Pinterest: Yay or Nay

The largest Pinterest category I have is by far the "Recipes to Try".  A few of them are winners and a few of them are getting the big D.  As in delete.

Source: plainchicken.com via Amber on Pinterest

Cream Cheese Chicken Chili
We made this the other night and I'll be honest, mine looked nothing like this (and honestly was pretty dry).  So I guess I'll keep looking.

Source: annies-eats.com via Amber on Pinterest

Homemade pizza crust
This pizza dough was seriously heavenly.  I didn't even have the correct ingredients (used half whole wheat flour and half all purpose when it called for only bread flour) and it was still delicious.  We will definitely be making this again.

Source: utahdealdiva.com via Amber on Pinterest

Zupa's Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup
I'm a bit sad about this one.  I actually thought it was pretty good.  The hubby however would not take 2 bites of it.  He said it was the texture (the texture was kind of like cream of wheat).  And usually he eats whatever I put in front of him, so I let it go. He said this was his one pass of the year. :)

Source: sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com via Amber on Pinterest

Crock Pot Hawaiian BBQ Chicken

This is a pretty easy recipe but I'll just stamp my approval on it.  Good for an all day crock pot meal and nice to have something to eat when you've been running errands all day.

Any recipes you've pinned that worked out?  Any that you've given the big D?

10 Day Challenge: Decade or Region

For today's 10 Day Challenge prompt, I'm going to use my outfit from yesterday.  This shirt totally makes me feel like I should be a regular on WKRP in Cincinnati.  Although I can't be sure because I don't think I was allowed to watch that show.  My point is, I feel like an 80's secretary.  And I love it!  

Shirt purchased at DI

Testing

You've seen the cookie blogs taking over Blogland right?  There are tons of cookie blogs out there--cookie decorating blogs specifically.  These cookies are gorgeous, works of art you can eat.  I tried my hand at the royal icing technique about a year ago for my son's birthday party and wanted to try again for Valentine's Day this year.  My technique isn't quite up to par so I thought I'd better do a test run first.  My favorite cookie blogs are Bridget and Callye, their work is simply jaw-dropping amazing.  I use Bridget's icing recipe, it has worked pretty well for me thus far (but I always double it).

Once you get started it becomes quite addicting!  There is nothing prettier than a wet flooded cookie:

This one was SO excited to help.

Not sure if I have enough pink sprinkles (how did that happen???).

 One of my favorite techniques is to outline the cookie, then let it dry for about 10 minutes.

Take each color of flood icing and outline your shape starting from the outside in:

Then drag a toothpick up and down across the width of the cookie.  You'll end up with something like this:

The cookies turned out great and I have more confidence to be able to actually give these away.

 And something tells me Grandma will like this one best:

Thanks for your help little one. :)

Linking at Tatertots and Jello and Hoosier Homemade.

10 Day Challenge: Channel Someone

For today's 10 Day Challenge prompt--yes, I slacked on the past 2 days--we were asked to to channel someone (seriously, go look at Kayla today, she is so clever and cute).  Mine today kind of happened by accident.  I was running late for story time at the library so I pulled my hair back in a few bobby pins and viola!  Er, wait.  It looked like a mess.  However, I left it in and thought this will be me channeling Kate Middleton.   I love how soft and pretty her hair always looks and sometimes mine looks too structured and stiff.  Or, maybe I just look like a hippy and not duchess.  Especially considering I have a ghetto shower curtain in the background.

Layers

You guys my wardrobe is so tired I literally dozed off for a second while getting dressed today.  It's just so bland.  Maybe the 10 Day Winter Challenge can help me think outside the box and do something different. As for today's challenge to Layer, I had to go with one of my favorite layering pieces: a scarf.

Sorry for the headless face.  It's no makeup Monday at our house and I didn't want to frighten anyone.  

Tomorrow is monochrome.  This could be scary.

10 Day Challenge

Sounds like I'm going off of sugar or carbs for 10 days, but actually I am going to participate in Kayla's 10 Day Challenge: Winter Edition.  Basically she gives an outfit prompt each day and you post your interpretation of it in photo form or blog about it.  So you'll be seeing scary pictures of me attempting these prompts over the next few days.  I'm not exactly what you would call a fashionable person, but I love challenges like these.  Anything to get me out of the sweat pants.

32

Had a small get together for the hub's birthday on Tuesday.  I can't make a cake and not try something a little over the top (as over the top as an amateur can get), so this time I tried the technique I saw over here and made the letters for his name out of candy melts.  I think it worked really well, and it was sooo easy.  Just printed off some letters I liked, turned them over and traced them on parchment paper.  Tracing them backwards helps them look flat and pretty on the front.  I will definitely try this technique again!  Now if I could only hand pipe letters as neatly.

Happy Birthday babe!  

Also, I'm coming up on 33....and I don't know why but that sounds so old to me.

DIY: Kitchen Cabinet With Wrapping Paper

I am determined to get organized this year.  And not just organized, but pretty organized.  Now remember, we only moved in a month and a half ago...but this is how the cabinet above our computer desk looked:

Wow, embarrassing!  We literally were just chucking stuff in there daily, and I was not pleased with where this cabinet was headed: permanent junkville. So when I saw Jen's cabinet from TT&J and how she revamped it with wrapping paper, it gave me the jump start to dig in and clean this thing up.  The other night I won a new roll of wrapping paper at my bunko group so it was perfect!  I started by clearing the whole thing out, and then just stuck the paper up with Loctite.  I had a couple of Target gift cards leftover from Christmas so I picked up all of my baskets there.  Here's how it turned out:

Can you not hear heavenly angels singing??????  AHHH, I love it.  Even the hubs (who is not impressed by a dang thing) was like "Wow, can you do that to all of the cabinets?"  Ahem, yes I can.  And seriously go to Target right now, they have the cutest baskets.  The blue ones also come in red, green, and black.

Thanks for the inspiration Jen!  Can't wait to tackle the pantry, the linen closet, and the kids closets.

Linking up to the Tatertots and Jello link party.

2012

Last year I decided to do monthly resolutions.  Each month I would try to accomplish something different and then at the end of the year feel like a super woman.  Then we sold our house, moved, built a house, and moved into that house.  I didn't do horribly, but for the most part resolutions went out the window.  This year I decided NO resolutions (well except for the one about controlling my anger), however there are things that I would like to do.  So for 2012 I want to:

• Read more.  My sister in-law just lent me this,

 and said I HAD to read it.  It took me 2 weeks to even pick the book up, but once I did I could not put it down.  It was such a quick read and the whole time I was dying to know what would happen next (so excited for the movie in March!).  Up next I want to read the other 2 books in this series, along with The Help and Tina Fey's Bossypants (I've been dying to read this one for some time.  The woman is hilarious).  Any other book recommendations would be welcomed!

• Be more patient and play more with my daughter.  Yes, she is so difficult sometimes I want to jump out the window.  But I have got to be more patient with her, no matter how difficult she is.  She cries and cries over every little thing, and where I used to get upset at her and tell her how not to act, or put her in time out, I am going to take the advice of my cousin and just show her love.  It sounds so simple.  And I feel like such a bad parent for not having used this tactic most of the time.  That's what new beginnings are for though, right?  I have taken this different approach a few  times already and the results have been awesome.  Also, I told myself that every time she asks me to play, read, etc. I am going to drop what I am doing and oblige her.  This has also happened a couple of times just in the past 3 days, and every time I wanted to make an excuse as to why I would have to read or play with her later.  I'm shocked at how much I brush her and her brother aside.  I'm going to try really hard not to do that anymore.

• Lose 10 pounds.  Because it wouldn't be January if I didn't want to lose some sort of poundage.  

And now that I'm finished with this it looks like a list of resolutions.  Man I hate that word.

The Wound and a Resolution

The day after Christmas I was rushing my daughter to her room for a time out.  I was in a fit of anger.  I slipped on the hardwood floor and both of us tumbled to the ground--with my leg going directly into the door jam of the kid's bathroom.  My daughter was ok, but I thought I had broken a bone, my tibia.  It was so painful I bawled like a baby.  Ten minutes later and I was ok, although it hurt so I popped some ibuprofen.  Shoot to a couple of hours later, I look down at my leg and it looks like this:

Folks, that's not my knee.  That is the middle of my shin.  Pictures don't do it justice.  It was gargantuan.

The best part was showing my family, their reactions really made me feel better (sarcasm).  Thankfully I have a physical therapist and a chiropractor in the family.  My sister in-law, Jenni, who is a physical therapist, has really helped me in all of my panicking moments of what should I do/it looks like this/is this normal/etc.  She's even got me wearing a compression stocking on it to help with swelling (it is HOT), and tracing the alphabet with my foot to avoid clots.  Jake did an x-ray and the bone looks great, no break.  He also taped me up with Kinesio tape.  You know, the stuff Kerri Walsh wore in the Olympics on her shoulder.  I look like a bad ass athlete....right?

Ok, not so much.  

Well here it is today, the KT tape came off and amazingly everywhere the tape was there is no bruising.  Made a believer outta me. Still looks nasty gross though. The bump is only slightly gargantuan, but the bruising is down to my ankle, the whole front of my leg is yellow.  Gross.

I haven't ran in almost 2 weeks. I feel like a tub of lard.  My SIL says it's almost like I broke a bone and it might be weeks before it's better.  Fantastic.

In other news, my one New Year's resolution is to control my anger.