pick something!

Yesterday I had a job to do: go to the store and pick out a baby gift. That's all. Simple really. All I had to do was go to the store, print out the registry and pick out the gift. No big deal. Quick trip. No brainer. Except that when I am in the picture, it is never just a quick trip and it is never does not involve the brain. Which I suppose is a good thing. Except it's not. I stood in front of the bottles for an hour trying to decide which ones I should get.

I knew I wanted to get one from the registry, so that's not a problem. But, which one? I found one that was on the registry but here's where the problem comes in. I wanted to get the little liner bags for the bottles too. But, they didn't have any for the size bottle I found. What should I do? Get the bottles and no liners? Get the liners and no bottles? Get both even though they aren't really made for each other, even though they were both on the registry. Or get something else all together? I just couldn't decide.

Then I saw a bonus package. Five bottles for $10 with 50 some liners, the same exact kind that were on the registry. But this awesome bonus package wasn't on the registry. The bottles that were on there were sold in packs of three for $12.99. I was torn. The bottles were great, but the one I really thought would be great (or thought was a better deal, cause let's face it, it was) wasn't on the registry.

So I called The Hubs. I needed to talk this out.I hung up after it rang. I knew what he was going to say. Make a decision and come home. When he called me back two minutes later he said exactly what I knew he would. No help. So I stood in front of the bottles for another hour trying to decide what to do. Finally I had had enough of my shenanigans and yelled at myself, "Dang it, Hannah! Pick something. Just pick something, buy it, and go home. Now. You have one minute. One minute. 60, 59, 58, 57, 56, 55, 54, 53 ...."

And I did. I picked something off of the registry, and took it to the counter. It didn't take me that long. Once I had made my mind up that I was going to just pick something and buy it.

Needless to say, they better like the gift. It took five years off my life. Seriously. Why can't I just make a decision? Quickly? Do you know how long it would have taken The Hubs to get a gift? Two minutes. I'm not even kidding. Oh well. I am me and I am indecisive. That's just how it is. eh...  

But I am excited about the baby shower. I have a bunch more coming up. Everyone I know is having a baby. Okay, maybe that's not true. I might be exaggerating just a little bit. But it's pretty much the truth. Anyhow. That's what I'm up to tomorrow.

I hope you guys all had a wonderful Saturday! Happy weekend!

     

Lemon Time

One of my friends had a baby a few weeks ago and we got to visit them at the hospital for a little while. Today I am excited because I get to go and visit my lovely friend and her new baby at her house for longer than just a little bit. I am just pleased as punch that I get to visit! I was so excited in fact that I fixed a whole pot of soup and some bread to take them so Mama could have a little bit of a break and just worry about her and baby.

I asked if she would like me to bring something for dinner, I didn't want to show up at her house with some food and them to already have plenty of it. She was excited about the soup idea so I went to the grocery store and bought the goods. Growing up my mom would always fix the best potato soup with dumplings. It is seriously the best soup ever. I will share the recipe with you some time this winter, soup is after all, the perfect winter meal.

Along with the soup I baked a little loaf of bread. I was thinking about a french loaf, which always tastes amazing with pretty much any soup, but I found a new recipe in my "Taste of Home" magazine that looked wonderfully delicious. I decided I had to try it. It is a a quick bread and it turned out beautifully. Normally I like to stick with the amazing tried and true: pumpkin, blue berry, apple... But I thought I should give a new one a go just to see if held up to the others. It did. I was a little skeptical about how it would turn out because the herb is so strong, but it is Amazing. Bake some. Now. You will thank me later. K?

So, without further rambling, I share with you "Taste of Home's" Lemon Thyme Bread:

1/2 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup sour cream
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. minced fresh thyme
1 Tbsp. grated lemon peel [one whole lemon grated]
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
Confectioners' sugar [aka powdered sugar, though I'm sure you all knew that. One day I will have to tell you a funny story about that...]

1. In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar till fluffy. Beat in egg. Combine buttermilk and sour cream. Combine the flour, thyme, lemon peel, baking soda, and salt; add to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk mixture, beating well after each addition. [I dumped everything in the same bowl and mixed it all together, it saved time and bowls and turned out just perfectly.]

2. Dump into a greased 8 in x 4 in. bread pan. Bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes. After baking let cool. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar.

You could always make these into muffins, that would be equally delicious. Or little loafs. I split mine into two bread pans to I could taste it before I took it over.

Anywho. I thought it was really good and turned out well. If you like baking or if you like bread, you should really try it out and let me know what you think! I think it's a keeper : )

healthy and yummy

A while back The Hubs went grocery shopping and bought a very large bag of frozen tilapia. I do not like fish. No. I don't. I never really have. Well, that's not completely true. I used to eat sardines from the tin all the time. They were my favorite thing ever. So much so that I named one of my favorite stuffed animals Sardines. I really loved me some sardines. But then I stopped liking sardines and fish in general. My taste buds changed or something. I mean, I still ate some fishy type meals just cause that's what we were having for dinner and I would rather eat something than be hungry. And what ever was fixed for dinner was what we had to eat for dinner. So I would begrudgingly eat my tuna melts or salmon patties or whatever other sea food was served for dinner. If it were my choice I wouldn't eat it.

But, back to The Hubs' purchase. He saw the fish and thought it would be a good way to get healthy. Fish is supposedly healthy for you. So we bought some marinades at the store to trick my taste buds into liking the tilapia. It tasted terrible. I ate two bites and was full... of fish, so I fixed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to enjoy. But since I hate wasting food (aka money) we were determined to figure out a way that I could fix the fish and kind of enjoy it too. After trying dozens of recipes and marinades and detesting every single one of them I found what appeared to be a little gem of a recipe. The picture looked alright so I thought I would give it a go. But there was a problem. I didn't have all of the ingredients. Naturally, I wasn't about to go and buy them. So I switched a bunch of the ingredients around so much so that I'm sure it tastes nothing like the actual recipe. But, I liked it. I actually ate my whole little fishy.

I thought I would share my recipe with you so that you could try it. You can tell me if it's terrible. I really won't mind. But I still fix it because we had a lot of fish to eat and it's the only way I will eat it. Let me know what you think of it if you try it.

Tasty Tilapia

1/2 cup peaches and juice (or pineapple - I use the little fruit cups that come individually packaged, one of those little guys is the perfect amount!)    
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons parsley
5 teaspoons canola oil
2 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
5 green onions, chopped (I've used chives too and it is equally delicious)
fish fillets (however many you want up to 8, I usually fix three for me and The Hubs)

Mix all of the ingredients together (minus the fish). Add the fish, coat, and marinate for about an hour (I usually can't wait that long and it sits for about 30 minutes, which is plenty of time : ) .  Then we normally put it on the grill and cook it accordingly. I'm not really sure how long, just you know, as long as it takes to cook fish. Then you enjoy it while it is nice and hot!

We normally pair the fish with some wild rice and a nice little spinach salad. It makes for a very yummy and healthy meal. If you try it let me know how it turns out/if you like it : )

Happy Wednesday!

Fall Break

Friday was the first day of Fall Break. We didn't have Friday off, but after school Fall Break began, so yes, Friday was the first day of Fall Break. Today however, is the first real day of break because I didn't have to go to school. In fact, I didn't have to do a thing all day long. And I didn't. No, I really didn't do anything. It's quite a shame really. But I cannot tell you how wonderful today has been. I have been able to stay home and chill. It has been wonderful. I took Puppy for a walk and am working on getting the laundry done.

Other things will get done this week, but today I decided to chill and do absolutely nothing. It has been the perfect day. Hopefully tomorrow I will get a lot of grading, planning, and work type stuff accomplished. Wednesday The Hubs and I have a fun home project that I am hoping turns out beautifully. I will post some pictures after it is all said and done. Thursday I hope I can visit my friend and her new baby girl and get a few more work things done (ugh). Friday we are going to the dentist. I am hoping I won't have any cavities.

Anyhow. That's what my week looks like. Well, my plans for it anyway : ) I know somethings might change it up here or there. But I am hoping it is a relaxing and productive week. More relaxing than anything else, but it can't be all fun and no work. Oh, well.

I am just so thankful for this break. It really is a much needed break. I always used to think the break was more for the students, but now I kind of think it is more for the teachers. Either way, I love it and am so thankful for it. I'm also rejoicing that I made it a whole quarter as a teacher. It feels as though it's been forever and at the same time like no time at all. Crazy.

Anyhoot. I am back, for a week : ) ... and hopefully I will be able to catch up with all of you and all that is going on in Blog Land.

Happy Monday : )

dinner : )

Tonight for dinner I had perogies, pretzels, and pickles. 

It was delicious. 

Walnuts

I love Saturdays. I'm not really sure who wouldn't love a Saturday. They are simply wonderful. I was looking forward to this Saturday in particular. One reason being I knew we wouldn't be going any where. Don't get me wrong, I love going places and seeing people. But I really just love being home. I like to be able to get things done around the house or maybe (if it's a special occasion) do nothing at all. But even if being at home involves cleaning and laundry and other such chores I would still pick to be at home. Another reason I love Saturdays is because I get to sleep in. I love sleep and I hate hearing an alarm go off in the morning. That's why one of my favorite things about Saturdays is not having to wake up to an alarm.

Last night I stayed up super late, it was at least 10:45 before I dragged myself from the couch where I had already been snoozing to go upstairs for bed. I was very much looking forward to sleeping as long as I wanted.

But this morning an alarm went off. Not mine. Not the Hubs'. The walnuts. Yes. The walnuts woke me up rudely and abruptly. In fact when I was first jolted out of my sleep I thought I had heard a gun shot. That's what walnuts sound like.

Ok. Maybe they don't always sound like a gun shot. But around these parts, they do. Yes, sir-ee. You see, we have a shed. The shed has a tin roof. The walnut tree grows right over the shed. So, every fall starting in mid-August and lasting until about the middle of November the walnuts fall. Any time they fall and hit the shed, "BANG!" It is so loud it is ridiculous. And it literally sounds like a gun has been fired two feet from our house.

This is especially scary when the hubs is not home and it is dark out side. And it is irritating when you are trying to sleep and walnuts keep falling.

I just thought I'd share my thoughts from this morning about how much I love walnuts : )

ok. that's all.

pumpkin patch

We went to the pumpkin patch the other day. Actually, it was more like a week ago, but you know, same thing. The point is we went and it was a nice time. We went with friends from our small group and it was a perfectly gray and drizzly day. 

Instead of blabbing on and on about it I will share a few pictures from the day. 

picked pumpkins

warty squashes  : )  

Me and the Hubs in the apple orchard. 

Apples. But I'm sure you could figure that out on your own. 

The pumpkin patch. 

Pickin' pumpkins. 

This makes me happy. 

Okay, that's about all I have for now.