Live , Laugh , Love

Betty Crocker in the Making!

2012-01-28T12:40:00.000-08:00

Hiee! Momma thinks I am napping... little does she know I snuck into the computer room and found my way to write this post!! Hehee:)
I love helping my mom out in the kitchen...especially getting into the bread drawer(I see she already told you about that in another post) oh and pulling all the pot holders out, and when I can, rearrange her spice rack(dad put a lock on that draw too so when mom opens it...BAMM! I right there to help her pick out a spice or two!!)

Now that I am a "big" girl she lets me help her when she bakes yummy food:) The other day she let me help make Rice Krispy Treats!! Who knew they were so easy to make!! Here are a few pictures of me making Rice Krispy Treats with her!! I am such a big helper...

First we measured out the Rice Krispies

Then you dump the marshmallows in...

momma says every good cook tastes what they are making...so I had to test out a marshmallow or two!

no worries, momma didn't turn the stove on, she was lettin' me practice stirring!!

CHEEEEESE!

The best part....Lickin' the spoon(can't let any of those krispy treats go to waste)

The Bread Drawer

2012-01-20T11:26:00.000-08:00

"The path to becoming a better parent-like most every road to personal growth and mastery begins with self-examination." -Dr. John Gottman

A valuable lesson was learned today at my MOPS meeting this morning with me and my bread drawer! I know this sounds crazy but stick with me here...This drawer between 4pm and 5pm is my daughter and I's nemisis. It is during these hours that I am either trying to get dinner ready, tidy up the kitchen so I can start on dinner, or she is getting hungry, and or we are waiting for dad to get home. Little ms. Addison knows that she is not suppose to get into this drawer and will at times shake her head saying "no,no, no, no" while opening the bread drawer up(as I am doing any of the above in the kitchen). Why can't she get into the bread drawer??? you ask, well she likes the take the bread out, squezze it and hug it and bite into it...DRIVES ME BONKERS!!!! I don't know why, but right around the same time everyday, we seem to arrive upon this stressful moment almost daily in our house. My frustration levels rise and I feel like pulling my hair out at times. I try to discpline and teach her NO, then feel like the worst parent in the world for yelling at my child, for what...playing in the bread drawer!
What did I learn...To let go of the situation, what is the real issue with the bread drawer? Is it because she is in harms way, no, is it because she is trying to rebell against me, no, it's because mom doesn't have control over the situation and I let myself get so frustrated that I allow it to be pointed towards her.. I need to remember that I don't have to be in control of this bread drawer...its bread for crying out loud!! so we have smushed bread, all I am doing is creating a negative environment for me and her and is not healthy for our relationship. Yes, my child needs to learn discipline and boundaries, but I need to learn to not be so controlling over something so little...OK...I admit...I tend to be a control freak as some would say. I also learned to remember that after correcting my child I need to follow with a connection! That discipline or teaching boundaries with your kids should not just be about correcting, correcting, correcting, we need to make whatever the situation is a teaching moment and a moment to build on your relationship, that after you have lost it or "trying" to correct your little one by simpling hugging them and telling them, "mommy loves you, but at times I will say no and you might not understand right now, but just know that I still love you and always will!! "

Blanket(s) are FUN!!

2012-01-14T15:53:00.001-08:00

Here is a fun little video of Addison playing with one of her many blankets:) our little girl sure does keep us laughing:)

Watch "Fun with a blanket!" on YouTube
(Click on the above link to see video...I'm still learning all this video upload stuff:) )

waiting.....

2012-01-06T13:17:00.001-08:00

As I was doing my quiet time today with God, sharing all my doubts and fears, this song started going through my head
I'm waiting, I'm waiting on You Lord And I am Hopeful, I'm waiting on You Lord Though it is painful, But patiently I will wait
And I will move ahead bold and confident Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting I will serve You While I'm waiting I will worship While I'm waiting I will not faint I'll be running the race even while I wait
I'm waiting, I'm waiting on You Lord and I am peaceful, I'm waiting on You Lord Though it's not easy no, but faithfully I will wait Yes, I will wait
And I will move ahead bold and confident Taking every step in obedience
While I'm waiting I will serve You While I'm waiting I will worship While I'm waiting I will not faint
And I will serve You while I'm waiting I will worship while I'm waiting I will serve You while I'm waiting I will worship while I'm waiting I will serve You while I'm waiting I will worship while I'm waiting on You Lord
I will serve You while I'm waiting I will worship while I'm waiting I will serve You while I'm waiting I will worship while I'm waiting
Song by John Waller

Over the Lakes, & Thru the Woods...

2011-12-29T18:04:00.001-08:00

To Grandma and Grandpa Ver Strate's we go(with a pit stop in Janesville, WI to play with great granma Brown)!!!

Addison enjoyed her new found freedom in having her seat turned around. She loved playing peek a boo with daddy and mommy, watching movies, reading her books and playing with her toys.

We made a pit stop to visit GG for a bit in WI. Addison quickly made herself at home in GG's house, pulling cans out of the cubbards to stack them, dragging cases of pop across the floor, reading books to GG, playing with GG's fun toys,taunting Great Aunt Linda in pulling ornaments off the tree, and her favorite...climbing on all the furniture:)

After GG's we ventured on over to MI to spend Christmas with the ENTIRE Ver Strate clan. It snowed enough to cover the grown and take the kids out for a few 4 wheelin' sleigh rides. The kids loved to pile up on Rich and ride along:)

Addison got lots of play time with grandma VerStrate and her cousin Isabelle.

We all went out for dinner at Tres Amigos to celebrate my birthday!! With this big of a family there is sure a good time to be had:)

We had such a great year, and so much to be thankful for. We look forward to seeing

you all in the new year and pray that your New Year be filled with the love of Jesus!!

super woman vs abiding

2011-12-26T12:42:00.001-08:00

Say Whaaat?!!?

2011-12-22T10:55:00.001-08:00

such a fun stage we are in with our little girl:) she is starting to sound more words out and has added a few more words to her vocabulary!! When it comes to names she can only get out the end part...so for her friend Summer is "merr" and Elmo is "mo" :-) oh and everything seems to be "ought" for hot, and you will find her blowing on whatever is "ought" to cool it down:) Here are a few of her recent favorites:

"AT" for hat

"Coookie"

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-21T15:21:00.001-08:00

Addison (with the help of mom) hosted her first Christmas Party! It was quite the party. She made ornaments for her baby friends(she is very talented at 1) and mom made a yummy French Vanilla scrub for all her mommy friends. All the babies dressed for the occasion, they chased each other around, ate lots of snacks(gold fish are the "in" thing) and took lots of fun pictures. Here are a few pics from her party!!

All Grown Up!???!!

2011-12-10T22:27:00.001-08:00

Addison and I were out shopping the other day and stopped to get pizza for lunch. We sat down to eat our pizza and as usual I will cut the pizza up into small bites for her so she can pick them up with her hand or try to stab the pieces with her fork. To my dismay she started to throw a fit and swiping her arms across her tray like she did not want them(keep in mind pizza is one of her favs) and she kept pointing to the plate on the table(where the rest of the pizza was) I soon realized she wanted to eat like mom and hold the entire slice of pizza in her own two hands!!! Or in her words..."enough with the baby bites mom...I want the whole slice!!!"

Here's to My Girlfriends!!

2011-12-09T17:28:00.001-08:00

Girlfriend Motto
Girlfriends honor us and our choices ~although they may not agree~ Girlfriends live without judgment. Girlfriends live without jealousy. Girlfriends honor confidences. Girlfriends lift us up without rescuing us. Girlfriends always live in truth ~and that truth being spoken in love~ Girlfriends Celebrate our differences. Girlfriends know how to listen. Just listen. Girlfriends know how to love themselves and so then are able to love us ~unconditionally~ Girlfriends Celebrate! ~Rachel

I am not sure why we don't celebrate our girlfriends more often!!(me especially) I was talking with one of my girlfriends recently and she felt bad for bringing up a touchy subject with me. I then realized that, that is why God gave us girlfriends, to talk about our "touchy" subjects in life. To go through life as we call it together. I am not sure about you but I tend to put walls up around certain areas of my life becuase I don't want to "burden" others with it. But He uses our life lessons to help and even encourage others. I have also learned that if I do open up with what is going on with me, it is bound to happen that one of my girlfriends are going through the same thing!! I am so blessed to be surrounded by a great group of women who are there to cheer me on, cry with me, and laugh with me. Thank you ladies!!

Top 5 Pumpkin Ideas

2011-11-12T12:59:00.001-08:00

Now what do we do with you Mr. Pumpkin?!!!?

So lets start with the pie that is a must have at every Thanksgiving dinner...I have to admit I am not a pumpkin pie fan...I know I know, what world did I come from right!! well, I have just never really ever been a fan of it, but now maybe this year I will search for a good recipe and see if I can master the art of pumpkin pie making:) (side note if I were to make pumpkin pie it would not look anything like the picture above, I am almost sure of this, my pie would probably be burnt, and a little lopsided...who knows)

Oh no no...DO NOT I repeat DO NOT let those pumpkin seeds go to waste!! It is kinda gross but get your hands dirty and separate the seeds from the slimy innards!! Put the seeds in the collandar and rinse them off. After rinsing lay the seeds out on your baking sheet to dry. After the seeds dry place them in a bowl and coat them with olive oil and creole seasoning(or whatever seasoning fancys you) Turn the oven to 350 and bake for 40minutes! Then wa la!! the best tasting pumpkin seeds EVER!!!

Make Pumpkin Gingerbread !! I found this recipe online at allrecipes.com. This recipe is actually what inspired me to figure out ideas on how to get the best use out of our halloween pumpkin. This bread warm out of the over with your favorite cup of jo is mmmm delish!!

Pumpkin Ice Cream!???! who would've thought!! well, whoever did, GENIUS!! I will have to go and search for a good recipe for this, but I am sure it wont be hard:) Since ice cream is a favorite around here I thought I would try my hand at making homemade pumpkin ice cream!!

AND the #1 idea IS....

Well, you gotta puree the pumpkin to get to any of the above... right!! :-) I found way to puree my pumpkin...I scraped out the innards and cut the pumpkin up into 1/4 sections, put some water in the bottom of my baking pans and placed the sections in the pan. Then I turned the oven on to 450 and let them bake for 45minutes. After letting them cool I scraped the pumpkin off of the skin and placed in my food processor for pureeing. I am not good at guessing how big our pumpkin was but I got 8 16oz jars of pumkin puree!! If you are in the giving mood you could can the puree and put some ribbon around the jar and give the pumpkin puree as a gift:)

Happy Pumpkining!!

Happy BZZZZaloween!!

2011-10-31T10:00:00.000-07:00

October was filled with lots of fun activities for the VerStrate clan. This year we dressed Addison up as a BumbleBee. We got lots of good use out of the costume. She went to her first baby costume party, got to go trick or treat at the zoo and make crafts, and story time at the library had a costume party read along.

We also took her to her first pumpkin patch to pick out her very own pumpkin. As you can see she found the perfect one. I found a "Mr. Skeleton Potato Head" from target to dress her pumpkin up(we weren't quite ready for her to dig into the pumpkin and be wearing the entire pumkin on her. Knowing our daughter we would be have pumpkin findings all over our house and her for days!)

I thought I would leave you with this classic picture from her costume party, it was for sure a hallmark moment, all of us moms are still giggling about the entire ordeal, but the moment was for sure a precious one! We hope everyone is enjoying their fall!!

Happy Bzzzzaloween,

love the VerStrate's

Cards by Me!

2011-10-29T19:11:00.000-07:00

Well ever since my daughter has gone to one LONG nap in the afternoons, I have found that I have way more time on my hands to do things I want to do!! So I dusted off my craft box, sharpeded up my scissors, found some cute paper and stamps and this is what I came up with:

I call this collection "just cause"

Quote of the Day

2011-10-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

I am not sure who came up with this quote or motto, but I found it through a google feed I was scrolling through and thought how funny, but true it is!

I LOVE my Husband!!

2011-10-07T15:28:00.000-07:00

I have noticed recently that I blog more about my daughter and random things than I do about how great my husband is. Which I am sure he is thankful I don't post pictures of him and all he does every other week:) and get all mushy mushy on him to the world, but this post is dedicated to how wonderful he is***WARNING*** this could get really mushy, cause you to gag mushy mushy, and maybe even get you to blog about your husband mushy mushy ;-)

Where do I even begin, lets start with...
**I love that on Saturdays he will play with Addison and let me sleep in and have coffee and breakfast ready for us as I mozy on about the morning
**I love how diligent of a worker he is around the house and at his job
**I love that he will clean up after dinner and let me relax on the couch so I can watch my fav shows
**I love that he takes time from work to stay home with Addison so I can go to MOPS and relax
**I love that I can call on a whim to see if he will pick up dinner on his way home from work
**I love his Integrity
**I love how he cares and provides for Addison and I
**I love when he looks at me acroos the room and gives me his smile and winks ;-)
**I love how we can talk about anything and overcome obstacles together
**I love that no matter how busy he is with work he is never to busy for me
**I love his love for God and his desire to follow him daily
**I love my husband!!!

I could go on and on but lets just end with how much I do appreciate my husband and all that he does for my daughter and I! He is the best!! love you mister:)

Apple Pickin'

2011-09-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

Well we rounded up the gang over the weekend and headed out to Minnesota Harvest in Jordan, MN to go roam around the orchard and pick apples. Addison had a blast with her cousins running around and picking up the apples off the ground. She even got to pick her first apple from the tree(with the help of mom) and she was so excited she developed a new expression :-o "ooooh" it is the cutest expression! She even took a few bites and carried it around like it was her prize possession.

Moments Like This...

2011-09-20T11:24:00.000-07:00

I love sharing moments like this with my daughter!! I will make toast with grandma's homemade strawberry jam in the morning and she will come find me and look at me to share with her. So we sit on the kitchen floor and I take a bite then she gets a bite:) As we take our bites of toast she chit chats with me and we giggle and eat the toast all up! yummy:)

Footprints on our Hearts

2011-09-11T18:21:00.000-07:00

I was given this poem by my aunt way back in the day that hangs on my wall. There are a few verses that always stick out to me and as I read them I sit and reflect on the journeys I go thru in life with my family, friends, and the random people I meet in the store or on the street. It is the last verse that I seem to dwell on the most lately as I have been going through this new chapter in my life...

“Some People” By Flavia Weedn

Some people come into our lives and quickly go… Some stay for awhile and embrace our silent dreams.

They help us become aware of the delicate winds of hope… and we discover within every human spirit there are wings yearning to fly.

They help our hearts to see that the only stairway to the stars is woven with dreams… and we find ourselves unafraid to reach high.

They celebrate the true essence of who we are… and have faith in all that we may become.

Some people awaken us to new and deeper realizations… for we gain insight from the passing whisper of their wisdom

Throughout our lives we are sent precious souls… meant to shareourjourney however brief or lasting their stay they remind us why we are here.

To learn… to teach… to nurture… to love

Some people come into our lives to cast a steady light upon our path and guide our every step their shining belief in us helps us to believein ourselves.

Some people come into our lives to teach us about love… The love that rests within ourselves.

Let us reach out to others and feel the bliss of giving for love is far richer in action that it ever is in words.

Some people come into our lives and they move our souls to sing and make our spirits dance.

They help us to see that everything on earth is part of the incredibility of life… and that it is always there for us to take of its joy.

Some people come into our lives and leave footprints on our hearts and we are never ever the same.

Bears, Moose, Deer, OH MY!!!

2011-09-05T13:08:00.000-07:00

We took our first family camping trip this past week up to Twin Lakes State Park in the upper peninsula of MI. We met Rich's family up there and had a great time exploring, feeding ducks, seeing wild life, and collecting rocks...lots of rocks!! Addison loved playing with her cousins and chasing them around the camp ground. Grandpa loved to take Addison and Daisy for a morning walk in the wagon around camp before breakfast. The weather was perfect all week and surprisingly the mosiqitos stayed away!! A couple of days we went out to Lake Superior and played along the beach to find pretty rocks and ended up in the water a few times. It was actually really nice water to swim in. Addison had a fun time trying to eat every rock she picked up and running out into the water. Needless to say she kept mommy and daddy on their toes!

And She's Off!!

2011-08-20T08:00:00.000-07:00

Our little baby is girl is walking at 10 months!! It was a process for her to get to this milestone but with her daddy's mindset she was bound and determined to make it!! Around 4 or months she decided she was done sitting and just wanted to stand on her own feet! So we picked up a walker for her because mommy and daddy's arms could only handle so much of holding this little one up:) She figured out fast how to tool around the kitchen in that thing, in no time was she cruising around our center island and under the table and back around again:) At 6 months she realized, hey if I grab onto mommy or daddy's fingers and pull myself up they will help me walk around. And so began her walking fetish. She new how to find your thumbs and pull them up and if you weren't quick to your feet she was more than happy to help you up!! She was getting braver and braver by the day and soon was scaling the furniture on her own and was down to a one thumb helper. On July 19th she took her first couple steps on her very own by walking from daddy to mommy! After a few tumbles she reverted back to the crawling deal. I am pretty sure she was inspired by a few of her baby friends that are now walking that she decided within the last few weeks shee too can walk all by herself and she did!! Yay!!!

Still the BEST Day EVER!!!!

2011-08-20T07:35:00.000-07:00

On August 8th Rich and I celebrated the gift of "Leather" or in laymans terms our 3rd Anniversary:) Although we didn't exchange "leather" type gifts we do have the best give ever from God to celebrate our anniversary...our little baby girl!! We had a pretty low key day spending time together and a nice dinner at night. I am deffinately blessed by this man!

Ummm...YUMMEEE!!

2011-08-13T13:36:00.001-07:00

The original name for these bars are Warm Toasted Marshmallow Bars from Betty Crocker, I have changed the named to Yummeee Smore's!! You can also say I "enhanced" the recipe a little:) ok all I did was use Nutella chocolate instead of the suggested chocolate chips!
div>Here is what you need:
1pkg of Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie mix
1cup of crumbled up graham cracker
1cup of butter(melted)
1jar of Nutella Chocolate
1/2bag of mini marshmallows

Here is what you do:
Heat oven to 375°F. In large bowl, stir together cookie mix and crumbs. Stir in melted butter until soft dough forms. Press into ungreased baking pan

Bake 18 to 20 minutes or until set. Immediately spread chocolate evenly over crust.

Set oven control to broil. Sprinkle marshmallows over melted chocolate. Broil with top 5 to 6 inches from heat 20 to 30 seconds or until marshmallows are toasted. (Watch closely; marshmallows will brown quickly.) Cool 10 minutes.

ENJOY!!

Watcha Been Up Too?!!??

2011-08-13T13:13:00.000-07:00

Boy oh Boy has this summer gone by fast! I almost forgot I even have a blog:) So here I am bloggin' away once again!! In July we took a road trip back to Michigan to visit family and friends. Along the way we made a pit stop in Wisconsin to see my grandma and a few cousins and Aunts! As always grandma loaded us up with the "good" fireworks and we were on our way. Over all the trip was fun even though Addison decided she would start teething again:-0 She loved playing with her cousins and toolin' around grandma and grandpa's back yard! She even had her first 4-wheelin' ride with daddy!!

Being a SAHM brings lots of play dates with Addison's friends. We learned she loves the water from all the pool/splash pad outings we had and we frequented the zoo as well! Rich and I were able to play softball this summer, our team came in 3rd over all!! with the season over we have been out running the neighbor hood and getting back to the good ol house projects. Which I am proud to say the outside is almost done!!

Now with fall around the corner I am getting ready to serve in the MOPS group at our church. I am excited and nervouse for this adventure. Being that I am still a rookie mom and all, not sure I will have the best advice for the moms at my table, but way excited to meet them and use the talents I do have to minister to them all!

well I better be off, the babe is about to wake from her nap, I will try and post pictures soon of our summer adventures!!

Guilt Free Brownies!??!!!

2011-06-23T07:50:00.001-07:00

Yes it is so, I was prusing the aisles of Trader Joes and found this box of brownie mix. All you add is a thing of vanilla yogurt, stir the yogurt and brownie mix together and bake for 25 minutes. I was a little skeptical at first but I have to admit they are the yummiest brownies I have had...sorry Pillsbury and Betty Crocker!! They are super moist and all sorts of yummy chocolately goodness:)

Diaper Babies

2011-06-16T06:17:00.001-07:00

(Brandon,Summer,Addison,Adry)

for daddy's day a friend of ours(summer's mom) thought it would be fun if we got the babies down to their diapers, laid some paper on the floor, took out the paints and with mom's help of course we let them decorate a pot with their hands and feet! I think the moms had more fun than the babies did, but it was deffinately cute to see the end result. They were more interested in crawling around into the paint and sticking the paint brushes in the mouth!

the finished product...Happy Fathers Day!!

Milestones

2011-06-03T05:57:00.001-07:00

I can crawl now!!!

Yes we are mobile, she started out with the army inch worm crawl and would pout the entire crawl until she reached a toy and then the pouting stopped. she would even look up every so often to see if you were going to help walk her over to the toy... so rough being a baby:)

Big Girl!!

no more car seats brought into the store or resturants...mainly because mommy's back needs a break(I feel so old after hauling her car seat in and out)and she is to the point that she can sit up so big!! she loves it:)

Walking??!!??

no not yet, but she would much rather walk then crawl!! she will even grab for your fingers to help pull her up so she can walk wherever her hearts desire. She is deffinately a determined little girl:) if she sees something she wants(mainly the remotes, or our phones) one track mind until she gets the prize only to be taken away...mean mommy and daddy:) She can pull herself up now and walk around the coffee table, and transfer to the couch(if it is close enough) now only to figure out how to get back down after we are up...yes we have had quite a few tumbles, but we are learning:) Addison proofing the house has deffinately begun, we have had to move a little shelf and all the picture frames and magazines on the bottom shelves....GONE!!

MID WEEK LAUGH:-)

2011-05-25T08:08:00.000-07:00

as I was scrolling through my fb wall I came across this funny little diddy:) and wanted to share it with you all!

MIDDLE AGE TEXTING CODES:

ATD -at the doctor.
BFF - best friend fell.
BTW -bring the wheelchair.
BYOT -bring your own teeth.
FWIW -forgot where I was
GGPBL -gotta go, pacemaker battery low.
GHA -got heartburn again.
IMHAO -is my hearing aid on?
LMDO -laughing my dentures out
OMMR -on my massage… recliner
ROFLACGU -rolling on floor laughing and can't get up.
TTYL -talk to you louder!

Cashew Chicken Thai Salad

2011-05-14T08:07:00.001-07:00

YUMMEEE is all I can say about this recipe. I found it on http://www.cookinglight.com/ . I have to admit I changed a few things about the recipe... for instance, the recipe is actually called Peanut Chicken Soba Salad. I grilled the chicken in a frying pan instead of boiling it, and then cooked the cashews(I also used cashews instead of peanuts) with the chicken for a few minutes. Instead of Soba noodles (I could not find these noodles for the life of me) I used Pad Thai noodles. Being that I love lots of sauce I doubled the ingredients for the dressing as well!!(just an FYI the sauce recipe below is not doubled) All I can say is we love love love this salad. I think it just became a regular meal around the Ver Strate household!!!

Ingredients
Asian Seasoning
6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
4 teaspoons unsalted, dry-roasted cashews

Sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tablespoons roasted peanut oil
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon honey
1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 bag of Pad Thai noodles cooked
1 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup minced red onion
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
Lime wedges (optional)

Preparation
Cut the chicken into salad pieces and season with Asian Seasoning. Cooking in frying pan until done. Add the nuts and cook for 5 minutes. (Set aside)
Combine vinegar and next 5 ingredients (vinegar through salt), stirring with a whisk. Pour over chicken; let stand 5 minutes. Add Pad Thai noodles and the next 4 ingredients (noodles through chopped basil) to chicken mixture, and toss well. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired.

yeah for MOMS!!

2011-05-07T06:50:00.000-07:00

Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs... since the payment is pure love. ~Mildred B. Vermont

Happy Mothers Day!! I always knew my mom loved me and I have always appreciated her but it wasn't until I had a child of my own how deep her love was for her children and how much more I truly appreciated her. I love my daughter through and through. She has the best giggles and can fill the room with laughter instantly. I have quickly realized that being a mom is a FULL time job. You don't get sick days or vacation, and what is a weekend!??!!! My daughter is only 7 months and we have already had our ups and downs. And to think we have many more months and years to go:) (this is where my appreciation for my mom is even greater!) I know, I know, how could I give my mom any trouble...I was the perfect princess:) haha even I know that's not true:) the saying "redheads have a bad temper"... ya...well that is all I'm sayin'! That is why I think God gave me a daughter...to be my mom and His entertainment for the next 18yrs:) (I say 18 yrs cause I am sure those were some of the best years for my mom and I) so here's to all the moms out there...have a fun mothers day and enjoy your babes:)

5 Minutes feels like an Eternity...

2011-04-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

...when you are putting down your baby for a nap in her crib for the first time! I know I should've started nap time in the cribs alot sooner, but sometimes I would lay down with my babe for nap time too so it was just easier to take her to bed with me. Although she does sleep in her crib at nights, nap time just happened to be with mom in bed. Addison is 7 months now and thought it would be time to put her in her crib for nap time. She cried and cried and cried some more!! I know there a some parents out that have mixed feelings on how long to let your baby cry before running to pick them up. I just remember reading and having my pediatrician tell me to wait let them cry for at least 5 minutes and then go to their attention. So I tried the 5 minute rule per say and ended up crying myself :o After she finally settled down to sleep I went and checked on her to only hear her little wimpering cries while sleeping :( you know the one...that broke my heart, just thinking about it brings a tear to my eye! So what do you think?? I am not sure it helps that she might be going through seperation anxiety. The rest of the day and even today I couldn't set her down to play while I went to the bathroom or get a glass of water. But as soon as I am back by her side the crying stops! What is a mom to do?!!??

a few of my favorite things....

2011-04-24T04:30:00.000-07:00

mmmm...nothing like waking up to a cup of coffee and strawberries topped off with some Nutella Chocolate!
BUT.... I would have to say my absolute favorite to wake up to in the morning is this....

my little bella babe is such a joy and so much fun. She has the best giggles and cutest smile that could brighten up your day:) She deffinately knows how to fill the room with laughter!

New Look Same Stuff ;-)

2011-04-17T20:24:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by a few of my friends blogs to venture out and try something new. I wouldn't call myself an advid blogger, and I am deffinatly not an expert either:) I have always used your basic Blogger template and changed the background a few times....now I have no clue what I can and cannot do with this new template of mine! I found it on www.ourblogtemplates.com ( I found the link on my friend Nealy's blog) and it was still FREE!! I liked the look of the different columns and you can link your posts as pages(not sure how to do that one yet but sounds cool) plus it seemed like a good challenge for me to figure it out. It might take me awhile(hence why I am not your advid Blogger) but I do enjoy talking through my random thoughts every once in awhile and if I have a good recipe to share with you...I'll blog about that too:)

I have Bibber Fever :)

2011-03-26T10:18:00.000-07:00

I know... I know.. that was a lame joke but sometimes I just like to make myself laugh :)!!
A good friend of mine had made Addison some bibs as a shower gift and I fell in love with them. Not only were they cute but I love the snaps on them. I don't know about you but the velcro on the bibs you get from the store, drives me bonkers!!! After you wash the bib that has the velcro on it, the velcro folds over on you and then irritates the babies neck. Ummmm :-o unless, maybe I am the only one who experiences this....so I set off to find the pattern or one similar and tried my hand at making a few. I succeeded only after I cut and sewed the 3rd or 4th one:) I wont show you pictures of the first few I "tried" making but I will show you the finished product!! Oh here is the link where I found the patteren, they are easy to make, I promise:)

http://chickpeastudio.typepad.com/chickpea_sewing_studio/2008/01/chickpea-infant.html

102 degrees = low grade fever...

2011-03-23T06:30:00.000-07:00

My baby girl has her first cold:-( I noticed she was a little congested over the weekend and felt very warm at times, so I pulled out the thermometer. Ok first of all she is already not feeling well and now I am suppose to put this thing up her little baby bootie to get her temperature...no fun! After much fussing and squirming I was able to get her temp.102. Time to call the doctors...after talking with the nurse she advise me that Addison had a low grade fever, not to give her anything for it and to monitor her for the next few days. If her fever persisted to call back or if it went above 105 to bring her in. WHAT!!! 105!! and DON'T give her ANYTHING!! Being a new mom I called back later and talked with a different nurse and got the same answer:) So I did what I was told, it is so hard to see your little baby congested and coughing their little baby cough:( and there is nothing you can really do. After 4 days of having a "low-grade" fever and her little baby cough getting worse I brought her in. She just has the common cold and needs to run its course. I asked the Dr. why 102 was considered low for a fever and why I couldn't give her anything to help bring it down. He explained that a baby's immune system needs to learn to fight off the virus and to see if the fever goes down on its own...also it is considered low because it is her body's way of fighting off the cold. If it were to be any higher than that means there is something wrong within the body. Who knew!

Tuxedo Brownie Cups

2011-03-05T13:43:00.000-08:00

*Nonstick cooking spray

*1 pkg fudge brownie mix

(plus ingredients to make brownies)

*2 square white chocolate for baking

*2 tbsp milk

*8 oz cream cheese, softened

*1/4 cup powdered sugar

*1 cup thawed, frozen whipped topping

*1 pint strawberries, sliced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F . Spray cups of Deluxe Mini-Muffin Pan with nonstick cooking spray. Prepare brownie mix according to package. Fill wells of pan two-thirds full(about 2tsps of batter). Bake 12-14 minutes or until edges are set. (Do not overbake.) Remove pan from oven; immediately press tops of brownies to make indentations. Cool in pan. Remove brownies from pan; cool completely. Repeat with remaining batter.

2. Combine white chocolate and milk in large microwave-safe bowl; microwave on HIGH 1 minute. Stir until smooth; cool slightly. In large mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and sugar; mix well. Gradually stir in white chocolate mixture until smooth. Fold in whipped topping.

3. Spoon cream cheese mixture into brownie cups; top with strawberries(I use my egg slicer to get the strawberry slices). **you can also top with mint leaves or get a little creative and decorate with a little chocolate topping

4. Enjoy!!

Green Thumbs Down

2011-03-03T05:58:00.000-08:00

Recently I repotted a few house plants that seemed to need new soil added to their pots. I have repotted plants before and they grew bigger and remained healthy. Well, I managed to kill 3 of the 4 plants in 2 days after repotting them. I have no clue what I did to them, I took them out of the pot, added new soil, put them back in and gave them a little water with food!! 1 day later 3 of the 4 plants shirveled up and wilted all the leaves away!! I have even kept them in their pots thinking for whatever reason they will grown back!! They were really pretty plants too, I myself was amazed at how well they were growing the last couple of years. So I bid my plants farewell, I hope you all revive yourself and come back soon, although to my dismay I am sure you are gone forever:(

What's in a Name

2011-02-27T10:45:00.000-08:00

I get asked alot how we came up with Addison Bella so here is the story....

We had our baby's name narrowed down to 4 names. We wanted to keep the names to ourselves and keep it a surprise for everyone. It kinda back fired on us though. The week before our baby was due we had some friends email us telling us what they were going to name their baby girl who was due a few months after ours...I was devastated! It was like the joy of naming your child was stripped away from you. I cried and cried because the name they were using was #1 on our list of names!! I know I had 3 other names to choose from but what if that is what we decided to go with when we saw our baby girl. Couldn't they have waited to tell us until after our daughter was born. I could've let my preggo hormones get the best of me, but I didn't, I look at my daughter now and wouldn't have named her anything else. She is Addison Bella through and through:) See we started out with 2 names we liked then the list grew to 20. I told my husband we needed to stop looking at the baby name websites and dwindle our list down. We got it down to the top 4 and figured we would wait to see when she was born to see what she looked like:) well after our first name was taken, we went back to the drawing board, looked at the other 3 names we liked and went with our #3 name, only with a minor adjustment:) . The name was Madison. My husband wasn't too hip on naming our daughter after a city in Wisconsin (nothing against Wisconsin) so we took the M off and went with Addison:) After we decided on her first name, we then had to decide on how to spell it. Oh boy;-) !! We could've spelt her name...Adyson, Addisen, or Addison. We decided to keet it simple, cause lord knows when she gets into school her last name is a gonner for pronounciation:)
Bella, her middle name comes from the Italian language Beautiful. We knew with in our hearts how beautiful God was creating this little person for us to be loving parents too. Also after visiting Italy a few years back I fell in love with the country and its beauty. It was only fit to give Addison the perfect middle name. She is our Bella Babe! We call her Addison, goober(she drools on anything and everything), Addie, princess(she seems to think she is the queen of the house though), baby girl,and Bella.

FRENCH VANILLA SCRUB

2011-02-18T19:25:00.000-08:00

Recently at a MOPS spa day we made a sugar scrub. I couldn't believe how easy and fun it was to make. So I set off to see if I could come up with a fun sugar scrub that I would like...here is what I came up with:-)

I did a little research on different homemade sugar scrubs and found a coffee sugar scrub. What is the benefit of a coffee sugar scrub?? I found on http://www.livestrong.com/ that a coffee scrub exfoliates your skin, helps to prevent acne, reduces the appearance of fine lines and hyperpigmentation and softens your skin. Because caffeine is a natural diuretic, coffee scrubs can also help stimulate the movement of water through your body, making your skin temporarily appear firmer and making skin problems like cellulite less noticeable.

Here is what you need:

3/4 cup Brown Sugar

1/4 cup White Sugar

1/4 cup of your favorite ground coffee(I like to use Caribou's Mahogany coffee)

3/4 cup of Olive Oil

1 tsp vanilla extract (or you could use a few drops of vanilla essential oil if you have it)

1 canning jar or a zip loc storage container

mix all the ingredients into your jar and enjoy!!

(I have read before applying scrub to make sure your skin is wet)

It's like a little smell of heaven in the mornings:)

If you want to get a little creative decorate your jar and give it as a gift!!

Philippians 4:8

2011-02-18T11:18:00.000-08:00

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble,

whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,

whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy

—think about such things.

Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies!!????!!!

2011-02-01T11:23:00.001-08:00

Can there be such a thing?? who would even think to make chocolate chip cookies "healthier"...and could it be they actaully taste really really yummy!!! well there is a "healthier" version of the chocolate chip cookie out there and I even tried it out. Lets just say not only did I love them....my husband even loved them!! I found the recipe from the weightwatchers website. Here is what you need to make them:

Ingredients:
– 2 tbsp light butter, softened
- 2 tsp canola oil (I used olive oil)
- 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, dark-variety
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/8 tsp table salt
- 1 large egg white
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
- 3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, about 1/2 cup

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375ºF.
In a medium bowl, cream together butter, oil and sugar. Add vanilla, salt and egg white; mix thoroughly to combine.
In a small bowl, mix together flour and baking soda; stir into batter. Add chocolate chips to batter; stir to distribute evenly throughout.
Drop rounded half-teaspoons of dough onto one or two large nonstick baking sheets, leaving a small amount of space between each cookie. Bake cookies until golden around edges, about 4 to 6 minutes; cool on a wire rack. Makes 24 servings.

and this is the yummy goodness you get...

just a side note I doubled the indegredients of this recipe and made them into bars instead and they still tasted amazing!!

you know your a mom when....

2011-01-29T17:57:00.000-08:00

1. You now shower in 5 minutes instead of 20-30 minutes
2. You don't eat your meals, you scarf them down
3. You can go through 5-10 outfits in less than an hour
4. Your new perfume is called "spit up au de par"
5. You can wipe a boogie from your husband's nose with your
hand, not thinking twice about it!!

Ok so maybe not all moms experience this but being I just became a new mom a few months ago this basically sums motherhood up for me. On September 22, 2010 we welcomed to our family Addison Bella. She is what I have been up to for the last 4 months:) and I am loving every second of it!! She is such a blessing to Rich and I. We love her giggles and smiles, and all of her stern looks. She is now at the stage where everything(literally) goes into her mouth. She is currently working on getting both fists in her mouth while holding onto your fingers:) She loves to talk with you too, its the best. She has been sleeping through the night since month 1!! I don't know how we it did, it just happened. Although she does fight taking a nap and lately she would rather stay up party at night than go to bed!! Where do they get the energy!??!! She is very attentative and has a personality like no other! (I know I am doting on my daughter and making it sound like she is the ONLY adorable baby there is, but doesn't every mom!!)

Very Little Sleep = Preggo Meltdowns

2010-08-11T13:27:00.000-07:00

I am soooo tired!! and the baby isn't even here yet!! The last couple of nights have been very restless for me. Toss and take 5 minutes to Turn, toss and take 5 minutes to turn, get up to go pee, fall assleep for a little bit, toss and take 5 minutes to turn, toss and take 5 minutes turn, get up to go pee....and then repeat over and over until the alarm goes off. I feel emotionally spent and so tired I just want to sleep. My doc even told me to try Tylenol PM...didn't work:( So far I have had 2 melt downs within the last 12hrs....its the little things that can just set the tears to flowin'.

Third Trimester Here We Are!!!

2010-06-27T14:07:00.001-07:00

"Welcome to the third trimester-the period of leg cramps, hemorroids, varicose veins, itchy skin, aches and pains, swelling, heartburn, idigestion, and....the arrival of your baby!" :)

This is the saying they had posted on my pregnancy week by week page for this week. Well, I already get the leg cramps in the middle of the night(really not fun at all) I can attest to the itchy skin syndrom and a few aches and pains in my lower back but the rest I have yet to experience. Not really saying I am looking foward to the other items listed except of course the arrival of my baby!! Most people ask if I am getting nervous, my response is, no I am more excited for her arrival! I can't wait to meet the little bugger who lets me know she is in my belly all day long by exercising her freedom to move about. Sometimes I wonder if I am not incubating a little gymnast inside my belly:) It is fun though to feel her move about.

Well the picture above is me at 28 weeks in the nursery. We did a lady bug/butter fly theme. I hope she likes her room:)

We are Having Aaaa.....

2010-06-08T14:55:00.000-07:00

... a little girl:) here she is all cuddled up in my tummy:)

She is a very active little girl in mommy's tummy,

always turning and kicking and movin' around!

This is her picture at 23weeks.

Register for This Not That!!

2010-05-06T14:41:00.000-07:00

So my husband and I took a gander at the whole baby registering thing and well lets just say we had no clue what we were doing in the baby basics section. How do you know which bottle to use, will you really need a wipe warmer, what a about a bottle warmer, and a nuke holder....really?!!? how do you know what items you need to first start out with? do you register for items for when they get older? do you go with pampers or huggies? These were just a few of the tons of questions/thoughts we stumbled upon. They really should hire an experienced mom to have on hand to go through the store with you so you know which items you will for sure use and which ones you will be like "why did I register for this" :) So like any other rookie parents we just started clicking! We did have fun but it was overwhelming to say the least. I should almost have my "mom" friends go look at our registry when it is done and tell me which items to keep on and which items to let go.

Cruisin' the Caribbean

2010-04-09T11:39:00.001-07:00

We boarded the Celebrity Century a few weeks ago to cruise around the Caribbean! It was one of the best trips ever. We didn't even get sea sick!!! We ported from Miami and then headed over to Ochios Rios Jamaica. The we set sail on a catamaran ride to go snorkeling along one of the coral reefs and then sailed over to Dunns River Falls(when I get the water camera pictures back I will post them) We climbed up through the 600ft waterfall!! Pretty crazy stuff, and yes we did make it up to the top of the waterfall. It was way cool. The next day we headed over to Grand Cayman. We were able to take a tour of the island in 3 hours. It was a pretty neat little island. We toured a pirates cave, stopped at the Tortuga Rum factory and tried out some tasty rum cake, we stopped off to see what they call "blow holes" on the ocean line...

You can see in the picture how the water comes up through a hole that was made by the ocean on the shore line. We were lucky that the waves were rushing in that day to come up through the holes to get some cool pictures. After touring the island we headed into the main part of the island where there were shops and shops galore of watches and jewelry. You would probably see one or two tourist shops literally. Grand Cayman is a tax free island, so I guess they are big on their watches/jewelry shops. After Grand Cayman it was back to sea. We spent over all 2 days at sea and had great weather both days to hang out by the pool all day! They had other activities for you to do as well. We saw a show every night after dinner. Some were boardway shoes, and a few were comedians. Which were both very funny and clean to say the least(except one had an "adult only" show which wasn't very clean) Each night we had a sit down dinner with a group of people from the ship. We had a fun table and our server was a blast!! The last night we had dinner on our own and watched the sun go down...

For our first time crusin' we were very impressed and had a great time!!

160 Beats

2010-03-10T11:50:00.000-08:00

I got to hear my heartbeat today and then... I heard our little baby's heartbeat! It was the funnest thing to hear ever!! So yes my husband and I will be parents come this September:) It has been fun journey so far. We have this book called Pregnancy Week by Week(I forget author) but each week it tells you how your baby is growing and what parts it is developing. And all along I thought when the sperm met the egg a little baby was formed already....who knew the baby started out as a blob per say and formed day by day to become little one, the things you learn:) I haven't had much of the morning sickness thing, just a little nautious in the morning but goes away. But I do know when I get hungry...I am HUNGRY!! lets just say we have had a few incidents with not feeding me in a timely manner:) I did go out with my mom last weekend and bought my first pair of prego pants and a few shirts. I do have to say I am not to excited about the style of pregnancy lines. the outfits I have seen makes you look like you are back in the 80's or 70's at times...so any suggestions of good places to find cute prego summer shirts is welcomed!! Well here is a picture of our little one at 8 weeks(our dr is great she figured she wouldn't hear the heartbeat then so she did an ultra sound for us) **if you look close enough you can see it's one arm and little eyes**

Cancer is SEW DONE! block 1

2010-01-28T08:55:00.001-08:00

Well, here is my first try at making a block for a quilt. I joined one of the groups called black w/ a pop of bright and this is what I came up with for my first block. You can't tell by the picture but a few of the seams are off centered and if it wasn't for my dear friend Drea my block probably would've looked more like a triangle or something!! I have a few more to do so we will see how I do on those ones. Here is Drea and I with our first blocks for SEW Done.

Sew Done & Book Club for 2010

2010-01-07T09:35:00.000-08:00

Well 2010 is bring new adventures for me. My friend Drea got me started on this new project (anyone who likes to try their hand at sewing can join) it is called Cancer is Sew Done http://cancersewdone.ning.com/ This group sews together all these different blocks to come up with one quilt to go towards rasing funds in the fight of cancer. I am not a huge quilter by the way so this means any rookie sewer could do this. I have yet to make a block yet for this but am looking foward to trying my hand at this block making for the quilts. I will try and post pictures when I get blocks done:) I can't say mine will look like the above but I can sure try:) I not only joined this group to try my hand at block making but with recent family members finding out that they have a form of cancer, it has really hit home a little more for me.

Another adventure I am trying out is a new book club I just joined. We call ourselves the Lovely Ladies Book Club:) We have already made it through our first book called the "Lovely Bones" Overall it was a very good book(I wont go into detail incase you want to read this one), if you can make it through the first chapter or so it is a real inspiring story. I guess they are coming out with a movie on it, so that would be fun to see. I have always wanted to join a book club so we will see how this year goes with it.

One Very Hot Pan+Cooking Wine=No Good For Shorty:0

2009-11-20T08:07:00.000-08:00

Last night, I was cooking my usual italian chicken , I dip the chicken in italian spices and after the chicken is cooked almost all the way through I pour some white wine over it to make a nummy sauce...well this time around, I almost burnt our entire kitchen to the ground!! yes my first kitchen fire:( I didn't realize the pan/stove was soooo hot and as the wine went into the pan... the flames went up!! kinda like, ok exactly like when you see on the cooking shows how the pan flames up when they add wine to it, only my flame kept going and going. so I quickly pulled the pan from the stove and the fire in the air kept going...and yes LUCKILY it died out and no damage was done to the kitchen, except for the poor door that hangs above microwave...just "slightly" singed on the bottom of the door...

Fun Picking Apples

2009-10-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

I visited the Apple Orchard a few times this month, once on a trip with my sister,and the other time was with the in-laws. I do have to say there is a story to tell in the picture with me in the tree but ... lets just say I don't think we were suppose to be picking from that tree!!! I do wish though we had a longer fall this year, and luckily we were able to enjoy the few days we did have of it. I made a few apple pies with the apples we picked, and attempted to make apple butter, but if you ask me, it tastes like applesauce. Oh well, here is to the few days of Fall that we actaully had here in Minnesota...

2nd Hand Smoke

2009-10-09T08:45:00.000-07:00

Frustrated, Upset, Sad, Scared, Not Understanding, Compassion, Forgiveness.

These are feelings I have been going through this week with the finding of my grandma being diagnosed with lung cancer yet she has never smoked a day in her life. I want to be frustrated and upset with my family for continuely smoking in her house for years and years, and wonder does it even phase them that they were a factor in my grandma (their mom) getting this disease? Sad to know that this had to happen to her, scared in wondering or knowing this could happen to me even. How long does she have to live, How much suffering will she have to go through before it completely takes over her? Not to be able to be there for her and hear about how much pain she is in, and how sad she is about all of this. Finding forgiveness towards my aunts, uncles who didn't have a care in the world where they lit up.

You see those commercials about second hand smoke and how it can take one's life so easily, but it doesn't truly set in on what they are talking about it until it happens to someone so close to you. I love you grandma, and I pray that God will give you peace and fill you with His comfort during this time.

FuelPerks

2009-08-20T06:28:00.000-07:00

Ok, I just have to say how much of a fan I am of the Rainbow Foods Fuel Perks deal they have going on...I just saved over .50cents a gallon on gas last night!! I was pretty excited about that, only having to pay $2.06 for gas. I know alot of us drive around family cars so they can take a pretty penny on filling up, but if you are dorky like me and after swiping your rewards card to see how much they are taking off the price, filling up my Acadia isn't so bad after all:)

Our 1 Year!

2009-08-07T06:55:00.000-07:00

"The One I laugh With, Live For, Dream With, love."

-author unknown

Wow, we made it to the big ONE Year mark of our marriage. I honestly have to say it has been one of the funnest years. I know you hear "the first year is always the hardest" and for some it might be, but we must've been blessed cause this last year was pretty fun and exciting! Exciting in the fact to see how God continues to mold us to be the husband and wife that he designed us to be for each other. It has been fun in the sense of learning every little thing about each other, whether is what discovering new habits, working with each other on house projects, being lazy on a Saturday morning having our coffee and playing the Wii ever so often(Mario Kart is our favorite so far), and getting into the word and discussing the meaning of verses and learning from each other. I have to admit, we continue to learn how to push each others buttons a time or two or three or maybe quite a few times:)...but those were the times that we grew that much closer to one another, learning quite quickly not to push that particular button again:) but always remembering to say "I am sorry" and then to let the other know "I forgive you."

Over all this has been a good year, and look foward to the many years that are to come. Thank you to all of our friends and family who we have to look to for encouragment, you all are a true blessing to us.

2 miles and Still nothing

2009-07-28T12:43:00.000-07:00

my husband and I have been on this running kick for over a month now...we are running up to 2 miles every day, along with a tummy crunches, and I still haven't seen one inkling of a pound drop off!! I don't get it...we have even changed our diets to be on the more nutritious side, eating more fruits, vegies, salads, etc. Grrrr...I mean I know the weight just doesn't drop like that, but you would think I would start to see some type of results. It is just so hard to continue to work out when no results are in sight...maybe I need to do something more than run my 2 miles and 3 sets of crunches...who knows!! any ideas out there my fellow bloggers?

A Little Dessert in the Morning

2009-07-07T08:23:00.000-07:00

I haven't really been one to drink black coffee, I have always been the "fufu" type drinker, like a medium latte with 3 pumps vanilla/3 pumps hazelnut with a little cinnamon sprinkled on top(mmmmm, that first sip tastes like heaven) but then my husband introduced me to flavored creamer! So I thought ok, I'll give it a try....and I love it(not all the flavors but a there are a few)!! The flavor is called Chocolate Eau Claire, just poor a little or a lot of it into your coffee and sip away, it truly tastes devine!

8 Things (past due)

2009-06-05T07:11:00.000-07:00

So I started this a few weeks ago and finally had some time to finish:) I know I am a procrastinator!! Enjoy:)

8 things I am looking forward to:

1. going to New York to visit my sister

2. building our new deck.

3. hosting a house warming party.

4. being able to eat the yummy vegitabels from my garden.

5. going camping.

6. drinking Cherry Limeades all summer long.

7. floating out on the water with friends.

8. my one year anniversary this year

8 things I did yesterday:

1. had the Best Cherry Limeade with cheddar bites of course

2. went running with my husband.

3. cleaned the house

4. worked

5. sat by the garden and enjoyed the weather.

6. watered the flowers and yard.

7. texted my sister.

8. watched the begining of the NBA finals...is Kobe Bryant really that cool??

8 things I wish I could do:

1. Learn how to brew my own beer/wine.

2. attend a wine stomping event.

3. be on the Amazing Race.

4. travel across the world.

5. read my boss's mind

6. be able to name a song and who sang it at the same time:)

7. never have to work again.

8. be able to support my "entire" family in these hard times.

8 shows I watch:

1. House

2. CSI-New York

3. Ugle Betty

4. 24

5. Lost

6. Here Comes the Newley Wes

7. Wipe Out

8. The Mentalist

8 favorite fruits:

1. Strawberries

2. Blueberries

3. Raspberries

4. Kiwi

5. Cherries

6. Watermelon

7. Bananas

8. Pineapple(I really could list more)

8 places I'd like to travel to:

1. Spain

2. Upper East Side of the US

3. England

4. Germany

5. Italy (again!)

6. Ireland

7. Greece

8. all of Upper MI

8 places I've lived:

1. Oklahoma

2. Georgia

3. California

4. Wisconsin

5. Missouri

6. Apple Lane

7. Turquoise Trail

8. Blackhawk Rd.

8 people I'm tagging: not sure how to Tag people, but if I could it would be:
Holly/Becky/Jessica(1)/Jackie/Sherri/John/Jessica(2)/Lisa

Timberrrrrr

2009-05-13T10:53:00.000-07:00

It is officially the start of Summer Projects to begin! First on the list take down trees in back yard:) I have posted a little video for your entertainment! We still have one more to go, but it was a start. I must say watching your husband up a really tall tree while it is swaying in the end all the while trying to cut it down is just a bit nerve racking. Boyz will be boyz!

We also got our sliding glass door put in a few weeks ago, it makes the dining room look soooo much bigger, it is nice:)

Next on the list is buidling a deck, plant the garden, redo the drive, paint MORE trim for the inside of the house, and replace the steps infront of the house:) Let the Good Times Roll!!

"Can You Keep a Secret"

2009-04-27T12:09:00.000-07:00

Secrets from her boyfriend:

I've always thought Connor looks alot like Ken. As in Ken and Barbie.

Secrets she wouldn't share with anyone in the world:

I have no idea what NATO stands for. Or even what it is.

Until she spills them to a handsome stranger on the plane.

At least, she thought he was a stranger....

I won't tell you anymore, but this book is absolutely hillarious!!! This book is by the author Sophie Kinsella, she also wrote the "Confessions of a Shopaholic" Series. I find myself laughing out loud at the coffee shop not realizing where I am while reading this book. If you need a good summer read I would check this out.

I have been doing pretty good lately about getting back into reading books. I have come accross a few that had way toooo much drama, the series "Something Borrowed/Something Blue/Baby Proof", I wouldn't suggest them really, I found myself more irriatated than anything after reading them. But I am the type of reader that wants to knows what happens, so this time I just skipped to the last chapter and found out what happens. I couldn't handle all the drama:)

Don't worry I am not becoming a book critic or anything, so I wont be filling my blogs with book commentaries:) just thought I would share this book with you all!!

Moving Up to 4 Doors...

2009-03-31T07:53:00.000-07:00

Well, we did it!! Rich and I purchased our first vehicle together:) with 4 doors!! We have been looking for few months now going back and forth over vehicles and after endless hours of researching and going to different dealerships for test drives, it all came down to a new Silver Green Metalic AWD Acadia(I know the picture shows a sliver vehicle, but it is the only one I could find). I have to say its not often you run into a really good salesman. He was very honest with us and helped us find a vehicle within our budget, all the while making sure it had the things we wanted in a vehicle. He also made sure we got every possible rebate and incentive to making the vehicle worth our money.
This will be the first 4 door vehicle either one of us will have owned, we are very excited for it and can't wait to go pick it up tonite!!

Greetings From the Future

2009-03-23T06:50:00.000-07:00

I finally got to see what the huge big round golf ball looking like thing was at Epcot last week. It was a lot of fun, oh to be a kig again:)

T-2 days and Counting

2009-03-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

In two days I will be laying out on the beaches of Florida:) I have never vacationed there before so I am super excited. There is even a shuttle launch the night we get in, that will be fun to see. I think I am more excited to be in the warm sun and leaving this cold weather behind!! I will post pictures of the trip when I return. Stay warm my friends, and I will be thinking of you all!!

The ENT Visit

2009-02-17T11:31:00.000-08:00

I had my visit with the ENT (ear,nose,throat) doctor yesterday and have to say I was not to impressed! I drove all the was Minneapolis for this ENT doc, waited for him for about 15minutes all for him to tell me "You can either get your tonsils out or keep them in, here is a brochure and the number to call to schedule if you decide to get them out." THE END! I'm thinking "what...I just paid my co pay and took a trip to minnapolis for you to tell me that!!" I don't know about you, but sometimes these doctors baffle me at times. Why would'nt my first doctor tell me what he was going to say and skip right to part of you need to go get your tonsils out, schedule an appointment with them for this. So now I need to decide, to get them out or not too...that is the question:)

Boycott the Valentine's Day madness

2009-02-12T13:16:00.000-08:00

I found this article online about boycotting the valentine's day madness today and found it to be logical and a bit amuzing and wanted to share it with all of my fellow blogger friends. I am totally with her about not being against the romance of it all for a day...but admist the economic crisis we are finding ourselves it is hard to understand why we all fall to the Hallmark spending spree for the day to tell the one you love "I Love You"....

Romance is to be savored, sure, but must we spend nearly $15 billion on candy, flowers and other frivolous gifts? There are better (and sexier) ways to show you care.....http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/LoveAndMoney/boycott-the-valentines-day-madness.aspx

Happy Valentines Day!!! I hope you enjoy the article:)

Tonsillitis & Laringitas

2009-01-30T06:17:00.000-08:00

Yes I have managed to take on both of these to throat adventures over the last couple of days...not so fun:( I seem to get the tonsillitis thing more regulary ever since last year!! I would about every 3-4 months, and now I add to it Laringitas. After many strep tests, mono tests, cancer tests, iron tests, you name the test, I have been tested for it, and my doctor is finally sending me to a ENT (ear nose throat) doctor. I have never been to one so I am a little curious as to what will happen, because they are scheduled out until the middle of February. What if I don't have my symtoms then...oh well, this blog is just me whining, I know. Its just when your throat really really hurts, your boss is expecting you to be at work, and you would rather stay home, but you feel like a soar throat shouldn't stop you from doing anything, it is just no fun!! I will keep you posted to see what the ENT doctor says.

Air Popped PopCorn, Cup o HotChocolate and a slice of Carrot Cake!

2009-01-19T11:14:00.000-08:00

what more could you ask for on a Sunday night:) We got this new popcorn maker for christmas and we love it. I forgot how good popcorn tasted by making it from the seeds and not the bag in the microwave. It was a fun night, we got in our Pajama's Rich made some hot chocolate with LOTS of marshmallows, I made the popcorn and we rocked out on the Guitar Hero. I am actually becoming very good at this game, maybe I should head up a secret Rock Band:) wanna join!! and for desert we had the HUGE piece of Carrot cake we got from the resturant the other night. You could feed at least 4 off of that slice. But it was good. I love those random Sunday nights:)

LAYOFFS

2009-01-16T07:57:00.000-08:00

We here it all around us, Layoff, Layoff, more rounds of Layoffs. You really never think that it will ever happen to you. It is so easy to take for granted the things we do have and I have realized over the last couple weeks how this word has really hit home for me. I have had a close girlfriend of mine make it through 3 rounds of layoffs at her work and I just found out my dad was laid off just this last Friday:(
It truly has been a wake up call for me, I first of all can't imagine the stress and worry it brings on the family of wondering will I have a job tomorrow or how long till I find a new job in this economy. Secondly, I feel like I have been in a little bubble of "the recession thing isn't affecting me" , not worrying about my spending and basically taking for granted what God has blessed me with in my life. Taking for granted my own job, complaining about it and having a bad attitude towards it, I am trying to turn that attitude around but its not an easy thing to do. Going through the rounds of lay offs with my friend and seeing the stress it brings on you and seeing the effects a true lay off has on my own family has truly opened my eyes to what is going on in this world. My heart truly goes out to them and everyone who is going through a layoff. love ya all:)

Winter Fun

2009-01-12T08:39:00.000-08:00

Emma and "her" uncle Richy

little Cole climbing all over Rich

Emma put us in Time Out chairs:)

here is the start of our snow man...

he is getting bigger...

ta da!!!

we had a little help getting him together:)

our gingerbread house we made from scratch

HolliDazzle Fun

time of your life girls

Happy New Year Friends

2009-01-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

I know I know, I have been a slacker on my blogs...does it count that I think about blogging:):)

well, 2008 ended pretty good, we went home to MI for Christmas and did my family's Christmas the weekend before. My sister from NY was able to come home and hang out with us. MI was fun, the travel out there not so much. we left MOnday night to miss most of the storm that was heading our way and finished the drive on Tuesday. What a MESS!! I think we saw at least 20+ cars in ditch from Janesville, WI to the Illinois boarder (for those of you that don't know thats about a 45min drive) we did make it safely to MI around dinner time.

They had over 2ft of snow when we got there. We built a huge (over 6' tall) snowman the next day with our niece Emma and her parents. (I will post pictures of him when I remember to bring in the camera) well, 2 days later the snowman was gone:( they had a huge rain storm come through and melted all the snow away...crazy so needless to say we didn't get to play in the snow too much. I think the best part of it all was hanging out with little Emma, Cole and Asher:) they are getting to the age where they are playful and want to hang on to you every moment. Emma and I had pj parties at night, and she adored her uncle Rich, if he wasn't in sight she would go looking for him.

On the house front projects, we are kinda at a stand still till the summer, just working on piddly stuff inside the house. When summer comes along we are planning on putting in a sliding glass door and a new deck!! oh ya and we need to redo our driveway. Fun times ahead!!

well my friends, I will try to post pictures soon. take care for now:)

No Problem Mon!!

2008-08-28T14:37:00.000-07:00

oh Jamaica....this is where my husband and I went on our honeymoon!! it was so awesome!! when we got there we realized they had upgraded us to the best room on the entire resort, it had our very own swim up pool outside of our patio deck, it was great. our butler had our chairs ready for us every morning under the palm trees and brought us our Jamaican Smiles (the best drink ever) and whatever else we needed while we basked in the sun, they were only a phone call away. I would have to say naps by the ocean was one of my favorite events:) we went and got certified to go diving down there, that was cool!! it was a little scary for me at first cause I couldn't get the whole breathing through your mouth thing down, but once under the water they said I was a pro! It is amazing down under the ocean with all of the ocean life around you. words can't even describe. the sunsets down there were amazing too, and believe it or not the weather was great the whole week.

I will post more pictures and stories later, but this will have to do for now.

Got Zuchinni!!

2008-07-25T10:11:00.000-07:00

so I went out to my garden last night and this is what I found!!!

wholly zuchinni!!! I needed two hands just to pick the first one in the picture off the plant (notice the finger nail swipe) I don't know how they got this huge!! no steroids, miracle grow, just water!! I know one thing for sure you don't see this kind of stuff in the stores:):)

They are really good, we grilled a couple them on the grill the other night, oh so tasty!! So if you want any zuchinni, come on over and I'll hook ya up!!

Mister N Shorty

2008-07-25T08:33:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of our Engagement Pictures!!
15 Days!!!

Say It's NOT True!!

2008-07-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

I get a call from my mother-in-law to be the other day telling me she bought her dress and how excited she was for it. She started describing her dress to me and it sounded very familiar!! So I asked her where she bought it from...from Sears :0 then I asked her what designer it was from... Oh Boy!! all I could think is that is was the EXACT same dress that my mom had bought a few months back for the wedding!!! so I am having her send me a picture of it to verify...I don't get how it happens, two different states, bought at different times!! oh boy, lets hope that it isn't the same dress as my moms:)

It's All About the Limeade!!!

2008-07-09T13:53:00.001-07:00

You would not believe what FINALLY arrived in Minnesota!! SONIC and their famous Cherry Limeades!!! and cheddar bites!! mmmmm I made a trip to them on Saturday. It was GREAT!!

if you haven't had SONIC before it is well worth your trip. They are only in St. Paul right now, but is coming soon to Savage:):)

After the Fact

2008-06-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

I thought women only changed their minds at the last minute "after the fact" that something is already in progress. Not true...I have come to realize that my hubby to be likes to come up with "new" ideas of how something should be or go "AFTER" I have started or completed the process of something!!! Now, I know he means well, and is just sharing his ideas, but FOR THE LOVE!! Why not share your thoughts and ideas during the putting together process. (I know where is the story LD) We have been working on our programs for the wedding, and I have made proteges for him to see and get his imput, he tells me he likes it and if I like it I can do it. We go get all the paper for the one side of the program and I him the file of what will be printed one last time to make sure he likes it. He does, then I get an email a couple hours later from him suggesting we do the programs maybe this way... AFTER I sent the file to the print shop with all the paper and is now in production. meanwhile I am preparing my self for him to say he really wanted to do the programs this other way. Which would Xnay the whole thing that we had put together in the first place. BREATHE LaDonna, they are just programs....You gotta love him though, he did realize his new idea was a "little" last minute, but thought we would share it with me:)

58 Days

2008-06-11T08:06:00.000-07:00

Yeah!! I will be a Ver Strate soon!! I kinda feel like I am on a roller coaster of feelings, I get excited, then a little nervous, some times I feel anxious and then excited all over again:) So many changes to come. This has been a good year of changes though, My girlfriend was married earlier this year, I have two friends who are new mommies, and I am about to be married in less than two months....woohoo!!

Clubhouse Chicken Squares

2008-05-05T14:24:00.000-07:00

some of us girls got together over the weekend for scrapbooking!! I wouldn't say I got to much done, but I did have fun:) we were to bring a dish with and everytime I make this, it seems as everyone raves about and wants the "secret" recipe...well, here is LD's version of the ClubHouse Chicken Squares. Enjoy!!!

2 (8 oz.) tubes of refrigerator crescent rolls1

(8 oz.) package of cream cheese,

1 clove of garlic, pressed

1/2 cup of ranch dressing

1 teaspoon of italian seasoning

2cups of chopped chiken

1 cucumber chopped

1 chopped tomato,

1/2 cup shredded marble jack cheese

6 slices of bacon, crisply cooked & crumbled(the "real" bacon bits work just as well)

Preheat oven to 375. Unroll 1 package of crescent rolls across one end of cookie sheet (baking sheet). Repeat with remaining package of crescent rolls dough, covering the sheet. Roll or press dough to seal perforations. Press up sides to form crust. Bake 12 - 15 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and cool completely.

Place cream cheese, ranch dressing, garlic, italian seasoning, in a batter bowl. Mix until smooth. Spread cream cheese mixture evenly over the cooled crust. Sprinkle chicken evenly over the filling. Place cucumber slices evenly on top. Sprinkle tomatoes, bacon, and cheese on top. Cut into squares (I use a pizza cutter).

50 MPH

2008-04-25T09:54:00.001-07:00

Today is the first day in a long time I drove the actual speed limit on my way to work. I see this trooper from the corner of my eye waiting to turn onto the highway after I passed by... oooh boy!! I was only going "a few" miles over the speed limit, ok I admit my car is use to going 60 on this road and not 50. So we are cruisin' along then I see another 3 cop cars up the road(at this point I am thinking I am about to witness a C.O.P.S. show episode) well, no COPS show episode was about to happen, but it did get me to go the speed limit the entire stretch of 13. I have to say though, it is too easy to be cruizin along and not realizing how fast you are actually going...

Joy Riding

2008-04-15T07:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Rich and I were off to meet little Martin (he is the newest addition to some good friends of ours) after work and lets just say, it was a trip:) I googled the address that was given to me and printed them off to get us to the hospital, well, lets just say the directions took us to a house that was being newly built. So unless the hospital downsized to a housing development...mmm I not to sure. Well to our knowledge the adventure had just begun:) we started driving around the city of St. Louis Park and later found ourselves on Excelsior(which the hospital is on) so we pulled into the hospital and walked into the building, got on the elevator thinking we were going to her floor and ended up on the Senoir Citizens Ward! I don't think they are having babies on that floor. So we go down a level, nope that was the family practice level and everyone had gone home for the day! So we found ourselves back at the parking ramp and realized this hospital had multiple buildings. We picked up the courtesy phone to talk to the operator to find out which building she was in. Her reply was "you are on the wrong campus of the hospital!" we needed to go back out to Excelsior and go down another 2 miles and she will be at the hospital there. oops! (At this point my lovely husband to be was not very happy with me, I deffinately need to get a map or a gps unit in my car) So we get back in the car and head down the road to see construction is in our way of getting to the hospital! Yipee(note the sarcasm) well after a little detour we made it to the hospital...we walk in and ask the desk guy how to get to her room. We go up to the 3rd floor looking for room 316(this is the room I thought she was in). There is no room 316!! There was 317, 318, 319 and so on...NO 316. We both laugh walk back down the hallway and the nurses could tell we were still lost:) To our knowledge she was in room 336! An hour later we found our friends and met little Martin (the adventure was deffinately worth it, he is so adorable:):)!! but to know we did a complete circle on our drive passing the same resturant we passed on our way to the first hospital site oh about 45 minutes earlier....I got in a little bit of trouble:)

Too Busy

2008-04-09T13:05:00.000-07:00

I feel like I have kinda fallen a little with my "God Time" per say. My prayer life is pretty good, but when it comes to sitting down and reading my bible or reading a devotion, I struggle. I feel like I have gotten wrapped up in the cycle called "I am too busy and if I am not at the moment I will find something else to do to busy my time" I know, its horrible isn't it. Then I get a little frustrated cause in the back of my mind I know I should spend more quality time with God and because I don't I feel bad. I think about spending more time with Him... ALOT(does that count?) but I don't do anything about it...I know I could have the strength to over come this bondage I feel, but I just don't have the motivation to do it. Blogger friends, do you ever get in this cycle? How do you deal with it?

Harding vs. Kerrigan for '08

2008-03-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

ok, I was watching my usual Good Morning America Segments this morning while getting ready for work and I just have to laugh at the media these days, (don't get me wrong I love GMA in the mornings) but to analyze the Democratic race with the Harding/Kerrigan incident...I am not to sure. Granted I would have to say this is probably the first time I have been following the democratic race closely(I like what Obama has to say and to see how Clinton handles her campaign) but for them to say Clinton needs to pull a Tanya Harding on Obama to get on the ballot is kinda sad! Granted it seems that is whats happening, but why can't they focus on the issues such as the recession we are sliding in, or the housing market, health insurance, our kids education and so on. I don't know for sure the Obama campaign hasn't gone on a rampage like I have seen/heard the Clinton campaign do with her opponent. But come on now, can't we all just get along! We have two grown adults who could potentially be our President and this is what we have to look foward too???

What a Punk!!

2008-03-24T11:09:00.000-07:00

So I was driving around the Wal Mart parking lot today at lunch looking for a spot to park in and had seen this car off to the side who looked like they were just going to plow right into me so I quickly slammed on my brakes. This kid(he is probably in his teens) looked at me and waved me on, so I proceeded and then went down the next aisle and just happened to find a spot right behind his car. As I was getting out of my car he pokes his head out of the window and yelled "you gotta problem with me!" and then gave me that look like you wanna fight. So I just shrugged my shoulds at him and continued to lock my car, well as I was starting to walk towards the store he was getting out of his car yelling "hey, whats your deal" ignoring him I continued to walk shaking my head at him. He then honked his horn at me trying to get my attention even more and continued the yelling. What was this boy thinking!! that I was going to fight him for whatever I did to make him mad!! what an idiot! Every part of my red headedness wanted to go off on him, maybe punch him for being stupid, but I didn't, he wasn't worth my time or energy. I just don't get why teens act like they are all tough, then it makes me think, were we like that as a teenager??

October Road

2008-03-12T12:39:00.001-07:00

So I am not sure if any of you watch October Road, it is a show based on small town drama. It is the perfect chic flick!! I am sad to say the season has come to an end, I am so sucked into this show I find myself wondering about what the different characters are going to about how things ended. I can get myself so wrapped up in it that I feel like I am actually right in the town with them. I know sad, I am actually going to miss this show, hopefully they don't take too long to bring it back on.

Hair Dresser Crisis

2008-02-12T07:42:00.000-08:00

I am kinda in shell shock and starting to freak out!! I just found out today that my hair dresser had left the salon!! AHHHHHH!!! who's going to do my hair, will I like the person doing my hair, will they do a good job?? I know I have a few months to find someone, but that takes a lot of time. If I wasn't so particular about who does my hair it probably wouldn't be a huge deal. It seems like you get use to someone who knows what you like and what you want and then they vanish and you have to start all over again. I wanna cry ..... Am I freaking out for nothing, I think someone just needs to tell me to chill out....anyone know a good hair dresser???

MY DRESS

2008-02-04T07:08:00.000-08:00

So what do you think?? I heard it was the new trend these days!! ha ha....just kidding!! My girls were passing around emails about different bridesmaids dresses and so on and I really fell in love with this one:) and Rich will be wearing a sky blue tux with all the ruffles to match:) (just in case you were wondering)

if you want a good laugh check out this web site.... www.uglydress.com

you will be amazed on what you will find!!

Going to the Chapel!!

2008-01-15T10:11:00.000-08:00

Yes, it is true Mister and Shorty are getting married!!!

He took me away for my birthday to a ski resort up in northern Minnesota. It was pretty nice up there. The room was awesome!! We went skiing, had strawberry cheesecake(my favorite), wine, went on a sleigh ride through the hills, and then one day I was sitting by the fire and he comes into the room with a box and said this was for me:)....was he for real!! I started opening the little box, getting more and more excited as I got closer to what is the most beautiful ring! It is perfect!! Of course I said YES!!!

Merry Christmas

2007-12-20T12:20:00.000-08:00

I was watching Good Morning America the other morning while getting ready for work and they viewed the clip below and I got a little teary eyed. When you see things like this it just makes you appreciate the holidays and all that you have been blessed with. Have a safe a happy Christmas my friends!! (enjoy the clip...I think they have a little blip while it is loading)

Soldier Surprise
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=4000031

16 Days till the first Hill

2007-12-12T14:42:00.000-08:00

Well friends I am not quite sure how to feel about this years birthday. Usually I am super excited and reminding everyone about my birthday coming up and getting them excited too(I know I am dork) But turning 30 is something else...I know I don't look 30, so that is positive:) Although, I will always be carded when I go out with my sister(who is 22) and they wont even look at her to see if she needs to be carded!! but there is just so many other things that fall in the 30 category that I am not too sure about....I am deffinately not 21 anymore, staying out till wee hours of the night and being able to get up the next morning and go...no way I need my sleep now, and the list could go on. I am excited that I get to go away for the weekend:) and that my girlfriend and I are probably having the Biggest 30yr bash ever...

sorry for the random blog...I was just sitting at work thinking about turning 30 and thought I would share my thoughts:)

SNOW..a love/hate relationship

2007-12-10T14:27:00.000-08:00

It is amazes me how much snow we have gotten this month! I love it and hate it at the same time. I love it, cause it is calming to look out your window and see the snow covered trees and yard, to be snuggled up in your favorite chair with a cup of coffee (or hot cocoa)...its great!! You also get to go out and enjoy sledding, making snowmen, and snowangels:) I hate it, cause only in Minnesota do the drivers have to learn to drive all over again. For real!! I am sure we all have our stories.

So we FINALLY are getting to put things up in the cabinets of the kitchen and get it organized!! We can breathe the finishing touches. The only things left to do is put down the flooring, and install the appliances and order counter tops. Then we are DONE!!! with the kitchen...I have heard you are never really "done" on house projects. ( I will have to post a few pictures later)

YEAH GOD!!

2007-11-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

Hey Friends

Here are the beautiful kids that my friends were blessed with through adoption!! It has been so amazing to see God work through their entire process. We are so excited for them all to come home!!

ps you can read about the process by clicking on there blog to the right"dressel familia"

This Is NOT Happening!!

2007-10-23T06:13:00.000-07:00

I am seriously loosing my mind and I haven't even reached 30 yet!!

yes this is me pouting...for real though, this morning, I thought I lost my keys. I dumped out my purse wondering where they were, ran up stairs to my room, tore the whole thing apart to see if I dropped them on the floor, nope, so then I went back down stairs to my purse thinking they would magically appear this time, and went through it again, still no keys, yes, I ran back up stairs to my room, making an even bigger mess to find those darn keys! Still nothing, so I went back down to my purse determined that they had to be in my purse, nothing!! :) I even tried to retracemy steps from the night before. So at this point I had to call my boss to tell him I was going to be running late due to my lost keys. I call my mom to see if she still had my spare key, then I rummaged through my room one last time, then went down stairs to kitchen...and low and behold I had set them on the counter this morning after getting a drink of water!! So humility sets in called my boss told him I was on my way, do I dare tell him how I lost them! luckily I got voicemail and I was only a few minutes late.

....AFTER

2007-08-20T14:20:00.000-07:00

For all you wondering minds what came after....
check out the new LD:):)
who would've thought I would be so brave to do such a thing :)
Kinda Hot don't ya think!!!

Before and....

2007-08-15T13:25:00.000-07:00

Its a FLIP FLOP FRIDAY

2007-08-10T08:42:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone....So I woke up this morning, got ready for work and the first shoes I slipped on were my flip flops with intentions of changing my shoes when I got into my car this morning. Didn't happen:) Just some reason, they are so much more comfortable than the shoes I wanted to wear and decided to just keep them on. Am I the only one here...Have a great weekend friends!!

Team Barr

2007-07-20T07:13:00.000-07:00

What a fun season!! We had a 10-0 season ending up in the playoffs beating the first team(this team was from a d-2 league and was in 3rd)we played and the second team(they were in a D-1 league and came in 2nd) we only lost by 3.I know most we be like "oh man we lost!!", but considering we came from a D-3 league and we only lost by 3 I think is pretty good.
I actually did pretty good through out the season, I even made MVP in one of the games!! The were all intrigued by my acrobatic skills in catching a few of those pop flys:) I was even amazed I made some of those catches. They even ventured to play me at second base...(a position I have never played before) If I could only learn to keep the ball in my glove when I stop it, I don't know what I was doing but that darn ball always seemed to pop up and out. But hey at least I stopped it right. You will see Rich(#21), he is the one who got us into this league. This team is through his work. He did pretty good this season as well. Everyone was a lot of fun and real encouraging even when you messed up:) I will have to post more pictures later.

Sweet Dreams

2007-06-26T14:38:00.001-07:00

So I got a new bed over the weekend!! and I LOVE IT!! yes it was due time that I did get a new bed (hence I had my old bed since middle school) I am not up on the fashion pro-qous on how often to change your beds...but I did it. I actually look foward to running up to my room and jumping in my bed and ready to sleep, then realize that it is only 7 or 8 o'clock and force my self to get out of it and go do something else:)
It is amazing what a new big soft bed can do for one person. I know this is silly to get excited about my new bed, but I just wanted to share it with someone!!

Got Soy!!

2007-06-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

So, my sister has talked me into trying soy milk in my lattes (to make is a little healthier). I guess I have to say I can't really tell the difference between soy milk and 2% milk. I did cut out the vanilla shot though, since the soy has vanilla in it. Does this mean it is a good excuse to drink more coffee....probably not, but it is still very good!! I have been trying to cut coffee out of my diet, it is just too hard though. I don't know why! Does anyone else have this problem or is it just me.

6 hours vs 6 minutes

2007-05-04T10:48:00.000-07:00

One would know that there is a big difference between the two...except for me:) I had my first pampered chef show the other weekend...The ladies had a great time and I thought I did pretty good...until I pre-almost burnt the pizza crust. See the recipe had called for you to "pre-bake" the pizza crust for 6 minutes(this is so the crust does not get soggy) after I had put the crust in the overn, I went on with the show. Well, it wasn't until one of the guests had asked if the pizza crust had been in for more than 6 minutes...I looked up at the timer and told her "no we have plenty of time." She then asked me again "are you sure??" so I checked the timer again then thought to look at the crust. Well, the crust was a nice golden brown, and when I read the timer again it had read that there was 5 HOURS and 25 seconds left!!! Hello LaDonna!!!....good thing she mentioned something...otherwise we would've had one burnt pizza crust to deal with. Good thing the host(my mom) had baught extra though. I couldn't believe I had set the timer for 6 hours and not 6 minutes!! Good thing this is called "Pampered Chef" and not the "Perfect Chef" I had a lot of fun at my first show, I have two more coming up for a couple of my close friends!!

DISCONTINUED!!!

2007-04-23T10:13:00.000-07:00

This famous word seems to be our(Rich and I) theme lately!! We are finally coming down to redoing the kitchen in his house and seems like everything that we have picked out to go in the new kitchen has now been discontinued!!! It all started at Home Depot when we were asking about the cabinets we had picked out, they guy told us that they have stopped buying from that line for a month now!! Then we went to go look at our tile that we liked and guess what?? Yup it was discontinued too!!! Luckily we found cabinets that we liked right away but now we are back to the drawing board on the tile!! It is frustrating especially when you get your heart set on a certain look and then they take it away. I am sure we will find tile that we will like, but it is just frustrating when you go into the store ready to purchase the item for the household and it is no longer available. Because you want it to coordinate with all the other things you had picked out. We did get to see the floor plans for the kitchen our friend Drea made up for it. We are super excited about that. So now we just need to make a few more measurments get everything ordered and then comes Demo Day!!! When it is all done, we will deffinately throw a party!!

A Day at the Spa!!

2007-03-05T14:54:00.000-08:00

Last Friday I was lucky enough to have received a gift card to a Day Spa. It was actually quite fun. I went in for a "Detox Body Wrap". You always see the ladies get wraps on the movies so I thought I would try it out. I am not really sure how much it "detoxed" me(like get rid of that bloating feeling or other impurities in your skin) but it was really relaxing and I felt great afterwards. I kinda felt like royalty. You get dressed in a robe(you can keep your undergarments on) and you go sit in a relaxing lounge and they have people there to wait on you hand an foot. I would deffinately do it again.