Breaking Dawn Countdown

Yes, friends, yes family, I am this rediculous! I am however saddend that I cant see it till 7:15pm tomorrow because I will be working when Breaking Dawn Begins.

Twilight Breaking Dawn

Whats new...

So often I feel like there is really nothing to tell about my life. I have been doing the same things for the last four in a half years. I get up in the morning, start my to-do list, get ready for work, go to work... and then come home. Make dinner, and either go to bed, hang out with my hubby, work on a project, laundry or clean. That's it, simple as that.


Sometimes when I am contacted by an old friend, or a family member I have not talked to in a while, I get a question like... "Lisa! Its so good to see you whats new?" My answer, almost always... "oh just staying busy with work and school." Then there is like a delayed reaction, like they are waiting for something else amazing. It doesn't ever bother me that much, I just feel bad for them because I didn't give them what they were expecting.


A few weeks ago, at Church, in Relief Society, a lady comes to sit next to me and starts gabbing about how she is new to town and then asks me to tell her about myself. The conversation went like this...

Lady- "So, are you married?"

Me- "Yes, we have been married for almost five years now"

Lady- "Oh wow! Really? How many kids do you have?"

Me- "Oh we don't have kids yet."

Lady-" Oh....... So you are new to Rio Rancho too, did you just buy a house?

Me- No, we are staying with my in laws right now."

Lady- (delayed reaction) "oh... Where does your husband work?"

Me- "He is a student, at CNM/UNM, he does not work,"

Lady- (another delayed reaction) "Oh well, he should be graduating soon"

Me- "no, not really, but I am not worried."

She then goes on to tell me a story about a friend that is my same situation and how she feels so bad for them.  

There is then an awkward silence, because I really don't need sympathy because I am happy and perfectly fine with Gods timing in everything.

Lady- "Well, where do you work?"

Me- "Target"

Lady- (delayed reaction) "Oh....... well that sounds fun"

Knowing that she is obviously judging me right now... I feel that I have to explain what I actually do at Target so she knows I don't have some lame retail job.  I do big things, I meet amazing people, and I love my job.

I know that my life isn't going the way everyone would expect. I'm sorry I can't give you more to look forward to. However, there are great things going on in my life that if people would stop judging me and take the time to listen they would see I am in a much better place then I was 4 1/2 years ago.

So, let me just put this out there.... I LOVE my Life! I am OK with the fact that I don't have a house because Curtis is my home, I'm OK with the fact that I don't have kids because we didn't choose NOT to have kids, we are on Gods time line, and I trust God more than anyone. I'm OK with the fact that my hubby is still in school because he is becoming an AMAZING person through his studies and experiences and he is going to do great things someday, I'm OK with the fact that I am living with in laws again, because all that matters is that I am with my husband and we are happy! And guess what? We are so happy! And Im ok with working a retail job because I LOVE IT!

My secret to a SUPER MOIST oh so FLAVORFUL Turkey!

You will need:

• 2 Gala or Honey Crisp Apples and 2 oranges- Depending on the size of bird will depend on how much you need.
• FRESH rosemary (This is one of your most important ingredients so don't substitute this for dry) Get what ever large bag of it your supermarket sells. Here in NM we have Sun Flower Market, and they sell gallon sized bags of it during the holidays.
• Dried Herbs: Rosemary, Sage Thyme,Tarragon, Ground Coriander Seed, marjoram, basil and oregano. If you are not use to making your own blend of spices, you can simply use a poultry seasoning blend which will also work just fine.
• I cup of soft butter (DO NOT MELT IT)
• 2-3 TBS of Crushed garlic

• Aluminum Foil
• Parring knife
• Non-latex kitchen gloves if handling the turkey grosses you out.

My First Rule:
Do not stuff your turkey with stuffing (this will completely suck out all the juices and make it dry.) If you want your stuffing to taste like turkey, poor some turkey drippings in the stuffing and wait till your last 45 min of cooking the bird and bake it in the oven with the bird. I promise, no one will know :-)


Wash your bird inside and out and pat it down till its completely dry (this can take a little bit depending on how large of a bird you have.


Cut up the apples and oranges in quarters and stuff as many as you can in the cavity of the turkey.


Stuff a few rosemary stalks (I do about 5)  in the cavity, don't use all of them because you will need  some more for later.


Take a parring knife and separate the skin from the bird. If you are not sure how to do that here is youtube link  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYP0vVTW594


Mix your butter and garlic together


Now, get a big glob of butter in your hands and rub it UNDERNEATH the skin of the bird (that is why you separated the skin) until you have covered every possible area. Since your bird will be cold your butter wont spread around perfectly, but no worries, the oven will take care of the rest.


Now, get some more butter and spread that over the top of the bird


Now liberally sprinkle your poultry seasoning. I use a lot because when I baste the turkey some of it comes off into the drippings and then when I use the drippings for gravy and stuffing the seasonings give it that extra umph!


 I'm a woman of smells so I sprinkle it on tell it smells right, if you need measurements I'm not sure what to tell you... except that you you could by a poultry season blend and sprinkle that on to desired about with a little pepper.


PS, I don't put salt on the bird, because salt pulls out moisture and I want to keep as much of the moisture in the bird.


Tie up the cavity of the bird and but it in your roasting pan.
I line my pan with crazy amounts of foil (really long pieces) and then put my bird in.
Use the leftover Rosemary stalks and place them between the legs and body of the bird and anywhere else you want it.


Once the bird is in the pan I roll up the foil to prevent any moisture from getting out. I put my oven to 275 degrees Fahrenheit and cook till the internal temp of the bird has read 165 degrees (That is the USDA recommended temp to prevent any food born illnesses).


You will be basting your Turkey ALOT and removing a LOT of drippings. Last year I removed almost six cups and it was STILL moist.


During the last 45 min uncover your bird, turn the oven up to 300-350, baste one more time and let your bird turn that pretty golden brown.


Your house will smell AMAZING! And you will have a pleasant surprise when bite into your turkey breast, it will be super moist (a hard thing to do with white meat) and have an extra special taste, which I wont tell you what that is, because you will just have to make it and find out!


HAVE FUN!

Date Night Dilemma!

I have this dilemma. Its a biggy! I have no idea what to do for date nights! Curtis and I have been married for over four years, we have known each other for six and we have shard lots of cool experiences together! Now, with me working all the time, and Curtis busy with classes, when date night comes it usually ends up being a movie night in (Redbox, goodies and snuggles) or a movie night out (dinner and a movie). I am out of ideas!


Here are some things of what we have done in the past...

1. Go hiking
2. Go on a picnic
3. Feed bread to ducks at a local duck pond
4. Cook/ Bake together
5. ice skating
6. go play in the snow
7. go dancing
8. Carve pumpkins
9. scavenger hunts
10. long walks somewhere beautiful
11. Shopping
12. Went to museums, concerts, zoo, botanical gardens
13. Camping
14. biking
15. roller blading
16. went shopping and tried on funny clothes together
17. board games
18. small road trip to somewhere we have never been
19. found a new recipe, shopped for the food, cooked it, and ate it together all while having our wrists tied together!
20. Gone to the drug store, went to card aisle and picked out all the best cards for each other and handed them to each other! It was great, we never had to buy them, and didn't feel obligated to keep them.
21. Went the library.
22. Watched documentaries
23. picked out future baby names together
24. Planned a future business of our own together (either a cafe or bed and breakfast)
25. Went to the temple
26. Gone to an ethnic food restaurant we have never tried

Sheesh, there is so much more but I am drawing a blank. Should I keep doing some of these things?? What else could we do??? Honestly, I really like to just sit back, relax, talk and share some laughs. But another part of feels the need to do things that bring substance to our relationship.


Any one have any good ideas?? Especially ideas that would be in my hubby's favor, cause I want to do things he will enjoy too. So not too mushy... but more fun!

30 Day Sugar Fast

That's right. NO Sugar. For 30 days! 


Anyone that knows me, knows that this is a HUGE challenge for me. I love sweets! Cookies, brownies, cupcakes, candy, ice cream, pie you name it!! On top of that, it is even MORE challenging because I am doing this right in the middle of the Holidays. But Honestly, I couldn't have picked a better time. No sense putting on the pounds during the Holidays and feeling so guilty in January. Besides, I would then come up with a resolution to loose weight that would turn into a resolution to fail at healthy lifestyle.


So, on top of not eating sugar I am changing EVERYTHING. Here is a list of what I am doing...

1. Counting calories. Never in my life have I done this, mostly because its tedious. My daily intake is around 1500.
2. Working out everyday except Sunday. I go to the gym, run my heart out (not literally) for 35-40 min and do some ab workouts.
3. I'm getting 8 hours of sleep.
4. I'm packing my lunches.
5. I planned my meals for the whole week so I KNOW what I am going to eat. This is excellent because instead of pacing back and forth in the kitchen and finally settling for something incredibly bad for me, I have a plan. So I know when I go the kitchen I have to make THAT meal. Plus it has me cooking again, and I have been bad at cooking for the last year.
6. I am also going back (yes, I used to be really good at this) to little to no processed food, and mostly locally grown organic food.

At the end of 30 days I am not let off the hook. My reward is a small......... slice of ONE pie at Thanksgiving (yeah, I planned it right end of day 30 is Thanksgiving day). My calorie intake will stay at 1500 until at least March 22, 2012 (My Birthday!).


Goal #1: Loose the 40 lbs that I started gaining May 18 2007 (yes, my wedding day).
Goal #2: Be healthy enough to have a baby
Goal #3: Be happy and do the things I have ALWAYS wanted to do but couldn't because of my insecurities with my body image.
Goal #4: Lower my risk of heart disease, Diabetes and stroke. Its in the family.


There is only one thing I ask of all of you to help me through this... hold me accountable, that is all.

Michael Buble Christmas

This first thing I did when I got to work today was buy the Target Exclusive Michael Buble "Christmas" Album. The first thing I did when I got off? I listened to it the whole way home. Can I just say, his voice is AMAZING. Last year I noticed that the Christmas songs all started to sound generic and almost annoying. But, this album is refreshing and has made me fall in love with the classic Christmas songs all over again.


I am so looking forward to listening to this album over and over while enjoying the Holiday season with my AMAZING HUBBY!

Fall Beauty

Yesterday I had a marvelous day with my husband! We went hiking in 4th of July Canyon in Tajique New Mexico. As we sat under the beautiful trees and felt the peace of nature it felt as though we were out of NM and taking a mini vacation from life. I absolutely loved it! Every time we go into mountains lush with trees and color I get this incredible desire to make a permanent home in such scenery. I love the peace I feel. I love the natural, raw beauty. So, someday we will move somewhere like this... possibly New York, Colorado, Wyoming, Utah, Washington... somewhere... sometime.