Uh...10 on Wednesday?

1. I can't believe an entire week..no wait..more than a week has gone by already! I don't feel like I've been crazy busy or anything...just preoccupied maybe? And priorities are shifting I think. Not going to stop blogging though!
2. Spring has sprung around here! Oh man am i loving it! Today it's 73*! I'm wearing a tank top AND flip flops! Holla!
3. All the trees in my neighborhood (ok, not all but a LOT) look just like this one to the left. Thank goodness I don't have allergies. You can smell these things all over the neighborhood. So pretty though!
4. I haven't been taking a lot of pictures lately. Sadly, the ones I have taken have been with my iPhone. I know, right? I think it's actually time to get a new SLR. My little Rebel just doesn't seem to be performing like it used to. I dunno if it's me or the camera or the lens...but I just haven't been happy with it lately. It sucks though..because you think when you spend that kind of money on something, it should last more than 3 years, right?
5. Jake set up this awesome little leprechaun trap last night. He got a box without a lid, then made a ladder for the little guy to climb up onto a "fake" lid with a camouflaged hole in it. So the thing would drop into the box and then not be able to get out. He even taped is very precious gold coins onto the fake lid to lure the leprechaun. Pretty ingenious if you ask me. Now if you know Jake, you know his gold coins and any of his "treasure" are about the most important things to him in the world. So do you think it was really mean of me to come down here this morning and steal the gold coins from the trap to make it look like the leprechaun took them? I just wanted to give him a "genuine" leprechaun trap experience. He said he didn't care that he took them. But I think we all know he DOES care.
6. Do you die food green on St Patricks day? I don't. I've always thought that was kind of gross. Green eggs and ham? Blech. No thank you.
7. I still haven't used my iTunes gift card. BUT! I did tag 3 songs on iHeartRadio that I want to download. So...that's progress, yeah?
8. I bought a stinky candle from the kid across the street today. (yeah, that kid. the one i don't like. the one with the wacky parents) I don't know why I can't say no. I mean he did ask nicely and all. But did I need a candle? NO. And then it was weird. A few hours later, the dad comes over to thank me. I mean, I guess that's nice, right? I just get so nervous now every time the parents knock on my door. I'm paranoid about some sort of confrontation.
9. Did I mention how nice the weather is?! I think I'm going to go on my 2nd walk of the day when Megs gets up from her nap.
10. Yellow is my favorite color right now. I know it probably clashes with my red hair something terrible, but I can't help it. I love it! Yellow and gray together-total favorite.

That's 10! Happy Wednesday and Happy St. Patrick's Day!

10 on Tuesday

1. Sometimes I try and be a "nice" mom and I buy things that I'm so sure my kids will LOVE. Like sugary cereal. Don't all kids like that nasty stuff? I am not a fan of sugary cereal. Or really any cereal for that matter. If I have to eat it, give me some Corn Flakes or something. Well apparently, I've passed this trait down to my children. I bought them Lucky Charms last week. They hate it. Absolutely hate it. You'd think I was giving them a bowl full of cough medicine. They want Rice Chex. (not that this is a bad thing)
2. I'm completely annoyed by most drivers lately. It's like....do they even realize there are other people on the road? No.
3. I kind of had a hard weekend on the weight loss train. I didn't go off the program or anything, but I did learn that Not Having A Plan is a very bad thing. We made a hasty stop at a McDonald's Sunday afternoon. I wasn't really that hungry, but I thought I'd better eat something, because I wasn't sure when the next opportunity would arise. So I thought I'd chosen smart with the Grilled Chicken Sandwich. WRONG. The stupid thing was 9 WW points. That's A LOT. I decided quickly that I did not want to sacrifice so many points on one lame-o sandwich so I decided to only eat half. Which ended up being only 3 bites. And I was starving for the rest of the day.
4. I probably would have been better off and more satisfied if I'd just gotten a regular cheeseburger. At least those taste good.
5. I still have not used my iTunes gift card.
6. I keep having dreams that I'm running in a race. I'm a really awesome runner in my dreams. I never feel winded and I always feel like I could run forever. It's nothing like when I'm running in real life.
7. Since I often have strange dreams I like to look them up for dream interpretations.....apparently when you dream your running with other people (like in a race) it symbolizes prosperity and happy times. That's good!
8. Why is it when you lose weight, you notice it in the weird places first? Seriously I noticed it in my fingers, ankles and my boobs first. What about that muffin top? why can't we see it there first? Well, I am starting to see it all over now and I'm not quite ready to go down a jean size....but I might need to start wearing a belt :)
9. I'm really super proud of Jake lately. We got his report card last week and he's improved a lot since the beginning of the year. It's been tough. Honestly I can not wait for the school year to be over. And I'm praying he does not get stuck in a split grade class again next year. With him being so young as it is, AND the only boy in his grade in the class....ugh it's just not been good. But he's really pushed through it. I recommend SpelllingCity.com to anyone with grade school kids. Using this site along with regular homework has improved his spelling, reading, writing and fluency so much.
10. We went to the ranch on Sunday to pick up the last of Pete's things. But really, it deserves it's own post. More on that later.

Make this now!

Oh my word!!
Seriously people stop what your doing (after you read this of course) and go to the store and get the stuff to make this dinner. Like now. It is that good. Everyone in here loved it. There were no left overs; not even a tiny bit. I will definitely be adding this to my regular rotation.

Pineapple Glazed Chicken with Jalapeno Pineapple Salsa
(adapted from a recipe at Epicurious.com)

Salsa:
3/4 cup fresh pineapple diced into 1/4 inch cubes (i'm sure canned pineapple would work fine if you can't find fresh)
3 Tblsp finely diced red bell peper
2 Tblsp diced red onion
2 Tblsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tblsp diced jalapeno (without the seeds it will not be so hot)

Mix all that together and splash a little bit of pineapple juice over it just to get the flavors mixing.

Chicken:
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts patted dry and seasoned with salt and peper
1-2 Tblsp olive oil

Heat a skillet on medium high heat add olive oil and let it get hot.
Add chicken and brown on each side
Once the chicken is done, remove it to a plate and wipe your skillet sort of clean

Glaze: (this is the goooood part!) I doubled this recipe
1/4 cup pineapple juice (i used caned juice that I found by the 'ethnic' juices...like coconut, and mango etc...)
2 Tblsp brown sugar
2 Tblsp yellow mustard ( i used spicy brown mustard because it was what I had)

In your skillet on medium low add in the juice, brown sugar and mustard and whisk together. Bring to a boil and let it simmer for a minute till it thickens a bit. Then add the chicken back to the skillet and let it all warm together, spooning the sauce over the chicken.

And surprisingly, even as good as this is...it is low in WW points. Aprox. 4pts per serving and I calculated it at 4 servings.

Serve with Cilantro Lime Rice (tastes just like Chipotle's) and black beans.

10 on Tuesday

I thought since I had a bunch of random stuff to blog about (what's new?!) I'd just go ahead and jump in on this 10 on Tuesday stuff :)

1. Thank you so much for your support and encouraging words about parenting last week. I really appreciate it. It's a constant challenge and I'm finding I'm always learning, changing and growing from being a parent.

2. I got an iPhone last week. I SO did not need one. You know sometimes you just gotta go ahead and get what you want regardless if it is a necessity or not. I have a hard time with this. I tend to just walk through a store and talk myself out of things. But I didn't do that this time. And you know what? I got a great deal on it, so it didn't take much convincing. I'm having so much fun with it. There's an app for everything!

3. I'm really enjoying the Hipstamatic camera app. The photo above was taken with it. Ali just announced she's going to do the week in the life project again this spring. Since I didn't finish it last fall, I'm thinking maybe doing it this year and using my iPhone for the pics. I'm kinda diggin' the whole Polaroid/Photo booth look to these pictures and think it would make for a fun album.

4. Is iTunes as intimidating to anyone else as much as it is to me? I've never been a song downloader. Never had an iPod or MP3 player...nothing like that. So now I have this phone that is also a music player and Pete just happened to win a $50 iTunes gift card the other day and I have no idea what to do with it. I mean I DO.... But I'm totally overwhelmed with choices. I love music. Where do I start? How would I ever stop? My current faves? But what about my best oldies? Do i mix genres or just go with one for now and get that out of the way? See, I totally over think things. So this gift card is just sitting here. Waiting for me to make up mind about what to do with it.

5. Weight loss/exercise update: It's been 5 weeks and I'm still going strong! I've lost 12 lbs so far and I've moved up to level 3 of the 30 day shred. I NEVER thought I could ever get there. I feel really good and I'm starting to feel like myself again. I still have a long way to go. I'm going for the gold this time. I keep looking at it like going over little hurdles until I get to the finish line. I don't really have any other goals except just getting there. In the past I've done it because I was going on a vacation or whatever. And then once that was over so was the whole "plan". This time I'm doing it for me.

6. Eating well has really not been that difficult. I've found some really great recipes that the whole family likes. Like this and this and this (such a great blog!) We really like tacos and burritos here in our house. I switched over to whole wheat tortillas a few weeks ago. I thought for sure everyone would complain. Turns out they all like them better than regular old flour! Who knew?!

7. Still enjoying our new "normal" around here. Pete has still been busy with business, but since the ranch part of it is out of the equation, it has been SO much better! He's been here Friday nights, guiding hunts Saturday mornings, home in the afternoon, and home all day Sunday. I know not every weekend is going to be that way, but I'm totally ok with that. So far, so good.

8. Really can not wait for spring. It's raining here again. I know rain is not as bad as snow. But I'm just ready to move on now :) I'm tired of wearing sweatshirts. And shoes.

9. Saturday night is our fundraiser dinner for the school PTA. Looking forward to that since it's adults only. :D There's also a silent and live auction and Pete has donated a hunt for it. I'm so curious to see how much it goes for. We already know of 3 or 4 parents who want to bid on it. So we'll see!

10. Oh! I finally watched Julie and Julia last night. What a cute movie! We are just in love with Amy Adams. She is adorable. And Meryle Streep...she's amazing. I teared up just a bit when Julia finally met her long time pen pall. Because...it's that sort of what we're doing here with blogging? Blogging is like the modern day pen pall. And I remember what it felt like meeting someone for the first time who I "knew" but never really met. So yeah...tears. I cry over everything!

Happy Tuesday