Twenty-Eleven Will Cost Us Thousands.

Justin and I are working on a plan to spend as much money as possible pay our credit card debt off, fix up our house so we can put it up for a sale within the next twelve months, eat MUCH more healthy (like when I was pregnant), join a gym and build muscle mass and get Violet involved in some activities with other children her age so she can get used to "mean" kids before school starts. (Because there are some MEAN kids out there. Thanks bad parenting)

Hopefully everything will fall into place, though I am expecting to have some rough patches. (like the summer when Justin doesn't get Webster money)

So, if we tell you we're going to stay home and all that..dont be offended, we're spending thousands of dollars that we usually leave for fun weekend stuff/eating dinner out.


Our goal is to move the hell out of this neighborhood/house within 1 year. I really wanted to move out at year 5, and we've just hit year 6 this month! :( I can wait another year if it means we'll make more on the house at the sale and so we can pay off more credit card debt.

A small list of things we need to do to fix the house, that we're willing to have help on if you want to:

Fix the stairs/top part of our back deck
Seal the outside basement walls of the house
Seal the inside basement walls
paint the basement floor

touch up (paint) the whole house
make-over the bathroom
fix the back door and frame
fix the broken front window
replace the fascia around the house
trim some big branches of the tree
remove the swing set
get our ducts cleaned
maybe replace carpet? (we're debating on this one)

haha, did I say SMALL list? Yeah, this is why its going to take us a year. And we're still talking about everything that needs to be done. Oh well, one small step for this house gets us into a better school district! :) and Violet's education is worth it!

So, once again, if anyone wants to help us out let me know! We plan on fixing up the bathroom first, which should be pretty easy/quick. (provided there isn't too much mold in the walls)

So, that's what's up. for now.

Spinach Artichoke Chicken Alfredo Bake

Spinach Artichoke Chicken Alfredo Bake

1 box noodles (macaroni or penne); cooked and drained

EVOO

Medium onion; chopped

A few cloves of garlic; chopped

2T flour

1C chicken stock

2C milk

1 box frozen spinach; thawed and drained

1box frozen artichoke hearts; thawed and drained

S&P

Nutmeg

3C cheese (whatever….I used Mozzarella feel free to use combinations!)

1lb Cooked & cubed chicken

1.  cook onion and garlic in a little olive oil until soft

2. add 2T of olive oil and 2T flour (let cook for a minute)

3. whisk in  1C chicken stock

4. whisk in 2C milk

5. Add in spinach, artichokes, chicken cubes and S&P and nutmeg to taste.

6. Melt in 2 C Cheese

7. Add sauce to noodles in a 13x9 casserole (or slightly bigger, if you can)

8. sprinkle 1C cheese on top and bake at 350F until cheese is brown.

**this is based off of Rachael Ray's Spinach Artichoke Mac N Cheese. (its just a cheaper version...)

Resolutions

I haven't decided on any resolutions, and frankly I'm just too busy right now to really think about it, so here is quickly put together list.

So, my "goals" for this year are:

1. Get the whole family eating healthy again

2. Find a better job

3. Be happy

4. Grow another 6" of hair

5. Drink more water


1-3 are the most important things to me this year. Last year Justin and I started eating like crap again, I never started my business and I was depressed all year. MUST END!!

I can also admit, there were days that I didn't even have so much as a sip of water because I drank so much coffee/tea/soda. bleck.

So, lets go ahead and change that and get back into health!

I didn't add exercise because I really dont want that to be a "resolution" I want it to just be a lifestyle choice. Though, I do need to get back in the swing of pilates because I've been having major neck/back issues this year.

So, Cheers to 2011! Please OH Please, bring me some happiness!

Better Than The Last

2011 is going to change my life forever, just as 2010 did. Hopefully not for the same reasons, otherwise I may have to sell everything I own to hire a hitman. Twenty-Ten has been one of the most depressing years of my life. And, not to brag, but I've had some pretty crumby years. Thankfully, I was married to Justin and had my daughter Violet to help me get through it.

Screw Twenty-Ten, Twenty-Eleven is going to be BETTER than any year preceding it. Justin and I are going to make it so! Anyone who tries to ruin it for us is going down. (or being shunned, like the entire Fisher Family.(which is proof that I'm not joking.)

I just have to decide on my resolutions and get to it. So should you!  Now's the time! Be prepared when Twenty-Eleven comes! 

The END is near!

I'm still thinking up next years resolutions. Some possibilities for the list are:

1. less soda/coffee/caffeine
2. stop saying "like" so much
3. start my flipping business already(which needs a new name)
4. write a new knitting pattern every week
5. get a REAL website for my knitting stuff with adverts and all that jazz.
6. start treating my body like I'm going to be getting pregnant (because when I was doing that last time I felt wonderful all the time!)
7. keep the kitchen table cleaned off
8. figure out where to move!
9. make millions of dollars by playing the lottery...pwahahaha. ok, jk.
10. potty train Vi!! (yikes, scary)
11. possibly join a running team (those cost money though...)
12. join a gym? I dunno. Still skeptical about those things...and they're dirty. yuck.
13. try not to be so sensitive.
14. try to look for the good in people.
15. try not to over think peoples actions/comments
16. keep up with the 5 new recipes a month(cuz that one rocked!) (do we get roll-overs on resolutions..does this mean I can have 6 instead of 5?)


Well, that's about 3 minutes worth of thinking. I am going to narrow it down to 5, like last year. I have many more.

Where has the time gone?

Well, we're into the second week of November, Twenty-Ten! My resolutions have come to a screeching halt. Here is a recap of my resolutions and their success thus far.

1. Be all that I can as a wife and mother.

2. Make all Christmas gifts for next year.
3. Read more often.
4. Make Violet a quilt.
5. Try at least 5 new dinner recipes a month.

1. Be all that I can as a wife and mother. 

Mother. I feel like I've been slacking in my motherly duties as far as educating my daughter. I feel like I've been ignoring her more lately. I mean, she's definitely becoming more independent. If I leave the crayons in a bucket on the table next to some paper she just colors whenever she wants. She reads whenever she wants. She plays whenever. But she's been watching a lot of TV too. I really dont want her to be watching so much. I only read to her a couple times a day. We used to listen to music all the time...I'm sure I could go on and on...

Wife. This one has probably the worst success so far. Although I feel more close to Justin than I ever have, getting there wasn't easy or fun.  And there are still aspects of our relationship that I feel used to be strong, that are no longer. After starting the year off so well, tragically the night before Mother's Day Justin's cousin took advantage of me being drunk and tried over and over to make a move on me. He kissed me so many times. I told him to stop every time. He just wouldn't listen. I was trying to be understanding because I knew he was having a hard time with the way his life was going and I felt he was reaching out, just in the MOST WRONG WAY POSSIBLE. So, long story short, his cousin told his mom the "makes said cousin  look less like a gigantic asshole" story....which she then told to the family. And now I'm somehow a cheating whore. Why is it that whenever someone is the victim, they aren't treated as such. Just because he was having a bad few months doesn't give him the right to ruin my life. And wtf was he trying to achieve anyway!?  And folks, this is why I haven't been a great wife this year. I've been depressed and absolutely not myself since that night. I've never felt so naked and alone. I would rather have more kids and let the whole hospital check out my "lady business" as often as they like than go through something like that again. What's worse, is now I absolutely HATE that family. And no matter who says what to me, I feel I will never be able to be around them again simply because I cannot trust them. I have other feelings about this matter, but those are between me and Justin. Anyway...I'm trying to get over it. Its really hard. Justin doesn't want anything to do with his family anymore, and I dont blame him, it just makes me sad.

2. Make all Christmas gifts.

Yep, no money.

3. Read more often.

hm. kinda stopped blogging about my reading because I took a couple months to write a business plan, play x-box and then I started writing knitting patterns galore. Now my business has never started because I'm not in the right state of mind. bummer. It was a good one. Maybe 2011? : )

4. make Violet a quilt.

This isn't going to happen until we figure out if she's going to be in a toddler bed or a twin size bed. I'm assuming I should just make a twin size quilt, but I dont know what colors the room will be. These are tough and critical decisions.

5. try at least 5 new dinner recipes a month

Ok, I know I've done at least 4 a month, but I stopped blogging about them because no on cared. So...whatevs.

Well, that started off pretty depressing...I'm starting to think about my twenty-eleven resolutions. I think the #1 resolution will be all about me and becoming more awesome. This year has been terrible and I really cant wait for it to be over. Why do I want to wait until the beginning of the year? I'm not sure. I want 2011 to start as soon as it can, maybe I'm hoping 2010 has something wonderful in store for us still? 

We can only hope.

Jude Law and Michael Caine