mmmmmm.... Bacon

There is nothing like the smell of fresh bacon in the morning.  Unless it is fresh bacon that someone else made for you.  Right now my house smells  like bacon... Unlucky for me,  I am the one who had to make it because everyone else is asleep.

Since moving to Georgia I have become pretty good at making bacon.  I used to hate it.  Grease all over your pan that splatters all over you and burns you.  And I could never make it flat.. It always curled up on me.  And the grease starts to burn so instead of the yummy smell at the beginning you have a gross burned bacon smell.  Then I learned how to make it in the oven.  I had oven cooked bacon before at other peoples houses but it was always chewy.  Bacon should be crispy, not chewy.

So how to I make perfect bacon???  Put the bacon on the cookie sheet (cover in foil so it is easy to clean up) and place in a COLD oven.  Then turn the oven on to 400° and cook until done.  It is perfect every time.

But, enough about bacon...

If you didn't see my post from last night about Jackson getting his WWE Hell In The Cell tickets, you should check it out.  It is hilarious.

Jackson turned 13 yesterday.  13?!?!  Where has the time gone?  I remember watching him enter this world and now he is a teenager??  That makes me feel old.  I remember turning 13.. In fact, I found my birthday card from my 13th birthday in a box of things my mom saved when I went to college.  It is the only card I have from my childhood (I am not sentimental with cards, I throw them away).

This is what my dad wrote.  Wasn't he sweet?

I am glad Megan and Jackson are here for Jackson's birthday weekend.  (Talia didn't come because she will be here in 3 weeks for an early birthday Twilight Marathon.)  I miss having my sister and her kids around.  I miss all my family, but I was used to seeing Megan and the kids all the time.  For 4 years we lived across or down the street from each other.  That makes 3,000 miles seem a lot longer.

Having them in the house is so natural.  Megan mentioned that to me last night.  That immediately it feels like she is at my house like a normal Friday night... She just has to fly for 6 hours instead of walking 2 minutes.  I am looking forward to the weekend and all the fun we are going to have.

Starting with the bacon I just made.  Nom, Nom, Nom.

Jackson's Birthday

Megan, Kelly and I flew Jackson (and Megan) to Atlanta for his 13th birthday.  Here is the video of him getting his WWE tickets.

 Enjoy!!

Sorry Mom

Received the following email from my mom: "l keep checking in on your blog but you seen to have given up. Remember it doesn't have to be long."
Everyday I mean to write, then I forget. I'll get better mom.

Life is pretty simple here.

Kelly has been working on a lot of movie sets getting experience as a Production Assistant.  He always comes home exhausted and happy as can be.  I am glad he is getting the experience he needs, but I can't wait until he starts making money doing it.

Only 23 more days until Talia gets here and we get to have our Twilight weekend.  I am so excited to see her and the new movie.  We are going to do the all day marathon so we will start Twilight at 11:30am and watch all the movies until the new one premiers at 10pm.  Other than that we plan on going to the World of Coca-Cola and we'll go see Aunt Suzy.

Jackson turns 13 on Friday and I am looking forward to him to get his present.  I can't believe he is going to be a teenager.  I still remember the moment he entered this world.

I've become addicted to Alaska: The Last Frontier on Discovery Channel.  I love watching it.  It is about the Kilcher Family and their life on their homestead.  I started watching it because I know some of the Kilcher's that are not on show.  I know the son of the oldest man on the show.  I have heard about the homestead for years so it is cool to see it on TV.

Other than that there is not much going on.  Seems like 50% of the people I know are pregnant.  My friend Katie just found out she is having TWINS!!!  I am so excited for her.  I am enjoying the Atlanta Autumn.  It is still sunny and upper 70s.

Travel

 “I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” Mark Twain

There are a lots things in life that I love. 

At the top of that list is Kelly 

Then the fur babies (they may come first, but that would offend Kelly, so I'll keep him at the top)

Travel

Trying to combine travel and my fur kids is not easy.  They can't be left alone in a hotel room.  Besides the fact that Guinness likes to chew everything when he isn't being watched, they like to bark.  So that means if we have them with us we can only go to things where the dogs can come with us or stay in the car for a bit.  That includes places like the grocery store and the drive-thru lane. 

But combining travel and Kelly is easy.  Not as easy as pie (because honestly pies are like the easiest thing to make ever), but still easy.  At first he humored me and my nazi approach to planning out every minute.  And over time, I have learned to relax and go days without a plan.   

Kelly and I took out first vacation together 13 months into our relationship.  We went to NYC for a few days.  It was my first real trip to NYC and I wanted to see as much as I could.  Poor Kelly was subjected to my over planning and a little black notebook with everyday planned out.  I had a blast and we saw a lot, but my favorite day was when I put the notebook back in my bag and just sat and enjoyed Central Park for hours. 

Seriously... How do you not LOVE a place like this??

 New York taught us one big thing, we can travel and not fight!!!  Kelly is not the first man I have traveled with, but he is the first I have been on vacation with and not had daydreams on punching in the face.  

(Even my sister, who is also one of my favorite people, and I didn't last long on a vacation together.  After a fabulous week on St Thomas we got in a huge flight on the flight home.  I feel so bad for the poor man who sat in our row.  He almost died.) 

Kelly and I have traveled to Hawai'i twice and the first time was pretty cool (with the exception of Kelly and his "I am so sick of this f-ing Brady Bunch vacation moment"), but the second time was better.  We learned on big thing:  I like the beach and Kelly likes the beach and the city at the same time.  The second time was a success.  A perfect honeymoon is a wonderful place.

I am so glad I found a life partner that I can travel with and not want to kill.  Now we just need to get Kelly a  passport so we can travel to more places.

Lazy Girl's Mini Meatloaf

Here is Lazy Girl Mini Meatloaf recipe.  I call it a Lazy Girl Recipe because even a lazy person like me can make it.  This is the recipe my mom gave me when I went to college.  I know she made it this way too but it's not because she is lazy... She had a lot of kids involved in way too many things.

This recipe is really easy and it is pretty healthy too.  I use ground 97/3 turkey, but you could use ground beef if you want to.  You can also make this as 1 large loaf instead of 12 minis.  I prefer to cook everything in mini because my hubby and I both have the Realize Band and the smaller the unit of food the easier it is to control portions.

Total Time: 65 minutes
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 60 minutes
Servings: 12

Preheat oven to 350° F


1 package of Liptons Onion Soup Mix.
2lbs of extra lean ground turkey (97%/3%)
3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup Egg Beaters (2 eggs)
3/4 cup or water
1/3 cup of ketchup
1/4 cup French's Fried Onions (optional)
Extra ketchup to top loafs (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl.

You don't have to add these, my mom never did.  I just like onions so I add them in. 

Shape into 12 mini loafs and place on cookie sheet (I line mine with foil because I am too lazy to scrub the baked on mess off the sheet).

Cover with a squirt of ketchup (optional).

I like to put extra ketchup on the loafs before baking because I like the taste and texture of the baked on ketchup.

Bake uncovered.

It looks burnt in this picture but it isn't

*Here is the nutritional information.  It is not 100% accurate because I calculated it by adding all the individual ingredients together (including the extra ketchup on top).

Per serving:
Calories: 118
   Calories from fat: 40
Total Fat: 4
   Saturated Fat: 1.5
   Trans Fat: 0
Cholesterol: 33
Sodium: 482
Total Carbohydrates: 10
   Dietary Fiber: 0.5
   Sugars: 3
Protein: 11

Time & Growth

"Time passes.  Even when it seems impossible...

It passes unevenly, in strange lurches and dragging lulls, 

but pass it does.."

Stephanie Meyer- New Moon

Time. 

It is such a strange thing.

A constant rhythm that controls your life. 

Never slowing, never speeding up, just marching on.

So how could something so constant be so sporadic?  How does the 5 minutes you have to get ready for work pass faster than the last minute of your work day?

You can live years and nothing changes, then in 60 seconds your world can change.

Words that take less than 10 seconds to say will change you and everything you know.  Sentences that  have changed me:

"They said surgery is no longer option." - Dad

"Congratulations!  You have been accepted to.." - College Acceptance letter

"Will you marry me?"- Kelly

"Your surgery has been scheduled for 01/25/11"- Virginia Mason 

"As of June 30 we are closing this office"- Work

"Your transfer to Alpharetta, GA is accepted.  You report to work on 05/14/12"- Work

Some have not been happy changes (like that 1st one I mentioned), some have been great changes (I am a big fan of the one from Kelly), and some you aren't sure if they are good or bad.. You just know life has changed. 

The announcement from my work in March that my office was changing was one of those times.  I couldn't tell if it was good or bad.  That 1st night I was a wreck.  Why would they tell us on a Thursday??  Tell me on a Friday so I at least get a longer weekend.  But the next day I went in and looked at my options.  Take the payout or relocate?

Its no surprise I didn't like the weather in WA.  I am not a fan of rain.  But I am a fan of my family.  I love hanging out at my sisters', sporting events, dinners at mom's house, and spending time with my fabulous nieces and nephews.  I knew relocating would mean no more of that but it would give me the chance to grow.  I have lived apart from family before and knew I could do it.  

Kelly and I looked at all of the options and decided to relocate.  He hated his job in WA and it didn't pay well.  The job market was so bad we weren't sure how soon I would find another job and we needed my income to pay the bills.  After looking at every location available (and there were a lot) we decided on Atlanta.  We knew we could afford to buy a house instead of rent, I have some family here, they have Major League Baseball and the weather is better.  

So, as soon as I got that email that my relocation was approved Kelly quit his job and flew to Atlanta to find us a place to live in a hurry.  We only had 45 days until I had to be there. This was another growth opportunity for me.  Learning to let go of the control.  I like to be in control... OK  lets be honest... I need to be in control.  Letting that go is not easy.  But I did it.  Kelly found a house, said it was perfect and even though I had never seen it, I put in an offer.  (Insert weeks of crazy purging, packing and stressing here.  Could not have done that without my mom.  She is amazing.)  The offer was approved and after a the required drama that comes with a home purchase, we were ready to drive to the ATL, sign the papers and move in. 

The day we signed the papers and moved in
 (also the 1st time I saw the inside of the house)

Kelly did an AMAZING job!!!  The house is perfect.  It has lots of things that he wanted (granite, wood floors, gas stove), things I wanted (FINALLY more than one bathroom) and things we both wanted (yard for dogs, garage a car can actually park in, fireplace, AC).  He really picked out a great house.  It has a new roof, newer appliances that came with it and the previous owners took great care of it.  He also found all of that under the budget.  Lesson learned... letting someone else do something can turn out OK.

Time has marched on since we have been here.  5 months have already passed.  Some days it feels like we've been here a week.  Other days I feel like I have lived here for years.  I think Kelly and I are like the palm trees he planted that first week.  A little out of place, but growing everyday and putting down roots.

If you look close at the middle you can  see the new growth (the part that isn't fanning yet)

This is the smaller one- It has more than doubled in size

At least we live in a place where it is warm enough and sunny enough to have palm trees.  Now we just have to learn how to stay cool in July in the South.   

The odd (wo)man out

I am blessed!  I was born into a family with an amazing mom (Geri), with a fabulous sister (Megan) and wonderful sister-in-law (Thelma).

I also have a nice MIL and 2 great SILs (Megan and Jennifer) but I haven't spent enough time with them to see if they have this gene too, so they are excluded.

I was talking with my mom yesterday and realized that I am the odd woman out in my family.  They were all born with a gene that somehow bypassed me.  They like to have cute houses, with cute decorations and cute furniture that gets rearranged more often than most people change toothbrushes.

I don't get it...

I NEVER move my furniture for a few reasons

~Why would I?  I put it there for a reason.

~My furniture arrangement skills include pushing everything up against the walls.

~If I moved everything, it would end up like the 2nd and 3rd pictures from Thelma's post (about rearranging)  and stay that way until my house looks more like an episode of Hoarders than a home I live in.

~Megan may have killed every desire I have to move furniture ever again.  I am sure it wasn't THAT often, but I think she made us rearrange our bedroom every month that we shared a room. And we shared a room for 13 years!! She got some kind of sick kick out of it.  I don't get it.  Who wants to push/pull 2 HEAVY oak beds all around???  (The best arrangement may have been the "I-hate-you-so-I-am-putting-duct-tape-down-the-middle-of-the-room" arrangement.. I didn't have to move anything.)

They paint their walls a color besides white, hang pictures/art, and Thelma even has quotes painted on her walls.  They are adorable!!  I have plain white walls and after 5 months in our house, I have hung exactly ONE decoration.  A metal picture that goes above the bar.  And it is only up because it came with a hole and the nail was already there.

Kelly has been begging me to hang up all of our pictures.  And we have a ton.  I take pictures all the time and I have boxes of frames that should be on our walls.  But instead they are in the garage.  I can't hang a picture to save my life.  I will always drill the hole in the wrong place, put up a line of pictures that isn't level (even though I use a laser level) and every picture will be crooked no matter how often I fix them.

Maybe the girls need to come visit me and put everything up in the perfect place and make my house as cute as their's?  I promise Kelly will cook something amazing for you if  you come.

Guinness

Maddy (the Blue Heeler), Guinness (the Black Lab Mix) and Buster (the Red Heeler)

I asked Kelly what I should write about today.  He said "Family Guy."  I declined.  I watch it when there is nothing else on, but its not my favorite.  He suggested Guinness instead.  Guinness is something I can write about!!

My youngest fur baby is the sweetest, craziest, grossest, most energetic, snuggle-bug in the house.  He's only owned me since New Year's but I love him!!

See the crazy?

When we got Guinness we already had 2 dogs, Buster & Maddy.  Everyone thought we were crazy for getting a 3rd dog, and they were right.  Guinness is such a challenge!  And he is more of a challenge because I am lazy and haven't taken him to obedience school. 

My sleeping boy snuggling with me

Instead of school Guinness has chewed up clothes, rugs, destroyed two kennels (including a steel one) and left more than 1 "present" for us.  But look at him snuggling with me up there.  How could I not love him???  He does get to go to doggy daycare when it is too hot out and they have cameras so I can watch him play all day long.  He is gets along great with other dogs and is always happy.

He sleeps right next to me every night (or on me if he feels like it) and he almost never wakes me up in the morning.  Poor Kelly gets woken up every morning, 5 minutes after I leave the house.  

And, one of my favorite things about Guinness?  He is great in the car.  Dog is my co-pilot.  Unlike the other two, he sticks his head out the window for hours at a time with his tongue hanging out and living life. 

Me and my road trip buddy in Kentucky 

Happiness is having a cute dog that loves you unconditionally

Fall

I love Fall.

It means Football, hearty food, amazing scents, deep rich colors, sweatshirts, Halloween, special birthdays, our anniversary, and Thanksgiving. 

But, having a strong dislike for rain, Fall has always been in 3rd place.  I love the sunshine, long days and adventures of Summer; I like Spring with its surprising days of sun amid the cloudy days, new flowers and Baseball; Winter just sucks... Its cold, wet and dark.

Living in Atlanta might change my list around.  Arriving in May we sort of missed Spring; it was already hot and humid (at least that is what I thought).. Summer was sunny but HOT, HOT, HOT.  It was hotter than average and I was hotter than I should be ALL THE TIME.  I didn't think it could get hotter... Then I went to Savannah, GA in July.  Talk about getting punched in the lungs by Mother Nature!

So far Fall in The ALT is great!  Temps are ranging from 75°-85°, the humidity is low (well low compared to  July), the sun is shining and it smells great.  The dogs can be outside and not come in panting like we haven't watered them in days and my palm trees are growing inches by the days. 

Our house smells like Fall everyday.  I learned how to make Kelly Pumpkin Spice Syrup (like they use for Pumpkin Spice Lattes at Starbucks) and cooking it fills the house with the smell of pumpkin pie.  Kelly has made beer cheese soup, beef stew and pot roast. I have also made Pumpkin Cheesecake, apple cider and mini apple pies..

They look amazing right???

I think Fall may become my favorite season after all.  I have asked the neighbors and co-workers and they tell me it doesn't start to get cold here until the end of October.  That makes me happy.  

Maybe moving 3,000 miles away from home wasn't such a bad thing.  I miss my loved ones, but I have the love of my life, my 2 puppies, sunshine and a home of our own.