Look how skinny we are!!!!!

Make your Stick Figure Family at FreeFlashToys.com

I don't know why I am so mesmermized by these awesome stick figures of us... but I really am :P.

Honestly, I'm not sure if that thing I'm carrying is a briefcase or a shopping bag, but I'm going to call it a shopping bag because that would keep it accurate.

I'm also bummed that they cut out Maya (my other Chihuahua)... I guess the format for the picture is too big, and I'm clueless as to how to change that. :(

Baby Update: Negative

I took a home pregnancy test this morning and I got a big fat negative. I want to be disappointed, I really do, but something is preventing me from getting overly upset about it.
For the first time since we started trying to have a baby (back in October), I am at peace with the fact that I have yet to get pregnant.
There are people who've been trying to have a baby for a lot longer than I have... and there are women who have been told by doctors that they simply can't bare children. I am so lucky to *not* be at that point yet. According to my doctor, I'm still in the "normal" time period, and even more so because I have very unsteady periods, so it's not like I missed an opportunity every month.
How can I get pregnant if I don't ovulate?
That is how I'm viewing this situation. My body has made it obvious that, for whatever reason, I don't ovulate normally... I can't expect a baby if I don't have an egg to fertilize. Looking at it from a scientific perspective has really improved my outlook.
It could also be that the last month and a half has been pretty tumultuous and that my mind is not prepared to deal with any more disappointment than is absolutely necessary.
At this point, I feel like throwing my hands up and saying "Ok, so I'm not pregnant... NEXT."
I don't want to blame whatever issues I have with my body on God. It always seems to me that people blame God for everything, but give Him/Her credit for nothing. I hear a lot of "I found this $100 bill on the floor, how lucky am I?!"
"Wow, I got a promotion, I worked really hard and earned this!"
"I kept my job in this recession, I must be valuable to this company!"
And then I hear a lot of
"My cat died... God had other plans for her."
"I just found out that my brother has cancer... how could God do this to us?"
"I don't understand why my life is this terrible, but I'm sure that God wouldn't give me more than I can handle."
I understand if you believe that God has a hand in EVERYTHING, good and bad... so that you give thanks to Him/Her in all situations. But I just don't think it would be fair for me to blame God for whatever difficulties I am experiencing because I don't have a close relationship with God. I was never brought up to be religious... and it helps me feel better when I look at things from the view that it's *noone's* fault that I'm having issues. It just happened because sometimes, shit just happens.

Though I have certainly noticed the ease with which people who don't want to get pregnant become pregnanty quickly, I can't associate myself with them or overanalyze it, because I'll become bitter. Someone on the Babies On The Brain message board mentioned that it seems the only people getting pregnant without some form of difficulty are teenagers, crackheads, people with meth labs, and people who in a general sense should not be having children. When I look at it from that point of view, it's harder for me to avoid the "bitter uterus" syndrome where I start hating everyone who is getting pregnant. But I don't want to do that. I don't want to feel anything but positive energy and bubbly enthusiasm for any of my friends who have the awesome opportunity to carry a child. I don't want to get to a point where I am placing my friends in the same group as crackheads and meth lab owners. When I think of how ridiculously happy it would make me to get pregnant, it just reinforces this knowledge. If something so wonderful happened to me, how would I feel if someone else harbored ill will towards me about it... especially if it were a friend? It would be devastating. Besides, if I think of this from a logical perspective, it makes no sense to associate my physical problems with someone else's good news. The announcement, "I'm pregnant," from someone I don't even know shouldn't immediately make me think "Why can't I get pregnant?! What's wrong with ME? This person has made me angry because they are experiencing something that I want... I'm jealous to the point of tears." That makes no sense to me, and so I refuse to feed into that mindset.
I have hope, and that's all I can really ask for.
There is always hope.

Recipe: $$Money Saving Banana Coconut Muffins$$

I love many things in life... I'm pretty sure that somewhere up in the top 20 are muffins and money, which is why I think these banana muffins are a real treat.

Being a native of South Florida really influenced my taste for food and I can't think of a single tropical fruit that I don't totally appreciate. Bananas and coconuts are by far two of my favorites. My issue is that I buy bananas and coconuts all the time and then I never use them. They sit on my counter until they get old enough for me to feel that it's a risk to eat them and I end up throwing them away, which is not only a waste of food, but a waste of money. Since I usually have flour, sugar, baking powder, milk and eggs in my house at all times, I consider this a pretty affordable recipe... usually all I really have to "buy" are the bananas.

**TIP: Now, when I buy coconuts, I immediately shred them and seal them in an air tight container and stick it in the fridge (it lasts a lot longer that way). You can also buy the bags of shredded coconut, which last FOREVER, but I like to use the milk for chicken marinades, so I usually buy the whole coconut.

I included a picture of the bananas w/ the muffins so the optimum "age" could be seen... I like to use them before they get too ripe, but if you use them when they are not ripe enough they won't give you the maximum flavor.

I didn't put the coconut in the recipe, because really it's optional... but it is delicious with a bit of coconut in the mix. You can also chop macadamia nuts and add those to give it an extra "tropical" flair.

Enjoy!

And, as always, comments are welcome and appreciated!

What you'll need:

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 beaten egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup cooking oil

## DO NOT USE PAPER BAKE CUPS ##

Preheat oven to 400°. In a mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Make a well in the center. Combine egg, milk, and oil; add all at once to flour mixture. Add 3/4 cup (or more... the more the better, in my opinion!) mashed banana to flour and egg mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Lightly grease muffin cups; fill 2/3 full. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes or until golden. Remove from pans; serve warm. Makes 10 to 12 muffins.

Recipe: Marmie's Famous Chicken & Dumpling Soup

Ok, so I realize that the picture above might not look very appetizing (and that it's probably blurry because my current digital camera is not the greatest), but let me assure you that this soup is DELICIOUS!
This is my mother's - or "Marmie," a'la Little Women, as my best friend refers to her - homemade chicken and dumpling soup.

I moved out of the house when I was 21, but whenever I see my mom and I get a dinner request in, it's almost always for this soup. This is so incredibly filling, I can usually only eat one or two bowls. It's convenient because it tastes great even after freezing, so you can make a huge pot and freeze the rest for later. As if all that weren't enough to try it, this soup is incredibly affordable to make.

I know that there is some great debate about how Northerners and Southerners prepare their dumplings, and I'm not exactly sure of the outcome of said debate, but my favorite thing about this soup is DEFINITELY the dumplings. We don't use noodles (not that there's anything wrong with noodles, yum!), we use the flaky biscuits from Pilsbury.

Enjoy!

What you'll need:
2 to 3 chicken breasts (you can sub for dark meat if you prefer)
10 teaspoons of Chicken Bouillion (I use the granules, but the cubes are fine)
10 cups water
1/2 a large bag of frozen mixed vegetables
1 package of Pilsbury buttery biscuits (the exact kind doesn't matter, just what sounds good to you)

Instructions:
Place water (10 cups) in a pot with chicken fully submersed. Add bouillion. Boil the chicken in the water until thoroughly cooked through. Lower heat to a mid simmer. Shred chicken up with a fork, it should fall apart easily. Add the frozen veggies and stir occasionally until they are tender. Cut four of the biscuits into small cubes, add the other 4 whole into the soup. Cover and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until biscuits look firm and "unmushy," :P. They won't look cooked, but they will be ready when they take on a firm look.

Feel free to leave me any comments, let me know how it came out if you make it, or leave me some ideas on variations!

Is it really time to go home?

I am so tired... I'm so ready to go home and relax. Is it really time for me to go home and get some R&R?

I've been busting my ass in ways I didn't know possible this week, training for this new position and hoping that I do good enough to merit a raise. My brain is like swiss cheese and I swear I can hear something rattling around in my head. Is it my sanity? I think I might have lost it somewhere among the myriad paperwork scattered throughout my store and around my desk.

The last 30 days have been a true test of how much I can take before I start to crumble. Our a.c. broke down (there goes $500), Russell's truck broke down (there goes $1100), the IRS realized that I owed them $500 (there goes $500), my car broke down (say goodbye to another $331, Amber... "goodbye $331, Amber!").

I really have been trying to maintain a positive outlook and to remember the wonderful things that I'm blessed with. I have total job security (but, to be fair, I just knocked on wood to be safe), other than a few cavities we can't immediately get fixed, Russell and I are in good health. We both have wonderful, supportive families. Things could be much worse than they are and I am so thankful for that.

Still, I am simply overjoyed that I get the next 2 days to really process the last month so I can properly deal with the financial downfalls we've suffered, to figure out a gameplan on how we will work through them, and to just look towards a brighter future and hopefully a less stressful couple of weeks ahead.

I have to admit... I am extremely excited to be visiting my mother-ship (the mall) tomorrow. I go not to shop (for shame!) but to try and pawn off my gold jewelry, given to me by some ex-boyfriends who I hold absolutely no sentimental memories toward. Not shopping will be interesting and difficult for me as I'm a hopeless shopaholic, but considering that I've shredded my credit cards and have practically NO cash available, it should be something that is at least obtainable.

I hope all you fellow bloggers, Nesties, SITStahs, and 20SBs have a great weekend. What Not to Wear is calling and I am never one to turn down an hour of Stacey and Clinton!

Wow, how vinyltastic.

Finally... finally, finally, finally!

I absolutely *hate* the carpet in our house. It is DISGUSTING. We got the house on foreclosure, so when we moved in the lawn looked terrible and there were some definite areas for improvement. The house had recently been remodeled, so it wasn't too bad, but one of the things that has always bothered me is the God-awful carpet. Our dogs have not helped the situation. They have had their share of accidents while we are at work, which makes it virtually impossible to get *all* the pee out of the rug because it gets to sit there for 8 to 10 hours :(. Even with a deep cleaning by a professional carpet cleaning company every 3 to 6 months, it still looks gross.
A few weeks ago, Russell told me that his boss was going to give him a few rolls of free vinyl "wood" flooring so we decided to redo our hallway. He took care of it all in 2 days and now it looks GREAT! I love having a handy husband. All that's left now is the living room and then we're done with the whole house! We decided to hold off on taking the carpet out of the "baby room" (which is really a glorified guest bedroom) until the "baby" gets old enough to not *somehow* fall on their head... does that sound horrible? It probably does. But it's safer, so maybe it doesn't sound too bad on my part... I'm just thinking of the worst possible scenario and trying to properly prepare for it.
Here are some before and after pictures of our new hallway!

Before:

Here's a good view that will show you how Maya has chewed a huge chunk of the rug up... and you can also see how un-white it looks... yuck.

This is what it looked like after Russell tore the carpet out and laid the first two coats of um... whatever that stuff is that you put *under* the flooring :P

And finally, the finished product...
Tada!


I'm so relieved, I can't wait to get the living room done!