Monday: Marriage

I was having lunch last week with SaraDear herself and somehow we got on the topic of marriage. This is nothing new for us, we cover everything from weird things we noticed while getting ready that morning to the newest Essie nail polish. There really is no off-limits topic to us. While discussing marriage we really got into the nitty-gritty of how much work a marriage is. Not in a 'full time job'  type work but more in an emotional type of work. I am a firm believer in the 'marriage takes work' saying. It takes work on both sides to keep things interesting. 

Now, a while back I talked about ways to date your spouse, but I don't really think I touched on why you should date your spouse. So today, we are going with the 'marriage takes work' theme and discussing ways to keep the spark alive and the stress level minimal.

I will be the first to admit that I was the type pre-marriage, pre-engagement that said that marriage was easy. I mean, what gets better than living with your then boyfriend and spending the rest of eternity together? Well, the answer was nothing, really, but when J and I moved in together we went a little backwards and bought a house, then got engaged, then had a baby, then got married. Judge me if you want to, a complicated pregnancy really killed my wedding plans (more on that later). So, in all aspects I got a true sense of what marriage would be before I even said yes to a proposal. There were times that we fought because he liked his laundry folded one way and I simply didn't fold that way, but there were also times that we bonded about weird things (can we say backyard landscape?). But, with each fight, it brought us closer (after briefly pulling us apart), but it wasn't until I actually said "I do" until I really started to realize how much work a marriage is.

Like I said in the beginning, its not so much work in the full-time job sense, but more so an emotional sense. In a marriage there will be days that you are emotionally tested to what feels like your breaking point. I won't bore you with the boring story of the time that I thought I was physically done because of how hard I was being emotionally tested.

Being a working couple (both husband and wife working), seems to take less work marriage wise, than only one spouse working. Not only does only one spouse working put that person in the lime-light to keep the household supplied with necessities but also keeping the lights on and the roof over the families head. The true test of my marriage came when I stopped working, at the time, I was 7.5 months pregnant. I loved my job, I loved the people I worked with but my doctor decided it was in my (and baby B's) best interest for me to be on bed rest. When I called J with this news and immediately he said that it was no problem and that I shouldn't plan to come back once baby B arrived. I could tell that there was a hint of hesitation and stress in his voice but he continued to support me staying home. There are days now (18-months later) that I question if I should go back to work to take the stress off of J to be the sole breadwinner, and every time I mention it to him, he always fights back with a very harsh no-way.

Now, you are likely asking yourself how me rambling about marriage and work has to do with dating your spouse. I will tell you. Dating is fun, you are carefree and basically you go out on a new adventure more often than not. When you finally settle into a marriage routine, you tend to spend more time working on the physical aspect of keeping your spouse attracted to you than you do actually spending time together and making memories. I've noticed more times than not that many people who get divorced or are getting divorced have no idea what their spouses interests are, because they chose not to work on their marriage and spend time with them.  They certainly do not put "'Till death do us part" in wedding vows for shits and giggles. I think more people nowadays take that line for granted because its much easier to site irreconcilable differences and give up, than to work on the marriage and make it work and be in love the way you were when you wed. I can honestly say that since J and I have started   taking time monthly (date over-night) to work on our marriage (outside the day to day), that we have become closer and I have learned that I love him more now than I did a month or two ago.

So, is marriage easy? No. Is it a walk in the park? No, if it was EVERYONE would get married at the drop of a hat. Should you take time out for you and your marriage monthly (Im talking NOOOOOO kids here)? YES!

Have a great week y'all!

A.B.

Crock-Pot Crispy Chicken Quesadillas

Have I mentioned lately that I love my Crock-Pot? Seriously, its seen more dinners than my skillets and mixer combined. Anyway, so I made this awesome recipe by accident and loved it sooooooo much I just had to share it with you all. So, obviously you will need a crock pot (if you don't have one, shame on you- you are depriving yourself from deliciously effortless meals, forrealzz). You will also need the following fix-in's:

2 - Boneless Chicken Breasts

1- 16oz. Jar Salsa (your choice on strength and brand)

16oz. of Water (I used the salsa jar to measure this)

1 - Packet Taco Seasoning

1 - Pack of Taco sized Tortilla Shells

1 - Box/ Packet of Spanish Rice

6 C. Colby Jack Cheese

To start: Combine Chicken, Salsa, Taco Seasoning and Water in Crock-Pot. Mix together thoroughly and cook for 8-10 hours. 

Once the chicken is cooked, shred it with a fork and throw it back in the Crock-Pot on the 'WARM' setting. 

Now, cook your Spanish Rice to specifications on the packet and set aside. 

Pre-heat oven to 350 and grease a cookie sheet.

Now comes the fun part, take one taco shell and on HALF of it, layer in this order - Rice, Cheese, Chicken then Cheese. Fold it in half and set it on the greased cookie sheet. Repeat this three other times and hope to heavens your oven is heated up by the time you get done!

After all your 'dillas are assembled and in their respective spot on the baking sheet, bake them for 15 minutes. 

Once baked, pull them out of the oven and let sit for 2 minutes, then slice in to four sections and enjoy!!

These are very kid friendly (depending on how spicy of salsa you get), I got mild and Baby Bee devoured them!

Happy Weekend all!

Carseat Commotion: Part Three: Seats that didn't make the cut

Happy Monday y'all!  Its time that we re-visit the final portion of carseat commotion! 

Now in part one, we discussed infant carriers. Ultimately we chose the Chicco KeyFit30, but we certainly didn't walk right in and pick that one. It took months of research and testing. So, in part three I will show you the top two contenders that we looked at and give you reasons we didn't choose them! 

Lets get started! Our first runner up was the Britax B-Safe 30. It looks like this: 

While this seat is very similar to the Chicco, there were a few things we didn't like. The first issue being with the infant insert. Since we knew from day one that we would have a small baby - we knew that we would need a seat with an exceptionally supportive infant insert. This particular seat fell short. The padding on the head support was less than sub par, it honestly felt as though they stick a thin layer of quilt batting in the headrest and called it a day. The second issue with this seat was the visor, or canopy (while many of these issues seem minor, they meant a lot to us). The Chicco has a neat feature on its canopy where there is a flip down section that extends the canopy an extra 4-5inches, giving that much more sun protection. The third and most monumental issue with this seat was the base. I tried for fifteen minutes to install this particular base into my car at Babies 'R Us (if you ask nicely, they will allow you to test fit seats and bases), the self leveling system did not work nearly as easily as the Chicco and the latch buckles took more of a mathematical equation and science problem to ensure they were even on both sides, so they wouldn't pull the base to one side or another. 

Our Second runner up is the Graco SnugRide35. It looks like this: 

I think when many people think baby gear, they think 'Graco' - while this is great for Graco, its not so great for every other manufacturer out there who has set out to set the bar a little higher. The first reason (and issue) we looked at this one was obviously the '35' in the name, meaning it will hold a baby from 4-35lbs., while we thought this was great - we felt it was a bit unnecessary. Since baby bee was born early, we knew that obviously she won't be the next sumo wrestler or basketball star, but if we were going purely on weight, she would have been in this seat until she was six or seven. The second issue arose with the padding, while the Britax didn't have enough padding- this one had far too much. So much, in fact, that it was HOT. I put my hand in the deepest part of the seat for three minutes in each seat to see how breathable it was, this seat was not. AT. ALL. Three minutes in and I had a very sweaty palm, gross. The third turn off for this seat was how cheap it felt. While it may be the 'lightest seat on the market today', that actually makes it feel cheap and flimsy. I'd rather lug around a 20lb. carseat and 20lb. kid any day over a seat thats 5lbs. if it meant the seat felt like it might actually do its job in the event of a crash. This brings me to my last and final reason we didn't choose this seat, the safety ratings. In the US all car seats have to meet a certain threshold to even be on the market, now  there are independent labs that will actually test the same exact seats to actually see how they do, this one did very poorly in side impact ratings, part of this was due to where Graco recommended it to be placed in the vehicle (drivers side - outboard). This seat buckled on BOTH SIDES when hit at 45mph.

Our other contenders right out of the gate were; the Baby Trend FlexLoc, utimately we didn't choose this one because of poor safety ratings in a side impact crash and rollover crash. We also looked at the Combi Shuttle, this one was not a top contender due to the poor design and tendency to break babes legs when rear ended. 

Now, in part two of carseat commotion, we discussed convertible carseats. Ultimately we chose the Recaro ProRide. Here are the top two contenders that didn't quite make the cut for us!

Our first runner up was the Britax Marathon 70 G3. It looks like this:

The primary reason we didn't choose this seat was how difficult it was to adjust straps. You'll recall on the Recaro, it only take a turn of a knob to adjust the straps. On the Marathon G3, you have to take the seat out of the car, take the seat apart, pull the straps through the correct height setting, make sure they are connected to the T-buckle correctly and then re-install it. Sounded like too much work and effort for my tastes. The second reason we didn't choose this seat was the crotch buckle cover. As in there wasn't one. I have a deathly fear of burning my child with her car seat buckles and since this one didn't have the crotch buckle cover it was a no-fly zone for it. The third reason we didn't choose this seat was the strap covers. They are made of rubber and while they are an ingenious design by Britax in terms of a safety innovation, I could very easily see a rash breaking out or rubber burns happening from them. 

The second runner up for the convertible seat was the Graco MyRide 65 DLX. It looks like this:

There was two main reasons we didn't choose this seat, the first being that it was so narrow that I have a very hard time believing that a full size toddler (or preschooler even) will fit in this seat. When we purchased our convertible seat, we purchased with the intent of not needing to replace it for some time and I foresaw us replacing this seat with another convertible around the time she was 2.5-3. The second reason we didn't choose this seat was the material of the seat, much like the infant seat from Graco - it felt cheap, and much like something you might find on an athletic shoe. Not a car seat. 

There was only one other consideration for a convertible seat right out of the gate, it was the Evenflo SureRide DLX. I hated it, it looked cheap, had almost no padding in it and looked like it would be better suited as an office chair than a child's car seat. It also had some of the lowest crash reviews. 

Happy Hump Week, friends! We have officially made it through half the year!!

I will see you back in here in just a few short days to show off my newest crock-pot recipe!

Until next time,

A.B.

Spicy Chipotle Burgers

Howdy y'all! Its been ten days (thanks Sara, Dear) for counting for me since I've blogged and I truly apologize. I'll make up for - promise!

Since its Summer (ie. Schools are out, my neighborhood pool is crowded on the weekends and its hotter than blazes every.day.of.the.week), that means that in the Bee house, we crank up the at least three times a week. What, we like to be outside, ok? I always like to try out new recipes, and over these past few years have managed to make a couple of my own. I would like to take this very moment to share my most prized (non-dessert) recipe with you. I will warn you that these are not for young kids and those that don't like spicy. They are veeeery spicy. It can be toned down, but they will still be spicy!

Meet my friend, the Spicy Chipotle Burger

Is your mouth watering? Mine is. Is that weird?

Heres how you make it!

First, crank the grill up if these are going from mixing bowl to grill grates!

Now, pull out a knife of good chopping variety, a cutting board and mixing bowl (you wouldn't want to mix them on your counter, that would be ICKY!)

Now, you will need the following mix-in's;

1 lb. of ground beef (I prefer 90/10)

1 C. Chopped Cilantro 

1 Shallot - Minced

2 Tbsp Chipotle Sauce

1/4 tsp. Ground Cumin 

Now, stick your hands in that bowl and mix those suckers up. 

Once they are mixed, form them into four respective patties.

Once you've pattied to your hearts content, throw those suckers on the grill (assuming that its warmed up, and stuff). If you are saving them for dinner tonight - cover them tightly and put them in the fridge.

After they have been cooked, place them on a toasted bun (I like sourdough) and top with your favorite salsa and lettuce (optional). 

Now, eat up! 

I like to pair these with farmer's market veggies on the grill (asparagus) and some chips! 

Happy Summer! 

I'll be back next time with part three of Carseat Commotion!

Carseat Commotion Part Two: Convertible Seats

Good afternoon and happy June!! I apologize I haven't been on here as much as I would like but these past few weeks have been C-R-A-Z-Y!!

Anyway- I'd like y'all to say hello to the Recaro ProRide.

As I said in part one of carseat commotion, I am a researcher. I research everything from materials used, to safety to consumer reviews and complaints. This seat was no different. I actually knew that I wanted this as our next seat when H was three months old, but she was still content in her infant carrier that we didn't want to switch her. Around nine months, that all changed and she decided that she didn't like not being able to see out, so on one of my random BRU trips, I wandered into the open box/ clearance section and found this seat. Brand new, the seal had been broken on the box- but the seat was still in the sealed plastic because someone ordered the wrong color. So, me being Mrs. Thrifty, I picked it up at a 30% off discount and went on my merry way. Fate would have it that it was the color I wanted too...

Anywho, lets go over the nitty-gritty of this seat. Its called a convertible because it can be used rear facing (RF) or front facing (FF). In RF mode, this seat will hold babes from 5-35lbs and in FF mode, it will hold kiddo's that are 20-70lbs. The max height for a child using this seat is 50 inches. The seat itself is a whopping 21lbs (so, plan to leave it in one car and get another for a second car). 

Pro's of this seat:

-Suuuuuuper easy to adjust (just like the Chicco, you can adjust the straps with a simple button or pull each time you get babe in and out)

-The headrest adjusts with a single knob turn (on the side), so no longer do you have to pull the entire seat out to adjust it

-It has four different reclining positions (all the way from lazy-boy style to straight up and down)

-LATCH clips (for easy install)

-Cushy (I know, this seems weird but seriously, this thing has a lot of padding)

-Not cheap feeling (Its certainly not a Cosco seat....)

-Recaro is the leading manufacturer of almost all import vehicle seats (so they know what they are doing)

-Its safe. Much like the Chicco, this one rated the highest (right next to Britax, more on that in post three)

-It comes in a magnitude of colors (my nephew has black, H has purple, see below)

Con's of this seat:

-Its bulky. Seriously. If you have a compact car, this seat isn't for you. Sorry. 

-No self leveling system. I got so used to having it on the Chicco that finding a pool noodle for this thing became annoying.

So there you have it, I realize this post was shorter than the last but I like to keep things short and to the point. I feel like I did that here. So, while the Recaro isn't necessarily cheap, it may just save your childs life - and there really isn't a price you can put on that. 

Until next time!

A.B.