Thursday, May 31, 2012

Hello There...

Using this Pinterest Pin Prompt... 


I am...  Dani.
I keep... ticket stubs. 
I wish I could... make decisions easier.
I love...Grey's Anatomy
I dance...in my underwear
I sing... loudly in the car.
I think...too much.
I really...put too much pressure on myself.
I need...a pay raise and a car that won't break down.
I should...go running right now.
I can...lick my elbow.
I like...wearing black t-shirts
I make...really good banana bread.
I always... am wanting to do more for my family and my life.





Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Big Changes!

There are some BIG CHANGES around these parts, and I am so excited to announce them all! 

First of all, Have you checked out the layout? If you love what you see (like I do with ALL of her work), check out Tunes and Spoons Design HERE. I am not going to lie, I was skeptical to see how it would work being done totally online, but Rachel is so wonderful and easy to work with. Go check out her blog and her work and sign her up for your next blog layout! She's fantastic! 

Do you see our buttons on the side? That makes it possible for you to now button swap with me! If you take a button, send me an e-mail (available on my About page) and I'll go snag yours to share! 

Have you seen our ad space over on Hollie Takes Notes? If not, go check it out HERE and send Hollie some love, let her know the Workman's sent you! 

Next, I will be attempting a blogging schedule. Yes, I did say attempt. I am a realistic person. Here is an outline of what to look for or expect, if I can manage to make it work; 
Make It Monday - reserved for DIY's and crafts!
Wear it Wednesday - What I Wore Wednesdays, Beauty, and jewelry!
Foodie Friday - recipes of all kinds! 
Of course I'll be posting family photos and adventure photos in between it all! (like I could NOT post photos of my family and friends? Please.) 

What do you think of all the changes? Let me know in the comments below! 



How to Add a Logo to Your Nails


These are ridiculously easy to do! After having to wait a few weeks to get a program to use for this project, I finally got it done! (I HATE my camera - I can never seem to get a good photo of my nails!) How to get any logo on your nails - in two steps!

You do the same thing as newspaper nails (or map nails for that matter). You paint your nails the color you'd like, then let dry. Using rubbing alcohol , rub the logo on and press down with a Q-tip for a minute. Peel back slowly, and TA-DA! 

I have the RSL logo on my nails, and love it. Subtle, but great way to support your team! 

Monday, May 28, 2012

DIY - Summer Journals


This last week I made some summer journals. I do these every year and fill them with photos, ticket stubs, and entries about our time together during the summer. It includes lyrics from songs I love, quotes from books I'm reading and every thought that comes with summer. 

How did I make these summer journals? EASY!
And? They cost me $2.25, including tax. 

What you'll need: 

Journal
Mod Podge
Scrapbook paper

If you use one LARGE piece of scrapbook paper, it'll cover the whole book, if not, buy two.

At Michael's you can purchase journals for anywhere from $0.40 to $1.50. Hardcover works best, but they offer paperback as well. Pick two of your favorites from size and cover type. Pick out your scrapbook paper and head on home!

Lay your book out cover side up and using a large paintbrush cover the entire cover with Mod Podge. Press down firmly with your finger and let dry. Using the edges that are left over, fold over and glue into place until the inside of the cover is glued down well. 

Next, take the cover page (the first page in the book, usually left blank) and glue it onto the inside cover, covering up the paper that has been folded and glued over. 

Let dry, admire and start writing!

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Cheesy Potato Bites

After an attempt to make healthy, homemade potato chips, my husband asked if I would make it with cheese. If you've been reading my blog, you know I love cheese. A LOT.

I made them and hesitantly tried them, but ended up liking them! To top it all off, they are easy to make, which is a must in my kitchen!

What You'll Need:
1-2 potatoes, washed and sliced thin
shredded cheese - fiesta blend
salt- to taste.


How to do it:
Slice the potatoes thinly and place on a baking sheet (I used aluminum foil underneath it for easy clean up). Sprinkle with salt and place in the oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes (or until the thinnest slices have begun to brown at the edges). Remove from oven, sprinkle with cheese and cook with the oven set to broil until the cheese is melted and bubbling. Remove from oven and let cool. 

I asked my husband to describe the taste of them to me in his own words and I quote; "really damn good cheese fries." There you have it. 
Enjoy! 

Night at the Riot!

"If you believe then just stand up on your feet,
then shout it loud, REAL!
Here at the RioT the battle hymns begun,
we're here for RSL!"

Last night we battled the brave and the cold to watch RSL take on FC Dallas. It was cold, it was windy, and it was dramatic!

After the game I sent a tweet out about it to @ESPN700James, not thinking anything of it - shockingly they read it on the air!

All in all, it was a great night! Way to go RSL- the final score was RSL 3 - FCD 2.

Friday, May 25, 2012

New England Clam Chowder

This is one of my favorite "cold days" meal. My mom got this recipe from her step-dad, who is from the East Coast, so I consider this a pretty legit recipe! The celery makes this recipe taste so fresh and delicious.

What You Need:
3 Cans Clam Chowder
2 Bottles Clam Juice
4 Stalks of Celery
4 Potatoes
1/2 Onion
3 cups water
1 cup Cream
1 cup Milk
1 Stick of Butter
1 cup Corn Starch
Handful of Pepper (or to taste)
1 Chicken Bullion Cube (or to taste)

Step One: Chop your veggies and pour into a large pot with the water. You'll want the celery to be cut into crescents, the onion into small cubes and the potato into larger cubes. Cook on high until veggies are tender.

Step Two: Once the veggies are cooked, add cream, milk, clam juice and clams. Cook on high for a few moments and still well. 
Step Three: Add the bullion cube, pepper, butter and corn starch. Stir and let cook for about five minutes on medium heat.

 Step Four: Taste test! Make sure you have enough pepper or chicken bullion to your liking! 

Serve and enjoy!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Is it really only Wednesday?

We Workmans like to keep busy, which either makes it miserable when we cannot do it all, or wonderful when we can and can take cute photos with it! 

For your viewing pleasure, here are the photos from Saturday until today! Enjoy! 

Grandpa is doing so well - he wanted to see Brayden and Brayden loved seeing him!
Little dude and grandma, he's practicing walking! (Yes, already!)
My little runnin' Ute. He's getting so big! (On Tuesday he was offically 4 months old!)
Bubba got a haircut! You like? He ended up buzzing it all off .
THIS is why I don't swim at our apartment complex!
Uncle Nick and Little Dude. He had lots of fun with his uncle!
"MOM WHAT DO YOU WANT? I'M PLAYING WITH TJ!"
(We really did have a friend talking to him on it. He was talking back too!)
 How is your week so far? Hope it is wonderful!



Monday, May 21, 2012

Homemade Cocktail Sauce

I WISH I could've gotten a photo of this recipe, so you know how good it LOOKS as well as tastes, but alas, my mother in law works too fast for my camera!

Here's what you need:

4 tablespoons ketchup
2 teaspoons horseradish (or more if you like zing!)
a dash of salt
a few drops of lemon juice

Stir and serve!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

The Anti-Soda Campaign

Credit 
Three weeks ago now I quit drinking soda pop as a part of an attempt to be healthier. They say it takes 21 days to break a bad habit, and now that we are at day 21, I wanted to share my thoughts on the healthier change.

Coca-Cola. It was my drug- literally. I used it for medicinal purposes, migraines, anxiety, taste. I loved that crap. And it was exactly that....crap.

One afternoon I was thinking of ways I could better myself and my body. I recalled a friend sharing that a few years ago, when he quit soda he lost a few pounds but gained feeling great. I wanted that too, so I drank my last soda at a Sunday dinner with family and friends and took some Tylenol that night. I knew what was coming for me.

The first few days were hell. Migraines, feeling sick, feeling gross. Water helped a lot and I drank a lot of it in the mean time. I took Tylenol as a precaution every morning and spent the rest of the day praying a migraine wouldn't come. After a few days, they didn't.

Since then, my chronic migraines have cleared up. I feel better, because I am not pouring chemicals into my body. When I'm eating, I've noticed I'm eating smaller portions, and more importantly I look less bloated. My acne, caused my PCOS is clearing up for the first time ever. The benefits are amazing.

Also... I have found that I'm saving money too. Who would've thunk such a small change can cause such big benefits? Onto the next step to a better life!

Friday, May 18, 2012

This Week in Photos


This week has been a long one, that's for sure. Not a lot of photos to be taken when you spend the week between work and a hospital. So, enjoy the few photos I did manage to snap...
A beautiful view of the valley from Murray

Baby Boy spending time in the jumperoo.
The hospital grandpa is at, Loved the view.

Monday, May 14, 2012

RSL Charm Necklace


Here in SLC, Real Salt Lake is a BIG thing. We go to a lot of games, with a lot of other soccer fans who adore the team. Problem is, being a female RSL fan has its downside, there really isn't a lot that is "appropriate" for girls to wear to the stadium without looking ridiculous. Thats why I made my RSL charm, and today I'm sharing my tutorial on how I made it! 

What you'll need: 

Photo frame necklace charm (purchased 2 for $1 at Hobby Lobby)
RSL logo (found mine in a game program)
Scrapbook paper (for the back of the charm) 

Cut the photo for the perfect size, then slide it into the frame. Take your scrapbook paper back and slide it into place. Use mod Podge if you'd like to glue them together. Don't get any glue on the frame! 

Now, show it off! I've made a few of these for gifts, including a Utah Utes one!

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Our Week in Photos

 This week has been like all the others lately - CRAZY! Having a family will definitely do that to you!

The beginning of the week was pretty rough, I had a cold on top of hay fever...that does make for a nice scare for moms of young babies. I was so worried about little dude, but luckily he did not get sick at all. YAY!

Isn't this just the cutest photo of Bubba and Baby boy? He's discovered his love for his rattles and keys, and has been loving playing with them! On top of it all, he's about to roll over any day now. We are in BIG trouble.

The second photo was taken by request. Baby boy is in a cocoon and matching blanket made by a gal my mother in law works with and had been asking for a photos for weeks now. I'm a slacker and it took me until  now to get it done, but now that it is... isn't it cute?

I love how happy my little man is.

Friday was spent catching up on the housework. Cleaning, doing laundry, and most importantly, snuggling the baby. Also, I managed to get Mothers Day gifts made and wrapped nicely for the moms! (We hadn't planned on anything per everyone's request, but I found a gift everyone wanted - PHOTOS!)

Saturday was spent being busy. We picked up Grandma from dialysis and went to lunch with my mom and baby boy at Iggys. Little man was so good and even got to watch soccer on the big screens they had there!

After all was said and done my mom took my over to my Omas were Bubba was working and we got to visit her for mothers day. We got to visit with her and she got to enjoy little dude. Finally we had to go home- the ReAL game was going to be on!

Unfortunately we weren't able to see much of the RSL game. We got some bad news about Bubbas grandpa - he had an accident and had fallen pretty badly and was at the hospital. We were iffy on trying to figure out when to go, we knew there was a lot of family there already and that there was nothing we could do for awhile, but when we found out he was in his room we put Brayden in the carseat and went down.

The bright side was that it wasn't as bad as the family made it out to be. We got to see grandpa and a LOT of the family we haven't seen since Christmas, and had never seen baby boy before. We found that them seeing baby boy for the first time helped with a lot of nerves and anxiety and we were able to talk to family about a situation other than the one we were in. We finally got a photo of Grandma Trudy holding him while he was sleeping.

Then it was mothers day. Bubba and I had talked about not doing anything because of the stress of the day and night  before. We had decided that we were going to make breakfast and snuggle the baby and that would be it. Early in the morning Bubba told me he had to go over to his moms house to help her out.

I took the baby and turned on my TV show, oblivious to anything else. He returned a little while later with some beautiful flowers and an even bigger surprise - a NOOK! I'd been wanting one for a LONG time and had been having a hard time reading because of the size of the books I love to read. I immediately plugged it in and got it set up as soon as I could. I love it!

As if that wasn't enough Bubba made us breakfast - bacon, eggs and toast! It was delicious. We ended up taking a mid-day nap with the baby before Bubba had to go to work, but it made for the best mothers day yet!

What did you do for Mothers day? Anything fun?


Friday, May 11, 2012

Chicken Enchiladas

This is another recipe from my mom, and I am truly shocked at how easy these were to make! No wonder they are her favorite!


What You'll Need:
2 Chicken Breasts
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Can Green Chile's
Package of Tortillas (medium sized)
Shredded Cheese (Fiesta Blend)

Optional
Green Sauce (to taste)
Spanish Rice (as a side)
Lettuce and Tomatoes (as a side or garnish)
Olives (for looks, to taste, etc)

Step One: Chop your chicken into small cubes. With a frying pan, cover the bottom with a small amount of olive oil and cook the chicken.

Step Two: Once completed, add your soups and the green chile's. Stir well and continue to cook. At this time, if you are having rice, begin to make it now (we made it with a Knorr's easy-make package).

Step Three: Use the sauce to cover the bottom of your baking dish. (Make sure to not get any chicken in the sauce you use!) Then make your Enchilada.  Take your tortilla, hold it in your hand and add cheese, three scoops of the Enchilada sauce and then roll it up and place it in your pan - remember seam down!


Step Four: After you fill your pan, cover with sauce and cheese and bake in the oven at 350 for about 30-45 minutes. If you are adding olives, do it about halfway through cooking.

Step Five: Remove from oven, let cool. Add garnishes and enjoy!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Make Your Pens Prettier


If your job is anything like mine, you know that pens walk away FAST. Heaven forbid it is a nice pen, you'll never see it again at my job. After years of this pen abuse I knew I had to come up with a better solution than buying new pens. What was that solution you ask? 

Making 'em pretty. Most of my colleagues are guys. They won't be caught dead with a pretty pen. 

What you need:
Pen (any kind will do)
Mod Podge
Ribbon or fabric

I used clicky pens because they are my favorite. At the top I tied the ribbon to make it not only stay in place, but to add a little "spunk" to it. I then covered the pen in Mod Podge with a small craft paint brush, and wrapped the ribbon tightly around it. Once I got to the end I pinched the ribbon tightly and held it in place to finish it. Then, I recovered the pen with mod podge to seal it. I set it aside to dry, then had the ultimate test.

Work. 

I took these three pens to work and worked an entire eight hour day. Not one pen got lost. WIN! 

Tuna Casserole (& Lots of Veggies!)


Here in the Workman household we are trying to eat better. After spending some time researching I found some awesome information on foods and meals and decided to work towards making my little family healthier. 

This is one of the recipes I've done to help get more veggies into our diet, without my husband really realizing what I've done. He really doesn't like to eat his veggies and fights me on it whenever I don't disguise them. Frankly, I'm lucky. He's helping me now so I don't struggle too bad with baby boy later. 
Anyways, onto the recipe!

What you'll need: 
2 cans tuna
1 can corn
1 can green beans
1/2 freezer bag peas
1/2 box noodles (any kind will do)
5 slices of Colby Jack Cheese (I ran out of shredded cheese, don't judge me)
a splash of milk

How to:
 1. Cook the noodles until they are almost completely cooked. Drain. 

 2. In a baking pan, mix all of your other ingredients (except the cheese) in the pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and once everything is stirred together well, place cheese slices on top of casserole. Bake for at least 30 minutes. 

3. If your cheese isn't golden brown to your liking when it is finished cooking, set to broil for 5 minutes. This will brown your cheese and won't kill your casserole by overcooking it. 

4. Serve, enjoy and try to hide the evil grin when your family eats their veggies without knowing it! 

Monday, May 7, 2012

Whew! What a Week{End}

Last week I posted that it was a busy one - and THAT was an understatement! Here's a rundown of what we did:

Monday, Bubba's Soccer game. I was really upset about that game- the other team played dirty and to top it all off, Bubba took a ball to the face, resulting in him having a swollen face for a few days. Not. Cool.

Tuesday we coached the soccer teams. They're so much fun to hang out with! I took the baby on a 3mile walk and enjoyed the sunshine while I could!

Wednesday I didn't get home from work until late. I got assigned some extra projects that could result in a raise (or a promotion!). I wanted to prove that I was awesome, so I had to have little dude hang out with his grandma for a little bit.

Thursday we had a doctors appointment and soccer coaching again. We literally ran from one place to another trying to keep up!


Friday we had a date night- doctors orders! (I love doctors with a good sense of life outside the hospitals!) We went to Leatherby's and enjoyed sandwhiches and shared a massive ice cream sundae. We then went stargazing and enjoyed the huge moon, the meteor shower and some peace.

Saturday was the doozy. We helped my Oma with yardwork in the early morning, helped my brother and sister in law move into their new apartment, went to a Wedding reception (Congrats Nate and Alyssa!) and went to a dear friends Cinco De Mayo fiesta. Driving back to SLC from Provo that night all we could think of was "we survived!"


Sunday was Braydens blessing. We had a 9'o clock church meeting where my Grandfather blessed him and then an open house afterwards - or as my brother calls it "snuggle-for-all," because with the baby, thats all it was, was him being loved on and snuggled on.

Today I'm sick. I know you're all thinking the same thing as me, oh gee, I wonder why. I've done what I can so far to make sure this doesn't get to Brayden, including sending him to his Grandma's tonight so that he can get the love he needs and deserves, without risk of being sick.

To those mommas with babies - how do you manage to be a good momma and NOT get your baby sick? Ideas? Thoughts? We are already pretty clean because of my insane habits from working at a hospital, so we wash hands and stay really clean for the most part.

Hope you guys have had a great week! More posts to come when I can catch my breath!

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Check it out!

Thanks to Hollie over at Hollie Takes Notes for her awesome blog giveaway a few weeks back! I won a large ad space on her blog! Go check it out by following the link above!

Thanks for an awesome giveaway! I'm so thankful for the awesome bloggers who host them and all the craziness it can be putting it together, getting it set up and sending the final product out. Hollie- you rock!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Busy Bees!

I hate weeks when we are too busy for words! This week Bubba and I are working lots, lots of time at soccer (coaching and recreational), workouts galore (I've become addicted to walking at the paved park trails!), doctors appointments and family functions. This weekend will be the worst of it - so until I can post again, please forgive me!

Hope you're having a great week!