A new phase

My potter is less than a month from being 16, which means he'll be dating soon.  (!)

A week ago we were startled by a loud pounding on the door at 9:30pm.

  

Strider flipped on the light and lit up a whole porch full of balloons!  How cool!

It's a tradition in Utah to do cute ways of asking for dances and 'big' dates.  It's a Mormon thing.  There's a casual dance called "Sweathearts" (not to be confused with a formal Sweethearts dance) at the high school up here.

  It happens to be a short 2 days after this guy is the big 16.  Well isn't that convenient!

Awww :)

I was giddy.  We brought them all in and he got to work popping them and separating out the glow sticks that had letters on them.  Then unscrambled to reveal a name.

Teens rock.  I'm so excited!  

Oh, and so is he.  

A new outlook

My sister Ash told me something interesting a couple weeks ago.  She said that she made Fridays a cleaning day.  That way she was all ready to go for the weekend ahead.   Hmmm. 

I thought about it last night.  I have been feeling tired and rundown.  I don't like weekends.  There, I said it.  I can't stand the mess and the lack of routine.  I know I'm letting little things get in the way of big things.  So last night I slept for 10 (!) hours.  I resolved to get up in the morning and try really hard to put some of her ideas into practice.

See, my week normally goes like this:

Monday - gung ho cleaning, getting back on track, takes ALL day to do it.  Exhausted by the end.

Tues little energy.  

Wed-Fri I do some around here, but not caring as much as I should.  

Sat-Sun my eyes are bleeding from looking at disarray and I'm resentful that the rest of the clan doesn't see what needs to be done. 

Well, I caught up on all the laundry today.  All.  I swept the floors and washed the pans and wiped down surfaces that are usually forgotten till Monday.    Will it make a difference?  We'll see.  But I'm happy today AND looking forward to the weekend.  That's rare.


A few other reasons for a new outlook:

The house was feeling blah after the Christmas cleanup.  I put out a couple fresh things on the table.

I printed this and stuck it in a silver frame.  I love icy blues & greens in January.

We had two days of storms this week.  An elderly man cleared our driveway both days before we had a chance to get to it.  What the?!  Feeling both guilty and thankful.


Strider asked me this morning as he said goodbye if I'd like to go out tonight.  Woot!  Happy weekend!

Command center update

I finally made a sign to hang above the command center wall that I shared in this post.  

We already had an old knotty weathered board that I loved.

I had someone here in town cut some vinyl for me.  But I used the negative image so it worked as a stencil.   I very lightly dabbed paint on with a dauber and a pouncing motion.  It came out perfectly. I originally planned on sanding over the dry words to age them a little.  But since I used so little paint you can still see the wood through the letters, so I left it.

It's the look I was trying for!

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

My sister in law had us over for dinner and served us these.  I've been meaning to ask for the recipe for, like forever.  I finally did and the family gobbled them up this weekend.

Recipe at the end of the post.

Here's the secret right here:  the honey with all the spices.  Mmmm.

I actually cooked my chicken breasts with a little honey and enchilada sauce in the crockpot.  I figured extra flavor couldn't hurt.

I employed Strider and Bugs to help fill the tortillas with chicken and cheese.

I increased my chicken a bit in order to make 16 enchiladas.  I always need to look ahead to lunch leftovers for Strider.  He saves us gobs of money by not eating out.

So now I have photos and the recipe, and I can Pin these babies!

I served it with shredded lettuce and cowboy caviar (black beans/corn/salsa).  SO yummy!  Thanks Courtney!

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

2lb Shredded Chicken (I used 5 shredded chicken breasts) 2/3 Cup Honey 1/4 Cup Lime Juice 1TBL Chili Powder 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder 2 (28oz) Can Green Enchilada Sauce (we prefer mild) 4 Cups Shredded Cheese (I usually use Mozzarella and Cheddar 2 cups each, any cheese should be fine) 10 8" Flour Tortillas

Directions:

Combine honey, lime juice, chili powder and garlic power in bowl and mix together, then add chicken. Let it soak at least 3 hours or overnight (the longer it soaks the better). Spray 9x13 pan with pam, pour enchilada sauce enough to cover the bottom of pan, then add just a little more. Fill tortillas with chicken and cheese. Roll and place seam side down in pan. Pour remaining sauce over the top. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Notes: A 9x13 pan usually can't fit 10 enchiladas, so you can use another small pan. I made 16 total, so I used 2 1/2 pans for all of it. I also mistakenly bought burrito sized tortillas, doh! So we had to bend the ends to fit in the pans :)

Home Tour

In the summer of 2013 we moved from our starter home of 16 years into a new (old) and bigger home that's perfectly suited for our family.  We love our surroundings and feel so very blessed to be led here.

Little by little we are decorating, arranging and making this house our own.  Take a peek!

New Beginning

Living Room

Laundry Room

Girls' Room

Dining Room

Kitchen

Command Central 

Master Bedroom (2013)

Master Bedroom (2015)

Hall Linen Closet 

Oldest Son's Room

Going out with a POP

Not exactly a bang this year, but that's okay.  Instead of our usual rip-roaring game night with Strider's clan, we are sticking around home tonight with all the kiddos.  Some family members had plans.  There was the long drive to consider.  The older boys aren't interested in the local church dance and the younger ones don't have a choice.  So we're doing things our way.  

Starting at 5pm we will take turns popping a balloon every hour and doing the family activity inside.  I had each person write down a game or fun thing to do together.  We will put away all phones and internet and be present as a family.

The sparkling cider is chilled, and we'll have chips & salsa.  Other than that, not much!  No noisemakers or confetti.  I have plenty of noisy kids that make messes as it is :)

It should help pass the time, since the natives have been a bit restless around here.  They'd never admit missing school of course, but I think they miss their routines and daily structure.

Tomorrow is our traditional lucky pork & sauerkraut meal.  I am looking forward to preparing it, especially since my brother is driving up to share it with us.

Just 24 hours ago there was a large tree in this spot.  Talk about feeling naked!  So weird to take it all down.

We've gotten so used to new traditions around here, that new traditions are our new tradition.  The benefit of me being forced to let go of so much lately is that I do not feel my usual New Years Eve emotions of being melancholy and introspective about the year that has passed me by.  I can't remember a Dec 31 that I didn't cry at midnight, but this might be the first.  

To all of you who still read this 'lil old blog, thank you for being my audience and loving me and my family.  We don't have it all together but I sure like these people of mine.  They are my source of laughter, tears, joys and heartache.  I love this grand thing we call life.  

I know that God has been watching over us for 2013 and that 2014 has many miracles in store for us as well.  See you next year!!

Room by room - hall

Is the hall a room?  Well, whatever.

My linen closet was semi-done about three months ago but I decided to just finish it off and share it.

Now, this isn't a Pinterest-worthy project but I am proud of it nonetheless.  It's not filled with shiny Container Store bins and everything doesn't coordinate. I almost exclusively used what I had on hand.

Why did I not take a before picture?  I have no idea.  But the top used to be a solid mass of bed linens.  Now the top shelf has a basket of twin sheet sets and a stack of throw blankets.

Below that we have queen (master) sheet sets, pillowcases, table linens.

The bottom shelf is used every day.  Towels, bath and hand, as well as washcloths.

On the bottom I rounded up plastic bins I had and I also bought 10 stacking bins from Dollar Tree.    These have been labeled for medicines, travel size toiletries, first aid needs.

On the right side I have a cleaning caddy, hair clippers, swiffer cloths, rags etc.

Everything has a home and it's so much more pleasant to look at.  Total cost: $10.

Pinterest schminterest.