napped for a bit before coming home and going to Sushi. I posted all about the deliciousness of our Sushi dining experience at Sushi Hana on my Yelp page. I'm an "Elite" member which officially means I'm a huge nerd  kind of a big deal.

 

 

So good, we will be back again next Saturday.

Sunday

Sunday Tony had to head off to work early in the morning and afterwards he helped his sister move into her dorm room. I left to my Momma's house early at around 8 to go to Karina's second day of her soccer tournament. We ended up going with my Dad and my cousin Luis who is staying here from Mexico since he's American born and wants to live that good 'ole life in the USA! Anyways, the second set of games were to be played in Redwood City which is adjacent to Palo Alto. When the girls played their first game they won 1-0 even though they were tired and passing poorly.

 

After that game we had a few hours to kill before the next game and my Dad treated us to In-N-Out and we went to Old Navy for some cute finds. I found a tank for $5 and some coral shorts for $2.50. My Momma got them for me, we are still working out the "I'm a married woman now, you need to stop paying for everything because you are a single mom and I feel bad" problem.

 

 

Snapchat: Chemita is my Dad's nickname. If you don't have In-N-Out where you live, I pity you.

 

Even though Kari's team won 2 games and tied 1, her team didn't make it to the final and had to play the consolation game for 3rd place. Things got a little heated and I was really cheering for her loudly during that game. When she saved a goal after it hit the goal post I screamed "Good job goalie, that's my baby sister!!!" and then a parent on the other team shouted "Good job goal post!".

 

Picture my blood pressure rising as in a split second I say in my mind "Wait a minute. What. Did. He. Just. Say?" Then I may or may not have turned to him and called him an asshole. Listen, I scream loudly when I cheer for my baby sister. I never say anything mean about the other team and this is COMPETETIVE soccer. Parents need to realize that if they can't take the passionate rooting for other kids then they need to put their children in RECREATIONAL soccer or something like Girl Scouts. I've been on both sides, I've had to suck it up when other parents have cheered hard for the opposing team and my sister's team is not doing well or my sister's team is in the rythym and I am applauding them and telling them how awesome they are doing. This is part of the game!

 

Anyways, even though Espanol (Kari's team) was playing with no substitutes and they were losing the ball a lot they still managed to stop goals with their defense and a few great saves and quick thinking by Kari. They also never gave up and hung in there. Then in the last 5 minutes of the game, one of the girls who had been trying to break through the opposing team's defense several times finally broke through ONCE and it was just her and the goalie and she did it! She scored! It was Espanol 1-0! After the game was over, that guy said to me "your team played like crap they deserved to lose" HAHAHAHA, Scoreboard dude. Scoreboard.

 

 

This kid did good. So proud of her and how far she has come. Side note: her perfectly tan skin, thick sun kissed hair and long beautiful eye lashes make me sick.

 

 

Kari was the first called up for her medal.

 

 

Great job Espanol! That's Kari posing in the front. Work it.

 

After the game we went home (Mom's house) and I didn't reunite with the Melymobile until about 8:30 at which time I picked up Tony and I a Quesadilla and Nachos from our favorite Mexican place. I arrived home and of course I pounced on Tony, gave him kisses and told him how much I missed him even though it had been less than 24 hours since I had seen him. Don't judge, I've never gone more than 3 days without seeing him so I miss him a lot when I don't see his purty face and those big arms. (Include hand motions of me fanning myself in here). I ate and as soon as my food went down my body went into full on shut down mode. Tony went to take a shower and I passed out and don't even remember when he came back into bed.

 

Stay tuned, tonite I am making Cheesy Baked Chicken Enchiladas on tonite's edition of Mely Cooks Monday.

 

~Mely

3

Today marks 3 months since Tony and I got married and in honor of this I decided to post a corny post with 3 reasons why I love him. Look away now if corny posts annoy you.

1. He married me for me. Nowadays guys will want to live with a girl before they marry her to "see if they work out" Or they don't want to get married because "everything is fine just the way it is." Or they will decide to marry her because she already has a baby of his and she's earned it. Tony did none of this. He married me because of me and just me. He had faith in me and married me after only being my boyfriend for 10 months because he loves me and believed this marriage thing would be great. We didn't have a ton of money and we didn't have a lot but we wanted to do this together and now I can't imagine my life any other way.

2. He makes me laugh and we are weirdos together.
Or maybe I was the weirdo all along and it's just rubbed off on him? Tony makes me laugh all the time and he makes me laugh at myself when I realize the things I say (I have major blonde moments sometimes all the time). There isn't a day that I'm not cracking up at our shenanigans.

3. He puts me and my wants and needs before anything or anybody else. Everyday Tony makes me feel like I am the most important person in his life and that means the world to me considering he is my everything.

Bonus points: He's great at opening jars and a fantastic kisser.

Also, in honor of our 3 monthiversary here are 3 pictures of my Studmuffin and I. Mmhmm he FINE!

I love you baby.

Mely

Friday Favorites Link Up

Today I am linking up with Andrea to show you all my Friday Favorites!

 

 

 

 

Well this week was rough as is any week after you return from a trip. Last weekend we went to Yosemite and it was gorgeous!

 

So let's get started!

 

1. This amazing view that is currently my wallpaper on my work computer! It's the Merced river which runs through Yosemite.

 

 

 

 

2. NFL Football is back! Yes it's only preseason but boy am I getting giddy!

 

 

GO NINERS!!!  I posted an entry about my love for my team and the one thing that might possibly drive Tony and I to divorce. Click here for that.

 

 

 

 

3. My Crockpot!

 

I got this Crockpot as a wedding gift and opened it up for use this week and it's been life altering. I posted my Crockpot Pork Chile Verde Recipe here and yesterday I made shredded chicken and cheese grilled Taquitos with chicken I cooked in my Crockpot and they were amazeballs. I also can't wait to try Pioneer Woman's Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork. The possibilities are endless.

 

 

 

 

and speaking of Pioneer Woman...

 

4. Black Heels to Tractor Wheels

 

 

I ordered Pioneer Woman's memoir Black Heels to Tractor Wheels this week. This memoir chronicles Ree's love story with her cowboy husband. Ree blogs over at Pioneer Woman and her recipes are so good and really tickle my fancy plus she has such a great writing style and humor that it's hard not to love her.

 

That's all!

 

~Mely