www.beautyticket.com April 28, 2010

I am in love with this site. Its a discount beauty site and it carries two of my favorite brands, Smashbox and Stila. I sort of have a “thing” for expensive makeup. By “thing” I mean that Sephora is going to bankrupt me. Its a little ridiculous.

Beautyticket.com buys closeout makeup or something like that, so they don’t carry an entire line of anything, but what they DO carry is amazingly cheap. Think drugstore prices for department store makeup. If you’re looking for something specific, you might not find it there, but you likely will find something else you’ll love.

I ordered from them a couple weeks ago, on a sunday, and I had my order Wednesday. They had given me an incorrect item, so I sent them a quick email. I had an email back within a few hours. They let me keep the incorrect item and sent the one I originally ordered right away. I had it within a couple of days. Awesome customer service. Awesome prices. You can’t beat that!

Just a reminder to always watch your language around a three year old April 28, 2010

While it IS funny when AK calls the dog a “hoochie mama”, I have a feeling it won’t be quite as hilarious when she says the same thing to the cashier at Pick N Save. Or, with my luck, our Pastor at church.

Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution March 27, 2010

Has anyone been watching this? I have to admit, I’m very intrigued. I like Jamie Oliver. He seems to cook normal, yet delicious food, not to mention that adorable accent

The shoe takes place in Huntington WV, where recent statistics have shown a staggering percentage of obesity (apparently over 50% of adults, but don’t quote me on that), not to mention early death, diabetes, etc. One of the main portions of the show centers around the kitchen in a local elementary school. Jamie is aghast at the amount of processed food the children are served. He also tries to makeover the diet and lifestyle of a local family (where everyone, including the kids are fairly overweight), and he opens up “Jamie’s Kitchen” which seems to be some sort of cooking school, although I’m not sure (must have missed that part)

One of the most poignant scenes for me last night was when Jamie brings a table full of common vegetables into a first grade classroom (maybe 5K? A lot of the kids said they were 6, so I assume first grade). When asked, most of the kids couldn’t name the vegetables, not even common ones like tomatoes. I was appalled. If this kids don’t know what most of those vegetables are, I doubt they are seeing them on their plates at home very often. We certainly don’t eat or feed our kids perfectly all the time, but it makes me glad that we try to emphasize at least trying vegetables. I’m also glad that we have a garden and frequently shop at the Farmer’s Market as a family. I believe that the closer you are to your food source, the better off you are. I certainly hope my kids know where their food comes from.

I like the show. I think at times, Jamie does come off as a bit of a know-it-all, but with very good reason. He DOES know about this stuff (he was a part of the overhaul of school lunches in England). It seems that he’s been met with a lot of resistance, which is understandable. I’m sure a lot of the people in Huntington feel attacked. I don’t think that’s the motive here at all, but its a natural reaction.I’ll definitely keep watching.  Hopefully he can make some change!

Let’s try this again March 21, 2010

I think its been well established that I suck at blogging. I don’t know why. I want to blog.  I have ideas for blog posts. But for some reason, when I sit down to blog, my head gets all foggy and I end up on some time suck site (hello facebook!) instead of blogging.

I think part of my problem may be that I’m overwhelmed by the three (THREE?) blogs I’m trying (and failing) to maintain. So I’ve imported all my posts over here, and we’re going to start all over. Fresh slate. New blog. I’m hoping to talk about life, motherhood, cookies and weightloss, with some other subjects thrown in for good measure. My goal is 3 posts a week. We’ll see….

Recap: Week of January 4 January 10, 2010

This week didn’t go so well in terms of workouts. I got to the gym to start the C25K program on Tuesday, but a stupid snowstorm sort of derailed my plans for the rest of the week. My husband plows, so he’s not home to stay with the girls, not that I would have wanted to go out anyway. Then we had Norah’s baptism last night and that took up the bulk of my weekend. My plan is to go tomorrow night, though, so I’ll start back on Day 1 of C25K and take it from there.

The positive thing is that the C25K didn’t suck. I don’t really love working out, but I didn’t hate this workout either. Its good to feel motivated. I’m even more motivated by some weddings we have this summer. I’d like to wear a dress and NOT feel like a fat cow. The first one is May 28th. Coming quickly!

Also, watch for a set of measurements from me tomorrow. I got a new scale so I plan to weigh myself, plus take upper arm, thigh and waist measurments and post them. I’m scared to do this. I think it goes against every woman code to keep your weight a secret that is out there. But its time to own up, and it will make me even prouder when I can post that those numbers are going down, so I’m going to do it!

I can't believe I'm doing this January 5, 2010

Really, I can’t. My weight and fitness has always been incredibly private to me. Its been private because I’m ashamed. I’m ashamed of how much I weigh. Of the size I wear. Of how out of breath I get when I walk up the stairs. Of how tired I am all the time. Of how often I cry when I look at myself in the mirror.

Don’t misunderstand, I’m not saying these things to make anyone feel bad for me. Its the truth, plain and simple, but most of all, its the truth that I’ve created for myself. I cannot blame anyone else. No one made me this fat, I did that on my own. But now I need to DO something about it. I need change. I need accountibility. Most of all, I need support.

Which brings me to why I’m putting this out there on the interwebs, for everyone to see. If I can even get one person to check on me every week, or to wonder why I’m not posting about my workouts or my eating, it will be good. I don’t even care if you make me feel bad or ashamed. I NEED that, people. I need to feel bad about the way I’ve been treating my body, and the example I am setting for my two precious girls.

So this year, I’ve set some goals for myself. I want to lose weight. I want to get fit. I’ve decided I want to run a 5K sometime this summer. To do this, I’m putting myself out there. Once I get my new scale, I will (GULP) post my weight here. I’ll post my workouts and my weightloss. I’ll post about how hard it is, how much I hate it and how much it sucks. I’ll probably post about how much I miss cookies and cake. Maybe I’ll even post about how much I love it (eventually). I’m not holding my breath for that, though.

Mmmm…potato soup October 4, 2009

Being that I’m all knocked up and stuff, I sometimes I get cravings. STRONG cravings. Today, I woke up from a nap (ahh…the sweet bliss of a nap) craving potato soup. I love a good potato soup and the weather has been perfect for it (cool and rainy). I’ve never actually made potato soup, though, so I had to find a recipe. I found this on allrecipes.com and used it as a guide. I did change quite a bit about it, though. It turned out SO well. Completely satisified my craving and its a definite “keeper” recipe.

Potato soup

Ingredients

1 package of bacon
2 Tbsp bacon grease (reserved from frying bacon)
4 Tbsp butter
1/2 c flour
3 cups chicken stock
5 cups milk (I used 2 % but I don’t think it would matter)
5 green onions, chopped
4 large baking potatoes, peeled and cubed
2-3 tbsp salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
Cheddar cheese

In a large dutch oven (or whatever soup pot you’re using), fry bacon. Drain and chop small. (I fried up the whole package and ate some, so I’m not totally sure how much ended up in the soup.Probably about 2/3 of the package?) Drain all but 2 tbsp of the grease from the pot (make sure to leave the brown bits at the bottom too) Add butter to grease and melt. When butter is melted, add green onions and saute for a minute or two to soften. Then add the flour, stirring together with the fats. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Slowly whisk in chicken stock and milk, about a cup at a time. Add 2 Tbsp salt, then add potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, about 30 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender. Using a potato masher, mash the potatoes to the desired consistency (I left some small chunks, but most were mashed). Stir in pepper and bacon. Taste and add salt accordingly. Top with cheddar cheese when serving.

The original recipe called for sour cream, but I left it out. Troy really doesn’t like it, and the soup didn’t need it. I honestly can’t imagine that it would add anything to the soup but if you want to try it, go ahead. I also really like the texture that using the potato masher gives, but you can certainly use the immersion blender if you want. I prefer some small chunks in my soup though.

Also, this makes A LOT. Enough for 6 people at least. So if you’re making it for less, either cut the recipe in half or be prepared to eat potato soup as leftovers for a few days.

Cancer; or Why I Will Never Set Foot in a Tanning Bed Again June 23, 2009

This past December, as I was getting myself and Annelise ready for a day of cookie baking with my Grandparents, the phone rang. On the other end? My Grandpa. “Don’t come over Jess. Grandma is having a stroke. We’re going to the hospital. Love you kid” Click. Silence.

It turned out that she didn’t have a stroke, but the news wasn’t any better. It was a brain tumor. A rather large and fast growing one, to be more specific. Back in September of 2007 (a little over a year before), my Grandma had brain surgery to repair a leaking blood vessel in her brain. Because of that, she’d also had an MRI done in early December of 2007, so this tumor had grown since then. A year for a tumor to get big enough to cause significant loss in function of her throat, mouth and tongue. Pretty scary.

Doctors at Froedert hypothsized that it WAS cancer, they just weren’t sure if it had metastisized from a bout with breast cancer about 12 or 13 years ago, or from a small melanoma she’d had removed about 5 years ago. Almost all of us had initially assumed it would be the breast cancer. Breast cancer is scary, its in your face, its fatal for some. Melanoma? Really? This just didn’t seem possible. After the tumor was removed and the rest results came back, though, it was revealed that it WAS the melanoma. A small spot that she’d had removed years before, something none of us had ever even considered to be so serious, was the cause of all this pain and suffering.

Since then, my grandma has also undergone radiation and some minimal chemotherapy to make sure that the tumor was completely gone. Frankly, she hasn’t been herself. Lets face it, all that trauma and treatment can’t be easy for a 79 year old body to handle, and because of it, I think some of her spirit has also suffered. Its hard to see her now, when it seems that so much of her spunk is gone.

Yesterday, I received an email from my cousin “I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but….Grandma has another tumor”. Its a hard thing to swallow, the fact that this cancer is back. I guess she will be undergoing a gamma knife procedure, which is basically one very concentrated and precise dose of radiation that has very good results. Its non-invasive, which is a good thing. I’m hoping and praying that maybe after this, she can really get back onto the road to recovery.

To be truthful, after all of this, I won’t ever set foot in a tanning bed again. I really did give them up years ago, but would go to “pre-tan” for a vacation or something similar. I’ve had some questionable spots removed in the past, though and my mom had a few precancerous spots. My maternal aunt also had a melanoma removed some years ago. All this ads up to some scary stuff for me. I sometimes feel like people don’t take skin cancer as seriously. Its not something you hear of people dying from, and certainly its far more “curable” than practically any cancer out there. While I think this is wonderful, I often wonder if people just aren’t as worried about it as they should be.

Its not that I want to stand up here on my pulpit and preach to those of you that still like a good tan. Its certainly your own choice and we all have to weigh benefits versus risk. I certainly don’t like the most healthy life I could be living, so who am I to judge? But if this post can even get one of my friends to slather on a little sunscreen before going to the pool, then I consider it worth it

(As a side note, this blog has an excellent overview of sunscreen ingredients here)

Pregnancy: Round 2 June 7, 2009

Or: Why yes, you really DO block out the shitty parts of pregnancy once you pop out that kid.

Being pregnant the second time is HARD people. Not only is it harder on your body (which, BTW, must feel those hormones and go, “Oh, hey, we know what to do. Lets loosen up all your joints. Can’t walk? Oops. Sorry about that), but you already have a kid. 2 year olds don’t like to be neglected. CPS doesn’t like you to neglect your 2 year old either (Note to CPS, I’m not neglecting her. I promise). All that time I spent feeling sorry for myself during my first pregnancy because I was SO tired and SO sick? Yeah, I should have been thankful that I didn’t have to change a poopy diaper with nausea, or chase around a toddler outside when I could barely keep my eyes open.

And the joint thing I mentioned above? HOLY SHIT. I don’t need my pelvis to start spreading out in April when I’m not due until OCTOBER. If  someone were to submit a video of me to LOLcats, the caption would likely be “Pregnancy waddle: I has it”.

Speaking of what will now be known as “the waddle”, my enormous belly doesn’t make this any better. If one more person asks me if I’m having twins, I might punch them. I AM NOT HAVING TWINS. I already had an ultrasound. While we’re on this topic, when I TELL you there is only one baby in there, saying “Oh, my mother’s brother’s best friend’s sister’s boss’s maid’s barista thought that too, but one was hiding. She had no idea until she gave birth”. IT IS NOT TWINS. You might as well just say “Gee, Jess, you sure do look gigantic. You must be growing two babies in there, because there is no way a woman that is 5 months pregnant should be such a whale”. Thanks. I’ll just go cover myself in sand on the beach and see if someone from Sea world tries to rescue me.

Hello Blog, its been awhile, lets get reacquainted March 24, 2009

Well. After 3 months its probably high time I update this thing. Lets start with something big, shall we.

I’m pregnant.

Wait, what? Yes, that’s right I am pregnant, preggers, prego, knocked up, bun in the oven, in the family way, etc, etc, etc. I’m about 8.5 weeks along and I’ve seen the heartbeat on the ultrasound twice, so I feel fairly OK with letting the news be known. I’m due October 30th, so we could have a little halloween pumpkin a’brewin in here, but lets hope s/he comes before that (but not TOO much before that), m’kay?

In other news, my precious little baby girl turned TWO this weekend. I really have no idea where those last two years went. She’s now stringing together 3 word phrases, “no, mama, MINE” being a favorite, as well as “Thumper, go potty!”. She’s learning to ride a “bike” (tricycle) and is as active as ever. I just can’t believe my baby is TWO.

That’s really all that is new here on the homestead. We don’t lead very exciting lives.