Homesteading and Opening Stores

Hi guys!!!  I’ve been busy, busy, BUSY!!!  I started a new blog and a store for my crafts for a charity.  Mike’s mom has a lung disorder that will cause her to have to have a double lung transplant and I want to help.  Sooooo I decided to do something I am good at and I think this is going to be a good thing.  I will probably slack off over here on this page of mine, but feel free to check out my other one anytime!!! I’ll try to keep up and let you know more and more about myself, but with this new launch it will take up a lot of my time and patience. Other than working there has been no changes really.  These past few days I have been working day shift and I have to say, I am going to miss it.  I had a training class to go to and I learned a lot about my position I didn’t know, and I really like the 8 to 5 hours.  Granted, if I ever go to days in the position I am in, I will be working 6:30 to whenever.  Those are some early hours and I can’t wait for that day.  With Mike working days it would great seeing as now I don’t see him a lot unless it’s a weekend.  He loves his new job too so that’s a big plus!! 

Cute little cartoon I found on Google.

I’ve been working on a lot of homemade products such as tooth paste, deodorant, and a bunch of other stuff trying to get away from spending a ton of money on things that are just going to kill me faster and I must say, I am quite impressed with them.  Mike made some laundry detergent and with what we save we can start looking into buy some land.  We are slowly becoming homesteaders and want to have a small farm and make all of our own products if possible.  I think I am more for all of the making stuff and having a garden, I think he wants woods so he can hunt, but still a self-sustained lifestyle is the end goal!!  In my next few posts I’ll try to get you a few recipes to help you with your home-made products!!  I really enjoy them and would like to share them with you as well. 

I think it is time for me to get off of here and let my eyes and head rest.  It’s been a long day and I need to get some rest.  I know I need to stay up a bit longer, but my eyes are getting heavy as I type this and watch Duck Dynasty (LOVE THIS SHOW)!!!

Decisions, decisions

This week has been extremely busy for me, what with learning a new job and still adjusting to a new schedule.  It’s been very hectic, but I summed it up with a quiet weekend with my one and only with a bunch of movies and cuddle time on the couch!!  Oh it was a wonderful way to spend my weekend, but I have been thinking a lot about a number of things this past week. 

After the last miscarriage, Mike and I decided to stop trying for now and just wait for a better time.  After a long discussion I told him I was wanting to get an IUD so we could be nearly 100% sure I would not get pregnant again.  It was a great idea and we knew it would help the worries in the back of our minds “what if we get pregnant again.”  Well it turns out it wasn’t all it was supposed to be.  I had more issues with it in than I thought I would, the cramping was constant and my moods were completely erratic!!  It was worse than being pregnant!!  I’m not one to discuss sex a whole lot, but let me tell you that even changed!  I’m talking everything was different and not in a good way.   

After about three months of this, I told Mike I had to have it taken out and I was hoping he was with me in getting it taken out.  We talked about the pros and cons of it.  We weren’t looking to try again anytime soon, but I know it needed to be taken out before more issues arose.  I finally made the appointment to have it out, and the doctor asked what we were going to do as far as preventative causes and all I could say was nothing.  Mike and I have decided that were not going to wait, but we aren’t going to try. 

We were watching movies tonight and one we got was “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” and while watching it, everything just hit me at once.  There was one couple on there, actually two I feel I can hope to relate to.  The first couple had been trying for two years to get pregnant with little success, but finally let go and just went with the flow.  The second couple was an unexpected happening and they weren’t married, actually weren’t even a couple.  Granted Mike and I are a couple, but those were the ones I could relate to the most. 

These two people were trying to make it work for the sake of a baby (not that I try to make it work with Mike, but you get the drift right?) and they were doing well for a bit.  Then BANG!!  Everything was shit and her world specifically fell apart around her when she lost the baby.  I know it’s not easy for a man either, but being through this situation I know what it feels like when you are so happy you’re going to be bringing a life in this world and then it’s ripped away from you.  Literally ripped away.  It’s actually the worst feeling I have ever had and would never wish it on my worst enemy.  The emotional times, the feeling there is something I did to make it happen, and the sorrow you can not get out of your heart. 

I know I am supposed to be a mom, deep down I know it and I know it is in my destiny.  It’s what I have wanted since I can remember and I know I will be good at it.  I want a whole slew of kids if I had it my way, but hey I’m willing to compromise.  I know Mike wants them too and we have agreed on some names when the time comes, but for now we are willing to wait and let it all fall into place. 

This has been an emotional post, a long needed look into my self and a long-awaited decision on my part.  Mike was ready to keep trying, but I just couldn’t do it.  I was still fighting with my emotions, fighting the battle in my gut and telling myself this one wouldn’t happen either.  I still have fear, but in the end I know one day it will go right!   

I truly hope no one is too depressed by reading my story and struggles,  I know I cried writing it, and if you have been through this you know what I mean.  I won’t say it will get better, but I know in my heart it will happen for me soon, but that’s the case for everyone.  I wish you all luck, best wishes, and don’t give up.

Vacation Part 3: Land Ho!

Nassau, what can I say?  We finally hit land and we were about to have a blast in an exotic, foreign place.  But first we had to get off the ship.  This was made difficult because of a power outage that caused a back up of people on the disembarking deck along with stair wells above.  The crowd of people caused heat, and with heat come irritation.  Not to mention I had lost Mike before the outage and he didn’t know where our group was. 

Finally the situation was handled and we were able get off the boat into the sunshine of Nassau.  I stepped off the boat and lo and behold Mike was waiting, he’s so smart sometimes that he just goes to the end of where we are supposed to be and waits.  Any way, they take your  picture everywhere on the ship and getting off no different.  “Lady!!  How ’bout a picture?”  I heard that so many times it got old, it wouldn’t have been so bad had the pictures been a decent price to where I could buy them, but they wanted way too much for these. 

I walked into the city thru customs and a lot of shops to get to our destination.  Taxi drivers, horse carriages, mopeds, and many other options of travel were available and had people yelling to get our business.  We were fine on foot and just kept walking.  I saw all the shops and just had to go in, but I didn’t know the people would be so clingy.  In America they wait for you to ask for help, but here, they jump to help.  Nice people, don’t get me wrong, but I just want to browse and look without be harassed.  The Straw Market was the worst, it took everything to get out of there.  Did I also mention, I was almost killed by a driver here?  There were no lights, or stop signs and I looked both ways and every other way possible, but still a guy decided to make a U-Turn as I was in the middle of the street and nearly hit me.  They drive like maniacs there just a heads up!!

We were done with shopping and wanted to hit a beach and the public beach was a bit down the road from us, but hey it was worth it.  The sun was beating down, the heat was going up, and the people were just non-stop.  A little cool down at the beach is what we needed. 

The water was defiantly see through.  I could see the bottom when we were neck high.  I have heard of beaches like this but never seen one, so this impressed me.  The shore was a bit rocky where we decided to plant ourselves, so walking into the water was a slow, mildly painful situation.  The water was cool and refreshing, a much-needed moment.  I must say I am a people watcher, and on the beach is probably one of the best places to watch.  I saw women wearing small suits and men with even smaller ones on.  Kids jumping off the dock into the water, and people laying out all over the beach.  Everyone was care free and read for a good day on the beach, myself and Mike included. 

I’m not really sure how long Mike and I stayed, but when we left we didn’t have a bag so we had to hunt one down.  We found a cute little shop that had just what we were looking for and it makes for a useful and handy souvenir.  With our beach attire in the bag we continued to look around a bit more, but we started to realize our skin was on fire.  I had forgotten the sun screen back in the room and while we were in the ocean, we got pretty burnt.  We were supposed to meet with the family at 3:30 in Senor Frogs, but neither of us saw that trip happening.  Sadly we retired to the ship, got something to eat with room service, and stayed in most of the night.  Solarcane, Aloe Vera, and cold showers did nothing to help. 

Overall, I liked Nassau, but it was a different place than I had pictured in my head.  The people were something else entirely, the water was amazing, the atmosphere was something new, but I just expected paradise and not just streets and walking.  I suppose had we done an excursion it would have been different, but we didn’t and we saw, I would say, the busiest part of town on a hot day.    I forgot to mention, we got a dealer pin from the Harley store there and the first store we stepped in was the Harley store.  How funny is that?  Mike on a mission for a Harley pin?  He’s so cute!

Vacation Part 2: I’m on a boat!!

You know that song by the Lonely Island, “I’m on a Boat”?  Well I just couldn’t stop singing that while we were getting on the boat.  I know, I’m a loser, but hey it fit.  Anywho, the second day of vacation started with us getting ready to board and set sail.  It was really uneventful until we got on the ship so I will skip all the boring stuff, sound good to you?

Well we all piled on and went to our rooms and were able to look around to get to know the ship we would be on for the next FIVE days.  There were so many floors to remember and so much to do, that I don’t think I ever made it all over the ship.  I’m not kidding there has to be somewhere I didn’t go.  But back to the story, The Lido Deck was where we all piled up to eat, and I mean everyone.  The pool was full of kids and young adults ready to get started.  The Windows of the Sea was full of people ready to get started on the free food!  There was so much food there I had no clue where to start, so I just got a salad, Mike came back to the table with a plate so full I didn’t think he would be able to hold it.

After lunch we started walking around on the upper decks to wait to disembark from the port.  We didn’t head out until narly 5, and the safety meeting went a bit longer than expected I think, but when we were able to get out in the ocean, you could tell the troubles on shore were left behind and the party started.  I think I had two drinks in me by the time we took off, but hey it was my first cruise, and I was wondering if I would actually get sea sick.  I didn’t!! 

On the ship you get an itenary for everyday as to what would be going on.  They have everything going at all hours of the night.  I wanted to check out some of the shows on the first night and play some games.  I actually won a trophy on the first night in a game of trivia.  It was so much fun and the people on the ship were so carefree and liquored up.  What can possibly go wrong?  The answer to that is nothing!!  We sat and watched a show, hit up some shops, and ate more than we knew was possible.

We didn’t hit the first port until the 3rd day which I will talk about in another part to this series, but we were on the ship a lot and there is so much to cover.  Formal night, which is where everyone puts on really nice clothes and takes lots of picrures.  Basically they call it the Captian’s Dinner and most people have fun with it.  Mike hated it and wishes he never has to do it again.  He hates dressing up and if he could never have to dress up again he would be happy. 

I guess I could tell you about the food too huh?  I have never ate so much good food, or new foods for that matter.  Every night I could try something I have never had, heard of, or seen.  If I didn’t like something I could tell our server, Delroy and his team we would like soemthing else.  It was that simple, and we didn’t have to worry about clean up.  I didn’t do this because I love food so much, but Missy wasn’t as brave as some of us.  Dessert came with every meal and the chocolate melting cake was to die for.  I didn’t eat it every night because there was so much I wanted to try that I just had to.  I could have ordered one of everything on the menu if I wanted to, but what is the point in wasting all of that food?  I tried cured salmon (not somthing I liked), frog legs, Neptune’s salad (full of random sea food and cavier), shark, and so much more I can’t even remember (I knew I should have taken notes). 

On the night we went to the comedy show, I decided to wear a shirt that had sequins all over it and we sat close to the stage.  There was the biscut eater (a heavy set guy), a young guy, Betty White (an older lady about a row in front of me) and myself in my disco ball shirt.  He wanted everyone to know that if I fell over, I would be found.  While here tho, I had an encounter I talked about before I left.  A zombie was on our ship and it came with a kick.  This drink called the Zany Zombie was one of the stronger, better drinks I had while on board. 

While I could talk all day about this, I don’t have the time.  I will say this about the Carnival Fantacy though, the crew was amazing, the entertainment was grand, and the trip all around was one of the best I have been on.

Vacation: Part 1 Charleston, SC

Like I promised, I am now able to blog about my vacation.  Since it took many days to unfold, I am writing it in parts.  Today is the Charleston, SC section and what a blast it was!  The ride to Charleston was a bit rocky, no one had any sleep and the trip was just begining. 

We pulled into our motel around 6 am from a long ride from Owensboro, and there were no vacancies at the time.  We were going to have to do an early check in, but seeing as there were no rooms, we had to figure out something else to do so we would’t fall asleep before we got our room.  We all needed sleep and we were all cranky and moody from the crammed in ride.  Mike and I got a little bit of sleep while on the road, but not enough to really help out the situation, the driver was getting more tired by the minute, the navigator started to close his eyes for a small nap, and the two other women were wide awake most of the trip.    I have never been to Golden Corral for breakfast and Mike’s mom suggested we go eat and then try to check into our room a little later in the day.

Walking into Golden Corral was a sensation of many.  With the lack of sleep the air conditioner, the smell of the food, and the endless buffet screamed my name.  I usually never eat more than just a plate at a buffet because I don’t keep an appitite as mych, but for some reason, I thought 3 sounded good at the time.  As we sat around the table, the conversation began to get a little crazy.  Honestly I have no cluse what we were talking about, but I do know there was a lot of mean mugging, laughing tired, people!  Driving back to chack in was a big tsk at this point.  The unknown roads, the morning traffic, and the tiredness setting in in all of us just wanting a comfortable bed to lay in for a few hours of sleep. 

With it still being early we had to find something else to do to kill time and I knew of this little place my wonderful brother and sister in law got married and wanted to check it out.  Battery Park was right on the coast, and I still don’t know if it was the ocean or a river, but I do know it was salt water and it was beautiful.  There was so much to look at, but the sun was beating down and the people were swarming in.  Kathy wanted to do a horse carriage ride around the city and it was really interesting and I was glad to take it.  The city is actually the biggest historical city, it floods, and the houses are extremely ecpensive.  The colors, the trees, the flowers, everything about this peninsula was grand!  I really liked the Daughters of the Confederacy Market place aka The Slave Market.  Surprisingly no slaves were sold there, so the name is not fitting. 

It was still a little early for us to check in, but we couldn’t just sit in the van to keep cool so Mike, his mom and dad, and I piled into to wait for our room to be ready in the lobby.  The room was ready in no time, but with Missy and Danny in the van, our luggage would have to wait.  The hotel was a nice place and the room was big enough for us all to sleep.  Mike and I were there when we got the room so naturally we claimed one of the beds, Kathy and Mike (not my Mike, it gets confusing I know) took the other, and Danny and Missy took the fold out couch. 

A nap was so refreshing and it was time to find some stuff to do.  Mike has this thing he likes to do when hes on vacation, he says its more of an addiction, where he likes to hit up the Harley Davidson stores to get a dealer pin.  I think it’s cute and to see his eyes light up like a kid in a candy store when he finds what he’s looking for.  It didn’t help that I was there too and wanting to buy a bike to take back home with us, but hey, I can hope. 

Dinner was an adventure in itself.  We went to this cute little local place called The Crab Shack.  I had been wanting a crawfish boil, but it wasn’t really the south so I had to deal with what I could get.  I got a bucket of oysters, crab legs, shrimp, potatoes and corn on the cob.  The center of the table there was a bucket so we could throw our trash away.  I gave Mike my oysters, but not before I tried one myself and decided that I hated.  Texture is a big thing with me and a slimy thing such as an oyster was not what I wanted to eat.  I can eat sushi all day, but theres just something about an oyter that turns my stomach. 

 

Back to Earth

Well hello there!! Did you miss me? I surly missed you guys. Being on the ocean with no outside communication for five days did it for me!! Since there is sooo much to write about, I figure I will do a couple parts to this blog. After all this trip was a new on to me!

We’re on the road to get home right now and we still have about a 7 hour drive/ride for some of us in the van, and I have no pictures to upload just yet, but I promise, that is all coming very soon.

I think a nap is in order soon as well, I just ate and on the ship that seemed to be the thing to do after lunch. Goodness I’ve probably put on 15 pounds as much as I ate on the trip. I didn’t keep count but I bet I ate at least 5 times a day. And I mean big buffets all the time, but dinner was practically a four course meal every night !!! If you like food, I suggest a cruise.

Well folks that’s it for me right now, but like I said I should be on to tell you of my travels soon. Really, I missed you all and am so glad to be back in communication with the world!

Zombie Vacation!!

Hey friends, sorry it’s been so long, it’s been a really long couple of weeks.  I have been working a lot of over time to make up for a few things.  Mike and I were ready to start our plan and that got delayed a bit, so now he has no job and I am having to work extra to make up for it.  Our plans are still there, but on hold for a few months to see what is going to happen with some other things.  It’s been an emotional ride these past two weeks and I am ready for vacation.  Oh, I forgot to mention that didn’t I?  Well Mike and I are lucky enough to join his family on a cruise to the Bahamas and we leave this Friday to head to the port and ship out Sunday!!  I have one week left of work and have plans to have a whole lot of fun!!

Salmon experiment

Yet again I am experimenting in my kitchen!!! Oh how I love doing this!! Well I found some salmon in my freezer last night (not the best, but hey it works) and sat it in my fridge to thaw so I could cook it today. But what was I going to do, how was I going to cook it? My mind was racing and I couldn’t think of anything I thought would sound good. Like always, I turned to my handy Cajun seasoning and coat

 

ed the bottom of my baking pan. Then it hit me, I don’t just want spicy, but something sweet also!! Rummaging through my cabinets for the perfect spice, my eyes finally spotted just what I was looking for! BROWN SUGAR!! Very lightly I sprinkled the pan, sat my salmon in my swicy (yes I just made that up) concoction and sprinkled a bit more of each spice on top!! Now it’s in the oven baking and I just can’t wait to see what it tastes like!! I’m pretty excited to see what flavor I’ve cooked up! Oh yeah, I took my salmon out about 15 minutes to add just a bit more brown sugar. I really didn’t put a whole lot on it and I wanted to make sure it soaked up that flavor also!!

Do you have any good suggestions for salmon? How about some sides to go with it? I never have enough knowledge when it comes to cooking and always want more. Will you help me?

 

 

Just another creation from my kitchen to yours!

Good evening everyone!!  I woke up a bit early this afternoon and had some time to cook before work.  I have created yet another meal in my kitchen that I hope you will try as well sometime!!  It’s really easy (I’m all about good, fast food, from the kitchen of course) and doesn’t take long at all!! 

Jerk Chicken and Rice                                                                                                

Ingredients

• Chicken Breast
• 1 can whole mushrooms
• fresh spinach leaves
• 6 cups of white rice (instant, boil in bag, or regular)
• 2 cups water
• Jerk seasoning
• Fresh Garlic

So now that you have everything, lets begin!!

1. Cut chicken into desirable size cubes.
2. follow instructions on rice cooking.  I used the regular rice and it takes about 15 minutes to cook, but I prefer the boil in the bag (so much easier to work with in my opinion, plus the regular stuff always come out sticky.)
3. While rice is cooking, cut up some garlic (to taste, Mike likes a lot of garlic, so I use a lot).
4. In a separate pot, boil 2 cups of water (the other 4 are for the rice) add chicken, mushrooms, garlic, spinach leaves (as many as you like, no specific amount) and Jerk Seasoning (again, no specifics, just to taste).  let this boil until chicken is cooked thoroughly. 
5. When your rice is finished cooking, add all items in a bowl (I use a giant bowl because I make enough to feed a small army, but if it’s just you, you can use a small bowl.)  Top off with some more Jerk Seasoning if you like, and enjoy!! 

Hopefully you find this meal as enjoyable as Mike and I have, and if you like it enough, feel free to share it with friends and family!!  Thanks again guys and if you ever have any good ideas for cooking, be sure to share them with me!!  Oh and did I mention, it was SUPER CHEAP to make??

Food induced sadness?

 It has been one of those days, where all I wanted to do was lay in bed and wallow in self-pity.  I didn’t sleep well last night and the dreams kept waking me up.  They have been really strange the past few days, and I feel when I haven’t slept well, I get really depressed.  Tonight at work was a pretty rough night and I broke down in tears a few time, but managed to stay out of anyone’s radar that would notice (a little silly now that I am writing about it huh?).

It all started over a cover war.  You guessed it Mike likes to steal covers while were asleep and now he takes up all of the bed, just about, since we switched sides.  With hardly any covers all night on a chilly night, you could say I got pretty cold.  While the wars on covers was going on, my dreams were going like a freight train and causing me to wake up every hour.  Honestly I don’t even know what they were about, but I know they were something crazy.  My alarm went off at three and that’s when I woke Mike up to get ready.  I stayed in bed hoping to catch a few more zzzzz.  That didn’t go so well because I like it completely dark in my room when I sleep and he just so happened to leave the bathroom door open.  The sun was shining bright too in my nice little hole of darkness.  Tossing and turning some more I was finally able to fall back asleep.  Then lo and behold, my alarm starts blaring telling me its time to wakey wakey!!  I was not a happy camper!!

After getting ready for work I send Mike a few messages about lunch and what he wants to do, go out or pack it, and I don’t get an answer right away and its coming time for me to leave.  So being the person I am, I pack the lunch.  Right when I was done I get a message finally saying we could do whatever!!  Of course after I do all that work, we can go out or stay at work and eat.  Who knew that would happen?  So I’m in my car (not driving yet) and I send him a message asking if he ate anything before work.  He did.  Did he get me anything?  No.  I made him feel bad too because I can’t find my debit card and he hasn’t given me my alloted blow money yet, so I had no way of getting anything for myself on the way into work.  He asks me if I want any of his food (one chicken strip) and I tell him no.  I thought he would understand it would just be a tease and make me that much more hungry.  I’m really laying it on thick apparently and I’m not even meaning to, but with a text sometimes you just can’t get your point across the way you mean it. 

I finally make it to work (belly growling) and I walk in, and only get more depressed.  I really don’t like my job, and that is an understatement.  My boss knows it, my team leader knows it, everyone knows it.  I’ve had a bad day, I’m hungry, and I just don’t want to be there either.  They can all tell I’m in a foul mood and they try not to bother me unless they have to.  I’m like a ticking time bomb sometimes, you never know when I may blow, but when I do, the sight is not pretty at all!  I drive around on my mobile equipment and just go about my business and let everyone go on with theirs.  When my team leader asks if there was anything he could do, or if my night was getting better, I could barely answer him because I was going to explode into a big ball of tears.  I think he found that to be his cue for driving off.  He gets it I think, and he knows I have issues so it works out. 

Mike is a team leader out where I work also, and he is in the department I give parts to and when he saw me he even knew something was eating at me.  I told him I wanted to go out for lunch (even though I had packed one) because I wasn’t in the mood to deal with a group of people and I felt like I was about to bust into tears at any given moment.  When I went back to park my tugger I had a message from my good friend telling me to just breathe and I had been trying that but I was a basket case by then.  I didn’t even make it off of my tugger before the tears started flowing.  I dried my eyes enough to get outside and waited for Mike to get to the truck.  He drove and let me sit back and sulk in my misery.  After eating I felt a lot better and crying helped to and my bad mood turned to an “eh” mood. 

Basically the day just seemed to suck, but in the end, I’m alive, I woke up today, and I have a good man that lets me sit back and sulk.  Plus I get to head to bed soon and try to get some sleep before he starts stealing the covers again.  We may invest in individual covers from here on out.  What do you think?  Does anyone else out there do that?