3. Describe Your Relationship with Your Spouse

Oh man. This is a tough one. I've never even thought about putting our relationship into words before. I'll try my best.

When your dad and I first started dating he told me that he didn't want children because he thought he was too selfish. Your aunt Jonni knew how he felt about having children and asked me if I'd be willing to sacrifice that to live my life with him. I really had to think about it. I just always thought that he'd come around. One day Uncle Chris and Aunt Angela asked your dad if he would be their new baby's parran. He was so excited! And when Brooklyn was born he instantly changed his mind about having children. As soon as we left the hospital he told me that he had changed his mind about having children. He's loved that little girl from the moment she was born. That's one of the reasons I love him so much. I can't wait to have children with him. Just watching him with Brooklyn makes me think about how much more he'll love his own children. 

Your dad and I have fun together. He's just so goofy sometimes. He only likes being goofy at home though. He doesn't let other people see his silly side a whole lot. I make fun of him a lot because he always mixes up words and phrases. For example, he'll try to say something like "once in a blue moon" and he'll say something to the effect of "once in every other blue moon." Or sometimes he'll mix two words together and just sound really silly.

One of the things that makes me most crazy about your dad is that when we have an argument he usually gets over it pretty quickly. I, on the other hand, have this thing where I want to be mad for just a little while longer. I don't know why. I just do.

One reason I love your dad so much is that he's a handy man. Whenever something goes wrong with our vehicles or our house we don't ever have to call anyone to fix it. Because your dad and your pawpaw already know how to take care of it. And he's much too picky to pay someone else to do it for him, because he knows that if he does the job himself it will be done the right way. I love that about him.

I think we work really well together. For the most part, he understands me and I understand him. We're intellectually compatible, which I think is really important. We both want the same things: to live a quiet life with a few kids and a few pets, a bigger house so we can have our family members over for holidays and Superbowl parties, a huge yard for our kids to play in, and to be mostly debt free. And your dad wants a boat so that he can go fishing and duck hunting whenever he wants. He aches for a boat. 

We definitely aren't one of those couples who are totally 100% in love with each other and can't take our eyes off each other for longer than 10 seconds. I don't think that really exists, and if it does I don't think it lasts for long. We have arguments and fights. I think that's only normal. We are in love, though. And I hope we always are.  Pin It

2. Describe 3 Legitimate Fears

I have a lot of fears, so it took me a while to come up with only three of them (except for number 1, which was a no brainer.)

1. Snakes. Any snake. It doesn't matter whether it's venomous or not. A snake is a snake and all snakes bite. I'm not really sure how I became so terrified of them. I just am. I've only ever touched a snake once in my whole life. In high school our biology room (which was also home to the Spanish 2, A & P, integrated physics and chemistry (IPC), and technology classes...so I was in that room a whole lot over the course of four years) had a pet python named Hercules. At first I would sit at the completely opposite end of the room from where the snake's tank was kept. After a year or so I got used to the idea that there was a live snake in the room and he wasn't going away, and I began to relax a bit more about where I sat. Anyhow, during my junior year I was on the verge of getting a D in my IPC class, and my teacher, Mr. Taylor, knowing how terrified I was of Hercules, told me that if I would hold Hercules for just 15 seconds he would give me enough extra credit points to bump me up to a C+. It was the longest fifteen seconds of my life.
2. Losing my mind. Literally. I have the privilege of taking care of people with Alzheimer's disease and dementia. Sometimes they're just pleasantly confused. But  sometimes you can see the frustration in their faces when they are trying to express themselves and it just won't come out. Or when they're trying to remember who their loved ones are, but they just can't. You see people who come to the hospital and they have absolutely no clue where they are (but they know they're not at home) and they don't know why they're there. You're trying to bathe them and they're terrified because they can't figure out why you're taking their clothes off. I know, it's a little bit heavy. But that's my fear. I'm afraid of being trapped in my own mind. 
3. Flunking out of nursing school. I guess it's no longer legit because I just finished nursing school. But it really had a good grip on me for about a year. I was doing really well in nursing school for the first two and a half semesters. Then I flunked my Parent-Child Nursing (PCN) course. I started to have pretty serious test anxiety and it really made it hard for me to pass any test. I passed PCN the second time around and I moved on to Nursing of the Adult Client II (NAC II). And I flunked. By this point I was really thinking to myself, "I've failed two courses and if I fail one more time I'm going to get kicked out of school." It was really a struggle, but I passed NAC II the second time around.

Pin It

1. List 20 Random Facts About Yourself

I don't have kids, but I'm going to write this list as though I do. Here goes:

1. Even though they were absolutely beautiful and they were everything I was expecting them to be, I do regret spending as much as we did on our wedding flowers. I think they were really worth only about half of what we paid. Don't tell your dad.
2. I wish I lived somewhere where it snowed in the winter and there were actually four distinct seasons.
3. I'm both pro life and pro choice if that makes any sense. My religious and moral beliefs and every fiber in my body tell me that abortion is murder and murder is wrong. But, at the same time, I believe that a woman has the right to choose. Especially if the child was conceived out of rape. It's a twisted thought and I know it. But it's my thought.
4. I absolutely loved high school. I had the time of my life.
5. I ALWAYS cry after watching the following movies: Beaches, The Notebook, Marley and Me, and P.S. I Love You.
6. My favorite fruit is a persimmon. The large ones. Don't make the mistake of eating them if they're not 100% ripe.
7. I hate cleaning up after I cook.
8. I have a paralyzing fear of snakes.
9. No matter how hot it is I have to have a blanket while I'm sleeping.
10. I really wish I could read music and play the piano.
11. I want to take interior design classes.
12. Ina Garten (Barefoot Contessa) is my favorite TV cook.
13. I have a very good Spanish accent. I just need to brush up on my vocabulary.
14. I'm not good a contact sports.
15. I refuse to use fad words and phrases like "epic", "bestie", "stay-cation", and "YOLO."
16. My favorite poem of all time is "A Noiseless Patient Spider" by Walt Whitman. So inspirational. I would would've gotten a tattoo with an excerpt from this poem, but the whole thing is so beautiful that I couldn't pick just one part.
17. My favorite teacher of all time was Mr. Rector who taught every single English and American literature, grammar, U.S. history, and government class I ever took in high school.
18. I have one tattoo. It's of a lotus flower and beneath it reads, "She walks in beauty." I got took the phrase from the poem "She walks in Beauty" by Lord Byron, which is my second favorite poem.
19. The only carrot cake I will eat is made by my granny. It's the best in the whole world and I refuse to taste another.
20. I instantly melt when cuddly baby animals are near.

Pin It

30 Things My Kids Should Know About Me

I recently came across a pin on Pinterest that lead to a blog called Baby Making Machine. The pin was about a post entitled 30 Things My Kids Should Know About Me. Some of the "things" on her list are 3 legitimate fears, 10 pet peeves, how she would describe her relationship with her spouse, and her 3 most significant childhood memories. So far she's only posted on 5 of the 30 topics, but I'm anxiously awaiting numbers 6-30. She's invited other bloggers to do the same and to share their blog's link on her blog.

Even though I don't have kids, I've decided that I'm going to follow along. Who knows, maybe one day when I do have children they'll stumble upon my list and be intrigued by some of the things they didn't know about their mom. Here's the list:

1. List 20 random facts about yourself.
2. Describe 3 legitimate fears you have and explain how they became fears.
3. Describe your relationship with your spouse.
4. List 10 things you would tell your 16 year-old self, if you could.
5. What are the 5 things that make you the most happy right now.
6. If you could have three wishes, what would you wish for?
7. What is your dream job, and why?
8. What are 5 passions you have?
9. List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.
10. Describe your most embarrassing moment.
11. Describe 10 pet peeves you have.
12. Describe a typical day in your current life.
13. What’s the hardest part of growing up?
14. Describe 5 and weaknesses strengths you have.
15. Describe when you knew your spouse was the one or how I fell in love.
16. What are your 5 greatest accomplishments?
17. What is the thing you most wish you were great at?
18. What do you think your spouse loves most about you?
19. How did you feel the moment you became a parent?
20. Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood.
21. Describe your relationship with your parents.
22. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years? 15 years?
23. What’s your favorite holiday and why?
24. What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about parenthood?
25. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would it be and what would you eat?
26. What popular notion do you think the world has most wrong?
27. What is your favorite part of your body and why?
28. What’s your favorite quality in your spouse?
29. What are your hopes and dreams for your prosperity?
30. List 10 things you would hope to be remembered for.

My goal is to start right away. But I'm going to start in a new post because I think two different lists in one post would be silly.

Pin It

There's More Than One Way to Skin a Tomato (But Here's How I Do It)

A few days ago I was making fresh spaghetti sauce/pomodoro and it occurred to me that so many people don't know how to skin a tomato without wasting a ton of the tomato's flesh. So I decided to show everyone how I do it. I find that this is the easiest way for me, especially since I don't mind a little bit of a mess while I cook. Ok, ok! So I'm a really messy cook! Is that such an awful thing? I didn't think so.

I start off holding the tomato upside down (woody stem side down) in the palm of my hand. With a sharp paring knife I make a small, very superficial "X" in the skin right over the very center of the tomato. The cut should be very superficial, if not, the skin will continue to adhere to the flesh of the tomato.

Once I've cut an "X" in all of my tomatoes, I gently place them in a boiling pot of water for 1 minute - no longer! The water should cover the tomatoes completely. I quickly remove the tomatoes and place them in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. The tomatoes should stay in the ice bath until they are no longer warm. You will see that the skin has started to shrivel and peel away from the flesh.

Once the tomatoes are no longer warm I remove them from the ice bath. Again holding the tomato upside down in the palm of my hand, I grasp a piece of the skin and gently pull downward towards the woody stem. The skin should separate from the flesh very easily, like a very ripe peach. Continue to remove the rest of the skin.

There you have it - a perfectly skinned tomato ready for cooking!

Pin It

Tortellini? Delish.

I guess I'm a regular Barefoot Contessa now (my favorite TV cook), because I've been cooking up a storm. I think it's all this time that I have on my hands - I flunked Parent-Child Nursing the first time and had to repeat it (and killed it, btw). It's only an 8 week course, though, so no school for me until August. Anyhow, I'm trying to find something to do to pass the time. I decided to try and be a better cook - not a master chef, just not a terrible one.

Tonight I decided to make a dish that I love - baked tortellini. It's super easy, doesn't take long to put together, and has meat and veggies all in one dish. I've made this dish several times before, but this time I made some modifications, which I found to be much tastier and lighter in calories. Here's my recipe for baked tortellini:

• 2-3 chicken leg quarters
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 20 oz package prefilled three cheese tortellini (found in your grocer's refrigerated section)
• 1 24 oz jar tomato and basil spaghetti sauce
• 1 8 oz jar basil pesto
• 1 10 oz box frozen chopped spinach
• 10 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• Directions - Thaw frozen spinach and squeeze dry. Place leg quarters in a large frying pan with olive oil and cook over medium-low heat until center is no longer raw. Boil tortellini in lightly salted water according to package directions. De-bone chicken, discarding skin. Bring spaghetti sauce, pesto, spinach, and 1 tbsp Italian seasoning to a simmer over medium-high heat. Set oven broiler to low. Layer tortellini, chicken, sauce, and mozzarella cheese in a large casserole dish. Sprinkle top of dish with parmesan cheese and 1 tsp Italian seasoning. Broil for 2-4 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.

Pin It

Dinner AND Dessert? Yes Please!

I don't know what came over me after school today, but I was feeling "Susy Homeshmaker-ish" and I had this incredible desire for coconut sorbet. There was no stopping me once I got to the grocery, where there some small herb plants on the patio, particularly dill. I got one whiff of that dill and I was a speed-Googler on the search for some yummy crockpot dill dish. (No, I'm not pregnant.) Then I found it: lemon and dill chicken. Menu complete! I pulled a Supermarket Sweep (without forgetting the wine) and was on my way home (amazingly, I made it out without stopping by the bakery.)

I got the recipe for the lemon and dill chicken from crockpotchicken.net. The recipe calls for 1 cup chicken broth. But I used 2 & 1/2 cups chicken broth because I it didn't look like very much. I think I'll use chicken stock (same amount) or add some cream and onions next time, because the recipe did need some doctoring. Also I added salt to taste and doubled the amount of dill. In the end it turned out wonderfully. The chicken was super tender and really soaked in the flavor of the lemon and dill. Here's the original recipe:

• 3-4 boneless chicken breasts1 tbsp fresh dill
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt, like Mrs. Dash
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon rind, grated
• 1 cup chicken broth, divided use
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice (bottled is fine)
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon cornstarch
• Directions - Mix dill, lemon rind, lemon juice, garlic and 1/2 cup of chicken broth together and place in crockpot. Sprinkle seasoning salt on both sides of chicken breast and place in crock pot. Cook on low (in crockpot) 6-8 hours. Remove chicken and put aside. Pour sauce from crock pot into sauce pan and cook on medium heat. Add cornstarch to remaining 1/2 cup chicken broth. Slowly add to sauce pan. Bring to boil stirring constantly until sauce thickens. Serve over chicken with rice.

The coconut basil sorbet recipe that I got from frozenfix.blogspot.com was super simple - only three ingredients. I poured the mix into my beloved Cuisinart ice cream maker and let it do the work. I didn't do anything different to the originial recipe. Next time, though, I might use fresh coconut milk and fresh coconut flakes, just to make it more...fresh. I did use fresh basil, which I think really "made" the sorbet. The end product has a muted coconut flavor, so don't expect it to taste anything like a piña colada. I'm very pleased with it - I've already eaten six scoops :) Here's the original recipe:

• 27 oz. coconut milk (two 13.5 oz. cans)
• 1 cup fresh
  basil, loosely packed
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Directions - Combine coconut milk, basil, and sugar in a blender until smooth. Add to ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

Pin It