More about me

8 TV Shows I watch:
1. LA Ink
2. Terriers
3. Spongebob Squarepants
4. Project Runway
5. Life of Jenks
7. The Buried Life
8. Americas Next Top Model

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1. Cafe n' Me
2. Saffron
3. Ruby Tuesdays
4.Mediterranean on Broadway
5. Shogun
6. Taco Bell
7. El Torrero
8. Bella Italia

8 Things that happend to me today:
1. Woke up late
2. Freaked out because my face hates me in the winter and is breaking out
3. Picked up Stratton from D&L's then dropped him off with Mrs Lisa (love her)
4. Got to work 20 min late
5. Set up printers for the 2nd floor
6. Worked on the layout for the 2011 NAMM Show
7. Finished off my container of Hummus (sad face)
8. Checked out the new zit on my face again and plastered more make up over it...not helping my case.

8 Things I look forward to:
1. Getting this week over with
2. Finals next week and not sweating it because I've been staying on top of it! Score!
3. The Jingle Bell Run this weekend
4. Getting to hang out with my sister in laws next Tuesday
5. Getting Stratton to sit on Santa's lap for pictures (which probably isn't going to happen)
6. Making sugar cookies with my Steph, Stratton, Payne, and Mona
7. Catching up with old friends
8. The Future-it's lookin pretty bright to me!

8 Things I wish for:
1. An xterra
2. Stratton being potty trained
3. A shopping spree!
4. Snow on Christmas (I can't remember the last time we had a white Christmas
5. A maid
6. the power to fly
7. My hair to magically grow 8 inches
8. A stronger faith in the Lord

Starting a New Tradition

I want to start a new family tradition this year. I want all three of us (me, Derek & Stratton) to go to Hallmark and pick out our own ornaments for Christmas.I know when I moved out of my parents house it was really nice to not have to but a boat load of Christmas ornaments when it came time to put up our tree. My mom has saved ornaments (not just Hallmark ornaments) over the years and let me pick out a small box to start off our collection of family ornaments. (The sad part is that we are going to have to get a bigger tree because of all the ornaments we have now) Here is the ornament that my sister got for Stratton last year. I just love it.

It's the start of our Hallmark collection. I can't wait to go this weekend and pick a few more out for the entire family. Next year we might just have to invest in a new tree too.

101 in 1001

It's official...I started my 101 in 1001!

Random thought of the day...

I seriously CAN'T stop eating these two items!

 My sister and I went to St. Louis over the weekend to get my phone fixed. (Ugh, I hate when my stuff breaks) We stopped by our friends Dennis and Ambre's house and had a bite to eat then went to the Good Will. (Scored 4 pairs of pants for Stratton and it only cost me $8!) After that we went to Trader Joes and I got sucked into stopped by the sample desk. They had these awesome french truffles sitting out so I devoured tried one and they were amazing! They seriously melt in your mouth. Yumm! The only down side...I seriously can't stop eating them. I keep telling myself that the hummus is healthy so it out weighs the chocolate. It doesn't help that I have only had the hussus open for two days and it's already like 4/5 of the way gone. Oh well. I'll just have to go make another trip up there and get another container...of both. We went by the Alpine Shop and Casey and I both got some REALLY cute hats. Stratton got to spend the day with my mom and dad so it turned out to be a really great day. I even considered geocaching but since my phone was cleaned of all apps we didn't get to. Soon we will be out there again...soon.

Day 14 of 12 Day Christmas Blog Challenge

Day 14: Oprah's Favorite Things: What item(s) would you want if you were in the audience?

If I were to go on Oprah I would love to have the following:

1. my debt completely paid off

2. a pure bred puppy

 3. a designer hand bag

4. a new (paid off) car

5. a two week cruise for two

6. a trip to Australia or some other other beautiful location

7. an iPad or MacBook

8. MONEY!!!

ok that's enough wishing for one day. 

oh to be Oprah and have more money than I know what to do with...

 

Grandma, Grandpa & Stratton at the Christmas Tree Farm

My mom and dad (Grandma Kathie and Grandpa Calvin) took Stratton to the Christmas Tree Farm this weekend. He had such a good time with the horses and Sage. That little guy loves animals. Here are the pictures my dad took from Saturday.

Day 13 of 12 Day Christmas Blog Challenge

Day 13: Favorite Cookie Recipe

Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:
3 cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup white sugar
1 cup butter (softened at room temperature)
1 egg, lightly beaten (egg should be at room temperature)
3 Tablespoons half-and-half
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) .
2. Sift together all-purpose flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
3. Cut in butter and blend with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly.
4. With a fork, stir in lightly beaten egg, vanilla and half-and-half. Blend well with fork, then your hands to ensure thorough blending. Chill dough for one hour for easier rolling.
****If you are not rolling the dough, chill for 15 minutes then skip to step 6 for baking.
5. On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut into shapes.
6. Place on baking sheet covered with parchment paper. Sprinkle with sugar or leave plain for decorating with icing.
7. Bake for 6 - 7 minutes, or until lightly brown.

Sugar Cookie Icing Recipe

Ingredients:
2 teaspoons milk
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
assorted food coloring colors

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, stir together the milk and confectioners sugar until smooth.
2. Beat in corn syrup and the vanilla extract until icing is smooth and glossy. If the icing is too thick, add additinal corn syrup to thin slightly.

3. Divide the icing into separate bowls, and add food colorings to each to the preferred color intensity. Paint the icing onto the cookies or pipe with decorator icing tubes and tips.
4. Top with candy decorator balls, holiday sprinkles or any other festive design. Enjoy, these are as much fun to decorate as they are to eat!

The following are sure fire tips for the perfect sugar cookies:
* If you are rolling the dough to use cookie cutters, remember to keep the dough chilled. As it warms it sticks to the rolling pin and the surface you're rolling on.
* The thinner you roll your dough, the crispier the cookie will be. This recipe calls for rolling the dough 1/4 inch thick, which makes them soft with just the right amount of crispness around the outside of the cookie.
* Soften the butter at room temperature for about an hour or two before mixing. Butter that isn't softened won't mix properly and your cookies will be flat. Do not microwave butter to soften, it will soften unevenly.
* The eggs should also be room temperature. Cold eggs can cause the batter to curdle.
* Halfway through the baking process, take a minute to rotate the baking sheets from back to front for even baking. This step is worth it to prevent unevenly baked batches of cookies.
* If you are making more than one batch, do not put the dough on hot cookie sheets. It will spread as you're placing the dough on the sheet, and baking will be uneven.
* The brand of flour makes a difference. Gold Medal or Pillsbury flours are lower-protein. King Arthur flour is higher protein which produces slightly drier, cakier cookies.
* If you want extra dough, this sugar cookie recipe freezes well. You can freeze the dough for about four weeks as long as it is tightly wrapped.

Day 12 of 12 Day Christmas Blog Challenge

Day 12: Show off your Christmas lights/decorations

These pictures were taken with my phone so they aren't great. I'll take some more tomorrow.

 Stratton, my mom and I made these today. They were really fun.

Day 11 of 12 Day Chirstmas Blog Challenge

Day 11: New Years Resolution

did you know...

40 to 45% of American adult make one or more resolutions each year.

Among the top new years resolutions are resolutions about weight loss, exercise, and stopping to smoke. Also popular are resolutions dealing with better money management / debt reduction.

The following shows how many of these resolutions are maintained as time goes on:
- past the first week: 75%
- past 2 weeks: 71%
- after one month: 64%
- after 6 months: 46%

While a lot of people who make new years resolutions do break them, research shows that making resolutions is useful. People who explicitly make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don't explicitly make resolutions:

New Year's resolvers (sample = 159) and comparable non-resolvers interested in changing a problem later (sample = 123) were followed for six months via telephone interviews. Resolvers reported higher rates of success than non-resolvers; at six months, 46% of the resolvers were continuously successful compared to 4% of the non-resolvers.

 on that note...

1. read more books to Stratton nightly

2. get better at saving money

3. run a 5K

4. spend less time on the phone and computer and more with Stratton

5. use my sewing machine for at least 5 different projects

5. try to get Stratton potty trained (or at least started)

6. call people on their birthday or a holiday instead of sending a mass text

Lets see if I can stick with it.

Day 10 of 12 Day Christmas Blog Challenge

Day 10: Favorite Christmas Songs

I love Old Christmas music.

Some of my favorites are:
Elvis Presley- Blue Christmas

Elmo & Patsy - Grandma Got Ran Over by a Reindeer

Eartha Kitt - Santa Baby

Burl Ives - A Holly Jolly Christmas

Brenda Lee- Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree