Wow, I've Got The Blessings!

I woke up this morning feeling incredibly optimistic. This is after spending this week down in the dumps, having no motivation to do anything, having a less than wonderful conversation (AGAIN) with Bank of America, having no desire whatsoever to get up and go to the gym, having no desire to stick to my diet, having no desire to be pleasant to anyone, not having much desire to even get out of bed.

But this morning, when my eyes popped open around 5:30 (and I SO should have gotten up then to run to the gym, but bad habits are horribly hard to break), I laid there thinking about the week, thinking about the future, and realizing I am so lucky and so incredibly blessed and to just get over myself. Yes, I'm in an unbelievable amount of debt, but the problem was recognized, a plan was made, and I have been working on it for well over a year now and now is not the time to just forget about everything I've done.

I have so many people rooting for me, praying for me, loving me through this and it has made it bearable. I have a fantastic job at a fantastic company that supports me and pays me well and helps me pay my bills every month. I love going to work every morning and how many people can actually say that?

My family are my favorite people. I have lots of sisters, lots of brothers-in-law, two fantastic parents and lots of nieces and nephews who are just plain cool and funny and talented and pretty dang awesome. People I am thrilled to be related to. My best friend is my sister. How many people can say that?

I live with a roommate who is pretty terrific. She's such a good friend and confidant and she doesn't charge me an arm and a leg to live under her roof, making it possible for me to really work on this debt problem. She's incredibly supportive of this adventure for me, and has total empathy for me as I'm going through this.

My friends are phenomenal. I don't know how many of you are Facebook users, but I can't believe the amount of friends, old friends that I've known for most of my life, that I have found or who have found me on Facebook and how wonderful it has been in reconnecting with them. It's incredible! Thank you friends (past, present, and future) for enriching and blessing and touching my life. I am grateful for you.

This is fairly random after what I wrote above, but I need to mention that Dave Ramsay's latest post is awesome: Thoughts on Obama's plan - a great read for a great day.

Lastly, I'm grateful I got to wear my cute shoes I bought in Chinatown in San Francisco last summer:

How fun are they?

(Smile) I had to end on a fun note, but seriously, THANK YOU to everyone for being my blessings and being my support and strength through this frustrating and obnoxiously difficult time. I couldn't do it without you! I wouldn't want to do it without you.

For those of you that I don't know that blog stalk me, thank you too. It's fun to think that perfect strangers can related to what I'm going through. That in and of itself is also a strength to me.

Love to you all!

STILL

I am still alive.

I am still in debt.

I am still trying desperately to get out of debt.

I still despise Bank of America more today than ever.

I still fight discouragement every single day.

I still believe I will conquer this!

It's Recipe Time

Happy 2009 everyone! I apologize for not blogging sooner and I'm certain I'm probably not busier than any of the rest of you out there, but this is the first time I can actually think about writing anything. So I thought I'd start the year off with a good recipe that's not too expensive to make. I'm all about being cheap as you well know by now.

I have to tell you about a wunnerful recipe I tried last night that turned out divine.

You take a roast (I used eye of round - not a lot of fat on it) and put it in the crock pot. Next I added two small jars of whole peperoncinis to the crock pot (if you can find a 32-ounce jar, then only one is needed). Dump in the peppers and juice. Next add a single packet of dry Good Seasons Italian salad dressing. THAT'S IT. You don't need to add water or anything else.

Turn on the crock pot to low and let it cook for 12 hours. I started it last night and when I woke up this morning it was done (and the house smelled amazing).

The peperoncinis and juice give it a great flavor, it's not too spicy, but it has a nice kick.

I shredded the beef with two forks, added some of the "juice" to it to make it moist (the whole peperoncinis are too rubbery to use at this point because they've been cooking too long - I wouldn't recommend adding them to your meat), and it filled a large bowl. I plan on freezing some of it to have at a later time.

It's really good on rolls that are toasted (even better when they're garlic toasted). For the "glue," mix equal parts mayonnaise, mustard, and sour cream (just a spoonful of each one will go far and low fat mayo and sour cream will work just fine) and a lot of cracked black pepper. Spread just a little bit on the roll, add the shredded beef, and enjoy. Andrea tried the meat on tortillas with a little cheese and it makes for a tasty wrap.

So much cheaper than eating out, it makes lots of leftovers (at least for a singleton like me) that I actually will eat (not a fan of leftovers in general), and it just tastes better than anything out there.

Try it. Let me know what you think!