It’s been a whirlwind of a week for me. Losing my job came as such a shock. I suppose it shouldn’t have though. In the nine years I worked for that company there had been several rounds of downsizing. I went from wearing one hat to wearing three and doing it with a scowl. I remember the days when I would go home and rejoice in the fact that I was finally working a job that I didn’t hate. I would come home at night and not complain about anything and everything. But with all that downsizing, I had sort of figured that wearing three hats had given me lots of job security. I do so much around here! They can’t let me go, they won’t know what to do without me.

Yeah, I was wrong. For those who don’t know, I worked at a collection agency. My official title was Client Services Manager. It was my job to find clients, service clients, and be the liaison between collectors and clients. Then as time went on I also started doing data entry, posting all of the incoming payments, scanning, and pointing out everyone else’s mistakes. What was once a job I enjoyed just became a job I had. I couldn’t leave it though. Through a fluke blessing I was being generously paid for the job I was doing. (thank you boss’s wife who was active with the company during the time I got hired and promoted) I knew if I went anywhere else I would have to take a serious pay cut. Also, there were certain perks with my job. A week off at Christmas, $25 a month for health insurance, a short commute, a big private office. So I was stuck. I didn’t finish college so I knew I could not go elsewhere and make even close to what I was making.

I’m a firm believer that everything happens for a reason. So when I was called into my manager’s office at 4:30 last Thursday and given the news that I no longer had a role at the company, I had to trust in that. Yes I cried and freaked out on the drive home. When Thom was unemployed it took forever for him to find work again. And when he did find a job, it was doing something he’d never done before. And in a completely different field than what he was used to. What would we do to pay the bills? How long would I be on unemployment? Would we make it?

Then a window opened. A client that I had worked closely with for the past seven years heard that I had “moved on to bigger and better things”. She knew better than that and by 10 am Friday my phone was ringing and she was getting the real story from me. She wanted to help. She knew of an office that was in need. And before I knew it I had slapped together a resume and sent it over to her. The weekend went by and I was busy focusing on other things, like cleaning out my garage. Monday morning rolls around and I get a call. That same day I go in for an interview and by four pm I had filled out paperwork and been asked to start the next day. It all happened so fast that it felt surreal. Yes I’ve taken a pay cut. Yes I’m starting out at the bottom. Yes it’s a little bit overwhelming being the new girl and knowing it will probably be a year before I have any vacation time. But you know what? I feel so good about it all. There’s room for growth at this company. It’s something similar, but different. It’s mere blocks from my house! The best part though? I NO LONGER WORK AT A COLLECTION AGENCY. Now when people ask me what I do for a living, I don’t have to cringe before I tell them. I don’t have to say “I work at a collection agency BUT I’M NOT A COLLECTOR.” And then try and scramble to tell them what I do knowing all the while all they really heard was collection agency. Collection agency = HORRIBLEAWFULNOGOODPEOPLE.

I must admit, I am a little worried still about how we’ll make it. But it’s not the kind of worry that keeps me up at night. It’s more like a distant thought in the back of my mind. Every few hours I think about something I didn’t enjoy about that job and I rejoice a little bit. I’ll never have to do _____ again. I’ll never have to deal with _____ again. Some of the people I worked with I am so happy to never have to see again. Yes I will miss working with and seeing my best friend every day. She was my person. The one I vented to. The one I laughed with. The one who knows me better than most people on this earth. I hate to think of how my getting laid off effects her day to day role there now. I hate that she no longer has me there to support her. To listen to her. To bring her sausage rolls and new music. She’s a strong woman though. She will take shit from no one and she will be just fine.

And I will be just fine. Thom and I will be just fine. There’s a new path in front of me, and I’m welcoming it with open arms.

You guys. Something completely amazing happened today. Something I thought would never ever happen. My garage got cleaned out. The garage that I’ve longed to park my car in for so many years. The garage I assumed was destined to look like this forever.

From the moment we moved into this house in 2002, the garage has been full of crap. And it’s only gotten worse over the years as people in Thom’s family have passed away and their things have been passed down to us. I’ve cried many a frustrated tear over the state of this garage. I got very angry at my husband, whom in 12+ months of unemployment never could find the time to clear out the garage. We’ve tried cleaning it together, only to get frustrated and give up after a few hours. It’s very overwhelming for two people to tackle. Especially when one of those two people is a weak gal like myself.

Yesterday I had a bit of a breaking point. I was laid off from my job of nine years on Thursday. And the worry and stress and my emotions got the better of me yesterday when I had what I like to call one of my “come to Jesus talks” with Thom. This is where I cry and vent and tell him about all of the things I wish he would do around the house without me having to nag him to do. And the clearing out of the garage was one of these things. It’s a conversation we’ve had many times which always gets us pretty much nowhere. Well this time, I wasn’t going to let it get me nowhere.

So instead of waking up today to spend a few hours in the garage trying to make a dent, I decided to try something else. My husband is very popular, as is evidenced by his 900 facebook friends. So I took matters into my own hands and pleaded to the masses. Come and help us clean out our garage and you can keep whatever you want from the get rid of pile. And oh boy was that a big pile.

Six people showed up to help us around noon. It was the most random bunch of people and I had only ever met one of them. But by golly they busted their asses helping us. I couldn’t be more grateful to them. They all walked away with some form of treasure. Some more than others. One guy who hauled off every bag of trash we had merely did it to be nice. He took nothing and wouldn’t even let me pay him cash. And oh was there trash. So much trash.

Almost every item from the garage was put into the driveway and then only what we wanted to keep was brought back in. Or should I say only what Thom wanted to keep. I think the deep freeze was the only item in the garage I actually cared about keeping. So now I have a half empty garage that I can park my car in. We are experiencing a very mild winter right now, but you can bet the next time we get snow I will be so freaking happy to not have to scrape ice off my windshield.

Let me just stop for a moment and give thanks to this mild Oklahoma winter we are having. And also say a prayer that it doesn’t mean that we will have another summer of 110 degree days for 60 days straight.

For a short moment today, my garage looked like this.

But now that things have been moved back in and I have parked my car in there it looks like this.

Thom still has some things to go through if he wants his side of the garage to be spacious enough to set up screen press equipment, but hot damn! Just look at that garage. You’ve come a long way baby.

You better never go back to looking like that ever again.

Next up? Project make the damn squirrels in the attic go away forever. This should be fun.

Last night I made a pair of curtains for my kitchen. I found some material at Joann that looked almost just like my beloved Dwell studio napkins (and the reverse side of the quilt on my bed). I snatched up a few yards and some iron on hem and went to town.

How pretty is this pattern? See how well it matches my napkins?

I could post a how to, but you really just hem each edge with the easy to use iron on tape. Then for your top tab, make sure it’s big enough for your curtain rod to go through.

I’ll be making another pair for the other window in the kitchen. And I should probably go ahead and make some for the main bath and guest room in the house. I used almost an entire roll of hem making just the one pair though. And these are short curtains. So buy extra hem if you’re making long curtains.

Last night was going to be just another boring dinner night in my house. I had some chicken and some potatoes and was planning on doing nothing special with them. Then I thought maybe I could make a pan sauce to eat with the chicken. Then from there things started to snowball and I ended up with a pretty tasty dish. I didn’t measure anything, but here’s a general recipe so that you too can enjoy this tasty dish.

• Chicken: I went with boneless skinless chicken thighs that I had broiled in my oven.
• Cream cheese: I used an entire 8oz block
• Rotel: One can. It can be hot or mild or regular. Depends on how hot you like your food.
• Onion: I used one small yellow onion, diced.
• Garlic: I minced one large clove
• Corn: one can, drained
• Thinning liquid: Milk, chicken broth, wine… your choice. I used milk because it’s what I had.

Now at the last minute I converted this into a pasta dish, but it didn’t start out that way. It just looked like it was begging for me to add pasta, so I did.

I started by putting a little olive oil and butter into a large non stick skillet. Then I added the onion and garlic and sauteed for a few minutes. Then I dumped in the entire can of Rotel. I didn’t drain any of the liquid out first. I let this simmer for a few more minutes and then I got out my potato masher and squished the tomatoes until it was less chunky and more saucy. I did this because I don’t like tomatoes. I just like what tomatoes have to offer. Then I started adding in the cream cheese, a pinch at a time. Then I added the corn. Keep stirring until all of the cream cheese is melted. Then you’ll need your thinning liquid. Just start pouring in your wine or broth or milk until you’ve thinned the mixture to your liking. So of course this means sampling along the way. Adding salt and pepper to taste. From there I added my chicken to the pan. I added whole pieces, but you could chop or even shred. Or just plate your chicken and pour the sauce over it. Obviously I boiled up some spaghetti and added it to the mix. I still made the crash hot potatoes that I originally planned to make, and my husband added a few to his bowl.

What I might do different next time? Add in some of that Philadelphia cooking creme they have now instead of plain cream cheese. It’s thinner and pre-seasoned. You could easily cut the cream cheese in the recipe by half and still have a delicious dish.

So now I just have to figure out what to call this dish.

Thom and I have never really gotten into Valentine’s Day. Most years we don’t even go out to dinner. It’s not because I don’t want him fawning over me or showering me with gifts. It’s just that he’s never really been the kind of guy to think ahead and plan out romantic gestures like that. He’s more the kind of guy who offers up a trip the mall to let me pick something out.

But if he were the kind of guy who wanted to surprise me with gifts this Valentine’s Day, here’s a few things that would surely do the trick.

The Naked Palettes from Urban Decay. I love them both, but they are like $50 each so it’s not just something I can justify buying myself on a whim. Urban Decay makes the best eye shadows. I almost never wear anything else. My personal favorite shades are Mushroom, AC/DC, Misdemeanor, Sellout, and Mildew. Can be purchased at Sephora or Ulta.

Penguin Book Cover postcards from Anthropologie. $25

These are adorable and I have a project in mind for them.

This kick ass shirt with my current favorite tv character Ron Swanson. $25

Are you currently coveting anything? Do you and your sweetie celebrate Valentine’s Day?

Over the weekend I had a party at my house. Since it had been about nine years since we’d had a party in our house, I felt like we were long overdue. Of course now that I’m older I wanted less of a party and more of a structured evening with adult friends who are fun to be around. So that’s how Game Night came to be.

We played Cards Against Humanity which is just like Apples to Apples, but with a bit more pop culture and adult cards added to the mix. There was lots of food and booze and no one spilled anything on my almost white carpet.

I made caprese salad bites because I saw them on Pinterest and thought they would appeal to the masses. I was right.

I also made some stuff called Cowboy Caviar. Now I read a lot of different recipes for this and each one was a little bit different. In the end I made up my own based off of the foods that my husband loves. So here’s the recipe:

Cowboy Caviar

2 cans of black eyed peas, drained and rinsed

1 small red onion, diced

1 can corn, drained

1 can rotel, drained

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Put all of that in a bowl with some salt and pepper and let it hang out while you make your dressing.

1/4 cup olive or vegetable oil

2 tbl lemon juice

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)

Mix those four ingredients together and then bring them to a boil for a minute or so. Just long enough for the sugar to dissolve. Once it cools completely pour it over your salad and serve.

Call me an idiot, but I forgot to eat any food the whole time. I did not, however, forget to have drinks. The Adult Arnold Palmers were the cocktail of choice for the night. (half Simply Lemonade and half sweet tea vodka)

I made each guest a mixtape cd and we did a drawing for a door prize. But the best part of the night were my friends. We had a great time and lots of laughs. Even if it did get a little inappropriate at the end of the evening. Oh who am I kidding? Inappropriate is what we do best.

I wish I had taken more photos, but sometimes you just have to be in the moment instead of trying to capture the moment. They were great moments though and I can’t wait for the next Game Night.

The Civil Wars album is on the record player. You are doing the dishes and I am sitting at the computer singing along. You walk over to me and I take your hand. I look up at you lovingly while singing the words to Poison & Wine. You’re smiling down at me and touching my cheek. It’s completely gag worthy to anyone on the outside, but in that moment, it was love.

P.S. Thank you for painting the fireplace today. It’s the suckiest thing ever and you did a great job.