OOTD

My outfits from 2 weeks ago. 

Scarf: Forever 21

Tshirt: Target

Cardigan: Gap

Pants & Shoes: Old Navy

Scarf: Gift

Jacket: Burlington Coat Factory

Tshirt: Gap

Pants & Shoes: Old Navy

Jacket: Gift

Tshirt: Gap

Jeans: Old Navy

Shoes: Minnetonka

Cardigan: Target
Tshirt: J Crew Factor

Jeans: Old Navy

Shoes: Bass

Breakfast Time

Forks work pretty good to eat eggs, but they are a little slow. I can shovel food in much faster using my fingers. Food gets dropped on my bib and I just eat it straight off the bib. 

Wordless Wednesday

Pranks

Art & I are always pulling pranks on each other. The month of December we sure were on a roll. It was almost a daily event. Sometimes it was just us jumping out scaring the other or craziness around the house. 

I hung this lovely head as Art opened the door. Of ALL days he comes through the garage. He rarely ever goes through the garage. 

One morning Art says Good Morning Dear! I roll over, see this lovely pig face and my response....Why did you waste our money on that thing? Rolled back over and went to sleep. lol

I wrapped one of Art's gifts in all the leftover scraps. Layers & layers of wrapping paper. 

Art wanted a meat grinder for Christmas. I took the grinder out of the box, put in a hood and bread pan. I taped a note to the instructions - LOL You Wish!  Well I failed with taping the note to the instructions. lol

Menu Monday

We are still trying to use up our freezer stash. I find a lot of stuff on sale at Fresh & Easy. I usually pack the freezer with deals I find at F&E. Well they changed where they put the sale items. They use to group it all together in one area. Now they are just marking things down around the store. Ugh! I am NOT happy about this!

This week we will be having:

Fajitas
Pork Loin & Couscous
Burrito Bowls
Pizza
BLT's

Wordless Wednesday

Laughter is the Best Medicine

Survivor!

One year ago I became part of a group I never imagine I would ever join - cancer survivor. I've thought a lot about the one year mark. I've been anxious to get to this point. I've struggled with what to write because I'm not sure I can put into words just how much the past year has changed me.

I went into surgery thinking it would be an easy fix, but walked away with a life long journey. Physically & emotionally it was a rough year. I wouldn't change one thing about the past year. I've said it before but going through everything God became so real. 

I struggled with how to celebrate year one. I don't feel I can say 1 year cancer free because my body won't ever be rid of cancer. I decided I will celebrate the years as a survivor. We will celebrate with cake & candles to represent each year. 

I recently had my one year check up with my surgeon. I asked her if she could believe it's been a year. I remember my first visit with her. I left crying because I would have a scar. Then that scar became nothing when lymphoma was mentioned - chemo would make my hair fall out. Now I don't even notice the scar. My left side of my neck is still numb and the scar is still pretty red on my right side. They have talked about different treatments for the scar. I'm not sure I will do anything because one day I will have another surgery. I will let them fix it then. 

Today I celebrate one year as a survivor of Medullary Thyroid Cancer. It is a journey that will follow me for the next 56 years (I have plans to be here until at least 89 years old). I look forward to watching medicine find a cure and giving all the MTC people hope for a full life! 

OOTD

Here are some old OOTD I found that I didn't publish. Some of these outfits are from summer. It is WAY too cold to be wearing sandals around here now. 

Jeans, Tank, Cardigan: Old Navy
Shoes: Lucky

Tshirt & Jacket: Target
Scarf: Gift
Jeans: Old Navy
Shoes: Lucky

Jacket, tshirt: Old Navy

Pants: Gap

Necklace: Amazon

Shoes: Bass

Tshirt: J Crew Factory

Skirt: Lane Bryant

Sandals: Target

Necklace: Jane.com

Tshirt: J Crew Factory

Skirt: Old Navy

Sandals: Target

Necklace: Jane.com

Wordless Wednesday

Split Pea Soup

What does someone make with so much leftover ham - ham sandwiches, potatoes & ham soup, fried ham & eggs. I haven't had split pea soup in years. One of my friends mentioned it and my cravings started! Where to find a good split pea soup recipe. I read the back of the split pea package, numerous recipes, but in the end decided to make up my own. 

1 cup split peas
3 cups of chicken broth
1 cup of ham pieces
1 cup of carrots
1/2 onion
1 tsp thyme
2 garlic cloves
1 cup milk

Dump everything except the milk into a crock pot to cook for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Put the milk in the crock pot for the last 30 minutes. I put baby carrots in the crock pot, let them cook whole, fished them out, puree them in my blender with a little milk and dumped it all back in. Perfection! I read some recipes that said they pureed the entire soup. I wanted the chunks of ham, so that wouldn't work for me. The soup turned out really creamy. 

OOTD

I found some old OOTD that I never published. The leopard flats have officially had their last days. The soles were worn and I had to throw them out. It was a sad sad day!  I also lost the jeans I am wearing below. I seriously can't find those pants. I have NO idea how I could lose a pair of jeans. I have gone through my closet a couple times. It is the strangest thing ever.

Tank & Jeans: Old Navy

Cardigan: J Crew Factory

Necklace: Target

Shoes: Lucky

Button up: Gap

Sweatshirt & Jeans: Gap

Shoes: Bass

Sweater: Banana Republic

Pants: Gap

Shoes: Bass

Wordless Wednesday

Clarisonic

I have been wanting a Clarisonic for a couple years. I was having a hard time spending $150+ for one. When I was in PA over Thanksgiving I noticed all my cousins had one. Well those girls are bargain shoppers and told me how I could score one for a good deal. Well I got an even better deal!!

www.skinstore.com has Mia for $125. On New Years Day they had a special of 25% off. It brought the Mia down to $100. I went through Ebates to make my purchase, so I received $12 cash back. My total with shipping was $88 bucks!!! SCORE!!!

I ordered it on January 1 and it was on my door January 4. Talk about a bargain and great service!

I highly recommend everyone to use Ebates, if you order online. I received over $40 cash back in 2013. It is simple to use. Go to Ebates first, search for the website you want to purchase items from, go to the website and you will be credited on your Ebates with the cash back. I believe they issue you money quarterly. 

If you want to use Ebates I would love the referral HERE. 

Menu Monday

This is my last week where I am working 1/2 days. On Thursday I return to full work days. The thought of going back to work full time makes me want to throw a tantrum like a 2 year old. I have LOVED working 1/2 days. It just works for me. I get sooo much done, I feel happy and it's the perfect balance for me. Unfortunately Art hasn't won the lotto, so I will be returning to full time. 

I have enjoyed making dinners at night. I have been putting stuff in the freezer for when I return to full time. I plan to start using them next week. This week I will cook dinners Monday thru Wednesday, Thursday use the crock pot and Friday possibly go out to eat or eat leftovers. 

Cheese Enchiladas with Salsa Verde

Split Pea Soup - recipe on the blog next Monday
Stew
Steak & swiss chard

We have got to use up our freezer stash. We have soooo much food in there! I have a lot of soups, raviolis, sausage, meatballs, gumbo, shepherds pie, and who knows what else. Next week will be all about cleaning out that freezer. 

2014 Goals/Resolutions

Amazing what a year can hold for a person. 2013 I had decided was the year of finishing. I had an entire list of goals/resolutions I wanted to complete in 2013. Turns out not one single thing from my list was completed. I did stop paying attention to celeb gossip, so that might be the only thing accomplished. I am glad that I had the mindset that 2013 we wouldn't have a baby because it turns out there was no way we would be able too. I did run some.....around 10 miles. I walked close to the 100  miles. 

Turns out God had a whole other plan in mind for me in 2013. Instead of finishing things I had a lot of new beginnings. I feel I have aged about 10 years in the past year. Some of this aging has been a very good thing. I look at life a lot differently now. I want to enjoy life and be content. 

I feel 2013 was a year of waiting, anxiety about tests and the unknown. There was soooo much unknown I had a very hard time handling it all. There were days I didn't know how I would be able to make it to the next week. Turns out I made it through everything. Learned more patience's. The year was tough for me, but it was harder on my family. It was hard on my parents being so far away. While a lot of new challenges will follow me through the remainder of my life I did finish 2013 on a good note - stronger than I started off the year. 

2014 I would life to continue to enjoy life, start running again, see my family more, travel, stress a lot less over work, eat healthy, and not worry about my test results unless there is something to worry about! I am not making goals or resolutions for 2014. I am not sure if I ever will again. I learned something last year that no matter what we plan God has other plans. 

Wordless Wednesday