i'm the taco whisperer

As previously mentioned David lost his gi benefits this semester - rude but necessary awakening occurred when I went to examine our grocery/food bill. Shocking and sickening. I even made a scary pie chart. (Not to mention we were doing some pretty substantial emotional eating over the past 6 months on top of our emotional eating problem we both developed 6 or 7 years ago on top of being chubby little eaters as kids. Yeah we are working on this.)

I'm not a good cook. I can make taco meat really well and that is about the extent of my culinary abilities. Possibly because I can't follow a recipe, I'm not a rule follower.

However, I did reduce our grocery bill to $150/mo and have made some "decent" meals.

Crockpot French Onion Soup - easy peasy and I think this was $4
Meatballs and pasta - $5 meal using 1/2lb of ground beef, homemade bread crumbs with end slices of bread
Charro Beans & Cornbread - $3 meal! booya!
Cauliflower Crust Pizza - I know you won't believe me but it was incredible; read and try for yourself if you like. SO YUMMO and inexpensive
Stuffed Zuchinni - $3 meal! (I can't get over dp eating all these veggie meals)
Crockpot Zuppa Tuscano - $5 meal. DELISH! Better than OG, less greasy and it cooked itself while I was at work a +++

There have been some stinkers, some really bad icky things. ie - gruel, white bean soup (so salty i wanted to vomit), mustard chicken, and some others...

After 2 months, I am a cook. Not a very good one, but I know I can plan meals, keep dp interested, keep the budget down and cook everyday.

It is possible.
Isn't that what we all need to know in life? Things are possible?

thankful friday

last friday was Veterans Day, and I probably should have blogged this last week but I was terribly busy with the Nutcracker market and well, I was shopping...

If your only ongoing experience with the government is paying taxes every year and the occasional speed trap, you my friend, are a lucky ducky. Working with the government is like Weekend at Bernie's, wrestling a dead body.

David has been out of the military for 4 years this December.

I met Dp the month before he went to boot camp so military was pretty much all we knew. I had this idea that if we got married and I lived where he was stationed we would see each other A LOT more, but that didn't really happen. I was so cute and naive and believed that when we were out of the military I would be freeeeeeeeeeee as a bird now. No.

• Dp was still in the IRR- individual ready reserves. He got his discharge papers this July saying he was free from being called back, really really.
• The GI college benefits they bait you with are not, NOT, easy to get.
• The GI college benefits they bait you with are not, NOT, easy to keep. Sometimes you will be in your last semester of college ever and they will say you have used up all of your benefits.

In less than a month now David will be done with school and is currently looking for a job (holla if you have leads), and since September we have been benefits free. It was an unpleasant surprise and sent us scrambling to find some way to pay for school.

(this doesn't really sound like "thankful friday" but I'm getting to it, be patient. today is also "patience friday")

I was/am so scared about how to pay for this semester, but I am so relieved to be a real civilian. We are really free from the government now. We will always be veterans, and maybe you have to be a veteran to understand all the civilian benefits that are easy to get and easy to keep.

• I have spent 3 nights away from Dp in 4 1/2 years, which is still unbelievable.
• The government doesn't own him, seriously he was property, I'm not kidding. 
• We won't get a call in the middle of Christmas dinner saying we need to get back to the boat because they pushed up his deployment and he is leaving for 9 months in 3 days. Sigh, good times.
• I have a husband to carry heavy things, kill roaches, take out the trash, fill the car up with gas, and intimidate annoying solicitors.
• If we decide to have children one day, I won't be a single parent.
• When I have an emergency and need to talk to him, I can pick up the phone and will talk to him face to face that night. Instead of -- sending an email that says "next time you are in port I REALLY need to talk to you", and 3 weeks later he would buy a calling card and stand in a 2 hour line and we'd get to talk for 15 min.
• I own a house. And will be in this house till I decide I don't want to live here anymore.
• I can be a person again, not just a Navy wife, not following David around the country, not just planning for David's trips and welcoming David home. I can have dreams again, I am important again.

There are too many things I take for granted now that he is here all the time.

I am thankful to be a civilian.

plop plop fizz fizz

Oh what a relief.

Meet our two 60 foot pines trees.

Yeah, they are dead. And looming over my house, and my neighbors house. And for the past year I've been terrified every time I felt a breeze. (The drought didn't get them, they found pine beetles) Can you see Dp lurking? :)

Those were the pine twins last week.

And this week?

G.O.N.E. Just pine mulch.

A big empty space in the back yard.

Yesterday it stormed and I didn't break a sweat.

Bring on the rain!!

all dogs

It has been one hell of a year. I'm done with it already, lets all just get in bed and wake up in 2012.

Loss seems to be a theme for 2011.
I'm making a note to ask God what is the lesson he is trying to teach me with loss, cause it is not a pleasant learning process.

The furry world has lost some important puppies this year:

August 15 - Koda Rasco went to heaven. Missing his strong tail and creeper stare.
September 15 - Zeke went to heaven and I miss my sweet nephew Zeke.
November 8 - Muffin went to heaven.

That's plenty of loss for one year. What is harder than losing family? Watching them fade. There has been too much of that this year also.



I am realising that nothing will ever be the same and missing that sameness.

thankful things friday

It is easy to forget to be thankful. Sometimes life is bursting with things that cloud a thankful spirit.

Every year right around the first cool front I watch White Christmas, because we all want snow snow snooooooooooow! Bing sings:

"When I worry and I can't sleep

I count my blessing instead of sheep.

And I fall asleep counting my blessings."

This November every Friday I am going to list what I've been thankful for this week. Because sometimes there is a heavy weight of negative on your shoulders and the only way to fight dark is with light.


1. Kitty snuggles. Abbey takes care of me when I am sick and Rigby takes care of me when I am sad, and what more could a girl need?
2. Steaked potatoes, steaked potatoes, potatoes that are steaked, steaked potatoes!
3. Cooler weather. Whew, its here!
4. Warm bed in the morning.