A Guy, A Girl and a Sofie

A Great Fall Recipe

2010-11-03T16:42:00.006-04:00

I guess my blog is turning into a recipe blog, but I had to share this recipe with you because it's just so fall! And I'm trying to embrace every bit of fall I can before it's gone.

I made these for a Fall Harvest Party we had at church, and they just looked so pretty, and better yet - tasted so good!

Crisscross Apple Crowns

1 1/3 c. chopped peeled tart apples

1/3 c. chopped walnuts (these could be optional if you are a nut-hater)

1/3 c. raisins

1/2 c. sugar

2 Tbsp. all purpose flour

2 tsp. ground cinnamon, divided

dash salt

1 pkg. (17.3 oz) large refrigerated flaky biscuits

2 tsp. butter, melted (spray butter works great for this)

In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine the apples, walnuts, raisins, 3 tbsp. sugar, flour 3/4 tsp. cinnamon, and salt. Microwave 2-3 minutes or until almost tender.

Flatten each biscuit into a 5" circle. (Approx.) Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle a rounded teaspoonful of sugar mixture over each. Top each with 1/4 cup apple mixture. Bring up edges to enclose mixture; pinch edges to seal.

Place seam side down in ungreased muffin cups. Brush tops with butter; sprinkle with remaining sugar mixture. With a sharp knife, cut an "X" in the top of each.

Bake at 350 degrees for 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack.

You could also easily lower the calories by using reduced fat biscuits, splenda, and spray butter instead of regular butter.

I think they taste best warmed up. They are so appley and homey and warm on a crisp fall day. Yum!

Triple Berry Trifle

2010-05-25T13:54:00.005-04:00

This dessert is a favorite with Aaron's family, and I made it for some girlfriends this weekend and they loved it too. So here, per request of these two, is the recipe for...
Triple Berry Trifle.

1 cup blueberries
1 cup red raspberries
2 1/2 cups strawberries
1 pkg instant vanilla pudding mix (6 serv. size)
3 cups skim milk
1 pound or angel food cake
Simply Fruit or All Fruit Jam
16 oz. cool whip, thawed
2 tbsp Berry flavored syrup

With these ingredients, there's a lot of play. You can use more or less of everything, depending on the size of the container. I usually double up and have enough to fill this trifle, plus another smaller container for Aaron to take to work, or to give to a friend or neighbor (because it doesn't store well - gets soggy.) Also, I usually try to find all sugar free and fat free ingredients, and it tastes just as good. It's really refreshing, and looks pretty (this one didn't turn out as pretty because I wasn't as careful with the pudding and I put too much around the edges). This would even be a nice Memorial Day dessert.

Put the berries all together and let them sit while you prepare the pudding, so their juices can mix. Prepare the pudding according to the box. Cut the cake into about 1/2 in. slices, and spread each slice with the jam. Then cut the slices into cube size, I find this makes it easier to fit them in the bowl. Layer in the bowl, cake, fruit, pudding, cake, fruit, pudding until you fill the trifle almost to the top. Then fold the fruit syrup (in the pancake syrup section of the store) into the Cool Whip. Put the cool whip on the top and put in the refrigerator to chill and "meld."

Remove before serving to all those hungry guests - or just yourself... :)

A VERY Low Budget "Music Video"

2010-03-20T09:44:00.005-04:00

The song "Smile" by Uncle Kracker was playing and I told Aaron that I wanted to make a music video of Remie and I because this song is about her to me. She makes me smile and dance, sing and spin and dance like a fool. So he took me up on it. This isn't the quite idea of a "music video" that I had in mind, but we thought it was pretty funny. Poor little Remington - I sure do love her! Perhaps this is the "abusive behavior" that the shelter turned us down for...

The Shcnaggle family

2009-07-26T17:47:00.006-04:00

A 4 week expedition into the deep woods of Tasmania has revealed a new species of animal. The collaborative effort of U.S. and Australian reasearchers was led by a Dr. Schnaggle. "I was astonished when I came upon these strange creatures, I have never seen such a animal" exclaimed the doctor. He named the newly discovered animals the schnaggle tooth family which included the schnaggle tooth llama and schnaggle tooth boxer. Although no one has ever seen any agression from this species, the local tribes are scared to even go out from their huts because of their razer-like teeth and tongues like sand paper. The doctor assured the tribes that it is safe to go out but don't carry any food because they have very small brains and think with their big mouths instead.

They must have migrated here in search of peanut butter and hay.

Reseachers believe they are descendents of the schnaggle tooth tiger family.

A fossil of the link was discovered lately and it looked to be part tiger and part llama. It had long legs and a big body. They named the fossil Tiglama. After much research and millions of dollars spent they realized it was just a big dog. Oops. Have a great day. Aaron

Our Sweet Little Visitor

2009-02-09T20:09:00.006-05:00

We had a very special visitor this weekend. Aaron and I were trusted with a very special responsibility. Tierney came to spend the night with us on Saturday.

I have to honestly say, that I have never, ever, met a happier, more content little girl than this one. She did not cry even once the whole time she was here. You barely even have to look at her and she smiles, and if you talk to her, the smile only gets bigger! She was an absolute joy to have and I hope they'll let us watch her again sometime!

Unfortunately for Aaron, I think Curt and Brenda's evil plan worked and having Tierney around did kind of make me want my own. The only problem is, I don't think that my child will be anything like Tierney unless he/she is more like Aaron than me! Now I'm going to compare any baby to her! Oh - and did I mention she was this cheerful even though she's teething and had just gotten shots the day before?!?

This is her all snuggled up sleeping when she came to us. And even though she was rudely woken up early in a strange place, by a stranger (I don't know who could have been so impatient...) taking her out because she wanted to snuggle her, she just smiled away!

Here's a cute little grin. Look at those dimples!

Aaron must not have told her he was about to take the picture and she forgot to smile!

Here's her favorite new person. She would just smile and smile at Aaron - and even if I was holding her, she would be looking at Aaron and smiling - maybe it's because he's tall like her dad. And don't worry Curt and Brenda - Aaron wasn't under the influence of anything when we took this picture - it was just bad timing I guess!

Aaron was such a good helper and helped with feeding her - although he did refuse to change any diapers - yet... And Sofie tried to be a helper because she was certain that Tierney needed plenty of kisses, and couldn't understand why we wouldn't let her...

...especially since I was giving her so many kisses! But who could resist those adorable little cheeks!

So thanks again Curt and Brenda for letting us watch her - she is definitely welcome back any time. We love that sweet little girl!

The Things I Do For a Laugh...

2008-10-27T21:18:00.006-04:00

I was going to save this post for Halloween, but Sofie just couldn't wait to show off her costume. I have to admit that I came very close to peeing my pants with this one because I was laughing so hard.

Are you ready????

Really ready???

Ta da! She's one fine lookin' lady, that's for sure. Although I'm not quite sure if the hot pink brings out her eyes or not. But how cute is the bobbed hairstyle on her?

And yes, as a "parent" I have already mastered the fine art of bribery.

And this trick was definitely worth a treat.

That wig was worth every cent of the three dollars I paid for it.

Have a safe and fun Halloween everyone!

Poor Floor

2008-10-05T16:23:00.019-04:00

Hi this is Aaron (Laura's husband). I have stolen this blog, well actually nobody was using it so they didn't put up much of a fight. Anyway the carpet in our office was getting pretty old and dirty and we knew we had hardwood floors underneath so one day I decided I wanted to try to refinish them. So out came the carpet and padding. Next was the tack strips and staples. That all went well and the floor looked nice, straight, clean, and no stains. The only thing wrong was the finish was looking beat up and slight height variation. In all of my infinite wisdom I decided I didn't want to rent one of those huge floor sanders for my small room. So to EBAY we went and bought a 1/2 sheet vibrating sander (most people own 1/4 sheet sanders for finishing. I had figured twice as big would be twice as fast. Then I borrowed a belt sander for some of the bad spots.

Here is a picture in the closet that I had sanded for about 2 seconds and all the finish came right off. I had some vacation coming up so I thought I can have this room completely sanded and one coat of polyurethane on in one day. Boy was I wrong.

Here is a picture of the floor before. If you look by Sofia's front feet you can see some of the original finish where it had slight moisture damage.

This is a picture from the hallway looking into the office. The hallway was professionally finished about 2 years ago and looks great.

This picture is the floor completely sanded and ready for the polyurethane.

And this is the final product and it matches almost perfectly. That dark line in the doorway was from the carpet staples and they discolored the wood.

Now for the not so fun part. I started with the belt sander to take off the majority of the finish(so I thought). The second that belt sander touched the finish it gummed up instantly and I got no where. So I tried a different grit and got the same result. My theory then was to use the finishing sander to take off a majority of the finish and use the belt sander after that. This is a picture of the first round. This took around 2 hours.

Attempted belt sander again and got same results.

At this point I should have gotten the big ol' sander from the rental store but I told myself in the beginning that I wasn't going to. So instead I got out the 2 1/2" hand scraper and scraped the whole floor, which took hours and hours. The center of the picture is the scraped part. So I tried my belt sander again and same results in twice the time which still wasn't worth doing. Now I resort to the 1/4 sheet finishing sander to reach all the small spots that still had finish on them. Couple hours later I am able to use belt sander which worked very well.

This is me tired and hot from scraping.

Finally the sanding is all done!!

Here is the first coat of polyurethane. I used a lambs wool type of applicator wich is a furry mop sponge looking thing. When the room dryed I walk in and feel all kinds of imperfections on my feet and so I get down for an inspection and there is little furs that look just like the applicator furs stuck in the urethane. I resanded the whole floor to remove the high spots and furs and went for the second of four coats. This time I de-furred the applicator and still got the same results. I thought I would try a paint brush for the third coat. Still not great results. At this point I lose interest and just throw a fourth coat on with a applicator pad. The pads and brush were both Varathane products which is supposed to be a very good product?? Moral of the story: rent the sander from the store, and find a non-shedding applicator. Overall it looks decent and I will try it again in our bedroom.

Thanks for letting me visit blogland! - Aaron

Have You Ever?

2008-09-21T22:07:00.010-04:00

My mom had this on her blog and I thought I'd give it a try. There are 200 things on the list and the things that are in large font are the things I have done (because for some reason my blogger wanted to keep bolding everything. Give it a try if you want!
Have you ever:
1. Touched an iceberg
2. Slept under the stars
3. Been a part of a hockey fight
4. Changed a baby's diaper
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Swam with wild dolphins
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a tarantula
10. Said "I love you" and meant it
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Stayed up all night long and watched the sun rise
15. Seen the Northern Lights
16. Gone to a huge sports game
17. Walked the stairs to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
19. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
20. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Bet on a winning horse
23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Taken an ice cold bath
28. Had a meaningful conversation with a beggar
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Ridden a roller coaster
31. Hit a home run
32. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
33. Adopted an accent for fun (does Pirate-Speak count?)
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Felt very happy about your life, even for just a moment
36. Loved your job 90% of the time
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Watched wild whales
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Gone on a midnight walk on the beach
41. Gone sky diving
42. Visited Ireland
43. Ever bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited India
45. Bench-pressed your own weight
46. Milked a cow
47. Alphabetized your personal files
48. Ever worn a superhero costume
49. Sung karaoke
50. Lounged around in bed all day
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Done something you should regret, but don't
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Been in a movie
60. Gone without food for 3 days
61. Made cookies from scratch
62. Won first prize in a costume contest
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Been in a combat zone
65. Spoken more than one language fluently
66. Gotten into a fight while attempting to defend someone - verbal not physical
67. Bounced a check
68. Read - and understood - your credit report
69. Recently bought and played with a favorite childhood toy
70. Found out something significant that your ancestors did
71. Called or written your Congress person
72. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over
73. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
74. Helped an animal give birth
75. Been fired or laid off from a job
76. Won money
77. Broken a bone
78. Ridden a motorcycle
79. Driven any land vehicle at a speed of greater than 100 mph
80. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
81. Slept through an entire flight: takeoff, flight, and landing
82. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days
83. Eaten sushi
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read The Bible cover to cover
86. Changed someones mind about something you care deeply about
87. Gotten someone fired for their actions
88. Gone back to school
89. Changed your name
90. Caught a fly in the air with your bare hands
91. Eaten fried green tomatoes
92. Read The Iliad
93. Taught yourself an art from scratch
94. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
95. Apologized to someone years after inflicting the hurt
96. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language
97. Been elected to public office
98. Thought to yourself that you're living your dream
99. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
100. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn't know you
101. Had a booth at a street fair
102. Dyed your hair
103. Been a DJ
104. Rocked a baby to sleep
105. Ever dropped a cat from a high place to see if it really lands on all four
106. Raked your carpet
107. Brought out the best in people
108. Brought out the worst in people
109. Worn a mood ring
110. Ridden a horse
111. Carved an animal from a piece of wood or bar of soap
112. Cooked a dish where four people asked for the recipe.
113. Buried a child
114. Gone to a Broadway (or equivalent to your country) play
115. Been inside the pyramids
116. Shot a basketball into a basket
117. Danced at a disco
118. Played in a band
119. Shot a bird
120. Gone to an arboretum
121. Tutored someone
122. Ridden a train
123. Brought an old fad back into style
124. Eaten caviar
125. Let a salesman talk you into something you didn’t need
126. Ridden a giraffe or elephant
127. Published a book
128. Pieced a quilt- (a very small one!)
129. Lived in a historic place
130. Acted in a play or performed on a stage
131. Asked for a raise
132. Made a hole-in-one
133. Gone deep sea fishing
134. Gone roller skating (this goes along with number 77)
135. Ran a marathon
136. Learned to surf
137. Invented something
138. Flown first class
139. Spent the night in a 5-star luxury suite
140. Flown in a helicopter
141. Visited Africa
142. Sang a solo
143. Gone spelunking
144. Learned how to take a compliment
145. Written a love-story
146. Seen Michelangelo’s David
147. Had your portrait painted
148. Written a fan letter
149. Spent the night in something haunted
150. Owned a St. Bernard or Great Dane
151. Ran away
152. Learned to juggle
153. Been a boss
154. Sat on a jury
155. Lied about your weight
156. Gone on a diet
157. Found an arrowhead or a gold nugget
158. Written a poem
159. Carried your lunch in a lunch box
160. Gotten food poisoning
161. Gone on a service, humanitarian or religious mission
162. Hiked the Grand Canyon
163. Sat on a park bench and fed the ducks
164. Gone to the opera
165. Gotten a letter from someone famous
166. Worn knickers
167. Ridden in a limousine
168. Attended the Olympics
169. Can hula or waltz
170. Read a half dozen Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys books
171. Been stuck in an elevator
172. Had a revelatory dream
173. Thought you might crash in an airplane
174. Had a song dedicated to you on the radio or at a concert
175. Saved someone’s life
176. Eaten raw whale
177. Know how to tat, smock or do needlepoint
178. Laughed till your side hurt
179. Straddled the equator
180. Taken a photograph of something other than people that is worth framing
181. Gone to a Shakespeare Festival
182. Sent a message in a bottle
183. Spent the night in a hostel
184. Been a cashier
185. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
186. Joined a union
187. Donated blood or plasma
188. Built a camp fire
189. Kept a blog
190. Had hives
191. Worn custom made shoes or boots
192. Made a PowerPoint presentation
193. Taken a Hunter’s Safety Course
194. Served at a soup kitchen
195. Conquered the Rubik’s cube
196. Know CPR
197. Ridden in or owned a convertible
198. Found a long lost friend
199. Helped solve a crime
200. Responded to a NJP newsletter

Hope you all enjoyed that! Now go try it yourself!

Warning: This Might Tick You Off

2008-09-07T16:03:00.002-04:00

I have a link for you all to check out. For some reason I can't link right to the post, so you'll have to scroll down - the post title is : "Does Anyone Want to Vomit?" More than being angry when I read this, I was just intensely sad because so many people miss out on so many of the wonderful, awesome, God-breathed things in life because of their own arrogance, self-love, and just plain stupidity. And just for the record, my husband is my very best friend, and I love him more than life. That's not just some crazy lie I tell myself to make it through the day and I find it very insulting that some people think that the beautiful and wonderful creation called Marriage is useless and that those of us actually in a working marriage are just stupid and wasting our time.

http://www.4ever4given.com/

A Little Bit About Us

2008-09-06T09:23:00.004-04:00

My Mom had this post up on her blog and I thought it would be fun to do.

1. Who is your man? My husband is Aaron. He is honestly everything I never thought to ask God for in a man, and everything that God knew I needed. He is a kind, patient, easygoing guy. He is a mechanic, a TV-watcher, craigstlist lover, and gun shooter. Barely anything can ruffle his feathers, and even if something did, you probably wouldn't know it. He is the strong, quiet type, but can also be a little loud and crazy every once in a while.

2. How long have you been together? About 2 1/2 years.

3. How long did you date before you got married? We were together for 2 years and 2 months before we got married. We were engaged for 6 of those months.

4. How old is your man? He just turned 25 last week!

5. Who eats more? He does, but he definitely works it off every day and keeps his slender figure. I eat less but apparently I don't work hard enough every day...

6. Who said "I love you" first? I did. It took him a few weeks after that... a few very long weeks...

7. Who is taller? Have ya seen us?? He's a tall, pale, and handsome Dutch boy at 6'6" and I'm a foot shorter at 5'6". And yes, to answer everyone's question - I do have to stand on my tiptoes to kiss him!

8. Who sings better? Honestly, I don't think you can call what either of us do "singing." We both get teased at work about our voices!

9. Who is smarter? Book smarts it's definitely me. I read voraciously and have gathered a lot of that type of knowledge from it. Plus (ah hem Aaron) I listened in school... But when it comes to common sense, the mechanics and workings of any item on the planet, finances, and the more useful types of knowledge, it's definitely him. So we balance well. He makes all the life altering decisions and I answer all the game show questions.

10. Whose temper is worse? I don't even need to answer this one. And if I tried to lie you all already know that it's been me since I was born - if you want to know, just ask my parents, they're always quite forthcoming with nice little stories in this department. From the first day at the hospital... I don't think Aaron has ever had a temper fit in his life.

11. Who does the laundry? 90% of the time it's me, but he will put his work clothes in and help to fold them so I appreciate that.

12. Who takes out the garbage? It's either one of us on this. Whoever thinks of it and remembers.

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? He does. But I would have to say that whatever side of the bed I'm on is the "right" side... he he he...

14. Who pays the bills? He does for sure. I can't any math at all without using my fingers, plus, since I really don't care about bills they usually get cast out of my mind and forgotten so it's a good thing he stays on top of it.

15. Who is better with the computer? That would be me, but it's only because I spent a lot of time on them at college, and then worked on a computer for five years so I learned a lot. But he's catching on.

16. Who mows the lawn? He does. I think my father might have told him that I can't keep a straight line and he shouldn't let me.

17. Who cooks dinner? If dinner is "cooked" usually I do, but lately with both of us working late we have what we call "whatever" nights, which means that whatever either of us wants we make for ourselves and then eat it together.

18. Who drives when you are together? Usually Aaron. He somehow can't relax when I drive because everytime we go around a corner he flinches and says I'm going over the lines. This is all in his imagination of course. Plus, he doesn't know what a talened multitasker I am and he doesn't think I can put on lipstick and get stuff out of my purse while I drive with my knees. He's just jealous of my talent I think.

19. Who pays when you go out? He usually does unless he forgets money and then goes "do you have any money along?" Which I usually don't so thank goodness for debit cards!

20. Who is the most stubborn? Definitely, absolutely, me. Just another thing that comes with the red hair I think. But usually if there is a discussion once he explains his side I agree because he's usually right. And even if he's not I still go with his way because he's the leader.

21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? That would be me, because Aaron is almost never wrong.

22. Whose parents do you see most? We probably see them about the same amount.

23. Who kissed who first? He kissed me first - I'm definitely a believer in the traditional setup.

24. Who asked who out? He asked me out. I would never have asked a guy out ever.

25. Who proposed? I did. Of course not - he did!

26. Who is most sensitive? Wow. If there is 100% sensitivity to be split between us, I have 99.9% and he has .1%. He is built of rock and I am a squishy marshmallow (unfortunately in more ways than one.)

27. Who has the most friends? I probably have more friends that I see than him, but most of the friends we hang out with are both of our friends.

28. Who has more siblings? I have one of each - a sister and a brother. Aaron has an older sister and two older brothers.

29. Who wears the pants in the family? We actually both wear pants. I hardly ever wear a skirt actually. Ha ha ha. All kidding aside, we believe what the Bible teaches and we follow the best plan for a family which is having the husband be the leader of the home. Judging by all the answers above, you can probably guess that this would be the best course of action anyway!
Thanks for reading and I hope you learned a little bit about us!

The Many Ways to Eat a Frosty Paw

2008-08-17T15:50:00.006-04:00

Brady stayed with us for the weekend. He and Sofie had quite a busy weekend, playing and playing and playing. This afternoon, after they were tired and hot, I gave them a Frosty Paw to cool them down.

Here they both are enjoying their frosty paws.

Brady believes slow and steady wins the race, so he works on his Frosty Paw nice and slow.

Sofie says - I gotta eat this thing before anybody else gets it! So she licks hers as fast as she can.

They both enjoyed them a lot though!

Comes With a Side of Pepto Bismol...

2008-07-20T15:10:00.005-04:00

I got a Target catalog in the mail the other day that was geared towards college students going back to school. I was paging through it when I came across two "recipes" that shocked me. I honestly couldn't tell if Target was joking or not, but it really seemed like they thought these would be easy, healthy and nutritious snacks for college students to eat. I'd like to take a vote on how many of you would like to give these recipes a try.

The first one is called "Gushi Sushi."

Here are the directions they gave.
- 1 Milky Way bar
- 1 Three Musketeers bar
- 2 Reese's Peanut Butter Cups
- 5 sticks of "5" gum

Directions: Place candy bars into a sealable plastic bag. Mash candy bars into a thick, delicious clay. (So far I'm with them on this - that would probably taste good.) Lay the gum down onto a hardback book, covered with something to protect it. Using a can of Coca-Cola, roll out gum into one big, flat sheet. Fill the sheet with the chocolate gooeyness. Roll flattened gummy sheet up. Slice the roll into 1/2 inch sections. Servings: 2

Even typing that makes me sick to my stomach. And how do they get only 2 servings out of five sticks of gum and three candy bars?

Here's the next recipe. It's called "Hip Chex."

- 1 Bag Chex Mix
- 1/4 can of Coke Zero
- Cheese
- 1 stick of beef jerky
(Are you already wondering how those ingredients will work together?)

Directions: In a large bowl, mix Coke Zero with Chex Mix, let stand for a few minutes. Mix thoroughly until it becomes a buttery blended paste. (YUCK!) Top with cheese and a pinch of shredded beef jerky. Microwave for 15 seconds, then again and again until hot and melted. Carefully remove from microwave and serve with crackers to your finest friends. Servings: 4-6.

Are you all running out to make these recipes now? I'm sure you are...

Also, I just thought I'd show you the second part of our present. It came in the mail earlier this week from Andy. It actually does say our last name too, but I blocked that out. Now our own Office is all stocked and ready for selling tons of paper.
We loved it Andy - thanks!

You Just Never Do Know What Will Show Up In Your Mailbox...

2008-07-10T19:37:00.005-04:00

I got home from work on Wednesday and Aaron said we had a package on our step. The package was addressed to both of us and had a return address of NBC International in Ohio. I asked him if he ordered something.

"No."

Well I hadn't ordered anything either, but it had both our names on it, so we opened it. Aaron opened the package and this is what we saw:

Immediately I knew who had to have sent it - my Agile, Mobile and Hostile brother. And sure enough, the packing slip confirmed my suspicions. We were as thrilled as thrilled can be.

Aaron said, "Wow - he's not kidding around, this is pure quality!"

And it is - this is no cheap plastic children's meal toy folks, this is a heavy duty, solid um.. hard type of material bobble head.

Be jealous... very jealous. Here it is in it's place of honor in our own office.

And here it is in action, bobbling away.

Thank you dearly kind brother who sent this. Your generosity will not be forgotten.

If you're not sure exactly who Dwight Schrute is, here's a clip that just barely touches the fringe of all that Dwight is. Enjoy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LiAdTBDEjr8&feature=related

Bright Stuff

2008-07-07T19:50:00.014-04:00

I decided since it's bright and beautiful summer to show you some of the bright things going on around here.

This is one of the container gardens I have on our front porch steps. Aren't those Gazania's beautiful? The only bummer is that they close at night (sort of like a Morning Glory) so I don't get to see them too often - but when I do, it's worth it.

This is a new perennial I just planted called Crocosmia 'Lucifer.' Not such a nice name, but wow is it bright. It just started opening and it gets covered in all those vibrantly red flowers.

These are one of my favorites. This beautiful yellow asiatic lily with orange/red inside. I'm not sure the variety of this one though.

Here's my other lily - a red/orange variety that complements the inside of the yellow lily nicely.

Here's a nice bright clump of Shasta Daisies. How could you not be cheerful looking at those?

This is another of my favorites - the picture doesn't do it justice. It is a Heuchera 'Stoplight.' Nice bright chartruese with red veining. You may notice a few burnt leaves - I discovered that these little guys do not like the sun too much and they ended up finding a shadier home where they're doing much better.

This is a cute little Caladium. It's actually not a perennial, but I'm hoping to be able to winter it inside this winter. It's really cool when the lights shine through the leaves it almost looks like stained glass.

These are my hanging baskets. I love, love, love the green potato vine. I've actually already had to cut them back three times because they grow so fast.

This little guy lives indoors with me. He's a moss fern. If you look closely at his leaves you'll see they're tiny little fern leaves. He was quite small when I got him, but he has grown really big in that little pot.

These are my bright new Keen shoes. (Are you sensing a trend in my favorite color lately?) They are perfect for work because they can get wet and they're fine. Plus they have really nice soles for standing on my feet all day. You may also take note of the bright white legs protruding from the shoes... That's a whole 'nother subject.

This looks like a bright little face so I thought I'd add it to my bright thing list.

And here's the last bright thing at our house right now. Or actually, maybe not so bright. This chest and tummy haven't seen the sun in roughly four years, and although someone warned this chest and tummy that they shouldn't go without their shirt for over an hour at the park on Sunday, the owner of this chest and tummy didn't listen and thought it would be fine. Later that night, he discovered that maybe it wasn't a good idea.

I really can't talk because I've been kind of the burn queen in my life. I've learned my lesson though, no more sunbathing for my translucent skin. Hopefully zebra boy here has also learned his lesson!

Those are the bright things by our place - hope you enjoyed the tour!

'Squito Bait and Pole Bait

2008-07-03T19:53:00.006-04:00

We went to my aunt Karla and Diane's house tonight to check out their garden. I love to look at their garden and get ideas but unfortunately, we had a hard time looking at anything and enjoying it because we were literally being swarmed by droves of hungry mosquitos.

No one likes mosquitos, but I have to say that Aaron has a worse time than anyone I've seen before. They get absolutely huge - I think he might be allergic to them. This is one bite up in his hairline.

And here's another bite on his cheek - can you believe how huge they are? So we ended up making a run for our lives. It sure was nice of Kar and Di to risk their lives though to show us their garden - we'll have to try again when there aren't as many hungry bugs.

In other news, I did something incredibly stupid this week. I had an appointment on Tuesday that I left work for, and on the way back I thought I'd stop and get lunch for Pam and I. Well, I was trying to balance our pops and turn the wheel to get out of the way for the people behind me, when suddenly I heard "CRUNCH!!!" and thought "What in the world was that?!?!"

Then I realized that my car was on an incline up a small curb and was protruding from a pole. What to do, what to do? Well of course I slammed it in reverse and drove away as fast as I could because I was mortally embarrassed. Thank goodness I have a patient and understanding husband who didn't even care and just laughed at me.

Here's the damage so you can laugh at me too. Honestly though, they really do put those poles in dumb places. Have you seen how many paint skids and chunks are in those poles? I don't think I'm the first one... I hope...

Not In My World...

2008-06-25T20:01:00.003-04:00

I ripped this ad out a while ago meaning to share it with you all because I thought it was hilarious.

Am I the only one in the world who does not paint hand in hand with my husband? Seems like sort of a waste of time when you could both be holding a paint brush...

But apparently "When only the best will do" you paint hand-in-hand. Awww....

True Value sells their paint soley for it's quality, it doesn't need to try to sell it as an aphrodisiac. (That was for you Dad...) :)

Public Safety Warning

2008-06-14T19:41:00.006-04:00

I am posting this warning because a terrible infestation has occured at our house and I want the rest of you to be on the lookout so this doesn't happen to you.

We have recently been infested with hordes and hordes of a ferocious breed of dust bunny. And they truly do breed like bunnies. You see one or two here and there, and the next time you look, there's thousands of them moving around.

Exhibit A: You can see a small family of the little creatures has taken shelter under Aaron's reclining chair.

Exhibit B: Another family proliferates under our brown pub chair.

Exhibit C: As their numbers increase, so too does their boldness - this family was making a home right in plain view in the hallway.

Exhibit D: In the final stages of infestation, they have no shame and move their way right into the kitchen.

I dared to get close enough to one of them to show you just how vicious these little beasts are.

I did some research to find out where they come from and what types of situations they like best. Apparently, they enjoy homes where people work many days and are busy without breaks for long periods at a time. They also enjoy homes where two or more dogs are roughhousing for days without ceasing and fur is constantly flying in the air. You will mainly find them in non-carpeted areas. Lastly, they prefer to hide in areas of the home with dark lighting that aren't traveled over often. But as you can see in Exhibits C and D, they will move out into brighter and more well traveled paths when their numbers are exponentially multiplying.

I haven't yet decided on the best course of action to take for this problem. No one seems to be able to offer me any solutions. I think I might need to get a maid. And yes, I understand that after seeing this you will think our home is disgusting but truthfully, this is the worst it has ever gotten. That's what happens when you're busy for over two weeks straight I guess. So - don't let this happen to you! Hire a maid immediately!

Don't Worry Brady...It's A Girl...

2008-06-06T20:21:00.004-04:00

We're dogsitting again. This is Bella. She is a Vizsla.

She will be staying with us until June 16. She's a hunting dog and helps her owner lead hunting expeditions in Montana during the summer.

It was a rough start because Bella is just a wee tad protective of the 'ol food bowl and just about chomped Sofie's face off when Sof dared to take a little sniff of her food. But once we figured that out, things went much better. They play together well, and Sofie just stays away when she eats!

It's funny because she definitely has a different personality than Sofie so it's funny to see them interact. It's also funny that she interacts so differently than Sofie and Brady do. There is significantly less kissing. Actually, I haven't seen them kiss at all - so don't worry Brady - Sofie is saving all her kisses for you!

The first night was rough because they played all night and we didn't sleep a whole lot, but the next night - this is what they did - from the time we got home until we made them get ready for bed!

Cute little Bella! All tuckered out!

And Sofie found this little nook in next to Papa's legs to sleep.

It's always an adventure...

Who Would Have Thought?

2008-06-02T08:24:00.002-04:00

So I know I said I would be posting regularly, and in fact, on Memorial Day I had pictures and everything, ready to go on the blog. And then, our computer broke. Yes indeed. But thank goodness for Kyle, he saved us once again. So now we have a computer again. I'll post the Memorial Day stuff later, because I have a different story first.

You know the last post? Of Aaron dancing. Ironically, it came true shortly after I posted it. Not completely, he wasn't dancing with the mower, and he wasn't wearing those shoes, but he was dancing!

I got a text message when I got out of work on Thursday that said, "Want to go out at seven tonight?" I called and tried to find out where and with who because it was already 6:15 and I needed to know if I needed to be cleaned up to know if we could make it where by 7:00. So finally he told me that someone he knew through work teaches ballroom dancing and was going to have a free night for people to try.

So we actually went. Can you believe it? It's always something I wanted to try and now I have. It's a lot harder than you would think it would be. We learned to waltz, country waltz, and to jive. I would not say that we were the best students in the class by a long shot, but we did get some of the moves. I had a lot of fun, and I would love to sign up for the classes - it's only $80 per couple for 9 weeks! But it might be hard to convince someone else on that...

What a good husband though to take me for one night! Unfortunately I don't have any video on it, or you'd all get a good laugh at Aaron and I jumpin' and jivin'!

What An Elegant and Graceful Piece of Machinery

2008-05-18T19:59:00.005-04:00

I know, I know - I've been a major slacker lately. It's a lot harder to find time to blog when I'm not sitting in front of a computer all day. Then by the time I get home after working hard all day, and make dinner and lunches for the next day, I have a strange phenomenon of losing motivation for anything involving a thought process.

But I am going to work and try harder to at least post once or twice a week. Things have been going great though. I absolutely LOVE my job and I am so thankful for it. Sometimes I have a hard time understanding why God has blessed me with an awesome husband, awesome family, nice house, nice neighborhood, etc. and now a nice job too when I don't deserve it. Anyway - that's another post, another time.

I made it home before Aaron on Friday night, so Sofie and I sat on the couch and watched out the window for him to come home. I see his little car coming down the road and... wait... what is that protruding from the trunk? Oh no.. I thought.

Now, one of the things I love about my husband is his sense of humor. We have a way of bantering back and forth and teasing each other. He teases me about NEEDING flowers and plants and things for the house, and I tease him about his newest and latest cool project. So in comes the little car with this old, bright orange mower strapped in the trunk. Sofie and I walk out (well, Sofie ran actually) and I just shook my head and he started laughing.

"What is that?" I asked.

"My new mower!" he replies.

He unstraps it and stands proudly next to it. (Oh - and all that junk lying around - I would just like to mention that I have no jurisdiction in the garage, so it is what it is.)

"Wow, that is some fine piece of machinery," I said, perhaps slightly sarcastically. "How much did we pay for that?"

"Nothing - as soon as I get it working it's going to be awesome - it's got a nice high handle so it won't hurt my back, and nice wheels on the front so you don't have to tip it up to turn!"

"Yeah - look at those wheels, it's a zero turn and everything." (Notice the wheels on the front allowing the mower to move in a circular motion.)

"Oh yeah!" He says. "This thing is awesome - It'll be like Dancing With the Stars."

Now just imagine the mental picture that created for me...

My Man Sure Has A Way With Words

2008-03-24T21:12:00.004-04:00

Sunday night, I was sitting on the couch and Aaron was sitting on the chair. He had left the footstool that goes with the chair by the couch when he was sitting on the couch earlier. He says, "This chair is much more comfortable with the footstool." I told him, "If you come sit over here you can use your footstool."

"When did you become my footstool?" He asks with a smirk on his face.

Since he loves it when I give it right back, I responded, "The day I married you."

He thought that was pretty funny. Then he says, "Oh hon, you know you're the floor I walk on."

As soon as it was out of his mouth he realized what he said. I simply stared at him and said, "I know," while he tried to say, "I mean, your floor, I worship your floor that you walk on."

It's a good thing we both have a good sense of humor huh?

Sunday Afternoon Naptime

2008-03-24T07:20:00.001-04:00

I'm not a big napper, I probably take one a year, but two people in this house definitely are. This is where I found them yesterday afternoon.

Introducing the New Spring Line

2008-03-18T20:19:00.005-04:00

Next up, beautiful Sofie, wearing the new trend of spring - mint green. And it wouldn't be complete without a little bling of course! Just look at that sparkle!

Lovely job Sofie, lovely job.

Here's a closeup of the bling.

And yes that's the tag still attached. Because Sofie and I took a road trip while Aaron was at at a class for work tonight, and we're not sure that Papa is going to let Sofie wear this much bling. And Mumma isn't sure yet that she likes the collar on Sofie. I love the look of it, but I'm just not sure it compliments her fur-tone. What do you all think? You love the new look? Or should I stick with her tried and true black collar? Or look for a new different color? Hmmm... I'm just not sold either way yet - because this is an important issue -and not one to be taken lightly - Sofie will be wearing this all summer so it's gotta look good!

Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold... Really Cold

2008-03-04T19:54:00.007-05:00

Although if the revenge is being paid for an act that was revenge for a first act, then is it really revenge? I don't know... but either way it was pretty funny.

After church on Sunday I noticed that the snow had the look of snow that would make a real nice snowball. And as we pulled into the driveway I remembered that we had never gotten the mail on Saturday. So I said I was going to the mailbox, and when Aaron turned around I lightly tossed a snowball the size of a pea at his back.

This resulted in me being pelted with snowballs hard as rocks and the size of watermelons begin chucked at my head. I tried to fight back and defend myself until I realized I could never compete with him on this playing field. But what I did know is that most likely Aaron would stretch out on the couch later to read the paper and would probably end up dozing off. That's a playing field that I can win....

Sure enough, shortly after lunch I saw him dozing off. So I went down to the get the load of laundry I'd left in the dryer which I knew would attract Sofie. Sure enough it did, so I pretended to let her outside, when really, I ran out there with her and grabbed a big 'ol snowball.

I snuck it inside and he was still sleeping. I was planning on just setting it on his stomach, because even I realized that having a snowball thrown at your head while you're sleeping is a little harsh. But as I was halfway across the room, he woke up. I stopped in my tracks.

"What...." he says.

"Um... do you love me?" I asked.

"Yes?...." he replies.

"No matter what?" I asked.

"Ye-"

***POW!!*** The snowball hit him right in the side of the head. You should have seen how fast he jumped up. Sofie and I went running because we knew we'd pay, and sure enough, I did end up with snow down the back of my shirt, but it was worth it. If only I could have had someone recording!
Here's the crime scene afterwards.

And here's a closeup of the snow spatter on the couch.

And here is the forensic investigator investigating the crime. And helping to clean it up too.

What can I say? We have a lot of fun at our house!

The Results of a Weekend Personality Crisis

2008-03-03T20:43:00.005-05:00

What did I do to celebrate my new job this weekend you ask? Well, let's see. I baked a cake on Friday and we watched some crime stories on Dateline. Saturday we spent the whole day together and went to the Home Show (the MFA - Michigan Floral Association - was there too so I wanted to check that out).

Then I came home and decided that I needed my eyebrows waxed, and since my hair hadn't been trimmed in a year I decided I should probably get it trimmed too. I've been thinking about cutting it for quite a while now because although I was proud that I finally had hair this long, my hair is so fine and lifeless that it had just been sitting on my head playing opossum for this whole time. Well, I called the salon (if you can call Supercuts a salon...) and they were about an hour out. In the time I waited, I somehow made the decision that that was the day and I was getting it cut.

Sooooo.... this is me before the cut....

Front - notice the lifeless flopping of the hair, and also how my poor "bangs" lay there with no motivation or meaning in life.

Back - LOOK HOW LONG IT IS!!! I haven't had hair this long since I was little!

And....

wait for it...

here is me...

after.....

the.....

HAIRCUT!

Oh? Did I not mention that in this weekend personality/new job crisis I also decided to become a brunette? Not to worry though - my hair refuses to keep curl or color, so I'm sure this will be out soon. The sad thing is that I'm starting to like the color a little bit. And Pam (owner of flower shop) said she could put some highlights in it which might be really cute too!

Here's the back - quite a bit shorter huh?

When Andy called for his weekend update I told him I cut my hair short and dyed it brown and he laughed and said, "yeah right..." So here's the proof Andy!

The first night it was almost black and I told Aaron I would probably get sent home on Monday because they did not hire a goth girl. With my pale skin and new black hair I looked goth. It toned down a little though. But on the way to church Sunday I looked in the mirror and with the addition of lipstick I looked like I belonged on the street more than church and I told Aaron I looked like a hooker and was too embarassed to go to church. I almost had him turn around but once I wiped the lipstick off it was a little better.

I'm actually starting to like it now though. Plus, it takes way less time to do. I don't even really have to curl it. So that's an extra bonus.

Enough about my hair though. My "first day" went really well. The time flew by and I had a great time, so I'm sure that will continue!

Hope you all had a great weekend too. Stay tuned later in the week for the story of the prank Sofie and I played on Aaron....

Word Cloud

2008-02-27T10:14:00.003-05:00

My mom had a link to a "Word Cloud" site and I thought it was pretty cool. It seems to make a good description of your blog. If you want to try it yourself, go here.

A Vision of Beauty

2008-02-26T08:22:00.004-05:00

I think I've mentioned before that I have a weird condition called Reynaud's Syndrome. It popped up the other night and I thought - "HEY! Blogging opportunity! I'm sure everyone would be super interested to see my disgusting winter feet, larger than life on their computer screen!" So here you go.

It's a very weird condition and there is not set, particular conditions or circumstances that set it off. During the winter, random digits on my hands and feet will just randomly go "dead". Notice my middle toe. See how it's all pasty and corpse looking? And it's never one particular toe or finger, it's always random different ones. Usually just one or two, it's never the whole hand or foot. It doesn't usually hurt or anything, it just feels like I have a weird, dead digit hanging from my body. Usually after 5 or 10 minutes, it comes back to life and things return to normal.

The other weird thing is, you would think this would happen after I'd been in extreme temperatures for a long period of time. But sometimes, I could be in below zero windchills for over half an hour, and nothing will happen, and other times I'll be outside on a 30 degree day for five minutes and it will happen. There's really no certain rhyme or reason, so it's hard to avoid.

When I first started having this, I went to the doctor and do you know what he told me?

"Try to keep your hands and feet warm. Wear warm socks and gloves."

I thought to myself, "Well that's my problem! I've been wearing flip flops all winter!! Of course I'm wearing warm socks and gloves! It doesn't help - when my toe decides to go - it goes!"

It was better last winter, but this winter it's been flaring up again. So there you go. Now you've seen my beautiful winter feet!

I've Been Replaced

2008-02-25T09:20:00.006-05:00

Last night after getting ready for bed, I came into the bedroom to find this. Apparently a vote was taken, and I got kicked off the "island." Sofie has replaced me as Aaron's snuggle-buddy.

A while ago, she started taking after her Aunt Tilly and likes to be under the covers, so she burrows down into them like a mole, and then pops her little head out the top.

"What do you want Mumma? As you can see, this side of the bed is occupied already."

Aaron is laughing in this picture because I reminded him of a little happening last week.

Sofie was being really cute and snuggly and I said, "Please can Sofie sleep with us tonight? She'll be really good!"

And he said....

"I don't want another dog in my bed."

"ANOTHER?!?!" I said, "What do you mean by that!!"

His face got really red and he said he meant to say another person or thing, but it came out dog. Nice. But he thought it was quite funny when I reminded him of this.

Hopefully I'll get to sleep in my bed tonight...

Note to Pringles: Warning Label Needed

2008-02-21T08:29:00.002-05:00

Sadly, I must join the ranks as one of those stupid people that need warning labels on their products such as "Coffee may be hot."

I am requesting that Pringles put a label on their can that says, "Warning - be sure to fully chew each chip before swallowing. Unchewed chips are sharp and could cause bruising, tearing and swelling of the esophagus."

How do I know this? Because I had a rough experience with a Pringle last night, and I'm feeling the effects today. I swallowed roughly half a Pringle completely unchewed (by accident of course - I'm not that stupid) and I thought I was going to die. It felt like it was ripping my throat open. I stood there clutching my neck and trying to manually press the chip through while gasping - Help! Help! to Aaron, who thought I was joking or something since he didn't help at all. I drank some water in an attempt to melt the chip down, but it didn't help and I could feel that chip scraping all the way down.

This morning I woke up with such a sore throat, and it felt like it was almost swollen closed.
So - beware of Pringles and do what you mother told you - chew your food thorougly before swallowing!

The Saddest Thing You'll Ever See

2008-02-20T10:15:00.004-05:00

Just look at this pitiful face.

"Mumma... please, please, please can I have a peanut butter sandwich? Please, please please???? I will be really, really, really good the whole rest of the night. Promise."

I would also like you to note that this face comes complete with pouty mouth and tears. Well, okay, those are actually eye boogees, but they look like tears right?

And for goodness sakes - she does get fed. In fact, she had just eaten, as you can see by the evidence on her face.

Now do you see why it's so hard for me? And why she gets a regular supply of treaties? She's got me all figured out.

5 Posts Meme (Okay, So I Have Eleven... I Never Have Been Good at Following Blog Rules)

2008-02-19T07:35:00.005-05:00

I was tagged by my Mom at My Little Corner of the World to do this fun meme.

Here's the rules:
Go back through your archives and post the links to your five favorite blog posts that you’ve written.But there is a catch:
Link 1 must be about family.
Link 2 must be about friends.
Link 3 must be about yourself.
Link 4 must be about something you love.
Link 5 can be anything you choose.
Post your five links and then tag five other people. At least TWO of the people you tag must be newer acquaintances so that you get to know each other better.

Link #1 - I couldn't pick just one thing, so here is something from every group of family. Immediate-Immediate Family -100 Things About Us - This was my 100th post and I listed 100 different things about us.
Immediate Family - Swamps Crocodiles and Giants, and My Army Brother show a litle about my family and it's interactions.
Extended Family - The Great Microwave Installation and DeWeerd Family Christmas. When my family is together, there is going to be laughter. Swing, Batter, Batter, Batter - the most adorable niece and nephew in the whole wide world.

Link #2 - Friends - Our Fall Party - Some pictures from a fall party with our best friends - Jeff, Jami and Jason. We always have an awesome time when we get together with them.

Link #3 - Me - Laura Parton's Secret - This post is a very typical story of the kind of things that happen in my life. And I always love to laugh at myself so enjoy! And since I can't pick just one hilarious event in life - Does Anyone Know Where I Can Get a Padded Bodysuit? - A few stories showcasing my grace and agility.

Link #4 - Something I Love - My Two Favorite Snugglers - I love to see Sofie and Aaron together. They are just so cute!

Link #5 - Anything - Life at our house revolves around Sofie, and my blogging usually does too - so here's a funny post about Sofie. I'm Such a Mean Mumma.
Here are the 5 bloggers I am tagging: (Don't feel obligated if you are being tagged for too many of these!)

Since I've already broken the rules by posting more than one post in each category, I might as well break the rules again by not tagging anyonre specific. If it sounds fun to you - then go ahead and do it! :) It was fun to look back through some of my old posts and remember some of the things that have happened over the past few years. So go ahead - you're next!

Whew! I'm Still Here and Breathing!

2008-02-18T10:47:00.004-05:00

Yep - I'm still here. Sorry I've been a little scare the past few days. Last week was just a tad crazy. I worked almost 70 hours and let me tell you - they were CRAZY hours! You can't even really explain it, it's one of those things you just have to experience. But, I still had fun. At the end, they asked me, "So - are you still sure you want to come?" "More than ever!" I told them.

But, I've still got two weeks here. Hopefully it will go fast. Anyway, here I am, I'm back, and I'm trying to catch up on all I've missed on your blogs!

Bloody Stump of a Foot

2008-02-11T10:48:00.001-05:00

Poor Aaron. He had to get an ingrown toenail cut out on Friday afternoon. He's had this thing for about 8 years and I finally just scheduled him an appointment and told him to be there.

He called me at work to let me know that he had made it safely home. I asked him how he was and he said that he had "a bloody stump of a foot" and that Sofie was trying to eat it. I assumed that he was just joking.

But when I got home that night - this is what I found. For some reason I just think about Lazarus when I see this picture. Actually, let me correct that - this is not what I found. I found a gauzed toe that was completely soaked through with blood, and a floor that little little bloody toe prints all over it.

The doctor told him not to take that off for 48 hours. Well I didn't want him walking around the house like that for the next 2 days. So we called our favorite person nurse - Nurse Maribeth. She told us to leave it on too. So this picture was actually taken after we put more gauze and tape on.

And yes - he was right about Sofie trying to eat it too.

I felt bad for him having it on for so long. I would not have like that. But he did well and yesterday afternoon he finally took it off. This is what it looked like with the first layer off. He said the blood had actually dried into a cast by then.

I'll spare you and I won't show you a picture of the gaping wound that was under all that blood. Yikes! But the doctor put something on the root of the toenail so that it won't ever grown back ingrown again. Thank goodness, because I don't think I'd be able to make him go back again!

Sofie Learns a Valuable Lesson Through the Magic of Storytelling

2008-02-08T07:49:00.000-05:00

Every morning I make myself a piece of toast and a scrambled egg. Usually, Sofie comes in the kitchen and "helps" me make it. Sometimes, for her help she is rewarded by a few pieces of egg.

This morning, she was sleeping on the couch the whole time I got my breakfast ready. Finally, I'm just putting it on the plate and she strolls in like, "Oooh Mumma. That looks good and I could use a little breakfast."

I looked at her and suddenly I heard myself saying,
"Sofie, you did not help me toast the bread, you did not help me butter the bread, you did not help me scramble the egg, you dd not help me cook the egg. You will not help me eat the egg."

She gave me that cocked head look like "Mumma, you are crazy."

Then she started in on the whole make my eyes really, really, big and brown and glassy and my ears really floppy and sad. And so she did get a few bites of egg after all.

So the lesson she learned? "I can do whatever I want and as long as I look cute - I'll get whatever I want!" I'm a terrible Mom.

Warm, Creamy, Blizzard Food

2008-02-07T09:16:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I was sitting at work and dreading going out into the blizzard to get home. (And yes, it was sliding and white-outs the whole way).

I kept thinking about soup and how good it sounded to have some nice creamy soup for dinner. But as I took a mental inventory of our cupboards, I knew we only had a few cans of "Aaron soup," meaning BIG CHUNKS OF BEEF AND HEARTINESS AND NO SISSY VEGGIES!!! ONLY BEEF!! STEAK CHUNKS!! AND MORE BEEF!!! And that's not exactly the warm, friendly, creamy kind of soup I was thinking.

My favorite soup is Subway's Broccoli Cheddar soup. But it's always a gamble because they only have two flavors of soup a day, and I didn't feel like driving through the blizzard to get there. Not to mention that our Subway parking lot is nearly impossible to get in and out of on a good day.

Well, of all the days for Sofie to run out of food, this was the day she chose, so I had to go to the grocery store anyway. I figured, if I'm going to be pushing a card weighted down with dog food through the slushy parking lot, I might as well get a few things and try to make homeade Broccoli Cheddar soup.

So I looked up this recipe online and decided to try it. I also decided to double it thinking then I could freeze it and have another quick meal some other night. Little did I know that it made a small vat of soup.

It was actually really good. I think next time I'd use salted butter instead of unsalted because it was still a little bland and when I added a little salt it was perfect. Good thing because we're going to be eating it for the rest of the winter!

Big News

2008-02-06T09:19:00.000-05:00

Well, today I will share the news that I have been waiting to share.

February 29 (leap day) will be my last day at my current job.

Now aunts (you know who you are!) - don't you get all excited - I'm not pregnant!

I will be starting full time at the flower shop. I am really excited about this and can hardly wait.

My current job has treated me well, and I will miss (most) of the people I work with, but I can't wait to be back in the type of job I love. I love to work with my hands, be on my feet, and deal with customers. And I love, love, LOVE, the people at the flower shop, and the atmostphere. It's really a great place, and I have been so blessed by my time there already.

So that's the big news. And thank you to all of you who supported me by buying all my practice arrangements! It helped so much!

Now I just have to make it to March!

Goodbye My Prickly Friend

2008-02-05T08:04:00.000-05:00

I think that most of you who read my blog also read my Mom's, but just in case you don't:
My dad is doing well, he came home yesterday after they couldn't find anything wrong with him. Which, in a way is good, but I would have liked them to find something just so that we'd know what caused it. I'm glad he's home though and the scare is over. Thanks again for all your prayers - we really appreciated them!

In other news, the "Love Cactus" Aaron gave me for Valentine's last year is not doing so well. For almost a year, it stood tall and proud and green, with a bright pink top, and in the last week it has started drooping and turning brown. I have faithfully given it water and sunlight (but not too much water since it's a cactus after all), and it's made it almost a year, but I think it's time is short now.

Although my concious had wanted to take good care of it, perhaps my subconcious has been sabotaging it out of revenge for the "Love Fern" that Aaron killed. When we were dating I used to bring him breakfast every other Saturday at work (he used to work every Saturday). I told them they needed something green and growing in their shop so I brought him a "Love Fern." (If you've seen How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days then you know where I got that.) Well, the fern did not last long being in the care of 5 greasy and oily men. So one day when I came I asked how the love fern was, and they showed me a drooping silver plant.

Apparently, they knew I was coming in that day and got scared because the plant was droopy and brown. So their solution was to spray paint it silver. Do not ask me why they thought I would think that a droopy silver plant was an improvement on a healthy green one, but they did.

So perhaps my little pink cactus became a victim of my wounded heart, who knows. Or maybe my Mom got too near, or it heard her voice or maybe just mention of her and it keeled over. She's known to have this kind of effect on plants. In fact, the cactus that Aaron gave her for Mother's Day, hoping she wouldn't be able to kill it, lasted only a few months in her care.

Or maybe it's a plot Aaron conconted so that he'll never have to think of a present again, he'll just keep replacing our dead cacti. Hmmm...

Either way, adios my little cactus, I loved you truly.

The Best Laid Plans...

2008-02-04T08:09:00.000-05:00

Here is what I had planned for this weekend:
Clean the house, start working on GirlyMom's Challenge, scrapbook a little and relax. But it seemed that nothing this weekend happened how I planned for it to in my head. Isn't it funny how that works?

First, I had to do something on Friday that I wasn't looking forward to already, and then it totally didn't go how I expected it to, but that's another post. Then on Saturday, I ended up working at the flower shop on getting our Valentine's ad out in the mail. I actually didn't mind this though because I enjoyed it and we had fun. So by the time I got home my motivation for you know, cleaning the toilet and doing laundry had greatly declined. So I did what I could and then I decided that it would be a great night to try making Pioneer Woman's Best Chocolate Sheet Cake Ever.

I worked and toiled making that cake and following all the instructions to a T. And this is what I got: A cake-tastrophe. And those dots all over the top? That's not the pecans because I left those out. No, that would be the powdered sugar. And the darker dots? that's cocoa. I have no idea what happened. You may also notice that the frosting appears to be pooling at the edges and overflowing. You would be correct. I ended up having to transfer it to another pan so I could put a lid on it without having it stick to the frosting. Here's a picture of that fiasco:

So yes, that did not turn out as planned, although it didn't taste too terrible I guess.

Then, yesterday, as most of you know, instead of going to church as planned, we ended up spending the day at the hospital with my Dad. Which, besides not being the plan for the day, is not the plan for my life right now. My parents are young yet. Really young. And it's scary to have these things happen because I'm not ready to see them having health problems. He's doing well and is just going to be having some tests today around 10:00. So if you could just keep him and us in your prayers that things would go well and they would figure out where to go from here. And also that from now on he would listen to my Mom when she tells him to go to the doctor. :) (I love you dad but you're too stubborn!)

We'll be sure to keep you all updated on what's happening this week, and thanks for all your prayers.

Instant Comfort

2008-01-31T08:53:00.000-05:00

Every Thursday morning, a sweet old lady named "Grandma Green" calls the radio station I listen to on my way in to work. She always has some cute thing to share, or sometimes the DJ's will ask her for her "grandma advice" on something.

Today when she called, she had a list of things that bring her Instant Comfort. Her list included things like:
-Getting in your PJ's after a long day.
-Hugs
-Macaroni and Cheese
-Hearing your teenager come home at night

So I thought that in the middle of this swirling, blustery, wintery, freezey, cold weather it would be fun to make a little list of the things that bring me instant comfort.

- Sitting down to read a book and having Sofie climb up to snuggle on me.
- Seeing Sofie run outside to greet her Papa when he gets home.
- Giving Aaron a hug and kiss when he comes home from work.
- Hearing Andy's voice on the phone when he calls.
- Subway's Broccoli Cheddar soup - yum!
- A cinnamon roll, fresh from the oven (or warmed up in the microwave).
- Climbing into bed at night with our heated mattress pad turned on.
- Kissing Sofie's forehead and super-soft ears - they always smell so good!
- Chocolate (need I say more?)
- Jeremiah 29:11
- Being snug inside when a storm is swirling outside.
- Turning on Spacie.
- Jimmy Needham "Dearly Loved."
- Finishing a project.
- A clean house.
- Stepping in the shower after working hard and getting filthy.
- Being snuggled and told "I love you."

I'm know there are plenty more, but that's all I can think of right now. How about you? What are the things that give you that instant comfort?

Brrrrr.....

2008-01-30T08:23:00.000-05:00

Number of pink lights I went through this morning: 2

Number of red lights I went through this morning: 1

Number of times my teeth chattered in my 12 minute drive: 14,236

Number of times I knew what lane I was driving in: 0

Number of times I wished I was still in high school: 460

But here I am, I made it in. The picture is the little tree outside our door at work. I feel so bad for the poor little thing. And no, I don't take my camera everywhere (like my mother) I used our work camera.

It is so cold out today! I think they were saying that the windchill was about -15. I would agree with that.

Thank goodness though, Aaron usually has his BNI meeting for work on Wednesday, so he was up early too and scraped my car off. Plus, he tried my door and found that, like usual, when it's anywhere below 40 degrees my door won't close. So he worked on it with WD-40 and got it to close so I wouldn't have to drive holding it closed which is a plus when you can't even tell what lane you're driving in. Then he called to see if I made it and said his BNI was canceled too. I'm glad he was up anyway or it would have been a much rougher morning for me.

Hopefully all the rest of you West Michiganders didn't have to go outside in this!

Tongues

2008-01-29T08:51:00.000-05:00

I've been studying James lately, and some things really jumped out and I guess slapped me across the face, so I thought I'd post about them, so that I can get my thoughts in writing for myself, and if it applies to you then maybe it will be interesting for you to think about too!

I think that subconsciously, or maybe consciously, we tend to think that we are pretty decent people. I haven't killed anyone lately, I have never cheated on Aaron, I'm trying to keep my coveting to a minimum etc. But then I read this: "If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he decieves himself and his religion is worthless." (James 1:26) Suddenly a movie began playing in my head and I saw myself talking to many different people, gossiping, laughing at crude things and much more. Everything else is worthless if I can't keep my tongue in check. I just as well might have killed, commited adultery, or robbed a bank. "For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it." (James 2: 10)

And although we're under grace, and won't be judged by the law, that is no reason to abuse it (Romans 6:15). God knows our heart - "God cannot be mocked. A man sows what he reaps." (Galatians 6:7)

The next thing that struck me is this verse: "Listen, my dear brothers: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? But you have insulted the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? Are they not the ones who are slandering the noble name of him to whom you belong?" (James 2:5-7). Before these verses James is talking about how we treat someone in shabby clothes. When I read this, I could see myself raising my eyebrows at people in the store, or asking "What are they wearing?" And even sometimes when it isn't out loud, I subconsciouly give a person a lower value as a human because of how they look. But when I read this verse, I thought how true it is that often the nicer dressed people we give a higher value to are the ones who are slandering our God with their lips, or mocking Christianity.

After reading this I made a decision to watch my mouth and my mind much closer. To check my mind when I find myself thinking one of those thoughts about someone I see. And to watch the words on my lips. After all "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. My brothers, this should not be." (James 3:10)

Six Things Meme

2008-01-28T08:55:00.001-05:00

I have been tagged by my bloggy friend Nancy, to do a six unimportant things/habits/ quirks about me and the rules are as follows:
These are the rules:
(1) Link to the person that tagged you.
(2) Post the rules on your blog.
(3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
(4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
(5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

1. At our house, the cushas (yes, I'm a good little Dutch girl - that means the ends of the loaf for all you non-Dutch people) of the loaf belong to Sofie. And she knows it. That means that roughly twice a week she get a peanut butter sandwich when I make lunches.

2. Somehow people always call me either Laurie or Lauren, and they cannot get my name right. I made the mistake of telling Aaron that I don't like being called Lauren once. Then we were talking about how people get my (maiden) last named screwed up and so he started calling me Lauren Booners when he wants to irritate me because I said it makes me sound like a lumberjack. It usually works. The most interesting version of my name as of yet though arrived on a piece of mail which called me "Lavia Roas." Wow. I said.

3. I have a fear that someone will reach their hand from under the bed and grab me while I'm sleeping, so I always tuck the blanket up under me (because obviously the blanket it impenetrable.)

4. I hate mushrooms. I think they are disgusting, slimy little creatures. And one of the worst smells in the world is those huge stuffed kind that look like something from Men in Black. Just thinking about them makes my insides quiver in fear.

5. I make lists for everything. What I want to do that night, what I want to finish on the house, what I want to think about, and often you will see these little lists on post-its hanging on my cupboards, refrigerator, in the office or sitting out somewhere. It's nice when I find them and everything on them is done though.

6. I CANNOT stand if my sock is twisted or has a lump or is sliding down or if it is in any way not perfectly on my foot in my shoe. Aaron is the opposite. He could probably have his sock on upside down and wouldn't care. But he always, always, always has socks on. He has the softest, baby skin feet I've ever seen. My feet have callouses from running around without shoes and socks in the summer. But he never steps foot on anything without a sock and shoe on.

Now I'm supposed to pick others, but I think everyone has been tagged already - if you haven't, then go ahead. I realize I'm breaking the rules, but I'm not going to go randomly tag strangers on the web. So, I'm sorry.

Rambling Thoughts on God's Protection

2008-01-25T08:14:00.000-05:00

Wednesday night I shoveled the driveway when I got home from work. It wasn't as cold out as it has been and Sofie really, really, really, pleeaassseee Mumma????!! wanted to go for a walk. So I grabbed her leash and we headed out. I inteded to just go around the lake and back, but then she was walking so nicely and it was kind of nice out, so I changed my plans.

Often in the summer I would walk to Aaron's work and we'd get there right when he was going to leave and so we'd ride home with him. So I decided to do that. Well, by the time I realized this was not one of my most genius ideas, we were already halfway there. The sidewalks had been mostly plowed the whole way, so that was nice. We made it up the giant hill and kept going. I could tell Sofie was starting to get cold so I kept encouraging her and promising that I'd buy her a sweater for next time.

Finally, we got to the light at Aaron's street. We have to turn left, walk down a sidewalk halfway, and then the sidewalk ends so we walk another little bit on the road, cross the road and then we're at Aaron's work.

This time, we got to the light and found out that was the one sidewalk they hadn't plowed. Probably because no one else uses it during the winter. Well, I stood there for probably 30 seconds wondering what to do. I didn't want to wade through knee deep snow for 10 minutes, and I also didn't love the thought of walking on the fairly busy road at rush hour. But since we were both freezing our tails off (ha ha) I decided to keep going and just walk fast. We got on the road and walked fast. We walked past where the sidewalk ends and where we would have been on the road anyway. Suddenly, a big truck went driving off the road onto the shoulder and then corrrected and got back on the road. As he sped past I could see he was talking on his Nextel.

I looked at where he had gone off the road and realized that in about 30 seconds, that is where Sofie and I would have been walking. If the sidewalk had been plowed, or if it hadn't snowed, we would have made it to that exact spot right then. I said a big Thank You to God for protecting me and keeping us safe.

I hurried even faster after that and we made it to Aaron. His face was quite surprised to learn that we had walked there and thank goodness he got out on time to bring us home.

Some people would say that it's just a coincidence that the sidewalk wasn't plowed, or that I was lucky. But I find it pretty remarkable that I stood and thought about what to do for the exact time that was needed to prevent us from being in that spot. God is good and faithful.

The thing I have a hard time with is that I found out the next day that two girls had been in an accident when they slipped on a patch of ice. One girl was dead at the scene, but the other is in critical condition. They had to use dental records to even figure out which girl was which because they were so badly injured. We got the order for the funeral home for those flowers yesterday, and one of the arrangements has to say "Love of My Life." We aren't sure if he's her boyfriend or fiance, but it's hard to think about him having to lose her. The girl who died is a pastor's daughter, and the pastor was meeting for lunch with our secretary's brother. When he got to the restaurant he commented that it looked like a bad accident he had passed. Only a little later he a got a call that it was his own daughter.

Obviously, God doesn't love me more, or love Aaron or my family more than he loves them. And I know that I'm not a better person, if that even mattered to God.

Does God just have some sort of plan for my life, but he can work more through her death? That doesn't seem right either. I'm reading a book right now about God's will, and it talks about how we all get caught up in thinking that God has some perfect plan all laid out for our lives and we have to find it and if we don't then we'll be miserable and we won't be in his will. For instance, if God wanted me to be a doctor but I decided to be a writer instead, I messed up and now I'm not in his will. The author says that actually, Jesus just told us to "Seek first the Kingdom and His righteousness - and all these things will be added." (Matt. 6:33) God's will is that we seek Him first, no matter what we're doing, and then whatever career, mate, home, neighborhood, church we choose, will be in His will. So I don't think it's that God's plan for her was to die, that happened because there is sin in the world. But He could have stopped it, so why didn't He? And I'm not so arrogant to think that I'm more usable than her, or that I'm going to do things for God that she couldn't have, so why did He protect me?

When Andy joined the Army, my grandpa told my Mom not to worry because it didn't matter where Andy was, God could protect him or take him to be with Him whether he's home or away. And it's very true. So I guess where I'm going with this is that we don't know why things work the way they work sometimes, but we need to seek God first and thank him for our lives, health and safety every day. And enjoy His love and love Him back the best we can.

Coupon Codes

2008-01-23T07:27:00.001-05:00

Whenever I am going to buy anything online, I always google "store name coupon codes." Many websites have a place when you're checking out that you can enter a discount code. Often you can find these online.

For instance, if you were buying something from Sephora online, like maybe some eye shadow primer potion, you could google "Sephora coupon codes".

I do this everytime and I've been able to get free shipping, and even 25% off once. I started trying this with every online store I buy something from, and there have only been a few times when I couldn't find a code, or it didn't work. So give it a try!

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, check out Shannon's page.

Ladies, Hold On To Your Rings!

2008-01-22T09:17:00.000-05:00

I have a little reminder for you ladies out there. It's something you might not think about. I wouldn't have.

When it gets this stinkin' cold outside our little hands tend to shrink. And if you're outside and happen to not be wearing gloves, your jewelry can fall off without you even knowing it.

When Aaron was younger, he and a friend somehow realized that and decided to make a trip to Meijer. They drove around the melting hills of plowed snow and sure enough - they found someone's diamond ring!

They did turn it into Meijer, but of course no one claimed it - would you ever think to go ask at Meijer if you lost it? I bet that poor women was just sick about it - I would be! I don't remember what happened to the ring after that - I think someone bought it from them maybe.

Now every time we go to Meijer Aaron wants to drive in circles around the snow piles looking for rings.

So if you're going out in this cold - you might want to wear gloves for more than one reason! And if you're not, Aaron will probably be following behind you with a metal detector!

Peanut Butter and Jelly Revenge

2008-01-17T09:37:00.000-05:00

Aaron had an accident last night when we were making lunches and he somehow ended up with peanut butter and jelly all over his neck. I guess the knife hit him and slid down, leaving this gooey mess on his neck.

He quick ran to wash it off because he said, "Sofie is going to maul me if I don't wash this off!"

Oh - did I mention he was making fun of me when this "accident" happened? Odd how these things happen...

Adventures of the Boxer Kind

2008-01-16T09:29:00.000-05:00

We had such a great time (as usual) having Bradie over last week. It's so much fun to see the two of them having fun together.

Here's Sofie doing a sneak-attack from behind on Bradie.

Followed by a bite to the face.

I'm thinking they may have been having some sort of "funny face" fight here. "Take a look at this scary face Bradie!" Sofie says.

"Oh yeah - well check out this even scarier face Sofie!" Bradie follows.

Here's a video of Bradie doing a quick one-two and pinning Sofie.

But is she down for the count? Check it out.

Aaron and Bradie were snuggling and Aaron wanted me to get a picture of "him and his buddy." I do think Bradie likes Aaron better than me - he's always snuggling by him!

After playing hard they always made time to snuggle though. That's when I like it best. They are just so cute together. I got up one morning and found them like this, snuggled together on the couch so I took a picture before they could wake up too much.

Here they are again - caught snuggling.

And this is my favorite. Aaron found them like this and quick grabbed the camera. It just doesn't get any cuter than this!

Bradie's Mom was so nice and even brough Sofie a special treat from the airport! It's this delicious little dog-smore!

See how excited Sofie was about it? She wouldn't take her eyes off of it! I would have gotten a picture of her eating it - but it was gone too quick!

Thanks for staying with us again Bradie John! We love you and you are welcome back anytime! (P.S. Sofie says she misses you already!)

Ron Paul for President 2008

2008-01-15T08:28:00.000-05:00

You would have to be a hermit without a TV not to know that the primary elections are underway in Michigan, but just in case you didn't - this is my reminder - get out and vote! With all the crazy stuff happening in the world right now - it's very important.

I would also of course urge you all to pray about it and not just vote for the most popular person - right now we're still at a place where everyone has a chance.

Now, a lot of people would say that who you vote for is personal, private, confidential etc. But I think that in this day and age too many people think that about too many things. You're not allowed to state your opinion for fear of offending someone. Well - since I'm a Bible-believing Christian and a conservative Republican, most of what I say usually offends someone. Anyway, I'm just saying that I don't have a problem sharing things with the general public.
That said - I would really urge you all to check out Ron Paul before you make your decision. You can go to You Tube and watch plenty of videos of him at debates and being interviewed.

Here are the reasons that we like him:

1 - Whenever you see the politicians being asked a question, they are always hesitating and you can almost see them thinking, "Think fast, think fast..." and then they give some answer that weaves around and ends up completely not even touching on the question. Every time I have seen Ron Paul asked a question, he answers immediately, and answers the exact question that was asked. Instead of skirting around and trying to find a popular answer, he tells exactly what he believes and you know exactly where he stands. If elected, we would never be left wondering where he really stands on an issue.

2 - He has a record of consistency. Unlike some of the other candidates, he is never wishy-washy and has not changed back and forth between major ideas. He stands for what he believes whether it's popular at the time or not.

3 - He is against abortion. Dr. Ron Paul is actually an obstetrician/gynecologist and has delivered over 4,000 babies in his time.

4 - He is against gun control. He believes that instead of taking away guns from good people, that criminals may think twice about committing some crimes if they knew there was a chance that their victim was carrying a weapon.

5 - He is a strict Constitutionalist. If we look at the Constitution and remember who wrote it and when it was written, we realize that this is a document that was written based on God's laws. Instead of spending time and money inventing new laws, he wants to get back to the Constitution and follow the guidelines set up by the Godly men who founded our country.

6 - He is against nationalized health care, and really against all types of complete goverment control. He believes that the goverment should regulate and protect, but never take control of people's lives.

There are other reasons, but those are the main ones I can think of right now.

Ron Paul has been gaining supporters by leaps and bounds lately - and how often doesn't God like to use the underdog? And he has already been getting more votes than Guiliani. So, anyway, not that I think we're smarter than anyone - just that sometimes people only look at the front runners and we think it would be worthwhile for you to at least just check out Ron Paul.

So make sure you get out there and vote today!

Seven Weird Things Meme

2008-01-14T11:58:00.000-05:00

I was tagged for the “Seven Weird Things” Meme by my Mom. Apparently she thinks I’m a little odd! So here goes:

1 – I used to dislike dogs. I thought they were gross, slobbery, stupid creatures. Now, I can’t imagine not having one in my home, and we are dreaming of starting a doggy daycare! I never would have imagined that 10 years ago!

2 – I have an odd habit of typing in the air. Not visibly in the air, just on my lap or wherever my hands are. For instance, in church, I’ll find my fingers moving on an imaginary keyboard, typing what our pastor is saying. Or if I’m listening to a conversation or sometimes even watching TV, I’ll realize that I’m typing what the people are saying. You’d think that since I’m taking such efficient mental notes that I’d remember more things…

3 – I am one of the scardest, jumpiest people you’ll ever meet. The silliest things will make me jump 10 feet in the air and have my heart a-pumpin’. People laugh at me a lot because something will fall, or someone will say something when I didn’t know they were there, and I’ll be grasping my heart, shaking in the corner. I guess I’m a little timid!

4 – I have a dislike for odd numbers. I like it when things work out nice and even. I don’t like odd days either. I don’t think I’ll ever forgive my Mom for having me on an odd day of an odd month. And due to Easter, we weren’t able to get married on an even day either. At least it was an even year and an even month. I just told Aaron the other year that if we stuck to our plan of having a baby five years after we got married, that would land it on an odd year, and I could not bear to think of bringing that poor child into the world on an odd year, so we might have to move it back another year…

I’m getting déjà vu about some of these – I think I might have done this meme before but I’m too lazy right now to look it up, so if you’ve already heard some of these before then I’m sorry.

5 – I am not a girly girl. When it comes to my reading and entertainment choices I would far rather see a suspense/action movie than a chick flick and my reading choices are always suspense/murder/mystery type books. I also rarely wear jewelry. I typically have the same pair of tiny hoops in my ears at all times, and the same two rings on my fingers. I rarely wear the color pink, and when I do it just doesn’t look right. I think Aaron really appreciates this part of my personality!

6 – Any health problems I’ve had/have are usually weird ones. For instance, my negligent mother let me fall off the changing table when I was a baby and I had to get stiches in my lower lip. I broke my arm roller skating in 3rd grade – only I wasn’t even moving when I fell – I was holding onto a wall. Later, I fell off a pogo stick and hurt my other arm. A few years later, I developed a condition called Benign Positional Vertigo, which flares up every once in a while (usually when I have altitude changes like a big hill) and makes me really dizzy every time I move my head. I also have something called Raynaud’s Syndrome which makes random toes and fingers go completely numb and turn dead and white for a while until I can warm them up. What can I say? Nose bleeds, ear infections – boring! I like to keep things interesting.

7 – Sadly, my heart shudders at this – my last one matches my mothers. I sing goofy little made-up songs to Aaron and Sofie. Aaron usually just shakes his head and tells me I’m like my mother. Sofie just tips her head sideways and looks at me like I’m crazy.

Hope you enjoyed those! I’ll just pass this on to anyone who hasn’t already done it!

Calling All Creative Ladies Out There - Help!

2008-01-09T08:09:00.000-05:00

I've been trying to organize and sort through some stuff. I had been saving these monogram letters because I think they are so cute.

They are the letters we had on our wedding cake. Yes, I know - I didn't plan the size too well. Oh well. And yes - those dots were a little pinker than I had imagined they would be for our red wedding, but there was not much I could do about it then.

So here is my request - does anyone have any ideas of something I could do with these letters? I just know there has to be something cute I can do with them. If you're reading this Dena - you must have some ideas since you're the Queen of Monograms. Help!

I thought about cutting off the "feet" and gluing them to this frame.

Or else to this box that I keep our magazines in.

I'd really appreciate any brilliant ideas that anyone has because I just love them too much to throw them away (I know - I'm a nerd! And probably a packrat too.)

Sofie's Favorite Day Has Arrived

2008-01-08T09:15:00.000-05:00

Today is the day that Sofie has been waiting for for months. Well actually, she's been looking forward to it ever since Bradie left last time! Bradie is coming to stay with us (well, really with Sofie) for 6 days!

We've been reminding Sofie of this the past few weeks and every time we talk about Bradie coming, her ears perk up and she starts getting all excited.

Yesterday though, I found myself being my mother. Sofie was being quite naughty yesterday and not listening very well and I told her, "If you aren't a nice girl then I'm going to call Bradie's mom and tell her that he can't come because Sofie is too naughty."

We're all very excited - we love when Bradie comes over! (Although I doubt that they'll look too much like this picture tonight! They'll have a lot of catching up to do!)

Does Anyone Have Some Bubble Wrap? I Need to Make a Cast.

2008-01-07T07:41:00.000-05:00

Today’s post is dedicated to all my fellow Office Fans.

I sustained a serious injury this morning. While attempting to use my new fancy lighter to light some candles, I burned my hand almost beyond recognition.

I like to light candles or an oil burner in the morning. It smells good, it’s peaceful, it’s good for me – so sue me! But this new lighter didn’t even warn me in large letters directly near the source of flame that after using it, the metal surrounding the flame area could be warm. How am I supposed to know that? I live in America for goodness sake – I rely on manufacturers to tell me what’s dangerous – not common sense.

As you can see, here is a photo of my bloody stump of a hand. I don’t think I’ll even be able to do any work at all today.

Here is the offending lighter. What happened is that I’m used to using a regular straight lighter. I bought this fancy new lighter because then you don’t have to tip your candle and risk wax dripping everywhere. But it folds up into itself just like my floral knife. So when I finished, my mind told me to close it up like my knife. As soon as I saw the flesh melting from my hand I knew this was a bad idea.

So if any of you need me, I’ll be here eating three whole dark meat chickens. But if any of you have some extra time today and want to help, I’d really like some pudding and yams.

(And if any of you are reading this and think I'm crazy, you need to watch this. And if you think The Office isn't funny, then this is the episode that will change your mind.)

*Updated to add: My hand seems to have healed itself. Almost miraculously in fact, which is a little scary. I might take it to get a CAT scan - just in case.

A Few Little Updates

2008-01-03T08:56:00.000-05:00

Just a few little updates today:

1 - First, thanks to all of you who participated in the "Christmas Favorites." I had so much fun reading them all every day and learning more about you. It's so neat that everyone has their own special things at Christmas. I also got some great ideas from it. So thanks everyone!

2 - We had a lot of fun New Years Day. We went to Johnny Carinos for lunch (yum) with Dad, Heather and Andy, and then to a movie afterwards. (Note to self: Next time you agree to go to a movie that Andy picked, ask for a little of the plot - it turned out to be so scary I almost had heart failure in the theatre - it was good, but VERY suspenseful). Then we went back to Mom and Dad's for dinner and to say a final goodbye to Andy. You can read about his troubles getting back on my Mom's blog, but he called me a little after 9:00 to say he was almost back to base.

3 - Some of you know my cousin Alecia. She is leaving today for a trip to Spain until May, so if you could pray for her safety and also that she'll have a great trip, that would be awesome. You can check out what she's up to there on her blog.

4 - Aaron's Aunt Nancy is still in a coma. The family had a meeting last week with the doctor and decided to leave her hooked up to life support for another 6 months and then have another family meeting if nothing has changed. It's definitely not a good situation right now, but we will keep praying and hoping for a healthy recovery.

I hope that you all had a great holiday season, and now... it's back to the ol' grind.

Times Square Has Nothing On Us!

2008-01-02T09:35:00.000-05:00

Well Dena, it looks like you have some competition for your "Party Too Much" award. Let's just say we had quite the "wild" New Year's Eve party - complete with cops and vomit.

We had our friends Jeff and Jami, Jason and Helen, and Mike and Nikki over. We were off to a good start and having lots of fun when suddenly someone knocked on the door. I did a quick head count and thought, "Everyone is here. Who could this be?" I opened the door and who should be standing there but a police officer. My first thought was "Someone is dead." I don't know who I thought would be since they were all inside the house, including Sofie, but that is how my mind works. But no, it turns out that we had some sort of horrible "bottleneck" on our tiny, very un-busy street, and they needed people to move their cars to one side of the road. We only had three extra cars at our house, and one of them was in the driveway. But our neighbors across the street were also having a party, so they were taking up a bunch of the street too. Once we got our cars moved and had that cleared up our party was back underway. I guess it's just thank goodness the cop didn't come in and see all our illegal substances. The veggies and dip, cherry/almond bars, hot wings, M&M cookies. Good heavens, we probably would have all been put away for a very long time.

We watched some Office, and played Apples to Apples and did a lot more laughing. I was sooo proud of Sofie. She was behaving almost perfectly and was staying quite calm. Now, you all know that I might spoil Sofie just a teeny, tiny bit. In fact, Jami's favorite story to tell is when she and I were talking about our dogs once and how much we loved them. I was saying that when I make lunches, Sofie sits and watches and makes her eyes really big and glassy to look so sad and adorable to try and get some peanut butter. Jami said, "So you do give her a little bite?" I hesitated a moment, looked down sheepishly and said, "No, I make her a whole sandwich..." And we laughed so hard. But Sofie has never stolen food. She always waits patiently for us to give it to her.

So I was standing and talking and eating an M&M cookie when suddenly, out of nowhere, Sofie jumps through the air like a dolphin at Sea World and snatches the cookie from my hand. I was shocked. I was just glad she did it to me and not someone else. I have created a monster. Then a little later, she got some treats for doing tricks. So her tummy was nice and full of goodies.

We turned the TV on around 11:50 so we could get ready with our bubbly for the ball to drop. We're all standing around at about 11:59:30 and the ball is on it's descent. Suddenly, I look at the floor and see Sofie sniffing an odd substance. I thought, "What is that on my floor?" And as I realized what it was, all chaos broke loose, with everyone screaming that Sofie puked on the floor. Jeff, who has a weak stomach, started dry heaving, and I realized that there were not one, but two piles, and I was standing in one of them. The ball drops and everyone in Times Square is singing and yelling Happy New Year, while we are screaming and yelling, "There's puke on my sock!!" And Sofie is looking around like, "What? What's going on?"

We did get it all cleaned up and managed to make a toast. I don't think that was the best way to celebrate the New Year, but I think it will probably be one of the more memorable ways. Although I don't know if anyone will want to celebrate at our house again.

Bloggy Christmas Celebration

2008-01-01T17:00:00.000-05:00

*** This is a "sticky post" and will remain at the top of the posts until January. Scroll down for new posts.***
I thought it would be fun to put together a little Bloggy Christmas Activity for the month of December.

So here is the plan: You can follow me and make a sticky post to stay at the top to play along (just backdate the post to January 1st), or you could post this button and make this list in your sidebar. Just be sure to link the button to this post so anyone new to the game can get the information.

Every day, (including weekends) I will post a new "Christmas Favorite". For example - December 1 is going to be "Favorite Christmas Song". I have a list made and will post one each day. If you don't blog for a few days, you can always do a few days at a time and catch up. Make it as simple or fun as you want each day - you could link to your favorite song, or post a picture of your favorite decoration, mail me your favorite treat... :)

I don't know how to do the Mr. Linky things, but if you're going to play along, please comment on this post so that we will all be able to look at the comments and follow along with everyone who's listing their favorites. If you don't want to take part in this - don't worry about it - I just thought it would be a fun way for everyone to get to know everyone else a little better and to learn how everyone celebrates the Christmas Season. Merry Christmas and have fun!!

Dec. 1 - Favorite Christmas Song - Carol of the Bells

Dec. 2 - Favorite Christmas Flower or Plant (ya had to know I'd put that near the top) And there are more than you think - Amaryllis, Paperwhite, Evergreens, Poinsettias.... etc -

I'm not a fan of poinsettias, and I would have said Amaryllis, but then I saw this little beauty at Meijer for $3 and I knew it was coming home with me. I just love that green color.

Dec. 3 - Favorite Christmas Smell - I know I just posted about the ROOT candles, but my favorte Christmas smell is the scented pinecones you can buy at Bed, Bath and Beyond, Meijer, or other stores.

I have them in this little bowl, and I can smell them anytime I walk into the room and it's such a spicy, wonderful Christmas smell.

Dec. 4 - Favorite Christmas Decoration - Now I know everyone loves their tree, so if you can, pick something else so we can see the unique favorites!
My favorite decoration is my ornament holders. As you can see - there is a buck for Aaron, a doe for me, and a baby fawn for Sofie!

Dec. 5 - Favorite Christmas Color - This doesn't change much through the year for me - I love my red! At Christmas I just pair it with silver.

Dec. 6 - Favorite Christmas Drink - I love Wassail. As in "Here We Go A-Wassailing..." It is such a great warm drink to cozy up with. And it's not as heavy as hot chocolate, so you can have quite a few mugs of it! The recipe isn't quite the same as the one I got from my Aunt Cheri, but it looks close, and I figured it would take up less space to link to it then to retype it!

Dec. 7 - Favorite Christmas Movie - I think "Elf" is really great, but one I know I'll enjoy forever is "It's a Wonderful Life". We used to watch it every year before we opened presents, and I think it's one I'll always love to watch.

Dec. 8 - Favorite of Santa's Reindeer - I think I'm going to pick Prancer. He just seems like he has more fun. Still gets his job done, but has fun.

Dec. 9 - Favorite Christmas Candy - Although this isn't completely a "candy," my favorite is "Christmas Mix." Here's the recipe:

Mix together 3 cups Cheerios, 2 cups pretzels, 2 cups Corn Chex, 3 cups Rice Chex, and a 1 lb. bag of Christmas M&Ms. Melt 1 lb. of white chocolate and pour it over. Mix it all and spread it flat on waxed paper. Once dry, break it into pieces.

That is the recipe my Mom gave me, but I change it up a little. I add a little more cheerios, pretzels, and chex, and another package of white chocolate because I like it more covered and for some reason I don't like the M&M's in it as well as the grains. You can also add nuts, or take things out, it's a pretty forgiving recipe I think!

Dec. 10 - Favorite Christmas Quote or Saying:
From "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas" By Dr. Seuss
And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?

It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags.

And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.

Dec. 11 - Favorite Christmas Ornament -
As most of you know, my Dad is a super-talented carver, (not to brag or anything!) and he made me this little Santa ornament. It will be special to me for as long as I celebrate Christmas.

Dec. 12 - Favorite Christmas Cookie - This is the recipe I grew up on, and they never lasted more than a few days after we made them because they are SO good!
Christmas Cookie Cutouts:
2 sticks oleo
1 cup powdered sugar
2 1/2 cups flour
1 TB. milk
1 tsp. vanilla

Cream oleo. Add sugar in small amounts. Add flour, milk and vanilla. Lay out on floured surface. Knead for 30 seconds. Roll to 1/4" thick or thinner. We usually liked ours thin. Cut out with cookie cutters. You can take the extra and roll it out again, but try to do this as little as possible because it doesn't like to be kneaded too much, or to get to much flour in it. Bake the cookies on a greased sheet for 15-20 minutes. Watch them closely because you don't want them to get too brown. They should be very pale. Once they're cool, we would make a powdered sugar glaze-like frosting and frost and decorate them. Yum!

Dec. 13 - Favorite Christmas Decorating Style - I loved the "iced over" look, with the branches covered in ice, and fake snow sprinkled around. I liked red and silver, and I love stars and reindeer!

Dec. 14 - Favorite Christmas Animal / Creature - I love reindeers and moose. You've seen my Christmas Sweater Moose, my deer tealights, and my reindeer stocking holders. I also have quite a few silver deer prancing around on my tree.

Dec. 15 - Favorite Store at Christmas - (maybe it makes you feel like Christmas, or it's your favorite place to buy gifts... etc.) - This is probably a tie for me. I absolutely love going into Pottery Barn and seeing all their decorations, but this year I found out that Flowerland has the most beautifully decorated trees anywhere, so I love going into both of them!

Dec. 16 - Favorite Christmas Present Ever Received - I should have taken a picture of it, but a few years ago (I'm thinking 3 because I think we were engaged) Aaron got me a Serta sheep. I'd been saying how I thought they were so cute, so he found one on Ebay and "wrapped it" up and he was so excited to give it to me. It was very cute and I still have it, although I'm waiting to find a good place to display it!

Dec. 17 - Favorite Christmas Present Ever Given - Last year I knew something that Aaron had been wanting and I searched and searched and found it and I knew it was perfect. It was a blue Carhart vest. He couldn't figure out what it was from my hints, and although it ended up coming late and arrived days after Christmas, it was so fun to see him happy with it.
UPDATED - Melissa's answer reminded me of the year we had our picture taken and gave our parents a photo of the three of us. They were shocked and Mom even cried - that was the best. - Sorry Aaron - your reaction just wasn't as good!

Dec. 18 - Favorite Christmas Activity (baking, shopping, decorating...) - Well, I would say my favorite activity is eating treats, but that's not really fair! My favorite activity is wrapping presents. I love making them look beautiful and seeing them all pretty underneath the tree.

Dec. 19 - Favorite Person to Buy Gifts For - I love every year when our church puts out the "Giving Tree" and we can take paper ornaments off it with ages of kids, or descriptions of a family or a veteran at the veterans home. Then we go out and buy gifts for them and bring them back to church. It's so much fun to get things for them and imagine how excited they'll be. Second to that though, I'd have to say that Sofie is the easiest and funnest to buy presents for!

Dec. 20 - Favorite Way to Wrap a Present (do you like to "bag and tag", use ribbons and glitter, or leave the wrapping for someone else...)
I love to spend hours wrapping presents and putting bows on each one. Somehow though people don't like receiving my gifts because "it takes too much work to open. Come on now people - what's more important - being able to look at the pretty present, or being able to open it? Aaron on the other hand, likes to leave the present in the store bag and tie the handles together. Classy. So I end up wrapping his too. I don't mind though - I love wrapping presents!

Dec. 21 - Favorite Time of Christmas (night before, morning of, after it's all over...) - I love the night before vacation starts, because you have all the fun and excitement ahead of you!

Dec. 22 - Favorite Part of Christmas Dinner - When we get together with my Mom's side, we always have "Raisin Sauce" with our ham. It is absolutely delicious, but the funny thing is that all the people who married into the family don't like it. I guess you have to have it in your blood!

Dec. 23 - Favorite Christmas Celebration (big family, little family) - Although I have tons of fun with my extended family and it's always a great time, I love it best when Aaron, Sofie and I can have our own little family celebration.

Dec. 24 - Favorite Christmas Place (in front of fire, tree, snowy window) - I love to sit by the glowing tree with a book and a cup of hot chocolate and see the snow floating down outside. How often does my schedule and the weather cooperate like that? Not too often. But maybe that's why I enjoy it!

Dec. 25 - Favorite Christmas Verse - "Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.'" Luke 2: 13-14

Dec. 26 - Favorite Christmas Tradition - "Santa Letters" - This is a fairly new tradition, but every year on my Mom's side, certain people are called out for their "bad" actions of the year and "Santa" writes them a letter to let them know of his displeasure. We always get quite a good laugh out of it.

Dec. 27 - Favorite Christmas Lights - I LOVE plenty of white lights. And by plenty I mean thousands upon thousands stuffed on the tree. I also love white icicle lights on the house, but we don't have an outlet on the front of our house, so we haven't gotten around to that.

Dec. 28 - Favorite Christmas Memory - I remember being so excited to go to church every week and watch one more candle be lit on the advent wreath. And the best was going on the four week and knowing that Christmas was almost here!

Dec. 29 - Favorite Christmas Leftover - On Christmas night we always have leftover ham on buns and it always tastes so good, maybe because it tastes good to eat some protein after eating sugar all day long!

Dec. 30 - Favorite Time to Take Down the Decorations - Whenever I have time! This year I ended up doing it on Saturday. It's sad, but it's always nice to feel like you have your house back again!

Dec. 31 - Choose your own! Anything I didn't cover that you want to talk about? Now's your chance!

Merry Christmas and have a Very Blessed Holiday!

From, Laura, Aaron and Sofia

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2007-12-28T09:08:00.000-05:00

We had our little Christmas celebration on Sunday night. We rented a movie, had some sparkling juice, made a nice dinner and relaxed together. It was very nice, and just what we needed after a very hectic and crazy past few months.

Sofie opened her presents first because as you can see she is not very patient.

This was a box of treats which she'd actually already started to open a while ago. She was quite excited about them and wanted to dig in right away.

Sofie gave Aaron a present and the tag said that she knew he had asked for one of these, but she couldn't find one at the store, and she isn't allowed to order online since she's not 18 yet, so she was hoping this one would work.

Inside the box was this squeaky plastic dog toy wrench. She really is a generous giver, but since Aaron isn't a very gracious receiver and didn't want it, she was only too happy to use it herself.

We had a great time relaxing and celebrating Christmas as a family.

On Monday night we went to my parents house and had another great time. There was a lot of laughter and fun, and we got way too many wonderful gifts.

Here is Cleo checking out a present that Sofie sent along for her. (I'm telling ya - that Sofie is a thoughtful and generous girl at Christmas time!)

Here is Dad opening his gift from all of us kids. Andy brought home a pair of combat boots in Dad's size (and thank goodness they fit). I think Dad was pretty excited about them.

We celebrated Christmas the next day with my Mom's side of the family. For some reason I didn't manage to get any pictures because I think I was having too much fun! You can check out all of their blogs for pictures I'm sure!

I hope you all had a great Christmas as well, spending time with family and celebrating our Savior's birth! And now - I wish you all a Happy New Year!

The Effect of Too Much Christmas

2007-12-27T11:27:00.000-05:00

I have to warn you that this may be the last post you will see from me, because certain invidivuals may want to harm me after seeing these pictures. I'm actually quite surprised that I'm posting such wretched photos of myself, but hey - the holidays are for giving right?

What? Huh? Present? (Maybe someone had a bit too much of the 'ol sparkling juice...)

Is this the last present? Because I am ready for bed...

I don't even think this photo needs a caption.

All this glitter, tissue and ribbon is giving me a headache.

Oh be quiet Heather, I don't even care about my stupid present - I just want to finish my nap.

Did I hear someone say they weren't having a good time!!! Well listen here...

Just kidding of course. We all had a great time this weekend at all our Christmas parties. I'll post the real photos tomorrow - I just thought these were all funny so I couldn't resist!

He's Back!

2007-12-21T09:04:00.000-05:00

Here is what two very anxious parents look like - watching the skies for a late plane.

And finally, here he comes down the walkway. I couldn't get my camera to open, meanwhile Mom is screaming at me "Laura!! GET A PICTURE!! GET A PICTURE!!! MY CAMERA'S NOT READY!!!" So this is the best I got.

Apparently the camera problems continued, because this shot of Mom, Andy and Dad certainly didn't turn out very well. But the bluriness still doesn't hide my parent's joy does it?

I think this is a cute little picture. The cousins were sure excited to see their cool older cousin Andy come back. They're quite certain that he is in fact the coolest cousin and toughest soldier there ever was (and I'll admit I agree!) They all wanted their picture taken with him.

Quite a few people came to greet him at the airport, so that was nice. Both sets of grandparents, Mark and Cheri and family, Terri and family (Dave was stuck working - that Terri is a slave-driver you know), Tom and Steve (Bonnie and Alecia had to work too), and even Pastor Paul and Nancy. We certainly are blessed with great family and friends.

Karla and Diane couldn't make it to the airport because of issues at Di's work, but they were waiting at the restaurant when we got there (they had even gotten the banquet room reserved for us!) Here is Di running to greet her long-missed nephew.

And here are two of the proudest aunts you'll ever meet.

And here is a picture of Andy's group of adoring women.

It also happens to be the group that Andy refers to as all his "crazy aunts." I wonder why!?

I couldn't even get one good photo of them because someone was goofing off in every photo.

Uh-huh. Right about here is where I decided to give up.

And here is a picture of the happy reunited family. Don't even look at how horrific I look. You're probably all thinking "I thought she lost weight?" That T-shirt is big on me and doesn't complement me, but I had to wear it because I'm a proud sister. Okay? And yes, I need to do something with my hair. And my face really isn't that pale and shiny - it was just that the glow from Dad's joy was reflecting off my skin. But all this is for another time, another post.

Andy sure does look cute though doesn't he? And we are so, so glad to have him back for Christmas!

Assorted Stories, News and Prayer Requests

2007-12-20T08:35:00.001-05:00

Last night I worked at the flower shop and we had a special thing happen. A man came in and asked for a smaller arrangement or something and we ended up helping him find a really cute little poinsettia. (Our poinsettias are super-cute with glitter, cute little pots and twirly ting... anyway...back to the story).

He wanted it delivered to a lady the next day and asked if we could also deliver some gifts cards from the mall with it that he had brought along. We told him sure, we'd just clip them to a stake right in the poinsettia.

We started filling out the delivery form and he said he wanted it to be anonymous. We were a little confused, so he explained that he had been talking to a lady he knows and asked her if she was all done Christmas shopping. She said, "Well, I'm not really doing any shopping this year." He knew she had kids, so he asked her why and she told him that she didn't have enough money. So he went to the mall, bought some gift cards for her, and is sending them in that cute little poinsettia to her work today. After Emilee and I finished taking his order, we went back to tell Pam about it and I was just about crying because that is what Christmas should be about. I was so impressed with him, because how many of us really stop and think about others at Christmas? We're all so busy running around getting our own errands and projects done that we don't stop to listen for opportunities to bless others. That's one nice thing about working at the flower shop, you get to see people doing nice things for other people.

Also today - Andy is coming home for Christmas!!! Yay! We're heading to the airport this afternoon to pick him up. So please pray that he will have a speedy but relaxing trip and also for his safety and safety on the roads since I heard it was supposed to be a little snowy tonight. Also that he and Dad don't injure themselves running to hug each other!

Another prayer request. Aaron's Dad called us last night with some bad news about Aaron's Aunt Nancy. Apparently she stopped breathing last night, and her son was home (he's grown but still lives at home with them luckily) and so he called 911 and they instructed him on CPR. But since she was deprived of oxygen for a while, she is in a coma. She has had quite a few health problems before, and carries around an oxygen tank for this, so we're not quite sure what went wrong or exactly what happened. If you could all just add that to your prayers, her name is Nancy, and her husband is Les. They also have kids and grandkids that live with them, so this is hard on them.

So This Is What It's Come To

2007-12-19T09:23:00.000-05:00

Sofie is now receiving her own Christmas cards. Yes indeed. I got the mail the other day and this is what I saw.
An envelope addressed to Sophie. She of course was so excited that she ripped right into it - especially when she saw the return address was from her boyfriend Bradie. Obviously there was more on the envelope or she wouldn't have gotten it, but I removed the last names and addresses so they don't get pup-napped!

This is the funny card that was inside. It certainly does look like Sofie and Bradie when they play outside in the snow together! Hopefully they don't get a hold of the car I guess! They'd probably run off to Vegas together or something!

Inside was this note:

"Thanks so much for letting me come over and stay for a week next month. I can't wait! I will bring some treats and toys with me so we can party! Have a great Christmas and see you soon! Love, Bradie (and the rest of my family)"

I might have to keep a close watch on those two - it sounds like they're planning on having a lot of fun! :)

Sofie is so excited and can hardly wait for Bradie to get here. Every day I tell her - "Soon your Bradie will be here!" And her little stub tail just starts a waggin'!

We're excited too! Aaron had just been saying a while ago that he missed Bradie and hoped we wouldn't have to wait until summer to see him again - so he's getting his wish! We can hardly wait - we hope you have a Merry Christmas too Bradie - and we will see you soon!

P.S. Sofie wants me to tell you that she is saving all her kisses for you!

The Reason for the Season

2007-12-18T09:34:00.001-05:00

This video is absolutely hysterical - or maybe I just like it because it has the same kind of humor as The Office. There are actually quite a few different ones if you search on YouTube. And even though they're mostly for humor - they make a good point about who we're following at Christmas.

Oh the Terrible Evil I Have Brought Into the World...

2007-12-17T09:33:00.000-05:00

People, people, people. I have created a horrible, terrible, diet-ruining thing.

First of all, you may be wondering, "Wait - isn't this a Monday - shouldn't Laura be doing the final week update of her diet?" Why yes, yes I should. But, thanks to all of your terrible support last week encouraging me to enjoy the holidays, I finally broke last Thursday with only 4 days left to go. I have been so stressed out for the last few months and it's only gotten worse and I finally broke on Thursday. I came home and said to Aaron, "I'm done. I can't even think about conconting a salad right now." So he said, "I'll go to Burger King."

Today I got the final e-mail congratulating me on finishing the 70 days, and I was pretty disappointed in myself, but oh well. I'm still glad I did as well as I did.

That said - here is what I have done. Last year Dave and Thomas were giving away free samples of their popcorn - you just had to pay for shipping. So I ordered some. Big mistake. I'm not really a popcorn person, but this isn't really popcorn. It's a wonderful, sweet and delicious beauty of a treat. My favorite was the Peanut Butter and White Chocolate Drizzlecorn. I've been thinking about it ever since. But it's really to expensive to justify buying it.

So I created my own. And you can too, and I hope you do so that I won't be the only one who gains 50 pounds over Christmas.

Here is what I did, although I'm sure that you can work with it to make it your own.

Laura's Fantabulisticly Evil and Delicious White Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn

3 bags non-buttered or light microwave popcorn
2 bags white chocolate baking chips
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. light corn syrup
1/2 c. white sugar
5 TB. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
1 1/2 c. peanut butter.

Pop the popcorn, remove all the unpopped kernels, and spread it out on waxed paper. In a pan on the stove, mix the brown sugar, corn syrup, white sugar and butter. Heat it and let it boil for one minute. Take it off the heat and mix in the vanilla and peanut butter. Let it cool a little bit so it won't melt everything and then slowly drizzle it around on the popcorn. Melt the 2 bags of white chocolate chips in the microwave. Drizzle that around on the popcorn. While everything is still wet, scrape it up into your handy Tupperware "Thatsa Bowl". You do have a Thatsa Bowl don't you? I don't know what I'd do without mine. I found that it's easier to do it this way, because it's too thick to drizzle it into nice fine lines, but to pour it over the popcorn in the bowl makes it really hard to stir it around without crushing the popcorn. So this way, it's already partly spread out so you don't have to stir it too much. Now you need to test it to make sure that it's as delicious as I have claimed. You could wait until it's dry, but I'm guessing you will realize that you have eaten half the bowl before it's dry.

I tried some more this morning (I had to make sure it wasn't getting soggy or bad) and although it was a little softer, it was still just as absolutely delicious as it was yesterday. I brought it along to Aaron's family party last night and sent some home with Tasha because she liked it so much.

As Long As Your Wagon Stays On Your Side of the Street

2007-12-13T08:28:00.000-05:00

I pulled into our driveway yesterday to be greeted by this little fellow.

You may remember that we have no (human) children yet. And Aaron and I work all day. And due to Sofie's lack of hands, and lack of access to the front yard, I'm pretty sure it wasn't her artistic work either.

As you can see, the perps obviously didn't mind leaving their thousand tiny footprints in our yard as evidence.

Also, judging by the tiny size of this snowman, I'm guessing the said perps did not have much time (also not much snow, but that's beside the point). After putting all these clues together, we are guessing that it was our lovely (hope that sarcasm comes through) neighbor children, who happen to have their bus stop at our driveway.

These kids have no problem walking straight through our yard, playing in our yard, jumping on the wooden edging around our trees and knocking it over, or anything else, which is much different than how I was raised.

Now don't get me wrong - I'm not a scrooge. I'm glad the kids are having fun. They haven't done any (serious) damage to our property yet, and it's just a cheerful little snowman which I don't have a problem with. I just have to say that it strikes a little fear in my heart that these are the children who are waiting in our driveway for the bus every day when we're not home. What's going to happen when tiny snowmen get boring?

Want to Be a Kid Again? Make Your Own Snowflakes.

2007-12-12T11:39:00.000-05:00

Some of you may already know about this program, but I just stumbled on this program from Better Homes and Gardens and Wal-Mart, where you can cut out snowflakes. It's really fun and kind of addicting to see what kind of shapes you can make. You can also print them and send them when you're done.

This would be something fun for kids too I think - only with a lot less mess of little tiny scraps of paper everywhere!

Christmas Decorations 2007

2007-12-11T08:35:00.000-05:00

I thought I'd give you all a little glimpse into what our little Christmas home looks like right now.

Here is where it all began. Boxes, totes and bags strewn about the living room, ready to be unpacked, and one very excited husband who can hardly wait for all the glitter and sparkles to be unveiled. I had the little tree set up in the corner, waiting to be decked out.

Here are our stockings, and lots of glitter and shiny things. Karla and Diane got me those gorgeous silver fluffy things, to go in the top of my tree, but for some reason I just couldn't get them to go in the top how I wanted, but I think they look really pretty against the dark wall.

These ribbons are what I use to display our Christmas cards. Every time we get one, I staple it on a ribbon (so the staple is hidden). It looks pretty, and it's not in the way. For reasons that will not be divulged here, I regret to inform you that our family is not sending a card out this year. I feel really bad about this, but alas, circumstances.

Here is our fireplace mantle. I waited until after Christmas last year to go to Pottery Barn so I could get those stars on sale. I love them! The sticks are the ones I showed you earlier, and the deer... oh the deer... they are one of my favorite additions this year.

Here is a closeup of these deer tealight holders. I saw them at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and they just stole my heart. (I know, I like the oddest little things...) I just think they are so stinkin' cute, so even though I didn't really, necessarily have spot for them (don't tell Aaron) I just had to take them home - and plus - they were only $3!

This is my sweet little moose I got a few years ago on clearance at Macy's/Hudson's/Marshall Field's - whatever it was then. He is so cute and so soft, and so again, although he doesn't really have a spot, I just have to set him out!

And again with the soft/sweet/cute problem. I got this fox from Tasha a few years ago, he was actually holding some lotion and body wash. I think he is so cute with his little jacket, so... on the table he goes.

And also my cone trees, which are probably not the same style and really don't match, but... I like them too!

This is a closeup to show the pinecones I have in a bowl. These are the scented kind that you can get from Meijer or Bed, Bath and Beyond, and I just love them - I can smell them whenever I walk in the room. I mixed some little berry twigs in and voila!

Here is my cute, sparkly, icy, kissing ball. It looks absolutely perfect hanging in the "Aladdin" arch, like it was last year, but someone tall is being a Grinch and forbid me to hang it there again this year because he doesn't want to duck around it for a whole month. So this is where he hung it. It loses a little something up there. Oh well.

I had a bunch of extra sparkle-stars and some assorted ornaments and icy/gem string, so I put it in a tall vase I had, and stuck it on the kitchen table.

And of course, last but not least, the tree. This is a picture once I had the lights on and a few poinsettias. When people are saying they put a few hundred lights on their tree, I usually laugh - how about a few thousand? Yes, there are over 1000 lights on my tree. What can I say? My tree isn't beautiful unless it's beaming like a star.

I wanted my tree to look like one of the beauties we saw at Flowerland this year, so I was working on putting the sticks in the top when I took the picture. I had told Aaron that I wanted my tree to look like the ones at the store, so as I'm hard at work - this is what he chimes in from the couch:

"Is that what it looked like at the store?" (this was said in a very snide and mocking way). After that he found himself getting whipped with glittery sticks, and so he was pretty quiet for the rest of the decorating session.

And here she is, the finished product. All sparkly and bright. I wasn't exactly sure about how the sticks turned out, but I think I know what I'm doing better now, and can try again next year. This picture was luckily taken before my poor little tree had its accident, so everything was still where it should be.

Hope you enjoyed the little tour of Christmas decor at our home! I'd love to see some of the decorations at all of your homes too!

The Rite Weigh - Week 9

2007-12-10T09:42:00.000-05:00

Well, today I start my last week. It's about time. I'm looking forward to enjoying a few things in the next few weeks before I start over again.

This week was disappointing though because I gained a pound. I have no one to blame but myself and my busy schedule because I have had no time to exercise, and this weekend we had a Christmas party and I had some Christmas mix and fruit dip. It's been getting a little harder these past few weeks to stay on task. This week isn't going to be easy either, because we have a work party on Friday night at a restaurant that has the best dessert in the world - and it's on the menu. Then on Sunday, we have Christmas with Aaron's family, so there will be more goodies. I'll just have to work hard and make time to exercise so I can finish well!

She's a Spicy Little Meatball

2007-12-07T10:26:00.000-05:00

I made Aaron a big pot of spaghetti on Wednesday night, but he wasn't a huge fan of the sauce, so he didn't want the leftovers in his lunch. He left for Bible study, and I started cleaning up the kitchen. The trash was full, so I took it out and braced it against the stove so I could scoop the spaghetti into it. I scooped it in and turned around to put the pot in the sink. I heard a big swisshh... plop! The edge of the flimsy trash bag had caved in (should've used a Hefty!) and all the spaghetti plopped out. Before I could even reach for a paper towel, Sofie was on it like a magnet. You should have seen how wide her mouth got and the enormous bites she was taking, like she knew her time was short and she was going to get as much as she could as fast as she could.

So I did what any good mother would do - grabbed the camera to take a picture of her being naughty!

Here is Sofie getting ready to take a giant-sized bite.

I tried calling her to get her to look at the camera but there was no way she was breaking her focus. I could tell she was thinking, "I'm going to eat this whole pile as quick as I can before Mumma realizes I'm being naughty."

She actually did get quite a huge helping - more than half the pile was gone! I could hardly wrench her off the pile when I was done taking pictures - she must have liked her taste of Italian!

Wordless Wednesday

2007-12-05T09:38:00.000-05:00

The Vandal Has Turned Grinchy

2007-12-04T10:37:00.000-05:00

I have bad news. That horrible, nasty vandal has returned. And he took advantage of poor little Sofie and I while Aaron was away at training for work. What is this world coming to anyway?

Aaron left early Saturday morning to go to some training and seminars for work. Sofie and I spent the day together, I got some shopping done, and wrapped presents late into the night and finally went to bed around midnight.

Sofie was her snuggly self and slept in bed with me until around 3:00. Then she had to get up and go potty. After that, there wasn't a whole lot of snuggle in her, and she mostly wanted to climb all over me and give me lots of kisses, which, oddly enough, is not something I desire at 3:30 in the morning. So out of the bedroom she went.

It turns out that this could have saved our Christmas, because Sofie ended up scaring away a vandal. Around 5:00 I woke up to strange noises in the living room, so I quickly went out to check. I found a terrified Sofie who had just scared away someone who was out to destroy our presents. Luckily, the only one he got to was Sofie's box of treats, and she scared him off before he could get it all the way open.

After making sure all was okay, I went back to bed and slept soundly until around 8:30 when I got up to take a shower.

While in the shower, I heard a few things rolling around on the floor, and something rolled and hit the bathroom door. It didn't sound as heavy as Sofie's toys, so I was puzzled.

Once I got out of the shower, I headed to the living room to check. And this is what I found:

Apparently, unsatisfied with his earlier level of damage, the vandal returned to further destroy - I think this is a particularly grinchy vandal since he seems to aim for Christmas items.

My poor little tree which I took so much care and love to set up, laying, trampled and beaten on the ground. The back was already bare, because I decorate it pretty scarcely since that side faces the wall.

But the good side was a disaster.

This is what it looked like after I righted it. There were ornaments all over - thank goodness I'm cheap and buy plastic, so none were broken.

I did my best to return it to it's former beauty, but I don't think it will ever be the same again, until next year when I start over.

I'm just so glad our little protector was there to prevent further damage, even putting her own safety in danger and getting glitter on her face. She is quite a pup for sure.

I just don't understand why she looks so sheepish...

The Rite Weigh - Week 8

2007-12-03T08:56:00.000-05:00

I finished week 8 this week, so I've got 2 weeks to go. This week I lost 3.5 pounds. The program's goal is to lose 10% of your body weight in 10 weeks. That means I would need to lose 15.2 pounds. I am now up to 16.5 pounds which means - I have passed the 10% goal!!! YAY! I am not trying to brag on my blog, but I am proud of myself because this has not been easy and I have worked hard. So anything I lose these next two week will be "extra," although I still have 3.5 pounds to go until I'm at the weight I was when we got married, and 15.5 to my ultimate goal. So anything these next two weeks will be a head start on that.

I was kind of surprised that I lost anything this week, because I only exercised once. We had such a crazy week I don't even know where it went. But I guess I don't really remember ever sitting down (outside of work) except to eat dinner and go to bed, so that could count as a little bit of exercise I guess. The other problem is that for the second time in this whole 8 weeks, I did a little bit of a half-cheat.

The first time was during the first week at our big birthday party when I had a piece of cake as big as my pinky. This week, the owner of the flower shop gave me a loaf of sourdough cinnamon bread that a lady from her church makes for them. She makes three a month for them, so Pam said, "You HAVE to take this home and try it - it's wonderful." The thing is, with the chocolate, ice cream, candy and fast food, there is always the thought, "This will still be here when I'm done with the diet and I can have a little bit then." With this bread - it will not keep for another two weeks. I know that is rationalizing, but I had to try it. So I cut a piece that was paper thin and just about see through, heated it up in the microwave and put some butter on. It was de-lic-ious. And then later at night I had a little thicker piece.

Now, both times I've "cheated" it has still been within my carb and calorie range, it's just a food I'm not supposed ot be eating, so that's why I call it a half-cheat. But I have to say I'm kind of glad I did, because I have been terrified that when I'm "done" with this, the first piece of sweets I eat will make me balloon out like the purple blueberry brat on Willie Wonka. But the next day, when I stepped on the scale, it showed the same weight. So this made me a little relieved to know that I can still eat sweets and keep my weight, I just need to make sure that I keep it in moderation.

Another thing I've learned from this so far is how much better I feel eating healthy. I used to feel sick and get headaches every day almost, and I have felt more energetic and rarely gotten a headache since I've started. The day after I ate the bread though, I woke up with a headache and I didn't feel the best.

I've also learned to experiment and that there are a lot of ways to make a salad more interesting. I've added green pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, and tried a lot of different dressings. One dressing I tried just because it was lower in carbs is called "Green Goddess" made by Seven Seas and I absolutely love it. It's become one of my favorite flavors.

I'm so glad I've done this diet and stuck to it because I've always had thoughts, "my body doesn't work like that," "I can't stick to things," "I'll be like this forever" etc. And I've learned that I can be healthy, I can stick to things, healthy food can be delicious too, and I can fit into clothes that I want to.

I'll have completed the 10 weeks on the 17th of December - 8 days before Christmas, so it should be a good test of learning to eat sweets in moderation, and make good choices. We'll see how it goes!

Is There Anything Better Than a Sweet Smelling House?

2007-11-30T10:23:00.001-05:00

We've been working on getting the flower shop transformed into a beautiful Christmas wonderland. Last night we unpacked some new candles. We sell ROOT brand candles. I had never heard of ROOT before, and to me, a candle was a candle. They all smell real nice when you put your nose up to them in the store, but once you get them home and start burning them, you never smell them.

Which is why I love my oil burners from The Body Shop so much. I can smell them the whole time they're burning, and for long after. But someone in my house complains that they "stink" and are "too strong." And that someone isn't me or Sofie.

When we were opening the boxes of new candles last night, we were smelling them all and they smelled just fabulous.

My favorite smell was a scent called "Winterberry."

After we had them all displayed the whole store smelled great and we weren't even burning them. But I wasn't too interested because I figured they would be just like other candles if I brought them home.

Well, they were also getting rid of some fall stuff, so they sent me home with some "Veriglass" candles. They're the style shown in the picture. The scents were Apple Cinnamon, Chocolate, Citrus and Apple Harvest. I burned the chocolate one last night and was in shock. My whole kitchen smelled like chocolate, and it wasn't that fakey plastic chocolate smell. And it wasn't overpowering. It was just a nice subtle chocolate scent. I'll have to try out the other scents and see what they're like. I'm also thinking I might need to pick up some of those Winterberry ones when I work on Monday!

So if you're looking for a nice candle that actually "works" I would highly recommend ROOT candles!

Wreath Making Extravaganza

2007-11-28T07:46:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago I received an invitation (hand delivered even!) to Karla and Diane's Annual Wreath-Making Event. Isn't the invitation so cute!

And last night was the night. We have all been excited for it to come ever since we receieved our invitations! We gathered up any greenery or additions we wanted to add, and headed over to their house. They also had PILES of stuff they had trimmed from their outdoor trees, plants and bushes and we were ready to go.

Aren't all these greens and plants pretty all gathered together - and you should have smelled their basment - it smelled fabulous with all that evergreen!

Mom, Terri, Cheri and Nancy had gotten there earlier, so they were just about done. Here they are putting their finishing touches on.

After they finished, they went upstairs to get some soup and sandwiches while we got started. Yes - I did say soup and sandwiches. You should have seen the beautiful spread they had in their kitchen. It all looked so good.

They also had this lovely little dessert stand set up with more delicious goodies, just in case we needed a little energy boost for all that hard wreath work!

Here is Terri with her finished product - I love the pinecones, berries and twirly ting in hers. It's very cute!

Here is Nancy with one of her wreaths. I love that huge gold bow on the very naturey-looking wreath - very pretty!

Here is Mom. As you can see she was trying to hide and thinking that she would get out of having her picture taken, but nope! She cannot escape from all our cameras! I like her wreath too. It's hard to see in this picture but there is even a really pretty gold star poking out of hers.

Somehow I didn't get a picture of Cheri with hers, so I guess she escaped!

Here is all of us, working away in the basement. Well, actually, some of us were working and others were just getting in the way and pestering with their cameras...

After the troublemakers left, the rest of us were able to get to work. Well, kind of...

I don't know what Karla is planning on doing with those clippers, but I think I'll stay out of the way!

And I don't know what Diane is planning on with those beautiful little wreaths she made, but I would not advise wearing them as earrings - they may be a little bit heavy!

Here are Mom and Tasha with their beautiful wreaths - I think they turned out really great!

Here is my friend Jami and her cute wreath - don't you love the berries and pinecones?

And this is Jami's Mom Robin with her wreath - I love her berries too! Those will look great hanging up.

And of course, since I posted all your pictures, here is me with my finished product. I'm really happy with it. I think I learned from last year, and mine looks quite a bit better.

And to make this even funner - here's another great photo of me. I was laughing because... well okay I don't know why I was laughing, but there I am. And also, as a public service announcement I would like to inform you that corpse-like pale is the new tan, so if you want to be all the rage and stylish like me, you will be deathly pale and wear old, painted on clothes.

And after all was said and done, there was quite a pile of stuff all over the floor. And sweet Becky stayed to help pick everything up and try to make it look like a basement again!

We all had such a great time and are so grateful that Karla and Diane have started this awesome tradition. Thanks again! We can't wait until next year!

The Rite Weigh - Week 7

2007-11-26T08:51:00.000-05:00

Well, I had every intention to blog at home over the long weekend, and you know how that goes! Time flew by and now it's Monday.

I actually did have to work on Saturday though, so I have a little bit of an excuse.

I was very disappointed when I stepped on the scale this morning. I gained a pound and a half since last week. (Since I weigh every day I knew I wasn't doing great this week, but I worked hard yesterday to try to get down there a little - to no avail.)

You're probably saying "Well, Laura, that's probably because of the big Thanksgiving meal you ate." Oh? Would that be the carrot and celery sticks with fat free dip and few chunks of turkey I ate? Because it certainly wasn't the green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, corn, pies and desserts that I DID NOT eat!!!! It appears that by even being around large quanities of food my body manages to pick up calories.

Now, to be fair, I was not exactly 100% on target this weekend. It's hard when you're hungry and at home because then you can tend to snitch things easier, and I will admit that my salads may have been a tad larger, and a tad more dressingy, and I might have even had a spoonful or two of peanut butter. But that's all! And that scares me because I think - if I'm just a little lax on my serving sizes and have a few extra things I already gain weight! How am I going to do when I am done with the ten weeks and I try to fashion this into a lifestyle? I don't want to gain it all back. Sigh.

One of the things I like about this program though are the e-mails they send every day with tips and encouragement. I got to work today and read their message and it was just what I needed to hear. It talked about how we need to talk positively to ourselves and not talk down to ourselves about every little thing. It asked, "If a friend or a relative was on a diet, would you talk to them like that?" And I realized that I have a tendency to get down on myself and not think positively. So even though this week was a bummer I'm going to try and stay positive and work hard to finish out these next three weeks.

Now - on to more fun stuff. My sweet friend Nancy over at In My Neck of the Woods has tagged me for a meme. The meme is called "Eight Random Things." So here are 8 random things about me:

1. I love sugar. Some people can only eat small amounts and then they're saying "Oh.. this is too rich. I can't eat anymore." Not me, I could eat a whole cake covered in the sugary-sweet kind of frosting and still want more. Or those really rich truffles. I could eat a whole box. I love chocolate, circus peanuts, frosting from a can, anything good and sweet. Hence why I'm having so very much fun on this diet.

2. I have a strange mix of personalities. First I have a grey side - I think the trees look so much prettier with all their leaves off. I love seeing them all bare and branchy on a grey day. In fact, the framed photo over our fireplace is of bare trees on a foggy day. I also prefer black and white photography over color almost all the time. But my other side is the side that can't stand white or pale walls - every room in my house is a deep or rich color - red kitchen, brown living room, blue bedroom, yellow bathroom - and I love it! And this must also be the side that loves flowers!

3. I never liked dogs. I thought they were dirty, slobbery, not very bright creatures. But now - I am a totally 100% sold out for dogs, certified dog lover. Especially of the boxer variety. And it's all thanks to meeting Tilly, Aaron's family's sweet little boxer. She changed my whole perspective, and I am so glad because I don't know what life would be like without my little Sofie Jo. And yes, sometimes dogs are dirty and slobbery and not very bright, but they are worth every bit of it!

4. I like even numbers and I very much dislike odd numbers. I don't like the way they look, or sound or anything. Unfortunately I was born on an odd day of an odd month (thanks Mom...) but at least it was an even year. I wanted to get married on an even day, but because of Easter we were forced to get married on an odd day. At least it's an even month and an even year. And it's not that I'm superstitious about it - I don't think that odd numbers are bad luck or anything, I just don't like them. Yes, I'm odd. (Get it? I'm odd...)

5. If someone offered to buy Aaron and I fancy new outfits, and pay for us to have a night out on the town at fancy restaurants and clubs, or the choice to stay home and pay for fast food and a movie rental, we'd choose to stay home, rent a movie and get Burger King or Wendy's with ice cream for dessert.

6. Two of my biggest pet peeves are: Number 1 - Seeing people being rude to other people, especially people serving them, like wait staff, cashiers, etc. I've often made some enemies by telling those people to calm down and be nice! I can't help it - I think that's horrible behavior. Number 2 - Seeing people spit in public. I don't care if I was choking to death on my own phlegm, or a bug flew in my mouth or whatever. I think it is absolutely horrifying to see someone spit and anyone with any self respect should never, ever do it!

7. Anyone in our household answers to Roo, or versions of Roo. Aaron is usually Roo or Roo-Bear. I'm usually just Roo. Sofie can be anything like Roo, Rooie, Roo-bear, Roolet, Roocake, or basically anything that starts with Roo.

8. I have become (shudder) just like my mother (just kidding Mom - I can't thank of anyone I'd rather be like!) and I often find myself inventing songs or changing the words to songs and singing them to my family. Here's an example of a frequently sung song, and I usually hold Sofie's paws and we dance to this one:

(To the tune of Bicycle Built for two)

Sofie, Sofie, Give me your answer do, I'm half crazy all for the love of Roo, it won't be a stylish marriage, I can't afford a carriage, but you'll look sweet, upon the seat of a bicycle built for two!

Or -

How much is that Sofie in the window? The one with the stub-ily tail? How much is that Sofie in the window? I do hope that Sofie's for sale.

So there, now you know some random things about me! I hope you enjoyed. I think everyone I know has been tagged for this, but if you haven't, please join the fun!

Lost and Found

2007-11-21T09:02:00.000-05:00

When I cleaned the house on Saturday, I ripped all the bedding off the bed to wash it. Shortly after, I noticed that I hadn't seen Sofie in a while and I didn't know where she was. I started looking in all her customary places and then I found her.

Look very closely at this picture.

Do you see her now? She found herself a nice little place to snuggle down in.

"What Mumma? You mean this isn't helpful?"