They're HERE!!!!!!

Its that time again, when the girls are knocking on your door & the parents are bringing the forms to work. 

GIRL SCOUT COOKIE TIME!!!!

I absolutely LOVE girl scout cookies and normally buy them in bulk. This year I tried to be a bit more conservative though because I mean really we don't need to eat them all. I orders 8 boxes from a co-workers granddaughter a few weeks back. I forgot to tell the hubbs & when I finally remembered he told me he ordered some from a little girl that came by the house one evening. So much for not stocking up this year. Oh well seriously you can never have to many boxes. Especially when it comes to the Thin Mints those are my favorite. I normally toss the boxes in the freezer because they tend to last longer that way. One I forget about them and two they are so rich I can only eat one every so often. 

When I went in to work this morning there was a large bag waiting for me in my class. 

Hip Hip Hooray!!!!  

The excitement didn't last to long once I noticed I ordered the wrong Peanut Butter ones other than the ones we like :( I was a little disappointed but we will make due. I think hubbs will probably end up taking a box or two of them to class this week. I'm sure the guys could use a little "pick me up" as the weeks have been dragging by. Plus I'm crossing my fingers that he ordered the right peanut butter ones and we will be getting those in soon. (he doesn't remember what he ordered or how many boxes, nice one right lol)

Do you have a favorite Girl Scout Cookie ?!?!?!? 

~DAY 139~

Things are Multiplying

I seriously don't know how many pairs of Combat Boots the hubbs needs. I swear every other day or so I come home and its like they are multiplying. This evening I came home and there were five pair lined up in the laundry / pantry room. Props to him for keeping them together and put away neatly but really five pair downstairs. Is that really necessary at all, not to mention the loads of PT shoes he has. I bet if we were to count he would have more shoes than me. Now I'm not including my sandals and flip flops just closed toed shoes. Its freaking crazy, I'm always trying to get him to get rid of some because really who needs that many pair of boots.

But he just wont give, he says they may come in handy one day. umm we will see about that one. 

~DAY 138~

Lets Talk Disaster :(

Yall this doesn't happen very often in our home, frankly I can't remember the last time it happened BUT dinner was a complete disaster tonight. It was a new recipe that we were trying out & I blame it on that. Not the fact that I stepped away from the pot cooking on the stove and let the soup burn. Yes you are reading that right I burned soup. 

On the menu for the evening was Santa Fe Chicken Fajita Soup, it was made with Velveeta Cheese & Cream Cheese. I suppose after mixing those two ingredients in that the dish needed 100% of my attention. Well life goes on and there are things that need to get done around the house and it just didn't happen. The recipe said cook until both cheeses are fully melted then serve. So I stupidly put the lid on and walked away. 5-10 minutes later I returned to find that the cheese had completely burned on the bottom on the pot. CRAP!!!!!!!!!!! I tried to save dinner by quickly turning the burner down and mixing it up but it was a lost cause. 

I scooped out two bowls, put the left overs in a tupperware & cleaned out the pot before I called the hubbs down for dinner. I had to get rid of the evidence before he saw lol. I tried the soup and it was awful  but I wanted to give him a chance and see what he though. As he's trying it I told him "if you don't like it I'll fix something else or go get us dinner" he replies with "you don't seem to have much confidence in this, what did you do." I couldn't help but laugh, needless to say he had one bite and said nope I'm not eating that. I had some explaining to do, it was pretty comical and we both got a good laugh out of it. 

It was a good reason though to indulge in some yummy Chick fil a and we did just that. I'm all about any reason to go to Chick fil a, but come on gals I didn't burn dinner on purpose HONEST!!!!! 

I suppose I have some making up to do tomorrow when it comes to dinner. Like I said this hardly ever happens and I was a bit sad that it ended so bad. But you live and lean from your mistakes right. 

~DAY 137~

Are you Following Me ???

Hello there, as many of you know or may not know Blogger is changing the way you can follow a blog if your not a regular blogger, through the blogger world. I'm still not completely sure on how the whole process is going to work or not but do me a favor and add yourself to "My Circles" on the right sidebar of my profile located under my pictures. I'm really hoping this doesn't conflict with following all of your blogs and commenting and the other way around, you following mine and commenting. From what I understand the changes are suppose to take place the first of March. If you have any feed back or more information on the changes going on PLEASE fill free to let me know!!!! 

I "don't think" from what I've heard that its really going to affect us regular bloggers but we will see. 
Again if have more of a understanding on the changes, I'm welcome to any and all feedback. 

Thanks again to each and everyone of my faithful readers and followers. If you a reader but not currently following my blog I encourage you to "officially Follow" and tell me who you are. Lets get to know one another more!!!! I hope you are all having a fabulous start to the new week!!!! 4 more days till we are at the weekend again, but hey who's counting lol. 

It's another MONDAY!!

My friends mean the world to me and they know who they are, weather we talk every day, see each other often or not at all they are always there for me when I need them. Knowing I have some pretty fabulous girls in my life is like the sprinkles on top of a cupcake. 

SPOUSE ~ I know things aren't perfect right now with you there and me here but you are my "star"!!!

You never know when you are going to need them!!!! 

I'd be lost with out you Spouse, you mean the world to me. Being away from you is almost comparable to a deployment only I know your not in a war zone thankfully. 

No matter the distance, or who comes in to our life and who leave, or how long we go with out talking or seeing each other we will always pick up right were we left off before. Even though its only been a few years since we've met it seems like a life time.

You live and learn and lean on each other more than you ever though you could. 

There's no time to be bad at them, there's way to much to share. 

Spouse I can't wait for this lol ok ok I can but you know what I mean!!!

I have a perfectly complete family with the friends I've chosen and the ones that have chosen me, I feel pretty blessed to have met the people I have in my life. Many of them have helped me grow into the person I am today in so many different ways!!!!!!!!!

I learned this one early on and it was hard to come to terms with but really its true. I'd rather have a few REALLY close friends vs. a bunch that I don't really know all that well. I'd rather have someone I can pour my heart out to vs. someone I have to guard my heart around. 

Sinful Sunday

Have you seen that pin on Pinterest going around for the Best Chocolate Chip Cookies??? Well if not you should really check them. They were on the baking list for today's Sinful Sunday and let me tell you they are fabulous. I fixed up the dough this morning, the recipe says to chill it in the frig. for at least 24hrs. But I just couldn't wait, I let it sit for about 6 hours and then got to baking. 

I'm a sucker for Cookie Dough, seriously my mom use to get on to me all the time for eating raw cookie dough. I just can't help it though its so good, almost better than the cookies themselves. 

I rolled the dough into balls about the size of a golf ball just as the recipe says and placed them evening apart. I absolutely hate when you bake cookies and they expand so much that they get stuck together. 

The mixture made a ton of cookies, but that's perfectly fine plenty for us to enjoy through out the week and some to take to work tomorrow to share. You know everyone is gonna have those Monday blues. 

Look how big they turned out!!!!

See I told you the recipe yields a lot, this is every last cookie minus two. Of course we had to taste test the first batch to see if it was worth cooking the rest or just enjoying the cookie dough. As you can tell they passed the taste test. The recipe doesn't lie they really are the BEST!!!!!

~DAY 136~

half & half

~half my day was spent running errands & the other half was spent with my love~

Some how after I got in bed well after midnight last night I was still up bright & early this morning. The hubbs was already gone he had to be at work at 6am for uniform issue. I had a list of things to get done before 1pm when he would be getting off work so we could enjoy the second half of the day together. 

First on the list ~ was pick up the downstairs and put all his gear away that blew up all over the living room. There was also a good amount of trash that needed to be taken out from the day before. I hate stuffing boxes in the inside trash can but the hubbs has no problem doing this, which is fine only problem is he forgets to break them down. 

After the house was picked up I headed out to get the oil changed in my car. I absolutely hate having to go and wait for them to do it. The place on post isn't open on the weekends, can we say RETARDED!!!!!! So I had to take it off post. 

Thankfully it didn't take long at all only about 15 minutes. 

Off to the Post Office & then the PX to pick up a few things & I was back home by 10:30am. 

I decided to go ahead & clean the inside of my car because it was looking pretty bad. 

In the process I got my house key stuck in the storage door out front, I finally had to break down and go ask the neighbor for help because... I HAD A LUNCH DATE YALL!!!!!!!!!!!

Remember L from yesterday she invited me to lunch along with her friend B whom I happen to work with as well. We met up at noon at a local joint called "The Other Store". 

Its a fabulous Deli tucked away in a neighborhood in the back of a old gas station. 

Text from L "It looks a little sketchy but its really great." 

She wasn't lying either, it was a bit of a odd location but not as "sketchy" as I had in mind. 

I never would have found this place if it wasn't for her, it literally sits right in the middle of a neighborhood on the corner street. The food was fabulous, I can't think of one negative thing to say other than if your in a rush well its not the place for you. Although the food is great the service is a little on the slow side. Reason being TOS is a very small joint with only one cook & one person taking orders. L filled me in on this when we got there but thankfully I was in no rush, I was happy to enjoy the outing & company. 

Another friend of L & B's joined us for lunch and she was so sweet. They all went to HS together and still live here locally. I am finally SLOWLY getting out and meeting people more my age and loving it. Although I still have yet to meet a single decent army wife here that's ok because L & B just warm my heart with their kindness. I'm looking forward to many more lunch dates & get togethers with these two lovely ladies and their little ones.

After lunch I made my way back home to find the hubbs awaiting me :) I can't think of a better sight to come home to. We ventured out to Clothing & Sales & back to the PX to do a little shopping. 

It was a beautiful day out, a bit chilly but the sun was shining bright as ever. Which was a warm welcome after yesterdays torrential down pour. 

We really didn't do much other than some TV watching in between LOADS of laundry. DS uniform issue means twice the amount of laundry for me this weekend. 

A Pinterest find let us back out, to the Commissary this time.

Our first time at making Fried Ice Cream. I was so nervous that it would be a complete disaster and the whole thing would just melt away right there in front of my eyes.
BUT IT WORKED, 
it is a bit time consuming to make.
You have to make the ice cream balls, freeze them for a hour, add the outer coating, freeze for another hour. So two hours later frying time it was. I had the hubbs help so in the event that there was a major epic fail I had someone else to blame it on. lol

I'm happy to announce they turned out perfect!!!! Best part is this is something we can make in single servings and enjoy. We topped them with a bit of honey, but the options are endless from whip cream, chocolate sauce, carmel sauce, cocoa powder, strawberries. 

It was the perfect dessert to end our Saturday evening together. 

~DAY 135~

FINALLY!!!!!!!!

I spent the evening with this cutie pie. 

MEET GIBBIES.

She is 1 & 1/2.

She's one of the kiddos in my class @ school.

I ABSOLUTELY ADORE HER. 

& her Momma

She is a spunky, crazy, full of life little princess. 

Wednesday when L (mom) picked up she mentioned she was looking for a occasional sitter & asked if we knew of any teachers at the school that babysat.  My reply ~ "I would absolutely love to watch Gibbes for you." I use to babysit quite a bit in Hawaii, most of our friends in HI were met through first watching their little ones. 
I gave her my number & later that evening she texted asking if I would be able to watch G Friday night.
We spent the evening playing in her little kitchenette set & reading books. She is seriously such a ham.
L & T (dad) got home right around 11pm and I spent the next HOUR just chatting away with them both. After a bit T went to bed, I guess he couldn't hang with us girls.
L is just a few years older than me & T is just a couple years older than my hubbs.
It was so nice to really get to know them better, we talked about so much, L & I loved it. I think if it wasn't so late already we would have stayed up talking for hours. She is such a sweet heart I can't wait to spend more time with her. I've FINALLY met someone that's closer to my age, has the same interests as me, and we have so much in common.
I see many wine date in our future (before they left for the evening, they told me to make myself at home, showing me were the wine & beer stock was lol, no way would I be drinking while watching their little one but it was so funny) I can't wait to get together with L again!!! and watch little Miss G. 

~DAY 134~

Spring Fever

Today couldn't have been more perfect.....ok well yea it could have but I spare the details because you all know how much I'm in love with this place. Thursday's are spin class at the gym after work, which I've come to LOVE but this afternoon I decided to skip. It was for a very good cause to might I add, umm HELLO the weather was BEAUTIFUL. Even better than the day before, sunny and it got up to 80 degrees outside. It was still so pretty when I got off work which was so nice. Knowing it wouldn't last long (there's prediction for heavy rain tomorrow) I decided to take full advantage of it and take the pups on a run with me. I don't mind running when it's a little chilly outside but when it's really cold and like freezing out, there's no way your gonna catch my booty out there. I HATE the cold weather, Hawaii has ruined me for life lol. The "locals" here are saying it's been a very mild winter this year, which scares me to think what next year will be like. I even went as far as wearing Capri's and sandals to work today, I'm telling you it was beautiful. After we got back from our run the pups and I made our way to the backyard to enjoy the rest of the evening before the sunset. I don't know how they still had energy to run around and wrestled, barking up a storm at the puppies next store. They've been tuckered out since we came in, I don't think Baileys moved from the couch at all. I love being able to take them out so much, I feel guilty having to leave them inside all day. But I think it just makes them enjoy being outside that much more. I really can't wait for spring to get here and be full force. I'd much rather deal with warmer weather then cold, ugly wet winters.

 On another note: the hubs received a package in the mail today, it was his new replacement Keurig machine. The one we had started having issues and finally stopped working (this is a common problem with these things) so he called customer service, explained the issue and what do ya know 3 days later we have a brand new one on our door at NO cost to us!!!!!! He was quite happy when he got home at O' DARK 30 aka 9:30pm and saw the big box sitting on the bar. I kept meaning to set it up for him but just forgot, I ended up doing it a bit later because I felt bad that he had such a long day.

 He is happily sipping on a cuppa joe now!!! 

Out with the OLD & in with the NEW!!!

~DAY 133~

Chilaxin w/ The Pups

We just got back from a run and we were having lots of cuddle time and kisses in the kitchen. I was exhausted and so were they, it was nice and warm out so I opened the door and we just chilled for a bit. I love our fur babies so much they really complete our family and keep us on our toes. They are great company when the hubbs is gone or working late. I'm looking forward to more days like today were we can go on runs together, they really push me (pull lol) to keep going. 

She has this fascination with lights, such as the flash on the camera or a leaser. Its really funny to watch her go nuts over it, it could keep her entertained for a good hour straight or longer.

Daddy's little boy, so spoiled he was our first baby. Can't believe we've had these two for 3 years already. 

Sitting so pretty waiting for a yummy treat, they are so well behaved. Ok well sometimes, if only we could work on the bed hogging at night then we'd be doing good. 

~DAY 132~

Whats Your Current Addiction ?!?!?

I've been on this Smoothie kick for the past few weeks really more so addiction but I ran out of the mix I like to use. I have not been able to find it any were here, so what was my hubbs suggestion when I complained to him about it.....MAKE YOUR OWN. Duh, Hello, Why didn't I think of that. Only problem is I really only like a couple different flavors, Strawberry & Banana Mix or either one by themselves. That's it so my options are very slim picking.

I finally found a recipe on line (no thanks to pinterest for once) through google search that seemed fitting for my taste buds. This evening after dinner I decided to give it a try. Turns out it was pretty tasty, I wont let the hubbs know his google search suggestion was a good one lol. It tasted just like the Strawberry Banana one I would get from the Smoothie Shop at the Schofield PX. Best part it cost me nothing, ok well other than the ingredients it calls for to make it. That all together totals the cost of ONE Smoothie from Smoothie king & with the stuff I bought from the Commissary I can make at least 5 more. It was super easy to make also, I just dumped everything in the blinder and MIX. You really can't beat a money saver, quick, tasty and HEALTHY late night snack. 

~DAY 131~

Whats on Mondays Menu

Before we go to the commissary for our big shopping trips I always sit down and type out a list of what meals we are going to cook over the next few weeks. Along with a overly detailed & categorized shopping list with everything we need, that is also typed out. 

This evening for dinner we decided on Chicken Pot Pie w/ Rotisserie chicken. I've made chicken pot pie before from a recipe book that I have and it always turns out so yummy. This weekend when I was online I found a new recipe for it. Although it looked to be complicated it also looked delicious. I'm always up for a challenge and decided we'd give it a try. Since it called for a rotisserie chicken I decided it would be best made sooner vs. later. Even better we both had the day off so I could start cooking early and really take my time getting everything together how I like. With two different skillets going on the stove I also started the HOMEMADE CRUST. 

Yup I was quite excited about this part, the pot pie I've made before just calls for a regular pie shell as the crust so I've never made one before. I was a bit hesitant on how it was going to turn out but everything came together just swell. The crust looked perfect with everything blended together nicely. I decided instead of making a ton of smaller serving size dishes I'd make it in my new fiesta dishes I got for Christmas. 

After filling those two I still had a ton of mixture & crust left over so I went ahead and divided it out between 5 smaller dishes this way we have dinner for tomorrow night as well. (keeping in mind if it all turned out. lol) It worked out perfect because if Gabe gets home before me tomorrow he can go ahead and get his dinner started since he has Staff Duty at 11pm. 

Let me just tell you it turned out FABULOUS I was so impressed and happy with the whole dish all the way around. It was PERFECT and tasted just like Chicken Pot Pie. Not that I doubted myself at all but I was a bit nervous. Trying something new that is so detailed can be a little hard but as long as I take my time while jamming out to some good tunes (which I always do in the kitchen, thank you Pandora Radio) I always seem to come out ahead. 

The hubbs loved it and kept saying "how good it was and that we would have to make it again for sure. SCORE!!!!!!!!! Or as Guy Fieri says on Triple D "That's the Bomb Dot Com." PS: I love that show!!! We were both so full after only eating half, it was really filling.

Thats the look of one happy stuffed hubby!!!!! 

~DAY 130~

Its another MONDAY!!!

Do you ever look back and read all those quotes you pin on Pinterest ?!?!? Do you ever do anything with them ?!??! Do they just sit there on your board as you add to the collection ?!?!?!? Do you ever incorporate them into your daily life?!?!?!

I've been trying to think of a way to incorporate them into my life more and remember them other than just pinning them on my pin board. I've added a few around my home, by incorparating them in to decor. I also have a few of then as reminders on my frig. Many of them are reminders of how I need or want to spend my life. Many of them make me laugh or smile. Some of them make my day and give me that extra boost of encouragement that I need. Some of them describe my / our life to a T. Some of them are just ME and I want to remember them forever. Some of them describe the relationship I have with my husband and with my friends / the people in my life. Some talk about were I live or were I'm from. 

You get the idea, I pin different quotes for various reasons and I want to remember them. I'm going to try and share some of my favorites with you all on Mondays. The first day of the work week, we all need a little pick me up boost to get our booties moving right. We are coming off the weekend high and back to reality of work and school. 

I hope that some or at least one of these give you that extra motivation that you need. Life is a amazing story, we only get to live once so why not live it to the fullest with the ones we love!! I know we sure are, really you've got nothing to loose. 

Being loved by him & loving him is the best feeling in the world.

 Living with my best friend, a fairy tale come true!!! 

Being a Army Wife you learn that you have to be strong quick.

I saw my vows over and over to him every day if it means having sleep overs:) hee  hee.

Sinful Sunday

Back to baking Sunday: on todays list of goodies was Coconut & Banana Bread two different worlds collided into one. When we were in Maui we stopped at a local joint along the Road to Hana were they had Coconut Bread and it was so yummy. I absolutely LOVE Banana Bread and could eat it all the time, so when I came across this recipe on Pinterest I knew I wanted to try it. 

One problem I was having trouble finding one of the ingredients so it kind of got put on the back burner. Finally after searching for a week or so I found what I was looking for at the Fresh Market, I guess that store is going to be good for something. 

While the hubbs was at Staff Duty today for his 4 hour shift (I'll take that over 24 hrs any day) I got to baking. This was a first for me making Banana Bread that wasn't from the package, plus giving it a Coconut twist. I was a bit skeptical at first especially because there were a couple ingredients listed but in the directions it didn't say were or when to add them in at. I ended up just tossing them in at the end because after all everything was really just combine in a big bowl then divided in two loaf pans. 

Popped in the oven for a hour to bake away they smelled so yummy. When the hubbs came home & asked what I was cooking for dinner he wasn't disappointed at all when I told him what it was. He to loved the Coconut bread we had in Maui. 

Fresh out of the oven I gave it a few minutes to cool off before I cut into one of the loafs. I was dying to try it, the smell was amazing and they looked perfect. A nice split down the middle and the grainy look of banana bread in between the slices.

It was a slice of heaven on earth perfection, not totally sinful I mean it has bananas in it. Those are good for you right :) 

Stay tuned for next Sundays Sinful Sunday!!!!

~~ DAY 129~