Great Deals

I ran into Walmart this morning for one thing and happened to pass by the toddler clothes...they had the cutest 2-piece long sleeve tops with leggings on clearance for 2 bucks! Wahoo! So Gracie got 5 new outfits and a pair of pants for 11 bucks! You just can't beat that! On my way out of Walmart there was a homeless guy out there with his dog and sad to say, but my heart goes out to the dog more than the homeless man. Good thing I carry dog treats in my car. I stopped and gave that man the dog treats and some cash. Cutest dog ever!

I did well at the grocery store too. I managed to get an over-flowing cart for under 100 bucks and some amazing deals. I need to get in the hang of taking pics again of my great finds but at the moment, I am way to lazy lol.

Luke left for an overnight adventure with a friend to Wyoming to the snow cross. So jealous! He should have a blast but I am also looking forward to my night with Gracie and the hounds..I was thinking toenail painting, movies and popcorn! Can't go wrong with that!

Yesterday I did 3 miles with the hounds and to my amazement, it was a breeze! Usually I am panting by the end and I was actually ready to keep going! I think it was just because it is getting so beautiful outside and it was so good to get out for a little awhile. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend! I am excited for Bountiful Baskets in the morning. It is my newest addiction. I love fresh produce and you get such a great deal for your buck. I highly recommend! And hopefully another walk with the hounds! Dusty got his stitches out Tuesday and looks amazing! So that is great news! Happy Weekend!

U2 tickets and Figure Friendly Soup

I have been really trying to expand my cooking abilities over the past year and have come up with some amazing recipes which I will try to share with you every now and then. Last night we did soup that I thought tasted similar to the Pasta Fagioli at Olive Garden. I got this recipe from my cute Mom years ago. Have you ever noticed, at least in our family when we cook spaghetti I always have meat sauce left over and I hate to toss it. Well my Mom said to take it and freeze it even if it is only a cup. So yesterday I pulled the bag out of the freezer and let it defrost. I put it in a big pot and filled the pot about half way up with water and added chicken bouillon to it. We buy the big container of bouillon from Sams club so it is already in powder form so I used about 2 heaping tablespoons of that and brought it to a boil. Just taste the broth and see if it is salty enough and go from there. I then added a can of tomato sauce, a package of whole grain shell noodles and a can of pinto beans and let it cook until the noodles were done. I put it in bowls and topped it will a little shredded mozzarella and paired it with cornbread and it was fabulous. Low calorie and was perfect on a cold night. I am all about the easy and the recipes that don't have 20 ingredients....

Gracie managed to fall down our stairs 2 days ago which scared the living daylights out of me since the bottom of our stairs is tile, but I never saw a red spot or bruise, so I think it just scared her and me more than anything!

Oh a happy note, I was able to get amazing seats for the U2 concert because of some amazing connections..I am so excited to see them. We saw them like 5 years ago and it truly was the best concert I have ever been to. It is an experience I can't even describe. For those of you who know me, know that Bon Jovi is my favorite and I have been blessed to see him 5 or 6 times in my life and I can honestly say they don't even come close to U2. I don't know what I am more excited about, the concert or my company! I am going with Luke, my little brother Mark and one of my closest friends from high school!!! My older brother Matt and his cute wife will be there too if his wife doesn't have their baby then since that is their due date! U2 is such a humanitarian group which I love! I will be sure to take the camera so I can post pics. We are so close to the stage! Oh I can't wait!

My Little Gracie Bug

So I woke up this morning with a horrible migraine which is really rare for me to actually wake up with one. I kept running to the bathroom to puke and right back to the bed to bury my head under the pillows on my icepack. Meanwhile Luke is at work and that means Gracie has free roam of the house...she actually did amazing! Last time she had free roam of the house while I was in the shower for 4.2 minutes, she managed to cover Daisy in Mentholatum. Head to toe, entire jar poor dog! Back to earlier...Gracie kept coming in reminding me that it was time for breakfast and I kept telling her a few more minutes so she would come in and rub my arm every few minutes. How cute is that? Luckily the Imitrex has kicked in and I am feeling much better. I ran outside to go get Millie and Daisy to bring them in and when I came in I noticed the vacuum had found its way to the middle of the living room. Nice hint Gracie lol. I sure do love their little personalities at such a young age! Thank you to Gracie for always making me smile! Love you cutie!

An Extra Hug...

Seems like so many of my friends right now are sick or hurt and I feel so helpless! I found out that our cute neighbor who has battled mouth cancer the past year but finally in the fall was able to beat it, is now dying from lung cancer! It just doesn't seem fair! Bad things shouldn't happen to good people! I wish it was an inmate on death row dealing with this and not her!

I have another friend whose little girl had surgery last night to remove a brain tumor and the surgery went really well, so let's keep our fingers crossed and have faith!

And last but not least a close friend of mine broke his ankle badly last week and had surgery on it this morning and the surgery was a success, so hopefully he will have a speedy recovery, especially since his wife is having a baby in May!

Just makes me stop and think about how grateful I am for my health and the fact that I am not hobbling around on crutches or having to go to chemo twice a week. You just have to really enjoy every second of every day and let those around you know how much you love them! Life is to short to argue or fight.. I know easier said than done, but I am so grateful and blessed for my amazing family and friends. I don't know what I would do without faith or my Heavenly Father who get me through each and every day. I love you all more than you will ever be able to know and am so grateful that each one of you is a special part of my life. Give your kiddos and spouses and animals and friends an extra hug for me today. xoxo

Another love...

So early this morning I got up and pulled out my crock pot liners to throw dinner in the crock pot and I forgot just how much I love them! Everyone has got to try them. I used to always use my crock pot and then set it in the sink for hours to soak to get the baked on food off which was annoying. Now all I do is pull the liner out and wipe my crock pot out and it is clean! Everyone must try! There are around 2-3 bucks for a box of 4 and it will be one of the best investments you make! Last thing I want to do is scrub a pot for 20 minutes after a long day when all you have to do is pull the liner out and chuck it!

Now for the yummy part. A cute friend of mine shared this recipe with me months ago and I honestly make it once a week and you have got to try it! I was very hesitant since I hate cream cheese but don't judge it until you try it!

Cream Cheese Chicken
4-6 Boneless Skinless Chicken breasts
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 packet of dry Italian seasoning mix
1 8 oz block of cream cheese

Put the liner in your crock pot, lay your chicken breasts in the bottom. In a bowl mix your soup and packet of Italian seasoning and then scoop over the top of the chicken. Mixture will be think which is just fine since it liquefies in the cooking process. Then take your block of cream cheese and cube it into about 15 pieces and lay them on the top of everything. Put the lid on, turn it on low and check back in 8 hours to rock your taste buds! I like mine over rice or noodles but half the time I just want to eat it so I just eat it plain! Your kids will love this too! Gracie is so picky and she loves this! I would recommend using store brand items since you can save a ton that way and can't taste the difference. Western family soup and seasoning packet and even cream cheese! I want to hear what you people think of this when you try it! So easy, so simple and sooooo delicious! Have a great day!!!

Won Ton Wrappers...

I have decided that your possibilities with won ton wrappers are endless! I used them to make manicotti a few weeks ago because it is lower in calories and carbs, so that means less insulin for me... it turned out delicious and was soooo easy to make and I am here to tell you I will never go back to manicotti noodles again! Yum!

Today I thought I would be ambitious and attempt cheese sticks and my oh my..also divine. Just take a won ton wrapper and half of a cheese stick and roll it up, wet the sides and plop it in oil for a minute! Out comes pure little sticks of heaven! Great for me since I am trying to lose weight, not..but again sooo worth it! Would be fabulous with a yummy dipping sauce for a party or something, but let's face it, I don't need a party to stuff myself full of these little babies! yum! Apparently you can make crepes with these wrappers, so that will be my next little adventure next time I pull the wrappers out!

Happy Day everyone!

Date with the Ice

Nothing to exciting to report....Yesterday I put on my Sorel Boots and decided to walk the hounds. Put on my Ipod shuffle, bundled up and headed down our slushy, icy driveway and was doing great until I hit the end of the driveway and hit some ice. The first thing I could think of as I was in mid air was the fact that I have a broken tailbone, so to do everything in my power to avoid it...so what do I do? I land on my elbow and side and smack my head on the ice instead! Luckily I was only seeing birds and lollipops for a little while and all I had to show for it was a horrible headache all day yesterday, but today...the walk was sooo much better! Started out with the coat and 2 miles in was ready to take it off! I did 3 miles finally and it literally killed me. How pathetic am I? I am so ready for warmer weather so I can get my butt back in gear! I am ready to drop this winter weight! Oh who am I kidding, the weight was there long before winter lol. Hope all is well in your world.

Forever Friends

So I know this is a total shock, but I am finally updating my blog! Wahoo! I will add pictures soon...

For the past few months I have really been thinking about a very close friend of mine from the past whom I have lost contact with. I have searched high and low for this friend. I knew for sure she had to be on Facebook because I thought everyone was, but no she wasn't. I googled her name and was shocked to find out she had a kidney transplant 2 years ago and that is all I could find out about her. So yesterday I decided to call her parents and find out where my little friend was. As luck would have it, she was there! We talked for hours. She really made me think about all of the wonderful things that I take for granted on a daily basis. She is 29 years old and truly an inspiration to me. She was able to receive her brother's kidney after a battle with dialysis. Now due to the transplant, she suffers from epilepsy and has had a stroke with bleeding on her brain. As strange as this may sound, it was so comforting to talk to someone who was going through some of the things I have in my life, like the strokes and bleeding on the brain, memory loss, loss of sensation in the arm, hand and fingers....I can't even begin to imagine what she goes through on a daily basis, but I am so grateful that I was able to find her again! She has a beautiful 7 year old little girl who she is fighting to live for each and every day. I can't wait to actually see my friend which I hope will be soon, but just wanted to share with everyone how much I love you and just how special you are all to me in different ways. Everyone of you has touched my life in so many ways and I can't thank you enough for that. I am so truly blessed for my health and the opportunity I have to raise my little Gracie. I am so grateful that I am able to stay home with her and watch her learn and grow. I truly feel like one of the luckiest people on the planet. I need to focus on the things I don't pay attention to each day, like walking and breathing.

I am going to do my best to start blogging more! Facebook won my heart over and I have neglected blogging terribly, but I will do better!

I hope everyone had an amazing Valentine's Day! Mine was fabulous! I got to spend it surrounded by those I love! Luke, Gracie, Mark, John...

Until next time.....