I've been throwing this idea back and forth for about a year now and I'm finally stepping out of my comfort zone and doing it. I'm incredibly nervous and full of fear but I'm pushing myself and so excited!
I'm becoming a Pampered Chef consultant!
I'm just waiting on a call from my consultant, Diane, and then I'm getting signed up, buying my consultant kit, and joining her team.
I've been wanting to do this for a while but just always found a reason not to. I still have many reservations and concerns (I have a big fear of the unknown and I'm trying to get over that) but I'm excited so why not at least try?
Here are few of my deciding factors:
-We need some extra money to have pay off "stupid newlywed debt" as I like to call it.
- I'm sick of feeling like I don't contribute to our family at all. Ryan works his butt off everyday to provide for us and I am so thankful to him for that but I also feel so guilty. I want to help bring in some money so we can feel more comfortable financially.
-I need "me" time. Ryan says this all the time. "Babe, you need time for you. You take care of me and Chase and the house and the dog but never do anything for yourself." Even though this will be a job, it's going to flexible and fun for me. I love Pampered Chef and I can't wait to get other people excited about it like I am.
-I still want to be a SAHM. This way I can be. I only have to do 2 shows a week to make some pretty decent money and I can do those shows while Ryan's home to watch Chase. I don't have to give up spending my days with him.
-My schedule is mine. If there's a day I don't want to work, I won't. Plain and simple. There aren't going to be any bosses to fight with about schedule mix ups and or anything like that.
Anyway, I'm pretty excited. So if anyone wants to book a show... :)
Friday, September 10, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Pizza, Pizza!!
Tonight I made this for dinner:
Yep, it did taste as good as it looks. I made homemade dough, homemade sauce, and the pizza was stuffed crust. I'm pretty proud of it!
I had a request for the dough and sauce recipes so here they are...
Pizza Dough
(makes 2 pizzas)
-1 Tbsp. yeast
-1/4 cup water - warm, NOT hot
Put yeast and water in bowl and let sit until foamy.
-1 cup milk
-1/4 cup sugar (I put a tiny bit more in)
-1/4 cup crisco
-1 tsp. salt
Combine above ingredients until dissolved. Add yeast mixture.
-3-4 cups flour
Add flour to liquid mixture 1 cup at a time, mixing well.
Knead until well blended. Put in large bowl and put in warm spot. Let rise until doubled.
*If you have a bread machine you can skip all of these instructions and just put all the ingredients in the bread machine and then put it on the dough setting.
Pizza Sauce
-1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
-oregano
-white sugar
-garlic powder
-black pepper
-paprika
-water
Empty tomato paste into a small pot and fill the empty can with water twice to add to tomato paste. Then add the rest of the ingredients a little at a time, tasting often, until it tastes right to you. Mix often and bring to a boil. Let cool until warm but no longer hot and put on pizza dough or use as dipping sauce.
Sorry the sauce recipe isn't very exact but I just kinda made it up tonight.
Yep, it did taste as good as it looks. I made homemade dough, homemade sauce, and the pizza was stuffed crust. I'm pretty proud of it!
I had a request for the dough and sauce recipes so here they are...
Pizza Dough
(makes 2 pizzas)
-1 Tbsp. yeast
-1/4 cup water - warm, NOT hot
Put yeast and water in bowl and let sit until foamy.
-1 cup milk
-1/4 cup sugar (I put a tiny bit more in)
-1/4 cup crisco
-1 tsp. salt
Combine above ingredients until dissolved. Add yeast mixture.
-3-4 cups flour
Add flour to liquid mixture 1 cup at a time, mixing well.
Knead until well blended. Put in large bowl and put in warm spot. Let rise until doubled.
*If you have a bread machine you can skip all of these instructions and just put all the ingredients in the bread machine and then put it on the dough setting.
Pizza Sauce
-1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
-oregano
-white sugar
-garlic powder
-black pepper
-paprika
-water
Empty tomato paste into a small pot and fill the empty can with water twice to add to tomato paste. Then add the rest of the ingredients a little at a time, tasting often, until it tastes right to you. Mix often and bring to a boil. Let cool until warm but no longer hot and put on pizza dough or use as dipping sauce.
Sorry the sauce recipe isn't very exact but I just kinda made it up tonight.
Monday, August 30, 2010
What a difference a year makes.
"What a difference a year makes."
I've heard that statement before but I never really personally got it until now.
This weekend coming up is Labor Day weekend. Labor Day weekend last year my mom and brother flew out to Cali to help Ryan and I drive from CA to OH because we were moving home. For real this time. No more back and forth from OH to CA because of deployments. It wasn't just me moving back waiting on Ry to get home. Ryan was moving home too. We were finally going to be a family in our home, Ohio.
They say that "home is where is the heart is", well even though my heart is with my son and husband, a little piece of it was left in Ohio when we were living in CA. I got terribly homesick out there especially after Chase was born because I wanted him to experience his "firsts" in Ohio where our traditions are and where his grandparents are.
I guess now he can the be the cool kid in his class when he's in school and has to do his autobiography project, which I'm pretty sure most kids had to do at some point in school.
I can see it now... Chase: "An interesting fact about me: I lived in California for most of the first year of my life." Classmates: "OH!! WOW!!" etc. That will be fun for him. I know in elementary school whenever someone wasn't born in Ohio it was pretty much the coolest thing ever to the rest of the students who were, most likely, all born in the tri-city area.
Anyway, I'm getting off topic. I meant to write about our past year. It has been quite an eventful year to say the least.
When we first moved home we lived with my parents until Ryan could find a job and we could find a house. During that time Ryan started college at THE Ohio State University's ATI campus. He has since had to take a break thanks to his tuition never being paid on time. The new GI Bill is a great idea in theory but actually using it is a big pain in the butt! I know it's new so they're still working out the kinks but Ry got screwed over too many times when it came to him actually getting the money that he more than earned. Ok I can't get started on that right now because it makes me too mad. haha
Ryan has worked 5 different places in this past year. Not all at the same time but that's still a lot of moving from job to job. I think that he has finally found one that he likes. It helps that it isn't as far away as some of the other places and they're paying him more than other places too.
Chase had his first birthday at my parent's house. My dad had to stay in his bedroom the whole time because he was recovering from an emergency back surgery and couldn't move very well.
We found a house that we fell in love with and then about 2 months later moved into that house.
When we got married we couldn't wait to have our own house. We had our own apartments in CA but that's different. This house is OUR'S. For example, after we moved in we were really excited because Ryan was vacuuming at 11 at night. In our apartment complexes you weren't allowed to have any loud noise after 9pm so late vacuuming was really exciting for us! haha
We celebrated our first Christmas as a family. Ry wasn't there when was Chase was born and he didn't get home until January after that so he wasn't there for Chase's first Christmas.
I'm sure there are many other things that I'm forgetting right now because so much has happened. This past year went by so fast and I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for us!
I've heard that statement before but I never really personally got it until now.
This weekend coming up is Labor Day weekend. Labor Day weekend last year my mom and brother flew out to Cali to help Ryan and I drive from CA to OH because we were moving home. For real this time. No more back and forth from OH to CA because of deployments. It wasn't just me moving back waiting on Ry to get home. Ryan was moving home too. We were finally going to be a family in our home, Ohio.
They say that "home is where is the heart is", well even though my heart is with my son and husband, a little piece of it was left in Ohio when we were living in CA. I got terribly homesick out there especially after Chase was born because I wanted him to experience his "firsts" in Ohio where our traditions are and where his grandparents are.
I guess now he can the be the cool kid in his class when he's in school and has to do his autobiography project, which I'm pretty sure most kids had to do at some point in school.
I can see it now... Chase: "An interesting fact about me: I lived in California for most of the first year of my life." Classmates: "OH!! WOW!!" etc. That will be fun for him. I know in elementary school whenever someone wasn't born in Ohio it was pretty much the coolest thing ever to the rest of the students who were, most likely, all born in the tri-city area.
Anyway, I'm getting off topic. I meant to write about our past year. It has been quite an eventful year to say the least.
When we first moved home we lived with my parents until Ryan could find a job and we could find a house. During that time Ryan started college at THE Ohio State University's ATI campus. He has since had to take a break thanks to his tuition never being paid on time. The new GI Bill is a great idea in theory but actually using it is a big pain in the butt! I know it's new so they're still working out the kinks but Ry got screwed over too many times when it came to him actually getting the money that he more than earned. Ok I can't get started on that right now because it makes me too mad. haha
Ryan has worked 5 different places in this past year. Not all at the same time but that's still a lot of moving from job to job. I think that he has finally found one that he likes. It helps that it isn't as far away as some of the other places and they're paying him more than other places too.
Chase had his first birthday at my parent's house. My dad had to stay in his bedroom the whole time because he was recovering from an emergency back surgery and couldn't move very well.
We found a house that we fell in love with and then about 2 months later moved into that house.
When we got married we couldn't wait to have our own house. We had our own apartments in CA but that's different. This house is OUR'S. For example, after we moved in we were really excited because Ryan was vacuuming at 11 at night. In our apartment complexes you weren't allowed to have any loud noise after 9pm so late vacuuming was really exciting for us! haha
We celebrated our first Christmas as a family. Ry wasn't there when was Chase was born and he didn't get home until January after that so he wasn't there for Chase's first Christmas.
I'm sure there are many other things that I'm forgetting right now because so much has happened. This past year went by so fast and I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for us!
Friday, August 27, 2010
There's a first for everything, right?
Today was the very first time in my life that I have ever had to call poison control.
Thank you, Chase, for helping Momma experience new things. (The previous sentence is smothered with sarcasm for those who couldn't tell.)
I walked into the dining room to see my son with his mouth on, and licking, an open bottle of hand sanitizer. Yes, like Purell.
First, let me clear a few things up:
-No, I don't leave open bottles of hand sanitizer laying around for the heck of it.
-Yes, I thought the bottle was out of his reach.
-No, I was not in the room with him when he got the bottle.
-Yes, I did freak out when I saw him.
-No, I still don't know how he reached it.
-Yes, I felt like the worst mom in the history of moms.
The bottle is one of those little bottles that you carry in your purse or in the car, etc.
I somehow lost the cap. I have no idea what happened to it or even how it came unscrewed, but it did and the cap is now nowhere to be found.
Anyway, I had it on the dining room table in the middle of the table out of Chase's reach, or so I thought. He must have climbed up onto one of the chairs and crawled on the table to get it. That's the only way I can see possible that he reached it.
I heard something in the dining room so I went in to see what the noise was and it was Chase licking the bottle. It was still right side up and he wasn't tipping it. It still looked as full as the last time I looked at it so I don't think he drank any. He was just licking the top of the bottle. I took it away and started scrubbing his tongue. I frantically called Ryan but there was no answer so then I called who most women look at as their personal expert on raising children, their mom. I talked to Mom and then Ry called back so I talked to him. They both told me to call poison control.
I felt really insecure about calling Poison Control because I didn't want to seem like a bad mom. I then told myself, "If you were a bad mom you wouldn't have called at all because you wouldn't care if your son drank Purell." I just kept repeating that in my head because it was better than what I was repeating before that, "YOU ARE THE WORST MOM EVER!!!!!!!"
I called and spoke to a very nice lady named Crystal who told me that if he didn't drink any and just got a taste of it that he should be perfectly fine and to give him some juice. She also said that the alcohol in hand sanitizer is a lot like drinking alcohol so I should call her back if Chase starts acting like he's drunk or falls asleep suddenly. He fell asleep before I called but it was his nap time so I told her that and she said not to worry because it wouldn't have affected him that soon anyway so it is just him taking nap, not passing out.
So, if anyone else has a similar situation in the future where their toddler licks hand sanitizer bottles, I hope this blog is helpful to you. <---That was a sentence I honestly never imagined seeing or hearing before.
Sheesh!
Thank you, Chase, for helping Momma experience new things. (The previous sentence is smothered with sarcasm for those who couldn't tell.)
I walked into the dining room to see my son with his mouth on, and licking, an open bottle of hand sanitizer. Yes, like Purell.
First, let me clear a few things up:
-No, I don't leave open bottles of hand sanitizer laying around for the heck of it.
-Yes, I thought the bottle was out of his reach.
-No, I was not in the room with him when he got the bottle.
-Yes, I did freak out when I saw him.
-No, I still don't know how he reached it.
-Yes, I felt like the worst mom in the history of moms.
The bottle is one of those little bottles that you carry in your purse or in the car, etc.
I somehow lost the cap. I have no idea what happened to it or even how it came unscrewed, but it did and the cap is now nowhere to be found.
Anyway, I had it on the dining room table in the middle of the table out of Chase's reach, or so I thought. He must have climbed up onto one of the chairs and crawled on the table to get it. That's the only way I can see possible that he reached it.
I heard something in the dining room so I went in to see what the noise was and it was Chase licking the bottle. It was still right side up and he wasn't tipping it. It still looked as full as the last time I looked at it so I don't think he drank any. He was just licking the top of the bottle. I took it away and started scrubbing his tongue. I frantically called Ryan but there was no answer so then I called who most women look at as their personal expert on raising children, their mom. I talked to Mom and then Ry called back so I talked to him. They both told me to call poison control.
I felt really insecure about calling Poison Control because I didn't want to seem like a bad mom. I then told myself, "If you were a bad mom you wouldn't have called at all because you wouldn't care if your son drank Purell." I just kept repeating that in my head because it was better than what I was repeating before that, "YOU ARE THE WORST MOM EVER!!!!!!!"
I called and spoke to a very nice lady named Crystal who told me that if he didn't drink any and just got a taste of it that he should be perfectly fine and to give him some juice. She also said that the alcohol in hand sanitizer is a lot like drinking alcohol so I should call her back if Chase starts acting like he's drunk or falls asleep suddenly. He fell asleep before I called but it was his nap time so I told her that and she said not to worry because it wouldn't have affected him that soon anyway so it is just him taking nap, not passing out.
So, if anyone else has a similar situation in the future where their toddler licks hand sanitizer bottles, I hope this blog is helpful to you. <---That was a sentence I honestly never imagined seeing or hearing before.
Sheesh!
My Dad's (most recent) Hospital Visit
Dad, Dad, Dad.
As much as the man hates being in the hospital and being restricted in the doing what he wants, you'd think he'd stop having so much wrong with him! haha
First, his back surgery, then the severe allergic reaction from the back surgery meds and now this, all within 10 months of each other.
Here's what happened:
Yesterday my dad was at work and started having chest pains that went down his arm, through his neck, and into his head. Of course the first thing you think is, heart.
It was especially looking like that because heart problems run in our family.
He got to the hospital and they gave him meds and did all sorts of tests. Luckily, they all came back as non-heart related. YAY!!
They think that he had a severe case of acid reflux. They may have to do another test on him to check that out but for now he's allowed to go home and just stay on the reflux medicine he's already on.
Thank you so much to everyone who prayed for him. Some people really under-estimate the power of prayer. Thank you GOD for not making his condition more serious.
As much as the man hates being in the hospital and being restricted in the doing what he wants, you'd think he'd stop having so much wrong with him! haha
First, his back surgery, then the severe allergic reaction from the back surgery meds and now this, all within 10 months of each other.
Here's what happened:
Yesterday my dad was at work and started having chest pains that went down his arm, through his neck, and into his head. Of course the first thing you think is, heart.
It was especially looking like that because heart problems run in our family.
He got to the hospital and they gave him meds and did all sorts of tests. Luckily, they all came back as non-heart related. YAY!!
They think that he had a severe case of acid reflux. They may have to do another test on him to check that out but for now he's allowed to go home and just stay on the reflux medicine he's already on.
Thank you so much to everyone who prayed for him. Some people really under-estimate the power of prayer. Thank you GOD for not making his condition more serious.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
God was busy...
My dad just sent this to me in an email. I've seen it before but I love it so much that I had to share :)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A United States Marine was taking some college courses
between assignments. He had completed 20 missions in Iraq
and Afghanistan . One of the courses had a professor who
was an avowed atheist, and a member of the ACLU.
One day the professor shocked the class when he came in.
He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, "GOD, if you are real, then
I want you to knock me off this platform... I'll give you exactly 15 min."
The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Ten minutes
went by and the professor proclaimed, "Here I am GOD, I'm still waiting."
It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine got
out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him;
knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold.
The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently.
The other students were shocked and stunned, and sat there
looking on in silence. The professor eventually came to,
noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked,
"What in the world is the matter with you? Why did you do that?"
The Marine calmly replied,
"GOD was too busy today protecting America 's
soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid
stuff and act like an idiot. So He sent me."
The classroom erupted in cheers!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A United States Marine was taking some college courses
between assignments. He had completed 20 missions in Iraq
and Afghanistan . One of the courses had a professor who
was an avowed atheist, and a member of the ACLU.
One day the professor shocked the class when he came in.
He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, "GOD, if you are real, then
I want you to knock me off this platform... I'll give you exactly 15 min."
The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Ten minutes
went by and the professor proclaimed, "Here I am GOD, I'm still waiting."
It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine got
out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him;
knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold.
The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently.
The other students were shocked and stunned, and sat there
looking on in silence. The professor eventually came to,
noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked,
"What in the world is the matter with you? Why did you do that?"
The Marine calmly replied,
"GOD was too busy today protecting America 's
soldiers who are protecting your right to say stupid
stuff and act like an idiot. So He sent me."
The classroom erupted in cheers!
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Don't you mean your "boyfriend"?
I may be old fashioned but it really annoys me when people who aren't married refer to their boyfriend or girlfriend as "hubby" or "husband" or "wifey" or "wife". In my opinion, you have to earn the right to call them that by making the vows and putting in the work. Marriage is great if you work at it and are willing to continue to work at it until "death do you part". I think these pet names and titles are used too casually. I take pride in my marriage and the fact that Ryan and I stood in front of our families, friends, the priest, and GOD and vowed to love, honor and respect each other for the rest of our lives. I feel like until you do that and take your vows and take on the responsibility of marriage, you don't rate to use those names for each other.
Another thing that bothers me and kind of goes along with this topic of the casual use of the titles "husband" and "wife" is the overall casual use of marriage itself. I know I'm young and most people weren't expecting Ryan and I to last long because we dated in high school and then got married so young. Here's the difference between us and most of the other people in this country these days... we take marriage seriously. We don't believe in divorce as a convenience. We believe that divorce should only be used in cases where someone is in danger, such as abuse and other instances like that. But we also believe that marriage is a big deal. It annoys me that to some people spouses are like flavors of the week. You need to be positive that person you're putting that ring on is the person you want to share the rest of your life with. I never once had a doubt about marrying my husband. I love him more now than I did on our wedding day and I'm so excited to celebrate more anniversaries, more births of our children, more birthdays, more holidays, grandchildren, everything. To me marriage is so much more than "just a piece of paper" and it sickens me how casual marriages and divorces have become. People these days don't put in the time and effort that should be put into a marriage and that really bothers me. If you aren't willing to work at it and earn your titles, then don't use them at all because it's insulting to the rest of us who have earned the titles husband and wife.
Another thing that bothers me and kind of goes along with this topic of the casual use of the titles "husband" and "wife" is the overall casual use of marriage itself. I know I'm young and most people weren't expecting Ryan and I to last long because we dated in high school and then got married so young. Here's the difference between us and most of the other people in this country these days... we take marriage seriously. We don't believe in divorce as a convenience. We believe that divorce should only be used in cases where someone is in danger, such as abuse and other instances like that. But we also believe that marriage is a big deal. It annoys me that to some people spouses are like flavors of the week. You need to be positive that person you're putting that ring on is the person you want to share the rest of your life with. I never once had a doubt about marrying my husband. I love him more now than I did on our wedding day and I'm so excited to celebrate more anniversaries, more births of our children, more birthdays, more holidays, grandchildren, everything. To me marriage is so much more than "just a piece of paper" and it sickens me how casual marriages and divorces have become. People these days don't put in the time and effort that should be put into a marriage and that really bothers me. If you aren't willing to work at it and earn your titles, then don't use them at all because it's insulting to the rest of us who have earned the titles husband and wife.
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