23 January 2013

12 Dates at Home for 2013

One of mine & Corey's favorite things to do is steal time away from our littles & have some one-on-one time. We LOVE dates! Even boring dates! We feel so refreshed after spending time together away from the littles. Now that we've moved across the Atlantic and are settling in we are looking for a trustworthy, teenage (cheap), babysitter. It's harder to find than you would think! So, in the meantime we've (or rather I) have come up with some Home Dates for after the kids go to bed. Hopefully, we can make them just as much fun as going out! I came up with 12 & we'll do one a month, or just start repeating. If you have any to share, PLEASE do!!
Without further ado...

12 Dates at Home with the Husband
1) Spa Night- full body massage(s), with candles & relaxation music, the works!
2) Spa Night- hands & feet massages, again with candles & relaxation music. Can you tell I love massages?
3) Man Movie Night- Corey gets to pick the movie, with our favorite movie theater snacks.
4) Chick Flick Night- Theresa gets to pick the movie (which will most likely NOT be a chick flick), again snacks! You've got to make it authentic/special!!
5) Fire Pit Night- light up the fire pit, bust out the smores, & cuddle, all while star-gazing.
6) Book Night- read aloud to each other, while cuddling & maybe foot rubs.
7) DIY Project Night- do something together around the house, most likely something fun like painting canvases
8) Video Game Night- This one is TOTALLY for Corey, he always wants me to play & I really dont like to.
9) Board/ Card Game Night- Settlers? War? Battleship? who knows, but we'll spice it up with cheese, crackers & wine!
10) Decadent Dessert by Candlelight- preferably a bakery ordered baked good, so I dont have to cook! ;)
11) Corey's Free Pick
12) Theresa's Free Pick

I hope this list might inspire you to try some special time with your love. Our date nights are Wednesdays... oh that's tonight... what to do, what to do? :)

19 January 2013

Menu Plan 1/21- 1/27

Menu Plan Monday!!

Seriously, one of the happiest parts of being settled again is the ability to menu plan fully. I am a complete nerd for this, I know it, and I am thoroughly okay with it. (I was also VERY excited to vacuum again). Anywho!! Here is our Menu Plan for January 21st- 27th, 2013.

1/21: B-cereal, rice milk, apple
          L- rice, leftover meat & veggies
          S- chocolate loaf, PB cream cheese spread, banana
          D- Baked Tacos, salad, corn

1/22: B- pancakes, eggs, orange
          L- pizza pucks, salad
          S- more chocolate loaf
          D- Loaded Baked Potatoes, broccoli

1/23: B- oatmeal, raisins
          L- PBJ, carrots w/ranch
          S- Wheat Thins, cheese sticks, applesauce
          D- Corey Request: Mac & Cheese California Baby Blend veggies, crunchy chicken

1/24: B-pancakes, bananas
          L- corn dog, green beans
          S- homemade pretzel bites, grapes
          D- Vegetarian Chili & cornbread (I'm looking forward to this one!!)

1/25: B- cereal, grapes, rice milk
          L- leftovers
          S- graham crackers, yogurt, apple slices
          D- Cobb Salad

1/26: B- cinnamon butter crescent rolls, berries
          L- out
          S- spinach artichoke dip, french bread
          D- Beefy Spaghetti, salad, parmesan garlic twists (a la Roundtable Pizza)

1/27: B- cinnamon butter crescent rolls, bananas
          L- PBJ, carrots w/ranch
          S- nillas, pudding
          D- Leftovers

Our theme next week for "school"ing purposes is British Culture, so we will be making Shortbread cookies. Friday nights are Family Fun Nights, so we are making Best Brownies Ever.
If you would like recipes to any of these feel free to email or FB me. Some are also on my Pinterest Yums board.
What are you eating?

The 2 months Run-Down

I don't even know where to start on updating my blog. I feel like I almost need to re-introduce myself.
Want a run down of the last 2 months? Okay here we go...
*We lived in TLF (that's the base hotel, but it has a full kitchen & a living room, so like a condo) for 3 weeks. 2 weeks in a pet-friendly one (i.e. older & slightly stinky) & 1 week in a regular one (i.e. HUGE). Both were great.
*We had trouble with finances for about a MONTH! so frustrating. The Government Travel Card got messed up. The banks took forever to link up so we could transfer money in between them. Corey couldn't transfer his direct deposit for a long time. The travel voucher, the housing allowance, the housing allowance advance, and all that stuff of course took a long time also. BUT we are all settled in the finance department & figuring out our new bank's online system & how to pay our British bills & American bills.
*We moved into our new home the 7th of December, but we didn't get our household goods until December 31st. Until then we used borrowed furniture from the military & what we had with us.
*We bought a new car, a VW Roba (Rubba? idk), it's Corey's work car. It's a little, nothing remotely fancy car. We had plans of buying 2 cars, but a long story short, the bank is weird & even though we have perfect credit we weren't able to. SO we have to go to another bank & take out another loan. The first one was only $3k, so no biggie. BUT our car rental is due back by the 24th, so we need to get on it.
*Everything moves slow here & business all close around 530pm.
*We got our internet connected this week! And while I am soooo beyond thrilled to be connected again, our connection is too slow to be able to watch Hulu. We just live in a bad area (which by the way, most of the housing areas around here are bad areas for internet, go figure).
*Will started school the 7th of January. He goes 3 times a week, Monday 9-3, Wednesday 1-4, and Friday 9-3. The first week was hard adjusting. One of the teachers corrected him & now he freaks out just seeing her. In 100% honesty, she is overly nice/sweet when we come, which makes me think she may not be so sweet when parents aren't there. Maybe I'm paranoid, maybe it's instinct from working in childcare, or maybe it's just mommy instinct, but whatever it is I keep an eye on her. lol. He loves the food they cook & likes his Key Caregiver Jamie & another teacher Lottie. It's also hard on him going 6 hours those 2 days, but I see it as preparation for Reception, which he starts in the fall.
*I've started a PWOC bible study (Protestant Women of the Chapel), didn't know it existed. I think it's going to be good. I chose Faithful Abundant True, a study by Kay Arthur, Beth Moore, & Pricilla Shirer. I'm excited & hope to make some good friends there too.
*Our final crate of household goods (it was split to clear customs faster) arrives Monday! Hopefully all of the hardware that is missing for our bookshelves, Sophie's bed, & Will's bed is in there! Our dinning table will be in there & our hampers! lol. Good news: because we had it split, when they come to give us the rest of it, they will take all the boxes from the previous shipment! SCHWEET!
*Our house, like all British houses, is small & has little storage, but I am already getting used to it. We are asking our landlord to invest in a shed, because we do have quite a bit of outdoor stuff that needs it.
*It snowed! I was excited to move here for the hope of snow & people tried to crush those hopes, telling me it doesn't snow in England where we will be. Well, maybe it doesn't normally, but it snowed a good amount this past week! Take that nay-sayers! ;)

I'm sure there are things I forgot. Although we aren't fully settled (are military families ever really settled though?) we are getting there! We are making friends, searching for a church, organizing our house, finding our favorite places, and most importantly having fun with each other & the whole process.

Now that we have internet, look for me to catch up here in Bloggyland & to update more often. I hope you all are doing well wherever you may be, geographically, stage in your life, & spiritually.