Chicken Shawarma // Beef Carnitas

I recently did a post about what my readers would like to see on the blog. Someone said recipes! So here I am giving the people what they want.
I didn't used to cook. Ever. I told my hubs I was a terrible cook. He told me that noone can be a terrible cook, all you have to do is follow directions... hmm, what a concept. You mean I can't just pick 10 spices and throw it on a hunk of meat, throw it in the oven without a timer and it will taste good? No, not when the spices are italian, paprika, cinnamon, clove, and lemon pepper. So I started looking into recipes and even started trying them... Obviously Pinterest is a big help for this, but a word to the wise: Don't get in over your head! Don't start with fancy recipes that call for strange, exotic ingredients when you don't even know how to cook a normal, "American" recipe. So, here are two eaaaasy recipes that I love, and yes, even you (probably) can't screw them up.



Crock Pot Beef Carnitas Tacos- Makes delicious leftovers! (tip: if you want the meat spicier, put the jalapeno on top of the meat. If you are a wimp like me, put it on the bottom of the crock pot. You will still taste the flavor but without the spicy zing. Also I'm sure this would be just as good with flour tortillas if corn isn't your thing.)

For the salsa I like to make this fresh recipe:
4-6 ripe tomatoes, diced
4-6 green onions, diced
1 can diced green chilies, not drained
1 can chopped black olives (optional)
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
Combine ingredients and add 1-2 Tbs of lime juice and salt to taste. This is sooo good to make just as an appetizer too. Muy Beuno!

Now on to my other favorite:



Chicken Shawarma (which is a fancy name for wrap. Ok just kidding it's an Arab meat prep technique but you get the idea.)

An easy wrap recipe that will take you to the far off seas of the Mediterranean  Just be careful when making the yogurt sauce- the first time around I didn't measure the garlic and put in way too much, which ultimately overpowered the taste of the chicken. (WHICH IS WHY WE FOLLOW DIRECTIONS!) I also make the homemade naan, which is a little extra work but definitely worth it.

There you have it! Try these out and let me know how they treated you. I am always in to trying new recipes, so if you have something you love to make, leave the link below!

I'm not pregnant.

I texted a friend the other day and told her I thought I was pregnant because I was tired all the time. When I was pregnant with Ruby, that was how I knew I was with child: I was ex-haaaaausted. Falling asleep in class, come home from school and lay on the couch all night, fall-asleep-at-8-and-sleep-for-12-hours-on-a-regular-basis kind of exhausted.

Well, I'm 95% sure I'm not pregnant. Wanna know how I know?

Because every 32 days or so (I'm not your run-of-the-mill woman; my clocks a little off) I go spiraling into the pits of despair, and it goes something like this:

Y: I am going to clean out *Dave's car for him.
X: Seriously? (scoff, eyebrow-raise)
Y: Yes seriously, is that a problem? (a little snippy, impatient now {after all they have this conversation every 32 days})
X: Well why do you have to do favors for everyone else, except for me? (It's because you don't love me, ISN'T IT!!!!!)
Y: Dave didn't ask me to do this. (duh, I'm just a nice guy.)
X: Then why are you doing it when I have asked you to do favors and they never get done, EVER. (emphasis on the EVER)
Y: Why do you have to be like this? (seriously girl, you crazy.)
X: Why do you have to be so selfish, and RUDE, and why won't you run a half marathon with me?! WHY DON'T YOU EVER BRING ME BREAKFAST IN BED?! (probably yelling now, blood pumping, heart rate increasing)
------X storms off-------
{In X's brain}: Y is so selfish and unreliable. I bet Bethany's husband does her favors ALL the time. Probably brings her flowers too. They probably go on sunset walks and he surprises her with dates to see musicals. Why can't Y be that good to me?

and BLA BLA BLAAAAA


Then after said meltdown I hope and pray that I wake up in the morning with cramps because then I feel less crazy and have something real to blame it on. (PMS is a real thing, didn't you know?)

(completely irrational, right?)

Remember my post about instagram and jealousy? Well guess what. I still suck at not getting envious of other people's fake-perfect lives. Now, I don't want to turn this into a blog about my journey to getting over this.... setback? trial? personality trait?.... that I am have. I really think everyone is affected by this (don't lie!) I just wanted to tell you something you may not have known about me:

I. Hate. Hormones.

I really do.






* Names have been changed to protect the innocent.

Weekend Report: Hair, Ikea, and Women's Conference

I had a fabulous time in Utah this weekend. I got a little pampered (new hair!), did a lot of shopping (Ikea for 3 hours, heavenly.) bonded with my girlfrans, and went to a few classes at Women's Conference. Let me sum up what this weekend has taught me:

Never underestimate the power of taking care of yourself, and treating yourself every once in a while. A simple cut & dye was enough to make me feel like a million bucks! Showering and getting dressed in the mornings will also help boost your mood if you're feeling blah and useless (imagine that....) Don't let guilt get in the way of being a happy, confident woman. Spend a little extra money and go get a manicure or a new outfit! It will make you're life so much easier if you just love yourself.

Shopping home goods stores is a great thing to do with your girlfriends... (I'm sure the boys were really sad they weren't invited to the Ikea marathon. NOT.)

A good friend really is hard to find. I love people I can truly be myself around, even if that person is gross, perverted, loud, obnoxious, and crude. (not saying I am these things, wink!) It was amazing to spend the weekend with just girls. It helped to remind me that although I may be a wife and mother now, and even though I spend my days taking care of my sweet little girl and handsome husband, in some ways I am still the crazy, spontaneous, FUN person I was before marriage. It was amazing to just let loose and throw caution to the wind for a few days. So refreshing!

But do you know what else is hard to find? True happiness. I missed these two more than my heart could handle. I am so grateful for a such a well rounded husband! I didn't worry about Ruby for one second because I knew she was in excellent hands. Distance really does make the heart grow fonder. Thanks for the amazing weekend Blakey-poo!

Excuses, excuses...

I promise I didn't make a goal to blog more and then leave it on the curb like yesterday's trash!
I've been busy, and as much as I hate when people use that as an excuse, it's true.

I do have a few posts in the works. But I need your help (and I got 6 comments on my last post so don't pretend you're not out there reading!) I want to blog about things that get my brain working and the juices flowing. But I'm lacking in that department.

What are your everyday struggles? Issues that you have? Whether it be with motherhood, marriage, family, self-worth... What would you like to see on this blog? I'd even stray from the deep stuff if you want. Want me to write a book review? I'll do it. Want me to try some recipes and tell you how they are? Done. Help me out here people! I want to blog because I really think it will help me with all these things found here, but am finding it hard to get motivated. This is a cry for help!


In other news, I am going to Women's Conference in Provo this weekend and I. Am. So. Ex. Cited. I am leaving Ruby with Blake for the weekend (SAY WHAT?!) and staying with a bff from high school, so it should be a really wonderful time. I'm excited to get some r&r and especially excited to go to Ikea (!!!!!)
Hopefully I will have some good stuff to pleasure you with when I get back. In the meantime, hope you had a great Monday!

Things are gunna get real for a minute here: When I wrote this post, all I had in mind was having some well known blog that every hipster and their dog followed. One that had images pinned on boards of all kinds by people of all types, and, to be quite honest, that was just as typical as the next blog. Think white background with grey sans-serif font, perfectly edited pictures showing a dream life, making all my readers crave a life like mine because I was always doing fun things with my cute, perfect little family and living the dream. Then I read these two articles:        1                              2

they. changed. my. life.

Maybe it is really stupid to say that. Maybe super naive and childish of me. That I had to read an article I found via social media about everyone faking a perfect life to really clue in that that is the case. But people really do this! I'm sucked in just like the next idiot down the block! I follow a number of people on Instagram who post amazing pictures almost daily. Pictures of cross-country roadtrips with a malamute rescue, trips to Hawaii and Everest base camp and living in a cabin in the back country with some of the best snow on earth, and "thanks to so-and-so for sponsoring us! we love the gear!" Pictures of pregnant bellies building dream nurseries in picturesque locations, in a home that they own and is decorated and manicured to a T.....

and it goes on.

I don't want my social media outlets to make people think that I have a perfect life. I have a good life. I have an amazing family. An excellent husband who meets all my needs, though I don't always see it. And a baby that makes me excited to wake up every morning to see a toothy grin. She has big teeth just like her momma, and I like that. I try every single day to fill the gaps. I don't always think my life is awesome. Most of the time, I actually think my life is boring and sub-par. That I'm doing something wrong because I'm not as happy as my Instagram "friends" seem to be. But I make lists and plan projects and read books to help me fix that, if "fix" is even the right word...

So as of right now, that is what this is. A place for me to become a better writer and thinker, meet new
people, change my habits, inspire others, live intentionally, focus on the meaningful, and become more confident in how I think and feel. I hope you're okay with that (but if not, feel free to take a hike.)

Coming Out of Hibernation

Hey. Remember me? the girl that  used to blog, and now only blogs a picture of her baby once in a blue moon? followed by facts and funny things that said baby did? The girl that never blogs because nobody reads it, when nobody reads it because she never has anything interesting to say? The girl who reads 15+ blogs, pines over how pretty they are and longs for a pretty blog of her own, but never puts any time or effort in because she doesn't know where to start? That girl who used to really enjoy writing, and wasn't too shabby at it either, but now SUCKS because writing is like a muscle and if you don't exercise it it's going to get weak and flabby and jiggly and bla bla bla?

WELL.

She's gone. bye bye. sayronara. why? Because another girl just moved in who wants to find that love/ability to write again. Because this girl has plans that need to be slowly put into action. She wants a blog that is well read. That people look forward to reading. A blog that is funny, witty, pretty, real, and full of the beautiful and lovely things of life. That girl is me. Jessica Richards, mother of 1. No, I don't want to write a memoir, I just want to be able to have my words flow like they used to, and to be able to document my life in a way that isn't tedious to me or my (10) readers.

I will admit up front that I have no idea how to start. I don't know how to customize this blog, unless you're talking a different color background and some stupid header I made in paint (noob). I will just let you know that right now I have an idea, and there is a ball forming in my head and it's about to get rolling. so, with that being said, wish me luck with my endeavors!

Watch Ruby Grow: 30-36 Weeks

I admit I did have to cheat a little to get all these pictures... not all of them are exact!

 

Right now we are battling the worst diaper rash (accompanied by diarrhea) I have ever seen! We are 99.9% sure it's from apples, (I had the same thing when I was a baby) but it's been 4 days since I've given her applesauce and the diarrhea has not gone away! This weekend was busy with us babysitting for a family, so poor Ruby kind of got the shaft and we didn't feed her any solids and she's hardly had any water (besides what is mixed with her formula, duh) for a few days, so today I gave her some water and in one sitting she downed just about 2 ounces. Oops... bad mom award right here! I'm hoping that has something to do with it, but if not, we are going to the doctor next week and if things are cleared up by then hopefully the Doc will have some answers. In the meantime I am getting lots of snuggles which is sweet and sad at the same time.

Other than that, Ruby is awesome! Getting funnier and funnier all the time, loves to blab away to herself, loves her johnny jumper, always tries to go for the stairs (I NEED A BABY GATE!) She did end up going down the stairs at my aunts house one day. she made it down 4 before I snatched her... ya and they are hardwood so that was awesome of me. Add that to falling off the bed twice, falling of the couch, out of her swing, falling backwards out of her bouncy chair... ya please don't call child protective services I swear I'm a good mom. The good news is, she can climb up them, as long as one of us is standing behind her in case she tries to abandon ship halfway through.
She's a mama's girl as long as she can see me, but if I'm out of sight she's good. Loves the bath, as most babies do I suppose. Looooooves walks and we don't even attempt to put her in the stroller in her car seat cause she just LOVES to sit facing forward and check things out. it's so funny and DANG CUTE! Sometimes if I just really need to get out of the house I just head down to the mall and walk around cause she loves it and I love looking at all the stuff I can't afford! (ha. ha ha.) I just love her and can't believe that I love her more and more ever day! Sometimes I just wanna squeeze her so hard because I love her so much! (love overload)