Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

Hey All!! I hope you're all doing well. I wanted to post a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie recipe. This recipe is soooo good! This recipe makes plump and chewy cookies...Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup softened butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1-3/4 cup flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3-1/2 quick cooking oats

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325

In a large bowl cream together butter, brown sugar, white sugar until light and fluffy (about 3-4 min). Beat in eggs one at a time then stir in vanilla.

In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix these dry ingredients well. Stir this mixture into the large bowl with the creamed mixture until just blended. (I would recommend mix this part by hand. You don't want to over mix the dry ingredients with the creamed mixture because that can make your cookies come out flat)

Next, mix in quick oats, chocolate chips, and walnuts (optional). Drop spoonfuls onto ungreased baking sheets and bake for 12 min. Let them cook on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring somewhere else to cool.

This recipe is very, very easy...and it's very, very yummy! If you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out!

XOXO

Happy Birthday Linda!

Since a lot of Tom's co-workers are leaving for China today, we decided to celebrate a few birthdays last weekend. Last Friday, we celebrated Linda's birthday. We had fabulous food at this little Italian restaurant called Iorio and then we went out to the clubs. :) Today is Linda's actual birthday; therefore, I wanted to give a bday shout out! HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA!

Linda is on the left and Maria is on the right. :)

Linda and Maria making birthday wishes. (I'll post later about Maria's bday party)

This is the pic that I took after dinner.

This is the pic Tom took after I took the picture above. He told me to leave space and he would photoshop all of us onto one photo...no problem. Well...

This is the final product. Since Tom didn't see that I zoomed in for the picture I took...he had a hard time photoshopping me in. Oh well! :)

xoxo

four-five-three-six-five

Hey All! This maybe old news for some of you, but Tom and I found out a few weeks ago that there was a documentary made about my hometown. Tom and I actually know the guys that directed it, Bill and Turner Ross. From the trailers and clips we've searched for on the internet, the documentary looks really good. Below I posted the trailer and a link to their website... Enjoy!

Congrats Bill and Turner on all of your accomplishments!
http://www.45365movie.com/

xoxo

Sunny Sunday

Last Sunday, we headed to the eastside of Portland. We went to Hawthorne, which is a trendier area with local shops and local food joints. (Oregonians absolutely love local anything.) It's a great spot and probably an area we'll visit often. We had lunch at Nick's Famous Coney Island and then headed over to Maria and Shane's place with David and Linda for a lil' cornhole and to play in the park. Enjoy the pics!

These cute little toy horses are all around the neighborhood...I'm not really sure why, but it's charming. :)

At Maria and Shanes Place.

Thanks for the cornhole set Big Bob...it's fabulous! Also, Loi Babe, everyone commented on the nice carrying case for it. :)

At the park. Below are pics from playing frisbee.... We're really good.

xoxo

Moving Making Saturday

Shortly after moving to Oregon, I learned that Tom's co-worker and great friend, David G. is very passionate about movies. Last year, he started making his own short films, and usually after a few months of editing, everyone gets together for the big movie premiere. Last Saturday, David asked to shoot a few of his scenes from his newest movie in our apartment. What we saw was fabulous, and we can't wait for the finished product!! Later that night Mark came over, we got food from Five Guys Burger and Fries, and settled in to watch the Blazers. Overall the Blazers did crappy, but the food was FABULOUS...hands down, the best fast food burger and fries I've ever had. I'm gettin hungry just thinking about it! :) Below are pics from our moving making Saturday.

Sketches of the movie scenes

David directing Shane aka "Joe Garcia"

Shane aka "Joe Garcia". He's suppose to be the stereotypical hillbilly husband.

This is take two of three. David will probably use the 3rd take, which is a tad funnier than this....but this one is still pretty good. Basically, Maria walks in after being fired from her job and finds her hubby being a lazy drunk. The quality isn't the best b/c it's from my lil' pink sony camera. :)

Five Guys Burgers and Fries


Heaven

xoxo

Easter 2009

This past weekend the Yannuccis came to visit. I think we gave them a great taste of what Portland has to offer and even got to go to the Columbia River Gorge to see some waterfalls. It was a little rainy, but we had a fabulous time. Below are some pictures from our weekend...Enjoy!

(Emily and Yanni- change the song to #3. hehe)

In preparation for Yanni's visit, I called ahead and found out he wanted oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. I really liked the recipe and will be posting it at the end of this month. :)

When you come and visit, seeing this statue and taking a picture with it is a must.

Stopping for a quick picture infront of the famous Portland sign.


After church we all stopped for a brunch at one of our favorite breakfast spots, Beaterville Cafe. As you can kinda see from the picture, the inside has a lot of character and color.

Of course, after fabulous breakfast, we had to see where Tom works because it's much cooler than 90% of the jobs out there. As you can see, they like to pose like the Portland statue from downtown.



After visiting work, we took a nice, kinda rainy drive to the waterfalls.

The gang in front of Bridal Veil falls.


Yes, that weee tiny lil' figure down there is Yanni. Tom took this pic and standing from this distance, we were all getting kinda wet from the waterfall. Needless to say after this pic, Yanni was soaked on one side. :)


After the cold and wet weather, we warmed up at home with some dry clothes and Easter candy. [Side Story: A few weeks ago Tom went on and on about how much he missed his mother's Easter baskets and how she still made them when he was in college...oh brother...he was heavily hinting that he wanted someone to make him a basket. Sooo who would that someone be?? Yep, that's right....I made my 25 yo husband an Easter basket and his eyes lit up like a lil' kid. Since we were having company, I made one for everyone to enjoy...For my first time making Easter baskets, it was a lot of fun.]

Oh, the famous Cadbury egg. The one thing I would buy myself every Easter. It's takes me about an hour to eat it. I have to set it down for awhile b/c it's a lil' too sweet for me.


We had so much fun this past weekend. When you don't have family close by, it's just as nice to spend these little holiday weekends with great friends.

Emily and Yanni, please come back anytime. We absolutely loved having you over. If you come back next Easter, I promise homemade brunch, some filipino food and plastic eggs with a lil' candy and money. :)

xoxo

The Job Hunt

SOOoooooo after Christmas I thought finding a job would be a piece of cake. I mean, isn't there suppose to be a nursing shortage in this country?! Anywho, after many months of applying and hearing nothing, I finally got a job! YAY...HOORAY!!!! I networked through a lovely church lady and landed a job at a pediatrics clinic. All of the people in the clinic are ridiculously nice, especially the fabulous doctor that hired me on. It's an on-call position, but I'm gaining some great experience. Hopefully in the future, I can find a more stable job, but for right now this will do. I am very happy, and I know I am very lucky to get this job during this crazy recession. :) Below are some pics from my first day.



xoxo

PS. Jenny- See...the post is much better with fun pictures :)