And that's all my phone has to say about that...

This week according to my phone.

This is my cat. This is the face my cat makes when I am taking notes for school and he desperately wants to chew on my pen. Any pens left unattended in this house will be pen-napped and will wind up under a fridge or couch with many little teeth marks in them. Silly cat.

 

We had been putting off buying a weed whacker and lawn mower as long as possible and then all of a sudden it poured for like 2 weeks and that grass just kept on a growin'. Finally we got that situation taken care of. By the end we had a huge pile of grass and it looked like a freshly hayed field.

Also, please note my husbands stylish combat boots and jeans. You can fight wars in them or weed whack your grass- super practical!

 

This blurry mess is my husband playing the 1st Squadron intramural volleyball game of the season. JoJo's the blue blur, haha.

 

Finally, it decided to stop raining and let me plant some more of my garden!

 

wearing a bracelet or two (or 6) on Friday evenings to our young couple's small group so that the leader's beautiful blue-eyed baby girl will want to play with my jewelry and be my bff.

 

BEWARE OF THE BIG EYED MONSTER...



Thrifty Thinkin': Healthier Homemade Blueberry Muffins

I am rather infamous for things I can cook in a muffin pan. Breakfast quiches, cupcakes, rolls, pancake bites, stuffed pizza bites, brownies, mini popcorn balls, baked macaroni...etc. A muffin pan is probably my #1 kitchen necessity. However, up until this week I had never made actual muffins in my muffin pan. I had actually never made muffins in my life.

Usually every weekend I try to come up with a reasonably quick and healthy breakfast that I can make in advance and then either quickly heat in the oven of in the microwave before my Airman husband has to get to work in the early morning during the week. Usually it involves eggs (and probably in a muffin pan). But this week I thought I might give something else a go- BLUEBERRY MUFFINS!

I did a little pinterest hunt and came up with this: Blueberry Muffins According to Martha Stewart. Then I did a little tweaking of my own. I followed her recipe exactly except for 3 minor changes. Instead of the 1 1/4 cups of white sugar (something I do my best to avoid in large amounts) I substituted in 3/4 cups of honey.  Because of the honey burning easier than white sugar, I also lowered the oven temp from 375 to 350 instead. Then, instead of the 1 cup of milk (something I also try and avoid in large quantity, especially now since some milk contains unlabeled aspartame), I substituted 1 cup of unsweetened original flavored coconut milk. You could also use soy milk, almond milk, etc.


So:  Here is Martha's Recipe (Martha Stewart Living, July/August 2000), with my changes in bold.

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for tins
• 3 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups sugar, plus more for sprinkling (3/4 cups of honey. I did sprinkle a little white sugar on top though)
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup milk (1 cup unsweetened coconut milk)
• 1 3/4 cups blueberries

 

I preheated my oven to 350. If using white sugar instead of honey, go ahead and set it to 375.

 

Butter your muffin pan. This recipe makes 6 large muffins or 12 small muffins. I went with the 12.

 

In once bowl, mix/sift together your flour, salt and baking powder and set aside.

 

In another bowl, cream butter and sugar/honey until fluffy, which will take about 3 minutes with an electric mixer, or about 5 with a wooden spoon. As I don't yet own a mixer of any type, I used a google old fashioned wooden spoon for this whole recipe. If you have fancy gadgets like Martha, go ahead and use those.

 

Add in the egg and egg yolks, along with the vanilla to the sugar/honey and butter mixture. Then gradually add in parts of your flour and milk/coconut milk until it is all combined into a dough. This can be done on low with a mixer or by hand. Then gently fold in your blueberries. I used frozen, but fresh would be equally delightful. This is the fun part because you get to watch the mixture turn blueishpurple.

 

Divide the muffin batter between the tins. Sprinkle the tops with sugar. Bake until golden. Approximately 45 minutes for large muffins and about 30-35 for small muffins (this would depend on which temperature you set your oven too, so keep a watchful eye on them!). Before removing from the pan allow to cool for 15 minutes.

Once cool, I removed them from the pan and pack them up in a ziploc baggie, ready to go for the rest of the week. Now at 6:30 AM all I have to do it set a muffin in the microwave for about 45 seconds, slap some butter on it and hand it to my husband as he goes out the door. Easy and delicious!





Armed Forces Night for Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field

This past weekend my husband and I went to our first baseball game together. We went to see the Seattle Mariners play the Texas Rangers at Seattle's Safeco Field. They were doing a night to honor the Armed Forces and their families and JoJo and I thought it would be a good idea to check it out.

Now I cannot say I'm much of a baseball fan. At all. But my husband likes baseball (and by marriage, as well as birth, my allegiances lie with the Red Sox). I've been to baseball games before but only the Red Sox and only at Fenway Park with my dad and uncle. Here's a flash back to the 90's for you:

JoJo and I don't usually do too much on Saturdays, so it was nice to get out and have a little adventure. It was a typical Washingtonian rainy evening, but we bundled up and enjoyed it quite a bit! And of course, we brought Kidder Matthews along.

As part of our adventure we took a bus (as parking is silly priced and trying to park a giant truck in the city is also pretty silly). Washington has a relatively nice and clean bus system. The ride there was lovely. The way back it was the drunk crowd so that was a little less fun.

Safeco is relatively new (1999) so it is a pretty neat and modern ball field. We were so thankful for that roof with all the rain!

At the field we were sure to eat some nasty ball park food just to complete the experience. Nachos for me!

The Rangers ended up winning but...I don't so much care, honestly. It was nice to go and my husband was glad to check out the field for the future Red Sox games he will be seeing with our dads when the come out in July.

All in all, it was a great way to spend a Saturday night with my husband! Yay baseball!

And that's all my phone has to say about that...

Last week according to my phone:

the majority of my week was 45 hours of nannying. I was having a good time getting paid to play play doh and read dragon books. But alas, that has ended (see previous post)

 

my new buddy I made on the job who went by the name of "mow" (rthyms with "wow") because the littlest boy thought everytime she meowed she was trying to tell him her name. cute.

 

my own kitty boy helping me out with homework. one paw on the mouse, one paw on the keyboard.

 

I've never been much for doing laundry and it sure doesn't help that I have triple the amount of laundry a normal newlywed couple would have, thanks to all the military uniforms and such. I got a little behind last week and had to fold this mountain.

I love how low the clouds feel/are in Washington. Some gorgeous blue skies this week, but the large majority of the week was either pouring rain or showers every five minutes. then it also hailed on Sunday. Lovely.

 

Slimely, greasy, messy ball park food. JoJo and I went to our first baseball game together. Mariners and Rangers at Safeco Field. Post to come!

 

Lousy picture, but this is probably the highlight of my week. Our cat has this thing about imperfections or dust on walls and ceilings. He suddenly saw a little fluff stuck to our bedroom ceiling and starting...cat yelling...severe meowing...I don't...at it from the bed, super upset he couldn't reach it. JoJo picked him up and he got the fluff (ate it). Then after my husband put him down he spotted some dust and ran back over and yelled for JoJo to pick him up again. What foolishness...



On Nannying and Disappointment:

Remember, last week I was all excited because after 5 months of searching I finally found a great full time, good paying, good scheduled job? I was a nanny to 3 boys under 10, remember? 5 days a week 45-50 hours a week?

Well...not any more.

It is a bit of a complicated story and I don't really feel comfortable disclosing many details about the family on a blog, but basically there was a lot which I wasn't told up front. Multiple instances of the kids telling me stuff and then saying "but mommy said not to say anything about that to you." There was also some major behavior issues and a lot of really bad language in use by the kids. However, it was great money, a good schedule, and I really do love working with kids. I was just hoping that over time I could better establish some authority and end the "yeah well, you're not the boss of me" type behavior. I was looking forward to it in fact. Also, my initial hope had been a family with at least majority, if not all little girls. But it seemed to all be working out for the 2 weeks I was there, so I was going to stick it out because I had been praying "if this is the job for me then work it out or close it down God."

Well...apparently He closed it down.

I had been getting tons of postive feedback. The kids really liked me and were begging for me to stay after their parents got home. We had had several days of super hero mask making, ninja fights, reading books, minecraft, playdoh, angry birds, clay and other such little boy activities. I left on Friday with the promise of "see you on Monday!"

However, five minutes into my half hour ride home the mom texted me. Apparently, the original nanny whom I was supposed to be replacing was planning on taking a new job but then she didn't end up getting it (The original nanny was also the best friend of the mother and I don't know all the details but she was being paid less than I was or not at all). The text informed me that the parents didn't want the kids to know or get upset, but as their original nanny friend was now available again they were taking back my position and returning it to her. After 8 days of nannying I was done. My job was being rescinded and returned to the initial nanny. And was told so over text so it would be kept on the hush hush for the kids. Grand. I was kindly informed that they all loved me and I did nothing wrong and they would gladly keep me in their contact list if anything changed but...the end.

Needless to say, I am super frustrated and rather annoyed. I am not looking forward to more job applications and searching job boards all day. I spent months getting that job. We were both thrilled to have a second income which we were just putting all in savings. I was really hoping it was going to work out for the duration that we are stationed here. Apparently not. But I know it must be for the better. I can't say why it came to an end but I am trying really hard not to be mad about it. Who knows, God may have been protecting me from something or may just have something way better coming my way. I am annoyed that I have to start the process all over, but I am looking forward to whatever it is I will be doing in the future. But for now, I'm make to being a homemaker/crazy cat lady/unemployed and job hunting wife. I'll keep you all posted; prayers appreciated.

Super Power: Praying Cats into Being...

Yes. A super power. Not many people can say that they have such a thing, but I think I do. I pray cats. I call them unto myself. My record is 2 for 2.

...Okay this is nonsense...It's not a super power. I think it is just the favor of God. But nonetheless, let me tell you about my history of praying for cats.

Back when I was a little girl I wanted a cat so badly. My parents said "no" for years. I would pray and pray and hope and hope, but no cats appeared. One night, when I was about seven or so, my parents and I were discussing cats on our back porch and finally said "okay, you know what, you can have a cat if God sends you one." Now, with their permission, I prayed even harder that night.

The very next day my mom and I were again on the porch. My mom answered a phone call: my dad. I could tell she was trying to be all hush hush or speak some secret parent code, but I was onto them. "ITS A CAT, ISN'T IT?!" I yelled.

Yes. It was a cat. A calico kitty about 3 years old. She had shown up at my fathers law office. She had jumped into his vehicle. She snuck herself into his office.

To summarize that story, that day I got my first cat because God sent her to me. We named her Csokolom (meaning: "kisses to you" in Hungarian). She was a fantastic cat and was so very tolerant of the loving "torture" I put her through (such as wearing hats and doll clothes or being worn around my neck like a scarf). I also had a rather bizarre made up language I spoke to her in. I was devastated when we had to put her down due to cancer several years later. I never thought I would love another animal as much as I loved that cat.

Now fast forward a couple years to JoJo's first deployment. He and I had always talked about having pet cats. I wanted a gray kitty named Trinculo, named for the comic relief character from Shakespeare's The Tempest. JoJo wanted an orange cat named after Milo from Milo&Otis, his favorite childhood movie. By the time we were into month 5 of the 6 month deployment both of us were miserable and there was little that we could discuss over skype which made us happy. Cats, however, were an exception. Whenever we were grouchy we would both google images of cats, watch cat youtube videos or look at ridiculous cat memes. Perhaps this is not a normal deployment strategy but...whatever. It worked. Towards the end of the deployment we also spent some time looking for images of the future kitten we were talking about getting once he got home. We would try to find kittens on google that just resembled what we would want. Somehow it was a good pass time.
These were my favorite dream kitten images:

 

I began praying that the two of us would be able to find the perfect kitten for us once we got to our new home in Washington.

Then, 2 days later ,in mid-November of last year my uncle sends me a text with this image (Mind you, I was in CT at this point and JoJo was in Qatar).

My uncle's family came home to find a cold and hungry Maine Coon kitten (who of course looked exactly what like what I had wanted) in their garage. The temperatures outside had been below freezing and he just wanted to get warm. My Aunt and Uncle weren't interested in another cat, but they thought I might be, knowing I am a softy for all critters. I tried to turn him down at first. I didn't think I could possibly manage to adopt a kitten, get it all its vaccines and whatnot, and get him on a plane to Washington in a span of 2 weeks. Plus, I thought my husband would think it was a crazy idea. But my uncle kept on texting me all day trying to guilt me into that kitten. I kept refusing to go see it because I knew I would wind up taking it home. When it came time to talk to my husband over skype that day I sent him the picture and explained the situation and was like "just going out on a limb here...any chance we should adopt this kitten despite all the craziness we'll have to do to get him to WA? He needs exams and shots and..."

His immediate response: "Bella, that kitten needs love. Go get him. Now."

 My husband is the coolest, by the way, and is just as much of a softy as I am. Immediately, I went to my uncles house and brought that baby home.

That 8 week old baby cat got lots of vaccines, a $150 plane ticket, a fancy $70 traveling bag, lots of treats and toys, and an 8 hour flight across the country to be able to come and live with us. He's a tough little bugger.

Having him made the last 2 weeks of the deployment so much more bearable; God's timing is so perfect like that. He knew we needed that little guy before getting to Washington. He kept me busy and it made my husband happy to be able to skype with a silly kitten. God knew he was perfect just for us.

JoJo and I adore that cat. More so than any pet either of us have ever had.

 

He is our Trinkilo (changed the spelling so it better matches with Milo) and he is so perfect for us. We have about 5 million nicknames for him- HiHi, MisserWhissar, Stinkilo, Weis , OwlEyes...and many more that also don't make sense! He is our furbaby. He has the most adorable personality. He is loving and sweet, but very rascally and ridiculous. He makes strange sounds- rarely meows but often "trills" and "chirps." He does weird things like attack the imperfections in the wall, bites eyebrows, attacks bear legs, and chews on just the ends of all our bananas.  He can jump 4 feet in the air and also specializes in catching popcorn between his front paws. He is the absolute perfect cat for us. He is now about 7 months and is 11 pounds and still growing! I really get a kick out of looking at the pictures and seeing how much he has grown!

 

Now, fair warning: I am praying for the seemingly magical appearance of our second cat, an orange kitty we can call Milo. Hopefully, updates on that to come soon! I apologize for the very long post; obviously, I am an unashamed cat lady!

And that's all my phone has to say about that...

weekly phone dump...

 gorgeous weather early in the week. pouring rain and cold the second half. yuck.

 

 changing oil and rotating the truck's tires with my handy husband

 ("with" meaning I watched and he worked)

washed truck- shiny enough to see myself!

fabulous view of mount Ranier on sunny days...phone doesn't do it justice.

plarn. crocheting baskets out of yarn made of plastic grocery bags.

not sure if he was trying to say "hey that's papa chair" or

"hey that is my powerful perch" but one way or another Trink wasn't about to

let me enjoy my first time sitting in the recliner. Lots of head biting and batting.

Mad as a hatter coffee cup. This week was crrrrazy and I needed quite a bit of coffee.

Sushi Revolution friday night date with my love to celebrate the fact that I GOT A JOB!

I am now a full time (7-5, monday- friday) nanny of 3 boys (ages 2, 5 and 10). Oh my gracious!