Our Story

 I celebration of our 6th wedding anniversary, here is the post about us.


Dear or darling Hubby and I met in 1992 when we were in high school; he was 17 and I 16 years old. He lived in Sacramento CA I lived in SLC UT, we met through a youth mission’s trip “Harvest Utah.” I was hyper and talkative and he was focused and quiet. Since I distracted the other boys from our team work, I was paired with DH so we would remain on task. I thought he was so handsome. He almost left with out asking if he could write to me, I was not allowed to ask him for his number or address, but he conquered his shyness and we wrote for a year. DH was my first date flying out the next summer to be with me.

Christmas 1993

We broke up New Years 1994 at a party, but he kissed me at the airport when I was to get on the plane, he was my first kiss. I was so upset that he would kiss me after breaking up with me, we found out much later we had a huge mis-communication. I thought he broke up with me, he didn’t. We went our separate ways but never forgot each other. Every year we either wrote or called, about every second year DH came out to Utah to see me or my family.

July 1993

In 1998 we got back together and then broke up again. He was afraid to ask me to marry him because he had not been at his job very long. In 2000 he came to visit over Easter weekend for a surprise visit. I had invited another friend for the holiday, and my grandma kept teasing me about having 2 boyfriends. I kept explaining that I didn’t have a boy friend, to both of them.

1998 Impromptu Visit

In 2004 DH flew me to Sacramento for an all expense paid vacation, and we finally told each other that we loved one another in the airport and had our second kiss.

2004 all expense paid vacation

When we got back together in 2004 my mom knew we would be engaged by Christmas. She passed suddenly just before, on Dec 11, and never saw us get together. But she was right. He asked me to marry him Christmas Eve night. We were married May 7, 2005. We have worked hard and have gotten through some struggles together. Our story was worth waiting for.

Missing my mom, and new bowls

Previously I had mentioned how I was Eliminating Plastic From My Life and how I had found a great set of glass bowls.  Recently I found that Costco had the new version of my favorite Arc Bowls, and I picked up a set.  This left me with two, but the new set has red lids, and I prefer that to my old green ones.  So I was considering saving the old bowls and giving them to my sister at Thanksgiving.

It was serendipity, for the first time in my life I think I had a moment I could use that term for.  My sister's BFF came into town this weekend, the day I made up my mind to get  the new bowls, and she and her sister drove here.  The stars had aligned, and then the call came, they had some free time if I was able to drive to them.  I hurried to get ready, and then realized many of my bowls were being used, so I emptied them and washed them.  It took longer than I had realized, but I was ready to go.  If they had flown, I would not be able to send them back with glass bowls, but in a car, they could easily set them down on the floor of the back seat, or in the trunk and just let them go along for the ride.  We had a great time catching up, and they looked great in their new dresses.    My sister will now have glass bowls and not have so much of a need to store left overs in plastic containers.  I have room for the new bowls with red lids.
I'm quite happy now that everything worked out so well, and I still find it funny how things move my impromptu thought into action so quickly. 

This weekend was a busy, but fun time.  There was the visit with my sister's BFF and her sister, then my anniversary, and finally Mother's Day.  If you know me at all, you know I want to be a mother, but it just has not yet worked out for me.  I have also lost my mother to heart disease, it was sudden, but it happened in 2004.  I still miss her, every day.  It's not always with tears, or misty eyes, but those moments happen still.  Those moments are more frequent during the holidays, and celebrations, times when I know she would be excited, or that I would be expected to call. Then there are the times of stress and anxiety, when I wish to ask her what to do.

I think we all have someone who we call, one person we rely on for strength and encouragement, the stable force of love.  Until that person is no longer earth bound, love them and honor them as much as you can.

Easter with Family and Friends

The hunt is on

searching for goodies!

all with matching dresses!

dividing the loot!

The pictures I missed where of the little girls heading back up the hill to re-hide the eggs, hunt them again, and end up with a very uneven amount of goodies since they forgot to invite the littlest one to the second hunt.  Yep, it was a fun and long day.  Easter is my favorite holiday, the Resurrection, spring, bright colors, flowers, family, all of it. My favorite part growing up was all about the new dresses!  For a while both of our grandparents bought us dresses, but then it was all about our maternal grandparents.  They lived in Bremerton Washington, and we lived in Utah, not quite close enough for a Sunday dinner.  The mail would come with a box of gifts, dresses, gloves, hats, purses....it was great! 

These Easters here with my hubby's family are filled with fun, family, and good times.  This year we got the added fun of having my nieces friends come and they all had lots of fun.

The plan..and yet things change

Adriana Ippati-Torrens 

WaterColors

Trees, Flowers, and Still Life...

Menu plan

Black Bean Burrito Bake is on the right

Savory Sweet Potato Casserole

Monday:
Black Bean Burrito Bake
Savory Sweet Potato Casserole

Chicken, Cashew and Pepper Stir Fry

Grated Turnip and Apple Salad

Tuesday:
Chicken, Cashew and Pepper Stir Fry
Grated Turnip and Apple Salad

Wednesday: (We went out to Spaghetti Factory instead)


Vegan Lasagna

Thursday: (We were invited to dinner at mom's house and had pork and beans, it was delicious)
Leftovers

Friday:
Blackened Cumin-Cayenne Tilapia

Saturday:
Coconut Pancakes
Chicken Tamale Casserole


So, there is my list of plans and the things that come up.  We had a great week, and had a wonderful time. I will now have to make the lasagna next since those ingredients will go bad first.  I have had lots of left overs, and am so excited to try this meal planning thing again.


So, let me tell you about the new veggie that I tried this week....are you ready? It's very exciting, I was a bit freaked out....okay, okay it was turnips.  For those of you who already eat these veggies, I'm sorry they were a bit freaky and scary to me.  Let me explain, my family ate veggies, but not a huge variety, and we did not deviate from the grouping that we normally ate from.    Peas were shoved down our throats like they were the best and most important vegetable in the world, corn was a fan favorite, salad, cucumbers, broccoli, carrots to name the favorites.  These are what we had as staples, and now I'm trying new things that others have been eating for centuries.  I feel left out, and a bit behind, but also branching out is ind of scary.  The salad was fine, the turnips are bland, and mild in flavor.  I was almost disappointed since I expected something more dramatic. I was reading an article, which I having great difficulty locating again, and it mentioned swapping out turnips for potatoes in pot roast dinners as a way of increasing less starchy vegetables.  I found the article, it was in the Livestrong news letter that I got, I get a few of these sent to me.  This article was called, "What's the best trick to lose weight fast"  in it, there is another link to “The 7 Healthiest Meals Ever Created” a little cookbook you may enjoy. I'm considering trying the banana almond pancakes, but that is a different matter altogether.  Here is the part that stuck out in my mind:

"Stir-fry and Curry: Instead of using rice, serve over steamed broccoli florets Pot roast: Sub out the potatoes for turnips. Cut the turnips into cubs, season them with your favorite flavor and roast them just like potatoes. Pasta: Substitute for spaghetti squash, which can be cooked in the microwave in the same time it takes to cook pasta on your stove top. “When cooked, spaghetti squash forms pasta-like consistency that is almost identical to traditional pasta, but with a fraction of the calories,” says Rousssell."

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/blog/blog/whats-best-eating-trick-lose-weight-fast/?utm_source=maynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=110503#ixzz1LYWPfDQo

Well there you have it, my first experience with turnips, rather anti-climatic but it was worth trying again. 

I don't play in dirt, but I like thought of a hanging garden

The start of two tomato plants

This is before the plants were, "planted"

It's hanging so I don't have to crawl in the dirt

Have I mentioned I don't like to play in the dirt?  Have I also mentioned that I have the uncanny ability to kill very healthy plants, that are quite hardy.  It's a gift.

I like tomatoes, I'm at a loss for what to make for dinner with out some for of tomato based thing to pour over or place in my dishes.  I found this little tid bit out about myself this last March, when we were a bit tight on money.  We ran out of spaghetti sauce, canned tomatoes, and tomato soup.  I was also out of rice, and vanilla, and a few other things that I do not ever want to be out of again.  Moving on, back to the plants. I decided that buying fresh tomatoes was rather pricey, and this Topsy Turvy thing promised to help me not kill this plant.  I decided that after re-stocking my supply of canned necessities to begin a hanging garden.  Mine is not quite so lush or beautiful as the Hanging Garden of Babylon was supposed to be, but still bearing fruit and mine to enjoy.  I have a strawberry planter that I need to buy plants for and hang as well. I will post those pictures once I get it up and planted.

Wish me well, it would be nice to have fresh, home grown tomatoes to enjoy this summer.  The perfect compliment to hamburgers, red beans and rice, spaghetti sauce, lasagna, chili, quesadillas, and so forth and so on.  I'm sure you all have something that is a basic necessity that you would be lost without, even if you can't think of it now once missing you'll know, and it will be either a trip to the store or a long wait like I had last month.

Here's to hoping we all have a wonderful fun filled summer!  I'll keep you updated on the tomatoes progress, or demise if I do happen to accidentally kill it.

My First Blogger Award!!!

Here is my pretty award!

I'm honored and delighted to receive this award, Thank you Tired Mom!  So now you all know there are rules to these things right?  So here you are.

The rules for accepting this award are as follows: 

1- Thank the person who awarded you and link back to them in your post.

2- Tell 7 random facts about yourself.

3- Pass the award to 15 newfound bloggers.

4- Contact each blogger, informing them of their pending award.

5- Let the giver of your award know you accept (or not).

Step one done, if you hadn't noticed I thanked Tired Mom, I think I'll continue. :) It also covers step 5.

Step two is the hard part, and has taken me a bit to think about.

• I am not a morning person. Not in any sense of the word. I appreciate morning in quite, solitude, no talking, no singing, no exuberant emotions, just quite if I happen to be up. 
• I have PCOS, and I'm learning how to not let it have me.
• I like to paint, and I paint when I'm in the mood, which fluctuates quite often. 
• I like to cook, but I do not like doing the dishes
• My best friend is more like my family than many of my family members.
• I love red, it's my favorite color.  It's bright, bold, passionate, and beautiful!
• I love old movies, and the classic books.

1 - Back Cover Reviews

2 - Domestic Frugalista

3 - More than burnt toast

4- Fare to remember

5 - Marilenas art

6 - A Half Baked Life

7- Hannah Wept Sarah Laughed

8 - Maemae Paperie

9 - Thinking Deliciously

10 - One Scary Vegetable

11 - JK Collection Photography

12 - Barbee art daily

13 - Clio baby

14 -Kimberlys Cup

15 - Shaval art

I understand that not all bloggers care about the awards that get passed around, but I like them.  It is another way to acknowledge that people are reading and connecting to your blog.  I hope you all feel as honored as I do, but either way this is one way to show my appreciation.

Oh the Joys of Meal Planning

Two things you should know:
First - I found this on line, free and made some changes.  I went here to find a template Vertex42.com: ExcelTemplates meal-planner
Second - I also found a very helpful blog and have used hers to help me. The Meal Planner

This week I have been working overtime, and I've walked once, and cleaned a bunch, but I have not done my regular exercise routine.   This week, I decided to focus on meal planning since I could work on that a bit during lunch.  I at first tried to decide a few staple meals and then use the weekends for fun dishes.
It would go something like this:
Sunday: family dinner - free (We are open to family dinners, going out, and whatever comes up.)
Monday: Meatless (Tex Mex Lasagna) some form of additional veggies
Tuesday: Grilled Chicken & Rice with Veggies
Wednesday: Left overs
Thursday: Spaghetti with a salad
Friday: Apricot Glazed Salmon, with seasonal veggies
Saturday: Pizza and a salad

But that was much to restricting.  So I instead opted for a less rigid structured approach.
Sunday: open for what every family plan, or going out has to offer.

Monday: Meatless meal
Tuesday: Leftovers
Wednesday: Chinese
Thursday: Italian
Friday: Fish/Seafood
Saturday: Mexican

With these themes, I can use the ingredients I have, have different flavors throughout the week, and rotate different menus as needed.  of course these can be switched as needed, and of course if we feel like burgers one night, we can substitute things out.

Here is a look at the pretty copy:
weekly-meal-planner
Here is where I have been re-working things.
Beginning Stages of meal Planning


I have since found that the PCOS Diva sets up some delightful menu plans, although I don't always have the ingredients on hand. I also found a lovely site that plans meals on budgets as well as having coupons, and gardening tips. 5 Dollar Dinners.com: Monthly Meal Plan 2011


Budgets and things are something I dabble in a bit, but after I work with other people's financial information all day, I get tired to work on ours at home.  I have found a lovely little helper, Mint.com.  The best part is it is free.  If you can use it, then I'm glad.  It has helped us both see where the most of our money is going, and it seems that gas is the big winner there.  So, for a while my menu's will be having the adventure in the monthly bundle of veggies that I get to incorporate into our menu.  The rest will be all the fun things I can make by scratch with the staples that I have on hand. I have this week's menu plan all done, but I need to get some dishes done, and put together a thank you blog for an award I won!!! My sister's BFF is awesome!  I will post the menu plan and pictures of our meals soon.