My life is ever changing and has thrown me quite a few twists and turns. One of the biggest changes has been the need for me to learn to cook. I grew up as a latch key kid. My mom either volunteered time or worked throughout most of my childhood. My dad and mom split when I was about 10 so it was a necessity for her to work. Anyhow, all her time out of the house meant little time learning how to do the typical "female role" tasks. That coupled with the fact that my mom is a feminist kind of affected the way I looked at the importance of learning to cook as well.
Anyhow, I moved to San Antonio after college and learned to cook some things. Mainly I use recipe books and it worked out for me since I am such a math mind. After that I moved to Omaha, Ne and again did the same thing. However, I have always had the opportunity to say, nah lets go out for dinner tonight. Now that we have moved to a town of 400-500+ people and few restaurants my circumstances are dictating that I learn to be a better cook.
So far I have attempted to make a few different meals, some with great outcomes and some with mediocre outcomes. I made an outstanding Chicken Pot Pie from scratch that made me so proud. I also burned some cookies (ridiculous) and made some average chicken meals that my husband and kids kind of forced down. We have also had A LOT of pasta... ugh!
Let me also point out that I dont have a microwave, so if I do make things I try to make only what we will eat or something I can remake easily. Luckily I talked with a friend of mine about what to do and she mentioned a few tricks like making old rice into fried rice. So, last night I made fried rice and it was AWESOME. That is pretty rare for me. Anyhow, I figure this is a process so hopefully I will become better with time and maybe at some point I will invite everyone over for dinner and you will all be blown away.
Hopefully you will get to see some of my food adventures on this blog and if possible I will take a few pictures of my amazing creations. I just keep reminding myself, its all a process and one day at a time.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
Boys are dumb...
SO, being that I had a girl first I have had a lot of fun seeing the difference between boys and girls. Let me start with some personality differences in my children.
Haylie is energetic, playful, stubborn, very bright, talkative, wants to be involved, outgoing and shy depending on the situation, and she can get very focused on things whether its drawing/coloring, watching a show/movie or reading. She took on the very common role of helper/mother person when Hunter was born. She is a type-a+ so she is somewhat controlling, but not overly-so most of the time. She and Hunter run all over the house all the time and play or get into tons of stuff
Hunter is lovey/cuddly, talkative, always moving, also very bright, sweet, into everything, and eager to learn.
This is where I begin with why boys are dumb...
Some of you may know we have two cats. Well my genius son thinks that Cat food is AWESOME! He sometimes likes to dabble with the cat litter as well. Also AWESOME! He frequently climbs on everything. This is something that took Haylie a while to get into. Hunter however climbs on anything, sturdy or not, and more often than not he falls off and hits his head.
While eating my son likes to look me straight in the eyes, drop his food onto the ground and say "uh oh mommy". He tries to carry things up the stairs that are as big as he is, and he has only been doing stairs for the two week we have lived here. He also has this weird habit where he crawls on the floor with his head dragging on the ground. Its like he is pushing his head around on the floor. Sometimes we think he does this just when he is tired, but not 100% on that hypothesis.
Again, those who don't know my kids... Hunter has the head size of a grown up. Luckily it doesn't look too disproportionate, but it is definitely bigger than the average 1.5 yr old. So the fact that he falls on his head is almost an expected event. However, if he doesn't start being smarter about things than I am going to get CPS called on me for abuse or neglect or something. He continually has bruises and black eyes and red marks all over his forehead and face. Maybe someday he will smarten up... then again, looking at his dad.... ;o)
Haylie is energetic, playful, stubborn, very bright, talkative, wants to be involved, outgoing and shy depending on the situation, and she can get very focused on things whether its drawing/coloring, watching a show/movie or reading. She took on the very common role of helper/mother person when Hunter was born. She is a type-a+ so she is somewhat controlling, but not overly-so most of the time. She and Hunter run all over the house all the time and play or get into tons of stuff
Hunter is lovey/cuddly, talkative, always moving, also very bright, sweet, into everything, and eager to learn.
This is where I begin with why boys are dumb...
Some of you may know we have two cats. Well my genius son thinks that Cat food is AWESOME! He sometimes likes to dabble with the cat litter as well. Also AWESOME! He frequently climbs on everything. This is something that took Haylie a while to get into. Hunter however climbs on anything, sturdy or not, and more often than not he falls off and hits his head.
While eating my son likes to look me straight in the eyes, drop his food onto the ground and say "uh oh mommy". He tries to carry things up the stairs that are as big as he is, and he has only been doing stairs for the two week we have lived here. He also has this weird habit where he crawls on the floor with his head dragging on the ground. Its like he is pushing his head around on the floor. Sometimes we think he does this just when he is tired, but not 100% on that hypothesis.
Again, those who don't know my kids... Hunter has the head size of a grown up. Luckily it doesn't look too disproportionate, but it is definitely bigger than the average 1.5 yr old. So the fact that he falls on his head is almost an expected event. However, if he doesn't start being smarter about things than I am going to get CPS called on me for abuse or neglect or something. He continually has bruises and black eyes and red marks all over his forehead and face. Maybe someday he will smarten up... then again, looking at his dad.... ;o)
Sunday, January 23, 2011
First Impressions
I always hate first impressions. There is so much riding on them and yet most the time we just blow them way out of proportion. Since this is the second time I have moved this year I am getting to redo many first impressions. Its both frustrating and somewhat terrifying. I would hate for these new people to dislike me on account of the fact that we now live in a small town and they are the only ones our age.
This kind of pressure reminds me of high school. I never really felt like I was good enough or like I fit in. I spent a lot of time trying to be what everyone wanted me to be, which I dont think helped me find out who I wanted to be. I was torn between being a band member and an athlete. I was in "AP" type classes but didnt study much so I didnt always do great if it didnt come naturally. I was a church goer and a kid that never ditched school except on Senior Ditch Day.
When I got out of high school I went to college and decided I wanted to reinvent myself. I elected to give up on the soccer thing and the band thing and try and be "cool". I lost who I was to try and be someone else. I joined a sorority and later joined ROTC and then my life just kept going. I dont regret any of this because it helped me get to where I am and to the family I now have... but if I didnt know about this life and I could do it again I wonder how it would have gone.
So, back to making first impressions... I used to love being around people and getting involved. Now I feel like its a bit taxing and its always been a popularity contest. Am I skinny enough, do I wear this or that, what are they going to think of me, how much do I say???? The questions are neverending. Guess the best we can do is just keep trying and maybe someday we wont choose to worry so much about first impressions and we will finally be comfortable with who we are now.
This kind of pressure reminds me of high school. I never really felt like I was good enough or like I fit in. I spent a lot of time trying to be what everyone wanted me to be, which I dont think helped me find out who I wanted to be. I was torn between being a band member and an athlete. I was in "AP" type classes but didnt study much so I didnt always do great if it didnt come naturally. I was a church goer and a kid that never ditched school except on Senior Ditch Day.
When I got out of high school I went to college and decided I wanted to reinvent myself. I elected to give up on the soccer thing and the band thing and try and be "cool". I lost who I was to try and be someone else. I joined a sorority and later joined ROTC and then my life just kept going. I dont regret any of this because it helped me get to where I am and to the family I now have... but if I didnt know about this life and I could do it again I wonder how it would have gone.
So, back to making first impressions... I used to love being around people and getting involved. Now I feel like its a bit taxing and its always been a popularity contest. Am I skinny enough, do I wear this or that, what are they going to think of me, how much do I say???? The questions are neverending. Guess the best we can do is just keep trying and maybe someday we wont choose to worry so much about first impressions and we will finally be comfortable with who we are now.
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Getting Connected
After moving to Ione, Charlie and I discussed just how much of the electronic sensation we needed to have in the house. We are both big movie people so we have quite a collection (around 900 movies+) and we also enjoy video games. So we thought maybe just internet would be sufficient for us. If we wanted to watch any shows we would just look them up on the internet and that would be enough. Then it took about a week and a half to get the internet hooked up and we started to doubt ourselves.
So, we ended up getting dish network. I have never had satelite TV before so it is something new at least. It seems like a sweet deal though and it includes much more than most the cable selections we ever had. The best part about finally having the internet and the TV setup though.... its snowing outside and its cold. Once it stops I will probably take the kids out to go sledding, but until then I am glad we get to watch something different than Bolt, Cars, Phineas and Ferb.... the three favorite things we have watched probably 20 times each since moving from Yuma.
On a side note, I find it depressing that I was so lost without these things. Charlie and I both had a hard time feeling connected or up to date on anything that was going on. We dont even watch the news regularly, but I think we missed the chance to do it. Maybe getting older means we will actually start paying attention to the world around us more.
So, we ended up getting dish network. I have never had satelite TV before so it is something new at least. It seems like a sweet deal though and it includes much more than most the cable selections we ever had. The best part about finally having the internet and the TV setup though.... its snowing outside and its cold. Once it stops I will probably take the kids out to go sledding, but until then I am glad we get to watch something different than Bolt, Cars, Phineas and Ferb.... the three favorite things we have watched probably 20 times each since moving from Yuma.
On a side note, I find it depressing that I was so lost without these things. Charlie and I both had a hard time feeling connected or up to date on anything that was going on. We dont even watch the news regularly, but I think we missed the chance to do it. Maybe getting older means we will actually start paying attention to the world around us more.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
My First Attempt
I have been sitting on my couch in the new house and stories have been flooding my mind. So I decided to try out this blog thing. We moved to Ione, Wa from Yuma, Az on Jan 6, 2011. I was raised in Phoenix so being in Yuma was like being near my childhood home. The kids and I spent a good amount of holidays and random weekends visiting all the family and we got to know more about Yuma in the 6 months we lived there.
The trip up was thankfully uneventful. We drove up through Las Vegas to Salt Lake City and then Salt Lake City to Ritzville, Wa (for me and the kids while Charlie and his Uncle continued on to Ione) and then to Ione, Wa. Its a small town in the Northeast corner of Washington state for those who dont know. I had no idea about it until we started looking at the area. I read that it has a population of 500 or so and that it is about 45 min from a walmart, 1.5 hr from costco/target/Spokane, and 20 miles or so from the Canadian border. What was I going to do with that?
When we arrived the ground was covered in snow and the time was early afternoon. It was about 15 degrees outside which was very different from the highs of 60 in Yuma 3 days earlier. The house is a sweet little 4 bedroom 2 bath 2 story house that is between 1200 and 1500 sq ft. Overall I was pleased as I know we have a ton of stuff. Getting settled in has taken about a week and a half, not to mention restocking a kitchen and household. On the upside, I think we are finally there. We have our internet set up, our phone setup, the kitchen is good to go and we get our Dish Network tomorrow afternoon. Not too shabby.
On a small aside, the views here are absolutely stunning. The towns run up the Pend Oreille River and are situated between mountains at all points. There are green trees everywhere and beauty to be found at any turn. I saw 8 deer run across the road the other day while driving and Charlie and I got the chance to see a sweet set of 5 deer on the side of the road just 3 days prior to that. Its definitely a place he will enjoy, and I think I might like it as well. While it is very different from the urban jungle I have grown up with, it is something I am excited to learn about as time progresses.
The trip up was thankfully uneventful. We drove up through Las Vegas to Salt Lake City and then Salt Lake City to Ritzville, Wa (for me and the kids while Charlie and his Uncle continued on to Ione) and then to Ione, Wa. Its a small town in the Northeast corner of Washington state for those who dont know. I had no idea about it until we started looking at the area. I read that it has a population of 500 or so and that it is about 45 min from a walmart, 1.5 hr from costco/target/Spokane, and 20 miles or so from the Canadian border. What was I going to do with that?
When we arrived the ground was covered in snow and the time was early afternoon. It was about 15 degrees outside which was very different from the highs of 60 in Yuma 3 days earlier. The house is a sweet little 4 bedroom 2 bath 2 story house that is between 1200 and 1500 sq ft. Overall I was pleased as I know we have a ton of stuff. Getting settled in has taken about a week and a half, not to mention restocking a kitchen and household. On the upside, I think we are finally there. We have our internet set up, our phone setup, the kitchen is good to go and we get our Dish Network tomorrow afternoon. Not too shabby.
On a small aside, the views here are absolutely stunning. The towns run up the Pend Oreille River and are situated between mountains at all points. There are green trees everywhere and beauty to be found at any turn. I saw 8 deer run across the road the other day while driving and Charlie and I got the chance to see a sweet set of 5 deer on the side of the road just 3 days prior to that. Its definitely a place he will enjoy, and I think I might like it as well. While it is very different from the urban jungle I have grown up with, it is something I am excited to learn about as time progresses.
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