Digital Negatives

Ok, so now we are entering the time of year when we are seriously considering moving to the St Louis area. I found a great house in O'Fallon, I have contacted a company to get some more information. Private Duty Nursing! Yeah, still kinda home health, but better, with much higher pay, no "You must work 8 hours a day". The more I work, the more I make, and I love that idea. I love keeping busy, and I hate trying to find things to keep me busy to fill 8 hours. I don't like busy work!

So, DH is looking, and sending resumes. Maybe it will happen this year :)

 

 

We have found the best new low-carb recipe yet.  This is by LindaSue at LowCarbFriends.com.  Its amazing. 

Ingredients:
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1 ounce (I used the kind in a can)
1/4 teaspoon oregano or Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
8 ounces Italian cheese blend or mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup pizza sauce
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
Assorted toppings: pepperoni, ham, sausage, 4 ounce can mushrooms, green peppers, bacon, ground beef, etc.
Dash of garlic pepper or garlic powder and some Italian seasoning for top of pizza

How To Prepare:
DEEP DISH PIZZA
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1 ounce (I used the kind in a can)
1/4 teaspoon oregano or Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
8 ounces Italian cheese blend or mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup pizza sauce
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
Assorted toppings: pepperoni, ham, sausage, 4 ounce can mushrooms, green peppers, bacon, ground beef, etc.
Dash of garlic pepper or garlic powder and some Italian seasoning for top of pizza

In a medium bowl, whisk cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Whisk in eggs until mixture is well-blended and smooth. Add the parmesan and seasonings, then stir in the 8 ounces of mozzarella until completely moistened. Spread cheese mixture evenly in a well-greased 9x13" glass baking dish or lightly greased and lined with parchment paper (see note below). Bake at 375º 20-25 minutes or until evenly browned, but not too dark. Let cool completely on a wire rack. When nearly cooled, take a metal spatula and carefully pry up the edges to loosen from pan. Ease the spatula under the whole crust to loosen. Keep crust in the pan. This makes it easier to remove the finished pizza later. Refrigerate, uncovered, until shortly before serving time.
Spread chilled crust with pizza sauce, then cheese and toppings of your choice. Lightly sprinkle with seasonings of your choice. Bake at 375º about 15-20 minutes or until toppings are bubbly. Let stand a few minutes before cutting.
Linda says,
I don't recommend making this in a metal baking pan as it will stick making the pizza very difficult to remove and the pan very hard to clean.
I think I may have discovered the secret to a crispy crust. I left the baked crust uncovered in the refrigerator for several hours. I think that allowed it to dry out a bit so that it became crisp during the second baking with the toppings. I was able to pick the pizza up in my hands.
NOTE: If you lightly grease the pan and line it with parchment paper, you'll have no trouble removing the pizza from the pan later. Greasing the pan makes the parchment stick to it so you can easily spread the crust batter.

Number of Servings:
Makes 8 servings

Carbs per serving - include all nutritional information if known:
Per Serving: 304 Calories; 25g Fat; 17g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 2g Net Carbs

Preparation Time:
15 minutes

Effort (Easy, Average, Difficult):
Average

Source:
www.genaw.com/lowcarb

We will eat this often :)  Tonight we are trying a BBQ chicken pizza with LC BBQ sauce instead of pizza sauce.  Love it!

Forgot to say, I've lost 3.5 lbs this week. It it continues at this pace! I bought a new shirt for DH's high school reunion and it does fit yet. It better fit by Labor Day :)

I love storms :) Its Thundering all around, and as long is it doesnt get severe, I love it. I'll be home by myself tonight, its Monday, so DH is at a meeting, and its my night on my own... wonder what trouble I can get myself into??? :)

I have found a great new Low-Carb message board at LCF - see the link in my sidebar. Great support there!

But, I have neglected Xpressions for most of the weekend :) I'll do better CX, I promise :)

 

Had a great day today, lots of shopping :)  Went to a town about 30 minutes away to get some great deals on scrapbooking supplies.

 

Picked up father's day presents, got a new shirt, it was a good day :)

 

 

I'm starting to use the new Windows Live Writer Beta.  I really like it so far.  Congrats Toad on the New job!  That is amazing :)  Hopefully you will actually have some days off!  I'll come spend a weekend down there with ya and we can hang out.

I'm going back to using Internet Explorer for a while, instead of firefox.  I am still a big firefox fan, but one of the blogs I read can't be accessed with firefox, and it is easier just to use one, than to switch back and forth.  If I end up hating this new version of IE, I will reinstall firefox.

I'm going to go back to Kickboxing again tonight.  I had taken a break.  Hopefully I will be ok, I haven't been doing that much cardio lately, as it is golf season, and, well, its just not very strenuous. 

Ketosis is still making my brain fuzzy, one of the downsides of the induction level of this way of eating.  It will go away, its just hard to concentrate right now. 

Ok, back on the Low-Carb wagon. I want to lose another 15 lbs by August 1st, so gotta get on it. The diet is not too exciting, but it really does work :) I'm thinking thin thoughts :)

Well, I finally scrapbooked my 9/11 experience. It is something that I have wanted to do, but haven't been in the right mindset to be able to finish the journaling part of my page. I read stories on the internet of where people were when Kennedy was shot, the space shuttle explosion, and other big events of their time. 9/11 was my first real experience with the reality of terrorism. It has a lot of metal on it, so a photograph is too shiny. But, I will post my journaling here, and add the photo of the page when I get it scanned.

My Generation had never been involved in War or at least not to the point where we were acutely aware of it. We were too young to fully remember the events of the Gulf War, the liberation of Kuwait, and Operation Desert Storm. We were lucky enough to have grown up most of our socially conscious years in a time of peace. That all changed the morning of September 11, 2001.

The day started out like any normal Tuesday. I had a class that started at 10am. I was a Senior at Truman State University. I got up at 8:00am to get ready for class, and make the long walk to Barnett Hall for my Critical Care nursing class. I got up. Took a shower, and headed to the kitchen for breakfast. Earlier that semester I had started a routine of watching CNN Headline News to get an idea of what was going on in the world before going to class, mostly because my professor started the class by talking about current events. I got my breakfast bar and sat down at the table to scan the internet for my latest emails. I flipped on the TV.

I didn’t immediately comprehend what I was seeing. Smoke, pouring out of the side of one of the Twin Towers at the World Trade Center. I immediately called my Fiancé at work. He had not had the radio on, and also had no idea what had happened. I couldn’t take my eyes off the TV. I could barely blink. Surely it was just an accident! Then a second plane hit the other tower. This couldn’t be accidental. I stayed on the phone with Kevin. What was happening! The news was showing people running down the street covered in ash and debris. People were trying to avoid burning to death by choosing to leap out of the Tower windows, knowing that there was little to no chance that they would survive the fall.

The images were surreal; it seemed like the events on the TV could not possibly be occurring in our county. The fire and smoke filled the Manhattan skyline. Then, the unbelievable happened again.

At 8:59am CST the south tower collapsed, followed by the North tower at 9:46am, and WTC 7 at 4:20pm, which had been heavily damaged by the debris from the towers being hit. But that was not the end. The Pentagon was also attacked, killing many government employees and causing a section of the building to collapse.

The US Capitol would have been hit as well if the passengers on the 4^th plane had not chosen to take their plane down in a field in Pennsylvania rather than let the hijackers take even more lives by using their plane as a missile as well. On United Airlines Flight 93, black box recordings revealed that crew and passengers attempted to seize control of the plane from the hijackers after learning through phone calls that similarly hijacked planes had been crashed into buildings that morning. According to the transcript of Flight 93's recorder, one of the hijackers gave the order to roll the plane once it became evident that they would lose control of the plane to the passengers. Soon afterward, the aircraft crashed into a field near Shanksville in Stonycreek Township, Somerset County, Pennsylvania, at 9:03am.

Total, including the victims of the plane crashes, the Tower, the Pentagon, and United Airlines 93, 2,974 died and another 24 remain listed as missing. Fire fighters, police, and medical personnel that hurried to the scene to assist with the injured and to evacuate the towers were included in the death and missing This does not include the 19 hijackers who committed suicide in the crashing planes.

Terrorism. That is something that happens in other countries. Not in the USA. Never. That mindset would quickly change as the whole nation was shaken. Classes were cancelled for the next several days. I can’t even tell you when the classes resumed. I did nothing but sit and stare at the TV for days. I didn’t leave the apartment. I was sick. My whole being ached. How could anyone do this to other humanbeings? Up till this point in my life, I had never heard of Osama Bin Laden. I had no knowledge of Al-Qaeda. Honestly, I probably could not have even pointed to Afghanistan on a map. But my world would change that day. My generation no longer lacked the experiences of War. Following the attacks, 80,000 Arab and Muslim immigrants were fingerprinted and registered under the Alien Registration Act of 1940. 8,000 Arab and Muslim men were interviewed, and 5,000 foreign nationals were detained under Joint Congressional Resolution 107-40 authorizing the use of military force "to deter and prevent acts of international terrorism against the United States”. Soon after, our soldiers were fighting a war.

Through scrapbooking, I have met multiple soldiers and military wives that have had to adjust to this reality on a much more personal level than I have. Yes, my world changed, but every day that I talk with my internet friends who have husbands deployed I can’t even imagine what they are going through. They are putting their lives, and the plans that they made, on hold to help fight to make our country a safe place to live. For us, they are sacrificing their lives to make our lives better. Their bravery and selflessness is a testament to the bravery and honor of our military. The high death toll of soldiers that have given their lives is broadcasted daily through the media. It is a constant reminder that we are lucky to be Americans. It also keeps fresh in our minds that living in this country is a privilege. A privilege worth fighting for. Our way of life will continue thanks to these men and women. Regardless of my opinion on the policies of war, these soldiers and military families will forever have my gratitude, for it is them that pay the highest price. Our freedom isn’t free.

NASCAR is on today, so I will go downstairs to scrapbook! I'm just waiting for the Excedrin to kick in so that my head is pounding a little less and then I am going to go downstairs. Going to try something new today, I'm going to sew on a page. I havent tried that before, and I figure it is about time. I have a flag picture that I have been wanting to do, so, this is as good a time as any.

Hope you all are having a great weekend :)

Today I am sad. I'm not entirely sure why. But, I can narrow it down.

1) My job is not personally satisfying. Same basic stuff day in, day out. Boring is the normal. I don't feel challenged at all, I don't feel like I am learning anything new, and I NEED to feel challenged. Therefore I am feeling stuck and unmotivated. Not a good combo.

2) My Husband's job is unsettled. His bank recently merged with a large bank, and he may be switching locations, may be switching positions. Not sure what is going to happen.

3) I want to moved to St Louis to have more to do, more places to go, friends to hang out with.

4) I don't want to move to St Louis because it is farther away from my family.

5) I love love LOVE to scrapbook, but my job wears me out to the point that I don't want to do anything but sit on my rear and play on the internet.

6) I've gained 7 lbs in the past 2 months. Time to get back on the diet! I've been missing Kickboxing too, and I need to get back to working out. Its not a lack of wanting to, its a lack of motivation. Boo Hoo, Woe is me! Time to kick my own butt back in gear!

I have spent the majority of the PM hours working on my blog :) Finding a template that I could modify for my own use, figuring out padding and margins. Footers. Etc. I have been out of the HTML programming for a long time! LOL

So, here is it for now. Pretty. I'll work on the widgets and getting a slide show up later :)

Hope to do better with this than my previous blogs, if not, I will go back to wordpress!

Goodnight!

Welcome to my new blog! More to be added soon :)