Aren't these beautiful? They were delivered to my work on Wednesday. I absolutely LOVE them. He completely amazed me with his choice of flower and it was a wonderful surprise.

So why on the weekend following this show of affection and the wonderful night we spent together, do I feel like .... well I can't even put verbage to it. Bashing and gnashing of teeth are the only things that come to mind. How do I work those into a sentence that will not come back to haunt me?

I love him so much for loving Sybil me. God help him, he has Sybil me all weekend............

Our church has a two services on Sunday, traditional and contemporary. We attend the traditional. TD has too much high church catholic in him to be able to go to the contemporary service.

When we first started dating he went to church with me. I was attending a fairly large church downtown that had a terrific and active singles program. I loved the services. The music was great and not too "rock-n-roll" for me, and the minister had sermons that were relevant to my life.

TD went a few times and each time he was uncomfortable with the occasional, and I mean occasional raising of hands. However, if there was one person in the congregation that raised their hand TD saw it. We wanted to find a good church where our kids would get involved and one where we could join a small group. The only request TD had was to please attend a church where as he stated:

"A church where there aren't so many people asking questions."

For me that was just fine. Considering I attended one of the strictest Christian University in the U.S., I was not super comfortable, myself, with all the questions.

However, I was just starting to listen to Christian contemporary music. I had switched to this genre of music now that my daughter was old enough to repeat back lyrics of songs. (Uh, come on Gwen Stefani how could you with the whole banana "cheer" song???) TD understood this and has encouraged me with purchases of Mercy Me music and even a concert.

So really it is HIS fault that I am completely stuck on this song, since he got me this CD.



If I promise not to ask a question can we go to the contemporary service on Sunday, just this once? And definitely not TWO questions at the same time.

The kids absolutely love these burritos! The reviews were fantastic tonight. The four year old ate TWO!! The nine year old said, "I love these. This is the best night". The seven year old was overheard saying to her sister, "The chicken was the best tonight, the juicest, moistest, yummiest that we have had".

If only I could get this praise for the meals I actually work on. I made the chicken when I went home for lunch in less than FIVE minutes. Let me show you how.

Take 2-4 frozen, boneless, skinless, chicken breast, Rotel, and Taco Seasoning. That is it!! Easy peasey.

Pour a can of Rotel over the chicken and generously sprinkle taco seasoning over all. Normally I use McCormick or Pace Taco Seasoning but we went to Sam's this weekend and I got this. I noticed no difference.

***If using more than 3 chicken breast add a half cup of water to keep moist.

Set your Crock Pot on Low to cook for 5 hours. Yes, most slow cookers will say 4 hours is high so I set mine to 8 or 10 hours so I get a low setting. You could also start this in the mroning just put it on the lowest and longest setting. Today I only used 2 breasts because I didn't want leftovers.

After coming home put the kids to work. Get the table set and get out the next ingredients: Refried Beans, Tortilla (burrito size for adults, taco size for kids), sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa, lettuce, and any other condiment your family likes or you have on hand.

Refried Beans can be optional but our family likes them and I tend to think it makes the burritos/tacos more filling. I added Taco seasoning to the beans as the seven year old was cooking them.


If you do not own a comal then wrap your tortillas in foil and put in the oven at 300 degrees for 10 minutes to warm them up. (My friend Carol would call me a guera if I put tortillas in the microwave)


Shred the chicken, there should be just enough liquid to make it perfect. Take the tortillas out, put all the condiments out and call them to the table!!


Did I mention he ate TWO??!!

Their burrito folding skills do not stand in the way of devouring these chicken burritos!

Yes, the nine year old was right, this was a pretty perfect night.

I love my new jeans! They fit great, look great, and are super comfy. I might even say I look hot in them.

TD and I were on a mission, well more I was on a mission. To find some jeans that fit and are comfortable enough to wear all the time; yet, stylish enough to wear with everything I have and be able to go out on the town in them, or go to the grocery store. You know those ever elusive jeans. These were at Dillards. There are different washes, different lengths, and different styles.

However, after watching Stacy on What Not to Wear, rip apart a girl for her jeans I decided to listen.
The objective:

• No antiquing wash on the front of the thighs--makes thighs look bigger and wider, draws attention to them.


• No faux worn wrinkling in the front at the top of the thigh--draws attention to the hips and makes them appear wider.


• No low cut so much that they are not work appropriate and create the coveted muffin top--well this should be obvious.


• No low sitting back pockets--pockets that come down past the "buttocks" and rest on the top of the hamstring emphasize the derriere and create a flat, no shape bottom.


• No showing of crack when I bend down----actually, Stacy didn't mention this but I am
  

I tried on about TEN different pairs. Each time TD would point out, "Isn't this what you are trying to avoid?" When almost all patience had been used up TD finds this perfect pair. I love him he actually listens to all my complaints and doesn't give up!

And they come in Longs!!! Waa-hoo! Now go and git ya sum!!

Something happens to me and TD when we are kid free. We forget the packed freezer of prepared-in-advance meals and the Joy of Cooking at home. Or how much I absolutely love my Crock Pot and how we are committed to debt reduction. During child free weekends Dining OUT is the name of the game.

When my daughter is spending the weekend with her grandmother, Marmie; and TD’s kids are not with us for the same weekend we try and take full advantage of the free time.

During these child free moments I live like a teenager/frat boy. If I unwrap something I just leave the wrapper where I unwrapped it; not wasting a precious moment to walk the 2 feet to the trash. When I take off my shoes, let’s say, in the middle of the floor; they will stay there the entire weekend unless I wear them again. Towels? They drop on the floor. Bed? Completely unmade. Dishes? What dishes?? We are Dining OUT.

We didn’t even drink coffee at home! We went to Starbucks and bought a paper and read it THERE. Because we could. I had run out of milk for my coffee and I Was. Not. going to the grocery store on a FREE weekend.

In a way, drinking coffee at Starbucks was frugal, we didn’t have to use our money for Starbucks because my dad and his wife gave me a Starbucks gift card for Christmas. So I kept my head in the game for some an hour of the weekend.

Saturday night we met some friends for dinner. We all had a great time!! So much fun, so much conversation. She and I used to work together and it had been so long since we had seen each other. They actually met TD on our second or third date.

My friend’s husband ordered every dip they had. Notice the empty basket of chips. ElGuapo is not known for their legendary service. Not. At. All. (it's big brother McNellie's has excellent service though)

Service was not that spectacular. But the company of adults? AWESOME!!

We also went to the mall. But that is another post because I have found the HOLY GRAIL for jeans. LOVE THEM!!!!!

In addition to Monday night being a hectic time for me our family, Wednesday night is a rush.

The normal routine of coming home, playing and relaxing for a bit, eating dinner, doing homework, taking baths, and bedtime with a story is thrown off by Wednesday night church. NOT that we don’t all love and are committed to our church’s Wednesday night program; but, we have to be flexible. Not my our best trait. Totally a different post all together.

Okay, back on track. In order to save money by not eating at the church (yea, we are that pathetic frugal we won’t spend $12 to save time) I try and make something in the crockpot on Wednesday nights, especially if we have TD’s kids that night……2 more just adds to the rush and routine implosion….once again off topic.

Back to it.

I took a recipe from a Crockpot Cookbook but added to it because I am smarter than a published author no one in my family likes mushrooms (c'mon they are like biting an earlobe, shiver). This soup smelled so delicious when we came in the door and the kids could not wait. The meat just fell apart and the kids gobbled it up. Leftovers for lunch the next day were even better!

The list of ingredients and instructions are at the end of the post. I still have yet to learn Document Imaging for linking to a Word Document, the knowledge will come but I am still at the "Wax On, Wax Off" stage of blogging.

Slice the meat in approx 1/4 inch strips. I cut the strips into 2-3 pieces. This saves time when cutting up the kids food.