I was a cooking fool this weekend. For me that really isn't hard. That just means that I actually cooked something from start to finish. But this weekend I made three things from scratch. My family doesn't quite know who I am and what I have done with the other Lynette.
So on Saturday night (it was suppose to be for breakfast but I realized I had missed a crucial ingredient, so I had to go shopping and make it for dinner) we had pumpkin pancakes with cinnamon syrup. Just to add some extra calories I also cooked up some bacon. I was scared that things weren't going to turn out because I was making two things at once that I had never made before. Everything was really good though. Rick isn't even a big fan of pancakes and loved them and even ate leftovers for breakfast the next morning! I call that success.
On Sunday, which was Rick's birthday, I made pumpkin cobbler. Rick isn't a huge cake fan so we usually do ice cream cakes but instead I asked him if I could make that and have ice cream on the side. He said I could, so I made it for our family and his parents. Once again I did really well with actually making something I had never made before and everyone loved it. Now that I know how easy it is I am just going to have to keep myself from making it. Dangerous.
Now it is my goal to make some more savory, dinner type items from scratch. Most of our dinners are usually super simple (spaghetti, tacos, french toast, etc) or I get them from Dinners Done Right. So we will see what I do.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Back from the Dead
So this blog has been on an extended hiatus. I was so unmotivated to write in it while I was working especially since everything I was writing was just coming out as a big WHINE! Now that we are back to "normal" I just haven't gotten around to starting over. This was originally suppose to be a blog about whatever I wanted it to be and I plan to do that again.
I have a couple of unofficial goals that I have been or plan to start implementing in my life. The first one is reading. While I was working, I mostly read really fun stuff that I really liked because I needed that it my life. I still plan to read plenty of fun books (I am currently reading The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau) but I also want to read some books that will teach me new things or help me grow as a person whether it be mentally or spiritually. I recently read The Future of Freedom by Fareed Zakaria. I highly recommend it. It is a really interesting read and it taught me a lot about how things are done around the world and he had some really good ideas about things that could be done. If you have some recommendations just let me know. :)
My second goal is exercising once a day on the weekdays. I think I am failing miserably. I guess I do it most days but I have to get up early and then sometimes I get interrupted by early rising children. This is something I will continue to work on.
My third goal is to extend my cooking repertoire. I am not a horrible cook, I just don't always find joy in doing it. I am trying to look at it as less of a chore and more of something fun I can do to make something yummy to eat. I love eating so why should this be a problem? My kitchen is pretty small and sometimes frustrates me so I did just reorganize it to hopefully give me a little more room. I have found some recipes I would like to try (most of them are on my cousin Adrie's blog) and I am working on getting the ingredients for the ones I want to try. Hopefully more on that to come.
My fourth thing to do is starting to cross stitch again. I haven't done a major cross stitch project since I was married. I have been thinking about it a lot and decided to work on it again. I bought a Christmas tree skirt kit with a cross stitched Santa Claus. It is really cool and even though it may not be ready for this Christmas, it will be really nice to have instead of the weird one I got from Walmart last year.
My final goal is to make one post on this blog every week. More than likely they will involve the above mentioned goals but I can write anything so who knows. If you read this leave me a comment so I know SOMEONE is reading it and I will feel more motivated. I never expect more than my friends and family to read it but I would like to know that they are at least enjoying my craziness. :)
I have a couple of unofficial goals that I have been or plan to start implementing in my life. The first one is reading. While I was working, I mostly read really fun stuff that I really liked because I needed that it my life. I still plan to read plenty of fun books (I am currently reading The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau) but I also want to read some books that will teach me new things or help me grow as a person whether it be mentally or spiritually. I recently read The Future of Freedom by Fareed Zakaria. I highly recommend it. It is a really interesting read and it taught me a lot about how things are done around the world and he had some really good ideas about things that could be done. If you have some recommendations just let me know. :)
My second goal is exercising once a day on the weekdays. I think I am failing miserably. I guess I do it most days but I have to get up early and then sometimes I get interrupted by early rising children. This is something I will continue to work on.
My third goal is to extend my cooking repertoire. I am not a horrible cook, I just don't always find joy in doing it. I am trying to look at it as less of a chore and more of something fun I can do to make something yummy to eat. I love eating so why should this be a problem? My kitchen is pretty small and sometimes frustrates me so I did just reorganize it to hopefully give me a little more room. I have found some recipes I would like to try (most of them are on my cousin Adrie's blog) and I am working on getting the ingredients for the ones I want to try. Hopefully more on that to come.
My fourth thing to do is starting to cross stitch again. I haven't done a major cross stitch project since I was married. I have been thinking about it a lot and decided to work on it again. I bought a Christmas tree skirt kit with a cross stitched Santa Claus. It is really cool and even though it may not be ready for this Christmas, it will be really nice to have instead of the weird one I got from Walmart last year.
My final goal is to make one post on this blog every week. More than likely they will involve the above mentioned goals but I can write anything so who knows. If you read this leave me a comment so I know SOMEONE is reading it and I will feel more motivated. I never expect more than my friends and family to read it but I would like to know that they are at least enjoying my craziness. :)
Monday, March 16, 2009
The Working Mom Lesson
I have had a lot on my mind recently but every time I think I want to write an entry on this blog I am afraid it will come across as me whining so I just shut it off and don't write anything. I guess that I just feel like someone is picking on me. I start thinking (usually at work when I have nothing else to do but think while I am stocking) this wasn't how life was suppose to go. Rick was suppose to be the working guy and I was going to stay home with the kids. If we needed extra money I would teach piano. I get really frustrated that life is not going how we thought it would.
So at church, which I have a hard time staying awake for since it is right after my eight hour shift, they have had many talks which I feel they have written specifically for me to listen to. I have never really felt that way about most talks. Not that they are bad or that I don't listen to them but most of them I don't feel are really talking to me much. Just good, basic things we should hear. However, for the past couple months I think that just about EVERY talk given at church was written for me. It seems that whatever was on my mind is specifically addressed in a talk the next Sunday. One talk that has especially stood out in my mind was to enjoy your life as it is now. The lady giving it said that she spend most of her young adult life waiting for it to get better and not realizing that even though she has trials, there is a lot in her life right now to enjoy and be a part of. That is where my working mom lesson comes in.
Most of you know that I am working full time, overnight as a Walmart stocker. Through all of that I am trying not to say just work through it, it will be better later. What I do is spend time with my children when I can. Or if I get frustrated with how life is right now I just remember that they are only going to be this little once and I need to have fun with them. I usually just have to start thinking about my kids if I am frustrated with life and I will usually get a little happier. Even if it is them I am frustrated with.
I am also trying (really, truly I am!) to be patient with my husband. Most guys were just not meant to be stay at home dads and he is no exception. Not that he isn't good at it and has gotten much better as time has gone by but it isn't what he wants to be doing and he gets very frustrated very easily. He also has different priorities than I think he should have so this makes us butt heads on who's way we should do things. I am trying to learn to let go and let him run the house the way he sees fit (although I fail at this quite often). I think we are having this trial so that we can walk for a while in each others shoes. I think our marriage will probably always be stronger for it if we can just survive this trial! He will always know first hand what it is like to be stuck at home all day with two cranky kids and a dirty house that you have no time to clean and I will know what it is like to just want to come home and lay down for a while. These are things that many one income families don't go through and maybe would be a good lesson for all (although voluntarily would probably be nicer than by necessity).
The most important thing I have learned is that we need to rely on our Heavenly Father. We should have a good relationship with him and follow his commandmants at all times but when times get tough that is what we need to hold on to. It would be so easy for me to just come home from work on Sundays and go to bed but I go to church every Sunday, stay awake through Sacrament meeting (if I can do it, anyone can!) and then do my calling to the best of my ability. I also have a firm testimony of tithing which I have always had but has been strengthened by this financial trial. Even though we are not rolling in the dough, we have always paid our tithing and we have been able to make enough to meet all of our basic needs at the very least and we have been blessed by the kindnesses of others.
There are probably more lessons that I have learned that I can't think of right now or will not be apparent for many days, months, or years down the road. I do hope that Rick gets a job soon, make no mistake about that, but I know that this has happened for a reason and that if we try to do what is right we will come out of it better people.
(Thanks for reading my rantings. :))
So at church, which I have a hard time staying awake for since it is right after my eight hour shift, they have had many talks which I feel they have written specifically for me to listen to. I have never really felt that way about most talks. Not that they are bad or that I don't listen to them but most of them I don't feel are really talking to me much. Just good, basic things we should hear. However, for the past couple months I think that just about EVERY talk given at church was written for me. It seems that whatever was on my mind is specifically addressed in a talk the next Sunday. One talk that has especially stood out in my mind was to enjoy your life as it is now. The lady giving it said that she spend most of her young adult life waiting for it to get better and not realizing that even though she has trials, there is a lot in her life right now to enjoy and be a part of. That is where my working mom lesson comes in.
Most of you know that I am working full time, overnight as a Walmart stocker. Through all of that I am trying not to say just work through it, it will be better later. What I do is spend time with my children when I can. Or if I get frustrated with how life is right now I just remember that they are only going to be this little once and I need to have fun with them. I usually just have to start thinking about my kids if I am frustrated with life and I will usually get a little happier. Even if it is them I am frustrated with.
I am also trying (really, truly I am!) to be patient with my husband. Most guys were just not meant to be stay at home dads and he is no exception. Not that he isn't good at it and has gotten much better as time has gone by but it isn't what he wants to be doing and he gets very frustrated very easily. He also has different priorities than I think he should have so this makes us butt heads on who's way we should do things. I am trying to learn to let go and let him run the house the way he sees fit (although I fail at this quite often). I think we are having this trial so that we can walk for a while in each others shoes. I think our marriage will probably always be stronger for it if we can just survive this trial! He will always know first hand what it is like to be stuck at home all day with two cranky kids and a dirty house that you have no time to clean and I will know what it is like to just want to come home and lay down for a while. These are things that many one income families don't go through and maybe would be a good lesson for all (although voluntarily would probably be nicer than by necessity).
The most important thing I have learned is that we need to rely on our Heavenly Father. We should have a good relationship with him and follow his commandmants at all times but when times get tough that is what we need to hold on to. It would be so easy for me to just come home from work on Sundays and go to bed but I go to church every Sunday, stay awake through Sacrament meeting (if I can do it, anyone can!) and then do my calling to the best of my ability. I also have a firm testimony of tithing which I have always had but has been strengthened by this financial trial. Even though we are not rolling in the dough, we have always paid our tithing and we have been able to make enough to meet all of our basic needs at the very least and we have been blessed by the kindnesses of others.
There are probably more lessons that I have learned that I can't think of right now or will not be apparent for many days, months, or years down the road. I do hope that Rick gets a job soon, make no mistake about that, but I know that this has happened for a reason and that if we try to do what is right we will come out of it better people.
(Thanks for reading my rantings. :))
Friday, January 16, 2009
Generousity of Others
So in order to tell you this story you will need to know some background information.
Rick was laid off from his job at the Lewis County Chronicle in October. He was the web developer there and it was his job to build and maintain the news papers main website and also his brain child, the Lewis County Buzz. The Buzz was a forum where anyone in Lewis County and surrounding areas could come for information, fun and social interaction. It was incredibly popular and became a very tight knit community. When Rick was laid off it was one of the first things that The Chronicle got rid of, unfortunately. Many people were angry or sad at this so Rick and a couple others with web experience got together and made a new forum, www.lewiscountygoes2find.info. It immediately became very popular with the "old crowd" and many new people have found it also. Most of them look to Rick as their "founding father" since he was the creater of the Buzz and one of the creaters of Goes2find. Today we got a very pleasant surprise and I will let Rick tell you in his own words what happens. This is part of his post from the forums.
"I had finally gotten the kids to get to sleep for their naps, and my wife was still sleeping (due to her schedule), so I sat down to do some 3d modeling work on the computer finally uninterrupted when there was a knock at the door.
Confused, and wondering who it might be, I opened the door up and was delivered a small white box by a nice woman on my doorstep. I looked at the label, thanking her, and seeing that the "from" address was a "Lewis County Goes 2 Find". My mind made the connection. Muse had asked me several days ago for my address. Here was a package. I asked with only a little hesitation: Are you from the forum?
She was! It was Susan. We had a wonderful chat and it was great to finally meet someone face to face. She was very friendly. "
Inside the package was many nice cards and letters and many gift cards to restraunts and retailers and also a big bag of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had! I just added them up and we received $335 in gift cards. The generousity from people, most of which we have never met in real life, is unbelievable. We have been blessed many times since Rick has been laid off by others and I know it is Heavenly Father answering our prayers through others. We will always be so thankful to them.
Rick was laid off from his job at the Lewis County Chronicle in October. He was the web developer there and it was his job to build and maintain the news papers main website and also his brain child, the Lewis County Buzz. The Buzz was a forum where anyone in Lewis County and surrounding areas could come for information, fun and social interaction. It was incredibly popular and became a very tight knit community. When Rick was laid off it was one of the first things that The Chronicle got rid of, unfortunately. Many people were angry or sad at this so Rick and a couple others with web experience got together and made a new forum, www.lewiscountygoes2find.info. It immediately became very popular with the "old crowd" and many new people have found it also. Most of them look to Rick as their "founding father" since he was the creater of the Buzz and one of the creaters of Goes2find. Today we got a very pleasant surprise and I will let Rick tell you in his own words what happens. This is part of his post from the forums.
"I had finally gotten the kids to get to sleep for their naps, and my wife was still sleeping (due to her schedule), so I sat down to do some 3d modeling work on the computer finally uninterrupted when there was a knock at the door.
Confused, and wondering who it might be, I opened the door up and was delivered a small white box by a nice woman on my doorstep. I looked at the label, thanking her, and seeing that the "from" address was a "Lewis County Goes 2 Find". My mind made the connection. Muse had asked me several days ago for my address. Here was a package. I asked with only a little hesitation: Are you from the forum?
She was! It was Susan. We had a wonderful chat and it was great to finally meet someone face to face. She was very friendly. "
Inside the package was many nice cards and letters and many gift cards to restraunts and retailers and also a big bag of the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever had! I just added them up and we received $335 in gift cards. The generousity from people, most of which we have never met in real life, is unbelievable. We have been blessed many times since Rick has been laid off by others and I know it is Heavenly Father answering our prayers through others. We will always be so thankful to them.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
5th Anniversary
Yesterday was Rick and my 5th Anniversary. My mom and Kendra came over and babysat the kids so we could go on an actual date. This is like a bi yearly event. Something we should probably work on for the new year!
We went to the movie, Valkyrie. It was very good, very enlightening and pretty sad. I would recommend it to anyone. Maybe I can thank my Orting schools education or just American public schools in general but it had a lot of things about Nazi Germany that I never had heard of or thought about. In the movie, Tom Cruise's character said something to the effect that if they failed (the assassination of Hitler) and the Allies took Berlin that Germany would always be seen as Hitler's Germany. I don't think that is too far off. It gave me a lot to think about. Maybe a little deep for an anniversary but there wasn't anything else that we both wanted to see in the theater.
Afterward, we went to Sharis for a pig out feast. We got a gift card for Christmas and Rick REALLY wanted to go so we went. We just had a lot of fun spending time together and reminiscing about days gone by. It will be interesting to see what life deals us in the next five years. You just never know!
We went to the movie, Valkyrie. It was very good, very enlightening and pretty sad. I would recommend it to anyone. Maybe I can thank my Orting schools education or just American public schools in general but it had a lot of things about Nazi Germany that I never had heard of or thought about. In the movie, Tom Cruise's character said something to the effect that if they failed (the assassination of Hitler) and the Allies took Berlin that Germany would always be seen as Hitler's Germany. I don't think that is too far off. It gave me a lot to think about. Maybe a little deep for an anniversary but there wasn't anything else that we both wanted to see in the theater.
Afterward, we went to Sharis for a pig out feast. We got a gift card for Christmas and Rick REALLY wanted to go so we went. We just had a lot of fun spending time together and reminiscing about days gone by. It will be interesting to see what life deals us in the next five years. You just never know!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Movie Time
I tried to go to work today but my car was snowed in. After Rick trying to dig it out for 10 minutes, all we managed to do was get it stuck in a different spot. I am sick of this weather!
I have been watching some good movies lately. That is probably because all of the summer movies are coming out and I only saw one in the theaters this summer. So I have a lot to catch up on. I decided to give a review of some of the movies I have seen lately. Some of them newer, some of them new to me. I am just trying to entertain myself. :)
I watched the Dark Knight last week. I thought the first new Batman movie was weird to say the least so I was expecting something similar. I had heard that is was very dark and was being partially to blame for Heath Ledger's death because he had gone a little coo coo after playing this part. I don't know if that is true or not, but after seeing this movie I wouldn't find it hard to believe. His character is crazy and the darkest, most evil villain I have seen in a movie in a long time, if ever. It was a very hard movie to watch sometimes but extremely gripping. I wish they would have given Two Face more screen time since he was one of my favorites from the last set of Batman movies (I don't know anything about the comics), but overall if you like thrillers this would be for you. I did think it was borderline as far as violence goes for a PG-13.
I also just watched Hancock the other day. I am a huge fan of Will Smith's but his last few movies have either looked boring or not my style. So when I saw previews for this one last spring I really wanted to see it in the theaters, but Indiana Jones won out on the one movie that I was willing to spend money on. It was very entertaining and I loved the twists that they put in, although Rick thought he was smart and spoiled the twist before it came. Rude. I kind of feel like if I was a super hero, I would be a lot like Hancock, minus the drinking. They show on the previews the part where he saves the whale by throwing it back into the ocean and it manages to hit the one boat in the harbor. So funny. Even after seeing the movie, I think it is my favorite part.
The one thing I miss about working at Blockbuster is that I am always behind on new releases these days. I used to know when every movie was coming out and I would have seen most of them before they were released (we got to rent them before they came out). So if you have seen any good movies lately let me know because I probably haven't seen them and I need to narrow down to ones that would be worth my time. I just love movies.
I have been watching some good movies lately. That is probably because all of the summer movies are coming out and I only saw one in the theaters this summer. So I have a lot to catch up on. I decided to give a review of some of the movies I have seen lately. Some of them newer, some of them new to me. I am just trying to entertain myself. :)
I watched the Dark Knight last week. I thought the first new Batman movie was weird to say the least so I was expecting something similar. I had heard that is was very dark and was being partially to blame for Heath Ledger's death because he had gone a little coo coo after playing this part. I don't know if that is true or not, but after seeing this movie I wouldn't find it hard to believe. His character is crazy and the darkest, most evil villain I have seen in a movie in a long time, if ever. It was a very hard movie to watch sometimes but extremely gripping. I wish they would have given Two Face more screen time since he was one of my favorites from the last set of Batman movies (I don't know anything about the comics), but overall if you like thrillers this would be for you. I did think it was borderline as far as violence goes for a PG-13.
I also just watched Hancock the other day. I am a huge fan of Will Smith's but his last few movies have either looked boring or not my style. So when I saw previews for this one last spring I really wanted to see it in the theaters, but Indiana Jones won out on the one movie that I was willing to spend money on. It was very entertaining and I loved the twists that they put in, although Rick thought he was smart and spoiled the twist before it came. Rude. I kind of feel like if I was a super hero, I would be a lot like Hancock, minus the drinking. They show on the previews the part where he saves the whale by throwing it back into the ocean and it manages to hit the one boat in the harbor. So funny. Even after seeing the movie, I think it is my favorite part.
The one thing I miss about working at Blockbuster is that I am always behind on new releases these days. I used to know when every movie was coming out and I would have seen most of them before they were released (we got to rent them before they came out). So if you have seen any good movies lately let me know because I probably haven't seen them and I need to narrow down to ones that would be worth my time. I just love movies.
Crazy Boiling Over
I have been trying to come up with something to blog about. I really want to stay away from whining about my life, my job and everything else. All I can think about is how annoyed I am with everything. I know I should be thankful for all we have and I am, but it isn't how we would like life to be.
First off, I signed on full time at Walmart. I was originally hired as a seasonal worker but they asked me to sign on full time (actually I was on the schedule after Christmas and so I went and talked to my manager and they had changed me to full time without talking to me. Funny.). I know it is a blessing that I can keep my job but I hate working. I want to be a full time mom. I am frustrated with how little Rick gets done with his freelance while I am sleeping during the day. I am frustrated that no one will even interview him, let alone hire him. I am frustrated that I am missing out being with my girls all the time. I am just glad that I like my job for the most part and don't really mind being there. I work with mostly good people and get along with most of them. It may be a fairly simple job that anyone with half a brain could do but I feel a sense of accomplishment when I go home everyday. I can look at my department and know that I have left it better than when I got there. It is just not what I ever saw myself doing. It is not what I had in the plans.
Second thing that is on my mind is this weather. I know it is very typical winter weather for most parts of the country but for Washington it is very abnormal. The last time it was like this was when I got married. Maybe it is just Mother Natures way of wishing Rick and me a happy 5th anniversary? I like the rain and can't wait for all of this snow and ice to melt. It is really hard to get to work and I even called in tonight just because I didn't want to get stuck at work. If I wanted to deal with this kind of weather I would live in Idaho. ;) So lets move on already.
The third thing I have been thinking about recently is my wedding anniversary coming up. Rick and I will be married 5 years on January 3rd (as stated in the last paragraph) and I want us to do something special together even if it is just to get away from the kids. But with him out of work I am going to feel really guilty if we spend any money. Should we just say whatever and go treat ourselves to dinner, a movie, or whatever we want or just sit at home moping that we don't get to do anything fun to celebrate and regret we never did anything to celebrate this milestone? I am started to lean toward just doing whatever but it keeps rolling around in my mind.
I know I have a lot to be grateful for but I feel like the world is against us these days. I just hope that I can enjoy Christmas and that next year will be better for everyone than this year was. Hopefully with new leadership and with some common sense we can get ourselves out of the mess we are in and learn from it.
Thanks for reading my rantings. The crazy is just starting to boil over. :)
First off, I signed on full time at Walmart. I was originally hired as a seasonal worker but they asked me to sign on full time (actually I was on the schedule after Christmas and so I went and talked to my manager and they had changed me to full time without talking to me. Funny.). I know it is a blessing that I can keep my job but I hate working. I want to be a full time mom. I am frustrated with how little Rick gets done with his freelance while I am sleeping during the day. I am frustrated that no one will even interview him, let alone hire him. I am frustrated that I am missing out being with my girls all the time. I am just glad that I like my job for the most part and don't really mind being there. I work with mostly good people and get along with most of them. It may be a fairly simple job that anyone with half a brain could do but I feel a sense of accomplishment when I go home everyday. I can look at my department and know that I have left it better than when I got there. It is just not what I ever saw myself doing. It is not what I had in the plans.
Second thing that is on my mind is this weather. I know it is very typical winter weather for most parts of the country but for Washington it is very abnormal. The last time it was like this was when I got married. Maybe it is just Mother Natures way of wishing Rick and me a happy 5th anniversary? I like the rain and can't wait for all of this snow and ice to melt. It is really hard to get to work and I even called in tonight just because I didn't want to get stuck at work. If I wanted to deal with this kind of weather I would live in Idaho. ;) So lets move on already.
The third thing I have been thinking about recently is my wedding anniversary coming up. Rick and I will be married 5 years on January 3rd (as stated in the last paragraph) and I want us to do something special together even if it is just to get away from the kids. But with him out of work I am going to feel really guilty if we spend any money. Should we just say whatever and go treat ourselves to dinner, a movie, or whatever we want or just sit at home moping that we don't get to do anything fun to celebrate and regret we never did anything to celebrate this milestone? I am started to lean toward just doing whatever but it keeps rolling around in my mind.
I know I have a lot to be grateful for but I feel like the world is against us these days. I just hope that I can enjoy Christmas and that next year will be better for everyone than this year was. Hopefully with new leadership and with some common sense we can get ourselves out of the mess we are in and learn from it.
Thanks for reading my rantings. The crazy is just starting to boil over. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)