Progression is Good :)

I have been spending a lot of time scrapbooking lately, in the last two weeks I have gotten over 30 pages done! I'm pretty excited, I am still behind with my pictures but it's looking better. I have Sept- Dec 2008 completely done, I am working backwards :) I wanted to share a few that I finished :)

Thank You Donna :)

I received an award! I am so excited! OK, deep breath, (insert cheesy grin) here it is,
I received it from Donna, her blog- My Tasty Treasures- has a lot of amazing recipes and wonderful pictures you have to check it out. Also the rules for the award are - here -
And I want to pass this award on to-

Forty Something And Counting

Good Things Come To Those Who Blog

Jumping in the Rain Puddles of Life

Marvelously Mundane

Mom's Loot

Muddy Runner

Ponderosa Jr

This Stop Willoughby

Who Has the Thyme

WE EAT


Happy, Happy Friday All!

My Week of Craziness

OK , I guess that's unfair, my whole life is pretty crazy. I don't know why this week in particular got me down. I constantly felt like I was going to explode/implode, have a nervous break-down, or just start screaming and never stop. It seemed like one thing after another just fell apart around here, and by yesterday afternoon I couldn't take it anymore. I came down stairs to stomp/scream/cry whatever came first. Then sat down at the computer, & read one funny post after another and laughed and laughed. So I just wanted to say "THANK YOU" to you all, I badly needed those laughs. Sometimes I just need to be reminded that Life goes on and the end of the world hasn't happened, YET, and I can keep trying. Sigh. SO, I feel a lot better this morning and am ready to get back out there is that crazy game called LIFE. I can do it,
& Thank You :)

Let's go back, shall we

I want to back up a bit and post about V-day, our V-day family tradition is a special breakfast together. Usually we have Belgian waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, this year I wanted to try something different. So we had these

Chocolate Heart Pancakes <3 onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuQ3VB5llAmuARVDsPTmOtjFI4w28XCRrT67KhUklVK0hH-bVOfEqP3sTVrBYI2Ad54s-Qd7ZsQk3HRikEeV9zYszg3weckMiXPrGuDw_efevIic2xZJlliPPRUkw_cE3uOa8StCRUjQgo/s1600-h/jan-feb09+025.jpg">and were totally yummy. I was gonna post the recipe but I want to have pictures of the batter when I do, it looked almost like chocolate mousse, it was beautiful.
So I am saving that for another post. Here goes my next picture

sopapilla cheesecake This was soooooooooo yummy. My only grief was that I didn't want to wait for it to cool and set up properly. On the other side it was REALLY good warm/hot, and also REALLY good after it had cooled. Wow, this was super dooper easy, quick, pretty & delicious!
Some day I will get better about taking pictures of my cooking processes......... then again maybe it's better this way, I am really messy when I cook ;)

Can I fix it? Yes I can!!!

Ok so last Thursday the toilet flusher thingy on the kids toilet broke. So we had to flush it by hand pulling the little lever thing. Which was a pain. But we weren't home much so it wasn't a huge issue, plus we still had 2 working toilets. So the Hubby said to call our landlord, which I didn't do because they would say ,oh ok we'll take care of it please don't mess with it yourselves, than not come forever. We had the spring thingy on one of the garage doors break, cause it's old, in November and they still haven't come to fix that. So I thought if I left it over the weekend my Hubby would take care of it. Even with that extra day off- woo hoo- Here it was Tuesday morning and...... nope still broken.
So I thought Hey it doesn't look that bad maybe I could do it myself. So I trotted (ok drove) on down to this place-


Where a very helpful woman in a red vest hooked me up with one of these and the assurances that-
"You can do!"
And You know what??!!?? I DID IT!
Seriously who needs one of these?-

Or even one of these?-

I am one empowered Woman! And in the words of my toddler, " I can do it myself!"

Weekend Escape

Due to the computer having minor disagreements with me about how things should be running around here I will be taking the weekend off, no computer, while the Hubby does some *ahem* maintenance.
So there you stupid piece of plastic/hardware/machine!

Sorry I had to get one more taunt in before I leave.

So I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentines Day, and great Weekend!

25 things about ME

Some of my bloggy friends have been posting this, so I decided to take on the challenge. The challenge is to come up with 25 things about yourself that others may/or may not want to know. So here goes-

1- I learned to drive a stick shift when I was 11, I grew up on/near several working farms/ranches. Those of us who couldn't heave and stack hay bales onto the truck as well as the older stronger kids were recruited to driving the truck. This was great until you reached say 13 and were bumped out of your spot by a 9 year old.

2- I am married to one of my best friends, we have been friends since we were 12. All through junior high & high school we would complain about our dates to each other, we hung out. We didn't date until after we were both 18. We dated for 6 months then we got married.

3- I had 3 children by the age of 23, while I am glad I have them, I wouldn't recommend that course of action for anyone. It was hard on my body, spirit,mind & marriage.

4- I am the middle child of 7. And I LOVE each and everyone of my siblings, they are all amazing people. I'm not saying they don't have their moments, cause we all do, but I love them each to pieces.

5-My favorite animal is the horse. I had 3 of them growing up, I really wanted to train horses when I grew up. I am now realizing that in order for that dream to have worked I probably should have married a rancher/cowboy instead of a chemistry nerd. lol, oh well maybe someday, when I actually grow up ;)

6- I was home schooled for most of my school years, I graduated when I was 16 & went to college when I was 17 for 1 year, I was a Dance major/ English minor.

7- I have had a gray patch of hair since I was a kid, I guess I fell off of something & hit my head & that is what they think caused that. So as the result of that I have been dyeing my hair since I was twelve.

8- I love gardening, and growing things, when we have our own place my Hubby is going to build me a green house, I am really excited about that.

9- I am a miracle baby in a sense, after my parents had my 2 older sisters my dad had a vasectomy. Seven years later they joined a religion that made them think they shouldn't have done that, so he had it reversed and they had 5 more children. One of which was me.

10- I love to cook, I have been cooking since I was a kid. I did some cooking in 4-h when I was little. Also when I was 12 my Mom became really sick & I started cooking more for the family. One of my older sisters owns a catering company & I have spent a lot time helping her so that has taught me a lot too.

Wow this is getting harder to come up with things!

11- I love the color green, probably 3/4 of my wardrobe is green. & I buy a lot of green clothes for my kids too! :)

12- I enjoy creating things, clothing, crafts, food.

13- I am a peacemaker, I don't care who's right or wrong as long as everyone is happy. I like for people to be happy.

14- I like to be alone. I love the quiet & solitude of being all alone. lol, probably because I don't have to be stressed out keeping everyone happy if I'm all alone! :)

15- I am computer challenged, this blog has been a HUGE step into the world of electronics and computers for me.

16- One of my favorite things to drink is buttermilk, it's weird I know, but my mom, my brother & two of my sisters drink it too! One of my girls likes it now also!

17- Even weirder I don't like to drink milk, I will dip cookies in it once in a blue moon- cause I'm not big on cookies either, but I don't like to drink it. Part of my problem I think is because of growing up milking cows & goats.

18- I have raised many goats, when I was 8 I got my first goat. I delivered her first baby, and all others after that. I also milked her myself twice a day for the next 8 years. After her first baby, she then had twins every year and would only take one so I had a lot of experience bottle feeding.

19- I am part Irish, so that is one of our naming things for our children, they all had to have Irish names.

20-My Dad named me, my Mom couldn't come up with anything so my Dad named me using a similar name of his favorite Aunt. He says I remind him of her cause I'm so sweet :)

21- I am a paranoid person, I worry about everything there could possibly be to worry about, it drives my Hubby insane :)

22- After 5 years of marriage & 3 children my Hubby left me and moved 3 states away. I was a single Mom of 3 for almost a year. Two days before our divorce was final we got back together, it was a very life changing experience for me. Learning to stand up for myself was one of the biggest things I learned, and am still working on :)

23- I love the internet! There is nothing you can't find/ or learn about with the internet! Wow, I don't know what people did before! lol

24- I LOVE to read, I have been reading forever. I can't remember I time when I couldn't read,
my absolute favorite thing to do is curl up with a good book and a blanket.

25- I would much rather be cold than warm. When I was a kid I would sleep with my window open all year long.

OK I'm done, they got kind of short but I was trying to get through it, that was HARD! Kudos to all of you who have done one!

Sew What I'm still a Rock Star!

OK, now I know I will never be a great seamstress, but I enjoy creating, so every once in a while I get out my machine and play around. My girls are so sweet they greet all of my creations with joy and love. Even going so far as telling me that, and I quote " mommy you are the very best sewer in the world". Wonder what that one was buttering me up for? oh well.
So last weekend I got the urge and out came my SM it's has a nick name, stupid machine, It & I have never got along very well. I think it's possessed. I learned to sew on my mothers old sewing machine & I loved it. This one just has it out for me I think, it enjoys torturing me.
It takes me forever to get the tension right, after getting that figured out the bobbin thread runs out, then my needle breaks..... you get the picture. Anyway I babied it along long enough to make this for M.

I love the owls and monkeys.
Then I wanted to try my hand at making something like a poodle skirt, the school sock hop is coming up. I begged my mom to let me borrow her serger, she finally gave in and I AM NEVER GIVING IT BACK! I love the serger it is my new best friend. There is no machine like it. I came up with this skirt for M and it definitely has some great twirlability going on.

Now this has somewhat backfired on me, my Hubby wants to know ,since I made 4 skirts last weekend, why I haven't patched his jeans yet. I plead the 5th. :)

Sniffle.....Sniffle......Sniffle

No, I'm not sad. Sniffle, sniffle, cough SNEEZE!

I have the worlds worst cold! I am in agony, I can't breathe, eat, or sleep and my head is killing me. On the upside this should really, really, really be helpful for my diet right? ;)

Now I don't like taking pills, of any kind. But last night I gave in and decided to take the worlds most EVIL cough medicine, there is nothing grosser.


NyQuil.......gag......gag......gag
I HATE the stuff, and only use it in case of dire emergencies. Last night was definitely one of those. So I found the bottle of NyQuil the Hubby had stashed on his side of the medicine cabinet, measured out the right dose, grabbed myself a TALL glass of water to wash the nasty down. Plugged my nose......downed it...... drank 2 glasses of water.....gargled and spit 5 times......drank more water......finally I gave up and headed for bed still gagging. About 30 minutes later I fell asleep, and 1-1/2 hours later I woke up...... wide awake.... still can't breath, my head still hurts.

WHAT IN THE HECK!!!!!!!

So I lay awake trying to breathe, dozing off every once in awhile.
At about 4:30 am I give up and get up to go sit in my rocking chair and read, at least I have a great read going. I must have dozed off because the next thing I know my Hubby is wsking me up asking if I'm OK.
So I tell him all about by problems with his NyQuil, and he chuckles & tells me "Hunny, that stuff is really old, I tried it about a month ago & it didn't work" Chuckle Chuckle.


ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH


I drank that nasty stuff for nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So now I still can't breathe, eat or sleep & my head still hurts. And I'm mad :& and I hate NyQuil more than ever!

Hopefully it gets better quickly, I have a scrap night planned for tomorrow. I will just focus on that and go to my happy place.

Lovin' the Whole Bloggy World

I have been really enjoying blogging, reading blogs, finding new blogs to read, I can't believe I didn't know about this Whole other world!!! Where have I been? How did I survive??? OK, all joking aside, I am really, really loving it :)
I have found some great blogs, & some great friends. Thank you Luis, & Crystal for inspiring me and getting me started :) And a great big THANKS to all of the other great friends I have met in Blog Land. Happy Happy Wednesday to you all :)

This is from my cousin, he passed it on to me & I had to share-

Women's Ass Size Study

There is a new study just released by the American Psychiatric Association about women and how they feel about their asses. The results are pretty shocking:

1. Only 5% of women surveyed feel their ass is too big.

2. 10% of women surveyed feel their ass is too small.

3. The remaining 85% say they don't care; they love him; he's a good man and they would have married him anyway.

And the last one :) From my SIL :) ->

Economic Stimulus

This year, taxpayers will receive an Economic Stimulus Payment. This is a

very exciting new program that I will explain using the Q and A format:



Q. What is an Economic Stimulus Payment?
A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.


Q. Where will the government get this money?
A. From taxpayers.


Q. So the government is giving me back my own money?
A. Only a smidgen.


Q. What is the purpose of this payment?
A. The plan is that you will use the money to purchase a high-definition
TV set, thus stimulating the economy.


Q. But isn't that stimulating the economy of China ?
A. Shut up.


Below is some helpful advice on how to best help the US economy by
spending your stimulus check wisely:



If you spend that money at Wal-Mart, all the money will go to China .

If you spend it on gasoline it will go to the Arabs.

If you purchase a computer it will go to India .

If y ou purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico , Honduras , and
Guatemala (unless you buy organic).

If you buy a car it will go to Japan .

If you purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan .



And none of it will help the American economy.

We need to keep that money here in America . You can keep the money in
America by spending it at yard sales,
going to a baseball game, or spend it on prostitutes, beer and wine
(domestic ONLY), or tattoos, since those are
the only businesses still in the US.

This was in an e-mail my Sister-In-Law sent me, too funny :)

I just want to thank all of you for your educational e-mails over the past year. I am totally screwed up now and have little chance of recovery.

I no longer open a public bathroom door without using a paper towel.

I no longer have lemon slices in my ice water at a restaurant without worrying about the bacteria on the lemon peel.

I can't use the remote in a hotel room because I don't know what the last person was doing while flipping through the adult movie channels..

I can't sit down on the hotel bedspread because I can only imagine what has happened on it since it was last washed.

I have trouble shaking hands with someone who has been driving because the number one pastime while driving alone is picking one's nose (all though cell phone usage may be overtaking the number one spot).

Eating a little snack sends me on a guilt trip because I can only imagine how many gallons of trans fats I have consumed over the years.

I can't touch any woman's purse for fear she has placed it on the floor of a public bathroom.

I MUST SEND MY SPECIAL THANKS to whoever sent me the one about poop in the glue on envelopes because I now have to use a wet sponge with every envelope that needs sealing.

ALSO,now I have to scrub the top of every can I open for the same reason.

I no longer have any savings because I gave it to a sick girl (Penny Brown) who is about to die in the hospital for the 1,387,258th time.

I no longer have any money at all,but that will change once I receive the $15,000 that Bill Gates/Microsoft and AOL are sending me for participating in their special e-mail program.

I no longer worry about my soul because I have 363,214 angels lookingout for me, and St. Theresa's Novena has granted my every wish.

I no longer eat KFC because their chickens are actually horrible mutant freaks with no eyes or feathers.

I no longer use cancer-causing deodorants even though I smell like a water buffalo on a hot day.

THANKS TO ALL OF YOU I have learned that my prayers only get answered if I forward an e-mail to seven of my friends and make a wish with in five minutes.

BECAUSE OF YOUR CONCERN, I no longer drink Coca Cola because it can remove toilet stains.

I no longer can buy gasoline without taking someone along to watch the car so a serial killer won't crawl in my back seat when I'm pumping gas.

I no longer drink Pepsi or Dr. Pepper since the people who make these products are atheists who refuse to put 'Under God' on their cans.

I no longer use Saran Wrap in the microwave because it causes cancer.

AND THANKS FOR LETTING ME KNOW I can't boil a cup of water in the microwave anymore because it will blow up in my face... disfiguring me for life.

I no longer check the coin return on pay phones because I could be pricked with a needle infected with AIDS.

I no longer go to shopping malls because someone will drug me with a perfume sample and rob me.

I no longer receive packages from UPS or Fed Ex since they are actually AlQaeda in disguise.

I no longer shop at Target since they are French and don't support our American troops or the Salvation Army.

I no longer answer the phone because someone will ask me to dial a number for which I will get a phone bill with calls to Jamaica , Uganda, Singapore, and Uzbekistan .

I no longer buy expensive cookies from Neiman Marcus since I now have their recipe.

THANKS TO YOU I can't use anyone's toilet but mine because a big brown African spider is lurking under the seat to cause me instant death when it bites my butt.

AND THANKS TO YOUR GREAT ADVICE I can't ever pick up $5.00 dropped in the parking lot because it probably was placed there by a sex molester waiting underneath my car to grab my leg.

I can no longer drive my car because I can't buy gas from certain gas companies!

I can't do any gardening because I'm afraid I'll get bitten by the brown recluse and my hand will fall off.

If you don't send this e-mail to at least 144,000 people in the next 70 minutes, a large dove with diarrhea will land on your head at 5:00 p.m. tomorrow afternoon and the fleas from 12 camels will infest your back, causing you to grow a hairy hump. I know this will occur because it actually happened to a friend of my next door neighbor's ex-mother-in-law's second husband's cousin's beautician . .
Oh, by the way.....

A German scientist from Argentina, after a lengthy study, has discovered that people with insufficient brain activity read their e-mail with their hand on the mouse.

Don't bother taking it off now, it's too late.