Define "Normal"

 The Mister is finally working normal hours, so hopefully this means we can start having normal days again.

This is normal, right?

Happy Monday!

Cotton

Monday marked The Mister and I's second wedding anniversary.  

2nd year cotton gift = best hammock ever!
Also, it was REALLY bright out that day!

My mother was down to help watch the kids over the weekend.  She and I both agreed that it feels like our marriage has been a lot longer then two years.  

Our little tree climber helped us out a lot in hanging the hammock up!

The Mister and I had a nice little city-getaway together, but we both ended up wanting to cut it a little short so we could enjoy some time with both of our children, which is a rarity in our life.  

I have been adamant on following the "traditional" wedding gift guide.  I think it is a fun way to stick in a certain genre of  a gift.  

The Mister says it's silly, (especially since year 14 is ivory which is obviously illegal and terribly immoral,) however I think he can use his imagination on that year to bend the rules a bit!

I had some hand made bag boards made for The Mister.
If you are in the market for an awesome gift, to you or someone else, please consider contacting
The Unemployment Project
on etsy or facebook.  It was a painless experience with beautiful results.  And if you are looking for a great 2nd anniversary gift, the actual bags are cotton, so it all works!

It is my hope that The Mister and I can continue to be the best example for what our children should strive for in their own personal relationships, when that time comes.

We totally kicked his ass in best out of three.

I hope my girls will find a person who compliments their personalities and respects them as a whole.  

I want them to only give their time to someone who loves them, protects them and holds them dear.  I want them to know that their partner will not disrespect, or even more let anyone else disrespect them in any way. 

I hope they know their self worth enough to only want a person who will hold them in the highest regard. 

Well Mister, I made you promise me 50 good years, so here's to 48 more.  I love you, you crazy old man, you! 

The Mister and I's wedding song

Happy Wednesday!

Ballad of Fuck All

My back decided to go numb right in the middle the other day for absolutely no reason.  I thought, Hey, that's weird and annoying, and didn't think anything else of it.  

Sometimes when people get really stressed out, their bodies do weird things like that.  

Then today I woke up and couldn't walk.  

This just won't do.  

Tomorrow is Halloween, 
Friday Rhiannon is having a bonfire 
and Saturday the Mister is having some stupid man-party.  

My back needs to cut it out.
Now.

On Saturday our neighbors threw a huge Halloween party.  Every neighbor on the block was there and we were meeting them all at the same time.  

I went as this.

The Mister was super embarrassed of me.

(He did not dress up.  I told him I was going to tell everyone that he was going as a "Stick in the Mud".)

BUT.....I won the best costume award.

(TAKE THAT stupid stick in the mud Mister,)

They had THE BIGGEST bonfire I'd ever seen.

We learned that our neighbors really like :

Guns

Drinking 

the Blackhawks

We have one thing in common.  

I will let you figure out what it is.

AND my makeup held up really well!  I thought for sure I'd look like a hot mess by the end of the night.....especially since I had a ridiculous amount of tequila.

(This is seriously what nightmares are made of.)

 Happy Humpday.  

Back to Black

Yesterday I had an old friend randomly text me this article.    At that moment, I needed to read it too.  Isn't it funny how some people, your true friends-the one's you have an undeniable connection with- always seem to know when you need them? I am lucky to have a few soul sisters in this life.

Truth is, I've been struggling lately.  I know that I have absolutely no reason to feel the way I do.  I have a husband who is way to good for me, that I really don't deserve, who gives me anything I could ever want, we have a comfortable home and I have two healthy kids.  On top of that I'm allowed to stay at home with my kids.  I get to be with them and mold them into the people they will become, all by myself.  I think that's important, too.  I don't want to send them to daycare or have a nanny come and do my job for me.

However, everyday I feel like I am losing more and more of myself.  I feel like I am getting lost in the mundane, that I am wasting my life, my chances of being someone, anyone, by way of laundry and suppers and carpooling and cleaning and etc etc, when in reality I don't think I have ever known who exactly I am supposed to be.  Everyone I know is now excelling in their careers and chosen life paths and I feel like I am doing the same thing, walking down the same  old dusty path, playing wife and mom.

It's true that change is essential for your mental health.  
So why is it so hard to change your path sometimes?

TGI Humpday!

Milk Thistle

We finally have music in our house again!

I've always had a piano in our home.  It was the first thing I bought when Rhiannon and I became a duo.  I can't play much because I have arthritis in my fingers (awesome!) and Rhiannon always lacked the dedication to try and learn.  But, I did manage to teach her the one and only, Heart and Soul, and lots of people I know play beautifully so my piano's have always been used.

    However, the Mister got tired of having to pay to have it moved from our five thousand different apartments. 
So we have been without for the last 4 1/2 years or so.

 I compromised on style and we ended up with an electric piano. 

(Something I said I would never do.) 

This is ironic for two different reasons;

1.  It's the most expensive piano I ever had.  The most I ever paid for a piano was $100, and that was the very most.  (I had to give the Mister a very hard time about that one.)  There are a lot of really nice piano's available on craigslist for free-if you pick them up.
2. We just bought this house, so we are not moving anytime soon.  We could have gotten the worlds heaviest piano and it wouldn't of mattered. 

Regardless, last night Rhiannon and I pounded out (quite possibly the worst rendition of) Heart & Soul , while giggling up a storm.  

We then pouted while the Mister sat down and played some beautiful sounding melody he pulled out of thin air. 

(He's never had any training or experience in anything musical.)

Luckily for Clara, she seems to take after her dad.  

(She starts lessons next week.)

Happy Humpday!

31

I have to say thank you to everyone who sent me facebook messages, texts, emails, snapchats, presents, called, etc. etc. for my birthday this year.  

It means the world to have so many lovely people who took the time out of their day to wish me well.  

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!

We did a low key birthday this year.  

(We are supposed to close on our house Tuesday, so when the Mister asked what I wanted this year, I could only tell him that I wanted a house.)

I really wanted to go to Wildfire for lunch because their chopped salad is AMAZING and they have a really extensive Gluten-free menu.

However, once we got there, we found out they are renovating, and therefore closed during lunch hours until October 1.  Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be to much of a problem, unless, of course, you have Celiac Disease.

Then it's a HUGE problem.

(If you are ever in Chicago and you have any kind of gluten sensitivities, all Lettuce Entertain You restaurants have great gluten free menus!)

After walking around and grumbling a bit, the Mister said we were going to Joe's.

Not a good start for low key, I know.  

But it was fabulous.

And who am I to argue?

 AND I got free desert.  

(My ass thanks you, nice people at Joe's.)

 We spent the rest of our afternoon checking out the Rebuilding Exchange, 

(Not as cool as habitat for humanities in St. Louis,  but still pretty cool)

and thumbing through a few used book and record stores

I was able to find some steals on a few record's.

I love it when that happens.

Then we spent the rest of the evening at the ball park.

Does your Mister keep score while at the game?

Mine does. 

And let me tell you......It's the  Cutest.  Thing.  Ever.

And although the Cubbies didn't pull off a win, it was a fabulous way to ring in year #31 in this life. 

Thank you again for all the birthday love!  Next time I post, I will no longer be a city dweller...but a crazy forest living suburbanite. 

holyshitholyshitholyshit

Have a great week, everyone!

 

Coffee Talk

I'm really glad I came home the other day. 

The Mister has had an awful case of the flu since Sunday. 

I don't know what you're like when you are sick, but my Mister is an angel.  He doesn't ask for anything. 

If you do anything to try and help him, such as bringing him water, he will profusely and sweetly thank you in the most adorable and pathetic way.  Like a puppy. 

I don't know how he stays so sweet. 

When I'm sick I turn into an absolute beast.

(Speaking of beasts.......)

So, I own this shirt.

It is pretty accurate of how I feel in the mornings.

One of the more important requirements of any new apartment I had has always been: 
Is it within walking distance to a coffee shop?

(On a scale of one to ten in importance, coffee ranks at 11 1/2)

Last week I had went out and had some cocktails with my friends. 

I stayed with one of them that night and awoke to the softest and cutest cuddle buddy ever. 

(Shhh.....don't tell the Mister!)

Cocktails were flowing and when we awoke, Toby and I were thinking the exact same thing......

I NEED COFFEE!

However, I soon found that coffee wasn't easy to get around those parts.

I had a lot of work to do for my cup'o joe.

First up, you gotta grind those beans.

Mortar and Pestle, of course! 

 Second, you have to find something to hold all of those freshly (course) grounds...



Cheese cloth, to the rescue!



And finally......

Just add boiling water for about 8-10 minutes!

I told her I know what she is getting for her birthday.

A conventional coffee pot.

Or, at the very least, a French press.

Or maybe a coffee grinder.

Love ya, B!

.....Birds of a feather.....
(don't have the same morning drinking habits...)

Happy Humpday!


Mountain Sound

Tonight the Mister and I are going to see these guys.  

I'm super duper excited!
  

It's the last part of our first anniversary fun-time celebration.

(The Mister told me how when he went to the record store to buy me this album, so he would have a place to hide the tickets, the uber cool dude that was working literally rolled his eyed and treated the Mister like he was an idiot for asking about this band.)

Oh, to be super cool again.

Happy Humpday!

Drunken Lullaby

Yesterday was the Mister's birthday.
I didn't forget it was his birthday.

I know the day he was born.  
It happens to be the same day we officially started dating. 
Those are both pretty big days in the life of me.

 In my defense, I am terrible with keeping up days during the month.......

so........
Last week I had scheduled for us to look at (5!) different properties last night.

 Like a total jerk of a wife.

However....while looking we found a house that the owners have turned the basement into an Irish style pub.  And it looks exactly like the Irish  pub I was working in when the Mister and I met.

We actually decided to start dating at that pub.....on his birthday.....five years prior to the day.....

To say we freaked out a little bit is an understatement.  
Our Realtor kept using hand gestures to me to tone it down a notch....

(oops!  Sorry Marie!)

The guy who owns the house did the entire renovation himself.  He was very nice and he kind of reminded me of my dad, in the sense that he know what the hell he was doing and talking about when it came to  the whole house and every wire in it.  Besides the basement being really cool (half pub and half kids room - meaning we could drink in our bar alone because none of our friends will be there - unless we can convince you to move out there.....) the rest of the house was completely redone and turnkey as well.

It was definitely NOT in the style we would ever chose, (it was pretty terrible, actually) but bad design choices are things I enjoy fixing.

There are two definite pluses for us where this house is concerned:

It's on 2 acres
It backs to the forest preserve

HOWEVER

I am going to be completely honest.  

The forest preserves kind of freak me out.  

I feel completely safe living in the city of Chicago.  

I know what neighborhoods to stick to.  
I know how to use public transportation.  
I know how to avoid dangerous situations and how to keep people from lurking up on me.  

These are all skills I can teach my girls to use as well.  

I can teach them to protect themselves against potential predators  (of the human variety) whilst living in urban areas.  

Do you know what I can't do?  

Teach them to protect themselves from:
-snakes 
-bears 
-cougars 
-wild raging deer 
-flesh eating birds
and potential human predators hanging out in the forest preserves.  

And that scares the bejesus out of me.  

(Not sure if you've caught on but I'm not really the "outdoorsy" type of gal.)

{Also, if we DO decide to buy this house and we are friends and you come to visit and you have a small dog, don't ever bring it over.  There is an endangered red hawk that decided to nest in one of the tree's and it likes to eat small dogs as a snack.  I'm not making this part up either.  The owner told me some pretty terrible and sad stories.} 

I wonder if it eats chickens as snacks too?

{I've failed (musically) as a parent when it comes to my oldest.  She listens to really bad country and thinks Nickelback is the best artist around. }

{Clara thinks Flogging Molly is the best "Pirate Music" ever.  She asked for it today and has been running around, dancing and crashing into walls like a drunk small person all day.  It makes me happy so I am giving it to you, too.}



Flogging Molly - Drunken Lullaby by hphil_

Happy Humpday!

Instagram

Okay, so I know that I am REALLY late to the Instagram party, but I have good reason for that.

I've never had an iPhone  nor have I wanted one.  Instagram finally has let their services be passed on to Samsung users.  

(Yay!)

So follow me if you want, and please pass on some info on how you like it/it works.  All I know is it immediately "friend-ed" all of my Facebook contacts (and that is about it.)

The Mister went all out on flowers for Mothers day again this year.  

We then went to what should have been a very lovely brunch.

Unfortunately, Clara didn't get the memo that she was supposed to be nice to us.  

Therefore throughout the whole brunch she whined.....and cried..... and sang loudly..... and spilled orange juice everywhere....... and then whined some more...... did a little crying..... tried to push her sister out of the booth....... cried..... whined......etc.etc.

I forget when the whining phase ends.  

Please tell me it is soon!

The Mister and I were both happy to escape to this........

(Even if I did get scared of a line drive coming towards my head.  Sorry I acted like Daria and shied away from what should have been an easy out, teammates....I'm not used to playing 2nd base!) 

Whether you celebrated Mother's day or not, I hope you enjoyed your gorgeous Sunday!

Happy Monday!

Call Your Mutha

This year I told the Mister what I wanted for mothers day.

To be far away from my children.

Don't judge.  Everyone needs a break sometime.  

And Sunday, it is my turn.

Happy Mom's day, Mama!  
I love you!

Paper

When I met you I was instantly drawn to you and had no idea why.  At first, it was really annoying that you were always on my mind because I KNEW you were not "the boy" I was supposed to love, so thinking about you all the time was quite the nuisance.  Once I finally got over my own ridiculousness, I started seeing you for who you really are.

You are the kindest man I have ever met.  You are the only person I have ever met that genuinely cares for every human being that you meet.  Your love and patience for our girls melts my heart every day and the way you whole heartedly accepted me is something I will never forget.  

Because of you I strive to be a better person every single day.

There are few things in this life I can give to you but I can promise you this:

I can promise you that I will always take the cheese and ice cream from your hand.

I can promise you I will always be grouchy until I have had my first cup of coffee.

I promise to always understand that if the Bears are playing--You are not listening.

I promise we will never ever have the cleanest house on the block.

But most importantly, I can promise you that I will always be your life partner, and I will love you with my whole heart for the rest of our lives.  

 Happy Anniversary, to my one true love!

Gluten & Dairy free Fried Chicken / Home

Everybody deserves to eat comfort food sometimes.  Whether it's pizza, cheesecake, pie, meatloaf, chicken noodle soup, spaghetti, mac and cheese, cookies, cake, (or salad if you are my beautiful sister in law).  Sometimes it is nice to eat something hot, delicious and glutinous when you have had a shit day.  

However, if you are like my Mister and are allergic to gluten and dairy you can't have ANY of the above plus much much more.  It has been a very hard diagnosis for us to become accustomed to.

Since his diagnosis he has been very good about keeping the grumbling about his new diet to a minimum.  

(At least to me.)  

However, he did tell me the other day about how sad he was that he can never ever have fried chicken anymore. 

Seriously, my Misters new diet sucks.  

(I am on it with him, so I should know.)

  But I can go out with friends and cheat if I want.  I can still eat whatever I want and know it wont make me sick.  

He is not so lucky.  

The man deserves some fried chicken.   

I felt so bad that I did something I never in a million years thought I would do.  

I went to target and bought a Presto deep fryer.  

Deep fried food = gross.  

Deep fried food smell in my house = grosser

The Mister eating a meal that doesn't taste bland, boring or just plain gross = priceless.

Crystal's Gluten & Dairy free Fried Chicken

*It has come to my attention that Bob's red mill gluten free flour actually has gluten in it.  (WTF??)  Please don't use it if you have celiac disease!

I have replaced my flour mixture with Nameste foods perfect flour blend and like it even better.

• 3 lbs drumsticks (They are cheaper and my family likes them more then white meat.)
• 4 C almond milk
• 4 eggs
• 2 T hot sauce (We use Franks)
• 2 C flour* (I use Bob Red mill gluten free all purpose mix)
• 2/3 C Tapioca four/starch (Or some other form, potato starch should work too.)
• 2 tsp salt* (I personally felt like it could use more salt)
• 1 T paprika
• 1 T pepper
• 1 T oregano 
• 1 T onion powder
• 1 T Garlic powder
• Vegetable oil

1. Put your chicken and almond milk in a container.  Let chicken soak for one hour.

2.  In a bowl. beat your hot sauce and eggs together.

3.  In a separate bowl mix your flours and seasonings, (next time I make this I am upping the amount of seasonings I put in.  It was a little more bland then we like in this house.) 

4.  Drain the chicken and pat off well.  You can salt and pepper them if you want at this time.

5.  Take your chicken (one piece at a time) and dip in your egg mixture.  Then put the chicken in the flour       mixture, coating it well.

6.  After coating all pieces let the chicken sit for 5 minutes.  After 5 minutes re-coat them with your flour mixture.  (Not the egg mixture, just the flour.)  

{Now I know that frying foods is a weak point for me.  This is why I chose the fryer I did.  1. It was only $30,  2. All I had to do was plug it in for 15 minutes (with the oil poured to the line) and then it magically kept the oil at the correct temperature for as long as I had it plugged in.} 

This next step is for people who have a cheap and magic fryer like I do.

 If you don't, follow this instruction here.

7.  Put four pieces of chicken in your fryer at a time and cook for 13 minutes.

8.  Put your chicken on a rack in the oven (preset to about 275) to keep warm while you finish cooking the rest of the chicken.

Instant Happy Husband!

Instant children who "get along" with each other!

(Don't they look happy?  Two seconds later I think Clara pinched Rhiannon.)

Happy Hump Day!

This is the song the Mister and I walked out of our wedding to.  It's one of my favorites.

Juicing and Smoking

We bought a few new toys this weekend.

They are pretty fantastic.

At least mine is.

This picture is a pretty good preview of what our weekend consisted of.  

Except the vodka.  

Surprisingly enough, that did not get opened.

(Cheapest Costco visit we ever had!)

The Mister got himself a food saver.  His original plan was to take that giant pork loin and have a nice slow day with his smoker.  

Reality was, the smoker was frozen shut.  

So the ten lbs of pork were cooked in the oven instead. 

(Which is a crying shame!)  

HOWEVER, he did get to use his fancy-schmancy new food saver to help him have all sorts of delicious lunches.

(Has anyone ever used a foodsaver before?)

 It took him forever to get all of the seals on the bags done and it "overheated" about every three bags.  

Any words of advice for us?  Is it just a scam of a machine?

This is my new toy!  

I've been hinting to the Mister about wanting a juicer for quite some time now.

(He never quite got the hint.  Until I said the actual words, that is.)

It is fantastic.  

Every morning Clara says, 

"Juicy juice, Mama!  I want some Juicy Juice!"

(I didn't realize the fruit actually explodes.  Clara and I were laughing like madmen in this photo.)

My favorite recipe that we have come up with is this:

Peach Mango Madness

• 2 Peaches
• 1 Mango
• 1 wedge Cantaloupe
• 1 orange

1. Peel the orange and mango.  
2. Cut the cantaloupe from the rind.  
3. Take the pit out of the peaches.  
4. Juice

This concoction is sooooo creamy and delicious! 

I absolutely can not wait till peach season comes!

(Hey, Girls.  Remember my delicious peach margarita's I like to make in the summer?  Well I do believe they just became yummier.  Come on summer!!!)

In other news.....

I start my triathlon training today.  

Operation stop being chubby is in full affect!

If you are interested in training too, this is the schedule I am following.  

Hope you are having a great week!