The Start of the Recipes

I am starting to cook again this week. Yay. Of course, I am not really unpacked yet so it should make cooking more interesting as I search for cooking implements. We moved into a new apartment on Thursday. The movers came and delivered everything. We are in an apartment with a garage, the garage is a little bit down the street. I had the movers put some things in the garage but had them put all the boxes upstairs so I could sort through them. Well, now that I look at them, most of them will go in the garage. Crap for being on the third floor.

So Thursday I was getting stuff out of the corporate apartment. I was dragging a 40 lb bag of dog food down the stairs (again with the third floor) when the bottom decided to disintegrate. Dog food everywhere. Luckily I had just gone to the store and got one of those dog food containers. So there I was scooping up 40 lbs of dog food one cup at a time. Fun stuff huh?

Saturday we went to the new movie "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" or something like that. It was pretty funny. I recommend it. Nothing else out really looks good. I mean it is either R or stupid.

So here is my menu for the week, feel free to cook along with me. Ask me for the recipes.

Monday:

Tender Pot Roast, Salad

Tuesday:

15-Minute Chicken and Rice dinner, Salad

Wednesday:

Cinnamon and Lime Chicken Fajitas, Salad

Thursday:

Avocado-Lime Shrimp Salad, Garlic Bread, Spicy Green Beans

Friday:

Chicken and 3 cheese Potato Casserole, Salad

Saturday:

Avocado and Green chili Soup, Taco Salad

Sunday:

Mexican Haystacks, Salad

Playing Catch up

I am no better at keeping up with this than I am at keeping a journal. I thought if maybe other people were reading it I would be motivated to keep at it. I just really suck at this.

Well, I am now in South Carolina. Guess what. It's cold. The first week I was here it snowed like, 6 inches in one day. It was funny to watch the dogs though. I showed it to them on the patio. They walked out and then turned right back around and came inside. Then next day we took them to an open field and let them run around and they began to really like it.

Everyone keeps asking me how I like it here. I really do not know how to answer them. I don't spend too much time outside, and it is just like any other city I've been in. I mean other than the temperature and the fact that absolutely everything is brown and dead, my life is alot like it was in Florida. I am at an awkward stage right now though. I am out of school and I won't be going back. It is so weird to think that this is the rest of my life. College was really such a small part. I mean, it's like in church. You start out in Primary, and you're there till you are 12. Then you join the youth organization and are there till you are 18. Suddenly you are in Relief Society. And guess what, you're there till you die. Not to be a downer or anything it's just weird to think that there are not any more stages. Bam, you're an adult. I feel like that now. I mean I left home and went to college. Vacations, hobbies, weddings, all were planned around school breaks. Now I just realized that I no longer have that constraint. Together as a family, we have constraints, but if I want to go to someone's wedding or visit someone, I don't have to worry about planning around a break.

I am at loose ends however. I relish that freedom I loath to give that up for a job. But I need to be doing something, not only to keep busy but also to grow. I mean, where is the challenge in staying home with no kids. I've been drifting these past weeks since coming here because our living situation is temporary and all of our belongings are in storage. We will be leaving this apartment for a different one next week. I hope to get myself back into some semblance of a schedule. Befoer, I would get up to make my husband breakfast before work. But now he is getting up a 6 and to be quite honest, that is not really my favorite time of day. I guess I'll just have to suck it up and start going to bed earlier. Grrrr. I am so a night person.

I am looking forward to having my sewing and cooking stuff back. We are going on a cruise the middle of April and I've been designing some cool stuff I want to wear.

I'm also looking forward to cooking again. I have got tons of recipes I want to try out and I have started to get them all together in a database. I am going to review them and share them on this blog. Fell free to cook along with me.

I feel bad for Max. He was running around yesterday and he ran into a set of bleachers (note to everyone, don't run full speed while looking the other way) and scrapped the bottom of his paw pad off. It bled everywhere. We wrapped it and it finally stopped bleeding this morning. Now he walks on his toes and lays around in his crate, I didn't put him there. He just wants to be there. It is driving Toby crazy because he wants to play. Oh well.

The Final Week

Man, what a week. Talk about killer. There was so much work that needed to be done. On Monday the movers came to pack up the house, and by pack up I really mean pack up. They even packed all of the toilet paper, which was interesting for those of us left for the next week. Then on Tuesday, they came back and moved it all out of the house. Well, Monday, I tore up the carpet in the master bedroom. I got so sick. I could not breath, the crap under the carpets (which had been there since the house was built in 83) was disgusting and when it was swept, it created a poison dust cloud that infected the lungs of all in reach. Okay, that may be a little dramatic but that is how it felt. I could not sleep that night cause every time I laid down, my throat would close up and I was struggling to breath. I seriously despaired. So I called my husband, who was in South Carolina and really not in a position to help. He told me to go to a hotel. So I packed the dogs up and drove to a hotel. Guess what. My dogs refuse to get on an elevator. Absolutely refuse.

The next day, the movers came to move everything out of the house. It was a long day because mother nature decided to send a torrential downpour over my house. All day I struggled to find someone to come pull up hte carpets so I wouldn't have to do it. Finally, I decided to get some big, industrial face masks. Tah dah, no more breathing problems (other than my constant sinuses). I tore up all the carpets in the house except the carpets near the fireplce cause, wouldn't you know it, the tack strip was under the fireplace. Then I went to a friends house for the night.

The next day was a very busy day. One if my husband's friends came over to help. We hauled all the carpets to the curb, painted, repaired the popcorn ceiling, cleaned, painted, painted, painted, did I mention painted? Seriously, it was ridiculous. I was the only one there for a little while and I had so much left to do that when my husband called, I was really negative. I mean I was trying to get everything done that night because the carpet was being installed the next day. I had so much left to do, it was already 6 pm, and I was alone. My husband made some calls. Suddenly, the missionaries, and the Relief Society Presidency was there. With their help we were able to knock off so much of the work. It was awesome.

Thursday the carpet people came, they told me it would take two days to install the carpet. My original plan was to stay while they installed the carpet and then leave for my parent's that ioght for good. But because it was going to take two days I just went to my parent's early that day and then dropped off the dogs and went back on Friday.

It was a long process, and some stuff still needs to be done to the house, but for the most part, it is ready to put on the market. It is beautiful, we really did a lot of work. It would have been nice to be able to stay there and raise a family but I think the new opportunities we will get in South Carolina will be better fr us. So so long, farewell first house. Sunday I will drive with my husband to Anderson. I will be done with the longest week I have ever had.

Swing Dancing

I made that skirt. Isn't it awesome.

I had such a good time. To top it off we won 1st in Swing and Merengue and 2nd in Merengue Hustle

This was the back of my hair. It took forever butI had a couple of friends come over and help.

Here are some pictures from my Swing Dance competition.

Dancing, Work, and Home Repair (a recurring theme, I know)

Well, so much has been going on that I haven't had too much time to blog. But that also means that I have a lot to blog. So lets pick up where I left off.



The car was making a noise on my way home from the garage. The garage was closed so I couldn't just turn around and go back. I had to go back the next morning and I was not happy. I needed a car, and from my description of the noise, my husband was pretty sure it was the radiator fan. So I got up early the next morning and drove, noisily, to the garage. I pulled up and he didn't even ask to hear the noise. He knelt in front of the car and showed me the piece of the undercarriage that was hanging down in front of the passenger wheel. Yep, that is what the noise was, something rubbing on the tire. He didn't even cut it off, he just tucked it back up. It was humiliating. But now, I have one more thing to add to my car troubleshooting list. So far I have: check the temperature- the car is overheated, if the car is making a funny jerking while driving- the gas tank needs to be taken off and something in there needs to be replaced, if the steering wheel is flipping out- have a flat tire, and now, if it sounds like someone taped cards to my spokes- there is something rubbing on the wheel. Not a sophisticated or comprehensive list, but it's a start.



Friday night I put on a dance in our Ward. We had a surprisingly good turnout, about 40 people. It was so much fun. I did try to teach some swing and Latin but it kind of fell apart. I guess I'm not that good a teacher. But I had fun and everyone who came seemed to have fun. I am still sore from dancing barefoot all night.



So more updates on the house. I planned a painting party on Saturday, and a whopping two people showed up. They did alot though. They got the dark blue bedroom primered and ready for painting. I took all the bedroom, bathroom, and closet doors off the hinges and started painting them. I decided to spray paint them with a white coat as a primer and then paint them from there. That seemed to work out really well. My roommate took over in the afternoon and finished many of them. I feel like a bad landlord, I give them their own bathroom and then take away the door. Oh well. I sent the rest of the day and most of Sunday removing wallpaper in the bathroom. Seriously, there is way too much wallpaper. I took the toilet tank off so I could get to the paper behind it. I really do not think I will be removing the mirror to do the same thing. So, just to count, out of the three bathrooms, 2 do not have doors and one does not have a toilet. I know there is still alot to do but it is beginning to look manageable. The movers are coming Feb 1and 2, and the new carpet should come in later that week. That weekend is my husband's school weekend so he will fly to Gainsville and I will meet him there and we will drive back to S. Carolina. It should be interesting since Max, one of the dogs, gets carsick and pukes everywhere. I think I'm going to have to stock up on Dramamine and line the back seat with newspaper just in case.

I told my boos that Friday was going to be my last day. I told him a little over a week ago that I would be leaving the first week of February, so guess when he is going to interview someone to replace me, someone I'm supposed to train. Thursday, as in the Thursday before my last day. Talk about waiting till the last minute. Great huh?

I was reading through some old stuff I wrote for school last night. I'm kinda funny. I would like to post some of it here but some of it, well most of it, is tongue and cheek and I'd really hate for it to be taken the wrong way. I'm debating. It may be worth it.

Oh, I finished a sewing project the other day, I'll post pictures later, if I ever get around to taking them.

Cars and Circular logic errors

Man, I haven't had too much time recently to write anything on my blog. But that also means that there is much to relate. Lets see, my husband moved out, his new job started Monday and so he drove out across three states on Saturday. Right before that the radiator decided to blow in my car, meaning my husband would either have to rent a car to drive to his new state or I would. We decided that renting a car for me was the better option. So we got me a car, and my husband found some woman who owns a tow truck to come over on Saturday and tow the car to the small repair shop. (It obviously was a good repair shop because the building was made of old, rusted corrugated metal and was located in a horrible part of town. I think those are the two indications that the repair shop is good) We get to the shop and my husband had left me strict instructions as to what I was supposed to do when I got there. He told me the price it would be, but can a woman in a garage on her husband's errands ever actually accomplish the task smoothly- NOOO. I got there and he was like, well this car is bigger than described on the phone (since when giving the make, model, and year of the car is not a specific enough identifier) and therefore would cost more money. At this point the tow truck had unloaded the car and left. I called my husband and he told me to just go with it. So I left and went about my weekend. But the saga continues to the picking up stage. I had the rental till Tuesday at 5:30, I of course get out of work around that time. I had wanted to pick up the car before work, but the radiator part hadn't even come in yet. So I got off of work and dropped the car at the dealership and had the dealership deliver me to the car fixer guy. Well I get there ( they had to wait for me since they close a 5) and I get my card out to pay when he says "Oh, we don't accept credit or checks, only cash." Had I or my husband been previously informed of this, absolutely not. Do I carry around cash in triple digit amounts, no I do not. So I had to take the car and find an ATM. After paying and on my way home a horrible noise began to manifest itself, so I pulled off the road, in my 4 inch heels and new dress, and pop the hood. Now I have no idea what I'm looking for, or at for that matter, but I saw no obvious signs of leaks or broken belts or anything in imminent danger of exploding so I got back in the car and went home. The noise continued to get worse. So now I have to go back to the man who only accepts cash and closes at 5, to have him fixed what he so obviously caused. Which means I will now be without a car. Grrrr. I hate not having a husband around to do this car crap.

On another note, to make today just that one step closer to insanity, or major irritableness, my allergies just had a field day. They got worse when I went to work and drank two bottels of water. You see when you blow gallons of liquid out of your nose in one day, well the first half of one day, you body tells you that liquids are needed. However, when you have a stuffy and runny nose, consuming large quantities of water means that the snot quite simply free-falls out of your nose- without warning. Not sluggishly either. I mean I was seriously having to catch it with a paper towel because it just dripped. Blegh

I did have a somewhat lighthearted moment today. On SaturdayI got a letter from the water company telling me that my check had been dated with the wrong date. This momentarily confused me because we use Suntrust banking and there is no way that an automatic check could have the wrong year. Sure enough, when I looked at the enclosed check and remittance slip they were to a different person and different account number. I couldn'tbelieve it. I was going to call on Monday but I found out the night before that it was a holiday. So, I called today. I explained my situation to the girl and, I kid you not, it went like this:

Me: Hi I recieved a letter stating that my check had the wrong date on it but the check is for a different account

Her: Could you give me your account number...Now could you give me the account number on the check. Okay thank you. Okay now you are saying that the letter is addressed to oyu and has your account number on it but the remittence slip nad check have a different number?

Me: Yes, but our check did not have the wrong date on it, so it looks like somehow something went wrong.

Her: So what your saying is that you have the right letter but wrong check?

Me: No, I'm saying the letter, payment slip, and letter are all for the same thing but the letter was addressed wrong.

Her: So you have the wrong letter but the right check

(At this point I had no idea what she was asking, I mean, what on earth...)

Me: No, you sent me a check that is for someone elses payment

Her: So you have the wrong check but the right letter

Me: pregnant pause...I really have no idea how to answer your question. What are you asking. All of the papers are the 'right' papers they just should not have anything to do with me.

Her:after putting me on hold for 5 minutes Okay, it looks like the two accounts are similar in the last 4 numbers and when the letter was being made, your account number was accidentaly put in and everything was sent to the wrong address

Me: slappingmy forehead in reaction to the total duhness of that Thats what I thought happened

It was actually funny, I mean the wrong letter but right check? Really, what does that mean?

Well, the house is getting finished and the move is progressing. So much still needs to be done but the majority of it is painting. The movers should be here in a couple weeks to move everything out, and then the carpet will be laid. And then my husband will fly down to drive through three states with me and our two dogs, one of which gets carsick. This should be a blast.

Squirrels and Paint

I saw the funniest sign today at work inside the hallway. Funny, not so much for what was on the sign, but for what the sign said to me. The sign read:

"Please do not feed the squirrels from inside the building"

This is hilarious to me because most signs just say "please do not feed the squirrels" and leave it at that. What it sounds like is this place had tried to get people to stop feeding the squirrels but they refused so the building just finally said, okay, we'll give, please just don't feed the squirrels from inside the building. Classic.

We finally got the grout to where we can accept, even though I still have a slight grout haze on my toes and I have had 4 showers now. We decided that the haze was gone enough to move the appliances and other stuff back to the kitchen. I have my laundry room back but no time to do laundry and a kitchen back but no time to cook. I like work but I hate the time. I'm used to having at least one day during the week to get everything dine but now my only days off are the weekends. Blegh. Now that everything is put back, I can see how messy the house is and now I see that I really need to clean it. Tonight. My family is coming over tomorrow to help paint and I really can't let my mom see how messy the house has gotten. I know she will read this and then the cat will be out of the bag, but at least she won't actually see how messy it is.

Apparently my shoes were the topic of conversation in the break room today. I have gotten lots of comments about my shoes, and alot of comments from the residents about how skinny I am, but I thought it was funny that my shoes were conversation worthy. My accessories have a habit of being considered noteworthy. I have been told a few times that someone was in a conversation and talking about my shoes, or earrings, or outfit, etc. I think that is so weird. Why would anyone talk about me? It's just beyond my comprehension.

So this wekend my family came over and helped me paint. Alot still needs to be done but we got 2.5 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms painted. I'm still removing the wallpaper from the master bathroom and the wallpaper boarder from the top of the master bedroom. Aside from that the trim and doors needs to be painted. Then we will replace the carpets. Man we have a lot to do.

Working and Housework

This is a picture of a banana spider that I found in my yard.

Okay, so I officially hate grouting. Know why? Because I hate mopping. I hate mopping when I only have to do it once; I REALLY hate mopping when I have to do it 4 hours straight. And the has still is not gone from the tile. Grrrrr. That is why I did not post yesterday. I was too busy. Seriously, we were grouting till 10:30 at night before my husband decided we should take a break and get something to eat.

Work has been interesting. I was hired to cover for the secretary while she went on maternity leave. It was supposed to be part-time while she trained me and then full-time when she actually went on maternity leave. But the secretary for my supervisor is out of work, family emergency I think, and they had me in this office. They have now decided to have me work full-time and take both responsibilities. For the most part, I will spend half of my day in one building and half in the other. We will see how this goes.

I kid you not I heard this phrase at work yesterday.

"His butt tocks crushed the chair."

I know that it is out of context, but trust me, it was hilarious in context too.

Another day went by yesterday without me doing the things that I wanted to and now that I am full time I'm going to have to figure out how to get the housework done around work. Of course, right now the house is in chaos since we were tiling. Everything was cleared out of the kitchen and laundry room/pantry and put in the living room. It is really difficult to clean around that chaos. Fingers crossed, the tiling should all be done tonight so I can finally get the house put back together again. Then I will make up a schedule for my life.

I hate grouting.

Resolution

I have been thinking about goals, as one is wont to do around New Years. I realize that I am not a person inclined to be lazy- jaw dropper I know. I always want to be organized and self-disciplined, I make many starts, but I never get very far. When I was still in school, at the beginning of each semester, I would schedule out my week; alotting time for school, study, housework, exercise, etc. I would stick to the schedule maybe a week. Then something would come up to throw the schedule off and I would never get back on it. Now, this does not mean that I stop trying, I still schedule and make lists and spreadsheets, but so far the results have all been the same. I am hoping that this blog may help me. I will have to do the stuff on my schedule so that I can subsequently report that I have accomplished my daily goals on my blog. We will see how this plan works. As of yet, I have not come up with a schedule.

Things I would like to make a habit:

Daily Book of Mormon reading

Monthly Temple Attendence

Monthly Missionary Meals

Daily Blog posts

Actually finishing sewing projects

Studying the weekly Sunday School and Relief Society lesson

Things I have to schedule around:

Work..., yeah that's pretty much it.

I don't know if that's everything, but I think it's a start.

As to my moving situation. My husband officially resigned from his job today. We will be moving to the north part of South Carolina. He will be starting work soon and move there while I hold down the fort here and finish my job- which is a temporary position anyway. I am actually looking forward to it a little. I hope it will be a growing opportunity for me. I got married at 19, and I never really lived on my own, having to keep a house, and working a 'grown up' job. So with my husband gone this may be the perfect time for me to grow up a little. I won't be alone as there is a couple staying with us, but I will be the one in charge of the house and everything. This could be a real opportunity for me. I look forward to it with trepidation and anticipation.

I am still working with having no kitchen, so tonight I was contemplating what to make. I realized that I had one cooking method I could utilize. My mother-in-law gave me a deep fryer for Christmas. Awesome mother-in-law. I haven't really had a chance to use it since Christmas so, tonight we had fried fish and fried raviolis. I know that it was not the healthiest meal but I haven't gone grocery shopping this week yet so I didn't have any vegetables. Oh well, one night won't kills us.

My husband bought an Droid phone tonight. It's the competitor to iPhone, it uses Google. He is so absorbed in exploring it I don't think any grouting will get done tonight. Oh well, I guess I won't have a washer and dryer for a little longer.

The Beginning

Well, I have decided to start a blog. I don't know that anything I have to say is earth shattering but I think it would be interesting to record everything that's going on. As far as an introduction, I am 21 years old, a recent college graduate, and a housewife. I have been married almost two years and I love it. I have discovered that I like to cook and I have a husband who is willing to try new food along with me. I love to sew and take pictures. I do not like housework however, any of it, the cleaning, the laundry, the..., well you get my point. I do love being a wife and I look forward to being a mother. Here's a picture of my boys.

This week has been a different week. I started a job as a receptionist at a retirement community. It's only part time now but I will be moving to full time soon. Since it was the week between Christmas and New Years, my husband's company shut down and he got the week off. He was not able to relax much though. We recently decided that we will be moving and so we need to sell the house we just bought. It needed some work when we bought it so our only hope of selling it is to get the work done. So this week my husband was laying tile, and when I wasn't working I was helping out. We still have some work to do on the floors and we need to paint. Hopefully it will get done before he has to leave for his new job.

We did not really think too far ahead when we decided to tile the kitchen. We got it all laid last night and I did grab the utensils and some bowls and paper plates. But I forgot something very important. Today after church, we realized that the microwave was still in the kitchen, and the stove was on the porch, so we had no way to heat up food. So I worked a little bit and got onto the counter. I was able to get around the kitchen by walking on the counters. So problem was solved but it was an adventure. Maybe we will barbecue tonight.

I am really excited about the upcoming Ward activity. We are planning a Ward dance. I have missed going to church dances. I used to go to youth dance once a month and then 2 singles' dances a month when I was in the Singles' Ward. But then I got married and I have not been to a church dance since. This is going to be so much fun. My husband will not be there unfortunately because when he starts his new job he will move, but I will have a good time with friends. I am slaving over the playlist, since there will be such diverse ages I am trying to get music for everyone. I am so excited, I love my calling.

Till next time.