This Week in Review

Disclaimer: I am not the photographer in my family- that would be my brother, Caleb. (Insert shameless plug for Cassius Photography here...) The following pictures you are about to view were taken on a very inexpensive digital camera by a person who hates having her own picture taken, let alone taking pictures of others...

So this has been a busy week! Fun dinners, crazy times with Addison, Shad got his summer "buzz," and I was asked to consider participating in Ms. Wheelchair America!

Dinners. I love to be in the kitchen. And now that I have a wheelchair-friendly one, I have enjoyed spending more time there. This week was homemade BBQ chicken pizza and chicken fettuccine alfredo from scratch. Mmmmm. I will never buy pizza dough or alfredo sauce from the store EVER again...

Homemade pizza dough ready to be topped

Chicken breast and fresh basil

Would have preferred mozz or provolone, but cheddar was all I had...

 

Can you tell I have to do a lot of my shopping at Walmart???

Got to use my pot filler for the pasta- love it!

Russ loves him some serious garlic bread

Finished it off with some fresh parsley from my amazing...

AEROGARDEN! The only way I can keep herbs alive...

Pizza dough:

1 c. warm water

1 T yeast

2 T sugar

2 T oil

1 t salt 2 1/2 - 3 c. flour

Combine water, yeast, and sugar. Add oil and salt. Stir in flour. Knead dough and let it rest for about 10 minutes. Roll it out onto a large cookie sheet, lightly greased. Let it rest a few minutes and then push it back to the sides if it has pulled away. For a thick, fluffy crust, let it rise for about 15 minutes; if you want a thinner, chewier crust, bake it immediately. Top with Parmesan cheese, sauce, fresh basil, then desired toppings and cheese. Bake at 425* for 15-18 minutes, checking regularly.

So that was dinner for a few nights- on to the fun stuff. Addison has taken an extreme interest in her blocks this week. She is very funny about giving the same amount of attention to all of her toys. It's like she doesn't want to hurt their feelings, so she spreads the love evenly. This week was the blocks' turn on the Addison love-fest...

This is the expression I get now when she spies the camera...

Wish I could pull off the whale spout and look this cute!

 In other news, Shad was not enjoying the heat, so we decided to take him in for a summer trim. He's an English Golden Retriever, and has never been clipped before. I thought he would come home looking a little shorter. I was not expecting to show him as a sheep at the 4-H fair.

 

Be kind- his pride is bruised...

At least he will be cooler less hot... right? Oh well, it will grow back (his coat, maybe not his pride...). I have a few projects in the works. Tomorrow I am attempting to make my first "pallet project." I am recently obsessed with pallets, and since we just got done building, we have plenty of material to work with. I will post pics later (if it turns out...). I also made this fun little box out of an empty dishwasher tab container (am I the only person who loses bills somewhere between the mailbox and the office?) so I can hopefully stop misplacing our bills. The bandanas are for a tablecloth idea I saw on Pinterest. More pics to follow on that. (Again, if it turns out. Do you see a theme on my projects?)

And finally, Ms. Wheelchair America. Yes, you heard saw that right. First of all, IT'S NOT A BEAUTY PAGEANT! It's not even a scholarship program (cue all funny lines from Sandra Bullock in "Miss Congeniality"). It was founded to bring awareness to disability-related issues. Contestants can be 21-60 years old, and since its beginning in 1972, Wyoming has never been represented. So I am considering applying as an independent delegate from Wyoming to participate in the national competition next summer. If I can get past the preconceived ideas of what most pageants entail, and wrap my head around the opportunity as an amazing platform for issues that mean a lot to me, I might do it. We shall see. I will definitely keep you posted.

This has been another edition of "This Week in Review." Please feel free to leave comments below. Thank you!

P.S. Experimenting with the new look and layout of this blog...

The Beginning

Hi, my name is Ashlee. This is me and my partner in crime, Addison Bree. Pretty cute, isn't she?

I have been following a few blogs for a while now, and I have come to the realization that my favorite ones are not about people with super exciting lives or crazy adventures. The blogs I follow and check religiously are about normal people doing normal everyday stuff. So that is what this blog will be about. I have had some drama in my life in the past, and although I may allude to it in future posts, I won't be focusing on it. I want this to be a way for me to pay tribute to the "here and now." For my sake, for Addison to see one day, and for you. Because maybe- just maybe - you like to follow normal people blogs as much as I do.

So here goes. Now, I am the type of person that wants to call people up and have a conversation that goes something like this:

"So I follow your blog, and you haven't posted anything in like two whole weeks. Do you think that maybe you could get on that ASAP?"

 I mean, seriously, don't they understand that part of my daily computer routine involves checking their blog to see if there is anything new I should know about? Well, I am hoping that having my own blog teaches me some patience and understanding for others and their busy schedules. Just because I have been blessed with a child that loves to take naps, (more on that later) and I have a lot of free time during the day, doesn't mean others follow the same routine and live to entertain me. (Hard to believe, huh?) So I'm not making any promises. I may update this thing once a week, once or month, or I may forget I have it. As of right this very moment, I don't even have any followers, so no one would be the wiser. But it is my hope that this will become an outlet for thoughts, ideas, projects, recipes,rants, and other things that make up my normal, everyday life. We shall see...