It's Been Awhile....

I haven't blogged in a really long time. I have been asked a few times if I am watching the Bachelorette, which OF COURSE I am, and, as always, I have strong opinions about it! Unfortunately, I just have not had the energy to blog. Why???



Yep, number four is on the way. Don't worry, number 3 is only 8 months old, so we are looking at a 14 month age gap. Heaven help me!!!

Extreme???

So, who else is completely addicted to the show Extreme Couponing on TLC? I have to admit that not only am I addicted....I am obsessed! Sure, in the past I have seen the occasional Facebook post from a friend, attaching a picture of groceries and boasting about how little they spent on them. Yes, I was intrigued, but after seeking information online, I quickly wrote off the whole 'coupon game'.

Until now.

Thanks to a good friend's advice and a renewed sense of I-can-do-this-ness, I have re-entered the land of the coupon...and IT. IS. ADDICTIVE.

Now, I am not nearly as skilled as those extreme couponers you see on television- remember, I am just a baby at the coupon game. But I am excited to say that in just one day of couponing, I scored some awesome deals! Seriously, getting these items for free or dirt cheap gave me a high like you would not believe. I literally had to make myself stay home tonight and not continue bouncing around the town's grocery stores, flaunting my new coupon skills. Check. Me. Out!

Store One: Target
Total Spent: $3.26



This was my first attempt at going in and using some 'killer deal' coupons. I had a coupon for more than the worth of the floss, so that was FREE! (Husband had to hear my squawk about the free floss all night, I was so proud.) The next killer deal- the Lysol Wipes. They were already on a great sale at $1.89, combined with a coupon for $1.50 off made them 39 CENTS! EACH! Dying!! Lastly the Dishwasher Powerballs. These weren't as cheap as the others, but still a fabulous deal. They started at $2.99 and I had a $1.75 coupon making them $1.24 a piece. These are de-lux, so I am happy about that!

Next up: Kroger
Total Spent: $11.15



Kroger is having a KILLER DEAL on General Mills cereal right now, buy 4 boxes, get a $5 gift card to Kroger. On top of that, there were a few cereals that were also on sale during the promotion- making it almost like a buy one, get one free deal. Combined with a coupon....dang good deal! I ended up spending about $1.15 a box. I have never paid so little for cereal before- including generic! LOOK at those huge boxes of cheerios! Can you tell I am puffed up in pride?

Last but not least, CVS.
Total Spent: $0.97



First I would just like to apologize to CVS for my past ignorance of their awesomeness. You can definitely score some incredible deals there, and they love to accept coupons. They give you coupons the moment you walk in, and also easy care bucks to come back and shop again. Combined with amazing sales and coupons...easy place to score a deal.

I got all of this (see that free floss again?) for 97 CENTS!!! Beaming! Love it! The toothbrushes were a dollar a piece (on sale from 5) and I had a buy 2, get $2 off coupon. So they were free. The dressings were the only thing I paid for, and they were about 38 cents a piece after a coupon.

I am really getting into the coupon thing.

Now, tell me. Are you a couponer? Do you love it? What sites do you love?

I still have some questions about coupons. My main ones are:

What is the difference in the newspaper inserts SS and RP compaired to the online SS and RP? Are they different?

On the show, how do people buy 100's of an item at one time? Every coupon I see says 'limit one per transaction'. Is this not a real concern?

I saw the advice that I need to look for the 'rock bottom prices' on the things I buy and never buy above that again. Are there any good sites that maybe have already compiled a list of sale prices?? Can you share?

Thanks for letting me have a moment. To say I was giddy about my savings is a total understatement. After seeing my cereal stash, my husband informed me that, "There is a fine line between an extreme couponer and a hoarder."

That's probably true.

Searching...

So. We are moving.
We aren't moving far, but still, we are moving. Most of you that can relate to the stress that accompanies a move. Please pardon my looooong blog absence.
Over the next few months I will be coming here, pleading for opinions, as we basically have to start over with home furnishings. I am also going to attempts some 'do it yourself' projects (eep!), and I will come here to share. I am nervous but excited!!!
Anyhow, my first question comes in the form of TABLES. Dining room tables, to be exact. We need a large table for our dining room, but it can't be too formal (we will eat there every night), and it must be large enough to seat 6-8. Have you seen one you love? Have one you love? I have been mulling over the look of Farmhouse tables....thoughts?

Dear Emily...

Since I have about .3 seconds before my baby starts to cry (he is currently doing 'tummy time' on the floor and NOT thrilled about it) let me just skip through all the mundane details leading up to the final rose last night. Brad picked Emily, and the whole world rejoiced. Poor, 'widowed', single-mom Emily finally has her fairytale coming true! Brad made her (and our room full of girls) cry when he professed his devotion to her and her daughter-even after she had given him the 3rd degree about being a dad and beaten the dead cat into the ground about how NOT fun that is...

Chantel made a very classy exit, uttering heartbreaking words about how she could have been so wrong about him ever loving her at all....sigh....

Then came After The Final Rose where it all fell apart. WHAT in the WORLD has gotten into Emily? Poised, classy Emily turned into the Ice Princess. She was cold...stand-off-ish, and just...SO uncomfortable to watch. Does she love Brad? Do you think she is happy to be the final one standing? What about his temper? What about HER temper??? I can't believe that she is falling apart while watching the episodes, that is as annoying as when girls who are on the show complain about him dating other women. Seriously? Her whole demeanor was killing me. Her 'I love yous' seemed shallow and empty. I felt really sad. Sad for Brad.

When the final episode ended, I felt like Brad had made the right choice choosing Emily.

When After the Rose ended, I felt like he had definitely made the wrong choice.

What do you think?

In other news, I had a little gathering at my house to watch the finale, and each of us brought a little treat to share. There were some YUMMY foods consumed (especially by this stress-eater right here!) and I thought I would share my treat since it turned out so yummy.

So if any of you have ever heard of Popcorn Indiana popcorn company, they make delicious popcorn in all flavors....and my friend, Amber, turned me on to their cinnamon sugar kettle corn.

It is ADDICTIVE!!! So yesterday as I passed it in the store, I thought to myself, "Hey, I can make it at home!" So I pulled out my Whirly Pop and gave it a go....and it turned out SO good!

Here is the recipe:

Cinnamon Sugar Kettle Corn

1/4 cup oil

1/2 cup unpopped popcorn kernels

1/2 cup sugar

topping

1/4 cup cinnamon/sugar mixture

3/4 teaspoon salt

Pour oil and popcorn kernels into popper, spin them around until you hear the first kernels popping. Lift lid and pour in 1/2 cup sugar. Continue to spin until popping stops (this happens all at once and can be crazy loud there for a minute!)

Carefully pour into a bowl and then IMMEDIATELY sprinkle salt and cinnamon/sugar mixture over the popcorn. I found it works best to pour onto a shallow wide bowl instead of a deep bowl in order to get the salt/cinnamon/sugar mixture evenly on there.

YUMMY!!!!

Where to Begin?

I feel like a broken record when I say that, once again, I have totally neglected this blog for too long. I come with excuses!

First, we took a FABULOUS trip to the Bahamas. We stayed at Atlantis and it. was. amazing. I would recommend it to anyone, everyone...it is the PERFECT family vacation spot. Tons of pools, water slides, lazy river, CRAZY river, beach, sand, ocean....we never ran out of things to do or got bored. The whole resort is one HUGE aquarium, it is a visual feast where ever you go. Our kids 'oohed and aahed' over the fish every single day. The food was wonderful, the people were SO nice and willing to help us in any way...it was the best trip. We are going to be talking about this one for a long, long time!

After we returned, however, my baby boy came down with a nasty cough which landed him an overnight stay in the hospital. I wasn't SUPER worried, just felt really bad for him and his misery. Luckily he is doing better, on some medication, inhalers, etc, and on the road to recovery. I hope to recover from my extreme lack of sleep soon.

Lastly, we have been in the process of buying a new home. I am SO thrilled with the prospect of adding more space to our lives. Since the boy was born, we have felt the walls of our town home become more and more cramped, and we are definitely ready to move on. We have been consumed with loans, furniture, fences, appliances...all the fun things that come with a new space. I will definitely be coming here to ask for thoughts and opinions on decor- I think we MIGHT just attempt to put up a picture rail on our own...and a little wainscoting? Maybe??

Throughout all this, I have been, of course, keeping up with my precious Bachelor. I am SO EXCITED for the finale next week, I just can't wait for him to make his choice! I watched the Women Tell All while I was in the hospital, and I was really surprised how nuts Jackie went on Michelle. Why she was taking it SO personally, I do not know. I am glad Brad stuck up for Michelle, I believe that she probably was just being sarcastic. As much as she annoyed me, if she hadn't been there, I probably wouldn't have been nearly as entertained!

GO EMILY!!!!

Valentine's Lesson Learned.

*Family Blog Updated.

This year it seemed like Valentine's Day was on some kind of performance enhancing drug.

Everywhere I turned there was some kind of irresistible Valentine's craft or baked good staring me in the face, and I could hardly choose which morsel of cuteness I wanted to partake in. A few blogs down, I posted some bubblegum necklaces that I thought I was definitely going to be making for my girl's Valentines. However, after pricing out gumballs and thinking about the time factor, making 30 of those necklaces...packaging them somehow...I began to feel overwhelmed. Which is why I turned to Our Best Bites, where I saw these adorable cookies:

Perfect! Cookies are easy to bust out, and really, how hard could these be? Sure, I had never worked with GLACE icing before...or piped a cookie...or piped anything...but it would be fine, right?

Next, I was in charge of my preschooler's 'sweet treat' for her class Valentine's party. So what would be cute and fun for preschoolers to eat? Off to Our Best Bites again....how bout these beauties?


Cauuuuuuute!!!! Since I am the queen of homemade pie crust, I just knew these would be a breeze.

Oh my gosh...ANDDDDDDDDD....since I am making pies ANYWAY....why don't I make those cute Pie in a Jar treats for Teacher gifts?????


Perfection. Utter perfection.

And so it began, my baking extraveganza. Husband was out of town, but no sweat. I knew I could do it alone. New baby in the house? Not a problem. I would bust it all out while he was sleeping.

Do you see where this is going? We are headed to a very dark place, my friends.

I started out right. I made the sugar cookies AND the pie dough on Saturday night so that on Sunday all I would have to do is pipe the cookies and make the pies. Easy peasy. I got the baby down for a nap and the kids settled in front of a movie, and began making my glace icing. The icing was very easy to make and turned out exactly as she showed it. The only problem is, her black icing called for food coloring gel, which I had bought....one of. Ummmmm, not even close. In the car, kids, and off to the store to buy 4 more of those...and to be safe, I picked up a bunch more red, too. Back home, the black was finally a dark charcoal color and the 'red' was about as good as it was going to get.
I pulled out my previously purchased frosting bags and piping tip. For those of you who actually know what I am talking about, I bought a #4 tip, and then I read that she used a #3. Shoot! Well, I had to make due with my #4, and it also worked fine. I figured out how to attach it to my bag (where were my reality tv cameras when I was working THAT out?) and filled it with icing, and got to piping.

Let me let you in on a little secret, friends. Piping is VERY SOOTHING. I could have piped all the day long. Sure, my piping wasn't perfect, but boy was it fun! Here are my cookies all piped and ready to go:


Notice that I added a line down the middle that OBB didn't have. I think it helped define the wings more. I liked it.

So then I had to wait for that to set. Once it was ready, I filled in the middles. While this was not hard at all, it took FOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVER!!!!!!!!!


You can see that I piped frosting in, then spread it with a spoon. Took about a million years to spread it all out.

FINALLY! All spread, and, once again, waited for it to set:



Next came the black. First I put on the black heads while I was waiting on the wings to harden, then went onto the dots. Now let me let you in on a MAJOR secret here. The black dots were SO MUCH EASIER to put on the wings that were NOT FULLY SET. If I could do it over I would have immediately put the black on before the red was even close to set. I could just push the tip (still #4) down into the red and squeeze a little and the black would meld into the red. On the ones that were set, it sat on top, kind of 3 dimensionally, which was hard not to squish when I packaged them up.

Okay, so once the black heads were set (do you see how time consuming this was becoming, waiting for the icing to set between each step?) I added the white eyes....then....you guessed it....waited for those to set and THEN I added the black eyes. PHEW!



Hello, my pretties!!!!

By that time it was about 9 pm and it was off to get the kidlets in bed. They had insisted that they witness the creation of the eyes, so I had to let them stay up late to see them (because I had to wait for them to set, people.) Oh, and I made 5 cookie sheets full of these, between school friends and other friends, we needed a lot of cookies.

Fast forward to 10 pm, kids are finally sleeping and it is time to START the pie pops. Yes, start them. At 10 pm. No problem, pie is easy. And the pie crust was already made in my freezer, remember????

I pulled out the dough, made the mistake of trying to roll it out right away. It crumbled into a bajillion pieces. Rolled it out a few times, and when it warmed up it worked beautifully. I grabbed my 2 inch heart and....wow, it was tiny. I wish I would have taken a picture to show you, but it was ITSY bitsy. The trouble was, I had lost my 3 inch heart. Crap! So, I rolled out 2 inch hearts and then I flattened them out with my hand to make them larger. I filled them with her apple pie recipe (I used about 1/10 of the recipe, the pies were that small) and got them on the sticks...into the oven....and started working on the Pies in the Jar. Oh, did I mention how I had to hunt around town for the jars? And even then I didn't find the exact right ones. Oh well.

Quick glance at clock...11:30. How did it take so long to make those pies? Oh, right. I flattened them all by hand. Shoot.

Okay, so I flew into crazy mode, pressing the pie crusts into the jars, filling them with blueberry pie filling (from a can, people, times were getting desperate!) and then cut out tiny pie hearts to put on top. At this time the pops were coming out of the oven, so I feverishly whipped up the glaze to go on top. DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP! The glaze was delicious!!! I threw the pies in the oven to bake...For 45 minutes????

I used the time wisely to create a container for the pie pops to stick into. I used a punch bowl and made a little tag for the outside. Then I used floral foam and glued some cute paper on it that looked like conversation hearts, and then filled the top with the hearts. Perfection.

At this point my baby woke up and by the time I got him back to sleep it was 1 am. ONE IN THE MORNING! The pies were ALMOST done baking and then I could sleep.

But wait.

The kids can't just take those cookies to school to drop in Valentine's boxes all naked and unpackaged! DARN IT!!!! DARN ITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!

I loaded all the mostly set cookies into tiny cellophane bags. Which were open on top. then I took a trip to the basement, quickly made a tag in photoshop, printed the tags, brought them up, cut them out, and stapled them on top of the cellophane bags.

Which brings me to the point of the story. There I was. At TWO in the morning. Finishing Valentine's treats for my preschoolers. PRESCHOOLERS. 4 and 3 years old. What was I DOING??? WHY??? Was I insane? What was I trying to PROVE? And who was I trying to prove it TO??

Honestly, I cannot tell you. I will say that I grossly misjudged how much work these treats were going to be. I definitely did not set out to spend 10 hours making Valentines goodies for tiny children who would not fully appreciate the magnitude of my work. I am begging you...next year, if I even MENTION hand making treats like this again, stop me. Get on a plane, fly here, and stop me. It was definitely not worth losing my sanity over!!!

The only saving grace here were the results of the hard work. Of course everything turned out darling. The cookies were TO DIE FOR and the girls were incredibly proud to hand them out (don't worry that my older one got sick and ended up not being able to go to her Valentine's party anyway. No, I am not kidding.) I was, however, surprised to discover that in BOTH of their classes...they were the only ones to bring home made Valentines. I don't know why that surprised me, but it did. I also have to admit that as I was carrying everything into the school, I felt a bit silly. It all felt so over the top....oh well.

So, I wish I had a cuter picture of how the Valentine's turned out, but at 2 am, you get what you get.



And the Sweety Pie Pops? Um yes, so cute, Here they are at the preschool about to be served:



And here they are after, just a few left over:



My favorite thing, and by far the EASIEST thing to make, were the Pie in a Jar for the teachers.



So there you have it. My totally insane Valentine's Day Treat Extraveganza. PLEASE tell me that I was not the only crazy mom out there up til 2 am making treats for preschool. Lie to make me feel better if you have to...or at least to make me feel a little less insane.

And then there were Four....

So here I am, late as usual to give my 2 cents about this week's Bachelor. Let me just mention here that my baby has refused to sleep all week and we had each child get the stomach flu one right after another...so this makes night one-million without any sleep for me. Everyone take a moment of silence for my lost sleep. Thank you.

Well, this week did not pass by without any drama, that's for sure. Let's start with the one on one date he had with Britney. I know Brad was being honest with Brit that he has no attraction to her, but it seemed a bit cold hearted to send her packing right there at dinner. He could have waited for the date to be over, no? Or even pretended to mull it over and send her home at the rose ceremony? I know he thought he was being kind, but I felt like it was almost worse to send her away like he couldn't stand to spend ONE MORE MINUTE with her. And...what was that welcoming committee back at the house? Everyone jumping for joy to see Brit return from her date? That was bizarre...she is dating YOUR man, ladies!

The other one one one dates (with Emily and Shantelle) seemed to go well, although I LOVE Emily, I am not seeing much of a spark between them. I can see why he likes her, but is there really any connection there? I felt like his connection with Shantelle was much more obvious. She seemed really fun loving and genuine on their date, I like her even more now.

The horribly awkward group date was about as distasterous as you can get. I am not sure how Brad expected the other girls to react when he was getting it on with Michelle in front of them. I am not sure how I expected them to react....I mean, I knew they would be mad, but they acted like they were about 2 years old. Especially Ashley- "Don't send me home! I am so scared!" It was so uncomfortable to watch, I felt like an idiot for her. Then Chontelle started up with the tears, and if I were Brad I would have plunged myself over the cliff into the water just to get away from those babies. I love how Michelle was SO angry and wouldn't even look at him after he gave Ashley the rose....

What will we do now that Michelle is gone? She was what brought the crazy to the show...that crazy we hate but can't stop watching. At this point I feel like it's anyone's game....

Edit:

I can't believe I forgot to mention Michelle's vow of silence as she left! What was THAT??? Week after week of not listening to the verbal vomit that refused to be silenced and then....crickets. Hmmmm......

No More.

Michelle.

Needs.

To.

Stop.

Talking.

Please.

Make it stop.

I had to look away. I couldn't even watch her awkwardness. One 'hola' and my skin went clammy and the complete psychoness of it all nearly put me over the edge...and yet....he KEPT her.

WHAT???

Okay, so all the girls were SO quick on the uptake that 'someone' had talked to Brad before the rose ceremony. Does anyone else feel like that was completely ridiculous? I mean, puh-lease, there is no way a producer didn't put that bug in their ear. And, as much as Michelle freaked me out, WHY does she have to tell them ANYTHING about it? I didn't really understand that. I actually liked when she said, "I'm not apologizing, I'm just keeping it real." I'm glad she didn't apologize to them...she shouldn't have even had to have told them. (Yes, I know I sound like I am team Michelle, but at that moment I kind of was. Probably because I can't stand Chontelle.)

Nope, Chontelle is bothering me a lot. I don't know why she rubs me the wrong way....although it was genius timing of her to tell him she loves him when she had nothing to gain. VERY smart move.

Glad that Alli left, although she was cute I think it was a good choice, but I was surprised that Jackie had to hit the road. Thought the blonde girl was going to get the axe. Apparently I was wrong!

How much longer do you think Michelle has? Next week? More?

Everything Tragic Seems Trivial.

*Edit at bottom.

This past week has been a stressful one:

Cleaning, Listing, and Selling a home.

Offers. Counter Offers.

Buying a home.

Figuring out how I want my business to go this year.

How many sessions to take?

Babysitters? Nanny?

Home studio, perhaps?

Baby Weight. How to lose it when I can barely open my eyes, let alone get on the treadmill.

Money? Budgeting?

Can I learn to use my Cricut Cake in time for V-day?

How many days of preschool next year?

So many things I have agonized over this week.

Today I read THIS. I watched THIS.

I read one of the comments:

Reading your blog has made everything tragic in my life seem trivial.

I could not agree more.

EDIT: Since I wrote this post, her husband passed away. My heart breaks for them.

Super. Cute.

I don't want to ruin the surprise...but....I am DEFINITELY having my girls make these to hand out to their class for Valentine's Day!

My SISTER passed along this DARLING SITE to me and it is full of cute Valentine's day ideas.

Those are GUMBALLS! I mean, really, could that be any cuter? The only thing is...will the boys in the class appreciate them? I am trying to think of something masculine I can make with the gumballs.....

Another darling idea, and runner up if the gumball thing falls through, are these Sweety Pies from Our Best Bites. Absolutely adorable!!!

What are your kids bringing to school for Valentine's day?

Ice-pocolypse.

It's the storm of the century here in the Midwest, and since my lights have been flickering for the past few hours I figured I should post now if I am ever going to because once we loose power, who knows when it will return. And you know I can't go all week without posting about the Bachelor, right? Or, as it seems lately, food.

Let's start with the Bachelor:

First off, WHO paid for that shopping spree for Shantell? Seriously? Who? How is that even close to the realm of 'reality' of a life with her and Brad. I mean, okay, helicopter rides and private concerts with Train aren't really reality either, I realize this, but walking into Fendi and buying whatever the heck you want? Really? She definitely got the BEST date. Anyway, besides being insanely jealous (like the other women in the house) I like this girl. She reminds me a bit of Hillary Swank. Anyone?

Next, the two-on-one date...cold hearted, very cold hearted to stick the Ashleys who love each other on the two-on-one date. It would have made for much better television if we had actually SEEN how good of friends they were before this episode, but whatever. I can't say that I was super surprised that he chose to send the younger, more southern Ashley home, but only because she was matched against the hot dentist Ashley. If that situation hadn't occurred, I would have been much more shocked, like if he had sent her home at the rose ceremony. I felt bad for the poor girl, bawling her eyes out. Even the camera guy had to give up on her ever looking up and repositioned the camera to film her sobbing into her lap.

Emily's date...Oops, I mean, the group date was kind of a bust. Poor Emily having to pretend to have a good time, and I thought she was pretty gracious about the whole situation but I do have to say that I did feel a bit bad for the other girls having to sit around and watch the two of them all night. Although Alli's comments in the hot tub were seriously stupid, I wanted to reach through the TV and smack her face. Insensitive much?

Michelle makes me cringe. Her alone time with Brad in the hotel room had me literally sticking my face into a pillow. Make it stop! Why is she so awkward?? I am SO glad Brad calls her out soon. All she does is tell him how wrong the other girls are for him...um, how can she judge that? Finally Brad points that out. I think she gets cut after that.

Other than that I don't have much to say. I think his cuts were appropriate this week (although I wouldn't have minded to see Michelle go), and the scenes from the rest of the season have me pumped!!!!

Onto food: Still diligently trying to lose the pounds by March. Any low calorie treat ideas would be greatly appreciated! I am down 10 lbs from when I was 2 months post partum, 10 more would be FABULOUS.

A Fail....and then a BIG Win!

Hello there, I'll bet you wondered if I was going to post this week. I can't believe it's Saturday and the week got away from me without posting about the Bachelor...and to be honest, this post isn't totally about that. (skip to the end if you want to read my short thoughts on this week's episode.) It's about...you guessed it, diet food!

In my quest to loose about 50 pounds before March (that's a joke, people) I have been scouring the internet for good diet options, ones I can actually follow, because, as I pointed out before, I can barely stand up during the day, let alone get on a treadmill (baby wakes up about 5 times a night.) Anyway, I ran across the Hungry Girl website. I thought I was so clever finding this site and then the next day I turned on The View and she was their guest. Whatever. Anyway, she had a low calorie cake recipe, mixing a cake mix (any flavor) with a can of diet soda (any flavor). I decided to give it a whirl, but when I went on her website to get the baking instructions, I saw that she also suggested a can of pumpkin. Genius! A can of pumpkin is so good mixed with a spice cake mix for pumpkin cookies...it MUST be just as good with a chocolate cake mix, right?? Right?? WRONG.

Big. Fat. Fail.

If you are even considering mixing a chocolate cake mix with a can of pumpkin in an effort to cut calories, STOP RIGHT THERE! Back away from the cake mix. Put the pumpkin DOWN!!!!

Instead, do what I did (after throwing out the entire batch of moist yet disgusting pumpkin/chocolate cake) and buy a Devils food cake and mix it with Greek Yogurt. Yes, this was another suggestion on her site, and it sounded much tastier to me, so I went with it and it was a big WIN! Delicious! The best part is that a 'serving' of this is double what is considered a serving on the box normally (1/12 of the cake instead of 1/24). So you get double the cake for a lot fewer calories, and it is Yum, yum, yummmmmmy!

Okay, now I will say a few words about the Bachelor this week. Let me start by saying that my DVR failed me so I missed most of his first date with Chantel, but I caught the end and they looked nice enough together, and I really didn't mind her...until it was time for Michelle's date and she was so rude to her! Okay, listen. I get it. Michelle is obnoxious. She can whine and be annoying and yes, overconfident, and completely ridiculous with her sense of entitlement. But do you know what I hate even more than that? A bully. And I really felt like Chantel was completely stirring the pot with Michelle when she was waiting for her time with Brad. It was unnecessary, and to me that shows a HUGE amount of immaturity. It takes a much bigger woman to be able to let things go, and to not have to jab, jab, jab at someone. I lose a lot of respect for that.

Anyway. Moving on...the group date was a bit ridiculous with the hot Dentist, she needs to get some self confidence quickly or I fear she will find herself packing soon. Why can't she pull her head out of her bottom and see that he is going above and beyond to prove his love for her??

Michelle, well, I have to admit it felt sorry for her and her repelling date. My WORST NIGHTMARE right there, people. I have an insane fear of heights, and I would not have been able to do it. She rocked in that moment. Don't worry, I am definitely not rooting for her, but as she was dangling off that ridiculously high building, I was on her side for just a moment.

Next week....really?? Taking Emily to the races, huh? ANY CLASS AT ALL, ABC????

Surprisingly Good!

So, in an effort to blog about something OTHER than the Bachelor, I wanted to pop on here and share my new find. You may know that I am feverishly trying to loose weight via diet alone right now. We are off to the Bahamas next month and I want to try to look halfway decent...as decent as you can look being 3 months post partum. Anyway, since my baby insists on waking up every 2-3 hours throughout the night, I am not even close to being able to hop on the treadmill (I wade through my days bleary-eyed, sipping the life back into myself one diet coke at a time...), hence the 'diet only' weight loss strategy...mostly calorie counting.

ANYWAY. I decided to try the new Lean Cuisine steambag meals...and they are actually really good! So far I have tried the Shrimp Scampi and the Chicken Alfredo, and both were tasty, and both were portioned really well. So if you have been wondering if you should try them out, go for it! I am excited to try the other flavors.

Vampiress has a Heart.

Didn't I say I wasn't going to Bachelor blog this season? Or even watch it? How did it suck me in???? Somehow it did...it really did.

Can I just jump right into the middle and tell you how much I cried my eyes out as Emily was telling her story to the other girls? The way she kept whispering 'sorry' every few seconds...just broke my heart into tiny little pieces. Picture me...melting....all.over.the.floor. I was aching for her to tell Brad immediately (A little bit horrific that the first thing she had to do was hop on a private plane with him. Um, how did she not flip out?) and it was SO awkward when she was very obviously keeping the story from him. I am so glad she opened up to him. Chemistry....may be just a tiny bit lacking? What do you think?

Apparently he and Chantel have lots of chemistry, though, or at least they keep talking about it. I am not sure how I feel about her. As much as I CANNOT stand Michelle, it really annoyed me how snide she was to her at the rose ceremony. Everyone knows I can't stand a bully, and it really made me feel bad when she was poking fun at her, even though Michelle was being obnoxious. Michelle situation aside, though, it seems that Brad and Chantel really have some kind of connection going on, I am interested to see how their one on one goes next week.

Back to Michelle...I keep reading about her on Facebook, about what a nice girl she is in real life. Why is she acting like such a crazy nutso on the show? I mean, 'creative editing' can only go so far, she is definitely giving them plenty to work with. She seems a bit 'single white female', wouldn't you say? Why doesn't it annoy Brad how she is constantly inconsiderate of his time with everyone else?

Finally....It turns out that Madison has the softest heart of all! I am really impressed that she looked into herself and knew that she was not nearly as into Brad as the other girls. Since we are on the subject of girls leaving, the other girls he sent home...fine with me. I mean, OF COURSE I wish he would have kicked Michelle to the curb, but since he didn't, I felt his choices were good.

I still really like Ashley and Emily, along with Allie and Lisa. I wish I could see him alone with Allie or Lisa. Apparently Ashley-the-dentist goes nuts next week- can't wait for that!

I'll Cry if I Want To.

Okay, so last night I got all my kids to bed, sat down to watch Brad do his thing...turned on the DVR and....I wasn't recording it! So I missed the first date with Ashley at the carnival. Never fear, I just caught up on it online (not easy with 3 awake children!) and I do have a few thoughts.

First of all, Ashley's date was pretty darn cute. I felt like they related well to each other, however as I was watching them interact, especially when they were talking about their dads abandoning them, I started to see, um, real sincerity in Brad. He seemed to be very real about his feelings and emotions, and he may have just won me over a little bit. Ashley seemed a little too peppy, but that could have been because she was trying not to let the mood get too depressing? She just rubbed me the wrong way a tad when she was smiling and laughing through their conversation. Still, she is pretty darling.

The group date...wow. So, have you heard? It's Michelle's birthday. Her Thirtieth birthday. Not twenty-nine. Not thirty-one. Her thirtieth. Imagine the horror of sharing her thirtieth birthday with 15 other women. Sharing time with Brad on her birthday. Her thirtieth birthday. Probably she should storm off and pout in a corner. Good work, Michelle, way to get some pity attention. Brad, you idiot, why give her a rose when she is acting like such a little snot? Oh, because it's her birthday.

Seriously, though, Michelle is acting crazy.....acting to be the main word here. Looky looky what someone sent me:

INTERESTING.
As a side note, I have had my hair done at the salon Michelle works at, by another FABULOUS stylist (Tara Snarr for anyone who is looking for a great stylist! She did an amazing job and I loved my hair soooo much!) Funny little coincidence!

Anyway, the other girls seemed normal, except for Melissa (cougar girl) who busted into the soap opera scene...that was bizarre. I noticed a few girls who I thought were pretty cute that I hadn't really noticed before: Alli and Lisa M. Both girls look super cute.

The last one on one date is absolutely my dream come true. A full day of pampering, followed by a room full of any gorgeous dress or shoes she would like to pick, followed DIAMONDS, followed by a romantic dinner, followed by a private concert by Train! I am going to be seriously disappointed if my next anniversary does not mimic this date exactly. (Just kidding, stop sweating, Mike). Jackie seems really really cute. She was not on my radar at all, in fact I was curious when her name was picked for the date. She was pretty darling, though.

Rose Ceremony: Melissa, seriously? I guess I missed where Raichel was being so awful to her, um, dissecting her words (what?) to make her look crazy...but it definitely worked against her, and poor Raichel, I'm afraid. This kind of proves to me that maybe ABC can't force Brad to keep people around for drama? He got rid of them just like.that. Didn't even bat an eye. Another move that impressed me. I felt bad for Keltie but the show must go on without her. It's too bad she is such a dating disaster...poor girl. It's a good thing he kept Madison, though, because really, who wouldn't want a girl with fangs? What the heck?

I am excited for next week, I am sure I will be bawling along with all the other girls as Emily shares her story, and I cannot wait to have her share it with Brad! I also can't wait to see Michelle's crazy stalking in the corner, I wonder if he will cut her next week? Can't keep the crazy around for too long. Do you think she is the one who leaves the rose ceremony and he has to go out and get?

PS: Props to ABC for bringing in Ali and Roberto. Cutest couple ever.

Yum, yum, YUM!

*family blog updated

I am always on the lookout for new recipes for our family dinners...and not just any recipe. It must be healthy, kid friendly, and delicious! I have been trying out new recipes all month, and while most are good, this one is GREAT! I found the recipe on Our Best Bites, which is one of my favorite recipe sites. It is their Tortellini Sausage Soup, and it is DIVINE!

(Photo courtesy of Our Best Bites)

So, the best thing about this soup? The Zucchini. Now, I am NOT, I repeat NOT a zucchini lover by any means. I am very medium on it- but for some reason, it *makes* this soup. Here is my theory why: The texture of the zucchini is very noodle-like. It tastes like I am eating a hearty noodle soup. I could easily leave the tortellini noodles out of my bowl and make this a very diet friendly soup for myself. When I was making it, I noticed that once I was done shredding the zucchini...it looked like WAY too much. I almost didn't put it all in. Now I would easily add another one in to make it even 'noodlier'.

Try this one...you will love it!

W T F...

As in....What the FANGS???

Really?

Fangs?

Brad?

FANGS?

BRAD! This is your second chance to find love...don't be an idiot!!! All of America already hates you, don't mess around with girls who wear fangs, for pete sake. Sheesh.

Okay, so I have been a bit harassed today for a Bachelor Blog. I know that I let the ball drop. I also have a new baby who is very naughty at night and barely lets me get any sleep. To be honest, I found myself nodding off a few times last night because it comes on later here (8-10) and by 10 I was dying for it to be over so I could go hop in bed, there was no WAY I was going to be able to blog about it! Maybe by the time this season of the Bachelor is over, my baby will be sleeping through the night? We can all hope, right?

Anyway, I hadn't really planned to blog about it this season, for the reason mentioned above...however I am trying to convince my SISTER to blog about it. She and I have pretty much the same opinions on all the episodes and she is definitely a witty writer. Until she agrees, though, I will make a few comments. Please forgive the lack of 'wow' factor in this post, I just don't have it in me to upload ALL the girls pictures and comment on each and every girl he kept.

First, can I just say that I think most of the girls they chose for this season are cute. I think it's kind of unfair that he has so many darling girls to choose from. Besides Vampire girl, I can't really think of any other crazies (besides the dentist that they portrayed that way in the season previews). The fact that he kept the Vampire girl really has me perplexed. It's one thing to be into Twilight, it's another to tell someone that they look delicious enough to eat...and mean it. Brad needs to give her the name of his therapist.

Speaking of therapists....I am so glad we heard from Brad's that he is ready to be back on the show. (eyeroll). And if that didn't convince you, what about the whole opening of the show, with Brad talking about his commitment issues, seeing the therapist...scenes of Brad shaking his head shamefully as he watches the finale of his season over and over...contemplating his life over a solitary bowl of cereal...I mean, wow. WOW. That was almost enough for me to turn off the show and quit watching this season. SO. LAME.

Even lamer? Deanna. I really can't believe they brought Deanna and Jenni back to 'confront Brad', and even worse, I can't believe they agreed to do it! The thing that really annoys me is how jilted Deanna is about the whole situation. He dumped Jenni, too...about 5 seconds before he dumped you, Deanna, and you don't see her freaking out to everyone who will listen. Isn't Deanna engaged?? She needs to MOVE ON! I hope this is the last I ever have to hear about Brad not choosing Deanna ever EVER again.

Oh wait. Every single girl who gets out of the limo is going to bring it up. Well, sweet. I guess I can spend the next hour hearing the same conversation over...and over..and over...Won't any of you ladies figure out that the LAST thing he wants to do is explain himself all night long? FINALLY Ashley gets the idea and talks about something other than Deanna. Congratulations, Ashley! You deserve that first impression rose, girl! Way to get a brain and the good sense not to bring up his shameful past. The rest of you ladies...seriously?

One more thing- are we really to believe that the ladies did not know that Brad was going to be the Bachelor until they got out of the limo? We really think that they came up with all those lines as they were walking the 5 steps from the limo to Brad? You think that the first girl really came up with the idea to slap him in .2 seconds? I am going to call BS here. I think they knew. I think he knew that slap was coming. Just my opinion.

So, as I said before, I liked the majority of the girls. You all know I was bawling my head off at Emily's story. Her fiance dying just days before she found out she was pregnant...naming her daughter after him....sob, sob, soooobbing into my pillow. Of course I wanted her to win from that moment on. However, MIKE picked her, so I am going to make my pick ASHLEY, since she was the only smart one to not bring up Deanna.

As for Dark Horses... I am going to pick Lisa M. from Kansas. Why? Because of her ruby slippers. Genius.

Mike is picking Michelle...I think because she's from Utah. Nice.

The 'Scenes from this Season' make is seem like one of the girls isn't sure she can commit to Brad- I think it's Emily. They also make the hot dentist (Ashley) look like she is crazy insane. Interesting. They make Michelle seem really sketchy. I am excited to see the drama unfold. What's with Brad getting back into the Limo during the final proposal-rose ceremony? Hmmm......