Missing my other half

So, I'm currently in California getting ready for our good friends Chuck and Bethany's wedding. ( more about that in future posts) but thanks to awesome army, Brett won't be able to leave Georgia until late Friday night getting him to California at horrible hours not to be mentioned... This makes me beyond sad ( and worried, he has a 3 hr drive starting at 2am our time once he reaches LA to finally get to where the wedding is) because I know he would really love seeing Chuck right now. But, I am so proud of him and all that he sacrifices on a daily basis for me and for those around him. It's rough when people assume he can take a friday or a Monday off here and there ( are real world jobs really like that?!?)- but like I said I'm so proud at how little Brett complains or asks for anything in return. And I know that being able to stand up with Chuck and Bethany is important to both of us and so even if it's just for the day I know it'll be worth it!All that being said, I wish he was here with me right now. This is a silly picture from our date night before I left, if you haven't had Bruster's Real Icecream, you are MISSING OUT! (this is one of the good things about Georgia).

taxrefundtaxrefundtaxrefund

That's what I've been telling myself over and over again the last 18 hrs or so since I realized that the tickets I'd booked for Brett and I to the Navigator Conference in April, I had booked a WEEK LATER THAN I SHOULD HAVE.

SERIOUSLY?!?!

And the sad thing is, this is the SECOND TIME I've made an error like this in the past four months. The first time I didn't have to pay the piper because it ended up being the "Trip that never happened" to Maryland that just so happen to coincide with a snow storm. That time I booked our return ticket not four days later, but a MONTH and four days later.

*sigh*

Anyway, I've now turned in my hat as "Family Travel Agent" until further notice.

I want to cry. There are SOOooOooOo many things that the extra FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS ( that's with transferring fee + the difference in ticket price so close to the date of flying) could have gone towards. SO MANY THINGS.

Large items that we are currently saving for:

washer and dryer
guest bed/mattress
nursery furniture
stroller/carseat other large baby items

So, anyway, that's my LAME-O move of the month. Honestly, my brain use to work better. I promise.

Not just pregnancy tears...

I'm pretty sure this'll make just about anyone cry...but just to test my theory, go check out this photo shoot of a US soldier meeting his daughter for the first time....

HERE


You totally cried didn't you?!?

Using what you've got

So, I live out in the boonies. This has been established. And while its nice to not have blinds in your front windows ( because there is NO ONE to look in), there are times when you really ( really) miss having a grocery store in a 20 mile radius.

But, the good Lord has been gracious to me, and slowly weened me off of constant grocery access. When we first got married, Brett and I lived directly behind an Alberstons. I could LITERALLY walk a few hundred feet and be in arms length of a forgotten gallon of milk or vegetable for tonights dinner. I did not have to think ahead at ALL when it came to the weeks groceries. Life was good.

Then, when I moved to Dupont, I was shocked to find that the nearest grocery store was 10 minutes away!! How horrible! How could things be so unhelpful?!? But, since a Starbucks was right next door...I learned to deal with my problems.

And then we moved here...where there is nothing, nothing nearby.

Which brings me to my point: About a month ago, we saw a new building going up on the side of the highway about a mile and half from our turn off ( making it about 3 miles from our house)...soon this building began to take shape and then they put the sign up....DOLLAR GENERAL in big bright yellow letters.

I was so excited that I exclaimed to Brett as we drove passed, "I can't wait till the Dollar General opens!!"

And that's when we both knew that we really were living at the edge of civilization.

This past weekend I went to Texas and when I came back on Tuesday evening I noticed all the cars out front of the Dollar General and I knew that my dreams had finally come true! It had opened!

So, it seemed only right that yesterday afternoon when my sweet tooth started calling my name loudly and I realized that I had ALL the ingredients minus one can of peaches for the Lazy Mom's Peach Cobbler that it was obviously the time to make my virgin trip to the Dollar General.

It did not disappoint....here it is in all its glory.



Ok, so now to the real point of this post....

When you live out in the middle of no where ( or even if you don't) you can appreciate when a recipe is SO simple and has SO few ingredients that you pretty much CAN'T FAIL.

And that is how I have come to stand by this new recipe that was posted over here at this great blog ( I am a Lazy Mom)-see?! I'm already starting my training early! hahah!

But basically all you need for this recipe is three cans of peaches ( or some other fruit...I just so happen to have the peaches), a box of white cake mix ( although, in the future I think I'll go with a yellow cake mix...they taste just a little better), some cinnamon and a stick of butter. I mean, these are all STAPLES in my house, I don't know about yours....so impress your husband, your girl friend, your neighbors or just your own taste buds and the next time you have a hankering for something yummy and fast...WHIP THIS RECIPE OUT!

( your welcome)

Bumpy

So, this weekend started out with a bang...finding out that Baby Hiphopopotamus ( some of you have asked how this is pronounced...break it down like this: hiphop ( like the musical genre) and opotamus ( like the end of the word hippopotamus)

annnyway, we found out that Baby Wilson is a BOY!!!! WOO HOO!!

Here is his first picture ( those "bubbles" come up from his mouth is his hand)



And then I spent the rest of the weekend with my wonderful family ( with a few "just like family, friends thrown in for good measure)




Somehow I got away without any of the traditional "belly shots" ( so I need to work on that) but this one is cute of Anna and I right before I left town.
Facebook album to come for those of you who are Followers of Anna ( aka. the girl without a facebook account.)

Not so bad

So I just wrote this whole whiny and complainy post about the trials and tribulations of trying to buy a new ( to us) car...and then when I got to the end of it I took a moment to think how just DARN LUCKY we really are...that these are the problems that we're having...problems like, "I don't know anything about car shopping" problems.

THAT'S not a bad problem to have.

Another bad problem that's not that bad is having the smell from last nights dinner ( Peanut Thai Satay*) still permeating the kitchen. I mean, its not really the greatest because I'm TOTALLY over the meal now that I've eaten it, but at the same time...it was good...and who doesn't like a reminder of goodness?!

Anyway, so I deleted that post...which is kind of a shame because I said some witty things in there amidst all the whiny and complainy stuff...but ah well, such is life.


And in other news, I'm flying to Texas this weekend to see my sister's pregnant belly for myself. I have only seen ONE PICTURE of it since Christmas and so I must travel the hundreds of miles to behold it for myself. I have a feeling it will make me feel a lot less pregnant once I am able to compare my own pregnant bulge with her 8 month one. But, I promise that this weekend I will also make sure that I get some "belly shots" of myself too...because people keep asking me for them and I keep procrastinating because I have honestly felt like there wasn't much to see until recently and then, now that there IS something to see I do NOT feel like getting my picture taken ( what happened to the whole "pregnant women GLOW" thing?!?! ).

And in baby related news, Hiphopopotamus has started full fledge kicking and punching this week. The favored time to do this kicking?! While I'm on the computer. I'm not sure if its because I'm usually lying on my back or because the whiring of my laptop is making he/she active...or maybe none of the above. But its pretty crazy that my child is ALREADY annoyed that I'm on the computer all the time. ;-)
GET USE TO IT, KID!

( More) Life lessons

So, in my last post I talked about how other people's blog posts had inspired me and so I started with a little something about my Grandmother, and as these things tend to do, it got longer than expected and so I have waited to post my other Lesson about Life here today.

This one is brought to you by, my dear friend Tabitha, and more specifically, this post that she did on picking out a new cell phone.


It reminded me of a particular feeling I've had in life, sadly, many many times. I will call it Fear of Commitment and it is brought to you by this picture of where I lived in New Zealand:



I would like to go ahead and blame ALL of New Zealand, and the life that I lived there for what happened after I left, but I think that's probably pretty unfair. I mean, sure it was a beautiful place, a place that has SO MANY picturesque elements that you could be a HORRIBLE photographer and come away with a piece of art just by pure accident. And sure, I met some of the most fantastic people that I have "carried" them with me ever since and some of them are still some of my very best friends. And sure everyone's college experience has elements of the "ideal" that hindsight can only shake its head at you and say, "man, if you had only known how GOOD you had it!" -but ultimately I know that this Fear of Commitment would have reared its ugly head after any amazing experience-and happily, I've had quite a few so far in my life...but now I'm getting ahead of myself. First let me say that the first time I really and truly baulked at Change and Commitment, I had just moved back to Texas after living in New Zealand for several years.

I won't go into the details about how hard it was, and how much I missed my friends and I missed the country-but lets just say it all came to a head one fateful day when I went to get a cellphone.
Things were going pretty well at first, I found a cute little phone that was Red. Which was important. Color is always important. And since this was back in the day when cell phones did not double as appendages, other than the color and whether or not it rang when people called...the only other issue to be settled that day was the cell phone contract. And that's when the sweat beads started to form. I was told that to get this Shiny Red Phone, I would need to sign a contract for 2 years. TWO YEARS!!! For serious!?! It was at that moment that a very boring, uneventful, void of beauty and happiness two years flashed before my eyes! HOW could life POSSIBLY be as wonderful as it had been when I'd lived overseas?! How could life in my humdrum home town EVER make up for the excitement of far off adventure?!?! I mean, suuure, I had agreed to move back to Texas and back to my home town, but I had never been faced ( as of yet) with the FINALITY of having to stay in the United States for TWO WHOLE YEARS until that moment in the AT&T store.
Now, I'll go ahead and ruin the suspense for you and say that I ended up swallowing that sinking feeling and going ahead and getting the cell phone ( after all, it was red. BUT it took much, much longer for me to learn to NOT be afraid of Change. To not be afraid that my Past had truly been "the best" and that my Future had no chance in the competition! In fact, while I couldn't possible imagine it then-my two years in Texas proved to be very important. I went to Italy with friends, I even went BACK to New Zealand for a visit. So my fear of no adventure was wrong. I also gained a new best friend. My sister and I would probably never be the friends we are today if I had not moved back to Texas were we could finally bond over cupcakes and episodes of The O.C and so my fear of never making such good friends again was also wrong....Oh, and I probably would not have re-met Brett and we would not be married today so my fear that truly wonderful things would never happen again, well, that was DEFINITELY wrong.
So, really, those "boring, uneventful" two years turned out to be very important to my life!
And yet, I hate to tell you, I still struggle with the Cell Phone Contract Syndrome even today. I still longingly look backwards and wish for past days. Moving to Georgia has been hard on me yet again, hard because its not nearly as exotic and fantastical as my life in Washington had been, and I have yet to make friends that could possibly compare to my Washington friends....or so I think! At this point I should know that every season of Life has offered me Beauty, Excitement, Friendship, and Adventure and so I should just go ahead and commit already. It'll be worth it.

Lessons about Life

So, over the last few days I've had a few random stories come up from my past in response to some friends current lives. And I've thought, "OO! I should tell them this Perfect Situational Story from Abigail's Past" to help them through their current predicament. But, I've been too tired. I have not been sleeping well. And who's to say why?
ME! ME! I'LL SAY WHY!!!

I wake up to pee ALL THE FREAKIN TIME. And then, no matter how hard I try, I cannot go back to sleep because it is always at 1:30am, and 3:30am and 5am that one can think of alllll the things in your life that are out of your control, or alllll the things that you haven't done that you need to do...or ( and this is everyone's favorite) allll the things BRETT hasn't done that you'd like him to do. ( hahaha!) Anyway, at the end of the day ( or the night) I haven't gotten enough sleep and therefore by Friday I was a complete zombie mess.

So I went to bed somewhere between 7 and 7:30 and slept until 8:30am. SCORE! GO! ABIGAIL GO!

And now I will tell you Stories that have shaped my life:

The first one is about my Grandmother. And this story is brought to you by my friend Amy's post entitled Expiration Dates


My grandmother, who died when I was around 14, was really something else. There are SO many great stories about Grandmother ( as she was so practically called by all her grandchildren...because she made us PRACTICE till we could say it right.) that they could really fill a book. And, since she's been gone, those stories have grown and gotten wilder and more fantastical so that she really has become the ESSENCES of what a Grandmother should be. But, this particular story about Grandmother happened after she had already passed away. You see, Grandmother had SUCH a strong personality she could actually effect your life from beyond her OWN life. Which is amazing.
Anyway, something you should know about Grandmother was that she was a CHAMPION shopper. For one thing she could do it for long periods of time ( something I've never mastered), she could some how finagle sales people to give her special deals and let her go back into the store room and 'root around' if she wasn't satisfied up front, and for another thing she recognized a good deal a mile away and then she STOCKED UP. And thus, my grandmother had a gift closet that had a gift option for every possible gift experience. Birthdays, Christmases, SummerHolidays, Babies, Housewarmings....you name it, there was a gift in that closet ready and waiting. But, this story is not about her gift closet, its about her PANTRY. Which was really ( to my child's eyes) as big as a room. And it was STOCKED from floor to ceiling with "good deals". There was never just ONE of something, there was always fifteen of somethings. And so, when you visited Grandmother you always got this sense that things would be taken care of...that things were prepared for...that, in fact, Grandmother had been preparing for your visit since the beginning of time. And to be specific, she'd been preparing for your visit since last May when they first put cans of fruit cocktail on sale for 35cents a piece.
So, after she passed away, and her house started to loose the feeling of "Grandmother-ness" my sister and I would go in the pantry. Because, you better believe it was still stocked to the brim. It was as if she'd known that we'd need another two years worth of canned goods to help fill the "corners" that had been left empty after she was gone.
Anyway, on one such visit my sister and I were trying to scrounge up something to eat and so we entered The Pantry. And there was a large block of Velvetta Cheese! So, of course, some Mac and Cheese was in order and so I busied myself getting out pots and pans as my sister opened the Velvetta. Now, I know that you all probably know that Velvetta is the most amazing man-made-color-orange in the history of the world. And that usually, on a good day, if you plugged a light bulb into a brick of Velvetta it would probably light up a city street just on its Neon-ness alone. But, this particular block of Velvetta had seen much better days In fact, its "good days" were so long gone, all that was left was the color BROWN. And it was there, standing in that kitchen that I realized that ALL THINGS have an Expiration Date. That no matter how much I'd like them to last and last and to be there when I need them to be, eventually I was going to need to go ahead and USE THEM. I needed to embrace the moments. I needed to stop storing presents up in a closet, but actually start givingthem away!
Ok, ok, I probably didn't think any of that at the time, I as 15 years old for pete's sake! At the time I think my sister and I laughed until we cried over the gross Velvetta because we realized that it wasn't just ONE YEAR over expired it was about FIVE YEARS over expired! So, even my "perfect" Grandmother, may have had a little too much of a soft spot for a good deal and a little too much of a penchant for not actually USING her purchases! I bet HALF of her pantry had pretty much ALWAYS been filled with expired items, because "Hey, they were a good deal! You can't pass up a good deal!!"
The thing about this trait of Grandmother's...the trait of buying up a million of something if she liked it, or if it was "a must buy" , or if "this might be the only time"...is that it's TOTALLY hereditary! And I know this for a fact because of my very own father! If you were to go into my parents pantry RIGHT NOW, you'd find a giant stack of Handmade Pasta made in some fancy far of place. And it makes me happy to go in there and see the large quantities of pasta ( and also rice, who knows why the rice) because it reminds me of my Grandmother. And it reminds me that I too have the tendency to buy not one or not three, but maybe fifteen of things that I reeeeally like. Yes, Grandmother lives on-pantry style. And THAT doesn't expire.

Major Props for last nights dinner

Honestly friends, a big shout out to all of you for making my life easier and providing ample inspiration to my dinner menus. All your suggestions and website recommendations have been dutifully bookmarked and Brett's life is ALREADY benefiting.

First off, I must thank Sarah for the www.smittenkitchen.com recommendation because last night's dinner rocked.

We had Asparagus, Goat Cheese and Lemon Pasta, because I already had all the ingredients sans the goat cheese and so I feel like ultimately it was a really 'cheap' meal ( though a 4 oz. package of goat cheese costs $3.45! It better be good!!!).

Its not the prettiest picture...but you should FOR REALS make this dish. Its easy. Its fresh tasting...and Brett and I were in food heaven.




Go to Smitten Kitchen for the easy-peasy recipe pronto!

Successful Pre-Mom moment

So, it turns out the consignment sale was NOT as scary as I thought it would be...I mean, I'm not gonna say it was a success but that's only because I will not fully know what success is until I have a kid and that kid does or doesn't take full advantage of the items that I bought. As Rachael pointed out, there is nothing like actual experience when it comes to parenting and I'm sad that all the books I'm reading can not give that to me. Gosh Darn it! I was hoping I was going to be a SUPER MOM from the beginning...but after standing over a large train of baby swings all looking up at me, trying hard to think if I needed one, and if so which one...it became clear that I do not know what I'm doing.

That being said, the sale was in a very large, previously empty, strip mall and therefore it was nicely spaced so that I never felt crowded or pressured about my buying. This was a huge relief because of the whole Not Knowing What I'm Doing thing that I mentioned before.

So, now I'll tell you what I bought and you can judge me in the comment section ( though I might cry, because pregnancy hormones cannot be reigned in.)


I got this for $15




I got this for $25, which was a huge score with all its gadgets and gismos...it does have a few stains on it-but nothing I can't handle.





I an activity mat for something like $6 I think...its not this one exactly, but very similar




This is the one item I am semi-regretting getting. It was really cheap, something like $5 or around there...and I was delighted by it being in its original packaging, that it was Edie Bauer and that it was travel friendly. Its called a Travel Hammock, but its basically a little rocker.



And then I got this in its original unopened packaging for $2! Score!

The Mother of All Sales

So, a friend of mine here at Fort Benning, who should be called "SUPER MOM" because she has four children under the age of five...and she still seems to be sane. Anyway, this friend told two mothers-to-be and myself that we should really get involved in this GIANT CONSIGNMENT SALE that they have every year for all things baby and child related, and if you volunteer to work a few hours at the sale then you get to go to a Pre-Sale. And therefore get first dibs on all the 'good stuff'

When I first heard about this I was in a daze. I was barely pregnant. All I wanted to do was throw up and I would pretty much do whatever people told me to do, so I signed up. Besides, it was WAAAAAY far in the future! I mean, MARCH for pity sake!
But, today is March. And today is the day of the Pre-sale.

And the closer I get to the thing the more stressed I become. I mean, standing in line with a bunch of Mothers. Waiting to RUSH into a giant room full of baby/child things ( foreign objects to me)...and then try to QUICKLY figure out what to get and what not to get...honestly. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!

I hate shopping and I hate hate HATE doing scary Black Friday Type shopping, and that's exactly what this seems to be.

Anyway, the odds of me actually walking away with anything worthwhile are slim to none, but I'm doing it anyway...JUST IN CASE.
So, because I'm so stressed about it all I've decided to make a list. ( because those are very calming) A list of all the things I need to have/buy/acquire before this Sweet Potato ( that's how big Hiphopopatomus is now!!!) arrives.

My reminder of Promises

( All from Romans 8 this morning...because, in the moment of despair-when you see no light at all, no hope at all...it is these Words of Truth that Promise more.)

There is NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in Christ Jesus.

We did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba, Father!"

We are ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. FOR IN THIS HOPE WE ARE SAVED. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died-more than that, who was raised-who is at the right hand of God indeed is interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the Love of Christ?
Shall tribulation or distress?
Persecution?
Famine?
Nakedness or danger?

NO, in all these things we are MORE THAN CONQUERORS through him who loved us.
For I am SURE, that neither death, nor life
nor angels
nor rulers
nor things present
nor things to come
nor powers
nor height nor depth
not ANYTHING ELSE IN ALL CREATING
will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And so, when things look there bleakest and I am tempted to despair. I will instead choose to believe that the Lord WILL prevail. That Heaven will take the day.

Training in Housewifery

So, this afternoon I was doing some mindless projects ( mostly cutting out memory verse cards and coupons) and so I decided to watch a little "television" -online, of course.

I love how you can go on Hulu.com and watch all sorts of current shows, sometimes whole seasons worth without any commercials! But, today I'm having the greatest fun watching something a little more classic.
The old school television show Father Knows Best, which ran during the early 1950s. And BOY! How things have changed!!!
I absolutely love the nice wholesome values and the cute family life it portrays and I must say its a good reminder to see how far we've come in the past 50 years! So far these are the little gems I've enjoyed the most....
Scene: Teenage Daughter excited about "Girls Week".
"What's that?", her parents ask.
"Why its when girls take over government for a WHOLE WEEK! And I'm the transportation commissioner!"
Father: "I never thought I'd see the day when my daughter was any kind of commissioner!!" ( shaking his head and laughing)
Daughter: "What should I WEAR?!?!"

The rest of the episode is full of more "laughs" regarding the daughters worries about looking "pretty" for her new job and various men shaking their heads and laughing.


And now I'm on to a different episode where the mother is wearing "work" clothes ( paints, her hair up in a handkerchief) and she's trying to clean paint off her youngest daughter who's always getting into trouble. Accidently the daughter gets some paint on her mother's forehead. And right then you hear Father coming in the front door!
Teenage Daughter: "oh mother! You can't have father see you like this!!"
Younger Daughter: "You want us to let you hide in the basement while we distract him?!"


Seriously.


Anyway, if you'd like a little blast from the past check out these fabulous little episodes: here

Happily Ever...

So, if you're new to this blog or you need a refresher on things-I would highly recommend reading this post that I wrote a few weeks ago. There within I expounded up on the upcoming changes that the army was going to throw our way-and how things were not looking good.

In short, we were faced with several problems-One, that if Brett didn't take command of a company right away than it would affect any long term career goals he might have. Thus his plan of teaching at one of the schools here in Georgia wasn't such a good one anymore.
Two, that if Brett DID take command right away than it would mean we'd have to leave Georgia...meaning that he'd have to go into ranger school as SOON as he got out of the career course ( long story about why this is...just take my word for it), which lasts three months and since we can all count- that would mean he would miss the birth of our child.
Three, if Brett was take command of a company right away, it could not be guaranteed that he wouldn't be deployed again very soon.
Four, if Brett had to go to ranger school after his current course, the Army would not recognize this as my "home" and therefore I wouldn't be able to get on post housing for those three months...and since our current living situation ends in June. I would be homeless. And about to give birth. Without my husband.


Ok. So I know that all of that was as clear as mudd. But basically the bottom line was, THINGS DIDN'T LOOK GOOD FOR ABIGAIL.

But, I was very calm ( which you can read about in that above mentioned post) and I have stayed calm. I have stayed calm because I had a sense of peace about the whole thing, a peace without any understanding....God would take care of it. I just had NO IDEA HOW.

Until yesterday, yesterday Brett came home with amazing news:

He has been assigned a command ( taking care of problem #1) here at Fort Benning, something we didn't think was possible because of Army technicalities that I won't bore you with, but after Brett had explained his situation, they made an exception! ( taking care of part of problem number #2. no moving!!). The Unit that he will be taking command in will be getting back from deployment in September ( taking care of problem #3-they won't deploy again for at least a year!). And Brett feels that since they don't get back till September and usually after a deployment everyone takes block leave-it wouldn't be TOO big of a deal for him to wait and do the August Ranger school ( taking care of the other part of problem number #2!! He'd be around for the birth of the baby!). And since we'd officially be stationed at Fort Benning again, I should easily be able to get on post housing when our time here is up ( taking care of problem #4).

People. I cannot express to you enough that when I wrote that post about our problems I saw NO solution to all of them. I could absolutely NOT see a way for absolutely every one of my worries to be addressed. And yet. The Lord knew even then! He knew even before we could foresee that there WAS issues, how He was going to solve them. How everything was going to work out for good! It is TRULY amazing to me and I am SO excited about this news. I think I am actually more excited than I would have been if I had not seen the direness of our situation and so I am even grateful for those several weeks of not knowing. For now I can truly reveal in the Lord's faithfulness.

Its an Army Miracle.

Inspiration

Since becoming pregnant my feelings about food have changed drastically. My first feelings of ambivalence turned quickly to solid distain which turned into something of a multiple personality disorder and now we've settled upon something I'd like to call "Easily Swayed".

Before hormones were surging through my body, if you asked me what I wanted to eat, I'd come up with a list of meals that sounded interesting. But, as I mentioned a few days ago, now I draw a complete blank when faced with food questions. But, being a foodie at heart this is quite disturbing and so I am pretty much obsessed with food now.

This is why watching The Foodnetwork has become so interesting. It doesn't take much to influence my food mood and so I am now using this to my advantage.

Now, when faced with a grocery list that currently only has cereal and milk on it- I am turning to allrecipes.com and other recipe sites for inspiration.
Last night I made Roasted Chicken with Balsamic Bell Peppers and I definitely recommend it. Although, I though the Peppers were maybe a LITTLE too strong and next time I will probably cut the Balsamic Vinegar back a bit. However, the Chicken was awesome and I'll probably make that again very soon. The technique of cooking the chicken in a pan for a few minutes before putting it in the oven is SUCH an easy way to insure a super juice piece of chicken-fast and easy!


And now for my question...do you guys have any go to blogs or websites that give you foodie inspiration?! I'd love to hear about them!!

Whisperer

First of all, I do not have a dog. This should be stated up front because its key to this blog post. Its key, because I don't think my next admission would be as embarrassing if it wasn't for that fact. But, the truth is I don't have a dog, and I probably won't be getting one any time soon ( I'm getting a baby instead and I hear they are a bit time consuming too). But, these facts have not stopped me from becoming completely, totally and beyond a shadow of a doubt OBSESSED with the show The Dog Whisperer. I pretty much don't watch T.V. ( on the actual tv, that is) unless is a random rerun of Meet the Kardashians or some cooking show where people have to make something yummy out of a lime, a block of sugar cane and the hindquarter of a lamb ( its pretty much a dream come true for my pregnancy cravings).
Annnnyway, this was how life was until I discovered The Dog Whisperer and the genius of Cesar MIllan . I cannot get enough of his show. I mean, every fifteen minutes you're introduced to another biting, yapping, jumping, out of control dog and by the end of the fifteen minutes you've learned the dog was scared and unhappy or lazy or some other misunderstood personification trait and Ceasar has addressed the problem and BAM! You've got yourself a wonderful, happy dog.

Its addictive.

Anyway, after watching a ton of episodes in a short amount of time ( he's on both Discovery AND Animal Planet. excellent) I'm pretty much an expert on dogs and people.

And then I found out that Cesar's own dog, Daddy passed away this past week...and FOR SERIOUS I almost cried.

People. This is my life.

I "Roux" the day I had that idea

So, a few weeks ago Brett was perusing facebook and someone had posted pictures of some homemade etouffe they had made in honor of...something Louisiana related-it could be any number of things this time of year ;-)
Anyway, Brett was all,
"Yum! That looks good! I want some etouffe!"

And I was all,
"YAY! Finally Brett gives me some guidance when it comes to the dinner menu!"

( normally this is not an issue, but since I currently range between not having an appetite and wanting to eat mustard right out of the jar...make a grocery list/dinner menu for the week has become an excruciating task. ) and so I went about finding a good/reputable recipe for Etouffe. I finally settled upon this one and I went to the store and bought all the ingredients ( except the fish stock, which I could not find-and so instead I substituted vegetable stock and 1 Tbs of fish sauce-found in your oriental section...this worked well. )

Anyway, so yesterday at around 4:30 I decided to begin my process of making this brand new recipe-something I normal love.
I mean, I read all those reviews that said this recipe was hard because of the "roux making" but I scoffed. How hard could it be to stir nonstop for 15 minutes?!?! BIG DEAL! I can do it!!!

So, go ahead, ask me how many rouxs I had to make before I got it right?!?

THREEEE!

That's right! ARG! The first one was because the pan I was using had little bits of the teflon stuff coming off into my roux ( the dangers of not having your own kitchen and using very old pots and pans), and then after changing over to a pot, I ruined another roux because I think my arm was at a weird angle ( and already tired from having now mixed for a solid twenty minutes) and I was using too small of a spoon....third times the charm. I switched to a wisk and all was well. Roux success!!!
And after that the recipe was a breeze and super yummy ( if I do say so myself!)...

But, I'm not going to lie. I may have thrown some pots and pans around and I may have grumbled some noncoherent words under my breath. And Brett may have gotten worried and asked me to sit down more than once, and I may or may not have hated life for about forty-five minutes.

However, at the end of the day ( 6pm) we finally had dinner on the table and all was well...although I totally needed a nap at this point, and I had to watch Brett eat his second helping from a horizontal position on the couch.

Sharing the wealth

So, "the boss man", aka Chuck Wood ( you should really check out his blog posts/mini devotionals if you get the chance, you won't be sorry) sent me this little youtube video that I thought was excellent!
Check it out:

Surprise!!!

Surprise!!! We didn't get to go to Maryland.
Surprise!!! It snowed in Georgia. It snowed at our house!! It snowed everywhere ( according to facebook status updates)
Surprise!! The movie Valentine's Day was actually good and not a royal disappointment! I was actually delighted with how much I actually liked it.
Surprise!! ( not really, but I have a theme that I don't want to ruin) the restaurant Cheddar's is royally disguising...I would rather go to APPLEBEE'S.
Surprise!! I had my first real latte in almost four months, and I didn't throw up! Take that, Baby Hiphopapotmus-hope you enjoyed that little boost of decaf!
Surprise!! My sister sent me cupcakes from Crumbs Bakery for V-day, and they were as tasty as they were adorable. Seriously...I think they must use black magic to make them that good AND shippable. ( totally worth it).
Surprise!! Brett got me adorable Gilmore Girl coffee mugs for Valentine's Day....how well he knows me.
Surprise!!! We ended up going for Atlanta for the night.
Surprise!! Even though I'm four months along in this pregnancy I still get sick if I don't eat IMMEDIATELY in the morning time. Thus the dry heaving in an Atlanta parking lot.
Surprise!!! Happened upon a wonderful little joint called The Flying Biscuit....Breakfast all day, if you go to Atlanta. Eat there.
Surprise!! I'm very much considering having a natural birth. I am now prepared for all your comments to go buckwild. Go.

In short

Today's events should not have bothered me, but they DID:

1. During my OB appointment, PA in training couldnt find babies heartbeat, leaves me for twenty minutes laying on my back fretting before coming back with SOMEONE WITH SKILLS so that I could stop freaking out about my baby. 20 longest minutes EVER.

2. Sat in Hospital Lab waiting to get blood work done: watching four Lab workers play on their phones and talk to one another while only one worker works. I HAD LOW BLOOD SUGAR. I NEEDED A MUFFIN PRONTO. But no. Instead I had to wait another 20 min. before being "served".

3. Dentist appointment. Had a temporary filling put in. I have a tiny mouth. Having a MILLION HANDS in said mouth makes it ache and hurt. It took hours it seemed. My mouth currently aches.

4. Got the wrong drink from starbucks. I pouted. Brett bought me a new one. I felt guilty for pouting.

5. Its snowing everywhere. And THIS is the weekend we decide to visit the Northeast. ( I don't think its gonna happen.)

6. oh, and F.Y.I, throwing up stretches your mouth involuntarily. Even if one side of your face is in serious distress...it will still open super wide during that dreadful moment. Leaving you with more pain for later. AWESOME.
And yes. Throwing up here in week 16. ALSO AWESOME.