Thankful

This Thanksgiving we have so much to be thankful for! (please don't mind all the parentheses. I am feeling very comment-y today...)

Almost exactly a month ago, Ben lost his job at PetSmart. It was terrifying and awful. We scraped by, and as we started getting closer to the end of the month, we knew we were coming to the end of our rope. After Thanksgiving we wouldn't be able to make ends meet. Our Landlords were fantastic (very thankful for them too!) and worked with us. Our family and friends were fantastic (thank you mom for the money here and there) they made sure we had groceries and gas in the car when they could.

We prayed and worked and got Ben some interviews. They went well, and yet he still didn't have a job. Then a job I applied him for a few weeks before he lost his job called him up. In fact, the district (area? zone?) manager called him and said, let's get you in for an interview!!

After a two-week long application process (biting our nails the entire way...) they called and said... We want you to work for us! Not only that, but they got him started today so he'd get paid for the holiday. (Imagine working one day and getting the next day paid off!)

The pay is more than we imagined he'd get (we were getting desperate for anything... minimum wage...) plus commission on his sales. The hours are great (no late nights and short weekend shifts) and as far as we can tell the guys he works with are great.

Thank you everyone for all the words, prayers and little things that helped us get through the hardest month I think we've ever been through. Now... on to the future.

Gods Bless, and have a safe and happy holiday!

Snow Day!

So we got a lot done this morning before the snow started... but alas I'm still feeling like I'm losing my weekend.

Bekah's God-momma Honey came over and cut Bekah's this hair this weekend (we had a very entertaining Friday night... mwa ha ha)

Bekah no longer has a mullet. Praise the Gods! :) And as Honey reminded me twice... she is certified to cut hair. What a wonderful woman that Honey... we just love her to pieces..

Today I am making Pear and Blue Cheese soup. It is magnificent and I dare you to try it. I guarantee you will love it! I got the recipe from a chef at a restaurant we went to once, he just kind of walked me through it real quick and I wrote it down while it was in my head... Yummy yum yum!

Pear and Blue Cheese Soup:

4-6 Bosch pears (depending on size) very ripe and soft.
1 stick of butter
half an onion (or a small onion) diced
two stalks of celery diced thin
1/2 cup flour
Two 14 oz cans of Chicken Broth
Salt
Pepper
1/2 pint half and half (this you can use more or less based on your tastes... or use cream or whole milk)
1 cup blue cheese (I just buy a small tub and use it all)

Core and slice the pears (leave skin or not) and saute in the butter with the onion and celery. Let saute until the pears are softened. Then add the flour and mix (making a rou) and let the flour cook out the raw taste (about 2 minutes or so) then add the chicken broth. Stir well until the flour mixture dissolves into the broth. Add a dash of salt and pepper (I use low sodium chicken broth so it needs a bit of salt, with the regular stuff you may not)

At this point you can let it cook for a while, about 20-30 minutes or so to let the flavors truly meld, or once warm move on to the next step.

Now, with a stick blender (or in your food processor), blend the soup in the pan gently (to keep from splashing too much) and puree the soup mixture. Add half and half and blue cheese, and let get back up to temperature.

Viola.

I dare you to try!!

Picture HEAVY post...

I haven't posted a good set of pictures in forever (They're on my photography blog mostly) But here ya go...

This was bathtime the other night... this one ended up so sweet I framed it and put it in our bathroom... I just love her big sad eyes.

This one is too funny, she kept wiping the bubbles into her eyes then crying and wiping them back out... she was all sudsy at the end of it.

 

Bekah Trick-or-Treating at my work on the 29th... she had SO much fun and got SO much candy!!

A fun triptych I call, Dance in Three Steps :)

These are a series of pictures we did on a nice day, Bekah's a total ragamuffin, but I think they turned out okay.  She had so much fun twirling and dancing! I love that look on her face... what a little girl!!

This I call the "Little Ben" picture... I can't believe how much she looks like him!!

More to come!!

What a week.

I don't even really know where to start. Writing is so cathartic for me, I know I need to get it all out, everything that's going on. Ok, well not everything but everything I can talk about. It's all so overwhelming I just wish I could barf it onto the screen. But that would be chunky and unpleasant yes?

God it's been a tough week. I guess I'll just blurt it out. Ben lost his job. So now we're out about 30% of our income (minus daycare which we don't need if he's unemployed) And trying to make everything work is going to be darn near impossible. He feels terrible, like a failure. I just feel like we were just getting settled after the last upheaval in our lives, why another one? It's really not fair.

We work hard, and we finally get into a doable situation and bammo. Luckily my friends have been really supportive. That's the other drama going on. Friends. Some I thought were more distant have really been awesome and supportive. Some I thought were my dear friends have sort of pushed me out of their lives. Though I guess I should have seen that coming... the signs have been there a long time. I don't have enough energy to keep it going so it fails. It's sad.

Work is going well I think. I wish I could get my review and my raise already... my boss is tres late.

Oh Halloween has been so fun so far. After I take pictures tomorrow night I'll post the pictures from my work Trick or Treating and around the neighborhood too. It will be a picture heavy post!

Well please keep us in your thoughts and prayers, we really need a lot of love and help. And thanks for being there for us. We love you!

Thoughts in Haiku. Sort of. Not really.

Sorry so long with no post. I'm eating one of ^those^ right now. Tres Tasty.

I had a very very very happy birthday! Thanks everyone who sent cards (THANKS BECCA!) and hung out with me (Honey... :D) I had a great time!!

Anyway not a lot going on with us, same old same old. Bekah's getting so big it makes me sad sometimes. I miss my baby girl... But now she's so much fun I'm glad she's growing.

Potty training is fun... but slow.

This is gonna be a short post I Think.

Oh, next week is ESOP week at WesTech. I finally am in the ESOP! YAY! So I feel a part of the company finally.

Ok... can't think of much else...

Night!

Mood Stabalizers: Chocolate and Grey's Anatomy.

So, thought I'd update you on my mood. Although, it is so unpredictable of late, you would probably need updates at least 5 times a day, but alas I don't think you'd like to read my blog THAT much...

Anyway we've had a couple of good turns of fate, and it looks like my photography skills, and Ben's Landscaping skills may help us out in the months to come, so hooray for that.

Ben also had an interview today for a new job that'd be back to what he was making before his pay cut, and that's the starting wage. So please keep us in your thoughts, we need this!

Bekah went on the potty 6 times last night. Yeah, that's right. She lets out just enough pee to make the potty chair make music, then gets a treat, then sits down again and does it over and over again. So I had to do two things. One, make sure she gets as much out as possible as she sits there. Two, get smaller potty treats.

Her whole body was just covered in chocolate from these little chocolate caramel cups. I originally bought bigger treats to reward her for going, because she rarely did, but now she's got the hang of it, imagine her after she's had 6 of those in a row! I'm still wiping chocolatey fingerprints off the whole house.

So this time I bought M&Ms. I figure the more she puts in the potty the more I'll give her, and reward her for doing all her business.

OK well enough of my daughter's urination. Have a lovely day!

Wow

That last post was my 100th. Happy 101st post everyone! :)

I haven't been posting much, because I haven't really been in a great mood these past weeks. Its not home life or anything, that is going just fine. It's just our financial situation has me up at night lately. The bad economy finally hit home for us. Ben got his pay cut by $1.50 an hour, and his hours by 8-10 hours a week.

Now the budget that was tight but functional is now no longer doable, and somethings have to change.

We're working on making everything work... but damn things are tight.

So anyway, this point of this little boo-hoo story is that the reason I've been neglecting my little bloggy, is because I was afraid any post I put here would be, well, a boo-hoo story.

So enough of that and on with the show. If you haven't checked out my phototography blog, you should: http://toniscottphotography.blogspot.com

I have a couple of photoshoots set up this month and will be updating it lots! :)

Happy Saturday everyone!