I cook dinner most weeknights, and having things organized in my kitchen is HUGE for me.
One of my favorite kitchen org acquisitions was a spice rack that worked for our limited cabinet space. This spice rack is bolted down into my narrow cabinet, and I can pull it out to grab the spices I need. The back rows are a little trickier to reach, but that’s why it’s also key to place the less used spices in the back ;) I’ve had this spice rack for almost four years, and I still love it every time I use it.
Although the spice rack does come with labels so you can label the front and know exactly where each spice is (you MUST use these to keep your sanity), it does not come with the actual jars. So I purchased these jars at the same time as I purchased the rack, and these are still going strong also.
In finding my past order links for this post I also came across this rack. I don’t have this one, but it would definitely help with the one problem I have of not being able to reach spices that are towards the back. Although you can’t fit as many spices on this one…
Do you know what was a very liberating moment for me, and a game changer in my kitchen? Realizing that I’m an adult, and I can have TWO utensil holders if I want! As a proud 1/2 Guatemalan, I use A LOT of wooden spoons, and hated having them mixed in with my plastic/metal serving spoons. So, I have two utensil holders on my kitchen counter: one for all my wooden-ware, and one for everything else. It makes me really happy.
Another game changing item is having my salt and pepper readily available, and in easy to use containers. I have the Hearth & Hand ones from Magnolia, but they don’t seem to have those available anymore. I would skip the ones with the little spoons – I use my fingers and the little spoons, albeit very cute, I think would just get in the way all the time. This and this would be my next choices.
Baskets, baskets, baskets! We are carb-heavy in this house, so I have three different baskets on our counter: 1) chips and snacks, 2) fruit, 3) breads. That might sound excessive, but hey, it works for us! I have been very particular, however, about the type of basket I use for each of these.
I am not proud of this section of our counter, but again…it works for us now. This basket is the open dumping ground for half eaten bags of chips, pretzels, random candy, etc. It at least provides an open and easy landing place for this stuff.
I’m pretty sure I bought ours at Hobby Lobby, but it’s fairly close to this one. What was REALLY tricky for me when finding the perfect fruit holder, was something that was double teired but also short enough to fit in the limited space between our counter top and our top cabinets. Make sure you measure that space!
This shelf, however, is my pride and joy. I had a very specific vision of what I wanted for our bread shelf, and could NOT find one that was exactly what I wanted. So hubby built this one for my birthday this year, and it’s PERFECT!
My mother-in-law bought me a beautiful container for our olive oil that I loved using, but realized I also needed one for vegetable oil. I couldn’t find the exact one she got us, which worked out in the end, since having different ones helps me distinguish betweel olive oil and vegetable oil. I’ve had this dispenser for three years now, and it’s still going strong!
I try to keep my drawers organized as much as possible, but they’ve become a mess lately. In my efforts to reorganize them, I recently bought these trays, and these larger dividers. I’m excited to try these out and see if they help. The larger dividers are for my bottom cabinet that has all the dishtowels, washcloths, some table linens, and….potatoes!
Do you have a kitchen organizational tip or tool that makes your life easier? Share in the comments! I’m always excited to find new ways to keep things running smoothly.
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SPRRRRIIIIING BREEEEEAAAAAK! We decided to have a fairly mellow Spring Break this year by staying local, but we managed to fit in a couple cool things with the boys.
On Monday we headed to San Diego and stopped at the Cabrillo National Monument, which was pretty cool. We had coffee and ice cream at a cool little place, and then headed to our hotel. Funny enough, the hotel was the ONLY part the boys were excited about all day Monday. We stayed at a pretty cheap hotel, so I kept trying to tell them that sightseeing around San Diego was going to be WAY more exciting than checking in to our hotel. But alas, they asked “how much longer until we go to the hotel” about a million times.
Our big event was going to the U.S.S. Midway on Tuesday. We got there before it opened, and that worked out so great because we basically had the upper deck to ourselves. The audio tour is really great, and they have a kids and adult recording for each station. Although we were exhausted after almost four hours of walking around, we all had a great time and loved exploring all the different parts of the ship. I think we all agreed that the control rooms were the best part.
As expected, eating lunch on the ship was expensive. Although I was prepared for it, I still wasn’t prepared for it. I think it was a little over $80 for the five of us to eat mediocre fast food. Le sigh.
We also went to Medieval Times that week, compliments of the grandparents. Jonny took a while to warm up to the noise and lights, but all three boys ended up having a blast. This was another expensive outing, and not something I see us doing again until we have grandkids (ha!).
Honestly between San Diego, Medieval Times, and getting random treats throughout the week, I think we would have spent just as much going somewhere out of town for the week!
We also had Josh’s 8th birthday party, so on the heels of Easter and Spring Break, it was a busy month!
items i loved this month
After Easter, spring break and birthday planning, April was a very low budget month for extras. Josh’s birthday was a skateboard theme, so I did get these before for goody bags:
One tradition we started in 2020 with COVID that has stuck around (sometimes, based on the theme) is making our own pinatas! I didn’t find anything great online that was on-theme, so with dad’s help, we made our own! Jeff designed an amazing invite, so we used that image for the pinata. There wasn’t a large enough print at FedEx, so Jeff cut the image in two, we printed two copies of each page, and then cut and glued them on to the pinata that Jeff fashioned with Amazon boxes. Bought some black and white tissue paper, and voila!
Our other big home project has been the built-in closet that Jeff has made for Jake’s bedroom. It’s been a very time-consuming project, but Jeff has done an AMAZING job.
Lastly, my craft project at work for April was a paint-by-numbers craft, and it was a huge hit! I bought a variety of sets, some from Amazon and some from Michaels. The ones from Michaels were more intricate, but the Amazon ones were pretty easy and almost completed within our hour lunch.
recipe
BLT’s – Armstrong Style
With summer approaching, we’re going back to some of our hot-weather meals, of which BLT’s is high on the list. We go a little crazy with ours, so here’s what we add in addition to bacon, lettuce, and tomato:
Avocado
Monterey Jack cheese
Cucumber
And the key ingredient: a fried egg! I fry it in the bacon grease…because obvies.
Haven’t started it yet because just the title makes me sad, but our May book club pick is My Lobotomy by Howard Dully and Charles Fleming. I borrowed the audiobook from Libby – wish me luck!
I started a podcast with my friend, Karla. Take a listen!
Follow me on Instagram for current reads and reviews.
Let me know in the comments what your current read is, or a book you’re looking forward to reading!
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This month has been a doozy! I had a presentation for my consultant side-gig on 3/27 and it sucked up a lot of my time and energy. Not to mention I was a bundle of nervous anxiety for the four days preceding it. I’m still trying to understand that – I wasn’t nervous about presenting, I’ve done that before and LOVE it, which is the whole reason I’m pursuing this, but it was my first time presenting on this scale. And being me, I added all of these little extras that I was probably nervous about pulling off. Regardless, it went great (although I do need to adjust the timing and format of it), and as of last night, my belly is back to feeling normal and not feeling like I’m going to puke, so that’s great.
Ever since the time change, the boys have been able to play outside a little longer in the evenings. And although it’s a constant “stay out of the street! put a sweater on!,” it’s so great to live in a neighborhood where they can play with other kids outside. I feel like it’s a quintessential part of childhood that many kids miss out on these days. It makes up for the fact that hosting Easter in our tiny home is a logistical nightmare when it’s raining and we can’t use our backyard.
items i loved this month
Paint by numbers: I’m getting ready for the April craft workshop that I organize at work, and decided on these. I found some other ones at Michael’s, but they were larger and seemed way more complicated. We only have an hour, so I’m trying to get better at finding crafts that can be easily completed within that time frame (instead of everyone taking home a partial project – I have so many unfinished ones from the last year!).
Skateboard book: I usually buy a book for each child’s birthday party, so that those attending can sign it. I try to stay on theme, obvies. Josh’s 8th birthday is coming up, and he chose a skateboard theme. If you’re friends with either of us on the socials, you’ve seen the amazing invitation that Jeff made – he’s SO talented! But I digress. I bought this skate book for Josh’s birthday and it’s so cool! It’s more expensive and grown-up than what I would usually buy, but alas, our boys are growing up.
Motivational cards: because I’m a sucker for these things, I post little motivational cards in the bathroom stalls at my work. And people are allowed to take one if they see one that speaks to them. I recently purchased these, although I really liked these ones that I bought last time.
projects, crafts & more
My craft at work for March were DIY magnets. I made a version of these years ago, when Jeff and I had a little shop in a trailer at The Camp in Costa Mesa, and they sold pretty well!
Now Amazon has a “kit” to make these, so they look even better and were way easier to make then using a hot glue gun to attach the magnet.
The great part of this craft was that it was easily completed during our lunch break – which has not been typical of some crafts, ha!
SUPPLY LIST
Magnet set that includes glass piece and adhesive magnet
I cut plastic cups so I could give everyone a small “bowl” with modge podge
Newspaper or craft paper for each workstation for easy clean up
recipe
LEMONADE
Our neighbors gave us lemons from their backyard recently, and honestly they’re the only lemons I like to use for lemonade, because they’re DELICIOUS. Anyhow, we’ve been making this lemonade for a few years now, and making the sugar syrup is a game changer!
Ingredients and Instructions
1 and 3/4 cup of sugar
1 and 1/2 cups of lemon juice (about seven juicy lemons)
8 cups of water
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and one (1) cup of the water. Bring to a boil and stir to dissolve the sugar. Allow it to cool, cover, and refrigerate until chilled.
When juicing the lemons, remove the seeds but leave the pulp (optional, but I do really like the pulp in the lemonade). Stir into a pitcher with the sugar water. Add the remaining seven (7) cups of water, stopping to taste occasionally (sometimes I need more or less water, depending on the sweetness of the lemons).
I’ve started two different books, plus just got a long awaited book from Libby, but really feeling the need to finish the first two (which haven’t hooked me). My Amazon First Reads are really stacking up, and hoping for a month where I can make some serious progress and share some great reads!
Follow me on Instagram for current reads and reviews.
Let me know in the comments what your current read is, or a book you’re looking forward to reading!
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We went to LA this month to meet up with one of our favorite families, and explored the Fern Dell Nature Trail by the Griffith Observatory. We walked to a great playground that was on the trail, and the kids had a blast running around (unfortunately the bathrooms are under renovations, so beware of the porta poties!). We enjoyed some ice creams from the local paletero, and I got such a kick out of all the boys saying “gracias!”
We also did a little brainstorming session this month which I really enjoyed. We are not doing a major trip for Spring Break this year, so instead I put up a big piece of butcher paper on our closet door, and told the kids to go wild with anything and everything they’d like to do. We have some great ideas that we winnowed down between things we can plan for spring break, things we can plan for future family trips, and things we can aspire for…someday, ha!
items i loved this month
Presentation pointer! Such a cheap and silly gadget, but it made a HUGE difference during my professional development presentation last month. I was able to walk about the classroom more freely while still clicking through my slides. I had originally ordered this one, but the day before my presentation I was notified it wouldn’t arrive on time.
Trash can stickers. Again: a silly purchase, but we have our trash and recycle cans right next to each other under the sink and guests will ask which is which. I thought this could take the mystery out of it all.
Chip clips! Andy was calling these the unsung heroes of the kitchen on Nobody’s Listening, Right? and I agree! Which made me realize: I hate our mismatched chip clips. I had a lightbulb moment while listening to the podcast: I could BUY cute and matching chip clips, and they probably wouldn’t even cost much! Shocker: they don’t.
Herschel backpack. Jeff and I are planning our trip to Tulum in May to celebrate my aunt’s 60th birthday, and I decided this was the inspiration I needed to finally upgrade my travel backpack. I’m a little sad to let my last one go, since it’s really been EVERYWHERE with me, and through so much, but it is literally being held together by safety pins. And I’ll be honest: I really want to feel and look cool on this trip. This will be our first major trip without the kids (and since we went to Germany together in 2012), so I figured it’s worth the splurge. I’m REALLY excited about the Seagrass color on the Little America Backpack. I originally ordered the standard size, which I was concerned about so I even watched a YouTube video comparing the standard and mid-volume sizes. Turns out it really is too big, so I’m returning it and exchanging it for the mid-volume size. TULUM HERE I COME!
projects, crafts & more
This month’s craft at work was a “Love” wooden sign made with nails and yarn. I think it came out so cute!
Jeff and the boys helped with the boards: Jeff obviously did the cutting, but the boys helped sand and apply some layers of I-really-don’t-know-what and paint.
I wanted to have a few different options available for people, so we experimented with a few different stains, and a couple white boards. I also bought various colors of yarn so everyone could pick what they wanted, and printed a few different fonts. I love seeing how unique everyone’s project turns out.
recipe
CHICKEN PITA WRAPS!
Ok, maybe not the best representation of this dinner, but we had it last night and we LOVE it. It’s light and refreshing and after a week of eating crap, it was exactly what we needed.
Ingredients for chicken marinade:
1/4 cup of Olive Oil
2 cloves of garlic
2 table spoons of lemon juice
1 and 1/2 pounds of chicken breast (about two breasts), cut into bite sizes
Place all the above ingredients in a ziplock bag and let the chicken marinate. I’m sure overnight is probably best, but I usually do it as soon as I get home and just let it marinate in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. Still tastes great!
Meanwhile, get those bamboo skewers soaking in water, and prep your tzatziki sauce.
Tzatziki ingredients:
6 ounces of greek yogurt
1/2 of an English cucumber, de-seeded and thinly diced
Chopped fresh dill
1 tsp of white vinegar
large pinch of salt
3/4 tablespoon of olive oil (recipe calls for one full tablespoon – I find it to be too much)
1 minced garlic clove
Mix these all together and let it chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
Additional toppings: red onion, lettuce, large tomato chunks, and FETA cheese (we really like the tomato and basil seasoned feta). And are you really from California if you don’t add avocado to everything?
Our favorite side: greek french fries! I know…it makes for a less healthy meal, but they’re so good! We used to use frozen shoestring fries, but yesterday Jonny picked the crinkle frozen fries, and I’ll admit: they were much better. On a cookie sheet, I have one side of regular french fries for the boys, and on the other side I season the frozen fries with dried oregano. I bake per the instructions, and once ready, I put our seasoned fries in a bowl and add feta, tzatziki, and sometimes chopped parsley. So good!
reading recap & MORE
This was a pretty slow reading month. I’ve been trying to do yoga more often in the mornings, and I’ve really been buckling down on my clerical professional development handbook for an upcoming PD session next month, so the reading has been slim.
I also read the Improbable Meet Cute series – these were all short stories and although some of them were cute, none of them were favorites. As I’ve mentioned before, short stories also seem a little rushed to me, so that’s probably part of it.
Currently reading:
The Volcano Daughters, by Gina Maria Balibrera (publication date: 08.20.24). I was intrigued by the cover and title of this book, as someone with a Central-American born mother, but I’ve had a hard time staying hooked.
Follow me on Instagram for current reads and reviews.
Let me know in the comments what your current read is, or a book you’re looking forward to reading!
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OK, trying to branch out on my monthly blogs for 2024. Let’s see how this goes!
family highlight
For a couple years now we’ve gifted the boys “mom, dad, & me” dates for Christmas. I really wish we did this more often throughout the year because the one-on-one time with them is SO great. But it does make it super special and each of them were excited for their “dates.” We picked different date ideas for each of them based on their interests:
Jake: trip to Barnes & Noble that included a book purchase and Starbucks snack
Josh: going out for breakfast, and a boba date which we did a bit later as a family
Jonny: a trip to Baskin Robbins for ice-cream with all the yesses (yes, you can get the unicorn with the extra chocolate and sprinkles!)
items i loved this month
I had an Amazon gift card to burn so I splurged on some items I’ve been wanting for a while and could buy with no guilt!
Library kit!! Ah I’ve been wanting this for so long! Finally got it, but I’ll admit I haven’t had time to actually put them on my books. The kit only comes with 20 cards so I was also over-analyzing that I’d have to prioritize my books, but I found out they sell refill cards!
Busytown Seek and Find board game: this was really a Christmas present for Jonny, but it’s been a HUGE hit. Although it’s mostly for Jonny, it’s become a family favorite.
projects, crafts & more
I’ve been organizing monthly craft workshops at my work since June, and I LOVE them! January’s workshop was our most popular to-date: one of my co-workers is a crochet wizard (just like my mom!), so she led the class and we’re all furiously crocheting our little hearts away. It’s nice to have a commonality with co-workers that transcends our individual departments and is not work-related.
I also watched a documentary on Amazon Prime for ME. I NEVER watch anything, so this was huge. It’s called The Booksellers and it was an interesting peek into the world of book buyers/sellers and the history and future of bookstores.
recipe
I wanted to try something new recently so I brought down my Magnolia cookbooks, and given the weather, I decided to try the potato soup. It’s not my new favorite, but it’s good, and Jeff LOVED it, so that’s huge! I made the full recipe the first time I made it, and had waaaay too much leftover (the boys won’t touch it). It didn’t freeze well, so we ended up dumping it (anyone have special advice on freezing food with potatoes in it? They always defrost funky to me…).
This last time I did a half-batch and that was still more than enough. I also ventured to my local Panera on a very rainy day because I REALLY wanted to have them in sourdough bowls, and I do think that’s the only way I’ll have this soup in the future. I’m not sure what the rules are on sharing recipes from cookbooks, so I’m just going to share this site that’s already done the dirty work ;)
reading recap
I started out really strong since I had the first week of January off from work and generally not a lot going on, but then side projects and life took over, and I started a book I couldn’t seem to finish. It took me a while to decide not to finish it, but I’m so glad I let it go. I read The Heirloom instead, and breezed through it. So here’s my reminder to you that it’s OK not to finish a book – there’s too much great stuff out there!
Crow Talk, by Eileen Garvin: Three Mugs. Publication date: 04.30.24
Tangled Up In You, by Christina Lauren: Three mugs + Jalapeno. Publication date: 06.25.24
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Let me know in the comments what your current read is, or a book you’re looking forward to reading!
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Well, if finally happened. On a perfectly sunny afternoon in February (the 6th day of February of the year 2021, aka yesterday, to be exact and for posterity), I finally reached my Grocery Store Zen. I had stopped by Starbucks for a little pick me up, then strolled in to Stater Brothers, pulled back my cart, pulled over by the avocados, put on my sweater (because I get COLD in the store, even if it’s 100 degrees outside), put in my AirPods, got my music going, pulled out my list, pen, and reusable produce bags to place on the kid seat portion of the cart, placed all other reusable bags on the bottom of the cart, and I just knew it: this, this is my Grocery Store Zen.
Quick aside: why is it always avocados, or tangerines, that they place at the entrance of the grocery store? I mean, they ALSO have them in the produce section…is it because they spoil quickly? I’d imagine almost all produce spoils fairly quickly…I’d say it’s because they don’t need those little water sprayer things…but neither do apples, and they NEVER have apples there! The INJUSTICE is all I’m saying….
[Insert Nacho Libre “Anyways” GIFF that I couldn’t find]
Cart. Avocados. We’re back.
After having kids, probably shortly after the second kid (of three), Jeff and I realized meal planning was our game changer. We hated having to figure out what we were going to have for dinner every day, then stopping by the store or whatever. And after thirteen years, we finally realized that meal planning our lunches is also necessary for us.
So on weekends I use my meal planner to lay out our dinners for the week, and make my grocery list, then I go shopping on either Saturday or Sunday. I go during the boys nap time – which I sometimes hate because I lose that down time for myself, but it’s what works for our little fam. It’s a strange thing: it’s such a pain to sit down and think of meals for the week, and go to the store, but also…I do get a little thrill in pulling down my meal planner and setting about this habitual task.
So buying groceries is definitely a part of my weekend routine, and I’ve gotten my system down pretty well, starting on the right with produce, then working my way across and ending with dairy/refrigerated stuff (it’s also the order of my grocery list, hellooooooo A-type personality!). Sometimes I would take my headphones and either listen to a book on Audible, or music, but the headphones usually got stuck on something, which would then make my phone fall out of my purse, or a headphone fall out…and then I had to add a mask to it, and well, it was a pain.
Then: Christmas. My in-laws bought me AirPods, and they’re also a game changer. No getting stuck on anything, no problem with my mask…the only difficulty is adjusting the volume when I get to the meat counter: I liked the ease if the pause button my the headphones, instead of having to take my phone out now. But you know…first world problems and all.
So, yeah, that brought my Grocery Store Zen to the ultimate level of bliss (if you can use “bliss” to describe shopping for groceries). I guess that and finding good music/playlists to keep me awkwardly singing out loud while I pick my groceries.
What about you? What’s your dinner/grocery buying routine? What makes it easier?
I’ve never been a lover of cooking, I’ll start there. My grandma cooked some great meals when I was little, but I never helped enough in the kitchen to actually learn what she was doing. My mom is a cook of specialty dishes: she makes amazing tamales, potato salad for EVERY family function (the family is not usually happy if there’s no Achi potato salad at any given event, ha!), and amazing traditional Guatemalan dishes, like pepian. But being just the two of us when I was little, I also wasn’t in the kitchen much for the day to day cooking.
When Jeff and I first moved in together to our little apartment in Irvine, I’d venture to say he was the main cook. Or he’d make the main dish and I’d make the sides.
I’m not exactly sure when the shift happened, but I’d say it was after we had Jake – when going out to dinner became less and less of an option, haha. And having to buckle down on finances. When we moved into our Lake Forest apartment, we’d been living with Jeff’s parents for a couple years, and I got to observe my mother-in-law cooking some really great meals – when I wasn’t busy sleeping on the couch…
I think all of those things combined forced me to start cooking more at home. I’m by no means a natural chef…I’m a cook-by-the-recipe “chef” (not sure you can call someone that follows a recipe a chef…but I’ll give myself that title for now). I think I’m just recently getting comfortable enough to improvise here and there – but only in small ways. Jeff and I joke around about me messing with recipes – my experiments rarely work for the best, haha. But I’ve come up with some good recipes for veggies and such small plates.
Anywho, a little over a year ago I was at Costco waiting on a cake order, and I gravitated to the book section to kill some time (everyone gravitates to the book section, right?!), and found this cook book:
I’ll admit, I’ve become quite a skeptic of cook books because I end up buying them and then realizing I don’t like any of the recipes in them (we’re not adventurous eaters…). [How am I a recipe chef without cookbooks? Most of my tried and true recipes come from allrecipes.com, but I digress again.] But I kept skimming this one and finding several recipes that caught my eye, and after a good five-minute hesitation I decided to buy it.
I’m not exaggerating: this book has changed our life, haha. The harissa chicken recipe is seriously our favorite dinner, and it’s my go-to when I want to impress family/friends. It’s also easy to double and make for larger crowds. A couple things I’ve learned from making it several times:
I use skinless chicken thighs rather than skin on
I add lemon rind to the yogurt sauce (I did it by accident the first time, as the lemon rind is also used for something else, but now we love it)
I cut the harissa in half since it can be pretty spicy. Trader Joe’s used to carry an amazing harissa sauce but has discontinued it (we were heartbroken). We’ve found a different version at a local Persian store – it’s not the same but it will do.
Harissa sauce spoils quickly, so it was a bummer to buy a jar and have it mold in my refrigerator before I had a chance to make it again. A coworker who I shared the recipe with came up with a brilliant idea that has worked great for me: freeze a couple tablespoons in snack-size ziplock bags and freeze! I can take it out just before using and unfreeze pretty quickly.
I also love the pizza chicken recipe. This one I’ve paired up with angel hair spaghetti and it goes great. I also freeze extra sauce and use it for a second spaghetti night – it’s a perfect spaghetti sauce!
The other recipe I make regularly is the chicken salad – with crispy skin! It’s such a light and refreshing meal, but I do cut the sauce out (I made it the first time and realized it’s just not our taste).
Well, it’s been a while again, hasn’t it? I was reading someone else’s family blog and realized I miss writing about my own little family and all the stuff I/we’ve been up to. So, in the free minutes I have, here’s what’s been going on:
Meeting my dad. The biggie is that I met my dad and his family for the first time last month. I found him last year around October or so. It was weird: I came in to work and searched an Obama speech that I wanted to listen to, saw an ad at the bottom about finding people, entered my dad’s name as I occasionally do on generic web searches, one thing led to another, and boom, all the dots were connecting. It felt a little like this, to be honest…
Which reminded me of this..
Anyhow…it was a bit of a bombshell for my three sisters, and things have taken time to develop, but the boys and I headed to Arizona last month to visit some of Jeff’s family so I decided to take the leap and see if they were ready to meet. I’m so glad they were. Jeff, the boys, and I went over to their house for lunch and it was really nice to get to meet them each in person and get to know them a little better. Unlike my expectation, it wasn’t awkward, but I do think it was a little emotionally tense: trying to figure out our comfort levels and boundaries (too soon to hug? do I call him dad? what do we tell Jake?), and I think most of us were a little nervous about how it would go. Thankfully it went well enough that we all want to see each other again and get to know each other, although the distance does make that a little challenging.
One thing I didn’t think about when I reached out to them last year were the ripples. I’ll admit I was selfish and just thought of myself and that I had a “right” to reach out to my dad. I didn’t think about the girls and what that would put them through. Or my mom and how she would feel (although I did give her a heads up that I had found them and again when I decided to meet them). Or my aunts and cousins. I really hadn’t considered how this would affect so many people, and in every sense that has been the most challenging aspect of this journey.
When I found him and when I met him, people kept asking how I was doing and how I was feeling…I think expecting a hot emotional mess. I think we’re all dealing a little with the “what if’s” that I was starting to come to terms with a few years ago, but over all it’s been very non-dramatic. Maybe it’s because I haven’t been holding on to any resentment or bitterness for the last 33 years, but I’ve been fine. I’m honestly just excited to meet my dad and his family and get to know them. I have an amazing family as is, so if meeting them hadn’t worked out, it would have been a bummer but thankfully I have a wonderful and supportive family already, so my risk was non-existent. Finding my dad and his family is icing on the cake. And I mean, who doesn’t love icing, right? But this cake is pretty delicious by itself also :) But I have to admit, I’m pretty excited about getting to know each of them.
Phew, maybe that should have been a separate blog post, haha, but let’s move on to some less intense updates.
Cooking. I’ve never been a huge fan of cooking. My grandma cooked for us every day and did it solo (I just snuck in to steal tomatoes), and my mom was a lone wolf in the kitchen as well. It was something that needed to get done, food had to be put on the table, and that was that. Except for annual tamale making around Christmas, cooking isn’t really family tradition for me, or something that I’ve grown up learning. So it’s a chore. And one that became even more daunting when Jake starting eating adult food (man, I really wish he would eat-he’s a terrible eater), and cooking “healthy” food became even more important. Throughout our entire relationship (ten years now!), Jeff and I have talked about eating better and exercising regularly. The exercising hasn’t stuck, but there’s something about someone’s life depending on you that makes you want to only do the best by him. I’m not saying we shop at Whole Foods and are vegan, but we try to cook at home more which I count as a success.
The routine of work, home, dinner, clean up, bath time, bedtime, is exhausting, repetitive, and…less than thrilling. Up until recently I really dreaded cooking. I felt like it took me away from hanging out with the boys or doing something more productive or exciting around the house. Thankfully Jeff has always liked my cooking, and recently he’s loved it. And I think that’s made a huge difference in how I approach cooking. I love making food that my family loves (Jake loves my cornbread…that’s about it, but I’ll take it for now). I love the praise I get from Jeff when I cook, and I love knowing that my family is eating something healthier than eating out constantly. Maybe not in the sense of healthy food (we eat more than our fair share of southern, fried stuff…), but at least I know there aren’t a ton of preservatives in it!
So as of last week, I’m enjoying cooking! Buying groceries every week though….ew.
Gilmore Girls. I just finished watching the new episodes of Gilmore Girls. My mom came over after Thanksgiving so we could watch it together since it was our thing when the show was on, but man, throw a toddler and a baby into the mix and we paused the episode so many times and I yelled at Jake so many other times, that I was exhausted and thankful when the first credits rolled up. I’ve managed to watch the rest after I put Josh to sleep and during my pumping sessions at work, and finished up last night. It wasn’t all perfect, but I have to say, I loved the imperfection of Rory’s life. Not all of us land that dream job, even if we were smart and ambitious at one point. I found it refreshing, maybe because it reflects my life a little: sometimes you don’t get exactly what you thought you wanted, but you get so much more!
The moment you’ve all been waiting for: The boys. The boys are doing great :) The first two-three months of Josh’s life were hard. HARD. This blog is getting pretty lengthy so I’ll save my pearls of wisdom of those first three months for a separate blog post, but thankfully now we’ve all gotten into our new regular of being a family of four. Josh is still keeping me up at night a lot (nursing every 2-3 hours, not awake and screaming, thankfully), but I’m also a sissy about sleep training, so I guess it’s my own fault. Other than that, he’s great. He’s pulling himself up everywhere, he’s mastered the army crawl, and really likes to be walked around everywhere now. I’m sure he’ll be walking in no time! He loves to give me open mouth, wet, kisses, and he is so so happy when I get home, it truly makes my heart happy. He’s constantly smiling, and has the most amazing crinkle nose smile!
And Jake. What can I say without sounding like “that” mother? He’s truly an amazing child. I mean it. He uses words like “frustrated,” “comfortable,” “area,” and “vehicle” to name a few. And he uses them all correctly! He knows plurals, and when to use us/them/their/me. He can have a lengthy discussion with you about his toys and the latest Tayo episode. And those are my favorite moments. When he is so excited about something that he just goes on and on and on. And he’s so sweet and kind, and always willing to lend a hand (and…and…and…). I love the relationships he has with his grandparents, and he loves them each so dearly. Things I don’t love: how hard it is to get him to eat, his dry skin/allergies, his quickness to get angry/frustrated with toys, how often he says “I’m mad” or asks “are you happy?” He’s always concerned about our happiness and making sure we’re not upset, haha.
Jeff. I know this blog is way too long already, but I can’t leave Jeff out. I truly, honestly, can’t imagine my life without him. Believe it or not, I get moody. A lot. My mom knows. And Jeff knows. And they both still love me the same and are amazing support people for me.
This parenting thing is no joke, but I am so blessed to be able to do it with a man that is patient, understanding, considerate, loving, etc., etc., etc. For example, last night at the dinner table he noticed that I forgot to get a glass of water, so he got one for me. I mean, he was already sitting down eating his food, trying to get Jake to eat, and NOTICED that. Insert heart googly eyes here.
I also love our parenting system: I love that it’s not a 50-50 in the sense that we have to split everything down the middle, we just work within our strengths and weaknesses. And it works for us.
Ok, I’ll let you all resume your normal daily activities. I really am going to try to blog more frequently so each blog doesn’t become a mini-novela.
I’ve been wanting to try a new recipe for a while, so I found one of my old cook books that had been in storage for over two years, and decided to go with “beautiful zucchini carbonara” from Jamie at Home: Cook Your Way to the Good Life. The attorney in me is a little leery of copying the recipe on here, but you can find it word for word at Jamie Oliver’s website, here. FYI, “courgette” means zucchini but in British ;)
My phone takes awful, non-focused pictures so it almost seems pointless to post them….almost.
I started by prepping the fresh thyme…and I’m glad I did because that took freaking forever. Have you every de-leafed fresh thyme?? Not sure it’s worth it…but anywhoo, I’m glad I did that before I got anything cooking. I then cut the bacon and placed that in a bowl, ready to go (side note: I live and die by “prepping” and having bowls with all my ingredients measured out and ready to go, it reduces my amount of anxiety once I start cooking, just to know that things are ready to go when I need them).
After that I followed the directions step by step. Do you know what the most beautiful kitchen smell is?
Yep, bacon. Soooo good.
Loooooooking good! At this point my pasta was already done, and the recipe says the zucchini and pasta should end at about the same time. So either I was slow in getting the zucchini in the pan (which is possible), or the pasta cooked faster than expected. Either way, I think next time I make this I will wait to get the pasta cooking until after I cut the zucchini or once I get the bacon going.
Mmmmmm-mmmmm! Not gonna lie, this turned out pretty great. A couple things: since my pasta finished cooking early I drained it and completely forgot to keep some of the pasta water. I didn’t want to use just plain, flavorless water (not sure that pasta water really has much “flavor,” but anyhoot…), so I compensated by throwing in a little canned chicken broth. Another thing was that I thought there was too much pasta, so I only used about 3/4 of it. Although it turned out delicious, it was a bit rich for me towards the end, which I think is either because I didn’t use enough “pasta water” to lighten it, or the chicken broth was a bit much to use instead of pasta water. I’ll have to try out a couple different things the next time I make this, but it was definitely good and definitely worth making again! And surprisingly, not too difficult to make :)
I still can’t believe how happy I was with this, especially considering how easy it was. I was a little weary of the cumin and chili powder, but the lime and cilantro are the flavors that really jump out once it’s all cooked.
For a side dish we made Crash Hot Potatoes. Ours did not look nearly as beautiful as these (they cooked unevenly and did not squish quite this perfectly at all like this), but they were so, so good! We used a seasoning called Herbs d’Provence, or something like that, which already has a mixture of great herbs and spices.
One thing to keep in mind is that these take a while. You have to boil the potatoes first (which depending on how many you’re making and how much water you’re using, could take a while), and then you back them for an additional 25 minutes or so, so plan accordingly–we didn’t and we were starving by the time we ate. Ha, maybe that’s why I thought everything was so good!
I’m pretty sure this chicken would go great with rice instead of potatoes, but we’d had rice the night before so I decided to switch it up. Added a salad on the side, and ta-da, dinner is served!
Finca Cielo Azul 