Guess What's Happening?

It's been a LONG time since my last post so here is a quick update.
WE ARE MOVING!
We are finally getting the fuck out of Texas! Let's not kid ourselves, there's a lot of neat things to do out here but if you're not a white republican conservative christian male, you're fucked!
Husband is already in Oregon working and in three weeks he'll fly back we are driving out there together to start a new life adventure!

So now I'm SLOWLY working on packing up the house and getting rid of stuff.
Sell it!
Donate it!
Throw it away!

Izzy is doing AMAZING in school. She's a candidate for the magnet school out here and I'll look into something like that in Oregon.
Zoe is an amazing little handful of awesomeness and thrill seeking. Her vocabulary and understanding of everything amazes me constantly!

I've made some amazing friends out here and I will miss them terribly but I know this move is best for our family. Plus Zoe can't wait to go look for Sasquatch.
How can I deny her that?

Time to get the kid from school.
Just one more day until winter break!
Two weeks of sleeping in!

Bye for now
~R~

Beneath the Super Strings

This is still my favorite thing I have ever written!

He sighs and lays his head back in wonder

Somewhere within my perfect sky

Paisley diamonds bathe him

Shades of maroon

Kissed my turquoise night

They keep him safe and here with me

As I fold my arms around him

"Where are you off to, Little Brother?"

I whisper beneath the super strings

And how can there be faster than the light

Beyond the universe we see?

Then he smiles and says to me,

"Sometimes, I just let my mind go

Exploring everything

Searching for what is out there

What all is waiting for me"

Why can't I find the words to say?

I cannot tell him what tomorrow brings

How can I see past this paisley sky

And tell him everything he needs

Is woven into the Super Strings

Where it travels faster than the light

Far beyond everything we could ever dream

Attempting Walmart

I tried to go into Walmart. The girls were so tired and I needed to get stuff to make cupcakes for Izzy's birthday tomorrow. 

Run in. 

Get what I need. 

Get out. 

While looking for what I needed, I heard a baby crying for his mother. It was such a heartbreaking cry. Then I heard his mother scream back, in the most "I hate you" tone you can imagine, "SHUT UP!"

Yes, I yelled back at her across the isles, "Are you serious? Is that really how you respond to your crying child?"

I was done. I was so disgusted by this woman. I grabbed my kids and left. I didn't buy anything. I'll never go back to Walmart. 

Granola Breakfast Bars

I posted on Facebook a couple of times about how I've been making breakfast bars and how they are a big hit in my house. My girls just love them! I was asked to share the recipe. It's a super easy recipe that my three year old found in my Good Housekeeping Brownies! Cookbook.
We've been eating these for breakfast and even snacks for the past week. I've been playing around with the fruits used. I just pulled a batch out of the oven that I made with dried apricots. So far my favorite is cranberries. I really love these not only because I love knowing what's in them but also because one bar is just 4 Weight Watchers Points Plus! Its a Win-Win for me! :)

Granola Breakfast Bars

2 cups old-fashioned oats, uncooked
1 cup all-purpose flour (I prefer to use organic flour)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
3/4 cup dark seedless raisins*
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
3/4 teaspoon salt (I generally use kosher salt in all my baking)
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup honey
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (buy the real stuff not the imitation. You won't be sorry)

*I actually haven't made these with raisins. I've used craisins, blueberry craisins, and dried apricots. My next batch will be with dried apple pieces. Husband hates raisins so I don't generally buy them

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 13" by 9" baking pan (cookie sheet). Line pan with foil, extending foil over the rim; grease the foil.
2. In a large bowl, with a wooden spoon, mix oats, flour, brown sugar, raisins (or other dried fruit), wheat germ, salt, and cinnamon until combined. Add oil, honey, egg, and vanilla and stir until completely blended. With a wet hand, pat oat mixture into prepared pan.
3. Bake until pale golden brown around the edges, 30-35 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a wire rack.
4. When cool, lift foil, with pastry, from pan; peel foil away from sides. Cut lengthwise into 4 strips, then cut rack strip crosswise into 6 pieces.

If you want to make these a little bigger and cut into 15 pieces instead of 24 then each piece will be 7 Weight Watchers Points Plus.

So that's it! They're really easy and really delicious and great for when you're on the go with the kids. I hope you enjoy.

Resolutions

We're 11 days into the New Year and I had no clue what kind of Resolution to make. I think I finally have it figured out.
My New Year's Resolution is to be more sociable with my friends.
I feel like I've become quite a hermit. It's effecting not only me but my kids as well.
What am I hiding from?
Have you seen me lately?
No!
Because I've been hiding away everyday in my apartment.
Just to let you know, I look amazing!
I'm going to be 30 this year and I want to be done with hiding from everyone.
So if you haven't heard from me in a while, expect a call. We're going to get together. We're going to go do something. I don't care if we just go walk laps around the mall. We're going to spend some time together, if you're down for it.

Sincerely,

Rebekah Scott

A Promise Made

My three year old loves to snack. She would rather snack then eat proper meals. So I've made her a promise. The promise I've made her is that if she comes to me asking for a snack, as long as it is a fruit or vegetable, I will never say no. I've been keeping my word since I made this promise (go me!). Suddenly she is now automatically asking for fruit instead of asking for candy. I love it! So now I have to make sure I have enough fruit and veggies on hand to keep her satisfied.
Oh! Like that's such a burden!

A conversation with myself

There's a voice that whispers, sometimes she screams, when I'm I front of the mirror.
She says, "Oh my god! Why are you so fat?"
And I say, "Bitch! Shut the fuck up! I just dropped fifty pounds! No one is allowed to call me fat anymore!"

I walk away the victor.

Until next time evil voice
Until next time...

Spaghetti Stains

Hey Bekah!
Do you know of any way to get spaghetti stains out of the carpet?

Hello Blog!
I'm so glad you asked. It just so happens that I have a very messy one year old who constantly throws her spaghetti on our floor. I have recently discovered the magic trick to removing these nasty, often permanent stains.

First you need to make a trip to the store. Pick up a bottle of regular distilled white vinegar, a box of borax, a box of washing soda, and a bar of fels-naptha. If you don't have one, grab a cheap spray bottle for the vinegar. Keep the spray bottle handy around the house. It's a fantastic natural disinfectant you can use anywhere without fear of allergic reactions to crazy chemicals.

Make your powder cleanser.
This is my all around the house cleanser. I use it on my carpet, my toilet, my bath tub, I even add a little to the washing machine as a laundry booster. I use it everywhere!

Grate up the fels-naptha then run it through you food processor if you want it powdery. You don't have to process it into a powder. I like to, though.
Mix together the borax, washing soda, and fels-naptha.

There's your multi-purpose powder cleaner.

So, now get a medium size bowl and put about 1/4 - 1/2 cup of the powder in it. Top it off with about 2 or 3 cups of hot water. Stir to dissolve. There will be floating bits of the fels-naptha on top. That ok!

Now spray the stain with vinegar.
Take a wash cloth or a microfiber cloth and dip it in the bowl with your dissolved cleaner. Get some of the floating fels-naptha on your cloth. Now rub in little circles and your stain should start disappearing right in front of you. Spray more vinegar or sprinkle a little more powder on the stain if you need to.
Once your done, lay a towel down on the wet spot and pat up the liquid. You can leave the towel over the spot over night to let it dry.
Once dry, vacuum up any powder that was left behind.

I first used this on a three day old spaghetti stain then again this morning on a two day old tomato soup stain. Both stains are now gone.

I hope you have as much luck as I did with this!

Another way to address the stain is to spray with vinegar, sprinkle with the powder cleaner, dip your cloth in hot water and rub. Do whichever you like best!

Hello blog!

Hey Bekah! Where the heck have you been?

Honestly, blog, I deleted you off my iPhone and forgot about you for a while. Not completely, though! Every now and then something pops in my head and I think, "Hey! That would be a great blog topic!"
Then what happens?
I forget it as quickly as it popped into my head.

So let me give you a quick run down of what you have missed.

We have gone (mostly) vegetarian and it's going really well. It took some getting use to but after a couple of weeks it became natural and I honestly can't stomach the thought of eating chicken again...ever!
I did cave and buy some organic, 100% grass fed beef yesterday for dinner tonight. It was my first meat purchase in months! Just a little FYI grass fed beef tastes a thousand times better then the normal crap you buy in your normal grocery store!

I'm still doing weight watchers. This weekend is my one year anniversary as a member and I should hit my 50lb. loss this weekend so I'm looking forward to that. Just 15lbs. more to go!

Lets see. What else is going on? Not much, really. Just tired most days. By the time the girls go down for a nap, I'm ready for one too. Maybe I should talk with my doctor about why I'm tired most days. That can't be normal, right?

Speaking of sleep, I'm going to bed. So we'll talk again soon, blog.

Goodnight.

Dishwasher Soap Update

After yesterday's fiasco of trying to solve the clumping issues, the best solution is to just let it sit out and stir it every few hours. I think I said that in the original post. The clumping is far less then it was yesterday and it is drying out nicely. Here is a picture of the soap today. Far more manageable!

Homemade Dishwasher Soap

Sorry it too me so long to post this.

I have always been loyal to Cascade but lately, even with an rinsing agent, it's been leaving my dishes covered in a white film. Even though they are clean, they're not clean. The only way I could get rid of this film was to fill the sink with a water/vinegar solution and let them soak then rub them down with a dish rag and rinse. That's a lot of work to get clean dishes! So I scoured pinterest and found several different recipes which were all pretty much the same thing. Then after a goof at the grocery store where I grabbed baking soda instead of washing soda, I ended up with a detergent that leaves my dishes sparkling clean!

I want to add that I did add Jet Dry to my rinse aid dispenser. I don't know how this will work without a rinse agent! Also, the original recipes I saw called for washing soda. If you make the same mistake I did and grab baking soda but REALLY want washing soda, don't stress! You don't need to run back to the store. Just sprinkle your baking soda onto a shallow baking pan, like a cookie sheet, and bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes. Now you have washing soda! Seriously! It's that easy!

Here's what you'll need

1 Cup Borax
1 Cup Baking Soda
1/2 Cup Kosher Salt
1/2 Cup Citric Acid (found in the canning section with all the Mason Jars)

That's it!
Just mix it all together and add to your dishwashers soap dispenser.

The critic acid will cause clumping! So just pull out you container of newly made soap and stir it up with a fork twice a day for a couple days. It will be fine!

So that's it!
Easy, right?

Teriyaki Chicken and Rice

I made this for the third time tonight and It was a huge hit. So I thought I should share it.

Ingredients:

Olive Oil

2 Large boneless skinless chicken breast. (All together, mine weighed about 30oz)

About 1&1/4 Cup Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce (or more if you want) I used the one pictured below. (Garlic & Green Onion flavor is also fantastic)

A couple splashes of Soy Sauce

Crushed Red Pepper

1-2 tsp. grated Fresh Ginger (or more if you like)

1 Tbsp. Minced Garlic

2 Cups Normandy Blend Veggies (Broccoli Florets, Cauliflower, carrots, & yellow carrots - in the freezer section)

1 tsp. sesame seeds

Rice

Directions:

I buy bags of Mahatma Rice and follow the directions on the back for cooking it in the microwave and let it cook while I cook the chicken

It makes about 4 servings of rice. You can cook as much or as little rice as you need.

The Chicken

Put enough olive oil in your pan to almost cover the bottom.

Heat pan on medium heat.

While olive oil is heating up cut chicken breast into bite sized pieces and add then to heated oil.

Make sure you stir the chicken to get an even coating of olive oil.

After a few minutes add about 2 TBSP. of the Teriyaki Sauce, A couple splashes of soy sauce, a medium pinch of crushed red pepper (or more if you like it spicy), the ginger, sesame seeds, and the garlic.

Stir until it's all coated.

Let cook until chicken is cooked. (About 5-10 minutes) Stir often!

Once the chicken is cooked drain off the liquid then add in remaining teriyaki sauce and frozen veggies. 

Stir so everything gets coated in the teriyaki sauce.

Put a lid over the pan and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Stir frequently! 

You don't want all the liquid to cook off So put the lid back on after you stir!

Once the rice is finished and the veggies are well cooked, scoop some rice into a bowl and top with chicken/vegetable mix. Enjoy!

I hope you like this. 

It is now a favorite in my home.

Feel free to ask any questions!

Migraines!

Oh My Goodness! Where have I been? 
I don't know but let's take a brief moment and talk about migraines!

THEY SUCK!

THEY HURT!

I seem to get them WAY too often!

So what do I do? I do what I can to ease the pain and I carry on with my life as much as I can. I continue to cook, clean, shop, attend playgroup, and wear the smile that tells the world "I'm feeling fantastic!" because who really wants to hear about the three weeks of non stop agony you have been in?

I try to discourage the girls from their screaming as that just adds more hammer swings to the ice pick that is being driven through my scull.

Now let me clarify something. I don't ever "just have a headache" anymore. 

NO!

I wish it was so simple!

Instead, at the slightest spark of ache I know this will not go away. It will grow and throb and stab and carry on for weeks. I will feel every swing of some invisible force's sledge hammer as it drives the ice pick deeper and deeper into my brain. (Maybe it's the Furies?)

The last one I had was, by far, the worst one I had experienced, EVER! 

How bad was it?

Well, it put me in the emergency room and got me a CT scan after I passed out from the pain. This was back on January first and it had been going on for three weeks (thankfully it had eased up enough for me to thoroughly enjoy the Tori Amos concert). 

In the ER, I was given a non-narcotic pain killer and steroids to reduce the inflammation that was causing all the pain. I left pain free! The CT scan was normal. So YAY! No crazy tumor at the root of it all. 

I then went to my doctor to talk about getting this under control. She gave me Amitriptyline, which is mostly used as an anti-depressant but has showed success at treating daily migraines, like I have. She also gave me fioricet to take when I feel one coming on. So far, these have been working. I have been migraine free since January first! But I want to know why I keep getting these! So I have an appointment with a neurologist next Friday at 2pm. I was supposed to go see her today, but I'm sick so I had to reschedule. 

I'm looking forward to seeing the neurologist and finding out what's going on but at the same time I'm a little scared. What if there IS something wrong?

I keep telling myself, Maybe Jessica's suggestion is right. Maybe I just need to see a chiropractor. I mean, I WAS in a couple nasty accidents then I had two kids. Maybe all of it has been too much on my body and all I need is a good alignment. 

Jessica, I will cook you something awesome if that's what it turns out to be! Maybe corn dogs HA HA HA!!!

(Jessica is pregnant and in her last blog post he mentioned her craving for corn dogs)

So I guess I'll have a better idea after next Friday.

I'm sure I'll be back on here to disclose any results.

Sorry there was such a huge gap in posts. 
I'll try to make it a point to get on here more often.

Dear Blog

Dear Blog,

I haven't been around much lately. I'm sorry. I will give you a proper post soon. I promise! I have not forgotten about you.

Your Writer,
Rebekah Scott

Is it worth it?

A couple people have asked me "is Weight Watchers really worth the $40 a month?" I can tell them how I've lost 20 pounds since joining. I can tell them how I'm finally a smaller pant size. I can even tell them how little joint pain I have now. Instead I look down at my spiral diamond cut wedding band. I see it on my finger and think about the last time it was there was before my oldest daughter was born and I say, "Oh yeah! It's worth it!"

Hummus

Hummus

Ingredients:

1 16oz can of chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans) Save the liquid!

Juice from a fresh squeezed lemon (about 3-4 tablespoons)

1 1/2 tablespoons Tahini

3 Cloves Garlic (I use 2 large cloves and 1smaller clove)

1/2 teaspoon salt (I use kosher salt)

2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Drain the chickpeas. Set the liquid aside

Combine Lemon Juice, Tahini, Garlic, salt, and olive oil in a food processor.

Blend until it looks like a paste.

Add in 1/4 cup of the chickpea liquid.

Blend for about 2-3 minutes or until completely smooth

You can add in a red chili to spice it up. I haven't yet but I do plan to. 

When I do, I'll make sure to let you know how it is.

Storing:

Keep in the refrigerator for 3 days or in the freezer for a month.

If you decide to make this please tell me how you like it.

Depression

Since about the time Izzy was born I have been battling depression. Finally after moving to East Texas I gathered the courage to talk to a doctor about it. Obviously, she put me on medication for it. I was prescribed 20mg of Celexa everyday and it seemed to work for a while. After a year I noticed I felt emotionally numb. I was living in a gray realm and this bothered me. A few months after giving birth to our second daughter I decided it was time to get off this medication. This emotional numbness was preventing me from bonding and even falling in love with my new daughter. I can't describe how horrible it feels to look at your new little baby and not feel that overwhelming surge of unconditional love. This medication had to go! So after talking to my new doctor in Dallas I was told to cut my dose in half in keep decreasing it over time. Over many months of cutting the dose lower and lower I was finally able to stop taking it all together at the end of December. FINALLY! I felt free. The withdrawal symptoms were so terrible. I experienced the "Brain Zaps." For those who don't know what that is, imagine an electric pulse that starts in your brain and surges through your entire body down to your toes. They start off mild and sporadically. Their intensity increases as does their frequency. I was having up to 30 per minute. I could not function! The only way to get them to stop was to increase my dose. So if I was at 10mg a day I would have to go back up to 15mg a day and stay there for a few more weeks before stepping back down to 10mg. I would never wish the "Brain Zaps" on my worst enemy. No one deserves that kind of torture!

Zoe was 8 months old when I finally got off the Celexa. It wasn't until she was 5 months old and I was weening myself off the medication that I finally fell in love with her. I picked her up one day when she was crying and I had this waterfall of love come over me. I cried when it hit me and all I could think was "Thank God! Finally! There it is!"

Now, as for me being off the Celexa, lately I've been wondering if I really do need to be on something to help me with my depression. I will NEVER go back on medication. These past few days have been very difficult for me and it really got me thinking about my depression. Will I ever be over it completely? I hope so! Last night I took St. John's Wort and I woke up in a great mood. So my decision is to combat my depression with vitamin alternatives to medication as well as a healthy diet and regular exercise. I always feel so much better when I eat well and exercise. I really feel like it's the best way to fight this and come out the winner.

Chocolate & Peanut Butter Graham Crackers

This is a very easy food to make and perfect for you just NEED some chocolate.

Ingredients:
1 sleeve (10 crackers) Honey Graham Crackers
About 1/8 - 1/4 Cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1 Package Baker's Chocolate. (Whichever flavor you prefer. I used semi-sweet)

Directions:

Melt chocolate in double boiler. If you don't own one, a glass bowl set on top of a sauce pan filled half way with water is the exact same thing.
Break graham crackers in fourths.
Spread a small amount of peanut butter on each quarter
Dip into chocolate and coat evenly.
Remove from chocolate with a fork and tap off excess chocolate before placing on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
Once finished, place in refrigerator for 10-20 minutes until set.
Enjoy!

1 Points Plus each but be careful! It is VERY easy to eat 20 points worth!

See? Wasn't that super easy?
Now go see what else tastes awesome dipped in chocolate!

I'm pretty tired as I type this so if you have any questions just ask.

Stories

While at the gym tonight with my friend, I had this sudden realization. It hit me like a ton of bricks out of nowhere! I am 28 years old and I have a lot of stories to tell! But how many of these stories will I want to tell my daughters as they grow up?
I remember one of my friends telling me how she did some "wild things" when she was younger. I think it involved donning a bikini and running around outside. I thought this was so beautiful! This "wild child" story of her youth was so innocent in my eyes. I couldn't bare to reply with the tale of when some friends and I striped naked and danced in a graveyard. A tale of running outside in a bikini, that is a story I could tell my daughters without feeling awkward. But to tell of times when nudity was no issue to me? No.
I look back now on so many things I have done before and while I chuckle on the inside, I would never want my daughters to repeat half of them.
I don't ever want to lie to my daughters about the things I have done or the person I once was but I don't know if I ever will feel comfortable being 100% honest with them about it all either. I fear the days when they come asking about my youth and finding the balance of being honest with them yet not divulging more then they NEED to know.

Trouble Maker

I'm pretty sure she's going to be my little trouble maker.

Working It!

Tonight will be my third day in a row getting some nice exercise. Monday saw me in the gym with my awesome workout buddy, Emily. We average an hour and a half to two hours each time we go. It really flies by so quickly. Then yesterday the girls and I went for a walk with some friends. I was able to rack up about 5 points on that one. That made me happy. Tonight I'll be back in the gym again with Emily. My goal is to do more cardio tonight and less weight lifting. I'd really like to be back down that pound I gained by Saturday. I'm kind of curious how this will work out. I'm taking some steroid medication to get the inflammation calmed down that was caused my a nasty migraine. Since I read these steroids can actually make you retain or even gain weight, it will be interesting to see how Saturday's weigh in goes. Wish me luck! Both for tonight as well as Saturday.

We've Kicked Her Out!

A few nights ago we, by "we" I really mean "I", decided it was time to kick Zoe, out 8 month old, out of our room. Even though she still wasn't sleeping through the night I knew neither Josh nor I could continue on in a harmonious manner without proper sleep. So Josh agreed and we did it! The first two nights she slept in a pack and play in the office. It was amazing! We got to sleep! We both woke up in better moods then we had been in in months! Zoe's second night in the office was still great although she woke up once screaming. After giving her a bottle and cuddling with her for a few minutes I was able to lay her back down and the rest of the night was peaceful. Over New Years weekend we went ahead and moved her crib into Izzy's room along with her stack of drawers. All evidence of "baby" has been cleared from our room. It's finally OURS again. We are sleeping so much better now and as for Zoe's waking up between 2 and 6 times a night, she has only woken up once since the move. That was last night and it was only because her little legs were caught between the gaps of the crib. Izzy loves having her little sister in her room with her so much that we had to make sure she could see Zoe from her bed. I pray this sleeping arrangement stays this harmonious.

Today's Weight Watcher's Meeting

I joined Weight Watchers a few months ago because let's be honest, who wants to weigh 220lbs.? NOT ME! Up until a few weeks ago everything was going great. I was losing every week. Little by little the pounds were coming off. Until two weeks ago. I gained 0.4lb. back. OK! Less then half a pound. I can live with that. I had a big 4.4lbs. loss the week before so 0.4lb gain was ok with me. Last week I stayed the same. No loss. No gain. "At least I didn't gain!" I told myself. Everything was good. This morning I went to my meeting so sure the scale would tell me I had lost even a little weight. NO! I gained another 0.6lb.That puts me at a full pound gained back. Maybe it's because I was sick. Maybe it was the antibiotics. Maybe it's just the normal fluctuation of a woman's body. I don't know. What I do know is I'm not happy about it. Now that I'm feeling better I can get back into the gym and hopefully get back on track. I have even lowered my daily points plus allowance by a point. Let's see if that helps at all.

Complaining aside, I can be proud that I made it through the Bermuda Triangle of holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas) with only a 1 pound gain. That's pretty awesome, right? So many of us easily pout on five or ten pounds this time of year. So one pound really shouldn't be anything to be upset about.

This week will see me back in the gym.
I will get back on track.
I will continue to lose weight!
I will make it back down to 150 pounds!
Or a size 12, whichever comes first.

Starting Off

Hello. Welcome to my blog!
I thought I'd give this a try.
Follow along as I continue my journey through this life of motherhood and housewife.

I have two little girls. Izzy is 2 and Zoe is 8 months old.
I have been married to my husband, Josh for 4 years.
Being a mother and a housewife is a far cry from who I was just a few years ago.
These times can be trying but they can also be beautiful.

I'm not sure how this will all unfold but hopefully I can hold back the Furies a little longer