Every little thing's gonna be alright

I have good news! Matt got offered 2 jobs on monday morning. OH my gosh! So, he now has a full time and permanent position with Palm. I've been on Cloud 9 since monday. It's too exciting. That means we get to have our own home, health insurance and think about baby #2!

Things were looking really rough last week and then we got the best news this week. 2009 has definitely been a roller coaster for me.

December 08- Matt got laid off.

Christmas Eve 08- engaged.

March 09- Matt's dad passed away.

April 09- we had to move in with my parents.

July 09- get married.

then depressed for a few months. Now we can move on and establish our marriage. So happy!

Got the blues

I've got the blues. It's not fun. It's been creeping in and out of my life since Matt lost his job. Have you ever gotten into an argument with someone and it felt like the same argument yet again over the same thing?! Now that it's been 10 months since the lay off I think we have both lost hope.

Every time the seasons change I think Matt feels more pressure to magically fix every thing. The smallest things become a trigger to all the things we can't control. Were crowding up my parent's house with our stuff. Christmas is coming and it would be so nice to have our own home and space again.

My heart is up in my throat right now. You know that feeling? Luckily my sister is playing with Violet right now. It is nice to have people available most days to help out with her.

But then I guess it gives me more time to feel sorry for myself! I keep gaining weight and that makes me more sad and then I think about how were short on money and don't have a house and then I want to eat more! It's become a quick fix for me to bake brownies and cheer myself up temporarily.

I don't feel like myself. I miss feeling genuinely happy. I wish God could let me peek into the future and see that things will get better. For now I'm going to go take a bath and wash these tears away.

Zuppa Toscana Soup

Do you like soup? I do! Do you like zuppa toscana soup like they serve at Olive Garden? I do! This taste just like it, if not better. I made this for the family last week and they all gave it a thumbs up. Tasted even better the next day and helped my sore throat.

Zuppa Toscana Soup adapted from allrecipes.

• 1 pound bulk mild breakfast sausage sprinkled with Italian seasonings
  
• 1 1/4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 5 (13.75 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 6 potato, thinly sliced
• 1 cup half and half
  
• 1/4 bunch fresh kale, tough stems removed

1. Cook the sausage and red pepper flakes in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat until crumbly, browned, and no longer pink, 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and set aside.

2. Cook the onions and garlic in the same pot until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes

3.Pour the chicken broth into the dutch oven with the onion mixture; bring to a boil over high heat. Add the potatoes, and boil until fork tender, about 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the half and half and the cooked sausage; heat through. Mix the kale into the soup just before serving

Optional- top with grated parmesan cheese.

Fall is Fun

We took Violet to ride the miniature train in Forest Park.

We went to the pumpkin patch and got 3 pumpkins.

Violet is going to be a fairy for Halloween.

Me and my baby with the baby pumpkin she picked out.

Daddy and Violet "building" a pumpkin!

Happy Fall to Everyone!

Baby of mine

Tonight as I was getting Violet to lay in her toddler bed. I got on my laptop and looked up a cd I used to love when I worked at the preschool. It was the one above- Martha Stewart's sleepytime. It is so beautiful. Two of my favorite songs are Baby of mine by Allison Kraus and Out of the woods by Nickel Creek.

My little 3 year old class loved it. Well, I played all the sample songs for V on amazon. She must have liked it. Took no time for her to fall asleep. It really is a great selection of songs. They are all soothing but have words unlike most lullabies. As I was stroking my little girl's forehead I got a small tear in my eye. Back when I was 18 years old I had quit college, had a controlling boyfriend and started work at a preschool. At times I would feel inadequate with most my friends away at college. But I enjoyed those kiddos! Some of them really touched my heart and I just knew God intended for me to be a mommy someday.

This cd brought back some nice memories for me. I can't wait to get my hands on it! Too bad it cost 16 dollars used on amazon and 86 dollars new!! Must be popular. The lead teacher owned it at the preschool that's why I don't have it. But I highly recommend it mommies!

Natural News

Now that I'm a mamma. I want to know what's going into those vaccines before they are poked into me or my child. My cousin works at a cancer center and she referred me to this website for research on vaccines and other health information. It's very interesting.

Here is the link for Natural News.

Nie Nie

Nie Nie is gonna be on Oprah tomorrow! That's Wednesday people. Since I found her blog I've been wondering why she hadn't been on Oprah yet. I'm so excited to see the show. Stephanie seems like such a sweet person. Click the link on my blog to see her page!

(the photo is of her pre-plane crash from her blog)

Looky at my white teeth!

I have been using Plus White 5 minute gel one or two times a day for almost two weeks now. It really works! Justine found the kits with the mouth guards on sale at CVS for 75 cents and picked one up for me. I checked up on the regular price for yall. It's about 7 bucks usually for a large tube. I'm lovin' my new teeth! Makes me want to smile more.

My current teeth above.

My smile back in June. Kinda yellow.

Let me know if you have used a great teeth whitening kit!