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Finally the snow has melted! It's been here for 2 months. I am ready for Spring. I can't wait! We are approaching the end of February. I still can't believe time is going so fast.

I have been looking for some casserole recipes that you can freeze ahead. I found a few - you make two casseroles and freeze one. I like to have some things on hand all ready to go. If you know of any of those kinds of recipes, I'd love for you to pass them on to me. I made one that was a Spaghetti casserole. It was yummy - froze very well. I need to post some recipes here. I am trying to find some lighter recipes, but that still taste good. I have to get my buns in gear and work on the weight loss. I was thinking about making a bunch of sugar-free pudding and jello and putting them in individual bowls so they are ready to grab when a sweet snack is wanted. We have saved all the little butter containers - they are small and work great. Hubby uses them for work bringing this and that for lunch. I have way too many, so this is a good idea. The kids can also have a handy snack. I can't give up all sweets - I am an addict I guess. I love food and it's so hard to cut things out. I will walk, walk, walk when the weather allows. Ariana loves the outside, so it will be nice. I just have to get myself motivated and get out the door!

For dinner tonight, I made turkey soup. On Thanksgiving I had made turkey stock and shredded all the leftover turkey and measured out 2 cups for each package and placed in freezer bags. It was handy to have to throw in a casserole and also for the soup. I liked it - not my favorite, but it wasn't bad. I made garlic breadsticks to go with it. I sort of used two recipes and improvised. I couldn't find a good recipe. Years ago I had turkey soup after Thanksgiving at a family friends house and it was the best I have ever had. I thought I had written down the recipe, but I can't find it. My version was a bit Italian. I added Italian seasoning, basil, garlic salt, pepper, chicken seasoning, stewed italian tomatoes, noodles, mixed veggies, turkey and the turkey stock. It was flavorful.

Okay - I really better get to bed. I shouldn't have stayed up this late. Have a wonderful week my friends!

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Rest Of Today: Partly sunny. Breezy. Isolated flurries in the afternoon. Highs in the lower 40s. Northwest winds 20 to 25 mph. Tonight: Mostly cloudy in the evening then becoming partly cloudy. Lows around 19. North winds around 10 mph shifting to the southwest after midnight. Tuesday: Mostly sunny. Not as cool. Highs in the mid 50s. Northwest winds 10 to 20 mph.

I haven't been online much and I can't believe it's been this long since I posted!! We had another snow storm since my last post, several cold days, some windy and then 53 degrees! Now it's chilly and very windy again, but not freezing cold which is a good thing. I can't wait for spring - planting flowers, a garden, enjoying walks and sitting outside. That is my favorite time of year, along with Fall.

Here are some of the wonderful Valentine's Day sig tag gifts my online friends sent me! I haven't posted for a while so I didn't get to use them in my posts. They are all at my Valentine Cottage as well.




I watched a great movie today - Evan Almighty. It was such a funny movie and really cheered me up. I have been stuck in a rut I guess you could say. I am working my way out of it. I am hoping for some nice weather, minus the wind so I can take Ariana walking and get myself some exercise. I need to start working harder again and losing the weight I gained from quiting smoking and some depression medication I had taken. My doctor didn't tell me that the new meds we were trying were one that would cause weight gain. I had said I do not want to take anything that will cause weight gain and she said that was fine - there were some that weren't said to cause weight gain. The medication I had been on didn't seem to work anymore (but didn't cause me weight gain) so she added a different one to see if it helped. Well it helped me to put on 15 more pounds!!!! I am not happy. The one we tried before that put 10 pounds on, and then I gained 15 after quitting smoking. Now I have to lose 40 pounds and if that isn't depressing, I don't know what is. Then she tells me that sometimes, when you are on a medication for a while that it can surpress the dopamine your body makes that causes the enjoyment you find in things and that could be my problem. Well now you tell me???? HELLO!!! GRRRR - I didn't think that I had to worry that I didn't have a PHD but man - I sure feel like I should have some kind of extra knowledge. Some of this may have been avoided. Now were are slowly taking me off one of my meds to see if I start to feel better. This could have been done two medications ago and 25 pounds ago as well. I am mad that I didn't research a lot more. Well - can't help it now, so I am trying to get my fanny up and try to repair the damage you could say. Depression is an aweful thing to have and so many people suffer from it. I hate being on the medication, but I know that it normally helps. I used to be embarrased, but I am not so much now. I know a lot of people who have it as well and I would rather admit it and maybe help someone else. There are so many treatments anymore that it's a lot easier to get help. I went a few years without medication as I felt a lot better and the depression seemed to be gone - I was told by my former doctor it was post partum depression after having my third child. After I decided to see another doctor a few years later, I found out that it wasn't that - it was depression - not caused by my pregnancy. I got back on some different medication and it really helped for the first year - but now we are trying a little different approach as I mentioned before. Anyone else suffer from depression? I'd be happy to hear from you!

I better go - Ariana wants to play and she's been waiting patiently. Have a great week!!!






The Doll House