A little birdie told me....

Folks, it's official; I have a BIRD problem. I LOVE them. I think it started a few years ago. My grandfather was recovering from knee surgery in a rehabilitation center and they had a big aviary with finches right outside his room. From there on out, I wanted finches. J.D. put the kibosh on that and our lives have been bird free.



At least free from living birds. Slowly but surely, little bird things are showing up in every room of my house. There are little birds appliqued on our dish towels, a white porcelain baby bird destined to go in my bathroom and a really pretty bird water color in our dining room. Bring on the flock baby!



I also am really into cloche's right now. I currently don't have one, but that is going to change because I am on the lookout for one. It will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine.
Here's what I want for Valentine's Day:

A very pretty ring, or

A nest-y necklace

What's a bird to do?

A pretty sweet gift....

My biological Dad and I aren't exactly your typical father/daughter pair. We talk every couple of weeks and see each other twice in a good year. To be fair, we do live 600 miles apart. He is a good guy though and he gives great advice.

I do like to have nice things, but I don't like to spend a lot of money for those things. If I can find it on sale, good. If I can find it on clearance, even better. That being said, I have always wanted a Coach purse. Can I tell you that Coach purses never go on clearance? If they did go on clearance, I don't think they go down to the $40 price point, because that is about the maximum that I will spend for a purse. When somebody talks about spending $150 and up on a purse I start feeling sick and think of starving children and homeless animals and people without heat in the winter and all of those things that money could better be spent on.

Well, my Daddy-0 took care of that guilt this year with a beautiful new Coach purse for Christmas. I have been carrying it around for about the past month and I love it. Without further ado I present to you my new accessory: Agnes Bagness Von Beautiful!

Ms. Agnes Bagness Von Beautiful

Really, I am not a vain person. However, I love this bag! I thought Ms. Agnes was a little small at first, but she proved me wrong. Her petite size keeps me more organized! She also has a super long strap which is perfect going around my neck and across my chest so she hangs on my hip. We both feel very secure with her there. The long strap also comes in handy for visiting the restroom in public. Ms. Agnes does not like to hang on hooks in restrooms where she could easily be stolen. Don't even get her started on placing her on the floor of a PUBLIC RESTROOM. Oh no, Ms. Agnes Bagness Von Beautiful can be worn around you neck for that private time in the public restroom.

Ms. Agnes and I make quite a pair. She is my perfect accessory. I look forward to a long friendship with Ms. Agnes and promise to take good care of her.


PS. Please don't think I am insane. I just love a good purse.

Boy do I have a story for you...

If you follow me on facebook you might already know this, but I will tell the story for those of you who don't.

My granny left this world on January 22, 2009. We all felt and still feel sadness because we miss her, but we rejoice because we know that she is in heaven. Faith is wonderful, amazing and beautiful like that. Granny is free from cancer and pain in heaven and that is what we want for her.

The funeral was on Monday. We were all in good spirits. The minister told us that it was okay to laugh and smile, that we were celebrating her life. No one seemed to have a heavy heart, we just missed her. The service at the funeral home was beautiful; my cousin Laurie has an amazing voice and she performed an amazing solo of "How Great Thou Art". After the service we left to head to the cemetery.

Now let me also say that there wasn't a funeral procession. Granny was to be buried two counties over from where we live. Evidently the police have to change off at county lines and it all gets very complicated. We were all to meet at the cemetery. J.D. and I were riding by ourselves. My cousin Amanda and her husband, Lindsay (a friend of the family) and Dan and Matt (also cousins) were all in one vehicle. We were following each other in the cars. Evidently as we passed the cemetery and were nearing the entrance, Amanda started freaking out and saying "the tent is in the wrong place." Lindsay responded with "I'm sure it is in the right place, they (the cemetery) do this every day. It will be fine." We all pulled in the entrance of the cemetery. The funeral home director was blocking the road in the cemetery and he looked like he was going to be sick. We rolled down the window and he said "Ummmm folks, we have a little problem. It seems that the grave was not dug." You can imagine our response. We drove around to the family plot and sure enough, there was granny's headstone that she and granddad ordered years before with the ground in front of it still undisturbed. My cousins and I just stood there waiting on the rest of our family to arrive. To be honest, it was really kind of funny. I mean, what kind of cemetery forgets to dig a grave? Lindsay looked at Amanda and said "Well, I guess I was wrong. But to be honest, I have never done anything with your family where something didn't go awry." My aunts started arriving. We were really nervous about when my granddad would arrive because we knew he would FLIP out. Sure enough, it took two people to get him into the office at the cemetery. By this point, we were all ready to grab a shovel and dig a hole ourselves.

We ended up holding a mock funeral. What is a mock funeral, you ask? Basically they set my granny's casket by the lake with the flowers and the chairs and we held a prayer service. It was hard to concentrate because the backhoe was driving by and they began digging the grave about 500 feet away. We didn't get to see her actual burial because it was dark and we had to leave. It was all kind of odd. In the end I think that maybe it was meant to work out that way. I don't think Granny wanted us to think of her in a cemetery because that isn't where she is. The vessel that carried her for 72 years is there, but she isn't.

And yes, the cemetery issued a refund check. You would not believe how much they charge just to dig a grave and let people use a tent and some folding chairs!

Talk About Tuesday- Some say I might be trying to kill my dog

Meet Pickle. Some of you have already made her acquaintance. She was the bright idea I stumbled upon one day last July. She was barely six weeks old and needed a home. I am a sucker for animals. She was covered in fleas and ticks and she seemed oh so sweet. Then she woke up.

She has a penchant for destruction. She has to sleep in a bare crate because she consumes bedding. Towels, sheets, pillows and sofa cushions are all items that she seems to have an insatiable appetite for. Socks, shoes and slippers are up there as well. I have emergency vet bills that will back up my claims. I can also let you know that these items will pass through her system, with human assistance. Let's just say that I love this dog.

J.D. has a sinus infection and went to the doctor on Friday and was prescribed an antibiotic and a decongestant. J.D. left these items on the kitchen table. We went into the sun room and were watching television. J.D. got up and walked into the den and started screaming. Pickle had gotten the medicine off the table and had chewed the bottles open. Pills were strewn everywhere. She had taken them under the sofa in the den and started eating them. We started gathering them up and figured out that she had consumed about 1000mg of Cipro and 1 prescription strength decongestant. We called poison control and to our relief the woman said that Pickle would be okay; just to make sure we gave her plenty of water. She also said that Pickle may get a little hyper. Can I tell you that we never noticed a difference? That 25lb dog takes a pill and keeps on ticking.

Which brings us to last night. We had just come home from the grocery store. I put away the refrigerated items and the phone rang. We were needed next door at my aunt's house. We would only be gone for about ten minutes so we left the dry groceries on the floor. When we returned TEN MINUTES later, Pickle had shredded and begun consuming a pound of ground coffee. There were coffee grounds all over the carpet! A pound of them, to be more precise.

She survived the night, which leaves me wondering; what will she eat next?

For more Talk about Tuesday entries, please vist The Lazy Organizer!

In a New York state of mind

I love New York City! I think that there are two types of people in this world; those who love New York and those who hate New York. Very few people fall somewhere in between. I love the museums, Broadway shows, the shopping, Central Park, and all of the different yummy restaurants. You can do it all!

View from the top of the Empire State Building

My favorite museum ever, the Metropolitan Museum

Statue of Liberty

It's been a little over a year since we last went to New York. I am about to jump out of my skin, I want to go so badly. We are leaving for Disney World for a trip with the parents and siblings in about a month, but I am trying to figure out if we can squeeze in a trip for a weekend either before we go or when we get back. Have I lost my mind? Air fare to New York from Atlanta is always cheap and we can get a really good deal on a hotel right now. I told JD that we wouldn't have to eat in the fancy restaurants, we can eat cheap. I just want to see a show and hit the museums. I missed "Wicked" when it came to Atlanta and I want to see it!

So, I'm in a conundrum. I don't know if I should spend the money to go. There are things that I want to do around the house, but I really feel the urge to travel. I read somewhere that people are better to spend their money on memories, like a vacation, instead of an object, like a pearl necklace or fancy T.V. I don't know! Help!

It must run in the family...

Yesterday I went to Michael's. I absolutely love that store. I could spend hours in Michael's, JoAnn's or Hobby Lobby. One of the things that I love about Michael's is that they carry a line by Martha Stewart. I have mentioned before how much I love Martha. I subscribe to "Martha Stewart Living", I buy her books, I watch her shows and I love her line at Macy's. I think Martha is a creative genius.

Let me also say that I am not the only one. I am going to introduce you to my Great Aunt Carolyn. Aunt Carolyn is about the funniest lady I have ever met. She looks like a sweet old lady, but if you look closely there is a serious mischievous sparkle in those brown eyes. She takes delight in the little things; like one time we thought it might snow (that's a big event here) and she looked at me and said "Oooh Lindy, if it snows let's go do wheelies in the Wal-Mart parking lot!" How many of you have 75 year old great aunts who want to go do wheelies with you? And it's their idea?

Which brings me to how much Aunt Carolyn adores Martha. In 2003, a made for TV movie was produced titled "Martha, Inc." and starred Cybil Shepherd as Ms. Stewart. Aunt Carolyn watched the movie and was quite distraught. She announced to anyone who would listen that Cybil Shepherd was "nothing but a big fat hag who doesn't understand the amazing things that Martha has done for the homes of America with her line of products at K-Mart stores across the country". She was dead serious.

So yes, we love Martha. Martha inspires us to be better, to take everything to the next level. Who doesn't need a little of that in their lives?

Talk about Tuesday- Interesting artwork

OK. I will go ahead and say that I am one of those people who love their pets too much. I don't have kids, so I have three four-legged fur balls that I spoil. Don't judge me. That being said, I have always wanted artwork of my dogs; which is unfortunately a little out of my price range. Then came an article from designsponge and an idea was born. It was really easy and I think the results are pretty good.

I bought three 8x10 canvases at 40% off. I think that worked out to be about $7.50 total. I also bought gray acrylic paint at 50% off and 8.5x11 full size sheet sticky labels. The labels were the most expensive thing, but I have since found many cool things to print out on them. Oh, my labels were clear. I think that makes a difference because paint can't bleed through them. You also want to buy canvases that are already treated with gesso. I took profile pictures of my dogs, printed them out and cut them out with as much detail as possible. You want a lot of details with pets because otherwise they end up looking like sock puppets. I learned this the hard way two canvases later. Trust me. Stick the cut out labels on the canvases and paint in the white areas. Pull off labels and let dry. Instant art work. Easy peasy.

From the top, Mr., Pickle and Zoey

As I look at this picture I realize that their portraits are crooked. Trust me, this will be fixed tonight! I can't stand a crooked picture!

For more Talk about Tuesday submissions visit the Lazy Organizer!

To fire or not to fire?

I am really frustrated with our real estate agent. Her six month contract is up in about a week. I feel like she did a really good job for the first two months and then gave up during the last four. I know that the economy is hard ( okay, it's in the toilet) and I know that this makes her job really, really hard. She has not had one single open house for buyers (she did host one for agents that she wasn't even at) and she rarely calls. We have resorted to putting our house up for lease which we DO NOT want to do. Also, what we would lease it for doesn't even come close to covering the mortgage so we will still be bleeding money every month! This economy is killing the housing market! Also, what if our prospective tenants our total slobs who roll in the mud on a daily basis? I am kind of a neatfreak and this whole process is freaking me out. We don't wear shoes in our house for crying out loud! It's in perfect shape and I am terrified that renters are going to trash the place. We are currently trying to decide whether to fire our agent and start the process all over again or just stick it out. What do you think? Here is a link to our beautiful house, I figure it doesn't matter if I post the info or not because we don't live there anymore. I miss how perfect this house was and how it wasn't in a constant state of renovation. HELP!


****Update****

After publishing this I checked and our house is no longer listed as FOR SALE. It is now exclusively FOR RENT. Our agent let it expire without telling us. Can I tell you how happy this makes me? (Please note the sarcasm) I can definitely say that we will be finding a NEW AGENT!

My latest and greatest idea!

I think I might be on to something here. Evidently I get overwhelmed easily. I have lots of big ideas and I want to get everything done at once. I read magazines and look at decorating sites on the internet and think "I want to do that and that and that and THAT!" Suffice it to say, that isn't working out for me. I have been about ready to drive myself to the funny farm with all of my "projects".

I went shopping yesterday and on my way home the best idea struck me! What about one room a month? For instance in January and February we will focus on the den and kitchen. Priming and painting the ugly paneling doesn't seem near as overwhelming when that area is all I have to focus on. I only have to buy new doorknobs for that room. Only new wood blinds for that room. A ceiling fan for the den. GENIUS!

There are a several beautiful things about this plan:
1. It is easier on the budget
2. It keeps me focused (if only you knew how important that is)
3. Rooms will actually get finished
4. It will be much easier for me to blog about and more importantly, easier for you, my gentle reader, to follow!


Hmmmm, I think my Mom (Laura) might have suggested something like this awhile ago. Why don't I listen to her more often?

Proper or not?

I've had a lot of friends either get married or have babies lately. Don't worry, all of them who had the babies were married first. A lot of baby shower, bridal shower and wedding invitations have been flooding my mailbox. I have started noticing a trend with invitations; they either include a separate sheet of paper stating where the honoree is registered at or even worse, they print it on the invitation!

I was always taught that you are not to include wedding registry cards or print it on the invitation. I was an attendant in a wedding and the bride and I were discussing sending out invitations. The bride informed me that she was going to include a slip of paper about her wedding registry in with the invitations. I WAS MORTIFIED! The bride said "well that is what Bed Bath and Beyond told me to do!" Obviously, Bed Bath and Beyond is an authority on such matters!

So I consulted both Miss Manners and Emily Post. They had a slight difference in opinion. Miss Manners felt that wedding registry cards were OK, as long as they weren't included in the wedding invitation. I wasn't sure how she felt about shower invitations thought.The Post family was much clearer. They agreed with Miss Manners on no cards in the invitation, but felt that it was okay to include them with shower invites or even print the information on the invitation!

I am sticking with the old fashioned way of word of mouth! You call the hostess and ask where the bride/mother-to-be is registered. You ask another guest. You ask the honoree themselves! I feel like including the information on ANY invite puts too much emphasis on gifts. What if someone wants to give you something different? What if the guest doesn't want you to know exactly how much they spent? What if they want to make you a gift? Aye!

In the interest of honesty

Honestly, my house is a wreck. It is no where near qualifying for television shows like "Clean House" or "Clean Sweep" or heaven forbid the BBC hit "How Clean is Your House?", but it feels like a disaster area to me. I don't think I can use moving as as an excuse anymore; it's been two months since we moved. Besides, all of the unpacked boxes are in the basement where I can't see them. No, it is little things like the basket of clean sheets in the den that aren't folded and put away. Or the pile of towels on the laundry room floor. Or the doggie nose prints on the glass to the back door. Or the little dust bunnies underneath the breakfast room table. YUCK! I am so ashamed. My aunt walked over to our house last night for us to swap goods (when you live on a compound you end with other people's tupperware and crock pots and they end up with yours) and I was embarrassed to let her in. Never mind that her house looks like a hovel unless they are having company over and then it looks like a picture from a decorating magazine; but I was embarrassed! My energy levels have been really low lately and I haven't been sleeping very well at night so by the time I get home from work I just want to fall on the floor.

Not tonight, I tell you! Tonight I am going to go home and power through it. No rest for the weary! It will be clean and sparkly and vacuumed. Do you know how hard it is for me to admit that I have dust bunnies? Maybe I will even get around to hanging pictures and artwork instead of having them all propped against the walls in the rooms we don't ever use.

On a side note, I have been doing my Bible reading every night and going to Church every Sunday. I am sticking by those two goals!

TAT- Jewelry Organization

I must confess that I am a girlie girl. I love hair, makeup, jewelry and clothes. I definitely loved all those things as little girl and a teenager. While in college and shortly thereafter I went through a phase where I wasn't as in to those things; but baby I've come full circle. Bring it on!

I also have a wonderful stepdad (AKA Dad) who has given me a lot of really pretty jewelry. Seriously, I think I got my first piece when I was about six. By the way, I still have it. It's a silver butterfly pendant on a sterling silver chain. He also gave me a sterling silver heart pendant around the same time. The chain no longer fits around my neck, but maybe one day God will bless me with a little girl and I can tell her that her Paw-Paw gave it to her mom when she was little.

Needless to say, I have amassed quite a collection over the years. All of the stuff from my dad has been really nice. Family friends have given me some beautiful pieces as well. I have always had an issue finding a place to store my jewelry. A normal size jewelry box has never been able to hold it all, so I would put it what I wore most often, but I would forget about the rest of my beautiful collection. I know they make jewelry armoires, but those can be kind of pricey. I fixed my problem for about $12!

Hand towel rack repurposed!

I have lots of necklaces. This is a sampling of a few. I had this hand towel rack in a box in my closet and as I was digging through the box one day I came across it. I thought it would make a great place to store my everyday, non-fancy pants pieces! IT WORKS GREAT! It also looks really pretty in my closet.

Screws/Nails/Tackle Box now a earring and bracelet box!

This is my favorite idea thus far. These babies cost between $3 and $5, depending on where you buy them. They come with the little plastic dividers that you place in the slots so you can decide how big to make the little boxes. I have three of these puppies and I love them! You can place one pair of earrings, a bracelet or a necklace in each little box and when you open the lid, you can see them all. A smaller one would also be great for packing jewelry for vacation. They stack in a drawer nicely and everything stays neat and organized!

Beautiful, though blurry, organized jewelry

That's all folks!

For more great TAT submissions visit the wonderfully witty Lazy Organizer!

The Newest Baby B!

On Sunday, January 4, 2009; two of our best friends welcomed their second child into the world. Mel and Dom are some of the most amazing people I know. They have been together since the 7th grade! How cute is that? They were also the best neighbors we could have hoped for, until Dom's job took him to another state. Without further ado, I present:

Marli Anne

I think she looks a lot like her big sister, Korin Elizabeth

Me and Korin first being introduced. I loved her immediately.

Grown-up Korin at Christmas this year. She's a wild woman, but she is very sweet.

I haven't met Marli yet. I am anxiously awaiting the phone call to hear when we can come and visit. I can't wait to drive the six hours to meet her. Both she and Korin are extra-special to me and J.D. because we have been selected to be their Godmothers. Mel and Dom are Catholic like me and J.D. so it will be officially sanctioned by the Church. I can't wait to share my faith with these beautiful little girls and help teach them about Jesus and how much He loves them. I think that they will both be getting a Baby Be Blessed Doll in the near future.

We love you guys!

My car debacle

******UPDATE******

As of 01/12/09, I have spoken with the District Sales Manager and she gave me her cell phone number in case any other problems arise. I also received a telephone call from my adjuster stating that they are waiving my $500 collision deductible! Yea! Talk about good customer service.

Since my friend Nicol wrote a great post yesterday about the importance of documenting valuables for your homeowners insurance, I thought I would share my latest insurance experience. I would love to hear every one's opinion on my experience.

Yep. I was in a car accident almost two weeks ago. No, it wasn't my fault. I didn't worry too much about it after it happened because I have previously loved my car insurance company. Not only do they have my car insured, but the also insure my home. I know my agent and his wife personally and they are quite possibly some of the kindest people.

My car accident took place around 4pm on December 27th. The police were called immediately. I filed a police report. Since I was out of town for a wedding, as soon as I arrived at the hotel, I called my insurance company and filed a claim. My insurance company has someone answering the phones 24/7/365, but if your aren't calling during normal business hours you get a service that is hired to take claims. They aren't a part of the company. The woman stated that it could be as late a Tuesday morning before I heard from my claims adjuster. I completely understood this, being the holidays and all. Let me also state that after I graduated college, I worked as a claims adjuster for GEICO. I understand how busy and overwhelmed insurance adjuster's can get. The two business day time frame seemed perfectly reasonable to me.

Fast forward to Tuesday afternoon. I still hadn't heard from my adjuster. I called the wife of my insurance agent who was surprised to hear that I had been in an accident. She stated that they were usually notified immediately when one of their clients had been involved in a car accident. She contacted the home office and sure enough... the service company had never reported the claim to my insurance company. She got it taken care of and at 8:30pm on December 30 the adjuster attempted to contact me. Except I was in the shower when she called so I didn't receive the call. I spoke with her on December 31, and she was extremely nice and helpful. She set me up in a rental car, which I decided not to use because we still have my grandmother's car. I felt that since I had a car I could use, I didn't feel right about wasting money. I do get the bigger picture about keeping costs down to help keep premiums lower.

Fast forward to last night, January 7. I arrive home and check the answering machine and find a message from the tow yard/body shop where my car has been sitting since December 27. They informed me that an adjuster/appraiser was out to look at my car on December 31 and they were wondering if I wanted them to repair my car. WHOA! I was kind of upset. EIGHT days had gone by since then and not one call from my insurance company. I understand about the holiday, so if they had called me on Monday, January 5, that would have been acceptable. I calmed down and composed an email.

I sent this email to the adjuster I spoke with on the 31st and also to my agent. I felt like my agent had the right to know what had been going on. I was calm and kind in my wording but also firm. I expressed that I was disappointed in my insurance company because I selected them for their customer service, but I was not receiving the service I expected. I also let them know that at this point I would looking for another company to meet my insurance needs.

I received a phone call from my adjuster within 10 minutes. She sounded like she was about to cry. I felt horrible. I hate upsetting people. She had been sick, it was the holidays and so on and so forth. I advised her that I understood and that I wasn't upset with her but with the lack of communication I had received. She seemed concerned that I had emailed my agent and told me that eight days wasn't that big of a deal. I didn't necessarily agree with that because I had already selected a body shop on the 31st when we had last spoke and had informed her of my decision. As we closed the conversation, I advised her that I would send an email to my agent and let him know of her quick follow up. She seemed relieved to hear that.

I sent the email to my agent. He received it and sent out two further emails. The first one he sent to his boss and to the boss of my adjuster. He also cc'd me and the adjuster. It wasn't a nice email. I felt really bad for the poor lady. The next email was just to me and it stated that he understood that I was now okay, but her felt like the whole situation was unacceptable. I just feel like I did the wrong thing by involving him. I don't want anyone to get in trouble. What do you think?

On a side note, I now feel like I belong in the 55+ group. My grandmother's car is fully loaded Buick Le sabre. All I have to do is put the key in the ignition and it adjusts to the way I like the seat positioned, turns on the air to the temperature I like and turns on the radio. It's crazy! I still drive at the same speed that I drove in my car (speed limit and occasionally maybe 5 miles over) but people fly around me! I guess they see what they consider to be an older person's car and think that I am going 5 mph! JD has an interesting theory about older people driving slower. She said "Maybe they go slower because their cars are so comfortable they aren't in a hurry to get where they are going. They just want to enjoy the ride." I think she might be on to something here.

I normally drive a Honda Element and I love it. My family refers to it as the "bread box" or "the box", but I don't care. I want my box back!

I butchered the chicken

Yesterday I shared one of my favorite recipes. It's a very easy recipe and one of my favorites. I will also say that I am pretty decent cook. My extended family gets very excited when I invite them over for dinner. Granted, none of them cook, so their standards might be pretty low... but no one has ever gotten food poisoning or had to spit anything out because it tasted bad.

Last night would have been a whole different story. When I walked in the back door, dinner in the crock pot smelled really good. I walked over to the crockpot and lifted the lid and CRINGED. I almost dropped the lid. I wanted to cry. What did I see? You might not want to look. It looks horrible. Seriously, you might lose your appetite.

This thing.

Seriously. Thinking about starting a diet? Print out this picture and look at it when you feel hungry. The pounds will fall off. I don't think I ever want to eat again.

I know where I went wrong. There is nothing wrong with the recipe. I didn't leave out any ingredients. I may have just let the chicken cook a little too long. Really about four hours too long. Usually, when you cook soups or roasts, you can let the crockpot go a little longer. Not so with items with a limited amount of fluid! You get freeze dried meat! The moral of the story appears to be that 1 hour on high and then 5 hours on low DOES NOT equal 11 hours on low. Not even close.

So we went to Outback Steakhouse. The food wasn't burnt. Or freeze dried. Or even slightly scary looking. It did not make me not want to eat again. Overall it was a good experience. Except for the girl in the booth in front of me who made me pray that I wasn't obnoxious at 16. It went something "like" this:

"Like, we watched 'Old Yeller' in class today and I was like the only one who like cried! Like the other kids like looked at me and were like 'like you actually watched the movie? Wow! I mean, like the only other movie that really made me like cry like that was like 'The Green Mile". Like the big guy is accused of a crime he like didn't commit and they are like really mean to him. I like watched it when I was like 13."

It was hard to sit through and not laugh. It didn't help that she had on more green eyeshadow than the Grinch and looked like she stepped out of a bad 80's movie. If the fact that I didn't want to emulate her fashion sense means that I have fallen off the fashion train, then so be it!

So folks, six hours means six hours and like try and like watch your use of word "like". Like, got me, like?

TAT- Two easy recipes!

For The Lazy Organizer's TAT, I am going to share two very easy crockpot recipes. Who loves their crockpot? Mine is used several times a week, it's a real life saver in helping us eat at home.


For my first recipe, courtesy of Southern Living, I present :Mu Shu Chicken Wraps! I love Chinese food. Except I am kind of a snob about it... I get nervous because you never know if they add MSG or not. I digress. Mu Shu Chicken, kids love it and you get to be a rock star because it is very tastey and you made it. This also makes for a great party appetizer. The recipe calls for deboned chicken thighs (which are very cheap, by the way), but I use chicken breasts because I am a funny about my chicken. Actually I am funny about a lot of things, but that is beside the point.

The recipe:


2 lbs deboned chicken thighs ( I use two big chicken breasts)
salt
pepper
1 medium onion (diced)
2T soy sauce
3/4 cup hoisin sauce
1T honey
1 T sesame oil
1T rice wine (not really wine)
2 t. ground ginger
shredded cabbage
green onions (sliced/chopped/what have you)
flour tortillas (I use whole wheat sometimes)


Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, and then brown in pan w/ olive oil on stove. Place onion in bottom of crock pot. Put chicken on top of onion. Mix together soy sauce and next five ingredients and pour over top of chicken. Cover and cook on high for one hour and then turn to low and cook for five more hours. Shred chicken in crockpot and stir to combine chicken and sauce. Scoop chicken onto tortilla top with shredded cabbage and green onions and roll up. You can wrap rolls in wax paper or parchment paper if you want to be really fancy. We are actually having this for dinner tonight so I will post pictures tonight so you can see the finished product. It's delicious!



My second recipe is BOILED PEANUTS. Have you ever had them? They are huge in the south. Here it is pronounced "Bowl-d p-nuts" You can drive through towns and see handpainted signs in front of gas stations that say just that. Or it might just say "P-NUTS". THey are usually cooked outside over open flame in a giant pot. But that takes forever (12+ hours) and you kind of have to watch it constantly and that takes to long and I don't have time for that business. So I do mine in a crockpot!

Enough raw peanuts to fill a 6 quart cooker + 1 cup sea salt+ water to cover peanuts

Cover and cook on low for 18 hours

Delicious, precious boiled peanut



Very tasty.

I know that one cup of salt sounds like a whole lot, but it makes a lot of peanuts and I think it might actually be less salt than potato chips. And it's pure protein. Make sure to use sea salt though, for some reason regular salt isn't as tasty.

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WOW!

I write this unsure if I will even post this. God has slowly been revealing something to me. I actually think that He been trying to get this across to me the majority of my adult life. I feel like I need to write this down or I will forget it. When I write it out, it might not make sense in black and white the way it does in my head. Here goes:

I am not a patient person. I am a very decisive person. I am the "when I see it, I'll know it" person. There are a few things that I have known my entire life; 1. I want to get married and 2. I want to have kids. From the time I was a little girl, I have known that was my calling. Growing up, the majority of my friends thought I would be the one to marry first and have kids. Can I say that hasn't happened? Life definitely hasn't worked out that way. God has had other plans.

There are two things that have always been in my head.

1. "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you..." from the Book of Jeremiah in the Bible. This has always been my favorite verse, there has always been something so comforting about it.

2. The phrase "God never gives you more than you can handle". I am sure that everyone has heard this phrase more than once.

Suddenly today, these two things clicked in my head. It went something like this "Wow, God knows me better than anyone else. He knows my heart better than I do. He knows what I can handle. He created me in his own image. He knows my needs better than anyone else. He knows the kind of wife and mother I want to be someday. And WOW; He knew that I wasn't ready (and still may not be) to be that kind of wife and mother. Yes, He knows what my heart can take and He is helping me save my heart for the right person. "

I don't date a lot. I realized today that I do get asked out, but the majority of the time, I choose not to go. Some of you may think that I am limiting myself and maybe I am, but if I feel in my heart that if it isn't right, I can't do it. I have also heard "never make a date with someone who won't make a good mate" many times and I abide by this. The times that I haven't have ended very badly. I don't go out for the sake of going out because someone asked me. If I don't see a future with someone, I don't go. I don't want to waste my time and I don't want to waste the time of someone else. I am certainly not a "for a good time, call" type of girl so again, I don't go out "just to have fun" or "just to see what happens".

So I guess that today I realized that God has someone out there for me. That this man is awesome and amazing and everything that God knows I need.

Does this make sense? Does anyone else understand? Has anyone else felt this way? Please, let me know!

Crossing off that "to-do" list

Talk about a productive weekend!

The "TO-DONE" List
(I know that isn't even close to grammatically correct, but bare/bear with me)

1. Curtains hung in formal living room and dining room
2. Switchplates hung and replaced everywhere except for basement and laundry room
3. Curtains hung in my bedroom
4. 3/4 of dirty laundry washed, folded AND put away
5. hand towel rack bought and hung in my bathroom
6. WENT TO CHURCH
7. replaced glass light globes in ceiling fans in my room and in JD's room (I opted for this over replacing the ceiling fans right now. I want quality brand name ceiling fans and spending $100-$200 per fan for four ceiling fans just isn't in the budget right now. Hello $10 makeover!)

A lot of this got done because I wanted to go to IKEA and I wouldn't let myself go. My logic here was that if I went to IKEA I would buy things for more projects which then go on my to-do list and sit there and make me feel guilty for not accomplishing things. Does this make sense? So I am making myself finish the majority of the items on list before I buy anything else. Ooooh, I just thought about the Pottery Barn Outlet... that will have to wait as well. Does anyone else use shopping as a motivational tool? Something tells me that is probably not healthy. Oh well, at least it is getting the job done.



Also the daily Bible study is going really well. I look forward to my time with God. I am gleaning lots of insight from my reading and can feel a difference in my attitude.



And drum roll please... we will begin painting the ugly panelling this weekend. Goodbye knotty pine, or naughty pine as I like to call it.

Be blessed.

GOALS FOR 2009! <----- Hopefully not lofty ones!

After reading what several of the blogs I read regularly and seeing that a lot of people are choosing to pick "goals" over "resolutions", I am now on the GOAL bandwagon. I have decided to share some of my goals with you for several reasons. The #1 reason being that to share them makes them actual goals, not just something I am thinking about. The second reason would be that by sharing them with you all, I kind of have an accountability partner. The third reason would be that I think my successes and failures could make for entertaining reading.

GOALS

1. More daily time with God. JD and I each bought a daily reading Bible that is designed to have you read the entire Bible in one year. It also has daily meditations at the end of each day. We have done two days thus far and have really enjoyed it. I personally feel that God is calling me towards something this year, but I have no clue where/what it is. I know that by giving more of my time to God, I will be able to hear His plan for me.

2. Attend church every Sunday, even when on vacation. Also make it to mass for Holy Days of Obligation. I programmed the Catholic Church's Holy Days into my cell phone to remind me. I did miss the first one on January 1st because I had the mass times mixed up. So I guess I am not doing so well here, but I will do better!

3. Get back on a cleaning schedule. Before we moved, we were on an awesome cleaning schedule. We never had clutter, dirty laundry in piles; our house was immaculate! All of that has gone out of the window since we moved. I need to get back on track.

4. Cook dinner at home more often. We did pretty well at this in 2008. I want to do even better in 2009. I really enjoy cooking on the weekends, but it is pretty hard on weeknights when I come home from work exhausted.

I think this list pretty much sums it up. I think if all I accomplish is number's one and two, everything will be accomplished. I know that if I get to know God better and focus on His instruction manual everything else will fall into place. :-)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! The 1st day of 2009 has been quite pleasant thus far. I went to bed early last night and didn't even ring in the new year. I made a delightful breakfast this morning complete with sparkling grape juice! It was quite tasty. I'm getting ahead of myself though. I need to start with New Year's Eve.



Does anyone else have a drive to put Christmas decorations away before New Year's day? I have to do it every year. I have always wanted to buy those cute red and green containers to put all of my decorations in. I have lots of decorations and spending $10-$15 a containers for about 10 to 15 containers has never appealed to me. Yesterday I was at Lowe's and picked up a container for lights and a container for ornaments on clearance for $6.50 each! Score! The lights container was so awesome I had to grab my camera so I could share the coolness with you. It's a hinged lid box with four light wrap things and a lip on each side of the box so the light wraps hand neatly.

Lights box with nifty light holders

Lights hung in box, NEATLY

Four sets of lights, NEATLY put away

I have to say that I absolutely love these containers. The ornament box held a lot more than I thought it would. I used the boxes to hold the decorations from our formal living room. Our casual tree in the sun room is pre-lit, so I don't need a light box for it, but ornament boxes for next year, here I come!

I also mentioned that I cooked breakfast this morning. We had homemade omelets, homemade banana nut muffins, grapefruit, sparkling grape juice and coffee. It was delicious! I have a really easy way to make omelets that I will have to share soon.

Yummy breakfast

More yummy breakfast

I also cooked a tasty dinner for the family on the compound. Everyone came over here and we had ribs, black eyed peas, collard greens, cornbread, mashed potatoes, salad, sweet tea, and mango key lime pie and carrot cake for dessert. I would have taken pictures, but everything was gone before I could get my camera to it.

Tomorrow I plan on sharing my goals for the new year with you. I have decided not to do resolutions this year because they always seem to fall through. Goals are something to work toward and I think I will have better luck with them.

I wish everyone a happy, healthy, prosperous and blessed 2009!