Forever and a Day

It's been too long!!

My life has been upside down and spinning since February now. We are slowly chipping away at the elephant sized mess that is our stuff, organizing, purging, folding, hanging, storing.

Exhausting.

David and my Dad, and David's cousin Micah, and brother Jesurun drove the long long journey to Regina two weekends ago to retrieve our things, stacked high to the ceiling of our old house. The plan went perfectly, everything went smoothly, safely. The scariest thing was the cold they had to endure on their trip, a biting -33, with -45 windchill. This is not the type of weather you want to get stuck outside in for very long, it quite literally takes your breathe away.

It was so cold, in fact, that the gas pumps were frozen and they nearly ran out of gas on the way there!! The third gas station they stopped at, David managed to will a little diesel down the frozen line. The truck wouldn't have gone another 20 feet without it, they were so low on fuel, it had barely continued to that gas station from the stop light they had just stopped at.

But they made it! There, and back, in one weekend. 50 hours of travel in three days. Impossible? Almost!

I have been asked multiple times if I am enjoying being home, the answer is YES!! I was hesitant at first because with every life change brings a new dynamic to your relationships, your family, but David and I are enjoying so much going on date nights, taking the kids to Beacon Hill Park, and strolling along the beach.

I hope your weekend is sunshine and roses :)
xoxo Meredith

My little stinker is 5 months old tomorrow! Time flies!

Boxes X 10 Million

So we're moving. Again! This time is a more joyous move, we're moving HOME! I am also so scared because we're finally just doing it, it seems too good to be true!

We decided on Wednesday, my Mom flew out Thursday, and we're packing Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and flying out on Monday! Well, David's driving (ugh) but I'm flying back with my Mom and the kids. Wish us luck!

*Don't you wish your life was this fun?

Mandarin Grilled Chicken Salad

From Style At Home Magazine.

Ingredients
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 lemon, juiced
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 small cans mandarin oranges
1 avocado
1/2 cup sliced almonds, toasted
4 large Romaine leaves, cut into bite size pieces

Directions

1) In a small bowl, whisk the lemon juice, olive oil and oregano until well combined. Add the crushed garlic. Place the chicken breasts into a ziploc bag and pour the marinade over the chicken in the bag. Tightly close the bag and shake to make sure the marinade is well distributed. Leave to marinade in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

2) Set a pan on medium heat and add a good drizzle of olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken breast to the pan, discarding any leftover marinade. Season with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Leave untouched for about 4 minutes, turn over and season again. Cook for another 4 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked through. Remove from heat and reserve.

3) In your serving bowl, add the chopped romaine. Dice the chicken into bite size pieces and add to the salad. Drain the mandarin oranges and add them in. Cut the avocado into bite-size cubes and add them in. Add the vinaigrette a few minutes before serving and top with the almonds.

Vinaigrette
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons lemon juice
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a small bowl whisk together the Dijon mustard and lemon juice. Once the mixture is homogeneous, add the olive oil and whisk until smooth. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper.Serves 4.

I made this for dinner last night and it was awesome! I would definitely recommend! I'm discovering magazines are one of the best places for recipes! Enjoy!

Little Elves Made This

How cute, little elf hats from Grandma. The one for Jamison is so cute too, I should really post another picture!

xxoo

Three Months and Counting

Jamison was three months old on the 19th. Recent achievements include - First time in jumper, (see above) and first time in Bumbo (see below). So far he likes the jumper, hates the bumbo. Typical of what seems to be my super active children.

Amaris is still under the weight limit for the jumper and she was super excited to have a try (hasn't been in it since about 8 months old). So I thought what the heck. Pretty awesome funny. Good way to burn off some steam, especially since it was -35, -45 with windchill that day. Most definitely not outside play weather. This is also the reason most of Canada is unpopulated. And the parts like this that are populated, leaves the population asking, "Why do we live here again?"

He is soooo ticklish!

Chili

Basically anyone with a cookbook can get a quick chili recipe, just thought I'd share my tried and true recipe, never fails. Also, I posted the hamburger soup recipe I always use here. It went into a earlier date because I posted pictures awhile ago and didn't open a new page to post the recipe this week. Oh well.

Chili
1 lb extra lean ground beef
1 medium onion chopped or 1/2 cup
1 clove garlic, finelychopped
1 can diced tomatoes, undrained (14 oz)
1 can tomato sauce
1 tbsp chili powder
3/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 can (15-16 oz) kidney or pinto beans, rinesed and drained.

Cook beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until brown, stir in remaining ingredients, except beans. Heat to boiling, reduce heat, cover and simmer 1 hour, stir occasionally.
Stir in beans, heat to boiling, reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes, or until desired thickness.
This also freezes great, and we usuallly eat with rice. David really enjoys chili or soup or stew of some sort after working a 8-10 hour day in -18!

Bay Windows

One of the favorite things about my 100+ year old house is the bay windows. I LOVE light. They are big, gorgeous, and brighten up my whole living room. I left them un-curtained because they look out over our pool (which is nice to have in full view) and our totally private backyard. I could dance around in our living room like an idiot and no one could see me. And I do.

Anyways, our landlords were trying to sell the house, and I get a phone call saying they are coming to put curtains up in my beautiful windows. Oh yes. Oh no.
This is what happened.

Now, it wouldn't be so bad if all of our furniture wasn't black (David's firm decision about the couches, he is now receding to get lighter ones next time). BUT the brown, furry pillow (which says "Kennel Mat" on the tag) I had a hard time keeping out on display even for the open houses and house showings, which is what they wanted them there for. I didn't know 'putting up curtains' would also mean a display of not-so-my-taste pillows.

Anyways, the house sold (to people that looked at it BEFORE the curtains and pillows I'll have you know), so I took down the curtains finally. The new owners can put them back up if they want when they move in.

I'm went through some boxes downstairs of our stuff and found some curtains I like better.

I still need more too it, it's looking a little bare. But they're white and breezy. This is what I'd do if I owned the house: