It's a Love & Hate Relationship

When it comes to cameras, we don't have the best luck. For some reason we can't figure out how to keep them working. This is a serious problem. I can't go a day without wanting to use my camera. My buggy kids are too cute!! So here is our camera history...

Camera #1 stopped working. It gave us no warning.

Camera #2 I loved. I loved it so much, I lost it...

Camera #3 did what it should but I never loved it.

Camera #2 was found (in my coat pocket) by my sweet husband and given to me as a Christmas gift (I love it!!)

Camera #2 was flushed by my buggy #2 son when he was mad at me. No he really did! Somehow he is still living... The camera dried out and still worked!!

Camera #2 got a little bit wet on a water ride at Lagoon (local amusement park) and stopped working. It will turn on for 5 minutes then wants it's battery recharged. We even bought a new battery, but it still does it.

Camera #3 came in handy while in New Zealand, then it decided it wanted to turn off when it wanted to. Sometimes we got it all day, sometimes 10 minutes - It was a guessing game each time we wanted a picture.

Camera #3 was then stolen out of our car (Yea good find punks! Hope you learned a lesson!) They did get my jumbo, mega, extra large memory card which they better appreciate!!

Camera #4 was loaned to us by my In-laws when they came to visit us in NZ. Grandpa had gotten a new one, so we could use it till we got another one.

Camera #4 stopped working. Kids got blamed, then mom downloaded photos from memory card - Yes those are my husbands sexy legs and feet... Hmmm can't imagine what happened??




Camera #5 we have had for about 6 weeks. It won't turn on...

*sigh* I quit!

Quick update - after a new battery Camera #5 is working fine. Yeahoo!

Cool Couscous Salad

I know look at me go with another recipe! This is suppose to be a blog for me to vent and express myself. *sigh* I feel like all I do lately is vent. Vent and plan menus and cook food... So to make it fun, I have been searching for healthy, easy and "cool" recipes. I am not in the mood to slave over a hot stove or add additional heat by using the oven. It has been too hot, not that I am complaining, I LOVE summer! This salad will refresh on even the hottest of days! I combined 2 different recipes, to get this super easy and super yummy, Mediterranean type Couscous Salad.


Ingredients
2/3 Cup Water
1/2 Cup uncooked Couscous
2/3 Cup Garbanzo beans or Chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 Cup seeded, chopped Cucumbers
1/2 Cup chopped Tomatoes
1/4 Cup chopped Orange Peppers
1/4 Cup chopped Yellow Peppers
1/2 Cup chopped Spinach
1/2 Cup (prepared) Balsamic Vinaigrette (+ a wee bit more)
1/3 Cup Crumbled Feta Cheese (or less)

Directions
In a small saucepan, bring water to a boil. Stir in couscous. Cover and remove from the heat; let stand for 5-10 minutes or until water is absorbed. Fluff with a fork; cover and refrigerate. In a medium bowl, combine the beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, spinach, feta and couscous. Pour dressing over mixture and toss to coat.

You can serve it immediately, but I like to refrigerate it over night. Before serving you may want to add a wee bit more dressing.

So Yummy! My kids even liked it! Oh wait! My kids are NOT picky eaters... But my mother in-law is and she said it was "OK" - that is HUGE!! Yeahoo!

Best Chicken Salad

I am a chicken salad fan, but after I found this recipe, I just can't have any other! It is also the easiest to make. Above is not a picture of the Best Chicken Salad. I forget to take a picture of it and by the time I remember, it is gone. You really should try it! It is the BEST!

Ingredients
3 Cups cooked, shredded Chicken
1 Cup sliced, seedless Grapes (I prefer red, it makes it pretty!)
1½ Cups diced Celery
1 small can Mandarin Oranges
1/3 Cup Mayo
2 Tablespoons chopped Green Onions
Juice of 1 Lemon (about 4 Tablespoons)
1½ Cups sliced Almonds (optional)

Directions
Marinate cooked chicken, celery and onions in lemon juice for at least 20 minutes. Leaving juice in, add remaining ingredients. Serve with rolls or croissants.


Flickr Thanks bluefrogj

Diet Coke with Lime

It's 6:00 AM. Is it too early for a Diet Coke? Really, I am not kidding? I have developed an addiction for the yummy, yet deadly concoction. Again.

After High School I worked in a Flower Shop for several years. Every February life got crazy around Valentine's Day. I would gulp gallons of Diet Coke just to be able to function the 20 hour work day.

After a serious withdrawal (not kidding! Headace, shakes... It was awful! I can relate to alcohol, meth or heroin withdrawal! Really!) I swore I would NEVER get hooked again. I did good! Till now. Now there is Diet Coke with Lime.

My in-laws are HUGE pop drinkers! In the "beautiful" living arrangement we have (which hopefully will change SOON), EM is in a room with us, right next to Grandma and Grandpa's room. So she has caught-on to waking and crying for 1 minute, till we grab her and let her sleep with us. Point being, I don't sleep great!

Now I am vulnerable and sleep-deprived! Diet Coke with Lime offers me a promise of a good caffeine buzz and no calories. I LOVE it's tangy citrus flavor and vigorous bubbles that wake me every morning, and sometimes twice in the afternoon.

*sigh* It's bad. It got worse when I read this. Yea, like I have a choice to continue to drink it now! Wretched Internet Search!!

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I love my Slow Cooker! I love making Sunday Dinner in my Slow Cooker. My problem is, I can't always find light, healthy recipes for it. I made Pork for dinner last night and it was a hit! (Except for my Mother in-law, but that's another story...) Just don't judge it by the picture!

Ingredients
2-1/2 tablespoons dark-brown sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 boneless pork butt or shoulder (about 2-1/2 pounds), trimmed
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
6 hamburger sized buns

Directions
1. In a small bowl, stir together 1 tablespoon of the sugar, the paprika, chili powder, cumin and pepper; set aside.

2. Lay pork on work surface and sprinkle on all sides with spice rub; rub well into meat. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour or overnight.

3. Unwrap pork and place in slow cooker with chicken broth. Cover and cook on HIGH for 6 hours or LOW for 8 hours. Remove pork from slow cooker and cut into large chunks; let stand for 20 minutes or until cool enough to handle.

4. While pork is cooling, pour cooking liquid into a fat separator. Pour de-fatted liquid into small saucepan. Heat over medium-high heat. Whisk in vinegar, ketchup and remaining 1-1/2 tablespoons brown sugar. Cook until sugar has dissolved, about 2 minutes; set aside.

5. Using forks or your hands, pull meat into shreds, discarding excess fat, and place in bowl. Stir in sauce and put 1/2 cup meat on each bun. Serve immediately.

I topped them with spinach, but that's what I do - I add spinach to EVERYTHING. It was so yummy!

God Bless America

While the storm clouds gather far across the sea,
Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free,
Let us all be grateful for a land so fair,
As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer:

God Bless America. Land that I love
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above
From the mountains, to the prairies
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home

God Bless America. Land that I love
Stand beside her, and guide her
Through the night with the light from above

From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the ocean, white with foam,

God bless America, My home sweet home.
God bless America, My home sweet home.

I love this song. Hearing it (along with God Bless the USA) over and over during the days following 9/11, reassured and inspired me. Does it not touch your soul? Can't you just see crashing waves and the majesty of the mountains? All people coming together, alive and free because of the dream of our beloved Founding Fathers?

On Sunday I was able to hear Michael Ballam sing, He shared some interesting facts about God Bless America.

This song is that it was first heard by Americans in 1938 but it was actually written 20 years before, by Irving Berlin. He felt the song was inspired and came from God. The lyrics are more of a prayer than anything else, too personal to share. So he put it in a drawer and there that song sat for 20 years. Kate Smith came to Berlin asking for a song about America. He went to the drawer and dug it out.

Kate read the lyrics and said it was perfect. He looked at her and said, "It's boastful. It assumes that America is blessed and that God continues to bless it." Kate Smith looked at Irving Berlin and said, "Irving, it is, he does, I'm singing it." He reluctantly gave it to her.

When Kate asked him who would get the rights, knowing it would be a huge hit. He told her it was inspired by God and he couldn't take money for it, but he did give her directions on who to give it to...

Well, she sang it. It didn't just sell. Within a week it was sold out in copies all across the country. People were going into music stores and buying the sheet music. They were buying anything they could get for "God Bless America." It has sold and sold and sold and sold.

So who got the money? Well... the Boy Scouts of America.

I love it!! I love this country! After being away I am SO glad to be home. I am excited to celebrate this Nation's Birthday, to be able to think back on our history and tell my kids of the sacrifices made by our Forefathers. I know this country is not perfect, but it is a blessed land. A land of opportunity and promises for tomorrow.


Glenn Beck said "I don't find it that amazing when people fall in love with America, when people come to America. It's because of her promise. It's because we understand that it's not today that we're living for. It's not the promise of yesterday. It's the promise of a brighter tomorrow that makes America so great. And that promise for a brighter tomorrow is not for money. It's that people, when they come here, can see and believe that they can become anything, that they can do incredible things, even if they want to keep those incredible things in a drawer for 20 years." Yes, he was there and heard Michael Ballam too.


Happy 4th of July! I hope you have a wonderful day!

Flickr Thanks mbjo, ladybugbkt, StarrGazr