25. Really Surprise Someone

Hey y'all!

So if you know me at all, you know that I am a TERRIBLE liar. I think this is a good thing, but when you're trying to surprise someone, dang that makes things hard!

I got an idea in my head in March that I wanted to do something really fun for Ryan's birthday this year. He has talked about going to a Cubs game together since we started dating, so I figured we could go for that. I looked at the schedule, and not only were they going to be in Chicago, they would be playing the Cardinals! I texted our friend Ian (who Ryan has known most of his life) in May, and we got to planning. 

You're probably wondering "why does it matter that you're a terrible liar?" Well, it matters because I wanted this to be a complete surprise. Every single time I try to surprise Ryan, he figures out what I'm planning. EVERY SINGLE STINKIN TIME! I literally flew to Florida for his birthday two years ago thinking he had no idea, and the second he walked in the door from class, he told me he had figured it out. Grr...

I bought the plane tickets in May and looked at game tickets and talked with Ian often about where we should sit and what we should do leading up to Ryan's birthday. Two weeks ago, Ryan saw that Ian had texted me. I just said "Oh, I found out when my training in Chicago is and I was seeing if they would be in town so we could maybe go up the weekend before." Luckily, he didn't ask more questions.

Fast forward to a week later. Ryan suddenly asks me "So when are we picking up Ian from the airport?" UM WHAT?! Told you I couldn't lie! Luckily, we thought Ian was coming to Tulsa and that was it. I said "Please don't ask me questions about your birthday or you are not getting your present." Yeah, that didn't stop him, but I just avoided the questions for a couple of days. 

Last Friday, Ryan's parents came into town for what Ryan thought was the entire weekend. Terry and I said we just couldn't wait until Monday for him to open his presents. He kind of rolled his eyes and sat down. The first gift he opened was from his parents and was a personalized cubs jersey. He thought that was pretty cool and apparently didn't think into it much.

I then handed him a card and watched as he opened it....oh the suspense! When he first opened it, he didn't look at the enclosure. Once he saw the tickets, I could see him piecing it together. I told him we were leaving for Chicago Sunday and going to the game with Ian and Whitney. Finally, he said "wait, we aren't picking up Ian at the airport, Ian is picking US up??" HE HAD NO IDEA!! SUCCESS!!!!

Thanks Danny and Terry for our jerseys!

Have you ever surprised someone? Leave a comment and let me know! I LOVE surprises. :) Look for another post this week about our trip!

Until next time,

My Favorite Casserole Recipe - Broccoli, Rice, Chicken and Cheese!

Hey y'all! 

I travel for work quite a bit, and Ryan gets LOTS of casseroles while I am gone. I wanted to share one of my (and Ryan's) favorite recipes- Chicken and rice casserole! I shared this on my old blog, but for how often we make it, it's worth sharing again.

This casserole freezes well and it tastes even better each time you reheat leftovers. I could seriously eat this daily for a week or two...probably not a good idea! Funny thing is that this is the first meal my grandma made when my dad brought my mom home to meet the family. In the style of Ree Drummond (my cooking idol) I will show pictures along with the directions.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups cooked rice
• 1 medium package frozen broccoli (chopped or in small pieces)
• 1 can cream of chicken soup, undiluted
• 1 can water chestnuts, sliced
• 1 small jar cheez-whiz
• 3-4 cups chopped or shredded chicken (use more if you want!)
• 1/2 cup milk
• Shredded cheese

 Place chicken in a pot and fill with water. Bring water to a boil, then reduce heat to medium and cook for 30-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Go ahead and turn the oven on to 350 if you are planning on cooking this now.

 While the chicken is cooking, go ahead and cook the rice.

 Drain the water chesnuts 

 Combine milk, cheez-whiz, broccoli, cream of chicken, and water chestnuts in a bowl or pot.

 Add chicken! I like to shred mine, but chopping works too. It's just whatever is easiest for you.

 Start adding rice until you think the mixture seems thick (but not too thick) - I end up using about 4 cups.

 

 Place mixture in a greased baking dish.

Sprinkle cheese on top. Seriously, who doesn't like extra cheese?

Pop in the oven for 30 - 35 minutes or freeze for later in the week. I think Ryan can vouch that it tastes pretty yummy after being frozen!

Not the prettiest picture, but I PROMISE it tastes amazing! If you do try it, let me know what you think!

Until next time,

18. Part 1 - Go for a Run in Central Park

Hey y'all!

So this is only about half of #18 on my 30 by 30 list, but seeing as both locations are on opposite sides of the country, it's reasonable there would be a lag between completing the two right? After going to New Jersey for my brother's graduation, I got to go visit one of my best friends, Ellen, in New York.

We had many adventures for the few days I was in town - we ate lobster rolls at Chelsea Market (YUM), saw Les Miserables on Broadway, saw Much Ado About Nothing as part of Shakespeare in the Park, and visited the famous Coney Island. While Ellen was at work, I had some time to cross an item off of my "30 by 30" list. I got to go running in Central Park!

I've visited Central Park twice before and and on this trip got to visit two more times (once to run and once for Much Ado about Nothing). If I had to choose a park to live in, this would be it, no joke. The sky was really that blue that day too.

 Besthelda Fountain

 The boathouse

I definitely didn't run 10 miles or anything, but I got a good workout in. Here's to crossing off (half) of another item on the list!

Until next time,

6. Host a Holiday Meal

Hey y'all! 

Originally when I made this one, I was thinking of Thanksgiving or Christmas, but there are WAY more holidays than that to celebrate! We hosted Easter this year and really enjoyed having both of our parents and one of my brothers and sister-in-law join us! (We missed you Mike!)

In true Bradley fashion, Ryan smoked the meat that we were going to have. He made ribs and a bacon bomb. Have you heard of a bacon bomb? It's basically hamburger meat wrapped in bacon (plus all of his "super secret" spices). Here's a picture before it went on the smoker:

I love that Ryan loves to use the grill and smoker! I make the sides/dessert and he takes care of the main course. Pretty good team if you ask me!

 I made salad and baked potato salad as sides.

 Do you think we made enough rolls?! Ryan and I were eating dinner rolls all week.

 Ryan's mom made her famous baked beans. YUM

 Cheesecake!

 I forgot to take a picture of the chocolate pie I made, so here's a picture of me making it with my favorite kitchen appliance ever.

We make an awesome team

Overall, I would say that our first holiday was a success! It was so fun to spend time with family and get to use a lot of our wedding presents for the first time.

I had an AWESOME weekend in California and can't wait to share the details with you soon! Why was it so awesome you might ask? I crossed TWO more items off of my 30 by 30 list AND got to go on another unplanned adventure.You can check out the original list here to check on my progress!

Until next time,

4. Locks of Love Donation

Happy Friday Y'all!!
 
Many of you may know this, but Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children  suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. I've always wanted to donate, but had some weird attachment to my long hair. I finally decided this April that I was going to do it.

My hair was ridiculously long. I mean, I got to the point where I ended up with it in a ponytail or knot on top of my head by the end of the day almost every day because it got in the way. The picture below is from the morning of our wedding.

This one was a couple of weeks before I cut it.  Not the best picture, but it gives a GREAT idea of how long my hair had gotten. Ridiculously long.

Honestly, I may not have gone through with it, but I had told a few people I was going to, so I felt like I should. I'm so glad I did! These are some long braids!

Ah! It's gone! 12ish-14ish inches donated! 

 Loving the short hair!

This picture was a few weeks ago at a friend's wedding.

 

I'm finally used to it! I do often miss my messy bun that I could just throw on top of my head and go, but I'm so glad that I went through with it and really do love the short look!

I'm traveling for work this week and my team is going to have a few exciting adventures over the weekend. Can't wait to share details with you! 

Until next time,

Thirty by Thirty

Hey there!

I hope everyone had an awesome 4th of July weekend! We definitely had a great one. Be expecting a post with some pictures once I get them loaded to my computer!

A "thing" that I've heard a lot about is a "30 by 30" list, so I thought "why not?!" No reason to wait to have a bucket list, might as well make some lists to accomplish by my next "milestone" age. I started this list at the beginning of March 2014, so some have already been accomplished (hence the cross through). I will post about some of the stuff that I've crossed off thus far and will post updates as I check things off!

Update: Items highlighted in aqua are COMPLETE! Woo hoo!

1. Go skydiving
2. Run a 1/2 marathon
3. Be a mom
4. Donate hair to Locks of Lovert
5. Read 20 new books each year
6. Host a holiday meal
7. Pay off as much debt as we can - I have an exact number written down for a goal, but I hope to completely surpass that!
8. Pass the CPA exam
9. See New York City at Christmas
10. Go to a Texans and/or Cowboys game
11. Get promoted
12. Go on a spontaneous weekend getaway
13. Get a puppy (and train it too!)
14. Visit 3 cities that I've never been to- Atlanta, Birmingham, Ocho Rios (in Jamaica!)
15. Obtain my concealed carry license
16. Go to a Cubs game
17. Meet someone famous
18. Go for a run in Central Park and on the beach in Santa Monica
19. Ride in a hot air balloon
20. Be a member of a studio audience
21. Plant a tree and watch it grow (which means keep it alive!)
22. Grow a garden and eat the produce
23. Eat in a food challenge
24. Take a cake decorating class
25. Really surprise someone
26. Paint an original piece of art
27. Lose 50 pounds (I'll let you know when I hit that one - I'm not telling you how much I weigh right now!)
28. Visit Disneyland
29. Volunteer with an organization that means something to me
30. Plan & host a party (One where you would send an invitation - Shower, B-day Party, etc)

I'll keep you updated as things get accomplished :) Have a great week! 

What does "Taking Care of the Goose" Mean?

You may be wondering why this blog is named what it is. My mom gave me the idea with one of her many sayings. She is forever telling me "you have to take care of the goose first."

At first, I thought she meant that I have to take care of myself so one day I would be more prepared to be a mom. I thought "WHAT THE HECK MOM!? It's not in our plans to have kids for a little bit. Please calm down".

Then I realized that I took the words far too literally. Taking care of the goose means you have to take care of yourself before you can be the best you can be in any situation of your life. I need to be healthy, mentally, physically, and emotionally, to be the best wife, sister, daughter, friend, and employee that I can be.

This blog is going to be about the journey of "taking care of the goose" and all that it entails. It's ever evolving so I can't define what the end goal is, but am looking forward to sharing the ride with you! 

Until next time,