Saturday, September 28, 2013

Happy Anniversary

Happy anniversary to me! And my Hubby. It was just our 11 month anniversary yesterday, but that means that we only have one month left until our first wedding anniversary. I feel like this should have happened about five years ago. I can't really even believe that he wasn't always a part of my life. Should have posted this yesterday, but got a little behind. Such is life. Here's our story anyway for anyone who is interested! : )

Really it was just a little under three and a half years ago that we met. We both tried the online dating thing and hadn't had much luck. We were about ready to just give up when we found each other. I read his profile and was instantly impressed that he seemed intelligent and funny and handsome. He didn't have the text lingo or poor spelling and grammar. He didn't seem like one of those guys who is totally into themselves. He seemed real and genuine. So I decided to give it a try. Apparently he liked me too because here we are married, lol.
Our first date has to be the longest first date I've ever been on. A general rule of first dates is to keep it short; one to two hours to get a good feeling of whether you want to see them again. That's it. I believe we met at 4 PM and I went home around 11 PM. So yeah, long date. And even then we had a hard time separating. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

We started out at a Q'doba. I'd never been to one before so I was nervous. I was nervous anyway just because I was excited to meet him for the first time after talking on the phone and emailing for a couple of weeks. I am just super, super shy to begin with anyhow, so it was pretty scary. I had to go to the bathroom right before we were about to meet. Nerves, I guess. So I went into another restaurant to do my business. Didn't want to get in there and see him and say, "Hey, how are you? I have to pee. Be right back!" 


He was a little late anyway, so it all worked out. He said that when he walked in he didn't even know if I was the right girl. Even though there were two other people in there, eating together, and I was sitting in a booth waiting. That's because I wouldn't look at him. I kinda smiled at him, but being shy I couldn't do much more than that, lol. So we got in line. Again, not talking. Eventually we made casual conversation about what we were getting. Again, I had never been there, so I checked it out online and had already decided what to get. Something super simple to order so I didn't have to talk much, lol. So I got soup, he got tacos. Yes, I remember still. : ) 

















We went and sat down with our food. Apparently he says I did a loud gasp when he sat down. I do not recall this happening, lol. Our conversation was pretty minimal at first, mostly him talking. Can you tell that I am sort of freakishly shy, beyond the norm? Eventually I warmed up enough to make eye contact and contribute to the conversation, lol. 

We finished up our food and decided to go get some ice cream and take it for a walk. And that's when I tripped backwards off of a curb. Luckily, and I still thank God that I did not fall into the street, but he had stopped to show me something, so I continued walking very slowly backwards while he caught up, but I didn't notice the curb. The curb was the only thing separating the street, a busy street, from the sidewalk. Luckily there weren't any cars there, and I didn't go sprawling on my back. It was enough to turn my face ten shades of red though!

I must have been contributing enough to the convo because after we finished our ice cream he still hadn't had enough of me! Or maybe that's just it, he hadn't heard enough to make a decision yet! lol

We took ourselves down to a little bar, got one drink, and sat and talked the rest of the night until people started coming in and the music got too loud. Then he walked me to my car and we said good night. He texted me that night after he got home and said he had a good time and wished me good night again. And the next day he started texting me again and we started planning for our second date! 


I don't think our dates were ever more than four days apart and I'm pretty sure that since our first date I have never spent more than 3 nights away from him at a time. It's kind of amazing how that happens, huh? I officially moved in with him a year later, although if I'm being honest I had started slowly staying longer and longer so it was basically just a matter of moving in my things at that point. He was there to help me get a job since I had just graduated, and after that first year of living together we decided to move to a different apartment to try to save some money and start saving for our future together.

That led to him proposing, planning a wedding, adopting a sweetheart of a little bunny, and now we are working towards buying our first home together. It's amazing how much your life can change in just three years. I couldn't have created someone more perfect for me than he is. And what's great is that my family loves him too. He fits right in! : )





So happy anniversary again, honey! And I can't wait to dig into that frozen cake with you next month! I love you!

Friday, September 27, 2013

Dating, of the Up Variety

That post title would be a glimpse into my husband's lingo ... and it means updating, lol. He has rubbed off on me a bit in the last few years. 

I've mentioned that we are buying a house, so I thought I'd give an update. 

We found our house, the one we want, that fits in our budget, and we will be happy with. We negotiated for a few weeks and finally came to an agreement. We've gotten the inspections done. We worked for a few more weeks on getting things fixed and passing our well test. That one took the longest. 

We finally got confirmation that our well passed the test and the well casing now just needs to be raised. We are writing up an addendum to the contract to say that the seller will just pay that part in closing costs and we'll get it fixed after we move in. So we are just waiting on that addendum. 

Hopefully we'll get it today and we can get it into our lender and we'll get to hear when our closing date will be. I hope. Prayers would be wonderful at this point. We are getting so, so close! 

And because we're getting close, we've started packing! We've gotten most of what will be put into boxes, into boxes. We've got a spare room that is full of stuff like tents, sleeping bags, camp stoves, that we've accumulated over the years, but most of that stuff is in containers already, so we'll just have to pick them up and go. 

We've still got some clothes unpacked and a lot in the kitchen unpacked, but we're close! And I just did a load of laundry at our laundromat last night. I had to stand there and wait for someone to come because all of the dryers were being used, except they were all done being dried. So they were just waiting for people to come get them. And I am one of those paranoid people who thinks that if I take someone else's clothes out of the dryer so I can dry mine that they will come back and pour bleach on my stuff or something, lol. So I waited. Eventually it worked out. But I'm hoping we don't have to rely on a laundromat for much longer. Luckily, our house will come with a washer/dryer so we don't have to worry about buying one!


Please ignore the crummy iPhone photo. 

So that's our update. Hopefully the next time I update you guys I will have a closing date! It seems that whenever I expect something, the opposite happens. So I'm sure there will be more 'fun' to come. Pray for us, lol. And hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Thursday, September 26, 2013

Pancakes! ... Er ... Waffles ?

I am a waffle girl. Or I used to be. I loved, loved, LOVED waffles. Pancakes were alright, french toast was yummy, but there's something about a waffle that just tops my list.

I'm sure most people know that waffles are not Paleo friendly and definitely not Whole30 friendly. We are following the Whole30 guidelines, but occasionally we do have a Paleo-ified treat. And last night was one of those nights.



I found a Paleo waffle recipe on The Real Food Forager website. I checked all of the ingredients and decided to give it a go. But then I realized that I had a problem. I do not own a waffle maker. You really don't have much use for one when you don't eat waffles anymore, so I gave mine away a few years ago. And honestly I really don't care much for those large appliances because they're kind of a pain to store, especially as a college student in a cheapo apartment with itty bitty kitchens.

So I decided to turn my waffle into a pancake. You can make a pancake out of pretty much anything. Just plop it down and try not to burn it. Easier said than done apparently because I burnt the heck out of my first two sets of pancakes. I started out with 3 little ones but they were hard to get the spatula under. And they ended up pretty blackened.

Then I tried one big pancake... but the consistency was a little loose. So that one was definitely not pretty. And I still slightly burnt that one.

So then I tried a medium sized pancake. That one worked great, but still kinda fell apart. I think it's mostly user error. I may have decided that I needed more coconut milk than it called for. And I know there's no coconut milk on the recipe card, but I prefer to use coconut milk instead of water. I also added in some cinnamon and nutmeg. I think of recipes as more of a guideline than rule.

I do have to say that even the burnt ones tasted pretty good. They are pretty sweet. We did go with some agave nectar and/or honey on top. Again, not really Whole30 compliant, but if that's where we splurge, then I take it as a win. And it's not something that happens every week, for sure.

The recipe looked kinda small when I started, but I only ate about half of my half. So about 1/4 of the total recipe. It's pretty filling.

I think it might be good if you add in some pumpkin to it too. I might try that next time instead of the bananas. I like to play with recipes. I'll add that to my grocery list and try it again and let you know how it turns out, but I give this recipe a 7/10. I can't say it's totally the recipe to blame, but the consistency was hard for me to work with and it was pretty sweet. Probably because we aren't used to that high sugar content, which again was our choice with the agave. But something that I will play with and try again.

Not sure if I convinced you on those or not. The picture above is from the website that the recipe comes from. I didn't take any pictures of mine because they came out pretty darn inedible looking, lol. We just threw a couple of eggs on top, drizzled some agave, and called it a day though. Works for us!

So here's the recipe. Try it or not... just thought I'd share! : )

Ingredients:





  • 4 large eggs separated (pastured if possible)






  • 1 1/4 ripe medium banana mashed (or one large banana)






  • 2 heaping tablespoon applesauce






  • 2 Tablespoon raw honey (where to buy raw honey)






  • 2 teaspoon vanilla (where to buy vanilla)






  • 1/2 cup coconut flour (where to buy coconut flour)






  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (where to buy sea salt)






  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda



  • - See more at: http://realfoodforager.com/videorecipe-grain-free-banana-waffles-scdgaps/#sthash.WTJJCrwn.dpuf

    • 4 large eggs separated (pastured if possible) (I did not separate mine)
    • 1 1/4 ripe medium banana mashed (or one large banana)
    • 2 heaping tablespoon applesauce
    • 2 Tablespoon raw honey
    • 2 teaspoon vanilla
    • 1/2 cup coconut flour
    • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

    Instructions:





  • Separate the eggs


  • Whip up the whites with an electric hand mixer


  • Add the honey, vanilla and mashed banana to the egg yolks and mix by hand


  • Add baking soda and salt to the coconut flour and mix


  • Add the dry mixture to the wet and blend together


  • If the dry mixture is very thick add water (up to 1/2 cup), a little more banana or more apple sauce


  • Fold in the whites being careful not to over mix


  • The batter should be loose


  • Using a large serving spoon, add the batter to the preheated and oiled waffle iron


  • Remove when indicated by the waffle iron


  • These are not really crisp but satisfying none the less

  • - See more at: http://realfoodforager.com/videorecipe-grain-free-banana-waffles-scdgaps/#sthash.WTJJCrwn.dpuf
    1. Separate the eggs
    2. Whip up the whites with an electric hand mixer
    3. Add the honey, vanilla and mashed banana to the egg yolks and mix by hand
    4. Add baking soda and salt to the coconut flour and mix
    5. Add the dry mixture to the wet and blend together
    6. If the dry mixture is very thick add water (up to 1/2 cup), a little more banana or apple sauce
    7. Fold in the whites being careful not to over mix
    8. The batter should be loose
    9. Using a large serving spoon, add the batter to the preheated and oiled waffle iron
    10. Remove when indicated by the waffle iron
    11. These are not really crisp but satisfying none the less
    Toppings
    • Honey
    • Ghee or butter
    • Maple syrup
    • Yogurt
    • Fruit, etc.
    - See more at: http://realfoodforager.com/videorecipe-grain-free-banana-waffles-scdgaps/#sthash.JfRhIZwn.dpuf

    Toppings


    Honey
    Ghee or butter
    Maple syrup
    Yogurt
    Fruit, etc.


    Side note: Apparently they compare a man's brain to a waffle and a woman's brain to a plate of spaghetti. Women are all busy thinking about everything all at once whereas men focus on one topic at a time and nothing else, hence the pouring syrup into one individual waffle hole at a time, lol. Just thought I'd share that with you. : ) 

    Wednesday, September 25, 2013

    About Me ... and my Family : )

    I made a new tab!I realized I was lacking a page to introduce myself, and to introduce my lovely family. So I fixed it. You can either click on the tab or just read below: 

    *******************************************************************************

    Sorry about the Christmas-y picture, but we don't have any decent & recent pictures of our whole little family.

    Hi, my name is Ely. The good looking guy behind me is my hubby, Chris. And the little fur ball in my arms is Gus. 

    I guess I should start at the beginning. Hubby and I went to the same university. He was a year ahead of me. We even lived in dorms right next to each other. I'm sure we had to have seen each other at one point or another, but we never met while we were in school. 

    It wasn't until we both decided to try an online dating site, OKCupid.com, that our paths came together. I was too shy to meet anyone in "real life" and Hubby was away from home in a new town and didn't know anyone. So we tried the online thing. Apparently it's pretty popular nowadays. 

    We started talking at the end of May, 2010, had our first date the beginning of June, and were officially an item by June. I like to say that our dating anniversary is May 25th though because that's when we started talking. He literally swept me off my feet on our first date. Or rather, I fell backwards off a street curb, but close enough, right? : ) 

    We've been pretty inseparable ever since. He just can't get rid of me! ; ) 


    He asked me to marry him on October 22nd, 2011. I actually replied with, "Are you sure?" and then finally a "Yes!!". Lol, romantic, huh? We tied the knot October 2012. It was one of the happiest days of my life, even with all the little bloopers. It was a pretty chilly October day, but it didn't rain, and the colors were gorgeous. And I don't think that I will ever forget the feeling of such overwhelming love as I felt that day. 

    Our wedding day was also the day that Gus came into our lives. 

    Gus is our lovely little bunny. We thought it would be cute to do some kind of a magic skit while we did the garter toss. So we rigged up my chair with a box of props underneath and Hubby pulled out the items one by one, attempting to "find the garter". Well, Gus was the icing to his cake! Poor little guy had to sit there and get yanked out of a box and into a very noisy room. I was actually afraid he would hate us after that, but he's turned out to be quite the cuddle bug.
    We aren't exactly sure when his birthday is, but we are guesstimating the end of September 2012, so he's still a youngin'. And funny story: Gus actually started out as Lola. Yeah, we thought 'he' was a 'she' for about two months. And then we noticed a couple of things that had never been there before. So we changed the name to Octavius ... or Gus Gus for short. Yeah, that's from Cinderella. I grew up loving Disney! : ) 



    I currently work as a Spanish/English translator/coder and Hubby is a graphic technician. That means that he is super creative and has an eye for details. Me, I just love all things cultural. I fell in love with Spanish and studied abroad for a while and decided that teaching was not my thing. Too shy, remember?
    So this blog. How did I decide to start writing a blog? It started back in 2008 when I weighed in at just over 275 pounds. I was extremely unhealthy and not very happy about it, so I decided to change that. I joined Weight Watchers and lost a lot of weight. A hundred pounds and then some actually. 

    Unfortunately, wedding planning stress, married life, and just slacking off has caused me to gain some of that weight back. So I started the blog to document my success and to keep me accountable for getting back on track. I don't want to just lose weight, I want to be healthy and feel great. So I decided to start the Whole30 diet way of living. I don't like the term 'diet'. It seems to have a negative connotation and implies that it is a short-term event. I'd rather find something that works for me and just live a healthy life. Whole30 has been that something. Even Hubby has decided to hop on board with me. He definitely doesn't need to lose weight, but the other benefits have been enough to prove to him that this is the way to go. You can read my whole story over on my "How I gained and lost 100 pounds" page. 

    So that's where I'm at now, trying to find a balance, trying to get healthy, trying to find something that works for our family. We're also in the process of buying a house right now. That's been fairly stressful, but we're trying to stay on track and hopefully it will end happily. I try to incorporate a bit of my personal life into the blog. I know that's one thing that I really love in other blogs that I read. I feel like it lets me connect to that person. So I want to share that with you guys. So you may see posts about family or outings or Gus or home buying/decorating in addition to the posts about fitness or nutrition and general wellness. I don't know exactly where I'll take it, it pretty much just keeps evolving and I like it that way. I hope you do too and I'm happy to share my little world with you all! : )

    Tuesday, September 24, 2013

    Update on the House!

    We started this process back in the end of July. We've gotten everything done and paid for that we're required to do before closing, but we are waiting on the well. The well is the one thing that we really expected to fly through. But we are now on our fourth treatment and testing to see if we can get it cleared up. We should find out the results some time today. So a little good luck/prayers/fingers crossed would be greatly appreciated today! 

    We don't really have a lot of options if this test comes back negative again. I don't think that continually treating it and testing it is going to get anywhere if it comes back negative a fourth time. I haven't seen the reports beyond the first one though, so I'm not exactly sure what is going on. 

    But if it comes back negative then we have to discuss the seller digging a new well for us. We're not sure if he'll be willing to do that. He is required by the bank to have the house up-to-code before selling, but I'm not sure if he could find someone else with a different kind of loan who would be able to buy as-is. 

    So we are holding our breath and crossing everything possible that we get some good news today. I know that everything happens for a reason, but we're hoping that we don't have to start all over from the beginning and lose all the money we've put into it thus far. 


    And since we all love pictures. Here is one that I took of our baby furbaby, Gus. : ) 


    Monday, September 23, 2013

    Feeling Inspired!

    Hubby, staying warm in his jacket.
    This past weekend my family came up to visit us. That includes my mom, dad, brother, and brother's girlfriend. The original plan was that we would be moving ... but that would mean that we had closed on the house. Which we haven't. Not yet anyway. More on that later.

    My parents.
    So they had planned to be free this weekend to come down and help us move and get into our new house. Since we hadn't closed, they didn't technically have to come down and see us. But since they are awesome, they did anyway! And they brought food!

    We had a picnic! It started out pretty chilly. Luckily that only lasted for as long as we ate, and it got warmer afterwards when we went for a walk. But back to the food!

    My mom brought some onion roll ups. If you've never had onion roll ups, you are seriously missing out! Onion roll ups are a part of the family. They come for every get together. And they are dearly missed when they are absent. They're super simple too. Just some deli meat, rub some cream cheese on it, and roll up a green onion inside. Dee-lish!

    My brother's girlfriend and I.
    She also made some kind of broccoli salad. I didn't take pictures because my fingers were frozen and I don't know what was in it because I pretty much inhaled it. It was really good. I could probably ask her for the recipe, but I'm sure it's not Whole30 compliant. What I don't know won't hurt me, right?

    Hubby and my brother. Getting friendly.





    I made some of the PaleOMG Mexican Egg Hash Bake that we love so much at our place. I also learned that I need to invest in one of those casserole travel carriers. Would make life a bit simpler. I ran into a little problem while I was cooking too. I forgot to season. Not just salt and pepper, but all the seasonings. I just forgot to add them. My brain must have been snoozin'. So I actually just sprinkled all of the seasonings on the top of the casserole before I put it in and warned people to mash generously before biting into it, lol. It didn't turn out as great as it has before, but it was the only warm food there, so I think they still appreciated it.

    Bro and bro's girl. : )

    For dessert there were key lime cupcakes (courtesy of my mom) and she brought some lemon frosting to put on top for those of us who are addicted to sugar. And my brother's girlfriend made some pistachio pudding. I am not really a fan of pineapple, but the pudding was pretty good. I also noticed that I could only do 2 mini cupcakes before needing to stop, as opposed to the 6 ... or 8. Sugar seems to act a little differently in my body than it used to.
    Poor girl. He does this to her all the time.

    Anyhoo, we ate and had a good time, then packed up the picnic and took a stroll through the park. That's when the sun came out and warmed us all up. And since I am experimenting with taking photos in manual mode, it really messed me up too. I haven't figured out how to shoot in very direct sunlight yet. Practice makes perfect though.


    One armed pull ups.
    Balancing act!
    After the walk we went to the Halloween store. I never knew you could have so.much.fun. in a Halloween store. It was great. And then we went to Hobby Lobby. My mom and brother's girlfriend and I LOVE Hobby Lobby. We sent the boys off to check out the gun store while we went window shopping. We found all kinds of things we'd love to have and I got a few ideas for Christmas too! : )

    Climbing the rock pile.
    As we were getting ready to head back to our apartment to meet up with the guys we started talking about weight loss and fitness and nutrition. We all want to do it, but have problems with motivation at times. Don't we all? But my brother's girlfriend and I have decided that we are going to do our best to follow or own food plans and workout routines until she finishes the 30 day program she is currently doing. And then we are going to attempt P90x together! We definitely need this 21-ish days to prepare because that stuff is serious business. So I will be trying to stay Whole30 compliant and doing my Fitness Blender workouts (I love Fitness Blender) and she is doing her diet and 30 Day Shred.

    I'll keep you up to date on how it all goes! But bro's girlfriend has inspired me. So I started on Sunday. I skipped the donuts at church and stuck to my nutrition plan and even did a workout AND took a walk. Got my vitamin D for the day! I'm feeling pretty good! I'll have to take some "before" pictures soon and weigh myself. I love numbers and results! : )





    Hubby and I. : )

    This is me playing with Photoshop. I love this picture of them.



















    And now for some of the Halloween store pictures! Love them! : )



    They all "suddenly" were attacked by zombies! 








    Sunday, September 22, 2013

    I'm Famous!!

    Well, I'm not really famous, but I've never been in a newspaper article before. This is an online newspaper, but I will take what I can get.

    A month or so ago I saw a link to this web page where Huffington Post listed different weight loss success stories. I was inspired by all of the brave people who submitted their story for the world to see.  The good and the bad. They even had pictures! I have my story on my blog, but I don't actually get all that much traffic here, although I greatly appreciate each and every one of you who take the time to read my little page. It really means so much to me! : ) 

    Well, I decided to muster up some courage and I wrote Huffington Post. I sent a picture and a link to my blog and said that I'd like to add my story to their archives. I hit "submit" and then went about my day and forgot all about it. 

    A few days later I got an email from Huffington Post. The lady said that she looked over my blog, thought it was interesting, and asked me to write up my story and send in another picture for her. So I did. I basically updated the page on my blog that describes my story and submitted that with a few before and after photos for them to choose from. I was a little nervous and was afraid I would sound silly when I wrote out my story. I tend to ramble a lot and start talking about whatever and wherever my thought processes go to ... like now. I'm rambling. 

    Anywho, I did my best and sent her the info. She wrote me back quickly and said that they were going to include it in their list and that it would come out late August or early September and she would send me the link.

    Well, I got the link. I read it. Ooh'd and ahh'd and then I closed the link and didn't tell anyone for about two weeks. We've been busy with the house and packing and hoping to close soon and I actually just forgot about it. Until a couple of days ago.

    I told Hubby. He, like the sweetheart he is, made a big deal out of it and printed it out and said he's going to save it and that he's proud of me. It made me feel pretty good. And so I decided to share this with you all. So if you go to Huffington Post's website, you may just find me there! 



    But if you'd like to check it out now, you can just click on my handy dandy link! : ) 

    Sometimes it's a little scary to put yourself out there. With the blog I just feel like I am writing down my thoughts and if someone sees it, then that's great. But to write to someone specifically and request that they publish my story in a well-known website... well, that's something completely different. 

    I'm glad I did it though. I sometimes have a habit of downplaying my accomplishment. I lost a lot of weight. And that ain't easy, folks. I need to remember that more and stop looking at how much I've still got to go so much. I'm proud of my accomplishment and it feels good to share it all with you! : ) 

    Hope you enjoy. And if you would like to share your story, just click on the link on the Huffington Post page. You can submit a tagline and a link to your own blog or a picture and I'm sure they'll contact you in a week or so. 

    Hope you all are having a good weekend!!

    Saturday, September 21, 2013

    I Am A Ham. A Ham. I Am.

    At the radio club. We were taking pictures of all the birds.
    I don't know if I mentioned this before or not, but Hubby and I are hams. Not the kind that you bake for Easter and not the kind that go "oink", but the kind that play with antennas and talk to people in other countries. Well, Hubby is that kind of ham. Amateur radio ham. I am more of a spectator. I could blog all day and share everything about my life and be fine. But I get shy and clam up when I have to talk to someone in person/via radio waves, lol. I actually hate talking on the phone too. 

    So why did I become a ham? Good question. And it took me a while to decide that I did want to take that hammy leap. I've never had an interest in getting on a radio and transmitting to other countries. I don't really know how to make small talk, although I feel like I may be getting better as I get older. Most of the people that are on the radio are 40+ years old, usually 60+ years old. Most of them are men. And most of what they talk about are radios and the weather. I don't usually know what is going on with the weather unless I look outside and take a guess. And I know abso-tootly nuthin' about radios. 

    But...


    Hubby getting things ready for the Hamfest.
    Hubby convinced me that it would be a good safety measure. We had a storm a couple of years ago that got pretty bad. We were expecting tornadoes and I didn't have time to get to the shelter at Hubby's work. So I went down to the first floor (half underground) of our apartment building. Our very old apartment building. I decided that I would rather take my chances on the bottom floor and possibly be crushed than to stay up top and go airborn if a tornado ripped off the roof. Those were my choices at the time, lol. So I had a weather radio with me to listen to the alerts and I had my cell phone. The only problem was that my phone was dying. Hubby had called me to make sure I was ok but my phone died in the middle of the conversation. He knew I was fine, but he is a supreme worrier at heart and knew that he would not have any way of contacting me for a while. 

    Hubby at the end of the Hamfest.
    The storm ended up just being a strong thunderstorm, no tornado, but it was kinda freaky. Not only did my phone die, but before it died, I was having a hard time getting a signal through the storm. He had a radio on him. I did not. If I would have had a radio, I still would have had the ability to communicate. Radio waves operate more on the atmosphere rather than the Verizon-sphere, lol. So I gave in, studied my little not-so-little booty off, and got my Technician license. I decided it wasn't that big of a deal to just go and get it and then I would have it in case I really did need to use it. Technically if it was an absolute emergency, I could get on and contact someone anyway, but this way I've just got a little experience and a license in case I need communication outside of an emergency and phone lines aren't an option. Better safe than sorry, right?

    There are three licenses you can get with ham radio: Technician, General, and Extra. They get much harder as you go along. For some reason, a sense of competition kicked up in me and I ended up studying again and passed my General exam as well. I would have kept going, but the Extra just seemed intimidating and then I got busy and haven't gotten around to studying again. I do not know why I would need an Extra license (like Hubby) given that I don't talk on the radio at all now, lol, but my OCD-ness (pretty sure that's a word, maybe) has got me thinking about it from time to time. So I'm pretty sure it will happen eventually. 
     
    Birthday celebration for our friend at the Fox Hunt! Ignore my horrible Photoshop abilities.
    So there you have it. Now you know. I'm a ham. And I am a member of our local radio club. I can't say I've gone to many meetings, but I have gone to a couple of Christmas parties and I helped out with our local Hamfest. 

    What's a Hamfest? Think big flea market but the only thing they sell is radio equipment. Ok, that's not true. I know I saw a few rubber chicken noise maker thingies being sold, but for the most part it is a bunch of old men getting together to trade or sell their antennas, tuners, meters, etc.

    Out and about, hunting the "fox"! : )
    The most recent event was a fox hunt. No, no. I didn't kill a fox. Or even chase one. And we did not have any kind of weaponry. A fox hunt, in the ham world, means one guy goes out with a radio and everyone else has to try to pinpoint his location based on the strength of the transmission signal. Think: game of hot or cold on an adult level. And you don't get a clear answer every time. You really have to pay attention to listen and see if the signal is stronger or weaker. It is actually kind of fun. Like I said, I'm competitive, even with myself, so I wanted to be the first group to find the "fox". And we did! : ) 

    Maybe next time I will sign up to be the fox ... of course that would mean talking ... so maybe not, lol. 

    Anyone ever heard of ham/amateur radio before or know any other hams? If you see an old man driving around with a huge antenna on his truck, he may just be a ham! : )

    Friday, September 20, 2013

    Not Your Average Meatloaf!

    This is a recipe that I came across a few days ago on PaleOMG. I added it to my Yumprint grocery list and finally prepared the other day. I actually picked it because it looked uber easy to put together and I love a meal that cooks in the oven while I clean up the kitchen. This one took very little time to throw together. It does require some chopping, but it is totally worth it!

    southwest meatloaf
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    I actually made the meatloaf and then topped it with some cauliflower "mashed potatoes". I just baked the meatloaf per the instructions. While it was cooking I boiled some cauliflower, blended it in the blender with some butter, broth, and salt & pepper. Then when the meatloaf was done, I just dumped the "mashed potatoes" on top and called it a day! I thought about baking it a little longer with them on top, but honestly was being lazy, lol, so I didn't. 

    The taste test was done by hubby and myself, but I ended up taking the casserole dish with me to our local radio club where Hubby and a friend had been working on something. So we had an extra opinion this time. Hubby let the cat out of the bag about the "potatoes" not really being potatoes, but his friend said he actually might not have noticed. He loved it! And he was really impressed that we'd prepared cauliflower that way. 

    My own taste test grade would be about a 10 out of 10. It was seriously delicious and we ate the whole thing except for one portion which Hubby had for breakfast the next day. I actually ended up going out and getting more ingredients to make a double batch! Yep, we had it twice in one week, lol.

    It does call for some hot sauce, but I actually didn't really think it was all that spicy, so I might try some red pepper next time just for an extra kick! Otherwise, I am putting this one in my stack of recipes! Some day I'll get around to actually organizing them, lol. 

    So here you go: Paleo Southwest Meatloaf from PaleOMG 
      

    Ingredients

    • 1.5 lbs ground beef
    • 1 egg, whisked
    • ¾ cup almond flour
    • 1 green pepper, chopped
    • 1 red pepper, chopped
    • 1 red onion, chopped
    • 1 garlic clove, minced
    • 2 tablespoons hot sauce
    • 1 tablespoon chili powder
    • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
    • 1 teaspoon cumin
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ¼ teaspoon pepper
    • 1 tablespoon fat

    Instructions

    1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
    2. Heat a large skillet under medium-high heat, add fat and minced garlic to the oil. Once the garlic has become fragrant, add your green pepper, red pepper, and onions.
    3. Cook until onions are translucent then remove from heat.
    4. Add your meat, egg, almond flour, spices, hot sauce, and cooked veggies to a large bowl. Mix together.
    5. Place meat mixture in two bread loaf pans (at least they’re useful for something) and pat down.
    6. Cook for 30-35 minutes.
    7. Top with guac!! Consume!

    Thursday, September 19, 2013

    It's About Time ...

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    It's about time for another post. I've really been slacking off here. Feel free to give me a kick in the booty next time! I seem to have drifted off into the world of Pinterest and Bower Power. I have so many wonderful ideas for this house that we are buying may be buying. 

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    The updates on the house are pretty much the same news over and over. We had been looking for a house for over a year. We toured quite a few of them, put offers on a few of them, and they all didn't work out for one reason or another. We finally decided to give up on looking for a while and focus on saving more money/ paying off debt when we came across this house. We decided to give it one last try. And to our surprise, the seller negotiated with us. So we spent a couple of weeks going back and forth with him and finally came to an agreement. We spent a pretty chunk of change getting inspections done and everything that we thought would pass with flying colors has turned into a road block, while the things we were expecting to be a challenge ended up being barely a rolling stop. It's been a pretty surprising process. 

    So the latest news is that all of the inspections have been done, they came back and told us that the well was contaminated. It had been sitting a few months so we weren't really totally surprised, just disappointed because that meant waiting for them to treat it and test it again. We finally got all of that done (after a week of waiting) and now they said there's still a small trace of contamination. So that means retreating and retesting. They were supposed to retest early this week. I believe. It's hard to keep track now. So we should find out either late this week or early next week if the well will pass the inspection. We can't move forward until it does. And that is the last thing our lender is waiting on. We've gotten insurance and the whole she-bang ... so fingers crossed that the well passes this time, please. Pretty please! : )
    And speaking of the house, I'd love to turn this blog ... or adapt it ... to include all of the projects/home repair/remodeling that we'll be doing to it over time. We aren't going to have much money starting out, so it will be a slow process, but I'll share what I can! : ) I think maybe if I start incorporating more of our daily lives into the blog I may end up writing more often than once every two weeks, lol. It will still have an emphasis on being healthy, but with a touch of this and a dash of that along the way! Hopefully you all enjoy it!
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    I'll post another update as soon as we hear more info! Until then ... happy Thursday!  : )

    Thursday, September 12, 2013

    Mouthwateringly Delicious Mexican Bake!

    As I promised on my Facebook page, here is the recipe that we made last night. I wasn't really sure how I would feel about eggs baked on top of my casserole, but it was really good. It was definitely not something that I would have come up with on my own, which is partly why I wanted to try it, and I was pleased with how it turned out! 

    This Mexican Hash Egg Bake recipe comes from PaleOMG. I believe I was searching around on someone's blog (unfortunately I can't remember who it was at this time) and came across a meal plan, so I started clicking and found a bunch of great recipes. This was one of them. 

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    This recipe is nice and easy. It takes a bit of chopping, but I love recipes where I can do all of the dirty work and then pop it in the oven and clean up while it finishes. Then the food gets done right about the same time as your kitchen is clean. Always nice! : ) 

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    I do have to admit that I cooked my bake for quite a bit longer than the 6 - 8 minutes that the recipe recommends. Maybe I did it wrong or maybe my oven cooks a lot slower. It's an older model. Probably been here almost as long as this apartment complex has been here, lol. I didn't time it and I actually turned the oven off and on a couple of times because I expected it to be done and then had to turn it back on because it just wasn't getting there. So I'd say I did another 15 minutes or so. And mine ended up being a little too well done because I was picking up Gus's room. That's our bunny, by the way. So I got distracted cleaning up and forgot about the eggs and they were pretty solid. Because of that, I can't really give an exact time for how long I'd change it. I would just recommend watching it or checking every few minutes past the 8 minutes to see if it's where you want it. 

    Hubby and I gave it a try last night and it was so good that I went back for seconds! And I went and got more ingredients today so I can make it again, lol. The seasoning is perfect and I love the flavor that the tomatoes give it. And of course there are sweet potatoes in it and you know I will eat sweet potatoes any which way you serve them up! : ) 

    So here you go, Mexican Hash Egg Bake from PaleOMG. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

    Ingredients:

    Chili Powder. Photo by Lavender Lynn
    Chili Powder - Source
    • 1lb chorizo (I used ground turkey)
    • 1 (14 oz) can diced fire roasted tomatoes
    • 1 sweet potato, diced
    • 1 yellow onion, diced
    • 6-8 eggs
    • 2 garlic cloves, minced
    • 1 tablespoon fat of choice (coconut oil)
    • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
    • ½ teaspoon chili powder
    • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
    • salt and pepper, to taste

    Instructions:

    1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
    2. Heat up a large skillet or cast iron skillet under medium heat.
    3. Add your fat and minced garlic.
    4. When the garlic becomes fragrant, toss in your onions, sweet potatoes and chorizo to begin to cook down.
    5. Use a wooden spoon or whatever you have on hand to break up the chorizo and mix around to incorporate everything. Cover to help steam the sweet potatoes.
    6. Let cook for about 6-8 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender.
    7. Add your tomatoes and spices and mix together.
    8. If you are not using a cast iron skillet, pour your hash into a baking dish.
    9. Use a spoon to press into the hash where you want your eggs to go.
    10. Crack your eggs directly on top of hash.
    11. Bake for 5-8 minutes depending how runny you want your eggs. Just press on the egg yolk with your finger to see how done it is! (I baked it probably 15 - 20 minutes)