These past couple days have been tough on the waiting part.  Im just nervous.  Where has my confidence gone?

When I initially had my consultation with my attorney I left feeling really confident because with the knowledge I had shared with her she let me know that everything sounded good and she believed that the case would be simple and a judge or commissioner would easily permit the move. 

We met again and went over all the information for the case and in turn she finished my documents and I got them sent out in a timely manner right on schedule.  After sending them out I felt great!  Then time crept up and I just keep getting more nervous as the days pass.

I recieved documents from the other party, late.  Way late.  They were also filed late, a day late, and we even had the schedule for filing the documents ordered by the commissioner from the inital hearing. 

Upon opening and reviewing documents it is clear that this other party is grasping at anything possible.  Well the documents the other party submitted don't equal out.  There is definitely conflicting information, and I was finding it hard to understand why anyone would submit conflicting information to a case as important as you would think this on is.

So..... these past few days, inching closer and closer to the hearing date I am nervous.  I keep second guessing if I have taken care of everything that is necessary to be prepared for the day.  I have.  I am completely prepared.  My cousin often jokes that the commissioner is going to look at my VERY thorough submissions and say, "this B**** is crazy".  Cracks me up every time.  Today even, while we were at our EUC mandatory meeting at work source we were joking about getting all of my court documents printed (I have finished already)  and wondering if they had a 3 hole punch (seems so excessive to purchase one, yet at the same time when you really need one, it would be nice to have). 

Well the hearing date is on next Tuesday.  I have filed my response, everything at this point aside from showing up to the hearing is out of my control.  I am hoping that I can keep my mind occupied and positive. I can keep telling myself that I am fully prepared and I have got my S*** in order.  I have not taken this decision lightly, I am ready, I have researched, and it will definitely be a good thing.  Though, I realize there is a great chance for the move to be denied, therefore I am trying not to get my hopes up too much. 

Here's to hope.....


Rose

Court Shenanigans

A complication of the potential/hopeful move to Indiana is the courts involvement the final decision to move.  One has to wonder the seriousness of the other party involved when they clearly defy a court ordered schedule for filing, serving, and responding with relation to the case.  Other details to take in to consideration when declaring statements is making sure when you're dating things that happened in the past you use a real date.  November 31st does not exist (I really had a giggle at that one), November 31st has never existed. 

And one other thing, should you choose to make a declaration under penalty of perjuy, you should make sure you at least have the facts straight and not make allegations that have no factul basis. 

to be continued....

Today, I got to thinking...

In essence, my girls and I are trying to move across the country for many a reason. 

For starters, my sisters live in Indianapolis, IN.  We are awaiting court approval for the move.  It has been a long journey to get to this point.  In reality it probably started when I lost my job the day before I had surgery (total thyroidectomy) in November.  As well as the spiraling of events since surgery.  Lack of employment being one big downfall. Challenges with my health since surgery, fortunately things are under control at the moment, who knew it would take 6 months to get the thyroid hormones within the normal range. 

I don't think that I would change any of the experiences I've had, but I am definitely looking forward to the experiences we have yet to have.  Just thinking about the possibility of living close to my sisters gets me very excited that my daughters will be able to live near there aunts and I near my sisters.  It has been a wild ride thus far living on my own in the great pacific northwest, and there are many things that I'll miss from here.  I realize that I'm moving to a much flatter part of the states, I will definitely miss the simply stunning Mount Raineer.  I will miss having the ocean so close.  I will also miss the Puget Sound.  I know but I will miss Seattle; however, Tacoma has been where my heart has lived the past 10 years.  There is nothing quite like driving on I 5 and passing the corner where the view of downtown Seattle comes becomes visible or driving into downtown Tacoma on 705 in seeing the city sprawled across the hillside ( even better are both of these beers on a sunny day).  Of course some of the greatest things I will miss the most of are the people, friends, and relationships I've built and the last 10 years.  It seems surreal to me that I've spent more than a third of my life here.  With all of this being said, I still yearn to be close to my family, and I am very excited about the prospect of being there very soon.

There are more reasons for moving to Indianapolis.  The cost of living is a heck of a lot cheaper and there are far more job opportunities.  Also my mother will be moving there in June.  As well as the rest of my family like my dad, my grandpa, and many aunts, uncles, and cousins live only a few hours drive away. 

With these things being said I thought that I would write about our journey from the Pacific Northwest to the Midwest.

If all goes well in court on may 29th we will be leaving via Amtrak on June third.  I'm excited to see what is train ride from Seattle to Indianapolis will be like with two small children.  Wish me luck...

The very first picture of my creation!!!!

Rainbow cupcakes!!!!

And my cute little 4 year old getting ready to blow the candles out. Awww turning four is so sweet!!!

The cupcakes were delicious when I tested an extra one that I made the night before the party. But really, I am not a huge cake fan.

I'm pretty picky when it comes to cake. The moister the better. And I have yet to find a really moist delicious home made cake recipe. But, I am on the hunt for one, if anyone finds one that I can test, send it my way and if you are close enough, you can come test it with me!!! Sound like a plan? It does to me. Also, I really only like Chocolate Cake. All others, not so delish. Although I doctored a strawberry box cake once and it was really moist and delicious! I loved it. As for frosting, I like chocolate or cream cheese, not too huge on the butter cream frosting nor whipped cream frosting. I would like to try a meringue frosting thought, I am pretty damn good at making meringue. Lemon meringue pie is an essential holiday treat!

I suppose I should be going for now. Hope you enjoyed the photo!!!!

Birthday Party and Sappy Music.

So today it was Aurora's Birthday Party. It was super fun with our friends and some family in attendance.

I made cupcakes for the birthday cake. Several colors and laid them out in a rainbow shape. It was super duper cute! I will confess, I didn't feel like taking the time to make 2 cakes from scratch and caved in to buying cake mixes. Lemon and Strawberry flavored.

I did make the cream cheese frosting from scratch. Here's the recipe.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

2 packages of cream cheese (8 ounce packages, softened)
1 stick of butter (1/2 cup, softened)
2 tablespoons lemon extract
5 cups powdered sugar

Throw it in the kitchen aide (or a big bowl and go at it with beaters, thank you betty crocker) and beat all together gradually adding the sugar as you go.


We also had some cream cheese fruit dip, that stuff is so dang tasty.

Cream Cheese Fruit Dip:

1 package cream cheese (8 ounces, softened)
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon vanilla

Throw it in the kitchen aide and beat the heck out of it. Take a rubber spatula scrape every drop out and refrigerate til ready to serve. Can be made a couple days in advance.


On another note. The kids are in bed, the party was fun. It took Nick (with help from Kathy) a couple hours to get the 4 foot tall doll house together! It is super duper cute!

Whilst it was happening, there was a very adult moment that happened, and I was thinking to myself, when did I get so adult like. Drinking coffee in the kitchen chatting with the rest of the adults and parents while the kids were playing. Too adult like it felt. I usually feel like I am in some, not kid, but not yet very adult limbo. Huh.

I got a strange email the other day, I responded, and still have not received a response. Maybe it's for the best. Hmm....

And I don't know how it gets to me, but I get on these depressing song kicks. I love them. Maybe because it's a strong emotion. It is interesting. I love music. Song of choice at the moment. "You Wont Ever Be Lonely" bu Andy Griggs. Talk about a blast from the past too. Hah.

What's in your kitchen?

So after work I had to run a few errands. It is after all payday. Isn't it pleasant that my paycheck went to paying rent, yep the whole thing. Yay.

First, we went to Costco. It was there that my wonderful 3-almost-4-year-old picked out some ingredients that make my heart melt. Oh yes. This little love bug picked brussel sprouts, artichokes, and summer sausage. What more could a mommy ask for at the grocery store? It's truly delightful that she enjoys a variety of fruits and vegetables. She was intent on getting butternut squash, it was packaged in the cooler section pre washed, cubed, and peeled. I explained to her that I already have a few squashes at the house and she said, "We do? YAYYYYYY!" It made me giggle along with the rest of the people in the cooler.

On to Squashes!

I love squash! Last year I found some delicata squashes. They were the nummiest squash to grow on this planet. I have yet to see any this year, but I found some Sweet Dumpling Squashes and Some Gold Nugget Squash. The little sticker on the Sweet Dumpling squash says: Orange sweet meat, good oven baked or microwaved. And the Gold Nugget Squash says: very sweet with golden orange meat. Fine grained, very smooth, good baked or microwaved. I am super excited to get squashing. Anyone out there have any good recipes for squash? No, I am not a fan of the popular acorn squash with butter and brown sugar... just not a fan of acorn squash. I do enjoy spaghetti, butternut, delicata, pumpkin, and hubbard squash.

I was curious as how to cook the little squashes in the microwave and came across this when googled:
http://www.post-gazette.com/food/19991118farm8.asp

Microwave: The squash can be microwaved whole. Just pierce the skin with a fork a few times, put it on a paper towel in the microwave and zap for 6 to 10 minutes on high. Once cooked, slice and remove seeds, taking care because it will be extremely hot.

Or slice in half top to bottom, scoop out seeds and place cut sides down in a microwave-safe dish with about a 1/2-inch of water. Depending on the size, it might take 5 to 8 minutes on High. Test with a fork. It should be tender but not mushy. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Conventional oven: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake whole or sliced in half, cut sides down on a cookie sheet. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until tests tender with a fork.

Variation: For those with an insatiable sweet tooth, serve with a sprinkle of brown sugar and chopped pecans.

I also came across a comment on another page where the person said they were going to try making this squash stuffed... hmm I wonder if I could make a stuffed squash, sounds like a REALLY inviting challenge! It's on. I will let you know how it turned out!

On another note, when we got home today, Aurora was in a rush to get up the stairs. Poor thing, the stairs got the best of her and she some how flipped backwards and bonked her little head on the floor. I could tell by her cry that it really hurt. When I got her upstairs and we settled in the door, I got her an icepack that she carried around with her for several minutes before she discarded it and Morrigan started carrying it around. I got a change to look at her noggin low and behold there is a huge goose egg on her knocker. That has to hurt! Makes me cringe just looking at it.

Morrigan was trying to be helpful and get the groceries out of the stroller, she managed to get the loaf of bread out. I snagged that from her before it could be crushed in to apple strudle pound cake. Then as I was putting it in the kitchen she so graciously helped me by crushing a couple eggs as she got the carton out of the stroller. What a little helper! She is getting so big! She is kind of saying Aurora now, she sounds like this: Ahhhrowh rwa. It is super cute. She just adores her big sister. She's giving high fives, signing more (a huge accomplishment at 18 months for her! yay!) She lifts her shirt when I say "Morrigan where's your belly?" or even when I say nothing at all. That girl loves her little belly. She's drinking out of an open top cup 95 percent of the time. Progress. She has her formal speech evaluation, hearing, and vision (I think) tests coming up. Aurora has her 4 year check up coming up too, she's getting too big herself. She has such a large vocabulary, some of the words she says impress me every day.

Well, that is it for now. Goodnight.

God's GREATEST gift to the oven!

Comes from Williams-Sonoma and it is called:

The Williams-Sonoma Baking Book
The Essential Recipe Collection For Today's Home Baker

This Sunday I baked the most delicious chocolate crinkle cookies! They were so num. And the recipe came from the aforementioned book!

Here goes....

Crisp Chocolate Bites
Makes about 3 1/2 dozen (for me it made 26 cookies)

6 Tbs unsalted butter, cut in to pieces
2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped (I used a ghirardelli bar from the baking aisle the less sweet the better, it's simple to measure because the bar is 4 ounces, so just break it in half and there you go!)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup all-purpose (plain) flour
1/4 cup unsweetened Dutch-processed cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking soda (bicarbonate of soda)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup confectioners' (icing) sugar

Lightly Greae 2 baking sheets or line with parchment (baking) paper. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over VERY LOW heat, combine the butter and chocolate. Heat, stirring occasionally, just until melted and smooth.

Pour the chocolate mixture into a large bowl and let cool slightly. (I found that while I measured the dry ingredients, this was ample cooling time) Stir in the granulated sugar until evenly moistened. Add the egg and vanilla, beat until light and fluffy.

Sift the four, cocoa, baking soda, and salt together onto a sheet of waxed paper. (I measured all in to a bowl and whisked together with a fork, tadaa.) Gradually add the flour mixture to the chocolate mixture and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove cookie dough from the refrigerator. Shape the dough in to 1/4 inch balls and roll in the confectioners' sugar to coat completely. Place the balls about 1 1/2 inches apart on the prepared pans. Bake the cookies until puffed and cracked on top, about 12 minutes. They may appear underdone in the center but will turn crisp as they cool. Let the cookies cool on the pans on the wire racks for 2-3 minutes before transferring them to the racks to cool completely.

page 44 and in the cookies & bars chapter
ISBN-13: 978-1-60320-107-6 & ISBN-10: 1-60320-107-6

These were absolutely delish. Prep was not bad, and I did everything in the kitchen aide. Well aside from the chocolate melting.

I recommend everyone trying this recipe!

I had my friend Dacey over for dinner Sunday and we had a grand time hanging out. Played a round of yahtzee, and she whooped me at it! And get this, she even made me check her adding... and she'd under added and therefore won with my correction. HAha. I adore her, she is totally fabulous to hang out with! We had orange chicken and potstickers for dinner. The chicken was from trader joes and the pot stickers were from costco. But they were still delish!

If you feel like trying the recipe and you love it, leave me a comment!