STMLIG

The Grunter

2011-05-06T10:00:00.003-06:00

The other night I was sleeping peacefully and a sound woke me up.

I can only describe it as a grunt...

I opened my bleary eyes and tried to focus...

This is what I saw standing next to my side of the bed:

(Note: This is not a picture from 3ish in the morning, I am not together enough to grab my camera and snap a picture after being woken up out of a nice peaceful sleep.)

It grunted at me again!

I scooted my way toward the middle of the bed, he backed up, then jumped right up there next to me with his head on my pillow! We promptly fell back into a nice peaceful sleep :)

That my friends is what you get when you grunt on mama's side of the bed during the night....do that on daddy's side and the response would be a bit different...

P30X

2011-04-27T19:47:00.006-06:00

Well I waited a few months for the requisite exercise/get in shape post. I thought you might appreciate that :)

Around the end of last year and the beginning of this year we decided to get our butts in gear, work out and eat healthier. This was not a New Year's Resolution, though it was that time of year. I decided not to post about it, because I didn't want it to seem like the standard New Year kick that only lasts a couple weeks at most.

So here we are 4 months into the year, I can't believe it is May already! I have to say that so far so good!!!! We decided to go with eating along the premise of Body for Life. It allows us to eat regular food and is easy to follow. We've been going to the gym, initially using the weight machines, bike, treadmill and a few other cardio machines. Then James and my brother were talking about P90X, my brother decided that you can commit to anything for 30 days so they challenged each other to do "P30X". I decided to do the P30X with James since we usually workout together at least some of the time...besides I'll try just about anything!

Life got a little crazy and we all got delayed starting for a week or two, but then we jumped in. We stayed with the Body for Life eating and started P90X we made it through the first 30 and actually enjoyed it! We didn't always make it through the entire workout (especially the abs) both due to time and energy, but I think it went pretty well. Along with this James has been doing Couch to 5k which involves run/walk intervals. I've gone running a few times, not as much as I'd like (hopefully that will change) and playing hockey. After the 30 days we decided to continue, we chose to change to Doubles which has us doing cardio in the morning on lifting days. Some days it works out, others it is just too crazy but still good...we are down to a few weeks left and we are feeling good! Can I just say that I love lifting weights!!! Sorry, I'm a little odd but it really is fun! We started off using resistance bands, but quickly realized that it wasn't going to get the job done, so we've been using the free-weights at the gym and are enjoying it!

James has started swimming again; he's been getting up early almost every morning to go to the gym to swim before heading to work, I am very impressed and proud! I am looking forward to the summer hockey season starting as I will be playing two nights!!!!! We are also looking forward to Warrior Dash in August!

As a side note, we are going to need new kilts (or fairly major alterations) for this year; these are just way too big on us :)

We are feeling good and enjoying our time together whether we are just hanging out or working out! I am looking forward to a wonderful, active and productive summer!

Spring!!!

2011-04-26T14:57:00.006-06:00

I love when plants start coming up in the spring! It always amazes me that after all of the cold and snow; spring comes and plants start popping up! It is a beautiful sight to see flowers blooming, green grass and trees pushing out leaves; a great reminder of the blessings of life!

Last year we planted some bare-root strawberry plants and were excited to see that they took root and grew. Late in the fall they started to die back and go dormant, my wonderful in-laws brought us some straw that we needed to cover them during the winter. Somewhere around late March or early April we started to see green leaves come out :) and now this is what we have:

Strawberry plants!!!!! I hope they continue to do well and that we can get a decent crop of strawberries this year. I still need to build a cage for them in order to keep the birds and rabbits from eating the precious strawberries that grow, hopefully I can get that done in the next couple weeks.

We also started some seedlings to grow stuff in our garden this year (we still need to haul some more cinder blocks for that). So far they are doing well. We started seeds for tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet and hot peppers, cabbage and a few other things. Here are our 1 and a half week old seedlings:

This year will be mostly an experiment to see what grows well in our garden. As long as something (other than weeds) grow in it I will be happy :)

I have wanted to grow some herbs indoors for awhile now. However, our punk cat likes to eat anything plantlike that resides in our house (including pineapples). I am not opposed to growing herbs outside, except that it leaves me without fresh herbs in the fall and winter. I came up with a solution :) I got some hanging baskets at the Dollar Store and am going to plant them with herbs and hang them in front of our kitchen window. Jules could make it up to them, but hopefully will not. Right now I have the baskets hanging from the blinds until I can put the hooks in the ceiling, so I'll post a picture later. But for now, here are our little basil seedlings:

We had snow the other week, but the strawberries seem fine, we also planted some raspberries that seem okay so far. I am looking forward to some more home improvements this summer and hoping I can develop some sort of green thumb!

Soap Overload!!!

2011-04-11T16:28:00.002-06:00

You would think that with only two of us, we would hardly have any laundry to do...but it seems that there is a never-ending supply. God help us whenever we have kids!

Thankfully my wonderful hubby does most of it. I usually fold and put most of it away or fold it and leave a nice supply of clean clothes on our table :D

Well, I've gotten sick of paying so much for laundry detergent. I've read several blog posts about making your own laundry soap and decided to try it. The final recipe is from a combination of the different recipes I read.

What you need:

1 cup of Washing Soda (Not baking soda)
1 cup of Borax
1 bar of Fels-Naptha Soap
a 5-gallon bucket
LOTS of Water

1. Grate up the bar of Fels-Naptha soap add to a pot with 6 cups of water.
2. Cook on Medium-Low until the soap melts (don't let it boil).
3. Add 1 cup of Washing Soda and 1 cup of Borax and stir.
4. Cook on Medium-Low for another 10 minutes or so (a couple of the recipes said to cook until it got thick -honey consistency- but mine never did and I lost patience, besides many recipes didn't mention it getting thick)
5. Add a gallon of HOT water to your bucket and carefully pour in your soap mixture, stir to combine.
6. Add hot water to your bucket until it is almost full (leave a little space so you don't spill).
7. Cover and let sit over-night or until cool. It will separate into a gel on top and liquid on the bottom.
8. Once cool you can either use an immersion blender to mix it all up....or use your hands like me :) just smush up the gel and mix it with the liquid as much as you can.
9. Take a clean laundry detergent container (or other container of your choosing) and fill it Half-full with your soap mixture, add water to fill up the remainder of the container, close and shake!
10. Shake container before each use and use 1/4 to 1/2 cup in your washing machine. I checked several places and found that this is safe for front loading washers.

So if you paid attention you've realized that this ultimately makes 10 GALLONS of laundry detergent!!!!!! We have been using it for a couple weeks now and are Extremely happy with it, it seems to work as good if not better than our previous name-brand detergent! WooHoo!!!

Now for the cost:
I got all of the ingredients (minus the bucket which we had and water) in the laundry aisle at Walmart:
Borax (box with enough for several batches) less than $3
Washing Soda (box with enough for several batches) less than $3
Fels-Naptha soap (1 bar) less than $1

Total is less than $7 for 10 gallons of laundry soap!!!

Okay, so back to the soap overload :) This is so cheap and makes 10 gallons of soap, even with our never-ending laundry supply it would take a lot of time to go through, so if you want to try it or have run out of laundry soap or whatever and live close....bring me a clean container and we will fill it half-way with soap (other half needs to be water) and you can try it out and help lighten our supply! I want to keep enough for a couple bottles, but that still leaves several gallons to give away.

Just so you know, the clothes come out smelling clean but no other scent, if you want a scent you can just add a bit of essential oil in your scent of choice to the soap container.

Yummy Veggies :)

2011-04-05T15:46:00.004-06:00

I like vegetables, my husband likes vegetables and actually our dogs do too :)

Anyway, just because we like our veggies, that doesn't mean they have to be boring....

I went to the store the other day and got a lot of stuff, including some brussel sprouts. I know most people cringe at the thought, but give them a chance.

I cut off the ends and took off any bad outside leaves (there weren't many, they were very fresh) and cut them in halves or quarters. Then I mixed up some dry ground mustard, paprika, salt, pepper, minced garlic and oil; I tossed the brussel sprouts in the mixture I made and roasted them at 400 for 20-30 minutes (Sorry I don't know the exact time, cause I just checked on them every so often and would just add a little more time. I let them roast so they got a nice golden color and some of the outside and loose leaves were browned.

I planned to grill some chicken for dinner and thought they'd be a nice side, but I don't know if they will make it that long.....They are awesome!

Here's a pic to pique your interest, give them a try:

One Word.....

2011-01-09T18:58:00.002-07:00

We missed church last week because I was sick. However, our pastor sent us the notes so we wouldn't miss out. One of the challenges was instead of the typical new year's resolutions (which most of the time get broken) was to come up with one word.

It is easy to think of things that I want to improve on, but narrowing it down to a single word was difficult. I spent the week thinking and praying and trying to determine what my word should be. It wasn't until we were driving to church in a heavy snow on slick roads that I committed to it.

The drive wasn't what committed me though, it was my husband asking me. I had been bugging him all week to tell me if he came up with a word and what it was, but he wouldn't tell me. Well, on the drive this morning he asked me; I said I wasn't sure yet. I finally told him that the word that kept coming back to me is "focused". However, once I said it, I decided that was it. I had wrestled all week long trying to come up with something else and I ended up where I started. I finally got James to tell me his word, but if you want to know you'll have to ask him :)

I am not entirely sure how my word will affect me, but it definitely gives me a lot to think about. I hope that when I get distracted by things in life that I can stop, think about what I need to be focused on and then follow through. Sometimes that may be the thing I was working on in the first place and other times it may be that I need to shift my focus somewhere else; but I hope that I will take the time to determine where my time and energy (my "focus") is best spent.

I think this was a great challenge and I encourage you to try it!!!

Happy New Year!!!

2011-01-01T21:26:00.003-07:00

I can't believe it is already 2011

2010 went by way too fast, I guess that means I am getting old :(

We had lots of people up to our house for Thanksgiving this year, it was a great time with LOTS of food! It was fun to cook so much in our own home and have family and friends come to visit. We missed seeing those that couldn't make it, but enjoyed not having to travel.

Christmas was again a great time with friends and family! Each time we get together I am reminded how blessed I am! I couldn't ask for a better family, in-laws, extended family and friends.

I hope to be better at updating my blog this year :) we'll see if I can keep up with it; I apologize in advance for any ramblings that may occur in my attempt to do so...

Since it is much more fun to see pictures than just read, here is a pic of my new "toy"

It is my hope and prayer that all of us will have a wonderful and prosperous year!

Surprise Stop!

2010-08-03T07:42:00.006-06:00

On Friday, in the midst of our basement cleaning, I got message from my brother-in-law.

I didn't realize I had a message until a few hours after he left it, but it said something to the effect of "We camped in Rocky Mountain National park last night and got rained on and since we are so close we were thinking of dropping by for a visit."

I called and said that hopefully I wasn't responding too late, and that I hoped they know they are always welcome and still planning to come. Ed said that they were still planning on it....YAY!!!!

They called when they made it to town and got to our house a little after 4. We came inside so they could relax a little and then my niece asked to go to the park. We usually take the kids to a big park in town, but it is a few miles away and requires driving. I suggested a small park a couple blocks away so they wouldn't have to get back in the car :)

It was a nice little walk to the park and ended up being a great spot! There were swings, slides and plenty of nice grass. I even snapped a few pictures with my phone:

James called saying that he was done working and almost home, just and we were getting ready to head back so we didn't get rained on. He beat us home by a couple minutes and Cordelia wasted no time running inside to surprise him!

Ed made steaks and corn for dinner and we had smores (made over the grill) for dessert! The kiddos got baths and everyone had nice dry beds! Ed and James played video games a bit and Rachel and I hung out talking.

It was a nice visit, and we are so glad that they were able to come by....such a great surprise!!!!!

Vacation?!?!?!

2010-08-01T17:52:00.009-06:00

So we had been planning for a few months to go camping at Arches with my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, and were really looking forward to it! Fortunately James got work with both Boulder County and the City of Fort Collins for the summer (yay work!!!) unfortunately this also meant that he had too much work to be able to take the time off needed to go on this vacation. So although we are happy for the work and subsequent income, we were really bummed not to go camping with family.

I decided to still take Thursday and Friday off and tackle some of our basement cleaning. Once I mentioned this intent, my wonderful mother (aka. the cleaning and organizing Queen) offered to come up to help me. She promised to be nice since I take after my dad in regard to "stuff" as in I am a complete pack-rat! I like to do a lot of different projects and have all sorts of supplies and things to help me accomplish them all...even if it won't happen for 10 years :) I like knowing that if I need something that I have it and don't have to go out and buy something new.

So, my mom came on Thursday afternoon and we went to lunch and then worked downstairs for about 2 hours before calling it a day and making dinner. We then started up again on Friday morning and worked for most of the day. It turned out great, we threw some stuff away, made a trip to the thrift store with stuff to donate, found a couple things my brother could use and mostly just organized all of our (mostly my) stuff. Here's the result:

Isn't it great! Now we just have to finish the other half :) Which is not near as bad as this half was. We've worked on the other side before and it is mostly books that we are going through (we have ALOT of books, even double-stacked they don't fit onto our bookshelves). We've turned in several boxes to the used bookstore and have several more that will be going that route as well. Hopefully we can manage to cut down enough that they fit on the shelves we have. Ultimately I want to build floor to ceiling bookcases and make a library, but that will be sometime in the not so immediate future.

Thanks Mom for your help, you were GREAT!

It's been a busy few days, cleaning downstairs was just the start. I'll update more soon!

3 AM Alarm

2010-06-22T15:16:00.006-06:00

So on Saturday night/Sunday morning at approximately 3 am OC (one of our dogs just in case you didn't know) barks. He has a loud bark anyway, but at 3 am when you are trying to sleep, it seems even louder. James yells at him to "Shut UP!!!" possibly other words were also in that mix :) I am pretty sure I yelled too, but probably without any added expletives.

Usually OC will settle down pretty quickly, but he was going nuts! Then we listen and you could hear a screaming animal sound. James jumps up and runs into the living room to look out the window, he leans on the chair which starts to recline and slams himself into the window. So I am not only hearing this crazy animal scream but also a yell from my husband trying to injure himself.

So I get out of bed and we look out the living room window and see out neighbor out there with a flashlight looking for something, and then he heads back inside. We opened the window and this animal scream is pretty loud and slightly terrifying. It eventually stops and James starts looking something up on his computer.

He plays something like this:

Oh My Gosh!!!!

Do we seriously have a mountain lion in our neighborhood?!?!?!?! I thought the sound seemed bad, but had not even considered that it might be a mountain lion! Of course our crazy dog decides that since he is up and we are up and he heard something outside that he should also be outside. Not gonna happen tonight!! Thankfully since the sound stopped, he wasn't quite so insistent on being let out.

We went back to bed and eventually fell asleep. OC passed out long before either James or I and I am not sure Baxter even woke up throughout the whole ordeal!

In the morning I looked out the windows just to make sure there were not any large cats lurking in our yard or trees before I let the dogs out.

We we fed the animals and headed out for church. On the way, James called his dad; both to wish him a Happy Father's Day and to tell him of our EARLY morning adventure. He left a message.

Just as we got to our pastor's home, Clyde calls James back so we wait outside while they talked.

James went through the crazy story.

Clyde (my wonderful Father-in-law) informs him that it probably was a fox, as they sound very similar but louder.

So we are feeling quite a bit better by this time. I know there are foxes around, but never would have thought they would sound like a mountain lion.

When we got home, our neighbor was just pulling up as well, so we head over to their house to see what they know.

She states a similar story of their dogs going crazy and her and her husband went outside with the flashlight. Sure enough, he found a fox in the middle of our cul-de-sac screaming its head off!

Apparently he chased the fox off and it went down the road and then came back, so he chased it off again and it stayed away.

Here's a clip of a fox screaming for your enjoyment. :) Not pleasant anyway, but even worse in the middle of the night:

Busy, Busy, Busy

2010-06-06T21:28:00.000-06:00

I have pictures this time!!

Well a few at least...

We've been busy with yard work lately! We also made a trip down to my in-laws for Clyde's annual surprise birthday party to himself :) it was a great chance to visit with family and see our wonderful nieces and nephews!!!

So since we have mostly spent time on our yard, here's the update:

We shoveled out the old bright orange mulch from the front, cut down and dug out the roots of two aspen trees then planted some boxwood bushes, a contorted filbert tree and surrounded it with nice rubber mulch.

After several years of trying to get the grass to grow (or at least survive) in the front yard, we have decided to give up on it. We dug over about 5 feet from the driveway and reconfigured the retaining wall blocks to create a wall and a mostly level space in front. We are in the process of digging up the dead grass and some dirt from this mostly flat area so we can bring in sand and flagstone. Then we will have a nice little patio to enjoy in our front yard!!! Our goal is to have it finished by the 4th of July!

In the midst of redoing our front yard, we are also building a raised garden in the back. The plan is to build it three cinder blocks high and we are just about done with the first level! It's taking awhile to level the individual blocks. However, once the first level is done then it will just be a matter of getting more blocks and stacking them. Ultimately we plan to pound re bar in a few spots for stability and then put a wood topper around the whole thing. My wonderful in-laws are going to bring a load of horse manure/compost for us to add to the dirt so we should be all set for next year. We have started a few plants in pots that we would like to transplant into the garden this year if possible, but next year we want to go all out!

A few weeks ago we put up lattice on the side of our garage and planted grapes. The grapes are not looking so good, but I still have hope. If they don't work out, we'll try again next year.

We also planted hops rhizomes between the grapes. We have eventual plans to try home-brewing, so the hops will come in handy. The most exciting thing is that they are actually growing!!!!

These are three separate plants, but they didn't have any real growth when we put them in. We are very excited for our hops!

We planted strawberry plants near our front door and they are taking off, we are looking forward to some fresh strawberries this summer! I will probably need to cover them soon since I think one (or several) of the local bunnies have been nibbling on some of the leaves. Also I would like to eat some of the strawberries that we grow and I know the birds like them too as would the bunnies.

Anyway, there's a recap of what we've been doing. I will try to update more often!

Hockey Playoffs!!!

2010-03-29T17:18:00.002-06:00

So we played our first playoff game of the season last night and pulled off a nice win over the team ranked ahead of us. Everyone played a good game, lots of good passing and shots and a great job by our goalie! It is always nice to start off with a good win.

The local CHL team the Colorado Eagles got off to a sad start with 2 home losses in their 7 game series. They are on the road in Bossier-Shreveport for 3 games now, so we'll see how they do.

The Avalanche are holding onto the 8th spot in their conference to make the playoffs with 7 more games to play. Hopefully they can hold on and do awesome in the playoffs.

Have a wonderful week!!!

Happy St. Patty's Day!!!!

2010-03-17T20:44:00.002-06:00

Happy St. Patrick's day!

Happy Birthday to my Sister-in-Law, what a great day for your birthday!

Two years ago, my hubby proposed :) three and a half months later we were married!

Today was beautiful, nice and sunny I just wanted to play outside. Instead I worked inside from home. However, I did take a break to go pick up a corned beef at the store. I put it in the oven with potatoes, carrots and cabbage. It smelled so good that we had dinner at 4! Mmmmmm, I love corned beef and cabbage add a nice Guinness and it is pretty much a perfect meal :)

I have pictures of the meal, but can't find my memory card reader right now....hopefully soon!

I promise I will still post the scone recipes. I actually have an even better one than the others I told you about, but I'll post them all and you can decide.

Enjoy the rest of your week! I am going to try to get out and enjoy some sun before the snow comes back (apparently on Friday....blah)!

I think I am addicted....

2010-02-01T21:44:00.000-07:00

To scones and lemon curd!

Since tea back in December, I have been wanting scones. My mom gave me a quart of buttermilk a few weeks ago so that I could use it before it went bad (she had no use for it).

Originally I was thinking that we could make overnight oatmeal (very good and easy by the way...you stick everything in a crock-pot at night and wake up to delicious oatmeal) because James likes to put buttermilk on it. However, we didn't have all the stuff and I didn't want to go to the store.

I remembered seeing some recipes for scones using buttermilk. So I've made scones every few days for the past couple weeks.

James liked the first recipe the best, they were not sweet at all so they paired nicely with the boysenberry jam we had. They held together well and were quite tasty.

The second recipe was a little on the sweet side, but initially I liked it a little better. James was not a fan of this one.

The third recipe, listed as "Irish Scones" is my favorite. In fact I am eating one right now :) They are a little sweeter than the first but not as much as the second, I think it is a good balance.

In the past I have always made flavored scones. It was fun and creative and included maple pecan with maple icing, blueberry topped with caramelized almonds, apple cinnamon with cinnamon icing and many others. Lately I've gone with plain scones, maybe with a little vanilla but that's all.

I have nothing against the fun flavored scones and enjoy coming up with new ideas, but.....

I have discovered the greatness of a nice warm plain scone with lemon curd spread on it. I've had lemon curd a few times, but had it again at tea with a nice warm scone. Thus my newest obsession!!!! Lemon curd had a nice lemon flavor with a slight tartness that tastes so yummy!

Anyway, just wanted to share. I will try to put up the scone recipes later if I have time and if you are interested. I got the lemon curd at the grocery store right with all the jam and jelly.

Have a great day!

High Tea

2009-12-09T16:40:00.002-07:00

A couple weeks ago, I drove down to Denver to meet my mom and some friends.

I drove to my parents' home where I enjoyed some coffee and the company of my mom and dad.

Then my mom and I ditched my dad and went on to pick up Penny (we were celebrating her birthday), Gina and Penny's daughter-in-law Lola. We drove over to the Brown Palace. As soon as we got to the door, Lola recognized the doorman (not sure if that is his official job or title, but that is the best I can do). She talked with him a bit as we headed inside because it was COLD...not as cold as it is right now, but it still was nice to get inside. The hotel is beautiful!

We were there for the Afternoon High Tea! We each got to pick the tea we wanted and got our own little teapot (mom got coffee), then the food started coming. We got chocolate sea salt truffles, scones, tea sandwiches and all sorts of desserts. Gina and I also had a Prosecco Bellini, Lola got the Kir Royale...we even got seconds. Whenever we started to get low on food, or hot water for our tea they brought more. It was a great time to hang out with the girls and everyone at the Brown Palace was wonderful!

Here is the our group:

We even got to see the Eisenhower Suite (because of Lola's connections)!

It's Cold!!!

2009-12-07T11:15:00.003-07:00

I'll try to put up some pics and a new post this week!

Right now I am cold! We got about 8 inches of snow this weekend and there is more coming.....

I'll keep the coffee pot going and try to get some work done so that I can post something more interesting for you :)

Semper Fi

2009-11-10T10:07:00.005-07:00

November 10, 2009 marks the celebration of the 234th birthday of the United States Marine Corps. Happy Birthday Marines!

Veteran's day is tomorrow on November 11th and I truly appreciate all those who serve, but I have a special place in my heart for the Marine Corps.

I spent about the first 18 years of my life as the daughter of an Active-Duty Marine (my dad is now retired from the Marines, but a Marine none the less). I would not change this experience although it was not always the easiest upbringing. I think this is why I am so thankful not only for our soldiers, but for their families as well.

If you know anyone who has or is serving, please thank them for their service. The freedoms we enjoy, even the freedom to disagree has been instituted and protected by these men and women.

Thank you to all of the families, your support of our servicemen and women allows them to do their job. Your service to our country in enabling them to protect our lives and freedoms is more important than we may realize. THANK YOU and GOD BLESS!

Thank you to all those who have and are serving. You have sacrificed so much to allow us live free, let us not take that freedom for granted. THANK YOU and GOD BLESS!

Here is a link to the GoDaddy site for the 234th Marine Corp Birthday

Here is the link to the "Warrior Song" for the Military

Working Out...

2009-11-05T09:23:00.003-07:00

So at some point in time, James and I decided we wanted to get back in shape. Even with playing hockey a couple times a week, both of us are far from the strength and endurance that existed 10 years ago.

James swam competitively in high school and I ran track and trained/competed in Tae-Kwon-Do. Both of us were in great shape! So maybe that is why I feel that I have fallen so far.

Anyway, we've gone back and forth in the past and not really stuck with anything in regard to getting back into shape and a healthier lifestyle. I think what helped this time is that James wanted to get back into swimming and started things off, I decided to tag along.

We joined the Chilson Center in Loveland, which is the city recreation facility. It is reasonably priced, has good equipment and very important: it has a pool! We are loosely following the Body for Life program. Which means we alternate weight lifting and cardio six days a week and then have a day off. You are supposed to eat six meals a day with portions of protein and carbs about the size of your fist for six days and then you have a free day each week.

We've been really good about the exercise portion (it's been a lot of fun) and pretty good about the food. I have never been big a fan of diets, I like food too much, but this eating guide works fairly well. Meals are a little smaller, but still plentiful and we are usually full, plus eating six times a day is a lot! Mostly you are watching portions and limiting sugars and fats (did I mention we are "loosely" following this? I think James is doing better than me though), the best part is that there is a "free day" for food too! On your free day, you can eat whatever you want....Big City Burrito here I come!

Anyway, we are a month in and feeling pretty darn good :) James has been swimming some and attempting to teach me proper strokes (poor guy). I can swim fine at least in the ability that I am not likely to drown, but I like to swim underwater and never really worked on specific strokes. I love the water and we spent lots of time in the pool growing up and in the ocean, but not so much time on technique. James is a patient teacher with his crazy wife though and we are having fun!

I enjoy our weight-lifting days a lot. Chilson has lots of great free-motion weight machines to work all sorts of muscles. I feel good about the weight I can lift with my legs, not so much with arms, but I know I'll get there.

I'll try to let you know how it goes, but so far so good! I am thankful that we are doing this together, because it is good motivation when you have someone else to go with you to the gym and when both of us are trying to eat healthier.

One other cool thing is that Chilson has a "points program" going on where you get a card signed off when you go to the gym and you accumulate points that you can turn in for prizes. Most of the prizes are gift certificates to local restaurants! In a month we have received over $5o in gift certificates (that pays for the month's membership). The program only goes through this month, but it's a good extra incentive to get to the gym and hopefully they will start it up again in a few months.

King of Fruits

2009-10-07T10:35:00.010-06:00

James had big plans for Vegas this year.

They included buying and trying the "King of Fruits": Durian

A few weeks before we left, he was watching a show on the travel channel and the host tried Durian for the first time. Apparently the smell was similar to rotten onions and stinky feet. Now doesn't that sound appetizing?

So after this wonderful description James looked up where you could get Durian. The closest place he found to our Colorado home was a Chinese market in Las Vegas. This market also happened to be located only 2 miles from out hotel.

So James and I along with our friend Shannan ventured to this market. It was actually pretty cool, there were tanks of live fish (to buy and cook..or not I guess) and bins of live crabs. I was laughing at a guy who was trying to capture a crab with tongs and put it into a bag to buy... I think it took him about 25 tries to get it in the bag. What can I say, I am easily entertained!

So we walked through the store looking at the interesting mix of normal food we see at the grocery store and unknown stuff with Chinese writing. We ventured to the produce department to find James' Durian. We found all sorts of fruit, but could not find the "King of Fruits" :( So we got some dragon fruit, jujube, star fruit, and a young coconut. Then before hope was lost (also before James would start to cry, although there was a slightly disheartened frown on his face) we found the Durian! It was in a freezer near the produce section. You would think that since the description of the smell was so lovely and the fact that it is kept in a freezer that we might be detered from obtaining this item; nope, not one bit. We decided to ask an employee if they had a suggestion on how to open the Durian, and the response was ".......no" with a slightly scared look on his face. I am not sure if it was due to a lack of understanding of the language or just thinking we were completely stupid to want to open this fruit. So with no assistance in this matter, we chose to purchase a small (cheap) knife so we could cut it open.

We left our purchases in our hotel room since we had the hockey game to go to, besides the Durian needed to thaw.

Late Saturday night when we made it back to the hotel, our tasting was to begin.

James was very excited to have his Durian:

He thought it smell a little like a melon, and even gave it a sweet little kiss:

Ready for dissection! I got volunteered for the honor:

Alas it is open:

It has a custard-like interior with large seed pods:

Shannon takes a whiff...

And a taste....not impressed

We have all tried it at this point, but James just can't throw it away and decides to go for round two...

A nice big piece, can he do it?

He's going for it!!!

And....

Nope, not gonna happen :) I missed getting a good picture of his gagging face (you'll just have to imagine it). By now the smell is very......ummm....potent! The taste is similar to raw onions that have been sitting out for awhile and the smell is a lot worse. We wrapped up the "precious" Durian and threw it in the trash: not in our room, not in the hall, not in the lobby but in the trashcan outside of the hotel. See we do have some common sense!

So if you decide that you need to try the "King of Fruits" do so at your own peril or at least that of your nose and gag reflex. It took a day for the smell to dissipate from our room, but the memories will last.

Vegas Hockey Baby!!!

2009-10-01T14:41:00.010-06:00

Frozen Fury XII

This was the reason to go out to Vegas last weekend, not that I would mind going to Vegas pretty much anytime...

We showed up for the morning skate, just like we have the past two years. When we got to the rink the Kings were still on the ice, so we watched the end of their practice. When they started leaving the ice, we were all told by the ushers that we had to leave the rink. We sat down outside the doors waiting to be allowed back in.

An usher announces to everyone waiting that the Av's practice is closed and we will not be allowed in to watch and should leave.

Well, this is a familiar situation since it pretty much went the same way each year.

We remained seated on the floor to wait.

About 10 minutes later a supervisor (or at least someone in charge) comes up to the ushers and tells them that the Av's say to let the fans in to watch in about 15 minutes. So we hang out until they open the doors and let us in :) glad we know not to be too upset when they tell us that practice is closed, it never stays that way!

We watched practice, which was cool as usual! I just like hockey (even had fun watching the Kings practice). They had the front 12 rows or so taped off so we didn't get as close as usual so no pics, but it was still fun!

After practice we waited for the players to come out. We got autographs on another hat and on some pucks as well as some pictures.

James and I with Stastny, he might be sick of us by now since we have a few pictures with him already. Hopefully he can stay healthy this year, it will be exciting to see him play.

James and I with Smyth...It's a bummer to lose him to the Kings, but I hope he does well!

James and I with O'Reilly, he seems to be a good addition to the team from what we've seen so far.

Me with Liles, hoping to see some good strong defense from him this year. I think he's my favorite player right now, maybe I'll even get a jersey this year...

James and I with Koci, he is a big guy with some grit that the Av's need.

Jeremy and James with Weiman. He's been sent back down to Lake Erie, but a great goalie! Jeremy was excited to talk with him for awhile since he knows him from when he played for the Colorado Eagles.

I won't bore you with too many pics of the game, mostly because I didn't get any really good ones. Here is a pic during warm-up before the game.

Koci's fight!

Random pic during the game, but you can see Stastny #26.

It was fun to watch hockey as usual, but the reffing was awful! The Av's gave a good effort, but had to kill several penalties and deal with lame calls including a penalty shot. They ended up losing by one goal :( However, this was just pre-season and I look forward to seeing them kick butt this year!

Vegas...Vegas...Vegas

2009-09-29T20:31:00.006-06:00

Last weekend was our third annual trip to Las Vegas!

We went to see the Frozen Fury XII, Avalanche vs. Kings hockey game.

There will be several posts over the next week or so to give you a glimpse into our trip...

Our friends Jeremy and Sara invited us to go with them three years ago (they have gone every year for awhile and celebrated their 6-year anniversary this time; they got married on the ice 6 years ago before the hockey game).

We flew out of the Fort Collins-Loveland Airport, which is great! It is nice to only drive 15 minutes to the airport and pay $5 a night to park. As long as you watch the website, the flight price will usually drop for a day or so and you can get a cheap flight. We met at the ice-rink nearby and left one car there so we only had to pay for one parking fee. Our friends have taught us well in regard to flying out of this airport... Show up early so you can check in as soon as they open; we sat on the floor playing cards until they let us check in. Then you leave and drive the 5 minutes to Centerra for breakfast (or lunch depending on your flight time); we got Chick-Fil-A! Then wander around for awhile and make your way back to the airport. Go through security and then you only have to wait about 30-minutes to board your plane. It is one of the best airport experiences ever!!!

The flight to Vegas is only about an hour and a half, so it goes really quick! We usually bring snacks and grab a drink from the vending machine after we've gone through security so we don't have to buy any food. There is just enough time for a quick cat-nap or a few chapters in a book and then you are landing.

It was nice to go from the cool weather we've had in Colorado to the sunny 90's and higher in Vegas! We stayed at the Palace Station because they gave us free rooms for 2 of the 3 nights! It is definitely not anywhere near high-end in Vegas standards, but it is simple, nice and clean....and did I mention FREE! James and Jeremy were also entered into a free slot contest, they didn't win this time, but there is always next year....

We went to the Rio World Buffet for lunch/dinner; it was lunch price, but right at the end of the time so we got the dinner food at the lunch price. I was too focused on eating to get any pics, the food was great. James actually got several kinds of seafood and seemed to enjoy it, I stayed away. I did enjoy lots of different food and especially enjoyed dessert! I think I ended up with 8-10 desserts :) in my defense the desserts are small, not that it would really make a difference.

James was very excited for In-N-Out Burger, the rest of us were as well, but he was especially excited.

Even though we were not very hungry after the buffet earlier, we decided to hit In-N-Out before heading to Fremont Street.

James and I both got our burgers and fries "animal Style" I was so full that I couldn't finish and it was very sad having to throw part of my food away :(

The good thing is that we went to In-N-Out 3 more times while we were there (4 total)! So, I got to enjoy it when I was a little more hungry. I think I have decided that I like my burger "animal style" and my fries plain, also the neapolitan shake is a definite keeper.

More To Come...

Vegas Here We Come!

2009-09-24T21:04:00.002-06:00

The countdown is over...

We fly out to Vegas in the morning and get back on Monday.

I will post pics when we get back.

Have a great weekend!

Hockey Widow

2009-09-20T21:49:00.003-06:00

My wonderful husband is going to be a hockey widow this season (or is it widower)....

James decided to take a season off from playing, but I am playing on two nights this season (Friday and Sunday). He is actually going to fill in as goalie on our Sunday team for the first month while our rostered goalie recovers from knee surgery, but otherwise is not planning to play. He may get sucked in for a few games anyway, but we will see; he is ready for a break.

I on the other hand could not be more excited that the league is starting again! We had the ice for practice on Friday and Sunday night; it felt great to get back out there although I am out of shape. I am hoping that going to the gym might help with that. I am missing this week's practices since we will be in Las Vegas (a price to pay, but we will get to watch some hockey while we are there and just have a good time). The weekend after we come back, our official games start; I can't wait!!!

So it is an interesting twist since it is usually the guys on the team playing and their wives watching or staying at home, etc. Granted I convinced James to let us play three nights over the summer so this season doesn't come as too much of a surprise; I just like playing too much :) I am glad he puts up with it!

The Countdown until Las Vegas is 4 days...

I Love My Job!!!!!

2009-09-15T09:59:00.005-06:00

There are some great benefits to working for my family's business.

1. I get to see my family often

2. I have a great boss

3. I get the opportunity to learn new things daily

4. I can ask for last minute time off

5.... Lot's more, but back to great reason #4:

On Sunday night I called my mom to see if we were still going to have a meeting in Denver on Monday morning (it had been discussed but was still up in the air).

She said that we were going to schedule it for a later date, but that I would still need to come down to pick up a server from their office. So I asked if I could take Monday morning off to go to the Colorado Avalanche training camp and then stop by to pick up the server. I didn't have anything else on my schedule so she said that would be fine and to have fun!

When I got off the phone, I asked James if he wanted to go to training camp in the morning; he looked vaguely interested. He had considered driving me to my meeting in Denver, and then heading over to watch training camp. I told him that my meeting was cancelled and that I was taking the morning off so we could both go! He seemed much more excited with this change of plans.

So we planned to leave around 7:15ish in the morning so we could get down for the start of camp at 9. Well, my alarm went off at 6:20 and I was not quite ready to wake up yet, at 6:35 James grumbled at the "stupid alarm clock" and rolled over, I finally got up at 6:45. It's hard to get motivated to get out of a nice comfortable bed when you really don't have to!

I made a pot of coffee and fed the monsters (our pets) and got ready to go, James got up sometime during this and got ready as well. Thankfully neither of us are too high maintenance so we get ready fairly quickly. We got in the car and realized we needed some markers for autographs. A quick stop by the store and we had 4 silver and 5 black permanent markers (we got the larger packs so we would have them for Las Vegas on the 25th).

We drove to Denver, thankfully traffic wasn't too bad. We got there a little after nine, and went into the pro-shop to get a hat and pennant for autographs. It is kind of a tradition to get a hat and pennant signed each year we go (we missed last year but went a couple times before).

Then we watched some hockey. Well, we watched some drills and then a scrimmage and some more drills. I am always amazed just to watch those guys skate! I wish I could skate like that, or even half as well!

The scrimmage was a lot of fun to watch. Weiman played great in net and I hope he gets his chance this year! Duschene play well also, initially he looked a little lost but went on to make some great passes and scored 2 of the 4 goals during the scrimmage; he also scored in the shootout that followed. He has a great shot and some good moves, we'll see where he goes from here. Stoa, Koci and Wolski looked great also, along with many others but those are ones that particularly stick out. Anderson play well in net, hopefully he can be solid in net this year for the Avs. By the way, Stastny, Foote, Budaj and several others were not a part of the scrimmage and we watched them run some drills on the other rink.

I was too focused on watching the scrimmage to take any pics, but I got some during the drills.

Budaj blocking shots during drills:

Foote shooting on Budaj during drills:

Stastny taking a shot (Sorry I cut off part of his foot, I need more practice and maybe a better camera):

My awesome photography skills! I managed to get a puck flying across the ice but missed including any players, oops:

One of the other cool things about training camp is that after it's over, many players stop on their way out to sign autographs!

Every time we have been there, Liles stops to sign and talk to fans and take pictures. There is only one time that he didn't (a couple years ago), but he stopped to apologize that he had some place he had to be and would have time the next day. A class-act in my book, plus a defenseman so that's bonus points!

James was pretty excited with how Koci played and he stopped to sign as well, seemed like a very cool guy. So we got a picture of James with him:

Duschene actually came out first, but I'll finish my post with him. He looked good from what we saw during and I hope he does well in his hockey career. He walked out to sign and talk with fans. We got a picture with him also:

We got 10 autographs in all and watched some great players, so it was a wonderful way to start the week! Now the countdown to Vegas begins: 10 days and counting....

The Pink has packed its bags....

2009-08-11T09:55:00.005-06:00

A couple weeks ago my parents came up for the weekend to paint our house.

James and my dad power-sprayed the whole thing on Friday to get rid of any dirt and loose paint. James now wants a power-sprayer...he had a lot of fun with it :) We cleaned the gutters and scraped paint in a few spots.

Saturday morning we got up early and started painting! Let me tell you, it was very therapeutic covering up all that pink with a nice gray. We got all of the base color painted on Saturday and my dad also fixed a couple of boards that had rotted. It was a long day, but very productive!

On Sunday we got up a little later and started on the roof-line trim which is a dark grayish charcoal. We got that finished and painted the door a brick red. We started getting a little rain so were not able to finish all of the white trim, so that is an ongoing project, a little at a time.

The pink is gone!!!! I am so excited!!!!!

Here is the Before:

And After:

I did a little photo-editing so you don't have to look at the dead grass :) This space will eventually become a patio area with a table and chairs!

So for waiting so long to post, it's been a little crazy lately. I will post again soon!

WoW!!!

2009-07-15T17:24:00.008-06:00

No this isn't a post about World of Warcraft.

This is in response to what individuals can accomplish when they work together.

Most of you read The Pioneer Woman, if you don't then definitely check it out. Ree posts funny stories, great recipes and beautiful pictures; trust me it is worth a few minutes out of your day.

Well last week I pulled up Ree's website and saw a post about Fat Cyclist with a request and contest for people to donate to his team for the Live Strong Challenge through the Lance Armstrong Foundation. Elden's (aka "FatCyclist") wife, Susan is battling cancer, you can read about her story and Eldens riding on his site. Ree put up a Nikon D80, (lens included) along with a copy of Photoshop CS4 as a raffle and everyone got a "virtual" Ticket for each $5 donated; she also gave away 3 copies of Photoshop CS4 just for posting a comment on her post.

Okay, now that is pretty cool in and of itself. One blogger posting a contest to help another blogger and his family. It is great when we can help each other out.

Now for the WOW!

Within the time for the contest (a couple days) 1,551 Pioneer Woman readers donated $28,632.

Now that is just awesome! In a time when there is overwhelming negativity and sadness it is refreshing to see such a large heartfelt expression of love and the desire to help one another.

I am always amazed at how we can all connect through something deemed so impersonal as the Internet. People who don't know each other, who will probably never meet face-to-face, live miles and worlds apart can come together to help support someone they don't even know. Knowledge of another person and their struggles are brought to light so that hundreds or thousands of people can offer up their thoughts, prayers and financial support to help.

Happy 4th of July!!

2009-07-06T13:54:00.003-06:00

Yes, I know it is already the 6th......

So make it a Happy Belated 4th of July!!!

James and I drove down to my parents on Saturday morning and James' parents came up. A lot of other people came over too and it was a great time as always! I am still so thankful that we can do things with both of our families, I know that for many people that is not the case.

Not only can James and I, my parents and his parents all be in the same place, but we enjoy it! We are planning to get together to play games soon and to go out to dinner next year to celebrate all of our anniversaries (since we all were married in June, I guess we picked a good month)! I feel so blessed with all of our family and just wanted to share :)

Back to the 4th....

So I am a slacker and forgot to take pictures, I know Susie took some and will probably post on her blog. We got to spend some nice time hanging out on the deck, eating food and drinking peach margaritas...yes the margaritas started early again! We made 5 or 6 batches...I lost count :)

Then it started raining, so we moved the party indoors. My mom made shish-kabob (not sure is that is spelled right, but you get the point) and my dad grilled, they were very good; besides, I like meat! Potato salad, pasta salad, veggies, beans and of course guacamole! There is always a lot of food when we get together.

We saw a few fireworks that people set off, but mostly just enjoyed the company.

I hope you all had a happy and safe 4th of July!

Thank you to all of our service men and women, we appreciate all of your sacrifices that allow us to enjoy so much freedom!

Mommy to be...

2009-06-28T22:27:00.001-06:00

So this weekend was exciting...

On Saturday...

We went tubing down the Poudre River. The water was higher than when we've gone in the past, but it was nice not to hit your butt on rocks in the river. We had a blast and are looking at going again in a few weeks! Once you have a tube, it is free entertainment :)

Then on Sunday...

We had a baby shower for my friend Sara (I know you were hoping for something else...LOL...sorry)

Another friend, Tanae (my Matron of Honor in our wedding) and I threw the shower for Sara. We decided to be creative and re-purposed the candles from our wedding along with some baby socks to create centerpieces for the tables.

Then Tanae had a good idea for a decoration/present from us. We got some clothes for the baby and hung them on a piece of twine over the doorway. It looked cute and Sara got to keep the decorations. Basically everything we used to decorate with (except the tablecloths which were plastic and got trashed) was stuff for Sara to use for the baby or nursery.

I was in charge of the food, which we kept simple as the party was after lunch and before dinner. Fruit, veggies and the Mexican 7-layer dip that Sara requested.

Tanae requested baklava, which sounded good to me :) so I made a platter of it, we made sure to have coffee on hand as well. Tanae and I enjoyed our coffee and baklava on a nice Sunday afternoon!

Then I made cake balls. The blue ones are devil's food chocolate and the others are German Chocolate (they are rolled in toasted coconut).

The pink ones are red velvet and the yellow are spice cake.

It was as great time and the food was a hit (especially all of the sweets)! Congratulations Levi and Sara, we can't wait to meet the little one!

Callie

2009-06-22T17:27:00.004-06:00

Meet Callie...

She is a sweet little calico kitten that James' parents kept out of a recent litter from their barn cats.

We met Callie when we went to the Springs. She likes to climb up the dish towel to make it onto the counter. I was so surprised the first time I saw her do it, sorry I didn't get a picture. She got lots of attention from pretty much everyone, I guess being cute can have its advantages.

Apparently she also has quite the sweet-tooth, as she kept going over to the cake to steal some frosting...

I guess she decided James' breakfast looked good too, since she made her way to his plate the next morning. I think she likes people-food a lot more than kitty-food...

Well there's a little cuteness to start out the week!

Margaritas and Whipped Cream

2009-06-17T11:13:00.007-06:00

We drove down to James' parents on Saturday morning to celebrate their 16th wedding anniversary and renewing their vows. After we got there James and Clyde made a trip to the liquor store. Once back we discussed the fact that none of us had eaten breakfast....

Now you would think that being about 10:30 in the morning we would

1. Make breakfast

or

2. Head straight to lunch

We opted for another option...

3. Peach Margaritas!!!!

So at about 10:50 in the morning on Saturday we started the celebration with these wonderful, tasty peach margaritas. Followed closely by a big bowl of guacamole (we, and by "we" I mean Clyde, had to make 2 batches of guacamole since we ate the first bowl so quickly).

Needless to say, margaritas, beer and lots of good food pushed away the vows and we just had a good party! I am so glad we were able to come down to celebrate!

Here is a picture of the happy couple 16 years ago on their wedding day.

I was too busy enjoying my margarita to get a picture on Saturday....oops!

Congratulations Clyde and Susie! We love you!

Since the kids are still a bit young for liquor consumption, they got whipped cream!

The spray kind, right in the mouth, when they attempted to close those little mouths, whipped cream had a tendency to spurt out usually onto their hands! They had a blast!

Apparently mixing large amounts of good food and alcohol causes extreme need for sleep, so everyone but Susie and Molly crashed out for awhile. It was a low-key evening from then on, but a great visit!

Is it Really Friday?!?!?!?!

2009-06-12T09:43:00.003-06:00

I can't believe that it is already Friday! This week has flown by, not that I mind it being Friday....but still time is flying by!

James is off getting poked for his new job today. Since he is not a fan of needles, I do feel sorry for him. Hopefully it is not too bad or long of a day for him.

It is finally sunny today! For the past couple weeks it has been off and on rain, mostly overcast with some hail mixed in. I am happy to see the sun!

Nothing much new lately....working, playing hockey, hanging out with friends and family....it's great!

We are heading to Colorado Springs this weekend to celebrate my in-laws renewing their vows! I will try (I promise) to remember to take pictures and will post on here when we get back.

Have a wonderful Friday!!!

The Western Slope

2009-06-04T12:41:00.004-06:00

So we picked up a job over in Grand Junction last week.

I dragged James along since his brother Ed and his family currently live there. We have been planning a trip to visit them; but work paid for this one, so we will go again later this summer. I ended up working a little more than planned (although it seems this is a common occurrence with out of town jobs), though the job did go well and the customer is happy.

We got to see the newest family addition...our nephew: Wyatt Logan! I must say he is a cutie and he likes to sleep, a boy after his Uncle James heart!

However, uncle James did not get to sleep much...he hung out with Rachel, Cordelia and Wyatt while Ed and I both had to work. Cordelia seems pretty fond of "Uncle" and I know he thinks the world of her! He was a bit (okay, A Lot) wore out, but had a good time. I enjoyed the time that I got to spend with everyone and eating Rachel's chicken enchiladas...Yummmmmm! We are looking forward to the next visit and hoping that both Ed and I will be around more.

James even held Wyatt for a little while...I got pictures:

Cordelia, the Big Sister held him as well. He was not too happy and ready to eat at this point, he was trying to suck on my arm when I was holding him :)

My allergies kicked up while we were there and I think I might have picked up a cold too, because I spent most of the weekend in bed. I am finally feeling better a week later...I hate being sick!

Now we are looking forward to heading down to the Springs on the 13th....

Nummies

2009-05-17T10:47:00.010-06:00

Here is the story of Jules the cat and the bag of Nummies...

Now, just in case the pictures don't do it justice, here is the written explanation:

Jules is first of all not allowed on the counter

The bag of "Nummies" are actually treats for the dogs (courtesy of Uncle Bill).

Jules knows she is not allowed on the counter and doesn't care.

I am not sure if she knows that the treats are for the dogs, either way she thinks she is entitled to these cheesy poof treats (she had to have smelled them because we didn't give her any.

Jules scopes out the situation...

"Slightly open bag of Nummies....must eat...head fits in bag, take cheesy goodness...eat...."

I missed getting a picture of her with the orange Nummy in her mouth because she turned too quick...it was really cute even though she was being bad.

Fun Friday!

2009-05-16T09:16:00.008-06:00

Our friend Shannan is visiting from California. We went to college with her at CSU, and she moved to CA a few years ago. She usually comes to visit all of her CO friends a couple times a year, luckily we are on the list :)

Shan came by yesterday to spend time with us! I worked in the morning, but then took the afternoon off to hang out. So with a Friday afternoon off, my husband and a good friend, what did we decide to do?

Go to the brewery of course!

New Belgium to be more specific. If you ever happen to find yourself in (or near) Northern Colorado, you should definitely go there. I haven't been on the actual tour for awhile and it was pretty busy since it's CSU's graduation weekend, so maybe next time. The tour takes a little while, but it is a neat company with really good beer!

Speaking of beer....

When I first went to the brewery, to taste free beer (by the way, it is still free), you would get a small sample of all of their beers.... Well, now (I am sure it is due to the larger numbers of beer they have available and the need to keep people from leaving drunk and driving) you only get to choose 4 to taste.

Not that only tasting 4 beers is that bad (you still end up with about a pint of beer), but I still reminisce about the good old days :) I can't complain too much though, since we live in Northern CO, about 20 minutes from the brewery and have liquor stores on just about every corner.

All in all it was a great Friday! After our beer, we went to HuHot for a late lunch/early dinner, we stuffed ourselves at this all you can eat Mongolian grill. I think it is one of my favorite places to eat!

We said goodbye to Shan (I get to see her today though) slept off a bit of our food coma and headed to hockey practice. We were a few people short, but we had several of our new/newer players there. This was for our beginner/D league team, so it was a good chance to work on skills. We were the last thing scheduled on the ice, so we got to stay late since James can lock up. Well...we stayed until about 12:45 or so (we started at 9:15), so it was a nice 3 and a half hour practice! It was great though! Off to another practice today and another tomorrow, then our first game of the season on Tuesday!

Have a great weekend!

James' Chair

2009-05-13T16:24:00.002-06:00

So here is a picture of the chair I reupholstered, I still have one more to go.

James has claimed it as his, but I think Jules has other ideas...

Hope your day is wonderful!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T14:19:00.002-06:00

Happy Mother's day to all the Moms in my life!

I have a great Mom! She was such a great mother to me as I grew up, and now that I am older, she is also a great friend!

I am also blessed with a wonderful Mother-in-law! We don't get to see her as often as we would like to, but we always enjoy the time we do have. I look forward to having her in my life for a long time!

My two Sisters-in-law, who are mothers to my beautiful nieces and nephews. I am thankful for their friendship and of course for my nieces and nephews!

My Grandmothers and Grandmothers-in-law (is that how I am supposed to write it?) thank you for being there for me and all of our family!

All of my friends and relatives that are mothers (and too numerous to list here), thank you for all that you do for your children and the rest of the people in your life.

You should all be honored not just today, but everyday, Thank You!

Yes, I am a Slacker...

2009-05-05T19:52:00.003-06:00

Okay, so I have been a complete slack with my blog for the past month or so.

I promise I will try to be better.

No pictures today (It's been a long day!), I'll try to get some up later this week.

However, I will give you a quick run-down of things :) In no particular order:

We have a new nephew! Wyatt Logan Arnold was born on April 27, 2009! I've seen pictures and we hope to visit in a few weeks.

My work has been busy! Even with the economy not being so great right now (so not much sales for us), people still need service work or changes on their phones. I guess people still want/need to talk on the phone...

James and I are getting ready to play in 3 hockey leagues this summer! That should keep us busy and hopefully out of trouble! Hopefully James doesn't get too sick of the rink since he is working there and will be there at least three times a week to play. I am very excited though!

We've started Geocaching again...if you've never gone, you should try it! If you don't know what it is then go here to check it out. We did it a lot a few years ago and kept meaning to start up again, it just took until now. Anyway we've gone several times recently and even brought the boys (our dogs) with us a few times. It is great to get out and enjoy the area we live in and the boys get some exercise! Hopefully we can keep it up.

We have convinced two more people to start playing hockey. A friend and her friend, who I now consider a friend...hopefully she is okay with that :) We went to C league drop-in and had them come too (they will be playing in D league), it took a little convincing but they got right out there and played! They did great, I was very impressed! Thankfully all the other guys at drop-in were very supportive and nice. I think it helped make it a good first experience! I'll try to post an update (maybe a picture if they'll let me) as the season progresses.

I am still a "Craigslist Junkie" as my friend says! We got 2 wingback lazy boy recliners that had tears in the cushions. They are really cool, I've recovered one of them (again with needing pics, sorry) and hope to do the second one this weekend. James is a fan and says they are "library chairs" and I completely agree. We also got 2 other "accent" chairs (another matching set) these are in good condition so I don't plan on reupholstering them right away. We plan to put one set of chairs downstairs and the other upstairs. We've gotten some other stuff too, but I can't think right now, so that will have to come later.

We are planning to get our lower level (the downstairs unfinished part of our house, but not really a basement since we have full windows...the garden level I guess) cleaned up so it more usable space. We would love to finish the space eventually, but our funds will not support that venture right now. So in the mean time, we will pseudo-finish it :) We have carpet (free off of Craigslist) to put down, it is dark purple and kind of cool, James loves it! Our bookshelves and masses of books along with desk and TV will go in half of the downstairs. I have always wanted a library, so that is what is will be: a library/office/rec room. The other half will be storage and play area...drums, pool table, and hopefully a dart board eventually. I will try to let you know how the progress goes. I am a complete pack rat so I need to get all my stuff organized (James wants it thrown away, but that might give me a heart-attack so I will stick with organizing it).

The dogs have been using their dog run and we have wanted to get the rest of the yard cleaned up... However, we live in Colorado and have still been getting snow so that makes doing yard-work a little difficult. Hopefully the weather will stay nice now and we can get working on the yard.

We've done a few game nights with friends. We love playing board games and so do most of our friends, so that works good. I love having people over and playing games or just hanging out, so we are planning much of that this summer, so come on by!

Okay, I think that is all I can think of right now...I will try to not be such a slacker from now on :)

I will also try to get some pics up here since as they say "a picture is worth a thousand words."

Is it sad that a table makes me happy?

2009-03-23T11:01:00.007-06:00

Do you remember this table? The deal from Craigslist....

Well, after a little elbow grease...

A few evenings after work...

And some breaks from working on the dog-run...

We have this:

I still want to put another layer of clear coat on the table top and need to put it on the base, but it is basically done :)

The chairs are not, as you can see in the picture..those will come later.

We had some friends over for St. Patrick's Day and ate Corned Beef and Cabbage! (I love corned beef and cabbage! I took a picture when I started making it and then forgot the after, so no food pics. However, we have another corned beef in the freezer so I will try to remember pictures when we make that one) Anyway, we were all able to sit around the table and eat together! What an amazing concept!

Well, we are enjoying our table (and chairs that don't fall apart) and are having some more friends over tomorrow night...

Have a great week!

Handy-Woman?!?!

2009-03-10T23:29:00.009-06:00

I have been busy lately. Between work and hockey I stay fairly occupied, but then I added in a few projects....

So, remember the whole Craigslist deal on the table and chairs? Well, I started refinishing the table. Here it is before (well, sort of... I started sanding it and then remembered to take a picture, so I wiped the sawdust off with a damp cloth and this is pretty much how it looked when I got it).

Here is the sanded table (just the top right now, I will work on the base after the top is stained).

And...after the first coat of stain (it was getting a little dark at this point, I started this project at about 5pm someday last week...I'm not done yet, needs at least 2 more coats of stain)

Our neighbor stopped by today while I was putting on a second coat of stain (sorry no pics, it was cold out) and gave good reviews! It is amazing how much better the table looks without the "factory clear-coat" on it! I am very excited to get it done so we can use it, I just need a little warmer and non-windy weather.

So the next project (also not finished) is the dog-run. We had nice weather this weekend and James was working, so I decided to use our Home Depot gift cards to get the stuff to start building the dog-run. I helped a friend move on Saturday and then stopped to pick up the materials from Home Depot. I spent all of Sunday doing this:

See the area to the right of the wood posts? That is the dog run! Yes, our dogs are spoiled. Yes the dog-run is bigger (or as big as) many people's yard; they have 3 full size pine trees in it! We cut the lower branches off of the pine trees so they have more room and shade.

I dug eight post holes (with a manual post-hole digger) and cemented them in. We are going to hang chain link (one of the Craigslist deals) and have wood crossbeams on the top and bottom. You can see some of the upper beams in the pic, I used them for spacing and leveling while the posts where setting. The chain link we got didn't have all of the support poles and they are expensive to buy new; so we are going with wood, which is about one third of the price). I only got half of the area raked out...all the stuff on the left of the posts used to be in the dog run area. Once it's all done, we can keep their toys in the dog-run and clean up the rest of the yard. I was hoping to do some more work on it this evening...but it snowed last night and was cold today, so.....

I built this:

We tore down the wall in our kitchen and built an island last year, but don't have cabinets yet. Well, we have one that my parents had removed from their kitchen, you can see the edge of it on the left. We've had TV trays to the right of the cabinet to try to make the space usable, but it didn't work so well. Since I couldn't (didn't want to freeze my butt off) work on the dog-run I decided to build a shelf under the island so we could store stuff. I added a small shelf at the top to hold foil, plastic bags, etc...

I think this will help until we have time/money to build cabinets for the whole space. I am happy with it :) James just smiles and says "nice" I'm not sure he knows what to do with me sometimes.

Loving Craigslist....

2009-03-02T09:31:00.002-07:00

If you have never checked out Craigslist then I highly recommend it!

There are lots of great deals out there....

When we first moved into our house, I found a posting from someone wanting to get rid of some leftover gravel from a landscaping project who was willing to deliver all for free! So we got a small truck-bed full of free gravel. This came in handy when we made some minor landscaping changes.

When we adopted O.C. and Baxter (dogs) we wanted to crate-train them. However the cost of new dog crates is expensive. So we found a small crate (for Baxter) which ended up getting passed on to my brother for their dog and then to another friend for her dog...well worth the $5 we spent. We got a large crate that the boys (that's how we refer to our dogs, our cats are "the girls") now share and we got a fold-up travel crate from someone else. We got all 3 crates for less than the cost of one new one!

Last year we were in need of a cheap (I am talking less than $1000), but fairly reliable second vehicle. This pretty much ruled out dealerships and most newspaper listings. We really wanted a truck, SUV, van or something that could hold more than our little car (we love our little Kia, but it is little). So we took to looking on Craigslist and after checking into a few options, we found a 1994 Oldsmobile Bravada (SUV) in our price range! We actually picked it up on James' birthday! Now, this vehicle has had some minor issues (this was expected) but overall has been great. It easily fits all of our hockey gear and has room for passengers at the same time! We are slowly making improvements on it, but at least it runs...it gets James to and from work, both of us and our gear to hockey and used for random other local trips.

So the latest deal is from yesterday...

We don't have a table in our dining room right now, partially because the boys' crate is there and partially because we have a table but most of the chairs are broken. So I was looking at Craigslist (I do this periodically, just to see if there is anything that we "need") and saw a posting for a pedestal table w/ leaf and 6 chairs...now this is not uncommon, but you never know what they will look like and often people over-price their stuff. So they included a picture and it looked good enough and the price of $75 was hard to beat. So I emailed right away and got a call back in about 10 minutes with directions. I went to the ice rink to switch cars with James (I had our Kia). I drove to the seller's house and took a look at the dining set... a little used, but in good sturdy condition and I am pretty sure it is solid wood, not veneer! I bought it and brought it home :) Hey, I love a good deal! My short-term plan is to refinish the table and chairs in a darker color (we have leftover stuff from doing our kitchen island) to match our taste, currently the set is a light pine. Ultimately I want to build a taller pedestal (or just add onto the current one, I haven't decided) to make it a counter/pub/bar height table. Then I want to either put new legs on the chairs to make them counter/pub/bar stools or just get new stools.

Those are a few of our deals! If you are in need of something cheaper than new and are okay with used (although there are some new things that people are getting rid of) check it out! It may save you some money, give you a good project and keep stuff out of the landfill.

MMMMM...Doughnuts! Picture!!!

2009-02-02T12:21:00.003-07:00

I'll blog something else later...but for now, here is a pic of the doughnuts from the other day!

Have a great Monday!

25 Things

2009-01-28T22:57:00.002-07:00

So I did this for Facebook and one of my friend's put her's on her blog, I thought is was a good idea, so here you go. 25 random things that you may or may not know or want to know about me:

1. I love being married! It took us a little over 7 years, but it was worth it!

2. I was born in 29 Palms, CA and have lived in various towns in Minnesota, California, Arizona, North Carolina and Colorado; I even lived in Japan for about six months when Iwas two years old.

3. I am a Marine Corp brat (my dad calls me a Jar-ette, if you don’t get it…ask me sometime). My dad retired from the Marine Corp after 21 years, but “Once a Marine, Always a Marine” I guess that also means "once a Jar-ette, always a Jar-ette"

4. I love to play hockey!

5. I don’t like drama, didn’t like it when I was growing up, in high school, college or now. I think people can be over-sensitive and too easily offended. I’m not overly sensitive or easily offended (really, ask James). Life is a lot more enjoyable when I am who I am and others can take it or leave it and they can be themselves around me.

6. I love our two cats (Jules and Sake) and two dogs (O.C. and Baxter). They all have such interesting personalities and are very, very spoiled!

7. I love to spend time with my husband and am glad that he is not afraid for me to be independent or speak my mind.

8. I love food! I am partial to Asian cuisine, but I also like everything else…except for seafood and mushrooms, oh…liver and lamb are not on my menu either. Otherwise, food is wonderful!

9. I love playing board games and card games! Thankfully James enjoys this as well (not so much cards, but he humors me)!

10. I love coffee (wow, I guess I love a lot of things…darn English language, only having one word for love….read C.S Lewis “The Four Loves” if you don’t understand) oh, yeah…love coffee, I think it courses through my veins. I drink coffee pretty much every day, all day long. I like it straight up black, with sugar, with cream, with cream and sugar, whatever as long as I get my coffee! Yes I am addicted!

11. I love having a house, and living in Loveland! I wish we were able to do more work on our house, but I know we will someday.

12. I think the saying “a Jack of all trades and Master of none” fits me quite well. I know enough about a lot of things just to make me dangerous.

13. I would like to continue learning Russian someday, and maybe another language or two.

14. I want to visit Ireland. I would enjoy seeing England and Scotland as well.

15. I would really like to teach English in China for a year (James wants to also), but know that now is not the right time, and not sure when or if there will be.

16. I would like to go on a mission trip to another country, maybe Africa or South America.

17. I don’t spend a lot of time on my appearance, I can easily get ready in 20 minutes and that includes taking a shower. I usually dress up only when I have to.

18. I love to read! I love spending a whole day off just reading. Between James and me, I know we have over a thousand books. He reads even faster than I do and we cannot afford to buy new books all of the time, so we both reread books and get some from the library, we also love used book stores.

19. I would love to be organized, I’m just not! Plus I am a pack rat.

20. Someday I would like to finish my college degree, just so I can say I did it.

21. My mom and I disagreed over my clothes in high school, only I was the conservative one.

22. I like change, I think growing up in the military made me that way. So I have the tendency to randomly move furniture around and rearrange things, I think it is just to add some change and newness to life.

23. I like playing sports with guys (instead of girls) they are competitive and play hard, they tend not to hold grudges and are not “catty”, and most of them don’t whine too much..oh yeah remember that "drama" stuff from number 5, they tend not to have that.

24. I am awful at staying in touch with people. So I love Facebook and blogs, they allow me to keep up with all that is going on and share what is happening with me. Two of my sisters-in-law have blogs, so I started one (www.stmlig.blogspot.com), and then my mother-in-law started one as well. It is actually kind of fun, even if only a few people read it.

25. I love pajamas! I am thankful that I get to work at home a lot, because then I can spend the day in PJs.

MMMMM...Doughnuts!

2009-01-18T17:45:00.003-07:00

So I found a new addiction to add to my already long, but fairly harmless list...

Chinese Doughnuts!

The first memory I have of them (and I am pretty sure they were not called "Chinese doughnuts") is at the fair in Minnesota. They had a shop just past the entrance/exit area where they would fry these tiny doughnuts, dust them with sugar and serve them to you nice and warm!

Then the other day, I picked up lunch for James at an Asian restaurant near by and I ordered "Chinese Doughnuts" because they sounded good! I could smell them all the way to his work and they had that same delicious sugary smell of the doughnuts from the fair. So when I got to James' work, I gave him his food and opened up the doughnut container and ate one. Mmmmm, so good, just like the fair, but more of an oval shape with no hole in the middle. I have been craving them since that day.

One of my friend's told me that they sell the yummy, tiny doughnuts at the Event Center during the hockey games, and this just increased my desire for them.

So, as usual when I am curious about something, I turned to the Internet. I looked up "Chinese Doughnut recipe" and found several posts.

These doughnuts are one of the easiest things to make:
Go buy some refrigerated biscuit dough (you know the stuff in the tube)
Heat up your deep fryer (or oil in a pan) to about 330 degrees
Open the biscuit dough and cut each biscuit into quarters (that's 4 pieces)
or 8 pieces if you bought the Large biscuits
Carefully drop the biscuit pieces one at a time into the hot oil
I can usually put about 10 pieces in our deep fryer at a time
Let them cook for about a minute, or until light golden brown
Turn over the little biscuit balls so the other side gets cooked, again about a minute
Then pull them out and place on some paper towel to soak up some of the oil
I usually put a second batch into the fryer
Transfer the cooked doughnuts to a big mixing bowel
Sprinkle with about a Tablespoon of granulated sugar
Roll/shake them around so they are evenly coated
Keep repeating until all the little dough-balls are cooked and sugar-coated
Be sure to taste in between each batch :)

These taste Best when fresh and still warm. They are good regardless, but warm is best and they usually don't last long enough to get cold.

If you try them, let me know what you think; or stop by our house and I will make some for you :)

CHL All-Star Banquet

2009-01-14T02:09:00.004-07:00

So the CHL 2009 All-Star game is tomorrow night (well technically it is tonight since it is 2 in the morning right now, but I have not gone to bed yet, so I'll still say tomorrow). It is a trial game for the new style of All-Star game, which is really the old style....

The NHL All-Star game used to be a contest between the Stanley cup champions and the rest of the league. It was changed to a contest between the two conferences which is how it is currently run. The CHL had adopted the same format, with the All-Star game being a contest between the Northern and Southern Conferences.

We went to the CHL All-Star game last year (2008) since it was held in Broomfield, CO which is close by. Now, I love hockey, but I have to say the game was just sad. There didn't seem to be any hustle or heart in it. To have the best of the best CHL players on the ice at one time and have that outcome was somewhat depressing....

Anyway, back to this year....

So the Colorado Eagles organization is hosting this year's CHL All-Star game and it is a trial going back to the "Old Time Hockey" when the league plays against the Champions. The Colorado Eagles did not win the Championship last year (they came close though). It should be quite a game tomorrow! I am hoping for a great game that showcases great hockey along with the heart, drive and talent that all of the players bring to the ice!

So tonight, the night before the game, was the CHL All-Star Banquet. We had the opportunity to attend with some friends. There was good food, a hilarious comedian, the Stanley Cup and lots of people who love hockey (including all of the players in tomorrow's game).

Hockey!

2009-01-06T17:00:00.000-07:00

Just so you know, I love Hockey!

I enjoy watching it (in person or on TV), but mostly I love to play! Back in college, when we were "just friends," James' roommate convinced him to get inline skates and come play. It didn't take long for them to convince me to do the same. Why I decided this was a good idea I still don't know... I have never been that great on roller skates and the few times I had tried inline skating, I was not much better (in truth, probably a lot worse).

Just in case you don't know much about inline skates, here is a news flash:

Hockey Skates Do NOT Have Brakes! I thought that might help with your understanding of the insanity that is me. It must come down to my weird enjoyment of abnormal sports (for girls that is). I grew up playing football with my brother and his friends, ran track (not too bad, except I'm on the short side and ran hurdles and was learning pole vault...go figure) and did Tae Kwon Do. I participated in a lot of other activities as well, but those give you the basic idea.

So we went to the local sporting goods store and I found a pair of not too expensive hockey skates. I borrowed a stick from James' other roommate (thus the issue of me using a stick that is too long, bad habits are hard to break). We went to the outdoor rink on the CSU campus and started "playing." Well, I can't remember a whole lot of the beginning of my hockey playing, but I was lucky in that I didn't end up with too many injuries and nothing serious. I will say that you learn quick when you get thrown into the fire. I was hooked!!

We played roller hockey at the CSU outdoor rink and even got a team together from our church to play at the local roller hockey rink. That fizzled out, but then we met a few guys out at the CSU rink who asked us if we wanted to join their team. "Sure!" That led to several years of playing roller hockey with many of those original players.

James and I both held the desire to play ice hockey eventually. So, after we got fed up with the atrocious reffing at the rink, we decided to make the switch. We convinced a couple friends to take a Hockey 101 class at the ice rink in the spring (still playing roller hockey) and joined the ice league for the summer session. We managed to get one of the guys who took the 101 class with us to join, in addition to a couple guys from our roller team.

I really liked roller-hockey, but I LOVE Ice-Hockey. We have been playing for a few years now, both the summer and Fall (Fall is really a Fall/Spring league, it's extra long) sessions. We have played up to three leagues/nights at the same time and are currently playing two. It is great!

Our teams are awesome, especially our "C" league team! We have had most of the same guys together for the last few seasons. Everyone seems to enjoy....well....picking on each other. We've had our share of wins and losses and even won a Championship! Mostly it is just a great group of guys (I am the only girl, but am considered just one of the guys).

As much as I enjoy playing with my wonderful husband and our team, I really just love playing. I like that it is competitive, physical and fast! I don't have a great shot or puck-handling skills, but I am fairly fast (still trying to get faster though) and aggressive. I like that you can hit (not punch, they don't allow fighting in our league) other players and that it can be quite a battle to get to or keep the puck. I play defense and it's a great feeling to keep the puck in the zone or get it out of our end, to make a good pass or to steal the puck from an opposing player. I like battling for the puck against the boards and skating as fast as I can to get to the puck first. I definitely get my share of penalties: some I think are good calls, others not so much. I also take a lot of hits: I draw some penalties, but not many; I'm okay with that. I just enjoy the game! It is a blast!

Now if I could just figure out how to get paid to play hockey......I guess I can dream

Thankful

2008-12-31T09:49:00.000-07:00

Another year is coming to a close and it reminds me how much I have to be thankful for:

A Loving God

A Wonderful Husband

A Great Family
(Officially including James' side of the family,
although I have considered them family for several years now)

Awesome Friends

Entertaining Hockey Teammates

Okay I am done coming up with more adjectives...but am still thankful...

A great job, a home, food, dogs and cats, and time with people I love...and a working coffee maker.

Okay, there is a lot more, but I need to get back to work!!

Have a Wonderful and Safe New Year!

Thank you to all of you who are a part of my life!

Oh, the Horror...

2008-12-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

I went to bed last night thinking it just couldn't be true...

I woke up this morning hoping it was just a really really really bad nightmare...

Working on keeping my eyes open...

I stumbled out of bed...

Trudged down the hall...

Tried to walk in a straight line...

Let the dogs outside...

Wow, it's COLD...

Wandered into the kitchen...

And it just can't be true...

No, I don't want to believe it...

Why me...

Our Coffee Maker is DEAD!!

I think I will go cry now...

Better yet, I will go buy a new Coffee Maker!!!

Sorry I'm a slacker!

2008-12-09T15:35:00.000-07:00

I have about 5 partially written blog postings, but as they are not complete, I haven't posted them. I can't figure out where the time has gone and still don't know how it came to be that Christmas is only two and a half weeks away!!! Anyway, in spite of my slacking on my blog, I have been productive with work and playing hockey (well, as productive as hockey playing can be).

We also got our wedding pictures from the photographer!

It took several months, but we now have them. The great thing about the photographer is that she took almost a thousand pictures and gave us them all in digital format with permission to print and copy! She also printed 4x6 proofs of all the pictures for us in addition to the digital copies. Now if you have ever priced photographers, you know that they usually take far less pictures and make you order prints through them at not so cheap prices.

We ended up with lots of pictures of me laughing!

There are obviously a lot of pictures of James and I, but also of our wedding party and family and everyone else having a good time. I am excited because we can print pictures that we want and give cds to those who want pictures so they can print whatever they want. Also because we have complete copy permissions, I can post the pics on the web.

I still need to get the pictures from everyone else taking pictures at the wedding, because I know they ended up with some great shots as well. Including some that the photographer missed. I have a goal to actually scrapbook our wedding, maybe I will have it done by our first anniversary (eek, that is just over 6 months away) so I will have to get started soon!

I won't subject you to the nealy 1,000 photos on here. However if for some reason you enjoy looking at photo after photo of James and me and random other people; let me know and I can supply you with a copy of the Eight (yes 8!) cds.

*our photographer was Kelli Noto, if you want her info, let me know. She does not have a website otherwise I would post it.

Overkill!!!

2008-11-20T08:58:00.000-07:00

So James and I decided to make curry last night....

We started with the recipe on the jar of curry paste and decided to double it. We like leftovers! I think the recipe called for 16 ounces of vegetables (that's already doubled) and by the time we had cut up garlic, ginger, onions and celery we had already met that requirement. So we proceeded to add about 2 lbs of chicken, 5 lbs of potatoes, half a head of cabbage, a bunch of bak choy, carrots and red bell pepper. Do you think we over did it a bit?

We added the remainder of the jar of curry paste and are still needing more. James gets to go to the store to buy more curry paste today.

This is not the first time (nor will it be the last) that I have over done it when cooking. I tend to cook enough food to feed somewhere around 5-10 times the people I am really cooking for. I remember in college I made beef stew and fed our household (with some guests) the guys house, a leftover pot in the fridge and at least 2 big containers in the freezer. I just can't help it! It might have a little to do with the fact that I don't cook with recipes...or rather I don't follow the recipe if I have one. I use recipes as general guidelines or ideas, also I don't usually measure things (with the exception of baking, then I measure at least half the ingredients).

Thankfully James and I both like to eat and he doesn't complain about anything I make! I guess it's a good thing that I don't mind having people over to our house. So if you're hungry, come on over, I can pretty much guarantee that we will have enough food for you too!

Happy Birthday Marines!

2008-11-10T11:50:00.000-07:00

Today marks the 233rd Birthday of the United States Marine Corp! My dad retired after serving 21 years as a Marine, so "Happy Birthday!"

Side note: There are NO Ex-Marines, "Once a Marine, Always a Marine!"

James found this year's Commandant's Birthday message, and my dad forwarded a Birthday Card created by GoDaddy. Enjoy!

If you know a Marine or see one around, wish them a "Happy Birthday!"

I also want to say "Thank You!" to all of our Service Men and Women! I appreciate all that you do and the sacrifices that you and your families make to allow us and others to enjoy the freedoms and safety that we have. Thank You!

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet, but....

2008-11-09T13:53:00.000-07:00

Believe it or not, I do realize we are still in the first half of November, but.....

I still couldn't help watching a Christmas movie and listening to some Christmas music yesterday. James had to go to work early and after I got up, fed the dogs and cats, read a book and couldn't find anything good on TV, I decided to put on a movie. I looked through our DVD stash and kept coming back to all the Christmas movies we have (much to James' dismay I am sure; I can't help buying them). It was cold outside, slightly chilly inside (I don't keep our heater turned up very high: I figure it is cheaper to use a blanket or sweatshirt that we already own, than to spend more money running the heater), so I filled up my mug with hot coffee (with Peppermint Mocha creamer, very fitting) and put on "The Santa Clause." I quite enjoyed my little precursor to the holiday season. Then, I remembered that Barlow Girl put out a new Christmas CD; so I went on iTunes and downloaded it. While I was there I remembered another Christmas cd that had been broken, so I downloaded it as well. Thus ensued my listening to Christmas music on November 8th.

I did manage to keep myself from putting up any lights or other decorations. That usually happens just after Thanksgiving. I will do my best to wait until then, but as far as movies and music...I figure I already opened the floodgate, so why stop now :) James is not working today, so the likelihood of a Christmas movie is next to none, but tomorrow is another day!

STMLIG

2008-11-08T16:17:00.000-07:00

So I know you are all asking: "What the heck is STMLIG?"

Well, I have to confess that I did not come up with it. I have to defer all credit to my dad.

It all came about many years ago, back when I was still using a dial-up internet connection (I have upgraded quite a bit since then). My dad created an email address for me with the name "stmlig". It took him repeating himself several times, for me to believe that indeed I had written the email address correctly. Now before I let you in on the meaning, you have to understand a little about my dad. He is nearly always positive. One of his favorite sayings is: "it's like water off a duck's back." I learned to go with the mentality that if you can't change something, then it's not worth worrying about. Now this is not to say that we should give up or give in; but that our efforts can be best used toward something productive, of which worrying is not. My dad is such a great inspiration to me. He is strong, kind, compassionate, protective, loving and fun! I am thankful that I have gained a similar personality, although I am far from attaining all of those characteristics that I find in him. Now back to the email address....

Once I became convinced that I had spelled it correctly I became rather silent, still not sure how in the world my dad picked this email address for me. After all, I have a rather unique name so one would think that you could create an email address with that (remember this is back when many people didn't have an email address, much less 5; so there were still a lot of options to choose from). He finally asked me if I new what "STMLIG" meant and I of course replied "umm, no."

He thankfully did not wait long to share the secret of STMLIG with me...........

Seize The Moment, Life Is Good!

It helps me remember some important things (here are a few):

I need to be thankful in my present circumstances

I can take advantage of opportunities that present themselves

I won't back down in the face of fear

I need to take joy in today, not worry about yesterday and not fret about tomorrow

I know God is Good and has good in store for me

I have a lot more energy to focus on making a difference, if I spend less time concerned with things that I have no control over