Craig's List Success...

I have been stalking Craig's List and garage sales looking for a few baby items I think would be nice to have but are not "needs" and I can't justify spending full cost on them or registering for them and having someone else pay that much either...

I found our changing table on Craig's list (a garage sale listing), painted it and made it just right for the baby's room.

I have been looking for a simple rocking chair that won't take up much room but would give me a place to sit and nurse the baby if I don't want to be out in the living room. Still hunting for this because either the chair isn't right or the price isn't right...Adam's dad is keeping his eye out at auctions too - it will come I'm sure.

Finally I have been looking for an exersaucer - those things are expensive and they take up a lot of room. I have been thinking I would just wait until Kaiya is age appropriate for one and then look, but I've kept my eye out for a good deal just in case. I have seen them at garage sales but they have been missing toys and have been pretty dirty and I just can't bring myself to pay $20 for something that needs a lot of clean up - assuming it can be cleaned up - ya know?

So on Craig's list this week was an exersaucer for $25 - the pictures made it look new. I looked it up on the internet and it runs for about $100. I went over to the lady's house to check it out yesterday. She says both her kids used it - she must have the cleanest kids in the WHOLE world because it looks like she just took it out of the box! Not kidding. So I decided I would go ahead and buy it. I had hoped to get one for $15-20 so I ended up spending more than I wanted but the thing is so clean - I couldn't have asked for a nicer one. I figure we can use it, others can borrow it and some day I can sell it on Craig's list. :)
Here's a picture of it - It's folded down and ready for storage.

Something Sweet

So I realized a few days ago that The Sweet Spot has not had a sweet recipe since I posted the chocolate chip peanut butter oatmeal cookies...
That's just wrong! :)
I can't remember where I got this recipe but I tried it tonight and it's yummy and quick!

Rocky Road Popcorn
1 (3.5-ounce) package natural microwave popcorn (not the buttered kind)
1 cup chocolate chips
2 cups mini marshmallows
1 cup salted peanuts, optional
Pop the popcorn according to package instructions. While it's still hot, carefully open and dump into a large bowl. Add the chips and marshmallows. Return popcorn to the microwave. Cook on high until the chips and marshmallows get gooey, about 1 minute. Add the peanuts, if desired, and toss with a spoon until all the popcorn is coated. Cool until chocolate hardens, about 20 minutes. Transfer to a sealed container and tuck in a lunch box.

After the popcorn was coated I poured it out on a cookie sheet I had covered w/ wax paper (so I don't have to wash it) I thought this would help it cool faster and allowed me to go ahead and wash my bowl.

As for my cooking & freezing. I made the Chicken Spaghetti tonight. It's pretty good. Making the recipe whole I split it into one 9x9 pan and one 8x8 pan. The 9x9 I am freezing the other I popped in the oven for dinner tonight. Suggestions: more green pepper - like double. and more chicken - maybe 3 cups instead of 2 cups. use low fat cream of mushroom and low fat cream of chicken, it was still yummy and I can't imagine how rich it would have been if I had not used low fat. Also I used low sodium chicken broth. Serve with something light - raw veggies or salad or fresh fruit.

Enjoy!

I'm Freezing This..

As I venture my way through the Pioneer Woman's Website, I get REALLY REALLY Hungry!!!

This week I am going to make and freeze the Chicken Spaghetti for us to heat up and eat after baby gets here.

Since it's just me and Adam I think 1 recipe split into 2 8x8 or 9x9 pans should work nicely. One we can eat this week, the other pan we can freeze for later this month.

I also want to make the olive cheese bread and freeze some of it too.

Yummy yummy!!

I really need some distractions from thinking about when this baby is going to make her entrance into the world - it could be any day now - my curiosity will drive me crazy if I don't keep busy.

You Gotta Make This...YUM!

Ok so 3 posts in 1 day is pretty ridiculous - oh well, what can I say - I have a lot to share today. :)

My new addiction - The Pioneer Woman - led me to this great potato recipe that we ate tonight along with the BBQ Texas Beef Brisket that I finally cooked. These 2 dishes plus some leftover Mac N Cheese and a fresh peach I cut up made for a wonderful dinner tonight.

All of this good food and really I just keep thinking about having the potatoes again - like more than once a week - I LOVE THEM! And they are easy.

SO make the potatoes! Make the brisket too if you have the time - it wasn't tough at all, tender and juicy - it is spicy so be careful there if you don't like spicy make some simple adjustments and you'll be fine. I am SO glad my brisket is not going to waste. :)

Potato Recipe
BBQ Texas Beef Brisket

Enjoy!

Gift Giving...

I Love buying presents for people and for whatever reason I really like it when the gift can have some kind of theme to it.

Our niece is turning 8 on Saturday and I went to buy her birthday present today. I know she doesn't read my blog so I just HAVE to share what I got her...I'm pretty excited about it. I hope she is excited about it on Saturday.

My inspiration for her gift (other than it's for her) was earring because she recently had her ears pierced. She is very excited about having pierced ears. I thought I would get her some earrings but also one of those stands that has holes in it that you can put your earrings on so they can stay paired up and not get jumbled in a jewelry box. I found a simple - yet cute silver butterfly earring stand. I found 3 pairs of earrings: silver hearts, blue butterflies, and cute flower ones.

Then I went to buy her a card and found one with a cute butterfly on it. At the hallmark store they had little clothing outfits for webkin stuffed animals that our niece loves. I found a shirt and skirt outfit that was pink and purple with a butterfly on it that will look so cute on her webkin puppy - she is going to love it.

And then for the silliest part of all - I stopped by the candy store in the mall and they had gummy butterflies! They were too cute to pass up. I think she will love all these things. I don't think she is really into or not into butterflies but she loves earrings, she loves her webkins and she loves candy so I think I pretty much hit the jackpot!

Here is a picture of the gummy candies I bought. I really hope she shares one with me...they look so yummy and they are big - like almost 2 inches wide.

New Addiction...

I have a new addiction. A friend introduced me to a website with great recipes and the author of the website is hilarious! Plus there are TONS of pictures of the process and final product of each recipe - really over the top, but you can always scroll down to the bottom of the page for the direct recipe and skip looking at every step by step picture.

The author is a crack up, she has some personal things on her site as well.
Anyway - thanks Jen for the great new find...I'm sure I will be entertained for hours, days, weeks...I'm lovin' it!

So check out The Pioneer Woman for some great recipes and a good laugh - she's a hoot!

New Recipe

Can't sleep, so I am blogging. :)
I am starting to feel better though, I think the fact that I just got 4 hours of sleep in a row w/o a coughing fit or a potty break has something to do with the fact that I am totally awake at 4:30am. Oh well.

So, this spring we bought half a side of beef. This has been great to have so much meat on hand, especially with the rising cost of groceries. The problem is I have brisket and roast and quite a bit of it and I don't really cook either of those very often. Yesterday I decided I should hunt down a recipe to experiment with.

I decided to try and cook the brisket and found a recipe from the food network website for
BBQ Texas Beef Brisket....why not.
I thawed the meat and rubbed it down with the dry rub before we went to bed. I'm going to cook it today and see how it goes. My brisket isn't as big as what the recipe calls for so I may have to adjust the cooking time...hope I don't have dry brisket - that will make me so mad!

Anyway, I think this recipe is promising...I'll keep you posted.

Update

I did get medicine the other day - the nurse called me at noon and said they had called in a prescription for me. I am thankful.
However, I wish the meds would kick in faster.
I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Still praying for healing and for rest. I can breathe better but still have a lot of drainage in both of my ears - hearing is difficult and Adam is not loving the volume of the TV - sadly I still can't hear it perfectly and I know it's loud. I have been using the closed captioning to help keep up with the Olympics. hee hee

Baby continues to be sweet and wait for mommy to get better before making her entrance into the world - Praise the Lord!

Stalking the doctor...

Seriously, I have been having cold symptoms since Wednesday night. I haven't had a fever but I've had a sore throat, ear ache, stuffy nose, sinus pressure, cough, etc. either isolated or a few symptoms at a time or all of the above at the same time.
Saturday morning I went to immediate care - they said, Keep taking sudafed, I don't have strep or infection. Sleep, drink water and good luck.
Saturday night I was bawling my ears hurt so bad. I called and had my dr. paged. He called back and said, keep taking Tylenol, chew some gum, try nasal spray, call him if my ears weren't better on Sunday.
Ears better on Sunday, just stuffy - slept lots. Had a great birthday dinner. Got more stuffy nose, drainage in ears again - I can't hear, throat hurting again. Sudafed not working anymore.
And my drainage is no longer clear, it's yellow and green and yucky! I feel like crap, although I am SO SO SO glad that my ears aren't hurting like the did the other night - I thought my ear drum was going to explode!
Monday morning left a message for the nurse at 8:30. Called again to talk to receptionist at 10am....it is almost Noon and I haven't heard anything. I want to talk to someone - I want an appointment or drugs or something, I need to kick this, seriously!

So I'm almost 38 weeks pregnant and have some kind of cold/infection something and I am getting very impatient and wondering how many times is too many times to call the doctor - I really want to just show up at his office and sit around there waiting to be seen, however I don't want to catch anyone else's germs while I wait, so I keep waiting at home.

Stupid insurance won't let me go to immediate care until my doctor either refers me there or until his office is closed for the day and it becomes my only option.

ARGH! I want some answers and healing before I go into labor and can't breathe to relax and push this baby out.

Down to the wire...

A week ago our basement was a few outlets, a shower, a gas fireplace and wood studs that framed out the walls. We got 2 quotes from some dry wall guys - chose the best guy for the job, hoping possibly he could start hanging sheet rock to form real walls and a ceiling before our baby arrives.
Two guys hung all the sheet rock last Friday - they worked non-stop from 7:30 am to 4:30pm - it was amazing! This week they have done all the mudding/sanding, and today they sprayed the ceiling - ALL DONE!
Adam can hang the lights back up tomorrow when the ceiling is completely dry, and get started on painting the primer on the walls. Currently all the things we had stored in the basement are crammed in our laundry room - there is a small path going to the washer and dryer. Our house messy right now, piles of things everywhere, dust everywhere - but now clean up and organizing can begin.
Now to pick out flooring and paint colors - we are going to double our living space - so exciting!
Mostly I am excited that the messiest, most dusty part is over before the baby gets here.

Speaking of things coming down to the wire, the baby could be here any day but in less than 3 weeks for sure - CRAZY!

Exciting times. :)

Free Stuff...I LOVE IT!

So today I rented my first FREE Redbox movies! FREE!
Go to...http://www.insideredbox.com/codes/
scroll down and you will see a list of codes and they will be color-coded to let you know what codes work and which ones aren't working so great.
I wrote down about 4 green codes (green = good code)
then I went to McDonalds.
The main screen on the redbox has a square at the bottom left that says "rent w/ a promo code" or something like that.
Push that, enter the code, swipe your debit or credit card (so they can charge you if you return the movie late), confirm your email address (the redbox walks you through all of these steps). Movie will spit out!
I got 2 free movies today - I love it!!!
Now I am going to rest, relax and chill with my movies.

I LOVE FREE STUFF - good free stuff anyway.

New Pictures - Nursery & A Seat belt for a Dog

I couldn't figure out how to get the slide show of picture in this individual post so the slide show is to your right in the margin.

We are continuing to prepare for Baby Kaiya. The nursery is done w/ the exception of hanging a mirror, a picture frame and her name (some painted wooden letters hanging from ribbon).

The pictures I took came out blurry and now we have some other things stored in her room while the basement is being sheet rocked so I will have to take better pictures when her nursery doesn't look like a storage room.

There are also a few pictures I took of our dog Justice today. She loves to go for rides in the car and I really like to take her along. She has never been restrained in a car before, but with a baby on the way I figure it is time for all of us to be safe and for the safety of the baby Justice needs a seat belt too. She still doesn't know what to think about this whole seat belt thing, but she is still able to sit up or lay down with her belt on so I think she will get use to it pretty fast. I need to take her for some more rides before Baby gets here so she doesn't blame the baby for her loss of freedom in the car. :)

Need Help...

I want to prepare some freezer meals. I am having trouble committing to preparing some because Adam and I neither one are big fans of leftovers and somehow I think freezer meals will taste like leftovers and not a fresh cooked meal.

Have you made freezer meals? Do you have a recipe you think re-heats really well and will satisfy picky leftover eaters?

I would love suggestions.

Maybe after baby comes we'll be so tired anything will taste good - who knows.

Wild

The Safest Place on Earth

click above to read why this is the safest place on earth

While flipping through channels on the TV this morning I stopped at Animal Planet. The show was about crocodiles and how a mama croc has babies. What I learned is SO wild, I had no idea!

Here is what I learned. The mama goes on shore, digs a hole, lays eggs in the nest (the hole) covers the nest with dirt. It looks like nothing was ever there.
Three months later the eggs will hatch, the mother will know the eggs have hatched b/c she can hear the squeaking noises of her young. She will gently dig the hole again revealing the nest. Some of the babies have hatched the others will hatch very soon, all the babies are squeaking, even the ones still in the eggs.

Here is where it get really wild - she scoops each hatched baby croc into her mouth, where she holds them in a pouch to keep them protected until they are bigger. She can hold up to 15 babies in her mouth.

The narrator said, "The same mouth that can rip a zebra to shreds is capable to being very gentle and caring for very small babies."

Anyway, the mama will take the babies to a save cove until they are bigger, they have swimming lessons and spend time in mom's mouth while she swims the river, she opens her mouth just enough so the babies can see out. It was so weird to see all these babies peering out from the teeth of a croc! The babies are all squirmy and trying to walk off or swim off, they are very adventurous and the mom has to be careful to keep them together, which is hard for her b/c once she has several crocs in her mouth it becomes more difficult to keep those crocs in and pick up other crocs to put in her mouth. She has not her hands full but her mouth full :).
She has to do this for a couple of months until they are bigger.

I am sure there is some spiritual analogy here. Right now I am just amazed at God's creativity in creation. Amazing!

Annoying!

Between being 36 weeks pregnant, the heat and the fact that we have workmen hanging sheet rock in our basement - I am confined to our home. This leaves me with a lot of time to play on the Internet, bake, clean and watch TV.

While watching TV today I had to turn the volume down multiple times during a certain commercial on the food network. Each time this commercial came on I had to turn the volume way down and then my show would come on and I couldn't hear a word they were saying.

Why is it that companies keep casting this LOUD SCREAMING guy to promote their products.

Now he does commercials for KaBOOM - Oxy Clean - super absorbent towels - and some kind of Hamburger cooking contraption! For some reason he must not believe that he has a microphone or maybe he was first a trained demonstrator for state fairs where he needed to yell - I have no idea. All I know is that the man likes to YELL EVERYTHING HE SAYS!!!!!!

He drives me CRAZY! SHUT UP DUDE! Bring it down a notch - seriously!

I know you know who I'm talking about....

Before and After...

Changing Table Before
(This picture from the seller, I forgot to take a before picture I was so excited to jump into project mode)


Changing Table After

I have been looking for a changing table for the baby room. I wanted something small and simple. I had been stalking Craig's List for baby items and garage sale listings to see if I could find just the thing for just the right price.

Last Thursday I saw just the thing on Craig's List, emailed the owner and picked it up.

This week I painted it, bought new pull knobs to match the other furniture, bought a piece of 2" foam for the changing pad (b/c the size is not standard and I couldn't find a pad to buy - dang it!) and made a cover for the pad.

It looks really good. Could not go better with the other furniture and the major plus....it gave me something to do inside on those HOT August days.

Do you like to rent movies?

Adam and I are Netflix users we pay for an account with some friends, so we share the cost and pass the movies around. It works great.

Yesterday I wanted to rent a couple of movies to watch. I hate it when you go to Blockbuster only to find that the movie you really wanted to get is all rented and you have to choose something different. Then you wander around the store trying to find a suitable back up, if you're lucky you find one. Then you pay about $4 to rent the movie.

A friend of mine suggested trying the Redbox DVD rental box at McDonalds. Rentals are $1 and they have new releases. Because of the heat yesterday I didn't want to stand outside at a box trying to navigate a new machine and choose a movie so I thought - maybe you can see online what movies are in the box so I can have my choices ready.

I FOUND A GREAT THING!!!
Go to http://www.redbox.com/
you can type in your zip code and it will bring up the nearest redbox. The site will then tell you what movies are available in that box, you can reserve the movie(s) you want and enter your debit or credit info. You have until 9pm the following night to pick up the movie. Then you have 24 hours to watch it - or you are charged for a 2nd day.

They had the movies I wanted to rent. I reserved them, drove to McDonalds, there is an option on the redbox screen to "pick up online order" I pushed that, then swiped my card and it spit out my movies! I was seriously at McDonalds less than 2 min. Amazing! The movies cost me $1.06 per movie. Much less than Blockbuster.

I'm still glad for netflix, but if you are waiting for a movie and want some entertainment the redbox is my new movie friend.

Target Clerance Item...Check this OUT!

Super Target in Wichita (and I'm sure other cities too) has this travel system on sale.
Regularly $189.99
Today $47.48 - I am TOTALLY not Kidding!

For whatever reason this deal made me really excited! I think it was a combination of the obvious deal but also b/c Target and I have not been getting along lately and I was majorly losing faith that it was even worth it to keep shopping there. Well even though their customer service can be lacking at times, they still know how to offer a great deal. They also had Post Raisin Bran Family Size 3 boxes for $7 pretty good.

Here is the picture of the travel system that is on sale. It is the Dot and Swirl Pattern.
If you know any pregnant people who need a stroller/car seat, you should call them - this pattern is very unisex and the price can't be beat - even at garage sales and Craig's list - I know, I've been looking.

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.

All Done!

Well, I finshed the tree. It's not perfect but then again it's art so we could say it's perfect - it's subjective right? :)

Also, Adam hung the curtain rod so I could hang the curtains.

Now I am super antsy to pick up the crib and have it assembled so I can make her bed and see what it looks like all together. I guess for now I will rest.





I hate it that the Khaki wall looks so yellow/green in the pictures. I promise it does not look like that in real life.

Update on Tree Painting

So the tree is in progress. I am getting a little less scared of this project as I go along. Small steps - I just keep taking small steps and slowly it is looking more like a tree. :)

The art teacher from the school I worked at came by yesterday and gave me some pointers and then my friend Amy stopped by last night and gave me a few ideas as to how to paint the shadding on the tree. Both friends were very helpful - so far I have done all the work...

I am kind of proud - proud of my tracing/paint by number....

Adam is hanging the curtains now and we got a call today that the crib and dresser have arrived at the furniture store. As soon as the tree is done I want to pick up the crib and assemble it. I can't wait to see what the finished room is going to look like. :)

Am I Crazy?

Picture of bedding I ordered. Baby's Crib is different but the same dark wood.

Two close up shots of the bedding and the tree I am trying to imulate on the nursery wall.

The dark colored wall is actually a dark Khaki - and does not actually look green in real life.

Stage 1 of "The Tree"

I am NOT an artist in the sense of painting anyway.
I don't draw or paint or sculpt.

I have been working on the baby nursery and had this wild hair that I would like to paint a tree on the wall the crib will go on. A tree that will look like a tree from her bedding.

So here's the plan....
I scanned the fabric on our computer scanner and then went into Photoshop and played around with the tree a little bit. Then I printed the tree the way I liked it and then made a transparency and then borrowed an overhead projector to project the tree on the wall.

I have traced the tree and painted the base color of the tree. I now need to go back in and retrace the tree to define the leaves and branches and go in with a darker Khaki color and outline and shade the leaves and branches.

I think I am Crazy and I am nervous now I can't pull this off. I called the art teacher from the school I was working at and she is coming over this afternoon to give me a little art lesson.
I really hope this tree thing works out and looks cute.

If not then I am just going to paint the wall a solid blue again and call it good. :)

Above are some pictures of my progress so far.
I will keep you posted.

House Under Contract!

I forgot to share with you that our house is officially under contract!

Last week we had two offers and then two counter-offers and by Friday morning at 11 am we officially had the house under contract. We are very excited!!!

The buyers have 14 days to have any inspections done and let us know if there are any problems they want us to fix or repair for them. We are not expecting that the inspections will find anything since we have done so much work on the house. I guess there is always a chance for surprises but this should go smoothly.

Closing date is July 23 - one month from today.

Praise the Lord for selling our house - sweet freedom! :)

New Favorite - A Must for Produce lovers

I hate infomercials - I REALLY Hate them!

Not long ago I was shopping with my grandma at Bed Bath and Beyond and she really wanted to buy a box of Green Bags, "As seen on TV", for keeping fruits and veggies fresh longer.

Honestly, I thought, What is she thinking? Yeah, I'm sure these bags work just like any air tight container.

When you buy a box you get several bags that are a couple of different sizes, grandma gave me a few to try them out, so over the last couple of months I have used them a few times just to see what I think.

They WORK!

I love to buy green onions, lettuce, celery, and strawberries and these are often the produce items we don't use quick enough so I end up throwing some of them out.

I am most impressed with how long my strawberries stayed fresh. I was able to keep the same pint of strawberries fresh for almost 2 weeks! That is crazy!

The bags work great for lettuce and celery and do ok for the green onions.

Anyway - I am a believer in the green bags and think everyone who loves produce but can't eat it fast enough should buy these. You can wash them easily and reuse over and over again.

I can't believe I actually found an "As Seen on TV" item useful.

You can buy Green Bags online or at Bad Bath and Beyond. My guess is you can probably find them many places like Walmart, Walgreens, or other discount stores as well. Cost is about $10 or less for 20 bags. I suggest splitting a box with a friend - our small family does not need 20 bags. :)

You are looking for Debbie Meyer Green Bags
www.greenbags.com

Have you ever....?

I have heard that adding a little clear vanilla extract to a gallon of latex paint can really help curb the odor of the paint.

Have you ever tried this??

Does it work?

I am getting ready to start painting the baby nursery (with some help) and am thinking of trying this.

I would love some feedback - I'll keep you posted on my results.

Waiting...

My husband and I are trying to sell a house in Manhattan, KS.
It has been on the market for a little over a month now and people are looking at it all the time - in fact I have lost count of how many times the home has been shown.
Last night at about 7pm our relator called to say that we had 2 offers on the house!
One offer was in writing and is offically on the table. The other offer was verbal but the buyers have an appointment at 8:30am to put together a written offer.
Our relator said he would call as soon as he had the 2nd written offer and we could go from there.

Ok, so now it is 10:30 am - seriously, I don't think it takes 2 hours to write up an offer - what is UP????

I think I am going to make a phone call if I have heard anything by 11:00.

Am I being impaitent?

hmmmm...

Trying to Remember

I am hoping I can catch on to blogging again. In the past year and a half I have gotten married, moved to a new city, had two different jobs (at different times) and just haven't had a spare min. to really blog.

I am now a stay at home mommy - although baby K is still in my tummy. She will be here soon and so I am busy nesting and preparing for baby.

Hopefully I will get back into the swing of blogging, b/c I do love it. :)

SO much work...

Hope you all are doing well. It has been awhile since I have posted.
My husband and I have been working on the landscaping of our house and I wanted to share some pictures with you.

Landscaping Project (click here)

The first picture you will see is of our house 3 years ago before the front door was painted, before the storm door, and before anything was planted. We had to use a picture from 3 years ago as the start picture because we forgot to take a before picture just before we started the "rock wall" project.

We jumped into this project because we needed to add some good top soil to our flowerbeds, we had hard clay in there and no amount of compost, sand or stirring in new top soil was helping. A nursery suggested we either raise our flowerbed or dig our beds out 12-18" deep and then refill with good top soil. Both options were a huge task! We chose to raise the beds and it looks great!

We look forward to planting some colorful flowers this spring. Some of our shrubs will be yellow come the end of Spring and Summer, just so you know that everything planted will not always been the same shade of green.

One last note - doesn't my husband do an AWESOME job keeping our yard green?! I think it looks fantastic!

Try This!

New Favortie Recipe! My hubby and I LOVE this new meal!

Basil Chicken Over Angel Hair Pasta

I scaled this down for 2 people. It is perfect with a salad and a piece of bread or any side veggie. Healthy and de-lish!
the recipe is on All Recipies.com if you want to make it for 4 or more people.

Basil Chicken and pasta for 2....

4 oz. angel hair pasta
1tsp. olive oil
1/4c chopped onion
1/2 clove garlic, chopped
1c cooked & cubed chicken breast halves
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
2Tb. Fresh Basil chopped (or 1-2 tsp. dried basil)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp of hot pepper sauce
Parmesan cheese to garnish.

In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook pasta until it is al dente, about 8-10 min. Drain and set aside.

In a large skillet heat oil over medium-high heat. Saute onions and garlic. Stir in tomatoes, cooked chicken, basil, salt and hot pepper sauce. Reduce heat to med. and cover skillet.
Simmer 5 min., stirring frequently until mixture is hot and tomatoes are soft.

Toss Sauce with hot cooked pasta to coat. Serve with Parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper to taste.

***Here's a great idea! I made my pasta ahead, only boiling it for about 5-6 min and then stored it in a zip lock bag in the fridge. Then I cooked up my chicken mixture and stored it in another zip lock bag.
Then later in the week I but the chicken mixture and the pasta in a large skillet and heated them through and then served them up (this will also finish cooking your pasta that you didn't cook for the full time before). You can have dinner in literally minutes with little clean up!

***I have enjoyed taking my raw chicken and seasoning it with a little salt and pepper and then cooking it on the grill, when cooked through let the meat "rest" for a least 5 min (so it will hold it's juice and remain tender) then cut into bite size pieces. Adds a yummy grilled flavor to the chicken.

A NEW fave...

Piztros! (click here)

You've got to eat here. It is fun and funky and not like the typical places to eat around here.

The food is GREAT!

Also the dessert is very tasty.

The ambiance is really cool.

My favorite dessert....

Pana Cotta, a creamy vanilla custard chilled in a chocolate cup with caramlized sugar on top...it is really big and we usually share it.

A Good Night's Sleep...

We just got an AMAZING new bed!!!!!
We were sleeping on a very old, very firm bed. I litterally felt as though I had been hit with a bat on my shoulders and hips every morning when I woke up. My bones and joint would crack and pop for hours.
Finally we both agreed that we were not getting the sleep or rest our bodies need to be healthy so we began to look for a new bed.

We are now the proud sleepers on a Denver Mattress called the Durango.
We LOVE it. I feel about 5 years younger when I wake up, ready to do anything. I can't feel my husband get out of bed in the morning because the bed has individual springs instead of springs that are connected to one another. The top of the mattress is quilted but not a pillow top.
Best of all, we got a King size bed - Oh my goodness, there's a TON of room!

We are sleeping like never before and couldn't be happier.

I'm Back...

This married life and working really keeps ya busy.
Just to update you all on a few things, I am still working for Victoria's Secret, I actually got a promotion and am now on the management team. I still get to work part time (which is usally about 25-30 hours a week) and I am really enjoying the ladies I work with. It has been a great opportunity to meet some new people and to get out of the house and have something, other than cleaning and going to Target, that I can be doing while my husband is at work.
Also we did find a church here. We are going to Eastside Community Church and we Love it. We are going to be in a young couples small group that starts on Thursday night. There are four couples in our small group counting us and the crazy thing it that I know two of the couples through my former job and we just all ended up at the same church within the last few months. The fourth couple in our group are really great too, I can't wait to know them all better and spend some time learning God's Word and heart with these couples.

The hunt...

Well I am offically married, it was a beautiful wedding a so much fun to share it with all of our close friends and family. My husband (I love saying that!) is wonderful and I love him So much (as I should).

We went on our honeymoon, came home, we have been going through gifts, my husband is back at work and I have been trying to put our house together, Christmas shop, cook dinner, clean and look for a job.

The job hunt is offically ON. I forgot how much work it is to get a job. I was at my last job for almost 8 years so I'm a little rusty. I would love to work with kids, maybe be a para or teacher's aid or work at a daycare or preschool. Jobs are few in those areas at this time of year. I am still applying a hoping for openings but I have decided in the mean time I think I will try out a retail job. Truthfully, I like working retail. It doesn't pay much but you meet lots of interesting people and usually you work with fun people. I need to make some friends around here.

We found a church that we are going to plant ourselves in and try out on a more regular basis, that hunt has come to an end or at least a pause.

I am looking forward to Christmas, celebrating the birth of our Saviour for the first time with my new hubby and my in-laws (who I totally love) and spending time with my family too.
Over the holiday we also hope to do some projects around the house, so if your in town come on by and we'll give you a hammer or a paintbrush or something.

Our next hunt...a new bed! Our current bed has a ditch in the middle of it, we just roll into the middle like we are wrapped in a taco. My back, shoulders and neck are screaming at me to get something different.

Merry Christmas!
love
Correnta

8 Days and counting....

In just 8 days I am getting married, to this wonderful man!



I can't wait to share the rest of my life with him. :)
Wedding details are coming to an end and the day is approaching...
8 days and counting...

Great Friends & Great Finds

My Roommate (top pic, gal on the far left) had a birthday at the beginning of October. Some friends and I surprised her with a trip to Chicago to see her dream...The Broadway musical, "Wicked"
The musical was/is amazing! The trip was so fun I so enjoyed my time running around Chicago with you gals

Ethels Chocolate Lounge...someone please open this store in my town!!! I will work there! I'm telling you people, you have got to check out an ethel's chocolate lounge near you, and if there isn't one, they hop on a plane to Chicago...it is one of the greatest places in America. And the chocolate is amazing!! Oh, if I lived on the same street with Ethel, I could be a city girl just to live by her.
I could go there every day for a taste of chocolate, a coffee and a chat with friends or read a book.

We had lots of other fun on our trip, seeing art, eating out, shoping, the L-train, people watching, laughing laughing laughing, and just enjoying time away from real life. Happy Birthday roommie, I had a blast celebrating you and your day.

Basically, my friends are awesome and Chicago is a great place to visit, I can't wait to go again.

Snap! Quick & Easy

Just to update you on Leviticus and Leprosy...
the traps worked and Leviticus and Leprosy have gone on to mice heaven, or something like that.
I'm going to set the traps again and wait a few days just to make sure they don't have any friends shacking up with them and then I'm going to clean up the mess they left for me. Oh Joy.

Meet L & L

(not actual photos of "my" mice)

Last month when I was getting the lawnmower out of my shed, I saw a little brown field mouse. I jumped and screamed. I meant to put a trap in there and kill it and set a second trap just to make sure there were not any other mice I had yet to meet.

I forgot.

Today I went to get the lawn mower out, which I discovered is not working. Anyway, there are 2 mice in there now, at least that's how many I saw today. They have gotten into the big bags of mulch I stored in there and have made quite the little home for themselves not to mention all the poop everywhere - crap!!!!!!!

SO, I did not mow the lawn, and my yard is embarrassing - beyond embarrassing, like I should be kicked out of the neighborhood, I did set two traps and I am totally grossed out!

I decided maybe the mice would seem less gross if they had names, I am going to name them Leviticus (b/c mice are gross and there are some gross things in that part of the Bible), and Leprosy because it's also a gross word.

I guess naming them didn't make them more likable. Shoot.

Well I hope Leviticus and Leprosy die soon so I can clean up the mouse poop, clean up the mulch and set more traps in hopes that if more mice come they will die upon entry.

Let's hope Leviticus and Leprosy haven't started their honeymoon!!!! Yikes! Baby mice are more nasty than grown mice, b/c they don't have fur, they are naked!!! Ok, I have to go throw up now (just kidding).

Yea, I'm Engaged!

How exciting! Last night I thought I was going to the movies with my roommate. I also thought that my boyfriend was driving to KC to meet up with his friends before they leave for their Guys Vacation weekend. I was out running errands, getting ready to go pick up my roommie for the movie when I got a phone call from one of my students. She told me she had been at Old Stadium and her car would not start. She asked if I could come help her out, jump-start her car or call AAA. Of course I said certainly and I headed over there. I called my roommie to tell her I would be running late.
When I arrived at Old Stadium Nessa was there waiting and I said, "Hop in, I'll drive you to your car." She asked, "Hey, can I show you something?"
I was puzzled. It's 107 degrees outside and I'm thinking, "Don't you just want to get your car moving and I am trying to make the 7:30 movie?" I could see whatever she wanted me to see she thought was important and worthy and that I would possibly enjoy it, so I went along. I parked the car and followed Nessa. She told me that what she had seen and wanted to show me was really cool and that I would love it or think it was neat (not sure what words she used but that was the general idea).

I said, "Oh my gosh! Can you see the new Jumbotrons at the new stadium from here?! Those things are awesome, can you see them all the way from here?!" I am such a dork! That is seriously how excited I get about K-State football we're at the old stadium and I just assume whatever she has to show me is related to football some how. She laughed and said, "What's a Jumbotron?" (by the way you can't see them - there are far too many trees and buildings and it's several blocks away...I'm a nut, what was I thinking? Duh!)
Nessa told me what she was going to show me was better than that. Now, I like to try and guess things and my imagination goes crazy when I know a surprise is coming...so as we're walking I start to think of a 2nd guess...think think think...I ask "Oh my gosh, is Bill Snyder sitting out here or something?" (My mind is really getting into the football spirit here...but it's a random mind b/c Why and When has Bill ever hung out at Old Stadium, especially when it's 107 degrees outside) I am Crazy, which I realize after the question came out of my mouth, so I laughed it off. Nessa said, "Just wait, you'll see in just a second."

Ok...here's the part of the story you really want to know. We turn the corner and start to head up the stairs to the top and as I look up there he is, My Boyfriend! He had been sitting and he stood up and we saw each other and I yelled from the bottom of the stadium, "SHUT UP!" Then I looked at Nessa and said, "SHUT UP! Are YOU Serious?" I was cracking up and very very surprised. Nessa gave me a hug bye (thanks sweetie for being such a special part of my day, I'm so glad you are part of my engagement story, I love sharing life with you!). I climbed to the top to be with my man. (sorry no names I always change people's names in my blog to keep a little privacy and I haven't come up with a good pseudo name for him yet)

So we are standing together at the top of Old Stadium, my favorite place in Manhattan (see Feb. blog archive) and he shares with me wonderful things about me and us and how wants to share life with me. We are both really excited, a little teary and shaky. Oh, he said, "I know this is one of your favorite places, so I wanted to surprise you and meet you here, and I'm hoping that this place will no longer be your favorite place, but that it will become one of our favorite places." Aaahhh...

Then he got down on one knee and asked me to be his wife and I said, "Yes, Yes, Yes." He put the ring on my finger and we told each other, I love you, about a million times. I think I may have jumped up and down a few times like a little kid.

It's so amazing to me how much in life has changed in the past year and I am sure that I will be more amazed after this coming year passes.
I love the Old stadium. I have spent many hours over the past seven years going there on nice days, lemonade or coffee in hand along with my Bible and sometimes a journal - climbing to the top and sitting there hanging out with God.

I was just thinking the other day about how this time last year I went to Old Stadium early one morning. I was so sad and just needed some time with God. I remember crying out to Him, wondering if he was dismissing the desires of my heart (some of them being to be married, to be seen and loved) feeling like good things were only happening to those around me. I remember crying also b/c I knew God was blessing me every day but I couldn't "see" it and I didn't "feel" it. I prayed he would help me to see where he was at work in my life. I was crying so hard that day and I didn't have any tissue to blow my snotty dripping nose so I took my socks off and used them - they were soaked (gross, huh).

God heard my cry and the prayers of many others on my behalf. I witnessed him answer those prayers over and over again this past year, but never did I even think he would redeem that day a year ago with a marriage proposal a year later at that very place were I had cried out to Him. I guess Old Stadium is an Ebenezer in my life now - a monument to remind me of the faithfulness of my God, my Jesus, and a reminder that God hears his people and cares for them deeply.

Praise you Father for your faithfulness. Praise You Praise You - May my heart never forget it!

Finally I just want to say that we are getting married in Manhattan on Nov. 18th (of this year!) and our reception will be at the Alumni Center...located nowhere other than...THE Old Stadium...
How cool is that?!

(there is a pic of Old Stadium in my Feb. blog archives if you want to check it out...my blog is not cooperating right now for me to post the pic again)

Aaahhh.....

What a cute couple! :)
I love this picture.
It's silly and off center but really sweet and I just had to share it with the blog world.

P.S. Honey, I hope you're ok that I posted this without your permission. ;)