I'm in Love With a Wonderful Guy!

  It may or may not surprise you that I love musicals. One of my favorites would definitely have to be South Pacific. My earliest memory with this musical was going over to my grandparent's house and my grandfather was sitting in his chair watching it. And I remember curling up by his feet and watching it with him. And now every time I watch it, which is probably twice a month, I think of that time fondly. The other thing I think about, is how much there is no way I actually understood anything that was really going on in the movie. Even still, I notice something new every time that I watch it. Or maybe it's just that every time I watch it I am in a different place and just see it differently. Either way, this last time that I saw it, just a few days ago, I gravitated toward the song "I'm in Love With A Wonderful Guy". It happens in a part in the movie that she has all by written him off, by "washing him right out of her hair", and then of course he shows up and as soon as she sees him it is undeniable that she loves him. It's hard not to smile when watching this.

  What I love most about the song is that it's exactly how we should feel with the person that we're with. When you are with someone that makes you so happy that it overflows and you can't help but sing it from the rooftops (or in her case the beach)! You may not express it in song and dance, but I hope that you do express it in someway. As much as I love watching it in the movies, I'm personally not a big "song and dance" type of person, but I show it in other ways. From the way that I cut up the bread when I make french toast (because I know that he likes the french toast sticks) to making sure the house is clean when he gets home so that we have more time to spend together. And, of course, everyday I tell him how much I love him and how much I appreciate everything that he does for me.
  As a side note: Ryan likes to remind me that instead of using up valuable/limited DVR space to keep this on the recorded list, I could just put in the disc of it that he bought for me. But it's like hearing a song on the radio that you know you have the cd for and could listen to anytime that you want, it just sounds so much better on the radio. Or when you've watched Julie&Julia for the 17th time, because they keep showing it, but I wouldn't take the time to put in the DVD that I have. I know that it's silly, but I also know that I'm far from alone in this!

Menu Monday!

  Ryan says to me last night, "If this taste even half as good as it smells, then it's going to be the best thing you've ever made!".
  And it did.
  And it was!

  I love trying new dishes, and I love it even more when they turn out good! Dinner last night was no exception. And just like the rest of my meals, the gyros that I made for dinner were quick, easy and delicious!

For the meat:

1 lb. ground lamb (which I thought would be hard to find, but it was right next to ground beef in the deli!)
4 cloves of garlic, grated
1/4 c. grated red onion
1 tsp. dijon mustard
salt and pepper
1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. chopped rosemary (dried or fresh)

*mix it all together (I like using my hands!) and then throw it straight into a hot pan to brown up. The instructions said to make patties out of it, but I decided not to!

For the Tzatziki sauce:
1 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt
1 clove garlic, grated
1 tsp. lemon juice
3 green onions, finely chopped
1 tsp. dried dill weed
1/2 med. cucumber, peeled and grated (when it's grated, the flavor seems to infuse into the sauce a lot better)
salt and pepper to taste

*combine and chill for at least an hour before using.

  And that's basically it! Grab a pita, pop in the meat, top with the sauce and some thinly sliced red onions, tomatoes and feta, and you've got yourself dinner! I honestly thought that it would more complicated, or that I would spend a bunch of money on all the ingredients. But once I figured it all out, the only things that I didn't already have at the house were the lamb (which was only about $5), the dill weed and the rosemary (which I now have and can use it so many other things).

Now, I know you're thinking to yourself, "But Ashley, what about dessert?" Don't you worry, I got that covered to.

  Dessert was a quick and easy (duh!) chocolate mousse pie! I whipped up a packet of chocolate pudding, mixed in a little cool whip, tossed it in a pre-made graham cracker crust and topped with a thin layer of more cool whip, and PRESTO!
 
Add it all together, and what have you got?

One very happy husband!

A Quick Update

  I know that I've slacked the last few days on updating, but I want to let you know that I've got some great stuff in the works. I'm in the process of working out a new system for the blog. The biggest change is going to be that I will start posting every other day (Monday, Wednesday and Friday). I'm also going to try and have a little more structure to the entries (not too much, so don't worry).
  So don't you fret dear readers! Give me just a few more days and starting next Monday things will start fresh! Thanks so much to all of my readers, and I promise that things will get back on track!

What's for Dinner?

  One of my favorite salads is the Asian Coleslaw (aka Ramen Noodle Salad). So for dinner tonight I'll be making up a big side of that to pair nicely with some Asian style meatballs. If you can't tell we're doing an Asian theme for dinner tonight. :P
  This is one of the quickest, easiest and most delicious meals that I make. Let's start with the salad!

Asian Coleslaw

Ingredients:

1 bag coleslaw mix and 1 bag broccoli slaw
green onions finely chopped (approx 1/4 cup or less)
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 pack ramen noodles (I use the Oriental flavor) broken into small pieces (I also throw them in a pan and toast them slightly, just keep an eye on them cause they don't take long at all)

Dressing: (I just mix this all up in a big measuring cup)
3/4 cup oil
4 tbsp apple cider vinegar
4 tbsp sugar
flavor pack from the ramen noodle package

Now for the super hard instructions: Mix, Pour, Toss and Chill!

And if you thought that was difficult, now it's time for the meatballs.

Asian Meatballs 

Ingredients:

As many meatballs as you would like out of a bag of frozen meatballs (we use turkey meatballs)

3/4 cup Yoshida's marinade

1 clove of garlic, grated

Instructions:

Put ingredients in freezer size zip lock bag and throw in the fridge. (I get it all in the bag in the morning and they are thawed and fully marinated by dinner time.

Use tongs to remove the meatballs (toss the rest of the marinade) and heat them in a frying pan. (approx. 5 minutes)

That's it! And now you know all of my secrets for a quick, easy and delicious meal! People always assume that it has to require more than that, but it doesn't. 

Happy cooking!

Lost Crate Update!

  I got home yesterday to my box from Lost Crate! As excited as I was to open it I had a few errands to run first. If you recall, I just recently bought a new car and my husband and I had decided to sell the old one. So yesterday we got the rest of the money and handed over the title. Then we had to run straight to the bank to deposit the money, and of course run over to Sonic to celebrate with milkshakes!

  Finally back at the house I had a chance to open my gift. The first thing I noticed about it was that it is definitely not a crate. In fact, a pretty small box. But I was excited none the less. I cut the tape and opened the box, and the first thing that I said was, "Oh my gosh, my mom would love these!". Inside were 3 little "sweater pumpkins". I am not exactly sure what I was expecting to be in the box, but it was definitely not that. But the more I looked at them, the more I liked them. So it looks like my mom is going to have to wait until I buy her some other ones, because these now have a new home on my mantel.
  Due to the funds involved, I probably won't renew my subscription to Lost Crates. Instead I might occasionally just purchase one, or try and find a little cheaper subscription box to sign up for. I still just love the surprise of not knowing what's going to be inside!

My New Love For Yoga!!

Not my idea of relaxing!

  As a super busy woman, I am always looking for ways to relax and unwind throughout the day. My "go to" has always been a long soak in a hot bath,which I still love, but it's not always convenient. I've thought about trying yoga before, but I've always heard that it's surprisingly hard, so I've opted for other solutions. But now that our house guests have left and the house has been cleaned it, I needed to try something extra special to relax.

  I remembered that On Demand they have little workout things, some of which were yoga and Pilates. I wasn't really looking to "workout", just relax. So after quickly ruling out Pilates I started searching through the yoga lessons. I was looking for a very specific type of yoga. It might sound lazy (isn't that the point of relaxing) but I wanted one that was the easiest and most soothing. Mostly looking for one that just focused on stretching and breathing. There was about 6 yoga videos to choose from and I went through a few minutes of each one before finally getting to the last one that was actual a prenatal yoga lesson. (Don't get any crazy ideas!) It did make the most sense though, because pregnant woman aren't suppose to do strenuous workouts, so all it focused on was stretching and breathing. It was perfect!!

  After the 15 minute session I felt more relaxed than I ever have even after hours and hours in the bathtub! It was absolutely amazing. Yoga helped me discover places that I didn't even realize I was holding stress. It does take a little getting use to clearing your mind, but I could tell that even towards the end of the first session it was getting easier. I can't wait to do it again tomorrow! And what's great about it is that it's something that can easily be done anywhere and anytime. I'm even thinking of taking 10 minutes during my lunch break and just clearing my head, breathing and relaxing!

  What are some of the techniques you use to relax?

I Love Making Dinner . . . Fun!

  Maybe it's not how it really use to be, but I never remember dinner being boring when I was a kid. I do remember when we would sit down as a family and make a list of all of our favorite dinners, and that's what was always on the menu for the week. As an adult, I now do the same thing. Every Sunday Ryan and I sit down and go over what we liked about the week before, what we didn't like and what recipes we'd like to switch out. Then we go through the fridge and pantry and see if we've got everything we need for the week, and if not it goes on the grocery list. We then run over to the store and get the few ingredients we need and when we get home I spend the next hour or so prepping ahead everything I can for the week. Dicing and chopping up veggies, browning and portioning off meat and sometimes even preparing full meals that can just be thrown into the oven on the day we need it.

  Now that we've got a few extra people staying with us, it's even more important to say on top of it, or we end up making last minute bad decisions for meals. And now that one of the people staying with us is 9 years old, it's especially important to make dinner a fun experience so that he'll actually eat it! The biggest test came yesterday when I had decided to make meatloaf for dinner. But we couldn't do ordinary meatloaf, cause that's not fun, so I made up a batch of Meatloaf Cupcakes! And if it's any indication as to how much the 9 year old loved them, he made up a song about them (which is still stuck in my head)!

  I followed a very basic recipe:

1 1/2 pounds ground beef 1 egg 1 onion, chopped 1 cup dried bread crumbs 1 teaspoon oregano salt and pepper to taste

sauce: 2 tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons prepared mustard 1/3 cup ketchup oven at 350. cook for 10 minutes, remove and cover with sauce, then back into the oven for 5 more minutes and that's it!!

  Then I sectioned it off into about 1/2 cup portions and put them into a cupcake tin (sprayed with olive oil). But that isn't the end of the fun, because what are meatloaf cupcakes without frosting! Yep, I made up a quick easy batch of baby red mashed potatoes and used a ziplock bag to pipe the "frosting" unto each little cupcake! I added a quick side of green beans and dinner was complete. And EVERYONE loved it!! For the adults, we even had chive "sprinkles", and for the 9 year old (my nephew) I had him stick a green bean out the top of the mashed potato frosting and make it look like a candle! It was a fun, simple, delicious and healthy dinner for the family. And one that we will definitely be adding to the list of our favorite meals to make again!

 
 

The Lost Crate

  A little while ago I was killing sometime (okay, days) on Pinterest and stumbled on one of my favorite bloggers participating in a new program. Almost everyone on Pinterest is familiar with the name Michael Wurm Jr., and if not then you're silly and you should check him out HERE. (and while you're there checking him out, you can follow my Pinterest page too!)Anyway, I saw that he was joining up with a company called Lost Crates. Basically they go to awesome people and those awesome people recommend awesome things and then we, as equally awesome people can buy them. Also for a little while they had awesome people sponsored crates. You could just buy one, or you could subscribe and get one every month for a year, or get them quarterly and get 4 a year. The crates ranged in price, and everything in the crate equaled the same price. (i.e. you bought a $25 crate, there would be $25 worth of stuff in it.)
  So, I signed up for the quarterly subscription, and I'm expected to get my first crate this month! I'm not sure  what will be in it or when exactly it will even arrive, but who doesn't love a surprise! The only downfall currently is that I just received an email the other day that they are actually putting a hold on all of the subscriptions for now while they are shuffling around some stuff. But I will still get my crate in October and the rest of the money will be refunded to me! And I will definitely be setting it back up once I'm able to.
  I'm looking forward to finding out what's inside the crate and sharing it all with you!

Splish Splash

  After 2 days of feeling under the weather, the only thing that feels even remotely good is soaking in a hot bath. Let me correct that by saying "a CLEAN hot bath". And I am lucky to have a husband that's sweet enough to take such great care of me (whether I'm feeling well or not). So Ryan, with a little help from Pinterest and Martha Stewart, created a cleaning solution to clean out the tub. Let me preface by saying that I've tried numerous different kinds of cleaning solutions (homemade and store bought) and I have yet to find one that works as well as the ONE that Ryan wanted to try!

  Add one teaspoon of liquid soap, one cup of baking soda and then add just enough water to form a paste. Then all you have to do is use a brush to scrub the tub. What??? That's it, you say?? Yep! That's it! Obviously depending on how bad the bottom of the tub is you might have to use a little more elbow grease, but it's not any more than you'd already be using. Because I didn't do the cleaning, I didn't get a before and after picture. But I can say that I took a bath the day before and then again right after he cleaned it, and the difference is AMAZING!! In fact, now that I'm getting out of bed today, I'll be mixing some more together for the other bathroom. The thing that I like most about it, it that there is no harsh smell (I tried one a few weeks ago that used vinegar). You can also add a couple drops of essential oils for smell, I just didn't have any to use. 

Happy Cleaning!!

National Do Something Nice Day!

  To go along with the post that I made the other day about giving thanks, today is National Do Something Nice Day! As often as we get wrapped up in what we've got going on, it's always so great to take a few minutes and do something for someone else. Doing something nice doesn't mean that you have to spend a lot (if any) money or time! For example, last week I was at Costco and I say a lady a few checkout lines down who had on the most adorable chevron maxi skirt, and as I was leaving and walking past her I took 3 steps out of my way to stop and tell her just that. And her entire face lit up! That was all it took. And I like to think that she later told someone about it and how nice it was, or she passed it forward and complimented someone else.
  I make it a habit to do something everyday for someone other than myself. It makes me happy to be able to do that. And, again, it's not always about receiving thanks for the things you've done, although it's nice to hear, it's just about doing what you know to be good and right! So get out there and do something nice for someone today! And if you're having trouble coming up with some ideas, here's a list to help you get started:

*Hold the door for someone
*SMILE!
*Buy someone lunch
*Mow your neighbor's lawn, or water their garden
*Listen intently in conversation
*Be a shoulder to cry on
*Compliment someone
*Inspire and encourage others
*Volunteer in your community
*Hand write a personal thank you card
*Tell someone "I love you"

HAPPY NATIONAL DO SOMETHING NICE DAY!!

Giving Thanks

  It's not just something that happens once a year. As women we do so much that goes unnoticed. From trials we silently struggle with and keep to ourselves to noticing that there is a little ring starting around the water line in the toilet. We do so much unselfishly and give and give and give without the praise or acknowledgment from others. Well today I got a genuine "thank you" from someone and I can't even begin to tell you how much it means. To have someone take note of something you've done. And it's not that we do things just to be recognized, but every once in a while it sure is nice to know that someone took the time to say something. 

  This post is going to be short today. I just hope that we all remember to take the time to thank someone everyday. For anything! For taking out the trash, not leaving their bags by the front door, throwing their dirty clothes in the hamper, letting you go in front of them at the grocery store, walking your dog, for brightening your day, just for being them! It's not the reason that we do things, but it sure makes it all a little bit nicer!

It Doesn't Hurt to Ask!

  I have had a checking account with a certain bank since I turned 18 years old. It is the oldest line of credit that I have and so I'm not too eager to close it just yet. But to make things a little bit easier between the Hubby and I, I opened a new account with a certain credit union.  Not even one week old, and I haven't even used my debit card, and there was already a $2 charge taken out! So I did what every one should do: I called them! I know that it's sometimes a hassle, and sometimes you're on hold for 20 minutes. But more often than not, they will fix the problem! In an age where everything is getting rapidly more expensive, it's so important to save every penny we can. 

  The little problem with my account was that, even though it's a free checking account, they were charging me $2 for a statement fee. So for them to print off the statement, stuff it in an envelope, stamp it and send it to me (just so I can throw it away) it was going to cost me $2 a month! I don't think so!! So I called. And I talked to a really pleasant guy and I told him, "hey, I was never even made aware that I had a choice in the matter when it came to paperless or not. And if given the option I would have chosen go paperless because I love trees. And I definitely wasn't told that it would cost me every month for that service." And you know what happened? He apologized. He told me that he completely understood. He fixed my account so that my statements in the future would all be paperless. And, most importantly, he refunded my $2! 

  Now, I know that $2 might not seem like the end of the world, and it probably wasn't, but that's not the point. The fact of the matter was, that I really wasn't given any of that information, and if given the choice I wouldn't have agreed to that. So obviously I was in the right, and it was only right for him to fix the mistake (and yes, I fully understand that it was not his mistake to fix). But there have also been many times in the past when it had been completely my fault that an extra charge had been taken out (i.e. an overdraft charge) and I've still called and asked them to refund it and they have. I don't think that it's anything specific that I say, or even the way that I say it that makes a difference, but it's just taking the time to make the call. A couple of other tips are: try and make them laugh, let them know that you realize that it's not "their" fault, be sincere, give them all of the information (to let them know that you know what you're talking about), and always ALWAYS thank them! I've talked my way out of literally hundreds of dollars in fees, and you can too! Just take a few minutes to call. It doesn't hurt to ask!

Long Weekend

  I know. I know. This daily thing isn't working out so well, but I'm doing the best I can people! I guess that I should start with the car. Ryan and I have been discussing the possibility of getting a second car for a little, basically ever since his parents first came out and visited. Okay, honestly it's just pretty much been me talking about it ever since then. His family came out for a week and while they were here they had this great rental car that I got to basically drive around the whole time since they didn't really know where anything was. And from that moment on I been obsessed with the RAV4. It is an SUV, but still compact. It's higher off the ground than my little Nissan, and so it will be great for the winter months. It has tons of storage space in the back and you can still fit 5 adults in it. In fact, every time we would drive down the road and see one, I would point and it and say "look, there's my car". And now Ryan teases me and says that as we're driving down the street in my new RAV4! Yep! I got it! What better way to celebrate spending the last 10 years paying off debt than to start another loan! But in all seriousness, it will be a great little car that will last for quite some time. (and yes, everybody, one that our little family can grow into.)

  The next part of our weekend adventure was spending sometime with my sister and her family to celebrate her birthday (which is this upcoming week). We made a huge dinner with everything she wanted: salmon, tempura veggies and a green salad covered with shrimp! Everything was delicious, if I do say so myself. 

  On top of everything else, we've now got a couple of house guests staying with us for the next little bit. It has been fun to have our little home full of so much love and laughter (not that we weren't happy before they showed up, but just so much more now.) Most of all this weekend has just been a lot of little adjustments, and trying to get settled in to a new routine. One of the newest parts of our daily routine is a "wind down" quiet reading time the last hour of everyday before we all go off to bed. (yes, I made sure if it was okay to use reading time to write instead tonight). But I love the process of setting aside time to unwind from the day and spend some quiet time together. It's also fun to be able to be in such close quarters with other people that enjoy reading as much as I do!

  I'm going to work really hard on getting back to daily updates, even if they are not super long. I do miss it when I'm not writing. But that is all for now as it is getting close to the end of reading time and the beginning of crawl-in-bed-and-sleep time. 

  Night all!!