My Thankful Life - November Mini Series

My parents.

My parents are seriously the best ever and the only thing better than having them for parents is that my kids get to have them for grandparents and there is just something awesome about that. My parents taught me to be independent, responsible, loving, kind, defiant when it's needed and apologetic when it's needed. They created the woman that I am today. I learned to never let life get you down and to always love this country we call home but to never be afraid to explore the world we live in. To be open minded and fair. To appreciate both the indulgences of life and the simplicity of nature but most importantly to know to never let indulgences take priority in my life. To keep family important. To have close friends that you consider family. To always stand up for what you believe in even if no one agrees with you. To have the drive to make myself better in everything I do. To graduate from college. To know when to listen to my heart or when to listen to my head and to know which path to choose when my head and my heart aren't in the same place. Basically, to be me and thanks to them, I'm the best me I can be.

Keepin It Low Key

My Miss M is out of town. My mom had to work. So we are having a low key Thanksgiving. And after reading and getting a little inspiration from Kelle Hampton via Enjoying The Small Things, I picked up my matriarchal wand and I made that sucker work today. I decided to make traditions of our own for my little family. We woke up, watched the parade, ate cinnamon rolls, drank coffee, perused Black Friday ads and kicked off our low key Thanksgiving. We made a trip to the movie theater for an afternoon showing of Happy Feet Two. Made our way home for a wonderful dinner of homemade lasagna (my first go at it), spinach salads, and peanut butter cup crescents. It was delish. Now we are getting ready to watch Ice Age: A Mammoth Christmas on tv. It was a perfect day, the kind to have on a day where we need to remember what we are thankful for. And, I have decided, it doesn't matter if it's just my little family or if there are 20 of us together at my moms - I'm thankful no matter where I am at or who I am with.

Still to come in my November Mini Series are my parents and my stepdaughter. So aside from what I have mentioned already that I'm thankful for here is a quick run down: Little Lady, Bug, my hubs, my parents, Miss M, family in general, my health, my home, my husbands job that allows me to stay at home with my girls, my husbands job that allows him to be at home with us every day, my little job at the outdoor store, our cars, our pets, my friends, basically my life in general.

My Thankful Life - November Mini Series

My Husband.

Where do I start? You are the cheese to my macaroni:) (cheesy I know) but, really, it's true. We are the perfect blend of your laid back personality and my type A personality. You talk me down when I'm stressed. I tell you when you need to not make a joke. We are the only ones that truly get our sense of humor. And like all relationships, sometimes you annoy me, frustrate me, and make me mad. I'm sure I might occasionally do the same to you. Sometimes I wish you would take a stand more and not let a certain somebody get their way all the time. I wish you would say more when M and I are arguing. And sometimes I wish that you wouldn't hold everything in when you are stressed. But all of that is you. The you I fell in love with and the you that I love everyday. I'm sure when we first started dating people thought we wouldn't make it - the age difference, the ex-wife, you having a kid, me being fresh out of college. And for most, all of those things would have broken couples up. But here we are - 7 and a half years, multiple job changes, and 2 kids later and we are happier now than we were than. I love you and I look forward to everything our life has to bring us.

My Thankful Life - November Mini Series

I'm so so thankful for the life I have. In honor of Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays and the one that for some gets lost between Halloween and Christmas, I'm going to shout from the roof tops what I am most thankful for. The people in my life. Because, after-all, the most important things in life aren't things.

My girls.

Little Lady. I love the child you have become. You have left behind being a baby and I'm so proud of who you are becoming. I love the way you say basito, waps, and chocy milk. I love your catch phrases you've come up with on your own - the "thank you thank you so much" or the "just a little bit" when you don't want to stop what you are doing. I love when you sing me twinkle twinkle and itsy bitsy spider. I love your cuddles in the middle of the night. I love that you love the outside. I love that you love school. I love the way you love. I love your square little feet and your chubby little toes. I love everything about you.

Bug. If your sister is my heart than you are my soul. I love that you complete us. I love that when you are so upset you only have to hear my voice to stop crying. I love the way you pass out after eating. I love how my chest has been your favorite sleeping spot since you were born. I love your sweet smile and your intoxicating laugh. I love how you look at us. I love your fuzzy hair and your chubby rolls on your legs. I love everything about you too.

My Grandpa

In honor of Veterans Day I want to talk about someone who is very special to me. Someone I wish was here every day. My Grandpa. My Grandpa was the best Grandpa anyone, yes anyone, could EVER ask for. The best man anyone could EVER ask for. When I was in pre-school, my Mom and I lived with my Grandpa. He would let me cuddle with him in his recliner while we watched John Wayne movies. He would let me put all my barrettes in his hair while he snoozed and inevitably someone would always ring the door bell every time he had his hair decorated by me. He would rescue me from a grumpy Grandma when my Mom was out on a date with my soon-to-be Dad. As the years passed, he would always come over on Sundays for dinner or find the time to bring me a special treat for no special reason. He would sometimes still tuck me in before he left telling me to have a good week at school and tease me about my beloved dinosaur. He would pick me up from school and we would run errands together every day when I was in sixth grade. He was my very best friend. Then he was taken away from me. He was taken away from everyone in my family. He had problems with his heart and a very regular October day turned into a very awful October day. I lost my Grandpa. My Mom lost her Daddy. And after so many years, he is still with us. My Grandpas name was Alfonso but he went by Al. I married an Alan that goes by Al. It's like he was saying "this is the guy for you." My Little Lady, her middle name is ALisa . And while it's a mixture of my husband and my name, it also includes a little bit of my Grandpa. And lets talk about my kids for a second, my Grandpa would have loved them. They would have been the best of friends too, just like he was for me. So in honor of Veterans Day, I honor one of the most important veterans in my life. I love you Grandpa and I miss you every day.

I would also like to thank all those that currently or have served, especially those in my family. Thank you to my Dad, Grandpas, and Uncle.

Homegrown

Even though the end of the summer has come and we are well into fall, we still have fresh tomatoes and jalapenos. While the rest of the garden died long ago, these plants are putting on and giving us our fair share of fresh well into November. Since we have colder temperatures and more freezes coming I know its not going to last much longer and I'm going to miss lunch sandwiches with fresh tomatoes and Little Lady is going to miss running into the garden for a quick tomato snack while playing soccer. Our garden gave us plenty of cucumbers, squash, and other homegrown favorites this year and we can't wait to do it all over again next year, especially since I have found my inner cook and look forward to new recipes.

Cooking

Since I last posted I have been in the kitchen a few times to try out new recipes.
The first was this recipe for homemade mac and cheese: http://www.marthastewart.com/316867/worlds-best-mac-and-cheese. It was touted as the "worlds best", I thought that it was just ok. I didn't use the Gruyere cheese, opting for more cheddar.
Next up was this recipe for chicken roll ups: http://www.plainchicken.com/2009/08/chicken-rollups-2.html. They were awesome! I got it from pinterest and one person did comment that they were going to change the amounts of spices used. One thing you should know if you are grabbing a recipe from me is that unless it is a pertinent ingredient I don't measure it, i.e. salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc. I shake it till I like the way it tastes. I highly recommend this one!
This past weekend I made this recipe for jalapeno stuffed chicken and had the parents over for a Sunday meal: http://cassiecraves.blogspot.com/2009/05/jalapeno-popper-stuffed-chicken.html. It too was fantastic! Everyone loved it and it was another great recipe to try to use up the jalapenos from the garden. Everyone did agree that I should have put more jalapenos in it.
The last new recipe that I tried was for fluffy sugar cookies:http://www.singforyoursupperblog.com/2011/09/02/soft-frosted-sugar-cookies/ We used our pumpkin cookie cutter, orange icing, and green sprinkles. It was a really good treat and a fun activity for Little Lady to decorate. I didn't cool for an hour, I popped the dough in the freezer for about 20 minutes because I had an anxious 2 year old that wanted them done - STAT!