Author Archives: katherine

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Veteran’s Day

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I didn’t grow up particularly patriotic. I mean, we lit fireworks on the 4th of July, I always proudly held my hand over my heart during the Pledge of Allegiance and the National Anthem. My grandad, grandpa and even one of my grandmas all served during WWII and I remember thinking how great that was. But I never really “got” patriotism. I was always just stoked I got an day off of school on Veteran’s day.

It wasn’t until I was out of college that I really started to “get it”.

I started working for a company that had deep seeded patriotic roots. Every single product was built proudly in the USA. We even had a product that was dedicated solely to the troops and proceeds from every single one of those items sold went to TAPS. We had product names like the Patriot, Old Glory, Allegiance, Defender, General, Admiral…seriously, I could go on. We had American Flags as the background for our company banners.

One year, between Veteran’s Day and Christmas, we put together a program where we sold heavily discounted product to the troops overseas and actually shipped the product to them in time for Christmas so they could have a little extra piece of home during their R&R. We continued the program beyond that initial shipment, and I ended up as the main point of contact for the troops for the next 2 years.

That’s really when it all hit me. These service men & women…real people. Calling in, sometimes keeping me on the line for well over 45 minutes, just because I was a “real person” to talk to. The handwritten thank-you letters sent from the “sandbox”. The platoon photos of the troops proudly sporting their branded hats we sent them. The folded flags they would send us that had flown in battle as a token of their appreciation.

Their appreciation? They were the ones sacrificing their lives, missing their families and they were thankful for a discounted product? It blew my mind.

We are the appreciative ones… I am the appreciative one.

I have so much respect and admiration for our service members and their families for all of their sacrifices.

Anymore, I can’t help but get teary every time I hear the National Anthem. I even get the chills. I know the true meaning of those words.

I am proud to call myself an American.

I am truly thankful for all the men and women, past and present, who have put their lives on the line so that I am able to have the freedom to do the things I love.

So, for those of you reading this that have been/are in the armed forces…THANK YOU…from the bottom of my heart. Thank you.

For those of you reading this that aren’t…make sure you take two seconds today and THANK THEM.

On Happy Hour and Food Babies

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I am semi cheating with this post as part of NaBloPoMo. I hand wrote this last night after I got home, and am typing it up the next day. Forgive me?

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Tonight I left work a little early to meet a couple of girlfriends for happy hour.

As we get settled in, we agree that it’s been far too long since our last get together. Then we spend the next 5 minutes trying to remember when it actually was. We never figure it out, but decide that the next time, we won’t wait as long…even though we all know it probably will be too long.

We chat. We laugh. We eat way too many of those fantastic little shoestring french fries. {No seriously, I totally have a food baby as I write this} {Double serious: I still have a food baby as I’m typing this}

As my belly fills, so does my heart…I don’t even realize how badly I’ve needed this until I’m there soaking it all in. I so needed this.

I get home right before bedtime and my little red head runs to me the instant I step foot in the door. I hug her tight and take her to bed.

I needed that too.

And now? If you’ll excuse me, I’m off to spend some quality time with the hubby.

{Recipe} Taco Casserole

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In my house? Casseroles are off limits…something about Andy having a bad experience or two throughout his childhood. For a while, I was able to get around this rule by calling something a “bake”. He eventually caught on.

However, there is one casserole I can make that not only does he eat every time, he also takes seconds AND leftovers the next day. Of course, this is because all the main ingredients are his favorite things…taco fixings.

I originally got this recipe from my Aunt. Over the years, I’ve changed it up a bit. I made it last night for “TACO TUESDAY” just to keep things interesting, so I thought I’d share the recipe!

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound ground beef {ground turkey works great too!}
  • One small onion, chopped fine
  • 2 packets of taco seasoning
  • 8 oz can tomato sauce
  • 4 oz can diced green chiles
  • 1 cup 1/2 & 1/2
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped {optional}
  • 1 can of black beans, drained & rinsed
  • 1 bag of tortilla chips
  • Shredded Cheese

Directions:

Cook meat and onion on stovetop, adding 1 packet of taco seasoning. While meat is cooking, in a separate bowl, add tomato sauce, green chiles and other packet of taco seasoning and mix. Measure out 1/2 & 1/2, crack eggs and beat together. Pour that into the tomato mixture and stir. Add cilantro and mix. In a 13×9 baking dish, pour the bag of tortilla chips and crunch them down a little. Sprinkle on some cheese, then black beans over the chips. Add meat. Pour sauce mix over the top. Top with more cheese.

Cover with foil and cook at 350 degree for about 20-30 minutes, removing foil for the last 5-10 minutes.

Serve with sour cream and Pepsi (because Pepsi makes every Mexican dish taste better!) and enjoy!

P.S. Yes, we buy our taco seasoning at Costco…two containers at a time as a matter of fact. Judge away.

You say po-tay-toe, I say po-tah-toe

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Wait, does anyone actually say it “po-tah-toe” or is that just for the sake of the song?

{P.S. I know how to spell potato}

Ok, so moving on.

I thought about starting this out by saying “Oh I can’t believe I am putting this on the internet for the world to see” then I remembered that I recently posted THIS so clearly, I have no shame.

And so, without further adieu, I give you? The accent VLOG.

And for the record…I meant creeper in the sweetest way possible because I’ve totally been doing the same thing to every one of my internet-friends that’s done this so far.

The Words:
Aunt, Roof, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught, Naturally, Aluminum, Envelope

The Questions:
1. What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?
2. What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?
3. What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?
4. What do you call gym shoes?
5. What do you say to address a group of people?
6. What do you call the kind of spider (or spider-like creature) that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?
7. What do you call your grandparents?
8. What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?
9. What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?
10. What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

Love & Laughter is where it’s at.

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These days, weeks seem to fly by. And the weekends seem to go even faster.

There’s our jobs. There’s laundry and dinner and dishes and meal planning and grocery shopping. There’s a never ending list of things that have to be done outside. Let’s not forget about actually giving the kid some attention somewhere in all of that. Oh, and that guy called my husband…he’s kind of important too.

I’m afraid to think about how fast everything will go when Rylee is in school and playing sports. And what about when we throw another kid into the mix!? I don’t even want to think about it.

Sometimes it’s tough trying to find balance in it all.

Take this last weekend for example…by the end of the day yesterday I was in a haze, wondering where the weekend went and how come we never get any quality family time. But, when I started to look at it more closely, I found there was plenty of time together…

Friday night we went on a family date to a college basketball game to watch one of Andy’s former students play. There was popcorn! And dancing to watch at halftime!

Saturday there was a big, hearty dinner of pork roast, mashed potatoes and fresh applesauce! Followed up by a little hubby-wife time spent watching Captain America.

Sunday there was leaf kicking! Pond looking! Mud stomping! Apple Picking! Fall decorating! Banana muffin baking!

There was a lot of time spent apart through the weekend. Like me going to a baby shower on Saturday and Andy working on fencing all day on Sunday. How do we balance it all? I have no idea, but we make it work.

At the end of every day, our lives are so full of love and laughter.

That’s all the balance we need.