This was a great weekend! I mean Friday was a long day but I got alot of stuff done. A very boring class, 4 stores for shopping, a little bit of work(LOL), some cleaning and straightening up. By the time I got into bed, my head hit the pillow and it was lights out.
But Saturday was totally cool! Matt had a soccer game. I can only shake my head at that. 3 & 4 year olds playing soccer, or occasionally kicking the ball as they do, is hilarious. Their attention spans are the size of gnats. They kick the ball, it goes away, someone moves in front and they quickly forget what they were doing. I mean we had kids in the net, rolling around in the grass, running back and forth to the bench. We have 6 games left and I'm really ready for it to be over already. I'll think twice about volunteering again to coach.
I had to leave the game right after half time because I was hosting a Pampered Chef party. I love the stuff! I love cooking and cool gadgets for the kitchen just makes cooking easier and more enjoyable. I invited around 20 or so people and 13 ended up coming. I was so surprised and thrilled! Met some pretty cool ladies and hopefully I'm building my friends list in the ELP area! I still haven't found my contacts for babysitting. I have some events coming up at the end of the month so I need to work on those ASAP. I don't want to miss out 'cause I have no one to watch the kids but of course you want someone reliable and not crazy.
I was so inspired by the cooking show though that I came up with a quick and easy dinner for the fam, grilled chicken panini sandwiches (which we had again for dinner today) and then I ended up making cinnamon rolls. Never done any baking of this type before where I had to actually deal with yeast and punching dough but I had all the ingredients on hand plus my new handy, dandy KitchenAid mixer so I had no more excuses. They were a success! Hubs is a Cinnabon fanatic and he said they were actually on point enough where he wouldn't have to go and get his fill so often. I took that as a great complement and know that I can only go up from here, woohoo. My next feat, bread. I just ordered a loaf pan so as soon as it gets here, I'll whip up a loaf and we'll how it goes down. How cool would it be if I started making our bread? Ha!
Church was awesome today! A very good Word. If you're having trouble seeing through your situation and not able to envision the end, stop looking laterally and start looking from God's point (place) of view! He sees from above and is continually moving things around for our good. We just have to make it to the "The End." Everything comes to an end at some point, it's just pressing through to that point. Wow!
Ugh, in the middle of this post we hear baby girl yell out for help. She had thrown up everything it looks like she ate today. Poor thing! I hate when my babies are sick. She woke up fine this morning but after church when we got home, she started acting clingy and real finicky. I thought she was just in one of her moods but she actually wasn't feeling well. We've been talking about taking down the pack n play which has been in our room acting as a temporary clothes hanger for the past 2 months, tonight it will be her bed. She's not running a fever but has thrown up again so I'm keeping a towel underneath her and have some backup pajamas just in case. I'll call it in the morning. Hopefully it's a 24 hour thing and is quickly fading but I will shun work if need be.
And this ends my weekend. I seriously need one more day. I was so busy that I didn't have time to really rest. It was a good busy but at the same time, I am so not ready to go back to work in the morning. I am really looking forward to the day where I can work from home and not have to wake up before the crack dawn if it's not my choice. I know my future holds incredible opportunities and that God has great things in store for us but sometimes the waiting is hard. I want it all right now! Courtesy of the microwave generation I've grown up in. I'm excited though and just hopefully working on what I need to be doing in order to be where I need to be to get what I need to get when I need to get it. I like that sentence. It's now 10 min to 11 and baby girl has thrown up another 2 times so I'm off to try and get some rest. We'll see how it goes!
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Thankful Thursday!
This morning, I actually loved my job and was proud to be in the Army! Now I have to admit, I don't have many of these days. I'm not really the patriotic type and on any given day, the Army is just a job that pays my bills. But this morning, it was a bit more.
What made it all different? We went running. Ha! I know you're saying that don't you guys go running everyday? Yeah, we do. Now I don't run everyday 'cause my bones are not the way they used to be and running everyday would be very detrimental to my health but at least 2 or 3 times a week is a necessity to make sure that I'm staying fit, trim, and ready for the PT test.
Now back to this run...it was in honor of the Buffalo Soldiers for Black History month. Short, jaunt down the road, around the Buffalo Soldier memorial and back again. Maybe 3 miles...I know it wasn't longer than that. But the whole post was involved. Every Soldier was required to be here at this run to participate. I'm talking about 5,000 Soldiers easy. It may have been closer to 7,500, it was a whole lot of us. All of us in were in the same uniform (shorts and jacket) all experiencing the cold together, lol. Every unit had their colors out in front and some even had their mascots. There were even a few loved ones along for the run! True esprit de corps!
The cannons started us off and since there were so many of us it took almost 10 min before my unit even started moving from our spot. Of course with any unit run and with this many people you sprint to catch up and then quickly come to a halt as you run up on the people in front of you. There were several times that the guy in front of me was about to be crushed, lol. Seeing all the units running by and hearing the all the cadence being called was inspiring. Everyone was in their best form, from the 2 star down to the lowest private, we were all out there being all that we could be. Rather by choice or not, you could not be out there and not feel that you weren't part of something bigger. That your comrade running next to you would help you at all costs. The Sergeants were all the way live, yelling at those falling out and pushing us all to greatness! Just what NCO's do best!
All in all, I kept up. That was one thing that I was worried about. I've never been a great runner. In 10 years, I can count on 1 hand the number of unit runs I've been able to run and keep up with the whole group. This time around I was surrounded by the guys and I felt I had to prove that I could do it. I mean you can't have the captain running and fall out, not motivating to the kids at all. So the sprint and slow down affect really helped me up. It gave me a chance to jog in place and catch my breath for the next length. Then one of the females fell out and after they yelled her back into the group (literally), I felt like I should push it out to motivate her to keep up and not fall any further behind. It worked and next thing you know, we were at the end and were walking to cool down. Woohoo!
Since I'm on the end of my Army career, I'm looking for these moments to remember because this will always be a part of me! I know I'll miss days like this but at the same time, I think the trade off will give me much more fulfillment in the long run.
What made it all different? We went running. Ha! I know you're saying that don't you guys go running everyday? Yeah, we do. Now I don't run everyday 'cause my bones are not the way they used to be and running everyday would be very detrimental to my health but at least 2 or 3 times a week is a necessity to make sure that I'm staying fit, trim, and ready for the PT test.
Now back to this run...it was in honor of the Buffalo Soldiers for Black History month. Short, jaunt down the road, around the Buffalo Soldier memorial and back again. Maybe 3 miles...I know it wasn't longer than that. But the whole post was involved. Every Soldier was required to be here at this run to participate. I'm talking about 5,000 Soldiers easy. It may have been closer to 7,500, it was a whole lot of us. All of us in were in the same uniform (shorts and jacket) all experiencing the cold together, lol. Every unit had their colors out in front and some even had their mascots. There were even a few loved ones along for the run! True esprit de corps!
The cannons started us off and since there were so many of us it took almost 10 min before my unit even started moving from our spot. Of course with any unit run and with this many people you sprint to catch up and then quickly come to a halt as you run up on the people in front of you. There were several times that the guy in front of me was about to be crushed, lol. Seeing all the units running by and hearing the all the cadence being called was inspiring. Everyone was in their best form, from the 2 star down to the lowest private, we were all out there being all that we could be. Rather by choice or not, you could not be out there and not feel that you weren't part of something bigger. That your comrade running next to you would help you at all costs. The Sergeants were all the way live, yelling at those falling out and pushing us all to greatness! Just what NCO's do best!
All in all, I kept up. That was one thing that I was worried about. I've never been a great runner. In 10 years, I can count on 1 hand the number of unit runs I've been able to run and keep up with the whole group. This time around I was surrounded by the guys and I felt I had to prove that I could do it. I mean you can't have the captain running and fall out, not motivating to the kids at all. So the sprint and slow down affect really helped me up. It gave me a chance to jog in place and catch my breath for the next length. Then one of the females fell out and after they yelled her back into the group (literally), I felt like I should push it out to motivate her to keep up and not fall any further behind. It worked and next thing you know, we were at the end and were walking to cool down. Woohoo!
Since I'm on the end of my Army career, I'm looking for these moments to remember because this will always be a part of me! I know I'll miss days like this but at the same time, I think the trade off will give me much more fulfillment in the long run.
Friday, February 19, 2010
I'm behind...
First, I need to make up my mind about my font and it's size. I just perused through the archives and saw that I have like 4 different things going on. I think I'll try Georgia in normal. We'll see!
In other news, it's been 2 weeks since I've blogged. Gotta do better. Things are to be different in 2010! But life has been great since then. Work hasn't picked up much which is kind of sad but I'm hoping in the next month I should be doing more. I want to learn the job and hopefully be able to get my office in order so that things are running smoothly before July when we set up.
It's the last week in February and I've only had to make 2 other very small trips to the store in my quest to shop only once a month. Great for the wallet but I'm having to make a trip tomorrow. Gotta get some essentials, milk, eggs, cheese, etc. But we are doing so much better. We've also only eaten out 3 times I think. It's taken lots of discipline to stick with the menu and not cave in to eating out. And there was one day that I think we just ended up eating PB&J. Bug's favorite much to his dad's dismay, lol. I haven't tallied up my total yet but I'm praying it's still under $400.
In other news, me and the kids are going to a playdate tomorrow! I am so excited! Why you may ask? It's giving me a chance to make some mommy friends and a way to make connections to find out about stuff in the El Paso community. I need a baby sitter, a maid, a fun place to carry the kids, the best shopping stores and I can find out all of this from my new mommy friends. I'm still the shy in the box type of girl and making friends is hard for me. Most people say that they don't believe that about me but I am really working on getting outside of my comfort limits and talking to people. Once I know you, I'm good but actually saying hello is the hardest part for me. I guess the first solution is admitting the problem.
And the last thought for today...I'm having a Pampered Chef party next week. Woohoo, another way to make friends and meet my neighbors! Well I haven't actually sent out invites yet but I'm hoping to work up the nerve to get out and actually invite them. All in hope of learning to make myself the consummate entrepreneur when I start selling Mary Kay. Yep, cosmetics. Not my life long goal but I like makeup and looking good especially since I wear a very masculine uniform 5 days a week. I know other women like the same thing and MK products are really good. A part of my life goal is to help others around me to feel their best about themselves and whatever situation they find themselves in life. Promoting MK will help me, help them, help everybody!
That's all folks!
In other news, it's been 2 weeks since I've blogged. Gotta do better. Things are to be different in 2010! But life has been great since then. Work hasn't picked up much which is kind of sad but I'm hoping in the next month I should be doing more. I want to learn the job and hopefully be able to get my office in order so that things are running smoothly before July when we set up.
It's the last week in February and I've only had to make 2 other very small trips to the store in my quest to shop only once a month. Great for the wallet but I'm having to make a trip tomorrow. Gotta get some essentials, milk, eggs, cheese, etc. But we are doing so much better. We've also only eaten out 3 times I think. It's taken lots of discipline to stick with the menu and not cave in to eating out. And there was one day that I think we just ended up eating PB&J. Bug's favorite much to his dad's dismay, lol. I haven't tallied up my total yet but I'm praying it's still under $400.
In other news, me and the kids are going to a playdate tomorrow! I am so excited! Why you may ask? It's giving me a chance to make some mommy friends and a way to make connections to find out about stuff in the El Paso community. I need a baby sitter, a maid, a fun place to carry the kids, the best shopping stores and I can find out all of this from my new mommy friends. I'm still the shy in the box type of girl and making friends is hard for me. Most people say that they don't believe that about me but I am really working on getting outside of my comfort limits and talking to people. Once I know you, I'm good but actually saying hello is the hardest part for me. I guess the first solution is admitting the problem.
And the last thought for today...I'm having a Pampered Chef party next week. Woohoo, another way to make friends and meet my neighbors! Well I haven't actually sent out invites yet but I'm hoping to work up the nerve to get out and actually invite them. All in hope of learning to make myself the consummate entrepreneur when I start selling Mary Kay. Yep, cosmetics. Not my life long goal but I like makeup and looking good especially since I wear a very masculine uniform 5 days a week. I know other women like the same thing and MK products are really good. A part of my life goal is to help others around me to feel their best about themselves and whatever situation they find themselves in life. Promoting MK will help me, help them, help everybody!
That's all folks!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Thankful Thursdays!
Well I'm starting a new part to my blog called Thankful Thursdays. Since I have so much to be thankful for, this will give me a way to let the world know. As if they really care! Ha!
Today I'm thankful for what happened yesterday. It was hubs birthday and I was sitting in the office trying to think of what I should wear for dinner that evening. I had just bought some new slacks from my favorite clothier (New York & Company) and I was thinking that some slacks, a sweater blouse and flats would do the trick to look nice in a very short amount of time right after work.
So I thought to myself, which color should I wear? Brown or blue. Then I thought to myself, where are my brown slacks. I know I brought them in the house after exchanging them at another store for my size and I placed them on the floor by the counter inside a box. The recycling box. That I threw into the recycling bin on Monday. Nahhhh, my pants can't be in there. Right?
For lunch, I rush home only to realize that I have to bake DH's cake NOW because if not, it won't happen today and that would be totally sad not to have your cake on your day. I quickly pull all the ingredients together, mix it up and pop that sucker in the oven. Place 30 min on the timer and start looking around for my pants that should be still in the bag. They are not to be found. Oh no! That means I threw them out with the recycling.
I make a split second decision and decide to haul over to the recycling center praying that they haven't done a pick up. I've got to get over there and back for this cake is done. Those pants were BOGO but they were dag on $44. I do not have the money yet to be throwing $40 dollar pants away. I speed off (@ 35 mph and in the rain that's been coming down all night/day) and get there in record time. When I dropped off the stuff Monday, I drove to the back and put my stuff in the bins furthest away. Thank the Lord for that decision. The bin was still pretty empty and I spotted some of the boxes I had thrown away right off. I wasn't sure if I should hop over inside but then decided against that and just leaned way over. I've never been dumpster diving but wasn't totally against the idea since seeing a segment on 20/20 a couple years back (more on that in another post). I still didn't want anyone to see me though. So sifting through the stuff, I spot a few familiar bags, use another small box to help me move some other stuff around and there at the bottom of the bin is my bag. Woohoo! I literally had to wedge my body through this 12" slit in the front of the bin and my legs were in the air but I grabbed it. Thank the Lord for long arms! Yes, yes, yes.
I looked inside and the pants were perfectly dry and okay with the receipt still on top. I got inside the truck and yelled "Thank you JESUS!" Woah, that was too close. Now back to the house. But wait, I need a new gray cap for morning physical training so I stop to buy one right quick. I get back home with 3 min on the timer to spare! Lord, you are just too good!
Today I'm thankful for what happened yesterday. It was hubs birthday and I was sitting in the office trying to think of what I should wear for dinner that evening. I had just bought some new slacks from my favorite clothier (New York & Company) and I was thinking that some slacks, a sweater blouse and flats would do the trick to look nice in a very short amount of time right after work.
So I thought to myself, which color should I wear? Brown or blue. Then I thought to myself, where are my brown slacks. I know I brought them in the house after exchanging them at another store for my size and I placed them on the floor by the counter inside a box. The recycling box. That I threw into the recycling bin on Monday. Nahhhh, my pants can't be in there. Right?
For lunch, I rush home only to realize that I have to bake DH's cake NOW because if not, it won't happen today and that would be totally sad not to have your cake on your day. I quickly pull all the ingredients together, mix it up and pop that sucker in the oven. Place 30 min on the timer and start looking around for my pants that should be still in the bag. They are not to be found. Oh no! That means I threw them out with the recycling.
I make a split second decision and decide to haul over to the recycling center praying that they haven't done a pick up. I've got to get over there and back for this cake is done. Those pants were BOGO but they were dag on $44. I do not have the money yet to be throwing $40 dollar pants away. I speed off (@ 35 mph and in the rain that's been coming down all night/day) and get there in record time. When I dropped off the stuff Monday, I drove to the back and put my stuff in the bins furthest away. Thank the Lord for that decision. The bin was still pretty empty and I spotted some of the boxes I had thrown away right off. I wasn't sure if I should hop over inside but then decided against that and just leaned way over. I've never been dumpster diving but wasn't totally against the idea since seeing a segment on 20/20 a couple years back (more on that in another post). I still didn't want anyone to see me though. So sifting through the stuff, I spot a few familiar bags, use another small box to help me move some other stuff around and there at the bottom of the bin is my bag. Woohoo! I literally had to wedge my body through this 12" slit in the front of the bin and my legs were in the air but I grabbed it. Thank the Lord for long arms! Yes, yes, yes.
I looked inside and the pants were perfectly dry and okay with the receipt still on top. I got inside the truck and yelled "Thank you JESUS!" Woah, that was too close. Now back to the house. But wait, I need a new gray cap for morning physical training so I stop to buy one right quick. I get back home with 3 min on the timer to spare! Lord, you are just too good!
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Food for thought
So this past weekend was the culmination (big word huh!) of our first monthly eating plan. I had to come up with this plan because we were quickly falling into the rut of not planning out our meals and struggling daily to come up with something to eat. And then we did figure out what we wanted, half the time we didn't have all the ingredients. We were making trips to the store every other day which you know gets expensive. You go in for 2 items and come out with 12 which was quickly adding up and we were spending absurd amounts of money just on food. Not to mention we were going out at least twice a week.
Intervention had to happen quickly. I came up with a plan and it involved making a menu for the month. Well really 21 days or 3 weeks worth with the option to eat out at least twice a week. I had to put that in there because working full time and then coming home to cook and entertain a family is tiring. There are some days when I can't muster the energy to cook a whole meal. It doesn't help that I have spoiled my family rotten so I can't just throw something together from a box or package. We eat mostly everything cooked from scratch. Now I can do this in 30 min with a plan and recipe but I have to have a PLAN.
The plan went well. I usually would take out what meat we were going to have early that morning to thaw. I would come home during lunch to prep if needed. Hubs helped out a couple of times and then there were those days worked in where if I knew I just didn't have it in me, we could order out or pick something up. Too easy!
The actual hard part, planning and shopping. It takes being very meticulous because you have to make sure you have every ingredient on hand and then since I'm being a more frugal shopper these days, I had to look and search for coupons, then compare stores and their sales to make sure I was getting the best deal. My goal: to keep the food budget under $400 for the month. Not an easy task but very doable when I know of ladies online that feed their families of 5 and 6 or more with $40 dollars a week and they are not eating rice and beans daily. I don't have that kind of time to plan that in depth but one day, I would like to try that out just to see if I could do it.
Overall, the plan was a success! Hubs got more meat and seafood because he claimed all we ate was chicken. Which was true but it didn't bother me, lol. We tried out a few new recipes which we really liked and they are now constants in our rotation, and I only ended up having to go to the store twice for a few things that I didn't originally get but I stayed on course and only got what we really needed.
Intervention had to happen quickly. I came up with a plan and it involved making a menu for the month. Well really 21 days or 3 weeks worth with the option to eat out at least twice a week. I had to put that in there because working full time and then coming home to cook and entertain a family is tiring. There are some days when I can't muster the energy to cook a whole meal. It doesn't help that I have spoiled my family rotten so I can't just throw something together from a box or package. We eat mostly everything cooked from scratch. Now I can do this in 30 min with a plan and recipe but I have to have a PLAN.
The plan went well. I usually would take out what meat we were going to have early that morning to thaw. I would come home during lunch to prep if needed. Hubs helped out a couple of times and then there were those days worked in where if I knew I just didn't have it in me, we could order out or pick something up. Too easy!
The actual hard part, planning and shopping. It takes being very meticulous because you have to make sure you have every ingredient on hand and then since I'm being a more frugal shopper these days, I had to look and search for coupons, then compare stores and their sales to make sure I was getting the best deal. My goal: to keep the food budget under $400 for the month. Not an easy task but very doable when I know of ladies online that feed their families of 5 and 6 or more with $40 dollars a week and they are not eating rice and beans daily. I don't have that kind of time to plan that in depth but one day, I would like to try that out just to see if I could do it.
Overall, the plan was a success! Hubs got more meat and seafood because he claimed all we ate was chicken. Which was true but it didn't bother me, lol. We tried out a few new recipes which we really liked and they are now constants in our rotation, and I only ended up having to go to the store twice for a few things that I didn't originally get but I stayed on course and only got what we really needed.
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