The Liebster Award

 

Yesterday, I received a very exciting email from a new blogger and friend, Nicole, at Life with NO naps. She has nominated me for the Liebster Award!

 

 

 

The award has three parts:

1. Answer the interview questions from the nominator.
2. List 11 random facts about yourself.
3. Nominate other blogs that are just getting started. 

Here is my interview: 

1. How long have you been blogging and why did you start? Almost a year.  I started because I felt like I had a lot to say and no way to say but it's evolved into a journal about infertility and relationship struggles.  Plus it's a great outlet for expressing some creativity through recipes and pinterest attempts. 
2. What is your favorite thing to write about?  happy things that are going on in my life as well as any crafts/recipes that I've tried with success
3. Do you have an absolute favorite blog, please share. my go to blog is The Small Things Blog.  I love her hair and makeup tutorials and I really enjoy reading about her growing family.
4. What is one piece of advice you would share with a brand new blogger? Have a purpose and keep your focus, don't be all over the place (like me!)
5. What is your go to quote? I don't really have a "go to quote" but my favorite quote (which I guess is the same thing) is "the things you take for granted, someone else is praying for."
6. Where is your favorite place to be? with people I love
7. What is your favorite dessert recipe? betty crockers peanut butter cookies from my mom's recipe book that was probably published in the 70's.  When I make it, I add almost an extra cup of peanut butter as well as a bag of chocolate chips.  My friends go crazy for them because they're so fluffy and flavorful.    Plus who doesn't like chocolate and peanut butter??
8. If you could be anything in the world, what would it be? My problem is that I can never choose just want thing, I want to be everything! But honestly, I think ultimately I'd love to be a stewardess.  I know it's not an easy job but getting paid to see the world would have some added bonuses.
9. Everyone has a "I wish I knew that then" moment, what is yours? I wish I knew how strong I could be and how much more I deserve when I was a teenager, sadly this is something I'm just starting to learn now.
10. Who is your idol? My Nonnie (maternal grandmother) She's pretty much kick ass at everything she does, she's a spit fire, she's strong, she's successful.  If I could be half the woman she is, I'd be a lucky lady.
11. If you only eat one food item the rest of your life what would it be? Chinese egg rolls!

11 Random facts about me:

• My whole life I've struggled with my weight.
• Even though I've been driving for nearly 15 years, sometimes when I'm in the car by myself on a "long trip" (pa to nj or nj to ct) I still get this rush of excitement that I'm actually old enough to be driving a car and on my own. 
• I love the color of my hair and vowed never to color it, but my sister in law always wanted to play so I told her when I got my first grey hair, I'd let her color it.  She did a good job, but for me life is not more fun as a blond.  So this November I finally died it back to it's basic brown color and haven't felt happier or more like me ever since. 
• I love to eat!  I'll eat almost anything that's put in front of me, I just want to experience it.
• I cry all the time!
• I take a lot of pictures, pretty much constantly, especially at parties/events/etc.... I have an awful memory and I find that having the pictures helps me remember what happened.
• I was born in Connecticut at Yale.  My dad was supposed to go to Yale but couldn't afford it, so he always wished that I would go and said that because I was born there I should get free tuition.  Sorry dad!
• I'm 30, almost 31, but I still feel like a kid around adults (even people only a year older than me) and still have no idea what I actually want to do with me life.  I blame this on the fact that all I've ever wanted to do is be a wife and mother, but that doesn't always work out the way we envision it.
• I gave up soda for Lent.  I give up soda for Lent every year, in hopes that I'll give it up once and for all.  This year has been the easiest year yet, but I find it hard to have a drink at parties since I generally mix soda with liquor.  Thank God for wine!
• I have horrible hearing and I blame my loudness on that.  I honestly can't hear how loud I am, and generally don't realize that I'm being disturbing until someone points it out to me. 
• I'm addicted to all things internet related.  When I wake up the first thing I do is check facebook and instagram, then words with friends.  While I'm at work I'm on blogs and pinterest constantly.  I actually wish this wasn't the case because I miss when times were simpler.  I especially miss talking to someone face to face while hanging out instead of starring at a screen the whole time.  I really need to work on my self control and being more present, in the moment. 

My Nominees:

 

Finding My Voice

 

Deleting the Adjectives

 

Always Never Done

 

Stacie's Place

 

Not Just Paper And Paint

 

Cookie Dough & Oven Mitt

 

Capturing the Moment

 

All That Shines 

 

Here are the rules:  

1. Thank the blog that presented you this award and link back to their blog (done!)
2. Answer the questions asked by your nominator, give 11 random facts about yourself. List 11 questions for your nominees. (done!)
3. Nominate several blogs that you feel need the recognition that have fewer than 1000 followers. Contact the blogger to let them know they have been selected by email, commenting on a post, Facebook, etc. (done!)
4. Upload the Liebster Award image to your blog. (done!)

Question for my nominees:

1. How long have you been blogging and why did you start?
2. What is your favorite thing to write about?
3. What is your favorite blog?
4. What is one piece of advice you would share with a brand new blogger?
5. Do you have any blogger inspirations?  (Blogs you'd like to model yourself after or follow in their footsteps)
6. What is your favorite memory?
7. If you could go anywhere, where would you go?
8. What is your favorite app/website?
9. If you could be anything, what would it be?
10. What's one life lesson you'd like to share?
11. What are some of your guilty pleasures?

Congratulations to all of the nominees!  I hope this helps us all to grow and flourish! 

the ABC's of me!

I haven't done one of these surveys since the good ol' days of Myspace (I think) BUT I saw a fellow blogger do this earlier this week and had to jump on the bandwagon. 

Age- 30 (cringe)
Birthday- June 6
Color- Blue
Drink- Toasted almond (Kahlua, Amaretto, and Milk)
Eyes- Blue
Flashback- Every time I hear a Hootie and the Blowfish song I'm instantly taken back to summer 1993 when I got my first CD player and played out their album while laying in the sun
Gent- Jim... not for long
Hobby- crafting, TV, blogging
Indulgence- mani/pedis
Job- Logistics Specialist
Kids- none :-(
Love- trying new things and meeting new people
Music- Country, Pop/Rock, Christian
Nation- the good ol US of A
Overstock- plastic grocery bags, I can't throw them away!
Pets- none, but I would LOVE to get a dog!
Quote:

Residence:  Dirty Jerz soon on my way to PA
Sibling- none
Temperature: currently 52, preferred sunny and 70
University- Rutgers University!  Scarlet Knights
Vehicle- 2005 Chevy Malibu Maxx
Want- to get away for a while
X- a Roman Numeral?  I'm not really sure what to put here.
Yuck- Brussel sprouts
Zodiac- Gemini, I'm definitely a full on Gemini!

High 5 for Friday (Vol. 22)

Welcome back!  If you're here, it probably means it's Friday.  The week is over, the weekend is beginning.  Hallelujah!  It was a fairly slow week but there is still high 5-ing to be done!

1. This weekend the weather was gorgeous!  Even though I was working at Rutgers for the Wall Street Journal I wanted to be outside so badly.  When my boss turned to me and said "how about we pack up early and I treat you to lunch?" I couldn't believe it.  When he insisted saying, "it's too nice to be inside, I just want to be outside, come one let's go."  I wasn't going to refuse.  It felt so good to be back on campus and out in the sun!  I love early spring, the sun is shining, you only have to wear a sweater or a light jacket, I'm not a big beach person so for me there really isn't better weather than what we had on the east coast on Saturday!

2. Going along with #1, my boss wanted to try out the famous Rutgers Fat Sandwiches.  So I took him to one of our old stomping grounds, PJs.  I couldn't believe that the owner still recognized me!  I love going back to somewhere that was important to you and finding that you were important (even if just minutely) to it too.  Now I know that many of my fellow alumni would say that it's sacrilege to bring a Fat Sandwich virgin to a pizzeria instead of the Grease Trucks, but I trust this place, I know the workers, and I knew we wouldn't get sick, so I had to go there, please forgive me.  Feast your eyes on the heart attack in a bun that I got to devour

That's a Fat Darren- cheese steak, French fries, and mozzarella sticks on a sub!

3.  Once Upon a Time FINALLY came back on!  I'm sorry, I know I watch too much TV, but I love this show and I've waited nearly 3 months for it to come back on, it was about damn time that they got new episodes on.

4. Jim's dad took us out for dinner on Wednesday night.  I had never eaten at Mona Lisa's but it was delicious, the prices were fair, and the service was excellent.  If you're in the area and looking for good Italian food, do yourself a favor and check it out.

5.  Birthday's in Client Services are possibly the best part of being in CS.  This week we celebrated our oldest coworker, but youngest at heart, and her request was for an ice cream cake.  So of course they had to get her a Fudgie the Whale from Carvel!  I forgot how tasty those things are and I immediately felt 7 years old again, so much fun!

So there you have it!  The 5 happiest parts of my week.  How was your week?  Hope it was as good or better than mine and that you have an equally fantastic or better weekend!

As always, linking up with the fabulous Lauren, Jennie, the Northeast Bloggers and

Listen and Trust

Linking up once again with Hayley and Lauren for another edition of "The Girl Between the Lines."  I especially love this weeks prompt and think it flows very nicely with what's been going on around here lately.

This weeks prompt is "Tell us about a lesson you wish you would have learned earlier in life..."

Listen and trust!  My lesson is to listen and trust!  Take the time to stop trying to talk over everyone, stop feeling like you are always right, stop dismissing what is going on around you.  Listen to your parents.  Listen to your friends.  Listen to your gut!  Trust what they're all trying to tell you!  If you actually take the time to listen and learn, your life will be so much better, so much more enjoyable, and I truly believe you'll end up where you want to be- where you belong.

If I had learned this 10+ years ago, I would be in a completely different position than I am now.  I wouldn't be at a dead end job.  I wouldn't be in a dead end marriage.  I possibly would have children.  I certainly wouldn't be as sad and close to falling a part as I am right now. 

If I had learned this 10+ years ago, I would have valued what my parents were trying to teach me. 

"Watch your money, watch your credit. 

Think about the people you surround yourself with. 

You deserve a man who treats you a certain way." 

Instead of being a stubborn teenager/early 20 something and insisting that I was right and they knew nothing, I would have been able to trust that they were looking out for my best interest, and take in their wisdom and learn from it.  Instead of thinking, "I'm 20, I don't want to buy a house til I'm 30, by then I'll have it figured out."  I would have been more stern with Jim about using my credit (yep you read that right,) I would have been saving money, thinking about my purchases and how what I do at this early stage in my life will set up so many things to come in the future. 

Instead of thinking, "his better than they think, they're too hard on him, he's so young, he'll have it figured out in a few years."  I would have stopped and looked at my relationship, realizing then what I'm realizing now because the writing has been on the walls the ENTIRE time. 

Instead of thinking, "I'm young, I can go out and party all the time, I'll figure out a job later."  I probably still would have partied because let's be honest it was college and that's one of the best parts, but I would have been more mindful of my activities and how they were affecting my school work.  I graduated from college and my professors loved me because in class I was charming, engaged, and a fairly good student.  But I did half assed assignments, usually handed them in late, and over all was not an outstanding student because I put fun before work.  If I had a better GPA I would have gotten into my Masters program, because I had the recommendations based on who I was, but I didn't have the grades to back it up.  I'd be either a high school history teacher or a museum/library archivist.  Sure I wouldn't be rolling in the dough, but I'd have a career.  I love my job because for the most part I love my coworkers but it is by no means a career, and eventually I'll have to leave and find something "better" like I've done at my other jobs but I won't find a career until I set myself on a better path instead of accepting just getting by. 

Which brings me back to.... instead of thinking, "my stomach is just upset because my parents are putting too much pressure on me."  I would have stopped and thought about why I was feeling the way I was.  Have you ever just had that awful feeling in the pit of your stomach and you just knew that it was your conscience telling you that something was wrong?  Yea, I have it ALL THE TIME!  I dismiss it a lot, because I'm afraid of change, I'm afraid of not being right, but ultimately it's probably the #1 thing you should listen to above everything else.  If you're gut is saying NO, then you need to stop,  LISTEN, and TRUST your feelings.  You always know the right thing to do, you just don't always trust yourself to do it. 

Please read this and live it.  I don't want to see any of you end up in the frustrating circles that I've landed myself into.  Listen to what is being said (or not said, in the case of your gut,) and trust that it is for your own good.

(source)

 My mom used to always tell me to shut my mouth and open my ears, oh if only I had listened!

A Week of Pinterest Cooking

A few weeks ago I set out to cook a new Pinterest meal every night for a week straight.  To be fair, it took me more than a week because I ended up not being home every night, but I did successfully try all 5 recipes I had planned to use.  Some were better than others, but all were tasty and I'm happy to have added some of them into my regular cooking routine. 

Night 1:  Salsa Chicken Crockpot inspiration.  This has become one of my favorite meals, especially for nights when I'm away because it's so easy to make just enough for one person, or I can have leftovers for lunch.  Here's how I made it:

Ingredients:
Chicken- use as much as you need, I generally use 2-3 chicken breasts
1- can of corn
1- can of kidney beans
1- jar of salsa
1- jar of water (just fill one of the empty jars, this helps keep things moist.)

Instructions: mix together in the crockpot, cook for 6-8 hours on low.  Serve over rice (I use the boil in bag brown rice) and sprinkle shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.

Here's what it looks like before I cooked it.  I made this for Jim one night when I wasn't going to be home for dinner so I sadly didn't get a picture of it when it was ready to eat.  It's so flavorful, and the chicken is wicked moist.  It doesn't get much easier or better than this!

Night 2: Buffalo Chicken Casserole inspiration.  I used some of the left overs from night 1 to make night 2 since it's basically the same thing, just in a casserole.  Here's how I made it:

Ingredients:
Cubed, cooked chicken breasts (I cooked mine on the stove top and covered it in buffalo sauce as I cooked it)
1- can of corn
1- jar of salsa
1- bag of boil in a bag rice
Shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions: Cook the rice, then layer it in an 8x8 pan that's been sprayed with non stick spray.  Toss the chicken on top, cover in the salsa and rice.  Put as much cheese on the top as you'd like.  I love cheese but hate blue cheese, so we put a lot of cheddar and none of the dressing on top.  I think this would also be delicious with ranch dressing.  Pop it in the oven on 350 for 30 minutes and enjoy. 

Again, Jim got to enjoy this one since I was out, so I don't have an after picture, but it still looks really tasty!  Also, this was enough for him to have for dinner and for lunch, so if you're cooking for 1 or 2, this is a great sized recipe.

Night 3: Honey Balsamic Chicken Tenders inspiration. A super simple, Asian inspired meal!  Here's how I did it:
Ingredients:
2-3 chicken breasts
Balsamic Vinegar
Honey
Ginger

Instructions: slice the breasts into long strips, pour into a Ziploc bag with the vinegar.  Let sit in the fridge for at least 20 minutes so soak in the flavor.  Once the chicken has marinated for the desired time cook on the stove top with a little extra vinegar and ginger (per instructions on website.)  Once the chicken is cooked, remove from pan and add in honey to the remaining drippings.  Let the mixture simmer for about 10 minutes then toss the chicken back in to coat in the sauce.  I served mine over rice (again the brown boil in a bag rice) and some carrots.  The only thing I would as is maybe more ginger, but I love the taste of ginger!  Finally a picture of a finished meal!

Night 4: Zesty Italian Chicken inspiration.  Another super easy recipe in a crock pot!  Can you tell that I love easy and my crockpot?

Ingredients:
Cubed Chicken
2- cans cream of chicken soup
8 oz softened cream cheese
1- packet of zesty Italian salad dressing
Pasta of your choice

Instructions: Combine the cream cheese and soup on the stove top, it only takes about 10 minutes.  Put the chicken in the crock pot, cover with the seasoning packet and then mix in the sauce mixture.  Cook on low for 4-5 hours, this is a good one for the weekend or when someone is home, if you let it sit on warm it will burn a little on the edges.  Serve over your cooked pasta.  Delicious!

Night 5: Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole Inspiration. I LOVE Chicken Cordon Bleu so this was a great one to try out.  Jim doesn't like Swiss so I make mine slightly different.

Ingredients:
Cubed Chicken- cooked
1/2 lb sliced ham
1/2 lb cheddar cheese slices
For the sauce:
4 tbsp butter
4 tbsp flour
3 1/4 cups Milk
1 tbsp mustard
For the "crust":
6 tbsp butter
1 1/2 bread crumbs

Instructions:  Butter the bottom of the casserole pan, layer in the chicken, then ham, then cheese.  In a sauce pan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Whisk in the flour and cook til it begins to bubble.  Then slowly stir in milk, until the sauce thickens, then add in mustard.  Bring the sauce to a boil and remove from heat.  Pour the sauce over the casserole. Melt the last 6 tbsp of butter and blend with bread crumbs.  Crumble that over the top to create a crust.  Bake on 350 for about 20 minutes- until the top is lightly browned. 

I served mine with potato's and carrots, and probably would try a different kind of crust because mine was just soggy, although it was still delicious!

There you have it!  5 nights, 5 Pinterest inspired meals, 5 success stories.  I'd say my favorite was the chicken cordon bleu but they were all fantastic, I can't complain about any of them. 

Have you ever done a week of Pinterest cooking?
What's your favorite recipe that you've tried from the site?