Bookcase Do-Over

Guess what!  I have something to share with you!  And it's not sad.  :)

Firstly though... thank you to all of you who read my post about my sweet angel boys.  It means a lot to a mom who has lost a child to know that they are not forgotten.  So, just you reading my story about them comforts me.  An awesome friend is working on a picture of them for me and I can't wait to share it on here when it's ready!

But back to my happy -- not sad -- reason for hopping on here tonight!  I transformed a bookshelf.  I'm a transformer, if you will!  I've had this bookshelf since I got married (that was over 9 years ago) and my mom had it for heaven only knows how long before that.  This book shelf had seen far, far, FAR better days.  It started falling apart probably 20 years ago so she nailed a stick (basically) to the back of it to try and sturdy it up.  I'm sure it helped, but it was still a sad little bookshelf.  In fact, once I was talking to my mom about what furniture I had, trying to figure out what should go where in my house, and she laughed when I brought up the bookshelf and said "I can't believe you are counting that as an actual piece of furniture!"  But I'm so cheap, er, I mean frugal and I just couldn't throw it out!  So, I worked a little magic and now she's sturdy as Rocky Balboa!  Here's some before pics:

Check out what was holding up the shelves!  See that screw?  Also, one shelf didn't have all 4 corners supported so I had to have a little bucket on the shelf below to hold it up.  Super classy.

And here's my mom's fabulous 20-year-old work on the back.  This baby swayed with the wind she was so unsteady!

The bookcase makeover was really 2-part:  make it sturdier and make it cuter.

Part 1:  Sturdier
I took off that thin back board and threw it in the trasher!  Then I went to Lowe's and bought some slats for a wood fence.  I think they were about $1.15 each.  I wanted variety so some were 6" wide and some were 4".  Then we cut them to be the height of the bookcase and used a nail gun to hook them to the bookcase.  So easy!  Then I also got new little shelf holder things.  I don't even know what they're called but they're really inexpensive (a couple dollars is all) and now the shelves actually sit in place.  Imagine that!

Part 2:  Cuter
Before we hooked the fence posts to the bookcase, we sanded the corners of the boards and I stained them with a medium walnut stain.  Then I painted everything else a fun coral color.  Again, super easy!

And here's the after:

Now this is one of my favorite pieces of furniture in my bedroom.  Our comforter is white so this pop of color is just what our room needed!  I think with all my supplies the renovation probably cost about $25.

Oh and I have to show the fun vase I found at Hobby Lobby!  It matches our sheets/pillows perfectly  with the seaside blue color that I've got goin' on in here and it looks so cute next to my jewelry box!

My Experience with Loss

This past week has been "Baby Loss Awareness Week".  It seems like there's an "awareness" day/week/month for just about everything.  Just go here and you'll see what I mean!  So I've been thinking... what's the point?!  Bringing awareness to everything is basically the same thing as bringing awareness to nothing.  But I'll tell you... I think I was wrong (this was the first time).  One thing about life is that we all have such different paths.  Different backgrounds, different strengths, different weaknesses, different successes, different challenges.  And all these different "awareness" days are a chance for us to not only celebrate those differences but to find common ground out there and to remember that we are not alone.

Maybe Baby Loss Awareness Week doesn't resonate with everyone.  Maybe you connect more with National Left-handers Day or Be Nice to Nettles Week.  But my heart skips a beat when it's Baby Loss Awareness Week.  Because my heart and soul has been forever changed by baby loss.  And it does my heart good to take a little time to ache for others who have also experienced the devastating loss of a child.

It's important to remember that though our Savior's atonement, we can be healed from all pain.  You can read about my experience of healing after my loss here.  The sting lessens, smiles return, and peace will come.  But it still hurts.  And I'm still sad.  And I still cry.  And today, I want to share my story....

From the time I was a teenager, I used to worry that I would have a hard time getting pregnant.  There were many careers that sounded fun to me but all I really wanted to be was a wife and mom.  Other than that, I knew I could be content with pretty much anything!  I was fortunate to marry my sweetheart when we were 21.  We had known each other for 6.5 years and didn't really have any sort of difficulty adjusting to married life.  We LOVED it (still do)!  A month before our first anniversary, we found out I was pregnant!  We worked for the same company, along with some of our closest friends so when I got the call from the lab with my bloodwork I hurried to call Tristan over to my building and we asked our friends to come outside in the parking lot where we told them.  We were just a little excited - announcing after minutes of finding out!  I kept having these thoughts that we were having twins so I would joke with Tristan about it.  I had some nausea but as long as I ate pretty much constantly I was able to keep it under control.  (I must have looked like such a pig to all my co-workers!)

Then, on June 30th, I had my initial OB appointment.  As soon as the doctor put the ultrasound thing on my belly I knew what I was seeing!  TWO BABIES!!!  It was clear as day.  Both had very strong heartbeats and my growth was perfect!  I measured about four weeks big... no wonder I was having a hard time buttoning my pants already!  This was literally my dream coming true.  All our family and friends were so supportive and excited for us.  So things moved along nicely for the next few months.  I loved being pregnant.  And I learned to recognize which baby was dancing inside me each time I felt movement.  It was amazing to me how natural it was to love them so fully and individually.  At 16 weeks we found out that they were both little boys.  We went to Babies R Us right after the appointment and picked out a few outfits each.  It was becoming real!  As my little guys grew, I could feel the strain it was putting on my body and I knew it was a good possibility that I would be on bedrest as I became further along.  So, we did what we could to prepare.  I talked to my boss and came up with a last day of work the following month.  We posted my position and started taking applications.  We bought two cribs and two bouncers.  We were slowly but surely getting ready!

Then one day I woke up and started getting ready for work just like any other day.  But this day I was hurting.  I was so cautious of complaining because I knew what an amazing blessing it was to be pregnant in the first place and I didn't want to take that for granted.  SO... I didn't say anything.  We drove to work and the pain didn't go away.  It got stronger at times but it never really went away.  It felt like bad menstrual cramps and a pretty intense lower backache.  A couple people throughout the day had noticed that I was struggling but I insisted I was fine.  I basically just sat at my desk and did my thing.  I had heard that pregnancy was uncomfortable and was sure that was normal.  It hadn't been too bad up until this point so this must just be my turn for the hard part of pregnancy!  Plus, I was carrying twins so it only made sense that it would be a little more uncomfortable.  By about noon it just wasn't letting up and I was struggling to walk and talk.  So, I called my mom.  She asked if I felt like my stomach was hardening like a contraction.  I didn't know what to say!  I felt constant pain more than hardening.  I just felt clueless!  So, I kept working.  I would say, I don't know what I was thinking!, but I do know... I didn't know what to do and I didn't feel like what I was feeling matched the definition of what I'd heard contractions felt like.  And actually, no one had really explained to me what signs of preterm labor I should watch out for.  AND I was trying so hard not to complain.  But, by 4:00 I couldn't take it much more so I called Tristan and we went straight home.  I called the doctor and they told me to lay down, drink lots of water and to go to the hospital if I felt more than 4 pains in the next hour.  Well, I had 4 within the next 15 minutes..... so off to the hospital we went.

We arrived at Labor and Delivery and they hooked me up to all the machines.  The babies were doing great but my contractions were coming every minute - and I wasn't even feeling many of them.  The sweet nurse checked my cervix and I could tell from the look on her face that it wasn't good news.  I was dilated to a fingertip.  I would be 20 weeks along the next day so this was way to early to be dilating.  They don't really consider a baby viable until 24 weeks and even then there are so many potential challenges.  So, they gave me terbutaline shots.  I was shaking and my heart was racing, but the contractions seemed to calm.

Around midnight, they got ready to send me home on strict bed rest and told me to come back if I felt anything like what I'd felt earlier that day.  As I stood up out of the bed I had massive contraction.  When the nurse saw that she told me to lay back down, she checked me again and I had progressed to a full centimeter.  They started me on magnesium sulfate and morphine, tipped my bed so my head was down and feet were up in hopes that gravity would work in our favor.  My temperature shot through the roof because of the Mag.  My mom and sister had rushed up to the hospital and they, along with Tristan rotated rags from a bucket filled with ice water to my forehead, arms and chest.  The medicine also made me extremely nauseous so they took turns holding a bucket for me to throw up in as I was laying upside down.  A couple hours later they checked me with high hopes but told me I had progressed to 3 centimeters.  The nurse told us that as long as we could keep me less than 4, we had hopes of keeping me pregnant for 4 more weeks.  That felt like an eternity at that point.  I was thinking, I'm just trying to stay pregnant for another hour, let alone another month!  They brought in an ultrasound technician to measure my babies, just in case my dates were off.  I knew they weren't.  My boys measured with a couple days of where they should be.  An hour later, the nurse checked me again and after she told us I was to 4 centimeters, she looked to Tristan and my mom and said, she's going to need some tissues and now would be a good time for a Priesthood Blessing.  I had had one earlier in the night and even though things were going bad so fast, I knew that Heavenly Father was mindful of us.  My heart broke a little more as I listened to my sweet husband tell his mom over the phone through his tears that "the babies are coming."  His parents drove straight over to the hospital.  My mom called my dad, who was out of town, and he made arrangements to fly home as soon as he could.

Soon my doctor showed up and the nurse began to explain what we could expect our babies to look like and to talk with Tristan and I about our "options".  We knew without even thinking about it... we would hold them for every minute we had with them.  About 6:30 am it was time.  They were coming.  I had tried my best to hold it together but as the doctor sympathetically said, "Michelle, I need you to push", I lost it.  This was it.  They were going to die.  I was losing them.  I gave a small push and he had both boys out within two minutes of each other.  They were absolutely beautiful.  They were 10" long and weighed 10.9 and 12.4 ounces.  They had eyelashes, fingernails and gripped our fingers with their tiny little hands.  It was one of Heavenly Father's tender mercies that we had already decided on their names.  Jackson Lee and Kyler John.  Our angels.  They lived for about 15 minutes.

The days, weeks and months that followed were filled with hard moments.  I had a paper hanging on my hospital door that reminded guests to "be quiet, we're mourning".  We stopped at a mortuary on our way home from the hospital and picked out a casket.  I went home and wrote a short obituary and made calls to our family members about the graveside service.  Thank heavens for our parents!  Our moms planned that whole thing for us.  I don't know how we would have done it without them! The morning of the service I was so stressed about what shirt to wear.  Like it mattered!  I just wanted something blue.  I know it's weird.  For whatever reason it felt to me like my way of honoring my boys.  I woke up each morning and sobbed for the first few hours of the day.  The doctors and nurses at the hospital assured me that my future appointments would be canceled but still I got a call 2 weeks later from the perinatologist's office to confirm my ultrasound appointment.  Then I got to explain to the lady on the other end of the phone what happened after she acted like I was the world's most neglectful mom for telling her I needed to cancel and not reschedule that appointment.  I continued to get flyers in the mail with coupons for formula, diapers and other baby goods.  Simply put, it sucked.  My arms were so empty.  My house was so quiet.  Way too quiet.

But after the first few weeks I learned that it was okay to smile without feeling guilty.  So I found lots of reasons to be with family and as many reasons as I could to smile.  I took my new little puppy to all of my sister's tennis matches.  I remember about a week after I delivered, my mom was hanging out with me at my house and she said, "I don't know what to do but I just want to be with you."  That's what I needed.  To know I wasn't alone.  Tristan was my absolute rock.  And I'm not talking like a strong person to lean on - I'm talking like the giant mountain range that held my world together.  Because somehow, my world didn't completely fall to the ground.  It came close, but it didn't.  It didn't because I had family and friends and strangers sending thoughts and prayers and support and love every second of every day.  A few co-workers came over and planted two beautiful trees in our backyard.  Another group made us a quilt.  Family and friends traveled far to attend the graveside service.  Our parents' employers sent gifts and cards and plants.  Our hospital bills and costs associated with the mortuary, casket, obituary, burial plot and headstone were all covered with donations.  One cousin arranged a trip for Tristan and I to get away together.  The hospital gave us molds of our their hands and feet.  Friends and neighbors brought cards, poems, tissues, dinners, treats and everything else you can imagine to remind us that they were thinking of us.  My boys would be 8 years old and the love and support has continued.  People seem to remember and understand that although life has gone on and we've moved forward, I'll never "get over it".

My world didn't crumble because I knew my Heavenly Father loved me and I knew my babies were okay.  They were with their Savior.  At first I worried about them because I worried what they'd do without a mom.  Everyone needs a mom!  But then I knew my Grandma Kathleen was loving on them for me.  I still long to know what their favorites are.  I feel like I know them some... but not enough.  I think I know who would have been jumping off the swingset and who would have been climbing on my lap asking for a story.  I think.

Like I said, we all have our different trials - and I don't think it does any good to compare who has it better or worse.  I think the best thing we can possibly do is set all judgement aside and reach out and love and support each other a little more.

To everyone out there that can relate... I'm thinking of you.  Fight the urge to call the formula company and rip their heads off for sending you coupons congratulating you on your child's first birthday.  They mean well, kind of.

Kitchen Time Savers

A few weeks ago I was asked to come up with some tips for saving time in the kitchen that I could share at a church activity.  Time is so precious, I love every opportunity I have to set even just a little bit aside to spend it doing what I love!  

Here are a few ideas I came up with (along with a few recipes that tie in).  I've shared a couple of the recipes before but that just means they must be really good ones, right?!

Time saving tips 

for meal prep!

1.      Shop for 5-10 meals at the same time - take a few minutes every week to plan out a menu then make ONE trip to the grocery store!.  Not only will you save time by not having to run out to grab last minute ingredients daily, but you'll notice you end up actually spending less money too!  

2.     Make double and freeze ½ for later - self explanatory right?  I wish I remembered to do this more often.  I love having a handful of meals in the freezer so after any given busy day I have something to throw in the oven or crock pot with minimal effort and no one even knows I forgot to make dinner that day!  It's a much better alternative to fast food!

a.      Taquitos

b.     Chicken Noodle Soup

c.      Pork Sandwiches

3.     Utilize your crock pot - There are quite a few recipes that weren't necessarily created as "crock pot recipes" but work great in there.  I've found that from 3:00 - 7:00 is usually my busiest time of the day so it's nice to not have to squeeze "prepare dinner" in there as well!  I need to remember more often to plan ahead and get something in the crock pot.  Too often, it's 4:00 before I even think about dinner and I've totally missed my chance to use the crock pot that day!

a.      Bonnie’s Chicken Fiesta

b.     Taco Soup

c.      BBQ Chicken

4.     Prepare your meat and cheese ahead of time - This can be a money saver too.  I cook and shred my chicken or brown ground beef, ground sausage or ground turkey and freeze it in quart ziplock bags in either 1/2 or full pounds.  It takes the same amount of time to brown 5 pounds as it is to do 1 and yet it cuts out a considerable amount of time if you don't have to do it every day.  The same thing goes for shredding cheese.  I grate 5 lbs at a time and fill freezer bags.  If you have the slicer/shredder attachment for a kitchenaid this is easy peasy lemon squeezy!

a.      Spaghetti Pie

b.     Layered Enchiladas

5.     GOOD SPORT NIGHT! (I've mentioned this before too, but this is a fancy name for leftover night.  Usually once a week we have a night where we all "open the fridge and be a good sport"!  I usually plan it for our busiest night of the week where we attempt to juggle soccer games, dance class, church meetings, homework and every other little thing that seems to come up!)

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

Recipe by Our Best Bites

Ingredients

1/3 cup (3 oz) cream cheese (low fat is fine, avoid fat free)

1/4 cup green salsa

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic, or garlic powder

3 Tablespoon chopped cilantro

2 Tablespoon sliced green onions

2 C shredded cooked chicken (for extra yumminess, use grilled taco chicken!)

1 C grated pepperjack or plain jack cheese

small flour or corn tortillas

kosher salt

cooking spray or olive oil

Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it’s soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder and granulated garlic. Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.   You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.

If using corn tortillas, work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave, wrapped in damp paper towels until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If using flour tortillas straight from the fridge, it helps to warm them in the microwave so they’re easier to roll.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1 inch from the edges.  Roll up tortillas and place seam down on a baking sheet, not touching one another.  Spray lightly with cooking spray, or lightly brush with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with kosher salt.  Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.  Remove from oven and let cool slightly before serving.  Dip in sour cream, or our favorite: Creamy Lime-Cilantro Ranch.

Freezer Instructions: Prepare the taquitos through rolling them out and placing them on the baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in the freezer and freeze until solid, then transfer to a large freezer bag. When ready to cook, preheat oven to 425 and place the taquitos on a lined baking sheet. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

Yields 12-16, when using 6″ tortillas, depending on how full you make them.

Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded or diced

1 cup chopped celery

1 cup chopped carrots

1 cup chopped onion

1 T oil

1 cup peas

8 oz egg noodles

Chicken Broth (or water and bouillon)

1 can cream of chicken soup

Place chicken in large pan and cover with broth (or water and bouillon).  Boil until cooked through.  Strain over bowl to collect broth but filter out the yucky, goupy part of the chicken.  Set broth aside.  Put celery, onions and carrots in pan with a small amount of oil and saute 5 minutes or until color deepens and they begin to soften.  Add broth from cooking chicken and additional broth (so you have about 8-12 cups total).  Add chicken.  Mix in cream of chicken soup and cook over medium heat until it boils and flavors have time to mix.  (If you are freezing, now is the time!  Add noodles when you heat it up to serve it.) Add noodles and cook until soft. 

  

Smoked Pork Sandwiches

Ingredients

2-3 lb Pork Roast

Sea Salt or Kosher Salt

3T liquid smoke

½ cup soy sauce

1 cup water

Rub outside of roast with salt.  Place in crock pot and pour soy sauce, water and liquid smoke on top.  Cook 6-8 hours.  Shred meat.  Optional:  serve with BBQ sauce

Bonnie’s Crockpot Chicken Fiesta

Recipe from Body for Life

Ingredients

4 chicken breast halves (1 lb)

1 20 oz jar Pace Picante Sauce

1 cup frozen corn

1 15 oz can Black Beans, drained

2 cloves minced garlic

2/3 c long rice

Spray crock pot.  Add all uncooked ingredients to crock pot and cook on high for 5-6 hours.  Shred chicken, mix well and cook an additional 15-30 minutes.  Serve in tortillas with cheese and sour cream.

Homemade BBQ Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup Ketchup

½ cup brown sugar

1 TBS worcestershire sauce

¼ cup vinegar

Cook chicken, pork roast or boneless pork ribs in crock pot.  Drain juices off meat.  Mix ingredients together and pour over meat.  Cook for an additional 30 minutes.  Serve plain or on buns for a sandwich.

Layered Enchiladas

Ingredients

10 tortillas

chicken, cooked and shredded (you can either cook a couple chicken breasts or use canned chicken)

2 cups sour cream

1 small can green chilies

1 can refried beans

1 can cream of chicken soup

2 cups cheese, grated

chopped olives (optional)

Mix soup, sour cream and green chilies together.  Place a large spoonful of mixture in bottom of 9x13 pan and spread evenly so the bottom of the pan is lightly coated.  Make a layer of tortillas in bottom of pan.  I've found the easiest way to do this is to cut the tortillas in half and place the straight edges along the edges of the pan.  I usually use 5-6 half pieces per layer.  Then spread refried beans and sprinkle cheese on top.  The beans can be easier to spread if they are warmed.  I usually just do it in a bowl in the microwave.  Next add 1/2 of your soup mixture.  Then sprinkle your chicken and more cheese.  Add another layer of tortillas.  Top with remaining soup mixture and lots of cheese. (if you're going to use olives, just sprinkle them on top)  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  This works as a freezer meal too.  Just prepare, cover in heavy tinfoil, and freeze.  Then when you bake it just make sure it's hot all the way through – your bake time will vary depending on how thawed it is before you bake.

Taco Soup

Ingredients

1 lb ground beef, browned

1 can corn

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 can kidney beans

1 can pinto beans

1 pkg taco seasoning

Add all ingredients into crock pot.  Do not drain any of the cans.  Simmer in crock pot on high for 1 hour.  Serve with corn chips, cheese and sour cream.

Spaghetti Pie

This recipe fills a 9x13 pan and will feed 8-12 people.

Ingredients

12oz spaghetti noodles

4 eggs

3T butter

2T parsley flakes

1 1/2t salt (divided)

2/3c + 1/2c grated parmesan cheese

2c cottage cheese

1 1/2c shredded mozzarella cheese (divided)

1t Italian seasoning

1 lb ground sausage

48 oz spaghetti sauce

Layer 1 - Noodles

Cook noodles according to package directions.  Drain and return to pan.  Place butter in with noodles and stir until melted.  In a separate bowl, beat eggs and then stir in parsley flakes, 1t salt and 2/3c parmesan cheese.  Pour egg mixture over noodles - stirring fairly rapidly until all noodles are coated.  Layer in 9x13 pan. (no need to grease pan - the delicious butter helps with this!)

Layer 2 - Cheese Filling

Combine in bowl: cottage cheese, 1/2c mozzarella cheese, 1/2c parmesan cheese, 1/2t salt and Italian dressing.  Spread evenly over noodles in pan.

Layer 3 - Sauce

Brown sausage.  Pour sauce over sausage in pan and heat through.  Pour on top of cheese layer in pan.

(this is where you'd cover and stick it in the freezer if you are saving it for later)

Cover pan with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Remove cover, sprinkle 1c shredded mozzarella cheese on top and return to oven for 5-10 more minutes.  You want all edges to be bubbly and the all the cheese to be nicely melted.

Grateful Board

A couple posts ago I mentioned how our family grateful board usually sits at the center of our kitchen table.  Well, here it is!  I picked up a two-sided chalkboard from Michael's and used a 40% coupon so I think it cost about $4.  Then I sit a small bowl with a few pieces of chalk in it beneath it and anyone can at any time write what they're grateful for on the chalkboard.  It's a good way we've found to try and focus on what we HAVE instead of what we DON'T.  My 6-year-old daughter and I came up with the idea last Thanksgiving when she was having a cranky day and we were brainstorming ways to celebrate THANKSgiving instead of CRANKSgiving. :)

Sometimes I also draw fun characters or other surprises for my kids and they've really liked that.

It's worked great for us!!  What works for your family?

Sweet Potato Cassarole

Let me tell you my dear friends, this sweet potato dish is absolutely to D.I.E for.  If you've eaten at Ruth's Chris then you probably have an idea of just how fabulous it is!  This is my version of the copy cat recipe.  I think I use a little less sugar - not for the sake of being healthy... I mean any time you're working with 1 1/2 CUPS (that's nearly a whole box, folks) of butter, you can pretty much throw any claim to nutritional benefit right out the window.  I think it's better to just face the facts and admit that sometimes the calories are simply just worth it.

Sweet Potato Cassarole

makes 9x13 pan

Combine:

• 4-5 cups cooked and mashed sweet potatoes
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 4 eggs, well beaten
• 1/2 cup (one cube) melted butter or margarine

Mix well in large bowl (preferably in order listed above) and pour in 9x13 baking dish.  

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes

While that's baking, 

Combine:

• 2 cups brown sugar
• 2/3 cup flour
• 2 cups chopped pecans
• 1 cup (2 cubes) melted butter or margarine

After potato mixture has baked 30 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle pecan topping over top, spreading evenly.  Return to oven and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes.

It's best when you can allow 30-60 minutes for the dish to set before serving.

This is now a regular at our Thanksgiving table.  It makes a great and filling side to go with simple grilled chicken breasts.  It also reheats like a charm so you can make it on Monday and eat it all week!

Kitchen Chair Makeover

One day my fabulous husband came home with a brand new black, counter height kitchen table.  Yay!  Surprise!  He explained to me that the table was really only half of my gift.  You see, he knows how much I love the thrill of the hunt so for the remainder of my surprise gift, I would get to shop for chairs to go with it.  I don't think either of us truly understood just how intense the search would get BUT ultimately I ended up with a table and chairs that I loved at a killer deal (which I love even more) and he ended up with a counter height table (which he loves) so everyone wins.  Hooray!

As I mentioned, the search for chairs was quite grueling.  I visited store after store, website after website, and came up with nothing!  I found some chairs I liked but nothing I loved.  Most of the ones that grabbed my attention came with a hefty price tag and I knew I could get a deal if I was just patient!  My mom has always said "Patience is a virtue" (I know, I know, she didn't make that one up but I like to think she did).  But I really wanted padded seats.  For one, I like the idea of giving our tushies a little comfort but mostly I just had a vision that involved cute fabric.  I love how it softens things up!

Well, one day my mom called me and had found a listing for a whole bunch of chairs at 10 bucks a pop.  I called on it right away and she put 8 aside for me.  Tristan (aka Husband) and I came to the conclusion pretty quickly that they came from a Mexican restaurant (I think it was the salsa that was crusted on them that tipped us off).  My kids love to tell people that detail!  

I knew they'd need a little TLC but I loved their cafe style and was willing to put a little time and effort into them to get exactly what I wanted.  PLUS $10 each was a STEAL!

SO... here's the before.  I know you love the forest green pleather.

And voila!  The after!  Whattaya think?!

Here they are around my table.  I should have thrown a cute flower arrangement on the table for the sake of the picture.  My bad.  Usually our "grateful board" sits at the center of our table.  More on that on another day.

Layered Enchiladas

This is the cheaters way to make enchiladas.  It tastes exactly the same - literally - and not only is it easier and faster to put together but I feel like I throw less of it away.  This way you can cut whatever size piece you want rather than serving a whole enchilada.  I highly recommend serving Spanish Rice with these.  It's the perfect pairing!

Layered Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 10 tortillas
• chicken, cooked and shredded (you can either cook a couple chicken breasts or use canned chicken)
• 2 cups sour cream
• 1 small can green chilies
• 1 can refried beans
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups cheese, grated
• chopped olives (optional)

Mix soup, sour cream and green chilies together.  Place a large spoonful of mixture in bottom of 9x13 pan and spread evenly so the bottom of the pan is lightly coated.  Make a layer of tortillas in bottom of pan.  I've found the easiest way to do this is to cut the tortillas in half and place the straight edges along the edges of the pan.  I usually use 5-6 half pieces per layer.  Then spread refried beans and sprinkle cheese on top.  The beans can be easier to spread if they are warmed.  I usually just do it in a bowl in the microwave.  Next add 1/2 of your soup mixture.  Then sprinkle your chicken and more cheese.  Add another layer of tortillas.  Top with remaining soup mixture and lots of cheese. (if you're going to use olives, just sprinkle them on top)  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  This works as a freezer meal too.  Just prepare, cover in heavy tinfoil, and freeze.  Then when you bake it just make sure it's hot all the way through.