Comfort Food Sunday!

I think Andy and I have decided on a new Sunday tradition. See last Sunday, after we got the news about Maddie's passing, I spent most of the day crying off and on and all I wanted for dinner was comfort food. We ended up making pot roast, mashed potatoes, peas and biscuits. Talk about delish! It was a huge, lethargy-inducing meal combined with a nice fire and some good TV, it was the perfect way to end an evening. Anyway, I had to work today and Andy was kind enough to drive me and pick me up, (I had a long night of driving for a family event last night) so on the way home I ran the idea of another big Sunday dinner by him and he went for it. Tonight we decided on roast chicken, mac and cheese, broccoli and biscuits. I'm thinking about making this our own little family's tradition. Andy and I both thing that it could be a nice thing that we get to do together and it's also relaxing.

What do you think? What kind of traditions have you and your significant other come up with?

Adventures in Unclesitting

So we had to take care of my baby nephew Charlie for around 7 hours tonight. And when I say "baby nephew", I mean 5 month old gettin crazy with the teething nephew. And when I say "we" had to take care of him, I mean me by myself for a couple hours.

See, Amanda had to go up to Sandusky tonight for her grandma's birthday as well as their Thanksgiving, seeing as she's going with me to my family's Thanksgiving. So that just left me, 2 dogs, and a drooling cutie alone in the house. Now, keep in mind that Charlie was the first baby I ever held, period. Was I nervous? I suppose one could say that.

However, did I rock the uncle-ness?
Yeah, I suppose you could say that :) Had the little bugger taking a nice nap within an hour.

Truth is, Charlie is such an awesome baby that I felt like I had things on easy mode. Not saying I ever doubted my taking-care-of-baby skills, but let's just say that I hope being so good is genetic.

Working at the Car Wash...er...not quite

I literally walking into my house about 10 minutes ago and already I'm in sweats with a drink in my hand. So I now have two jobs. Both of which are part-time, which is great. It offers me a nice change up. I have only had two jobs a grand total of a week, but it's been a great week. A little tiring but not at all boring. See for the first time in my life. I love my jobs. I mean I looove them. Both are awesome in their own unique ways. It's fantastic.

Both of my jobs had a little segment in the orientation/handbook about blogging and social networking in respect to the company, which I understand. They don't want you bashing your company, which is totally understandable. I mean how awful would that be to get fired because of some Internet thing where you were letting out steam. Not that I would be that stupid. I mean my blog is out there for the world to see, it's not exactly the forum to say negative things about work. I think talking a little about my jobs is okay as long as I'm not bashing or divulging company secrets.

My first job that I have had for about a little while is with Columbus Metropolitan Library. It's a really great job. It keeps me on my toes both literally and figuratively. I find that I have enough stimulation and movement that I don't ever get bored. Honestly, probably one of the best I have every had in my life. I feel really comfortable saying that now because I have been there for a while and am starting to find my rhythm, it's a great fit for me.

My second job is newer and therefore I don't feel very comfortable talking about it yet. I will say that I enjoy it and that I have a lot of fun there, it's also looking to be a pretty good fit but I'm not even out of training yet so we'll see in a week or so how I feel. I sincerely don't think there will be any problems. I just feel that confident.

Now, I've worked an 11 hour day and would like to go to bed, so see you all on the flip side.

Happy Veteran's Day!

I just want to take a brief moment to thank all the men and women that serve this country and have served this country in the past. You are all my heroes and I respect and admire all that you do for us. Thank you again veterans, you all are amazing, incredible people to do what you do!

On a different note, regular posting will resume tomorrow. I think. I hope. I'm gone from 9:30AM to 11:30PM for work tomorrow, so it may not be me. I'm trying to convince Andy to write a post since he hasn't written in ages. I'm hoping that still counts for NaBloPoMo. If not then I'm screwed because I will have very little time to write something creative and intelligent for you to read. Have a good night everyone!

My Favorite Things: Cleaning Products Pt 2

I apologize for my skimpy post yesterday. I swear I had the whole thing written out and saved, I was just awaiting editorial approval (read: Andy had to read through it). I think Blogger might have just hated me yesterday, I had to re-write that post twice already so when I go home and it wasn't here I was in no mood to write it again. Anyway, where did I leave off yesterday? Oh yes, the last four cleaning products that I can't live without.

2. Pledge Fabric Sweeper

• What it does: Swoosh it across whatever fabric you have in mind (couches, chairs, blankets etc.) and it picks up that pesky fur.
• Why I love it: Four fur babies, 'nuff said. But seriously, when I don't feel like lugging the vacuum around the house to clean things this really gets the job done.

3. Bounce Dryer Bar

• What it does: It keeps my clothes and laundry static free and smelling fresh.
• Why I love it: I always forget to put in a dryer sheet or fabric softener. This convenient little bar sticks right into your dryer so you never have to worry about, well not entirely true, it needs replaced every couple of months.

4. Swiffer Dusters

• What it does: It dusts. Duh. Well it also captures the dust and doesn't spread it around.
• Why I love it: I abhor dusting. It is probably my least favorite chore. These little duster cloths really get the job done and keep the dust from flying around. 

5. Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Cleaning Gel

• What it does: A little glob of gel in the toilet and it cleans with every flush. When it disappears you add another glob.
• Why I love it: It really keeps the toilets clean and it's easy to know when it needs to be replaced. Bonus is the smell is nice and fresh. 

There you have it, my favorite cleaning products. They make my household a little easier to clean.

So what are your favorite cleaning products and why?

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things: Cleaning Products pt 1

I want to preface this post  by saying these are my own personal opinions and am in no way getting paid by any of these companies to endorse these products (I wish!). Moving on, I really hope that The Sound of Music soundtrack is running through your head the rest of the day because I won't be able to get it out of mine for the rest of the day. I decided today that I want to do a series of my favorite things, I have a few different categories of products and things that I love and use everyday that I thought would be nice to share.

Today's post is going to be about the cleaning products that make my life easier. This has become vitally important lately because with my two jobs I'm getting home 3 or more hours later than Andy on weeknights and I have to also work weekends, which means our time together is precious. Most of these products save me time, energy and work pretty well which is why I love them.

1.  The Scrubbing Bubbles Automatic Shower Cleaner

• How it works: Basically, the user (moi) presses the button after the last shower of the day, then shower cleaning solution is sprayed through a rotating nozzle. Voila! The shower is clean!
•  My Thoughts: I'm a big fan of this product, I got it pretty much as soon as it came out. It's really easy to use (just push a button) and it works pretty well. It doesn't replace the need for a good scrub every once in a while but it does mean I don't need to scrub the shower once a week 

...Okay guys, I had an entire post here, with five items, it was here ready to post after I got home from work, but apparently I'm having technical difficulties. I'm too exhausted to re-write today so the remaining 2-5 items will be on the blog tomorrow. Thanks for the patience!

Da Fever

I don't know what is is lately but I have been suffering from baby fever so badly. There is just something in the air that is making me baby crazy. It probably doesn't help that I have an adorable 4 month old nephew, who is (without any bias whatsoever) the best baby in the world. I'm not being sarcastic, he hardly cries and he sleeps through the night. He is such a good baby and so damn cute. Seriously, look at that face:

 My nephew on Halloween. Seriously, I die.

Anyway, you get it, I want a baby. I think a lot of newlyweds face this. We have both finally gotten into a routine, things aren't chaotic anymore, we've adjusted fairly well to being married and it is kind of like, now what? Well, Andy and I finally had a serious talk about this the other night in bed. (I love pillow talk, it's my favorite time of the day) and we both want kids, in fact we wouldn't mind a kid now. The key word there is mind, meaning if by some miracle of God we were to become pregnant we wouldn't freak out. We both know that we aren't ready to actively try for a kid, we probably won't be ready for a couple years. There are many reasons for this, but most of them come down to money. Our logical reasons behind fighting the fever are as follows:

• We would like to get completely out of debt, meaning all we have is student loans/ house/ car payments, no more credit cards. This seems like a good plan and completely do-able because we have a date in mind to complete this by.
• We would like to own our own house. This one seems like it might take longer than expected so I am kind of hoping that we can negotiate on this one. Meaning maybe we will be renting still until the baby is a few months old but after that purchasing.
• We would like to build up our savings. The reason behind this is that I would like to stay at home with our kids until they are in pre-school. This may change in the coming years but right now my income would cover the cost of daycare/a nanny and that's about it, maybe a bill or two. Looking at it this way, it seems like it would make more sense for me to stay home or at least work only part-time around Andy's schedule so that I am not working just to pay someone's salary. 

There are a couple other reasons but mostly those are emotional. I like where Andy and I are right now, we both love the time we get to spend together and the fact that it's just us and the fur babies. For right now, we aren't willing to give that up. However, I do keep getting these waves of baby fever that isn't really eased by my logical or emotional reasons for waiting and I am torn. Mostly I try just to repeat over and over in my head our reasons for waiting and hope logic prevails. When all else fails I visit with my nephew and try to get my baby fix in.

Any other newlyweds struggle with baby fever? How do you deal with it?