Ooops, I did it again!

Welp, there is no secret here. I did it again.  I completely neglected my commitment to blog.  The bad part is, I was consciously doing it.  Let me tell you why....

Reason #1:

Last weekend was my daughter's 5th birthday party. 

I took last Thursday morning off of work to take Ellie up to her old daycare to see her friends and bring them treats for her birthday.  I decided to test out my vegan baking skills on her class.

Since Ellie was having a bug themed birthday party, I made "dirt n worm" cupcakes.  They were a huge hit!!!! And everyone knows a bunch of four year olds are the toughest of critics!!! 

I then spent all day last Friday (which I took off from work) and all weekend making food and preparing for the shindig.  I am kind of obsessive compulsive when it comes to party planning and I go WAY over board, and tend to "geek out" at every minor detail.  I made her a vegan "bug" cake, vegan lady bug crackers, "insect egg" bean salad, "caterpillar" spinach and artichoke dip (Thanks to Emily at Daily Garnish. Click here for this AMAZING receipe)  "butterfly wing" pasta salad, ants on a log and bug juice.  The food was SPECTACULAR and  90% vegan (I had to include ham and cheese croissant sandwiches for the husband) and everyone LOVED it!

Birthday cake....Stage 1!

Its coming together! The cake was white, so i decorated the leftover daycare cupcakes so that guests could have the option of having choclate cake if they desired.

The finished product!!!!!!

....and the mess! Thank goodness my husband wasn't home to see this!

And a glass of wine to make me forget what a mess I was making....;-)

Although everything turned out well in the end.  The party started a little rough.  I had tried to reserve the park where we were having the party through our local parks and rec office and unfortunately the park we had chosen did not allow reservations.  The women at parks and rec assured me that I would not have an issue finding a picnic table because generally on a Sunday morning at 11:30 the parks aren't that busy.  Boy was she wrong!!! We showed up at the park about 11:15 (yes, I should have been there earlier so this is partially my fault!) And all of the picnic tables were reserved.  Luckily, there was a family that was reserving about 10 picnic tables for a large party later in the day and she was willing to loan us a couple of our party. 

Once everything was set up, the clown arrived and painted all the children's faces and entertained with lots of balloon animals.  We ate lunch, opened presents and enjoyed some cake.  I had planned a few bug themed games, but with the amount of kids at the park I didn't even want to attempt the activities I had planned. It worked out find though because between lunch, cake, present and clown we took up a little over 2 hours of time...perfect amount of time for a birthday party if you ask me!

We had such a great turnout for the party and enjoyed spending time with both Kiley's side and my side of the family at one event.  We are so lucky to have such wonderful and supportive family in our lives! xoxo


Reason #2: Ellie is now a KINDERGARTNER!!!!! The first day of school was Tuesday and boy has been an adjustment. Ellie is doing just fine...I am the one that is struggling.  On the first day of school Ellie would not let us take pictures of her once we got to school because we were "embarrassing" her.  Then when it was time to line up and go in the classroom, I tried to give Ellie a kiss goodbye and once again, Ellie was mortified (I almost broke out in to tears at this point).  I found her concern for being embarrassed extremely ironic considering the little boy in front of her, and behind her in line were both BAWLING because they did not want to leave there moms.  El did break down and give me a quick peck on the cheek just as her class began to enter the building! :-)

On the second day of kindergarten Ellie informed me that she "doesn't watch noggin anymore because it is too babyish" and that she "watches Nickelodeon instead."  I don't think I like Kindergarten! :-(

Today is day number 3 of Elementary School, so we will have to see what kind of comment she has to make this evening when I pick her up!

Reason #3)  I accepted a new position at my job.  Under my current role I was doing alot of traveling to see clients and prospects.  As fun as it is to be on the road, I missed my family.  Especially now that I am married and Ellie is in kindergarten I had an even stronger urge to be at home.  So I have been busy making the transition from my old role to my new role this week!  More on this too come....

Reason #4) Sigh......So I have mentioned a couple of times prior that I needed some good luck.  Well, I didn't get the good luck I was hoping for.  Long story short, Kiley and I put an offer down on our dream home and we lost it! We found out on Tuesday that the house had slipped between our fingers.  Devastated does not even begin to describe how hurt I was after finding out we lost the house.  I have spent the last two days crying..and crying...and crying...and finally taking my frustration out on my poor undeserving husband who is just as upset as I am.  So today I finally sucked it up; admitted defeat to myself; and decided to move, which is why I finally feel like I can blog again!

SOOOOO in a nut shell, that has been my life the last week.  I have been absent in the kitchen the last couple of days due to the "cooking extravaganza" I took on over the weekend prepping for the birthday party.  But I am itching to get back in it tonight and for sure this weekend!  I can't let a small upset like a house take me off track from the things that make me the happiest....i.e. my daughter, my husband, cooking and running!  In the end, it was just a house.  It's my family that makes it a home! :-)

Clarity

Well hello! I apologize for my absence but I took a break from blogging (all 3 posts that I have done so far) to spend some much needed time with my family.  As I mentioned on Thursday, I was anticipating some much needed news in a couple of areas of my life.  Well, unfortunately that news did not come and instead I received other new that was extremely unexpected.  I can't really disclose any details right now, just please continue to keep your fingers crossed!

Since the news I was hoping for didn't make it my way, I was slightly....upset! So I redirected negative energy to something positive....RUNNING and FAMILY!  We had a fantastic weekend! Friday night Kiley, Ellie and I attended our county fair for a few hours where Ellie got to ride her first pony.  Saturday consisted of a trip to our local farmers market in the morning, birthday party shopping in the afternoon, followed by a brief trip to the neighborhood swimming pool to cool off and then finally, off to the Roller Derby.  The No Coast Derby Girls were definitely the highlight of our weekend.  Kiley had attended before, but for Ellie and I this was our first experience. 

Ellie was SO excited to take this pic, however her response post picture, "I didn't think the girls would be all sweaty!" LoL Oh how I love the non-filtered mouth of an almost 5 year old!

Sunday consisted of scrubbing the house in preparation of this week and next when my little girl starts school. Yes, KINDERGARTEN!!!! WoW where does the time go?  I am so excited and proud of her, but I know I will be a teary mess come next Tuesday.

Sunday night we headed to the my in laws for our weekly family dinner.  Phew what a weekend, I am tired just think about all that we did! But thinking about all that we did got me thinking about all that I have NOT done this summer. Which lead to the creation of my "Summer Bucket List."  If there is one thing you should know about me, it is that I am an avid list maker.  I make lists about EVERYTHING.  I even put things on my lists that I have already accomplished.  Now, this maybe cheating, but it gives me just enough of a confidence boost to make me convince myself that "yes, my lists work. And, yes, I am productive!"

Now some of these things you may have NO idea what they are, and that's okay! As I cross them off I promise to give some clarity.  My goal now is to create this for every season, because I feel my self frequently saying, "sometime I want to do this," or "sometime lets go there." And instead of just stating what I want to do SOMEDAY,  I am gonig to start doing those things today!  OOO that reminds me...I forgot something on my list...

There, much better! I am sure there will be many more revisions of this list, but at least its a start.

So this blog is supposed to also include "food" related topics, right? Well...I didn't do too much cooking this weekend. Friday night we grilled portabella mushrooms marinated in balsamic vinegar with basil and tomatoes and a cream cheese pesto sauce, alongside homemade onion rings (ok, I totally should have taken pics of that meal because it was AMAZING!)  But other then that, we just kind of scrapped together whatever we had in the house.  I ate quit a few tofurkey sandwiches and my husband and daughter had other odds and ends.  We were just too busy to spend hours in the kitchen!

Ellie is at her dad's this week, so I am determined to craft up something tasty to feed the husband.  He joked yesterday that since I have declared myself a vegan I have spent more time in our tiny, inefficient kitchen then he has in the past 8 years he has lived in the house.  I think that's pretty accurate!  But honestly, I have never had so much fun cooking! I always "liked" cooking before, but I was so afraid of cooking with meat because I was scared I wouldn't cook it long enough and I would get someone sick.  But now that I cook without meat, heck, nothing is holding me back!!!! Cooking is definitely my favorite pastime! :-) So I promise, something new and fun coming up.  I already know what I am going to introduce you too tomorrow....and trust me, you will be hooked!

A little spanish luck!

I am desperately in need of some VERY good luck today.  I don't want to reveal why yet, just P L E A S E keep your fingers and toes crossed for me! :-)

My daughter has been with grandma and grandpa in Omaha (about 45 minutes away) since Sunday night.  She was supposed to come home last night, but she begged and pleaded to spend one more night with Grandma Cheryl.  I miss here dearly.  The house is SO quiet without her not at home, but I know how much the two of them value their time together so I had to let her stay!

Since Ellie was gone, it was a perfect night to make tacos.  Ellie loves tacos, she just prefers them a little on the milder side then my husband and I. So it is always fun to make them when she is not home so I can really kick things up a notch.  While Kiley suffered in the intense heat mowing the lawn, I enjoyed the nice cool AC (one of the perks of being merried to an HVAC tech :-) ) and took my time chopping up cilantro, onions, tomatoes etc. for homemade pico.  I LOVE homemade pico, and I never make it the same way twice.  Last nights version was comprised of canned sweet corn, tomatoes, diced chili pepers, fresh lime juice, black beans, diced onions and LOTS of cilanto.  I really think I could eat cilantro like lettace. I love it that much!

Since Kiley isn't vegan, I made some ground hamburger taco meat for him.  I also heated up some organic refried beans and made some homemade vegan "nacho cheese" sauce.  That recipe you can find here!  I have to be honest, I wasn't so sure how the cheeseless, cheese sauce would turn out, but I LOVED it. 

I am not a fan of tortiallas and taco shells, so I heated up hard taco shells for Kiley and just made myself a large taco salad.  Unfortunelty I forgot to take pictures of the various stages of our dinner as I was cooking (please forgive, I am still very new to this blogging thing).  But we will be having leftovers tonight so I promise I will document!  By the way, it goes without saying that left over taco salad is FANTASTIC!!!  I love pico the second day because it has been able to sit and marinate and soak up all the deliciousness from the veggies and spices.  YYYUUUMMM! Needless to say I am dreaming of dinner already and it is only 10:55 am.  

So the BEST part of last night was when Kiley was putting together his tacos.  I had picked up some Kraft Mexican cheese for him and as he was sprinkling it on his tacos he said, and I quote, "babe you don't have to get special regular cheese for me, I am more then happy to eat the vegan soy cheese you buy." WOW!!! Talk about love and support, he really is the best! :-) A man willing to give up his love of dairy cheese to accomodate his newly vegan wife...I am SSSSOOO lucky!!!

Just as I predicted.

So, my whole idea behind this blog was to document the crazy adventures of my family as we continue to take on too much at once.  In the spirit of taking on to much at once, I started this blog....and then neglected it.  After one (yes, just 1) post I stopped posting.  Imagine that! :-) So I am going to give this another shot.  In the past 3 months since I have had a few new beginngs:

NEW BEGINING #1
Since my last posted I have become a Mrs. (BIG SMILE ). I have been L O V I N G every minute of adjusting to my new life as a wife.  Aside from that minor (major sarcasm) detail, my life has continued to move forward at a faster pace then ever. 

NEW BEGINNING #2
My daughter will be 5 in 2 weeks and is starting kidnergarten the day after her birthday! I absolutely LOVE party planning so I am having a plast exerting all of my extra energy into her "bug" birthday party.  But, it is very bittersweet because my baby is going off to school. So much to look forward to. I couldn't be any happier!

Now that I have filled you in on the changes in my life, here is my newest idea.  Instead of just making this a blog about my family and our adventures (I will of course include those details as well since they are my favorite subject to talk about...aside from food and exercise), I want this blog to focus more on my families journey to a healthier life. 

NEW BEGINNING #3
I commited myself to being a vegan 12 days ago and I have NEVER felt healthier!  I have throughouly enjoyed retraining my palet and rediscovering food in the rawest and most natural form.  Thank goodness for my husband and daughter who although I receive an occasional chuckle from (usually when a vegan recipe fails) they have been very supportive of my decision to take our family down a healthier path.  I joke with my husband that I did not merry him to have him leave me at 35 due to a heartattack from eating Burger King everyday!  Although my husband and daughter are not vegan, they do make an honest attempt to try everything that I cook.  And for the majority of the time they love my creations.  I try to accmodate their love for meat, and my love for the lack of, at every meal.  This can be a challenge but I think we have found a nice balance.  AND....believe it or not, my husband likes not eating fast food anymore! I couldn't be prouder! :-) So this blog has now become my personal journey to transform our families eating habits and accomodate various food tastes at every meal.  Thanks for following along! :-)