Thank God for the Crock Pot...

Oh no, I feel the aches and pains in my body, which could mean one thing...I think I'm getting sick. This Mama here has no time getting sick! My husband is a wonderful cook, but who wants to cook after a long day at work, plus last night he helped me cook a decent meal for dinner. With all this being said I thank God that he created the Crock Pot! Don't you hear the angels singing! I had a pork tenderloin in the freezer and placed it in the Crock Pot this morning. This is such an easy dish it should be outlawed.

Recipe:

 2-3 lbs of pork tenderloin
1 bottle of Sweet Baby Ray's Barbque Sauce
Dice 1/2 of a large onion or 1 small onion
Mince 2 cloves of garlic
Salt and Pepper

Cook in the Crock Pot on slow for 4-6 hours.

Voila! When you get home just bust out the hamburger buns and instant dinner. Serve with chips or cole slaw.

The picture doesn't do it justice plus it's almost all gone. That's how good it is!

Money Challenge...

For 2013 my husband and I have added a money challenge as one of our family goals. I came across this neat 52 Week Money Challenge that I saw floating around Facebook. It looks pretty simple and easy to start.  At the end of the year you'll have a nice sum of money, but why stop at the end of the year, just carry it over to the next year and the next year after that. This 52 Week Challenge looks like a nice way to build up a nice savings.

Birthday Dinner, Wine and Les Miserables...

My 39th birthday was on Dec 28 and for my birthday my husband took me out to dinner at my favorite Italian restaurants and then so lovingly accompanied me to the movies to see Les Miserables. I say "lovingly accompanied" because this is definitely not a guy's movie. But he was a good sport and I'm grateful the night out we shared.

If you ever visit The Irvine Spectrum, make sure to check out Cucina Enoteca. I love the food and the ambiance. My first visit there I was introduced to a Barbera red wine, which is now my favorite red wine!  Ed Manetta, the wine director over at Cucina Enoteca is awesome! He and his wife used to have a wine shop in Ladera Ranch for seven years. He explained to me that a barbera is a type of grape that is generally grown in Italy and are a little more tart and acidic. The California barbera is more lighter and frutier, which is what they serve. Make sure you check them out!





On to Les Mis...

I loved it! I have to say it was a little long and my poor husband kept looking around the theater, giving big sighs and at times I saw him rubbing his face with both hands. I did tell him a couple of times to sit back and relax and he tried, but he said he looked over at the girl on his right and she was crying then he looked over at me on his left and I was crying. I did give him big hugs for going with me.

New Year New Posts...

This year in 2013 my one big New Years resolution is to finish what I started.  Not that I want this blog to end, but to really stick with it. I started this blog as a creative outlet and as I'm approaching 40 (shhh!) I feel more liberated in myself as a woman or just as a person. So here it is 2013! Here I am! Here me roar!!!

Out of Work, Out of Sight, Out of Mind...

I know I know...where have I been? Well I was let go from my temporary job in May and now I've been home enjoying time with my kids...Yay!!

You're probably thinking what does that have to do with anything? Well I was in a temp office job that was pretty slow so to fill up my time I started blogging. I began to like it and not only did it give me something to do while at my desk for eight hours I began to be therapeutic.

Just a little background about myself that I don't think I mentioned before. My original background is in marketing and I was with a large corporation for 10 years. While on maternity leave with my daughter I decided I wanted a more flexible work/life balance so I quit my job and decided to consult. That quickly was short lived because the economy got so bad there was no work to be had and no one could fork out extra money to pay for an outside consultant, so to my sadness I had to look for full time work. I took a position as an administrative assistant and even though I was grateful for the work and the extra income I really yearned to be back in a fast paced, crazy, creative environment. Thus my extensive job search began which was basically applying online sending out my resume into the black hole of online company websites. In my heart I was torn because if I was going to work full time I wanted to be where I belonged but I quit my good job to be with my kids...and really that's where I wanted to be. After being in my temp job for a year and a half it finally opened up as a permanent position and of course I submitted my resume, because I felt it was the right thing to do. The company ended up choosing a former employee to fill the position, so I was without a job again. I believe all things happen for a reason and God has a plan for all of us. I wasn't sad or scared and the woman that took my job ended up to be very nice and we became friends.  Because I was technically laid off I could now apply for unemployment benefits and at least have some money while looking for work. But let me tell you! I've been much more busier while being off of work then when I was working! I've been enjoying the summer with my kids, but also I've been learning some very good valuable information about myself and really be proud of my past accomplishments. I've joined a professional networking group and have been attending wonderful workshops and honing in on my interviewing skills, I've had my resume re-vamped and have met some wonderful people through networking. I've also been doing some volunteer work and now looking at possibly going back to school. It's been busy but in a positive way....I'm really enjoying myself!

Now that I've come back to my neglected blog I thought I'd share some job searching skills I've been learning about. Even if you aren't looking for full time work I want to pay it forward to possibly help someone else out there!

Good night everyone!