Stinky me

I totally stink at keeping up with the 365 challenge. My new addiction is stamping and card making. I LOVE it almost if not just as much as soap making! I must confess it has been a while since I have been in touch with my creative, artistic side. All I need is a piano and then I will be set. As I sit here and type this the kids are at school and I am waiting impatiently for the UPS man to drop off my Ippity Stamps. I am SO excited about Ippity, hopefully the Brown Truck will show up any moment and I can get started.

Number 9

Number 9 is a little backwards because the extra page didn't work out.

Number 10 & 11

Two Creations I made over the past week. I do believe I am getting better with making cards :D

365 Challenge

Boy I got a weeks worth of 365 pics to catch up on. I have created a page just for the 365 challenge if anyone cares to take a look.

Meal Planning Monday

Not much time this week as it appears to be busy but just a wee bit of planning.

Monday:Arby's
Tuesday: Taco Soup with bread
Wednesday: Poppyseed Chicken(didn't make it last week)
Thursday: grocery Shopping day probably something easy like Crock pot BBQ ribs.
Friday: I am thinking Shrimp or Homemade Fish sticks.

Book Review

My latest read was Lady of Milkweed Manor by Julie Klassan.
Overall I thought it was a pretty good read. I didn't enjoy it as much as The Silent Governess I am not sure if it was because of some of the story lines or what but for me it was a slow mover. I don't wish to ruin it for anyone but having struggled with infertility I found the whole unwed mother thing a bit much even for me. I am glad I checked it out of the Library and didn't buy it because for me it isn't one to read over and over again like say Julie Lessman's Daughters of Boston Series


Currently I am reading another one of Klassan's book called The Apothecary's Daughter my review will follow shortly I am a little over half way done with it right now.

The Love of my Life! by Eric Fulkerson

This is my first blog experience so I thought I would dedicate it to the love of my life, my wife Carissa. Over the past seven years, almost eight, I have had the honor and blessing of having the most wonderful and beautiful wife any man could ask for. She has been such a blessing in my life words can hardly describe it. She is such a loving, compassionate, caring, amazing woman, wife, and mother. She is my best-friend and my lover. To have such a magnificent woman by my side makes life, even in the difficult times, delightful. I love you more than the highest mountain or the biggest ocean. You are the delight of my life. I love you more than imaginable.

Your Loving Husband,


Eric

Season of loneliness

I have been trying to wrap my head around this post because I am not the best at articulating how I feel onto a blog or piece of paper.
Lately it has been a season of loneliness for me. I often struggle with fitting in or feeling I belong. I never have felt I really belong here(here being Illinois). It has been almost 8 years and I have yet to have the intimacy of a friendship, sure I have a bunch of people I know from Church and other places but there is no one I feel comfortable sharing my heart with and yet here I am writing where a bunch of people have the opportunity to read what is on my heart, ironic huh? Through these seasons of loneliness God has always reminded me that this is not my "home" that my real home is heaven and I am just a visitor here on earth. I suppose his reminder is to help me long for heaven and in turn dig deeper in my relationship with him longing to be with him for eternity. I am not sure what I would do without him on days like today where the isolation and loneliness grips my heart and brings me down.
Psalm 119:49-50 Says

49 Remember your word to your servant,
for you have given me hope.

50 My comfort in my suffering is this:
Your promise preserves my life.

I praise the Lord for his promises to me, my Hope is in him alone.

Pot Roast Chicken

I was browsing Momsmenu.com and came across this recipe that looks super easy and sounds delicious.

POT ROAST CHICKEN

Makes 4 - 6 servings

3 medium onions, peeled and quartered
8 stalks of celery, washed and cut in thirds
8 medium carrots, peeled and cut in thirds
1 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley
1 1/2 tsp. dried sage
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. black pepper from the shaker
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. oil
3 pound whole chicken, washed inside and out
1 pound small red potatoes
15 ounce can chicken broth
2 Tbsp. flour
3/4 cup water

Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1 1/2 hours

In a Dutch oven that you can use in your oven, brown together the onions, celery, carrots, rosemary, thyme, parsley, sage, oregano, pepper, salt, and oil. This will take 5 to 8 minutes over medium heat.

With a slotted spoon, remove all the ingredients and place in a bowl, except the drippings. Leave them in the Dutch oven. Set the bowl aside.

Add the chicken to the Dutch oven. Brown it on all sides, then place it ON ITS BACK in the Dutch oven. This will take about another 5 - 8 minutes.

Return all the vegetables and herbs to the Dutch oven. Add the potatoes which you have washed, but not peeled, and the chicken broth. Cover the Dutch oven.

Bake at 400 degrees for an hour and a half. When the chicken is tender, remove it to a platter and cut into serving pieces. Surround the chicken with the vegetables and herbs.

Add the flour to the 3/4 cup water and blend. Stir into the drippings left in the Dutch oven, stirring constantly over medium heat until drippings have thickened enough for gravy.

Serve!

This is a great dinner any time of year, but really warms the soul, the home, and the heart on those rainy, dreary autumn days. It's so packed with good taste that you don't even notice all the great vitamins and minerals you are getting to keep healthy and fit!

Not peeling the potatoes keeps most of the nutrients inside. The herbs add Vitamin C, A, and needed minerals to a daily diet.

Skimming the drippings before mixing in the flour and water will keep this meal relatively cholesterol free.

Try making up a banana bread recipe using canned pumpkin in place of the banana in the recipe to serve with this great supper idea!

Must add it to my menu for next week!

Meal Planning Monday

We are doing E-mealz and a little of my own recipes.

Monday- Creamed Hamburger on Toast
Tuesday- Poppyseed Chicken
Wednesday- Beef and Cheese Enchiladas
Thursday- Soup Night- Taco Soup
Friday- Italian Casserole
Saturday- Breakfast
Sunday- Subway Day

Day 8-365 Challenge

Eric makes these fabulous cinnamon rolls for special occasions apparently Valentine's Day counts as special ;)

Day 7 Valentine Card

I have started making homemade cards. I am not that good but hopefully with more practice I will be happy with my lack of artistic ability or find some that was hidden inside.

Day 6 Valentine's Love

9 years ago today DH popped the question. We had an 18 month engagement while he was deployed overseas. I am so happy he chose me to be his wife and helpmate.

Flylady dropout

I am not the best house keeper. I admit I am usually behind on laundry and don't always have a my dishes done in the morning, I am a flylady drop out and sometimes am surprised about what I find under my cushions. I have been trying to do better even though it may not be perfect my goal has to be at least to keep my Kitchen simi clean which means dishes done, counter tops cleaned and free of the junk that tends to collect on them. My perfectionist attitude has gotten in the way, you know the well if it can't be perfect I just won't do it. For me it's the why pick up when it will be a mess again in less than a minute attitude. Thankfully the Lord has convicted me of this recently especially to the fact of what my attitude is teaching my kids so I have been making a conscience effort to have at least the dishes done before bed and the counter tops clean off. Sure I haven't been 100% this week but waking up on the days when I have gotten it done has made me feel so much better and I have noticed it even has a positive mental effect on me which I like and that is pretty big when you struggle with depression. So slowly but surely I may be flylady but for now we are just taking it little steps at a time.

#5 365 Challenge

Date day with the hubs thought it was the perfect occasion to snap a picture of myself with makeup on and in a nice sweater because these things don't happen every day!

#4 Pancake Breakfast

Since it was grocery shopping time we were out of pretty much everything the kids normally eat for breakfast so I made them a treat of Apple Cinnamon Pancakes.

#3

We are about 7 inches short of our average snowfall for the year. A truly sad thing because my kids have been dying to make a snowman. I guess we will just be settling for little bits for now.

Day 2-365 Challenge

We are still waiting for our first big snowfall of the year. This snowfall we received last night made the trees look beautiful.

Meal Planning Monday

Monday- Take Out
Tuesday-Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes, Green Salad
Wednesday-Chicken N Rice, Green Beans
Thursday-Pot Roast in Crockpot with roasted Potatoes and Carrots.
Friday-Leftovers
Saturday Night-Pancakes, Eggs, Bacon
Sunday-Subway Sunday

Organizing Carissa

I often get asked "how on earth do you do it?" to tell you the truth I don't do so well with certain things like menu planning, keeping a clean and uncluttered home, getting the laundry folded and put away you know those things. I really need to get some sort of organization routine started so I have decided to start with menu planning. I found a site called plantoeat.com it allows to upload all your recipes and save recipes you have gotten off the web from places like allrecipes.com etc. I am currently on the 30 day free trial after that it is about $5 a month. I also stumbled upon another blog today called orgjunkie.com that has a share all with her Menu Plan Monday. It was quite inspirational and enlightening. Hopefully with these two new resources I can become a better organized person and in turn be a better wife and mom although I know my family loves me the way I am but I don't think they would mind if our house ran with a little more efficiency.

Day 1-365 Challenge

Cheesecake all over his face. He had a good time in the Cheesecake bowl.

Thinking about the 365 challenge

I have been tempted to take the 365 challenge since I first heard about it last year but have been scared to take on another project. Looking back over my year of pictures it has been made clear I really need to get the camera out and capture more moments in time not only of my family but the little things in life that I find so fascinating like pink morning skies, thunderstorms, butterflies and the list goes on. I suppose there is never a perfect time to start a new project especially when you are a mother of four so the best thing to do is just to dive in so here I come!

My Beautiful kids...

One of my first digital scrapbook designs. I am still learning but really liked the brown and how it captures each of their faces.

Trying to focus on little things

Life is kind of depressing right now, it's cold, there isn't any snow, and my family is sick all of them except me. I am trying not to focus on griping or complaining and think of all the things I have to be thankful for. One of those things is coffee. I love my coffee, I look forward to it each morning. It has become one of the things I "treat" myself to. I am not sure if it was growing up around a military community or what that got me started drinking, all I know is I had my first cup when I was 15 or 16 and really became a everyday cup drinker after I got married and moved to the midwest. As I have gotten older the darker the roast the better. mmmmm....I can smell the pot brewing now.