The Ultimate Time Suck

I've been using Pinterest for a few months now. It's come in really handy for recipes and gift ideas. I'm going to quickly share a few of my favorite pins.


Sour Cream Chicken Bake, I'll be making this within the next few days.

Source: makinglifedelicious.com via Ashley on Pinterest

I want everything to do with this picture. I want to be in it, and I want to create it. Love it.

Source: flickr.com via Ashley on Pinterest

I think these would be cute to make for Christmas.

Source: None via Ashley on Pinterest

I'm wondering if I'll have the opportunity to make these around Halloween.

Source: ourbestbites.com via Ashley on Pinterest

And I need to have a girl so that I can buy these.

Source: joyfolieblog.com via Ashley on Pinterest

And, I want this for myself.

Source: tiffany.com via Ashley on Pinterest

You need to go make these, right now. I've already made this recipe a handful of times because everyone in my family loves it.

Source: the-girl-who-ate-everything.com via Ashley on Pinterest

And lastly, so you don't run off and make those really unhealthy potatoes, I leave you with this-

Source: bellababyphotography.com via Ashley on Pinterest

How happy is the mom in the background?

So yeah, it's the ultimate time suck.

Happy Thursday!

Fall?

I've enjoyed reading all of your posts from the last few weeks talking about how you guys are enjoying your cooler temperatures, your trips to the apple orchards, and the candles that smell like yummy fall days.

And then I want to throw my computer/phone/whatever I'm reading blogs on, out the window because I want that.

I want it to not be 104 degrees three days out of the week.

I want to be able to burn a candle that smells like apple pie and be able to enjoy fall, without cranking the AC down to 65 and pretending.

I had to be up early on Saturday because we had open house at work. It was around 7:30 and I posted this-

Then I promptly stopped and got this-

AND THEN two hours later, when I was leaving work I looked like an idiot because it was 95 degrees out.

For the record, that is NOT coffee in that cup. Gag.

Anyway, the point is, ya'll keep posting your awesome fallish posts because I'm living vicariously through you until it stays below 100 degrees for a consecutive week.

Carry on.

The Same Age

Chris turned 25 today. Now I can't throw the  "Shut up and listen to me because I'm right older than you" card out anymore. That's right. I can use that line for three solid months.

Not that I ever do.

I made him this totally obnoxious cake yesterday. He he helped-by washing the dishes as we went. Ya know, because our kitchen is the size of a closet, therefore we don't have a fully equipped kitchen. Alas, only one bowl big enough to do any type of baking/mixing in/with.

Back to the cake. Mine looked nothing like that.

At all.

Yes, there's only one candle on it. I didn't want to burn anyone's house down yesterday. We are in a severe drought down here for what it's worth.

In my opinion, the frosting was the only good thing about the cake.

Guess who has half of a cake in her fridge at this very moment?

We both took the day off from work today. To do what fun/amazing/memorable thing you ask?

Well if you have to know, we cleaned the house, both of the cars inside and out, and did laundry.

Best. Birthday. Ever.

Now he's laying on the bed playing on his phone like he does every other day of the year.

My aunt and her hubby are taking us out to dinner today. So that's fun.

Oh, and before you ask...Do you see that blue car up there? Yeah, that one. That was his birthday gift. For the next 43 years.

I'm glad we've had such a productive day. He should have birthdays more often.

Happy Birthday Chris!

Cajun Chicken Pasta

Everyone who used to regularly read my blog talks about how they miss my recipe postings. 


Well, here's a goodie for ya.


Cajun Chicken Pasta
What you need:
4 ounces linguine (or any wide) pasta
2 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (I actually cube mine up)
2 tsp. cajun seasoning
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced (I usually choose only a red one I omit the green)
4 fresh mushrooms sliced (I loathe mushrooms so I don't use these either)
1 green onion sliced
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. lemon pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. garlic powder
A few dashes of black pepper
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese


Boil the pasta, cook until al dente. Drain.


Throw the chicken and cajun seasoning into a plastic bag. Shake it until the chicken is coated. In a large skillet, throw some butter and the chicken into it and saute for about 6 minutes. 


Add the peppers, mushrooms (gag), and onion to the skillet with the chicken. Saute and stir for 3 minutes. You want the veggies to not get super mushy. 


Reduce the heat.


Add the cream, basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder, and black pepper into the skillet. Mix well. Toss in the linguine. Heat through, and just before serving, top with the parmesan cheese.


I serve mine with a green veggie, or salad and of course, bread. Gotta have my carbs.

Enjoy!

Don't.

There are so many different things grating on my nerves this week. I'm going to get them out in the open, then maybe I'll feel better about it.

I don't want to hear your food sounds. This goes for you, person who eats/sucks the apple down to the core. Really? No one wants to hear that. It's gone. Throw it out. Corn on the cob? Don't even go there with me. Cereal? The slurping. I. Can't. Deal. with that. Especially in the morning. Chris doesn't do it anymore, so how am I still subjected to it? No idea, but the milk slurpers still find me. While we're at it, let's talk about those people who clean their teeth after a meal WITH THEIR TONGUE. Omg. Please stop sucking on your teeth and go get a freaking toothbrush.

I judge you by your feet. I do. If the polish is all chipped and scraped off that tells me you don't care. If your heel is cracked and dried out beyond all reason, I will gag. And then I'll think you're house is dirty and you probably don't even wash your feet, or your anything. I'm not saying to go and drop thirty bucks on a pedicure. Heck no, I don't have the money for that every month. But at least use some nail polish remover and lotion. It's not hard people. If you can't handle it, buy some socks.

STOP complaining about the temperatures where you live. I would do anything for a high of 45 and a low below freezing. You choose to live up North, so shut up about it. I envy you for actually needing to wear long sleeves more than two days out of the year. If you keep complaining about it, I'll force you to move to Texas (yes I choose to live here because I love everything about it BUT the weather!), where we haven't seen a high below 90 in months, much less a drop of rain. Not really, but I will unfollow your blog, or whatever it is that you use to complain/get on my nerves. 

Okay, that feels a little better.

The Basics.

I've done something I said I'd never do. Because...

"I'm not old enough."

"I don't want to spend a lot of money."

Blah, blah, blah.

I bought Mary Kay makeup a few weeks back.

And I love it.

Actually, I'm not sure if it's the makeup that I love, or the brush I use to put it on, but I really like it.

I used to wear Clinique when I was in high school, but that's when someone else was buying it for me and I didn't have to shell out my own money. 

Since then, I'd just been using Neutrogena foundation. When I ran out of it this last time, I noticed how much it had gone up in price, and I decided to see what else was out there. 

Other brands tend to break my skin out so I had to be careful. Anyway, a few weeks ago some of the ladies in my family were invited to a MK party. 

Think, mini-makeover.

I don't think any of us walked out of there without a bag full of stuff. The foundation didn't cost much more than the stuff I'd been buying, and I didn't have to buy powder in addition to the foundation like I was used to doing. Score!

Money saved.

I don't wear much makeup to begin with. Just foundation, eye shadows,  and mascara. I don't spend a lot of time on it in the morning. Why should I? All I do is wipe butts and get covered in baby food/spit up all day.

I didn't care for the mascara that I tried that day, so I'll stick to my cheap drugstore brand. The MK brand was way to hard to take off. 

I'd never sell it, although I hope someone in my family does, so I can get the goods at an even better price.

So yeah, I used to think only old ladies who wore pearls and way to much perfume wore MK. Maybe that's still true, but I like everything I've tried so far.

If You Take The Boy To A Wedding...

He'll have to get dressed up.

And since he's in charge of passing out the beer tickets. He'll have to have a beer. Or four.

Then after said beers he might bust a move or two on the dance floor.

After showing off all of his moves, he'll need to take a rest.

After a quick rest, he'll finally pose for a pic with his date (that's me!).

And then it's back to the dance floor.

haha, busted.

Then he'll be ready to throw the bird seed and go home.

But of course when he gets home he'll want to take a bazillion pictures in the bathroom mirror because he's silly, exhausted, and maybe still a little ya know...

And so what if the pictures are a blurryoutoffocusawfullightingmess?

We had fun.

He Did It

Yeah, so...

Chris went and bought a car today.

What a spoiled brat, right? Nah, I'm kidding. We seriously needed a second car since we are both commuting into Austin every day for work. My car was getting so many miles put on it.

I'm proud of him though, seriously. He's worked his butt off for as long as I've known him, and now he finally has something to show for it.

Anyway, yay for him!

It's a Dodge Avenger, in case you can't tell. 

It wasn't his first pick, but the douches at the Mazda dealership weren't working hard enough to get what he wanted in his price range. Oh, and we were kind of in a time crunch.

That's okay. I come from a Dodge family. My first car was a Dodge Neon, my current car is a Dodge Caliber and I won't even go into how many people in my family have always had a Dodge in their driveway.

Now my car has a big brother. 

We don't name our cars, but they definitely always have a gender. Does anyone else do that?

Speaking of Big Brother. What the heck?

...

Not Cool Enough

I've been working for a month now at my "new" job. Last week, we had an inservice day where we spent half of the day as a group, and the other half working in our classrooms.

After the first 30 minutes, I'd decided I'm not cool enough to work there.

I'm not anything like the people I work with.

Hey, if you're cool with having more hair on your body than my cat (and you're a chick) that's fine by me. We can be friends.

I'm not that earthy.

If you want to eat vegetable empanadas for breakfast, go for it. Just pass me a bagel, with cream cheese.

I'm not that crunchy.

Doing yoga/meditating during work hours is great! I loved it! I just couldn't relax around these people. They're way more comfortable in their own skin than I am.

I'm not cool enough for these people.

You know what though? Who CARES?! I really don't. Really.

The point is, when I step into my classroom every morning at 7:30, I don't care if my co-workers are eating kale and sweet potato salad for breakfast. All that matters to me are those babies.

THEY are my job, and I already love the bonds I've created with them in this short period of time.

Also? I've learned so much. Like, Montessori is totally new to me and I'm trying to soak it all in.

That's a whole different post altogether.

For all I know some of their "green" habits will rub off of me. Maybe I'll actually start recycling/running marathons (ha)/(eventually) cloth diapering.

Until then, I'll continue eating my Lunchable in my car during my lunch break, because my lunch is not cool enough for these people.