.....YEAH.....

( I’ll be honest..I’m writing this blog on August the 23 at 6 in the morning..but with my OCD..I’m posting as Friday! And I'm a little slow..uh)

Matthew 6:31-34….”and your heavenly Father knows you need them (food and water). But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, (Have faith, trust in him, claim it and be patient waiting upon the Lord) and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own”.

This morning was an absolutely rough morning! Amerie woke up around 4:45 and threw a complete hissy fit; screaming for nearly 45 minutes straight. She didn’t want to lie down and go back to sleep, she didn’t want to read her books alone and eventually, go back to sleep, she didn’t even want to be out of her crib. She was so tired she didn’t really know what to do with herself. So finally I decided to just take her downstairs and grab something to eat because my nerves were shot due the fact I was starving and when I begin to get hungry, I get extremely moody and anxious, making me more frustrated and impatient so I figured I would just take her, go downstairs and get something to eat to make things better.

We were running out of groceries so I already decided to have a bagel and some fruit (Thank goodness..I guess I subconsciously already knew I would need something quick!). Therefore, I made two Brown Sugar Cinnamon Bagel sandwiches with cream cheese and some raisins and the other half of my mango and I gave Amerie a bagel and some milk. We sat there, eating, downing my bagel and fruit in minutes, and slowly feeling my body and mind readjust to normal. Soon after I was happy and content again and took Amerie to watch a couple shows, including the “Magic School Bus” (One of my favorite childhood shows that I still love to watch!!) while I got a couple of things done so early in the bright morning. As for our day plans….to go see Mimi and Pappaw after lunch and do some grocery shopping, then come home for dinner to end our day. However, God had other plans to my sorrowful day into joy!

For the rest of the morning, Amerie and I played a little in her room, I completed a couple more chores and then we got dressed in preparation for our outing! By 11 o’clock, though, we were both hungry so I prepared our Friday fast meal..soup! Amerie had Campbell’s Harvest Select Chicken and Egg Noodles Soup which she crushed in seconds, as well as some cheese and grapes and I turned my normal creamy tomato soup into a hearty meal with a scoop of rice and some tofu sour cream (Can you tell I’m Asian..rice goes with everything for me =-)!!) It was soo creamy and tasty. And to further show my pride in my culture as a Filipino, I indulged in a piece of Puto topped with some coconut. Puto is a mildly sweet, Sticky Rice Cake which Tim, Amerie and I are all addicted to! We love it! SO I said what the heck..bring on the carb loaded rice and it was an indulgence worth every calorie!

We headed back upstairs to finish getting ready when I noticed I had a message waiting on my voicemail. I had missed a call…from the JOB!! I immediately listened to my message to hear the HR wanting to speak to be about the position. I immediately called her back and they wanted to offer me the job! HECK YEAH I’LL TAKE IT!!! I start in 2 weeks….I was soooo happy; ecstatic really! I was jumping for joy, thanking God for providing for all our needs…nothing could ruin my day now!! I called and text everyone to tell them the good news and for the rest of the day I have been in the best most happiest, relaxed, Hakuna Matata, No worries mood with a huge smile on my face to show for it! My frustration and depression turned into a time for joy and celebration!!

So we went out, went to Mimi’s to play and chill a little (where my daughter was filled with sugary Reese’s Pieces seconds before we left…don’t you love grandparents!! =-)), then went grocery shopping, where Amerie fell asleep at our last place, Wal-Mart and I had to lug and carry 25 lbs of dead weight on my shoulder as I pushed a stubborn cart through a busy, crowded Wal-Mart on a Friday evening at around 5….let’s just say I was breathing pretty hard! I got my workout! We got home pretty late and once again, Amerie and I were starving and Tim was one his way home late from work. So I threw everything in the house and immediately put together a plate for her with half a turkey, ham and cheese sandwich, a plum, some strawberries and some veggie chips got her seated and fed and I began throwing my Avocado Reuben (vegcooking.com) together, grilled it up, took a pic and threw down! It was a tangy goodness. I actually never had a Reuben before but loved German Sauerkraut so decided to give this vegan version a try..nothing like the original..not even the ingredients..but it was pretty darn tasty! I definitely will have to try a closer recipe to the original when I get the chance! While I carried my sandwich around, trying to enjoy every bite, I scurried around the house, quickly putting groceries away before they got too warm. I was happy, hungry and anxious for Tim to get home cause it was time to celebrate!



I have been saving my Wild Blue Blueberry Lager for when I got news on the job. I figured I’d either drink it in celebration or drink it in sorrow! Well celebrate we did! =-). I love flavored beers and this one was very yummy. It was colored a wine red and the flavor was very sweet with, of course, a taste of blueberries with a slightly bittery, almost tangy finish (I guess from the blueberry juice). I wasn't too hot about the after taste, but it was still very thirst quenching and a great choice for our celebration! After everything was cleaned up and put away, we relaxed, popped open our beers, cheered to my new JOB and just enjoyed our time as a family. We were just so happy and so relieved that things were finally looking up for us!! Thank you God so much!!!

I loved this one! Toddlers can make and/or break your day. But I love observing Amerie sometimes..it's amazing what you can learn and gain from a 1 1/2 year-old when you take the time to just sit, watch, listen and interact. And they are sooo funny too!

"This is part of the essence of motherhood, watching your kid grow into her own person and not being able to do anything about it. Otherwise children would be nothing more than pets. "

Heather Armstrong, Dooce, 11-15-05

Schedule Throw Offs...and a long story..bear with me!

What am I to do when I actually get a job!? I am going to have to be completely organized and scheduled or I will just fall apart. So I had my week pretty planned out since this week was my week of waiting to see if I got the job and pretty much just chilling and getting things caught up and done and most importantly, making time for my little girl. Well, unfortunately that planned scheduled week just got completely thrown off.

First, today I indulged in some peaches. We had two peaches left that were sadly prejudged by my picky husband. I was going to give him one for lunch but he felt they were too soft (they barely gave to pressure) and so denied the large succulent and aromatic fruit. However, as I split into it I discovered that he denied the most perfectly riped peach. It was soft but with a crisp crunch which made the most perfect slices that held without getting mushy. It was perfectly juicy and the flavor was tart and tangy, yet sweet, leaving it full of flavor, unlike those that are overripe. I was so happy to be able to indulge in such a beauty and rub it in Tim’s face for judging, denying and missing out on something he would have extremely enjoyed..OH WELL. Well, as a kid I loooooveeed the microwavable peach oatmeal packets..actually I loved them all..but thinking of those yummy before school morning breakfasts, I decided to make some creamy peach oatmeal. I stirred in cream cheese to make it creamy as well as my diced peaches, some flax, cinnamon, vanilla, ginger and a bit of chopped walnuts. It was once again another blast from the past revisited in happiness! Amerie had peach oatmeal, yet another plum, peach slices and some cottage cheese…

Because I get up so early, I always end up making two breakfasts. Well I kept eyeing Amerie’s oatmeal and peach slices (It was my snack time anyways!) and I wanted to try my homemade cottage cheese with some fruit so what better than with a juicy peach. I whipped this crazy concoction (The cottage cheese) the other day, knowing I’ll never be able to match the real thing! It came out okay, but it was my first time, so as I continue to make it I will definitely be experimenting on how to make it taste , look and even feel like real cottage cheese, or so I’ll try. So I had cut up the other peach which was slightly overripe and therefore, not as tasty as the last, but I served it with a couple tablespoons of cottage cheese and it came out pretty decent. Then things got crazy!

This mid-morning after fighting with a very moody and whiney toddler, I finally got a phone call from the job up north. I was waiting for a simple yes or no, but instead I got “Can you come in tomorrow for a second interview around 1 or 2?” What! Tomorrow…yes!!! I am so excited because I have been offered a second interview which brings me a step closer to the job..but NO!!! Tomorrow, already? That’s ok I can manage and rearrange my “schedule”..but ARRR…we have another problem! NO OUTFIT!
Before I became vegan, I of course, had Amerie and nursed her for about 13-14 months. Well around last October, maybe, I had gone back to my pre-baby weight, but I began gradually losing more weight. During the time I began weaning and eventually stopped nursing, I became vegan, I began working out, and unfortunately, lost even more weight bringing me somewhat under 100 lbs. Everyone blames the veganism, but trust me you can be vegan and still enjoy hearty or fatty or even junk foods if you really want to; therefore, you can still be a curvy vegan. I mean, I found out Nutter Butters were vegan yesterday, and my husband and daughter just grabbed a snack bag size of mini ones, Who do you think has been in the bag eating sneaking in a bite of the half broken full cookie pieces or partnerless cookie halves..hello it’s peanut butter!! And I’m not sick. To me I feel healthy!

But as a result though, I have no clothes..seriously..all I have is about 5 shirts, 3 tank tops, 2 shorts, and a dress. I have a really hard time finding clothes that fit and plus, I’ve been waiting for a job so I can have money go shopping. Therefore, after the call, I immediately got stressed because I couldn’t wear the same thing again! It would make me look so sad and pathetic, but at the same time, as my mom joked, it would really show them how bad I need the job and maybe they’ll give it to me..very funny, but I have too much pride left in me to go that far! I just couldn’t do it! So I panicked, got Amerie and I dressed, whipped up a horribly sad lunch for Amerie with a biscuit, a piece of puto (which is Filipino sweet sticky rice cake), some cashews, sliced apples and a yogurt. As for me I had a Cinnamon Sugar Grilled Cream Cheese with sliced green apples and a bowl of applesauce with some cinnamon and flax. That grilled cheese was the bomb! But we devoured and went on our way to go shopping!!!

We went to our local mall, searched for almost 2 hours..nothing fit! Half the stores didn’t carry my size or a small enough size…I was frustrated!! I soon gave up when Amerie began throwing screaming and crying fits left and right. She was extremely tired and I couldn’t blame her. She did so well sitting in her stroller, eating snacks, playing with my phone, being patient and being overall very well behaved. So Tim mentioned going south to another mall to try which nixed the dinner plans!

We headed on south where we immediately dived into the food court for food. Amerie had been asking for pizza all day so I grabbed her a kids pizza meal consisting of a huge slice of grease laden pizza, a sugary drink and animal crackers which were actually healthy! I dabbed the oil off as much as could, sliced it into pieces, hid the drink and let her have away at it, with a fork of course (she can’t eat without utensils!). She was in heaven. Meanwhile, Tim grabbed his bourbon chicken and rice with a large sugar water with tea and I went to Great Steak and Potatoes where I had a better be vegan grilled veggie sub. Usually it called ofr mayo and two cheeses, well I asked him for my sub without it and to only use light oil when “grilling” my veggies. His response, “That’s the bulk of the meal!” I know but I’m vegan and then I see light margarine as I ask for little oil so I question him on any use of butter or margarine and he replies saying he just used that as reference….yeah he better be! Some people can beat around the bush and be sneaky just to get your business. Fortunately, I found no buttery flavor and my sub was very, very hot and savory. Who could go wrong with grilled veggies in a sandwich!

It was getting late so we headed on the road to search for a pair of pants and after about two stores we finally found a pair of dress pants at Dillards; Size 0 and perfect fitting around my waist. A little loose around my legs but so what..they fit!!! What a relief; we could finally relax and breath. Before we left, we took our time and gave Amerie a little freedom to walk around and play in the kids area and even gave her a treat of riding on the expensive 1$ horse carousel. She deserved it for being so good and so well behaved. I couldn’t have been any more proud of my little toddler.

Overall, another stressful day. I guess that’s what you get being in the life of a mother, wife, house keeper and vegan!