Great Weekend with yummy food!

Stanley got up and wanted to go outside so hubby got up to take him up and was going to make breakfast but for some reason I just didn't want to eat at home. So I suggested that we go to OCB for breakfast (I actually went there last Sunday too). We came home after breakfast and hubby had to do his school work while I was playing on line and also the PSP. At about 2pm he got a call that there was a place down and it needed fixed today. I tagged along with hubby since it was a Saturday and I was glad I did yesterday. We went to Rock Falls Raceway and so happened that day they had races going on that's why they needed their pump fixed right away. I was so fascinated by the cars there. There were quite a number of people there but it wasn't full because the weather wasn't the greatest on Saturday and with the price of race fuel people wouldn't want to go if the weather is not beautiful.

Some of the crowd that was there
People tuning their car
Cool car
Warming up their tires
Ready gets set....go!

We were planning on going for a movie in the afternoon but since hubby had to work we decided to go later in the evening. After we were done with the service call we came home and hubby continued his assignment while I took a nap before the movie.
Yeah we watched Ironman..It's an awesome movie and I'm glad we made it! We took BIL with us because he wanted to watch it too and since we were going to watch it we decided to go with him. This is a must watch movie..

I got up today feeling tired and lazy but managed to get my butt out of bed and made breakfast which consist of instant noodle..*blush* After that I did two loads of laundry before heading out. Hubby stayed home with Stanley while I went to the mall to get my make up and facial stuff and went to the groceries store to get some groceries. I felt pretty bad spending so much money today that I decided to make hubby a nice dinner. I've not cooked in about a month because we've been so busy and I've been horribly ill.

I first made some meat balls so I could cook spaghetti and meat balls. Then I proceed to make croutons so we could have some with our salad; after that it was banana cake and lastly garlic bread.

Croutons

Ingredients
3 pieces of bread
Olive oil
1 tsp seasoning salt
garlic powder
Italian seasoning

Directions
1. Cut bread into bite size cubes
2. Place pieces of bread in a bowl; drizzle oil as you stir. The more oil you use the more melt in your mouth it is. The amount of oil you want to use depends on your preference
3. Sprinkle with season salt, garlic powder, Italian seasoning. You can try other seasoning or sprinkle some parmesan cheese too.
4. Bake at 350°F for about 15 minutes stirring once

Salad and croutons.

Cheesy Garlic Bread

Ingredients
1/2C margarine
3 or more teaspoon of chopped garlic
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
1/8 tsp of pepper
1/3C parmesan cheese
3/4C grated cheddar cheese
Bread

Directions

1. Microwave margarine in a bowl until half melted for about 40 seconds
2. Mix all ingredients
3. Spread mixture over bread
5. Bake for 450°F about 10 minutes or until golden brown.






Homemade Spaghetti sauce and meat balls.

Banana bread

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 bananas, mashed
3/4 cup brown + white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup oil, or melted butter
Directions
1. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In another bowl, beat together bananas, sugar, egg and melted butter. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Pout into prepared pan.

2. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the cake comes out clean.

Everything seems pretty simple but if made all at once it tends to be a lot of work but it's worth it after filling our tummies up and because we now have a ton of food for the week. I was thinking of ironing the clothes too after I take a shower but by the time we got done eating and taking a shower I'm too tired to iron. I tend to be very slow at ironing and it'll take me forever to iron the clothes that we have in the basket so I guess those will have to wait. :P..

I still need to fold and keep the clothes away I guess it'll be the next thing I'll have to do after I'm done here. I need a maid!!I miss having one actually..this is what sucks about living in a western country, maids are expensive!!

Giggle

Last Sunday before going to bed hubby decided to spend some time with me looking at stuff on the Internet. What should we look at??Of course puppy from the shelters. Petfinder has dogs that's in the shelters to be adopted. We found a couple that we like and hubby said that he'll call on it Monday. Monday afternoon I called hubby if he called the shelter and he said no because he said that we don't really need two dogs. Well..I always say that two is not really more work it's just more money needed to be spend on the them but I really want Stanley to have someone to play with instead being by him self all the time. We were having dinner tonight and hubby told me that he called the shelter. My heart stopped for a second from being so excited..I asked him what they said and he told me that he just got their answering machine..*sob sob* however he said he left a message for them to call him back *yeah yeah*..There is hope..there is hope for Stanley to have a play pal..This also means that we're going to have to change our bed soon if we get another one because Stanley is already taking up some space with another one we are going to need a bigger bed. Stanley will normally start by sleeping ON me and in the middle of the night he'll mingle himself in between us and he's difficult to be shoved!He don't mind being squished in between us at all in fact he wouldn't even move when we sandwich him..therefore two is going to be INTERESTING..lol...*fingers cross*

Oh and with only Stanley we have toys all over the floor that sometimes hubby or me will trip on it and lately Stanley loves to take his toys on the bed and play there. Hopefully with two the both of them can play on the floor but we'll see second one might not be anytime soon though unless we find one we really like and Stanley can get along with.

Money

With the rising price in gas, food and everything under the sun I need to work more. I work an average about 45hrs a week which is not really a lot compared to a lot of people but it's all I can stand being in an office that's probably enough for me. We have enough to make it through our live but who doesn't want more money in their pocket? I have a little boy (Stanley) to pamper therefore it means spending more money too. Luckily I found out about pay per post which is a blog advertisement company where they pay you to write about selected advertisement that they have to offer. Payperpost not only will help you make extra income but surprisingly it has helped me make more friends too. I met and got to know a lot of nice people world wide and actually enjoying knowing them and being friends with them. We share stories of our lives and we encourage each other when we are at the down times. Being away from my own country really helps knowing that there are people out there with similar faith. I also learn a lot of different things like parenting, cooking, gardening, traveling and so on from them. I now know where to eat or places of interest if I go to another country or place thanks to other bloggers for sharing their own experience. This way I won’t feel lost or conned if I do visit places they have been to. So if you are looking for extra income and more friends try pay per post and you’ll never regret it!

Cold and bitter year

We are struck by a cold year this year. This winter was the worst winter I've ever encounter since I came here. It snowed tons and the weather was way below average. When spring was officially here it was still cold compared to previous years where it would be really hot at the beginning of Spring. I waited patiently for the warm temperature to arrive..volia...last week Monday to Wednesday it was the warmest days we ever had in a long time. I took Stanley out for walks three days in a row because he hasn't been for walks for a long time since winter. Today when I got up and looked out the window this is what I found:



Snow everywhere! It was snowing last night and a little this morning. Is this going to be the LAST snow season we'll have for this year?? I really do hope so but I doubt it...sob sob..

On a random topic..I wanted to show you what Stanley does when we both get out of bed to get ready for the day..

He sits/lay on the bed and watch us get ready patiently waiting for daddy to take him outside

After I finally decides to get out of bed I'll give him a kiss on his forehead before we get out of bed. Then we'll go to the kitchen where I'll feed him. He'll be eating while I wash up in the bathroom. We'll both go into the bedroom together where I'll start dressing up and making up while Stanley will jump in bed with daddy again..When daddy get out of bed that's where he'll be...watching, watching, watching....

Stanley's first year with us

I was giving Stanley his weekly bath today and it brought back a lot of memories to me. Last year we had a very nice Spring. The weather got warm end of March. One fine weekend hubby suggested that we go to the shelter to see if there are any dogs we liked there. I've never had any pets in my entire life (yes I live a very sheltered life) because my parents thought that it'll be difficult to take care of the pet since we're always traveling here and there therefore it'll be troublesome to have a pet since we'll have to feed them and take care of them. Anyway we went to the shelter near our house and actually found a pug name Ruby that hubby really likes but I was really hesitant because Ruby sheds a lot. So the next day we decided to go to the shelter in the next town and that was where I saw Stanley...Stanley was really hyper but he was so cute and I decided to take him out to get to know him. MIL and FIL was with us at that time and Stanley was all over FIL. FIL just got along so well with Stanley that I thought that he should adopt him instead..

Anyway we didn't make the decision to adopt him straightaway because I was really afraid of the responsibility etc. That week I was contemplating whether we want a dog at home..Hubby was asking me almost everyday because if we wanted him we got to tell the shelter as there might be some body else that might be interested in him. Finally we decided we'll adopt him..That was a huge decision for me because it meant responsibility. I started buying things for him and we could not get him until the end of the week because he had to go to the vet to get neutered and some of his shots. When they day finally came we were like new parents adopting a child; we had everything all set up and we bought everything we could think of. I was a happy mom and I could not wait to take him home with me.
It was hell the first two months when we first got him. The poor boy, he was used to going to the bathroom outside but the stubborn me wanted to train him to go to the toilet on the newspaper. He got all messed up and he was having accidents everywhere. I was distraught because I felt like I could no longer do it; cleaning his mess and trying every remedy out there to train him to go on the paper. Hubby and I were getting irritated cleaning his mess. After many many months we gave up..He wanted to go outside we'll take him outside. So he had to be "retrain" to hold and only go outside. He would still have accidents here and there at the beginning but because we were training him again we were ready for that and he wasn't having that much accident that he had before.
Next was because of his nature he loves to dig and chase rabbits, squirrels or any animals out there therefore when he's not leashed properly he'll run away and we'll have a difficult time asking him to come back. One weekend when daddy was out of town he broke his collar and ran up the hill opposite my house. That was when daddy and I decided that we should send Stanley to school to be discipline since we have no idea at all on how to discipline dog. I really had a lot of fun with him at school although it was in the middle of winter and having to rush from work and get him ready for school I think it was worth the time and money. I think he learned a lot and if we have time I think he would be better (we haven't really been practicing with him).
It's going to be almost ONE year since we've had him in May. I'm so glad that we decided to adopt him and have him in our lives. We had to adapt to having a puppy and the responsibility but I think it's all worth it to me. The year that we had him we've taken him to the cabin and most recently Texas with us for SIL's wedding. He started sleeping with us every night end of last year when we were sure that he would not have any accident during the night. He's been my little pride and joy since then. I used to have my profile pictures or my desktop of pictures of hubby and me but everything has changed to Stanley now. Every profile out there has a picture of Stanley, My desktop has a picture of Stanley even my cell phone's desktop is a picture of Stanley. Hubby said that it's now all about Stanley. He don't even need to take any pictures with me anymore because all I care about it Stanley..lol..
Everyone around me tells me that Stanley is a really lucky dog to have us. We have spend a ton of money buying him tons, upgrading his food, buying him a bigger and more expensive crate, taking him to the vet and the list goes on and on...I think it's worth every penny to me as I hope that he'll stay with me longer. I am hesitant to even have any kids because I don't want Stanley to feel left out but that might change some day. We agreed that we'll just have another person to play with Stanley since he's so playful..:P...I'm also considering on getting another dog so that Stanley can have someone else to play with since we're not home about 9 hours a day on average but we'll have to see with that. We found out over Christmas that Stanley actually lived with another dog before he was given up for adoption and so happen hubby's cousin actually adopted the other dog. His cousin's wife was actually considering between Stanley and the other dog. Thank god she didn't pick Stanley (I guess he's meant for us :}) and if we ever have a chance I want to take Stanley to play with the other dog to see if he remembers which I doubt because he just loves to play doesn't matter who or what. I asked hubby the other day if his cousin didn't adopt the other dog and we were at the shelter and we knew that Stanley had someone that came from the same house with him whether he would consider adopting the other one and he said he would seriously consider it (hopefully that means he'll seriously consider getting a friend/sibling for Stanley).
This past year Stanley has brought a lot of work and problems in our lives but most importantly he's brought us a ton of joy and happiness not only in our lives but to our parent's lives. Both of our parent's loves him because he's such a good dog. I don't regret choosing him and having him in our lives. We just need to work harder so that we can spend more money on him I guess :P..If ever in future when we are too busy with our lives with other things I will always be able to come back here and read this post and remind ourselves that he'll always be our number ONE boy and we'll always love him.

Bisquick Chocolate Chip Bars.

Apparently when I said that I need to be more committed and update my blog it actually means updating once a week. I guess I should be glad that if I manage to update my blog once a week. I've actually been busy myself at home packing and cleaning. I did manage to cook/bake a little. Friday was the last day for two boys at my work place and we were having food day for their farewell. I was really busy at work Wednesday and Thursday. I wasn't able to get out of the office on Thursday until about 6:45pm and I was actually rushing to get home because daddy didn't go home before school to let Stanley out and I felt so bad because Stanley's in his crate for quite some time therefore I was actually looking at the clock hoping that I can have stuff done and go home to him and I actually had a roast cooking in the crockpot. Luckily I had the time set to start at noon so it didn't cook for too long of a time. When I got back I quickly gave Stanley a snack, attended to my roast and took Stanley out to do his business. Quickly took a shower and got dinner ready. Then I had to think of something to take to work and finally decided on Bisquick Chocolate Chip Bars because it was simple and I had all the ingredients on hand.

Ingredients

1. 2-1/2 cups bisquick baking mix
2. 1 cup of sugar
3. 1 large egg
4. 1/4 vegetable oil
5. 2 tsp vanilla essence
6. 1 cup or more chocolate chips
   

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except chips.

2. Spread in a 13 x 9-inch pan, greased and floured.

3. Sprinkle chocolate chips over top.

4. Bake 25-30 minutes at 350° (will look bubbly and light in the center).

I should have covered the bars before I went to be after it cooled off because when I got to the office it was pretty hard and I had to nuke it in the microwave so that it's soft again but since I let it on the counter the whole day by the end of the day it was hard again. No pictures too because I was glad that it was done end of the night that I could not be bothered to take pictures and just want to get in bed. Lately because of the lack of time I cannot be bothered to take any picture of anything. I should do more of that since hubby actually spend some money in all the gadgets we have at home.

Speaking of gadgets hubby bought me a new phone..LOL...We were actually thinking of getting the iphone but we didn't want to switch cell phone carriers therefore we just got a blackberry. This was not launched until April 14 so I had to wait about 3+ weeks after I found out about it and everyone knows how I HATE to wait but I was really patient waiting for it which was surprising actually...:)

I love my new phone but I'm still getting hubby to learn about it so that it'll be easier for me to use it..:P...

Committed

I need to be more committed to writing my blog. It is not that I don't want to rewind and update my daily life it's just that I don't have that much time and energy anymore. I was and am still sick since last week. Last week was pretty miserable because my temperature will shoot sky high in the evening therefore I come home from work, shower, eat and go to bed because I feel like crap and I'll wake up through out the night because I'm coughing like heck. I feel a little better by the end of the week but for god knows what reason my temperature returned tonight and again my head is just pounding. We were trying to sell our stuff this weekend and we still have a lot of things to do. Hubby is swamped with school work and the list of chores that he has to get done. We just wish that there are more hours in a day. With me being sick doesn't even help the situation at all and we are planning to have the house on the market hopefully in the next two weeks. Please pray that everything will turn out eventually. If I could I would try and take off here and there but I really don't think it will fly by my manager. I don't even dare to take off even when I'm sick. The problem is I'm feel like crap during the night but I feel decent during the day so thank god is not that bad this time round but what ever crap I have I just hope that it's done with SOON...sigh..