House babble

Of course nothing new to report with our house. The paper had a real estate guide in it this last Friday, and both our neighbors and the paper delivery man said they saw us in it. The paper guy even came by yesterday to bring us a free copy since so we could see it! I'm hoping tons of others saw us in there too...
I scheduled an Open House for April 27th. The realtor said she didn't want us to be disappointed, so I had to push her into doing one. Sad we have another 3 months in the contract with her. Before the OH, we may do a few things around here. Yesterday we took down Sam"s bunk beds and took the full-size to the storage unit. He's still got the twin in there, and it really helped open his room up a lot! Looks so big in there now. Our bedroom is probably next. Joe has been wanting to paint over our floral wallpaper since the day we moved in, so I think we'll do it. It really should take just a weekend, not a huge room and not any other issues to address. Lastly, the front door is ugly. We would buy a new one if we were staying. I'm thinking if we painted it we could really make it look nice. I'm not one for painted doors, but if we used the red trim paint from the outside of the house it would really stand out and I think look quite nice! We already have the paint, so it would also save us money. We'll see!
That's pretty much it to report for now. Send your good karma our way!

UGH

I guess it wasn't meant to be. That house I loved already has two offers on it- it's only been on the market since last Wednesday! Oh well. Joe is going to go look at three others I liked on Friday. After that tho, we're not really going to look anymore until something actually starts happening with our house here. It's just too depressing!

OH WOW!!!

I think I may have found the house I want to live in for a long time... And if it sells before we can get it there's another I like almost as much! Here is my fave!
The house is literally a block from the lake, and it happens to be closest to the children's fishing spot! The yard is ultra deep, plenty of room for our big garden. There is a new deck (with hot tub) surrounded by a brick patio. The whole yard is fenced in and there's a sidewalk in front leading down the the lake and play area.
The kitchen is big, tho in the pics there is an island (but I doubt that stays). There is a formal dining room, living room, and a nice hearth room off the kitchen with a beautiful fireplace. The bedrooms are all upstairs and are good sized. There is even a MASTER bedroom!!! We've never really had one so having a bathroom in the room would be cool. The main floor is hardwood, but the stairs and upstairs is carpet.
The basement is so fun! There was obviously peel-and-stick tile on the floor and rather than fight with it they painted it then decoratively sqiggled it. There is a wet bar down there with stainless accents which carry over to the stairs. Off to the other side of the stairs is a small workout room with a spot built into the wall to put the TV.
Joe and Sam get to see it Friday afternoon, as well as look at the other one I liked a lot. My camera's battery was pooped, so I'll try to remember to take it Friday.
Anyone looking for a house??? HAHAHA!

Recipe and rough week!

I mentioned to Danielle that I made this great soup the other night. I took pics and here is the recipe!

Thai-style Chicken and Corn Soup

Corn cut from 3 ears

4 cups water

Chicken bouillon to make 4 cups broth

3 scallions, thinly sliced

1 tbsp grated ginger

3 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, very thinly sliced

1 tbsp chili and garlic sauce

1 tbsp fish sauce

2 large handfuls cilantro, chopped

2 tsp lime zest

2 tsp lime juice

Cooked Kasmati (or basmati) rice

Bring the corn, water, bouillon, scallions, and ginger to a boil. Turn the heat down and add the chicken, chili sauce, and fish sauce. Simmer slowly about 4 minutes until the chicken is cooked thru. Take it off the heat and stir in the remaining ingredients except the rice.

Ladle soup over the rice in bowls!

See, simple, quick, and really tasty! It was light yet filling. Good stuff.

This week has been awful. I looked at three bad houses Monday, had a migraine and hit a pylon with the truck Tuesday, got another headache last night after exercising... Tomorrow is Friday, right? I am hoping the week finishes good, or it's going to be hard to get out of bed Saturday!

New camera!

We bought a new camera this week. We got our Staples Rewards check and decided we could get one for almost half-price! It's a Canon PowerShot SD750 and it'a FABULOUS!!! It's so crisp and beautiful. Sam was of course thrilled- we gave him our old one.

Here's my first post with the new cam's pics. I made our fave Olive Garden Toscana soup for dinner, so decided foccacia would go perfectly. Here's the bread, topped nicely with onions, olive oil, and Italian herbs-

Here is the link to my post/recipe for the bread- Foccacia

The best part about the new cam will be using it while househunting. The other one was so big and bulky, it was a pain to carry it around. This one fits nicely into a cellphone case, so it can clip right onto my pants!

I can't wait to take beautiful vacation pictures, and of course new home pics! Keep the good selling-our-house thoughts coming!

Off to eat dinner!

Saturday is DATE NIGHT!

Well I wasn't as perfect yesterday as I had hoped. I didn't have a salad for lunch but had a Seafood & Crab sub on wheat instead. It was fabulous and I enjoyed every bite! I even exercised when we got home- did 30 minutes! Last night we did have the gouda stuffed chicken and I wrapped each breast in proscuitto- very good but a tad salty. Next time I'll choose a less salty cheese. We had green beans instead of broccoli and Joe brought home a bottle of pinot noir... Yummmmm!
This morning for breakfast I made spelt biscuits to have with our eggs and sausage. We came home and Joe and Sam started working on Sam's pinewood derby 'car' while I did 35 minutes on the elliptical. I never got around to lunch, but really have not been hungry at all. Tonight we're having mexican, so it probably won't hurt top have missed lunch!
We went into town to recycle and after went shopping. I bought new running shoes to wear while exercising. I also got two new shirts and a pair of pants. I wanted something new to wear on our DATE tonight!
Joe and I are going out with friends Bea and Dave tonight for dinner and then maybe to their house after for cocktails. We never get to go out, so lately have been trying to plan a date night- whether it be a double date or just us. We went out two weeks ago and I would love to make this a routine! So today I bought a new pair of nice pants and a new shirt to wear tonight, Joe even bought a new shirt. Funny how the simple things make you happy in old-age, eh? HAHA!
Here's to a great Saturday night! How sad we've found a sitter we like (as does Sam) and we're going to move...

LOOOOOONG Week

Well it's done. The house is officially listed, but no sign yet. I'm personally a tad disappointed with the asking price, but that's because I think it's worth so much more with all the work we've done. Joe however is very happy with it, so I guess that evens things out. Now we wait...
My eating has been so-so this week. Tuesday was another long workday (they all are anymore). For breakfast I ate an omelet w/ ham and provolone and lunch was a grilled chicken salad from Subway. Dinner we had grilled strip steaks, roasted sweet potatoes w/ FF sour cream, and steamed snap peas. If I ate a snack, I don't remember what it was. I did try to exercise, but could only do about 15 minutes.
Wednesday we woke to 5 inches of snow and no school. I had another omelet for breakfast. I had to take Sam to the office with me, so we went out for lunch at Wheat State because they have buffet. I ate several pieces of pizza including dessert pizza. I did have a salad first tho! For dinner I made Hoisin Pork Tenderloin with rice and green beans. I also had 2 cocktails w/ pink grapefruit Crystal Light and pineapple juice mixed with vodka. For exercise I got about 10 minutes...
Thursday I ate an apple for breakfast because I was just not hungry. For lunch I ate a bowl of chicken noodle soup, a mini veggie patty sub, and two cookies... For dinner we had pork chops w/ cabbage and carrots. I tried a mini bag of the new salt and cracked pepper popcorn for a snack- good stuff! Tastes a bit like the fries at Applebees. I also did 12 minutes exercise. Seems my stamina has disappeared since I was sick last weekend?
Today I had a granola bar for breakfast- I'm just not hungry in the mornings anymore. I haven't had lunch yet, suppose it'll be a salad. For dinner tonight is chicken breasts topped with smoked Gouda and proscuitto along with broccoli or cauliflower. I plan to try again with the exercising tonight!
I weighed today- 195.2. Not at all bad considering I have been a bit off this week! I will have to revise my first goal of 184 by March 1st tho. Now I'm looking at 190 by March 1st. I can live with that. I also hope to be back at doing 20-30 minutes on the elliptical by next week. I am still a bit weak from last weekend, so I think a week later should be good.