How to Recycle in Wichita

Walmart & Dillons (at least Tallgrass Dillons) will recycle plastic grocery bags - you go there at least once a week - take your left over bags from the week before and drop them off as you pick up your cart.

Walmart sells these awesome black tote bags available for $1 at the check out line - buy them once use them to go shopping w/ each week. No plastic bags to waste - they hold more stuff and the straps allow you to hang the bag on your shoulder so it is Much easier to bring your things in from the car - I LOVE THEM and I take them to Dillons, they don't care.

Miller's - http://www.recyclewichita.org/ check out this website for the recycle drop off place I go to, you can take almost anything there to be recycled - their hours and what they take is on their homepage. I just went last week so we'll probably go again in October - let me know if you want to come along. I like taking things to Miller's b/c they take pretty much anything you can imagine - all kinds of plastic - even junk plastic, books, magazines, batteries, cardboard, glass, tin, aluminum, junk mail, all kinds of paper, etc. Check their website for a complete listing.

If you want I can give you some tips on sorting and storing until you go to the drop off place. I haven't perfected my strategy yet - but what we do now seems to be working.

Follow Thru

In my very long previous post I was sharing about an issue I had with our bank.
Then I thought, why should I just rant on my blog...maybe I should actually do something about my small frustration.

So I got on the bank website and went the the "Contact Us" menu and decided to send them a comment. I wrote only a few short sentences and was polite and kind but pointed out the irony of the paper waste vs. the point of the Green Account. I did not expect my little comment to matter or to even get a response from the bank whatsoever. At the very least I had made them aware of my thoughts and felt that rather than just complaining I had actually brought some attention to the issue. What they do with it was their business.

Anyway, after spending a few hours with a friend this afternoon, I returned home and found I had received a response from the bank.
Here it is...
"Thank you for your email!
Your concerns are valid and correct---the Green Account advertising will be removed in the next quarter when the ATM paper is changed.
Thank you again for your email. Have a great day!

Jamie Varbel
Vice President of Marketing
BWCU"

So I made someone think today. Quite possibly they were going to change the ad when they change the paper anyway - but that wasn't really the point. The point is hopefully in the future they will be more aware of what they are communicating and hopefully waste less paper. Or maybe the VP of marketing will start recycling if she doesn't already. :)

Thanks BWCU for a quick reply and for hearing your customer.

I may officially have too much time on my hands. :)

Going "Green"

Because of my responsible and earth friendly husband I have been learning over the past 20 months of our marriage to be an active recycler. It is not convenient to recycle in Wichita - oh no! We save up our recyclable goods for a couple of months - pack our SUV full of them and then drive about 30 min away to drop them off - where we then fill up old grocery carts and roll around to different bins to sort out what we have already sorted once. There are volunteers there to help out and it does go rather quickly. If I lived near the recycling drop off I would love it even more - it's just that it is so far away and not on our way to anywhere else we are going - loving the earth takes effort.

So I am kind of promoting recycling and kind of complaining about it. :) But honestly I am glad Adam leads us to do it, because it has given me an awareness of how much we could be throwing away, I know because we cram it all into the back of my vehicle every couple of months and because of how little trash we have to put out at the road each week. Wish we could pay 1/2 of the trash bill and only put it out every other week - that would suit us just fine.

I must have become more aware of being earth friendly without really knowing it because I am on a rant today...something that I saw on Sunday has been rolling around in my head and I am finally to the point I must say something.

Sunday afternoon we stopped by our bank to get some cash from the ATM. Our Bank has a new checking account they are trying to get people to sign up for called the "Green Account." They have been promoting this account for a few months now, there are advertisements all over TV and the community. Here is a little about the account, directly from their website...

Plant some green in your wallet
Earth Day comes just once a year, but BWCU wants to encourage everyone to do their part to help the environment all year long. So what’s the Green Account all about? First, you help save trees by eliminating paper waste, and second, you earn cash back on your account while reveling in that karmic sensation of doing something good for the planet.
Check out how lean going green can be with a paperless Green Account:
Free transparent green VISA debit and credit cards with your photo
Free online bill pay
Support the Greensburg Tree Project*
Free online banking
Earn cash back on your account by using your debit card*
E-statements to eliminate paper waste
Purchase recycled checks**
we’ll also make a donation to the Greensburg Tree Project to replenish trees. We strongly recommend recycled checks.

Ok, so back to my story. We're at the ATM, getting our cash and the machine prints off our receipt. The receipt is longer than usual, Adam says, "That's weird."
I look at it and see that the information we need from the receipt is at the top, not taking up much room at all. About half of the receipt is an advertisement "enticing" us to sign up for the Green Account.
This is what has been bothering me...Isn't the whole POINT of the green account to be saving paper and waste? Why are they waisting extra paper to promote the account, and why to people who have to drive by 2-3 advertisements about it anyway just to use their ATM machine - there is a sign in the drive up window, a sign for the account on top of the ATM machine, a sign on the lobby door - now you can have a sign to take home w/ you on your receipt - that you are going to THROW AWAY! This makes no sense to me at all.

Being good to the earth is a good thing no matter what motivates you to do it - that being said and the knowledge that what I am about to type is judgemental, I would like to say -
I wonder, does the bank really care about being earth friendly or are they just using this as a way to get earth friendly people to change over to their bank?

Anyway...recycle something today - or just get water in a paper cup instead of the water bottle that will lay in a landfill forever.

2 Great Finds and 2 Great New Recipes

2 Great Finds:
1) The Green Bags I blogged about last month (see entry "A New Fav") are available at Walgreens for $10 (Actually $9 and some odd cents) Great Deal! I saw them there yesterday.
2) Scrapblog.com - I am loving this! A great free creative resource for making digital scrapbook pages, or invitations or announcements.

2 Great New Recipes:
BBQ Chicken Pizza - I threw this together so I'm not sure about portions for the ingredients.
Pillsbury refrigerated Pizza Crust
Cooked chicken, shredded (1 1lb)
BBQ Sauce (1 cup divided)
Red Onion (1/4 c ish)
4-6 slices of cooked thick bacon, diced
Shredded Monterey Jack Cheese (as desired)

Depending on time, cook chicken one of the following ways:
a)Buy a cooked Rotisery Chicken from the store, shred what you need.
b)grill chicken on a george forman grill
c)place chicken in a crock pot with 1/2 c or so of BBQ Sauce

After cooking chicken, shred and toss with BBQ Sauce just to lightly coat, do this even if you cooked the chicken in the crock w/ sauce.
Follow directions on Pizza Crust package.
Assemble: 1/2 c sauce spred on crust. Add chicken, red onion, bacon, and cheese.
Bake as directed on Pizza Crust Package.

Chicken Wraps (Buffalo Style) - Yield 2-3 servings, I made this up from a salad I love, this is what fed Adam and I for dinner last night
1 lb boneless skinless chicken
4-5 flour tortillas (soft taco size)
1-2 cups shredded lettuce
1 tomato diced
1/4-1/3c diced cucumber
1/4 c red onion, thinly sliced
shredded Monterey Jack Cheese
Ranch Dressing
Frank's Hot Sauce

I cooked the chicken on the George Forman Grill with a little salt and pepper.
While the chicken was cooking I cut the veggies.
Cut the cooked chicken into strips, toss strips in a bowl w/ hot sauce to taste. (if you don't like Buffalo hot sauce, try BBQ sauce or leave "naked" - I think adding avocado slices to the naked chicken wrap would be yummy).
Put a few slices of chicken in a tortilla with some lettuce, tomato, cucumber, cheese & ranch. Wrap up and eat up!
Makes about 5 wraps, depending on how full you fill each wrap you may get more or less.

We had Buffalo Wraps & fruit salad for dinner last night and it was AWESOME! It took me less than 20 min to cook, little clean up, healthy and tasty!

Stuck in a Chair

My Knee hurts today and I am confined to the recliner with an ice pack.
Not sure what is going on, just swelling I guess.
My Chiropractor doesn't work on Friday's so I am praying God brings some healing or relief before Monday. Tylenol isn't working one bit - I may as well be taking PEZ. So, it's ice and rest and hoping I don't have to go to the bathroom too many times.

I am going to post a couple of recipe finds and probably spend an insane amount of time playing around on Scrapblog.com

Ta Da! Amazing Peanut Butter Pie!

I promise to stop posting about Peanut Butter Pie after this. :)

I served this pie to 6 of our friends last night, plus Adam and I were judges. Eight votes later - The verdict is in...YUMMY YUMMY RICH SO SO RICH & YUMMY!!! Our friend Bob requested a PB Pie for his going away dinner (sad), I had never made one but gave it a shot. Bob had 2 pieces (how? I have NO IDEA, I could barely finish my piece it was so rich) - he loved it. The Recipe Passed the test!

I found a great recipe on Jif.com for Peanut Butter Pie. I actually found several on that site, also my favorite site Allrecipes.com, and a couple of other sites. It was hard to choose which one I wanted to try but I figure Jif probably has a good idea of how to make yummy things with peanut butter since PB is their thing.

I made my own crust b/c the tin pans the store bought crusts come in drive me batty, pet peeve I guess, anyway I really don't like them.

To make your own crust - 1 1/2 cups crushed oreos (or chocolate cookie of choice) and 6 Tbs. melted butter. Mix together and press into a 9 inch pie plate. Place in fridge while mixing pie filling. Fill & chill as directed in recipe. No baking required. Nice.

I also cut up 4 Reese's cups into tiny pieces and sprinkled them on the top after the pie was all done. It made it look SO pretty. :)

I did use creamy Jif for the PB. I think if I make it again I will try using Skippy Natural Creamy PB, I don't like natural PB (it needs more sugar!) but I used skippy natural for some cookies and they did have a more Peanutty taste to them. This pie is So RICH that I think the change in PB might make a yummy difference. We'll see.

Ok enough of my blabbing....
here is the recipe, ENJOY!

Decadent Peanut Butter Pie
Ingredients:
•1 cup Jif® Creamy Peanut Butter, plus 2 tablespoons, divided
•1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened
•1/2 cup sugar
•1 (12 oz.) container (4 1/2 cups) frozen whipped topping, thawed and divided
•1 prepared chocolate pie crust
•1 (11.75 oz.) jar Smucker's® Hot Fudge Spoonable Ice Cream Topping, divided

Directions:
1.BEAT together 1 cup peanut butter, cream cheese and sugar in large bowl with an electric mixer on medium, until well combined. Gently mix in 3 cups whipped topping until thoroughly combined. Spoon mixture into pie shell. Using a spatula, smooth mixture to edges of pie.

2.RESERVE 2 tablespoons of hot fudge topping into the corner of a resealable food storage bag; set aside. Microwave remaining topping on HIGH (100% power) for 1 minute. Stir. Spread topping over pie, covering entire peanut butter layer. Refrigerate until set. Spread remaining whipped topping (1 1/2 cups), over hot fudge layer, being careful not to mix the two layers.

3.CUT a small corner from bag containing topping. Squeeze bag to drizzle topping over pie. Place remaining 2 tablespoons peanut butter in a resealable food storage bag; cut bag corner and squeeze to drizzle in opposite direction from topping. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Yield: 1 pie (6-8 servings)

Closed!

Today was closing day. We are offically not the owners of this house any more. It is bitter sweet to say a final goodbye - but mostly SWEET! We are thankful that God allowed us to sell the house quickly and for a good price. Now when we go to Manhattan we can just visit and play with friends without the "duties" of checking in on a house.

Goodbye House.

Peanut Butter Pie

I am going to make a Peanut Butter Pie tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.
I have never made one before and honestly I have never eaten one before either.
A friend of ours is moving and we are sending him off tomorrow with a little get together - I asked him what he would like for dessert, anything he wanted - he has requested Peanut Butter Pie.

So I am researching recipes today trying to pick one to go with.
He tells me he doesn't know anyone who makes one, but likes to order it at restaurants.
Have any of you ever ordered Peanut Butter Pie at a restaurant and loved it?
If so, where? Maybe I can find their recipe online.

I am excited for this adventure - I like discovering new favorite recipes.

I think I may have narrowed my search down to 2 recipes, but how do I choose? I wish there were going to be enough guests that I could make both recipes and have people taste test and vote, but we will have WAY too many left overs for that, so I will just have to choose.

Hmmmm....
Let me know if you have Peanut Butter Pie suggestions.
I will post a picture of my pie and let you know what the taste testers have to say about it.

Preparing for Baby K

We finally got our furniture for Baby K.
Adam assembled it and now I have no idea where I want the furniture in the room. The room is small and the furniture is big, we only have 3 pieces - 4 if we get a chaning table and it is a puzzle.

Below the nursery pics are some pictures of her bassinet. It was my bassinet when I was a baby, 31 years ago! The white had turned yellow, so Adam painted it white again and then I made a liner for the inside that will also velcro off so it can be washed if needed. It turned out pretty good, and it didn't take long either.

Currently I am working on sewing some ribbon on white burp cloths to make them look "cute", you know it's important to have something cute to puke on - right? :) And I am beginning to wash clothes and blankets.

Baking...

My sweet husband has been talking about my baking at work. His co-workers have requested my apple pie. I haven't baked a pie or a cheesecake for awhile, we haven't had enough company over to warrant making such a large amount of dessert.

I just got home from the store where I bought some beautiful apples. I can't wait to do some baking tomorrow. My favorite apple pie to bake is a Crunchy Caramel Apple Pie, it is a one crust apple pie topped with a crunchy topping of brown sugar, oats, pecans and caramel topping - YUMMY!

On another note, Adam was looking for a new cookie recipe with two major ingredient requirements - Oats & Chocolate.
He found a recipe on Allrecipes.com for
Baker's Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chunk Cookies.
I cut the recipe in half for a test run and they are AMAZING!
Probably our new favorite cookie around here.
You don't need to cut up Baker's chocolate, just use any semi-sweet chocolate chips.
We suggest 2 things when making these cookies:
1. Cutting back just a little on the chocolate chips
2. Skippy Natural Chunky Peanut Butter makes these SUPER Yummy!

Happy Baking!

Thank You!

Thanks to Keely for changing my blog background - I couldn't figure out how to do it but she hooked me up! Thank you Thank you

Thanks to my wonderful friends in Manhattan for a wonderful Baby Shower - The gifts were precious and I can't wait for Kaiya to enjoy them all. The time catching up with everyone was good for my soul - I needed some good time with good friends!

On Request - a Belly Bump Pic

These are not the best photos of my current Belly Bump but it's what I've got.
Keely - your request is fulfilled. :)

These pictures make me laugh because I have my house slippers on - I brought them as back up and I am so glad I did. My dress shoes were great but after hours of wedding activites my feet were aching and my ankles were swollen big time! I do wish I had remembered to change back into my dress shoes for my photo with the bride - oh well. Funny memory I guess. :)

Update #2 on Spray Tanning

Overall, I am a fan of the spray tan. :)

I will say - if you get a really bad sunburn, a week and a half is not enough time for your skin to finish healing and even though you may think you are not peeling anymore....you probably are and this is NOT a good time to get a spray tan. My shoulders look crazy where the tanner was sprayed on my former sunburn. Plus my skin was still peeling (I didn't know it) so guess what...skin peels = tan peels = white lines in crazy places and patterns.

OH MY....I am SO silly.

Anyway, I will spray tan again, just not anytime soon after a sunburn.

Update #1

So far I am impressed with the spray tan. It literally took her less than 15 min to spray me, maybe less than 10. There is no gross smell and that is saying a lot since I am pregnant and seem to be highly sensitive to smell. It actually smells a little like Almond extract you use for cooking. The gal said it the product label says it smells like Raspberry Almond.

A word of caution -
after being sprayed you can not get your skin moist or damp or wet for 8 hours (6 hrs. is suggested, 8 hrs recommended) the spray reacts with your skin to give you that glowing tan look but there is also a topical bronzer that is part of the spray I guess to the technician can tell where they have already sprayed and to give them a gage of how dark they are spraying you to become.
Anyway, I have had this on for a few hours and started crying while talking to my aunt on the phone (not about the tan but some life stuff) after crying with her for a few min. I got off the phone and went to the bathroom. The topical bronzer has been washed away from my tears and only where my tears ran did the bronzer run - I look like a Tammy Faye crying mascara nightmare only brown and not black.
Streaks down my checks all running to a common spot on my chin and then a straight line from my chin, straight down my neck to between my cleavage!
I called my technician immediately - sure she would think I am a total loon.
Turns out this happens to clients when they get in the rain too - she wasn't too shocked about it.
Her instructions to me were try to blend with a dry tissue. Use a damp cloth if I needed to, but cautioned me to know this dampness could just make it worse. It is just the topical bronzer that will come off in my 1st shower anyway and isn't my actual tan but the tanning solution does need to stay dry for as long as possible to "stick" she told me to wait as long as I could before taking a shower and if for some reason I needed some touch up tomorrow she would touch my tan up for free.

Who knew so much drama could come from a tan and a little water?
The blending with the dry tissue seemed to work pretty well, it is still unknown whether I will need a touch up. :)

Oh - and I am not orange at all - thank goodness!

Today's Adventure...

I'm trying something new today. It is vain and shallow, but I want to try it.

I am going to get a spray tan at a salon here in town. It's not a "Mystic" tan where you stand in a booth and a machine sprays up and down as you stand in a box.
A professional is actually going to "air brush" a tan on me.

The professional I am going to has very reasonable pricing - if vanity can be reasonable???

and she comes highly recommended by some other gals here in town.

After doing some research I have found that this not harmful to pregnant women or their babies so I am going to give it a try. I am assured that I will not look like an Oompa-Loompa, or any other orange colored things.

Here is the bio I found on my technician...

"We all know that having a beautiful, golden brown color to our skin makes us look healthier and feel more confident. Sunless tanning has recently taken off the last couple of years. I have tried every product on the market and finally found the “perfect” tan.
I offer an easy and effective way of getting a rich, dark tan without being exposed to harmful UV light. This fast drying, non-streaking formula has no “orange” color to it. It is an Aloe Vera based formula that contains caffeine, copper and bio-blend that helps correct and reduce environmental damage that accelerates skin aging. The DHA bronzer reacts with the amino acids in your skin to develop a golden brown tan over a 4 - 6 hour period.
This is not a booth spray tan. I am certified to personally apply this solution to you. The airbrush technique ensures that the solution has evenly covered your body and that there are no missed spots!"

Wish me luck!

I will post a before and after pic tomorrow. :)

Restless Legs - ARGH!!!

So it is 1am on July 5th. I was exhausted at 9:30, stayed up to watch fireworks anyway and then tried to go to bed at 11:00pm - only to get all cozy and Restless Leg Syndrome "kick" in just as I was about to doze off.

I am so annoyed. I hear this is a regular symptom of pregnancy for some reason. My legs and my feet are driving me crazy - I just wiggle and twitch and wiggle some more. I can't make myself be still even if I try. The more I try to be still the worse it is.

Maybe I should get up and do a little jig. hee hee

I read I may need more iron. I don't know if that is true or not but I know I need Jesus to step in right now and make my legs and feet chill out - I want to sleep but instead it's 1am and I am losing my mind.

This is weird.