Happy Birthday Favorite Girl

 

Twelve years ago, Favorite Man and I welcomed our angel-girl straight from Heaven. FG decided to embrace the fact that her birthday is during the cold winter month of January. She’s going to treat her friends to a Winter Wonderland party complete with a outing to the “tubing” hill. This year called for a  ”special” birthday cake and I ordered one from a local cake designer, Peggy’s Creations. Peggy creates amazing cakes and I love what she did with the kids tubing down the snow covered hill.

To my Favorite Girl: Happy Birthday and I hope your day is full of friends and fun! My wish for you is a wonderful & magical year!!!

Yummy Winter Soup

A few weeks ago, a co-worker brought in Black Bean-Pumpkin soup for her lunch.  She shared the recipe and I’ve made it several times.  I LOVE it and so does everyone else who’s tasted it. Including Favorite Girl ~ who is a bit of a fussy eater. The original recipe called for 2 cans of beans but I prefer one can.  It’s easy to make and I recommend it on a cold winter day with a tossed green salad and a glass of red wine.  Mmmm, Mmmm…

Black Bean-Pumpkin Soup

1.5 cups drained diced canned tomatoes, 1 (15 oz) can of black beans-drained and rinsed, 1 teaspoon olive oil, 1 cup finely chopped red onion, 1 teaspoon cumin, 3 cloves of minced garlic, 3 cups vegetable broth, 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, 1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin, 1 cup cheese of choice (I use feta), 1/2 cup of sliced green onions.

Place tomatoes and black beans in a food processor; process until about half the beans are smooth. I like mine a little smoother so it’s a personal preference.

Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion to pan; saute 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Add cumin and garlic; saute 1 minute. Add bean mixture, broth, and next 3 ingredients (through the pumpkin); bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in sherry.  Ladle about 1 cup of soup into a bowl, sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of cheese and 1 tablespoon of green onions.  Yields: 6 cups

Per Serving:  Protein 10g, Fiber 9.3 g, Iron 3mg, calcium 139 mg, fat 3.1 g, calories 175

ENJOY!

New Year Update

A lot has happened since my last post:

Favorite Man deployed in mid-Oct and has been doing well so far. I’m thrilled three months are done and it’s all that much closer to him coming home.

Favorite Girl is excelling at school. I was a little worried about how she would react to the deployment since the last deployment proved to be detrimental to her school work. This time, since she’s older, she’s better able to understand what FM is doing and she knows a lot of the Soldiers he’s working with there.  At the beginning of the school year, FG started playing the Viola and LOVES it. I’m certainly not a music expert but she sounds good to me. Her orchestra teacher told FG yesterday she’s been chosen to play the viola in the “solo” concert so she must be doing something right.

My mom has been visiting since Thanksgiving and, as always, she’s been spoiling all of us ~ dogs included. We’re going to miss her a lot and hopefully she’ll be back before we know it. Maybe when the weather gets warmer.

I continue to enjoy working although there are days I would rather be a part-time employee   So far my goal for getting into great physical shape hasn’t happened but I have met a financial goal already so now I have no excuse not to concentrate on EXERCISING. It’s just so darn hard to do in the cold.

Another goal is to update the blog at least once a week so if you’re still a reader of this blog, come back again. It’ll motivate me to update.

Our Fall Staycation

We thought about going away for the long weekend but, since it’s Favorite Man’s last weekend in NY for a year, Favorite Girl wanted to spend it here at the house. And so we’re having a great “staycation.”

I’ve especially enjoyed sleeping in until 8 each morning. Normally I get up at 5:15 am. Yesterday at church, the priest called up all deploying Soldiers so they could get a special blessing and scapular. No not spatula but scapular. It was sad to see the 13 Soldiers standing there but that’s one thing about Fort Drum ~ there’s always Soldiers deploying or coming home.

Even though it’s back to work and school tomorrow, we’re enjoying the beauty of these fall days.

Saturday Night Lights

It’s fall and we’re enjoying a football game under the lights.

Gotta love the fall colors, crisp air, hot chocolate while watching the football games and chatting with friends. One of the moms said “She doesn’t do hats” and I had to reply with “I don’t do cold.”   I have no pride when it comes to staying warm!!

Happy Fall to all of you!

Fitness Goal

One of the best things to do during a deployment is to stay busy with activities, volunteering, work, etc. I like setting goals which makes me feel productive while Favorite Man is away. My number one goal for this deployment is to get FIT!

Since I started working nearly a year ago, I feel very out of shape. My goal is to be fit but not to lose weight. In fact, I’d love to bulk up a bit.

I had four days off this weekend and decided to hit the track with Favorite Man. He provided much needed fitness tips. The biggest challenge will be making the time for exercise in between time with Favorite Girl, work and housework.

Wish me luck. I can use all the encouragement I can get…

Deployment Ceremony Photos

Here are a few photos from the Deployment Ceremony:

Regional Cheer Competition

Favorite Girl participated in her second regional Cheer Competition and for the second year in a row, the team placed within the top three and will be heading to the State Competition later this month. Her team got 1st place this year and also were awarded the “Spirit Trophy” ~ they wore orange ribbons in their hair in support of a team member who is battling cancer and was unable to cheer at the competition but she did come to watch her teammates.

Unfortunately, Favorite Man will be gone by then so, like last year, he’ll miss all the excitement of hundreds of screaming 9-14 year old cheerleaders. Reminds me to get the ear plugs ready for the event

Deployment Ceremony

The 2BCT Deployment Ceremony was blessed with near perfect North country Weather. The ceremony is conducted so the units who are deploying can “case” their colors (unit flags) and then they “uncase” the colors when they arrive in-country. It marks the official start of a deployment. It was heartwarming to see the  huge crowd of Family members in attendance.  Please keep everyone in your thoughts and prayers during the year long separation.

For a glimpse of the ceremony, click on http://www.wwnytv.com/news/local/61509512.html

Note: Favorite Man is at about the -13 (the end of the clip).

39 and several months

Happy Birthday to Favorite Man! It was actually last Wednesday but we’ve been celebrating it all week. We didn’t have time to bake a cake on Wednesday (that was run to the ER night) so he got his cake on Friday, we went out for a birhtday lunch on Saturday and since I had to order his birthday gift we’ll still be celebrating next week. Talk about milking it…

Since he’ll be away for his birthday next year, it’s just as well he’s getting to celebrate it multiple days this year.