Plans are...hard to make

and hold to. Every time we make a plan it seems it goes out the window for one reason or another. And this is incredibly unnerving to my oldest child syndrome. That means...I'm a control freak, and when I can't control, I freak.

Aside from that, we're headed to Ann Arbor, MI March 11-13 for a job interview for Mark with Plastipak Packaging. This should be fun.We have friends in the area and we both like it...it's just cold! Ann Arbor is about fourty five minutes from Canada, I think. If this Michigan job doesn't work out, we plan to move to Lexington. We have friends there, as well as family, and I know one of our friends can get me on with the local daycare so that I would be able to have Audree with me, kinda.

My tiny (not) baby is all grown up. Not really but she's pretty close. She can full-on crawl, stand up, say "Mommy" and "Daddy", knows where her nose is (and Athena's) and is just plain BIG. She's into her 9-12 and 12+ clothing which of course is heartbreaking to me. I'm not ready, Audball! Stay small! Do it for mom! She doesn't listen ;).

Here's some links to my facebook photo albums :D.

Audree 8-9 months
Audree 9-10 months

Cappucino Muffins

Muffins:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons instant coffee granules
1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips

Espresso Spread:
4 ounces cream cheese, cubed
1/4 cup miniature semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon instant coffee granules
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the first two ingredients in the microwave. Mix in the next three. Cover and refrigerate until serving. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, stir milk and coffee granules until coffee is dissolved. Add butter, egg and vanilla; mix well. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake at 375 for 17-20 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool and serve with prepared espresso spread.

These are FABULOUS! I love the espresso spread. They're pretty rich even without the spread.

So, what'll it be?

Mark and I have been discussing our New Year's resolutions, and here are mine:

* Start school. I want to go college.
* Learn the ways of frugality, even moreso than I am already.
* Trim our budgets down. I spend about $150-$200/month on groceries and household goods and I'd like to either keep that the same or trim it. It's down from $300-$400 when we didn't have a baby, and only one dog.
* SAVINGS! Oh man, I can't think about this enough. By the end of the year, I'd like to have at least two months' bills saved, just in case.
* Start sewing. I am so hard to buy clothes for, so I'd like to remedy that by either making or altering my own.
* Start baking bread. Yes, I suck at this. I'm awful! I want to learn to bake so that it doesn't taste like dirt. Yech.
* Become a Proverbs 31 woman. I think this would benefit my family, marriage and myself in so many ways.
* Share my recipes.
* Grow closer to God. I would like to be closer to Him and to learn more about Him and His ways. I have a feeling He could teach me a thing or two ;).
* Grow closer to Mark, spiritually.
* Work more as a team with Mark
* Be happy and comfortable with my body. That being said, I'm not saying I'm going to lose weight...I just want to feel better about myself.
* Enter one photography contest a month. Maybe I won't win...maybe I will. I sure have an adorable subject!
* Continue honing my cooking skill. We are eating so much better now than we were when we first got married and I hope we keep it up.

That being said, I'm also looking back on the years past. How have we/I improved?

Well...we made a small addition to our family :). Being a mother is amazing, scary, stressful, lonely, crazy and just plain fun. I never thought I would feel this way. I didn't give birth the way I wanted but I'll try again with our next child. I'm still breastfeeding! I'm still making baby food! I take care of my family the best that I can and we're all happy.

My cooking skill has improved significantly. Our first year of marriage, I couldn't tell you the difference in a roux and a bechamel, and now I can make both with my eyes closed. I don't remember the last time I bought Hamburger Helper, Kraft Mac n Cheese...any of the packaged stuff. I'm doing almost all my cooking from scratch. I just have to learn breads now! I've even made tortillas! I really enjoy my cooking and baking and candy making...that's my therapy. It saves me when there's a baby screaming in one year, a husband asking, "Hon, where's my..." and two dogs chasing a hissing cat around my feet. Leave me alone in the land of ladles...I'll be fine.

To be continued. Someone has discovered a heinous scream...fingernails on a blackboard, folks.