A wrench...

Well a wrench definitely got thrown in my Menu Plan for this week. However, it wasn't because of the winter storm as I'd previously expected. My microwave decided to die last night (Tuesday). Tonight was to be turkey a la king over baked potatoes. Well, there was no way I was gonna bake those potatoes in the conventional oven. That'd take waaaay too long. Instead I made a nice pot of chili. It kind of "suited" the day anyway since we had about 3 inches of sleet/freezing rain topped with 3-4 inches of snow on the ground outside.

It's now 8pm, and I have a nice, shiny, SPOTLESS, new black microwave installed over my stove. Jim was able to get it done with very minimal grunting and grumbling (for which I am extremely thankful). I know installing a microwave was not what he had planned for his evening. I'm am so thankful he is a great handyman!

He boiled some water in the new appliance, so it's been initiated. It's workout will come tomorrow when we're reheating all the leftovers from the first half of the week.

I'll wrap this post up with one of the cutest pics ever taken of our dog, Tuffy. He LOVES the snow. It's like he's a puppy again - running and cavorting in the fluffy white stuff. Anyway, I made him wait to come in until after I could snap this pic this morning. He looks none to happy about it either! =)

25 Random Things About Me

This little beauty is running all around Facebook right now. My cousin tagged me, so I had to do my part. Figured I'd post it here to my blog for posterity's sake.

25 Random Things About Me:

1. I am most times embarrassed by how many jobs I have had...especially now that I'm looking for a new one AGAIN. But, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God led me to each of those jobs for a reason.
2. Jim and I talked on the phone every night for at least 3 or 4 hours the week before we met.
3. Jim and I got engaged after only two weeks of dating.
4. I have the most wonderful husband in the world.
5. My desk/work area at my job MUST be completely in order for me to be able to work, but my house is cluttered. Go figure...
6. Some nights from out of nowhere I still have extremely vivid dreams about my mom (she passed away in February 2004).
7. I will never, ever forget the details of the last night/hours of my mom's life. It was a horrible night, but God was gracious enough to place a handful of "sweet" moments thoughout those hours.
8. I still get giddy at the thought of missing work for a snow day.
9. One of my eyebrows is slightly higher than the other.
10. I love to work word search puzzles...I keep a book of them in my car, in the living room, and even in the bathroom.
11. When I was in high school cruising the "big block" I used to have everyone's headlights memorized so I could honk at the people I liked. (yes, I was/am a dork!)
12. I love staying in hotels.
13. I love planning trips...even if we never get to take them.
14. I have a notched ear from falling onto a fireplace hearth as a child. My son was born with a notched ear just like mine. That's how Jim knew the nurses were bringing us the right baby while we were in the hospital after his birth.
15. There are times I miss my Mom and Granny so much I think my heart will explode.
16. Any time I hear a siren near my house I am VERY tempted to get in my car and chase it. My eyes get big, and Jim just laughs at me.
17. I love monster trucks, mud races, NASCAR and football.
18. I love nail polish that stays on even after showering and washing dishes.
19. Snakes up close and personal make me need clean underwear, but put them behind glass at the zoo and I could watch them ALL day.
20. I love going to the zoo.
21. I have had a few paranormal experiences, but think I'd be too scared to ever do an investigation with TAPS.
22. 99% of the time I no longer need an alarm clock to wake up by 5:30 or 6am every day.
23. If someone calls our house and can't pronounce our last name when they ask for Mr. or Mrs. Monteith, I usually just hang up on them.
24. I hardly ever cook something according to the recipe...I usually have to "tweak" something in it. Amazingly, I have only had to throw out TWO dishes of food in our 15 years of marriage. One of those I even followed the recipe exactly.
25. Other than the dog, I am officially the shortest person in my home now.

Menu Plan Monday

What a great weekend! It's been fun! I attended my first ever scrap. There's a small group Bible study at church that meets once a month from 9am to 5pm that I've been trying to get to for almost a year. However, every Saturday it's been planned I've had something already planned. Until yesterday! There were about 15 of us that showed up. Some stayed just a few hours, and some stayed all day...like me. I really didn't know what to expect. I spent Thursday and Friday evenings putting together about 9 spreads to take and complete. I had everything planned, so all I had left to do was piece it all together. By the end of the day I had completed 5 spreads (10 pages). I had the best time, too. It was nice spending time with the "girls"...something I don't do nearly often enough. What was funny, though, was that the "girls" ranged in age from late twenties to early seventies! It was a blast. I'm already ready for next month's meeting!

I think I'm FINALLY gonna get the snow I've been hoping for. Right now the National Weather Service is calling for us to get at least 4 inches of snow plus some sleet between Monday night and Tuesday night. OF COURSE I'll HAVE to go to the grocery store tomorrow. Not really because we need all that much, but just to experience the mayhem. =)

I've got my Menu Plan ready for this week, but if the snow comes we may throw caution to the wind and just eat whatever we want. And if the power goes out I'm not promising any plan will be followed!

Here's what's on the books for this week:
Monday - turkey pot pie, broccoli, salad; Tuesday - marinated chicken breasts, hominy, salad or green beans; Wednesday - turkey a la king served over baked potatoes; Thursday - chicken stir fry; Friday - Mexican take-out probably (my guys will be at our church's annual Wild Game Feast); Saturday - tacos; Sunday - velveeta dip and bacon-wrapped little smokies while we enjoy the Super Bowl.

I'm also chugging right along with the job hunt. I applied for another job Friday with the foundation of one of the local hospitals. I'm praying for favor with that application. One of my former employers is on the board of the hospital foundation. I was able to speak with her on the phone Friday afternoon and give her a heads up that I applied for the spot. I believe this is a job that I'd really enjoy. It's full time and has great benefits. I'll keep you posted!

God's got it all under control...

I've know for months that at some point my job would come to an end. I found out in December that the target date was January 31st. Since I only work Tuesday through Thursday, that makes the date January 29th. One week away.

I'm kicking myself now for not applying for a job where my brother-in-law and sister-in-law work. They had openings back just before Thanksgiving. At that time I didn't know the definitive cut-off date for my position and, truthfully, still had hopes that something would work out where I am. Now those spots are filled.

For the past two or three days I've scoured the internet for state and federal job openings and have applied for a couple of them. Today I took the test for Census 2010 jobs (it's a government job...and yes the test-taking was as bad as you imagine). There's a resume and application that I mailed today that I'm praying heavily over. It's full time with awesome benefits and extremely decent pay. It's a job that technically I'm over qualified for, but a job that I'd be perfect for. It's at the place where my mother-in-law retired a couple years ago. My hope is that my last name alone will get my resume a second glance.

At this point, I still need to bring in an income. Otherwise, I wouldn't be searching at all. Truthfully, up until a couple weeks ago I really didn't feel an urgency in searching. That changed last week...big time. I haven't stressed over it, though. I've prayed. I know God is in control. I believe that I've always gotten the exact job He had lined up for me. This time will be no different. I have always sent out multiple resumes or applications...but I've never had to choose between multiple job offers...there's always just been THE ONE. That'll happen this time too. In God's time - not mine.

Menu Plan Monday

Sorry my blogging has seemed to drop off completely...I've been puny this week. When I wasn't working, I was curled up on the couch with the humidifier going. Not really sure what the problem is - sinus, viral infection, etc. Guess if I broke down and went to the doctor I could find out, huh?? :)

Anyway, on with the important stuff...this week's meal plan-->

Sunday: chicken casserole, salad.
Monday: turkey, broccoli, mashed potatoes with gravy.
Tuesday: sloppy joes, grean beans, hominy.
Wednesday: grilled lunchmeat sandwiches, salad.
Thursday: baked chicken breasts or salisbury steak, stuffing or baked potatoes, salad.
Friday: Domino's pizza or eating at school function.
Saturday: turkey pot pie, salad.

Today I'm baking the turkey I'd originally purchased for Thanksgiving, but forgot to put in the fridge to thaw as we were leaving town the weekend before the holiday. I bought a smaller turkey breast to get us through Thanksgiving. So, now I'm baking the beast I bought first! Will be nice, though, to have supper ready for tonight, then put the rest in the freezer - including the carcass. I'll boil down the carcass at a later date to make stock for soup...which I'll freeze after making.

I hope you all have an awesome week. If you've been in the "deep freeze" like we have been here in Missouri, I pray warmer temps come your way!

Finally!

I finally started it!!! It's only been about 4 years, but I finally started it!!!

What's "IT"??? IT is the scrapbook from out 2005 Cocoa Beach/Orlando vacation. Yep, that's right...2005. At the end of last week I was getting the itch to start doing some stuff with it. So, I began by grouping all the pictures together. Then put them in order of "activity" (ex: building sand castle, going to Kennedy Space Center, going to the Race Rock Restaurant, etc.). Then I realized that when I'd originally ordered prints of my digital photos, I'd left out some good pictures that I really wanted. So, I place another order this weekend. Those photos should be here by the end of the week. I've already "roughly" organized the pics by two-page spreads, so will just have to tweak that some once the new pics get here.

I actually completed two pages of the book last night. It feels good to finally get those memories on paper. We had a great trip, and I think Jake was old enough to remember the whole thing.

Here's some shots of the two completed pages:






I had originally planned to start working on Jake's football scrapbook once I got back into the swing of things after the first of the year. But, now I'm thinking that the vacation book will get done first. I've already got the pictures all together along with the embellishments that I have so far. I realized yesterday that I didn't have near the quantity of embellishments that I thought I had. Guess that means a trip or two to Hobby Lobby! Darn! =)

Menu Plan Monday

Well, hhmmmpppfff....I tried to load this post last night, but my laptop has been doing craaazy stuff. Jim messed with it yesterday to try to get it to behave. I tried to log into Blogger last night, but needed to adjust my "cookie" settings. I didn't want to mess with it last night so was saving the "joy" for this morning. Now, I logged in just fine this morning. Argh...computers! Anyway...

Time for Menu Plan Monday...

Sunday (last night): round steak and gravy in crockpot with mashed potatoes and green beans.
Monday: ham and cheese quiche.
Tuesday: grilled ham/turkey and cheese sandwiches with salad.
Wednesday: hot dogs, baked beans, broccoli/salad.
Thursday: leftover buffet.
Friday: baked chicken breasts (already done and in freezer), stuffing, green beans.
Saturday: meatloaf (already done and in freezer), peas, salad.

Should be an easy cooking week. Yeah me! =)

Free Tip Friday

Having a hard time getting the inside of your microwave clean? Here's a super quick and easy way to do it that's also completely chemical free...I fill a 2-cup glass measuring cup about with about 1 1/2 cups of water. Heat in microwave till boiling and let it run about a minute or two longer. Stop microwave, but don't open the door. Let water sit in microwave for a couple minutes. Then open the door, remove the glass measuring cup, and wipe down the walls with a damp cloth. The heat and steam from the boiling water will have softened any cooked-on mess so that it can be easily wiped away.

Two Yummy Dishes!!!

I made a new dip for our Christmas Day snack buffet. It's a variation on the Rotel/Velveeta dip. I sort of combined two different recipes I found online and came up with a dip our whole family raved about.

Here's what's in it: 2 lb block Velveeta cut into cubes, 1 lb browned hot pork sausage, 1 lb browned ground beef, 1/2 pouch taco seasoning mix, 1 can Rotel (***I used a can of diced tomatoes with garlic and onions...which I ran through the blender to get rid of the large chunks), 1 can cream of mushroom soup. I heated this on the stovetop to make sure it all melted together, then kept it warm in the crockpot. Serve with tortilla chips. Oh. My. Goodness. This was one yummy dip!!! Definitely a keeper!




The other dish is, well...it's S.O.S. Yes, that's right...s*** on a shingle. My husband requested it. He grew VERY fond of it during his 8 years serving in the US Navy. I'd never made it before, but he'd requested it recently, so I thought I'd give it a try. Oh. Yummmmm! It was go good!

Here's what's in it: thin sliced beef (I used 6 packages of the Carl Buddig brand, but could have used less), white gravy (I made mine from bacon drippings, but you could also use what's in the can at the grocery store). That's it. That's all that's in it. We ate it over toast for breakfast. S.O.S. where have you been all my life. Granted, this is not a "healthy" meal, but it sure was good. There was PLENTY for leftovers too.



Happy eating!!! =)

I may have attempted to much...

Okay...here's the deal. As it's time for me to pick back up on my blogging, I'm not sure that I will keep up the same pace that I did towards the end of last year.

I was soooo proud of myself for coming up with the cutesy names: What's Cookin Wednesday, Thankful Thursday, and Free Tip Friday. But, honestly...do I really have 52 weeks worth of ideas for each of those??? I'm not that good! =)

I've learned that I really do enjoy blogging, though. However, during the past week I've been rearranging parts of our home and have created an awesome new scrapbooking spot for me in our downstairs family room.




I've not scrapbooked or made any cards for almost a year. A YEAR folks! Now, I've been at my new spot every day. I've already made the basic for 41 cards. All I have left to do on them is the embellishments. Let's just say my new space inspires me. It's the most organized my supplies have EVER been. Plus...hubby got me a Cricut Jukebox and the Cricut Design Studio for Christmas. However, I've yet to use either of them. I got on a roll with the cards that I didn't stop to learn the new tools yet!

Anyway...back to my main point...I'm not going anywhere. The blog isn't going away. But those "assigned" weekly posts will probably be going away. I'll still have posts on food and/or recipes, things I'm thankful for, and a tip every now and then. But just not on assigned days.

Thank you for sticking with me. I know I just changed my format a few months ago. Remember, I'm still new to the bloggy world and still trying to get the hang of it.

Tomorrow's post WILL have two yummy dishes included in it. So make sure to come back by.

Till then...

Menu Plan Monday

Welcome to my first MPM of 2009!

I realized I didn't leave a night or two for leftovers, so a couple of these may get pushed to next week. At least that way I'm ahead of the game for MPM next week! =)

Monday: beef stroganoff; Tuesday: beef stew; Wednesday: chicken casserole; Thursday: meatloaf; Friday: ham and cheese quiche; Saturday: chicken a la king

Thanks for coming by! Have a great day!

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for this man...

Fifteen years ago today God allowed me to be united with him forever in marriage. He is my best friend, my confidante, my hero, my spider-killer, my top-shelf-reacher (he's 6'7"), and the spiritual head of our home.

My mom once said that she didn't think God could have created a more perfect man for me. She was right.

Happy Anniversary, Jim! Thank you for 15 terrific years. I love you!