Time for another

Flashback Friday!

I've been feeling a little nostalgic this week, so I decided to post some things from my childhood, some that I even forgot about until I saw them.  Once again, thanks to the people of the internet for providing everything I need and more.  I foresee another post... Enjoy!

I'm so excited to start my Pinterest Party posts!!  I will write about anything I steal from Pinterest (mwa-ha-ha!)  Food, crafts, hairstyles, exercises, decorating... anything I try!

For this first post, I'm going to share what I made for Sunday dinner.  I tried 3 new recipes, which is pretty risky because I never know if everything will be good, and there's nothing familiar for those boys of mine to fall back on.  We had Balsamic Pork Chops, Greek Tomato Cucumber Salad with Crispy Chickpeas, and Broccoli Cheddar Quinoa Bites.

I learned several things while working on this project and post. 1. I do not know how to photograph food! 2. I missed photographing some of the steps, sorry. 3. Gah!  I forgot to add the feta to the salad. It would have tasted so good, too. 4. I should not try this many new recipes all at the same time.  It got a little difficult trying to flip between the different recipes and that's probably why I forgot that stinkin' cheese! 5. My old-ass kitchen is not conducive to taking beautiful cooking pictures. 6. Quinoa is not scary. 7. I'm glad I did this. 😊

Would you like to see the final product?

All in all, I thought this dinner was very tasty (it looked a lot nicer in person, too) and I thank the people on Pinterest who share such yummy recipes for me to copy.  Mr. P and Big A liked the pork chops, but didn't really know about the rest of the meal (see why I should incorporate some familiar items?).  Little A thought everything was delicious and he took the leftovers for lunch.  He's such a good eater!

Have you tried anything new lately?  Let me know in the comments!

New!

Happy Monday!  I just realized that St. Patrick's Day is this Friday, so I'm going green on the screen this week. 🍀  I've decided that I will be changing the color of the blog, so be on the lookout - I'll be changing it to go along with holidays for now.  If you see a color you really like, let me know and I'll consider keeping it. I like the original color I picked, but it might be too dull - not bright and fun enough.

I'm also going to start a new regular post about my Pinterest projects.  I'm one of those people who saves everything on Pinterest and then I never actually do anything.  That's going to change! I need to go through and make some things, get rid of the pins that don't turn out well, and keep the things that work great.  In fact, I tried some new recipes for dinner last night and you'll see that in my first Pinterest Party post this week. 😉

I hope everybody has a great week!

Fun Fact Friday

Some fun facts for your Friday! 😊

Okay, I cry a lot, so I'll try and see if this is true.

Huh, I learn something new everyday. 

Weather

Ugh!  Do you know what's not fun?  Cowering in your hallway waiting for tornado sirens to go off and hoping like hell nothing will happen.  How do I know that's not fun?  Because that is what I did last night!  Luckily everything was fine, except my ability to fall asleep when it was over.  There's just something about that adrenaline rush (combined with the storm still raging outside) that just won't let me drift off into slumber.  Boo!  Oh well, I'm glad everything turned out okay.  There were some parts of the state hit a lot harder than we were, so it could have been much worse than just a little scary.  What stinks is it was so beautiful yesterday, sunny and 70.  Whatever, Missouri...

I think this is a fairly accurate description.

The Martian

Holy cow, did I love this book!

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars. Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there. After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive. Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first. But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

I was not expecting to enjoy it so much. This book is exciting and so easy to get into - I was hooked from the very first sentence! It was smart, and not only in the technical, sciencey (yes, I made that word up) way but also in the delivery. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this story from the perspective of the main character. The way Andy Weir brought Mark Watney to life is wonderful. I laughed a lot, but was also on the edge of my seat for most of the story. I even found myself holding my breath a couple of times! I enjoy a lot of books, but do not give out 5 star ratings often - THIS IS A FIVE STAR BOOK! This is not your typical "science fiction" so even if that's not your cup of tea, you should read The Martian by Andy Weir. Now, to watch the movie and see if it does the book justice...

Random Thoughts for Thursday

Just some things that are running through my mind - 1. I'm going to do away with the rating system on the movies I've watched.  Sometimes it just depends on my mood as to how much I like it, so it's not really fair.  2. I'm excited to move on to a new exercise challenge!  Ms. Attitude picked this one:

  

I think I'm going to keep doing some ab work as well, so I don't lose the habits. You should do the challenge with us and let us know how you're doing!  3. I really like the book I just finished! It's The Martian by Andy Weir and I am pleasantly surprised by how good this book is.  I wonder if I can get Mr. P to read it...4. I have to remember that Big A has the pie auction fundraiser for band this Saturday!  I keep forgetting for some reason.  Also, his girlfriend is in the running for Band Queen and I need to budget some money to vote for her a million times - she's such a nice girl! 5. Little A is 10 and he has a little girlfriend and it's cute, but the girl calls 5,000 times a night!  Soooo tired of her calling!  Sometimes I hear the phone ringing even when it's not... 6. I need to clean Goldie's (the goldfish) bowl.  Fun.  7. I've been thinking about changing the color scheme of my blog.  I think it might make it a little easier to read.  What do you think?

Back again!

Good grief, has it really been 2 weeks since I last posted?  Time is flying by, as usual.  Since it is now two months into the year, I thought I'd give you another update on my goals.

1. Okay, I've slipped up a little in maintaining regular posts, but overall I'm still doing better than the past couple of years, so you have to give me that.
2. If you haven't been tracking my progress on Goodreads, I've read 20 books toward my 50 book goal, so far.
3. I will update my movie list so you can see what I've watched recently.  I'm now up to 28 movies!
4. Woohoo!!! Both credit cards have been paid off!  Now, I just need to get the rest of the bills sorted. 😃
5. Well, the plan was to pay off some of that debt and then save for a family vacation, but I'm not sure how that's going to go.  Big A needs new dress clothes for FBLA and then he has State FBLA registration fees and spending money for his trip, money needed for his band trip, I need to get his tux and stuff for prom, and I still need to add him to my car insurance in April when he gets his license. All of that, plus Little A's baseball registration and all of the regular expenses like clothes and lunch money that those kids need - *sigh* - I'm just not sure we'll be able to save enough for vacation this year, but I'll keep working on it.  This might just be postponed to next year.
6. I made it!  Look, I completed every day of my 30 day flat belly challenge!  That's so good for         me.  And believe me, it was hard to do some days, but I pushed through the exhaustion, the days I felt unwell, bad cramps, and I even completed a couple of nights when I might have been a little tipsy. Also, you'll be happy to hear that this didn't ruin my friendship with Ms. Attitude after all!😏  As of this point in the year, I've lost 6 pounds and I'm starting to feel better though I haven't measured myself since 2 weeks ago, so I'm not sure if my belly is actually flatter or if it's all in my head. Whatever, I'll take it!

7. Oh my gosh - why haven't I picked this blanket up all month and just finished it?  It's not that far from being done.  Maybe I'll make it a secondary goal to finish by the end of March...

8. It's getting ready to be that time to start some plants.  I haven't started gardening yet, though I have some plans and will hopefully have starters ready to plant by the end of March.

9. Ugh! I still have not gone through clothes.  I just haven't been able to bring myself to start this project yet.  Sooo many clothes in my house! 😭

10.  Spring cleaning won't be until April, so my garage will have to wait.  Too many things I need to take to the dump for free.

11.  Hey, I'm doing pretty good so far this year.  I just keep going over everything that Big A has going on and reminding myself that he's growing up.  Hopefully this will prevent everything from hitting me so hard. We'll see...

Enough about me!  How are your goals going for the year?