In a funky rut lately.

   I'm in a sad mood today. I'm not sure if it's the rainy weather we've been having or me realizing we've been here since September and I still haven't made any friends. I get REALLY pissed annoyed when people tell me "get out and explore" or "you just need to get out and meet people." IT'S NOT THAT EASY. In case you haven't noticed, not everyone likes Americans. So do go on a walk with my dogs and strike up a conversation and hit it off isn't realistic. I live in a small village outside the base. Mostly Germans, a good percentage are a lot older than me. Also take in account the language barrier.
    I don't mind making friends with someone who has kids, I love kids but I need a friend that can be my friend, not me be their on call babysitter. (It's happened before.) I know what I was getting into when I married my husband, I knew we would have to move around a lot. I just didn't know that our first PCS would be overseas, and I didn't realize how expensive it is to fly home with two dogs. Eeeek!
    It's hard for me to grasp my new outlook on life. I've had 3 best friends my whole life: Jenn and Chelsea who I've known since preschool, and Jayce who I met in third grade. We all played softball together, was in Cheerleading together, had countless sleepovers together, went to proms together, graduated high school together. It's hard not to have them in my life anymore. I regularly talk to them on Facebook, but not being able to see someone for years changes things. It's hard not to see my family either, I've always lived in a 20 mile radius of my entire family. All my grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles, my parents and brother so it's hard not being around them. I literally feel like half of my heart is 5,000 miles away.
   I'm hoping things will get better for me (that's what everyone says will happen) but it's hard to stay positive. Until it does I'm just going to keep throwing myself into this blog and trying to make someone else's day :) If you live near your family and have friends that you love like family, hug them tight and appreciate everyday you do have with them. 

               

               

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YUMMY Baked Doughnuts

   I spend about an hour a day on Pinterest (I have no life) and I have a TON of to-do recipes and crafts. Most of them sit on my boards and are never to be seen again. However, since starting this blog and still having no followers or comments (can ya'll see me or what?!) I decided to start doing my to-do's in hopes of attracting at least one person. Make me happy and love me and my random craftiness/blogginess? I don't take rejection well! Back to the original subject... DOUGHNUTS. YUM.
I found the recipe here at Whisk Together by Mary Ellen. The recipe and directions were very easy to follow, which was great because I'm a bread newbie. I've recently been baking my own bread and our house is so cold my yeast sometimes fails me. Luckily it worked out for me :)

Here's our doughnuts fresh out of the oven and naked!

And here they are frosted, glazed and powdered.

If there's one thing I can say about this recipe, it's that they were DELICIOUS. 

I've never had homemade doughnuts that weren't fried, but these were even better

than store bought. They weren't sickly sweet like some can be, and they were

as soft as a cloud. We ate them all. And I have no regrets :)

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Traveling Around

    Because of my husband's crazy work hours, we haven't got to travel a whole lot. We could easily hop on an ICE train and be in a different country within a couple hours. France, Belgium, Switzerland, Netherlands, Czech Republic, Poland, ALL surround Germany. Since we don't have any little ones yet, now would be the prime time to go, but my husband's working 12's and there's always some issue going on during a long weekend. Actually, every long holiday weekend we've had there's been at least one military involved DUI/ARI and in Germany they don't take it lightly. The last time we went to visit my Uncle in Heidelberg, my hubby got a phone call saying there was a ARI and he had to come into his shop (like an in-person recall to make sure everyone is accounted for). So we had to leave my Uncle's house immediately and get to his shop (about an hour drive, I was PISSED). I wouldn't want to be on my way to the train station and have this happen again, and we can't take leave right now either because they're undermanned. So basically it sucks. LUCKILY my Uncle has been helping us venture out. He took us out to explore Heidelberg and drove us to Bavaria and through Austria. It was breathtaking, I've never seen mountains like the Alps or the charming hotel we stayed at. 

The Madonna.

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My Guilty Pleasure

   One day while reading the daily drama news on Facebook, I saw that one of my good friends, Tamara, had posted a link to something called Diamond Candles. Ahhh, the day my life changed forever. See, I'm a sucker for anything smelly-good. Instantly intrigued I went to their website and as soon as my eyes hit that screen, I felt like Charlie entering the Chocolate Factory. In case you haven't heard about Diamond Candles, they're all natural soy candles that burn clean and are made in the USA. So what's so great about em' you ask? EVERY candle has a ring inside. That ring could be worth anywhere from $10 to $5,000!!! The candles are $24.95 + $ 5 shipping. You basically pay that for any other name brand candle at the store, but in these you get a free ring! I have ordered one for my mom, one for myself, and my husband bought me one as a surprise. 
    I've have Chocolate Truffle, and Cinnamon Roll. Chocolate Truffle smells like brownies baking in the oven, so if it's lit when hubby comes home he gets a little sad since it's just the candle he's smelling. Cinnamon Roll smells just like a warm gooey Cinnabon. I've had the Chocolate candle for a little over 3 months and I still have half left. I don't burn it everyday but when I do light it, I burn it for 3 to 4 hours. I know I probably sound like a salesperson, but I'm not affiliated with them in anyway. I just LOVE them. If you would like to see some of the rings people have found in their candles, you can click here. Here is a picture of mine:

I actually really like the rings I got in mine, and they fit too which is

rare because I have really long fingers and big knuckles. 

(I have man hands!)

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My Breakfast Made Over.

   I am so excited about this! We've all heard about Green Smoothies/Green Monster/Green Goo right? Basically some kind of smoothie with something green in it, whether it be spinach, kale, etc. When I first heard about it, I thought "Eww". But as I started to think about it, at some point we ALL tend to lack on the 5 servings of fruits and veggies a day. I won't lie, usually the only time I get veggies in my belly is during lunch and dinner (maybe 2 or 3 servings combined) My breakfasts on the weekdays are usually Cheerios or Shredded Mini-Wheats and a piece of fruit. On the weekends, we feast at breakfast. Pancakes and Bacon. YUM. 
  So hear me out... we could all use more veggies. 2 weeks ago I started drinking this smoothie, and since then I've LOST 4 pounds with no change in exercise. Wahoooo!




Healthy Breakfast Smoothie

• 2 handfuls of baby spinach or if you'd like, kale. 
• 1 medium sized banana.
• 1 cup pineapple, peaches, apricots, pears, or whatever fruit you'd like. (If using canned, it MUST be in 100% juice, no light syrup or heavy syrup). 
• 1/2 cup Nonfat Plain Yogurt. I use Stonyfield since that's really the only brand they have at our commissary. If I'm out of yogurt (which happens a lot, for some reason it takes the commissary forever to restock the shelf) I will use 1/2 c. skim milk.
• 1 cup cold water. 

This morning it was 1 banana, 1 c. peaches, 2 handfuls b.spinach, 1 c. water, 1/2 c. skim milk.

Blend well until smooth.

Voila! This will make a BIG glass, but drink it all, it's SO good. You won't taste 

the spinach at all. If you want your kids to give this a try,

call it a "Shrek Smoothie" :)

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Cleaning your Grout Made Simple. Crazy right?

   Yes, you heard me. Cleaning your grout simply. Our German house is ALL tile. Both stories which means a lot of work. I was googling around trying to find an easy solution because nothing I've tried has actually brightened and cleaned the grout. I found a product called "Stain Solver". When I went to their website and read customer reviews and saw their pictures I was absolutely floored at how great it worked. So I add the 4.5 pound tub to my cart and proceed to checkout. Sadly, they won't ship to APO addresses. Our APO address is our mailbox on base where all of our mail comes to. I can't use our actual house address because the German post has much different regulations. Most companies do ship to APO, this is actually the first time I've encounter this problem. 
    Anyway, I was pretty crushed but determined to find an alternative. Stain Solver is oxygen bleach. So I went to the mall on base to find another oxygen bleach brand. They had Oxi-Clean and Oxi-Magic. I settled on the powdered Oxi-Magic by Clorox. As soon as I got home I tried it out. 

• Start by sweeping or vacuuming your floor so there isn't any hair, dust, crumbs, etc.
• The package says to use 2 scoops and 2 Tablespoons of hot water which would create a thick paste, so instead I use 2 scoops and a gallon of HOT water. Swish it or stir it around until all of the powder dissolves.
• Work in a 3 x 3 area at a time. Pour the mixture straight onto the tile making sure it gets in the grout. Let the mixture sit for at least 15 minutes. You might hear little hissing sounds, that's the oxygen bleach working. The longer you let it sit the better it will work.
• After 15-30 minutes use a stiff grout brush and scrub the grout. Right away you'll notice how much lighter the grout is. After you've scrubbed the entire 3 x 3 area, use an old towel or suction up the dirty water. (I use my Bissell QuickSteamer to suction it all up.) 

Before

After

  After cleaning the whole floor, you might want to consider sealing the grout so dirt and other debris can't stain and dirty the grout. I wanted to add that if your grout is very old and chipped, it may not be a good idea to use this since it can further weaken your grout. Another side note is that this will not bleach or stain your clothes or towels. I actually pour a scoop in my laundry to brighten our clothes. Also, I'm not affiliated with Clorox in any way, I just love this stuff. It's very versatile and basically does the scrubbing for me.

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Clean and Organize Your Fridge

   Most of you are probably scratching your head wondering "why in the world someone create a tutorial on how to clean and organize a fridge?!" Well, obviously we all know how to clean, but choosing a cleaner safe for your fridge and food to be exposed to can be questionable. Organization? I think we all have our own version of "organized". I thought my fridge was pretty clean and somewhat organized until 2 days ago when I opened it and the foulest smell ever hit me right in the face. Ok... time to get this baby clean.

Fridge Before. 

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First Hand Experience for a Successful Overseas PCS Move (will be a LONG post)

    So, you just found out you have orders overseas? First of all, DON'T PANIC :) I know it's easier said and done, but there's not much you can do until you actually get your "hard copy orders". That's what makes it official, and your hard orders usually come 3 to 1 months before your departure date, which yeah I know... doesn't seem like a lot of time.  The military member will receive a big long checklist in their government email that he/she needs to check off as they go. Once you get your hard orders, make 20 copies. The one big important thing to do first it to go buy an accordion style binder/file and keep EVERY receipt and paper pertaining to this PCS in it. Keep it with you at all times, even on the plane. Very important!  

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Being born into the Blogging world.

Well, if you know me personally, you will know that this is a big deal to me. Everyone says blogs are no big deal, it's not a life commitment, blah, blah, blah. I'm a Gemini, therefore I basically have two sides to me. A wild side and a more tranquil side. I'm pretty indecisive, well kind of. If my hubby asks me what movie I want to watch, I say "Ehh, I don't care, you pick," I do care. I mean, I don't care what he picks as long as it's not Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom for the 20th time :) So all in all, this was a big decision for me. I don't like to disappoint, so wish me luck. Pin It