We had our potluck at work yesterday. I had entirely way too much to eat, but couldn't resist trying at least one bite of everyone's dish. Since I had too much to eat yesterday at lunch, I barely touched my dinner. I found a Grape Salad recipe on Pinterest and brought it as my dish. I wanted something simple to bring and this was it. You more than likely already have all of the ingredients in your home to make this. I stuck to the basics. Cream cheese, sour cream, vanilla extract, and sugar. I only used red grapes this time around. Once I was done mixing everything together, I added the crushed Butterfingers. The Butterfingers give this salad the extra crunch. Once I brought my dish into our meeting room and took the tinfoil off, everyone went crazy and wanted to know what I had made. After everyone gave it a try, I had everyone telling me they wanted the recipe. Not bad for having never made this before and taste testing it on my co-workers.
This Grape Salad will probably turn into my next comfort food. Yeah, it's not the healthiest thing in the world to eat, but what's the fun in life if you never eat something like this once in awhile? One of my co-workers suggested using yogurt and crushed graham crackers in the recipe which would work really well too. I'll give that a try next time.
With all of the overtime I worked last week (17 hrs), it was nice to end my week with a potluck. My manager informed us that we will still have voluntary overtime available next week too. Definitely going to take advantage of that. I had my performance review earlier in the week and it went well. My manager did mention she wanted me to take on more leadership roles, but did not go into detail as to what she would like me to do exactly. I hate taking charge of something because it might step on the toes of another person. I'll figure something out while I work on my portion of the review which is due on March 7.
I hope everyone enjoys their weekend.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Sunday, February 17, 2013
It's Been Too Long
Happy 2013!
It's been way too long since I have updated my blog. My sincerest apologies. I lost interest in my blog and realized I needed a topic/subject that will keep me motivated to blog about. Over the past month, I've really been into trying new recipes found on Pinterest. I'd love to start reviewing some of these recipes on my blog. We have a potluck at work this Friday and I found a delicious looking recipe for Grape Salad. Since I've never made it before today, I'll be using my co-workers as my taste testers.
Speaking of work, we are back on voluntary overtime. Since I am addicted to overtime, you know what I'm doing from 5am-5pm Monday-Friday. The extra money is so nice. Especially while saving up money for our landscaping in the backyard. I'm really tired of looking at dirt and rocks. I will never understand how people can live in a house for years and never do anything with their backyards.
The weather is getting nicer here and I'm really looking forward to spending a majority of our days outdoors. Heath & I are going to buy a Weber grill next pay period. We would have bought one sooner, but the Jaguar needed new tires and an alignment this weekend. Since we don't put cheap junk tires on our vehicles, the new tires ate up pretty much my entire paycheck. The car rides so much smoother now with the new tires. The alignment was all out of whack from the previous owner, so I am so glad we were able to get this all taken care of this weekend.
I'm really looking forward to blogging more often. Not once a month or once every six months. There are so many recipes and DIY projects I want to do this year. It will keep me busy and give me something to blog about.
It's been way too long since I have updated my blog. My sincerest apologies. I lost interest in my blog and realized I needed a topic/subject that will keep me motivated to blog about. Over the past month, I've really been into trying new recipes found on Pinterest. I'd love to start reviewing some of these recipes on my blog. We have a potluck at work this Friday and I found a delicious looking recipe for Grape Salad. Since I've never made it before today, I'll be using my co-workers as my taste testers.
Speaking of work, we are back on voluntary overtime. Since I am addicted to overtime, you know what I'm doing from 5am-5pm Monday-Friday. The extra money is so nice. Especially while saving up money for our landscaping in the backyard. I'm really tired of looking at dirt and rocks. I will never understand how people can live in a house for years and never do anything with their backyards.
The weather is getting nicer here and I'm really looking forward to spending a majority of our days outdoors. Heath & I are going to buy a Weber grill next pay period. We would have bought one sooner, but the Jaguar needed new tires and an alignment this weekend. Since we don't put cheap junk tires on our vehicles, the new tires ate up pretty much my entire paycheck. The car rides so much smoother now with the new tires. The alignment was all out of whack from the previous owner, so I am so glad we were able to get this all taken care of this weekend.
I'm really looking forward to blogging more often. Not once a month or once every six months. There are so many recipes and DIY projects I want to do this year. It will keep me busy and give me something to blog about.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Visitors (Family)
My in-laws are in town until Thursday. They got in late Friday night, around midnight. It's been a hectic weekend here. Every time they come out, we do a lot of shopping. We didn't do too much shopping this time around. At least not yet anyway. We went to Target for a Halloween costume for Carleigh and a couple of decorations for the house. We had lunch at Cabo Wabo inside the Planet Hollywood and also checked out the conservatory at Bellagio. This morning, we went up to Mount Charleston to enjoy some gorgeous views and good food at the lodge. My in-laws have never been to Mount Charleston and it's something you want to skip when you're visiting.
Heath is on PTO all week while his parent's are in town. I didn't have enough PTO yet, so I will be back to work tomorrow morning. No big deal to me. Everyone wants to run here, run there and it gets exhausting after awhile. We are a chill family and have no problem hanging out at home. So it is a huge change for us to go to a bunch of different places in one day. My in-laws also rented an annoying minivan and crawling in and out of that thing is a pain in the ass. In order for me to grab the seat belt, I have to be some kind of contortionist just to get buckled in. I can't wait to drive my Jaguar and ride in something comfortable tomorrow.
Our TV currently has a football game on. Packers vs Houston, I think. We are not a football family, but my father-in-law loves his football. I'll share my TV this week. I usually have reruns of Bridezillas on while waiting for the new episode at night. Football is much calmer than a bunch of screaming, crazy ass bitches. Just not as entertaining.
Carleigh went out and bought a bike this afternoon. She has a pink & purple Barbie bike with purple tassels and basket, a bell and of course training wheels. We also got her a purple helmet. We are going to take her out after dinner to ride her new bike. She was riding it around Walmart, but was getting in the way of all the people who were trying to shop.
The rest of this week is pretty much go-with-the-flow. Not sure what we will end up doing. I'm working 6am-2:30pm to make sure I have more time to spend with family.
Heath is on PTO all week while his parent's are in town. I didn't have enough PTO yet, so I will be back to work tomorrow morning. No big deal to me. Everyone wants to run here, run there and it gets exhausting after awhile. We are a chill family and have no problem hanging out at home. So it is a huge change for us to go to a bunch of different places in one day. My in-laws also rented an annoying minivan and crawling in and out of that thing is a pain in the ass. In order for me to grab the seat belt, I have to be some kind of contortionist just to get buckled in. I can't wait to drive my Jaguar and ride in something comfortable tomorrow.
Our TV currently has a football game on. Packers vs Houston, I think. We are not a football family, but my father-in-law loves his football. I'll share my TV this week. I usually have reruns of Bridezillas on while waiting for the new episode at night. Football is much calmer than a bunch of screaming, crazy ass bitches. Just not as entertaining.
Carleigh went out and bought a bike this afternoon. She has a pink & purple Barbie bike with purple tassels and basket, a bell and of course training wheels. We also got her a purple helmet. We are going to take her out after dinner to ride her new bike. She was riding it around Walmart, but was getting in the way of all the people who were trying to shop.
The rest of this week is pretty much go-with-the-flow. Not sure what we will end up doing. I'm working 6am-2:30pm to make sure I have more time to spend with family.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Baking Day
Today is my first official baking day since moving in. There is an aroma of banana bread spreading throughout the entire house, and surrounding homes, currently. The next tasty treat on my to-bake list is pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. I could probably bake some chocolate chip cookies today too. That might be way too many sweets in our house for just the three of us though.
My Christmas list has measuring cups as a top priority. I would love to get a really nice set of stainless steal ones. The current ones in our kitchen are okay, but the handle on one of them is falling off. I think it was from the heat of the dishwasher. Brand new measuring cups will make my baking days even more fun. A cute apron from Flirty Apron's will too.
We are having a chill day in our household today. Heath & Carleigh are out in the backyard working on the landscaping. Carleigh is playing in the rocks while Heath does the hard labor. I'd go out there and help, but I am busy watching the oven and getting ready to bake more tasty treats. It will be so nice once the backyard is 100% done.
Work life is the same as always. I'm back in training again and once I am proficient in my new skill, I can work a bunch of overtime. I miss all of that extra money on my paychecks. That overtime will be nice for Christmas too. Carleigh has already started telling us what she wanted from Santa. It's nothing crazy and over budget, thank goodness!
My Christmas list has measuring cups as a top priority. I would love to get a really nice set of stainless steal ones. The current ones in our kitchen are okay, but the handle on one of them is falling off. I think it was from the heat of the dishwasher. Brand new measuring cups will make my baking days even more fun. A cute apron from Flirty Apron's will too.
We are having a chill day in our household today. Heath & Carleigh are out in the backyard working on the landscaping. Carleigh is playing in the rocks while Heath does the hard labor. I'd go out there and help, but I am busy watching the oven and getting ready to bake more tasty treats. It will be so nice once the backyard is 100% done.
Work life is the same as always. I'm back in training again and once I am proficient in my new skill, I can work a bunch of overtime. I miss all of that extra money on my paychecks. That overtime will be nice for Christmas too. Carleigh has already started telling us what she wanted from Santa. It's nothing crazy and over budget, thank goodness!
Sunday, September 23, 2012
All Moved In
We are all moved into our new home. We have been here almost two weeks now. It's so nice to finally have a place of our own. It doesn't feel like we live in Las Vegas anymore. We are so far out from everything. It's amazing. The "nosiest" thing you hear out here is an airplane when they are on the flight path that skirts past our community. We used to live two miles from the airport, so we used to hear a lot more airplane noise before. Airplanes don't bother me at all. So I guess we really don't have any noisy things out this way. Unless you want to complain about the noisy crickets.
Our backyard was kept as a rock/dirt pile like a typical house out here. Heath & I wanted to work on the backyard ourselves, but once we started digging back there, we realized how much of a mess it was. Every time we would dig in one section, there were huge rocks. I don't mind the smaller/average sized rocks, but some of these are big enough to throw at a window and bust it up. We have decided to go the landscaper route. We don't want to keep our backyard a pile of dirt and rocks. We want some grass back there, especially with having a kid. Carleigh needs a place to play.
There isn't much to really update, so I'll throw in some pictures of the interior of our home. Our blinds have been ordered and will be installed once they are done. Our windows are naked until later this week... I hope!
Our backyard was kept as a rock/dirt pile like a typical house out here. Heath & I wanted to work on the backyard ourselves, but once we started digging back there, we realized how much of a mess it was. Every time we would dig in one section, there were huge rocks. I don't mind the smaller/average sized rocks, but some of these are big enough to throw at a window and bust it up. We have decided to go the landscaper route. We don't want to keep our backyard a pile of dirt and rocks. We want some grass back there, especially with having a kid. Carleigh needs a place to play.
There isn't much to really update, so I'll throw in some pictures of the interior of our home. Our blinds have been ordered and will be installed once they are done. Our windows are naked until later this week... I hope!
This is the entry way into our home.
Carleigh's bathroom.
Carleigh's bathroom counter area.
Walking down the hallway, into Carleigh's bedroom.
Kitchen.
Dining room.
Dishwasher and a corner of our kitchen island.
Fridge and pantry.
Sink & mirror of our downstairs bathroom.
Another shot of the downstairs bathroom.
Laundry room. Huge thanks to my in-law's for the washer & dryer. These appliances play a tune when your laundry is done. It's so cool.
Living room.
The view you see once you come in the front door. We have a very open floor plan downstairs. We love it!
Going up the stairs towards the loft. I plan on having a "second living room" up here in the near future.
Master bathroom counter. We have a medicine cabinet on both sides.
Shower/tub area.
View of the master bedroom from the huge walk-in closet.
View of the master bedroom from the bathroom.
Carleigh going up the stairs.
Stove/microwave.
Third bedroom. This will be a guest room until we decide to add baby #2.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Closing Day
We closed on our house yesterday. It took about 30 minute to sign all of the paperwork. It went so fast for us because I knew what each and every single piece of paperwork was since I am in the mortgage industry. The only downside is that we didn't receive our keys after closing. The lender was still trying to get the final amount to wire. It took another 30 minutes after close to get that amount. We rushed to Wells Fargo to wire the amount. It was wired before the cut off, but the amount wasn't received until it was too late to fund our loan. The loan will be funded and recorded on Monday. We were told we will receive our keys by 4 or 5pm on Monday. I hope it will be a little earlier than that though.
We planned on moving today, but we rescheduled our movers for Tuesday morning. It really sucks because we were hoping to be in our house today. The only positive out of moving on Tuesday is that Carleigh will be in daycare. It will make the move a little smoother without having to chase after a three year old while the guys are loading/unloading the truck. With a move date during the week, I won't have time to actually enjoy our new house until the weekend rolls around again. I'll be working 10 hour days to make up for my missed day on Tuesday.
It is great to be at the very end of this stressful roller coaster ride finally. After the crap we went through from almost the start of this purchase, I don't think we will buy another house again. And if we do buy another house, it will be paid with in cash. The chances of that happening are very slim though.
I'll make sure to update my blog as soon as we are settled into the house. There will be plenty of interior pictures too.
We planned on moving today, but we rescheduled our movers for Tuesday morning. It really sucks because we were hoping to be in our house today. The only positive out of moving on Tuesday is that Carleigh will be in daycare. It will make the move a little smoother without having to chase after a three year old while the guys are loading/unloading the truck. With a move date during the week, I won't have time to actually enjoy our new house until the weekend rolls around again. I'll be working 10 hour days to make up for my missed day on Tuesday.
It is great to be at the very end of this stressful roller coaster ride finally. After the crap we went through from almost the start of this purchase, I don't think we will buy another house again. And if we do buy another house, it will be paid with in cash. The chances of that happening are very slim though.
I'll make sure to update my blog as soon as we are settled into the house. There will be plenty of interior pictures too.
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Packing
Our weekend has been spent packing and cleaning everything out of our apartment. Our close date will more than likely be on Friday, September 7. It could be as early as Thursday, but we aren't going to have a moving company here until Saturday morning. We had things packed up a few weeks ago, but now we are trying to finish up. Heath & I both have tomorrow (Monday) off as well, so anything we don't finish today will be done tomorrow.
This morning, I took four bags of clothes and a box of toys to the donation center. I cannot believe how much clothing piles up in our household. A majority of it belongs to Carleigh. We really need to get grandparent's under control on clothing. I don't think Miss Carleigh needs twenty (20) different outfits for every season.
After all of this packing, I never want to move again. We have accumulated so much stuff after Carleigh was born. It makes it seem like this round of packing is taking much longer than it should. Or maybe it feels like it is taking forever since the last time we moved was back in December 2009.
Once we get moved in, there won't be much time for relaxing. Heath is taking a week and a half off to work on the landscaping in the backyard. He will also be the fortunate one who gets to wait for Sears to come by and hookup the washer & dryer. Lowe's will be out to measure our windows that same week (or day). And, of course, we can't forget about the utility hookups. I'll be working and unpacking once my work day is over.
I'll be so happy once everything is complete. It will be nice to relax in our new home. We busted our asses off for this house and we deserve to sit on our asses and enjoy it after everything is done.
This morning, I took four bags of clothes and a box of toys to the donation center. I cannot believe how much clothing piles up in our household. A majority of it belongs to Carleigh. We really need to get grandparent's under control on clothing. I don't think Miss Carleigh needs twenty (20) different outfits for every season.
After all of this packing, I never want to move again. We have accumulated so much stuff after Carleigh was born. It makes it seem like this round of packing is taking much longer than it should. Or maybe it feels like it is taking forever since the last time we moved was back in December 2009.
Once we get moved in, there won't be much time for relaxing. Heath is taking a week and a half off to work on the landscaping in the backyard. He will also be the fortunate one who gets to wait for Sears to come by and hookup the washer & dryer. Lowe's will be out to measure our windows that same week (or day). And, of course, we can't forget about the utility hookups. I'll be working and unpacking once my work day is over.
I'll be so happy once everything is complete. It will be nice to relax in our new home. We busted our asses off for this house and we deserve to sit on our asses and enjoy it after everything is done.
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