Thursday, January 31, 2013

Oh, January.

January is almost over.

...and that's a good thing for me.

BECAUSE that means my Mom is coming HOME!!

She has been in Utah for the last three weeks helping my sister, Cassie.

Cassie had her baby boy, Jameson, Wednesday January 16th.

He is such a handsome little guy!


Isn't he?

Yes, yes he is.


So a BIG reason I'm excited for my mom to come home is because I've been helping Josh with his Home Schooling and it's not the easiest thing in the world.

But also because I miss her. 


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February 
-The Month of LOVE-

I'm very very excited for!




Valentines day.
My nephew, Nathan's 1st Birthday
&
Brother in law, Thomas' Birthday
One month closer to Spring & SUMMER!

I don't like the cold.



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Sometime last week James and I put together a "Hale Monthly Bills & Budget" Sheet.

It looks awesome. 

Thanks to James and Excel.

We made it so we could take better track of what we're $pending our money on and to help us get a better idea on how to save more each month.

I think it's going to work well.

We then made a "Weekly Menu" sheet.

This is to help inspire me to cook better meals instead of freezer meals all the time.

So far, it's been working.

Last night I made these Double Baked half Potatoes

I don't know the name.. but this name pretty much sums it up!

Sooo, this is how I did it:

I cut the potato in half, then put it back together and wrapped it in foil.
(I do this with multiple potatoes at a time.)

Put it on a pan and let it bake for 1 hour at 400 degrees.
Then take it out, unwrap the potatoes.
& Throw the foil away.
 Then I start digging out the middle of the potatoes with a spoon.
You have to spoon out the potatoes gently or the potato will rip.
Don't spoon all of it out though. :)
I then put the potato that's in my spoon from the potato I just spooned out onto a plate 
& keep it to the side.
I use it soon after.

I added seasoning to the potatoes. (Garlic Herb and Sea Salt.)
I then put strips of Pepper Jack cheese in each potato.
The cheese melts.
Then I added some ripped up lunch meat (roast beef). yum.
& add bacon bits and shredded cheese. Lots of shredded cheese.
  
The next thing to add to the potato shells (spooned out potatoes) 
are the potatoes that were set to the side.
Before I or you do that.. some seasoning need to be added to those plated potatoes and then they need to be mashed with a spoon.
I used Garlic Powder for the seasoning.

Then I put those potatoes into the potato shells and added more cheese and bacon bits to the top.

The next step would be putting them back into the oven.

You can use the broiler to make the outside crispy..
but I just let it bake at 400 degrees for another 20 minutes.

They're delicious.
It's James' new favorite meal.

Oh and sour cream!
They taste better when you have some. :)


Tonight's Meal is sliced potatoes & Meat..

Super excited! I love meat. 



Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Hey look, it's a new year!

2013


It's a new year, ladies & gents!!

.................

And I'm so glad it is!

2012 was a better year than 2011 but I'm excited for this year.
      
______________________________________


At night I tend to get all the energy i've been missing during the day.
So I will usually clean right before I go to bed.
(I like waking up to a clean home.)
The only problem is that it's already pretty late by the time I start to clean.
I think it might drive James a little nuts buttttt he loves me anyway. :)

Instead of cleaning two nights ago, I started to read my journal from the past two years.
I start laughing because of something I read and decided I should read it to James too.
I end up reading the whole Journal along with part of my other Journal from this past year.
We stayed up till after 3am!

________________


James got to hear 
some silly things &
about heartbreaks and tough times.
It wasn't easy reading it and reliving some memories.
BUT
then we got to the good parts.
Good parts being:
When I met James, "The funny Guy".
10/21/11
The hour(s) long phone calls.
Our first date.
11/11/11
Getting Engaged.
12/20/11
Getting Married.
03/03/12
Living day to day with each other 
& falling in love more & more.

I'm glad I read the last two years of my life with him.
It helped me see that I can really make this new year better than the years before.


Yay for 2013!