The Weekly Chase #14

So much to talk about today that I might have to break it up over a couple of posts! I love days like this!  First and foremost I have my goals to talk about and then you will hear about my “Married To The Army Alaska” recap – so many words for that show – especially since this is based from JBER – where I am right now.  I also have words about Christmas and buying local and making gifts this year.  So many good things going on! I am finally starting to get in a bit of the holiday spirit so I don’t want to waste it! I want to share it!!

 

Last Week Recap:

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals:

Read to Abby her Bible every night for school – Check!

Practice memory verses with kids every night – nada…

Read 1 storybook/chapters from a book each night to the girls – Check!

Write Nick a love note – nope – but will this week for sure!

Take kids to play once a week  *This one is already scheduled for Saturday and Sunday as we are going to a birthday party on both days!  We also went bowling in addition to this!

Personal Goals:

Start reading the books I picked out – started and stopped – I didn’t pick a good book sadly.

Schedule exercise for 3 days – nope.

Drink More Water – not exactly – I ende dup drinking iced tea that was watered down about 50% so I could have something that I liked to drink too 🙂

Homemaking Goals:

Make 1 new recipe this week – no – but this week proves promising!

1 Load of laundry everyday – yes except for this weekend 🙂

This Week:

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals:

Read to Abby her Bible every night for school

Read 1 storybook/chapters from a book each night to the girls

Write Nick a love note ***Our 8 year anniversary is tomorrow!***

Take kids to play once a week 

Personal Goals:

Find a new book or two to read

Schedule exercise for 3 days

Drink More Water

Homemaking Goals:

Make 1 new recipe this week **I got two planned for Thanksgiving!**

1 Load of laundry everyday

Get house cleaned BEFORE Thursday

This week’s details – this week should be a fun one. We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house and have invited friends, and those who have nowhere to go – mostly single soldiers in that respect. No one should spend the holidays alone as I see it. Each year on the holidays we try to have  people over, our own little band of misfits you could say. It is just too dang expensive to get anywhere from Alaska so we will all do what we can.  I love the fact that each year it is new and interesting and I am hoping to capture more pictures and fun than ever before. We will do it all over again at Christmas so I am going hunting for present deals so they all can have something under our tree. The military is family and I intend to keep it that way.

Tomorrow  Abby has a field trip to base to the play place that is so well-loved by kids. It is our beloved Arctic Oasis. I know that the girls and I loved it when we first moved here as I knew how to get there and it got us out of the house and was free. We found it to be a nice break from our house.

Married To The Army Alaska – No words for this show really. I think it is showing us in a bad light (not all of us but people will assume it is us all). I could care less if you met your husband at Hooters. It isn’t what is in your past – lets face it.  Divorcing an enlisted to marry an officer – yeah, people won’t like her, but it is mainly because of her attitude – not the rank she is wearing but says she is not.  The Brigade Commander’s wife seems like she has her head on her shoulders as she should – I am interested to see how they portray her when she has to deal with the loss of the first soldier. I think Rynn is going to be my favorite and Sara getting upper enlisted house is a joke. I had a friend who was on that same wait list but had 40 people in front of her. It is a wonder what cameras can do for you.  The pregnant one basically left the show after they got mad at her for having to take care of her newborn instead of doing some taping – good for her for having priorities. Shame on Oprah’s network for getting mad.  Tonight will probably be the last night I watch it because my husband might be able to be seen – he had to pull medical coverage for GI Jane Day and was so angry when he came home that day. So much re-taping and so on.  Also I might add that the only other reason I am watching it is because we got the channel for free for a month because it was filmed in Alaska.  Gee thanks.

So much for that. My Monday started with a bang – how about yours???

November 2012 – Holy Crap!

So this month I decided to do my goals a little differently – I am going to have goals for the month and then break into weekly chunks to get them accomplished!!

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals:

Read to Abby her Bible every night for school

Practice memory verses with kids every night

Read 1 storybook/chapters from a book each night to the girls

Write Nick a love note

Take kids to play once a week

Personal Goals:

Start reading again

Schedule exercise each day

Drink More Water

Homemaking Goals:

Make 5 new recipies this month

1 Load of laundry everyday

I also have found a couple month challenges that I have found that I think will be fun to take part in and will also go along with my goals!

The Chocolate Mile:

#21Days is the challenge – check it out – it doesn’t last all month but it sure does sound fun!

Run To The Finish:

Holiday Bootie Buster Challenge – Need I say more? Please let her know I sent you!

Little Girl In The Big World:

She has an awesome page of goals and shared a photo a day challenge that I will be joining!

 

Jock In A Skirt Fitness:

She also posted a fun picture a day challenge!

So what are you waiting for???

 

 

Snowy Saturday

So….it is Saturday and it is snowing…yes – snowing. I still don’t think I am ready for another winter up here since it will actually be a full winter.  Oh, well I guess….I don’t really have much of a choice. So I am kind of reflecting here and am going to share some random thoughts….so get ready.

• Dale Earnhardt Jr has a concussion and is out for 2 races and has ended his championship run in NASCAR. I am redneck and I love me some racing.
• I am sad because they are racing in Charlotte today and I can’t go like I used to.
• Reba has a new show on TV – she cracks me up.
• I want Mexican food so I sent hubby a text message and he so graciously agreed. I think he just knows he needs to agree when I am very specific with a text message that states “I want cheese enchiladas.”
• We had dinner with friends last night whom the hubby just got back from Afghanistan. I love it when they come home.
• I want on post housing and I can’t wait for our lease to be up – the new houses are so nice!
• Zumba is on schedule for next week and I couldn’t be happier.
• I have not heard a word about Penn State football since the first game – such a shame that the players get punished in it all.
• Iowa beat Michigan State? Man they need a new quarterback.
• I completely enjoyed watching college football with my hubby on the couch this morning
• My oldest kid is a brat.
• John Deere has a new faster ATV – part of me still wishes I work there. I miss it and the people and my dealers. I miss them bunches.
• I love Duck Dynasty – hysterical fun.
• Willie is dumb and irritating to me though.
• Quarter Horse Congress is going on in Ohio right now….as a matter of fact it is freestyle reining tonight and my parents are there. I am extremely  jealous.
• I miss my rodeo days.
• I miss the days of Tiffany, TJ, and Matt driving us around being the fun adult in charge.
• I need a new haircut but I don’t trust anyone in this state the scissors. I need Kenneth’s Day Spa to fly a stylist up here. Pronto.
• My friends at TNT are racing the Nike Women’s Marathon tomorrow – I was supposed to be there until Ritterbeck #3 came around. I wish them nothing but the best of luck. Go Get ’em!
• I am thinking about posting more recipes – it is the time to start hibernating since I don’t like cold.
• Notre Dame wins!
• Let’s Go Yankees!
• Ryley is playing with an Etch a Sketch – how fun 🙂
• I hate that Facebook has emoticons.
• I want to tan so bad right now – but obvious reasons won’t allow it.
• I have two new books to start and I can’t wait!
• I have one week off until school starts back up. Yippee!
• I still want to go see Pitch Perfect – but will probably have to wait until it hits the $3.50 theater.
• I love Squirt….so yummy – reminds me of summers in Traer, Iowa.
• I hope South Carolina beats LSU.
• Phones and text messages work both ways.
• I am getting hungry – looks like it might be time to eat Mexican soon.
• Tomorrow I get to check out Kids church – I hope it is fun and I like it enough to participate or know enough to say no.
• Ryley just choose a PureBar over Gushers – I am one proud momma.
• Kent St beat Army – wow.
• Can you tell I love college football?
• ECU won – yeah!
• Akron lost – sorry Tressel – you were better a Buckeye, too bad you had knucklehead players.

My Giveaway winners will be announced on Monday – get your comments in!

So now I have a couple questions that I am hoping you all can help me with! Please comment away!

• Is there a program I can easily use to do a “photo dump” onto a blog post?
• Do you like recipes that are fast and friendly versus just healthy?
• Got a Pinterest project you love? Let me know about it and I will try it! I am going to start getting my craft back on!
• I still am in need of some more topics to cover! Let me have them!

5 Things I Want To Change

Another awesome list like thing I call 5 Things where I list 5 things about a certain topic! I would love for you to link up at well by blogging your 5 things and then commenting with your link!

This week I am doing 5 Things I Want To Change – and trust me – it was not easy to narrow down to just 5. Sometimes I am an over achiever and can’t just take it slow, then I overwhelm myself….I am working on it – I promise!

#1 – What I do to get a paycheck.  @KellyOlexa and @YourInnerSkinny have taken the leap and left their jobs for what they love. They are making their dreams work for them. I want to join them. My goal is to narrow down exactly what it is that I want to do and make it happen by the beginning of 2013 so that by next summer I can make it happen. I figure this should not be a hasty decision, that is why I am giving myself time.

#2 – How I keep in touch with people. I don’t feel like I do a good enough job anymore. We are all busy people – I get that. I just never want to say – I will call them tomorrow and God forbid something happen today. Whether I start making Skype and FaceTime dates, phone call appointments, keep cards with me at all times to write letters, send photo cards – whatever – I just need to get it going.

#3 – My need to spend money. I like to shop. I do and it is for no real reason! I just know that if I want to be able to make my #1 happen – I need to stop this and focus my energies to working hard and not spending hard. I would really like to have some savings started!

#4 – My social media reach. Sounds kind of self-centered. I know. I just want to really show that I can be influential in the things that I am passionate about. I have already started to do some things differently this month and I want to just be able to keep it going and tweak it as necessary.

#5 – How we eat in our house. We have to re-think food. We used to eat so much better in North Carolina. Fresh fruit and veggies, and affordable priced items were everywhere. Up here it is so expensive and it has hindered our ability to focus our healthy eating habits. I want to make sure that we cut in other places (#3) so that we can make this a priority. Getting everyone else on board will be a little hard – but I think I can do it!

What are 5 things you want to change?

Sharing Saturday #8

Today I am giving some shout-out love to some Facebook pages I have found and not just like – but love!  I hope that you will check them out and let them know that I sent you!!  Everyone deserves to be recognized for their hard work and these are no exceptions!!!!

Rebekah Borucki: BexLife.com – One of the first status updates she had that caught my eye was about urban farming – chickens in every yard in America – my friend Martha would be so proud.

Tri ‘n Tri Again – My awesome friend Donna from back in the Ohio State ATI days is into Triathlons now and is totally rocking at it.  She just finished her first Texas Ironman and ROCKED IT. She is awesome for all the trials and tribulations she has gone through to get there and I am happy to say that I know her.

Irish Goat Multisport, LLC – This is the company that started the running club I call home in North Carolina. Chris Knodel is amazing for the work he is doing at getting people active and out there. I only wish that I was there to continue to support his ideas!  He puts out great articles to make you think and help you train – check him out!

Brick City Running Tribe – said running team started by Chris Knodel above…his idea was put to the pavement – literally.  He got an entire town going and I can’t wait to come back to my team!

Realistic Fitness – one of my girlfriends went through a rough patch and found herself. She is not a certified group fitness instructor and rocks it out as a boot camp instructor and real estate agent also. She is what I would call a true friend who has been awesome and motivational. I believe in what she does and can’t way to see where she goes in the future. I can’t wait for her to sign up as a FitFluential Ambassador and see her true potential and reach!

Chef Katelyn – Talk about some great recipes, ideas, information – man am I glad I was introduced to her! I love her style and fun way of presenting health information about what we eat and what we do. You will like her delivery – I promise!

Kitten A Go-Go – Oh yeah….here is some fun, entertainment, and real honest fitness approaches. Her ever-present love of unicorns is hysterical. Trust me on this one – you will love her.

I think that these pages are great and I hope you will too…check them out and again, let them know I sent you!

Tasty Tuesday #6

So Pintrest is really a great site for finding food and things that you may one day cook and will one day never cook.  I found a recipe for Parmesan Roasted Green Beans at the Budget Savy Diva HERE

We didn’t have 

green beans in our house – but we did have a huge can of corn! I decided to modify the recipe and use the corn instead!

I got a picture of the before – but not the after as it literally was surrounded by me and my husband as we ate it. All.

The directions on the link (above in pink) are very straight forward! I literally put corn on a cook sheet with olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Done and yum. I used a different temp and time as I have a retarded oven. That is right, retarded.

Now – once I have tried a recipe from my Pintrest board – I delete it. I don’t want to be overwhelmed with everything. If it turns out good – I put it in my recipe box – if it wasn’t good, it is deleted forever.  You should try to keep your boards clean too!

 

Get Busy on Wednesday of Spring Break!! #4, #7, #11, #14, and #21

So only three things crossed off – but I felt really great about it! I had the girls at home as we had a dentist appointment yesterday. Abby, surprise, didn’t shut put he whole time and was told she was doing great. A little bit of brushing still needed to be learned and yet another strange sighting with her teeth happened – she keeps us on our toes 🙂  Ryley kept on hand over her mouth almost the entire time, but finally let the hygienist and dentist take a couple looks and she got t get her prize. Hands down a great place for kids and mom was happy as the dentist wasn’t horrible to look at. I think he became 10 times hotter just hearing him talk about his two little girls and helping them.  Gotta love a family man – and no family man is hotter than mine still.

#4 – Bake stuff. You can also count this as partly #13 as I used recipes from Pintrest.  You need an invite? Let me send you one – just leave me your email address. You should also hope on over and see my boards – they are all things that can be done!  Here is what was accomplished Wednesday:

Honey Garlic Pork – I used it with Chicken and put it over white rice…yum!

Sopapilla Cheesecake – SO EASY! Nick thought it tasted like the cheese danishes he buys at the shopette.

Single ingredient ice cream – made from bananas – okay this has been finished yet as I put them in the freezer and forgot about them – but I will today since the girls are going to daycare!

 

I have also decided that as I make these things I will delete them from my boards and actually write them down and add them to my cookbook.  It is stilly to keep them on my “wish boards” as I call them.  Plus I won’t get overwhelmed by all the images 🙂

#7 Make some things – I made cute little picture frame dry erase boards for the girls. They have their chore lists on them and the bathroom routine to make sure they brush their teeth. They can check off the box and we can wipe them clean that night. I love them and can’t wait to show them when I get a dry erase marker.

#11 Watch girlie movies – I had two knocked out yesterday before 10:00 am.  Burlesque and He’s Just Not That Into You.  I love that Julianne Hough was in Burlesque – I love her and am still patiently waiting for Nick to buy me Footloose.  I am also watching the Devil Wears Prada as we speak 🙂 It is not 7 am yet here in Alaska.

#14 Read a book or two. I actually finished two yesterday and plan on finishing a third today. I am loving the time I get to spend with books that looked so awesome I had to get them! So fun – I am also making it a priority to keep reading and use that as my lunch break de-stressor so that I can escape the silliness of the workplace.

#21 Put together a meal/workout plan to ge track on the ball – I have this started – I will need to tweak it some and maybe change things around.  I am excited that I am actually researching to find what will stick 🙂  BTW – can you tell that I am smiley these days?

Spring Break #2, Half of #5, #13, #15, and #20

So Monday was a great start to my week! I work up and make Nick’s coffee at 5 and then proceeded to go back to bed until 8 🙂

I took the girls to daycare and then started to check off my list!

#2 – I went snowboarding with my friend Jessicca at Hillburg Ski Area on base…I love it! I only fell the last time so I was pretty proud!

Half of #5 – I wanted to clean the whole house but really only got bathrooms, the floors, and the kitchen done…I will try to finish later this week.

#13 – Try some of my DIY pins on Pintrest.  This was fun for me!  You can go to my boards to get the recipes – but they are very earth friendly and easy and work!!! I made a toy cleaner, tub cleaner (best I have ever used), and floor cleaner!

#15 – Have lunch with Nick – We visited Firetap Brew House – Besides having really slow service and they were not packed and were good!

#20 – Eat lunch with a friend – I actually got to do it with two friends (the Stanhope’s rock) and my best friend Nick….nothing better!

I am looking forward to tomorrow as today made me feel really great! SO MUCH SUN AND FUN!

Tasty Tuesday

I like to cook. More like I like the “idea” of cooking. Nick laughs at me as I watch a ton of cooking shows, and read a ton of cooking magazines. Do I ever get around to these recipes? Nope. Maybe once or twice. I am so scared of cooking something and it being bad, that I talk myself out of it from the beginning. I have to stop this. Otherwise I will get nowhere with anything. That is a whole other topic for a different day. Coffee anyone?

Nick and I went with out dear friends the Baker’s and John to a Turkey Shoot. I have always seen signs for these events, but had never actually been to one. I can now say I have. Basically – you pay money to shoot for a prize. This prize just so happens to be anything from meat to money. My dear husband of course goes for the meat and wins. I am talking like 10 pounds of sausage. No Seriously.

The Winning Shot

Me Cooking The Prize

Seriously - Who Eats This Much Sausage??

Since we are a little gun-shy to buying a ton of groceries due to our impending move we are trying to make meals that will last a couple of days and fill our bellies. So what do I do with this much sausage? I made lasagna and breakfast with it!  I use about 2 – 2.5 pounds of meat for lasagna, and we made about 6 patties for breakfast and probably still ended up wasting about 2 pounds of sausage….all for $3. Craziness.

Lasagna:

2-2.5 pounds meat of your choice

Lasagna noodles

1 large jar of spaghetti sauce (or 2 medium)

Cottage cheese

mozzarella shredded cheese.

Brown  meat of your choice.  Mix in some Italian seasoning if you wish. Once browned, drain and mix with enough past sauce to be more sauce than meat – unless you like otherwise.

Grab your 9X13 inch pan.

Noodles – meat/sauce mixture – thin, not perfect layer of cottage cheese – shredded cheese – Repeat.

Layer lasagna noodles dry  – I don’t cook them first. The excess sauce from the meat will help cook this and it makes it soo much easier to cook and freeze.

For the cottage cheese I normally dab about five spoonfuls randomly then spread. You don’t want too much or it becomes soupy, but this gives it a moist texture unlike Ricotta cheese, which can become dry when cooked.

Use the meat and shredded cheese to your liking. I like meat and I like cheese – so I usually only get two layers.

Always finish with cheese on top!

350 degrees for about 45 minutes and you are good!  I usually make two and freeze one or give ut away.