Oh, How Pinteresting...The Food Files

I'm still worried that in a few short days my blog may disappear to never-never land, but I figured I'd link up for Wednesday's blog party anyway!

One of my most despised house-hold tasks is to come up with a menu each week.  Luckily, pinterest has proved to be a wealth of inspiration and (most of the time) yummy recipes!  Here are pins of all the recipes I've tried and fallen in love with:

Source: Uploaded by user via Felicia on Pinterest

Source: thelarsonlingo.blogspot.com via Felicia on Pinterest

Source: tastebook.com via Felicia on Pinterest

Source: beckyhiggins.com via Felicia on Pinterest

Source: awelltraveledwoman.tumblr.com via Felicia on Pinterest

Source: onceuponachef.com via Felicia on Pinterest

Source: mogwaisoup.blogspot.com via Felicia on Pinterest

To get any of these delicious recipe's just click on the picture!  You will need a pinterest account to do so.  Don't have a pinterest account?  Comment me your email addy and I'll send you an invite! 

Source: someecards.com via Felicia on Pinterest

'Til next time, Happy Pinning!

Did I accomplish all of my goals for 2011?

Nope.

Actually I did slightly better than I thought considering this year did not turn out the way I had thought it would.  Meaning:  I had no idea we would be moving, let alone moving twice!  Yikes!  So, I feel like I can't be too hard on myself.  Then again, is that just me making excuses for myself?  You be the judge.

To read my goals, click here.

1. To print, label, and organize all the photos that are on my laptop and place them in photo albums.
*SIGH*  I'm so disappointed in myself, so lets just not even talk about this, OK?

2. To learn and use baby sign language with Parker
I actually did this!  Parker can sign the words:  milk, more, again, please, love, and all done.  Now that he is starting to talk more I don't really push the sign language.  Really there is one other sign that I would like to begin using and that is the word, "help".  I think that one would come in handy!

3. To use coupons
I do occasionally use coupons.  In fact, I've even began shopping at my local Homeland because they double coupons daily!  However, I haven't been printing coupons from the Internet or actually buying the Sunday paper to get coupons.  My mom has actually been helping me with this goal!  If she gets the Sunday paper, she saves the coupon section for me and gives them to me whenever she sees me.  Since I don't see her on a regular basis, I don't get coupons all the time.

4. To paint all the closet and bedroom doors in our house
I did this!  And just in time for us to sell our house!  ;)  Take a peek for yourself:  Don't the doors look better white?

Our master bedroom the day we bought the house.

Our master bedroom right before we sold the house.  Much prettier with white doors!

5. To bake a pie.
Sadly, I didn't do this.  But, now that we've moved back to Oklahoma I have visions of both my mom and my grandmother actually helping me bake a pie.  Doesn't that sound like a lot more fun?

6. To contribute more to my family financially
This is a tough question to answer.  If I want to get technical, I've actually cost our family more money than I have made us.  How is that?  Well, I started selling real estate again.  Which means I had to catch up with my continuing education ($100), then I had to sign up for the MLS and the Board of Realtors ($765), order business cards and car magnets ($135), purchase name riders for my For Sale signs ($85), and then I just had to pay my dues for membership for 2012 ($749).  So far I have had one sale and my commission check was $645. You do the math. 

7. To learn how to make spoon and fork jewelry
I didn't do this.

8. To begin working on my book again
I didn't do this either.  But, I did read the few pages that I had written...does that count?

9. To host a few more Bling On A String trunk shows
Nope. 

10. To finish The Harry Potter series
Finally!  Right when I was beginning to mentally beat myself up, the last thing is something I did!  Does it really count though when I was in the middle of reading the last book when I added it to my goal list?  At this point, I'm going to say YES!

My New Favorite Crock Pot Recipe

Last week I tried out a recipe from my Fix-It-And-Forget-It cookbook. (By the way, I think if someone owns a crock pot, they should also own that book!) It was so awesome that I'm making it again today and I thought I'd share it!

Kielbasa and Cheese Casserole

3 cups uncooked noodles
oil
2 beef bouillon cubes
1 cup boiling water
1/4 cup flour
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
4 oz. cheese, shredded
1 lb. kielbasa, sliced
1 small onion, chopped
2 ribs celery, diced
2 carrots, grated

1. Cook noodles until barely tender. Drain. Toss with small amount of oil.
2. Dissolve bouillon in boiling water.
3. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.
4. Cover. Cook on low 8 hours.

I have a habit of making myself notes in my cookbooks. I have convinced myself that really good cooks do that all the time. Please don't rain on my parade. What was my note for this particular recipe? YUMMY!!!

BTW-the recipe also called for a 2 oz. jar of pimentos. I omitted those but wanted ya'll to know it's an option. Bon Appetit!

Blog Party Wednesday!

I'm linking up with Jamie again for her blog party. Click here to see what others are loving this Wednesday!

Here's what I'm loving today:



Chocolate peanut butter? Yes, please! (It tastes great on vanilla wafers!)



I have never been a beer drinker. I just can't seem to acquire the taste for it. However, I sampled this this past weekend and oh my word! I think I can probably drink an entire bottle!

One of my favorite bands is Augustana. Thanks to my Augustana station on Pandora I've discovered this beautiful song. I can't get enough of it!



I've mentioned a few times how addicted I am to Pinterest. So I'm pretty excited to join a new blog party. So, without further ado I'm now linking up for:



Here are some of my favorite pins from this week:



These rolls of wrapping paper are hanging up in the ceiling of a closet. Which is usually wasted space. Genius! Now I can clear them out from under my bed!



I've become a little obsessed with driftwood lately. I think this is beautiful, simple, and it makes me want to drift away to sleep!



Marbleized finger nail polish! I'm excited and a little daunted to try this!



I love these magnets! We made them one time at a MOPS meeting and I decided then and there that I would make some with alphabet letters because I think they look classier than the cheap plastic alphabet letters that I always see kids playing with. This way my son can be learning his letters in style!



Isn't this adorable? I'm thinking it's a must for our lake house!



In case you haven't heard the news, drop side cribs are now banned. Meaning stores are no longer allowed to sell them and people are not supposed to re-sell the ones they currently have. Rather than just throwing your drop side crib in the trash, refurbish it into an adorable bench!

If you'd like to join pinterest comment me your email address and I'd be happy to invite you to join! And, I love all my pinterest followers!

*I have no idea how to make these pictures actually link back to the boards I have them on at Pinterest. Help!*

Happy Wednesday, Y'all!

Tasty Tuna Salad

Last weekend our friend Travis came down to the lake house and spent the weekend with us. I love it when he stays with us because one of his favorite things to do is cook. Which means HE cooks for US! Yay!

I have always been a fan of tuna fish, but have never actually had tuna salad. I've always just mixed it up with some mayo and considered it good to go. Travis changed that for me! His tuna salad is super yummy and way easy! Here is how to make it:

2 cans of tuna, drained
3 hard boiled eggs, diced (he discarded 2 of the yolks which I loved because I'm not a yolk fan)
A spoonful of sweet pickle relish
*Here's the kicker* Ranch dressing until it looks really moist.

I made it for lunch today and I did half mayo and half Ranch dressing. It's tangier if you use all Ranch dressing.

I love easy, simple recipes! Especially since I'm not the kind of gal who can look at her pantry and just whip something up. Cookbooks and recipes are my saving grace!

It could be worse....

I know I live a very charmed life when the downfalls of yesterday included:

* Realizing that corell plates are NOT shatterproof. In fact, a mere 3 foot fall will result in thousands of itty bitty shards of glass all over my kitchen floor and even on the top of my oven (How did that happen?)

* Parker caught his finger in the floor vent for the first time. Crying and bloodshed followed. Poor baby.

* Discovering that my DVR decided not to record the last 8 episodes of Sex in the City. I'm sooooo far behind now!

* I made my *delicious* homemade apricot cobbler from scratch for the second day in a row, only to have it once again turn out horribly. It was like a scrambled egg on top. No idea what I did wrong both days.

* Using the last of the apricots I froze this past spring and not being able to enjoy them.

At the end of the day, I told myself: It could be worse.

My 2011 Goals

For the third year in a row, it's time for my yearly goal list! (I can't believe I've been blogging this long!) Here we go!

1. To print, label, and organize all the photos that are on my laptop and place them in photo albums. Yup, it's appearing on my list for the third year in a row. I think I'm starting to get on every one's nerves about this now...but putting this out there really is helping me! Let's see if this is the year I can finally mark this one off the list!

2. To learn and use baby sign language with Parker. I probably should have started this months ago since he's almost nine months old, but I don't really know where to start with this. I'm hoping the library will have a book or two that I can borrow to learn some basic signs.

3. To use coupons. I was so inspired by the "Extreme Couponing" special that TLC did last week that I decided it was worth the time and effort to begin clipping coupons again. I actually went to the store yesterday and used coupons so I'm hoping I can make this a habit. I'm going to Wal-Mart today and will be buying the supplies I need to make my own coupon book to take with me on shopping trips!

4. To paint all the closet and bedroom doors in our house. When we first began remodeling our house our plan was to replace all the closet and bedroom doors with raised panel doors and to paint them white. Currently they are all the brown stained wood flat slat doors. My husband recently decided that since we won't be living in this house very long anyway, it really isn't going to pay us back to replace perfectly good doors. However, thinking about all the priming and painting I'll be sneaking in while Parker is napping already makes me want to pull my hair out!

5. To bake a pie. Two pies to be more specific. I actually love pies but have always been too intimidated to bake one. I have two favorites in mind: my mom's lemon meringue pie and my grandma's chocolate cream pie. Did I mention I plan on making the crust from scratch?

6. To contribute more to my family financially. Greg would love for me to find a well paying full time job. I would love to find a stay at home job so I don't have to put Parker in day care. I'm open to any suggestions!

7. To learn how to make spoon and fork jewelry. I have to say, I've been obsessed with spoon jewelry for a long time now. My mom can vouch for me! The other day I was doing some browsing through etsy and I was curious if anyone had a spoon jewelry store. Guess what else popped up. Fork rings! I was hooked. The next day I told my husband what he could buy me for my birthday (which is all the way in August). He asked what it was and when I said a fork ring and that it cost $150.00 he looked at me like I had lost my mind. But I promised him that it wasn't just a piece of jewelry....it was a piece of art! They are absolutely stunning!

I pulled up the rings and my husband said that he thought I should try my hand at making them myself. He even did a little research for me! I love it when my husband seems supportive of what could be a new jobby (job + hobby) for me!! I think it helps that since I would have to use some pretty heavy duty tools I would be working in the garage and my husband loves any excuse to hang out in the garage!

8. To begin working on my book again. Notice I didn't say specifically how much I would work on it! The only thing that is somewhat motivating me is when I occasionally overhear my husband talking on the phone to someone about my blog. He always tells them that I started writing a book and he doesn't know why I quit. Again, it's nice to know I have his support!

9. To host a few more Bling On A String trunk shows. I think this one is pretty self explanatory! To visit my store click here!

10. To finish The Harry Potter series. This one was on my very first goal list. And, sadly I still haven't finished the series. However, this is one goal that I'm cheating a little bit on. That's because I'm reading book 7 (the last one) right now! Sneaky, aren't I?

There you have it! What are your goals this year?

Gifts From Another Country

My sister and her family recently moved to China. As much as it sucks for her to live half way across the world from me, there is one small perk. When she visits, she brings me cool things! They recently came to the States for a quick visit and she brought along some pretty awesome gifts! Now, help me out. I know there is a word for gifts that people buy their friends when they go on vacation. But for the life of me I can't think of what it is. So, I'm just going to refer to these as, "Gifts From Another Country".

First and foremost, she brought me...FOOD! Check out all these goodies! We love the Pocky and what's funny is the Asian section at my local Wal-Mart carries these! I may have to start including them on my grocery list. Also, something I found very odd, but very yummy, were their Ritz crackers. They actually take two crackers and sandwich them with chocolate or lemon cream! Unbelievable!



The other gift she brought over is something that I can't believe hasn't become a trend here in the U.S.A. I'm not sure what they are called, so I'll use the pictures below to demonstrate!







Those little socks basically made my "sexy" shoes into "super sexy" shoes! Now I just need an excuse to get dolled up and try them out for real!!!

P.S. I finally realized what that word was that I couldn't remember. But just for fun, do you know what it was? I'll give you a hint: it starts with an "S"!

Sesame Chicken, How I Love You So!

For the five of you who regularly read my blog, I figured ya'll might get a kick out of Part Two of my sesame chicken cravings. As you know from the post below, I was left defeated when it came down to crunch time and was unable to satisfy my gnawing hunger pains for the yummy Chinese entree. Well, let me tell ya, things didn't get much better. On April 1st I remembered that the restaurant was finally open for business again! I begged Greg for us to go and he begrudgingly agreed (he likes the other Chinese restaurant much better, but like I said, their sesame chicken is spicy. Gross.) Now, as you know, my husband works as a wind turbine technician. That means the wind blows pretty good here in the little ole' town of Lamar. That day was no exception with wind gusts of up to 80 MPH (yes, this information is relevant to my story. I promise.)

We pulled up to the restaurant and there were surprisingly a lot of cars there for dinner time. We went inside and the one waitress that was working seated us. And then we sat there. For a good ten minutes. She didn't even bother to come take our drink order. Mind you I was trying to be as patient as a starving pregnant lady can be...which wasn't easy. As we were sitting there, the restaurants phone kept ringing. We heard someone yell from the kitchen why the waitress wasn't answering the phone and she yelled back that the wind was messing up the phone lines and if she answered then she would just get a busy signal.

At this point Greg and I were giving our waitress the death stare in hopes that she would remember we were sitting there and would come wait on us as well. This meant I didn't miss a beat when she told the table she was visiting with that the phone problems were probably affecting their credit card machine as well. Go figure. All Greg and I ever carry on us are our debit cards. We were screwed. Not only did our waitress seriously not know how to do her job, we couldn't pay for our meal even if she did. So we got up and walked out. Oh I was so close!

The following Saturday my friend Nelle was in town for the weekend. I called her to see if she wanted to go eat Chinese lunch buffet and she agreed! Yay! As we approached the restaurant I could literally taste the sesame chicken in my mouth! And there was no wind that day so I knew nothing could go wrong! We walked into the first door, only to be greeted with a sign on the second door that said the credit card machine was down. I was back to square one and all Nelle had on her was a credit card. She asked what I wanted to do and I immediately replied, "go to the ATM!" Nothing was going to stop me today! So we loaded back up and drove to my bank. The funny thing about this town is despite the fact that it's so small, my bank happens to have two branches. Luckily one of those branches was just a few blocks away from the Chinese joint. Unlucky for me was discovering they don't have a ATM machine. Are you serious??? What bank does not have an ATM machine? Off to another bank we went. By the time we got back to the restaurant fifteen minutes had passed and if I wasn't 9 months pregnant with huge swollen feet I probably would have literally leaped out of the vehicle and ran to the door.

As we walked in I noticed the sign on the door that said that the credit card machine was not working was removed. I pointed it out to Nelle and the hostess/waitress over heard me and said, "Oh yeah, I saw you guys leave and figured that was why. I forgot to take it down yesterday." I had a quick mental image of me screaming in rage and tackling her to the ground screaming, "why didn't you stop us???!!!" But instead I smiled and said, "No problem", and headed straight to the buffet where I loaded my plate up with a big scoop of sesame chicken.

My First Baby Shower

A week ago today I went to my very own baby shower. It was held in Oklahoma and it was so nice to be able to spend a few short hours with many friends and family members. I had four amazing friends (Amber, Shannon, Kayl, and Misty) host the event for me.


I actually hadn't seen Amber and Kayl in almost two years so it was nice to reconnect with them. It was also a chance for me to see one of my former college roommates (I hadn't seen her in over a year) and one of my friends since I was six years old (I hadn't seen her in over four years). It is truly nice knowing I have such long term, life long friends!

The shower itself had a "Fill Her Nest" theme, complete with birdhouses, bird statues and feathers. It was pretty darn adorable! My cake was fantastic! A chocolate chip cake with rolled fondant icing. It tasted as good as it looked, if not better!




I received all kinds of useful presents!!




One thing I do regret is not getting a group picture of every one who attended before my guests began to leave.

My awesome day was also very bittersweet. That's because I had to say an actual good-bye to someone for the first time in my life. It was this gal:


My amazing sister. She's moving to China in March. Needless to say, the waterworks started, and things weren't quite the same after she and our mom left.


Speaking of my sister, because of their big move, she loaded Greg and I up with all kinds of baby essentials, toys, and clothes. We honestly had to rent a U-Haul trailer just to get everything back home. I still need a few baby items, but overall I feel completely set to bring Baby Parker home in a few short months!

Cravings

I've always heard that pregnant women tend to crave weird stuff. Luckily for me, I haven't had any unusual cravings. Just food that sounds really good at that moment. That is, until last night. Last night, all I wanted was a twinkie...dipped in cool whip. Is this just my crazy pregnant hormones or does that sound amazing?!

On a side note, we're Oklahoma bound today! I'm so excited, but my back and I are both dreading the drive! Please pray for me! ;)

Kings Chef Diner

I recently blogged about our trip to Colorado Springs. However, I purposely omitted one important part of our trip because I felt it deserved it's own post!

If anyone reads this and happens to go to Colorado Springs, CO, you HAVE to go to the Kings Chef Diner in downtown for breakfast. I promise, you will not be disappointed! In fact, if we ever go to Springs and I'm unable to eat there for whatever reason, I am in a serious piss-poor mood! I'm actually shocked when I meet people who live in Springs and they have never ate there.

The first time we ventured inside the "little purple castle" we weren't quite sure what to expect. First of all, the place is tiny. I don't even think it seats ten people. Then, virtually every available inch of wall space is covered in awards. That was when I knew we hit the jack-pot! The first thing I ever ordered from there was "The Grump". Oh my goodness. It was heaven in my mouth! I'm sure the other entrees are pretty good as well, but I've never been able to get past the yummy Grump goodness and I order it every time we go!

Greg on the other hand has tried a little of this and a little of that and I know for a fact he has never been disappointed. Not only is the food to-die-for...the portions are monstrous! I have always ordered a half-order and literally have to remind myself to stop eating before I get sick. I would hate to see what a full size Grump looks like!

The Kings Chef Diner has recently opened another venue in downtown Springs. That's where Greg and I decided to go during this particular visit. It has the same great menu so I knew we'd be safe. It's a much bigger facility and the staff is just as friendly as they are at "the castle" so we were pretty satisfied! And to my surprise, they added a new item to the menu! A 1/4 order of The Grump! That's what I ordered. As soon as my last bite was gone I immediately wanted more but after I sat there for a minute I realized that I was full.

Greg ordered a breakfast burrito on this particular visit. One interesting thing we learned when we first arrived in Colorado is that green chili is a staple food. Being the Okies that we are, we had no clue what it was. Basically it's almost like a salsa but it's made with green chili's and it usually has pieces of pork in it. I'm slowly starting to like green chili, but Greg has fully embraced it. I had noticed on other visits to my favorite diner that there were always awards for "The Best Green Chili" but neither Greg nor I had ever tried it. Lucky for Greg, it came with his meal. Let's just say, he fell in love! It's a little different than traditional green chili in the sense that it is vegetarian and it's habanero based. I took one bite and my lips were burning for a good ten minutes. I don't see how Greg has acquired a taste for food that is so spicy, but needless to say, he bought two jars of the stuff to bring home (one for him and another for a friend).

Last night we had leftovers for dinner, which for Greg included a hamburger. He said it was starting to taste "microwaved" so next thing I knew, he was running to the fridge and came back with the jar of green chili. He claimed that the magical green sauce "saved" his burger. I just took his word for it! There is now less than half an inch of green chili left in the jar and I'm pretty sure Greg is wondering if he can buy the stuff in bulk!

Here is a clip from The King Chef's website when they were featured on The Food Network. Enjoy! And remember, next time you're in Springs to check 'em out. I promise you won't regret it!

My Goals for 2010

With a new year comes my new batch of goals. Let's see if I do better this year than I did last year!

1. To be a better blogger. I really love blogging and reading the comments from readers. However, I tended to slack off a lot last year. I have so many posts that I planned on writing and never did. Now it just seems pointless. With a new baby due in the Spring, this may get a little challenging. Please check in at least once a week to see if I can keep up with my end of the bargain!

2. To grow an herb garden. Random, I know. But here's what happened. When we were in Sidney, we ate dinner in a local cafe. I wanted a really good salad and asked the waitress if they had "good" Ranch Dressing (I know, I'm a little obsessed about this Ranch business). She said they did and that the owner made it using fresh herbs from her personal herb garden. True to her word, it was delicious! And I immediately had visions of me in an apron bending over my cute herb garden with a quaint watering can in my hand. Homemade ranch dressing with fresh herbs, here I come!

3. To call my mom more often. I am a horrible human being. This should not have to be a goal. But it is. I'm absolutely horrible about picking up the phone and calling my mom. Seriously, I'm pretty sure there have been times when maybe two months have gone by before I'll hear her voice on the other line. My parents are very old fashioned and are the typical folks who don't like "making long distance phone calls". So basically my mom never calls anyone unless she has too. Luckily, my mom is awesome enough to never give me a guilt trip about my lack of phone calls. Now that I'm about to become a mommy myself, I already tear up at the thought of the first time Parker won't be home for Christmas. I'm hoping it's just all my crazy hormones that are making me think this way already. Now that I've moved and settled into a home in a different state, and my sister and her family are about to move to a foreign country, and my brother and his family live in a different state as well, I just feel like it's up to me to make more of an effort.

4. To complete Parker's baby book. You may be wondering why I'm making this a goal. Let me explain. When I got married, I received a wedding book from two of my friends. I didn't even take it out of the box until we had been married for about two years. That was when I learned my mistake. Apparently I should have had a newspaper clipping from our wedding day, wrote down the number one movie at the box office, etc, etc. Luckily I was able to find out most of the questions courtesy of the world wide web! However, I want to be better prepared with Parker. I've already bought his baby book, and I've already opened it! I'm thinking at least an hour a month and I can have it up to date and completed! Wish me luck!

5. To host a Christmas Cookie/Ornament Exchange party. I read about this in a book a few years ago and thought it sounded like so much fun! This may be a little daunting with an eight month old, but I'm determined to host what I hope will be an annual event!

6. To be a good Mommy. I have no idea how I'm going to gage this one at the end of the year. There are so many parents out there that think they are "good" parents, when I think to myself that I would never raise my kid that way. I suppose to each his own.

7. To print, label, and organize all the photos that are on my laptop and place them in photo albums. I know this one is left over from last year, but it really needs to be done!!! And then once I'm "caught up" I can spend one day a month adding the new pictures from that month. Sounds easy enough, but we all know what happened last year!

8. To pay off the hospital bill after having the baby. Yes, we have insurance, but of course the only OB/GYN in this town is not in my network. Luckily I have already called our insurance and have a rough estimate of how much money we will be out of pocket. It's a small price to pay to have our very own little angel, but it's also a price I don't want looming over our heads in 2011.

9. To be a MILF. Yup. I said it. And don't tell me that it's un-lady-like to speak that way. I didn't make up the expression. My reasoning is that it will be so easy to focus all of my attention on the baby that I'll quit taking care of myself. I'm already more comfortable than I should be running errands in sweat pants looking like I just rolled out of bed. Really it's no more effort to put on some decent clothes than comfy ones. And as Parker grows older I want him to be proud of his mama, and not embarrassed by what I'm wearing when I pick him up from school in. I'm sure Greg will appreciate this, too!

10. To bring the balance of our Harley down to a certain amount I have in my head. I'd love to pay it off, but I'm trying to set some realistic goals here!

11. Not to be such a control freak. You know the expression, "Don't cry over spilt milk"? Well, I'm sure it's about to happen when by this time next year I'll have a (hopefully) walking little boy. And when he does throw food, or a bottle, or whatever on my favorite rug, I need to remind myself that a little spilt milk is nothing to cry over.

12. To breast feed Parker for his first year. If a good full time job comes open, I'm not sure how feasible this will be. However, I would really like to try for him to make it one full year. I just think breast feeding is so much healthier, not to mention....it's FREE!!!

13. To be more frugal. As in shopping online for better deals on items we regularly purchase, to use coupons more, to buy in bulk to save money, you get the idea!


What are your goals for 2010?

An Unconventional Christmas

Christmas was a little different for us this year. It was the first time we spent Christmas in Colorado...without the company of our families. We sure did miss seeing everyone, but at the same time it was nice to not have to deal with the annual "juggling of the families".

Our Christmas Eve was actually spent going to church. I felt a little guilty for not going to Christmas Eve church for the past, oh, six or seven years, and luckily my guilt wore off onto Greg and he went with me! From there, we went to the bar. (That's not bad is it?) We had a good evening visiting with friends and the bar owner, who also happens to be our neighbor!

Christmas morning I woke up bright and early and made us a batch of cinnamon streussal muffins. YUM! Afterwards, we opened the few presents we received from family members and then we just lounged around. For our Christmas lunch I prepared an awesome meal of ham, baked potatoes, and squash. OK, I'm exaggerating just a little. I burned the squash. And I didn't really cook the ham. It was left over from my company Christmas party that I took home, froze, and re-heated in the microwave. It was still good nevertheless!

After lunch we hit the road to go to Colorado Springs! I cannot tell you how much I am in love with the Springs! Put me in any big city and I am a happy camper! But add beautiful Pikes Peak to the background and it's the cherry on top of a sundae! (Even though I don't like cherries on sundaes, but you get the point!) One of my friends here in Lamar had graduated from college in Springs the week before and she's already moved back to Lamar but has her apartment until February. So she gave us the keys and let us stay there for free! It was awesome!

It may sound crazy, but I absolutely love going to a movie on Christmas. So we did just that! We watched Sherlock Holmes, which in my opinion was not that great, then luckily we found a Denny's that was still open for dinner. Afterwards, we went back to the apartment and hit the sack! We had to prepare for our big day of shopping the next day!

Now, I know I've mentioned that I am not the shopping type. And I'm really not. But when I'm actually in the mood to shop and am mentally prepared for it; watch out! I was determined to find a lot of good post-Christmas deals! For instance, I wanted to buy stocking holders for our mantle, a cute stocking for Parker, a train to go chug-a-luging around the Christmas tree, outdoor LED Christmas lights, and some Christmas books for Parker for next year since they would be half off! Needless to say, I was pumped!

Unfortunately, all of my dreams went bust. The only good deal I got was on 4 Christmas stocking holders (One for me, Greg, Parker, and Shady!) at Hobby Lobby. Other than that I couldn't find any of the other items I had in mind. And get this: Christmas books never go on sale. They just package them up and return them to the vendors to re-sell the next year. Darn! OH, and here's a cute story about Greg! When I told him I wanted to buy Christmas books he said, "We already have one." My response was, "Yeah, one! We need more". He argued that the baby won't even know what we're reading to him anyway. I beg to differ, but I also had to clue him in to the fact that I'm not going to want to read the same book every single night! *sigh* You gotta love my husband!

Luckily, we were able to get some fun kitchen decor at Hobby Lobby, made a Home Depot and a Lowe's run (our kitchen now has cabinet hardware!) and my first ever trip to Motherhood where I got a good deal on two cute sweaters!

The day was topped off with dinner at The Elephant Bar where we shared an amazing blueberry apple cobbler after dinner! The next day we loaded up everything and came home.

All in all, our Christmas was pretty enjoyable. However, I absolutely cannot wait for Christmas next year! I'll finally have a home to decorate that (hopefully) won't be under construction, and it will be Parker's first Christmas!!!

That ain't no ordinary bottle o' Ranch!

No sireebob!

When I was in high school I was introduced to two of the greatest food combinations in history: pizza + ranch dressing. YUM! The reason it took me so long to discover the two foods that should just automatically come together, is because I pretty much grew up in Oklahoma City. Then, right before I began high school, my parents moved to "the country". On pizza days in the cafeteria there would be bottles of ranch sitting on the tables and everyone poured a big puddle of ranch onto their school lunch tray and proceeded to dip their pizza in it. This event never happened in the OKC public school system. The first time I saw this I was a little appalled. That was, until I tried it! What's funny is that now whenever I eat pizza in front of someone that hasn't combined these two foods together, and they see me dipping my pizza in ranch, I sometimes get a raised eyebrow. They obviously have been missing out!

Now, onto the bottle of ranch pictured above...

Have any of you ever ate at Mazzio's Pizza? I know they are all over Oklahoma but not sure what other states they are located in. Unfortunately, they are not in Colorado. Not only is their pizza delicious, but their ranch dressing is to. die. for. I'm serious. I almost think the ranch dressing is why I love Mazzio's so much!

I mentioned that my sister came to visit us over Thanksgiving. And since I have the most awesome sister in the world, she knew that earlier in my pregnancy I was craving Mazzio's. (Luckily she was smart enough to know that I was really craving Mazzio's ranch dressing). Believe it or not, my sister went to Mazzio's before leaving Oklahoma and bought a large to-go container of ranch dressing. Then, she transferred it into an empty ranch dressing bottle and brought it all the way to Colorado for me via ice chest! How awesome is that?

Greg and I have been enjoying some of the best salads lately, along with a Little Cesar's pizza this past weekend, made even better with this awesome condiment! In fact, we love it so much that once it was only 1/4 full, we added water to it to thin it out and make it last just a lil' bit longer!

Why Greg and I never thought to load up on Mazzio's ranch before is beyond us. All I know is, we're going to Oklahoma in January for my baby shower, and Greg claims we are buying six containers of ranch dressing!

Does ranch dressing freeze well? ***crossing my fingers and my toes that it does!***

The Newbie Kit

The other day I visited Sidney's local Chamber of Commerce. I went in to see if they had any brochures about Cheyenne, WY, or anything else that might spark my interest. When the lady who was working there asked if I was new in town, I told her I was. She then said, "Let me get a newcomers packet for you". I just said OK and didn't really think anything about it. I wandered around some and when she handed the packet to me she explained what some of the items were and pointed out that there were some coupons in there to help me get acquainted with some of the local businesses. I waited until I got home before I "dove in" to check everything out. Let me tell ya...newcomers packets are awesome! There were so many cool coupons in there! Everything else just faded into the background as I poured over all the savings! Here are my top favorite coupons:

* 1/4 lb of free fudge at the local pharmacy (Of course I already used it, and of course we already ate it. I'm forcing myself not to walk back into that store.)

*$4 off admission at the movie theatre! (We watched Land of the Lost, which was pretty dumb, but the popcorn was amazing! Please note, this is why dieting is not easy for me...I'm so easily tempted by things like popcorn and fudge).

*10% off at the book store. I can already hear the cracking of the binding as I open my 7th Harry Potter book. (I'm almost finished with the sixth book! Wow, that means the 6th Harry Potter movie will be the the first one I watch in which I've actually read the book first!)

*$4 off a pedicure at the community college's school of cosmetology. Aren't school pedicures cheap enough as it is??? Which reminds me, I should really be booking that appointment instead of blogging.

Smoothies are my friends!

I did it! I bought a blender last Friday, along with all kinds of fruit, as well as light soy milk, coconut milk, and OJ concentrate so I could be fully equipped to make some yummy healthy breakfast smoothies! I'm so proud of myself because I've become a semi-professional. Meaning I cut up all my fruit and placed them in portion appropriate zip lock bags and then stored them in the freezer. I also bought a few jars of baby food, because the little jars with the lids were perfect for my left over coconut milk! (No, I didn't eat the baby food. I did consider it for a minute or two but then just decided to heck with it and scooped the food into the trash).

I was all geared up and so excited to make my first smoothie on Saturday morning. I asked Greg if he wanted one, but he opted for eggs, toast, and sausage instead. Typical male! So by the time I got finished preparing his meal I was literally about to bounce off the walls with all my excited anticipation about my blackberry-apple smoothie I was going to make. I followed the recipe to a "T" and then got a little thrill when I selected the "smoothie" option on the blender. After about thirty seconds, I was able to place my glass under the dispenser (yes, it has a little fountain style dispenser. I know you're jealous!), filled it up with the purple smoothie, took my first glorious sip, and thought, "Ewww".

Yup, my first smoothie was not the best. I drank it anyway and reminded myself that at least I got two servings of fruit plus a dairy into my diet. Luckily, I wasn't discouraged because I was armed with several smoothie recipe's. Sunday we had breakfast at a friends house so my next Smoothie was yesterday. And it was FABULOUS!! It was a yummy strawberry-banana smoothie that my friend Krissy emailed me. And today was just as good with a pineapple-coconut smoothie.

The great thing about these past three breakfasts are that they work so great with my WW diet. WW online has a section where I plug in everything I eat so I can keep track of my points throughout the day. They also have a box in the bottom corner with all the elements of the food pyramid that one is supposed to intake daily. Whereas pre-smoothie life I was lucky if I got 1 serving of fruit in a day, now I'm getting anywhere from 1-2 in the morning as well as a dairy, and a glass of liquid for the day! As an added bonus, I never drink the full smoothie in the morning so I have a small afternoon "smoothie snack"! I'm so glad I listened to what the universe was telling me and began making these amazing breakfasts!

PINEAPPLE COCONUT SMOOTHIE 3 WW Points

16 oz. canned pineapple, undrained (I used fresh pineapple along with some of the juice)
6 oz. frozen OJ concentrate (I used the Unsweetened kind)
1/2 cup light coconut milk (couldn't find "light" so oh well!)
1 cup ice (I used 4 large ice cubes)

STRAWBERRY BANANA SMOOTHIE 4 WW Points

1 banana
1 cup strawberries
1 cup light soy milk
1/2 cup light non-fat yogurt (called for 6 oz. but I figured 4 was good enough!)

Wanted: Smoothie Recipe's

Apparently the universe thinks I need to A: have a blender and B: be drinking smoothies. Why do I think this?

A. My mom mailed me a blueberry smoothie recipe. I looked at it and thought it sounded good, but since I didn't bring a blender on the road with me, I just put it in my three-ring binder cookbook and called it good.

B. My friend Christina called me the other day and said, "Dude, you have to write this recipe down right now." It was a banana/peanut butter/ prune smoothie recipe.

C. An interesting recipe showed up at Curves a month ago. I'm not even going to say what it was because my husband looked like he may have vomited when I told him. But I'm brave and willing to try it. But, the recipe required a blender...

D. I'm starting to get tired of my egg white breakfasts paired with a glass of water.

E. I discovered another friend of mine blogs, and she had a whole post about her fruit juicer and the awesome breakfasts she and her husband have been having.

So you see, the universe really does want me to have a blender! So, even though I'm pretty sure I have not one, but two blenders already in storage in Oklahoma, I'm going to break down and buy yet another one to have in our house on wheels. Any delicious *healthy* smoothie recipes would be greatly appreciated!