First of all I have to say I'm sorry I've been gone so long. I have been popping in occasionally at my other blogs, but I still feel like I've neglected all of them over the last couple of weeks, and I'm sorry for that.
We've had a lot of real life stuff that's jumped up in the way of the blogging world that had to be taken care of. There have been vehicle issues, some other personal issues I had to tend to, then I found myself down and out with the flu for about 5 days. Luckily I didn't have to fight the flu bug for two weeks this time like I did last time I had it, and today is the first day I've felt normal again. I'm just so happy to be back to myself instead of laying on the couch heaving up what little food I could cram into my system.
I know you didn't need to hear that but too late. Now that I'm feeling better I've got all this energy, so I just want to go and do. I'm tired of being stuck on the couch all week.
I'm going to start off this morning by running some errands with my sister. I think a little bit of retail therapy is in order, and I promised I'd check out some tv stands to make sure she buys the right size she needs for her new tv. Then we're going to meet up with Daddy for lunch. Lunch with Daddy is always great because he loves his girls so much he always pays. Yay for free food and having the chance to spend some time with my Dad and Sis.
Then Sis and I are heading back here to try our hands at making some soap. Yeah I know a lot of people have told me we should just stick to buying handmade soap instead of making our own because it's hard to make, but we want to do it anyway. We're not looking to make a ton of it to try to sell or anything, but it is something that interests us as a hobby. Yes I know it can be an expensive hobby, but we're going to try it anyway. We're starting the easy way though with some melt & pour, and it gives us something to do together...a way to try to reconnect and make up for all the lost time we've had when we were dealing with personal issues over the last couple of years. We really need that time to bond again, and I think this is a great way for us to do it!
Alrighty, I need to get my butt in gear! I still have to dry my hair and all that good stuff so I can get out the door!
The Aroma of Good Food
My kitchen smells so wonderful right now, but I have to be a good little girl. I have to smack my own hand every time I'm tempted to go open my crock pot to look at the awesome smelling steak roll-ups that are cooking right now. I showed Hubby the Crockpot Blue Cheese & Steak Roll-Ups I've been wanting to try from The Crockpot Lady, Stephanie, and I finally got him to agree that the photos of her dish look to tasty to ignore.
I absolutely love The Crockpot Lady and her blog, A Year of CrockPotting. I use her recipes at least once every couple of weeks because I admit I cook in my Crockpot more than anything else. When we first got married I used my Crockpot 3-4 times a week. Now I use it once or twice a week because I admit we've gotten slack, and we eat out a lot. I really need to start using it a lot more, especially now that I have two Crockpots of different sizes. Anywho, back to the recipe.
Unfortunately he is not a blue cheese fan like me, so we had to adjust the recipe to our tastes. The recipe also called for red wine, and I'm the type of person who stands in the wine section of the grocery store looking like a total idiot because I don't have a clue what I'm doing. I talked to my personal queen of cooking friend Casey, and she helped me adjust the recipe for Hubby's favorite cheeses, Provolone and Gorgonzola. Hubby originally wanted to use just the provolone, but I don't think it has a strong enough flavor. Thank goodness he loves Gorgonzola. If all turns out well I might try my own steak roll-ups again sometime with some feta because I know he'll eat that.
All I know is I've had the Crockpot going for right at an hour and a half, and it's making me really hungry. Lucky for me this recipe only needs 4-5 hours to cook, so it'll definitely be ready by the time Hubby gets home from work. I'll probably end up sneaking a few bites as soon as it's done.
Now I just have to make sure I remembered to pick up everything for my Gut Bomb soup I'm making tomorrow. It's my personal version of what is sometimes called Friendship soup, and is also one of the most popular taco soup recipes you'll find around the 'net. It's the perfect meal to make tomorrow because I'm going with my friend to shop for baby bedding, so it's a nice Crockpot meal that will slowly cook for 8 hours while I'm gone.
I absolutely love The Crockpot Lady and her blog, A Year of CrockPotting. I use her recipes at least once every couple of weeks because I admit I cook in my Crockpot more than anything else. When we first got married I used my Crockpot 3-4 times a week. Now I use it once or twice a week because I admit we've gotten slack, and we eat out a lot. I really need to start using it a lot more, especially now that I have two Crockpots of different sizes. Anywho, back to the recipe.
Unfortunately he is not a blue cheese fan like me, so we had to adjust the recipe to our tastes. The recipe also called for red wine, and I'm the type of person who stands in the wine section of the grocery store looking like a total idiot because I don't have a clue what I'm doing. I talked to my personal queen of cooking friend Casey, and she helped me adjust the recipe for Hubby's favorite cheeses, Provolone and Gorgonzola. Hubby originally wanted to use just the provolone, but I don't think it has a strong enough flavor. Thank goodness he loves Gorgonzola. If all turns out well I might try my own steak roll-ups again sometime with some feta because I know he'll eat that.
All I know is I've had the Crockpot going for right at an hour and a half, and it's making me really hungry. Lucky for me this recipe only needs 4-5 hours to cook, so it'll definitely be ready by the time Hubby gets home from work. I'll probably end up sneaking a few bites as soon as it's done.
Now I just have to make sure I remembered to pick up everything for my Gut Bomb soup I'm making tomorrow. It's my personal version of what is sometimes called Friendship soup, and is also one of the most popular taco soup recipes you'll find around the 'net. It's the perfect meal to make tomorrow because I'm going with my friend to shop for baby bedding, so it's a nice Crockpot meal that will slowly cook for 8 hours while I'm gone.
Trying Yoga Again
I completely forgot I have my Yoga DVD that I haven't used in awhile. I should really get back into trying the Yoga again to help me with the weight loss. I stopped using it not because I was being lazy but because I was tired of trying to follow the routines on my little 19" tv. Ok, so maybe that was an excuse I was using to help me be lazy. Now that we've got our nice 46" LCD TV I can't use that excuse anymore.
Hubby and I were just talking, and I think if I start the Yoga DVD again he's going to attempt to do it with me. He's got to do something because if he doesn't lose about 10lbs he won't fit back into his bike leathers by riding season. I cannot afford to go buy him a new $600 set of leathers just because he gained 10lbs!
Hubby and I were just talking, and I think if I start the Yoga DVD again he's going to attempt to do it with me. He's got to do something because if he doesn't lose about 10lbs he won't fit back into his bike leathers by riding season. I cannot afford to go buy him a new $600 set of leathers just because he gained 10lbs!
Figuring Out A Fitness Routine
I've decided it's about time to start searching the local newspaper ads for used treadmills. On days like today when it's nice outside (it's going to be 70 today!) we both like to get out and walk, but on cold days it's hard to get me to do anything physical. It's time to change that, and I think if I had a treadmill it'd be easy to convince myself to exercise.
I used to go to my Aunt's house at least a couple times a week to use hers, but it's getting harder to do that. She's working odd hours, and I don't want to leave the house when it's cold. My laziness has been getting the best of me, and I've really got to do something about that. I think it's time to really crack down on coming up with a fitness routine I can stick to. If I don't do it now I'll never do it.
I used to go to my Aunt's house at least a couple times a week to use hers, but it's getting harder to do that. She's working odd hours, and I don't want to leave the house when it's cold. My laziness has been getting the best of me, and I've really got to do something about that. I think it's time to really crack down on coming up with a fitness routine I can stick to. If I don't do it now I'll never do it.
Comment Policy
I already have a policy on all my blogs that I will not approve comments that are anonymous.
The whole reason I choose to not allow anonymous comments is because I think it makes everything look spammy. If you have a legitimate comment there is no reason why you can't provide a name to go along with it. I don't require you to provide your website or email address, and all these anonymous comments shows me exactly how many people don't read the comment policy.
I wish Blogger would allow a popup box or something that you have to read and click to be able to leave a comment proving you read the comment policy. That would also cut down on the tons of spam comments I receive on this blog daily. I'm hit with more spam on my blogger blogs than I am my Wordpress ones! I login to my email everyday to see comment approvals for ads for Arizona auto insurance, diet pills, oh and all the tons of spam comments that are just gibberish linked to non-existent sites. It's getting old.
Please keep your comments on topic with the post.Seriously though how hard is it to read my comment policy? I think I'm going to have to rewrite my comment policy to make sure people understand this because in the last few days I've received a ton of anonymous comments. Some of them are junk, but some of them are comments I definitely would have published if the commenter had provided information.
Harassing, threatening, or spam comments will never be approved.
I will no longer be approving Anonymous comments, and I reserve the right to delete any comments based on my own discretion.
The whole reason I choose to not allow anonymous comments is because I think it makes everything look spammy. If you have a legitimate comment there is no reason why you can't provide a name to go along with it. I don't require you to provide your website or email address, and all these anonymous comments shows me exactly how many people don't read the comment policy.
I wish Blogger would allow a popup box or something that you have to read and click to be able to leave a comment proving you read the comment policy. That would also cut down on the tons of spam comments I receive on this blog daily. I'm hit with more spam on my blogger blogs than I am my Wordpress ones! I login to my email everyday to see comment approvals for ads for Arizona auto insurance, diet pills, oh and all the tons of spam comments that are just gibberish linked to non-existent sites. It's getting old.
Oh Well
Last night Hubby told me what he'd been planning to do for me for Valentine's Day. He told me because he's been dropping hints for months about possibly going away for the weekend since Valentine's Day and his birthday are only 2 days apart. Unfortunately our financial situation isn't allowing for a trip right now, so he went ahead and told me just in case I'd figured out his plans.
The hints he was dropping made me think he was wanting to go to Gatlinburg since he wanted to go there for our anniversary, but I begged to go to the beach instead. Boy was I off. He was planning on going to the Outer Banks. We've both talked about checking out Outer Banks rentals and maybe planning a trip there because I think the area is so beautiful. That's what he had planned to surprise me with, but now we just can't afford to do it. Oh well. Maybe we can do it next year.
A lot of people probably think we're nuts for even thinking about spending our cash on a trip right now with the economy in such a bad shape. Honestly, I think now would be the best time to go just because you can get such great deals because businesses are suffering and dropping prices.
The hints he was dropping made me think he was wanting to go to Gatlinburg since he wanted to go there for our anniversary, but I begged to go to the beach instead. Boy was I off. He was planning on going to the Outer Banks. We've both talked about checking out Outer Banks rentals and maybe planning a trip there because I think the area is so beautiful. That's what he had planned to surprise me with, but now we just can't afford to do it. Oh well. Maybe we can do it next year.
A lot of people probably think we're nuts for even thinking about spending our cash on a trip right now with the economy in such a bad shape. Honestly, I think now would be the best time to go just because you can get such great deals because businesses are suffering and dropping prices.
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