Keep the Change

I hate change. Not the coin kind so much, but life change. I’m a big proponent of structure, you see, I take after my MeMe, who once said “I don’t get it. Those planes won us WWII, they should work just fine now.” My PaPaw doesn’t understand why they even bother to make any pizza besides peperoni, one kind is enough for him and it should be for everyone else, too.

The change I’m upset about right now? Windows 7. I just got a new computer and, while I’m excited, I have to ask: Why must I keep relearning operating systems? What was so wrong with Vista? Why are all my buttons different? My task bar has changed! Why? Vista worked just fine, and more importantly, I KNEW HOW TO FREAKIN’ USE IT.

LT Fromage says change is good. It means improvement he tells me. Easy for him to say, he’s still running Vista (however, when we get him a new computer, I’m sure he’ll catch right on to whatever the new OS is it will come with at that time).

I haven’t even broken 30 yet and I’m already “that lady”, the one who doesn’t “get” the iphone (I can send texts and make calls with my handy slider phone, and even snap pictures. What more do you need?) and refused to buy a bluray player because her whole collection of movies was on DVD (My brother in law finally convinced me that a bluray player will in fact play my DVDs just fine, so I finally broke down and bought one for LT Fromage’s birthday… though it took me 3 hours on the phone with said brother in law to set it up). I drive an ’04 Ford without one of those fancy clickers that unlocks the doors (who needs it? I can unlock it with my key!) or XM radio (I’m still clinging to AM/FM and the occasional CD).

Just wait ‘til I’m 80. I don’t even want to think about the crazy evolutions in technology I’ll have seen by then. Rest assured I’ll take after my grandparents and have lots of opinions about the “advancements” and “improvements”. Why wait ‘til 80? I’ll start now. Stupid Windows 7… Vista worked just fine, and it still does. Who the H3LL thought we needed to upgrade…?

Sharin' the Love

Thank you to Sara, from Sara and her Soldier (who happens to be my in-real-life-bestie-also-a-non-sucky-Army-Wife-buddy, be sure to check out her blog!) for this award!

Now for the "rules" of this award:

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.

2. Answer 10 questions

3. Pass it along to blogs you've recently discovered and enjoy
4. Leave your recipients a note, telling them about the award

The 10 Questions...

1. Why did you create this blog?

Because I like having a captive audience. Just kidding. Sort of…

2. What kinds of blogs do you follow?

Mostly Mormon girls. (even though I myself am Roman Catholic)

3. Favorite make-up brand?

Bare Minerals

4. Favorite clothing brand?

I do most of my shopping at Target, but if it looks good, fits and doesn’t break the bank, I’m not picky

5. Indispensable makeup product?

Eye liner. Love.

6. Favorite color?

Green

7. Favorite perfume?

Ashamed to say I don’t have one. I do love a light body spray though; vanilla in the winter and coconut lime in the summer.

8. Favorite film?

I have to pick just one? Lars and the Real Girl or Rocky Horror Picture Show. It’s a tie.

9. What country would you like to visit and why?

I’m not much of a traveler, I’m pretty happy to stay right here in the good old US of A.

10. Would you rather forget to put mascara on one eye or forget blush on one side of your face?

Mascara, fo’ sho’. I need my bronzer (I don’t use blush) or I’m white as a ghost.

Now to pass it on to some wonderful bloggers...

The Great and Random Ramblings of Cannwin

q.D.PaToOtieS

Pulsipher Predilections

Carousel Horses

A few pictures of the carousel horse I’ve been working on in my “spare time” (used loosely, that should read, “when I ought to be working on school/mopping/cleaning cages and or cat boxes/making supper”).

What a steal, I got it for $35!

The paint cost me another $30 (I’m using house paints! I love how Home Depot now sells sample sizes!)

Worth every penny so far, I’m having a blast restoring it!

I’m also loving Randy Montana’s new song, 1,000 Faces, and you can download it free on iTunes this week (and you totally should!)

That is all.

Back to cleaning out the “mouse house” and mopping the floor….

Ooops, I Did It Again

First off, SAIMI! Email me at jme_lee85 at yahoo dot com for your prize!

I feel off the face of the earth once more. I know, I said it wouldn’t happen again, but hey, it did.

I’ve been too busy making lists: What do we need to do before he leaves? (Buy a new computer, new camera, stock up on toiletries, replace his broken rosary….)

Lists for what needs to be done today, which are always too long (pull yourself together, do laundry, dishes, shovel the driveway –again-, work on classes, speed-read every deployment book on the shelf… blog….)

Sadly, blogging has fallen closer to the bottom of the to-do list than I thought it would. Sigh. Following blogs has nearly completely fallen off, but I promise, I miss y’all and plan on some serious catching up!

So forgive me for not having material to post recently. First deployment syndrome is setting in and the reality that this time next month, I’ll be seeing LT Fromage off for the long 12 months ahead, counting down the hours until his 2 week leave when he can come home from Afghanistan.

So readers, I promise things will pick back up, just as soon as I get the dogs bathed, the trash taken out, floor mopped and finish that chapter of “I’m Already Home Again”.

Butterfingers

No, not the tasty candy bar. I am a butter fingers. (But, man, don’t you want some chocolate with a buttery crunch now?)

When LT Fromage and I got married, we didn’t bother registering for china, I would have broken it before we made it to our first anniversary. Just like the coffee pot I broke in a hotel in New York. It was “the most tired I have ever been” (That quote has become infamous in the Fromage household), so tired that I was unable to grip the light and tiny, empty glass pot. After a loud crash, LT Fromage yelled from the shower, “Is everything ok?” to which I replied, “Uhm, yes. There’s just broken glass in the sink… I’m going to head to the lobby for coffee, would you like me to bring you some as well?”

I broke another coffee pot after that; it was LT Fromage’s coffee pot. His fancy-schmancy, 12-cup, with a timer, “I’m a real coffee drinker, look at this baby” coffee pot. He wasn’t home when I dropped it, so I quickly swept up the evidence and put my old, 4-cup “I’m a single lady who doesn’t drink much coffee” brewing system out. Of course, he noticed.* We used my old single lady machine for a while, but when he grew tired to brewing multiple pots over the course of breakfast, we purchased a new, larger coffee pot. Which I haven’t yet broken (Knock on wood) because LT Fromage is now in charge of coffee preparations.

*However, it wasn’t until he went to brew a pot and, thrown off by the small size, used a cup cake paper instead of a coffee filter. Which he would say was my bad, for keeping the cup cake liners nestled inside the coffee filters. Regardless of who was at fault, the coffee maker was filled with sludgey coffee grounds and we learned that a cup cake holder cannot be substituted for a filter.

More unfortunate than the broken coffee pots are the dishes that, at the time they were dropped, held food I had labored over. Ok, so I didn’t actually “labor over” the instant mashed potatoes (Ouch, yes, I am that lazy sometimes. I just hate mashing those darn spuds…). But, right before supper time my Pyrex mixing bowl was in pieces on the floor in a mess of “potatoes” (If you can call them that...). Perhaps the most devastating was the time I spent all afternoon making an aioli sauce for LT Fromage, who had once had it at a professor’s home and was lamenting over how he hadn’t had it since. Dinner time had arrived, the chicken was ready to plate, I reached for the sauce and CRASH. Aioli on the floor and another broken bowl. Damn.

I’ve broken many other dishes prior and since those incidences, thus, the decision to forgo the china and invest in Corelle dishware instead, which don’t break when dropped. Believe me, I’ve tried.

Tag! I'm IT!

Oh my! I've been tagged a few times I see! Well ready, set, go!

1. If you have pets, do you see them as merely animals, or are they members of your family?

They are absolutely members of the family! They even get stockings filled at Christmas time. If that doesn’t make them family members, then I don’t know what does!

2. If you can have a dream to come true, what would it be?

I’d love to one day live on more land than I could ever need with a happy, healthy family and a few cows.

3. What is the one thing most hated by you?

Airports. I loath airports in a way I can’t even explain….

4. What would you do with a billion dollars?

Buy my parents out of their house and then buy off their neighbors and live out question number 2.

5. What helps to pull you out of a bad mood?

Cleaning.

6. Which is more blessed, loving someone or being loved by someone?

Can you pick just one? Combined is the best way to love!


7. What is your bedtime routine?

By 9PM we have water boiling for mugs of mint tea with vanilla creamer (yum), brush our teeth, clean our faces and snuggle up with good books and warm drinks, pop a melatonin and make sure my stuffed cow, Sir Loin, is all tucked in with us. (Poor LT Fromage, when he bought me that cow 4 Christmases ago, he never imagined he’d spend his life sleeping with it!)

8. If you are currently in a relationship, how did you meet your partner?

Which lie should I tell this time? ;-) Ssh, it’s a secret, only a few people actually know!

9. If you could watch a creative person in the act of the creative process, who would it be?

My mom, for sure. She’s got an amazing creative streak and while she passed some of that down to me, I never have hit the highs she does.

10. What kinds of books do you read?

Memoirs and true crime are my favorite, with a little fiction (ehem, trashy romance) thrown in.

11. How would you see yourself in ten years time?

A stay at home mom with 2 happy, healthy kids, a happy healthy marriage and some happy healthy pets.

12. What’s your fear?

This implies that I only have one. My utmost fear is water.

13. Would you give up all junk food for the rest of your life for the opportunity to visit outer space?

Uh, no. H3LL no.

14. Would you rather be single and rich or married, but poor?

Already married and poor, let’s try out what married and rich is like!

15. What’s the first thing you do when you wake up?

Start the space heater in the bathroom so it’ll be toasty warm!

16. If you could change one thing about your spouse/partner what would it be?

I actually can’t think of a thing (Right answer, LT Fromage? Wink wink)

17. If you could pick a new name for yourself, what would it be?

I’ve always wished my name was Aimee.


18. Would you forgive and forget no matter how horrible a thing that special someone has done?

It depends on who that special someone we’re talking about is. My best friend? No. Not always (Like the time she cheated on her husband while he was deployed with her ex, who was 30 years her senior and oh yeah, a convicted pedophile). My hubs, yes. We’re in it ‘til the day we die.

19. If you could only eat one thing for the next 6 months, what would it be?

Cheese!


Now... YOU'RE IT!

Mormon Surrogate
http://mormonsurrogate.blogspot.com/

Chelsea
http://chelseachamberlain.blogspot.com/


Jo
http://joannegooding.blogspot.com/

You love me, you really love me!

Thanks so much to Kara, from Visions unto myself , for awarding me this….

In order to accept (plus it gives me some substance to constitute an actual post) I have to list 5 guilty pleasures and pass this award on to three (just 3?) of my favorite bloggers….

Off we go…

1. Cheese. Obviously. I love all things cheese, all kinds of cheese, even nasty processed crap like Velveeta. Does that make me a true cheese lover, or is eating that some sort of blasphemy?

2. Green curry, Indian food of any kind, chocolate, margaritas and frozen yogurt. Not all togeth…. Wait, I just had a fantastic plan for supper!

3. Rodents. I collect them like some people collect stamps. Except most people don’t use small furry animals as postage, and stamp collectors hold their treasures in books, whereas I like to carry mine around in my pockets.

4. Cows. If it’s black and white spotted, I must have it. There are more cow items than cookware in my kitchen. And I have a lot of cookware.

5. MTV. Sad, but true. If I can get an afternoon marathon of Real World or Teen Mom, I’m a happy girl.

Now, I wish I was watching some trashy TV with a big bowl of curry and a platter of cheese on the side. A rodent snuggled in my pocket and my stuffed cow, Sir Loin would complete the picture. What a fantastic day that would be!

Enough day dreaming, gotta pass this on to some other worthy blogs….

Big Fat Gini

http://bigfatginiblog.blogspot.com/

Bre's Recipes

http://brerecipes.blogspot.com/

Life After the Aisle

http://ashleyisawife.blogspot.com/

Congrats to....

Saimi! You won the drawing! *clap clap clap*

To everyone else who entered, thanks for playing and we'll be doing this again (with a different prize) next month! In the mean time, check out my etsy.com shop if you can't wait that long to have a special gift with your name on it!

MIA

I know, I know, I’ve been in hiding lately. Last week (while LT Fromage was away at training) I got word (over the phone, with bad reception) that his unit is deploying. In a matter of weeks. To Afghanistan.

Since life is so serene and balanced right now (sarcasm) this was just the news I wanted to hear (or barley hear, due to that bad reception. Still oozing sarcasm, by the way).

So I’ve been pulling myself together, making lists (what do we need to do/buy/change/cancel/add before he leaves?) and buying more rodents (It’s a comfort thing for me I guess… We’re at a whopping total of 13 mice/rats now)

In an attempt to maintain some structure and veer back onto the track of normalcy, I’ll be back to writing up a new blog post weekday mornings. Thanks to everyone who hasn’t stopped following me in my absence; without even knowing you’ve contributed to keeping some regularity in a part of my life.

One more thing, don’t forget to enter to win the latest contest! You only have until midnight to follow my new blog, 365 days in pictures, or link to my blog on yours in order to win the Stick It set!

Comments off on this one. I don’t want pity comments, or worse, no comments!

Do remember to comment on the contest post with your method of entry though, and a winner will be announced tomorrow!

Another Give Away!

Get ready for another give away!

Stick It subverstive cross stich magnets.... tell it like it is!

Sheet of magnets includes thoughtful sayings like "Bite Me," "Kiss My Grits" and "Go #@%& Your Self"

All you have to do? Mention my blog on yours before Monday night or follow me on my new blog, 365 days in pictures! Easy peasy! Make sure to leave me a comment and let me know how you entered! Winner will be picked at random on Tuesday!

Bought my first baby bib

Ha! Not what you thought, no babies yet. Read on!

First....

Shamelessly plugging my new blog, 365 days in pictures. Check it out! Shameless plug over.

How cool are thrift stores? Goodwill, ARC, DAV… Just yesterday I got the 2 cutest tops and a darling dress, oh yeah, and a cow mug (how can I pass something with a cow up? I even bought a… cow… bib! Yup. Planning ahead for our little cow-loving baby).

My best thrift store purchase? A huge, antique trunk for thirty bucks a few years back. I almost had to fight a lady for it, but it went home with me!

Anyone else have any good finds to share?

Lady Fromage’s Million Dollar Mac&Cheese

Serves 2

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Ingredients:

2 cups pasta, cooked al dente (shells, elbow, whatever you like)
2 cups Alfredo sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
3/4 cup whole milk
Red pepper flakes (to taste – about a tablespoon)
Paprika (to taste – about 2 tablespoons)
Onion flakes (to taste – about 2 teaspoons)
1 cup Panko bread crumbs

Melt cheeses with sauce, milk and spices then stir in pasta, pour into an oven safe dish and cover with bread crumbs. Bake until cheese is gooey and bread crumbs are toasted (about 15 minutes).

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Is it 2011 already? So many things happened in 2010, here’s a quick recap:

Launched this very blog and found myself 27 followers. Thanks, folks! You really brighten my day with your comments!

Acquired some new furry (and slimy) family members. Toby the cat, Clarence the frog, Mr. Clean the snail and a multitude of rats.

Weaned 2 rat babies, one from 2 weeks old, the other from just 8 days old!

LT Fromage and I celebrated our first anniversary; we went to Kansas City, ate some stale cake and fell even more in love (insert sappy awwww, here).

Hosting our very first Thanksgiving, for both families!, went off without a hitch!

Battled a house full of fleas, which included bathing 2 dogs, 3 cat baths and hours of flea spray and vacuuming. Fromages: 1, Fleas: 0!

Bought my first gun, learned to shoot and even completed a pistol course!

Began medical transcription training and made the Dean’s List (If anyone knows about a job opening for transcribing autopsy reports, hook a sister up, will you!)

Broke my diet soda addiction! (Smokers trying to quit: I feel for you) I’m down from 6 a day, to less than half that number in a week!

Drove back to Colorado to see a Rockies game (oh yeah, and the family, too)

On a solo drive back to CO for my sister’s bridal shower and blew a tire half way home. With both dogs in the car. On a Sunday. Drove a quarter of the way home on the spare tire at 55mph.

Stood as Matron of Honor at my little sissy’s wedding, where I found out my new brother-in-law’s grandma could drop it down lower than any of us young ‘uns!

And so, so much more. I wish I could list it all!

Upcoming in 2011, be sure to check out my new blog (don’t worry, it’s an addition, not a replacement), 365 Days in Pictures – a photographic journey. And, as always, keep checking in here for more Fromageness!