Niagara Falls: Our First Adult Getaway Since Jett

Having a songwriter as a husband has lots of perks. One of which are trips that are paid for, or at least partially paid for. Luckily, one of Jonathan's awesome songwriter friends included him (and me) on a writer's night at Fallsview Casino in Niagara Falls. We'd never seen the Falls, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to have a much needed adult weekend. In preparing for the trip, I realized it had been over a year since we'd had a vacation alone. And that's a really long time for what we're used to! So needless to say, we were both super excited. Canada wouldn't have been my first choice for an adult vacay, but I'm not complaining about a baby free weekend! Plus it turned out to be really fun! 

The first night, we were so stoked to be out & not have to worry about Jett (thanks, Mom!) that we just ran around the casino like a couple of crazy people who'd never been  in public before. I definitely sat at the video black jack table too long, & Jonathan definitely put way too many $20's in the slot machines. (I miiiight have put a 20 in the Sex & the City machine & got waaaay too excited when I won 16 bucks…) But it was so fun just being silly & being with each other. I'm not sure when it happened, but I realized how old I'd been feeling before. This little getaway reminded me of the crazy times we had before we had Jett. Like when we first met & I was only 18 type young. It was fun, sweet, magical, carefree & irresponsible. Exactly what we needed! 

The next day, we slooowly got out of bed & went to breakfast. We had an amazing view of the falls, which was all the more reason to stay in bed a little longer, right? Anyway, we went to breakfast…Well, I guess you could call it brunch since it was almost noon by the time we got there.  Then, we walked down to see the pretty waterfalls & take some photos, then spent most of the afternoon looking at photos & videos of Jett thinking about how much we missed him. We even went back to newborn photos. I think Jonathan might have teared up once, but don't tell him I said so ;) That's when I realized just how bad we needed time to ourselves. 

After we got ourselves together, we went to relax a little before Jonathan had to play. Oh, I forgot the best part! The people in Canada are SO nice, but at the casino, they literally treated us like we were celebrities. I mean, they escorted us to our room in a private elevator. And that was after they had the LIMO come get us at the airport. Hahaha! Not bad for a first getaway. Getting the star treatment was definitely a plus. Jonathan hates it, but I just put my sunglasses on & act like I'm somebody :) Gimme my two days, people. Speaking of, I never got to share this video of me & Amanda getting paparazzi-ed in L.A. I like to pretend they were looking for US all night and then there we were! And Blake Shelton & Miranda Lambert just happened to be there too! Ha! So, that's my 2 days + 5 seconds of fame. Back on track: we were escorted (haha! it's so funny now that I think about it) down to the green room before the show with the other songwriters. And being in a room of songwriters is entertaining enough on it's own. It was fun getting to spend some time with all of them as a group. Very nice guys & a very good show.

It was so fun to see Jonathan play again too. The first 8 years of our relationship, I probably didn't go more than a week without seeing him play, & since he's slowed down & focused more on writing, I've realized how much I miss seeing him in action! And it's really amazing to see him play songs he's written that a room full of people that we don't even know are singing along. I can't imagine how proud i'll be of Jett one day, because I almost cry just thinking about how proud I am of Jonathan for working so hard. It's been so exciting to see how things all played out. When we first met, we spent most of our time drinking beer & moonshine in a trailer in Cedar Grove, Tennesse. And now we're taking limos to Canadian casinos & being escorted everywhere! Hahahahaha! Sorry about the "haha's," but I keep laughing out loud every time I think about it. So, yeah, I'm very proud & happy for him. His talent blows me away every day. But do know that I loved that trailer in Cedar Grove & wouldn't have changed a thing about those days:)

So what all this comes down to is that it really is amazing that just one night or two away was able to kind of recharge us as a couple. We always get along & rarely fight, but we've never had to put anything or anyone else before each other or our relationship. We're learning how to be parents every single day, but equally important, we're learning how to keep the love we have for each other strong so we can be even better parents for little Jetterbug. We constantly work on communication, (as we're both pretty bad at it) & we've had to learn to find a balance in every day life so we don't end up being resentful or angry at each other. It happens sometimes, but we always figure out a way to work it out. It's really hard sometimes, but it's so fun watching Jonathan as a dad. He's even better as a dad than I ever imagined! 

Moral of the story for parents: Take some time for yourself & don't feel guilty about it. It will make your relationship stronger which will make you stronger as parents, which will make your kid stronger & happier. It's good to miss your kid (or kids) & have time to remember why you fell in love in the first place. So go get to planning your getaway! You'll be happy you did! Cheers!

View from our room

Skylon Tower. A 70-something year old man walked across a tightrope from here to the top of a hotel every night. With no harness. It was terrifying.

Self portrait

So pretty

Cute husband

Tilapia Tacos

Super easy & delicious summer dinner. I call them "Tilapia Tacos" because "Fish Tacos" sounds gross to me. It's pretty light & a lot of delicious. Even Jonathan loved these, & he's not a fan of fish in general. Unless it's shellfish. Anyway, here's the recipe: 

Tilapia Tacos

Ingredients:

Two Tilapia Filets

Tortillas of your choice

Shredded Pepperjack Cheese

Avocado

Cilantro

One lime, sliced

Santa Fe Tortilla Strips

Sour cream / Light sour cream

Seasoning:

Garlic Powder

Chili Powder

Cumin Powder

Red Pepper Flakes

Salt

Directions:

Spray tilapia filets with olive oil so the seasonings will stick better. Season the filets generously / to taste with the spices. (I do this & chop the cilantro & lime ahead of time so when I'm ready to eat, all I have to do is cook the fish.) Once it's seasoned, you can keep it covered in the fridge until you're ready to cook it. Spray a skillet with plenty of olive oil & let it heat to medium / medium high. You don't want it to get too hot as it will cook the fish too fast & it will be gross. So use your best judgement. Squeeze a wedge of lime on to each filet while cooking. I turn them when the edges start turning white. Then squeeze more lime on the other side. Once I think they're finished cooking, I'll flake them open with a spatula (just to be sure!) and break them in to taco sized pieces. 

For the tortillas, I wish I'd had the mini size, but I could only buy them in packages of 100, so I went with the medium sized. Usually to make the shells warm & sticky, I'll dampen a few paper towels & put a tortilla in between each one & microwave, but I didn't have any paper towels so I improvised & they turned out even better! (happy accident :D) I had some Chinet paper plates, so I put a little water in one & dipped the tortillas in there. Not a lot of water, just enough to cover the tortilla. I wet two plates & put the tortillas in between & popped in the microwave for 30 seconds. No more or they'll get hard. PERFECT! 

Once the tortillas are ready, spread desired amount of sour cream down the center. Add fish, cheese, cilantro, avocado & tortilla slices then top with another squeeze of lime juice. 

I'm telling you, these are better than any restaurant fish tacos you've ever had! And SO easy. I usually serve with cilantro parmesan corn on the cob, but didn't have time to toss that on the grill, so we just went with blue corn chips & salsa instead. 

This can serve up to 4 if you're using the medium tortillas, up to 6 with the minis.

Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to email me with any questions :) 

Sleeping Baby, Please do not Disturb!

All moms know, there's nothing worse than fighting to get a fussy baby to sleep, then something happening that wakes them up. We live in a pretty convenient location, so we have people stopping by pretty regularly. And then there's the UPS guy who rings the doorbell & runs while Buzz barks his head off, ultimately resulting in a mad baby whose nap just got cut short. Not a fun time for anyone involved. So in order to reduce the chances of Jett getting woken up during his very few & usually short day time naps, I made a friendly little sign to warn people when he's asleep. So take one & print it if you need it, & I hope it will be as effective for you as it has been for us! I laminated mine with contact paper & keep it by the door so I can easily stick it on there when we're headed upstairs for a nap. Happy Sunday, everybody! Here's to a good long undisturbed Sunday nap!