sweeten me up

I served this dish Sunday evening and Shawn is already begging me to make it again this week. It was delicious!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Ingredients:
3 small boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 whole eggs lightly beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

For the Sauce:
3/4 cup sugar
4 T ketchup
1/2 cup vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1 tsp. garlic salt

1. Cut chicken breasts into chunks and season with salt and pepper.
2. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. (This part is a little weird and messy, but it works!!!)
3. Fry in a little oil until chicken is browned on all sides but not cooked through.
4. Place chicken in a single layer in a baking dish.
5. Mix sauce ingredients together and pour over chicken.
6. Bake for one hour at 325 degrees.
7. Turn chicken every 15 minutes (I forgot to do this until the last 15 minutes and it was fine)
8. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stir consistently and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced, about 6 to 8 minutes.
9. Serve over steamed rice and enjoy!!

there is no patch for this one

I need to be honest about something here... lately I have been on a crazy addiction to Coke. It started innocently enough. I learned from my hubby that McDonald's was selling their large cokes for a dollar. A dollar, people. It was so easy to just run through the drive through while I was out and about town. Then, I started noticing that a large just wasn't really cutting it. I upped it to an extra large, which for the record was $1.27 with tax. Not too shabby either. Anyway, I started finding reasons to leave the house so I could have the excuse to buy a coke. It was bad...really, really bad.

I have been loving the extra caffeine boost and the sweet, sweet joy that is Coca-Cola and nothing else for a couple of months now. What I am not loving are the extra pounds that have started creeping up on me. Now you may think I am crazy, but I am sensing a correlation between my sudden increase in coke consumption and the extra poundage I've been watching on the scale. Let me tell you that I am not happy with this. Not.at.all. Shame on me, really, for not taking a stand against this little drink that will turn you into a McFattypants faster than you can say, "No I would not like fries with that."

With that being said I'd like to share one of my goals this week...to water my mums every single day and not let them die an early death. Do you think I can do it? It might be hard but I will persevere because they are oh so pretty and I'd really like them to last until they it is time for them to die of natural causes. I'd rather not murder them and have that on my conscience for the rest of my life. Oh, and one other small goal...to quit The Coke. I guess I am doing it cold turkey as I haven't been able to find a patch for this little addiction.

thank you

Dear Shawn,

Tomorrow is Monday. You will wake up before me and to this quiet house. You will tread softly around so as not to wake our sweet, sleeping girl or myself. You will make your coffee and slip in to kiss me on the forehead before you leave for a full day of work. You will do all of this before my eyes truly open for the day. You will be gone before I can tell you just how thankful I am for you.

How can I thank you enough for letting me start this week at home? How can I thank you enough for letting me spend my days with our growing girl? How can I thank you enough for the opportunity to be a teacher still in my own home?

Tomorrow as you deal with a million pressing deadlines all heaped on your plate, as you drown in paperwork that continues to come in, as you get the brunt of someone else and their bad mood, and as you earn every penny they pay you, know that I am thankful. Know that Lauren is thankful. Know that we are learning, playing, crying, learning some more, laughing, and loving. Know that we are crazy about each other and are having a ball.

I wouldn't be whole anywhere else. I love you for knowing that about me.

Love,
Jen

john

(high pitched squeal): Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh (intense clapping of the hands at this point and possibly even some jumping up and down)...

I just found John's new single on his website/blog. I also learned that his new album, Battle Studies is due out November 17th!!!!! I will seriously be owning a copy of that baby the morning it comes out. I'll be the girl in Wal Mart in her pj's dancing down the aisles with a copy of this cd in hand. :) I am incredibly happy right now, please forgive the craziness.If you didn't know this about me, I am a HUGE fan!!! Oh please enjoy the wonderfulness that is John Mayer:

"Who says I can't be free? From all of the things that I used to be, rewrite my history, who says I can't be free..."

tulsa trip & tutus

Last weekend I made the trip to Tulsa with my good friend Shari. When I student taught I was very lucky and very blessed to have had her as my cooperating teacher. I love being around her and the trip was just fantastic!


We stopped at the McDonald's over the road and I was so excited! I hadn't been there in years. When I lived in Texas as a young child we would stop there on our way to visit family in Missouri. Oh the memories! I don't remember it being so dirty when I was a kid...

The real reason we went to Tulsa was to visit my very good friend and her daughter, Megan and to do this little craft thingy.... I am a little ticked at myself for not getting a picture of the two of us together. Megan and I couldn't have become friends at a better time. This girl helped me through so much in those early months as a new mommy. I knew that I could call her anytime and she would be whatever I needed. Sometimes I needed a listening ear, other times I needed a problem solver, but most times I just needed a friend who understood and could totally empathize. The weird/good/funny/perfect thing about our friendship is that after over a year of talking on the phone, through email, and our blogs we met in person at my Tupperware party. In fact, our Tulsa meeting was only our second meeting ever. I seriously love that girl for her sense of humor, her spirit, and for the way she looks at and approaches this life she's been given.

So anyway, I had made Megan's little girl a tutu earlier this year and she's been on me to start selling them. There was a little craft fair in Tulsa that she entered me in with my (reluctant at first) permission. The pictures that follow are a few of the items I made for people who actually wanted to buy from me! Can you believe it?!?! I make custom tutus and then applique shirts to match or to wear separately. I really enjoy doing it and it has been fun to see what I can create!

I am currently working on some holiday designs and Halloween costumes.

For some reason this one is sideways and it is driving me crazy!

a girl and her phone

refreshment

And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord;
It shall rejoice in His salvation.

Psalm 35:9

bring on the mockery...i can take it

So I've been really busy lately and have been out and about more than usual. Yesterday when I was at Wal-Mart I saw something that has consumed my thoughts in the 24 hours + since I was there. This "thing" has totally rocked my world and I have spent many a minute thinking about #1 - how wonderful it would be to have this "thing" and #2 - how in the world am I going to convince Shawn to bring.me.one.home.please.asap.if you.know.what.is.good.for.you. Wanna know what it was? There in all its glory on an endcap (that is for you, Leslie) was my dream come true (or something along those lines) - a bubblegum pink Snuggie!!! What? Are you laughing... I will admit, when they first came out I couldn't control my laughter either. What kind of a crazy person would want a blanket with sleeves? I mean, come on...what has this world come to, right? Well, I've had lots of time to think about it and I will tell you I was already leaning more toward this idea of a wearable blanket I was just NOT going to be seen in one of those drab colored ones. All it took was one look at that adorable pink and I dove right in to the deep end.

Right then and there I knew I wanted that Snuggie. In my mind I was already picturing myself this winter as I read or used the remote like the lady on the front of the box. It took almost everything I had to leave it sitting there on the shelf with its $14.96 price tag. What a steal. What.a.steal.

I've been dropping hints to Shawn about how wonderful it was and how productive and comfortable I could be this winter with that pink Snuggie. I am not sure if he understands the level of love and attachment I now have to that cute little thing, but I am sure over the next couple of weeks as I continue to bring it up in conversation (and this old blog) he will see the light.

she is love

they call her love, love, love, love, love

they call her love, love, love, love, love

they call her love, love, love, love, love

she is love, and she is all I need

no reason

I need to get back in the swing of posting. Lately I just haven't known what to write. Or had the energy to try to make any kind of cohesive post.

What have we been doing, you might ask? Well...we've been busy. We've been lazy. We've been quite and loud and happy and sad. We've been gone. We've been home. We've been sunburned and sore-muscled. We've been stuffed. We've been tired. We've been starting new adventures and hanging out with old friends.

I'll try to keep you posted!

the kitchen

I don't know about you, but my kitchen is the most frustrating room in my whole house. It is always dirty. It doesn't stay clean for a second. What am I doing wrong? Seriously?!? I don't remember this problem at our old house. I would clean it and walk away - when I walked back in it was still clean. That is so not the case at this house.

I have this issue that if the kitchen isn't cleaned I can't do other things. Things I need to do. Things I want to do. I can't do them. The messy, cluttered kitchen is always in the front of my mind and I become this totally unproductive stressed out mess.

I know it doesn't help that I am home during the day. I am cooking three meals a day instead of just one (when I worked) and unfortunately that means more dishes. I am in and out of the kitchen a lot throughout the day and I guess actually living in it makes it dirty.

Anyone have any ideas? I used to do FlyLady and I was really good about keeping my sink clean...but I have fallen off the bandwagon and I either need a boost to get back on or a new technique. I am all ears, people!