Discovered Delicious Taco Soup

Hey all, it's been a while since I've last written. It's been a few months actually, and there are some things that I should be catching everyone up on. For the most part, things have been going the way that I would like them to go. Richard and I are doing well, my job is excellent! Even better than the last time I wrote actually. We're in our apartment for a year now, we're getting our stride here now. It's been a wonderful six months since we've moved here, and we're loving our place more and more.

One of the best things that's been about my job is that I have been promoted. I'm no longer a library aide, which is kind of side. I did love seeing all the books and playing in the shelves and shelves of books. I am now a public computer specialist along with Susan. I going to be paid more now, and I'll be working with computers and the technology in my library. I also have to dress business casual as well. I no longer get to wear jeans all the time, but I get to dress better now.

Also with my new job, I will have three days off a week, in a row, and I have decided to not be so lazy in the cooking department. I have made it one of my New Year's Resolutions (as of right now), to start getting more recipes and making more homemade food. If I have three days a week off, I need to start making more food, homemade food, and just trying recipes to decide what it is that I like.

Starting off with this week then, I have found a taco soup recipe that I think is to die for. Richard actually helped me modify it to our tastes as well, and we love this dish. It's definitely one that we'll be using more often at least. So, here it is:

Quick, Easy, and Delicious Taco Soup

1/2 to 1 pound of hamburger

Onion powder

28 oz. tomato sauce

15 oz. can corn (undrained)

1 small can of kidney/black beans

1 envelope of taco seasoning (hot/original)

Season and brown hamburger with onion powder, garlic powder, celery salt, and lemon pepper. Once the hamburger has been browned, add the corn and let cook for a few minutes. In a separate pot, combine the tomato sauce, beans, and a little more onion powder. Then add the hamburger and the corn to the pot as well. Then add the taco seasoning envelope, and let the soup come to a boil. 

Once the soup has come to a boil, reduce heat, let simmer for a few more minutes to let the flavors meld and then enjoy!

I love this soup, Richard loves this soup, and if you add some corn tortillas you've baked in the oven, and it is DELICIOUS! 

I hope that you enjoy this soup, and if not, you go out there and find your own new recipe to try. You never know, you might find your new favorite recipe.

Talk to you later,

Ashley :)

It's That Time of Year

And no, I don't mean Christmas. It's Autumn, one of my favorite

times of year. The mornings are crisis and cool, the sun warms the air just right, all the hooligans are in school, and the leaves are starting to turn colors.

I love this time if year. Now don't get me wrong, the other seasons of the year are great as well, but there's just something magical about watching the leaves change color, knowing that you're not going to bake in the heat of summer, or freeze in the cold of winter, and there's almost a magic that comes at only this time of year.

Right now, Richard and I are visiting his parents, so we're not actually at home, but it's still a place where we feel at home. I'm sitting at my mother-in-law's islando as I'm writing this entry. Richard and his father have gone to fill up the GTO with fuel, so that it can be driven, his mother is doing the bills, and I'm writing till I'm needed. I love coming to my in-law's, it's a place where we can both relax and help out.

There are a lot of things that I love about Autumn, but I think my favorite thing about it this year is that I have one of the best jobs ever! I work as a library aide in one of the best library systems ever! I love my job, I love my co-workers, and I know what I want my future career to be. I want to be a librarian I had flirted with the idea for a little while this summer, while I was freaking out about not having a job, along with the idea of being a teacher.

As soon as I started my job at the library, I knew what it was that I wanted to do. I wanted to be able to work in a place that I love and feel like it's a home away from home. And all of my co-workers are amazing, they're geeky, weird, funny, and we all fit in with each other.

This has been my life, and I love it so far. I'll continue working at my library and start working on getting my Master's in Library Science.

Talk to you later,
Ashley

I Have Got A Job!

Whoo!!! I got a job, I got a job, I got a job! 

More like "You got me job!"

Yes, after a month here in Oklahoma City, I have a job! And I have got to say, it's most likely my dream job. I have finally got a job, and it's a job in a library. A branch of the Metro Library System of Oklahoma. It's a part time job, but it a place where I can figure out if I want to be in the library (most likely do), and just enjoy where I'm working.

So, here's to the next adventure in our lives! And mine especially. :)

Talk to you later,
Ashley