You know that feeling that you get from reading a really great book, especially a series book, that you have grown so close to the characters.. that you know the characters?? I've been reading the Fallen series by Lauren Kate for a little bit now, and really have gotten into it. Sometimes I skip ahead to see what's going to happen next.. sigh.. It took me a while to finish the last book, but I finally did today at the pool! I think I have heartbreak from the book ending. It had a nice ending, but of course I want to know more!!
I believe the movie will be coming out in 2014 and I'm super excited about it!
This is definitely a teen romance book, I guess you could compare it to Twilight, though I've never seen a second of the movies or read the books.. It's about angels and demons and the one girl to tip the balance of Heaven and Hell. Super good.
After an extremely long week, Rob and I have decided to have a pretty chill weekend. I really wanted to go Garage Sale Shopping and find some cheap pieces of furniture to fix up for our apartment. Unfortunately, that didn't happen since we went out to the bars last. Our drunk friend decided he wanted to get on the Karaoke Stage and literally dance with the microphone pole.. Pretty entertaining :) I'll upload some videos of that tomorrow!!
I went and did a little shopping at Ross today, not expected to find anything cute and cheap enough I'd spend any money on it.. I'm so cheap :( I won't even get ice in my drink so I can have more liquid lol.. Oh well..
I really want to stick with basic articles of clothing so I can keep them for a long time. I found this royal blue shirt in the raggedy sections, which I usually just walk right past. You wouldn't think he was cute just hanging on the hanger like this.. Then I found some black jeggings that I've been dying to buy for 2 years now and couldn't find the perfect pair. Found sommmme. $12.99. These are perfect for work and winter!
Shirt - Ross $6.99
Don't mind the hair!! I had just gotten home and thrown it up!
Shirt - Ross $6.99
Jeans - Ross $12.99
Shoes - Charlotte Russe Outlet $12
It's finally here!! The end of the week *Big SIGHH*
It's been super hectic at work for me. I barely get enough time to check Facebook for work or do any marketing for us! Good news though - I've been with this company for 2 1/2 months and still love it. Of course there is that one person that is super negative and tries to drag everyone down with them, but lucky for me my desk is far enough away I don't have to deal!
Seems like with every Admin. job I take, I always get a long really well with my supervisor.. meaning they actually listen to me and give me words of encouragement and praise!! My last boss I would always ask how she thought I was doing at the bank, if I needed any improvements anywhere and I'd always get "Umm, no, I think you're fine. I haven't noticed anything." I never liked that response.. My current boss actually says "I'm proud of you" "You're doing such a great job!" and "You really accomplish a lot when I am not around!". Maybe a little note to all you managers or supervisors.. words of encouragement work a WHOLE lot more than negativity. I've seen the latter way fail so many times, and also can speak from experience!
On a different note - My Outfit for the day/night.
I'm tired of the jeans and flats at work. It gets so uncomfortable to me!
Can you believe this shirt is from 8 years ago!!! I was in high school when I got this bad boy. Hated it. Never wore it. At that age I didn't know what to do with my small boobs, and thought I looked like a boy. But nowwww, I'll wipe these bad boys out into a halter top any day! No bra here I come!! Feels like Freedom to me.
I am really loving the color combo :)
**Don't mind the giant fly on the wall--It's a work in progress**
Halter Top - SUPER old - I think JCPenny's
Shorts - Target 2011 - $20
Wedges - Payless 2010- Clearance - $9
Rob claims I am a hoarder with clothes and random junk.. but this is a prime example of why I keep things! 8 years later and I love this top.. I knew eventually I would.
I figured I'd start sharing some of my outfits on here for whatever reason, I don't know.. I admit that I don't spend a lot of money on my clothes or to make myself look nice. But this is why I have more money than most kiddos my age. I've been so excited about my new job, partially because I can wear whatever I want. The bank had these horrid uniforms in yellow, red, blue, green, light blue, etc... They were just ugly... Although I have Uniformed shirts at work, half the week I wear whatever I want :)
So, I'm going to start sharing some of my cheap finds and my outfits!
Like I said, not a fashionista, just money smart.
Jeans - Hollister (old)
Blouse - Old Navy ($4) Clearance babyy!
Sweater - Too old to remember
Jewlery - all gifts from my wonderful bf
Flats - Payless - $19.99
Very simple outfit. Casual for work, cute enough to wear out :)
My family ALWAYS made this stuff growing up, and now I see it all the time on Pinterest. I've made it a few times for Rob and he acts like he hates it. I think it's because I've been adding Cream of Mushroom instead of Cream of Chicken. I can't taste the different, but apparently there is one...
Here's my rendition of it!
1 Cooked Chicken Breast - shredded $2
1 can of Rotel $0.79
2 cans Cream of Chicken $1.60
1 box of noodles - Just eye it to fill your casserole dish $0.70
2 Green Peppers $0.99
1 box of Velvetta Cheese $3.99
Total: $10.07
This makes about 8 servings! That's $1.25 a serving!!
1. Boil Noodles until they are cooked.
2. Put the sliced green pepper on the skillet and sautee them until they are brown on the edges. (everything is going in the oven after!)
3. While everything is cooking drain the rotel and empty can into the casserole dish along with the 2 cans of cream of chicken.
4. Once Noodles and pepper are cooked and drained, empty these into the casserole dish and mix all together!
5. Take the velvetta cheese and slice into thin stripes. Place on top of the entire spaghetti dish. Once completed, place dish into the oven at 300 degrees until cheese is melted. I like my cheese to get a little brown :) Serve and Eat!!
There hasn't been much going on with Rob and I this week. It actually went by pretty fast for us. I've been working hard on a project for work, so it's consumed a lot of my time. By the time I get home I am drained and do not even want to look at my laptop! I took this weekend as time to catch up on me time. Rob and I have been constantly doing things on our days off that we've had no real time to just relax. Unfortunately I missed out on seeing some family this weekend, but I needed to clean my apartment. It hasn't REALLY been cleaned in a month since we've been going non-stop. I got to do some "spring cleaning" and get rid of a lot of clothes. I have about 3 bags full to give to good will as well as some furniture. My dining room and closet feel do de-cluttered, it makes me feel so much better.
After going through some shirts, I found this one shirt with a really bad stain on it. We've washed it a lot trying to get it out, but it didn't fade at all. I found this at home diy treatment to do on it. I've done it before on a nice button up shirt of mine that had armpit staining. This stuff works!!
All I did was pour a cap full of Hydrogen Peroxide on the stain, mixed some baking soda on it with my finger, and scrubbed it a bit. Let it sit for 15 minutes, and rinse. After it dries, the stain is completely gone. This stain has been sitting on this shirt for more than 2 years, so it really does work.
Here's the stain that's been there for 2 years. Don't know what it is exactly.....
What I used...
After it dried... Completely gone!! How awesome is that!
Random Picture of the Day!
I got this cactus on my birthday last August.. It has grown into quite...a unique shape???
I've been watering it on and off, and it sits directly in the sun.. I just found it today looking like this and literally could not stop laughing. This might just be my perverted mind.. But this cacti looks hilarious!
Saturday I started off the weekend by once again laying out in the sun!! Got my Fiji water and my nook.
So, I had bought this maxi dress last summer and fell in love with how comfy it was. After a couple washes, it shrunk and now I flood in my dress! I decided to turn this maxi dress into a maxi shirt! It literally took my 3 minutes. Thankfully, I already had elastic on the waste part, so all I had to do was cut off the top and turn in the loose end.
My new maxi skirt!
Saturday night Rob took me out for another sushi date. He's the best boyfriend EVERR!
We had a Spider Roll and some Shrimp Rolls. $3 each babyyy! and of course some .50 beers. YES
$3 shrimp rolls
On our way to Rob's mom's house. Tried out the new Arnold Palmers
Rob knows how to ruin some good pictures lol!
Trying to look cute. Thanks Roberto
NOW!!! For the end of today's blog!
I made this Sunday at Rob's family's house and it was the best thing ever. It was literally gone in under 30 minutes! I literally hate anything coconut, but this was super delish!
Pina Colada Dip!
1 Pineapple
1 box of strawberries
2 Peaches/ Nectarines.
1 box of coconut pudding mix
1 can of pineapples
Total Cost: $7.50
Directions
1. Follow the directions to make the coconut pudding, then mix in some juice from the can of pineapples.
2. Place in the fridge to set while completing the dish.
3. Cut the pineapple long ways down the middle, and cut out the inside, leaving 1/2 inch to 1 inch edge.
4. Dice up all the pineapple into cubes, as well as the strawberries, and peaches.
5. Place hollowed pineapple in center of plate, and surround by fruits.
6. Add the pudding to the center. Serve and eat!!
This dish got everyone talking!! Usually I'm the one asking Rob's mom and grandma for recipes and advice on how to make certain foods, but it's nice when I can share a dish with them and they go crazy over it. For only learning to cook in the last 2 years, I think I'm well on my way to be an amazing cook!!
I am all about eating healthy in the morning and at lunch time, and then indulging in my cravings at dinner!
I've been cooking a lot of eggs in the morning and adding salsa and occasionally some ham with a side of fruit. This will keep me full for 4-5 hours at work. Nothing that special.
What I've been waiting to share is my Quinoa Salad! I've finally hopped on the bandwagon on this one! Last month I had bought this some what small bag of Quinoa from Kroger for more than $6. And by now you should know how much that kills me to spend so much on one item!! I thought, "What a waste. This is only going to last me 3 meals." Boy was I all sorts of wrong!! One cup of quinoa makes enough to last a week after it's cooked! I've been looking on pinterest for some recipes on how to fix it up to take to lunch, and a lot of them don't look that great. I decided I would just make up something on my own and try it out.
Southwestern Quinoa Salad
1 cup Quinoa : $1.50
1 can black beans : $0.49
1 can corn : $0.49
1 green pepper : $0.49
Avocado : $0.33
Total Cost: $3.30
Makes several meals.
Directions:
1. Bring 1 cup quinoa and 2 cups water to a boil. Turn down to simmer. Cook until the quinoa's spirals come out and turn transparent. Usually cooks in 15 minutes.
2. Add corn, black beans, chopped peppers, and avocado.
3. Mix and chill. Serve and eat!
Notice the spirals and transparency
Look how much 1 cup makes!!
I tried a little today after work and it was pretty good! I'm going to be taking this to lunch tomorrow.
I always wonder how people can go to the grocery store and spend $150 on food that will only last then 2 weeks or less. And I'm not talking about people with large families or a couple kids. I'm talking about the folks living by themselves or with a spouse/partner. If this is you I am talking about then listen up! You're doing it all wrong. I don't waste my time with coupons or the weekly discounts and deals at the local grocery stores. I stick with a couple meals I know well, switching it up from time to time to add some variety to the dishes, but typically my most expensive dish is $8. Here are a couple I made a week ago:
Baked Ziti
Noodles : $0.50
Sauce : $1.19
Cheese : $1.00
Sausage : $2.50
Peppers : $0.49
Total Cost : $5.68
Directions:
1. Bring water to a boil, and cook noodles all the way through. I usually use half a box. Not sure how much it is, but just eye ball how much you need.
2. While noodles are cooking, chop up 1 green pepper and the sausage and sautee in a skillet. Cook until green peppers are nice and tender, and a little brown.
3. After everything is cooked, dump it all in a casserole dish, add the sauce and cheese (I use half the bag bwhaha) and stir it all up!
4. Stick in the oven until the cheese is nice and melted, serve and eat!
Quick and easy meal!
This is after we devoured some of it.
Burritos!
1 can black beans: $0.49
1 can corn : $0.49
1 can refried beans : $0.69
1 can rotel : $0.79
cheese : $1.00
tortilla: $0.99
Total cost : $4.45
Directions
1. Mix black beans, corn, and refried beans in a bowl.
2. Heat tortillas, stuff with mix, and rollllll.
3. Line all the burritos up in a casserole dish, top with rotel and cheese.
4. Stick in the oven at 400 degrees until cheese is melted. Serve and eat!!
1. Follow the directions to make the coconut pudding, then mix in some juice from the can of pineapples.
2. Place in the fridge to set while completing the dish.
3. Cut the pineapple long ways down the middle, and cut out the inside, leaving 1/2 inch to 1 inch edge.
4. Dice up all the pineapple into cubes, as well as the strawberries, and peaches.
5. Place hollowed pineapple in center of plate, and surround by fruits.
6. Add the pudding to the center. Serve and eat!!
This dish got everyone talking!! Usually I'm the one asking Rob's mom and grandma for recipes and advice on how to make certain foods, but it's nice when I can share a dish with them and they go crazy over it. For only learning to cook in the last 2 years, I think I'm well on my way to be an amazing cook!!
I just want to start out this blog by saying that I am sorry I haven't been posting as much as I would like, or as I have done in the past. With this new job I am very busy all day, and sitting in front of the computer trying to figure out witty comments and posts for our social media sites. By the time I am off, I am running for my car door and racing home to melt into my lovely couch. And as all ladies know, once we get home and that bra gets taken off, I am no use anymore. Removing the bra just screams freedom for me!!
Men just don't understand.
I'm still loving my new job. It's slowed down this week, which has it's pros and cons. I was getting very over whelmed with all the stuff that was being thrown on my plate. I had major project to accomplish which have been, but now we are just making tiny changes as we move forward with these projects. Also, our accounting girl is moving to Austin and working from home, so I will be helping her out a lot more now. I was stressed because at the time I already had so much to do, I didn't think I could handle the extra paperwork she was going to be giving to me. Looking at how slow this week has been though, I'm craving the extra work load! And like ever job I have, I constantly worry about what my co-workers think about my job performance, but mostly what my boss thinks about it. Even though I meet with my boss from time to time, I never get the feed back on my performance entirely. Today, he definitely put a little bit of confidence in me. He told me he was proud of me and the work I have done. He doesn't need to worry about the tasks he has given me, he has gained faith in me that these will be done without him breathing down my neck (thank god lol). But mostly he's glad when I prove him wrong, because he knows he's hired the right person.
I have always talked to my previous employers about how they thought I was doing and if they thought I needed improvements.. usually I just got the "no, your fine" talk, but this has definitely made me feel more secure in my job and knowing that I went back to the right career path.
I'm surrounded by negativity, as we all are in every aspect of life, but I think now that I am truly happy, I'm seeing myself not care about how negative people are around me, and I don't let them effect me and my mood like I have done in the past. I hope that everyone can find the balance in their life to stay positive in any circumstance, even when every one complains, and it's so easy to fall into that, and gossip.
I am finally getting back in to my some what healthy lifestyle! I'm not throwing myself into it entirely, but I have made quite a few changes that have been going strong for 2 weeks. I didn't want to post anything last week, because this phase tends to only last one week! Now that summer is here, and those shorts are coming out, I've been seeing a lot more of my legs, which I am not entirely pleased with. I started eating a little healthier and working out just about every day.
Eating:
I've only changed my breakfast and lunches a bit. This is like beginners steps to getting healthy.
Typically for breakfast, I would eat pop tarts or something quick that I could eat on the way to work. I've started mixing in fruits to get it some what healthy. Now I'll eat one slice of cinnamon raisin bread, and a banana or peach. I was doing the egg muffin with spinach, avocado, and cheese.. sooo good. but I hated scrubbing the pan every morning.
For lunch I still take a sandwich. It saves us so much money, and with me making our bread now, it's that much better. I just need to buy some extras to go in the sandwich! I used to eat chips with my sandwich, and now I eat an apple or an orange. It really does fill me up so much more than the chips do.
I also bought quinoa which I'm gonna start making salads with.
Dinner is still the same... unhealthy and delicious. I've just been cutting down my portions. It doesn't happen every time, but the key to remember is, one bad meal isn't going to make me fat, just like one good meal isn't going to make me skinny.
I've been walking every weekend at Arbor Hill Trails in Plano. It's so nice there, and so many areas to walk and explore!
Here's what I've done so far this week! Pretty good. You can already see my tummy toning up a little!
Sometimes all you need out of your weekend is to spend time with your hunny just relaxing! Friday, Rob and I went and had sushi, which was amazing and I've been craving it ever since. Yesterday Rob and I got up early to go for our weekend walk/run. Unfortunately we were only there for 30 minutes, versus 1 hr like usual. BUT! We actually ran through some of the back trails, which are gorgeous. I told Rob we were gonna pretend like we were in the Hunger Games and run from our killers. I gotta get motivated some how!!
Gettin pumped!
Rob and I have been stuck on The Tudors. It's a really exciting, dramatic show about King Henry and his 6 wives. It's one of our favorite shows. I decided last minute that we should have a medieval meal, and watch The Tudors. Soooo... I made a bread bowl and put some hearty soup in it. I didn't make the soup! Just heated it up lol. I made the bread though....
I made the bread from our bread machine - thanks to Edie!
Scoop out all the bread.
Yummy! I couldn't finish it all.. soo..mucch..food
This morning, we actually slept in until 9 haha, there's a first time for everything. I woke up and make Rob and I some blueberry pancakes. I am trying to cut back on fatting stuff a little bit, so I've been eating mine without the syrup. Rob had like 7 pancakes though.
I don't know if this is just because I am from the country, or because my family never cooked at home growing up, but today I just had my very first Nectarine. It's probably my new favorite fruit. It tastes like peaches, but soo much better.
I've been in a grumpy mood the last few days, and Rob wanted to surprise me with a reservation to a sushi bar! A couple years ago, we had our first sushi, and I was literally in the bathroom throwing up from it. It just didn't sit right with me. But our friends Andre and Andrea introduced us back into a couple months ago, and I fell in love with it. Anyways, this was our second time going, and I can't say how much I love sushi. So many flavors you just don't get with American food anymore. One of our favorites is shrimp tempura, usually with cucumber and avocado..
Left: Crunchy Shrimp Tempura. Was had two rolls of this it was so good! Right: Tiger Roll. Very spicy....
This one was by far the best, and prettiest. I've never seen sushi like this before! The bottom was crunchy.. "Water Lilly" with crab meat, cucumber, avocado, and some other stuff.
One of the funniest moments happened last night too. I wish I had it on video! Rob opened up his chop sticks packet and broke his chopsticks apart.... one fell from his grasp and when he went to grab it, he hit one end and it went flying back over his head and landed on someones plate. That's my baby.. always knows how to make me laugh in a bad mood..... even if he didn't mean to do it.
Robert and I found Lucy on craigslist about a year and a half into our relationship. Most of the people in our family, and our close friends, all know we went through a couple dogs before we found our precious baby. I probably isn't a smart idea to get a pet while in college. We were too irresponsible, and just wanted to party. Any way, we drove 2 hours to get this dog. She was a year old (so we were told), and already had some pups. The previous owners didn't want her anymore, so we got to adopt her into our life.
Well, a couple of weeks ago (she is now 4 -5 years old) Lucy started limping. It wasn't a bad limp. She could still put pressure on it, but she held up her back left leg while eating. We tried to limit her activity, which is hardly any to begin with. The only problem I see now looking back, is our stairs. We live on a second story, and that was a bad decision. I believe this is what has caused her problems to worsen. Of course, you can never truly know what the definite problem was. You can read more about how it started and the vet's diagnosis here: http://alorabhuff.blogspot.com/2013/05/doggy-problems.html .
The vet originally said her knee was popping out of it's socket when she relaxed, and when she stood, the muscle tried to push it back in to it's original place. We got her meds, and no more limping. At all. Then Sunday, the day before Memorial Day, we noticed she wasn't even using the leg. Out of no where, she went from being just fine, to not being able to use it at all. I'm sure there are tons of factors contributing to this problem, weight, stairs, her climbing out of her cage...
On Tuesday, I called the vet and spoke to her over the phone explaining what had happened. The vet told me it sounds like she torn her ACL and she was going to refer me to a specialist/surgeon and we can go for a consultation. Rob took her in on Thursday to speak with the surgeon. And I'm not putting Rob down at all, but I know he doesn't ask enough questions, or the questions that I would ask. He doesn't know this, but I always call the vet when he leaves to get the full scoop. (haha :) ) So the consultation ended up costing $120, which included nothing but "Yeah, we need to do surgery" No other options were given (not sure if the question was asked), no x-rays, just the doctor feeling the knee, and rushing off to surgery. I'm sure the doctor is extremely busy, but how to you plan on gaining new patients without giving them all of your time.
I ended up calling our vet back and discussing our options. She explained to me some thing that I already knew from research.. Here's what I want everyone to know... Surgery is not the only option. Surgery might be the better option, but it isn't the only option, and it sure isn't the cheapest. Our surgeon was going to charge us $3500 for one knee, and told us it's only a matter of time for the other one to go out.
Rob of course was all for it, but here's my thoughts: Lucy is just an animal. She's the best dog I've ever had and my heart would be crushed for months if I lost her, but she is already halfway through her lifespan and I cannot see spending all of our savings ($7k) on a dog. If I get surgery, they will insert a metal rod in her leg to help take the pressure off the other knee. After surgery she will not be able to do any activities for 12 weeks. Years later, she'll develop arthritis in that knee. Her other leg will still give out. If I don't get surgery, her body will build scar tissue around the ligament which will help stabilize the knee. This isn't fixing the problem, the knee isn't back to normal. This is just giving the appearance on the outside that everything is fine. Her two bones/knee will rub together on a constant basis without the ACL, cause arthritis. The arthritis is inevitable, it just happens a lot sooner without surgery. She will need to wear a stifle/brace for 8 months to help take the weight off the other leg. Costing us around $300 rather than $3500. Plenty of people have seen their dog with improvement on the non-surgical method. Even larger dogs have done it this way and years later still have no problems. This lady on the video did the same thing, and 3 years later her dog is swimming and playing around. She just gives it supplements and arthritis meds.
