The Best Chicken Dish I Make :D

Okay, so yesterday on the Monday Mingle, I talked about the most asked for recipe  in this house. I mentioned the entire thing to Andrew, and that we were having chicken for dinner.

His face dropped when I told him I wasn't able to make the chicken potato bake for the third time this week.

So, as requested by the lovely and talented Stefany, here is the recipe for chicken potato bake. It's so easy, I don't really use the measurements any more, but I'll give them anyway.


4 bone-in chicken pieces **Edit: I use boneless, skinless chicken breast and as many as I need for however many people I'm feeding that night, lol

1 1/2 lbs potatoes, cut into thin wedges **I can't seem to get my wedges down pat, so I cut my potatoes into chunks, wedges, slices, scallops... whatever! And about 2 big potatoes is plenty for 4 chicken breasts, unless you really like them, then maybe 2 and a half.

1/2 cup zesty Italian dressing **I stopped measuring this ages ago. See further down for what I now do.

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese **Stopped with this too: keep reading!

1 tsp Italian seasoning ** see past two notations, lol


So.

Preheat your oven to 400. You need a baking dish with a lid, or lacking such, a baking dish and some foil.

Put your breasts (no, no... the CHICKEN breasts, you pervert) in the baking dish. Add enough Italian dressing to half cover them. I like to sprinkle a little cheese here, for good measure. Add your potatoe whatevers... I make the top as even as possible, then add an obscene amount of Italian dressing over the potatoes. When I say obscene, I mean on this one dish, I use about 3/4 the bottle. YOU DO NOT HAVE TO BE A PIG LIKE ME!! Use as much, as little, or even the exact numbers, as you want. No worries :) Last but not least, sprinkle a thick coat of parmesan cheese over it all and a little Italian seasoning on that.

Cover and bake for 30 minutes. 

Remove cover and bake for another 30 minutes.

Dig in :D and make sure you get some of the potatoes and the sauce that they cookied in. Oh, baby, oh baby.



This recipe is so very easy. And quick, too, minus the potato cutting, which only takes me forever because I use a butter knife. I'm a wuss like that, guys. Really.

Monday Mingle- Vloggy!

So today is Monday! That means, Monday Mingle as promised in a vlog! I had to do it quickly (yes, 7 minutes IS quickly for me) because my goober wants to watch a few movies with me today <3

I should have mentioned that Andrew is also a gamer, but he (and I) game in a lot of ways. Video, roleplay, board, etc... we do all of it and it's a lot of fun, but you're right, Alexes, they do get in the way A LOT.

So, here it is, and good luck, lol!

The questions were:

1. Name your 5 favorite movies

2. What is the most requested/favorite meal in your house?

3. Is your husband/partner/significant other into sports? If so, does it irritate you when he/she watches, or do you join in?

I would like to apologize for the quality. I do this on my webcam and for something reason, it records sounds a lot slower than it records actions. I dunno how to fix this, and any tips would be appreciated. Very sorry :(

Three days a week and the Recap

Okay... so I've decided to switch around my whole vlogging ideals. It's never going to be a Friday again, lol: I have too much to say.

I've also come to a theory, just this second... I wonder if I can blog/vlog on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and get away with it?

Monday Mingle, with a few Mumbles....Vlog n' Blog!

Wordless Wednesdays, that always ends up being not so Wordless.

And the Friday Recap, which tends to be long and boring.

I could do that. Could you do that? Like, I mean... could you read that much or that little every week and still like coming to my blog, assuming that you actually do like coming now...

It's a thought. And you'd get a lot more that way. I might even be able to do a lovely amount of photography for Wednesdays. I need to get you a picture of 13 1/2 St. is what I need to do...

So let's get on with the Friday recap as I contemplate this whole thrice a week thing.

Monday... nothing special.  Tried to make lasagna, forgot to take out the hamburger to thaw.
Tuesday, I worked. Got mad at Andrew because he was grouchy about taking me to work at 9 am, even though I wake up all the time to take him at 4. Laundry was done while I was gone, and the floor was vacuumed, and the dishes done. I think he felt bad. Tried to make lasagna. Had no ricotta cheese. Camp deployed for Afghanistan and Teresa spent the first of many lonely nights alone, poor girl.
Wednesday... nothing special. Played Sims. Drank orange juice. Ignored the laundry on the couch. Tried to make lasagna. Had no noodles. At this point, I was peeved.
Thursday, I worked. Ignored the laundry on the couch. Bought groceries at the commisary and REMEMBERED THE CHEESE, NOODLES, AND HAMBURGER! We ate frozen microwave dinners.

Today:

              I AM MAKING THAT DANGED LASAGNA!!!!

So frickin' there.

I'm planning on taking some to Teresa, along with some brownies, because she needs it. I don't know how well she'll take seeing Andrew, so I might leave him home.

Now, let me tell you about this here:

The Incredible Mrs. B is having a) a retro cooking month, and b) a give away today. I want to win this give away. It would be awesome. It's the chance to win a Fantasy Me custom digital portrait from Angelique's Art... and I would LOVE IT. I would love a lot of things, but this... this is awesome. If you dunno what a "custom digital portrait" would look like, go to Angelique's Deviant Art Gallery


If you'll excuse me, I need to go Tweet and follow and follow some more so I can win :)

I leave you with this:

Mattison and Masen, my Ducky and my Moose-moose <3

My Family Needs a Little Help... *eye twitches*

It is my sincerest opinion that they need to add more variety to their pets.

I had to improvise.

Poor bird.

Make your Stick Figure Family at FreeFlashToys.com

In other news, we went bowling last night! It was fun, and I enjoyed it, although everyone was drinking and that was really quite annoying and gross. I hate alcohol, in all forms. It makes smart people stupid, and nice people mean. It is very, very possible to have fun without it... but it's not easy to have fun when it's split in half, some drunks, and some intelligence.

We brought Eirich home with us, which I wasn't especially pleased about. He sleeps on our air mattress and eats our food.... how is that anything cool or fun?

Today, we're going to a birthday part for Jen's little boys, Eric and Johnathan at around 3 or 4, and then after that, we're going to head to one of the civilian guys that works in the Armory, too, for a bbq potluck thingy. I'm going to do dishes and make Marlboro Man's Favorite Sandwich for brunch, and then, I'll take my camera and get some pics.

I want to show you more. I want you to meet Jen, who is beautiful and sassy. I want you to meet Stone, who's a walking stick with the prettiest brown eyes I've ever seen (and I really don't find brown eyes attractive). I want to show you Eric, and Johnny, and Jeffrey, who is adorable. I wish I could introduce you to Addison, who is an angel on earth, but she's still in the hospital, and her mom, Morgan, which is where she got the angelic-ness from, and Young, her dad that did not contribute in anyway to her angelhood, lol, because he's a felon (he rode a 4 wheeler through a cornfield that WAS NOT marked, and the owner, that doesn't live there, got mad... and we now tease him endlessly).

And I would like to give you more Andrew. Just cuz I like him so much. =D

Things I Am Considering on a Friday Morning.

Here are a few of the things I am...well, considering, obviously. They are random, they are snippy, they are not going to make much sense!

Onward!

1) Is my husband actually going to get laundry or dishes done while I'm gone today at work? I gave him the option, to pick which he'd prefer, and yet, I have a feeling I'm going to come home at 5 and have to do both... Dear Andrew, please make me a liar. Do the dishes. Please.

2) What in the name of all that is decent and holy is going on with my hair today? I am considering a freaking bun like a schoolmarm.

3)Where did all the beef go in my beef and broccoli? I didn't finish dinner last night, my mouth got bored again, so I woke up to eat it this morning. I ate some...and now, I am beefless. It's depressing. I refuse to eat rice and broccoli in an oyster soy vinegar sherry sauce if there's no BEEF.

4) Am I the only one that remembers that old commercial? "Where's the beef?" I don't even know if it was a commercial, it's one of those things that your mom tells you about so often that it becomes your own quirky-weird memory. Please help me not feel insane. If you can't do that...do my dishes!

5)I'm considering wearing my boots to work today. They fit the requirements: closed toe, closed heel. But will they look good with these pants? More importantly, will I be able to stand for 6 hours in them and not scream hysterically at the end of the day? Even more importantly...will anyone realize that the socks I have to wear with them are actually pink striped toe socks?

6)This, I am not considering. This, I am sure of. I need that Starbucks! Or else, I need to go back to bed for an hour. Which I could do, actually, it's only 8:45... But NO, I MUST NOT CONSIDER A NAP! If I do, the day will suck.

7) I am considering putting a countdown on here to our trip to Tucson. Okay, countdown reconsidered. I'll just tell you.... 18 DAYS! Eighteen Days, eighteen days, 18d... Woohoo!!

8) I was laying in bed this morning when I thought of taking my laptop on the plane with me. I heard recently about some airplanes offering WiFi in the air, if you can believe it, and I have to wonder...If I get one of them, could I blog while flying? Reading in the car makes me sick, would typing in the plane make me sick? I can watch movies on the road...maybe I can in the air? PW blogs while in her car...Can I do it whilst in ze plane, ze plane?

9) Is the ice going to be melted off my car before I have to leave for work? Dang it, it better be. I hate ice. I hate cold. I hate Tennessee.

10)...how did we end up with the weirdest, goofiest, clumsiest bird on the planet? He's trying to sit on his head again, and making sweet little chirpy sounds while he does it....and there he goes. Off the perch. I knew it was coming, he probably did too...so now he's romancing his mirror. *sigh*

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go take a nap....ER O.O I mean.... I'm gonna get my Starbucks...

Dear Santa... Writer's Prompt from Mama Kat

Ah, Thursday. Day of Writers' Workshops. I was born on a Thursday...they say, "Thursday's child has far to go." Seriously, isn't Tennessee and all of it's odd weather far enough?? The only thing further for me would probably be India...but at least it gets hot there.

But I digress. Brace yourself, this is gonna be a whopper.

Alexes did it.. I bet that if she wasn't having red and green food for Advent dinner, Michelle would do it. Therefore, I am gonna be a follower today and use one of Mama Kat's Famous Writers' Workshop Prompts :D

(Boy, I am just full of linky goodness today, aren't I?)

Dear Santa Claus,

This is not my best year. In fact, this might be the craziest year of my life so far, and given that you see me when I'm sleeping, when I'm awake, when I'm actually supposed to be sleeping but am instead awake doing ungodly things in the middle of the night....*ahem* Sorry, let's continue....you know that life so far for me hasn't exactly been --how shall I put this?-- SANE?

Ere-go, I've got quite the list for you. I don't doubt you can do it, but whether or not I merit it is still in question. I'm not really all that nice. Hence the snarky letter you're receiving atm. (That's chatspeak, means "at the moment". I'm sure you knew that. Mrs. Claus probably texts you like a madwoman when you're out with the reindeer doing whatever it is you do with them on the off season...)

First, though, I want to say thank you. It's been rather a while since I wrote. In fact, I was about 13-ish, and madly in love with Justin. I thought, heck why not? and asked you for a boyfriend that would love me "at least as much as he loves himself". Got that line from a book by Lynn Kurland. She's awesome, btw, I recommend her to the Mrs. wholeheartedly. Well, Santa dear, you delivered. In fact, you old over-achiever you, I didn't just get a boyfriend from the deal. I got an entire lifetime goober! =D Said goober is at work right now, but I'm sure he sends his love. He wants CODMW2 for the 360. (Again, I'm sure you're familiar with all of these acronyms by now. My life seems to be filled with them these days. That one there is Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Like we need another bang bang you're dead game around these parts, right? Because I don't already hear REAL gunfire when I go get a gallon of milk at the commissary, right?? *facepalm*)

So yes. Thank you. I loved him. He came at a weird time though. October? I mean... really? But it's made up for by his original plan to propose on Christmas....too bad that didn't go through. Friggin Army. But thank you =D I'll keep him for a good long while, feed him, all that good stuff. Unlike the Nano Baby that was in my stocking one year. I... *sniffle* I don't talk about Onan often. It hurts too much...*wipes nose on shirt*

This year, Santa Baby, I want a yacht. No, I'm joking. I can't swim. Why would I want a boat??

No, I want to win the lottery. Here is my plan. I want to win the Tennessee Lottery and move back to Arizona. Then, I want to with the Arizona Lottery. With both winnings, I plan to buy a little ranch somewhere around Oracle. Maybe... hmm, maybe somewhere off behind Great Grampa's old house. I wanna get a pair of good, sturdy saddle horses, a mare and a stallion preferably, one white and brown paint and the other a nice deep brown... oh, or one of the tan ones, with the black manes and feet. I'll plant watermelons and daisies and lavender and strawberries in my garden, as well as beautiful tall Ponderosa pines, like G. Grampa did for the Forest Service. We'll get a white Jeep Wrangler, and a nice sports car for Andrew. 350Z should do, dark metallic blue, and makes sure our road is mostly paved so that it doesn't hurt the suspension on it.

And the house we can have specially built. Two stories, with lots of open space and big windows... and a wide, open staircase so I don't have crazy vertigo like at Camp and Teresa's. Wood floors with big, soft rugs (the kind that don't slip, lol, you know me, Santa...) and a big kitchen, with an island in the middle that has a sink. Stainless steel fridge, one of those cool ovens that are stacked on top of each other, like the one in Mr. and Mrs. Smith. But I won't keep guns in mine. Oh, no, they will be fully functional, and fully used. The house will have to have at least 4 bedrooms, but we should probably mark that up to 6 bedrooms. We have a lot of family, and I know that eventually, someone will want to come stay with us. Six bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, a family room, and probably 3 bathrooms. Or maybe 2.5....definitely want one in the master bedroom, with a big clawfoot tub that I could (hypothetically) drown in. I don't really want to drown. I wouldn't be able to enjoy all of this as a ghost.

We could then have our three beautiful children that will have my coloring and Andrew's eyes...but probably need glasses and classes on how to move gracefully. I'll take them with the kids, for that matter, I could use a little extra grace... Oh, and a husky we'll call Hank Jr. and a Great Dane I want to call Clyde. Or Clementine. Cats, too, we need two, not including our lovely Kahlan, and maybe Diddles. But two cats usually turns into 12 cats eventually, so two breedable kitties will do fine.

Yes, Santa. I want all that for Christmas. It doesn't have to be this Christmas. I understand that some things take time, and I can imagine that the lottery, in two states nonetheless, could be tricky. But I'm confident that if we had both lotteries, we'd be able to pull all that off just fine. Oh, one more simple wish, though....could you pay for our schooling? I mean, if the lotteries don't cover it. I want to be a Midwife. Andrew is looking for something, but he would love to be a wolf rehabilitation expert.Then we would be able to afford all of this once the lottery dough runs out.

But... if you can't get me any of that, can you just make Andrew realize we need to move to better apartments? I'll take my life as it comes, Santa, but maybe living somewhere NOT filled with bugs (the crawling ones and the ones that you can fix) would make me very happy.

Merry Christmas.

PS. I know we moved, but if you could please bring our gifts in whatever form to Leslie and Chip's house in Arizona on Christmas Eve, we'd sorely appreciate it. For some reason, Grandpa Cavanagh doesn't want us at his house on Christmas Eve, so we're headed for the ranch instead. Be careful on the road. Grand Pappy Wash is a doozy in the winter time, even if you are flying over it. And remember, it's just after the Chapparel steakhouse on the Florence Highway. See you around when we have kids of our own :D

Not So Wordless Wednesday.

Today is Wednesday. It is meant to be wordless. I am rarely, if ever, wordless. Therefore, I am going to tell you in vague detail about today.

Today, there is a potluck. I am going. I am eating pizza before I go. Why? Because I want pizza, not potluck food, which with soldiers, is usually a bag of chips and omg, some pizza. But I want my pizza.

I had to make something for this potluck. I was feeling creative (read: stupid) and decided to make something special out of cheesecake. Cheesecake is already special. It should not be tampered with.

I tampered.

Results:

 

Yes, the cheesecake is green. Yes, that's a bulb in the middle of the green cheesecake. Yes, the bulb, the little thingy on top of the bulb, and the cheesecake itself are ALL cheesecake.

It's really very simple. You make the cheesecake like the package says, then you scoop some out to a little bowl. Big bowl: add food coloring. Little bowl: add other food coloring.

Then use a ziplock sandwich baggy as a pastry decorating thing by cutting an eensy weensy hole in one corner and put the contents of the little bowl in the baggy and squeeze.

Ta. Da.

*grinds teeth*

I hate potlucks.

A new name and some other stuff before work.

Good morning! It's too early for me to be this cheerful, especially since I had such a trial last night. I couldn't sleep, not even a little. Andrew and I went to bed at 9:30 and I layed there a while, trying to sleep, but I had so much on my mind, I just...couldn't. So I got up to see how my video was uploading to my blog.

It wasn't.

**insert eye roll and facepalm here**

So I gave up, and I am very sorry. It was a cute video, but oh well. You'll just have to see my husband topless, fluffing a fake Christmas tree some other time.

I can, however, offer you a few photos of said tree.

And of our new and beautiful Kahlan Sedona, the cat who has yet to climb the Christmas tree.

I believe she's put off by the bird, who apparently gets the idea and starts freaking out, very loudly, when she gets too close to it.

Not to mention, our tree is only 4 1/2' tall. Not exactly a towering achievement if she did climb it, lol!

Also, if you're wondering what happened, I decided that I needed something.... spiffier than "The Adamis" for my blog name if I'm going to be seeing The Pioneer Woman, in person, in only a week!

Yes. THAT Pioneer Woman. The one with the amazing cookbook. The hunky hubby. The cute kids. The amazing cookbook....oh, wait, I said that. I'm gonna get her autograph! *dances around like a nasty little two year old*

And I'm going to buy Chels one, too, because out of nowhere, we discovered that we'd been reading the same awesome blog. How weird is that? Two sisters in law, on opposites sides of the country, both with very little interest in the food blog world in general...come across the same website on their own, put it on their own iGoogle pages for quick updates, and learn of this coinkidink two days before Thanksgiving when one of them casually mentions a corn and rice dish that the other had been drooling over a few hours before.

Oddity of oddities.

:D

Well, that's just dandy.

I woke up in a really good, energetic mood today. Yes, I realize how strange that sounds coming from me, the laziest person on the planet. Yes, I too am wondering how long this energy will last. Probably until I look in the utility room and see that pile of laundry again.

How do two people go through that much laundry in two weeks? How? Someone please explain it to me.

In any case, I'll give you a few little tidbits of my day so far. It's 8:00 am, which used to be 9 am, but my heart is still set on it being 7 am, because if it were 7 am, I would be back in Tucson.

So, let's number this, shall we? Like Monday Mumbles by the infamous, pant-unbuttoning Tooj.

1) I had a dream about my emerald ring last night. Not my wedding ring, which I can promise cost a lot more to obtain, lol, but my 24k gold emerald ring that my aunt gave my mother because it's my birthstone, and my mother in turn gave me. I dreamed I lost it. That would break my heart. So now it's on my right index finger, feeling awkward, because I haven't worn it in over a year.

2) There's a weird sounding siren outside right now that I'm trying to ignore, because I was just outside and it was clear as a bell. So it can't be a tornado siren, because tornadoes need two very different air currents, and that only can happen when it storms. Please don't tell me otherwise. I will panic. It won't be pretty.

3) They are making a movie of the video game "Prince of Persia", with the guy that directed Spiderman, Sam Raimi, and the main actor is Jake Gyllenhaal. Oh yeah. Awesome, awesome game to watch so I can't wait for the movie.

4) Andrew asked me if he looked bigger yet. Bigger as in, more muscular. I made him flex... then I punched his booby and said, "Ow. Yes."

5) Ever since I was a little girl, my bladder has been immediately and immensely effected by the sound of the shower running. Andrew is no exception: I now have to pee.

6) If my husband can remember to go to the commissary when he gets off work, I'll be making lasagna tonight. If he can't, he won't be eating, dang it. I want lasagna!! The only thing standing between me and it is the ricotta cheese I somehow managed to... misplace (or maybe possible kinda sorta didn't remember to buy...). LASAGNA!!!

7) I've been playing CafeWorld on FaceBook. There is no hope for me. I am addicted. I've even been setting alarms on my phone to tell me when something is done, so I can run to my computer and serve it...

8) Today, I need to do dishes, clean up the bathroom, and take the bird out of his cage for the first time in over a month... and then vacuum, because there will be bird seed everywhere.

Cards to buy this month: Nov. 5-- Mom and Dad celebrate 22 LONG years together
Nov. 10-- Ben turns 16
Nov. 12-- Amy turns 21
Nov. 26-- Thanksgiving cards for: Grandma and Grandpa Adami, Matt and Megan, Mattison gets her own :D, Steve and Chelsey, David and Rachel, Harmony gets her own :D, Grandpa Cavanagh, Mom and Dad, and Leslie, Chip, Ben and Phil.
Total: 12 cards

Beans. I'm gonna go bake some cookies.

I've decided that October can go NaBloWriMo itself.

I would like to give all you bacon lovers a word of warning:

Do not wash your hands and then get next to a very angry pan of bacon while your hands are still wet. It hurts a whole helluva lot more than just regular grease spatter, I promise. Want proof?



That's me, and my hand... and those three, odd-shaped red marks are blisters. Yes, BLISTERS. How often does one get burn blisters from spunky bacon grease?? Thankfully, they don't hurt much now and I heal fast.

In other notes, it appears that Ben has broken his wrist again. I think it's Phil...and here we are on the other side of the world. I realize that no, we're not really that far. But the differences in people, and culture, and lifestyles, and everything else between Tucson, AZ and Clarksville, TN might as well make it another country. Do you know how I found out, though?

Facebook. Megan posted something on Facebook. No one called to tell us, no one mentioned it, nothing. The same way no one in his family mentioned our anniversary, even thought they were all there... the same way I had to call and find out that the bun in Meg's oven is a Masen, not a Mia.

I do believe we have disappeared from their radar.

NaBloWriMo: I lost my groove...

So yesterday. Let's address it here and now. I did not blog.

I DID NOT BLOG.

I have failed the NaBloWriMo Challenge, but I'm not gonna stop. I might still have a chance. This is now, NBWM Day 19 and my 18th post this month. If nothing else, it's making me look like a serious blogger with that big old number of posts I see every morning. I'm on 44 now, since either August or September.

I had a really nice day yesterday, so I can't say I regret not blogging. Andrew and I stayed up too late, as usual, and I woke up just in time to get ready to go grocery shopping. We'd made plans a day or two before, Teresa and I, to go together and get good deals, so I went and picked her up at 11 and we spent hours in the commissary. We literally did not get home until about 4 pm, and then we picked up Andrew and went to the apt. she and Camp are now sharing with some friends.

We ate a quick lunch and spent most of the time we were there in the kitchen. I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to be back in the kitchen with another woman. There is something so very basic about it, something very much like a need, to be sharing the creation of good food with another female human being. I haven't been able to cook with another woman since I left Megan behind and I didn't realize until I was given the opportunity again how much I missed it.

We made buffalo wings and a cooking base her mother uses called sifrito. Yes, it's probably misspelled, but it smells divine. It had garlic, cilantro, onions, Sazon Goya seasoning, Adobo seasoning, and I want to say something else in it, and I have a little in my freezer. I think I'll use it when I brown hamburger meat :)

Does anyone understand this, though? This strangely communal feeling from cooking with a female friend, rather than say, a husband, or even a child? It felt a little old-fashioned...but it was wonderful. We're repeating tonight with pot roast from this amazing, awesome woman who's cookbook I have going to buy the day it comes out: The Year of the Pot Roast.

NaBloWriMo Day 17: Eye candy and a movie

Okay, so: Paranormal Activity. It's good. It's slow to start, but you get pulled into it anyway, start feeling worried for the characters. Some scenes are a little predictable but not as to what's going to happen... just that something... WILL happen. It built up to the freaky stuff heavily, with lots of little not too scary stuff happening, and then WHAM: you jump sky high! The end was kinda easy to figure, but if you weren't really worried about figuring it, it'll catch you off guard. I would honestly pay to go see it again. It was pretty awesome, but I think the best part was the audience. The comments from the peanut gallery (half of which here were drunk soldiers) were hilarious. Everyone jumped at some point, EVERYone. OH, that's what else was really good about it... the couple in it is really normal. Like it's two college-age people living together, not married, she's a student, he's got a job and they act like a real couple...stupid flirting, a little bickering, he keeps trying to get her to do him on camera which is hilarious and the language is realistic, no scripted out fake dialog between them, it feels like a real modern couple....the f-word is her favorite word, I think... but seriously, if you're even remotely aware of young adults today, that is how they talk, (note I did not say WE. I do not talk that way. You have to tick me off to the point of no return before you hear that f-word come out of my mouth)not all of them, mind you, but a good portion. It was very honest in that factor, and I liked how there was no music. Nope, not even a little bit. No soundtrack, nothing to focus on except the screen. There were also some parts that were just plain funny. No lame jokes, just funny stuff, stuff you would laugh about if you saw it happen to a friend or if it happened to you, even.

Okay. I'm done.

GO SEE THE MOVIE!!!

But don't eat popcorn...the people next to us actually threw theirs when they jumped O.o


Got this from Alexes at One Cluttered Brain :)



1. FAVORITE DRINK: Creme soda, oh yeah!


2. MY HOMETOWN: San Manuel, Arizona... and boy, do I miss it!!


3. FAVORITE SHOW: Legend of the Seeker


4. OCCUPATION OR WHAT YOU ARE IN SCHOOL FOR: Eventually, I'll be a midwife. Starting school hopefully in January


5. FIRST CAR: 2001 Chevy Cavalier... and Zedd doesn't look this good, sad to say :(

6. FAVORITE FOOD: Fettucine Alfredo *drools*

7. CELEBRITY YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD YOU RESEMBLE: Mandy Moore... I was told by a girl I reminded her of Jamie from A Walk To Remember. Sure, I'll take that, lol.



8. CELEBRITY ON MY "TO DO" LIST: Craig Horner, as in the lead actor in Legend of the Seeker *drools some more*


9. FAVORITE CHILDHOOD TOY: Make-up brushes!! I wanted to be an archaeologist, so my best days were spent in the dirt, carefully sweeping it away from pretty rocks.


10. ANY RANDOM PICTURE YOU CARE TO SHARE: Because I can... *has a puddle of drool forming on her table as she types*

NaBloWriMo Day 1: Halloween Give-Away... and stuff

GO HERE FOR AN AWESOME HALLOWEEN GIVE-AWAY

Mrs. B's 31 Days of Halloween Give-Away and her blog, Confessions of a Pagan Soccer Mom


It's pretty cool, she's got some amazing things there. My mom in law would be enthralled with her portion on Domestic Witchery. And I have tears in my eyes because I was laughing so hard at her cat, Tanner. It reminds me of all those lovely years when my Diddles was young and frisky. (She is no longer young, or frisky, or mine. I had to leave her when Andrew and I got our own place, because a $350 deposit for a cat that pees everywhere is not reasonable when you work in food service -_-)


So, as for the rest of my blog today, let me tell you a little about what's going on.

Today is the first day of October and October is National Blog Writing Month. Me and some other awesome bloggers have decided to dedicate a piece of our day, every day to a post here in honor of NaBloWriMo. Yeah, say that again and see who stares at you, it's a doozy, but it's a bean better than typing the whole thing out.

Military life and blogging: the two fastest ways known to womankind to induce compulsive acronym-making.

But seriously, it's gonna be quite the struggle, and I think I can do it. I'm on here pretty much every day anyway, I just need to remember to blog something. The toughest days are going to be the 10th and 11th, though, because those are the days I celebrate with Andrew for:

The day I asked him out.
The day he said yes.
The day we were married.

But that does give me an idea. Maybe I will type up the whole story for you and just post it that morning, so I don't have to worry about not spending time with my hubby on our 1 year/ 7 years anniversary :)

That would totally count. You cannot dissuade me of this. IT COUNTS IT COUNTS IT COUNTS!!!

I need a nap. I'm starting to throw temper tantrums again. I was up, and I mean WAY up, at about 4:00 this morning because I heard sirens wailing in the distance. I never really understood that saying, "sirens wailing", until this morning. Laying there, half asleep as I was, they really did sound mournful and lonely and like they were, well... wailing. They also sounded awfully long and close, which freaked me out. This is Tennessee, but they've said a few times that there have been tornados here. In fact, it's happened once already, there were sightings on Post. ON POST.

I can walk to post.

Granted, that's just one side. But still, that's much too close and Teresa asks me, "Didn't you hear the siren? I was here (and her 'here' is a 15 min drive from my 'here') and I heard them." We had heard sirens, but they sounded like police cars to me, because they apparently have much longer, drawn out ones here, so we didn't pay any attention, just kept on with our doings. I was terrified that last night was the same thing, those police cars were the tornado sirens on post, and we were going to be brutally swept away from our own bed and never even know!! I was determined to know, I guess, since I couldn't sleep after that. Andrew's alarm went off at 4:30 and I got up with him. It is now 9:30 am and I am not sleepy yet.

Yet, mind you. Yet.

He had road guard duty this morning, which meant he reported, put on an ugly orange vest, and stood in the middle of the road while other soldiers ran past him so as to keep stupid, not fully awake drivers from hitting any of them while they did PT. In other words, he was a traffic cop in Soldier's clothing. <3>

Btw, I ordered take-out Chinese food for the first time ever last night. I'm gonna keep the boxes if I can hide them from Andrew. O.o

Acronyms up the wahoo, and Hank Jr.

This should be a doozy. It's been a while since I've posted.


First, some of the best news: Andrew finally got into his unit! Yay! I can't tell you what it is, but I can tell you that he's finally getting to do something close to his job, which is fixing weapons.... and yes, if he saw that, he'd be saying, "Not just weapons, Hun, artillery too." *rolls eyes* Weapons and artillery. Fine. But it's good news, because he'll start enjoying at least some aspect of the military again, which means he won't be complaining to me about it all the time, and so both of us will be less stressed and happier ppl all around. That's never a bad thing.

Also, although I haven't actually bought the ticket yet, it looks like I will be going back to AZ for my Ducky's 2nd birthday. It was so cute the last time I talked to her. Megan said, "Mattison, ask Auntie where Uncle Andrew is?" And I hear this precious little girl voice on the other end say, "Ann-tee, Uncah Androo?" I just melted all over myself, and then I had to tell her, "Oh, baby, Uncle's at work. He'll be home later and I'll make sure he calls you." Broke my heart, I tell you, at least the unmelted pieces. So that means I'll be staying out there with Matt and Megan probably from about September 30th to October 7th, because I want to be back here for our first anniversary, which is the 11th of October. I can't believe we've been married an entire year, or that we've been together for 7. SEVEN YEARS. That's a long time for any relationship outside of marriage, but one like ours? Wooey.

More good news is that Gardy is finally getting the hang of the idea that the floor is his, my shoulder is his, and his playpen is his... and that's it. Not the air of the living room, not the ceiling fan blades, and not anything past the hallway. I took him out this morning and he did great. He played on the floor with me, and almost got on his playpen. After that, he nibbled my dress for a while, because my clothes fascinate him for some reason, he loves to chew on them. I took him to the couch on my shoulder, and he stayed there while I played on the computer for a while, and I took a video. He's a sweetheart when he wants to be, which isn't often.


Bad news now: Our money still hasn't transferred from our BOTW account into our new BOA account. We're down to very little to deal with until the funds become available. I believe, however, that our savings should be there on the 19th, but Andrew's entire paycheck from midmonth won't arrive until the 21st, nearly a week after it was direct deposited. If you're anything like me, with one income, living from paycheck to paycheck, that week is killer. I'm grateful that the original transfer was enough to get us even this far. Andrew asked me today if I was okay, because he saw the amount of hair in the shower stopper, and I was like, well yes, I'm fine... but we spent too much on groceries this week, we've spent too much this week in general, the car is in major need of an oil change, spark plugs, and probably a tune up from the drive across country, I don't know how much longer than dining room set will be there and I really want it for our home, there's stuff to give to Goodwill, dinner to make, laundry to wash and now we're out of quarters, and a myriad of other things that may or may not be affecting the amount of hair coming off my head. That's pretty much all the bad news though. I'm grateful for that.


So today is Monday, the Monday after Payday, which means I just finished our three week dinner menu. I've decided to make this a bimonthly occurrence, with the invitation that if you see something on here that sounds awfully yummy, leave me a comment and I'll send you the recipe. I'm always trying new ones, because a woman should have a good collection of meals for her family, as sexist as that is. But since I'm a housewife right now, my entire job is to make sure that this house is clean, welcoming, and well-fed. Once I get a job, it's still important, but because I don't have one, and Andrew is supporting me, the least I can do is make sure that when he comes home, he's happy. So, here we go:

Monday 17: Beef Stroganoff
Tuesday 18: Chicken Potato Bake
Wednesday 19: Apple Pork Chops- corn
Thursday 20: Frozen skillet meal
Friday 21: Lasagna
Weekend 22&23: Good luck.
Monday 24: Ranch Chicken- cooked carrots
Tuesday 25: Betty Crocker Boxed Meal
Wednesday 26: Bacon, eggs, and maybe hashbrowns.
Thursday 27: Hamburgers- french fries
Friday 28: Frozen skillet meal
Weekend 29&30: Grilled cheese, maybe?
Monday 31: Banquet Boxed Meal
Tuesday September 1: Hamburger Helper
Wednesday 2: Potato Beef Cassarole
Thursday 3: Tuna Helper
Friday 4: Cream of Chicken Cassarole
Weekend 5&6: Pizza? Sandwiches?
Monday 7: Mushroom Cubesteak- green beans
Tuesday 8: Rice and Roast Beef
Wednesday 9: Frozen Meal
Thursday 10: Restaurant to celebrate another month married.
Friday 11: Chicken Enchiladas
Weekend 12&13: Leftovers, lol
Monday 14: Cream of Mushroom Noodles

Keep in mind that there's two of us. Some days, it's unnecessary to cook a lot so I try to put things that don't make a whole lot next to things that do. It's hard to tell with us about leftovers, because we never know when we'll have company, how much we'll eat, etc. This menu is incredibly flexible: if there's enough of last night's dinner to eat again, I'll put that recipe at the end of the menu and our groceries last us another day. It's a system that has worked for us for almost two years, ever since I started meal planning and grocery shopping by recipe. Of course, things will change once we have kids, but hopefully, this will still be in play even then. I like it a lot.

Today has been nothing but cleaning and blogging, with a little chat thrown in. Andrew was gone for PT early this morning, and for some reason, I slept in. I'm usually awake when he comes home, but once in a while, I get into a good dream and don't get up. Not that it made much difference, it just meant that he had to unlock the door. I probably wouldn't have started anything until about the time he came home anyway.

I still have a few dishes to do, and laundry to hang. The laundry is pretty much all his. I only had enough for one load and with me not really going anywhere, why should I was mine? It's all ACU's and PT's (Advanced Combat Uniforms, dirty looking digital camoflauge) and (Physical Training clothes, black shorts and a gray t-shirt that says ARMY on the front). Oh, here's an anecdote for you. I went to get the dirty clothes from the utility room today, and Andrew missed the basket with a pair of PT socks. So I picked them up and jumped back, because underneath was a big, black spider. Spider was not squooshed, I repeat NOT SQUOOSHED. But oh boy, it was very very dead. Cause of death? Probably the PT socks. I texted Andrew about it. He came home laughing... until I made him get the dead spider :D.

Now, I also have to tell you about the free concert that we went to last Friday. It was pretty awesome. It was part of a biannual called the Week of Eagles here, to salute the troops that have recently returned home and who are leaving soon, and it was huge. They were expecting 10,000 people to show up, as it was open to the public as well, even though it was on post, but no. 75,000 people came to the concert. 75,000!!


I can't even fathom. We got there about an hour or two before the show started... and it wasn't soon enough. It was standing room only by the time we were there, with blankets and chairs and people and food everywhere. The stage was huge, and I wondered to myself, what's going to be so great about this? Then I realized: this concert featured John Rich, formerly of Big & Rich; Hank Williams Jr.; Jake Owen; and Carrie Underwood. Half the crowd was women under 15. The other half were women over 15! Add a little redneck, and a few people that just wanted to see a concert, and there you go: 75,000, quick and easy. So I took as many pictures as I could, mostly of us and of course, of Hank Williams Jr.

It upset me, but Carrie Underwood didn't do as good a job as I was hoping for. She felt very fake on stage, her voice was obviously not in good shape, and all I could think of while she sang was, Stop screaming! I mean, she was good, but I just couldn't enjoy her. I loved Hank Jr. though. He sang songs that I grew up on, and a few I didn't know, but all in all, he was the best performer. He caught my attention and held it, as well as struck a cord in me more than once, and he was very very real. He sang one of Hank Sr.'s songs that I love, Kaw-Liga, and when he sang Family Tradition, I called my mom and let her hear it over the phone. I had so much fun, and of course, Andrew was there and we enjoyed each other's company. We always do. He's everything I need to feel wonderful in life.

We had funnel cake, and sang along, and just enjoyed it. It was my first concert. I won't forget the pleasure it was to watch one of the most talented men in country music play the guitar, then the fiddle, then the piano on stage. Now that was an autograph I would have waited in line for hours for, Hank Jr's.

The Dingle-ling is optional. Sometimes he misses the bell.

Lately, I've been waking up earlier, not only to take my basal body temperature at 5:30 (yay for Natural Family Planning!), but because our schedule has changed so much. Andrew typically has to be at work-- that is, on post and in formation-- at 6:30, but they like to keep us on our toes and screw with my temps so now and again, he has to be there at 5:30. Today was one such day, which I've gotten a little more used to: I can now sleep through him banging and clanging around the room, stubbing this toe, smacking that lamp. I swear to God, whatever they did to teach him stealth in bootcamp went right out the window, because that man is louder than a bear at 4:30 AM.

So, he has to be at work at either 5:30 or 6:30, which means he actually has to be there 10 minutes early, stupid sergeants. To get enough sleep, we're both in bed/asleep no later than 9:30 on most nights, sometimes earlier, occasionally later, and it's gotten to me, too. I've never been one of those long sleeping people. I sleep for my usual 8 hours, or 9 if I really really need it, and wake up bright eyed and bushy tailed. Well, going to sleep at 9:30 means that 5:30 isn't just for my temperature based how likely I am to wake up with Mr. No Stealth Bear in the morning. It's now my ACTUAL WAKE UP TIME. Yes. I am one of those insane people that wake up before the sun is up, before the birds are chirping, and LONG before my oddly lazy cockatiel has fallen off his mirror (which apparently is the equivalent of his morning constitutional; it's like clockwork, I swear, 6 am every day I hear SQUAWK CLATTER DINGLE-LING FLAP FLAP THUD followed by the wolf whistle, Gardy's equivalent of, "I'm okay!"). And really, other than my biological clock, not THAT one, the other one, telling me that I need to get up, there's no reason. I'm jobless, I'm childless, I'm dog- and cat-less, and my husband doesn't return home to shower until 8:00 am or so.

*sigh*

It's not like it's unhealthy or anything, I'm not upset with the whole situation. It just took me by surprise. I've always been a morning person... In high school, elementary school, and everything before that, I woke up at 6 am on the dot. I would wake up, get a hand towel and the little wooden foot stool, and plant myself in front of the tv with a boxed chocolate milk from the fridge door for 30 minutes to an hour while my mom woke up. And if she took to long, I would wake her up by screaming, "MOM SCHOOL SCHOOL I HAVE TO GO TO SCHOOL WAKE UP!!!!" I found out later that it always worked, because she thought I was late every time! :D Shame on me.



So today I have to steal the car from Andrew when he comes home for lunch. I need to go to the bank, to give them a check from my previous bank for the total amount in the checkings. It's one of the last steps to changing banks, but it's not over yet. We still need to change Andrew's direct deposit, but we have to get into his MyPay and AKO account to do that. We can't do that at home. He has to go to the library on post, use the CAC card reader there, and change it all that way, which is difficult and time consuming, simply because the hours the library are open are the hours he's busy doing whatever it is they're making him do these days. I can't close our first account until he gets that changed, or he won't get his paycheck and that would be bad, so that puts the end of everything on hold. The bank switching is the last, or second to last, stop on the road to TN living. The only other thing we would need to do is get Andrew's driver's license, but that's not necessary.

That's pretty much it for the day, as far as going places. I was supposed to go walking with Teresa and Brandon's mom, but with Andrew coming home at who knows when, I wasn't sure I'd have time to walk 3 miles with them and pick him up on time, which wouldn't be fair to him. He wouldn't get a shower, or breakfast, if I did that, assuming I took him to work early this morning. Other than going places, I need to do some of the weekend dishes that weren't finished, as well as last night's dinner dishes. I also need to let Gardy out for a while, vacuum the house, sweep the kitchen and bathroom, and decide on dinner depending on whether Jeff is coming tonight or not. If not, I'll make grilled chicken and veggies. If he is, three cheese chicken casserole.


*EDIT* I forgot to tell you about the movie. We went and it was a pretty good movie. The effects were well done, and even though there was barely any dialogue, what they did have was funny. Scarlett= totally awesome. Women that can fight that well are rather inspirational, although I did notice I drove a leeetle more recklessly after said movie. :D I enjoyed the movie itself, but I swear on all that's decent and holy, Jeff is lucky I didn't leave him there. He was rude and obnoxious in line, made smart-aleck comments through the whole thing and just generally ticked me off. The lady in front of us in line deserves a medal for holding her tongue the way she did, because he was ridiculous about a lot of movies, movies that other people might have enjoyed immensely that he was bashing without any provocation. If it wasn't for that, I would have enjoyed myself a lot more, although once I was watching the movie, it was better. I won't go to one with him again, I can promise you that. If they ask me why, I'll tell them. I didn't like the way Jeff was speaking to an older woman, I didn't find his criticism of other movies entertaining, and I refuse to be put into a position where I'm uncomfortable again, and I was uncomfortable there.

So there.

Pent up freaking out.

WE HAVE INTERNET!!!


I am utterly thrilled.

There was a while there where I was sure that I was never going to be in touch with the world again. It does, however, royally tick me off that we went from paying 20 bucks a month to almost double that because of this backwoods part of the world we're in, but whatever.

Last night I made chicken enchiladas, and they turned out pretty good, but I was so freaked out that I wasn't paying close enough attention and I burned the cheese. Last night it stormed so badly, and there were sirens going off, and Andrew said they were some kind of emergency vehicle, not the tornado sirens, but I was still shaking the whole time.

Let me explain this for you. A few years ago, it must be close to four now because I was still in high school, Mom and I were sitting at home, doing nothing during monsoon season and it was storming, of course. I think it was 06, actually, the same year the Rillito flooded and the Mammoth bridge was washed over, so I had just graduated. Andrew was still living with his parents, we hadn't moved out, and I was in that strange in between time when you've graduated, but it still feels like summer... I was sitting on the couch reading, Mom was in the bedroom with the dog, Diddles (our cat) was asleep in my room, and the wind was picking up a little. I got this feeling that I wanted to go sit in my bedroom and read with the cat instead, so I picked myself up and went and not even 5 minutes later, we heard this crashing sound coming from the living room. I remember Mom yelling something along the lines of, "What the hell?" It ended in some expletive, I know, could have been worse or better, I'm not sure. We rushed out into the kitchen and just as we came out, we felt the front of the trailer lift up off the bricks, right up and come crashing back down and on the other side of the counter, we could see the window that I had literally just been sitting next to completely busted out. The half-plexiglass window, by the way. There were sirens and honking and yelling going on outside and Mom decided that we had to fix the window because the rain was just gushing into the house. There was a shard of glass in the opposite part of the counter that served a little like a wall and it was embedded in the wood a good 3 or 4 inches. The crystal lamp that had been sitting in front of the window was thrown neatly into the rocking chair in front of it, not even so much as cracked... and there was a jagged, serving platter sized piece of glass exactly where I had been sitting less than 5 minutes earlier. I can't really convey how terrified I was as my mother went out to the sheds to find some kinds of nails or a hammer or something to board up the window and I stood there, with a chunk of plywood between me and a raging storm, trying to keep the rain out of the house. Eventually, it stopped raining and the wind stopped beating us into oblivion, and I went outside, too...

Trailer in front of us had been shifted from | to \ on it's bricks, the one behind it was completely destroyed and they were taking people away in an ambulance. Other trailers were thrown this way or that on their blocks, windows were broken and walls battered. A TV barely missed out sleeping neighbor's head, the people in the destroyed trailer had been saved by their closet doorframe, and there was destruction everywhere. I was crying, mom was crying, I called my friend David, who lived not even a few blocks away to make sure he was okay... and nothing had happened there. It was just a storm for them, but what hit us was a microburst, practically a mini tornado.

Every time the wind picks up, all I can feel is the floor lifting up from under us again. We asked a couple people, why? Why didn't we get more damage? We felt the house move, there's a hole still in the wood from the glass and there's a crack all across the roof from where the ceiling (which we didn't know at the time) lifted off and set back down. The only thing we could find was our solid, extremely heavy wood porch, the one my dad built by hand and had to have 3 friends help him move. It had held down the front of our trailer. That, and the fact that it just wasn't our time, had kept us from just as much damage as the Lagunas...




Storms make me nervous.


Last night, two funnel clouds touched down and immediately sucked back up on post, so fast there were no sirens. Post is less than a mile away. Even a small tornado would have ripped through us. I told Andrew last night that if there ever was a tornado, I will not hesitate to grab my bird first. Today I heard something wierd, I dunno what kind of siren it was, so I grabbed my bird and ran to the middle room. Then I came back for my phone, my laptop, water from the fridge, and my purse. Like a drill, I guess. Two minutes might be all I have some day, I want to be ready.


And during all of this pent up freaking out last night, I was cooking. I was going to be so angry if the power went out (we have an electric stove) while those enchiladas were in the oven.

Did I mention, we have the internet??

Some quick math

I don't really have that much to tell you today. There's a big change of command at the post tomorrow, so Andrew's been gone all day, rehearsing his standing at attention, his parade rest, and his march this way. Jeff was supposed to come over with him for dinner, but apparently, they're both knotheads and forgot, so oh well.

Yesterday, I sat down (actually no... I stood in front of the fridge) and listed out dinners for like two weeks, simply because it's easier to buy by recipe than it is to just buy whatever looks good. Tonight is bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns. Tomorrow will be mac and tuna. The weekends, Andrew and I decided, are scavenging nights. I'm not cooking, he's not doing dishes, we'll just sit around and do very little because it's all the time we get together and all the time he gets to relax. Monday we've got cube steak and green beans, Tuesday: chicken enchiladas. Wednesday: fettucine alfredo. Thursday: pork chops and fried corn. Friday: rice and roast beef. WEEKEND! Monday the 10th: grilled chicken and veggies. Tuesday the 11th, which is also our 10 month anniversary, which is also our 6 years, 10 months anniversary: cheeseburger macaroni hamburger helper. And the last one, Wednesday the 12th, is going to be three cheese chicken cassarole.

Yay for having the time to cook again!!

Also, on the 5th, I will no longer have to borrow the internet. Ours will be hooked up. I'm hoping that before then, our new insurance thingy will have arrived and I'll cancel the old one, which will save us about $150 a month. Expenses look like:

$200 for two weeks of groceries at the commissary, including non-food but not including bird food, so we'll say $400 a month in groceries (overestimated)
$625 a month for rent and water
$100 a month, overestimated again, for electricity (haven't gotten that bill yet)
$40 a month for internet (ridiculous, seriously, we paid $17 at home)
$100 a month for cell phones
car insurance has already been paid for 6 months, we have no credit cards, we have no debt, this doesn't include pet food, gas money, laundry money, or fun money.

$1265 for pretty much everything we need. Add say, $60 for gas, $30 for laundry, and $10 for pet food:

$1365

That's one of Andrew's checks. He gets about two of those a month.

We should be fine.