Husband Project Check Up

Hello Bloggy,

About time I updated on my Husband Project, eh? Needless to say, it has been difficult keeping up. Hard to make your husband crispy ranch dressing chicken when he just got his wisdom teeth taken out. With a busy schedule (2 part time jobs), my 14 year old sister in law living with us for a while, a crazy dramatic divorce on Hubby's side of family, and continuously getting larger due to a pregnancy (31 weeks ya'll!), I have been finding it very difficult to even sit down for longer than 10 minutes. But now Hubby is getting over the hump of wisdom teeth recovery, its time I jump back on the band wagon for good.

First, I will give you some highlights of past project days!

I did H.P. #4 Heart vs. Stomach on my second day and it went over pretty well. I bought him some Reese Pieces for our trip up to the cabin. I made sure to make it extra special by hand writing a little card that said "I love you to Pieces!!" on the front. Super creative :)

I completed H.P. #3 on day four ( You da' Man!). Completing this project at the cabin was easier because there were plenty of people around to listen to me brag about my husband. I talked about how awesome he was for coming up with our living space makeover idea. I still think its so cute that he came up with it by himself!!

For H.P. #1, done on my sixth day of the challenge, I did a walk through of my house from garage to bedroom to assess how it made me feel, and then tried to change any stressful spots or eyesores so the view would be perfect for Hubby's return from work. I've also been working on being proactive with having dinner plans made every night, even if it turns out to just be frozen pizza.



Well for the next week now I would like to complete H.Ps. #17, 13, 12, 16, and 9 for sure. Some other ones might still have to wait until he can eat normal foods again.

#17, Playing Hooky, is on the docket for today. Ideally I would like to get his car get an oil check, air in tires, filled with gas, and washed. But with so many time constraints lately I might be settling for just a car wash. I will take it a step further though and buy a Caribou or Subway gift card to stick in his drink holder

Tomorrow, since I work a longer shift, I will be keeping it simpler and work on completing H.P. #12 "Gotcha!". I'm sure I can find plenty of thinks to praise/thank him for. Right?? :0D

Sunday is my day off! Finally!! That is when I hope to check off H.P. #9 for sure ("Hi-ho, Hi-ho"). I hope we can look again at our living space project or even much simpler, begin a puzzle together. I am SO looking forward to that one!

And that is my Husband Project update! I hope to post again (and this time much sooner as I will be STAYING on that bandwagon) with some more highlights and future projects. Stay tuned!


P.S. Make sure to check out the Husband Project and other books by Kathi Lipp!

A Tidbit from the Message

Hello Bloggy,

Today I wanted to share a passage from the Message with you, from Luke chapter 12

"Don't fuss about what's on the table at mealtimes or if the clothes in your closet are in fashion. There is far more to your inner life than the food you put in your stomach, more to your outer appearance than the clothes you hang on your body. ...Has anyone ever by fussing before the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? If fussing can't even do that, why fuss at all?...What I am trying to do here is get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you  know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don't be afraid of missing out. You're my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself."


Doesn't that make you feel foolish about trying to fit into the the latest fad?? I know I usually don't like the latest trends but that doesn't mean that I don't fuss over my clothes, or more likely just my general outer appearance. But only people who don't know God should fuss over these things!! Yikes!

Understand however, I believe there is a difference between fussing over your appearance and looking like a slob. Especially as a wife I understand the importance of dressing up and looking good for the Hubby. But clothes shouldn't be a giant focus in our lives! They should be a background noise.

"Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." (1 Peter 3:4 NIV)

Can you see the difference? When we place our focus on our clothing, hair, makeup, and trying to keep up with Hollywood fashions, we act as if we don't know God!! But by allowing our inner selves shine through, we find great worth in God's sight! He is pleased with us!! How amazing!! And how simple!!

That's what I want, to please God. I want to go forward from this day and not fuss over my clothing. Let it be simple background noise. I want to have an unfading beauty! I want people to wonder where it comes from so that I may point to God and not Hollywood, or myself.

Try it with me.

Ten Things Friday!!

Ten Goals for September

1. Continue reading through the New Testament in the Message.At LEAST one chapter every day with breakfast. (I am now 3/4 way through Luke)

2. Finish 5 books (I have fallen behind on reading and my 'to-read' pile is growing like crazy!)

3. Start adding a 10 minute work out routine to my mornings

4. Continue meal planning to work out a system that works best for Hubby and I

5. Continue Bible verse memorization.

6. "Ground" Husband at least once every other week if need be for some US time

7. Organize desk space

8. Work on upstairs living space to make more 'homey'

9. Complete ONE Pinterest craft!

10. Stay on top cheerleading projects and 'to-do's.


Got any goals for September??

Project Time!!

Hey Bloggy, let's catch you up on life:

One of my projects lately is following along with Joyful Mothering as she completes The Husband Project! The Husband Project is a GREAT book and easy to read. Click the link to learn more about it on Amazon. With this baby on the way, I have been trying to spend time now learning how to be a good mom, wife, and house maker; trying to set up good habits now so they will stick after Baby. This book is all about creating good habits in you marriage!

 I read the book straight through quite quickly and as I read each chapter challenge I would journal ideas about how to make it personal for my husband.

Well yesterday was the big challenge kick-off day! I am not able to do each challenge in order, but I am trying to stick to doing all Week One challenges in week one. Yesterday I completed Project #5 "E-Flirt.com". I text Hubby frequently throughout the day and so didn't want to just send yet another text message he wouldn't respond too. I went out on a limb and sent a cute e-card instead. We would do that every so often while we were dating. No response yet however :( But that is okay! Time to keep on trucking!

While reading the book I thought this would be a breeze. I had ideas for every project, whether they were spectacular or not. I wrote out my calendar and keep it in my journal. In fact I was so excited for this project I could hardly wait for the blog challenge to start and I found myself naturally doing things for my husband that I had planned to use for the projects!! However, I have hit my first hurdle already. Day Two.'

Let me just state the obvious first: Being pregnant can be hard. I can't bend over and put socks on like normal, much less constantly pick things up off the ground that Hubby or Dog knock over. I can't waddle up and down the stairs quite as fast, and carrying laundry up and down is a serious health hazard. So needless to say as I was preparing to go out of town this weekend with Hubby, I was overexerting myself. I'm the one who has to pack the clothes, bathroom items, and food, write lists, stay organized, dog-proof the house, plus I have to spend the entire day today at work so I won't be able to do anything productive to get it all done today. I found myself quickly getting frustrated at the lack of help and understanding, and before rambling on even further, let me just say I am finding it hard to want to love on my husband right now.

But I think that is exactly what this Husband Project is all about, learning to get past our hurts, angers, frustrations and causing within us a natural-ness to love. Whether or not we feel like it.

So I am going ahead in confidence and preparing Project #4 "Heart vs. Stomach". I bought some Reese Pieces just for him to munch on in the car ride and up at the cabin this weekend. They are all for him and he doesn't have to share. I hope he realizes I still like him and find him special! Here is too hoping!!

Since I will be out of town here is my list of projects for the rest of the week:
Friday Project #2 Back in the Day
Saturday Project #3 You da' man!
Sunday Project #6 A Little hands on attention
Monday Project #1
Tuesday Project # 7 Looking Gooood for Your Man


Check out Joyful Mothering and the Husband Project! They just started!!

Friday List

Here are some of my fave Olympic 2012 moments!!

1. Missy Franklin

2. The Fab 5 winning GOLD

3. Pretty much most of Misty May-Treanor and Kerry Walsh games but esp against China and the winning GOLD match

4. Kirani James from Grenada winning the first ever medal for his country. I also heard this Olympics was the first time Cyprus and Guatemala won their first medals

5. Watching Oscar Pistorius run

6. Aly Raisman winning Gold on her floor routine

7. The Men's Swimming Relay!

8. I actually found it pretty exciting to watch the Netherlands gymnast Epke Zonderland's routine on horizontal bar. It was phenomenal and he won Gold!

9. Allison Felix winning the 200m final was exciting too! 

10. The Opening ceremony bits including Mr. Bean and the Queen skydiving!! HAHAHA


What are some of your fave 2012 moments???

Creamy Crock pot Macaroni and Cheese

Howdy Bloggy World!

Last night I tried one of my 'Time for Dinner' pins; the creamy crock pot macaroni and cheese! I have only ever used my crock pot once, and it resulted in an epic fail. This sounded like an easy second attempt, albeit a wee bit unhealthy. But when the end result is delicious??? GO FOR IT!!

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
4 tablespoons of butter
2 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese (a lot of reviews claimed pre-shredded didn't 'stick' well, but it worked great for me!)
1/2 cup sour cream
1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed cheddar cheese soup
1 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon mustard (dry or regular yellow seems to work. I used yellow)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
pinch of nutmeg (I used 2 pinches)

*A lot of crock pot mac and cheese recipes call for the use of eggs, either 1 or 3. I omitted this step and it didn't effect the flavor. A lot of other reviewers did the same
*I honestly didn't measure my seasonings, which is shocking for me. I just added what looked good for us

Steps:
1. Cook pasta for 6 minutes. Drain
2. In a medium saucepan melt and mix butter and cheese together
3. Add cheese mixture to crock pot. Combine with all other listed ingredients. Add pasta
4. Mix/Stir well!!
5. Cook on low for 2 1/2 hours. Stir occasionally. (I was not at home and didn't get to stir. The result was the sides of the crock pot got slightly crusty and may now be harder to clean)

Sorry I did not think to take any pictures!! But it was quite good, tasting almost exactly like my husband's more elaborate baked mac and cheese without the nice crunchy bread crumb topping or bigger onion pieces! I had all the ingredients in my cupboards already except the condensed cheddar soup, which I honestly didn't even know was a thing.

This recipe has bolstered my confidence in the crock pot so I am thinking of adding another crock pot recipe to the the menu next week! Stay tuned!

Cookie-Ception

Hello Bloggy.

Sorry I missed TWO Top 10 Fridays!! I was on vacation with the fam. And it was wonderful! I wish it never ended!!

Here is a baking Pinterest project I tried a while back. I call it Cookie-Ception as it is a cookie within a cookie. It is NOT complicated by any means and is SUPER easy to construct (and then eat!). Follow along closely so you don't get confused:

Step One: Buy some pre-made cookie dough and a package of Oreos (double stuff is great!)

Step Two: Pre-heat the oven according to the directions on the package of cookie dough

Step Three: Spoon about a 1/2 inch to 1 inch cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet. Form into a patty

Step Four: Place Oreo on top of cookie patty. 

Step Five: Form another cookie patty on top of the Oreo

Step Six: Try to pinch the cookie patties together around the edges of the Oreo

Step Seven: Bake the cookies according to the package of cookie dough.

Make sure to cool completely before eating!

Voila! Cookie-Ception!! Tasty and easy and quick! Hard to beat! 

Check out this Pin on my Baking Board, and all my other boards on Pinterest!!

https://pinterest.com/alyssa_zech/