Eat, Scrap, Love

Yummmmmm....Texas Caviar!

2009-12-04T10:01:00.002-06:00

Texas Caviar
1-Cup sugar
3/4-Cup apple cider vinegar
1/2-teaspoon black pepper
Mix sugar, vinegar and pepper in pan. Bring to a boil and simmer until sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool.

1-15 oz can black eyed peas
1-15 oz can black beans
1-15 oz can white corn
1-15 oz can pinto beans
Rinse and drain all of the above.

1 each: green pepper, yellow pepper, red pepper
1 medium purple onion
1-C celery
Chop fresh vegetables.

Mix all vegetables together with the cooled liquid and chill for several hours or overnight. Serve with tortilla chips or corn chips. Also good with grilled meats; will keep for up to 6 weeks in refrigerator.

~Compliments of my awesome next door neighbor, Teri

Winner of my contest!

2009-12-02T09:37:00.002-06:00

OK, so I'm a day or two late in choosing, but it took me a while to narrow it down to my favorite.

I chose to go with Amanda's saying, "Cherish yesterday, dream of tomorrow, live for today" as sweet, simple and to the point has always been my style.

I can see this on my wall already....however, I still don't have my room painted, so I should get on that :)

I emailed Amanda this morning to let her know that she has won, and if I don't hear back from her by Friday, I will choose the 2nd runner-up!

DIY Vinyl Lettering!

2009-11-08T13:46:00.003-06:00

I took the plunge and decided to try out the Cricut on the vinyl...what do you think?

Giveaway- free scrapbook stuff- but you have to (sort of) work for it!

2009-11-06T11:37:00.004-06:00

My darlin' hubby is going to start working on my scrapbook studio pretty soon, and I'm trying to come up with the perfect saying and/or decoration for the walls.

I've got a Cricut, so I'm planning on making one (or multiple) sayings to cut out of vinyl and put it up on the wall, a la Uppercase Living.

So I need some ideas!!! The person who gives me the saying I choose will win an assortment of scrapbooking supplies. (Sorry, no picture, as I don't have chosen yet what will be given out)

If it helps at all, my walls are going to be a blue-green color, with a muted lime green and dark brown as accents. A loveseat and TV are going to be in there as well, so that I can make it MY space to relax and have fun.

Please make sure I can get a hold of you easily if you win, as I don't plan to hunt you down like a crazy person :)

Contest ends November 30th!

For you Tastefully Simple beer bread lovers...I've got a much cheaper recipe!

2009-11-04T09:36:00.006-06:00

I love Tastefully Simple Beer Bread. It's the first beer bread I'd ever tried.

After I started dating Sam, and got married, his mom passed on a recipe to me.

Beer Bread.

'No way, it can't be as good as TS's beer bread,' I though. But sure enough, I think it is!

3 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 - 12 oz beer

Mix all together and pour into a greased/sprayed loaf pan. Bake 50-60 min at 350 deg. In the last 15 minutes or so, you can pour some melted butter over the top- although be careful doing this, as the sides may already be raised above the edges. You could probably put pats of butter on top of the mix just before tossing it in the oven...I'll have to try that next time.

For Z's preschool fundraiser last spring, I made several dry batches and put them in ziploc bags and then put the bag into the paper bags below. They flew off the table!!

Argh! Z's a PIRATE!

2009-11-04T09:15:00.005-06:00

Yo ho ho, and a bottle or rum!

Ooh, he looks mean here!

We decided to dress Pope up as a Hawkeyes fan and bring him ToTing with us.
ARGH!!!! Aw, look at the cute pirate!

Let's add some more EAT to my blog.... chili recipe!

2009-10-28T10:54:00.003-05:00

2 lbs ground meat
2 big cans tomato juice
1 can chili beans (has to have the chili “sauce”)
Dried minced onions
Worchestershire sauce
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Chili powder
Cayenne pepper
Brown sugar

Brown the meat, and when it’s about halfway cooked through, splash in about 10-15 shakes of worchestershire sauce and 10-15 shakes of the dried minced onions. Stir well, and continue browning until done. Drain off any liquid/grease. Pour in the two cans of tomato juice and the can of chili beans. Stir in really good, then add more dried onions (about 10-15 shakes), splash in 10-15 shakes of worchestershire sauce, about 5-7 shakes (each) of garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne pepper. Add about 10-12 shakes of chili powder. Stir that all up really good and let sit for about 5 minutes, on medium. Then add 7-8 spoonfuls of brown sugar and stir in really good. Let simmer for a good 15 minutes and then taste it. Add more of whatever you think it needs. I usually end up adding more brown sugar, worchestershire sauce and sometimes chili powder. It all depends on the day!

Obviously, I don’t have an exact recipe!! :)

I_Blog, do you?

2009-10-21T16:03:00.004-05:00

My cyber-friend, Jodi, is throwing her first bloggy conference!! Iowa is moving up in the blog world, I tell ya!

The first ever I_Blog will be November 14-15, 2009 at the beautiful Hotel Pattee in Perry, Iowa.

Tickets are only $75 but space is limited. Double rooms are $99. (Need a roomie to share the cost? Check out the forums at www.iblogconference.com ).

Call 515-465-3511 to make your reservation and be sure to let them know you are with the I_Blog or iatraveler’s group.

Space is limited, and time is flying by, so call now!

PS. Recent addition to the conference.....Creative Memories has become a sponsor of the conference...which means that a scrapbooking party is in order!!! They agreed to host a digi-scrap party and dinner on Saturday night. AND, because they are so damn cool, their new Creative Memories Storybook Creator plus 3.0 will be heading home with you. It’s a very generous offer – the software is worth $65. Yeah, do the math...the conference itself is $75...get this software and really, your conference is only costing you $10. Ten bucks. And to make it even sweeter...You’ll also be getting a new sleeve for your laptop- also courtesy of Creative Memories.

So be sure to bring your laptop (PC necessary unless your Mac has a bridge), loaded with photos to play with.

My little man + cousin's wedding = ringbearer

2009-10-19T09:42:00.006-05:00

My cousin got married this weekend and she had Scooter as her ringbearer.

Too damn cute for words.

The flowergirl, Clara.....I think Zach has a crush on her. He keeps asking to see her picture.

Congrats Jessi and Matt!!

Ah....Love Fall in Iowa!

2009-10-02T08:18:00.010-05:00

There is nothing better than fall in Iowa.

Nothing.

The crisp air...

The smell of backyard bonfires...

The GORGEOUS leaves...

Iowa Hawkeyes football...

Sweatshirt and jeans weather... I love it all!!

It also means I become a "hunting widow".

Duck hunting for my dad, husband and son (and dog!)...

Deer hunting for dad and hubby...

In spite of that last part, because I enjoy it- because THEY enjoy it.

1st day of kindergarten

2009-08-21T12:14:00.002-05:00

Well, the little man started kindergarten today. Mom and dad are having a pretty hard time with it. We aren't old enough to have a kindergartener!!! No way, it's just not possible.

Daddy called him over to the house one last time for a quick hug and kiss- behind the truck, so that his friends wouldn't see!! I grabbed a quick one too, and then I put him on the bus, no tears from me or him.

The little shit just got right on- didn't even look back.......

One last wave before the bus drives away...

I can't wait to see him this afternoon and hear how his first day went!!!

Operation Mama's Gettin' a New Tattoo was a success!

2009-07-18T08:07:00.003-05:00

Here we go! Love it! It ended up being a bit bigger than what I thought, but that's okay. I had pictured something more dainty, but love what the artist did.

I so very badly want another tattoo...help me choose!

2009-07-17T11:27:00.005-05:00

I'm gonna get me another tattoo, just can't decide which I like best! What I'm wanting is very similar to the first one- a big turtle (me), and a little one behind it (Zach). Help me choose which version to get, or something along the lines of what they look like! Obviously, my mind may change once I get to the tattoo shop and see what else they've done or if the artist has any good ideas.

#1-

#4

#5

#6

It's official...he's a "big kid"!

2009-06-09T08:35:00.003-05:00

Scooter started school age daycare today...he moved from his preschool daycare room downstairs to the BIG KID room. There is at least one other kid from his preschool room that is going down there with him- his "girlfriend", Kacy. So that's good! And our next door neighbor, Riley, is also down there- she just finished kindergarten.

So he will have friends down there that he knows, and I'm sure he'll make friends with the older kids in no time. It was just hard to drop him off this morning in a roomful of strangers (Kacy and Riley weren't there yet).

And yes, I did get a little bit teary. Only after I left though!

When a soldier comes home...

2009-06-04T14:49:00.006-05:00

Got this on my email, and what an eye-opener, and a great reminder to thank and appreciate those soldiers out there fighting.

When a soldier comes home, he finds it hard...

...to listen to his son whine about being bored. ...to keep a straight face when people complain about potholes.

... to be tolerant of people who complain about the hassle of getting ready for work.

...to be understanding when a co-worker complains about a bad night's sleep.

...to be silent when people pray to God for a new car.

...to control his panic when his wife tells him he needs to drive slower.

...to be compassionate when a businessman expresses a fear of flying.

...to keep from laughing when anxious parents say they're afraid to send their kids off to summer camp.

....to keep from ridiculing someone who complains about hot weather.

....to control his frustration when a colleague gripes about his coffee being cold.

....to remain calm when his daughter complains about having to walk the dog.

.....to be civil to people who complain about their jobs.

....to just walk away when someone says they only get two weeks of vacation a year.

....to be forgiving when someone says how hard it is to have a new baby in the house.

The only thing harder than being a Soldier....

...is loving one.

Stupid dreary day

2009-05-27T08:45:00.003-05:00

Scooter was supposed to go on a field trip 1 1/2 weeks ago... it got rained out. Reschedule day was today. It will get rained out. He was so upset- "it isn't fair!!"

I tried to explain that life isn't fair sometimes, and that he will get to go on plenty of field trips when he gets into elementary school. But that doesn't stop the disappointment now.

Or the pouting.

Stupid weather. It just puts me in a funk that's hard to pull out of. I'm such a sunshine girl.

But if it's gonna be shitty, it may as well storm. The good banging loud thunderstorm, with tons of lightning!!

Great giveaway!

2009-05-26T13:30:00.004-05:00

Jody over at Iowa Geek has a great giveaway! She has found a new shop on etsy and is giving away a design worth up to $12! Katies Kreations and 55 Maple Designs has some wonderful and fun jewelry and designs. Here's a couple of my faves (from 55 Maples Designs):

Head on over to Iowa Geek and leave a comment to be entered into Jody's giveaway!

Preschool graduation!

2009-05-22T22:34:00.006-05:00

Scooter graduated from preschool today! What a big boy! We got a folder of projects that he has done over the year, and measurements from when he started to now.

Sept- 42 1/2 inches tall, 42 lbs

May- 44 inches, 54 lbs

My little boy is getting big! No wonder I can't pick him up anymore!

Scooter with the other two boys in his class, out of 20- the rest are girls! They are definitely outnumbered, but as Daddy would say- the odds are good!

Zach has his girlfriend all picked out- they're getting "married" and everything. He already knows that he's going to have a little boy named Jason....wow, that's getting a little bit ahead for Mommy's taste!! We told him no kids til he's done with college!

A (limited) freebie for Dave Ramsey snowballers!

2009-05-20T11:58:00.003-05:00

It's a magnet! I made them at Vista Print. I have my debt snowball hanging on the fridge with this beautiful picture to remind me of the great vacation that I want to go on when we are debt-free (except for the house)!!! Great motivator!

I have about 20-25 of these to give away. Leave me a comment with your email below if you want one!

How'd you like to come around the corner to THIS??

2009-03-31T09:24:00.003-05:00

Finally! Scooter's 5th Bday Party!

2009-03-30T10:20:00.005-05:00

After Scooter got sick on his bday, we had to cancel his bday party the next day. He was so upset. So we were finally able to get it rescheduled for two weeks later- this past weekend.

Yeah- that truck hasn't stopped moving since everyone left that day!

Smiles from Cooper

2009-03-26T17:50:00.005-05:00

Dancing to Alvin and the Chipmunks

2009-03-16T15:51:00.004-05:00

Scooter loves this movie and loves the music. I tried to explain that this music was around (and the cartoons) since even before Mommy and Daddy were born...ya know, like when Grandma and Grandpa were little.

Here he is dancing to the Christmas song.

Now that he's FIVE....

2009-03-16T13:41:00.006-05:00

He thinks he can do without the training wheels! Daddy took them off today and Scooter tried it out.

Lori's hoping Cooper will read like her

2009-03-11T08:19:00.002-05:00

Sis sent some cute pics of Cooper... she's hoping that he'll end up being a big reader like her (and me, and our cousin Nancy).

If Scooter is any indication, it's not likely! I can't get him to sit down long enough to read a book very often! Bedtime is about it.

Talking in his sleep

2009-03-11T08:17:00.002-05:00

I was up getting ready for work this morning and heard Scooter moving around. I started to walk to his room and heard him say, "NO guys, I don't want to go!!" More moving and then a big sigh....

Apparently his dream-friends wanted him to go somewhere and he did NOT want to go!

My nephew's gettin' big!!

2009-03-08T16:11:00.002-05:00

Lori emailed me pics today of Cooper. He's 15 lbs and 25.5 inches long!

Ooh, check out this jewelry!

2009-03-08T11:26:00.003-05:00

Opened my email this morning and found an update from one of the blogs I read, An Island Life. Kailani's got a great giveaway going on from Twisted Silver. They've got beautiful jewelry- go check them out and pick out your favorite, then go back to An Island Life and post which is your favorite. Kailani's got the Chic Necklace to give away to someone lucky!

A few pics for ya- Zach loves his Clifford

2009-02-12T07:57:00.007-06:00

Zach is obsessed with his Clifford lately, and has been taking pics with my camera.

This is Zach doing the "doggie" dance

I'm like, TOTALLY excited!

2009-01-27T09:59:00.005-06:00

So I heard on the radio last night that a boy band from my childhood is coming to an arena near me!

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK!!!

Ohmygosh...I heard that, and (ashamed to admit it) I let out a squeal! I knew that they had made a comeback last year, but none of their tour dates were near enough.

My mom took me and my BFF, Beth, to their concert when we were in 5th grade. I seriously remember it like it was yesterday. We even stopped at McDonald's on our way home and got one of these cool-ass cups. Man, I should see if Mom still has that cup!!

Or any of my buttons...although, I was a Jon girl back then. Not so much now.

I'm all about Joey....(drool drool drool)...I mean, how could you NOT be? Look at those blue eyes!

Anyway, I have talked to Beth, who I sort of lost touch with over the years, and we are TOTALLY going to the concert!! I'd LOVE to meet them and get pics with them, which I know of some people who have done that!

PS- Yes, I know I am a geek!

Mom's finally home, so I've got more pics of Cooper!

2009-01-23T06:18:00.004-06:00

Here's a few more of my cutie pie nephew!

LOLz from Lexulous/Scrabble

2009-01-07T10:46:00.002-06:00

I'm new to the game of Scrabble. Or on Facebook, it's called Lexulous. I posted about this the other day.

I had a batch of sucky tiles. Check out what I came up with....upper left hand corner....2nd line down.

For those of you who still can't spot it....yep, it's TITTY. I cannot believe I played that. Really made my opponent laugh though!

WW: My cutie patootie

2009-01-07T08:22:00.002-06:00

Great....

2009-01-07T08:07:00.002-06:00

I walked into my bathroom last night and this is what I saw....

Hmm, what is that, I thought. Oh wait....that's my rug. I have two in my bathroom, exactly alike. Laila decided to somehow scoot her cage across the bathroom floor, grab my rug, somehow pull it into her cage (yes, the cage is closed!) and DESTROY THE RUG.

I'm not too happy about this. The next picture is a demonstration (using rug #2) of how far away from the cage the above rug was placed.

What is that, like a good 2 1/2 or 3 feet? How in the hell did she scoot her cage that far AND then back to where it was when I put her in there yesterday morning?!?

Here's a better picture of the widowed rug. It misses its mate.

Lovely, Laila...just lovely.

Scrabble/Lexulous anyone?

2009-01-06T11:30:00.002-06:00

I've never actually played Scrabble that I recall. However...just found a game on Facebook called Lexulous. If I'm correct, it's basically Scrabble!

I'm now addicted.

Now I want to have a game night and play Scrabble!

World's Shortest Fairy Tale

2009-01-06T11:25:00.001-06:00

Once upon a time, a guy asked a girl 'Will you marry me?' The GIRL SAID 'NO!' And the guy lived happily ever after and rode motorcycles and went fishing and hunting and played golf a lot and drank beer and scotch and left the toilet seat up and farted whenever he wanted. The End.

Wii would like to play

2009-01-05T14:37:00.005-06:00

We got a Wii last spring. We played it for a while, but after we moved, it got put away for a bit. Sam went and got a couple new games for it about a month or so ago, but apparently got bored of them pretty quickly.

Well, a bunch of Scooter's friends got them for Christmas and now all he wants to do is play Wii. Doesn't matter what game, he just wants to play!

I did go buy Wii Fit the other night with money that I got from my in-laws for Christmas, but haven't had the nerve to try it yet. Did you know that there is a warning on the box that says, "Warning- Your weight and BMI will be displayed on the screen." Or something to that effect. Yeah, not in a hurry to try that one!

Some pics from earlier this summer...

Pics of Cooper!

2009-01-05T08:13:00.003-06:00

Finally- pictures from my sister!

I'm an aunt again!

2008-12-30T16:29:00.002-06:00

Cooper Tyndall was born on Sunday, Dec. 28th. He was 8 lbs, 5 oz and 20 1/2 inches long. Lori (sis) says he just has peach fuzz on his head. Troy (BIL) has posted pics on his blog and I'm too lazy to transfer them to here :)

I'm so sad because I won't get to meet this little guy for forever. Lori and Troy live in Hawaii, and sadly, I don't have the money to go visit. So I have to wait for Lori to head back to the states and bring Cooper with her...she'd better anyway!! Last I heard, she has a visit planned for SEPTEMBER 2009....that's so far away!

Welcome to the world, Cooper! We love you!

25

2008-12-18T09:53:00.006-06:00

I've been tagged by an person I went to high school with.

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 2 people to be tagged.

1. I so want to leave my current job. I'm fed up with my doctor being a (almost) deadbeat.

2. I love the "2 Dorks" in the Quad Cities! I really missed them when I moved away to DM.

3. I'm doing the Dave Ramsey Total Money Makeover, and what a relief it is!

4. I just called to order appointment cards for the office.

5. I'm loving all the treats and goodies that my patients have been bringing in!

6. I have 11 pictures of Scooter in my office, and only one of me with him. And only one of Sam-also with Scooter.

7. I love Mountain Dew.

8. I don't text. Don't really have a desire to. That disappoints my sister, and some of my friends, I'm sure.

9. I miss my sister like crazy!! (She lives in Hawaii...we're in Iowa)

10. I keep a toothbrush and toothpaste at work...just in case I go out to eat something stinky for lunch. Olive Garden, anyone?

11. My work desk is just a counter mounted to the wall...it also has the copier sitting on it. So my work area is about 3 1/2 feet by 2 feet. Not much, considering that the keyboard, mouse pad and monitor are also sitting in that same space.

12. I am dreading the storm that's supposed to come this afternoon. Nicknamed "Death Storm 2008" by the 2 Dorks mentioned above.

13. Dr. S keeps talking to me about marketing-type stuff that he wants me to do in the New Year. I just want to tell him to shove it up his ass, because hopefully I won't be here!

14. I miss the old BHB. NBBC sucks- no thread memory, only what? 5 threads on a page?

15. We rescued a boxer puppy during the flood over the summer. Her name is Laila.

16. I think that there will be an assassination attempt on Barack Obama within the first year. Not that I wish that, but I think there will be.

17. We're taking Scooter to the firestation in Ely on Friday night to see Santa.

18. Sam doesn't know about #17 yet.

19. I looooove the smell of coffee, but can't bring myself to drink it.

20. McDonald's sweet tea. Enough said!

21. I don't know what the issue is, but for some reason I don't like to be on a different floor than Sam and Scooter if they are asleep. In the house we just moved out of, the bedrooms were upstairs and the living room was on the main floor. I HATED being downstairs if they were up in bed- watching TV, reading...pretty much anything. Call me weird, I know.

22. I get obsessed with stuff pretty easily. If I find a new book series, I cannot read them fast enough. If I find something I like to eat (hello- super soft and sweet doughy pretzels at Sam's club), I will either A) go back and get them all the time, or B) buy a ton of them to eat at home. Hence the big ass box of SIXTY pretzels in my deep freeze at home.

23. I really wish that Grandpa Wally could have been alive long enough to meet Scooter, and to go hunting with him. The next generation of duck hunters...

24. I love finding new blogs to read. I've found some...interesting...ones lately! Hello- Adventures of Jake and Colin! **Steamy!!**

25. I had a job interview yesterday afternoon. I REALLY hope I get it.

I'm tagging
Holleigh at Multi-Slacking Mamalicious
and
Michelle at The Mommy Behind the Badge

Kick ass! I won something!!

2008-12-17T08:59:00.002-06:00

I actually won a bloggy giveaway! First one, and boy, will it be YUMMMMY! Abby over at Me and My Boys! was giving away a Starbucks gift card and a package of White Fudge Covered Oreos. Sooooo good!

Thanks Abby!

The Three Wisemen

2008-12-16T08:56:00.003-06:00

Last night was Scooter's Christmas program. The little kids were so cute. They sang a bunch of songs. Some of them were their preschool songs- "Rise and Shine," "Happy Birthday" (to Jesus), "Now It's Time to Say Goodbye", and the others were Christmas ones- "Jingle Bells," "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" (that my child was THE loudest and could hear him over everyone else, LOL).

Then they did the Nativity story where they all dressed up and walked down the aisle and sat around the manger. Scoots kept telling us that he was going to be "Jophus", so that's what we were expecting. Well, he was one of the Three Wisemen.

Or, as he told his daycare teacher, one of the "Three WiseGUYS."

How appropriate.

Pay It Forward Friday

2008-12-05T10:54:00.003-06:00

Pay It Forward Friday is here! It's a day to visit other bloggers!

From my blogroll, I closed my eyes and selected....Multi-Slacking Mamalicious! She's too funny, I swear.

From there, I clicked randomly to Migraine Mom.

And then on to Ashley's Closet.

Strangely enough...two of these bloggers are on the message boards that I visit all the time. I don't think Migraine Mom is part of the BHB though...I may be wrong!

Hop on over to An Iowa Mom and check out the rest of the Pay It Forwards!

Doing surveys, trading DVDs = extra money to put to debt!

2008-12-03T10:38:00.003-06:00

I've been doing Pinecone surveys for a few years now. They sometimes send out household questionnaires, wanting to know about your buying habits. Other times, they send out concept studies...for these, they pay $3. I get about 1 or 2 a month. They deposit it into my PayPal account a few days after the study is completed.

I've also got a ton of DVD's listed on SwapADVD, and don't usually ask for any in return. So I've got 28 credits right now from trading DVDs, and decided to sell them off today. I sold a bunch over the fall, but used that money to catch up on bills. Now, we're caught up and extra money goes straight to our debt snowball! I just sold 5 of the credits...easy $20. Hopefully I'll have some bites on the remaining ones and sell those off.

But I just checked my PayPal account, and saw a decent balance in there- $47.72! So if I take that, plus the additional $90 or so that I'll get from selling the rest of my credits on SwapADVD, that'll be $137.72 to put towards my smallest bill, making it almost paid off!! That's so awesome!

Feels so good

2008-12-02T11:29:00.003-06:00

We started doing Dave, and working on paying off our debt. We've got baby step 1 done, which is a baby emergency fund of $1000. We're on step 2 now, the debt snowball. We've got one bill gone, another one should be gone this weekend, and two more will follow in short order, as we'll be getting money from Gma for Xmas (which we're doing early this year- Dec 7th).

Then on to the bigger ones (over $1500). It feels good. I need to do the debt snowball worksheet on the Dave website and figure when our ending date is, so I have that to look forward to! It's such a relief to have a plan...even if we do stray from it. We're working on it, and that's what matters. I've got 5 of our CC's on payment plans and closed- I did the plastectomy a weekend or two ago and MAN, IT FELT GOOD!!

Not to mention...we paid all CASH for Xmas presents this year! NOTHING went on credit cards (well, the ones that are still open anyway). All cash...or at least on the debit card which is just about as good as cash since it takes it straight from our checking account. No debt for Christmas this year- YIPPEE!!!

I just wanted to thank Jody SOOOOO much for helping me get into this.

Send a card to the troops for Christmas

2008-12-02T10:28:00.002-06:00

Why not give our troops a thank you for Christmas? I did this a few minutes ago and sent three cards. Hopefully they will make a soldier's day!!

Xerox has set up a website, http://www.letssaythanks.com/ , where you can pick out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq . You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services. How AMAZING it would be if we could get everyone we know to send one!!!

It is FREE and it only takes a second.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if the soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our soldiers over there need to know we are behind them. This takes just 10 seconds and it's a wonderful way to say thank you. Please take the time and please take the time to pass it on for others to do. We can never say enough thank you's.

The wisdom of hot chocolate

2008-12-02T09:42:00.003-06:00

I had a yummy cup of hot chocolate last night while I waited for Sam to get home from work. It was so good, and I heaped handful after handful of mini marshmallows in it to get all melty and good.

Interestingly enough, I got this email in my inbox this morning and thought, "wow, that's quite an insight." So I thought I'd share...

The Wisdom in Hot Chocolate

A group of graduates, well established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired. During their visit, the conversation turned to complaints about stress in their work and lives.

Offering his guests hot chocolate, the professor went into the kitchen and returned with a large pot of hot chocolate and an assortmentof cups - porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the hot chocolate.

When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said:
‘Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases, even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups. And then you began eyeing each other’s cups.

Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups.
The happiest people don’t have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have.

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your hot chocolate!!

How cute is this?

2008-11-18T09:53:00.003-06:00

How cute is this thing? Seriously?

I saw, in one night at HyVee, at least 7 girls come through carrying these things. I decided that I HAD to have one, thinking I could pare down the crap that I carry in my purse. H-A-D too. I decided that it was essential to my existence.

Went and bought one. Tried to fit my multitude of crap that I carry in my billfold into this. Should have worked, especially since I've cut up or don't carry my billion credit cards anymore.

But I still have three library cards (Ely, Coralville and Iowa City)....still have 3 insurance cards to carry (insurance ID card, labratory card, and HSA card). I still have my debit card, drivers license, coupon card for Casey's pizza. I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

That doesn't even include the cash that I have started carrying since I started FPU. But where am I to put all my coupons- and I usually only have 2 or 3 on me. Ones that I intend to use, not even for groceries or anything. Specific coupons, like Yankee Candle B1G1 or $5 off a Hot Wheels track at Target, or $3 off a ClickStart game.

But where am I supposed to put my receipts?? Bank receipts, store receipts, etc. I don't just want to fold them up and place them in the middle so that they fall out the second I open it up.

....So I have decided to be a good girl and take it back to Target. Dave would be so proud of me.

Holy crap...

2008-11-17T16:27:00.004-06:00

My God, 80 cents for a freakin' can of pop. That's how much a little ol' can of Mountain Dew costs me at work. At the store, I pay AT MOST 42.5 cents per can...that's not even on sale- usually it's less than that! Man...money down the drain. Dave would not approve.

Needed some new tunes...and got some!

2008-11-17T09:35:00.003-06:00

I've just discovered Pandora online. You put in what artists/songs you like, and it plays other songs that are like it. You can add "variety" to your station, so not only country songs play, but can add artists like Pink and Green Day to your original Dixie Chicks.

I've found some great songs that I love. I put in Avril Lavigne, Green Day, Carrie Underwood, Dixie Chicks, Bon Jovi, Gavin DeGraw, Pink and Kate Voegele. It's come up with other great songs that fit with those types of music- Weezer, Bowling for Soup, Guns N Roses, Keith Urban, Smashing Pumpkins, Michelle Branch, KT Tunstall, All American Rejects, and so many more.

You can do a "thumbs up" to a song that you really like, or a "thumbs down" to one that you really don't. You can also choose to not play a song for a month- like one that you sort of like, but don't really want to hear it again for awhile.

I just wish I could specifically request and hear a song. Anyone use Pandora and know how to do that??

I heart VistaPrint

2008-11-12T10:27:00.017-06:00

All of these...

10 of this card, plus envelopes ...............and.............10 of this card & envelopes

(both personalized on the inside with whatever greeting I wanted, plus our names)

280 address labels

1 pad of sticky notes (with my name!!)

2 notepads

All of these little desk calendars- personalized to my company plus one of Scooter for MY desk (the green background with a pic of me and Scooter)

2 wall calendars, personalized with family bdays/events

An address stamp with our new doctor's name and address

2 t-shirts (actually, pretty good quality!)- one for me and one for Scoots (the smaller of the two is his- it has the 25 cents to play thing on it- I put underneath "Is this even possible anymore?" The tree one for me says "Think global, think green"

25 checks for our HSA account

For just $43.99 shipping cost.

Other cool stuff I've ordered over the last year...

Kick ass t-shirt

10 Thank you cards for my sis's baby shower

Zach's bday party invites

Pretty simple t-shirt, says Joy Hope Love

How cool is that....

Following Dave and family's advice

2008-10-02T14:28:00.000-05:00

Some people just don't get it. We have made the decision to follow Dave's plan and are very excited and motivated about it. We have started FPU. I have been talking about this to my parents and trying to explain some of the concepts- specifically the snowball and how you won't need credit.

Dad says to me, "Oh no, you should be paying off your high interest ones first!!" and actually argued with me about it. I finally cut him off and said that this is what is working best for us, and leave it at that!

Just talked to mom and she says, "I just watched something on TV that says you should never cancel all your credit cards. It'll ruin your credit!" I told her (after trying to calmly explain Dave's concept that you don't NEED credit)- "MOM! WE DON"T GIVE A FLIPPING FUICK WHETHER WE RUIN OUR CREDIT!!!! WE DON"T NEED IT!!! We've already got our house, got our cars and have debit cards-yes that are linked to VISA- we'll be FINE!!!"

Some people just don't get it....

We're starting FPU

2008-09-22T16:20:00.003-05:00

Well, Sam and I are starting the Dave Ramsey class tonight. We're both committed to this, and we're going to make huge strides to get to it. He has an interview at Lowe's this afternoon, so we'll see how that goes. I got a 2nd job at HyVee working about 15-20 hours a week. I started last Friday. It was good, but boy did my feet hurt!!! And my shoulder started bugging me again like it used to. Guess I'm waaaaay out of shape!

We've sold the 4 wheeler for over $2k, which is nice! We put a bunch of other stuff up for sale, like our bike trailer that we hardly used, Sam's putting his bow and one of his guns up for sale (after checking how legal that is), we've sold a ton of our DVDs, etc. He's also been donating plasma and is using that money (they put it on a debit card) for gas money, so at least that's not coming out of the checking account.

I'll actually be glad to see deer season come this year, and I might even encourage Sam to get two deer this year. We're almost out of ground deer meat, and our ground beef (that we've had for 3 years now) is getting low as well. But I tell ya, there's only so much you can do with ground meat. Need to keep an eye open for good sale on chicken breasts and pork chops, etc.

We've made over $200, probably, selling DVDs. Did I tell you that even on the swap-a-dvd site, that I can sell my credits? So I'm even making a little bit there. Every little bit helps.

Well, as you can tell, debt reduction is huge in my mind right now.

SAHM vs WOHM

2008-07-18T09:10:00.002-05:00

Being a working mommy is hard...someone else gets to see your child's development more than you at times. Someone else gets to see their first milestones sometimes.

I've felt guilty at times for working while Scoots is growing up. But we can't afford to have me stay at home. We need both of our incomes to make the ends meet. Sam makes pretty good money, far more than I do, but we do have a certain level where we like to live. If we want to eat out, we'll go do it. If I want to buy a new shirt, I do it. Sometimes the cash isn't always there, and unfortunately, credit cards are. But that's another topic....

Anyway, Veronica over at 5 Minutes for Parenting wrote this awesome post about working moms. Read it- you'll be glad you did. Here's a brief snippet:

The media-manufactured "Mommy Wars" tell us that mothers resent and judge each other. Sometimes we do. But sometimes we recognize that the world needs different people to make different choices. The truth is that as we all struggle to provide the best for our kids, we can't make it without each other. Your choices affect me, and mine affect you. We really are all in this together.

Strange paranoia

2008-07-15T16:16:00.005-05:00

I don't know what the issue is, but for some reason I don't like to be on a different floor than Sam and Scooter if they are asleep. In the house we just moved out of, the bedrooms were upstairs and the living room was on the main floor. I HATED being downstairs if they were up in bed- watching TV, reading...pretty much anything.

I've always loved to sit and read at night when I can't sleep (well, pretty much anytime, not just when I can't sleep- I love to read!). Last night was one of those nights...after unpacking all evening, I just couldn't sleep. So I wandered out to the living room and snuggled onto the couch with a new book from the library. And was perfectly content, knowing that I was on the same floor as my boys.

Kailani's got more freebies!

2008-07-14T09:28:00.003-05:00

An Isl and Life has posted another freebie- Flower Peddler Bath & Beauty is giving a $50 gift certificate to one lucky person! Go check them out and post which product you'd like to try on Kailani's blog.

Boy, with moving this weekend, I couldn't keep up with all of Kailani's giveaways!! She's got a great one from My Mommy's Bracelets- they are giving away one of their popular Baby Girl “Lil’ Princess” Bracelet to one lucky winner!

Here's a couple of my favorites:

...and here's the one they are giving away-

We're in!

2008-07-14T09:20:00.002-05:00

We are finally in the house that we've owned for more than a month and have worked so hard on. We got moved in on Saturday!! We've still got some stuff at the other house that we are renting, but we are IN!!!

Scooter loves his room, and actually spends the whole night in there (rather than coming to our room and "snuggling" all night). Although, he's been playing pretty darn hard with the new friends lately, so that may have something to do with it. :)

We decided we moved in just in time- the neighbors in the cul-de-sac behind us had a huge block party- over 100 invites went out. Live music, dunk tank, yard games (horseshoes, ladder golf, beanbag toss), and TONS of yummy food- not to mention the two huge tanks of beverages, including the mystery beer cooler! Jello shots went around later, and margaritas in a bucket followed after that. We had a GREAT time!! Met lots of new people, and just reinforced our feeling sooooo good about living in E-Town!!

What Would You Do?

2008-07-10T16:22:00.003-05:00

We (meaning Sam) loaned our router to a neighbor last spring (2007). We moved 1 1/2- 2 hours away from there in August. Said neighbor never returned the router, and honestly- I didn't know about it. Sam either forgot or neglected to mention it.

Anyway...almost a year later, we have purchased a new house. Sam needs the above mentioned router to do some work in the house. We knew this was a possibility when we started looking at houses in April. I called the neighbor and talked to the wife (aka, an old "friend" of mine- part of a girls group that we had). I told her then, in April, that we could meet them halfway or they could ship it to us. She said to call back and talk to her husband.

Well, I forgot until today, and it's finally starting to get under my skin. Sam refuses to do anything about it, and would be perfectly content to go buy a new one. Um...no!! This was from his grandpa (who has passed away), and besides- he does NOT need to go buy a new one when we already OWN one!!!

So I call today and talk briefly to my old friend. She lets me talk to hubby who was right there. Turns out that he is going to be heading to Burlington this Friday and can meet me about 35-40 minutes away from me, in Washington. That is, if the timing is right.

I mentioned, "Could you just ship it to us?" He said if the timing didn't work out to meet, then they would think about it.

What would you do?

Game giveaway!

2008-07-09T09:55:00.004-05:00

Lailani over at An Island Life is giving away the coolest game I've seen in a long time- Jishaku! Head on over there and check it out. If I don't win, I may still have to go buy this!

Odd to see

2008-07-08T09:17:00.003-05:00

Our new puppy (the boxer), Laila loves to attack and play with Reese (the pug). Reese is not too terribly fond of this, as he's the ripe old age of 7.

Reese usually stays far away from Laila, lest she pounce on him unexpectedly to start biting his tail.

So to see these two relaxing and snuggling together is a very strange sight!

Sparklers!

2008-07-08T08:31:00.003-05:00

Scooter has been begging to do sparklers, so we broke down and bought some for him.

At least he can pronounce it this year...last year, it came out as "F-ers". Yes, the full F word. My mother-in-law about had a fit.

New to town

2008-07-07T17:09:00.002-05:00

We're not completely moved in yet, but we took the chance this weekend to enjoy our new town's parade. It was super cute, and so typical Iowa- tractors mixed throughout the parade! Only in small town Iowa, I tell ya.

Silly me forgot the camera, otherwise I could show you a pic of Scooter with chocolate all over his face from candy.

We did see our new neighbors there with their dogs- we match them, by the way. We have a pug and a boxer (plus a lab), and they have a pug and boxer also. We left ours at home. They brought theirs, all dressed up for the holiday. The pug, Lola, was wearing her grass skirt and little lei bracelets on her paws. Zoey, the boxer, was wearing a very patriotic flag bandana. Super cute!!

Almost...

2008-07-07T15:48:00.003-05:00

We're almost there- finished with the new house, that is.

About this close. I have to finish trimming up the frustrating red walls yet, then I'm DONE!! Whoo hoo!! Had a very frustrating problem this weekend though....

I had originally bought 5 gallons of ceiling paint tinted to a yummy horseradish color (a creamy white). Sam painted all the ceilings, and ran out with the second half of the master bath (it's separated by a walkthrough wall). So I had to go buy more horseradish so I could finish the rest of that, and then trim all the corners.

I went to Wal-Mart and bought the paint.

Came home and did most of the house in one day.

Came back the next day and finished up....only to find out later that it wasn't the right color.

I was pissed at the situation. Sam was pissed at....me. Oh YES, darling, of course it's MY fault! I told the guy at Wal-Mart to mix it wrong! All my fault. He said I should have noticed that the paint was white, and not the creamy color. Well, you see hon, YOU were the one putting the paint on the ceiling while I was doing all the other walls!! YOU were the one dealing with the horseradish-freaking colored paint!!!

My bad, totally mine. So I go to a different Wal-Mart and show them the color sample and have them mix a new batch. The guy couldn't figure it out.

Came home and did everything over. Still have no idea if it's the right formula or not.

At least it's done. Damnit.

My first award

2008-07-07T15:37:00.003-05:00

I'm pretty new to blogging and don't have many people that read me. So I'm super excited that I've been given an award!! AnIowaMom sent this to me.

Here's the original blogger who designed the award: Crystal
Her son, Noah, was saved by a heart transplant, ironically enough on the luckiest day in any of our lives- 7/7/07.

I'm passing it on to Jody

CD Contest

2008-07-02T11:17:00.002-05:00

AnIowaMom is giving away some CD's...Josh Groban (who is so great) and William Joseph (who I've never heard of-count me OUT of the loop on this, apparently). Head on over and check them out!
http://www.aniowamom.com/an_iowa_mom/2008/07/contest-josh-gr.html

Doing some reading...

2008-07-01T15:07:00.002-05:00

Not books, silly! I've been reading the archives of AnIowaMom's blog...gosh girl, I feel like I know you now! Just trying to get a feel for my new hometown :) I also followed lots of different links from her blog to various ones across the internet universe- specifically RocksInMyDryer and 5MinutesForMom. I visited some others, and need to check out IowaMoms a bit more.

Gee, I really should get some work done....but it's so nice to be able to surf the net when I'm at work, in between patients!

Ah, a solution!!

2008-06-30T09:08:00.003-05:00

We have found the red we are looking for!! Thanks to IowaMom who suggested going with more of an orangey-red....I had one of those picked out for my bathroom- Dried Chili Pepper by Dutch Boy. We white primered over the nasty red (3 coats of primer!) then did our tinted primer for the chili pepper and then did ONE coat of the new paint- it looks AWESOME!!!! One coat was it! Sam kept saying "that's the red I had in mind!!" Yes, me too! Great, awesome, rock on....unfortunately, now my bathroom- I decided that the chili pepper was too much for my bathroom, too dark. We ended up going with the sage green and latte....boring. Now my bathroom looks like my kid's room. I had really wanted to buy another gallon of a lighter burnt orange. Sam vetoed that idea, saying that we already have plenty of other paints to choose from- sage green, chili pepper or darker brown- that's it. Sam, you suck.

More freebies at Iowa Geek!

2008-06-25T09:50:00.002-05:00

Go check her out! This one is great, for scrappers and photogeeks alike!! Awesome!
http://www.iowageekonline.com/2008/06/non-scrap-bribing.html

Red paint?

2008-06-25T08:44:00.002-05:00

So we bought a new house, and I've finally talked Sam into letting me go with COLOR instead of blah-old-white (which he has always made me do). I chose latte (by Sherwin Williams) for all the walls, then wanted a few accent walls throughout the house. Darker brown (steady brown by Sherwin Williams) in our room, sage green (Sweet Annie by Valspar) in the hallway bath (all of it!) and accent in Scooter's room. Then, to go REALLY BOLD, I got a reddish burgundy paint color for accent in the kitchen and living room. Posh Red to be exact, by Valspar, I believe. I've got the first coat on and it looks HORRID. Streaks everywhere, track marks like you wouldn't believe...and the color is just too....I don't know....RED. I was wanting more of a burgundy!

I decorate in the primitive style with the red berries. I own a few things here, among others: http://www.ltdcommodities.com/home/catalog/cat_item_pg3.asp?G=584&P=20&Rec=24&Ntt=cranberry+star+tree&N=37&Nao=0&R=439044-9WRH---1

http://www.ltdcommodities.com/home/catalog/cat_item_pg3.asp?G=584&P=71&Rec=26&Ntt=cranberry+star+tree&N=37&Nao=0&R=439125-6PLR---1

http://www.ltdcommodities.com/home/catalog/cat_item_pg.asp?G=594&P=220&Rec=16&Ntt=cranberry+star+tree&N=37&Nao=0&R=441297-9SBPLMB1

So what red do I want?

Gotta Love Scrapbooking Freebies!

2008-05-30T10:09:00.002-05:00

Scrapbribing is going on NOW at Iowa Geek...go check it out!
http://www.iowageekonline.com/2008/05/nice-easy-scrap-bribing.html

Happy Mom's Day

2008-05-12T11:29:00.000-05:00

My little boy is just so sweet. He must get it from me, because my man...not so much.

I'm getting ready to go yesterday morning, standing in front of the mirror, curling my hair. Scooter comes into the bathroom and says, "Wow, Mommy, you look really pretty!" Awww, I just love it when he does that! Although, I was standing there in my bra and skivs, so it was sort of funny that he chose that moment to say it!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms!

Disappointing news

2008-05-05T10:03:00.000-05:00

It seems another great house has slipped through our fingers. We had an accepted offer on a great newly remodeled house, closing date was set for June 2. Well, we found out this past Friday that the house did not appraise out where we needed it. So two options- we needed to come up with $8000 (yeah right) or the sellers needed to drop their price. Well, we weren't budging and they said that they couldn't come down anymore....so we lost the house.

Our realtor felt so bad, but I told her that all it means is that it wasn't meant to be. That's just not the house that God had in store for us. I do believe that, but darnit, it SUCKS that we have to start searching again!! We thought we were done and good to go, and we have to start over. Our realtor knew about the appraisal for a day or two before she told us, so she started the search. Well, she hit it in ONE!! She had pulled up several in a small (but rapidly growing) town close to Cedar Rapids. We went to check out several in the town, and the very first one we went to was AWESOME. We went to another one, which was a foreclosure- the basement pipes had cracked and the floor of the basement had a HUGE crack across it and was starting to buckle. We got out of there as fast as we could! We headed home from there, but talked a lot about whether we would want to live in Ely or not, daycare/preschool options for Scoots, mileage to work, etc. We decided the town wouldn't be so bad! We put in an offer on Monday evening, and got a counter on Tuesday afternoon, and we accepted!

So now we are going through the waiting of the appraisal (which it has already been appraised once, and listed below appraisal price) and bank paperwork. I've been running around getting quotes for insurance...we've always been with State Farm, Sam's parents have them, so Sam was covered. We just continued with them for the past 7 years, never shopping around. It wasn't really something I ever thought of!

Some scrapbook layouts

2008-05-01T09:41:00.001-05:00

Yeah! He's home...

2008-05-01T08:38:00.000-05:00

Sam was on a business trip the past couple days. He left Sunday afternoon and came home last night. Yesterday was his bday, so Scoots and I called him yesterday morning and left a little "Happy Bday, we miss you" message on his voicemail. I ordered one of those huge cookie cakes from the Great American Cookie Company, instead of a bday cake. He loved it- even said, "Much better than birthday cake!" Which coming from Sam, who LOVES bday cake, is really saying something!

Scooter hasn't been feeling good the past few days- he was running a fever on Saturday/Sunday. That has gone away, but has also been complaining about and even crying about stomach pain- more specifically, right side pain. I try to get him to point exactly where it hurts, but he can't seem to. I'm bringing him in to work today to get adjusted- he apparently complained of a headache at preschool yesterday- and then taking him to the pediatrician to see if something else is going on. Keeping my fingers crossed that nothing serious is going on.

Yesterday was an interesting day at work. My doctor (Dr. W) is involved in a grant through the NIH (Nat'l Institute of Health) about TMJ work and using chiropractic to help with that. So we had a meeting with the other people involved. Dr. W was pretty worked up about it, and just overcome that he is a part of such a big study for chiropractic. Research for chiropractic didn't really exist 20 years ago, and now the NIH is funding grants to study how it works.

Well, city wide garage sales are coming up this weekend in Coralville. My mom is coming up, I think, and we'll hit some sales. With buying our new house in June, I'm looking for a couple things. Our current dining room table will not work in the new kitchen, so Sam is looking to make a new kitchen table. I have a higher table- what do they call it, a pub table? DH has something very specific in mind and was trying to draw pictures to show me. I just wasn't getting the picture...we were at KMart the other day and happened by the "furniture" department and we both saw it at the same time. A high top table that was almost exactly what we both had in mind- it was beautiful, but it was the wrong color...plus it didn't seem all that sturdy. But at least I know what he's talking about now, and I approve!!

A crock pot favorite!

2008-04-30T11:41:00.000-05:00

Crock Pot Nacho Dip

2 lbs ground beef plus 1 packet taco seasoning
2 cans Campbells Fiesta Nacho Cheese soup
2 cans Campbells Cheddar Cheese soup
1 can refried beans
1 jar Hormel bacon bits (black label)

Brown the ground beef and add taco seasoning. While browning the meat, dump the soups, refried beans and bacon bits into the crock pot and stir well. Turn to high. After meat is done, drain the grease. Add meat to the crock pot and stir it all up really well. Depending on how soon you want to eat, leave on high or turn to low. Stir often or the sides and edges will burn. Eat it up with some tortilla chips- we like Tostitos Scoops!