Saturday, December 22, 2012

Da Bomb

I surprised my honey by taking him on a date. He had no clue where we were going. All he knew is I had promised to feed him, and feed him well. ;) Kiddo and I were watching a show on our Roku several months ago featuring the top 10 sandwiches in America. How fortunate we are to be not far from the home of the #1 sandwich! Meet Sasquatch!
 This sandwich is made with two grilled cheese sandwiches prepared with Texas toast and three slices of cheese. This isn't the sandwich mind you, it's just the bun! In between these two whoppin' grilled cheese sandwiches are your normal fixens, a half pound of house ground beef topped with 3 additional slices of cheese. plus 5 strips of bacon and a mound of freshly fried onion strips. The sandwich is so tall that no frilly toothpick is going to do you a bit of good holding it together. It comes with a steak knife plunged through the top of it. I have an exceedingly Happy Hubby right now :) !! I just love it when I get something this right :D

Want to go get one yourself? Here is the location, and here is a youtube video describing the place.

Happy Eating! 
btw I DID NOT eat one too, in case you're wondering! I had the spicy chicken wrap :)

There's no place like home...


Sunday, December 16, 2012


Hold them close 
tell them you love them
share a smile
make a memory
This life is too short to waste

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

A Picture is Still Worth A Thousand Words

This is Kiddo's new shirt courtesy of her mom's imagination and vistaprint.com. (Yes, I am a shameless vistaprint junkie.) 
She is now officially finished with high school, and being that she is my last child to home school, I am officially retired!!! YIPPEE!!!!
She would like to point out that she graduated on 12-12-12 :)
Someone else just pointed out to me that she graduated from the 12th grade ha ha! I wonder what else we can work in there???? 
shoe size? LOL ummmm nope
To my family and friends: Graduation ceremony at the church on 1/20/13 2:00 p.m.!! (Pictures to follow!)
Maybe I'll have more time for blogging in my future?? ;)

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

My husband, my hero

                  
My Husband is one of the two most wonderful men ever. He shares that title with my Daddy, the first man to love and protect me, to shield me and guide me. My Daddy was without question the best daddy in all the world. I miss him so much. He is in Heaven, having a grand time sitting at the feet of Jesus and waiting there for the rest of us to follow.  Before he left us though, he gave me in marriage to the man I now share my life with. This man I am married to is beyond description... He's a manly man with a tender heart towards his family. A man with a sure and powerful sense of devotion and honor. I'd like to share just two examples of his care towards us.
When Daddy went to his home in heaven we were living a full days drive away, approx. 20 hours to get there. I'm not a very good long-distance driver, so my wonderful husband drove the entire way... straight through. Exhausted with grief I spent much of the time dozing in the front passenger seat, only to awaken every few hours to keep him company for awhile and ask him "Are  you alright? Do you want me to drive?" When we finally did arrive it was 5:30 in the morning. Not wanting to disturb the sleep of the grieving, we didn't wish to knock on the door. Hubby spotted a trampoline in the yard and at his suggestion, we all started hauling the blankets and pillows from the car and made beds for us to rest.  It was Summer time and it wasn't long before the heat awakened me.  I was surprised not to see my husband by my side. I scanned the yard and found him pacing back and forth. I approached him and commented "You're awake already? You didn't sleep long." He said he hadn't been asleep. Knowing how tired he must be, I was surprised at his response. Then he looked down at me and said, "My family was out in the open, unprotected. I wasn't about to go to sleep".  I am amazed at what a wonderful man I am married to.

Another example: It was the busy season and my hard working husband was putting in extra long hours. He was working 10 hour days, commuting 3 hours a day in the middle of Summer with, I might add, no air conditioner in his car. There's also an absence of cooling in the shop he works in, due to the presence of toxic fumes and the need for ventilation. In spite of the swamp coolers on the premises, with the bay doors open the temperature remains in shall we say, the barely bearable range.  
On one of these days it happened that my husband worked an even longer day than usual, 12 hours. He wasn't going to be home before I needed to leave the house. It was a special night at church. All the church congregation were meeting to share the evening playing games, snacking on goodies, and visiting with each other. I was sad that I wouldn't see my husband, but not wanting my daughter to miss out on the fun, I made my husband a plate and off we went. When I came home I saw that he had eaten his dinner and was tucked into bed lightly sleeping. I tiptoed over to him and kissed him softly on the forehead. He stirred and asked me if I were alright. I told him to rest assured, that I was fine. Then he asked about our daughter, "Yes, she's fine too." Finally he relaxed and fell sound asleep. What an amazing man it is that I am married to. One that will travel 3 hours, work 12 in the Arizona heat, then make sure his wife and daughter are alright before he can rest.  Lord thank you for this wonderful man, and Lord please help me to be deserving of him! 

And yet a third example of my husband's awesomeness... (yes, I know I said two examples, but he is just that good!)

Not long ago the heater core in my car went out. Now, living in Arizona, you might not thing that's a big deal. Trust me it is.  It gets below 20 at night here. No heater means no traveling at night because there is no defroster. No heater means no traveling in the early morning hours because there is no defroster. No heater means cold fingers and shivering bodies if you need to go any where other than 10a.m. to 3 p.m. Do-able, but not a whole lot of fun. And so, my most wonderful and loving husband went to the auto parts store and dedicated a weekend to making his wife and family more comfortable.
This is what my car looked like at the end of the first day. Yep, it only took one day to reduce my car to this. 
You might ask:
     Has my husband ever done this before? The answer would be no.
     Am I nervous? Perhaps a little bit, but you don't know my husband!:x 
lovestruck
By the end of the second day it was finished. Why no picture? Because I was too busy driving it around town with a huge smile on my face and enjoying the warmth from my new heater Silly!









Being a mother, Being a grandmother...

I LOVE being a mom. There is nothing so wonderful, so heart fulfilling as bringing life into this world, and being given the awesome privilege of guiding, loving, nurturing, teaching, and enjoying your babies as they grow; then watch them bloom as they live their own lives, making their own decisions, following their own paths, and blessing you with sharing their lives with you. Being a mother has such joy that words cannot express.

Being "Grammy" comes with a whole new set of joys, all the love, and only half the worries. (My grands have AWESOME parents. I get to worry much less, I am female however so I MUST worry some!) Instead of all that worrying I get that much more time lovin' on them. :D big grin  I remember one beautiful afternoon. My oldest daughter came over with her first (at that time only) child. Little Katherine was perched at a toddler size table and chair set in my living room eating pizza for lunch. As I watched in rapture at the joy of being with my daughter and her baby for the day my mind suddenly went back to when my daughter was her age. I said to her: "I know just what you're thinking. You're thinking...."I hope she eats all of her lunch. I hope she doesn't get pizza all over her dress and I hope she doesn't spill it all over Mom's white rug." My daughter laughed and said, "Yep! That's pretty much it!" I told her. "You know what I'm thinking?? I'm thinking "Isn't she SO CUTE"! LOL  Oh yes, being Grammy definitely has it's perks! I love my Kiddos, I love my Grands. I am blessed!!

Monday, December 10, 2012

Do ya s'pose I'm getting more forgetful???


So, I made this great big huge batch of my favorite cookies in order to have enough to share and enjoy... chocolate, cherry, coconut with cherry m&m's It's all baked, will not be baking any more of said flavor and I suddenly realized.... I forgot to put in the cherries!!! Are you kidding me?? That's almost as big of a crime as telling the wrong grand daughter happy birthday last Sunday... Yes, I actually did that :"> blushing Emily was quite pleased though and looked at me, gave me a big hug and beamed a thank you as if to say "Grammy, you are the ONLY one who remembered!! Thankfully I regained my senses before I gave the gift to the wrong child. Somehow I don't think Emi would really appreciate her own special mug with her sister's name on it, even if it were filled with chocolate! 
So..... now what do I do with 10 pounds of dehydrated cherries???? hmmmm salad??

Saturday, December 1, 2012

As we enter into the month in which we celebrate the birth of our Saviour, I can't help but think. I'm grateful that he isn't in a manger, nor on a cross, but that he lives and reigns in heaven. He came for a reason.  To provide us a way to get back to the Father. To me it's mind boggling that the son of God, knowing that he would be rejected and scorned, tortured and killed would still choose to come and give his own life to pay for my sin. Oh wretched sinner that I am, 
Thank you Lord for your precious gift!

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Friday, August 3, 2012

It's been awhile....

It's been awhile since I dug out my crafting supplies and had some fun! T.K. gave me a book while I was visiting her. Love it!!!
  
Opened it up to page 17... and I was off! Off to the thrift store....Where I spent a whopping 50 cents for two of these :)
 Don't know where I'll use the second one, but for the extra 25 cents, figured it's cheaper than paying for the gas to go back even if I don't end up using it! ;) 
Next I was off to the hardware store where I picked up three wooden knobs for $3.00, brought them home and got out my black/brown paint...
Got out my tube of awesomeness. a.k.a. shoe goo...

And in just a short time... I have this sitting on my counter!  A base for my trail mix jar :) Hubby said he thought I'd lost my mind at first, but he really likes it! Double win!

Thanks T.K.!

Thursday, August 2, 2012

Thank you Lord for your provision, thank you for your grace, thank you for your mercy, thank you for you SON. I am blessed....

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

It's my Birthday Week!!! :)

Yay! I'm back home and it's my birthday week!!! What does that mean to me?? It means three things... Family, Friends, and Fun!!! Every year for my birthday I ask for the same thing. And each year I get it. (I am so stinkin' blessed!!) I ask for "time", time with my family and my friends.  This year the day before my birthday (schedules can never be counted on to happen on the appropriate day. I've learned to live with it ;) Anyway... I digress.... This year, the day before my birthday I invited my kiddos, my grands, and my good friends T.F. and M.F. for a cook out and game night. Along with other BBQ fare we cooked up the Boudin. We also served dip made with cream cheese and some of T.K.'s home canning. I brought back with me from my trip.  It's called "To-Jam".  Okay, I see you wrinkling up your nose, but really, it's amazing stuff.  So why the name? Because Tomato Jam is too long to write dozens of times on tiny mason lids of course! Besides that, I like being quirky, and so do my friends ;)  To-Jam is delicious! It's savory/sweet, tastes great on crackers and chicken and who knows what else, but I'll be making lots of it so I can't wait to see how many ways I can incorporate it into our eating. (Check back for the recipe and pics. I just bought 30 pounds of tomatoes thanks to a great sale {55 cents a pound!} I'll be blogging about it and posting the recipe very soon!) 

Back to the main subject: Everyone who came to help me celebrate pitched in and brought food to share and the grands came in with STACKS of home made birthday cards and wishes. :) We played an awesome game my hubby found online. Really cool, but loses a lot in the translation... suffice it to say, we were laughing and playing and having a grand time :)  Love love my family and friends!! 

The next day, my actual birthday, Kiddo took me to Denny's for my usual annual Grand Slam. This is an event I look forward to ALL year. My all time favorite meal is breakfast. "Bring on the pancakes!!" The next day I went to lunch with my gal friend S.W. and a long visit in her comfy kitchen with some red velvet cake.  4 days later it was out for dinner with my loving and amazing handsome man (dinner served with a kiss ;) After that, Birthday Pizza with my son (Thank you! Love you in hunks and bunches!) Today draws a close to my birthday week, but we aren't finished yet.  Going out to lunch with my gal buddy T. F. :)  !! And what will I be doing in August??? Dieting! and being thankful for those near and dear.  I am so stinkin' blessed! Thank you Lord, and thank you everyone for everything!

Monday, July 23, 2012

A.W.O.L.

A.W.O.L.  I've been seriously A.W.O.L.  So Much has been happening over the past month+. Way more than I've had time to blog about, so this is going to be a speed trip through the past month and a half.  No apologies (I'm sure none are expected LOL) Just way too busy living life to write about it... but what fun I've had! 

First on the list was a weekend stay at a nice hotel with the hubs. My oldest daughter watched my younger daughter and all three of my dogs while I was away. Thanks Kiddo! It was a break that was much appreciated! 

A friend of mine noticed that I'd been getting so tired that I was starting to have difficulty holding a normal conversation... She prayed for me and God gave me a weekend away. Thank you Lord!
The Hotel we stayed at, Mission Palms in Tempe AZ
Our Room (how'd they know red and brown were my fav. colors?!)
Ever notice how going through a hallway at a hotel, it feels like you're walking through a hall of mirrors?? Or is it just me???

After that I was off to visit my good friend Helen. We had teen night at her home followed by a work day. The whole church showed up. Men, women, and children. Such a blessing to be part of such a wonderful, loving group of like minded people!! These pics are old ones (Hint: update your blog so I can harvest more current pics from them LOL)

 I wasn't home long and I was off to visit my good friend T.K.!  (Thanks Hubby for the vacay, and thanks again to my Oldest daughter who watched my youngin' and my youngest pup while I was away!!) 
I can't believe how much fun I had while I was there. Did so much that my head spins and don't know which came first and which came last! I do remember my first impression when I saw it from the plane was "There's so much water!" I texted my family and friends "They've got so much water out here they keep it on the ground!"
One of the first things we did together was celebrate the birthday of T.K.'s grand daughter. I got to tag along while they spent special time together. We went to Build-a-Bear where she picked out a bear and a bunny, one for her and one for her baby sister that will be born in October. I debated for the longest time whether to get one for myself or not. They're so cute!! Then I pictured the hubs having to move it off the bed every night to go to sleep and decided to take the memories with me instead of a bear, but come on, they're so cute! especially with their adorable outfits :)
 After so many important decisions we were off again, this time to refortify with a cookie break :)
I HIGHLY recommend the chewy pecan cookies. YUM! Went back to the counter to purchase another to freeze and bring back to the hubs. (Yes, it did make it back home, I didn't eat it first! and yes, he did share it with me ;) While we were at the bakery one of the cashiers told us that she heard the Earth was going to be "Hit by a solar flare, don't know where it's going to hit, but it's going to cause some problems." T.K. and I both got on our phones and we each made a call. "Huh??" We were told to "tell the cashier she can crawl out from under the table, it won't actually "hit" the Earth, just might cause some interference with cell phones".... I tell you, that was an interesting couple of minutes! LOL
While I was visiting I spent some time soaking up the peace and quiet and enjoying spending time with her entire family. loved loved loved the dinner we had of Boudin, crackers, and cheese with a cool peach drink! It was even tastier eating it in her back yard near the water. 


Why is it, do you think, that food tastes so much better when you eat it in a beautiful place? :) I'd never heard of Boudin before, It's a sausage made with rice, meat, and spices. Yummy! Bought 8 of them to freeze and bring home for the hubs as well!
While I was there I was twice invited to her daughter and son-in-law's beautiful home. The first time was to celebrate the birthday once again, this time with the whole family. When I complimented her on how beautiful and tasty everything was, she gave Pinterest all the credit, but I know better... That's talent! The second time I went over it was for a home cooked spaghetti and meat ball dinner. The conversation was as pleasant as the meal was delicious! 

Speaking of food..... Ate some


from Pollman's That's BACON MAPLE DONUTS Ya'all!!
Then there's the morning this arrived just in time for breakfast:
Oh yes, and the day we went out to lunch with another good friend at a wonderful place by the name of "Newks"!
That's a very blurry pic, but the only one I got. You will note, I was being good. That's a salad and there's not a cookie in sight! :)
Another day we went to the docks and snacked on:
Huh??!! Fried pickles? Don't knock 'em to you've tried 'em! :)  
One beautiful evening we were off to Mikato Japanese Restaurant to celebrate T.K.'s birthday with her family and friends. We watched the cook juggle of all things an egg with a spatula... Not to say he juggled both, but used the spatula to juggle the egg. Setting the table on fire... well sort of, the table was also the grill, was another highlight.
 

T.K.'s Hubby, (also T.K., different person, same initials :) cooked up some steaks that made the heart sing.... ate it all gone before remembering the camera. and T.K. (the wife, not the hubby) made up some Margherita pizza. I watched as she made it and took careful notes. Made it for my family after I got home.... Loved it! This is hers, mine didn't look as nice, I'd like to blame it on the stubborn pizza dough, but honesty makes it necessary to blame it on lack of skills. :-/

Last, but not least on the food trail T.K., two of her friends and I went to LuLu's for lunch. LuLu is Jimmy Buffet's sister. Not quite sure who Jimmy Buffet is, but I like his sister's place! We went to celebrate T.K.'s and my birthday, picking the day right smack dab in the middle of both of them to celebrate them together. In order to fully appreciate the ambiance, you've got to read about it in hot pink ;)

 
 My three lunch mates :)
I had the Mahi-Mahi tacos. Yum!

Yes, that's a fried oyster on my plate... something I said I'd never eat, but then when it was slipped onto my plate the challenge was made and the challenge was met. I closed my eyes, counted in my head as fast as I could to distract myself, and popped it in my mouth. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! Would I buy it to eat another day?? Nope! I grinned at T.K. and told her "Now when you come out you have to try Frog's Eye Salad"! With the look of shock on her face I just couldn't tease her. "No, it's not made with real frogs eyes" I'm a wimp... I could have really gotten her good on that one! According to Wikipedia Frog's eye salad is an American cold salad that combines the pasta with whipped topping, marshmallows, pineapple and mandarin oranges. So no worries :)
A view of the restaurant looking back over my shoulder. I just turned my camera backward and shot a pic. (I'm SO sneaky that way!)
Our table was right at the water's edge :)

The four of us ducked thunderstorms and shopped until we dropped, or rather until a power outage had us stranded in a stuff store. My three friends  made use of their time to catch up on their phones until the electricity to come back on.
One of my best shopping finds while visiting
 was a new purse.
As you can see the old one was well used and deserving of rest. It served me well. I bought it for $2 at a local thrift store and carried it for 3 years. But, not sure if it would survive the rest of the trip, decided to look for a new one when I found this: 
Not completely sure it's "me" but it's a lot cuter than the pic shows now that there are things in it and it's not lying there limp and empty! Check out the price tag. Not the reg. price, but the clearance price :) A bit more than $2.00, but hey, desperate times and all that.... I needed a purse!
 And it came with all this wrapping paper! LOL  Okay, lame joke, but it's after 2 in the morning!

 At least I thought it was my best find until we hit a thrift store. I found 3 more purses, a blouse for kiddo, another blouse for me, and two new jean skirts all for just under $20 bucks! I got to admit, I carry my $2.50 purse around a lot more than my $10.48 one. But I REFUSE to feel guilty about the price spent on my "expensive" one! 

Before I left, T.K. presented me with two very special gifts that I will ALWAYS treasure! One is an original painting on canvas. She has entitled it "Tea Time" I've seen it on her art blog many times and fell in love with it the first time I laid eyes on it. Now it's hanging in my dining room, just a couple feet away from where I sit and have tea when I'm sharing with a friend!!! Here is a pic I took of it while still at T.K.'s house.
and here is the cup that inspired it! She still has the cup, while I get to enjoy the painting :)  I'm so happy!!! :D Thank you T.K.!!

 Another gift she gave me a a print that I've admired for quite some time. She's named it Sunrise on Aloe Bay. 
 I just adore it! It makes me feel so peaceful, and reminds me of the verse John 14:2.  In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. I can just picture me and my best gal friends each having our own "mansion" near each other in total bliss! My house is the red one (of course!)

The evening before I left I went to the island with T.K. and T.K. ;)  How beautiful! A perfect way to spend my last evening there. 


 This adorable house is just about 300 sq. ft.  I could live in it forever soaking up a simpler life with less belongings and my living room and dining room being the dock just outside the back door.
Look familiar?? ;)
 My fav. one is "reality" Don't go thataway!!
 Sittin' on the doc of the bay!



Miss you T.K.!! Thanks for all the fun! I hope I was at least half the blessing you are to me!