Things I Love Thursdays

I was outside this afternoon watering my tomato plants, and I was inspired. I LOVE TOMATOES!!! (Especially fresh garden tomatoes. Not that crap you buy in the grocery store. They are never even close to as good.) My Pappy gave me some plants not long after we moved in. At first they weren't doing so well... I think our unusually cold winter didn't really help, but now that it's warm and sunny, and we are getting some rain, they are really taking off!!!!! Well the one on the left is anyway... it even has some 'maters getting red!!! This little guy is just so cute!The Cherry tomato one doesn't look as healthy... but it has lots of little 'maters on it, and it's getting healthier every day!!This even inspired my lunch this afternoon. I had a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich with tomato soup! I burnt my finger and my bread in the process, but it was still good! I like my tomato soup with some croutons, cheddar cheese, and even a few bacon bits sprinkled on top....

YUM!

I'm so proud.....

Of MYSELF!!!

lol.... So I didn't really do anything all day, and I was sitting on the couch and started getting sleepy from being immobile, and all of the sudden I told myself that I was just not going to sit around all day and do nothing!!!! So I got up, changed my clothes, and headed to the gym! All by little self... even though I didn't feel like it and could have easily just sat around for another few hours watching tv or playing on the computer. I'm so proud! I normally don't go to the gym without Ed, even though I have been saying for a few months now that I am going to go and just do cardio when he is at work. (I have only done this like once!) There is no reason for me not to, I just never get up and go. I went to a few workout classes with a friend, and I said I was going to start going to classes with her when he was at work, but then she hurt her back, so I haven't been doing that either. I actually felt much better and much more energized when I came home today also! We haven't had time to go regularly this week, and I was really starting to notice it. I think we have only eaten at home once this week....My metabolism has slowed down, I feel un-motivated, and I haven't been able to sleep well at night. It's so wierd how your body reacts to things like that. Anyway, I just wanted to share that with everyone. :) I'm pretty sure I'm actually going to get a good nights sleep now!!!!!

Oh, and.... My other accomplishment in this area is that I did a full hour on the elliptical! If you follow me on Facebook at all, you might know that back in February when I took my first attempt at the elliptical, I had to get off after 8 minutes. Yes, only 8 minutes. My heart rate was sky high, I was out of breath, and my thighs were on fire! These days we normally start our workout with 35-45 minutes on the elliptical or treadmill, 25 minutes if we do the stairmaster. I'm a survivor! I'm so proud that I can now go and do these things without any trouble!

I haven't lost any weight, but I haven't gained any either... I take that as a good sign. I'm gaining muscle, and losing fat, and as long as it equals out or drops, I'm okay with that!!!

Bad, bad, blogger...

I have been an awful blogger! I haven't written anything in 11 days!!!! I'm not really sure why exactly..... some interesting stuff has come and gone in the past 11 days, and I have thought about blogging, I just never get the energy to do so. I still remember these things, I might have to blog about them over the next few days. But today, let me give a short explanation of my best excuse for why I have not been in the mood to write about my life.

So my career as a student nurse hasn't gone so well.... The first part of my 11 day hiatus was spent studying for a really big test in school. And the second part was spent sulking over my horrible grade on said test... :( So things didn't go so well, and studying didn't pay off, so I have withdrawn. It would have been almost impossible to pass the semester, and rather than risk hurting my GPA, I have dropped out so I can try again. At this point, I, along with Ed and my mom, have decided that my schools teaching methods are not working for me. Sooooo, my next step is to look into other schools in the area, and hope that I can get in with my not so lovely record and GPA. This afternoon I am going to make a semi-long haul up to Lake Worth and check out Palm Beach Community Colleges Nursing Information Meeting. Wish me luck. I'm hoping I can find a good match, and get back into a program as soon as possible. As is, it looks like the soonest I will be back in school is August. That seems sooooo far away!!!!

On the plus side... not being in school means that travel plans for my cousin Paiges wedding at the end of May (of which I'm a bridesmaid in) will be much less stressful! I won't have to worry about missing school, or study time, and I can leave in time to make the rehearsal dinner on Friday night which is something that I was pretty sure I was going to have to miss. I'm pretty excited about this, and I'm sure that when she reads this she will be too :) I haven't been up to Kentucky in over a year, and I'm waaaaaayyyyy overdue for some time up there with my awesome family. Lots has been going on without me... and it makes me sad. For example.... My cousin Heather's baby's first birthday was last month.... then she had another baby.... Paige had a bridal shower.... and now my other cousin Ashley's baby's first birthday is TODAY! She is so cute! Look at Miss Riley, how could you look at this face and not smile!?!?!?!?!?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RILEY!!!!!

Check out her Aunt Paige's blog for more...

http://livelaughloveorlando.blogspot.com/

Catastrophic Cookie Failure

I'm so bummed! We are having Easter lunch at Ed's parents house tomorrow, and I wanted to contribute something, and his sister was like "oh, we have everything under control, just bring something sweet if you want". HA! No problem I say! Sweets are totally my thing. Ed cooks, I bake, it's just how things are. lol... Anyway, so I made a batch of brownies because everyone likes brownies and we already had a box.... and then I decided to be creative and make some non-sugar sugar cookies. aka - sugar cookies made with Splenda. So yeah - this recipe gets an F- in my book. BLUCK. I'm blaming the recipe. It called for 4 cups of flour! What the heck!?!?!?!? So anyway, in the process of adding in the flour to the other stuff it got all stiff and it was EVERYWHERE. I know overbeating can make it stiff, but I was just trying to mix it in!!!! Ugh. I finally resorted to using my hands! I didnt even put it all in. I got too frustrated. So I put it in the fridge, and then wound up using my hands to mold together a somewhat cookie shape to put in the oven. This is the result.... they look just like they did going in! No wait, they look more like biscuits now. Oh, and I had to eat one... they taste closer to biscuits than cookies also. Bluck, Gross, Nasty, Catastrophic Failure! At least we still have the brownies... I mean, I made them from a box, I couldn't have messed those up too right? Maybe I should try them just in case!

Things I Love Thursdays!

I have done nothing all day except for study, and I have to say it's quite boring.... SO.... Yes Jess, this is the highlight of my day since we didn't go to Miami. lol....

1. I LOVE Green Tea. I am completely addicted! It all started with the Green Tea To Go shakers.

Yum.... but now that I am home all the time, I have actually starting using actual tea bags and making iced Green Tea on my own from the Lipton All Natural Green Tea bags.

Then I add 2 packets of Splenda and a splash of lemon juice. It's scrumptious! And addicting. YUM! Caffeine! Oh, and I might add that I only like citrus flavored... and the stuff premixed in the bottle tastes like crap.

2. I love Google. I use it all day, every day. I have it as my homepage on my laptop, and I have the application downloaded on my Blackberry. I can't imagine a better search engine. Really. With Google Reader, Gmail, Photos, Docs, etc, why does anything else even exsist? Can someone please tell me? Do people still use Yahoo???? Or Dogpile? Remember Dogpile? I used to use that crap back in the day. Before Google stole my heart :)

3. I love looking at wedding pictures! I don't know why, I just do. It really doesn't matter whose wedding. I just like to admire. Maybe it's because I don't see a wedding of my own anytime in the near future so I live vicariously through others. hahaha, who knows. Maybe it will go away one day, maybe it won't. My obsession this week is photos from a wedding of a friend of mine from 5th grade that I re-united with on Facebook. I'm in love with her photographer. Here is one of her e-pics as a teaser...

Let's just call the source - Facebook....And then let me direct you to her photographer's website where you can drool along with me. MunozPhotography When and if I ever get married, I can only hope that I can afford to hire this photographer.

Wordless Wednesday (Inspired by Paigey)

Crock Pot Chicken Creations

Ed sent me a text earlier today saying that he had to work late, and was not happy about it, and didn’t know what time he would be home. He actually had to wait for a workplace to close before he could go in and work there. Grrrr. So I wanted to make sure dinner was ready for him when he got home, and I instantly thought of my Crock Pot! I love using my Crock Pot on nights like this when you just have no idea when you are going to eat, but you want dinner to be ready when you are. My mom was kind enough to give me some squash and zucchini the other day, and I wanted to make sure I used them before they went bad. I don’t really know what to do with said ingredients, especially when it comes to the Crock Pot, so I headed to my trusty friend – Google. I put in Crock Pot Chicken, Squash, Zucchini, and I think tomato too, because I was in the mood for something of the sort… and I came up with lots and lots of recipes! This is the one I based my dish on tonight, but I didn’t follow it exactly, I never do.

http://caloriecount.about.com/athenes-tomato-squash-zucchini-crockpot-recipe-r29531

I used a can of diced tomatoes, and a can of tomato paste, and then all of the other ingredients, but I didn’t use as much of them as it called for.I used 1 squash, 1 zucchini, ½ a chopped onion, 2 tsp of already minced garlic, and 2 chicken breasts. As for the seasonings, I just kindda decided on my own how much of each thing I wanted. I wasn’t sure how late Ed would actually be, so I cooked the chicken in a pan until the outsides were white before I put it in, that way it would cook a little faster. (and I always feel weird about putting raw chicken in with other ingredients, I know it gets really hot and stuff, but still) Plus, my chicken was completely frozen.

I put all the stuff in the pot at 5:30 ish, and cooked it on high until around 8:30. This is all the yummies after I added the tomato paste and chopped 'maters and bay leaves and stuff.

At 8:30, things were starting to cook down and it looked REALLY yummy!

I decided to do a little taste test because I had a feeling I might have over peppered it a bit, and what do ya know, I did. Oops. So I went back to my trusty friend Google and looked up how to fix my little mistake. It wasn’t too bad, but I do like to taste other ingredients, lol…. I found a whole bunch of different theories on how to simmer down the pepper heat a bit. I decided to try a few and see how it worked out. I added some lime juice, a little more water, some chicken bouillon, and a packet of splenda (we don’t really use sugar in our house). It seemed to thin it out a bit, and I was content. The chicken at this point is cooked all the way through, and just falls apart when you put into it with a spoon (yum!) so I put the pot down on low, and awaited Ed’s arrival. He finally came home around 9, and I cooked up some whole wheat pasta. I layered the pasta on the plate, put a chicken breast and some veggies over it, and slathered it with parmesean cheese (YUM!). I was so hungry, I completely forgot to take a picture of it plated. It looked pretty yummy. It probably cooked a little too long because the veggies were a tad soggy, and oddly enough the chicken was a little dry. The dry chicken was easily cured by breaking it up in the sauce, it soaked it up in no time. I probably should have poked some holes in it with a fork while it was cooking to soak up some of the stuff. All in all, I would say it was a success! It wasn't even too peppery. (Next time I will probably use less though!!!!!)

Things I love Thursdays

So I missed it by like 10 minutes, who cares, I'm still doing it :-)

#1 I LOVE sales! I don't have all that much money right now, but even when I do, I can't stand buying things that aren't a bargain! I went shopping today for some necessities. Ed needed a Hawaiian-ish shirt for a Luau themed wedding reception we are going to this weekend, and I got a great deal at Kohls! (I got him a few so he could pick out which one he wants, and I'll take back the rest) but they were only $20!!!! Regularly priced at $36 ;-) and on the way, I came accross a nice pair of black cargo shorts for him for $15! Kohls is awesome. I also got a new bra today at Victoria's Secret that I was in desperate need of, and I had a $10 off coupon, plus a free pair of panties to go with it! Woo hoo!!!! Which brings me to my next fav....

#2 I LOVE Victoria's Secret!!!!!!! I can browse online or walk through a store, and can't help but make a mental wish list of all the things I want when they go on sale. It's so hard to pay full price for their stuff because it gets pricey, but when things go on sale, go for it man! You can't beat it! I don't just mean bra's either. I love their tops, and bathing suits, and shoes, and sundresses! I was sad to walk out with just one bra and a free pair of panties today :( I did make a list of a few things I want though! And I'll be back when I get my next $10 off, and free panty card.

#3 I LOVE relaxing days out on the boat with my honey. It really and truly is my favorite place to be. Out on the water, with him, no specific destination, no specific purpose, and nothing else to do. It's an amazing feeling, and I only wish we had more time to do it.

This is my favorite picture of us boating. It was taken on a Sunday afternoon last year in the Intercoastal waterway.

It's about time!

At the airboat show there was this booth that really caught my eye... It was run by a girl who makes clothing with fish and stuff on them for girls. It's about damn time!!!!!! I have Guy Harvey shirts and stuff... but I really don't wear them all that often, because they are not made to fit women in a flattering way. Apparently this girl from Jupiter, FL felt the same way. The clothes are SOOOO cute. Unfortunately I didnt get to buy anything from them because I didnt have any money, and sadly, they were not there on Sunday. I did manage to hunt someone down who was wearing one of their tanks and get the name they have "trademarked" on all their clothes. "Dressed to Kill". After much searching on the internet, and some frustrations after finding out there is actually a company in Jupiter called Dressed to Kill that is NOT theirs.. I came accross her website. http://sportygirlapparel.com/index.html Check it out, her stuff is so cute! Especially the dresses! Kudos to this girl for coming up with this awesome clothing line. I hope to purchase some stuff from her some day in the near future (when I can afford to). Not that it's all that expensive, the shirts and stuff average around $25, I'm just living on a housewife budget here people! lol

Good luck to her... hopefully one day her signature

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