i'm alive...

Howdy stranger!

Yes, this blog still exists, even though I do not have anything new to post today.  I just wanted to let all of my faithful followers know that I am, indeed, still alive and breathing, and, to date, am not living in a dark hole as it may seem.

Actually, I lied about not having anything to post.  It's just that I've been MIA for so long that I have more to post than I can even wrap my head around, and the energy I will require to pass all those gems on to you will surely deflate me.  Thus, I'm going to have to take this slowly.  Trust me, you'll get filled in.  And I won't go months without writing anymore.  It's just taken me a while to get to the point where I can muddle through the whirlwind of thoughts in my mind long enough to spit them out.  So, reliable readers, stay tuned, because I am back.

Oh, and thanks for reading and letting me expel my random thoughts onto this screen... much obliged!!!

And because I LOVE this picture so much, and it gives you a bit of insight as to why I've been absent for so long, I thought it was fitting that I include it...

Bryan getting a good-bye kiss from his daddy

recipe attempt #1

Do not be fooled.  If you are viewing this with the hope of receiving precise measurements and cooking times for the following "recipe", I regret to inform you that you will be greatly disappointed!  Nevertheless, I decided it was about time to include some of our favorite yummies.  If you know me, you already know that I HATE recipes.  I refuse to write anything down (which is slightly ironic since I genuinely enjoy writing, being organized, and generally being OCD.) My recipe-writing refusal is probably why I've had to call my Grandma Jojo about 15 times for the same recipe. But I digress.

Jason and I love yummies, and occasionally, I dream about yummies to make. Here is one idea from my best dream recipes...

Thanksgiving Stuffed Turkey Meatballs

ground turkey

Italian breadcrumbs

parmesan cheese

egg

milk

thyme

cumin

sage

parsley

crushed red pepper

salt/pepper

worchestershire sauce

stove top stuffing mix

onions

carrots

celery

garlic

olive oil

butter

white rice

brown gravy

(First, can I let you in on a little secret?  I have never written a recipe of my own.  Ever. But you know this.  As I type the ingredients for these best-damn-meatballs-you'll-ever-eat, I find myself undergoing a bit of anxiety.)  Okay, here it goes...

• Preheat oven to 350 
• Prepare two servings of whatever stovetop stuffing mix you like and set aside.
• Saute diced onions, carrots, celery, and garlic in olive oil and butter, then stir into stuffing mix to doctor it up. (I am the queen of doctoring things up.  Ask Jason.  He quit reminding me that jarred pasta sauce already has seasoning in it.  But he also demands my spaghetti once a week. You do the math!)
• Place ground turkey in large mixing bowl.
• In a separate mixing bowl, add beaten egg, milk, breadcrumbs, worchestershire sauce, parmesan cheese, parsley, sage, thyme, red pepper, cumin, pepper, and salt.  Stir until well blended and then pour into the bowl with the turkey and mix. If you care to know the reasoning behind my methods, I make sure my spices and "meatball" ingredients are combined first, that way when I mix them into the turkey, the meat doesn't get too tough because of overmixing!)
• Form a tiny patty.  Cook, taste, and adjust seasonings as needed! (This way, you don't ruin your whole dinner with bland food... Boo to bland food!!!)
• Once you are satisfied with the level of seasoning in your meat, form thin sand dollar sized patties in one hand.  With the other hand, grab some of the stuffing mix and pack it together in your fist.  Place this stuffing-ball (yummo) in the middle of the turkey patty and close the patty around the stuffing.  You may need to add a bit more meat if your initial measurements were off.  No worries!  Also, make sure you seal up the edges of the meatball so all the yummies stay inside. Repeat until you have used all the ingredients.  I usually get around 12-14 stuffed meatballs.
• Sear your meatballs on all sides in a super hot saute pan, then transfer the whole saute pan (if it's oven safe!) into your preheated oven for about 30 minutes. Please remember to remove the saute pan with a potholder.  Metal handles on saute pans get VERY hot in the oven.  Believe me.  I know!
• While the Thanksgiving Turkey gloriousness bakes in the oven, prepare white rice according to the directions on the box.  I use boil-in-bag rice because my house is a conventional rice-cooking abyss.  I fail every time.  
• Prepare brown gravy.  Sometimes I make my own, sometimes I use a jar or pouch.  I would guide you in making it from scratch, but the thought of it is seriously increasing the anxiety.  Just use a pouch; it'll be great!
• When the meatballs are finished baking, grab your potholder (I warned you again!  If you burn yourself now, there's nothing I can do!)  and remove the saute pan from the oven.  
• Spoon rice into large pasta bowl, place three or four meatballs onto rice, and top with brown gravy*... Enjoy!  Seriously, you're going to LOVE this!!

I know photos are a requisite of blog posts, but you'll have to just use your imagination on this one, because every time I make this, it gets eaten before I realize I need to take pictures of it for the blog.  Hey, that should be a tiny clue as to how good it really is.  Enjoy!

*You'd think that turkey gravy would be better with this dish, but it's not.  Trust me!

i am a military wife

By about 3:30 in the afternoon on any given workday, I am a bundle of anxiety and excitement because my husband, the love of my life, will be home in - count them - thirty minutes. Seriously? After just one day at work!  Let's not talk about the 436 days we'll have to wait.  Yes.  I counted. Four hundred thirty six!

That's right.  My other half will be gone for over a year.  And Little Man and I will be here. Patiently waiting.  We'll experience holidays, milestones, laughs, cries, good days, and bad days. But we'll have each other.  At the same time, my other half will be alone halfway around the world, experiencing nothing but bad days while he serves his country, completes his mission, and marks the countless days off his calendar so he can come home to his wife and son. A wife whose life began that March evening in the Cheesecake Factory lobby. A son who will still be a baby when he leaves but will be a little boy when he returns.

This will be the hardest year of our lives. I honestly can't even comprehend the amount of time we will be apart. But we are strong. We are brave.  And we are IN LOVE.  (I lie slightly about the "strong" part. Tears are welling up in my eyes as I type this.)  Part of me knows that I should keep these thoughts deep within the confines of my mind and heart, but the other part relishes the power of words as therapy.

Speaking of "words as therapy", I decided to compile a few phrases and ideas that give me encouragement for the year to come.  We will get through this, we will prevail, we will look back on this experience with pride, we will.

Wow! We really need an updated picture of us all decked out!!!

Now, here are some of my favorite thoughts regarding our upcoming adventure and my role in it as a Military Wife...


1. 
Distance is not for the fearful, it is for the bold. It's for those who are willing to spend a lot of time alone in exchange for a little time with the one they love. It's for those knowing a good thing when they see it, even if they don't see it nearly enough.

2.
Recipe for a Military Spouse

1 1/2 cups Patience
1 cup Courage
3/4 cup Tolerance
Dash of Adventure
1 pound of Ability
To the above ingredients: Add 2 tablespoons elbow grease and let stand alone for one year. Marinate frequently with salty tears. Pour off excess fat and sprinkle ever so lightly with money then Knead dough until payday. Season with international spices. Bake 20 years or until done. Makes unlimited servings.
SERVE WITH PRIDE.

3.
Live every day like he deploys tomorrow.

4.
My husband serves so yours won't get drafted.

5.
She packs. She moves. She follows. Why? You may think she has lost her mind. But actually, she's lost her heart. It was stolen from her by a man. A man who puts duty first, who follows orders to deploy, who salutes the flag, and whose boots in the doorway remind her that, as long as he is her Military Husband, she will remain his Military Wife!

6.
Half of my heart is deployed.

7.
Why play with Ken when you can have G.I. Joe?

A note on #7... I figured I'd end this cry-fest with a bit of humor.  Jason, my G.I. Joe, I love you with all of my heart.  You are, in fact, my heart! You are my G.I. Jason... Muah!!

movin' on up...

to big boy food, that is!  Another milestone reached, another adventure begins! And this one's gonna be messy.  As you may already know, or have witnessed from photos, or have inferred from previous posts, our boy obviously loves to eat. He loves food so much, in fact, that he was given the okay by his doc to go ahead with solids, at four months!!  I know, I know, it's not all that uncommon these days, but he's just growing up so fast.  I swear it was yesterday that Jason and I were wishing we could make only one ounce of formula versus the standard two! Ah, those were the days... Now, he kills an entire bottle like a frat boy would in Daytona, and he eats BIG BOY food!

His first encounter with the grown up - or pseudo grown-up - food was organic rice cereal, which he surprisingly loved.  And still loves!  And even though mom and dad were a bit worried at the outcome of that first meal, he ate like he's been doing it his whole life.  Spoon? Mushy food? Swallowing without my tongue thrusting reflex? Please, I'm a natural, Mom! You know this!!! 

These days, his gourmet repertoire includes sweet potatoes, carrots, bananas, applesauce, peas, beets (yes! I said BEETS), rice cereal and oatmeal. All homemade, of course! (More about my incredible Suzie Homemaking in another post!)

fun in the sun

Memorial Day Weekend 2011 was cause for much celebration at the Staggs household.  The hubsters was in Texas for a two week class, and we missed him dearly.  Two weeks doesn't seem like a long time until your best friend and other half is gone. It, in fact, sucks!  But after almost an entire day waiting in the Dallas airport, shaky landings, and frightening cab drivers, he got home late Friday night... yay!  Let the weekend of new "firsts" begin...

On Saturday, little man rode in his snazzy new bike trailer for the first time. We were a bit unsure how he'd take it... but he LOVED it!  (Even though he's still a tiny bit too small for it... I know, right?  The words "too small" and "our little man" aren't normally spoken in the same sentence.)  For now, we'll stick to rides in the jogging stroller until he can sit up on his own... then it's game on, neighborhood roads and park trails!

After our maiden voyage in the bike trailer, we took a nice drive across the water to see Nannie at work.  We ate some glorious pizza and salad while she "ooohed" and "aaahed" over Bry.  The more adventures we take, the more I realize just how PERFECT he is! And he loves his Nannie!!

The fun didn't stop there.  Did I mention that we had a very action packed weekend?!?!  On Sunday, it was off to Jason's parents' house for a cookout. We got to hang out with Russ and Laura, which was super fun... We'll miss you tons when you move up north!

Bry got his first taste, or rather feel, of cool water.  Now, we already know he LOVES bath time, but a warm bath and a cool chlorine pool are two totally different animals.  He didn't completely hate it, but he wasn't nearly as comfortable as he is in his bath.  It probably didn't help that Jason or I weren't in there with him. (He loves you, Mamaw - I'm not sure I spelled that right - but nothing quite compares to Mom and Dad!) All in all, he gave us an admirable performance.

Dinner was fantastically fresh and tasty... Marinated and grilled flank steak, veggie kabobs, salad with garden fresh veggies and basil, and homemade brownies and hot fudge.  (Confession: We ate the brownies in about two bites and proceeded to eat the cold hot fudge out the container with our fingers. Hey, we know what we like!)

Monday was going to be another fun-filled day in the sun. And boy, was it hot! I'm talking 90+!!! And our day was about to consist of an outdoor BBQ by the Willoughby Bay... for a few hours... in the middle of the day... with a 4 month old! To our surprise (not really, he's the best baby EVER), it went very smoothly.

(First off, as I peruse these photos, I must say that he doesn't really look all that happy... at all!  He really was, though. I promise!!!) He loved the attention, he loved showing off his adorably naked - except for his cute orange diaper - baby body, and he LOVED his first saltwater swim! He was so content and happy, and he didn't seem chilly at all.  Not that he should have; the bay literally feels like bath water already.  We swam, we hugged, we floated, he kicked his little legs like Michael Phelps, and we took lots of pictures. I know Jason had a blast swimming with Bry.  And I KNOW he's glad to be home.

It was a long day, but we all had a blast, and of course, Bryan was the center of attention.  Come on, how could he not be?!?! But, we were VERY glad to get home.  The weekend of fun in the sun was a success, and it was a great kickoff to our first summer as a family... we can't wait!

so it begins...

My stockpile, that is.  Or my home storage.  Poh-tay-toh, poh-tah-toh... Whatever you'd like to call it, it has begun.  After only a month of clipping coupons and matching sales ads, I have accumulated a decent stockpile.  And it's so easy.  The work is already done for me, so all I really have to do is turn on the computer, visit my coupon gurus' websites, print out a list, and head to the stores. Notice I said stores. Yes. I now shop at more than one place.  It's the only way to get all the great deals.

I write about how simple this is, and in theory, it is. However, a certain television program has caused quite a stir, and what used to be a casual jaunt down the condiment aisle has become an all-out roller derby event, loaded with shopping carts and coupon binders as obstacles.

At any rate, and even when I find tumble weeds where the ketchup is supposed to be, I have to say I've been pretty successful.  For a month of work! Who knew that grocery shopping could make me so happy? (Did I mention that, over the last month, in my weekly shopping trips to two different grocery stores and three different drug stores, I have completely stocked my pantry, fridge, and built a stockpile of toiletries, cleaning supplies, and non-perishables for under $100?!?!)

What you can't see is the ten tubes of toothpaste, six toothbrushes, and eight containers of floss in the black wicker basket.

Cleaning supplies are expensive! (But not with coupons!!!)

Holy condiments Batman!

We will quite possibly have to scour craigslist for a used freezer.

Yo Gabba Gabba!!

Most parents reading this will probably take one look at this title and cringe; I, however, have a confession. I love Yo Gabba Gabba as much as Bryan does. Almost. For now anyway.

I didn't think a little boy could be entertained by puppets on television so early, but alas, he can. And he LOVES them!!! The intensity with which he watches the screen is amazing, and the smiles and laughs that ensue will melt your heart. My next splurge at the toy store has got to be a stuffed Muno or Brobee.

I know, I know, I can prevent real and future obsessions if I nip this in the bud right now, but I can't. He simply has too much fun sitting in his big boy chair watching his favorite life-size puppets dance around. And I LOVE watching him, so for now, Yo Gabba Gabba it is!!