Not So Ordinary Nachos

**UPDATE** I think this is the third mclinky I have linked this to. I apoloqize if you've seen it before, but it's one of my favorite easy recipes for home or a crowd. Enjoy!


Super Awesome Nachos (TM)

Just kidding about the "TM", but they ARE super and awesome.

oh, and super easy.

Crockpot Nachos Supreme

1 brick o'velveeta cheese
1 lb taco meat (I use ground turkey), browned and seasoned with
1 pkg taco seasoning
1 can Rotel (i use store brand)
1 can black beans (rinse very well)
1 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk

Cube cheese into crock pot. Add meat, tomatoes, beans. Cover and let heat until cheese really starts to melt. Stir in sour cream and milk, stir thoroughly. After completely melted, add another splash of milk if necessary. This is enough for a large crowd (I take it to work and school quite frequently). The milk thins it out just a bit, so it's not that super thick break the chip off burn to the side of the pot kind of Rotel. It also stretches it a bit further, as do the beans.
*Variation* If you are having a Halloween-themed food day at work, just add a few drops of food coloring until you get a grotesque shade of green, then put a sign on the crock pot calling it "Snot-chos," win the Golden Spoon Award for the day, become the stuff legends are made of.

There goes the neighborhood

No offense to my new neighbor, but I'm not feeling very friendly. In fact,

But I'd rather fall down the entire flight of stairs. . .

Than make my new neighbor feel less than welcome by doing anything

offensive like, you know, holding onto the hand rail of the stairs.

And if he knocks on the door, asking to borrow a cup of sugar,

you can bet I will be giving him WHATEVER he asks for.

Movin' on up. . .

Except not so much "up" as "over."

During these wonderful economic times, I am happy to have a job. Even before the times got crappy (when you have zero, it's difficult to get too upset over a 30% loss of zero), I was happy to have my job. The work, talking to people from all over the country (and world) all day, is not the draw. The salary, though very fair and raise-able, is not the draw (though it has been nice working for a company where bonus no longer = Christmas ham). The hours, after years of nights, weekends and holidays at other jobs, are regular and pleasing-but they are not the draw. The benefits, the ones that give me great medical and retirement (even if I don't use it) coverage, and that pay for my school, are not the draw.
Anyone who's ever worked in a large office (or anywhere for that matter) can acknowledge that the coworkers can make or break the deal. I have worked in some great jobs with some less than socially-skilled people. I have worked in some undesirable jobs (serving mashed potatoes to 1,200 of my closest classmates?), with some hilariously marvelous people.
This job, where the cubicles and fluorescent lights make the typical maze-daze of office/corporate world, could drive me crazy. It is tedious, most days. It is busy, frustrated, ever-changing information. It is STRUCTURED (hello, my name is Carrie, and I don't DO structure) and without creative outlets (sigh).
But the people. The PEOPLE. Are. The. Draw.
I have grown fond of many of my coworkers. Their humor and drive and ability to remember much more information than I can is endearing. But tomorrow I am being transferred with 1/2 of my department to a different team. Thank you for the job, yes. But I am leaving my two favorite people. I have had the most fun and the most laughs with both of these girls (calling us ladies sounds so OLD). I have seen each of them experience pain and joy, and they me. I have spent time with them in and out of the office, I count them as very dear friends. And tomorrow they will be light years away.
Not really light years. But certainly not close enough to randomly throw things at in the middle of the day. Or share an impromptu picnic between desks. sigh.
The people make this job for me. And though I never planned to stay at this job forever, I never counted on being separated from my girls. I will miss them, and I am sad. . . and a tad dramatic, no?

MckLinky Blog Hop

Summer 2009, in pictures:

That's not my ring, those aren't my kids, high school friends at the same place and time, Murphy unplugged. Not pictured for Summer 2009: 154 more family events, barbecues, and random days spent together, trips to the farmer's market, girls' night out, long days at the pool, sleeping in, etc. . . It's been a great summer. How about you?

Friend-In-Blog is having a give away

This is her banner on her blog. I hope I didn't break a big bloggie rule by posting it on here.

I have a friend. She's smart, creative, and funny, and a great wife and mom. According to her blog, anyway. ha! Just kidding. But, she does have a super cute blog, and she IS having a give away in honor of her 100th post.

So, Rebekah and Yeebird, happy 100th!

If I could have 100 of anything, I would have 100 lessons in whatever I wanted. 10 cooking, 10 photography, 15 Spanish...or whatever.

I won't apologize

Yes, I know it's another video link. Sometimes I do actually write things on this ol' blog. But sometimes there are just no words. I found this on another blog that I read from time to time, written by the wife of a member of my favorite music group ( <-- that's a song from our wedding, by the way).

If only

If only I could find a way to make my living finding videos like this. Or coming up with ads like this. Or just hanging out with babies like this. Whatever, I'm not picky.

Encouragement in disguise

"Well, you're lucky, you had a short-term marriage."


I was sitting in a lawyer's office in early January, 2008. My husband and I had been married just over 3 years. We had gone from mess to mess to chaos and back to mess again, and had been separated for about 5 months (this time, 2 months the first time).
Our story and our issues are ours, but I will say that at the point that I called a lawyer, my husband had disappeared. The mess he had made out of our life, then to his own life, had gotten out of control and he just left. He had been gone for over a month with no contact to anyone when I made the appointment, and then he was found (arrested) two days before I actually met with the lawyer. I was ready and, I believed, at peace with my decision to proceed with the divorce. Even as a Christian, it seemed that I had every "out" made available to me. When the lawyer made that statement to me, as if I should be relieved that my marriage was ending, it jarred me.

The only way I can describe my life for the past 18 months (since the visit with the lawyer) is of this image in my mind. It was (who am I kidding, it very much still IS) like I was in a storm, trying to get out of it, seeking the exit, the answer (the whatever you want to put there). My family wanted me out of the storm, my church friends, even my husband's family. I wanted out of that storm. SO. MUCH.
When I left the lawyer's office that day, I did not immediately plan to put the divorce on hold. I just knew that I started thinking about "marriage" and what it means to be married. When I said "I do," when I took my VOW, it was not for a defined period of time. And in all of the emotion and confusion and hurt and loneliness and anger and grief, I had every "right" to want out of the storm that was my marriage.
The only answer I had was just the word "wait." For what? For my husband to get out and get help with his mental illness and other big issues? For him to hurt me again (he never hurt me physically)? For my family or his to have to bail us out of another mess, or another. . . Surely, if God wanted me to wait, he would eventually tell me what it was I was waiting for. Or give me a peace that this waiting was the right thing. Or some kind of bonus blessing that would signal me I was on the right path. Right?

The one thing I've learned in the past 18 months is that the answer to that--to whether I was going to get some kind of extra-special encouragement from God (or anyone else) or sign or answer or burst of super-spiritual power. . . is "not necessarily." WHAT?
The details and relational aspects of what it takes to remain married to a man that has hurt me so deeply are somewhat yet to be resolved. It's hard to know how things will work out when you're waiting on the parole board to make decisions. It's hard to find community and fellowship when most people don't want to talk about your husband, who professes to be a Christian, and why he's in jail. It's awkward. It's uncomfortable. It's worrisome (to my family, I know). It's tedious to repeatedly explain that I am not here because I believe in Jimmy. I am not here because I am confident in his ability to live a healthy life. I am not here because I'm digging my heels in and determined to "make it work." My faith is not in Jimmy. Don't get me wrong, there's a lot of "debris" from our storm, but I do care for my husband. But my faith is not in him.
My faith is in God. Even if I have to stand in this exact place for the rest of my life, waiting on God, risking my heart, even if things never work out the way I, or others, think they should. MY.FAITH.IS.IN.GOD. It is a human faith, it grows tired, it gets WHINEY, it makes mistakes, gets lazy and off track. But I know this. I did not get a "short term" marriage license. I did not take a short term vow. I did not say "I do, for now."
This is the first time I've blogged about this part of my life. I have to say, I was never sure how to work it in between recipes and pictures of Murphy the wonder dog. Thanks for the opening, Brent Riggs and all the MckLinky community. I pray that if you are waiting on God, too, that you find strength in the promise:
Isaiah 40:31 (King James Version)
But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
(just wanted to point out that it does not say WHEN the mounting and wings and running will occur, but I am at peace just knowing that they WILL). I also want to point out that in another version, the word "wait" is replaced with "hope." So. There you go.
Love,

After several hours and a big design mess giving up for tonight.