I wake up for probably the 5th time and reach over to look at the phone....6:45am. Seriously! But,I am definitely not falling back asleep, so stealth mode I slide out of bed and slip out of the room. I wait for a second to listen for movement. Nothing. I creep down the stairs and head into my haven. Lights on and I grab my bowls, mixer, berries...

Pancakes in bed. Added some flare to the stand by adding a valentines day love cloth napkin below, fun paper napkins and cutting a couple of strawberries into hearts

Yesterday was like Christmas Morning. But infinitely better.

A year ago I locked Andrew down to deal with my shenanigans f-o-r-e-v-e-r. Genius move by me (even better than my move to pick-up Le'Veon Bell for my fantasy team and have him as my keeper...ask your man about him if you don't know who this is). What I take away from this first year is that I am incredibly lucky to have a partner that is willing to take the time to make me be a better person and to just be there. Have there been hic-cups, sure, but I embrace them as moments for self improvement.

Attending a Wedding of our friends Kody and Mary who will be sharing our anniversary date

For our one year anniversary I gifted Andrew a snow globe with a bride and groom with pumpkin heads (a preview of our hot look in the afterlife). Andrew gifted me a dollar. He told me I will be a very rich women one day, which can only mean he plans on sticking around and giving me a fifty dollar bill one day (maybe I can ask for an advance?).

So, I treat you today with the recipe I found a number of years back in a GLAMOUR magazine. Our go to for special occasions.

"I LOVE YOU" PANCAKES

INGREDIENTS

1 Lemon
2 cups of raspberries
1/3 cup of sugar in the raw...plus a little for later
2 cups of whole wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon of salt or 10 cranks on the grinder
1 tablespoon of baking powder
1 cup of ricotta cheese
1 1/4 cup of Almond Milk
4 eggs (separate the yolk and the whites...you are going to use both)

DIRECTIONS

Place your raspberries in a small bowl and gently mash them. Zest the entire lemon over the bowl and stir in 1/3 cup of sugar. Set to the side
In a larger bowl sift the flour and add the salt, a teaspoon of sugar and the baking powder. Mix it up.
In another decent sized bowl crack and add your egg yolk and then put the egg whites in a separate smaller bowl.
In the egg yolk bowl add in the ricotta cheese and milk. Beat with a mixer for a minute and then add in half your flour mixture. Beat, add in the rest of the flour mixture. Set to the side for ten minutes.
Take your egg whites and beat with the mixer until you get soft peaks. There should be no egg yolk liquid (or just a minimal amount) left.
After your 10 minutes are up, add the raspberry mixture into the batter by gently folding them in (use a wooden spatula, not a mixer). Next add in the egg yolk soft peaks by again folding it in.
Heat your large nonstick skillet over low heat and add some butter. Add the pancake mixture after a minute and let them sit (or shape into a heart like I did). After 4 minutes flip over (or once golden brown). They will probably need to sit on the pan for 8-10 minutes as you should have the heat on low. Patience is virtue!!

Toppings: mixed berries, strawberries, maple crème, maple syrup, whip cream or chocolate.

Make it a party!