Trick or Treat

Mexican Food for my Colorado Soul

Being a Colorado girl, it almost goes without saying that I LOVE Mexican food. To be more specific, I love TEX-MEX.

It's been very hard for me to find a good Mexican joint where I live. It sounds silly, but I love the chain restaurants like On the Border. You'd think those are everywhere, right? Well, the closest one to us is about 45 minutes away. There are a few other "mom & pop" type joints close by, but I wasn't too crazy about them.

My husband teases me because I say they aren't "authentic". Afterall, have you ever had broccoli or carrots in your burrito at On the Border?

Well, a few months ago we found a new "mom & pop" restaurant right near us and they have AMAZING food! Plus, I've gotten to eat at On the Border twice in the past month while we were at our new house. There is hope for this Colorado girl's taste buds!

Wedding Card

One of my favorite crafts to do is make handmade cards. They're just simple, but look just as nice as the ones you can buy in the store for $4. I made two like this for weddings we had this month. I used different trim on one of them, though, but like this trim better. This card only cost a dollar to make because I already had the card, envelope, paper, rub-ons, and trim. The only thing I had to buy was the "cake" and "wedding day" embellishments.

Let the Crafting Begin

It's been a long process (I think I started painting back in February), but last week I finally finished converting my husband's old bedroom into my craft room/dressing room.

The floors were supposed to be converted to hardwood, so I wasn't careful about painting, and hubby's sister's dog peed on them about 6 times, but the in-laws put the plan on laying hardwood on hold, so thus the carpet to cover up a lot of mess!

Behold the before and after shots:

These photos show the main difference between me and hubby. I'm a neat and organized (most of the time) and he wants to be neat and organized, but he's not. Guess that's why he married me! The mess is part of the reason why it took so long to convert the room because I wanted to throw out a lot of the "junk" and he wanted to keep it, but didn't want to sort through it and pack it up.

Hubby used both of these closets to hold his clothes plus the drawers in the desk/dresser thing. He has way more clothes than he ever wears, but I'm not allowed to get rid of any of them. During the process, I moved all his clothes to our bedroom which is to the left of the photo so that hopefully I won't be picking up after him in both rooms. I then moved all my clothes (minus the few in my dresser in our room) to the ONE closet on the right. Yes, you read that correctly, my husband has more clothes than me!

We packed away all the bears for safekeeping. My husband has been in this room since he was 3 years old, so there was a lot of memorabilia to pack away and sort through. I was able to narrow it all down to three boxes. Whew! I took down the shelves and put up new drapes. The collage of photos of me in the background was a Valentine's gift for him and now hangs by his closet in our bedroom. The blue paint definitely had to go!

Hubby's brother drew this baseball player on the wall when they shared a room. I was only allowed to paint over him after I took a photo for prosperity. I reused this dresser to store stuff along a different wall in this room.

I love my craft table! I found it at the Christmas Tree Shops. It was on sale for $10! It's a solid wood table and has HUGE service area. I wasn't looking for a table last year, but I knew this was too good of a deal to pass up. The bulletin board in the back I made from a scrap bulletin board we had at work and then I just put fabric over it to make it pretty and hot glued on some ribbons. The magazine holders will get painted white someday. The black boxes store the four current projects I'm working on and were one of my finds from my first visit to Ikea. I wanted white but the white ones weren't on sale. I just looked at the photo again and think I might paint this table white too. What do you think?

Yes, my hubby's mom put a flowery bedspread on his bed. It used to have a nice blue and tan stripe one when I first met him. Don't know what happened to that. The photo of the stock exchange has been put into safe keeping until it can get hung in hubby's office at the new house.


There's the dresser I repurposed. It's filled with gift wrapping supplies and gifts I collect throughout the year for people. Now, let the crafting begin!

Peanut Butter & Chocolate (or Dessert Overload)

This is one of my favorite flavor combinations and I made two recipes this past weekend that used these flavors.

First I made peanut butter pie for the company we had over on Friday night. Here's the recipe (courtesy of my mom):

PEANUT BUTTER PIE

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat)
½ c. milk (I used skim)
1 c. powder sugar
½ c. smooth peanut butter
8 oz. Cool Whip (I used light)
Chocolate pie shell

Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Blend in sugar and peanut butter. Slowly add milk. Fold in Cool Whip. Put in prepared crust. Chill in freezer. Remove from freezer about 10-15 minutes before serving.

For mine, I chopped up peanut butter cups and sprinkled them all across the top and then I melted semi-sweet chocolate chips and drizzled that across the top in a crisscross pattern. Everybody said it looked store bought and loved how it tasted, even my hubby who hates cool whip.

The next recipe I made was chocolate cookies with reeses pieces. Hubby was in a wedding a couple weekends ago and at the rehearsal dinner they gave everybody these mini glass jars that held 1 cup of reeses pieces each. I knew if I didn't put them into something that I could share with people, I'd end up eating 2 cups of them (hubby's and mine) myself. I used the chocolate cookie recipe my mom uses at Christmas time, but I had some trouble with the batter. I chilled it in the fridge for about three hours, but they still had a hard time sticking together and the batter was to sticky to roll into balls. Mom...help! They taste yummy, though.

CHOCOLATE COOKIES (with whatever "chip" you want)

½ c. butter
½ c. margarine
1 ½ c sugar
2 eggs
2 t. vanilla
2 c. all-purpose flour
2/3 c. cocoa (I used Hershey's special dark)
¾ t. baking soda
½ t. salt
2 cups of peanut butter chips or reeses pieces

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla until light and fluffy. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture. Stir in peanut butter chips. Chill until firm enough to handle. Shape dough into small balls. Place on ungreased baking sheet; flatten slightly with fork. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

The same wedding also gave out Hershey kisses as favors at the actual reception so I gathered up all the extra favor boxes that people at our table didn't use and put them into this recipe:

1 box dark chocolate brownie mix & ingredients to make brownies for 9 x 13
12 oz. cream cheese (I used 1/3 less fat)
powdered sugar (to taste)
vanilla (about 1 tsp)
milk (just a smidge)
chopped hershey kisses

Make brownies according to directions on box. Pour batter in pan and set aside. Beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add powdered sugar and vanilla until it's the desired sweetness. Add a little milk if it's too thick. Stir in chopped hershey kisses. Drop by spoonfuls over brownie batter. Use a knife to swirl the cream cheese mixture and brownie batter together. Bake according to directions on box. I had to add 10 - 15 minutes more to the baking time for mine, but just keep an eye on it. These also were met with rave reviews.

At the house...again

We're at the house again this weekend. I know I've not kept my promise of posting photos of our progress, but really it's hard to tell that much has been done so far.

We've basically spent our time stripping spindles (all 215), tearing out the moldy wall board in the basement, installing automatic garage doors, putting iron bars on the garage windows, trimming the hedges and cleaning up the lawn, installing the security system, taking down a sample of the fascia and shipping it to have a mold made for a new one, meeting with the mason, meeting with the architect and the list could go on and on.

Once there are some more obvious before and after photos I'll try my best to get them up on this thing.

I'm really excited about the trip this weekend, though, because we're meeting with the architect to review the plans he came up with for our kitchen and master suite! Hopefully we can finally start to work on getting the hay off my kitchen walls and a stove and stuff put in so that we don't have to go out to eat every night we're there. After all, one can only take so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!

A Great Anniversary

Last Wednesday hubby and I finally had the opportunity to go and celebrate our anniversary. We had both seen Facing the Giants when it was on tv and were excited to see the new movie this group put out called Fireproof. It's all about fireproofing your marriage...how perfect for an anniversary celebration, right?

It's only in a few theaters, so we had to make an hour trip north, but were happy to find our favorite burger joint right near the theater so we could grab a bite to eat first. Red Robin makes the best burgers and strawberry lemonade, so if you haven't eaten at one go now!

The movie was awesome! Highly recommend it to every engaged or married couple out there regardless of the state of your marriage.

Thanks hubby for such a wonderful anniversary!

Crank Called by a 1 year old

While I was at work yesterday, my cell phone rang. The caller ID said it was my sister, so picked it up only to hear a bunch of laughter from a certain one year old on the other end of the line followed by *click*.

I tried calling her back thinking that Braden accidentally pushed end, but while I was calling her back, she was calling me again.

I answered only to hear more laughter and then *click*. This happened once more and then I finally figured out that while mommy and daddy were still sleeping, my nephew was entertaining himself by crank calling his aunt.

He's lucky he's a cute little one and I love him! Can't wait to see you in a couple weeks, Braden!

Fall Weekend

I love fall.

The trees are bursting with color. The air is crisp. You get to wear all your cozy clothes. The smells of cider and pumpkin are amazing.

This past weekend we had perfect fall weather. Hubby and I took advantage of it by enjoying an hour walk through one of the local revolutionary war battlefields. It was so fun to walk through corn fields and peach and apple orchards and just imagine the soldiers fighting there. It was more a treat, though, because we went with the intention of hubby running while I walked which meant we weren't going to be together. What a treat when hubby grabbed my hand and decided to just spend the hour walking with me and enjoying the perfect fall day.

Fall and walks with my husband...just two of the things I'm thankful for.

Check your cards

If there's one lesson I've learned over the past week or so, it's check your cards before you throw them out. I've been working on the long process of going through all my old papers from before we got married, all our wedding cards, and my birthday cards (which was in February) and boy did I come across some nice surprises!

In the first set of wedding cards I went through a couple weeks ago, I found a $50 gift card to Macy's. Tonight as I was sorting through another box of wedding stuff, I came across a card that had a $100 check in it. I'm going to try to deposit it tomorrow, but I'm afraid it probably won't work seeing how it was written over a year ago! Then, to top it all off, I came across the birthday card my in-laws gave me this year only to open it and have $25 cash fall out.

I think the $175 has been worth all my cleaning effort! Hopefully the $100 part of that will be a success tomorrow.

My New Addiction

I've always been a sucker for poppy seed bagels, despite the fact that the seeds inevitably get stuck in my teeth.

Lately, though, my new addiction has been poppy seed bagels with light veggie cream cheese. Yum!

I don't let myself have them too often because I'm trying to cut down on carbs (at least that's what my head says, my mouth and stomach beg to differ), but on the rare occassion that I do, my mouth rejoices with every bite of the savory goodness.

Has it really been a year already?

One year ago today, I married the man of my dreams. We had a wonderful time spending three days with all our guests at the Sylvan Dale Guest Ranch in Loveland, Colorado.

The aspens were at their peak, the weather was in the upper 70s - lower 80s and just as we left to head to Estes Park for a few days after the ceremony, it started to snow. We couldn't have asked for a better weekend to get married!

This year has flown by so quickly. It really does seem like just yesterday we got married. But, as I look back, I reflect on a few of the highlights from our first year of marriage:

1. Survived living with his parents for a whole year and all four of us still enjoy each other's company
2. Traveled to Costa Rica, Vancouver, Florida, Washington, Colorado & Michigan.
3. Bought a house.
4. Witnessed hubby winning re-election.
5. And the list could go on & on.

Hubby was in a wedding this past Saturday for one of his buddies who was in our wedding. At the ceremony, the priest said that if you ask most couples a year after they're married how it's going, they'll say, "oh, it's okay, but..." Hubby and I strongly disagree. We love each other more today than we did last October 6th. Every day brings new adventures and opportunties to grow in our love and appreciate the other more.

I really wish I could post some of my favorite photos from our wedding day, but I'm still under orders to keep hubby's face off this blog, so for now, some photos without my groom will have to suffice. (I'm having trouble with the photo thing for now...I'll try to make a slide show this afternoon and post it later.)

I love you sweetheart. Make it home safely from Colorado so we can celebrate together tomorrow!

Mischief Times Two

Yesterday was the day when my sister went to find out if she's having a boy or a girl. The little one was very cooperative by lying spread eagle. And, it looks like we'll be getting one of these in a few months:

Isn't he such a cute big brother? He stole the spoon, though, from a restaurant so don't let that smile fool you! Can't wait to see him in a few weeks!

Urgent Prayer Request

My mom just forwarded me this e-mail. Please keep this part of India in your prayers:

URGENT PRAYER REQUEST!
Dear beloved sponsors and friends of Good News India.

We have never seen anything like this. We knew that Orissa was the most resistant and hostile State in India as far as the Gospel is concerned. And we brushed off the continuous threats and harassment we faced as we went about His work. But none of our staff imagined that they would see this kind of carnage.... And it seems to be totally under the radar of the Western Media ....

Let me explain.... A militant Hindu priest and 4 of his attendants, who were zealously going around the villages of Orissa and "reconverting" people back to Hinduism, were gunned down by unknown assailants in Central Orissa last weekend. Immediately the Christians were blamed. The cry rose up..."Kill the Christians!"

And the horror began.... In the past 4 days, we have first hand witness to hundreds of churches being blown up or burned and many, many dozens of Christian tribals have been slaughtered. For no other reason than they bear the name of Christ.

Night and day I have been in touch with our Good News India Directors spread across 14 Dream Centers in Orissa... they are right in the middle of all this chaos. In Tihidi, just after the police came to offer protection, a group of 70 blood-thirsty militants came to kill our staff and destroy the home. They were not allowed to get in, but they did a lot of damage to our Dream Center by throwing rocks and bricks and smashing our gate, etc. They have promised to come back and "finish the job." Our kids and staff are locked inside and have stayed that way with doors and windows shut for the past 3 days. It has been a time of desperately calling on the Lord in prayer.

More police have come to offer protection. In Kalahandi, the police and some local sympathizers got to our dream center and gave our staff and kids about 3 minutes notice to vacate. No one had time to even grab a change of clothes or any personal belonging. As they fled, the blood thirsty mob came to kill everyone in the building. We would have had a mass funeral there, but for His grace. In Phulbani, the mob came looking for Christian homes and missions. The local Hindu people, our neighbors turned them away by saying that there were no Christians in this area. So they left. We had favor. The same thing happened in Balasore.

All our dream centers are under lock down with the kids and staff huddled inside and police outside. The fanatics are circling outside waiting for a chance to kill. Others were not so fortunate. In a nearby Catholic orphanage, the mob allowed the kids to leave and locked up a Priest and a computer teacher in house and burned them to death. Many believers have been killed and hacked into pieces and left on the road.... even women and children. At another orphanage run by another organization, when this began, the Director and his wife jumped on their motorbike and simply fled, leaving all the children and staff behind. Every one of our GNI directors that I have spoken to said: "We stay with our kids.... we live together or die together, but we will never abandon what God has called us to do."

More than 5000 Christian families have had their homes burned or destroyed. They have fled into the jungles and are living in great fear waiting for the authorities to bring about peace. But so far, no peace is foreseen.

This will continue for another 10 days.... supposedly the 14 day mourning period for the slain Hindu priest. Many more Christians will die and their houses destroyed. Many more churches will be smashed down. The Federal government is trying to restore order and perhaps things will calm down. We ask for your prayers. Only the Hand of God can calm this storm. None of us know the meaning of persecution. But now our kids and staff know what that means. So many of our kids coming from Hindu backgrounds are confused and totally bewildered at what is happening around them. So many of their guardians have fled into the jungles and are unable to come and get them during these trying times.

Through all this, I am more determined than ever to continue with our goal: the transformation of a community by transforming its children. Orissa will be saved... that is our heart's cry. If we can take these thousands of throw-away children and help them to become disciples of Jesus, they will transform an entire region. It is a long term goal, but it is strategic thinking in terms of the Great Commission.

What can you do?

First, please uphold all this in fervent prayer. Second, pass this e-mail on to as many friends as you can. We must get the word out and increase our prayer base for this is spiritual warfare at its most basic meaning. We are literally fighting the devil in order to live for His Kingdom. The next 10 days are crucial. We pray for peace and calm to pervade across Orissa.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. Please pass it on and help us to get as many people to partner with us on this cutting edge effort to fulfill His mandate: Go and make disciples of all nations.... Prayer works!

Blessings, Chip & Sandy Wanner Col 2:2 MBI
Team Facilitators to YWAM frontlines

A Perfect Weekend

This past weekend I drove down to our nation's capital to visit my dear friend, Katie, who just bought a new condo.

(the Capitol...not her condo!)

Friday night we enjoyed a nice dinner at her place, baked cookies and watched a chick flick.

Saturday morning we took a free walking tour of some of the monuments and then had lunch at this delicious restaurant near the White House. That evening I had my first introduction to Ikea! What a great store. I got a new trash can for my office, some glass jars to store craft stuff in, and some giant boxes to hold my current craft projects. I think I'm in love with Ikea! We had delicious Swedish meatballs there and then rented "Made of Honor" on the way home to watch as we enjoyed our McDonald's sundaes.

Sunday morning we always pick a different church in town to explore in the morning because her regular church meets in the evenings. This time we toured the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary Immaculate (or something like that). It was a beautiful building, but I couldn't help wondering how all the money spent to make it so beautiful could have probably helped a lot more people had it been given to the poor.

After that, we drove to the nearby monastery to tour the gardens because they're ranked amongst the Top 10 gardens in the country. They were very beautiful. We stopped in to listen to their sermon and it was very interesting.

The monk/priest was talking about the parable of the workers where the guy who worked for an hour got paid the same amount as the guy who worked all day. He then went on to extrapolate this to mean that we may all get in the door of heaven, but how far into heaven we get depends on how much we work and how saintly we are on earth. Then, they closed the service with a song singing "Hail to Mary". Very interesting. Sad. But interesting.

Thanks so much, Katie, for a wonderful weekend!

No Patience for Stupid Drivers

I have no patience for stupid drivers. Especially those who put other driver's lives at risk.

This morning on my way to work, I was cut off by a car coming from an exit lane. I guess being in one of the three available lanes was not good enough for her. I was just slightly peeved at this point, but something in my gut told me to keep my distance from that car.

At the next light, she proceeded to cut off another driver. The following light, she squealed her tires as she tailgated the driver in front of her.

I knew she was going to cause an accident, so unfortunately, I was not suprised when I came up over a hill and saw she ran a red light, t-boned a SUV causing it to flip, and then spun into a guy waiting to make a left hand turn.

I just read online that the accident caused the road to be closed in both directions for about an hour and a half during peak rush hour. Two people were also sent to the hospital as a result of the accident.

I don't care how late she was for her college class or whatever it was she was heading to, but it's better to be late than dead or injure/kill one of your fellow drivers.

Next time you see a car driving irradically, please keep your distance. And for all of us, please leave 5 minutes early or accept the fact that you'll be late. Speeding and driving crazy is NEVER worth it.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

I read this article on a blog last week. (My apologies to whoever's blog it was, but I forgot where I read it. If it was yours, please feel free to post a comment and leave a link to your blog.) I thought it was a good read and wanted to share it here.

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?

by Vanessa Harris

Partial-birth abortion is a controversial subject in our society today. The topic of partial-birth abortion can spark heated arguments on the Senate floor, in the workplace, to the Pro-Life and Pro-Choice groups. I believe to get a clear understanding of what partial-birth abortion is it should be seen from the baby’s viewpoint.

My name is Baby Jane; I was conceived through a one-night stand. My mother, who is a very successful businesswoman, started a small business in lower Manhattan that just recently expanded. My father is someone my mother knew briefly before my conception.

Before my mother knows I exist, I am already eighteen days old, my heart is formed, and my eyes are beginning to develop. At two months, my mother has not seen her menstrual period, and makes an appointment with the doctor. By this time I am well proportioned, being 1 1/8” long and weighing 1/30th oz. All my organs are present, and my heart is beating sturdily. My stomach produces digestive juices and my liver is making blood cells, even my little kidneys begin to function, while my taste buds are being formed.

After my mother discovers she is pregnant, she goes home despondent. The next few weeks are a whirlwind. She cannot locate my father and the real problem is her business. What will she do? Who can she trust to run it? She discusses her situation with close acquaintances. They have many solutions, but which one is right? The subject of abortion enters the conversation. Would this be an option?

I am now 4 months old, I have fingerprints, my eyelids and palms are sensitive to touch, and I can even suck my thumb, and have fingernails. I can kick, turn my feet, make a fist and even practice breathing. I can grasp a hand, swim, and turn somersaults. If I were born now I would not survive.

My mother has kept her monthly doctor appointments. I am 6 months now. Fine hair grows on my eyebrows and head. I have a chance of surviving at this age.

From the outside it seems that my mother has resolved her feelings about her pregnancy, but she is taking the advice of a close acquaintance, and is seeking information about abortion. She finds that there are many different types of abortions. One is the menstrual extraction method. This is a very early suction abortion, often done before the pregnancy test is positive. Another is the suction-aspiration method. In this method, the abortionist must paralyze the cervical opening and then stretch it to insert a hollow plastic tube with a knife-like edge on the tip that cuts the placenta from the inner wall of the uterus. The abortionist then proceeds to suck the baby’s body into pieces. This suction is 29 times more powerful than a home vacuum cleaner. Then there is the Dilatation and Curettage (D&C) method. This procedure is similar to the suction method except the abortionist inserts a curette, a loop-shaped steel knife, up into the uterus, and cuts the placenta and baby into pieces and scrapes them out into a basin. Hemorrhaging is usually profuse.

Because I’m now over 6 months old, the doctor and my mother choose partial-birth abortion. This is a breech-like delivery. The entire infant is delivered except the head. Scissors are jammed into the base of the skull, and a tube is inserted to suck the brains out. The dead infant is pulled out.

The appointment is scheduled and the day is set. I am 6 ½ months. My mother enters the hospital alone. Where are her acquaintances now? She is taken to her room, and given medication to ease her nerves. It is time for the abortion. My mother is prepared and wheeled into the operating room. Labor is induced. Once her uterus is dilated, the procedure is set into motion. I feel someone grabbing at my legs with forceps. It is not time for me to enter this world. I can her their voices. I can just make out my mother’s voice. I scream in my world, I am not ready. Nevertheless, I am pulled into the birth canal. I am delivered down to my head. What has happened? Why did they stop? Something is piercing the base of my skull. The pain is too much for me to bare. I scream and move to avoid the piercing, however; I am held in place. The person holding me is puncturing my skull, and opening the hole by opening the scissors. The scissors are removed. By this time I am losing blood and consciousness, I can barely feel the insertion of the suction catheter. As my brains are sucked out my last thoughts are, “Why? Why? Why did my mother allow this to happen to me? Didn’t she love me as I was being formed in her inward parts, or was I an inconvenience?” These questions will not be answered now. My skull has collapsed and I am removed lifeless.

There are no flowers for me, just a cold slab for my little body to lie on. How could this have been prevented? Not just to me, but the many other Baby Janes and Joes. What laws are there for my life to be preserved? There are laws to preserve the wildlife and the trees, and there are laws to save the sparrows, but my life is worth more than many sparrows. I could possess a hope and a future, nevertheless; the law allows such barbaric crime to be brought against me. Who will eventually stand for my rights? What government official or Supreme Court judge will be bold enough to go against the grain, and stop calling good evil and evil good?

Healthy Cupcakes?

Today was yet another birthday at work. This being the month of going back to school and all, I decided to make cupcakes that looked like apples. I think I saw a similar idea on Martha Stewart's website and modified it. And, because they look like apples, that means they're healthy, right?

I used a box white cake mix and instead of using the three egg whites it called for, I used the equivalent of three eggs worth of egg beaters. So, in a way they are slightly healthier. The frosting was a can of white frosting that I added about a 1/3 of a jar of red food coloring (the gel kind you get at craft stores). I've realized that no matter how much I try to be neat when working with this stuff, my fingers will inevitably end up dyed the color of the frosting for at least a day. The stems were pretzel sticks broken in half; the leaves were fruit gellies that I cut into leaf shapes. I also tried to make them a little more realistic for when you bite into them by adding miniature chocolate chips to serve as the seeds. I just mixed them in to the batter before spooning into the muffin cups, but in hindsight I should have just dropped about 6 in the middle of each cupcake before baking so that they'd stay in the "core".

They were a big hit at work and I think I'll keep this idea for when I have kids and they're heading off to school.

Still Coming

Pictures of the house remodel are still to come. I haven't forgotten.

Hubby is out there again right now. It's funny how being married connects your spirit. I woke up all of a sudden at 4:22am this morning with this dread in my stomach that something was wrong with him. Not being able to do anything about it myself, I decided to turn to the One who I knew could do something. So, I began to pray. HARD. After a few minutes, I felt a peace and was able to fall back asleep.

This morning when I talked to hubby, I was telling him the story and he said that he woke up around that same time too. I asked him if he heard a noise or something and he said he wasn't sure. As we were on the phone, he was down inspecting the basement and realized that one of the windows had been broken since the last time we left. Don't know if that happened last night or what.

What I do know is that God sent those extra angels I requested to guard my husband and keep him safe.

We're both making a trip out there next Thursday through Monday. My dad is also going to be there because his court date is set for that Friday. Please be praying that everything goes well.

Photos will probably get posted after that trip.

Let Us Never Forget

Where were you 7 years ago?

I had just recently started my junior year of college at Colorado State University. I was living in a house with four great Christian girls and loving life. One of my roommates dad's worked as a pilot for United Airlines. My mom works as a flight attendant for Frontier Airlines.

It was about 6:45am MST on a Tuesday and the phone rang. We were all starting to get up for the day, and my roommate, Brianne (go figure...5 of us in a house and 2 of us have the name Brianne), answers the phone because it's her mom. She tells us to turn on the tv and watch the news. Brianne and I go downstairs and turn on the news just in time to see the second plane hit the tower. At this point we're in shock. We're trying to figure out what airline(s) it was because of the fact that two of our parents worked for the airlines. When we realize that one of the flights was a United flight, we start to wonder if our roommate's dad was working the flight. Thankfully, our roommate's mom calls to let us know that her dad is okay. Brianne & I go to wake her up and are trying to explain things and let her know her dad is okay.

I try getting a hold of my mom but can't so I call my dad in Colorado Springs. He was just getting up for the day too and hadn't heard anything about what was going on so I told him to turn on the news. He lets me know that my mom is in recurrent (training they have to do every year) so thankfully she's not flying.

It was all so surreal. We all just sat there and watched for what seemed like hours. Classes were cancelled for the day. A few of us decided to go for our 5 mile walk and at least twice people pulled over asking us if we needed a ride someplace. The spirit and attitudes of people were just one of community and willingness to bond together and help out.

In the days that passed, I learned that the brother and nephew of someone I worked with at camp in Michigan had been on the United plane that hit the tower. Little did I know that in less than 5 months I would start dating a guy who lives within an hour of NYC and that many people in his town lost loved ones on that day.

I never visited NYC prior to September 11, 2001, so it's hard for me to fathom how tall those towers stood, but I've been to the World Trade Center site numerous times since and it's a humbling place.

There were great heroes on that day. We all remember Todd Beemer from the flight that went down in PA and his phrase, "Let's Roll." I never would have guessed 7 years ago that I would be going to church with his widow and their children.

What does September 11th mean to me and you?

Today on my way to work, the Christian radio station I listen too was discussing whether we should make September 11th a federal holiday like the 4th of July, Labor Day, etc. Most people who called in said that they didn't think it should be a holiday because they fear we'll turn it into another day to have a mattress sale and that the real reason for the day would be forgotten.

As a Colorado girl living in this East Coast world, I have a slightly different view. While September 11, 2001 affected the country as a whole in regards to us being at war, the threat of terrorism, and changes in the way we fly to list a few, the loss of loved ones is felt less and less the further you move from the East Coast. While it's a tragic loss, so was Pearl Harbor, and we don't have a federal holiday to honor that. One thing I've noticed living out East is that New Yorkers can tend to have this mindset that what happens to them impacts everybody in the entire country. I'm sorry to burst their bubble, but while I feel deeply sorry for those who lost loved ones, I know from experience that they don't all grieve for those who lost loved ones in the Oklahoma City bombing they way they want our whole country to grieve for them.

While I definitely think we should honor the memories of those who died on September 11, 2001, and especially hope that we will all recall the attitudes of helpfulness and community we experienced on that day, I do not think it is deserving of a FEDERAL holiday. How about you? Do you think September 11th should be a national holiday and how does it impact you and those near where you live?

Thank you to those brave men and women who fought and died for our fellow Americans that day and every day since. I know I personally will NEVER forget.

Ocean City Vacation

Every year my husband's family takes a weeklong getaway to Ocean City. We rent a house and just enjoy hanging out at the beach, catching up on our reading, mini-golfing, and eating lots of yummy food. This year we also spent a lot of time watching Michael Phelps win all his gold medals...how exciting! The past few years it's just been hubby, me, his parents and his grandma, so it was great to have hubby's cousin and his wife join us the first couple days we were down there and then my brother join us for the rest of the week.

This year we also got a little more adventurous and did some parasailing and jet-skiing. I really don't like heights, so it didn't surprise me at all that I HATED parasailing. I was so scared the entire time I was up there that I wasn't able to relax and enjoy the beautiful sights. As you can see in the photos, my legs and all that are at a funny angle and basically I didn't move from that position the entire time. It didn't help of course how this was hubby's 89-year-old grandma's 8th parasailing trip, but hey, at least I can say I did it and I know I never want to do it again! I made sure to tell hubs that I never want to be surprised with a hot air balloon ride unless it's teethered only 30 feet above the ground! It's crazy how ziplining in Vancouver didn't bother me, but parasailing did.

A couple days later, it was my turn for an activity that I enjoy...jet-skiing. While we were getting ready to go, my hubby kept saying how it's not going to be that fun because it's in the bay and there's no huge waves to jump over, etc. I told him to just wait and see and aside from having to wear lifejackets that stunk to high heaven like raw fish and body odor, we had a GREAT time! I think we'll definitely have to be investing in a jetski in the future.

The week always goes so fast, but we sure enjoy our annual summer respite.

My stud of a brother lounging on the beach.

Our early morning boat ride to go parasailing. Don't you just love the windblown look?

Brock and hubby's grandma getting ready to go up!

That's me up there on the right...proof that I actually did it!

Coming in for a landing...finally!!! And, another sad photo that I had to chop hubby's head out of :(

Chowing down at one of the few decent restaurants on the island. Again, had to chop hubby out of the left of the photo sadly.

Philly with my Brother

My hardworking brother came out for a visit the end of August so he could recoup from his 80 hour work weeks as a Colorado State Park Ranger and Starbucks drink maker extraordinare for most of the summer. He took the redeye flight out from Denver to Philly and we took some time to explore Liberty Hall and the Liberty Bell, plus sample a Philly Cheesesteak (all before 11am)before heading to Ocean City to join hubby and the rest of his family for our annual week at the beach.

Isn't my brother such a cutie? Sorry ladies, but he's taken. He's starting his 4th year of college this year at Colorado State University (he transferred back there because he wants to be just like his big sister...at least that's what I tell myself!) studying engineering and has this year and one more to go. I'm so proud of him. I don't get to see him that often, so it was great to have him around for a week.

Brock in front of Liberty Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed.

Standing in the room where the Declaration was signed. That big chair in the middle was the one that George Washington actually sat in.

Stopping by the Liberty Bell. Brock looks much better than I do. It was a early morning drive for me from the beach and the humidy of the morning did not help the hair!

Johnny Get Your Gun

Hubby and I closed on our house on August 28th! Woohoo!! We're now officially the owners of a house needing a lot of work in a city that needs a rebirth.

My parents came out for Labor Day weekend to help us, and the boys immediately got to work on getting all the moldy stuff torn out of the basement and mom and I set out to clean, scrape paint off spindles, and jot down all the floor plan dimensions.

The neighbors are fantastic. We had so many people stopping by just to say hello and they were loaning us tools and coming over on their day off to spend hours helping us on the house. It was so great. We even got invited to the neighborhood pool party on Saturday night at this gorgeous house!

The only downside to the whole weekend was that we learned that while our neighborhood is great and the houses are beautiful and well protected, this also makes the neighborhood a target for crime from the less desirable areas around us. Case in point:

On Friday the 29th we were having our dumpster delivered so my dad & hubby would have a place to put all of the moldy items they were pulling out of the basement. In order to do this, we had to dismantle the fence off the alley in the backyard so the truck could get in there. Well, later that afternoon, my dad decided to go back out and start putting the fence back up so we would be able to park our car in there at night and lock it up. A neighbor across the alley from us loaned Dad a shovel and told Dad to just leave it on his back porch and shut his gate when he was done.

At about 4pm, my Dad finished and was walking over to return the shovel. As he was coming out of the gate, this nice Mercury Marquis starts backing up slowly down the alley towards him. Seeing how he met some of our super friendly neighbors earlier, Dad just assumed this was someone else wondering who this stranger was coming out of so-and-so's yard. Well, when he saw the gun pointing out the window at him, he quickly realized this was an armed robbery and he was the victim! They asked for his wallet and he told them he didn't have one, but he handed them the thing that held his driver's license and credit cards. The kid got in the car and passed this on to the driver. The kid then gets back out of the car, points the gun at my dad again and starts circling my dad while patting him down, looking for his wallet. When he realizes my dad really doesn't have a wallet on him, he demands his cellphone. So, Dad gives them that, the kid gets back in the car, and they drive off throwing my dad's license and credit cards out the window as they leave. He quickly picks it up and makes a dash for our backyard.

Hubby & I are upstairs trying to call the gas company so they can connect the gas and we can take hot showers instead of cold (which never did happen for the whole weekend by the way!) when we hear my Dad start yelling for us. At first we thought he was just joking about the asbestos in the basement or something, but then he tells us his story and I look at his cellphone holder on his hip and realize it really is empty and I yell for hubs to call 911. It was so surreal.

After we call 911, we call the neighborhood "Flashlight Mob" coordinator (now we know why they have one of those!) who gets the neighborhood security guy there ASAP. Good thing he got their fast because it took the cops an hour to respond to an armed robbery! Turns out the security guy saw the car parked in the neighborhood earlier in the day and wrote down the license plate number because it was a car he hadn't seen in the neighborhood before.

The cops finally arrived and they said they got the call 15 minutes before they got there and they were mad when they found out we had called it in 45 minutes before they got the call. As they're calling in my dad's description of the car, we hear back over their radio that they kids stole the car earlier in the day and that in addition to my Dad, they also robbed someone else. Thankfully, two hours later, the cops come back by to let us know that they found the car and caught the kid (we don't know if they caught both of them, or just the one that had the gun) and asked my Dad to come to the police station that night to identify the kid.

So, we go to the station that night and learn that they probably have my dad's cellphone in evidence, they take his story again, and they ask us to come back the next night. Needless to say, the three of us (Mom wasn't in town yet because she was working a trip still) didn't sleep that soundly that night as we kept hearing strange noises.

The next night we go back to the police station and my Dad identifies the kid in a photo lineup and i.d.'s the car and the kid's clothes. Then we learn the crazy way of the courts in this city. That is, if my dad doesn't return to court this week and identify the kid in court, the kid walks. How crazy is that? They catch the kid in a stolen car (the one my dad identified nonetheless), with my dad's cellphone, and my dad id's the kid in a photo lineup, but if he doesn't purchase another airline ticket, get a hotel, and take time off work to go back to court, the kid walks! I have never heard of a more messed up judicial system in my life!!

Anyway...the good news is that my Dad is safe and still here with us. It could have been an entirely different ending to this story. Hubby & I have signed up for our gun permits and are starting to look at handguns.

For those of you who know me personally, though, please don't let this story discourage you from visiting us because this was a random act of violence. We just learned that we won't be living in the country anymore and need to be a little more on guard. There are other crimes in the neighborhood...and these crooks have guts (as we saw another one in broad daylight trying to steal a car from across the street while 6 of us were outside working on our house)...but we learned to sleep soundly by the last couple nights once the home security system was hooked up.

Most importantly, we are still feeling God is calling us to this place. All this event did was open our eyes to how much this city needs hope. We're praying that God will open our eyes and prepare our path to be his hands and his feet to those desperately needing Him in this city.

Pictures of all our work will come in a future post.

Haven Swap

I had the opportunity to participate in another swap hosted by Carrie & Monica. The theme this time was Haven and they paired me up with Nicol. It was a great match because we both have similar taste. Unfortunately, even though we mailed our packages on time, they both got held up in the mail so we weren't able to join the the show and tell, but I still wanted to post and thank Nicol for the wonderful things she sent. I love the topiary and I can't wait until I get my own kitchen to hang up the metal scrollwork hooks. The spoon rest will go great with the rest of my ktichen stuff and I'm looking forward to using the locally mined salt and honey in my cooking. I took a photo of what I sent Nicol, but it's on a different camera, so I'll have to post that later. Thanks again, Carrie & Monica for hosting this swap!

Let the Catching Up Begin!

There's been a lot going on lately and I just haven't had time to write much here on the blog. My goal is to get caught up on things over the next few days.

Today's the day!

Hubby and I are closing on our house this morning!! We're so excited!

As soon as the closing is done, it's down to work for us. We'll be working down here:

That's right. I'll be spending my Labor Day weekend actually "laboring" while removing all the moldy and water damaged stuff in the basement and then sealing it all to be resistant to water. Oh, and I also get to clean a 7200 square foot house. I even ordered us the tyvek suits and masks. Should make for great pictures.

Hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Eat a hamburger for me will you? I'm sure the closest we'll get is take out from McDonald's so we can get as much work done as possible.

Snickers Cupcakes

(I forgot to take a photo, but they looked very similar to this)

Last Wednesday was not my night for making cupcakes.

Sure, they smelled lovely and looked wonderful when I took them out of the oven. They didn't look or smell so wonderful when I came back in 40 minutes or so later from working out in the office.

I walked in to the worst burnt smell ever!

You see, I had pulled the cupcake holders out of the oven and quickly set them on top of the stove so I could get back to work. The whole time I'm thinking to myself that I really should pull out the cooling racks, but then I figured "nah, this will work and it will save me time."

Well, turns out I forgot to turn the back burner off of "low" when dinner was done and thus my one tray of cupcakes was still cooking from the bottoms up.

Let's just say they were a little more than "crispy" on the bottom. My hubby suggested I just make the muffin tops, but there wasn't too much of those I could salvage. Plus, they just smelled burned.

Thankfully, I was able to find enough good ones that I could frost and take to work.

Just when I thought the problem was solved, I pulled out my new easy decorator to do the frosting with. Someone told me that she put a whole can of frosting in there and was able to decorate 24 cupcakes no problem. Worth a shot seeing how I only had 16 or so that survived the toasting. Well, after cupcake #5 I ran out of frosting. I don't know if I used the wrong tip or what, but those 5 cupcakes had more frosting on them than I've ever seen!

So, I had to scrape it off and hand frost the remaining cupcakes. I ended up spending more time than I saved...aagghh!!

Oh well, when they were all frosted and the chopped snickers were placed on top, I helped myself to one and suddenly felt a lot better.

Chocolate. Does a girl good.

Hello, my name is Brie, and I...

fed my husband meals from a box not once, but twice this week.

I know. I'm a bad wife.

But hey, at least he got fed, right?

Don't worry, I'll make up for it tomorrow when I make enchiladas.

Almost back

I know it's been awhile since I have posted. We were on vacation for a week (an update on that later) and then when I got back to work this past Monday, I was without a computer up until late last night, so I haven't had an opportunity to post.

I promise to try to get back in the swing of things come next Monday with pictures from vacation, more cupcakes from work, and news on the house.

My 100th Post (a couple posts late)

It's hard to believe I've already posted on this thing 100 times. I saw on some other blogs that when people hit this milestone they wrote a list of 100 things that people might not know about them. I thought that was a great idea, so here goes in random order:

1. I type really fast and prefer to type rather than write.

2. I love playing around with digital designing and want to take a class someday.

3. I went to 2 colleges and had tried 3 different majors and two different minors.

4. I was accepted to the Univ. of Michigan's MSW (master in social work) program for medical social work, but met my husband and grad school got put on hold indefinitely.

5. I want to go to grad school someday, but now I don't know what I want to go for.

6. My mom always told me I'd make an excellent First Lady and I ended up marrying a politician.

7. I really, really dislike cleaning even though I love having a clean house.

8. I watch way more tv than I should.

9. I wear a smaller clothing size now than I did when I was a freshman in high school.

10. I lost all the weight by eating 5 small balanced meals a day.

11. I prefer mountains and streams to a beach and sand any day.

12. I love to travel and am trying to get to all 50 states eventually.

13. My husband and I dated for almost 5 years before we got married.

14. We were engaged for 1.5 years.

15. We both knew in the first few months that we were going to marry each other. Who knows why it took so long.

16. I've been a Christian since I was 5 years old.

17. My favorite job during college was working as an overnight camp counselor for two summers here.

18. I'm the oldest of three kids.

19. I used to make my siblings call me "drill Sargent" when I babysat them...they won't let me forget it to this day!

20. I am a dog person; no cats for me.

21. I was a die hard Chicago Bulls fan in the early 90's.

22. BJ Armstrong was my favorite player.

23. Now I can't stand watching NBA basketball.

24. I played the flute from 4th grade until 10th grade and the alto sax in 9th & 10th.

25. I was first chair in both.

26. I loved playing sports in high school and made the college volleyball team, but decided not to play.

27. I went to the same school from 2nd grade until I graduated high school and loved every minute of it.

28. I want to own horses someday...a paint named Cherokee and a buckskin.

29. I've only been thrown off a horse once.

30. I'm half dutch, and part English, German & American Cherokee.

31. I missed getting a scholarship for my Native American heritage by 1/16.

32. I was born in Michigan, but moved to Colorado when I was one and a half, so I consider myself a Colorado native with a Michigan accent.

33. I prefer the Great Lakes over the ocean.

34. I strongly considered going to the Air Force Academy.

35. I've never broken a bone.

36. I've never worn braces.

37. My hair is naturally curly ever since I got a spiral perm in 9th grade.

38. I was the salutatorian of my high school class.

39. I missed being valedictorian by 1/100th of a GPA point.

40. I graduated college Summa Cum Laude.

41. I started off college studying to be a pediatric oncologist.

42. I ran into Organic Chemistry and quit.

43. To this day I wonder if I would have made it through medical school.

44. I played basketball from 4th grade until 11th grade.

45. I regret not playing my senior year.

46. I love to read.

47. I love country music.

48. Running is not for me.

49. I am very shy.

50. People often think I'm stuck-up when they first meet me because of how shy I am.

51. I don't like talking on the phone at all.

52. I wear contacts.

53. I enjoy baking more than cooking.

54. I live with my in-laws until we can move in to our own place.

55. My husband and I aren't going on our honeymoon until February of 2009 (over a year after we got married.)

56. I loved every minute of planning our wedding.

57. I would love to plan weddings for a living.

58. My favorite dessert is cheesecake.

59. My favorite food is Mexican food, especially enchiladas.

60. Christmas is my favorite holiday.

61. I have 3 grandmas, 2 grandpas and 1 great grandma who are still living.

62. My dad's mom died when I was 8 years old. I was given her "mother's" ring. It took me almost 20 years to find the ring beautiful and want to wear it.

63. I have had chronic hives since 2nd grade. You can scratch your name in my skin and it will puff up and stay there for about 5 minutes.

64. I prefer going to the doctor over the dentist.

65. One of my favorite movies is Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken.

66. I prefer sleeping on the right side of the bed.

67. I really enjoy spending time with my family.

68. I've been to London on a mission trip.

69. I've also been to Juarez, Mexico on mission trip.

70. I took two years of Spanish in high school and couldn't even remember what "como estas" meant when I was in Costa Rica. Talk about embarrassing.

71. I'm beginning to wish I had done this on my 50th post so I didn't have to come up with so many tidbits.

72. I love taking pictures.

73. I really don't like heights.

74. I have an unnatural dislike of bird poop.

75. I get teased about this all the time now that I live on a farm.

76. I'm not allergic to anything.

77. One of my favorite books in the Bible is Romans.

78. I would love to go to Turkey one day and follow one of Paul's missionary journeys.

79. I'm proud to be a CSU Ram (alumni).

80. I had 9 roommates in college. I was in a 4-man room my freshman year, roomed with two different friends sophomore year, and lived in a house with 4 other girls my junior and senior years.

81. I want to have kids someday in the not too distant future.

82. I love being an aunt.

83. I really enjoy watching sports.

84. I love decorating in the rich, warm colors of Tuscany.

85. I really want to go to Italy someday.

86. I've never owned a game system (i.e Nintendo) and don't think I'll buy one for my kids.

87. Our house was robbed when I was about 12 (we scared them away as we came home) and from then on I'm scared of being home by myself in the dark.

88. I enjoy crunching numbers.

89. I love when things are organized.

90. I don't have a window in my office, but would love to be able to look outside.

91. At least I have an office that has a door instead of a cubicle.

92. I blame the internet for my newly developed short attention span.

93. I am heavily leaning towards homeschooling my children when the time comes.

94. I would like to try modeling.

95. I'm a perfectionist.

96. I keep from trying some things because I'm afraid of failure.

97. This is one of the things I like the least about myself.

98. I'm glad I only have two more things to go.

99. I enjoy sketching floor plans and picking out different furnishings for houses.

100. I'm most thankful for my salvation in Christ.

On Vacation...Almost

Well, the in-laws went down today to secure a beach house. I'm sure it's not going to be as spiffy as what we got accustomed to these past few years, but at least we're going! Thanks to those of you who were praying.

I don't think I'm going to have any chance to blog while I'm away, but hopefully I'll have some great photos to post when I return.

Color Choices

Like my new blog background? I'm in the process of updating my blog and using this temporarily until I have some time to design something I like.

However, as I was looking for free backgrounds yesterday, I was struck by the fact that the colors I prefer for website and online stuff are very different from colors I would use to decorate my home.

I love the black, green and white scheme for my blog, but I don't think I would choose these colors to decorate my house. For that I prefer the rich colors of Tuscany with a nice stripe or paisley type pattern.

Anybody else notice you prefer a different set of colors for your online "home" as opposed to the colors you like to use in your real home?

A Bad Day

Yesterday has to go down as one of the worst days I've had in awhile. Nothing horrible happened like somebody dying or getting really sick or anything, just a lot of disappointments and stress.

First off, I tried calling my dr. to switch my appointment because we're going to be out of town working on the house. It's important that I see the same dr. every month and on the month for this medication I'm on, and I was told that the earliest appt she'd have available is more than a month after my original appt. This obviously is not going to work, and we already have our plane tickets booked to go work on the house, so my only hope is that somebody cancels the week of my current appt. A week sooner won't work because I won't be finished with the treatment plan, and a week later is too late because I have to have lab work and a pregnancy test done on the month. So, please be praying that somebody cancels an appt. between Augsut 25 & 27th!

I call my hubby to tell him this news and ask him to pray, only to find out that he had more "great" news to tell me. Next week we are all slated to go on vacation. By "we" I mean hubby, myself, his parents, his grandma, and a few other relatives (his sister, his cousin & his wife, and my brother) thrown in for a few days here and there. For the past 15 years or so, the family has been going to Ocean City, NJ and renting a house. About 4 years ago we realized that if you wait to book your house until the week before you go, you get much nicer houses for a cheaper price. The last three years, this worked like a charm. Two weeks ago when we checked houses there were plenty of options available, but their prices hadn't dropped yet. Well, when hubby went to book the house yesterday they were all gone. At least the ones that would work for his 89 year old grandma. We were all majorly bummed. We're trying everything we can to find one that may work, so please be praying that there will be a last minute cancellation in a house that is close enough to the shore, and on the first floor for his grandma's sake, so that we'll be able to continue the family tradition. We didn't get to go last year because of our wedding, so this year it means ever more to be able to go.

To top it all off, I got to spend my day yesterday trying to figure out how to get our company webpage to consistently be at the top of a google search for a wide variety of word searches. I do not enjoy trying to learn/read HTML code at all, so I had a huge headache the whole day.

Hubs had more stressful news when I got home and we were both ready to pack it in. Thankfully, we got a small reprive by dinner out at our favorite little Mexican joint with friends.

Before we went to bed, we reminded ourselves of the prayer that our pastor preached on this past Sunday. It's found in Proverbs 30:8-9, "...give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread. Otherwise, I may have too much and disown you and say, 'Who is the LORD ?' Or I may become poor and steal, and so dishonor the name of my God."

No matter how difficult of a day it was, it was not too difficult for our Lord to handle. He provided us with food to eat, clothes to wear, and a shelter over our heads. We took the time to list the blessings He has so richly bestowed on us and reminded ourselves that He does provide our daily bread.

Recipes from the Party

In case you're interested, here are the recipes from my hubby's birthday party.

CHICKEN WITH GRAPES AND COUSCOUS
Serves 4

2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T. chopped fresh thyme leaves
Coarse salt and pepper
2 T. butter, cut into pieces (I forgot the butter last night and it came out fine)
¼ c. flour
2 lbs. chicken tenders
½ c. white wine (last night I used left over champagne and it was good; could use chicken stock)
2 ½ c. chicken stock
1 c. heavy cream
¼ c. grainy, stone-ground mustard
1 ½ c. (about ½ lb.) seedless red grapes, halved
2 c. couscous

Heat a large skillet over medium to medium high heat. Add olive oil and butter to the pan. Place flour in a shallow dish. Season chicken with salt and pepper then dredge the tenders in flour and add to the pan. Cook chicken 7 to 8 minutes until browned. Add wine and scrape up browned bits as wine cooks down and bubbles, 30 seconds. Add ½ cup stock to skillet. Combine cream and mustard and add to pan. Add grapes to the pan and turn chicken and grapes to coat and combine with the sauce. Simmer 5 minutes over low heat.

Bring remaining 2 c. stock and thyme to a boil in a small pot. Add couscous. Put a tight fitting lid on pot and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork. Serve tenders and grapes on couscous.

MANDARIN SALAD

¼ c. sliced almonds
1 T. plus 1 t sugar
¼ head lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
¼ bunch romaine, torn into bite-size pieces
2 medium stalks celery, chopped (about 1 c.)
2 green onions (with tops), thinly sliced (about 2 T.)
1 can (11 oz.) mandarin oranges*

Sweet/Sour Dressing:
¼ c. vegetable oil
2 T. sugar
2 T. vinegar
1 T. snipped parsley
½ t. salt
dash of pepper
dash of red pepper sauce

Shake all ingredients for dressing in tightly covered jar; refrigerate.

Cook almonds and sugar over low heat, stirring constantly, until sugar is melted and almonds are coated. Cool and break apart. Store at room temp.

Place lettuce and romaine in bowl. Add celery and onions. Pour dressing over all. Add orange segments and mix well. Lightly stir in almonds.

**WARNING: This dessert is VERY rich so small portions will do you! The original recipe specifies butter and margarine, so it must make a difference. Next time I make it I'm going to try and figure out how to cut down on the sweetness of it.

BUSTER BAR DESSERT

1 15 oz. pkg. oreos
4 T. butter, melted
1 c. margarine
3 c. powder sugar
3 sq. semisweet chocolate (3 oz.)
4 eggs
½ gallon vanilla ice cream
1-1/4 c. Spanish peanuts

Crumble cookies until fine, reserving 1/3 c. for top of dessert. Mix crumbs with butter and put in 9 x 13 pan. Set aside. Cook together margarine, sugar, chocolate, and eggs until boiling. Let cool. Spread vanilla ice cream over crumbs in pan. Sprinkle peanuts over ice cream. Freeze until ice cream is firm. Pour cooked sauce over peanuts. Sprinkle with reserved crumbs. Store in freezer.

My Hubby's Birthday

This was a great weekend!

Saturday I was able to finally get our room clean and start working on getting my craft room organized. I'm not brave enough to post pictures of that yet, but hopefully soon. Here is one of our newly cleaned bedroom, though. I like this room because so far it's really the only space in the entire house that is decorated in my style. Which, given that it's my in-laws house, it's great that they let me do what I want with this room (minus picking the paint color).

Ahh...much better and so much more relaxing! I also cleaned the bathroom, worked on getting the in-laws computer cleaned up and running much faster, and worked out.

Sunday was my hubby's 31st birthday! We started the day off with church and then I ran to CVS to check out the deals. After that, it was home to wrap hubby's gift and start cooking. We celebrated with his parents and grandma. He loves ice cream cakes, so I made Buster Bar dessert on Saturday so it had time to freeze. For lunch I made his favorite meal of Chicken & Grapes with Cous Cous (I got the recipe from Rachel Ray) and my Mandarin Orange Salad. Grandma brought the fruit salad that he loves so much. Yum!

After lunch he opened gifts. His parents spent the whole day Saturday giving his office a complete cleaning top to bottom. This was a fantastic gift because I just don't have the time to do this. I ended up getting him the tool bag I talked about (which he actually liked!) and some interlocking exercise floor mats for our workout area. He loved them! I was so happy!

Next it was on to watch the Yankees in their exciting come from behind win. It would have been a great day to be at the ballpark, but I'm sure tickets would have been outrageously expensive because it was sold out. We then all decided to go and see "The Dark Knight." I LOVED it! It was the first Batman movie I've ever seen and it was awesome. I don't think my mother-in-law and Gram liked it too much, but it was fun. We wrapped the day up with pizza on the way home from dropping Grandma off.

The only bummer? I had to blur out the face of my husband of less than a year. I thought people only did that when they broke up.