The Post Office

I just need to vent this so if you don't want to hear my rant forget this post and wait until the next one :)

OKAY so today is busy with getting things ready to go for our trip to Colorado! J has two finals today so he is at school pretty much until we leave whenever that may be. So I took the time to get things done! We went and picked up a couple last minute things for the trip from the store, filled the gas tank and it was all going so well! Then we headed to the post office to send a package to Auntie Pam and her baby boy who is coming soon, and I sort of lost it there. Of course because I had a little girl who was ready to go home for snack there were a ton of people there (that's just how it always works out) so we ventured inside and Maia was doing amazing!
Seriously she amazes me with her ability to stay calm in situations I can't, I know we do switch rolls sometimes where she freaks out and I just kinda watch and laugh but I think she was a little freaked out by me today.

Anyway we get inside and I had to put my stuff in a box, figured it'd save money to use a flt rate box right? (WRONG) So I tapped up the box put my quilt and outfit inside for little baby, I even managed to remember to put the card in! I usually forget that part so I was feeling pretty good. Then I went and filled out the Customs for because it's headed to Canada, and they have to assume I'm trying to smuggle something illegal in my baby blanket...so I get that filled out and the wait begins...

There were 6 people ahead of me when I got there including one toddler much more sick of waiting in line than mine was...My child happened to be hiding under one of the desks making a wicked ripe stink in her pants, with so many people in line of course there was only ONE person helping people! After about 15 minutes another postal worker shows up to help people, "Finally, this will help us get out of here and on our way to finish packing!" I thought to myself! Well  down to only two people ahead of me one guy with like 6 small packages and an elderly woman who possibly was a stamp collector. If you're ever in line behind a stamp collector at the stamp counter come back later! I learned that from buying stamps with my Grandpa L its very time consuming, but I felt okay since now there were two workers so one of them was bound to be done soon enough to help us so we could go. I kept glancing over at the automated postage machine longing to be able to send my package from there! But because it was going international I had to stand in line. After  45 minutes it was finally my turn! I did a little giddy jig inside we were finally gonna be done and feeling so productive!

So I hand over my box and the custom form she asks if its fragile or dangerous, I refrained from making a bad joke like pretty sure pajamas are flame resistant anyway (see bad joke :) ) and said no and pulled out my wallet to help things move faster. She starts typing in zip code into computer and makes this face that means if i walk away right now I could leave happy, but I know I have to stay to find out what that face she is making is all about, is it my stinky toddler that your nose has caught a wiff of or is it on that screen?! "please let it be the sinky bum!" was all I could think...
She looks up and says "Okay so you filled out the wrong customs form for this box.."
in my head mind you: 'wtexpletive (yes I said the word expletive in my head I'm kinda awesome like that) where does it say you need a specific form for a specific stinking box?"
" I can give you the form to go to the end of the line and fill out or you can go home and repackage this parcel and it will save you about ..pause for pushing buttons on keyboard...$25."
Me (out loud this time): "seriously?"
She: something about it will only cost this much if you get your own box but it will cost upwards of $40 for this one and you have to wait in line ALL OVER AGAIN
that was all I heard before I held in my words and let out a huge breathe and said "that's kinda ridiculous" and I left. I didn't make it to the car before I was overcome by tears. Just in time for a gust of wind to knock my box out of my hand, I was also balancing the toddler the gal-dern customs forms and my purse and keys so wind was icing on the cake. I got the stinky one in the car threw everything else inside and went to get the box, luckily it didn't get run over and I got in my car and cried a little bit and thought some bad words, which I felt terrible about and that made me cry more! So what else do you do when you get that frustrated I texted my husband.
Even the seatbelt refused to cooperate. So I sat in my car for a few minute until I could calm down a little, Maia said from the back seat "My mama sad!"
She sure was sad Mai. The wind picked up but we finally got home got into the house and my sweet little girl came up to me and gave me the biggest sweetest hug. Then I caught another whiff of that stinky bum and we had to head upstairs before getting to work on all the packing I haven't started.

I brought up the computer so I could take a few minutes to vent this all out so I don't keep it inside and explode in the car or anything. While doing so of course the computer froze up and turned off about 6 sentences ago! Thank you dear auto save!!!! So J will be driving tonight because if my luck continues in this manner we may get hit by some random wild hog that isn't even indigenous to this part of the world and we'll need to replace the car, HAHAHA so I'd rather not press my luck too much today. I will also be sending that package to my sister in law from Colorado at anyplace that will help me and not make my tear ducts explode with frustration. I know it could have been much worse, I am grateful it wasn't worse. But I feel much better having been able to vent it all out, now before my computer freezes up again or something I will return to packing and pray for the peace of mind to keep my sanity. At least I have a darling little Maia who is cooperating so well today!!

A Girl named Melmo

In case you haven't heard I had an ultrasound today and found out this little baby is a GIRL!! More pink outfits bows and purses in our future :) I told J that we need to have some cheerleaders trained before we have any boys :)

Tiny toes!

This photo makes me giggle for those of you that can't tell whats going on however she has both hands up by her face and on foot up basically in a GO AWAY position :)

Such a Cute lil profile! Chin Tucked to her chest and everything

Look at that TINY Bum! Askin for some "Yah teh teh"

20 Weeks 3 Days

and a pink bow for my next lil girl

So things have been keeping us pretty busy! J is in the middle of FINALS he has two more exams tomorrow then we hit the road! We are leaving to Colorado (surprise right?) and we will be there for break! We are excited to have time off from school! And it will be nice to have some time near family as well. We get to celebrate our 3 year anniversary while we are gone! 3 years!? So much nice! As well we get to celebrate my dad's birthday and probably have lots of play time with Melvin and Roger (poodle and dachshund). AND one of my good friends from High School is getting  married and we happen to be in town to go to their reception. SO there will be plenty to do, but mostly we are excited to just hang out and not study or worry about school or hockey (even though we LOVE hockey!).

Maia has grown quite attached to her Uncle Titi, i.e. Uncle Teeny (i.e David Carlyon) it's quite adorable actually She asks for him to come home about 10 times a day and gets SOO excited when we get to hang out with them. She is starting to do better with his wife Ochka whom Maia now calls Oh-oh. When she is sad sometimes it helps her to calm down and be happier when she gets to call or visit Titi and Ohoh :)

When they are busy she also likes to talk about Yayas and Papas and Belle belle (Tinkerbell) She is getting SO BIG! She amazes me everyday with how smart she is and how big she is getting! I remember they day I found out Maia was a She like it was last week! Time goes by so quickly when you're having fun! My little Maia is going to be a big sister in just a couple of months, and she recently informed me she would like the baby to be named Melmo. We'll see about that but I love that she is getting excited about it all, even if she doesn't fully understand what a sister is.

Fall is for Pumpkin treats!

So life has been really busy being life! I feel tired ALL the time; and especially this week while they are replacing every roof on our row of town homes!! It is so loud and annoying and today they started at 7:30 am! Is that even legal?! I vote NO! But what does my pregnant mommy vote count haha. I have so much to get done in ICAA and I always feel like I'm a mile behind in my primary duties (so much to update/email/record being a secretary!) And when I'm not busy with that or my little girl I'm probably hunting for a bag of doritos or a bathroom because apparently my bladder is now the size of a peanut or something, cuz I go all the time. More joys of pregnancy :) But in 2 weeks, Oct 18th, we will get to do our halfway ultrasound! Wahoo! Hopefully get to find out boy or girl, I'm guessing girl, and Jesse is guessing boy so we'll see who wins. Not that there will be a disappointed party by any means but its just exciting to be expanding our little family! And of course we want to make sure everything is alright, I mean I have so many crazy dreams (they keep me up at night sometimes) that I can feel a bit paranoid about possibly having a monkey or conjoined puppies (yeah weird dreams..).

ANYWAY I am so excited fall is here! Well its more summer with leaves on the ground this week but at least it cools off at night, I'll take it! I have been wanting pumpkin things since the leaves started changing so last night I made pumpkin bread! 1st time EVER I've done cookies before with pumpkin and a cake mix, way easy but it always feels really nice to make something from scratch! At least I think so :) AND it was SUPER easy! and turned out fantastic, Maia even gobbled some up.

Pumpkin Bread:

2/3 C. Shortening
4 eggs
2/3 C Water
2 tsp. Baking Soda
1/2 tsp. Baking Powder
2 2/3 C Sugar
1 can (15-16oz) Pumpkin (NOT pie filling!)
3 1/3 C flour
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. each Cinnamon & Cloves (except I had no cloves so I used Nutmeg and it turned out great!)
8oz Chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 350
2. Grease/Spray with Pam 2 loaf pans.
3. Mix Shortening and Sugar in large bowl 
4. Once combined add eggs ( I actually found they combined a bit better once I added the eggs) and pumpkin and water. * If mixing by hand as I did wait until the pumpkin is incorporated to the rest of the mix before adding the water to avoid splashing*
5. Blend in Flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder cinnamon and cloves (or nutmeg works too ) ( I added these in small batches of dry ingredients since I was again mixing by hand)
6. Once batter is well combined stir in chocolate chips (or even nuts if you like that sorta thing :) )
7. Pour into loaf pans, bake 1 hour 10 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean(ish)
8. Wait about 10 minutes after taking it out of the oven, then remove from loaf pan; wait until it cools to serve (believe me its hard to wait!)

okay so I did NOT take this picture but the only difference between our two recipes is mine came from a ward cookbook this one was online and has whole wheat flour (which I did not have on hand)

I loved it :) in fact I think I shall go an try another slice right now, it's even better the next day!

Fall photos are being taken next week! And then Jesse's birthday, and then finals and then our trip to Colorado with our Anniversary and bringing my mom back to Iowa with us...I LOVE OCTOBER!

Crockpot Chicken Chowder

I LOVE this recipe! It has a little kick to it, but you can adjust that as need be :) I am currently making some right now so when it's finished I will post a photo!


Ingredients: (about 6 servings)
1 pound chicken breasts, cut into pieces (I like my chicken shredded so I don't cut it up and just shredded it at the end when mixing things)
1 11 ounce can Whole Kernel Corn (with or without peppers, sometimes called Mexican corn)
1 10+ ounce can of condensed Cream of Potato soup
1 4 ounce can green chilies, undrained
1 envelope Taco seasoning (about 1 1/4 ounces) 
2 Tablespoons Cilantro (can leave out for less kick)
3 cups Chicken Broth
8 ounces Sour Cream
4 ounces Cream Cheese, cubed (for extra kick use the jalapeño flavored variety)


1. I have come to enjoy crock pot bags to avoid bother some clean up so if you have one or want to use one insert now! Combine chicken, corn, soup, undrained chilies, cilantro (if using) and taco seasoning. Stir in chicken and broth. Cover; cook on low heat for 4 to 6 hours or High for 2-3 1/2 hours.


2. Remove about 1 cup of hot soup and stir in sour cream and cream cheese. Slowly stir the mixture into the the cooker (shred chicken now if you didn't cube it before hand); cover let stand 5 minutes. Stir with wisk until combined. 


I serve with bread or tortilla chips whichever I have on hand, tasty morsels!




*note so this time I realized I have a gazillion cans of beans so when I did step 2 I also added a can of Garbanzo beans and let it sit for about 10 minutes and that seemed to be long enough for the cheeses to melt and I didn't need to wisk it. Which was nice cuz everything would have gotten stuck in the wisk anyway!


Happy Eating!

sorry my flash destroyed the color a bit, but its DELICIOUS!

And blog #2 as per request CafeRop :)

Cafe Rio yummy!
3 fresh tomatillos cut into quarters.
1 package of Hidden valleys buttermilk dressing powder. 
1 cup of mayonaise. 
1/3-1/2 cup of buttermilk. 
1 cup cilantro. 
6 Green onions roughly chopped
2 garlic cloves minced/crushed. 
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper(optional- I dont use quite this much, I have also seen variations in recipes using green tabasco sauce and jalapeno but I am wimpy when its spicy cilantro adds enough spice for me) 


Put all the ingredients into a blender of food processor and blend until smooth.
Makes Lots of dressing, I stored mine in old spaghetti sauce jars and this filled one and a half jars. And I have posted another recipe I think where I used some of the extra dressing for the base of some chili that was amazing and quite green :)




For chicken that is similar to Cafe Rios I just season to flavor with honey, cumin powder, and garlic salt and fry it in some olive oil. Or you can cook it in the crockpot in Chicken Broth, little water and a Packet of taco seasoning I have also added 1 can of green chilies before.


 If you want to do the pork or beef I have this recipe I have never used, but I hear its good I just get nervous sometimes with new recipes that make large quantities. 


5 lbs pork
1 pkg onion soup mix
12 oz Dr. Pepper
4 oz taco sauce
1 c brown sugar
dash cumin
1 pkg taco seasoning

Sprinkle soup mix over roast. Cover with water 1/2 way. Cook on high 4 to 6 hours. Drain. Shred.
Add remaining ingredients, stir until mixed. Cook 1 more hour..
 Pork shoulder can take up to 10 hours on low in a crock pot to shredd well, Another reason I haven't tried it yet because that is a very Long time here is another recipe I have for same thing:


2-3 pounds of meat. 
1 bottle of A-1 sauce. 
1/2 tsp pepper. 
1 1/2 cup salsa. 
juice of two limes.
 3/4 cup brown sugar.
cook in crock pot on low for 7-8 hours.




Can make burritos or salads or whatever dish you are craving!
So this is making me very hungry I think we will be having some for dinner very soon :)

Dreams

Do you ever have strange dreams and wonder if they might mean something? This is just something I have always had some interest in and I've learned a lot about some things regarding dream meanings and I like to analyze my dreams.

I have had some crazy dreams lately and some repeat offenders! But I often look things about them up in online dream dictionaries like this one.
A few days ago I had a dream (yes I totally still remember it) with a guy I used to date and his brothers, being so mean to me! In real life those brothers didn't really like me so much, in this dream they were being super rude and gross and making me serve them snacks at my own house! Then my Jesse shows  up and gives them the what for! Yes I dreamt of my husband beating up guys being mean to me. Wanna know the weirdest part?! Jesse had a similar dream the very next day! I mention I dreamt of him beating up boys in my dream but never said who or too many details, and so he starts telling me his dream. We were dating again and I was super tiny (short too) and my ex-boyfriends brothers were pushing me around and well being ruuuude so he beat them up for messing up with his girl. Only then did I tell him more details from my dream, uh goosebumps anyone?!
It was very interesting to look up some meanings from these dreams because depending on how you look them up they can symbolize different things. So I searched this one as protection cuz I was being protected from mean boys, right? So when I looked it up it was very interesting to me to read this:

To dream that you are being protected or need protection, indicates that you are feeling helpless in some situation. Life's difficulties has made you dependable on others. You need to start taking charge of the situation.


What was so interesting to me was that the only real life situation I feel is out of my control is all the darn nausea and bloating and fatigue I have been having with being pregnant. Can be difficult to take charge of that situation but I will try?
Last night I had another dream with similar connotations from dream moods. I had a dream where my teeth were falling out. Didn't even have to do anything they were just falling out and my mouth was full of teeth that were not attached...it was awful I was doing all sorts of stuff and my teeth would just fall out, then the dentist could fix them. But I would go and do more stuff and they would fall right back out! Click here to read all about Teeth dreams. I wanted to quote a couple of parts I found interesting:

Teeth are used to bite, tear, chew and gnaw. In this regard, teeth symbolize power. And the loss of teeth in your dream may be from a sense of powerlessness. Are you lacking power in some current situation? Perhaps you are having difficulties expressing yourself or getting your point across
and this:
A scriptural interpretation for bad or falling teeth indicates that you are putting your faith, trust, and beliefs in what man thinks, rather than in the word of God. The bible says that God speaks once, yea twice in a dream or a vision in order to hide pride from us, to keep us back from the pit, to open our ears (spiritually) and to instruct and correct us.


Yeah so the powerlessness showing up again was very interesting, and the just not being able to get your point across I can think of a couple of situations where that occurs. One of them being with my one year old definitely. But some others with some projects etc that I am working on. The second part that caught my eye was surprising, I didn't think teeth could be spiritually representative. Cuz I know for sure that I have been slacking in my personal scripture study and I know that always help me be more at ease and able to cope with situations that come up and surprise me. 


So I think I have a couple of things to work on and it took dreaming up a storm to get my attention. I think dreams are cool and I like to analyze how my brain is trying to tell me what I need to remember or realize :)

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Yummy yummy!! I really like asian cuisine lately (last pregnancy all I wanted was mexican) and I was particularly missing lettuce wraps so I googled. And I found hundreds of recipes some the same some strange so I took the 3 easiest ones I found and combined and added based on what was in my kitchen (minus a quick trip to the store for some water chestnuts) Here are my best guesses at measurements cuz I didn't measure anything...

Ingredients:
5 chicken breast tenderloins (and we had no left overs!!)
couple shakes of McCormick Montreal Chicken
1/2 Tbsp minced garlic (from the jar style)
2 tsp dehydrated minced onion (used all my onion for sunday dinner oops)
1- 8oz can water chestnuts sliced and drained
1/4 bag of frozen veggies (again what I had on hand..)
1 cup Teriyaki sauce
2 Tbsp lime juice (or 1/2 fresh lime would be good)
2 Tbsp Soy Sauce (reduced sodium)
1 1/2 Dash of Ground Ginger
1 Tbsp Cornstarch/ Flour (or more depend how think you want the sauce)
olive oil for cooking (I did once around the pan..)

I diced up the chicken while heating up a small amount of oil in a skillet
add onions and garlic to skillet, toast
add chicken and Montreal seasoning cook until chicken is no longer pink
add vegetables stir until frozen ones are thawed
add Ginger, Teriyaki, Soy sauces and lime juice, combine
then add Cornstarch/Flour until you reach desired thickness of sauce (i made it a bit thicker so the wraps wouldn't be too runny)
let simmer a few minutes
Serve with Large lettuce leaves for wrapping

Yes I couldn't wait to take a bite before I took a photo too tasty :)

All I had on hand was romaine lettuce and it didn't want to wrap very well so after a very messy first attempt we tore up the next few pieces to finish off a little more like a salad. Even Maia ate all hers! With a little help from daddy and his  airplanes ;)


So that was our tasty dinner which I will definitely make again, maybe even try switching things up or even following a recipe :) But I'll definitely try with a more pliable lettuce :)
All in all DELICIOUS