July? Seriously?

How fast is the summer flying by?!  Holy cow!  I honestly can't even recall what we've done in the last few weeks in order to give an update!  I can give a bullet point update....and I've always got photos...but no promises that these are in order!  :-)

Play Ball!
Father's Day weekend, Barrett and I went to our first Charlotte Knights baseball game!  It was so fun!  We had great seats...the weather was awesome (it had just rained and cooled off quite a bit)...the game went into 11 innings....and the Knights won!  Bonus:  There were fireworks!!  Not a bonus:  Someone hit our car in the parking lot...that's right...our new car....hit and run...good times.

Showered with Love

We went to Burlington one weekend and I went to a bridal shower for Kristi!  She is getting married in just about a month down in Key Largo!  I am super jealous and am still trying to figure out a way to sneak myself into someone's suitcase. :-)  I also got to meet Katie's baby Landon for the first time!  Really...he's 7 months old now.  Why does it get harder to get together the older we get??  Shouldn't it get easier?!

Cousins

Buddy got to meet his fur cousin for the first time too.  Two hundred pound dogs (one who actually is a puppy and one who just thinks he is) are quite the barrel of fun.  Needless to say I could never get a good picture of them....way too much movement happening.

House Stuff

I've finally conceded to the fact that we're going to be in this house until the end of time.  OK...maybe not exactly that long...but you get the idea.  With that being said, I am finally pulling out some projects that I've had benched for a while.  I stopped doing things to the house/decorting for a while because it was always like, "Well, we aren't going to be here much longer..."  Anywho, now we are, so projects commence!  We started easy and just worked on redecorating our half baths a little bit.  The second floor bathroom (the yellow one) is complete except for a light green valance I'd like to get for above the window.  The first floor half bath is complete...except I have no pictures?  Weird.  Will post those later.  I also FINALLY got two bedside lamps for our bedroom.  How did I live without one before!!??  No idea.  The next project on our list is a little bigger.  We're going to turn our first floor living room into a third bedroom.  We NEVER use it as a living space and it'll be so much more functional as an extra bedroom.

Camp CARE

I just spent 7 days at Camp CARE....a camp for children who have or have had cancer and their siblings.  It was AH-MAZING.  I'll tell you all about that in a separate post.  Suffice it to say it was a wonderful week and I am still exhausted.  :-)

Fourth of July

Hope everyone had a great 4th of July!  This is the first year in a LONG time that we haven't been at the beach.  I got back from camp on Saturday and we just knew that I'd be tired and we thought it would be nice to just hang out at home for a few days.  We both took of Monday and Tuesday, so we spent a lot of time by the pool just relaxing.  It was lovely...I vote for stay-cations more often.  Jeff and Cindy came over for a cookout on the 4th and we had a great time.

Hope all is well in your neighborhoods!!

Bangin' Good Shrimp

Our second try for a recipe from Skinny Taste definitely did not disappoint!  (This was several weeks back by the way...I'm backtracking since I've been a slacker blogger lately!)  The recipe was for Bangin' Good Shrimp which is a skinnied down version of Bonefish Grill's Bang Bang Shrimp. 

It was super, super easy and fast to make.  And it was SO yummy!  A must, must try if you enjoy sweet/spicy/fried/shrimpy goodness but aren't so in love with the sky high fat and calorie count.  Here's the exact recipe from Skinny Taste.  We ate it as our main course, but you could totally use this as an appetizer or finger food and can double or half the recipe as needed.  Hope you enjoy as much as we did!

Bangin Good Shrimp
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 4 • Serving Size: 1/4th or recipe • Old Points: 5 pt • Points+: 5 pt
Calories: 215.7 • Fat: 7.6 g • Protein: 23.8 g • Carb: 11.9 g • Fiber: 1.0 g • Sugar: 6.3 g
Sodium 443.9 mg

Sauce Coating -

• 5 tbsp light mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp Thai Sweet Chili Sauce
• 1 tsp Sriracha (to taste)

Shrimp:

• 1 lb large shrimp, shelled and deveined (weight after peeled)
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp canola oil
• 3 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
• 1 cup shredded purple cabbage
• 4 tbsp scallions, chopped

In a medium bowl, combine mayonnaise, Thai sweet chili sauce and Sriracha. Set aside.

Combine lettuce and cabbage and divide between four plates. Set aside.

Coat shrimp with cornstarch, mixing well with your hands.

Heat a large skillet or wok on high heat, when hot add oil. When oil is hot add the shrimp to hot pan and cook tossing a few times until cooked through, about 3 minutes. Remove from pan and combine with the sauce coating well.

Place shrimp on lettuce and top with scallions.

Would it have been prettier on the lettuce?  Probably.  Do I care?  Nope.  :-)

Edamame and Shrimp Gyoza to accompany our Shrimp
(Side Note - Shrimp Gyoza from Trader Joe's....AH-MAZING!)

The Best Laid Plans...

OK...seriously...can we please make a life plan and stick with it?  Geez.

Apparently I don't know what I want to be when I grow up, so my life plan keeps changing a bit.  However, I think we might finally have a winner.  Seriously.  I mean it this time.  :-)

Let's turn the clock back about a year and a half ago or so.  Barrett and I aren't going to be in Charlotte forever.  We'd eventually like to be closer to family...closer to the beach.  So, we talked about it a little a decided we'd probably be in Charlotte another 3 years or so.  OK.  Great!  Here's the issue...I love my job.  It is lovely.  But...it's a hard job to get.  The positions are few and far between & to be honest, I'm not sure that I'd want to start over again, from scratch, at another hospital. My bachelor's is pretty specific.  I got my BS in Child Life....wonderful for my profession....not so wonderful if I want to switch careers.  Yes...there are other things I could do with my degree.  I could teach preschool or be an early interventionist.  Do I want to do those things?  Nope.  No way.  So, we needed a back up plan.  Hmmm....what would be a good career change?  Something that doesn't take too terribly long to complete a degree/certification in; a job that is easy to find and easy to get; a job with good pay...good hours.  What did we come up with?  Dental Hygiene.  It was perfect really.  In two years, I could complete my degree while still working part time at the hospital.  There are dentist offices in Every Town USA, and I thought I'd be a good sell at a pediatric office because of my background.  The pay is really great, and you can't beat the hours.  Have you ever tried to make a dentist appointment on a Friday??  Good luck.  On top of all that, once upon a time (like back in 2002 when I started college and was young, fresh, and excited about the possibilites of the future) I thought about going to dental school.  I even started out as a Biology major....but realized I hated science too much to study it for eight years.  So, no dice there. 

The only real obstacle in this "go be a hygienist" plan was that we'd have to sell our house and probably rent a place in Charlotte for a couple of years to bring our expenses down enough that it would be OK for me to work part time.  I started taking classes last spring...just one at a time...to knock out a few classes that I was able to take without being in the program.  Good plan right?  Well, you know what they say about plans....

Here's where the life plan change comes in.  We can't sell our house.  At least not anytime in the near future.  Apparently, there were two foreclosures in our neighborhood that recently sold.  So, the comps in the neighborhood were WAY lower than what we'd put our house on the market for.  WAY lower.  We're talking about $60,000 lower.  Yes, that's 4 zeros.  Good times.  So, it is not fiscally responsible/possible for me to go to work part time anytime soon. I refuse to be stressed out about money or paying bills...it's just not worth it to me.  Plus, if we want to go to the beach or take a vacation...I want to be able to do it!

Besides...if we're not selling our house anytime soon...then we're not leaving Charlotte anytime soon either.  If we're not leaving Charlotte, there's no point in leaving my job.  I love my job.  It's fun and rewarding...I pretty much make my own schedule and get lots of time off.  And, I love the people I work with.  Not everyone can say that and I think it says a lot.  Besides, it's not like being a dental hygienist was my life long dream.  It's not something I need to check off my bucket list or something that I'll be sad if I never do.  It was just a backup plan.

OK, so we're not moving and I'm not going to school for dental hygiene.  What am I doing now?  Applying to Grad School:-)  More on that in another post...

First up....GRE on June 20.  Good times.

Must Haves

OK...I'm jumping on the wagon.  :-)  My friends Nickie, Katie, and Kristi all posted Must Have Lists on their blogs.  We all have a few items that we can't live without, and it's definitely fun to take a peek at everyone's to find some new, fun things!  Here are a few of my faves...

~My Keurig.

This is the greatest thing that ever happened to me (in coffee land anyway)!  I was never quite awesome at the whole water to grounds ratio.  I could only really get it right if I made a whole pot, but I am pretty much a one or two cup girl so I was always wasting some.  And, who has time to brew a pot of coffee in the morning?!  My Keurig saved my mornings.  It is fabulous...I'll never go back to a regular coffee maker.

~Philosophy Amazing Grace...Anything!

This is my favorite, favorite, favorite scented item of all time.  It smells so clean and wonderful.  I use everything from the shampoo to lotion to perfume.  It's always on my Christmas or Birthday list, and if it's on sale I try very hard to stock up a bit.  Start with a sample to try it out for super super cheap.  You may never look at body wash the same way again!

~Johnson and Johnson Bedtime Lotion.

When I cheat on my Amazing Grace, it is only with Bedtime Lotion.  Maybe I let my imagination take over a bit, but I swear this stuff is truly soothing and relaxing.  It's also super gentle and non-irritating, and the smell is really pleasant without being perfumey.

~Pond's Dry Skin Moisturizing Cream

I have been using this since high school.  It's super gentle and has a cooling element too.  I have uber sensitive skin and some pretty raging seasonal allergies so my skin is always a little angry.  This has been my tried and true, go-to moisturizer forever and I don't anticipate ever switching.  Plus, my grandma used this too so it reminds me of her.  :-)

~And just for giggles...Chicken Poop Chapstick!

Santa left this in my stocking this year and it rocks!  No worries, there is not any actual chicken poop in this product!  It's all natural and made with avocado oil.  It is so smooth and smells wondeful...plus, it doesn't really have a taste or flavor, so I can drink my yummy cup of coffee from my Keurig without tasting mint.  :-)

Holy Yummy Town

I stumbled upon a fantabulous new website for yummy, healthy recipes.  It's called Skinny Taste and the lady who writes it follows Weight Watchers which is totally awesome for me because I don't have to sit around inputing recipes into the website to figure out points!  Yay!  A few nights ago we tried our first recipe from the site and it was so phenomenal that we'll definitely be trying more!

Here is the exact recipe from Skinny Taste:

Grilled Chicken with Spinach and Melted Mozzarella

 Servings: 6 • S Size: 1 cutlet, spinach, cheese • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 4 pts
Calories: 153.3 • Fat: 4.2 g • Protein: 24.5 g • Carb: 4.0 g • Fiber: 1.3 g • Sugar: .7 g

24 oz (3 large) chicken breasts sliced in half lengthwise to make 6 cutlets
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, crushed
10 oz frozen spinach, drained
3 oz shredded part skim mozzarella
1 roasted red pepper, sliced in strips
olive oil spray

Preheat oven to 400°. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Lightly spray a grill with oilor grill outside on a gas grill.

Cook chicken on the grill until no longer pink, careful not to overcook or you'll have dry chicken.

Meanwhile, heat a sauté pan on medium heat. Add oil and garlic, sauté a few seconds, add spinach, salt and pepper. Cook a few minutes until heated through.

When chicken is done, lay on a baking sheet lined with foil or parchment for easy clean-up. Divide spinach evenly between the 6 pieces and place on top. Top each with half oz mozzarella, then slices of roasted pepper and bake until melted, about 6-8 minutes.

I roasted my own red pepper!  I was so proud of me!

Once the pepper was charred, I placed it in a covered bowl to cool.  The steam that is created will help make peeling the skin off the pepper much, much easier!!

Pepper after peeling.

Garlic and olive oil.

Spinach sauteed with garlic and olive oil.

Ready to go!

So yummy!!

I am super excited about the next skinnied down recipe...

Bangin' Good Shrimp - a skinny knock off of Bonefish Grill's Bang Bang Shrimp!  Yum!  :-)

Coupon Crazy!!

Well, it's 7:56 on my day off and I have already been to Starbucks, Harris Teeter, and been home to make breakfast and have another cup of coffee.  What on Earth would make me, a definite not-a-morning person, get up at the crack of dawn...again, on my day off...to venture out?  Triple coupon days at Harris Teeter! 

So, I've been clipping coupons and shopping the Triple Coupon and Super Double Coupon days at HT for a few years now.  I definitely always save money...not a gazillion dollars like those crazy folks on that new Extreme Couponing show...but I always consider saving about as much as I spend a good deal.  With that said, when I heard it was Triple Coupon week I thought I might do a little more research to see if I could save any more money.  I've been following the blog Southern Savers for a few years now.  The lady who writes it always has the best tips and secrets to give out!  I don't know where she gets all of her info, but I'm happy she has her ways!  For instance, she knows about deals like the Triple Coupons weeks in advance!  Then, she puts together a few lists of items you can get for super cheap or even FREE!  So, I spent a few hours reading her blog, going through my clipped coupons, printing a few others.  I got up at 5:30 because everytime I try to use coupons there are inevitably always items that are sold out by the time I get there and everything I've read has said that you should be ready to check out at 7 am to get all the deals.  Well, I was the first person there.  :-)  But, I did get pretty much all of the deals I wanted!  Here's the rundown:

-Multi Grain Cheerios
-Mahatma Rice (1 lb)
-Hormel Compleats Meal Lasagna
-French's Spicy Brown Mustard
-French's Worchestershire Sauce
-Frank's Red Hot Sauce
-Franks's Sweet Chili Sauce
-French's Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce
-Zatarain's Jambalaya Mix
-Zatarain's Red Beans & Rice Mix
-Biltmore Soy Ginger Marinade
-Barilla Elbows
-Barilla Mushroom and Garlic Marinara
-Colgate Whitening Toothpaste
-Oral-B Satin Dental Floss
-Pillsbury Toaster Strudels (2)
-Eggo Fiber Plus Chocolate Chip Waffles
-Totino's Pepperoni Pizza Rolls (2)
-Heluva Good French Onion Dip
-Athenos Blueberry Greek Yogurt (2)
-Coffe Mate Fat Free Vanilla Creamer
-Coffee Mare Far Free Hazelnut Creamer
-Ball Park Light Beef Hot Dogs

Total Price of items before coupons and VIC card values was $77.94....
Price after deductions was.....Drumroll please...

$18.14


That is a savings of 76.7%!!  I was pretty excited about it!  Was it worth getting up at the crack of dawn?  Probably.  :-)  I'll definitely be back next time....maybe just a half hour or so later.

Happy Wednesday Y'all!

Nesting

Much to our delight...a mama cardinal has built her nest right outside our kitchen window!  We didn't know what she was at first because she's brown.  Who knew female cardinals weren't red?!  So, we think she's lovely and are delighted she chose our tree to hatch her babies in.  We've told Buddy that she's our special friend and that we have to take good care of her, look out for her, and keep her safe.  I think he totally gets
it.  :-)