Cowgirl Boots

Have you ever bought something that makes you feel absolutely fantastic when you wear it?  I have and I did.  My Madden Girl boots make me feel like a million dollars.  This is not something I would usually buy, nor wear.  I decided I wanted them to go dancing, yet I was unable to convince myself to spend the money to wear these boots only to dance.  In comes my best friend.  She was there when I tried the lovely boots on and what does she say?  "You can wear those to work".  Damn right I can.  Why didn't I think of that?  I work for a feed store, HELLO? 

Of course I wore the boots to dance on Saturday night.  The boots did not hurt my feet.  I could of danced all night.  The down side, I was much shorter......

So, today I wear my boots to work.  I received so many compliments.  I think I was meant to be a cowgirl.  Dang it, I missed my calling.  I intend to make up that time this year, the year I turn 40!!

Moral to the story?  Buy those boots and meet us on the dance floor.

BFF Weekend

When we moved to Colorado from California, about seven years ago, my husband promised me and my best friend that he would still send me to see her a couple times a year.  No matter what else is going on in our world he has always made that happen.  My best friend, Michelle, and I have worked very hard at getting as much time together as possible.  She travels a lot for work but always makes time for us.  Our "for sure" months are always January and November, our birthdays.  This is the first trip in A VERY LONG TIME that I have had a job plus a life, therefore could take time off while she is here and not feel guilty for it.  Speaking about my job warrants it own blog that we will get to another day.

Michelle got here late Thursday night, well I guess Friday morning, 1:30 am.  We slept in Friday and then went for a highly enjoyable BFF breakfast.  We relaxed for a bit and then went to Massage Envy for a two hour, that is right I said two hour, massage.  Yes, we suffer like this often.  Friday night we had a few drinks with a friend of mine, Trish, then picked up another friend of mine, Sonia, and off to the greatest concert this side of Denver, Salt n Pepa, Coolio, Doug E Fresh and Slick Rick.  Don't be jealous.  It was four hours of amazing music and dancing like we never danced before.

We slept in a bit Saturday and then went out to breakfast again.  The best part of the day was shopping.  This has got to be one things that BFF's should always do together.  Shopping made me happy as my Zumba craziness showed that it was truly paying off.   I dropped two sizes.  I need that motivation to keep the fire under my own ass.  Let me tell you I needed to fell the results as it is hard to tell when you see yourself daily.  Saturday night Sonia, Michelle and I went out dancing.  What an absolute blast!  A girl could not have two better PICs.

Today is Sunday, family day.  My dad made breakfast for all of us.  This is Michelle's staple on her visits.  Dad must make her some chorizo n eggs, hashbrowns, refried beans and tortillas.  He never disappoints.  The rest of the days we spent watching movies, I took a nap and just relaxing.  I needed a day like this.

Although tomorrow will be sad because my BFF has to go home we will make the best of it.  We will have another massage, some lunch and of course some Zumba. 

Nothing is better than my BFF time.  I look forward to it when it isn't here and I absorb it all I can when it is here.  I feel truly blessed to have someone so amazing in my life that loves me unconditionally.  No matter what is in my brain, how I am feeling, I know that I have a person out there that I can call on and trust. 

Truly grateful for everything in our life that has gotten us here.

Happy Anniversary

13 years ago today I said "I do" with the man of my dreams.  Before I met him I was convinced I would never get married and never have more children.  Not for the lack of men in my life, it was the lack of desire.

A friend of mine had signed up for Match.com and was positive it was the key to finding a good man.  I did not necessarily agree or care.  You see, I had a boyfriend at the time.  He lived in several hours for me and I only had to see him a couples times a month.  This type of relationship was perfect for me.  I was terribly low maintenance and I had zero desire to be a serious relationship.  He had a child, I had a child and we did not include them in our relationship. It was perfect.

Then my friend, lets call her Debbie, put that bug in my ear about Match.com.  I did not want to sign up and at that time you could look through profiles without having to pay.  I read at least 200 profiles for men in my area.  I honestly do not even remember what criteria I used to find my "match".  Out of all of those profiles I sent a message to one, yes just one, and that one person is my now husband, Richard Harrison.  He answered my message and from that day on we emailed every day for months.  It eventually grew into telephone conversations and at some point we decided to meet.  From memory I think it was tax season, March, when we first started communicating.  In July we decided it was time to meet.

We lived an hour apart.  I arranged for my son to stay with my parents and was going to head to Richard's house right after work.  I got home after work, to get ready, to a message from Richard on my answering machine (does anyone own one of those anymore?).  Richard was nervous and freaking out a little bit about us meeting.  I decided I was going anyway.  I was nervous also, but more anxious. 

I got in the car, turned on the radio and off I went.  The closer I got to his home the more nervous I became.  I parked outside his house, took a deep breathe and got out of the car.  As I walked up to the door I could feel my heart beating in my chest.  I knocked, waited.  Richard opened the door, smiled and said "lets get this over with" and kissed me.  Romantic right?  LOL  Let me tell you, the kiss was good, but he was right to do it, I felt so much better after.

There is so much to tell from then on, however I am going to save that for another time.  One thing I remember is my mom telling me she knew he was the one.  Why you ask?  She said because he wouldn't let me walk all over him.  You know what?  She was right.

Softball

It's tough, it's hard, it makes you mad

Other times it makes you glad

To work hard and get it done

Can often times be real fun

You have to want to be the best

To pass Coach Yoshihara's test

Run and sweat is the way you pay

Often it's what gets you up each day

If you do all you have to do

You will be one of the best, real soon.

I wrote this for my old softball coach in high school.  Loraine Yoshihara was one of the most passionate, driven and talented coaches I have ever met.  She knew exactly how to bring the best out of her players.  She also allowed you to believe in yourself.  Thank you Yosh.

Unplanned Weekend

I had big plans for this last weekend, which I did none of.  I had been suffering from a migraine for several days and on Friday it decided to take me down.  I arranged to have Friday off as my brother and his family were coming to town.  I managed to make it through zumba, lunch with my husband, movies with the kids and even dinner with the family Friday night.  When I made it home I crashed.  I had taken pain pills at my moms house, therefore unable to drive.  My husband got me home, I took more pain pills and tried to go to sleep.  NO SUCH LUCK!  The pain pills must have been some generic brand.  They made me itch from the inside out.  I took Benadryl to combat that madness.  Moral to the story, I did not sleep Friday night. 

Honestly, I do not remember much of Saturday.  I was miserable between the headache and the itching.  My brother, his wife and my mom came and got my kids to take them out bowling and to lunch.  The plan for Saturday night was to go dancing, obviously we did not do that.  I certainly didn't.  At the time I guess I did not know if everyone else went out or not. 

Sunday I slept until noon or so.  Got out of bed in time for my sister in law to come over and do my hair.  I felt so horrible that I was not very good company.  She got my hair done, cut my daughters hair and even trimmed my youngest sons hair.  My brother took all the boys to an indoor football game.  Yes, a lot of plans, none included me.  Migraines stink! 

Today, Monday, I feel better.  I still have a headache and I am incredibly tired.  I took one extra day to get myself 100%.  I slept in this morning, took more pain meds and rested all day.  My oldest son was nice enough to get me food and drink.  With my last bit of energy I am writing this.  Guess what is next.......a nap.

Live and Learn

 
I have been having profound emotions with the beginning of writing my book.  I am positive that writing about it all will also be tremendous therapy for me.  Perhaps I have been overly sensitive lately, yet something happened this week that I just had to share.

A friend of mine is getting married.  He called me before he even proposed to tell me how he was going to do it.  He was excited, I was excited and I could not wait to watch them exchange vows.  Since we have not seen each other in a while I even asked if I would be invited (you never know what type of wedding someone is having or how many people will be invited).  He told me "of course".  A few months later he and his now fiance came over to have dinner at our house.  We had a good time talking about old times, the wedding and everything else under the moon.  Again, we were told "of course" we are invited.

After the dinner together I tried to be better at maintaining communication with my friend, as he and I both admitted we had not done the best at that.  You see we use to work together, but neither of us work at that company anymore.  I would leave little notes on his facebook, just so he knew I was thinking of him, even if I did not have the time to call and have a full blown conversation.  After two of these messages the fiance started posting crazy comments on her facebook that I could only assume were about me.  Things like "don't you hate it when people pay more attention to your fiance than you do" blah blah, madness.  I backed off a little thinking she was just crazy swamped with wedding planning.

A few weeks ago I saw the fiance post that the invitations had gone out in the mail.  I was so excited to see it, read it and of course RSVP.  A week passed, no invite.  Then she posted that they had received their first RSVP, still no invite.  I am not the type to "stew" on things so I contacted my friend.  I asked him straight up "Are we invited"?  He gave me this long answer that was basically "No".  I gave it a little thought and I understood if someone is limited on funds, space, whatever.  My husband and I really limited our wedding to who fit on the cliff with us (35 or so people).  What upset me is how I found out.  He could have shot me an email, text, facebook message, anything just saying that they could not make it happen due to funds.  Anyone would understand that. 

The next thing I know, the same day, I get an insane facebook message from the fiance.  She attacked everything about me.  My friendship with her fiance, me going to zumba, my facebook posts, my blog, whatever she could think of.  It was an easy decision to unfriend them both and block her completely.  Is she truly this insecure?  What a sad sad series of events. 

I truly wish him the best, it will take some work with her at his side.  He has goals, he is highly intelligent and a great dad. 

I will miss his friendship, but not enough to accept her drama into my life.  Live and learn.

Reduced Fat Enchiladas

  

Ingredients

• 2 half chicken breasts on the bone with skin (remove skin before adding to enchiladas)
• 1 (16 oz.) red enchilada sauce (no sugar added)
• 1 (4 oz.) can green chile peppers
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, reduced fat
• 1 (8 oz.) container sour cream, fat free
• 6 medium whole wheat tortillas, low sodium if possible (corn tortillas are not recommended as they tend to fall apart)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken breast on the bone, with skin, in a covered baking dish, bake until juices run clear when pierced with a fork, about 45 minutes. Chicken should have reached an internal temperature of 165 degrees. Allow to cool. Remove skin and bones, discard. Shred chicken or cut into bite size cubes.

In a medium mixing bowl, add chicken, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder, black pepper and salt to taste. Add to seasoned chicken, green chile peppers, 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce, 1/2 cup sour cream and 1 cup cheese, mix well. Place 1/2 cup chicken mixture in the center of each tortilla, leave about 2” at the bottom without filling and fold up...continue until all tortillas are filled.

Lightly spray the bottom and sides of the slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Lay enchiladas seam side down in the slow cooker, add a little of the sauce above to each layer as you stack them. There should be 2 layers of 3 or 3 layers of 2, depending on the size of your slow cooker.

Combine the remaining enchilada sauce and 1/2 cup sour cream. Pour over the enchiladas, cover and cook on low 3-4 hours, or until hot and bubbly. Cut between each enchilada and carefully remove, one at a time, with a large spatula. Pour liquid from slow cooker over enchiladas and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Garnish with diced tomatoes and shredded lettuce. 

Yields: 6 servings | Serving size: 1 enchilada | Calories: 249 | Previous Points: 5 | Points Plus: 6 | Total Fat: 6 g | Saturated Fats: 2 g | Trans Fats: 0 g | Cholesterol: 26 mg | Sodium: 470 mg | Carbohydrates: 31 g | Dietary fiber: 2 g | Sugars: 0 g | Protein: 18 g 

*** I have not tried this yet, but it looks and sounds delicious.  If you are able to try before me, let me know your thoughts.  ***