loverly weekend!!

What made this weekend loverly:

-Saturday morning Farmers Market with TJ and I.  I took my picnic basket along to carry all my goodies and I got so many compliments!!  (Who doesn't like to start off the day with someone telling you, you look cute?)  Great scores at the market: raspberries, cherries, and YUMMY lemonaide (or as Emma likes to call it Lemonlade).

-Saturday lunch was picnic in the park with family to celebrate Wyatt's 5th birthday!  The weather was perfect. Children behaved.  I had a yummy PB & P (peanut butter and preserve) samich. It was made better because I used my homemade raspberries preserves.

-Saturday evening was taking myself to a movie.  I thought I was going to see Thor but the time changed and I ended up seeing Priest.  Not that bad.  What made it really amazing was the backwoods drive to get to the theater.  The sun was setting and I was driving through farmland.  B-E-A-UTIFUL!  I didn't have a camera or I would have tried to capture some of it and skipped the movie.

-Sunday sleeping in!!  OH HOW LOVELY!! 

-Sunday had for lunch had ribs (ich!) but DELICIOUS corn on cob and baked beans.  Plus it made me feel loved that Dad would give the big chunks of meat off his rib to me.  He would eat the meat of the bone from my rib.  I don't like ribs because of the bone.  Weird I know.

-Went to grocery store for ingredient for dinner.  They had flowers on sale for $3.  Because I am a sucker I got a couple.  Fresh flowers just make you happier.  So they are sitting on the kitchen table for all to enjoy even though I wanted to be greedy and keep them in my room. 

-Dinner turned out great.  It was supposed to be Philly Cheese steak sandwhiches but I didn't have a gridle so they were grilled steak, pepper, onion and cheese samiches.  Still yummy though. 

-Dessert was Raspberry Crumble Bars.  I added the raspberries from the market and they turned out so much better than I expected.  I really need to learn patience.  I cut the bars before it was completely cool and because the preserve was still runny/warm, it was kinda soupy but that is ok.  it was still great even though it wasn't pretty on the plate.

I love weekend like these.  I feel rested but I was still productive (I even did dishes, laundary). I also learned my bank account is bigger than I expected.  I love that.  It isn't that I got extra money or anything but just keeping my spending low, and rounding everything up in the check register has REALLY helped!  Maybe I can swing for the new tent I want after all.

Christmas Eve

Oh what a fun day we had!!  Mom had to work so dinner was a group effort. I made my first batch of rolls.  They aren't as complicated as I expected them to be.  We ate on time and were so happy that Rob came this year.  Everyone gave and received lovely gifts.  I believe the kids are the most spoiled kids in the world.  Everyone was really cooperative when I was taking pictures.  Below are just some highlights. 

Each family (top left to right), The Cardarelli's, Marrs, Gullicks,
Bottom left to right: Parents Linsenmann, Me, and The Petersons.



Gpa/Gma with all the gkids
two pictures because of facial expressions

Misc pics
top: chaos in action as we begin to open presents
middle: Marlee and Me
bottom left: confusion as present opened
bottom right: 99% of the grandkids

Emma, Marlee, Wyatt in front of Christmas tree.

 

Since the 15th..

-YEAH!!  WE HAVE SNOW THAT HAS STAYED!! (and guess what...it is snowing today!!)

-Thanksgiving has come and gone.

-I had a pulled muscle and found out that muscle relaxers make me loopey.

-BSU LOST!!  Hell has frozen over!!  Stupid Kyle Brotzman missed 2...yes 2!!..field goals that cost us the game.

Yes I shed a tear.  It is so sad!!

-Seattle Seahawks lost (considering our trend that isn't surprising).

-Didn't go Black Friday shopping for the 1st time in years (thanks pulled/torn muscle)

-Saw Harry Potter and it was good (cant wait til next one!!)

-Boise Holiday Parade was a disappointment.

-Made Christmas candy with Lexy and Caitlyn

-Currently working from 830-700 and REALLY miss my old shift of 730-400.  Just 2 more week til I get to switch back.

-Training again at work after a year hiatus  (Training reason for switching schedules)

weekend...

SUNDAY 10/10/10

Sunday was spent at parents house making bread and vegging out. 

Lexy, Marlee, Caitlyn, Emma, Jana, and Wyatt came over to visit as well.  Wyatt brought downall four stuffed bears and lined them up on the couch to watch TV.  He was sitting there next to them and then Emma joined the party.  What a bunch of hams!!

I made bread.  I am nearly done with a 101 goals (making bread 6x in a year). 
I have 3 down and just three more to go.

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SATURDAY 10/9/10

Saturday was an eventful day.  After only 4.5 hours of sleep, it was up and at 'em bright and early.  The RNC (Repblican National Committee) has a tour bus going around the nation drumming up support for local candidates.  The theme is Fire Pelosi!.  Saturday at 1030, it was schedule to stop at the Canyon County Repbulican Headquaters in Nampa.  Mom of course was going and I went along too. The rally was also in support of Republican candidate for Idaho's 1st Congressional District Raul Labrador.

I must say that if people want to get elected, they should hire the Linsenmann clan to be their campaign manager.  The rally was held 1 block away from one of the busiest road is Caldwell.  You  think they woudl have people on the corners waving signs trying to drum up more people and support.  But there werent.  Mom was able to get her Republican elephant flag back.  So she went and stood on the corner waving the flag in anticipation of the bus arrival.

My mom rocks!!  She was the first to greet the bus as it approached the rally.  WOOHOO for her!!

After the rally it was a rush to get things together to go tailgating at BSU Stadium.  My friend Kara invited me.  It was a blast!! I wish I didn't stay out so late on Friday night because I was just drained on Saturdya and couldn't enjoy it as much as I would have liked. 

It was a weird feeling because there is a delay on the tv.  I could hear the crowd in the stadium cheering or booing and have no idea what they were celebrating.  It was driving me nuts!! 

I left at half time with every intention of picking up TJ from my parents, and going home to bed.  Well Dad and I started talking and I ended up staying for the 4th quater.  I was tired!! 

LOVELY: perfect fall weather
HORRIBLE: ready for a namp at 10am.

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FRIDAY 10/8/10

to be added later..

It is on like donkey kong!!

Ok so challenge back on.  I am resolved to get fit and lose weight.  I did really well at the beginning of the year and feel that I am even better equipped to handle the challenge now.  I have organized the majority of my life which should be a great help to achieve my goal.  I watched the Dr Oz Show yesterday where he issued a challenge for everyone to lose jus 10 lbs.  You can view details here. (http://members.doctoroz.com/challenge/the-just-10-challenge)  

I have signed up and waiting for my bracelet.  In addition, I will keep a detailed food journal, move an additional 10 minutes a day, and reduce my soda intake.  The small term goal is to stay on track for a week.  Next Tuesday, I will review and see how I did.  The ultimate goal is to run the 1 mile Race for the Cure in May 2011.

Tis the season of MANY blog posts because work slows down and I get bored easily. 

Lets start at the begining...

FRIDAY
I got of work on Friday at 5pm, which was earlier than I expected. I make it home by 530 which is great. Now I have more time to do some last minutes packing. Mom was supposed to pick me up at 6pm, however she didn't shows til 620. After loading up, we still needed to stop for dinner.  After a quick trip to Carls Jr we were on the road at 7.

We figured it would be a 3 hrs drive to Huckleberry Heaven. Thankfully there wasn't that much traffic and we made it in only 2.5 hrs. The only sanfu happened about 30 mins from our destination. I had the light on because it was dusk and in the mountains, it is dark. So driving along and I look at the dashboard, and it is black. I panic internally so I continue to drive. I slow down some just to be cautious. We pass under lights from a lumber mill and I see that I have gauged my speed correctly and are goin the speed limit. That made me proud.  (Just FYI...I accidentally hit the dimmer dial on the singal lever.  I thought the dimmer was near the vent on the dashboard.  I was wrong.  Sunday we found the dimmer switch and fixed my mistake.) 

We finally make it to the top of the mountain and honk the horn. Becasue we are camping in a different spot, that horn is signal to Dad to come get us. Works pretty well. We arrive at 930 and chill around the camp fire for awhile.

TJ settling in for the night.  He wasn't upset and there were other pictures but this one makes me giggle.

SATURDAY
I woke up around 730. I thought I would sleep in longer but oh well. I get up and have breakfast out by the fire. Love it. So warm and nice. Dad and I joke back and forth for awhile.

View first thing Saturday morning.

Mom rolls out of bed around 9am. We get dressed and Dad and I head for a ride. TJ comes along and does really well. However, I only can drive with one hand because I want to make sure TJ doesn't fall off. I need to jerryrig sometype of harness or box for him to ride in. We return to camp and have lunch an rig up a harness. It work pretty aweome. I have some lanyards that are clipped to TJ body harness. He only has enough room to stand. I was pretty proud of hwo we rigged it. We go on another ride and TJ loves it. He does love to bark at the horses we see along the way.

TJ and I testing the harness.

Back we go for lunch. After lunch we head for another ride but TJ didn't want to go. He would refuse to leave RV area. That is ok. We look him in the RV with food and water and head off. Mom comes along and rides with Dad.

We found a new campsite we will try next year that is next to a spring. We eventually head back and havea great meal of hobo dinner (aka tinfoil dinners). Mom and I want a Smores so we break out the marshmellow, chocloate and .... Where are the graham crackers? Crap we left them at home. We decided to experiment. Mom tried frosted animal crackers, I try Ritz and vanilla cream cookies. I thought the most successful was the Ritz. It brought the salty into the mix. Next time I am brining Oreos to try.

With desert over, we decided to watch a movie. Dad brought otu the laptop and table. It is pretty awesome watching Tommy Boy by the fire. I don't know if it was because I was tired or I hadn't seen it in awhile, but Tommy Boy is really funny!

We have to watch the last half in the RV because battery was dying but it was still a fun time. We head to bed around 1030. I must have been really tired because as soon as my head hit the pillow I was out for the count. The next day Mom and Dad kept teasing me about how quickly I was out.  Oh well.

SUNDAY
I get up around 700 and head outside with TJ. We are snuggling by the fire and I am ready to fall asleep sitting up. Dad is a sweetheart and takes TJ for a walk. I take advantage of the oppurtunity and DIVE back into bed. I snooze til 900. Mom never got out of bed until 9 and that is when we decided it was time for breakfast.

Dad playing with TJ before the walk

Mom makes waffles, bacon, hashbrowns. It was YUMMY!! Mom had put some butter in a bowl on Saturday so it would be soft to spread on the waffles. As we are eating we are trying to figure out where it went. She placed the sliver of butter in a bowl and placed it on the table on Saturday afternoon.

All of a sudden, Mom knows what happened. TJ ATE IT!! We look underneath the table and sure enough, there is the bowl. He ate it while we went on a ride!! Crazy dog!!

TJ sitting at the table for breakfast.  No we didn't give him his own plate and
no he didn't actually sit there while we were having breakfast. 

Over breakfast we decided to head home that day. We go for another ride and then have lunch and break camp. We leave around 430 and I am home by 7pm. It was a fun time.

TJ sleeping right before we head home.  Of course he would choose to be in the drivers seat.

See new post for more random pictures of the camping weekend.

cleaning and organizing

What a weekend!! I dedicated most of the time to cleaning and organizing my household. I decided to follow Moms advice and get organized. I hate to admit that Moms right but when you are organized things go much smoother in other areas of life.
My problem is that when I am in an emotioinal frame of mind I let things go. Laundary doesn't get put away. Groceries stay on the counter. Shoes pile up at the door. Bed doesn't get made. It is a bad habit I need to break.

I have resolved to be more organized. I have cleaned out the closets and put holiday decorations in totes. I have cleaned out my bedroom cloest and hung everything in its proper place. I did MASSIVE amounts of laundary. (I HATE laundary!!)

To make sure I am on the straight and norrow, I have gotten a few new-to-me pieces of furniture. The first pieces that I love is the desk from my generous sister Caitlyn. I haven't liked my entertainment center for awhile. It is just too big for my skinny living room. Caitlyn was telling me she wanted to get rid of a desk she used to hold her TV. PERFECT!! I will take the desk and sell my entertainment center at the garage sale Lexy and I had (which was 2 weeks ago).

I rearranged my living room and LOVE the new layout!! It is much more open and pretty. I have easier access to all my windows which is great with this cool fall weather. Windows open all the time now! :)

The second piece is a new dresser!! It is very similar to the one I currently have. I believe the style is called French Provencial. Mom got me the first dress about a year ago. I prefer the on Mom got because it is made of solid wood and this new one is made of particle board. Oh well. It is hard to find this style. Thank heavens for Craigslist!!

Not the greatest pic but if is the one from Craigslist

To make sure I stay on this path or cleanliness/organization, I decided to invite each sisters family over for 1 meal a week. Not only will this help me stay organized, it will help me eat out less and then be healthier!! WOOHOO!!

Because I am so proud of myself, pics to be posted soon. :)

WHY??? OH WHY???

Why is it that when you get a cold, your eyes hurt?  i dont mean sinuses below eye, I mean my actually eyeballs hurt.  Maybe they are dry and I just can't tell.  But this just sucks!!  I didn't get a cold all winter and now with spring I get a cold.  Hopefully it just lasts afew days (good luck with that).  I hate this. What I really hate is when I blow my nose, it is like a floodgate is opened and I have to lean forward for the excess snot to be on the tissue and not just run down my face. 

This cold makes work suck because I can't hear people.  My ears pop if I blow my nose and I can hear for a few minutes but it never lasts long.  Thinking positive this will be over in a few days.  Just in time for the weekend.

Speaking of weekend, I think Mom is going to show me how to make pie crusts.  Pumpkin and Banana Cream are must but maybe I should make a cherry too.  I have never tried cherry.  Hmmm, something to think about.  Wonder if I could make enough to freeze..even more food for thought.

hmmm

I havea few thoughts running around in my head so I thought it best to write them down.

Spring is here.  Yesterday it was over cast and gloomy.  Today is sun is shinning and I really don't want to go to Church.  I want to be outside in the sunshine. Playing at the park.  With my niece and nephews and my dog.  Having a picnic lunch.  Not inside teaching.  Oh well.  I guess that is what an adult is being about...doing things you just don't want to do.  I hear birds chirpping as I sitting here listening to Jim Brickman and TJ snoring. 

I am enjoying the sun keeping me warm.  With the slight breeze coming through the window.  I am really fond of spring right now.  I wish we had more snow but this is nice too.

It is also nice because I cleaned my house yesterday.  The floors are swept and vaccuumed.  The table tops are dusted.  Kitchen sparkles.  It smells lovely.  I will have to post pictures.

In addition to those lovely feelings, I have a huge sense of accomplishment and pride in myself.  I made bread again yesterday.  I think I finally got it down so I can make it at home instead of always asking Mom for help.  It tastes so yummy.  Lexy brought soup over yesterday.  To have homemade soup and hot bread was divine!!  Lexy then commented on breakfast we had as kids. It was toast that we would dunk in our chocolate milk.  I hadn't tried that in forever!!  So I tried it today.  It was just as good as I remember.  It doens't tastes the same using boughten bread.  Doesn't have the substance that homemade does.

Also..speaking of yummy things...we had scones last night.  It is were we take some of the bread down and fry it in some oil in the cast iron skillet.  That is yummy too!  Top it with raspberry huckleberry jam and life is perfect at that moment. 

I am also proud of myself becasue I successful installed my printed on my laptop.  It was giving me fits but thankfully I was able to resolve them.  First print job was my lesson for Church today that I just read and wrote this am.

Wish I was in the middle of the field watching the clouds, or taking a nap, or having a picnic or so many other things.

Oh what a beautiful morning...oh what a beautiful day!

What a wonderful day Friday was.  I took a vacation day and had a wonderful time playing around.

I got to sleep in til 915am which was amazing.  Bad thing was I needed to be to Cailtyn's house by 930 so we could go shopping.  Shopping is a great motivator so I was only 10 minutes late. 

We went to the super junk store.  It was amazing.  Caitlyn found an actual Louis Vutton buffle bag!!  Consider this, our entire cart was $13.  If you broke it down, I am sure she only spent $0.75 at most on it!!  We had Wyatt and Emma with us who thought they were in heaven.

After the junk store, we headed to the outlet mall to meet Dad/Grandpa for lunch at Idaho Pizza.  Idaho Pizza has am amazing buffet of pizza and salad.  After an uneventful lunch, it was time to hit the VF (Vanity Fair) outlet.  I got an adorable gray sweater ($8), Seahawk tshirt for Dad's birthday ($10), new pair of jeans ($12), and a white button up ($4).  It was pretty awesome!!

Kids were ready to play so we went to the park.  It was such a nice day with blue skies and an occassional breeze.  If I had a blanket, I would have curled up in the sun and taken a nap.  After running around for a while, we went to Fred Meyer's to check out the 60% off lowest marked price.

At Fred' I got a purse for only $2!!  Wooo hoo for clearance!!  I got another purse for $15.  Body pillow for $7 and a couple other things. 

After Fred's I contiue to shop around the mall and get new flower ring for only $2!!  I will post pic soon because it is so gdang cute!  Plus new sweats and brown cardigan.  I spent a total of $11 on the ring, sweats, and cardigan!!  Got to love clearance!!

I finally head home to let TJ escape from the house.  I intended t o stop by the dog park for just a few minutes but ended up staying an hour.  TJ was having fun playing with two labradoodles. 

After the dog park, watching TV at parents, I finally hit the sack around 10 so I can get up Saturday to go FOUR WHEELING!!  I was super excited.
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Saturday rolls around and I drag myself out of bed around 7.  i wanted to get to the mountain ASAP.  I make it to paren't house around 8.  I made lunch of tuna fish and breakfast of egg/cheese sandwhichs and we are on the road at 830.  We park and are on the  trail by 930.  We just followed the main road up to Silver City because we only have 1 ATV with tracks on them and 1 ATV with tires.  No major playing in the snow this trip.  There was one spot where the drift was too big to over over and blocking the main road. 

Thankfully Dad found a trail that I could make it up (I on the machine with no tracks).  I was concerned that I was going to get stuck...but I didn't!!  YIPPEE!!  We make it to Silver City around 11.  Normally this would take half the day itself but that usually includes playing in the snow and more trails but oh well.  We were taking the trail to Jordan Valley when we came across another ATV with tracks. 

I was stopped at the top of the hill and Dad and ther other riders were at the bottom.  After a few minutes, I decided to join the group.  As I am approaching I hear a rider 1 say "Don't tell her I said that!" and rider 2 responds "A buddy can be a girl."  Dad says rider 1 asked if the red ATV (me) was his buddy.  Dad responds "That is my daughter." and you know the rest of the story.  Really can't blame ridger 1 because my hair was under a hate, scraf around my face, and every other person up there was a boy.  Typically, I was the only girl (that we knew of).

Dad and I continue with our ride.  Up in Silver City, it was snowing and there was a couple of feet of snow.  By 1pm, we were down in the canyon, playin in the desert and it was probably 40 degrees.  Idaho is so weird.

While Dad and I were riding, we across a group of deer.  Not just a couple of deer...but at least 40 deer!! 40!!  It was crazy! So Dad and I driver futher and we come across ANOTHER group of 40 deer!!  So we continue along our way.  As we are headed back to the truck, we saw the two group together!!  I have never seen so many deer!!  It was amazing!!

Dad and I leave around 4.  We start driving and Dad stops.  He says get out and come here.  I head to the back of the trailer but he wasn't there.  I turn around and he is climibing into the passanger seat.  WOO HOO!!  It is time to learn how to drive a trailer! So I climb in and the lessons begins.  It isn't as bad as I thoguht.  Of course only going 50 in 65 helped calm my nerves.  Dad and I even tried back up the trailer in a church parking.  Yes it took me 10 minutes but I got it between the lines!!  With more practice, I can drive the boat up to the lake.  Dad will still have to back it up there but hopefully this means more trips to the lake!!
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Sunday was an ok day.  It started out with getting up at 9am becasue mom and Caitlyn called.  Mom was making homemade biscuits and gravey.  After breakfast and a little play time with the kids, Jana, Wyatt, and I head to a flea markte.  It realy wasn't that great. 

After the flea market, I take Emma back to her house.  Caitlyn had to work and Brandon was coming home from Jackpot.  Emma didn't take a nap, so we ended up going to see Plant 51.  Emma and Wyatt did really good at staying quite and sitted.

Once the movie was finished, we troop over to Fashion Bug becasue they had a sign that said "EVERYTHING $10".  Well  that was too goo to be true.  If you purchased something at regular price, you could get a 2nd item for only $10.  Thankfully there were running 40% lowest marked price.  Because we were in a hurry (they closed in 15 minutes and parents waiting with dinner), I purchased what I liked and would take them home to try them one and return what didn't work.  I tried on two of the three pants.  WOW!!  Their average is really short.  They were such high waters!!  They tall was nearly perfect but a little shorter than what I expected.  So 2 of the 6 I purchased would be going back. That means I got 3 shirts and 1 pant for only $25!!  Not bad at all!

After Fashion Bug, Emma and I get dropped off at Emma's house.  Brandon is now home so I leave Emma with her dad and I head over to my parent's house.  I originally thought about making breat but that will have to wait til next Saturday.

Once dinner of roast of consumed, and tv watched, I left my parent's house early.  I left at 945!!  I normally start getting ready to leave around 10 but something happen and I am walking out the door at 1030 so 945 is weird. 
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All in all it was a great weekend.  I wish today was following suit.  People are just not listening and I am repeatign myself like 20x!!  GRR!! It is aggravating!

EXCITED!!

What a pleasant weekend.  It didn't start off that great but ended better than expected. 

Friday was pretty easy after work.  Immediately afterwork, I went to babysit Emma.  Caitlyn had to go into work and Brandon was in Twin Falls working.  I sped to Caitlyn's (I didn't even stop to get TJ that is how big of a rush I was in). 

Once I arrived to Caitlyn's, I packed Emma and Wyatt into the double stroller.  We were going to pick up TJ so he wouldn't be in the house ALL DAY.  Let me tell you what.  Two toddlers and a big stroller weigh a TON!!.  I live 1 mile away.  I forogt that in the end there is a steep hill.  Pushing  those kids up that MOUNTAIN was nearly a killer.  Ok I am exaggerating but at the time it was awful.  There is no sidewalk to it is rough gravel and uneven.

But we made it and let TJ escape prison.  The walk back was much easier.  Very proud that I walked the 2 miles in 30 minutes!!  After Caitlyn came home, I had to go out to parents house because I left my sweater at their house.  My sweater had my drivers liscence in it.  Parents house is always great because of BACK RUBS!!  Plus they have Project Runway on the Tivo. 

I finally left parents at 11pm.  Parents got free rooms in Jackpot for the Superbowl so they were leavign the following morning.  TJ and I headed home to bed.

Saturday morning was cleaning and laundary. I think matching socks is the worst and could be considered a form of torture.  After an hour of cleaning the house was pretty much done.  I still need to sweep and vaccum but that is pretty much it.  Except for craft room.  That is a disaster with so my project in different stages of completion.  But that is the project for Saturday.

After cleaning, it was reward time and off to Costco with Lexy and Chris.  What a trip.  They had all the treats out trying to tempt you to buy.  I only needed a few things: toliet paper, dog treats, grapefruit, and Propel.  I leave with three.  I forgot TJ's treats!!  I am completely out at home too.  I need to run to the Dollar Store on lunch to grab a few to last the week.

After Coscto we went to TGI Friday's for lunch.  I got the BBQ Chicken Wrap.  It wasn't that good.  As soon as I finished lunch, I ran over to Caitlyn's house again.  Brandon was still out of town working and Caitlyn needed to go to work.  Saturday was pretty easy day.  Emma slept most of time I was there.  When she woke up, Brandon had just arrived home so I went home and played with TJ (and tidied my car).

Sunday morning I had every intention of going to a Church.  I am planning on leaving the singles ward (more in another post later) and start attending a family ward.  But I slept in. New ward would start at 9 and I woke up at 1030.  Singles ward starts at 11.  TJ and I still had to go to parents house to get newspaper, set up superbowl to record, and a few other errands so I skipped Church.

After the errands, I finally ended up at Lexy's house around 130.  I had to watch the beloved Supernatural and Life Unexpected.  I somehow already saw Life Unexpected so we had a few hours to kill for the Superbowl.  We ended up watching Hoarders on A&E.  It is not hoarding.  Those are just too lazy to take out the trash!!  But it was awful!!  In each house they found DEAD ANIMALS that had be FLATTENED because of the weight on top of them!!  AWFUL!!

Thankfully Chris woke up and he couldn't handle it (it is like a train wreck...you just cant look away!) because he is such a neat freak so we had to switch channels and a few minutes later the superbowl came on.  My favorite commericals were suprisingly from Doritos.  I am partial to the dog collar/speak.  I will post a link later. 

Jana and Wyatt ended up stopping by.  Lexy made THE BEST BURGER EVER!!  I am serious.  I don't know what she did but the bacon-cheese-bbq sauce-sauteed onion-tomato-toasted bun-hamburger was the best!!  Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

After the game was over, it was time to go to bed. 

Monday came all too quickly.  Thankfully it was over quickly too.  I don't know if it was just because I had so much to do or what but the afternoon evening just flew by!!  After work, it was a race home to pick up TJ and the car seat and get to WinCo.  I was meeting Jana to go grocery shopping and to pick up Wyatt.  Jana cleans her pastor's home for additional income and she needed to get it done.

After a great grocery shopping trip, it was run to the dog park.  Without fail, Wyatt always need to use the restroom while we are there.  I broke the rules and left TJ unattended while we raced to the porta potty.  After the dog park, it was off to Jana's house to finish out the evening. 

Jana got home and I headed to my parents house.  A back rub was over due. I love the ritual/tradition Mom and I have established.  It is a great bonding time and a relaxing time.

Another piece of random exciting news...DAD GOT ANOTHER 4 WHEELER!!  WOOHOO!! Maybe I will get to go sometime this summer!!  It is a 2007 Suzuki Kingquad 700 in red!

WOW!!

Can't believe it has been over a week since I posted!! Let me update you a little,

I am working on my new years resolution very well. I followed suit of the majority of the country and set my sights on losing weight. I have survived a week and have been improving each day. A better Megan is emerging. I have been blogging about it on a different page and it helps me so much. No one reads it but it is still there for me. You should try it if you have a common goal.

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I got the problem solved at work. I am no longer mad...annoyed=EXTREMELY!! Readers Digest version. I submitted to have July 6-9 off from work on the form we have to fill out at the end of the year. It was my first choice. There are only 5 people who have more senority than I. Last Monday, we get our forms back with the approved dates and I was not approved for my first choice. I assumed that it went to someone with more senority (understand but I have been asking off for a year).

I couldn't find out who received the days until the posted the calendar at boss' desk. I strees for a week. Finally on...I think it was Friday, the calendar is available. A coworker has it at her desk so it isn't posted yet so I can see it. Coworker advises me someone with LESS senority than I received the day off.

Think I was mad before? I was so mad I was ready to cry and storm my bosses office. All that morning I just have steam coming out of my ears. Finally bosses posts calendar and I walk by. The person with less doesn't have the day approved.....there name is on the day because it is their birthday!! My blood pressure drops a couple thousands points.

But now I am confused.....nobody has those days off. Now I am wondering why I wasn't approved in the first place?!?! They could have saved me so much angst if they just would have given me the days off to begin with!! GRRR!!!

Now I have to email my boss and see if she will approve me for that weekend. Thankfully she does but really people.

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Saturday was a fun day. I started off making spaghetti sauce to freeze (plus it made a great brunch on Saturday too). Did a little cleaning. Then it was off to DD for my sister and her birthday party. What a great time. Sushi was amazing for dinner and then we went to dueling piano bar in Meridian. What great singers. I will have to go back because it was alwasy a....SING A LONG!!

I finally collapse into bed at 5am on Saturday. I wake up at 8am because TJ needed to go out. I couldn't fall back to sleep becasue at 930, friends were picking me up to go get my car (because I drove their van home). Sunday couldn't take a nap so I vegged at parents house.

Sunday night I didn't get any good sleep because I was have stomach issues. Come Monday morning, I said screw it. I am sleeping in and called in sick to work (which techinically I was).

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Monday afternoon, my stomach was pretty ok. I went to play with neice and nephews and took them all gifts I have been holding onto for a while. They loved it. Emma loved her Ariel doll. Wyatt loved the spider man lunch tote. Marlee loved to rock out on the piano (4 keys).

Monday I made spaghetti for the family.

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Tuesday I got myself out of bed and exercised before I went to work. It made my day. Now I am working on setting a playlist to rock out to while I am exercising. Bonus on today is Dad is upgrading my memory in my laptop. Thank heavens he works at Micron (and still has a job).

Homemade Christmas Candy!!

A couple of weeks ago my sisters and I got together to make Christmas candy. Below are the fruits of our labors. We cooked from 8-12.

Below is the perfect batch of homemade carmel. Not hard but not too gooey either. Too bad the 2nd batch didn't turn out AS great. It was still good because it has walnuts in it.

Emma just had to tuck TJ in for naptime.

Lexy made nut clusters. They were YUMMY!!

This is the first year we did Almond Bark Pretzel sticks.
I prefer the small ones because you get less pretzel and more bark.

Chris came up with the great idea to sprinkle white chocolate on the peanut clusters!

Here are the Christmas Corn Flake Wreathes. You use the same recipe as Rice Crispy treats, just add green food coloring and substitute corn flakes for the Crispys. Red Hots are the holly berries. Just place mixture on wax paper and form with butter covered fingers.

Butterscotch haystacks made by Jana.
We had difficulty melting the butterscotch but they tasted just as good.

White Chocolate covered pretzels. In B/W becasue was slightly out of focus.

And here are the chefs! L to R is Me, Chris, Lexy, Marlee, Caitlyn, Emma, and Jana.

Just the sister chefs!! What an amazing day!

what a wonderful world...

This has been a great weekend. The highlight of the weekend was learning Michael Buble has a new album out called Crazy Love. Wal Mart didn't have it when I made a midnight run but Hasting here I come tomorrow on my 1st break.

Friday was awesome because I won a free pair of jeans. I then went to dinner at Jana's house and had taco's. After taco's, we went to the pumpkin patch again. This time it was with Emma and Wyatt. Once we were finished with the patch, Caitlyn and I went to Applebees for happy hour. If you ever need a quick snack, Applebees has 1/2 price appetizers from 3-6 and 9-11. You can make a meal of their appetizers. My favorite is the spinach dip and now their chili cheese nachos.

Saturday morning, I picked up a pine bedframe that I need to sand and repaint. It currently has just a finish on it and needs an update. I will paint it cream and use gold accents to match my dresser. I also got a corner desk to put in my craft room. It is totally awesome. I have everything organized and it looks so much bettter than a bunch of boxes and bags sitting on the floor. I will post pictures once my battery is charges.

After making the run to Boise, it was off to Lexy's house for a jewlery party. After the party, I babysat Emma while Caitlyn had to work. The weather on Saturday was a repeat of Friday afternoon. Just lovely. I finally got to watch Supernatural. After Caitlyn got home, it was another run to Lexy's house because she has Supernatural on Tivo. Thank heavens for sisters who love me and have Tivo.

Sunday was a lazy morning. I did some scrapframing (similar to a scrapbook page but it is in a picture frame instead). I skipped church. I just wanted a relaxing morning and that is what I got. I did some landary while scraping. I then headed over to parents house to make soup and attempt homemade bread. When we had the crappy weather, I thought how good it would be to come home to hot soup and hot homemade bread. Today that finally got fulfilled.

I have seen my mom make bread a hundred times but it still intimidating to me. But with her occassionally looking over my shoulder, I got it made. It will have to be a Saturday at home project but I will do it more often.

So homemade soup was delicious. I invited over family who enjoyed it. Below you will see the fruits of my labors. Making it myself brought back memories of Mom making it when I was younger. Instead of covering it in seran wrap, she would drap a towel over it. We would than use an electric knife to cut it. Those were good days.....like today!



As always, Marlee and Emma were being silly (Jana and Wyatt went to Beth's house for dinner). I caught a couple of cute pics with my dad's camera (the one I covet a Nikon D50..it is awesome.) I love these two little girls!!

Marlee is now walking and is having fun.

Emma no longer just smiles for the camera. She has to ham it up.

so loved....

Last night I went over to Lexy's house to catch up on Supernatural. It was also Marlee's 1st birthday. I hadn't seen her in a week but SHE HAS GROWN SO MUCH!! Marlee has always loved me. When I would pick her up, he would just lay her head on my shoulder for a few minutes.

Last night it got even better. So when I first picked up her up, she just layed her head on my shoulder for ever. Than we just started to play. Before long, it is time to meet everyone at Primo's for dinner. So we go and eat. At the end of dinner, everyone is saying goodbye. Marlee made me feel so loved because she would let anyone else besides me hold her. She would even through a fit when her parents tried to hold her.

When she would come back to me, she would squeeze her little arms as hard as she could! I just loved it. Everyone else was jealous but that is ok. As long as I feel it, everything is ok. :)

I would have had someone take a picture but my camera battery was dead!

SEATTLE!!

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 2009

Leaving on a jet plane.. dont know when I'll be back again..

SEATTLE!! Do you see Qwest Field? (Hint: Look for blue)

THURSDAY OCTOBER 1, 2009

This is their Central Public Libaray. It is very "green" on the inside.

Pike Place Market (my favorite place)

Qwest Field in the daylight.

Sam and I had lunch here. I had chicken smothered in tomatos/onions. GREAT Tortilla Soup.

Pergola in Pioneer Square.

Ivy covered building in Occidental Park. Man playing beautiful music on violin.

Sidewalk through Occidental Park lines with trees.

Some smoke stack in downtown Seattle. Thought it looked so pretty.

Smith Tower at night.

Live band at New Orleans Creole Restaurant.

Tomo, Hitome, and Steven in Utilikits.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 2, 2009

Pike Place Fish fishermonger getting ready to throw the fish.

Fish in mid air (see gray line by the white shovel).

LOVED walking by & smelling the flower stands in Pike Place Market. They were so cheap too!!
The veggies looked so pretty and so yummy. Pike Place Market
Skylight used to illumiate the Underground (don't ever go on the tour it is useless. Go to Pendleton OR underground tour.)
This is the only thing you saw on the Underground Tour that was in the broucher.
Too bad Sam wasn't on the tour. I would have gotten a pic of the two Sam's together.

Flowers were overhanging everything at Pike Place Market.
Silver Robot man at Pike Place Markte (I think there is a schedule for that corner because earlier it was a band.)


HE CAUGHT THE FISH & I CAUGHT IT ON CAMERA!!
Nate & Clint at Steve/Sam's apt.

Me & Clint at Steve/Sam's apt.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 3, 2009
Me & Sam waiting for ferry. (Steven has a better pic of us on his Iphone.)

Space Neddle (view from ferry)

Qwest Field (view from Ferry)

Sam not wanting (or liking) his picture being taken.

Space Neddle (view from Ferry).

Smith Tower (view from Ferry).

Me on ferry (thank you Sam for taking pic).

The entire reason we went on the ferry was for this ice cream. It is food for the gods.

I got Cheesecake with Raspberry Swirl & Pumpkin Pie. They tasted so yummy!!

Sam got a banana split with Cheesecake with Raspberry Swirl & Pistachio & Pumpkin Pie. Steven got a Dulce de something. All was really yummy!

Space Neddle on the way back (view from the Ferry).


Me actually touching the star fish at Seattle Aquarium. It was really cool.


Jelly fish at Aquarium.

Lobster at Aquarium (love the blue)

SUNDAY OCTOBER 4th, 2009Steven/Sam's apt complex. They live on top floor in corner left apt.

View from Steven/Sam's apt.

Steven & I on the rough of their bldg.

On top of Smith Tower.

Qwest Field (view from Smith Tower).

Chinatown decorations

Me in front of the Gate at Chinatown


Smith Tower

Chicken Alfredo with toast, side salad, & Mr Pipp at the cafe in the furniture store IKEA.

Steven/Sam both had Swedish Meatballs which were so much better than the chicken.


Full moon leaving Seattle. (yes I cried when I left).

Last look at Seattle.

The end.