Painting, writing, drawing, cooking. What have you been doing?

I've been painting our hallway and stairwell this week.  I was not very excited about it, it's by far the most complicated painting job I've tackled in the house thus far.  But, it's coming along and then I can move on to the master bedroom, for which I already have the paint and I'm so excited about it!

I also just finished a News Reporting and Writing class.  (Did I mention I'm finishing my degree...finally?) I have thoroughly enjoyed every journalism class I've taken thus far, except this one!!  I did discover, however, that 1) I'm extremely cynical about the news in general, 2) I enjoy some bias in my news *gasp* and 3) I am NOT destined for this particular area of journalism :)

Other than that, Natalie and I have been enjoying some drawing this week.  I found my old cartoon drawing books that I had when I was young and my mom found and gave me the fancy ones she had when she was young (which I always loved) and so Natalie has been enthralled.  She is a very creative gal, let me tell ya.

I don't know if my mom would appreciate me calling something from her childhood "vintage", but aren't these awesome???? I'm in love. I want to rip that cover off and frame it. But, I won't.  Maybe I could frame the whole book, though. Hmmmmm.

Last week I bought the latest issue of Clean Eating magazine (which I LOVE) and guess what, they're coming out with a best-of cookbook!! Yay! Anyway, for several years, I was looking for the perfect alfredo sauce recipe, but didn't think much about for the last couple of years or so (or since I got healthy :) Little did I know, the best recipe would be a clean one!!! I tried this one from the magazine last night, I had all the ingredients on hand and it was YUMMY! (I know most of you probably don't keep arrowroot powder around and I don't know anyone besides myself and my mom that only buys plain yogurt, so you could still use corn starch or flower and sour cream.)

Here it is:
Ingredients
1 cup 2% lowfat milk
1 1/2 tsp ground arrowroot
2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup low-fat plain yogurt
1/4 tsp nutmeg, ground
1/4 tsp ground white pepper

Instructions
In a medium saucepan, whisk together milk and arrowroot. Place over medium heat and cook, stirring, until mixture comes to a summer and thickens, about 3 minutes.  Remove from heat and add cheese, whisking until melted.  Whisk in yogurt, nutmeg and pepper.  Cover and set aside.  If necessary, re-warm over low heat before serving.