08/28/2011

Cheesy Tijuana Soup

Here's the recipe for my Cheesy Tijuana soup!

You'll need...
1 can corn
1 can black beans
2 cans chicken
1 box chicken stock
1/2 block Velveeta, chunked
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 can regular Rotel
jalapenos to taste

Drain all cans except crushed tomatoes.  Mix all ingredients in crock pot.  Cook on low 2-3 hours, stirring occasionally.  Eat!

Tutu Shoot

I played around with editing a bit more than usual.  Here are some of my favorites.

Yada Yada Yada

There is no point to this post!  Just wanted to get that out there at the beginning!  So I've been having a good weekend so far!  Yesterday I took a trip to Indy to see 3 of my sisters, my mom, 3 nephew, and a niece!  I did a tutu session with said niece, so pictures will be coming!  Unfortunately, I had to take them at 10am, so the lighting wasn't the best b/c of shadows, but I did the best I could and I think we got some good shots!  After that was lunch at Applebee's where you must check out their under 550 calorie meals!  I had the asiago peppercorn steak and oh yum!  It was delicious!  Nom!  Then we all headed to Target where I managed to reign myself in and only got a few things!  I came home and last night Zach came over and we have Josh, so we had dinner and watched the Super Mario Brothers movie.  So cheesy and so bad, but still good.  I know a lot of people would disagree, and I know it's a terrible movie, but I still like it!
So now it's Sunday morning and I'm relaxing with some blogging, youtubing, and a cup of coffee!  Ah, that's the stuff.
I'm excited about the next few months as far as photo shoots go b/c I have 3 coming up!  I'm taking Zach's senior pictures, and I'm doing a couple session with David and Kate.  In October I'm doing a session with the Allen kids (nieces and nephew) so that should be fun too!  I just love taking pictures!  I like to challenge myself to get better at them and find new ways to take them!  I wish I could find an amateur photography class in my area, but no.  I would love to take a class!  For now I'm just learning on my own with a little help from the internet!
Anywho, I've got to say I've been trying to think of things to blog and I'm coming up dry!  I realized updates on my life are only so interesting, so I've been brainstorming about other things to do!  Any ideas?

Bands to Check Out

I found a new band, Balmorhea, you must check them out!  Wow!

Also, the husband found a new band, Blind Guardian.  They are awesome!  Check them out!

NOTE: The band are not new, just new to us!

Fun Times Indeed

Wow I have had such a good weekend (so far)!  Friday night Jon and I stayed in and watched the movie Paul.  It was really good!  Saturday started with a visit with David and Kate.  Then the boys headed out for a hike (brother time and all that  jazz) and I headed to Target for some retail therapy!  I'm so excited b/c I found tutu's!  I'm definitely going to be doing a tutu session with Kaitlyn next weekend!  Then it was home for lunch and a bit of a nap.  Then we headed over to Amber and Dustin's.  We ended up staying there until after 3am!  I can't wait to see what today holds!  So far sleeping until 11:30am!  Yikes!  I haven't done that in years!  Anyway, I hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Happenstance

You know what sucks?  The stomach flu.  You know what sucks even more?  Having the stomach flue twice in a 2 month span.  Yep.  That SUUUUUCKKS!@!!!!!!!!!!?!?!?!L!K#K!#J!#
So in case you missed it, I had the stomach flu yesterday.  It was extremely unpleasant.  It was made more unpleasant by the fact that a mere 2 months ago, I had the stomach flu.  Why?  WHY?!?!?!  Today is better.  I made it to work and managed to actually get some work done.  *huff*
Before the sickness we a weekend!  Saturday we treated the house and the cat for fleas.  We're still working on it.  The good news is that the fleas we are still finding on Topeka are pretty much dead.  Still moving, but on their way out the door.  We managed to have all that done AND open a savings account for Josh by 12:30pm.  We celebrated by having lunch at Rockford.  That afternoon, we pretty much chillaxed at the homefront.  Zach came over that night and made us dinner, which was lovely!  Sunday was another chill day.  Of course both of these days were filled to the brim with laundry!  Washing, drying, folding, putting away laundry!  I not only washed a crap-ton of clothes, but also all our bedding, curtains, shower curtain, and bathroom rugs.  Oh and a few of our lay around blankets.  Yeah I did a LOT of laundry.  Then I had the stomach flu.  Now I'm healing.
(About the title, I actually don't know what happenstance means.  I'm off now to google it, so perhaps in the future I will use it correctly.)

The Spoils

I had a tomato plant this year and it produced 3 tomatoes.  Not much, but I'm still so proud!  I didn't kill the plant!  Woop!  And yes, they tasted yummo!

Uh Oh...

Looks like I'm going to have an emotional day.  It started out with a dream I was back in middle school which sent my awake self reminiscing about old times.  (I kinda miss being young with no responsibilities.  Of course I wouldn't trade today for anything!  I would go back and visit though.)  Then I made the mistake of reading a baby blog and facebook (I really think EVERYONE is knocked up!) with my morning coffee, and now I'm sad b/c I don't belong to the mommy club yet.  (Seriously though, for the non mom's out there, doesn't it seem like there is this elusive mommy club that you don't belong to?  They have they're own language!  I mean I am NOT ready to belong to that club yet (I love my Sunday afternoon naps!) but still...  I do belong to the step mom club and that's pretty cool...)
ANYWAY!  Add the fact that we have to treat the house and CAT for fleas (where did they come from, WHERE?!) and it looks like I'm going to have an emotional day.  Sigh.  And yes I know I used far too many parenthesis to be grammatically correct.  I don't care.
So back to that flea thing.  We have discovered a few of the little nasties on poor itchy Topeka.  So we are going no holds barred on the varmints and treating the ENTIRE house as well as the cat.  This involves a lot of laundry, a lot of vacuuming, a lot of spraying, and what is sure to be a very unpleasant cat bath.  Oh and he has to wear a purple flea collar.  Yeah.  For those who wanna know, no we do not let Topeka outside (he's only been out a couple times and that was several months ago).  We think the pests came in on someone or something.  Oh and yes, we just had him to the vet a month ago and no fleas then, just an allergy that cleared right up.  When did my cat become high maintenance?!  Sigh.  This face does make it worth it though...

Just Another Friday

We started the weekend off right!  I took today off to watch Josh b/c we picked him up last night for Jon's birthday.  While Jon was at work, Josh and I did the grocery shopping, cleaned the house, and set up a surprise birthday party for him!  It was only Josh, Zach, and I.  I posted a video just before this showing a few bits of it, but here are some pictures.

We had ice cream cake, then we played a Mario Power Tennis tournament, which Zach won.  Then we had dinner (turkey smoked sausage with sauerkraut, fried potatoes, and peas) and watched Big Trouble in Little China.  After that the boys played night hide and go seek, we made a fire in the fire pit, and a balloon fight ensued.  It really was a great night.  Now Josh is in bed and Jon and I are winding down waiting for some clothes to finish drying.  Night all, sleep tight!

Yo

I'm so original with my titles (insert heavy sarcasm).  So hey there!  Just another crazy week in the Rhoades house.  Yesterday was Jon's 26th birthday, so here's a lil' video (of the party we threw him today).

grumble grumble

Crap day.  Total crap.  TMI, but I started my period and I feel like crap.  My company picnic was today, but all I managed to do was take the 6 dozen brownies I made then I made my way back home to my heating pad.  Sigh.  That's what I've done today pretty much.  The cat loved that we were home all day, but considering we had multiple plans, I was bummed.
Anyway, Friday and Saturday were productive/fun at least! Friday was work of course, then Zach came over and we watched some Twin Peaks and played a game of Nintendo Monopoly!  I also made my first batch of brownies, which we partook of.

Saturday, I got the grocery shopping done in the morning, then Jon and I headed to Columbus.  I needed to exchange my swim cap (I got the wrong kind) and Jon wanted the new bluray The Lord of the Rings Extended cut boxset.  We have been watching the extended cuts of the movies and I love them so!  We came home for lunch, which is when I made the 6 dozen brownies for the picnic.

 Then we spent a couple hours just chillaxing.  Last night, Dan and Rachel came down and we all got together at Dustin and Amber's house and played Zombies!!!.  It was a good time fo sho.
Then today...crap.  At least the weather partially matched my mood.  It was cloudy/oppressively humid this morning.  I did manage to get a couple loads of laundry done, but only b/c I had zero clothes clean that were appropriate for the office and the heat.  Now we are playing a little Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivian.
So overall, not too shabby a weekend!

I miss the 90s

Josh Makes Ice Cream

Oh Em Gee

What a busy week!  I can't believe it's Thursday!  Last week went so slow and now this one is just whipping by!  I think it's probably b/c of how busy we've been!  Sunday I cleaned the house then we had the family over for dinner and a movie.  Monday we picked up Josh then headed to Sonnie's for dinner and general hanging out.  Tuesday I went for a swim then came home and made dinner, then we spent some quality time with Josh.  Wednesday we went to dinner with Jon's grandparents then headed over to Sonnie's again to freeze corn.  Tonight we took Josh back to his mom and then came home for some relaxation.  We have a busy weekend ahead too!  Saturday night we are hanging out with Dustin and Amber, then Sunday is my company picnic followed by dinner at David's.  Whew!
I'll be happy to have some time to chill next week!  Just a bit though.  Jon's birthday is next week so of course I'll have to plan a little something!  I really need to get back into the picture taking so I'm not just a bunch of text over here!  Maybe I'll post a video.
Anyway that pretty much catches you up!  Toodles homies!