Saturday, November 29, 2008
CYO: Christmas Wreath
Friday, November 28, 2008
Black Foodie Friday
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
4 Months!
Why We Need Snow . . .
We must have moved into jack rabbit territory when we bought our house. At first it was fun watching them lope across our backyard. Then M started to notice that someone was munching on our nice, new grass. Since then, it is a common sight to look out our back window and see the sight of a jack munching our green goods. Tonight I looked out and found four of these giants out there. (Imagine how much grass four jack rabbits can go through?!) I tried to catch them on film, but unfortunately the lighting wasn't good.
I am thinking that we need some of the white stuff or we won't have any green stuff left.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Christmas Memories
Friday, November 21, 2008
Foodie Friday: Dirty Martini Spread
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
My Craft Room
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Thank You, Thank You, Thank You
Now that I have been nominated I am supposed to name six things that I am thankful for and then pass this on to six of the blogs that I read. Now even though I am a teacher, I am not always very good at following directions. I have decided that I WILL name six things that I am thankful for, but I will not nominate six other blogs. Most of the blogs I read have already been nominated. (You know who you are!)
1) I am thankful for a loving God, who forgives all of my wrongs and sends me countless earthly blessings.
2) I am thankful for a wonderful marriage that just keeps getting better and better.
3) I am thankful for the new life that is growing inside of me. I can't go a minute without thinking of our little baby and the amazing miracle being performed inside of me.
4) I am thankful for all of those that hold me near and dear. (I can't wait to see many of you at Thanksgiving and Christmas!)
5) I am thankful for the new home that we have been enjoying (for 4 months now.)
6) I am thankful for the jobs that M and I are able to go to everyday. (Even on the days we don't want to get out of our warm, soft bed.)
While I am not passing this on to anyone, maybe you can take a few moments today and think of what the blessings are in your life.
Monday, November 17, 2008
C-Y-O: Make a Purse
Saturday, November 15, 2008
The Other Side
Just this month, however, we went to a "real" theater two times. (It was even an UltraScreen!!) We had coupons to get $4 tickets the first time and then free ticket vouchers the second time. You should have seen us as we walked in. It was like being in New York City for the first time. The carpet was vacuumed. There were digital signs naming the movie playing outside of each theater and how long until show time. Once we entered our theater, we walked to our seats without having to peel our shoes from the floor. Oh and our seats, they were so comfy!! Even better, I didn't need the extra coat I always carry to movies as they seemed to have the heat turned up to a comfortable temperature.
Now this doesn't mean that we won't be going right back to our cheap theater ways now that the coupons have been redeemed, but it was nice to see how the other side lives--even for a few hours.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Foodie Friday: Cheese Rolls
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Aw, How Cute
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Pizza! Pizza!
Monday, November 10, 2008
How We Told Our Families
I have been dabbling in scrap booking for a few years now and was onto my second album. Only M had seen this one so far. I created the following page to slip in the back of the book. (Now, I am not on the year 2008 yet in my scrap booking, so this page is jumping ahead a bit, but it all worked out.)
Jenny was the first to get the news when she was here visiting. I had put the scrapbook in the living room under a pile of other books and was planning on showing it to her once her kids were in bed. She spotted it before I could show her and I let her page through until she was almost at the end. I told her there was a surprise there. She figured it out right away and even had tears in her eyes as she told me congratulations.
At M's parents, I let his mom finish getting lunch in the oven and then asked if she wanted to see my latest scrapbook. When she got to the end she figured it out pretty quickly and M told his dad why she was so excited about a scrapbook. Unfortunately in all the baby talk that followed M's mom never got around to making the apple crisp for dessert. We'll see if M's dad ever forgives this baby for that. ;o)
When we got to my family's it was almost time for supper, so we all ate and then we were headed to church together. My sister and M's sister were both there, but my sister had to leave early as her choir was singing. Everyone was in one room when I went to get the book. When I came back, everyone was gone. I waited as patiently as I could and finally my mom and M's sister came back. I told them they should look at it together. When they got to the end, mom was still looking at the page before the baby page. M's sister figured it out, looked up and said, "Really?" At that, my mom figured it out, too. I think it took a while for the news to sink in with my mom.
When my dad was looking a few minutes later, he had been looking at the previous page and then his face changed as he figured it out. (I don't know how much any of them got out of the church service that night.)
We showed the book to my sister after the service. I think that she was the most shocked. She even picked me up off the ground when she hugged me. She has been bugging us about making her an aunt for a long time now.
It was so much fun to share our news with everyone and see how happy they were for us. I am glad that we got to do it with so many people in person.
Saturday, November 8, 2008
IKEA and Trader Joe's
Friday, November 7, 2008
Foodie Friday: Chicken and Veggie Pizza
Since we stopped at Trader Joe's on our trip, I was able to pick up one of their pre-made whole wheat pizza crusts. I like using them because they are delicious and reasonably priced. Now if only we didn't have to drive three hours to pick one up. I used that crust for the base of this pizza. Normally I make my own crust from scratch or use a frozen bread loaf.
I started with two diced chicken breast. These were cooked in some olive oil in a saucepan. I diced a variety vegetables: zucchini, spinach, broccoli, green peppers, and onions. These were sauteed in another sauce pan. I mixed one cup of spaghetti sauce with 2 Tablespoons of an olive tapenade, some garlic powder, and some finely chopped sun dried tomato bits. (I am sure diced olives would also work in place of the tapenade.) After spreading the marinara mixture, the chicken and veggies were added. This was topped with shredded Mozzarella.
We baked it for 10-15 minutes at 425. ***Picture Disclaimer*** This picture was taken of a cold piece of pizza as I packed my lunch. (Note the Rubbermaid symbol on the bottom.) I forgot to take one of the pizza fresh out of the oven.
It was delicious and very filling we enjoyed the leftovers in our lunches the rest of the week.
The idea for this recipe came from a Good House Keeping magazine from October 2006. I keep a binder with recipes that I have cut out from magazines or printed off the internet. Maybe I will post about my binders sometime. (If you're lucky. ;o)
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage . . .
Here is an ultrasound picture from my first doctor's visit. We were 8 weeks at this point, so not much to see.
I had my second doctor's appointment yesterday and everything checked out well. I got to hear the heartbeat again. (That is music to an expecting mother's ears.)
Here I am today. I haven't switched to maternity clothes yet, but have started buying a few pieces here and there. Everyone says stay in your normal clothes as long as possible, so I am. (They make this neat thing called a Bella Band. Let me tell you, it is helpful for when you can't button your pants anymore.)
We told our families this weekend on our trip. I will fill you in on how we did that later.
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Road Trip!
I have been studying up for our IKEA trip. We will have limited time and I want to make the most of it. We don't have much budgeted for home furnishings this month, but a girl can dream, can't she? Here are a few of the items that I have been looking at. (Don't worry, I have narrowed the pictures to a select few items. I think if funds were unlimited and we had a U-Haul, I could finish our entire house. It is a good thing that the nearest IKEA is three hours from here.)
This is a sold as a linen storage cabinet, but I could think of many other wonderful uses for this beauty. While I love the cheery yellow, I wish that it came in some other colors too. We need bar stools for the nibbler bar. I think that these would be perfect. They of course will have to pass the comfort test and the wobble test, but we shall see. The last pieces I could see putting together for our entertainment center in the upstairs living room. I have been wanting taller shelves on each side of the tv and I think that these would work out nicely.