Wednesday, August 31, 2011

SO WHAT! Wednesday 08-31-11

Go link up!
This week I'm saying so what if...

  • I'm preparing this post before we leave so my blog won't be completely empty while I'm away for some much needed R&R, and I don't care to type that much! 
  • I have the time to make some more scheduled posts, but I can't think or focus on what to say and I don't want to
  • I'm not afraid to post that we're gone, because we have a house-sitter, and dogs. So don't think about it creepers! (Not that I think any creepers read my blog, but safety first!)
  • I've probably already gained 5 pounds by the time you read this post. 24-hour free soft serve and nearly 24-hr pizza and burgers will do that to ya.
  • We are venturing out into the Mexican country-side with our Yahoo! map and my short list of common translations. We don't wanna pay the ridiculous excursion fees. Plus it was this kind of planning that led me to meet my hubby :)
  • This trip marks off the last thing on my hubby's "to do before baby" list. But don't think that means I'm throwin' caution to the wind just yet! He don't have to carry and care for the kid!
  • My blog will be "under construction" until I get back. I'm hoping to have some new photos to add to the header and sidebar
That's all for now! See you soon!

Monday, August 29, 2011

The great baby debate

It's an internal debate though...

I know I've mentioned this before a dozen few times. But I've just been thinking about it again recently. Since hubby completed his "to do before baby" list. But I've not yet completed mine. And I know everything will never be "perfect" in order to have one, but I wonder how long you wait seeing if things will be a little more the way you want them before you dive in.
Of course I've already made a self-imposed limit to have the first one before 30, no matter what. So I figured with that to be on the safe side we should start trying at 28. But even then, nothing is guaranteed. I start wondering- what if we run into problems. What if it takes longer than I think to get preggo? Should we start now? But then I think about how hairy it would be to have a baby right now. We are in so much transition already.

Sometimes I wish it would just happen so that the decision is made for me. So I don't over-analyze it. Right now I just can't convince myself to even try. Because if you try and are successful right away, there's no un-doing that deed. Not that I would want to. I am sure if I were pregnant I would be excited and yet still a little scared as all women are. But since right now the decision is still based on logistics and logistically it doesn't make sense, here I sit. On birth control which is working very well.

Everyday at my job I see only children struggle to take care of their aging parents. I see elderly people who have no relatives at all to care for them. I even told the hubby the other day we need to have 3 or 4 just to hopefully increase our chances that in our old age our kids can help us out. Without it being too much of a burden on any single one of them. Now I know having lots of kids does not guarantee that they'll take care of you. I've also met people who have 8 children and no one to help them. But, I think it does help your chances. Especially if you are nice to them and make it easy for them to help you :)

Anyway, even if I spend the next eight months debating whether to go ahead and start trying, at least at the end of them the decision will be made. Since I've already made a plan to start trying then. That is if I don't chicken out... :)

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

SO WHAT! Wednesday 08-24-11

Go link up!
This week I'm saying so what if...
  • I didn't upgrade to expedited processing and delivery for my passport even though it was still "in process" a week before my travel date. Those things are stinkin' expensive enough already! And since it was not essential for our trip. I decided to wait it out. It arrived today! Two days before we depart. Take than "Man" (Stickin' it to The Man)
  • My mom was only home a week. At least I got to see her some. She got another job contract and is off to Maryland. In her new (used) car that she bought the morning she left!
  • We are now in charge of four dogs. One being a precocious puppy. Let the training begin.
  • I feel like I have done nothing at work today and the hours are just crawling by. Our data entry system experienced a "hardware failure" and we are all bored out of our gourds.
  • I feel like climbing the walls because I'm sitting her in laziness when there's so much at home I could be accomplishing. I need to clean for our house-sitter, get the luggage from the attic, make dinner etc...
  • I got ripped off on Amazon. I did get a refund but I am not getting the laptop I really wanted. I guess if the price seems to be too good to be true it is. But at least the lame-o seller won't get any money and will be punished. Unfortunately I've not seen a replacement for the money I wanted to spend. So I'm going for something a little less zippy and a couple hundred bucks cheaper. If I win the auction that is...
  • I made an impulse buy yesterday. It was only $5 and I used my blow money. Welcome this little gem to my collection. I didn't have any "statement" rings...
  • I'm watching some vlogs today of a girl that really kind of annoys me. A friend recommended them. But they are really not my taste. But yet I'm still watching some. I guess what I really don't like is that they are so stinkin' long. Like 15-25 minutes. I can read a post with pictures that tells me the same thing in 1/2 that time. Oh, and she's a bit of an airhead with a "Valley girl" voice. But she's quite popular on Youtube.
  • I just let out a big sigh because I have no idea what else to post. So I'm done. That's what you're getting today.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Weekend Update 08-20-11

So this weekend was not terribly eventful, but we were busy!

Friday mom and I traipsed all over town looking for new bedroom furniture for her. We were just about to drive an hour away to get what she wanted when she found the perfect set in town. Thank you Craigslist. It was from a small warehouse dealer so all the markup and overhead was eliminated. I realized once we were there that it's the same person I got my set from 6 years ago, just in a different location! Then the hubby and I ate pizza and watched Diary of a Wimpy Kid 2. Yeah, we're nerds like that. It was cute.

Saturday I went with the hubby yard saling. I had not been in QUITE some time. I did not get much. I got 3 nice ties, 2 to give away and one to keep, a lamp base and some hangers. I got a little more than enough hangers for all those consignment clothes for 35 cents. So that was nice.
We left the house at 7 and did not get home til about noon. Then after some cooling off and lunch, mom and I went and picked up her furniture. The rest of the afternoon was odds and ends. I finally showered :) Then John and I went on a "date" to Publix. :) As a treat we came home and had grilled burgers and seasoned fries. Really tasty.

Sunday we went to church and had lunch with my grandma and mom. Then we piddled for about an hour before getting hair cuts. I just got a trim, nothing major. John had his first professional cut in at least two years. Usually I do it but the salon I go to was having a fundraiser and doing $10 cuts. You can't beat that!!! Then we had another hour to kill before church. I spent it mostly dosing outside on the swing. I needed a nap but didn't get one :(
This was our first time to go to the night service at our church. We went because they were also celebrating our pastor's birthday. It was a good time. I was sad when I realized we will miss the next two Sundays because of some trips. But excited for the trips.

Oh, my hair. After first doing it I kinda was worried. It looked too yellow to me. I had pulled quite a bit of hair through the cap because usually I don't do enough and it's not quite as noticeable as I want. Well this time it was more than I intended. It felt like a big change. But apparently not because no one outside my immediate family noticed until today when my boss did. 

Just a couple photos to share:
From July 4th, old hair color

Just after highlighting

A better contrasting pic of the new hair color

Let's play a game of "spot the dog" Lol
Happy Monday. I'm so ready for a break! :)

Friday, August 19, 2011

Consignment Firsts

So my mom is going through her closets and ruthlessly purging perfectly good, stylish, nice trendy clothes. I am very sad I'm too chunky for them :(
But, she also wants nothing more to do with them and was just going to donate them all. And as the pile of beautiful clothing grew, I just knew they had to be too good for a thrift store. Surely I can make a little pocket change off these babies.

So I decided to try consigning. Well, blow my down. I was not prepared for how hoity-toity these places can be. I did not know I would need to provide my own hangers, that all clothing must be on hangers and completely wrinkle-free and that there are like 30 different brands they don't accept!
Anything from Wal-Mart, Payless or K-Mart is excluded. I can kind of understand that. But even some Target brands are excluded! No Izaac Mizrahi for Target??? Sheesh! To me it's not the brand that matters so much as the style and condition of the clothes. Which of course, according to their list, must also be impeccable! I'm starting to feel my clothes won't pass inspection, even after I buy 25 cheap hangers just to be able to take them in.

There's a less stuffy place, but they too require hangers. So since there's no chance I'll be dropping stuff off today as hoped, I figure I might as well try the uppity place first. I mean, that should mean I'll get more money too, right?

Maybe some of you have consigned and have advice?

I'll let you know how it goes after...

Thursday, August 18, 2011

Thursday Thoughts 08-18-11 Re-do

Ok so there's no way I'm going to make this one as detailed. I don't have it in me to type that much twice.

Today I was at a nursing home and overheard a conversation between two staff members. An aide was telling the maintenance man about her good friend who buys $200 worth of food stamps for $100 from another man. Total fraud. Then the aide was saying that she gets $490 a month in food stamps and her sister-in-law gets $480/mo in food stamps. The maintenance guy said "I should apply". The aide told him he would be denied because he has a job. Um, excuse me! Do you not have a job lady??? You are having this conversation at your WORK! It disgusted me to hear about the abuse this system gets. That's our money people! To me food stamps should operate like WIC. No cash value. You can just purchase the approved foods with a voucher. No returns for cash. I discussed this with a co-worker and the conversation became very inflammatory. She believes the people should be able to choose their foods just like everyone else. I think if you want to buy frozen pizza, Doritos or steaks than you need to pay cash. I feel government-supplied food should be the most economical nutritionally sound basics and nothing more. I don't care if that makes me sound like a right-wing freak. I really don't. This country simply cannot afford to pay for chicken wings and ice cream for people. I would not expect it myself. If I were on public assistance I would expect the very basic. I don't have the money to buy steaks and I certainly don't feel like paying for someone else to have them. I know there are people who really need them and I don't begrudge them that. I just think there's a much better way to administer the program and cut-down on abuse.

In a 180-

I've deemed Cinnamon Toast Crunch my favorite cereal. Peanut Butter Captain Crunch is my second favorite. Too bad they are poison basically. But they taste sooo good. I cannot buy them often. It's hard with the plethora of BOGO cereal deals each week!

I am really thankful for my ladies group and my Sunday school group. I learn a lot from them. The ladies help me deal with my selfishness. And to learn to trust God. To take it one day at a time and trust Him. Only he knows the future. And He has a reason for not showing us everything at once. We think we can handle it but we probably can't. It's just day-by-day, one foot in front of the other. I really need reminding of this since I have a very big tendency to be impatient.
Right now in Sunday school we are going over relationships. Last meeting we talked about the top 5 needs of men and women. I knew almost all for the men. I've read quite a bit since I was pretty concerned about having a healthy marriage. BUT- it reminded me to put into practice what I know!

I've been thinking about our friends who moved overseas a lot. I wonder how life will be for them and what their thoughts and feelings will be about it all. I know "T" is excited to have her own place and be a SAHM, although it's happening under radically different circumstances than she ever imagined. I wonder if I would be ready to accept radically different lifestyle in order to be a SAHM. In my head I think I am. But what if it meant being really poor? Would I really be ready for that?

I'm going to highlight my hair tonight. Mi amor is my assitant! He's helped pull my hair through the cap several times before. It has always turned out good, even impressing my hairdresser. Since I'm getting a trim this weekend and going on vacay soon, I thought it was time to spruce it up. I've been letting it heal and being kind to it since it went through a lot this last year. But I'm feeling the color is a little blah. It just needs a tad more blonde.

Well, that's all I have time to share at the moment. I know my thoughts are soooo weird interesting, but I must go!

Thursday Thoughts 08-18-11

I literally just typed like 8 paragraphs, accidentally hit some wrong key combination, and erased it all. And of course speedy Blogger saved it right away. I feel so deflated. I may type it all up again later. But I'm sure it won't be as organic as the first, since I'll struggling to re-create instead of letting original thoughts flow.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Weekend Update- Debt Free!!!!

So I am in a big time crunch at work...so let me make it quick

This weekend's highlight was talking to Dave Ramsey on his live national radio show!!!
I'm including the audio clip! I tried to embed it here, but don't seem to quite know what I'm doing wrong.

Maybe if you just click here that will work!

Then Saturday we went canoeing with our church. It was a very nice time and good to get to know people more. We took out John's ocean kayak for the first time. He has had it since high school but I've never seen it. It was "borrowed" and not returned for 2+ years. Anyway. We had a nice time.

Then Sunday night we had a dinner/goodbye time for our good friends who are leaving the US for at least two years. They are following God's calling and joining a missionary work in Laos. We are excited for them but very sad to see them go :(

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Thursday, August 11, 2011

Recipe: Dorito Casserole

In this one I boiled chicken legs and used that meat, so it's dark

From one of our weekly menus via E-Mealz

This recipe serves about 4. I would double for more than 5 people.

Dorito Casserole

1/2 bag nacho Doritos
1 can evaporated milk (I use FF)
1 can cream of mushroom soup (or chicken, or celery)
1/4lb Velveeta or 1 cup shredded cheddar
1 small onion, minced and cooked til translucent (or dehydrated minced onion)
1 and 1/2 chicken breasts, cubed and cooked
1/4 c cheddar for garnish

Bring milk and soup to a high simmer/almost boil in the microwave or sauce pan. Add in cheese and stir until melted. Add in onions. Set aside.
In a casserole dish, layer chips, then 1/2 the chicken, then 1/2 the sauce. Repeat. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until golden/bubbly. Remove from oven and top with grated cheese.

I used chicken or celery soup because the hubby hates mushrooms, but that's what the recipe calls for.

I think you could change up a few ingredients and have a totally new flavor. Like maybe ranch Doritos and a white cheese, like mozzarella or Swiss.

Anyway, it's fairly easy and a crowd pleaser!
Enjoy!

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Wednesday, August 10, 2011

SO WHAT! Wednesday 8-10-11

Go link up!
This week I'm saying so what if...

  • I've slept 7 hours since 7am today. I've been battling a sinus cold since last Friday and today it caught up with me.
  • I took a Melatonin at 6:30 this morning just so I could sleep in late. I knew my body needed it and I also know my circadian rhythms would likely not allow me to sleep past 8.
  • I did not take a shower until 4 or 5 pm today.
  • I've discovered a new ice cream flavor favorite. Publix brand New York Cherry Cheesecake. It's cheesecake ice cream with a cherry swirl and graham cracker crust bits. It's really yummy. So now I love mint chocolate chip, cherry cheesecake and gold medal (from Baskin Robbins).
  • I spent a little extra to get a nicer laptop. Since I've kept this one for 5 years and would likely do the same with the next, we thought it best to get something pretty up to date. And of course good lookin' :) Can't wait for my Sony Vaio to arrive!
  • I'm a little peeved that I did not get a shipping notification from Amazon today on said Vaio. It better come tomorrow!
  • Our mail lady probably thinks I'm a total slob. She showed up to pick up some of our shipping just as I was getting up (11am) and I was not expecting her since I'm not usually home. Remember how I did not shower til 5? Yeah, I looked a hot mess in my green carebear t-shirt and grey Seminole stretchy shorts, hair not combed and also greasy and teeth not brushed. Oh well. I told her I was sick. Which probably made her want to throw down the packages I handed her. Lol
  • I just realized this is my first SWW in a month! And the last one I was in such a hurry I didn't even bother to paste the button! It's been a busy month!
Happy Wednesday!
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Tuesday, August 9, 2011

The House Reveal!!!!

As of today the house is as done as it's going to be, with the exception of the dog door, for now. Today the fence was officially finished! It looks very nice! Also our last blind was installed!

Now don't judge the decor too thoroughly. We are mashing two kinda opposite styles since we have my mom's and our furniture. And I did not want to put too many holes in the wall or buy extra decor since we don't know how long we will be here for certain and it's not really our house. It only seems right to leave the owner some room for decorating :)

Last night the house had it's official first non-family gathering. I hosted our ladies small group. I snapped a few pics before:
The front, before I added some hanging flower baskets
The front door with the new light fixture
Entry hall, complete with pets, lol
Mom's super comfy sofa from mom. I decided to put clashing pillows together and call it "eclectic"
View from the living room into the dining room
The kitchen with our mismatched cups on the counter :)
 
A little cleaner view :) With the nice new light fixture


Front bedroom
Backyard swing and the lovely shadowbox fence. The tarp was from the fence man.
Another view of the living room. Love mom's floral print on the right.
Master bedroom. We are getting a king size bed from my grandma next week!





Huge closet!
Guest bath


Before the blinds were in
The flower baskets I added and the lily in bloom

So there you have it! Tonight was really nice. I'm finally starting to relax now that everything is taken care of. It was really nice tonight to sit on the swing in the back yard in my "bum" clothes while John grilled and the dogs sniffed around the yard. They can now stay out as long as they like. And soon they'll also be able to go in and out as they please! I am feeling like I'm in a blessed time in life. As an evangelist I heard say "a place of open space". We can now have more than 3 people over without it feeling crowded.

And of course we are debt free! A little more on that will come in another post.

Hope this post quenches everyone's picture thirst! :)
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Thursday, August 4, 2011

Thursday Thoughts 08-04-11/ Weekend Update

The fence is still not done. I still don't have blinds or curtains. There is no doggie door. We organized the business inventory last night and now my back is making me pay for all the moving.

That's the real...

Now the rosy...

May I repeat- we are debt free! We now have our full "emergency fund" of savings. We said goodbye to Sallie Mae. We were able to get John a "new to us" truck. This will really help with the business.

I am very happy for him. And for me, because now we can pickup stuff when we need to instead of borrowing a truck. And it's a lot prettier than the old Corolla. The interior is not stained! Yay :)
We of course took the kiddos for a joyride in our neighborhood. We don't feel it's safe to take them out on the streets in the truck bed. But around the block was ok. Eby seemed to enjoy it, sniffing and walking around. Ernie mostly stayed with his head poking into the cab through the back window and his little body shaking all over. He pretty much hated it. Lol.
That's him cowering to the bottom left of Eby


Also my car will be getting some work done. And maybe even a paint job. We are wanting to get her in tip top shape so she can cart me around another 5 years or more.

My family visited us last weekend. We had a nice time. Mostly we relaxed on the beach. I didn't snap any pics of my "red lobster" chest and shoulders or the peeling snake skin that followed. Even with a slight burn I am glad to have a touch more color back in my skin. I always feel better about myself when I have a tan.
My dad knocked oysters off the bottom of the floating dock and shucked and ate them right on the shoreline. Nothing fresher! If you like raw oysters that is...which I don't!
We hung out by the boat channel because the Gulf was too rough

There's the prize!

Beating it on a rock to crack it open. Using a large socket he found on the ocean floor. Survivor man. Lol.

Eby was getting some love from my sister Megan
Our dogs love visitors. We kinda get 2nd place when new folks are around who'll pay them attention

Fortunately my dad is an electrician. So he replaced those two light fixtures that I detested with these:
Outside before


















Outside after


















Inside before


















Inside after


















So home photos have to wait, and wait, and wait some more. You all can wait right along with me!