Here's to new beginnings!

Well, the last week has been quite a whirlwind of activity, and until now, I haven't had a lot of time to sit back and think about what is really happening. Don't get me wrong, I am SUPER happy that we are moving into a house. It is what we have been wanting, and I definitely think it is the right move for us. But I'm also a little sad about leaving our apartment. I do love this apt. It holds a lot of great memories for us. This was my first "big girl" apt!! :) The first time I ever paid bills completely one my own, without help from my parents was in this apt. Matt & I got engaged at this apt. Our "babies" were born in this apartment. (anyone that knows me knows that by "babies", I mean "cats"!!) This was our first home as husband & wife. The last 4 1/2 years were spent making memories in this apartment. So it is definitely going to be sad to leave. The emptier I see it getting, the more I realize that we are really leaving. But I'm excited about new beginnings. I can't wait to see what memories we can make in our new home.

I knew this was too easy!

Well, our move isn't looking like it is going to go as smoothly as I'd hoped. The remodel is taking longer than they anticipated, so there is a chance that we won't be able to move in for almost 2 weeks. The problem with that is that we are moving out of our apt THIS weekend, no matter what. So instead of moving once, we may have to move twice. If they don't get finished, we are going to have to move our stuff into my parents garage, and stay with them for a week. Not the perfect solution, but I guess it will do

My mom and I spent the whole weekend at the new house painting, then I went home every night and packed. I am completely exhausted, and still have so much to do. In the long run, I know I'm going to be happy about the move, but right now, I am completely stressed and overwhelmed!

We're Moving!!!!

This has, by far, been one of the craziest weeks of my life!! A week ago, the idea of finding a house to rent and moving out of our apt was just that...and idea. We had been tossing the thought around, but we weren't aggressively searching for anything. On Tuesday, we found out that our rent would be going up considerably on our apt, and that was just the kick in the pants that I needed. On Wednesday, I started feverishly searching for rental houses. By late in the day, I had just about given up my search, because I wasn't finding anything. I was frustrated and stressed. I was alone at work that day, so I went into the sanctuary of the church and talked to God for a while. I told him that I was going to need a miracle if I was going to pull this off, but that I felt like it was the right time for us to make this move. After spending a few minutes in there, alone with God and my thoughts, I came back to my office feeling a little bit better. Thats when I remembered one source that I hadn't checked out that someone had mentioned to me. I logged into this website, and found a listing that was close to a month old, but was exactly what I was looking for. I figured it was a long shot, but I called anyway. I spoke with the landlord, and it turns out that he had stopped trying to rent it for a few weeks because he decided to remodel the kitchen & bathroom. The house was still available, and he planned to have it ready by the end of the month. He told me that another lady was very interested in it, but for me to go by and look at the outside, and if I was still interested, to call him and he would meet with me to see the house. The house happens to be in the exact neighborhood that we have been wanting to move to, and when I saw the outside, I was super excited. It is a cute little house, with a huge yard. I called that night and made an appt to meet him on Thursday to see the house. When I walked through the house, I realized that it is smaller than our apartment, and not nearly as "spread out", but it is still cute. He told me that if I liked it, it was ours, because he really like me and would like to rent to me. I called my husband, and he told me that he trusts my instincts, and if I think this is the right thing, then he is completely on board. The best part about this whole thing is that the rent is $100/mo less than what we pay now for our apt (before the rent increase). So I told the landlord that we would take it, and we move in ONE WEEK!!! I can hardly believe that this is happening, but I am SO EXCITED!! I am really looking forward to this next chapter of our lives!

Menu Planning

Several months ago, in an effort to cut our grocery budget, I began meal planning. I have always been terrible about ending up with a lot of main dishes and no sides, or vice versa. Since I've started planning out our menus, I feel like I have some order to my life!! I go shopping every two weeks, so it took me a while to learn to meal plan that far in advance. It also took me a while to realize that I didn't have to make a 4 course meal every night. I think that I have found a nice balance now. Here is my meal plan for the next few weeks. (with my husband working nights, the order of these could change at any given moment, but overall, this is what it will be.)

Monday - Smothered pork chops, mashed potatoes, green beans
Tuesday - Pigs in a blanket, mac & cheese
Wednesday - Chicken nuggets (homemade), spicy corn, some other veggie
Thursday - setting up for yard sale -probably just a sandwhich
Friday - yard sale day - out or sandwhich
Saturday - " "
Sunday - Taco Salad

Monday - Smoked sausages, baked beans, veggie
Tuesday - BLT's, chips
Wednesday - blueberry pancakes and bacon
Thursday - I have an extra package of ground beef, so I will probably do something with that.
Friday - Grocery shopping day

Progress

I have to say that I am pretty proud of myself. I started a project, and I am actually following through with it!! (Follow through has never been my strong point!) I have gotten rid of an enormous amount of junk, and have a pretty big pile going for my yard sale. I said I was going to become crafty enough to decorate my house, but at this point, I am just "supervising" the crafty!! I came up with an idea for my bathroom, and my mom took my vision and actually made it happen. I need to take some pictures, but I still need to pick up a few things to complete the bathroom. It feels good to actually be making some progress!!

As for cooking, I haven't been doing much. My husband has been working nights, so our schedules are completely messed up, and I end up just making something simple. But I'm trying to get back into some sort of routine. I've started meal planning for the next 2 weeks, and I plan on actually going through with it!! One thing that I have made recently was White Castle cheeseburgers. My mom's friend made them for bunco one night, and she got the recipe for me.

White Castle Cheeseburgers
2 lbs ground beef (my pkg was about 2.25 lbs, which worked fine)
Onion flakes (enough to cover the bottom of a 9X13 baking dish)
worchestershire sauce
6-8 slices american cheese
dinner rolls (I used Hawaiian Rolls)
salt & pepper

In a 9X13 baking dish, cover the bottom with dried onion flakes. In a bowl, mix ground beef, worchestershire sauce and salt & pepper. Flatten ground beef out on top of onion flakes. (I had to do it in sections, then smash it all together) Cook in 400 degree oven for 25 minutes or so. Remove from oven and drain out any grease. (I poured out the grease, then soaked up the excess with a paper towel. ) Top with cheese slices, and return to oven for 2-3 minutes, until cheese is melted. Remove from oven and let cool for about 5 minutes. Cut into squares, and place on hawaiian rolls. (I cut mine into 12 squares, which made burgers that were a little larger than the buns. You could cut them smaller and get more out of it.)

These were really good! My husband wasn't a fan of the hawaiian rolls, because he said it made his burger too sweet, but other than that, they were great!

Making Changes

About a month ago, I decided that I no longer like anything about my apartment. That may seem drastic, but it is completely true. I am so tired of looking at the stuff that I have, and I am ready for changes. Not only that, but I'm tired of being unorganized. So I have begun a pretty big project. I am cleaning out and getting rid of anything that I don't want. I have taken things down off of my walls, off of tables & out of closets, and I am having a yard sale at the end of the month. I am organizing all of the junk that I have left, and trying to make it look a little bit better. I'm bargain shopping for new decorations, and I'm trying to become crafty enough to decorate my house. Its coming along, slowly but surely. I'm pretty sure that my husband thinks I've lost my mind. Every time he walks into a room, he finds something else missing!! But it has been a lot of fun so far, and very theraputic!! I should have done this a long time ago!!

Excuses, excuses. (and a recipe!)

I really haven't been blogging much lately. In fact, I haven't been doing much of anything lately. I am not a huge fan of summer. It makes me lazy. I haven't cooked much, or done much organizing. LAZY, I tell you!! But last week, I was on vacation, so one night I decided to make a nice dinner. I can't remember where this recipe came from...I copied it down from somewhere YEARS ago, and I don't make it very often. It is a variation of a roast, but it is a lot different than the normal potroast that I usually make.

Italian Roast

1 (3-4 lb) chuck roast
2 cans beef broth
1 cup red cooking wine
mushrooms (the recipe calls for shitake mushrooms, but I use button mushrooms)
1 onion, cut in strips
1 green pepper (I think I added this ingredient somewhere along the way!)
salt & pepper
olive oil

In a dutch oven, heat olive oil. Add chuck roast and sear on each side. Remove meat, and add more olive oil. Add onions, mushrooms and green pepper. Cook until tender. Add beef broth and red wine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Add meat to pan, cover, and place in 400 degree oven for approx. 4 hrs. Keep an eye on it, and if the liquid starts to cook down too much you can add more beef broth. After 4 hrs, remove meat to a plate to rest. Pour the rest of the contents of the pan into a blender with 2 tablespoons of flour. Blend until it makes all the same consistency. Serve over meat and mashed potatoes.