Oh Boy!

A baby update:

 ♥ It’s a boy! ♥

 Wahooooooooooooo!

Many ask, is that what you wanted? SURE, but if it was a girl I would say the same. We are just thrilled to the core!

We are super excited for our baby boy to be joining our family in April!  It is hard to believe that I am already 5 1/2 months along!  He already weighs over a pound, but needless to say, we are both growing!

This whole baby thing has me pretty excited, but I have to admit, I find myself in a whole different arena… a different world!  Traditionally, I will sit down and make a list of things I need for whatever is coming…  like today I am making a list for Christmas shopping/packing etc. while working on my grocery list.  When we got our puppy, making that list was pretty simple. I made a list and “went to town” on what of this or that to get, which crate would be best, what food etc.  I did my research and had us completely set up for him to come home probably an entire month before we even got him.  I have done dogs, been around dogs and have a pretty good idea what is needed so it kind of just came natural to me.

But, how do I make a list of what I need when I have no idea what it is that I need?  At this point, I have a partial list of very obvious things that a 4-year-old could give me.  So, guess what?  I have nothing!  That is a complete exaggeration and I can’t say that I have nothing because his sweet “grandma” already sent him a little package with onesies,  and a few other cute items (which I look at all the time because I can’t get over how tiny and adorable they are)!  Also, I have one infant diaper and a pile of random coupons the health department gave me as a “yay, you are pregnant” starter kit.  I know we have some time to get everything done, and what really matters is that we already love the little guy so much!  We will slowly acquire the necessities that we need and all will be just fine, and at least we know where to start – at the very beginning!  Get this, I have yet to even acquire any maternity clothes!  The clothes that will work are dwindling almost daily it feels like.  If I put it on and it is too tight or does not look “right” I fold it up and put it directly into a tub labeled “pre-maternity” clothes… I think I just started my 3rd tub this morning.  For me, if I can’t wear it, it is much easier to get it out of the mix.  I figure any day I will wish that I had a stock pile of maternity clothes ready and waiting for me because this morning found me staring at the closet like – ummmmmmmmm….well… this will work, I guess, as I put on the same pair of work pants that I have worn the last 3 days!  That is a bridge I will be forced to cross soon I fear because it is not like my tummy is shrinking!

I probably sound negative, but I don’t mean to. It really it is a super exciting time and is not meant to stressful and overwhelming time… so I should probably not freak out, right?

Wanna help my list grow!? Don’t be shy! What should be on my list?

In the meantime, I will try to lay off the cookies.

Forida Caverns State Park

Our adventure for this past Saturday was going to the Florida Caverns State Park in Marianna on Saturday with some friends! You can click on the link for additional information, because honestly I don’t have details about it, we just had fun! It was a good study break for Greg I know, who has finals week right around the corner.

We went on a tour of the caverns which was pretty neat.  I have been in a few caves to date (my favorite being Arnold) but this was my first time being in a cave with lights! The cave literally had lights and cemented walkways throughout… and this Oregon girl is not used to that. Usually caving means you get dirty, cold, hungry, thirsty and thrilled out! The tour guide asked the group – “Now, how many of you have ever been in a cave and the lights were turned off (like in a creepy weird and crazy voice)?” I laughed out loud on accident then hid behind Greg. I wanted to say that I had never been in a cave when the lights were turned on!

We did the cave tour, then all (along with Chaco) went on a little hike around some of the park! It has been very dry, so a lot of the places that usually were full of water were dry (swampy areas), which was fine with me… less critters and bugs. But it was overall really neat to see the landscape and a totally different type of cave! I am so glad that we went!  We would like to go back again and spend more time walking around and seeing some other features the park has to offer. Enjoy the pics below… it was hard to get good pictures inside (even with lights).

Fresh Squeezed Florida Orange Juice…

Sunday was a nice stay-at-home day for me.

Seems like we have been on the go so much that home has been more of a crash pad that anything else.  If you know me, you know that I love my home time and do best with a steady amount of it.  Even if I am not doing much of anyting, it is just nice to be home.  I spent most of the day doing a lot of nothing, but managed to roughly clean the kitchen, do dishes, pick up Chaco’s toys, sort through a few piles of papers that have been stacked up here and there, do about 5 loads of laundry, enjoy coffee in the sun with Greg between his studying for tests, enjoy some doggy time, bake a big batch of very tasty cookies (which will hopefully appear on a later post), and for the punch or should I say juice project of the day… I made some fresh squeezed orange juice… from local oranges (much thanks to a friends with an orange tree)!

Now, to many peoples’ surprise, I do not own a fancy juicer, not even a unfancy one… I own no juicing equipment. Where I am from juicable items do not grow on trees, just pile up at the local grocery store. All that to say, I do have willing hands to juice… so that is just what I did – juiced them by hand. I gave them all a good massage, rolling, beating and more, then chopped them in half and squeezed as much juice as I could out of them. Seems like I completely demolished them to be exact… but the whole house smelled of orange zest as did my entire front side.

 The result: wonderful, fresh, sweet orange juice. 

Did I already mention it was so, SO yummy!  The fresh squeezed juice made such a wonderful companion to our “loaded omelet” breakfast this bright and early morning!

Folks, this juice does not need a long shelf life because it will be gone before long!

Have a wonderful week and try to make time for something you love!

My first turkey…

This Thanksgiving I got the wild idea to try a turkey… yep!

Even Greg told me this, and I agreed because I thought the same thing… It seems weird that I have never done a turkey before or at least helped with one after all the cooking done by my mom growing up… but it is true, this is my very first experience with a turkey!  Grandma usually took care of the turkey department… which now I am more thankful for!

I thought it would be fun to try one and Greg encouraged me to do so… I mean why not? … You have nothing to lose and if it does not work nobody will care! This is true, since we did not have a huge gathering or anyone to impress or disappoint. So off to the store I went with my thanksgiving list which included a big ol’ turkey.   Thanks to the advice from my mom, I got one that was already thawed because trying to thaw out a huge turkey shaped rock was not on my list of exciting things to do for thanksgiving prep. Plus, it was already Tuesday evening.   Finding a bird NOT frozen was more difficult and there was either huge turkeys or baby turkeys… so I went with the baby of the huge! We still ended up with a hefty 18 pounder.

Here are some of the thoughts that ran through my head through my turkey experience before I move on to the dramatic process:

 What on earth am I doing? What was I thinking?

What if I just got a rotisserie chicken already cooked and present it on a platter?

Why does pizza sound good at a time like this?

What day is thanksgiving again?

Who would want to work in the turkey factory (if there even is one)?

I’m glad this thing does not really have a smell.

I wish mom was here.

Someone or some…thing missed a few feathers.

This is heavy and slippery, bad combo

I should move the pie to another room, it does not deserve to watch this.

Greg is really missing out on a show!

but really… OH MY GOODNESS!

So, back on track: I have my turkey… now what? For started I tucked it in the fridge and tried not to worry about it, but honestly somehow I saw a very fast-forwarded version… basically in the bag to on the plate.  I knew it would not bake itself, but I had accepted a chore it felt like.  I love to cook, don’t get me wrong, but I think most of all I like to bake, and create things… or use pretty, colorful and clean ingredients…not wrestle with raw, cold and rather icky things.  So, help I needed indeed.

I did my research at least so I was not completely in the turkey dark… I looked to my Food Network Magazine, which I love getting in the mail and milking over the month until the next one comes (thank you mom)… and there was a whole section on thanksgiving which included ideas, meals and directions and more… Let me tell you, the page that talks turkey has some stains and wrinkles on it needless to say.  There were all different options for brining the turkey, different selections of butters, glazes, gravy and seasonings but since I am a new-bee, I went with the most basic “dry brine”.  It involved rubbing the bird down thoroughly with salt (lots), pepper and some herbs and letting it chill in the fridge overnight… uncovered, there to greet me every time I opened it up.

I have to back up a little bit, my whole process started with having to remove the bird from the fridge, unwrap it and wash it off…  I wanted to be done after the first feather I saw once I peeled back the plastic.  I am such a baby, huh? I pressed on and got over it pretty quick… So here I am alone in the kitchen, just standing there with a huge ugly naked bird in my biggest bowl staring at me (although he was headless of course) just sitting there in the sink. Oh man….

What does one do? CALL MOM !!!!!

(and pray she answers immediately even though she is in a different time zone and almost 3,000 miles away)

She answered…thank goodness and gave me a little pep-talk and help, which is just what I needed.  She told me to remove the neck and giblets and laughed at my response: huh? She told me to reach into the “cavity” and there would be a packet in there. Phew, a packet of guts is better than I was expecting. What a relief that I did not have to gut the thing.   Next, she said I needed to find the neck and remove it… it is in there… just feel around. Finally finding that long nasty thing was half terrifying. At a time like this it is easy to forget turkeys even have necks for crying out loud. Sorry folks that use all that “stuff” inside the cavity because I tossed it.  Yes, wasted it without a thought. Too much to deal with at once.  After our talk and a lot of strong laughter, I was ready to tackle this thing.  I will master you turkey!  I washed it off, inside and out… dried the thing and made my “brine”.  I rubbed that turkey down like nobody ever has ever rubbed a turkey down… put it on a pan and tucked it in the fridge for the night (Wednesday night that is). It really stared at me every time I opened the fridge.  It is not everyday you open the fridge and see that!

Here is the birdy, early early Thursday after a chilly night.

A fresh new day helped, I was ready to tackle this bird again.  As the directions told me, I was supposed to rinse it off , dry it and then rub it down again, this time with butter butter and more butter galore.  I made my “butter rub” out of well, butter   and some herbs (thyme, sage and a little bit of clove I believe) and again gave that bird the rub of its life.  I rubbed the butter all over the outside and as much of  “under the skin” that I could get to and sent him to the hot place.

About half way through (~2 hours later) the house started to smell of turkey so I snapped a picture of it baking and texted it to mom… who informed me that I forgot to tie the legs together… ummmm. Well? Great! It was probably too late at this time so I stuffed him with onions! If a next time finds me, I will go further and stuff him with carrots, onions and maybe potato too!

So, I really have went off on this whole turkey business but it actually worked out pretty good and was pretty tasty too!

Check out that roasted bird fresh out of the oven!  Greg’s grandpa and aunt joined us for thanksgiving late-lunch and we had a good time!  I was a little nervous about making a thanksgiving meal but there is a first for everything! It all worked out pretty well and we had a good time! Everything seemed to go smooth… but I have to admit, they arrived to our home about an hour early which as many of you know is “prime time, rush, go crazy time”… ya know, just as the turkey was coming out of the oven, before the rolls were baked, before the table was all pretty, before I wiped food off my shirt and before I could get the dog out for a potty break!  Can you imagine me trying to carve a turkey alone, let alone with company present? Well it was rough, but like I said worked out pretty well. I did not get many pictures, but I managed to snap a few of my made by Beka rolls just out of the oven… and my pumpkin pie that exited the oven just before the turkey hogged it for hours.   I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving and finds themselves overwhelmed with stuff to be thankful for!

Thanks for reading my blog and my dramatic turkey expereince!

Cream Cheese Stuffed Pumpkin Bread

The weather changing, the leaves falling, cool nights, crisp mornings and the holidays getting closer really puts me in the mood to bake…

…even more than I usually am, which is pretty regular.  So now, I want to bake, bake, bake.  Lately, I have been wishing I could bake everyday! My current status (pregnant) has my appetite ravishing whether it is in my head or for real, so this makes it hard not to consume the entirety of whatever I bake. SO, the more I bake, the more I eat…  a joy since I am trying not to gain too much beyond what I need to. But honestly,  I was likely to eat whatever before I was pregnant, so maybe I just have a better excuse now than just plain old boring poor self-control.  I may have to start taking baking orders so the goods go OUT of the house! But the good thing here is that I have been pretty busy trying to stay caught up at work that I have not had the time I need to bake a lot.

But since it is something that I enjoy, I am going to be trying new things, beyond my  normal baking rotation… I have made regular pumpkin bread a few times already  this season, and cookies are a regular staple coming out of the oven, and I made a pumpkin pie the other day… but I am ready to step it up a little bit.  I already have my own standard (as prideful as it may be) to not buy cookies, pie shells, cake mixes, brownie mixes or ready-to-devour baked goods over the counter (over-the-counter? hmm, it just came whether it makes sense or not! ha ha).  Whether they come from the store, or my own oven I know they are not among the healthiest things to eat, but I can make them healthier at home with substitutions or add healthier ingredients… but at a minimum stuff from my kitchen is without artificial products, stabilizers, dyes, etc. But anyways…

For this special treat I used some very special pans who were a gift from my wonderful late grandma. These small pans have housed numerous loaves of her famous bread.  She could make some incredible bread that I would love love love a fresh slice of…

So you can imagine, no matter what the bread tasted like, they would still be good if you know what I mean!

So, yesterday I added some flair to the already delicious fall staple (pumpkin bread). My idea for stepping it up for the day was as you can tell… nothing too major but mainly just something different. A yummy twist at the least!   I got the idea from a blog called “Annie’s Eats”  and she got the idea from “Bakespace“, so I thought I would try it!  The original recipe is intended for muffins… of which I thought about, but once I surveyed the kitchen for supplies, I only had 3 muffin liners left and going to the store was just going to happen for me at this time.  It takes a lot for me to go to the local store (how terrible is that?) So I took the idea and made it into a yummy loaf… or several! I ended up with 6 mini & 2 regular size loaves…

Here are the ingredients and brief directions:

So, now we know, you can make this recipe work for bread or muffins… just whatever  fits your current fancy or supplies.  But please note, this recipe makes about 2 regular sized loaves of bread… or ~ 24 muffins.  I made two batches to get my  goods (6 mini and 2 regular).

filling:
8 oz.  cream cheese (softened) +  around 1 cup of powdered sugar (a little less or a little more… however sweet you like it)

*marry the two until well combined and smooth then put in the fridge or freezer to firm up some so it is easier to work with

topping:
½ cup sugar
5 tbsp. flour
1½ tsp. ground  cinnamon
4 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

* combine the above with a pastry knife/dough blender or whatever you call that thingy and put in the fridge until you are ready to top the bread

* oven 350°

muffins:
3 cups flour (play around a little with types if you like, I added some whole wheat flour of course because I am fiber girl)                                                                                                                                                ~1 tsp. ground cinnamon
~1  tsp. ground nutmeg
~1 tsp. ground cloves
~1 generous Tbsp. of the wonderful pumpkin pie spice
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda

* put the above into a large bowl, stir around and set aside

4 large eggs
2 cups sugar (I added less, but do what you want)
1 regular can of pumpkin or ~2  cups pumpkin puree if you have fresh
1¼ cups vegetable or canola oil (EVOO will give the bread a different taste)

* in a medium bowl, blend the above together and then stir in with the dry ingredients until just moistened

* to assemble the yummies, spread some batter in the bottom of your pan of choice (about 1/3 full) then dollop or stripe or something like that the cream cheese in. You can put a straight line, dots etc. then swirl it around a little bit or leave it alone.  This is what I did, but next time I will add more and probably come up with a design in there so when it is cut there is something besides a blog in the middle….

Then top the rest with the batter… but before you put them in the oven, don’t forget to top with the sugary yummy topping!

My smaller loaves baked for about 30 minutes (I think), the muffins will take about 20-25 and the full size  loaves I made took about 50 minutes…  Then let them cool some on a wire rack, then take them out of the pan to finish cooling. The filling stays pretty hot, so it may be best to let them cool some to set up some.

I hope you try… and enjoy!   Happy Fall and Holiday baking… I will try and share more as I try new things!

April Showers Bring…

…May flowers…

 right?

Well at least that is what they say and that  what I have always heard!

For us, come April, we will have us a bundle of joy…

a little one…

a baby!

Yep, talk about some very exciting changes for us ahead.  I thought Chaco would be expansion, as blogged about before…  but now we are really really expanding our family!  We are truly excited about what is ahead and I feel like I have so much to learn and do before that time comes, but no matter what I get done or what I learn – it is coming! I am almost half-way!

Here is our little one “bean” - ”brewing” at my first ultrasound at ~10 weeks.

 (we call it a bean to avoid calling it, just that… an IT! )

Will we be picking out boy or girl names?

So, hey – definitely new blog topics ahead right? It is pretty amazing how each day seems basically the same, but when you look back everything is totally different.  It was not too long ago I had completely different thoughts that I do now… it is amazing how fast things change!

I’ve got to say I have been pretty busy lately with work and little odds-n ends and have not blogged like I would like to, but stay tuned and don’t give up on me! I will be back before too long again for another update from the land of “us”!

Have a wonderful day and may this find you with lots to smile about!

Sitting wishing and waiting… for life to start!?

Just a little something that was on my mind for you all about life!

I have been thinking a lot about life lately and I have learned to know that life does not start when an event finally comes…  a particular event does not mark the “start” of your life…

well, it should not I don’t think…

It seems as though life is kind of mapped out in stages or rather, defined by certain landmarks. We live for the next one, rather than enjoying the journey between. We focus so much on dates and events and spend so much time waiting for them to come… and when they finally do come, they are gone so fast… we are left with the feeling of … “was that it?”

These are some of the common events/landmarks that come to mind through the course of ones life of course which can be different for different people:

• the next birthday, the next Christmas etc. (once you are old enough)
• starting school for the first time…
• which leads to starting middle school…
• then finally being in high school
• you never thought it would come but, graduating from high school
• going to college, moving “out” or whatever is next
• graduating from college
• getting a job
• getting married
• buying a house
• having a baby
• buying a new car
• getting a promotion
• finally retiring….

but then what?

Life goes so quickly and there is so much else to enjoy, I mean look at how short that list is. I can come up with a list twice as long just for the day.  I know these are big things, and it is not right to compare it to my tasks for the day… but think about all that can be enjoyed during the time (sometimes years) between each of those “landmarks”. I believe enjoying the process of life and enjoying all the times between big events can only make the “main” events that much better!

If we constantly live our lives for what is next, we fail to enjoy the process along the way.  I have realized that a quality life is living life full which does not mean living for events, but living full even between events.  This is what makes life so meaningful, fun and rewarding!   It is almost like we cannot start living until certain landmarks come.  ”Once I make more money, then I will be able to really live or buy this or do that”…  “Once I graduate I will finally be out of this town”… “I cannot wait until I retire, then I will have time for…”

Until we realize that life has already begun and we are in the midst of it, we will continually miss out.

People sit around and wait for the next thing to come along but what they do not realize is how much they are missing out on today.

I can remember times in my life where I was so focused on the completion of a task or season that I failed to fully enjoy the time I had in it.  When I was in college, all I wanted to do was hurry up and get done so I could move on… I realize now that I missed out on more friendships, certain activities and opportunities because I was so focused on competing school.  I got my first degree in 3 years and a second in just 2 more. But why the rush?  I am still not exactly sure. It is not that I was in a hurry to “grow up” or anything, I just wanted what was next… but what about all in there I missed? Next would have still come whether I rushed or not.

I remember as a little girl and not so little,  I always looked forward to my wedding day.  I was so excited  for it to come! I would think about a pretty dress, flowers,a ring and of course, my prince charming… I could hardly wait until it came.  Now that my “dream wedding” has come and gone and I have my “prince”  I realize that it was not the actual day that was important (although it does have importance and significance) it is the process and growth of our relationship. It was all the time we had getting to know each other and all the little things that fed our relationship to be ready for marriage.  More importantly, now that we are married we are able to grow closer and better our relationship.  This would not be possible without the marriage but because of it we can continue and enjoy it.

I think to fully enjoy life, we cannot sit around and wait… wait for the next best thing and focus so much on events in the future (or dwell on past events).  Have you noticed or heard people with this attitude? I know I have been there.  When I notice it, it kind of makes me sad because I think of all they are missing out on in just sitting and waiting.  They really don’t believe their life has started and it has!  If your life has not started yet, start it today! Realize how much there is in life to be excited about and live for!  Put effort into today, set some goals and be excited about it… those events will be that much better.  Don’t wait until a specific day to start!

It has been an entire year…

I just realized that this week is the very week (just one short year ago), that Greg and I moved to Florida from our beautiful little hide-away in Colorado.  I say Greg and I, but I mean Greg moved ME here.  He had been away from his house a few months and brought me back to our what would become our home.

We know already from my Southern Living post that it is still quite an adjustment for me to live here, but it is getting a little bit better.  Some days are better than others.

I am amazed that it has already been an entire year though.  I keep having to recalculate to make sure.  Looking back over the past year… it is easy to focus on the fact that half of that time was spent job searching and the other half (and still) was/is spent on catching up after our cash pool had evaporated.  I make it sound bad, but really it was not because this year I have come to realize more and more how truly blessed we are.

We really are truly blessed.  We never went without.  We always had what we needed.  We even had at times what we did not really need – that is right, a few extras.  Our relationship has continued to improve and we are still so excited about life.  People looking at us walking down the street may not think – wow, they are blessed, or wow, they have it all together because… in just looking at us, you would not think so! We don’t drive new cars, we don’t have the latest fashion (or probably the fashion from 5 years ago), our shoes probably look good and worn,  we don’t eat out all the time… etc.  but what they do not know, what we know and what they do not see is what makes us truly blessed.  We have our health… we are on no medications, we have no disease, illness, sickness or pains.  We have each other and our relationship is awesome! I go to bed every night excited about another day with my husband.  Our bills and our income do not match every month, yet we still have some money in the bank.  I do not balance a check-book only because I don’t like to do it but truly, it does not add up.

So this post is not to talk about all the things that I don’t like here, all the things I miss, or all the things that are “different” but reflect on and be thankful for all the things that we do have..all of our many blessings.

We have so much! I am looking forward to another year, here, there or wherever because we really do “have it… together”, even if we don’t always “have it”… we have whatever it is together. We have  health, love, family, friends and more (and not to mention an awesome puppy, Chaco to add some joy in the house).

Have a blessed day! Look at everything you have today! wow!

Our family has expanded… Meet Chaco!

GREG GOT ME A PUPPY!

Meet the newest member of our family…

CHACO!

On Monday, we were finally able to bring our bundle (or hand full) of joy home and I am totally thrilled and already love this little guy to the core…

He is brave, sweet, snuggly, very smart, attentive, spunky, interested and loves to play hard and sleep hard!  I know he still really misses his doggy family a lot but he is adjusting well and is getting more confident!  For sure, he is becoming our little buddy more and more all the time.  I already mentioned he is smart, but have to mention it again.  He catches on pretty quick.  He is not super hyper but not extremely lazy either – he has a pretty good balance it seems like.

We got the special privilege of getting “first-pick” of the litter which was a lot harder than I even thought it would be… of course they were all cute.  This one just seemed extra special to us through our visits and I think he picked us too.

Here he is at about 6 1/2 weeks old (when we picked him)

The next two pictures are of our second visit – around when the puppies were 4 weeks old.

These were my top 2 chilling out!

This picture was taken on our first visit when he was about 2 weeks old.  He was just so content and relaxed!

of course, you know there will be more pictures and posts to come as we enjoy our new doggy!

Happy National Watermelon Day

Happy National Watermelon Day!

I really love watermelon, there is nothing like a perfectly red, ripe tasty melon… and if it is seedless, even better!  I can’t put away a lot of this yummy item!  Since I now live in an area that things can grow stuff (as you already know by my gardening posts), watermelon was a for sure on my “to plant” list.  Well, they actually did phenomenal even with all the dry weather we had for a while.

 

 

Well,  up to a certain point… and here is why.  Just days before several were ready to pick and enjoy, something ate into every single melon out there… maybe around 50 or so total.  On day one we found most of them chewed into and so I picked 3 of the biggest that were left because by the next day the rest were ruined (even all the small ones that were hardly even 3″ in diameter)… they did not stand a chance! Of course I was big-time bummed because they were what I was looking forward to the most in the garden.  But I tried not to let it get me down too much  because hey, I tried and also we can only do so much living several miles from the garden spot.

 

 

But hey, enough on the sad news right? I can go to the store and get one  because there is much to enjoy about these red (or yellow) yummies!   You can quench your thirst and fill your belly at the same time, and enjoy watermelon knowing it is a good source of Potassium, and a very good source of Vitamins A and C.  So maybe next year I will attempt again, or maybe not… Something out there got its fill on my melons and I am not sure I want to feed the local critters any  longer!

Have a great day and go eat some watermelon!