Posts

Showing posts from 2012

Where's Your Inner Sexy?

My freezer/pantry challenge is going quite well. Last Sunday I backslid a little and bought a few things from Walmart. Mainly it was things for an easy lunch, but I also bought a couple of items that I was craving. No harm in that, right? This morning I cheated a little and started cleaning out the pantry and kitchen freezer. I found things that I knew we weren't going to eat (a HUGE bag of oatmeal not even opened as well as other things that we just don't eat anymore). Tomorrow they'll be on their way to a local hangout for ladies . After church I worked on the freezer. I found some stuff that was pretty freezer burnt so I went ahead and tossed it. One was a bag of peas. I honestly stood there and tried to remember when I bought them...I finally remembered and realized that I'd had them for almost two and a half years! I guess it's time to go. Anyway, although I cheated a bit, I'm still on track. All we've bought lately has been milk, cheese, fruits, a

Finally! (shhhh...he's asleep...finally)

Image
The past two weekends have been fairly brutal on our ears. Lane has been ridiculously cranky. With crankiness comes his high pitched squeal/scream. So many of our friends were able to witness his adorable happy-squeal when he was a younger baby. His day care teacher even had something to say about it... 'Lane keeps squealing. Loud squealing. He's taught the other kids to do it, too. I tell him to stop and then realize it's another kid making the noise.' As loud as it is, his angry squeal is even worse. When he was younger, we kept a pair of our gun range ear muffs on the changing table. Every time we're in Sam's Ryan tries to talk me into getting a free hearing test (did you know they're free? 'cause they are. in case you didn't know.), blaming the need on Lane's screaming. I guess what I'm trying to say is that when Lane's unhappy, our ears suffer. And this weekend has certainly done some damage to Mama's ears. (I'm not even

Beef Stroganoff and a Little Salad

Image
We had a bit of a rough start to our day...to say the least. Remember how I was going to make the cookies for church last night? Ended up not making them because I was so worn out from Lane fussing about his teeth. He tried to be happy throughout the day, but molars are brutal and at 7:10 he finally wanted to go to bed...an hour early. After a nighttime diaper, pajamas, and a few minutes in the rocking chair, he was done. Because I was so tired and exhausted (read: tired of hearing a certain boy cry all afternoon), I mixed myself a 'drink' and planted my butt on the couch...instead of making peanut butter cookies. At 10:00 pm I realized that my offering for tomorrow was missing cookies and I freaked out. Ryan, being the sensible one (read: being the non-drink-y one) suggested that we leave a little early, grab some cookies from Wal-Mart, and call it a win. I agreed that it was a fabulous idea (mostly because my arms felt a little heavy and I really just wanted to go to bed

New Year, New Challenge

Image
A couple years ago I challenged myself to stop stocking up on food and eat only what was already in my freezer and/or pantry. I allowed myself to only buy milk, bread, eggs, and fresh produce...stuff like that. If I needed one small item to complete a recipe, I could purchase that...but no more. I was pretty strict and it worked out quite well. I mean, I called it a win since I didn't end up on Hoarders. Ryan finally called the challenge to a halt when we only had a few packs of fish and breast milk left in our 15 cubic foot freezer. It's a new year and I've decided to do it again (for a few reasons I'll explain later). While I don't have the same types of foods in my freezer(s) and pantry now that we've cleaned up our eating, I do have it stockpiled fairly well. Annnnddd....last year I sort of developed cooking as another hobby (imagine that!). Ryan gave me a set of ceramic knives for Christmas and ( somehow) they have re-inspired me to start cooking again

Hello 2012!

I've watched everyone's 'cliff notes' versions of 2011. I've seen numerous people's hopes for 2012. Here are my own. 2011 was pretty rough (though not as bad as 2010), but it was also a huge year of change for us. This was the first year I made 'goals' (I refuse to call them resolutions because it takes a lot longer than a year to really resolve something...a pastor once told me that...and he was fairly smart) and this was the first year I can actually say I met a few of them. I started eating and cooking better. At the end of 2010, Ryan and I were struggling on the health-front. He was having a few health issues and I was tired of feeling like a fat tub o' lard so I started doing some research on foods, ingredients, and...yes, I'm going to say it...the effects of highly processed foods on our bodies (Warning! Granola Mom Alert!). What I learned was pretty shocking so we started making small changes. NO, we aren't eating completely 'cl