P2P

Desperate

I laughed when I took a good look at this plant in our kitchen the other day. Emma got it from her teacher at the end of school and I just hadn’t paid attention to the fact that it was growing. It doesn’t happen much at our house. So when I saw it pressed up against the window I thought, “Geez, I know plants grow towards the light but that looks a little desperate.”

But then I realized I’ve looked a lot like this plant lately. Head leaned on the window, searching for the Light, the Source. Desperate to grow.

Posted via email from Amy’s posterous

Desperate

I laughed when I took a good look at this plant in our kitchen the other day. Emma got it from her teacher at the end of school and I just hadn’t paid attention to the fact that it was growing. It doesn’t happen much at our house. So when I saw it pressed up against the window I thought, “Geez, I know plants grow towards the light but that looks a little desperate.”

But then I realized I’ve looked a lot like this plant lately. Head leaned on the window, searching for the Light, the Source. Desperate to grow.

Posted via email from Amy’s posterous

We’ve Moved

Permission to Peruse finally grew up and is over at permissiontoperuse.com.

Cooking with The Pioneer Woman: Weekly Update

This week we had some major winners!

Ranch Chicken

This was by far the best chicken dish I’ve ever had at home and might rival any chicken dish I’ve had at any restaurant.  It was DELISH.  It was juicy and flavorful and oh so right.  These are permanently in rotation at our house.

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Cauliflower Soup

In Emma’s words, “this soup is just good”.  So yeah, it’s definitely a keeper.  I had never had cauliflower soup that I can recall and the best I can describe it is a mix between broccoli and cheese and potato soup.  My only issue with this is it took much longer than it says.  From the time I put the butter in the pan to serving it, it was an hour and a half.

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Baked Fudge

I’m not sure I can give the proper review for this as I didn’t have ramekins and used some small measuring cup/bowls from Pampered Chef.  I decided to make these Thursday night while watching Grey’s.  They were ready to put in the oven within 10-15 minutes and seemed very simple but as PW says, the timing in the oven is the tough part.  I took mine out too early and a lot of mine was more like fudge for a sundae rather than baked fudge.  But, the taste was still good and Scott and I “suffered” through it.  I want to make these again as I bought ramekins this weekend at the mall.  I also have to mention the whipped cream I made as well.  Yum!

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Marlboro Man’s Second Favorite Sandwich

We choose to eat these a la carte (read: no bun).  I’ve now deleted three attempts at writing how I feel about these.  Basically, it’s not as good as the ranch chicken, better than the cube steak in Marlboro Man’s favorite sandwich but less juicy but way better than any chicken recipe I had before.  So, take that for what it’s worth.  I’ll make it again, how about that?

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Red Velvet Cake (no link)

I believe this was my first cake that didn’t come with a box.  I think it came out great albeit a little more like pink velvet cake instead of red velvet cake.  The icing was definitely my favorite part.  The edges seemed a bit dry at first to me but after the cake was in the fridge for a while it didn’t bother me a bit.  Maybe because the piece only lasted about 30 seconds on my plate.

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This week also included the frozen chicken spaghetti from the other week.  It thawed and heated up perfectly!

Weekend Recap

We had quite the eventful Valentine’s Day weekend.

Friday it snowed 4-5”.  It was the girls weekend with Scott’s parents so Scott and I got out just as it was starting to accumulate.  By the time we left their house, we ran into several cars that were in a ditch or trying to head towards one.  Scott had his truck so we (which I use loosely because really all I did was take pictures and tweet the stops) stopped and helped who we could.  We spent a little bit of time with Jake and Jill (and the baby!) before heading home.

Saturday we went shopping up at Concord Mills since I had to go drop my ring off for repairs.  We got back in time for the girls to go to Parents’ Night Out at gymnastics while we went out for a Valentine’s Day dinner with Dani, David, Wayne and Joni. 

Here’s a few pictures of us from that:

And we tried

and tried

and tried

and really tried

and really, really tried

to get a good picture.  But Scott for some reason was ultra-sensitive to the flash.  I promise he hadn’t been drinking!

While we were busy eating, Lexi sustained her first injury at gymnastics

Apparently she did a face-plant into the trampoline and had some burns.  She said she didn’t cry though!

Sunday we went to church. ate at Mom and Dad’s, spent some time at Scott’s parents and then spent the rest of the day at home.  It was a nice quiet evening to finish our busy weekend.

Book Queue

Cooking with the Pioneer Woman: Weekly Update

So things went a little slow last week.  I had a horribly busy week at work, Scott went back on nights and it just didn’t happen.  BUT I do have a few things to share

Chicken Spaghetti

This was very creamy, flavorful and comforting dish.  My mom made a tuna casserole growing up and it reminded me a bit of that.  I think adding peas to this dish would be a great addition.  Oh my, is that me being a cook??  The best thing is I divided it between two dishes and froze one of them!

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The Best Lasagna Ever

I was a little hesitant with cottage cheese in my lasagna but I’ve learned to simply trust P-Dub.  It’s ok I’ve only had ricotta cheese in mine.  Really.  And it was really MORE than ok.  Scott took a plate over to my parents (long story but just go with it) and my mom emphatically said it was the BEST lasagna she’d had in her 50 years.  So that’s saying something.

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Potato Skins (no link)

This recipe called for real bacon.  And I’ve never fried real bacon.  It’s a shame, I know.  But we always buy that already done stuff and stick it in the microwave for 32 seconds.  But lawd, why haven’t I done real bacon before?  Wow, what a difference!  The sad part is we used most of the bacon for the jalapeno poppers so I only got to fry up 4 pieces of bacon but I will not do potato skins without them again!  But even so, these were FANTASTIC.  I have to say they aren’t the easiest thing I’ve ever done with all the cooking and scooping and more cooking and oiling and more cooking.  Yeah, it was probably an hour and a half process altogether.  But it was worth it.  And they were just as good leftover!

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That’s it for new stuff this week.  We also made several repeats: tomato soup twice this week, another round of mocha brownies, jalapeno poppers and onion strings. Can you tell we had an impromptu Super Bowl party?  It was so nice to say hey, I have an onion.  Why don’t I make onion strings?

One last note, DO NOT make the tomato soup with anything but fresh parsley and basil.  Just sayin’.

IE, Y and Other Acronyms

In the past two days, I’ve worked 18 hours, 3 of which occurred between 3:30 and 6am last night.  We finally implemented some systems that we’ve been working on since my visit to Indianapolis last Spring.  The last three days have been an orchestration of probably 20 or more people and at least 50 different tasks, several of which I was assigned to or had to coordinate.  And it’s been nothing but geeky computer stuff filled with acronyms…DTS, FTP, NDM, G2, PROC, and the list goes on.

I got done with work about 4 this afternoon and then this evening was happy to get out with Heather and spend the evening at a VIP event at a local restaurant we were invited to.  Free food!  Imagine the place a little like a mix between Applebee’s and possibly Hooter’s (in that they had short shorts, not little tops).  There was music playing and a full house because of the event and TVs going.  In short, it was a little hard to hear.

We’re nearing the end of dinner and Heather asks for our waitress’s name and after she (Katie) leaves she looks at me and says something but I didn’t catch the whole thing.  I heard something like “Y or I E” but asked her to repeat it.  She says the same thing and I still have this really confused look on my face.  I lean way over the table, right in her face.  Heather rolls her eyes and I ask her to say it one more time.  So Heather slowly and loudly says it again but I only catch the end.  So I say still confused, “It sounds like you’re saying Y or I. E.” She yells, “I AM!  I WONDER IF HER NAME IS SPELLED WITH A Y or IE!!”   I bust out laughing, barely able to swallow my food and once composed enough explain that I THOUGHT she was trying to say something about the “YMCA or Internet Explorer” using the “Y or IE” acronyms and couldn’t possibly grasp why they would be used in the same sentence.

#imadork

also

#ineedsleep

Random

1 – My ring

I lost another diamond in my ring today.  Third one since I’ve had it.  I enjoy the cluster of diamond versus one diamond but it sure has been a pain in the neck for the 18 months I’ve had this one.  Thankfully it’s all covered under guarantee. 

I can’t help but laugh when I see it though because it makes me thing of this:

2 – My butt muscles are sore from my run yesterday.  Anyone know any good stretches?

3 – The tooth fairy is officially dead at my house.  In the car yesterday:

Lexi: I believe in Santa, God and Jesus

Emma: Do you believe in the Tooth Fairy?

Lexi: Yes

Emma: Well she’s not real.

Lexi: Well, how does the money get there?

Emma: Mommy and Daddy put it there

Lexi: Oh.

So that’s done.  That’s what big sisters are for I guess.  Still so tempted to say the same goes for Santa but something stopped me.  Not sure why.

Yesterday, today and tomorrow

31 years ago I was born

29 years ago my only sibling was born

24 years ago I lived with several foster babies as siblings

11 years ago I got married

7 years ago I had my first child

5 years ago I had my second child

4 years and 358 days ago family and friends started asking when we were having another child

4 years and 358 days ago and several times since Scott said with great sarcasm he would never have another baby but I was welcome to adopt a 3 year old

3 years ago Emma started asking for a little brother

2.5 years ago I attended youth camp which featured Spur58

2 years ago I started following Aaron (Spur58’s lead singer) and Jamie Ivey’s blog

2 years ago and since then, Scott and I have been supporting Real Hope for Haiti, the place that the Ivey’s son and daughter was staying

2 years ago I started a blog that has since provided extra income each month

1 year ago and off and on I started secretly finding myself a little disappointed when I wasn’t pregnant each month

7 months ago we joined a church which had a heavy emphasis on adoption from the pastor down

2 months ago we made contact with one of our foster baby siblings

2 months ago I told my mom maybe we’d consider fostering a baby if I chose not to work after my contract ends at the end of 2010

1 month ago I watched on as our best friends adopted their first child

2 weeks ago Haiti had an earthquake

10 days ago I watched images come in, read reports from the Ivey’s of their son possibly coming home unexpectedly because of the earthquake and wondered how I could help, including adopting one of these sweet children with no home

1 week ago Life Unexpected debuted on TV, a show about a child who spent her life in foster care.  A show that I started a blog about.

1 week ago Scott says seriously “We should adopt a child from Haiti” and it stopped me in my tracks

6 days ago Friday Night Lights aired an episode where a character aborted her baby.  It affected me deeply and all I could think was she could have saved the baby’s life and given him/her up for adoption!

5 days ago we discuss adopting a child from Haiti with the kids.  They are excited.

4 days ago I do some research and find out we may have to be 35 years old before we can begin the process

3 days ago was Sanctity of Life Sunday

3 days ago our pastor preached “God’s grace is best seen by us”

2 days ago Scott, unbeknown to me, emailed our pastor about adoption

1 day ago I listened on American Idol as a teenager talked about getting lost in foster care his whole life and just wanted to be loved and it about broke my heart.  I turned to Scott and said we should adopt.  He doesn’t respond.

Today Scott forwarded me the email to our pastor about adoption and I realize he’s much more serious than even I thought

Right now these things that once seem unrelated suddenly seem like a web that is being weaved.

Both of us feel a little LOT unsure and maybe like we’re going crazy.  Actually Scott’s subject in his email was “HELP!!!”  I asked God if we should (who have the means, desire, etc) adopt and I’m pretty sure He laughed and said that was the stupidest question I ever asked Him (paraphrasing there).  Should we adopt?  Pretty sure it’s all over Scripture we should take care of orphans.

This kind of scares the crap out of me.  But God usually does.

As you know, this doesn’t just affect us.  It will affect everyone around us.  We’re not taking this lightly.  We don’t want to ignore what God might have been whispering for years.  But it would mean a lot of changes. A lot.  And I don’t know if we’re supposed to adopt from Haiti or this is just a way for us to take a serious look at adoption in general.  Or maybe this is just a bunch of random coincidences!  I don’t know!

Yesterday, today and tomorrow God knows so please pray He shows us clearly what (or what not) to do.

Daily Peek

Weekend Recap

For those that like getting a glimpse of every day life around here, this one’s for you…

The three day weekend was just what I needed.  While I spent a lot of time doing some great things, it definitely wasn’t a sit on my duff kind of weekend.

Friday Scott’s nephew’s girlfriend had a baby so we got to go see her Friday evening.  We went out afterwards with Scott’s family and then ended the evening by watching another disc of Lost DVDs after the girls went to Scott’s parents for the night.

Saturday we…um…I don’t recall Saturday morning.  Oh!  I do recall that I got up really early and was ready by 9am.  I cleaned up, did some laundry and worked on the new site.  In the afternoon Jill and I went to see Sherlock Holmes.  Great, great movie.  I was a little hesitant throughout because they were showing so much sorcery but *SPOILER*  it turned out to NOT be sorcery and Sherlock Holmes figured out by the end of the movie how it all happened.  Saturday evening we stayed in and did breakfast for dinner.  I made The Pioneer Woman’s sour pancakes and marmalade muffins (along with eggs and bacon of course).  Scott and I ended the night with Dollhouse on DVR and the Suze Orman show.

Sunday we had a great morning at North Rock Hill.  Definitely check out the podcast if you are interested.  It’s one of those sermons that I think everyone can take something from.  We had my family over for lunch instead of going out.  Scott and I went on a run together in the park in the afternoon.  I realized just how slow I was running…Scott walked with me at one point.  But that’s ok!  I can get faster later.  Last night I made The Pioneer Woman’s biscuits and ranch dressing…but not together!  The biscuits are actually on my do not make again list   They just weren’t the type I like.  The ranch dressing is not the one I’ve been searching for but it’s good and I expect to make it again.  Beyond that, we ate in and just spent time together.

This morning after getting up and around, the girls and I headed to the store.  We got back and made mocha brownies and chicken pot pie (Do I even need to mention they are The Pioneer Woman’s?) in between getting some much needed outside play time.   My family ended up coming over just because we had a half a pie left over and I had to get someone else to taste it because it all was SO good.   It’s been a busy evening with One Tree Hill and Life Unexpected (WATCH THAT SHOW! IT WAS FABULOUS!) and unfortunately I’m ending the weekend on a very tired note!  Very tired but very good!

On a side note I just have to mention how much I’ve enjoyed cooking lately if you can’t tell.  Scott and I both agreed to quit eating out so much in the new year and normally it is so tough for me to cook.  Not that I can’t, I just usually am not enthused about what I’m cooking.  Since finding The Pioneer Woman’s cookbook though I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the process.  Finally I don’t mind eating what I’ve cooked.  The recipes have very normal ingredients, the steps are easy to follow and the book itself is just fun to look at and pick recipes from.  The food is rich and just GOOD. I really think Ree and I have the same taste buds!  The book is only so big so I don’t know how soon I’ll tire of the recipes but it sure is fun taste testing so much great stuff in the mean time.

Anyway, I guess it’s back to school and work tomorrow.  Hopefully I won’t be dragging too much considering how late it is right now!

Crazies

I’m feeling crazy tonight.  Second-guessing the whole add a few more blogs thing.  Because I haven’t touched the new one in two days and I *need* to work on that if it’s going to take off.  And because when I got off work today we interviewed Brad Leland “Buddy” of FNL and then we had company over for dinner and my amazing husband bought and made dinner and while he talked to the company, I got the girls to and from church and did homework when they got home while watching American Idol and then watched FNL after getting them off to bed and podcasted it directly after that and found out we have two more FNL interviews next week, one with “Vince” and one with “Billy” (yay!).  It’s 11 and I just now put the dishes away from dinner and started the dishwasher.  Not to mention my Danny blog that is getting seriously neglected by me right now and thank goodness for the help I have there.  And oh my word, just feeling a little overwhelmed tonight.

I’ll be ok.  Carry on.

Tuesday Random

I think it must be a record I’ve gone 5 days without blogging, at least in recent times.  So what have I been up to?

• Couponing.  I ended up at Harris Teeter I believe 4 or 5 times in 3 days.  I think I ended up with $200 worth of groceries for less than $20.  Lots o fun.
• Running.  Just completed W6D2!  The next run is now going to be the longest run of my life…25 minutes.  For the record, I still do not like running.  I like that I’m completing the running and I’m proud of myself but I do not like the running itself.
• Blogging.  I’ve got two new blogs coming up.  If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll know about one of them!  In other exciting and random blog news, Kaitlin and I are interviewing Brad Leland “Buddy” off of Friday Night Lights tomorrow afternoon!
• Working.  I’ve gone to the office the last two days.  I’ve gone to bed before 9:30 the last two nights (8 on Sunday) and spending the day in the office both cut down on Internet time.
• TV. I actually gave up on Bachelor last night mid way through.  I found Jake to be quite boring and the girls to be quite annoying.  There was no one I was rooting for much and then I read spoilers for the season and I’m just out.  As for American Idol tonight, Justin was my favorite.  I also liked the girl with the grandmother, the one of 12 kids and the one with the church background.

Alrighty, it’s going to be another early night…

Daily Peek

I haven’t done a post on couponing in quite some time but be rest assured I hit CVS up weekly. And like today, Harris Teeter. It’s super double coupons this week and I can’t tell you the joy I got from the look on the cashier’s face when my total went from $60 to $3.84.

I’m sporting ghetto nails today. Actually it’s an adventure trying to type this on my phone. I bought these at the dollar store for the girls’ Christmas stockings and thought they had stickers. They didn’t. I glued Emmas on today. I started to put Lexi’s on and she decided she didn’t like them. In a genius moment I thought I’d put them on just to mess around. Well here we are 8 hrs later and I still have them. It feels like my entire nailbed might rip out of my thumb when I try to remove them so they all stay. In fact, I glued back on two that had fallen off just so I didn’t look any more ghetto than I do. It was all for naught though since I lost a pinky nail whilst couponing.

Dollar store ghetto nails and free food. Yep, that was my day.

Posted via email from Amy’s posterous