Thursday, April 29, 2010

Lessons from my parents

So, this is something I received by e-mail, not original to me...although it sounds like my family! :)

25 REASONS I OWE MY PARENTS

1. My parents taught me TO APPRECIATE A JOB WELL DONE.
"If you're going to kill each other, do it outside. I just finished cleaning."

2. My parents taught me RELIGION.
"You better pray that will come out of the carpet."

3. My parents taught me about TIME TRAVEL.
"If you don't straighten up, I'm going to knock you into the middle of next week!"

4. My parents taught me LOGIC.
"Because I said so, that's why."

5. My parents taught me MORE LOGIC.
"If you fall out of that swing and break your neck, you're not going to the store with me."

6. My parents taught me FORESIGHT.
"Make sure you wear clean underwear, in case you're in an accident."

7. My parents taught me IRONY.
"Keep crying, and I'll give you something to cry about."

8. My parents taught me about the science of OSMOSIS.
"Shut your mouth and eat your supper."

9. My parents taught me about CONTORTIONISM.
"Will you look at that dirt on the back of your neck!"

10.. My parents taught me about STAMINA..
"You'll sit there until all that spinach is gone."

11. My parents taught me about WEATHER.
"This room of yours looks as if a tornado went through it."

12. My parents taught me about HYPOCRISY.
"If I told you once, I've told you a million times. Don't exaggerate!"

13. My parents taught me the CIRCLE OF LIFE.
"I brought you into this world, and I can take you out."

14. My parents taught me about BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION.
"Stop acting like your father/ mother!"

15. My parents taught me about ENVY .
"There are millions of less fortunate children in this world who don't have wonderful parents like you do."

16. My parents taught me about ANTICIPATION.
"Just wait until we get home."

17. My parents taught me about RECEIVING.
"You are going to get it when you get home!"

18. My parents taught me MEDICAL SCIENCE.
"If you don't stop crossing your eyes, they are going to freeze that way."

19. My parents taught me ESP.
"Put your sweater on; don't you think I know when you're cold?"

20. My parents taught me HUMOR.
"When that lawn mower cuts off your toes, don't come running to me."

21. My parents taught me HOW TO BECOME AN ADULT.
"If you don't eat your vegetables, you'll never grow up."

22.. My parents taught me GENETICS.
"You're just like your father/mother.

23. My parents taught me about my ROOTS.
"Shut that door behind you .. Do you think you were born in a barn?"

24. My parents taught me WISDOM.
"When you get to be my age, you'll understand."


And my favorite:


25. My parents taught me about JUSTICE .
"One day you'll have kids, and I hope they turn out just like you.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

April Recap

Hello, Friends!

I did not fall off the face of the earth, but maybe just the blogosphere for a bit.

So much has happened since my last post. Let me update you a bit.

On April 10, my only brother Ken got married. All three of us were in the wedding along with my sister-in-law from Tim's side of the family and my niece. Jonathan was so happy because not only were my parents there, but Tim's parents were there also. Jonathan loved that we all stayed in a hotel and that he got to swim in the pool. Here are a few photos from the wedding:



Then, Jonathan turned 9 this year on April 15. So hard to believe that time goes so quickly! Since we had just spent a pretty penny for all of the wedding stuff, we ended up just having a small party with Jonathan and two of his friends at Chuck E. Cheese in Roanoke.



While we were in Roanoke, we stopped at Krispy Kreme and let the boys pick out their doughnuts for breakfast the next day. Of course they opted to eat a hot one that night.



We had a get together with some of our military wives this week, where we learned how to bake cakes in mason jars, so they can be shipped overseas to the soldiers. Please pray for the wives at home; this is such a huge sacrifice on their part!

Other than that, I have been so sick this week. Lovely stomach flu. Thankfully, I am finally starting to feel better. Now my poor hubby is coming down with it. Hopefully, J can avoid it!

That's it for now. Hopefully, I will keep up a little better in the coming days. Have a great weekend!

Friday, April 2, 2010

A little April foolin'


Sooooooo, if you know me, I cannot let April 1 go by without fooling someone...

I posted this on our copier in our office (note: I stole this idea from someone else).

I e-mailed my co workers and told them that someone had upgraded our copier while they were out, and they left instructions. When my co-worker "K" came back, she needed to make a copy and was standing at the machine saying her name. The more she said it the louder she got.
She said, "It's not working." So I told her she needed to follow all of the steps...and she did...a few times.

So she said, "I feel funny talking to a copier." Since she couldn't get the "voice recognition" to work, she gave up and did it the old way.

Meanwhile, another co-worker and I were in tears in my cubicle from laughing so hard. He finally told her "April Fools!" and we got beat, but lived to tell about it!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Rolo Pretzel Bites



Have you tried these yet? If you haven't, you are in for a huge treat. My friend Dawn made these for a chit-chat and chocolate night, and we all ate a bunch of them!

The pecans make them taste just like turtles, while the M&Ms add a festive touch (you can even use the colors to match your occasion).

The yummy sweetness of the caramel and chocolate is SO GOOD with the crunchy saltiness of the pretzel.

Here is the super simple recipe:

Ingredients:

48-50 miniature pretzel rings or miniature pretzels
48-50 rolos (or chocolate kisses if you don't like caramel) unwrapped
1/4 cup M&Ms (or halved pecans)

Directions:

Place the pretzels on a greased baking sheet. Place a rolo (or chocolate kiss) in the center of each pretzel.

Bake at 275 for 3 minutes or until the chocolate is softened (not melted). Remove from the oven.

Place an M&M (or pecan half) on each chocolate, pressing down slightly. Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes or until chocolate is firm.

If there are any left (good luck with that!), store them in an airtight container at room temperature.

Enjoy!


Tuesday, March 2, 2010

A few happy things

This week has been a little rough, so I decided to list a few things on my happy list for each day (thanks, Canadian Saver!)

  • My new necklace from Jocelyn (at the Trendy Owl). Sooooo adorable! I felt like a million bucks!
  • Hot chocolate with extra whipped cream
  • A phone call from a old friend
  • A opportunity to make new friend

This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!

Thursday, February 25, 2010

A blustery day

Today feels like something out of Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day. Hope we all don't blow away!

Friday, February 19, 2010

The Trendy Owl

You NEED to check out my friend Jocelyn's BRAND NEW Etsy shop. She makes the most amazing fabric flowers! They are as fun as she is!

Plus, she is offering free shipping for the next couple days...

So, click here and check out The Trendy Owl.


Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Pancakes...pancakes...pancakes...



I come from an Italian family...from my size you can tell that the love language is FOOD. "Do you want more? No? Here...just a little bit. Finish it up." Yeah, I am in shape...ROUND! But, I digress...

My mother is an amazing cook! She can make just about anything, and it tastes delicious. So, I grew up "helping" in the kitchen. I am not an amazing cook, but my food is edible.

When I got married, one of the things that I could NOT make was pancakes. I knew how to make them, but inevitably, they would burn, or be raw inside, or be to chewy, etc...

Someone was kind enough to teach me to watch the bubbles on the top burst before flipping...

But, I never could master the art of the pancake...until today.

If you read my blog, you know that I love, love, LOVE, the Pioneer Woman's recipes. They aren't healthy, but they sure are yummy!

I was out of pancake mix, so I checked out the PW's site, and sure enough there is was...the recipe for Perfect Pancakes. I was so excited to try it out, but then I saw it called for cake flour and I didn't have any. So I looked up a substitution for cake flour (1/4 c. corn starch with 1 3/4 c. flour). I followed her recipe to a T...and yep, we had PERFECT PANCAKES for dinner.

Seriously, you need to try them out. YUMMY!!! Click here for the recipe.

Ree, you have once again saved the day...well, at least saved the dinner!!!

(photo by Ree Drummond)

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Treasures...

I was cleaning out a couple of drawers today...you know, the ones that you just stash stuff in because you have no idea what to do with it. Yeah, the ones you hate to clean out.

Well, in my cleaning, I came across a few treasures. No, nothing worth anything monetarily, but priceless to me.

There was the card J made for me in Sunday School a few years ago for mother's day...my favorite Lucky Charms watch with the orange band that used to wear in college...an old Christmas card from my best friend...letters and photos.. and a plethora of other things. Each is a treasure because of the person that it makes me think of. I found myself smiling, giggling and even teary-eyed.

I am sure we all have treasures like that lying around. Take a minute sometime soon and look through those old photo albums, or clean out your junk drawer. See if you can find a few treasures to make you smile.

Who knows what you will find...

Thursday, February 4, 2010

My Katie-kates

For those of you who don't know, this is my Katie.

We met in Missouri when we worked at Mardel together (where this ridiculous picture was taken). I never thought that Katie and I would be friends...she used to walk by my desk in the morning with her scowly face on (yeah, she's not a morning person). I used to think she didn't like me. We started spending time together when I found out she lived down the street from me and didn't have a washer and dryer. So every Thursday evening, Katie would come to my house and do laundry while we watched Survivor. We got to know each other better and better over those weeks. Soon, it would change into dinner at our house, too, before Survivor came on. I always looked forward to Thursdays.

As time went on, we both moved on to different jobs, and both of us moved (we ended up living about a half an hour away from each other. Still Katie would come on Thursdays for dinner and Survivor. We got to be better and better friends, not only sharing our love of Jesus, but also sharing our love of bacon and Reese's peanut butter cups, and laughing hysterically until we cry.

About two and a half years ago, my family moved to Virginia...taking me far away from my Katie and our fun Thursday nights. But soon after that, Katie moved to London for her job. Now it was only once a month or so that we could even talk on the phone.

Thankfully, my hubby was so gracious to allow me to go visit Katie in London. We had such a great time...honestly, one of the best times in my life. We visited all of the sites. Not only did I get to go to London, but Katie surprised me for our birthdays and took me to....

PARIS!!!!!

That trip in itself is a whole other story...Paris in a day. I should write a book! Riding on the Eurostar in the chunnel, eating raw hamburgers, climbing all of the steps in the Eiffel Tower, seeing the Louvre, climbing more steps (and throwing a fit about it) in Monmarte, and so much more...

Anyway, fast-forward to this past December...Katie got married to a wonderful man named Yvan, and he took her away to his home in Mauritius...an island off the coast of Madagascar out in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

I miss her so much! I miss not being able to pick up the phone and call. Even Skyping is difficult because of the time difference. But, I know it has to be much harder for her...culture changes, missing family and friends.

I've been living in Virginia for two and a half years, and I have not found a friend like my Katie...and I don't think I ever will.


Katie-kates, I love you and miss you. I thank God for giving me a friend like you.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Glorious Chocolate!

Have you seen the Pioneer Woman's post today? I have to make these yummy looking cupcakes soon!!! Check them out!!








Saturday, January 23, 2010

He's Growing Up...

So J just got his first pair of glasses this week. He was soooooo excited. We let him pick out what he wanted. His only stipulation is that he wanted blue glasses. He looks so grown up with them on.

Yay, J! We love you!





Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Remembering Red


My dear uncle Red passed away Saturday morning. Today was his funeral, and I couldn't be there because of the snow in Pennsylvania. So for a few moments, I would like to remember Uncle Red at my own little blog memorial.

Uncle Red is my maternal grandfather's brother. He and my grandpa were the best of buddies. I cannot remember a time in my life when Uncle Red wasn't there for us. From the time we were little to two weeks ago when I last saw him, he always greeted me with a hug and a kiss and a loud declaration of "Hellooooooo Dolly-baby."

He was 97 years old. He lived a long, full life and was loved by many.

He was a man who loved others deeply and cared about everyone around. Up until a few years ago, he would leave his home early in the morning to go shovel snow or mow the lawn for the "old people" (who would be about 30 years younger than him).

I remember him always giving us a crisp $5 bill when we would go visit. He would pretend that he was sneaky, but his booming voice really wasn't conducive to secrets.

He and Aunt Rita have been there for all the important times in our lives...birthdays, holidays, our wedding, and more.

It will be different to go back home to Pennsylvania to visit without Uncle Red there. I get teary-eyed just thinking about it.

He was so full of life and love...unless you hold a different political opinion!!!

In the lessons I have learned and the life that I live, I will always carry a piece of Uncle Red in my heart.

I love you, Uncle Red. You are dearly missed.


Of Fire and Lions by Mesu Andrews

Those who know me best know that I love to read. I have read a lot of Biblical/Historical fiction books in my life, and Of Fire and Lions...