Weekend Yumminess

I've been working really hard at cooking my breakfast and most of my dinners at home during the week. Even on weekends I've been doing pretty well. My usual go to is a Trader Joe's whole wheat cinnamon raisin English muffin, a couple pieces of Trader Joe's Black Forest Bacon, egg whites, and coffee. But on weekends I like to get a bit fancier but I still like simple so I go for German Pancakes. This is such a quick recipe you could even make it on a weekday as a treat. I started with the recipe from Redhead Recipes but since it is just me I've cut it down a bit...

Original Recipe:
German Pancakes (adapted from allrecipes.com)
3 Tbsp butter
6 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt

Place butter in 9x13 baking dish and place in oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine remaining ingredients in blender, blend until combined. Once butter is melted, remove baking dish from oven. Poor in batter. Bake for 20 minutes. Serve with strawberries, powdered sugar, or maple syrup!

My Variation: 

(basically I just halve the recipe)

1 1/2 Tbsp butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt

Place butter in 8x8 (or 9x9) glass baking dish and place in oven. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine remaining ingredients in bowl, mix with an electric mixer until combined. Once butter is melted, remove baking dish from oven. Pour in batter. Bake for 15 minutes. (check it, it should be full cooked with a bit of golden brown on top) I sprinkle it with powdered sugar and eat it with Trader Joe's real maple syrup.

As I read this I'm realizing I may have a problem. I am addicted to Trader Joe's. What can I say I like good food at good prices.

The Beginning of the "Lasts"

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It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving is Thursday. How time has flown. And yet in some aspects of my life time has moved slowly. On September 28th of 2010 I put my husband on a plane for Japan to begin his 3 year geo bachelor tour. This year begins the beginning of the end. This Thanksgiving will be the last Thanksgiving I spend without him before he is scheduled to come home from Japan. It is hard to believe. It seemed like such a long time to have him gone and it was. But the light at the end of the tunnel is visible. For those of you with loved ones near by appreciate them and let them know you love them. For those of you with loved ones far away you are in my thoughts. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!!

I Will Thrive: Buying a New Fridge

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So although our refrigerator isn't dead I believe it is slowly dying. So we decided to take advantage of some of his bonus pay and buy a new one. I went to Lowes, Home Depot, hhgregg and Best Buy to scout them out. I decided to go with Lowes with their 10 % off appliances, the military 10% discount, and the fact that it was tax free weekend I was going to get a $2399 fridge for $1919. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me. So I went in on my lunch hour, had all the item numbers ready for the fridge and the warranty, and I set up delivery and haul away of the old fridge. Good to go! That was the beginning of October and the fridge was scheduled to arrive October 22nd at the store. On October 20th I get the call that it is in and they are ready to schedule delivery. It gets scheduled for the 29th. Then Hurricane Sandy hit and it got rescheduled for November 5th. No problem good to go. 

Then the fun begins...I get a call Sunday night giving me a delivery time. Monday morning I get a call...I'm thinking the delivery time has changed. Nope when they unpacked it to load it on the truck they discovered a ding and wanted to give me the option of taking it or leaving it and ordering a new one. I decided for the price and the fact that it was brand new I wanted a perfect one. They assured me it would be an easy transaction to get the new one ordered. Ha...not even close to easy. I get a call around noon asking for my credit card so they can recharge it. I ask about the refund. She informs me they already did the refund so now they just need my card to recharge it. I explain that it is a checking account so I can't recharge until the refund hits. And I ask how come they started the transaction without talking to me and without explaining the process. Her response includes some hmms and haas and an explanation that since I refused delivery they had to refund it. So I talk to a manager who explains they can't undo what's been done and although it could have been one transaction it can't now. He is very apologetic and says he'll call me daily to see what's going on so it doesn't fall through the cracks. No call Tuesday. No call Wednesday. So Wednesday the money hits my checking account and I call them to reorder my fridge. She pulls up my order and quotes a price that is $100 more than what I paid. I inquire about the price difference. She explains that it is tax. I explain that I want it tax free because I bought it without tax. She says she'll have to get a manager. They put me on hold on and off for 30 minutes. Finally she comes back and tells me the card was declined. I look online and it has the charge from Lowes on there for the reorder so I tell her this only to find out that is not in fact a charge but it is in fact a hold on the account for a phone authorization. So in essence I need to have twice the amount of the fridge available so they can put the hold and then charge the actual amount. At this point I'm beyond ticked and ask for a manager. She comes on and says that there is nothing she can do this is the way the process works. When I ask about how come it couldn't be done as one transaction to begin with she tells me if I'd come into the store it could have been. WTH?!? Why wasn't I told this from the beginning  Well we were trying to make it easier on you so it wouldn't be inconvenient for you. Epic fail on their part. So I'm in a holding pattern again. I have to wait for the hold to come off in order to reorder the dang thing.

The hold finally came off today...a week later. I decided to go to hhgregg and see what they can do. At first they can't quite match it because of the tax and the fact that their warranty is more expensive. Then they appliance manager decides to wave the tax so it is only $30 more than Lowes. And I won't have anymore run around. I wanted to talk to J before I pull the trigger and order from hhgregg. He has agreed so we will be getting our new fridge from hhgregg assuming nothing else changes. I think the truly frustrating part with Lowes is the attitude I received even from managers that I just had to live with it and that they didn't really care that I was unhappy. The sad part is I used to be a huge fan of Lowes because they offer a military discount. And for hardware stuff I'm sure we'll still go there but I'm not sure I'll get big ticket items there anymore. 

I Will Thrive: Taking Ballet

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Early on in the deployment I made a Deployment Bucket List and as I've gone through this deployment I've added a few (and removed a few) well next week I'm taking on one I've added. Ballet Classes. Now I should say I've NEVER taken ballet classes a day in my life but it has always been something I've wanted to do. So when I heard that the local dance studio was offering an adult ballet class and my friend was taking it I decided to jump and take the class. I admit I'm nervous and excited all in one. I'm excited because I've wanted to take a class like this for years but I'm nervous because I've never taken one. Also I know some of the people in the class are very experienced so that is a bit intimidating. But I think the draw of the fun outweighed the fear. So here we go...

I Will Thrive: Deployment Stories...Lost

Last night on my way home I debated between going to the store and buying the ingredients for taco salad or just stopping by Moe's on my way home to pick one up. I decided to just pick one up. Some how in the process of walking into the restaurant, being in the restaurant and walking back out to my car (a period of 15 minutes) my keys disappeared. I went back in and looked around for about an hour and a half no luck. They checked the camera, the trash can, etc no luck. I was on a college campus so I called their campus police and reported it. So far I haven't heard anything. I suspect that I set them down when getting my drink and someone else accidentally picked them up. Because I just can't see how else they disappeared.

The restaurant was mostly helpful but they kept suggesting I hadn't lost them and that they were in my car. I had locked my car on my way in so I knew this wasn't the case. Fortunately a friend of mine came and got me, took me home to get my spare set and brought me back to my car. Also equally fortunate my neighbor was home so I could get my spare key. I admit it was almost the straw that broke the camel's back. I was on the verge of tears in the parking lot when I was looking for them.

I called both the restaurant and the campus police today with no luck. I hold out one more hope that my YMCA tag will help them return. But we shall see. When I talked to J this morning he said "no one was hurt and nothing was lost that can't be replaced, look for them for a few days and then stop stressing about it." That was what I needed to hear I was so stressed about it.

I admit I'm just frustrated. Have you ever had a experience where you lost something and you were so frustrated?

I might be insane...

I've decided to set a goal to work up to a 10 mile walk (race).

There is a Santa 10 Miler in December every year over in Virginia Beach and I've decided to aim for next year. I don't feel I can get there yet for this year but I'm thinking of doing the Frosty 5K on the same day.

Then I'm thinking of doing the Hair of the Dog 5K on January 1st also in Virginia Beach.

And I'm going to work toward the Shamrock 8K in March.

And then I'm going to walk the Wicked 10K in October.

And I'll walk the NNSB 5K in November.

And of course the Coup de Grace...the Surf n Santa 10 Miler in December.

So there we have it in writing. I figure I have to have some accountability so you guys are it! (the only catch might be finances because these get expensive)

What are some of your goals for activity?

I Will Thrive ~ Exotic Dancing

As I mentioned before I am taking "Stripper" Classes at a place called Studio Rio. The instructors are former dancers, personal trainers, etc that are excited and more than willing share their knowledge with those of us in class. I finished the four week Beginner Series and have started in the four week I Feel Pretty series. At the end of the Beginner Series we were given a routine do perform for him using the song Darling Nicky by Prince. At the end of the I Feel Pretty series we'll have a routine for ourselves using the song Beautiful by Christina Aguilera. For this class we're using a railing, the stage, and a pole. It is a bit intimidating but it is so much fun!

I decided to sign up for their membership so that I can take as many classes as I want each month. So far I've taken Stripper Stretch (working you up to the splits) and Poles 1. Stripper Stretch was good but difficult and I do feel more flexible. Poles 1 was a lot of fun. She taught us a bit of Pole Seduction which was more about playing with the pole than doing tricks on it. Although we did learn some tricks. The hard part for me is I hold on too tight. You have to hold on but you need to have a loose grip. (Hold it like a banana) I definitely want to take more pole classes. And I think I will continue with the Stripper Stretch class too.

They have other classes I want to take but because of my work schedule I'm not able to take some of them because I'm still at work. I'm hoping they will revamp some of their schedules as we get further into spring and summer. So we'll see.

I Will Thrive - Unknowns of Deployment

Since J left for the most part I do fine. I'd even say I do great all things considered. I miss him like crazy but I go about my life just fine. I go to work. I spend time with my friends. I take care of the house and pets. I am working on losing weight. I am leading First Place 4 Health. I am taking exotic dancing classes (and loving them!!). I have helped my Mom move not just once but twice now. I feel like most days I have it under control.

But there are a lot of unknowns in deployment and some days those stress me out.

1. When and where the ship will be...I am not of the paygrade to be privy to the ship's schedule. I am ok with this but it can cause some stress because I don't know where he is. He is underway in the Pacific somewhere that is all I know. 
2. When I'll hear from him...some days we're blessed and he is online through email a lot. Other days I only get a quick short email. And some days I don't hear from him at all. So far we've been blessed with good communication but we have had a couple times where communication was shut down from the ship. It is a tad unnerving not to hear anything at all but I try to think no news is good news.
3. What is going to happen with his base...he is stationed at Yokosuka, Japan. Currently the base has voluntary evacuation and they are monitoring the levels of radiation. We are assuming they will get this under control before the ship is due back. But time will tell.
4. If you want to make them laugh...tell the military your plans...oh this is so true. It stinks as a military family but it is to be lived by. I try not to get my heart set on any one thing schedule wise because if the military can they will mess it up change things. We are trying to make travel plans...we are buying insurance.
5. Trust is important...he knows my life here...he knows my friends...my job...my routine...etc. I know nothing of his life there...his friends...his job...his routine...etc but I trust him completely and totally. He knows this and he trusts me. And really I don't think it matters if your significant other is 10 inches...10 miles...or 10,000 miles away...if you don't trust them there is a big problem. But I admit I worry about his safety when he goes out drinking or whatever because I don't know these people and I don't know if they have his back. He says they do so again I trust him.
6. Patience is a virtue...there is a lot of waiting involved in life in general but the military puts it to a new level of expertise. You don't know what will happen. Anticipation and assumption can drive you crazy. So be patient...it will work out exactly as it is supposed to work out.

Good luck!!