10 July, 2012

Hurry Up and Wait

Hi Everyone,
Sorry it has been so long since I have wrote on here, life has gotten super duper hectic for the past little while. I can't believe that I haven't posted since May! So a quick catch up is in order. In May the temperatures remained the same with no signs of summer in the near future, a few hot days here and there but nothing to get excited about, now we are in full swing of summer with lots of fires burning and lots of firework restrictions. My adorable step-daughter turned two and we had a ton of fun celebrating that, both with her mom's family and with mine, I will include pictures at the end of my blog. I got my first Mother's Day cards which was amazing to me and something that I will continue to look forward to each year, it was nice to have a me day as I got to lie around and relax and do whatever I wanted to do. We took missy swimming for the first time when my mom came into town and that was a blast once she got used to the water! She loves to splash!! Then we spent a couple of days exploring new parks and having a blast, it was so much fun! One of our favorite things to do is to go to my Dads house so we spent some time up there and played in the pool that was an awesome time.
Then in June, I got a job working at Shoe Carnival, it is lousy pay for long hours but it is a job none the less, we have been spending a lot of time going swimming on base and relaxing at home. We also spent a little time at my Dads house and learned how to tie lures. I never knew that it could be so  much fun. Towards the end of June we were both just super busy with work.
Now we are into July and staying super busy with paperwork and hoping that everything goes all right in the next weeks to come. We are staying beyond busy and are hoping to clean out the house and have a yard sale before the end of the month. The great thing is that my big brother whom I haven't seen in over 2 years will be coming into town and will get to meet Jared and Sophia for the first time! It is way exciting and I will be having a busy weekend cooking up a storm. I am beyond excited. 
Well that is all for now I will add a bunch of pictures since I haven't in a long long time.
Dad when he was fishing with Jared

Daddy's Fish

Jared's Fish

Sophia after she let me do her hair

Jared and I hiking

My Mother's Day card that Sophia made me

Looking at the ducks

Sophia's 2nd Birthday Party

Sophia playing

Me

Sophia exploring a new park

Sophia getting her new shoes from Grandpa and Grandma

Swimming

Swimming

Splashing Daddy. 






Well I hope everyone had a good 4th of July and I will write more soon.
Maddy, Jared, 
Taz, Arrow and MiMi

06 May, 2012

Day 1- Beef Stew, Mashed Potatoes, and Cornbread

Hey All. Sorry it has been so long since I wrote last, life has swept me up and continually kept me busy for a while. Well I don't have too much new to add so I am thinking at least for the next little while I will go on a cooking kick on here as well as in my kitchen.

I think I will be fattening hubby up some here in the next little bit with my cooking. I have been cooking a new dish almost every night (have to give a break so we can eat leftovers if there are any) but for the most part there is at least six new dishes a week. I know that I have seen others do this on a cooking blog but I figured it would be fun to incorporate it into my own blog instead of creating a new one.

So we have been cooking for the past 2 weeks so far and I have made everything from meatloaf to artichoke dip to mac and cheese. I don't have many of pictures of those and to be honest a leftover picture is not a flattering one so starting today I will take y'all on an adventurous cooking adventure with me. I will link the recipe that I am cooking from or will put in the recipe incase y'all want to try it.

Last night was Homemade Beef Stew, I served it with cornbread and mashed potatoes. It should be yummy and it is a little time consuming which is nice since I am on my own cooking today. Well here is the link to this hopefully yummy meal: Beef Stew.

And here are some pictures of the process and the final product:

The ingredients for the most part:
onion, bay leaves, salt, paprika, ground cloves, worcestershire sauce
 


The beginnings of stew

Celery

Carrots

Stew cooking yum

Mashed Potatoes on to boil

Cornbread in the oven


The finished plate

The finished stew

Cornbread

Mashed potatoes

This recipe was a hit in my house it is super filling and yummy.

Tonight is Salisbury Steak with Mushroom Gravy and Sausage Stuffed Mushrooms.

Maddy, Jared, Arrow,
Taz & MiMi

13 April, 2012

My Grandpa

I am the luckiest girl in this world to have a Grandpa like mine. It makes me very sad that I will never here the phrase "Take care of my chickadee." ever again, but at the same time very comforting because it is Grandpa's and my thing. My grandpa was an amazing man, he was an amazing Grandpa, a wonderful father, and a brilliant entomologist. My Grandpa Gene passed away last night at 22:49 from a blood disorder that he has been fighting for 20 years.

My Grandpa will be missed very much. Now I am going to post some pictures and call it a night, this week has been exhausting.

Me, Gramma & Grampa

Grampa, Gramma & Me

Me, Gramma & Grampa

Grampa holding me for the first time. 

Grampa

Grampa Gene

Andrew & I helping Grampa pick apples.

Me & Grampa at the Amman family reunion

Grampa & Andrew

Grampa, Me, Gramma & Andrew at Escalante

Grampa & Andrew

Grampa napping with Barney

My favorite picture of all time.
Me giving Grampa kisses.

Maddy, Jared, Arrow, Taz
& MiMi

02 April, 2012

Day 10

Since a lot of things have changed in my life I figured that I would update the survey I did a long time ago.... So here are some things about the author of this blog. Enjoy :)


I am... Madeline Madsen
I want... a house and kids
I have... an amazing family
I wish... it was summer already so we can go camping.
I hate...  being cooped up indoors
I fear... the unknown
I hear... my hubby talking to me :)
I search... for answers 
I wonder... what this year will bring
I regret... nothing
I love... my husband and step-daughter
I ache... when I overdue it
I always... love spending time with my family
I usually... am very smart
I am not... your average woman
I dance... when I want to
I sing... when I hear a song I love
I never... let myself get taken advantage of.... anymore
I rarely... let things get to me
I cry... when I hurt, emotionally or physically
I am not always... the perfect person
I lose... at nothing, just kidding. At poker, quite frequently
I am confused... about things I will never know the answer to
I need... to start going on hikes more often
I should... follow my dreams and never settle