Movie Monday: 2 Guns

So last Tuesday, Dale and I finally went to see 2 Guns!  It was Dale's idea and totally last minute but when he told me who was starring in it, I was in the car before he could finish saying "And the Funky Bunch"  (Some of you youngins may not know what that means, ask your parents).  Well, I sure love me some Denzel Washington and who can resist the cutie patootie Marky-Mark??  Put them together and you've got magic.  I really thought these guys worked really well together!  Action packed, funny and twists left an right... There were some parts that I thought might get a bit too gruesome but I toughed it out and loved every minute of it.  If you haven't seen it... check it out! It's been out a couple of weeks already!

Click this link to watch a 3min. preview :)

http://youtu.be/dVNe3RK2fgI

This week the plan is to see the Steve Jobs movie.  Although, I heard it's not getting good reviews.  Dale is still interested in seeing it of course cause he's a huge Apple fan.  I don't mind seeing it either cause I'm a big Kutcher fan <3

What movie are you looking forward to see?

Welp!  I spent another morning cooking again for my SIL and her roommate.  She'll be moving to TN with her aunt on the 2nd week of September (well, that's the plan) so I figured I'd cook another weeks worth of food for them.  The last batch of food lasted them about 10 days which was surprising to me.  I thought it'd last them 7-8 days... but not 10!  So it worked out well!

Click link for recipe: 

lasagna-rolls

What are they having for dinner?

1. Roast Beef with mashed spuds and veggies

2. Creamy chicken veggie soup with biscuits

3. Lasagna Rolls

4. Tamales

5. Chicken roll ups with green sauce

It's a lot of food to cook for one day but the nice thing is, is that it sets me up for the week as well.  The food that I'm cooking is for them and for us ;)

I'm really thankful that I am able to do this for them.  I have the time to do it and I enjoy cooking and I think I do it well! Thank goodness!  ....and we can afford to buy a few extra groceries to make larger batches of food.  Also, it feels great when she calls me after dinner to tell me how much she enjoyed the meal.  Yup! At least I can give them happy bellies for a while to help them forget about their other aches and pains. 

What's your best dish?

Snap Photo Challenge

At the beginning of 2012, I was remembering good ol' Myspace... I think some people still have a Myspace actually, but I cancelled my account over 5 years ago.  Well, I was remembering the photography contests I used to participate in.  I remember one was called Shutterbug.  Made me think about how I missed being "forced" to take photos...

Good ol' Instagram came along and gave me a reason to start taking more photos again.  It's exciting to share photos, getting "likes" and comments and I also love looking at all the other amazing photos that other photographers post.  I soon noticed that some people were creating "Photo-a-day" challenges.

how.fun.is.that?

I joined and tried to keep up with the totally random daily challenges.  It was fun but there was no satisfaction or recognition in it really.

so...

I thought I'd try my hand at creating my own contest... but, in Facebook instead...

On February 16th 2012, I created a page called "SNAP PHOTO CHALLENGE"

I rounded up a bunch of my snap happy friends and got them to join and little by little I've picked up a few more people here and there.

I have to say, if you don't already know, I have a short attention span when it come to little projects.  I jump from one thing to another in a matter of months.  I have actually stuck to this for 16 months! I post a new challenge every Tuesday and Friday and the members of Snap Photo Challenge vote for their favorite picture and the one with them most votes, wins.

wins what?

Well.... nothing.  Well yes... they win recognition.  I find that that is just enough to keep them motivated to continue participating.  That and well, I think they enjoy being competitive.

Here are some of my favorite photos that I used as an example for some of the challenges:

2012-02-21 Challenge: Automobile

2012-03-16 Challenge: Architecture

20132-03-20 Challenge: Macro

2012-03-23 Challenge: Texture

2012-04-24 Challenge: Book

2012-04-20 Challenge: Water Drop

2012-04-27 Challenge: Music

2012-05-01 Challenge: Things You Love

2012-05-11 Challenge: Mom

2012-06-05 Challenge: Black & White

2012-09-14 Challenge: Web

2012-10-12 Challenge: Orange

2012-10-19 Challenge: Candy

2012-11-09 Challenge: Reflection

2012-11-27 Challenge: Hand

2013-02-08 Challenge: Morning

2013-04-12 Challenge: Wings

2013-04-19 Challenge: Vanishing Point

2013-04-26 Challenge: Swing

2013-05-24 Challenge: Small

2013-07-26 Challenge: Night

2013-07-30 Challenge: Baby

I hope to continue on strong with this fun project of mine and I hope more people continue to join and participate! :)

What's for Dinner? 5 Meals in 2 hours!

Dinner for us tonight is Wiener Schnitzel...

But I've spent two hours this morning making dinners for my sis-in-law who has become quite ill these past couple of months.  She has a long time room mate who is not doing well either... He recently had neck surgery, ...and unfortunately, he took a turn for the worst. :(

Now they are both in lots of pain, unable to work and not able to move much.  It wasn't until Sunday that she told me how much weight she's lost from only being able to eat small, frozen dinners.  I guess popping food in the microwave is what they've had to resort to because neither one of them can stand in the kitchen for any period of time.

"what can I do to help them...?   FEED them of course!!"

Luckily, I like to entertain and I like to cook, therefore I have no problem whipping up a bunch of food at once.  It's really amazing how much food you can make in two hours! I started at 8am and finished at 10am!


What are they having for dinner?

1. Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and mixed veggies
2. BBQ chicken sandwiches
3. Ranch style chili beans
4. Green Chili chicken enchiladas
5. Spaghetti with homemade sauce and meatballs
6. 2 dozen banana pancakes (had some ripe bananas I had to use up! :)


Yup! I made all that this morning and packaged it all.  I planned on doing it all yesterday but I spent most the morning shopping for last minute school stuff for my boys and then off to the grocery store for these meals.

Can you believe that I only used 3 large chicken breasts and 2 lbs. lean ground beef? A lot of the other items, I already had in my pantry.

Anyhow.

They have dinner for at least 5 days but I'm thinking they'll have left overs from each meal.  I'm willing to bet that they'll be able to eat from these meals for at least 7 to 8 days.

I wish I could take their pain away and bring them back to their happy, healthy-selves but I can't... It's amazing how quickly one's life can change.  Everything was going so well for the both of them.  Another reminder that we need to appreciate one another... not only "feel" it but tell each other and love each other...

I hope these meals will bring them comfort and show them that I care <3

Now... off I go to deliver their food! :)

Manic Monday

Not only did I not love having to get up at 5:30am to get my new HIGH SCHOOLER going this morning! ...I also didn't love almost missing the bus with my new MIDDLE SCHOOLER!

Right now they are nestled in their classes. The butterflies have probably settled a bit...

I wasn't able to get a photo of either one of them this morning.... Bad Mom :(

I'll get one after school.  I'm sure Austin will have his bashful, beautiful grin, ear to ear, playing Mr.Cool.  ...and Ethan will walk up to me with his rico-suave, bouncy walk and say "Wa 'sup mama"

Ugh. Miss them already. This summer went by way.way.way.... too fast.  It seems the older we all get, the faster time flies...

I hope that Austin has a wonderful first day

of High school.  I hope he has a chance to meet

 new people that have more in common with him.

I hope that he continues to grow and learn

and that he continues to be such an amazing,

caring, young man <3

I hope that Ethan has a wonderful first day of

Jr.High.  I hope he knocks the socks off all

those teachers with his brilliance! I hope he

continues to be such an amazing, kind-hearted boy <3

As for me... I need to figure out what this new chapter means for me.  The older they get, the less I feel like they need me... therefore making me feel like I have no purpose.  I'm a mom.  That's all I know how to be.  All I can wish for is that they'll always need me <3