Weekly Meal Plan

I have to give a shout out to MLK, without him, I would be teaching a comprehension toolkit lesson to my first graders at this exact moment. Then we would be rushed to clean up, line up and get to specials because we were so engaged in our lesson and lost track of time. 
Instead, I got to sleep in till 9, watch the inauguration, catch up on all of my blogs, take an hour long bubble bath, listen to our puppy cry (all morning), and plan our meals. Days off from work are awesome and normally productive but my production level is down today... I would love to say that our house is clean, laundry is done, and all of the dishes are put away but that has just not happened and probably won't. My to-do list has been pushed to the side and I am relaxing ALL DAY LONG! I am getting ready to head to the grocery store which is seriously one of my favorite things to do (I know, strange). The meals that I posted about having last week were all amazing! I did change it up a little bit and did not end up making the soup. It wasn't cold enough and I didn't feel like putting that much effort in. 
Here are our meals for the week:
Monday- Stir Fry
Tuesday- Matt's Mexican Restaurant  We used to have our out to eat nights on Wednesday. It was the perfect night, middle of the week and helped us get through the rest of the week. Well, I got an email from Matt's the other day and it said their specials were Tuesday nights. 
Wednesday- Breakfast for Dinner This is one of my favorite meals for dinner and we have it for dinner every other week or sometimes every week! 
Thursday- Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas My husband loves to grill but with him getting home late each night, we would be eating later than I prefer. I have been searching for meals I could make that would be similar to grilling (but definitely not the same). I hope these are as good as they look. 

There is no point in posting our meals for Friday & Saturday because they will most likely change according to our plans. 
Have a great week! 

Sunday Social

Today is like an extra Saturday for me since I am off tomorrow (Thank you MLK!) so I have not meal planned for the week. I have linked up with Ashley and Neely for Sunday Social before but it has been a while and I like this topic so here we go... 

1. Top 3 favorite kinds of food

Cheeseburger, Chicken Fajitas, & Breakfast Food (bacon, pancakes, waffles, hash-browns, eggs, etc.) 

2. First 3 things you do in the morning

Push snooze on my alarm 2 or 3 times, go to the bathroom, let Zieg out. (Ace stays asleep while I get ready and goes out when Chris gets up.)

3. Last 3 things you do at night

Brush my teeth, check fb, instagram, & twitter, and kiss my husband goodnight.

4. 3 TV shows you NEVER miss

The news, The Bachelor/Bachelorette, and Undercover Boss

5. 3 places you want to visit

Hawaii, New York, and I would love to go back to Antigua. 

6. 3 people you can always count on

My husband, my family, and my close friends (more than 3 but what can I say, I have a lot of special people in my life). 

Day 3 & Meal Plan

This weekend has been one of the most low key weekends we have had in a long time! After last weekend, this is exactly what we needed. I meant to do a recap of last weekend but didn't get around to it this week. We had so much fun with friends in town and an Aggie win at the Cotton Bowl. 
Friday night we went to a BBQ place near our house that we had heard good things about. It was a little far so I was hoping it would be awesome. It was just ok and I don't think we will go back. Saturday I slept in and Chris went to a few stores to find some ammo. He surprised me with breakfast and then we relaxed for a while before crawling back in bed for a nice, 3 hour long nap. Later that afternoon, we went to the store and got steaks for dinner. Dinner was so good! Woke up this morning and made breakfast at home and now we are watching football and doing things around the house. 
I wish laundry would do itself! That is one of my least favorite things to do. Sunday is our day we clean, do laundry, meal plan, and grocery shop. There is nothing better than crawling into clean sheets Sunday night and knowing that everything is clean and ready for the following week!
I cleaned out and organized our pantry (which I have been wanting to do forever!) and wanted to use some of the stuff we already had. I am tired of making the same meals every week, even though it is really easy.  Most of these recipes are new for me/us. Here are our meals for the week:
Sunday: Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup I had some leftover chicken and wanted to use it up before it went bad. I have never made this but love this soup from Chili's. I hope it is as good as it looks/sounds/is at Chili's! 

Monday: Crescent Lasagna Pie How could this not be amazing!! 
Tuesday: Jambalaya  East night! 
Wednesday: This is our night to go out to eat but I have a work meeting so I am not sure what we will have! 
Thursday: I have another work meeting!
Friday: Hopefully I can talk hubs into grilling! 
Saturday: BBQ Beer Chicken in the Crock Pot

Day 3 is all about my first love! ( I am beyond bored with this 30 day thing...knew that was going to happen) My first love is now my husband! I may have thought I was in love before meeting him but that wasn't love. Chris and I met during our senior year of high school. We had gone to the same high school the whole time but our paths had never crossed. The story of how he noticed me is sweet and I will save that for another post (since this one is so long already). We dated through out our senior year, all through college, and then I followed him to Dallas when he got his first job. Many that new us from the beginning saw us through our ups and downs and were not surprised when we finally got engaged (AFTER 8 YEARS). Here is a picture of us from almost the beginning and one from now. My how we have changed. I love him more than I ever thought I would and feel so blessed to be able to call him my  husband!!  Getting ready for prom senior year of high school

 Picture from last weekend at the Cotton Bowl in Arlington

Hope you had a great weekend!

First Thing

Saw this on Krystal's blog and thought it was a fun idea! I am really trying to stick to posting and am hoping for lots of new followers so what better way for them to get to know me then to post random facts about myself! 

First thing you do when you wake up in the morning: 

Hit snooze on my alarm 2 times! Once I get up, the first thing I do is let the dogs out.

First thing you reach for when you open the fridge: 

Coke Zero until I started my diet and now it is water.

First things you do when you get to the gym: 

Hmm... sadly, I can't remember the last time I went to the gym.

First thing you do when you get home from work:

Put my purse on the stairs and let the dogs out. 

First car: 

2002 F-150 Super-crew (Loved that truck!)

First accident/traffic violation: 

2 1/2 weeks after I got my truck, I was backing out of a parking spot at Whataburger and went through the windsheild of the car behind me. Of course it was my fault because I was in reverse but it still pisses me off because I was going really slow and the car sped around a corner! 

First thing you wanted to be when you grew up: 

Teacher, & I am living that dream today!

First choice beverage: 

Coke Zero, Dr Pepper, Water, Lemonade

First choice breakfast: 

I like a full breakfast (my grandparents always called it that) which includes bacon w/ honey, eggs, hash-browns, & toast

First choice dessert: 

Cheesecake! Specifically, Red Velvet Cheesecake from Cheesecake Factory.

First song that comes to mind: 

"Always & Forever" by Cory Morrow. It was our first dance song and I am still in love with it!

First major purchase: 

Probably our house!

First job:

I worked at my mom's title company during the summer and babysat all the time. My first real job that I had to actually apply for was a lifeguard.

First time you flew on a plane: 

I'm not sure how old I was, but I flew to Oklahoma to see my grandma and grandpa. 

Fun to think about all of these first, hope to have many more first this year!! 

Today...

Is the last day of our amazing weekend! Not only that, it is the last day of my Christmas vacation. This break has been exactly what I needed to start the new year off right. We had a wonderful Christmas with our families, brought in the near year at home, just the two of us, with Mexican food and wine & then celebrated an Aggie win at the Cotton Bowl. I have been off since Dec. 21st and although I would love to lounge around and be a bum a few more days, I am ready to get into a schedule and see my students. I am ready for my new diet to begin tomorrow (although I have stuck to 1 coke a day since Jan. 1st) and for ours meals to be planned and ready for the week!

Our meals this week are nothing new and are meals we have had before. Getting back into real life will take a while!
Sunday- Leftover hamburgers from our get together last night
Monday- Stir Fry
Tuesday- Crock Pot Roast
Wednesday- Matt's (Mexican restaurant near our house)
Thursday- Breakfast for dinner which includes eggs, hash-browns, bacon, and cinnamon roll waffles
Friday- Probably go out to eat
Saturday- Husband will grill something
I also wanted to include Day 2 of the 30 day challenge I am doing because I haven't posted another day from it since last week!
Day 2: Meaning Behind Blog Title I think this is a boring topic lol because my title is pretty self explanatory... Moments Like This means exactly what it says. My blog includes moments that happen in our lives that I feel should be documented! 
I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday and start to their week! 

Ideas for the new year!

Everyone makes resolutions and promises to stay true to them, unlike the year before. I don't like calling them resolutions because that word has failed me in the past because it seems so set in stone. I would rather call them ideas for the new year! I have thought long and hard about the new year. My ideas are attainable yet challenging, fun while requiring effort, and a slight change in our current lifestyle. I have so many different ideas but am only focusing on the top 5. Here we go:
1) Live a healthier life style- I get that this is a broad resolution but so many things fit under it. Ways that I hope to fulfill this resolution are by exercising more. drinking more water and less Coke Zero. I start my day with one Coke Zero and would like to limit myself to just that. I want to get a mini-fridge for my classroom and keep only water and fruit in it. I also find myself coming home from school and being so tired that I just relax on the couch till my husband gets home. I don't think there is anything wrong with that every once in a while, but not every day. We have a very active puppy that would love to go on a walk after being locked in her kennel all day. Cut most of the sweets and pick snack on fruits instead. 
2) Meal plan (& stick to it) every week- This kinda goes along with #1 because watching what we eat and not eating out, will definitely help to live a healthier lifestyle. At one time, I was really good about posting our weekly meal plan on my blog every Sunday afternoon. Somehow, I got out of that habit and have just been going with the flow for dinner. Doing that has created many nights were we pick something up for dinner. I like our nights to be relaxing and stress free after coming home from work. Having to figure out dinner every night stresses me to the max. Having it planned and shopped for makes things so much easier. I have many staple meals that I love making and we have leftovers for lunch the next day. I want to venture out a little bit and make some new meals that I have found on some of my favorite blogs. 
3) Stick to the budget- This seems like such an easy idea...except when you live right by a Target, Hobby Lobby, mall, etc. My husband and I are really good at shopping and buying any and everything we want. We can do that now but if what I hope happens sometime this year, really happens... we will definitely have to cut back. I don't need a new car but would love a new car (more on what I want and why in a later post). Fitting that into our budget will also require some cut backs in our "just because" shopping. 
4) Send out birthday, Christmas, and just because cards- Since moving into our house, checking the mail and getting fun packages has been so much fun. Scentsy (which I sell here) came out with a new brand called Sincerely Scent. Basically, it has a 365 day calendar that I (or anyone who wants to) can go in and setup for cards to be sent out and arrive on their special day. I have wanted to set this up for birthdays but haven't gotten around to it. The cost equals out to be the same as going to the store, writing in a card, and sending it to recipient. I don't only want to use Sincerely Scent cards but it would be a start. I also am determined to have a Christmas card picture taken so we can send out Christmas cards. (Challenge with that, around the time I would like to take pictures is in the middle of hunting season. My husband...big hunter and feels the need to keep a lovely beard all hunting season. Someone please remind me to have pictures taken before hunting season begins.)
5) Think about, prepare for, try for a baby- Typing that is so surreal! If you were to talk to any of my IRL friends, most would not believe me. It is really hard to wrap my mind around being old enough to even think about that. Days go by and I feel like Chris and I are living in a fairy tale. I can't believe we are married, built our own house, have real jobs, but I am so unbelievable happy and thankful. Just last year, I remember saying that it will be years before we think about babies and now listen to me... Some that I have mentioned this to think it is because that's what our friends are doing, some think we are still young, but something has me feeling that this time is our time and when or what happens will happen for a reason. It excites me to talk with my husband about names, nursery ideas, timelines, and everything else that goes through your mind when talking about babies. 
So, there they are, my ideas for life in 2013!  What do you think?  What are your goals, resolutions, ideas for 2013?  P.S. I hate picture list post, I promise not to do many of them!

Day 1!

Now that I have committed and hope to complete the 30 topics I recently posted about, I have so many ideas of other topics I want to write about! I said yesterday, that the 30 posts will not be done in 1 month and more like 2 months. I still want to blog about our meals for the week, life events, and other random thoughts I may have. So, here we go with day #1:
Introduce, Recent Picture, & 15 Facts
My name is Allison! I am a happily married wife, mother of 2 dogs, and teacher of 42 kiddos. My family means the world to me and I would much rather stay home, order a pizza, and cuddle up with hot chocolate and a movie, then get all dressed up and go our for a night. My husband and I live around 4 hours from our immediate family but have wonderful friends that live near by. We recently moved to a suburb of Dallas and love our new neighborhood and neighbors. You can look back through my blog to see the process of signing, building, and moving into our house. We still have lots of decorating to do and have big plans for this new year!
This is one of the only pictures from Christmas that we took (which is why I didn't do a recap! We had a wonderful Christmas with our wonderful family).

15 Facts: 1) I have baby fever (more on that soon)! 2) I have had the same routine while getting ready in the morning since high school. 3) I have my Masters in Administration & have no idea when or if I will ever use it. 4) I work with an amazing group of people everyday and feel very blessed to have the job I do! 5) I have no self control when it comes to Target, Hobby Lobby, & Home Goods. 6) I could never be a stay at home wife (I realize I say that not having children & it could change). 7) I have major anxiety about things I cannot control. 8) I always want a new car (& am currently/kinda in the market for one). 9) Wearing jeans to work makes me a better teacher. 10) I am terrified to ever color my hair after loosing a lot of it after getting highlights. 11) I have so many ideas on how I want to decorate our house but have a hard time bringing them together. 12) I have an Etsy shop that you can check out here.  13) I sell Scentsy & you can shop here. 14) I have a 23 year old sister, 10 year old brother, and 7 year old little sister that mean the world to me. 15) I am obsessed with social media!
Happy New Year again!! 

Happy New Year!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR & WELCOME TO 2013! I hope everyone enjoyed bringing in the new year and stayed safe! 

I have seen a few other bloggers do this fun 30 day get to know you better set of posts. I have tried one of these in the past but am going to stick with it this time! I will not finish this in 30 days because I want to be able to post other things as well. Below are the topics and my day one will be posted tomorrow! Hope you enjoy and let me know if you decide to join in so I can come follow along and get to know you better. 
Day 1-Introduce, recent picture, 15 interesting facts
Day 2-Meaning behind your blog name
Day 3-Your first love
Day 4-Your parents
Day 5-Your siblings
Day 6-A picture of something that makes you happy
Day 7-Favorite movies
Day 8-A place you've traveled to
Day 9-A picture of your friends
Day 10-Something you're afraid of
Day 11-Favorite tv shows
Day 12-What you believe
Day 13-Goals
Day 14-A picture you love
Day 15-Bible verse
Day 16-Dream house
Day 17-Something you're looking forward to
Day 18-Something you regret
Day 19-Something you miss
Day 20-Nicknames
Day 21-Picture of yourself
Day 22-Favorite city
Day 23-Favorite vacation
Day 24-Something you've learned
Day 25-Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs
Day 26-Picture of your family
Day 27-Pets
Day 28-Something that stresses you out
Day 29-Wishes
Day 30-a picture