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 ♥

weekly menus

{{This post was actually created about a week ago, on the 3rd. We finally got internet!!}}

So, I have decided to try something new (yup, just add it to my amazingly LONG list of *new* things!) but this one actually makes sense....  I want to create my meal plans and menus (and shopping trip!!) every 2 weeks. {Yes I understand that things like milk and chocolate pudding will need to be bought more often than that...} So far my menu is :

Monday 9/27------------Tacos
Tuesday 9/28------------Shrimp Primavera
Wednesday 9/29---------Turkey and white bean chili
Thursday 9/30------------Fajitas
Friday 10/1---------------Ravioli marinaera
Saturday 10/2-------------Soup with cresent rolls
Sunday 10/3 --------------Dinner with Shark's family. (Football and Conference!)
Monday 10/4-------------Presto Parmesan
Tuesday 10/5-------------Mac'N'Cheese with Hotdog mummies

Wednesday 10/6---------Garlic mashed potatoes and beef bake

Thursday 10/7------------Homestyle bake
Friday 10/8---------------Shredded bbq chicken sandwiches
Saturday 10/9------------Dine out
Sunday 10/10------------Dinner with Shark's family (Wings at Ang's)

This is how my week went so far! Monday dinner did NOT go as planned, I got home from work with an awful headache, and laid down to go to bed... It was awful! I hate migraines! I wish there was something else I could do, but just cry {yes literally!} in bed in the dark! But last time I went in for the migraines, I came out with new fingerprints on my heart! {And who needs more of those?!} So, I just kind of take the migraines as they come, and as soon as I feel one coming on, I take some Excedrin, and chug a bottle of water. Then Tuesday went as planned, I made dinner after work. I closed pretty much all week, which isn't all bad, Shark gets done with work around 8 and gets home about 1/2 hour after he gets off work.

Thursday I started work at 2, which is different than normal, I usually start work at 12. But Thursday, I babysat Whitney, so Steve & Heather could go to the temple. I had Shark go out and shake my pear tree Wednesday night, so I went and picked a bunch of pears Thursday morning, and then started to peel them, and I got the jars ready. I canned 6 quarts of pears on Thursday morning.

Whitney fell aspleep as soon as she got there, and then we watched Tarzan as I put our movies on our shelf. Then as Steve & Heather came back, they called me outside. There was a hen pheasant walking back and forth along our new fence. I snapped some pictures.

 But Thursday at work was a hard day, we were getting ready for the weekend, and it was my 4th day closing in a row, which is pretty rough. I went home with a headache {again!!} and just laid down, and cried {AGAIN!!} in the dark. No supper as planned.

I had Friday off of work, so took my trip down to Ikea. I bought a whole bunch of furniture.{I've been planning out the furniture for my house for a while now, and I didn't buy a single item over $20!!} I bought my end tables, my coffee table, my tv table, our curtains and rods, our lights, and some mirrors. I then went over to Angie's where she showed me how to make safety pin bracelets, which I made into a watchband.

Since this was conference weekend, all the craft stores around are having Ladies Night, and the Post is no different! We had a Ladies Night, with refreshments and giveways, and we have like 5 coupons out right now {or at least we did!} and it was so freaking busy, we had every single employee on the payroll working! It was crazy! I went in to work around 9 and then left around 8:40. We close at 8:30!! It was such a rough day!! But it was fun, there were some pretty fun people there last night!

We're still working on getting the boxes out of the living room, and the kitchen, and my craft room and that random living room-that's-supposed-to-be-a-carport room thing that still has boxes in it. We're working on it... Slowly, but we're doing it. It would be awesome if I could clone myself {sting-blub, anyone have a stung-bulb?!} so I could send my clone to work and I could clean my house!! So far, I'm going to try to work on 1 room at a time, and 1 box at a time... Slow and steady! HA!!

love to those who are still my friends, even tho I don't have internet and haven't checked their blogs in FOREVER!! ♥

lack of style

Ok, so I know I have been MIA on this whole blog thing for a while. I've been trying to get internet at the house for bit now, and I was hoping it would be up yesterday, but something is going on between my house and my modem.... So hopefully Monday we'll get it figured out. Trust me, things have been super busy! With work for me, and work for Shark (he's done with his driver training for a while, so we've got a little bit of a break!) and getting the house cleaned and ready to really LIVE in, we have been super busy! I've got loads to share with everybody, once we get internet!! I've got some posts that just need pictures, and a little bit more info. :) I'll post as soon as I can!!

Love to all who are being patient with me, thank you!! ♥