stay-at-home wife for a week

This week has been very refreshing. Nothing extremely spectacular happened... however, we have loved getting back to regular life. Logan went back to work the day after we got back from San Antonio. For those of you who don't know, he is working as a contractor for DirectTV. We are thankful for the job, but there are definitely down sides to it...such as his days off being Wednesday and Thursday instead of the weekend. But once again, we are very thankful for the job. On Monday, I got to ride along with Logan in his truck as he worked! It was a long day for him (12 hours), but I worked on a little homework and also got to spend some quality time with him, seeing what he does on a day-to-day basis. It definitely helps me to be able to have a better idea of how hard he works for us! I love that man. At the end of "Take your wife to work day" as he called it, he took me out to dinner, which was very sweet. I'm so spoiled.


In Logan's free time, he has thoroughly enjoyed beginning the search for our first home. He devours all sorts of real estate websites in the evenings, constantly having me come over to "Look at this one!" I'll admit that it is exciting, and I'm happy to have a husband who enjoys finding good deals and smart investments! I'm excited to find out what home we will be living in come summertime!


While Logan worked this week, I had some time to catch up on some things around the house that I don't usually have time for while school is going on. I was able to do a deep clean. I cleaned everything I could get my hands on: shower, toilet, sinks, counters, kitchen, dusting, vacuuming, mopping, laundry, the list goes on and on! However, I'll admit that it was actually kind of fun. I love the feeling of a nice, clean home. I even got to use my new vacuum, which was Logan's early Christmas gift to me :) If anyone is looking for a new vacuum, I would highly recommend this Dyson!

While cleaning, I ran into a dilemma. I ran out of the cleaning solution in my Swiffer WetJet. :( I didn't want to run to the store, so I decided to use another cleaning solution (just a regular all-purpose solution mixed with water). However, the Swiffer people are very smart. They made it where the cap wouldn't come off the bottle. Most people would simply forget it and go buy another jug of the solution. However, I found a video online (posted below), which said to boil the cap side of the bottle for a minute. I tried this little trick, and afterwards the lid popped right off! Not only did I save the hassle of going to the store, but I also saved money! In order to prevent this from happening again, I clipped (with nail clippers) the pieces of plastic around the lid preventing an easy "twist" off. So proud :)

Along with cleaning the house this week, I completely reorganized my coupons for the new year! I rid my coupon binder of old coupons, got the Sunday paper, and organized my new coupons. I also planned a grocery trip (we were in dire need of food after being out of town for the last several weeks) and saved about $25, which isn't bad :) I wanted to show you guys my coupon book, because it's been a lifesaver for me in my quest to save money effectively! I went to a coupon class this last summer, and they suggested a binder like this, with baseball card holders to hold the coupons. I also labeled the sheets into categories. The lady who led the meeting, Mrs. Jeppsen, was SO sweet and gave me my own coupon kit for a wedding gift! She blessed me with a binder full of coupons, baseball card holders, labels, pencils, pens, notebooks, and even a calculator. What an awesome gift!

My binder with the baseball card holders to hold the coupons! 

Labels!

There is one more thing that I just have to share for all of my lady readers. Thanks to my mother-in-law, LeAnn Miller, I recently discovered the most amazing nail polish! It is a Sally Hansen base coat that helps your nail polish stay on for 5-7 days! I was unbelieving first, because I have never had good luck with finger nail polish. I pretty much gave up on painting my nails, because a day later they would chip and look disgusting. This polish is the answer to my prayers! It looks like Shellac, but it is much cheaper. I put on this Sally Hansen base coat, then I put a regular clear base coat on, then two layers of whatever color you choose, and end up with a final layer of a regular clear top coat.
I have done this three weeks in a row now and get compliments all the time! It always lasts me about 6 days before I even see a sign of chipping. Here's what it looks like, you can find it at Walgreens for only $5-6 :)

On another note, my sweet little brother, Luke, turned 8 yesterday. We went to Nixa to celebrate with the family. Poppa and nana came into town for the day, and we had a great time with everyone! 

8-year old Luke with his brand new dirt bike!

Thanks to all of my family and friends raving about the book series, The Hunger Games, I fell into the pressure and began reading the first book. I am reluctant to admit that it may be as good as everyone has talked it up to be. I started reading it last night and couldn't put it down! My goal is to finish it this weekend before school starts. The movie comes out on March 23rd. There is always something fun about reading a book and then seeing the movie :) Besides, I have to admit that the story is very creative and catchy. This is a good lesson in "Don't judge a book by it's cover" though, because judging by the cover and my "romancy novel" tastes, I would have never picked this book up to read!

Don't judge it by the cover! :)

To summarize this week food-wise I would like to say Pinterest Pinterest Pinterest. I knew coming into this week that it would be the last for awhile that I would have freedom to roam around on Pinterest, finding delicious recipes and trying them out! A few that I would love to highlight:


Monkey Bread- Kristyn and I originally tried this out in San Antonio last week. However, it was such a hit that I made it again this week! It's super easy and the recipe is on the Pillsbury website as well as below :)

Monkey Bread Minis

Ingredients

1/2

cup butter or margarine, melted

1/2

cup packed brown sugar

1/4

cup granulated sugar

2

teaspoons ground cinnamon

2

cans (7.5 oz each) Pillsbury® refrigerated biscuits

Directions

1Grease or spray 12 regular-size muffin cups. Mix butter and brown sugar; spoon 1 tablespoon mixture into each muffin cup.2Mix granulated sugar and cinnamon in 1-gallon bag. Separate dough into 20 biscuits; cut each in 6 pieces. Shake pieces in bag to coat. Place 10 pieces in each muffin cup.3Bake at 350°F for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Cool 1 minute; turn upside down. Serve warm.

Chicken & Dumplings- I changed this recipe up a bit- added more pepper, an onion (which I blended together with the celery since Logan doesn't like the texture of either), more water, and pillsbury biscuits instead of ones made from flour. It was pretty good!!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 medium Yukon Gold potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups whole baby carrots
• 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)
• 1 cup water
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, crushed
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups all-purpose baking mix
• 2/3 cup milk

Directions

1. Place the chicken, potatoes, carrots and celery into a 6-quart slow cooker.
2. Stir the soup, water, thyme and black pepper in a small bowl. Pour the soup mixture over the chicken and vegetables.
3. Cover and cook on LOW for 7 to 8 hours* or until the chicken is cooked through.
4. Stir the baking mix and milk in a medium bowl. Spoon the batter over the chicken mixture. Turn the heat to HIGH. Tilt the lid to vent and cook for 30 minutes or until the dumplings are cooked in the center.

Finally, I made some black bottom banana bread this afternoon. This is a great recipe to whip up if you have bananas lying around, about to go bad! It's also a great way to get kids (or Logan) to eat bananas to begin with. The ingredients are pretty simple. The bread is very moist. It's almost like cake. 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 medium)
• 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup baking cocoa

Directions

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir in the bananas. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture and mix well.
• Divide batter in half. Add cocoa to half; spread into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Spoon remaining batter on top and swirl with a knife.
• Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until the a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool a wire rack. Yield: 2-1/2 to 3 dozen.

Well, that about sums up our week! We are both about to see a change of pace starting this next week. Full-time school begins for me at College of the Ozarks, and part-time online classes begin for Logan through OTC. It will be interesting to see what our lives look like once everything begins again, but I have no doubt that we will be able to do it all, if we continue to keep Christ at the forefront of everything! Please be praying for us as we learn to manage our new way of life for the semester!


Love,


Logan & Haylee