Business Website

Here's the project I've been working on lately...

laboryourway.com

Four lunches because mom is going to substitute today! Turkey bagel sandwiches on everything bagels, red grapes, cucumbers, snap peas, cherry tomatoes, and a token piece of Halloween candy.

Menopause

Ha ha! And perfect for Halloween!

Adulting

Breakfast

Breakfast is my favorite meal. I love all kinds of breakfast foods. A friend posted this the other day and I thought “yes!”

Hassleback Chicken Caprese

(Pre-Baked Picture)

Hassleback chicken caprese. This recipe turned out great! I sliced chicken breasts, but didn’t go completely through to the bottom. So I basically created slits in the chicken. Then I stuffed fresh basil, mozzarella, and tomato slices into the slits. I placed the chicken into a pan with cream and parmesan. Then I baked it, uncovered. It took much longer to cook than expected, but was so yummy over rice. 

Nerve Block Injection

My sports medicine doctor says that the muscle specialist doc didn’t see anything unusual in my muscles. So, the next thing to look at is nerves. There are 6 nerves that run down the lower leg. Because my pain is mostly centralized to the inner leg area, my doctor wants to try a nerve block injection, just into the one nerve. He said that if my pain goes away after the injection, we can assume that a nerve is being impeded or pinched when I run. Then we would see how long the injection lasts. Some people actually never have their pain come back. Others, the injection can last 6 months to a year. If this is the case, I would have to decide if I want to just keep getting injections every so often, or if we do something more permanent with the nerve (surgery).

So, I had the nerve block injection a few days ago! Again, not the funnest experience, but better than the pressure test. Only one needle. He used an ultrasound to find the nerve. Then he started the injection clear up by my knee, and continued down the nerve. It took a couple of minutes. I just sort of laid there, holding my breath. My leg felt tingly and numb for a few hours, but then went away and I feel normal. I went for a run the next day. And guess what? I would say my pain was down 80%!!! This is such good news! Maybe we’ve found the answer! He said to give it a month, running a couple times a week, and evaluate/compare how it feels. I’m feeling very hopeful and am actually excited to keep running more. Maybe I’ll be one of the lucky ones who won’t have the pain return and won’t need continuous injections. Time will tell. But it was a good day! 👍🏻

Compartment Pressure Test

I had the pressure test done on my leg, to test for compartment syndrome. It wasn’t the most favorite day I’ve ever had. Lots of needle pokes. It was a few weeks ago and I still have small marks/scabs where they jabbed me. The needles were big and I must be a good bleeder because I had to come home and wash my shoes and socks. It ran right down. Yuck!

After the initial (resting) pressure readings, I ran 4 miles on the office treadmill. They kept coming in to monitor my leg pain. They wanted me to get off the treadmill when my pain reached a 9 out of 10. The evenness of the treadmill didn’t lend as well to creating pain. So it took longer than it would have if I was outside on uneven ground. I never did get to a 9, but they had me stop anyway. I would say my pain was at a 7. They stuck the needle pressure gage into the same 4 compartments and retested the pressures. Everything was normal. My resting pressures weren’t too elevated and my post exertion pressures were only slightly higher. Meaning, muscle pressure isn’t what is causing my pain.

While I don’t want something to be wrong with me, I was really bummed that we didn’t find the problem. This means we still don’t know why my leg hurts when I run or do other high impact exercises. My doctor says that my calf muscles are large, in comparison to the rest of my body frame. He is going to send my MRI to a doctor in Salt Lake who specializes in people with extra muscle length. He wonders if this may be something to look into, but it’s not his specialty. He said he will get back to me after he collaborates with the other doctor. If the other doc thinks this may be the problem, we would look into surgery to remove part of the muscle. I don’t have many details about this and will wait to hear.

Substitute Teaching

I’ve started substitute teaching at my kids two elementary schools. I will only commit to 1-2 days/week. So far so good! My kids like it when I’m at their school and it’s good to get to know classmates. Plus, I get to eat lunch with my kids 😊. Here’s to new adventures!

Applesauce

Homemade applesauce! My parents kindly gave us a bunch of apples from their tree. It’s always amazing to me how much apples shrink down when you cook them. They reduced to about ¼ their original amount. Crazy! The house smelled amazing and I didn’t need to add any extra sugar. Just a pinch of salt, a splash of lemon juice, some cinnamon, and time in the crockpot. Then I smashed them with a potato masher and froze it in individual batches. It will be so yummy this winter!

Christmas Gifts Plan

LOVE this list! I’m trying to implement it for my kids this Christmas. I think it will create great gift variety and not too much excess. 

Kids Chore System

Have I posted this before? This is how we do chores at our house. It’s been working well for years! Each kid has a door hanger thing (I got them at the dollar store) where I clip clothes pins. I change them up depending on what needs to be done that day. Some of the chores get paid (the ones on the left) and some things they get to do simply because they are part of our family (on the right). After they complete a chore, they move the clip to the bottom of their door hanger. Once all the clips are moved, they can go play.

Drop and Fluff

Drop and fluff. That’s what is supposed to happen to my implants. But it hasn’t yet. Still waiting and hoping. Basically, if the capsule forms firmly, and the implants don’t “drop and fluff”, the nipples always appear to be lower than desirable and the fullness of the implants stays at the top. This creates a less than natural look. One side has dropped some, so the two sides aren’t symmetrical, but I think I’ve decided I don’t want another surgery. I will deal with my imperfections and be grateful that breast cancer will likely not be part of my future.

I’m getting more used to the numbness. I still don’t like it, but it doesn’t feel quite as foreign as before. A new thing that bothers me is the visibility of my muscles, directly under the skin. As I’ve started working out again, I’ve noticed it a lot. Anytime I use my chest muscles, the flexing is so apparent and makes my chest look super strange and misshapen. That’s because the implants are under the muscle, lifting the muscle to the skin surface. Obviously, with clothes on, it’s not a big deal. It’s just another reminder that things aren’t as they once were.

I still have a bit of pain, but it’s totally manageable. The left incision bothers me sometimes, as well as down the center of my sternum and the sides of my chest, almost to my armpits. Hopefully it will disappear completely with time, but some women say it can last forever. Thank heavens the pain is minimal. I have my follow up appointment in one month.

Fireplace

We got our stove/fireplace installed in our basement! We’ve been waiting for this and are absolutely loving it! We also got a comfy sectional, with plenty of room for the whole family.

I feel like the size of our home has expanded, because I now want to go sit in the basement. It’s so warm and cozy! Great for watching movies or reading books. It’s the simple things in life. 

Picnic

We loved picnicking this summer/fall. My mother in law gave us this cute picnic basket when we first got married, and it somehow makes picnics more fun. We’ve been finding new hikes and trying to take better advantage of all the hills/mountains surrounding us. We even took card games up Mueller Canyon the other day. It was awesome to play together on a picnic table, rather than the living room floor. Utah is THE best!

Put the Garden to Bed

Winter is just around the corner. So, it was time to dig up our garden beds. It was kind of sad! We put so much effort into getting them up and running this summer. We really enjoyed gardening and learned a lot. Our basil did amazing, so we thought we would transplant it to a pot, and move it indoors. So far so good! It’s been a few weeks, and it’s still kicking. It doesn’t look quite as healthy as it did outdoors, but better than throwing it out altogether. It was great to have fresh basil in our pasta last night, in November. A treat for sure 😁 I also dried the rest of the thyme and oregano.

Kintsugi

I love this. A friend recently told me about Kintsugi. “Kintsugi is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with lacquer mixed with powdered gold. As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.” –Wikipedia

I want to see myself, and others, this way. Like can be rough. We won’t make it through without cracking, breaking, falling, etc. But, as we teach our kids, the important part is to keep getting up and trying again. All is not lost if we make mistakes. Even big ones. We can be repaired, with the help of God, and come out even more beautiful than before. And, hiding the fact that we’ve been broken, doesn’t usually serve us well. The bumps in the road can add to the beauty of our soul, if we let it.

Pizza Rolls

We loved these pizza rolls! I rolled pizza dough into a rectangle. Next, put on the pizza sauce (light layer), pepperoni, basil, and grated mozzarella. Then, roll the dough up, just like when you make cinnamon rolls. Cut the roll into 1 1/2" slices and put on a greased cookie sheet. Bake at 400 degrees till slightly brown and baked through. Serve with extra pizza sauce for dipping :)

Parfait

Yogurt parfait for breakfast :) Plain and vanilla yogurt mix, chia seeds, strawberries, bananas, and pumpkin seed granola. 

Each One

This is truth! We each have different roles to fulfill in this life. But none are more important than another. If we can find the purpose and value in what we do each day, and not compare it to others, we can find joy. No ones purpose is better or worse, just different. 

Winter!

2 week post op

I had my two week follow up appointment with Dr. Chen yesterday. Overall, we're happy with the results and my progress. No signs of infection. The incisions looks good and are healing well. My pain is decreasing. I'm more comfortable with the silicone implants than I was with the tissue expanders.  This is all really good!

One side (I don't feel like I can say one "breast". They aren't breasts.) is a bit higher than the other. It's not extreme, just slight. The volume from the implant is sitting higher in the capsule. This changes the position and angle of the nipple, as well. Dr said that with time, the implant could drop down. But, to help things along, I have to massage/push the upper area to try to stretch the interior capsule and encourage the implant to drop. This doesn't always work. She wants to see me back the first of December. If they still aren't even, and the higher side hasn't dropped, we will consider revision surgery. The thought of having another surgery makes me sick to my stomach. I'm really hoping it's not necessary.

In the mean time, I don't have to wear the surgical compression vest anymore. Yippee! I went bra shopping and was able to wear a normal bra for the first time in 5 months! It was a good day. Although I do have more incision pain in a normal bra. It doesn't hold me in as securely. 

I am supposed to sleep on my back for the next 3 months. That might just kill me. She doesn't want pressure on the implants, as the capsule is forming/healing. I've been trying out this side lying position, where I put a pillow behind my back and lay back against it. It's sort of like sleeping somewhere between my side and back. It kind of helps. I'm also supposed to keep wearing a supportive sports bra at night. To keep everything where it's meant to be. After 3 months, she says things are pretty much healed, and won't be as likely to shift. 

So that's that! We will massage the heck out of this implant (she says the pressure will not damage the implant), and hope for no surgery at Christmas! 

Leg MRI

I was finally able to have the MRI on my right leg. I had to wait till after my breast tissue expander surgery. Those had magnets in them, so it would definitely not be safe to have an MRI with them in my body. Now that they're removed, I had the MRI last week. My follow up appointment was today, to go over the findings. Sadly, the MRI showed nothing unusual. I'm completely bummed. This means we still haven't found the reason why my (inner, lower) right leg hurts when I run.

The things we look into next are muscle compartment pressure, nerves, and veins. Here is a good video that explains what compartment syndrome is:

https://youtu.be/4lKKBWWErHM

I scheduled the compartment pressure test for two weeks from now. I'm not supposed to do any intense exercise till then, since I'm still recovering from the expander/implant exchange surgery. I'm NOT at all excited for this test. It looks really painful. Lots of needle sticks. Basically, they stick a needle into each of the muscle compartments in the leg. There are 4. The needle is connected to a pressure gauge. This lets them read the amount of pressure built up in that area. After testing my resting pressures, they will have me run on a treadmill. I run until it really hurts. After the exercise, they stick me again in all the same spots, and read the pressures. Here's a video that shows part of the test, pressure readings. 

https://youtu.be/FLuKA5nmgxQ

If my resting pressures are above 15, that's high and means this is likely the source of my pain. If my pressures are above 30 after the exercise, this is also too high. I know it sounds strange, but I just want them to find something wrong with me! So we can fix it! So I can eliminate this leg pain. So I can run more easily. So I can get this long term problem off my mind!!! Here's hoping. 

If the pressure readings are normal, I will go see vein and nerve specialists. I don't know much (yet) about what that entails. Hopefully we won't get to that point. 

Pills

Don't mind me! Just getting ready to take my pills 😝! Yuck!

1 Day Post-Op

I'm home!!! I hate hospitals (at least when I'm the patient), so I was thrilled to not stay overnight this time. Everything went as good as we could have hoped, which is such a relief!

My checkin time was 10:30. That makes for a hungry day. But it was nice to have a "normal" morning with the kids, and not have to find someone to come early in the morning and get them off to school. We checked in at the hospital, did all my vitals, changed into hospital gown, and went over the procedure. Oh, and I had plenty of warm blankets, because hospitals are freezing! I had an amazing nurse!!! This really makes such a difference. She has been a nurse for 40 years! Such a positive personality and she got my IV in on the first try :) That is a good day! I don't do well with IV's. They put fluids and antibiotics running in my IV, which made me need to waddle to the bathroom. What a pain IV cords are! Dr. Chen came in and wrote all over my chest with surgical marker. She discussed post op care and medications. I will continue to take antibiotics when I get home. And we opted to not fill any pain medication, because I still have plenty of pills left from my last surgery.  

Then we waited. The Operating Room was scheduled for me to start at 11:40. But the previous surgeries in that room went long. We stayed in a tiny room and watched TV, trying to distract myself. The anesthesiologist finally arived about 1:20. I discussed with him my major nausea issues. He put a patch behind my ear that helps nausea, but also creates blurry vision, groggy feeling, and major dry mouth. Always trade offs. He also ran a few different anti nausea drugs in my IV. I walked back to the OR about 1:30, put on a hair net, and got situated on the table/bed. That's the last thing I remember. 

Surgery lasted a couple of hours. It was 4 something when I remember being sort of awake. It took me a long time to become even slightly alert. But, no nausea! I was so grateful. 

Dr. Chen said everything went really well. She is so good at what she does. I hung out in post op for awhile and ate Lorna Doone's. I texted my dad and told him that this is the ONLY good thing about being in a hospital. 

  

Somewhere around 6:30, i checked out. I got a sweet ride in a wheelchair to the car. I was still super groggy, dizzy, and tired. We drove to Appolo Burger, because I had heard they have good onion rings (my favorite) and I was starving. Cookies only take you so far. 

We brought our food home and ate in a quiet house. My mom was so kind to come after school to take care of the kids. When we got home, they were still out at Pizza Pie cafe for dinner. Spoiled rotten! And they all had homework, piano, and reading completed! They said if I take them to Pizza Pie cafe for dinner every night, they will work that quickly for me too! Ha ha!

The worst feelings so far are these sharp, burning, shooting pains from my incision lines. Each breast has about a 4-5 inch incision. 3 layers of dissolvable stitches, followed by this crazy glue stuff. That area is definitely the most bothersome. And I have this crazy deep itch inside that I cannot get rid of! It's driving me nuts! Because I have no feeling, just numbness, (all over my chest) itching doesn't really help. 

And my throat is ouchie! The breathing tube during surgery really irritates it. Plus, the nausea patch makes it dry. And I can only sleep on my back, which dries it out, too. This too shall pass. 

My next appointment with Dr. Chen is in two weeks. I will wear a compression surgical bra at least until then. I'm so grateful that I didn't need drains again! I was able to shower easily this morning, though with some pain. The most difficult thing is getting to and from laying down/sitting up. And I'm on lifting restriction for awhile, which is annoying. 

Overall, I'm overwhelmed with gratitude and feel so blessed. My husband is amazing. My kids are so thoughtful and caring. I have wonderful doctors and hospitals at my disposal. We've met my out of pocket max for the year, so this won't cost us anything additional. I'm healthy and seem to heal well. And I'm almost done with all of this!!! 

Now I just need some sleep. I can't seem to get more than a couple of hours in without being restless and choking on my dry throat. I hope that will improve soon :)

Peaches

There is nothing quite like fresh peaches. Nothing. I am just always bummed that their season is so short. Here's to savoring each and every one! Thanks mom and dad for sharing from your tree :)

Birthday Dinner

Our oldest child just turned 12! I can hardly believe it. He loves meat, so we spoiled him with Tucano's. He had never been. I checked him out of school, met dad downtown, and ate meat till we were sick. Literally. We were still so full at dinner time, that I couldn't bring myself to make an actual meal. Birthday boy had requested Caesar salad as part of the dinner menu, so I made that and called it good. Because, you know, we still had two other kids that hadn't eaten an entire cow for lunch. They were hungry. 

I had already made his cake earlier in the day. He always chooses the chocolate cake with the caramel and sweetened condensed milk poured over the top, and whip cream with Heath bar crumbles. 

This was dinner. Ha ha! Then we opened presents. Fishing will be in our future. What more could you want on your birthday, when you're 12?

Pesto

Our garden is exploding with basil! Dream come true! And since I bought the big bag of pine nuts at Costco, for $25, I feel compelled to make lots of pesto :)

Basil, toasted pine nuts, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. You also add Parmesan cheese, but not until just before serving. Especially if you make a large batch and freeze portions, the cheese doesn't freeze well. Whip this all together in a food processor, and enjoy!

So great to have a bunch of these in the freezer! In addition to pasta sauce, we put it on pizza the other night, in place of tomato sauce. It was a hit, and not much is needed, because of the strong flavor. 

Favorite Things

These are a few of my favorite things! Crio Bru and watching The Great British Baking Show. Have you seen this show?! Absolutely delightful! And you will each have to try Crio Bru yourself, and make your decision. It is straight, unsweetened, cocoa beans, that have been ground (similar to coffee grounds). You then brew the grounds like you would coffee, and add milk, cream, and/or sweetener. 

Honestly, a night with these two things is as wonderful as it gets for me. Oh yeah, and having my husband by my side :)

Exchange Surgery!

4 days to exchange surgery! I’m so excited to finally be to this step. Almost done! They will use the same incisions (under the breasts), so I won’t have additional scarring. They will remove the current tissue expanders. These feel hard, have rough, plastic like edges, and have magnetic ports in the center. They are filled with saline. My body has had time to recover and my breast skin and chest muscle are used to having a foreign body underneath. The cavities are adequately stretched and ready. A new, permanent (well, 10+ years) silicone implant will go in the spot where the expander was. I will have MRI’s every few years to check for implant rupture. They will need to be replaced when they “wear out”.

I had my pre-op appointment with Dr. Chen last week. We talked about options for implants. Apparently there are a ton of different types! First, I decided on round, rather than tear drop shaped. These can tend to not look quite as “natural” as the tear drop, but they also don’t have the possible complication of turning. Tear drop implants, if they randomly decide to turn or shift inside of you, require another surgery to get them back into their proper position. I didn’t want to worry about that. Round implants, if they turn, look the same from all angles. So it doesn’t create any problems. (Tear drops are the top implant image. I'm having the middle, round Inspira). 

Based on my body measurements, we settled on Allergan Natrelle Inspira High Profile 365cc Round Silicone Gel implants. I currently have 340cc of saline in each expander, but I still have a bit of loose skin. This is because of the last fill I had (where I expanded to 400cc) that I had removed, to take me back to 340cc. I’m much happier with this size (400cc was too big), but I don’t love that it stretched my skin out. So, by choosing implants that are just a slight big larger than the expanders, we’re hoping to diminish some loose skin. Because I have zero natural breast tissue left under my skin, there isn’t anything to fill out any space between the skin and expander. The silicone gel looks more natural than saline and is supposedly safe. If they rupture, nothing spills out, because it’s gel like, not liquid. High profile has to do with projection verses width. I am not wide chested, so my volume will project out (high profile) rather than being wide (moderate profile).

I will be given a card, similar to this one, after my surgery. It basically tells me exactly what is in me and has the warranty information.

If all goes well, I shouldn’t have to stay at the hospital overnight OR have drains! Yippee! There will be 3 layers of stitches (2 internal, 1 external), but that will be the worst of it, in addition to anesthesia side effects. I know this is TMI, but I’m not looking forward to the nausea, constipation, and brain fog that comes from anesthesia. I’ll be on lifting restrictions for awhile and will be in a surgical compression bra.

Grateful for wonderful doctors and hospitals! Grateful for an amazing husband who supports me. Grateful for my overall health. Grateful that I’ve made it to September! 

Ankle

My right ankle (actually the area just above my right ankle, on the inside of my leg) has been bothering me for years. I don’t think that I ever injured it, at least there isn’t anything specific that brought on the pain. The pain isn’t severe, so I’ve mostly just ignored it. But it has kept me from running past about 4 miles. The pain generally occurs when I run or if I walk all day (like Disneyland).

Since I’m focusing on my health this year, and filling my life with dr appointments anyway, I finally decided to deal with this problem. I went to an orthopedic surgeon who suggested that I start with wearing a brace and physical therapy. If physical therapy helped, we would know that it was likely just tendonitis of some sort. Since I was going to physical therapy for my arms and chest anyway (post mastectomy), this seemed like a great option. I went weekly for about 8 weeks, and did the home exercises quite religiously. My arms range of motion and chest muscle strength were greatly improved by PT. I’m SO glad! But my ankle didn’t improve. I think it has actually gotten worse.

So, I went to see a sports medicine doctor. He was very informative and helpful, but opened up a whole can of worms. He said that we have to go through all the possibilities of what could be wrong (which is a lengthy list-below), and do tests to eliminate each possibility. He called my condition “exertional” leg pain, meaning it happens when I’m exerting myself/exercising.

-Muscles- Compartment Syndrome, muscle strain, chronic fibrosis

-Tendons- tendon strain, chronic degeneration tendonosis

-Bones- stress related reaction or fracture

-Arteries- popliteal artery entrapment

-Nerves- nerve entrapment: muscle (peripheral) or spine

-Mechanical- the way I move/run could be misaligned

The first 3 possibilities (muscles, tendons, bones) need an MRI to examine. We decided that this would be the best place to start. I really hope that we find something in the MRI. I just want an answer! Then we can talk about solutions. Problem is, I can’t have an MRI because I have magnets in my chest expanders. Going into an MRI would literally rip the expanders from my body (or at least the machine would try to). That is obviously not a good plan. So, I have to wait until after I have my exchange surgery (September 12). The expanders will be removed and the permanent implants won’t have metal or magnets. The MRI was ordered in July. I’m frustrated with the delay, but I have no choice.

I plan to have the MRI a week or two after my exchange surgery. That will give me October, November, and December before my insurance kicks into a new year. I’ve met my out of pocket max this year, so I’m hoping to fix the ankle this calendar year. I’m sick of medical bills! If the MRI shows that muscles, tendons, and bones all seem fine, we will move on to a pressure test. This tests for Compartment Syndrome. It’s an invasive, painful test, so I’m hoping I don’t have to do it. They basically stick needles into the four muscle compartments of your lower leg and test the pressure. Then they have you run on a treadmill until you’re in as much pain as you can be. Then they stick the needles in again and retest the pressure. If the pressure increases a lot (because of your exertion), then they know it’s a pressure issue. Surgery is necessary to fix this issue.

The next thing to test is arteries and nerves. I will be referred to separate specialists, if we get that far. Lastly, if we still can’t find anything wrong, I go to the exercise lab and run while being observed. They assess how my alignment and movement it. And find ways I need to change my movement. They said that this is not usually the problem, which is why they do this test last.

And that’s about it! Here’s hoping that I have some answers by the end of the year. I would love to run without pain.

Post Mastectomy Article

This is a quick, good, realistic read. 

http://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/3886195

Art

Each of these canvases are probably 5 feet tall and 6 feet wide. This wall is in our stairwell and is about 20 feet, from floor to ceiling. 

This was an inexpensive way to fill such a large space with art. And the best part is that the kids and I drew/painted them together! It was lots of fun :)

What would you do?

Homemade lunchable: ritz crackers, cheddar cheese squares, turkey squares, ranch and veggies (cherry tomatoes, carrots, cauliflower), and red grapes. 

Here we go again! School has started! And so has making lunches each night :) It's a good ritual, and makes me feel happy. 

Peanut butter and honey sandwich, carrots and ranch, babybel cheese, and green grapes. 

Melt My Heart

This. I love this. We have LOVED having our backyard finished. And this is my daughters favorite thing to do. Read a book next to the cherry tomato plant, picking and eating them all the while :) It was really important to us that our garden beds have wide tops to sit on. And we LOVE the way they turned out.

Mac & Cheese

My youngest has been requesting macaroni and cheese for quite awhile. So, we had this for dinner on the first day of school. The secret is, it's half macaroni, half cauliflower! I didn't make it this way for health reasons. It actually tastes better! The slightly cooked cauliflower adds so much texture to this dish. It helps the macaroni not seem mushy. So, next time you make homemade macaroni and cheese, cook half as much macaroni, and add small pieces of cauliflower to the pasta water for the last 3 minutes. You won't be sorry!

Taco Salad

A taco salad lunch for Jonathan:

Chips, lettuce, cheese, ranch dressing, taco meat, tomatoes, and olives. 

Mastectomy Packing List

I'm cleaning out my binder of papers, and thought this list might be of use to someone else. It's all the stuff I packed for my surgery, and also a checklist of things I did to prepare. I suppose I better keep this list through the end of the year. Two surgeries to go. But the worst is over :)

New Stuff

I'm super frugal. Like, ultra cheap. I hate spending money and do so very reluctantly. For example, I use the empty sour cream, yogurt, and cottage cheese containers as Tupperware in the fridge. Because I don't want to spend money on actual Tupperware. Well, the other day, I was looking for a particular leftover in the fridge. I literally had to open 7+ containers before I found what I was looking for. It was annoying and ridiculous. I decided that it was time to get extravagant and buy some real storage containers. You know, the clear kind, where you can actually see what's in them. So, after debating in the aisle at Costco for much too long, I finally put this Rubbermaid set in my cart. It was like Christmas, washing and putting them in the cupboard! Plus, they all nest perfectly into each other, and the lids attach to the bottom of the stack! Brilliant! Yes, I did recycle the old containers. Now, when I need something in the fridge, I can see what I'm looking for without opening a bunch of stuff! And, I know that it's actually sour cream in the sour cream container. Imagine that! Whoever said money can't buy happiness never bought a new set of Rubbermaid containers! Pure joy, and I'm not being sarcastic. 

Summer's Over

School starts tomorrow. No!!!!!! I'm mostly bummed about it. The older my kids get, the more fun summer is, and the less fun school is. I'm not looking forward to being the slave driver and making sure homework is done. We've had so much fun swimming, hiking, playing in our new backyard, and being with friends this summer. 

I also must say, there hasn't been much "I'm bored!" going on around here. My kids have done a great job at finding fun. But I did see this quote the other day, and nearly peed my pants laughing... 

😂😂😂😂😂

Homemade Salsa

We were thrilled to make this! Especially because most of the ingredients came from our garden!

Tomatoes, jalapeños, bell peppers, chives, and basil. All from the garden. Then we added garlic, onion, s&p, and a bit of lemon juice. Even the kids loved it! We ate it with chips the night we made it, and called it dinner. Then we put it in breakfast burritos the next morning. Hooray for fresh produce!