Miss Me?

Most of you probably didn't notice I was gone.  But I was informed at Thanksgiving (spent in Ohio with my family) by my grandmother that she "checks the blog everyday."  Um, yea, I think she's looking for updates on sweet great grandson.  And who am I to deny her that.  So, I will make the month of December JW month, after all it is his birth month and we have a big birthday coming up.  (we're starting a day late.  Late is better than never, right??)  Every day this month I will post something about JW - recent pics, monthly update catch ups (I think the last one I did was month 4 - I'm a little behind), and just whatever it is he does to put a smile on our faces.  So to start off.....Here's one from our Thanksgiving trip.  I'll be sure to post more!!

Yes, I know it's blurry.  JW was showing the Buckeye love while in Buckeye country.  Unfortunately his love was not enough for them to beat Michigan the next day.

Getting Organized

So I finally bit the bullet.  I ordered an Erin Condren planner.  Zulily (click here for invite) had a $50 voucher for $25.  And I had a $15 credit....so I did it.  I ordered.....

www.erincondren.com

 The Life Planner in Lattice (grey and yellow combo).  Now, I just have to figure out how I want to use it!  There are so many stickers, which events go on the monthly view, the weekly view?  Goals and To Do each week....yikes.  There's room for everything its just a matter of where to put it (Feels like my house sometimes).

I did this hoping it would get me on a path to organization.  I feel like I have no method to my madness.  I mean the laundry is getting done (though more slowly than usual) and we're eating well (thanks to meal planning!).  Everything else is just a mess, or at least that's how I see it.  My closet needs cleaned up again and I need to switch out my warm weather items for cool weather items.  I started organizing in my office, but only got through the pile of papers to shred (and made a mess in the process.  I think my shredder has it out for me!)  You can barely see my desk.  You can't walk into the closet (not all my fault) and its just a plain disaster.  Then there's JW's room.  It's not even finished.  Pictures have been sitting on the floor to be hung since end of May.....yes, it's that bad.  I need to take the curtains down to have them hemmed and a trim sown on.  All the things he has outgrown are thrown in his closet. (can we take a second to talk about how fast he is growing?!?!  It's crazy!)  We're trying to redo our living room area (its not really a room as its part of the large open space with the breakfast area and kitchen).  It's taking forever because we can't agree on anything (sorry babe).  But we are making progress.  Couch is ordered.  A separate post on the living room work will come.  I've had quotes for our landscaping redo since first of October.  (and 2 dead bushes in the pots outside that haven't been addressed.)  My fall decorations are sitting on the landing in the box.  We're behind on thank you notes, we've got a birthday to plan and the other holidays are coming up.  So, bottom line, I've got to get organized and focused.

Here's hoping my new planner will pave the way!!

JW's First Halloween

It took us a bit to get organized on Halloween night (we were making last minute decisions to order a couch....YEA!!!).  But once we did it was a fun night.  I think JW had a great time and his costume definitely kept him warm.  James took him trick or treating - if you can call it that for a 10 month old - while I passed out candy to the little ghosts and goblins (and scary prom queens - what was with that theme this year?).  I was a bit scared for the evening as JW did not take an afternoon nap.  And of course I was right.  We got him in his costume a little before 6:00 and that did not go over well.  He started crying and trying to rip it off.  So off came the costume and JW went down for a nap.  About 45 minutes later he was up, dressed and ready to go!!  Here are a few pictures from the night. 

little man is crawling everywhere.  Little monkey crawled right up to mommy

yes, its nap time!

Post nap.  Doesn't that look warm and snuggly!  He kept all the pieces on all night!

It is hard to tell, but he is actually smiling here!

I love this face.  I could just eat those cheeks right off! And those lips, so sweet!

On Sunday evening, James carved the pumpkin for us.  Since it was right before bath time, we let JW get in on the action. 

Then it was definitely bath time!!

Hope you had a wonderful Halloween!!

(my pictures are a little blurry.  I've been playing around with the settings on the point and shoot to try to get better pictures.  It isn't working out as well as I would like....)

Pumpkin shopping

We were finally in town for a weekend in October. And I had 2 goals - to buy some outdoor Fall decorations and get closer to a decision on our living room furniture (I'll update you on that later.). We did find some pumpkins and gourds for outside. It was a little rushed, but we were able to get a couple pictures of little man. I know, he needed to be wearing shoes. It was 50 degrees. But like I said we were quick. Also in the rush, I forgot the camera. Actually it was in my hand until I went searching in my purse for something and set the camera on the table. Oops. Thanks to the iPhone we got a good one.





And an outtake.

Pinterest Inspires Again

Pinterest helped me with one of my monthly goals this week.  (Oh what I didn't post my October monthly goals?!  Oops, my bad.  I had every intention.  Well, actually I had every intention to post a lot of things this month and it just didn't happen.  November is a new month right?!?)  Meal planning this week was easy thanks to all the pins on my "Let's Eat" board. 

Monday night I made chili.  I think the recipe was pretty good.  Nice subtle heat on the back.  One change I would make in the future - I wouldn't use any sugar and I'd probably use a beer instead of the wine.  But overall, I could use the recipe again.

Source: myrecipes.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Wednesday night we planned to have tuna and sauteed spinach.  I thought we needed a little something to go with it.  I found this recipe by Pioneer Woman.  I modified a little but it was still great.  Only thing to change for the future is more chili for heat.  (My modification was to use garlic chili paste, but I guess I didn't use enough.)

Source: thepioneerwoman.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Last night we tried two recipes.  Balsamic Flank Steak and Jalapeno Mac and Cheese.  Both were very yummy!  The flank steak had a nice flavor.  I did not modify the recipe at all.  However, in the future I would probably not use the brown sugar (what is it with the sugar being added to these recipes) and might add some olive oil.  The Mac and Cheese was great!!  I only had one jalapeno so I added a serrano chili.  Um, yeah, lots of heat.  But it was good.  Modification in the future, maybe a little less flour. 

Source: None via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: food.com via Jessica on Pinterest

And last week I tried this salad for lunch.  It was really good.  I changed the dressing ratio, but otherwise made it as is.  I've had it twice.  Nice alternative to a traditional green salad.

Source: espressoandcream.com via Jessica on Pinterest

So tell me.....any recipe pins out there I need to repin? 

Real quick

I know I haven't posted in almost two weeks, but I have a favor to ask. My mom is having surgery today. Nothing too major, but a few extra prayers wouldn't hurt.

Thanks loves!!

I'll be back soon. Been traveling crazy for the last two weeks. Back to semi normal next week.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Thanks Pinterest, Again

Source: fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Another recipe to pass on from my Pinterest Let's Eat board.

I love Kung Pao chicken from the Chinese restaurant, but have wanted to try it at home.  I know there is stuff in there I don't know about and I'm sure it's not good for me.  So I tried this recipe.  Pretty good.  I added some steamed veggies to it.  I love getting a good dose of veggies in my chinese food (I even order my Kung Pao with extra veggies).  Next time though, I would definitely use more red pepper.  I like it to have a big kick and following the recipe was just so, so.  But to be fair, she said to modify based on taste.  I just didn't modify enough.  Served this over some Basmati rice and it was great meal.  Fairly easy, too.

Thanks Pinterest.  You're making meal planning easier!!!

Here are two more recipes (Chinese and Thai) I want to try.

Source: letsdishrecipes.blogspot.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Source: skinnytaste.com via Jessica on Pinterest

Happy Friday and Have a wonderful weekend!!

Salted Caramel

Am I missing something here??  Seems everywhere I look someone is talking about salted caramel.  There are numerous recipes on Pinterest, multiple recipes in blog land (Brown Eyed Baker started posting recipes a year ago - these brownies look awesome, maybe I'll have to try them soon), and Starbucks even has a Salted Caramel Mocha this Fall.  Is this a trend in baking/drinking/food eating?  Or is salted caramel around to stay?  Should I get on the wagon and try some of these recipes?

**Oh and its a good thing we're just typing here and not talking.  I'm sure we all have a different way of saying that seven letter word.  Some of you shared that in the accent vlog that was going around about a month ago.  I didn't participate, so just for the record, I don't say the second "a".

So I ask again.....Am I missing out???