Another week down...

Wow! Another week has flown by. It's hard to believe I'll be beginning my 5th week at my new job tomorrow, but it's true.

I found out last week that the only other job I'd been holding out for was in the process of being filled...and I didn't get a letter for an interview for it. It would have been awesome, too. It was a state job that paid DOUBLE what I make now. But, obviously, that's not where God wanted me. I believe I'm in the spot He prepared for me for this season. I don't know how long this season will last, but while I'm at this job I'll be doing the best I can.

Last week's meals kind of got all out of whack. The main reason???...my husband bought a new gas BBQ grill. While it's great that he does all the grilling, it messed up my meal plan because it's kinda difficult to prepare sloppy joes or kettle beef on a grill! =)

He grilled again yesterday, so we had leftovers today, and will probably have them tomorrow, too. I still planned for each day as though I were cooking, so that means some of this week's meals will get pushed back, too.

So, here's what's on the menu:
Mon: canned beef, mashed potatoes, salad
Tue: boston butt roast, stuffing, green beans
Wed: leftovers
Thu: sloppy joes, mac and cheese, green beans
Fri: leftovers
Sat: eating out
Sun: beef stroganoff, green beans, salad
Mon: leftovers
Tue: hot dogs, broccoli, french fries
Wed: marinated chicken breasts, baked potatoes, broccoli
Thu: grilled porksteaks, stuffing, salad, green beans
Fri: salisbury steaks, mashed potatoes, broccoli
Sat: breakfast (eggs, hashbrowns, sausage gravy, biscuits:
Sun: lunch - leftovers, supper - turkey pot pie

Having the grill also means that if I've had a hard or tiring day and don't want to be in the kitchen, then I can have Jim pick up some meat on his way home and throw it on the grill. I like this!

Menu Plan Monday

I'm ready for week #3 at work and have another two week's worth of meals planned. I missed almost two whole days at work this week for being sick. When it began I thought it was the stomach flu, but looks like it was a round of flared up sinuses getting started. Yeah me! This will be a much better week, I'm sure!

Needless to say, some of last week's meals didn't get eaten thanks to me being sick and there being lots of meatloaf leftovers! =)

So here's what's up for this week and next:

Mon: chicken a la king over baked potatoes, salad
Tue: roundsteak and gravy in the crock pot, mashed potatoes, broccoli
Wed: baked chicken breasts, baked potatoes, salad
Thu: beef roast and potatoes in the crock pot, green beans
Fri: tacos
Sat: turkey pot pie, salad
Sun: Easter lunch at the in-laws, if we have room for supper it'll be ham and cheese quiche
Mon: chopped sirloin in the crock pot with brown gravy (like salisbury steak), baked potatoes, salad
Tue: sloppy joes, corn, green beans
Wed: canned beef, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad
Thu: marinated chicken breasts in the crock pot, stuffing, green beans
Fri: boston butt roast, stuffing, salad
Sat: breakfast (eggs, hash browns, sausage gravy, biscuits)
Sun: hot dogs, baked beans, salad for lunch, week's leftovers for supper

I've been really surprised at how quickly I'm able to get supper ready in the evenings. I mean, I knew I was saving time by pre-cooking lots of things and by using my crock pot, but WOW! I get home by 5:20 or 5:25, and we're usually eating by 5:45! I think that's awesome because I was afraid it'd still be 6:15 or later. That all means that by 6:30 I've got supper over and my kitchen cleaned up...and the rest of the evening to do whatever strikes my fancy! I like that!!!

Do you have any time-saving ideas? Not just for the kitchen, but for anywhere around the house or in your daily routine? I'd love to hear them, so leave a comment or two!

Have an awesome week!!!

aaaah....Sunday

Well, I'm about to embark on my second week back at full time work. I believe I am ready...emotionally and in every other way. I've gotten the clothes picked out for each day, and ironed all this afternoon. I'm looking forward to making some headway on the old accounts list I've been working on at the office. I'm also looking forward to dropping a few more pounds this week!

The weight loss has been an added benefit of going to work some place new. Here's why...nervous stomach. See...there's only two bathrooms in the whole place. And - one of those is for the "guys". Apparently it's pretty gross. It's in the back of the building and rarely, if ever, used by the office girls. So, that leaves the one bathroom by the front desk to be used by patients and everyone else. Well, I don't want to be running to the bathroom all day, so I have been VERY cautious about what I eat each day and evening. Pepto was my friend for a couple days last week.

I know, I know...probably too much info for those few of you reading this. But, hey, I'm just trying to keep it real! =)

Anyway, I've been eating about 1/2 a sandwich for lunch and munch on honey wheat pretzels before and after. I haven't been eating breakfast, but eating some crackers or the pretzels at work. For dinner, I've been eating about half of a normal meal and being very cautions of grease/fat intake. I can't live on Immodium and Pepto, so I have to make the adjustments to my diet. It's paid off on the scales. I dropped 3 or 4 pounds last week. Yeah!

My new workplace is right in front of our local mall, so my plan is to eventually walk there on my lunch break. However, I was so beat last week I never had enough energy to go walk. We'll see how this week goes.

I've got no new post for Menu Plan Monday since I posted two week's worth of meals last week. Although, there will probably be at least one change to the plan. I found out that Jim will be working late Friday and a lot of Saturday. So, looks like Jake and I will get to indulge in some fast food Friday night. (I've decided that Friday night and part of Saturday can be my "pig out" times.) I'm hoping he picks McD's, BK, or Sonic. Hhhmmm...guess since I'm driving AND paying I can say where we go, huh? =)

Have an awesome week!

On your mark...get set...go! (& Menu Plan Monday)

Tomorrow begins my new adventure and return to the world of full-time employment. The prep work I did last week was fun. I got groceries, had luck buying new clothes, got new shoes, planned meals, etc. Let's just say that I felt comfortable enough with the prep I'd done to go enjoy a full day of scrapbooking yesterday. I enjoyed the whole day, too...no worrying about taking care of tasks at home. Yeah!

Laundry is being done this afternoon just to make sure we don't run out of anything before Friday night/Saturday when I get the chance to wash again. I think we're gonna be in really good shape!

I've normally made this post on Sunday night/Monday morning, but am not sure I'll have the opportunity to get another post in before bedtime tonight. So...this will also double as my Menu Plan Monday post. Since I've got the next two weeks planned, I'm gonna give it all to you at one time (also eliminating the need for a post next Sunday night!). Here you go:

Mon: beef roast and potatoes in the crock pot, green beans, salad
Tue: tacos
Wed: canned beef, mashed potatoes, broccoli, salad
Thu: leftovers
Fri: chicken breasts in the crock pot, stuffing, green beans
Sat: lasagna roll-ups, salad
Sun: chicken/turkey a la king and leftovers
Mon: meatloaf, broccoli, baked potatoes
Tue: ham and cheese quiche
Wed: salisbury steak, mashed potatoes, green beans
Thu: chicken breasts in the crock pot, stuffing, salad
Fri: tacos
Sat: swiss chicken
Sun: beef stroganoff and leftovers

As you can see, I'm taking advantage of my crock pot as I head back to work full time. That way while I'm away from home 10 hours a day, our supper can be cooking and ready when I get home. My meatloaf trick is to bake it ahead of time and pop it in to the freezer. The morning before we eat it, I take it out of the freezer and put it in the fridge. When it's supper time, we just stick it in the microwave and heat it up. I've already browned and seasoned the meat for our tacos and browned the sausage for the lasagna roll-ups. And, next Monday night while we're enjoying our pre-cooked meatloaf meal, our Tuesday night's quiche will be in the oven baking. That way we just have to reheat it Tuesday night and we're ready to eat.

I feel confident that my planning will work out. I tried to arrange it so that no matter how pooped I was after work I could handle getting the meal ready. I also have a back-up plan...there's hot dogs in the freezer! =) If something REALLY goes wrong one evening my guys can stick these in the microwave or on the stovetop and have supper in under 5 minutes. The best part is---they love hot dogs!

Ok, so the next post you read will tell of my wonderful new job and how smoothly everything went. So be sure to check back in a few days!

Yeah!!

As of this past Monday afternoon, I am officially employed again! I accepted an offer to work in the billing department of a local physical therapy clinic. I start this coming Monday morning.

The past couple days have been fairly busy ones. I've been meal planning, list making, and clothes shopping. See, it's been about 6 1/2 YEARS since I've had to "dress" for work. I've either been wearing scrubs or jeans. I was down to two decent pairs of black slacks and a few skirts that I wore to church. I think I've purchased enough to at least get me started. I've added three more pairs of pants and about six shirts...plus six pairs of dress socks and two pairs of shoes. I got a great promo code in the mail yesterday to used at JCPenney.com on Sunday, so I may do a little catalog shopping that day. =)

I've gotten meals planned for the next two weeks, but now have to go grocery shopping to pick up a few things for the list. I was smart and put a lot of crockpot meals on the list as well as pre-cooked stuff I've already got in the freezer. I'm sure I'll be tired in the evenings when I get home...I haven't worked full time in almost two years!

To be honest, I'm a little excited about having to dress up again. I feel better about myself when I know I'm "put together" and look decent. Tomorrow I'm planning on going through my jewelry and getting it all organized again. I've got great stuff, but none of it really goes with jeans and shorts! LOL!

So, I'll be back in the groove again in a few days. I'll let you know how it goes!

Bring the Rain

I've had this post brewing for a few days. I really hope I can get everything I want to say written correctly.

Let me start by saying if you've never heard the song "Bring the Rain" by Mercy Me, by all means find it and take a listen. This song has really been speaking to me lately. The short and sweet of it is that's how I want my life to be lived all the time. That's the view of my circumstances I always want to have. No matter what's going on - good or bad.

Until my mid-twenties, I had very little tragedy in my life. Of couse, I lost a grandpa when I was 7, and great-grandparents along the way. That was bound to happen because when I was born I had ALL my grandparents, great grandparents, and great-great grandparents except one. So I was used to "old" people passing away.

The first sudden death I experienced was during my junior year of high school. A girl a year ahead of me in school, Tracey, was killed one weekend night in a car accident. She and I were not close. Really, we were only in band together and did not hang out together. The thing that made it hit me so hard was remembering the Friday afternoon before she died. For some reason I came out the back exit of the school (I usually exited from the front). Tracey and her boyfriend, Wayne, were walking out in front of me. They were goofing around flirting with each other. She hopped on his back and he took off running with her giggling and holding on tight. They were seniors and at that moment had no worries whatsoever. When my parents told me she'd died, that image of her on Wayne's back was the first thing that came to my mind. They were so carefree...but just a few hours later lives were forever changed.

Fast forward about 16 months to the evening before my senior prom. I'd already gone to bed, but heard the phone ring later that night. It's never good news when the phone rings late at night, right? Right. My dad's cousin had been killed in a car wreck.

A year or so later, a young man from my hometown was murdered in a local grocery store robbery. As the details of the incident came out, I was appalled and so saddened at the things he had to endure during the last moments of his life. Years later when Jim and I moved back to my home town, it took all the strength I could muster just to grocery shop in that same store. My heart still ached for what he and his family had to go through.

Fast forward again to 1997. Jim and I are enjoying life. Jake's 18 months old and a joy to be with. I'm working as a bank teller. One day Jim comes in and I'm giddy that he's stopped to pay me a visit. What I didn't know was that my supervisor already knew he was coming. He had come to tell me that my mom's only brother had just been killed in a car accident. That was the only time in my life I have ever lost control in a public place. I hated that he had to come tell me...so did he.

It's now 2001. My paternal grandparents had had marital "issues" for what I had learned was years and years. My grandpa was an alcoholic. After months of living with the possibility of divorce and being separated, not long after grandpa moved back into the house with grandma, he committed suicide. It was a shock to my system to say the least. This is the stuff that happens to other people, right?...not to my family. Wrong. Because of what Jim thinks is a morbid fascination, I asked to go in and see Grandpa before the coroner removed his body from the house. My parents went with me. I don't regret seeing him that way, but it was not what I expected.

As we approach 2004, I want to stop in September 2003. In an overnight hospital stay for what we originally believed to be appendicitis, my mom was diagnosed with a tumor on her right adrenal gland. They were going to remove it in mid-October. I remember sitting in the car with her after doctor's appointment before the surgery. She knew I was scared. She told me "if it's cancer, we'll deal with it." It was. Four months to the day of her surgery to remove the tumor, my mom died. Those were the fastest and the slowest four months all at the same time. So many emotions, fears, assumptions, heartaches. The one lone bright, shining thing about my mom's death was that I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt she was ready. If I hadn't known that I don't know where I'd be now.

July 2005. My step-grandpa (my mom's stepdad) lost his fight with cancer this month. What started out as a small nodule on his jaw that was once removed, came back growing with a vengance. I think my Granny new from the beginning that this would be the thing to end Gene's life.

We're now at September 2008. My Granny (mom's mom) had been through so much in her life. She'd buried her parents, a brother, two husbands, a son, and a daughter. Her heart had been broken for a long time. But she loved God and knew he was in control. She'd been ready to go Home for quite a while. On the way home from my birthday weekend in St Louis I received the call from my dad. Granny had died in her sleep early that morning. I'm glad I wasn't in public when I got that call.

We have now arrived at today. I'm remembering being fired from a job in August of 2005. What a shock. I didn't see it coming. I still believe it happened out of spite. However, it was one of the best things that has ever happened to me. I was let go from my most recent job at the end of January. I knew this one was coming, but I didn't know when. I was already down to 15 hours a week. My work was just running out. There were no hard feelings when I left this job, and my former boss is willing to give me a shining reference at any place I go to work next.

So...I think it's safe to say that in my 37 years I've been through some "junk" (there's even more that I didn't list!!). But you know what...so have you and most all of the people we meet on the street every day. Sure, not everyone has lost a parent or been fired or been with someone as they took their last breath. However, each of us has stuff that we're dealing with. Stuff that the devil wants to use to get us down. He wants us down on ourselves, our spouse, our job, our children, our lives. He wants us so low that we're closer to him in hell than we are to God in Heaven.

If God hadn't been in my life through all these year's worth of things, I couldn't tell you today that I am in a better state of mind than I've EVER been. I've battled with depression, but God took it away and gave me His joy instead. He is able to do this for anyone who asks Him to! He wants to!

I think that the song "Bring the Rain" sums up this whole blog post for me. No, I don't desire to go through more tragedies in my life...I'm really not asking or begging to have more of them. But if my reaction to tragedy in life is the thing that brings someone else closer to God...then I'm willing to go through some more rain. I know that without Him I can do nothing, but with Him all things are possible!

"Bring The Rain"

I can count a million times
People asking me how I
Can praise You with all that I've gone through
The question just amazes me
Can circumstances possibly
Change who I forever am in You
Maybe since my life was changed
Long before these rainy days
It's never really ever crossed my mind
To turn my back on you, oh Lord
My only shelter from the storm
But instead I draw closer through these times
So I pray

Bring me joy, bring me peace
Bring the chance to be free
Bring me anything that brings You glory
And I know there'll be days
When this life brings me pain
But if that's what it takes to praise You
Jesus, bring the rain

I am Yours regardless of
The dark clouds that may loom above
Because You are much greater than my pain
You who made a way for me
By suffering Your destiny
So tell me what's a little rain
So I pray

Holy, holy, holy
Is the Lord God Almighty!

Lasagna Roll-up Recipe

I had a request from a friend to post this new recipe we tried on to my blog. These were very yummy! It's a Mr. Food recipe (gotta give the man credit!), but I altered it to suit our tastes.

1 (28 ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
1 (2 pound) container ricotta cheese
2 cups mozzarella cheese
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
3 eggs
1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
1 teaspoon salt
12 to 14 lasagna noodles, cooked according to package directions

**NOTE** I used to jars alfredo sauce (the two together totaled about 28 oz) instead of the spaghetti sauce. I also added 1 pound browned Italian sausage to the ricotta mixture. Because I added the sausage, I ended up using a total of 15 noodles.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Pour half the spaghetti sauce over the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, 1 cup mozzarella cheese, the parmesan cheese, eggs, parsley, and salt until well blended. Spoon the cheese mixture over the lasagna noodles, distributing evenly, and roll up tightly. Place the roll-ups seam-side down in the baking dish and top with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, or until heated through.

This was so good! We've agreed that next time I will use spaghetti sauce to see which version we like better. I'll keep you posted!