Perfect Friday

The following events actually happened today! I didn't even dream them! Thanks to my extremely wonderful and selfless husband and easy baby, I got to have a dream of a day (at least in my terms)!

-slept until 10:30am (all of us, even the babe!)
-had cinnamon toast and chocolate milk for breakfast (maybe it was lunch, considering it was around noon!)
-stayed in my pjs all day!
-hubby got us Chili's To Go (for only $1, thanks to a gift card) for lunch
-hubby took baby for almost 2 hours so I could have the entire house to myself for the first time since September!
-read magazines, watched TV, ate tons of M&Ms and drank lots of iced green tea while lounging on our oversize chair
-took a long hot shower and actually shaved my legs (yeah, I totally didn't get a shower until about 5pm!)
-put a clean pair of pjs on
-got good news from some bloodwork taken earlier (for possible thyroid or celiac disease issues) this week...everything was perfect!
-will have a quiet evening at home with hubby and watch a rental while we eat little pizzas!

Quite a great day in my books! I'm feeling so relaxed! Next up...housework! Thankfully I'm now re-energized enough to enjoy it!

A Few New Recipes

These are both easy and quick Crockpot recipes. I just threw things in, so measurements are approximate. You can season according to your liking!


Crockpot Orange Chicken (recipe for 2 chicken breasts)

2 frozen chicken breasts
1/2 c. orange marmalade
salt, pepper
1/2 packet onion soup mix
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp Teryaki sauce or soy sauce (I used Teryaki)
1/2 c. water

Spray Crockopot with cooking spray. Place 2 chicken breasts and water in pot. Season with salt and pepper. Smother each chicken breast with marmalade. Sprinkle on soup mix, sugar and Teryaki sauce. Cook on low for approximately 4 hours or high for about 3 hours??? Basically just cook until done:) Serve over rice.


Crockpot Tomato Basil Chicken (a variation of tomato chicken)

2 frozen chicken breasts
1/4 c. water
salt, pepper
dried basil
minced garlic
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
*angel hair pasta and freshly grated parmesan cheese (for serving)
***grated mozerella cheese (higher-fat version)

Spray Crockpot with cooking spray. Place chicken breast in pot. Lightly season with salt, pepper, basil and garlic. Pour can of tomatoes over chicken. Season with salt, pepper, basil and garlic. **At this point, you can also top it off with grated mozerella cheese before cooking. Cook on low for 3 to 4 hours. Serve over pasta with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

January Meals-weeks 1 & 2

Week one went well (I realized that I planned too many Italian meals...oops!), we're basically only eating out if we have a gift card, are going on a date, or are going out with friends, etc. I grocery shop on Mondays, therefore, my week of meals starts with Monday and ends with Sunday.

Monday: Tomato-Basil Chicken (crockpot)
Tuesday: Chicken Parmesan
Wednesday: Soup, Salad, and Cornbread
Thursday: Last-Minute Lasagna
Friday: Jiffy Pizza
Saturday: Leftovers
Sunday: Gift Card Meal Out/Leftovers

Monday: Rotisserie Chicken
Tuesday: Chicken and Rice (w/leftover chicken)
Wednesday: BBQ Chicken Sandwiches (w/leftover chicken)
Thursday: Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
Friday: Jiffy Pizza
Saturday: Date Night
Sunday: Breakfast for Dinner--Eggs and Cinnamon Rolls

There's nothing new around here, although we are gearing up for the 24 premier! Josh and I LOVE to watch 24! It's one of our favorites!

Office Makeover on the Cheap

I have never been a huge fan of our home office. It's always been kinda blah, but we haven't wanted to invest a lot of money into it. In fact, when we needed new office desks, we were in search of a long table to seat both of us, but refused to pay hundreds of dollars. So, we went to Target and found their "wood" and "leather" card tables and put 2 of those together to give the appearance of a long desk. We also thought that would be good in the long run, because we might not always be able to have a home office. At some point, kids might kick us out!

Anyway, I was ready for a little punch of color and a new arrangement. This is what I came up with. Basically I just took our old curtain panels and sewed fabric on them and hung them near the ceiling. Used our old valances to curtain our desk to hide cords, etc., used leftover fabric to cover a pillow, got a small amount of fabric to cover our ottoman, used leftover fabric to make "artwork" and borrowed furniture from around the house. The only project I have left, so far, is to paint some canvases for the blank wall. I think I'll paint 3 of them and do turquoise, black, turquoise or something like that. I'll blog about it if I ever get to it.

It won't necessarily knock-your-socks-off, but it is a big improvement! (I'll post before pics if I can find them.)

Goals for 2009

I'm not a huge "resolution" kinda gal, but I do think it's kind of fun to feel like you can get a fresh start with each new day, and especially each new year! Some of my goals this year include:

-eat at home even more often (I made a calendar for the month of January already, so I can easily shop for groceries and be sure to cook a nice meal, not just something thrown together)
-prepare healthier meals
-be a little more laid back....I'm definitely the "Patty Planner" type!
-keep my home more organized
-get involved in deeper Bible study and make that a priority
-date my husband more
-truly savor each day...you never get a minute of it back!
-save more money for future
-keep in better touch with family, even though I hate talking on the phone!
-go to bed earlier!!!!