Rain

On Monday night as Josh and I were watching tv, I could not believe my ears!!! Was that thunder?? We looked at the radar, and there was actually a chance of rain. As the storm got closer, we went on the back porch and watched the lightening. There were a few sprinkles on the ground but not much. I sat there just praying the rain would come, but it went around our town. We are in possibly the worst drought ever for our area. I have heard people say it is worse than the dust bowl days. Sometimes I look out our front windows, and all I see is brown. Dirt blows into our house in the cracks between our doors. I try to not open the doors very often because it is always windy and dusty. A couple of days ago there was a fire outside of town that damaged the power plant. They are asking everyone in our area to keep their AC turned up because they are low on power. I have been trying not to wash clothes, run the dishwasher, etc in the afternoon when it gets so hot outside. I think the last time we had measurable rainfall was 6 months ago. I know this is hard to imagine for those people who live where it has been flooding. I am hoping and praying it will rain here very soon!!!

This week has been very busy for us. I worked some on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday because one of the pharmacists had something he had to do. Today I am so happy to be at home for the day, and Gus is too! I have been doing laundry and cleaning a little. My parents are coming for the weekend, and I am excited to see them! It may be a while before I post again.

I would like to ask you to say a prayer for rain for our area if you are reading this. I know it will rain here again someday, only God knows when that will be!

Guest Blog

Today I am a guest blogger at Karen At Home! This was a lot of fun, and I hope you enjoy reading it.

Whew! It's Monday

I actually cannot believe I am having time to sit down and write this. The pharmacist that works with Josh had to go to the doctor this morning, so I had to go help at the pharmacy today! Mondays are the busiest day of the week at the pharmacy. I just took Gus with me, and he was wonderful. He sat in his car carrier and fell asleep. When he woke up, I held him for a little while and did a few things and then came home to feed him lunch. I then went back up to the pharmacy, and Josh came home with Gus so he could eat. Then we were both at the pharmacy for a little while until Gus got fussy, and I brought him home. I am so thankful for Josh's job and that I can help him when he needs me. Before Gus came along, I would work several days a week. Most people might not want to work with their spouse, but I loved it. Josh is so smart, and I can always ask him questions when I need help. Although my time at the pharmacy is much more limited now, it is a nice place to work when I need to. Here is a picture from a couple of months ago:

Tomorrow I will be a guest blogger at Karen At Home! She is having people write about being stay-at-home moms, and I thought it would be something fun to try. Although today I went to work, I just took Gus with me. This summer I have worked a few half days so Josh does not have to work too much. Staying at home with Gus is just such a blessing. Be sure to check back tomorrow for the link to my guest blog!!

Summer Berries

On our way home Sunday, we stopped at Whole Foods in Santa Fe. It is fun for us to see all the different kinds of food available that we cannot get in the "country" :). We could not buy anything cold, but they had blueberries and strawberries on sale. I love to buy blueberries in season in bulk and freeze them. It is so nice to have them anytime to make muffins or pie.

In the past, I would wash the berries, then put them on a cookie sheet to dry. The best way to freeze them is on the cookie sheet so they don't stick together. Then you can put them in a baggie or whatever you prefer. My freezer is not big enough for a cookie sheet so I just let them dry and then put them in baggies to freeze. Gus enjoyed playing on his mat while I washed all the fruit. I wanted to make a dessert to have with the fruit so I made a pound cake. While I was cooking, Gus wore himself out playing.

Here is what it looked like when I put the cake, berries, and some cool whip together:

Someday I would like to start canning and things like that. Last summer Josh made some peach and blueberry jams that were delicious! Just prepping the fruit to freeze it took some time, but I know it will be wonderful to use during the winter.

Santa Fe Trip

We took a trip last weekend to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Last June we also traveled there for a vacation. One reason we have chosen to go there the last two years is because it is so close. Only 4 and a 1/2 hours away, it is easy to get there and not spend all our time in the car. This year, we left Thursday afternoon and drove to Santa Rosa, NM. It is a two hour drive away. We ate dinner there and relaxed. We tried to keep Gus on his normal schedule for going to bed while we were gone. He is still sleeping in his pack-n-play so he feels at home when he sleeps while we are away. We also took our dogs with us. Yes, we were a regular traveling circus!!!

On Friday morning, we got up slowly and drove to Santa Fe. It was about a 2 and a 1/2 hour drive. We took some back roads for a change of scenery. We could not check into our hotel yet when we got to Santa Fe, so we went to the outlet mall. It was not too hot outside so we could leave the dogs in the car with the windows cracked. We do not shop much, so we really enjoyed the mall. The Ralph Lauren Polo shop was happy to see us! :) All three of us got some clothes there.

We then stopped at a pizza place for lunch. Needless to say, after waiting 30 minutes, I never got my one slice of pepperoni pizza and we asked for our money back. It was very horrible service!

We headed downtown to our hotel. It was still an hour until we could get our room, so we decided to walk to the plaza with the dogs. As we started walking there were people everywhere. I put Bear in the basket in the stroller, and Josh ended up having to carry Samson part of the way. We got back to the hotel right at 3 so we could get settled. That evening we walked to dinner nearby. Several of the museums were free on Friday night, so we went to two- the art museum and the history museum. Gus started getting tired at the history museum so we headed back to the hotel and put him to bed.The dogs liked our room because it had an enclosed patio where they could play. Samson liked it because he could lie in the sun.

Saturday morning we drove to the Santa Fe ski area and hiked a little in the mountains. I love the fresh mountain air. The dogs also loved walking around. We went back to town, had lunch at one of my favorite places- The Shed, and then toured the Loretta Chapel. We went back to the room and rested for the afternoon. That night we tried a restaurant called El Meson. It was Spanish food and very good. The portions were quite smaller than we are used to. It reminded me how we are such big eaters in America.


Sunday we headed home. Josh really liked the place we ate in Santa Rosa, so we stopped and had lunch there on the way home.

As for traveling with a 3 month old, Gus did great. He loves being active and seeing things. He only slept for 4 hour stretches at night, but he does that a lot at home too. If we were going to be out and about when it was time for him to eat, we would just take formula for him. If it was going to be time for him to eat in the car, I used the battery on the breast pump, and then would just crawl in the back seat and feed him. He slept pretty much the whole trip home. The stroller was kinda bulky, so part of the time when we shopped and walked, Josh carried him in the baby bjorn. The only thing I wished we had was a hat for him. Next time we will be outside that much I will have one!

I love vacations and getting away. They always end before I want them to. We had a great time and look forward to our next trip!

Weekly Menu

I have not shared my weekly menu lately so I thought I would share it today. Over the weekend we traveled to Santa Fe, NM for a vacation. We had a wonderful time, and I will put up a post soon about our trip. While we were gone we ate lots of Mexican food, so we wanted to have a week without any. Here is my menu for dinner:

Monday: Mushroom Quiche - I used the recipe in Julia Child's book. It was delicious. It is pretty much the same recipe as the Onion Tart I wrote about a few weeks ago. I made a double pie crust and then put half of it in the freezer. When I want to make it again or am in the mood for a pie, I can just pull it out which will save lots of time. I served this with salad and fruit.

Tuesday: Ravioli - I am working from 9-2. Even though I will be home in plenty of time to cook dinner, I am usually tired and want something easy to make. I will use frozen ravioli that only takes a few minutes to cook. When my mom stayed with us after Gus was born, she filled our freezer with homemade bread. So I will serve some bread and some salad with it.

Wednesday: Crab Cakes - Our grocery store just started carrying canned crab. Yes, I know- you would think every grocery store would have canned crab, but we live out in the "country." :) Seeing the cans in the store prompted me to cook these. Josh likes to have macaroni and cheese with fried fish, so I am going to fix macaroni and cheese to go with it. (it is also one of my favorite things)

Thursday: Pizza - A couple of weeks ago I cooked pizza and put a crust in the freezer. All I will have to do it thaw the dough and put toppings on it! Easy meal- yay!

Friday: Shrimp - I will probably make shrimp and grits.

This week offers no chicken or pork or beef. We ate a lot while on vacation, so a lighter week will make us both feel better. I hope this gave you some ideas of things to cook.

Quiet Weekend

This weekend will be fairly quiet for us. Josh is working until 2pm today. I will cook lunch for us when he gets home. We plan to watch the movie True Grit that just came out on video. We never had a chance to see it in the theater, so I am excited to finally watch it. I grew up watching westerns all the time, I love John Wayne :). I hope I enjoy this one, I have heard lots of good things.

Josh surprised me a couple of week ago telling me he wanted to get me a china cabinet that I wanted. When we were looking at furniture for our new house I saw this cabinet and really liked it. We didn't end up buying it then, but I never forgot about it. I will be inheriting one of my grandmother's china, and I have a china set of my own. It is going to be so fun to have a place to display my dishes.


Samson and Bear have adjusted very well to having Gus around. I have not talked about them much, but they are still important family members!
Bear really likes Gus and is protective of him. When Gus cries, Bear licks his feet trying to make it better.

This year Josh planted 4 rose bushes in our backyard. Two have already started blooming! Here is a pink one he brought in and gave to me :)

For my sister's birthday, I bought her this book:
She loved it and passed it on for my mom to read. I am now reading it. I am about half-way through it and have really enjoyed it so far. I has made me laugh a lot and smile. She is a really good writer.

I hope everyone has a good weekend!

Little Gus

It is time for an update on my little boy! I cannot believe how big he has grown. He is wearing 3-6 month and 6 month clothes. (although some of these are getting small) He is wearing size 2 diapers. We had some size 3 diapers, and he can wear them too although they are a little big. He usually is very independent, although the last few days he has wanted to be held all the time. He is learning to like sitting in the Bumbo chair but only for a few minutes at a time. He loves to talk! I hope he talks this much as he grows because it is so much fun. Last night he just talked himself to sleep. He is getting better about sleeping 5 and 1/2 to 6 hours a night. (he has for the last several nights- yay for me!) I am always relieved when I get more sleep at night. He is grabbing at his toys now. I held a toy in front of him, and he grabbed it and took it from me. One of the sweetest things was yesterday when I was hold him close to my face, he reached out and just ran his hand down the side of my face feeling of me. It was just precious. We are still working on going to sleep- he fights it sometimes. He also has learned how to throw a fit when he is mad. Another thing he loves is taking a bath. Here is a short clip of him on Sunday

Cooking Catastrophe..... Almost!

I write about cooking a lot. I really enjoy it and feel a sense of accomplishment when something turns out good. This week several of the things I have had problems with so I was a little discouraged. But last night, there were so many problems, it turned into a comedy. Here is how it went....

I was going to make an onion tart- the recipe was in Julia Child's book. Josh picked it out for me to try. It was similar to quiche, but had more onions and fewer eggs. Quiche is usually not very filling, so I thought I would make a dessert. Since I was already making a pie crust, I decided to make an apple tart. I looked at the onion tart recipe and in my head I decided I needed to start cooking at 5:30 to make sure it was done around 7 when Josh gets home.

At about 5 I started cooking the apple tart. I cut up the apples- or at least started. Then in my head I thought, these are going to turn brown when they sit while I make the crust. So, I stopped and made the pie crusts. I was watching the clock and getting a bit nervous. But I thought if I got it in the oven by 6 then it would have time to cook before I put the quiche in. So I finished the tart ( i changed the recipe a bit, and basically made an apple pie in a tart shape) and put it in the oven at about 5:45. I then had to feed Gus which took until 6. I then started cutting up the onions. (there were 7!!) I looked again at the recipe and it said the onions need to cook an hour- I panicked! So, I cut them up quickly, turned up the burner and hoped to have them finished by 6:45. I then rolled out the pie crust and put it in the pan. The onions were cooking well so I wasn't too worried. I then looked at the recipe again and realized I didn't have any Swiss cheese! So, I went to the frig. I had mozzarella and Parmesan so I decided to use those. I looked at the recipe again and it called for cream which I didn't have enough of! I had a little whipping cream from something else I had and then used half and half for the rest. The onions cooked enough and i started mixing it together. I mixed it together wrong of course and then poured it into the crust. I put it in the oven and realized I didn't put the cheese on the top. I added the cheese and it was in the oven at 6:45!! I then looked at the recipe one more time. The pie crust was supposed to be partially cooked before you put in the onions. At this point I was like- WHATEVER!!!! I was very frustrated with myself and just started cleaning up the disaster in the kitchen (which included having to sweep up the floor under me). I finished picking up, poured myself a glass of wine, and sat down to wait for Josh to get home....

The onion tart turned out delicious even with all my mistakes. The apple tart turned out good too. Gus sat in his chair in the kitchen with me from 6-7 and entertained himself. I was so thankful at that moment that he enjoys just sitting by himself, and I didn't have to deal with him on top of all my cooking problems.

Lesson learned: READ RECIPE MORE CAREFULLY BEFORE GROCERY STORE TRIP AND BEFORE COOKING!

Thought I would share to let you know- I make lots of mistakes in the kitchen too :)

Random Facts

So I thought it would be fun to occasionally share random facts about myself.

1) I am picky about straws- I prefer narrow straws- not ones like from Sonic or McDonalds. I will collect straws I like when people don't use them at restaurants and save them. Of course- my favorite place to get a Dr. Pepper in Amarillo also has straws that I like.

2) When I was single and lived alone, there were two highlights of my day- a hot bath and Dr. Pepper. I am obviously entertained by simple things!

3) I like cloudy days. (although too many and too many alone aren't my favorite)

This may not be interesting to anyone- but I thought it might be at least funny. I am not even sure how many people read this! I only know of a couple of you. But I love to read other people's so I will continue to share :)