Thursday, September 30, 2004

BON VOYAGE!



well all, i am off for a fabuuuuulous long weekend in maggie valley, north carolina. amy, rachael, stose, julie, carrie, along with myself are leaving tomorrow morning (bright and early mind you). we are renting a excursion for the trip and staying in these beautiful cabins.

saturday we plan on horseback riding through the smokey mountains and going to a fall festival.

sunday things are still up in the air. the ideas are shopping, going to gattlinburg, going to a zoo, etc.

we come back monday evening. i am starting to have homesickness for the kids, but hell, its only four days elizabeth. you deserve this (if i do say so myself ;)

i plan on taking a boo-coo amount of pictures and will post them along with details of our trip when i get back.

bon voyage!

Tuesday, September 28, 2004

AN ORANGE MOON?!?!



while on my way home from the grocery store tonight, i saw the strangest thing behind some clouds. now to give ya lil info, i live in b.f.e so the sky is always clear. so anywho, as i drove a lil bit further and the clouds started to break, i noticed it was the moon and it was the most amazing orange.

i raced home so i could get some pics. i wasn't sure if the higher it went, it would lose it's color or not. fortunetly not. so i was able to get a ton of pics.

i am going to have to do some research as to why the moon was orange tonight.

do you know? fill me in :)

A NEW DO!



well today i got my haircut at the most fabulous salon ever. tracy is so good! anyway, the pic above isn't the greatest b/c i let mikey take it and he doesn't know how to use the zoom feature.

the back is layered and right now i have the sides tucked behind my ears w/ a cute lil barette in my hair. i absolutely love it. i just hope that i can style it in the a.m. that is always my biggest worry.

wish me luck!

Monday, September 27, 2004

I CAN CROCHET! I CAN CROCHET!



yesterday when we went to mom's, i finally asked her to show me how to crochet (esp. since i was not getting the hang of knitting from a book). she showed me and after about 15 minutes i was good to go. and i must say that i am hooked (no pun intended). i love it. the first pic is a pic of my first two projects. as you can tell with the multi-colored one, i ran out of yarn. i need to make a stop at hobby lobby and pick up a couple more skeins of it.

the second scarf is just a plain brown and it is quite wide. but i think i am going to make it look like this but i haven't decided yet.

i am just so excited that i am crocheting!!! whoo hoo!!!

Saturday, September 25, 2004

VALLEY OF THE DOLLS!



okay, so i haven't made a post in a few days, but it is all b/c of this book. i couldn't put it down for three days until the last page was read. it is so good. i heard about it on a post at glitter and saw it in the discount section at books a million and picked it up.

the other night i was itching to read and thought i would read it. little did i know that once i started it, it was going to be so hard to put down. i am not going to give any details on it in case you haven't read it, but damn it is good. it is all i have been able to think about for the three days i have been reading it. that's when i know a book is good. i think about it even when the cover is closed.

now you tell me what you think about it (and if you haven't read it, run to the bookstore/library right now!!!)

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

ORGANIZATION IS KEY!

well i am going thru a "fall-cleaning" phase and i want all this crap outta here. now that mikey's room is on a better path, i am ready to tackle the rest of the house and learn to let things go.

thanks to bizzy at glitter, i was pointed in the direction of organized home. i was only able to surf around for a lil bit, but it is great. they have all of these tips on organizing paperwork, throwing things away, learning to part and give away.

they also have this great section on printable forms (price book, calendar sheets, grocery list, pantry list, freezer list, etc.)

hopefully this will be one thing that will help me declutter!

thanks biz!

A CLEANER ROOM AT LAST!



well, after about an hour or so, me and mikey tackled his room. i haven't had the opportunity to vacuum yet, but i think it looks pretty good. i still need to organize his closet (that way some of the stuff in his room can go in there). we threw away 3 bags of garbage and i prolly could get rid of more! but now there is one more thing done and he *promises* he will keep it that way.

keep your fingers crossed for me :)

Monday, September 20, 2004

PERFECTO PASTA PIZZA!

i made this tonight for dinner and it was delish! not only was it good, but it made a ton. so this would be great for a get together or party dish.

10 min. prep time
30 min. cook time

ingredients:
1 pkg. (12 oz.) spaghetti
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup (2 oz.)shredded parmesean cheese
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 can (26 oz.) hunts four cheese spaghetti sauce (or any sauce for that matter)

1. cook pasta according to package, rinse with cool water, and drain well. combine eggs with parmesean cheese, toss with pasta, and 1 cup of mozzarella cheese to blend. coat a 15x10 ince jelly roll pan generously with cooking spray; press pasta into the bottom of the pan.
2. spread spaghetti sauce evenly over spaghetti. add favorite toppings to personalize pizza, if desired. sprinkle with remaining cheese.
3. bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. let stand for 10 minutes. cut into squares and serve.

this is so easy to make your own way. i made half with turkey pepperoni and cheese and the other half pepperoni, orange/yellow peppers, mushrooms, blk. olives, & feta cheese. i also used angel hair pasta b/c that is what i had on hand.

enjoy!

GET IN THERE AND CLEAN YOUR ROOM!



those have been the words that i have been screaming for about a month. mikey
will not clean his room. there have been weekends where he has spent the whole weekend "cleaning" it. i am at my wits end. i don't know what to do. he gets in there and if he doesn't find a hundred excuses to come out (i.e. i have to poop, i'm hungry, when's dinner, i'm thirsty, i wanna take a nap now, jeffin is making more of mess...the list goes on and on...) then he starts playing.

i feel that i shouldn't have to go in there and clean up his messes. he is 5 yrs. old now and knows better. i just bought a bunch of different size totes/organizing type of things and maybe that will help.

it prolly doesn't help that he has SO MUCH stuff. but does he care if i threaten to throw it all away? NO. does he cry when he sees me heave-hoing stuff in garbage bags? NO. is he upset when he is not allowed to do/get anything b/c his room is not clean? NO.
WHAT DO I DO?

i am hoping that some other mommy's with the same problem will stumble upon my site and give me some pointers. please! i am begging you.

Saturday, September 18, 2004

THE SLUMBER PARTY!



my slumber party was a riot! i am so glad that i had it and can not wait to have another. of course i made entirely too much food, but its always better to be safe. the menu consisted of the following:

*brushetta
*garlic pita chips with roasted red pepper hummus
*smoked turkey/swiss cheese/3 pepper mustard wrapped in crescent rolls
*smoked salmon dip
*these tostido scoops things i make
*coconut macaroons which were to die for by the way
*mini cupcakes (they started with a white cake mix and instead of water, i added a can of strawberry juice, they turned out great)

we gossiped, play the fortune telling game with a regular deck of cards (where you take out the kings and make them four different men in your life and ask racy questions to find out who the answer belongs to ;), amy got a makeover, we had peanutbutter cup martinis (which were to die for), & watched the game show network.

besides the fact that michael evesdropped throughout the night and made comments about what we were talking about, the night was a blast!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NATHAN!



well we just got back from nathan's 2nd bday party! we all had so much fun. jennifer and jonathan definetely go all out for his birthdays! there was a space walk for the kids, there was a ton of delicious food, and a bunch of friendly people.

mikey had fun running around with the other kids and jumping around in the space walk. bella walked around till i thought she would collapse. she just kept walking and walking and walking.

there were people there that we knew from work and of course people that i have known for years.

i hope that his 2nd year in life if filled with much playing, eating, and happiness!

happy birthday nathan!

ITS A RECORD BOWL!



well after seeing this wonderful creation all over the internet, i decided to give it a try. i got the directions from roxy craft and it was quite easy. i ended up needing to turn the oven up a lil bit more but it was so much fun.

now i know one thing to get my mom this year (she's becoming more and more difficult to shop for). this would go great in her kitchen. she has it done up in a 50's style diner with lp's hanging on the walls.

now i just have to hit the goodwill, thrift stores, and garage sales to get more records.

Friday, September 17, 2004

SHE'S A PIZZA FREAK, PIZZA FREAK, SHE'S SUPER FREAKY!



if you ask anyone who knows me what my favorite food is "pizza!" will come blaring out of their mouths.

i truly love pizza! it doesn't matter if it is handmade, frozen, delivery, whatever, i love it. my favorite is cheese and pepperoni. but i will eat veggies on it, sausage (sometimes), just cheese.

i can eat pizza any time of the day. for breakfast, lunch, dinner, in between meals, late at night. i can eat it cold, hot, hell even luke warm.

i can turn anything into a pizza. i have made pizza with the following things for crusts:
-above in the pic i used cocktail bread
-bagels
-biscuits
-tortillas
-crescent rolls
-french bread
-buns
-wraps (a lil bit thicker than tortillas)
-pitas

my favorite frozen pizza is red baron's pizzeria style pepperoni. this pizza, in all its greasiness, is to diiiiie for. not only is there sliced pepperoni on top of the cheese, there is diced pepperoni underneath the cheese in the sauce. it is truly pepperoni heaven. i prefer frozen pizza over delivery.

i love the veggie pizza from larosa's in cincinnati. i craved it when i was pregnant with bella and was able to find out that i could have it delivered all the way down here. the only bad thing is with shipping it would cost over $80.00.

i thought that i should devote a post to the pizza since i have shared so many good times with it and love it so. thank you so much pizza for bringing a smile to my face and a yummy in my tummy!

Thursday, September 16, 2004

WE'RE ALL SAFE AND SOUND!

first, i would like to say thank you to the people who made comments or sent emails to me wishing us luck and safety!

we have been watching ivan for over a week and i was very optimistic that it wasn't going to come here. then once monday rolled around and we started to watch the weather channel (all day long, mind you) we started to get worried. i still didn't want to believe that it was going to come here. plus i knew that mike would want me and the kids to leave, which was something i didn't want to do (if you didn't already know, mike is a police officer and is unable to leave during storms and usually has to work 12-hr shifts).

tuesday work was a madhouse trying to get everything ready for the storm. i was getting more and more worried as the day went on. i tried to find a hotelroom and you couldn't find one for miles. i finally was able to find one off of hotels.com in meridian. i was relieved b/c if i decided to leave then i knew there was a place to go that wasn't that far away. i told the major about and when he tried to reserve a room, he had major problems. well the problem was that hotels.com made a mistake and i ended up having a hotel room in meridan, IDAHO!!! so now i didn't have a place to go and as time went on, i knew i had to leave.

once i got home, me and greta found a hotel room in memphis, tn. thank goodness! so we decided that the four of us would stay the night at mom's tuesday night and we would leave for memphis at 6 am. after i kissed mike goodbye and cried a few more tears (tuesday night i spent the evening crying as i packed up pictures and anything else that i thought was priceless).

the drive up there was not that bad. we expected to be sitting in bumper to bumper traffic, but it seems that most people left tuesday evening/night. we got there safely and noticed that we were staying in a dive. but what the hell, greta and the family were down the hall and if we needed anything, oneil would come to our rescue :)


mike's dad happened to be doing business in memphis, so he was able to stop by and visit with the kids for a lil bit. that was nice and i know he was relieved to see us and know that we were safe. the kids on the other hand, were not on their best behavior, but i guess it was good enough given the circumstances.



thursday morning when we woke up, that is when we saw that the hurricane by passed us and hit mobile (sorry guys!) and i called mike immediately to find out how he was along with all the other officers (i was worried for their safety b/c they have be out on the road driving in all of those heavy winds and rain). he told me it wasn't that bad and the wind and rain wasn't horrific at all. he had driven by the house and it was still standing and that we could come home.

so we packed up really quick and hopped in the car and made our journey home. we were a lil worried again that we would be stuck in traffic, but it was quite speedy.

so now i am home, i have my hubby in my site and i know that all is okay. i feel so bad for all the people that live in mobile/pensacola area. hurricanes are nothing to mess with and they are extremely scary! so i hope everyone over there is very safe!

tomorrow my posts should be on a more friendly note and back to my craftin' ways!

Monday, September 13, 2004

HURRICANE IVAN GO AWAY!

well, i would like to take the opportunity to post everything that happened this weekend, including the slumber party i had (which was so much fun by the way), but i am only on for a second. i have to prepare for the possibility that hurricane ivan is going to hit here. i have had a pit in my stomach for the past 24 hours wondering if i am going to lose my house, worrying about the fact that the mr. wants me to take the kids and leave (he has to stay due to work, they are NOT allowed to leave no matter what), worrying about the fact that my mom may not leave with me and the kids...ugh! quite the stress. so i have been steady watching the weather channel and trying to stay busy to keep my mind off of it (which really doesn't help too much).

right now i am dloading all the pics off of my computer on to disc and i am trying to go thru paperwork to make sure that i have all the important stuff. the hardest part is trying to decide what to take from the house. the only thing i really want is the things that make our memories. pictures of the kids, pictures of me and mike as kids, and all the things that have made us happy.

well, i better sign off and get this stuff done. hopefully i will have happier posts in a few days.

Wednesday, September 08, 2004

PARTY FAVORS PART 3!



thanks to craftygoddess at glitter, i got a great recipe for lavendar bath salts. they smell so yummy. i cannot wait to make my own. i did however use some on my hands while i was cleaning up the spoons i used to mix it and all i can say is that my hands are so soft right now and they smell so good.

i hope the girls like em!

Tuesday, September 07, 2004

PARTY FAVORS PART 2!



well here are the earrings that i finished last night to put in the goody bags for the girls on saturday night. i am so excited about how they came out (however, not excited about how the pic came out) and am comtemplating making my own pairs just like em.

today i picked out the most fabulous fabric to use as the tablecloth. i cannot wait to get the table set with all the goodies....speaking of goodies, i better start to decide what it is i am going to serve :)

edit: this picture should be a little bit better than the one i had up there before :)

Monday, September 06, 2004

THE PARTY INVITE



well last night i worked on/completed the invitations for the slumber party. the pic isn't really a good one, but the cards in person are too cute for words! i went with a pink/green color theme and they look so girly and so fun!

HAPPY FALL YA'LL!



even though today is labor day, i took down my americana decorations and happily put the fall ones up. these will stay up until october 1st and then i will add the halloween decorations to it. i only wish the weather outside coincided with the feel of the house inside.

today i am also dehydrating some apples and bananas. i do hope they turn out and that the kids love em. i am so excited for cooler temperatures so i can cook a lot more stews, soups, and chilis. also, i am looking forward to cooking a lot of pumpkin related recipes.

Sunday, September 05, 2004

PARTY FAVORS PART 1

well next saturday, i am having a slumber party! i am having five other gals over to have a good ol fashioned slumber party. i am so excited about the whole planning process. i plan on having quite the menu of lil fancy treats. this too shall include a goody-bag. the goody-bag will include the following felt flower pins that i made. the one flower looks like the felt is yellow, but its beige. they were fun to make (as i have made them before, but have never stitched them). i hope to post some of the other favors along with my menu as the week goes on.


Saturday, September 04, 2004

I'M SICK

so bleh!

THAT'S A LOTTA FABRIC!



stose inherited quite a bit of fabric (about 7-9 boxes!) and being the good friend that she is (plus knowing that there was no way she would be able to use it all) she gave 2 boxes to me. it took me over two nights to go through the boxes, but it was well worth it. i have more fabric than i know what to do with. here are a few of my favorites.


Thursday, September 02, 2004

101 THINGS ABOUT ME



1. i'm a mommy to mikey-5 & bella-15 mos
2. i'm a wife to my darling michael
3. i love seinfeld
4. i was on a tv show called the "uncle al show" when i was little
5. i am ADDICTED to the internet
6. i love to craft
7. i'm obsessed with fabric
8. i love anything that has my name in or on it
9. i've been hit by a car while getting icecream from the icecream man
10. office supplies excite me
11. i still love my birthday
12. i can't use the same fork for my dessert that i used for my meal
13. i hate the sound of nails being clipped
14. i have road rage
15. toothpicks are disgusting and should only be used when baking cakes
16. i've lived in five different states
17. i can eat pizza *all* the time; anytime of the day
18. i'm into astrology
19. i've had 6 teeth pulled at once
20. i've worked at the same place for 8 years
21. i've had 3 different positions at said job
22. the current by far is my favorite and the best
23. i love all shades of green
24. i'm addicted board/card games
25. i'm a sore loser
26. i'm a sore winner
27. i love the Carpenter's
28. i love candy
29. halloween is my favorite holiday
30. i wish i could move things like "carrie"
31. i wanna take a ceramic class
32. i *love* to bake
33. i look forward to marathons of "murder she wrote"
34. i've never had a pedicure
35. i've always been a reader
36. i've entered cakes in a cake decorating contest when i was little
37. i played volleyball in jr. high
38. i have a tatoo
39. i've only been to 2 concerts
40. i've never broke a bone before
41. i'm a hyperchondriac
42. i believe in love
43. i'm in love
44. i secretly want a kitten
45. i wish i knew how to knit
46. i love cherries
47. i'm a shoe addict
48. i'm messy
49. i want to be a stay at home mommy
50. i like looking at my baby pictures
51. i *love* chocolate truffles
52. i had a nun for my 1st grade teacher
53. an aunt and uncle had the same nun for their teacher
54. i miss my grandma terribly
55. i have regrets
56. i prefer morning to night
57. i love the smell of bella's piggies
58. i still wish on stars
59. i'm a packrat
60. daisies are my favorite flower
61. i love the smell of freshly cut grass
62. i have never been arrested
63. i didn't get my driver's license until i was 18
64. i watch a ton of reality tv
65. i want more children
66. i've been married for 5 years
67. i'm a magazine whore
68. i love the "soprano's"
69. i drink only flavored coffee
70. i watch abc soaps
71. i love pumpkin anything
72. i wish i kept more fresh flowers around
73. i used to want to be the first woman in the nfl
74. i am nosey
75. i cuss TOO much
76. i'm terrified of snakes
77. i never went to camp as a kid
78. i always wanted to
79. i still do
80. i was a brownie and a girlscout
81. i collect bobbsey twins books for bella
82. i've sold a piece of my artwork
83. i fear tornadoes
84. i've had braces
85. i *hate* my hair
86. i require too much sleep
87. i love to entertain
88. i've never listened to a book on tape
89. i do not believe that fruit should go on real food (i.e. pizza, salads, ham, etc)
90. i have no rhythym
91. i'm shy
92. i hate ringtones
93. i look like my mom
94. i have two younger brothers
95. i worry too much
96. i can't dance
97. i have no patience. i mean NONE
98. i like playing pinball machines
99. i *love* my husband to pieces
100. i *love* my kiddos to pieces
101. this was the hardest thing to do (okay, maybe not the hardest ;)