OUCH! and Time to Read Tuesday

Well, you know how I always complain about not having the time to sit and read like I used to? Well, I've been looking for a solution to the problem, but the one that ended up happening definitely wasn't one I planned on.

Saturday morning, I stepped down off of our porch and the welcome mat that was there slipped out from underneath me and I fell. HARD. After a very hard time getting me to the car, we went to the ER. Diagnoses: chipped tibia (shin bone) down by ankle and fractured tibia. All I knew is that it freaking hurt. And kept hurting. And hurt some more. I'm not usually that whiny, but dang I was in pain.

Monday, I got an appointment with an orthopedic specialist that the ER doc referred me to. Let me explain something to you guys. I live on a hill...I usually say I live down in a hole. My driveway is level with our second-story windows. We have to go down a set of stairs off of our driveway just to get to our front door. Well, I had to get up these stairs to the car to go to the doctor. Somehow, with the help of my mother and a lot of me saying, "I'm scared, Mom! I don't think I can do this, Mom!," I finally made it to the car. I was sweating profusely and so shaky and exhausted I think I could have fallen asleep right then and there. But I knew I got to ride in a wheelchair once I got to the hospital, so I was like, "let's go!" Let's just say the crutches aren't the easiest thing for me and they have made me so sore I could cry.

OK, back to the orthopedic specialist. When I got there, he said with the description of my pain, he wanted to get new x-rays. I was complaining of my ankle hurting on both sides (not just the side that the chipped bone was on), plus my calf was really hurting all the way up to my knee. After some excruciating  manipulation of my leg/foot, the x-rays were taken. He came in and told me I have a "special" break. Yeah, of course I did. So this was my new diagnoses. I broke my tibia halfway between my ankle and knee. WAY higher than was first thought. But that was the good news. My ankle was the doozy. I had twisted my ankle and popped it out of socket. The tendon holding the ankle joint together then snapped. So my ankle was just kinda wobbling around in there. And on top of all that, he said that the initial x-ray wouldn't have shown this, because my ankle was slowly breaking over the last two days. So THAT'S where all that pain was coming from! I was just glad that my pain was legitimate and I wasn't just being a baby :)

So this is my view when I'm parked at the computer. I'm so glad we found a way that I could situate myself at the computer for a while. I usually can only stay here for an hour or so, but I'm thankful for that!

And just so you know, the husband that I gush over all the time is proving himself all over again to be the best, most amazing husband ever. He is taking such wonderful care of me. He's doing things no man should have to do for their wife. Maylee is being a great helper, too. I hate being so helpless and having to have everybody do every little thing for me, but I think I'm coming to terms with it. I may even start liking it :D. No, I'm hoping that I feel better after the surgery and can be a bit more mobile.

Ok, that's my story. Sorry it's so long. OH! The original point of this post was supposed to be what I'm reading. Well, I'm still reading Great Expectations, and I expect to have more time to read now, so maybe I'll get finished with it soon.

Til later, my friends,

Fun Friday

Fun Friday, huh? Go somewhere fun? Do something fun? Make something fun? Talk to someone fun? Read something fun? So many options? Today, I think I'm going in a different direction, though. I'm going to tell you about something I got that is fun.

So I have this little hobby called digital scrapbooking, right? Well, what is one major thing you need for digital scrapbooking? Digital photographs, of course! The hobby and digiscrap and photography really goes hand and had. As a matter of fact, many digiscrappers I know are professional photographers.

Anywho, in August of 2007, just a few months before I found out I was pregnant, I bought my first digital camera. Yes, I was a little behind the times! I got a Sony CyberShot and I really liked it! After I had Maylee, I came to realize just how important my camera was. I mean, I was taking hundreds of photos every month. So in November of 2009, right after Thanksgiving (and just in time for Christmas!), I got an even better camera, c Canon PowerShot SX200 IS. This was such an upgrade from what I had and I was ecstatic with it for so long. But...you know how it is with electronic toys. You always want the biggest and the best. About six months ago, I got the itch to get a dSLR REALLY badly. I had a serious hankering. But I waited patiently (yeah right) until we could afford it. And that time finally came! A week ago (ok, a week exactly. I bought it at 4:35 p.m. CST) today, I got my first dSLR! I am one happy girl. You guys should have seen me checking out with this puppy. I was literally shaking. My stomach had butterflies. And yes, I'll admit, my eyes were watering a little...it was the wind, you see.

So, here's my new baby, a Canon EOS Rebel t3. Yes, there are much better/nicer/pricier dSLRs. But this one is perfect for me and I'm very happy with it.
                                       
Now the fun begins with trying to learn how to use this puppy. To say it has lots of bells and whistles is quite an understatement. There is so much to learn. I've pinned so many photography cheat sheets, just to kinda get my feet wet. Here's one of my favorites.

Since I got the camera, I've taken so many "dummy" shots of teddy bears, vases of flowers, bottles of lotion...anything I feel like I have a good angle on and I can practice on. So here are a couple of my favorite shots with my new camera.

Gah! I'm in love! I can't wait to learn how to really use this puppy!

Love to all! Have a wonderful weekend,

Be thoughtful Thursday

Be thoughtful Thursday is meant to be for going out and doing something for other people. While that will work some weeks, this week it's not going to pan out, so I've gone a different way for thoughtfulness.

This Thursday, I'm going to talk about the process of thinking and writing down things you're thinking. My hobby of digital scrapbooking helps me in this respect a lot. I have a creative outlet to put down some of my thoughts and I am so thankful for that. We have this thing in the scrapping world called "scrap therapy." Most of the time, we like to scrap beautiful pictures, fun events, funny things that happened. But it's also good to get your feelings, your REAL feelings down on paper, whether it be just writing them or doing something creative. Sometimes, just writing down how shitty you feel helps you actually feel better. Like talking to the best listener ever...yourself! Now those of us in the digi-world may choose to share these LOs or not. I'm going to share a couple of mine with you guys. And mind you, not all of the feelings you want to get down are necessarily BAD feelings, some are just, well, emotional.

This one, I knew I needed to kick my own butt. But I got to give myself a tongue-lashing in a beautiful way!

Click to enlarge photo and read journaling. See here for credits.

This one is an emotional one about my little one growing up and what I wish for her.

Click to enlarge and read journaling. See here for credits.

These next two LOs are ones that I've only shared in one gallery. They're not all over digiland like all my other LOs are. This one is very emotional for me.

Click to enlarge and read journaling. See here for credits.

And, obviously, so is this one.

Click to enlarge and read journaling. See here for credits.

So do you all keep a diary? Journal? Scrap therapy? Do you just internalize everything? If you do, how's that working out for you?

Well, that's that for today. Thanks for letting me bare my soul. Don't stomp on it, please.

Love to all,

What's cooking Wednesday

What's cooking at your house today? For us, it's taco salad. Easy, pretty healthy, and YUMMY!

If I were a food photographer, this is what my salad would look like:

Instead, it looks like this slop:

Here's how I do my taco salad. There are so many variations, and so many things you can throw in salads. That's the beauty of them!

3/4 head lettuce, roughly chopped
4-6 tomatoes, roughly chopped (no canned tomatoes! Fresh! And the bigger the chop, the better in this salad, IMO)
1-2 onions, chopped
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
About 1/3 cup salsa. You can put more or less in, depending on how "wet" you like your salad.
Shredded Mexican-style cheese (I use probably more than a cup)
1 1/2 pound taco meat (yes, we use the package mixes. I'll have to find a recipe to a homemade taco seasoning)

We mix all of this and put it on top of tortilla chips. Top with avocados, sour cream, more salsa, more onions...whatever your fancy is! Then shovel it in thy face.

Enjoy!

Time to read Tuesday

OK, this is the scenario I'm in right now. I started listening to this book at work months ago (you all know how I like to listen to audio books while I'm at work). Now I'm far enough into it that I HAVE to finish, but the main character is really started to get on my freaking nerves!! Do you ever do that? I would probably stop reading it if I didn't have so much time invested in it already. And speaking of time, you all know it never takes me this long to read/listen to a book, so that kinda tells you that I've been reluctant to listen to it.

Anyway, even with that being said, I like the book alright. I mean, I'm reading it, aren't I? Plus, what I didn't mention is that it's the 2nd book in a 2-book series, so I can't NOT finish it. I have to know how the stories wrap up.

Just tell us what the book is already!!! (That's what I can hear you all yelling at me). Well, here 'tis.

Eona by Alison Goodman

I DO like IT because it has interesting Chinese folklore and I get to learn about a different culture, even if it is a fantasy-type story. Plus, it has a kick-ass female main character, which I always appreciate, even if I want to bean her over the head with her own swords quite often.

Also, just as an aside, on my Kindle right now I'm reading the classic novel Great Expectations by Dickens. I'm reading this because they made a mini-series that's going to be on Masterpiece Theater in April and I LOVE anything Masterpiece, so I wanna know the story. It's starting slow, but I hear it really is a good one. It's not a classic for nothing, you know.

Oh, and another aside, did you all notice how I just jumped back into blogging like nothing happened and I didn't just lose like a whole month? Yeah...we'll pretend that didn't happen.

Love to all,

What's cookin' Wednesday

I've missed blogging! I won't bore you with excuses, but we all know how crazy life can get, and mine definitely gets that way sometimes. Oh, and there's that little thing of me being pretty lazy, too. That kinda puts a hiccup in things occasionally.

So it's Wednesday, and that means FOOD around here! Well, today, it's going to be more about food/kitchen organization than actual food, but you gotta get your kitchen in order to have an easy breezy prep and cooking time, right?

First thing's first...meal planning. I've been doing it for about a year now. I did it for two main reasons: so I wouldn't feel so CrAzY when I went to the grocery store, and to save money. Yep, if you have a very set list and know exactly what you need when you set foot in the store, you WILL save money. I guarantee it*

So this is what I do. It's simple. First, I make a list of all the dinners I will make for the next week (I only meal plan one week in advance. Some people do much more...more on that in a bit). Then I think about who will be home and what they will need for breakfast and lunch. Then, I think about the ingredients I will need for these meals, and make my list accordingly. Brandon is my "checker." I sit regally in my chair and call out ingredients to him and he dutifully checks cabinet/fridge/freezer to see if we have said ingredient. If not, it goes on the list. Ta da! Meal plan made; grocery list made.

A friend of mine, Lena, made this INCREDIBLE meal plan calendar. Someday I want to be like her. (I want to be like her in more ways that just this meal plan. Let's just suffice it to say she's kinda awesome.)

How cool is that?! Yep, pretty cool. (I must ask her about lentil tacos. Sounds so interesting!)

Onward to kitchen organization.

Disclaimer: I have none of this awesomeness in my kitchen. This is simply a dream of mine. This all comes from my "Smart Organization" pinboard on Pinterest.

**Sigh** Don't you just wish?! And if you have any of this cool organization stuff in YOUR kitchen, don't tell me. It will just make me hate you.

So, it's off to the races for me on this Wednesday. Have a wonderful day!

*No guarantees are actually made. I will NOT refund money you don't save or anything crazy like that.