Homemade Lemon Sugar Scrub

 Today I stumbled upon this website with a recipe for homemade lemon sugar scrub. Conveniently, I stumbled this site right after I had finished a jar of maraschino cherries and was wondering what to do with the jar. So, I decided to give it a go!

The recipe seemed simple enough:
-2.5c Sugar
-1c Olive Oil
-4T lemon juice

I was really disappointed with how it turned out. I could not smell the lemon at all and the mixture was much more thin than other sugar scrubs that I have used. In the end, I used all of the sugar I had trying to make it thicker, and all of the lemon juice trying to make it more "lemony"! I actually really like the end product. It doesn't smell the greatest, but it does make my hands feel wonderful (and I am excited to put it on my feet too).

I also decorated the jar to match our bathroom. It looks really cute sitting on the sink!

Next time I have a jar I am going to try to make a vanilla/brown sugar scrub to match our other bathroom!

Goals for the 2nd Year of Marriage

I sure wish that Scott was awake to help me with this post, but unfortunately he has to work early in the morning. One thing that we talked about while camping is our goals for the second year of our marriage. The first year of our marriage was definitely a wonderful year. There are a lot of things that we would like to continue to do into our second year of marriage, some new things we would like to start and some things that we did while we were dating that we would like to bring back! Most of these things are ways to improve our relationship, but many are just goals that we have for ourselves to improve who we are and become more conscientious citizens. Here is the list:

1. TENT TALKS: When Scott and I first started dating we went camping and had some of the best chats that we have ever had. We decided that the reason for this was that sitting in the tent there were no distractions-no TV, no dirty dishes staring at you, no cell phones, etc... For a long time after this we recreated "tent talks" by just turning off the electronics and going into a non-distracting place, or most of the time under a blanket to give it a "tent-like" feel. These were some of the most meaningful conversations that we have ever had and I hope to bring it back into our daily lives!
2. ROAD TRIPS: Ever since we first started dating we have loved a good road trip. Some of the places that we have gone on road trips are: all over Minnesota, Michigan, San Francisco, Vegas, Utah (Bryce, Zion, Arches), all over CO (RMNP, Million dollar highway, random cool places)....the list goes on! The best part of the road trip is not the destination but getting there! I love to ride in the car with Scott and Gunnison. We can be so silly and love to sing along with dorky songs. A good road trip definitely brings out the silly side of both of us!
3. NO MORE BOTTLED WATER: So this does not have to do with our relationship, but rather with becoming more conscientious citizens. The water here in Colorado Springs is not the greatest (that is an understatement...it tastes like you are drinking a pool)! We were both so spoiled being in the UP and having delicious Lake Superior water. However, I am going to suck it up and start drinking the tap water. Here is why: tap water is free and does not waste the plastic like bottled water does. However, as a disclaimer: we will still drink bottled water while doing things like hiking and camping....just not while sitting in the apartment.
4. NEVER GOING TO BED WHEN THERE ARE DISHES IN THE SINK: This should not be hard. We have a dishwasher. We just both need to put our dishes into the dishwasher after we eat and empty the dishwasher in a timely manner. Enough said!
5. WASTE LESS FOOD: I Stumbled-upon a blog today in which a woman took a picture of all of the food she threw away every week. While I would be humiliated (at this point) to take a picture of everything that I throw away, maybe someday I will not be as ashamed. I have looked up some ideas for things to do when I have leftover produce so that I do not have to waste it. Also, today I had some very old bananas and made some banana bread instead of throwing them away...one step at a time. 
6. DO SOMETHING SIGNIFICANT: I do not want to just live ordinary lives. This year we had the opportunity to give a home to 2 rescue animals: Farah the cat and Gunnison the dog!  We gave Farah the best "end-of-life" care that a cat could hope for. And Gunnison has taken a 180 degree turn from when we got him. When we first rescued him he would whimper and duck down when you would go to pat his head (talk about embarrassing), now he is the friendliest, happy-go-lucky dog that I have ever met. We have taken him to training and he has turned out to be an awesome pet (and family member)! It may not seem so significant, but when we see the turnaround that Gunnison has made, we know that it was significant to him. Hopefully this year we can do something even bigger and more significant!
7. BE THANKFUL: We are so blessed to have jobs, food, a place to live, some of the "extras". We are living in Colorado which has been our dream since day 1 one of dating. I hope that even when things get busy and stressful we can remember how lucky we are. 

I know that there are a million more ways that we can improve ourselves and our relationship...however, these are the ones that I want to focus on. I think that if we can do these few things (and I think that they are realistic things) we can really improve our relationship, daily lives and environmental footprint. I will keep you posted on how we are doing in accomplishing these things!

Here is to a SPECTACULAR first year and many, many more to come!

An Anniversary to Remember

Scott and I wanted to do something memorable for our first anniversary. We discussed many ideas: Mexico, private cabin in the mountains...the list went on and on and on. We ended up deciding on a weekend camping trip in Gunnison, CO. Because we will be going home in July, Scott was not able to get time off from work. However, camping was the most perfect thing that we could have done. We had a fabulous, stress-free weekend.

See my facebook album for more pictures...but here is a sampling:

We camped in the Curecanti National Recreation Area

We met a guy who recommended that we drive the "Million Dollar Highway" through the San Juan Mountains. It was AWESOME!

Scott and Gunnison by where a rushing river poured out of a cave.

Gunnison and I by a beautiful mountain lake.

Beautiful Scenery

At one of the summits.

Waterfall right outside of Ouray, CO.

Playing in the water by our campsite at the Curecanti National Rec Area

Gunnison discovered the joy of sticks!

The next day we went to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park

Family portrait!

Like father like son!

It was a bit windy!

Overall, we had a great trip! It was so nice and relaxing just to be in nature! We have made a pact to do something special like this each year to remember our anniversary!

It was also wonderful to reminisce about our wedding. We would like to thank each and every one of you who were at our wedding for helping to make it as special as it was! We looked back at pictures and video and agree that it was truly the best day of our lives!

Asparagus Pasta

I wasn't going to post this recipe, but Scott and I loved it so much I figured that I would share. It is really, really delicious. I saw the recipe on the food network and was able to find a similar recipe (not exact though because the one I saw had goat cheese). Here is the link to the similar recipe, but as you will see I changed it quite a bit. I used chicken instead of turkey, did my own spices, and added goat cheese. It was quick and delicious!

Penne Pasta with Asparagus, Chicken and Goat Cheese

1.5 lbs Chicken Breast cut into 1" pieces
12 oz whole wheat penne pasta
1 lb asparagus cut into 1" pieces
1 4oz tub of crumbled goat cheese
olive oil
butter
minced garlic (I always keep a jar in the fridge)
salt & pepper

Start by putting some oil in a large skillet (we used the cast iron) and add about 1-2 T of minced garlic. Cook the chicken until cooked thoroughly. Set aside.

While cooking the chicken, boil water and cook pasta according to directions on box. Add the asparagus when there is approximately 3 minutes left and continue to boil them both. Then drain the pasta and asparagus.

Put approximately 3 T of butter and 1-2T of minced garlic into the bottom of the pot and melt. Then add the pasta, asparagus and chicken. Mix. Drizzle with olive oil until moist and add salt and pepper. Mix in approximately half of the goat cheese (this will melt a little bit). Sprinkle the other half of the goat cheese on when you serve.

This is delicious either hot of cold and the leftovers are wonderful also. Hope you enjoy it!

Experimenting in Grilling Pizza

It has been wonderful not to work this whole week (although I am not looking forward to all night shifts next week)! I have really been able to focus on cleaning the apartment, training/walking Gunnison, couponing, and learning how to GRILL! Seriously, I don't know why I ever shied away from grilling. Starting the grill really freaked me out, but truthfully it really isn't any different than starting a gas stove. It has been such nice weather here, and grilling has been so fun. This week we have grilled salmon, asparagus, hamburgers and PIZZA! That's right, tonight we grilled pizza! It was so delicious!

We started by making the dough. We do not have a rolling pin so this was probably the most difficult part of the pizza-grilling process...and some of them are shaped weird. Oh well, it all tastes the same in the end!

Then we put the dough right onto the grill and cooked it until it was crispy.

Then we each topped them with our favorite pizza toppings!

Then grilled util the cheese was melted.

Overall, the weather was wonderful, the food delicious and the company superb! 

Couponing...again!

Today I had a very ambitious goal for couponing....I wanted to get everything that I bought at least at a 90% savings. I should make a mention of Register Rewards. They are coupons that print out that I can use at a later time. So, it is not immediate savings. However, because I go to Walgreens every week, they carry over week to week. So I use of RR coupons to pay for my current purchase. So, I don't ever pay any cash while shopping at Walgreens.

Here is what I bought:

The pre-coupon price of the above items would have been: $30.12

I paid only: $.95 for a savings of over 97%

Let's see how I did it:

• Gillette Fusion Proglide=$.89
• Originally $13.89 at my local Walgreens
• On sale for $9.89
• Store promotion= receive $5.00 Register Reward making it $4.89
• I had a manufacturers coupon for $4.00
• Final Price=$.89 for a savings of 93.5%

• Nivea for Men Body Wash and Shampoo=FREE
• Originally $5.99 each
• On sale at my local Walgreens Buy 1 Get One
• $2.00 Register Reward when you purchase 2 making both bottles $3.99
• I used 2-$2.00 of of 1 coupons
• All of the deals together made these FREE

• SOBE Lifewater=FREE
• On Sale for $.99
• Recieved a $.99 Register Reward with purchase
• Making this FREE

• Gerber Baby Food (which I use to make Gunnison dog treats)= $.05 MONEYMAKER
• Originally $.55 each
• I used two $.30 off one jar coupons which my store doubled to $.60
• This means that I made $.05 on each jar that I bought!! Over $100% savings!

• Ronzoni Pasta=$.08
• Originally $1.08 at Walmart
• I "liked" them on facebook to get 2 $1.00 off coupons
• This made each box only $.08! For over 90% savings!

I really enjoy challenging myself to get the best deal possible!

On a side note: This happened today at Walmart and I thought that it was adorable! A very elderly man (over 90) started to unload his groceries in a checkout lane that was closed. His daughter came over and said "Dad, this lane is closed". He said "I know, but somebody will come and feel sorry for the confused old man". Sure enough within about 15 seconds the manager came over and as nice as could be rang up his groceries. As he was leaving he looked at his daughter and said "told you so"! And like a chump I waited in line and came home to melted popsicles, haha!

Refreshing Summer Treats for Gunnison

Hello again! I feel like I have been so busy this last week! I definitely enjoyed my time in Texas. It was SOOO good to see Lacey. Most of what we did was indoor activities...it was 100 degrees everyday and the Texas sun is HOT! It was just so good to be able to talk to an old friend!

Highlights from the trip included: Lacey getting a new dog, going to the drive-in movie theatre, just having girl talk, and shopping/bargain hunting. It was so much fun to have somebody to dig through clearance racks with and try on 20+ outfits at ROSS. One of my great finds was this:

What is it you say??? It is a ice cube tray to make frozen dog treats. I got it at ROSS for $2.99 and have already made Gunnison a TON of treats out of it. The nice thing about the tray is that it is silicone (so they pop out easy) but has a hard outer shell. And the cover is nice so the whole freezer doesn't smell like dog food. Even if you don't have the special tray you could just use a regular ice cube tray to make treats for your dog!

Originally I bought it because I often end up waisting a lot of his wet dog food. We only use it to fill his KONG toy when we leave for work. We usually end up throwing out about 1/2 of a can. So my idea was to freeze it into treats for him. Well, I haven't done it with wet dog food yet, but I have done several other varieties of treats. I used the old bananas we had to make peanut-butter & banana treats (pictures to follow). I also got some coupons for free baby food, so I bought some to freeze and make treats out of. I also made him some chicken broth & cheddar treats. It is so fun to be able to get really creative! Before trying anything too crazy be sure to check out this list of foods that are toxic to dogs.

All that was in the first treats I made were peanut butter, bananas and water!

The peanut butter & banana treats ready to freeze!

These are chicken & cheddar treats. I sprinkled shredded cheddar 

in the tray and then poured in chicken broth.

The treats!

It is so easy and fun! Not to mention that Gunnison LOVES the treats! He seriously comes running every time I open the freezer and looks so sad if I don't give him a treat! He loves them so much that I could not get a picture of him enjoying one. He ran off with it every time I tried. I did however get a picture of Scott enjoying one of the treats!

Scott and I didn't eat too badly tonight either. One the menu was grilled salmon, grilled asparagus and home-made potato salad!

Sending love to you from Colorado!

No more full-time nights! Thank God!

This Monday I had my last day (or night) of full-time night shift. I am switching to PRN employment meaning that I can fill in doing charge nurse, med pass or even CNA/Activities work. They will call or email me to let me know open dates and then I can choose which shifts I work. I should be able to work 30-40 hours each week as we are really short staffed. It will be so much better though! I will get a lot better experience because I will get to do so many more things and work with so many more people (instead of being stuck alone all the time). It also will be wonderful for the summer because if we want to go on a trip or I want to travel with Scott for work-I can!

Even though I am so excited about this switch, there are a few things that I will miss from doing night shifts all the time:

1. The quiet/no drama atmosphere. One thing that makes the night shift different from day shift is that I don't have to deal with administration, doctors, families. It is just me, a few CNA's and our residents. For the most part it is quiet and peaceful.

2. The wildlife! On several occasions at night we have seen bear, fox, deer and even a mountain lion. The building has so many windows that we can watch them as if we are at a zoo!

A bear digging through the trash at work.

3. What I will miss most of all is the residents!

Namaste Alzheimer's Center