Food Friday: Fajita Burritos

The winner of our giveaway is Ashley Perez! Thanks to everyone who entered!

This was going to be one dinner and then I changed my mind and it turned into a completely difference dinner (all right, not COMPLETELY different, they were both Mexican based after all)  I'm sure I'm not the first person in the world to come up with fajita burritos, but I certainly never thought of it before this night.  Basically its just my favorite fajita recipe, but with all the ingredients cut into bite size pieces (instead of strips) and black beans and white corn thrown in the mix.

Ingredients
1-2 chicken breasts, diced
Olive oil
1-2 bell peppers (color of your choice), diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 cup frozen white corn
1 can black beans, rinsed
2-3 limes
fajita seasoning (I like the traditional stuff you find on the ethnic food isle)
tortillas (you cannot beat the raw tortillas from Costco that you cook yourself.  Except maybe if you make your own)

Directions
1. Brown chicken in olive oil and a squeeze of lime with a sprinkle of salt and fajita seasoning (mine has so much pepper, that I don't feel the need to add more, but it doesn't have any salt so I am pretty generous there).
2. Add peppers and onions.  Cook through.
3. Add corn and black beans and season with more salt, seasoning and lime juice if needed.  
4. Serve in warm tortillas.

Super easy jewelry hanger

I'm not a big jewelry person.  I love my earrings but Axel likes to rip them out, so I'm a break from them.  But the few pieces of jewelry I do own was everywhere.  I have two closet earring hangers, they have little pockets for each pair, so they aren't a problem, but my necklaces and bracelets didn't really have a home.

I looked at some options on etsy, but the one I really wanted was sold and I couldn't find anything else like it.  I thought about doing cute knobs from Hobby Lobby but they were like 8 dollars a piece!  That's a tad much.  Plus a huge commitment to screw something that big into your wall. 

I thought about thumb tacks but I wanted something a little cuter.  So I had a idea to hot glue cute buttons on to thumb tacks.  I got some cute buttons at Hobby Lobby.  They were a little expensive as far as buttons go (I think $3 for four buttons) but way better than the pretty knobs I was looking at before. 

So that's the tutorial.  Just hot glue them onto your thumb tacks.  Yes they still had the shank on (the loop on the back that allows you to sew it on) and maybe I could have found a way to remove it but I didn't care that much and it isn't really a problem.  You just have to hold it still for a second while the glue cools to the touch. 

House Tour: Master Bedroom (sneak peek)

(First, don't forget to enter my giveaway here!!  Even if you don't have a toddler girl, this would make such a fun little gift for someone this Easter!) 

Sometimes when house work feels out of control, it's good to just take one little area and really clean it and make it beautiful.  I'm sure I'm not the only mom whose bedroom comes last in the cleaning list.  But really, my dresser is the first thing I look at every morning and it was CHAOS!  It had never really been organized since we moved in and it was just sort of a dumping place for. . . everything.  Books, jewelry, receipts, hair accessories, gum, pens and pencils, etc, etc, etc. 

But today!  Today I got a little tray for the printer paper at Target and decided to finally get this space under control.  And it has just made everything so much more cheerful!  This area has to kind of double as an office space and our dresser.  Since we have a laptop, we don't really have a computer desk, nor do we have the space for one.  Which means our dresser became the home of our printer and computer paper.  (The open space in the middle of the dresser is where we put the computer when we're printing something.)

I have a before picture, but really the only change is swapping their furniture for ours.  I did feel like the dark heavy wood really over powered this smaller master bedroom, so I do prefer our shorter white dresser.  But other than that it's not a huge change :)  And I'm going to call this a middle, not an after because there are still improvements I would like to make (like having only ONE change jar and not two. . . baby steps guys)

BEFORE

MIDDLE

The little frame in the middle is from Fiji.  Never did get pictures printed to put inside.  Someday. Someday.

A picture that includes our crappy blinds, for reference.

What Would You Do With. . . 1 yard of fabric

In a fun turn of events, Aubrey and I decided to pick fabric out for each other.  I picked something that reminded me of Aubrey's style.  She did the opposite and picked something for me that she knew I would never pick for myself!  Which turned out to be fun.  It's fun to get pushed outside of your comfort zone.

I decided to make a little spring play dress for Olivia.  And I thought it would be fun to add these to the shop.  Since I only have 1 yard of this, I'll continue putting them in the shop, but with different fabrics. 

She was singing Frozen.  She thought I was taping her.  #BadMom

Ready to be done with pictures.  Oh, yes that is a chalk drawing behind her. At least it will wipe off!

I did have enough fabric for two dresses (Aubrey and I both admitted that 1 yard of fabric ended up being more than we thought it would be!) and so I thought it would be fun to give the second one away today!  It will be available in sizes 2T-5T.  Do you have a daughter, niece, granddaughter or friend?  This would be such a fun Easter gift! (but probably not fancy enough for a church Easter dress)

The one pictured is Olivia's dress.  If I could do it over again I don't think I would have dropped the waist so much.  So I'll definitely fix that in the one I give away and in the other dresses for my shop!  And a little confession about Olivia's dress that should have been on my confessions post, my machine broke so I wasn't able to hem the skirt.  I just used some fusible hem tape!  But I'll be getting my machine fixed soon. 

Also, if you have any fun blog posts about sewing/crafting with a yard of fabric (or less, like this dress) link up!  I don't care if it's an old post, it would still be fun to see some project ideas.

Next month's WWYD is 1 dozen eggs.  Don't feel like you need to use them to cook, think Easter and show us your best decorations!

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Wanna watch the Bachelor Finale with me?

Aubrey, Ashely and I have finally made it to the end of this season.  I thought the finale would never come.  Now Chris Harrison can admit how much he doesn't like Juan Pablo. 

Clare's Day
Her whole family speaks Spanish but not her.  Bet she's wishing she had made that more of a priority now.  

Wow, saying that if she has three girls she'll keep on trying for a boy. . .  sexist much, family of Juan Pab?

Nikki's Day 
JP's dad is telling Nikki that Juan Pab is not an eeesee guy.  JP's mom told Clare that he was rude.  His parents don't sugar coat it for them do they???

JP's cousin asks how much like Nikki likes fighting because apparently he's very difficult to get a long with.

Nikki knows Juan Pablo on a different level than his family.  She knows him better after six weeks than his family, who has know him all his life.

And they kiss on the very same bench as he kissed Clare.

When Juan Pablo says "I'm so glad you signed up for this," I'm almost positive that he's going to choose Nikki in the end.

Clare Again
So Clare is offended by something that JP whispered on the helicopter.  Let's start a chant: More virgin bachelors, more virgin bachelors, more virgin bachelors. . .

If Clare has been with guys who only want one thing, why not try. . . not giving them that thing???

Who met my family, who met Camilla, who met my mom, who met my dad? You did!  And Nikki.

So basically JP helps Clare feel all better by telling her she can have a baby.

Did Juan Pablo just break the rules???

And now they're making out, so his tactic of telling her that he didn't want something physical totally got him what he wanted. . .

Seeing Sean in the audience, AHHHHH!!!!!!! There is NO comparison.  He is so cool and JP is just ug, I'm so over him.

Nikki Again
Nikki says JP is one of the most amazing people she's ever met.  She must have had a lot of crappy people in her life.

And I'm just noticing JP's man capris.

What's better than watching two people kiss?  Watching the people watching those people kiss.  #AudienceCam

Getting Ready/Rose Ceremonies
Nikki says every girl dreams of this day.  The day that her boyfriend breaks up with his other girlfriend and proposes to you. 

Nikki says today will be one of the best days of her life.  So is she hoping that JP will propose or break up with her?  Could you be more clear Nik?

Chris Harrison hits on Clare.

Clare is first.  History shows us that first is the worst and second is best, when it comes to the final rose.

If Juan Pablo was honest, why did he tell her she could have his baby in a year?????

I bet Chris H slipped Clare his phone number as she walked away.

Neil Lane didn't want to be on the show with Juan Pab, or there was too much "drama" to waste time showing the ring selection?

Juan Pablo is right up there.  May the odds be ever in your favor. -- Chris Harrison

You know?  I think he's smart not to propose.  And Nikki can save that moment for a guy who truly loves her.

I really don't think I'm going to blog After The Final Rose.  Peace out!!

We're done, we did it!  Check out Aubrey and Ashley to see if they made it.  One or more may have died.  I know I was close.

Why I had kids

I've seen a trend lately on blogs.  Girls admitting that they're still busy enjoying their freedom to have kids just yet.  And I respect that.  I was single for a long time (according to Mormon land) and I loved every second of most of it.  So I feel like I got my turn at living my life selfishly. 

When I got married we decided to have kids relatively quickly.  I didn't really think about it that much (and that's why I think it's good to recognize you like being selfish, because I think I took that for granted mostly) I just knew I wasn't getting any younger.  While I loved my life and honestly wasn't baby hungry AT ALL, I knew I would regret it in the future if I didn't have children now.

Basically I follow the Michael Scott reason for having children:

I like big families, and I really love my two babies, but I'm also excited for them to grow up. I just love having people around.  My best memories of home is when we were older and could play board games together and laugh and hang out.

I loved Olivia so much I didn't think I could ever love another child as much as I loved her, but I knew I wanted more kids because what would my life have been with out siblings?  Way too much attention from my parents, that's what!  (Jk mom and dad. . . maybe)  I figured it would be selfish of me to not let her have some built in friends.

And yeah, I like built in friends too.  Maybe 100 is a bit much.  We'll call it as we go.

(PS I'm always SO BAD about giving you information about my link ups, but on Wednesday Aubrey and I are making What Would You Do Wednesday a link up and the topic is: 1 yard of fabric! So come and link up your craft posts using one yard (or less) of fabric)

5 Little Confessions, March

So a few blogger friends and I are starting a new monthly link up called "Five Little Confessions" where you tell five things about yourself that others might not know, that you might not want others to know.  Just for fun.  No murder confessions please.

This is our first month, and since I've not been great with blogging lately I haven't been announcing it like I should. . . Oops!  So now you know, chop chop!  Just kidding.  But for future reference, we'll be hosting the link up on the first Wednesday of the month. 

I'm not technically hosting this month, Carrie and Jacq are hosting, but Aubrey (hi Aubrey!  Sorry I never emailed you back!) had the great idea for me to use this month to tell you all about my etsy shop (the re-opening, since the opening didn't do so great thanks to many mistakes on my part!)

I don't know if they're confessions, per say, so like the Mormon woman blogging that Frozen is gay propaganda, this post is a bit of a stretch.  Let's call them "Five Little Teasers" 

1. My etsy shop is the reason (one of them any way) that I haven't been blogging as much.  Drafting patterns for leggings, jammies and sweatshirts is a lot of work!

2. Aubrey inspired one of my shop items when she picked our "What Would You Do" theme for March, 1 yard of fabric.  She bought my fabric and I bought hers.  One word: Aztec. 

3. I will be giving away one of my shop items on next weeks "What Would You Do" post on Wednesday!  So if you have a toddler girl, or know a toddler girl, you're going to want to check it out!!

4. I am in love with my baby girl leggings.  Two words: Metallic gold.  

5. I draft my patterns with brown paper and sharpie.  I recently grabbed a red sharpie and kept thinking I was bleeding every five seconds before remembering it was just marker on my hand.  (Okay that one is kind of a blonde moment confession)

And just FYI, here are the awesome women I'm teaming up with for this link up.

Your Hosts 
Carrie from Curly Crafty Mom

Follow Carrie: Bloglovin' • Facebook • Twitter • Instagram 
   
Aubrey from Dreaming About Someday

Follow Aubrey: Bloglovin' • Twitter • Instagram

Jacq from Justjacq

Follow Jacq: Bloglovin' • Facebook • Twitter • Instagram

Kimberly from Olive the Things

Follow Kimberly: Bloglovin' • Facebook • Twitter • Instagram

An InLinkz Link-up

Wanna watch the Bachelor with me? Women Tell All!!

Aubrey, Ashely and I are nearing the end of the Bachelor train.  Thank goodness.

When I sit down to write my bachelor posts, I don't force myself to write a certain amount.  I even go back and delete things because I have so much and I only want to keep the best.  But this time, this is really all I have to say. 

Half an hour in to the show and I haven't written a single thing.

Chris makes Sharleen "take a look back" at her journey on the show, and I hear Sharleen quietly whisper "oh no."

Have Sharleen's eyebrows always been that pointy?

Ah, Sharleen's sleepless nights have nothing to do with Juan Pablo.  The editors will take whatever they can get, won't they?

I LOVE MAMA!!!

Renee has incredible cheekbones. #ThingsIThinkWhenISeeHerOnTheCloseUpCam

Hahaha!  Juan Pablo poking fun at himself for saying "Eees okay" is awesome.

I don't think Cassandra and Renee were extra special to him, I think he just calls them his special ones because he looked at them differently.  Obviously if they were more special to him they would have been the final two.

"Who's on team Clare?"  Chris H seriously expects no one raise their hands.

I just feel like there was nothing new to say tonight.  I usually have the longest posts of the three of us, so let's go see if Aubrey and Ashley have written more than me this week!

The end of nursing

I wasn't able to nurse Olivia, so I was a little worried I wouldn't be able to nurse Axel either, mostly because formula is freaking expensive.  But with a little help from a lactation consultant that took the time to figure what was going on, things were eventually going good.  And then I got a little worried that he would never want to stop nursing.

Okay, obviously he would stop at some point, but even at 10 months he was nursing 6-7 times a day.  I looked up weaning on the internet but almost everything I read had a tone of "doing this before 3 years old is really cruel and unusual".  So I took it like I did when I got Olivia off bottles, just one feeding at a time.  Which meant that we had to have regular feedings, because I'm kind of lazy I just let Axel nurse when ever he wanted instead of trying to engage him in other activities.

After we got it down to four feedings a day, the first one to go was the night feeding.  That's kind of weird, I think, but it happened naturally during Christmas time.  Since we were almost always with family during those two last weeks of December I would pack Axel's jammies and bottle.  Before we left to come home I would jammie him and give him a bottle and put him in his car seat.  By the time we walked in the door he was so asleep he didn't need to nurse. 

Then we dropped mid morning feeding because it was just before lunch so it was easy to just give him lunch instead.  If he woke up earlier than usual I would give him a bottle.  I figured bottles were easier to take away than breastfeeding (I was right).

Next came the afternoon feeding.  Again I just gave him a bottle.  For a week or two, he was taking three bottles a day!   I started to worry that I was just getting him hooked on bottles and soon I would be taking them away too.  But one day he wouldn't take his bottle.  I poured the milk into his sippy cup with a straw (this boy cannot figure out how to tip his cup back, so a straw is the only way he can make it work!) and he's been using that ever since. 

I'm not sad to be done nursing, but I might be later.  I wasn't sad to stop nursing Olivia (at 10 weeks) but I was sad later.  Maybe it was because I didn't get much time, who knows.  I'm ready to get my body back to myself completely.

Even as I typed this while Axel played so sweetly in his room he came over to me so I pulled him up on my lap and handed him his milk cup.  He laughed and pushed it away and pulled at my shirt (his signal to nurse)  It was really sweet.  And then when I said no he made a really sad face for a second and then went back to playing.   

Morning feedings were the last I gave up, and the hardest for me.  Now instead of surfing blogs and twitter for 20 minutes while I nurse Axel, I've got to get right up and make oatmeal.   Last Sunday I nursed him for the last time.  I didn't cry.

Monday Adam was home from work for President's Day.  Olivia and I went to the store during Axel's nap.  While we were shopping I had a moment of panic that I needed to hurry in case Axel woke up.  When I remembered that he didn't nurse anymore, I just felt joy.  I love that boy so much, and I enjoyed nursing to an extent, but I am a person who needs to feel free.