A busy weekend

Sorry, I’ve been missing this weekend – it was a bit crazy.
Saturday morning I went to a Beth Moore simulcast conference. It was her newest book, “So Long, Insecurity”, which I haven’t read. Now, this was the first conference I’ve been to with her. I’ve done several of her studies though. I have to say (just personal preference) I really like her studies more. It may be just cause I really wanted/needed something more in depth that what we got on Saturday, but I didn’t get as much out of it as I was hoping to. I only got to hear the first half, since I had to get back home to Lydia and I was told that the second half was cut off due to the weather (lightning was messing up the simulcast feed). She made some great points, and I did enjoy it, but I really like digging deeper with her studies! One of the things that stood out the most, was when she said that insecurity and humility are on two different planes. You can be secure in who you are- as a Christian, a mom, whoever, and still be humble in Christ. But also, insecurity is a form of pride. When you are living your life second guessing everything because you are insecure in yourself, then everything rolls back onto you – therefor you are self focused, not God focused.

Saturday evening was spent celebrating my mother-in-law’s birthday. We had a great time but made the mistake of letting our already overtired 3 year old have some brownie and ice cream. He was up every hour until 1am with night terrors. It was horrible. He has had them since he was about 3 months old, but it has been so long since he had any problems. I should have known though, that it was not a smart idea to give him sugar right before bed. Even though I controlled the amount and gave him only 3 little bites, it was still enough to mess him up. It is a terrifying experience and I pray he grows out of them. I remember the first one he ever had, we were having a bible study at our house and he had fallen asleep after nursing. About 15 minutes later he just started screaming – an odd, piercing scream that he’d never made before. It scared everyone in the room. I spent the next few minutes trying to wake him up and console him, then trying to get him back to sleep. He had a few off and on over the next year or so, then they slacked off. He had another when he was around 2 1/2 – that one was equally as horrible as the first one, because instead of just screaming, he was calling out for me and reaching, kicking…it was bad.
This last time was so sad, because he would wake up crying and screaming, but didn’t know why. So, then he would cry because he was sad and didn’t understand why he woke up sad. Needless to say, it was a long night for all of us!

Sunday was church and catching up on sleep missed Saturday .

Monday, our 7th anniversary…another post, it’s too long for this one

Add a comment April 28, 2010

new recipes

We tried two new recipes this week, both of them were a great success, so I decided to share them!
The first one, the Tangy Ranch Chicken was sort of an accidental meal. We were supposed to have a ground beef dish, but as I was cooking, I discovered my beef was no good . I get grass fed beef from a local farm and unfortunately my order came in while I was out of town, so by the time I was able to pick it up and get it home to cook, it was bad. Lesson learned and I am so thankful that I had this recipe and all the ingredients! It only took about 30 minutes – I thawed the chicken in a bowl of cold water and made my mashed potatoes and green beans while waiting for it. Then it cooked very quick, thankfully, since we were all hungry by that point! Leo raved about it so much (and it was delicious!) that it has now become my “in a pinch” recipe.
Tonight, we tried the Tetrazzini. I love tetrazzini, so I was a little wary about this one. But, I had some chicken left from a roasted chicken I had picked up earlier this week and didn’t want to waste it. I was a little short on chicken and ranch than what was called for, but it was more than enough for us! It was so good – even Ethan ate two little bowls! We added sweet snap peas as a side. I put cheese on top of mine and I think next time I will experiment with other additions – bell pepper, onion, etc.!
Here are the two recipes for you to enjoy – I got the Tangy Ranch out of a magazine and the Tetrazzine printed with a coupon, I have listed the websites for you to find more great dinner ideas!

Oh, I put in parentheses any changes I made to the recipes. Enjoy!

Tangy Ranch Chicken:
2/3c Ranch Dressing
1/3c Yellow Mustard
3tbsp. brown sugar
4-6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (2)

mix dressing, mustard and sugar

heat oil in nonstick skillet. saute chicken until browned, about 10 minutes.
stir in sauce. cook, stirring until chicken is glazed. (I added the sauce and turned the chicken a couple times, spooning sauce on either side. I also cut the chicken -to see if it was done- and added sauce inside!)

Super easy and so good – we didn’t need as much chicken as it called for, so I put the extra sauce on our green beans – also yummy!
For More Recipes check out www.frenchsfoods.com
—————————————————————————————–
Chicken Ranch Tetrazzini
1pkg/8oz. linguine
3c shredded cooked chicken (I didn’t measure, just used what I had left from a roasted chicken from Target)
1 1/2c Ranch Dressing (I only had a little more than 1c and it worked fine)
1/2c dry white wine or chicken broth (I used broth)
1 jar/4oz.sliced mushrooms, drained
1/4c buttered bread crumbs-melt two teaspoons of butter, mix with breadcrumbs til evenly coated
(I added cheese)

Cook linguine according to directions
Drain and combine with chicken, dressing, wine/broth, mushrooms. (I mixed all those together while the pasta was cooking and then added the pasta when it was ready)
Pour into a 2qt casserole dish (I used a 1 1/2qt since I had less chicken and ranch, also used less pasta-about 1/2 the package)
Top with crumbs (and cheese! )
Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until bubbly around the edges

www.hiddenvalley.com

Add a comment April 22, 2010

coupon/recipe center

Ok, So I decided that having my laptop easily accessible was a little too tempting, and it was not very convenient when I needed to print something. So, I rearranged a counter space in my kitchen to house my laptop, printer, coupon binder, printed recipes folder, magazines and library books.
Here are some before pictures:

As you can see, it was our “drop off” point for everything we brought through the room, it was always cluttered!

Here are the after pictures:

After I cleared off the counter, Ethan walked through the kitchen and looked around. He said, “Mommy, what a beautiful room, it’s so clean!” Such a sweet boy, considering I had simply moved it all to another counter to sort through! (That counter is now clean too ! )
So far, it’s working out great, we’ll see how it works long term. I tend to rearrange every few months; in fact, because of moving the computer and printer – the living room got moved around too! My husband loves me

2 comments April 21, 2010

where did my motivation go?

Well, I was going to start my project for the week today, but I’ve had a headache all day. No motivation to do anything that needs to get done, so definitely nothing extra. Hopefully it will get started tomorrow! On top of that, Ethan has been very, um…threeish? today. Needless to say, it’s been a long day!
Until then, go check out Faith, Family, Frugality, Alissabeth has another great giveaway! I could use some pampering today!

Add a comment April 19, 2010

a new favorite site :)

Ok,

I found a new site that I’m loving! I don’t even remember where I found The Happy Housewife. I think it was while trying to find organization tips. Anyway, the point is, she has a great site going! Read her Our Story tab to learn about where she started trying to be a happy housewife. I will definitely be checking the blog fairly often! I noticed that she is doing a challenge with another blog, called 730/365. They are clearing out 730 items from their homes in 365 days. While that sounds like a fun challenge, it’s not one that I’ll be joining in right now. At the moment, my goal is to get organized. I really like the idea of having “stations” set up in various places, according to what I need. I will be focusing on one project a month (or more, if it’s a small project). Right now, for example, I am creating a coupon/work station in my kitchen. My laptop usually stays in the living room so I have easy access to it. However, I don’t want to be tempted to spend too much time online during the day, when I should be cleaning or playing with my kids. So, I’m moving my laptop and printer to a section on a counter in my kitchen. I don’t really count this as part of the kitchen space, cause it’s on the other side of the room, and right now is a “catch all” for books, papers, anything. I will post before and after pictures as I work on it, to give you a visual of what I’m doing. It will house my laptop, printer, coupon binder and supplies, recipes that I clip out or print, mail, library books and also be a “prep” station for the next day’s activities. Such as: on Saturday night, laying out Bibles and books, etc. needed for Sunday.
Anyway, hope that rambling made some sense! I’ll get pictures up, probably Monday, as I start this new project!

1 comment April 18, 2010

The night is gone, a new day has come…

Time for a little venting …

Those of you that know me, know that I’ve been in a bit of a funk. I mostly blame it on the bleak winter coming right after my baby was born. Baby blues + dreary weather = not a happy mommy. Add to that mix a toddler adjusting to a new sibling, and a husband traveling alot more than usual. Needless to say, the past few months have been different. Now, I know that we all go through phases and seasons of our lives; we all have challenges and times that make us refocus. This has definitely been a time like that for me. Now, I wish that I could say that I grew stronger in my faith, closer to my family and learned a great deal from this time of shadows (it wasn’t all bad, so not darkness). Unfortunately though, while I did learn a great deal about myself, I learned that I close myself off when I’m afraid. I tend to slowly and quietly push people out, rather than openly share my feelings. And sadly, I did the same with God. I knew that I needed to trust Him with my feelings of inadequacy and frustration. I know that I would have come out of it alot sooner, if I had not been so stubborn. But I was, and it took months for me to wake up from the fog I was living in.
This past month of sunshine and newness has shown me just how lost in myself I really was. I am getting things back in order in every aspect of my life. So, with that, come changes to this blog. I know I’m not the only one who has struggled with feelings of frustration and drowning in the everyday . I need to get back on track with my savings, and I’ll continue to share deals and finds with you. But there are plenty of great blogs where you can find better info! I want to do more here, even if it’s just for me to have a place to share “out loud”. So, you’ll get more of a glimpse into my life. I’ve started exercising again – I have 20 pounds to lose! I’m starting to get back to a healthier diet (that’s a slower process, but getting there!) I’m getting my house back in order. And most importantly, I’m getting my walk with Christ back on track.
I used to write all the time, it was my release outside of the theatre. I wrote poetry, songs, stories, letters. This is my new pen, my new journal. Feel free to come along, join in, or run away . The choice is yours, but I’ll be here, offering an honest look into my *new* season of life.
Many years ago, I wrote a short story about the Resurrection titled The Night Is Gone, A New Day Has Come that’s how I feel now. I’m starting a new day-feel free to join me!

Thanks for letting me get that out

3 comments April 16, 2010