Updated Nostalgia

Back in college, I could barely boil water. My go-to meal when I was home was a totino's party pizza.

When Lee and I met, I started to cook a little more. Fancy nights were always Stouffers Lasagna and the garlic bread that comes in the foil (still the best!).

There was this one meal I can remember making for us that I thought was just the best thing ever. BBQ chicken and mac-n-cheese. I basically would throw chicken tenders in a glass dish with barbecue sauce and bake them until they were cooked. Finish it off with the Blue Box mac and woohoo!

Friday, the snowpacalypse hit Houston - so all schools were closed and we were stuck in the house. I set out at dinner time to make something hearty and warm. I had chicken breasts in the freezer and decided to try and upscale some of our nostalgia from college while warming our bones.

I started out they way every meal should:

Butter in a skillet...

Then I added some sliced onions

I let these get soft and a little brown and then removed them back to the cutting board.

My chicken breasts were massive so they were not 100% thawed. I threw them in the skillet to get them browned on the outside.

Since they were a little frozen I let them cook in the skillet a little longer to make sure they were thawed when I put them in the oven.

I basted them with a little barbecue sauce and put the onions back in the pan and put them in a 375 degree oven, with the goal of about 25 more minutes cook time.

Now, don't forget our mac-n-cheese.

I dug really deep to upscale this portion of the meal...

I mean - it's BETTER than the boxed kind...
My poor sauce pot has seen better days in the last 10 years, as you can see.

When the mac was about done, I checked on the chicken and added more sauce

It wasn't really bubbling for me so I upped to 425 for 10 minutes. That did the trick and allowed me to make a salad. I also put a little grated cheese on the macaroni and put a lid on it to melt.

In the end, my plate looked like this

It was a very filling meal that really hit the spot. Logan didn't want the chicken but he sure hoovered the noodles!

I did NOT like college, or Nacogdoches. But Lee and I often look back at our lives in our 500 square foot apartment and think of how much fun we had there.

Being Happy

Starting the day Logan was born, I changed.

Don't look at me like that, I am not going for the cliche here. I'm talking that I really changed.

While becoming a mother has something to do with it, it's not just that. Maybe I never fully got out of the PPD thing. Maybe I should be on meds again. Who knows. All I know is, I tend to lean towards the bitter and snappy side of things these days and I don't like that at all.

For now, I am doing my best to take the steps I need to get myself back on track again.

Step 1: Doing something that is good for me. I started Pilates at Pure Body Studio in November. I get an hour doing something that makes me happy and is good for my body and soul. I actually look forward to going back.

Step 2: Read more. I used to be a book hound but working 40+ hours a week and then being a wife and mother, reading just barely fits in. On top of reading for pleasure, I am also starting this book:

 I have read the first few chapters and I am ready to dig in like she did. In January she gets rid of mindless clutter, cleans out the closets, and makes sleep a priority. I can tell you right now, my sleep is all out of wack right now. I really need to stop at 9pm, crawl into bed, read for a little while, and then go on to sleep.

Step 3: Relax and just enjoy it! We took Logan to Preston's birthday party at Home Depot. Logan was a little all over the place but I decided to just go with it. We stopped and walked around the store so he could look at tools - more than once. In the end, we all had more fun than if I had tried to make the poor kid sit in his chair!

I'm still looking for ways to reduce my stress and learn to roll with things. One step at a time, right?

Holiday Recap

I do want to blog more often. It is in my 2014 Goals to "feed a hobby." I will try to be around more this year and do a better job at documenting our life!
The rest of our November was pretty eventful.
My little guy turned 3 on the 30th! We had his party a few weekends before that. We had scheduled it at a local park but the weather didn't cooperate so everyone ended up at our house.
It was a little much but everyone seemed to have a nice time!

 We finally conquered potty training, though we still have some accidents from time to time and he really isn't good at telling us when he needs to poop.
Not fun. Not fun at all.

 On his actual birthday we celebrated by going to see the zoo lights. Here is my favorite blurry shot and it's on my phone as my background too.

December came and went pretty quickly. I am knee deep in a very hectic project that consumes most of my days and dream-filled nights.
Logan really wanted to know all about Christmas this year and Santa. We had Mervin the elf, who helped us convince him to act nicer. On occasion.

 Lee's sister Laura came to town and Logan found a cheetah he liked at Whole Earth. When you have kids, you start this list of things you never thought you'd say...

"LOGAN! Don't ride the cheetah" is high up there.

Christmas day came and Santa brought a soccer goal and ball. He was also gifted a super hero costume so later on in the day I looked outside to this:

 One of my favorite things he got was headphones.

Finally, I don't have to listen to Dora!

He liked helping me open my presents. Especially the colander.

 Before Laura left town, Gail made sure we got a family photo:

 My days require a lot of coffee.....

 But I enjoy weekends where we play on the floor and look at the crabs

 Or play with the "wizerds."

I hope you all had a happy Holiday and more posts will come soon, especially with photos of my wild and crazy project!

Ramble On

(happens to be my all time favorite Led Zeppelin song...)

Things around here just never slow down.

September: we went on a family trip with my parents to Destin - our first time!

Logan traveled really, really well with all his posse.

October: I finally gathered my cajones and had my wisdom teeth out.

That was 1 day post-op.
Logan started fighting bed time in a major way:

And was out sick from school with high fever and/or strep. TWICE.

A big project of mine finished up. On the left - before. Dark wood entry, drapes in the conference room!
On the right, AFTER. I'm pretty proud.

I was criticized for wearing rain boots (on a rainy day no less!) and wore them anyway. I love them.

Logan carved his first pumpkin.

 And was his favorite Monsters Inc character for Halloween.

All he wanted were Popsicles.
We had to keep him from going INSIDE the houses. Stranger Danger, kid.

November (so far):

I joined a Pilates studio for both my mental and physical health...

We went to Palestine this last weekend for just the day:

That's Zoey, Logan's 3rd cousin who was born about a month before him. That year there was a baby born in September, October, AND November!

Otherwise, work is nuts and home life is crazy.

I am looking for the Mousekatool to help me with potty training because Logan is pretty bad at the holding it part...

He loves Pomegranate seeds, which is odd for most people but especially a toddler...

I can't find my Pioneer Woman cookbook, the second one, and it is making me crazy. Looks like even a good 6 months in and I may have missed a box while unpacking...

I am excited for Christmas and have only put up one "fall decoration"

Ta. Da.

That's all you have missed the last two months....

Fear

Today for #blogtember, the topic is being afraid.

There are different types of afraid, I have found.

There is the type of afraid where you are just REALLY worried, like when your little one has surgery.

There is the type of afraid where you are literally scared for your life.

I decided to talk about the latter.

In September of 2008, Houston was warned of a Hurricane approaching. The first instinct was to not take it very seriously as we had just had a scare with Hurricane Rita the year before, which resulted in mass hysteria trying to leave the city and people stranded on the highways - and then the storm moved and missed us.

Certain areas of the city this time were told to leave - especially all of Galveston Island. Since we were much more inland, near downtown actually, and our house had never flooded, we were in an area told to "hunker down."

So we did.

At 3am on September 13th, we awoke to very very high winds and some rain. At this time, we had old windows in our home and a large Oak Tree that dropped branches when the wind changed direction. After a few moments of deliberation, we moved into the hallway where we could shut all the doors and be safe from glass should a window break. We had a wind up radio so we could here what was going on. We lost power around 4am.

At some point, I am guessing as the eye got closer to our area, I started feeling sick. I looked at Lee and I said "What are we doing here? Why did we stay?" I started thinking about our life and our pets and our families and why we risked all these things to stay in our house. I was truly afraid, as our windows were bending and vibrating, that we had made a fatal mistake.

In the end, we didn't. Our house was fine, most everyone we knew was fine. We only had one couple had damage to their house but it wasn't life threatening.

I remember being in shock. Just sitting and staring. Not eating. I lost about 10 pounds and never wanting to see a grill again for a long time.

I know now, with Logan, our decisions will be worlds different should we face this again.

I also know, I am not equipped for "sheltering in place."

Fall means...

NEW TV!

I am a little underwhelmed by the new lineup, but I still have HBO/Showtime and Bravo to fill in the gaps too.

So far, here is what we plan to watch (Circled in red)

I recently read that The Crazy Ones shouldn't be missed, so I may give that one a go too.

 Some are new shows, and some are shows I can't give up on (ahem... Grey's..)

Anything you are excited about coming up?

3 months...

Today's Blogtember post is about what you would do if you had three months off to do anything.

This puzzled me. 3 months? Anything?

Then it hit me.

I'd cook.

I'd cook those meals I don't have time for.

I'd bake those tarts and cakes I flagged in magazines.

I'd make fancy food you only see in magazines.

Like this:

From Donna Hay Magazine

Then, I'd take the next three months off to exercise.

A Lot.