Tagged again

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Gift Wrap, but I suck at wrapping gifts
2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial, I would prefer to have a real one though. In the long run it's just cheaper to go Artificial
3. When do you put up the tree? Before Christmas! Pretty much whenever we feel like it.
4. When do you take the tree down? New Years Day
5. Do you like eggnog? YES
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Teddy Ruxpin
7. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes and I made it.
8. Hardest person to buy for? Jacob
9. Easiest person to buy for? Emma
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Christmas cards? Hopefully someday we will do them and then I will mail them.
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? The only thing I can think of is clothes when I was like 8 or 9. I just wanted toys back then.
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? It's a Wonderful Life
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I've started as early as January. If I find something on an awesome sale, I get it.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? No.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Ham
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree ? Clear o the tree and colored outside.
17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Travel
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixon, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitsen and Rudolph.
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Eve we open presents from my mom's side of the family and Christmas Day we go over to Grandpa Trogdon's and open presents from dad's side.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? People, I hate how greedy and gimme gimme people can get especially this time of year.
23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I like to put the ornaments that I got as a kid on the tree. It's fun to remember what happened the year I got each one.
24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham, funeral potatoes, and pumpkin pie
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I can't think of anything. I just don't need anything else.

Tagged

1 .Where were you when you first found out that you were pregnant? At a planned parenthood place. We were too cheap to buy a pregnancy test.

2.Who was with you? Jacob and some other lady.

3.How did you find out that you were pregnant? We took a pregnancy test.

4.What was your first reaction to finding out you were pregnant? Shocked/Excited. We had know people that it had taken them a year to get pregnant so we decided to go off the pill early so we would be pregnant within a year. Yeah, 2 months later is more like it!

5.Who was the first person you told? My mommy and daddy.

6.Did you plan to get pregnant?Yeah, kinda. We just went off the pill and decided to see what happened.

7.Did you tell everyone else right away? Yes, we were super excited.

8.Was everybody happy for you? I think they were.

9.Did you go out and celebrate? I don't remember.

10.Did you want to find out the sex? Yes.

11.What was the sex? Well, we were led to believe that it was a boy but when Emma came out we decided it probably wasn't!

12.Did anyone throw you a baby shower? My Aunt did in Port Orchard and then Karen Holt did in Grand Junction Colorado.

14.How much weight did you gain? 12 pounds!

15.Did you lose all of the weight that you gained? Yeah, but then I stopped breast feeding and gained it back and then some! Whoops!

16.Did you get any stretch marks? Yes, and tons of them. My stomach is so gross now.

17.What did you crave the most? Anything but meat and sweets! It was really weird, that's probably why I only gained 12 pounds!

18.Did you crave anything crazy? No

19.Who or what got on your nerves? Nothing really. It was nice.

20.Did you have any complications during your pregnancy? Nope, I had the perfect textbook pregnancy.

21.Where and when did you go into labor? At home around 2 am. It could've been before that but my contractions actually woke me up at 2. I was being induced at 8 that morning too.

22.Did your water break? No. The doctor broke it.

23.Who drove you to the hospital? Jacob and my mommy.

24.Who was in the room when you gave birth? Jacob, the Dr. the drug dr, and a bunch of assistants. I was in surgery.

25.Did you go early or late? 10 days late

26.How long were you in labor for? 20 hours.

27.Did you have any drugs for the pain? Yes, I had an epidural but it took them 3 hours after I asked for it to give it to me.

28.Did you go natural or have a C-section? C-Section which was exactly what I said from the beginning that I didn't want to have!

29.What was your first reaction after giving birth? I was done! There weren't going to be anymore children!

30.How big was the baby? 7 pounds 11/5 ounces and 20.5 inches

31.Did your husband cry? Yeah, but it was because I was freaking out really bad when they told me I had to have a C-Section.

32.What did you name the baby? Emma Jeanne Throolin

33.Does his name have any significant meaning? Yes, when Jacob and I were in the temple we both felt that Emma should be our little girls first name (of course we were having a boy so we just put it in the back of our heads). Jeanne is my Grandma Trogdon's first name and now that she's gone, Emma's middle name means even more to me now.

34.Did you have any visitors? Yes, Terri Ann Preston and Kellen, and Megan and Karen Holt.

35.Did the baby have any complications? While I was in labor Emma's heart rate dropped quite a bit so they put me on oxygen and that took care of the issue.

36.How old is your baby today? 25 months

37.When is the next one coming? May 26th!

38.If you could, would you do it all over again? Well, we are doing it again so I guess the answer is yes. I'm going to try and have this one natural though. I do not want a C-Section again, but will settle for it if I absolutely have to.

Getting Harder to Keep the Faith

We really have been going through some stressful times as I'm sure everyone else is. I've remained optimistic up until this morning when we got our Power Bill for $233. Yeah, that's right $233. Supposedly work for Jacob is going to pick up mid January but we've been hearing that it's going to pick up for the last 2 months.

I'm officially signed up and on the Kennewick School District payroll but the next time sheet is due on the 9th of January and then the paycheck won't come until January 30th. I signed up to be a school teacher for prek-12th just so I made sure I would have work but I really don't want to jump back into teaching in a High School classroom.

We have hospital bills we are paying off still from Emma's little fever of 104 back in June (hospitals are money hungry). So far we have paid $500 and we still have $150 left. Normally these bills wouldn't be a big deal but right now they are the last thing I want to see.

We still have family that we need to buy Christmas presents for. I don't think Emma will be getting anything from us this year, but that's why we have other family so they can spoil her.

I'm struggling with keeping myself positive right now. I can feel myself torn between the two sides. On one hand things look pretty bad and crappy right now and I just want to crawl into a hole and never come out. On the other hand I know that if we try our best to take care of ourselves that the Lord will provide for us and everything will be okay.

I am ashamed to admit that I'm not totally feeling the whole faith thing right now. We've been so fortunate to never have a situation like this and I've taken it for granted. For now I will be continuing to pray and should probably go to the temple (if I can get my dress on... my belly is a little bit big right now and I'm not even half way there). We will continue to pay our tithing and do the things we are suppose to do. We are told that we need to "experiment" on the words of Christ and see if he will not keep His promises. He hasn't let me down yet but he sure is dragging me through some deep doo doo that I don't particularly like.

I'm looking forward to the day when hard times are brought in front of us and I will have no doubt that it will be okay. I hope you are all doing well and that you will keep the true meaning of this holiday season in perspective. I love this time of year because people are so supportive and giving. I hope that someday we will live like it's Christmas all year.

Fun in the Snow!

Emma really has wanted to play in the snow but we didn't have any boots for her. Yesterday we went to Wal Mart and bought her some princess boots and tonight her and Jacob went out and played in the snow. She was bundled up so tight that I couldn't resist some pictures. I hope you enjoy them!

Brrrrrr! It's cold out here!

There is DEFINITELY some ice in the atmosphere! I can't believe how flipping cold it is! This morning it was -3 and the high is only 10! It going to be like that the whole rest of the week and into next week. Of course we don't have any snow boots or Emma or for me so playing out in the white stuff is just not going to happen. It's really pretty to look at and I love having the snow around but I really could do without the frigid cold! There is always something positive about every situation that you are in and in this case because it's so cold the icy roads aren't as my dad would say "slick as snot". For that I am grateful.

Last night the power went out on our street and a few other places too. Funny thing is is that the side of the street that we live on all had power. It was just the opposite side that didn't. The power went out at 10:30pm and came back on at 4:30am. Talk about the coldest part of the night! It was trippy looking out and seeing our street so dark. Everyone has their porch light on at night and I never noticed how much that lit up our street!

I hope you are all staying warm in your homes. I am missing Colorado where we had free heat in the winter and I could crank up the temp. to 85 and not feel guilty. We are leaving on Sunday or Monday to go over to Port Orchard for Christmas and probably won't be coming back until January 2nd or 3rd. It might even be later if I don't get in and get into the substitute orientation right away (like it's happening tomorrow). Jacob won't have work for at least 2 weeks starting Monday but luckily he gets 3 days of holiday pay next week so that will bring in some money!

Stay warm out there!

Happy Birthday Jacob! (And a recipe since I'm blogging anyway)

Today is my wonderful husband's birthday. He is so wonderful to Emma and me and takes good care of us. I'm so glad that he asked me to marry him and that we have been able to grow together through really really bad times and really really good times.

Jacob is really into the outdoors. He loves to camp, hike, rock climb and backpack (which he hasn't done in forever). He also enjoys playing tennis (which he's really good at), basketball, volleyball, ping pong, and dodge ball (which is what the crazy picture of him is). He's super competitive which is a dangerous combination to have with me (Mrs. Super Competitive). One thing that I absolutely love is that he enjoys a good chick flick every now and then, but not too often (I can't stand chick flicks all the time either). We enjoy watching comedy and action movies together.

Jacob doesn't like to play video games a whole lot. He thinks having a Wii someday would be okay as long as it doesn't interfere with us going outdoors. I like this about him too. It would drive me crazy to be married to a hard core gamer.

Jacob is also a recently converted (almost 4 years) board game lover. It took some work but he now enjoys playing games with me and other people.

Since I'm blogging already how about a recipe? This recipe is one that I had never had until Jacob and I were married and I love it. I don't know the technical name for it but we call it "Shells with Peas and Bacon". It makes a TON. I don't have an actual recipe written down but it's so simple that you don't really need one.

Shells with Peas and Bacon

1 pound medium shells
1 pound ricotta cheese
1 pound bacon
1 package frozen peas

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile cook bacon until crisp. Steam peas in microwave and drain. Add peas and bacon to shells in saucepan. Stir in ricotta cheese. Heat to desired temperature. (I also add some salt because I like my food kinda salty).

We halved the recipe last time we made this and still had some leftovers. It's really good though and I hope you enjoy it. We ate this with some home canned peaches and a salad.

Moving Along

Well, this last week was awesome! Jacob was able to squeeze out 32 hours at work and is working at least 1/2 the day today. This means that we should be good for this month and not have to dip into savings. I also have started the application process for substitute teaching. It turns out the my teaching certificate is NOT expired like I originally thought. Now it's a matter of getting transcripts, placement files, finishing the application and paying the $85 for finger printing plus $35 for the application fee. If I get all this turned in by the 17th of this month I can attend the last orientation of the month/year and come January when school starts back up I will be able to sub right off the bat! Meaning that we won't have to dip into savings ever! What a relief!

This last week we have also had fun eating from our food storage. We've made pizza, chili and corn bread, cheese soup and Chicken Divan. The cheese soup is the recipe I'm going to share with you. I realize that it's Monday but I am going to be super busy tomorrow with my Dr. appointment and just stuff. I will be 17 weeks tomorrow so no finding out yet what we are having. I do get to see how much weight I have or haven't gained though which is my favorite part (since I'm usually on the negative side). That reminds me... I need to work out today! Great, another thing on my list. I bought this hip hop dance workout video back in the summer and I LOVE it! I look really stupid doing it and I make sure the door is locked (so Jacob can't just barge in and catch me doing it) and all the blinds are closed. If you are looking for a workout that burns your abs and legs, then I would suggest a video like mine.

Without further adieu here is this weeks recipe:

Cheese Soup

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups milk
• 1 can (14-1/2 ounces) chicken or vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup shredded carrot
• 1/2 cup finely chopped celery
• 1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
• 3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• Minced chives, optional

Directions:

In a large saucepan, saute onion in butter until tender. Add the flour, salt, garlic powder and pepper; stir until smooth. Gradually add milk; cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.
Meanwhile, in a small saucepan, bring broth to a boil. Add carrot and celery; simmer for 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Add to milk mixture and stir until blended. Add cheeses. Cook and stir until melted (do not boil). Garnish with chives if desired. Yield: 4 servings.


I made this with my favorite roll recipe that I posted a few weeks back. You can look under my recipe label and look for the roll recipe if you forgot to copy it. I didn't really measure anything. I just threw the ingredients and seasonings in until it looked good but the first time I ever made this I followed the recipe and it is SUPER YUMMY! Jacob loves it and so does Emma ( Emma likes everything I make though so don't base the goodness of the recipe off of her opinion. Jacob is the picky one). What would have really made this soup complete would be a green salad. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think! Oh and I have to give a shout out to Taste of Home for having this recipe. Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE their website?

We will be heading over for Christmas around the 22nd or 23rd and leaving on the 26th or 27th. I'm excited to go home again. Tyler will be calling and this will be the last call we get until he comes home! I wasn't able to talk to him on Mother's Day this year so it's been a whole year since I've talked to him last. I love him so much! I was such a jerk to him growing up and now we are best friends.

Speaking of brother's and sister's being best friends... Nick and Starr won the Amazing Race and Jacob and I were totally stoked about it! From the very beginning I have wanted them to win and am now rejoicing that Dandrew didn't win.

Hard Times/ New Recipe

Well, things are not looking up for the Throolin household. Jacob's work has no work and he is officially out of vacation time. Yesterday he got a full day in and he is in the office today trying to squeeze another full day in. To top it all off, it doesn't look like anything is on the horizon for the next month. So, what do we do? Well, we keep paying our tithing and other bills, Jacob applies for unemployment and I go apply for substitute teaching positions. I'm glad I have my teaching degree (even if my license expired in June) so that I can just go and make money if we need it. Hopefully it won't take forever to get a substitute teaching license and we won't have to dip too far into our savings account. I'm just so glad that I followed the prophet and got a degree. It seemed like a waste of time when I was going through school and I even received criticism from my fellow teaching students for wasting time.

I'm also grateful that Jacob and I have built up a savings account (now it's not a 6 month income like we've been told to do but we've done our very best) and have food storage. So far (and it's still very early on) this experience has taught me the importance of following the prophets. I'm kind of scared but at the same time there is a peaceful feeling. I know that we will be taken care of if we will just do all that we can. This Christmas we will be even more thankful for each other and what we already have. We all have to take the good times with the bad and just be thankful. We live in the greatest country in the world and have all been blessed with so much. I love my family so much and my friends and just want everyone to know that I have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He will not give us anymore than we can handle. Christ suffered for everything so He could help us and understand us. How grateful I am of that knowledge.

Okay, enough of that. Last night I made Chicken Divan and thought I would share the recipe with you for those who don't have it.

1 (10 oz) package frozen broccoli spears-cooked
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 chicken breasts, cooked and sliced (I used 1 can of canned chicken from costco)
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 c stuffing mix (or you can tear a slice of bread into chunks)
1/4-1/2 c cheddar cheese, grated

Place cooked broccoli in 13x9 baking dish and cover with chicken. Combine soup, mayo, lemon juice and curry. Thin with a little milk. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle with cheese and top with crumbs. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.

We were going to eat canned peaches with this dish but I forgot that that was what I wanted so we ended up just eating the casserole (I'm pregnant, I forget things). You could also make up some rice and serve with the casserole to spread it (I remember my mom doing that once).