Life is interesting.

Tonight as I crawl into bed I find myself reflecting on my life--where I have been--where I am going. I think of all the places I have lived, the beds I have slept in, the roommates I have had. All if those things, whether they were good-bad-or ugly have all brought me to exactly where I am now. They have brought me to this moment where I am all cuddled up in my amazing bed with my 2 kitties. Life might not always make sense, life might leave us wondering most of the time, but overall--life is good.

...and like that...he was gone

I would like to think that as I am getting older I am also getting wiser.  That might not always ring true, but what I learned recently is that when it comes to love, I am no longer a woman who will settle.  I was the reigning queen of hunting out the broken and often broke men and wasting my time and resources "fixing" them and trying to train them to be the man I wanted them to be (or more importantly the men their parents should have taught them to be).  This past relationship I vowed to myself to do everything I could to be the opposite of what I normally do.  Don't move them in right away (I am the worst at that), stand up for myself, but more importantly to listen to all of the screaming fiery red flags.  I am happy to report that although I am back to being single, I am very proud of myself for realizing that I can not "fix" a man, I don't want to "teach" him how to be the man I need, and to not take 2 or more years to figure that out. 

What was shocking to me I must point out is how many women in my life suggested that I do stick it out, try to teach MP how to be romantic and chivalrous, and thoughtful.  Give him more chances, talk it out with him, and it seemed funny to me because how often when I did those things did it a) not work out and b) did those exact same women tell me that you can't change anyone.  I think there can be small modifications in a relationship like putting the seat down, using a coaster, separating laundry by color, etc.  However there are certain fundamentals in every relationship that if are missing ruin any chance of a healthy progression.  To me, and this might just be me, teaching a man to buy you flowers when you have had a bad day is just as ridiculous as having to teach a man not to beat you when his favorite sports team loses.  You shouldn't need to do that.  Next time, buy yourself the damn flowers, along with a new vibrator and lose the boyfriend. 

Just a suggestion :)

Back to hunting I go.

...happy hump day...

It always amazes me how when Monday comes around, the very thought of getting through 5 whole days before Saturday arrives is just something that I can not wrap my head around. And yet, after I season my dreary ho-hum week with some girls nights, game nights, nights hovering over my stove, and the inevitable OCD cleaning session and BAM we have arrived at the weekend!  This week I started off with a super duper bang, I went and attended a class at the school I am interested in attending.  Oh-me-oh-my was that just what the doctor ordered.  I have to admit the idea of sitting in on a 3 hour class reminded me of how it felt to have 8am classes back in the day...and I can honestly say I went to about 4 of them....total...ya.  This class had 8 ladies total in it, including the teacher, and those 3 hours flew by in an instant.  The class was interesting, informative, and fun.  Great conversation and insight, the "students" treated me like I was in their class not just an observer.  It was just what I needed to give me that final push to want to apply and make the next year of my life intense...but worth it.

So now I need to apply.  More on that later.

Now the fun part:  food bucket list wrap up.

This weekend was a cooking extravaganza.  Let me recap on the loveliness that I made.  I made corned beef and cabbage (which I admit I have made before so it wasn't soooo much a food bucket list item but it was delicious so silence your judgement!!), I made bread and butter pickles, corn dogs, hummus, tabbouleh, crock pot chicken, and chicken stock.  My fridge is packed to the gills! 

Here is a picture of my bread and butter pickles all mixed up and ready to go in the jar:

They take 5 days to marinate before they are officially ready, but in true Husband's sisters form, my sister and I cracked them open on day 3 to have a little test and they are feeeeee-nom!!  Sooooooooo good! 

The corn dogs were born out of a craving.  I often wonder how I am going to be if I ever decide to breed because even when not pregnant I get cravings that rival a ravenous wild animal salivating over a piece of meat.  Its intense.  This past week I wanted corn dogs.  I yapped poor MP's head off about how much I wanted corn dogs, how many I would eat, what I would dip them in...etc.  Poor guy, the things he has to put up with :)  So thanks to being bitten by the Pinterest bug I searched for a way to make my own!  They were delicious and tasted much more "fresh" (if you can imagine processed meat, covered in a thick batter and then deep fried to all heaven "fresh" but you know what I mean...).  They weren't that pretty...here is a picture of them (I ran out of sticks so I just turned the last 2 dogs into little corn dog nuggets.  Equally delicious).

The hummus is also super good, and with a huge 24 ounce can of garbanzo beans it is sooo worth making it on your own.  Especially when they go on sale for 10/10 or something.  Yum!  I didn't take a picture of the hummus, we ate it too fast, and my sister was getting mad at how loud my little blender is....so I forgot.  :)  Take it from me.  Nom nom nom.

The chicken was created sort of on accident.  I had a whole chicken I bought way back when chicken was half off at the store.  It was less then 4 dollars, such a steal!  I froze it and the other day in prep for the rainy weekend I took it out but as the weekend of food came upon me I really had too much to cook (if you can even imagine that being possible), so I was going to roast it but then I remembered I had that class to observe from 430-730.  I was all in a tizzy when I went to bed and then it hit me!  I remembered on Pinterest someone pinned about cooking a whole chicken in the crock pot!!  What a great idea!  So I threw in some onions and carrots and tossed the whole chicken in on top all seasoned up and stuff and 10 hours later I had a crock pot full of chickeny goodness and my house smelled like a chicken dream.  As an added bonus after you shred the chicken, which is super easy thank you crock pot gods, you put all of the bones back into the crock pot with the juices from the chicken, add some water and cook it low and slow over night.  In the morning you have home made (and practically free) chicken stock!!  What???  Amaze-balls! I am telling you people.  Do it.  Do it for love, do it for me, do it for the love of all things foodie and luscious.  You will thank me later.  Hopefully with a bottle of wine.  Juuuust saying.

Bring on the rain!!!

Its supposed to rain this weekend, so in my best girl scout "prepared for everything" way I have stocked my house full of yumminess to cook all the weekend long!  Lots of crockpot food, soup ingredients, and plenty of stuff to make some Pinterest food!  Because of my readiness for the horrible weather it will be a sunny beautiful 75 degrees the entire weekend I just know it!  Ohhhh the irony!  Oh well, I will have an update on Monday with all of the greatness I have cooked whether its a balmy 75 degrees or a chilly 50 degrees and pouring rain. Never fear!  I will cook come hell or high water my friends!

Also an update on school.  I have an appointment to sit in on a class at the school I am thinking of applying to here pretty soon.  I am really looking forward to it.  Hopefully I can get a good idea of how the classes feel and the school works in general.  3 hours a day Monday through Thursday can be intense especially if I am going to work full time.  Hmmmmm.  Lots to think about.  I think better when I cook...back to the kitchen!!!

Cheers.

nom nom nom

Our fearless blog loving friend Julie made a comment the other day that when I created this blog she wondered when it would turn into a food blog :)  Oooooh how she knows me so well!  Although it is not officially a food blog...mama still has her eye on the prize of getting the eff out of this life rut I am in, I do love to cook and few things make me happier then crafting up something delicious in my kitchen.  SO last night I made homemade pesto, which I had said in an earlier blog that I was going to make last weekend but I was way too busy and I forgot to buy the much needed parmesan cheese.  Well its not much needed, I found out there are many other ways to make pesto that are all low fat and all of that jazz, but for my first attempt I wanted to stick with the basics.  Last night I purchased the needed cheese and I whipped up some pesto.  It was easy, it smelled delicious, and it is so much cheaper to make then store bought pesto.  I will be making it again as I remembered last night as I went to bed that I did not toast the pine nuts and I had been advised to do and I forgot to add salt and pepper.  My pesto was literally basil leaves, pine nuts, and cheese with lots of olive oil.  I must try it with the ingredients and advise I forgot but it was still pretty good.  Food bucket list item down!  Plus I got to use my fancy little mini food processor too!  Double win! 


Another item I found on Pinterest is the green monster smoothie. Packed with vitamins and goodness its part of a new diet...eeeeeww I hate that word...that I am going to try during the month of April.  Pretty much a green monster smoothie for breakfast and lunch with small snacks of veggies and lean protein in between and then a normal meal for dinner.  While I will try to be "health conscious" of my choices for my dinner I am not going to be too crazy about it as I have been super crazy about my eating all day.  Plus we all know that once you take something away from someone (starting tomorrow no chocolate!! kind of thing) that is the ONLY thing you crave.  So while I will fight the urge to run down to Mickey D's and get 5 double cheese burgers, the occasional delicious and decedent item will be enjoyed :) So yet another new kitchen gadget tried out and another Pinterest food item tried.  Mama is on a roll!!

just sitting around.....

A lot of people I know sit at an office all day.  While most of them do more then drool over Pinterest and day dream watching YouTube like I do, I bet we all have that mid day frozen numb feeling consuming the bottom half of our body.  I have heard that it is good to get around and walk every now and again, or when you talk on the phone stand up so you don't lose feeling to your lower parts.  I don't talk on the phone that often, and any time I leave my office a S.W.A.T. team is called into action with screaming sirens and blinding search lights to bring me promptly back to my hell hole and resume my mindless tasks.  So how do I avoid a frozen (and flat and flabby) ass from sitting here doing nothing all day?  Office exercises!  As ridiculous as it sounds every 30 minutes I stand up and for about 5-10 minutes I do some modified exercises I do during a mat class of Pilate's but I doing it whilst I stand behind my huge office chair which hides me from the ever-so scrutinizing eyes of my co-workers.  I can tell you just from doing it today I can still feel my bottom half even as we move into the 8th miserable hour of the day and it is a bonus that I am getting a wee bit of a work out done while locked away in my administrative prison. 

Feel the burn, watch the food porn, love the Pinterest.

good morning blogging world!!

Hello and good morning! I thought I would send out a quick hiddy-ho-hello to my thousands (ok 4) readers before I start this crazy weekend!  Last night was a huge fondue success!  The ladies got together for Leanne's birthday and we melted a bucket of cheese and dipped all sorts of yummy things in it.  Oh it was delicious.  We gabbed and gossiped, sipped and gorged on melty cheesy heaven.  We all woke up a bit foggy today, bloody marys are on the menu this morning for sure, but it was a great time and as I said before I got to use my new fondue pot AND I made another food item from Pinterest.  Winning. So today I will help my sister move into her new place, meet for bloody marys, go wine tasting, meet up with my dad and little sister to get the truck load of girl scout cookies we ordered, and then go to dinner for day #2 of Leanne-a-palooza.  Then home to bed with my sexy MP.  Tomorrow we have a day off together so hopefully we will get to sleep in a bit (but not if Lyla gets her way) and some relaxing will be on the schedule....I hope.  Cheers to the weekend, cheers to fun with friends and family, and cheers to girl scout cookies....nom nom nom.

How MP and I wake up most mornings:

"Oh you wanted to sleep in?  Well too bad so sad my dear humans!!  It's 6:30am on a Saturday...every body up!!"

Have I mentioned this before?

Have I mentioned how much I love Pinterest?  No?  Well I loooooooooooooooove Pinterest.  I am a pinning fan-at-tic!!  You know how they have twi-hards, star wars geeks, and trekkies...well soon they will have a term for folks like me who are Pinterest obsessed.  I mentioned a few blog entries ago that I have been trying to make some of the things I have pinned because some of these ideas...ok most of them...are so effing easy and cool you would be a fool NOT to try them out.  So a few weeks ago I made fried pickles with the recipe that I got from Pinterest.  Ohhhh me oh my were they delicious.  So easy to make, and better then any I have had at a restaraunt.  Ohhhh yum.  Tonight I am going to make two yummies from Pinterest--some home made pesto sauce and some cheese fondue.  I have some basil that is about to turn and I was freaking out last night on what I was going to do with all of this basil, the idea of letting it go to waste was just unbearable, and voila! it hit me!  I shall try another pinterest recipe AND put to good use the brand new Cuisinart mini food processor I just bought off of Amazon.  Double win!  I am also going to make cheese fondue tonight for one of my best girlfriend's birthday.  Another pinterest recipe and another way to use my new fondue pot that I also got from Amazon.  Did I mention I went a little Amazon crazy with my tax return.  ya....I did.  Guilty as charged.  Warning: I am a sucker for kitchen-ness.  Ooohh it makes me drool.

So to summarize:
I love Pinterest.
I love food.
I love kitchen gadgets of all kinds.
Cheers.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/08/uses-for-pesto/

mama needs a tool box!

Life has this mysterious way of sneaking up on you and I truly believe with all of my heart that the more time you spend making plans the more life loves to throw in a monkey wrench or two in your "oh so well made plans".  I use to stress about all of those monkey wrenches...I am a lady that loves to plan, hell I obsess over it, but as of late I have noticed more and more that as I make plans life has a way of changing them without my permission.  I use to get upset about it and allow it to cause a slight (or not so slight) episode of extreme tantrums to ensue, but the latest rain of money wrenches gave me cause to sit and wonder: a money wrench is a tool right?  So maybe life is seeing a plan I have made, notices it is a disaster, and it throws me a monkey wrench not to ruin my plans...but to teach me something to give me the tool(s) to make it better, to build it stronger.

I am ready for the monkey wrenches now.  Bring em on.  

Look at us now...

The other day I was walking with some of my best girlfriends and I took a step back and started laughing at the picture we made.  We were a heard of 4 ladies, 3 of whom were pushing strollers, one lady pushing a stroller is pregnant and we have a toddler bouncing along after us.  I made everyone stop and look at us and I asked if anyone would have bet money a year (or so) ago that this would be what our sassy lady bunch was look going to look like in a year.  We would have never guessed it would be this.  When did we all grow up?  When did our days off change from laying out at the beach and boozing it up to chores, running errands, and feeling complete if we managed to get all of the laundry washed AND folded. **Oh what a victorious feeling** Not that any of us would trade places with our younger selves...there is something to be said about the wisdom that aging brings, but it seems as if this all happened over night.  When did all of my girlfriends become wives and mothers?  When did it become impossible to get together a group of friends last minute for happy hour?  When did a simple over night vacation turn into a circus full of strollers, bouncy chairs, blinky toys, and 8pm bed times?  Oh life, you sneaky little bastard you :)