What I'm reading

Mom and I share Max Lucado books, I had never read this one and she brought it to me around Thanksgiving. I usually read part of a chapter before my morning Bible Study. I was doing the Christmas Edition of My Daily Bread before Christmas so I set this aside. Yesterday I picked it up and realized it was a study in Romans. A bit ironic since that is what our in depth study is for our high school group in AWANA. This fits in perfectly and gives me one more aspect for our class.

This is my nook book right now. Lethal Lasagna by Rhonda Gibson.  Rhonda went to school with Andrew and is a Christian fiction writer. Thanks to facebook, he found out she was a writer and I looked up some of her books. I read the one below right before Christmas, Rhonda worked with three other authors on it and it was really, really good so I decided to look up some more of her books. Lethal Lasagna is a Christian Murder Mystery, the best of both worlds.

I am working on making me a working "reading list", I have several non-fiction books I am wanting to tackle too.....

if only there were more time.

Winding Down Vacation

I started out Monday morning armed with a list of things to get done this week. Though I have a couple that are not 100% yet, I am really proud of what I have gotten done.

Those who know me well know I am an organizational freak, I bought a P-touch labeler on black Friday and am in the process of labeling everything I can think of. My first project of the week was the dog closet which is really a shoe organizer hung on the door to the attic. It is a great space though because I can fit all their toys, medicines, sweaters, hairbows, etc, in each individual pocket. The pockets now all have labels.

The next thing on my list was to clean out my kitchen cabinets; done.

I always wait until after New Year's to take down the Christmas decorations--they are down, with the exception of my nativity set, which belonged to my grandmother. I leave it on the fireplace mantel until Easter. It is one of my most treasured possessions and I feel it deserves more time than just a month before Christmas.

My coupons are cleaned out and organized, menus done for January, grocery list done for January and notebook set up to keep track of all of the above.

I have made three thank you notes, and am half way finished with a birthday card--those all accomplished in my new craft room.

I still have some work to do on the craft room before I post pictures. I am actually waiting right now to hear from a craigslist seller about a desk. I moved a smaller desk upstairs to replace the one I took downstairs but I just don't care for it like I thought I would. It just so happened I found an identical desk to mine on craigslist this morning, now I am just praying it is still available. If it is, Andrew and I will be taking a road trip.

So, I have two things on my list that MIGHT not be completely finished before Monday--straightening up my garage and getting the craft room completed. If we get to go the desk, they probably won't get done, if we don't, they will.

I am still very excited about the start to my year......and I hate to say it, but I am starting to having withdrawal from work too.

Love vacation but love the fact that I have a job that I WANT to go back to.

First project of the year-DONE!

and it isn't even MY project! 

We have been working on a few "combined" projects that will end up with one big one done....getting the shop ready for Robert to use to work on cars this summer.

A few years ago, we brought the old coal burning stove that was in my house when I was a baby. The guys put it in the garage and it was super. The drawbacks though, were it was huge, took up a lot of space and had a crack in it that spit out hot embers--not a good combination when you have a gasoline-powered vehicle in close proximity.

The guys decided they wanted a new box wood stove. With Christmas money in hand, they purchased one on Tuesday and got it installed yesterday. I love the fact that it also gives us security should an ice storm hit. We have a gas fireplace that we could use but it doesn't put out a lot of heat. We also have two kerosene heaters for the basement, but the wood stove in the garage is even fixed so we can cook on it. Just a nice comforting thought should the lights go out.

I made the list mentioned a couple of posts back---Andrew says it sounds like we are in for a busy year. I really think it is easy compared to some of the last lists though. Most are small projects, not huge undertakings. A few things here and there. New paint and border in one room, a floor refinished in another, counter tops, just "here and there" stuff instead of gutting anything and starting over. Looking forward to all our little improvements though.

I am working fervently on my craft room this week. Our basement is unfinished so it isn't going to be "beautiful" but functional is what I am aiming for, hopefully by Saturday I can post pictures of it. I am super-excited at the possibilities. To top it off, I have it set up to where I can work on scrapbooking and see a tv---one that is NOT showing football, or hockey, or nascar, that in itself will be a plus (sorry guys).

Super Simple Alfredo

One of my all time favorite recipes and really simple.

I found the sauce recipe in a Philadelphia Cream Cheese cookbook years ago and it has been a staple ever since. I add different things to make it different meals, shrimp, crab meat, Italian veggies; my menu tonight called for blackened chicken.

Philly Alfredo

1/2 cup butter
1 8 oz. package cream cheese
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup Parmesan cheese.

Cut butter and cream cheese into chunks, cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until smooth, add milk and cheese, continue stirring until smooth.

That's it, takes about 15 minutes. Serve over cooked pasta. I used Penne tonight. Robert doesn't like fettuccine or spaghetti so I normally do shorter pastas, but that's a personal thing. You can also use light cream cheese as well as light margarine and Parmesan, I have done this when I am dieting hard and it is still good, not as good as using all regular, but good and really, the sauce is so rich a little goes a long way. (Serves 4-6)

My blackened chicken was a cheater thing tonight (hey, I AM on vacation). I normally buy bags of chicken breasts when they are on sale and cook one bag off the bat and cut them up and freeze them so they are quick, but I also buy the precooked chicken strips when I have coupons and I did a month or so ago so I had a bag of these in the freezer. I spiced them up with a little Cajun seasoning and threw them in a hot skillet for a few minutes. Then, to get the "TGIFriday's" effect, I chopped tomatoes for the edge, little parsley on top, pop a piece of garlic bread on the side and we have supper.

Home!

Andrew and I ended our journey with a trip to the Kentucky Flea Market. Quite an experience, reminded me of Covered Bridge, it was huge. Bought a new purse, socks, and a calendar--I was living dangerously, huh?

We got home yesterday evening around 6:30, when Robert got home we took him out to Bdubs. I have to say, I was impressed with the looks of my house when I got home and the dishes were in the dishwasher and had already been washed....yep, he didn't disappoint and yes, he WILL make someone a great hubby one of these days.

So, today is the start of my vacation. I have vowed to stay away from work as the last time I was on vacation, I spent most of my day hours on the phone for conference calls. I went so far as to delete my email account off of my cell so things don't just pop up for me to worry about. I have a lot of projects planned for this week so it would be good to concentrate on home this week.

And then there is the fact that it is New Years.....Resolutions....I don't make them. I do set goals for myself and for things for our family. I love writing down what we want to accomplish and being able to look back and see we did what we set out to do. The back bath project was one that wasn't finished last January and it is gorgeous now. Robert wanted a job and a better vehicle, and he has both. So, part of today (since it is the LEGAL holiday--my disclaimer for not doing this yesterday) will be spent writing down what we want to get done this year. I know one is work on the porch and another is to get my craft room done. The craft room hopefully will be done by the end of this month though.

Of course, I HAVE to watch the parade---it's a special one since it is on the 2nd. We actually marched on the 2nd when we were there. The coolest thing about that was we got to go to the Disneyland New Year's eve party which most of the time, the band's didn't get to do because they had to be lined up at 5 a.m.  I will never forget that trip and I sit and cry through the parade because I am so darned proud of the fact that we still have young people out there willing to work their tails off to get to do this. There is always hard work not only in the preparation for the parade but in the raising the money to get there. People, this instills that work ethic at a young age that employers want for the rest of their lives. It makes you realize things worth having are worth working for. And the things that you work for are so much sweeter than the ones that are handed to you. I washed a heck of a lot of windows and cars, raked tons of leaves, and cleaned plenty of houses to get there but we did it, even when things were tough at our house.......and of course, there were a few special people who would put money in a birthday card and say, "Just think Roses until January". I didn't mean to get on this but the day we found out we were going, I called my mom, I could hear the worry in her voice of how we would pay for it. I promised her I would do everything in my power to raise my money and I did. Anyway,  I think that was the first time I really saw what I could do if I set my mind to it and as I said above, it was a life lesson that has served me well.

So, Happy 2012 everyone. One of my goals is to blog more. I have had several people tell me they want me to share some of my organizational secrets, money-saving tips, and craft ideas. I am still trying to figure out if I want to do that or not. Yes, I like the fact that I do my menus a month at a time, use coupons for everything I can (I saved $13 on our trip because of coupons), and love when I come out of the grocery store with a full trunk and have spent less than $50 but I don't know that it is everyone else's cup of tea.

Happy Monday everybody!

Great Escape 2011-- Day 2

Today started with a trip to the Zachary Taylor National Cemetery. Andrew is a big history buff so when I found this, I knew we had to stop by. There is nothing more humbling than seeing a national cemetery. It reminds us very quickly that freedom is not free:

The next stop was Muth's Candies, I had seen it on the food channel and thought we should stop in, it has been in business, ran by the same family for 90 years. I took pictures but never got a picture of the grandson, in his late 50's or early 60's and very eager to talk about his business--as well as constantly running to the back to bring us samples of about everything in the store. We walked out with homemade dark chocolate covered marshmallows for me and homemade licorice carmels for Andrew.

Our next stop was the Fraizer Weapons Museum. I did not take pictures...I was afraid to on some places and didn't think of it on others. It is a really nice museum and looks at weapons and war from England through the Civil War. My favorite part was a special photography exhibit (that had nothing to do with War) that was shot in Kentucky by three photographers who split up the state and took pictures in every county from 1975 through 1977 as a part of the Nation's bicentennial celebration. Those pictures were fascinating. It amazes me to look at someone who, in our standards, have so little but yet see that in reality, their simplicity of life makes them very rich.

We got there at 11 and left at 1:30 so we kinda missed lunch. I didn't want to spoil our dinner plans so we did make a little detour off of the "no chains" weekend and hit one of our all time favorite regional chains for a snack. We have such a history with Skyline Chili that I don't think it could be considered cheating on our vows to not eat at chains this weekend. After all, it is still something not available to us at home. We were introduced to Skyline Chili in the spring after we were married, when Andrew was working at a Walmart outside of Cincinnati (the HOME of Skyline chili) and I went to visit.



My cheesy coney



Andrew and his chili cheese fries

We headed back to our hotel to rest a bit. The coolest thing happened when we got to our Drury yesterday.  I LOVE Drury Inns and part of that stems from experiences in Fairview Heights. We go there and are treated like royalty. We have stayed at the Drury Plaza in downtown St. Louis and although it is nice, there is just something about walking into a hotel and the receptionist knowing you when you walk in the door. That is why we go to Fairview Heights, there is a girl there that I won't be surprised if one day she isn't running the company. We walked into our Drury here in Louisville yesterday and low and behold, there was Rachel....how odd was that and of course, she knew us. I thought for a second there was some weird cloning, robot thing going on, but no, she had been asked if she would like to cover a shortage here and said sure, she would love the travel. I had originally just gotten us a King deluxe room so it was just one room but with a couch in it. She asked if we would like to upgrade to a suite for $15 more. We decided sure and when it all was said and done, she pulled it off and it only cost me $9 more--total. I think they must work 12 hour shifts but she is always up, excited and raring to go. As we came back in this evening, she was heading up the elevator with a vacuum cleaner because someone had an accident. Anyway, that just added to the "perfectness" of this weekend.

SOOO....After our rest, we headed back downtown for our Dinner Cruise on the Spirit of Jefferson. I loved this!  I am not ever going to be a big fan of going on a big cruise, I don't like the idea of being someplace I can't get away from. I honestly have NO desire to go on a cruise---Andrew doesn't either so we are a good pair but a two hour excursion down the river and back, while eating fantastic food--that we can handle.



Just going to add a disclaimer here, someday I will be off the high doses of prednisone and maybe my face will be not quite so round!



setting up the buffet



The dinning room



dining room

our dinner, Chicken Cordon Bleu, Roast Beef and all the trimmings



Our boat

Skyline from my seat

All in all, an awesome end to 2011.  Yes, we were on the "Early Bird" tour and actually celebrated New Year's at 7 p.m. but not being drinkers, it was perfect for us, more calm than party. We even went out and sat on the deck for a bit, while drinking hot cider and watched the world go by.

Happy 2012!

The Great Escape 2011--Empty Nest Edition--Day 1

Andrew and I celebrated our 20th annivesary on the 6th of December. We planned a getaway for New Year's weekend to celebrate. In the past, it has always been the "three peas in a pod" tour but Robert wanted to work so Andrew and I sat out on an adventure all on our own. We didn't take a vacation this summer and honestly the only time we had gotten away at all was when my father-in-law's girlfriend passed away so it was high time.
We have had a great time so far, one more day to go.....but highlights so far....

Day 1:



Safier Mediterraian Grill



Andrew's lunch Kabob and Grape Leaves





My lunch Shawarma



and hummos

Then, Andrew's main annivesary present: a trip to Ali Center:

I have to say, I don't think this was what we expected. I honestly believe I like Muhammad Ali more BEFORE we went. There are a lot of things about him I didn't know, or was too young to remember. Hopefully he had became older and wiser but I wouldn't want some of the things displayed about me that was displayed about him. It was interesting, let's put it that way.

For Dinner, I found a native Louisville restaurant that has branched out into multiple places around Louisville. When we saw the food, we understood why.

I didn't take pictures of the appetizers but their specialty is Fried Green Tomatoes---I believe they were the best I ever had.

We then ordered 10 oz Blackened Steaks, what came out on our plates were nothing short of roasts--cooked to perfection and smothered in mushrooms and peppers. Quite honestly the best steak either of us have had for a while:

We followed that up by a trip to Oxmoor Mall, mainly to walk some of this off and then to Lights Under Louisville.  Apparently there are 17 miles of manmade caverns under Louisville, At Christmas, they decorate them. It was amazing and being in a cave, it was around 58 degrees, so eventhough it was cold and rainy outside, we rolled the windows down and had a perfect view: