Valentine’s Decor

Our mantle has been bare ever since I took the Christmas stuff down the beginning of January. I was waiting for inspiration to strike and strike it did this weekend.

Not having a lot of money, I came up with the idea to use wedding photos from my hubby’s side of the family – us, his parents, his siblings and his grandparents – as well as a custom art piece and candles. I wanted some sort of red item to make things “pop” so I was so excited when I found these red berry plants on Christmas clearance for 90% off! I paid a whopping .40 cents for each of them! A coat of white paint on their pots was all the needed to blend in with my idea.

You can see the beginning stages of the art I made behind the freshly painted pot.

I wanted to make a piece that I could use at times of the year besides Valentine’s Day. The quote I decided to use is by Oliver Wendell Holmes, “Where we love is home, home that our feet may leave but not our hearts.” I thought it was perfect to accompany family photos.

First I made a file in Publisher that was the size of my board and arranged the fonts just how I wanted them. Then I printed it out and taped the pages together and taped them on my board.

 
Next I traced over each of the letters while pushing hard to transfer their outlines to the wood. Then I filled in each letter with the corresponding paint. In hindsight, I should have left it at this stage:

Unfortunately, I decided to try and antique it a little. First, I used my sanding block on the edges and gently across the face of it. I loved this and wish I had a photo at that stage. But, I took it a step further and used some Ralph Lauren glaze I picked up at Home Depot hoping to antique the white letters even more. The result?

 
I HATE it! The glaze went on so blotchy and no matter what I tried it just made it worse. Now I’m tempted to make my own glaze by watering down some black paint and hoping it will darken it up a little bit again. Any advice?

Which version do you like better:

Before “antiquing”

or

After “antiquing”?

One thing I do know…I will be making art like this again because it is great impact for very little money. The final cost for this 18” x 21.5” art and mantle makeover?

Wood: Free from work scraps
Frames & Photos: Free from shopping the house
Berries & Vases: $1.20 for three
Jar Lantern Tea light holders: $3.38 for two
Paint & Brush: $3 because I was out of black and wanted a larger foam brush

TOTAL: $7.58

(Note: I also paid $15 for the stupid glaze that I didn’t consider in this cost because I used a gift card hoping I’d be able to use it on many house projects to come. After this, I’m not so sure it was a good buy.)

I’m linking this up to Thrifty Decor Chick’s Before & After Party today and to Kimba’s DIY Day on Tuesday.

Creative Storage Solutions

Growing up I really enjoyed playing board games with my siblings. I have to admit that my favorite game was one called Bargain Hunter. I think my parents picked it up at a garage sale. It was kinda like Price is Right in board game fashion.

Hubby doesn't really like to play games, so hopefully my nephews or future children will so I'll have someone to play with. If that's the case, I'm definitely going to need some creative storage solutions.

I recently found this blog and was looking through some back posts and came across this great idea for storage/art using board games. I thought it was brilliant!

Some Delicious Meals on the Way

My friend Shelly who blogs at Frugal is the New Sexy had an awesome giveaway this past week. She was giving away three prizes, but the one I really wanted was this:

I've made a couple of Ree's recipes and they've been downright tasty for the most part. I can only imagine how much deliciousness this book contains.

Boy was I surprised when I clicked over to see who the winners were. Lo and behold there was my name right next to the PW cookbook! Yeah! Hopefully I can find some FBD friendly meals in there. If not, there's always time for a "cheat nite" now and then.

And, speaking of giveaways, I haven't forgotten about the one I promised. I'm hoping to settle on something this weekend and will let you know what I come up with next week.

If you haven't checked out Frugal is the New Sexy, I highly recommend you check it out now. I've already taken advantage of many of the great deals Shelly tells us about. Even my hubby has gotten hooked on checking out this site daily.

2 Days in a Row? Seriously?

I give up on being able to use the toilet at work anymore.

We recently split our building in half and my nice private bathroom (thanks to the fact I was the only female here) stayed on the half that's now rented out. That means I now have to share a bathroom with men. Dirty, smelly men.

I finally convinced the boss to let me buy some seat covers (or a** gaskets as his son referred to them...I have to admit that gave me a good chuckle because I never heard them called that) only to realize yesterday that it clogged the toilet when I went to flush it. Bring on embarrassing situation #1.

"Yum, excuse me boss. Do we have a plunger anywhere?"

That's one question I never hoped to have to ask at work.

Well, remember that nice private bathroom I used to have? Turns out our one and only plunger must have somehow got put in there when we split the building. Bring on embarrassing situation #2 - drive down the road to the plumbing supply store where a bunch of men work and ask them if they carry plungers and if so can I purchase one.

I didn't possibly think it could get any worse. Boy, was I wrong.

Braving use of the bathroom again today, I proceeded to flush only to have the problematic handle which is known to fall off from time to time fly up in the air and land smack dab in the toilet right as everything finishes flushing down the drain. Down goes the toilet paper. Down goes the seat cover. Down goes the handle.

"Yum, boss. Know that handle that falls off from time to time? Well, it fell into the toilet right as it was flushing and it kinda went down the drain."

Provided I still have a job tomorrow after messing with the toilet two days in a row, I'm never using the bathroom at work again.

Thankfully my boss has already pretty much told me I could do whatever I want and he doesn't care. He might reconsider after this, though!

UPDATE: Boss just came in to report that he's going to have to take the whole toilet off because the handle is not in the trap. Hopefully we don't have to bust up the concrete floor that the pipe runs under. Why does stuff like this happen to me?

I Will Still Love Him

NOTE: I intended to write this post before I just read a friend's announcement on Facebook.

Over the weekend hubby and I watched Facing the Giants again with his parents. This time, their struggle of starting their family really struck me, especially one line spoken by Grant to his wife that basically asked her if the Lord never gives them a baby, would she still love Him? (Him being God).

I know I mentioned on my bucket list for 2010 to "start a family". What I haven't mentioned before is that we've been trying to get pregnant for a year now with no success.

I'm not going to lie. I experience very mixed emotions when I hear about others who are expecting...especially when they weren't wanting to start a family yet, or they got married or started trying after we did, or it's their 2nd or 3rd child, or they're choosing to adopt before they start a biological family.

I've dealt with these emotions when I learned my sister was pregnant with number 2 (whom she conceived while on the pill; same with number 1). I've dealt with these emotions when I learned friends who got married after us are already unexpectedly expecting. I've dealt with these emotions as some of my friends are praising another friend for choosing to adopt before starting a biological family. I've dealt with these emotions as many good friends have had 2nd or 3rd babies before I've been able to get pregant with my 1st. I've dealt with these emotions every time someone asks or jokes that it's about time we had a baby.

On the outside, I try to appear happy for those friends who are expecting because I know deep down inside I really am happy for them. But it's hard. It's very, very hard.

It's hard because I know most people's response is "you can always adopt." Don't get me wrong. Adoption is a great thing and maybe someday it will be a road I walk. But choosing to adopt and having adoption as your only option of how to grow a family are two very different things.

This post is not intended to be a "poor me" post. It's not intended to belittle the joy and excitment of those I know who are expecting. This post is to hopefully explain to some friends why I may not seem overly excited for them. This post is to request prayer that the Lord will bless us with a biological baby, and that if that's not His will that He'll open our hearts to adoption. This post is to say that no matter what, I will still love Him.

Bang Hack Job

One lesson I learned this morning:

DON'T ATTEMPT TO QUICKLY TRIM YOUR BANGS WHEN YOU'RE LATE HEADING OUT THE DOOR.

If one ignores this rule, the result will be bangs that look like they were cute by a two year old wearing a blindfold. They'll be long where you wanted them short and short where you wanted them long. All a result of rushing and not double-checking your angle before snipping.

Lesson learned.

Looks like I'll be investing in some bobby-pins or hats for the next couple days until they grow out a little to correct my trim.

Insider Recipes

Earlier this week a friend of mine sent me a digital cookbook containing the BEST recipes. This book is full of recipes for various items from a variety of restaurants, recipes to make your own name brand condiments or candy bars, and much more.

I already know what recipe I’m going to be trying out for my birthday…Outback’s Alice Springs Chicken. I order this every time we go to Outback and it is so good. I’m anxious to see if this recipe really is as good as the original. Of course, I’ll have to wait two weeks to celebrate my birthday so that I’m finished with my Flat Belly Diet experiment.

I’m also going to have to try the recipe for Butterfingers.

Of course I couldn’t keep all these recipes to myself. If you want the book, click here to open up a .pdf file containing over 450 pages of delicious “insider” recipes. It may take a little bit to open, but it should work. If not, e-mail me at brieblogs (at) optonline (dot) net and I’ll send you the file as an attachment.

*FREE* Family Circle Magazine

Thanks to Frugal Is the New Sexy for making me aware of this great freebie going on right now. If you want to get 3 FREE issues to Family Circle magazine, click here. Don’t know how long this offer will last, so go now!

I Love My Followers & Commenters

Just wanted to send a big thank you to those of you who follow this blog and take the time to leave comments. There have been so many times where I wanted to reply to your comments, but there are a few things that have often prohibited this.

The first matter is this is a “semi-anonymous” blog in which, per my hubby’s request, I don’t use my last name and just post the general area of the country where I live. In fact, it was only recently that my hubby give me permission to no longer block his face out of photos.

There’s one tiny problem, though. The only e-mail addresses I have are linked to where I work (which would reveal where I live) or have my full name in them (which would obviously reveal my last name). I know you can easily set up other e-mail addresses, but I need to get the password info from my hubby to add another e-mail account that would not have my last name in it and would work seamlessly with my Outlook. I just received my laptop back with a full upgrade so hopefully this weekend, this issue will be resolved and I’ll have a “semi-anonymous” e-mail address.

The second matter is that often I want to reply directly to a particular commenter, but there is no e-mail address associated with their blogger profile. Personally, I don’t go back and check the comment section of a blog once I leave a comment, so if the author was to respond there, I would never see it and thus I don’t like to respond via the comment area. Plus, I like e-mail because then it’s possible to carry on the conversation further if interested.

So, if you’d like to start receiving replies to your comments (which I would love to be able to do!), please either leave an e-mail address where I can reach you in your comment (you can use (at) instead of @ and (dot) instead of . to cut down on spammers) or go to your blogger profile and under the “Privacy” section, check the box that says “show my email address”. This way, when you leave a comment, instead of saying “no-reply@blogger.com” it should show me your e-mail address.

Also, I currently only have time to read blogs in my downtime at work, but now that I have my laptop back, I’m going to try to make a more concerted effort to visit all of your blogs at least once a week.

Lastly, as a way to thank all of my followers/commenters, I’ll be having a giveaway shortly. Nothing grand, but something as a way to say thank you for joining me in this journey called life.

Nothing like a little temptation

Today is the first day of my experiment to cure my GI issues on my own with the side benefit of my size 4 pants once again fitting like they should. If you want to read more about that, visit my other blog called My Journey to a Size 4.

And, what better way to start a “diet”/exercise regime than tempting oneself with a delicious Lemon Poppy seed Cake with Lemon Curd Sauce?

Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to eat the cake today, I was tearing the cupboards apart calmly looking through all the cupboards to see if I had any cupcake liners so I could make cupcakes instead of one cake. I didn’t think the birthday boy at work would like it too much if I brought his cake in with a giant slice missing already!

My search for cupcake liners was unsuccessful, but I was successful in convincing hubby to take me out to Chili’s after I picked him up from his meeting at 9pm for some Kickin’ Jack Nachos, frozen strawberry margarita, and a Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie. I really didn’t have to twist his harm too hard, though!

This morning I quickly realized the error of eating all these items past 9pm when I awoke to a stomach three times its normal size. Lovely! What a great time to have to take my measurements!

Anyway…back to the cake.

Today someone at work was turning 60 and thus a cake was in order. The only thing in my cupboards was a box of white cake mix. Can you say B.O.R.I.N.G?

Here’s what I did to jazz it up:

LEMON POPPYSEED CAKE

To 1 box white cake mix (mixed according to directions on box) add 1 palmful of poppy seeds, Lemon extract (or lemon juice) to taste, and the freshly grated zest from 1 lemon. Mix together and bake according to box directions.

I ran out of time to make the lemon sauce last night because I was gorging myself at Chili’s picking up some important books from the library so I made it this morning with hopes it would taste okay without being able to sample it.

The recipe I used came from my Southern Living cookbook.

LEMON SAUCE
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon grated lemon zest (I just used the spirals I made the night before)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (I used the stuff from the bottle)

Stir together first 4 ingredients in a small saucepan until smooth. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium  heat 5 minutes or until thickened (and it turns into a translucent gel consistency). Remove from heat and stir in butter, zest and lemon juice. Serve warm or cold. Yield: 1-1/2 cups.

P.S. My apologies for not being able to show you the sauce drizzled nicely over a slice of cake. But, my buttocks and thighs will be thanking me in a couple weeks that I didn’t indulge in this cake!

Tomorrow's the Day

When all my GI issues will begin to be no more hopefully. Want to follow along? Perhaps you just want to see a really embarrassing photo of me in a bathing suit?

Click here to join me in my journey. I'm going to need all the encouragement I can get!

Help Victims of the Haitian Earthquake

I'm sure you've all heard by now about the earthquake in Haiti.

One of my good friends from highschool was adopted from Haiti so I know this country is near and dear to her heart as she has many biological family members who live there.

My friend who's wedding we went to in Italy last April is also in Haiti right now while her hubby is deployed to the Middle East. She's been there for about a month and thankfully is safe.

If you're looking for a way to assist those in desparate need at this time, one organization I always trust is World Vision. Click here if you're interested in making a donation.

Special Agent Oso Invitation

My youngest nephew turns one the end of February and I was commissioned to design his party invite.

Supposedly, he’s a HUGE fan of Special Agent Oso. I had never heard of this show before, but a quick little internet search provided some needed details such as color scheme, characters and special phrases the show uses.

I guess Special Agent Oso is a type of James Bond show for kids that teaches them how to do things in “3 Special Steps” because after all, “It’s all part of the plan!”

Here is the invite I designed for my nephew (click on the picture for a larger view):

Hopefully he has fun at his party. Wish I could be there to join him.

I’m linking this project up to Kimba’s DIY day. Click here for more projects and don’t forget to enter one of your own for a chance to win a gift certificate from here.

I Think You Have the Wrong House

Just after hubby & I had settled in front of the fire tonight -- he to enjoy some poorly made ‘80s movie and me to reload all my programs on my freshly repaired laptop -- I saw the motion sensor lights in the driveway go off.

There was a car that was slowly backing up into our driveway and then proceeded to park and wait there.

My father-in-law went out to investigate only to open the door to two cops who thought that the truck sitting in our driveway was stolen. Thankfully they quickly realized this was not the stolen truck they were looking for.

I don’t know if it was the hay all over it, the mismatched truck topper or the fact that my father-in-law pointed out to them that they were at the mayor’s house that made them come to the realization.

Needless to say, I think the two cops from out of town were slightly embarrassed.

Just another interesting night on the farm!

Vetoed Values

I've been working on this huge presentation for work and one of the slides contains our value statement.

Being tired of boring lists, I spent the past hour developing a contemporary image containing the words that compose the values we hold dear as a company.

I just showed it to my boss to be told, "I think we should just list them."

Personally, I like the "art" version better, but gotta do what the boss says.

Here's the artsy version:

What do you think?

Thank Heaven for AAA

My brother and his girlfriend are visiting for a little bit before they start their last semester of college. They spent yesterday touring NYC and attending tapings of Good Morning America and The Late Show with David Letterman. They also got to see and speak with Chuck in the NBC Studio store in Rockefeller Center.

After work, I took my car for an oil change and met hubby at Chili's (thanks to my bro for the gift card for Christmas) and as we finished eating Brock called to say they were on the train and heading our way. Hubby and I had separate cars and instead of him heading home and me heading to the train, he opted to drop his car closer to home but along the way and ride with me.

We made it to the train station about 5 minutes before their train arrived and turned the car off to save on gas. Brock and Leah get in the car and I go to turn it on only to learn it is completely DEAD. No lights are coming on even. DEAD.

Never have I been so happy to have hubby with me because not having any jumper cables, the only option was to call AAA. The AAA is only in hubby's name. Thankfully, the guy was there in 15 minutes and ran some tests on the battery. He said he'd be able to charge it enough to get us back home, but that we'd have to get a new one anyway. We decided to save the hassle and have him install the new battery then so Brock and Leah wouldn't have issues when they used my car today.

It'd sure have been nice if there was some way the guys who performed the oil change I had just gotten on my way to dinner would have been able to tell my battery was going to be dying in less than 3 hours. Then again they probably would have charged me more than the AAA guy did.

Hopefully now that my car has four brand new tires and a brand new battery it won't need anymore expensive work done before we're ready to get rid of it in a few years!

From My Bookshelf

There were so many books I read in 2009 that I never got a chance to post about here. Many of them were fabulous reads so as I get the chance I'm going to try to post about them.

In the meanwhile, here's the latest book I'm reading:

This book was a Christmas gift from some friends and I'm really enjoying it so far. I know Sarah Palin is a polarizing figure - you either love her or hate her. Personally, I'm a big fan. Afterall, I don't hide the fact that I'm a conservative Republican. Her book is proving to be a great read and I look forward to learning even more about Sarah and her strong desire to serve our great country.

The next book I want to read is one I heard about on a friend's Facebook page:

Unfortunately our county library system doesn't carry this book (maybe it has something to do with the fact that there are few Christians in the area where we live) so I'm going to have to order it here. The subtitle of this book is: "Have we tamed the Son of God to Fit our Lifestyle". I think it will be an interesting discourse on Christianity in America and how we seem to have removed ourselves from the fact that many Christians throughout history the worldover have faced serious persecution for their faith and in America we tend to think if we're a follower of Christ our lives should be filled with only good things.

It struck me last night driving home how much of a blessing it is to live in America. At any moment, that blessing can be taken from us whether it be via politicians who put things into law with which we disagree or war or who knows what. The important thing is to remember God has blessed us as Americans in an immense way and we are to be incredibly grateful for that. At the same time we need to remember "to whom much has been given, much will be required." (Luke 12:48)

P.S. If you want to order any of these books to read yourself, click on the desired image.

Got Mildew?

We had three towels that must have gotten left in the washer too long one time and though they'd smell fresh before you used them, the moment you went to dry yourself off after the shower the stank like mildew so bad.

I don't remember where I read this handy hint, but I recalled you can use vinegar to remove the smell of mildew from towels. Figuring it was worth a try here's what I did:

1. Using the hottest water possible, add 1-2 cups white vinegar to washer.

2. Add towels and run a wash cycle.

3. Leaving the towels in the washer, run the washer again using the hottest water possible, this time with detergent. (I prefer to use this kind.)

4. Transfer towels to dryer and dry on the hottest setting possible until completely dry.

It worked fantastic! I'm sure there are many other great uses for vinegar. I might have to check this book out to learn what some of them are:

(click the above image for a sneak peek inside the book)

Mexi-Chicken Soup

My mother-in-law’s birthday was this past Sunday but we were busy at parties celebrating my husbands new mayor position so we didn’t celebrate until last night. She’s been sick with a cold and all she wanted was soup.

I did a take on the regular old chicken soup and made one of my mom’s recipes. Hubby is not a big fan of this soup because he doesn’t like brothy soups. I’m normally not a fan of brothy soups myself, but I like this one. To try to accommodate him, I add extra corn and beans to the mix to make it a little more hearty.

If you’re short on time or money, this is a healthy, flavorful and affordable soup.

MEXI-CHICKEN SOUP

3 cans (13-3/4 oz. each) chicken broth
1 can (15-1/4 oz.) whole kernel corn, undrained (2 cans for heartier soup)
1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes with green chilies
1 can (15 oz.) red kidney beans, rinsed and drained (2 cans for heartier soup)
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins cut into pieces
dash crushed red pepper
tortilla chips
cheese and sour cream to garnish

Cook chicken in skillet over medium to medium-high heat until lightly browned. In large saucepan, combine chicken broth, corn, diced tomatoes, beans, and red pepper. Add chicken and bring to boil, stirring occasionally. Cook 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand for about 15 minutes. Put chips in soup bowls and top with soup garnished with sour cream and grated cheese. Serves 8.

So proud of my hubby

Well, the Lord answered our prayers! Yesterday hubby was sworn in as Mayor. I'm so proud of him and know he'll do a fantastic job.

The county surrogate delivered the oath. She and hubby ran together a few years ago when he ran for a seat on the county governing body.

She had the nicest things to say about hubs. She even said she wishes she was his mother!

Taking the oath. I'm so proud of him!

Our newly sworn in mayor.

A very happy day. Now it's time for the real work to begin. I've already been asked what my platform will be as First Lady! Ha! I don't think it really makes a difference in a town with 35,000 residents.

How To Remove Wax

While attending Christmas Eve service, the candle I held while singing Silent Night managed to drip wax beneath the paper holder and onto my black pants.

My mother-in-law had a great tip on how to remove the wax.

Place your pants (or whatever item you get wax on) on the ironing board. Cover the area that has the wax on it with a dry paper towel. Using an iron on the low setting, iron over the paper towel until the towel has absorbed the wax from the fabric.

It took less than 30 seconds and worked like a charm!

Count Me Out

I’ve been thinking of a few different crafts I’d like to try this year and came across a picture for one that I know I will definitely not try.

I don’t know about you, but these:

just don’t scream fashionable to me. Or classy. Or flattering. They scream a lot of things, but fashionable, classy and flattering definitely do not make the list.

Here is one New Year’s resolution I am definitely keeping: “I will not under any circumstances make and/or wear tie-dyed leggings.”

(My apologies to those of you who may find these stylish. Perhaps I can arrange for you to go on a shopping spree courtesy of What Not To Wear.)

My “Bucket List” for 2010

Happy New Year’s Eve! Any big plans for tonight? It’s snowing outside and I have two movies waiting for me to pick up at the Red box on my way home from work. Tonight I’m going to watch movies while snuggled in front of the fire with my hubby. Hopefully we’ll be able to stay awake until midnight, but our track record the past couple years hasn’t been too good. Ha!

I’m not one to make resolutions normally, but I do want to list a few things I am looking forward to or hoping to accomplish in 2010.

Here is my “bucket list” for this year in no particular order:

1. Watch the Vancouver Olympics (we saw the bobsled course here and here)
2. Go skiing in Aspen with my hubby
3. Watch hubby enjoy serving another year as mayor
4. Celebrate my “baby” bro’s graduation from college
5. Spend Christmas in Tennessee with my family
6. Finally move out of my in-laws house after two years and into our own place for the first time ever in our married life
7. Expand our family, Lord willing
8. Purchase the 95 acre ranch my hubby has wanted for years
9. Build the guest house/garage on the ranch to live in while we build the main house (this will help accomplish #6)
10. Pay cash for everything we purchase
11. Pay off our last student loans and all our credit card debt
12. Visit with my nephews
13. Travel to Turkey with my parents (as long as #7 hasn’t happened yet)
14. Finish renovating the kitchen in our “flip” house
15. Look into renting or selling the “flip” house
16. Faithfully complete the P90X workout routine
17. Transfer my shop location to Etsy to hopefully increase traffic and sales
18. Let my husband know every day how much he is cherished and appreciated
19. Get back into a consistent size 4 pant (only have to drop 5 pounds)
20. Take a cake decorating class
21. Giveaway or sell a lot of things I no longer use
22. Organize our mounds of paperwork
23. Celebrate the birth of a “nephew” on hubby’s side of the family
24. Get even more connected with the start-up church we’re attending
25. Grow my hair out and get a new hairstyle
26. Faithfully write our new Compassion sponsor child each month
27. Craft more
28. Read more
29. Watch less TV
30. And for my mom, travel to NYC with my mother

What are your resolutions or bucket list items for 2010?

P.S. We find out this Sunday if my hubby gets elected to serve as mayor again, so please be praying his wish comes true.

Some Changes Have Been Made

As long as you’re not reading this blog via a reader, I’m sure you noticed some changes I made to the layout in the past couple days.

In an effort to bring in a little extra income each month, I decided to give ad sense and other similar things a test drive.

I tried to put the buttons in places where they’re not annoying yet still visible. However, I care more about this blog being user-friendly than I do the few dollars it may bring in each month so if the ads are bothersome, please let me know.

It really is the best. Ever.

Last night I finally gave in to the rave reviews this lasagna has received and decided to try it for myself.

And let me tell you.

It really is the best lasagna. EVER.

And thank goodness because I didn’t get home until after 6pm and it took over 3 hours 30 minutes for my water to boil for the stinkin’ noodles and the whole time I was telling my hubby that it was really going to be worth the wait.

Boy was I glad it turned out delicious or he might still be upset that I feed him at 7:30pm two nights in a row!

Do yourself a favor. If you have never made Pioneer Woman’s lasagna go buy all the ingredients and make it tonight.

My mouth is already preparing itself for another serving of it tonight.

Christmas Dinner

I volunteered to make Christmas dinner this year. After all, I figured it was only fair seeing how we invited one of hubby’s friends and my boss and his son and daughter over. Unfortunately, only our friend is able to make it (my boss says he’s too much of a bah humbug this year to be good company!) so it’s not going to be as big of a group as originally thought, but I’m still having fun with the menu and table setting.

For the menu, I’m mainly making the items my mom used to make when we were growing up with one or two additions and a couple twists on others.

Here is my menu:

• Pineapple Glazed Ham (using one of my mother-in-law’s recipes)
• Corn Casserole
• Raspberry Jello Salad
• Rosemary Butter Rolls (my addition)
• Green Bean Casserole (my family never has this, but my hubby likes it so I make it for him the holidays we’re with his side of the family)
• Oven Roasted Asparagus (my addition)
• Spinach Dip
• Pineapple Casserole (the version from my hubby’s side of the family)
• Spicy Sweet Potatoes
• Cranberry Cocktails (cranberry juice and sprite) 
• Brownie & Peppermint Pie (my addition)

Here are the recipes if you’re interested:

PINEAPPLE GLAZED HAM

1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
½ cup maple-flavored syrup
¼ cup Grey Poupon Dijon Mustard
1 (5 lb) whole fully cooked boneless ham
Whole cloves
1 T cornstarch
1 (20-oz) can crushed pineapple in juice, undrained

Preheat oven to 350°. Mix sugar, syrup and mustard until well blended; set aside. Score ham with sharp knife; insert cloves into ham as desired. Place ham on rack in shallow baking pan. Bake 2 hours or until ham reaches an internal temperature of 140° when tested in center with meat thermometer, brushing occasionally with ½ cup of the syrup mixture after 1½ hours. Mix remaining syrup mixture with cornstarch and pineapple with its liquid in saucepan; cook on medium-high heat until mixture comes to boil and thickens, stirring constantly. Serve with sliced ham.

RASPBERRY JELLO SALAD

16 oz. can crushed pineapple
20 oz. frozen unsweetened raspberries, thawed
2 3 oz. pkg. raspberry jello
2 c. applesauce
½ c. chopped pecans

Drain pineapple and raspberries, reserving juices. Place in large bowl and set aside. Add enough water to juice to measure one cup. Pour into saucepan; bring to boil. Remove from heat and stir in jello until dissolved. Pour over fruit mixture. Add applesauce and pecans. Pour into serving dish. Chill until set. Makes 12 servings.

OVEN ROASTED ASPARAGUS

Asparagus (how ever much you need for your group)
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Wash and trim asparagus (how ever much you need to feed your group). Lay in a single layer on foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until asparagus shrivel to about half their size and are super delicious. If you have to, you can roast them at a lower temp for a longer period of time.

PINEAPPLE CASSEROLE

½ cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
2 medium cans of pineapple chunks or tidbits
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 stick melted margarine
1 stack of Ritz crackers, crushed

Drain pineapple but save 3 tablespoons of juice.  Mix the sugar, flour, juice and pineapple together.  Place in a greased casserole dish.  Sprinkle cheese on top. Melt butter and mix with crushed crackers.  Sprinkle on top. Bake on 350 for 30 minutes.  Or if you want to make it ahead of time, bake if to 25 minutes and keep in fridge.  Take it out about 30 minutes ahead of time to thaw out then bake for 10-15 minutes to heat.

 

SPICY SWEET POTATOES

3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 6 cups)
2 T. olive or canola oil
2 T. brown sugar
1 t. chili powder
½ t. salt
¼ t. cayenne pepper

In large resealable plastic bag, toss potatoes and oil. Add remaining ingredients; toss to coat. Transfer to a greased 11 x 7 inch baking dish. Bake uncovered at 400 for 40-45 minutes or until potatoes are tender, stirring every 15 minutes. Serves 8.

 

BROWNIE & PEPPERMINT PIE

*I haven’t ever made this and am not using a recipe, so I don’t know how it will turn out*

Brownie mix (and items to make it according to pkg)
Peppermint ice cream
Hot fudge

Mix brownie mix according to pkg directions. Spread in the bottom of a greased springform pan. Bake brownies until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool completely. Spread softened ice cream on top. Freeze until ice cream hardens. Spread hot fudge on top and freeze. Thaw at room temp about 20-30 minutes before serving.

Bling baby, bling

*12/29/09* Linking up to Kimba's DIY Party. See more projects here.*

If you’ve opened a magazine this year that has even a page dedicated to fashion, you have no doubt seen the jewelry craze that is all the rage…the bib necklace.

I was watching Martha the other day and she had a guest on giving a tutorial on how to make your own bib necklace. Of course I was all over this and had to get the supplies to make one of my own. All you need is some satin ribbon, felt, acrylic jewels and fabric glue.

A cute top to wear with your bib necklace is nice too. Thankfully I had a coupon for $10 worth of free stuff from JC Penny so I found a cute purple top with a ruffle neckline. Purple is very in this season too so it works out great.

Last night I arranged all my gems and glued them on and today I’m sporting my “WWE Wrestling Belt” as my husband dubbed it. Men! They just don’t get fashion! At least he said it was for the lightweight division. :)

What do you think?

This necklace cost me less than $10 to make and they are easily retailing anywhere between $50 to over $500 depending on what magazine you’re reading.

Christmas Gift Idea – Sewing Projects

Here are the last two homemade gifts I made this year. I just recently relearned how to sew and am trying to broaden my sewing skills. I made a half retro apron for my sister and a fun sock monkey for my nephew. They opened them a week ago when they celebrated Christmas with our parents and both gifts were quite a hit!

For the apron, I followed a pattern from a book I picked up at the library called A is for Apron. There are lots of cute patterns in the book, but it didn’t get great reviews because the instructions are kind of haphazard and the patterns aren’t always correct.

My sister likes retro things so I thought this half apron would be cute. I picked up the fabric at Wal-Mart for less than $4 total, so it was a very reasonable project. My mother-in-law (who used to sew wedding dresses for a living) showed me how to use interfacing to make the waistband stiffer and how to line it to give it a more finished look because the book ignored both of these things. I think for my first piece of “clothing” it came out pretty good! And, it only took me a couple of hours.

I had ironed it, but then it got folded up in my luggage and I pulled it out quick to model it, so please ignore the wrinkles in these photos. Also, the waist band is made to be tied in the back, but it could also tie in the front like I show it here.

The other project I made was a sock monkey for my nephew. I found the tube socks at Target for $3.50 and had all the batting. This took longer to make than the apron because the ears, mouth, arms and tail were all sewed on by hand extra well to make sure no little toddler hands could yank them off easily. I posted more about this here. This is what the monkey looked like when I was finished:

Here is the cutie opening the gift and checking out his new friend.

Here he is in his little chair carrying on a conversation with him.

Looks like the sock monkey was quite the hit!

I’m linking up to Kimba’s DIY day with this post. Hop on over to check out more projects.

Thank a Troop

Many people in my family and many friends currently serve or have served in all branches of the military. At this time of year especially, it's important to remember our troops serving overseas. Please click here to send them a free card.

Snowman Comics

Someone sent me these while I was posting about the predicted snowstorm. How fitting!

Enjoy! Click on each one to enlarge it in a new window.

I love you snow, but please wait a little longer

First off, I wanted to clarify that in my post from yesterday I was in no way implying that there is never the proper time or place to wish someone "Happy Hanukkah" or that one shouldn't celebrate Hanukkah. I was more just commenting that people shouldn't be offended by the greeting of "Merry Christmas" because it's a holiday that is inclusive of all people.

Now, back to the snow.

Tomorrow hubby and I are supposed to be meeting up with our friend Katie and her new man in NYC. Today hubby is in Georgia for business and his flight is supposed to get back in to Philadelphia tomorrow at 8:30am -just in time for me to pick him up and make the trek into the city before our friends bus arrives from DC. We have grand plans for lunch at our favorite mexican restaurant, ice skating in central park, viewing the Rockefeller center tree, window shopping the Macy's christmas windows, and enjoying a delicious cupcake from one of our favorite little bakeries.

Well, there's one tiny little problem.

We're supposed to get snow starting tonight. Lots and lots of snow. 3-10 inches worth of snow.

While I'm normally all up for a snowstorm, I really need this one to hold off until hubby's plane makes it in tomorrow. I'd be so disappointed if our friends make the journey all the way from DC to NYC and then we don't get to see them because hubs flight is delayed.

If we didn't have this day in NYC planned, and if hubby wasn't travelling home tomorrow, I'd be estatic about possibly being snowed in this weekend. As it is, I'm praying the storm holds off until at least 9am tomorrow. Please join me in this prayer?

And, if we're able to have our day in the city as planned, I'll make sure to post photos next week! Enjoy your last weekend before Christmas!

What's so bad about "Merry Christmas"?

Last night was the last city council meeting for the year. I try to make it to every meeting (which is twice a month) to support my hubby who serves on the council. The first and last meetings of the year are sometimes the most entertaining.

The thing that was mind boggling to me last night was how many people in the public had to come up to wish everyone a joyous holiday by saying, "Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa and to all you Seinfeld fans, Happy Festivus."

What is wrong with us?

Why can't we just say "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Hanukkah" depending on which background we're from? Why is it that people are so offended if they receive a holiday greeting that is of a different faith? Personally, I'd rather hear "Happy Hanukkah" than "Happy Holidays".

But really, what is wrong with all of us wishing one another "Merry Christmas"?

After all, it's historical fact that this country was founded on Christian religious beliefs. Christmas is the only one of the three holidays that has major religious undertones. Hanukkah is not a major religious holiday for Judaism. According to Wikipedia, "Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Bible and was never considered a major holiday in Judaism, but it has become much more visible and widely celebrated in modern times, mainly because it falls around the same time as Christmas and has national Jewish overtones that have been emphasized since the establishment of the State of Israel" and according to the Official Kwanzaa website, Kwanzaa is "a cultural message which speaks to the best of what it means to be African and human in the fullest sense."

A few things I glean from these quotes: 1. Hanukkah is really only for those of a Jewish background and 2. Kwanzaa is only for those of African decent.

Here's the thing about Christmas, though... IT'S FOR EVERYONE!

Christ didn't come to earth as a baby, die on the cross, and rise again just for the Jews. He didn't do it just for the Africans. He did it for EVERYONE!

I've had enough of political correctness, and that my dear readers, is why I strongly believe in wishing everyone a "MERRY CHRISTMAS!" After all, it is the only one of the three holidays that really does include all of us.

P.S. I'm not saying don't celebrate other religions holidays. Personally, I enjoy celebrating a Seder feast around Easter because as a believer there is so much more meaning in that Jewish feast when you understand that the Messiah has already come.

The Newest Addition to our Family

This sweet baby was born last night. Hopefully today hubs will be able to learn whether it's a bull or a heifer.

Nothing like a cute new born calf.