Missing People

I'm having a bit of a self-pity day. I miss my life in Washington. More specifically, I miss my friends. I miss having someone to do something with, no matter what it was. I miss my full calendar as well as the spontaneous get-togethers.

Sometimes friendship takes effort, such as when disagreements happen or they're just starting, but most of the time I feel true friendship doesn't require much effort after awhile. It's when there's no stress involved in spending time with each other. You just do it. "Everyone come over for coffee tomorrow morning! Just not before 9 or I'll be in my pajamas." Or "Hey, I'm going to the mall later; wanna join?" Or "I need coffee. Meet me at 2?"

Sigh.

I miss these girls.

 

"Without friends no one would choose to live." - Aristotle

Thanksgiving

The other day it dawned on me that Thanksgiving is the one holiday I can't bear to have messed with. Back during my cult-church days, Thanksgiving was one of the few holidays we were allowed to celebrate. Therefore, I have a lot of feelings of tradition for it that I don't have for other holidays. I love Christmas, but I could care less how we celebrate it. Easter is just any other Sunday; if someone wants to invite me to do something that's great, but if not, I'm just as happy to take a nap. But Thanksgiving? I've been celebrating it my whole life, so it has to be just so or I feel like something's missing. =)

This year I felt very blessed to have Andrew home again for the 2nd Thanksgiving in a row. In a life where holidays with your spouse feel more like a privilege than an expectation, I have definitely learned not to take that for granted! I was hoping to have some of his single buddies over because I love feeding people who don't get home-cooked meals very often, but that didn't work out. It was nice, though, just the two of us!

We certainly didn't lack for food:

That would be turkey, rolls, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potato souffle, green bean casserole, and homemade cranberry sauce. It was all delicious, if I do say so myself.

Dessert was pumpkin cake. It was delicious too--so moist. I may not like pumpkin pie, but I am sure down with some pumpkin cake!

The birds appeared to be celebrating Thanksgiving too:

We tried to give the cats some turkey, but cats just really aren't into celebrating holidays. They refused the turkey. Silly cats.

ABCs of Thankfulness

I used to enjoy doing this survey back when I used LiveJournal so I figure I'll continue the tradition. You will probably note that quite a few letters end up being a food or beverage. What can I say--I love food and beverages! ;-)

A - Army. It's not always an easy life, but I love the Army. It's awesome being part of something I believe in, it puts a roof over our heads, gives me adventures I'd never have otherwise, and allows me access to various benefits such as an amazing gym for free and a cheap place to get groceries. I also love the Army community (well, at least the cool percentage, haha). I'm also thankful that Andrew is enjoying his job, at least for now. =)

B - Butter. Butter makes the world a better place.

C - Cats. Without cats, my life would be lacking a good deal of laughs, affection, and companionship. Cats are such amazing creatures.

D - Dessert. I would be a miserable person without means of satisfying my sweet tooth.

E - Exercise. I'm glad I've grown to love it. I'm thankful for such an amazing gym to go to with such amazing trainers!

F - Friends. I have some of the best friends anyone could ask for. Considering I grew up close to friendless, this is something I'm grateful for every day. =)

G - Gas. Specifically, the fact that gas is now below three dollars here at Ft. Bliss.

H - Husband. I love my husband and I love being married. =)

I -In-laws. I'm pretty sure I have the best in-laws ever. Leaving out the fact that they spoil me way too much, they are wonderful people and so much fun to be around. I can totally be myself around them, and therefore I always look forward to visits to Michigan because I know they are going to be totally relaxing and devoid of any drama or the feeling of walking on eggshells.

J - Jesus. I'm thankful He died for me.

K - Kissing. It's fun, whether it's husbands or cats. ;-)

L - Literature. Books are awesome.

M - Mountains. They are so beautiful. I'm glad I'm getting to live near them once again. I'd rather have mountains than beach any day.

N -Nutrition. The study of nutrition is so fascinating to me and I become more and more obsessed with it all the time. I'm thankful that the truth is coming out about a lot of nutritional myths that have been popular for the last few decades and that people are starting to make healthier choices as a result.

O - Old Navy. It's one of my favorite places to shop.

P - Pizza. Yum.

Q - Quiet. Everyone needs some quiet in their lives, and as bored as I sometimes get these days, I am thankful for this period where I get to enjoy a quiet life. The busyness will start up again soon enough, so for now I'm making the most of it.

R - Root Beer. I don't let myself have soda too often, but when I do drink it, it has to be root beer.

S - School. I'm thankful I was finally able to make the jump this year and begin my college education. As stressful as school is sometimes, I thrive on it.

T - Texas. I may have pitched a fit about coming here at first, but it has grown on me. I don't want to live here forever but I am enjoying getting to experience a different culture. Texas definitely has a cult following, in a way! Haha

U - Unlimited. I pretty much love whenever anything is unlimited. ;-)

V - Vegetables. I'm glad I enjoy a good variety of vegetables. It makes being healthy a lot easier.

W - Wine. When you are sad, it makes you feel better. When you are happy, it makes you even happier. When you are stressed, it helps you relax. When you are with friends, it contributes to the laughter and the memories. Hooray for wine!

X - I think I'm going to skip X.

Y - Yoga. I'm glad I stopped being scared of it and jumped in. It's amazing and I know it's going to do a lot of positive things for my body.

Z - Zinc. It keeps you healthy and is found in such yummy foods as lobster, beef, and beans. ;-)

Oh cats...

We caught Foxy in a very relaxed sleeping position tonight. I couldn't not take pictures.

 

So dramatic.

(Note the awful state of our blinds. Always the evidence of pet owners. *sigh*)

Too cute.

I guess I should explain that Foxy is the newest member of the family. He showed up at the house a few months ago, all skin and bones and huge tail, and to nobody's real surprise, he's here to stay. He's still very timid around people, but otherwise seems to think he owns the place. =)

How many cups in a quart?

I have the worst memory for numbers. I don't know how many times I've been cooking/baking something in the kitchen and had to run over to my computer to figure out a kitchen conversion. No matter how many times I look them up, I never remember. I've seen a lot of ideas on Pinterest of storing things like grocery lists and recipes on the inside of cabinets, so suddenly it dawned on me today: make a conversion chart and put it on the inside of my baking cabinet!

I found this handy 2-page chart on the very first Google link that popped up. Not only does it have the basic conversions, it also has some other handy info like baking pan volume, how many marshmallows make 3 1/2 cups, and freezer life guidelines for various foods. Cool, huh?

I had to Scotch tape them up for now, but next time I'm at the store I'm going to get some laminating sheets and double-sided tape.

Just thought I'd pass this on for anyone who is as forgetful in the kitchen as I am! =)

Random Updatey Things

+ It's funny how it can only take a few months to not be accustomed to cool temperatures anymore! It is currently about 67 degrees right now in El Paso and extremely windy. There is so much dust blowing around that you can't see very far into the distance, and the mountains are hidden. Apparently this is what the weather is like here late fall through spring though so I'd better get used to it!

+ I had a very healthy breakfast (spinach/fruit/yogurt/flaxseed smoothie) and a very healthy lunch (quinoa veggie pilaf and a sweet potato), so now I'm making up for it with nutella chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven. One day I will have a completely healthy diet. But today is not that day. ;-)

+ Last night I'm pretty sure I had another mini-stroke, the first one in about 3 years. It still wasn't as bad as my first one, but there's nothing at all fun about seeing black spots, then feeling your brain go into a deep fog, your hand go numb, and a dull headache to finish it all off. Ugh.

+ Our passports came in the mail today. It's always stressful waiting for them, especially the closer you get to your trip, so I'm thankful they came in after only 2 weeks. Now, I just have to worry that Andrew's leave won't be approved for some reason or my in-laws will get snowed in and not be able to make their flight! Ha. I've mentioned it on Facebook but not here, but in case anyone missed it: my amazing in-laws are taking us on a cruise for Christmas! I've never been on a cruise so I am super excited. They even booked us an outside room with a balcony. Watching Caribbean sunsets every night for a week? I'll take it. =)

+ I've decided to get a Kindle. I've been extremely resistant to the idea of an e-reader for some time now, and honestly I think I will always prefer real books, but I realized this last move that my book situation is really out of control for this point in my life. Maybe one day, when I have a permanent house and still no kids so I can devote a whole room to being an old-fashioned library, I can buy zillions of books and never get rid of any of them. But until then, I need to stop buying books. I have no room for them. =( I've decided on the Kindle Touch without 3G, I think:

+ Speaking of books, I've finished two since I made my goal of reading 25 by the end of the year. (Yes, I read fast.)

+ I've been accepted to El Paso Community College and also had my major approved by MyCAA for funding. Next step is registering once my transcripts get sent over! I'm so excited to start school again. As much as I enjoy being only a housewife every once in awhile, I can't do it for too long.

+ That's all for now. Happy November!

I may not want kids, but....

I kinda want to offer to babysit someone's kid soon so I have an excuse to watch the new Winnie the Pooh movie when it comes out on DVD this week.

Or maybe not. I can't imagine I would be a very good babysitter with this kind of ulterior motive. And kids are not always reliable in their movie interests.

"You want to play outside? No-no, we are going to stay in here on the couch and watch Pooh."

"You don't like Pooh? Well, I don't like Yo-Gabba-Gabba. And guess who has the remote?"

Etc.

Soooo, instead of losing friends I should probably just be a weirdo and Netflix it for myself. ;-)

Disclaimer: I am not actually mean to kids when I babysit. Just in case anyone was concerned.

12 by 2012

How is it almost November already?? I saw an idea on a blog I started following called "12 by 2012." Basically it's a list of 12 things you want to accomplish by the new year. I've planned to do these things anyway, but putting them down and posting them for everyone to see will hopefully give me some accountability! So, here's my list!

1. Get registered for school.This is a given, but registering for school is always a huge pain in the butt, so I've been procrastinating. And what happens when you procrastinate about registering? The good classes fill up!
2. Finish organizing and decorating the house, specifically the office and master bedroom.
3. Start learning Spanish.
4. Establish a training schedule for the El Paso ½ marathon in February. My goal is to finish around 2 hours this time!
5. Perfect the process of making lattes with my espresso machine, as well as my own flavoring syrups.
6. Mercilessly pare down my book collection. If I didn’t love it and am not likely to reread it or insist someone else borrow it, out it goes.
7. Read 25 new books (via the library or finally biting the bullet and buying a Kindle). The one I’m in the middle of now, The Whistling Season by Evan Doig, can count as #1.
8. Do more weeding of my closet and wardrobe, and also attempt to finally pinpoint what my style is so I am more purposeful when I shop.
9. Plan out a list of things I’d like to do for date nights. There always seem to be a lot of things we want to do that we never get around to doing, and then we regret it once we’ve moved again.
10. Get involved in our new church. Right now we are just kinda “lost in the crowd.”
11. Find more crockpot recipes I like in preparation for being busy again come January.
12. Get organized for Christmas early, since we are going to be gone for part of the month. 

There you go! I'll keep you updated on my progress. =)

My first successful attempt at making a Mexican meal

A couple years ago I tried making enchiladas. I hated them. Not long after I attempted quesadillas. Whatever recipe I used must've been a crappy one, because the tortillas burned and the filling didn't cook. My conclusion: Mexican food is hard and trying it only results in wasting money thanks to ruined ingredients. Haha I still don't think I'll ever try enchiladas again; I've realized recently that I probably failed at them because I don't really care for enchiladas. I never order them when I go out for Mexican, so why bother making them at home? But ever since I ordered a carnitas platter at the first Mexican restaurant we tried after arriving in El Paso, I have been burning to recreate that meal. It was SO GOOD!

Here is how my attempt turned out: 

It was delicious! I will change a few things next time I try the meal, though. The pork and the beans needed the seasonings upped quite a bit. I was cautious with them because I don't like things too spicy or salty, but after tasting them in the context of the meal, I would probably double the seasonings on the pork and the beans just needed a lot more salt (I did add more when I reheated them and they were much better).

The pork was super easy. I basically combined a few different recipes from Allrecipes.com and this is what I ended up with:

• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 (4 pound) boneless pork shoulder roast
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 small can chopped chilies    

Mix together spices in a bowl. Cut pork roast into 2-inch chunks. Coat pork with the spice mixture. Place pieces in the bottom of a slow cooker. Pour the chicken broth around the sides of the pork, being careful not to rinse off the spice mixture. Add chilies. Cover and cook on High until the pork shreds easily with a fork, about 4-5 hours (or 10 hours on Low). Turn the meat halfway through cooking time. When the pork is tender, remove from slow cooker, and shred with two forks. Spread the pork in a thin layer on a baking sheet and add a few generous spoonfuls of the cooking liquid. Put in the oven at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, until it is browned and the liquid has evaporated.

It may not look appetizing right now, but the smell sure is!

A peek during the browning process. Is it time for dinner yet?!

The recipes for the refried beans and rice I don't want to share here. They are from a friend's parents' restaurant so I'm sure they'd rather not have them published all over the web for anyone to find. =) But she did say I could share them, so if anyone would like them, just shoot me an email. But I did find similar recipes for the beans here and for the rice here that I'm sure would be just as delicious. After all, seasoning is always up to the individual person and that's really the key. Another key to the beans is not to rush them. They need to be cooked until they are VERY tender, or they won't mash well.

For my tortillas, I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe. I was pretty intimated upon reading how hard it is to get them just right, and pretty prepared for half of them to go straight to the trash. But I followed her recipe exactly, and to my surprise I didn't have a single bad one out of the whole batch. I didn't bother with trying to get them perfectly round though since I'm sure that just takes a lot of practice and it doesn't effect the taste so who cares? =)

One taste of these beauties and you'll never buy a tortilla from a store again! =)

3-41 Rifle Ball

Last night was our first ball with the new battalion.

From Blogger Pictures

It's so fun to get glammed up. But I didn't take many pictures this time.

From Blogger Pictures

Part of the grog ceremony, which is always one of my favorite parts.

From Blogger Pictures

Me with Marian, the Sergeant Major's wife. She is the awesomest person ever and we have several mutual friends from Lewis so it was SO cool we ended up in this battalion. =)

From Blogger Pictures

Hubby and me, although WHY does it appear that I'm not looking at the camera? And we decided not to do professional photos this time too. Sigh.

This ball was kind of an odd one for me since at our last one back in WA, I had so many friends there I barely had time to say hi to them all, whereas this one I only knew 2 people. And I was also the only girl at our table, but it was full of young Privates who were mostly from Andrew's platoon and they were quite entertaining. In some ways soldiers take a long time to grow up. ;-) Anyway, it was a fun night. I'm looking forward to many more events with our new battalion!

Fall TV

I thought I'd give food a rest and talk about what I think of the fall TV line-up. It's no secret I don't have much of a life right now due to not having a car or a job and school not starting til January, so my days consist of keeping the house clean, finding yummy recipes to cook and bake, organizing projects, and DVRing any show that sounds interesting. Heh heh.

So here are my opinions on what I'm watching these days, both new shows and ones I've been watching for years.

MONDAYS

Dancing with the Stars

Other than JR, the former soldier who came back from Iraq severely burned after an incident with an IED and has become a well-known motivational speaker, this season has been pretty bleh to me. If JR doesn't make it to the end (and he should, because he is an excellent dancer, let alone amazing person), I'll probably stop watching because I don't like most of the rest of the cast. Horrible dancers like Chaz Bono, who looks like he's never done a lick of exercise in his life and doesn't deserve to be left on the show week after week just because he's had a gender change, are being saved and good ones are going home.

How I Met Your Mother

As legen--wait for it!--dary as ever.

2 Broke Girls

The amusing previews and unusual premise made me want to check this one out. I am really enjoying it so far. But it needs more plot development or it's going to crash and burn very quickly. A show can't survive on the main characters tossing one-liners at each other alone. The conclusion is that I'm going to keep watching but if it doesn't get more organized soon, I'll probably get bored. By the way, it's refreshing to see a main character of a sitcom who is neither extremely overweight or a size 2...because let's face it, that's nearly always Hollywood's only options. "America is tired of unrealistic skinny girls? Okay, let's have one who is unhealthily overweight to make them feel better about themselves!"

Two and a Half Men

We've always only watched re-runs of this show, but all the furor over Charlie Sheen's meltdowns and the announcement the show was continuing without him made us curious. So we checked out the premiere, and discovered the show can actually work without Sheen. Ashton Kutcher is hilarious. I'm sure it won't last forever but I'm glad the show sent a message to egotistical, self-destructive actors that they aren't as indispensable as they might think they are.

TUESDAYS

NCIS

The same good show as ever! 

Raising Hope

My friend Amy got me into this show last year, and Andrew likes it too because the humor reminds him of one of his favorite shows, My Name is Earl. It's cute, wildly eccentric, and funny.

Glee

I seriously only watch this show because of the awesome singing and dancing. And occasionally it makes me laugh.

Unforgettable

This is one of my favorites of the brand new shows. I love Poppy Montgomery and I love the show's premise, about a police detective with an very rare disorder that allows her to never forget anything she's ever seen. I got interested in it when I heard it's actually a real disorder: it's called HSAM (highly superior autobiographical memory). Another actress has HSAM and serves as a consultant on the show. Anyway, it's good and I hope it sticks around!

Body of Proof

This show is kinda dumb and tries too hard to be funny. But yet I keep watching it, mostly because I enjoy seeing the medical examiner side of things. Once I get super busy again it'll probably be one of the first ones I drop. 

WEDNESDAYS

Criminal Minds

What can I say? It remains my favorite show. I'm glad the crew is back together again. I do have one minor complaint for the show's writers though--why are they always showing us who the perp is from the very beginning now? I don't like that. I've been watching re-runs from old seasons on A&E and I preferred how you wouldn't know the guilty person until near the end. Oh well. It's still completely awesome.

Law & Order: SVU

I was upset when they announced Stabler was leaving and Benson was only doing a few episodes. However, I decided to give it a chance, and the result is that I'm sure I'll keep watching. They are handling the transition of the new detectives very well. I'll miss the Stabler/Benson duo very much, but at least the new duo is promising.

CSI (Las Vegas)

Another show I only watch if I have time. But it's entertaining, and the new guy is interesting.

THURSDAY

Big Bang Theory

Love, love, love. As always.

Person of Interest

This is another show that caught my eye for its unusual premise. A super computer system that watches everyone and can tell they are going to be involved in some kind of crime. But it doesn't know whether the person is the perpetrator or the victim, and that is Jim Caviezel's character's job to find out and then stop the crime from happening. It's sort of sci-fi as far as the super computer is concerned, but the rest works out more like a crime thriller. It's interesting.

FRIDAY

CSI:NY

Gary Sinise is such a good guy. His show makes me roll my eyes very often. But it's probably my favorite of the CSIs. 

SUNDAY

Dexter

We got Showtime free for a few months with our new cable set-up, and since I was just finishing up the seasons of Dexter out on DVD, it worked out perfectly to start watching the new season. Dexter isn't for everyone, but I find it fascinating.

Pan Am

This show is so pretty. I'm enjoying it so far; we'll see where it goes.

So...that's it. Please don't judge my excessive TV watching during this brief period in my life. ;-)

Deep-Dish Pizza!

Last night I tried a recipe for deep-dish pizza that I had pinned on Pinterest a few weeks ago. We gave it two thumbs up!

The recipe was from The Comfort of Cooking. If you want to see a picture, click on the link because after waiting 3 hours for it to be done (due to circumstances I wasn't able to start the dough rising til 5pm), we were in too much of a hurry to eat it for me to grab my camera! I've never tried deep-dish pizza before but it was quite easy. I made mine in a 9-inch pie plate and it worked perfectly. The dough was soft and chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside, the toppings were perfect (although I wish I would've had some fresh basil), and...it was just yum. I was also happy with the thriftyness of the recipe because it makes enough dough for 2 pizzas and only uses half package of Italian sausage! Also, I had some leftover for lunch today. I put the other half of the dough in the freezer as the recipe mentions, and I'm excited to make it again and play with some more toppings. =)

Here's the recipe:

Pizza Dough
Makes 2 pizza crusts

Ingredients
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/3 cups warm water
1 envelope yeast

Directions
Add the yeast to the warm water and set aside for 5 minutes.

Mix together the flour, salt, sugar and olive oil. Stir the yeast into the water and make sure it’s all dissolved. Add it to the flour mixture. Mix until everything is combined, and knead with a dough machine or by hand for about 8 minutes.

Oil two bowls lightly with olive oil and set aside. Divide the dough into two pieces and roll into balls. Place each ball into the oiled bowls, seam side down, and brush the tops with a little olive oil. Top each bowl with plastic wrap or a clean, dry towel and place the dough in a warm place (I use a turned-off oven). Let rise 2 hours.

Once risen, use the dough or wrap in plastic wrap, then a plastic baggie, and freeze or refrigerate.

Deep Dish Sausage Pizza with Spinach Salad
Serves 4


Ingredients
3 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
6 ounces Italian sausage, casings removed
12 ounces pizza dough, homemade or frozen store bought, at room temperature
1/2 pound mozzarella, grated (2 cups)
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Directions
Add 1 tablespoon olive oil to a pan and cook sausage over medium heat until browned, 6-7 minutes. As it cooks, break the sausage into crumbles with a potato masher (this makes it much easier!) or large spoon. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate and set aside.

Heat oven to 400° F. Coat a 9-inch oven-proof skillet or cake pan with 1 ½ tablespoons of the oil. Stretch and press the dough into the pan, covering the bottom and sides. Top with half the mozzarella, then the tomatoes, oregano, and remaining mozzarella.

Scatter the crumbled sausage over the pizza. Bake until the crust is golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes.