200

Did you know that this is the 200th post?

I am in shock! Who knew that I would actually write that many!

So, I am back.  We were/are in the middle of moving and we have had no Internet.  What a life!


Wow.  What a move.

Idea #1   Hire movers as Husband was probably going to be working and we have no truck or friends here to help us move.

EPIC FAIL.

Quote $1400
Final Price $2568

Yes.  You read that right.  And not only did they charge us so incredibly much? They made 5 million comments on all my crap.  Kind of irritating.  They also came 2 hours late, due to truck problems, and then spent a LONG time doing a whole lot of nothing! Then, they put these two little Ukrainian boys on the moving into the house stuff.  For starters? I have no issues with people that don't know perfect English.  But I am now wondering why I wasted time labelling things as they are spread out all over this huge freakin house! I can't find so many things it is insane.  The boxes are all over and make no sense.  This was a reputable company too! They were recommended by a trustworthy person!

Wow.  And we are both sick.  Husband has really bad bronchitis and has been no help until today! OK.  He was OK yesterday too.  Our bedroom is mainly put together now and the kitchen is kinda done (other than the missing boxes! We have no knives or glasses or cutlery).  The office is taking shape and the rest? Almost laughable.  We have a lot of work left.  We have a deadline though.  On Sunday, Husbands parents are coming to hang out for the day.  They are bringing back our baby.  Our little puppy Paige.  She does not do well with change and hates boxes even more.  We have to have our house in order before then.  I do not want to deal with the mess if it is not good when she gets here.  In our last house? She decided to um... relieve herself in almost every room.  Let's just say that it was not a lovely thing.

So? Off to bed I go.  To work and unpack and try to find my knives tomorrow! Here goes nothing!

Oh, and in good news? It was sunny and +9 today and I am starting to see wierd and wonderful things in my new yard! It is supposedly amazing but is under 3 feet of snow right now and so it is like a present! I get to see what happens now!

Cake for dinner...

and cake for dessert!

I have to show you what I made on Sunday.  I am insane and I know it but how fun is this!!!

Start with a cake recipe big enough for three 9 inch cakes

Voila! Bake them!

Take one cake and crumble it up.

Place one cake on cake stand (or plate) add some icing, place second cake on top.  Ice the whole thing.

Make some extra icing, adding yellow food coloring to make it look kinda like pasta!

Have your adorable full or spunk little niece, under the watchful eyes of the neighbor girl, take the crumbled cake and form it into three balls.

Use the yellow icing to make icing noodles on the top of your iced cake.  Be aware.  It will hurt your hand.  Have fun with it!

You now have a plate of spaghetti.  I added some icing gobs to hold down noodles. (or my bag kept springing leaks and they just gobbed in good spots.  I will never tell!)

Take your lumpy meatballs and add them to the top of the cake.

Puree some strawberries and use as spaghetti sauce.  (I added a little red food coloring to make it look better)

Add some grated white chocolate and you now have a spaghetti and meatball cake! It was amazing and tasted so good.  The kids loved it and it actually did not take very long!

I found this recipe in the latest Food Network cooking magazine.

I then checked on a few of the 11 kids hanging around my house that day.  Wow.  Loud and messy! But oh so fun!

 After that? I made dinner.  We had, what else? CAKE!!!! AGAIN!!!!!

Flower decorations.

Bake two 9 inch pan meat loafs, make mashed potatoes and dye them whatever color you want.  Layer and ice like a cake!

Decorate with your veggie decorations

And VOILA! You have more cake! It was awesome! When you cut into it, it was layered like a  regular cake.

I love backwards meals.


This recipe is from Bob Blumer (Surreal Gourmet)'s new cookbook.

Waiting...

I am waiting.  I am sitting on my couch, watching "Monster-in-law" and waiting.  They should be here any time.  Have I mentioned I am waiting? I hate waiting!!!! I am just a little impatient to say the least.  I can't wait.  For dinner, we are having butter chicken and naan bread.  I am excited for that too! I am also waiting because they will take up my time! They will keep me from thinking too much about my life right now!

I have some good news! Husband got a job!!!!! I am so excited. We had a huge list as to what we wanted in a job for him.  We prayed and hoped and he not only got the requests but more! And for a job that he did not even apply for! He applied for an equipment operator position and got a management position! We will know more on Monday when he goes for the orientation.  What a stress relief.  I am very excited for him.  I think it will be nice for him to have a schedule again.  For him to be 'the man'.  I am so happy :) HUGE answer to prayers.  HUGE.

Other than that? Life is just ticking along! At an insane rate! With a lot of stress and changes! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


It is all good.  We will get through it.  We always do!

Progress

I got so much done today!

I started the day with some work.  Answered a few emails and paid a few bills.

I then went for breakfast at IKEA with a new friend.  Well, she has been around 5 months, I guess she is not new anymore! And don't judge on the whole IKEA thing.  We can both be full and happy on $4.20 (total!).  You can't beat that! It is our weekly date.  Fits well in the budget.

Then I came home.  Friend came with me! I was making soup for next week and she wanted to learn how. I had just enough stuff to make two huge pots (MASSIVE) of my moms beef barley soup.  She was so excited! She has 5 kids and can't cook! My goal is to teach her.  We have a starting point now! It was so fun.

Then I made the meatloaf s to freeze for my meatloaf cake I am making on Sunday.

Then I scrubbed (hard and thoroughly) all three bathrooms.

Then I cleaned the kitchen.

(Husband vacuumed and washed all the floors while I was doing my stuff)

Then I went to town and got stuff to fill holes when Husband takes down pictures tomorrow.

Then? We ate dinner.

Then I watched tv.

Then I ..... wrote on my blog!


Now? it is time for bed.  I know that this is the most boring post ever.  I agree! But, I am struggling bad with depression right now and I am amazed that I got even this much done!

YEAH ME!

Hope you all have a good night.  Tomorrow? Work in the morning and then GIRLS DAY!

I can't wait.


'night!

Dinner

Oh my goodness was dinner awesome last night! All day? The food was good.  I have been trying to use what I have and finish things off before the influx of food and people next week.  So I have been getting creative!

Yesterday for brunch, and no I have no pictures, I made a scramble.  I scrambled eggs with red onion, black beans, corn and cheese.  I then used that last few tater tots in my freezer and mixed it all in.  Top it with some more cheese and some fresh tomatoes and it was awesome! Husband always laughs at my random things I make.

Dinner? We had soup! More like Stoup (Rachael Ray's word for really thick soup/stew).  It was amazing.  I cooked some onion, celery, cabbage, cauliflower and potatoes in some water.  I put them in a pot, filled it halfway up the veggies and let it boil for 10 minutes.  I then added some chorizo sausage (lightly fried in a separate pan so that I didn't have all the fat), a can of mushroom soup, half a can of milk (you still have the water from veggies in there, which is super healthy!) and a whole bunch of pepper, dill (lots) and chili powder.  It was so tasty! The dill was a perfect complement to the rest of it.  The chorizo was a little spicy but tamed down from the mushroom soup and milk.  Husband was laughing as I made it because I had no idea what I was doing and then loved it when it was done! And all made from stuff in my house.  Love meals like that.  I also made some banana bread as a treat for dessert.  I never do that! Husband was happy.

What are you having tonight? I have no idea here, but hopefully it is good!

Meal Plans

Hello Internet world!

I love cooking.  I will admit it.  I always love when I have company because it means I get to cook big meals! When it is just Husband and I, it is hard to make more than a few things a meal without going overboard.  I find though, that if I don't follow a meal plan, I just buy what I feel like it every few days and it costs me a lot more money.  So, I follow meal plans on a regular basis.  Do you?

I love it.  I sit down, usually in front of the TV, with some cookbooks in hand and start the plan.  I try to use food I already have in my house and need to use up if possible, but for the most part? I just plan what I want to eat.

I was working on mine last night for next week.  I have a lot of people at my house and want to be organized enough that I don't feel like I have to eat out because I have no time to make a full nutritious meal.  Most people would say forget it! you are feeding 11 people! Make it easy! But no.  I like to still make yummy food.

So here is my meal plan for the week! ( I do three meals a day, but will only post dinners)

Saturday ~ Chicken Pasta Bake (chicken, cauliflower, carrots, mushrooms and penne pasta (or another small shell style) in a creamy mushroom sauce with cheese.  My concoction I have made for years), Caesar salad

Sunday ~ Meat Loaf cake, southwest salad and desert (how funny is this meatloaf?)


This is the cake I am making for dessert.  We are having backwards meal! I hope the kids love it! I will try to post pictures after it is done!

Monday ~ Chicken taco's and southwest salad (super yummy)

Tuesday ~ Spaghetti and meat balls (the non-cake kind), garlic toast and maybe salad

Wednesday ~ Farmer sausage, rice and veggies with a cheese sauce

Thursday ~ Butter Chicken w/Rice for the adults and personal pizza for the kids ( I add potatoes, carrots, celery and cashews to my butter chicken.  Sounds crazy but it is so freakin' good!)


So, I have no idea what I am eating this week, but next week? It should be amazing!

Now to start making some of these items and freezing them so I don't actually have to make as much next week!

What kinds of meals do you eat? Do you do meal plans? Fly by the seat of your pants? What are some of your favorites?

Weekend

We had a wonderful weekend.  Husband and I went to our old home to do some business and it was a wonderful opportunity to visit some friends! We had so much fun! Ate a lot of good food, spent hours visiting, played many games, laughed, cried and just had a good time.

What did you do this weekend?

Now to get back to my everyday life........ugh.

Friday

I suck at headings! Can I just put that out there? I am doing ok today.  Some moments of panic and some moments of pure happiness.  I am pushing forward and am going to enjoy this day.

I am stubborn like that.

I am in the process (with Husband) of re-writing all the manuals for the business we own.  It sucks! I have to admit.  I have everything back from the copywriter right now and am reading through it all to see what other changes need to be made.  Every ten pages, I get to check a blog, or write on here or Facebook.  I also get a jelly belly at that time.  Just one.  I better keep going! Those things are good! As I read this, I am wondering why more of this stuff is not just common sense.  Seriously? Do people not know what good customer service is? Do they not know to work together as a team? So sad.  The truth is? People don't know.  People have not learned these things.  What is the saying?  "common sense isn't very common anymore".  What a sad saying.

On another note, the house of the friends that are moving here has sold! I am so happy for them.  In case you don't know what is going on, I will explain.

Our very good friends are moving very far away from home to live with us.  We are going to live in a communal style way.  Wow.  That sounds creepy :) Not quite like that.  They are a family of 4, we are a family of 2.  We are renting a house together.  Yes we are.  We have two master bedroom suites that will be our own space and the rest will be shared.  I will continue to work out of our home, so I will have an office area.  The kitchen and living room and all the rest will be shared.  We are pitching in for groceries and all the household expenses and rent and such.  It is a fairly large house.  It has 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, a den, a bonus room, a study, living room, dining room and kitchen.  It is big enough for us.  It will be 4 adults and a 17 and 18 year old.  We have been joking about it for years and it is just now happening.  We are all quite excited.  We are going to all have roles to a degree.  One female, not me, is going to be the 'Domestic Goddess'.  She will be in charge of the house stuff.  Cooking, cleaning that sort of thing.  We will do our own laundry and I will help her with cooking as well because I love to do it.  We are planning dinner together as much as possible.  There is going to be one 'family' dinner a week in order to talk about what is going on or if there are issues.  We are decorating the whole house together.  A mish mash of all our stuff.

Is this nuts?  Yes.

Is it insane?  Yes.

Is it going to be a weird first 6 months?  Yes.

Is it going to be amazing?  For sure.

We are all quite excited.  We are getting mixed reviews.  We are of course getting the 'what the hell?' and the 'ok.  you guys are kinda weird' and the 'I couldn't do it!'s of the world.  We are also getting a few good responses.  My brother is curious as hell and wants to see if it works.  He thinks it is insane but that it could also be amazing.  Yes, it will save us all money.  Yes, it will be a built in support system to a degree if something happens with Husbands health again.  Yes, we will have friends there all the time.

We know we will need more privacy times.  We have talked about it all.  We are planning date nights! It is actually in the house budget! We get a certain amount a week to date! Our own spouses only.  I know.  So picky.  I have to admit though.  It will be nice to have people around.  Our house is quite quiet with just us and the dog.

So, now that I made us look like freaks on the big ol internet, tell me what you think? Are we crazy? Would you try it? Are you grossed out at this? (there is nothing weird going on sexually, for the record.  We have actually been asked this!) Can you still be friends with us living with roommates?

Feedback please!

Motivation

[moh-tuh-vey-shuhn] 

–noun

1.

the act or an instance of motivating.

2.

the state or condition of being motivated.

3.

something that motivates;  inducement; incentive.

Do you ever struggle with motivation? I do.  Hell yeah I do! I have so much that needs to be done right now.  You have no idea.  Well? Maybe you do.  I should be packing and cleaning and working.  Oh the work! I hate being my own boss some days.  I bought a business that needs so stinkin' much TLC right now I can barely breath.  We were lied to and cheated when we bought it.  So frustrating.  It is like an elephant.  It started oh so small and cute when we bought it.  We started working on it and realized that they sold us an elephant that had not grown yet.  So it started eating and eating.  We started finding more and more lies.  More and more deceit.  That darn elephant is now a huge fricken' animal and we are still trying to deal with the overwhelming baby that we bought.  Figure that out.  I feel like we are fighting a losing battle some days and others I am motivated as hell and willing to work my ass off for it.  Some days? SELL IT OFF AND HEAD FOR THE HILLS!! But I would lose money.  A lot of money.  I have obligations to a lot of people and places and need to fulfill them.  And man do I have a lot to pack! I have a lot packed already, but it feels like this monster and I can't pack it all today! We have company coming for the week before we move and so we cannot even pack all the stuff that we don't normally use! We still need beds and bedding and towels and dishes and cooking stuff.  There is no end to the list.  Wow.  Do I sound a little overwhelmed with my life right now? Cause I am.  I am so overwhelmed.  I am trying to have peace.  I am trying to pray lots.  I am trying to have faith in God and know that this is what he wants for me.  I am trying to just breathe.  I want to curl up in bed and just sleep.  I always struggle this time of year with the weather and all of this piled on top is not helping.  

I guess I will keep on keepin on.

I will pray more.

Listen to good music while I work.

Pack a few more boxes.

Work a little harder.

Knowing that I cannot please everyone and that all the mistakes are not mine.

I will be ok.

I always am.

Please pray for me.

At least I have this handsome man to be here with me.  Isn't he cute?

A wee little bit of me Wednesday...

{one} do you wear holey jeans? if so, do you buy them that way?no! I did just order a pair that has a wear hole in it though, so we will see how they look!


{two} do you get a full 8 hours of sleep per night?I sure try! I have incredibly bad insomnia so some nights yes and others? NOT SO MUCH!


{three} what’s your favorite way to eat an oreo?break it open, scrape off the yucky white stuff and eat the cookie! Husband eats the white stuff for me.


{four} do you wear shoes in your house?no.  absolutely not! Just fuzzy slippers that are amazing!


{five} who would you call first if you won the lottery?Husband and then the travel agent.  Run for my life and make decision as to what to do with the cash minus all the crazy people that want some! Preferably on a deserted island somewhere...


{six} have you ever been in a food fight?many times! I actually started one in bible school that got the cafeteria shut down for two days! And no one, other than my few friends knew it was me!


{seven} do you snore?not normally, but sometimes and when I am sick? like a sailor


{eight} do you know how fast you type?I have no idea.  Depends on my mood.  Probably 50 words a minute and when raging? 80+


{nine} can you do a headstand (without using a wall)?not anymore! I think my boobs would suffocate me if I tried!


{ten} how do you like your popcorn?butter and salt.  Old school.  I am not a snacker though, so I might like it another way if I ever tried it!

Flow

I HATE BEING A WOMAN.

I HATE CRAMPS.

I HATE HURTING SO BAD.

That is all.  I am not impressed with today.  Or yesterday.  Or probably tomorrow!



I think I am going to go to IKEA and eat french fries and meatballs and macaroni and cheese.

And then watch too much tv.

Poor Husband.