a beautiful day

Book Review - "The Best of Me" by Nicholas Sparks

2012-01-22T08:55:00.000-08:00

The Best of Me by Nicholas Sparks

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While I love to get some variety in my reading (different authors, genres, themes/subject matter, etc.) there are some authors I just can't resist even if their writing is somewhat predictable. Nicholas Sparks is one of them.

Like many of his other works, there is a love interest that involves some sort of conflict, tension or history to it. There is a tragedy. There are characters with quirks. And there are characters dealing with their baggage. And it doesn't necessarily end the way you want it to, but it ends the way it should.

Dawson grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, the youngest in a family of drug dealers, wife beaters, bullies, etc. He meets Amanda in high school and they fall madly in love. Her parents - wealthy and of good reputation - don't approve of their relationship and eventually the pair break up but neither of them really get over their first love.

Each of them moves on to different cities to start new lives of their own. Amanda goes to college and marries a guy that looks good on paper and Dawson moves out of town and takes on a variety of jobs, living in a variety of places and never really settling down, never able to get over Amanda.

When they meet again, it is at the dying wishes of a mutual friend, and of course that old flame is reignited when they see each other again. They stay in their hometown for a few days trying to sort out their friend's estate and in doing so they are able to spend some time together catching up on each other's lives.

The tension in this particular romance is created by the fact that Amanda is married - but not happily - and struggles with the desire to reunite with Dawson and everything that she would be giving up and all the hurt she would be causing to her family if she did so.

Meanwhile, in the background of their relationship, in addition to the problems at home with her alcoholic husband, Amanda is struggling with her relationship with her mother and Dawson is struggling with the tragedy that caused him to leave town originally & also his crazy family who are out for revenge against him.

And then, in true Nicholas Sparks fashion, another tradedy strikes that brings a resolution to all those loose strings that were woven into the book. You may love it, you may hate it, it might all seem a bit too convenient, but in the end is was probably the right way for things to play out.

While I seem to be harping on Sparks' formulaic approach to writing, I will say that I keep reading in spite of that because I love the values he instill in the characters - in this case, Dawson overcomes his negative upbringing and leaves a nice legacy. You are also introduced to their mutual friend who, in spite of his rough exterior, was a wonderful man, wise and generous. And in the end, Amanda is faithful to her her husband and tries to do the right thing for her family. If you like the way Sparks describes things and the rhythm to his writing, you won't be disappointed. He also has a great way of endearing the characters to you and getting you to feel what he wants you to feel, in spite of how you would normally react.

I borrowed this book from the library and already returned it, so I can't quote it exactly, but one thing I liked is he talks about how people so often think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence, but they forget that it's greener because someone watered it and tended to it so that it could grow.

What a neat statement - yes, other people might be more appealing to you than the husband you are struggling with. Or, other jobs might be more appealing than the one you currently have, or your neighbors' house might seem better than yours - but you have the power to have the things you want by investing yourself in them - by working to nurture your relationship, your career, your home or anything other area of your life that you aren't happy with. Giving up will lead to brown grass and anything else will look better.

View all my reviews

Books of 2011 Recap

2012-01-03T13:31:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, one of my favorite pastimes is to read. I come by it honestly...my grandmother is a retired children's librarian (and she worked at my school, so I had no choice) and my mother is an avid reader as well. Here is a recap of what I've read this year:

"Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson
"Before I Fall" by Lauren Oliver
"Calm My Anxious Heart" by Linda Dillow
"I Still Believe" by Jeremy Camp
"The Girl Who Played with Fire" by Stieg Larsson
"Room" by Emma Donaghue
"Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen
"Mini Shopaholic" by Sophie Kinsella
"House Rules" by Jodi Picoult
"Sarah's Key" by Tatiana de Rosnay
"Love Walked In" by Marisa de los Santos
"Forever" by Maggie Stiefvater
"Can't Wait to Get to Heaven" by Fannnie Flagg
"Memoirs of a Geisha" by Arthur Golden
"Heaven is for Real" by Todd Burpo
"Left to Tell: by Immaculee Ilibigiza
"Megan's Way" by Melissa Foster
"Wideacre" by Phillippa Gregory
"Silver Girl" by Elin Hilderbrand
"Reckless Faith" by Jo Kadlacek

For those of you looking for something to read, my favorites were "Can't Wait to Get to Heaven" because of Fannie Flagg's unfailing humor and Southern charm and "Memoirs of a Geisha" for the fascinating glimpse of a different era and culture. If you are looking for some Christian inspiration, I was very inspired by the testimonies in "Heaven is for Real", "Left to Tell", and "I Still Believe".

I'm looking to kick off 2012 with the Twilight series (I finally caved into the peer pressure!).

If you want to know more about my thoughts on books, please look me up on GoodReads - I'd love to be your friend!

Happy New Year!!!

2012-01-01T13:25:00.000-08:00

Well, friends, Happy New Year! It's been a long while since I posted, and even then it was very infrequently, but this year I want to get back into the swing of things. Originally, my intention in setting up this blog was to use it to keep family in the loop over the miles. However, now that I'm closer to them, I suppose it makes sense that I would use it to share with my friends a.k.a. my other family.

So, check back to see what I'm up to including recipes, craft ideas, book reviews, random thoughts and happenings.

So, I hope this finds all of you enjoying the start of 2012! It should be a great year!!!

xoxo,
Michelle

Birthday Cake Victory!

2011-05-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

My friend's son turns 6 this week, so she and I set out to decorate a Scooby Doo cake. Neither of us had ever done anything like that so I was nervous...didn't want to let the little guy down on his birthday. I am happy to say that our first decorating endeavor turned out alright and now I'm excited to try my hand at some fun cupcakes. Here is our Scooby Doo cake!

Happy Birthday, Skinny Kitty!

2011-04-17T11:38:00.000-07:00

My first cat, Paisley (aka :Skinny Kitty") who became my mom's cat when I left for college, turned 20 today! Holy cow....it doesn't seem like it's been that long. But except for being ridiculously skinny, he's in great shape. Here's to many more, litte man! :)

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

2010-02-20T08:14:00.000-08:00

The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I just finished this book for book club last night. I really loved it. I do believe it's a bit formulaic - you know, Nicholas Sparks' books usually have sort of good guy vs. bad guy, some for of love story and some sort of sadness/tragedy. Even so, I thought it was a very enjoyable read. For me the first chapter was hard to get into because it just left too many questions, but that feeling went away as I got into the real meat of the book and it read smoothly and quickly after that.

I read somewhere that this was Nicholas Sparks' longest novel to date, and I believe it payed off. He developed the characters and the plot in much more depth than his previous novels, and I think that is part of what made it an enjoyable read, and in the end, what helped you relate to the characters.

The things I took away from this novel were a reminder to cherish those you love because you never know when you may not see them again and a reminder that things are not always as they seem, so trust yourself and hold off judgment, and finally to figure out who you are and be true to yourself.

View all my reviews >>

2009 Reading Recap

2010-01-16T07:27:00.000-08:00

It's been awhile since I posted, but I thought it would be fun to share with you my reading list from 2009. My goal was to get 25 books read, varying in categories from Spiritual Growth, Financial Savviness, Health/Wellness, Career/Leadership, classics, recent best sellers, and then just some fluff.

I was able to get 17 books done, and covered some classics, recent best sellers, and others. So not quite to my goal, but good enough, considering the last year has been a crazy one.

What I read in 2009:
"Gone with the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell
"The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
"Marley and Me" by Josh Grogan
"The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Schaffer
"American Wife" by Curtis Sittenfeld
"The Girl from Ames" by Jeffrey Zaslow
"Jane Boleyn" by Julia Fox
"The Sugar Queen" by Sarah Addison Allen
"Ellen Foster" by Kay Gibbons
"Little Earthquakes" by Jennifer Weiner
"Intern" by Sandeep Jauhar
"The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman
"STORi Telling" By Tori Spelling
"The Year of Fog" by Michelle Richmond
"No One You Know" by Michelle Richmond
"You'll Never Nanny in this Town Again" by Suzanne Hansen
"The Weight of Silence" by Heather Gudenkauf

I think my favorites of the year were "The Guernsey Literary..."; "Gone with the Wind" (can you believe I'd never read this or seen the movie before?); the Michelle Richmond books (great story teller who weaves a lot into the story); and "Marley & Me" which was hilarious, particularly if you've ever known a "Marley".

And now I'm kicking of 2010 with "Eat, Pray, Love" by Elizabeth Gilbert.

I am on GoodReads if anyone would like to find me over there. I find it's a great way to keep track of what you've read, what you'd like to read, and what your friends are reading.

Happy New Year!

"The Weight of Silence"

2009-12-09T11:11:00.000-08:00

The Weight of Silence by Heather Gudenkauf

My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I could not put this book down! I read it over two days and was just captivated by the characters and also by the description of the woods where most of the action takes place. They were magical & romantic at times, and scary & forboding at others and also hold meaning to each of the characters.

The main character of the story is Calli, a child who has selective mutism (meaning there is no medical reason she cannot speak, but she doesn't speak) as a result of experiencing a family trauma. Over the course of two days while she is missing, her history begins to unravel through the perspectives of the other characters in the book (her mother, her brother, her best friend, her best friend's father, and the town's deputy sheriff). As the story unfolds, we begin to understand what life is like for little Calli, and we learn what has lead to her mutism.

I started to love her little friend Petra who was outgoing and spunky and stood up for Calli against the kids who made fun of her and the adults who grew frustrated with her. Her brother was also a favorite character: kind-hearted and protective of her and really seemed to understand her.

Calli's father is an abusive alcoholic and while you never really like him, I felt like that realities of living with an alcoholic were portrayed accurately, and without bias. It seems like sometimes an author can either really play up the pity card of the horrible disease of alcoholism or can really make you judgmental against the alcoholic and I didn't feel like this author did either...it was presented as a very matter-of-fact, unfortunate presence in these people's lives.

Each character in this novel seems to have their weaknesses, doubts, obstacles, and trials & it was interesting to watch how each reacted to them. The novel reveals the experiences, situations, and decisions that led them to this point in the story.

My take-aways from this novel are:

(1) to remember that you do not know what other people are dealing with in their lives (alcoholism, abuse, bad marriages, childhood issues) or where they are coming from, so don't judge them, but help when you think you can (like little Petra speaking for Calli and Louis looking out for Toni).

(2) to value the true friends that you have in life because they are such a blessing & you will be there for each other through thick and thin. Calli & Petra were there for each other in each one's moment of need; Louis was there for Toni.

(3) Finally, no one is perfect, we all have things that feel like we could have done better, which may be true, but you can't undo the past...you can only do better today and tomorrow. So let go of it, learn from it and put your best foot forward. It seemed like Toni was very hard on herself for the parenting decisions she made, but to me the real questions should be not if she did everything right, but did she do everything she could given the circumstances & is she striving to be better in the future?

In reading some of the other reviews, I see that others were critical of the literary value of this book. They are correct...the writing style is not all that sophisticated, there aren't many examples of literary tools in use here...so if you're looking for something that can be evaluated for a literature class, you'll be disappointed; however, if you're looking for something that keeps your attention and helps you pass some time, this is a good way to do it.

I did feel like there were a few times that you could tell the author threw in some red herrings. To me, a good suspenseful book is one in which you continue believing that it could be anyone until the end. But I felt like the way she threw in a few of them, you could tell that's what she was trying to and it didn't succeed in creating the suspense I wanted.

I do agree with other readers that one of the weaknesses of this book is that it is told by different points of view (which is fine if you can do it well) but the voices aren't distinct enough to support that style of writing. Calli's voice is different because it is always told third-person, past-tense, while everyone else's is first-person, present-tense. And Ben's voice is different because it is written like a teenage boy. But the rest of the voices were too similar.

In hindsight, I do wonder about the odds of the circumstances...it seems like a stretch that two girls would go missing at the same time, the same day, in the same woods and have two entirely different, horrible stories.

But even given all that, it kept me turning pages. I would definitely recommend it for people looking for a book that will keep their attention and entertain them.

View all my reviews >>

Coconut-Chocolate Bars

2009-11-27T08:56:00.000-08:00

Coconut-Chocolate Bars

1-1/2 cups butter or margarine, softened
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened baking cocoa
2 cups flaked coconut
½ cup caramel topping *
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips**
½ teaspoon vegetable oil

*I used the Smucker’s squeezable caramel ice cream topping and just eye-balled the amount I used

**I had a hard time getting the chocolate chips and vegetable oil to the right consistency for drizzling. So I spread it the best I could then sprinkled extra coconut and chocolate chips on top to hide the blobs of chocolate. Next time, try melting it in a double boiler or maybe adding a bit more vegetable oil.

Heat oven to 350©F. Spray 13x9-inch pan with cooking spray. In large bowl, beat butter, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. On low speed, beat in flour and cocoa until soft dough forms. On low speed, beat in 1 cup of the coconut. Press mixture in pan. Bake about 25 minutes or until center is set. Drizzle caramel over baked layer; sprinkle with remaining 1 cup coconut. In resealable freezer plastic bag, mix chocolate chips and oil; seal bag. Microwave on high 30-45 seconds, squeezing chocolate in bag every 15 seconds, until smooth. Cut ¼-inch tip from corner of bag; drizzle chocolate over coconut. For bars, cut into 8 rows by 4 rows.

1 bar: 200 Calories; 12 g total fat; 95 mg sodium; 21g carbohydrates, 1g protein.

My latest read

2009-11-24T08:49:00.000-08:00

You'll" Never Nanny in This Town Again: The True Adventures of a Hollywood Nanny by http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/133128.Suzanne_Hansen">Suzanne Hansen

My rating: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/51739249">2 of 5 starsI read this book in about a week, just an hour or two each night, so it's quick, easy read. And I have a lot going on right now, so I wasn't in the mood for a heavy or deep, meaningful story and this fit the bill.
I think the reason for my low rating is that I was disappointed by the lack of humor. I had read "The Nanny Diaries" a few years ago and remember laughing through it. I had hoped this one would be somewhat similar.
This is the real-life account of one former Hollywood nanny and her employment with the Ovitz family, followed by a short stint with Debra Winger and then Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman's family. If her accounts are even half true I am saddened (but not shocked) by the behaviors of the Ovitzes and have a new found respect for Debra Winger and the DeVito family.
The author acknowledges that she did herself a big disservice by not insisting on a contract and not really even having a conversation up front about expectations for working hours, salary, etc. Even when she realized that she needed to say something, she didn't. I agree that alot of the strife she had with the Ovitzes was from her not standing up for herself, but that doesn't excuse some of the behavior on the part of the family.
There were times when I thought the Ovitzes actually sounded pretty nice, like when Michael called the dealership and got them to agree to selling Suzy her car at cost. But then there were other times when they just had unrealistic expectations. I'm not sure that it was intentional, I just think they didn't think beyond themselves sometimes, or didn't live in the real world enough to think about how unrealistic they were being.
I did like that you watched Suzy grow up from a naive, small-town 19-year-old to a more seasoned, and happy 25+ year old who had finally found the things that she wanted for herself.
If you want an easy read or enjoy memoirs or peeks into Hollywood, this will probably fit the bill.
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/833758-michelle">View all my reviews >>

Cold weather...

2009-01-24T16:02:00.001-08:00

This cold weather has kept me indoors watching movies, reading books and scrapping. Check out some of my latest creations below and STAY WARM!

Rocking in the New Year...

2009-01-24T16:00:00.001-08:00

This year, we spent NYE with some friends at their house in South Minneapolis. We had a great time eating, drinking and playing Rock Band.

AIA Fun Run

2009-01-24T14:44:00.001-08:00

A co-worked and I volunteered on the AIA 150th anniversary Fun Run planning committee a few years ago. Some of our other co-workers showed up that day to run and/or volunteer. I think everyone had a great time.

The boys

2009-01-24T12:30:00.001-08:00

A layout with pictures of me, Jaedon and Kaleb.

Our First Christmas as Mr. and Mrs...

2009-01-24T12:28:00.000-08:00

Pictures from our first Christmas married...2006. The little snowflake "tabs" you see peeking out of the left side of the green are the Christmas cards we exchanged that year, hidden in a pocket.

Birthday Boys

2009-01-24T12:27:00.001-08:00

Jaedon and Greg's birthday celebration last June in Steph and Pat's backyard.

2009 Cover page

2009-01-24T12:25:00.000-08:00

This is going to be the cover page of our 2009 scrapbook...we were ringing in the New Year in this picture. I loved how this paper was perfect for the colors in the picture. Happy New Year!!!

31...

2009-01-24T12:21:00.000-08:00

A layout about Greg's 31st birthday celebration with just me and him. He got back from his bike rally the day before his birthday, and I made him a special dinner of brined and grilled beer can chicken, baked beans and one of his favorite cakes that I made: homemade white cake with strawberry meringue frosting.

Check out this cool cooking blog I found...

2008-11-03T13:44:00.000-08:00

http://creatingpostitnotes.blogspot.com/

Recipes complete with detailed photos! Doesn't get better than that!!!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Crunch Bars

2008-11-03T13:22:00.000-08:00

Ingredients:
2 cups quick-cooking or old-fashioned oats
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup (=1-1/2 sticks) butter, melted
1 pkg (11-1/2 oz.) semisweet chocolate chunks, divided
1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
18 mini chocolate-covered peanut butter cups, chopped

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 F. Combine oats, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in large bowl; blend well. Add butter; stir until crumbly. Remove 1-1/2 cups of the crumb mixture; set aside for later use. Press remaining crumb mixture firmly onto bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch baking pan. Bake 15 minutes or until crust is light brown around edges.

Microwave 1 cup chocolate chunks in medium microwavable bowl on HIGH 2 minutes; stir until chocolate is completely melted. Add milk and peanut butter, mix until well blended. Spread onto crust. Combine remaining chocolate chunks, the peanut butter cup pieces and 1-1/2 cups reserved crumb mixture; sprinkle evenly over filling.

Bake 25 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely. Cut into 40 bars to serve.

This takes about 45 minutes total, but only about 20 of it is hands-on...the other 25 is waiting for it to bake.

It even comes out like the photo that was on the original recipe...which doesn't always happen! :)

*** *** *** ***

I got two thumbs up from Greg on this one!

Recipe and photo courtesy of www.simpleanddelicious.com

A new layout...

2008-10-27T22:02:00.000-07:00

On one of my scrapping message boards, someone asked to see examples of two-page layouts with lots of photos. That inspired me to scan and upload some pages I did this summer but haven't taken the time to share. So here's some fresh artwork for you all, especially since it's been a month since my last post.

These are pictures of our family members at my husband and nephew's joint birthday party back in July. I love all the candid photos.

The papers are by KI Memories, the flowers are by Prima, the letters were cut from a Doodlebug Cricut cartridge, and the buttons are by SEI.

another...

2008-10-27T20:48:00.001-07:00

This one is of photographs taken at the Sculpture Garden at the Walker Art Center. I love showing this attraction off to visitors because even if they don't particularly enjoy art, the sculptures are memorable and it gives you a chance to get out and walk around, see something unique to the cities and it provides a great setting for catching up with each other.

The papers are by Luxe Designs and the title is American Crafts Thickers.

another...

2008-10-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

This layout is of pictures we took over Memorial weekend on a visit to Omaha. The people in the pics are me and my husband, my mom and my grandma. I was so pleased with how the photos turned out I just had to find a way to get lots on a page. For you scrapping types: the paper and brads are by Little Yellow Bicycle; the paper flowers are from Close to my Heart and the title was cut from a Cricut Cartridge (one of the Doodlebug fonts).

The Very Hungry Canerpillar

2008-09-28T17:41:00.001-07:00

This is the second year Greg has been involved in a great cause: Canstruction! Greg's work put together a great team of people to build this replica of the classic children's book "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" to raise awareness and donations of food for the Second Harvest Food Shelter.

The event is organized by the Society of Design Adminstrators, of which I am a member and treasurer on the local level. Events like this happen all over the country throughout the year, so even if you're not from the Twin Cities, be on the look out for one near you.

Greg's team spent all day yesterday building this structure, and has spent the last few months organizing, designing, practicing, and fundraising/donation collecting.

This year's event raised over 14,000 pounds of food and over 14,000 cans which will be distributed to people and non-profits in need. As you can see, Greg's team did a fantastic job on their giant sculpture and were rewarded for their efforts with the "Best Use of Labels" and "People's Choice" awards as well as an honorable mention for creative and quality and creation of an icon. The other three entries can be seen below:

A Minneapolis Icon

2008-09-28T17:32:00.000-07:00

The team from ATS&R took home the "Best Meal" and "Juror's Favorite" for this can-made replica of a Minneapolis icon: the cherry and spoon sculpture from the Walker Art Center & the skyline in the background. Their theme was "Tuna Salad in the Park" and was created from, among other things, the canned and boxed goods needed to make a Tuna Pasta Salad. The Juror's noted the great ability to carry theme through, the attention to detail (like the cherry is made with cans of cherry pie filling and the back of the sculpture is the logo for the event), and the quality as reasons for picking it as their favorite.

St. CANthony Falls

2008-09-28T17:27:00.001-07:00

The part of downtown Minneapolis that is depicted here the St. Anthony area. The most iconic part of that district is the Stone Arch Bridge, which you see depicted here in the black and gold cans on the right hand "wall" of this sculpture. You can see the river depicted on floor, including a reflection of the bridge. The back wall depicts the city skyline. This sculpture was created by a team from LHB, who participated in the event for the first time this year. They were the only brand-new team this year, and were very perseverent...their structure fell down about a third of the way through the allotted construction time yesterday, and yet they started on over and succeeded in creating this sculpture by the end of the day. They were awarded an honorable mention for the sensitive use of organic foods.

And last but not least...

2008-09-28T17:20:00.000-07:00

This can structure was done by the team from Cuningham Group and their theme was "wiping out hunger one can at a time". So they had this tornado tearing up the land, and aiming for the word hunger, which was most legible when viewed from above, but also legible from the side view. Considering the venue (Mall of America) where the upper stories of this area can overlook the sculptures, it was neat to see them play up the two views. This structure won the "Stuctural Ingenuity" award for the design of their tornado.

Cardmakers: Check out this cool blog!

2008-09-17T09:55:00.001-07:00

I found a great card-making blog with lots of sketches and ideas. Take a peek...it's very inspiring!

http://cardsketchaday.blogspot.com/

Have a great day!
Michelle

All of this....

2008-09-11T18:54:00.001-07:00

This is what I started with this year (back in May). When I was growing up, my mom and I planted flowers on Mother's Day weekend. So, around that time in May is when I start keeping an eye on the weather to gauge exactly when I can start planting. As you can see, I waited long enough...my hostas and irises and lilies were already going to town. So, one fine afternoon I set out to the garden stores and filled up my basket with all kinds of lovely things (also shown above). Went home and spent about six hours planting, weeding, transplanting, mulching, and watering. About an hour after I got done, a huge storm blew threw town, dumping hail on my flower bed and just shredding all my plants. Needless to say I was pretty sad that all by efforts had been for nothing. Of course, it was still early in the season, and they did just fine...

...Lead to this...

2008-09-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

As you can see, the hail ended up not ruining my garden in the end! Hurray! I was so excited to see how my garden filled in, and except for some planting at the beginning of summer, and good waterings throughout, it was pretty maintenance free! It has taken five years for the perennials to fill in like they have, and now I have things in bloom all season. I have really enjoyed this little flower bed, and look forward to the day when we have our own house with a yard (which equates to a much bigger canvas) to build a garden we can permanently enjoy. It's getting to be that time of year when you don't know how much longer these flowers will last, so I thought I would share them with you.

Do you see it?

2008-09-10T19:05:00.000-07:00

The ever so slight hint of fall!?! I'm so excited. Fall is my favorite season of the year. I love the crisp cool air tinged with the smell of fires burning and the sound of leaves crunching. I love the abundance of color in nature and the cool nights with windows wide open, sleeping under piles of blankets. I love the scents and tastes of fall foods: beef stew, apple crisp, roasts, pumpkin bars. I love the return to routines. I love Sunday afternoons of football (not because of the game, but because I get to scrapbook or read or stitch while Greg watches the game)...time together but enjoying our own thing. I love fall activities: Halloween parties, pumpkin patches, apple orchards, and corn mazes. I love the cozy feel and a great preamble to the warmth and glow of the holiday season. It's when we celebrate our anniversary. It's when we practice and celebrate thankfulness. It's when we get out the warm comfy sweaters. Can you tell I love this season?

Birthday Layout

2008-09-01T17:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a layout I did with pictures from Greg's 31st birthday this year. He had celebrations stretched out from late June to the first weekend in August, by the time we were able to travel to see all sides of the family and he enjoyed that. He went on a bike rally the weekend before his birthday, so I was able to greet him with a deluxe birthday dinner upon his return: beer can chicken, potato salad, bake beans, and strawberry meringue frosting on homemade white cake.

Papers by Creative Imaginations, scallop edge created with Fiskars threading waters punch, scallop circle punch by Marvy Uchida, rubber "happy birthday embellishment and photo turns from a CKU kit, numbers cut from a Cricut cartridge, then covered in Stickles by Ranger Industries.

Zoo Layout

2008-09-01T16:14:00.000-07:00

Back on the first weekend in August, my sister-in-law and her family went to Omaha to visit the zoo. Because we were in town visiting my family, we were able to spend part of the day with them. We didn't have a lot of time, we did manage to get through the aquarium (one of my favorites) and grab some ice cream. I also got pooped on by a bird! Can you believe that? I worked at that zoo for 5 years and never once got pooped on! And then we're standing there, minding our own business, waiting for ice cream and I become the target. Oh well, we still had a great day. This was one of the first times, too, that Jaedon was able to recognize us without prompts from mom. He greeted us "Hi Gegg. Hi Shell." Lovin' that for sure!

For you scrap-minded readers: the paper is We R Memory Keepers exclusive line for Archiver's, the stickers are by EK Sucess, the scalloped rectangle cardstock is by Bazzill, the lines for journalling were created using an Autumn Leaves stamp, and the circle behind the pelican sticker was created with a Close to my Heart Stamp & ink topped with Stickles by Ranger Industries.

Kickball season end...sniff

2008-07-31T21:15:00.000-07:00

We had our last game of the summer kickball season on Tuesday. It was a tie and because the games were already behind schedule we couldn't go into overtime. But that's alright. The other team showed up in punk wigs so that set the tone for a fun evening. Fall kickball starts up in a few weeks and I can't wait. My highlight of the summer season was kicking the game point a few weeks ago! Sweet.

Softball Tourney

2008-07-31T21:04:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Greg and I went to Iowa for the softball tournament my work sponsors every year. We had a great time and are looking forward to next year's tournament. I did pretty poorly at playing...the fact that I haven't played since third grade proved to be a disadvantage for me, however Greg had some great games. Greg's mom, sister, grandma and our nephew came out to to see us for awhile which was great. The tourney is all day Saturday but we got from Friday to Sunday to allow time to tour the host office, meet people and tour the town.

Our company chartered a bus for us to get to and from Iowa. The ride there was pretty lively with food, drinks, poker, music and lots of talking. By contract, the ride back on Sunday was very quiet...everyone had fun all weekend long and took advantage of the long ride to rest up. The company also hosted appetizers on Friday at the Iowa office, meals at the tourney on Saturday and tee-shirts to commemorate the weekend! A great time was had by all.

The top photo makes me smile, it's Greg's softball uniform for this year. Greg wore that to the tourney and I wore a hot pink shirt that matched my hot pink and black glove. Needless to say we got a few comments...him on his swirly socks and me on my overall color coordination. One cool side effect: we were both so bright it was easy for our nephew to spot us on the field and cheer for us!

The bottom photo was taken on the bus ride down. We all chose to wear Hawaiian-themed attire. Another office all showed up with mullet wigs on! It was pretty funny.

Long time, no post

2008-07-31T20:46:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how quickly the summer goes. It surprises me every year. Perhaps it's because it started so late this year. In any case, we've been keeping busy with softball, wiffleball, kickball and weekend warrior-ing.

Two weekends ago some girlfriends and I went on a weekend kayak/canoe/camping trip and had a blast. Well, minus the bajillion mosquito bites we endured! Yes, literally a bajillion! I have never had that many bites in my life combined before that weekend.

We went down the Kickapoo river in Wisconsin. Friday night we went to one of the girls' dad's house to spend the night because he lived nearby and that enabled us to get an earlier start on the weekend bright and early Saturday morning. Saturday we kayaked/canoed about 10 river miles, then set up camp along the river, about 10 feet up a hill so that we wouldn't get washed out by the storms that came that night. We played a dice/quiz game and cooked dinner over a campfire and enjoyed some adult beverages.

Sunday morning, we woke up to find a weird scraggly fishermad hanging around our campsite. Needless to say we scrambled to get our stuff onto the boats and boats onto the water ASAP! When safely down river a bit we stopped for breakfast and to load up on sunscreen. We ended up have to portage around a first obstacle where several trees had fallen across the river. We came upon a second that was impassable by canoe. We got two kayaks past and went further down river only to find more impassable obstacles. SO we kayaked back to the first blockade, told the group we had to pull out, and then the whole group (3 kayaks, two full canoes, and 7 lovely ladies) went back upstream to the last bridge we went under and pulled all of our gear up the bank to a dirt road. We were lucky enough to have a park ranger pass, so we flagged him down and talked him into escorting our outfitter back to get us and our gear and their watercraft. If he hadn't come along, we would've had to carry that all 1/2 mile down a dirt road to the highway (apparently, the outfitter is not allowed on park property normally).

In spite of all this, or perhaps because of all this, we had a blast and I can't wait to go again next year. The scenery was beautiful and company was even better.

About Me Quiz

2008-07-14T09:19:00.000-07:00

I got this from my friend Bonnie's blog and thought it was fun...

Ten Years Ago:July 1998 - was the summer between my sophomore and junior years of college. I was in London with my friend Kelly taking a History of British Rock 'n' Roll class...yeah, life was pretty rough! :) We (Kelly and I) were preparing move out of the dorms and into our first apartment together with our other friend Jana. It was the summer I started seeing my first boyfriend (we broke up a year-and-a-half later). I think I worked at Eddie Bauer for a few weeks that summer before and after hour trip to London.

Five Things on Today's To-Do List:

(1) Organize for the canoe trip I'm going on later this month.
(2) Plant some coral bells in my flower bed to fill in the dead spot where the squirrels stole all my bulbs.
(3) Go to the gym
(4) Do some paperwork for a professional organization I'm in.
(5) Go to happy hour with some co-workers

Snacks I Enjoy: I'll agree with Bonnie on this one: fresh guacamole! I also love that People Puppy Chow (chex cereal with chocolate, peanut butter and powdered sugar), almonds (fresh or lightly roasted with salt), and beef sticks.

Things I Would Do If I Was a Millionaire: buy a house, upgrade our cars, invest like crazy, and pace ourselves spending the rest on travel (Italy, Key West and Hawaii would start the list), starting a college fund for any future kids we may have (no, this is not an announcement) and our nephews and then give to charity. I would continue to work, though!

Places I Have Lived: Omaha, NE; Ames, IA; St. Paul and Bloomington, MN; and part-time in Chicago, IL for awhile.

Scrapbookers!

2008-07-13T16:32:00.000-07:00

Check out this lady's blog, she's got some great sneak peeks for the summer CHA show:

http://moniquemclean.typepad.com/scrap_etc/summer-cha-2008-sneak-pee.html

New Layout

2008-07-06T08:56:00.000-07:00

This is a layout I did yesterday for a challenge on a scrapping message border. These are photos of my nephew and I in May.

Floral Cards

2008-07-05T11:04:00.000-07:00

Got some craftin' time in this holiday weekend.

I made a set of 8 of these, all are similar but not are exactly the same due to the flowers I had available to me (they were handcut from a sheet of patterned paper).

I cut the flowers out of this sheet of paper by American Crafts...yeah, it took awhile but I caught up on some Oprah while I did it.

The textured cardstock is Bazzill, the patterned paper is from the American Crafts a la Carte line and it's called Vinegarette. I found it last week while strolling through Artsy Tartsy. I'd seen it several times before but this was the time that I found it inspiring. The scalloped edge was cut with the Fiskars Threading Waters punch. You can't tell from this scan, but I did put Close to my Heart Liquid Glass on the flower centers to give it an epoxy look.

Happy Fourth of July

2008-07-04T22:06:00.000-07:00

I hope you all enjoyed the day safely! This was my view of the fireworks tonight...very Minneapolitan. Thank you to all of the servicemen and women who guard our freedom and keep us safe.

Happy Birthday Boys!

2008-06-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend we celebrated my husband and my nephew's birthdays...ok, so we were a little late for J's and a little early for Greg's, but who's counting anyway?

We had a great time celebrating at my sister-in-law's new house with both her (our) family and her in-laws there. J and Greg had a fantastic time with their Pixar Cars-Themed birthday party, ice cream cake, presents and plenty of good times outside with family and friends.

Happy birthday, boys! You know I love you both so very much!

Camping

2008-06-23T21:45:00.000-07:00

This weekend found us enjoying the scenery and beautiful weather at St. Croix State Park. We had to dodge some raindrops on the way up, and hail on the way back but all in all it was a pretty fantastic weekend. We spent the weekend with a friend from Greg's work, his girlfriend and her dog, and we even got to go canoeing.

Layouts

2008-06-20T19:49:00.000-07:00

Here's some layouts I've worked on recently.

The first is a photograph that was taken in May when my mom, my aunt, me, my cousin and several of my mom's cousins got together for lunch for a mini reunion. The papers and circle tag are My Mind's Eye, flowers are Prima. I stamped the dotted border and cut the title with my digital cutter.

The next is about seeing my nephew Jaedon back in January when he was first learning "Ring Around the Rosy" but wouldn't fall down at the end of the song. The papers are Cosmo Cricket, the circle embellishments are Scenic Route, the work "play" is made with thickers from American Crafts, the Rubons are also Cosmo Cricket. I made the journalling box on my computer based on an article I saw in Simple Scrapboks this spring.

The last one is a layout I did of a picture of my mom and I from Easter this year. Simple but to the point. The papers are Basic Gray (red) and Bo-Bunny (green); the border is a sticker from All My Memories.

Thanks for looking.

I hope you're all doing well.

Michelle

Thank you

2008-06-02T16:58:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who has sent me emails or left me comments about my friend's death. That means a lot to me. I ended up being able to go home over Memorial weekend for her funeral. As strange as it may sound it was a good weekend. Of course it was sad, but there was a great amount of togetherness that weekend. Our classmates got together on Friday night at her sister's house and by the end of the night our tears of sadness had turned to tears of laughter as we reminisced about high school and all of the trouble we got into...mostly because of Jill :)

Saturday was her memorial and her sister and best friend had organized it and did a great job of celebrating the person that she was the what she meant to different people. That night her sister had another gathering at her house. I got to see her husband and kids again, so that was nice to be able to show them support.

Sunday, we hung out with family. Went to the botanical center w/ my mom and grandma then grilled with them, my cousins, aunt & uncle over at grandma's. Monday we headed back.

As we were driving back to mom's after the bbq on Sunday night, I snapped this photograph. This rainbow was even more intense than the photo shows and such a peaceful sight!

In loving memory

2008-05-22T19:35:00.000-07:00

This week Jill, my best friend in high school, was killed in a car accident. I am having a very hard time comprehending it. This picture was taken exactly one year ago this weekend when Jill, Marie and I gathered for our unofficial, very mini-class reunion.

I remember being nervous when I pulled in that gravel driveway at Jill's acreage. Except for one summer in college, and a few random phone calls or emails, I hadn't seen her since our freshman year in college and I hadn't seen or talked to Marie even that much.

And yet, as soon as Jill welcomed us in the door and the flurry of kids and pets settled down, I remembered exactly what it was that I've always admired about Jill: come as you are...no need to be nervous. The other amazing thing about our friendship was that no matter how long it had been since we talked or saw each other we picked up right where we left off and it held true for this visit too.

I also remember being so happy for her. She seemed truly calm and happy. She had these loveable little girls who gave us a tour of the house and introduced us to ALL of the pets; she had an adoring husband and she had this really warm-feeling home that you could just picture chilling in as a family.

As the news of her death has been weighing on my mind and weighing on my heart, I wanted to write down some of the things that I truly enjoyed about my friendship with Jill.

We could talk about ANYTHING. Sometimes you have friends who you can't talk about certain things with, for whatever reason. And that's fine, I respect those bounds. But with Jill we talked about everything, and had some really good thought-provoking talks. Jill was always educated and well-spoken and passionate in the arguments that she made, but in the end she respected that you were entitled to your own opinion.
Jill didn't care what other people thought. If she liked something, whether it was an "unpopular" person, an unheard of new song, a weird new outfit, whatever, she went ahead and enjoyed it. She didn't worry what other people thought, she just did her own thing. And the funny thing was, usually the things she liked ended up being the cool or popular thing later. But even if it didn't, she stood by her opinion.
She was truly happy for other people and she truly saw beauty and value in other people...all people. Sometimes that's hard to do, and yet she always did it.
She was fun. I remember countless Friday nights cruising around in that tan Ford Escort eating Taco Bell and listening to Lisa Loeb or White Zombie, or in later years the Dixie Chicks, just laughing and talking and doing random fun things as we went.
You could count on her. If you needed a ride, money, the shirt off her back or a floor to sleep on, she'd be there for you in a heartbeat, no questions asked. But there'd be an ear to listen or a shoulder to cry on if you needed it.

These are just a few of the things. I know that she will always be in my heart, but it saddens me to know that I won't get to see her again. Even though we didn't see each other a lot, it never seemed to take long to get back to where we were.

Here's to you, Jill, and the awesome friend that you were. May you rest in peace, and know that you were loved.

If you're the praying type, please say a prayer for my friend Jill and her family. She left behind an adoring husband, two very sweet daughters, a loving sister & supportive brother-in-law, two adorable nieces, a loving mom and a big-hearted teddy bear of a dad.

I've been a card-makin' fool!

2008-05-19T22:38:00.000-07:00

I've been busy making cards lately.

Teacup Cards (top): I made these thank yous for a friend to use. Her daughter had her third birthday party recently and the theme was tea party. My friend came over and we made invites, so then I used the same papers to make the thank yous as a surprise. She is constantly doing nice things for the rest of us, I thought she'd like a surprise. The patterned paper is from Stack I got at JoAnn's, the stamp is a new Hero Arts release. I used watercolor pencils to fill in the cup, and added stickles, a flower brad from Bazzill, and an adhesive pearl to finish it off. Made the scalloped edge with the Fiskars Threading Water punch.

Flower Card (middle): I made a set of four of these thank yous for a charity auction at my husbands work. The papers are from the new Sharon Ann Little Yellow Bicycle collection, the stamp is Stampin' Up.

Birthday Card (bottom): I made a set of four of these birthday cards for the same charity auction. The stamps are Hero Arts, I used my watercolor pencils to color them in, and then stickles to bling them up, as well as sugar-coated brads from Doodlebug and Liquid Glass from Close to my Heart. The patterned paper is KI Memories. I embossed the blue cardstock with a Cuttlebug embossing folder.

If you click on the cards you can see them bigger. The glitteriness doesn't read well online, they do look better than that! :)

Thanks for looking.

Cards

2008-05-14T18:50:00.001-07:00

A quick post tonight.

These are a few of the cards I've made recently. I made a set of 10 of the upper one for a friend who always compliments my cards. Her husband recently passed away and I thought she might find these useful in the wake of all the memorials, flowers, meals, etc. that will probably be given to her over the coming weeks. The papers and flower stamps and "thank you" stamp are by Close to my Heart, the wavy "heartfelt thanks" text stamp is Hero Arts.

The lower card is one of the Mother's Day cards I made. Purple shimmer Bazzill cardstock, stamps & pearls by Hero Arts, ink by Versamark, scallop oval punched with a Marvy Uchida punch.

Have a nice evening everyone!

Still not Spring?

2008-04-26T09:08:00.001-07:00

Mother Nature has been teasing us again! Warm, sunny beautiful days (we're almost talking short weather here) followed by cold, rainy and even SNOWY days. Yes, SNOW. In the end April.

I really thought spring was on it's way...and it still is, but just sidetracked I guess. We've barbequed several nights, and my plants are starting to poke through.

When I was growing up, my grandparents lived on an acreage, and I remember starting in late winter, they would scour the seed catalogs to decide what plants they were going to grow in the spring. They'd place their order and start their seedlings indoors on these lighted shelves my grandpa built and then after the last freeze, they transfer those sprouts to the flower beds on the acreage.

With limited space, I decided to try this on a much smaller scale...and so far, so good! I have one small tray of purple and pink sweet peas and one small tray of assorted pink/coral sweet peas growing happily in my kitchen window.

Also, sadly, when I stepped out this morning to snap a photo of the snow that actually stuck, I realized my irises were poking out and had snow around them. Hopefully they'll be OK. But assuming they're OK, I'll have irises, coral bells, and hostas that come back on their own and then I'll probably pick a few filler plants when it warms up and stays warm!

I got another layout done this week. This one is of my scrapgirls at our ornament exchange last Christmas.

In other news, Greg and I've had a fun, busy week. We babysat for a friends' little girl last week which took us to the Zoo and McDonald's Playland. We went to a small group game night with some friends church and Greg had softball practice and men's Bible study. Also, my supervisor at work treated my team to dinner one night this for Admin's week. So it was a fun, busy week! Tonight we have a karaoke party at a friends' house. Should be fun!

Weekend update

2008-04-19T22:26:00.000-07:00

This weekend has been wonderful so far, and the best part is we get one more day! Hurray! I took yesterday afternoon off to help my cousin with some errands and we had a really nice time together. Sometimes I worry that our age difference will set us apart (11 years) but usually it doesn't. We always find some things to talk about and I love hearing all about her college experience, her friends, her classes. Today, Greg and I got to sleep in a little before getting ready for a big day of babysitting. We had a great time with our friend's three-year-old daughter at the zoo and then at McDonald's playland, but now we are two tired puppies. Well, three because we wore her out too! Lots of playing and lots of fresh air. Tonight we were too tired to do much, but we did head to Barnes and Noble for a few minutes right before they closed. Tomorrow, we plan to go to church and then I'm meeting some of my scrap girls for a class. Should be great!

Here's a few layouts I sneaked in tonight while Greg watched a movie I didn't want to see :) The top layout, Mini Moo, is of my nephew's first Halloween. For you scrappy folks, the papers are Heidi Grace, the stitches are rub-ons by Die Cuts w/ a View, and the letters are American Crafts chipboard thickers. The bottom layout is of a family pet, Clancy. The papers are SEI, the letters are foam American Crafts Thickers, and the paw-print charm is Junkitz.

Everyone have a great rest of your weekend!

The Outtakes

2008-04-14T19:40:00.000-07:00

Here's a layout I did with the "outtakes" I got when I did the Valentine's photo shoot of Jaedon...even the outtakes are pretty cute, but I may be biased. :)

For you scrappers: the papers are SEI, the flowers are Prima, the "bling" is Hero Arts and Mark Richards, the paper clip is Making Memories, the epoxy sticker is Cloud 9 and the letter stickers are American Crafts.

Thanks for stopping by!

A family layout

2008-04-09T20:15:00.000-07:00

Here's a layout I did of some family photos. We were at a close family friends' wedding reception and we ended up getting some great pictures of everyone. These pictures are of my two cousins, my aunt and uncle, my mom, my grandma and my husband. I think we look pretty spiffy. Oh, and my aunt is making that funny face because "Cowboy's Don't Smile".

For my scrappy friends: the patterned paper is Doodlebug, the scalloped cardstock is from Bazzill...it came as a large 12x12 square but I cut it in half, layered it over each other to be the right height of the photo block then hid the seam with photos and ribbon; Prima flowers, Hero Arts sticky pearls, chipboard swirls painted white, and the title was cut from Pharmacy (a free font from the internet).

Spring?

2008-04-07T20:09:00.001-07:00

Until this morning (when I drove through flurries on the way to work) it was really beginning to feel like spring. We've grilled several times (even had the first beer can chicken of the season...YUM!), Greg brought home some tulips for me (the first of the season...hint, hint), and we've been to baseball game (our first of the season, but only the second of the Twins season) with our friends AmyLee, Pat and Parker.

We may have even been in the presence of the youngest fan that day (Parker being only six weeks old). He even made it up on the score board:

I also had some time to scrap and stamp this weekend. I met a friend for some cropping one night this weekend and on Sunday I made some time to scrap too. Got some Mother's Day cards (which I can't show you because some of you may be getting them) as well as some other cards:

For my scrappy readers, the supplies for the cards are: Doodlebug black and white patterned paper, Making Memories magnetic letter stamps in Evolution font, Polka-Dot posies stamp set by Stampin' Up, Hero Arts "Heartfelt Thanks" stamp, rhinestones, red cardstock by Colormates, red and black ink, red rhinestones, misc. buttons and ribbons.

The Best Seat in the House...

2008-03-31T21:23:00.001-07:00

...is now the couch we got delivered on Saturday. And we spent part of the weekend tying it all together. I've been collecting things here and there with this couch in mind since our wedding...ok, not this exact couch but something along these lines and it finally came together!

These shelves have some of the frames and the clock we got for our wedding, plus pictures from our wedding as well as the little kitty picture holders my aunt gave me a few years back.The quilt on the couch is the one my grandma made us for our wedding...I picked it when I was with her and the rest of my family on a shopping trip in Des Moines and the window is something I altered to hold photographs of both of our families.The couch came with two pillows that are actually like small cushions that aren't...um....exactly my taste. But there were two and they are cat-sized, so I decided to let them think we got the pillows for them. At least Baci seems content with his. And now the pillows get used, and the cats have a comfy place to sleep.By the end of the first day both cats had decided this was going to be the new hangout, and they're right...this will be the best seat in the house!We moved the TV from where the couch is now, which meant some rearranging of that wall too. We ordered one large print from our wedding to hang on the white wall behind the TV, but we're trying to find a 12x18 frame for it.

So that was our excitement for the weekend.

It's here!!!!

2008-03-29T08:14:00.000-07:00

Some birthday cards

2008-03-27T19:22:00.001-07:00

Here's a few cards I've made recently. The one above I made for my cousin. She likes modern and funky and bold things so that's why I chose the patterns and colors that I did. The cardstock is embossed w/ cupcakes and is from the Love, Elsie collection by KI Memories; the patterned paper is 3 Bugs in a Rug, the chipboard cupcake button is also Love, Elsie and then I used some thin twine and stitching rubons from my stash to add some texture/detail. Oh, and the stamp around the button is from Close to My Heart.

The card below is one I made for my uncle the cowboy. I picked up these papers months ago with him in mind and I've been patiently waiting to use them. The papers are from the Sharon Ann Collection, the ribbon is from my stash, the charm is Flair Designs (?) and the die cuts are from My Mind's Eye. I printed the greeting on a transparency w/ brown ink.

And below is the inside. I printed the greeting on some of the patterned paper, again in brown and made a mini-library pocket on my Silhouette to hold his gift card and the left hand side.

New Recipe - Fruit Tart

2008-03-21T15:31:00.001-07:00

Updated 3/27/08: Here's pictures per your request. I've made this dish twice and both times it turned out wonderfully. Once w/ apricot preserves, the other with strawberry...I liked the strawberry better. Also, the first time had kiwi which added fun color/texture/shapes but this weekend the kiwis didn't look that great at the store, so we didn't get any. That's the fun of this recipe though: flexibility!

Many of us are preparing for Easter weekend which means family-time and special meals. Let me share this recipe with you...I'll be making it tomorrow. It's from a friend at work:

Fruit Tart
CRUST:
2/3 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
3/4 cups all-purpose flour

*When you stir up the crust it is the consistency of sticky sugar cookie dough...don't panic...it turns out good! Also, when you go to take it out of the oven, it may have risen close to the top of the pan. Don't worry...it will sink back down when you take it out of the oven.

FILLING:
2 ounces of vanilla or white chocolate chips, melted
2 tablespoons of Preserves
1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, whipped
1 (20 ounce) can pineapple chunks, undrained*
1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced
1 (11 ounce) can mandarin oranges, drained
2 kiwifruit, peeled and sliced

*Make sure you save the pineapple juice to make the glaze with! Or, if you're like me and don't pay attention to that helpful tidbit, make sure you have internet access so you can find a glaze recipe that doesn't require fruit juice! :)

GLAZE:
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon lemon or lime juice

DIRECTIONS For crust, In a small mixing bowl, cream butter and confectioners' sugar until light and fluffy. Gradually add flour; mix well. Press into an ungreased 11-in. tart pan with removable bottom. Bake at 300 degrees F for 22-24 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
For filling, in a small mixing bowl, beat melted chips and whipping cream. Add cream cheese and preserves and beat until smooth. Spread over crust. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Drain and rinse fruit; reserve 1/2 cup of juice from canned fruit, set aside. Arrange fruit over filling.
For glaze, in a small saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch. Stir in lemon juice and reserved pineapple juice until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium heat; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Cool; brush over fruit. Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving. Refrigerate leftovers.

*** I found it easier to have the butter partially melted when creaming it with the sugar and flour. When pressing dough into pan, only have dough be a thin layer (it will rise) and have it partially up on the sides of the pan. You can substitute any fruit you desire, just be sure to have a different flavor of preserves for a variety; the fruit can be as heavy or light as you wish. The portions of fruit above are for heavy fruit, you will have leftover fruit. Also, you can try doubling the recipe if you wish and putting it in a 9"x13" cake pan, or 12"x17" Cookie/Jello pan. ***

Enjoy and happy Easter!!!

Having a WILD time!

2008-03-15T15:22:00.000-07:00

It's well past time for another post, and it'll be a long one as we've been busy!

A few weeks ago (wow, time flies...) Greg and some of his peers from work participated in the Skyway Open downtown. Architecture firms from the area compete to design mini-golf holes that are then set up and played in the skyways dowtown. This was their hole. If you look closely, you can see that it spells Minneapolis as you move left to right. The "M" is that smokestack at the far left, the I is laying flat taking up the whole width, etc. Greg's big contribution was the windmill serving as the second I at the right. The windmill even moves.Their concept was that the city gets greener as you move to the right, signifying our move into greener times in the future.

Last week my uncle and his buddies (cowboy re-enactors) were in town to promote the fine state of South Dakota. South Dakota is promoting tourism in its neighboring states and as part of this campaign they wrapped two of the lightrail trains with images from South Dakota. We got to have dinner with them while they were in town. Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera (I know, I know) so no pictures of my uncle. But they did make headlines here. You can also see their website here: Wild West Creations. Being with these guys in public was fun: sooooo many people are drawn to them...they want to know what their up to, they have all kinds of questions about them, and little boys especially just stand there in awe!

Also, we recently gathered with a group of friends from college. It's hard to believe we've known them for going on 12 years! We had a game night, complete with homemade cream soda, Balderdash, foozball on a brand-spankin' new table, and appetizers. Here's a picture of one of the two newest friends in our gang:

I got to babysit for the other newest friend in our circle from college last night. We had a good time playing, singing, and watching Cars. Although, I have to say all these little ones we know are such good kids that we're going to have really high expectations when we have our own.

Also, last but certainly not least, this week we got tickets to the Wild. It was probably one of the best games that we could've gotten tickets to, not only was there a good fight, but we went into overtime and then a shootout. We ended up losing (bummer!) but what a night!

So now the weekend is upon us. Greg is working, and I have a little bit of work I should do, too. The cats are snoozing the day away and I'm going to spend the evening doing something I want to do. Not sure what that is yet!

Have a great weekend everybody!

Some of my recent work...

2008-02-24T17:59:00.000-08:00

I've had some creative time lately, so I thought I'd share some of my creations:

First, a birthday card I made for a friend:

Chatterbox papers, Stampin' up stamp filled in with watercolor pencils and stickles. Oh, and that's my tuxedo cat, Baci, just hanging out!

And a couple layouts, one of Greg & his brother, the other of my cousins.

The journalling reads, "Fall 2007: I came around the corner & found David and Greg standing like this (not consciously), talking. Think they might be brothers? The buttons are Basic Grey, one ribbons is from the Target dollar spot, the other is from KI Memories, the papers are We R Memory Keeps, and the font is Pharmacy. You can find these papers at Scraploft, a store owned by my friends Jenn and Sarah.

My cousins:

The papers and flower stickers are by Making Memories, the letter stickers are American Crafts. The journalling "November, 2007: Even though the girls have gotten closer as they've gotten older, there are still moments of sisterly teasing. Tonight, our family attended a dinner reception for Kim & Brian Labedz and Melissa, who is always cold, huddled in Emily's coat at the table. When she finally took it off, Emily did this impression of her, inspring "The Look" from Melissa. :)

A few layouts

2008-02-16T21:06:00.000-08:00

I went with my friend Erin and couple of her friends last weekend for ScrapMania at Archivers. We celebrated Erin's birthday that night and had fun scrapping the night away (after appetizers and cocktails next door at Applebee's). Here's two of the layouts I got done that night.

The first is about the cupcakes I made last fall for our friend Ijaz's annual Halloween party. I had to resort to making them because my first choice recipe, for witches broomsticks, turned out more like cookies on a stick. For you scrappers out there, the papers are Scenic Route, the letters are American Crafts and the die cut is from the QK Silhouette library.

The second layout are photos of my cat 'Cio I took in January. I was really pleased at how well they turned out, and was excited to use this paper I had bought a few years ago because I knew it'd look good w/ 'Cio. It's bold and graphic so I was a little intimidated by it, but I'm pleased with how it turned out. The stamps are by Hero Arts.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

2008-02-15T17:36:00.000-08:00

So, it's a day late but I thought I'd wish all of my family and friends out in cyberland a belated Happy Valentine's Day. I had a wonderful day. It started w/ good traffic into work (what can I say, I'm easy to please). About 10am I got call from my sister-in-law who had received the package we sent to her. In January, we got to have our nephew for part of a weekend, and during that weekend, as a surprise, I took these photographs.

Then for Valentine's Day I put them in a frame, and mailed them to my sister-in-law and her husband. They had not idea that we had done this and seemed genuinely excited to get this. That alone would've been enough to make my day perfect. But to top it off, Greg had snuck a Valentine's card and box of chocolates in my work bag, so I had a surprise when I got to work, and then we had a package of treats (we're talking homemade chocolate chip cookies, rice krispy treats w/ Valentine's decorations, and peanut butter cup brownies!) from my aunt and a card from his Grandparents waiting for us when we got home. Greg and I also had a nice dinner out at Bar Abilene in Uptown. I had fajitas, he had enchiladas, and we split the Bananas Foster for dessert. Neither of us had ever had that, but we both LOVED it. I think we're going to try and figure out how to make it. All in all, a great day!

Fishing w/ Papa

2008-02-02T10:11:00.000-08:00

Here's a layout I've had rattling around in my mind for awhile but finally got up the "guts" to do it. I don't know why but sometimes there are photos or memories that are just so precious, that it's hard to scrapbook them...almost like whatever I do will never be good enough for it.

Journalling reads: "I remember several times that my grandpa took me fishing. This particular time, grandma & grandpa had taken me to a family reunion near Brainerd, MN leaving mom behind in Omaha to study for finals. That weekend was full of family, campfires, boating, and fish-frys (Uncle Darrill made the best beer-battered fish). While I don’t remember anything specific from this particular day, I love this photographic reminder of all the fun times I had with my grandpa. Fishing, working in the woodshop, taking trips to the hardware store (it took awhile for mom and grandma to figure out why I loved the hardware store so much…it was next to the ice cream store). It was during these ordinary events that we talked, or didn’t talk, about everything (or nothing). It was during these times that my grandpa taught me the kind of person I want to be: patient, kind, smart, inquisitive, funny, big-hearted, & a little ornery."

Products used: Patterned Papers by Sweetwater, Cardstock by Bazzill, heart punch by EK Success, Ribbon by Offray, transparency by Hammermill, Rub-on by Cloud 9 Designs, font is a free font from the internet called "Acoustic Light".

A Late Holiday

2008-02-01T20:32:00.000-08:00

Greg's work had their belated holiday party last weekend at the Chambers Hotel in downtown Minneapolis. It was a 1940's Hollywood theme complete with impersonators, a red carpet and some blood orange martinis and mini cupcakes. This was the self-portrait we managed to take. Many of Greg's current co-workers worked with us both at our previous jobs so in some ways it was like a mini reunion. I guess Greg sees them everyday but I don't get to so it was fun to catch up.

Stampin' Inspiration

2008-01-25T17:35:00.000-08:00

Lately, I've been really getting excited about my stamps. It's a party of the paper crafting hobby I've been putting of for a while because there's so much to learn, and definitely the potential to spend, spend, spend (both time and money). But I've decided to go ahead and take the plunge and have been excited to find some great resources. If you're like me and wanting to take the plunge, or perhaps you already have but are looking for inspiration check out these links.

The first is called Splitcoast Stampers. They have many talented participants on their message boards and galleries. One of things I love about this site (besides the helpful, inspiring people) is that their gallery is divided up by the Stampin' Up sets. So, let's say you just bought a new set of stamps and needed an idea on how to use it...well, you just find that set in their gallery and boom...plenty of ideas to get you started.

The next two are blogs:

I've seen these Elzybells stamps a lot all over the scrapping and stamping galleries and now I've found the mothership! As a side note, they are having a card class at Artsy Tartsy in February for those of you who are local. I just love these stamps! So cute, and perfect for sending to your girlfriends and the lovely ladies in your life.

The other blog I found is this one called Paper Pleasing. This blogger has done an amazing job showcasing her talents and sharing with the rest of us how she does it! She has a wealth of information here as well as wonderful tutorials and tips! So very talented and so very inspirational.

Happy Stamping!

Cat pictures

2008-01-24T17:27:00.000-08:00

While my nephew was napping I played around w/ my camera and was pleased to capture these:

My cat 'Cio checking out the world!

And my Baci bear, in between snoozes. I was especially pleased to get a good one of him, because he usually moves way too fast to get a good shot. And with all the white on his face, flash usually just drowns him out (oh, and he gets that pesky pet eye).

2008-01-21T19:16:00.000-08:00

This weekend was a fun weekend! Friday night we got to hang out with my brother- and sister-in-law and my father-in-law. They came over to our house we baked some cookies, had some drinks and got them ready for their art show. They also left our nephew with us overnight Friday and all day Saturday so we could have fun being auntie and uncle. Greg had to work on Saturday, but he stuck around the house in the morning long enough that I could make a Target run and get a shower in before my day with the J-man. After that Jaedon and I were on our own for countless trips up and down the steps, lots of stories or playing, horse back rides and tiger rides and songs (he LOVES to do hand gestures to songs like Twinkle Twinkle and Row Row Row Your Boat.

He took a nap, and then woke up and sweet and snuggly and eventually was ready for more rounds of singing and playing.

My aunt and cousins came in town that day and we ended up meeting them, and Greg's family for dinner at Moose Country. Of course, I had the Minnesota wings! Yum.

Jaedon and his parents ended up staying with us on Saturday night and Steph (my sister-in-law) and I ended up staying up and talking. It was nice to catch up.

Sunday my aunt and cousins and I went power shopping at the MOA. I got a yummy new purse and warm sweater. Then my aunt treated us to dinner at Maggiano's where I had the best gnocchi I've had since when I used to travel to Chicago for business.

All in all it was a great weekend!

I'm a happy girl!

2008-01-18T21:58:00.001-08:00

So, I'm sitting here relaxing with a glass of wine (Moscato...a sweet sparkling wine from the Piedmont region of Italy) watching Nemo and surfing the web, and I am decidedly happy. For starters, my living room is littered with signs of my nephew...tiny shoes, Elmo themed toys, sturdy books and a stock of fresh diapers. He's spending the night with us, and all day tomorrow! We had a lot of fun tonight. His parents and my father-in-law came over for awhile and before that we had lots of ring-around-the-rosy (he lets you fall down while he laughs hysterically but he won't usually fall down unless you tell him to); row, row, row your boat, the eensy weensy spider, climbing up and down (and up and down and up and down....) the stairs, petting the cats, and reading stories. Can I just say this kid is smart? He knows lots of animals, some colors...he's just a genius really!

Besides that parts of both of our families are in town this weekend so we'll get the chance to dine out, do some shopping, maybe see a movie and just hang out and catch up with them.

So, you can see, I'm a happy girl!
Have a great night!
Michelle

Christmas Recap Part 2

2008-01-01T17:15:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day we woke up and went to the Julotta service at church. Julotta is an old Swedish tradition of early morning Christmas service planned so that you leave the church just as the sun is rising, to symbolize us welcoming the light of Christ into the world.

After that we travelled to Iowa and the rest of the day was spent with Greg's family. We went to his mom's house where we were joined by her sisters and their families, her mom, and her in-laws. We also got to see Greg's sisters and their families/dates. We ate lunch and opened presents there.

How cute is this? I gave my nephew that shirt he's holding up in this picture. Right away he held it up to himself without any prompting. Isn't it funny what they pick up?

My mother-in-law, her two sisters, and their mom:

After that we went to my sister-in-law's home and celebrated Christmas with all of Greg's siblings. We had a fun evening...a little XBox, presents and some appetizers and wine, all while catching up with each other. It was a great way to cap off our roundtrip!

Can you say "ornery"? Greg and our nephew just look mischievous don't they?

Greg's little bro and his girlfriend Sammy:

Greg's sister Stephanie and her family:

Greg's sister Lisa and her girlfriend Danielle:

All in all it was a wonderful Christmas! I hope you all had one too!

Christmas Recap Part 1

2007-12-31T16:38:00.001-08:00

We are back from the holidays and had a wonderful time! We actually got back last Tuesday night but I've been sick and we've been busy, so here we are on New Year's Eve! Had a wonderful time seeing so much of our family, but despite our best efforts, we missed some! Thank you to everyone we did see for so much fun, hospitality, good food, great company and awesome presents. Here's some of my favorite photos from the weekend.

My mom and Bill - even though I was sick, we still had a great time. Mom cooked us dinner and fudge, we opened gifts, and played the Wii. Both mom and Bill want a Wii now. We learned through this experience that mom's bowling balls roll soooooooooo slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwww. She says they roll that way in real life. At least the Wii is accurate! And, yes, we're still willing to stand in line to get you Wii's of your own -

Mom and Bill being goofy and having an oven mitt war!

My mom's cat Paisley taking in some sun...he was my cat, BTW, but he likes my mom better now. Hmmpphhh!!! That's a cat for you:

We spent Christmas Eve at my grandma's house. Usually, Greg and I get in late Christmas Eve after spending the day with his family. But this year, we went straight through to my family and got to partake in our family's Christmas Eve tradition for dinner: oyster stew! That is absolutely one of my favorites...such a treat. My grandma is Norweigian and Swedish, and this tradition comes from that heritage. For the weak of stomach we also have chili. But I don't waste room with that...I go straight for the stew oysters and all. Mom says they would cut them up small for me and put them on my high chair and I'd eat them when I was little. Grandma and I are the only ones who LOVE it, though mom is learning to enjoy it. I'm just fine if no one else likes it though...more for us! We also opened presents that night.

We got a star filter for our camera so I couldn't resist this picture of my grandma's tree. I still remember most of these ornaments from when I'd help her set up the tree when I was little:

My grandma Wii'ing...yes, grandma! She's pretty hip...she emails and uses and iPod too!

We also made sure to get some family pictures! My aunt, uncle and cousins:

Greg, mom and I:

Mom, Grandma and my aunt:

Christmas Day was spent with Greg's family...stay tuned for part two.

Some Inspiration for you Stampers

2007-12-31T12:30:00.000-08:00

Check out this lady's blog! It's fantastic. Snoop around a bit and you'll find all kinds of tips, techniques and tutorials she's created.

http://paperpleasing.typepad.com/my_weblog/

Have a fun safe New Year's Eve!

Michelle

Randomness for today

2007-12-15T18:03:00.000-08:00

I was just downloading some pictures I'd forgotten about today and thought I'd share them.

First, a card I made for a few people I didn't get to see at Thanksgiving, inspired by a similar card I found on Two Peas:

I used my Silhouette to cut out the ovals and the stem; the papers are all Basic Grey and everything else is from my stash.

Second, a funny one...you know you're from Nebraska when...

...you go home to visit and you see this driving down the freeway. We don't know what kind of hoofed-stock these were, or where they were going. What we could see of them almost looked like buffalo, but they would've had to be young ones to fit in this truck. Mom and I were returning from a shopping trip, I was busy talking, looked over and saw this and all I could say was "Look, mom, dead animals". We both started laughing...it seemed like an understatement.

Festivities Galore

2007-12-12T20:12:00.000-08:00

This is the first holiday season in three years that I haven't worked retail as a second job. And I'm loving it. I finally have time do things like make my holiday cards, shop for the perfect gift and wrap it in perfectly coordinating gift wrap, bake, and participate in gatherings.

This weekend was our annual Twin Cities scrapbook group crop at which we also exchanged cookies. I baked my great-grandmother's ginger snaps for all who participated. We also had peppermint cookies, peppermint fudge, chocolate mint cookies, sugar cookies, lemon cookies...this list goes on and on...and it was all fantastic.

Then last night my friend Bonnie hosted an ornament exchange. We each got to take home one of each ornament that each person brought. Some were homemade, others storebought, some came from as far away as Holland. I made snowmen ornaments, and took my color inspiration from this years' funky Christmas colors, in particular Elsie's holiday paper line. I ended up making 15 of these little guys.

So very thankful...

2007-12-06T20:18:00.000-08:00

Thank you to each of you have called or emailed me today to check on my family and friends in Omaha. It means the world to me that you would take a moment out of your day to check on me and make sure things were okay. I'm counting my blessings over and over tonight as I read through the news leads about the tragedy in Omaha.

None of my family or friends were involved, though one person very dear to me was shopping at that Von Maur not more than an hour before the incident. Thankfully, he was in and out of the store on a quick errand and avoided the whole mess.

Unfortunately, though, many others were not so lucky. I can't help but think of how scared they must've been. How terribly sad the holidays are going to be for their loved ones. At how their precious lives were wasted by one careless, troubled soul who wanted "to not be a burden" and "to be famous."

I'm sad. I'm angry. I'm at a loss of words. How can someone do this to someone else? I just don't get it.

If you're the praying type, please pray for these victims and their loved ones. Pray for the killer. Pray for the people who tried to take him in, in hopes of getting him back on his feet. Pray for the community of Omaha, my hometown.

And also know that besides counting my blessings for the safety of my family and friends, I'm counting my blessings for friends who thought of me and my family yesterday and today. I thank you. I really do.

Super Cool

2007-12-04T08:30:00.000-08:00

...So how'd they do it?

Map Story

A fun creative weekend

2007-12-02T17:13:00.000-08:00

As the weekend winds down, thought I'd share some of my work with you. I just finished a card tonight using Deja Views paper, the felt snowflake ribbon by Martha Stewart, a modified oven mitt Silhouette shape, Silhouette flourishes, stickles and twill.

They sure know how to live it up...

2007-12-01T10:48:00.000-08:00

So, I was sitting around making my ornaments and I realized I hadn't seen my cats in awhile. Usually they love to be around anything crafty because it's fun to play with (ribbon to pounce on, buttons to slide around like a puck on ice). I found them snuggled in our (unmade) bed. Cats sure do know how to be cozy on a blustery winter day...I'm tempted to crawl in for a nap :) Oh, and the flash woke Baci up so he yawned nice and big for me!

Mmmmm.....snow

2007-12-01T09:55:00.000-08:00

I LOVE SNOW! Personally, I think cold weather is a waste if there isn't snow on the ground. I know, I know...traffic stinks in this weather, but aside from that I think it's awesome. I especially love it when you wake after it's been snowing all night and there's a perfect layer of white fluffiness on the groud that hasn't been disturbed yet by kids, animals and cars.

So today, I'm snuggling in, watcing all the Oprah's I've recorded and haven't had time for and making my Christmas ornaments for a party I have in a few weeks. I set up a little factory in the living room about 8am this morning and have been enjoying my coffee, my Oprah, and my crafting.

I hope you all are having a wonderful day...enjoy this weather for what it is!

Michelle

It's Been Awhile...

2007-11-30T19:33:00.000-08:00

...We've had a great few weeks getting into the holiday spirit. We were able to much of our family over the Thanksgiving weekend, so that was something to be thankful for. Despite our best efforts, there were some that we missed and we feel badly about that, but we did the best we could.

I don't know if I'm getting more sentimental because I'm getting older (my cousin Melissa too quickly agreed about the me getting older part, by the way) or what. But this year I've really taken a look at all the things I'm thankful for. Of course, the usual things like family, friends,food, shelter, warm clothing, etc. crossed my mind immediately.

But it goes deeper than that. I am thankful for a job. I heard a statistic on the radio the other day that the unemployment rate has gone up again, and another radio blurb today about the economy possibly taking a downturn, with Minnesota being hardest hit. Not only am I thankful for a job with salary and benefits, but I'm also grateful that it's a job that I love, with people who appreciate me, people who are passionate for what they do and have a great work hard, play hard attitutde. I'm grateful that Greg's is the same way. I'm grateful that my layoff this year went so smoothly. So few people have that blessing. And so I am thankful.

I am thankful that for another Thanksgiving with my grandma. I always knew my grandma was tough. She was the second youngest in a family with four brothers. She played basketball in high school in the 40's, went to college in the early 50's, and raised two daughters on her own after in the 60's. She taught school and drove a tractor on their acreage. But this year, she topped all that by both beating lung cancer and healing completely after a hip replacement. I am thankful for that. I know there were a lot of days that were hard on her this year. But I am grateful for every one of those days, if it means more holidays, and more special times like this weekend with her.

I am grateful for family. They are so loving and so supportive of us. They are fun to be around and inspire me to be better in so many ways. We spent a lot of quality time over Thanksgiving with my family baking cookies, getting family portraits done, attending a wedding reception, enjoying a wonderful meal on Thanksgiving. For that I am grateful. We also got to spend quality time with Greg's family, playing pool, eating good food, laughing, catching up, and enjoying the antics of our nephew.

There are so many other things for which I am thankful, a loving and supportive family, amazing friends you can truly count on, our snuggly furbabies, our belongings (both necessities and luxuries). But most of all I'm grateful for the chance to reflect on these blessings....to slow down and really take it all in. Before my wedding a friend told me that best piece of advice she got for her wedding was "to slow down and really take it all in...make mental notes of the people you saw, the things that were said, how things felt and smelled and tasted because the day goes so fast." That really was good advice for our wedding day, but it also is good advice for every day life. And that's just what I did this Thanksgiving.

And to end this post with a little humor...at my grandma's Thanksgiving dinner, which is usually a little more formal (i.e.we eat in the dining room on her nice china with her nice linens, we say grace and please and thank you and we avoid controversial or gross topics), my cousin decided to tell us a joke: "How do you make a hormone?"................"You don't pay her." Which she topped off with a "buh dum dum ching"...while the rest of us stared back, then laughed after we picked our jaws up from the mashed potatoes. OK, I don't think Grandma laughed, but most everyone else did.

Cranberry Salad

2007-11-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite seasonal treats. It's a recipe my aunt makes. She got it from her late Mother-In-Law. I made it this weekend for a friends' party and took it in the bowl my aunt gave me. It turned out super good.

Two tips: you can grind the cranberries very easily in a food processor or blender. And two: I got slivered almonds (which were good) but 1/2 cup of those went a long way. My aunt usually uses chopped walnuts and the full cup of those turns out well too. I guess it's really just your preference and what you have on hand. The reason I chose almonds was because I couldn't remember which walnuts were kind I like (black or english?), and which ones were the ones that I don't.

*** *** ***
Cranberry Salad

1 package 12 to 16 ounces) fresh cranberries, ground (in produce isle)
1 cup sugar
1 cup drained crushed pineapple

Mix, let stand overnight in refrigerator. Add next morning:

1 package (10 ounces) miniature marshmallows
1 cup Cool Whip
1 cup chopped nuts

Chill.

*** *** ***

Happy Thanksgiving (early)!
Michelle

One Year Ago...

2007-11-06T16:49:00.001-08:00

...I married my best friend.

So, this weekend marks one year since our wedding. And man, has it really flown by! We kicked off the weekend with shopping and dinner out on Friday night. We both picked out new slippers because coincidentally, we were both missing one slipper from our pairs of slippers. I found these awesome super pillowy, super fluffy, super pink (duh!) ones and Greg found some sensible black fleecy manly ones. Saturday, we went to Fogo De Chao for dinner. We enjoyed the Brazilian tradition of gauchos, their signature drink (similar to a mojito), and endless grilled meat including filet mignon, top sirloin, ribeye, beef and pork ribs, sausage, wings, bacon wrapped chicken, parmesan pork....this list goes on! You also get to help yourself to the salad bar (the best salad bar I've ever seen) and traditional Brazilian sides (plantains, fried polenta, and garlic mashed potatoes) which were all good. We topped it off with a papaya cream dessert...very cold, soothing treat that supposedly has enzymes to help digest the protein we'd just eaten. I would highly recommend this restaurant to someone looking for a spot to celebrate something special, or just to have a new experience and excellent food!

After that we walked over to the Shout House where we enjoyed Dualing Pianos and a few adult beverages. Two really cool coincidences...an orchid topped our dessert at Fogo, which was a flower in my wedding bouquet and the pianists played our wedding song "A Beautiful Day" by U2...we didn't request it, and we've never heard them play it in the half-dozen or so times we've been there. So, it was a really cool coincidence to be there when they played it.

Sunday we just hung out around the house and that evening we went to see the Disney musical "The Lion King" playing now through most of November at the Orpheum in downtown Minneapolis. What a fantastic show! I would highly recommend it to anyone. Like in the movie, there are some "scary" parts so I would think twice before taking small ones who don't like that sort of thing, but otherwise it was a great family show. True to Disney form, there were a few adult jokes in there. Beyond that, the costumes and set were enough to mesmerize an audience of any age. Truly fabulous, truly over-the-top...the best I've seen in musical theatre. The singing was outstanding (we bought the Broadway soundtrack and we think our crew did even better than that recording) and we loved that there were some new songs in the score that weren't in the animated movie! If you go, try to get seats on the main floor, and if possible near the inner aisles. I won't ruin the surprise, but it's definitely worth it! I promise.

So all in all it was a wonderful weekend of trying some new things, and well, out right spoiling ourselves!

wedding photo courtesy of Emmerlee Sherman

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T10:49:00.000-07:00

Greg and I had fun carving last night. I did Jack Sparrow, he did Batman! Have a fun, safe Halloween everyone!

In the spirit of Halloween...

2007-10-28T12:57:00.000-07:00

...here's the Skull cupcakes I made for a halloween gathering we went to last night...they were super easy to make, looked great and tasted yummy too!

Happy Halloween (early)!!! ~~

No bones about it, partygoers will get a scream out of this playful treat.
RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
12 marshmallows
Confectioners' sugar
24 unfrosted cupcakes (white or yellow works best)
White frosting
Junior Mints, chocolate chips, and slivered almonds
1. Cut the marshmallows in half widthwise using kitchen shears dipped in confectioners' sugar (this keeps them from sticking). 2. Carefully pull each cupcake liner partially away from the cake and tuck half a marshmallow between the paper and the cupcake to create the skull's jaw. 3. Frost each cupcake and marshmallow, then add Junior Mints with white frosting dots for eyes, a chocolate chip nose, and slivered almond teeth.

Recipe from Family Fun

This is for you Suzy!

2007-10-20T10:07:00.000-07:00

So, I went to a crop last night at Scrapbooks Too with a group of friends last night, and my friend Suzy commented that my blog was, well, lame because I hadn't posted in awhile. I thought that was real rich coming from a woman whose own blog hasn't been updated in several years (yes, years!). But in any case, I'm back, and this post if for you Suzy Q! So what I have been up to?

Well, I've been reading, hanging out with family and friends, enjoying the fall weather, getting acclimated to my new job and doing some deep down fall cleaning and reorganization.

The first book I finished was the Third Summer of the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants. Yes, it is a book for teenagers, but I have been following this series for a few years now. They are really quick reads and you can't help but just feel like one of the gang when you read these books. Definitely not high on the literary value but fun to read nonetheless.

The second book I finished, definitely more age appropriate, was The Queen's Fool by Phillippa Gregory. Earlier this year I had read The Other Boleyn Girl by the same author and couldn't put the book down. So I had to save this one for when I would have the time to read it, and could afford a few late nights. This one, I daresay, might even have been better than The Other Boleyn Girl. While this book was still an artfully woven mix of historical fact and pure imaginative fiction, court romances, and juicy "gossip" like the first book, it had an even more compelling theme. It covered the era of Mary Tudor's reign which was marked by religious inquisitions and all the ugliness that came with it including torturous means to find heretics and then the burning of heretics at the stake.

It was told from the point of view of Hannah Green, a young Jewish girl who had fled the Spanish Inquisition with her father after the rest of her family had been burned at the stake. In this novel, she struggles to deal with that trauma.

In addition she is being torn between serving Queen Mary (strictly Catholic monarch, who represents Hannah's nightmarish past) and Mary's sister Princess Elizabeth (known as the Protestant Princess, who represents the enlightened Hannah's hope for the future) who both won her loyalty and fondness. She also searched to find a balance of her own unorthodox independnce while still trying to honor her family's customs, including a rocky arranged marriage to a fellow undercover Jew.

In the end, you are proud of the person she becomes, and of course, anxious to know what happens next. But don't worry...Phillippa has solved that with The Virgin's Lover, which I'm reading now! :)

We have also been enjoying the fall weather. We went with some friends out to Emma Krumbee's with some friends and their son. We bought some squash and pumpkins to add some fall flair to our table top and porch steps. We also bought some squash to eat and picked plenty of apples to make apple crisp. Yum!

We've also travelled to see family. My cousin Melissa and I drove home to see our family and celebrate her sister's birthday. We had fun driving the six hours jamming to Hannah Montana, Eminem, and Journey, among other things.

The next weekend Greg and I drove down to see his family and celebrate his dad's birthday with good food and bonfire. It rained, but we didn't care: Greg brought the patio umbrella out the fire to cover us.

I also started my new job which I love. I went to our headquarters this week for some training, and have been getting to know everyone. It's been a great start at a great company.

And that, my friends, is what we've been up to.

A new chapter starts right here...

2007-09-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

After a long summer of layoffs, potential buyouts, and hauling 50 years of an office down to four 20 cu. yd. dumpsters and 30+ shredding/recycling carts, I'm done!!! I finished yesterday and topped out the night with some champagne. A new chapter begins today!

I am very sad to say goodbye to my friends and colleagues. We have all bonded so well over the past year. I was also very sad to realize that I won't be working with my current boss on a daily basis anymore. But, I also know this industry is small and all of our paths will cross again, and I look forward to that day.

I do have my next position lined up and for that I'm grateful, and also very excited. I will be joining a firm close to home, with great leadership, 3 people I already know really well (two of whom are former colleagues, the other was a groomsman in our wedding). In the few times I've met this firm prior to my interview I've always perceived them as a fun, hardworking group that's excited about what they do, and they do it well. How can I not be excited about that.

Until then, I have the week off and I plan to:

Sleep in
Work out daily
Take a card-making class
Participate in a Euchre tournament
Do lunch with some friends
Read
Shop
Scrapbook

And I start it all off today with a massage with my sweetie.

The Office and Scrapbooking

2007-09-12T11:00:00.001-07:00

Did anyone else notice on the second episode of Season 3 of the office (when they're at the office supply convention) there is a booth for "Glue Dots"? So cool...

9/11

2007-09-11T17:44:00.000-07:00

Six years ago today, I was sleeping in at my apartment in Ames, IA. I didn't have classes until late morning that day, so took full advantage of that, as most college students do. Greg (my now husband, then fiance) had gone to work that morning and called me on my cell phone. He said, very seriously, "Get up and go turn on the TV. A plane has hit the World Trade Center in NYC."

"What?" I questioned, Surely he couldn't be right. Then I said, "How could an accident like that happen?" By this time I had fumbled around and got the TV on. It was all live shots of NYC with scrolling words at the bottom. He responded, "They don't know if it's an accident or something else." Not long after my old TV had finally warmed up to reveal the footage, the second plane hit the tower. It was then that my heart sank and my stomach dropped. It my heart of hearts, I knew that this couldn't be an accident. But I still kept hoping that it was...that perhaps something had gone wonky at the control tower, or something wasn't right on the navigation system. But deep inside, I knew. I sat glued to the TV most of the morning, breaking only to jump online and see if classes had been cancelled.

They never did get cancelled, and so I went. The one class I had that day had a very strict no-skip policy, and when I got there we only spent the first 10 minutes or so discussing the attacks. By the time I had left the apartment for that class, very little was yet known, so most of our discussion was based on speculation. None of us yet realized the enormity of the situation. How else could we have sat there and discussed the finer points of fluid mechanics if we did know? Once class was over, I headed home and stayed glued to my TV the rest of day. As the day went on, more details and images became available.

My mom called me to let me know that her work (in Omaha) had let them out early and she was at home safe. She also told me that my grandma, who was on a tourbus on the East Coast got stuck in Canada. They were scheduled to cross back into the US that day to go to NY. Needless to say that didn't happen. She was fine, but shook up. My mom called again later that day to check in again, and we talked about President Bush coming to Omaha because that's where SAC (Strategic Air Command) is. Greg watched from work for awhile then came home early. I greeted him at the door with a huge hug.

I think I remained glued to the tube most of the next three days, breaking only for class. I know I didn't cry those first few days, I know I didn't believe it those first few days. How could someone intentionally do that to innocent people?

Nearly 2 years ago, Greg and I had the honor of visiting both the WTC site and the WTC Memorial in Battery Park. I still get goosebumps when I think of those experiences: the relatively unscathed, salvaged sculpture; the eternal flame symbolizing the thoughts of all of those old enough to remember, "We will not forget!"; the surrounding buildings still missing glass nearly four years later; the still huge hole in the ground and the still huge holes in our hearts. It was during this visit, that it finally hit home to me. I cried. Hard. The reality of the situation, the braveness of those fallen heros, the sadness for the victims families, the thankfulness for those who fight to defend our every freedom...it all finally hit, harder than it ever had.

So this September 11, I salute those who keep us safe each and everyday, I send prayers and hugs to the families of the victims, I send up prayers for the victims, and I thank each and every person in my life for bringing light to my life. Life is to short to not appreciate what we have each been given.

It's officially fall in my mind...

2007-09-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went out to one of our favorite little spots, the St. Croix Vineyards. The weather was cool (almost sweater weather), the grapes and apples were ripe. Anyway, this weekend was their annual grape stomp competition. We took my brother-in-law (David) and he got be in this competition, and he won! He stomped with two other people and they ended up putting on quite the show with their dancing and bucket swapping! Some friends from work joined us as well and we enjoyed walking around the vineyards, orchards and the tourist attractions. Greg and I picked out a couple bottles of wine that we haven't tried before, so it will be fun to break those out sometime. We learned a couple things yesterday: stomped grapes look quite disgusting, but cool at the same time (it'd be a great witches brew at halloween) and don't eat plants in planters, even if they look like lettuce. It will give you a swollen scratched tongue. Sorry I dared you to do that, David!

A relaxed weekend

2007-09-05T09:02:00.000-07:00

We had a fantastic weekend! It was funny, though, because Greg and I went to Omaha, but our family wasn't there. My mom and Grandma went to Seattle, so Greg and I housesat/pet sat for mom. My cousin Emily was away at school, and my aunt, uncle and cousin Melissa were moving Melissa into her dorm. So for Friday evening and Saturday we were on our own. We enjoyed coffee on the deck each morning, some great homecooked meals (thanks mom) and some shopping around town. I went to the scrapbook store that started it all for me, though it has since changed owners. And we stocked up on our Nebraska "imported" coffee to take back to Minnesota with us (their customer service is amazing, as is their coffee. Our favorite is Heavenly Delight). Sunday my aunt and uncle got back so we went to their place for dinner and went to see The Bourne Ultimatum...that was SUCH a good movie! I just love that series. And thankfully, I think they left the movie open for more, but closed it enough that it won't leave you hanging if they don't make more. Monday we went down to the lake with my aunt, uncle and some family friends. We had a really nice time relaxing down there. Yesterday we drove back to Minneapolis, stopping in Des Moines for dinner with Greg's family. It was fun to catch up with them. Of course, my nephew was entertaining as always (love that kid!!!), and Greg's sister got to tell us all about her new job. Knowing what a photo nut I am, my MIL had printed some pictures for us, which I always love. So all in all it was a great weekend, and now we're back to work and the week is already half over.

The Three Miss Margarets

2007-08-31T15:08:00.000-07:00

About a week ago I finished a book called "The Three Miss Margarets". It was a nice, easy summer read. I'd give it a 3 out of 5. The story opens with a mystery and that mystery slowly unfolds through a series of flashbacks and recollections by each of the three Margarets. It is in these recollections that we begin to understand the bond between these three women, and the history (the good and the bad) of the town in which they live. It reminded me a lot of the Ya-Ya's which, although it may not be fair, made me judge this book a bit harder. If you can get it at the library, borrow it, or find it at a used paperback store, it's definitely worth the few evenings you'd spend flying through its' pages.

Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta...

2007-08-19T07:18:00.000-07:00

Last November when Greg and I got married, our friend Nick told us that his gift to us would be to cook us dinner on an evening of our choice. You see, Nick is well-known for his masterfully cooked chimichangas and brandy slush. Well, as it always does, time got away from us, and finally ended up nailing down this weekend as THE weekend.

So we decided to precede dinner with a gangster tour of St. Paul. Nick and his girlfriend Robin joined us for the afternoon. Did you know that quiet, quaint St. Paul, MN has a corrupt past? Yup, and it attracted all kinds of famous gangsters to this area. So we got on a bus with "John Dillinger" and he took us to see the sites and told us the stories. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone who is looking for something fun to do one afternoon.

Relax

2007-08-16T20:17:00.000-07:00

Few things in life are as good as relaxing with loved ones on a hot summer day. My husband and my nephew, relaxing on a hammock on Father's Day. I love these papers...I found them at Scrapbooks Too this past spring. It was a new line called Stacy Boyd Claire by EK Success...I just loved the colors and geometry.

Here's to hoping you can find some time to relax and enjoy the company of loved ones during these last days of summer.

A great weekend!

2007-08-13T06:09:00.000-07:00

Well, for whatever reason, blogger is not letting me upload pictures today. Oh well...I guess my verbiage will have to do! Anyway, it's been awhile since I've posted a real post (not that Simpsons aren't real) so I thought I'd dive back in.

Friday night we went to a fundraiser beer bash at Shaw's in Northeast (lest you be confused, that's the Home of the Shaw Burger) for Make-a-Wish. Saturday, we participated in the third annual Wifflin' for Wishes (incidentally, we have played every year) which is also a fundraiser for Make-a-Wish. We always have so much fun. Greg has been able to organize three teams from our offices to play each year and a good time is had by all. A shout out to our friend, Truck, and his team of organizers who make this event possible! After a playing in the sun we were exhausted so we took it easy and watched movies that night.

Sunday, we spent the day doing practical grown-up things...running errands to Target, cleaning the house, doing laundry, that type of stuff. I was excited, though, so finally get out and do something that I've been meaning to do for several years now: Stuff the Bus! Greg and I got out and did a little back-to-school shopping for charity. Can I just tell you how very much I LOVE school supply shopping? I think it's the greatest. To me, it signifies the start of a new year: new classes, fresh starts, potential of new friends and new experiences.

And then today, it was back to the grindstone.

See you soon!

I've been Simpsonized!

2007-08-05T16:34:00.001-07:00

But it wouldn't let me change the cats to look like mine. Bummer. Fun anyway though. Check it out here: http://simpsonizeme.com/##

A few more layouts to share...

2007-07-01T00:52:00.001-07:00

The top three layouts are pretty self-explanatory. On the graduation one, the journalling is hidden on a tag under a photo. This is my youngest cousin on her graduation day this year. My aunt is in the turquoise, my mom is in the black with terracotta, and my grandma is in the black and white. That's me in the all black.

The journalling on the layout at the right explains the layout: ""March, 2007 – These pictures make me smile BIG TIME! Melissa & Trudy came up to visit the U of M & also to celebrate Greg’s graduation. While they were here they said they were going to be downtown. I told them they HAD to stop into Target to see their cart escalator. Having come from Nebraska, where there’s plenty of room for urban sprawl, our Target stores are only one level, so this is a sight to behold. Not only did they go, but they took pictures…and gave them to me! Of course Melissa, being the typical teenager, said she was embarrassed that her mom made her take pictures, but I find the whole thing amusing! Thanks, girls, for humoring me."

Another new layout...

2007-06-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

Another layout of me and the boy. I really, really love how this turned out (not to toot my own horn or anything). The patterned paper is from My Mind's Eye (actually the flowers and the swirls are cut from MME paper too). The swirls have a chipboard base that is by Making Memories. I got the rhinestones in a generic package at JoAnn's and the letter stickers are American Crafts.

A new layout

2007-06-30T15:50:00.000-07:00

Just a simple one. Had a little serendipitous moment when I realize the Heidi Grace "forever" charm I bought 2+ years ago matches this Carolee's paper I got in April. :)

Creamy Lemon Squares

2007-06-26T07:07:00.000-07:00

Here's a recipe a co-worker shared with me recently and it is divine! Great cool summery treat for an office gathering, baby or bridal shower, or picnic.

Creamy Lemon Squares

20 Reduced Fat NILLA Wafers, finely crushed
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) cold margarine
1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened (she used the 1/3 less fat and it was just as good)
1 cup granulated sugar (can use Splenda)
2 eggs
2 Tbsp. flour
3 Tbsp. grated lemon peel, divided
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. powdered sugar

PREHEAT oven to 350ºF. Line 8-inch square baking pan with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan; set aside. Combine wafer crumbs, 1/2 cup flour and the brown sugar in medium bowl. Cut in margarine with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; press firmly onto bottom of prepared pan. Bake 15 min.

MEANWHILE, beat cream cheese and granulated sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs and 2 Tbsp. flour; mix well. Blend in 1 Tbsp. lemon peel, lemon juice and baking powder; pour over crust.

BAKE 25 to 28 min. or until center is set. Cool completely. Cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours or overnight. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and remaining 2 Tbsp. grated lemon peel just before cutting into squares to serve. Store leftover squares in refrigerator.

Graudation Layout

2007-06-24T21:14:00.001-07:00

Here's a layout I finished up tonight. I used Cloud 9 patterned papers (they're actually from their Dog Line) but I love the colors and the geometric/graphic nature of them that I adapted them for this. The letter stickers are American Crafts. Actually I had to get creative with the "r", "u", and "n" because I didn't have those letters left. The "r" is cut out of a lowercase "h" and the "u" and "n" are cut out of two letter "m's". The flowers are by Prima and the pearl brads are part of the Bazzill Bling line. The photos are from my BIL's graduation ceremony in May. He graduated with a lot of honors. In fact, he's the top-ranked non-native speaking Spanish student in his home state based on a test that he took. Pretty cool, huh? The other pictures include our family and his girlfriend. Thanks for looking.

Little things go a long way...

2007-06-22T10:01:00.000-07:00

In spite of a few lows this week, I have to say that I have found happiness and inspiration in two of the smallest things, and I wanted to share those with you.

First, I had the honor of hearing Bill Cosby speak in person this week. He is every bit as fabulous as you think he's going to be. Funny, humble, smart, just AMAZING. One of the bits that I took with me was this: "Make yourself into a cocoon. Develop yourself. And when you emerge you have two choices. You can be the ugly moth that flies around with no direction and ultimately smears itself on a windshield. Or you can be a butterfly. Be the butterfly that flies around God's Garden doing beautiful things." Loved that. Be the butterfly.

Second, along the gardening theme, I went to Home Depot on Thursday night to get mulch and a few more bedding plants to fill in the blank spots. I found some gorgeous gerberas and also some petunias and some white flowers that are tall. I pushed the cart out to my car and was loading the plants all into the trunk. While I was doing this, a guy that worked there was collecting all the carts. He saw that I was about done with mine, and instead of just standing there waiting, he loaded up the mulch for me. How sweet was that? I mean, it's something I'm perfectly capable of, and its not something that his boss or another co-worker saw or that he was probably even told to do, so he did it just out of the goodness out of his heart. Very cool. He was being that butterfly.

Toodaloo!

Photography...

2007-06-20T18:37:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago, Greg was out of town for a bachelor party for a friend, so I took our new toy (a digital Canon Rebel) out to play. I drove up to Como Park for the day and shot around 500 photographs of plants and animals. It was a great day...learned some new tricks on the camera! You can see some more in my gallery at:

Zoo pics gallery

Let me know what you think....constructive criticism always welcome.