Creative Blogger Award and other random stuff!!!

Just had to share this picture first, I LOVE it, it's one of my faves of my little ones :)

Have you ever had those weeks where you feel like no matter how hard you try, you're always behind on everything???

I'm going through one of those, I had an email from my sister Hayley this morning and she mentioned how sometimes it feels like I've forgotten about them.....it really struck me that I would ever let them believe that, it surely isn't on purpose and she knows how much I love them all and wish I could be near, but time does seem to just fly away from me.

I start the day with the best of intentions on getting everything done and by the time nighttime rolls around I climb into bed and realize that I have yet another bunch of things that will be rolled onto the next day.....probably with the same fate, never to be done. So I do apologize to all those I stay in touch with through email, especially my family, I don't EVER want them to think I forgot about them, God knows I love them to death......Sis, I love you and I'm sorry, I promise to try harder!!!

I've been getting bloggy awards for a few weeks and I truly appreciate them, it feels good to know that at least one person out there likes my blog or appreciates my recipes and what I do. I've always maintained that this blog was to stay in touch with family but I've made such wonderful friends along the way and if I touch at least one person's lives in some way, then it's worth it.

Annie, the wonderful dear Annie that we all know, and if you don't know her, you have NO idea what you're missing......gave me with the Creative Blogger Award. Thank you Annie, you know I love you!!!!

I'm supposed to award it to others, so let's see:


For those who bring unique and creative elements to their blogs. For those who incorporate art, music, creative writing, photo's, and other beautiful visual effects into their website. For those who put a unique spin on things and come up with new ideas. This award is for the artsy, the funky, the inventor, and even the rebel. This award is for those creative individuals who stand out from the crowd.

Here's my list of creative bloggers:


Barb. She's always saying she's not Martha, but I tend to disagree LOL She not only posts tons of wonderful photos on her blog but she shares recipes and always amazes us with her creativity, especially around Christmas....she's like our own beloved Elf working tirelessly to make gifts for family and friends.

Mari-nanci. I love visiting her blog and looking at all the beautiful photos she posts, she always seems to find the perfect one to represent whatever she's talking about that day. She has become one of those bloggy friends that you just love to catch up with, what an awesome lady :)

Kelli. Another one of my faves, if it's not a new mouth watering recipe that kelli is sharing, then it's pictures from her wonderful house, decorating, cooking, even a pioneer weekend, yes she went all out and lived without tv and modern day stuff, even posting pictures as she went along....loved it.

Jill. The first time I stumbled across Jill's blog, I stayed the rest of the day just reading her past entries and laughing until my sides hurt. Another creative wiz here, contests, photos, recipes you name it, you'll find it and she does it all while making you laugh your butt off.

Gail. Gail is another of my faves, she has a way with words that I just love. She shares photos, book reviews and did I say photos??? She talks about books, movies, cooking, family and crafting....love it.

Sherry. Sherry is a wonderful lady, another one that I visit every day. She's a homeschooling mom and always shares great reviews for homeschooling materials, recipes, ways to save money etc....she's so creative, I love it.

So there you go, I'm sure I could have come up with a ton more, but I guess these will do for now.

I have to run to the commissary this morning, did I tell you they have a Sushi Bar right in the entrance??? I mean a SUSHI BAR in the commissary......I'm amazed LOL

I'm leaving you with a quick look at my day....God Bless,


WHAT I'M COOKING:

For dinner I'm fixing Garlic and Beer Shrimp, a salad and some homemade waffle cut fries.



WHAT I'M WATCHING:

Montel Williams
General Hospital
Ghost Hunters



WHAT I'M DOING:

Post office
Commissary
Laundry
Pay bills
Sweep and Mop

My First Arizona Rain!!!!

Since we've been here I've seen the skies get a little cloudy and with the threat of rain, but never really got to witness it....until yesterday afternoon and man did it come pouring down.

It was 4:30pm and I had all the lights on in the house, it was THAT dark. It honestly felt good to see the rain after the awful heat we've been feeling. The picture above was taken from my front door, if you look closely you can see how powerful the wind was.

Curt came home about 20 minutes after the rain started and he was soaking wet, this is what happens when you work on the flight line with all the jets, if it rains you get soaked, if it snows you get frozen, if it's hot you get a bad sunburn.....poor guys. I already have a huge amount of respect for the troops but when you live on a base and deal with them day to day you get to see a whole new side to them and a whole other part of their job that shows just how much they sacrifice daily.

My wrist is still killing me and I think I've pushed myself into a corner because there's no way around getting the cysts removed, it's just not possible to keep going like this. It's painful, it throbs constantly and it's just nasty to look at. What's really keeping me from doing this is the fact that I won't be able to do much at all and with little ones it's not easy, but I know that the Lord will see me through this too, so no worries.

I don't have much to talk about today, I can't type a lot and I don't feel like sitting here doing a post with ONE finger, it will take forever LOL

So I'm leaving this one short and sweet and ending with one of my favorite songs right now....Avril Lavigne and "When You're Gone"....enjoy!

I'm cranky today!!!!

Want to hear something funny??? I woke up freezing, yes, FREEZING, is that not the weirdest thing ever???

I don't feel very well, my allergies are flaring up and I think I have a bit of a cold coming on, see the thing is it's really hot outside but inside we have the air conditioning on and it's a good one because usually within a few minutes it's just freezing in this house. I think the whole temperature change is messing me up.....on top of that, yesterday I finished Nicholas's room which entailed opening and unpacking 6 heavy boxes....I'm happy it's done BUT I hurt my wrist and have had this throbbing pain since last night.

If you have been reading my blog for a while you know that I have 2 cysts on my left wrist, they weren't really big and painful at first but they've progressively gotten worse and it's at the point where I need to have them removed, only problem is that I won't be able to do anything for 2 weeks and then will have a cast on this wrist for another 6 weeks or so.....that wasn't possible before, something was always coming up to keep me from going through with it, but I'm afraid I've backed myself into a corner now, it's too painful not to do anything about.

So anyway, I'm not in the best of moods this morning but I'm doing ok. My house is clean and yes I have pictures of how it's looking so far. This is the kitchen, I don't have my curtains up yet hopefully later today or tomorrow. As you can see our window faces the driveway so you don't get a very pretty view but it lets in the sun during the day and I love it.



This is the living room and computer area...the one thing about these base houses is that they don't really have extra room to have an office, so it's always living room/office area together, but I think as long as we keep things neat and tidy it won't look that bad.



These are the bedrooms, I still need to get a few rugs for the master bedroom and Jasmine's room, but for the most part they're done. You can see in the kids rooms, the storage and shelving units we decided upon.



It's a small cozy house but we really like it. Besides, it's a one level which as you know is something that I wanted, I just don't like the stairs thing when I have little ones around.

I got up early with Curt this morning, he's starting back at work today so he was eager to get going, though not too excited about the big inspection they were having. It meant wearing his Blues and then changing into his uniform afterwards......military are very strict with things like that so he had to be sure his hair was cut right, he had his blues hat and tie and all that other fun stuff and shiny shoes and boots etc.

With him back at work and Jasmine starting school in a few weeks, things are starting to get back to normal and I'm beginning to wonder what I'll do with my time when it's just me and the little one at home. I'm looking forward to crafting again and sewing and I'm sure I can find something to do with all these wonderful shopping areas around.

If you're interested in my menu for this week, you can go check it out at my food blog "Full Bellies, Happy Kids". I love cooking and I love when people try my recipes and come back with great reviews for them, especially when it's family. I was talking to my older brother Paul on friday and he told me that Lilian (my sister in law) had made my lasagna and he thought it was really good.....brought a big smile to my face, somehow makes me happy and it makes me feel closer to home too.

Anyway, enough babbling about that, go on and check out my Menu Plan for this coming week, you may also be interested in some new recipes too, I posted one for Garlic Beer Shrimp, Caldeirada (Fish Stew) and Tres Leches Cake. I'll have some more up soon.

I've also updated my sidebar to include the books I'm currently reading and the next ones on my list. I would have put them all but I don't think you would want to get stuck reading my list for the next 5 or 6 years. You have NO idea how many books are still on my TBR (to be read) pile which doesn't seem to stop me from picking up new ones or checking more out at the library. What can I say??? I have a book obsession!!!

I've just taken some claritin for my allergies and I'm feeling a little tired so I'm going to sit down and relax for a bit. I've already got dinner going in the crockpot, Lazy Day Braised Pot Roast from my new Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Cookbook that I picked up last week. Smells wonderful.


Enjoy the rest of your monday, I'll be back tomorrow!

Zoo pictures and some hodgepodge talk!!!

The zoo was so much fun but let me tell you something, I thought I was going to die.....no really, stop laughing, I really did LOL

We got about halfway and I was so hot and so tired, I had water running down my back and stomach and actually started getting shivers and goosebumps. I could feel my heart beating through my chest!!! We had to stop a couple times along the way because not only was the zoo HUGE but the heat was overwhelming.

One good thing about this zoo is that they have tons of areas with benches and water for you to take a break in, then they have these water mist sprays coming down on you too, it really does help to cool down.

Here are the pictures I took of the zoo animals, followed by the ones I took of the Petting Zoo, which was by far our favorite part of the whole excursion......I was so tempted to bring the multi colored little sheep home with me LOL

Cool Slideshows!

And now here's the Petting Zoo pictures!

Cool Slideshows!

These two are my favorites, Lucy Goose and this Porcupine who was happily tearing apart a milk box LOL




After our trip to the zoo we were starving and hot and looking for a place to sit down and have a good meal while beautiful sweet air conditioning fell upon us....we headed to Cracker Barrel!! Now you know if you love country home cooking, country music and a great older days atmosphere, this is THE place to go. They also make the best biscuits and cornbread around.

By the time we got home I was exhausted, happy but dead on my feet. I ended off the night by laying in bed watching "Premonition" with Sandra Bullock, man, what a weird movie, it was good but the ending was just disappointing for me!!!

Today is going to be an easy one for me, I'm not planning on doing much at all. I got the house all clean on friday so it's pretty much just picking up a little and straightening out the everyday things. I do have the breakfast dishes sitting in the sink right now, waiting to be put in the dishwasher, and I do have laundry to put away, but that's about all there is.

A couple of you asked where I found the organizing shelves I shared the other day, they were from Target......I was there last week and ended up getting different ones for the kids, they picked their own and I'll share some pictures later.

I have a recipe to share with you today, while out yesterday I picked up a cookbook called "A Taste of Arizona" and boy I have to tell you, it has the most delicious recipes on there, I don't think I found one that didn't make my mouth water.

FORT LOWELL CHICKEN WITH LIME

"I had cast my lot with a soldier, and where he was, was home to me" wrote Martha Summerhayes, who lived at Tucson's Fort Lowell in 1878 with her husband. The fort's museum offers a look at the "glittering misery" of army life during Arizona's Apache Wars, 1861-1886, when the hardships of the frontier were lightened by the glamour of merry dinner parties.

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
6 chicken breasts, boned and skinless
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 pound (1 stick) butter
1/2 teaspoon chives, minced
1/2 teaspoon dill weed

Salt and pepper the chicken pieces. Heat oil in a large frying pan and saute chicken until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cover, reduce heat, and cook about 10 minutes more.

Remove the chicken and keep it warm. Drain the oil.

In the same pan, add the lime juice and heat on low until juice begins to bubble. Add the butter, stirring until sauce is thick and opaque. Stir in the chives and dill weed. Spoon over chicken and serve.

Makes 6 servings
***************************************

Don't that just sound divine???? I'll be sure to share more recipes with you all, I swear I'm like a kid in a candy store when I come upon cookbooks.

Well I better get going, I have a few things that need to get done today.

Find Airman's Attic to drop off donations
Find Recycle Center to drop off moving boxes
Find the base library (can't wait to get in there LOL)
Put laundry away
Do breakfast dishes

I'll see you all tomorrow, have a wonderful sunday.

Weekend couldn't have come any faster for me....

We've been here for about two weeks now and it still feels to me like we're on vacation or something, I'm waiting for hubby to say that it's time to go back home. Isn't that sad???

I can't say I'm hating it completely, not like the first few days I was here, I remember many a nights crying myself to sleep and thinking "boy I'm never going to be happy here".
Am I happy??? Not really, I mean it's not what I wanted or the place I would have chosen for myself to live in, but it's growing on me and I'm not as miserable as before.

It really does help to have all your things and to make your house your own.....we've been working hard on getting it all done and things are almost, almost the way I want them. I'll have some pictures for you all this weekend.

Curt starts work on monday, he's excited to get back to working on his jets, see for the past year he had been working not directly with them, he was pretty much doing inside office work and after 14 years of being out on the flight line it was a huge change for him. Now he's going back to the flight line which means long 12 hour and longer shifts, coming home reeking of jet fuel, dirty dirty hands and my washer being left with greasy remnants. Oh the joy, how I missed it. LOL

So this morning I'm heading to the Phoenix Zoo with the kids, they've been begging to go and I think it would be nice to do that for them, this whole move has been a huge change for them too and they've been really good about it. They're super excited about the Petting Zoo part, unfortunately there are no DINOSAURS to pet LOL They wanted to know if there were dinosaurs there too......sure honey, you wanna go pet the nice little T-Rex???? LOL

I'm taking pictures so when I come back I will be able to do update this post....right now I have kids jumping up and down around me screaming at the top of their lungs "we're going to the zoo, we're going to the zoo"....guess it's my cue to get off the computer and get them ready, I don't think the animals would appreciate seeing pajama clad kids running around with their hair unbrushed....they may get locked up as a new species LOL

I'll be back later, you all have a great morning.....