A Balancing Act

I struggle almost every minute with my hopes and wants.

When becoming a parent your needs and wants HAVE to go on the back burner. I, for a long time, struggled with this. I go through the emotions: pity, anger, sadness. I thought it would go away but it hasn't. I have to learn to cope with it. 

I have since struggled with the fact that I may not want another child. 

At the end of the day I have to be okay with that fact. I need to understand that I can make that choice. 

And I need to also be okay with changing my mind! Life isn't about everything being set in stone. Life is consistently changing and I'm consistently changing my mind! 

Some days (okay, most days) I want to just run away, more so more than I ever did as a child! Anyone else? 

BUT at the end of the day, I just want my son and husband by my side. They are my world, I wouldn't want to change it.  

Life isn't about being perfect, it's just about trying and living. 

xo jess

Happy Valentines Day

I was never really into Valentines Day...

My mom alway got us a little gift and my grandma would send us $5 with a card but having a child has changed my thinking.

Valentines Day has turned out to be one of my favorite holidays! 

I love decorating for it, and baking, and crafting. I get so much joy in experiencing the new things with him. 

Plus he will always be my valentine, since daddy works in the restaurant, we hardly ever celebrate together.

Any fun plans for your valentines day? 

I'll just be snuggling my one year old. 

xo jess

Crockpot Shredded Chicken Tacos (+ Two more recipes)

I could literally eat Mexican food every day!

Unfortunately it is probably my husbands least favorite and we NEVER have it. I think I got him to take me for Mexican when I was pregnant. . . So with him being gone most nights I do fix "mexican food" for dinner a lot. 

I came across this recipe and decided to try it.

It seemed simple and looked delicious! 

When I say simple, I mean, like, three ingredients simple!!

Chicken breast, salsa, and taco seasoning!! 

And a crock pot! Thats it!!

Throw it all together in the crock pot, give it a little stir, and cook it 4-6 high or 6-8 low! 

I did mine on high for 5 hours

 This is what it looked like after cooking for 5 hours. It literally came apart with a fork.

I served it on corn tortilla's and topped with avocado, lettuce and a dollop of greek yogurt! 

I no longer buy sour cream, greek yogurt taste the exact same and it's healthier!

The next night I took the left over chicken and put it in a pot to make Tortilla soup!!

I had about a cup of chicken leftover and added chicken stock, corn, rotel, onion, and spices, and let it simmer for about 25 mins. 

I also made some homemade tortilla stripes with the corn tortillas!! So Gooooood! 

Easiest two meals!!

Chicken Tortilla Tacos

Two-Three Chicken Breasts

16 oz of salsa(I used Paco because it was on sale)

a packet of taco seasoning

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Leftover Chicken( I had about a cup)

Can of corn

Can of rotel( or just can of diced tomatoes and green chiles)

half a medium onion diced

1 teaspoon of garlic powder 

2 teaspoon of cumin

1 teaspoon of cayenne ( I made mine too spicy so I would admit these next time but if you like SPICY go for it!)

You could also add black beans! I just didn't have any!

Homemade Corn Tortilla Stripes

8 corn tortillas cut into 1/2" stripes

2 tablespoons of veg. oil

1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

1/4 teaspoon of cayenne

Toss stripes in vegetable oil

Throw in spices/seasonings

Toss again

Place on baking sheet

Bake at 400F for 10 mins

Stir and left bake for another 9-10 mins

Each recipe made about 6 servings, so you can adjust to your needs! 

Have a great Monday! 

xo jess

New Year, Fresh Start

I am fully ready to tackle this year head on. I have finally finished my degree(YAYYY) and am only working part time.

What does that mean for the rest of my time? Oh just entertaining a 19 month old. Who knew kids could be so demanding?! 

This is the start of keeping up with this blog...I no longer have any excuses. 

So join me and keep up, lets go 2016.

Hope everyone had wonderful holidays. 

Here are a few pictures of ours, I did a horrible job at taking pictures! 

xo jess