Life changes and so should my blog

I think I need this. Hopefully soon I can get thank you notes written then I can start to document my life for public viewing again. My brain can't hold all of these wonderfully halirious thoughts anymore.


Good night and get ready it should be pretty awesome!

Dear Ellen

If you are wondering I'm still looking for tickets to your show. I still want the god seats, by your mom or with Tony. By you of course would be the best seats however after today's show I decided I wouldn't be upset if I could sit in the seats where the Australian guests got to sit especially if you gave me beer hats. Yes, I said hatS because I would like to bring my BFF with me. Ok thanks. I'll keep you informed on why it is exactly that we are so amazing and deserve this I just can't think of it at the moment.

Army party... Favors

A few nights ago I posted the invites I made for our laser battle that will happen soon. Last night I made 20 thank you/party favor bags. My husband is in the National Guard so he got cups and lanyards and stress grenades all for free. I went to dollar tree and bought a few different kinds of candy I only got candy that was red white and blue though so my choices were limited. I got some peppermints and gum. My mom started making soap last year so I asked her if she would make soaps with an army man sunken in them. Then I took all of those items and put them neatly into a brown paper bag. I folded over the top and used a hole puncher to punch holes through the bag and some little notes I typed up. On the notes I put "mission complete thank you for coming PFC (meaning private first class, it is a military rank meaning new guy basically) Rylan Despeaux. I used yellow ribbons (meaning support the troops) and tied the notes to the bag. Since my mom made the soaps the cost to me of all 20 bags was around $5.00. If I would have made the soap the total cost would have probably been 25-30 for 20 bags. Which in my opinion is still not too bad.

Vanilla protein smoothie

I got some vanilla protein powder on clearance at CVS this week. I thought I would try it for the first time today. I found a recipe online that is amazing!
It has:
one serving of vanilla protein powder
1/4t cinnamon
1/2tvanilla extract
1t sugar
1c milk
5 pieces of ice

Yum!
Cinnamon roll in a cup!

Army party

So I've been searching for something original for party invites. Everything I found that I even kind of liked seems to cost a small fortune and since I only kind of like it, I am not going to spring for it. Anyway I decided on card stock. I chose a color called guacamole, it was on clearance for .28 per sheet. Then I went to Walmart and picked up a box of envelopes for around 2.00. I'm going to mark them with "Top Secret"! I think it's going to be really cute.

At the bottom of the invites I added our address and wrote in the date and time in military format. So 2013.01.19 and 14:30

I also put report to to the commander in chief (that would be me!) and my contact info. I decided to only post part of the invite since I don't exactly want my address posted all over the Internet :)

Breakfast in a glass!

Just went looking for a recipe to make a smoothie. I knew what ingredients I wanted to use, I just wasn't sure how much of what. So I tried this one and it is sooo sooo good! I'm calling it a morning monkey smoothie :)
1/2 cup coffee (I used instant, make it as directed cool preferably then pour in your 1/2 cup)
1 banana (I like mine just yellow almost still green)
1/2 cup ff fat milk
2 Tbs. of crunchy Peanut Butter
6 ice cubes (ish)
1 scoop of chocolate protein powder

Blend all ingredients together until smooth.

This mix should leave you feeling full and energized!

The daily reminders

So since an avid reader brought it to my attention AGAIN that I have not blogged in a while I thought I would get my act together. I have certainly missed it and thought of it often. Here it goes...

I started a new job as the Director of Personal Training at a gym a few months ago. It is the first job that I've ever had that I look forward to going to work each day. Not only do I keep all of the trainers in line, hire, fire and train them all etc. but I also maintain an amazing relationship with all of the members who want to feel like they are not just at another gym but that their small monthly payment makes them someone special. Now that my resume' is out of the way I can get to the meat of this post. The thing that makes me love this job the most is when I meet each new member and transform them into clients of our training department. I spend at least one hour with each new member, mainly so that I can tell them how terribly fat they are and how they need us and will never make progress on their own (in not so many words). Then I am amazed how people will tell their whole life story to someone they only met 5 seconds ago, people love to talk about themselves! I have laughed and cried with strangers. I am always inspired though to wake up and start my day out amazingly and be happy about each thing that is good when these people tell me of their hardships. Let me tell you of some of my clients. I have Susan, who is a breast cancer survivor who is going on a cruise in January and wants to look good again for her husband because after years of being in bed fighting cancer she feels fat and ugly. She is so thankful to be alive and walking around at the same time though. She talks every day about being alive and how great she feels. She has told me of how the doctors removed both breasts in a surgery and then how another surgery gave her new ones then they wanted to do the next surgery to give her nipples again and she said she was finished with surgery so she opted to not get them (I'm pretty sure she had many more that that too not to mention all of the treatments too). She lost her hair and it has regrown most beautifully, it is soft and blonde and has just the perfect flips in it to look like she belongs on the beach. She has lost 15 pounds in 7 weeks and says suddenly her husband can't keep his hands off of her again. She works so hard and smiles so much I look forward to every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with her, what she doesn't know is that it isn't the 15 pounds that changed her husbands feelings but it is her confidence coming back. She makes my day start off great. She thinks she is getting a lot from me but really I am the one who is getting more. Then there is Sharon, who lost her son 7 years ago. He was in his 20's and every time she speaks of him she gets tears in her eyes and gets a lump in her throat. I've cried with her many times. She always asks about Rylan and Rhett, she says she has a special place in her heart for boys. She still has 2 very handsome sons alive (all 3 were handsome). She is still struggling with the loss but feels like getting out of the house and coming to our appointments is what is making her better. She said she hasn't been out of the house really in many years, she does get excited though when we talk about how beautiful her skin is... she says its from her years staying out of the sun. Her husband is supposed to retire from Shell in March so she is hoping to get the feeling back to want to travel and do things so they can enjoy his retirement. I try to tell her that her other sons and her husband need to see her happy and living life again. I can never imagine her pain. I think she is brave for trying to live again. She is my Tuesday and Thursday afternoons. Then there is Mrs.Dot, she lost her husband many years ago and hasn't ever figured out how to spend her time alone so she eats when she is bored or lonely. She said her husband used to spoil her and she never had to do anything for herself and now he isn't there so she doesn't feel like she knows how to act. She is 69 and wants to get back into shape and is determined. You can tell she is sad still but I love to make her laugh. Sometimes I wait until she is half done with an exercise and say "Ok that makes 2" lol she usually almost drops the weights because she freaks out and I say just kidding that's 6! Then she almost drops them again laughing. She wants to get rid of her gut I tell her that the laughing will help with it and that's why I do it. Then on exercises where it is timed I wait until she is about 10 seconds into a 30 second exercise and say something like "oh you already started I guess I'll start counting" then I don't even wait for a response that is more than a laugh before I say just kidding you are doing great. There is also a future daughter in law/future mother in law (the wedding is on New Years eve this year) who are training together to get ready for the big day. It is so awesome to see how they get along like friends and I tell them of my relationship with my mom-in-law (I'm lucky, I got 2!) and how not many girls are as lucky as we are. There is also a lady who is so big she cried to me because her kids had a come to Jesus meeting with her and told her she had to do something about herself before she dies like her husband/their father did. You can tell that she wishes that moving your arm from your plate to your mouth would make the weight fall off . The weight of a fork just isn't enough to make a change though. It is going to be a great struggle for her because she doesn't want it for herself and I don't think she really cares either. It makes me sad because I understand how her kids feel. There are so many people in my life who I know that their body has not been taken care of and their life will possibly be cut short because of it. Some of my trainers have clients who I wish I could sit and talk to for hours because they are so inspiring. I have many other clients with great fun stories who are all positive when they are with me but the ones above are the main ones who touch my heart. The point of all of these stories is that people have unknowingly helped me appreciate every single thing in my life. I hope this helps you to do the same. Each time your significant other does something that burns your ass a little remember how lucky you are to have them around. I realized this when Rhett was deployed and I would think back to when I would slam cabinet doors because that obviously would let him know I was mad he hadn't taken the trash out yet. When he was gone I was wishing the trash was full because that would mean he was there to put stuff in it. I was lucky though because he got to come home. The next time your kids make a huge mess or bother you for a sandwich right after you sit down or when they run up a $500.00 cell phone bill, be happy they are here to do those things. The next time someone cuts you off in traffic or when you are having a bad day and things just aren't going your way remember you woke up this morning and didn't have to battle cancer or have another surgery or figure out how to live alone again so put a damn smile on your face and be nice to each other. If you can't seem to find that happy place come see me I can make that happen for you.

This post goes out to all of the people who have been through a tragedy and smile and move on, thank you. Thank you for helping me see how healthy I am and lucky I am that my husband and son are healthy and we are all together and happy! Thank you for making me smile. Thank you for inspiring me to see every glass totally full. Thank you for thinking of me and thank you for sharing your stories with me.

Best Roast Recipe I've ever used!

Last night I used a mixture of recipes that I found that I liked to create my own. I wish I would have taken pictures of the crock pot because it was soooo good and even looked pretty :) Here is the recipe of everything I put in the crock pot.

bean soup recipe

Here is the bean soup recipe I used.

Here are the beans I used in a ziploc bag.

This is the crock-pot after a few hours, this is before I added some tomatoes that I diced and canned not long ago.

This was my taste test :)

I realized that I forgot to post the link the other day. It was amazing and is all gone now that we had left overs for lunch the next day. I like I said in my last post I didn't use 16 beans for this recipe I used only 7 and it was amazing. I would say I soaked around 1 pound maybe a little more of dried beans overnight before starting this recipe. Rylan did not try this recipe as the sausage I used was very spicy and too hot for him but it was perfect for Rhett and I.

Bean Soup

Yesterday I decided that I needed to put all of these left over wedding favors to use... last year when we got married I made edible wedding favors, bean soup (basically 7 different dried beans in a jar) and cornbread and cookies and salsa too. I didn't get any cookies in a jar back, go figure and the salsa was all gone too (good choice people, I can't even keep the stuff in the house since my hubby will eat every single bit of it faster than I can make it) so I have all of these jars of beans and cornbread to make before they go bad, I don't even know if beans and cornbread go bad since they are all non perishable items. Anyway I searched for a bean soup recipe for the crock- since  a friend tried the bean soup with the recipe that was on the wedding favor jar and said it was not very flavorful. I also wanted some veggies in it. I found one that looks and smells amazing today since I already have it simmering in the crock pot. It calls for red pepper and regular pepper but I didn't use either since I got "hot" sausage that was pretty spicy last time. I also found some other recipes to use the beans for that I will be updating you on so if you want to make some inexpensive dinners then you can try these out too. I needed the jars when my dad gave me pounds and pounds of tomatoes that I didn't want to go bad so I dumped all the beans into a giant zip-loc bag and now I will be just scooping out what beans I need until they are gone. Now that it has almost been a year I can't even remember what all kind of beans are in here... I see red beans, black beans, lentils, chick peas, Lima beans, what I think are black eye peas, and some other tiny sort of bean lol.

Summer Reading

This summer at the beginning of the summer one of the first places we went was to the public library. We joined their summer reading program for free. At the end of reading 12 hours worth of books (you mark them in 15 min. increments) you could turn in your completed paper and receive a book sack that they say is for spending the night and a free cookie coupon. After turning in a copy to the library

Chicken Meatballs

I am trying a new recipe tonight because a few weeks ago I was able to buy ground chicken for super cheap so I picked up nearly 10 pounds. I have cooked a few pounds already as chicken burgers. So tonight I would like to try chicken meatballs for Spaghetti. I will probably be adding my usual squash and zucchini to hide in there as well. I hope they will come out delicious I will let you know but in the mean time I want to share the recipe with you.

Chicken meatballs for spaghetti

snack time

I'm going to buy oreo's! JUST SAYING!! way to go to the company that will come out and stand up for what they believe without worrying about the idiots who are too fat to stop eating their product anyway!

Sneaky spaghetti

Tonight I made what I like to call sneaky spaghetti. I've read several cookbooks on hiding fruits and veggies in different dishes but I'm usually too lazy for all of the extremely large amounts of prepping that goes into those directions. Those recipes call for cooking and puréeing veggies to add to your dish. Tonight I simply used our cheese grater to make squash and zucchini invisible. I took 4 small squash and zucchini and cut the ends off then grated them into a bowl. I used cheater pasta sauce too (instead of diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato purée with my own mix of seasonings) then I added some mild Italian sausage (the stuff I buy does not come precooked so I cook it in a separate skillet then cut it up and add it in when it is almost done but still a tiny pink inside) I also add a cup or more, depends on how I'm feeling hahaha of strawberry or orange homemade wine. I let all of that simmer almost at a boil for an hour or more if time allows so that all the flavors can blend and the veggies can soften up and the meat can finish cooking. Then I cook my pasta and stir it in with the sauce, I sometimes keep it separate but tonight I was anxious to get the kitchen cleaned up so that was one less pot I had to clean later if I mixed it all in one pot plus this way I'm sure all the sauce and noodles will get used. I don't like when all the sauce is gone and I still have a bowl of noodles or the other way around because I always feel like I need to make something to go on those noodles so they aren't wasted. If you have kids (or a significant other) who doesn't want to eat or try veggies I suggest making this and not telling them then see if they like it! Rhett and Rylan both say this is their favorite spaghetti! I don't have a problem with Rhett eating them but if my 4 year of sees the veggies he will completely eat around most of them, there are some that he likes though.

Ellen...

Did you know it only took Ellen around 20 shows to get on the cover of Oprahs magazine? I decided since I've been campaigning far longer than she has I want something better... I want to host with one of my best friends. OR!! I want to go somewhere cool like when she sent Sophia Grace and Rosie to the music awards to be her corresponder. I would be AMAZING at that!! So if you can hear me Ellen... I'm still writing to you!

Map of neverland

I took lots of ideas I found online and created a custom map of Neverland for the party on Friday. In the top left I put the Indian camp. Next to that in the water is skull rock, I couldn't find a skull clip art picture I liked so I used one with bones and just cut those off. Then on the right top is peter pans hide out. Under the Indian camp near the middle is the lost boys lazy woods. I forgot to mark the crocodile creek but it goes right down the middle. To the right bottom is pixie hallow. Mermaid lagoon is the water area right below where Tinkerbell hangs out. Then of course there is the pirate cove. I took an "x marks the spot" clip art and attached that then drew little dashes like I imagine you would find on a treasure map if you had to decide which way you needed to go.
While creating a gift basket I didn't discard the natural color ribbon that tied the baskets together that I used instead of bags or wrapping paper. That very ribbon that most people would throw in the trash is what I used to tie these little maps into cute rolls. I will find a basket of some sort to put them all in and it will make a cute decoration until the kids are ready to use them.

Dear Ellen,

Dear Ellen,
I've been trying to contact you for over a year now, there have been multiple letters with requests for my friends and I to get tickets so we can come to your show, I even sent you and Portia a formal invite to our wedding so you could enjoy some free food and booze on us. Not to mention the multiple shout outs on this blog and your Facebook page.... Geeze I guess we are just not important to you but I guess it is like that Garth Brooks song about thanking God for unanswered prayers....

Financially stable children

I just finished reading a great article about ways to teach your children how to be comfortable with money so they will use it wisely when they are young adults. My mom helped me open a savings account when I was a child but all I remember about it is asking to get money out to do the things I wanted to do such as go to the movies with friends (she always said no haha). Rylan has grasped the concept at 4 that he needs to do 3 things with his money. He has 3 jars, one for saving, you can't see in this one it's a typical bank, one for spending, we used a mason jar so he can see if he possibly has enough to buy something he wants, and one for donating, this one is a pot that you might plant flowers in. If I give him money for let's say having exceptionally good manners or getting a special note home from school about good behavior (he gets money for those things because I told him that right now that is his "job" to be good etc.) or if he does a chore for example feeding the cat without being asked,

YMCA T-ball

Spring was our first time to try YMCA for a sport for Rylan. We didn't find the price to be too much. It was around 70.00 I think for the sport and that would include a jersey. There was an additional 40.00 fee since we were not members and that would be a one time fee for the whole year so if we decided to play another sport in the fall we would not have to pay that fee. The first day we arrived it was complete chaos which I thought was to be expected. We were given great reviews about the YMCA sport programs from a friend (they play in a different city though). The second week (it was once a week on Wednesdays) was yet another day where half of the time for the children was wasted because they decided there were enough players to create 2 additional teams so there would now be 4 teams not two and they assured us that this would be great so the teams could have chances to play against each other.

italian chicken sausage bake

On tonight's menu is baked penne with Italian sausage. I purchased a package of fresh chicken sausage on sale a while back for about 2.00 so today I took it out of the freezer and started to look for a recipe to use it in. I came up with this one that seemed like I would have everything here already and it sounds like it tastes good too. Instead of using white wine I am using some good ole' Italian homemade strawberry wine, I think the technical term for this stuff is moonshine but for all purposes of good reading material we will just call it "white wine". I took a little taste test of the "white wine" just to ensure it is still good from my last spaghetti (I always remember my pop doing that lol and now I know why). I am using sausage that is in the casing and I just cut it into round pieces but after looking at it cooking I'm thinking that next time I will just cut the casing off and cook it as if it is just ground meat for easier biting. Smells amazing so far.... I hope you try this one I already know its gonna be good and it has been super easy too!

PS- it is also under 700 calories which means I'll only be taking in around 2,000 tonight... not too bad... I mean compaired to the usual lol