Camping: toddler sleeping arrangements

Sleeping arrangements for our toddlers is one of the things that cause me the most anxiety when I think about planning a camping trip. We keep our kids on a relatively strict sleeping situation – in their cribs, super dark rooms, fans, blankets, etc. So when I have to think about putting them to sleep and getting them to stay asleep while camping when those circumstances are different, I get a little stressed out. Strike that, a lot stressed out. Luckily, we seem to have found a situation that seems to be working out pretty well for both of them. If there is one piece of advice that I could give to anyone who is taking a toddler camping, it would be to make their temporary bed as much like their bed at home. You will have much more success at getting them to sleep if they are in a comfortable, familiar surrounding.

In our camper, we have a bunk bed in the back with a double on bottom and a twin on top, a table that folds down to make a double and a couch that folds down to make a double as well. We decided that the best bed for Silas is the double in the bunk to keep him from rolling off onto the floor while he is sleeping. When he sleeps he is all over the bed and often times end up on a completely different side of the bed than when he went to sleep. At the entrance to the bottom bunk is a person sized hole that you can crawl through to lie down. Because we wanted to avoid him rolling out this hole, we had to rig something up that would be sturdy enough to keep him in the bed if he bumped against it, but that would still be flexible enough to be able to be moved if we needed to get to him or if there was an emergency. We tried several things, the scariest of which was a sheet tied between the sides. It was fine until Silas rolled into the sheet and was fighting like crazy to get out. After that, the sheet went away.

One of Corry’s most amazing ideas of 2013 has been to use the top bunk’s twin mattress in that entranceway. He folded it almost in half and when pushed into that entranceway, it fits perfectly along the sides of both walls. We are still able to easily get Silas in and out of that bunk, it comes out easily in case he gets stuck towards the outside of the bunk, and it keeps him safe. Another bonus is that since the mattress is so wide, it blocks out most of the light that we have on in the camper, which leaves the light more like his room at home.

After several different places, we decided that the best place for Isabella to sleep is on the fold down couch. She usually is rather still while she is sleeping, so we really don’t have to worry about her rolling off the side of the bed or anything like that. I make sure, when packing, to pack her blankets, pillows and some stuffed animals that she sleeps with on a daily basis. Because she sleeps with so many blankets and stuffed animals, we can’t bring it all. Normally I bring at least one, if not two, blankets and both glow-worms and one baby doll. All of these items help her to feel more comfortable and more at home, which helps her go to sleep easier and stay asleep longer. She normally fights us a little bit longer before agreeing to go to sleep, but normally because she is so excited to be camping.

All in all I think that we have established a good sleeping arrangement for both toddlers in our camper. Even though this situation in general causes me stress, it is comforting to know that we already have a system in place that works for us and has worked for numerous camping trips.

Rules of the road: DFW edition

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.  According to a Texas Department of Transportation press release there were 90,378 traffic accidents in 2012 that involved distracted driving.  They define distracted driving as ‘driver distraction, cell phone use, or driver inattention’.  TXDOT is currently marketing a ‘Talk. Text.Crash’ campaign.  You can see promotional materials at the bottom of that link which include radio, press and print information.  They are asking all Texans to wait until they arrive at their destination before dealing with cell phone business, reading the newspaper, putting on makeup, etc.  We should all pledge to do this for just the month of April for starters and then hopefully it will become a habit for anytime that you drive. 

 

Until I started writing today's blog, I never realized how distracted I really was while driving sometimes.  Since I drive the same roads twice a day five times a week, I notice that for myself I get bored very easily and tend to want to look at my phone, mess with the radio, look in the mirror, etc.  I am really attempting to making an effort to put my phone where I can't reach it from the driver's seat, or pledge to keep it down and not even look at it at all while driving.  Unfortunately once you are in the habit of looking at it, it's a difficult practice to break. 

I really appreciate the cell phone companies putting out the public service announcements on commercials that your text messages can wait until you arrive. I would like to believe that they are reaching some people with those PSA's. I would imagine that they work better than the states and cities that are making driving while dealing with the phone illegal. I understand the idea and appreciate the effort, however, I would imagine that just makes those drivers more dangerous because now not only are they trying to text and drive but they are also now trying to hide that behavior from the police.   

Everyday, while driving to work, I see accidents or notifications of accidents in our area that you would imagine are one or both drivers being distracted while driving.  Perhaps we think that we are exempt from those accidents if we text or put makeup on while driving.  Maybe we justify it with ‘it is only this one time’.  It only takes one time to cause a lifetime of regret.  As a human race we should really be smarter and realize that being distracted is dangerous and often times deadly to not only the distracted driver but also the people around them. 

Brainstorming about distracted drivers has opened my eyes to the fact that we, as drivers, have several bad habits that need to be stopped.  The first one directly relates to the distracted driver mention above but the other two are just general annoyances that I observe with drivers in DFW on a daily basis. 

“When that jerk cut me off, he caused me to drop my phone and spill my coffee.”

Why are we, as drivers, so distracted lately?  We used to just be able to drive.  We didn't have to talk on the phone, text, read the newspaper, put on makeup, eat and drink coffee all while driving.  Would it be too much to ask that people just drive?  Because I spend over three hours a day in my car and a majority of that stuck in some kind of traffic, I see more awful driving than your average person observes.  I see people reading books, newspapers and computers while driving with their knees.  I see women talking on the phone and putting makeup on while trying to steer with their elbows.  I see parents half in the back seat turned around while trying to give their children something while the child is screaming their head off.  I see people doing other things while stuck in mostly stopped traffic and I am less bothered by that because I figure that a fender bender is less likely to be disastrous if you just roll into someone’s car versus the person who is driving with their knees putting on makeup and drinking coffee while driving 90 mph on the Toll way.   That doesn't bother me as much, but it is still not ideal.      

“They don’t want to hit me anymore than I want to hit them.”

Sigh.  I see at least four people everyday that seem to be operating under this philosophy.  You know the people… exiting a parking lot or a driveway without so much as a yield, let alone a full stop before blazing out into traffic, weaving in and out of traffic with two inches to spare before hitting another car, etc.  In fact, this weekend while out with my family, I almost rear-ended a man in a small SUV who pulled out in front of me in traffic and then stopped suddenly to turn into a driveway with no signal.  If you haven’t observed those kinds of people, then this is probably describing how you drive.  If it is, stop.  It’s annoying as hell.  I would honestly doubt that these people are in that much of a hurry that the extra one minute that it takes to stop or yield would cause them to be late. And if it isn’t because they are running late, then are they just doing it to be jerks?  Either way, it’s ridiculously dangerous for everyone on the road. 

“I signaled – they should have let me over.”

A blinker is a signal that you are getting ready to merge into another lane or make a turn.  It isn’t a warning that you are getting over RIGHT NOW or a signal to the person that they have to get out of your way immediately.  You still have to merge into that lane.  And please don’t even get me started on people’s inability to understand the easiest driving concept in the world: how to merge.  Just remember that the process of using a blinker is a basic understanding that everyone who took an instructional course in learning how to drive had to master.  And at the time that I wrote this blog, I am not sure of any car manufacturers, at least in America, that are making vehicles with no turn signals.  Not using turn signals and/or using turn signals inappropriately are both equally as bad.  

 

Maybe this is a bad assumption on my part, but I would assume that if someone is driving on the road, that they have had at least minimal training on how to operate a car.  I would like to assume that we have all learned the basics principles of how to merge and how to read basic signs on the road.  This apparently is not always the case. 

 

What are your biggest pet peeves while driving? 

 

Favorite items from Aldi

Before 2012 I shopped at Aldi only a handful of times.  I was never sold on the awesome-ness that was Aldi.  Anytime I shopped there before then I could never find items that I wanted and so I just gave up.  When we moved back to Saginaw we had an Aldi closer to us and so we decided to start shopping there again.  It was magic!  Maybe it's because I was SO tired of spending an incredible amount of money on groceries every month.  Maybe it's because we were starting to have to feed both kids actual meals and not just bites from our plate.  Whatever it was, shopping there was suddenly something that I enjoyed.  I have found a few items that I absolutely love from Aldi and would love to share them with you.  These are in no particular order. 

1. Milk - when Aldi first opened in our area they offered their milk at an amazing price.  I don't remember exactly but I want to say that it was like $.99 a gallon or something crazy like that.  It has gone up from that price but it seems to still be a deal compared to Walmart and Albertsons which are our two closest grocery stores.  Having three kids under 3 at our house almost full time we go through a lot of milk.  I like buying milk from Aldi also because in our store they advertise that their milk does not have any growth hormones in it, which is important to us for our children. 
2. Produce - Aldi is highly known for their inexpensive, good quality produce, if for nothing else.  When we first started going there to shop they had pineapples for $.99.  I learned how to cut up a whole pineapple on a $.99 pineapple from Aldi and now I love them that way.  We go through a lot of produce with the kids because they love bananas, carrots, squash, and any fruit, so we buy a lot of produce when we go there and I like that it's inexpensive.  Now, granted, this is not organic or local but it's usually fresh and ready to eat that day.  They run specials when fruit is in season like strawberries, and peppers and we tend to stock up during those times.  The last time they had peppers on sale, I bought like 20 of them and Corry roasted them on the grill and now we have fire roasted peppers in our freezer for different recipes that we make. 
3. Spices - for some people this might not work but Aldi sells spices in HUGE containers.  This is very helpful for us because we go through several spices, like garlic powder and seasoning salt and I hate to spend a ton of money on the little jars from the regular grocery stores.  They are probably double the size that you can find at other stores and probably half the price.  Awesome!  
4. Canned vegetables and fruits - we go through a lot of corn, peas, green beans, mandarin oranges and fruit cocktail.  Our kids love fruits and vegetables and I don't want to stifle that by not being able to feed them because they are too expensive at some other stores.  I like that you can buy those cans at Aldi for less than $1 a piece. 

There are a number of other items that we always buy but they are more specific to our store and I don't know if they would have them everywhere.  These are standard items that would be there at any Aldi that you go to and you can always find them no matter what time of the year.  I like that throughout the year you can find different items at Aldi that match the season that you are in.  They have neat items during Christmas that you can use as gifts, like pots and pans, crock pots, etc. that are of good quality.  We bought a dutch oven a few years ago and it is one of my favorite pieces in my kitchen. 

What are your favorite Aldi buys? 

Stranger Danger

When my daughter was younger, she loved people.  All people.  After a strange encounter with a person we didn't know in Walmart sticking her finger in my daughter's mouth, I began wearing Isabella in the Moby when we shopped.  Even though I wore her a lot in that wrap, we still had people come up to us every time to compliment her on how beautiful of a baby she was.  I know that parents are biased to their babies, but Isabella was a gorgeous baby. 

I had my fears before she was born that, for karma reasons, that we were going to end up with one of those ugly babies that you don't even want to look at because they are so unfortunate looking.  You know the ones that I am talking about... 

Moving on... when people would come up to us to talk to her and compliment her she would smile and show off for them like crazy.  Back then she would let pretty much anyone hold her that we allowed.  She had no problem being passed around if we were at events.  Shortly after Silas was born that all changed...

I am hoping that someone is going to be able to relate to this.  My 2.5 year old has a primal fear now of everyone in the world except for a list of about ten people.  She isn't just a little scared of strangers.  She has a fear to the point of having a panic attack with the 'no breathing' crying.  And it doesn't just have to be people trying to touch her; it can be people who are talking to her from afar, people looking in her direction and talking to someone else, etc. 

I understand that she is scared and, on one hand, I want her to be afraid of strangers because I don't want her to just blindly go with anyone.  However, it would be less embarrassing sometimes if she wouldn't be SO insanely scared.  There are times, especially recently, that she won't even go to either one of my sisters.  There is a list of about ten people that she is never afraid of.  This is a list of both family and non family members, which is weird because I would expect it to only be family or people that we see all the time.

Now, she is initially like this, but she will eventually settle down.  It is getting worse though, so I am trying to take her out more places like those mall play places to get her acclimated to other people, especially other children.  I don't know if it is working or not, but she does seem to be happier now when we show up at those places than when we first started going.  We don't hang out with a lot of people who have kids of similar ages and we realized when Silas and Addison started getting old enough to play with Isabella that she needed to be taught how to act around other kids.  Until then she had been effectively an only child and had no idea how to interact with other kids.  We started taking her to mall play places just to have her around kids.  She didn't originally love it but now she asks for it.  We are making progress. 

I am hoping that we can avoid the crazy 'stranger danger' with Silas because he is the total opposite right now.  I think that, if given the chance, he would leave with strangers and be completely fine.  He can not eat out at restaurants because he is too busy trying to flirt with women at other tables, or trying to wave down people near us, etc.  He loves talking to people and when people talk to him.  He really is ultimately super happy if there is at least one person talking to him and he will show off completely for anyone. 

Has anyone else been through this and have any suggestions on how to move past it? 

Sick kids & a day update

Both of my kids are sick right now.

Sigh...  If you have not ever been within 100 yards of a sick kid let me spell out what this means.  This means that there has been more crying and whining in my house today than there has been in like the last two weeks all put together.  Think of how whiny and gripey you feel when you are sick, especially if you are a man, and multiply that by like ten... thousand.  They want you to hold them but without touching them.  They want you to lay next to them but you can't because they actually feel like they are a live convection oven because of the fever.  They want to eat something but whine and cry and fight you the whole time because they can't think of anything that they want to eat.  All in all it's an awesome good time.

I previously had asked for the day off work today because I needed to go see my thyroid doctor in order to get a new prescription of thyroid medicine, and to go to the eye doctor to get a new contact prescription, so this is shaping up to be the most amazing day that I have had in a long time.  I hate when I take time off work and feel like I am busier than when I am at the office.  Call me lazy but I love just chilling at home when I am taking days off work - feels like I get some catch up on rest.  However, that didn't happen today... maybe the next time.   

I always have a lot of anxiety before I go to my thyroid doctor because he always gripes at me about my weight.  Let me start off by saying that I know that my weight is a problem and have finally got to a point where I am ready to do something about it.  We have been on this diet for three weeks on Monday and according to my scale at home, I am down 16.2 lbs, which is pretty awesome!  With that being said, since I started going to see this doctor, I have been in the same weight range.  I have fluctuated up and down because of my normal changes, two pregnancies, and my diet the first round.  Unfortunately, thanks to having no thyroid now for 10 years (this is ridiculous that it has been 10 years) I have to see him at the very least twice a year. 

This time I am vowing to be different.  I told him that I wanted to see him again in 3 months - I got him to agree by saying that I wanted him to monitor this weight loss since I really don't have a primary care doctor.  For the last three years I have used my OB as my primary care doctor since I was either pregnant or immediately postpartum that entire time.  Let's say that I am having a difficult time adjusting.  That is for another post. 

Luckily, he was nice today - partially because of this giant bus crash that we had near his office that was being dealt with at the time of my appointment, and partially because I was able to tell him about my success so far with this diet.  My next appointment is now scheduled for some time in July; we will see how far I have gone with this weight loss at that time.  In three months, I am hoping for 30-45 more pounds down. 

I stopped and picked up Subway at the Lake Worth Subway, which must have searched far and wide for the worst employees ever.  I have been there several times and every time that I go I have awful service.  No one acknowledges you when you walk in.  They have personal private conversations with each other while making your sandwich, and you often have to wait until they finish what they are talking about before they will address any need that you might have as the customer.  It looks like we will be looking for another Subway. 

I really love my eye doctor's office. I see Dr. Stephen Ference with Ference & Assoc.   I hate that it's inside of a mall because I feel like I need to shop when I go there.  He and his wife run an awesome practice.  They are very thorough and offer excellent customer service.  I would definitely recommend either one of them to anyone that I know.  Their office staff is super friendly and I have never been disappointed with any time that I have ever been there. 

All in all it's been a crazy day.  This bus crash is all over the news, my kids are both laid up, sick and whiney, and we are looking forward to our camping trip next weekend. 

Old Navy: my new favorite toddler clothing store

I am going to do a few posts on stores that I love to shop at for my children and what my must-haves are from those stores.  First on the list is Old Navy.  I have always shopped at Old Navy for cheap wardrobe staples for myself like tank tops, camis, etc.  They have lackluster quality in some of their items that I don't fully appreciate like jeans and jackets.  I like their website and their selection of items in pretty much any color that you can imagine.   

Since we had kids we tailor a lot of our shopping trips around the play places in the local malls.  I can pretty much tell you which malls have good play areas and what I like and don't like about each one.  Before I had kids I was always annoyed by these places because it's like 900 million screaming children under 3ft tall running and screaming and being crazy all in one small area.  I'm not going to lie; it still touches my soul a little bit to be in there with my kids.

Ridgmar Mall, one of the closest malls to our house, has a pretty decent play area.  It's a rather large and has a lot of different things for the kids to climb on.  There are two things that I hate about going to that mall: 1) the people that bring their kids into that play area aren't always the smartest when it comes to being able to read the rules of the play area re: no food/drink and the height requirements of the children that they are bringing in, and 2) there are a lot of stores that have left that mall because of the lack of traffic. 

One of the big stores in that mall is an Old Navy, which has rekindled my love for the store.  I love cheap children's clothes, but I also want them to be decent quality.  Your kids wear an outfit only a few times before they either wear it out, spill something on it that you aren't able to get out, or they outgrow it.  I love pieces of clothes for both of my kids that I can mix and match and make different outfits out of so I can get more use out of them.  Who am I kidding - it's really first and foremost so my husband can pick them out something to wear that remotely matches, and the bonus is that they get to wear the clothes more than a few times. 


Below is a list of staples for my daughter's wardrobe from Old Navy:

• $5 leggings - these are a must.  I am a fairly modest dresser and I pass that on to my daughter by force at this age.  I dislike short skirts and dresses for toddlers.  I don't think that there is any reason why my toddler should have dresses and skirts that are shorter than people would be allowed to wear in school.  I put leggings under anything that she wears that I feel is even remotely too short.  They have them in all colors and patterns.  She has probably 6 pairs of these right now and she loves them.  Mom dresses her in them when she is at home to be comfortable and she wears them under dresses when we go out.  They are full length - not sure if they have a capri length or not.  The picture above is Isabella modeling the leggings in black. 

• 'mix and match' items - shorts, capri knit pants, t-shirts, and tank tops.  These are typically on sale for $5 a piece.  They have patterns and colors that are designed to coordinate together so that you can mix and match - hence the name.  I absolutely love the capri pants on Isabella - they are the perfect length and seem like good quality material.  The shorts are longer length and the shirts are longer than average length which helps them to not ride up and show her midriff.  The above picture is Isabella wearing one of the t-shirts.

 

• dresses - we absolutely love their longer flowy summer dresses.  We bought some from a seller on eBay on time and over time have purchased more than five directly from the store.  They are long enough to not be considered skanky and they typically have some sort of semblance of a lining on the inside which stops them from being see through.  Often they have a super cute detail like a bow in the back of the neck or a super cute neckline.  They also have awesome patterns. 

Below is a list of staples for my son's wardrobe from Old Navy:

• 'mix and match' items - shorts, t-shirts and muscle shirts.  I love the muscle shirts for toddlers, especially for my son because he gets so hot when he plays that I think that they keep him cooler than other shirts.  Their t-shirts, especially for boys are really soft and comfortable. 

• solid onesies - you will figure out soon after the birth of your child that you will be hard pressed to find a solid color onesie that doesn't cost an arm and a leg.  Carters will sell them in like a four pack for $15 or something like that.  Old Navy will regularly have them on sale for much cheaper than that.  The one down side is that I find that their onesies are on the short side as far as length so my kids usually can't wear them until they are too tight because they are too short on the rise. 

• shirts with cute sayings on them - the majority of ours for Silas have been long sleeve but they have a number of them that are short sleeves.  My sister bought him this one but I love it.  The arms are the right length for the size which is important because sometimes they are too short - maybe Silas just has long arms?  Either way, they fit well, are the appropriate length and looks good for multiple wearings. 

All in all, I can usually spend more money than I should on clothes for the kids when I go in the doors.  Another bonus of Old Navy is that there is normally at least a wall full of clearance clothes and you can find some excellent deals on clothes.  I definitely recommend Old Navy for children's clothes. 

- Sara



   

Garden Update

Hallelujah, our garden is finally planted!  Accomplishing this feat took a lot longer than it was supposed to, but someone (me) neglected to realize that the original placement of two of our raised beds didn't get any sun whatsoever.  Obviously, you need sun to grow most plants so we had to move them.. once they were built... and had dirt in them.  Yes, I feel like an idiot. 

We decided that we had to move them this weekend.  It was finally supposed to be above freezing all weekend and it was time to get our seedlings in the ground.  We planted them in this seed starter kit that Corry found at Walmart and they had taken off!  Well, all except for our bell peppers and our Ancho peppers.  For some reason they were the slowest seeds that we had. 

We decided that we were going to start with the following items in each bed:

1st 'big' bed - parsley (1), green bell peppers (4), Ancho peppers (3), cucumber (3), and cauliflower (3)
2nd 'big' bed - onions (1/3 of the bed), tomatoes (2), and bush beans (2)
1st 'small' bed - basil (3), zucchini (2), butternut squash (3), spinach (3)
2nd 'small' bed - romaine (3), zucchini (1), spaghetti squash (3), carrots (3)

We still have one strawberry plant, and two blueberry bushes that have an undecided location. 

Corry saw online something about a strawberry planter and so now there is confusion about what to do with that strawberry plant.  I only have one of them - do I need a planter or can they just go in the garden with everything else?  This is our first year with a garden and I am nervous about what is going to turn out.  I did tell Corry today though that I will be happy if we get one thing out of the garden, because in the past, I have been known to have a 'black' thumb when it comes to gardening.

This picture totally describes me and my previous gardening style:

 

Here's to hoping that this year will be a different experience!! 

- Sara

52 in 52 # 7 - Reece's Peanut Butter Trifle

Let me start off by saying two things:

1. this is definitely in the running for being the dessert that we bring to the Titan meet in April - close your ears and eyes if you are going.
2. I didn't eat any of this while making it or after it was done.  Well maybe one small bite of just the pudding... which was probably 50 calories alone.

Last year was our first year at the Titan camp out.  My husband started posting on this forum for Nissan Titans and Armadas right after we got our Armada and realized that they have a rather large local group.  They do an annual meet in Belton, TX to camp for the weekend.  We loved it so much we definitely decided to go back this year.  They have a Saturday night potluck with a dessert contest.  Last year, I brought this cookie, Oreo, brownie awesomeness (recipe to come soon) and didn't win.  This year it is on!  Last year the winner was a 'cold' dessert which I think won because it was so hot outside, so we decided to go with this. 

I wanted to make the recipe this weekend to test it out because I have been burned enough by bad recipes off the internet.  I mean, the basis of this recipe is peanut butter pudding, brownies, and Reece's Peanut Butter cups - how bad could it be?  Grace was at our house and so I made it to send home for her grandparents and her to share during the week. 

Reece's Peanut Butter Trifle - post from Pinterest here 

9×13 pan of brownies, cut into 1 inch pieces
5.1 oz box instant vanilla pudding mix
3 cups milk
½ cup creamy peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla
8 oz container thawed whipped topping (Cool Whip), divided
20 peanut butter cups, crumbled (buy in a 10-pack. Not the bite-sized)
6-8 peanut butter cups to garnish.

 

Combine pudding and milk. Beat for 2 minutes. Add peanut butter and vanilla, beat until smooth. Gently fold in 2 cups cool whip.
Layer in trifle dish ½ the brownies, ½ the crumbled peanut butter cups, ½ the pudding mixture. Repeat. Top with cool whip and peanut butter cups. (Or shaved chocolate curls, as I did.) Chill until serving.

This recipe is awesome.  Grace said it needs more brownies for the amount of pudding, so we will probably 1.5x or double the amount of brownies for the meet. 

Here's to hoping that we will win this year!!

-Sara

52 in 52 #6 - Light Ranch Dressing

So, it's been a little more than a week on the diet.  Can you hear my excitement?  This week I have been dealing with MAJOR chocolate cravings like never before.  My sister gave me a tip a long time ago when we were both first on Atkins when we were like 18 or so that if you have a craving for sweets then you should eat a pickle or an olive.  I have been downing the olives at work like crazy - I say like crazy but I mean 2-3 per day.  Unfortunately you have to keep a watch on that as well because there is a load of sodium in regular green olives. 

I am on a salad kick right now since we don't eat a lot of salads when we are not on our diet.  I make a huge salad for lunch and the entire thing is like less than 390 calories, which isn't too bad.  I have been using this awesome app called 'myfitnesspal' to keep track of what I am eating everyday, the calories that I am allowed to have, my current weight, etc.  I really like this app because it has records of almost every food that I could want to eat and the calories that are in that food.  Once you submit your food, water and exercise for the day, the app calculates a weight for you in five weeks if everyday was like that day.  That is REALLY motivating.  It will also do a rough calculation on the calories that you burn during certain exercise and changes your calorie count to net.  That is neat as well.  This app is really a big help during the day to keep me motivated and on top of this diet.  I have already lost 12.4 lbs! 

Back to the salad - my husband, being the supportive awesome guy that he is, found this recipe on Pinterest for a light ranch dressing.  I was suspect of anything that claimed to be a large portion with little calories.  However, my love for Ranch dressing won over my suspicion.  I have tried other dressings and I still can't help but be loyal to Ranch dressing.  We were raised eating it on salads and I just can't stop. 

Light Ranch Dressing

1 cup Dannon Oikos plain Greek yogurt
1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch mix
1/2 cup 1% milk (we used skim and it was just fine)

Mix all ingredients together and chill at least one hour before serving. 

We put the ingredients in a jar and shook it up.  I take the whole jar to work and just pour a bit out when I am ready for lunch.  The entire jar has 255 calories compared to 75ish (low estimate) calories for 2 tbsp of normal Ranch. 

This dressing is amazing!  I can't even tell that it is diet.  It has a different underlying flavor because of the Greek yogurt but I think that it is awesome and I would even eat this if I wasn't on a diet.  You definitely have to make this if you love Ranch dressing like we do!! 

-Sara

Anniversary

Today marks four years that my husband has been forced to stay with me married to me. 

I never thought that I would get married.  When I was younger I would hear other people talking about how they saw themselves in the future and I always thought something was wrong with me because I could never see myself getting married, or having kids or growing older in general.  For the longest time I thought maybe I was going to die before I became an adult because I couldn't see anything happening in my future. 

When I met Corry in November of 2006, I was at a point in my dating history where I was done dating.  He emailed me off an internet site and we just started talking.  I thank God everyday for what happened next because if it hadn't happened, my life would be totally different and I probably wouldn't be married to Corry today. 

In 2006 I reconciled with an old friend (friendship timeline and not age!) accepted an invitation to be in her wedding in Florida in December.  We were supposed to drive there a few days before the wedding and then have the wedding December 3rd.  The night before they were to get married we were on the boat that was their venue and while walking off I stepped into a sunk in manhole lid and fell and broke three bones in my left ankle and severely sprained my right ankle.  I will cover this exciting injury more tomorrow, but just know now that it was life changing. 

Because of this injury I was forced to move back in with my parents until I was able to walk up and down the stairs and wasn't able to actively date.  This forced me to really get to know someone before I dated them too quickly.  Insert Corry Lee Price into my life. 

We met officially in January 2007 and have been together ever since.  He is my everything and I love him more everyday.  I love you, Corry.  Thank you for loving me and taking care of us and being an awesome husband, dad and provider.  You are one of the best things that has ever happened to me. 

-Sara  

I hate April Fools Day

Sigh

 

It’s April Fools Day again.  I don’t know if I would formally recognize this as a ‘holiday’ or not, but some people see it that way.  It’s a day full of people lying to your face and then getting you with “April Fools!”  I don’t get it.  I definitely am going to be seen as the party pooper on this one, but I honestly wish that I could just stay in bed all day on April 1^st.  I know that if I shared this view with a lot of people that they would say that I need to learn how to take a joke or lighten up but it just doesn’t feel that easy.  

 

Deep down I think that it stems from a deep hatred of talking to people who I think are lying to me.  I hate liars.  I hate talking to people who are pathological liars in all aspects.  I was raised that lying was bad and still hold true to that ideology.  I don’t like lying to people and I don’t like when people lie to me.  Normally if I find out that people are lying then I usually cut them out of my life.  I think that a lot of trust is given to people and if you are caught lying then, in my opinion, all of that trust goes out the window.  Granted, I know that people on April Fools Day are not lying to be spiteful or trying to hurt anyone by lying, but it still is a lie and it’s still is un-necessary. 

 

I really started to get annoyed with April Fools Day when I was in high school.  That was when people started telling two different stories that really agitated me.  These two stories/lies are still being told today and people still think that they are funny.  One is that the person is pregnant and/or got someone else pregnant depending upon the person’s gender.  The second is that the person was assaulted by someone.  Two situations that wouldn’t normally be considered humorous but on this one day a year people tell them and get trucks of laughter. 

 

I just want people to think a bit more about their audience before they say something like these stories today.  I want them to remember that odds are good they know someone who is struggling with infertility who might not think that your joke about pregnant is so funny.  Or remember that there might be someone on your friend’s list on Facebook who might be currently getting abused by her husband who might not think that your fake status message about getting hit by her boyfriend isn’t hilarious.  Just be more courteous in general. 

 

-Sara Price