Project 365-3

I'm finding I'm aware now of having my camera & snapping away pictures... its turning into a lot of fun!  So here's my week:

Sunday 1/24/10 - STRETCH those needles....  I have so many knitting needles, its CRAZY... but when I needed size 6 & I didnt have them, I couldnt believe it.  So I ran down to the local craft store, got the needles & hate when they are kinky... so on the drive home, I do the next best thing & put them over the rear view mirror & let gravity start working on pulling a little bit of the "kink" out...

Monday 1/25/10 - SUGAR GROUP!  It was our small group at church for the youth girls & it was one of the girls birthday the day before.... a perfect excuse to bring a bunch of icing!  Happy Birthday Chayla (Aren't these the most awesome faces you've ever seen?)

Tuesday Jan 26, 2010 - PEANUT BUTTER!!!!  Oh, the joy the dogs get when we get through a jar of Peanut Butter.  They get the jar & lick it clean.  My mom will save hers up so we try to get them each a jar - but it doesnt always work that way - so its just whoever is in the kitchen.... today was Sydney's lucky day.  I love how she's got her paw wrapped holding the jar...

Wednesday 1/27/10 - Rockin' Youth!!!  On Wednesdays, our youth group takes over the music of the night.  We have such talented kids - its CRAZY!!!  The kids can pick their music for the night & its great to see everyone's taste... I just love that they use their talent for the Glory of God! 

Thursday 1/28/10 - "Feel better Mom".... We were supposed to have Knitting night at church, but I was feeling like doo doo... my throat was horrible.  So I came home & got on the couch with my knitting & Bruno hopped up on the couch with me & snuggled in the fold of my leg... how cute is that face... he stayed there all night long.  Even when the yarn was draping across his face, he just stayed... that's my boy...

Friday - 1/29/10 - GROCERY GAME BEGINS!  I saw "the Grocery Game" on Food Network last weekend & wanted to give it a shot.  If you have never heard of it, google it... or you can see a video on YouTube about it.  The point is they send you a list of whats on sale at your grocery, plus with the use of coupons, you are supposed to save a lot of money.  You can try it free for 4 weeks, so I thought, let's give it a go!  This is what I got off the list for the day

And this is my receipt showing a savings of 82%!!! 

And granted, this total is even with some additional things not in the picture - so if I strictly went off the list, I probably woulda saved more... I'm anxious to see if next week is a good savings too... Anyone else play the Grocery Game?  let me know what you think about it if you do...

Saturday 1/30/10 - Sun in the midst of snow.... we got more snow over night.  (...BIG sigh...) but I was looking out at our bird food holder & noticed the sun shine on it looking at me... so it gives me hope of Spring to come...

Click away photo friends... I'll be visiting to see your week!

Friday Fragments

*Is it Spring time yet?  The answer to that would be a BIG FAT GREY, SNOW COVERED NO!!!!! UGH!  Hope all you bloggy friends out suffering some bad ice storms & some heavy snows are doing OK...

*This has seemed like the longest week....guess its pay back because last week FLEW by...

*I saw this picture & had to laugh because this is exactly what I could imagine Ricky looking like in his family picture as a young tike... once a rocker, always a rocker!

*Am I a bad American because I didnt care the President was on this week?  I just cant stand when its the State of the Union & all that stupid CLAPPING... shut up people!  They make it drag on for HOURS when he could just give the speech & it'd be like 15 minutes... Stand up, clap, sit down, hear 5 words, repeat... no thank you... It was a good time to catch up on my DVR

*I'm so depressed about "Ugly Betty" being canceled... I just hope they end it with a fantastic ending...BOO to ABC for moving it from Thursday's 8:00 spot where it was perfect...

*I heard this morning that the Bachelor will be having a "wedding special" with Jason & Molly... wonder if they're going to invite Melissa? 

*SPAT OF THE WEEK - ENVELOPES!!!!  Oh my gosh!  I know I may be a little anal about some things, but this drives me INSANE... Ricky likes to just pile his mail anywhere in the kitchen (& then wonders how things get lost).  So I got him a cute little basket to sit on the counter where he can put all this stuff... well, it would be if he could just put things in it neatly.  But NOOOOOO... he's gotta rip every envelope like a crazed man when he opens his mail.  And once its ripped, you can line it up nice & neat with paper jagged out in directions.  So I take the contents out & throw away the envelope.  Why do you need it anyways?  And hence, the spat.  For some reason, Ricky things a torn envelope which you'll never use is something you must keep...... Needless to say - I'm going through this basket this weekend & every stupid envelope is turning to shreds....

*I watched "Romeo & Juliet" - the Leonardo DiCaprio version last night.  Hadn't seen it in awhile.... forgot how good & wacky it was... (& how young Leo & Claire look) but dang it, it bothered me so bad... I had to turn it off right before he killed himself thinking Juliet was dead... In my mind, he saw her move & she woke up & they ran off happily ever after.  I do the same thing to Moulin Rouge... Turn it off as they sing the last song - right before she dies in his arms...Is Baz Luhrmann trying to drive me deep into depression?

*Speaking of "Romeo & Juliet" - I was trying to find "Kissing You" on iTunes... you have to buy the whole album... weird.   But I after seeing the movie, I forgot how good the soundtrack was... I may just have to get the whole thing after all!

*Am I the only one who still hasnt seen "Avatar"?

*And since this has turned into a Movie version of Friday Fragments... I'm excited - just got in the mail from Netflix "Julie and Julia"... I heard such good things about it...

Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday... Come on weekend!

What the new year holds....

My class reunion is this year... 20 years... I cant believe it!  But Facebook has been the tool to use to meet up & catch up with people I went to school with.  There is a page dedicated to our reunion & it seems like daily, old class mates are logging on...

Its been fun to look back & see how people have changed, the families they have, the careers they have - who they've become....

Yesterday on Facebook, the fun of seeing everyone just took a screeching stop...

One of our classmates passed away Tuesday....

I knew of this young lady in passing, but was not close to her... but you know when you're in school, you konw someone who knew someone & its just like a big family.  And in the world of Facebook, you learn more about the person anyways...

Looking at her page & in her pictures, you see her young children she loved - pictures of hugs & kisses & love between them.  Pictures with her husband & the gaze she had staring at him... & then what really got me was the comments she had left on pictures. 

On our reunion page, people are putting up pictures from the good ole' days & she had comments on there about how fun memories were.  One comment stood out to me especially - it was with a group of friends & she had commented that one of the friends in the picture & her had a "falling out" & they hadnt talked in years but she missed her friend.... oh, how I ache for this friend who is still here, that wont be able to fix any "falling out" that happened...

And her last picture was a summary of her past year in 2009 & the comment she put on it was "Wishing everyone a fantastic New Year".... I got chills to think she made this little collage & had no idea what the new year held for her...

I guess that's the way it is for all of us.  We dont know what the year holds... but we should keep having moments of laughter & gazing & friendships mending & friendships growing...

But today, our class feels the loss of one of our own... & we pray for her two young children who lost a mother & we pray for a man who lost his wife...

And we carry on, none of us knowing what the year holds....

You ready for this? Yes, a cooking post... from me!!

I still cant believe I'm enjoying cooking... & I actually had a recipe that required white cooking wine... this was REALLY a first.  I felt so professional - like cameras from Food Network should appear at my home.  (I know - stupid... but this is all still so new to me)   I was excited about it & took pictures of the adventure.  This turned out so well & it was so yummy, I decided to share.  So, who would have ever thought the day would come where it looked like this was a cooking blog... miracles never cease to happen!

These are the ingredients you need...

Chicken breast, Swiss cheese, Cream of Chicken Soup, some herb stuffing & cooking white wine...

You then take some swiss cheese & put it on top of the chicken... I like my stuff CHEESY so I sorta double layered the cheese

Then you mix 1/4 c white cooking wine with the can of cream of chicken soup. Then add 1/4 c water and 1 cup herb stuffing mix.  Mix it all together.  Then you just later it on top of the chicken... spray the top with some butter spray to make it gold & pretty (ahhh, pretty food!)

This is before it goes in the oven

You bake it for 45 minutes for 350 degrees... It calls for being served over steamed rice, but I thought it would be too much with the stuffing already... and I didnt miss the rice... I did add a little extra stuffing though in the mix...

But this is the finished product

I had it with steamed broccoli & hmmmm... it was wonderful..

The true test... RICKY!!!!  He did his normal "What is this?" - "What's in it?" & then sniffed it & eyed it for 5 minutes.  When he heard it had swiss cheese, he was almost out & then he said "Dont be mad if I dont like it"... but he tasted it & then tasted it again & said "Wow, this is really good!"... it officially passes the picky taste test!

So chalk another experiment up to the win column...

Sure its still not Monday????

This morning, Ricky wakes me up early & says "We got more snow then they expected - get up so you can get an early start"... my response was some sorta grumble. 

I get up & get ready & Ricky went ahead & left. I got a phone call from him saying "BE CAREFUL!!!! I've seen three wrecks already & be especially careful at the end of our road - I saw one of the wrecks right there!  Its slippery"... yeah, yeah, yeah... let me get ready... I'm sleepy!

So I pull out of the garage & head down the drive & see car coming.  Now, our drive way is a slope & curves as well.  I stop to let this car get ahead of me & dang it, I slid right off the drive way!  OK - that woke me up! 

I am creeping down our road & its a hard road to drive down in bad conditions.  Its very much a country road with hills after hills & some of them are pretty steep.  Its DANG slippery!  I head to the end of the road where Ricky said he saw the wreck & I'm aware at this point so I look and am going 8 mph!  Then what happens next?  Yep - I'm sliding... & I'm sliding right off the road!!!

I try to correct it which is the worst thing you can do so it throws me in a bigger spin... finally I just take my hands off the wheel (And no, I didnt break out into Carrie Underwood's song) & just thought, I'm not going that fast, let's see where this goes!  And right off the road I went!!! 

Luckily there were no other cars around me to bang into & even more luckily, I ended up in a part of the road that is covered with gravel so I had some good traction to help get me out.  The worst part of it was having to call Ricky & tell him what happened... right where he said to watch out.. DANG IT!  Pride hurts sometimes, doesnt it?

Then I get to work & my computer is pretty much like this...

A big ole slug!  I have had to hit "reply" or "Delete" like 50 times to get one email out... I'm ready to pull my hair out... if I even get this blog post to actually POST, it'll be a miracle...so if I havent responded to an email or anything, thats why... I feel like I'm living in the dark ages of Pre-email... gasp!

THEN, I just happened to look down & seen I have on two different pairs of socks... How did that happen?  I guess during my grumbling with Ricky this morning is exactly when it happened... But isnt it kinda the cool thing to do now?  To wear different socks?  I'll just pretend it is & say I'm just too cool like that...

And the worst part - its only 10:54 am here... what else is this day going to hold? 

We'll see....

Friend Makin' Monday

Its Monday... & I mean, REALLY a MONDAY... I've been running around here hectic all morning & glancing through some blog buddies blogs when I can... I keep running across this so I thought, why not? Let me join in... I love making me a friend or two...

You can go to Amber's blog right here to play along too if you'd like: http://amberfilkins.blogspot.com/

The Simple Woman's Daybook

Outside my window... Its still grey... but with a touch of snow flakes to add into the day... sigh...

I am thinking.... It's only Monday????

I am thankful... for my job that I can get some blogging time in during the day!!

I am praying... my stomach would quit lurching at the words "Airplane tickets"

I am reading... "My Jesus Year"... about a Jewish man who is a rabbi's son taking a year & experiencing "Jesus" & what Christianity is...

I am creating... a new blanket for the new grandbaby!!!

From the kitchen...is nothing... I'll be busy tonight, so my kitchen will get no activity tonight at all...

Around the house...is laying TONS of laundry... The winter months KILL me in laundry as Ricky wears like 5-6 shirts a day.. & then add in my work clothes, then work OUT clothes, then sweats or PJ's... too much laundry!

One of my favorite things... is laughing... Laughing is my favorite!  (Thank you Buddy the Elf)

A few plans for the rest of the week... is to have small group with the youth girls, to have fun with the youth Wednesday, to knit with friends on Thursday & to have an awesome game night with friends this weekend!  Another busy week ahead!

Project 365-2

OK - Making it through my 2nd week & remembering more & more to snap away...

Saturday 1/16/10... RUSSIAN CHICKEN DAY - AGAIN!!! I'm addicted to this & so is Ricky!  For Ricky to enjoy something I make so well that he'll eat it two weekends in a row, that says something!  How easy is this - chicken breasts, Russian Salad Dressing, an envelope of Onion Soup Mix, & a can of cranberries (I use the cranberry sauce though) ... put in the crockpot, cook for 4 hours... OH MY GOODNESS... I use a little more then half the bottle of dressing & the whole can of cranberries to make alot of sauce... serve it over rice & use that sauce & its beyond yummy!

Sunday 1/17/10 .... YARN SWIFT REPLACEMENT...Ricky was out skating after church & I didnt have any extra hands around.  And yes, while the suggestion of using Bruno was fun in trying, it didnt work.  I dont have a yarn swift - which is a little contraption to hold yarn that isnt rolled up.  And to roll it up, you need to stretch out the yarn... think of the old pictures of people holding yarn out in between their arms... no such luck.  So my buddy, Auburnchick suggested to use the back of a chair... worked like a charm!  that's nice to know because Yarn Swifts aren't cheap...(you can see the little roller it goes to in front of my Belle painting... I love rolling up yarn... so fun to watch it come into a pretty little ball!

Monday 1/18/10 - WREATH SURVIVAL... We got a live wreath at work this past Christmas & I am doing everything I can to keep it living!  No one else cares in the office & they beg me to just "LET IT DIE REBECCA!"... I feel so much like Phoebe on "Friends"... I cant let it go... so I'm still faithful in watering it & it still looks good & smells good!  Its over a month old... I think someone will sneak it down when I'm not looking & throw it away though... I'll cry...

Tuesday 1/19/10... "My Jesus Year"... I am loving this book!  Its so funny but has some real insighs in it... I keep a book open on my desk at all times so when I'm on hold, I can get some reading in... Here's my desk with my book under all the mess...

Wednesday 1/20/10... NOT PIGGY!!!!!  Every night when we go to bed, Bruno MUST have his Piggy... dont ask why the penguin is named Piggy... it just is... but every night, he sucks on its nose like a pacifier.  And I'm getting ready for bed & look down & see the scariest thing ever... PIGGY'S NOSE IS COMING APART!!  NOOOOOOO!!!! I've gotta use some mad sew skills to fix it... Bruno will never be able to sleep again!

Thursday 1/21/10 - Frozen to sleep!.... Yes, you may remember our "Spat of the week" & the talk of LAYERS of clothing because I'm freezing... Ricky snapped this of me sleeping. I fell asleep watching "Project Runway" & I have on, no joke, 4 layers of shirts & am tucked under 4 layers of blankets... I must have finally got warm enough to doze off...

Friday 1/22/10 - Baby Blanket Charity Knit Night... while trying to stay away to watch Conan's last night, I did what I do... KNIT... This is the "Snow White" charity blanket I got in the mail the day before.  I was expecting "Snow White" colors as in her dress - yellow, blue, reds... so was surprised when I saw it was actually ALL white.  And can you believe I didnt have any plain white yarn?  So yep, had to go get a skein of white yarn.. mine is the eyelet section on the right side of the picture... love holding blankets that people from all over the US work on.. so cool!

Cant wait to see other Project 365 pics... SNAP AWAY!

Friday Fragments

*Grey... grey... & add in a touch of blurrrr.... that's what its looked like around here all week!  It is like we're living in some sort of scene from a movie - a HORROR film!  Because its just been cloudy, rainy & FOGGY all week!  Fog even during the day - the entire day!  I dont remember what a yellow sun or a blue sky looks like... I'm very glum because of this too by the way...

*Gotta stay up tonight to see Conan's last show... & you can bet, I'll never watch Jay Leno's show. 

*I'm shocked.  I saw pictures of Prince William the other day & he looks so much older!  He's even struggling with balding already!  I remember when he was born & he's already loosing his hair?  Oh, I dont even want to think of what that means for me & how old I am....

*I get "Facts of the day" on my Google page & saw today that the average woman eats 6 lbs of lipstick in her lifetime... maybe I need to just start smearing chocolate on my lips - 6 lbs of that sounds much better!

*SPAT OF THE WEEK:  The THERMOSTAT!! I know most husband & wives argue about this, but its getting ridiculous!  We got our electric bill in the other day & yes, we had a spell where it didnt even get out of the teens for the highs for a few days... so our bill was pretty high.  The highest one we had.  Ricky has gone into overdrive & is constantly turning back the heat.  Now, I'm a cold nature person.  I'll sit in my office at work during the Spring with my heater on... no joke!  So I've been walking around our house like the Michelin Tire man because of all the layers.  Last night, I had on long underwear & heavy sweat pants over them... a tank top, a t shirt, a sweatshirt & then ANOTHER zip up sweatshirt over that.  Plus, I put the hood on & tied it tight around my head... AND I was under covers... and I was STILL cold!  Ricky thinks I'm doing that just to make him feel bad but I seriously was that cold!  So if you dont hear from me on here for a few days - check to see if I'm frozen in my own home!

*Anyone else catch the new show on TLC "One Big Happy Family"?  I love this show... its a look into the world of an obese family & their struggles fitting in with the "real world" & their trek on loosing weight.  This family just is adorable though.  I love the mom & how sweet her heart is for her family... they all just seem to love each other & its great seeing a brother & sister get along so well... you really should check it out if you havent already.  (I think it may be on hiatus until Summer though)

*If you havent ever seen this blog, & are interested in doing a "Bible in a Year" sorta thing, check it out:  http://www.oneyearbibleblog.com/  It really is nice.  Gives you the reading for each day & then adds a little "thought" & pictures that go along with it, even maps that may make things clearer... & I love it because they add a song to go with it for the day, a thought, a prayer & memory verse... it really is a nice site... totally recommend it!

*For the Bachelor fans... how happy are you that crazy-Michelle got asked to leave?  THANK YOU JAKE!  And I'm confused... I thought "Reality Steve" said Elizabeth was in the final four, but she got booted this week.  (Thank you again Jake for calling her out on her stupid "Make out with my forehead" thing!)  Did I read that wrong?  I've gotta research it again... PRAYING he's wrong because if you havent read it & you dont know who he says is the final girl... oh, I gagged & puked when I read it... so I'm hoping he's wrong!

*Kudos to GLEE for winning a Golden Globe for best Comedy!!!!  Was totally hoping Jane Lynch would pull through though... Toni Collette?  Seriously?  Who even knows she HAS a show?  Jane Lynch should have taken that  by a land slide!!!

Happy Friday everyone!!!  And if you see a blue sky & a yellow sun, can you ask it to please come visit us in the Kentucky/Indiana area?

"This is stinky & sweaty"

Last night was our youth program & I was up for the night...so I had to laugh when I get up front & ask for some volunteers!  After the Neti-Pot lesson, everyone was skeptical... wimps!  But finally, five people came up & THEN I told them they had a chance at winning $5!  Oh yeah, who wishes they stood up & volunteered now?

The rules - I was going to read out a few places where the money was - read it only once & they couldnt ask any questions or talk - they just had to go find it....

Some of the places I said was in a certain pew, on a certain page number, of a certain Bible... or in a certain mailbox... or underneath a certain pew... fun things!  Then I added in "Or in the show of Jeremy" (our Youth Minister)... they were off...running crazy, asking Jeremy if it was in his shoe, which is replied "Why would there be money in my shoe?" - & then they'd check the other places...

Funny, one person took off ONE of Jeremy's shoes & then when the other kids would come by & ask if it was in his shoe, he showed them his ONE shoe off & they'd keep searching... yeah - in the end, the money was in Jeremy's other shoe!

I gathered them all together again & asked - "How is this like trying to hear God's will?"...

The point... we hear things all the time - how do we know which one is the RIGHT DIRECTION we are supposed to listen to?  After all, God speaks in "gentle whispers" (1 Kings 19:12) & its hard to figure out what is the actually God's will in our life...

And Jeremy?  Well, I made sure he wasnt "up front" about the money in his shoe... why?  Because when God has a plan for us & a purpose, there will still be people in this world who are in the way - go against us - make it hard for us... YOU have to know it is the correct thing to do & keep on at it...

I mean, if Mother Teresa stopped when she ran into problems - would her ministry & God's will in her life be fulfilled?  She KNEW what God called her to do & she didnt stop...

Even funnier, when one of the kids figured out the "other shoe" & pulled it off & discovered the $5 - the first thing out of his mouth was "This is sweaty & stinky".... I just said "EXACTLY"!  Sometimes, God's will for us is NOT pleasant or something we WANT to do... it can get pretty nasty & "stinky"... but it doesnt mean God doesnt want us to go there...

I hope the kids got the point of my example... & in the end, someone got "Blessed" with a reward for following the correct directions... Oh, what BLESSINGS we'll receive when we follow God's will & purpose in our own lives...

Always say a Prayer

I saw this yesterday & just thought it was so sweet.. I think Jesus just looks adorable as a little cartoon guy too!!!

Hope this lightens your day...

Pile it on....

Anyone a "Biggest Loser" fan?

I love that dang show - every season!  I am in awe of the transformations that these people go through - mentally and of course, physically.

I'm not sure I totally agree with the way they do it - I mean, people are going to the hospital in ambulances & helicopters all the time now.  I'm afraid they are going to push someone to have a heart attack one day... but again, they DO get results... & I guess, somehow, the ends justifies the means ?  Maybe?  I dont know... I just enjoy the show...

Did you see the past show?  There is a doctor who was trying to show the contestants the severity & reality of their weight.  One man, Michael Ventrella, was given an example of what his weight does to an average man...

here is Michael...He started in at 526 lbs...

Here is our wonderful, peaceful, tattooed Trainer, Bob.... LOVE Bob...

They had Bob stand there while they piled on weights to make him feel like the same weight Michael is.

Michael had to stand there as they did this & just watch.  Bob was doing OK about half way through the process, but then they'd add more vests with more weight on his back.  More weights added onto his legs.  At one point, Bob said, "My hips are aching"... & then he eventually had to sit down for a minute.  They had to help him walk & he struggled to walk down steps with that much weight on...

Bob looked at Michael & said "I dont see how you live like this"

Michael was visibly upset & said "I did this to myself"... & you could tell this "in your face" moment really hit home to him.

Me & my mind - & you all know it's out there sometimes - but I instantly saw a different scene in my mind...

That scene was one of Jesus standing next to me & taking all my sins & piling them on his back - except in this visual, he was taking them OFF of me & putting them on himself... & Jesus looking at me saying the same thing "I dont see how you live like this"....

He doesnt want us to carry around the burdens of past failures - he wants us to ask for Him to take them off of us... He wants to lighten that load...

& yes, I could respond the same way & saw, "I did this to myself"... & some people in this world refuse to hand over the struggles of the world to Him to carry... but if you do, how much lighter would you feel?  And Yep, Jesus is much stronger then Bob... He can take a whole lot more & then a whole lot more... always ready to pile it on himself, for our sake...

Thank you Jesus letting me live this life a little bit lighter ....

Tag... You're it!!!

I got tagged by a blog buddy, Amy for a fun fun fun play along!!!  My top 5 for 2009... oh mercy... I'm going to have to go through my pictures here & see what stand out as the top 5... so many wonderful moments... let's see..

One of the best moments which was early in 2009 - my first Mini!  And seeing this picture makes me excited about getting a SECOND metal in April!!!  Who knows how many I'll have before the end of it all...

Totally a wonderful thing of the year... my brother, Tony, working on the Senior High Room for our youth group - Sacred Grounds... its just amazing to see his talent come to life & to see what it was before & to see what it was after... & to see how many people appreciate the talent that he has...

Who can forget my big moment with Stephen Curtis Chapman?  And by big moment, I mean running as close to the stage as I can... I'll take what I can get... someday, ah yes, someday, I will meet this man!

A wonderful day that I totally enjoyed was on my vacation where I got to spend the day with my dad & HIS love... horses!! It was a beautiful, perfect Fall day that is for sure one of the best of the year... now the day after, my butt didnt think it was all that perfect... but that's a different story!

And, hello, OF COURSE, the best of the best of 2009 - getting not one, but TWO visits with the Beautiful blue-eyed grandbaby, getting to celebrate Isaac's 2nd Birthday with him..... & getting the news that another Grand was on the way... (so you already know what the first of 2010 Best moment is... Welcome to the World Luke!)

So, my turn.... I get to tag five people now...

Lynn- Neal at the cross
Spirit of Truth
Straight from the Heart
Auburnchick
Dawn's Cottage Corner

And if you want to play along as well, PLEASE, play along.. & just let me know if you do because I wanna see your top five moments of 2009!