Cliff Hanger!!

So at the end of my last post, I realize I left everybody hanging. It would have been better if I had blogged as planned, but I did not. Yeah... My bad..

Anyways, Shark I have been discussing our "Random Room" lately. What we want to do with it, make out of it, burn it... Things like that. Here's the room again, in case you forgot. (On the bottom picture, it's that weird wall on the right side, with that odd blue siding.)

So, Shark has been brainstorming, getting all kinds of great ideas. And Sunday he finally just started doing. (My only condition to doing anything with that room was : It had to wait until after Christmas, when things weren't so dang crazy! Sunday was the 26th.....)

Well, Shark cleaned out that entire room, which was pretty awesome itself. That room is where we put all the boxes and I was supposed to slowly clean out that room, but somehow never got around to it. Also, I bet it didn't help that when I needed something, I tore apart every box in that room, and made it a complete mess! Yeah... So, my freaking awesome husband took that whole room and put it in the rooms the stuff needed to be in. I'm not gonna lie, lots went down to the dungeon. Anywho, when he tore up the carpet, THIS amazingness was underneath.

Yeah... I wonder why they carpeted over it... Well, Shark just kept going. Once the carpet was torn up (and rolled up and put in the dungeon.) He started on the wall. Yes, THE WALL!

There is a door from the dining room that now goes into the garage, not outside. He then framed a wall between that odd siding and the brick on the house.

And he has even framed another wall, to close off the garage. (So I can have a big pantry and tons of shelves!!)

Speaking of shelves. Shark's dad came over to help him on Monday, and his dad went up to my craft room/office and made these awesome shelves!!

I'm so excited!! So really, that's what been going on. Sorry to get you all excited. I love having lots of shelves!! Woot woot! Now to organize them, and find a way to keep them organized. We'll just have to see. Thank you so much, Shark for making all these things for me, and thank you to your dad too!

POTD: Bandit at the top of the stairs. No one to play with...

Love to all who have big plans for this next year!! I know we sure do! ♥

Slacker of the year!

Ok, so maybe just the end of the year! I realize I've been missing. Not that I blog for anyone but me (this is my vent to the world!) but everything has been crazy with Christmas! las minute gift creations, and making sure everything looks just right. Here is my Christmas so far.

And I totally dropped the ball this year and did NOT get awesome pictures like I did last year. Sorry. I did get some pictures, and I'll post what I can. If not, I gave some gifts to people that live around here, I'll sneak in and snap some shots.

And this is what I made! There is quite a few things missing, but like I said, I dropped the ball! I didn't even decorate really! Ugh!

Ok, now some big things have been happening around the house. I'll share all that with you when I get off work tonight and blog! :)

Love to all, I hope all was merry and bright! ♥

Christmas Card

Merry Christmas to all!!

Thank you to all our friends and family! We love you all so much! You trully are the best ever!

Ok, to sum up the year : This past year has been a crazy one, I lost my job in January, and the next day we decided at the end of February we were moving to Utah. My doctor's appointments in Colorado wrapped up in February and when we got to Utah, I found a doctor here. We were given the "green light" to have kids and that's what our goal has been. We moved in with Mark's brother and sister-in-law for a while, and then bought a house in South Ogden in October. Mark moved back to Utah with 2 jobs waiting for him, and I found a job that I like very much. We're both on Shark's insurance now, so we've been able to see doctor's about what's been going on with my body, or lack of "going on" but we're still trying to figure it out. We love our new house, and are excited to make it our very own. Bandit loves having his own yard, with no possible options of escape, not that he hasn't tried at all! Mark got enrolled in school here in Utah, and even managed to get recidency in Utah, and he begins classes first thing January! This year has taken us all over the place, and it has been an up and down kind of year, but we are happy to be together and happy to be where we are. We're grateful for all that we have been blessed with, even when it didn't seem like blessings at the time.

When we look back on the year, we see that we have been walking in a strait line to where we are. Even though it seems like we were going back and forth, zig-zagging. We are very happy to be here. Grateful to be in the ward we're in, close to Shark's friends and family. I miss my family but I call them enough, so that makes up for the distance.

Shark and I have been making the most of our new home. I've been painting and hanging things up. I've been buying shelves and hooks from the Trading Post, all to make my home cute and my own. I've also been making more food and treats (which Shark likes, alot!) and I've been getting good at making more kinds of food. I'll try to get some more pictures up on here.

Christmas has taken over my life for the past 2 months. I have been so dang busy with work and presents. It's been way crazy. (So crazy, we can't even tell if Bandit has gotten into anything because my house is awful!!) I'm hoping with the Crazy season ending and a new year beginning, a new budget, cleaning, and new places for everything. I plan to clean everything and put everything away, and get re-started on the budget. Yeah I'm hoping to start a whole bunch new stuff. It just has to happen after Christmas.

 We hope this card finds all in good spirits and we wish you a Merry Christmas!

Love to all this season, may the love of Christ bring joy to your lives. ♥

Cute husband

So, I came home to find this in our spare room/Christmas room.

Yup. I love him.

And NO I did not peek!

Love to those who have THE cutest man in their life!! ♥

Getting ready for Christmas

So, since my illness, I have had time to just hang around the house. And since I can't really talk to anybody, I just listen to music and either clean or finish my presents. Well, I was blog-stalking today and I found a Christmas Countdown at Dating Divas! I absolutely love this! Too bad I don't have any time to make an advent calendar... Yup, just no time. I'm making Christmas presents still... Yeah.. I know.

I did finish my tree yesterday.

I absolutely LOVE it this year!! I bought all new ornaments because the blue/silver/black bulbs I bought when we first got married, flew out of the truck while we were driving. Yes. My ornaments (meaningless ones, not the ones my mom has been collecting since I was born) were smashed to smithereens on I-80, somewhere in Wyoming. So, I bought new ornaments, and I love how the tree turned out. You know how when you picture something in your head, and then you go to create it, and when it's done you think, Oh Crap, I suck at life...? Well, the tree actually turned out how I pictured it in my head. For once, that Oh Crap, thought didn't happen!! Yayayay! Shark's pretty cute, he really likes the silver picks I used (leaves) and he thinks my tree looks really good. He usually doesn't notice things like that. I'm pretty impressed with my tree decorating skills. :)

This is my favorite picture because you can see everything I used to decorate it. Each bulb I used (blue shiny, matte and glitter and silver matte and shiny), both ribbons (blue and silver), the snowflakes, the silver mesh and the silver pick (leaves). Plus, my tree actually looks good, not like the crappy tree that it is. {trust me, it really is crappy!}

That's Christmas so far.

This is Bandit playing in the snow. I found out I can use his Chuck-it like an ice cream scoop, and it makes perfect snowballs, it even throws them!! Yes!! Pretty sure it's awesome. And little dog loves it, so it's a keeper!

Oh, yeah. Remember my random voice-loss last week? Well, this week, my voice is still kinds gone (mom says I'm getting better) but now my throat hurts and I'm coughing and that hurts too. So, I bought some Mucinex, I bought 2 boxes and the guy at the register asked my age, he looked at me all skeptical, I said, Look, I'm married, I've been married 2 years. You have to be 18 to be married in this state right? He smiled and said, Yes. Geez people, I'm going to be 24 next month, I'm not skipping class, I'm not buying Mucinex to grind up and snort. I mean, I sound sick, ok. So, yeah, that's been bugging me this week. Yeah, alot. Shark is still NOT sick. On one of his pick-ups, they gave him a free flu shot. I think they were shooting everyone that walked thru the door. Lucky him.
Love to those who add to their collection of decorations, I have joined your ranks. ♥

JumbleBerry Pie recipe

Ok, so Gwen asked for yet another recipe. Actually, she said she wanted some pie and all I could do was offer her the recipe. Let me tell you a little bit about this recipe. I searched for a recipe I could use frozen fruit with. That's all I wanted. When I found this freaking awesome recipe on BHG.com, I was so excited! However, I also don't have 4 hours to create a pie entirely from scratch (hence the FROZEN fruit idea!). So I go out and I buy a box of refrigerated pie shells (I know how to make pie crust, an advisor in our single's ward taught me before I got married! It's fun, but lots of time!) then I start making. I put 5 cups of mixed fruit in a bowl. Dump on the flour and sugar and cinnamon. Stir it, then pop it in the microwave to thaw out just a bit. Every now and then I'll take it out and stir it. Once I can stir it and no white from the sugar or flour is left, I put it in the pie shell. I take the 2nd pie shell and (on a flour sprinkled surface) I start cutting strips. I use a pizza cutter (but I just bought a pastry cutter that cuts the crimped edges!! But it works the same as a pizza cutter. Knives drag the dough along, pizza cutters ROLL!!) then I start laying the strips on the filled pie shell. Criss-crossing every one. 1st up and down, 2nd side to side. 3rd up and down. To get them to weave just pull up on the strip under it, so each strip goes over-under-over-under. It's hard to explain, alot easier to do!! Trust me! Ok, when the pie is all latticed up, and the edges are pinched together, I take a spray bottle filled with clean water, and spray the top. Then I sprinkle sugar on the top. I don't usually wrap the edges in foil, but today I did, cuz I was baking 2 and have to switch places 1/2 way thru. (Don't ask, I'm not even sure why that made sense in my head but it did.) After 50 minutes in the oven, it should be done! Serve with ice cream!! Mmm!

I added some little notes. Also, since BHG called it berry fruit pie, I decided to add my own title! Enjoy the pie!

I am thankful for family and friends, near and far. I am thankful for the roof over my head (even tho it seems like it's falling apart!), I am thankful for my husband, who know how to fix all the broken things!! I am grateful to live in this country, where I can practice any religion I choose, where I can dress the way I want to, where everything is a choice. I am grateful for my country men and women, serving this country and each and everyone of us. Thank you.

Love to all who are thankful. ♥

Rosemary Bread Recipe

Ok, since my sister yelled at me about it... Here it is.

And yes Gwen, you did yell. All caps is yelling!! LOL

Love to those who love their families and sharing things with them, even if forced!! ;) ♥

This week so far

Ok, so last weekend, Shark and Steve went to Nebraska to shoot some deer. They both got one. Now my freezer is full of ground up venison! I'm so excited!! I love venison! I'm excited cuz I don't have to buy ground beef, not for a while at least.

And since Ang posted her Fantasy Football records. I decided to post mine too. They are just like her's : completely different in each league. In our family Yahoo League, I'm the champ! My record is 9-1, I only lost to Kevin cuz he stole my QB (Rodgers!) out from under in the draft! ugh. And in the ESPN league, I suck big time! It's not even funny! I have the same QB in both Leagues : Philip Rivers, and he's awesome. But for some reason, I suck in 1 league and am awesome in the other... Oh well.

Wednesday morning we woke up to find our back door didn't close right, so the house was freezing! And when I went to do laundry, I watched a frozen pipe bust right in front of me! I hollered for Shark to come help me, he jumped out of bed and ran in to help me. So did Bandit, who got sprayed with water. Bandit's pretty cute. (At a young age someone way mean kept spraying him with the hose to keep him our of her garden {ok, it was me!} so now he hates being sprayed with water.) He kept trying to punch the water and bite it to make it stop spraying. Shark found where our pipes start and shut off the water. Right now Shark is going to Lowe's or Home Depot to get parts for the pipes, and a space heater. :)

So all this week, I've been home sick. The thing is, I feel good, I don't feel crappy or anything, I just can't talk, and I cough every now and then. And let me tell you, it is not a nice cough. It sounds awful. So this morning I called work to see if they wanted me to come in. They are planning for today to be slow (with everyone heading out of town, getting ready for tomorrow, plus The Blizzard that his yesterday, I guess they aren't planning for lots of people.) So, the FE Manager said for me to stay home and get better. But that I had to promise to be there on Friday. I said, even if I can only bag on Friday, I will be there!

So now, I'm at home, probably baking pies today. and finishing up some Christmas presents. I also have to remember that Shark's birthday is the 5th!! Ugh!! I think I'll just make him a bunch of Rosemary Bread and get him some bullets...

Today I am thankful for my husband. For all that he does for me. He rescued me this morning when that pipe broke. He is always saving me. I love him so very much and I am grateful to know that he is mine, and has been mine forever. That we are meant/destined to be together. And I am so very grateful to know that no matter what happens, he will always be there for me. He's my best friend. I am so proud to walk beside him, to have and to hold him. Forever.

Love to those who hate having the most inconvient illness ever. ♥

Down with the sickness

Ok, so there is not going to be any menu for this week. First of all, I'm sick. I've got laryngitis. Shark took me to the doctor this morning and I got handed a Z-pack, it's a pack of antibiotics for pnuemonia and other throat illnesses, to stop my sinus's from making my throat gross... So, I don't feel like cooking. I called in to work today (I hate calling in sick!) cuz I'm contagious and no one can hear me talk. I need to not-contagious and people need to here me at work, I talk to people all day!! So, I am at home. Oh, and I don't want to cook, cuz I'm lazy. But also, I don't want to go to the store cuz I'm contagious, and I can't cook unless I have food to cook. So, yeah... Also this week is Thanksgiving (what a week to be sick, trust me, I already feel awful for calling in, but calling in THIS week, just makes it worse!) and we'll have plenty of food on Thursday to last us the rest of the week and weekend! That's what's been going on so far. Just me, sitting on the couch, watching movies, drinking tea, and sewing things. :)

Love to all who hate being sick ♥

Saving my Dough

***Name changed because my husband has a dirty mind and when he first looked at the title, it did NOT say Pinching my Pennies, at least not to him it didn't. So I changed the name. Boys...***

So I have started on this website called Pinching Your Pennies, and that means lots of coupons and some Sunday papers. I'm not really sure how much I'll save since I already buy the cheap no-name brands, but we'll see.

Ok, since I never really finished the post I was going to write, I'll just start on this next one.

I finished making my apron! Yayay! I love it, and I do wear it all the time. Monday when I was making dinner, I handed Shark the camera, and told him to snap some shots. He stood there for the longest time, waiting for me to look, and we both started laughing! :) So that means I can check off one of my goals! #56 actually! (Those are my little square Gnocchi noodles!)

I can also start to check off #31, cuz I made Halloween decorations, and Fall/Thanksgiving decorations, and I just made an Ornaments Wreath!

Our little Ladies Night made them, and they turned out so cute!! Mine is non-traditional, cuz my tree is silver, blue and black. I love Christmas, but I'm not really "feeling" the red and green combo for decorating, not really.

Oooh! And Shark and I have a date night planned. It has been forever since we've gone to see a movie together, just us, so this Saturday we are going to go see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows! We're both so excited! And no, we are not dressing up...

In other awesome news! Shark registered for classes today! We're both very excited that he got residency again, and he didn't have to wait 2 years! Him getting up for class will also give me reason to get up and go to an institute class! I'm excited! :)

POTD for 11.17.10 : It's just been this kind of day. I went up and down the stairs like 6 times and Bandit didn't even open an eye!

Love to those of us Muggles who are in love with the Wizarding world, but mostly just wish Accio would work. ♥

Chewing

Ok, I went to church today (ok, I only went for 15 minutes! Shark's not here and I still don't know anyone!) and when I got home, I opened my door to this.

My Keds are destroyed!! I loved these shoes! With the stars and how comfy they were. Plus, they were $10!!

Needless to say, Bandit is locked out of the house. For. Good. No more Nice Girl, this is the 2nd pair in 3 days. Along with all the other shoes he ate while we were in Colorado. It's raining outside. Maybe he'll continue digging that hole.

I hope my dog digs to China...

Things that need to go

Ok, so a radio station here (around where we live) does this segment (not sure it's every morning, since I am rarely in the car at 9:30 am most days....) called Things that Need to go. I got to listen to it today, and it was pretty funny. And I got to thinking of things that need to go (in my life, or directly related to me in some way or another..)

1) People ditching items on endcaps. It is that hard to hand the item you've been toting around for an hour to the cashier? Why be all sneaky and try to hide those jingle bells in with that cup display? Yes, I saw that!

2) And you can push that cart the extra 10 steps to the cart return, I mean you were headed that way anyways, cuz the cart return is right by the exit. You have been pushing that cart for an hour, is it that difficult to push it for 30 more seconds?

3) Driving with your brights on... In the CITY! Not cool. Ever.

4) Sleeping with socks on. Waking up in the middle of the night with a random sock by your face is NOT awesome.

AND

5) Skinny girls (ladies) on diets. Trust me, any thinner and people will think you never eat. Embarrassment starts after they ask if you are anorexic, and then landslides into failure. Not pleasant on either end of that conversation. And if you're just saying you're on a diet to fish for compliments, epic fail. Step 2 is punching yourself in the eye for sympathy. Neither tactic works.

I thought of those on the way to work. Anyways, this weekend has been an ok one. Shark and Steve are in Nebraska shooting up some deer for my (and Heather's) freezer. {Shark's shooting for mine, and Steve is shooting for Heather's... But you knew that!}The boys left Thursday night, after Shark looked at the silver truck and diagnosed a crappy water pump. So that truck is sitting in the driveway, while I drive the red truck and Steve drove the 4Runner to NE. The boys made it there fine, Shark even called me to find out when the sun rises in NE. I hear they also made friends with some old guy out there. Apparently Shark helped him carry out the deer the old guy shot, and in return the old guy let them stay at his house down the road. Making friends is always good, especially when it means hunting on private land for free! Plus, I'm not that worried of someone abducting Shark. I mean, come on, the man punched a raccoon to death. See, now you're not worried either.

I can happily report that I have (mostly) finished step 1 of my Christmas presents!! Woot woot! I can also say that I have some Thanksgiving decorations.

Ok, so I bought the wheel barrow this year at the Post, and I just printed out the posters from Craftily Ever After. I love her printables! Mmmhmm! Might just have to print out tons more! I can't wait to see what she does for Christmas!! Yay! Oh, I bought the frames from Dollare Tree and then painted one orange and one yellow. :)

Anyways, that's the post for tonight/tomorrow. One last thought.

(5 more days!!!!) Goodnight!
Love to all those like these little signs. And if anyone knows what font it is they make them in, can you tell me, so I can make some. ♥

All in writing

We're getting our budget down on paper! Because I can never stick to it we're never sure what we've got left! So far so good, I bought 2 calendars to write everything down on. I bought 2, 1 for my goals (yeah, that list to the left is still REALLY long!) and 1 for our budget and money stuff. :)

I made a To Do list of all my Christmas presents this year. I can check 2 off! Yayayay! The items I make will NOT be posted until Christmas Day, so if you were hoping to peek, neener neener neener!! It feels good to get things done on my list. 

I went grocery shopping today and that means : NEW MENUS!! Yayay

M 11-8 ------- Waffles
T 11-9 -------- Crunch Wrap Supreme (homemade!!)
W 11-10 ------ Wings
TH 11-11 ----- Chili (Shark leaves for hunting)
F 11-12 ------- Tuna fish Sandwiches
S 11-13 ------- Mac & Cheese
SU 11-14 -----  Football
M 11-15 ------- Gnocchi (as found on Make it and Love it)
T 11-16 -------- Cheeseburger Soup
W 11-17 ------- Linguine Alla Carbonara
TH 11-18 ------ BBQ Beef Sandwiches
F 11-19 -------- Slow Cooker Pot Roast
S 11-20 -------- Soup
SU 11-21 ------ Football

Last night we made waffles as our FHE, and they were awesome! And tonight we made Crunch Wrap Supremes, as made famous at Taco Bell. I just guessed at it, but they turned out pretty dang good! (It helps that I bought this BIG huge can of Nacho Cheese 2 weeks ago... Nachos and Crunch Wraps for ever!!)

Yes, you read that right on Thursday's dinner.... Shark is going hunting... again. I'm crossing my fingers that he comes back with some deer! I need my freezer filled up!! Shark and Steve are heading to Nebraska for this big rifle hunt. I'm just excited for them to get some whitetails! I might even have to borrow Ang's dehydrator... Or maybe... Christmas is coming!! ;)

So anyways, that's what's been going on so far this week. :) Now it's time for me to go to bed. Good night all - and love to those who are crossing things off their To-Do list!! ♥

As of Late

Ok, so new things... I started working on my Christmas presents! yayayayay! Which means lots of cutting and stuff. But what I'm doing this year is turing out way cute! I'm super excited!

I also scored this awesome craft table! I found it on ksl.com and then when Shark and I went to go pick it up, the lady said I could just have it! I don't pass up on FREE, so of course, we have a table, and some shelves she was getting rid of!! Which is awesome! I love shelves and tables!

Bandit has a fort. Basically that just means, I cleaned out room and put his pillows/bed under the table in our room, and he sleeps there now {instead of at the edge of my side or at the foot of the bed!}.

And you can now see my countertops! Yup, I finally broke down and cleaned my kitchen, sorta. I put my folding shelf in the kitchen for my cook books and some of my appliances, like my 2 crock pots, my griddle, and my Bosch.

Ooh, these are pictures from the Halloween Party, food and stuff.

Lots of fun stuff! Sorry I haven't posted all week. Things have been crazy here. Shark started being a courier at work, so he's driving truck now. But his folks are building a house, and he's been helping his dad with everything on that end. And I am now on the registers at the Post, which is awesome, but a switch from being on the sales floor. :) Things have been crazy, with Christmas happening now at the Post, and the girls tell me, it will only get worse! Oh man!

Love to all who find they really don't have more time... ♥

Crafts and menus

So, when I cut the blocks out for the Countdown Blocks, I let the employee cutting them, cut the entire post. So I had a ton of blocks left over, not really left over, cuz I already had ideas for those "extra blocks" - I wanted to make some seasonal word blocks found at Naptime Crafts. And I have paint left over from my awesome front wall (not decorated yet, so no pictures yet...Hopefully SOON!!) so I loaded up my paint, 2 sets of blocks and my Cricut stuff, and headed over to Heather's. Last weekend we were Deer-Widows. Our boys were out hunting the Utah Frontier, somewhere. So we hung out all weekend, and it was freaking awesome! I painted my blocks green, Heather painter her's the burnt orange of her front room. We picked a font that was creepy (for Halloween) but nice looking (for Easter and Christmas). I think the blocks turned out awesome.

Plus with that little owl on top, it just looks cool.

I decorated for Halloween, cuz it's my FAVORITE holiday ever!!

Too bad this year's Halloween has been taken over by Christmas (yes already!) cuz it has taken over at work, and I can't get away from the glitter and the oranaments and the stockings... But I decorated pretty good this year, considering we aren't even going to be at the house tonight. We're heading over to Steve & Heather's for a Halloween party. I'll get pictures of that too. (Oh, and don't worry, those aren't REAL knives, they are just stickers I found at the Dollar Tree! Awesome, right?!)

Next, my menus! So pretty sure, I'm already a week into this 2 week shift! Sorry, things have been crazy with work, cleaning and getting the Halloween party ready!

M 10-25 ------ Beefy Nacho Cresant Bake
T 10-26 ------- Chicken Cacciatore
W 10-27 ------ Last Minute Teriyaki
TH 10-28 ----- Teriyaki Turkey Lettuce Wraps
F 10-29 ------- Finger food party at the Smitty's
S 10-30 ------- Chili at Halloween Party
SU 10-31 ----- Leftovers & football
M 11-1 ------- Beef potpie wedges
T 11-2 -------- Cancun Chicken wraps
W 11-3 ------- Pasta w/ cream sauce
TH 11-4 ------ Tuna fish Sandwiches
F 11-5 -------- Spaghetti
S 11-6 -------- Soup
SU 11-7 ------ Football

Ok, so Tuesday was a bust, pretty sure I broke down and cooked our pizza cuz I did NOT feel good at all... Which sucks cuz I LOVE Chicken Cattiatore!! Just going to put it in my rotation for this next week, maybe bump soup out or something....

If you want any of these recipes, just ask and I'll share them. All my recipes are easy, and take less than a half hour to make, I get home around 9, cook dinner and then Shark and I watch a Chuck episode. Quick and easy!

Last night we went over to the Smitty's to hang out, I made Jalapeno Bites. They turned out pretty good, next time I'm adding more Jalapenos to the batch, not enough cream cheese/pepper ratio!!

So this next week at work, I've got a 40 hour load, but I'll find sometime to clean my house, and get cracking on those Christmas gifts (I know what month it is!)

OH! In other great news, Shark got promoted at work. Ok, so he took advantage of the situation and stepped up. He is one of the newest delivery driver's down in Salt Lake. We're pretty excited cuz that also means a raise! Plus, his work has *awesome* insurance and tuition reimbursement! Sweet!!

Love to those who love Halloween, even if it's just for the candy! ♥

more food

So, I have been planning on making these for the Ward Halloween party tonight, for a while now. Ever since I got this little recipe book in the mail. Today, I made them, cuz the party is tonight.

I made Slim-Filled cupcakes!

And they are delicious! Although I am bummed about it, cuz I work tonight, so Shark will be dropping off my awesome cupcakes at the party, before he goes hunting with Steve.

POTD for 10/22/2010 is : my foil muffin cups! This was my first time using them for reals. My friend, Ang, used them and said they were the best thing ever. I bought some a while back cuz they were cheaper than the regular muffin cups. With the foil ones, you don't need a muffin tin, you just set up as many cups as you need onto a cookie sheet, and load them with the batter. It was pretty awesome to put 24 cupcakes on 1 baking sheet!

Off to work I go!

Love to all who love Halloween cuz it means LOTS OF SUGAR! ♥

Cute and food

Ok, so on Tuesday, I tried making some Blob Monsters. I failed horribly. Well, today, I figured I'd try again. I even youtube'd how to make cream puffs. It wasn't that hard, I just didn't wait long enough for the dough to be done...

This time, I didn't mess up too bad! I'm pretty excited about how these turned out! I also did tons of laundry today, and I did a load of dishes. :) It's been a pretty long day so far, and I work at 3:30 today... Hmm, will I have the energy I need? Oh, here's the recipe for the Blob Monsters!!

Last night, we had Wives' Night or girls' night or craft night, whichever you want to call it. It was asked last month, what we wanted to do... I suggested Countdown blocks, and they all said yes!! So I got everything I needed for the blocks and started cutting on my Cricut! I used an old stand-by idea, I asked Angie over at Angie'sCreativeCorner what I needed, and she directed me to NapTimeCrafts. I've made these blocks before, except for Christmas countdown. I bought both Christmas and Halloween paper, cuz I wanted to do a Halloween one, and I wasn't sure who wanted to do Christmas and who wanted to do Halloween. :)

These are so cute.

Also, last week, I made myself an apron. I'm such a nerd, I know. But I have really wanted an apron cuz they're cute and mean I'm getting dirty making food! :) So I found a collection of fabric at JoAnn's that matched my house (orange, green and blue!) and it was pretty cute, so I bought a whole bunch of it. I already had the pattern picked out, at Sew4Home.com. I didn't bind mine, cuz I'm awful at binding on a curve, so I turned it inside out and did a basic 1/4" seam allowance, then turned it back right side out, and then attached the flounce. :) I like this apron, it's cute!

So yeah, that's been my week so far! :)

love to those who still love food, even after it tries to ruin all your plans... ♥

Transform!

No, not a post dedicated to the Autobots... but I can tell that I'm really turning into a Collard... Last night I got gas at the Sinclair on 89, and I looked down and found a lone earring.

 I knew I was transforming when my first thought was : That would make a great fishing lure! Yeah... Either into a Collard, Shark's companion of 2 and a half years, or an Outdoor show host.... So now this earring is in my possession and soon to be in Shark's tackle box. That boy has changed me in so many good ways, looks like I'm making the full change. If I start to wear work boots, and khaki Dickies, call my mom and my sisters.

I told Shark tonight about it when he got home, he started taking it apart to make it into a fishing lure, because he agreed with me, it would make a GREAT fishing lure.

Love to those who will still love me when I wear camo all the time, and drive in a truck that's always dirty.. ♥

It's like my birthday

So, opening boxes I haven't touched in 7 monthes is like Christmas or my birthday! It's awesome! I'm finding all my pots and pans and measuring cups and silverware! But then I find that I need more things. Like a microwave... Every place we've lived has provided a microwave... I know I had one when I first moved to Colorado... Not sure what happened to it.

So, we finally go the PC hooked up, and I'm going thru my Favorites, and there is some OLD stuff, like waterfall maps of Colorado, and duck hunting maps, that I have to delete. Yeah, it's about time I said goodbye to all that.

Also with new things going on : both Shark and I are sick. Yup. We're just a bunch of sick-o's. Shark started with a cold earlier this week, and I some how got it too {must be all that kissing we do!}. But for some reason, my colds always come with an onslaught of migraines. Like constant headache! So, all week long I've had just one big solid headache. So yeah, things have been just awesome.... This week we were asked to stay late at the Post to catch up on decorating for Christmas, I was only able to stay half hour later than usualy cuz I threw up! I hate throwing up, and I hate being sick! Hmm... I wonder if it could be caused by all that dang glitter?!

But we had some friends over last night. I cooked up a bunch of chili, and Polo & Smitty brought peanut butter bars {that are freaking amazing!} and we watched The Prestige! I love that movie! Thank you so much for coming over!!

Shark and I have been lazy lately, and he's discovered how to put games on his iPhone. {Oh, so Shark bought me an iPhone a month or so ago, just out of the blue. I let him have it for a few reasons: 1) I just got used to my phone, 2) I paid quite a bit for my phone and 3) his phone is dead so he needed one.  Plus the battery on my phone has been tons better!!} So, we've been playing AngryBirds and Cut the Rope. He plays on his iPhone, I play on my iPod... :)

Love to those who think October is just too dang early to be setting up for Christmas... and love to those who have already bought Christmas stuff.... ♥

Finally!!

We have the internet!! Ok, so somethings that happened this past week that I did NOT share. (Lots of pictures, that's why I didn't share!)

I made jam. I made Raspberry-Peach jam, and Raspberry jam (I had tons of Raspberries left over, so I made jam...) I made jam all day Thursday, after I cleaned the house up a bit. (The last picture is Shark giving his seal of approval...)

Also, Shark loaded his motorcycle up to go to the dump, and he helped load Steve & Heather's green car too. Their green car died a while back.

I got together with some friends and made a whole bunch of Halloween Jars. I bought a $2 string of orange lights at Wal-Mart and put the jars in my front window. {Oh Shark showed me how to twist the lights to turn them off, it worked for about 8 hours, then the whole strand goes dead, I've tried it on 3 different strands of lights, and they all end up dying after about a day. It seems like it works at first, and then it stops working. So don't try it. It was really awesome at first, but it just ends up costing money....}

And here is the Menu of the next 2 weeks....

Monday 10/11 -------- Minestroganoff
Tuesday 10/12 -------- Last Minute Teriyaki
 Wednesday 10/13 ---- Tortellini with cream sauce
Thursday 10/14-------- Brinner (breakfast for dinner)
Friday 10/15 ---------- Chili (and Wings)
Saturday 10/16 ------- Soup
Sunday 10/17 --------- *Football*
Monday 10/18 -------- Fettucini Alfredo w/ shrimp
Tuesday 10/19 -------- Shipwreck
Wednesday 10/20 ----- Baked Shrimp
Thursday 10/21 -------- Lasagna
Friday 10/22 ----------- Ward Party
Saturday 10/23 -------- Mac & Cheese/leftovers
Sunday 10/24 ---------- *football*

Sundays we usually go over to Shark's parents house to watch football and clean out their fridge. :) We get to catch up on all our shows. We've been watching Community, The Office, and The IT Crowd. Shark and I have also been catching up on Chuck. We're about half way thru season 2.

Ok, now to some more news about us. Shark has been going thru his driver training at work! He got the job as a driver, and he should start in November. I've been working crazy hours at the Trading Post, what with Christmas on the way and all. And you remember my post a while ago, about my body being all crazy again. Well, it's back to normal. Which means we'll be able to find out about the supplemental health insurance, so when we decide to have kids, we'll be financially taken care of for it. That makes me happy and relaxed! So that's what we're working on now, getting that insurance.

And as you know, Christmas is coming, so lately I have started gathering supplies for this year's presents. Again, I will be posting the day of Christmas or the day after. I promise to try to take pictures of ALL gifts this year, even the ones I mail!! :)

Love to those who put up with all my crazy pictures, even tho they are a little old... Thanks for loving me anyways ♥