The Twenty Dollar Date

When you’re out of work, there isn’t any money for extras. You’re constantly counting the pennies and working on your budget to make sure you can take care of your family’s needs. It is stressful, exhausting and it can takes it toll. We’ve found that we need to make sure we find ways to still have some fun so that our days are not filled with the pressure of keeping our heads above water. We find coupons for free movies from Redbox or check out films from the library and save out $10 and get a pizza from Costco so we can have a pizza and movie night, or we make a batch of popcorn and watch comedians on Netflix that have us laughing and forgetting our problems.

And we certainly have a lot on our plate these days. Since January we took in my son’s girlfriend, my father died and we moved my mother in to live with us, and we’ve struggled with the problems of going from a family of four to one of six. Hasn’t been easy, let me tell you!

One thing that we haven’t been able to do, Stan and I, is have a date night in the past seven months. It’s important that with all we’re going through that we try to keep positive and make sure that the situation doesn’t take a hit on our marriage. Any time that we have alone seems to be busy time -- running errands, taking care of business, seeing to everyone’s needs. A Date??! There just didn’t seem to be any money for something so extravagant. At least, I thought that until I started to think about it.

I started to think that if I could hold out $20 from our funds perhaps we could do something for us. And I’ve thought of a few things. Last night we had our first $20 date and it was SO MUCH FUN!

We went to Gunther Toody’s Diner here in town. Now granted, a sit down restaurant was a stretch, but we shared an order of fish n’ chips. It came with a bottomless cup of soup. Our waiter brought us each our own cup, and then split the order onto two plates. It was perfect!

We sat there for two hours, eating, talking, and just being together. Out of the house,

away from everything and focusing on us and our relationship. It was wonderful! After dinner we took a long drive. It had rained earlier and the air was soft, cool and smelled so sweet. Again we talked as we drove ... no radio, no distractions. We finally wound up at BJ’s Velvet Freeze and had ice cream cones.

All in all, it was a lovely evening and it did us both a world of good. Our final cost for the night was $20.25!! How great is that?

We’ve decided we’re going to try to do a $20 date night a couple of times a month, and thought of other things we could do: tacos at Taco Bell and catching a movie at the second run theater; attending one of the free summer concerts around town; picking up sandwiches and driving to the mountains for a picnic .... when you think about it there are many things to do.

I am really looking forward to thinking of creative things we can come up with. But mostly, I’m looking forward to spending time with the man I love most in the world. Can’t think of a better way to spend twenty bucks!

Pizza and Pumpkins

Halloween Eve, and tonight we ate pizza and carved pumpkins into Jack O'Lanterns. It was a fun evening. We played spooky music to accompany the carving, and had fun figuring out the best designs for our pumpkins. Fun!

Here are some pictures of our Pizza and Pumpkin night!

 Stan and AJ get the night started and make the first cuts in their pumpkins

 While Stan puts the finishing touches on his pumpkin,

Kevin and Kate get down to business with theirs!

 AJ shows of fhis finished Jack O'Lantern

He went with a traditional look, opting not to be scarey

 Stan with his pumpkin

He went with a more creative approach

 Kate went creative as well

Hers is a Hello Kitty Zombie, with brains coming out

of it's mouth and skull

Kevin's pumpkin has a Halo symbol on it

(I don't know ... don't ask me!)

And there you go! A fun time was had by all! Now we're ready for tomorrow night and the trick or treaters!



Father's Day

Father’s Day Poem

by Stan Mullis

To all the fathers near and far

You all know just who you are

You who gave and kept on giving

Working hard to earn a living

Putting food upon our table

Doing more when you were able

Willing to go that extra mile

Payment expected? Just a smile

All these things you do and more

Nobody’s even keeping score

What do we owe you for all you bring?

In one simple word -- Everything!

Memorial Day

Memorial Day is the holiday where we take the time to remember those who gave their lives to help defend and preserve this wonderful country we live in. I am so grateful to those men and women and their families for their sacrifices. I feel my family has been doubly blessed as I've had many generations who have served, and we haven't lost any in war that I am aware of. Grandparents, uncles, cousins ... all have returned home.

Today we had an early celebration dinner before Stan left for work. Very traditional, very American!

Fried Chicken and my Grandma Lucile Hillyard's recipe for Potato Salad!

Devilled Eggs!

(for my devilish men)

We also had corn-on-the-cob, which we tried cooking in the microwave for the first time! Someone emailed me a video of this older man demonstrating cooking corn in the microave, husks and all, and voila! It comes out clean as a whistle and perfectly cooked.

Put two ears at a time in your microwave. Whole, just like you bring them home from the store. Microwave on high for nine minutes. Cut off the bottom (careful, they're hot so use oven mitts) then squeeze from the top and they come out without silk or anything. SO easy!

As a treat for Stan we had one of his favorite desserts: Key Lime Pie! Seemed like a Southern meal to me! It was fun, the company was great, and I'm so grateful to all those who give and have given so much so that we may have such a wonderful life.



Spring Break Mini-Vacation

Now that my boys are both in college, we only get one week for spring break. And this year, Stan only got one day off. So we decided to take a day and spend it in Denver, get a couple of hotel rooms and make it a mini-vacation. We brought along Kevin's friend T.J. too. We all crammed into our Chevy and headed up. Our first stop was to a place so many of my friends have been talking about--Cafe Rio. Great food, fun place, and a perfect place to stop and relax after driving up there.

We checked into the hotel, the boys in one room and Stan and I in another. Our initial plan was to go and see a movie, but there was really nothing out that I wanted to see, so we just stayed for a couple of hours at the hote. The boys got drinks and watched TV and played video games, and declared it a blast. It seems to me it's what they would have done at home, but it made it more fun doing it in a hotel room.

Stan and I, being the party animals that we are, took naps. Yes, we did! Right in the middle of the afternoon!! It was heavenly.

Then we headed over to Dave and Buster's for the rest of the night. Dinner, games, and tons o' fun!

 My sweet husband!

While the boys took off playing games and spending tickets,

we sat and talked and talked and talked.

It was great! When we're at home we get interrupted.

Here it was like a date .... with three boys with us!

 AJ in his Magnum PI shirt!

He got a burger called "The Heart Pounder!"

It was a good thing he worked some of that off playing games!

 When we were finishing up dinner, Stan and I decided to get a fun dessert

to take with usover to the pool tables while the four guys played a few games.

Chocolate and white donut holes

with chocolate and raspberry dipping sauces.

YUMMMM!!!

The next morning we continued our quest to follow Adam Richman from Man Vs. Food.

Kevin and TJ are excited to try the same thing Adam did!

We had breakfast at Jack & Grills in Denver, where Adam was unsuccessful in

the 7 Pound Breakfast Burrito Challenge.

 Okay, we didn't do the challenge.

Instead five of us tackled it just for fun.

Here it is before we dug in!

But, in the eternal challenge of Man versus Food,

FOOD WON!!!

But as you can see, we put a dent in it!

We had so much fun, but it went by in the blink of an eye. Sometimes you just need to get away, if only for a day, and let your hair down. I'm glad we did, and look forward to our next "mini" vacation!



A Super Easy Sunday Supper!

On Sundays we go to church from 11:00 until 2:00. When I get home I am ready to eat and relax, not cook, eat, and relax, so I'm always looking for easy recipes. This is one I came up with after sampling a bunch of recipes and weeding out what I didn't like. It takes about a minute to throw it together in the morning, and no time at all to finish up in the afternoon.

CROCK POT CHICKEN & DUMPLINGS



2 pounds chicken tenderloins (I've found using a whole cut-up chicken falls apart)

2 cans cream of chicken soup

2 cartons chicken broth

Salt and Pepper to taste

Cook on high. I put it in at 9:00 am and we ate at 5:00 pm. When I got home from church, I put in a small bag of vegetables. I'm partial to peas and carrots, but you can use whatever you like. Today I used mixed veggies and it was great.

Now here is where you can choose how easy you want to make it. You can get a can of biscuits and use those as your dumplings. Separate the biscuits, cut them into fourths and put them into the crock pot (with the lid on) about 1/2 hour before you eat.  OR you can make Bisquick dumplings as follows:

2 cups Bisquick

2/3 cup milk

Mix well, and use your cookie scoop to scoop out dumplings and place in crock pot.

Okay, so dumplings are the prettiest looking food in the world, but they are sooo good to eat! I serve them in soup plates because they are very liquidy.

All in all, it's an easy supper and lets mom have it easy too!

Christmas Morning

Stan had to work on Christmas Eve, so we waited up until he got home a little after midnight. It was exciting to be up late and celebrate a little with him. After sleeping in a little we got up for some breakfast and presents under the tree. Stan is working Christmas Day as well so we stayed home to spend as much time with him as we could today.

It was a nice morning. So much love and peace; tons of good food and presents that had us all surprised and happy.

The boys found these baskets of goodies on our porch this morning!

Our neighbor, Betsy, never forgets the boys on Christmas.

What a grand surprise!

Christmas breakfast is a feast!

Lefse, bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon,

sour cream coffee cake

cookies, tangerines, egg nog and hot chocolate ....

Sooooo good!

AJ, in his Santa hat, is ready to get to the presents and see what's waiting!

Stan brought home an English cracker someone from work had given him.

Kevin loved the paper crown inside and models it

with the Dr. Who shirt we gave him for Christmas!



Kevin gave Captain Cool a tie-dyed hat to go with his outfit.

It's a very groovy holiday at the Mullis house!

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends both near and far. We hope this holiday finds you blessed, loved and happy. Wish we were near you and could give you all hugs. Enjoy your day as much as we'll be enjoying ours!



So Long and Thanks for All the Sprinkles!

I finally baked my first batch of Christmas cookies this afternoon! Yay! AJ and I made gingerbread cookies, and he snapped a few pics as we did so. One of the cookie cutters we used was an old one he found from when he was little. It was a dolphin I used to make for their lunches when they were in elementary school, and now we have gingerbread dolphins!

Our gingerbread dolphins!



Cut them out and get them ready for the oven!

Sprinkles!  LOTS of sprinkles!

Now on to the next batch!

Happy and Thankful!

Thanksgiving 2011 has been a wonderful one for the Mullis family! We have so much to be grateful for, and our hearts are full. Family, friends, good schools, jobs and a great home. We also enjoyed one of the best turkey dinners we've ever had--and one we all had a hand in preparing.

I made homemade dinner rolls for the first time ever! And they're weren't too bad either!

I decided to spruce things up this year and we used our good china and silver. The boys helped me get it out and wash everything. The table looked so pretty!

Kevin made the green bean casserole and the gravy, Stan made the layered jello salad, AJ and I made the croutons for the stuffing and then the stuffing too. I mashed the potatoes and AJ stuffed and prepped the turkey. It was a family effort!

We had a great time talking about all the things we're grateful for and how we're looking forward to the rest of the holidays and the upcoming new year. I love my family soooo much and cannot begin to say how much they mean to me. It was a lovely day. Now to get ready for Christmas!

Tulips!

I haven't been feeling well the past few days, and my sweet son Kevin bought me a bouquet of tulips to cheer me up. I can't remember when I've seen anything so beautiful! They make me feel cherished. And when the snow comes in tomorrow night they will be wonderful to look at as the cold and snow swirl around outside!

A New Kind of Birthday Cake!

Yesterday was my birthday, and I had such fun celebrating! Thursday, the women I serve with in the Relief Society Presidency took me to lunch and gave me the best goodies to take home with me! I wish I'd taken pictures of these beautiful women, but I forgot to take my camera. We had Mexican food, which is one of my favorites, and we talked and laughed and had such fun. I got candles and chocolate, a good book, some body spray, a heatable wrap to use when my arthritis gets bad and a Christmas cookbook! I'll be making some awesome plates of goodies to give away this holiday!

On Friday Kevin bought me a new dryer. We had ordered one and things got messed up and it wasn't coming as we expected. (Kevin was buying that one too.) I decided to go "green" and bought a used dryer which didn't cost as much and makes me feel like I'm doing one more thing to help Mother Earth out. The boys took all four of us out to the diner for hamburgers (again ... I forgot my camera!) where they made me get up and do the twist while they sang to me. (Be happy you missed that little show!)

Friday night, instead of a birthday cake Kevin made homemade funnel cakes for my birthday. I don't know how he did it, but they were fresh and warm and oh my goodness! We topped them with strawberry jam, chocolate sauce and powdered sugar. As AJ said, these were better than ones you get at the fair or Elitch's because we could make them just the way we like

And were they good???

They sure were! Getting older was never so much fun!

The Big Change

Many of you know my youngest son Kevin. He's a sweet, fun young man with a good sense of humor and a loving heart. He graduated from high school in May 2010. Since then he's been working hard losing weight. I'm so proud of him! His dedication, his perserverence and doggedness on this quest has been inspiring.

He finally has reached his goal! I'm so proud of him! He has lost, since last May, a total of 106 pounds. Here are before and after pictures:

Here are a couple of photos from his senior year:

And here he is now! Doesn't he look great?



 I think he looks fabulous, and he is an inspiration to me. Here's three cheers to Kevin!

Mullis BBQ

Summer weather is finally here! Yay! And that means barbecue season is upon us!

When I married Stan, I married into a family of barbecue fanatics. His family does something called "The Mullis BBQ" which is usually done when we're all together or have a crowd to feed. We've learned how to scale it down for us, but it's still a feast and a half! And Stan has asked for it for Father's Day.

Basically it's BBQ steak, chicken and sausage accompanied by baked beans, salsa, garlic bread and a relish tray. It's heavenly.

A couple of years ago I made a mixed berry Pavlova for dessert which was amazing and I think I might do it again.  It's a plate sized meringue topped with homemade whipped cream, and covered with mixed berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries) in a raspberry sauce. I seriously think you could do the Pavlova as a meal in itself.

Since Stan works on Father's Day we'll be having our Mullis BBQ the Wednesday after, but it'll still be fun!  So glad the warm weather is here and we can fire up the grill. Love this time of year!

Gladsome Vernal Equinox!

Tomorrow is the first day of spring and it's the start of Spring Break! Yay!

Now that my boys are in college, they don't get the two weeks off that they did when they were in public school. We haven't got a lot planned for the week, but Stan is taking off an extra day so we can knock around together.  We're planning on catching a couple of flicks and maybe going out to eat a couple of times and I've got pulled pork sandwiches planned for dinner on one of the days after spending the day at the Y swimming and playing.

I keep thinking I need to plan these big outings, but I've been so beat lately. Not having a working CPAP to help me get a restful sleep at night I just don't have the energy to get out and do anything, much less being able to think of something to do, that I thought maybe we'd just hang out together. After all, isn't the important thing that we're a family?

I think so.  So this summer maybe we'll do a little more. In the meantime, I hope you all have a fun spring break too!

Christmas Dinner .... in January!

Since we weren't home for Christmas last year, we weren't able to have our traditional holiday dinner of roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.  So we had it tonight instead!  The pudding can be tricky, but it came out beautifully!  Since Stan is having some problems with his leg, Kevin made the gravy for it and it was soooo good!  This is a very traditional English meal.  I use my grandmother's recipe, so it feels as if she is with us.  Nice, on so many levels.

 The roast came out smelling like you wanted to bury your face in it.

 Yorkshire pudding and gravy.  If you've never had it you should try it.  Goes with beef so well!

 Stan was happy.  After having been in pain for the last few days I was glad he got a respite to enjoy dinner.

 This is one of AJ's favorite meals.  He loves the pudding.  I also make Ina Garten's mustard horseradish sauce (sitting in the crystal bowl) for the meat which is also one of his faves.

Kevin made the best gravy!  I think Stan might have competition in that area.



More From SLO

 AJ and Kevin at the beach at Morro Bay.  They've loved the beach since they were little boys.  They had a good time getting back to the ocean.

 Terry and I met in 1975 when we both went to Brigham Young University.  We lived in the same dorm and became fast friends.  She lives in Los Angeles and drove up to San Luis Obispo so we could spend some time together.  It was so much fun, and felt like being teenagers again!

 Stan's sister Merodie on the beach.  When we lived in California, Merodie was only about a half an hour away, so she and the boys are very close.  We were so happy she made it down to SLO to see us!

 AJ strikes a contemplative pose.  They found this bench and sign at the beach and thought it was fun to take pictures with it!

 I LOVE this picture of Kevin!  Looks like he could be thinking a million things as he gazes out at the sea.

 Stan's dad took the boys to the driving range and let them hit a bucket of balls.  They have plans to do the same thing with Stan here in Colorado!

Grandpa told Kevin he was a natural, so we're hoping he gets some more chances to play now.

What a fun time when you get to be with family!

More Pictures from Christmas in California

 My sister's beautiful tablescape for her Christmas feast!  Butternut squash soup, mixed greens salad, ham dinner, and my grandmother's carrot pudding for dessert.  All of us gathered together.  It was the best!

 Stan and I and our grand niece, Cassandra Jade!  So precious.  And so much fun to hold a baby again!

 For her dinner, Cheryl had a cup of candy at each place, and for placecards, she had a gingerbread man with a photo of each of us where the gingerbread man's face should be.  Here's AJs!

 My parents hearth decorated for Christmas.

My sister Cheryl and I goofing off at Andy and Dayna's the night before we left them all.