Pioneer Woman Cooks Cookbook!!!
Eat your heart out folks (ha, no pun intended)! I got the Pioneer Woman Cooks Cookbook for Christmas. My wonderfully amazing friend Mary gave this to me last night. I screamed! Seriously! I am SO excited about this! Just wanted to share.
Last night I saw the show on MTV “World’s Strictest Parents”. Basically, at the beginning of the show there are two teenagers who are ridiculous with bad behavior. Their parents don’t know how to control them. So they are sent off to spend the week with a family with strict parents.
When they get to the house, really all the parents do is hold high expectations for the kids and they don’t take any of their crap. The parents present house rules to the kids and they stand by them through the show. Two of the families I saw upheld good family values. They were parents that understood their job was not to just be the kids friend, but to guide them.
I thought it was pretty amazing (and sad) that these parents are put into a category that is so extreme, when really they are just fulfilling the duty of a parent. Not only were they strict, but they were loving and still wanted the best for the child.
I don’t really have much to say about it all. I don’t have kids right now and know that it will be very hard to make a choice for my child that makes him/her unhappy for any amount of time. So I won’t judge. But dang.
I also want to encourage strict parents. The world needs strict parents who truly desire the best for their kids.
Tim, me, Diana, Necie, Megan & Josh
This is Tim (my husband), me, Diana (my sister), Necie (my other sister), Megan (Josh’s girlfriend) and Josh (my brother). I love them! We have so much fun together.
I went to visit the family in Nashville this past weekend. Josh works in construction management in Houston, TX building hospitals. Since he was going to be in, and I hardly ever get to see him (or Megan), I thought Tim and I should go see them and the rest of the family. We have so much fun when we are together.
Also, what you don’t see is my mom taking the picture. There is just a load of hilarity in that itself. She goes to aim the camera, and starts admiring the camera…forgetting about taking the picture. 
I love my family 
I frequently refer to them as “the girls”. The two pictured above are my sisters (for those of you who are new to the blog). Man, I love these two.
I got to go visit the family this week. When I visit, I try to soak up as much time with these two as possible. To put it bluntly, I feel like I am missing out on them growing up. It breaks my heart. And, they are at a stage where they both like me. This has not always been so, and I imagine will not always be. So, for now, I love on, cuddle with, give praise to and listen to these two as much as I can when I am around.
The one on the left hates to talk on the phone, and the one on the right seems to get embarrassed or too excited to be able to talk on the phone. So person-to-person is the way to go.
They are growing up SO fast. Necie, the one on the right, is in high school! She gets her driver’s permit in like 3-months! Holy cow! Okay, okay, I know I am starting to sound like an annoying parent gushing over her babies. Whatever, I love ‘em.
Saturday Mom, the girls and I went shopping at several different stores. Then Tim and I took the girls bowling. It was so much fun. The power went out and we ended up playing games you would play around a camp fire. It was fun just to be with them. And they have a never ending list of things to do when you are bored. It was quite interesting.
Sunday we went to church then came home to have dinner with the whole family. Including Tim (my husband) and Megan (Josh’s girlfriend…Josh is my brother), we had eight people at the table! It was packed, but good times.
We were all coming together to celebrate Megan, Tim and Mom’s birthdays. Megan’s is 10/20, Tim’s 10/28 and Mom’s 11/09. Josh lives in Texas and I live 6 hours away, so we are rarely all together anymore. Next time will be Christmas… I think.
Anyway, that was my weekend.
Tim and I baby sat a 3 week old baby last night. I gotta tell you, I am already (since the day we got married) in “I want to have a baby” mode. Like something fierce. But, I know, if it is an option, it would be wiser to wait.
I am so glad my hubby is here to make rational decisions for us.
While we were in Ethiopia we visited an orphanage. Of course this got me talking about kids, once again. Tim usually will not talk to me about it. I tell him he has no imagination, he just says that this is not something we are going through now so it is hard for him to get excited about it. Whatever. Anyway, I started having the baby conversation, and he actually joined in! But what is funny, he said we could start our family next year (holy cow!!). But…. I said (I couldn’t believe the words coming out of my mouth) that we should probably wait at least three more years.
I am about to start back to school for my M.Ed. and he still has at least 2 years in his undergrad. After he graduates, he will then go back for his Master’s in Communicative Disorders. So… I think that it will probably be a better idea if we wait. Ugh. I don’t like that answer, but if I want to be responsible at all, I guess that is the best choice.
I know what many of you will say. “If you wait til you are ready, you will never have a baby”. I know that, but I would like to be a little more ready than we are right now.
So, while I am REALLY wanting a baby, we are still waiting for another 3 years. joy.
I have decided I need to stop avoiding my blog. As I believe I have mentioned before, I love to read other blogs but don’t always love to blog. So, if there is anyone still reading (haven’t I said that before…) thank you!!
I have decided…since my jeans are getting a little too snug… that I need to start eating healthy. I told my half asleep husband this morning that I am putting us on a diet!
It turns out, my wonderful younger brother is actually a health nut. So I just asked him to whip up a diet plan for me. I got it today. It doesn’t look too bad. I am actually excited about hopefully getting healthy.
He told me to go over to Women’s Health Magazine to learn some cooking tips and recipes. There are also a lot of exercises (not that I will do many of them on there too that are great.
So, hopefully I will report back to ya and let you know how things are going.
Oh, and btw, I had written a post a long time ago about not drinking soft drinks anymore but drink more water. Well, I don’t totally not (sorry for the double negative!) drink soft drinks anymore, but i am down to about 4 or 5 a week. I think that is pretty stinkin good for me at least! Usually it is either a Diet Coke or a Sprite. Mostly, I drink water.
Here is an example of my diet plan Josh sent over to me:
Sample Daily Eating Plan 1
Breakfast:
Oatmeal with a Heaping Tablespoon of Peanut Butter and a banana ( all in a bowl together)
Morning Snack:
Whatever Fruit or Vegetable you like and a cup of low fat yogurt
Lunch:
Salad with as much vegetables that you want in it with some type of lean meat (chicken, tuna, most any fish) and a small serving of shredded cheese
I throw lettuce, tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, avocado sometimes, and spicy peppers sometimes all in mine. I don’t use dressing but you can use as much oil and balsamic vinegar you want, or any type of light dressing but watch the amount you use.
Afternoon Snack:
As many celery sticks as you want with 2 tbsp of peanut butter on them.
Dinner:
Any lean meat with some steamed vegetables
6 oz Chicken Breast
Steamed Broccoli
Sample Daily Eating Plan 2
Breakfast:
1 Egg Fried on 2 pieces of whole wheat toast and any tomatoes or lettuce or onions or peppers you want and a piece of cheese
Small glass of juice
Morning Snack:
Handful of unsalted almonds and Large Apple or Orange
Lunch:
Sandwich on whole wheat toast with turkey, roast beef, or ham and as many vegetables as you want on it and any mustard or light dressing.
Afternoon Snack:
Small serving of cottage cheese and whatever fruit and veggie you want
Dinner:
Whole wheat pasta with chicken and a red sauce or garlic and olive oil sauce
The garlic and olive oil sauce can be made by just putting some olive oil and minced garlic in a pan together and throwing the noodles and chicken in there with them after you have cooked the noodles and chicken and just letting it finish in there for a few minutes.
This weekend was good. I really don’t remember much about Friday, Saturday or Sunday. They were normal weekend days. But yesterday was a lot of fun, I think maybe it was simply that I had the day off from work. We slept late, played tennis, hung out with friends, and then played dominoes and ate pizza for several hours. I am very sore today from all of the tennis.
After our friends went home last night, Tim and I wrestled on the front porch for awhile. He woke up this morning with a big bruise on his wrist! The only explanation we could think of was…me. I felt so bad. He doesn’t seem to mind. But I really don’t remember hitting him while we wrestled. 
Today is back to normal…except I am sore.
What did you do for your Memorial Day Weekend?
Update: We figured out that I DID NOT leave a bruise on Tim. It was from his racket after playing tennis all day.
I don’t know why, but I just have not been in the mood to post blogs for the last month or so. Sorry for the lack of updates! I am even getting tired of Twitter and Facebook. Google Reader is struggling too. I don’t know what has gotten into me. Oh well.
Just wanted to give you some updates on the fundraising for our trip to Shashamene, Ethiopia.
Two Saturdays ago we had a yard sale. Honestly, it wasn’t as big as I thought it would be, but when is it ever? It was supposed to be this big community yard sale with over 10 or 12 families yardselling too. Well, we got there and there was only one other yard sale (whom we made mad and she yelled at me!). The lady who organized it all didn’t even show up! The high light of it all was we brought the litter of boxer pups that turned 6 weeks old that day. We had so many people stop by, those babies were worn out! I told mom at some point that morning that my goal was just to raise $100. Seemed realistic enough. When we got to $128, we called it quits. We had been there since 7am (with me not getting there the night before until about 10:15) and were pooped! So we packed up and went to my sister’s softball tournament. Man I wish I could go to more of her tournaments! She is so good and I love to see her play!
Yesterday, Sunday, we had what was supposed to be a Spaghetti Lunch, but last minute turned into a Sloppy Joe lunch. We had food donated at the last minute, so we switched the menu to Sloppy Joes. They were so good too! I cooked 15 pounds of ground beef yesterday morning and then served it! We had a blast. Tim and I used to both serve in restaurants. It made me want to serve again! I love being busy and organized! I asked Tim if he missed it, to which he responded with a laugh and a NO! Ah well.
At the lunch we raised $450 on the dot! We were incredibly excited and blessed!
So now I think we have some where around $4,000 left to raise in a little less than a month. Wow, that is a lot. But our God is BIG. If He wants us to go, it will happen. I am not worried
We have t-shirts if you would like to help out with the fundraising! Here are two pictures that pretty much show what they look like. One of the pictures is Afework, who lives in Shashamene. I just think that picture is so cool and makes it even more real that we are leaving for Africa in a month and 3 days! Holy Cow!!!
If you are interested in a t-shirt, they are $20 including shipping. Just email me at jessicatrivette[at]gmail[dot]com. I will update soon to let you know the sizes I have.
P/S: I am getting back in the mood to have a kid now!! I have been looking at adoptuskids.org for the last couple of days and falling in love with so many little ones! We are holding off for at least 3 more years, but oh I want one now! – Ok, I am done whining
We moved two weekends ago. I hate moving. Is there anyone who likes to move? Seriously, I have never heard anyone say, “I love to move”. I have heard of TONS of people who love to travel, but not move. Anyway, we moved. Only 40 minutes from where we were living, but it is MUCH closer to everything we are involved in. Like, 15 minutes away from everything. Love it (said in a musical tone).
The place we were living in was a one bedroom apartment. It was small, but we were fine. I would get claustrophobic every once and awhile, but I think that was only because we had only three windows, all along one wall. We learned how much crap we owned that we didn’t need (still learning that one). We probably got rid of half our stuff. Also, do you remember too that we live with two dogs in that small apartment? Well, they were fine too. They mostly hung out in the living room and our bed room. They adjusted, as did we. Now though, we are in a two bedroom, two story apartment. Much like a town home, only not. Much roomier. But it is like those dang dogs only remember the perimeter (is that the right word) of the other apartment. They have so much more space, but are so clingy! They have to be around us all of the time. Dang it!
We also moved two doors down from some of Tim’s best friends. They have been married for not even a year, and are about to have a baby (SURPRISE!). I am excited b/c Tim is excited to help out w/ the baby. I think his whole way of thinking is more of a, “I want to help them out” type of thing, but we are going to have a baby in our house often. Yay! (This is all coming from the whole, my husband says we have to wait 5 years after getting married to have a baby). So, hopefully this will help my goal of hanging out with little ones to tie me over until I actually do have babies. I despised this rule when he first made it. But now I am SO thankful for it. Really. There are so many situations in my life where it is just easier to not have a child. We are able to live on one income, both of us are able to be back in school, we can travel more, we can work on our marriage more, and I am sure there is a lot more. Anyway, I will LOVE having kids, biological and adopted, it’s just not the right time right now. So, other people’s kids will do (did that sound bad?).
It is really funny how often we hang out with them. We both have front and back doors, so each of us are constantly (ok, maybe not constantly) walking around back or front. The poor guy (not really, he seems like a jerk) between us will hate us pretty soon. I keep saying that we are going to accidentally walk into the wrong apartment one day.
Funny story: Our friends two doors down are Tracey & Philip. One day we had been hanging out at their place, and Tim and I came back to our’s. We had to go some where and were walking out the door. I had my head turned the other way when walking out when I heard this huge burp. I immediately thought it was Philip (b/c I apparently was oblivious to the fact that other people do in fact live in this building). While turning my head towards the sound, I said very loudly, “WHOA!!”. It was not Philip. It was the guy who lives between us, or his friend, but NOT Philip. Well, at the same time, apparently Tracey thought it was Tim. She yells out her window, “I HEARD THAT!!” I was SO embarrassed. I ducked my head and ran to the car (no exaggeration). I was blushing like crazy. Tracey was already inside her apartment so she didn’t even know what happened until hours later. Oh man, everyone is going to hate us. Well, at least the guy living between us will.
I know the Economy is a hot topic right now. So let me just forewarn you, if you are coming here from words of an expert or words of wisdom, you have come to the wrong place. I am just typing out what has been on my heart in the past couple of months.
The economy is scary right now. Truth is, our comfortable place to live is being threatened. (I have no care in the world to discuss why I think this is. I am just not going to do it.) People all over are losing their jobs. I work at a place that essentially serves/ministers to other ministries and non-profits. I have seen so many people come in who have lost their jobs due to lack of donations/support or the loss of grant monies. I have also heard, through my Church, friends, and the news, of so many other people losing their jobs. And they cannot find new ones. Honestly, at this point, I am not scared for myself. What will happen, will happen. My God is good and will take care of me (even if that does not add up to what I think is taking care of me…keeping me comfortable). I know most of these people serve the same God, the God who has rescued us already. But for some reason I can’t help but worry for them. The situation is not great at this point, and from what I hear will not get much better. So what do we do?
For the past several months I have thought about the original Church and how they lived amongst one another. Here, let me show you…
“41-42That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.
43-45Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.
46-47They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.”
Living together, taking care of one another, worshiping God together (not just on Sunday mornings), meeting each other’s needs. I know that there are a lot of you who meet these to some extent, but I really feel there is so much more!
I was thinking about how much income my husband and I bring in yesterday. How much of that do we really need to live on, and how much of that could we use to meet someone else’s need? I have a deep desire to take care of everyone who is struggling (more often it is focused on their physical needs and not their spiritual needs as it should be). When I talk about supporting someone else with our own income, I am not only talking about supporting missionaries or sponsoring children living in poverty, like I know that many of you already do (which by the way I feel that is definitely part of the Great Commission, that is just not the subject at hand). I am more so talking about supporting people who might be fellow members in your Church congregation who have fallen on hard times.
Of course while you are “pooling your resources so every person’s need is met”, they are definitely working their tails off to find another job. And when they find another job, it would be amazing if they helped to take care of someone else, while you as well took care of yet another family (yes, the movie “Pay it Forward” has all of a sudden come to mind…sorry).
I know that all of this sounds a little out there, but I really think if we took care of each other in this way (as instructed), we would have no reason to worry (not that we do already b/c our – believers & followers of Jesus Christ, our risen Saviour – hope is not in the economy, money, our house, or anything else here on this earth). And most of this is just me rambling.
I just want to point out once again, I am not anyone who knows a lot about this topic, or really knows enough to talk about it. I am just putting this out their because it has been on my heart and mind often. And because I want to know what you think. So please leave a comment!
What if we did it? What would happen?
