Super Full High Five for Friday w/ a Recipe!

WHAT?!?! It’s Friday again?!?! I haven’t posted in 11 days, nor done a High Five post all month!!!! UNACCEPTABLE!!!

Time to make up for that with a super full High Five for Friday which includes some stuff from the last 3 weeks!

1.  Last weekend I went to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC. It was A-Mah-Zing! If you’ve never been you should go. It was the first weekend for the Christmas decor, and it was stunning! It also really put me in the holiday spirit. I’m going to write a post all about the trip instead of trying to put it all into this one.

Tricia and me at her Bachelorette party. I forgot to get a shot of us at lunch.

2.  The weekend before that, I had lunch with one of very best friends Tricia. She lives just north of Indianapolis so we met halfway in Columbus, IN. We went to their downtown area, which was adorable, but should have a sign when you enter that says “Closed on Sundays” because nothing was open except this burger place. We ate there and it was delicious, but I was disappointed there wasn’t more open.

3.  Blake’s cousin is getting married next month and his aunt is throwing a shower for his fiancé this weekend. I’m going to be making her gift, and I’m really hoping it turns out well. I can’t quite get a read on her, so I don’t know if she’ll appreciate a homemade gift, so… we’ll see. I bought enough stuff to make a duplicate one for me, because I’m super excited for it, and if it works out the way I envision it in my head I’ll post a tutorial, not that it’ll really be difficult, since I’ve waited until the night before to even put it together.

Old pic of my sis and I. It's sad that I don't have any recent shots

4.  It’s a big birthday month! I’m betting it’s because Valentine’s Day is 9 months earlier. My sister turned 33 and my niece turned 14!!! It’s so crazy to me that she’s so old already, and it makes me sad that I don’t get to see her nearly enough. One of my girlfriends turned 28 earlier this week and is having her party tonight. Sadly I won’t be able to go, but I got her a gift and an awesome card to make up for it. (I love picking out cards!) Two of my coworkers also had birthdays earlier this month and another one of my girlfriends is due any day, she’s already 9 days late!

5.  Little tid-bits: I went shopping earlier this month where I got a fabulous broach and cute shoes. I also made some yummy Chicken Tortilla Soup last night. It was so easy! (Recipe below) Has anyone been into Target since they put all their holiday stuff out?!?! I’m in love and wishing I had endless amounts of money to spend there, but sadly, I don’t. I did see an adorable wreath in there though, and I plan on making one of my own soon. (I think I have a wreath obsession!)

So that’s a very quick summary of some of the fun things I’ve been doing this month. I love this time of year, but it’s also very busy and makes it hard to post. Does anyone else struggle with time management in Nov and Dec?

Recipe:

Easy Chicken Tortilla Soup (Crockpot)

1 carton of Pacific Organic Tortilla Soup Starter

1 container of corn “salsa” (I get the container in the produce section of my Kroger. It’s basically corn, onion, peppers, and spices. It’s not very liquid, which is key)

2 large chicken breasts (Frozen is fine)

Shredded cheese and Tortilla chips/strips for garnish (Optional)

Put it all in a Crockpot and cook on low until chicken is cooked through. Shred meat. Serve with some cheese on top and tortilla chips/strips.

I told you it was easy. I put my chicken in the Crockpot frozen at 6:30am before going to the gym. It cooked all day until I got home from work until 5:30/6:00pm. I just took a wooden fork to the breasts while they were still in the pot to shred the meat, it was so tender. It was simple, yummy, and super satisfying on a cold night. I used sweet potato tortilla chips (try them if you get a chance, they’re very tasty) so the meal was also gluten free, just in case you are celiac or don’t eat a lot of gluten. (Neither one of us is Celiac but we’ve been talking about going gluten free/low gluten after the holidays, so I’m testing new recipes and foods for that)

Does anyone have some yummy easy gluten free recipes for me to try? Easy is key for me. 

Be sure to check out Lauren's link party for more H54F fun!

Long Time No Post

Let me start by saying sorry for not posting since before Halloween. I didn't even get in a H54F post last week! I guess that means I'll have to do a double High Five this Friday. I know it's late, but HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

The hubs and I in our Halloween costumes as zombie Cleopatra and Cesar. The Zombie makeup was too light, so we ended up just looking tired, haha! Oh well.

It's been a very busy 10 days for me at work. A little detail about me: I work for a small commercial real estate and property management company. My official title is Office Generalist. What's that mean? It means if something needs to be done, for any department, I get to do it. There's a whole seven of us in the company; a property manager, a controller, an AP/AR person, a leasing manager, C.O.O., the owner, and me. The nice part about my position is that there's variety. I'm basically the assistant to everyone in the office, so, on a daily basis, I get to do some accounting, bookkeeping, marketing, property management  and executive assistant work. The best part of my job, is that I'm also in charge of marketing and managing an event space that's located in our office building, so I also get to do some event planning work. We recently launched a brand new website and started marketing through social media, the managing of these marketing aspects has been given to me as well. I love the company I work for and I love the variety of my position, as I get bored easily. The down side, is that there is a definite ebb and flow, which results in a lot of down time followed by a lot of busy time. Last week was definitely a busy time, and since I tend to write most of my posts while I'm at work, in between tasks, that busyness resulted in no postings. 

Why don't I just post on the weekends? Honestly, I don't know. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that, at work, I'm already on the computer and typing so why not just add a post to my to do list for that week? Also, I tend to spend most of my home time working on projects or soaking up time with my hubs, I kind of like being around him. And, since he likes being around me too, I assume, he tends to give me grief when I get on the computer when he's around. I'm sure if I had a large following, or I was making any money off my blog it'd be a different story, but since I'm still just starting out, it's easy for me to give into his teasing. 

Then there's my recent struggles with my blog. First, I'm having to accept that I can't just start a blog and instantly have hundreds of followers (WHAT?!?!). Second, I'm trying to figure out what the purpose of my blog is, and where I might fall into the blogosphere. I like to think of myself as a well rounded person who's neither left or right brained, and who has a short attention span. As a result, I can't find myself being content blogging about just one subject. I'm also not going to be "reinventing the wheel" for any subject matter, because, let's face it, thanks to Pinterest, you can find out how to do ANYTHING! So here I am, an average person, who enjoys crafting, quilting and cooking. I'd also like to be more athletic, have a tidy house, and be debt free. All of which are topics I'd like to write about. Someday, I'd like to be a mom, and write about that as well. So maybe, I also need to accept that this blog will probably never have hundreds of followers, as I'm too all over the place, and love my blog for what it is, an extension of me, and an outlet for me to talk about whatever suits my fancy that day. Probably the biggest thing I need to accept, is that I will probably always have to work a full time, 40hr/5day/wk, job, which means, sadly, that I will probably never be able to devote as much time as I'd like to my blog. I know I'm not the only person out there who currently is struggling or has struggled with these matters, especially starting out, so if you can relate, I'd love to hear from you. 

What are you or did you struggle with starting out with your blog? 

How are/did you get past those struggles?

Thanks for listening to my rambling thoughts on this gloomy Monday. 

I know it's already the 5th, and I really should have posted these at the beginning of the month so you could join in, but, like I said, it's been a busy 10 days, so here are my October photo-a-day pics and the November list. Check out Fat Mum Slim if you have any questions about how to do the photo-a-day, and don't be afraid to start now with November. There's no rules saying you have to start at the beginning of the month or do every photo (I missed a few in October). 

I loved some of the shots I got this month! You may recognize one as part of my blog button. When I look at them all together like this I notice some themes for this month, for me, seemed to be food, my pups, and the fall colors. Love it!

FMS's November Photo a Day Challenge list. Can't wait to see what themes come out of this one.