A good read... and healthy meal ideas?

So I just finished a really good book today & thought I'd share...

I couldn't hardly put it down.  It alternates between the story of Trudy Swenson, a modern college professor of German history and her mother, Anna, who was a German citizen in Nazi Germany during the holocaust.  I don't want to tell you too much about it and give too much away but it was a wonderful book.  If you like historical fiction and/or just a gripping story you will like it!  If you click on the image of the cover it will take you to the Amazon site where you can read reviews & buy it if you like. :) 

And while I'm at it... I don't know how many of my blog visiters (you know, all 4 of you lol) are into reading but I'm almost always reading SOMETHING.  If you want, I can post the books that I've recently read and give you my take on them... otherwise I'll just periodically share ones I think are super :)


On a completely different note... so Brew went to the doctor a while back to get his ingrown toenail taken care of.  Anyway, when he did his blood pressure was up there in the lovely pre-hypertensive state.  And me?  Well, I just stepped on the Wii fit for the first time in a while and found I've gained 4.2 lbs since last time I was on there (just a couple months ago).  Sooo I have all intentions of giving our meals a makeover! :)  I we both need to eat better and exercise more of course.  I need to at least maintain my weight (though trust me I wouldn't cry if I lost a few pounds.  My jean shorts from last year are fitting a bit snug these days.)  And Brew truly needs to lose about 40 lbs to be back to a healthier weight.  Getting him on board is another story.  I'm the type that needs support to stick with it- and well, he's more of the denial-is-bliss-and-I-will-eat-whatever-I-want mindset.  He doesn't get much exercise, though I can't blame him for that because he works long hours a LOT.  So I want to start with our dinners, making them more healthy.  Then I can move to the other meals, and, eventually, work on the exercise thing.

What I want from you fellow bloggers is- recipe ideas!!!  I need things that are healthy AND fairly easy to make (read- no 2hr prep meals) and also meals that are budget-friendly (no expensive spices or something lol).  If you have a good one or two, comment with a link, or do your own blog post about it and link it as a comment!  I want something besides chicken and veggies.  We like that, and I fix it, but who wants to eat it every single night?!  So yeah easy, healthy recipe ideas are much appreciated!!!  If there's a cookbook too that you think is helpful then link that to me as well.

Thanks!!! :D

House disappointment

So thought I'd give you an update on the two houses we really liked (scroll down below, I think I talked about them in a post called "dream house")

Anyway, first there was the one that was close to my mom and dad, but probably not one that we'd stay in permanently.  It's a split-level in a subdivision.  We liked it though, but when we told family and friends about it we learned that the subdivision was actually built on top of an old landfill.  Which if you don't know causes problems because there is almost constant "settling" of the land-- which means lots of foundation issues and such.  If not now then most definitely in the future.  So we kind of nixed that one.

Then there was the PERFECT house.  Seriously the only thing I wasn't crazy about was the elementary school district but with me being a teacher I was willing to work with it and send my kids out of district if needed.  We were in love with it.  It had everything we needed AND wanted, and wasn't too far out of reach with our budget.  And we knew the people selling it.  Unfortunately, the day before their contract with their realtor ran out (when they were going to sell it ourselves and were more negotiable on price), someone put a full price offer in on it.  I just found out this morning (which coincidentally, pending our pre approval coming back, we were ready to make an offer today).  We are both super bummed.

I suppose that's just the way it goes- I knew going into it we'd run into these kinds of things.  It's just discouraging.  Especially when you think you've found the perfect house and at the last minute it gets taken out from under you.  I tried not getting my hopes up but obviously- it didn't work.

So we're back to square one.  We're going to drive by, and possibly look at a couple more this week.  And we're going to try and keep on top of For Sale By Owner listings in our local free classified listings.  Pray it goes well for us-- we aren't under any real deadlines-- but it'd be nice to celebrate Christmas in our new house...

I can't remember if I posted on here or not- but I have a long-term job at the beginning of this year for a teacher going on maternity leave (I'll be sure to drink plenty of the water there- maybe that'll do the trick ;)  haha)  Anyway, it looks like I could be starting next week!  I'm excited about it- though not as much as I would be with truly my OWN classroom, I will be able to start the year off with these kids, so that'll be nice.

Can't believe summer is almost over!

Happy Birthday Makalyn!

So yesterday was my niece Makalyn's 2nd Birthday (and in case you are wondering, her name is pronounced Muh-Kay-Lynn, and for that matter my other niece, Makalyn's older sister's name is Miryan, pronounced Mir-ry-un, both of their names are mispronounced a lot...)

It's hard to believe it was 2 years ago we were waiting in the hospital to see & hold her after she was born.  You can read a little about that here...

Me holding her the day she was born

And now a few of my favorite shots I captured from her 2nd Birthday Party!

In this one, you can't tell in the pic- but she just got a shirt that says "Little Big Sister"-- how my sis-in-law announced her pregnancy to the family! :)

Ahh Friday :)

Whew, I feel like today took forever to get here!

I don't have too long to write, I've got an evening babysitting job I have to leave for here in a few minutes.

But I'm really looking forward to this weekend.  Tomorrow morning I'm either getting up early to go yard-sale-ing with my sis in law OR if we don't end up going I plan on sleeping in :).  My niece's birthday is also tomorrow, and her party is at 2.  This is the little angel I'm talking about:

She turns 2 tomorrow! :)   And double exciting news is my sis in law is also announcing her pregnancy to the whole family! <3  Glad I don't have to watch what I say now! ;)


Right now I've got a pretty full plate.  There is a surprise event I'm planning next weekend (can't say any more on here-- comment w/your email if you wanna know-- don't want to risk someone finding out that isn't supposed to!) so that's got me occupied.  Then after that my friend Nicole & I have to get on planning our friend Abby's bridal shower!  That kind of stuff sometimes gets me frazzled but I LOVE planning things like that.  I'm hoping that my sis in law will have a boy and want a shower or something ;)  haha.

Alllrighty well I need to get going- that's all for now, I'll be sure to bring my camera and take pics tomorrow! :)

WBW & New blog look

Hey!  So what do you think of the new look?  I tried to make it much simpler... I like it so far, I'll probably keep it this way until Fall-ish. :)

Anyway, on w/Wee Bit Wednesdays!





{one} what was one thing that you valued when you were a kid?My family and I spent a lot of time together.  I don't know if I valued it so much as a kid, but what I value now is the way I was raised and the fact that my parents were actually together and stayed together- and I had a happy family.


{two} what was your favorite (+ least favorite) subject in school?My favorites were always Reading, English, and Music.
I detested Math (and still do really- lol- Algebra was the WORST!)


{three} do you remember your first love?Yes.  We were together for 6 years- but in the end it just wasn't meant to be.


{four} what one pet would you love to have?
We already have a dog.  I wouldn't mind getting another dog here in the next year or so- when we get our own place- but other than that I'm content w/just dogs :)


{five} would you rather live in the country or in the city?Country DEFINITELY.  I'm NOT a city girl!
{six} what do you love about blogging?I love the outlet that it provides, I actually enjoy writing.  Plus it's a nice way to connect with people, and preserve memories for myself.{seven} what is the first website you visit everyday?Facebook.  Yes.  I'm addicted.


{eight} will you or have you joined google+?I don’t know. I don’t even know what it is.


{nine} what is your favorite scent of candle/air freshener?I like clean linen smells- especially for the bathroom.
For other places like living room & kitchen I like warm homey smells like pumpkin pie


{ten} how would you describe your style?I have to admit I don't think I really have a set "style".  I guess classic comfortable maybe?  I like to wear boot cut jeans, capris, sundresses, tshirts, and looser/flowy shirts.  So whatever that is LOL.

Formspring

Got a Formspring account-- so go ahead, ask me anything!

Dream House...

Ok maybe I shouldn't go as far as to call it our "dream house" but we found a house we absolutely LOVE. We saw it last Friday.  I actually know the people selling it.  I subbed a LOT for her last school year.  But it's a really great house... has pretty much everything we are looking for... and it isn't necessarily a "starter house".  We could seriously stay in this house indefinitely.

The only problem is that it is currently priced at about 10,500 above our budget.  Normally we wouldn't of even looked at it BUT... as I said I know the people selling it and they are very negotiable since they NEED to sell it soon... AND they are very dissatisfied with their realtor, and when their contract with her is up on August 8, they are not going to renew and instead do a "for sale by owner" deal.  Sooooo we are earnestly hoping that they can drop their asking price to what we can pay.  Because as much as we told ourselves not to get our hopes up-- we're both totally in love with this house.

If you want to see pics of it online, I'd be happy to send you the link- just comment with your email address and I'll send it to you!  I don't want to link it on here in case we do end up buying it-- then the world will know exactly where it is lol.

We should hear back from the credit union with our pre-approval, and then after August 8, we are going to make them an offer!  Eeek!

So yeah I'll keep you posted- fingers crossed everything works out with it!  (Though I know if it's the "right" house then it will...)