Jon and I were originally looking at new construction homes, but we decided our first home doesn't have to be our dream home with everything on my list, oops I meant our list. So tonight as we went from house to house we were looking instead for potential, character, and how many different fun projects we could make.
Sure we could afford the big beautiful, 2 story, 4 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath new home... but could we afford to eat after? Okay so that may be a little extreme, but we have enjoyed being able to spoil one another. Maybe it's being newlyweds or the fact that we have dogs, not kids. I don't know for sure, but I do know that tonight we found another way to spoil ourselves... A wonderful little home. It's livable as it is now with no need for change, but it has so much potential & character. When I say it has character, it's the 1938 old wood floors, the high ceilings with crown molding, the closets with little windows in them, and so much more. The potential is the painting, bathroom remodeling, and some exterior work. Nothing two determined people can't handle! So here's a sneak peek:
Jon and I have been married over a year and we have been renting a small 3 bdrm/1 bath home from his Grandparents. We've made it our home and have done a lot to it, but since adding another dog to the scene and me now selling Sensaria, we've out grown it.
You might ask yourself how can two adults and two dogs out grow a three bedroom home? To which I will reply "Come on over and check it out!" Our home is small, we have our bedroom, an office, and a workout/sewing room (interesting combo huh?), and we don't have any storage other than bedroom closets IE no linen closets.
So now we are house hunting, we've been approved, and we're setting our requirements. It's a fun, exciting, and a little nerve racking. I was pleasantly surprised to learn we qualified for way more then I thought we would, but I wouldn't want those monthly payments. This is the first time either of us will be buying a house. I know the basics; Jon wants a garage, I want a kitchen with lots of cabinets, we want at least 1.5 bathrooms and three bedrooms... But is there something we should add to our list that we may not have considered? Any advice for us 1st time home buyers?
Seated near the Chehalis River is the most perfect little cabin. No clock, cell service, Internet, or TV, just an ipod stereo, books, and a view.
We'd sit outside sipping our coffee in the morning, reading books, and enjoying the view. It's peaceful listening to the river and watching for wildlife.
This is where Jon and I spent our Honeymoon in 2009 and our first anniversary together last month. It's a perfect getaway from the busy crazy lives we live.
Two nights and three days of relaxation and nothingness was the best way to spend our first anniversary (especially when he gave me a Coach purse!)
I've recently been asked to share my secret recipe... I don't typically share, but what the heck! It's actually about 3 different recipes that I stole bits and pieces of, to create a wonderful, delicious, perfect tortilla soup. I also don't measure anything when I cook, so this took some effort. The measurements are estimates, so change it according to your taste buds... I won't be offended. So here it goes:
Toppings:
1 bunch of green onion
1-2 avocados
12 ounces Mexican blend cheese
1 bag tortilla chips (I like to fry strips of corn tortillas in vegetable oil and make my own, but that can be time consuming)
Ingredients:
2-3 cloves of garlic
4 chicken breasts
½ cup red onion
½ cup yellow onion
1 cup frozen corn
1 can Rotel tomatoes & chilies diced
1 can black beans rinse and strained
1 cup salsa
2 cans chicken broth low sodium
1 cup milk
8 ounces softened/room temp cream cheese
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp pepper
In crock pot or large pot:
Add 2 cans chicken broth, salsa, black beans, Rotel tomatoes & chilies, cumin, and chili powder.
Cook chicken:
I fry mine in a pan with granulated garlic, Johnny’s Seasoning Salt, and pepper… but you can boil it, cook a whole chicken and shred it, whatever you like.
In skillet:
Melt 1-2 tablespoons of margin or butter then, add red & yellow onion, 2 cloves crushed garlic, pepper, corn. Cook until onions soften and darken, then add it all to the pot or crock pot.
*Cook as long as you want, the longer the better. ½ hour prior to serving add milk, and cream cheese, stir until smooth and melted (sometimes that’s easier said than done, I don’t always add the cream cheese as it can be lumpy).
To serve:
Crumble chips in the bottom of a bowl, top with soup, then top with cheese, green onion, and fresh avocado. (I love cheese, so the more the merrier!)
OK, so I keep say that I'm going to become a better blogger... but what is a blog without pictures? I follow a few different blogs of friends or friends of friends and reading their blog is so much fun. I can't decide if it's the writing (which I think is a big part) or how fun it is to see the pictures relevant to their story. What's that saying? A picture is worth a thousand words.
With that being said, I want to share one of the happiest days of my life... The day I married Jon. May sound lame, but it's true. We are approaching our one year anniversary in a few short weeks. With that in mind, we have been talking about our favorite moments of that wonderful sunny March day. I'll share mine later, but Jon's favorite moment was actually caught on camera:
As you can see I've just put my seat belt on, meanwhile Jon's got that funny little grin and is waving "peace" before closing his car door. Why is this Jon's favorite moment???
Because "You're mine and the day was over!" Men are so simple.
The month of February was my first month as an independent representative with Sensaria Natural Bodycare. With the help of my friends and family I made all my personal goals for the month! I'm so excited to continue as a representative and turn more and more ladies on to the wonderful all natural product.
March is a happening month for me, with more shows booked than last month! This Saturday is our National Conference, in Bremerton. I look forward to learning from woman loving Sensaria and seeing other success with in the business. I'll be keeping you update along the way and sharing my new adventure!
Yesterday would have been a wonderful day at work under normal circumstances. Everything going on with Aunt Janet was a bit distracting for me. I like to feel my feelings and process them, however I can't do that at work. It made my day seem very long. Yet if it were any other day, I would have left work with a smile on my face and enjoyed the sunshine on my drive home.
Instead I went home dreading the idea of cooking dinner. That's simply not me at all. I love cooking and I'm good at it!!! It's one of the things I do to show how much I appreciate my hardworking husband. Last night before I was home, Jon had straightened up the house and had dinner ideas of his own. Quick and easy was on the menu... Chicken nuggets and potatoes. Not my favorite, but hey, I didn't have to cook and he loved it. He knew I was having a rough day and by taking the burden of cooking off me for one night, he did so much more than I could explain. After a quick nap and a bit of TV Jon left for his Monday night bowling league.
Chanda and her lovely sweet daughters came over to hang out with me while Jon was gone... Chanda's mission: make me laugh! My mission: Give her sore back a rest, make her laugh, and introduce her to everything Sensaria! lol We made monkey bread together (it's my new favorite), played with all of my Sensaria products(I'm addicted), goofed around with the kids (a full work out),and then Jon cam home(dun-dun---dun).Chanda's youngest Chloe plays shy with Jon. She flirts with him, but has always ran past him and avoided eye contact. She literally has never given him a "high-five" or a hug goodbye. Last night was the first time she has actively played with Jon. She was tickling him, jumping on the bed with him(yes- Jon jumped on our bed and I thought it was going to break), eating Ruffles with him, and grabbing his hand to take him along to whatever new activity she could find. It was the most adorable & hilarious hour I have ever spent with that little girl. Jon was in HEAVEN! Soon after the jumping on the bed, we realized it was 11:00pm and way past our bed time and the sweet little girls. Chanda loaded them into the car, gave big hugs, and headed to her home 5 minutes away. Now that Chloe is all about Jon, we'll see how it goes the next time they're together... that will be the real test.
It was such a perfect night. I stayed up 2 hours later than I normally do, but it was so worth it. I had a great time with my best friend, two sweet girls, and a goofy husband. A night to remember for sure...
I love my job, my co-workers, and my patients. I work in radiation oncology and hematology/oncology clinic. But like any job, there are days I don't want to do it. Some days are so much harder for me than others. I'm surrounded by wonderful people struggling to beat cancer. Living to make it to their child's graduation or wedding, the birth of their first grand baby, or through the holidays. I get to experience the joys of winning the battle, the clear PET scans, and the renewed hope. I also experience the sorrow and sadness when the news isn't so good, when hospice care begins, and when death certificates are received.
The weekend before I started N.E.O. (new employment orientation), my wonderful Aunt Janet was diagnosed with GBM (glioblastoma melanoma) an aggressive form of brain cancer. My Aunt Janet is one of the most wonderful, fun, loving, opinionated, and outgoing woman you could every meet. I got the pleasure of working with her in a doctors office for a year while I was in college. Everyone in the office still calls her Aunt Janet.... some things just stick. :) It was a great bonding time for us. She is my step-dad's, older brother's wife. My mom, sister, and I joined the family in 2002 when my mom and Mark were married.
Aunt Janet has helped me through so much. She's one of the people in my life that called me out on certain relationships and told me she loved me too much to watch me hurt and be treated poorly. One of the biggest moments of joy on my wedding day was Aunt Janet coming in and hugging and kissing my cheek. Her being there was a huge deal for both she and I. I loved knowing that not only were my siblings and parents there supporting me, everyone one especially Aunt Janet was on my side.
Now almost a year later, she's gone through a lot of ups and downs and that's putting it lightly. November of 2009 she underwent another surgery after which she was told to celebrate, the mass they removed showed no cancer cells (HOPE!). Then she had her follow up MRI, which showed a spreading in an inoperable area and she was referred to a Neuro-oncologist in Seattle (FEAR & SADNESS). He said that the spread might not be cancerous, since the previous pathology report was clean (HOPE!). It's continued on like this for the past few months. Good, then bad, bad then good. Every time I hear something negative regarding her progress, I have a hard time working. I have a hard time keeping a smile on my face and I begin to put walls around my heart. I have a hard time focusing.
Today is one of those days that I'm completely at a loss... During the last month she has been slowly deteriorating. This morning I learned that Aunt Janet is having unbearable headaches, back pain, and many other issues. She is going to see her specialist in Seattle today and I pray he can get her pain under control. I hate knowing that she's suffering like this.
Tomorrow is her 60th birthday and there is a big birthday party scheduled for her this Friday. Please pray she will be feeling well enough to attend her own birthday party. Any prayers you want to send our way would be much appreciated.
I feel like I'm failing... I've only blogged twice since the new year. Apparently my life is either so dull and I don't want to share, or it's so busy I can't make time to blog. Either way I'm failing.
I've tried to upload those pictures I've promised of the pooches, but for some reason they aren't uploading from my computer. I'm working on it again tonight and will hopefully have some fun pictures of our new dog Junior. Can we still refer to him as new if we've had him four months?
Jon's back to Monday night bowling with the Yales. I go occasionally, but not as often as I did when it start earlier in the evening. Now I need sleep, and it goes too late for me.
I'm now a Sensaria consultant, just started this week. My kit should be coming today and I'm looking forward to becoming familiar with the product and trying it all out. It'll be nice bringing in a little extra income and having my own thing to do a couple nights a month. Jon's been totally supportive too, which is wonderful!
I'm going to try and post again tonight with pictures!
I am on day 8 of the 30 Day Shred, sadly I have missed 2 days. I've learned that if I work out late in the day I have too much energy to sleep come bed time. I am already noticing an improvement in my energy and with eating well and working out I have lost a couple pounds.
It never fails, New Year's Resolutions made, but not kept. I decided coming into 2010 I didn't want to fail again. So this year, I set goals.
Goals to be debt free by our one year anniversary and on our way to house hunting.
I'm going to lose, what I call "The Newlywed 15". It's the "I'm happily married, working full time, and never work out 15 lbs that's slowly snuck on." One a side note: I still fit into my jeans... nonetheless I want it gone! So I started the 30 Day Shred.
I'm on day 2 of 30 and am so incredibly sore, it's hilarious! Honestly, it's funny. I didn't realize how out of shape I was until I started this... It's really pathetic. I haven't worked out since before surgery... Not this past August's surgery, I'm talking about April 2008's surgery. LONG TIME and boy, oh boy, can I tell.
I need to be going to church regularly again. We let life & football get in the way the past few months, and I miss our Sunday routine.
I'm going to be a better wife, cook more meals, and make the bed every morning before I leave.
I want to wake up earlier every day so I have time to work out, drink a cup of coffee, and read my devotional daily before running around getting ready for the day.
Jon and I also have some goals, that will be shared later this year as they are accomplished.
I am a wife, a daughter, a sister, a friend, and I strive to be a great woman of God. My family and friends mean the world to me and I try to live each day supporting and loving them.
