My kids and I came down with a nasty cold this weekend. I was able to catch up on some blogging (after almost 3 WEEKS! of not having time to think clearly, let alone blog), reading, television, etc. My husband worked on our backyard, fixing the mud problem we have, that usually helps my yellow lab disguise himself as a chocolate lab after a rain storm. It was awesome to just be able to sit down for more than 15 minutes.

It seems like the older my kids get, the more hectic our lives get. I feel like I am constantly on the go. When I get home, my house looks neglected, so I clean. Then I’ll look at the clock and realize that we’re late for something or that I didn’t even think about taking something out of the freezer for dinner and now it’s too late.

Next month is going to be even crazier. Then, summer will be here and with everything we have planned for summer, I foresee needing extra sleep now to catch up on the sleep I have yet to lose.

But for today, I am not thinking about everything that I need to do and I’m linking up with Nicole at Moments that Define Life for her Listable Life link up.

5 Reality Shows I Could (or Could Not) Be On!

I could be on:

1. The Amazing Race

I’d choose my husband to be my partner, only because I think it would make for entertaining TV. I’d probably loose my passport, my bag and about a zillion other things, but I’m sure we’d have a blast.

2. Hell’s Kitchen

It would be a guarantee that I’d get yelled at, then I’d cry. Gordon Ramsey would tell me that my Risotto is *beep* and I would loose it. I think it would be a great experience though.

3. Wife Swap. 

Who wouldn’t want to swap lives with me?! I’m a Military Spouse. This life is glamourous. haha. Of course, I’d only swap when my husband was deployed, so they could get the full effect.

4. The Real World

I’d be the token crazy person complaining about the dishes. I’d be in bed by 8:30 and probably the most boring person in the history of the show.

5. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

I would not cry if ABC wanted to build me a beautiful house. I have not been through any kind of hardship or natural disaster, so I don’t think I would quality, but still…

Reality T.V. shows I could NOT be on:

1. Survivor

I think I’m super tough, because when my husband is away I can hold down the ‘fort’ and do it with a smile on my face, but the reality of that is, I have a phone and frequently order take-out. Take those two things away and a mental breakdown is sure to ensue.

I’ve been stranded on O’ahu before and I learned that I really don’t like being stuck on an island. I also don’t like bugs. Lose-lose for me.

2. American Idol

I’m not sure I could put myself out there like that. I can sing (granted not as well as the contestants on the show can sing), but I don’t want to be judged.

3. Wipeout

How do these people not break their necks?! Or their spines?!

It’s entertaining to watch. I would hit my head once and cry.

4. The Kardashians

I would for sure smack someone. Except Khloe, I like her.

5. The Real Housewives

I would like to go on this show as the voice of reason, but I’m sure by the end of it, it would just make me crazy.

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Since nothing goes with reality TV like junk food:

Peanut Butter Crispy Bars

These were incredible and had my husband not taken them to work, I would have eaten the entire pan (because I have no self control when it comes to this stuff).

Last week, I made a cake. It was a birthday cake, even though it was no ones birthday (at least no one that I knew). The cake, a masterpiece recipe by Christina Tosi, a Pastry Chef at Momofuku who just won a James Beard Award.

James Beard Award 2012 Winners

I bought her cookbook, Momofuku Milk Bar a couple weeks ago, but she uses some fairly obscure ingredients that took me a while to track down (Citric Acid, anyone?). I also needed a cake ring and a quarter sheet pan.

Once the stars aligned, I got to work. (If you’re looking for clear vanilla, don’t be fooled, it’s imitation. I spent forever looking for clear vanilla in the non imitation section…whoops.)

(Note: I have the cookbook, but if you want to make this, the recipe can also be found at Huffington Post.)

Boom! I felt like a superstar when this was done and from what I hear, it was REALLY good (even though I forgot to add the brown sugar to the butter during the first step of the cake (oops!)).

When I first started dating my husband, his palate left something to be desired. He would ask if I wanted to go to dinner at a chain restaurant notorious for not so great food and I would make a face. We would end up at one of the small restaurants adorning Main Street in downtown Bangor, Maine.

Over the years, he got use to my taste in food and my incredibly picky palate. That’s not to say that everything I make and eat meets my standard, nor do I shy away from chain restaurants. I just prefer, very well cooked food. My husband has adapted and now, does not like the same food he liked 7 years ago.

For our anniversary my husband took me to a restaurant called, Tallulah on Thames in Newport, Rhode Island. The food there is beyond incredible. Being someone who moves around the United States on almost an annual basis, I have gone to a lot of restaurants. Let me just say, Aquidneck Island has some of the best restaurants I have ever been to.

We have:

Tallulah’s 

Persimmon Provisions

La Laiterie (okay, this is in Providence, but it’s worth the drive)

The Dorrance (this one is in Providence too, again, worth the drive)

Castle Hill Inn (they have a stellar restaurant, don’t be fooled by the ‘inn’)

and lets not forget

Thames Street Kitchen (I haven’t been here yet, but seriously, I’m willing to go with anyone that wants to meet me there. I have only heard great things.)

I think one of the most blessed parts about being a military wife is that we get to check out SO many restaurants all around the world. We also gain open minds, seeing Pig’s Head Terrine on a menu does not seem so odd anymore. I might not be adventurous enough to try it, but it doesn’t weird me out to read about it.

When we lived in San Diego, my husband and I took a trip up to Cardiff (I make it sound like it was quite the trip, but the reality is, it wasn’t that far) where we went to The Beach House. It has some incredible views of the ocean and was a lovely, intimate dinning experience, but other than that, I don’t remember there being a lot of culinary amazingness out there (and I could have totally missed it, my husband was deployed and I feel weird asking someone to go to a restaurant with me where their meal is going to cost $100.)

Okay, okay…and Oggi’s (which I still crave every time I want pizza).

Hawaii brought

Beard Papa’s, where I constantly filled punch cards by eating my USS Port Royal sorrows (HA!).

Alan Wong’s

Lastly, but certainly  not least, if you find yourself browsing about in downtown Bangor, Maine (and you should find yourself here at least once in your life) check out:

The Fiddlehead Restaurant

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Just to add, we’re rubbing off on our kids. Those little foodies know not so stellar food from a mile away.

Where are you going for dinner tonight?

My time as a military spouse has taught me a lot about empowerment and perseverance, but it has also taught me about humility.

Last Friday, I bought my 3 year old her very own two wheel bike. She has been riding her sisters tricycle with no issues, but she really wanted a bike of her own (a ‘Cars 2′ bike at that). Since bicycles (even tiny ones) do not come put together, at nap time, I set out, with a wrench, making her bike – a bike.

2 things.

1. I bought her bike from the Navy Exchange and I should have known that it would come with directions for a completely different bike.

2. I realized, as I finished this task, that my husband had never got the chance to put either of the girls first bikes together.

I immediately felt bad. I never gave him a chance.

I am so used to putting toys together, fixing sinks and doing it all because he is away, that I forget, when he is home, that he is actually here and able to do those things. That, he WANTS to do those things.

When he got home from work, I apologized. He didn’t really mind, it was more my humility about the fact that I had done a job normally left for dad’s.

That was totally unrelated to the actual point of this post, but I thought I should just throw it out there that sometimes, I’m empowered to be able to do everything while my husband is gone and sometimes that just doesn’t stop when he’s home.

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Listable Life with Moments that Define Life

I missed last week. Boo. However, I’m present for this weeks link-up and hopefully this will make up for last weeks slip up (there are a lot of ‘ups’ in that sentence and even more ‘guts’ in this List).

5 Things I Wish I Had The Guts To Do

1. Reupholster a chair.

Even though we have already purchased new furniture and are just playing the waiting game until it arrives, I have a wing-backed chair that my mom gave us that I would love to reupholster. It has a small tear on one of the arms, that fortunately can be covered by the arm cover but, could definitely use a reupholstering. I just don’t have the guts to take the old upholstery off and sew new stuff on (it would look beautiful with a damask upholstery). Maybe, after the new furniture gets here and it’s not such a vital piece in my living room, I will take it on as a new project.

2. Jumping out of a perfectly good plane.

I don’t think of myself as a ‘chicken’. Actually, for the most part, I think I’m pretty tough. However, I don’t know if I will ever have the guts to just jump out of a plane that is 12,500-14,000 ft above solid ground (or even above water). I know people who have gone skydiving and really loved it, but…meh, it might not be for me. This also includes, jumping off of a bridge and base jumping.

3. Eat weird things.

This is pretty literal. I don’t have the guts to eat cockroach, snake, grasshopper, Rocky Mountain oysters or earthworms. My 3 year old has eaten a worm…yuck.

I think what I’m trying to say is, I don’t want to eat guts.

I have to stop here and say, I pondered and pondered what else I feel like I don’t have the guts to do, but there wasn’t anything. I would sword fight, given the opportunity. Most things that I use to not think I could do, I have now done. 

Things I use to think I did not have the guts to do:

1. Move far away from my family.

I’m from Maine, after getting married, I moved to San Diego, California. It was scary and it was a long ways from the things I was use to, but I learned to adapt. Now, I really love moving and seeing new places.

2. Stand up for myself.

As silly as this sounds, I really really dislike confrontation. After becoming a parent, I realized that not only do I need to stand up for myself, but I need to stand up for myself. Now I have the guts to say not only say, “I don’t want to be treated that way”, but I also have the guts to say, “This is not an okay way to treat my child.” I am more vocal than I use to be.

3. Failing.

Thomas Edison said, “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Not only does that apply to pretty much everything you try, but I think it truly applies to parenting.

I have good kids, but to be honest, figuring out discipline has been one of my hardest obstacles as a parent. I have utterly failed on the discipline front countless times. My kids have gotten away with things that they shouldn’t have. When I told my oldest daughters counselor that her and I were having a bit of a ‘power struggle’, she recommended 1, 2, 3 Magic. It has really worked (like magic…haha). From every failure, I learned something. We now praise more and discipline less.

Applying it to life, it’s the same. Relationships don’t always workout, sometimes they fail, but that’s not a bad thing. A failure can lead you to your next success.

I think I have more guts now, to jump in and try something I’m not sure I will succeed at, because I have the guts to fail…and then try again.

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I’m sure there is more. There always is. I’ll think of it three days from now and say, “Why didn’t I write that?!”

Have a great day everyone!