[friday] love

1. my awesome fall into fall swap goodies from jamee at your usual suspects.

2. the sacramento t-shirt, sacramento kings playing cards, fall tissues and an egg shaped lip balm that kaylee has claimed.

3. ollie is over at his gf house for a sleep over because she misses her mama who is in colorado on a girls trip.

4. lunch with kaylee. [today i got to see who her crush is]

5. she's just like her mama and crushing over a skater/surfer -looking like boy.

6. stopping for tutti fruitti frozen yogurt after dropping mike and his out of town buddy at a local bar.

7. sex and the city reruns all week. [movies included!]

8. finally getting our new pool heater and it really did only cost us $60, well, besides renewing the warranty.

9. home warranty for once!

10. youtube and being able to play some old favorites like this or this or this.

[recipe] baked chicken fajitas

recipe and photo via six sisters' stuff

I love super easy recipes and this one is super delicious too! Ham likes rice and black beans with his mexican dishes so this is my version- which is always a work in progress.  I also usually just dump everything into the baking dish, give it a quick stir and throw it in the oven.

1- 1 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips

1 [28 oz] can diced tomatoes w/green chilies

1 onion sliced

1 green pepper, seeded and sliced

2 tbsp. veg oil [olive oil works too]

1 tbsp. chili powder [we like it spicy- add less if need too]

2 teas. cumin

1/2 teas. garlic powder

1/2 teas. dried oregano

1/4 teas salt

12 flour tortillas, warmed to serve

I add:

1 can drained black beans 

1 cup long grain white rice [uncooked-see, super easy]

3/4 cup water

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, in greased 13X9 backing dish add:

chicken, tomatoes w/green chilies, peppers and onions, rice, black beans and water.

Then add all the spices, mix everything together and bake for about 30-40mins. [till rice is done]

top with shredded cheese, avocado slices and sour cream 

[wsww] when i get no sleep, i start to ramble on

lindsey from the pleated poppy started a wwiw [what i wore wednesday]. 

this is my take using my little one.

1. yesterday was one of those days where i felt like doing nothing so thats exactly what i did. [except take ollie to the groomers and got a few groceries for dinner]

2. i made baked chicken fajitas. i'll post my version.

3. i guess i did run out to sell ham's old computer for him after dinner and since i was in the area, had to buy some yummy cupcakes from treat!

4. while in my cupcake coma, i stayed up way too late watching sex and the city reruns.

5. today i've got a ladybug's garden club luncheon- man that sounds like an old person thing to do.

6. then i go and volunteer at kaylee's school this afternoon. they're doing a mini art museum.

7. kaylee and i are on our own for dinner tonight. mike has an out -of- town co worker/friend coming and they're going to a baseball game.

8. after seeing this blouse on pinterest, i've been searching for one and finally found one last night. just hope it fits.

9. and thats going to be my last purchase for myself.  my kids' birthdays and christmas is just right around the corner already.

10. i love walking kaylee to school this time of year. the weather and the smell- reminds me of my olden days walking to school in california.

birchbox, you did not impress me

1. i finally got my birchbox and have to say i wasn't impressed and a little disappointed. [i also got a hair tie that i'm currently wearing and a sample size larabar that i already ate]

2. maybe its because i already use nexxus shampoo and we already make our own hair ties. [i bought the same ribbon they use from pick your plum]

3. don't get too excited about the $25 gift card to madewell that you see. you have to make a $75.00 purchase first  and it expires at the end of the month.

4. they also send you an email that your birchbox is shipped but it took 22 days to get here. oh well. at least it was happy mail and not a bill.

5. i'm enjoying a quiet a house this morning. even ollie's at the doggie spa.

6. i'm currently waiting to hear from the pool heater people. its been over a month since i last saw or heard from them. i have a feeling i will be calling our home warranty peeps later today.

7. man, i wish i had this kind of relationship with ham though i'll take what we have. [i blame it on his german bloodline]

8. i also wish i had friends to go away for a week get away like my neighbor. she's in colorado with her two besties.

9. every night when i wake up, i start singing this song or this and can't fall back to sleep.

10. and i'm SOOOO glad no doubt has a new album out. definitely keeping my eye on their tour dates.

*phew* crazy few days

1. me + the rover one last time, 2. my new car!, 3. before the game- we were 5 rows away from the field

4. us during the game, 5. crazy kaylee!, 6. all the students standing and cheering, 7. lunch on sunday

1. friday i went back and forth to some stores looking for aggie gear and swap goodies.

2. later that day, i went from one side of town to pick up the rover and drive it to the other side of town since we traded it. of course we live in the middle of town.

3. traffic was horrible but luckily i had chili going in the crockpot. can't have ham leaving without one home cooked meal.

3. once we got back, kaylee and i started baking brownies and chocolate chip cookies. wanted to make sure ham got to take some with him [and for tailgating].

4. figures, we have something to do on saturday and kaylee gets invited to 2 birthday parties.

5. mike and i got into a fight trying to find a place to park. let me just say we ended up paying an extra 10 bucks.

6. the game was awesome! we were 5 rows away from the field.  we won 70-14. WHOOP! [aggie saying]

7. what was really awesome was seeing all the students behind us standing, cheering and waving their white towels. best sight ever! i could feel the school pride.

8. after the game, we ended up tailgating some more.

9. some of mike's co-workers found us and we hung out, played corn hole and ate more food till midnight. [kaylee couldn't go on anymore]

10. kaylee ended up giving 2 of the guys nicknames since they were picking on her. one was booger and the other the crazy canadian.

[friday] love

1. cute, little ollie looking like a mini sheep dog.

2. my new car!

3. no more stress about what to do with the car situation.

4. tailgating and going to mine and kaylee's first college football game tomorrow.

5. maybe going to portland in october with me crazy see-ster.

6. major deals on washi tape. starting to become a washi tape hoarder.

7. happy mail coming my way! [my birch box should be here today and swap goodies on its way]

8. fall weather. [still gets kinda hot in the afternoon]

9. no mysterious rashes this week.

10. sleeping in tomorrow. [haven't had a chance to take those naps this week]

naps, beach and a cold margarita

progresso mexico 2012

1. can i please be lost here for awhile? [from my birthday cruise]

2. once mike got home last night we went out car shopping. we were out till 9pm!

3. thinking we like the toyota sequioa's. found one we like but mike didn't like the color till i told him its aggie maroon. [gig'em!]

4. even though its a huge vehicle, we like that we can fit out of town guests [if they ever show up] and have plenty of room for road trips and tailgating.

5. i'm currently waiting for a call back to see how much the rover "stealership" will give me for my car. fingers crossed its a nice sum.

6. no running again this morning. its thursday-kaylee and i volunteer at her school store.

7. i need to clean the house. ham is coming home! which reminds me of this song. [i'm not an ozzy fan]

8. but a nap on the beach with a cold margarita waiting for me sounds much better. i woke up at 2:30 this morning and couldn't fall back to sleep. kept thinking about cars and the *ugg* car payments.

9. ham has a hair cut appointment tomorrow and he wants to spend some time by the pool and get some sun. which he deserves. he's been studying hard.

10. i'm so proud of him. he texted me last night that he got an 81 out of 80 on his first chem exam. he could of gotten an 85 out of 80 but he said he made some stupid mistakes. 

[wsww] + the craprover

cowgirl boots from cavenders

1. i didn't go running this morning even though i kinda wanted too. even though its only been 2 days, i already feel slimmer. 

2. eating less and healthier has been a huge help. yesterday i didn't feel "sick" because i ate more often through-out the day. [got lots of fruit and veggies cut up in the fridge]

3. had to take the "craprover" to "stealership" this morning because its been shaking. [ham-isms]

4. another $1500 in repairs. we spent $3200 less than a month ago. so the question is "when is enough, enough?" *sigh* because i love my car.

5. but mike is tired of the repairs and wants to get a newer, safer vehicle for his girls to drive around in.

6. now i'm stuck at home. at least i can car "look" on-line. i did test drive an expedition and a cadillac srx before leaving the dealership.

7. of course this happens when i'm like 99% ready to call for an estimate on getting the fireplace redone.

8. i've been watching too much property brothers and want the whole house remodeled.

9. some good news- my birch box should be here tomorrow- finally!

10. and i got an email for 40% off paint from sherwin williams. [90%  ready to tackle painting ham's bed + bathroom]

i'm crafty [sarcasm]

1. my attempt at a yarn wreath. i need to find a "aTm" or an "aggie" sign to complete it.[it took me about 2 hours to complete]

2. went running again. boy is it hard but i need to get back into shape!

3. i want to fit into one of these cute corilynn skirts.

4. i got a horrible headache yesterday afternoon. i think its because my body was begging me for some greasy food instead of the healthy stuff i was trying to feed it for breakfast and lunch.

5. or it could of been because i had just finished cleaning part of kaylee's room.

6. my craft room is next. we've moved in a little over a year ago and my mother in law is coming for a visit in 2 weeks. can't have her see that its still the same mess since her last visit.

7. bought kaylee a pair of duck shoes. anyone remember those or am i that old? thought the shoes would be easier to wear all day in school than boots.

8.  so after searching around, i was able to find a hotel room up in college station this weekend for saturday night. boy do they jack up their prices for home football games.

9.  kaylee and i were going to just hang out while mike went to see the game with some co-workers but he wanted us to experience a college football game so i pulled the trigger- about killed me- and bought 3 tickets. [$300 for football tickets- yikes!]

10. since i spent that much on football tickets thinking i should get a new football game outfit.

[recipe] garlic scallion noodles

photo and recipe from here

i doubled the  recipe since we like ours a little saucier. i also use thin spaghetti since half the time i'm not sure if i'm picking the right stuff.  just cook till al dente since it cooks for a bit in the skillet.

7 oz noodles [thin spaghetti or skinny dry egg noodles]

6 tbsp butter

1/2 cup chopped scallions

6 garlic cloves

4 tbsp brown suger

2 tbsp oyster sauce

2 teas fish sauce

*in pan, over med-low heat, melt butter till about half is melted. add scallions and garlic. stir till fragnant.

add brown sugar, fish and oyster sauce. stir

once noodles are cooked, drain then add to pan and toss for about 2 mins till noodles are done. 

movie mishaps and chill'n weekend

1. since i have no more rashes [knock on wood] i'm back running again. ran 1.6 miles this morning.

2. had planned on walking my 4-5 miles but it was raining.

3. had a great weekend, just me and the little nugget. [mike had to go off-shore]

4. saturday we went to ikea and grabbed a few odds and ends.

5. ham sold my iphone so i was meeting a guy there. he couldn't believe i had a son in college. he kept asking me for my age.

6. we went to see the odd life of timothy green- cute movie. since we were in a hurry i just looked at the ticket to see what room we were in and it said #11.

7. as we're sitting there munching on popcorn, all these scary movie previews came on, which i thought was odd. kaylee had mentioned that we were in the wrong movie room.

8. for some reason kaylee thought i said to take the stairs so she ended up going all the way to the top of the room then had to walk all the way back down. it was so funny!

9. once we got out, i checked out tickets.  yup, the guy gave me tickets for the possesion. not cool man. not cool. i hate scary movies!

10. the rest of the weekend we stayed home and watched tv movies, did our hair,  mani's and make-overs.

[friday] love

visiting my parents back in july

1. my usual photo of ham

2. retail therapy

3. finding great deals at said retail therapy session.

4. rain!

5. getting an unexpected discount off my pf changs bill last sunday.

6. an afternoon nap in my near future.

7. sweet tea

8. that i actually started that craft project mentioned on yesterdays post. [and it looks like i'm going to finish it!]

9. garlic scallion noodles [recipe coming soon]

10. ikea tomorrow! 

ollie, name change and diy fever-sort of

ollie with a feather in his mouth

1. not sure where he got that feather and i didn't go and investigate. 

2. when i saw him like this i had to laugh, it was like he was saying " just chill'n ma, just chill'n".

3. after reading some blogs, i've decided mike needs to change his name. its so "normal" unlike tec, cree or ithyle.

4. kaylee suggested we change his name to bon jovi. not sure where her fascination with that name came from since she doesn't even know who he/they are.

5. i'm super sad that i will be missing the train concert on friday night. they're 30 minutes away from my house. 30 MINUTES AWAY!

6. mike is out of town and i have no babysitter.  [the bad part about living away from family and friends]

7. i'm going to try my hand at making one of those yarn wreaths in aggie colors- gig' em!

8. those aggies sure have a lot of songs, signs and cheers. 

9. and while i'm feeling crafty and gutsy- almost got myself talked into doing a fireplace make-over this weekend.

10. which is a funny thought because i haven't even started a little task like painting ham's room and bathroom yet. [in my defense, ham is super picky about the tan color i pick]

wsww [what she wore wednesday]

1. top + shorts: target, shoes: carters 2. top +shoes: target, shorts: justice

3. everything from target, shoes: vans 4. top+belt: target, skirt: carters

lindsey from the pleated poppy started what i wore wednesday to document her getting dressed everyday. if you're a stay at home mom, you know how hard this can be sometimes.  and since kaylee dresses much better than i do, this is my take- what she wore wednesday. [even though i still pick out her clothes. she doesn't want too]

1. her signature poses again.

2. she said she can't wait to see these and all the videos we took of her when she gets older.

3. not sure if she realizes that i post these on the internet but i'm pretty sure it doesn't bother her.

4. i wish my weight would come off a little faster and easier.

5. guess i should stop looking at pinterest +fashion blogs who wears a size 0-2. 

6. got the 3 allergy panels taken off today. there are some red irritation spots besides whats from the tape itself.

7. i still can't take a proper shower till after the second reading on friday so today i'm going around with unwashed hair.

8. i feel like a rebel- i went into two stores with my unwashed hair. [i did wash it in the tub yesterday]

9. there is a salon here that will wash and dry it for FREE. i'm tempted to go and do this. [but that means putting gas in the car]

10. i watched extremely loud & incredibly close yesterday. i loved the movie even though it was sad.

tuesday's brain dumping

ham skimming, myrtle beach

a very long time ago

1. i love this photo even if it is grain-y.  i've been trying to get it on canvas but everyone says the same thing- it won't turn out. [this was taken with a film camera]

2. thinking i might just have to do it anyway.

3. weekend was good and relaxing. watched a+m get beat but at least it wasn't an ass-whooping.

4. sunday, mike went to the texan vs dolphin game. while he was there, kaylee and i went and had a girls day.

5. went shopping and found 2 cute tops and a pair of jeans at abercrombie kids. all on sale with an additional 50% off sale price.

6. i want her to like abercrombie better than justice.

7. then we ate a late lunch at pf. changs.

8. yesterday, i got 3 "panels" taped to my back to see if i'm allergic to anything. i have a feeling i'm not and my mystery rashes will be just that- mysterious.

9. i wish my family was this awesome. instead i got the family who doesn't talk to each other. 

10. since i had so much fun with the mug swap [you can see everyone's awesome mugs and goodies here],   i decided to join 2 more. [1, 2]

[friday] love

ollie sticking out his tongue

1. how ollie can not sleep without his teddy. [he got it from his first mama]

2. a teacher calling me the sweetest thing yesterday and saying she would love for  me to help her with her 5th grade class.

3. more compliments. [the lady who did my makeover on sunday said i had nice skin]

4. having ham home and hearing all his stories. [his history teacher is 88 years old and one of his roommate is creepy weird]

5. aveda toning mist. i spray this all over my face, shoulders, neck and cleavage area - sometimes under arms to help cool me down and keep me so fresh and so clean.

6. eating schlotzsky's deli with kaylee at lunch. she wants a pizza.

7. hearing an old song that reminds me of the time that i lived in california.

8. getting an email from an old high school crush friend.

9. starting my christmas shopping early. notebooks- $3.99 for 2 [for my nieces from pick your plum]

10. finding a specific funny blog post. [its kinda not pc so don't read it if you get offended easily]

bribery and some other stuff

ham doing grandpa face [that's my dad]

at bj's brewhouse, college station

1. busy morning. went and volunteered at kaylee's school. every thursday i'm in charge of the school store. today was a busy day.

2. then i cleaned ham's room and made his bed in hope's that he will be coming home. 

3. i texted him that in his honor aka bribery, i will be making chicken parmigiana and that i would do his laundry...he took the bait! even if it is only for one night.

4. the house feels a little empty without him or is that just my heart?

5. then i went to the grocery store to make said [bribery] food and i'm also making a cinnamon apple cake to take back with him in hopes that he will come home more often.

6. then i cleaned the rest of the house except for the dishes.

7. i haven't been eating properly, as in not enough and today i payed for it. i went to pick up lunch and as i pulled into the drive way, i felt sick. like throw-up sick.

8. i wish we had a store closer to the house, not that wal-mart or target [preferred] are far away but it would be nice to have one just down the street to pick up little things.

9. i finally got my invite to start receiving my birchbox. can't wait to see what's inside!

10. also thinking about signing kaylee up for kiwi crate. i've been debating on it for a few months because of her age but then i saw meg's girls loved it. [thinking the year subscription might be a birthday or christmas gift]

wsww [what she wore wednesday]

her outfits the first week of school

the pleated poppy documents her outfits every wednesday and since kaylee dresses way better than me i thought i would do a what she wore instead.

1. we had a rough morning. i really dislike it when my kids act all helpless.

2. so there were tears and yelling but we made up.

3. i went for a little jog again. will this crap ever get any easier?

4. then i went to marshalls/home goods to look for a goose down comforter for ham's new duvet that i was also getting at pottery barn kids.

5. instead i got a jacket and that polka dot cardi that lindsay's wearing on her what i wore wednesday.

6. i love his new duvet cover and have an old quilt to use instead of buying a new one. [duvet covers go over an existing comforter or quilt]

7. ham might be coming home for an overnighter tomorrow. he's picking up his new laptop that he just got in the mail so he can sell it so he can get a macbook air.

8. swear that kid changes his mind more often than most changes their underwears.

9. i finished jane porter's new book - The Good Woman.  I had posted on doing a Jane Porter giveaway but deleted it because no one reads my blog and I didn't want to embarrass Jane or myself.

10. i watched hunger games on demand yesterday. i liked it much better the second time around. i think its because when i saw it at the theatre,mike came with and i was worried he wouldn't like/or get it since he didn't read the book.

bff's and the weekend

1. fiona waiting for ollie at the end of her driveway, 2. ollie dashing to her driveway to pee on a bush, 3. ollie and fiona getting ready to play, 4. ollie attacks!, 5. fiona sits on ollie, 6. ollie gets away, 7. ollie marks another spot

1. its so stinking cute how fiona will wait at the end of her driveway for ollie. most times ollie sees her then barks to let me know she's there waiting for him.

2. holiday weekend was good besides nursing the on- again/off- again allergy headaches.

3. saturday we debated on going up to dallas to watch the michigan vs alabama game in person but decided to "save" the money instead.  good thing too since michigan got smoked.

4. since we "saved" the money, we went out for a nice dinner instead.

5. sunday, got to spend the day by myself so i got a last minute make-over at the laura mercier counter and did some window shopping.

6. worked on the yard, well mike did the work, i supervised since i do that best.

7. monday we took kaylee out to her favorite place for lunch, olive garden. and did some kabobs on the grill for dinner.

8. second weekend there and ham looses his keys. he has spares except for the apartment which is going to cost HIM 75 buckaroo's.

9. i see a nap in my near future. been up since 5AM.

10. and i started to volunteer at kaylee's school running the school store on thursdays. [baby steps]