Lazy Sunday

Today wasn't supposed to be such a lazy day, we had plans to go downtown for the St. Patrick's Day festivities, but I'm just so wiped out. I'm not used to going out and doing something every single day of the week (even if it was just shopping), and then when Josh got back we went out to the club where he DJs three nights in a row! So I decided to take today to relax, wash clothes, and get ready for this next week....

Josh has to go on another trip, but since it's only to Dallas, he decided to drive and take me with him. Which means that I am currently trying to do all the laundry, and decided what I want to take, and really hoping that this sore throat and cough I woke up with today doesn't turn into a full-blown cold. I also have a doctors appointment tomorrow afternoon, so we'll probably get up, go pick up our rental, wait for Aaron to get here (Joshs brother, he's house/dog/cat sitting for us), go to my doctors appointment, then pack up and leave since Josh has to get there and immediately get to work. I also have to call and reschedule my eye doctors appointment that I had on Wednesday, since we won't be back until late Wednesday night. And then, of course, we're right back to Thursday which is Joshs night to play.

I'm not complaining. Not in the least, I'm actually glad that we've got some fun stuff (finally!) happening in this town, and I'm definitely appreciative of the fact that Josh has such a great job that allows for us to do all the things we want, and that I can go on this trip with him, it just seems like it all happened at the same time. And I'm trying to hold it together, but...it's hard. I had to deal with a lot of anxiety triggers this week, but in all honesty, I didn't have time to have another anxiety attack.

I really would like to just lay down and go to sleep right now but I still have a lot of stuff that needs to get done before we leave tomorrow, and Josh is pretty useless in that sense. I'm also worried that if I go to sleep I'm just going to wake up even sicker, and want to do less than I do now. Anyway, I hope everyone has a great week, I probably won't get back on here until next weekend.

Photo diary for the most boring day ever.

For some reason, early this morning (I'm talking early, like 3 am-ish) I decided that I was going to do one of those 'day in the life of' kind of posts, and document my day with a bunch of pictures, and I had wonderful ideas of how grand it would be...but then I realized my camera battery was dead, and besides, at the time I thought of it I had a cat on my lap and I wouldn't have been able to get up anyway, so I made do with my phone. And then I realized how boring today was, and how lazy I'm going to look...but I'm going to post it all anyway.

Get ready to be blown away by how epically boring my life is.

This is when I came up with the idea, sometime been 3 and 6 am. Watching NCIS I think.


Just after sunrise. Obviously still watching TV, but we had moved on to Pretty Little Liars. (and broken our pact: we watched three episodes.)


Orion is always happy and ready to play when he wakes up for the day, so we turned off the TV and got up.


My knee started bothering me, so I popped a pain killer, but not without first getting it approved by my shadow. (Don't worry, she didn't do anything but sniff it.)


It didn't take long for it to kick in, and  I ended up sitting on the floor with Orion.


By the time this happened I figured I should probably just go ahead and lay down in bed, even though that felt like defeat, for some odd reason.


I rubbed icy hot on my knee, then wrapped it up to try and keep from getting icy hot rubbed all over the sheets. That just made it really hot, but I managed to fall asleep anyway.


Of course my shadow showed up at some point. I got up at 4.


We came and checked the twitters and what not...


Belle cranked out a few tunes...


And guarded the door while I used the bathroom.


I made bacon.


Orion tried to offer his toy some food.


Josh did the weekly grocery shopping, and I put everything away.
 

...and that's just about it. I did make some really awesome pancakes too, but I forgot to take pictures of them because they were so good that I just ate them. Immediately.

I didn't work out today because the pain killers make me really woozy, and while swinging a kettle bell around isn't exactly operating heavy machinery, I don't need to knock myself in the back of the head or drop it on my toe or something. Also, because I slept so much, all I ate all day was the bacon and pancakes, so...not exactly the nutritious meal I need to fuel a work out either. I'll definitely try to get something done tomorrow. At some point.

I'm debating whether or not I should go sleep some more. Josh went to bed a while ago, and I'm tired, but I also know I already took a huge nap today. What a problem to have...

I think I probably should have done this on a different day. I swear I'm not always this lazy. I usually cook at least twice, and I usually do laundry or something, but I got it all done yesterday, and Josh volunteered to do the dishes today since I have been in pain. Poor planning. I'll do it again, maybe on Thursday, I think Josh is going to end up having a residency at the club he's been playing at, so that will make for a more interesting read.

Random thoughts pt 5

I don't understand the fascination with British accents...or any accents, in general. Not in a "those people need to talk better English" kind of way, just in that I don't find them sexy, or exotic. I'm just kind of indifferent to them, really.

While I was cleaning out the storage room this past weekend I found a box of stuff that my mom had given me from when I was little. It had some of my rock collection, a weird straw hat that I got when we visited relatives in New Mexico, a pair of ruby slippers that my mom made me when I was obsessed with The Wizard of Oz (when I was 3), a bib that I guess was mine (eww), and my first ballet slippers, among other stuff like birthday cards and postcards...and I threw it all away.

I had to wake up at 10:45 today...so I'm exhausted right now. That is incredibly early for me. I have to get up even earlier on Friday, though. I probably should just go to bed, but I wouldn't be able to fall asleep anyway.

On the menu this week: those amazing stuffed bell peppers, again! They're just so great. Josh also asked for a repeat of the jambalaya I made on Tuesday (my own recipe, maybe I'll share it someday), steaks as the main course for some saffron & lobster mashed potatoes, (sorry, don't remember where I found that recipe) and I'm trying out two new ones, both in the crock pot. One involves beer, brown sugar, and kielbasa, and the other is beef carnitas tacos. Very excited for both, I love crock pot recipes...they make my day easier.

I got the most amazing grey striped maxi skirt at TJ Maxx on Friday. It is perfection. I, on the other hand, am a hobbit, so I have to take it up a couple of few inches before I can wear it.

I really like the way I've been feeling the past month. Not only physically, but mentally as well. I truly believe that having a purpose when I get up every day (even if it is just to cook our meals and clean up afterwards) is keeping me from falling into another pit of depression. It probably helps that (almost) everything I cook is pretty healthy, too. Even though I haven't worked out the past couple of days because I hurt my knee, I just adjusted my calories and am still logging everything, and staying just below my goal.

My dog weighs 143 pounds. He is a monster! (Actually he's a giant spoiled baby who slobbered on everyone who would let him at the vet's office today.)

My brother got engaged! I'm very happy for him and his fiancé, Marla. She's awesome, and I'm excited to have her be a part of our family. Also? I finally have a niece to buy girly things for.

In case anyone isn't aware, saffron threads are...kind of pricey. I had never bought them before, and I was a bit surprised when Josh returned from grocery shopping yesterday and told me that them and the lobster tails were the two most expensive things he'd bought. (Ironically, they're going in the same dish. Guess we better savor it!)

It stormed pretty crazy here today, and I was on the phone with my brother when it started hailing. I hung up immediately and ran outside to pull the car in, but by the time I did that it was mostly over anyway. And then I was just cold and wet and angry.

I found this dress at Dillard's on Friday. I actually kind of liked it, I just thought it was a bit much - I'd have preferred it as a skirt. Or tights!

And since I keep talking about food and health, but not really giving too many examples of what I'm doing, here's my food log from today. This is a pretty typical day. (Although I actually came in below my total daily calorie goal, and both my fat and protein goals, and went over on sugar, but I'm not really strict on that since it's mostly natural.) Also, the 'snacks' category actually depicts my dinner. I try to follow the rule of thumb to have breakfast be the largest meal and then work down from there to having dinner be the smallest...so my dinner everyday is a smoothie. Most days if my calorie total was that low (I aim for about 1550) I'd have a snack of some sort to raise it, but tonight I'm just too tired to put in the effort...

(You can see what I meant when I said I get a lot of fiber.)

I noticed while skinning (peeling?) almonds today that the empty skins look like cockroach wings, so I think I'll find a way to use them come Halloween. I'll probably just end up scaring myself though.

Part of me wants to go full-paleo next month, but another part of me thinks that while it's do-able, it's also kind of selfish. I don't want to force Josh into it, he's already been really understanding with me having to give up gluten, and he's cut his eating out almost completely now that I'm cooking at home everyday, and I don't want to mess that up by restricting even more, and forcing him to fend for himself. I mean, it's not like I'm eating unhealthy - my intake of processed foods is minimal, and my intake of fast food is cut out completely, so I think I'm doing ok. I may just keep doing what I'm doing, maybe throw in a 10 day juice cleanse while he's out of town (but oh man, cleaning my juicer is intense) and just wait it out.

I decided to go with major side slits on my velvet 90s dress. I figured if I don't like it after a few wears then I can change it, but shortening it feels too permanent.

Ok...I think I'm going to go find something to do that involves less effort. (Yeah, I'm that tired.) And cold, I need to go close the windows.

Pre-Christmas

I'm finally starting to feel normal again, and hopefully I'll get around to making something this weekend since I now have a SUPER MEGA AWESOME LIGHTING SYSTEM IN MY CRAFT ROOM!

It's actually on loan, but it's sort of an indefinite loan, so it's all good. (A pro in the family said he'd rather I hold onto it and get some use out of it, than it just wasting away in storage.) I'm really excited about being able to take (good) pictures at any time, day or night. I think while I get everything figured out, there are going to be a LOT of cat pictures...

We've been getting a lot done this week, and we're finally 100% done with our Christmas shopping. The only thing we need to go out for tomorrow is food, and then we're set! And they're predicting a possibility of snow for Christmas day, so that's kind of awesome.

Anyway, while I do intend to get some crafting in, and a lot of picture-taking, I don't know when or if I'll have time to post again before Christmas, so I just want to say I hope everyone out in blogger-land has a wonderful holiday spent with the people you love! xo

31 Days Series: Chili

I actually woke up in a really productive mood today and made chili, which I'll be sharing my recipe for today, and also started working on my angora sweater accessories. I finished the hat and leg warmers, but am still working on making gloves so I'm going to hold off and share that tomorrow. I may not have won the 31 day challenge (I know it wasn't a challenge, and I know there is no winner; I'm just talking about my own desire to actually do it) but I started strong, and I plan on finishing strong, so I think not giving up counts for something, right?!

Anyway. My chili. It's based on a recipe I found online a few years ago (I don't remember where) and have tweaked and messed with until I perfected it. It's been eaten by a pretty good number of people, and I've never had anyone not like it. I have had people not be able to finish it because of the heat (it's hot. like, HOT.) but even then, they tried. (I'm not bragging. Just sayin' if you make it, they will come.) So here's the recipe + the process, and if you try it, let me know how you like it!

(Fair warning: it really is hot. So if you're not tolerant, or will be serving it to children or weaklings, tone it down by eliminating the serranos or cutting back on the overall number of peppers.)

Part I: The ingredients.

You'll need the following:
1 lb of beef stew meat
1 lb of ground sirloin
*3 slices of bacon
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
4-5 jalapenos
*2-3 serranos (or habaneros, or eliminate these altogether; this is where the real heat comes from.)
1 can diced (or stewed) tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
2 cans black beans
1 can beef stock/broth
1 cup strong coffee
1 bottle dark beer
3.5 tbsp chili powder (I use half regular chili powder and half chipotle chili powder.)
½ cup of brown sugar
1 tbsp cocoa
1 tbsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp cumin
1 tsp corriander
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp salt

 (*optional)

Also: A crock-pot to cook it in.

Part II: The Preparation.

Start by making sure you have everything you're going to need clean and easily accessible. Once you get started you don't want to have to be stopping every few minutes. Now, I start off with the bacon. I cut it up into tiny pieces with my kitchen scissors and let it cook low and slow. While that's going I chop up my onion. I have a handy dandy little chopper thing ($4.00 at the flea market, and worth it's weight in gold) that makes this easy and keeps me from getting the onion cries. Toss the onion in a separate, larger pan and start it cooking (low) too. Add the three cloves of garlic. Once the onions are clear, add the meat and turn the heat up a little. You just want to brown the meat. Meanwhile, check on your bacon, it's probably done. Let it rest on a paper towel while you chop up the peppers. Once the meat has browned properly, you're ready to move on...

Part III: Bringing it all together.

Now that everything is ready to go, you just have to toss it in the crock-pot and let it work it's magic! This is my favorite part though, I love adding things one at a time and watching it all come together.

Personally, I start with the meat and bacon, then add the black beans, coffee, beer, tomatoes, and peppers. Give it a good hefty stir, then start adding your spices. I always save the beef broth for last because sometimes I don't have room for the whole can, and I like to make sure I get all the important stuff in first! :)

Now for the hard part; the waiting! You can cook it one of two ways: 4 - 6 hours on high, or 8 - 10 hours on low. I've tried it both ways, and I've even done it 4 hours on high, then another 4 hours on low. It's one of those things that isn't an exact science so don't worry too much. The longer you leave it the thicker and better it will get.

And that's it. Let it cook up real good, making sure you stir it often especially if you cook it on high, and then ENJOY.

P.S. Linking to:

I've returned!

Sorry if I seemed to fall off the face of the earth for a whole week! Things got a little bit crazy around here. Remember my hand problem? Well it ended up getting worse and Benedryl wasn't helping me at all, so I went to the doctor, got a shot and two prescriptions, and am now finally, starting to feel normal again. My pointer finger is still a little itchy and numb but it's not swollen anymore, and it's not nearly as bad as it was last week. Crazy! I can't believe that one tiny little old spider molt would cause such a huge fuss.

But that wasn't the only excitement I had. Last Thursday we headed down to Magnolia again, as my brother was up visiting his girlfriend. So we went down for a long weekend, stayed with my in-laws, and spent time visiting with everyone. We also got to go to the thrift store since we made it down there on a weekday this time around. At the first place we went I got an owl painting, and a creepy looking doll for a grand total of $2.50. Perfect. Then we went next door (where I spotted the exact same owl painting for $10.99!) and I got an iron owl that I believe is to put a hot pot on (although he seems kind of small for that), a brass wall-mount candlestick, and a food chopper (not pictured.) I'm quite pleased with all these things, although I would have been much happier if there had been a matching pair for my candle stick.

I also saw a wonderful owl cookie jar but passed him up based on price...which is kind of ironic considering that on Saturday we went shopping and I ended up with these:

Despite the fact that I've been on the hunt for some comfy house shoes(boots) for a while now, I did not go in the store with the intention of buying these. I was just looking around, because the store (The Shoe Box) usually has really interesting and unique stuff. Unfortunately all the nice 'normal' boots they had this time around were made for people with no calf muscles...and just as I was about to give up I saw these. Tried them on...and couldn't resist! Seriously, it's like walking on clouds. They haven't come off my feet since I've been home. (Well besides when I took the picture :P) I never thought of myself as an Ugg person, but I definitely am now. (Although I must say, the only time you'll ever catch me wearing them out of the house is if we run to a drive-thru, or gas station in the middle of the night and I'm wearing pajamas.)

My other wonderful find of the weekend was actually found by Josh! He found this at the outlet store and asked if I wanted it! He should have known he didn't even have to ask.

And last but not least is this adorable owl shirt...don't ask why I'm so grumpy in this picture, I look really cute otherwise :P

So that's why I didn't make anything over the weekend, even though my hands are probably up to it now. I was off buying stuff instead!! Today was my rest day, though, and tomorrow I cross-my-heart that I will go into the craft room and sit my butt down and not get up until I have something (or two or three somethings) to post!