It has begun

So were here, we have entered into the opening lines of our new adventure. Currently we are living in a tiny one room "bungalow" don't let the description fool you, this is no life of luxury. We are at camp and this is the first time today that I am not sweating buckets. P and I have come back to his old job for the summer to cook 3 meals a day for 300+ people for 3 months. And we moved out of our house on Saturday. So, as of right now, this "bungalow" is our home, 98% of our worldly belongings are locked up in a storage unit, and here we are. 2 days in, 8 weeks to go. We are doing this for several reasons. First, we felt like God was calling us back here to serve for some reason. At times I am not sure what the reason is, but I trust that he will reveal that to us at some point. Secondly, we are here, all but homeless in order to save some money. P has subbed at my school for a few months, and we purchased a car with cash, so our e-fund took a big hit. By getting rid of the house, and living as cheap as possible for the next 8 weeks, our e-fund should be fully funded by the end of the summer.
So once again, here we are. 3 meals in and its been fun, but it is a lot of work. Last night we made lasagna, green beans, bread, and cake for dinner. This morning, eggs, biscuits, and sausage. Lunch, tacos, queso, salad. Tonight, pineapple chicken and sweet rice.
I am resting for a few more minutes then it is back to the brutal Texas heat. And, its not even June yet. Yikes.

Throw it Out

Do you ever desire to throw out every single thing you own and start over? I do. P and I live pretty simple lives and we don't collect knick-nacks, and we usually do a great job of weeding stuff out. But sometimes I just want to throw out everything. Even my clothes, and I am a clothes girl. I want to get rid of everything. If I acted on these whims that I get every now and then, P and I would have approximatly 2 plates and a fridge. We would eat off the floor, and share 1 towel.

Paris Dreaming

For some reason the last few weeks I have been dreaming of going to Paris. Not the Paris of today, but Paris in the 1950's. Paris after the war, when a surge of relief was sweeping through Europe. When life was hard, but still full of possibilities. Paris that was full of expat writers sitting at the small cafe's drinking coffee and smoking cigarettes hour after hour. I can just imagine hob-knobing with the struggling writers, meandering through the streets, in and out of the shops looking for everything, yet buying nothing. Living on the cheap in the greatest city in the world.
I have not been many places, yet I have been to Paris, once. It was amazing. Walking the streets, seeing the majestic buildings, the cobble stone walk ways, strolling along the Seine, crossing bridge over bridge, it was magic. There was magic there. The best part was touring the city at night, with the lights ablaze from the apartments, seeing people eat dinner, and entertain guests, it gave me a slight glimpse into their lives. The only souvenir I have from Paris is a scarf I bought from a street vendor. I wear it all the time, and each time I wrap it around my neck, I am transported, even for a second back to Paris.
I think I just have the travel bug. I ache to travel right now. I want to hop a plane and jet set around Europe. Or stroll through Central Park. I want to go. I long to go. I hunger to go. But, alas we can't. Not this summer. Be have prior commitments and a commitment to our financial situation. So I will continually dream the Paris dream. I will get my fill by watching old movies, reading books, and dreaming of old Paris.

Check out My Loaves

Yep I made these bad boys from scratch! I did it!! We have made bread many many times in our house, but P is the one who makes it. Last weekend, I set out to make homeade bread and this is the final result. Well, to be honest there is a loaf not shown because I consumed half of it in less than 30 minutes. Yea, so no comments needed. I made these cinnamon and sugar with honey. I gave them all away to friends and they were a huge sucess. I was so excited about it, because these are not from a bread machine. These loaves are made by my hands. It took about 6 1/2 hours to do, but in the end, it was totally worth it.

Dinner

This was my dinner yesterday. I decided to start "eating" at 4:20. It was just that kind of day, no, week.

All the Single Ladies, Put Your Hands Up

Yes those would be the lyrics to the Beyonce song. No I am not truly single. Yes, I am living on my own for the next 2 weeks. P has packed up his stuff and moved out to our summer location. He left yesterday around noon. As most of you know, I really love my alone time. I like to putter around the house, think, write, organize, and spend time with just me. However, I found out yesterday that I enjoy that more when I know that P will be home soon. Our house seems so empty when he is not there. It seems so cold and sterile when he is gone. Plus, I don't sleep well. Every little sound wakes me up, and in a house as old as ours, there are a lot of those little sounds. I have some comfort with our dog there, I like to tell myself that he would protect me from an invader, but in all honesty, he would probably bring the intruder a ball and lick the man's face. So for the next two weeks it will be only me, and the dog.

Saucy

I have a confession to make. I hesitate to type this because there is a very serious possibility that I might offend one of you. I am talking about offending your foodie side. I don't have the most refined pallet in the world, even though I try really hard to eat well. I really like chocolate, but I tend to like the cheap stuf like snickers, and nestle crunch, to the expensive nice stuff. I kind of like cheap thrills, and hey those seem to be the best kind right?? So Denise, I am talking to you. After you read this you might have a different opinion of me, but I am going to risk it. (Totally kidding!!)

So here goes.....I like Ragu. It tends to be my pasta sauce of choice. I like it on pasta, I like it on chicken, beef, turkey, pretty much anything. I will take string cheese and dip it in Ragu for a snack. It is pretty much my favorite. So there you have it. Tonight for dinner, I made some really nice orzo pasta, topped with Ragu!

Pudgy

This blog post is looooong over due.

Soo here we go..... I feel pudgy. In other words, a tad bit hefty, yucky. I hate when I put on excess weight. I work out almost every single day, which is great, the problem is that my eating has been OUTOFCONTROL. I have put so much junk into my mouth, in such great quantities, it is ridiculous. I have been eating candy, fries, candy bars, ice cream, you name it, I have eaten it. When I eat bad, my energy level just pelmets. So I am jumping back on the wagon. (The health food wagon that is.)

And..... just in the nick of time, Dmoms swoops in and offers up a challenge. And, I like challenges. It gives me something to work towards, a goal, and with my personality I will jump on that challenge, and meet it, and take it a step forward.

She has a daily workout and I am following her work out plans that she posts on Monday's. I did last week's and I was sore, and felt great, so I will keep it up.

In addition to the workout challenge, she has done some other things to challenge us to live healthier lives. One challenge is to drink more water. I drink a ton every day, but I have been trying to drink even more. Every morning, I fill this cup up to the brim, and chug it before I leave for the day.This big cup of water keeps me full until I get to finally eat around 9:00.

So Denise, thanks for the challenge, and I will keep you updated!