Recipe: Pork Chops & Herbed Rice...

This past year, my old NYC roommate and I got really into cooking! After so many long hours at a desk, I found it very relaxing to just lose myself in the recipes... not to mention how much healthier and yummier I was eating too! Thanks to this great cookbook I found, it made cooking a lot easier and much more enjoyable.

This book has great pictures for almost all of the recipes and they are very easy to follow. I really had never tried full blown cooking before and now here I am... a chef!!!

Now that I'm temporarily back home, I wanted to share with my parents my new found art!!! Not to mention I have to keep up my good cooking house wife skills (what a mouthful) for when I finally make it out to London. I have also decided that it is long over due that I introduce more veggies into my dad's diet... he is an extremely picky eater!

Texas Flavored Pork Chops with Lemony Herbed Rice & a side of Gingered Squash Saute

What are some of your favorite quick and easy recipes??? I've also been craving Butternut Squash Soup lately... due to the chill in south Florida, so please share if you have any good ones!

Hope you feel inspired and put your own cooking skills to the test!  Bon Appetit =)

-P.S. I served the meal with mango wine...

Let Me Come Home...

So it's been two weeks since I got back from visiting hubs for the holidays and I can't believe it's only been TWO WEEKS!!!! I've been so busy making sure my days are full of non stop things that have to get done that it feels like its been over a month. For those of you that may not know, I just married my penguin of five years (they mate for life you know) after a grueling long distance relationship. And when I say long, I mean really, really, really long!!! He is British, and therefor in England. I am American, and in the States. So you can just begin to imagine how many times we have each traveled back and forth across the pond...

he liked it so he put a ring on it...

Because life is funny and can be unusually cruel sometimes, even though we are now legally married, I still cant just jump up and move over.... grrrrr! There's this whole extensive visa process that I am just starting in order to legally be able to work over there. I guess it makes sense but I was kind of hoping that after all this, they would just say congrats and here's your visa!

Just a few of the things on my list are:

1. Name change on EVERYTHING.
2. Update resume and references.
3. Work on portfolio.
4. Begin a blog.
5. Start running... again.

And that's just a preview... the list goes on and on... So very exciting, I just got all my main documents back this week with my new name and wanted to share!!! I am now officially Mrs. Jackeline Beale or Jackie B. for short. I like it! Suits me and has a nice ring to it... I am totally embracing my new name... now I just have to start practicing my new signature.

Last thing I want to share before we start the weekend... I came across this video and thought it was the perfect song for this weeks feelings. I miss my hubs and just want to come home to him. Check out Jorge & Alex Narvaez doing a cover of Home. Is she not just the cutest toddler ever! And as if that wasn't enough to tug at your heart strings, read their story on their site... made me tear up in a good way =)

 

Ben & Jackie Sitting In A Tree

After contemplating many different ways to begin this, I thought I should start at the beginning... or at least the beginning of the end for Jackie Lugo and long distance =)

So there's this special tree in Central Park that Ben I had found nearly two years ago. This tree was remarkable and would definitely make a lasting impression on both of us. What makes this tree so special even today is that not only is it very old and huge, but it's covered in carvings of love dedications! We had always wanted to come back to it and claim our little section in the bark but were never able to find it again. Central Park is just so huge!

So on July 19, 2010... just another work day for me, Ben finally found the tree!!! This was actually the day before he had to leave (back to London and I'll tell you all that story later on) and he had been searching high and low for the whole week!

It was the perfect date... tandem bike ride through Central Park... amazing NYC style pizza under "our tree"... and him carving our love into history. I was expecting the traditional Ben + Jackie Forever or something along those lines. I sat on the beach towel and fed the pigeons pizza crust while Ben carved... and carved... and carved...

I was so preoccupied making sure the little birds got their fair share of crust, I didn't realize how long Ben had been up there. When he finally declared he was finished, he helped pull me up onto a branch of the tree so I could examine his masterpiece.... and there it read:

I nearly fell out of the tree as I looked over at him, half in shock and very confused! And there he was, down on one knee on a lower branch and holding up a ring with that nervous smile I had predicted he would have! It all felt to surreal as I felt the rush of a million emotions flood me at once... I laughed, I cried, I asked "is this for real?" and then said YES!!!!!! It was all so unexpected in such an expected situation that I cant even really remember what he said exactly. Just the look on his face, the slight tears in his eyes, and that nervous smile. He told me after that he couldn't remember what he had said either lol. And so now, after five years of long distance... it is official!!!!!!!!!

Benjamin Harry Beale and Jackeline Lugo are Fiances!!!!