Category Archives: Super Dad

Recipe: Slow-Cooker Lasagna

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Since Andy has been working NONSTOP down at the rental to get it ready for our new tenants (T-minus 5 days, folks) I knew I needed to have really fast, really easy dinners this week. But I also didn’t want them to all be hotdogs.

My slow-cooker and I kind of have a hate-hate relationship. I’m convinced it actually cooks on sterroids because anytime I cook something on “low” heat it’s done if HALF the time the recipe says it will. HALF…that totally throws off the entire concept of a “turn it on before you leave to work then have dinner ready when you get home” slow cooker.

However, since Andy was going to be home with Rylee for the day, I thought this would be a pretty safe, non-hotdog recipe to try.

Although I will admit… I was very skeptical.

I found the recipe on my go-to easy recipe website, the trusty old Kraft Foods. Instead of my typing it all out or trying to mess with the formatting of copy & paste, you can find the recipe HERE.

I did alter a few things in the recipe…for example: I used a spicy italian sausage instead of ground beef, I used part skim ricotta cheese and I used fresh basil instead of parsley.

I was able to get most of this prepped the night before so that I could throw it together Monday morning and put it back in the fridge for Andy to turn on later that day. I had Andy put it in at 2  PM because according to the recipe it only takes 4 hrs to cook and I figured w/ my track record I’d better skim off an hour or so.

Here’s the quick run-down…

The goods…

About this time I’m thinking “Really? This is supposed to work?”

All assembled.

The after-math. Yes, it was so good that 2 of us ate almost half of it. 
Judge away folks…

So there you have it! Easy. And it was ready when I got home from work…all I had to do was melt some more cheese on top.

And also? Please make a note that this is NOT mexican food!

Distance makes the heart grow…crazy?

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Right now as I sit on the couch and scan my living room I see a basket of clothes that needs to be folded. A basket of clothes waiting to be put away. A stack of pillows on a chair. My gym back, yoga mat and picnic blanket on another chair. And the floor is scattered with various toys, baby dolls, a half-played game of Candy Land and some suit cases.

But instead of milling about picking up the clutter here I sit.

Listening to a sound that I have missed so much.

The whole house is quiet but for this one noise.

His voice. Reading our little girl a story before nap.

Oh how I have missed that voice.

I’m not going to lie, I have relished in the quiet during his absence. There’s times I like nothing more than to sit in silence. These last 12 days, after the Monster was in bed, there was plenty of silence to be had.

However, if I had to choose silence or the sound of his strong, reassuring, comforting voice there would be no contest as to which I would choose.

Going on ten years together we have never been apart for that long. I know the actual saying is “Distance make the heart grow fonder” and I would agree with that statement up to about day 5. After that point it’s crazy.

All day yesterday while I counted down the seconds minutes hours until I got to pick him up from the airport I was like a giddy teenager. My stomach had butterflies. My heart pounded.  I couldn’t stop smiling. See? Crazy.

I swear I love that man more now than I did 10 years ago. Watching him with our daughter. Seeing his face light up when he got to drive his Cruiser for the first time in 4 years. The calmness that is about him just because it’s Summer.

My heart? It overflows. It gushes. It causes me to write mushy “I just threw up in my mouth” type posts.

But you guys? I missed that voice.

Wife of the year? Perhaps…

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Do you know how hard it is for me to keep a secret!?

Well…it’s hard. Really, really hard.

So the fact that I’ve been scheming and saving and keeping a HUGE secret since December has been killing me. Sure, I have told a few people, but I didn’t tell the one person I tell everything to. Andy.

Let me tell you a bit about my secret.

I know this guy…his name is Andy. I’m married to him actually. And one of the reasons I fell so in love with him is because of his huge, giving heart. It also happens to be one of his biggest downfalls because it means he always puts himself last.

His “other love” needed a little TLC. I was going to have his 1978 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser fixed for him.

It all started back on our first date…when he picked me up from my dad’s house in his Cruiser. I thought it was pretty much the coolest thing ever. And then he told me he had TWO of them! One he’d keep stock but the other one…well, he had BIG plans for that one…Including a new motor in one, lifting it, new wheels & tires, a new paint job…and the list went on and on. And he did all those things. Mostly the week before our wedding so we had a cool vehicle to drive off in. It’s his other love, so it just made total sense it was included in our wedding day, right?

Well, with the new motor meant there was a lot of extra heat under the hood and eventually he burnt out the plug wires. It went into the garage until he would have time to fix it. And well, there’s always something that needs to be done when you have 12 acres, and then your wife gets pregnant and you have a kid, and then there’s more stuff that has to be done and…well…there the Cruiser sits…in the same spot for the next 4 years.

He’s talked about fixing it every Summer since it stopped running. I decided that was enough talking…it was time to take action! I decided it was time he was able to have a little fun too.

So, while he was on his once-in-a-lifetime TWELVE DAY fishing trip in Alaska I decided I would do something I knew he really wanted done but would never have time to do on his own.

That goofy grin he had on his face in the video? Never left his face the rest of the night.

And…even if I don’t win wife of the year this was so worth it!

What We’ve Been Up To…

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It seems like we’ve been on warp speed this last week. Not much time for blogging so I thought I’d just share some of the pics I snagged on my phone. If you follow me on instagram, you’ve seen these. Some have even been floating around facebook.

Amy over at A Good Life Blog hosts a weekly iPhone photo link-up. It’s a really fun way to recap your week.

Testing out the hiker-pack we’re letting a friend borrow. // Showing me her art project from school.
Enjoying some quiet time outside in the early morning hours.
Fact: balloons are a fantastic prop for a toddler photo session. // In related news: A photo session wears the toddler out.
We spent lots of time outside this weekend.
We set-up Rylee’s sandbox. // And the neighbors hayed our field. 
Got the garden in working order. AND PLANTED! // Dante just tried to stay out of the sun.
All the sun wore Rylee out. // My dad spoiled me by making me his famous breakfast.

Did I mention we were outside a lot this weekend?
We wrapped up the weekend by picnicking on the front patio.
We also worked in a used book sale where we scored almost 30 books for $7! And Rylee’s first trip to build-a-bear.
In short? Our weekend was glorious.
How was yours?

In the Blink of an Eye

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Holy moly. You hit “post” about a cute little Father’s Day story on a Monday. Then you blink and it’s almost a week later.

How did that even happen!?

This last week was spent soaking up all the family time I could get before my handsome, well deserving husband jetted off for the fishing trip of a lifetime.

Now I’m attempting to wrangle a toddler solo. I’ve said it before and I will say it again. I have so much admiration for mamas, or any parent for that matter, that does it on their own.

Oh what’s that? You want to know more about those adorable little photos you already peeked on? Well, a couple of months ago I won my very first giveaway! A photo session with Marissa from Marissa Lynn Photography. After two previous attempts at booking an outdoor photo session, the crazy Oregon weather finally decided to cooperate and the result was cute that would kill you if you would have witnessed it first hand. I stole err…borrowed these two shots from the “teasers” she posted on her facebook page.

I am already in love and cannot wait to see the rest of them!