Ever feel like you have nothing to blog about? Well today is one of those days. Also I have been soooooo negative in my recent posts that I need to stop that- Bad Amanda! Anyway, I hope I have not discouraged anyone from reading :(

We went for ice cream tonight which was awesome. I have a different kind of shake everytime I go and tonight it was peanut butter. Yummy! See I really have nothing to blog about today :)

Well I hope everyone had a good Tuesday!

Thanks for reading (or for continuing to read)

-Amanda


pS- Saw this on "Paula's Home Cooking" it is called Is it Better than Sex?Cake. Looks and sounds good, but is it really better...

Oh no it's Monday!

Gosh it seems like the weekend went so fast! We had such a good one too that I didn't want it to end. I went shopping with my mom on Saturday and it was a success! I found dress to wear to my friend's wedding so I am happy about that. Then yesterday we just hung out and went swimming all day! The weather is great lately that I feel bad if I don't take Julia outside for at least a couple hours a day. Oh and Julia has been so good that I think she is making up for last week. I just thank my lucky stars when that happens!

I also found out that I am going to my an aunt twice in 3 months! My two sister in laws are pregnant and I am so excited! I have never been an aunt before so I plan to be the best there is! I also like that is has taken the pressure off me to have another baby for a while. Where I live it is like a requirement to have two kids in two years. I think I need to gain back some sanity before I have another. If I had one now I would be in the looney bin!

Well I hope everyone gets through their Monday! Just think- 3 day weekend in four days!

Thanks for reading!

-Amanda

I love Friday!

So I am in a much better mood today. Julia finally ate something- yippee! I think she is on the track to getting better! I am so happy about that. I feel like a I have been a terrible mommy the last couple of days, but I think today I will make up for that. I see the park in our future!

Anyway, in my days indoors this week, I decided to do a little web surfing. I found this site that supposedly all the celebs shop at (there is a store in LA) It is called Intuition. Well they had these bowls that this lady made to make dieting easier and more discrete. I am not a fan of dieting, but they are super cool. Takes the guess work out and they are cute bowls too.

Tonight I am going on with the girls, which I am looking forward to. I am part of a moms group that gets together once a week so our kids can play. Then once a month we go out for dinner and drinks. I am so happy to be part of this group. Everyone is so nice and they are there when you need them. It also nice to have someone who is going through the same stuff that you are.

Well I hope everyone has an awesome Friday!

Thanks for reading!

-Amanda

So today was pretty much the same as yesterday- sick and more sick. I did manage to get out of the house which is good for my mood. Julia is also taking a really long nap so that helps :)

So since I really have nothing else to talk about today I thought I would list the things that I love in hopes of helping me get out of my funk.

I love...
My family
popcorn
cold coke
hot showers
peanut butter and chocolate anything
fried chicken
flip flops
oreos
pina coladas
vacations
getting my toes done
new shoes
Julia's laugh
"When Harry Met Sally"


Okay those are just a few. That did make me feel a bit better. Maybe I should find something I love and either do it or eat it!

Well I hope everyone Thursday was super!

Thanks for reading!

-Amanda

Ps I did get excepted into the Blogging Mommies web ring- cool beans!

Stuck inside today

Julia woke up with a stuffy nose and a low fever so I guess I am stuck inside today. It means too that there is no excuse for me not to fold the laundry or clean the bathrooms :( I am such a whiner-I guess I get that from my kid!

I hope everyone has a great Wednesday!

-Amanda

PS I promise I am a really nice person. I just hate days like this :)

Cats have feelings too!

We have a cat named Poe that is pushing almost 28 lbs. He has an eating disorder (or at least we think he does) and is allergic to everything. Julia is only 26 lbs. so he is huge!! Anyway, I took him to the groomer this morning to get shaved and she rejected him because of his size. Now is that kitty discrimination or what?? So funny that in our society humans are always rejected because of their size- now cats are too! It is actually kinda funny, but I would never say that in front of Poe. He made need therapy!

Well today has been super good besides the whole cat thing. Went and spent more money at Target again, but this time I only got what I needed. So I was a good girl! I am still working on getting a new template- maybe I will figure out how to do it myself. Then I can call myself computer savvy!

Well I hope everyone is having a great Tuesday!

Thanks for reading!

-Amanda

Well I hope everyone had a great Father's Day! As for my family, we just hung out and had a special dinner of Kentucky Fried Chicken- on my husband's request. I was going to cook something, but I was being lazy. KFC is good, but I think it is a once a year thing because I tend to feel like crap after we eat it. Too much grease I guess!
Julia was a prefect angel this weekend and I am hoping this is not just a phase. Someone told me that kids start to mellow out after they have out you through the ringer for 2 years. Please let this be true!!! I am sure I will be posting later that she threw some kind of fit or something! Let's keep our fingers crossed that I won't!

Well Mondays are boring so I have nothing else to report. I am cooking from the Barefoot Contessa's cookbook tonight. She has really easy recipes and they are so good!

Thanks for reading!

-Amanda

PS- Does anyone know where I can get a cool new template for this page. I am bored of this one already and everyone has such cool ones but me :(

Husbands can be good! I swear!

My computer has been really messed up all day and thanks to the intelligence of my hubby he fixed it! Goes to show that men are good for something :) But we think it was the program HELLO that blogger recommends to download so you can put pictures on your blog. So I am warning those who use it or are thinking about using it.

Okay enough about computer stuff. Julia and I are going to see "Dora the Explorer" live on stage tomorrow with my Dad. So I figured the husband gets a day to himself and grandpa gets the kid for the day- Happy Father's Day! Didn't have to spend any money this year :) I did get cards for them so I am not that cheap (ha ha) Other than that nothing new and exciting (as usual) going on. I feel like a Sunday dinner this weekend. You know where I cook something awesome and we eat at like 3 pm. Now I just have to figure out what to cook!

Well I hope everyone had a good Friday! Look Saturday is almost here- my favorite!

-Amanda

Take the quiz: "Which Random Irish Gaelic Phrase Are You? "

Is maith liom bananai
Is maith liom bananai - 'I like bananas.' You're laid-back and you enjoy the simple things in life. Some might say you're a little too laid-back. Just what is it you're smoking, anyway?

Found this one on Jeanne's site today. Doesn't sound too much like me, but I love it! Take a shot and see what you are :)

-Amanda

There is a show on the Food Network called "Paula's Home Cooking" and I love it. She makes everything with like 3 pounds of butter and 8 cups of sugar. Anyway, this morning I was watching her and she was making grilled chicken, but then when she got to dessert I could not believe my eyes and ears. She made Bill Nicholson's Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding with Butter Rum Sauce- um hello??? Does not sound so rich that it makes your lips pucker at the sound of it! Well here is the recipe if anyone is interested and if you do make it please let me know how it turned out!



I will post more later...

I don't know where all my money goes...Well maybe I do!

I have this problem with the store Target or maybe I just have a shopping problem. It just seems like everytime I go in there I come out with a whole bunch of crap and it cost me $100! Well I went today and bought a whole bunch of stuff, but of course forgot the one thing I went in for. I hate that. I think I will start a support group for Target shoppers- anyone care to join?

Today Julia was a perfect angel which just means that I am in for it tomorrow. I think that when kids are 2 they allow themselves a couple days a week to be good. Just enough so you don't give them away when they are naughty. I love the good days- makes me just want to kiss her all day long!

Well I hope everyone had a great Wednesday! Thanks for reading!

-Amanda

Do you ever think that sometimes your kid might be weird? Or that things that they do are so odd that they leave you wondering "why do they do that?" Well mine has this new obsession with sprinklers and the hose. Like she just wants to stand in front of them and get wet or she just wants to carry around the hose even when it is off. I find this odd, but then at the same time maybe it means that she will be a fire person some day or she will love to garden. I don't know, but she throws a fit if I try to remove her from the sprinkler or hose. Oh well, I sure next week it will be something else!

I was reading my mags (as usual) and I found this recipe for Ginger Lime Coconut Cake with Marshmellow frosting from Bon Appetit. Sounds so good I almost ate the page. Here is a pic! Enjoy!

Have a good Tuesday!

-Amanda

Okay so I am dealing with this low carb thing that everyone seems to be raving about, but now the one thing that gets me through my day is becoming low carb too? So sad. Well for you low carb lovers here is new C2- low carb Coke. I still will drink the full carb sugary stuff because I believe that a cold coke will solve most of your problems!

I hope everyone survived their Monday!

-Amanda

Nada mucho going on today. Lazy Sunday is what we like to call it! I hope everyone is able to do that!

One of my really good friends just moved back to her home state of Wisconsin last month (I miss you Jessica!) Anyway, I talked to her yesterday and she told me that they went to a thing called "Dairy Days" and she had deep fried cheese curd. What the heck? Only in the mid west would you find something like that. Sounds good to me! But what are cheese curds??

"cheese curds are fresh, young cheddar cheese in the natural, random shape and form before being processed into blocks and aged"

Sounds good to me- now how do I make them???

Deep Fried Cheese Curds

"Straight out of Wisconsin, fried cheese curds are a favorite at carnivals and fairs. They look like little balls of popcorn and taste like cheese! Use up to 2 pounds of cheese curds with this recipe."


1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup milk
1 pound cheese curds
1 quart oil for frying


1 In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir in the eggs and milk. Mix until smooth. Add more milk for a thinner batter. Coat the cheese curds with the batter.
2 Heat the oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat. Fry the coated cheese curds approximately 1 minute each, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.

Makes 24 Servings


Yummy, but kinda scary at the same time :)

-Amanda

Nothing really new to report to today. Went to Julia's little friend's birthday party- yeah so now my kid is so sugared up she will not be taking a nap today! That should make the night time very interesting!

On a side note, was doing some channel surfing last night and noticed that we had a free weekend of Showtime. Of course there were no good movies on (why? cause it is free),but there was a Britney Spears concert on. Well being that I was tired and bored, I watched a little bit of it and boy was it...( I just can not think of a word- absurd maybe?) She actually has a song called "Touch of my Hand" and I will give you one guess what that is about. I am not a prude or anything and I guess it no worse than Madonna when I was young, but it was really bad. I just feel for the moms that brought their 10 and 11 year olds thinking "Oh yeah Britney Spears" and then having to sit through something like that. Hopefully my daughter is like her daddy and enjoys good old rock and roll!

Well I hope everyone is having a good Saturday!

-Amanda

PS- I hope I did not offend any Britney Spears fans. I did like her first song if that makes you feel better :)

Okay I don't want people thinking that I am an alcoholic, but a friend of mine gave a recipe for something called "sun rum". Well let's just say that it makes a great Pina Colada. So I thought I would share for those who like a cocktail every once and awhile.

1 bottle dark rum
1 bottle light rum
1 bottle Malibu rum
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 very ripe almost brown bananas

Put into a large container and let sit in sun for three days. After that make sure you sift it so that the bananas come out! Enjoy!

Sounds like a lot, but it is really good! Two cocktail posts in one day- must be Friday!

-Amanda

Ever have one of those days that you need a cocktail before happy hour?? Well I am having one of those I can not decided if I should drink or run away! Actually this whole week has kinda been like that. And to think that a 2 year old child could make me feel this way! Am I a terrible mother??

Julia had swim lessons today and she really enjoys them, but something went wrong today that made her freak out! No clue what is was, but for the whole 45 min. class she screamed and cried. I should have left, but then the cheapness in me was like "You paid for it you better go." So I was so frustrated when we left! Now that Julia is napping I feel bad for being that way. Aw the joys of motherhood :) Maybe there is a good movie on Lifetime that will help clear my head. The women on those movies always have way bigger problems. Those movies are also good to fold laundry to!

I hope everyone has an awesome Friday!

Thanks for reading
-Amanda

I have this small obsession with celebrity magazines (food ones as well) As Miranda on "Sex and the City" said "It's my thing, leave me alone." Well anyway, eventhough I enjoy reading them, I am sick of things about Jennifer Lopez. Does anyone else think that she has some issues??

Julia and I went to McDonalds today so that she could play on the playground inside there. Totally crazy nuts in that place. I am not a big fan of giving your kid fast food all the time, but desperate times call for desperate measures! Other than that I might watch my shows I Tivoed a couple nights ago. Don't want to do any house work today. Yuck! Thanks for reading! -Amanda

So I just want to rant a little bit right now. I was called for jury duty yesterday and I noticed that they are getting tough on excuses to get out of it. Well then I also noticed that there was no excuse for being the primary care taker in the household. There is an excuse of being a nursing mom, but what if you are not nursing anymore? They also provide child care if your child is three or older and potty trained. So basically, since my child is not nursing anymore and is not 3 or potty trained, I have to go to jury duty. Does that make any sense? I am amazed that California does not have a some kind of law that allows mothers who stay at home or those with children under the age of three to be exempt from jury duty. Doesn't seem right.

Okay that is my gripe for today. I will tell you though I did fib and say I was a nursing mom. What are they going to do- check???

-Amanda

One more thing- here on my two new chairs that I got for our formal living room. We got rid of two chairs Jon had since his bachelor days. I feel like this is grown up looking. Can not wait to do the rest of the house. I will keep everyone posted on that! 

Julia in her fire hat 

The view from our hotel room. Pubelo Bontio Resort, Mazatlan, Mexico 


Okay so I have very absent for a while and I am feeling lame that I have so here is my new blogger and now that I can post pictures it will be better. A lot has been going on since I last posted. My daughter turned 2 in April, which anyone knows is a very special birthday. Why? Because not only is she talking fully now, but she is also in her terrible 2's, which makes it fun for me! Today's tantrum was about me not making her lunch fast enough. So it was really nice when I put her down for a nap this afternoon. Also my husband and I went on vacation for a week to Mazatlan Mexico. It was so wonderful that I didn't want to come back! Nice way to reconnect with my husband too (if you know what I mean) I highly recommend a vacation for everyone! So here is the picture from our hotel room and one of my daughter so that you can see who I am talking about all the time! I hope everyone has a great rest of their day!

Thanks for reading!
-Amanda