I will go see all these places some day!!

http://www.buzzfeed.com/ariellecalderon/surreal-places-in-america-you-need-to-visit-before-you-dieClick this link for more!!

Love and loss

      Love and Loss~
My best friend died last week. Wasn't expecting that one, major blow! She went into surgery and they found she was full of cancer. She fought for 6hrs in icu but she just couldn't get through it. I never left her side... she would of never left mine.. never!! Always in my heart.. Love and miss you always.. RIP Teri ~pug~ 

A little pre celebration for Cinco de Mayo

Here's one of my favorite Mexican recipes to make any day of the week, especially around Cinco de Mayo! Pork Carnitas!! So easy and so good!

 

It's smelling the whole house up right now!!  

3lb pk boneless pork tenderloin

4-6C water

Knorr concentrated chicken stock (2)

1 jalapeno

1 TBSP dried cilantro  

1 lg onion-quartered

4-5 garlic cloves-chopped

1TBSP cumin

1 TBSP chili powder

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp white pepper

I'm using my brand new 6qt ceramic cast iron dutch oven. (Thanks to the hubby! XoxO) I always wanted one but the prices very from $60-$400 for some of them! Wow! Mine is the lower end price but it's still expensive in my eyes to spend that much on one pan but it was so worth it! 

Let that cook for 3-4 hours on low on the stove top, any large spaghetti pot will do. After it's falling apart drain the leftover juice saving some off to the side, then just start pulling the meat apart. 

1-2 pk corn tortilla-grilled or pan fried

I like goat cheese 

serve with lime and fresh cilantro  

As you see I like to add some chopped fresh spinach, avocado and hot sauce too! :) 

My life as a grandmother

I always knew I would be a grandmother but I never knew I would be a grandmother of 8 almost 9, by the time I was 44! Yes me and my husband have a big family, his, mine and ours after 20 years of being together. 7 girls total plus 2 boys. The range in ages between 29 to 12. I get a lot of my inspiration from my grandmother, oh my grandmother.. what a wonderful, crazy, wild and great teacher of life she was. I miss her so much and I really wish my kids would of had a chance to meet her and get to know her better. I've been getting one of my grandchildren each day almost everyday for the last couple of weeks. really makes me appreciate life and thanking God everyday to give me this opportunity.

Tis the season for grilling!! My favorite time of year!

Perfect for my new journey to lose some weight!

 

 

 



Well well well... look who's back to the blogging world! Few things have kept me away, 1) camera took a shit back in Aug. of 2012.. yeah, the day of my grandson Chase's 1st birthday never the less! Figures, my luck can go like that sometimes. Life will do that to you, you just have to learn to roll with it I guess. :) So no camera, no blog. 2) Financially we've been strapped! Who isn't now days but by the grace of God things are really looking up for us! I'm not going to bore you with all that because that's not what I want my blog to be! I want it to be positive, informative and a pleasure to read. And I guess to give you a little glimpse into my wonderful, crazy, busy life. 3) I've had 3 more grandkids and one more on the way, so busy doesn't even to begin to explain it. LOL Total now is 7 going to be 8 by the end of the year! :D So.. recipes and crafts to come I promise. :) Spring is here and it couldn't of came any sooner! My depression that hits me like baseball bat every winter is/was pretty bad this last season. I've come to the conclusion that sooner or later I'll be moving to a warmer climate because of it. Happy Blogging and Happy Spring!

Wow! Not sure whats wrong with the post before this one, kinda messed up.

Busy summer :)

Summer .. it's my favorite time of the year! Really enjoying our little piece of the American Pie. Oh sure, life has it's ups and downs but what would life be without the bumps? Boring. Just wanted to take a moment to reflect on the good. Sometime we all get trapped in this nasty negative whirlwind of just plain BS! You have to know when to say enough is enough, life is too short, especially when your going on 43. Not saying that's old by far but hey it's not 25 either! 

I've learned a lot of lessons in my short 42 years and I know for a fact that I'm not done learning, I'm an information nut, you can ask Marc, always looking up something new on the internet. Here's a few of  the what I call "important lessons" in life: Make sure you always stop and notice the little things in life, like my little fire fly friend above. Just enjoying my beautiful garden with me one evening. It literally made my night. Always keep your family close. I believe God gives us these beautiful souls in which were made from for a reason, a purpose for just being. The least we can do is make the best of the great gift called life. No day is promised, don't ever forget that. Love: Never take love for granted, NEVER! It can be so powerful but so fragile all at the same time. Be kind to other human beings, one day your going to need that kindness from a someone, even when you don't know you need it. Find out who you are, what your believes are, what your heart tells you to be, never change who "you" are for no one. FYI- the finding yourself doesn't happen overnight if your wondering. It's all part of growing up and making mistakes. 

How to make a baby Blue Jean Rag Quilt

I'm totally in love with this quilt. Simple, easy.. just my style. I found this really cute green/blue print at Handcock fabrics that matches the blue jean perfect. Made this one for our grandson Scottie that's due in about 6 wks!! Plus we have 3 more coming by the end of December!! I better get sewing huh!!? LOL

 I used 4 in squares but you can use any size you want really. I wouldn't suggest anything smaller then 4 though. I got super lucky when I spoke with a friend that had at least over 100 blue jean squares already cut.. I know lucky me huh? :) So a cutting away I went. Had a bunch cut before I knew it!

First thing is first.. Take one blue jean square and one of the colored fabric squares, put them back to back. Line them up as best as you can, if it's off just a bit it won't matter. From corner to corner sew with your machine an "X". Do that to as many squares that you'll need. Mine was a 9x9 so that makes 81 squares to sew an X through. The bigger the squares the less you have to do. I thought about making the whole side blue jean but really liked mixing up all the different colors of jean and doing the checkered looked. I'll post the link to the video that helped me, explains it a little better then I can. :)

                                                   Sew together each square 1/2 inch in from edge.

                                            I sew all 9 rows then start sewing all the rows together.

 After you get it all sewed together throw it in the wash and dryer and make sure you change your lent trap after..wow never have I ever seen that much lent before. Posted the link below.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0UQgeol-Zk&list=PL7B6E9E01C9F37D74&index=8&feature=plpp_video 

                                                 Like I said, one of the easiest blankets I've done! Enjoy!

Overnight Blueberry French Toast

     As you can see I couldn't take the picture fast enough when I made this delisshh strata (Breakfast Casserole) on Mother's Day. Best thing about it is I made it the night before and it was super easy mind you! Plus my kids think I'm super Mom when I cook great food, triple points cooking on Mothers Day on top of it! LOL I know that's what I use to think about my mom when she cooked kick ass food.

Ingredients

• 12 slices day-old bread, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 12 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
•  
• 1 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1 tablespoon butter
•                                                                              ~Directions~
  1. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Arrange half the bread cubes in the dish, and top with cream cheese cubes. Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the cream cheese, and top with remaining bread cubes.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla extract, and syrup. Pour over the bread cubes. Cover, and refrigerate overnight.
  3. Remove the bread cube mixture from the refrigerator about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  4. Cover, and bake 30 minutes. Uncover, and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes, until center is firm and surface is lightly browned.
  5. In a medium saucepan, mix the sugar, cornstarch, and water. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly, cook 3 to 4 minutes. Mix in the remaining 1 cup blueberries. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, until the blueberries burst. Stir in the butter, and pour over the baked French toast

                                           This blueberry sauce was very easy to make also! Yummm
                        
                                                          You can't go wrong with this recipe!!

My famous Chicken Tacos

                                   My famous Chicken Tacos
                                                                                     8- skinless chicken breast
                                                                                            2TBSP olive oil
                                                                             1 pgk of flour tortillas, your choice.
                                                                                        3 pk. taco seasoning
                                                                  1 jar salsa your choice, I prefer Kramer's myself. 
                                                                          1 pk. shredded taco cheddar cheese 
                                                                                                2 c. lettuce 
                                                                                             1 c. fresh cilantro
 

Take 8 skinned chicken breast and place them in your crock pot, drizzle the olive oil over them. Season with a little salt and pepper and your choice of taco seasoning, hot or mild . Add enough water to just barely cover the chicken. Cook 3-4hrs on high or 5-6hrs on low or until tender and falls apart easily.

                                                                I clipped some fresh cilantro from my garden. The tortillas
                                                                     and the salsa are both local produces from my area.

                                                           The chicken after it's cooked down for about 3 and half hours.

                                                   Ahhh.. and a margarita! You have to have a margarita with these tacos.

                                                      Enjoy!

Busy busy as always. I really need a vacation! Yea right! Don't see that happening anytime soon. It's been a little over a week now since I threw my back out, yea.. by throwing the grandson up in the air.. REALLY!? That's just messed up! I'm only 42! I should be able to that without a problem! Apparently not!! That needs to change! It's been over a year now since I stopped smoking, I have to get in shape! NO if's, and's or but's  to IT!! Life or death! For one of the first times in my life I'm really starting to feel the "age" thing. And let me tell ya, it's scary! I know 100% that I would feel like a million bucks if I would lose just 40lbs! That my friends, is my new goal! Walk, walk, walk!!!! And eat healthy! I did get my garden planted yesterday, pics to come! P.S. My IBS is KICKING my ASS today! ughh

What a busy life I have

I can't believe we are already 1/4 of the way through 2012! I'm having a hard time grasping on to the concept of it, really! I guess it's because I've been so busy! It seems like it's one thing after another all the time. I just went through a big ordeal with my daughter Grace being in the hospital with what they thought was Kawasaki's disease.. and it wasn't! She was given a very expensive IVIG treatment that she really didn't need! Then she had a bad migraine headache which is a side affect from the IVIG and they would NOT give her anything!! I was pissed!! Long story short, they released her from the hospital a few hours later after being there for 4 days. As soon as we got home I was rushing her back to the ER because of the migraine again! It took 3- 2mg doses of morphine(6mg total) and 2 shots of Zopran (sp) for the puking to get it under control. ER's do not mess around when it comes to being in pain, that's their #1 policy is pain management. Thank God because I was ready to claw some nurses eyes out when they wouldn't give her anything with the first migraine! She was re-admitted and that's when I said we're going to the children's hospital in Iowa City. I love that hospital! So a couple of doctors put their heads together and gave us a  correct diagnoses within a hour of being there. She just had some really bad run ins with a bunch of flu bugs. She's doing great now! Thanks to God and Jesus and the power of prayer we all made it through it.

I guess I'm not doing too well with this blogging thing yet. It has been a crazy past few weeks to say the least. My youngest Gracie was pretty sick there for awhile in the hospital for a week, had me/us scared to death! I still believe she was misdiagnosed. Kawasaki disease with both of my girls? Still can't believe one of my girls (Markee) had it little alone two. Either way, Gracie was still very sick, not as sick as Markee was but still sick is sick when it comes to your kids. You just feel so helpless when they are that sick! Hate it! I knell at their bedsides and pray to God to give me all the pain, give me the sickness. And to heal my child. And to give the doctor knowledge and wisdom to figure it out. I know He's right beside me.. I can feel Him. And He heals them, every time!  Amen!

Marc and I in 1997 having our first child together, Markee Jolene

Just livin'

God is only a prayer away.. that's my motto. When you have a crazy busy life like mine, it's the only motto to have. I'm the mother of 4 beautiful kids and step mother to 4 more. I've been married/divorced (Get to that later..) to the same man almost 18 yrs now. It's been one hell of a ride but I'm still standing, we're still standing together is the most important part.