The GNO

I will admit it... since I became a mom, I don't get out much. Not because I can't, more because I don't want to. You always think that you will miss going out with friends when you have kids.... but you don't. You would rather just stay home with them. Kiss them goodnight.... and then pass OUT as soon as you can. But you have GOT to get out sometimes and just be with friends. So when two of my friends (Katey and Anika) and I decided that we would all go see Breaking Dawn together. We ended up getting straight up giddy about this "event". We giggled on the phone when we talked about it, we planned and planned even though the plan never actually changed, and we talked about it like we were talking strategy in the huddle - "Ok Ok Ok..We will both pull our cars up next to each other at approx 11am, I will get out and go get my ticket and you stand in between the cars watching the kids. Then when I get back, you go get your ticket and 'break'. We will meet back here at 4:15pm. No, lets make it 4pm to be safe. We will get our popcorn and pee and meet back to take our position in line. If we get in there early, we need to save a seat. Lets sit in the middle. Not too close. Not too far. I don't want to have to turn my neck at all to see the movie." hahahahaha Strategy!! We came very close to getting matching shirts to remember the date! 


You see, it really was not about the movie. Well, we WERE really excited that Breaking Dawn was finally out. But not near as excited as we were that all 3 of us have kids, all 3 of us are married to the military, and all 3 of us were able to go AT THE SAME TIME. This was an EPIC event. Monumental really. Our husbands are not on the same rotation (one is not even on the same kind of boat) and it seems like making something like this happen is tough. The good news was, our husbands/babysitters were on alert from the beginning that Nov 18th posed a great chance for a Girls' Night Out and were ALL for it if it meant that they did not have to attend this movie as our date themselves. Their words - "oh Gosh GO... stay out all night... why don't you get dinner afterward... for gosh sakes I will stay here and clean toddler pee off the floor just do not make me be the one that has to go with you to see that movie." hahaha. <3 them. 


So off we went!! We had SO much fun. Our little theater here in town is just that.. little. So it is not like you have to stand in obnoxious lines and crowds. I happen to LOVE that about this place. We sat there for what felt like 15 minutes watching the movie (oh wait, that movie was 1hr, 50min??? didn't feel like it haha). Then two of us headed out to dinner. We laughed...we cried... we found out our waiter had a vasectomy 6 days earlier... it was a good time. 


We have GOT to start making this a monthly thing. Us mommys need it!!!! It is hard because we ARE each other's family. We usually call upon each other when we need someone to watch our kids last minute or whenever. We bring the kids along on outings because our hubby's are out on the boats so much. We kinda depend on each other. I envy people that can call their mom's, aunts, or sisters/brothers when they need a night off! Us girls call upon each other and therefore, we do not get to spend any of those nights TOGETHER!!! But while I envy those other people, I would not change anything in the world. I am just thankful... thankful to actually have friends like that in my life at all... that I can depend on and that I trust! Also thankful to have a hubby that supports the GNO. That's right, I said it.... The GNO! haha. Lets do it again!! 


As a side note - I was supposed to meet my bestie Maria somewhere half way between her place in Raleigh and here in GA. Girls weekend away!!! It didn't work out..... Just an example of how hard it is to plan something and have it stick when you have the jobs, and the kids, and life to worry about!! The good news is, we get to REplan for another weekend! :-) Having a GNO was probably what kept me from being bummed about not getting to see my Maria. Love all these  darn girls!! <3 <3  

Awesomeness.....

As many of you know, I have become a pinterest-aholic. It is SO a word. Look it up!!! I started a board on there called Genius because I kept running across things that I had nothing more to say about than "That is genius." Well, I sometimes think "I should have thought of that!!!!" You can check out my board here but here are a few samples: 

This is great.... you can put it away hot!

I should have thought of this....
it would be more useful in a diaper bag though! ;-)

I am just speechless with this one...

This got me thinking about other awesome things!!! Things you cannot find on pinterest because there are no pictures for such. Like my doggie's "innocent" look or Elleah's "innocent" look. I am such a sucker for that look, what can I say. Or when I am watching my dvr and I am skipping through commercials... how awesome is it to stop right when the show starts back up?? How about when you get an answer RIGHT when watching Jeopardy. Just shut up now if you get NO thrill from guessing the answer before they even buzz in... just shut up!! Oh and especially when other people are in the room. I also think it is so super awesome when I am sitting at home alone and something makes me laugh out loud. Literally. (ps-just being at home alone is pretty awesome too, all in itself). You know what else is really awesome.... fedex showing up when you completely forgot you ordered something online! SCORE! Oh and when I forget to set my alarm but I manage to wake up in time all by myself. That really is divine intervention right there (or sometimes Elleah). 

The other day, at Walmart, some guy who had a lot of things let me go ahead of him in line because I only had 2 things. THAT GUY, that guy is pretty awesome! Oh and when I can successfully pick something up with my toes!! And when your 28 year old friend hangs upside down from the bars at the park... AwwwweSoooome! 

When the score of the game is tied near the end of the game, when you high-five strangers, and when you say the exact same thing the sports commentator said minutes before he actually said it.. ALL awesomeness! 

I Love My Crock Pot! Chicken

I do not fancy myself a chef by any means. But I DO love to cook. I used to be an awful cook. These days, however, I am getting pretty darn good (if I do say so myself). And while I do love to cook, I do not like to cook the same thing again and again, and I do not like to cook too extravagantly. After all, I am a mother to a two year old and usually want to crash by the time dinner time even rolls around. I am a crock pot kinda girl. I love that dang thing. I can prepare my meals while Elleah is at morning school and serve it up easily at dinner time. The only down fall... you have to plan ahead to use the crockpot. I stink at planning ahead. But last night, I took out some chicken and grabbed my crockpot cookbook and started planning. 


I am one of those people that has a TON of food in their pantry and still think I have "nothing to cook." I made a promise to myself that in the coming weeks, I would try to cook something using EVERYTHING I have in my pantry. Not all at once, of course. With that being said, I needed to search for a recipe that involved not only chicken, but potatoes too! Because I had a whole 5lb bag of potatoes that has to go. 


So anyway, here I am looking for a recipe and I come across one that involved chicken, potatoes, and velveeta cheese...?!?!. I love velveeta cheese, but it sounded a little too heavy for me. I like my velveeta cheese on a chip, with a little rotel. :-) I stopped looking though, because I came up with recipe in my head based on this recipe I found in my book. 


It turned out AWESOME and I thought to myself "Self..... you may need to blog about this stuff." 


Here is the recipe: (in a "dinner for two" style format)


2 boneless, skinless chicken breast (I usually get 3 in a Tyson pack, so I just saved it for another day)
4-5 red potatoes
handful of frozen chopped bell pepper (any or all colors)(I keep these on hand bc I use them like its my job) 
handful of frozen chopped onion (I also keep these on hand)
1 can cream of Chicken Soup (any cream soup would work)
1 "can" of Milk (use the empty soup can)
salt 
pepper
Garlic Pepper Grinder (or just Garlic salt)


I sliced the potatoes into coins about 1/4 in thick. Then, I layered them in the bottom of the crockpot and sprinkled them with salt and pepper. In a small bowl, I mixed the can of soup with the can of milk and whisked it till it was combined. Add a little salt and pepper to the mixture. I poured it over the potatoes and then added the handfuls of peppers and onions. I laid the chicken breast on top and used my Garlic Pepper Grinder to season the chicken (you could totally just use pepper and some garlic salt). I popped the top on it and let it go. On high for an hour and then on low for another 4 hours. I just made sure the potatoes were done and then declared it ready! 


So simple and so easy. You could even add a little butter down with the potatoes if you wanted to. I am not exactly a recipe book writer, so it is probably hard to follow my directions. LOL. There is no exact anything though. Add as much peppers, onion, and salt that you want. I have learned that potatoes NEED salt. RIGHT? RIGHT! :-) These are things I ALWAYS have in my pantry so I am excited that I combined them to make something yummy. I have this meal as "I have nothing in this house to eat" back up!! haha. 

Yummy

Did you say, Ghost? *Zoinks*

As I have mentioned before... I Don't Do Scary!! Halloween has never been my favorite event and I pretty much down right hated it. However, like most things in my life, that ALL changed when I had Elleah. And this year was by FAR the best!! She is at the age where she really gets into it all and seeing her so into everything has totally sucked me in. We decided that this year, we would attend Trunk or Treat on the base here in Kings Bay. Basically, a bunch of cars line up around this block and kids in their costumes go from car to car "trick or treating." Elleah dressed up as an Angel/Devil. I think this costume is the epitome of what being TWO is all about. haha.

The trunk or treat block!

Devil and Angel

The next weekend, we went to the zoo in Jacksonville for Spooktacular. It is an adorable presentation of mixing the festivities of Halloween with the animals at the zoo. You follow the path lined with thousands of carved pumpkins and "trick or treat" at stations along the way. There are also Scare Zones where if you are 12 and up, you can go get spooked. No Thanks!! haha. But after telling me the first one was not so bad, I entered the 2nd one with my friend Katey. I literally walked about 10 ft in and when the first "monster" jumped out at me through the fog, I turned around and started to walk out. Katey and I had our arms looped and she dragged me back in. "Strategy thinking" kicked in and I decided to stay on these other people's heels in front of us because as long as they were ahead, nothing spooky could jump out without scaring them first, so I was more prepared! :-) Since I am typing this now, you know I made it out alive, but it was a close call and I will probably never attempt such pish posh again! LOL.

Some of the MANY MANY pumpkins!

The Saturday night before Halloween, TJ was out hunting and it was Elleah and I doing our thing. Which would have been fine if Elleah did not tell me she wanted me to play with her and her ghost!!!! In the spirit of Halloween??? Big imagination??? I don't know! But I know that I do not care to play with a ghost! A few hours later, while she was watching TV, she lifted her head up said "Hi Ghost" real quick and laid her head back down. I don't dig that kinda stuff! lol. So I came up with a great solution.... We built a tent. Naturally! Two blankets, three dining room chairs, and one piece of duck tape and WA-LA... ghost protection! You might be saying, "Katie, why not just put Elleah's little tent up in the living room?" Well, because one, I would not fit in it and two, where is the fun in that? So we made snacks and piled in there and watched Charlie Brown's Halloween special. It was a fun girls' night..... except for the ghost thwarting, of course!

Waiting for me to join her in the "tent"

Halloween FINALLY came and with all the practice Elleah had, she was a pro at trick or treating! Well, besides the fact that she does not talk to people she don't know, so she did not say trick or treat. She just walked up, waited for me to ring the bell, stuck her bucket up and got the candy, and turned and went running to the next house. She made it all the way around our block with her friends (Lily and Dylan) and filled her bucket to the top!! She dressed as a clown (another good costume for her personality, lol) and wore every piece of it the entire time! I was thinking that at some point, her wrist cuffs were comin off!! But nope, she stayed in tack!! :-)

Dylan as Bam Bam

Lily the Owl

I just think each year will keep getting better and better!! So, I guess Halloween isn't so bad! As long as the ghosts and monsters stay away.......

Next year I will call Scooby and the gang to help me out though! :-)