Kitchen

Obviously I don't have the attention span for a month long daily project. I've been sick with strep and am just feeling better. Since today's picture was kitchen, I thought I would post the kitchen of the house we are in the process of buying. Today I have been trying to decide what to do about this kitchen. I am still not sure. 

Bird

Today's Photo: Bird

D and I went to take a picture of the geese and the goslings. These roam all over our apartment complex. You have to be careful, because if they feel the babies are threatened they will run at you and hiss. I know, I was chased by some before last summer when I would go running in the morning. We got this pictures just before they started hissing at us and D ran away scared.

That leads me to the red-winged black bird

Last year I was attacked by a bird at the same spot 3 different times when I went running in the morning. I am pretty sure it was a red-winged blackbird. I can't be completely sure since it was always from behind and as soon as I felt claws and wings on my neck I ran away, fast. Needless to say, I started taking a new running route. However, since last summer birds had made me very jumpy.

Fun

Today's photo: FUN

I had a hair appointment today. Whenever I need a hair cut, I always make the first appointment of the day, 9am. That way there is never anyone else there and D can run around and not bother anyone and he can play in the chairs all he wants. My hair stylist is so good with him and he always get candy. After, we always get a treat, walk around the mall, and play on the playground at the mall. Hair appointments are now fun for D. (OK, maybe not the actual appointment, but the traditions that go along with it)

Something I Wore Today

We had planned on going running tonight, but a storm came in. D likes to go running with me. Either we go on a short, slow run or I bring the jogging stroller and he gets to ride once he gets tired.

Skyline

OK, so this picture wasn't taken today and it's not really a skyline by definition, but when I thought of skyline I thought of this picture. It's it the view near the town we are moving to this summer. It looks like fall with the reds and such, but it is spring. It is beautiful there.

Photo A Day In May

A friend of mine recently did a photo a day challenge and posted them on Facebook. I actually looked forward to seeing the pictures. I thought it was fun, so I thought I would give it a try.  I found a fun photo a day in May challenge at Fat Mum Slim. You can read how to play here. 

I am not doing this because I am a great photographer, or even aspire to be. As a matter of face, I use a point and shoot camera or iPhone. I don't even own a fancy shmancy camera. I want to do it because I like the idea of taking a better look at the world around me and this is a great way to do it.


Today: Peace

I can't think of many times during the day that I feel more peace than when I am snuggled up with D and a book. Sometimes it is a stack of children's books. Sometimes he is just snuggling with me while I am reading to myself. Sometimes it is a chapter book we are reading together. Currently we are reading The Hobbit. Whatever it is that we are reading, it is a favorite time of day for me. Actually, it often happens multiple times during the day. It is something we both love.

A DIYer?

Well, we put in a offer on a home and they accepted. It is a 1950 ranch, a bit of a fixer upper. Small, but good for us. 2 bed/1 Bath with a basement we could finish one day. I go through the cycles of way excited, to terrified, to borderline depressed, back to thrilled. I really am happy, but overwhelmed. I have always wanted to be a DIYer, but never thought I could do things like that. It doesn't help that my husband would rather pay someone to do something that do it himself as far as house repairs are concerned. After listing all the things I would eventually want to do to this house, our bank account is going to force us to become DIYers. Any of you DIYers? What are the easier/hardest things you have done? I'll keep you posted how it goes. Here are some pictures.

No Oatmeal For Me.... Granola Recipe

I do not like oatmeal. I wish I did because I know it is a pretty heathy and filling breakfast. I have tried over and over to eat it. My son eats it a couple of times a week. But still I can not seem to do it. It is the texture. It grosses me out. I have finally decided to embrace my oatmeal-hating self and move on. I have moved on to granola.

Granola gets a bad rap. I think mostly because it high in calories and is addictive, so you have to be careful about how much you eat. But granola is also full of good stuff that can keep you full. I have a half a cup of granola in milk and some fruit for breakfast and that usually tides me over till lunch, or pretty darn close. That is a big deal, because I am always hungry! Also, granola is so versatile. You can change it to what you like.

Basic Granola Recipe
4 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup nuts
1/2 cup coconut
1/2 dry fruit
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil (I use canola)1/3 cup honey
Preheat your oven to 250 degrees. Mix the oats, nuts, and coconut in a large bowl. In a small sauce pan mix together the brown sugar, oil, and honey. Heat until smooth. Pour over the oat mixture and stir until well blended. Pour mixture on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes. Remove from oven and stir in dried fruit. Let cool. Store in air tight container.



See, easy peasey lemon squeezey. You can cook granola at a higher temperature for a shorter amount of time, but I always seem to burn it. Also, when mixing the brown sugar, oil, and honey use the same measuring cup. I know usually you would use a wet measuring cup for oil and possibly honey, but in this case it doesn't matter and makes clean up easier. (I don't have a dishwasher so less dishes is a big plus!) Also, do it in that order. You measure the brown sugar while it is still dry, then the oil so it greases the measuring cup, and then the honey, which should slide right out of the greased cup. I know it is common sense, but it took me a while to think of it.

Now you can change this any way you want. You can omit the coconut, add more nuts, different kids of dried fruit, add some spices to the dry mix before adding the wet. I often add cinnamon. Also, you can only use 3 cups of oats if you want a more crunchy granola. Everything gets coated in the oil mixture little better that way, leading to more crunch. I use 4 cups so I get less fat from the oil and sugar per serving. Still is good.

Enjoy!

Happy Easter

Attempt At Sewing

A while a go I found a tutorial on greylustergirl.blogspot.com. It was about refashioning a men's polo into a cute woman shirt.

Source: greylustergirl.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Isn't it adorable???  She is amazing. I have wanted to try for a long time, but I have been nervous to start. Last week I was shopping at our local Salvation Army for all of D's summer clothes. (Best place ever to get kids clothes, but that's another post.) I decided to look for some dress pants for my hubby, and while looking I came across the polos. I bought one on a whim for $1. I got brave and gave it a try. After much trial and error and having to do thing a little different from her (mostly because I had to fix mistakes), I finished. 

So, it's not perfect, but I didn't think it was too bad for a first try. Yes, my photographer is 4, so please forgive the picture. Also, some of you might notice the short hair. I cut it today. I am not sure if I love it, but I guess at this point I will learn to like it. We will see.

I digress. What do you think? I have to say I am proud of myself for even trying. I think I will try to make another in the future. I think I need to start with a larger shirt to get a better length since I am tall. Also, I made this one a bit too tight. No need for everyone to see what pregnancy did to my body. :)

General Conference

This weekend is the LDS General Conference. I have been trying to think of ways to help D enjoy it, or at least be reverent during it. I have bought some candy for our "conference candy" idea. I've seen it a lot of places online this year. Each candy is assigned a word. Every time you hear that word, you get a piece of the candy from the appropriate jar. I haven't decided on the words quite yet, but I plan on using words like "Faith" or "Jesus Christ." The hubby suggested words like "The" and "And." This is why the mommies usually plan this stuff. :)

Also, we are making a conference poster. I am pulling out all the old Friend magazines, a poster board, scissors, and glue. We can find pictures that relate to what is being taught, cut them out, and glue them on. I think this will be something D loves. He loves art.

D is allowed to take a break from watching conference with Mommy and Dad as long as he is playing quietly in his room. All that conference can be tough for a 4 year old.

What ideas do you have to entertain little ones during conference? It is a hard task.

Something to Remember

“Listen earnestly to anything [your children] want to tell you, no matter what. If you don't listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won't tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff.” -Catherine M. Wallace

Difference of Opinion

For the last year we have been working on homeschooling with D. We aren't always consistent and often times it just involves him reading to me or playing a number game or something simple like that. Even though we haven't devoted a ton of our day to homeschooling, he is learning quite quickly. It makes me think I can really do this homeschooling thing. But then there is D's opinions.

We live in Michigan, and because of the late kindergarten cutoff date of Dec 1st D could start kindergarten this coming year at the age of 4. He won't be because we are moving, but all his friends are. All his friends are in preschool and love it and will soon start kindergarten. D has decided that he want to go to school for kindergarten. It makes me a bit unsure of my decisions.

I know this choice isn't for a 4 year old to make, but I know D's stubbornness (He's like his mom) and I don't want school time to become a fight everyday. Luckily I still have another year to decide.

A Worldwide Church

We are moving this summer. We are use to the big city and we are moving to a small town, population of about 6,000. I am excited but also nervous. Yesterday we decided to drive and visit where we would be moving to. It is about 5 hours from our current home. We got up early so we could get to our new church in time. For anyone who doesn't know, we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, better known as the Mormons. The new ward started at 10 am. It is a very small ward, only about 150 people. Our current ward is over 400. Even the building is small. It is located about 40 minutes from the town we are moving to, in a different state actually. Right now we are about 10-15 minutes from our church, depending on traffic. The whole ward felt different, except it was still a comfortable place to be. That is because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is a worldwide church. The gospel is the same. The same principles are being taught from the same material. Even though I have never met anyone in the new ward before, I instantly felt comfortable. There is a fellowship that exists in all wards. I feel so blessed to have the gospel in my life, to have a living prophet to lead and guide us, and for inspired programs like Relief Society.

Noodles, Noodles, and more Noodles

We love homemade noodles at our house. Chicken noodle soup is my favorite. If I am going to make chicken noodle soup, I am going to make homemade noodles. They are really easy. They do take some planning, but they are not hard. Give it a try.

Here is how I do it:

For every 1 cup if flour, I use one whole egg and 2 egg yolks. If you don't want to waste the egg whites, either make a yummy egg white omelet or you can instead use one cup of flour and two whole eggs. I use prefer the first way. I have made both, and both are good. This amount is about two servings.

Put the flour in a bowl and make a well in the middle. Beat your eggs and pour the eggs into the well you have made. Use a fork or a your fingers to mix it together well. Once it is mixed together well, dump it out and knead it till it is smooth, about 5 minutes.

Here comes more choices for you. When I am rushed for time, I roll it out, slice it up, and boil them right then. Sometimes we roll it out, and use small cookie cutters to make fun shapes. That takes a lot of time, but D sure loves making chicken and stars. The last, and best way I think, is to roll them out, let them dry, then roll them up like you would a cinnamon roll. It makes it easy to slice them thin. If that didn't make sense, check out this post by The Hidden Pantry. She has pictures to explain it.

Another thing I recently learned from The Hidden Pantry in you can freeze your fresh noodles. I had never thought of that before. I make extra noodles last night and froze some. D and I had them for lunch. They were yummy! I plan to do this all the time. I would make sure your noodles are dry before freezing so they don't end up a big sticky mess.

This week's goal, get some noodles made and into my freezer.

The Family: A Proclamation to the World Video Project

One of my favorite blogs, Chocolate On My Cranium, teams up every year with another wonderfully uplifting blog, Being LDS, to celebrate The Family: A Proclamation to the World. It is a month long celebration in September. This year they are creating a video presentation that you can be a part of. Click on link above, and you will find all the information about how you can be involved.  D and I have already started to memorize one of my favorite parts of the Proclamation to the World in hopes that we can be a part of the final video. I encourage you to all do the same. 

"Seek ye out of the best books"

One of my favorite scriptures about my role as a mother and wife is found in Doctrine and Covenants 88: 119. It reads:

Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God

 It is not the most profound or deep, but I have always liked that it was a blueprint for me. It contains building blocks for our family and home. Each building block helps us to create a house of God in our home, a place where the Spirit can dwell.

Of course there is another part of the blueprint we do not want to forget. It is the foundation of a strong home.

And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall. (Helaman 5:12)

This idea of a blueprint may be oversimplifying things, but it allows me have a measure of how we are doing as a family and how I am doing as an individual. Today I was thinking about how we are creating a house of learning.

This brings me to the idea of "yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith" (D&C 88:118).  Although I feel gospel learning is the most important thing we can study and learn about, secular knowledge is also important. That is why we have been taking the time to homeschool D at a preschool age. During our schooling time today I realize something. My hubby spends his time at a job in academics, where he is always teaching, as well learning and growing himself. I plan activities and lessons that help D to learn and grow. But I wasn't doing anything to help me learn and grow. I was stagnant as far as my secular learning was concerned. I felt I should be a better example of what I believe to be an intricate part of life. I believe education is not only for schooling years. It is about growing as people, about using the gift of the ability to reason and to understand. I decided to start my education again. It starts here:

I ordered a calculus book today. I bought an older edition for $8. I used to love math and it has been years since I have used it. Maybe calculus isn't the most practical choice. Maybe I should spend my learning time on something I would use more often, but I am actually excited to relearn something I loved before. Plus, it helps when you are married to a math professor, right??? (I was actually surprised he didn't have a calculus book in his vast collection of math books. I guess it is just too simple of math.)

So, I feel really quite nerdy for being so excited, but I am. I think I will find joy in learning and stretching myself. Yea for education!

How do you keep the process of learning alive in your life?

Moments That Matter Most

A friend shared this with me. It really touched my heart. I hope you can take something from it the way I did.

My New Favorite....Cleaning the Bathroom

OK, so that's not completely true. OK, OK. So it is not true at all. I hate cleaning the bathroom. But now I hate it a little less. I found a new product I love, love, love. Introducing bleach foamer!

It was an impulse buy. I had tried everything to clean the nasty grout in my apartment bathroom, even wiping it down with bleach. I saw this and decided to give it a try. It was like a miracle! No, Clorox is not paying me to say this. I was just so excited by my find that I wanted to share. All I did was spray it on and walked away for a while. When I came back to wipe it off, the grout was white. No scrubbing required (trust me, I had tried a lot of scrubbing, with a toothbrush.) I am pretty sure it cleaned off grime that was there when we moved in. Ewwww, I know. Now my bathroom looks awesome, well, at least the tile.

*Note: I did think the fumes where stronger than just bleach. It might have been because I covered my shower with it, but consider yourself warned. 

Oh So True

Source: Uploaded by user via Nicole on Pinterest

The last one is a favorite of D. Always with the "Carry me." Do your kids have a favorite?

Our Love Story

In the fall of 2003, both the hubby and I were attending college. We didn't know each other. I was actually dating another guy. Here is our story.

I was a junior in college and taking Calculus II. Math had never been hard for me until Cal II. I struggled. Luckily there was a guy in my class who I studied with who seemed to know his stuff. About half way through the semester he mentioned that the reason he knew what he was doing was because his roommate was a math major and that I should know who he is because he we were all in the same institute class together. I found out later the math major had noticed me in class, but I had never noticed him. Oops.

The next time we were in class, my math friend introduced me to the math major. I use introduced lightly. Basically the math friend talked to me after institute about math and the math major waited for him. I remember walking back to the college and the math major was talking about how much torque it would take for Superman to stop the rotation of the earth. He was (is) a true math nerd.

About a week later I saw the math major in the lab building and I stopped him in the hallway. I told him that he probably didn't remember me, but I knew his roommate and I needed help in Cal II in a bad way. He agreed to tutor me.

We started meeting at the library in the evenings.  Mostly it started out with me being frustrated about not understanding the class. I specifically recall arguing about Fibonacci's sequence. In my mind it didn't make any sense. He stuck with me anyway. For Thanksgiving I was headed out of state to visit the guy I had been dating. I told him this and he seemed not to care. But I cared.

The trip to visit the boyfriend didn't go well. Not only because I was now interested in someone else, but because I figured out we both had "in charge" personalities that clashed a lot. He kept talking about marriage and I wasn't ready. (Turns out I just wasn't ready to marry him.) That weekend ended the relationship and I headed home.

After Thanksgiving I started looking for more reasons to see the math major. I would try to be in places I knew he would be. Once or twice I even waited outside the tutoring center where he worked with a lame excuse I was waiting for someone else. Even if he did think I was stalking him, he kept tutoring me.

Wanting an another excuse to see him, I invited his roommate (the math friend) and him to the First Presidency Christmas Devotional in SLC. They both agreed to go, the roommate went grudgingly because he has a final the next day. That was it for me. I knew I wanted to at least be dating this guy.

Later that week, he was helping me prepare for my Cal II final and I suggested that we go get some ice cream because my brain was done. He suggested dinner instead, so that's what we did. We talked for hours and enjoyed some yummy Mexican food at a small local restaurant. When he went to pay, the lady said his card wouldn't work, so I ended up paying. (We found out later when his credit card bill came that it had worked. We both paid for the first date.)

After this, we were together all the time. He went home to visit his family for Christmas, about 45 minutes away, and I drove over after Christmas in a huge blizzard to pick him up and bring him back. That is a huge deal for me. I don't drive in snow, ever, if it can be avoided.

It was a crazy 6 weeks together and we got engaged. It was fast, I know. Maybe we were too impulsive, but it was what we wanted. The math major was planning on leaving for grad school in the fall, and I wanted to go with him. My parents were thrilled. His parents, not so much. I don't think it was me they didn't like. I think it was the whirlwind romance they didn't like. Either way, we were married 3 month later in the Bountiful Temple.

Eight year later and it is still the best decision I have ever made. My math major tutor became my hubby, my eternal math tutor. 

I want to thank Montserrat from Chocolate On My Cranium for encouraging such fun posts, like this one and A Day In My Life

TV Crackdown

Let me start off by saying that I am not against TV. My husband often points out that he watched a lot of TV and he has a PhD in mathematics. It didn't seem to ruin him. Plus, there are a lot of good shows to choose from. I am pretty sure D learned to read from Leap Frog and Super Why. That being said, once D starts watching TV, he fights me the rest of the day to get to watch more and more and doesn't want to take the effort to use his imagination. I was tired of the fighting and arguing. Then we started the TV tickets.

 At the beginning of the week he gets 5 TV show tickets and 3 movie tickets. He gets to choose when to use them. I thought this was important because it makes him accountable for his choices. It can be hard on me because, for instance, this week he used them ALL on Monday. Yup, I let him watch TV for about 7 hours. It went against everything I believe about kids and TV, but I let him make the choice. But here is the wonderful part. Since we have been doing this, on days he has no tickets left, he doesn't ask to watch TV. Not even once. Sometimes he will point out he wants to watch something but he can't till next week because he used all his tickets. Today he gathered up a bunch of his Friend magazines and looked through them and then asked me to read some of the stories to him. That would have never happened before. Last week he used them all by the end of Tuesday, and he found plenty to keep him busy the rest of the week. I think this system is a keeper for us.

*Note: Saturdays are the exception. I let him watch Saturday morning cartoons regardless of ticket status. It's the day the hubby and I have to relax in the morning. Maybe the anti-TV people would think this is still excessive, but it works for us. 

321 Cake

Have you ever heard of 321 cake? I hadn't until recently. It is an easy way to make a quick single serving of cake. Here's what you do. You mix one box of angel food cake with another box of any kind of cake mix you want. The reason one has to be angel food cake is because it has the powdered egg whites in it. I just dumped the angel food cake mix and a chocolate cake mix into a large tupperware, placed the lid on, and shook it till it was mixed. You could use a ziplock bag.

Now for the 321 part. Place 3 Tbs of the cake mix you just mixed together into a microwavable cup or mug. I used some small bowls I have from Pampered Chef. Mix in 2 Tbs of water. Microwave for 1 minute. That's it. You can eat it right out of the cup. I dumped D's out on a plate just because the bowl was hot. It's not bad. It's actually pretty good. It's chocolate cake with a sponge texture. Would be yummy with fruit and whip cream. I don't make cakes often because who needs a whole cake for 3 people? But D and Hubby love cake, so this will be great. Now if I could just find a way to have single serving of ice cream......Forget it. I'll just eat the whole container.

Super Bowl Snacks

The Super Bowl was always a big party with my family. This is the first year I won't be living close enough to attend. Luckily I have great friends who are having a party. I am excited to get together with friends over good food. I'll admit, the football doesn't usually interest me, especially since my Packers will not be playing. It is the food and get together I love. So, now I just need to decide what snacks to make. Luckily I have Pinterest!!!

So, I am going to make these:

Source: myhomemdelife.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Don't they look yummy.

I also can't decide about either of these:

Source: cityhomecountryhome.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Source: justgetoffyourbuttandbake.com via Nicole on Pinterest

I would also love to make one of these, but the problem is I am heading straight to my friend's house after church. They would be cold. I think the things above will be OK cold or at room temp, but not hot dips. Maybe I would have to make them at her house.

Source: my-plate.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Source: moderationrecipes.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Or I should just stick to sweets. Can't go wrong with these:
 

Source: texascottage.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

Source: howsweeteats.com via Nicole on Pinterest

So many choices. Luckily, I doubt there is a wrong answer here. Yummy!!!!

A Day In My Life

Chocolate On My Cranium encouraged us to do a post of pictures from a typical day. I found this hard, because we are not scheduled people in general. Every day is a little different. I guess that is the benefit of only having one kid. D is pretty good at going with the flow of things. Here is how yesterday went.

One fairly normal thing is that D crawls into my bed to snuggle at about 8:30 am. Sometimes it wakes me up. Other times I am awake and already have read scriptures. Either way I am waiting in bed for my morning snuggle.

Usually we have some sort of outing planned for the day. Not every day, but quite often. Children's museum, zoo, parks, science museum. Yesterday was story time at the library.

Followed by playing at the library.

The comes daily tasks (errands, laundry, cleaning) and lunch. No pictures of that because yesterday was some car errands and it didn't go well. It ended with tears, mine not D's, and the great Hubby ended up having to take care of the car issues this morning.

No day would be complete at our house with out super hero practice. D had saved up for a new toy and had to practice all day. I am pretty sure it was in his bed when he fell asleep.

Afternoons D gets to watch a movie if he didn't want morning cartoons. Today was Thundercats cartoon checked out from the library. He is studying up on new moves.

We always try and fit in something education in our day. Science, math games, cooking. Also, he has been learning to read. We practice his reading or I read to him. None of this is very scheduled. Here is where my lack of scheduling is my downfall. I don't get all the school stuff I would like to.

Evenings are different always too. Hubby teaches a night class a few times a week, so a lot of times it is just D and I. Yesterday we went to a friends house to babysit her girls. They made up all sorts of fun games, like freeze dance.

Last night I found this shoved in the couch. Any guesses why? Yup, D pulled off the button and hide it. That is not like him, but I guess a new challenge/parenting issue is part of a typical day. Nothing we can't handle.

Most nights I try and make it to the gym at night. Not last night. I big bowl of popcorn and Lost. Yes, I have never seen Lost, but my hubby owns them all on DVD, so we started watching them together. It is way better when you can ask questions and someone actually know the answers of what is going on.

And in case you were wondering, I did share some of my popcorn with the hubby. :)

If I Had A Brother...

A couple if days ago, we went to a friends house.  They have a boy a year older than D and a girl the same age as D, as well as a one year old. D and the older two play together really well. We are lucky enough to be able to schedule weekly play dates.

Last time we where there I heard the boy and D talking. D was explaining how it would be if he had a brother. It isn't the first time he has talked about if he had a brother or sister, it was just the first time I have heard him talking to his friends about it. It made my heart hurt a little.

When D has talked to us in the past about if or when we get a baby, we have explained that we probably won't. He takes it as a fact and it doesn't seem to upset him. I think he just wants another kid around. He wants what he doesn't have, but he is content overall. Our family of three is enough.

ABCs of an Abundant Life

In our church magazine, the Ensign, the First Presidency Message for January was writen by President Monson. It is entitled "Living The Abundant Life." It was just what I needed to read. The whole Ensign for January was extra great, but especially the First Presidency Message. If you haven't had the time to read it, please do. It is so inspiring.

A is for attitude. “The greatest revolution of our generation is the discovery that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.”-William James

B is for belief—in yourself, in those around you, and in eternal principles. "Don’t limit yourself and don’t let others convince you that you are limited in what you can do. Believe in yourself and then live so as to reach your possibilities."

C is for courage. "There will be times when you will be frightened and discouraged. You may feel that you are defeated. The odds of obtaining victory may appear overwhelming. At times you may feel like David trying to fight Goliath. But remember—David did win!"

We are trying to incororate these ideas into our family goals this year. This month we all set goals for a better attitude. D is also working to remember  what the ABC stand for.

"At the advent of a new year, I challenge Latter-day Saints everywhere to undertake a personal, diligent, significant quest for what I call the abundant life—a life filled with an abundance of success, goodness, and blessings."

I am taking Presidents Monson's challenge to life a more abundant life this year. I would encourage other to do the same, and not only members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but all people. This is a message to the world, an invitation to become happier and more fulfilled in life. I think that is something we all need.

Cafe Rio Chicken

I found a yummy looking recipe I just had to try on pinterest, where I find all my ideas. Yes, my name is Nicole and I am a pinterest addict. But I digress. Back to the chicken, Cafe Rio Chicken to be precise.

Source: chef-n-training.blogspot.com via Nicole on Pinterest

So I did the recipe a little differently. You can click on the pinterest link to find the original at chef-n-training.blogspot.com. The original is probably more spicy, but I changed it up knowing what D would eat. Anything even remotely spicy and he opts out of dinner. It really is one of those recipes you can change to your own liking.


Cafe Rio Chicken
Adapted from chef-n-training.blogspot.com.

• 2 lbs chicken breasts
• 4 oz Italian dressing
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 pkt ranch dressing mix (mixed with 1/2 cup of water)
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 Tbsp. ground cumin

I put my chicken into the crockpot frozen. (If I have to defrost it, it is no longer a quick recipe for me.) I added the rest of the ingredients. I put it on high for a couple of hours and then lowered the heat to low for about 5 hours. When the chicken was done, I shredded it, placed it back into the crockpot and left it on low till dinner. 

An easy trick to shred the chicken is place it in your kitchen aid with the paddle attachment. Run the mixer on low for about 5 seconds. Perfectly shredded chicken. I know you have to then clean the bowl and attachment, but that is still less time than shredding 2 lbs of hot chicken. Note: Never do this with cold chicken. I have never tried it, but I heard it can break your mixer.

We used the chicken to make burritos. A tortilla, some rice, some beans, the chicken, and a little cheese. So yummy. I made about 18 burritos and still had chicken left. No, we did not east 18 burritos. But I probably could have. Yum yum! I wrapped the extras up in foil, threw them in a freezer bag and labeled them. Homemade frozen burritos. 

The chicken was great. D, the 4 year old who decided recently he doesn't like any meat, had 3 servings.  This is definitely going to be a freeze staple in my house.