Yummy Recipe

This is a recipe that my mom made while I was growing up. It's super easy, and I think it is so good! Plus, it is a one-dish wonder, since it has protein, veggies, carbs, and cheese! If you try it out, let me know what you think! :-)

Easy Shepherd's Pie

1 lb. ground beef (I'm sure you could use ground turkey, too)
1 can tomato soup (I use the low-sodium kind)
1 can sweet corn, drained
1 can cut green beans, drained (you can also use French style, if you want)
1 packet instant mashed potatoes, prepared (you can use "real" potatoes, too, but this is easy shepherd's pie, after all!)
4 oz. shredded cheddar cheese

1. preheat oven to 400*
2. brown ground beef (or turkey) in a large skillet, drain.
3. add tomato soup to ground beef, combine well
4. add both cans of vegetables, and mix well**
5. Pour beef/veggie mixture into a 9X13 baking dish. Spoon mashed potatoes over mixture, starting in the center. (Your mashed potatoes probably won't cover the whole thing, so just try to make a smaller rectangle of potatoes over the ground beef mixture). Cover the mashed potatoes with the cheese, and bake (uncovered) at 400* for 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

**I usually make the beef/veggie mixture and then leave it on "low" while I make the mashed potatoes.

Enjoy!!

I'm such a slacker!

But I vow to do better from now on.

So, since my last post, I have interviewed and been denied for that job. I was really upset about it, even though they said if they could have hired two people, I would have been the next choice. Apparently God had other plans in mind.

So after that job interview, I kept looking online for jobs, but honestly, the market is horrible right now, and nothing was coming up. So I took Tyler's cousin up on an offer to temp at the company she works for. I've been there a little over three weeks now, and while it's nice to be out of the house and making money, I'm not sure how long I can stay there. I'm just doing a ton of data entry right now, which is fine, but it gets to be really boring. I spend more time than I'd like to admit surfing the Nest/the Bump while working. Bad, bad, I know. Anyway, my contract is up on the 31st, and my supervisor still hasn't gotten back to me about whether or not they want to renew it. Hopefully I'll find out about that tomorrow, otherwise we're cutting it pretty close!

Other stuff that we've been up to lately includes: becoming the team leads for the 12:15 service welcome team at our church, watching 2 of our good life group friends get baptized, attending life group and related events, visiting our family, visiting the pumpkin patch, having our friends come and stay with us for a weekend, and getting new pro pictures made. Visit www.jamiecoupaud.blogspot.com for our preview!

The most exciting news of all? We decided to move TTC up, and are now on cycle 1.5 of trying for our first baby. I say cycle 1.5 because we decided last cycle to start trying, but we didn't make this decision until the day I ovulated, so we didn't really get a chance to take full advantage of the cycle. We thought and prayed and talked about this decision a lot, and we really feel that this is the plan God has for us. I know that my calling in life is to be a mother, and I think it's possible that a lot of the reason I wasn't able to find a full-time job is because I'm not meant to be working. I feel called to be a stay-at-home mom, and if we're to get pregnant soon, I would feel awful leaving a relatively new full-time job so shortly. Anyway, we're so excited about this new journey!! We weren't going to tell anyone, but Jamie (from jamiecoupaud.blogspot.com) saw my charting ticker on the Nest and asked me about it, so I told her. I also told one other friend from college, because I didn't want her to think I was a nutcase when we went to Ikea and all I could do was comment on all the cute baby stuff. And finally, I had to tell my mom when we went to visit our parents a few weekends ago. She was seriously contemplating moving to Cleveland for work, and she asked if we were trying, because she knew I would want her closer than Cleveland if I were to be pregnant. I told her that we were trying, and she has now decided to stay in TX. I'm so glad she did, but I'm pretty sure our TTC was just the icing on the cake.

So, there's a short update of our lives lately. Things are good, and it's almost the holidays, so they're about to get even better!