Category Archives: other nuggets

Stuff & Things

As I sit here watching Rylee color her Auntie Telli a picture, I’m sipping a nice, hot cut of coffee. I thought I’d take a few minutes to go over some…stuff…and things. {hence the title}

First things first, Rylee just asked me to draw her a gymnast on her paper, so I have a feeling it might take a while to actually get this post written and posted. Really? A gymnast? Oye.

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I’ve planned out this coming week’s meals, made up my grocery list and updated the new “What’s for Dinner?” page. Go see.

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Y’all know our last name is Rice, right? Ok so, Friday night we had Andy’s mom out to our house for dinner {his dad is out hunting for a few weeks}. I’ve got halibut on the grill and some rice in the microwave {yea, I make rice in the microwave…don’t knock it till you try it} and we’re all hanging out in the kitchen. I swear, it doesn’t matter how BIG of a bowl I use to cook the rice, it always boils over and makes a huge mess in the microwave. So, I glance over and see that happening and I say “Ugh, stupid rice!” and Rylee looks up immediately and says “Hey…I’m not stupid!” I laugh and say “Oh no honey, I wasn’t talking about you” She replies with “Well, which of us is stupid then?” Then we all pretty much died laughing. Then I had to explain to Rylee what I meant because she had no idea why we were laughing.

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Yesterday was the opening day of hunting season. I woke up before the birds so I could be at my dad’s house in time to leave his house before 6 AM. While we did see one buck, no shots were taken. If the weather keeps up, next weekend should be a good one! After a long day of ~~taking my rifle for a walk~~ hunting I came home to find that Andy had not only washed, folded & put away laundry, the dishes were done and our bed sheets were changed. THEN he made dinner! Kind of a role reversal, but what the heck did I do to get so lucky!? {Sorry ladies, he’s mine and I’m not giving him up any time soon.}

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Ok, now it’s just after 3 PM {got a little side tracked}. We’ve done our grocery shopping, ate lunch, Rylee is napping and I have a bit pot of homemade spaghetti sauce {with tomatoes from my garden} on the stove. I don’t think there will be enough to can, so I’ll probably just freeze what we don’t use for dinner. After Ry wakes up, we’re baking a batch of banana muffins and a few loaves of zucchini bread. If there’s time, we’ll head out to the apple tree and pick some apples for applesauce.

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And…last but not least, a new blog that I am loving reading Liberating Working Moms {you may remember my guest post over there} has started a fun “Working with Style” post so I figured I’d play along this week. This series on LWM was inspired by Mandy’s Steppin’ Out posts. I love looking at all the fun outfits people link up over there for their
steppin’ out, but I don’t typically play along because we literally just don’t go out and if feels kinda weird linking up an outfit for work, but for this week, I figured I’d link to both.

Now, for those of you that don’t know, I work in a barn…literally. So, even though it’s technically a “professional office job” most of the time I just wear jeans and shirt to work, because…why not? But, I do actually try to look halfway decent once in a while. Anyway, here’s my outfit from earlier this week.

Ok, I think that’s all I’ve got for now!

How was your weekend?

Steppin’ Out ~ Fun Weekend!

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Toward the end of last week I was all sorts of excited for the weekend. And not just because my last weekend sucked a big-fat-ace, but because we had some fun stuff planned! {and by we, I mean me}

Friday night, we headed over to Andy’s parent’s house for a big turkey dinner, complete with stuffing, mashed potatoes and gravy. {No mac-n-cheese, but that’s ok, I’m not bitter} {Ok, actually I am…a little} Then, after dinner, because the rest of the weekend was going to be so busy, I went grocery shopping. I know! Grocery shopping, at 8 PM on a Friday and ALONE!? It was kind of mind blowing.

Saturday, I had plans to get up early and make an awesome tailgating dip because I was headed up to watch the OSU game with my sister. {Shout out to my awesome husband who insisted I go despite the fact that he re-injured his back and could hardly move all weekend} I figured my personal red-headed alarm clock would have me up by 7 AM. Guess again…I woke up just after 8! It felt great, but cue the HOLY-CRAP-I-HAVE-TO-LEAVE-IN-AN-HOUR panic. No dip was made. On the way out of town I grabbed a coffee. By the time I made it to the tailgate party, my coffee cup was empty and ready to be refilled with a margarita. The Beavs ended up losing, but I had a great time soaking in the last of the sun hanging out with my sister. It was much needed.

Sunday Rylee and I had a hot date with Costco and our friends Lindsey and Otto. And yes, I got “dressed” to go to Costco. It was the only place we went, but it felt good to get dressed. Our visit with Lindsey and Otto was nice, but cut short by two antsy toddlers who couldn’t understand WHY!? they couldn’t run and crawl around the Costco food court area like little banshees. Lindsey and I decided that next time, we’re leaving the kids at home and going out one night after work. The rest of the day was spent doing…well, not much of anything. Dishes. Laundry. Cooking dinner. Fun stuff, folks. It was glorious.

The entire weekend was absolutely glorious.

Ok, on to the Costco outfit…

This one is easy folks…head to toe: Target

Linking up with Mandy!

The one I never thought I’d write

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As a relatively fit 27 year old who was doing everything “right”, I never I thought I would wake up Friday morning to something not being…right.

But I did.

So, I called and spoke to the nurse on call. Told her what was going on. She told me to take it easy. Keep my feet up. Then she told me to call and check in on Monday morning. That was that.

I stayed at work for a few hours. Unable to focus, I filled in one of my bosses about something not being quite right, and he told me to go home. Right then. So home I went. Propped my feet up on the couch and slept the afternoon away. Andy picked Ry up that night. He made us dinner. He did the dishes. I stayed off my feet. Something still wasn’t quite right.

And, I guess when you know, you know, because I awoke from a dead sleep at 1 AM and I knew.

At 7 weeks, 4 days pregnant, I was having a miscarriage.

I tried to go back to sleep. For the rest of the night I was in and out of sleep and in and out of bed.

That night, and since then, I’ve had a lot of time to think about what was happening.

And you know what? I’m OK with it.

Surprisingly OK with it in fact.

Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my ups and downs but, at this point, it is what it is and there is {obviously} no changing it. To be honest, knowing what was happening was much more comforting to me than trying to decide just what the nurse meant when she said this “could be normal”.

It’s a very weird thing to write about now. Especially considering so many of you didn’t even know Andy and I were expecting. But, it’s not something I can just skip over like it never happened.

We are blessed beyond measure in the life we have built together. I truly, truly believe that even though I may not see the reasons now, all things do happen for a reason.

There’s always a silver lining…right?

{Recipe} Tandoori Chicken with Mango Salsa

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Friends, yesterday left me defeated. Mentally, emotionally and physically exhausted. I had this whole big woe-is-me post written in my head, then realized… nobody probably gives a crap. So, instead, I decided…hell yea! It’s Friday. And pay day. And I have a pedicure with a girlfriend calling my name at 5:30 tonight, followed by a high school football game with my little family. Screw yesterday.

Remember earlier in the week I told y’all about the awesome dinner I cooked on Sunday night? I promised I’d share the recipe, so here we are!

I remember the first time I had this…it was at my sister’s house, probably 8 years ago. That was before I was really “adventurous” when it came to trying new food. I was skeptical, at best. But, my sister assured me I would love it so I took a piece of chicken, and a tiny little scoop of the mango salsa. Before I knew it, I was back in the kitchen for another helping of the salsa. Yumm doesn’t begin to describe it! She copied down the recipe for me and I’ve been making it ever since.

People…I don’t think you understand just how good this recipe is…while Andy & I were engaged, I made it for a BBQ that his best friend was also at. Upon trying it, his best friend turned to me and said “Can I marry you too?”. I now make it whenever his friend is in town…

Anyway…on to the recipe!

Please note…I am giving you the recipe as I make it, not in the original form. When I make it, I pretty much make a marinade more so than a paste. (It’s WAY better this way…trust)

Ingredients for the Tandori Spice:

6 garlic cloves, minced
3 tsp salt
2 Serrano Chiles (seeds make it spicier!)
1 quart plain yogurt
Juice from 1 whole lime
2 Tbl peeled, grated fresh ginger root
1 Tbl ground coriander
3 Tsp Turmeric
1 Tbl ground cumin
1 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Directions:

Combine all ingredients. Make 3 cuts, about 1/4″ deep in the chicken. Place in marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or over night. Grill on medium heat, for 25-30 minutes, turning once. Serve with mango salsa.