The Best - Whitest - Enchilladas Ever! 1

My husband travels...a lot...usually when he is gone I NEVER cook for myself.  My typical dinner is one of the following:

1. Wine
2. Beer
3. Cereal
4. Apple with cinnamon and peanut butter
5. Popcorn
6. Nothing

Really healthy stuff, my body really appreciates it!

This week the husband is away all 5 days, and my BFF stayed over for a few nights.  So I thought I would actually cook a recipe that I can never make because Rams strongly dislikes it.

My Mother's Chicken Enchiladas (the whitest enchiladas possible)!

This is one you need:
   Chicken (Rotisserie is the best because it is so easy)
   2 cans of Cream of Chicken soup
   Green onion
   Small can of diced chilles
   Tortillas (12)
   Cheese - gratted and blocked
   1pt (2 cups - 16 ounces) of sourcream

Here is what you do...super easy!

1. Mix the sourcream, soup cans, diced onions, chilles all together.  Let me warn you, it doesn't look appetizing, but it is!

2. Cut the block cheese into little strips

3. Shred the chicken

4. Now take your toritillas and do the following...

           -Spread about a tablespoon of the mixtures on the tortilla

           -Put a few srips of cheese in the middle 

           -Add some chicken

           -Roll up the tortilla and place seam side down into a 9x13 pan

           -Repeat until all 12 tortillas are done

 5.  All rolled up and ready for the next step.



Grizzly wanted some too!

6.  Now spread the remaining mixture on top of the toritillas, and add the shredded cheese.  You can decide how much to add!

 7.  Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. 

8. Enjoy the deliciousness of this wonderful food!!!

Hope you try it and like it as much as I do. 

My Mom Beat the Odds! 1

Lots has happened since my last blogging spree - let me spend a few days filling you in! I may not be on every day, but I'll work up to that.

My last post in March eluded to an emergency with my Mom.  Well, there was a HUGE emergency.

I got a random text at about 2:00am from my Dad saying that my he had taken my Mom to the ER that night because she was really sick with the flu. She was unable to walk and just not acting like herself.  After admitting her into the ER, they took her blood pressure and it was almost non-existent.  

They immediately admitted her to the ICU.

The first night was touch and go. 

After that first night in the hospital my Dad told the nurse that he was going to go home and get some sleep.  The nurse's response was "you know she is critical right".  That is how serious and grave the situation was.

After she was semi-stabilized they finally were able to start trying to figure out what was going on in her body.

After many many many test she was diagnosed with Neisseria Meningitidis.  
For those of you who watch dancing with the stars this is what Amy Purdy contracted that caused her to become a double amputee!

Credit

Nerisseria Meningitatis is the bacteria that causes Meningitis.  Typically this bacteria attacks the brain, spinal cord and causes bloodstream infections. 

My Mom had Sepsis/Septic Shock/Septicemia. When someone has Meningococcal Septicemia, the bacteria enters the bloodstream and multiplies, damaging the walls of the blood vessels which leads to internal and external bleeding.  It basically causes the body shut down completely.

This is what caused her to fight for her life.

She was in the ICU for days.  
During this time she had fluid in her lungs, was put on a bi-pap machine because she had too much stress on her lungs with the fluids, was heavily sedated because her body was using all of itself to fight this infection. 

The right hand side shows you fluid (all of the foggy white junk, lungs should be basically black) - this was after a few weeks of treatment. Before both lungs were full.

I finally got home the day my mom was discharged from the ICU.  I stayed with her in the hospital for the next week.

She slowly became herself again.  Could finally speak without effort.  Breath without oxygen.  Stand up without assistance.  

Quality hospital time

On day number 15 she was let out of the hospital with a spleen that is no longer functioning and a lot lighter! She was so happy to be home...and the dogs were even happier to have her home!

Finally home!

Today she is back to normal.  She is herself again! 

She is a statistic that is usually not a positive one.  Doctors rarely see and/or treat a case like hers in their entire medical career.  What she had is more rare than being struck by lightening. She was lucky.

Those days were the scariest, most physically, mentally and emotionally taxing days I've experienced.  I can't describe what it was like, nor can I begin to try to explain it.  

To this day I can't think of those few weeks without becoming emotional.  I cry, I laugh, I thank God.  She fought like hell to survive and I am so thankful she did!  

One can never know what life has in store. Don't ever forget to give those you love extra hugs and kisses...and never forget to tell them how much you love them!

I'm B-A-A-C-K! 2

It has been 242 days since I last posted in blog land. 

I've received a lot of "miss you", "when are you writing again?" messages and have decided to try to get back into my little space of the interwebs.

A lot has gone on in the last 240 some odd days and I'm getting ready to start updating you all.  Let me brief you on what the next few weeks will bring...

• My wonderful, stong, fighter of a Mom survived a rare infection.  It was the scariest month of my life!
• My husband, sister, cousin and in-laws took a long trip to Sri Lanka
• I turned the big 3-0
• Went to Vegas to see Brittney Spears
• Lost some weight
• Work stuff...but unfortunately can't blog about that.

Stay tuned.  I may not be posting daily, but I will try my best to work up to that!

Thanks for sticking with me everyone!

Update 2

Good Monday morning all...

Well as you can see I haven't been on lately. 

There was a family emergency and my mom has been in the ICU for about 4 days. 

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers!

Getting to know me 1

I haven't done a random facts/getting to know you post since I began this blog a little over a year ago.  Since my readers have grown I wanted to do a post with a little more about myself.

I found these questions on a blog I found "September in Seattle".  I liked how random they are so it will cover a bit of everything

Do you have a middle name?  
My middle name is Elaine.  It is also my Mom's middle name.  Growing up I wished that Elaine was my first name because I hated

What was your favorite subject in school?
I've never had a favorite actually! I enjoy them all!

What's your favorite drink?
I like all kinds of drinks.  In the morning it is Coffee, but I'm super picky when it comes to the brand and flavor.  Afternoons I head to tea or diet cokes.  At night I'll usually have water or wine.
 


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  What's your favorite song at the moment?
I rarely listen to the radio or music.  I much more of a talk radio person.  But as far as favorite songs I would say anything that is Carrie Underwood, FUN or from the Nashville show I would stop and listen. 

What's your favorite animal?
Whales and Elephants.  Whales because I've been fascinated with them since elementary school, they are magnificent.  Elephants is more of a recent thing.  Elephants are very sacred in the Buddhist culture.  My husband is Buddhist so the more I learn the more I love them.

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What would you name your children?
Well since kids are really not in our future, I'm not too sure of names.  One name I love though is Sutton.  For some reason I think that is adorable!
 
Do you participate in any sports?
Nope.  I used to be on a swim team though and dabbled in T-Ball, golf, and volleyball.  None of which I have any skills.

What's your favorite color?
Blue, black, salmon, teal

What's your favorite perfume?

New Harlem by Bond No9.  It smells like sweet and amazing pancakes...in the world of Bond No9 it is known as "sexy pancake"
 

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What's your favorite holiday?
Christmas...it's the most wonderful time of the year!
 Have you been out of the country?
Mexico, Canada and Sri Lanka.  Headed back to Sri Lanka in 112 days!!

Do you speak any other languages?
No.  I'm learning Spanish and can say a few things in Singhalese. 
 
Do you have any siblings?
I have two older sisters.

What's your favorite store?
Anthropologie. I could go on and on and on about this store because it is seriously my version of Heaven.
 

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What's your favorite restaurant?
Anything that serves Sushi and drinks.
 
 Who are some of your favorite YouTubers?
I only watch one person on YouTube and that is Kate from TheSmallThingsBlog

What's your favorite movie? 
EverAfter.  It is one of those movies if I see it on TV I will stop and watch the whole thing.
 

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What are some of your favorite TV shows?
Blacklist, White Collar, NCIS, Bones, Amazing Race, Millionaire Match Matcher...the list goes on and on.  It is kind of pathetic actually.

How tall are you?
I am a towering 5'10"

Any pets? Yes, we have two fur babies.  Grizzly Bear is a Mastiff and Roscoe is a Puggle.  Roscoe is a diva and Griz is just plain sweet.  

Shoes 0

I have a new obsession...thanks to the Husband.

A few months ago while he was traveling for work in India and the Philippines he told me about these women's shoes he really liked.  He said I'm going to see if I can find me a pair.  So that trip he brought my first pair of Tory Burch shoes. That sparked an interest in this wonderful brand of clothes, bags and shoes.



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So, after wearing these beauties things for a few months I was dreaming of another pair.  So one day we were out in Beverly Hills/LA and I found another pair that I love EVEN MORE. 



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I was in need of a new pair of heels/wedges; I've been wearing the same place high heels since 2003 (that is NO lie).  These wedges are probably one of the most comfortable pair of shoes I own.  I would wear these every day if that were acceptable.
 
So, thank you Tory Burch for making cute and comfortable shoes. 



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 I am forever in your debt...and so is my bank account.
 


My Not So Perfect Wedding 3

Wedding season is approaching!  I am mildly obsessed with all things relating to weddings.  My DVR is set to record all episodes of "Say Yes to the Dress", "Four Weddings", David Tutera's wedding shows...and whatever else I see related to the subject!

I think I love them because I live vicariously through those who seem to have the perfect day planned out.  They have touching ceremonies and perfect receptions.  The dress they choose is the best for them and incredibly glamorous.  All of these brides and grooms get flawless weddings to remember for a lifetime.

Allow me to rewind 7 years and talk about our big day.
While I wouldn't change the groom (obviously), the family and friends that were able to share our day, the church we were married in, my dress and much more...I would definitely like a re-do. 

There are a 3 major things that happened that put a little hitch in our day.

- Disaster Number 1:  The -

      The first thing we did after getting engaged was book our reception venue.  I grew up in Billings, Montana and that is where we decided to get married.  There are places to hold receptions/events, but not hundreds.  In order to get your favorite venue you have to book far in advance. We booked our reception at a place downtown that is beautiful. The reception area is near the top floor so it over looks downtown and the rest of the city.  Quite a pretty sight during the holidays. All of my thoughts were coming together.!
And then we got a call that they double booked the reception room.  We were the ones that got the kicked to the curb (unless we wanted to share the space with the other wedding going on). 
Umm, no thank you.   
So what did we do? 
I had only one choice with 2 months notice. 
The only place available was the one location that I said that I would NEVER have my wedding reception. 

-Disaster Number 2:  The No-Show Groomsmen -

      Yep, you read that correctly.  One of Ram's groomsmen failed to show up for our big day.  All of his groomsmen were coming to Montana from different states.  We made sure they had their flights and/or ways of transportation arranged to get to Montana. 
Everything was going according to plans and schedules. 
That is until we called the no-show groomsmen to make sure he was on the road.  This was about 4 days before the wedding. He was just packing the car for the drive.
The next day we called to see how the drive was.  They were just heading out of town (Minneapolis, MN). 
The next day we called...no answer. 
We called again...no answer. 
Finally the day before the wedding came and still the no-show groomsmen had not been heard from of seen. 
The wedding days hits and still no groomsmen.  
To this day we have little contact with this person and never heard the reason for his disappearance or an apology for not coming to our wedding.  
Seven years later it still pisses me off when I think about it!

-Disaster Number 3: The Deceased Florist -

     We were working with a florist in the original hotel that the reception was to be held in.  We loved working with her and had all of our reception and ceremony arrangements set to go. The day before the rehearsal we called to make sure that everything was scheduled and ready for the big day.  We left a few messages but she failed to call us back. 
The day of the rehearsal came and we still hadn't heard from the florist. 
Finally during the rehearsal dinner we got a call saying that she had passed away a few days earlier. 
Yes, she passed away! 
The person on the phone said something to the effect of "we will do our best to accommodate your wedding tomorrow".
They did do their best, but it wasn't anywhere close to what we had originally planned. 

While our day was no where near perfect the outcome was still amazing.  I was able to marry my husband, spend time with friends and family and have some great stories to go along with it.

There you have it, the story of my wonderful and not so perfect wedding!

3 month update in one post! 3

Since I haven't been around since December 18, 2013 I thought I'd give you a quick update as to what my life has been filled with.

You would think that after 3 months away I would have tons to share with you, but sadly I don't.  None  the less I will share with you anyway!

1. I traveled to Montana to spend some time with the family over the holidays.  75% of us had the stomach flu for the majority of the time. I still am demanding a do-over...
2. I've been working...
3. I've been losing weight (12 inches and 20ish pounds down).  I just ordered  a new swim tether so I am anticipating that will help move things along as well...
4. I've had a bought with skin cancer. This depresses me. No more long days in the sun by the pool...
5. I've planned a Sri Lanka trip coming in 115 days.  The husband, sister, in-laws and aunt will all be joining the fun...
6. I've become obsessed with Tory Burch shoes...
7. I got my best friend addicted to the best store ever, Anthropologie...they even tweeted me back!
8. I've discovered my banana tree is actually producing bananas...

There is my rundown of the past few months.

I am seriously looking forward to reconnecting with you all!  

Refreshed 3

I took a break from blogging for awhile...as you can tell. 

I want to start blogging again because I miss all of you wonderful people and I miss the outlet that this little webpage provides me.  I miss the comments and interaction I get from this blog world!

Even with a little more than 100 followers I feel that blogging is a lot of pressure.  More pressure that I realized...that is why I took a break.  For myself.  For me too miss it and want to get back into it. 

So here I go.

Next Monday I'm coming back to you all.  I can't guarantee it will all be exciting, but I'm going to share with you some opinions, some recipes, some pictures and some life challenges and lessons I've learned.  Heck I've got a little over a month until I'm 30...might as well share with you all my "ah ha" moments.

I will see you all in a few days - bright eyed and ready to go!

Thank you all for staying around - I appreciate it more than you know!