Instant Craving Fix

Chocolate Cake in 5 Minutes

• 3 tablespoons butter, softened
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 pinch salt

Spray a medium microwave-safe bowl with non-stick spray and set aside. In a mixing bowl, combine the butter, sugar, egg, vanilla extract, and milk; blend together. Combine the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt; blend into the mixture until smooth. Pour into greased bowl.

Cover and cook in the microwave on high for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, or until cake springs back when touched. Since all microwaves cook differently, adjust the cooking time to accommodate your machine. To serve, let the cake cool five minutes, then cover the bowl with a plate and turn both bowl and plate upside down so the cake falls onto the plate. Or skip the plate and eat right from the bowl!

Nesting?? Already!?!

Over the last several months I have been absolutely amazed with the crazy things my body has gone through. Now, with only 9 weeks to go, I'm starting to experience the nesting phase. Who would have thought my life could become so comical! I can't stop cleaning and the slightest mess makes me nuts. I became annoyed with the bathtub while I was showering and insisted that Nathan find me some papertowels before I could complete my shower. I have even thought about cleaning it several more times and it's already sparkling! Yesterday I had the urge to wash all of the windows. Granted we don't have many, but I went outside in 30 degree weather and cleaned the outside of them as well! Note: windex freezes, so it won't be as sparkling clean as you'd like. My table and coffee table get scrubbed atleast once a day, even if no one's been near them. I wouldn't believe these cleaning urges were possible if I wasn't experiencing them for myself!

Nathan's thoughts: "This is my favorite part of the pregnancy so far!"

Our Valentine's Day

There were high hopes set for us newlyweds this year as everyone asked how we would spend our first Valentine's Day together. Sorry to disappoint, but we opted out of the typical day. We spent a few evenings throwing around different ideas, but everything fell short of what we thought the day should be about.

When Nathan arrived home (around 2:45pm) from work we immediately decided we absolutely had to tackle the pile of dishes that had formed. Our work schedules have been really crazy lately with him waking me up for five minutes after arriving home at 9:45pm to say "Hi" and me getting up and leaving for work at 7:45am. Needless to say, dishes had not been on our immediate agenda. He washed the dishes while I scrubbed the refrigerator. We joked about how entertaining this scenario looked and had a chance to discuss our day and just enjoyed being together.

After really reflecting on this, we realized that we don't need the commercial aspects of Valentine's Day. This day should merely reflect the love you have for one another all year long. The flowers, the dinners, and the chocolate (this one might be debatable) may be a wonderful gesture, but it's the memories that will last. How did we spend our first Valentine's Day?? We washed dishes and cleaned out the refrigerator and it couldn't have been more perfect!