Not Much Going On Here

There really isn't much going on here. I am enjoying my new job on a oncology unit. My daughter and I are enjoying a new playgroup we joined to let her play more with kids her own age. Our oldest son had his first Homecoming, and we enjoyed Halloween. We are looking forward to the holidays mostly.

Our New Puppy

This is our new puppy. Her name is Daisy. She is half Lab and half Blue Heeler. She is doing great with the house training.

My Graduate

My son graduated the 8th grade. He is growing up so fast.

Weight Loss

I lost one half pound at my last weigh in. I know I did not do as good as I normally would have, but my oldest son graduated from the 8th grade and we had several parties to go to. But a loss is a loss. I did not gain anything. I do feel a little better today. I managed to run over a mile and not pass out. LOL, but I do need to wait until a cooler part of the day to run. I guess we will see what this weeks weigh in brings.

Weightwatchers update

Ok so I weighed in last week and I lost 2.2 pounds. This is harder than I thought. I am a big emotional eater. I do believe that this week was hard for me and I don't think that I have done very well. There have been way too many parties and not enough healthy food. I'm sure that I should expect some setbacks but it is still hard. I will do better tomorrow. I am going to exercise first thing in the morning. Then off to my oldest sons eight grade graduation. I will post pics soon.

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Weight Loss

I was asked to participate in Weightwatchers. My friend started it and asked me to join also. I did two weeks ago. I have lost weight. My starting weight was 175 pounds. I am sharing my weight because it will not be this much for long. I am now at 170.8 pounds. Weightwatchers is teaching me how to choose more wisely the foods that I eat. It is hard because I love to bake and cook and low fat and fat free where not in my vocabulary. I have been working a lot lately, but it is for a good reason. Working makes having time for exercise a little more difficult, but I need to try a little harder I guess. If anyone has ideas on how to work out while also working 12 hour night shifts please suggest away. I need it!

Painting Today

Well I am working on another picture today. I'm painting a dragon koi fish and a lotus blossom. I love koi fish. I really want a koi fish tattoo, but it is a bit pricey. This one is going to take a while. I have to figure out how to paint flower petals first. My flower petals do not look all that great right now, but my sketch of the fish is awesome. OK so I'm a little biased. What artist is not proud of their work. I can't wait to finish. I am tired though and I need to go to bed. So off to bed with me, and I started listening to hypnosis download. It hypnotises you to lose weight. I know you are probably thinking that this is stupid, but I was hypnotized last night. I remember the person on the CD counting up to ten but I only remember around six or so then the next thing I remember is the person counting backwards to one. Talk about freaky. Well I hope it works.
Bye Bye until next time!

My Wonderful Husband Denny

This is a little collection of pictures of my husband. He is the most wonderful husband a woman could ask for. He is so sweet and kind. He may not look like he is a romantic, but he is. I just love all of his tattoos. I find that very attractive. Ok you dragged it out of me I think he is HOT! He loves to cook and bake. He spends time with our beautiful daughter and my boys. He helps me so much I really do not know what I would do without him. I truly believe that he was sent to me by the gods at a time in my life when he was needed most. So ladies beware what you wish for someone may be listening and you may just get it!

Baking Bread

Well I'm still hurting with whatever is in my abdomen and side. (why can't I just give birth to an alien already???) I decided to do something to take my mind off of the pain. I made a loaf of homemade bread. It was fairly easy to do. Anyone can make bread with just what you have in your kitchen. Nothing fancy is needed. Only ingredients include flour, salt, butter, water, sugar and yeast. After all of the kneading and rising you are left with this wonderful little piece of heaven. All warm on the inside and crunchy on the outside. Well I guess I will just go and eat a piece of my homemade bread. I encourage everyone to at least try to make a loaf at least once in your lifetime. Good luck and happy baking.

Easter 2010

I am a little late with posting some Easter pictures. We had a wonderful Easter with the family. I enjoyed being with my family on a holiday for once. I am a nurse so I must work on some holidays.

recipe for Tammy's quick and easy cake mix cookies

Tammy's Cake Mix Cookies

One box of any flavor cake mix for example (yellow)
depending on what cake flavor you use add a box of complimentary flavor pudding mix for example (vanilla)
three large eggs
1/2 cup of oil
one teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup of water
1 cup of oatmeal
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup of nuts (any type that compliments the cake mix)(optional)
1/2 cup of golden raisins(optional)

preheat oven to 350 degrees
mix all ingredients together, if the mixture is too dry you may add more water.
drop cookie dough onto baking sheet sprayed with Pam
bake until light brown on top
depending on what size you make the cookies you can get at least a dozen or more from this recipe
the sit back with a glass of cold milk and enjoy!

What's Up With Me Today?

Well a few things have happened since I last blogged. I currently have kidney stones. I always am bothered with them. I just cant seem to get rid of them totally. I have just decided that I need to become more healthy. It seems that I have slipped on the weight roller coaster lately. I am going to give Weight Watchers a try. My husband, bless his heart, says I'm the sexiest thing he has ever been with. But I need to lose a few pounds for bathing suit season that has shown up on my back porch. Until these kidney stones get out of me, I have to put P90X on hold for now. That means just concentrating on what I eat. So with all this time on my hands I can just dwell on the food aspect of my life. LOL! I have decided on weekly meal plans. I used to just go to the store and buy whatever I wanted. Well guess what? I came to the realization that if I stuck to a list that I would actually save money. Go figure. I only spent 150 dollars on groceries this week. Wow! for me that is not a lot. I am used to blowing at least 300 a week. My kids (three growing boys) always wanted a lot of quick snacks. And that costs a lot. Now I decided that I can make the snacks a lot cheaper. Me and my husband baked snacks last night. I made some cookies and he made some chocolate chip banana muffins. I know that they are not on my diet but I cant let my children suffer. On another note, my children are at perfect weights and are very active. They are ok eating the occasional snack. And if I make them I don't have to worry about all the preservatives and junk in the snacks. bye bye for now!

Cooking With Tammy

Well I love to bake. I can just about bake anything, and surprisingly tastes really good. Some people tell me that I should open a bakery.(maybe they are just being nice) There is no box cake mix for me. All homemade from scratch. Even though I feel I am good at baking(thanks to all of my test test subjects opinions) I am not so great at the main course part. I can cook meals, but I guess I want to branch out and learn new things. So.......I watched the movie Julie and Julia, It was absolutely great. I fell like the cooks in the movie. I love to feed people. I love to see the happiness on their faces when something I made tastes great. Does everyone who has a love for cooking feel the same as me? I think that the movie has given me inspiration to learn a little about French cooking. So my next project will be to go on a search for Julia Child's famous Mastering the Art of French Cooking and start to experiment with some new unknown recipes. I am so excited. I will post about the recipes I try and what everyone thinks. So wish me luck!!!!

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Well this is my second attempt at a blog. I guess it is time for change. Change is good.

I suppose I should start by telling a little about myself and my family. I am 35 years old, a nurse, and I have been married to my second husband for five years. I have four children who I love more than life itself. I suppose like any other nurse I work too much, but my husband and I decided to have him stay at home with the children so that they would not have to go to daycare.
I home school my youngest son. My daughter is only three, but she is the little princess of our family. Not everyone agrees with our arrangement, but we don't care. We live for our family and nobody else. I enjoy cooking, gardening, crocheting, reading, maybe housework, and I have started to paint now. My mother paints some. I guess it is contagious.

My goal is to blog more.I would like to post my recipes, my art work, and our daily going ons. So if you would like to follow our little place in the world please read along, laugh, cry with me and enjoy. It doesn't get any better than this.