Love/Hate Relationship

It is SPRING which means that SUMMER is quickly approaching, and when you live in Phoenix SUMMER comes with a definite love/hate relationship. It is always this time of year that....

I LOVE cleaning and fixing up our house,

I HATE the money it takes to do these things,

I LOVE having all of the doors and windows open,

I HATE all of the dust and pollen that blows in with the fresh air,

I LOVE the warmth of the sun,

I HATE having to sleep in a room that can't get any cooler than 85 degrees because our thermostat is on the North side of our house,

I LOVE my husband for buying me an air conditioner for our room so that I won't have to go through that again this year,

I HATE how big the air conditioner is and that I can't close my blinds all the way,

I LOVE going out and buying new bathing suits and good books to read,

I HATE having to face the few extra pounds I have put on since last summer.

Definitely the good outweighs the bad and I am looking to a fun filled summer with my kids. This will be the 1st year that we are NOT enrolling them in a summer program. It will be up to me to keep them busy!

Fun in the Snow

Well, it has been a LONG time and since I last posted we have been very busy! Life is good and somewhere amongst all of the stuff we have to do, we found time to play in the snow!!!! There did not turn out to be as much snow as we had hoped, but it was enough for Collin to try some pseudo snowboarding (and he was good), also for us to enjoy a nice fire all weekend long, and most importantly it was enough for Chad and Ryan to get our trucks stuck.

Lately, we have been busy with soccer, work, school, and more soccer. The weather this time of the year in Phoenix ROCKS and we are taking full advantage of it. My mom and I have been eating lunch outside every chance we get.

We also celebrated my 33rd birthday last Saturday! We went to the melting pot with 3 other couples and had a blast. It was nice to see everyone let loose -- including me =).

More to come soon.....

Inspiration

It is funny how even the smallest things can inspire us. Recently for me it was the movie Julie and Julia. The first time I saw this movie I blogged about, and I recently re watched it at home and once again felt inspired both to blog and to cook! Mainly to cook. I thought about what an interesting challenge it would be to pick a cookbook and cook my way through it, so that is exactly what I plan to do.

My mom, Jenn, and I all went to Barnes and Noble today and picked out new cookbooks. Jenn has agreed to partake in this challenge with me (FUN). We both picked cookbooks with approx. 115 recipes and will make our way through them within one year starting January 1st. My mom lives by herself and didn't want to make that big of a commitment, but she picked out a cookbook and has agreed to try one new recipe from hers every week for the next year. I am both excited and nervous. It all could turn out to be a big disaster, but I am hoping I will be a better cook for it. I am sure there will be many stories (and hopefully great recipes) to come.

Let the cooking begin....

Deep Thoughts

For some reason, I have recently been thinking about things I would go back and change if I could. To be honest there are not many. I think part of that is because with time comes some sort of clarity as to why we have gone through the experiences that we do. I think that, in time, we start to understand the lesson we were supposed to learn or realize the great people we met because of a certain situation. God truly works in mysterious ways....

The one decision that I made that I still struggle with on a daily basis is having LASIK surgery. I am hoping that time does prove to bring some clarity, but for now I am left frustrated for many reasons.

• I feel bad that Chad gave up something that brought him so much joy (his quad) to help make my dreams come true.
• I feel bad that and frustrated that not only was my end result not what we expected, but that, even with correction, I am not able to see well out of my right eye.
• I get frustrated every time I am tired and try to read or see a movie because I am unable to accommodate for my vision problems like I was able to prior to the surgery.
• It is frustrating that there is no way to truly make people understand what it is like for me now.

If I could undo one thing in my life, I would have to say that it would have to be my LASIK surgery. I know someday I will see the good that comes out of this situation, but for now I am just praying for patience.

Nothing too interesting

This was officially the first year that my boys did NOT want to dress up for Halloween. To be quite honest, I am okay with that. Instead, we went to Golfland for "spooky golf" as a family and then had some friends over for pizza. Everyone in my house was sound asleep by 10:30. It was great!

Then, on Sunday, we got up and went to the Cardinals game! Those of you who know us know that this is NOT a rare occurrence, but what was different was that our next door neighbors bought tickets in our section and showed up to surprise us! We had a great time despite the terrible game that unfolded. We really have the BEST neighbors!

On a sad note, my High Risk OB class has come to an end. I have REALLY enjoyed the class and have enjoyed not having to work 1 night shift a week even more. I am not looking forward to adding in that extra night again, but at least I had 7 weeks of additional sanity. Until you have had to work true night shift, you can't understand to hard it can be.Otherwise, life is good! I am enjoying the cooler weather by taking nice long walks with my husband and by having the doors and windows open ALL the time. I have started my Christmas shopping, and the boys are doing great in soccer and more importantly, school!

Kristi's Baby Shower

Thanks to all of my wonderful co-workers, Kristi's baby shower went off without a hitch. Regina and Lisa got this wonderful cake, Brittney made the center piece which was this super cute diaper cake,

Kim brought the balloons and bought all of the cute decorations hanging around,

and well, all I did was cook and clean. We had a great time and Kristi got some wonderful gifts. Thanks everyone who was able to make it. We missed you night shift girls that had to work the night before.

Long Time No See....

It has definitely been a while since I have taken the time to post pictures. For those of you who are out there and are wondering what we have been up to....

I have officially been introduced to Chipotle, and I LOVE IT!

I have been introduced to paint ball guns, and they HURT!

I was able to throw a baby shower for one of my co-workers, and it turned out GREAT!

This is just a small glimpse of what we have been up to in between work, soccer, and Cardinals Football!

Creepy!

This is a bark scorpion. I am sure that you are all wondering what it has to do with our blog. Well, it looks just like the one that was crawling up the back of my neck 3 nights ago while I was sleeping. When I went to bat it away (not knowing yet what it was) it stung me on my right hand. I do have to say that it was much more painful than I expected, and it caused numbness and tingling up to my elbow as well as muscle spams. Yuck!
We have officially removed the bedskirt from our bed and now keep a black light on the night stand. Every night and/or day before I get in bed, EVERY layer of the bed and pillows gets checked with a black light.

Soccer

Well, soccer is back in full swing and the boys are loving every minute of it! For the 1st time in 3 seasons, Dylan is on a skill appropriate team for his abilities. He is not the best on his team and he is definitely not the worst. He is only 10 and is playing on a U13 team. His coach is awesome! We are so happy that he is excited about soccer again.

Collin is on the same team as he was on last year with his dad and another Chad as their coaches. Their first game was brutal. It was 106 degrees out, we had no subs, and we were frankly outmatched, but the boys worked hard and still had fun.Here is to an exciting year.

Good luck boys!

Dylan

Lately is seems as though all of my posts have been about Collin, so I decided that it was time for Dylan to get in on the action. Over the 4th of July my boys flew out to Albuquerque to stay with Chad's parents. Chad's mom then flew them to Austin, TX to visit their aunt, uncle, and cousins. They took a day to drive in to San Antonio and go to Sea World. They had a blast! Well, Dylan is typically my serious child. He is an introvert who does not like to have his picture taken, and he is STUBBORN. The one person he is completely relaxed around is my mother-in-law. While in Austin, she manage to catch this great picture of him. I love to see him being silly and having fun, as he does it so infrequently...

Well, I know you have all seen this picture of me and my youngest son, Collin, but not in this way. Yesterday, Chad got a call from one of the college aged kids at our church, and she sent him this picture. This is a picture of one of United Blood Services blood donation buses that travels around the valley. This one was parked at Mesa Community College at the time and she thought it would be funny to send a picture of it to Chad.
Since Collin and I took these pictures I have had coworkers get postcards with this picture sent to their house, and numerous people have seen us on the UBS website. It is too funny. They tell you that they might use these pictures in this way, but I never really thought they would choose ours :)

I am Back!!!!

Well, thanks to numerous requests from friends and my cousins, I AM BACK to blogging. Just in time to share a story with all of you.

It seems at though my sweet little boy, Collin, has been growing up before my eyes....complete with an attitude to boot. It happens so subtly that you don't even realize it is happening until you look back at pictures, etc...

Well, the other night, Chad and I came home at 10pm after getting together with friends and we went to check on the boys and kiss them good night. When I walked into Collin's room I made a very precious discovery. He was sleeping with the baby blanket I made him when he was just a year old. It was light blue and covered with little rubber duckies. Keep in mind that he had not had this blanket out in approx 2 years and I don't even know where he got it out from.

Here is a picture I took of it in his bed the next morning after he left for school. It is so nice to know that there is still a part of him that is a sweet little boy. I feel like he has grown up so fast and HE thinks he is MUCH older than he is. Maybe he will still need his parents a little bit longer. I don't know what inspired him to get it out and he has already put it away, but it gave me a little glimpse at my little boy. He is still in there somewhere. It is silly, I know, but sometimes us moms can't help but to be a little sentimental...

Last Post

Well, it has been a fun year of blogging, but I think it is time that I wrap it up. That right - - NO more blogging for me. I find that it has kept me from calling family members and friends because they all already know everything that is going on in our lives. I love the whole blog idea, and I love reading other peoples blogs, but I think I am done.

Thanks for everyone who has cared enough to read our blog!

Blast from the past

Today when I checked my e-mail, I had a new message from my father-in-law titled Memories. It was just 2 pictures and it made me realize just how fast time really does fly by. Here are a couple of old pictures of my family. The 1st one was taken when my boys were ages 1 and 3, and the 2nd one was taken when they were ages 2 and 4....

A Movie that speaks to my heart...

Well, yesterday my mom and I went to see Julie and Julia! We have been waiting for its release and we were NOT disappointed. I think I liked it even more than my mom did! It made me want to come home and start cooking and blogging immediately. I am not sure I have ever seen a movie that I can relate to so well. I LOVE to cook, and I LOVE to eat! I know it is silly, but I loved this movie. When I go into my kitchen it is sort of an escape from real life and it is a way for me to express myself. I love experimenting with new recipes and I rarely leave them as they are. I enjoy adding my own flare.

When I got home last night I decided to make one of my old favorite recipes - Homemade Salisbury Steak and mashed potatoes with brown gravy! It is one that always makes me think of my childhood and especially of my dad. It was his favorite meal. I had to add some mushrooms sauteed in garlic, butter, and soy sauce; some toasted bread to serve with the baked garlic I made to spread on it; and some white wine.

To finish off the evening, I decided to try something new...I made my 1st homemade peach pie with crumb topping, YUM! I will list the recipes for both below.

Salisbury Steak

1.25 lbs ground beef

2 slices white or wheat bread torn into little pieces

1 egg

1T. Worcestershire sauce

2T mince onion

season salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and form into 5 patties. Place patties into an electric skillet that has been preheated to 400 degrees. Brown for 1 minute and flip patties. Turn down heat to 250 degrees and cover with lid. Cook without turning for 45 minutes.

For gravy, whisk 2 cups water with McCormick brown gravy mix. Remove steaks from electric skillet and poor gravy mix into the skillet. Turn up the heat to 300 degrees and stir constantly until thickened. Turn down heat to warm. Return the steaks to the gravy.

Serve with mashed potatoes.

Peach Pie - preheat oven to 450

Filling

2 cans sliced peaches in juice (not syrup), drain all the juice from 1 can

1 cup sugar

1/2 teas. ground cinnamon

1/2 teas. ground nutmeg

Mix all ingredients together and set aside.

Crust

1 1/4 cups flour

1/2 teas. salt

1/2 cup canola oil

2 T. milk

Mix all ingredients together and press into the bottom and up the sides of a 10" pie plate. Fill with peach pie filling.

Topping

1/2 cup flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

6 T. cold butter cut into cubes

Mix all dry ingredients together and then use a pastry blender to cut in the butter. Sprinkle over the pie filling making sure to cover completely.

Bake at 450 for 45 minutes. Let cook for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Cardinals Training Camp 09

Last week the boys went up to Flagstaff for their 4th annual tradition of Cardinals Training Camp! Once again, I was stuck working, so I missed out on the fun. The boys went up midweek this time in anticipation of the huge crowds the team would have, and even though it was a Wednesday, it was much more crowded than the years prior. The boys were a little disappointed because in years past they were able to throw the ball with some of the players and actually get to talk to them. This year they only had the opportunity to talk to a few of the players. Fortunately, Chad was able to get these moments on film:) My favorite pic is this one of them with Anquan Boldin!!

My Tough Guy

As most of you know, our family took our yearly camping trip this past weekend. We had a blast! I will post photos soon. What most of you don't know, is that the night before we left to go camping, Collin wrecked his bike. He was riding home from a friends house after just having gotten out of the pool. When he jumped on to ride home, his but slipped off the seat and his face and upper arm hit the handle bars. The next thing he knew he had face planted on the asphalt. This kid is SO tough that he hopped on his bike and rode the 3 blocks home before totally falling apart. Adrenaline is amazing. He almost put several of his top teeth through his lip, got road rash on his lower lip, ribs, mutilple spots on his arms, and a few big bruises to boot. The worst of it was his mouth. The swelling and pain has been incredible. Here are a few pictures of my baby - definitely not at his best. The pictures don't even do his injuries justice. Poor guy. He is a trooper, and had a great time camping.

Our Adventure

Every year our family takes a trip up to the woods and we camp together. This year we went with our friends Matt and Shannon and their kids.

As you can see we truly camp. No luxuries, just a tent and a camp fire. This year we did have a grill :) This first picture is a view of our campsite from the boys tent. This year they had there very own, brand new tent. They loved it. I thought it was too far away. This next picture is one I took while I was standing in the stream by our camp site. It gives great perspective on just how close to the water we were. The stream was filled with crawfish and rainbow trout. We spent hours everyday fishing with homemade fishing poles that Chad made.

This picture of our family was taken after we had been hiking for approximately 40 minutes on our way to a waterfall we were told about. We spotted this abandoned mine opening across the stream and thought it would make a great picture.Here are just a couple of the numerous great pictures I got of my boys this weekend. I love memories like this. They love being outside. They don't even fight...

Here is a picture of the waterfall and swimming hole that we hiked to. It was a bit further than we anticipated with a 2 year old and a 4 year old in tow (our friends kids), but everyone did great and it was worth it.

The road that leads in and out of this particular camp site was a little rough. It was not emphasized enough to me ahead of time just how rough it was. We really should have had 4 wheel drive. We had to move some fallen trees along the way. I tried to snap some pictures as we were driving out of our friends truck in front of ours hoping that it would help give perspective, but these don't really do it justice.

One of the best parts about this trip was seeing my kids get truly exhausted and then enjoying the silence all the way back to Phoenix. Here is a picture of them crashed out in the back seat.