glass cleaner

I had mentioned in this post that I had made a glass cleaner.  It's super easy to make and did an amazing job! 

• 1 cup of vinegar
• 1 cup of alcohol
• 1 cup of water
• couple drops of dawn

I actually got the recipe from Pinterest to use on laminate flooring.  Although it didn't work great on ours, it might work good for others.

Summer Turkey Chili

This is my absolute favorite meal!  This is a summer chili, so not quite the same as a regular chili, but it's amazing!!

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 can black beans (rinsed)
1/2 cup green salsa
1 lb lean ground turkey
1/2 tsp salt and pepper (each)
10 oz frozen corn
1 cup chopped sweet onion
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 can chicken broth
1/2 cup minute rice
1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Directions:
1. Heat oil over high heat.  Add turkey and garlic and cook, stirring to break up meat, 3 to 4 min until browned.  Add cumin, salt, and pepper; cook, stirring 30 sec.
2. Stir in broth, beans, corn, rice and salsa.  Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, 20 to 25 min until rice is tender.
3. Remove from heat; stir in onion and cilantro.

Some changes I made:

• I didn't have garlic, so I used garlic oil and some garlic powder.   
• I didn't feel like chopping an onion so I just used the frozen chopped onion I keep on hand.
• I use brown minute rice instead of white.
• And I always serve with a croissant!

Enjoy!

Judah's adoption

Judah was adopted on Saturday morning.  I'm not happy to say this, but we weren't sad to see him go.  We had major struggles with him!  In the beginning, we almost gave up on him because he was constantly peeing and humping.  We just couldn't take it.  He was supposed to get fixed right away but then there was a snow storm and that got put off for a week.  I feel like if we had been able to get him fixed right away, it would have been so much better.  Once he was fixed, he was a completely different dog.  He improved so much in the weeks following.  He stopped humping and peeing, and we were able to trust him to be out and about in the house.  The disappointing part was because we put up with him being naughty for so long that then we had a hard time trusting him.  I would let him out for a little bit and then he would piddle on the couch so then I would make him go back in.  The last 2 days he was with us, we had no accidents, and he was on his best behavior.  I was so happy for this because I was praying and hoping he would be like that all along and he did get better.  He did amazing.  But, like I said, at this point we had enough, and it was time for him to have a fresh start with a new family that would love him and care for him the way he deserved to be.  The family that took him in seems like the best family for him.  Their dogs are their children, and they were willing to put in whatever it would take to make it work.  We did the hard work, so there were a just a couple things, like the piddling, that needed to be worked on.  And I truly feel like the dog's know they aren't here for the long hall, and because of that, things don't get to where they need to be until they are settled with their forever home. 

The worst part about all of this is that we have decided we will not take in another male puppy mill dog.  The main reason for this is the humping and marking.  I know that a female will mark at first, and that's OK for a little while, but because we have 2 girls, I don't want to put my girls through the humping thing again.  We are still willing to take in a male surrender still, because we had such an amazing time with Kramer here, and we still love and miss him.  Mark's Aunt Carol and Luna's foster mom, Jess, both told us that there will be fosters you love, and one's you can't wait to get rid of.  We have had both. :/

The best part of the story is...Judah's new family wrote and said that he was doing amazing with them, and it's like he was meant to be there all along.  I am SO happy to hear that!  I hope he continues to improve and I do hope to see the little guy again someday.  The family that adopted him is amazing and said that we are family to them now because we gave them Judah.  I love to hear that!

Such a handsome guy

and pretty goofy too :)

And since I mentioned him, I feel the need to show him off.  This is our pal Kramer. 

Best boy ever

I wish he lived closer so we could see him, but at least I get to see him on Facebook!

What's been going on this week...

1.  Me and Luna have matching nails!  She looks so cute with her nails painted.  Like mother, like daughter :)
2.  I bought the girls new jackets.  These were on clearance at Target for $4 each.  They needed real winter coats but I hate spending a lot of $ on clothes for them because they don't wear them all that often.
3.  I bought this necklace at Target.  LOVE it!
4.  Spent the day at grandma's sewing, and Luna just sits and looks out the window the entire time.  Usually she is just watching the leaves blow around or the birds, this time there was actually a little mole guy who was running back and forth getting the bread grandma left him on the porch.
5.  Found this coin purse at Target!  Figured it was perfect for me!  (Can you tell I LOVE Target?) 
6.  Last night I made some homemade cleaner.  This stuff is amazing!!  We had some glass and mirror cleaner called "Awesome!" and guess what?  It wasn't awesome!  So this stuff was perfect. (recipe to come)

'Bloom' by Kelle Hampton

I just finished "Bloom" by Kelle Hampton yesterday.  This was pretty good book.  My sister had suggested it to me and I didn't want to read something that was too deep, so because of that I found this to be a little too deep for me.  I loved the story about Down Syndrome and I learned a lot about it from this book.  I really appreciated her explanations of her feelings, and she gave a good image of what she was going through and how it all felt.  At times, I found this to be a bit too repetitive and found myself skimming over parts.  I think part of it for me is I'm not a mom and I've never given birth so I don't completely get where she was coming from.  I LOVED the pictures in this book.  Kelle really is an amazing photographer.  I looked up her blog "Enjoying the Small Things" and loved looking at all her wonderful pictures of her beautiful girls and family. 

family room remodel

We have FINALLY started the family room remodel!  It has been a long time coming.  When we first moved in my cats peed all over the family room and the carpeting reeked.  (Disgusting I know)  We needed to wait though because it wasn't only the carpeting that needed to be pulled up, the ugly paneling needed to go too.  So after our completion of the bathrooms, upstairs windows, and new flooring in the upstairs hallway and living room, we have finally worked our way to the family room!

Unfortunately this is about all that can be done for a few weeks, because we are waiting on the windows to come in.  We pulled up all of the carpeting and took down some of the paneling.  This isn't much worse then the disgusting carpeting though. 
We are going to put up drywall and make all of the walls flush, right now they have a ledge about half way up.  We will be putting in some (laminate) Brazilian Cherry wood floors.  All the windows will be replaced, because the ones we currently have ice over in the winter, not efficient what-so-ever.  And finally, we will replace all the doors so they match the rest of the doors in our house.  Can't wait to see it all come together!  And after this project is done, then we just have the kitchen left, which we both feel OK with for now.

"One for the Money" by Janet Evanovich

I love to read and always try to read at least one book over break.  This winter break I have already finished "One for the Money" by Janet Evanovich.

This was a GREAT book!  I loved that it was an easy read.  I didn't want to read anything too deep because I was on break from school and had to read THREE textbooks last semester.  I also loved the humor and the quirkiness of the book.  I actually found myself laughing out loud as I was reading it.  It's about a girl that becomes a bounty hunter, working for her cousin Vinnie because she had lost her job and couldn't find anything else.  She is on a hunt for Joe Morelli who is out on bail for murder.  She just so happens to have a bit of a past with Morelli, which makes the chase that much more interesting. I will definitely be reading the second book and probably all the books in this series.  But for now, my sister suggested "Bloom" by Kelle Hampton, and I'm about half way through. 

Christmas

We had a very busy Christmas!  We had my dad and his girlfriend over on Sunday (the day before Christmas eve).  Then we went to my mom's and Mark's mom's on Christmas eve.  Christmas day we visited Mark's dad in the morning, my mom for lunch, and Mark's Aunt's for dinner.  BUSY!  At least we had a great time at each :)  Here are some photos from all the fun...

MaryLu and Dad

Gifts from Stella and Luna

Grams

Mom loved her beads for her bracelet

Santa's babies