wow, I almost forgot I had this blog- huge update inside

Its been over a year since I posted on this blog.  Huge things have happened in my life since.
I got a divorce a year ago and am living in a small apartment with my kids :)
I graduated from Boise State University with a Bachelors of Science in Criminal Justice
and I have been dating a man for 9 months- A.  He is pretty awesome :)

Conner is getting ready to complete his GED and is considering college.
Kaitlyn is graduating from highschool in May and is applying to Boise State, also to be a criminal justice major!!!  She is finishing up her term as Honored Queen in her bethel and has been dating her boyfriend for over a year.
Noah is a junior and is considering college options as well.  He wants to double major with computer science and criminal justice.
Hannah, Allie, Bella and Harrison are all doing well in school and I cannot believe how they are all growing and changing!  Harrison just turned 7!!!!  and Hannah is 14.  Its crazy how the time flies so fast.  Bella is still doing the gifted and talented program and is excelling in it.

We have had a rough year. But we are starting to come out of it and are doing well.

Some pictures ...

Another new week of meals to try

last post, I had many new recipes to try and they were all winners!  I will say that the Hawaiian marinade would be much better on grilled meat instead of a pan saute.

This week brings more vegan and vegetarian meals to try.  We have several people (myself included) that do not eat much meat at all, so this will be a good week for us.  It is hard to get a balance in a family of 9 with some who eat meat and some who do not!

Several of the recipes are from the Happy Herbivore Cookbook.  I got this book over 6 months ago with the Forks over Knives cookbook and glanced through them both and didn't find anything I liked.  I gave it another chance this week and found about 8 recipes that I want to try immediately, so I am glad I gave it another chance!

• Yellow Dal with either jasmine or brown rice and greens
• Baked Beans with basic muffins or possibly Maple Cornmeal Biscuits

Baking items 

• Apple Crisp Muffins
• Spiced Carrot Muffins
• Maple Muffins

Also on the menu to try this week are:

• Tex Mex Lasagna
• One Pot Wonder pasta dish

Next up I will re-tackle the Forks over Knives and see if I can find anything that sounds worth trying in it!

Recipes on the menu to try this week.....

Crispy Baked Chimichangas

Spicy Roasted Veggie Mac and Cheese

Korean Chicken

Tandoori Chicken

Korean Beef

Spiced Applesauce Cake

Pineapple Marinade for chicken

Chocolate Applesauce Cake

Paleo Keema Kari: Curry Hamburger

Double Chocolate Pumpkin Spice Cake with pumpkin buttercream

So guess what?

I haven't been here in a while...but you already knew that! LOL
There have been a lot of changes since December, and I will make them fast.

I changed my major at college due to a huge snafu with the Social Work department.  I am now back in Criminal Justice and I know it is the right fit.  I have one year left.  Just one year and I will graduate!  What will I do when I am no longer a student?  I have no idea! haha

Kids are good.  We will leave it at that.  Everyone is growing and healthy and loving life.

I am writing.  Yes, writing.  I found an old story I had started writing back in highschool.  Originally a short story and only 10 pages long, we were able to only find 3 of the original pages.  I have edited and added, and now have that 3 pages up to 20 pages!  Hannah has been reading it and loves it.  Even if I never do anything with it, I will feel accomplished for finishing it.  I will keep updates on the blog.

I went to the Imagine Dragons concert Tuesday night.  It was amazing.  I cannot say enough good things about them.  Going was a very important thing for me, for personal reasons that I cannot say here, but it was needed, and it was good.  If you haven't listened to them yet, start with Demons, Radioactive and It's Time. Yes, we were this close to the stage!

That is it.  Off to do research today.  Will update later tonight.

Jessica

The season is in full swing!

Almost all of our decorations are up and the kids are feeling the spirit.  They love the songs and the decorations and the fun we have together during the holidays. They are busy planning their gifts for each other and we will go shopping this weekend.  They all draw names and have $5 to spend on each other, and they get quite crafty!

I came across an article the other day about Elf on the Shelf.  Now, I know I have friends that do it, and that is fine.  But I hate it.  And this blog really explains why-Leaving out the whole creepy elf being in my house and wandering at night thing..read it, it a good article and has some good points.
Why I hate Elf on the Shelf

A few pictures:

Our special ornament for this year: what we brought out of this year was that our family was more important than anything else...and with Conner turning 18 next year, we thought doing all their fingerprints on the ornament was significant of our WHOLE family