Oriental Chicken Salad

This is one of my favorite dishes!! The recipe comes from a precious lady that I used to attend church with.  She passed it on to my mother who passed it on to me.  I usually make this in the warmer months since it is so refreshing.  It is best to make this salad the night before so that the dressing has time to soak into all of the ingredients.  Here is what you will need:

2 Packages Chicken Ramen Noodles (crushed)
2 Packages Broccoli Slaw
4 Chicken Tenderloins (Cooked and Diced)
Slivered Almonds
Dried Cranberries
*You can add whatever you would like to this salad.  I remember my mom always adding mandarin oranges.  I've also made it with sliced grapes and it was delicious.

Dressing:
3/4 C Vegetable Oil
3/4 C Sugar
1/3 C Vinegar
Dried Chicken Packets from the Ramen noodles

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix together the dressing and pour over the salad.  Mix it all together and place in the fridge over night.  Enjoy!!

Spring Break Week!!

I have been looking forward to Spring Break week since I started my semester in January. This is the only break from school that I will get until next December and I had a handful of projects that I wanted to get done!! So, of course, I would get SICK this week!! Regardless I pressed on and finished the majority of the projects that I wanted to get done. First on the list was painting our nasty orange nook...

This is a picture from the previous owners. That color has bugged me since we moved in because it doesn't match ANYTHING in the rest of the house. I decided to paint it a dark blue to match the curtains in the Kitchen(which it is attached to) Here is a picture of the dining room curtains and the nook...

It's certainly not done but we're making progress. Next on the list for the nook is a white outline of a map of the world. I found a tutorial on pinterest and will get started on that within the next few weeks. So pumped!
I also made a new pendant light for this area because the old orange one didn't match anymore. We are on a tight budget so I needed something for super cheap or free. I decided to make a mason jar pendant light because, well, they are awesome! Thankfully a friend had a mason jar lid that I could attach to a mason jar that I already owned. I nailed holes in the top of the lid, punched out the circle and attached it to that already hanging pendant light. Seen here...

I'm in LOVE!!!! Project number three was probably my most anticipated project. I have been wanting to chevron a wall since we moved into this house!! This week I finally accomplished it!! At first, I was going to chevron the entire nook area. After much research I decided that it would be quite difficult and might be a little too much chevron. So, I decided to chevron the wall across from the nook area. I started out by penciling dots onto the wall with a level. I started in the middle then measured every 8 inches across and every 6 inches down. I then proceeded to connect the dots and cut the angles so they were perfectly triangular. See here...

I thought about painting the chevron white but really wanted something more dramatic. I decided to go with the dark blue that I used on the nook because it is such a beautiful color. This is how it turned out...

I put a mirror that I already owned on the wall and think it looks great!! I am SO IN LOVE with this wall!!!!
My final project of the week was a kitchen island. We don't have a 'small' kitchen but we do lack counter space. Thankfully some awesome friends of ours were getting rid of their ikea kitchen island and offered it to us. (YAY) I let it sit in our kitchen for a week or so going back and forth on what to do with it. I found some awesome pins on pinterest but was still pretty unsure. I decided to stain it with some dark walnut stain that I already had and I THINK I will paint over it in bright red (to match the curtains) then distress it and poly it. Here is what it looks like so far...

Actually, that picture is wrong. The entire thing is stained but I somehow didn't manage to take a picture of it. I think the stain is SO beautiful but really have my heart set on painting it....so, we'll see what happens.
All of these projects cost me ZERO DOLLARS!!! Yippee!!!! The paint was given to us, I already had the stain, the island was given to us, I had painters tape on hand AND we have a Home Depot giftcard if I decide to buy the red paint.
Thankfully during the week an awesome friend dropped off this 'Get Well' basket on our doorstep...

It was JUST what I needed(along with lots of antibiotics and rest) Seriously, the most thoughtful surprise EVER! (thanks Rachel;)
Well, thats all for now! Hopefully I'll update soon with my finished kitchen island and the map mural. But for now, I think I'll get some rest ;)

Stay Fit 2013

Let me just start out by saying that I HATE eating healthy and exercising. With that being said, I signed up for a 'Stay Fit' challenge this past week that forces me to do the things that I hate. It's an 8 week program that combines healthy eating and exercise. I struggle big time with healthy eating and really want to incorporate it into our lifestyle to show my kiddos what it means to BE healthy! This week we have been challenged to eat an apple, spinach and broccoli daily to earn extra 'points'. (points are what help you win) Apples and spinach have been easy but it has been hard for me to eat broccoli without first dousing it with cheese. Last night I made a super yummy, healthy pizza! I found my inspiration on Pinterest. I changed it up a bit, though. I used a whole grain, pre-made pizza crust, EVOO as my base, layered it with spinach, boiled chicken(sliced up), mushrooms and feta cheese. Baked it for 15-20 at 450 and BAM...it was awesome! I took a picture of it but it doesn't do it justice. I will (hopefully) be keeping track of my eating and excerise here on the blog over the next 8 weeks.

'Finished for Now' Boys' Room

Growing like weeds...

We headed to the Doctor today for Calebs 3 year check up and Calvins 2 month check up. Everything looks great! Caleb is 39lbs, 39in tall & Calvin is 14 lbs 10oz and 24 3/4 inches long(95th percentile)! It's hard to believe that they are both growing up so fast.

My boys will be staying with my in-laws for a couple of weeks in March so I am hoping to get some projects done that I have been wanting to do. Can't wait to post pictures!!

and then there were 4...

Yes, I have been an absent blogger for 7 weeks now...but for good reason! Calvin Graeme arrived on December 9, 2011 @ 12:34pm! 8lbs 13oz 21inches long! I could not have been more thrilled with how my labor and delivery went...
Quick Birth Story:
We arrived at the hospital at 5:30am and started getting registered. Even though I took the time in the previous weeks to register at the hospital, it still took them about 45 minutes to get me back into a room. At this point I was actually experiencing contractions on my own. As soon as I got back there they didn't hesitate to tell me to take all my clothes off and put that nasty hospital gown on. You know, the one thats completely open in the back so everyone can see your business.
So, monitors got hooked up, blood was drawn, blood-pressure taken, and baby monitor was strapped on. I was ready to have that baby(physically, not emotionally).
First things first, I wanted my epidural!! It just so happened that Calvin was born on a full moon--which means that there was 13 other woman in labor at the same time I was. After hearing that, I immediately requested my epidural to be delivered asap. Pain was not something I wanted to endure with this child. I wanted everything to be joyful and pain-free. (FYI-5 more babies were born that night...crazy)
Epidural is flowing--soon followed by nausea. Thankfully the nurse was right next to me and turned me on my side before any vomit was omitted. (BTW--I LOVED my nurse.) So, what's next? We waited...and waited...and waited for what seemed like for-ev-er! It was actually only about 3 hours.
When I went in to be induced I was at 5cm. The Dr. informed me that I would have gone into labor that day whether I wanted to or not. That was comforting. By the time noon rolled around I was at 10cm and ready to push! This was the stressful part. It wasn't that it was painful or even hard to push that baby out--it was the thought of what comes after that. This was the moment that my whole world was going to be turned upside down. Up to this point life has seemed easy-peasy with just one child. Now we are going to throw another child into the mix. What did this mean for us? What was life going to be like as a mother of two or a family of four? It was too late to think about all that now--this child was coming whether I liked it or not! 34 minutes later we met our sweet baby boy, Calvin Graeme! He couldn't have looked more like Matt and Caleb--and that couldn't have made me happier!
So, here we are...6 weeks later. The Lord has truly blessed us and has shown me grace. I have been able to stay sane through this time and have REALLY enjoyed life at home with my 3 boys! Im not saying I'm not sleep deprived, my house isn't dirty or that I shower everyday:)...BUT, I see joy in each new day and know that this season in our lives will pass so quickly...
So what's next on our list of to-do's? ...HOUSE HUNTING! --we'll keep you posted:)

39 weeks...

We'll be heading to the hospital at 5am on Friday to be induced--unless Calvin decides to come before that!