Recipe- Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

I found this on CampbellsKitchen.com the other day and decided to try it out. I'm a sucker for any type of soup during the winter months. It was absolutely delicious- definitely a crowd pleaser!

1 cup Pace Picante sauce

2 cans cream of chicken soup

1 pound chicken breasts, cut into small pieces

2 cups frozen whole kernel corn

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 soup can water

1 tsp. ground cumin

4 corn tortillas (6 inch), cut into strips

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro 

1. Stir the Picante sauce, soup, chicken, corn, beans, water and cumin in a slow cooker. 

2. Cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours or until the chicken is cooked through.

3. Stir the tortillas, cheese and cilantro into the cooker. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. 

Five on Friday

1. I wish the weather would just make up it's mind. It was 70 degrees here on Monday, and now it's 8. That's right, 8 degrees. This is why everyone is sick! I did hear a good February forecast on the news this morning though; they say it's going to be above average and very mild! Bring on the Spring temperatures :)

2. I'm leaving on Sunday to go to Austin again for work. I miss Clint and Harper so much when I'm gone, but this trip is very busy and will hopefully go by fast!

3. I got the go-ahead to change my work hours to 7:00 am-4:00 pm. I am SO excited about this and can't wait to get more time with my family, and also get to cook dinner during the week instead of just instructing Clint on what to do!

4. My favorite weekends are when Clint is off Saturday and Sunday. This weekend is one of those, and I feel like we should do something fun tomorrow! Harper is dying to play outside again after such a nice day on Monday, so I really hope it gets warm enough for us to do some outdoor activities.

5. We are currently working on plans to cover our back porch in the next month or so. I saw this on Pinterest the other day and thought that it was such a cute idea to use for an outdoor coffee table!

Playroom Ideas

Happy Wednesday! I had to travel to Austin last week for work and now that I'm recuperated, I have to go back for a couple of days on Sunday! In the midst of the travel though, I have been working on getting Harper's playroom put together. I sold all of the office furniture we had in there and have bought some furniture and decorative items to try out. The only thing I'm waiting on is the new rug, and I really need that to come in, so that I can see how it pulls the whole room together.

I have bought several canvas prints and a few lamps from Hobby Lobby. I'll be returning some of it, but I need to see what looks the best. I got these spice racks from Ikea to use as book shelves as well.

I'm planning to paint these the same color as our trim and make a little "reading corner" under the bamboo chandelier we have in the corner of the room now. I thought it would be the perfect place for those shelves and her little chair :)

I also ended up buying the Ikea storage unit that I talked about in my last post, and it's perfect! I love how it looks and how much storage it has. Harper likes to dump all of her toys out of the bins and sit in them though!

This is the rug that I'm waiting on, and I think it will be perfect for that room. It's fun and bright.

I got a great deal on the green and white desk that was for sale locally, and I love how it looks. It's a great size for the computer and looks very vintage.

The last thing I saw on Pinterest that looked super cute was using a curtain rod to display kid's artwork. This would be so easy, so I'm going to do this if I have enough wall space left.

Now all I have to do is get it all put together! 

Five on Friday

1. As much as I said that we would not let toys take over our house, I am eating my words. It's just out of control since Christmas and Harper's room is just FILLED with stuff everywhere. We have decided to turn our front bedroom/office into a playroom, so I am selling our desk and bookcase and buying some of these storage units from Ikea.

They have lots of different sizes/configurations and colors, so I'm not exactly sure yet what we are going to go with, but something like what is pictured above. I think these will be great to contain all of her toys and keep some order and organization. I also saw some super cute canvas prints and decorations in Hobby Lobby the other day that would be super cute for a playroom.

2. Even though we are making that room into a playroom, I still need somewhere to put our computer and printer. Our computer will also play DVDs, so I thought it would be good to have it in there instead of putting a TV. I want something that looks a little antique and shabby chic. I guess I'm going to have to peruse some of our local flea markets and antique malls.

That second picture is a desk that is actually for sale about 45 minutes from our house. I'm thinking I might need to make a trip there this weekend :) I could change the hardware, and it would be perfect!

3. I confess that I'm a little glad to be back in our normal routine after the holidays. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the holiday season and love seeing family and friends and spending time with everyone. The OCD in me loves routine too though :)

4. Our company is about to start a new Wellness Program and as a result, they offered us Fitbits for a discounted price. I just got mine yesterday, and I already love it! It's really interesting to see how many miles I walk each day and how many calories I burn just walking around my office building or doing "chores" at home. 

5. I am SO excited that is finally Friday! After being off for so long and only working a few days last week, a full week of work has been torture, haha. We are also supposed to have some really pretty weather this weekend- highs of 55 and 60, so we may even get to try out some of Harper's outside toys she got for Christmas!

Recipe- Warm Cheesy Spinach Dip

I made this recipe for one of our Christmas celebrations where we had appetizers/snack foods and desserts. I found it in our Church cookbook, and it is delicious and really easy!

16 oz. frozen, chopped spinach

1 lb. Velveeta cheese

1 can Rotel

16 oz. cream cheese

2 cups mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt Velveeta and Rotel together. Boil spinach as directed on package; drain well. Stir mozzarella cheese into Velveeta/Rotel mixture until smooth. Mix spinach into cheese mixture and pour into a 13x9 pan. Cube the cream cheese and place into spinach mixture/pan, distributing evenly and pressing down into mixture. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve with crackers of your choice!

Harper McKenzie- 16 months old

This post is a little late since Harper actually turned 16 months on December 21st, but I still wanted to get it documented for myself and for all of our friends and family!

We haven't been to the doctor in the past month, but I would guess her weight is somewhere around 25 pounds and her height is around 31 inches. Harper has become so much fun over the past few months now that she is talking more and can understand and respond to commands. She says a couple of words and also babbles a lot! Her more common words are Da Da, Ma Ma, bye bye and I swear she said thank you the other day! She has also started identifying more and more animals when you ask her which is which and really gets into playing with her kitchen and "cooking." She still loves reading all of her books and got lots of new toys for Christmas, so we have had fun playing with those.

We try to get Harper to eat 3 meals a day and 2 snacks, although it doesn't always work out that way. Some days she eats a ton, and others she hardly eats anything. Her favorite foods are cheese sticks, grilled cheese, yogurt, applesauce, lasagna/tomato sauce pasta dishes, white cheese dip, goldfish and teddy grahams. She's not much up of a meat eater at this stage but LOVES anything dairy! Harper has 10 teeth now- 6 on top and 4 on bottom- and we are just waiting for some others to pop up on the bottom any day now. We really haven't noticed her having any teething problems up until the past two weeks; I really think her teeth have been bothering her though because she's been very cranky, which is unusual :(

Harper wakes up around 7:30 am, takes a nap from about 12:00-2:30 or 3:00 pm and then goes to bed around 8:00 pm. Thank goodness we still have a great sleeper! She is still a pleasant little girl, although she has started asserting her independence and throwing some tantrums when she doesn't get her way. She has also really started "testing" us this past month or so to see what she can and can't do. It's so hard to keep a straight face when she throws her tantrums; we have to turn away to laugh, so she won't see us!

The TV doesn't interest her as much as it did, but she LOVES our phones. She has learned to navigate to the PBS Kids app, as well as the pictures and videos. I think Harper would stay on the phone all day long if we would let her, so we have to take it away after a couple of minutes.

She has, of course, mastered walking by now and is running around the house most of the time. She has also started climbing on things, so we have to watch her to make sure she doesn't fall off the couch or ottoman when she climbs up there. 

Harper, you are such a joy and have brought so much fun and happiness to our lives. Although exhausted after keeping up with your busy self everyday, we wouldn't trade it for anything and can't wait to continue to watch you learn and grow over the next couple of months!

Five on Friday- 5 Things for 2014

I'm not sure if I would call these resolutions or not, but I do feel like the first of the year is a great time to evaluate yourself and figure out what you should do more of, what you should do better, etc. I guess I would call these my 2014 goals.

1. Take time to smell the roses.

I have a really hard time actually relaxing. In my mind, there's always something to do, something to clean, something to organize, etc. It's called having a bit of OCD :) I really want to try to sit back, enjoy and relax more this year. I need to learn that certain things can wait and enjoy my family and my little one while she's still little!

2. Become more focused in Church and Bible Study.

I will say that it's so hard to really focus in Church when you have a little one that doesn't cooperate. We are constantly trying to entertain her, keep her quiet, etc. Now that she's getting older, I really hope and pray that we can find some way to keep her entertained and quiet during Church, so we can really focus on the message and not have to worry about taking her out every Sunday. Also, now that she goes to Bible Class after Church, we can really get involved and focus on the teachings during Bible Study/Bible Class.

3. Get back to a set workout routine.

I'm sure this goal or something similar is on everyone's list. I have really been slacking on the working out this past month. Now that we are getting back into a normal routine though, I'm going to start going back to the gym 4 days a week. It makes me feel better and just gives me more energy overall.

4. Have more of a "glass half full" attitude.

I tend to be more of a glass half empty kind of person. I'm not necessarily negative- I just tend to worry about things a lot instead of just having faith that things will turn out the way they should. I hope to be able to change this in 2014.

5. Have more patience.

And, just for fun, I thought this was hilarious.