January

Man. This January has not been kind to us. Don't get me wrong, it could always be worse, but it's been tough.

First off, the tax rates/health care increases have changed our income by about $70 a month. Not enough to kill us, but the difference will likely be felt.

Then my car died. Specifically, the transmission. I've had her for about 7.5 years. She's been paid off for about 4 years. We knew it was happening and had made plans to replace her after tax season. Apparently she had plans of her own. One day she needed a little more gas to "go" out of the parking ramp. The next couple of days she ran mostly fine. Then Saturday came and she made some weird noises, but nothing bad. I went to go get some Lucas Transmission "stuff'" to help me out since I thought it might be a fluid issue. Alas, it was not. On my way to get the fluid, she refused to leave 1st gear, go over 10 mph and only when we were at 5000 rpms. I put the fluid stuff in, and it seemed ok for a couple blocks, but then when I cam home from the store, it was evident that she was just done. If you've ever driven through Ankeny going 10 mph, you'll feel my pain. It took me 30 minutes to get across town with both kids going "Moooom, why are those people honking/passing/staring/passing judgement?" (Ok...so they may have just asked about the people passing us, since I had my flashers on most people seemed to give me some lee-way.) Thankfully, my dad is letting us borrow his car until we are able to come up with something, which is pretty awesome of him.

The rest of things aren't big at all,but certainly inconveniencing  Tax season started, Emerson is back in daycare, Spenny is still going to school. Today Spencer is sick. Emerson got a fever and had to come home. He has a nasty cough, drippy nose and we are waiting for a dr's appt this afternoon.

On a positive note, I have lost about 6 lbs, which is nice since I've joined my job's Biggest Loser challenge. Winner gets the pot, which is around $225 or so. That'd be awfully nice to get ahead on some things (or buy myself something...like smaller jeans! lol)

I've also been teaching myself to sew and been pinning away...even doing a lot of what I've pinned. I've been working on my Silhouette some, even dabbled in some vinyl which turned out to be way less scary than I thought. I've also been taking a lot of tips from a lot of organizational blogs and been decluttering, getting rid of stuff. I've turned my hangers backwards in my closet and started purging clothes. I've cleaned out under the island and got rid of stuff we've never used/will use/don't need. (Seriously, I apparently kept a ton of sour cream/yogurt containers that we never use...recycle!) I've cleaned under the bathroom sink and got rid of some hair products/make up. I've gone through the medicine cabinet (I had stuff that expired in 2009-10 in there!) I've been planning Spenny's lunches better and making things easier on us by filling snack bags with a serving of crackers/pretzels/cookies. I've been keeping up on the laundry AND putting it away. I'm trying to go into this tax season more prepared, so we shall see how it goes.

For now, I must get off of here and see if I can get logged back into my work site and get some work done before we have to go to the dr.

Hope this finds you all well and healthy.

Cass

With a heavy heart...

Yesterday there was another shooting. Specifically, another school shooting.

It was a in town in Connecticut. I quit reading the stories, as they were all confused and convoluted, but the gist of the matter is that a 20 year old man killed over 25 people. 20 of which were kindergartners.

20 kids that are Spencer's age. 20 innocent lives that were likely very excited about Santa coming, getting the "big" present, maybe thinking about being a doctor, an astronaut, a solider, a police officer or a ninja.  

20 sets of parents who never dreamed that when sending their kids to school on that terrible Friday morning that the rest of their lives would be changed for the worse. 

I cried at my desk all day as the news stories rolled in. A friend of a friend lost their nephew in the shooting. He was 6. 

We had our Christmas party at work last night and our CEO made a small, tasteful statement regarding the shooting, saying our thoughts and prayers were with the families and communities that were impacted. I know that there were very many eyes that watered up just at the simple statement.

The news has sensationalized this...Yahoo Shine! posted this morning on their facebook page asking if the surviving students should be allowed to be interviewed on TV. So many of the comments I read were a very simple NO!. Other's were appalled that they would even ask a question regarding this. Apparently some news outlets have been there since right after it happened, they have pictures of students being lead out by teachers. They are saying that the shooter was mentally ill (ya think?!) and I've seen Autism, OCD, Multiple Personality Disorder all tossed out there as possible reasons as to why he did this. People are crying out for more gun control, that we should restrict the ability for people to own guns. 

So many of these items are too close to home. We have a kindergarten aged child. We have several guns. We have family members with Autism, Schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.

Now is not the time to be discussing if we should have more gun control, however. Now is not the time to blame the school for not having better security. 

Now is the time to grab your babies. Give them hugs. Give them loves. If they are old enough to understand, explain to them, gently. Send your thought and prayers to the community that has been effected in this terrible, terrible situation. Now is the time to let the area grieve. And thank your lucky stars that you and yours are safe.

Bucket List Update

I figured since today is a special day...(ahem..J's 30th Birthday) I would take a quick moment to update MY 30 things to do before I'm 30 list and show any progress.

4. Go to Ikea.
I completed this on July 21, in Denver. Kim and I decided last minute to stop and shop. I didn't get much, but she got a super cool bookshelf that she is going to use for a bench. I can't wait to go back when I don't have to try to fit everything in my carry on!

8. Travel More
I got a start on this one when I went to Colorado. We went up Pike's Peak. I went to a concert at Mile High Stadium. I visited an Air Force Base. I ate local food. Sounds like a good start on the travel front! What's next?

15. Go back to school.
I'm working on this one. I don't have an exact plan yet, but I've been researching schools and trying to figure out where to go from here.

16. Random Acts of Kindness.
I try to do one of these every week. I'm sure there are times where I don't get any in, and other times I do multiple. I'm not trying specifically to document each one, because to me, it feels like it kind of defeats the purpose.

19. Read 50 Books
I've gotten in a few more, bringing my total to 6. Most of them are just quicky reads, but I  also joined a book club at work and am in the process of reading a few that are in series'. I think this one will be easier than I originally thought.

21. Rewatch SATC
I just finished Season 1!

22. Catch up on filing at work
I have started a process on this. I've been scanning my new ones as they finish right away so they don't add up. As for the old ones, I have been spending time each week, sometimes on multiple days, getting it scanned and sorted. Changing processes is hard, but I'll get there! Hopefully sooner rather than later.

24. Eat at 50 of the top 100 in Des Moines (10 out of 50)
I'm including one's I've already been to, as there are several I'd very likely NOT go to:

19-The Big Steer
I've only been here a time or two, food is good, but a little pricey. Not somewhere we would go on a regular basis.
22- Hickory Park
YUM. One of my favorite places to go. Food is so good and reasonably priced.
26-Smokey D's BBQ
Also yummy. I've only been to the Skywalk location, but the burnt end sandwich is my favorite..and their potato casserole! TO. Die.
35- Court Ave Restaurant and Brewing Co
It's been quite a while since I've been there, but the food was good.
44-Gateway Market Cafe
I really like this place. It's a quick drive from work (could maybe even do it on your lunch break if you got it to go). Food is fresh and delish.
50-Palmer's Deli
I eat here on a regular basis. I love their sandwiches or often get a luncheon salad. And the soup is great. and the Snickers Salad? YUM.
53- Thai Flavors
Pretty yummy! I'm always scared to try new things, but I do love their fried rice!
70- Okoboji Grill
Been a while since I've been here, but usually love their appetizers or get a sandwich.
97- Mullets
I've only eaten here once. For breakfast after a 5 k. But the food was good and the mimosa was YUMMY.
98-Chips
We just ate there last week! They have a great selection. Hamburgers, Wood Fired Pizzas, Pasta, Fish, Steak...and serve these yummy homemade chips. Decent priced and not usually overly busy. Not sure why we don't go there more often, actually.

27. Doing Hair and Make up
If you know me, you know I'm veeery low maintenance.  I shower. I brush my teeth. I brush my hair. I put my hair in a pony tail/messy bun, get dressed and go about my day. Very rarely do I do more than that. I've started doing my hair at least a little bit. Pinterest helps. I've youtubed videos on how to do my hair and tried it. I wear make up from time to time. I'm getting ready to cut my hair off so I don't constantly put it back/up either.

All of this seems like a decent start on my bucket list, hopefully I'll keep at it!

We have a 5 year old!!

Ok, so we've had one for a couple weeks, but life's been hectic. Spenny woke up to Balloons at his door and then above his spot at the table. We got around for the day and headed out to the Zoo. Some of the pictures below are from my phone and several are from his new present--his CAMERA! He also got Hulk Hands from us and seemed to have a great day. We love our little 5 year old and couldn't be more proud!

Sunday Boring Day

It's been a fun week at the Duggan house. First off, I had my birthday. The boys got me a BluRay player and  the Lord of the Rings movie. We had hamburgers, hot dogs and enjoyed some pie from Village Inn while watching the movie. (78//////////////////////////////////////////////////gtfvnhvcszvxd3z$a --Apparently, Viktard likes to blog too).

Wednesday night I made a new recipe, from here. I first mixed up the "cream of" stuff in a container. I think I figured out the recipe will make something like 9 "cans" of soup and I had almost everything on hand that I needed.
My Adapted version:

1 cup non-fat dried milk
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup Chicken Boullion
4 Tablespoons freeze dried minced onions
1 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon pepper
(For the equivalent of one can of condensed cream soup, mix 1/3 cup dry mix with 1 1/4 cup water. Cook until thick)


For the casserole, I ended up using:
1 cooked chicken breast (I cut it in chunks instead of shredding),
a few slices of bacon (I cut it up using my kitchen shears prior to frying, so much easier that way and they seem to cook more evenly).
Equivalent to one can of soup (about 1/3 cup mixed with 1 1/4 cup water, cooked until thick).
2 cups of macaroni, cooked
Cheese (I used a handful of mozarella mixed in with the noodles etc, then sprinkled some cheese on top while it was baking).

I baked it in the oven just until the cheese was melted since everything was hot when I put it together, and it was so yummy. The left overs were good too, I had some for lunch the next day. My vegan friend said it looked/smelled good, and he recommended putting some buttered breadcrumbs on top next time (Hey, he wasn't always vegan!)


Our friends, Aaron and Julia had their baby on Tuesday as well, after something like 30 hours of labor, Theo Maximus Bazal is here.

Theo Maximus Bazal 8 lbs 14 oz and 22 inches long. Beautiful baby boy!

We got to visit with them on Thursday night for a couple hours, eat dinner and snuggle with the little guy. He is beautiful and I can't wait to see him grow up! He even let me take a couple pictures of him with his eyes open! Julia and Aaron are taking on their new roles as parents like champs.

The rest of the week was pretty low key, Friday night we just hung around the house, Saturday J and Spenny went and had lunch and got a haircut for J while E and I hung out at home, at lunch and took naps. When Daddy and Spenny got home, I went and ran some errands before we went to see Papa Dave's church band play at Ankeny's Summer Fest. We got to hang out with our friends Baby Liam and Stacey, Nana and Papa, as well as Carrie, Tim and Nolan. Good weather for it, it was hot, but there was a breeze and we all came prepared with snacks and juice boxes to keep everyone entertained. Today we just hung out at home, I organized the laundry area some, cleaned a bit and made some dry laundry detergent. I read a short book I got on my Kindle that talks about ways to declutter and organize, and one of the goals is get rid of 10 items a day from your life. Sounds like a lot, but really, when you start the process, 10 items goes pretty quickly. IE: I went through my "Mail" pile, which is really just a bunch of coupons, mailers and a couple odd bills that I need to sort and never want to. I did that first thing this morning though and ended up getting rid of about 15 items, just like that. When I cleaned up the laundry closet I was able to get rid of even more items, so it sounds like a big, daunting task, it's really not. And also, the 10 items isn't necessarily to throw away, but can also be to donate, recycle, sell, etc.

This week should be another busy one, we are in the process of figuring out what Spenny wants for his birthday, and what he wants to DO for his birthday. I'm thinking either Incredible Pizza or the Zoo, we'll see what the weather is like before we decide likely. Then, Saturday morning bright dark and early, I am flying off to Colorado to spend a long weekend with my cousin Kim, so excited! We're going to see Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw in concern and I have no idea what else will be in store for us!

last day of 27

It seems weird that I'm turning 28 this year. It doesn't seem like it's that big of a deal, but it's really only TWO years from 30. Not that excited about 30, but looking forward to see what 28 brings me. And really excited to go to Colorado in a couple weeks, hopefully losing some more weight over the next year and trying new things. 

Last year on my birthday, I lost my Grandpa Fran. He was a huge part of me growing up and he lived a wonderful, long life. Even when he was dying of cancer, he was the most positive person I knew. I remember one time we were talking and I said I was sorry he had cancer. His response? "Why? If it's not me, it would just be someone else; might as well make the best of it!" Before going into surgery, he was all grins, during his treatments, he would call me from the center where he was staying to tell me about how great the nurses were, the people he was meeting and how he felt so lucky to have the experience. (Really? LUCKY to have cancer Grandpa?!) I remember at his funeral we were talking to all of the people that knew him from all different aspects, neighbors, co-workers from the YMCA, church friends, horse people, everyone had a happy story to share, and I honestly don't think there was a person that knew him that didn't like him. I would like to think that Grandpa Fran and Grandma Sharon are up there singing their songs, and maybe he'll visit Grandpa Emory at an auction.  I also hope they are growing a garden, for fresh green beans so his whiskers keep growing and he is riding one of his horses. Grandpa, you were a wonderful man and I miss you so much. I wish I would have taken more advantage of spending time with you when I had the chance, but thank you for helping me be who I am today. I know I got my (mostly) positive outlook from you, and I appreciate it. 

Happy birthday to me, hopefully this year I'll have someone to share it with :) More news on that tomorrow, I hope!

Bucket List

I'm turning 30 in 2 years and 6 days. A while back I decided I was going to do a bucket list of 30 things to do before I'm 30 and started writing the list. Some of these I'm working on (I only have a few sodas a week now, since I've been drinking tea, I have my plane tickets already for my trip to Colorado, I've been doing the RAoK on a regular basis, I'm almost done with Season 1 of SATC...) and some will be harder to cross off, but I'm hoping that I get get at least the vast majority crossed off :)

 1. Go vegetarian for 6 weeks. (Can't go vegan...I'd miss my cheese!)
 2. Quit Soda
 3. Lose 15-20 pounds
 4. Go to Ikea
 5. Run a 10K
 6. Sing Karaoke
 7. Learn to Sew (With my new silhouette, that should be fun!)
 8. Travel more.
 9. Get my passport
10. Meet my newest niece.
11. Start College Savings funds for the boys
12. Get another Tattoo
13. and another.
14. Pay off all of our non-mortgage related debt/student loans
15. Go back to school
16. Do a Random Act of Kindness a week
17. Make photo books for the boys, one for each year
18. Get Married <3
19. Read 50 books (3 down!)
20. Hang pictures on our walls. (Don't laugh, we've lived here 18 months and have like 5 things hanging on our walls. In the whole house. And one of them is a clock.)
21. Re-Watch all of the Sex and the City episodes
22. Get my filing at work caught up (I haven't been caught up since before I went on maternity leave with Emerson....don't judge.)
23. Finish various projects that I have started up but not finished for various reasons, most of which aren't good ones
24. Hit at least 50 of the Top 100 in Des Moines Restaurants
25. Have drinks on a patio with my friends
26. Do more things as a family
27. Start doing my hair and makeup
28. Start wearing sunscreen on my face every day
29. Take a class for fun (Yoga, sewing, etc)
30. Be overall happy :)