Christmas Care-Packages

It's the most wonderful time of the year.....(are you now singing the song?? Good that's where I was going with that).  Anyways, the Christmas season is upon us once again and I'm sure I'm not alone in wondering where on earth this year has gone??  Seems like I was just in Hawaii bringing in the new year.  The good part about this year going by so fast is that means we are nearing the end of this deployment!

Speaking of deployment, this blog is dedicated to Ricky's Christmas presents!! (He already knows pretty much everything in there since he requested it, so this is no surprise to him).  When Ricky was home in October on his R&R (& Part 2), he told me not to send out any more mail because there was a change he would be switching bases and he didn't want lost mail out there.  So I've been waiting very patiently for his new address and was a little saddened that it took so long.  Mainly because he now won't have his boxes until after Christmas, and I know he appreciates them whenever he gets them, but who doesn't like to open a present on Christmas day? Especially a soldier that won't have many presents to open.  But anyways, I have his new address, and his list of requests and here is the final product!

Of course I went with a Christmas theme! I added some of our most recent engagement pictures so he could hang them up on his wall.  

Christmas candy! The only thing he requested out of all this were the sugar coated fruit slices at the bottom and the Life Savers.  The rest is just stuff that I added to make it more festive.  Notice the little camo stocking on the left? Saw that at Reasor's and HAD to have it :) I got a matching one for myself.

More yummy snacks.  He requested all of these things, even the Easy Cheese. Oh and the Oreo's had to be double stuffed :) 

Some essentials. Some of this was still from when people donated stuff for his boxes.

Here is box #1 filled to the top

And I had to make a box #2 because all the stuff wouldn't fit into one.  This one got some shiny garland in it too :) 

All ready to go!  

He still isn't at his new base yet but will be within a couple weeks.  And hopefully the boxes won't be too far behind him!

Baked Zucchini Chips

Do you love crunchy flavored things but are trying to watch your carb and fat intake? Give these a try! I found this wonderful little recipe on Pinterest and remembered I had a zucchini in my fridge that I needed to cook, so I decided to give this recipe a whirl.  They really met my expectations, of course they don't taste like potato chips, but they are still really good.  


Next time I would leave them in the oven a bit longer to make them even crunchier.  


Ingredients:

• 3 Zucchinis, rinsed
• 1/4 cup Parmesan, shredded
• 1/2 cup Bread Crumbs
• 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp. Onion Powder
• 1 tsp. Dried Parsley
• 1 tsp. Black Pepper
• 1/2 tsp. Paprika
• 2 Egg Whites

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees

2.  Slice zucchini as thinly and uniform as possible

3.  Place on a paper towel for at least 10 minutes to let excess moisture drain. 

4.  Mix together all the dry ingredients. 

5.  In a bowl whisk the egg whites until frothy.

6.  Place the zucchini in the egg mixture, then coat in the bread crumb mixture.

7.  Place on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes.

8.  Pull out the baking sheet and flip over the zucchini chips.

9.  Return to the oven for another 7 minutes. 

6 months to go!

Can you believe it? I sure can't! It doesn't seem like long ago we just got engaged and I had 14 months to plan a wedding...and now we are down to 6.  The good news is I believe all of our vendors are booked.  In the last 8 months I (with some long distance help from Ricky) have:

*Booked the venue
*Booked the photographer
*Booked the DJ
*Booked the florist
*Ordered the cakes
*Booked a videographer
*Booked the photobooth (can't wait for this!)
*Picked out tuxes (Ricky did this wish his best man while he was home for R&R)
*Ordered and received my wedding dress!!
*Taken engagement pics, twice haha
*Booked the minister
*Booked the honeymoon!!! (Also done while Ricky was home)
*Save the Dates and Invitations are in the works

I think that's it....that's all I can think of off the top of my head.  All that's really left is the odds and ends and cute stuff that I would really like to add to showcase Ricky and I's personalities.  Most of it is crafty stuff, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE! My mom and I did some while I was home for Thanksgiving.

Fabric flowers

Paper flowers

I can't wait to do more things! Luckily I have 6 months to just complete the fun stuff.

Treats for the Troops

(Love my alliteration in my title?? haha)

My future mother-in-law, Cindi, is constantly thinking of ways to help or contribute to other people.  And this last weekend was just a small token of our thanks to the troops and to have a little taste of home for the holidays.  Cindi had collaborated with a couple different groups of people to get goodies donated for the cause.  I think a sorority at OU donated candy and such and another store embroidered stockings for the men.  So we set out Friday night to add to the list and make 50 dozen cookies.  Ricky has his own personal favorite sugar cookie that Cindi makes a lot so we set out to make a lot of those.

Ellie is all ready to cut out the cookies!

Working hard cutting out all those cookies

Our little cook showing some attitude

Very messy hands!!!!

Don't get it on me!!!!

She doesn't mess around when she's making cookies for  her Bubbie

That's not even all of the ones we baked in one night.

And the decorating begins!!

The finished product (after more work on Saturday)

So even though loved ones won't be able to be home for Christmas this year, maybe this will give them each a little comfort.

Protein Pumpkin Pancakes

I decided to be adventurous this week and try these protein packed pancakes.

Nutritional Infomation:
Serving Size: 2 pancakes
Servings: not completely sure, a lot 
Calories: 255
Fat: 15g
Carbs: 11g
Fiber: 5g
Protein 19 g

Ingredients:

• 4 large eggs
• 3/4 cup egg whites
• 1 can of pumpkin
• 1 cup almond meal (I used whole wheat flour instead)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• dash of nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• cooking spray

Method:

1.  In a medium bowl, mix all of the ingredients together.

2. Heat pancake griddle to medium heat and coat with cooking spray.

3. Cook each side about 3 minutes until brown, then flip and cook remaining side

These were....alright.  I loved the pumpkin flavor in them, but the consistency was a bit too thick for me.  It made me really just want some real pancakes.  So maybe I'll experiment with these a bit to make them more fluffy.  

Weekly Grocery Shopping

Hello readers!!!

It's been about 3 weeks since Ricky has been gone and I'm finally getting back into my routine.  I have been attending this amazing bootcamp called Fit Body Boot Camp.  It is seriously amazing!  Everyday is a completely different workout.  Some days are full out cardio, some focus on arms or abs or lower body.  This way you never get bored! On top of all these wonderful workouts, the owner, Stephanie, serves as your personal trainer and takes your measurements once a month and will help you with your nutrition.  Today I met with her to set down and talk about some great fat burning meals.

So thanks so this meeting (and today being payday), I made a much needed trip to the grocery store.  While there I found some great new finds that I'm really excited to try out (thanks to the advise of my Stephanie).

I always have trouble with salad dressing, so she suggested this Maple Grove brand.  I put it on my salad tonight and it was very very good!

Greek yogurt with truvia.  I've tried Greek yogurt before but have only had flavored varieties.  So I'm going to try the plain (has much less sugar) and just add a packet of Truvia. 

Pure Almond Unsweetened Milk.  I've been drinking this for a couple months now.  It's lower calories than even skim/fat free milk, plus it has more calcium.  Try it! 

All that being said, this was my dinner tonight.  Fresh  grilled chicken, romaine lettuce with shredded carrots and the dressing, and then roasted green beans.

For the green beans (my current favorite) pre-heat the oven to 375 and toss the green beans in about 2 tsp of olive oil and then sprinkle with garlic salt.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Delicious!!!!

 On top of finding healthy options, I've also been trying my best to save as much money as possible.  So tonight I loaded up on the coupons (for what I needed) and walked out saving 10% of my grocery purchase and 24% of my toiletries! On top of the coupons, I looked for in-store savings.  Buying "store-brand" items is another way I save money.  So tonight I saved $15!!! I sure love those savings.

Financial Peace University

My church started a class this fall called Financial Peace University by Dave Ramsey.  Taking this class was one of the best decisions I have ever made.  I wanted to learn more about money and how to manage it, for myself and for Ricky and I's future marriage.  Really, YOU should take this class if you haven't.  He has baby steps, and baby step #1 is to save up $1000 for an emergency fund, that is to be used only for EMERGENCIES.  So since I had baby step #1 taken care of, I made a really bold move. I cut up both of my credit cards!  Yep cut them in half! I was tired of feeling controlled by them and using them as a crutch.  So here's the proof, plus Ricky was there as my witness :)

tadaaaaaaa!!!

I actually feel so much better! Please don't go out and cut up all your credit cards unless you have saved up an emergency fund and have an established budget.  I would hate to be the reason anyone had money issues because of me.  I'm just simply sharing this huge step in my life :)

R&R Days 8-15

On with the recap of our amazing R&R.....(check out the first 7 days HERE) Bare with me, apparently I'm really chatty tonight and feel like giving lots of detail haha.

Day 8: On Wednesday I decided to go to work.  In the meantime, I sent Ricky on a mission with Shane, his best man, to pick out his tux.  I wanted him to do this so all the other groomsmen and ushers could get theirs fitted and ordered while he was gone, just in case he got home later than expected.  At one point I was having nightmares he wouldn't come home until the end of May and there would be no tuxes! Oh the horror!!! haha So just in case, I had him go ahead and pick out what he wanted.  I won't share just yet, but they will look amazing and Ricky is super excited about them.  That  night we went over to Ricky's aunt and uncles house for dinner and to spend time with family.  The best part is all the little children! There's Ellie Kate (Ricky's sister) who is almost 4, the Jude who is almost 3, and little Presley who is almost 9 months.  The can entertain you all night long!

Ellie Kate riding the horse

Day 9:  Thursday morning we were both bums.  I don't remember what Ricky was doing (watching sports center I'm sure, or checking his fantasy football teams) but I was paying bills and working on my budget.  Fun huh haha.   We were scheduled for our final cake tasting at 1 but no one was there, and no one answered the phone either.  So we just left.  We went straight to the mall, because we had to finish coordinating our engagement pic outfits!! Ricky found his stuff much quicker than I did, but no surprise there.  My best friend, Meredith, came over after we got home to curl my hair.  She's excellent with hair, especially mine since it will not  hold curl at all.  After she finished making me all beautiful, we headed to Camp Loughridge for our pictures! We had an amazing time and Ricky got to meet our wedding photographer finally. If you are now thinking, didn't they already take engagement pics?? Yes we sure did, but this session came with the wedding package I picked out.  Plus, who doesn't love professional pics?  After our pictures, we finally had a date night! I wanted to take Ricky to the restaurant of his choosing to celebrate his belated birthday and every other holiday we're going to miss while he's gone.  His choice? Red Rock Canyon Grill of course haha.  We ate and ate and ate until we couldn't eat anymore.  It was a wonderful date night, with no cell phones or sports lol.

Sneak peak of our engagement pics

My cute hair thanks to Meredith!

Day 10:  Friday was another relaxing day for me :) I got up and went to Bootcamp while Ricky went to run some errands.  He stayed out most of the afternoon so I had some good quality time with my couch haha.  At about 5:00 we headed out to OKTOBERFEST! Ricky loves Oktoberfest and last year was my first time to go.  We had people meeting us but there wouldn't be there till about 6:30, so what do you do to waste time?? Drink beer, what else! Ricky introduced me to a really good German beer that has become a favorite of mine.   We had a great time dancing and singing in the big tent!

Ricky, Jeff, and Shane

tiki taki tiki taki, oye oye oye!!!

Day 11: Saturday was one super busy day.  We got up and ready with the intention of leaving town by 9:30, however that didn't happen and we didn't leave until about 10:30.  We were headed, eventually to Norman, and since we were halfway we called up my parents and they met us in OKC so they could see Ricky for just a couple of hours.  So we got to my aunt's house about 1:00, to eat lunch and watch the rest of the OSU Cowboys football game.  At about 3:00 we headed to Norman to meet his friends at Ricky's favorite eating place in Norman, Rudy's.  It's a BBQ place.  After eating, we headed to campus (where we walked 3 miles trying to find these people) and eventually to the OU football game.  A thunderstorm came through right as the game was about to kick off, so it was postponed for almost 2 hours.  So we sat under the stadium to keep dry until it started.  After the game finally started, it was FREEZING! The game didn't turn out so well for Ricky's team.  But I didn't say one unkind work :) The game didn't finish until about 12:30, we didn't get to our car and out on the highway until 1:30, then we couldn't find a hotel room, so we ended up driving to Pauls Valley and finally bedtime at 3:00 AM.  It was one long night. I somehow didn't take one picture on this day....how did that happen???
Day 12: You might be wondering why we didn't go back to Tulsa after the OU game.....well we had tickets to the DALLAS COWBOYS GAME SUNDAY!! We got up and drove straight to the stadium.  This is our second Dallas Cowboy game and I'm really hoping it will be a continued tradition :) Ricky splurged and got us the club seats and they were sure nice! The club section have their own level with their own bar and food.  And the seats are cushy ;)    The cowboys had a good game (they played the Rams who are terrible this season) but it was nice to see them win.

Our amazing seats!

Ricky's BBQ beef nachos

After the football game, we walked right by the Ballpark in Arlington, home of the Texas Rangers.  They just so happened to be playing game 4 of the World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals!!! Ricky was so close to buying tickets but we didn't and headed to our hotel for dinner to watch it on TV.

Day 13: We spent the whole day in Dallas.  I finally convinced Ricky to go check out Ikea! And he of course fell in love the second he walked in.  Totally going back there once we get our own place together.  To kill some time we stopped at this pub called The Ginger Man to watch the start of Game 5.  Then we met my good friend Kathryn and her husband for dinner at a really good pizza place.

My dream kitchen we found in Ikea

Day 14: On Tuesday we got up and drove to Ada, where Ricky's grandparents live, so he could spend some time with them.  It was nice to see them.  By the time we got back to Tulsa it was about 8:00 and we stopped by his parents for some dessert.  His mom made an amazing apple pie, Ricky's favorite.
Day 15: I had to work one more day, so while I went to work, Ricky went to play one last round of golf.  Once I got off work we went for our last dinner together at Los Cabos, he had to fit in one more mexican meal before he left.  Then we had to take his clothes back to his friends house for storage.  Our last evening was quiet.  Neither of us said much.
Leaving Day:  Goodbye's are always tough and no one ever wants to experience them.  Again, not much was said that morning as we were getting ready and packing up all his stuff.  I was afraid if I opened my mouth I would lose it.  I was trying my hardest to keep it together.  Once we got to the airport, they gave me a pass to go through security so I could go back to the gate with Ricky.  By the time we got to the gate though, his flight was already boarding.  Which was probably a good thing. Not much time to linger.  We gave each other a hug and a kiss and he said he'll see me soon and he loved me.  It wasn't until he turned around and walked toward the gate that I lost it.  The tears were already rolling down my face (as they are now as I'm reliving this).  I didn't stay, I walked back out to his truck and stayed there until I could regain my composure.  The rest of the day for me was a blur.

I snapped this pic right before he got on the plane.

It was a fantastic 15 days, probably the best I've ever had.  As of now, he is scheduled to be home some time in March.  So there are 4 months to go.  And then hopefully I will never have to say goodbye for this length of time again.

R&R Days 1-7

R&R was the best thing every created for Ricky and I.  Some families (I have been told) do not enjoy them because it's really hard on children.  Since Ricky and I don't have any children, it was really nice to get to re-kindle over the 15 days.

You can view our homecoming pictures and video again if you would like ;) I like them. So I'll do a couple of posts of our time together.  Just so you know, he got 15 full days, so the day he arrives doesn't count, neither does the day he leaves.

Arrival day: After Ricky got into Tulsa, his whole family went out to dinner and it was nice for everyone to get to see him.
Day 1: Our first day was a Hodge Podge of things.  We had to go to his friends house to get clothes out of his attic and since we were in the area we decided to do some apartment hunting since that's where we will be living after the wedding until we can find a nice house to buy.  We then headed to his parents for dinner that night to spend more time with family.
Day 2:  I went to work this day (even though my boss was very understand of the situation and let me some extra time before Ricky got home) I was still going to have to work a couple extra days.  So while I was at work, Ricky went golfing with his uncle and cousin.  He wanted some down time so we stayed home that night and I made him some dinner.
Day 3:  On Friday, we headed down to Prague to see his dad's side of the family and spend some time with them.
Day 4:  Saturday morning we had stayed in OKC and met his dad for lunch at RePUBlic, which is delicious and you totally need to eat there.  Then we headed over to his house to watch the OSU vs. UT football game.  After the game we headed to downtown OKC for the Needtobreathe/ Taylor Swift concert!!! We LOVE Needtobreathe and saw them in concert at the Cain's last year.  So when we found out they were opening for Taylor Swift we HAD to go.  Sadly, the concert in Tulsa was happening while he was still gone.  But once we found out his R&R dates, he looked it up and found out they were playing in OKC while he was home! It was an outstanding concert, and I love Taylor Swift too so it was a double bonus for me.

House divided cheering on our teams

At the concert

Ricky got us really good seats

Jamming out!

If you purchased Needtobreathe's newest CD, you could get a wristband to meet them after the show! So Ricky got the CD but they only had once wristband left, so I didn't think I was going to get to go.  But they lady at the door was so nice and let me go through too! We couldn't take any pictures with them but they signed the CD's Ricky bought.

Day 5:  Sunday we headed to church and lunch with friends.  Then it was of course nap time in the afternoon for me and NFL football for him haha.  We headed back up to church that evening for the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University class I've been taking and wanted him to get a taste of.
Day 6:  Monday was the first day of wedding planning for him :)  I had lined us up with several appointments so we could get some things planned and decided while he was home.  First up was a meeting with a travel agent about our honeymoon.  Going into it we just knew we wanted somewhere tropical and with a beautiful beach.  By the end of the meeting we didn't really even need to discuss it, we are going to JAMAICA!!! Next up was our first cake tasting that afternoon.  We went to a total of three to get price comparisons.  That evening we went to Ricky's cousin Shane's for dinner to spend time with Shane, Jennifer, and their precious 8 month old Presley.  Last time Ricky saw Presley, he was about 2 months old.
Day 7: Tuesday we had 2 more cake tastings.  The first one at 10 (yes I realize a little early for cake lol).  They specialize in a certain type of sponge cake which we weren't too fond of.  So crossed that place off the list.  Since we had some time to kill, we drove around to search for the nearest hotel for our out-of-town wedding guests to stay in after the wedding.  We got some price information from them and then decided to do some more apartment shopping.  That alone was exhausting haha.  But I think we found a good place for the price.  We then headed to our final cake tasting which went really well.  Then we headed to our wedding venue to taste our reception food.  Which will be delicious by the way!!! :)  For dinner we met some of Ricky's cousins from McAlister at Teds.  They came up here to see him.

Cake tasting, yummm!!!

Check back for the rest of our amazing time together later :)