Wednesday, December 1, 2010

Gettin' Crafty.

I made some marble glass Christmas ornaments last night, and they seriously turned out way better than I expected. They are so pretty!!! We aren't decorating our tree this year since we're going to be back home in KS for half of the month, but I think next year I will whip up a couple batches of these to put on our tree. They are seriously beautiful and actually fairly classy looking.

A few people wanted to know how they were made so here's a step by step with some pictures!

This is all you need:


Clear glass ornaments, and however many colors of acrylic paint you want. I am doing all of mine with red, green, and white but you could do any color combos you wanted! I know some people decorate their trees in blue, etc, so blue and white would look really pretty together, too. Then you just need some ribbon to tie around the topper so that you can hang your ornament!

First, you take the topper out of the ornament. Squirt the paint into the ornament...you can do all of the colors at once.


Next, swirl the ornament to get the paint covering every bit. You will have to tap it against the palm of your hand and there will be a couple of spots that don't seem to want to cover. Just keep tapping it until it covers up, and you can add more paint if necessary. It's normal for it not to be marbled yet-you're just getting the paint across the whole ornament right now, so there will probably be big chunks of one color, etc. It should look like this:


You can also see the extra paint that got on the outside of the ornament-don't worry, it comes right off with a washcloth and some water :)

Next, turn the ornament upside down and let it drain out for 10 minutes. You can do this in an egg carton, but we didn't have any so I just propped it against something on some wax paper.

Now comes the part where it marbles. Make sure all the excess paint is drained out, then turn the ornament on it's side. Leave it there for 10 minutes. Still on it's side, turn it a quarter and let it sit for another 10 minutes. Keep doing this until it's set 4 times. After this, you can set it upright, upside down, and on the other side, and do the quarter turns for 10 minutes each...but I didn't. I didn't have that much time, and they turned out just fine on doing it once.

After that I let mine sit overnight to make sure they were dry. Then you just put the topper back on (be careful not to scrape the paint with the wires from the topper) and tie a ribbon through it so it can be hung on the tree! My ribbon was a bit thick and didn't really tie very well without having a huge bow. I stapled the first one just to see the finished look but I don't like the staple sticking out. So I suppose if you have a hot glue gun, that would probably be the best route to go to secure the ribbon.

And this is what you end up with:






Pretty cool, right? I think they would make a great gift if you're making baskets for people, you could wrap the basket and tie a ribbon around it and secure an ornament onto the ribbon. Or make some for yourself to make your tree look beautiful at little cost to you. Let me know if you have any questions!!

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

A yummy recipe to make up for my slack.

So yeah. It's been kind of busy around here. Blog to come later on why!

In the meantime, I have recently fallen in love with foodgawker.com. It. Is. The. Best. Seriously, I've made 3 recipes from it so far and they have all been awesome.

Last night I made chicken enchiladas. The sauce was homemade...pretty legit. No out of a can. And it tasted great. I had lovely little pictures to go with, but my phone has decided to act all exorcist and freak out any time I try to use it, so sorry, you will just have to trust me that they looked yummy, too. I made some changes, so I will note those...but do whatever fits your taste!

Chicken Enchiladas (recipe from foodgawker.com, Pinkpaisley blog)
•1 medium onion, chopped fine (I used 1/2 onion, and it was plenty)
•2 jalapenos, seeded and chopped fine
•1 teaspoon canola oil
•3 medim cloves garlic, minced
•3 Tablespoons chili powder
•2 teaspoons ground cumin
•3 teaspoons sugar
•1 15-oz can tomato sauce
•1 cup water
•1 large beefsteak tomato, seeded and chopped (I omitted this because Kyler hates tomato, but I'm sure it'd be fine with it)
•1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (2 large breasts)
•1 cup extra sharp white cheddar, shredded (I just used Monterrey Jack the whole time)
•1 cup monterey jack cheese, shredded
•1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro (This ended up being a bit cilantro-y for us. I didn't like it. It tasted like dirt. Next time I won't use this, but if you like cilantro, go at it.)
•12 (6-inch) soft corn tortillas (used flour)
•cooking spray
•salt and ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425.

Combine the onion, jalapeno, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and oil in a large saucepan. cover and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until the onions and peppers have softened, 8-10 minutes. Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and sugar, and cook until fragrant, less than 30 seconds. Stir in the tomato sauce, water, and chopped tomato. Bring to a simmer, and cook until slightly thickened, 5 minutes.

Nestle the chicken into the sauce. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until chicken is cooked through (thickest part reaches 160 degrees), about 12-20 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate, and set aside to cool.

Strain the sauce through a strainer into a medium bowl, pressing the onion mixture to extract as much liquid as possible. Transfer the onions to a large bowl and set aside. Season sauce with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Shred the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Add to the onin mixture, and add 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce, 1 cup cheese, and the cilantro. Toss to combine.

Stack the tortillas on a plate and cover with plastic wrap; Microwave on high until warm and pliable, 40-60 seconds. Spread the tortillas on a clean work surface, and spoon 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture evenly down the center of each. Tightly roll each tortilla and lay seam-side down in a greased 9x13 inch baking dish.

Lightly spray the tops of the enchiladas with cooking spray. Place in the oven, uncovered, for about 7 minutes, or until the tortillas start to brown slightly (skip this step if you don't like the crunch).

Reduce heat to 400. Remove enchiladas and pour sauce evenly on top. Top with the remaining cheese. Cover dish with foil, and bake an additional 20 minutes, or until heated through.

Remove foil and bake another 5 minutes, until cheese browns. Remove from oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with sour cream, guacamole, salsa, additional cilantro, etc.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Funny how life works out..

I know my favorite part of blogs is pictures, and I don't post much without pictures but sorry, I am doing that today :P Well at least until the end of the post.

I had a dream a few nights ago that was one of those dreams where you wake up and remember how life really is, and you're so glad it was just a dream. Then it made me start to think, it is so crazy how life works out. The littlest choices we make can alter our future in a completely different way.

This dream was about a guy I went to school with. It was in High School, but things worked out differently than they did in real life.

Real life-I had a crush on this kid from pretty much the 4th grade on through high school, but boy we we were never on the same page at all. We ended up "going out" (which is so funny for little kids to say-we certainly never went anywhere, and hardly talked) about 3 times total. The first two I ended because kids are mean, I hated being the center of attention, and I didn't want to get teased anymore.

Then, in my Junior year of High School, I decided to write him a note asking if he would go to Homecoming with me. I'm not a believer in the woman asking the man-I'm an old fashioned lady, and I think it's the man's job. But he was pretty shy at the time and I was tired of going to homecoming's just with friends. Anyway we ended up going together, but he never asked me out and that's where I drew the line-I wouldn't do that. I waited for a little while and we would write notes but he said he didn't want to hurt this other girl's feelings. I got tired of waiting and started talking to a jerk. Shortly after that, the other guy decided to ask me out and I said no. I don't really know why. I knew the guy I was talking to was a jerk, I liked the other guy more, but that's how it worked out. I ended up regretting it the rest of that year.

The next summer he asked me to go to the movies and I was really happy because I thought my screw up would be redeemed. He ended up cancelling that night so I went to the bowling alley with a friend...where I saw, you guessed it, him bowling with another girl. I was seriously devastated in that High School girl, woe is me, all men are pigs, kind of way. I practically swore off men.

Enter Kyler. He asked me out that summer after this incident and I said no. I was done letting guys make me feel terrible about myself, and I was done dealing with them.

Shortly after that, Kyler ended up dating a girl from another school...and of course, in typical woman fashion ;), I wanted what I couldn't have. I felt like I ruined my chance, again. Luckily they ended up breaking up not too long after and my friends told Kyler he should try again with me. He almost didn't, and who would have blamed him. I wouldn't have asked the same person out after getting shot down. But I'm so glad he did.

We had our first date at the cheap seats to see Wedding Crashers. It was probably the most awkward movie two innocent teenage kids could have picked for a first date. There were boobs. Everywhere. But I had a lot of fun and after that we went to Starbucks.

I was a really shy girl then. We were fairly decent friends because we worked together and had a lot of classes together, but still. The fact that there were no awkward pauses or lulls in conversation was great for me, because talking to people I didn't know like the back of my hand usually made me uncomfortable. I felt so at ease with him.

On top of that, he opened the door for me everywhere, including the car, he paid for everything, and he was a gentlemen. I had never been treated like that before and I really didn't expect it from a 17 year old guy.

By the end of the first week we had our first kiss on my front porch after he dropped me off from a date, and a couple weeks later I woke up to a text message that said "Rise and shine, beautiful". I don't know if I had ever been called beautiful in my life up until that point, and definitely not from a guy. He was so sweet to me and treated me like a princess. I wasn't a super happy teen, but then, I was happy.

By the time we had been together for 3 weeks I knew I loved him. People can say that's ridiculous, but it's true. I felt for the first time like I was with a guy that things would work out with.

Tomorrow is our 5 years of being together anniversary, and here we are. Never in my life would I have thought I would end up an Army Wife living in Georgia, pregnant before finishing college, married to Kyler that I grew up with, but here I am. And I wouldn't change it for the world. I'm so happy with how my life has turned out. I see women struggling on a daily basis with asshole men who don't appreciate them, and I thank God every day for making things work out the way they did. Thank you, God, for making that boy see something in that other girl that he liked more than what he saw in me, because if he hadn't, maybe Kyler and I wouldn't have ended up together. Thank you for making Kyler get with that other girl so I could see that I wanted him, because if they hadn't, who knows. Thank you for giving me my best friend. Thank you for giving me the only guy I can see myself having babies with, and a beautiful baby in my belly that I can't wait to meet.

I don't want sympathy because I'm a 22 year old pregnant girl without a college degree. Different things work for different people. Other people are much more deserving of your pity than I am. I love my life and I couldn't imagine myself happier.

I have a husband who tells me at least 5 times a day that he loves me and that I'm pretty or beautiful. I know without a doubt he would never cheat on me or so much as flirt with another woman. He works his ass off to take care of me and our new baby. He makes me laugh and I have so much fun with him. I feel like I can be my really odd and goofy self around him and he will love me through it. I'm married to my best friend and I love him with all my heart. In 6 months I'm about to start a new little family with my best friend and we get to raise our baby together and I will love it all the more not just because it's a part of me, but because it's a part of him, too. I am luckier than I ever could have hoped to be, all because of small choices some teenagers made 5 years ago.








Mil Spouse Fill In Friday

I'm on time. Woot Woot!

1. Are you a night owl or an early bird?
Such a night owl!!! My current job, donut shop where work starts at 5AM, is really cramping my night owl style. When I was in college I would stay awake until 2AM most mornings.

2. What makes you jealous?
Girls who have willpower to not eat brownies and cupcakes and good ol greasy hamburgers. Aka skinny girls. I don't know if that will ever be me, because I think I'd rather not be depriving myself constantly and be a bit bigger, but happy. Seeing friends and family from home hanging out makes me jealous, just because I miss them a lot and can't be there. Women whose longest time away from their husband is a week and they are capable of acting like it's the end of the world, when a week to me seems like nothing.

3. Have you started Christmas/holiday shopping yet? When will you finish? (There’s only 63 days left!)
Psh, no. Me and Kyler are both wonderful at procrastinating. Although I don't really know if we'll be buying much as far as gifts this year, because of the baby coming.

4. What would you have a personal chef make you tonight?
Fried potatoes that I can put ketchup on, an authentic philly cheese steak sandwich, and chocolate cheesecake for dessert. I don't care if those things don't go together, they all sound awesome right now.

5. Where was your first kiss?
Ahhhh I don't even want to talk about this. Blah I will talk about it. It was the worst, most unromantic first kiss ever. It was in the freaking shower room in this little locker building by my High School's football field. It was the worst.

My first kiss with Kyler, though, was on my front porch, after one of our dates, and it was much more enjoyable :)

Monday, October 18, 2010

Mil Spouse Fill In

I think I'm just going to start titling this without the Friday...because I never do it on Friday. Sorry! Oh well. Here's the fill in for last week :P

1. What are some things on your bucket list?
Travel to another country, see the Eiffel Tower, become a teacher...let's see...I actually used to have this little book that I wrote all the things I wanted to do before I die. I wrote it in high school and I looked at it the other day and my interests have certainly changed.

2. How long have you been a MilSpouse and where have you been stationed so far?
For just over a year and so far we've only got Fort Gordon on our list. I'm ready for somewhere else ;)

3. What is a list of songs that sums up your life so far?
Oh boy, I always think these types of questions are the hardest. I will just put a few that come to mind.
-Dear God by Avenged Sevenfold-Kyler and I danced to this at our wedding, and I felt like it's a good song for when he was at basic, too.
-King of Anything by Sara Bareilles-This one is to all those people who have things to say about me being pregnant without a degree. "You've got opinions man, we're all entitled to em, but I never asked...who died and made you king of anything?" ;)

Okay so that's a pretty lame compilation, I'm sorry, but that's all I've got for now. Those song questions are tough for me.

4. What is your favorite kind of pizza?
I usually get pepperoni with green peppers and mushrooms so I suppose that would be my favorite. There's one at Giuseppe's that I LOVE that is ricotta, spinach, and tomato with a white sauce. Yum.

5. What are three good things in your life right now?
-I have the greatest husband ever that I love more than anything and he treats me great. Before becoming an Army Wife I didn't realize that was such a rare thing but it truly seems like it is and I'm really lucky.
-I'm pregnant, and I can't wait to meet this little baby and be the best momma possible.
-We have a place to live, a really comfortable bed to sleep in, plenty of groceries in our fridge...that's always good :P Also, I put in my 2 weeks notice at my job, which I could not be more psyched about. Worst. Job. Ever. For a sick, tired pregnant woman.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Mil-Spouse Fill In Friday...on Friday!

Hey look I am actually on time this week. Go me!

1. What is the longest road trip you’ve ever taken?
I will have to list two...I went on a Williamsburg trip from Kansas to D.C., Virginia, Pennsylvania in 8th grade but I just had to ride in a bus for 24 hours so I'm not sure that counts. The longest road trip where I was an adult and actually had to drive was on the way to Kyler's basic graduation. My radio wouldn't work, my CD player at the time was eating all of my CD's, and I almost fell asleep a few times. 14 hours later I luckily got to see the hubby :)

2. Do you collect anything? Tell us a bit about it.
I collect dolphin things, mostly because I love dolphins and people are continually buying me dolphin things. I don't think I have ever actually purchased one of these myself.

3. What is your favorite part about being an adult?
Being able to do, eat, say, etc what you want without really worrying about getting in trouble for it. I have several least favorite parts, though :)

4. What song brings a tear to your eye?
Breakaway by Kelly Clarkson and Slipped Away by Avril Lavigne are two that always nearly make me cry, because they remind of Lucas. Still miss him and think of him all the time! Traveling Soldier by Dixie Chicks always makes me cry, too. I think it's a really beautiful song and well you know, makes sense to have a bit of a "hits home" spot for me.

5. Describe your first plane ride (how old you were, where you were heading, etc).
I was about 9-12, honestly I don't remember. On the way to Las Vegas with my grandparents. I was absolutely terrified of flying before this, as in about to panic attack from it. Our flight got delayed because of technical difficulties with the plane. When we were finally able to get on it was storming and there was terrible turbulence. Can't make these things up.

Monday, October 4, 2010

Weekly Meal Plan Dos

The hubs and I went grocery shopping yesterday and went about 40 dollars over our weekly grocery budget. Woops. I have moved on to the stage of pregnancy where I eat and an hour later I'm hungry. I eat, hour later, hungry...and just keep repeating that throughout the entire day. It's really annoying to me because I'm not used to that-breakfast usually lasts me a good 4 hours, and the same with every other meal. So I had to get a lot more healthy snacks than I normally need so in between meals I have good things to go to.

That being said, I've read a lot of articles online telling people how to have a healthy Halloween...by which they mean, completely deprive yourself. I'm sure there are some health nuts out there cringing at what I'm about to say, but that seems like a really lousy way to live, in my opinion. It's once a year!!!! And if you count up all of the holidays where we typically indulge, it would come up to about 8 days per year, maximum. Are people really expected not to even have 8 days out of the year that they can put down the tofu and enjoy some good old candy, cheeseburgers, pies, and buttery mashed potatoes? I'm not endorsing eating like that all the time, but come on. Live a little. I know I for one plan to have a great Halloween filled with pumpkin pie, chocolate bars, smores, and hot dogs cooked on the grill. And no offense, but I'm sure I will be a lot happier that night than all those people listening to those articles and eating fruit platters instead. Just sayin'. I understand eating healthy, but it literally won't kill you to make yourself happy, be human, and indulge every now and then.

Anyway, here is my meal plan for the week, that is mostly healthy, but I do plan on making a pumpkin pie. Yes I'm pregnant and no, I don't only eat fruits and vegetables. Judge away ;)

Monday:
Breakfast-breakfast burrito with two scrambled eggs, green onion, and cheddar cheese, pineapple fruit cup in 100% juice
Lunch-chicken sandwich on wheat bread with lettuce, tomato, onion, and a side salad
Dinner-Shepherd's Pie
Snacks-bowl of grapes with string cheese and baked cheese crisps, nutri grain yogurt cereal bar, veggies

Tuesday:
Breakfast-Cereal
Lunch-Healthy Choice Cafe Steamer
Dinner-This is one of our exceptions for the month-going to dinner with Kyler's class at an Indian restaurant.
Snacks-banana, string cheese, cheese crisps, cereal bar, veggies, fruit

Wednesday:
Breakfast-Cereal
Lunch-Healthy Choice Cafe Steamer
Dinner-Italian shells and cheese hamburger helper with peas
Snacks-same as above

Thursday:
Breakfast-Cereal
Lunch-frozen meal
Dinner-homemade chicken and dumplings
Snacks-same as above

Friday:
Breakfast-Oatmeal with fruit
Lunch-We are going to Folly Beach this day, so we will probably have to pick up something on the road
Dinner-RITA'S! :)
Snacks-same as above

Saturday:
Breakfast-breakfast burrito
Lunch-Turkey sandwich on wheat, side salad
Dinner-Enchilada's
Snacks-same

Sunday:
Breakfast-Cereal
Lunch-Sandwich with veggies
Dinner-Pepper steak
Snacks-Same.

As with last week if anyone is interested in any recipes, let me know and I'd be happy to hand 'em over. :)

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Mil-spouse Friday Fill-In (Shhh it's Saturday)

I seriously fail at remembering things. My memory is not the most fantastic anyways and add on top of that my increasing pregnancy brain...yeah. So, sorry, here's the Mil spouse Friday fill in, a day late :P

1. What is the silliest get-up you have ever worn outside of a Halloween party?
One time at yearbook camp (yes...there is yearbook camp. No, this story doesn't have anything to do with cameras going into private parts) there was a contest to win your school a brand new, nice, digital camera. You had to sing a song and have choreography with it...I think we may have actually only had to lip sync. Our song/dance was me and my friend dressing up as guys and the two guys who did it with us putting on wigs and make up and dressing up like girls and I'm pretty sure we did the Scrubs song. We won! So yeah I was wearing baggy pants, a baggy hoodie, a hat, and I think they may have drawn a beard on us.

2. What is something that you gave up in order to live the military lifestyle?
What don't you give up? lol. You give up your home, your comfort zone, your patience, seeing your friends and family, freedom to go wherever you want whenever you want, and honestly you give up your husband too. The military owns him and basically everything about your life while you're in it.

3. If money wasn’t a factor and you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be? And why?
I would really love to go to Ireland. It seems like a beautiful place and my family is very Irish so I've always been interested in that. I would also love to go to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower. I'm not sure why I love that thing so much, but there is just something about it!

4. If you were going to join the military, what branch would you join? Or which MOS/rating would you choose?
Ha! I would never, ever, ever, in a google years join the military. EVER. No thank you. Since I have to answer the question though, I guess I would choose the Air Force and I don't know what MOS because I don't know any of theirs. Are there any MOS's that have anything to do with kids? haha.

5. What is your favorite thing to make for dinner?
I really enjoy cooking but when thinking of this question, I honestly don't really like making anything for dinner. Weird. I guess it's the end result that I like? I do love to bake. So I will amend the question and say that I love to bake pies.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

I'm sorry, doggy :(

Last night we decided Kyler was going to clip Chorizo's nails for the first time. They had been getting fairly unruly and we bought some clippers a while ago.

She was squirming, fairly badly, but honestly she could have done a lot worse. With the past that she has with how people have treated her, I'm sure it took a lot for her to mostly lay there. We got to the very last nail, the LAST one, and we heard a small yelp and she yanked her leg back. I don't know if she had yanked before that and that's why it cut lower or if Kyler accidentally just went too low, but we looked down and saw blood on the carpet.

My immediate thought was oh crap we killed our dog.

Some people are so dramatic. I looked online of what to do if you clip your dog's "quick" (the vein you aren't supposed to clip below or else the nail bleeds) and I don't know how many people made comments about how your dog will die if you don't take it to the vet, etc etc. Then there were other, normal people that said don't worry about it, put some corn starch on it, and it will stop bleeding...just don't do it again because it's painful for them.

So freaking out, we took her into the kitchen and layed her on her back. Dipped her paw in a bowl of corn starch and rubbed her belly for about 10 minutes. Wiped the corn starch off and the bleeding had stopped...so we let her run loose. I started a bath for her and was going to bathe her to make sure all the corn starch and blood would get off. We look down and there's blood on the carpet again.

I return to my lifeline on how to do anything aka google and found out that you aren't supposed to let them run around afterwards or it could start the quick bleeding again. So we repeat the entire process and put a band aid on her nail.

No, I'm not kidding...we put a band aid on our dog's nail.

We sent her to bed after that (with a treat because momma felt bad) so she wouldn't be walking all over it and keep it bleeding. I am not kidding, I had dreams all night about how our dog died or I woke up in the morning and her cage was overflowing with blood...pregnancy dreams fail.

I woke up to a much more pleasant scenario. Her nail wasn't bleeding anymore, it looked normal, and she was fine.

So, my life lesson and advice: if you don't know what you're doing, just go to PetSmart and pay the 5 bucks. If you decide to not heed that advice and end up making your dog bleed, just dip their paw in corn starch, wipe it off after 10 minutes, and don't let them walk on it.

Your dog won't die. Don't believe everything you read on the internets.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Operation Don't Gain 100 lbs While Pregnant.

I have been eating horribly. Seriously bad. We end up going out to eat a ridiculous amount of time. This has always been a problem for us...we are two people that just love fast food despite already having watched Supersize Me. Mostly though, it's because by the end of the day I have been so tired and sick feeling that the last thing I want to do is stand by the hot stove for an hour and cook food that smells disgusting. So going out to eat has been our go to thing. This has become very bad for our bellies, and our wallets. Fast food/restaurants get expensive.

Add on top of that the fact that I feel awful that I have been feeding my baby junk. That's irresponsible of me. I could never force myself to eat healthy for long just for me, but I have got to do this for my baby. There is a human in my belly counting on me to make smart choices so it can develop properly. I have to do my job, and I hope I haven't messed up this first 11 weeks so much that I can't repair it in the next 30. I have seriously not had the stomach to be able to exercise, but the sickness seems to have morphed from lasting all day to usually just the first 6 hours I'm awake, so I am going to start taking the dog for a walk since it has cooled off a bit.

So, from this point on, I vow to make better eating choices, eat fruits and veggies every day, add in exercise at least 3 times a week, and make indulgences rare. I also asked the husband if, for 1 month, we could not go out to eat a single time and see how it affects how we feel and how much money we have. Now we are going to have to make a couple of exceptions-his entire class is going out to eat at an Indian restaurant next week with their families also, so I don't want to keep him from that, and next weekend we are going to Folly Beach where there is RITA'S and we don't get the opportunity to have that often, either. So those are the two exceptions.

I figure I can post my meal plan on here and maybe that will be a way to keep me honest, and not to default to bad food when I don't have a plan. So, here is my meal plan for this week:

Monday
breakfast-maple nut oatmeal and bowl of grapes
lunch-1/2 turkey sandwich on wheat and a salad with zesty italian dressing
dinner-garlic lime grilled chicken, maceroni and cheese, peas
snacks-blueberries and strawberries in vanilla yogurt, nutri grain cereal bar, veggies dipped in 2 tbsp caesar dressing

Tuesday
breakfast-strawberry banana smoothie, 1 slice of wheat toast with 1 tbsp peanut butter
lunch-1 can progresso soup
dinner-chili made with extra lean ground beef
snacks-fruit in yogurt, nutri grain bar, veggies with dressing

Wednesday
breakfast-Raisin bran extra cereal with 2% milk
lunch-frozen healthy choice cafe steamer meal
dinner-hamburger helper, corn, side salad
snacks:cereal bar with an orange, grapes and blueberries, 1-2 servings low fat frozen yogurt

Thursday
breakfast-apple jacks cereal with 2% milk
lunch-frozen michelina tortellini meal
dinner-leftover chili
snacks:cereal bar with fruit, salad with veggies, whole grain crackers

Friday
breakfast-omelet with shredded cheddar, green pepper, and tomato
lunch-leftover Chili if there is any left, if not turkey sandwich on wheat with pickle on the side
dinner-Shepherd's Pie
snacks: cereal bar, fruit with yogurt, frozen yogurt

Saturday
breakfast-oatmeal with blueberries
lunch-soup and salad
dinner-baked chicken chimichangas
snacks: cereal bar, crackers, veggies

Sunday
breakfast-Mango banana smoothie, slice of wheat toast with peanut butter
lunch-Peanut butter and jelly sandwich on wheat, made with no sugar added preserves
dinner-stuffed bell peppers (stuffed with lean ground beef, rice, tomatoes, etc)
snacks: frozen yogurt, fruit and yogurt, crackers

Okay, so there's my plan for the week. I'll attempt to do this every Monday so that I have something set out for me to default to, instead of bad choices. At the end of October I will be blogging about how our no going out to eat plan worked out, and if I notice a difference in how I feel. I feel so much better about this list than what I've been eating the past couple of weeks and I'm actually excited to get cooking again.

I plan to have more options the next week as far as snacks go, but our budget was pretty low this week because of all the eating out and payday coming up. If anyone wants any of the recipes for the dinners, let me know!

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Mil Spouse Friday (ish) Fill In

So I have seen a lot of the Army wives that I follow do this and I decided to start doing it as well. Mainly because it gives me something to blog about while I can be lazy and not have to think up a topic on my own :) It's supposed to be done every Friday, but I forgot, so it's mil spouse fill in Sunday for me.

1.What characteristic about yourself has either been strengthened or weakened due to your experience as a Military Spouse?
My independence has definitely been strengthened. When we were in college, I relied on Kyler far too much for everything. When he left for basic I had to take care of so many things on my own and be comfortable with just spending time with myself without him around. It took some getting used to. My patience has been weakened, ironically enough, since that's what the military loves to try the most.

2.What is your favorite vacation spot and why?
My favorite vaca spot here would be either Folly Beach or Myrtle Beach, SC. They are both beautiful, and there is amazing food there (namely-Rita's).

3.If you could have any fast-food restaurant in the food court on base/post what would you pick?
Taco Bell, which is what I always do have when we eat at the PX. There isn't a whole lot to choose from at this food court and I am a Taco Bell fiend anyways.

4.Where did you go on your honeymoon?
Branson, MO! We're big rollers. Seriously, it wasn't the bahamas or Hawaii or anything like that, but we had just as much fun. I wish we could go on our honeymoon trip every year. We went to Silver Dollar City and rode rides and looked around all the shops, which me and Kyler both love to do. We went to Ripley's Believe It or Not, and a Showboat Branson Belle cruise that was AWESOME. We had fancy food with a view of the lake at sunset the entire dinner and then got to see a show afterwards. We had awesome food. I loved our honeymoon!

5.If you could have any job in the world regardless of money, degree or experience, which job would you have and why?
Can you call reading books a job? I used to think I wanted to be an author but the thought of writing an entire book makes my head hurt. When you're a librarian you don't get to just read all the books you have to stock them, which is boring. I guess I would want to be a book critic, only I would want to pick what books I got to read.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Fail Blog Fails

Okay so I realize it's been approximately 3 months since I posted a blog...

Did I mention I got a job? Or that we had our 1st anniversary and went on an awesome trip? Or that I'm pregnant? No? I haven't blogged in 3 months? Oh, that's right...probably because of the job!

I got hired at Daylight Donuts here in Augusta on National Donut Day. Irony, right? I wake up at 4AM to go to work where I get to smell all of the sickly sweet donuts in my all day sickness glory....it is misery, but it's money.

Let's see, after my last post my In laws and my family came to visit. We basically could do nothing, because it was the middle of summer in Disgusta aka hell, and no one wanted to step outside of our apartment. Then was the 4th of July, which we spent having a cookout and going to the Riverwalk for some fireworks. It was a great fireworks show, that ended with a firework waterfall dropping off of a bridge...it was great.

August 8th was our 1 year anniversary and we took an amazing trip to Myrtle Beach, SC.


Kyler had a day devoted to his nerd love stuff (which, I'll be honest, I actually liked all of it too) and I had a day devoted to dolphin stuff. Sorta.

First thing we did on Kyler's day was go to a place called Broadway at the Beach, because it had a place called Magiquest.


Basically we were the only losers above age 12 that were in there without children. Yeah, we're cool. You pick a wand and then you are given this booklet and you have to go around finishing quests and finding things inside the castle, with your wand, which is interactive. It was pretty cool to flick a wand at a bucket of treasure and it would open. I'm sure I couldn't have just typed a nerdier paragraph if I tried, but oh well, here are some pictures to solidify it.





After that we continued the nerd fest at Medieval Times! It was a lot of fun. They give you messy food and no utensils, like tomato bisque, ribs, chicken, a potato wedge, and a pastry for dessert. You get to watch some seriously bad acting, but the horses do cool tricks, the sword fighting and jousting was neat to watch, and it's fun to boo at the bad guy when he comes and taunts your section.

(By the way...Kyler is too cool and manly to smile in any pictures...it looks like he hates life in all of them but I promise he is just too cool. haha.)


Here is my Strawberry Daqueri, which little did I know would be the last drink I would order for at least 9 months...


Here is me sipping said daqueri, while there was (unknown to me) an embryo preparing to wreak havoc in my belly...


And here is me unknowingly making the face that showcases how the embryo would make me feel for at least the next 3 months.


And here are some horses butts.




The next day was our 1 year anniversary! I can't think of a better way to start it off than by waking up on the beach and being able to go for a swim in the ocean. We started off the day by going to a "dolphin watch tour". Want to know why I call it the "dolphin watch tour" with quotations? Because this is what we saw the entire time.


Endless ocean, and not. a. single. dolphin. Add on top of that the fact that the Captain was an ex-military jerk who was rude to everyone and spent a big chunk of the time going off on a hippy, you're all worthless human beings for destroying the planet tangent, and I wasn't a happy camper. Don't get me wrong, I understand that we are really screwing things up, but honestly, when I paid you 50 bucks to take me to see some freakin dolphins and we don't see a single one and you are rude the whole time, I don't think the best idea is to lecture and complain at us about how we need to do our part. Just sayin'. Wrong time.

Not going to lie, as soon as we got in the car I started crying. I was so bummed. Maybe that sounds ridiculous, but I had really hyped this up in my head and been looking forward to it so bad, thinking I would finally see dolphins and actually be close to them. It was what I had been looking forward to the most on our trip, and I was just really let down and disappointed. Was it too early to blame the fetus for the emotional break down? Anyway, Kyler hugged me and I didn't want to ruin our anniversary so I got over it, and we had a great rest of the day.

We went to have lunch at a restaurant right on the beach, with a view of the beach from your table.




After lunch we went to Ripley's Aquarium. Which there isn't a whole lot to say about it, other than it's an aquarium. There was a really cool section about deadly sea creatures that we spent most of the time in. The rest of it was just kind of...small. But I like aquariums, so I enjoyed it.

We browsed back through Broadway at the Beach, had some overpriced fudge, and stopped in a huge candy store and loaded up on sweets for our drive back. We took a little detour (hour and a half) to Folly Beach to have Rita's for our anniversary dinner, and I am not at all ashamed. I am telling you, please, if you are in SC or anywhere near Folly Beach, please go to Rita's. Please! It's so good. I cannot rave enough about the fried shrimp and fries. This is one of the things I will miss about the South when we leave here. I would honestly be cool with driving 3 hours there and 3 hours back some random weekend if Kyler was game. It is that good.




After that we had to return home...sad panda :( It was a really great trip, and a perfect 1 year anniversary. Either I really like SC or I just really like their beaches, because I have loved both of our trips to Myrtle and Folly Beach.

Shortly after our trip Kyler and I had both of our 22nd birthdays. I made Kyler a kick-A dragon cake. No matter that it took me 4 hours and a ton of stress, because it turned out awesome.


Finally, that takes me to finding out I was pregnant. I was late, late for a very important date, so I took a test. I looked down immediately and there was only one line. I cleaned up and happened to look back down, and a second little line had popped up. We rushed to Wal Mart and the next day I took another..sure enough, 2 lines. I let one of the lovely Eisenhower workers poke me with a needle to confirm there was indeed a baby Colgrove in there.

I was pretty shocked and unprepared. This wasn't exactly planned. That being said, I think God knows when we are ready for things before we do, and if He thinks I am, well the big guy knows best. Whether planned or not, I already love the little booger so much and I am getting excited to meet them.

This is how we told our parents. I didn't just want to call and say "hey, I'm knocked up!" so I made frames for Kyler's parents and my mom and sent them.

The top section has a grandkids poem that I decorated, and the bottom says "we will have a picture to give you to put in this spot in about 7 months!". They were both thrilled and seemed to like the frames, so I was happy.

So, I plan on keeping up with this more, really, because I will definitely have a lot to talk about what with growing a human inside of me and all. I'm sure no one even made it to this point since it was 3 month's worth of stuff crammed into one post...sorry!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Nerd Love (Renaissance Fest) and Firework Fun

It's been a while so this is a mixture of the things that have been going on here over the past month!

Kyler and I are nerds...especially when it comes to all things medieval. We loved the Renaissance Fair that we went to back home and were really sad that we didn't think there was one here...but surprise! There was one in Atlanta for a couple of months, just 2 1/2 hours away from us. So of course, we had to go. My eyes lit up at the medieval buildings and corset dresses, and Kyler's lit up at the hundreds of various dragon souvenirs and turkey legs.

We watched a tankard being made from the very start...


And this lady do some things with those ribbons that would make any pole dancer green with envy.


The hubs, being extra manly in all his carnivorous glory.


I would not trust even Arnold Schwarzenegger to do this, but then again I don't weigh 85 pounds either.


Good stuff. I was dripping sweat the entire time. Here's to hoping our next duty station is...not in the South.

There was also an Armed Forces Day in downtown Augusta last month. They had a whole day of different events but I have the laziest soldier ever as a husband and it was all I could do to get him to take me to see the fireworks show. It was probably the best show I had ever seen. My camera couldn't get very good pictures of it, so it doesn't do it justice.





And if you feel inclined, I took a video of the fireworks also. It's about 17 minutes so feel free to skip to the end, which we all know is the best part.



After the show, we went to eat at a restaurant downtown called "Boll Weevil".




Yes, it is named after a bug. Yes, that thought lurked in the back of my head the entire time I was eating. The food was great though. I had some Jambalaya that was awesome. This restaurant is endorsed by the Southern Living Magazine and also by Paula Dean. Uh duh, the food is gonna be good. Approximately 5 times a normal daily caloric intake, but tasty nonetheless. Highly recommend this place to anyone in Augusta! It is downtown right by the Riverwalk. Their desserts are pretty famous also and from this picture you can probably tell why. They home make nearly all of them, and this huge slice was right around 4 bucks.



I have been trying to find at least a couple of things per month for us to do outdoors. There are actually a lot of things to do in the surrounding area here and I want us to experience as many of them as possible. It has been a great couple of months. Stay tuned tomorrow for my very first cookie creation, a Smores cookie!

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Strawberry Fields Forever...

So I've been raggin' on the South a lot lately. It. Is. So. Hot. (And it's only May!!!!!!!)



It frizzes my hair to the point of troll doll-ness. While those are cute in a really creepy way, it is definitely not cute for reals.



It is not kind to my skin, and I am here to tell you that no amount of oil free makeup or celebrity endorsed bottles of proactiv will completely combat the climate.



....can I just say, that last image is rather disturbing and I apologize. Anyhoo.

So...okay all of those things are still true, but I am an Army Wife. Even if the South is not a completely ideal home to me, I am going to be here for the next ~8 months because that is where the Army has us right now. I can either complain and hate it the whole time or decide to find good things and focus on them. I'm choosing the latter...but get back to me mid July.

This weekend, Kyler and I went to a berry plantation that a fellow Army Wife told me about. Thank Jesus for other wives looking for ways to kick their husband's out of their computer chair and off of their various online gaming addictions. It was such a neat place!!! You can pick your own basket full of strawberries for right around 5 dollars. As soon as we got our basket and started walking over to the berry picking area, Kyler laughed at me and told me I had a spring in my step. There is something about being outside on a nice Spring day away from buildings and traffic and yes, computers, that is very relaxing to me.



As soon as we got to our row to pick, we were hit with the amazing smell of strawberries. We were surrounded by a whole field of them, the sun was out, and there was a breeze that made the heat very tolerable. It was so cool to see the berries go from on a plant in the ground...



...directly to my basket to take home.



They were the prettiest berries I have ever seen! They were the deepest red, and so sweet...and way cheaper than those excuses of strawberries they sell at Wal-Mart.





When we got home I made us some strawberry cobbler that is no joke. I got the recipe from a pamphlet they handed out in their little shop at the farm. Kyler is not usually big on sweets, but he ate almost the entire pan of cobbler by himself just that weekend, and I already made another batch for him because he kept asking about it. It is the best cobbler I have ever had.

I know it is something really simple and we didn't go to Europe or New York City or LA or anything like that, but that was a great way to spend my morning with my husband. I felt very alive and rejuvenized.



So. While the South does give me troll doll frizz hair, the occasional light on the pepperoni pizza face, and makes me capable of sweating just by sitting my butt on the couch, if I wasn't here right now I would not have got to spend a beautiful morning picking fresh strawberries with my husband, and for that I am thankful. Possibly the best part of the day? We were not playing video games, and Kyler said, "it was fun".

Friday, March 26, 2010

Our new family member...

....is a doggie! Fooled ya. ;)


We adopted her from the Animal Shelter yesterday. She is a Chihuahua-Dachshund Mix. When me and Kyler were driving in the car talking about names for her, Kyler called her a mexican sausage, and I immediately said "CHORIZO!!". We are both pretty amused with ourselves for coming up with that name.

She is one of the sweetest little dogs I've ever been around. She is so quiet, and never barks unless she sees another dog, or we leave. She loves to cuddle on the couch and play fetch with her tennis balls, and also to exhaust me on walks. She listens when we say no. Her tail wags pretty much as fast as possible when "daddy" comes home from work. She is basically my shadow now. If I walk into another room, I would bet you the million dollars that I don't have that she will be right behind me.

When she was taken to get spayed, it was extra painful for her because her spleen was enlarged and attached to her ovaries. They think this was because she was abused. She was also beat up and picked on by other dogs while she was recovering.

Here's where I start to advocate. If you are in the market to buy a new puppy or kitty, I highly recommend going to the local Animal Shelter or "pound". If you go to a pet store you could end up paying 400-1000 dollars for a dog that will be no better than the ones you can save from being killed, and you'll pay a lot less! Chorizo was only 85 dollars, and she was only that expensive because it included the cost of being spayed and the rabies vaccination.

I will admit when going to the shelter was suggested to me, I was very leery. I figured if a dog is at the pound, there's a reason for it. There is-people getting animals who shouldn't have, abusive people, or people not knowing how to deal with them. If you do some research you'll find that having a dog isn't just as simple as love on it and play with it every now and then. I was very surprised at all the things you have to consider. Here are some of the things I found that can help your "pound puppy" be just like a puppy you bought brand new from the store!

First, when you walk your dog, you are supposed to walk it, not the other way around. If the dog leads the way, they assume the "Alpha" position. Apparently this puts a lot of stress on dogs and they will also not feel the need to obey you. When you walk it, if the dog tries to take the lead, just gently bop it on the behind with your foot or poke it lightly in the neck and firmly say "no". Don't continue walking until it stops, calms down, and lets you lead the way. Walk it before you take it into your house, to get rid of all of it's built up energy. When you take it to the house, make sure you walk in first, and the dog walks in after you. Do this every time you go in and out...this estabishes you as the "alpha".

Second, dogs, especially small ones, need lots of exercise. Chorizo has shown me this! If they don't get the exercise they need, they will be hyper and have pent up energy, and will probably not behave the way you want them to.

I am definitely not a dog expert, but I was amazed at the things I read. I pretty much would have done the opposite of all of those things, just because I didn't know how dogs worked at all. We assume they are like humans, and they aren't.

So, if you want a cute new member to your family, go to your Animal Shelter! You can save a life and give a previously mistreated, abused animal a loving home.

Monday, March 15, 2010

Basic Training From the Wife's POV

*Advance warning. This blog is long. It will probably bore you, but I never wrote down anything about when Kyler was at basic, and I really, really felt like doing that tonight. If you trudge through, there are pictures at the end, and 3 are of attractive or muscly men in uniforms.*


When Kyler left for basic training, I had an extremely hard time. I'm sure the people who knew that thought I was being silly. He's not deployed, he's just gone for 2 months, he's in America and you know he's safe. But it was tough.

Ever since Kyler and I got together, we spent literally every day together. The only times we were apart were when he was flooded in at his house in Galena for 1 day. We lived 3 hours away from home together, in a huge town where it was really hard to meet people. We spent more time together than is probably humanly healthy, and lesser couples would have split as a result of being sick to death of each other. Not us...we loved that. He's my best friend. If he was gone for just 1 night at work, I missed him. We literally did everything together.

So, when I said goodbye to him and had to go back home knowing I wouldn't see him and would barely speak to him for 2 months, I didn't know what to do with myself. I lost 9 pounds in 1 week. I know that's extremely unhealthy, but I was very sad. When I am sad, I have no appetite. I didn't eat. I would have slim fasts every now and then to get some nutrients, and a few bites of whatever my grandma cooked for dinner to appease her. I just wasn't hungry. I layed around on my bed and watched TV. I hate crying in front of people and will honestly do whatever I can in order to not do that. I cried in front of more people than I'd like to mention. I knew 2 months was a short time, but I was thinking of how lonely and sad I was then, and that this was just the beginning. I didn't know when the next time I would talk to him would be. When it did happen, once a week if you were lucky, I could only hope for 5 minutes. Five minutes a week to talk to your husband. We had just got married and I was more alone then than I had ever been in my whole life. I talked to a woman on facebook who had just gone through it not too long before, and she told me she felt the same way but that it would get better in time. I didn't believe her. I felt like nothing could change the way I felt until I saw him again.

Another thing that made it so much harder was hearing from everyone I talked to, strangers even, that Kyler would not be the same man. This terrified me. I didn't want some stranger, I wanted the Kyler I love. I can't explain how many times people told me he would not be the same, and my heart sank every time.

After about 2 weeks, I realized the way I was handling things was not working out for me. Laying on the bed and moping and crying was making it seem like forever. Eventually, I got hungry again. I stopped crying. I was able to laugh and make jokes and be myself again. I had to learn how to be myself without Kyler around, and that was difficult after having him for 4 years. I realized that this had happened for a reason. I didn't and still don't understand why God chose this path for Kyler, or for me, but I realized He will not put you through anything you can't handle. I got off my bed and started looking on the bright side.

I learned to be independent. I learned to make happiness for myself and how to entertain myself without Kyler around. I read, I did craftsy things, I did things with my siblings, I baked, and I hung out with friends. I would have loved to hang out with them a lot more than I did, but they had lives of their own that they couldn't put on hold just because I was back around for a couple months. Getting out of my slump helped.

I focused on writing. I wrote Kyler letters literally every single day, at the end of the night. Usually about 5 pages, front and back. I have no idea where I found so much stuff to write about, but I wrote about everything and anything I could think of. For the first couple of weeks, I definitely edited and made myself be much more cheery than I felt. I wanted to support him, and not make an already tough time, tougher. I was lucky. He wrote me back, more than any other guy. He kept a notepad with him and whenever he had down time, he wrote me. I can't explain how excited I was to go to the mailbox and see envelopes with his writing on it.

As I counted down the weeks, I was happy to find that everyone who had scared me was absolutely wrong. I could tell in the letters that Kyler was exactly the same as before, if not even better. He appreciated me and we both realized how much we had taken each other for granted. As lonely as this life can be sometimes, I feel so much more loved now than I ever did before. I think if you have a good relationship, the military can make it amazing. Absence does make the heart grow fonder. Although, one thing did change a bit about Kyler. His vocabulary expanded to include some dirty words that he didn't used to say quite so frequently. ;)

I let myself have fun as time went on. I got some blonde highlights and took a sassy picture.


I went out with friends and did have fun, and those nights went by so much faster than when I sat inside and did nothing. I miss you guys a lot and I know that I at least have something to look forward to when Kyler eventually gets deployed, and that's seeing all of you guys again.

My BF Holly was a cat for Halloween and her tail got stuck in the car...completely not on purpose. I laughed till I cried. Thanks for your silliness :P


I went on a lot of walks with Shelby aka Shleby, who makes me laugh a lot by not even trying.


This was the last time I saw you girls for a while, and I miss you!!!


This novel coming to a close, if anyone reads this who is faced with a similar situation and similar feelings, know that it does get better-if you let it. If you lay on a bed and cry and don't get out and do anything, it will drag by like you can't believe. You'll be sad, you'll be lonely. There's good days and bad days, you just have to try to stay as positive as possible. You will learn to love your husband more than you ever though imaginable, and he will learn to appreciate all that you're going through to support him. You'll learn to be independent and stronger than you ever thought you could be. You will definitely want to slap someone in the face if their husband is gone for a week on business or for a trip and they act like they know how you feel, when it is just 1 week and he is comfortably sleeping in a hotel room, able to call or text whenever he pleases. People will say and ask ignorant things, such as do you miss him (obviously), or make a crass joke about him dying (regardless of his job, that is never, ever funny), or cheating. You will learn to not take their ignorance to heart. When you see people for the first time after hearing about your husband joining the military, you will be looked at as if you are already a widow. You will have to learn to not get angry about all of those things. You will learn to be lonely and you will learn to find ways to be okay with that. You will learn to sleep alone, eat alone, and never, ever, ever, forget to have your cell phone on you at all times.

You'll learn that there are positives!
1, you get free health care and cheap dental-hooray!

2, while the pay definitely isn't as much as they deserve, it is pay, and it is guaranteed. That's more than a lot of people can say right now.

3, your husband is forced to exercise every day. Enough said, no?

4, when your husband's away, you will lose weight. I'm pretty sure this is like 95% guaranteed.

5, you will cherish every minute together and never again sweat the small stuff.

6, he wears a uniform. Two uniforms actually, and they are both dead sexy.

7, the lingo is a lot to get used to, but once you learn it, you feel really cool saying things like "My hubby, the PFC, is going to get in his ACU's and go on Post to the PX, then go to Finance and make sure his BAH and BAS are right, hooah?" Okay...I lie. You will never say that. But if you can understand all of those, you know what I mean!

8, you get to watch Army Wives and know that it is completely not at all what your life will be like, except the times when they miss him. Also, please don't think any of the soldiers will look like Trevor. They don't. Except mine...love you Kyler!

9, you will have a great relationship because you will love your husband so much. You will be so proud of him and so happy with the time you do get to be near him, you will be amazed at how much love you possess.

10, and finally, you will get a picture like this in the mail after not seeing your husband for 2 months. You will have previously thought that time could not go by any slower than it already does, and then, after seeing this picture, it will. Your jaw will drop, your eyes will likely fill with tears, and then you may say "yowza".