3 Reasons I'm Not as Lazy as I Seem

I wrote what I hope is my last thank you card tonight, so here's hoping that I will occasionally have time to post again. Until grad school starts on 8/27 that is. I know I've been a bit MIA lately... but I have good reasons!

1. The Wedding!

Yes, those are over 1000 cranes that were hand folded by myself and my bridesmaids. 

The ceremony was awesome, I may post it later as it does involve zombies. The party was super fun and we danced all night long on the patio.
I thought things would calm down after the wedding, but life actually got crazier. First of all, we had to hang out with people the whole weekend after the wedding. This was closely followed by the move in of our new roommate. Yup, we got a roommate in our house as one of our wedding presents.

2. The Roommate
Getting a roommate really does make sense. He's been a long time friend (even a groomsman at our wedding), and he really needed some place to live. We need the rent money. It's a win-win situation.
Along with the introduction of a roommate, we seem to have become crazy social. There are pretty much always people over our house. We've also been doing a bunch of table top gaming. Here are some of our favorites.

Really fun zombie survival game. I always seem to play the zombie horde attacking everyone else.

As well as Zombie Munchkin and Pirate Munchkin

Don't let your kids play this one

But none of this really takes up as much time as:

3. Stress at work and the eternal sinus infection
I went back to work the Monday after the wedding, and have been slammed with work since then. I ended up taking on two additional responsibilities on top of my normal workload, as well as covering vacations in several different departments. Not surprisingly, following the wedding and 52 hour work weeks, I got sick. The lame part is that the damn thing won't seem to go away. After 7 days of a sinus infection, I finally broke down and went to Urgent Care. They gave me some antibiotics, but I don't know how much good they are doing. I still just don't feel well. :( Hopefully it will magically go away soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Yummy Shrimp Scampi

Tonight's dinner was shrimp scampi. We were (surprisingly) out of white wine, but chicken broth substituted nicely! This turned out super tasty and I would certainly make it again!

Shrimp Scampi - Serves ~4
(WeightWatchers 10 points per serving including pasta)

Ingredients
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
2 clove(s) (medium) garlic clove(s), minced
1 1/2 Tbsp uncooked shallot(s), finely chopped (Green onions can substitute)
1/4 cup(s) white wine, divided (Chicken broth can be substituted)
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, divided
2 tsp fresh parsley, fresh, minced
1 tsp fresh basil, minced
1 tsp fresh thyme, fresh, minced
1/4 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
2 Tbsp regular butter, at room temperature
1 1/4 pound(s) uncooked shrimp, jumbo-size, shelled and deveined*
8 oz angel hair pasta

Instructions
Warm a large skillet over a medium-low heat; add oil and heat until shimmering. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Add shallots and sauté for 5 minutes. Add 2 tablespoons of wine(broth) and 1/2 tablespoon of lemon juice; stir, scrapping bottom of pan with a wooden spoon.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until shallots are translucent, about 5 more minutes.

In a small bowl, combine shallots, parsley, tarragon, thyme, salt and pepper with softened butter; refrigerate until butter hardens (can be made 1 day ahead).

Add shrimp to skillet and cook until done.

Drain sauce into a bowl and set aside.

Place butter mixture on shrimp in the skillet. Allow shrimp to slightly brown.

Pour sauce back into the skillet and mix well.

Serve sauce and shrimp over pasta.