July is almost over?!

I can't believe July is almost over! School supply displays are back up in the store. I enrolled Ashlyn for her SENIOR year of high school a couple weeks ago. We scheduled the appointment for her senior pictures (same photographer who took Aubry's). Then...soon it will be Christmas and before we know it...Ashlyn will be graduating high school! And then...that's it! Our last kid in school! Well...through high school, anyway. 

Next week, Aubry is meeting with her advisor and attending an informational meeting for the sheet metal program that she's wanting to take. The program she originally signed up for isn't being offered anymore, but there's an 8 week program that she's looking at now. And I think Ashlyn is planning to start out at a local community college first (which is what I did) and then transfer to the same university that I went to. That's her plan so far anyway. 

This week the girls have been on vacation with XH's mom and their younger sister. Their family owns property in southern Kansas so they usually go out there every summer for fishing and enjoying the great outdoors. So Johnny and I have had the house all to ourselves. Well...with the cats and dogs. ;) 

I was working on transcription files over the weekend. Johnny still hasn't been working overtime on the weekends so I worked in the bedroom again. The adjustable Tempur-Pedic bed is SO comfortable! The dogs seem to think the bed is comfy too. ;) I took this picture when both dogs were in the bedroom. Bozley was in the lower part with his head up on the raised foot of the bed and then Nova was basically laying with her butt on my shoulder and her head on Johnny's pillows at the top. 

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Speaking of things that are hard to believe... it's already been two whole years since we brought Bozley home and a year since we brought Nova Lee home! In July 2020, we drove more than 8 hours roundtrip to pick up Bozley from a breeder we found through Facebook. And in a spur of the moment decision in July 2021, we drove about half an hour away to pick up Nova from a Facebook post by someone that -- as it turns out -- I went to high school with. I think they're definitely two of the best decisions Johnny and I have ever made in our relationship. :) Boz and Nova have brought so much joy to our home. They're both such sweet (and funny) puppies...they always keep us smiling! 

Anyway, I got my last file turned in on Monday and then I created new listings in my Etsy shop for ready-to-press printed sublimation transfers of some of my designs. I'll be adding more designs as transfers in the future as well. I really want to get back to making some more designs and working on new products for my Etsy shop, but I have to spread out my time between my Etsy shop, finishing transcription files, and editing all these photos. I think once I get the photos done it'll be a lot better. I'm already used to managing my time between CandiMaker and my transcription files, but the photo editing was an unexpected task that popped up and is taking a bit longer than planned...but it's going well. :) 

We tried a new recipe the other day...but it wasn't really my favorite. I used crescent roll dough...but I think I'll try it again with pizza dough sometime. It tasted alright I just think it could be better. So I'll make that change and we'll see how that goes. Then I'll post the recipe if we like it. :) I've been so busy lately that we haven't tried many new recipes...but this one is pretty quick and easy so I'll probably try it again soon. I was going to make roast beef salad with leftover roast that I made before that...but we ended up not actually having leftovers. :P 

Well...I better get back to editing photos! 

Busy, busy!

I've been pretty busy lately. 

I had five transcription files due last week. I've enjoyed working on transcription files over the weekends now. Johnny hasn't worked overtime on Saturdays lately so on Saturday and Sunday I've been going in the bedroom and raising the head and foot of the bed and typing in there. It's SO COMFY! :) The dogs were napping on the bed off and on while I was working. They'd go in between hanging out with me and then hanging out with Johnny in the living room. During the week Johnny is working in the bedroom so I usually work on transcription files in the living room on my rolling laptop desk that I bought last year. 

I also worked a little bit in my office this weekend. I finally moved the garage sale bins out of the office and got them taped up and stored away. I also moved some of the drawer organizers that I previously had in Aubry's room that I need to find a place for in my office. I haven't yet decided where they're going to go or what I'm going to put in them...but I'll definitely think of something. :) I love organization! 

After I get this first batch of photos edited, I'm going to work on my Etsy shop some more. I still haven't listed my printed transfers yet. I'm still hammering out the details. I also need to work on some new designs...and I also want to work on some planner sticker digital downloads and other printables to list in my Etsy shop as well. June and July have been pretty slow on Etsy for a lot of sellers...and I've kinda let my shop take a backseat to my other obligations at the moment and just doing a little here and there when I can. But by the end of the month, I really want to get it going full-swing again. 

Last weekend Johnny and I took the dogs over to my grandma's house for a little while. Grandma loves seeing the puppies and they enjoy playing over there. They'll explore the backyard for awhile and then they'll just relax at our feet in the house while we're chatting. Johnny replaced Grandma's garbage disposal and I changed the filter on her air purifier (she got the same one we have in our living room). Then this weekend Aubry stopped by and I helped her fill out her application and FAFSA paperwork for WSU Tech. She's interested in their sheet metal programs. So we got that all set up...which is exciting! :) We also scheduled Ashlyn's senior pictures for October. I can't believe our last baby will be a senior next year! 

 Well...gonna get back to work for a little bit before bedtime. Hope everyone has a good week! :) 

RECIPE: Grilled Chicken Sandwich

I haven't posted a new recipe in awhile! I've mostly just been making the same recipes that I already have but Johnny requested something new tonight so...here it is! I served these on Brioche buns with real mayo (Ashlyn had Miracle Whip) and you can add lettuce, pickles, or whatever toppings you like. :) Also, I made this recipe in my PowerXL Grill Air Fryer Combo but you could make it out on the grill (it's too hot outside for me...I prefer the air conditioning). ;) These tasted amazing. Even picky Ashlyn ate her entire chicken breast! She and I cut ours in half to make two sandwiches.  

PowerXL Grill Air Fryer Chicken Sandwich

Ingredients:

3 chicken breast halves, trimmed and pounded to uniform thickness

3/4 cup milk

1/2 cup pickle juice

1 tbs powdered sugar

1 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp black pepper 

1 tbs vegetable oil

Directions:

1. Whisk together milk, pickle juice, powdered sugar, garlic salt, and black pepper in a 1 gallon freezer bag. Place chicken in bag and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. 

2. Place the grill plate in the PowerXL. Set to grill setting at 450 degrees and let preheat for 10 minutes. Coat the grill plate with the oil so the chicken won't stick.  

3. After it has preheated, add the chicken to the grill plate. 

4. Cancel the grill function and turn the PowerXL to Air Fry at 400 degrees for 5 minutes and press start. Set to Air Fry at 400 degrees for 8 minutes and press start. Cook until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees. 

5. Remove the chicken to a plate and let it sit for 5 minutes. 

6. Make your sandwiches! :) 

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Ugh...July is HOT.

I'm pretty sure I already mentioned that I'm not a fan of the heat...but I'm really NOT a fan of the heat! :P It's been in the 90s and 100s pretty much everyday and I hate it. My health issues really hate it too. :( I could live very comfortably with mild 70s all year long! 

We didn't do much for 4th of July. It's not really my favorite holiday anyway (I'm not a fan of noise, either). :P Since the kids are older now, we don't have to shoot off fireworks which is just fine by me. IMO, it's literally setting fire to your money. :P lol. 

People tend to go crazy with fireworks in our neighborhood and the dogs were NOT very happy about it. Actually...it was more Nova than Bozley...which is unusual. Boz is typically the more fearful one but he just barks at the fireworks if he's in the house...and will look around for the fireworks and maybe come stand by me and watch if we're outside. With the little fireworks that don't make too much noise, he'll still play around in the backyard without any problem. But Nova was too terrified to even go outside to go to the bathroom at all. She would hold it all day from, like, 9am until almost 2am because she was too scared of even the small fireworks...or any noises. And around here, nearly ALL fireworks are legal and they can legally shoot them off from June 27th through July 5th...until 10pm every night except the 3rd and 4th when the deadline is midnight (not that people actually abide by that law). So it was a LONG week. And while Bozley is a mama's boy and more comfortable with me...Nova's a daddy's girl and she gets more comfort from Johnny. So she wouldn't go outside with just me and Bozley except during Johnny's lunch break we could sometimes coax her out the door since he was outside. But even then...a lot of the times she would just stay by Johnny and wouldn't go to the bathroom...and most days there weren't big fireworks happening during that time. And all this is even WITH the dogs being on 100mg of trazadone to help with their anxiety! I'm just still shocked that carefree Nova was the one who was more upset than scaredy-dog Bozley. But she was only 6 months old during last 4th of July and she didn't come home to us until a couple weeks after that, so this was her first experience with so many fireworks in the middle of town. 

So...Ashlyn went to my grandparents' house but Johnny and I just spent the holiday at home. Sunday night Johnny grilled chicken, hamburgers, and hotdogs for dinner and we've been having leftovers. So that's always awesome! He even grilled two little steaks for Bozley and Nova to cut up and mix with their kibble as well. ;) The night of 4th of July we watched a movie on Netflix (with the volume turned way up to try to drown out the massive amounts of fireworks being shot off in our neighborhood): The Man from Toronto. It was a funny movie. :) 

Ooh and on Friday and Saturday we watched the last two (long!) episodes of Stranger Things! I really like that show. Hopefully we won't have to wait too long for the 5th (and final) season to come out. And last night we finally started watching Reacher on Amazon Prime. It's really good! We've only watched two episodes so far, but I'm sure we'll probably finish it this week. We've also been watching In the Dark each week since it's back on. I'm hoping Manifest will be back on soon, too. 

I've been busy lately! When I'm not working on editing photos, I've been working on CandiMaker stuff. I reorganized the sections in my Etsy shop a little bit and I'm finally getting everything ready to start selling my ready-to-press sublimation transfers. I have the listings written out and now I'm going through and creating all the listing photos that I'll use. I've also determined my pricing structure for them as well as shipping. So as soon as I have everything ready, I'll be able to get them all listed! :) I do need to get some more ink and sublimation paper, though. I'm not close to being out yet...but I don't want to run out while orders are coming in, either. I'm always excited when I start new "projects" for CandiMaker. :)

But...right now I have some transcription files to work on. I took off during the week of fireworks because I knew there would be too many disruptions. But...it gave me some time to work on other things as well. :) 

And on that note...back to work! :)