Trading Favors

I think we got the better end of a trading deal this week with my sister and brother-in-law.

Sunday Paul and I watched Joel and Molly while Liz & Scott had their Connection Group.

Of course, both kids adore Uncle Paul!

Molly wasn't digging her swing that night, but Joel was! He hung out in the swing and watched Super Why all night!

Tonight Scott came over to help me hang up pegboard in the garage. (And by help me, I mean he did 99% of the work...)

Sometime within the next few weeks, I'm going to add more shelves to the right side, put in a white cabinet under it all, CLEAN out the garage and paint a big red N on the pegboard. Stay tuned for before and after photos!

Like I said, I think we got the sweet end of that deal! Hanging out with Joel & Molly vs. hanging pegboard? Easy question! :)

Whole Grains and You!

I thought I'd share a few of our new favorite carbs and how we prepare them during the week. :)

No, not donuts or Snickers..es... Snickerses... (insert plural form of Snickers here)

First up - my newest discovery: Kashi Heart to Heart Oat Cereal

So far we've only tried the Warm Cinnamon. It's awesome! It tastes like pumpkin pie and is extremely good for you. Only 23g of carbs per serving, lots of dietary fiber and even 4g of protein.

Pictured next - Quick Barley and Joseph's Lavash Bread

We'll start with the barley. Every Sunday, I make a giant pot of beef barley soup to have as lunch during the week. It's a great combo of lean protein, whole grains (barley) and tons of veggies.

Em's Beef Barley Soup

1lb lean steak (eye of round?) cut into 1/2 inch pieces

4 carrots cut into little discs

1 package Pick'd Sweet Seasoning Mix (frozen chopped onions, peppers and celery)

1 10oz package frozen chopped spinach

4 boxes beef broth

1 tbsp minced garlic

2 tomatoes, chopped

1/2 cup dry quick barley

In a big 'ol soup pot, brown the beef on high heat. (don't worry about cooking through - just get a nice crust on the beef) Take out beef and set aside. Pour all veggies except spinach into the same pot. Use wooden spoon to scrape up beef remains at bottom of pot. Cook veggies for 5 minutes. Add a bit of beef broth to deglaze the pot. Add the rest of the beef broth. Bring to a boil. Add frozen chopped spinach. Bring back up to a boil. Add barley and keep at rolling boil for 10-15 minutes.

Mmmm!! Super good! A whole bowl is about 3 or 4 Weight Watchers points.

I also use the quick barley as a side dish for grilled chicken or fish. I cook the barley (1/3 cup) according to the instructions. (sometimes I add chicken bouillon to the cooking water) Add a bit of spray butter (or Butter Buds), 4 tbsp parmesan cheese and 2 tbsp light sour cream.

As for Joseph's lavash bread... whoa baby! They're huge! Over 12 inches long and 8 inches wide. They make killer wraps and you can cut them into four pieces for fajitas. They have a ton of dietary fiber and protein, only 17g of carbs for an entire piece, 100 calories and are made of a few very healthy ingredients. (lots of flax seed!) Paul and I have lavash bread pizzas multiple times during the week. Take the lavash bread, put it on a cookie sheet (spray the pan first), put down a couple tablespoons of light Ragu, sprinkle 2oz of cooked ground turkey or turkey pepperoni, 1/2 cup of 2% or fat free cheese and some of that frozen seasoning blend (onions, peppers and celery) and pop it in the oven at 450 for 10-12 minutes. Super awesome!

More updates later ...

Inspired to Return

My co-worker/friend Ashley has inspired me to get our blog started back up again. With everything we've got going on this fall, phone calls are going to be few and far between. So I figured I'd start blogging again to keep Mom informed :) and as a kind of record for us to look back on.


Excuse the quality of my pictures for the next couple of months. My digital camera ran away so most photos will be Blackberry photos.


Not a lot has changed around the house this summer. We've been movin' and groovin' a lot, so we haven't exactly been swimming in extra time. We did get a new tree! It's an Autumn Blaze Maple. The leaves are just now starting to turn a bit red. It's still a little guy, but it's supposed to grow quickly.

Within the next couple of weeks I plan on digging out some of the sod in front of that front window and putting down rock so next spring we can plant some... I don't know... shrubs? flowers? We're also finally going to hang the pegboard in the garage and clean that up a bit. The Ankeny High School construction class is going to come finish our basement this fall! We're pretty excited about that! Hopefully by early next year we'll have a game room and another bedroom! I'm already thinking decoratey thoughts!

Fall is very busy. Paul is done with actual classes for grad school, so he's doing his Practicum right now. This means he's got a few papers due over the next 6 months and he's spending a few hours a week working on a substance abuse program at work. He will graduate with his MSW in May.

Hopefully I'll be graduating in May as well with my MBA. I'm doubling up on classes for the next few terms. I'm taking a stat class right now that's no fun at all. But I play volleyball with a girl who is a stat wizard, so I have help if I need it.

I'm beginning to instruct cardio kickboxing at Farrell's. I've lead a few warm-ups and this week I start instructing full classes. Paul started his 10-Week Extreme Body Shaping in August and he's doing really well! He's done with 4 of the 10 weeks and you can already tell a difference. I'll make sure to post before and after pictures when it's all done.

Parsley, Capone and Rex are doing very well. Parsley had a very big day on Friday! She helped me take pictures at the Ankeny Dog Park grand opening and she got to meet Ankeny's Mayor! She gave him smooches and talked politics with him for a bit before posing for a ribbon cutting picture.

That's all for now! More updates to come ...

More Updates

Updates.... some recent and some not so recent... I just found my camera. :)

Woo! We have a fence!

Capone and Parsley love being outdoors now!

We got a new TV!


AND Parsley won two bronze medals and a gold medal at the Doggy Olympics!!! (here she is at home, sporting her shiny medals!)

The bronzes were in Hot Dog Bobbing and Water Relay.

The gold was in the Triathalon.

It must be her new dog food - Nutrish. The Rachael Ray food! That Rachael Ray knows her shit man.

New Room

Guerdizzle Guests Beware:





Paulo and I were looking at bedding online for our 2nd guest bedroom. (we're getting a new bed, so that room will no longer have the mouse bed.)





We found this comforter set:

Can we say 'THEME ROOM!?!?!?'

I'm thinking some satin leopard sheets, purple feathered pillows, lots of crystals, a Nelly playin' in the background....

PIMP ROOM!!!

This is going to be B.A.

Ideas are welcome for PEEYOHMP accessories. I'm a ghostly white girl from Mo. Valley, Iowa...

Maybe Kyle Woods has some ideas...

More life updates tomorrow. I'm going to buy zebra sheets for our room...

Parsley Jean

Parsley had her first day of doggie daycare this week! We had a 'meet and greet' last Friday at The Bark Zone. It didn't go the greatest, that's for sure. She's been so snippy with other dogs lately that we decided we need to fix it right now. Jacquie said dogs can sometimes change their social skills around the age of 2 so it's best to nip it in the butt before it gets really bad. So at the meet and greet, she snapped at every dog there. I was really worried she wouldn't be able to attend daycare. However, after fifteen minutes or so, she calmed down and was exploring the building. So Joey, the owner, said we could do a trial run yesterday. So I brought her in and stuck around 10 minutes or so. Just long enough to see her snap at a boston, a giant black lab, a corgi, and another beagle. She did start to calm down so I left. On my way out, a HUGE German Shepard was walking in and I just had an awful feeling Parsley was going to snap at him and get hurt. As the day went on, Joey emailed me and let me know that Parsley was only sassy for the first few minutes until everybody got there. Then for the rest of the day she was great. She played and wrestled and ran around and was fabulous. So she passed!! Yay!!!! AND she's super tuckered out still, 24 hours later. (as you can see from the picture) She'll be going to doggie daycare once a week, to get some social activity and exercise in her. Other doggie daycares have webcams but Bark Zone doesn't yet.. hopefully soon! When they do, I'll include a link so you guys can watch her play with her buddies on Tuesdays! She made a ton of new friends and absolutely loves it! Here is her new BFF list: (besides Bruno, Mack & Barkley, of course!)

-Maggie (beagle)

-Molly (chocolate lab)

-Casey (corgi)

-Yager (black lab)

-Lola (Boston terrier... a red Boston terrier... she's really cool looking! Kind of like this picture, only even more red!)

So that's really exciting! I think she and Lola will be pretty close. There was a great dane puppy on Friday that she was really interested in, so I bet she'll get close with her too.

It's exciting. I know Mack & Barkley will love it when they get to play with a less fussy Parsley!

I can't wait until May Day so we can make her new doggie friends some May Day baskets! Ooo... I bet they'll want St. Patty's Day treats!!! She'll need to wear a new green collar too...
Like this...

So that's my PJ update.... she's good... she's tuckered out and snuggling with her daddy right now. CUTE!

I'll post more pics later... hopefully I'll be able to get some pics of doggie daycare!

Oooo... I forgot to mention the new addition to the family!!!!!!!

Okay, no babies... but I'm deciding between mice or frogs!!!! I'll keep you posted on the new pets... :)

New House Pics

Tonight I had Jacquie and Jen over for appetizers/drinks, so the house was clean. Why not take some pics of the new house? My computer's freezing up tonight, so I'll post pics now and a Parsley update in a bit...



I reappholstered (sp?) our dining room chairs!

Living Room!

Guest Bedroom!!! It's pretty plain right now but we're tuckered out from painting other rooms so the guest rooms will have to wait for now. :)

Guest Bedroom!!! Plain, again...

Main Bathroom (isn't my soap pump a 'hoot'???)

Our newly painted bedroom! I still need art and such, but it's a good start!