Patience Is A Virtue. Apparently.

http://dennysfunnyquotes.blogspot.com/

Ah, frustration. A feeling the hubby and I are familiar with. Building a home is such a sloooooow process. We've had the basement/foundation done at our property for oh, about 2 weeks now, and have been waiting for the next step. Well, after a brief conversation with our builder yesterday, we learned the framing crew is not scheduled to be here until Thursday. Ugh.

I digress. This is an uncontrollable situation for us, these peeps are on a schedule. Man, if I had my way... Let's just say the house would have been done a month ago :) Alas, frustration is blocking my creative process, and I don't really have much to say or write. Unless you wanted to read "Hurry up!" written 300 times on a page :)

So, moral of the story. No construction updates until Thursday. Grrr.

Cold Sesame Noodle Salad

There's probably no other food that tops pasta in my book. I could eat pasta all day, everyday. But make it an asian-style noodle with a spicy sauce? I'm in heaven.

This was actually a surprisingly easy salad to make. It makes a lot, another plus since I've been eating this for lunch all week. The hubby loved it, but that didn't really surprise me. I haven't been cooking much due to our situation, and it's hard to find healthy dishes that fit everyone in the household's taste buds. It was nice to make a big batch of this, and have a healthy go-to meal all week. I think I'm looking forward to having my own kitchen back the most!

Anyhoo, I based this recipe on the Pioneer Woman's recipe, and just threw in the extras that I wanted to add:

Ingredients:
12 ounces thin chow mein noodles
1 cucumber, julienned
1 cup carrot, shredded
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp garlic, minced
2 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp sesame oil
3/4-1 tsp hot chile oil
2 tbsp canola oil
sesame seeds, for garnish
thinly sliced green onions, for garnish

Directions:
1. Cook noodles according to package directions. Rinse and drain under cold water. Add to a large salad bowl.
2. Add cucumber and carrot to the noodles.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together soy sauce through canola oil. Drizzle over salad. Gently toss salad to combine.
4. Garnish salad with sesame seeds and green onions. Chill in fridge for at least 1 hour.
5. Dig in :)

Got Gravel?

Yesterday, this monstrosity appeared at our property. One big pile of gravel.

The hubby and I aren't sure where they are going to put it, or what it's going to be used for. This was the 4th truck of gravel that arrived at our property yesterday, and the only one that wasn't used for something.

I was awakened yesterday morning by the sound of big trucks. This noise never fails to get me excited these days, as it means work will be done that day. I roused myself from bed to peek out the window. Sure enough, lots of trucks were arriving. As I mentioned before, several gravel trucks were pulling up, as well as a couple of trucks with equipment, or machines if you will. I'm so technical :)

I always wait until everyone leaves before I meander over to the property so I don't have to talk to anyone. I'm just weird like that. I was pleased to see that they had filled in the garage area, which you are looking at in this picture.

They also filled in where our entryway will be.

This will eventually be one of the basement windows.

The boys always have to come over and inspect the work that was done for the day. They always need a smell-verification that there were no dogs at the property that day. You can see that they filled in the space between the house and hole they dug with dirt. So, no more dangerous drop around the sides of the house. Yay!

Side of the house where they've built up a wall of dirt. Don't worry, it will be grass someday. Someday.

Haloti got something in his nose and a sneeze attack during his Olympic smell-a-thon of the property. I just love that picture, I giggle when I look at it.

Of course, after a sneezing attack one must roll until the next sneezing fit starts :)

Well peeps, next up is the delivery of wood for the frame. It didn't happen today, so I'm still holding optimistic for tomorrow. We shall see.

Motor-Boatin'

As I mentioned previously, the hubby and I spent last weekend in Tennessee. It was my first time ever to Tennessee, cross another state of the list of states I've been. It's been awhile since the hubby and I were able to get away for awhile, so we enjoyed the weekend to the fullest :)

The weekend got off to a rocky start on our drive down to Lake City. The weather heading from Southern Kentucky into Northern Tennessee was less than pleasant and welcoming. We drove right through a severe thunderstorm for about an hour. I'm talking rain coming down so hard, we couldn't see out the windshield. Everyone on the highway either pulled over, or put on their emergency lights and began to go 35 mph. It was not fun. The weather cleared up about 5 miles from Lake City, but I was a nervous wreck by that point. I had been gripping my seat in my car so hard, my knuckles turned white. I was sooooo happy to finally get to our destination.

The rest of the weekend was a lot more relaxing. It was wasn't a very hot weekend, it was only about 85 degrees Friday and Saturday, but it was fabulous weather for chilling in the boat and having a few beers. Not so hot you sit in the boat, sweating. In true Jessica-fashion, I only took a couple of pictures. When will I learn? Probably never :)

View from the boat. It might look overcast and not very warm, but we got plenty of heat. The sun even came out a few times!

The hubby's cousin's wife (did you get that?) pulling the boat away from shore. His cousin and his wife like to just put the boat in the water instead of paying money at the marina. I would do the same! The hubby and his cousin had to swim from shore to the boat though, and they were both pretty tired. I was amused :)

Heading out on Saturday. My pre-way-too-many-beers look.

The hubby got in the water to try some wake boarding. I passed on this, and I'm glad. The hubby was super-sore on Sunday. And yesterday, in fact.

Me and the hubby.

Me and the hubby's cousin's wife (what a mouthful, lol).

We had an amazing weekend, and I think we were both kind of sad to head back to the real world. We were excited about reunited with our dogs though :) The drive home wasn't nearly as bad as the drive in. We drove through one thunderstorm that lasted for about 20 minutes, but the rest of the way was clear. Thank goodness! I can only handle so much stress in one weekend :)

Like I said, we are back in the real world. And that means impatiently tapping our feet, waiting on construction. Ha!

Construction Update: 8/6/12

Long time no see! I've been away from my blog for some time now, I think I was starting to have withdrawals. Last week was a busy construction week, and also a busy personal week. The hubby and I have been at his cousin's lake house in Tennessee since Friday, returning late yesterday afternoon. His cousin's lake house is in Lake City, TN on Norris Lake. The lake was huge, I swear it must have been 40 miles long! It was a super-fun weekend on the lake, filled with boating, jumping off rocks, water-skiing, and of course, beer. The lake was also so warm. The water was 86 degrees! I've never been in a warm lake before since all the lakes in Oregon have 50 degree water. Anyways, more about the weekend later, this is about the house :)

The walls for our basement were poured and waterproofed last week. So exciting! I have no construction experience so after 2 days of looking at forms, I had no idea what the walls were going to look like. When the wall guys came last Thursday and removed the forms, I was shocked to see perfect walls. It was a lovely surprise. Friday morning, as the hubby and I were headed out to Tennessee, the company showed up to waterproof the basement. I think the hubby was disappointed he couldn't stay and watch, but his uncle sent him pics when the waterproofing was done.

The boys have been very interested in the construction right down the road. Haloti hardly takes his eyes off them.

Picture of the forms used to set-up the concrete.

Wet concrete, our basement wall!

The only thing the hubby and I can figure on this blob of concrete is the construction guys had excess concrete, and just decided to dump it where the garage is going to be. They have to fill that in with gravel anyway.

The hubby loves to talk about the construction process :)

Picture of the basement with the forms removed.

After the waterproofing.

The beautiful basement!

Construction is moving right along! The hubby said the next step is the carpenters come out, and starting building. Yippee! They aren't out there today, so I'm hoping they will be here in the morning.

Happy Monday!

Construction Update: August 1st

Construction continues to progress on the house, which just makes me oh-so-excited! Construction workers descended on the property yesterday, a multitude of them actually, to start constructing the basement walls. There were a lot of trucks out there yesterday, and even a handful of guys from the electric company to hook up our temp power. Our private lane was even blocked for a while. It was a crazy day here yesterday, actually. The hubby's mom came out to see the activity, a couple of nosy neighbors appeared, and a loose beagle was running around the construction site. Sheesh! I finally got a hold of the dog, who was very busy enjoying himself, and called his owner to come pick him up. It's finally starting to feel like we are on our way with construction :)

One of the many trucks parked at our property.

More trucks.

One big crane.

I'll admit, I don't know what this is :)

First look at the basement walls.

All of this was done yesterday. These guys don't mess around!

You can kind of tell there is a big drop here. The hubby was jumping around all over here, which made me nervous! It's pretty deep there!

Our temp power pole.

It's so beautiful :)

As much of the whole house as I could fit in a picture. There's multiple trucks behind me, so I couldn't take a step back.

On the schedule today is pouring concrete, actually pouring the walls! Today is supposed to be rain-free, so the day should go smoothly. Updates to follow!

Spicy Bean and Rice Burritos

Funny thing about the Internet. Some things just seem to travel, and travel, and travel. I saw this recipe on Pinterest, and it was love at first sight. I just had.to.have. Like, now. Upon doing a little more research tonight though, I found this recipe at Tasty Kitchen. Where it came from A Bitchin' Kitchen. Where it came from my website of choice, Cooking Light. What a small world the Internet is :)

This is one of the only new recipes I've tried in the last 2 months, mainly because I looked at the recipe and knew there was no way it wouldn't be good. And good it was. I had leftovers for lunch today, I could have had leftovers for dinner tonight, and I will have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. It was perfecto for Meatless Monday.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp chili powder
1 whole pepper from a can of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 tbsp liquid from can of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1 tsp cumin
2 pinches cayenne
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 cup water
2 cups cooked rice
1/4 cup fresh salsa
6- whole tortillas, burrito sized, warmed
Shredded cheese, shredded lettuce, sour cream, and more salsa for serving

Directions:
1. Heat canola oil in a large skillet. Add garlic through cayenne to the skillet. Cook briefly, about 30 seconds.
2. Add both cans of beans and water to the skillet. Bring to a simmer, lower heat, and cook for 6-8 minutes. Slightly mash beans as it heats.
3. Add rice and salsa to the skillet. Stir to combine, remove from heat.
4. Divide bean mixture among tortillas down the center. Garnish with cheese, lettuce, sour cream, and more salsa. Roll up tortillas. Serve immediately.
5. There is a step 5 for me, and that would be restraining myself from eating 2 burritos :)

Fantabulous Couponing!

Suave shampoo and conditioner, Crest toothpaste, Hunt's Snack Packs, Quakes, Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats, Olay body wash, Mentos gum, Revlon eyeliner and lipliner, Dove hair stylers, Aussie hair stylers, L'Oreal Everstyle hair stylers, Suave Men's body wash, Olay Daily Facial Cloths

It was a good weekend for couponing. I got some good buys, didn't spend a lot of moola, and added to my ever-growing stockpile. The hubby's aunt suggested that I make baskets for the female family members at Christmas time, stuffed with body products, hair products, makeup, chocolate, etc. I thought that was a good idea. I probably will have more in my stockpile that I will use this year, so why shouldn't everyone enjoy free beauty products? I think it's a go. Here's the breakdown for the week:


CVS
Mentos gum, 2 for $5
-used (3) $1 off coupons, received $2 in ECB's
Aussie styling products, 2 for $6
-used a $1 off 2 CVS store coupon, a $1 off a 2 manufacturer coupon, and received $1 in ECB's
Olay Daily Facial Cloths, $3.74
-used (2) Buy Daily Facial Cloths, Receive A Free Olay Body Wash coupons (priced at $5.99)
L'Oreal Everstyle products, $7.29 (Buy 2, Receive $5 in ECB's)
- used (2) $2 off coupons, received $5 in ECB's

-used (2) $4 off a $20 purchase CVS store coupons, used $13 in ECB's from last week, paid $5.86, and received $8 in ECB's.

Rite Aid
Crest toothpaste, $3
-used a $0.75 off coupon, received $3 in UP's
Revlon eyeliner and lipliner, $7.29 (Buy 1, Get 1 50% off and Spend $10, Get $4 in UP's)
-used (2) $1 off coupons, received $4 in UP's
Dove Styling Products, 2 for $6 (part of Suave deal)
Suave Men's body wash, 2 for $4
Suave Shampoo and Conditioner, 3 for $5 (Spend $15 on Select Products, Get $5 in UP's)
-used a $3 off 2 Dove products coupon, (2) $0.75 off Suave body wash coupons, and (3) $0.25 off Suave shampoo or conditioner coupons

-used $10 in UP's from last week, paid $12.93, and received $12 in UP's.


Kroger
Quakes, $1
Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats, $1.99
-used a $1 off 2 coupon
Hunt's Snack Packs, $1
-used a Buy 3, Get 1 Free coupon

-paid $8.98


Total Spent- $27.77 on $133.80 worth of product. Savings of 79%.


My couponing account is growing by leaps and bounds! Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Product Review: Maybelline Volum' Express Mega Plush Mascara and More

I've been picking up lots of new products to try lately. I guess the summer beauty sales have been good to me. There are so many coupon deals going on right now, I can hardly choose which ones I'm going to do. Makes me wish I could do them all! Let's dive right in, shall we? :)

1. Maybelline Volum' Express Mega Plush Mascara

This mascara is being touted as the next big thing, thanks to it's gel-mousse formula. I picked up the waterproof formula to try out (of course!). I've been using this for a couple of weeks now and here's what I think. If you have tried Maybelline's Volum' Express One-By-One mascara, you've tried this one. I love, love, love One-By-One, it's my absolute favorite. I found this formula to look and feel essentially the same. The only difference I can tell is between the two brushes. The Mega Plush has a large brush, with a flexible wand. One-By-One's brush is rubber and is designed to coat every lash. Due to the brush, I also find that the One-By-One goes on more evenly, and with less clumps. Both formula's stay put and don't smudge. Both are not heavy formula's, and really look like my lashes, but better. Both hold curl very well. The verdict? Due to the similarity to my favorite mascara and an unfavorable brush/wand, I won't be buying this one again. I'm sticking with the One-By-One.

2. CoverGirl's NatureLuxe Silk Foundation

I am not a CoverGirl fan. There are very few CoverGirl products that I like and would buy again, especially their foundations. That's why I was so surprised to love this product. It's a lightweight foundation, and in my opinion would be in-between tinted moisturizer and a fuller coverage foundation. The product is very creamy, and easy to blend in to the skin. I always look super-close at my pores after putting on foundation, to make sure it doesn't look like I'm caked in makeup. I was shocked that this covered flaws and evened out my skin, but didn't look like a mask. It also lasted all day, with me only having to do one mid-day touch-up. I think this is an appropriate foundation to wear when you are wanting more of a polished look than tinted moisturizer, like for a lunch date or shopping, but probably not for an evening going-out look. I'm sticking with tinted moisturizer for most of the time this summer, mainly because I don't look like my makeup is melting in this summer heat and humidity. But I'll be using this one on occasion, and probably even more in the fall. The verdict? This one is going in my arsenal, thanks to its light texture and amazing coverage.

3. Garnier Moroccan Sleek Oil Treatment

I'm torn on this product. I've been trying it out for a couple of weeks now, and I've tried it with many different hairstyles. Blown out, straightened, wavy, curly, and pulled back. The product works. It makes my hair feel soft and really does add a lot of shine. I especially like it with wavy and curly hairstyles which can stand to use something to help with the frizz. Here's my one downside with this product. I think it clogs my pores. As in, if you touch your face before you wash your hands and if you have acne-prone skin, you better watch out. It may even be this product getting on my pillow, and then getting on my face at night. If there's one thing I hate more than frizz, it's breakouts. Not pretty. I'll take some frizz over a breakout. That being said, John Frieda's Frizz Ease Serum works just as good as this and doesn't clog my pores. The verdict? If you have acne-prone skin, be super careful about getting this anywhere near your face. Due to said skin issues, I will not be purchasing this again.