February Fun

So February has been such a crazy month! It's had some really great highlights though. Below are a few of the fun pictures from this month.

Casey and I didn't get to have Valentines day on the actual day so we waited until the weekend. I made Casey Lomo Sal Tado. It's a Peruvian stir fry that is super spicy and crazy tasty!!! It's sirloin cut into strips and then cooked in a skillet with lemon juice and red chili peppers. After the meat is cooked all the way through then you saute red and green bell peppers and onions. Once those are all cooked you chop up a roma tomato and put that in. Let everything simmer then when it's done you put it over rice and WALA!!!!! Delicioso!!!





The next set of pictures is from Blitzen's (our big black cat) 2nd Birthday! Yes I'm totally that person now. I throw my cats birthday parties! lol
This is a picture of Blitzen eating his "cupcake." It's really just eggs, hamburger, and catnip. He really seemed to like it.


This next picture is of earlier in the day. The boys had a snugly brotherly moment.

Blitzen and his poster...He looks really angry about his poster...hahaha

Now he looks at least interested. I think Cuzco looks a bit curious as well. Hehehe


Overall these have been some really happy moments in this month. I'm so happy to have made some of these memories and to have such a wonderful family to share them with!

Move Onward?

So I think the loss of one of my ovaries hit me a lot harder than I expected it to. On one hand I know my families medical history. I know that my body was a ticking time bomb and yet I thought "I'm going to be the exception." I knew we were having problems and that I would more than likely have some kind of hysterectomy/oophorectomy but I guess I always kind of figured that the pains I felt were just stupid minor whatevers and I just needed to get over it. When in fact they were very real, making my innards deteriorate type pains. It makes me angry that I lost my ovary. And sure I can use the same line I've been giving myself since I knew it was a possibility. "Oh I KNEW this could happen. I'm prepared. I will feel SO MUCH BETTER knowing that it's over and done with and I can stop worrying and trying for a baby. Sure there would still be the possibility with the other ovary but we aren't taking chances anymore. This is a GOOD thing." As true as any of that may be, the fact is... It sucks. And I realize I don't have it as bad as other women. Heck my mother lost everything at 23 so I get it that I am not the first nor will I be the last person to experience this. But I still can't help but be selfish. I want to morn my loss but I'm not sure if that's normal. Or how to even go about it. Does that even make sense to want to morn. Shouldn't I just keep thinking like the above statement and go with that? This is a good thing. I'm not in pain anymore. My body can be healthy. I now have an answer and a plan to become a parent through adoption. There's no more guessing.
So why do I feel sad? Somedays I feel so together and sure about knowing it was for the best. After all I'm incredibly excited to become a parent through adoption. I don't think I'm any less of a woman by any means. But there's still this little spot inside of me that is empty. And it will always be empty. Does that make sense? More than likely no it doesn't.

I do feel better. I do know that this was the best course of action. As with any other disease it takes it toll so it's good we have a handle on it now so it can't spread and make my other reproductive organs worse. At least I know those things. I have to hang on to the fact it could have been a lot worse. I could be on drugs to help me in early menopause. I could have been out of work for a lot longer and had a much more major surgery like my mother did. But I didn't. I lost my right ovary and that was it. I hope that's all I will ever lose. The pessimist inside of me doesn't think so. You can only keep this stuff at bay for so long I think. But still it could have been a lot worse. And I think it's set Casey and I into a forward thinking mode which is good. We are being more productive and proactive on how we want our lives to be. That's very important.
So what's next. I guess I just keep moving on. I get my shot every 12 weeks. I continue to exercise and enjoy being with my husband. I'll throw my cats birthday parties and keep in better touch with loved ones. I will continue to be.

Easy Peasy

So I have become a person who spends way to much time on Pinterest. I love finding new recipes or simple crafts that I might be capable of doing. So far I've tried a few of the easier recipes and they've turned out great. I wish I had pictures! I love anything that is less than 4 ingredients that I can easily remember. Although I love my cookbooks and I love to bake and what not there's something to be said for a quick recipe with good results.
Here are three I've tried and they turned out pretty good.
1.) 3 Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
(I actually knew this recipe BEFORE Pinterest but I had forgotten about it.)
Ingredients:
1 Egg
1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Peanut Butter.

Mix ingredients, roll into 1 inch balls. Place on a cookie sheet. Flatten with fork. Place in oven that has been preheated to 325 for 8-10 mins. When they are done let sit on a cooling rack until completely cooled. Otherwise they will fall apart. Once they are cooled, ENJOY! yum yum yum!
I love this recipe because I pretty much always have the ingredients on hand and it's quick.

2.) Pepperoni Rolls
(made these for the superbowl...big hit!)
Ingredients
Store bought bag of pepperoni
Bag mozzarella cheese
2 cans crescent rolls.

Preheat oven to 350. Open cans of crescent rolls and separate each roll. Cut the triangle into two smaller triangles. Repeat with each triangle from the can. Place 1-2 pepperonis on the small triangles at the base. Then take a finger pinch of mozzarella cheese and put on pepperonis. Roll up. Some cheese may fall out but if you get it in the middle of the pepperoni it should be fine. Bake for 11-13 mins until crescents are puffed and golden. Let cool and serve with marinara or ranch dressing. :) WA-LA!


3.) Pumpkin Muffins.
(made these last night. Very tasty. I made them in a mini muffin tin just to make them more bite size and not to much sugar at once.)
Ingredients
1 Box yellow cake mix
1 Can Pumpkin Pie Filling (14 oz)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix ingredients thoroughly. With a spoon dollop batter into sprayed muffin tin or into cupcake liners. Bake for 20-22 mins. Take out and ta-da, tasty quick muffins! I bet you could also use a chocolate cakes mix, or even put chocolate chips in for chocolate pumpkin muffins. Oh can't wait to try that.

So that has been my life following surgery this go around. Happily I return to work next week but I still plan on trying more of these easy recipes.