Hoisin Chicken over at the Messy Cook

I posted my first original recipe today over at my new blog. It was really good, and I'm pretty sure you don't want to miss out. :) My mind is brewing over some cupcakes that I am going to try, likely early next week-banana bread cupcakes filled with peanut butter ganache and topped with nutella frosting. Please tell me that doesn't sound AH-MAZING. And the banana bread cupcake part is super easy. Actually, all of it's going to be pretty easy even though it's all homemade. So go on over and follow there so I don't have to keep pimping it out on this blog ;)

New Blog-Food and Books=Awesome

Today I decided to make a new blog: The Messy Cook & Midnight Reader. It's all explained over there. It's pretty self explanatory, but it's going to be awesome recipes I've tried or created, and reviews on books I'm reading, be they good or bad. I thought it would be fun and maybe give me more inspiration to write. So go on over and follow me there, kthxbai. :)

Nine Loves

1. I love my lil miss Keira. She is getting so smiley and she loves to laugh at us when we tickle her belly, play the footsie game, or tickle her neck with smooches. She fills my days with happiness and I will take the shots of baby poo and getting puke in the mouth if I get those precious smiles at the end of the day.

2. I love my hubby. We have so much fun together and are our goofball, weirdo selves when we're around each other. He is the peanut butter to my jelly, the mac to my cheese, the cake to my fat girl. Plus he contributed to that pretty little girl up there so how bad can he be right?

3. I love my family. I can't wait to be closer to them again and for Keira to get to spend more time with them.
4. Okay so now that all of those cliche, obligatory loves are out the way let's get to the fun stuff. Just jokes ;) Anyway, I L.O.V.E fall. Like, I'm obsessed guys. When the pumpkin spice latte is back at Starbucks, I squeal. The thought of being able to comfortably wear a jacket outside puts a smile on my face. I jump up and down on the inside at the thought of going to a pumpkin patch, going on a hayride, and walking around in the crisp air. Loooooove. Fall.

5. I love to read. Ever since I was a kid I love getting to escape in a world that someone's imagination created. I have always gotten really attached to characters in books that I particularly love. I hope I can foster this love of reading in Keira, because it has always been something that brings me joy. I can't think of anything better than curling up in a cozy chair with some coffee in my hand and reading an amazing book.
6. I love to cook. I think more than anything, I like feeding people and knowing they liked what I created. I especially love baking. This love has gotten me into a bit of trouble around the waistline, if you know what I'm sayin'.

7. I love all things nerdy. Reading I've already gone over, but I really love going to Renaissance Fair's. I know it's so hokey and commercialized and not at ALL what the Renaissance was actually like, but I do not care. It's just fun. I like seeing all the crazy costumes, watching the shows, and walking around outside on no roads and feeling like I'm in a different time. Also, the turkey legs are pretty cool.
8. I love my Keurig. I'm telling you dude, if you love coffee, get you one of these babies. There are so many awesome flavors of Kcups (PUMPKIN SPICE!) and it is so. Easy. You just pop a k cup in, press a button, and bam, you have one single cup of coffee. They even have coffees meant to be brewed over ice, sweet iced tea, hot breakfast tea, hot chocolate, and my hubby's personal favorite, Apple Cider. I adore this thing. I swear I'm not getting anything from Keurig for this shameless plug, it is just a super cool product. (Although Keurig if you want to give me some free KCups, I will not object.)
9. Finally, I love home. I am from the most po dunk town in Kansas you could ever imagine. There is 1 stop light, a gas station, and everyone is seriously having a flipping cow that there's going to be a Pizza Hut built soon (can I say that I would also be freaking out if I still lived there, because come on..you can get pizza without having to drive a half hour. That is sweet). Everybody always talks about wanting to leave and get out of there. Well I have, to two very different parts of the country, and let me tell you, it's not that great out here. I miss home. I miss nice people that wave at you even if I have no clue who they are. I miss people that let you in when you need to merge on the highway instead of giving you the finger as they almost run you off the road. I miss the hillbilly's at Wal Mart that don't sass you. Say what you will, but there's no place like home.

10 Day You Challenge: 10 Secrets

I have seen this going around a few blogs, so...I don't exactly know who to credit this to. But it's a quick, easy, way to make a blog post that doesn't include thought (from me, anyway). Miss attached-to-my-hip, otherwise known as my daughter Keira, is consuming about 98% of my time right now. I'm perfectly fine with that :) But I thought I would explain anyhow...to the possibly 1 person who is reading this.

So anyway, today: Ten secrets. And these are ACTUALLY going to be secrets...like, total embarrassment, you can make fun of me for life, secrets...but isn't that what secrets are?

1. I used to be this really introverted, shy, never want to go anywhere type of girl (I'm talking when I was about 13) and I had online boyfriends. I know, I know...leave me alone.

2. I am totally hetero, but I think Kate Beckinsale is hot.

3. I have the grossest feet. I realize I'm not being super kind to myself but don't secrets about yourself usually suck? Anyway, they are gross. I sweat really easily, and I actually go walking and do housework so they aren't girly feet at all. Also they are really wide, and it's super hard for me to find a pair of shoes that don't leave my little toe blistered.

4. I am a hypochondriac of the biggest sort. Some people already know this, but it extends even further than most know. I would say on a daily basis there's some disease or super crappy thing I hear about/think of and convince myself I or someone I love has it. Okay maybe not EVERY day, but seriously. To give you an idea I had convinced myself we wouldn't be able to have babies because I thought I had PCOS. And thus, Keira was born :P

5. I am absolutely terrified of the dark. I am SUCH a baby and I have no idea where it came from. I used to watch the Exorcist and laugh when I was like 13. So I hate the fact that the hubs has a job where he leaves the house by 5AM when he's on days, OR is gone all night on mids. If I wake up in the middle of the night I will keep opening my eyes to make sure there are no ghosties. I know it's ridiculous...I'm not scared of real people. That would be too logical.

6. I am addicted to sweets, which I am currently trying to break that habit. I could probably eat a package of cookies in one sitting, by myself, and not bat an eye.

7. I am clingy, and I love that my husband has stuck with me and actually asked me to marry him knowing that. I was such a huge baby when he was gone at basic.

8. Sometimes I feel like I'm not doing enough with my life. But then I dance around with Keira and see her big, happy smile and I know that she will only be little for so long. Everything else will still be there 5 years from now, but her childhood won't.

9. I'm a total nerd. I play computer games with my husband, I know what a golden snitch is, I've fangirled over Twilight and made a whole bath tub full of spaghetti to win an advanced copy of a book.

10. Okay, it is really hard to think of 10 secrets! I weigh a lot more than people tend to think. Working on it :P