Cooking for One:: Basil Ranch Chicken and Pasta

Basil Rach Chicken and Pasta
Use::
Two boneless skinless chicken breasts
Two servings worth of uncooked penne pasta
1 diced roma tomato
1/4 cup ranch dressing
1/4 cup parmesian cheese
1/2 cup mozerella cheese
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs basil
1tbs oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste

Do it!!

Wash and dry chicken (As Julie and Julia says, meat never browns evenly unless it's dry!)

Dice chicken into half inch cubes, or strips. Toss in small mixing bowl. Season with basil, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in skillet. While heating oil, begin to boil water and cook the penne while preparing rest of recipe.

Toss the chicken in the skillet and stir until no longer pink on the outside. Stir in tomato, 1/4 cup ranch dressing and the parmesian. Continute to stir until chicken is browned evenly and ranch and parmesian are cooked into meat. Use rest of ranch and simmer.

Drain pasta and put into large mixing bowl. Stir in chicken. Add more ranch and parmesian if desired, and sprinkle with mozerella. Stir until cheese melts and serve.

Sometimes old friends do stick around

Today, my good old friend Amanda Nicole and I had a girls day...plus one little man. We had a very succesfull day at the mall, each spending under fifty dollars (woohoo). Something I forgot we have in common is that, aside from grocery shopping and household necessities, we ONLY shop clearance. I discovered stores she loved and got shirts for TWO DOLLARS! Love it.

But afterwards, we started talking about how great of a time we had together, doing our girl thing like we used to when we lived fifteen minutes from eachother. We pratically lived together before I got married. And we came to the realization that it had been a year or more since we had a girls day. I am SO glad to have her back. Have you ever had a friend become absent from your life for one reason or another, and you didn't know there was a void there until that void was filled back up? it's a wonderful feeling. Anyways, here are pictures from the past, and from now. Memories.

June 4, 2009

May 15, 2010

Week 1 Deployment Accomplishments!!

Well I survived week one of deployment. Hubby says that counting the days makes it harder for him, but I feel like week one was an important thing to get through. So rather than focus on how much it sucked, I thought I'd put out some of my accomlishments.

• Killing a big buggy in the tub
• Walking the dogs every day by myself
• Taking out all the trash by myself
• Going to the gym almost every day!
• Trying a new mexican food recipe
• Eating at a hole in the wall resturaunt and loving it
• Grocery shopping alone (and saving a bunch of money)
• Cutting up a cantelope without slicing off a finger
• Buying the perfect anniversary card, and sending this picture in it :]
• 

It's not so bad. It'll all be over by Christmas...hopefully.

Thursday Five :]

Once again, thank you to the Mannland5 :]

This week, here are 5 things that put a pep in my step!

1. Emails!!!
2. The gym, and friends that will act as my personal trainers

3. Kix- the only thing the teething little girl I watch wants to eat right now!!

4. Empty gatorade bottles full of change, that stops dogs from barking uncontrolably. (Try it, it really works)

5. Hair dye, for making me feel like I can still get dolled up and look good, even if hubby isn't here to appreciated it.

What's yours?

Getting it together

Well I'm still less than a week into this deployment, and while I wouldn't say it's kicking my ass in any way, I'm not sure I'm kicking its', either. Of course sending my husband away for a very lengthy time (could be longer, but that doesn't make 7 months insignificant) comes with a feeling that no one could have ever described. I held strong the first day, and even most of the second. About halfway through, little stuff started happening. It's so silly. But our neighbors have been on vacation for weeks, and they finally came home. Our little puppy Bailey finally got brave enough to go all the way up the stairs to our apartment. The people with an adjacent balcony to ours finally cleaned all the ucky trash out of their balcony. It's little stuff that I would turn around and tell Mike, or add it to my mental list to tell him when he got home from work. Sure, I could email him, but I dont' feel right emailing him ten million insignificant things a day that make me miss him. How would that help?

So so far this week I've been working on getting things together. Doing the last of his leftover laundry, cleaning the house, I even rearranged the bedroom. I've started going to the gym and I'm working on my final projects for school. I'm keeping busy but it still seems like I can't get it together. I feel like I don't have much control over anything.

So since there are so many milspouses out there, I'm asking- when your loved one deployed, what did you do to get it together?

Thursday Five [[On Friday, but I've been busy!]]

Well a few friends have been doing this wonderful thing called "Thursday Five" from the Mannland 5. I think that right now, since I am officially a woman with a deployed husband, would be a wonderful time to start looking at five things every week that make me happy, estatic and joyful. So here we go :]

1. Hubbers' ship "broke" and deployment was delayed a few days!
2. Bailey finally got brave enough to take the stairs up to our apartment!
3. Willow braved the waves at the dog beach!
4. I finally got a new set of sheets for the bedroom and am in looove.
5. Frank found me a pretty black sea-shell at the beach.

So I have one more little thing to talk about. I'll probably write a few more blogs on today later on, when I'm more functional. But today I said my "see you laters" to my hubby, because he's got a lot of responsibility and won't be able to come see me the day the ship pulls out. My amazing friend Emily took me to base to see him, and she snapped some pictures. Here's what I like to call our official "See you later 2010" photo. Thanks to all of you already offering support and letting me know I'm not alone. Every single well-wish makes a difference.

Love you, baby. See you later.

New Page :]

So I am still fairly new to the serious blogging world, ha, but I'm trying something new. I've added a new page to the blog. It's called Cooking for One and it's going to be a collection of my own and others' adapted recipes for my fellow spouses of military men or anyone that wants to take advantage of a yummy meal solo style. I haven't quite figured out how to get that to come up on the dashboard, so maybe I will post on the home page every time I put up a new recipe. Anyways, keep checking the page in case I forget to update on here. There are two up now to check out so I hope ya'll enjoy!

The Mrs.Voigt Alphabet :]

So I've seen a few of these in the last few weeks. I got this one from One Lucky Monkey, but I'm not sure where she got it. Just thought it'd be a fun little blog to do before I go off to sleepy land. :]

I saw this cute A to Z of Me on a few blogs and decided to do it for myself tonight. I love filling out these things - in particular when I'm trying to procrastinate:-)

A to Z of Me

 

A. AREA CODE : Raised in 512, currently residing in the 619

B. BED SIZE: Queen, but I wouldn't mind an upgrade!

C. CHORE YOU HATE: Doing the dishes and cleaning dog booboo from our untrainable puppy :(

 

D. DOG'S NAME: Willow Marie, red/dapple dachshund, and Bailey Rae, fawn puggle.

 

E. ESSENTIAL "START THE DAY!" ITEM: Uhg, I swore I'd never be this way, but sadly, coffee.

 

F. FAVORITE COLOR: Hmm generally I'd say purple, but here lately I'm loooving teal.

G. GOLD OR SILVER: Silver or WHITE gold

H. HEIGHT: 5' 5"

I. INSTRUMENTS YOU PLAY: My vocal cords and the radio dail

J. Job: Babysitter and Housewifey

 

K. KIDS: None yet. Someday. Although I'm occassionally guilty of baby-fever.

L. LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: Apartment with my hubby dubby

N. NICKNAME: Just Mikey. Or Mikey-May

M.MOM'S NAME: Shellie

 

O. OVERNIGHT HOSPITAL STAY: Every year of high school due to Reactive Airway Disease

 

P. PET PEEVE: Starting to say something and not finishing it, and "This branch of military is better than this one" debates.

Q. QUOTE FROM A MOVIE: Really? There's a Stalker Book? Man, I gotta read that one." [Eternal Sunshine]

R. RIGHTY OR LEFTY?: Lefty :]

S. SIBLINGS: Brother-Charles. And two of the most amazing sisters in law a girl could ask for.

T. TIME YOU WAKE UP: On weekdays, 7a.m.

U. UNDERWEAR: Boyshorts all the way.

V. VEGGIE YOU DISLIKE: Most of them, but green beans and peas make me gag.

W. WAYS/REASONS YOU ARE LATE: Getting lost. Lol.

 

X. XRAYS YOU'VE HAD: Teefs, tailbone, chest, wrist and back.

Y. YUMMY FOOD YOU MAKE: Hmm. My favorite is probably chicken cordon bleu. Probably.

 

Z. ZOO ANIMALS YOU LIKE: Giraffes and elephantes!

Skinnie Piggie's Military Wedding Week Contest!!

So I follow a wonderful blog called Hellcat Betty, and today her post turned me onto Skinnie Piggie. I spent a few hours checking out the blog and then I decided to enter the Military Wedding Week Contest! These contests are just really fun to participate in and it's a great way to find new blogs. You should definitely go check some of these entries out!!

So here it goes! Our wedding story may not be much of a story, it was simple and cozy, but so perfect for us that I still think it's worth sharing!

Hubbers proposed via text message. Me being in Texas and him being in California, and him being impatient, he couldn't wait to get leave, so this actually completely fit our relationship. He put a lot of thought into it still, and even though we knew an engagement was coming, he was pretty nervous as we spoke on the phone.

This is the picture I got while he was on the phone, asking me to marry him.

[I know that this isn't a proposal contest but I feel like that's the best way to start a wedding story!]

So Hubbers proposed February 11th, and four days later the date was set for June 5, 2009. I knew exactly where I wanted to get married- the state park in our home town, on top of a cliff overlooking the forest.

The building we held the reception at.

[Photo curtesy of http://texascccparks.org/parks/lockhart/]

Originally, I chose navy blue and lavender as our colors, and wanted a light springy look. I was going to wear a knee length gown and he would wear a lavender shirt and black slacks. However, (I will spare the details of the drama, but long story short we discovered his side of the family was MUCH more religious than we knew), I ended up wanting to be respectful and not show all the "horrific" tattoos on my legs, so a full length gown was a must and he refused to wear lavender. So the idea kind of changed when I fell in love with this dress.

Not such a pretty face, I know, but this was right when it hit me that I was about to become a married woman, and there was no AC in the building...in Texas...in the afternoon.

We invited about a hundred people, and I'd say about 60 showed up, if that many. I'm horrible at estimating. It was just what we wanted, though. He had two groomsmen, and I had two maids of honor. They picked simple dresses that didn't match but I thought it was just perfect.

I didn't want the wedding march, it just wasn't us. So I walked down the aisle to a song called "So Much" by The Spill Canvas. It was beautiful and perfect. The music started, I took my Daddy's arm, and saw this lovely sight at the end of the petal-covered, stone walkway.

He looks so handsome. There are rumors that he teared up here, but he refutes them.

I was too anxious to wait for the pastor to speak, I kept jumping ahead and repeating the vows before he finished telling me what to say. There were lots of laughs.

The most amazing part of this whole ceremony was when my daddy walked me to the end of the aisle, and the pastor asked if Hubbers would take me (with all the yadda yadda that goes with).

Hubbers smiled, didn't take his eyes away from mine, and in a loud, happy voice, said the words "Without a doubt". Those words never meant so much.

So finally, we kissed.

And for exactly 15 seconds of "our song", I forced him to dance with me.

(He changed out of his heavy Blues for the reception)

He cracked open a Monster Energy drink, we had some of his Mimi's delicious cake, opened presents, said hello to everyone, and then, simple as that, we went on into our happily ever after.

So that's pretty much it. It was a small afair, all decorated by hand, all planned by yours truly, and all made absolutely perfect by Hubbers. Small and simple, and I wouldn't change it for the world.

Read more: http://www.mylivesignature.com/mls_wizard2_1.php?sid=54488-166-243AB29DA08EED35CC2410262DB76A7F#ixzz0nmhTeOiX

Hey Jude, don't make it bad. Take a sad song, and make it better :]

I just wanted to do a little bloggy blog about some excitement in my life recently. Not so much mine, but a dear friend's. My bestie from high school, Miss Amanda Nicole, recently got married! I met the lucky Marine for the first time Sunday night, and was very impressed. The three of them, (Amanda Nicole is mother to my precious godson, Jude, more on him later), mesh together perfectly. Jude's father is a no show kinda guy, but Joseph seems like he has been there since day one. The two of them are absolutely adorable together. Already they are a perfect family; doing ten million things at once and looking good doing it.

When Jude came along A.M. went straight into mommy mode. She's been a natural at it and he's always been the light of her life. But, she's been a single mommy, and as always there have been struggles. I am so absolutely happy that she has found a man that loves her AND her baby boy as much as he does. It's a wonderful feeling to see how happy the three of them are together, and I have to say that I am INSANELY proud of A.M. and all she's done for herself and her son.

Jude himself is an impressive young man. He is 16 months old and the most precious thing. He likes to find your cell phone around the house, and take it to you. If you don't want it, he'll just give it to someone else. He will play with the buttons on something until he finds the on switch and then proceeds to control it all day long. He's insanely smart, but one of the most precious things he does is spin around in circles and blunder to the ground, making booming noises when he hits the ground. I love this kid.

Jude's Debue - Jan. 2009

Jude at 16 months- May 2010.

I guess the point of this blog is to appreciate taking some sad moments and making them into wonderful, happily-ever-after stories. A.M. has done a wonderful job raising her son, and deserves to be as happy as she is now.

Three posts in one day, wowza!

This could be the beginning of a beautiful blogging relationship, people. I'm excited. :]

So Christina, over at Married to a Sailor is having a contest for Military Spouse bloggers. As I am closer to experiencing my first deployment, I have discovered that there is a warmth in MilSpouse blogging that is a little unique and a lot comforting. So I'm going to enter, not to win, because I'm entirely new at this, but because blogging has already become a wonderful outlet for the trials coming my way.

This is what being a military spouse means to me.

• From day one, never even considering not following my man across the country, or even the world, just to be close to him.
• Of course, developing a very strong appreciation for his snoring, hogging the sheets, and controlling the remote.
• I not only married Hubbers; I married an alliance of men and women larger than imagination could dream up.
• My life is full of countdowns, be it to something good or something I'm dreading.
• That-in my traditionalist ways- you can usually find thread, a needle, and a broken cami button or coverall patch on the coffee table waiting to be used.
• I assumed, going into it, that I would never actually spend my anniversarry with my husband, but that's okay, because all that matters is that I have a husband.
• When we start our family, I can count on being a "single" mommy nearly half the time.
• I've had to learn to cope with a different breed of pain, loss, fear, stress, and insanity that I will never completely understand, but must always be prepared to face.
• Sometimes I speak in a language only other military spouses understand.
• That while, in the past, I never gave military commercials combat boots a second glance, now, on a rough day, I can find something to cry about in anything camouflaged, blue and gold, or red white and blue.
• That crying can be a sign of pride.
• That I may spend a series of months in this bed alone, making dinner for one, servicing the truck on my own, doing all the heavy lifting, and paying all the bills, but I will never, ever, truly be without my sailor.
• That I will never be in a situation that nobody understands.
• Mostly, that I am the absolutely a part of community of the luckiest people in the world, blessed with the chance to share their lives with the amazing men and women that we call our husbands and wives.

Dear Deployment, I hate you already.

Just a quick little blog, because times like this are when I need my blog the most.

Deployment is rapidly approaching. I've given it a few fleeting thoughts- who doesn't? And I've roughly counted down the days. I have been well aware of when our "last weekend" would occur, or the "last time I'll go grocery shopping for two" is. The difference between before and now is that suddenly those days are my life-blood. I've heard it from some woment before, that you're fine fine fine, and then one day, just before it happens, it hits you like a ton of bricks. Thank you, ton of bricks, for clobbering me tonight.

Of course I can see myself here, functioning normally. After all, he has been gone Monday-Friday for the last five months, and I've become accustomed to waiting for an email to pop up. I can see myself when my parents come to visit, showing them around San Diego and having a ball, even though he's not going to be here. I can see myself going to dinner with friends, taking care of the dogs, going on day trips to places I've never seen. Going to the gym.

But I guess tonight what keeps hitting me is the things that I can't see myself doing when he leaves. Like wrestling with him on the couch. Waiting for him to fall asleep to switch the TV from wrestling to The Nanny. Making mashed potatos and corn with practically every meal. Or just knowing that he's in bed next to me.

I know it's going to be okay. I know if I stay busy, time will fly. I know that thousands, maybe millions of women deal with this every day. But it comes down to the fact that this sucks, regardless of all that. When you live with a man, when you share every night with him and let him in on every moment that happens in your life, and then suddenly, there's going to be this gap where the person holding your heart is in a place he can't even tell you he is in, it's not gonna be easy.

Hopefully, it's not going to be this hard for that long.

Blog-Hop

So I may be a little behind, but thanks to Emily over at Longley's in San Diego, I can still participate in the blog-hop hosted by Riding the Roller Coaster.

I can't link up any more, but I have a feeling these new blogs will keep me busy! So here's our bio. :]

Hubbers was born in San Diego, Ca, but went to high school in Lockhart, Texas, where I grew up. He was class of 2006, and I was 2008. We met in a P.E. class his senior hear of high school. I hated school and P.E., but hubbers decided it was his mission in life to make me enjoy at least that hour of my day and we became good friends. That lasted until he graduated, joined the Navy and moved across the country. For the next two and a half years we rarely kept in touch via Myspace, and, long story short, after deployment he came home to Texas November 2008, just before his 21st birthday, and we've been together ever since. We moved pretty quickly and were married June of 2009, and I followed him back to San Diego, our new home [for now].

We have now been married almost a year, and have aquired two babies [our puppies Willow and Bailey]. For the last 5 months, with the exception of one week of Christmas leave and one other week of normal work, Hubbers has been on the boat 24/7 on weekdays and only home on weekends. Now, within a few short weeks, we will endure our first deployment together. I will be staying in San Diego with the babies, taking online courses, babysitting and keeping busy with friends.

I love cooking, reading, DIY anything and children. We don't have kids yet, but definitely want them down the line. For now, our furry babies are enough. <3

Where we love is our home. Home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts.

-Oliver Wendell Holmes

Well people, it is getting near that dreaded time. The "D" word, she comes. Deployment. Sadness. I was doing fine with the whole thing, until Hubbers realized it himself on the way home from the store one day this weekend. I was completely okay within myself, until I could hear the little nerve in his voice when he told me he wasn't quite ready yet. As much as I have tried, I have not been able to get the thought out of my mind.

Instead, I have been trying to think of the positive things. So here is a pick-me-up list of things I want to accomplish while Hubbers is away.

• Get in shape; start going to the gym at least three times a week and taking the dogs for walks.
• Get both of our girls fixed
• Training the dogs so that they are as well-behaved as Molly and Ellie (whom may stray at times but still put our pups to shame!)
• Decorate the spare bedroom
• Find a way to hide the cable dragging around our floorboards
• Finish all three of my scrapbooks up to date
• Go home for a few weeks
• Visit a friend a few hours north of us
• Start cooking and baking again
• Find a more space friendly way to arrange the bedroom
• Become an intense student
• Read more books

That's all I've got so far, but I think it's a good start. I need support but I know I can make it, so all I ask is that everyone pray or put in your thoughts for Hubbers to have a safe journey, and for he and is fellow sailors all to return home at the end of the year just as good as new. <3