Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Changed Some Settings

I just realized that my comment settings were for registered people only. I made some changes so that anyone can leave a post, if they so desire.

Meet Me in St. Louis




Well I just got done booking our flight out to St. Louis. My husband's grandfather passed away on Saturday and we both decided that it was important that he be there for his family. He wasn't sure he wanted to go at all, but after talking to his sister, he thought he should make the effort.

I'm really looking forward to going. I know it isn't for the best of circumstances, however I love St. Louis and I'm looking forward to seeing our friends there. Both his dad and his closest friend, Brian are pretty stoked about us being there.

The thing I'm NOT looking forward to is the planning. I need to get Eric's sport coat, dress shirt and slacks to the dry cleaners. It's been over a year since he wore that stuff. I just need to remember to plan as carefully as I can so that Eric doesn't get too stressed out. Let's see if unorganized me can pull this off without any problems. I've never planned a trip this fast.

A Media Meme from Sally at A Gracious Home


I love these kinds of things. They help make my day go faster!

Action – Favorite action movie?
Any of the Indiana Jones movies. I also liked the first Matrix movie.

Beautiful – Most beautiful performer?
Audry Hepburn. She was beautiful and sophisticated and glamorous.


Comedy – Favorite comedy (TV or movie)?
TV- I have to admit, nothing made me laugh more than Friends. How can you not laugh and anything between Joey and Chandler?

Drama – Favorite drama (TV or movie)?
Hmmmm. I not a big drama fan, but Gone with the Wind is still one of my favorites and Scarlett was pretty dramatic. Does that count as a drama?

Event – Historic event that kept you riveted to the TV?
The O.J. Trial (I was in school at the time and we watched it in my history class because my teacher thought that it was history in the making)

Favorite – If you could only own and watch one DVD the rest of your life, what would it be?
Singin' in the Rain. It's an all time favorite of mine and it has romance and comedy all wrapped into one. I love the music and Gene Kelly just makes me swoon.

G – Favorite G rated movie?
Sleeping Beauty (the Disney version)

Head over heels – Which star were you in love with when you were younger?
Johnny Depp. Since the first time I saw him on 21 Jump Street (and I was YOUNG then!) I thought he was so handsome. Now seeing him as Captain Jack Sparrow gets my heart all a flutter.







Ice – Did you see the “Miracle on Ice” live (tape delayed) in 1980?
I wasn't born yet, and I have no idea what that is.

Justice – Did you watch any of the famous O.J. Simpson chase down the freeway?
No. I was at summer camp (Yay Hume Lake!!) during that time. Although I saw all the replays on TV after that.

King of the Thriller – Favorite Hitchcock movie?
Psycho. Still creepy after all these years.

Laettner – Did you see Duke’s Christian Laettner make the winning shot against Kentucky?
Nope. What happened?

MP3 Player – Do you own one?
Yes. Hubby and I have an iPod and we LOVE it.

Never get enough – Which movie have you watched the most times and how many times have you seen it?
I have no idea. Ones I have seen many, many times are, GWTW, Singin' in the Rain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Office Space, White Christmas, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation and Miss Congeniality. I think I've seen all those at least 10 times.

Opie – Opie or the Beaver?
Awww Opie was so cute. Little Ronny Howard.

Pride and Prejudice – Do you prefer A&E or 2005 release?
I still haven't seen the new one yet, but I adore the A&E version and I think Colin Firth makes a great Mr. Darcy.

Quality – Best TV show of all time?
The Cosby Show. It was clean, funny and had good values in it. I still love to watch the re-runs

Remote control – Who is in charge in your house?
Me. Eric could care less about the TV

Super Bowl – Game or commercials?
Commercials, although they aren’t nearly as enjoyable as they used to be. The past five years or so have been a total disappointment. (so true)

Television – How many in your house?
2. The one in the guest room only has a DVD player hooked up to it for when my niece and nephews come over.

Ultimate – Who is your favorite movie star?
Audry Hepburn and Tom Hanks.

Victory – The best sporting event/game you’ve watched live on TV?
When the Angels won the World Series. Being an Angel fan, that was a great night!

Walkman – Did you ever own a Sony Walkman?
I didn't, but my dad did and I used it on all of our road trips growing up

X – Movie you wish you had never watched?
Too many to list. I think the last one was The DaVinci Code. Controversy aside, I thought it was pretty boring and too drawn out. I'm glad we got it off of Netflix so we didn't waste our money on it.

Yesterday – How many hours of media did you consume?
I listened to music all day at work and once I got home. The TV was never turned on though.

ZZZ’s – Best music to fall asleep to?
Anything piano.

If this law goes through, I'm movin' (Sorry mom!)

Proverbs 12:1 1. Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.



I just read this article on a new law my "lovely" state would like to pass. Seriously, if it passes. I want out of here. I was spanked as a child (although not very often because I *was* perfect) and it has never damaged me emotionally and I harbor no hard feelings towards my parents. Don't get me wrong, I firmly believe there is a difference between beating and spanking. Once I have a child, if they need to be spanked, by golly, there will be a spanking!


California lawmaker proposes no-spanking law (Yahoo News)

Fri Jan 19, 3:20 PM ET

A California lawmaker says she has proposed a law that would make spanking a small child a crime to be punished by jail time or a fine.

The bill, backed by Democrat Sally Lieber of San Francisco, a member of the state legislature, would outlaw spanking children three years old or younger and carry a possible penalty of jail time or a 1,000-dollar fine.

"I think it's pretty hard to argue you need to beat a child three years old or younger," said Lieber, who plans to introduce the bill next week.

The bill, which was still being drafted, would make the crime a misdemeanor and be written to ban "any striking of a child, any corporal punishment, smacking, hitting, punching, any of that," Lieber said.

The bill will likely pit those who advocate protecting children at all costs against lawmakers wary of government intervention creating a possible meddlesome "nanny state."

"Where do you stop?" said Republican Chuck Devore. "At what point are we going to say we should pass a bill that every parent has to read a minimum of 30 minutes every night to their child? This is right along those same lines."

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has the authority to veto the bill if it is adopted, has so far avoided endorsing or rejecting the idea.

In an interview with the San Jose Mercury News, which first reported the proposal this week, the film-star-turned-politician said he was "smacked about everything" during his childhood in Austria.

"That was the way Austria worked," he told the newspaper. "You know, I think it maybe had something to do with after the war. People were maybe more angry and more frustrated, you know, having lost the war or whatever else."

The governor said he understood the desire to "get rid of the physical, the brutal behavior that some parents have."

And he added that he and his wife, Maria Shriver, have never hit their four children. "Absolutely not," he said.

Monday, January 29, 2007

My husband is so wonderful...



He just left to pick me up some dark chocolate. I love that man! Although, come to think of it, he offered all to quickly to go get some for me. I wonder if he has some alterior motive. Hmmmmm.....

Weekly Menu Planning




Just a month or so ago I came across some blogs that had Menu Plan Monday. I started implementing that into my own home management and it has really helped me. It also fun for me and Eric to chat about the up and coming week. Anything that brings in organization and communication with my hubby is good for me! Since we don't get paid until Thursday, and we have little left in our grocery money envelope (we use the envelope system) I am making things out of stuff I already have and mixing it with some food I can buy for around $40.00. So, without further ado, here is my weekly dinner menu:

Monday- Chef Salad
Tuesday- Eric will have left overs at work and I will be eating at my brother and sister-in-law's home since I am watching my nephews.
Wednesday- Chicken Tortilla Soup (It's a crock pot recipe and I save those for Wednesday nights since it's our Bible Study night)
Thursday- Left over soup from the night before.
Friday- The last of the left over soup (that soup seriously gives us 3-4 good meals)
Saturday- We are having a cards night at my brother's home on Saturday and he hasn't decided yet what he wants to eat!
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
A few weeks ago, I was lurking on a "mommy blog" that I enjoy reading. http://bethany.preciousinfants.com/2006/12/29/italian-herb-bread.aspx (I may come out of lurking mode and start commenting. Just a warning.)
I had never made bread before (I have used a bread machine, but I used a pre-packed mix and all I had to do was add water, so I'm not counting that) and after reading that wonderful recipe and seeing the wonderful pictures that Bethany posted, I decided to be brave and try to bake that bread. Like I said, I had never done it before, so going into it, I had no idea what to expect. All I could picture was me and my kitchen covered in flour. I went the store one determined woman, bought the ingredients I needed and went to work. Here is a photo journal of my day.

I started out my Saturday like any other Saturday. With a nice hot cup of coffee. I made it extra strong this morning because I thought I should be more alert.


After my morning refreshment, I got all the stuff that I needed together.
then put everything into the bowl, mixed it a little bit and then took the dough out of the bowl to start the kneading process.

Eric thought he would be cute and get me in the action.



After I thought my hands were going to fall off, I decided I was done kneading the bread and put the dough into a bowl to rise.

Before I let it rise:


After I let it rise:



I let it rise one more time before I formed the dough into a loaf and cut slices on the top to make it pretty


I let it bake for 20 minutes before I basted the top with an egg. Then I put in the the oven for another 10 minutes. It smelled so good as it was baking that I almost took it out too early! Here is the finished product that I thought I would model for you:




And here is a closeup:




All in all I found that baking bread was very easy. It wasn't as hard as I thought it was. I can't wait to try it again with another recipe.

Here is the recipe for Bethany's bread
Italian Herb Bread
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 1/2 tbsp yeast
4 tsp melted butter or oil
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp Italian seasoning
2 tsp dried basil leaves
2 tsp thyme
1 tbsp minced garlic
4 cups all purpose unbleached flour
1 egg, for glaze

Directions:
First, put 1 1/2 cups of warm water in a bowl
mix in 1 1/2 tsp yeast. Let it sit for about 3-5 minutes
Add 4 tsp of melted butter
Add 2 tbsp sugar
Add 1 tsp salt
Add 1 tsp Italian seasoning
Add 2 tsp dried basil leaves
Add 2 tsp thyme
Add 1 tbsp minced garlic
Slowly add in 4 cups of flour
Knead for 10 minutes
Let rise for 1 hour
Knead for a couple of minutes
Let rise 1 more hour
Knead for a couple more minutes
Form the dough into a loaf (I cut a few slices on the top to make it pretty)
Let rise another 15 - 20 minutes
Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes
Take bread out and baste with the 1 egg
Bake again for 10 minutes
Let cool, then slice
Enjoy!!

There you have it. A wonderful and easy bread recipe. Hey, if I can do it, anyone can!

Sunday, January 28, 2007

I tried this once and failed miserably...

I really am kinda horrible at this blog thing. I do have a blog on Myspace, but I thought I'd try blogger out. My cousin, (hi Lisa!) has a blog and lately I have been lurking on other blogs and it has inspired me to try my own. Be forwarned though, I live a boring, quiet life, so I might not have anything interesting to post. I don't have any kids, so I can't post anything about them, and I doubt y'all want to read a blog about my pets. Although, they do do cute things, so I might have to post about them once and awhile.

So, since I've started this thing, allow myself to introduce...myself...
My name is Becky and I love Jesus. Is that a good introduction? Well, let me go further. I am very happily married to a wonderful Christian man named Eric and we live in a cute little house in the ugly desert of Southern California. We both work for a civil engineering firm and I look forward to the day when I can quit. I have a love/hate relationship with my job. I love the company I work for, I just hate the work I do and I'm really sick of the clients I have to deal with on a daily basis. After much praying about the direction of my life, I really feel that God is leading me to be a stay at home mom.

For the past 4 or 5 years, I have pushed the thought of motherhood out of my mind completely. I didn't want a kid because we were happy with our life. We like spending "our" money and we like to do what we want, when we want. Now God is leading me in another direction. The reason I am so dissatisfied with my job is because in my heart of hearts, it's not what I really want to do. I really do want to be a mom and I really want to take care of my home and my husband. The problem now is that I can't afford it.

I can already hear some of you say "If you wait till you can afford a baby, you'll never have one." I, for one, believe that is a bunch of hooey. I know that our finances won't be perfect when we (or God, rather) decide to have a baby, but we can be more prepared than we are. Once we pay off the last of our bills, It will be much easier for me to quit my job and stay at home. It still will be a struggle to get used to one income, however it will be possible for me to stay home. Now, it's just not an option.

Since I have been struggling with my role as a wife, I had felt that I wasn't the best help mate for my husband. Our home is a mess most of the time and our dinners usually consist of fast food or something we can nuke for 5 minutes, because I usually don't have the time or energy to cook after a long, mentally exhausting day at work. After sharing my feelings to My husband, He, the wonderful man that he is, pointed out that I AM being his help meet. With my income, I am helping pay off some bills, and that is helping him in the long run. I am so greatful that he sees it that way. It really took a load off of my mind and my heart.

Well, I can see that this blog might turn into a therapist. I usualy don't type this much, but it felt really good to get all that out and see it in writing. I hope my ramblings don't bore you too much...