C is for cookie.

The cookie monster has returned.

Let me explain.

Friday, I decided to take a challenge and make Toll House cookies from scratch. Turns out, I suck.

First off, I figured out to never try and substitute margarine for butter. It doesn't work quite like you'd think it would. I thought I was being a smooth operator by adding extra chocolate chips. Yum, right?

Not right.

I added the entire 'giant' bag of chocolate chips causing the first batch to be more chocolate than cookie. It sounds good, but it wasn't. It cooked weird too.

So, batch #2 -- I thought, hey, I need more dough. I added flour and an egg. I could possibly be slightly mental. This batch was super cakey, dough-y, not sweet -- and just too much like cake to be cookies.

3rd times the charm right? Not Right. DANG IT.

I added more sugar, margarine, and brown sugar. Humuna.

These cookies were the right taste almost, but not the right texture.

So, It needed more moisture -- I would typically add brown sugar? Guess so. It still didnt work.

Finally, after ruining 4 batches of cookies, I went ahead and decided the only thing that could fix anything would be peanut butter and oats. It didn't work. Needless to say, I was depressed after spending a few hours in the kitchen and making not ONE perfect batch of cookies. So, this Monday, my goal was to come up with the perfect batch of Toll House cookies. Boy did I bake it up. I made sure I had REAL butter and I followed the recipe to the 'T,' instead of just guessing what a Tsp measures or a cup measures.

THE COOKIES were perfect. No joke. They still are perfect. But, with perfection comes sin, and these cookies are strait up SIN. Oh my gosh. Tonight, Tuesday, I ate quite possibly 10 cookies. HOLY CRAP.

Whats sad is the last 3-4 weeks, Chad and I have been eating pretty healthy. Not really any breaks during the week until the weekend. Mostly fish, rice, veggies, fruit --lots of water...We both just feel completely gross. Overweight and tired. Now, it's actually funny because everytime we eat really terribly, our stomachs feel like crap for hours until it passes.

Nutso how that happens.

So, needless to say -- I will be taking the cookies to work to get rid of them tomorrow.

:-)

Ick.

We really would like to lose weight, but it just seems so hard.

What else, what else?

Kidney Stones.

I have to have surgery (non-evasive) and a stent put in. Ouch!

I have a stone in each side and it seems like I've been talking about it for a week already. At any rate I am so so ready to be done with it. I also had my hip/tailbone looked at. I should figure out what the problem is with it and why it keeps popping out of place when I lay flat or flip out my right leg.

We are moving in less than a month and we are SO excited. I fresh new start...and a house that will actually be good for Kieran.

(We'll talk more about that later!!)

Our family misses yours. ;-)

LOVE.

Chad, Ciara, & Kieran.

Somebodies gotta fill you in. ;-)

See. freaking. Fest.

So, last year -- we attended Seefest and had a wonderful time, so this year -- naturally, we'd have a wonderful time again, right?

Eh.

haha.

We spend a good 15 minutes loading up the stroller and making sure Kieran was dressed to his full capacity. (that means warmies with a had, gloves, blankey..).

We made the trek through our town, insisting that walking would be easier than driving. Truth is, it was, until we had to walk back up. hahahaha.

When we got there, we found a seating area under umbrellas and that wasn't in the direct sound blaring from the amps. Shortly after arriving, we were able to meet up with some friends. Once meeting up, we ordered this amazing invention called a 'Sangria bucket'. I think you can put two and two together and figure out what that one is. bwahaha. It was great. Probably a gallon and a half of Sangria, topped with fruity oranges and lemons. Delicious if you ask me. Plus, they made it even more crazy by giving you 6-10 long straws.

Chad, him in his full manliness, insisted on going just for the beer -- but, I'm gonna have to say, he missed out. ;-) We ended up not staying too late because, as a parent, there comes a time when you have to draw a line and although Kieran was sleeping peacefully, all bundled up in his stroller, it was getting late-ish (11?) and we figured it would be smart to start heading back up through the town.

We got home, woke Kieran up to feed him one last time before bed, and put him down. WAIT FOR IT, wait for it -- HE SLEPT THROUGH the entire night.

I've gotta let you in on a little secret, ehem -- I have such a good baby.

hahaha.

Chad and I were able to make it up and about the next day, Saturday, when we decided to go pickup our new glasses down town. We went to Kaiserslautern, and as we were leaving decided to stop and get some cocktail shrimp. Those screwy Germans...they left out the cocktail sauce, and gave us sweet and sour anyways. Truth is, it was pretty good, and I'd probably eat it again.

We then made it over to the commissary on Vogelweh (the construction at Ramstein is getting a little TOO crazy for me at this point.) so I could pick up some butter. REAL butter.

There is a whole story behind that -- but lets just say I have 7 dozen cookies sitting upstairs, each batch is different, and all are gross. DONT COOK with margarine. I feel like I should've known that? pshh.. oops?

Anyways, we went to Seefest again tonight, but it started raining, it was a bit louder than it was on Friday -- so we chose to leave with the little nugget. A friend from basic military training met us at our house and we watched 'Thirteen Ghosts' and 'Mean Girls', all while sharing a great bottle of wine. I had a wonderful time - -and it was really great to be in contact with other human beings.

Chad and I are continuously looking for jobs to make it possible for me to get out and us come back home (to the USA at least). It seems so hard, but we are keeping our eyes open, applying for anything and everything.

Oh, and quick mention-- I created my charity, and Chad is doing the paperwork to make it legal with the IRS. Sweet huh? Once it's completely finished, I will have a fully running and operating program that allows ANYONE to donate arts of some sort (crafts, paintings, talents..) or money and that will go towards a selected charity. Pretty wonderful. Right now, its called 'Imagine It.' but, I think I am going to change it to the 'Paint the Sky foundation.'

Whoooo knows.

Anyways, we love you all.

LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Chad,

Ciara,

Kieran,

&

Lucy.

"It's like riding a bike..."

This weekend is proving to be wonderful -- one day at a time.

Friday wasn't so eventful, but we can blame that on being tired from waking up so early.

We both woke up early to get the day started. Chad headed to work at about 0630 and I couldn't go back to sleep and decided not to since I had to make an appearance at my office around noon for a late 'birthday' celebration.

Getting ready in the early a.m. was so much easier to do while Kieran was still asleep. Once that little bugger is awake, it is nonstop with feedings and nourishment. HAH. So, I was able to get up -- brush my teeth, wash my face AND actually apply make up before he woke up. Such a relief to actually finish before the storm begins. LOL...

--

Saturday was the '4th of July Freedom Festival' or 'Rockin' 2nd as Chad would call it.

We went with one thing on our minds. Well, okay, two things. We were on a mission to demolish a hot dog and a few beers. Simply because you cannot attend a 4th of July fest and not give into the crappy chili dogs and Corona.

Well, we did -- and left feeling sick. After eating healthy for the past week, the crap we consumed started to make our stomachs feel like poooo.

We stayed for a few hours, but then when Kieran started to get fussy after being SUCH a good baby, we headed home.

The next day, we did some thinking and decided a few things.

#1) It's clear that our bodies felt like crap because we ate a funnel cake, 2 hot dogs and chili dogs and then each had 2 beers -- and there is a reason why.. WE NEED TO KEEP UP WITH EATING HEALTHY. We've listened to our bodies and have finally learned what to watch out for. We did so well during the week, and although the junk food was great momentarily, it was not worth it after the stomach aches.

#2) We are going to condense our stuff and get rid of the stuff that we don't want any more and we are going to start working for the things that we've been wanting for a while (like a nice bedroom set..and some more furniture). So, selling our older stuff and saving up for some good stuff. I'lll have to post some things that we are looking forward to investing in.

And we are also getting rid of the useless clutter. Nobody likes clutter..especially us. Every once in a while, Chad and I get frustrated with just 'crap' and we start to throw out things that no longer mean anything. Luckily, we have the resource of ramsteinyardsales.com to sell what we've got to the people coming in and out of the area.

Tomorrow is our day off (MONDAY) and the day before I have to go back to work for the first time. I am not excited AT ALL. :( I am sad to leave Kieran for the day, but I know it will be good for both of us for me to get some space and for him to spend the day with a German speaking person. That means we'll have to speak LOTS and LOTS of English when he gets home in the evenings so that way he isn't ONLY fluent in German. That would be scary.

We will either be going to the lake with our friends tomorrow, and if not that we'll be going ona picnic of our own.

We love you all. Keep coming back for more..

(P.S. We are still brainstorming to find out what our plan is for the future..!! Aghh! SO exciting)

Love.

Chad.

Ciara.

&

Kieran.

(Lucy too!)