November 22nd - Thankful for Good Health

November 22nd - Thankful for Good Health

A very close friend of mine (who will remain nameless because its not my place to tell the world about her health issues) has cystic fibrosis.  She is one of the strongest women that I know.  She faces her disease head on and doesn't ever let it get her down.  She had a little bit of a setback recently and I was really worried about her.  But yesterday she went to the doctor and had a good report and I am just so relieved!

In her words "My doctor appointment today was excellent! Praise the Lord! Home for the holidays has a much nicer ring than hospital for the holidays...... Heheh"

This is just her personality in a nutshell!  She has such a positive outlook on her life and her challenges that I feel guilty anytime I am in a bad mood over stupid things.  Or sometimes when I get a cold I think to myself, this is nothing compared to what she deals with on a daily basis.  She chases two kids around all day while keeping a house so clean and tidy that it puts me to shame.  She also cooks three meals for her family on a regular basis, she is not the type to simply order pizza for dinner every night.  She also homeschools her kids.  And in the midst of all of this she does her breathing treatments twice a day, which are pretty time consuming.  And when she wasn't doing well they bumped them up to three times a day.

So today I am thankful for my good health and also thankful for my friend's health that improved yesterday!  I don't so much call hers "good' but I will say I am thankful for her "better" health.

An interesting website on cystic fibrosis if you are interested:  http://www.cff.org/

November 19th, 20th & 21st Thankfuls

November 19th - Thankful for Santa Clause.
We took Lyla to the mall to see Santa arrive.  It was awesome!  First there was the local high school marching band, then Santa came on a fire truck.  We followed him inside where he magically lit the tree in the middle of the little railroad.  Then he danced through the mall with the band playing (imagine a parade inside the mall) and as he went past all the Christmas lights he magically lit them up!  All the way to his seat when he lit that all up and then sat and everyone could sit on his lap.  Gary and I were way in to it, Lyla fell asleep somewhere between the lighting of the first tree and when we got to Santa's set up.  hahaha Too much anticipation I suppose!

November 20th - Thankful for Sweats.
I stayed in my sweatpants and hoodie sweatshirt ALL DAY.  I love being comfy in sweats!  One of the few nice things about the weather turning colder.

November 21st - Thankful for a 3 Day Work Week.
I'm thankful that I only have to get through 3 days this week.  I'm really not motivated today, but knowing we only have 3 days this week definitely helps!

November 18th - Thankful for my video camera on my phone

November 18th - Today I am thankful for the video camera on my phone.  Without it, we would not have this gem from last night!  Enjoy!  The beginning is a little slow and so is the end, but the middle is totally worth it!

November 17th - Thankful that I don't work retail at the moment

November 17th - Today I am thankful that I don't work retail right now and neither does anyone else in my family.  I keep seeing all these signs and ads online about how all the stores are going to be open on Thanksgiving this year.  This just makes me so sad.

Thanksgiving is not a religious holiday.  Its really one of the few holidays that everyone in America agrees on celebrating.  So why can't we just keep it as a holiday?  Instead all the retailers are already focused on Christmas and Christmas shopping and are opening up on Thanksgiving. 

I'm sure that all those employees would much rather be home with their families.  I'm sure they would rather stuff their faces and sit and watch football or play cards or just take a nap!  Thanksgiving is one of my most favorite days of the year and if I had to work I would probably just sit and cry!

November 16th - Thankful for EASY & YUMMY Recipes

November 16th - Today I am thankful for recipes that are easy to make and still taste amazing!

I have two new ones that I made this week for dinner and they are fantastic!  The first is a simple, I mean so so easy crock pot recipe that I found online.  Its so fantastic that I'm sharing it with all of you so you can try it!

Crock Pot Chicken with Black Beans

Ingredients

4-5 boneless chicken breasts
1 15 ounce can black beans
1 15 ounce can corn
1 14-20 ounce jar salsa , any kind
1 8 ounce package cream cheese

Directions

Take 4-5 frozen, yes, frozen, boneless chicken breasts put into crock pot. Add 1 can of black beans, drained, 1 jar of salsa, 1 can of corn drained.  Keep in crock pot on high for about 4-5 hours or until chicken is cooked.

Add 1 package of cream cheese (just throw it on top!) and let sit for about 1/2 hour.

After that I shredded the chicken with a fork and then I served it over rice.  SO GOOD! 

The second recipe one of my best friends, Erin, gave to me.  Its so good that I am going to make it for Christmas dinner this year!

Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients

1 lb of chicken (skinless/boneless)
1 cup of mayo
1 box of chicken stuffing
2 cans of cream of mushroom soup
2 cans of cream of chicken soup
1 cup of parm cheese
1 cup of mozzerella cheese
1 box of shells

Directions

Fry up chicken on a skillet. 

Cook shells.

Cook stuffing as you are cooking shells and chicken.

Mix stuffing, mayo, diced chicken, 1/2 of parm cheese and 1/2 of mozz cheese in bowl.

After you've mixed it well, stuff into the shells, stuff them full. 

In a large baking dish, pour in cans of soup, you might need to add a 1/2 can of water so it's not so thick.

After stuffing shells, put them in dish. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top of the shells.  Cover the dish with foil and put in oven for 45 min on 350 degrees. 

I highly reccommend making both of these!  Mmmmmm

November 15th - Thankful for Words with Friends

November 15th - Thankful for Words with Friends

Ok, kind of lame, I know.  I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel on thankfuls today!  But let me explain it out and make it worthy of a thankful post!

For anyone who doesn't know Words with Friends is an app you can download on your phone.  Basically its electronic scrabble.  And I'm addicted to it!  It is seriously so much fun!  I have been playing like mad every night when Lyla goes to sleep.

I'm thankful for it because it gives me another way to connect to my friends.  I'm thankful for it because its something I can beat Gary at!  I'm thankful for it because it makes my brain work more than just watching tv in the evenings.

So if you want to play with me, download the app and look me up!  Screenname:  katie burge

November 12th, 13th & 14th Thankfuls

November 12th - I am thankful for a WVU win.  A win puts my husband in a much better mood for the weekend! 

November 13th - I am thankful for do it yourself hair dye and a husband who is willing to dye my hair for me!  It saves me a ton of money!

November 14th - I am thankful for coffee.  Lyla refused to go to sleep in her bed last night.  She ended up sleeping with us which means none of us had a good nights sleep.  So today I am thankful for coffee and lots of it!