Top 10!

When I was looking for inspiration to get the blog started back up my clever sister-in-law, Katie, suggested "Top 10's". She does them on her blog and it's basically a list of ten things on her mind. I was trying to think of something to write about tonight, but there's too many things going on inside my head to focus on just one. So here it goes....

1. Something that's been on my mind A LOT lately....we bought a house! Details coming soon.
2. And something just as important....we sold our house! (fingers crossed) It happened so quickly I'm afraid to say it out loud too many times in case it was just a dream. 
3. Gotta say it....the weather is amazing. Outside of work, I love it. But it makes me nervous that my students are going to shut down wayyyy too early this year.
4. Landen is doing a great job of getting rid of her "uh-oh" (paci). She only wants it if she wakes in the middle of the night and in the car driving to and from school. The girl is a recovering paci addict. This is progress.
5. Now that she's letting go of the uh-oh, she's become an avid (stuffed) animal lover. Her first love was "Kiko" the dog. Now we have a zoo of animals lining her bed at night to keep her company. She's always got an animal under her arm. 
6. In case you haven't heard enough about Landen, she's growing up so fast and proves it every day by showing us her intelligence. She's now forming her own sentences (2-3 words) and not just repeating what we say. It's so fun to see her learning and displaying her unique personality right in front of our eyes.
7. So when is baby #2 coming along? Um, we just bought a house...give us a break! :)  Oh, and Landen is keeping us PLENTY busy.
8. I'm turning 30 in a couple of weeks. Living up my 20's by partying every night and pulling reckless stunts. If partying and reckless are code for staying up past 10pm once or twice a week, then my last statement is true.
9. I'm planning an awesome baby shower for my best friend, Rachel. I can't wait to celebrate the arrival of her little one even though she's refusing to find out the gender.  ;)
10. In fashion news, get yourself some bright colors for summer/spring. I recently purchased some orangey/red khaki cropped pants and a "highlighter yellow" cardigan and am in love with both. Something about all these bright colors makes me feel so cheerful. :)

That's it! My first top 10 in the books. Enjoy your weekend!

Another easy recipe

Since I got so much great feedback (and even got published!) the last time I shared an easy recipe, I've decided to share another. But don't laugh. It, like the first, contains crescent rolls, and has an obvious, no frills name: chicken squares. I promise these are the only two things I make that call for crescent rolls...and they're both delicious. These are Scott's favorite (he wanted me to mention that). And when they're finished, they don't really look like squares, but that's the name. Again, I got this from my mom. I believe it came from a magazine or something years ago. I remember the first time she made them when I was growing up. These are a once every two or three weeks recipe in our house because I can get Landen to eat chicken by making them. Just plain chicken is pretty dicey at times for her. 


Here are the ingredients:


2 rolls of Pillsbury crescent rolls (buy the Pillsbury ones - the cheap ones don't work, I promise)


1 block of cream cheese (I use 1/3 less fat)


3-4 TBS milk


1/2 tsp salt


1/4 tsp pepper


3 TBS butter melted


1 can of white meat chicken - chopped (I use 12-16 oz)


Preheat oven to 350.


First, melt the butter and soften the cream cheese for easy mixing. Add milk, salt, pepper and chicken and mix together. The mixture will be a little soupy. That's ok. 


Unroll crescent rolls and separate into eight squares (two rolls per square). Pinch the perforation together to form the square.

Next, spoon some of your mixture into the center (about 1/4-1/2 cup). Then pull the corners together and twist. Try to keep the mixture from coming out the sides because it's difficult to get back in and can get messy.

Finally, pop them in the oven for 20-25 minutes. Bake until they're golden brown. 

Caution, they will be extremely hot inside, so if you're feeding to little ones (or big ones) cut them open to cool for a few minutes. Enjoy!