Well, hello there!

It's been a while.  Seriously, nursing school does that to people.  Makes them disappear off the face of the Earth, makes them forget the date, the day of the week and maybe even the year.  It causes caffiene addiction, and loss of sleep.  Most of all, it creates awesome friendships.  But...it has taken me away from here. 

So, here I am....  A graduate nurse.   (I'm the one wearing glasses.)

Me and my Nursing School Bestie Melissa!

 

There aren't too many pictures of myself that I like, and this is one of the few.  It's an awesome feeling completing something that takes so much out of you.  The feeling that you are done, and can reconnect with the important things in life, like family.  Seriously, when did I get a 17 year old?  When did I get a 7th grader, and why does she have boobs?  (how much crap am I gonna get in trouble for saying my kid has boobs? When the NSA lets me know, I'll let you guys know.)

 

So, today I attempted another frugality item.  (Because now I actually have the time too!)  Homemade granola bars.  They are kinda like no bake cookies in bar form.  (Hmmmm.)  I needed to find a recipe for my oldest with peanut allergies.  She's not to the point where we can't have it in the house, but if she touches it, she blows up like a balloon.  My 15 year old has an oatmeal allergy, but I havn't figured a way around that yet. (It's my first day people-sheesh.) She's vegetarian, and a picky eater.  Not a great combo for a house of flesh consumers.  (Sounds kinda gross if I put it that way).  So, I'm still on the lookout on how to make a granola bar without oatmeal.  (I've read about puffed rice.)  Right now, my concoction is in the fridge 'harding' up.   They tasted pretty yummy before I put them in, but I'm curious as to what they are going to taste like when they are done.  I made small batches, just to make sure if they completely sucked, I could throw them out without feeling horrible about wasting food.  I made a small batch of peanut butter, and then a small batch of (off brand) chocolate hazelnut spread.  I thought I had honey, but when I came home from the store, I found that we were out, (very odd) so I used some of my homemade pancake syrup to sweeten it.  So, I made a very basic mixture of oatmeal, almonds, peanut butter (or hazelnut stuff), and sweetener.  Mixed it together, pressed it down, and now we wait.

 

Now that I have so much time on my hands, I begin planning my garden!  Oh, how I have missed gardening.  But that is a different post.  I just wanted to get my feet wet again with my blog.  Let you know that I have not forgotten about here.  Just had to be pushed to the wayside.

'till next time....