New kitchen . . . new recipes

Thank you for bearing with my sporadic blog posts.  We are getting closer to kitchen completion . . . and then I can post some photos!  David wants me to wait until it is COMPLETE.  Cabinets and appliances have started to go in.  It's exciting to see a glimpse of the final project.  Little things like walking on a finished floor and not fighting plastic to emerge from our bedroom have been a treat after this process! 
There is good and bad in taking on a remodeling project mostly on your own.  The good part is you know that the workers will show up.  The bad part is that you are the worker and you may be working at 2am or later sometimes!  This project has brought obvious joy, but also lots of anxiety (for me), and so we are both happy to see it wrapping up. 


I have tried a couple of new recipes while we have been in our downstairs kitchen. Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta was a hit.  I actually used shrimp instead of chicken and added an extra cup of sour cream.  You can find it on my Pinterest Recipes board or click on this link http://suchamom.com/2013/11/chicken-bacon-ranch-pasta/.


The other, Crockpot Cheese Tortellini and Sausage, I made last night.  It received a 50% approval rating in our family.  Rachel couldn't get enough!  This I made just as it said, except I substituted a can of tomato soup instead of the diced tomatoes.  It's also on my Recipes board or also here
http://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/573551783/crockpot-cheese-tortellini-and-sausage/.


I hope you are having a great day!  I will check in again soon . . . I promise.

2014

Well, here we are--2 days into 2014! 

Resolutions anyone?

Here are mine--

1.)  Finishing this kitchen project within the next week or so (this totally SHOULD be able to happen).

2.)  Take down the Christmas tree before February.  (Hey--technically the Christmas season STARTS on Dec. 25!)

3.)  Keep on putting one foot in front of the other!

That's right--it seems as if I have found myself in a bit of survival mode again.  The thought of resolving to do anything more is just a bit more than I can handle right now!  I'll get there . . . just not right now.

Part of it is that life in the Melius house has been a bit topsy-turvy for the past 26 days, for a very good reason, but still a little crazy; part of it is that winter is just not ever good for my mental well-being; and part of it is that life has just been HARD lately for some we know (my grandma breaking her pelvic bone in December and still recovering, David's uncle suffering stroke shortly before Christmas, but thankfully is recovering very well, a friend's mother dying suddenly before Christmas, the 6 year old son of one of David's neighbors growing up losing his battle to leukemia on 12/31).  It's been a bit rough getting this news.  The reminder of the difficulties of this life never seem to be far away.

BUT, we continue to keep looking to the positive.  As I said, David's uncle Doug is doing well and he and his wife will soon welcome a new baby son!  My mom and I are preparing for a trip to Baton Rouge to visit my Aunt Carol in a couple weeks.  My brother-in-law Rick is here right now helping David finish our ceiling.  Our family has enjoyed a HEALTHY and relaxing Christmas vacation, filled with way too much Wii, but who's complaining?  No one.  There's always something to be thankful for.

Christmas Memories 2013

It's one of those Christmas miracles.  I am in the office with the door closed.  Everyone knows I am in here--and yet--and YET!--no one is calling me to come out! 

So, I will bask in this time of peace and share some photos from our Christmas.

 

As you can see, it was a pretty exciting Christmas for Nathan, with the foosball table AND Magic Slushy makers.  I don't have a picture of the boys with their BB guns yet.  I must get that done.  "Going Hunting" has been a great vacation activity!

Here is our Joachim family on Christmas Eve. 

Later on Christmas Day, we celebrated with the extended Melius family from the area.  Lots and lots of cousins!

 

To keep with the family theme, Teresa created this snow family yesterday. :)

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!  We hope your days were filled with the warmth and peace of family and friends.  We would like to report a Christmas of absolute health this year!  Wohoo!

We are enjoying these days of shooting birds with BB guns, playing foosball, Wii, watching new movies and playing with the myriad of other wonderful gifts that found their way in to our home.  Oh, yeah, and there's some sheet rock and mud going up on the walls, too! 

I am finding it difficult to come off the sugar train . . . chocolate covered pretzels, pfefferneuse cookies, peanut butter blossoms . . . and that's just for breakfast! 

We will find our way back to the normal routine of life again, but for now it's nice to take some time to catch our breath and soak up the Christmas season!

Things are looking up.

My, my, my . . . what have we been doing?

My husband keeps plugging away on our kitchen and dining room remodel that we officially began on Dec. 7. 
I'm not gonna lie--last week was pretty darn bad. 
Right away, hauling out shovels full of plaster and filling up the loader bucket was FUN! 
Then the next morning, I woke up with the kids' stomach bug.  I was still able to contribute, but it wasn't as much fun.  And there was NO END to that awful old plaster and sheetrock.  Then, even though this is what I wanted to happened, the stress of my house looking like a war zone got to me and I started to develop a cold sore.  The next day, David didn't feel well, but we still got work done because we had to stay on schedule.  It was de-insulation day! 

I HATE yellow insulation.  And blow-in insulation.  And old 1950's insulation. 

Seven days after we first moved downstairs, we finally hauled the last bits of plaster, nails, insulation and wood out of this house.  It was Rachel's birthday, so we went into town to celebrate!

If my life had a soundtrack, Billy Joel's "You may be right . . . I may be crazy . . ." would have been playing.  All. Week.  Long.

But, then it started to turn around.  We now have a re-insulated home and sheetrock will go up shortly!

I really am enjoying the pace of this remodel.  In years past, it was "work a little bit, wait 6 weeks while the farm work got done, work a little bit, try to be patient for the next 6 weeks of no progress. . ."  But, not this time!  I have to be on my toes making sure all parts are in place because THINGS ARE HAPPENING!

Tomorrow is the kids' last day of school before Christmas vacation.  It is a long one this year.  We should be able to keep them busy with paint brushes. Their favorite way to help, however, is to watch TV and "babysit Rachel."  It all needs doing, I suppose!  :) 

I do want to mention a big blessing for our family this past week.  After the Christmas program at church on Sunday, the Youth Group surprised us with a "20 second Bucket Run."  When one of the parents started to explain the concept, I had no idea it was in honor of our family, and especially Rachel.  I didn't have much time to process it before kids were running around the parish hall, people were emptying their pockets and waving money and at the end of 20 seconds, $158.09 was collected for the Cranio Care Bears organization.  It really brought me to tears.  It was the perfect Christmas gift.

In all of the chaos in our house right now, we have still had a blessed Advent.  The only stress I have right now is getting some last-minute shopping done.  I'm usually not a last-minute shopper, but demo and not feeling well ate up last week very quickly!  So, last minute it shall be this year!