DRINKS!

Seeing that it is New Year's Eve, it only seems right to talk about one thing...Drinks!!  I bet you thought I was going to talk about New Year's Resolutions?! Let's face it, I never stick to those.

If you know me even a little bit, you know that I do love a good drink! No beer or wine for this girl though.  I will do an occasional glass of white wine from time to time (preferably Moscato) but would rather have a fun and tasty mixed drink.  And my most favorite of all...the Margarita :)  You will also come to learn that if there is a "skinny" version of a drink, you better believe that is what I am ordering.  My husband makes fun of me because I will pay $7.00 for a skinny margarita when the house margarita is on special for $2.50.

Since going out to drink can be quite pricey, I like to make drinks at home.  Plus, no need to worry about driving.  And like always, I will come up with a skinny version of my favorites.  Since I wasn't running out to the liquor store just for this blog, I just used what I already had.  Here are just a few of the many skinny drinks I have come to love! Maybe you will try one out at your New Year's Party tonight?

Blueberry Lemonade1 part Crystal Light or Fit&Active (Aldi Brand) Lemonade
1 part Diet Blueberry juice
2 parts vodka
splash of Diet lemon lime soda

Candy Apple Martini
1 part Fit&Active Cranberry (or Ocean Spray Diet Cranberry)
1 part Caramel vodka
splash diet lemon lime soda
splash apple juice 

Hot Candy Apple Cider
1 packet sugar free apple cider
6oz boiling water
1 shot butterscotch schnapps
1-2 packets splenda (optional)

Skinny Margarita
1 part sugar free margarita mix (Crystal Light or Target)
1 part tequila (I use vodka...weird I know...)
splash diet lemon lime soda
SALT on the rim

A few other simple combinations that I really like include:

• Diet orange pop + vanilla vodka = Creamsicle 
• Diet root beer + whipped vodka = Root beer float
• Malibu + diet pepsi + lime

If you just so happen to be dating the guest bartender you can just have one big drink to make it easier on everyone.

You really can have your Margarita and drink it too :)

Random pictures

Ok, this may or may not be the last post for today.  I am having fun with this!  I thought it would be fun just to show a few pictures about some random things in my life.  Here goes!

Jim and I got married in a rustic farm setting and even had
the cookies to go with it! Done by the wonderful
Country Cupboard Cookies.

I LOVE diet sprite!

I am really really good at Guitar Hero.

I just got a tonsillectomy about a week ago and it sucked!!
Feeling MUCH better now :)

I am a pretty awesome swimmer.  Some people at the gym
refer to me as "The Little Mermaid"

I went snorkeling for the first time in St. Lucia and it was awesome!

I dyed my hair brunette once and will NEVER do it again!

I can balance a spoon on my nose

I rescued Ella when she was 3 weeks old and believe Jim and I
saved her life :)

So much to say

Since I am just getting started with this, I figured it wouldn't hurt to do a few posts on the same day.  So in case someone does stumble upon this blog, there is something to look at.

Yesterday the hubby and I were having fun with the new camera while we tried some New Year's recipes.  Let's just say the pictures turned out better than the treats...

First we decided to try making Champagne Jello Shots.  Sounds delish right?! We mixed up the jello and champagne, and poured it into ice cube trays as directed.  

So far so good!

The jello was ready! However, we could not get the cubes to come out...We did our best.   The recipe then said to top the jello cubes with PopRocks.  How fun?! It's a party in your mouth :) 

I had to test the PopRocks to make sure they worked...They did!

Anyway...they didn't turn out so well :(  Thanks a lot Pinterest!

Here is what ours looked like...

Here is what they were supposed to look like... EPIC fail!!

It's ok though, we had fun and still ate some of them! They tasted a lot better than they looked.

Jim tasted them first

The champagne taste and the "POP" is definitely interesting.

Since that was such a fail, we decided to try another recipe.  My mother in law made some awesome pudding shots for Christmas.  We decided to try and recreate them, but with different flavors. (and of course using skim milk and sugar free pudding) First we tried butterscotch pudding with butterscotch schnapps. I never thought I would say this but TOO MUCH butterscotch!!

Jim got very creative with the photography!

We also attempted sugar free vanilla pudding with vanilla vodka, and then with raspberry vodka.  They were inedible...YUCK

Jim just wanted to call his mom and get her recipe.  I was determined to make a new flavor combo! So this morning I tried one last time. I tried vanilla pudding with butterscotch schnapps.  I thought they were pretty darn good! Jim wasn't a huge fan.

There are only 4 in the picture because I ate some!

So after all of our failed attempts at a New Year's recipe, we just decided to play Call of Duty and kill zombies til midnight...

Notice the pink controller?! Gift from the husband :)


Oh, and of course the animals joined us...

Such a Snuggle Puggle.

They love each other.

I'd Like to Introduce Myself

My name is Kim.  I am extremely new to blogging! I thought it might be a nice hobby and a good way to share picture, recipes, ideas, etc.  Let's see how it goes...

A little about me to start...I am 27, recently married, and live in Pittsburgh with my husband, 2 kitties, and 1 adorable puggle.

Sadie

Satchmo and Ella

Wedding Day 

I work full time as a nanny and absolutely love it! When people ask me what I do and I reply "I am a nanny" I often find that my response needs an explanation.  People will then ask "Are you still in school?" "What career are you pursuing?" "So...you're a babysitter!?" I simply explain that I am not still in school, I graduated from IUP about 6 years ago with a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education.  I chose to be a nanny and I am not pursing teaching or any other career.  Lastly, no I am not a babysitter.  I say that because I am not 16 and I do not just watch the neighbor's kids for a few hours on Saturday.  (No offense to babysitters...I was one when I was 16 too)

I love doing crafts, baking, and going fun places with the kiddos.  For privacy reasons I will refer to the kiddos as Munchkin 1 and Munchkin 2.  Munchkin 1 is a 6 year old boy and Munchkin 2 is a 3 year old girl.  There will be MANY fun and interesting stories to follow about my life as a nanny :) Here are two recent Christmas activities  I did with the kids.

Homemade ornaments and handprint

Cookies!

Another thing about me is I am truly addicted to working out.  During the week I always swim at 6am before heading to work.  Weekends I do other cardio such as elliptical, bike, spin class... Occasionally I will add in some weights but I really am a cardio lover.  I have done two triathlons and would love to get more involved in them.  My husband often scolds me, but I have to be on my death bed to miss a day of working out! I just don't feel right without it!

1st Triathlon ever!

Beat my first time by 3:30

I even worked out on our honeymoon...every day!

Last big thing about me is that I love to bake and cook.  I greatly prefer baking over cooking though, it's just more fun.  I am sorry but you just cannot make soup look pretty! You sure can make cupcakes and cookies look pretty :)  My parents own a cookie bakery so I thinking baking is just in my blood.  I help out at the bakery from time to time, especially around the holidays when it is super busy.  For the most part I just like experimenting with recipes at home.  

Got a new KitchenAid mixer for Christmas!

I am a vegetarian and probably THE pickiest eater you will ever meet.  I like taking a recipe and tweaking it to make it fat free, sugar free, whole wheat, etc.  My husband has type 1 diabetes so I also love coming up with sugar free treats for him.  And I don't care what the scientists, nutritionists, doctors, or my mother say!! I LOVE splenda!!  To take a slight twist from the most famous nanny of all, "A spoon full of splenda makes the medicine go down." I use it in baking and in my coffee allll the time.  So if that is what is going to give me cancer, so be it.  

Tasty fat free brownies! Also, it's always more fun to bake 

while wearing a fun apron :)

That is all for now, hopefully I will continue posting.  My husband and I just got a new camera for Christmas, so we are having lots of fun taking pictures of basically everything! I will leave you with one of my favorite shots so far.  

Playing with Sadie in the snow!