Gee, Thanks JESS

OK, so these "Tagged" things are mucho annoying-o and until now I have avoided them, but will play along this ONE time. Jess, you don't get a Christmas present for doing this to me.

Here we go:

1. What time did you get up this morning?
Technically 6:30 because that's when Aubrey started stirring, but in reality it was 7:00 to feed her.

2. Diamonds or pearls?
Diamonds for sure. They're sparkly.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
The cinema? Well, I went to the movies and saw Batman Returns with my hubby.

4. What is your favorite TV show?
"24", but I also love watching HGTV and imagine all the things I will do to my future house.

5. What do you usually have for breakfast?
Cereal and orange juice.

6. What is your middle name?
Ann

7. What food do you dislike?
Shepherd's Pie. Blech.

8. What is your favorite CD at moment?
I'm not sure, I guess I would have to say the new Third Day. Musically, it's awesome. Lyrically, totally lame.

9. What kind of car do you drive?
A 1998 Toyota Sienna, even though Ryan and I made a pact NEVER to drive a minivan. But what else are we to do with 3 kids in 3 car seats? Actually (secretly) I love it.

10. Favorite Sandwich?
BLT with Avocado, hold the mayo, add lots of mustard. mmm.

11. What characteristic do you despise?
Apathy. It drives me up a wall when people just don't care.

12. Favorite item of clothing?
my Eddie Bauer shaped fit dark indigo wash jeans.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?
Sicily.

14. Favorite brand of clothing?
Eddie Bauer or Land's End.

15. Where would you retire to?
Somewhere cold and snowy in the winter and decent in the summer...Montana perhaps, or certain parts of Canada.

16. What was your most recent memorable birthday?
I can't even remember my last birthday.

17. Favorite sport to watch?
Gotta be baseball!

18. When is your birthday?
January 21. Are these questions a little out of order?

19. Are you a morning person or night?
Neither. I'm a middle of the day person. Seriously.

20. What is your shoe size?
8 1/2

21. Pets?
Steve the cat. He's 7.

22. Any new and exciting news you would like to share with us?
uhh, no.

23. What did you want to be when you were little?
A veterinarian, I think. Later on, towards jr. & sr. high it was a teacher.

24. How are you today?
I had a stomach ache earlier, but now I'm fine. (did I answer that question the correct way?)

25. What is your favorite candy?
I like my sister's answer "the kind you eat." I quite agree, I love love candy. If I were forced to choose a kind with a gun pointed at my head, it would be Hot Tamales. My mom gave me a 5 lb. bag of them for Christmas one year when I was away at college and I think they were gone by January. Maybe February. I love candy.

26. What is your favorite flower?
Gerber daisy

27. What is a day on your calendar you are looking forward to?
November 30-Jake turns 4! Then December 20th-ish-the Christmas concert at our church.

28. What is your full name?
Jennifer Ann Trzeciak (again, questions a little out of order!)

29. What are you listening to right now?
Jake screaming on his bed because he didn't want to take a bite of dinner. Warren playing with the globe toy.

30. What was the last thing you ate?
Black eyed peas with ham and rice. Soo delicious.

31. Do you wish on stars?
No, I pray to their Creator instead. (good answer Jess!)

32. If you were a crayon what color would you be?
Green.

33. How is the weather right now?
A little too warm for my taste for late October. Otherwise, very beautiful huge puffy clouds, turning orange and pink as the sun goes down.

34. The first person you spoke to on the phone today?
Ryan. I couldn't find the checkbook, but as soon as he picked up I found it in the spot where it's supposed to be. That's weird.

35. Favorite soft drink?
Coke

36. Favorite Restaurant?
Olive Garden when I feel like Italian, Chevy's when I feel like Mexican. McDs when I feel like taking the boys out for a treat.

37. Real Hair Color?
Brown.

38. What was your favorite toy as a child?
I honestly have no idea. I don't really have a good memory for that kind of thing. I can barely remember yesterday, let alone 20 years ago. (Are we almost done yet?)

39. Summer or winter?
Winter for sure.

40. Hugs or kisses?
Depends on who's giving/getting them. Ryan-kisses. My kidlets-different kinds of kisses. Everyone else-hugs.

41. Chocolate or vanilla?
Chocolate

42. Coffee or tea?
Coffee. Unless it's later in the day and I've already had enough caffeine but want something hot to drink, then hot tea. I love Constant Comment the best.

43. When was the last time you cried?
A couple days ago. I won't tell why, sorry.

44. What is under your bed?
Wrapping paper and ribbon/bows, a lumbar pillow (for driving while pregnant!), Ryan's slippers, a small-ish toolbox, and a broken down nightstand. We don't have a whole lot of storage, so there's lots of stuff under there!

45. What did you do last night?
Watched August Rush with Ryan.

46. What are you afraid of?
My children living their whole lives and never trusting in Christ.

47. Salty or sweet?
Both! I love lots of salt on popcorn, but as you already know, I love candy too!

48. How many keys on your key ring?
3...my car key, my house key, Ryan's parent's house key.

49. How many years at your current job?
Almost 4!

50. Favorite day of the week?
Depends on what's going on during that particular week, but usually the Lord's day.

51. How many places have you lived in?
7 different cities (all in CA) in 9 different houses/apartments.

52. Do you make friends easy?
Not really.

53. What is your biggest pet peeve?
Bad drivers who don't know the rules of the road.

54. We all waste time. What do you do that wastes the most time?
Participating in Tagged things. What a waste of time. Seriously though, I do spend too much time on the computer. It's an easy distraction.

55. Are you a nerd?
I don't know. To some, probably. To others, probably not. My kids don't think so.

56. Fiction of nonfiction?
Non-fiction, especially biographies.

57. What is something that you miss?
Hot Tamales when I don't have any in the house.

58. Have any hobbies?
Crocheting, reading. Not in that order.

59. What is something you're passionate about?
My faith. I love learning more about God's word.

60. What is something you've learned from your current job?
That little boy kisses and hugs are one of the most precious things on this earth!


I'm not tagging anyone because I don't think anyone will respond. I would have tagged Jess, but she got me first. So, there you all go, my little gift to you: not being tagged!

Shades

A little late for summer, girlie!

Tasty Tuesday!

This will be a quick one, don't have much time today. I need to start packing for our trip to my parent's house and church for the Jerry Bridges conference, can't wait! So, without further ado.....dun dun dun...it's

Dump Cake

(This one's for you Warren, if you're checking!)

Ingredients:

1 20 oz. can cherry pie filling

1 20 oz. can crushed pineapple, drain a little

1 yellow cake mix

1 pkg. chopped pecans, about 3/4 cup

1 stick butter-grated

Directions:

Spray a 9" x 13" pan with cooking spray.

DUMP ingredients into pan in order given, grating the butter on top evenly.

Bake at 350* for 40 minutes.

You won't believe the aroma in your home during bake time. Simply delicious!

2 Warrens is Confusing

My cousin Warren came to visit this weekend en route to Monterey. He's a stud naval officer on his way to learn Spanish at the Defense Language Institute, where my sister learned Arabic. They boys instantly loved him and had a great time playing. It was quite confusing having two Warrens, but we worked it out. Here's a picture from right before he left.

Nummo!

Well, sort of. This is Aubrey's face after trying baby cereal for the first time, priceless! (She likes it now though.)

And here are some shots I took the other day. I love love love this dress and wanted to get a few shots of it before it was way too small for her. As of right now, it's beginning to get a bit tight, which is ok because the weather is finally beginning to cool. These pictures turned out so great, if I do say so myself. Ryan says he likes the 2nd one the best because her eyes are smiling!

What Month is it?

So my calendar says October the 17th. Now, normally when I think of October, I think of fall setting in, the days becoming cooler, the leaves turning brilliant colors (in other parts of the country that is, not in CA), and jeans and jackets.

Nope. Not here. My little desktop icon that shows the current temperature says at this precise moment that it is 94* in Temple City. That, my friends, is h-h-hot. *sigh* Good thing we still have lots of Otter Pops left in the freezer, cause it looks like we'll need them today!

Mr. Mantis

Praying Mantis, that is. The boys found this guy on our stairs the other day. Yuck. Of course Ryan had to catch it and bring it in so we could study it for the evening. Double yuck. He was pretty cool looking though, and if he looks ginormous, it's because he was! I did not like that he was in the house with the potential for getting loose, but thankfully nothing happened.

Marriage Advice

For all of you wondering what the secret of a fantastic marriage is, look no further.

Tasty Tuesday!

Polish Sausage Chili

I got this recipe from my sister-in-law Natalie, who made it for a chili cook-off, and won! Amazingly, this is a chili recipe that doesn't call for all day simmering, just 20 minutes in the saucepan you make it in. Or, like I did yesterday, I threw the whole thing in the crockpot and let it cook on low for several hours. As Lindsay says, nummmmmmo! It was so good with some freshly baked corn bread.

Ingredients:

1 T. vegetable oil

1 lb. kielbasa-diced to 1/2" pieces

1/2 c. chopped onion

1 can (16 oz) red kidney beans

1 can (16 oz) stewed tomatoes

1 cut picante sauce (as in Pace picante the salsa...I had to ask Natalie. I used Medium, it made it pretty spicy, so if you have a weenie mouth like me, try the Mild. My nose was running and everything when I was eating it!)

1/2 c. chopped green pepper

1 T. (or less, depending on your mouth weeniness again) chili powder

1/2 t. garlic powder

Directions:

Heat oil in medium saucepan on medium-high heat.

Add sausage and onion, cook and stir 5-7 minutes, reduce heat to medium.

(*at this point, I threw everything in the crockpot)

Stir in remaining ingredients, simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Again, let me know if you make this and what you think. Jess, this is a really easy one to throw together, you'll love it.

~Sorry for the funky spacing, every time I go back and add spaces inbetween the ingredients and directions, it goes back to single spacing when I post. I know it makes it kind of difficult to read, not sure what's going on.

Ouch

So, remember last week when I was talking about our car, and being thankful for it? Well, it seems that the Lord wanted to make sure I believed what I wrote. Funny thing, when Ryan went to start his car on his way to work last Friday, it didn't start! Turns out it's the alternator, and the mechanic decided to throw in some new front brakes as well (which we had to pay for). Ow-ow-ouch.

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On a more positive note (pun intended, you'll see below), it seems that Aubrey is destined for American Idol brilliance. Or, at least Jake thought so.

Those silly American Idol microphones that McDonald's gave away last year sometime have been the best toys! The boys just love love them and play with them all the time. I usually throw away happy meal toys a couple of weeks after getting them, but I would be big time busted if I tossed these. And now Aubrey's using them!

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Did anyone make the Tasty Tacos from Tasty Tuesday last week? I know my mom did. I'm making it again this week. Preview: if this chili recipe turns out tonight, it will be my tasty Tuesday contribution tomorrow. My mouth is watering smelling it simmering in the crock pot. See ya'll tomorrow!

4 Months!

Another month come and gone. This past month has been so much fun because Aubrey is grinning all the time and at practically everyone. She's been laughing out loud if you get her in just the right tickle spot, she's discovered Steve, she's sleeping from 8:30 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. (almost) without interruption, she is still crazy about her brothers and follows them (with her eyes of course) around the room, and is quite the snuggle bug. What a joy this little girl is to us! Here are a couple 4 month shots, and since there are getting to be so many, I'm going to stop posting the month shots side by side. I think I'll just do the newborn, and whatever month bday it is. And of course, the boys had to get in on the picture action, so there are some great ones with Aubrey as well. Enjoy!

Look at This Face!

Too cute!

Tasty Tuesday!

Hi everyone! Through my new internet friend Lindsay, I've discovered Tasty Tuesday and decided to participate. The way it works is I will post a yummy easy recipe that (hopefully) the whole family will love along with the Tasty Tuesday link so you can go and check out Lindsay's recipe, as well as others who are participating. In the end you will have some fantastic recipes that are pretty easy to make. So, drumroll please......the first Tasty Tuesday on Trzeciak Chatter (that sounds pretty clever eh?).

Tasty Taco Fillings
(recipe came from FamilyFun Magazine)

I made this last week and everyone, and I do mean everyone, loved it.

Ingredients:

1 T. vegetable oil

1/2 cup minced onion

2 garlic cloves

1 serrano chili, minced

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1 teas. cumin

1/2 teas. salt

3 1/2 cups shredded, cooked chicken, I believe I used 2 chicken breasts (I cooked the chicken in the morning so I wouldn't have to bother with it at dinner time)

12 flour tortillas

Directions:

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and chili and saute until the onion has softened, about 6 minutes.

Add the tomato sauce, cumin, and salt and continue to cook for one minute more.

Add the chicken and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes.

Taste, and adjust the seasoning if necessary.

Serve in tortillas with toppings of your choice.

Sooo delicious, and a nice change from the normal ground beef with taco seasoning packet.

PS- Mom, this is the recipe I told you about a couple of weeks ago, so you'll want this one for sure.

Also-please go check out Lindsay's blog to find some other yummy recipes.

The World Through Jake's Eyes

This morning Jake and I were driving to Master's Kids. He's quite the chatty boy lately and I've really enjoyed the time alone with him driving to and from church every Tuesday. Today, completely unbeknownst to him, he reinforced a great lesson for me. This lesson, by the way, is one that we've been pounding into him for a while now. Funny how the Lord teaches me through my kids.

Jake loves to look at other cars and comment on them. Today as we're driving he points out a red car. He loves red cars and thinks all of them are race cars. As I find the car he's pointing out, my first reaction in my head (thankfully) is, "That piece of junk?" Now, the actual words didn't come out of my mouth, again, thankfully, because the car really was a piece of junk, but in his precious innocent eyes, this was a really cool car! I'm pretty sure those were his exact words, "That's a really cool car mommy!" So here's my train of thought over the next minute or so: this "pretty cool red race car" just so happens to be the exact same car Ryan drives, only his is white. Our car is a 1988 Toyota Corolla which my parents bought for me for my 18th birthday. I can still remember when my dad brought it home we all piled in and drove to Val's for hamburgers. Mmmmm. I loved loved loved that car and drove the stuffing out of it. Lots of trips to Quaker Meadow camp, and back and forth from northern to southern California. This car has served us well and we've put hardly a penny into it, other than normal upkeep. It has been a great car. But over the years (10 to be exact) I have found myself being ungrateful for the gift that car is. I know it's wrong, and I know I need to be thankful for what we do have, which is exactly what we tell Jakeman all the time because our lives don't consist of the things we possess (Luke 12:15). Instead of being thankful all the time (1 Thess. 5:18) that our car is still running well and getting Ryan to and from work and school, which is a lot of miles, sometimes I wish for a new car for him.

So...all that to say that I realized I should be looking at the world through my son's innocent eyes. When I look at our beat down, old car, I need to be seeing a "really cool white race car," and a special gift from the Lord that has lasted us an incredible 10 years.

For Auntie Natalie

Hi Aunt Natalie, just wanted to show you a picture of me in my awesome dress you got for me! It's mom's favorite right now and she even had to make a bow to match and, yep, you guessed it, glue it into my hair! See you in December.

I Love Technology...

So I spent the afternoon on the phone with a Dell technician in India today! He (supposedly) resolved our computer problems and we're back online! It turns out our computer only has 1 gig of memory, and for Vista to run successfully you need a minimum of 2 gigs. Gee, that information sure would have been helpful 2 months ago when we ordered it! I was just struck when I was on the phone with this man that I was talking to someone 7,600 miles away who was already into Monday! (It's Sunday afternoon here as I write this.) Amazing. He was also able to remotely view my computer and fix it that way. I was impressed.

I'm sick. This cold hit me very quickly and very hard. I went to bed Friday night and felt fine and woke up Saturday and felt terrible. Today was even worse with me not even remembering much about this morning, other than that Ryan said he was going to stay home from church with us. Then I went back to sleep for another couple of hours in between feedings. I feel a little better this afternoon, so maybe by tomorrow I'll be better (wishful thinking, huh?).

The weather people weren't kidding when they said it would be "cold" by the weekend. It was around 100 Wednesday, and yesterday, Saturday, it was upper 60s and rainy! Woowoo! We were all freezing of course, being used to the hot hot weather, but I loved it. I actually wore a long sleeve shirt and slippers!

Last Tuesday was train day for Master's Kids. We took the MetroLink train to Union Station in L.A. and spent a little time down there before catching the train back. We saw lots of neat "touristy" things that we normally probably wouldn't see, including the Avila Adobe, the oldest standing house in southern CA. Ryan, Warren, and Aubies came with us, and I was so glad because Warren had a great time too. Jake was so thrilled the entire week before we went on the train, and the actual day did not disappoint! It was fun for him seeing all the kids he's met in school, and he told us he was glad Warren came along too! Here are some pics:

If It's Not One Thing...

It's your internet! As I write this, I'm sitting at my in-law's computer checking email because ours is busted! It seems all those ominous Windows Vista stories are true. We're having trouble with Vista which is affecting our internet. We keep getting messages that our ISP is not reading our modem, or something like that. Aargh.

Not a whole lot going on to report about. After a scorching couple of days, we're now down into the 70s, and supposedly it's going to be in the 60s this weekend - hallelujah!

So what's up with the Cubs? It was a tense time watching those ugly back to back games with multiple errors. We are, however, confident that with a days rest the Cubbies will clobber the Dodgers here in LA because after all, my hubby and his dad and our brother-in-law will be at the game Saturday to cheer them on sporting their Chicago gear. How sweet it will be watching the Dodgers go down in flames in Los Angeles and seeing the Cubs clinch the series at home!

Okey Dokey, sure hope we have our computer up and running soon. Kind of a bummer to have all those pictures pile up on my computer and nowhere to upload them to!