My Inspiration (:

So my day has been pretty uneventful so far other than the fact that I got to talk to my wonderful mother and made some pretty awesome waffles (((((: (recipe posted at bottom of post) . Boy was that a blast. My little one always gets on the phone when her NeNe calls so of course why would this time be any different. Well she got on the phone and let's just say that she had a lot to talk about today and it was so cute because she actually held the phone up to her ear like a big girl.

See how big she's getting! :(

She talked and talked and talked and I recorded some of the talking so that I can look back on the hilarious event. Anyways today I wanna tell you about my mother. You hear about all the things I do in my day, and my blog is called "InspiredChatter" so I see that it's only right if I tell you about the woman who brought me into this world and played a major role in the woman you see today. 

This is my five generation photo. (From Left: My grandmother Wanda, My G-Grandmother Polly holding my daughter Jasey, my mother, and me) These women are the greatest. I couldn't have been blessed with greater female role models than these women right here.

Here is yet another picture of my beautiful mother hold Jasey when she was only a few weeks old. We were out picking pecans and it was a very pretty day which explains the whole no socks no shoes on my baby.

And finally a recent picture of her holding my nephew who is only two days shy of being a month old right now. Here he wasn't even an hour old. 

My mother (Jennifer) has taught me so much about life as most mothers do. She has taught me everything (just about) that I apply to my everyday life. She was there through heartbreaks (we all know how rough those can be!) and even through my first "C" in school. (yes, I said "C". I was a straight "A" student and it was my first C and I punished myself. Don't make fun of me.) Let me tell you I have been through ALOT whether it be with family, friends, school....giving birth. No matter what happens she's always been there. I am strong because I watched her be strong for years in front of my sister and me. No matter what pain she went through, she always put on that smile and showed me that everything would be ok. 

When you think of a family interacting with each other, I'm sure you think of the polite, don't say anything vulgar, yes ma'am no ma'am family. Am I right? Well mine is no where near that and that's how I like it. We can talk about absolutely anything. Even if my mother doesn't wanna hear it (but that's what makes it fun). We are a competitive household (or use to be until two of us had kids). My mom is probably what provoked that. All my life I played softball. And I absolutely LOVED it. With most parents, when you mess up on the field, they're just like its ok you'll do better next inning. Nuh un. Not my mom. She yelled and screamed but only because she knew that that would motivate me. The angrier I got the better I played. The more I was told I can't the more I would try and prove that I could. The point of this little story is that my mom was never afraid to push me beyond the limits that most parents wouldn't dare venture into. I graduated salutatorian with a child and having been put on home bound for almost 5 months. I have completed two semesters in college when everyone told me I wouldn't even go just because I had a child at 17. That is such a stereotype. The only reason I wouldn't have done those things is if I didn't have such a wonderful mother behind me (along with a few others). Needless to say, I don't honestly know where I would be if it wasn't for my mother all those years. Now I'll admit that there were a few important people who were close to me and helped me move along the right path but this post isn't about them. I love my mom. Plain and simple. She's a true inspiration and anyone who says she isn't, well let's just say that they can go jump off a cliff for all I care. (Don't really jump off a cliff. I wouldn't want that on my conscience lol) Anyways this is who I can attribute the person I am today to. (: 

Sweet tooth's Heavenly Waffles

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 c. milk

2 tbsp softened butter

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 c. flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 square white almond bark

Hershey's chocolate syrup

Instructions:

1. Preheat your waffle iron and spray with a nonstick spray. 

2. Combine eggs, milk, butter, sugar, vanilla, flour, and baking powder in bowl. Mix well. 

3. Pour onto the iron and bake until done. While cooking, chop up some of the almond bark. When ready, waffle will easily lift off the iron with a fork. 

4. Top with chopped up chocolate and drizzle with Hershey's Chocolate syrup. 

Look at the awesome result you achieve at the end. Goodbye annoying sweet tooth!

Expectations

So today has been EXHAUSTING! I have cleaned my poor little heart out. My previous post included a checklist that I use when cleaning my house. Well I'll have to admit that lately I have gotten a little bit....behind....on my housework so today I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned to the point of exhaustion. I did almost EVERYTHING on that checklist today. Normally I do NOT do all that in one day especially feeling the way I have felt today. My sinuses and allergies both decided to gang up on me today and make my life miserable. But I had a little motivation today. My husband's grandparents are in town and are supposed to make a surprise visit. Now me, personally, I hate feeling judged and that's how I feel when any of his family come around me. With my family, I'm just like huh, I don't care because we're family and they'll love me no matter what. But from what I've heard, his grandmother likes things SPOTLESS. So now I have a spotless house (except for some clothes that need to be folded and a few dishes in the sink (which I'll wind up doing tomorrow). Thankfully though, I am now able to end my day with a hot shower then afterwards by eating the rest of the chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream while watching my husband play with our lab/pit mix dog Zeus. They are such a trip. And hopefully they won't wake that beautiful baby I got sleeping in her room. (:

So since this post is also about cleaning I thought I would just share a few pictures that I'm sure a few of you (and me) could relate to:

That is one thing I don't understand. Most people expect to come into your house and see it absolutely spotless. Well me personally, I believe if you spend all your time in your home then it isn't going to be spotless, especially if you have a toddler, a husband, and a dog running around. Either way, I'm still one of those people where if I hear someone is coming over then I'm hopping up off the couch to try and straighten up a bit. 

This one makes me think of my mother so much!

This is so so so true. But I couldn't have a house without my husband or kid. I'd go insane over all the silence!

This is how I feel sometimes when I have company over. I'm just like hey, my house was clean when you got here, but that doesn't mean that I want to clean it again when you leave. That is just one of my pet peeves, like seriously, just pick up after yourselves.

My husband has actually come in and asked me this once before! Lol. 

And last but not least, this is how I feel every single day while I'm at home with my toddler. She loves to help mommy but whenever she gets bored helping me, she does the exact opposite by tearing out everything that I worked so hard to put up or by spilling her juice all over my freshly mopped floors. But hey, I guess that's the price you pay when you become a mother. I wouldn't change it for the world though. (:

Back with a clean house (:

Ok guys, as you can see, I haven't been on here in a while. I wanted to start this blog so that I could share my crazy life and all the inspiration that I have gathered over the years. I just finished my second semester of college (boy was that fun). Piece of advice, don't take summer courses atleast not online. It's 5 months of work all crammed into two. So basically you have to complete two weeks of work in just one week. Psychology was the real kicker. In my opinion Psychology is a class that should be taught in a classroom instead of online. But good news is I passed for the semester! Thankfully (sorta) I'm getting to take the fall semester off simply because I don't have a vehicle to travel the 40 minutes to my school every Tuesday and Thursday. :/

On to a different subject.

Idk about you guys but I HATE cleaning house. And once I get behind I feel soooo overwhelmed with the work that I just sit down and say I'll do it later. I'm an excellent procrastinator. But that only gets me in trouble when my husband gets home. So to help me out I made me a cleaning list that goes with everyday of the week. Thought I might share it with all you other procrastinators (or people who just like lists) (:

I did find this list on another site (I cannot for the life of me remember where so I can't give credit) But I did recreate it so that it would go along with my home. The things that are italicized are things that don't have to be done every week and where I have Other To-Do's the original had outside work. Well I don't do outside work because my wonderful husband does all that. So my other to-do are left blank until I think of something that needs to be done that isn't on the list already. And what I did with my list was got a cheap black frame from Walmart for around $2 and some magnetic strips, another $2, and printed out my list. I took off the stand on the back, put my list in my frame, and attached the strips to the back of the frame. It now hangs on the side of my fridge and next to it on the shelf I have a cup full of Expo markers. So all I do is check off each thing I've done and at the end of the week I erase it all and start over. All in all this list has helped me alot considering I suffer from ADOS (attention deficit ooh shiny). I bounce all over the place cleaning because I get distracted and even if I have done a ton of cleaning, it looks like I have done nothing due to the fact that my cleaning was in all areas of the house. This list kinda helps keep my butt on track. 

I want to leave you with a verse that somewhat pertains to keeping a clean house.

"To be discreet, chaste, homemakers, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be blasphemed." Titus 2:5 

Wow guys, today has been a day. My little one had to go get a shot today. :'(  Not to mention that lately she has learned to climb out of her bed. So this lovely momma here got woke up at 7:30 this morning by a screaming baby because she fell over the side of her crib. Poor Baby. For the most part of my day today, we've sat up and watched various TinkerBell movies. (Is it sad to say that I get really interested in said movies.) Anyways, lets talk about a little DIY's tonight. My dad and grandfather were both truck drivers (eighteen wheelers) and my father still is. With being a truck driver, you get to be around a lot of pallets. I've always wondered what could be done with those pallets instead of just turning them into firewood. So once thanks to Pinterest and Stumbleupon, I've finally found what I could have done with those pallets and what I will definitely be doing if (when) I get my hands on some. Here are those ideas guys:

  I would definitely make my baby girl a toddler bed out of pallets if I got my hands on some. Especially since she is apparently in need of a toddler bed to keep her from falling the four foot to the floor.

Doesn't this look soooooooo comfy. Would be a great idea for a theater/movie room so that you could see over the heads of the people in front of you.

I think this would look cute in front of a nice reading chair. You could store your books in the empty slots.

 I love this one. Its a cheap sectional! Why go out and spend $2000 on an expensive couch when you can make this cute, crafty thing.

Just look at this!! I love love love swings. Now only if I had a porch to hang it on.

Sorry this post is so short. I got a squirmy baby in my lap plus I'm SUPER tired.

So today I start week 1 of my online Summer courses for college. From the work that I already have to do (its only day 1!) I can already tell that its gonna be a tough semester. I only have three classes though. (English 102, History 202, and Psychology 101) But it's day 1 and I already have to write three papers and have a test coming up on the 8. Go figure. For those of you that are wondering about online courses, they are actually very easy. The hard thing is time management. With being at home you run into all sorts of distractions. Instead of sitting in a quiet classroom, you're at home where you need to do the dishes, look after the baby and the dog, cook supper when the husband gets home, etc. And then there's the distractions that aren't thing that need to be done but they are things like the couch calling you to come take a nap or the PlayStation begging you to turn on Netflix and watch the show you've been trying to watch forever. Whatever it may be, with online courses you just have to set you up a schedule. Like for instance, I am going to try to get on 3 days a week (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday) and those time will more than likely occur at night when everyone's asleep. My last semester was all online except for one class and I wound up with a 3.5 GPA for the semester. (If it weren't for the one campus course I would have had a 4.0) So enough about boring ole school.

Today I'm going to share a recipe that I found on Pinterest. I'm a major Pinterest addict. I'm serious I seriously thing I have a problem. HaHa. Anyways the recipe I found came from another blogspot blogger  (http://life-as-a-lofthouse.blogspot.com/2010/09/baked-sweet-and-sour-chicken-with-fried.html) and she found it on http://www.melskitchencafe.com/...This recipe has become a family (and friend) favorite in my household. I only make it once a month though because all together it takes about two hours of constant attention (once it's in the oven you have to flip it every 15 minutes) But it's completely worth it. Anyways this absolutely AMAZING recipe is for baked sweet and sour chicken. Whoever originally came up with this  recipe was an absolute genious.

Baked Sweet and Sour Chicken

The chicken coating:

3-4 boneless chicken breasts
salt + pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

The sweet and sour sauce:

3/4 cup sugar
4 tbs ketchup
1/2 cup distilled white vinegar
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp garlic salt

       Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs.  Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.

This is the wonderful outcome of all that hard work (:

In my house we usually serve this with plain rice (I put salt and pepper on mine and my husband puts butter on his) and some yeast rolls. 

I'd say there are about 6 servings in this recipe so the nutritional values for this dish per servings are:

Total Fat 15g

23 %

Sat Fat 2g

10 %

Total Carb 49g

16 %

Fiber 0g

0 %

Sugars 29g

---

Cholesterol 105mg

35 %

Sodium 1077mg

45 %

Protein 19g

38 %

For the ENTIRE recipe, the nutritional values are: 

Total Fat 89g

137 %

Sat Fat 11g

55 %

Total Carb 294g

98 %

Fiber 1g

4 %

Sugars 174g

---

Cholesterol 629mg

210 %

Sodium 6459mg

269 %

Protein 114g

227 %

The information found above was calculated with a nutritional calculator provided by saymmm.com. I really hope you guys enjoy this recipe as much as my family has. (: